"rei" here means guilty, harsh etc. "Reo" is someone who is recognized responsible of a crime. "Rei" is the plural of "reo". King is "re" and the plural is again "re". The English "regal" in Italian is "regale" so it's not the case here.
The object of the lyric is a male. "gli" is male, female would be "le" and also there is the "mirarl'onde" which is "mirarlo onde" and "mirarLO" is referred to a male or it would have been "mirarLA" and the elision of the "o" wouldn't have been possible. The plot would be: the guy loves the singer eyes, a lady herself in love with him that is her sun, just because they look similar to the eyes of his beloved which to him (gli) were (fur) sweet (dolci) and harsh (rei-guilty ecc.). The eyes of the singer are happy to see him but she is not because she, to calm her eyes desire, hurries to gaze at him but then languishes (because he loves the one who had probably rejected or abandoned him and not her). Not one of the best example of Italian poetry I would say 8^) Also it is a quite strange and unusual situation, because normally it's the man that languishes behind a lady in the poetry of that age. Might this be an approximated transcription by the Spanish Ortiz of a text he didn't completely understand? Francesco > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Stephen Arndt > Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2011 8:25 PM > To: lute > Subject: [LUTE] Re: O felici occhi miei > > 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" <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2011 11:51 AM > To: "lute" <[email protected]> > 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 --
