The Enchanted Island: The Libretto

THE MET: LIVE IN HD
THE ENCHANTED ISLAND
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
The Enchanted Island: The Libretto
Text 1
Mother, my blood is freezing,
Mother, my brain is burning.
Turning and then re-turning
From heat to ice to fire.
Text 2
I can conjure you fire from the heavens,
I can conjure you fire from the heavens.
I can make you a lake full of flowers.
Master, you’ll be amazed at my pow’rs.
Say whatever you want me to do.
I can light up the sky with a rainbow,
I’ll delight you with lightning and thunder,
I’ll amaze you with wonder on wonder.
And they’re all of them learned from you.
I can conjure you fire from the heavens
Or what-e’er you desire from the heavens.
Simply say what you wish me to do,
And my master, I’ll do it for you.
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THE MET: LIVE IN HD
THE ENCHANTED ISLAND
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
The Enchanted Island: Original Text
TEXT A—FROM HANDEL’S “UN PENSIERO NEMICO DI PACE”
Italian
Translation
Un pensiero nemico di pace
fece il Tempo volubile edace,
e con l’ali la falce gli diè.
A thought, inimical to peace
Made time fickle and greedy
And with its wings, gave him a sickle.
TEXT B—FROM VIVALDI’S “GELIDO IN OGNI VENA”
Italian
Translation
Gelido in ogni vena
Scorrer mi sen to il sangue
L’ombra del figlio esangue
M’ingombra di terror.
Icy, in every vein
I feel my blood flowing .
The Ghost of my dead son,
And it fills me with terror.
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