Cipriano de Rore - Mentre, lumi maggior

Mentre'l lume maggior del secol nostro
Sotto'l belgico ciel porge la luce
Al carro ch'a l'oprar e al sonno induce,
Nova Delia et Apollo splendor vostro;

Et mentr'il sant'amor fra lor'e l'ostro
Da Ie perle e i robini al cor traluce,
Et a l'alto gioir vi riconduce,
Cui non cape pensier nè adombr'inchiostro.

Le caste nimphe su l'herbose sponde
De la Trebia e del Taro in negro manto
Doglionsi d'ogni lor gloria sparita,

Et colme di desir vaghe di pianto
Tra mestissimi accenti et gli antri e l’onde,
Fan risonar Ottavio et Margherita.

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Whilst, O brightest lminaries of our age,
your splendour, as of a new Delia and Apollo,
lends its radiance beneath the Flemish sky
to the sky-chariot that dictates work and rest
and whilst the sacred love, midst gold and purple
from pearls and rubies filters to the heart
and leads you to a noble joy
that though cnnot fathom, ink cannot express,
the chaste nymphs on the grassy banks
of the Trebbia and the Taro, veiled in black,
bewail the vanishing of all their glory.
and filled with despair, restless in their grief,
with the most doleful plaints cause rocks and waves
to re-echo the names of Ottavio and Margherita.