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 SPANISH AND ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS

 
 SPANISH & ITALIAN 
 FOLK-SONGS 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ALMA STRETTELL 
 
 WITH PHOTOGRAVURES AFTER SKETCHES BY JOHN 8. SARGENT, EDWIN A. ABBEY, 
 MORELLI, AND W. PADGETT 
 
 London 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK 
 1887 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 S 3 S 5 ">
 
 Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh.
 
 < 
 
 Z\0 
 
 S3 / 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATE i. BY JOHN S. SARGENT ... . . Frontispiece 
 
 2. BY JOHN S. SARGENT . . . To face page 9 
 
 ,, 3. BY MORELLI 15 
 
 4. BY JOHN S. SARGENT ... ,, 35 
 
 ,, 5. BY JOHN S. SARGENT ... ,,51 
 
 6. BY E. A. ABBEY .... 71 
 
 7. BY W. PADGETT .... " 77 
 
 8. BY W. PADGETT .... ,, 81 
 
 ,, 9. BY E. A. ABBEY .... ,, 93 
 
 10. BY W. PADGETT .... ,, 100 
 
 ,, ii. BY JOHN S. SARGENT ... ,, 103 
 
 12. BY JOHN S. SARGENT ... ,,124
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 IT is needless to say that this little volume does not pretend 
 to be a complete collection of Spanish or Italian folk-songs. 
 Its only aim is to bring into notice a few examples of them 
 which either in subject or form, in beauty or quaintness of 
 expression, have seemed to me peculiarly interesting and 
 characteristic. 
 
 The Spanish selections have not been made from the 
 purely Spanish popular poetry the ordinary " coplas " and 
 " seguidillas " which the people all over the country sing, and 
 even improvise, on every kind of subject. Somewhat has 
 already been written concerning these, and specimens of them 
 may be found in various collections of Spanish songs familiar 
 to musicians. 
 
 But there has arisen in various parts of Spain frequented 
 by the gipsies, and specially in Andalusia, where they are
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 most numerous, a kind of song which may be described as a 
 cross between the Spanish and the gipsy folk-song a mingling 
 of the graceful and yet slightly sententious quality of the former 
 with the fierce and passionate melancholy of the latter. I 
 am far from saying that the pathetic and melancholy vein is 
 not characteristic of many Spanish songs, on which the Moorish 
 influence has left deep traces ; but although the fusion of the 
 two styles often makes it difficult to determine to which race 
 the songs owe their existence, there is still a certain wild and 
 mysterious strain, rarely found in any not of gipsy origin. 
 
 The original gipsy rhymes some rude specimens of which 
 may be found in Sorrow's Gipsies of Spain are in a jargon 
 of Spanish Rommany, unintelligible to most Spaniards ; but 
 although these last despise the abject and down -trodden 
 Jitanos, their songs and dances have always found many 
 admirers, among the Andalusians especially. Probably as a 
 consequence of this, the gipsy singers and improvisatori seem, 
 as far back as the end of the last century, to have adopted for 
 their songs a form and dialect more comprehensible to their 
 Spanish audiences. Among these they found pupils and 
 imitators, who were the means of further intermingling the 
 gipsy poetry with the Spanish. 
 
 The Spaniards now commonly call the gipsies " Flamen-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 cos," without knowing the origin of the name. Some affirm 
 that since the return of the Spaniards from Flanders it has 
 been used among the people as an epithet of dislike and scorn, 
 and that hence it has been given to the gipsies ; others account 
 for it by the fact of their once having been called " Germans " 
 (either through a mispronunciation of their generic name of 
 Rommany, or because they came through Germany to the 
 South of Europe) a name which is often confused by the 
 ignorant with that of Fleming. However this may be, they 
 are called " Flamencos," and these songs of theirs " Cantes 
 Flamencos." 
 
 The Flamenco song proper, with its strange, plaintive airs, 
 and often elar^rate_jjuitar accompaniments, is intended to 
 sung less by the people than by the " professional " singer 
 either a gipsy or some one taught by them. These singers collect 
 large audiences at the country fairs, or in the little taverns in 
 the gipsy quarter of the towns. Some of them have made a 
 great name in Spain by their improvisations and their express- 
 ive singing of these strange songs. 
 
 Many of the Flamenco songs, like the Spanish popular 
 ones, are " bailable " (danceable) that is, their music is that 
 to which the national dances are performed ; and hence to the 
 charm of the Flamenco song is added the charm of the weird 
 
 "V 
 
 fceV
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 and graceful Flamenco dance, for the dancing of the gipsy 
 women especially has ever been famous in Spain. 
 
 Those who knew these songs and performances in earlier 
 days say that they are becoming corrupted, losing their original 
 and peculiar character, and adopting too much of the more 
 ordinary Spanish tone and style becoming " gachonales," 
 as they express it (the word " gacho " being the gipsies' name 
 for the Spaniards). This is attributed to the fact of their 
 having attracted so much attention, and having been intro- 
 duced into cafes, where audiences of all classes congregate to 
 hear them. There is therefore all the more reason for col- 
 lecting the most genuine of them, and preserving them from 
 dying out. 
 
 Veiy few of the Flamenco songs are humorous or merry, 
 and those few are mostly poor of their kind and not worth 
 repeating. Indeed, it is difficult, in making a selection of 
 them, to escape the charge of morbidness, for all the finest of 
 them are tragic in tone, sometimes crudely realistic, restless, 
 despairing, revengeful ; all are characteristic of a race mysteri- 
 ous in its origin, wandering for centuries among alien peoples, 
 down-trodden, suspected, and scorned, and yet, in spite of 
 its general worthlessness and degradation, preserving an un- 
 changeable fidelity to those of its own blood, a superstitious
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 regard for some few moral laws, and a certain Oriental rich- 
 ness of imagination and poetic feeling. 
 
