A meditative walk back home through the old city's port of Trieste inspires this famous poem, sparking a reflection upon the existence of a multitude of men and women - and each own - and the closeness between all sentient beings facing a common struggle, life and destiny.
Old Town by Umberto Saba
Often, to go back to my house
I take an obscure alley in the old town.
Yellowy in some puddle is reflected
a lamp, and crowded is the street.
Here amongst the people that come and go
from the inn back home or to the brothel,
where are goods and men the debris
of a great sea port,
I discover, passing by, the infinite
in humility.
Here prostitute and seaman, the old man
swearing, the female quarreling,
the soldier who sits at the shop
of the fried-food lad,
the tumultuous young girl crazy
with love,
are all creatures of life
and of sufferance;
He stirs up within them, same as in me, our Lord.
Here, in the company of the humble I feel
my thought growing
purer where filthier is the way.
Translation by LiteraryJoint
Umberto Saba: the Collection of Poems. Umberto Saba's Poetry Translated in English. Umberto Saba: "Il Canzoniere" (The Songbook). Available as printed book on Amazon and as ebook on Amazon Kindle, Lulu, Kobo, Apple iBooks, Google Books and all major plarforms." style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Lulu.
Original text in Italian:
