Shows
Italian PoetryLa pioggia nel pineto, by Gabriele D'AnnunzioToday we read La pioggia nel pineto, by Gabriele D'Annunzio. We are back with another staple poem that everyone my age is familiar with, and has probably had to at least partially know by heart at some point during their studies. As a little testament of how ingrained it is in the collective Italian school unconscious, you can see it recited by the comedian Renato Pozzetto in one of his movies, as a grade teacher dealing with very rambunctious students. The poem is set in Summer, in the titular pine grove and during the titular shower. The poet revels in...2025-06-2805 minItalian PoetryCanto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia, by Giacomo LeopardiToday we read Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia, by Giacomo Leopardi. A friend of mine once told me that (good) Literature and Philosophy are much more difficult to tell apart than one usually thinks, because the only difference lies in the sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller emphasis on the form given to the content. This never sounded particularly right to me, but what do I know: she’s the classicist. Still, I kept thinking about it while I was preparing this poem by Leopardi. It is probably my favourite poem ever, full stop. I have always been partial to t...2025-04-1310 minItalian PoetryUn'ape esser vorrei, by Torquato TassoToday we read Un’ape esser vorrei, by Torquato Tasso. I should perhaps feel a bit bad inflicting on you minor poems from major poets, but this madrigale from Torquato Tasso is just too delightful in its effortless lightness and perfection. I will console myself by pointing out that these few verses can be seen as an antecedent for the Baroque sonnet by Materdona that we previously presented. There the stand-in for the poet was a noisy, dirty fly; here it is a nobler and industrious bee. Tasso would love to be a bee, sucking his love’s nectar. Given the...2025-03-0201 minItalian PoetryAlla sera, by Ugo FoscoloToday we read Alla sera, by Ugo Foscolo. I will admit to a snobbish tendency to avoid presenting here the most widely known Italian poems, let alone those learned by heart by most students. And I do believe it is a good thing to widen the horizon to lesser-studied gems. Still, it won’t do to present a too-biased lay of the land. So, here is a beautiful classic that I hardly can stand anymore, having been force fed it innumerable times in school and in all sorts of anthologies. Evening is descending, and the poet welcomes it, because it br...2025-02-0103 minItalian PoetryAvvertimento a un giovane scrittore, by Giuseppe GiustiToday we read Avvertimento a un giovane scrittore, by Giuseppe Giusti. Many of Giusti’s most famous poems are political and satirical in nature, and thus require some knowledge of Italy’s and Europe’s complicated and depressing history in order to be fully enjoyed. Which is why I chose instead this short epigram, in the form of an ottava. Giusti has a warning for young writers, which in contemporary terms we could translate into the kiss principle: “Keep it simple, stupid!” First, don’t take difficult concepts and distort them and make them even more difficult by inventing strange conceptual c...2025-01-1802 minItalian PoetryRinovazione del buon Capo d’Anno a D. Ciccio per l’ingresso del 1683, by Giovanni Francesco LazzarelliToday we read Rinovazione del buon Capo d’Anno a D. Ciccio per l’ingresso del 1683, by Giovanni Francesco Lazzarelli. Not sure what the very best way to start a year might be, but one can’t go wrong starting with a smile. So let me wish everyone an excellent 2025 using the same verses that our friend Lazzarelli employed to wish a great 1683 to his nemesis, Don Ciccio: may all the planets bring you joy, bless you and conserve you! Well… all verses, except the last one, where he wished Don Ciccio to always remain an ass, for our eternal enjoymen...2025-01-0101 minItalian PoetryNatale, by Giuseppe UngarettiToday we read Natale, by Giuseppe Ungaretti. Christmas happens every year, even when we are at war. This poem by Ungaretti is introduced by the indication “Napoli il 26 dicembre 1916”: he was on temporary leave from the front of WW1, and visiting his friend’s house in Naples. If we didn’t know that, we could read these verses as just a statement of laziness: the poet explains he isn’t in the mood to go out to celebrate in the loud, cold, busy streets of the city (and describing Naples’ roads as a