The seduction | She was as beautiful as an angel in heaven

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by Luigi Balestra (1808 - 1863)

Translation © by Anne Evans

La seduzione

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: 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:

by Luigi Balestra (1808 - 1863) [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), "La seduzione", 1839. [
text verified 1 time
]

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Luigi Balestra (1808 - 1863)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 93