Poetry and Translations
Three Browning Songs
The year’s at the spring
“The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven
The hillside’s dew-pearled
The year’s at the spring
And day’s at the morn;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven,
All’s right with the world!”
Ah, Love, but a day!
“Ah, Love, but a day!
And the world has changed!
The sun’s away,
And the bird estranged,
The wind has dropped,
And the sky’s deranged;
Summer has stopped.
Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?
Should I fear surprise?
Shall I find aught new
In the old and dear,
In the good and true,
With the changing year?
Look in my eyes!
Wilt thou change too?”
I send my heart up to thee
“I send my heart up to thee, all my heart
In this my singing
For the stars help me, and the sea bears part.
The very night is clinging
Closer to Venice’ streets to leave one space
Above me, whence thy face
May light my joyous heart to thee its dwelling place.
I send my heart up to thee, all my heart
In this my singing,”
Asturiana
“To see if it would console me,
Tie me up to a green pine
To see if it would console me.
Upon seeing me cry, it cried.
The pine tree, because it was green,
Upon seeing me cry, it cried.”
Para Vivir
“To live, I looked for a dark place.
To live.
To live, I practiced mimicry,
To live.
I made a thousand faces,
A thousand innocent faces,
A thousand complacent faces,
To live.
A thousand different faces,
My love, my good love,
my love,
You who only have the face of love.
I dug the earth,
Kept quiet, hid,
I erased all my tracks,
I got rid of everything,
My love, to live.
To live, I looked for a pure place.
To live.
To live, there was only this abyss,
My love, to live.
Noche Serena
“Serene night of spring,
White dove of dawn’s light,
Serene night of Spring,
White lily, that you are.
And upon my arrival here
Completely full of delight
Receive this tender kiss
That I send for you, for you.
Field in winter,
Withered flower,
Night without moonlight,
Dark, turbulent.
Flower without aroma,
Withered, tree fallen,
That am I.”
Ask the Stars
“Ask the stars
If at night they don’t see me cry;
Ask them if I don’t seek
To adore you in silence.
Ask the gentle river
If my cry it doesn’t see flow.
Ask the whole world
If it’s not deep, my suffering.
Don’t doubt I love you,
That for you I am dying crazed with love.
You love no one, you want no one.
Listen to the cries,
Listen to the cries of my love.”
Elegie
“O sweet Spring of yesteryear, green seasons, you have
fled forever! I no longer see the blue sky, I no longer
hear the joyous songs of the birds! You have fled, my
love, and with you has fled my happiness. And it is in
vain that the spring returns! For along with you, the
cheerful sun, the laighing days have gone! As my
heart is dark and frozen, so all is withered for evermore!”
La Captive
“If I were not a captive,
I should love this country,
And this plaintive sea,
And these fields of maize,
And these stars without number,
If in the wall's dark shadow
There did not glint
The spahis' scimitar.
And yet I love a land
Where winter's chill breath
Never crosses
Wide-open windows.
In summer the rain is warm,
And the hovering insects
Gleam bright emerald
Beneath green blades of grass.
But most of all when a breeze
Lightly brushes my cheek,
I love to sit at night,
Sit and dream,
Gazing on the deep sea,
While the pale moon
Opens across the water
Its silver fan.”
Art Songs of Japan
Butterfly
“Butterfly, light upon the leaf of wild mustard.
If you are tired of the leaf of wild mustard,
Light on my hand.”
Old Samurai Prayer
“May the springs purely flow and sickness cease.
May victory crown our House, and treasure stores increase.
Evil no longer grow and all the world know Peace!”
Love-Lay Indited
“Lo! On Mikane’s heights in fair Yoshino’s land,
Tireless the snow alights on winding mountain ways;
There the fierce-driven rain ever it’s rage displays.
So, just as ceaselessly, snow and rain fall,
Dwell all my thoughts on thee
Loved above all.”
Slumber Song of Izumo
“Sleep, child
On steep mountains
Young rabbits play
Why are their ears long and slender?
Because their mother stays by the bamboo leaf
That is why.
Sleep, child.”
Fuji
“A thousand times I gaze upon thy form,
A thousand times and each more wonderful!
Swift with the drifting clouds tumultuous storm the driving winds.
So dost thou smile or frown-
Yet always, whether storm or shine,
O magic mountain!
Fuji the Divine!”
Fireflies
“Fireflies, already sparkling
And it is not yet dark.
Ah, the Fireflies!
They hide themselves in the moonlight!
When the water grasses appear to grow dark,
The Fireflies begin to fly!”
Casta Diva
“Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light
These ancient, hallowed trees,
Turn thy fair face upon us,
Unveiled and unclouded...
Temper thou the burning hearts,
The excessive zeal of thy people.
Enfold the earth in that sweet peace
Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven....”
Bel raggio lusinghier
“Lovely ray of a breeze
Of hope and pleasure
Alfin shone for me:
Arsace returned, - Yes, he will come to me.
This soul that up to now-
He groaned, he trembled, he languished ...
Oh! how he breathed! -
My every pain disappeared,
From the heart, from my thoughts
The terror disappeared ...
Lovely ray of a breeze
Of hope, of pleasure
Alfin shone for me:
Arsace returned,
Here he will come to me.
Sweet thought
Of that moment,
The lover’s heart smiles at you.
As more expensive,
After the torment,
It's the beautiful moment
Of peace and love!”
Hal Leonard-Women Composers, a Heritage of Song
Hal Leonard-Anthology of Spanish Song
Patricia Caicedo-Latin American & Spanish Vocal Music Collection, Latin American & Iberian Art Songs by Women Composers
Translation © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Bellini and Rossini Translation-OperaArias.com