Care lagrime mie

General information

Author: Angelo Grillo.

Most settings only use the first part of the poem, and others, who use both, do not indicate them as two parts of an entity.

Settings by composers

• Giovanni Ghizzolo Soprano solo; first part only
• Hans Leo Hassler SATTB; first part only
• Luca Marenzio SSAAB; first part only
• Philippe de Monte SAATB; first part only
• Vincenzo Neriti da Salò
  • Care lagrime mie SATB; first part
  • Se del mio lagrimare SATB; second part
• Mogens Pedersøn SSATB; inserts two lines from the second part into the first one, see page for details.
• Andrea Rota SATTB; first part only

External websites:

• Article by Kitti Messina about Pedersøn's madrigals containing Grillo's text

First part

Italian text Care lagrime mie, messi dolenti di mie pene rie, poiché voi non potete far molle, ohime! quel core che non have pietà del mio dolore, almen per cortesia ammorzate l’accesa fiamma mia, o pur crescete tanto ch’io mi sommerga nel mio stesso pianto.

English text Dear tears of mine, sorrowful envoys of my cruel pains, since you cannot—alas!— soften that heart which has no pity for my grief, at least, out of courtesy, snuff out my burning flame, or else flow so intensely that I drown myself in my own tears. Translation by Campelli

German text Meine teuren Tränen, schmerzhafte Boten meiner grausamen Pein, da ihr nicht in der Lage seid, ach, zu erweichen dieses Herz, das kein Mitleid mit meinem Kummer hat, dann erstickt wenigstens aus Gefälligkeit meine brennende Flamme, oder schwellt derart an, dass ich in meinen eigenen Tränen untergehe. Translation by Gerhard Weydt

Second part

Italian text Se del mio lagrimare Hai fatt’, Amor, un mare, Deh, perch’in duro scoglio non trasformi costei piena d’orgoglio, Che facil forse fia, Che così cruda e ria, Mossa dall’onde del mio piant’, ahi lasso, men rigida mi sia cangiat’in sasso.

English text If by my weeping, Amor, you created an ocean, alas, why don’t you transform in solid stone one so full of pride? For easily it could happen that one so cruel and severe, moved by the surge of my tears, poor me, were less grim to me, if turned into stone. Translation by Gerhard Weydt

German text Wenn du durch mein Weinen, Amor, ein Meer geschaffen hast, ach, warum in einen harten Felsen verwandelst du nicht sie, die so voller Hochmut ist? Denn leicht könnte es geschehen, dass eine, die so grausam und hart ist, gerührt durch die Wogen meiner Tränen, ach ich Armer, weniger streng zu mir wäre, wäre sie in Stein verwandelt. Translation by Gerhard Weydt