Del freddo Rheno a la sinistra riva

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General information

The full text to Orlando di Lasso's six part madrigal Del freddo Rheno, published in 1555 as the first piece in his very first publication, Le quatoirsiesme livre a 4 parties. The lyricist is not given. There is, however, some evidence to suggest that the poet may be Stefano Ambrosio Schiappalaria, who published Del freddo Rheno with a number of other poems in a supplement to his 1568 translation of book 4 of Virgil's Aeneid into ottava rima. The name of the beautiful spirit described in the poem, "Neme," possibly links this text to that of the piece that closes Lasso's contributions to first publication, Alma Nemes, which extensively praises someone by the name of "Nemes," who, based on the text, was likely a singer known to Lasso or the poet.

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Del freddo Rheno (Orlando di Lasso)

Original text and translations

Italian.png Italian text

Del freddo Rheno, a la sinistra riva,
vidi angelett'andar per fiori e herbe,
ch'el cor m'accese di soave foco;
e per far mi cangiar pensier'e voce
mi scopers'il camin d'un alto stato,
tutt' amor, tutta gratia e tutta sole.

Ch'il credera? Perche lo dica; il sole
splendea nei crini, e l'una e l'altra riva
mutò, senza mentir habito e stato,
come i celesti pie toccaron l’herbe,
e quasi al sol nascenti in chiara voce
gli augelli cantar’ al suo lucente foco.

Rotava, et e pur ver, di puro foco,
il volto amor nell'uno e l'altro sole;
da sirena di dio sciolse la voce,
mass' il passo da dea per quella riva,
risa al suo riso l'aria, e uscir dell'herbe,
fiati e sospiri in più tranquillo stato.

Si fe cristallo il fiume e'n tale stato,
scorse fin giù nel fond'il chiaro foco
e adorno di smeraldi in vece d'herbe
adorò con le nimphe il nuovo sole
io'l so ch'il vidi, e'l San l'onde e la riva
ch'anno da indi in qua concento e voce.

Et io qual fui restai senza la voce
et mi perdei nel mio gradito stato
caddi o ventura mia sopra la riva,
e morto credo in me, vivo in quel foco,
dir volsi o nume, e sorrise ella e'l sole,
ch’io dissi o neme, e mi legò in quell'herbe.

Hor su la nuda terra hora su l'herbe,
di pensier in pensier di voce in voce,
al freddo al caldo alla pioggia et al sole,
cerco pe'l mond'havea riposo e stato
quando raggio del ciel mi giuns'al foco,
en'ogni mia fortun'e giunta a riva

O riva aventurosa, o fiori, o herbe,
io vivo in questo foco e sento voce
chiamarmi in questo stato al vero sole.

English.png English translation

From the cold Rhine, on the left bank,
I saw a little angel coming, through flowers and grass,
who inflamed my heart with a sweet fire:
and with a change in my thoughts and voice
I discovered a path to a higher state,
full of love, full of grace, and full of sunshine.

Who’d believe me? Therefore I tell you: the sun
was shining in her hair, and both banks
changed, I tell you no lie, character and state,
when her heavenly feet touched the grass,
and as if it were sunrise itself,
the birds sang to her radiant light.

She turned, and, this is true, with purest fire
her loving face shone on both riverbanks;
like a divine siren she lifted her voice,
and moved with godlike steps on yonder bank,
the air laughed to her laugh, and from the grass
a breath and sigh came, in most tranquil state.

The river turned into crystal, and in this state
its clearest flames flowed all the way down,
adorned with emeralds instead of grass,
I adored with the nymphs the new sun:
I know who I beheld, and the saint of waves and shore
from that year forth there gave harmony and voice.

And there I was, left speechless
And I lost myself, and in that agreeable state
I fell (oh, my good fortune!) above that bank
and dead I believe within me, alive in that fire
I say I turned Oh nume*, and she smiled with the sun,
I spoke: "Oh neme", and she re-bound me in the grass.

Hours on the naked earth, hours on the grass,
thinking many thoughts, from one voice to another,
in the cold, warmth, in rain and sunshine
I seek in all the world for that calmer state,
in which a ray of heavenly light reached me at that fire
where all my good fortune came to that river bank.

Oh adventurous shore, oh flowers, oh grass!
I live in that fire again, and hear a voice
calling me in this state to the true sun.

  • Nume is a term in Italian for a sacred spirit that lives in a specific place or object.