triplum: I have trusted so much to my heart and my pride,
Cherishing the one who deceived me
And reviling the one who loved me,
That I have missed out
On the very sweet gifts Love has provided
Many a deprived heart out of Her pity,
Nourishing it with the very great joy
For which I languish.
Alas! thus has my cruel heart betrayed me,
For never towards my lover, who served
And loved me more than himself,
Have I let my heart be touched,
So that I granted him my love.
Now I am certain he loves another than me,
Who, cheerfully promising him her mercy,
Has accepted him.
So I have to pay dearly for this,
Loving him so much no one could do more.
But it’s too late: I cannot win back
His love;
And thus I fear that, should I implore him,
He would not deign to hear or listen to me,
All because of my pride, which made me trust
Too much to my foolishness;
And if I wish to hide my pain from him,
Desire, set aflame by the heat of love,
Tortures my body and puts my heart
On a path toward death.
So I prefer telling him that I languish,
To dying in this way, without savouring
The joy whose taste is perfect
Sweetness;
And let nobody blame me for saying it,
For love, need, and desire for fulfilment
Make trespass moderation and go beyond good sense.
motetus:
Alas! I run the risk
Of dying from a death as harsh
As that from which fair Narcissus died,
Who filled his heart with so much pride
—Because he possessed a pure beauty
Surpassing that of all human creatures—
That he never deigned to listen to the prayer
Of Echo, who for him
Suffered a bitter and gloomy death;
But Good Love with a well-aimed [arrow of] love
Made him love and cherish
His own reflection, which he pleaded with
So much that he died from his passionate beseeching.
Alas! and I fear I’ll die the same death,
For never, when my sweet friend
Loved me dearly, did I care for him;
Now I love him and he hates me, woe is me!
Such is women’s nature.
tenor:
Might I die for you / I shall die for you, my son.
English: R Barton Palmer � 2017