Il mio bel foco,
O Iontano o vicino
Ch'esser poss'io,
Senza cangiar mai tempre
Per voi, care pupille,
Arderà sempre.

Quella fiamma che m'accende
Piace tanto all'alma mia,
Che giammai s'estinguerà.
E se il fato a voi mi rende,
Vaghi rai del mio bel sole,
Altra luce ella non vuole
Nè voler giammai potrà.

Note: many publications still attribute the song to Marcello, but recent research shows this is incorrect. Please see John Glenn Paton's Gateway to Italian Art Songs for more information.

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 Francesco Bartolomeo Conti (1681 - 1732) and misattributed to Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (1686 - 1739), "Il mio bel foco", note: the recitative beginning "Quella fiamma che m'accende" is very likely a phony, constructed by a 19th century editor named Carl Banck [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "My fire of love", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Mein Liebesfeuer", copyright © 2001, (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: 13
Word count: 54

My fire of love,
however far 
or near I might be,
never changing,
will always be burning 
for you, dear eyes.

That flame which kindled me
is so pleased with my soul
that it never dies.
And if fate entrusts me to you,
lovely rays of my beloved sun,
my soul will never be able
to long for any other light.