ChoralWiki:Translations/Charles Marshall
These translations by Charles Marshall of madrigals from Monteverdi's Il Quarto Libro dei Madrigali do not use a literal, word-for-word account of the texts because of the impossibility of retaining the original music of the poetry in a translation from late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italian to modern English. Instead, they provide paraphrastic translations that faithfully relate the sense of the originals, but re-cast that sense so that, in keeping with Monteverdi's intentions with the Seconda Prattica, the words of his madrigals live for an English-speaking audience.
The following translations are a collection of those texts for which a score is not currently available at CPDL. When scores becomes available, the corresponding translation should be imported into Wiki pages, either attached to a particular work or as a separate translation page. You can view the list of "text pages" (which contain commonly set texts) here. There is a help page for adding texts and translations here. If you wish to add it to an existing score page, then add the translation near the end of the page, between the "Original text" and the final Categories. After the texts and translations have been added, delete them from this page. Here is a template:
==Original text and translations==
{{Text|Latin}}
<Latin text goes here>
{{Translation|English}}
''Translation supplied by [[User:CharlesMarshall65|Charles Marshall]]''
<English text goes here>
Volgea l'anima mia soavemente (Battista Guarini; from Rime 62)
She came to me in the simple dress of love, |
Volgea l'anima mia soavemente |
Anima mia, perdona; first part (Battista Guarini; from Il Pastor Fido Act III, Scene 4, lines 539-547)
Behind your lover’s lips there waits an adder, |
Anima mia, perdona |