The poor fellow | Passerby, who from your mild glance

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by S. Manfredo Maggioni

Translation © by Will Crutchfield

Il poveretto

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG ENG FRE GER

Passegger, che al dolce aspetto 
Par che serbi un gentil cor,
Porgi un soldo al poveretto
Che da man digiuno è ancor.

Fin da quando era figliuolo
Sono stato militar
E pugnando pel mio suolo
Ho trascorso e terra e mar;

Ma or che il tempo su me pesa,
Or che forza più non ho,
Fin la terra che ho difesa,
La mia patria m'obliò.

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), "Il poveretto", 1847 [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Fenna Ograjensek) , "The poor man", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le pauvre", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Hendrik Hempfling) , "Der arme Mann", copyright © 2019, (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: 12
Word count: 65

The poor fellow

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

Passerby, who from your mild glance
Seem to have a gentle heart, 
Give a coin to the poor fellow
Who has had nothing to eat today!

Since I was a youngster,
I have been a soldier,
And fighting for my country
I have traveled land and sea;

But now that the years weigh upon me,
Now that my strength is gone,
Even the nation I defended,
My own fatherland, has forgotten me.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2025 by Will Crutchfield, (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: 2025-05-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 73