LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,111)
  • Text Authors (19,486)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

Quattro Canti

Song Cycle by Giovanni Sgambati (1841 - 1914)

1. Visione
 (Sung text)

Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Come nebbia leggera,
tra dolci fantasie
d'amor mi sorridesti!
Era una vaga sera!
Tu m'eri lungi, ed io 
avea di te desio.

Ti riconobbe il core,
fra quei sogni disparve
ogni altra imago, e solo
di quei giorni d'amore
pensai tanto beati
ma pari a fior, passati!

Tu fuggisti! Ove sei,
o pallido, leggero,
adorato fantasma
riso dei sogni miei?
L'alma che tu sostieni
palpita, chiede, ah! vieni!

Text Authorship:

  • by Decio Cortesi (1850 - 1933)

Go to the general single-text view

Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

2. Care luci
 (Sung text)

Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Care luci dal sonno addormentate
fedel v'adorerò così sopite.
Se a lo lamento mio vi risvegliate
l'eco del mio dolor deh! rispettate!
Amor mi spinge, e voi qui mi tirate
come del ferro fan le calamite.
Chiudetevi, begli occhi, e riposate,
che le dolenti voci ho già finite.

Non temete di me, che piano piano
intorno girerò senza svegliarvi.
Non bacerò nemmen la bella mano,
e non starò vicino ma lontano.
Benché mi punga amor, sarò discreto,
e mai non svelerò lo mio segreto.
No, mai dirò che peno e che sospiro:
che contro il mio destino ognor m'adiro.
No, non vi sveglierò, luci gradite,
fedel v'adorerò benché sopite.

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Go to the general single-text view

Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

3. Tu sei proprio come un fiore
 (Sung text)

Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Tu sei proprio come un fiore
sì gentile e bella e pura
ti contemplo e in cuor mi sento
un'acuta trafittura.

Io vorrei posar le mani 
sul tuo capo o verginella
e pregar che Iddio ti serbi
sì gentile e pura e bella!

Text Authorship:

  • Singable translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 47, first published 1825
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

3. Thou'rt like a tender flow'ret
 (Sung text)

Language: English 
Thou'rt like a tender flow'ret
So guileless, so fair and sweet:
I look on thee and sadly
My boding pulses beat.

My hands would rest in blessing
upon thy sunny hair
Praying that Heaven preserve thee,
so guileless, sweet and fair!

Text Authorship:

  • Singable translation by Frederick Corder (1852 - 1932)

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 47, first published 1825
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

4. Prière
 (Sung text)

Language: French (Français) 
Ah! si vous saviez comme on pleure
De vivre seul et sans foyers, 
Quelquefois devant ma demeure 
Vous passeriez. 

Si vous saviez ce que fait naître 
Dans l'âme triste un pur regard, 
Vous regarderiez ma fenêtre 
Comme au hazard. 

Si vous saviez quel baume apporte 
Au coeur la présence d'un cœur, 
Vous vous assoiriez sous ma porte 
Comme une sœur. 

Si vous saviez que je vous aime, 
Surtout si vous saviez comment, 
Vous entreriez peut-être même 
Tout simplement.

Text Authorship:

  • by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Prière", written 1872, appears in Les vaines tendresses, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "Könyörgés"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 340
Gentle Reminder

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris