MERGELLINA E ZEFIRO

Mergellina:

You pleasant breezes,

that play in my breast,

you sapphires of the waves,

that kiss my feet,

tell me what kind of deity

has lit up these shades?

What has gilded the waves of Doris,

what kind of sunrise,

with its most beautiful rays,

has gilded that which was silver?

Zefiro:

Paradise of Flora, leafy bower,

love’s realm, welcoming all delights!

By the shade of your rocks,

Zefiro respectfully folds his wings.

If a divine beauty

comes to stroll on this beach,

happy the shores, daring the sands.

Zefiro:

Thus beautiful in her moist shell

Tethys never emerged

from the depths of the cavern.

In her float that whips the shadows,

the most beautiful dawn

appeared from the East.

Zefiro and Mergellina:

Come on, shine calm waves,

Come on, rejoice tranquil breezes,

now that the tresses of Phyllis

scatter golden rays on these sands.

Recitative, duet:

Neither the sea, nor the sky has

pearls or stars in their hollow spheres,

more shining or more beautiful

than her rosy mouth or her smiling eyes.

Mergellina: 1) From the vermilion

of those lips Cupid extracts nectar.

Zefiro: 2) From those eyes the God of

Gnido [Cupid] shoots his arrows.

Mergellina:

Silence! Zefiro, be silent, so that

the beauty that adorns these rocks

with sweet tones will make

the winds' wings stop and fall asleep.

Zefiro:

What magical pleasing voice

demanded me to halt my flight,

so that even my siren

cannot conquer a heart like Ulysses’?

Zefiro:

Oh turn there, turn the stern

towards the beach, wayward oars!

Because a new siren,

here with different fate,

weaves spells of life, not death.

Mergellina:

In tempering the accents

of the singing sorceress,

she loses her allure.

With innocent allurements

she becomes a tyrant

to an adoring heart.

Recitative, duet:

Mergellina: Zefiro! Do not sigh for the

lightening of that gaze!

Zefiro: Mergellina! Do not burn

for the sound of that night!

Ah! because of the immense delight,

ecstatic with joy,

drunk with awe,

I am numb.

Duet:

Let us to the waves to fish

a beautiful treasure,

so that the blindfolded god

with his fishhook and bait

of golden tresses,

can prey on a heart.

And now that Phyllis appears at these

shores, the sky glimmers, the earth smiles,

and the sea sparkles!