Umberto Saba: the Collection of Poems. Umberto Saba's Poetry Translated in English. Umberto Saba: "Il Canzoniere" (The Songbook)

Today, Umberto Saba (pseudonym of Umberto Poli, 1883–1957) is widely recognized as one of the most prominent European poets of the 20th century. His verses, tinged with melancholy and filled with compassion for the world's misery, are expressed in a language characterized by a sophisticated simplicity: light and rich of everyday words, yet musical and profound in poetic effect.

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.

Table of Contents:

Trieste…………………………………………………9

Old Town……………………………………………11

February Evening………………………………...13

Beginning of Summer……………………………15

The Goat…………………………………………….17

During a Military March…………………………19

I Loved……………………………………………….21

The Poet……………………………………………..23

Snow Blossom……………………………………..25

Poetry………………………………………………..27

Children at the Soccer Stadium……………….29

Thirteenth Game………………………………….31

Goal………………………………………………….33

City Team…………………………………………..35

Three Moments……………………………………37

Mouth……………………………………………….39 

To my Wife…………………………………………41

Work…………………………………………………47

Portrait of My Little Girl……………..…………49  

To my Daughter………………….………………51

My Father Has Been to Me……………………53  

Ulysses…………………………………………….55  

Autumn………………………………………......57

Happiness…………………………………………59

My Little Girl……………………………………..61 

The Time of Ours………………………………..63 

After the Sadness.………………………………65 

Three Streets……………………………………..67

I Had……………………………………………….71

"February Evening", (Sera di febbraio) by Umberto Saba, (English translation)

Edvard Munch - Night in Nice (1891)

February Evening

February Evening.

The moon rises.

In the street still it is

daylight, an evening that quickly falls.  

Indifferent youngsters hugged one another;

skidding to aimless destinations.

And it is the thought

of death that, ultimately, helps to live on.   



Original text in Italian:

Sera di febbraio 
 (Umberto Saba, da "Il canzoniere, Ultime cose", 1935-1943)

Sera di febbraio.
Spunta la luna.
Nel viale è ancora
giorno, una sera che rapida cala.
Indifferente gioventù s’allaccia;
sbanda a povere mete.
Ed è il pensiero
della morte che, infine, aiuta a vivere.



Umberto Saba Poems, translated in English: Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, NOOK Book, Kobo and on Lulu.  

The Poems of Trieste and Five Poems for the Game of Soccer by Umberto Saba (eBook) - A selection of the best poetry by Italian Master Umberto Saba, translated in English

Today, Umberto Saba (pseudonym of Umberto Poli, 1883–1957) is widely recognized as one of the most prominent European poets of the 20th century. Born in the cosmopolitan port town of Trieste, under the Austro-Hungarian rule, in his youth, Saba struggled with hardship and poverty. After quitting his commercial studies, he joined the mercantile marine, and later the army, enlisting in the infantry regiment. While Saba successfully published his work for over three decades enjoying very favorable reception by critics, he remained an outsider to the Italian literary establishment. Following anti-Semitic laws and persecution, he migrated to Paris, returning to Italy only in 1943, where he remained under cover until the end of World War II. His verses, tinged with melancholy and filled with compassion for the world's misery, are expressed in a language characterized by a sophisticated simplicity: light and rich of everyday words, yet musical and profound in poetic effect.

Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, NOOK Book, Kobo and on Lulu. 

Poesia, by Umberto Saba, a version in English, by Literary Joint: Poetry, by Umberto Saba

Cover of a first edition of Umberto Saba's Poesie, 1911, Duke University Library

What is poetry? In this humble, powerful allegory, Umberto Saba compares it to a warm nook amidst the wintry storm: a cherished place that is not contaminated by the material struggle of existence, but nurtured by love and dear memories. The consciousness of this - the role of poetry itself -, unveils the hidden beauty around us, and an intrinsic goodness in things otherwise unnoticed, or that, even worse, would appear just grim, terrible, or mundane.

Poetry

It is like when to a man pounded by the wind,
blinded by snow - all around paints
the city an infernal wintry world -
along the wall, a door opens.
He enters. Finds the goodness not dead,
the sweetness of a warm nook. Lays a name
that was forgotten, a kiss on
smiley faces, that he would only portray

as obscure in threatening dreams.
He returns
to the street, even the street is different.
The weather is fine again; the ice
is broken by industrious hands, the light blue
peeks back in the sky and in his heart. And he thinks
that dire times may foretell good ones.

by Umberto Saba, from the collection "The Songbook," 1933 
Translation in English by LiteraryJoint, Copyright © LiteraryJoint by Alessandro Baruffi 

Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian:

Poesia

E' come a un uomo battuto dal vento,
accecato di neve - intorno pinge
un inferno polare la città -
l'aprirsi, lungo il muro, di una porta.
Entra. Ritrova la bontà non morta,
la dolcezza d'un caldo angolo. Un nome
posa dimenticato, un bacio sopra
ilari volti, che solo vedeva
oscuri in sogni minacciosi.
Torna
Alla strada, anche la strada è un'altra.
Il tempo al bello si è rimesso; i ghiacci
spezzano mani operose, il celeste
rispunta in cielo e nel suo cuore. E pensa
che un estremo di mali un bene annunci.

