Melancholy, gentle nymph

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by Ippolito Pindemonte (1753 - 1828)

Translation © by Antonio Giuliano

Malinconia, Ninfa gentile

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG GER SPA

Malinconia, Ninfa gentile,
la vita mia consacro a te;
i tuoi piaceri chi tiene a vile,
ai piacer veri nato non è.

Fonti e colline chiesi agli Dei;
m'udiro alfine, pago io vivrò,
né mai quel fonte co' desir miei,
né mai quel monte trapasserò.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Hensel

F. Hensel sets stanza 2

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: in one of many repetitions within Hensel's song, the final two lines become:

Né mai quel monte co' miei pensieri,
né mai quel fonte trapasserò

Text Authorship:

by Ippolito Pindemonte (1753 - 1828) [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 Vincenzo Bellini (1801 - 1835), "Malinconia, Ninfa gentile", from Sei Ariette, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Canzonetta", H-U 104, stanza 2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Antonio Giuliano) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Víctor Sampietro Crespo) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 45

Melancholy, gentle nymph

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Melancholy, gentle nymph,
I devote my life to you.
One who despises your pleasures
Is not born to true pleasures.
 
I asked the gods for fountains and hills;
They heard me at last; I will live satisfied
Even though, with my desires, I never
Go beyond that fountain and that mountain.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles
"Malinconia, Ninfa gentile" = "Melancholy, gentle nymph"
"Canzonetta" = "Little song"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © by Antonio Giuliano, (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 Ippolito Pindemonte (1753 - 1828)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 51