See how much I adore you
(Poet's title: Vedi quanto adoro)
Set by Schubert:
D 510
[December 1816]
Vedi quanto adoro ancora, ingrato.
Con uno sguardo solo
Mi togli ogni difesa, e mi disarmi.
Ed hai cor di tradirmi? e puoi lasciarmi?
Ah! non lasciarmi, no,
Bell’ idol mio:
Di chi mi fiderò,
Se tu m’inganni?
Di vita mancherei
Nel dirti addio;
Che viver non potrei
Fra tanti affanni.
See how much I adore you despite your ingratitude.
With a single glance
You remove all my defences and you disarm me.
And do you have the heart to betray me and then leave me?
Oh, do not leave me, no,
My beautiful beloved:
Who can I trust
If you deceive me?
I would lose my life
In saying farewell to you;
It would not be possible to live
Amongst so many afflictions.
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Confirmed with Tutte le opere di Pietro Metastasio, Firenze, Tipografia Borghi e compagni 1832, page 9.
The text appears in Didone abbandonata, atto II, scena IV (Didone’s aria).
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 55 [63 von 426] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ17674110X