Umberto Saba, da "Il canzoniere", 1933

The Poems of Trieste and Five Poems for the Game of Soccer by Umberto Saba (eBook) - A selection of some of the best poetry by Italian Master Umberto Saba, translated in English

Book cover, Copyright © 2013 Alessandro Baruffi ISBN: 978-1-304-03092-4

                                 

Today, Umberto Saba (pseudonym of Umberto Poli, 1883–1957) is widely recognized as one of the most prominent European poets of the 20th century. Born in the cosmopolitan port town of Trieste, under the Austro-Hungarian rule, in his youth, Saba struggled with hardship and poverty. After quitting his commercial studies, he joined the mercantile marine, and later the army, enlisting in the infantry regiment. While Saba successfully published his work for over three decades enjoying very favorable reception by critics, he remained an outsider to the Italian literary establishment. Following anti-Semitic laws and persecution, he migrated to Paris, returning to Italy only in 1943, where he remained under cover until the end of World War II. His verses, tinged with melancholy and filled with compassion for the world's misery, are expressed in a language characterized by a sophisticated simplicity: light and rich of everyday words, yet musical and profound in poetic effect.

Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, NOOK Book  , Kobo and on Lulu. 

Trieste, by Umberto Saba, English Translation

Original manuscript by Umberto Saba, from “Trieste and a woman” (1910-12)

One of the most well-known lyrics by Umberto Saba, "Trieste" is a testament to the author's love for his city, as it recounts his quest for harmony, the effort to find his own way, his own nook in the world, and call it home.

I traversed the entire town.
Then I climbed a steep slope,
crowded at first, deserted further up,
closed by a low wall:
a nook where I sit
alone; and it seems to me that where it ends
the town ends too.
 
Trieste has a surly
grace. If one likes it,
it is like a rascal, harsh and voracious,                                              
with blue eyes and hands too big
to offer a flower;
like a love
with jealousy.
Up from this slope every church, any street
I discover, whether it takes to the huddled beach,
or to the hill where, onto the rocky
top, a house, the last one, clings.
All around
circles all things
a strange air, a tormented air,
the native air.

My town that is in every of its part alive,
has a nook made just for me and my life,
pensive and reserved.

from “Trieste and a woman” (1910-12)
Translation in English by LiteraryJoint, Copyright © LiteraryJoint by Alessandro Baruffi  
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian: 

Fanciulli allo Stadio, Children at the Soccer Stadium, by Umberto Saba, English Translation

This poem concludes our presentation of "Five poems for the game of soccer", by Umberto Saba: "Children at the soccer stadium", a delicate lyric bringing back reminiscences of the merriment of youth, shadowed by the obscure premonition of corruption brought along by adult life.

Umberto Saba (1883 – 1957) was an Italian poet and novelist

Children at the soccer stadium

A spring rooster
is the voice of a child; fanciful romances
by that, and torments, it sharply cuts.

On the borders of the pitch a flag
waves solitary on a low wall.
On which, standing up, at each break, competing,
the children gave out dear names,
one by one, like arrows. It lives
within me the lovely scene; to a memory
it marries - in the evening - from my beardless days.

Unpleasant in their haughtiness
the players passed by, right there.
They would see everything, but those little ones.  


Translated by LiteraryJoint
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian:

"Tredicesima partita", poems about soccer, by Umberto Saba, English Translation, Thirteenth game

Portrait of poet Umberto Saba

The poet finds himself within a small group of spectators at a soccer game, numb with cold, as the sun sets on the pitch and the players; the iridescent intricacies of colors of the fleeting day that comes to an end suggest a metaphorical sundial, a bitter premonition that only a sentiment of human brotherhood may withstand.   

 

 

Thirteenth Game

On the stands a small group
tried to keep itself warm.
And when
- bound-less irradiation - the sun extinguished 
behind a house its blaze, the field
made brighter the presentiment of the night.
Up and down ran the red jerseys,
the white jerseys, under a light of
strange iridescent transparency. The wind
deflected the foot-ball, the Goddess of Fortune
blinded yet again her eyes.
So pleasant
being such a few, numb with cold,
united,
like the last men on a mountain,
to watch from up there the last game.