ball of yarn is a nice euphemism). He’d rather...2024-12-2402 minItalian PoetryIo vidi già seder nell'arme irato, by Leon Battista AlbertiToday we read Io vidi già seder nell’arme irato, by Leon Battista Alberti. Leon Battista Alberti was one of the great architects of the Italian Renaissance, but like many humanists of the period he wore several other hats: he was a mathematician and cryptographer, a linguist, an inventor. And most of his professional writings were in Latin, as traditional at the time. The hat we are interested in now, however, was that of poet, and in particular of poet writing in vulgar, i.e. in Italian. After writing sonnets after the manner of Petrarca, in 1441 he organized the Cert...2024-12-1403 minItalian PoetryNon, Vita, perché tu sei nella notte, by Camillo SbarbaroToday we read Non, Vita, perché tu sei nella notte, by Camillo Sbarbaro. We recently read how Quasimodo, in his Ed è subito sera, referred to life as a “ray of light,” soon disappearing. Sbarbaro starts this poem with a similar, but much more fiery, simile: a quick burst of flame. It is surprising how much intensity is hidden in this apparently quiet composition, written in plain language and slow, deliberate rhythm. The glorious aspect of living, the flame, and its tolerable sides, like when Nature calms the poet’s suffering, occupy only the first four verses. The insistent repetition of per and...2024-11-3003 minItalian PoetryCaro luogo, by Umberto SabaToday we read Caro luogo, by Umberto Saba. Two young lovers are looking for a place where they can “make one life out of two.” All the afternoon they wander around under the sun, surrounded by the noise and the comings and goings of adult, everyday life. But then the night comes, the moon rises, and they find a quiet spot, where the only noise if that of crickets. And here the poem stops and the poet falls silent, presumably intent in better things than writing poetry. Saba was an admirer of Tasso, and this poem might remind us of this...2024-11-1601 minItalian PoetryL'orologio da rote, by Ciro di PersToday we read L’orologio da rote, by Ciro di Pers. Complaining about technology is not something modern. So while today we blame social media for decline in mental health and ai for stealing jobs and possibly killing everybody (and I’m not saying I disagree…), back in the 1600s one would complain about… clocks. Channeling something of a pre-Marxist sensibility, Ciro da Pers sees in mechanical clocks, and in particular in their relentless regularity, a tool that violently cuts up the days, and a stark reminder of the passage of time. When he hears its tolling he is urged to act...2024-11-0202 minItalian PoetryEd è subito sera, by Salvatore QuasimodoToday we read Ed è subito sera, by Salvatore Quasimodo. How do you put the whole of human existence in three verses? Well, this is one way. Are you an uncharitable reader who isn’t impressed by Quasimodo’s Nobel Prize and would quip “I could also write three lines without even a rhyme”? You then might also maintain that this poem is a fancy way to put the saying “life sucks and then you die.” But of course there’s more than meets the eye, even just at the technical level. The verses are a double senario, a novenario and a settenario, o...2024-10-2001 minItalian PoetryLa Nencia di Barberino, by Lorenzo de MediciToday we read La Nencia di Barberino, by Lorenzo de Medici. The attribution of today’s poem to Lorenzo il Magnifico is not certain, but has a long tradition. Despite such a lofty author, the topic is very prosaic: a rustic shepherd sings the beauty and various charms of his beloved, Nencia, who gives the title to the composition. It is a pretty standard theme. The twist is the dramatic change in the social class of the people involved: whereas we are used to courtly love of learned poets for elegant and refined ladies, here we find an illiterate youngster fr...2024-10-0502 minItalian PoetryNon ha l’ottimo artista, by Michelangelo BuonarrotiToday we read Non ha l’ottimo artista, by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Besides painting, sculpting and designing buildings, Michelangelo also wrote poetry. He might not be often remembered for his literary efforts, which he himself considered a “silly thing,” but his sonnets are quite accomplished. Love is as usual a recurring theme, but it is seldom explored in itself, in the fashion of Petrarca: most of the time themes like death, sin and eternal salvation are interwoven or take center