The discreet lover | Some say that my beloved is homely

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by Fernando Periquet (1873 - 1940)

Translation © by Pamela Narbona Jerez

El majo discreto

Language: Spanish (Español)

Our translations: ENG FRE GER

Dicen que mi majo es feo.
Es posible que sí que lo sea,
que amor es deseo
que ciega y marea.
Ha tiempo que sé
que quien ama no ve.

Mas si no es mi majo un hombre
que por lindo descuelle y asombre,
en cambio es discreto
y guarda un secreto
que yo posé en él
sabiendo que es fiel.

¿Cuál es el secreto
que el majo guardó?
Sería indiscreto
contarlo yo.
No poco trabajo costara saber
secretos de un majo con una mujer.
Nació en Lavapiés.
¡Eh, ¡eh! ¡Es
un majo, un majo es!

Text Authorship:

by Fernando Periquet (1873 - 1940) [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 Enrique Granados y Campiña (1867 - 1916), "El majo discreto", from Colección de tonadillas, no. 3. [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Pamela Narbona Jerez) , "The discreet lover", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "L'amoureux discret", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Der diskrete Majo", 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: 21
Word count: 96

The discreet lover

Language: English after the Spanish (Español)

Some say that my beloved is homely.
It is possible that he may be, 
For love is desire 
Which blinds and dizzies.
For long have I known
That loving is not seeing.

But if my beloved is not a man 
Whose beauty turns heads and astonishes, 
Then he is discreet
And the keeper of a secret
That I entrusted to him
Knowing that he is true.

What could this secret be
That my beloved is safeguarding?
It would be indiscreet 
For me to reveal it. 
It is no small feat to learn 
The secrets between a man and a woman.
He was born in Lavapiés.
Uh-huh! 
He is handsome, handsome is he!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2015 by Pamela Narbona Jerez, (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 Spanish (Español) by Fernando Periquet (1873 - 1940)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-02
Line count: 21
Word count: 112