 These verses deal almost entirely with intimate and per- 
 sonal sentiments the griefs of lovers and their wrongs the 
 cruelty of the world the bitterness of death, which is con- 
 stantly dwelt upon. Very little reference is made to historical 
 events or popular customs ; as an exception may be quoted 
 the verse on page 30, in which one who is dying of the con- 
 sumption of love warns all men away from his bed, since his is 
 such a cruel disease that when he is dead his very clothes will 
 be burnt. He thus refers to what is indeed a custom among 
 the Spanish people, who consider consumption an infectious 
 disease. Again, the verse on page- 1 5 recalls the primitive 
 custom of carrying the dead exposed to view through the 
 streets. Many verses speak of the woes of prisoners, and of 
 exile among the Moors, who are often alluded to, and always 
 with hatred. The prison -songs are often called " Mar- 
 tinetes " or " Carceleras," but are in form like the four-lined 
 " Solea," and can be sung to the same music. This " Solea " 
 (an abbreviation of " Soledad ") is of all the Flamenco songs 
 the least peculiar, and the most easily confused with the 
 Spanish "copla" or couplet, as it has the same metrical form, 
 and can be sung to the music of a malaguena, a polo, etc., as
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 well as to its own. The " solea " of three lines resembles 
 the Spanish "tercelos," and, in a lesser degree, the Italian 
 "stornello." 
 
 Among the most distinctively Flamenco songs, on the other 
 hand, is the " Seguidilla Jitana," which, unlike its^ Spanish 
 namesake a couplet with a refrain of three lines, called an 
 " Estrivillo," added to it consists of four lines only, the first 
 two and the last of which are short, while the third is long ; 
 the second and fourth lines rhyme. A prolonged guitar solo 
 ushers in the song, which commences with a long " Ay " 
 wailed out on a succession of " fioriture." After this the 
 voice pauses, the guitar again plays several bars, and then the 
 seguidilla is sung the second or third line, whichever is 
 most tragic, or important to the verse, being taken first, and 
 the song closing with the line upon which it began. In 
 the accompanying specimen of a " Seguidilla Jitana " an 
 attempt has been made to give an example, adapted to the 
 piano, of the long guitar accompaniment, but it is generally 
 much longer than is here shown, the space not admitting of 
 its being given in its entirety. The " Petenera," a couplet 
 which has a sort of refrain between two repetitions of its third 
 line, is sung in a somewhat similar way, but always to the 
 same air. Flamenco seguidillas occasionally have the same
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 form as the Spanish ones, but they are then, as will be seen, 
 called " Serranas." The " Debla " is a couplet which is 
 begun on one air that of a Seguidilla Jitana, for example 
 and finished on that of a Martinete or some other air, 
 apparently with the intention of taking in the hearer. Some 
 singers insist that the meaning of its refrain, " Deblica barea," 
 which is not understood by any of the singers who use it, is 
 " Here you have the trick," or " Here you are taken in." 
 From its resemblance to the two Rommany words " debla " 
 and " baro," however, it would more probably signify " Mighty 
 goddess," but these words having no connection with the 
 preceding verses, the exact meaning of this refrain remains 
 a mystery. 
 
 The use of the word "companero" or "companera" is 
 frequent, and it is taken to mean friend, lover, husband, or 
 wife, as the case may be ; the English word companion or com- 
 rade is an insufficient rendering of it, but the only available one. 
 Diminutives occur at every turn, in the most tragic as well as the 
 most tender passages, and are applied not only to nouns and adjec- 
 tives, but to verbs, which are literally conjugated in the diminu- 
 tive. The impossibility of rendering this strange and charming 
 freak of language into English is one of the many drawbacks 
 which make of a translation but a pale reflection of the original.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Italian folk-songs are so much better known, and 
 have so often been written about, that little remains to be said 
 of them. I have made my selection principally from those 
 of Sicily and Tuscany,' and have not attempted to give ex- 
 amples from all the districts of Italy. This work has already 
 been ably carried out by others, and is not, as I have said, the 
 aim of the present volume. I am also of opinion that the 
 most perfect and original examples, from a poetical point of 
 view, are to be found in Sicily, where the songs are thought 
 to have chiefly originated, and in Tuscany, where the poetic 
 spirit seems, more than elsewhere in Italy, inborn ; and where 
 it received an impulse and an inspiration from the literary 
 revivals of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and from 
 the familiarity of the people with the verses of Dante, Tasso, 
 and their other great poets. Some of these popular songs still 
 contain allusions to the heroes and heroines of the classic poetry 
 of Italy. The folk-songs in other parts of the country, 
 though containing much that is charming, are often repetitions 
 or paraphrases of the Tuscan and Sicilian ones, and are usually 
 less graceful in language. 
 
 Although ballads, religious pieces, cradle-songs, rhymed 
 riddles, and many other forms of song, have their place among 
 these popular verses, their poetical value generally falls far
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 below that of the " Rispetti " and " Stornelli," and it is 
 therefore among these latter that this selection has been made. 
 The " Rispetto " or " Strambotto," generally called " Can- 
 zune " in Sicily, consists, properly speaking, of eight lines of 
 eleven syllables, though in its transmission from mouth to 
 mouth it sometimes loses two of its lines, or acquires addi- 
 tional ones. In the Tuscan Rispetto the first four lines 
 rhyme alternately, and the last four in pairs ; the last two 
 lines are usually an almost exact repetition of the two pre- 
 ceding ones, inverted so as to change the rhyme. In the 
 Sicilian Canzune the lines all rhyme alternately, and often the 
 whole eight are assonant ; sometimes, again, the same word is 
 used as a rhyme for three lines, and is only varied in the 
 fourth ; there are no repetitions as in the Tuscan song. It 
 is now extremely difficult to procure the genuine music of 
 a Rispetto ; the airs to which they are set in collections of 
 popular songs being generally arranged by some modern 
 composer. The example given here, however, was noted 
 down from the lips of an old peasant by Mrs. Ross, of 
 Florence, and is printed by her kind permission. 
 
 The " Stornello " consists of one short and two long lines, 
 the first and third rhyming, and the second being assonant. 
 The examples will show the pretty fashion in which the
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Stornello usually begins with the name of a flower. This 
 name has seldom any connection with the lines that follow, 
 but occasionally the invocation is different, and may refer to a 
 person or thing connected with the song. Sometimes the 
 Stornelli have three lines of equal length also. They are sung 
 to many different airs ; one now commonly used has, as will be 
 seen in the example, a short chorus of two lines, differing from 
 the original air, interposed between the second and third lines 
 of the Stornello, and repeated at the end of it. The Stornello 
 itself is in these cases sung by a high, single' voice, and the 
 chorus taken up by other voices ; the whole song is supported 
 by that low, monotonous murmur of bass voices in accompani- 
 ment which is familiar to all who have heard Italian street 
 music. 
 
