CORO di SPIRITI Nulla impresa per uom si tenta invano, Né contro a lui più sa Natura armarse, Ei de l'instabil piano Arò gl'ondosi campi e 'I seme sparse Di sue fatiche, ond'aurea messe accolse. Quinci, perché memoria Vivesse di sua gloria, La Fama a dir di lui sua lingua sciolse, Ch'ei pose freno al mar con fragil legno, Che sprezzò d'Austro e d'Aquilon lo sdegno.
English Libretto or Translation:
CHORUS of SPIRITS No enterprise by man is undertaken in vain, nor can Nature further defend herself against him. He has ploughed the waving fields of the uneven plain and scattered the seed of his labour, whence he has reaped golden harvests. Wherefore, so that the memory of his glory shall live, Fame has loosened her tongue to speak of him who tamed the sea with fragile barque and mocked the fury of the winds of the north and south.