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Primary sourceBook1878 translation

The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti · 1878 translation

A modern volunteer audio reading of Michelangelo's sonnets in a 19th-century English translation.

Contains Michelangelo's own sonnets, translated into English, revealing his personal voice as a poet.

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The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti, trans. John Addington Symonds, 1878. LibriVox volunteer reading, not the figure's own voice.

About this source

What it is

This is an audio recording of Michelangelo's sonnets, translated into rhymed English by John Addington Symonds and published in 1878. The recording itself is a modern LibriVox volunteer reading of the translated text, not Michelangelo's own voice.

Why it matters

These sonnets are Michelangelo's own poetry, showing a personal and reflective side of a man best known for monumental sculpture, painting and architecture. Symonds' translation made Michelangelo's poems accessible to English readers, shaping how later generations understood him as a thinker as well as an artist.

Look closer

  • Why is it important to know this is a translation and a modern reading, not Michelangelo speaking himself?
  • How might translating poetry change its meaning or feeling compared to the original Italian?
  • What does Michelangelo's choice to write poetry suggest about how he saw himself beyond his visual art?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Michelangelo Buonarroti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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