Today is 29 November 2024: the 100th anniversary of the death of Giacomo Puccini. Last Saturday I attended a live relay of ‘Tosca’ from the Metropolitan Opera, New York. What a stunning production, and what magnificent voices. I was of course particularly proud of my great nephew Freddie De Tommaso who was singing Cavaradossi. Just amazing! And it is Day 726 of the Daily Poems; here I present my own translation of that beautiful aria ‘E lucevan le stelle’.
E lucevan le stelle
Shining were the stars
and the earth was sweet-scented;
the garden gate creaked softly,
the sand was brushed by a footstep.
Coming to me, seeming so fragrant,
she fell into my arms –
O sweet kisses, O languid caresses!
So beautiful her form, dissolving in her veils
as to make me tremble!
Now vanished for ever is my dream of love …
the hour is fled; in despair I die –
and I have never lusted more for life!
Giacomo Puccini
translated from Italian by Peter Ualrig Kennedy