I Have Lived for Art...

Today is Ash Wednesday. Here am I with my hot cross bun and cup of coffee collation, preparing for Lent. However, I still have Tosca stuck in my head.

"Vissi D'Arte" is not Lenten, except perhaps on Good Friday. "Why me, God?" doesn't strike me as the best way to start Lent, even though it is a perfectly natural human question and shows up quite often in the Psalms. I'm not convinced Tosca "never did wrong to a living soul" either. She seems exactly the kind of diva who would stick a pin into her maid, not to mention spread horrible rumours about her rivals while pretending not to.

So why is "Vissi D'Arte" stuck in my head? Perhaps it is because it is one of the most beautiful expressions of sorrow ever composed.

Vissi d'arte from lampione on Vimeo.

Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi aiutai.

(I've lived for art, I've lived for love
I never did wrong to a living soul!
With a secret hand
I alleviated as many miseries as I knew of.)

Sempre con fè sincera
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli salì.
Sempre con fè sincera
diedi fiori agli altar.

(Always with a sincere faith,
my prayer rose to the holy tabernacles.
Always with a sincere faith
I gave flowers to the altars.)

Nell'ora del dolore
perché, perché, Signore,
perché me ne rimuneri così?

(In the hour of grief,
why, why, Lord,
why do you reward me like this?)

Diedi gioielli della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri, al ciel,
che ne ridean più belli.

(I have given jewels to the cloak of the Madonna
and given my song to the stars, in heaven,
so that they shone more beautifully.)

Nell'ora del dolore,
perché, perché, Signore,
ah, perché me ne rimuneri così?

(In the hour of grief,
why, why, Lord--
ah! Why do you reward me like this?)