Cara, cara e dolce libertà,
Cara, dolce libertà,
L'alma mia consoli tu.
Più non vive in servitù
S'il mio cor sciolto s'en va.

Vola, fuggi pure, vola fuggi pur da me,
Vola, fuggi pur da me,
Faretrato Dio d'amor.
E già libero il mio cor
Se più lacci il pié non ha.

Note from submittor: The original poem was undoubtedly in 8 lines of 7 syllables each. The composer manipulated the first line of each stanza, as shown above, repeating enough words to produce 9 syllables. In the first line of the second stanza (John Edmunds edition) the word "sola" ("alone" or "only") occurs, but there is nothing to which a feminine adjective can refer; "vola" must be intended.

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Alessandro Scarlatti (1659 - 1725), "Cara, cara e dolce" [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Set in a modified version by Alessandro Scarlatti.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

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

• ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , title 1: "Dear, dear and sweet freedom", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: John Glenn Paton [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-05-13
Line count: 10
Word count: 52

Dear, dear and sweet freedom,
dear, sweet freedom,
you console my soul.
It no longer lives in servitude
if my heart, set loose, goes its way.

Fly, flee then, then from me,
fly, flee then from me,
god of love, armed with a quiver.
My heart is already free
if its feet are not bound.