"Sombre forêt" ("Dark Forest") is a soprano aria from act two of the opera William Tell by Gioachino Rossini, to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis.
It is sung by Mathilde, a princess of the House of Habsburg, as she waits in the forest on the heights of Rütli for her Swiss lover, Arnold Melchthal.
By expanding somewhat the traditionally minimal accompaniment, Rossini developed what has been called a "Gallo-Italian hybrid" that provided an important model for his contemporaries.
[Aria] Sombre forêt, désert triste et sauvage, Je vous préfère aux splendeurs des palais: C'est sur les monts, au séjour de l'orage, Que mon cœur peut renaître à la paix; Mais l'écho seulement apprendra mes secrets.
Toi, du berger astre doux et timide, Qui, sur mes pas, viens semant tes reflets, Ah!
Comme lui tes rayons sont discrets, Et l'écho seulement redira mes secrets.
[Aria] Dark forest, wilderness sad and wild, I prefer you to the splendours of the palace: It is on the mountains, the place of the storm That my heart can regain peace; And only the echo will learn my secrets.
[Aria] Selva opaca, deserta brughiera Qual piacer la tua vista mi dà.
Tu, bell'astro, al cui dolce riflesso Il mio passo vagante sen va, Tu m'addita ove Arnoldo s'aggira; A lui solo il mio cuor s'aprirà, Esso sol le mie pene udirà.