 The peasants may be heard singing these songs at their 
 work ; as one ends a song, another caps it with a fresh one, 
 and so they go on vying with each other, the singer who 
 knows the largest number being considered to have gained an 
 important victory. These contests are also carried on at fairs 
 and holiday meetings ; if a singer is very proficient he will 
 even go about singing from village to village, and is rewarded 
 by a supper, a drink of wine, or some offering in kind. In 
 Sicily these itinerant singers are generally blind men, and
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 possess a wonderful stock of songs and ballads ; they are called 
 " Cantastorie," and are welcome guests, without whom no 
 festivity is considered complete. 
 
 The Rispetti are also called, according to their subjects, 
 Serenate, Dispetti, Sfide, Orazioni, Lettere, etc. (sometimes 
 a Tuscan swain will write a long letter in rhyme to his sweet- 
 heart), and they are even named according to the calling or 
 condition of the people who sing them " The Butchers' or 
 the Fishers' Song," or " The Prisoners' Song," or " Vicariola," 
 called after the great prison, the Vicaria, in Palermo. The 
 " Dispetti " and " Sfide " are songs of challenge, suspicion, 
 affront, and ridicule ; they are sung in bitter earnest some- 
 times, and they tell in Sicily of a girl who pined to death 
 after a night during which she had been serenaded with these 
 songs by an offended lover and his friends. It was common 
 for songs to be improvised by local poets, and those who were 
 gifted in this way were looked up to with honour by the 
 whole district. Such an one was Beatrice del Pian degli 
 Ontani, a Tuscan peasant, so famed for her improvisations that 
 a notice of her has already found it way into English print. 
 She died not long ago, and, it is to be feared, has left no 
 worthy successors, for the love and knowledge of the genuine 
 old folk-songs are beginning, alas ! to die out in the most 
 xvii
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 frequented parts of the country, and are to be found only in 
 the quiet and distant mountain villages. None of these people 
 can ever improvise, or even recite, their verses, except with 
 the help'of the music, which certainly adjusts many imperfec- 
 tions of rhythm ; but it may be imagined that this incapacity 
 of repeating their poems adds many difficulties to the work of 
 the collector. 
 
 The majority of these verses are love-songs, but the con- 
 ceits and similes they employ bear witness to the great love 
 and appreciation these people have for the beauty of Nature ; 
 indeed, it seems almost impossible that some of these delicate 
 and subtle thoughts and expressions can have originated with 
 an uneducated peasant. Sometimes in their " May-songs " 
 a survival of the old and very general custom of celebrating 
 the return of Spring they burst forth into a simple strain of 
 praise of Earth's loveliness. Coarse and violent expressions 
 are very seldom to be found, and this is notably true of the 
 Tuscan songs, the tone of which, whether gay or sad, is more 
 gentle and quaint than extravagant. In the Sicilian songs a 
 more passionate note is sounded, and the similes and language 
 are more exaggerated and highly-coloured ; indeed, it is curious 
 to find in some of these, ideas corresponding to those of the 
 gipsy-songs of Spain. The difference here lies in the treat-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 ment in the Sicilian Canzune the idea is worked out and 
 adorned ; in the gipsy-song it is tersely expressed, and rarely 
 qualified by a single adjective. 
 
 Few references are made in the Tuscan songs to historical 
 events ; in the Sicilian they are more frequent. The subject 
 of one Canzune is the " Sicilian Vespers," and several others 
 refer to the invasions of the Saracens. Some of these allu- 
 sions seem to imply that the songs are very old ; in one or 
 two there are traces of a hymn to some goddess, recalling 
 the time of the Greek influence in Sicily. The prison-songs, 
 "Vicariole" or " Carcerati," are rare in other parts of Italy, 
 but abound in Sicily, and are also found in Sardinia and 
 Corsica. 
 
 There is one more class of songs, called " Diesilli " in 
 Sicily, "Triboli" in the South of Italy, "Altidos" in Sar- 
 dinia, and " Voceri " in Corsica, which are used as prayers 
 or laments over the dead, and are accompanied by ceremonies 
 closely resembling those of an Irish wake. The performance 
 of these ceremonies is dying out almost everywhere except in 
 the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia, where the custom of 
 bewailing the dead and singing laments over them the night 
 before their burial still prevails, and is carried out with 
 deep sincerity. Not long ago, it is true, an old Sicilian
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 servant was heard to make a boast of "knowing how to 
 weep," showing that the custom was known in that country 
 in her young days ; but it is now limited to the singing of 
 " Diesilli," or prayers for the souls in purgatory. 
 
 The " Vocero," an example of which closes this volume, 
 is peculiarly characteristic of Corsica, the land of " vendette," 
 where mothers, sisters, wives, so often have to mourn the 
 violent death of their dear ones. The women of the family 
 and their neighbours come together on the eve of a funeral, 
 and, kneeling round the bier, beat their breasts and throw ashes 
 upon their heads, while the poetess or chief singer of the 
 village sings the Vocero ; at intervals they break out in a 
 chorus of wails, crying " Deh, deh ! " and when the song is 
 ended they move round the bier in a kind of weird, slow 
 dance, continually uttering lamentations. If there is no noted 
 singer in the place, the task of singing, and sometimes impro- 
 vising, the Vocero, falls on some near relation of the dead. 
 The one quoted here is put into the mouth of a young girl, 
 who has been searching over the mountains for the corpse of 
 her murdered father, and who describes her wanderings, and 
 how she found him she was seeking, too late to help or to save. 
 
 I would say, in conclusion, that in making these transla- 
 tions I have endeavoured as much as possible to keep to the
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 form and letter of the originals, while striving, at the same 
 time, to infuse some of their charm and simplicity into the 
 English verse. In one or two instances I have been forced 
 to sacrifice a syllable or a word : as in the case of the feminine 
 syllable with which every one of the Italian, and most of the 
 Spanish, lines end. The construction of these languages makes 
 it not only easy, but almost imperative, to use the feminine 
 syllable frequently ; whereas in English the reverse is the 
 case, and I could only have used it, as a general thing, at the 
 cost of employing many stilted expressions and depriving the 
 style of all force and simplicity. The habit of using the pro- 
 nouns " thou " and " you " indiscriminately is very common 
 in the Italian, as in many of our own old songs ; and I have 
 been careful to preserve these and other quaint turns of 
 expression as much as possible. 
 
