Luci serene e chiare,
Voi m'incendete, voi, ma [prova il]1 core
Nell'incendio diletto, non dolore.
Dolci parole e care,
Voi mi ferite, voi, ma [prova il]1 petto
Non dolor [nella]2 piaga, ma diletto.
O miracol d'Amore!
Alma [che è]3 tutta foco e tutta [sangue]4
Si [strugge e]5 non si duol, [more e]6 non langue.

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Adolphe, Monteverdi: "prov'il"
² Adolphe, Monteverdi: "ne la"
³ Adolphe, Monteverdi: "ch'è"
⁴ Monteverdi: "sange"
⁵ Monteverdi: "strugg'e"
⁶ Adolphe: "mor' e"; Monteverdi: "muor e"

Text Authorship:

• by Ridolfo Arlotti (1546 - 1613), no title, written 1603 [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 Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955), "Luci serene e chiare", first performed 2001 [ soprano and piano ], from A Thousand Years of Love, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (c1561 - 1613), "Luci serene e chiare", published 1596 [ SSATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643), "Luci serene e chiare", published 1603 [ vocal quintet ], from Libro IV de madrigali, no. 8, madrigal [sung text checked 1 time]

Set in a modified version by Morten Lauridsen.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

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

• ENG English (Bruce Adolphe) , "Eyes serene and clear", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Yeux sereins et clairs", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Heitere, funkelnde Augen", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 54

Yeux sereins et clairs,
Vous m'enflammez, vous, mais le cœur éprouve
le plaisir dans les flammes, pas la douleur.
Douces et chères paroles,
vous me blessez, vous, mais le sein éprouve
non pas la douleur dans la plaie, mais le plaisir.
Ô miracle d'Amour !
L'âme qui est toute en feu et toute en sang
Ne ressent aucune douleur,ne meurt ni ne languit.