Se tranquillo a te d'accanto

Se tranquillo a te d'accanto,
  Donna mia, talun mi vede,
  O felice appien mi crede,
  O guarito dall'amor:

Ma non tu, che sai pur quanto
  Combattuto e oppresso ho il cor.

Come lago, che stagnante
  Par che dorma, e appena mova,
  Ma tempeste in fondo cova
  Sconosciute al vïator,

[Muta]2 calma ho nel sembiante,
  Ho scompiglio [in]2 fondo al cor.

Se un sospiro, se un lamento
  Il timore a me contende,
  Dell'amore che m' accende
  Non scemò l' intenso ardor;

Come lampa in monumento,
  Non veduto avvampa in cor.

E vivrà benchè represso,
  Benchè privo di conforto;
  E vivrebbe, ancor che morto
  Lo volesse il tuo rigor:

Chè alimento da sè stesso
  Prende amore in nobil cor.

Translation(s): CAT FRE GER GER

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Liriche del Cavaliere Felice Romani, Torino, Tipografia dei Fratelli Favale, 1841, pages 269-270.

Authorship

• by Felice Romani (1788 - 1865), "Il mistero" [ author's text checked 1 time]

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

• by (Carl) Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (1810 - 1849), "Romanze: Il mistero", op. 24 no. 2, stanzas 1-2 [voice and piano], confirmed with a CD booklet [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), "Il mistero", 1845 [voice and piano], from 6 Romanze, no. 5, also set in German (Deutsch) [ sung text verified 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist CAT FRE 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) , "El misteri", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le mystère", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Das Geheimnis", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Le mystère

Si tranquille près de toi,
Ma dame, quelqu'un me voyait,
Ou il me croirait complètement heureux,
Ou guéri de l'amour ;

Mais pas toi, qui sais pourtant combien
Je combats et oppresse est mon cœur.

Comme un lac, qui stagne,
Paraît dormir et bouger à peine,
mais couve des tempêtes en son sein
Inconnues du passant,

Bien que je sois tout à fait calme en apparence,
J'ai la confusion au fond de mon cœur.

Si un soupir ou une plainte
La terreur me les retient,
De l'amour qui me brûle
Je ne décrois pas le feu intense.

Comme une lampe dans un monument
Il brûle invisible dans mon cœur.

Et il vivra bien que retenu
Bien que privé de confort,
Et il vivrait encore après la mort
Si ta rigueur le voulait,

Parce que de lui-même s'alimente
L'amour dans un noble cœur.

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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.
  
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• a text in Italian (Italiano) by Felice Romani (1788 - 1865), "Il mistero" CAT GER GER
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai, Giuseppe Verdi. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2015-06-13.
Last modified: 2015-10-07 15:38:58
Line count: 24
Word count: 142