 I am, however, conscious that these renderings fall far 
 below the originals in beauty and power ; and it is with an 
 apology for the failings and incompleteness of this volume that 
 I offer it to those who, knowing the countries that gave birth 
 to these songs, and yet being unfamiliar with their language, 
 may be interested to read in English this poetry of the people. 
 
 LONDON, April 1887.
 
 "CANTES FLAMENCOS" 
 (SPANISH GIPSY SONGS)
 
 "SOLEARES" 
 OF THREE AND FOUR LINES
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Passing thy door, I said 
 An " Ave-Maria " for thee, 
 Even as wert thou dead.
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 I crossed the churchyard lea, 
 And even the rosemary 
 Told thou wert false to me. 
 
 6
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Thy love is like the winds that range, 
 And mine is like the unshaken rock 
 That knows no change.
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 When I am dead and gone, 
 The madhouse needs must be 
 Thy refuge, little one !
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Come home with me, sweetheart ; 
 
 And I will tell my mother 
 
 That our Lady of Grace thou art ! 
 
 9
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 More fair is she, my little one, 
 Than any white carnation-flower 
 That opens to the morning sun. 
 
 10
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Gipsy maid, when thou art dead, 
 Let them with my very heart's blood 
 Mark the gravestone at thy head. 
 
 ii
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Cease thy weeping and let, be ! 
 
 Since the joys which thou hast known 
 
 Needs must turn to misery.
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Go to ! may they shoot thee dead ! 
 Let my glances fire the powder, 
 With my sighs the ball be sped ! 
 
 13
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 How canst thou dare to give 
 Thy love to any other, 
 I being yet alive ? 
 
 14
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 To-day she passed me, lying dead ; 
 And when I saw how fair she was, 
 A covering o'er her face I spread.
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 I move like a prisoner caught, 
 For behind me comes my shadow, 
 And before me goes my thought. 
 
 16
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 I am greater than God in heaven, 
 Since God will forgive thee never 
 All that I have now forgiven. 
 
 17
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 One moonlit night 
 I saw the gravedigger, digging 
 My grave in the silvery light. 
 
 18
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 The wrong thou didst me thou canst never pay ; 
 Not wert thou hanged and quartered, and thy limbs 
 Impaled beside the way !
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Yet one day, by God, 
 
 Thou shalt come and seek me, broken-hearted, 
 Weeping tears of blood. 
 
 20
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 I will die, that I may see 
 Whether Death can end this frenzy, 
 This thirst for thee.
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 The eyes of my dark beauty 
 Are like the wounds I bear ; 
 
 Great as my desolation, 
 Black as my despair. 
 
 22
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 CANTO. 
 
 GUITARRA. 
 
 EXAMPLE OF A "SOLEA 
 
 Allegretto. 
 
 
 
 TT* 
 
 J " gS *i -^ ' * 
 
 * iff i 
 
 -r < 
 
 $ 
 
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 TT 
 
 i 
 
 ^nir 
 
 =3= 
 
 23
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 
 EE 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 * 
 
 Se pa 
 
 
 
 e - sen a mis ma 
 
 -r -r 
 
 S 2 3 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 ^ : ^i ! ' 
 
 les 
 
 Los o - jos de mi . . . mo- 
 
 -fr-fg 
 
 -I*-* 
 
 re - na. 
 
 Se pa e sen a . . mis ma- 
 
 les 
 
 Ne - gros co- 
 
 24
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 TfnF 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 v 
 
 .m 
 
 * ' ' < ; 
 
 ^>j* i r- 
 
 i> r r ~\ 
 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 o mis 
 
 01 
 
 56 
 
 sa 
 
 - 
 
 J 
 
 
 res. 
 
 Gran - des 
 
 ~r 
 
 BEE 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 ^P 
 
 L i 1 
 
 
 co mo mis fa - - ti - gas .... Los 
 
 $*r-f c-u^=rrrr"y 
 
 t- h 
 
 o jos de mi mo - re - na. 
 
 /).C. al Segno. 
 
 rT . -r -r 
 
 25
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Passing thy door, I take a crust 
 And eat, for all to see ; 
 
 Lest they should say I only live 
 Upon the sight of thee. 
 
 26
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Yestereven 
 
 The dead-cart passed me nigh ; 
 A hand hung out uncovered 
 I knew her again thereby. 
 
 27
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Yea, I have told thee, Romera, 
 Look to it lest thou befool me, 
 
 For if I catch thee, not even 
 
 The Sacred Host shall avail thee ! 
 
 28
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 Though thou should'st stretch thyself upon a cross, 
 Like to the Nazarene, with thorn-pierced brow, 
 And fall beneath it thrice, yet would I not 
 Believe thy vow. 
 
 29
 
 Let none draw near the bed where I, 
 Wasted with grief, am lying ; 
 
 They burn the very clothes of them 
 That die as I am dying. 
 
 30
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 If I may not take revenge in life, 
 In death shall my vengeance be, 
 
 For I will seek through all the graves 
 Until I find out thee. 
 
 31
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Dost say thou sleep'st alone ? 
 
 Thou liest, by mine oath ! 
 For thought, O comrade mine, 
 
 Sleeps with us both. 
 
 32
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 I look from the iron-barred casement, 
 But nought to see is there, 
 
 Save dust and sand in the sunshine, 
 Stirred by the languid air. 
 
 33
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 When I have lain ten years in death, 
 And worms have fed on me, 
 
 Writ on my bones shall yet be found 
 The love I bore to thee. 
 
 34
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 May he who gave thee counsel 
 To love not such as I, 
 
 With blows and stabs be shriven, 
 And raving die. 
 
 35
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 For all the pains thou causest me 
 I will not be revenged on thee ; 
 Since, that I loved thee once so well 
 Avails thee for a sanctuary. 
 
 -36
 
 SOLEARES 
 
 In the hour of my death-agony 
 Draw near me where I lie, 
 
 And fix thine eyes upon mine ey 
 It might be I should not die. 
 
 37
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 They take him from the prison-house ; 
 
 Across the sea they bear 
 Him hence toward the Moorish land, 
 
 And he will perish there. 
 