stage. The result is often a more expressive, sometimes difficult style, with a dark and ominous outlook. Today’s sonnet is dedicate...2024-09-2102 minItalian PoetrySembran fere d'avorio in bosco d'oro, by Anton Maria NarducciToday we read Sembran fere d’avorio in bosco d’oro, by Anton Maria Narducci. You gotta love Baroque poetry. The author of this sonnet must have gotten tired of the never-ending repetition of the “angelic woman with golden hair” trope, and decided to give things a different turn. A more realistic turn. You see, in the 1600s hygiene was not what it is today, so it must not have been a rare occurrence to see people scratching their heads with suspicious frequency and intensity. The beloved of the poet — real or imagined, it doesn’t really matter — still has a fabulous...2024-08-3102 minItalian PoetryD’un alto monte onde si scorge il mare, by Isabella di MorraToday we read D’un alto monte onde si scorge il mare, by Isabella di Morra. Picture it: you are a young, smart girl who adores her father because, among other things, he gives you a literary education. Which is not at all to be taken as a given when you live in the early 1500s. You are surrounded by unruly and frankly nasty brothers, who envy your father’s attentions for you. Then you father runs afoul of the powers that be, and has to flee to Paris. You are left alone with your brothers, who confine you by the...2024-08-1703 minItalian PoetryVoi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono, by Francesco PetrarcaToday we read Voi ch’ascoltate in rime sparse il suono, by Francesco Petrarca. I am a happy subscriber to the Poem of the Day newsletter from the Poetry Foundation, and a few weeks ago I received in my mailbox this version of the opening sonnet of Petrarch’s Canzoniere. Though I’m of course glad to see Italian authors showcased, and even setting aside my general misgivings about translating poetry, I must admit I would definitely not call this a “translation” from the Italian: perhaps a rather free reinterpretation? And so, given a severe delay in providing some Petrarca on these p...2024-08-0303 minItalian PoetryPresagio, by Ada NegriToday we read Presagio, by Ada Negri. Ana Negri was known for her interest in social reform, and her early poetry reflects that, later morphing into patriotism after the experience of the First World War. This poem was written at a later stage of her life, when she was sixty, and attests to her shift towards more intimate and lyrical themes, lingering on memory. Here she describes the end of winter, the first glimpses of spring, and likens this liminal moment to the awakening of adolescence in a young woman’s life. The longing for, and anticipation of, the fullness of...2024-07-2102 minItalian PoetryMio padre è stato per me l'"assassino", by Umberto SabaToday we read Mio padre è stato per me l’“assassino”, by Umberto Saba. Saba’s mother was abandoned by the poet’s father while still pregnant. Understandably she didn’t harbour good memories of him, but went as far as referring to him as “the assassin” when talking to Umberto all through his childhood. In this sonnet Saba recounts meeting his father later on, when he was twenty. He is presented not with a killer or a mastermind, but with a child, drifting without cares through his life and the world (and his many lovers). The poet contrasts his mother, who felt all the...2024-07-0602 minItalian PoetryTrasformazione di Dafne in lauro, by Giambattista MarinoToday we read Trasformazione di Dafne in lauro, by Giambattista Marino. In the full glory of baroque flourishes, Marino presents here the notorious rape of Daphne by Apollo. And the poem, though offset by the beauty of the language and technique, is brutal. The first quatrain focuses on Daphne, shown in distress, running away, looking for her father, likened to a hunted-down doe. Still, slowly but surely, as she turns into a tree as the last resort to escape from the god, the poet’s sympathy also seems to recede. As if saying: she’s just an object now. And so i...2024-06-2202 minItalian PoetrySia pace ai frati, by Vittorio AlfieriToday we read Sia pace ai frati, by Vittorio Alfieri. This short and punchy epigram by Vittorio Alfieri embodies the Enlightenment attitude towards religion and state: peaceful coexistence in separate domains. Priests should be few and not overly loquacious in the public arena; cardinals should not take away the lights (here Alfieri uses the term “lume”, and “età dei lumi” is an