by
Luigi Balestra (1808 - 1863)
La seduzione
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE
Era bella com'angiol del cielo,
Innocente degl'anni sul fiore,
Ed il palpito primo d'amore
Un crudele nel cor le destò.
Inesperta, fidente ne' giuri,
Sè commise all'amante sleale;
Fu sedotta! e l'anello nuziale,
Poveretta, ma indarno invocò.
All'infamia dannata, allo scherno,
Nove lune gemé la tradita;
Poi, consunta dal duolo la vita,
Pregò venia al crudele e spirò.
Ed il frutto del vil tradimento
Nel sepolcro posogli d'appresso;
Là non sorse una croce, un cipresso,
Non un sasso il suo nome portò.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Anne Evans) , title 1: "The seduction", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title 1: "La séduction", 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: 82
The seduction
Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)
She was as beautiful as an angel in heaven
and as innocent as a budding flower
When the cruel one aroused
the first stirrings of love in her heart.
Inexperienced and trusting,
she was seduced and betrayed
And pleaded in vain
for a wedding ring.
Doomed to shame and scorn,
she groaned for nine months
Then consumed by grief,
she begged pardon for her disloyal lover and died.
The fruit of the vile betrayal
was laid in the grave soon after
But there no cross or cypress stood,
no stone bearing her name.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2004 by Anne Evans, (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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 93