by George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878)
Translation by Francesco Rizzelli (1838 - 1910)
Goodbye!
Language: English
Falling leaf and fading tree, Lines of white in a sullen sea, Shadows rising on you and me; Shadows rising on you and me; The swallows are making them ready to fly, Wheeling out on a windy sky. Goodbye Summer! Goodbye! Goodbye! Hush! a voice from the far away! "Listen and learn," it seems to say, "All the tomorrows shall be as today." "All the tomorrows shall be as today." The cord is frayed, the cruse is dry, The link must break, and the lamp must die -- Goodbye to Hope! Goodbye! Goodbye! What are we waiting for? Oh, my heart! Kiss me straight on the brows! and part again! Again! my heart! my heart! What are we waiting for, you and I? A pleading look, a stifled cry. Goodbye, forever! Goodbye, forever! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!
Note for stanza 2, line 5, word 6: "cruse" is an archaic word for "cup"
Researcher for this page: Jean Peccei
Text Authorship:
- by George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878) [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 Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Goodbye!", also set in Italian (Italiano) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Francesco Rizzelli (1838 - 1910) ; composed by Francesco Paolo Tosti.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "さようなら！", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "¡Adiós!", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Jean Peccei
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 135
Addio
Language: Italian (Italiano) after the English
Cadon stanche le foglie al suol, Bianche strisce serpon sull'onda, Lieve nebbia nell-aria fonda, Sembran freddi i rai del sol. Le rondinelle lasciano il nido, Verso altro lido, le trae desio: Estate, addio! Una voce lontan, "Odi e impara" sembra gridare, "Non diverso dall'oggi è il doman. Gioia e duolo, polve ed altare." Ogni legame mortal si spezza, Copre l'oblio fiele e dolcezza. O speme, addio! Perchè aspettar tutor, oh! dolce amor? Un sol bacio mi dà, posci ten va. Un altro ancor. Pegno d'eterno fè da te voglio, Perchè il tuo cor è fatalmente mio: Per sempre addio!
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Addio", also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-05-03
Line count: 21
Word count: 99