| Tormented by visions of flight and falling
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| More wondrous and terrible each than the last
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| Master Leonardo imagines an engine
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| To carry a man up into the sun…
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| And as he’s dreaming the heavens call him
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| «Leonardo. |
| Leonardo, vieni á volare». |
| («Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly».)
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| L’uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale
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| Facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria
|
| (A man with wings large enough and duly connected
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| Might learn to overcome the resistance of the air.)
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| II
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| Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine…
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| As the candles burn low he paces and writes
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| Releasing purchased pigeons one by one
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| Into the golden Tuscan sunrise…
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| And as he dreams, again the calling
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| The very air itself gives voice:
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| «Leonardo. |
| Leonardo, vieni á volare». |
| («Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly».)
|
| Vicina all’elemento del fuoco…
|
| (Close to the sphere of elemental fire…)
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| Scratching quill on crumpled paper
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| Rete, canna, filo, carta
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| (Net, cane, thread, paper.)
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| Images of wing and frame and fabric fastened tightly
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| …sulla suprema sottile aria
|
| (…in the highest and rarest atmosphere.)
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| III
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| Master Leonardo Da Vinci Dreams of his Flying Machine…
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| As the midnight watchtower tolls
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| Over rooftop, street and dome
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| The triumph of a human being ascending
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| In the dreaming of a mortal man
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| Leonardo steels himself
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| Takes one last breath
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| And leaps… |