El misteri | Si tranquil al teu costat

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by Felice Romani (1788 - 1865)

Translation © by Salvador Pila

Se tranquillo a te d'accanto

Language: Italian (Italiano)

Available translation(s): CAT FRE GER

Se tranquillo a te d'accanto,
  Donna mia, talun mi vede,
  O felice appien mi crede,
  O guarito dall'amor:

Ma non tu, che sai pur quanto
  Combattuto e oppresso ho il cor.

Come lago, che stagnante
  Par che dorma, e appena mova,
  Ma tempeste in fondo cova
  Sconosciute al vïator,

[Muta]² calma ho nel sembiante,
  Ho scompiglio [in]² fondo al cor.

Se un sospiro, se un lamento
  Il timore a me contende,
  Dell'amore che m' accende
  Non scemò l' intenso ardor;

Come lampa in monumento,
  Non veduto avvampa in cor.

E vivrà benchè represso,
  Benchè privo di conforto;
  E vivrebbe, ancor che morto
  Lo volesse il tuo rigor:

Chè alimento da sè stesso
  Prende amore in nobil cor.

O. Nicolai sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Liriche del Cavaliere Felice Romani, Torino, Tipografia dei Fratelli Favale, 1841, pages 269-270.

Note: modern spelling changes "mova" to "muova"
¹ Verdi: "Ma tal"
² Verdi: "ho in"

Authorship:

by Felice Romani (1788 - 1865), "Il mistero" [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 (Carl) Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (1810 - 1849), "Romanze: Il mistero", op. 24 no. 2, stanzas 1-2 [voice and piano], confirmed with a CD booklet [ sung text checked 1 time]
by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), "Il mistero", 1845 [voice and piano], from 6 Romanze, no. 5, also set in German (Deutsch) [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist CAT FRE ; composed by Giuseppe Verdi.

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

Researcher for this text: Robert Grady

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 117

El misteri

Language: Catalan (Català) after the Italian (Italiano)

Si tranquil al teu costat,
dona meva, algú em veu,
o em creu plenament feliç
o guarit de l'amor;

però no pas tu que ben bé saps com
esquinçat i oprimit tinc el cor.

Com un llac que, estagnant,
sembla que dormi i a penes es mogui,
però que en les fondàries engendra tempestes
inconegudes per al vianant,

tot i que aital calma tinc al semblant,
hi ha desori al fons del meu cor.

Si un sospir, si un plany,
em refrena el temor,
de l'amor que m'encén 
no empetiteixo l'intens ardor.

Com una llàntia en un monument
crema invisible al meu cor.

I viurà tot i estar reprimit,
tot i privat de confort
i viuria encara que mort
si ho volgués el teu rigor,

ja que ell mateix es nodreix,
l'amor, en un noble cor.

Authorship:

Translation from Italian (Italiano) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2013 by Salvador Pila, (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:

a text in Italian (Italiano) by Felice Romani (1788 - 1865), "Il mistero"

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 136