expression for “Enlightenment”). The pope should concentrate on the problems of faith and salvation, leaving politics to politicians. Laws should rule, not a king. And the concluding line exclaims patriotically: there is an Italy! The original: Sia pace ai frati,2024-06-0801 minItalian PoetryIl lampo, by Giovanni PascoliToday we read Il lampo, by Giovanni Pascoli. In this very short ballad Pascoli paints an impressionistic picture of the moment right before the start of a torrential storm, at night. Everything is black and silent, but suddenly a flash of lightning lights up the landscape, and reveals a sky about to burst into rain, and the ground heaving as if waiting for the outpour. A house also appears briefly, only to be swallowed up by darkness soon after. But this is not just a description of a natural phenomenon, and the last lines are a hint to the second...2024-05-2501 minItalian PoetryBella ch'invecchia, by Anton Giulio Brignole SaleToday we read Bella ch’invecchia, by Anton Giulio Brignole Sale. This short epigram was composed by a member of the elite of the Republic of Genoa, when it was at the apex of its commercial and banking power in Europe. Part of his surname, Brignole, is well-known to all the travellers that today stop at, or pass by, the second most important station of the city. But nothing grandiose here. Just a witty play on the usual, trite trope of love poetry: love enters from the eyes. The poet is consoling a beautiful woman distressed by the passage of ti...2024-05-1001 minItalian PoetryChi sono, by Aldo PalazzeschiToday we read Chi sono, by Aldo Palazzeschi. The modern departure from the themes and connotations of classical poetry can be done in several way: in anger, or with a strong condemnation of the past, or touting the moral superiority of the new way of doing things, for example. In the case of Palazzeschi, the approach is through irony, levity and a sense of humour that suffuses most of his poems. In what is perhaps his most famous work, after all, he concludes a series of frankly silly verses by saying “oh just let me have some fun!” In today’s poem...2024-04-2702 minItalian PoetryPaolo e Francesca, by Dante AlighieriToday we read Paolo e Francesca, by Dante Alighieri. I can’t delay anymore: it’s time for some Dante, and in particular for some Comedy (the adjective divina, or “Divine,” is a later attribution). This work is very different from anything I have presented so far: it is a long poem, divided in three books (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso), each consisting of 33 canti (though Inferno has an additional canto as prologue, bringing the total to one hundred), written in a sequence of tercets linked by rhymes, so that the narrative flows in a uninterrupted formal continuum typical of the terza-ri...2024-04-1306 minItalian PoetryEra ’l giorno ch’al sol si scoloraro, by Girolamo MalipieroToday we read Era ’l giorno ch’al sol si scoloraro, by Girolamo Malipiero. The influence of Petrarch on Italian poetry can only be understated, and yet it still surprising sometimes to see the lengths to which some later poets went in their dialogue with him. In the early 1500s a Venetian friar, Girolamo Malipiero, decided that his poetic master had been in error to dedicate so much of his art to sing his secular love, and took it upon himself to turn Petrarch’s sonnets into a more proper, religious form. The process entailed taking a sonnet from the Canzon...2024-04-0103 minItalian PoetryTutti in maschera, by Emilio PragaToday we read Tutti in maschera, by Emilio Praga. It might come as a surprise that the author of the sonnet about God’s implied approval and forgiveness of free love that we have previously published would also write religious poetry. And yet here we are. Praga vehemently reprimands those who complain that God doesn’t show himself directly: do they expect to be able to see him naked, as if he were a prostitute who can be bought for a few coins? Besides, men also hide behind a mask, never showing their true face. Instead of wanting God to be m...2024-03-2302 minItalian PoetryPer lei, by Giorgio CaproniToday we read Per lei, by Giorgio Caproni. Giorgio Caproni’s mother, Anna (or rather Annina, as he fondly calls her), died in 1950, when he was 38. The collection “Il seme del piangere” (The seed of crying), published nine years later, is not only dedicated to her, but puts her at the center as a protagonist. This poem is both a reflection on Anna’s personality, and a