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Dunque romper la fè, dunque deggio io
Lasciar Alcippo mio, l'anima mia?
O pur deggio morir misera in prima?
S'io moro, ohime! quanto martir, Alcippo,
Partendomi da te, dolente havrai?
Forse vorrai seguirmi: ahi, che più temo
L'incerta tua, che la mia certa morte.
Ma s'io poi resto in quest’ amara vita,
Esser potrò d'altrui, se non d'Alcippo?
Ah, chè meglio è morir, mora Amarilli,
E viva la sua fede; e sia quel letto,
Ch'è fatto a brevi sonni et a diletti,
A me d'affanni e di perpetuo sonno.
English translation
Must I then break faith,
leave my Alcippus, my very soul?
Or should I, miserable, die first?
If I die, how much pain, Alcippus,
shall you suffer as I leave you?
Mayhap you'll want to follow me: ah! I fear the uncertainty
of your death much more than mine, which is certain!
But then again, if I remain in this bitter life,
coul I be anyone else's but Alcippus’?
Since it is better to die, let Amaryllis die
and her faithfulness live; and may that bed,
which was made for short slumbers and for pleasures,
be for me one of woes and perpetual sleep.
Italian text
English translation