Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti (1912)
by Guido Cavalcanti, translated by Ezra Pound
Guido Cavalcanti2822240Sonnets and Ballate of Guido Cavalcanti1912Ezra Pound

SONNETS AND
BALLATE OF
GUIDO
CAVALCANTI

RIPOSTES OF
EZRA POUND


A SHORT VOLUME
OF
ORIGINAL VERSE

IN PREPARATION

SONNETS AND
BALLATE OF
GUIDO
CAVALCANTI

WITH TRANSLATIONS
OF THEM AND AN
INTRODUCTION BY

EZRA POUND

MCMXII
STEPHEN SWIFT AND CO., LTD.
16 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN
LONDON

I have owned service to the deathless dead,
Grudge not the gold I bear in livery.

AS MUCH OF THIS BOOK AS IS MINE
I SEND TO MY FRIENDS

VIOLET AND FORD MADOX HUEFFER

CONTENTS

PAGE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90

Oh, dissi lui, non sei tu Oderisi,
L’ onor d’ Agobbio, e l’ onor di quell’ arte
Ch’ alluminare è chiamata in Parisi?

Frate, diss’ egli, più ridon le carte,
Che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese:
L’ onor è tutto or suo, e mio in parte

Ben no sare’ io stato sì cortese
Mentre ch’ io vissi, per lo gran disio
Dell’ eccellenze, ove mio core intese.

Di tal superbia qui si paga ’l fio:
Ed ancor non sarei qui, se non fosse,
Che possendo pèccar, mi volsi A Dio.

O vanagloria dell’ umane posse,
Com’ poco verde su la cime dura,
Se non è giunta dall’ etati grosse!

Credette Cimabue nella pintura
Tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido,
Sì che la fama di colui oscura.

Così ha tolto l’ uno all’ altro Guido
La gloria della lingua: e forse è nato
Chi l’ uno e l’ altro caccerà di nido.

Non è il mondan romore altro ch’ un fiato
Di vento, ch’ or vìen quinci ed or vien quindi,
E muta nome, þcrchè muta lato.

Dante in Purgatory, xi.


 This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translation:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1972, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 51 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse