This song is more commonly known by the English translation of its title--namely, "Tell Me What Love Is"--but it makes us sound so much more learned to write it in Italian. Though, of course, we do risk invoking the annoyance of Harriet Smith. "I hate Italian singing. There is no understanding a word of it," says she.
Never fear, Harriet, for Lizzy does not sing in Italian in that famous scene at Pemberley. Instead, she sings the English lyrics to Mozart's famous tune. (The song comes from the opera The Marriage of Figaro, by the by.)
You who have tasted love's mystic spell
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
Fair dame or maiden, none else may know
My heart o'erladen, why is this so?
What is this yearning, these trembling fears
Rapturous burning, melting in tears?
While thus I languish, wild beats my heart,
Yet from my anguish I would not part,
I seek a treasure Fate still denies,
Naught else will pleasure,
Naught else I prize...
I'm ever sighing, I know not why,
Near unto dying, when none are by,
My heart is riven night, morn and eve,
But ah 'tis heaven, thus, thus to grieve!
You who have tasted love's mystic spell
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
Thank you for sharing the lyrics here! I think I may have to track down the sheet music for this, in order to play and sing this piece while I'm in England this September. I'm afraid I play just like Lizzy ("a little and very ill"), but if I started now I could definitely pull it off by the time the Jane Austen Festival rolls around...
ReplyDeleteInteresting to speculate if a longer version ever existed on some editing room floor.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics actually sung in this scene are:
Say ye who borrow Love's fleeting spell,
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
What is this sorrow naught can dispel?
These aren't the exact lyrics Elizabeth sings. Because there is something line that goes... "seizing my brain."
ReplyDeleteNobody says "seizing my brain." The lyrics Lizzie sings are exactly as Anonymous reproduces them above ("Say ye who borrow love's fleeting spell/What is this sorrow naught can dispel? [x 3]").
ReplyDeleteIs it really Jennifer Ehle who sings at Pemberly?
ReplyDeleteYes , it is indeed.
DeleteThanks Anonymous! I have been trying to understand the first line of the Tunes for weeks.
ReplyDeleteThere have been multiple English translations of "Voi che sapete". I believe the version Sophia Rose refers to is the one sung by Charlotte Church.
ReplyDeleteThat scene where Elizabeth sings at Pemberley contains a significant and clever tip of the hat by the makers of the series. Jane Austen, like some of her literary influences, relished romantic situations that turned social hierarchies upside down.
ReplyDeleteAt some point during the performance a servant looking every bit like Mozart from the film Amadeus comes in and bows. It’s an acknowledgment of the sublime greatness of Mozart, who would have been considered a mere underling or servant by aristocrats of that time.
The singer is actually early music specialist Catherine Bott.
ReplyDeleteThe singer for Lizzie Bennet is early music specialist Catherine Bott.
ReplyDelete