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Cupid went by with his bow unstrung
Cupid went by with his bow unstrung,
with downcast eyes, soft and shy;
he carelessly passed me by.
What little time I had to enjoy this.
For then Fate out of spite said:
"Hold on, Cupid, why rush on so fast?”
The blind boy, Cupid, ran back to me
Furious at being scolded in this way,
O that he hadn't been for he's now on fire!
Ah meadows, woods and wildernesses you grow
with hearts as carefree as mine once was,
why does nothing so bad ever bother you?
English translation by Paul Archer of the text of Passava Amor su arco desarmado by an anonymous composer and published in A Musicall Banquet by Robert Dowland (1610). The text was taken from the first three and fourteenth stanzas of a twenty-four stanza villanelle by Jorge de Montemayor.
Passava Amor, su arco desarmado
Passava Amor, su arco desarmado,
los ojos baxos, blando y muy modesto;
dexava m'ya atras muy descuidado.
Quam poco espacio pude gozar esto.
Fortuna de embidiosa dixo luego:
"Teneos, Amor; porque vays tam presto?”
Bolui de presto a mi el nigno ciego,
Muy enoiado enversé reprehendido
Que no ay reprehension do sta su fuego.
Ay prados, bosques, selvas, que criastes,
tan libre corazón como ere el mio,
porque tan grande mal no te estorbastes.
Recording. Monika Mauch accompanied by Nigel North.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxZ4LwHQT0Y
Copyright notice. The translation is provided as an aid to musicians and audiences. Publication of the translation in print or digital formats is expressly forbidden unless permission from the author has been first obtained and acknowledgement of authorship is duly made. Permission will usually be granted so please contact Paul Archer with details of how you wish to make use of the translation.
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