[Andrew Frisardi]

A friend sent me this translation from Petrarch, sonnet no. 307, asking who the translator might be. We both believe it must be pre-twentieth century, but google searches have not dug up a name (though the translation is quoted)

Does anyone have a clue about this? Here’s the poem:

O lovely little bird, I watch you fly,
And grieving for the past I hear you sing.
I see the night and winter hastening,
I see the day and happy summer die.
If you could hear my heart in answer cry
Its pain to your sad tune, you’d swiftly wing
Into my bosom, comfort you would bring
And we would weep together, you and I.
’Tis no equality of woe I fear;
Perhaps she lives whom you bewail; from me
Have greedy death and heaven snatched my dear,
But the dark autumn evening hour sets free
The memory of many a banished year
So let us talk of the past then, tenderly.

[Mark Blaeuer]

I saw one internet reference that appeared to indicate it might be Morris Bishop (so a bit later than 19th century).

[Andrew Frisardi]

That was incredibly fast, Mark, thank you. I googled the first line with Bishop's name, and see that it's in an anthology published by Yale UP, and in fact is mid-century. This answers my friend's question, since she was hoping the poem is in the public domain to quote it in a book of hers. But alas, it's not.

Thanks again.

[Julie Steiner]

Seeking rights and permissions for things not in the public domain isn't always onerous. Can't hurt to ask.

http://yalebooks.com/contact-us#rights