| Sogno Giovanni Pascoli Per un attimo fui nel mio villaggio, nella mia casa. Nulla era mutato Stanco tornavo, come da un vïaggio; stanco, al mio padre, ai morti, ero tornato. Sentivo una gran gioia, una gran pena; una dolcezza ed un’angoscia muta. – Mamma?- È là che ti scalda un po’ di cena- Povera mamma! e lei, non l’ho veduta. | Dream Giovanni Pascoli For a moment I was in my village, in my home. Nothing had changed. Tired I returned, as from a voyage; tired, to my father, to the dead, home again. I was filled with great joy, great sorrow; silent tenderness and agony. –Mamma? –She’s there, heating up some dinner for you– Poor mamma! and her, I did not see. Translation ©Matilda Colarossi 2024 |
I sometimes add a comment with my translations. I prefer not to this time. I’ll leave finding the meaning of the poem to the reader, should they care to search for it. I will simply underline the repetition of certain words, which I could restore (nel / nella; stanco / stanco; gran / gran; mamma / mamma), and mention the fact that Pascoli plays with others, which I could not restore (nella / nulla; mutato / muta), and, finally, remind the reader that a feeling of loss and abandonment dominated Pascoli’s life. In light of this last fact, I allowed myself to add a repetition of my own (which also let me solve a question of rhyme) in vv. 2 and 4. – M.C.
Photo (mine): Cimitero vecchio
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parallel texts: words reflected 