Ah ! belle et chère et si douce un temps | Ah ! belle et chère et si douce un temps

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

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

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Deh! bella e cara e sí soave un tempo

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: FRE SPA

Deh! bella e cara e sí soave un tempo
cagion del viver mio, mentre a Dio piacque,
volgi una volta, volgi
quelle stelle amorose,
come le vidi mai, cosí tranquille
e piene di pietà, prima ch'i' moia,
ché 'l morir mi sia dolce.
E dritto è ben che, se mi fûro un tempo
dolci segni di vita, or sien di morte
que' begli occhi amorosi;
e quel soave sguardo,
che mi scorse ad amare,
mi scorga anco a morire;
e chi fu l'alba mia,
del mio cadente dí l'espero or sia.

Text Authorship:

by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), appears in Il Pastor Fido, Act III, Scene 3, lines 332-346 [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 Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643), "Deh! bella e cara e sí soave un tempo", published 1605 [ vocal quintet ], from Libro V de madrigali, no. 10, madrigal [sung text checked 1 time]

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

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Ah ! belle et chère et si douce un temps", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Javier Pablo Sotelo) , "¡Ah! Bella amada, tan suave en otro tiempo", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 91

Ah ! belle et chère et si douce un temps

Language: French (Français) after the Italian (Italiano)

Ah ! belle et chère et si douce un temps,
raison de ma vie, tant qu'il plaisait au ciel,
tourne une fois, tourne
ces étoiles amoureuses
comme je les ai vus jadis, 
avant que je meure,
pour que ma mort me soit douce.
Il est juste que s'ils ont été pour moi jadis
doux signes de vie, ils le soient maintenant de ma mort,
ces beaux yeux d'amour ;
et que ce doux regard
qui m'a guidé vers l'amour,
me guide aussi vers la mort ;
et que celle qui fut mon aube
soit aujourd'hui le crépuscule de ma vie.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to French (Français) copyright © 2012 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 Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 - 1612), appears in Il Pastor Fido, Act III, Scene 3, lines 332-346
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2013-01-25
Line count: 15
Word count: 97