Alma del core

Imagine yourself in the court of the Ruspoli castle near Rome in 1710. Antonio Caldara is the choir master and he's written an opera, La costanza in amor vince l'inganno (Faithfulness in Love Defeats Treachery.) "Alma del core" is one of the still famous and often sung songs from that opera.

Three hundred years ago, love roused, reigned, ruined and redeemed the lives of men, as it does now and as it did three hundred years before 1710. Most people can relate to three generators of existence: the heart, the soul and the spirit. Heart holds all your emotions, soul sustains your life force, and spirit spins your personality, character and intellect.

What if someone said that each of the three elements than have the three divisions within? That the heart also has it's own mind, life force and emotion? That the spirit contains the inner workings of feelings, reason and drive to exist? That the soul blooms through expressing emotion, learning its value in the universe, and sustaining the heart and spirit in the creation of a human being?

What if you then find another person who through love, becomes part of these elemental, internal components?

The triple turn of this three part Venn diagram goes off in my mind when I sing this song.

Alma del core

Soul of my heart
Alma del core

spirit of my soul
Spirto dell'alma

always constant, I will adore you
Sempre costane t'adorero!

I shall be happy
Saro contento

in my torment
Nel mio tormento

if that beautiful lip to kiss I will be able
Se quel bel labbro baciar potro.