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La, sol, fa, mi, re, do
Original Language: Italian
La mia donna perché canta
non vuol dir né sì, né no,
ma parlar sempre si vanta
con la sol fa mi re do.
S'io le chieggo ch'al mio cor
voglia dar mercede un dì
pria che spiri nel dolor,
mi risponde don fa mi.
Mai non canta s'io non conto
né la voce trova il tuon,
né a sonar lo stile ha pronto
se non sente d'oro il suon.
Insegnando ognor mi va
che s'a due cantar vorrò
acciò ch'ella venga al fa
intonar conviemmi il do.
Di strascini ognora ornato
vuol mirarsi il vago pie'
ed in canto figurato
sempre intona il mi fa re.
Per mostrar quant'ella sa
passegiando fa così,
suol tenersi con do la
ed andare in do re mi.
Io credeva ch'il suo canto
fosse fatto per mi sol,
ma suoi vendersi all'incanto
a colui che spender vuol,
tanto che tra noi dirò
ch'ognun canta quel che sa:
io de' gonzi il mi sol do
lei de' cucchi il re mi fa.
Poet:
English
The Sol, Fa, Mi, Re, Do
My lady, since she sings,
does not wish to say yes or no;
but continually boasts of speaking
with "la sol fa me re do."
If I ask her if she plans
to grant mercy to my heart one day
before I expire from grief,
she answers "don fa mi [give me a gift]".
She never sings without my paying up
nor is in good voice;
nor is ready to pluck her strings
if she does not hear the sound of gold.
She instructs me continually
that if I wish to sing duets with her
before she arrives at "fa" [the deed]
I'd better give her "do" [a gift].
She wishes to show off her lovely feet
in elegant dance steps;
and in ornamented song
always intones "mi fa- re" [do it for me].
Thus to show what she knows
she goes about (sings passage-work) like this:
she usually sustains "con- do- la" [to comfort her]
and moves "in- do- re- mi" [cover me with gold].
I believed that her song
was made for "mi sol" [me alone],
but she sells them at auction
to the highest bidder;
so that among us we say
that everyone sings what he knows:
I, that of a fool are "mi sol- do" [my wages];
she, of cuckolds the "Re mi fa" [the king makes me]
Translated by:
Pamela Dellal
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La Sol Fà, Mi, Rè, Dò
Published by Cor Donato Editions in historically correct modern transcription, including critical introductory notes on the work, editorial procedures, original texts with new English translations, and other contextual information about the piece.
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