The translation of poetry in rhyme should always come with a disclaimer: It is an (almost) impossible feat! But what fun we have trying to do it! (Many things were lost in translation, but not time!)
| Tempo al tempo Gianluca Caporaso Tempo al tempo disse il saggio e nel tempo partì in viaggio. Con i giorni nelle tasche affrontò soli e burrasche. Andò piano, andò di fretta, pedalò su una lancetta. Perse tempo, tempo volle come un fiore tra le zolle. Seppe il tempo che veloce scocca dritto alla sua foce. Palpitò per molti istanti rise e pianse negli incanti. Provò il tempo dei dolori senza amici né dottori. Gustò il tempo della festa che ci abbraccia, ma non resta. Nelle sere dell’attesa ogni cosa era sospesa. Nelle sere dei ricordi raccoglieva visi e accordi. Quando poi si rattristava per un giorno che passava Ripensava a quegli istanti lumacosi e un po’ pesanti. Giunto al tempo della fine venne il vento alle panchine per raccogliere ogni cosa e per dire: dai riposa. Quanti tempi! disse il saggio, riposando sotto un faggio. Dalle tasche prese un giorno. Lo lanciò. Fu vita tutto intorno. | Give it time Gianluca Caporaso Give it time said the wise man and in time he set off again. With the days in his pockets he tackled suns and tempests. He went slowly, he went in haste pedalling around the clock face. He lost time, time he sought like a flower among soil clods. He learned of time that like a shot strikes directly at the start. He quivered for many an instant, laughed and cried in enchantment. He experienced a time of pain without a doctor, without a friend. He savoured a time of bliss that embraces but does not last. In the nights of anticipation everything was suspension. In the nights of recollections he collected accords and glances. Then when he felt downcast for the day that had quickly passed he’d think of those snaily instants so painstaking and so strenuous. Once the end of time had come wind swept over the park grounds to gather things from the seats and whisper: come, it’s time to rest. So many times! said the wise man, resting under a big stone pine. He pulled one day from his pocket. He tossed it up. Life was all about. Translation ©Matilda Colarossi 2022 |
I was roaming around a bookstore (my favourite hobby), looking for something to pick up my spirits (which can only be found in a bookstore) and there, with the help of another book-lover, I met Gianluca Caporaso (in book form).
Speaking to him (in real life) and feeling an immediate kinship (poetry lovers will know what I’m talking about) was quick and easy.
Then I met other lovely people at Adriano Salani Editore, and what I love best (translating rhyme) was made possible.
I thank them all.
The poem Tempo al tempo is from the collection of poems of the same name, Tempo al tempo, by Gianluca Caporaso, (pp 9-10): Copyright © 2021 Adriano Salani Editore s.u.rl. dal 1862, Gruppo editoriale Mauri Spagnol, Milano. http://www.salani.it
Illustrator: Francesca Cosanti
You can find the book here: https://www.salani.it/libri/tempo-al-tempo-9788831006965
parallel texts: words reflected 
Great translation! So beautiful and musical! Thank you!
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A beautiful, masterful translation.
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Thank you, Alan.
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Lovely translation. Thank you so much for this wonderful blog. You have so generously allowed us to explore writers otherwise difficult to discover, and have helped me learn, and become interested in pursuing studies in, this language.
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Thank you!
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