by
William Smyth (1765 - 1849)
O soothe me, my lyre
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
O soothe me, my lyre, with thy tones of soft sorrow,
O soothe thy sad mistress that sinks in decay,
Fainter today, to be fainter tomorrow,
I fade like the flow'r and am passing away.
Pale is my cheek, - it was fair as they told me -
Who in the dance that but lately had been,
Who that had seen me, and now should behold me,
Would think me the Ellen that there he had seen?
Dear was the world - I had youth, I had beauty,
But 'tis not for life that I heave this sad sigh -
Firm is my soul in its hope and its duty, -
But oh! To be lov'd - then untimely to die.
Authorship:
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):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "O tröste mich, Harfe"
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Pietro Sirena) , "Placami, mia Lira", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 121
Placami, mia Lira
Language: Italian (Italiano)  after the English
Placami, mia Lira, con i tuoi toni di soffuso dolore,
placa la tua triste signora che alla decadenza si avvia;
più debole oggi, né domani migliore,
come fiore appassisco e, ahimè, vado via.
Pallida è la mia guancia -- ch'era bella voller giurarmi;
ma penserebbe colui ch'avea con me danzato,
e chi mi vide, e ora dovrebbe guardarmi,
che questa è l'Ellen che aveva ammirato?
Caro fu il mondo -- fui giovine e bella a vedere;
ma non ho per la vita questo sospiro triste emesso,
perché l'anima è ferma, con la sua speme e il dovere.
Però: esser amata -- e dover morire adesso!
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2005 by Pietro Sirena, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 103