Preserve, oh gods who preside
(Poet's title: Serbate, o Dei custodi)
Set by Schubert:
D 35
[October-December 1812]
Serbate, o Dei custodi
Della Romana sorte,
In Tito, il giusto, il forte,
L’onor di nostra età.
Voi gl’immortali allori
Sulla Cesarea chioma,
Voi custodite a Roma
La sua felicità.
Fu vostro un sì gran dono;
Sia lungo il dono vostro;
L’invidi al mondo nostro
Il mondo che verrà.
Preserve, ye gods who oversee
The fate of Rome,
In Titus, the justice, strength
And honour of our age.
Oh immortal laurels
On Caesar’s head,
Preserve Rome
In this happiness.
Such a great gift can only be from you;
May your gift continue a long time;
May our world be envied by
Worlds that are to come.
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.
☙
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Tutte le opere di Pietro Metastasio, Firenze, Tipografia Borghi e compagni 1832, page 251.
The text appears in “La Clemenza di Tito”, atto I, scena V
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 125 [135 von 426] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ17674110X