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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

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by S. Manfredo Maggioni
Translation © by Laura Prichard

La zingara
Language: Italian (Italiano) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG ENG FRE GER
Chi padre mi fosse, qual patria mi sia,
Invano la gente chiamando mi va;
Del primo mai seppi ed è patria mia
La terra che un fiore, che un frutto mi dà.

Dovunque il destino m'addita un sentiero,
Io trovo un sorriso, io trovo un amor;
Perchè del passato darommi pensiero,
Se l'ora presente è lieta al mio cor?

Può, è vero, il domani un torbido velo
Dell'aure serene l'aspetto turbar;
Ma s'oggi risplende azzurro il mio cielo,
Perchè rattristarmi d'un dubbio avvenir?

Io sono una pianta che ghiaccio non spoglia,
Che tutto disfida del verno il rigor;
Se fronda qui cade, là un'altra germoglia,
In ogni stagione son carca di fior.

Text Authorship:

  • by S. Manfredo Maggioni  [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 Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), "La zingara", 1845 [ voice and piano ], from 6 Romanze, no. 2, 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) , "La gitana", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The Gypsy Girl", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Will Crutchfield) , "The Gypsy Girl", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La gitane", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die Zigeunerin", 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: 112

The Gypsy Girl
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano) 
Who was my father, what is my country?
In vain people go on calling to me;
What of the first thing I knew, and of my homeland?
It’s any land that gives me flowers and fruits.

Wherever fate leads me,
I find a smile, I find a lover;
Why worry about the past
When my heart is happy now?

It may come to pass that tomorrow a dark veil
Will obscure my serene appearance;
But if today my sky is a resplendent blue,
Why be sad from doubts that may not come to pass?

I am a plant that isn’t damaged by frost,
That defies all of winter's severity;
If one leafy branch falls here, another germinates there,
In every season I am laden with flowers.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2016 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 S. Manfredo Maggioni
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 126

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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