Since I’m a poet and can sing | Since I’m a poet and can sing

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by Giuseppe Zaffira (flourished 1868-1886)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Se come io son poeta e so cantare

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG

Se come io son poeta e so cantare
Fossi guerriero e maneggiassi il brando,
vorrei, Biondina, tutto soggettare
Al tuo comando.

Vorrei del sol farti una bianca vesta
Onde fossi la Bella delle belle,
Vorrei posarti una corona in testa
Fatta di stelle.

Poscia vorrei che un giorno a' primi albori
Fossimo desti in una via fiorita,
Sparsa di pecorelle, e là pastori
Finir la vita.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Giuseppe Zaffira (flourished 1868-1886), no title [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 Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Se come io son poeta", CG. 345 (1872) [ voice and piano ], from Biondina, poème musical, no. 7, also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by (Paul) Jules Barbier (1825 - 1901) ; composed by Charles Gounod.

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Since I’m a poet and can sing", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2004-08-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

Since I’m a poet and can sing

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Since I’m a poet and can sing,
just as if I were a warrior brandishing a sword,
I’d like, Biondina, everyone to be subject
To your commands.
I’d like to make you a white dress out of sunlight
So you’d be the fairest of the fair,
I’d like to place a crown on your head
Made of stars.

And then at dawn one day, I’d like
To wake up with you on a petal-strewn path,
Dotted with sheep, and as shepherds,
Live out our lives.

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 Giuseppe Zaffira (flourished 1868-1886), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-10-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 85