See how white the moon | See how white the moon

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Jacopo Vittorelli (1749 - 1835)

Translation © by T. P. (Peter) Perrin

Guarda che bianca luna

(Sung text for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Guarda che bianca luna!
Guarda che notte azzurra!
Un'aura non susurra,
Nò, non tremola uno stel.

L'usignuoletto solo
Va dalla siepe all'orno,
E sospirando intorno
Chiama la sua fedel.

Ella, che'l sente oppena,
 ...  vien di fronda in fronda,
E pare che gli dica,
"Nò, non piangere: son qui."

Che dolci affetti, o Irene,
Che dolci pianti Irene,
Tu mai non me sapesti
Rispondere cosi!

Note: Vittorelli reworked and reordered his Anacreontiche several times. This poem is number VII in the first edition (1798), number V in the 1806 edition, number VII in the 1815 edition, and number VIII in the 1826 edition.

Composition:

Franz Peter Schubert

Text Authorship:

by Jacopo Vittorelli (1749 - 1835), no title, appears in Anacreontiche, in Ad Irene, no. 7, first published 1798

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (T. P. (Peter) Perrin) , "See how white the moon", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Regarde, comme la lune est blanche!", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 73

See how white the moon

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Schubert)

See original

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

See how white the moon.
See how blue the night.
Not a single breeze is rustling --
no, not a single stem trembles.
 
Lonely, the little nightingale
flies from hedge to the ash tree,
and sighing in all directions
calls to his beloved.
 
She, as soon as she hears him,
approaches from branch to branch.
It seems as if she would tell him
"Nay, do not weep, I am here."
 
What sounds of sorrow they are.
Such tender tears, Irene,
you have never known
to use in reply to me.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2011 by T. P. (Peter) Perrin, (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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Jacopo Vittorelli (1749 - 1835), no title, appears in Anacreontiche, in Ad Irene, no. 7, first published 1798
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2011-05-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 89