Mere Manna [English translation]

Great lady, my lady,

what’s new this year?

Please, will you take away

this sleep full with worry?

Great lady, my lady,

make this world drunk,

may firewater rain down

and may all these people dance

the round dance1for a week.

Make this world drunk.

Little swallow, little swallow,

tell me if in the spring

you will come from afar

to invent the morning.

Great lady, my lady,

get down from the sky soon,

so that you’ll get an idea

if the world is fool indeed.

Great lady, my lady,

we’ll keep playing

with our blood running happy:

my Lady, don’t let

this moment get old.

We’ll keep playing.

Little swallow, little swallow,

tell me if in the spring

you will come from afar

to invent the morning.

1. Ballu tundu: a traditional Sardinian dance.