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
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.
happiness grief would-be
If our inward griefs were written on our brows, how many who are envied now would be pitied. It would seem that they had their deadliest foe in their own breast, and their whole happiness would be reduced to mere seeming.
death mean evil
It is by no means a fact that death is the worst of all evils; when it comes it is an alleviation to mortals who are worn out with sufferings.
rocks pilots complaining
The pilot who is always dreading a rock or a tempest must not complain if he remain a poor fisherman. We must at times trust, something to fortune, for fortune has often some share in what happens.
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!].