Edition notes: Source: Cipriani Rore: Opera omnia, ed. Bernhard Meier, A.I.M., 1975. Notation here is a major second higher than the original, with time values halved. Translation and presentation by John Hetland and the Renaissance Street Singers. 11 Apr 2020
Párce míhi Dómine,
níhil énim sunt díes méi.
Quid est hómo, quía magníficas éum?
aut quid appónis érga éum cor túum?
Vísitas éum dilúculo,
et súbito próbas íllum.
Usquequo non párcis míhi,
nec dimíttis me
ut glútiam sálivam méam?
Peccávi;
quid fáciam tíbi, o cústos hóminum?
Quáre me posuísti contrárium tíbi,
et fáctus sum mihimetípsi grávis?
Cur non tóllis peccátum méum,
et quáre non áufers iniquitátem méam?
Ecce nunc in púlvere dórmiam;
et si máne me quaesíeris,
non subsístam.
English translation
Spare me, Lord,
for my days are nothing.
What is man, that you make much of him?
or set your heart against him?
You take a look at him at dawn,
And at once you test him.
How long do you neither spare me
nor send me away
to swallow my spittle?
I have sinned;
what do I do to you, O keeper of mankind?
Why have you set me against you,
and made me a burden to yourself?
Why do you not pardon my sin,
and why not take away my iniquity?
Behold now, I shall sleep in the dust;
and if in the morning you seek me,
I shall not be.