Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Metastasio
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...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth3 January 1698
grief men envy
If the internal griefs of every man could be read, written on his forehead, how many who now excite envy would appear to be the objects of pity?
winter wind roots
The aged oak upon the steep stands more firm and secure if assailed by angry winds; for if the winter bares its head, the more strongly it strikes its roots into the ground, acquiring strength as it loses beauty.
ocean wind sea
Though the Indian ocean abounds in rich and rare gems, it does not boast a clearer sky nor more unruffled sea. If there be a shore that dreads not the fury of the faithless billows, it is some poor and narrow inlet unknown to the winds.
love heart choices
Love is a feeling that comes into our hearts of our own choice for neither force nor harshness can limit the heart's freedom.
fear risk noble
Every noble acquisition is attended with its risks; he who fears to encounter the one must not expect to obtain the other.
grief would-be inward
If our inward griefs were seen written on our brow, how many would be pitied who are now envied! [It., Se a ciascun l'interno affanno Si leggesse in fronte scritto, Quanti mai, che invidia fanno, Ci farebbero pieta!].
light shining grace
Of all faults the greatest is the excess of impious terror, dishonoring divine grace. He who despairs wants love, wants faith; for faith, hope, and love are three torches which blend their light together, nor does the one shine without the other.
sacrifice offering soul
Prepare thy soul calmly to obey; such offering will be more acceptable to God than every other sacrifice.
god wish may
If you wish to behold God, you may see Him in every object around; search in your breast, and you will find Him there. And if you do not yet perceive where He dwells, confute me, if you can, and say where He is not.
school wind way
Fortune is the best school of courage when she is fraught with anger, in the same way as winds and tempests are the school of the sailorboy.