 -38-
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 39
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 See where looms my evil fortune ! 
 
 One more curst than I 
 Ne'er was born of a homeless mother, sleeping 
 
 Under the moonlit sky. 
 
 40
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 EXAMPLE OF "SEGUIDILLA JIT ANA" 
 
 CANTO. 
 
 PIANO. 
 
 i 
 
 m.d. 
 
 "T"D 1 E- 
 
 aa: 
 
 I- I- 3 
 
 h h 
 
 . J : a ai 
 
 
 
 41
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 
 3SS 
 
 
 j~ JM ' h h 
 
 |j = J = J r r=l 
 
 ffi-g g 5 . ! 
 
 3 : "8 ^-fl -=i 
 
 
 c:U ' J^jJ*^: ' *"i = j =rta ^ ^^t^^ 5 ^ 1 
 
 42
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 / P 
 
 / !/ 
 
 =fe 
 
 M 
 
 - * r 
 
 - -- ; J- 
 
 Ay- 
 
 
 
 
 sf 
 
 
 43
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 f s- .. > m f- dim. 
 
 *m m m*m J f f 
 
 ^m- i 
 
 
 N S 
 
 2 * 
 
 * ~ 
 
 mf , / =^ 
 
 " i- e= JV4T i ' r r rr* f rrryy 
 
 Mi-ra po' a - on - de bi - e - ne Mi 
 
 1 
 
 L/
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 ^^*L^J P -*A 
 
 = l =:::= R :: t-*i^3 
 
 =p - 
 
 ma - la for-tu na, Mi ma - la for-tu-na, 
 
 if 
 
 5 
 
 /T3 - : -- j?=> 
 fe 
 
 Fed. 
 
 ,BP ' 
 
 
 
 Mas des-gra-cia - o de ma - re no na-se, Dur- 
 
 3 
 
 Fed. 
 
 * 
 
 j> ?J 3 
 
 ycrrF 
 
 ty E53 ' 
 
 ^<*VP m^m 
 
 V 
 
 a - do a la lu na. Mi ma - la for - tu na. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 Fed. 
 
 45
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 = Tg. ' rt rjF 
 
 ~ ~\ smorz. 1 
 
 Ped. 
 
 46
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 Like the turtle-dove 
 I sought for thee, 
 
 O comrade mine, from bough to bough, 
 From tree to tree. 
 
 47
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 If I should ever know 
 
 Thou didst not love me well, 
 
 I would deny my God, and get me hence 
 Amid the Moors to dwell. 
 
 _ 4 8-
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 A plague upon thee, Death ! 
 
 That such dread power is thine ; 
 My comrade thou hast taken from my side, 
 
 And a little son of mine. 
 
 49
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Go to, then ! 
 
 And Heaven grant thou be 
 
 Slain first thyself with that same knife, O comrade, 
 That thou dost mean for me ! 
 
 50
 
 X x
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 I am not of this earth, 
 
 Nor born of mortal mother, 
 But Fortune, with her turning, turning wheel, 
 
 Hath brought me hither.
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Now turn me so 
 
 That I may see my mother's deep, great eyes 
 Once more, before I go. 
 
 52
 
 SEGUIDILLAS JITANAS 
 
 Go now, and tell the moon 
 
 She need not rise to-night, 
 Or shine, because I have my comrade's eyes 
 
 To give me light. 
 
 53
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Once, as I told my beads, 
 
 While yet the dawn was red, 
 I saw the mother of my soul come toward me, 
 
 With arms outspread. 
 
 54
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS, &c 
 
 55
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 To the mountains of Armenia 
 
 Now will I flee, 
 And dwell with the beasts of the forest- 
 
 Because of thee ; 
 
 Now will I flee 
 Where none in the world may ever 
 
 Hear more of me. 
 
 -56-
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 Down from the Sierra Morena 
 
 With dread I see 
 A pair of black eyes descending 
 So stealthily. 
 
 I see with dread 
 
 A pair of black eyes descending 
 They strike me dead. 
 
 57
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Leave me, memory of sorrow, 
 Come not, torturing me sore ; 
 Whether once, or not, I loved her, 
 ( Child and darling of my heart ! ) 
 Whether once, or not, I loved her, 
 Do not thou remind me more. 
 
 -.58-
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 EXAMPLE OF THE "PETENERA' 
 
 Allegretto. 
 
 PIANO. 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 6*: 
 
 59
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 i rn i H> 
 
 r 
 
 
 -q 1*. 
 
 1 1 i^ = =^ 
 
 
 . 
 -tal ' Li 
 
 60
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 -fcfr 
 
 
 MENOS. Ldnguido. 
 
 y 
 
 
 [5=tE 
 
 E^ h | J = 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 | | 
 
 De ja - me, 
 
 ^^V J L* 1 t^-sg 
 
 me - mo - ria tris - te 
 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 t: 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 ff 
 
 
 
 ^3 a 
 
 ~l 
 
 ^^ 
 
 - 
 
 
 U 
 
 
 J^JIU! 
 
 1^ -^F 
 
 
 De - ja - me, me mo - ria 
 
 .-1 -1 
 
 w^r^-i* 
 
 61
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 m 
 
 tris - te, nb me es - tas a - tor - men - tan - do . . 
 
 jrz^ju 
 
 se la qui - se o no la qui - - se. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 mi co -r.T- zon. . 
 
 Se la qui - se o nd la 
 
 =1 I I-
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 qui se n5 me es-tas, ay ! re - cor - dan - do. 
 
 * 
 
 ritardo. 
 
 De-ja-me, me - mo - ria tris - te, no me es-tas a- tor-men-tan- 
 
 gs 
 
 
 Idnguzdo. 
 
 -63-
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 
 -6 4 -
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 When He made thee those black lashes, 
 God, no doubt, would give thee warning 
 That for all the deaths thou causest, 
 
 (Lonely dayt, oh lonely days!} 
 That for all the deaths thou causest, 
 Thou must put thine eyes in mourning. 
 
 -65-
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Whither wilt thou carry me, O thought, 
 So fast that scarcely I may follow thee ? 
 
 Let me not, I pray of thee, be brought, 
 ( Child of my soul ! ) 
 
 Let me not, I pray of thee, be brought 
 Into some prison whence I may not flee. 
 
