Today鈥檚 selection is from Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli, the most comprehensive collection in English of the founder of modern Italian poetry. Pascoli (1855鈥�1912)鈥攖he founder of modern Italian poetry and one of Italy鈥檚 most beloved poets鈥攈as been compared to Robert Frost for his evocation of natural speech, his bucolic settings, and the way he bridges poetic tradition and the beginnings of modernism.
Canzone d鈥檃prile
Fantasma tu giungi,
tu parti mistero.
Venisti, o di lungi?
ch猫. lega gi. il pero,
fiorisce il cotogno
濒补驳驳颈霉.
Di cincie e fringuelli
risuona la ripa.
Sei tu tra gli ornelli,
sei tu tra la stipa?
Ombra! anima! sogno!
sei tu …?
Ogni anno a te grido
con palpito nuovo.
Tu giungi: sorrido;
tu parti: mi trovo
due lagrime amare
di pi霉.
Quest鈥檃nno … oh! quest鈥檃nno,
la gioia vien teco:
gi脿. l鈥檕do, o m鈥檌nganno,
quell鈥檈co dell鈥檈co;
gi脿. t鈥檕do cantare
Cu … cu.
April Song
You come as a ghost
and leave as a mystery.
Have you come from so far
that the pears already
bear fruit, and the quinces
bloom, too?
Finches and chickadees
trill from the rims.
Are you there in the ash tree
or brush grass? In a dream,
in the soul, or shadow,
are you …?
Each year I call you
with longing renewed
and you come and I smile
and you leave and I find
a few more tears
inside.
This year … this year,
joy has come too: I hear it
now, clear鈥攐r I鈥檓 wrong,
it鈥檚 the echo of echoes
I hear; already I hear you,
Coo … coo.
av福利社 the Translators
Taije Silverman teaches poetry and literary translation at the University of Pennsylvania and is the author of the poetry collection Houses Are Fields. Marina Della Putta Johnston is a lecturer in Italian at the University of Pennsylvania.