“I love but the roses/ I did not pick.”* – Guido Gozzano
| INVERNALE Guido Gozzano “…cri…i…i…i…icch”… l’incrinatura il ghiaccio rabescò, stridula e viva. “A riva!” Ognuno guadagnò la riva disertando la crosta malsicura. “A riva! A riva!…” un soffio di paura disperse la brigata fuggitiva. “Resta!” Ella chiuse il mio braccio conserto, le sue dita intrecciò, vivi legami, alle mie dita. “Resta, se tu m’ami!” E sullo specchio subdolo e deserto soli restammo, in largo volo aperto, ebbri d’immensità, sordi ai richiami. Fatto lieve così come uno spetro, senza passato più, senza ricordo, m’abbandonai con lei nel folle accordo, di larghe rote disegnando il vetro. Dall’orlo il ghiaccio fece cricch, più tetro… dall’orlo il ghiaccio fece cricch, più sordo… Rabbrividii così, come chi ascolti lo stridulo sogghigno della Morte, e mi chinai, con le pupille assorte, e trasparire vidi i nostri volti già risupini lividi sepolti… Dall’orlo il ghiaccio fece cricch, più forte… Oh! Come, come, a quelle dita avvinto, rimpiansi il mondo e la mia dolce vita! O voce imperiosa dell’istinto! O voluttà di vivere infinita! Le dita liberai da quelle dita, e guadagnai la riva, ansante, vinto… Ella sola restò, sorda al suo nome, rotando a lungo nel suo regno solo. Le piacque, al fine, ritoccare il suolo; e ridendo approdò, sfatta le chiome, e bella ardita palpitante come la procellaria che raccoglie il volo. Noncurante l’affanno e le riprese dello stuolo gaietto femminile, mi cercò, mi raggiunse tra le file degli amici con ridere cortese: “Signor mio caro, grazie!” E mi protese la mano breve, sibilando: – Vile! | WINTER Guido Gozzano “…cra…a…a…a…ackle”… the cracking the ice arabesqued*, strident and alive. “To the shore!” Each gained the shore deserting the insecure crust. “To the shore! To the shore!…” a waft of fear dispersed the fugitive horde. “Stay!” She enclosed my folded arm, her fingers intertwined, vibrant bonds, with mine. “Stay, if you love me!” And on the devious and deserted mirror we alone were left, in flight wide open, drunk with immensity, deaf to the cries. In a sudden light as a ghost, with no past, with memory no more, I abandoned myself with her in this mad accord, of large circles designing the glass. From the edge the ice crackled, duller… from the edge the ice crackled, graver… I shuddered then, like one who heeds the strident sneer of Death, and I bowed, eyes rapt, and our faces I saw transpire tilted back already livid buried… From the edge the ice crackled, louder… Oh! How, how, to those fingers intertwined, I would rather the world and my serene life! Oh imperious voice of instinct! Oh infinite longing for life! From her fingers, I freed mine, and gained the shore, heaving, won… She remained alone, deaf to her name, circling lingeringly in her reign alone. She liked, in the end, to touch land again; and laughing she came, her hair wild, and lovely intrepid pulsing like a petrel suspended in flight. Heedless of her rapid breaths and gathering of the mottled multitude of women, she searched for me, reached me then among my friends and courteous, laughing: “My dear sir, thank you!” And extending a hand lightly, hissed: Wretch! Translation © Matilda Colarossi 2023 |
This poem by Guido Gozzano (Turin, 1883-Turin, 1916) is from the collection of poems “I colloqui”, 1911. Eugenio Montale considered it one of the best short stories in verse ever written by Gozzano. This brief “short story” is set in winter, on a day when a group of friends set out to skate on frozen waters, oblivious to the possible dangers until the ice begins to crackle under their ice-skates.
While the others flee to the shore, one couple remains. The young woman asks the man to stay with her, regardless of the peril: “Stay, if you love me!”, she says. The young man accepts; both young people are, at first, “drunk with immensity, deaf to the cries”, but when the ice crackles again beneath them, he bends down and, through the ice, he sees their dead faces “tilted back already livid buried…” He looks down on their fingers intertwined, recalls his own dolce vita, and he chooses to neglect one for the other, leaving the ice, abandoning the woman and the possibility of love.
The protagonist chooses to remain on the surface for as long as it remains safe, but he escapes before the possibility of sinking below the surface arises. If the safety of the solid ice is superficial love, and the crackle the possibility of being engulfed by passion, the poet chooses the first. He chooses safety over passion. He chooses to live on the surface, escaping an emotional journey he can’t decide to embark upon. The young woman, on the other hand, remains: she faces the danger adventurously; she makes circles on the thin sheet of ice “lingeringly”. She doesn’t run from the possibility of love and puts an end to any possible future with the man as she utters the word “Wretch!”, which also closes the poem.
There is so much more to say, so much more research to do on Guido Gozzano and his poetry, but I am merely a translator. I deal with carrying words from one place to another, making something beautiful accessible to others while losing wonderful bits and pieces along the way.
The poem in Italian is made up of hendecasyllables. The rhyme scheme is ABBAAB in all the stanzas except the fifth, which presents the variation ABABBA. This can perhaps be explained by the fact that it is at the exact turning point of the story: “Oh! How, how, to those fingers intertwined, / I would rather the world and my serene life!”
The poem contains numerous poetic devices (onomatopoeia, rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, enjambment…), many of which I could not recreate, as is often the case when translating poetry. I listened to the words, as I always do, and opted for solutions that seemed pleasant to my ears. *The word “to arabesque” (conjugated by me in the past as “arabesqued”) does not exist: I have used it anyway! – M.C.
*From the poem “Cocotte” by Guido Gozzano
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parallel texts: words reflected 