Rusalka: “Song to the Moon”

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• “The Song to the Moon” is an aria for soprano, sung in Act I by Rusalka, the water-spirit who has fallen in love with a human prince. Because she cannot leave the water, Rusalka cannot tell the prince how she feels about him; she begs the moon to tell him.¹
• Lyrics: “Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém”

O moon high up in the deep, deep sky,
light sees far away regions,
You travel round the wide,
Wide world peering into human dwellings
O, moon, stand still for a moment,
Tell me, ah, tell me where is my lover!
Tell him. please, silvery moon in the sky,
I am hugging him firmly,
That he should for at least a while
Remember his dreams!
Light up his far away place,
Tell him, ah, tell him who is here waiting!
If he is dreaming about me,
May this remembrance waken him!
O moon, don’t disappear!

Translation by Jules Brunelle, from the Aria Database

1. Jan Smaczny, “Rusalka (iii),” Grove Music Online (2002), September 5, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000904369.