{"id":6673,"date":"2014-07-28T07:11:35","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T07:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=6673"},"modified":"2014-07-28T19:21:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T19:21:39","slug":"shelley-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/shelley-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelley In Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Serena with translation by Geoff<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

La settimana scorsa sono andata al mare a San Terenzo con mia cognata e mia nipote che erano in vacanza dall\u2019Inghilterra. San Terenzo \u00e8 un piccolo paese molto carino della costa ligure, fra La Spezia e Lerici. Mia cognata Caroline era gi\u00e0 stata a San Terenzo un paio di anni fa, e si ricordava che l\u00ec c\u2019era un edificio culturalmente importante per una persona inglese: la casa del poeta Shelley.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week I went to the sea at San Terenzo with my sister in law and niece, who were here on holiday from England. San Terenzo is a pretty little village on the Ligurian coast, between La Spezia and Lerici. My sister in law, Caroline, had already been to San Terenzo a couple of years ago, and she remembered that there was a building of cultural significance to an English person: the house of the English poet Shelley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Portrait of Shelley by Alfred Clint (1819)<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Shelley, nel suo peregrinare attraverso l\u2019Europa, visse a San Terenzo con la moglie Mary per alcuni mesi nel 1822, anno della sua morte. In quel periodo venne a trovarlo il suo amico e poeta Lord Byron. Secondo la leggenda Byron, che era un ottimo nuotatore, fece a nuoto tutto il golfo di La Spezia, da Lerici all\u2019estremit\u00e0 est, a Porto Venere che chiude il golfo ad ovest. E\u2019 per la presenza di questi due illustri personaggi inglesi che il Golfo di La Spezia \u00e8 comunemente conosciuto come il Golfo dei Poeti.<\/strong><\/p>\n

During his wanderings through Europe, Shelley lived in San Terenzo with his wife Mary (author of the famous book \u2018Frankenstein\u2019) <\/em>for a few months in 1822, the year of his death. During that time he was visited by his friend, the poet Lord Byron. According to legend, Byron, who was an excellent swimmer, swam across the Gulf of La Spezia, from Lerici at its eastern extremity, to Porto Venere, which closes the gulf on the west. It is due to the presence of these two famous English personalities that the Gulf of La Spezia is commonly known as the Gulf of the Poets.<\/p>\n

Sul litorale di San Terenzo, andando verso Lerici, si trova una bella villa tutta bianca, dalla tipica architettura mediterranea. Ai tempi di Shelley la strada sul lungomare non era ancora stata costruita e la villa si trovava direttamente sulla spiaggia, isolata dal resto del paese. Oggi sulla facciata della villa c\u2019\u00e8 una targa in marmo con su scritto: \u201cDa questo portico su cui si abbatteva l\u2019antica ombra di un leccio il luglio del 1822 Mary Godwin e Jane Williams attesero con lagrimante ansia Percy Bysshe Shelley, che da Livorno su fragile legno veleggiando, era affondato per improvvisa fortuna ai silenzi delle isole Elisee. O benedette spiagge ove l\u2019amore, la libert\u00e0, i sogni non hanno catene\u201d.<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Along the coastline on which San Terenzo lies, going in the direction of Lerici, there is a beautiful white, typically Mediterranean, villa. In Shelley\u2019s day the coastal road had not yet been built, and the villa was situated right on the edge of the beach set aside from the rest of the village. Today the facade of the villa carries a marble plaque on which is written: \u201cFrom this portico upon which the shadow of an ancient oak once fell, in July 1822, Mary Godwin and Jane Williams awaited in tearful anxiety Percy Bysshe Shelley who, while sailing on a fragile craft from Livorno, was taken down by sudden fate to the silence of the Elysium islands. Oh blessed beaches, where love, freedom, and dreams are free\u201d<\/font> (non hanno catene = literally: don\u2019t have chains).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Shelley was cremated on a funeral pyre on the beach at Viareggio and his ashes were interred in Rome. Painting by Louis \u00c9douard Fournier (1889)<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Shelley era andato con la sua barca a vela a Livorno a trovare degli amici. Nel viaggio di ritorno fu sorpreso da un\u2019improvvisa burrasca che fece naufragare la nave. Non \u00e8 chiaro dove il corpo del poeta e dei suoi compagni di viaggio furono ritrovati. Alcune fonti dicono che furono trascinati a riva a Viareggio, altre parlano di un punto a circa dieci chilometri a nord di Viareggio. Questo mi ricorda un episodio accaduto molti anni fa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shelley had gone to Livorno on his sailing boat to visit some friends. On the journey home he was caught up in a sudden storm which sunk his vessel. It\u2019s never been clear exactly where the bodies of the poet and his companions were found. Some sources say they were washed ashore on the beach at Viareggio, others talk about a spot some ten km to the north of the town. This reminds me of an incident that happened many years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Shelley\u2019s final resting place in The Protestant Cemetery, Rome. Photo (CC) by <\/em><\/font>Allison Meier<\/em><\/font><\/a>. The lines of poetry are taken from Shakespeare’s \u2018The Tempest\u2019.<\/font><\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Era la festa della mia laurea e fra gli invitati c\u2019erano due miei amici che non si conoscevano, e che hanno subito dimostrato reciproca antipatia. I due amici erano Massimo, viareggino DOC, e Francesca, napoletana verace, ma con casa di famiglia per le vacanze a Forte dei Marmi, localit\u00e0 a pochi chilometri a nord di Viareggio. Ad un certo punto li ho sentiti \u2018disputarsi\u2019 il corpo di Shelley: \u201cShelley \u00e8 naufragato a Viareggio\u201d diceva Massimo. \u201cNon \u00e8 vero, il suo corpo \u00e8 stato ritrovato a Forte dei Marmi\u201d ribatteva Francesca. \u201cNo, a Viareggio, dove adesso c\u2019\u00e8 Piazza Shelley, per l\u2019appunto\u201d rispondeva Massimo!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was my graduation party, and amongst the guests were two friends of mine who had never met before, and who immediately took a dislike to each other. The two friends were Massimo, a genuine Viareggino (a person from Viareggio), and Francesca, an authentic Neapolitan who had a family holiday house in Forte dei Marmi, just a few km north of Viareggio. At a certain point I heard them arguing over Shelley\u2019s body: \u201cShelley was shipwrecked at Viareggio\u201d said Massimo. \u201cIt\u2019s not true, his body was found at Forte dei Marmi\u201d replied Francesca. \u201cNo, at Viareggio, to be more precise exactly where Piazza Shelley stands\u201d answered Massimo.<\/p>\n

Yet another example of the famous Italian campanilismo<\/em><\/font><\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Written by Serena with translation by Geoff La settimana scorsa sono andata al mare a San Terenzo con mia cognata e mia nipote che erano in vacanza dall\u2019Inghilterra. San Terenzo \u00e8 un piccolo paese molto carino della costa ligure, fra La Spezia e Lerici. Mia cognata Caroline era gi\u00e0 stata a San Terenzo un paio…<\/p>\n

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