Franz Kafka

Showing posts with label The Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Snow. Show all posts

Friday, December 2, 2016

"La Neve" (or "Orfano"), "The Snow" (or "Orphan"), by Giovanni Pascoli. English version with Original Text in Italian, by Giovanni Pascoli, from the collection "Myricae" (1891)


Signature of Giovanni Pascoli, December 31, 1855 – April 6, 1912),  Italian poet and classical scholar.


The Snow


Slowly the snow falls, falls, falls,
listen: a basket rocks slowly, slowly.
A child cries, his small finger in his mouth,
an old lady sings, her chin resting on her hand.

The old lady sings: around your small bed
are roses and lilies, an entire pretty garden.

In the pretty garden the child falls asleep.
The snow falls slowly, slowly, slowly.


by Giovanni Pascoli, from the collection Myricae (1891) 

La Neve


Lenta la neve, fiocca, fiocca, fiocca,
senti: una zana dondola pian piano.
Un bimbo piange, il piccol dito in bocca,
canta una vecchia, il mento sulla mano,

La vecchia canta: Intorno al tuo lettino
c'è rose e gigli, tutto un bel giardino.
Nel bel giardino il bimbo s'addormenta.
La neve fiocca lenta, lenta, lenta.


by Giovanni Pascoli, from the collection Myricae (1891)

Monday, December 2, 2013

'The Snow Will Fall', a Poem from the collection 'Jersey Blues'

Edvard Munch's 'Avenue in the Snow', '1906, 'Pompidou Centre, Paris

The Snow Will Fall


From the Labrador Sea, a howling, raging wind
blows and rattles my evening.
I am far away, lost. A greyish cat,
scrawny and restless, roving from corner to corner.
Finding no peace. Yet free. Or enslaved?
Who knows! And where is everybody?

Memories fall, they crumble...

Only a reminiscence of love
obstinately persists, chases my footsteps.
Certainly, I must have dreamt.
Such a wonderful dream, that the mere
sorrow of awaking casts a shadow
upon the day, and an entire existence.

Soon the snow will fall…

Princeton, New Jersey, December 2002
From "Jersey Blues: Selected Poems", also available on iBookstore, NOOK Book and Amazon Kindle.

Monday, January 7, 2013

The Snow, a Short Poem

As we dwell on the wintry theme of snow, here's yet another brief poem inspired by it. As dormant memories intertwine with wistful oblivion, the entangled soul, suspended in time, is appeased.    

The Snowstorm, by Abraham Teerlink (1776-1857), Dutch

The Snow


The snow falls relentlessly, impalpable,
light butterflies land on my heart.

As they wings flutter,
my window turns opaque.

In the end, I am ten years of age,
as the snow relentlessly falls.

From "Jersey Blues: Selected Poems", also available on iBookstore, NOOK Book, and Amazon Kindle. Copyright © 2013 LiteraryJoint by Alessandro Baruffi. All rights reserved.