VIII. Non mi curo più di te
The Defiant Rejection of Temptation
The speaker firmly declares their detachment from the enemy, refusing to engage with the bait of worldly pleasures.
I don't care about you anymore: I've taken hold of strong branches, I won't answer when you call, I'll make a mockery of you.12 O enemy, I’ve already passed the doubtful road; my Jesus has set me free—don’t keep watch for me there. I’ve been given grace so I won’t fall—don’t try the bait and the hooks anymore; I don’t answer when you call; I’ll mock you.3 You thought you had a big job, dangling pleasures in front of me; I don't even want to think about anything that would offend my Lord. Come on—leave me alone now! I don't want any more of your summons; I won't answer when you call; I'll make a mockery of you.
Turning Toward Infinite Goodness
The speaker shifts focus from the enemy's wounds to the contemplation of sin and the infinite goodness of God.
Oh, leave me alone now with that deadly wound of yours! I want to think on my sins, and on God, infinite goodness; I want to set my life to doing so much that God will love me.4 I won't answer, even though you call; I'll make a mockery of you.5
The Finality of Grace
The speaker asserts that worldly ways are empty and commits their soul entirely into the hands of God.
Go ahead then—show me every pleasure you can, every one you know. Even if it were you and everything you have, you'll get nothing else from me.6 As for the rest—enough now of these false and wretched ways! I won't answer when you call; I'll make a mockery of you.7 You've been very careful, I mean, to keep me far from God. I've made you unhappy; otherwise, He would have died in vain.✦8 I've put into His hand the soul, so He may call it back to Himself.✦9 I won't answer when you call; I'll make a mockery of you.
Read the original Latin
Non mi curo più di te: Aggio preso forti rami, Non rispondo perchè chiami, Beffe mi farò di te.
O nimico, i’ ò passato Oramai la dubia strada; Gesù mio m’ à liberato, Non istare a quella bada. Grazia ò auto ch’ io non cada, Non provar più l’ esca e gli ami; Non rispondo, perchè chiami, Beffe mi farò di te.
Credesti aver gran faccenda, Con piaceri a me mostrare; Non che ’l mio Signore offenda, Non ci voglio pur pensare. Deh omai lasciami stare! I’ non vo’ più tuo’ richiami; Non rispondo, perchè chiami; Beffe mi farò di te.
Deh omai lasciami stare Con la tua mortal ferita! A’ peccati i’ vo’ pensare Ed a Dio, bontà infinita, Io vo’ metter la mie vita In far tanto che Dio m’ ami. Non rispondo, perchè chiami; Beffe mi farò di te.
Or ne mostra quanto puoi De’ piacer quanti ne sai. Se tu fussi tu e’ tuoi, Da me altro non arai. Deh pel resto sia omai Questi modi falsi e grami! Non rispondo, perchè chiami: Beffe mi farò di te.
Tu se’ stato molto attento Farmi, dico, a Dio lontano. I’ t’ ò fatto malcontento: Or sarebbe morto invano. Dato gli ò nella suo mano L’ alma ch’ a sè la richiami. Non rispondo, perchè chiami; Beffe mi farò di te.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gal.2.21 — I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
- ↩Ps.31.5;Luke.23.46 — Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. Luke.23.46 — And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last.
Notes
- 1 ↩Tuscan aggio = ho ('I have'). Forti rami is kept as the source image of grasping firm support (branches/boughs), not paraphrased into abstract 'security.'
- 2 ↩Rendered as 'when you call' (temporal/defiant refusal). Older Italian perché can also be concessive ('though you call'); either sense fits the renunciation of the enemy.
- 3 ↩ò auto = ho avuto ('I have had'); rendered as 'I've been given grace' to keep divine-gift force of grazia without inventing a passive agent beyond the text.
- 4 ↩A’ peccati: plural sins the speaker turns to examine; la mie vita is Tuscan for la mia vita.
- 5 ↩perchè here is taken as concessive (though/even though you call), matching the defiant refrain against the world's summons; a causal reading (because you call) is less natural in context.
- 6 ↩«tu e' tuoi» is the tempter's company/side («you and yours»); rendered as a full-force conditional, not a mere personal pronoun pair.
- 7 ↩«perchè chiami» taken as temporal/circumstantial («when you call»), matching the chapter refrain; not strict causal «because you call».
- 8 ↩Subject of 'sarebbe morto' is unstated. In this renunciation-of-the-world stanza, the likeliest sense is Christ (cf. Gal 2:21): by breaking free, the speaker has made the tempter discontented, and so Christ's death is not wasted on the soul. 'Or' is temporal 'now'; the counterfactual force is supplied by context, not by an explicit 'altrimenti'.
- 9 ↩'nella suo mano' keeps the source's non-agreement (suo for sua); rendered as 'His hand' with God as antecedent from s1.
Storie Sacre and Laude of Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici companion
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