Invitation to the dance | My lady, with a gentle arm

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by Carlo Zangarini (1874 - 1943)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Invito alla danza

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG

Madonna, d'un braccio soave
Ch'io stringa l'orgoglio dell'anca:
Voi siete d'amore la nave,
La vela, madonna, vi manca:
Io sono la vela a vogare
Intorno al ceruleo mare.
Voi siete la mobile fusta
Che il mar della musica sfiora:
Io sono la vela robusta
Che il viaggio dirige e rincora;
La nave risale, discende,
La vela ammaina, distende.
Volete che l'onda si svolga
In suon di gavotta gentile?
Volete che il valzer disciolga
La larga sua corsa febbrile?
Io faccio l'inchino di rito,
Madonna, e alla danza v'invito.

Text Authorship:

by Carlo Zangarini (1874 - 1943) [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 Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936), "Invito alla danza", P. 67 (1906?) [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , title 1: "Invitation to the dance", 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: 18
Word count: 88

Invitation to the dance

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

My lady, with a gentle arm
I grasp with pride your waist¹. 
You are the ship of love,
A sail, my lady, you lack:
I am the sail [that can] propel you
Around the cerulean sea.
You are the nimble ship²	
That glides over the sea of music:
I am the robust sail
That directs and cheers the voyage:
The ship rises, falls,
The sail luffs, fills.
Do you want the wave to roll
Like the sound of a gentle gavotte?
Do you want the waltz to melt away
Your long, feverish journey?
I make the customary bow,
My lady, and I invite you to dance.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ literally: your hip
² a light, fast galley, the favorite ship of pirates on the Barbary Coast

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2015 by Laura Prichard, (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 Carlo Zangarini (1874 - 1943)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 106