Eran ieri i miei dolori - Giovanni Correddu Übersetzung ins Englische

Eran ieri i miei dolori

Eran ieri i miei dolori
Simili a bachi di seta
Che fabbricavano bozzoli
Oggi son nere farfalle

Da quanti fiori amari
Ho estratto la bianca cera
Un tempo in cui le mie pene
Lavoravano come api

Oggi son erbe cattive
O zizzanie inseminate
Come carbonchio in spiga
Come tarlo dentro il legno

Un tempo in cui i miei dolori
Avevan lagrime buone
Ed eran come acqua di marea
Che va irrigando un orto
Oggi son acqua di torrente
Che strappa la buona terra

Dolori che ieri fecero
Del mio cuore un alveare
Oggi trattano il mio cuore
Come una vecchia muraglia
Vogliono abbatterlo, e subito
A colpi di piccone

Yesterday, My Sorrows Were

Yesterday, my sorrows were
Like silkworms fine and white,
That spun their cocoons so tight,
Today, they're dark butterflies in flight.

From so many bitter flowers, my love,
I extracted the white wax pure,
A time when all my pains, I assure,
Labored like busy bees, for sure.

Today they're weeds, so cruel and vile,
Or tares that someone sowed,
Like blight upon the grain, behold,
Like woodworm, stories yet untold.

A time when all my sorrows, dear,
Had tears so good and true,
And were like tidal waters, too,
That irrigate a garden, anew.
Today they're a raging torrent's flow,
That tears the good earth below.

Sorrows that yesterday did make,
Of my heart a busy hive,
Today they treat my heart, I strive,
Like an old wall, no longer alive.
They want to tear it down with might,
With pickaxe blows, both day and night.