 66
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 There's that in thee, thou gipsy wife, 
 
 Was never seen among thy race ; 
 Of all thy sorrows, not a sign 
 
 Has passed into thy face. 
 No sign has passed into my face, 
 
 Yet sorrow leaves my heart no rest ; 
 I do not tell my griefs abroad, 
 
 To be the people's jest. 
 To be the people's idle jest 
 
 My secret griefs I do not tell ; 
 The time will come that men shall know 
 
 How I have loved thee well. 
 
 -67-
 
 SPANISH GIPSY SONGS 
 
 Even the boughs can feel it 
 
 When the leaves are shed from the tree ; 
 Dost thou think I do not feel it 
 
 When folk say aught of thee ? 
 Debllca barea. 
 
 68
 
 SERRANAS, PETENERAS, DEBLAS 
 
 I went one eventide 
 Into the churchyard wide ; 
 The gravedigger came by, 
 And unto him quoth I : 
 
 " Is there not set apart, 
 (0 weary heart !) 
 
 Is there not set apart 
 
 A place where those may lie 
 
 Who loving die?" 
 
 -69-
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 RISPETTI 
 
 71
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 O dove, that flying o'er the hill dost stay thee 
 
 To make thy nest among the stones for cover, 
 Lend me a feather from thy wing, I pray thee, 
 
 That I may write a letter to my lover. 
 And when it's writ all fine, and doth content me, 
 I'll give thee back the pen that thou hast lent me ; 
 And when it's written out and sealed together, 
 O dove, I'll give thee back the love-steeped feather. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 72
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 EXAMPLE OF A RISPETTO 
 
 VOCE. 
 
 PIANO. 
 
 Andantino a piacere. 
 
 *E 
 
 Co-lom-ba che nel pog-gio sei vo - la - - ta 
 
 t- | |_=E 
 
 *r= 
 
 T~ai 
 
 T ii= 
 
 >^s-jsj*yzai:! 
 
 Co-Iom-bache nel sas-so hai fat- to 'I ni do, Dam-mi u-na pen-na del-la 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^p 
 
 tua bell' a - la, Che scri- ver vo' u-na let-ter-a al mio fi 
 
 -A i |~ 
 
 i 
 
 it=_ j_i^ 
 
 -^.- 
 
 73
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 ft^ ^a-J^gm 
 
 *J ihJ*S- m 
 
 E quan-do l'a-vr& scrit-ta e fat-ta bel-la, Ti ren-de-rb lapen-na o Co-lorn- 
 
 
 
 
 1 r I-F 1 
 
 IJ h 1 h 1 
 
 
 
 ^ 3 ^ 3 
 
 --'---*im ~ )*-=- 
 
 bel la ; E quan-do 1'a-vrb scrit-ta e si - gil-la - ta, 
 
 ^=^-" 
 
 1 . 
 
 = 
 
 < s* 
 
 
 =5=!= 
 
 Tiren-de-r6 lapen-nain-na-mo ra 
 
 74-
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 O casement, that art open with the dawn, 
 But closed so fast at night, to make me die ; 
 
 O casement, that carnations sweet adorn, 
 Thou shouldest open, of thy courtesy. 
 
 4 
 
 O casement, set with dainty stones about, 
 Within thou hast the sun, the stars without ; 
 O casement, set with precious stones below, 
 Within the sun, without the roses glow. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 75
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Go hence, my beauty, go in peace to sleep ; 
 
 And may thy bed of violets be made ; 
 Three rays of sunlight watch above thee keep, 
 
 Twelve stars beside thy pillow be arrayed. 
 And may the moon come rest upon thy face : 
 
 Remember me, thou child of noble race : 
 
 % 
 And may the moon come rest upon thy head : 
 
 Remember me, thou lily crimson-red : 
 The morning star be shining at thy feet : 
 Remember me when thou dost rise, my sweet. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 76
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 The moon is come, with lamentation sore, 
 
 To make complaint before th' Eternal Love ; 
 She says that she will stay in heaven no more 
 
 Since you have stol'n her splendour from above. 
 And she laments aloud, with much ado, 
 That counting o'er her stars, she misses two ; 
 She seeks, but cannot find them in the skies : 
 'Tis you that have them they are your two eyes. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 77
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 How long a time I've lost in loving thee ! 
 
 'Twere better had my love to God been given ; 
 Then on my side some blessed saint might be, 
 
 And I might have some part and lot in heaven. 
 But now for love of you, fair ruddy face, 
 I find myself outside that holy place ; 
 For loving you, fresh violet, on this wise, 
 I find myself shut out from Paradise. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 -78-
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 At Naples they have made a law, that none 
 
 Shall weep when one is carried to his grave ; 
 But let a mother weep who rears a son, 
 
 She does but make of him Love's serf and slave : 
 And weep to see the child grow strong of limb, 
 She does but make a galley-slave of him : 
 And weep what time she gives her babe the breast, 
 She makes him but the slave of Love's behest. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 79
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 O little violet, who hath taken thee ? 
 Oh, who hath taken thee, that wert my love ? 
 May God grant ne'er an hour of luck to him 
 But sound of fun'ral bells and torchlight dim ; 
 May God ne'er send him blessing, day or night 
 But sound of bells and fun'ral tapers' light. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 80
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 O sun, that goest, goest hence apace, 
 O sun, that goest o'er the hills away, 
 
 Grant to me, if so be thou canst, a grace, 
 
 Greet me my love, whom I've not seen to-day. 
 
 O sun, that goest o'er the pear-trees high, 
 
 Greet those black eyes for me as you go by ; 
 
 sun, that goest hence across the lea, . 
 
 1 pray you, greet those radiant eyes for me. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 81
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 When will the day, the glorious day, draw nigh, 
 That with light step my stair thou shall ascend ? 
 
 Thy brethren and thy friends all standing by, 
 I shall be first of all to take thy hand. 
 
 When will it dawn, the day of blessedness, 
 
 That we before the priest shall answer " Yes " ? 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 82
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 Beneath a beech-tree on the flowery mead 
 
 I wait, I wait for setting of the sun ; 
 For when the air grows dusk, 'tis then indeed 
 
 That I shall see the rising of the sun : 
 Of that fair sun that made my heart once bleed, 
 
 But now will heal the hurt that he has done. 
 This sun whereof I speak, my love is he ; 
 I tell him o'er and o'er : " I love, love thee ! " 
 This goodly youth, the sun whereof I sing, 
 Will give to me, when August comes, the ring. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 -83-
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 O flower of beauty, blooming all the year, 
 And just as fair through seasons altering ; 
 
 For those who see thee and who feel thee near 
 There is not ever any end to spring. 
 
