on a poem by Ugo Foscolo, English translation by Julian R. Pace. Photography by Rick Powers.

This setting of a poem by the eighteenth-century Italian poet Ugo Foscolo, was written for Ms. Mayda Prado and was performed extensively by her and the composer in the United States and overseas. The song was intended by Mr. DiGiacomo as a tribute to those composers of Italian opera which were his first love as a child and initially inspired him to write music.

This song was first performed by Mayda Prado, accompanied by Frank DiGiacomo at An Evening of Song by Frank DiGiacomo on May 18, 1979 at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center, Syracuse, New York.

LYRICS
Così gl’interi giorni in lungo incerto sonno gemo!
Thus I lament entire days, in long uncertain sleep!

Ma poi quando la bruna notte
But then, when the dusky night

gli astri nel cielo chiama e la luna,
calls forth the stars and moon into the sky,

e il freddo aer di mute ombre è coverto,
and the cold sky is wreathed in silent shade,

dove selvoso è il piano e più deserto
then, wandering slowly in the

allor lento io vagando, ad una ad una
wildest and most desolate places, one by one

palpo le piaghe onde la rea fortuna
I touch the wounds where ill fortune

e amore e il mondo hanno il mio core aperto.
and love and the world have pierced my heart.

Stanco mi appoggio or al tronco d’un pino,
Weary, I lean against the trunk of a pine,

ed or prostrato ove strepitan l’onde,
or, prostrate before the thundering waves,

con le speranze mie parlo e deliro.
I talk and rave of my hopes.

Ma per te le mortali ire e il destino
But often, putting aside for you destiny and

spesso obliando, a te, donna, io sospiro:
worldly cares, I sigh for you, lady:

luce degl’occhi miei, chi mi t’asconde?
light of my eyes, who veils you from my sight?