I'm not sure of the original text. A previous respondent seems to have taken the translation from http://www.loscuadernosdejulia.com/2007/02/o-felici-occhi-miei-arcadelt -and-lute.html, which gives the following: O felic' occhi miei, felici voi, che sete car' al mio sol perche sembianz' havete de gliocchi che gli fu si dolc'e rei. voi ben voi sete voi, voi, voi felici et io, io no, che per quetar vostro desio, corr' a mirar l'onde mi struggo poi. If this is the correct text, I would understand it thus: O happy eyes of mine, you happy ones who are dear to my sun because you bear the semblance of the eyes of her that were so sweet and regal. You indeed, it is you, You, you who (are) happy, and I, I (am) not, who to quiet your desire, hurry to gaze where I then languish. I am not sure, however, about the word rei in line four of the original. It is probably a contraction of reali, which is how both the previous respondent and I have translated it, but it might be the plural of reo (Latin reus), meaning "guilty" (perhaps because the eyes of the lady in question elicited sinful desires in the poet?).
Hope this helps. Stephen Arndt -------------------------------------------------- From: "Sean Smith" <lutesm...@mac.com> Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2011 11:51 AM To: "lute" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Subject: [LUTE] O felici occhi miei > > Would anyone have a translation of Arcadelt's madrigal? > > Here are the words (from the Ortiz 1552 book). I apologize for > probably not getting the lines/stanzas arranged correctly. > > > O felici occhi miei felici voi > Che sete car'al mio sol per che sembianz' havete > de gl'occhi che gli fur si dolce rei > voi ben voi sete voi > voi voi felici et io, io no che per quetar vostro desio > corr'a mirar l'onde mi strugo poi mi strugo poi. > > Mega-thanks in advance!! > > Sean > > ps Yes, it makes a nice lutesong. Solo in daCrema '46 (Minkoff) > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