declaration of poetics: his mother was straightforward, honest, clear, simple, and so, in describing her, he wants to use simple language, straightforward rhymes, open sounds. The resulting composition is technically masterful and at the same...2024-03-1002 minItalian PoetryCare selve, a voi ritorno, by Apostolo ZenoToday we read Care selve, a voi ritorno, by Apostolo Zeno. The heroine of the last story of Boccaccio’s Decameron (and of Chaucer’s The Clerk’s Tale) is put through quite the ordeal. Her husband, in order to test her, first asks her to give up their two children so they can be put to death. Then, even though she complied, she is told that he obtained Papal dispensation to divorce her, and is sent away. This libretto by poet Apostolo Zeno recounts that same tale, and became a huge success at the time. It was put to music...2024-02-2502 minItalian PoetryFunere mersit acerbo, by Giosuè CarducciToday we read Funere mersit acerbo, by Giosuè Carducci. Carducci’s brother, Dante, committed suicide in 1857 — although some say he was actually killed by their father during a particularly violent fight. When his son was born, some twenty years later, the poet called him Dante, certainly in memory of his uncle, but likely also as an homage to the divin poeta, Dante Alighieri. This sonnet was written in 1970, a few months after the death of his son at the age of three. Carducci asks his brother, who is sleeping on a hill beside their father, if he heard a cry. It wa...2024-02-1802 minItalian PoetryDidone abbandonata, by Pietro MetastasioToday we read Didone abbandonata, by Pietro Metastasio. In perhaps the most famous episode of the Aeneid, the titular hero and his companions, stranded, are rescued by Dido. She falls in love with Aeneas, who reciprocates but subsequently abandons her in order to fulfill his destiny and eventually found Rome. There are plenty of musical renditions of the episode. This brief extract is from Metastasio’s first ever opera, and shows us a grieving Aeneas, in love with the queen but at the same time feeling he is letting down his companions by remaining in Carthage. Damned if he stays, an...2024-02-1101 minItalian PoetrySdegna Clorinda a i femminili uffici, by Petronilla Paolini MassimiToday we read Sdegna Clorinda a i femminili uffici, by Petronilla Paolini Massimi. This sonnet belongs to the long tradition of poems by outspoken women that have no qualms in claiming their complete equality with men. Petronilla Paolini Massimi uses two literary examples to support her stance. The first quatrain is dedicated to Clorinda, a heroine-warrior in the super-famous poem La Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso. The second extols the intellectual prowess of Amalasonta, the daughter of Theodoric. Her conclusion is clear: since Nature gives women the same abilities that it gives to men, it is men that deny...2024-02-0402 minItalian PoetrySventatezza, by Antonia PozziToday we read Sventatezza, by Antonia Pozzi. War would seem to be mentioned only offhand in this bittersweet poem about a daughter’s memory of a hike with her father, when she was still a young child. But the two landmarks evoked here, the Montello Hill and the Piave River, were the setting of some of the worst fighting endured by Italy during War World I. Her father is telling her about it from a “nook” in the ground (that is, a trench), where the grass is sharp, and the roots are still drinking drops of blood. But the little girl i...2024-01-2802 minItalian PoetryEri dritta e felice, by Leonardo SinisgalliToday we read Eri dritta e felice, by Leonardo Sinisgalli. In general I prefer poems that have a clear metrical structure, but sometimes one comes along that will catch my attention even without. Such is the case with these verses by Leonardo Sinisgalli. The poem opens with the verb “to be”, in the past tense. This is a poem of memory. Of childhood, as we learn later, or at least one assumes so, because the poet and his female friend are portrayed walking around the fields barefoot. So, in the past, she was straight and happy, standing at the threashold of a...2024-01-2002 minItalian PoetrySogni e favole io fingo e pure in carte, by Pietro MetastasioToday we read Sogni e favole io fingo e pure in carte, by Pietro Metastasio. We are told that while writing an aria for his opera L’Olimpiade, Metastasio was so moved by what he himself had written that, apparently, he started crying. After such a display of emotion caused by pure fiction, and