Pietro Metastasio Quotes

Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio , was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.



Wikipedia  

✵ 3. January 1698 – 12. April 1782  •  Other names Metastasio
Pietro Metastasio photo

Works

Achille in Sciro
Pietro Metastasio
Achille in Sciro
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Metastasio: 9 quotes10 likes

Famous Pietro Metastasio Quotes

“The bee and the serpent often sip from the selfsame flower.”

Pietro Metastasio

L'ape e la serpe spesso
Suggon l'istesso umore;
Part I.
Morte d' Abele (1732)

“What will the stream become in its lengthened course, if it be so turbid at its source?”

Pietro Metastasio

Qual diverrà quel fiume,
Nel lungo suo cammino,
Se al fonte ancor vicino
É torbido così?
Part I.
Morte d' Abele (1732)

“The canker which the trunk conceals is revealed by the leaves, the fruit, or the flower.”

Pietro Metastasio

D'ogni pianta palesa l'aspetto
Il difetto, che il tronco nasconde
Per le fronde, dal frutto, o dal fior.
Part I.
Giuseppe Riconosciuto (1733)

“In the dark a glimmering light is often sufficient for the pilot to find the polar star and to fix his course. To the pilgrim often a single footstep suffices to enable him to find his way across the bewildering plain.”

Pietro Metastasio Achille in Sciro

Fra l' ombre un lampo solo
Basta al nocchier fugace
Che già ritrova il polo,
Già riconosce il mar.
Al pellegrin ben spesso
Basta un vestigio impresso,
Perchè la via fallace
Non l'abbia ad ingannar.
Act I, scene 6.
Achille in Sciro (1736)

“To take away life is a power which the vilest of the earth have in common; to give it belongs to gods and kings alone.”

Pietro Metastasio

Il torre altrui la vita
È facoltà commune
Al più vil della terra; il darla è solo
De' Numi, e de' Regnanti.
La Clemenza di Tito (1734), Act III, scene 7.

“If our inward griefs were seen written on our brow, how many would be pitied who are now envied!”

Pietro Metastasio

Se a ciascun l'interno affanno
Si leggesse in fronte scritto,
Quanti mai, che invidia fanno,
Ci farebbero pietà!
Part I.
Giuseppe Riconosciuto (1733)

“The fiery lava in the hollow bosom of the earth, if it be restrained, in spite of its prison, bursts forth with greater force; then flows abroad, but, as it flows, subverts, beats down, and overthrows plains, mountains, forests, and cities.”

Pietro Metastasio Achille in Sciro

Del terreno nel concavo seno
Vasto incendio se bolle ristretto,
A dispetto del carcere indegno,
Con più sdegno gran strada si fa.
Fugge allora; ma, intanto che fugge,
Crolla, abbatte, sovverte, distrugge
Piani, monti, foreste e città.
Act III, scene 3.
Achille in Sciro (1736)

“Know that the slender shrub which is seen to bend, conquers when it yields to the storm.”

Pietro Metastasio

Sai, che piegar si vede
Il docile arboscello,
Che vince allor che cede
Dei turbini al furor.
Il Trionfo di Clelia (1762), Act I, scene 8.

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