By Torquato Tasso (1544-1595)



My Translation


Silent woods and rivers,

And the ocean lays, waveless,

As the caves and winds call a peaceful truce,

And as the night is dark

The moon is white in lofty silence;

And we keep in secret

The sweetness of love:

Love does not speak or breathe--

Our kisses, silent; my sighs, silent.


Original Italian


Tacciono i boschi e i fiumi,

E ‘l mar senza onda giace,

Ne le spelonche i venti han tregua e pace,

E ne la notte bruna

Alto silenzio fa la bianca luna;

E noi tegnamo ascose

Le dolcezze amorose:

Amor non parli o spiri,

Sien muti i baci e muti i miei sospiri.

Year: 
2011