Who do you think you are, that you can insinuate

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by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)

Translation © by Linda Godry

Chi sei tu che mi parli ove non s'ode

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG GER

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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Text Authorship:

by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938) [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 Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Chi sei tu che mi parli ove non s'ode", from Malinconia, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Linda Godry) , copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Linda Godry) , copyright © 2007, (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: 8
Word count: 55

Who do you think you are, that you can...

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

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?

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ or "taste the essence of life"

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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Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-01-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 70