That gentle lady you loved so much Quella donna gentil, ch'amaste tanto
That gentle lady you loved so much
while she lived on this earth carried heavy
burdens--now she is freed, released, she hears
your profound sighs and your anguished crying,

She grieves for you and thus speaks to you:
"How many times when we lived together
were you troubled for me, wanted for me
to be at peace who now live happily.

I didn't love you for what made me despised,
and I didn't curb my life force in your hands,
since you just valued what was frail in me.

So stop, wipe away the tears bathing
your breast, so the soul waiting in heaven
may love you with more pure rejoicing than
ever she did while she was on the earth."

Quella donna gentil, ch'amaste tanto
Mentre fu 'n terra, hor che nel Cielo sciolta
Dal grave incarco vive, et indi ascolta
I sospir vostri e l'agoscioso pianto,

Di voi si duole, e così dice: "Ahi quanto
Con la tua vita solo a pianger volta
Turbi 'l mio stato e la mia pace molta
E questo viver mio felice e santo!

Io non t'amai perché 'l mio bene odiassi,
Né in man ti dei della mia vita 'l freno
Perch'il frale di me solo pregiassi.

Dunque asciuga le lagrime che 'l seno
Ti bagnan sempre, e l'alma, che 'n ciel stassi,
Ama più che non festi il suo terreno".

La Sig. ra Veronica da Correggio.

Sources:

1995 Bullock 51:116-7; ABullock, "Per Una Edizione Critica della Rime di Veronica Gambara," Veronica Gambara e la Poesia del Suo Tempo, pp. 108-109. For Key see A Note on the Italian texts

Comments:

Bullock found this in a 16th century miscellany, Poesie Toscane e Latine di Diversi Autori del 1500; it is the third of five poems either to or on Bembo which I have been able to see; this one laments the death of Morosina, the woman with whom Bembo lived and who bore his children; she died in 1535 at age 38. See 1995 Bullock pp. 116-17n. This is the one for which Bembo thanked Gambara so profusely on October 16, 1536. See Giorgio Dilemmi in his "Ne Videatur Strepere Anser Iner Olores", Veronica Gambara e la Poesia del Suo Tempo, p. 32.
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