European Madrigals
Interpretations compiled from various sources(including my own somewhat imaginative mind).
European Madrigals
Alla cazza (Anon., c.1540)To the hunt! To the hunt! Hurry!!!
Sound the horn! Don't wait! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
fyi: all the 2-syllable names in the song are hunting dogs, the others are people/hunters... one, the Caller is sure, is a blockhead who may not get the dogs out of the mountain in time
Amor Vittorioso (Victorious Love)
El grilloThe cricket is a fine singer with a very long song.
He is totally absorbed by it.
He is different from other small animals in that he moves about as he sings.
He is devoted to his song, for during the hotest time of day,
he sings for love alone!
*another translation might say, 'he gets drunk on it', which of course, is more to my taste... *heh*
Il bianco e dolce cignoThe white and gentle swan dies singing, and I,
Weeping, reach the end of my life.
Strange and diverse this destiny, that he dies unconsoled,
And I die blessed.
Death, which in dying
Fills me full of joy and desire.
If in dying no other pain I feel
With a thousand deaths a day I would be content.
Il est bel et bonGodmother, my husband is handsome and fine. Two women from the countryside said to me, "You have a good husband!"
He never makes me angry, nor hits me. He does all the housework, and even cares for the chickens. And I have great delight* in him.
Godmother, it's amusing when the chickens seem to say, "Little flirt, what is this!"
My husband is handsome and fine!!!
*another translation might say, "I take my pleasure of him!" And you
probably know which translation I'm er, drawn to... *snicker*
La, la, la! Je ne l'ose dire!La, la, la! I can't possibly tell you what is going on!
...Well, okay, I'll tell you!
La, la, la!
There is a man in our village who has a jealous suspicion of his wife,
And with good reason! She is cheating on him with many (seemingly *all*) of the men in town!
La, la, la!
With good reason is he suspicious! Many are cheating him. [with *her*],
But he is shrewd enough now to make sure she walks only with him.
La, la, la!
He (the husband), at her request, hung himself in the granary loft;
Out of malice, she continues to follow Lucifer's way (and out of spite,
eventually will join him in the hereafter).
La, la, la!
The moral of the story is that before getting married,
He out to know the same day that it is for eternity!
La, la, la!
Matona mia caraMatona... is sung by a German mercenary in broken Italian. His intentions toward his Lady are increasingly obvious as the song progresses to its --er, climactic and (to him) romantic end.
He woos her with these poignant words:
"I yearn for you like a Greek for his capon." and,
"I'll make love all night long, lunging like a ram."
*wow* He's sure got *me* going... It's obvious (to me, anyway) that he spells 'love': L-U-S-T.
Ah, well, it ain't all bad... *grin*
Mon coeur sur recommende vousIn spite of the few who are jealous,
My tortured heart begs to say farewell to you.
Once my lips could smile and tell gracious lies,
But now they only curse those who have forced me from you.
In spite of the few who are jealous,
My tortured heart begs to say farewell to you.
Quand mon MariMy husband beats me when he gets home. I am afraid.
He takes the ladle from the pot and throws it at my head;
I am afraid that he will kill me.
He is a jealous villain, a false, quarrelsome, grumbling villain.
I am young and he is old.
Wir zogen in das FeldThis is a hard luck story sung by penniless mercenaries without much hope of claiming their fair due.
They are thoroughly and increasingly disgruntled, blowing 'raspberries' at their Lordships.
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