Six Arias

Song Cycle by Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848)

View original-language texts alone: Sei arie

1. Romanza moresca
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Il mio grido io getto ai venti
Perchè il portin da qui lunge
Ed il suon de' miei lamenti
Fino ad ella mai non giunge.
O pastore, hai tu veduta
La mia donna ch'ho perduta?

I suoi sguardi son due freccie,
Come il giglio ha bianco il viso,
Come il corvo ha nere trecce,
Come l'alba ha dolce il riso;
E si chiama Juanita.
La mia donna ch'è fuggita.

Son tre giorni e son tre notti
Che la cerco e non la trovo;
Per dirupi aspri e dirotti
I miei passi invano io muovo.
Dimmi, dimmi, hai tu veduta
La mia donna ch'ho perduta?

I suoi sguardi...

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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Note: some versions use the name Caterina instead of Juanita.


by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
1. Romance of Moresca
Language: English 
I cast my cry to the winds
That they may carry it far from here
And that the sound of my laments
May never reach her.
O shepherd, have you seen
My lady whom I have lost?

Her eyes are like two arrows,
Like the lily her face is white,
Like the raven her locks are black;
Like dawn her smile is sweet;
And her name is Juanita,
My lady who has fled.

It is three days and three nights
That I search and haven't found her;
Over rough and ragged cliffs
I move my steps in vain.
Tell me, tell me, have you seen
My lady whom I have lost?

Her eyes...

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 113

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh
1. Ov'è la voce magica
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Ov'è la voce magica,
Le magiche parole
Della leggiadra vergine
Più cara a me del sole?

Perchè non più quell'alito
Che inebria, che innamora?
Oh! la sua voce ancora
Che mi parlò d'amor!

Ch'io l'oda, o ciel! tal grazia
Negata a me non sia;
Ogni mio bene toglimi
Ogni speranza mia,

E in quel supremo gaudio
S'egl'è destin ch'io mora,
A quella voce allora
Io morirò d'amor.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
1. Where is the magical voice
Language: English 
Where is the magical voice,
The magical words
Of the lovely maiden
Dearer to me than the sun?

Why no longer that breath
That intoxicates, that infatuates?
Oh! again her voice
That spoke to me of love!

Let me hear, o heaven! such grace
Let it not be denied to me;
Take away all my goods
All my hope,

And in that supreme joy,
If it is my destiny to die,
In that voice then
Shall I die of love.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 80

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh
3. Depuis qu'une autre a su te plaire
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Depuis qu'une autre a su te plaire
Chaque jour me voit dépérir.
Quand Malvina ne t'est plus chère,
Malvina ne veut que mourir.
Pourtant sa faible voix t'implore,
Non pour réclamer ton amour, non non non,
Mais avant de perdre le jour,
Pour te voir une fois encore,
Avant de perdre le jour te voir,
Te voir, oh! te voir une fois encore.

Hâte toi, le trépas s'avance;
Viens voir celle qui t'adorait
Mourir sur un lit de souffrance d'amour,
De honte et de regret.
Mais ce n'est point son agonie
Ni la mort empreinte en ses traits,
Non non non...
Ah! qui te diront que pour jamais
Malvina va perdre la vie,
Pour jamais, pour jamais Malvina,
Malvina pour jamais va perdre la vie.

Mais si languissante, abattue,
Je ne sais plus compter tes pas,
Quand tu paraîtras à ma vue,
Si tout mon corps ne frémit pas,
Si tout mon regard ne peut te suivre,
Si ma voix ne peut te nommer,
Ah! si mon coeur a cessé d'aimer,
Alors j'aurai cessé de vivre.
Si mon coeur a cessé d'aimer alors,
Alors j'aurai cessé de vivre.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
3. Since another has pleased you
Language: English 
Since another has pleased you
Each day is witness to my fading away.
When Malvina is no longer dear to you,
Malvina only wants to die.
Still her weak voice implores you,
Not to reclaim your love, no no no,
But before her days should end
To see you once again,
Before her days should end to see you,
See you, oh! see you once again.

Hurry, death comes closer;
Come to see the one who adored you
Dying on her love-sick bed,
Of shame and regret.
But it is not her agony
Nor death marked on her face,
No no no...
Ah! None of these will ever tell you
That Malvina will loose her life forever,
Forever, forever Malvina,
Malvina will loose her life forever.

But so languid, downcast,
I can no longer count your steps,
When you will appear before my eyes,
If whole my body does not quiver,
If my eyes cannot follow you,
If my voice cannot call you,
Ah! if my heart has ceased to love,
Then I will have ceased to live.
If my heart has ceased to love,
Then I will have ceased to live.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 31
Word count: 192

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh
4. Sovra il campo della vita
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Sovra il campo della vita
Sono pianta abbandonata.
La misura ho già stancata
Dell'immenso mio dolor.

Senza nome, senza patria,
Erro ignota a tutte genti.
Cerco un eco a miei lamenti;
Solo trovo in mezzo al cor.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
4. On the field of life
Language: English 
On the field of life
I am an abandoned plant.
I have already tired of
The immensity of my sorrow.

Without a name, without a home country,
I err unknown to all peoples.
I look for an echo to my laments;
I only find it inside my heart.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 48

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh
5. Il mio ben m'abbandonò
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Il mio ben m'abbandonò,
Giusto ciel, come vivrò?
Morirò di dolor,
Crudo amor, crudo amor.
Il mio ben m'abbandonò,
Giusto ciel, come vivrò?
Crudo amor, io morirò di dolor.
Il mio ben, ah! giusto ciel, m'abbandonò,
Giusto ciel, morirò di dolor.
Ah! giusto ciel, come vivrò?
Ah! come, ah! come vivrò?

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
5. My love abandoned me
Language: English 
My love abandoned me,
Just heavens, how shall I go on living?
I shall die of sorrow,
Cruel love, cruel love.
My love abandoned me,
Just heavens, how shall I go on living?
Cruel love, I shall die of sorrow.
My love, ah! just heavens, abandoned me,
Just heavens, I shall die of sorrow.
Ah! just heavens, how shall I go on living?
Ah! how, ah! how shall I go on living?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 72

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh
6. Che cangi tempra
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Che cangi tempra
Mai più non spero
Quel cor macchiato
D'infedeltà.

Io dirò sempre
Nel mio pensiero:
"Che m'ha ingannato
M'ingannerà."

Text Authorship:

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by Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi (1698 - 1782), as Pietro Metastasio
6. A change in temperament
Language: English 
A change in temperament
I no longer hope for
In this heart stained
With unfaithfulness.

I shall always say
In my thoughts:
"Who has betrayed me
Will betray me again."

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Luk Laerenbergh, (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: 

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 30

Translation © by Luk Laerenbergh