“Now spread the night her spangled canopy,
And summoned every restless eye to sleep;
On beds of tender grass the beasts down lie,
The fishes slumbered in the silent deep,
Unheard were serpent's hiss and dragon's cry,
Birds left to sing, and Philomen to weep,
Only that noise heaven's rolling circles kest,
Sung lullaby to bring the world to rest.”

Era la notte allor ch'alto riposo
Han l'onde e i venti, e parea muto il mondo,
Gli animai lassi, e quei che 'l mare ondoso,
O de' liquidi laghi alberga il fondo,
E chi si giace in tana, o in mandra ascoso,
E i pinti augelli nell’oblio giocondo
Sotto il silenzio de' secreti orrori
Sopían gli affanni, e raddolciano i cori.
Canto II, stanza 96 (tr. Fairfax)
Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Original

Era la notte allor ch'alto riposo Han l'onde e i venti, e parea muto il mondo, Gli animai lassi, e quei che 'l mare ondoso, O de' liquidi laghi alberga il fondo, E chi si giace in tana, o in mandra ascoso, E i pinti augelli nell’oblio giocondo Sotto il silenzio de' secreti orrori Sopían gli affanni, e raddolciano i cori.

Gerusalemme Liberata (1581)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Torquato Tasso 94
Italian poet 1544–1595

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