 Now go among the people, youth most fair, 
 
 Thou of thy beauty soon shalt be aware ! 
 
 Flower of beauty, rather do not go ; 
 
 That thou art fair, 'tis I alone must know ! 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 84-
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 I pray you, grow no fairer than you are, 
 O youth, or you a lily will become ; 
 
 You will become a flower and then a star, 
 And go to Paradise to seek your home ; 
 
 And go to seek the glories up on high, 
 
 O youth, that winnest virtue's victory ! 
 
 Tuscany* 
 
 -8s-
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 If thou art fair, thank fortune for the boon, 
 
 And thank thy mother who hath made thee, too ; 
 
 And thank the sun on high, and thank the moon, 
 And yield thy thanks to heaven, where they are due. 
 
 And yield thy thanks to holy Paradise, 
 
 Who gave thee that white face and those black eyes ; 
 
 Yield thanks to holy Paradise, whose grace 
 
 Did give thee those black eyes and that white face. 
 
 Tuscany.
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 tree of gold, with pearls most richly laden, 
 Pillar whereon my spirit surely stayeth ; 
 
 1 from my youth have ever loved thee, maiden ; 
 
 Happy whoso thy sov'reignty obeyeth. 
 And happy she that to her bosom laid thee, 
 And such a star of white and crimson made thee. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 -87
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 O golden head and forehead crystalline, 
 
 Eyes that to gaze on Paradise were given, 
 Ivory teeth and lips of coral fine, 
 
 Sure, thou art fairer than Narcissus even ! 
 Yellow in colour is that hair of thine, 
 And one might think it had been spun in heaven. 
 That golden hair, those tresses on thy brow, 
 Have stol'n away my heart, I know not how. 
 
 Tuscany.
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 The day that thou wast born, O foam of gold, 
 
 The angels in the skies rejoiced, that day ; 
 (Tell me, who gave thee all this wealth untold ?) 
 
 Nine silver torches lit thee on thy way. 
 For thou alone canst stand amid fine gold, 
 
 Or 'mid the stars the jewelled heavens display ; 
 When thou dost loose thy hair's broad flood of gold 
 
 Thou makest night seem light as brightest day. 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 -89-
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 When first the world beheld thy beauty's dower, 
 
 All men, both small and great, were struck with wonder]; 
 The earth did tremble and the trees did flower, 
 
 The mountains, shaken as it were with thunder, 
 Fell level with the plains that self-same hour ; 
 
 The very gates of hell were burst asunder, 
 The dead arose, despite the deep grave's power 
 
 Thy beauty raised the dead men with its wonder. 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 go
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 O Garden of the East, with blossom bright, 
 O Life, that givest life to this my soul, 
 
 Riches and treasure should be thine by right ; 
 Thou ait a spring, and dost refresh my soul. 
 
 budding jessamine, belove'd heart, 
 O budding love and palmy coronal, 
 
 1 would tear forth and give thee all my heart, 
 
 And, but that it is God's, my very soul ! 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 91
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Apollo stays his chariot in its flight, 
 
 The happy butterfly stays hov'ring near, 
 The lightning stays its arrow swift and bright, 
 
 They pause for courtesy and homage here. 
 The heavens stay at such a goodly sight, 
 
 The earth is standing still, too, for my dear ; 
 Now stay, ye stars, and stay, ye breezes light, 
 
 My goddess speaks stand still awhile and hear ! 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 92
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 The holy Virgin sends you greetings kind, 
 
 She wishes you good-day; and on this wise 
 Saint Anna greets you too, and has a mind 
 
 To see you with your palm in Paradise ; 
 That you with all those virgins may be brought, 
 
 Beloved of her, the brides our Lord doth choose, 
 Who walk in shining raiment, richly wrought 
 
 With gold and silver and a thousand hues. 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 93
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 My heart, my soul, have neither dread nor care 
 So fair and gracious did thy mother make thee, 
 
 Such splendours and such beauties dost thou wear, 
 
 - 
 My first love I forsook that I might take thee. 
 
 Before the holy images I swear, 
 
 The day shall never come that I forsake thee. 
 And were I dead and in my grave, yet must 
 My very bones still love thee, I being dust. 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 94
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 I have left word, that when I come to die, 
 
 No one may touch my body, I being gone. 
 But if indeed my love should then draw nigh 
 
 And drtss me, clasp the fastenings one by one, 
 Yea, bear me to my grave, and standing by, 
 
 Should breathe a little sigh and make her moan, 
 Then from among the dead I would reply : 
 
 " Wilt go, my soul, and leave me here alone ?" 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 95
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of my soul, I am a prisoner here, 
 
 With none to pity, none to help or care ; 
 My parents both forsook me in their fear ; 
 
 They took my love from me, that was so fair. 
 I am shut in past hope, a prisoner drear, 
 
 O heavenly angels, have me in your care ! 
 I shall go forth a pois'nous snake from here, 
 
 And then, let those who drove me in beware ! 
 
 Sicify. 
 
 -96-
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 Those who have not been prisoners, I say, . 
 
 Have never known what sorrows are, nor pains. 
 They bind me fast with fetters every day, 
 
 And every night they bind me fast with chains. 
 When my thoughts turn to heaven and I would pray, 
 
 The very blood dries up within my veins. 
 For all the grains of sand upon the shore, 
 The sorrows I have learnt to know are more. 
 
 Sardinia. 
 
 97
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 For love of thee to such a pass I'm brought, 
 That even at mass I know not what I do ; 
 
 The priest begins to read I take no thought, 
 Nor can I say " Hail Mary " rightly through. 
 
 And even saying it avails me nought, 
 
 Because of the great love I bear to you ; 
 
 I have thee written on the heart of me, 
 
 And hold my very life less dear than thee ! 
 
 Venice.
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 Bells for the dead dost hear them how they toll ? 
 To-morrow I must go from hence, my soul. 
 And when by night the star is dark o'erhead, 
 Then weep for me, O love, for I am dead ; 
 And when the star is darkened, love, by day, 
 Know that I am returning, and be gay. 
 