Translation in English by LiteraryJoint
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian:

Goal, by Umberto Saba, English Translation

The goal-keeper fallen in the vain
last defense...(Umberto Saba)

  

As we continue to present the series of poems that Umberto Saba dedicated to foot-ball, here is the well-known "Goal", in which the poet is a watchful spectator of the game, and witness of its inner secrets.

 

Goal, by Umberto Saba

The goal-keeper fallen in the vain
last defense, against the ground hides
his face, as not to see the bitter light.
His knelt team-mate, urging him
with words and gesture to stand back up,
sees eyes filled with tears.

The crowd - united in its thrill - seems to brim over
to the field.  Circled the winner,
his brothers throw themselves to his neck.
Few are moments as wonderful as this,
to whom, burnt by hatred, love
is given, under the sky, to see.

Nearby the unviolated goal the keeper
- the other one - has remained. But not his soul,
with the body that found itself alone.
His joy turns into a somersault,
into kisses that he sends from afar.
Of this merriment - he says - I am part too.

English translation by LiteraryJoint
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian:

Tre momenti, Three moments (soccer poem, Triestina), by Umberto Saba, English Translation

The sudden capture of few trivial scenes from a foot-ball game triggers a broader reflection upon existence, and the sentiment of beautiful, fleeting youth and lightheartedness.

Three moments

After running to the center of the turf, you offer
first your salute towards the stands.
Afterwards, what is born after,
that to the other side you turn, to the one
even so black that throngs, is not
a thing to be said, or that has a name.

The goal-keeper treads up and down like a sentry.
The danger is far still.
Yet if in a stormy cloud it closes in, oh then
a young wild beast crouches down
and on the alert spies on.

Merriment is in the air, merriment in every street.
If short-lived, what matters?
No offense crossed the goal line,
shouts crisscrossed like thunderbolts.
With your glory, eleven young lads,
a river-like of love embellishes Trieste.

Translation in English by LiteraryJoint
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Original text in Italian:

Città vecchia, Old Town, by Umberto Saba, English Translation

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:

Squadra paesana by Umberto Saba, (Soccer Poem, Trieste's City Team: Triestina Rosso Alabardati) English Translation

A simple experience - mingling with the crowd supporting the local soccer team (la Triestina) - blossoms into a wonderful poem, amongst the best known by Umberto Saba.

Soccer Team from Trieste, Triestina, 1930

City team, by Umberto Saba

Me too amongst the many I salute you, red-
halberdiers,
spat
from the native land, by all the people
loved.
In trepidation I follow your game.
Unaware 
you express with it ancient
marvelous things
on the green turf, in the open air, in the clear
wintry suns.

The anguishes
that whiten the hair all of a sudden,
are from you so far away! The glory
gives you a fleeting
smile: the best it can offer. Hugs
from one another, merry gestures.

Young are you all, for the mother alive;
the winds carries you in her defense. He loves you
for this reason too the poet, from the others
differently - equally moved.

Translated in English by LiteraryJoint
Available as e-book on Amazon Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch , NOOK Book and on Lulu. 

Below, the last, unique appearance on video of the poet Umberto Saba, already as an old man, reading this poem during an interview with the Italian National Television.

 

 

Original text in Italian:

"Fior di Neve" (Snow Blossom), by Umberto Saba and "Dust of Snow", by Robert Frost, an intriguing parallel

Robert Frost and Umberto Saba were contemporary writers, who lived between the last quarter of the nineteen century and the midst of the twentieth century. Although quite different in terms of background, language, and poetic sensibility, here are two vivacious short poems of theirs, both on the theme of snow, that I am thrilled to present as an intriguing parallel. They are, respectively, Snow Blossom and Dust of Snow; the former is sort of dream-like and transcendent, the latter rather displays a shade of darkness, yet pervaded by a vein of humor. I offered further below the Italian translation of Robert Frost's original poem, as well as the English translation of Umberto Saba's original text in Italian, to accommodate both international and Italian readers.

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.

Cover of Umberto Saba's Poesie, First Edition, 1911

 Dust of Snow, original manuscript, 1958

          Snow Blossom, by Umberto Saba                                    

Up in the heavens all the angels
saw the bare fields
without leaves nor flowers
and they read in the children's hearts
how they love the white things.
So fluttered they the wings tired of flying
and then descended lightly lightly
the blossomed snow.

Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

Fior di Neve, by Umberto Saba, original text in Italian, and the Italian translation of Dust of Snow, by Robert Frost.