Friday, September 12, 2008

Weightless


For a God who laughs like a child,
So much raucous sparrow chatter,
So many dances in branches,

A soul becomes weightless,
The grasslands have such a softness,
Such chasteness revives in the eyes,

Hands like leaves
Are spellbound in the air...

Who is frightened now, who judges?



Weightless, 1934
Giuseppe Ungaretti, Selected Poems
Bilingual Edition, translated by Andrew Frisardi

I really have been enjoying my new book of Eugenio Montale
poetry. Merisi suggested another Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti,
so I checked out his book of selected poems from my library. The
brilliant translation from the Italian into English in this bilingual
edition has marvelously preserved much of the delicacy and
mystery of Ungaretti's poetry.

33 comments:

  1. Bonjour !

    C'est vraiment un joli poème...

    De plus, Ta photo est très belle !

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  2. It IS a beautiful poem, very evocative.

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  3. Thanks for popping by over at my place, I'll return here again if OK with you.

    Right confession time: I hereby confess I HATE opera but I hope you won't hold that against me :) TFx

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  4. Beautiful poem and enjoyed the pear recipe from previous post- what liquid do you add btw?

    I'm here from Black Boxes and totally addicted. Must stop now!

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  5. Powerful imagery.

    Thanks for sharing this nice work,
    Troy

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  6. I can't help it. As a classical composer I always read poems as possibilities to be set to music. This one would be in the key of F: quiet and naïve, yet wise.

    Beautiful!

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  7. What a beautiful poem. Thank you so much for sharing this book of poetry with us--I'm looking forward to the next one ;)

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  8. "Hands like leaves are spellbound in the air".....love it!

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  9. Popped over after you said such nice things about my poems. Nice blog and always good to read such a well made piece such as today's.

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  10. Amazing graphic and poem bears re-reading. Thanks for sharing what you're reading.

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  11. A wonderful feeling this poem bestows!

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  12. The picture is amazing. Lovely, lovely poem. :)

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  13. Very interesting. Except for the translated epics, I have not really ventured into translated poetry. I think I am missing something.

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  14. Hello Willow

    That's a beautiful poem.

    I came here via a black box, like many others i see! That widget is such fun.

    I've had a quick read through your blogs and read your 'i've been tagged' one. I know that wasn't today's blog but i do have an answer to your 11:11 thing! I have lots of books, some of which i call my 'funky' books, and in one of the 'funky' ones this is what it said about 11:11...

    "Monitor your thoughts carefully, and be sure to only think about what you want, not what you don't want. This sequence is a sign that there is a gate of opportunity opening up, and your thoughts are manifesting into form at record speeds. The 1111 is like a bright light of a flashbulb. It means that the universe has just taken a snapshot of your thoughts and is manifesting them into form. Are you pleased with your thoughts the universe has captured? If not, correct your thoughts."

    Now you know why i call some of them my 'funky' books!

    I'm glad the black box brought me here, i especially love your recipes.

    Just going to see where it takes me next....

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  15. That's a beautiful poem.

    One of my biggest regrets is that I can't read foreign poetry in its original form. Even though I'm sure most translaters do a wonderful job, I still wonder if I'm missing something of the flavor the poet wanted me to taste.

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  16. hey....wasn't Giuseppe the father of Pinochio? Man I'm well read!!!!

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  17. What a wonderful poem, and I clicked on that image to enlarge it and it's glorious. Love your latest banner, Willow--excellent! Have a great weekend.

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  18. Wonderful poem! Your recipe for chickie livers sounds delicious! I just might try it.

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  19. Dearest Willow, I've just been showing my computer illiterate sister 'not all those who wander are lost' on my blog roll where I re-read a poem you might be interested in, in the Jan 12 post. 'Twould be fun to see what you think of it?
    Love your dissertations on poetry.
    Do you post skywatch, if so , where?

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  20. Lovely, have a good weekend :-)

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  21. Lovely poem and yummy blog! I felt my jeans shrink just looking at the recipe pictures!!

    Thanks for visiting via the box.

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  22. I love the picture of the birds flying...it really creates animage of "weightless"

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  23. What gossamer wings! Great capture!

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  24. Hi, now I see it's you, Willow! Hello and glad to be at your blog. I usually don't stay long when I'm black boxing it. But it's really nice here . . .

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  25. This poem is gorgeous. I had never heard of Ungaretti - I'll have to check him out.

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  26. This poem is gorgeous. I had never heard of Ungaretti before - I'll have to check him out.

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  27. What lovely poetry and the photograph is so magical
    to me. Love your blog! Roxanne

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)