“Oh come mal si avvolge affetto vero
Fra pompose parole ! un tacer havvi,
Figlio d’amor, che tutto esprime, e dice
Più che lingua non puote, ”
“How ill doth true affection show, tricked out
In pompous phrase! Rather that silence seek,
The child of love, that all things can express,
And telleth more than ever tongue can tell.”
“Oh debil arte, oh mal secura scorta,
Che il mal attendi, e no 'l previeni accorta!”
“Oh feeble art, worthless guide, that still
Awaits, and seeks not to prevent, the ill.”
Oh! felice chi mai nou pose il piede
Fuor della terra, nel cui grembo nacque!”
“Oh happy he who ne’er has set his foot
Without the country from whose soil he sprang.”
“Oh lasso!
Quanti dolci pensier, quanto disio
Mend costoro al doloroso passo!”
“Alas!
How many sweet thoughts, and what yearning fears
Have led both these into this dolorous pass!"—(J. I. Minchin. )
Oh! le vecchie, le vecchie, amico mio,
Portano chi le porta, e lo so io.”
“Old women, my good friend, I know ’tis true,
If you put up with them, put up with you.”
“Oh meraviglia! Amor ch’ appena e nato
Gia grande vola e gia trionfa armato.”
“Oh marvel! Love, though born but yesterday,
Spreads wide his wings and triumphs in the fray.”
“Oh quanto riesce
Difficil cosa il maneggiar sul trono
Le bilance d’Astrea! Spogliar si deve
D’ogni passion chi regna, e a sposi e a figli
E ad amanti e nemici esser eguale.”
“How hard a thing
It proves to handle rightly on the throne
The balance of Astrea! Whoso reigns
Must of all passions strip himself, and be
The same to spouse and children, friends and foes.”
“La bilancia d’Astrea spesso di mano
Cade, a chi armato e del poter sovrano.”
“Whoso hath armed his hand with sovereign power
Lets fall Astrea’s balance from that hour.”
