Giovanni Pascoli: Orphan

Slowly the snow drifts down, drifts down.
And listen: a cradle is quietly sighing.
An old woman sings in her dressing gown;
a child, his hands at his mouth, is crying.
Around your small crib, the old woman sings,
grow roses and lilies and all pretty things.
The child falls asleep as pretty things grow.
And down drifts the snow—so slowly, so slow.

Orfano

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 su la 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.

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Geoffrey Brock

Geoffrey Brock is the author of two volumes of poetry, the editor of The FSG Book of 20th-Century Italian Poetry, and the translator of numerous books of poetry and prose from Italian, most recently Last Dream by Giovanni Pascoli and Allegria by Giuseppe Ungaretti. He teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Translation at the University of Arkansas.

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Author: Geoffrey Brock

Geoffrey Brock is the author of two volumes of poetry, the editor of The FSG Book of 20th-Century Italian Poetry, and the translator of numerous books of poetry and prose from Italian, most recently Last Dream by Giovanni Pascoli and Allegria by Giuseppe Ungaretti. He teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Translation at the University of Arkansas. View all posts by Geoffrey Brock