his fiction at that, he felt silly, and not a little impious. This sonnet was his way to put things in perspective. Afterall, he says, not only the fairy tales he invented, but also the various vicissitudes of his life, big and small, all are bu...2024-01-1402 minItalian PoetryAssoluzione, by Emilio PragaToday we read Assoluzione, by Emilio Praga. I remember watching a late night talk show decades ago, likely when I was in high school and wasn’t really supposed to. The host, Maurizio Costanzo, introduced a lady who was apparently known for having had sexual dalliances with many well known personages. To keep the thing classy, he put it this way: è una donna che ha molto amato (“a woman who loved much”). That’s basically how this poem by Emilio Praga ends. He is visited by his lover, who is distressed because during confession the priest scolded her for (we assume) h...2024-01-0602 minItalian PoetryFine del '68, by Eugenio MontaleToday we read Fine del ‘68, by Eugenio Montale. I was hoping to find something a little more cheerful to welcome the New Year, but I’m afraid it was either another nursery rhyme or Montale. And Montale is better. Sometimes one hears the advice to look at worldly matters and problems “from the perspective of an alien,” so that we can take a point of view that is not enmeshed in the presuppositions and conventions that we grew up into by default. This is more or less what Montale does in this poem: he looks down on Earth, where festivit...2023-12-3102 minItalian PoetryNella notte di Natale, by Umberto SabaToday we read Nella notte di Natale, by Umberto Saba. Umberto Saba struggled for most of his life with depression. He fought it by working at his poetry, which was initially not well received; with psychoanalysis, being treated by a student of Freud himself; and later on with opium, to which he became addicted. His wife’s infidelities, and being on the run to avoid Nazi deportation, certainly didn’t help. It is said he often oscillated between bouts of depression and periods of creative enthusiasm. This poem seems to describe one of the latter. It is Christmas night, and he i...2023-12-2402 minItalian PoetryIl pellerossa nel Presepe, by Gianni RodariToday we read Il pellerossa nel Presepe, by Gianni Rodari. Gianni Rodari is a celebrated author of children stories and poetry. In this poem he tackles themes of diversity and inclusion in a way that might appear questionable to contemporary sensitivities, but was very much intended in the most ecumenic and liberal way possible. He imagines a statuette of a native american ending up inside a nativity scene, and engages in a discussion with his little readers. At first he says “that’s not your place, go away,” but slowly and surely the doubt is sown. Does he really bother the an...2023-12-1702 minItalian PoetryCerchi chi vuol le pompe e gli alti onori, by Lorenzo de MediciToday we read Cerchi chi vuol le pompe e gli alti onori, by Lorenzo de Medici. Florence in the second half of the 1400s is one of those places where people would be tempted go, should time travel become available. You could take a stroll around town and meet the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Poliziano: the quintessence of Italian Reinassance. And at the center of it all, Lorenzo de Medici: de-facto ruler of Florence, a great magnate of the arts, and an artist himself. He is known as Lorenzo il...2023-12-0902 minItalian PoetryInterno, by Sandro PennaToday we read Interno, by Sandro Penna. Sandro Penna had a gift to turn the commonplace, and sometimes the straight-up vulgar, into sublime. This poem opens in the run-down scenery of a dilapidated hotel, often described with terms rendered in their pejorative forms (the -accio endings). But then a boy appears, asleep. He is introduced by a verse that describes him with one such pejorative; but the next one, after a compelling enjambment, breathlessly declares him beautiful. And suddenly the whole poem is suffused by the loveliness of a sleepy boy cuddling with a cat. Note also the surface...2023-12-0201 minItalian PoetryA una zanzara, by Gianfrancesco Maia MaterdonaToday we read A una zanzara, by Gianfrancesco Maia Materdona. This light, little poem was likely intended as a Baroque exercise in extravagance. The author, about whom we know basically nothing, talks for fourteen verses about, of all thing, a mosquito. And without ever saying the word “mosquito”. It is variously described as a wandering trumpet, a flying murmur, and