No sino fuera yo...
I am reading Antología Poética by Francisco de Quevedo. I came upon a poem with the first line that said-
¡No sino fuera yo quien solamente tuviera libertad después de veros!
I cannot get the "No sino fuera yo" part, but the rest I understand. I know in English you can say, It was but I, but in that line it says no sino, and I don´t think you can say, It was not but I...jeje. I am stuck.
16 Answers
Hola a todos:
See this URL where the first line is exactly as La Poetisa has quoted it.
Look here ---->Soneto 300
I understand this is also found at "Obras, Volume 7 By Francisco Gomez de Quevedo y Villegas". I was unable to reproduce that link but give my assurance that it was there.
Here is a link to my Google search page. Several of these references confirm that La Poetisa's quote is correct. See these references ---->Search Results
Based on these written evidences I would have to support La Poetisa in her claim that her quote is authentic.
It is unfortunate that this shadow has been cast over which of the versions is correct. It only serves to confuse the correct translation.
I think it is a difficult phrase. I'm no "poetiso" 
, but I understand that poetry is an art, not a science. Therefore it is open and subject to interpretation.
Several native speakers have expressed an opinion, and there is no clear and absolute consensus, as far as I can tell. I understood something different from what your boyfriend did, I like very much the interpretation that Heidita provided (regardless of whether Quevedo wrote "sino" or "si no"), and I still read it the way I stated in my original post. So... is it possible to reach a final conclusion?
About poetry? About art?
I don't think so.
After all, lots of books have been written just about the meaning behind "El Guernica" de Picasso, about the poems of Neruda, about the "real meaning" of most passages of the Bible, about what the heck they were really talking about in the Popol Vuh... So why stress about this?
Today it may mean something to you. In 5 or 10 years you may look at it again, and see it completely differently. Happens to me a lot, anyway.
Hola, La Poetisa:
I found a web site (here ----> Spanish link) and I asked Google to translate it, which it did, (here ----> English link). Item number 4. Musa Erato IV at list item 10 is the same reference as your question. Google translates it as "Not only was I, who only" found freedom after seeing you (italics added by me).
What do you think?
Does this make any more sense to you within the poem you were reading?
It is close to your own "It was but I", but, "Not only was I" makes more sense to me. But, I did not look at the next line of text to understand that context.
Es poesía en ella existen muchas reglas, sobre todo en la poesía de hace siglos... todo varia según la epoca y el país del autor del poema. En los poemas se encuentran muchas palabras desconocidas en estos tiempos y frases que hoy en día ya no se usan.
por ejemplo;
me quiere o tambien puedes decir quierome... dependiendo.
Well, I suppose its more the grammar that bothers me than the actual meaning. I have never seen words grouped together like that. I cannot get it to make sense in my head.
Like the first time I saw gracias por haberme invitado. I was like, Whoa! I had never seen that before, and it made no sense to me whatsoever. Someone gave a good explanation about the grammar, and then I just had to look it over a few times. After that I got it 100 percent.
I tried to look sino up in the dictionary to see all the usages. I did find no sino, and posted the entry above. I guess if anyone could explain the grammar to me, without trying to give a good translation of the phrase no sino fuera yo, that would be great. 
Thanks again to all of you for the help!!!
Thank you Moe, I appreciate your help very much with backing my statement.
This confusion with the two phrases really messes with the translation. The one that Moe gave, "Not only was I", seems like the one which makes more sense to me.
I did ask my boyfriend (a native speaker) last night. His answer very much confuses me. He told me that the poet is saying with that phrase that he was the only one who didn´t receive freedom from the woman. That the no in the beginning actually is to make his statement negative, and not meant to say that it was not just him.
Can anyone else see how he got this?
No, it says word for word-
No sino fuera yo...
I copied it strait out of the book I have. I am 100 percent sure that is exactly what it says. Perhaps the person who created that site made a typo. I trust my book more... My book does not say "no si no fuera yo".
Nicki, mira la frase original en cervantesvirtual.com
Por el " sino " , tambien se pude entender el destino , pero eso seria un castellano antiguo , actualmente en desuso . Podria ser probable , teniendo en cuenta que el texto , segun dices , es de Quevedo . Concuerda bastante . Hoy en dia ,si lo utiliza alguien , sería algun escritor , como recurso literario . Poco mas . De todas formas , me inclino mas por la version de Heidi , de que la realidad sea "si no" , e interpreto mas bien que puede deberse a una errata , porque sino la frase no tiene demasiado sentido .
But that is not what it said.
It says exactly-
No sino fuera yo...
Hi Nicki, please go to the site I included in my answer, the quote you have is NOT correct, so what it does say is:
si no
You have to quote from a serious site Sino and si no are often confused.
But that is not what it said.
It says exactly-
No sino fuera yo...
HI nicki, now you have to quote correctly
¡No si no fuera yo quien solamente
tuviera libertad después de veros!
Fuerza, no atrevimiento, fue el quereros,y presunción penar tan altamente.
Not unless it were only I who were free after seeing you!
Poetisa, my interpretation is that Quevedo is addressing his poem to someone lofty, probably used to receiving much attention, so this poet is certainly not the only suitor, and not the only one who finds release by the mere privilege of seeing this extraordinary person.
So I agree with Moe's take that he means "Not only was I".
"No if it only were me who would only be free after seeing you."
Then again, I fully acknowledge that poetry has always been a rather mysterious art to me. 
Oh, and here is some more of the poem-
¡No sino fuera yo quien solamente
tuviera libertad después de veros!
Fuerza, no atrevimiento, fue el quereros,
y presunción penar tan altamente.
Moe,
Thank you. I searched the phrase, I could not find anything.
I just searched sino in the dictionary and found this-
3. Solely, only: always proceded by a negative proposition. * No sino -> not only so
I just cannot get my mind to process this phrase yet... 
