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ANNABEL LEE Melodia tradizionale Una volta quando non esistevano ancora i diritti d’autore, se una melodia era particolarmente bella veniva suonata dai musicisti anche con testi diversi (nel Medioevo questa tecnica si chiamava “contrafacta”) Il brano in questione ha come titolo South Wind ed il primo testo che si conosca è stato scritto nel 1700 da Freckled Donald Macnamara, su una musica popolare molto più antica: in gaelico, declama la nostalgia verso la sua amata terra. Si conoscono poi altre versioni tra cui quella del poeta e musicista irlandese Thomas Moore (1779-1852) “I've A Secret To Tell Thee”. Il gruppo Alice Castle ha arrangiato la melodia adattandovi la poesia “Annabell Lee” di A. E. Poe (1809-1848). E’ il testamento spirituale del poeta che lamenta la morte dell’amata moglie It was many years ago in a Kingdom by the sea that a maiden named Annabel Lee lived with no other thougth than to love and to be loved I was a child and a child was she but we loved with a love that was more I and my Annabel Lee with a love that the seraphs of Heaven coveted her and me. And this was the reason why in this Kingdom by the sea a wind blew out of a cloud chilling her so that her kinsmen came and bore her away from me and shut up in a tumb was she and neither the Angels above nor the Demons down the earth can ever dissever my soul from my Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams and the stars rise on her brigh eyes and so all the night tide I lie down by the side of my darling, my life and my bride ASCOLTA Or son molti e molti anni che in un regno in riva al mare viveva una fanciulla di nome Annabel Lee: e viveva questa fanciulla con nessun altro pensiero che di amarmi e d’essere amata. Io ero un bimbo e lei una bimba, ma ci amavamo d’un amore ch’era più che amore -io e la mia Annabel Lee - d’un amore che gli alati serafini in cielo invidiavano a lei ed a me. E fu per questo che in questo regno in riva al mare un vento soffiò da una nube, raggelando la mia bella; così che vennero i suoi nobili parenti e la portarono lontano per rinchiuderla in un sepolcro; e né gli angeli lassù nel cielo né i demoni dentro il profondo mare, mai potranno separare la mia anima dalla mia Annabel Lee. Mai raggia la luna che non mi porti sogni e mai stella si leva ch’io non senta i suoi fulgenti occhi e così, nelle notti, al fianco io giaccio del mio amore – mio amore – mia vita e mia sposa.		A Ghaoth Aneas! (in gaelico) A Ghaoth Aneas na mbraon mbog glas A ní gach faiche féarmhar Bheir iasc ar eas is grian i dteas Is líon is meas ar ghéagaibh Más síos ar fad mar mbínn féin seal Is mianach leat-sa séide Cuirim Rí na bhFeart dhod chaomhaint ar neart ‘S túir don tír sin blas mo bhéil-se! Sínim aneas ag díonamh cleas Nach ndíonann neach san saol so Mar íslím gaimh is scaoilim leac Is díbrim sneachta as sléibhte Ó taoi tú ar lear go bhfuí tú mo neart ‘S gur mian liom do leas a dhéanamh Go bhfúigfe mé mo bheannacht ins gach aon tslí ar mhaith leat Is choíche i gCathair Éamoinn! A Chonnachta an tseoid, an tsuilt ‘s an spóirt I n-imirt ‘s i n-ól an fhíona Sin chugaibh mo phóg ar rith ins an ród Leigim le seol gaoithe í Tá mise beo i mboige na seod Mar a mbrúitear gach sórt bídh dhom Ach is mian liom fós tarraing d’bhur gcomhair Muna gcluine mé ach ceól píopa! O South Wind! (versione in inglese) O South Wind with the soft clear drops You that make every sword grassy Bring the fish to the waterfall, give heat to the sun And abundance of fruit to the branches If it is far to the north where I once lived That you are minded to blow May the King of Power preserve your strength And give the taste of my mouth to that country! I blow from the south, performing feats Which no one else on earth can do For I lay winter low and scatter the ice And banish the snow from the mountains Since you are in need you shall have my strength And I want nothing more than to help you I shall leave my blessing in every place you choose And always in Cathair Éamoinn! O blissful, joyous, sporting Connacht Home of gaming and of wine-drinking Here goes my kiss to you rushing along the road I send it on the wings of the wind I am living in splendid luxury Where every kind of food is dressed for me But yet I am fain to draw towards you If I should hear but the music of the pipes! O South Wind! (ancora un’altra lirica) South wind of the gentle rain, you banish winter weather Bring salmon to the pool again, the bees among the heather If northward now you mean to blow, as you rustle soft above me God speed be with you as you go and a kiss for those that love me From south I come with velvet breeze, my word all nature blesses, I melt the snow and strew the leaves with flowers and warm caresses; I'll help you to dispel your woes, with joy I'll take your greeting And bear it to your loved Mayo upon my wings so fleeting. Ny Connaught, famed for wine and play, so leal, so gay, so loving Here's my fond kiss I send today borne on the wind in its roving. Those Munster folk are good and kind, right royally they treat me I've A Secret To Tell Thee (Thomas Moore) I've a secret to tell thee, but hush, not here, Oh, not where the world it's vigil keeps, I'll seek to whisper it in thine ear. Some shore where the spirit of Silence sleeps, Where summer's wave unmurm'ring dies, Nor fay can hear the fountain's gush, Where if but a note her nightbird sighs, The Rose saith chidingly, "Hush, sweet hush". There 'mid the deep silence of that hour, When stars can be heard in ocean's dip, Thyself shall under some rosy bower, Sit mute with thy finger on thy lip. Like him, the boy, who born among The flowers that on the Nile-stream blush, Sits ever thus, his only song, To earth and heaven, "Hush, sweet hush".
SOUTH WIND