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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885)
Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Ad una stella
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE GER GER SPA
Bell'astro della terra, 
Luce amorosa e bella,
Come desia quest'anima
Oppressa e prigioniera
Le sue catene infrangere,
Libera a te volar!

Gl'ignoti abitatori
Che mi nascondi, o stella,
Cogl'angeli s'abbracciano
Puri fraterni amori,
Fan d'armonie cogl'angeli
La spera tua sonar.

Le colpe e i nostri affanni
Vi sono a lor segreti,
Inavvertiti e placidi 
Scorrono i giorni e gli anni,
Nè mai pensier li novera,
Nè li richiama in duol.

Bell'astro della sera,
Gemma che il cielo allieti,
Come alzerà quest'anima
Oppressa e prigioniera
Dal suo terreno carcere
Al tuo bel raggio il vol!

Note for stanza 2, line 6, word 2: Some publications and online sources have modernized the word "spera" to "sfera". As of June 13 2015, we found 3 out of 4 published books indexed by Google used the spelling "spera".

Text Authorship:

  • by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), "Ad una stella", 1845 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Romanze, no. 3, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Giuseppe Verdi.
      • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A una estrella", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Betsy Schwarm) , "To a star", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À une étoile", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Julia Hamann) , "An einem Stern", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Einem Stern", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "A una estrella", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 94

À une étoile
Language: French (Français)  after the Italian (Italiano) 
Bel astre de la terre,
Lumière amoureuse et belle,
Comme cette âme désire,
Oppressée et prisonnière,
De briser ses chaînes,
D'être libre de voler vers toi !

Les habitants inconnus
Que tu me caches, ô étoile,
S'embrassent avec les anges,
Dans un pur amour fraternel,
Font d'harmonie avec les anges
Résonner ta sphère.

Nos fautes et nos soucis
Sont secrets pour eux là-bas,
Non perçus et calmes,
Les jours et les années passent,
Ne pensant jamais à les compter,
Ne s'en souvenant pas dans la douleur.

Bel astre du soir,
Gemme qui réjouis le ciel,
Si cette âme s'élevait,
Oppressée et prisonnière,
De sa prison terrestre
Vers ton beau rayon en vol !

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Italian (Italiano) by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885)
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2015-06-13
Line count: 24
Word count: 111

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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