Marceline Desbordes-Valmore – Souvenir

Carlo Stratta, Couple in the Drawing Room, 1890

He went pale one evening, and his voice was trembling
 as he tried to explain it again;
his eyes were burning as though he were suffering,
yet they inflicted on me such a pain;
at his most tender, afire with a flame
…Which was never, ever to die,
the truth struck my soul and I drowned in the shame;
…He wasn’t in love, it was I!

Quand’egli impallidì una sera, e la voce tremante
 sul nascere di un suono…
 si spense all’improvviso;
 quando i suoi occhi alzando la palpebra bruciante
 mi presero d’un male da cui lo pensai preso;
quando i suoi tratti più struggenti, ardore
d’un fuoco che non può mai declinare
mi s’ impressero vivi in fondo al cuore,
lui non amava: ero io ad amare.