Campana: Scherzi a parte (All joking aside)

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Hannah Ludwig and Will Crutchfield

For more about Campana and his songs, see the page for Vorrei cangiarmi in ape. “Scherzi a parte” comes from the same album of romances, called “Fiori Italiani” (Italian Flowers) and dedicated to the great baritone Enrico delle Sedie. It is in the form and style of a popular stornello, and unlike most songs in the collection it carries no attribution of the Italian words. This may mean they are traditional, though they do not appear to be found in any of the well-known collections of folk poetry. It could also mean that the composer wrote them himself.

Credevo che l’amor fosse un bel gioco
Quando m’incominciai a innamorare.
Ora mi pare una fiamma di foco
Che non la spegneria l’acqua del mare.

Io son venuto, o bella, per sapere
Se le mie pene avranno finir mai.
In sul tuo uscio mi metto a sedere
A sentir la risposta che mi dai!

I thought love was a delightful game
when first I began to fall in love.
Now it seems like a fire whose flame
the whole ocean could not extinguish.

I have come, my fair one, to learn
whether my suffering will ever end.
I am sitting outside your door
to hear the answer you will give me.