in general something bent on preventing him from sleeping. And in the sestina, the usual twist: the poet tells the mosquito there’s no point in annoying him, because he is so lovesick that he won’t sleep anyway. And so...2023-11-2502 minItalian PoetryLavandare, by Giovanni PascoliToday we read Lavandare, by Giovanni Pascoli. When Virgil, at the beginning of the fourth Eclogue, announces that he is going to sing of “bigger things,” he justifies this by saying that not everybody likes “humiles myricae”: humble tamarisks. Pascoli, on the other hand, chose the Latin name of this humble shrub for the title of his most celebrated collection of poems, thus declaring his intention of focusing on small things: the countryside, everyday objects and activities, farmers, workers. And he tells about them using a simple language, not infrequently with regional terms. In this particular case he even borrowed...2023-11-1802 minItalian PoetryS'i' fosse foco, by Cecco AngiolieriToday we read S’i’ fosse foco, by Cecco Angiolieri. Francesco Angiolieri (and to this day Francescos are sometimes nicknamed Cecco) is an early example of the archetype of the rich, spoiled young man about town, generally up to no good. Or at least that’s the character he created in his poetry. He is always complaining that his father is stingy with money; he glorifies wine and women; he apparently spends most of his time gambling. Although we know that his life was… adventurous, he was probably exaggerating. He is writing, after all, in the tradition of comic poetry. In this...2023-11-1202 min
Two Old Farts Making NoisesUntitled EpisodeThe Art of Dominance, Surgical Strength & Italian Poetry | This Week on Noosh Bits #316Send us a text🔥👠 This Week on Noosh Bits: Unleashing the Power of a Dominatrix, Brave Surgical Journeys, and the Enchanting World of Italian Poetry! 📚💉🌟 Join us in this riveting episode as we dive deep into the intriguing life of a dominatrix. Ever wondered what it takes to command with confidence and allure? We're uncovering all the secrets! 🤐🔐🏥💪 Next up, we're sharing inspiring stories of courage and resilience with personal accounts of undergoing surgery. These tales are not just about the procedures, but the incredible journey of recovery and empowerment.🇮🇹📖 And for a touch of elegance, we're immer...2023-11-1045 minItalian PoetryDeh non insuperbir per tuo belleza, by PolizianoToday we read Deh non insuperbir per tuo belleza, by Poliziano. In this very short poem, Poliziano reminds a beautiful lady that her beauty is transitory. She should not, then, grow haughty or vain. Rather, she should enjoy it while it lasts — or, as he puts it, … pluck the flower. The original: Deh non insuperbir per tuo’ bellezza, donna, ch’un breve tempo te la fura: canuta tornerà la bionda trezza che del bel viso adorna la figura. Mentre che il fiore è nella sua vaghezza coglilo, che bellezza poco dura. Fresca è la rosa da mattino, e...2023-11-0501 minItalian PoetryTacito orror di solitaria selva, by Vittorio AlfieriToday we read Tacito orror di solitaria selva, by Vittorio Alfieri. This poem has two main historical referents. On the one hand, as is often the case, Petrarca, whose sonnet CLXXVI (they are usually referred to by Roman numeral) contains these verses: Raro un silenzio, un solitario orrore d’ombrosa selva mai tanto mi piacque (A rare silence, a solitary horror of a shadowy forest never have I liked so.) There the woods are rendered inoffensive and even benevolent by his love for Laura. On the other hand, the noun selva will forever be associated in Italian po...2023-10-3103 minItalian PoetryLa sabbia del tempo, by Gabriele D'AnnunzioToday we read La sabbia del tempo, by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The whole collection of poems in which La sabbia del tempo appears, entitled Alcyone, is a celebration of Summer. It is articulated in five sections, each dedicated to part of the progression of the season, from June to September. This poem belongs to the second-to-last section, where the peak of Summer is at last bound to start declining into Autumn. More specifically, this section contains a subgroup of poems, the madrigali dell’estate (“summer’s madrigals”), whose first poem’s first verse reads: Estate, estate mia, non declinare! (“Summer, my summer, don’...2023-10-2302 minItalian PoetryLa sera del dì di festa, by Giacomo LeopardiToday we read La sera del dì di festa, by Giacomo Leopardi. In his short and unhappy life, Leopardi left a staggering