It was a false warning | It was a false warning, yet this is the narrow valley

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by Fedele Romani (1855 - 1910)

Translation © by Betsy Schwarm

Menti' a l'avviso

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG JPN

Menti' a l'avviso. Eppur d'Ausena e' questa
l'angusta valle, e qui fatal dimora
mi presagiva la secreta voce
che turba da piu' notti il mio riposo.
Tu cui nomar non oso,
funesta donna dall'avel risorta
per mio supplizio un'altra volta ancora
promettesti vedermi, e in rio momento.
Ah! chi geme? M'inganno. E' l'onda e il vento.
E' la notte che mi reca le sue larve, i suoi timori,
che gli accenti punitori del rimorso udir mi fa.

Text Authorship:

by Fedele Romani (1855 - 1910) [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 Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924), "Menti' a l'avviso", 1883 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Betsy Schwarm) , "It was a false warning", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "偽りの忠告", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sergio Leone

This text was added to the website: 2004-08-19
Line count: 11
Word count: 77

It was a false warning

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

It was a false warning, yet this is the narrow valley
Of Ausena, and here that mysterious voice 
That has disturbed my sleep these recent nights 
Spoke of a fatal resting place.
Sinister woman whom I dare not name, 
You have risen from the grave at my pleas. 
You promised to see me once more,
And at a fateful moment.
Ah!  Who moans?  I’m deceived: ‘tis wave and wind.
The night torments me with ghosts and fears.
It causes me to imagine punishing blows of remorse.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2023 by Betsy Schwarm, (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 Fedele Romani (1855 - 1910)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-09-20
Line count: 11
Word count: 86