Fides

Giovanni Pascoli

Quando brillava il vespero vermiglio,

e il cipresso pareva oro, oro fino,

la madre disse al piccoletto figlio:

Così fatto è lassù tutto un giardino.

.

Il bimbo dorme, e sogna i rami d’oro,

gli alberi d’oro, le foreste d’oro;

mentre il cipresso nella notte nera

scagliasi al vento, piange alla bufera.

Fides

Giovanni Pascoli

When vermilion glowed the eventide ,

and gold the cypress, the finest gold,

the mother told her little child:

Thus do the heavens a garden hold.

.

The child sleeps, and dreams of gold boughs,

he dreams of gold trees, and of gold woods;

while in the dark night the cypress

lunges at the wind, cries at the tempest.

 

.

Translation ©Matilda Colarossi

The poet creates a contrast between the serenity of illusions – glowing vermilion eventide and golden gardens  -, and the harshness of the real world where the cypress, personified, lunges at the wind, cries at the tempest.

For all the children. Syria 04/04/2017

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