amount of prose. A large chunk of it is in the Zibaldone, a sort of daily diary that ranges from Philosophy to Literature to Science — I remember being dumbstruck when I stumbled upon a passage on, I think, Electromagnetism! Yet his undying fame in Italian literature is mostly due to his very short poetry collection, I Canti, composed of 36 poems, most of which are masterpieces. He was a materialist, a rationalist and an atheist; he loudly proclaimed not bei...2023-10-1605 minItalian PoetryTacciono i boschi e i fiumi, by Torquato TassoToday we read Tacciono i boschi e i fiumi, by Torquato Tasso. We have mentioned elsewhere the tight relationship between poetry and music. Madrigals are a great example, being often written to be set to music. This poem by Torquato Tasso was apparently commissioned by musician Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa1. He might not be a household name today, but he has been an inspiration for musicians from Stravinsky to Frank Zappa to Franco Battiato, due certainly to his extremely modern use of dissonance, but also to having quite a reputation (he caught his wife and her lover… in the act, an...2023-10-1003 minItalian PoetryLa prigionia di Don Ciccio, by Giovanni Francesco LazzarelliToday we read La prigionia di Don Ciccio, by Giovanni Francesco Lazzarelli. Satirical poetry doesn’t get much screen time nowadays, even though in classical times it was a major subgenre. The author of the following sonnet was an abbot and a jurist who got pissed with a colleague, one Bonaventura Arrighini, who once called him a coglione. That’s an insult we liberally use today too, though strictly speaking it means “testicle”. As a retaliation, Lazzarelli started writing sonnet after sonnet ridiculing his adversary, whom he calls “Ciccio”, by finding 420 creative ways to liken him to the male gonads — one...2023-10-0802 minItalian PoetryLa tigre assenza, by Cristina CampoToday we read La tigre assenza, by Cristina Campo. Cristina Campo was a sickly child, homeschooled, and grew to be very shy and reserved. She always had a very close relationship with her parents, both successful artists. The subtitle of this excruciating poem is “pro patre et matre,” which in Latin means “for father and mother.” In it, the pain of their death and their absence from her life is likened to a tiger that devoured every part of her, except her mouth, so the only thing she can now do is to pray. The original: Ahi che la Tigre, la...2023-10-0701 minItalian PoetryAmato figlio, or che la dolce vista, by Faustina Maratti ZappiToday we read Amato figlio, or che la dolce vista, by Faustina Maratti Zappi. Faustina Maratti was said to be quite the beauty — so much so that a noble suitor, after her repeated refusals, tried to kidnap her. Out of that adventure he got a harsh sentence, while she got both a prominent scar and a heroic reputation. She was an established poet, being a member of the famous Accademia dell’Arcadia — one of whose founders would eventually become her husband. Their life together was apparently very happy, their house a literary hub of those years. One great sorrow was, howeve...2023-10-0702 minItalian PoetryIntorno ad una fonte, in un pratello, by Giovanni BoccaccioToday we read Intorno ad una fonte, in un pratello, by Giovanni Boccaccio. Boccaccio’s fame is tightly linked to his collection of novels, il Decamerone — especially so in English speaking countries, where he is recognized as a fundamental model for Chaucer’s The Canterbury’s Tales. But Boccaccio was also a poet. He loved Dante, he admired his friend Petrarca. He certainly appreciated the Dolce stil novo poetry, paradigmatic at the time, which extolled love for a woman as a means to get closer to God. And yet his poetry can be much less… pious. This is the first poem in hi...2023-10-0602 min
ITALIA ITALIANI E ITALIANERIE - Italian language podcastLa divina commediaAnche noi nel Dantedì diamo il nostro contributo per ricordare il grande poeta.Lo facciamo attraverso la lettura di alcuni passi della Divina Commedia tratti dalla simpatica versione della Mondadori "La Divina Commedia. Letta ai bambini".Buon ascolto.La Divina Commedia raccontata ai bambini : https://amzn.to/30EPtjvQui sotto trovate altre versioni della Divina Commedia per studenti di lingua italiana:La Divina Commedia a fumetti: https://amzn.to/3teZvnJLa Divina Commedia in formato Manga: https://amzn.to/2Owb62ZDante per gioco. L'inferno: https://amzn.to/3cudmQiDante per g...2021-03-2530 min