{"id":2669,"date":"2012-11-27T14:25:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T14:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=2669"},"modified":"2014-03-21T10:46:54","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T10:46:54","slug":"piove-di-ada-negri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/piove-di-ada-negri\/","title":{"rendered":"Piove di Ada Negri"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poet and writer, Ada Negri<\/strong> was born in Lodi (Lombardia) in 1870. Her father, a coachman, died when she was only one year old, and her mother worked as a weaver in a factory. Ada recounts in her autobiography \u201cStella Mattutina\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 (Morning Star), published in 1921, how she spent many years of her lonely childhood in the lobby of an aristocratic house, where her grandmother worked as a doorkeeper, watching people passing by in the street.<\/p>\n

In 1887 she qualified as a primary school teacher and the following year she started teaching in a school at Motta Visconti, a village near Milan. These were her happiest years, and it was in this period that she started writing poetry. Her lyrics, first printed in a local newspaper, were collected and published in 1892 in the volume \u201cFatalit\u00e0\u201d<\/strong> (Fate), which was well received by critics and the public.<\/p>\n

Following the success of her poems, she was appointed \u201cper chiara fama\u201d<\/strong> (due to her merits) as a teacher in a secondary school in Milan. It was in Milan that Ada Negri came into contact with members of the socialist party, which at that time included Benito Mussolini. Her second volume of poems, \u201cTempeste\u201d<\/strong> (Tempests), published in 1894, describes the plight of the poor and neglected in society, and for this reason she was called \u201cla poetessa del Quarto Stato\u201d<\/strong> (the poetess of the Fourth Estate, i.e. the proletarians).<\/p>\n

In 1896 she married the industrialist Giovanni Garlanda, and they had two daughters, Bianca and Vittoria. Vittoria died in 1904 when she was just a few months old, after which Ada\u2019s poetry became more introspective and personal. However, with WWI her poems became more patriotic, and for this reason she became associated with the Fascist regime: in 1931 she received il Premio Mussolini for her career, and in 1940 she became the first female member of l\u2019Accademia d\u2019Italia<\/strong>. Ada Negri died in her studio in Milan in 1945.<\/p>\n

Here is a little poem by Ada Negri, which I thought perfect for a grey, melancholic, rainy day like it is here at the moment. The Italian original is followed by Geoff\u2019s translation into English.<\/p>\n

\"pioggia\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Piove<\/span><\/p>\n

Piove da un’ora soltanto,
\nma il bimbo pensa che gi\u00e0
\npiove da tanto, da tanto,
\nsopra la grande citt\u00e0.
\nPiove sui tetti e sui muri,
\npiove sul lungo viale,
\npiove sugli alberi oscuri
\ncon ritmo triste e uguale;
\npiove; e lo scroscio si sente
\ngiungere dalle vetrate,
\nche versano lacrime lente
\ncome fanciulle imbronciate.
\nPiove; e laggi\u00f9 sulla via
\ne in ogni casa, gi\u00e0 invade
\nl’intima malinconia
\ndi quella pioggia che cade.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s Raining<\/p>\n

It’s only been raining for an hour,
\nbut the child thinks that it has
\nbeen raining for a long long time,
\nabove the big city.
\nIt rains on the roofs and the walls,
\nit rains on the long avenue,
\nit rains on the dark trees
\nwith a sad repetitive rhythm;
\nit rains; and you hear the roar
\ncoming from the windows,
\nthat pour slow tears
\nlike sullen girls.
\nIt rains; and down there in the street
\nand in every house,
\nthe intimate melancholy
\nof the falling rain
\ntakes over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Poet and writer, Ada Negri was born in Lodi (Lombardia) in 1870. Her father, a coachman, died when she was only one year old, and her mother worked as a weaver in a factory. Ada recounts in her autobiography \u201cStella Mattutina\u201d\u00a0 (Morning Star), published in 1921, how she spent many years of her lonely childhood…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[229206,229209,229208,229207],"class_list":["post-2669","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-ada-negri","tag-italian-poetess-ada-negri","tag-la-poetessa-del-quarto-stato","tag-piove-di-ada-negri-english-translation"],"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