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

The shepherd bagpipers would come down from the mountains to play the towns (for many of them this was one of the very few times when they'd come to town.)

The following translation of "Carrettiere" ("Carter") 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!) 

Carter

Oh carter, coming from the black mountains

so placidly, you traveled through the night

under rugged cliffs and over vaulted bridges;

what was the querulous northern wind saying

as it bellowed through the caverns and ravines?

But you were sleeping by the charcoal.

Little by little, a steady gust of storm blew in

whistling along the country road:

but it was a wind of Christmas in your dreams;

and you heard carols coming from bagpipes.

From the collection “Myricae” (1891-1900)

Carrettiere

O carrettiere che dai neri monti

vieni tranquillo, e fosti nella notte

sotto ardue rupi, sopra aerei ponti;

che mai diceva il querulo aquilone

che muggìa nelle forre e tra le grotte?

Ma tu dormivi sopra il tuo carbone.

A mano a mano lungo lo stradale

venìa fischiando un soffio di procella:

ma tu sognavi ch’era di natale;

udivi i suoni d’una cennamella.

From the collection "Myricae" (1891-1900)