Non piangere, Liù

"Non piangere, Liù" (Don't cry, Liù) is an aria sung by Calàf, the "Unknown Prince", in Act I of the Italian opera Turandot, by Giacomo Puccini. The lyrics were written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The scene takes place before the walls of the imperial palace. In the preceding aria (Signore, ascolta! - "My lord, listen!" ), Liù begs Calàf not to risk his life by playing a deadly game to marry Princess Turandot, and Calàf responds to her gently, asking her not to cry.

Libretto

Italian
Translation in English

Non piangere, Liù
se in un lontano giorno
io t'ho sorriso
per quel sorriso,
dolce mia fanciulla
m'ascolta
il tuo signore
sarà, domani,
forse, solo al mondo
Non lo lasciare...
portalo via con te
Dell'esilio,
addolcisci a lui le strade
Questo...questo,
o mia povera Liù,
al tuo piccolo cuore
che non cade
chiede colui
che non sorride più.

Do not cry, Liù
If on a long-ago day
I smiled at you
For the sake of that smile,
My dear child
Listen to me
Your lord
will be, tomorrow,
perhaps, left alone in the world
Do not leave him behind...
take him with you
from exile,
make the journey easy for him
This... this,
oh my poor Liù,
of your modest heart
that does not fall
asks the one
who doesn't smile anymore!

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, July 09, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.