Melancholy

Song Cycle by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916)

View original-language texts alone: Malinconia

1.
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Dorme la selva, e tra l'ombrose fronde
scherza argentea la luna; un molle albore
ne l'ampia solitudin si diffonde:
Amore amore!

E l'usignol non canta. Ei piega lento
su 'l curvo salcio la testina, e muore;
pur l'estremo sospir gli strappa il vento:
Amore amore!

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
1.
Language: English 
The forest is sleeping, and through the branches' shadows
Plays the silvery moon; the gentle dawn
Can not disperse the loneliness:
Love, love!

The nightingale doesn't sing anymore. Tired she bows
her head under the weeping willow, and dies;
while the wind rustles a heavy sigh through its branches:
Love, love!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2007 by Linda Godry, (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: 2007-01-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

Translation © by Linda Godry
2.
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Quand'io ti guardo con occhi ebbri, e stanco
tu alfin sorridi, ma il tuo cor si frange;
quando ridendo tu mi stringi a 'l fianco,
ma in fondo a te grave un'angoscia piange;

un desiderio acuto di morire
m'assal con voluttà tranquilla e mesta:
vorrei porre la man su la tua testa
e te sempre adorare e benedire;

vorrei volare tra 'l baglior che scende
in pioggia d'oro su 'l deserto lito,
e per le nubi che 'l tramonto accende
dileguare con te ne l'infinito.

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
2.
Language: English 
When  I watch you besottedly, until you
finally give me a weak smile, oh you fickle heart;
when will you come back to my side,
you, who give me so much heartache.

The hot desire to die
Overwhelms me with calm, heartfelt need:
I wish to lay my hand on your head
And worship you and bless you forever.

I want to fly with a stroke of lightning
Through golden rain, across the stony desert,
And with the clouds, whom the relentless wind
Drives on eternally.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2007 by Linda Godry, (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: 2007-01-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 86

Translation © by Linda Godry
3.
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
L'ora è tarda; deserto il mar si frange,
e il gregge a 'l pian calò:
una tristezza grave in cor mi piange,
e sovra il lito io sto.

Io mi struggo d'amore e di desío,
ma tu non pensi a me:
tu sei partito senza dirmi addio:
perché, dimmi, perché?

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
3.
Language: English 
It's late, deserted is the agitated sea,
And the flock rests on the plain:
Great sadness eats at my heart,
And I feel petrified.

I perish from love and desire,
While you don't waste a thought about me...
You went away without farewell:
Why, tell me why?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2007 by Linda Godry, (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: 2007-01-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 47

Translation © by Linda Godry
4.
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Or dunque addio! Con le pupille ardenti
che mi pioveano in cor fiamme ed oblío,
con le dolci pupille ancor mi tenti
inutilmente: addio!

Or che l'autunno muore, or che di noia
pallido è il cielo, e lugubre il cipresso
regna su 'l colle inseminato, or muoia,
muoia l'amore anch'esso!

Ahi! senza te sarà un'atroce smania
la vita mia; ma nel mio freddo aspetto
non vedrai quanto spasimo dilania
il mio superbo petto.

Oh! potess'io, freddissima ed inerte
come l'inverno che avviluppa il mondo,
trascorrere le lunghe ore deserte
in un oblío profondo;

e dileguarmi inconsciamente, al pari
di rotta nave abbondonata a l'onda,
che a poco a poco pe 'i silenti mari
dilungasi e sprofonda.

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
4.
Language: English 
So farewell! If flashing eyes, which
Could burn my heart, flare up and die...
If sweet regards in vain
try to tempt me: farewell!

If autumn dies, if all sorrows
Fade away like the sky, and the cypresses'
dark silhouette rises on the fertile hill, then dies
then dies the exhausted love.

Oh! Without you my life will be
A terrible disaster, but in my lack-lustre existence
I won't even notice when excruciating pain
Tears me apart.

Oh, my zest for life, you are cold and lifeless now
Like the wintertime, which enfolds the world and
Covers plains and deserts
In deep oblivion.

And I perish imperceptibly, like the ship
Following its lonely course across the waves,
little by little disappearing on the silent sea,
Eventually absorbed by the horizon.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2007 by Linda Godry, (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:

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This text was added to the website: 2007-01-15
Line count: 20
Word count: 130

Translation © by Linda Godry
5.
 (Sung text)
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Chi sei tu che mi parli ove non s'ode
respiro di viventi, oh! chi sei tu?
Perché, invisibil démone custode,
t'ho sempre al fianco, e non mi lasci più?

Perché una cupa, inesorata, immane
malinconia su 'l mio cervel piombò?
Perché più nulla, ahi! nulla, mi rimane
del divin sogno che il mio cor sognò?

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
5.
Language: English 
Who do you think you are, that you can insinuate
That I should not listen to the breath of life1? Oh! Who do you think you are?
Why, invisible, watchful demon,
Are you always by my side and cease not to pester me?

Why does a dark, relentless, enormous
Melancholy melt into my heart?
Why am I given none, alas, none
Of the divine love for which my heart yearns?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2007 by Linda Godry, (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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View original text (without footnotes)
1 or "taste the essence of life"


This text was added to the website: 2007-01-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 71

Translation © by Linda Godry