Fenice fu' - Jacopo da Bologna (Ars nova italiana)

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Fenice fu' - Jacopo da Bologna (fl. 1339 - 1360)
Madrigale


Fenice fu' et vissi pura et morbida
Et or sun trasmutata in una tortora
Che volo con amor per le bell'ortora.

Arbore secho [mai né] aqua torbida
No me deleta mai per questo dubito:
Vass'en la 'state, 'l verno ven de subito.

Tal vissi et tal me vivo et posso scrivere
Ch'a donna non è più che honesta vivere.

La Reverdie
"Jacopo da Bologna: madrigali e cacce", Arcana, 2005



Once, when a phoenix, my life was pure and tender;
this hour transmuted to a turtledove
who flies forlorn through the beautiful orchards.

I can never be pleased by a withered tree
or muddied water. On account of these qualms:
summer goes, and winter comes at once.

Thus I lived and thus I live, and I can write
that nothing is better for a woman than an honest life.