Santa Lucia
Partono e bastimente
P'e terre assaje luntane
Cantano a buordo: So napulitane!
Cantano pe tramente
O golfo già scompare
E a luna, a mmiez'o mare
Nu poco e Napule
Lle fa vede
Santa Lucia
Luntano a tte
Quanta malincunia!
E sonano, ma e mmane
Trèmmano n'copp'e ccorde
Quanta ricorde, ahimè, quanta ricorde!
E o core num o sane
Nemmeno cu e ccanzone
Sentenno voce e suone
Sse mette a cchiagnere
Ccà vo turnà!
Sse gira o munno sano
Sse va a cerca furtuna
Ma quanno sponta a luna
Luntano a Napule
Num sse po sta!
Santa Lucia, ttu tiene
Solo nu poco e mare
Ma, cchiù luntana staje, cchiù bbella pare!
È o canto d'e sseirene
Ca tesse ancora e rrezze
Core, num vo ricchezze
Ssi è nato a Napule
Ce vo muri!
Santa Lucia
Luntano a tte
Quanta malincunia!
Saint Lucia
The big ships depart
For lands so very far away
They sing on board: We are Neapolitans!
They sing while
The gulf already disappears
And the Moon, in the middle of the sea
A little piece of Naples
It makes them see
Santa Lucia
Far from you
How much melancholy!
And they play, but their hands
Tremble on the strings
How many memories, alas, how many memories!
And the heart, you cannot heal it
Not even with the songs
Hearing voices and sounds
It starts to cry
It wants to return here!
You travel the whole world
You go to seek fortune
But when the Moon rises
Far from Naples
You cannot stay!
Santa Lucia, you have
Only a little bit of sea
But, the farther away you are, the more beautiful you seem!
It is the song of the sirens
That still weaves the nets
A heart doesn't want riches
If it was born in Naples
It wants to die there!
Santa Lucia
Far from you
How much melancholy