 Abruzzi. 
 
 99
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Window, once lighted, now no more alight 
 
 This is a sign my love is sick to death. 
 Her sister leaneth out into the night : 
 
 " Thy love is dead and buried now," she saith. 
 She always wept that she did sleep alone, 
 
 And now she hath the dead for company. 
 O master sexton, prithee, on that stone 
 
 Keep the lamp always burning piously. 
 
 Naples. 
 
 100
 
 RISPETTI 
 
 You ask me, then, of your sweet courtesy, 
 Who is the master of this verse of mine ? 
 
 I answer in my heart dwells poesy, 
 
 I sing but what she tells me, line by line. 
 
 The day that first I saw my Magdalen, 
 
 I felt my heart all full -of verses then ; 
 
 The day she smiled upon me with her eyes, 
 
 Open I saw the realms of Paradise ; 
 
 Now that her heart she gives me, I can sing 
 
 I am a poet and a crowned king. 
 
 Umbrla. 
 
 101
 
 "STORNELLI" OR "FIORI 
 
 103
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 O poppy red ! 
 
 Look not on me with stormy eyes and sad, 
 
 You make me tremble like the leaves o'erhead. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 REFRAIN : 
 
 Thou rogue, give back my heart to me, 
 For to make love 1 gave it thee. 
 
 104
 
 STORNELLI 
 EXAMPLE OF A STORNELLO 
 
 H 
 
 s 
 
 5 
 
 Fior di pa - pa - ve - ro, Non ... mi . guar- 
 
 * * * * -rf"'* ** ** *' 
 
 ^ 
 
 da - re con quel . . . occh i - o tor bi 
 
 P 
 
 5 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 do. . 
 REFRAIN. 
 
 
 b I U I L I 
 
 Bri - con .. eel - la, ren-di-mi "1 cor, Te 1'ho do- 
 RKFRAIN. , r"^^ _fr 
 
 -g. 
 
 . er 
 
 105 -
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 -W U 
 
 Non mi guar da re con 
 
 =9=^ 
 
 i ni E i 
 
 na - t'a far all' a mor. 
 
 
 r 
 
 -* * *- 
 
 I U k. 
 
 d C i 
 
 quel occhi o tor - bi do Che . . mi fai . . tre mar 
 
 I* i _M j j* j 
 
 .gr-j. -s- -JF 3J J 
 
 
 3 S 
 
 ^ 
 
 =^= 
 
 qual fo - glia d'al-be - - ro. 
 
 I \* I l* I U I U 
 Bri con - eel - la ren-di - mi'l 
 
 -K-I h 
 
 106
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 fV W - x^, 
 
 k I t r C i ^ r 
 
 cor, Te 1'ho do na t'a far all' a mor. 
 
 107
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of the pea ! 
 
 Go tell my love that here in bed I lie, 
 And count, and count the rafters over me. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 108
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 Pomegranate flower ! 
 
 And if these sighs of mine were flames of fire, 
 
 The world would be consumed this very hour. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 109
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of the pine ! 
 
 Call me not ever happy heart again, 
 
 But call me heavy heart, O comrades mine. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 no
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 Flower of the broom ! 
 
 Unwed thy mother keeps thee, not to lose 
 
 That flower from the window of her room. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 in
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Stars by the score ! 
 
 Come, count them, love as many as there are, 
 
 The sorrows that thou bringest me are more. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 112
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 Flower on the bough ! 
 
 Far off in Rome they've made a Pope anew, 
 
 But none will make me a new love, I trow. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 113
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of the pepper-tree ! 
 
 I hover round about thee ceaselessly, 
 
 As bees around the blossoms on the lea. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 114
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 O cypress flower ! 
 
 Taper, light up above the thicket there 
 
 To light my love, who passes at this hour. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 115
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of the yew ! 
 
 And wouldst thou have the heart to leave me now ? 
 
 We've been in love since babyhood, we two ! 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 116
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 O clouds of heaven, what are ye about, 
 
 That all together you do not unite 
 
 To succour love-lorn maids and help them out ? 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 117
 
 X 
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower of the fern ! 
 
 Wherever you pass by the grass springs green 
 
 And blooms, or ever summer doth return. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 118
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 Flower of the grain ! 
 
 The mill stands idle, tho' the wheel may turn ; 
 
 Love grows, and we consume away in vain. 
 
 Tuscany. 
 
 119
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Flower in the vale ! 
 
 The sun will show his face no more at all, 
 Because he knows thy splendours make him pale. 
 
 Sicily.
 
 STORNELLI 
 
 Flower of the vine ! 
 
 Christ did forgive his enemies their sin, 
 
 And do thou, dearest life, forgive me mine. 
 
 Sicily. 
 
 121
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 VOCERO. 
 
 (Dirge.) 
 
 I set forth from the Calanche 
 Ere the dawn begins to hover ; 
 
 Torch in hand I wander, seeking 
 In the orchard, through the cover, 
 
 Seeking till I find my father 
 But they've slain him ; it is over ! 
 
 Higher up the slope, O comrade, 
 
 Thou wilt find Matteo sleeping ; 
 He who lies here is my father, 
 And this is my place for weeping. 
 122
 
 VOCERO 
 
 Gather up his tools and bring them, 
 With his apron of brown leather : 
 
 Father, wilt thou not be going 
 To thy work this sunny weather ? 
 
 Father slain and brother wounded 
 They have struck them down together ! 
 
 Fetch me here my scissors quickly, 
 
 Do not linger in the going ; 
 I will straight cut off my tresses, 
 
 Staunch with them the red wounds flowing ; 
 For my father's blood in crimson 
 
 Stains upon my hand is showing. 
 
 I will steep my kerchief, father, 
 
 In thy life-blood, that hereafter 
 I may wear it, whensoever 
 
 I am moved to idle laughter. 
 
 123
 
 ITALIAN FOLK-SONGS 
 
 Up and down the hills I wander, 
 Past the Holy Stations, crying 
 
 Always after thee, my father, 
 
 Do but speak one word, replying. . 
 
 They have crucified him, even 
 Like to Jesu's crucifying ! 
 
 Corsica.
 
 -

 
 
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