I once believed that cruel Fate | I once believed that cruel fate

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by Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720)

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall

Credei, che avverso Fato

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: ENG

Credei, che avverso Fato
Tratto t’avesse à passeggiar vicino
L’amoroso giardino,
Onde il guardo abbagliato
Dal Lampo lusinghiero
Di quel bel mensognero
La cicuta credesse un fior divino.
Mà scorgo, che tù brami anche lontano
Al venefico fior stender la mano.

Text Authorship:

by Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720) [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 Domenico Scarlatti (1685 - 1757), "Credei, che avverso Fato", published 1713, from cantata Ah pensier, e perché voli, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "I once believed that cruel Fate", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-05-31
Line count: 9
Word count: 41

I once believed that cruel Fate

Language: English after the Italian (Italiano)

I once believed that cruel fate
Led you to pass by
The garden of love,
Where your sight was deceived 
By the enticing brilliance
Of that false one’s beauty;
You mistook hemlock for a divine flower.
But I can see, that even from afar
You yearn to hold that poisonous blossom.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to English copyright © 2026 by Michael P Rosewall, (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 Antonio Ottoboni (1646 - 1720)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-13
Line count: 9
Word count: 51