Here’s a poem by the Italian poetess Ada Negri (1870 – 1945), which reflects the phrase ‘Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero’, ‘seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future’ (Horace, 65 – 8 BC), quoted by Geoff in part 1 of this series. I feel an affinity for the message in this poem, so simple and yet profound at the same time: life itself is sublime, love life!

Sulle Colline di Settignano by Telemaco Signorini

Il Dono

Il dono eccelso che di
giorno in giorno e d’anno
in anno da te attesi, o vita
(e per esso, lo sai, mi fu
dolcezza anche il pianto),
non venne: ancor non venne.
Ad ogni alba che spunta
io dico: "È oggi": ad ogni giorno
che tramonta io dico: "Sarà
domani". Scorre intanto
il fiume del mio sangue vermiglio
alla sua foce: e forse il dono
che puoi darmi, il solo che valga,
o vita, è questo sangue:
questo fluir segreto nelle vene,
e battere dei polsi,
e luce aver dagli occhi;
e amarti unicamente perché sei la vita.

The Gift

The sublime gift that
day after day and year
after year I awaited from you, oh life
(and for this, you know,
even crying was sweet),
didn’t arrive: it never arrived.
At each dawn that arises
I say: "It will be today" at the closing
of each day I say: "It will be tomorrow". Meanwhile,
the river of my vermillion blood
flows to its estuary: and perhaps the gift
that you can give me, the only one worth anything,
oh life, is this blood:
this secret stream in my veins,
and beating in my wrists,
and the light entering my eyes;
and to love you simply because you are life.

You can read more about Ada Negri in this blog