☝️ Key Points
- Cherubino's confusion and conflicting feelings about his love for the women around him.
- Cherubino's feelings fluctuate between joy and sorrow, as well as between cold and warmth, symbolizing the fluctuations of youthful love.
- He is in search of something or someone outside of himself to fulfill his love, although he doesn't exactly know what or who that is.
- He shows his inability to control his feelings by sighing, moaning, trembling, and quivering without wanting to or knowing why.
- Despite all the confusion and torment, Cherubino enjoys the experience of being in love.
Interpretation
"Voi che sapete" is an aria from Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro", sung by the character Cherubino in the second act. Through the lyrics, Cherubino expresses his confusion and conflicting feelings about the love he feels for the women around him.
"Che cosa è amor" means "What is love" in Italian. Here, Cherubino asks the women to confirm if what he feels is truly love ("Donne vedete S'io l'ho nel cor"), because he feels unsure and confused.
In the following lines, he describes the emotional highs and lows he experiences, which mean both joy ("È per me nuovo") and suffering ("Ch'ora è martir"). He speaks of a shift between feelings of coldness ("Gelo") and then warmth ("L'alma avvampar"), symbolizing the uncertainties and fluctuations that often come with youthful love.
The lines "Ricerco un bene Fuori di me Non so chi'l tiene Non so cos'è" reveal his search for something or someone outside of himself to fulfill his love, although he doesn't know exactly what or who it is.
In "Sospiro e gemo Senza voler Palpito e tremo Senza saper", he explains that he sighs and groans without wanting to, and without knowing why, he trembles and quivers. This shows his inability to control his feelings.
The last lines repeat his plea to the women to help him understand his feelings, and confirm that despite all the confusion and anguish, he enjoys the experience of being in love ("Ma pur mi piace Languir così")."