It’s raining!

After weeks and weeks of unbearable heat, the rain has finally brought us a breath of new life. It’s like a sudden awakening of the senses that only a master of words such as Gabriele D’Annunzio can render in an authentic way.

In his famous poem La Pioggia nel Pineto (The Rain in the Pinewoods), written during the summer of 1902, D’Annunzio recounts a walk that he and his beloved Ermione (pseudonym of the famous actress Eleonora Duse) took on the edge of woods along the Tuscan coast near Pisa.

As they walk, the rain begins to fall, and D’Annunzio invites his companion to be silent and listen to the variety of sounds that the rain produces as it falls on the plants in the pinewoods. Through his careful choice of words D’Annunzio evokes the woodland landscape, magisterially describing the numerous shades of green, the fresh smells and physical sensations brought to life by the reinvigorating rain. During this magical transformation of nature, another metamorphosis takes place as the poet and his companion become one with nature the deeper they walk into the woods.

Here’s the opening stanza of this beautiful poem. You can find the original text of the full poem here. Listen to the actor Roberto Herlitzka’s wonderful recitation by clicking on the video below.

La Pioggia nel Pineto di Gabriele D’Annunzio

Taci. Su le soglie
del bosco non odo
parole che dici
umane; ma odo
parole più nuove
che parlano gocciole e foglie
lontane.
Ascolta. Piove
dalle nuvole sparse.
Piove su le tamerici
salmastre ed arse,
piove su i pini
scagliosi ed irti,
piove su i mirti
divini,
su le ginestre fulgenti
di fiori accolti,
su i ginepri folti
di coccole aulenti,
piove su i nostri volti
silvani,
piove su le nostre mani
ignude,
su i nostri vestimenti
leggieri,
su i freschi pensieri
che l’anima schiude
novella,
su la favola bella
che ieri
t’illuse, che oggi m’illude,
o Ermione.

Here is a nice English translation: The Rain In The Pinewoods