I love the hour of day’s dying

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by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885)

Translation © by Will Crutchfield

Amo l' ora del giorno che muore

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE GER

Amo l' ora del giorno che muore
Quando il sole già stanco declina,
E nell'onde di queta marina
Veggo il raggio supremo languir.

In quell' ora mi torna nel core
Un' età più felice di questa,
In quell' ora dolcissima e mesta
Volgo a te, cara donna, il sospir.

L' occhio immoto ed immoto il pensiero,
Io contemplo la striscia lucente
Che mi vien dal sereno occidente
La quïete solcando del mar.

E desio di quell' aureo sentiero
Avviarmi sull' orma infinita
Quasi debba la trista mia vita
Ad un porto di pace guidar.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Verdi

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Opere di Andrea Maffei. Liriche, Firenze (Florence), Felice le Monnier, 1864, page 321.

Text Authorship:

by Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885), no title [author's text checked 1 time 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 Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), "Il tramonto", 1845 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Romanze, no. 1, note: there are two versions of the song - one with only the first two stanzas, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Giuseppe Verdi.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Sol ponent", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Will Crutchfield) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le coucher du soleil", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Der Abend", copyright © 2015, (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: 16
Word count: 94

I love the hour of day’s dying

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

I love the hour of day’s dying,
when the tired sun descends,
and in the still waters of the marina
I see the last rays languishing. 

In that hour, there returns to my heart
a happier age than this one;
in that sweet and sad hour,
I turn my sighs, dear woman, to you! 

With sight and thought immobile
I gaze on the streaks of light
That come from the serene East
Plowing over the placid sea. 

And I wish to set forth upon
The infinite steps of that golden path
As though it might guide my sad life
To a harbor of peace.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2025 by Will Crutchfield, (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 Andrea Maffei (1798 - 1885), no title
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This text was added to the website: 2025-05-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 104