As with the Italian cradle song
“Bambino Fasciato” and
the other Italian song titled “Barcarola”,
we know this work from the manuscript drafts that DGR copied into notebooks he used in the 1870s. This
short piece is the best of these songs and is, indeed, quite a delicate piece of work. The most complete
draft is at Duke.
Printing History
First printed by WMR from an unknown manuscript in volume I (page 375) of his
1886 collected edition of
DGR's works, and collected thereafter.
Translation
The song may be loosely rendered thus: What thing is more than a coffin? And who called it that? Will
we be happy there? A land never still, and an unthundering sea.
This collection contains 6 texts and images, including:
1911
Scholarly Commentary
Textual History: Composition
As with the Italian cradle song “Bambino Fasciato” and the other Italian song titled “Barcarola”, we know this work from the manuscript drafts that DGR copied into notebooks he used in the 1870s. This short piece is the best of these songs and is, indeed, quite a delicate piece of work. The most complete draft is at Duke.
Printing History
First printed by WMR from an unknown manuscript in volume I (page 375) of his 1886 collected edition of DGR's works, and collected thereafter.
Translation
The song may be loosely rendered thus: What thing is more than a coffin? And who called it that? Will we be happy there? A land never still, and an unthundering sea.