Michelangelo Buonarroti | O Notte, o dolce tempo | Sonetto 102

O notte, o dolce tempo, benché nero,

con pace ogn’ opra sempr’ al fin assalta;

ben vede e ben intende chi t’esalta,

e chi t’onor’ ha l’intelletto intero.

Tu mozzi e tronchi ogni stanco pensiero;

ché l’umid’ ombra ogni quiet’ appalta,

e dall’infima parte alla più alta

in sogno spesso porti, ov’ire spero.

O ombra del morir, per cui si ferma

ogni miseria a l’alma, al cor nemica,

ultimo delli afflitti e buon rimedio;

tu rendi sana nostra carn’ inferma,

rasciughi i pianti e posi ogni fatica,

e furi a chi ben vive ogn’ira e tedio.

O night, O sweetest time..| Sonnet 102

Oh night, oh sweetest time although obscure,

All things you consummate with your own peace.

He who understands and has a clear

Vision of you, honours you, knowing this.

You carry every weary thought away,

You make it possible for peace to grow;

From lowest things to highest, you convey

Me in my dreams to where I want to go.

Shadow of death, for whom all sufferings pause,

At whose arrival every sorrow goes,

Comfort of the afflicted at the last:

You strengthen our weak flesh and make it whole,

You dry our tears and rest the weary soul,

And from the just man snatch the painful past.

Second - English translation

O night, O sweetest time, though black of hue,

with peace you force all the restless work to end;

those who exalt you see and understand,

and he is sound of mind who honours you.

You cut the thread of tired thoughts, for so

you offer calm in your moist shade; you send

to this low sphere the dreams where we ascend

up to the highest, where I long to go.

Shadow of death that brings to quiet close

all miseries that plague the heart and soul,

for those in pain the last and best of cures;

you heal the flesh of its infirmities,

dry and our tears and shut away our toil,

and free the good from wrath and fretting cares

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