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by Saint John of the Cross, né Juan de Yepes Alvarez (1542 - 1591)
Translation © by Ferdinando Albeggiani

En una noche oscura
Language: Spanish (Español) 
Our translations:  ITA
En una noche oscura,
con ansias, en amores inflamada,
¡oh dichosa ventura!,
salí sin ser notada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

A oscuras y segura,
por la secreta escala, disfrazada,
¡oh dichosa ventura!,
a oscuras y en celada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.

En la noche dichosa,
en secreto, que nadie me veía,
ni yo miraba cosa,
sin otra luz y guía,
sino la que en el corazón ardía.

Aquesta me guiaba
más cierto que la luz de mediodía,
adonde me esperaba
quien yo bien me sabía,
en parte donde nadie parecía.

¡oh noche que guiaste!
¡oh noche amable más que la alborada!
¡oh noche que juntaste
Amado con amada,
amada en el Amado transformada!

En mi pecho florido,
que entero para él solo se guardaba,
allí quedó dormido,
y yo le regalaba,
y el ventalle de cedros aire daba.

El aire de la almena,
cuando yo sus cabellos esparcía,
con su mano serena
en mi cuello hería,
y todos mis sentidos suspendía.

Quedeme y olvideme,
el rostro recliné sobre el Amado;
cesó todo y dejeme,
dejando mi cuidado
entre las azucenas olvidado

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Saint John of the Cross, né Juan de Yepes Alvarez (1542 - 1591) [author's text checked 1 time 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 Manuel Garcia Morante (b. 1937), "En una noche oscura", 1987, from Cuatro canciones de San Juan de la Cruz, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Goffredo Petrassi (1904 - 2003), "Noche oscura" [ chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Plant , "Canciones del alma", first performed 1999 [ voice and string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Joseph Ryelandt (1870 - 1965), "La noche oscura", op. 25 (1899) [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jordi Sabatés (b. 1948), "Noche oscura" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Armand Godoy (1880 - 1964) , first published 1937 ; composed by Gabriel Charpentier.
    • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Maximiliane Brentano, née Maximiliane Euphrosine von La Roche (1756 - 1793) , no title [an adaptation] ; composed by Bettina von Arnim, née Brentano.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Melchior, Freiherr von Diepenbrock (1798 - 1853) , "Die dunkle Nacht der Seele" ; composed by Fartein Valen.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English (John Plant) , "Songs of the soul", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "In una notte oscura", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Steven Cox

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-06
Line count: 40
Word count: 183

In una notte oscura
Language: Italian (Italiano)  after the Spanish (Español) 
In una notte oscura,
con ansia d'amore infiammata,
o felice ventura!
Uscii senza esser notata,
mentre la casa stava addormentata.
 
Nel buio ma sicura,
per la scala segreta, travestita,
o felice ventura!
Nel buio e ben celata,
mentre la casa stava addormentata. 
 
Nella notte gioiosa,
segretamente, da nessuno osservata,
neppure io osservavo qualcosa,
da nessuna altra luce guidata
se non da quella nel mio cuore infiammata.
 
Sicura mi conduceva
Più della luce a mezzogiorno esatto,
là dove mi aspettava
colui che conoscevo tutto,
in un luogo dove nessuno si mostrava.
 
O notte che mi facesti da guida!
Notte più dell'aurora adorata!
Notte che hai visto riunita,
Con l'amato, l'amata,
l'amata nell'amato trasformata!
 
Sul mio seno fiorito
Che, soltanto per lui, tutto si conservava
Lui cadde addormentato,
mentre lo accarezzavo
e il ventaglio di cedro lo rinfrescava.
 
La brezza dalle mura 
Mentre gli scompigliavo i capelli
Con la sua mano leggera
Mi colpiva alla nuca 
E sospendeva i miei sensi.
 
Senza memoria, appagata,
il volto reclinai sopra l'Amato;
tutto ebbe fine, e giacqui abbandonata
lasciando ogni pensiero
fra i gigli, dimenticato.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2009 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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 Spanish (Español) by Saint John of the Cross, né Juan de Yepes Alvarez (1542 - 1591)
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-10
Line count: 40
Word count: 180

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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