[In sense 1 ad. It. barcaruolo boatman; in sense 2 a. F. barcarolle, It. barcaruola, boatman’s song; f. BARCA.]
ǁ 1. An Italian boatman.
[1611. Panegyr. V., in Coryat’s Crudities. The Barcaruolo appetite His Gondola directed right Unto a female Elfe.]
1854. Badham, Halieut., 200. We … ordered our barcaroles to pull for the tonnaro.
2. A song sung by Venetian barcaruoli as they row their gondolas; a song or piece of music composed in imitation or reminiscence of such songs.
1779. in Waring, Dict. Mus.
1819. Moore, Venet. Air, ii. When maidens sing sweet barcarolles.
1850. Mrs. Browning, Work & Cont., Poems I. 336. The woman singeth … A pleasant chant, ballad or barcarolle.
1866. [John Todhunter], in Cornh. Mag., Nov., 564.
| With a song full of dole, | |
| A forlorn barcarole, | |
| As my gondola glides. |
