O come se' gentile
Language: Italian (Italiano)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE GER
O come [se']1 gentile,
caro augellino! O quanto
è il mio stato amoroso al tuo simìle!
[Tu prigion, io prigion]2; tu canti, io canto;
tu canti per colei
che t'ha legato, ed io canto per lei.
Ma in questo è differente
la mia sorte dolente:
che giova pur a te l'esser canoro;
vivi cantando, ed io cantando moro.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Monteverdi: "sei"
2 Monteverdi: "Io prigion, tu prigion"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, adapted by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , no title FRE GER ; composed by John Danyel.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Oh, how gentle you are", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wie sanft du bist", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-03-26
Line count: 10
Word count: 58
Oh, how gentle you are
Language: English  after the Italian (Italiano)
Oh, how gentle you are,
dear little bird! Oh, how
my being in love resembles your state!
You are a captive, I am a captive; you sing, I sing;
you sing for the one
who has bound you to herself,
and I sing for her.
But there is a difference
concerning my dreary fate:
It is worth your while to be a songster;
you live singing, and I die singing.
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2008-03-26
Line count: 11
Word count: 70