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That was a short translation, so have another one to go with it. This is Elettra's recitative and aria "D'Oreste, d'Ajace" from Mozart's opera Idomeneo. Thwarted in both her love and her ambition, Elettra vents her feelings in this dramatic aria.
This translation is not quite line-by-line, since I have shifted some words around for the sake of clarity.
Elettra (Electra): a figure from ancient Greek mythology and tragedy, a member of the cursed House of Atreus. She was the daughter of Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) and Clytemnestra, and sister of Iphigenia and Orestes.
Orestes: pursued by the Furies after killing his mother
Ajax: a Greek hero who was driven mad by Athena and finally killed himself
Alecto: one of the Furies
This translation is not quite line-by-line, since I have shifted some words around for the sake of clarity.
| Oh smania! oh furie! oh disperata Elettra! | Oh madness! Oh fury! Oh desperate Electra! |
| Addio amore, addio speme! | Farewell love, farewell hope! |
| Ah il cor nel seno già m'ardono l'eumenidi spietate. | The cruel Furies already burn my heart in my breast. |
| Misera, a che m'arresto? | Wretched woman, why do I hesitate? |
| Sarò in queste contrade della gioja | Shall I be in these lands |
| e trionfi spettatrice dolente? | a grieving onlooker of joy and triumphs? |
| Vedrò Idamante alla rivale in braccio | Shall I see Idamante in my rival's arms |
| e dall'uno e dall'altra mostrarmi a dito? | and show myself to be pointed at by him and by her? |
| Ah no, il germano Oreste | Ah, no; my brother Orestes |
| ne' cupi abissi io vuò seguir. | I want to follow into the dark abysses. |
| Ombra infelice! Lo spirto mio accogli, | Unhappy shade! Receive my spirit, |
| or' or compagna m'avrai là nell'inferno, | even now you will have me as a companion there in the underworld, |
| a sempiterni guai, al pianto eterno. | in eternal woe, in eternal weeping. |
| D'Oreste, d'Ajace | I have the torments of Orestes, |
| Ho in seno i tormenti, | of Ajax, in my breast; |
| D'Aletto la face | Alecto's torch |
| Già morte mi da. | already gives me death. |
| Squarciatemi il cuore | Tear apart my heart, |
| Ceraste, serpenti, | horned snakes, serpents, |
| O un ferro il dolore | or a sword will end |
| in me finirà. | the pain in me. |
Elettra (Electra): a figure from ancient Greek mythology and tragedy, a member of the cursed House of Atreus. She was the daughter of Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) and Clytemnestra, and sister of Iphigenia and Orestes.
Orestes: pursued by the Furies after killing his mother
Ajax: a Greek hero who was driven mad by Athena and finally killed himself
Alecto: one of the Furies