Translation of the song lyrics Tristezza - Francesco Paolo Tosti

Tristezza (original)

Guarda; lontan lontano
Muore ne l’onde il sol;
Stormi d’uccelli
A vol tornano al piano
Una malinconia io sento in cuore
E pur non so perchè;
Guardandoti negli occhi
O bella mia, muto mi stringo a te
Copre l’ombrìa d’un manto
Le cose, il cielo, il mar;
Io sento tremolar
Ne gli occhi il pianto
Suona l’avemaria ed é sí triste
E pur non so perchè:
Devotamente preghi, o bella mia
Io prego insieme con te
Tenera ne la sera
Che s’empie di fulgor
Dai nostri amanti cuor
Va la preghiera
E la malinconia
Mi fa pensare
E pur non so perchè
Che un giorno, ahimè
Dovrà la vita mia
Perdere il sogno e te!

Tristezza (translation)

Look—beyond, where the dusk's frontier dissolves,
The sun wanes, drowning in a silver shroud of waves;
Above, a congress of birds,
Wheels homeward, swooping to the muted plain;
A melancholy settles in my heart, autumnal,
And yet the cause eludes my searching mind;
Gazing deep into your eyes,
O my fair one, wordless, I draw you to my chest;
A shawl of shadow—velvet, vast—
Cloaks the world, the sky, the slumbering sea;
Within me shivers something delicate—
Tears quiver, unshed, on the rim of sight;
The Ave Maria tolls—a plaintive chime—
And yet I cannot say from whence this sorrow springs;
You bow reverently, my radiant beloved,
And I, devout, am praying at your side;
How tender is the evening,
Kindled now with a secret, golden blaze;
From our enraptured hearts,
The prayer ascends, a moth drawn to the flame;
And melancholy again—
Breeds a hush, a brooding reverie;
And yet I do not know why—
That one day, alas, must come,
When my life will be compelled—
To lose both dream and you.