Translation © by Laura Claycomb

Mañanica era
Language: Spanish (Español)  after the Spanish (Español) 
Our translations:  ENG GER
Mañanica era, mañana 
de San Juan se decía al fin, 
cuando aquella diosa Venus
dentro de un fresco jardín 
tomando estaba la fresca 
a la sombra de un jazmín,
cabellos en su cabeza, 
parecía un serafín. 
Sus mejillas y sus labios 
como color de rubí 
y el objeto de su cara 
figuraba un querubín; 
allí de flores floridas 
hacía un rico cojín, 
de rosas una guirnalda 
para el que venía a morir, 
¡ah!, lealmente por amores 
sin a nadie descubrir.

Note for line 17: in some CD booklets, the typo "lentamente" appears instead of "lealmente".


The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • ENG English (Laura Claycomb) , "It was daybreak", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Es dämmerte der Morgen", 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: 18
Word count: 80

It was daybreak
Language: English  after the Spanish (Español) 
It was daybreak - the morning
of Saint John dawned at last,
when that goddess Venus
in a cool garden
was taking in the air
beneath the shade of jasmine;
with her hair
she resembled a seraph.
Her cheeks and lips
the colour of ruby,
and the expression on her face
seemed that of a cherub. 
From blossoming flowers
she fashioned a rich cushion,
a garland of roses
for one who came to die
loyally for a love
without revealing it to anyone.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2011 by Laura Claycomb, (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.
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Based on:

Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2011-11-24
Line count: 18
Word count: 82