Tag Archives: Italian poem translation
A Fresh Summer’s Rain Posted by Serena on Aug 12, 2015
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…
La Festa della Liberazione Posted by Serena on Apr 27, 2015
On the 25th of April 1945, Torino and Milano, Northern Italy’s two biggest cities, were liberated from German occupation by Italian Partisans and the Allies forces. On the 28th of April Benito Mussolini was executed by the Partisans and by the 1st of May all of northern Italy had been liberated, thereby putting an end…
La Tempesta di Ugo Foscolo Posted by Serena on Jul 24, 2014
Introduction by Geoff It’s been a stormy week. It all began early Monday morning when a violent thunderstorm shook me from my dreams and commanded me to write a blog. Yes, inspiration from the skies! We began with La Tempesta from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, took a musical detour to 18th century Spain, courtesy of …
Il Rosso Melograno Posted by Serena on Jul 10, 2013
Last Sunday we went for a day out in the hills between Parma and Piacenza, in Emilia Romagna. While we were wandering around Castell’Arquato, a beautiful medieval town on the outskirts of the Pianura Padana, I noticed that almost every garden had un albero di melograno (a pomegranate tree), covered in bright red flowers. My…
Rio Bò Posted by Serena on Aug 16, 2012
A few days ago, browsing through one of my grammar books, I came across a poem that I had to learn when I was at school. I was really pleased to rediscover it because I used to like it a lot, and I must say that rereading it hasn’t disappointed me, it still paints an…
Meriggio d’Estate Posted by Serena on Jul 18, 2012
It’s a hot summer afternoon just after lunch time and, as on every other summer’s day, Maura, our next-door neighbour, appears at her bedroom window, spreads her arms wide, gets hold of le persiane (the shutters) and firmly closes them for la penichella pomeridiana (the afternoon’s nap). At this time of day the same ritual…
L’Infinito di Leopardi Posted by Serena on May 16, 2012
A couple of months ago my uncle Luciano gave me a CD on which the great late actor Vittorio Gassman reads some poems from the most important Italian poets of the Romantic era: Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Manzoni, and Giacomo Leopardi. Listening to them brought to mind the time when, aged eighteen, I had to study…