"Notte" (Night) by Giovanni Pascoli. English translation, with original Italian text. "Notte" (Night) from the collection "Myricae" (1891-1900)

"Starry Night," by Vincent van Gogh Year (1889,)  Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

The following translation of "Notte" (Night) by Giovanni Pascoli is from the book "The Poems of Giovanni Pascoli: Translated in English, with Original Italian Text," published by LiteraryJoint Press (2017). Also available as Amazon ebook (Free on Kindle Unlimited!)  

Night

Young ladies at the buzzing spinning wheels,

and the oil lamp gilds their blonde heads:

the blonde hair, the black starry eyes,

they turn to the window now and then:

are they expecting white knights

crossing over the dark wall of sound?

They talk about love, courtesy, wonders:

so they talk waiting the break of dawn.  

Notte

Siedon fanciulle ad arcolai ronzanti,

e la lucerna i biondi capi indora:

i biondi capi, i neri occhi stellanti,

volgono alla finestra ad ora ad ora:

attendon esse cavalieri erranti

che varcano la tenebra sonora?

Parlan d’amor, di cortesie, d’incanti:

così parlando aspettano l’aurora.

From the collection “Myricae” (1891-1900)