{"id":2209,"date":"2012-08-16T09:32:28","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T09:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2012-08-16T18:22:21","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T18:22:21","slug":"rio-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/rio-b\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Bò"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019t disappointed me, it still paints an evocative little picture. The poem is Rio B\u00f2<\/strong>, and was written by Aldo Palazzeschi<\/strong> (Firenze 1885 \u2013 Roma 1974).<\/p>\n

Aldo Palazzeschi<\/strong> is the \u2018nom de plume\u2019 (pen name) of Aldo Giurlani<\/strong>. His father, who was a merchant, wanted him to become an accountant and didn\u2019t like the idea of his son becoming an artist under the family name. In 1905 Aldo published his first collection of poems at his own expense, using an imaginary publisher, Cesare Blanc<\/strong>, which in reality was the name of his cat. Rio B\u00f2<\/strong> was published in 1909 in his third collection of poems, Poemi<\/strong>, which was well received by both critics and the public, and established him as one the most important Italian poets of the Twentieth century.<\/p>\n

Rio B\u00f2<\/strong> is the name of both the river and the microscopic village depicted in the poem, it\u2019s an imaginary and yet believable place. Here everything is small (casettine<\/strong> \u2018little houses\u2019, praticello<\/strong> \u2018small meadow\u2019, esiguo<\/strong> \u2018thin\u2019), a nothingness (da nulla<\/strong> \u2018of nothing\u2019), but at the same time great and magnificent. This sense of playfulness, almost like a fairy tale, is common to much of Palazzeschi\u2019s poetry and prose.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the poem with my English translation:<\/p>\n

Rio B\u00f2<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tre casettine
dai tetti aguzzi,
un verde praticello,
un esiguo ruscello: Rio B\u00f2,
un vigile cipresso.
Microscopico paese, non \u00e8 vero?
paese da nulla, ma per\u00f2,
c’\u00e8 sempre di sopra una stella,
una grande magnifica stella.
Occhieggia con la punta del cipresso
di Rio B\u00f2.
Una stella innamorata! Chi sa
se nemmeno ce l’ha
una grande citt\u00e0.<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rio B\u00f2<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Three little houses
with pointed roofs,
a small green meadow,
a thin stream: Rio B\u00f2,
a watchful cypress.
Microscopic village, isn’t it true?
a village of nothing, but nevertheless,
above it there is always a star,
a great magnificent star.
It winks to the tip of the cypress
of Rio B\u00f2.
A star in love! Who knows
if not even
a big city has one.<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P.S. I used to love that phrase ‘ma per\u00f2’<\/strong> in the middle of the poem because it\u2019s not grammatically correct, and therefore we weren’t allowed to use it. ‘Ma per\u00f2’<\/strong> is in fact a repetition, a bit like saying \u2018but however\u2019, but it\u2019s very emphatic, and children tend to use it instinctively. Seeing it there, in a poem written by a grownup, gave me a great sense of satisfaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019t disappointed me, it still paints an…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[229086,16869,229085],"class_list":["post-2209","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-italian-poem-rio-bo","tag-italian-poem-translation","tag-italian-poet-aldo-palazzeschi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t