SCELTA DI POESIE TRATTE DALLA MIA PRIMA SILLOGE
POETICA "SOLARIA", NAPOLI 1998, FINO ALLA NONA RACCOLTA
"UN ANNO", NAPOLI 2013, CON POESIE TRADOTTE IN INGLESE
CON TESTO ITALIANO A FRONTE, DAL CARO AMICO AMERICANO JEFF MATTHEWS.
GIACOMO
GARZYA, "CAMPANIA FELIX", ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND NOTES
BY JEFF MATTHEWS, NAPOLI 2014, M. D'AURIA EDITORE, pp. 1-126 (ON
THE COVER: "VESUVIANA", WATERCOLOUR BY DANIELA PERGREFFI).
I present these English translations of Giacomo Garzya's images
of his native Campania very cautiously. After all, almost everyone
has words of warning about translation:
"Translation
from one language into another...is like gazing at a Flemish tapestry
with the wrong side out." (Cervantes)
"Poetry
is what gets lost in translation." (Robert Frost)
Yet
we all know the difference between a good translation and a bad
one. And we all know how indebted we are to the centuries of translators
who have given us with the literature of other cultures, ancient
and modern.
In
the sense of the 20th-century form known as "Imagism",
Garzya favors precision, even isolation, of single images and
clear, sharp language. As with all poets, he has a sense of cadence
and euphony but is less interested in formal meter and rhyme than
in the brief flash that lets the reader see something new. It
might have been more convenient to present his poems in paragraph
form and call it a prose translation. I have chosen instead to
follow the erratic typographic form chosen by the poet, single
lines (even of a single word), one above the other, to achieve
the effect of a parade of images.
I
have tried not to inject myself into his lines and have provided
a few notes for some of his references that might not be familiar
to the non-Italian reader. To the extent that I have succeeded,
I am content; if I have failed, well, give my regards to Cervantes
and Robert Frost.
JEFF MATTHEWS
JERANTO
Between
Capitello and Montalto
the black-bluish coccole,
the reds of the lentischio1
and all the others
crown the earth.
Festively
spread
before us
in the evening
passions
the purple heavens
when the northwest wind calms,
fires die
and heavy damp
rules the air
Scopolo
Stella
Faraglione di terra
and Monacone.2
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Solaria", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 32)
notes:
1.The
poet is precise in his use of idiomatic names of local vegetation.
The coccola is the small cone-like fruit of some kinds of the
cypress tree. The lentischio (plural: lentischi) is called a Mastic
shrub in English and produces bright black-blue flowers.
2. Scopolo, Stella, Faraglione di Terra and Monacone are the names
of the prominent rock formations at the east end of the isle of
Capri. The first three are called collectively the "Faraglioni".
Monacone is a small offshore rock formation. All are very visible
from Jeranto.
FRAGMENTS OF PROCIDA
The
ancient colors
of the houses vanish
in the clouds of spring
This
for an instant,
then there is light,
from the trimmed walls
sprigs of golden lemons
strung like bells strike
hymns of joy.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 45)
CORRICELLA OF PROCIDA1
Clamber
up
the tight improbable steps,
leaving the colors of the boats
behind,
up
to fiery Epomeo
and look in wonder
at the Marina
mirrored in orange
though the burning mirror
of a window,
up
to the Dome of the Grazie2
to recall the Martyrs,
those of '99,3
from all classes
witnesses to liberty,
too many gallows for an island.
Today,
as yesterday,
Marina di Corricella
hold fast your gaze
on the piled houses
clinging, defending
with
unsheathed claws,
colored like the fishing nets
piled, too, atop the cats,
an ubi consistam,4
they come out from under,
lazy and unaware.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, pp. 46-47)
Notes:
1. Corricella di Procida is a small harbor on the island of Procida.
2. Grazie refers to the church of S. Maria delle Grazie.
3. '99 (the poet wrote it as Novantanove) is a reference to the
failed republican revolution of the so-called 'Parthenopean Republic'
of 1799. 'Martyrs' refers to the victims of royalist reprisals.
4. Ubi consistam. "Da mihi ubi consistam, terramque movebo"
is the Latin translation of Archimedes' words rendered in English
as "Give me a place on which to stand, and I will move the
world". Thus, ubi consistam as a noun in the poem means "a
place where I find sustenance".
FALANGA OF ISCHIA1
At
sunset in the Falanga wood
the soft hues,
amber
grey-brown
and reddish,
of velvet trees
shade slowly down from
the hermitage of Epomeo
to the walls
above Forio.
The
air is crisp
over Santo Stefano and the islands,2
the setting sun shows
the gaudy depths of the sea.
Now
the dazzling portal
of the sun leads
from the beaches
to the silent rustlings
of Falanga.
The
arch is striking,
not Cyclopean
but light and strong
lava rocks assembled like
those of the Greeks.
Titian,
(the sun on the horizon)
though well used to
carpets of fallen leaves
still living and
rich with hues,
would have besung
the colors.
Mosses
brought to life
by filtered light
on the damp walls
draw and shape
ancient and new.
It
is nature's game.
Enchanted
Falanga
between quenching springs
and ancient hollows
that collect the snow,
Soon
reborn as flowers of Spring.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 48-50)
notes:
1. The Falanga is a large, well-known chestnut wood on the island
of Ischia.
2. Santo Stefano is a small island in the Pontian archipelago
35 km to the west of, and well visible from, Ischia.
THE
STRAITS OF CAPRI
The
wave
throws back the foam
a heart looks
at the horizon
the current
trembles white
love-white
The
sun glitters
and lights
the movement
of the wave
while foam
at last reaches
the Straits of Capri
love-white
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 51)
THE PIZZOLUNGO OF CAPRI1
Flashes
of silver
calm the waters of the sea,
wild leaves don't always
hide the cliffs from the setting sun.
On
Pizzolungo
evening falls
the breeze prickles
the restless soul
on the bold rocks
high and sturdy
haven
of gulls
torment of men.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 52)
notes:
1. Pizzolungo is the name of a scenic coastal path along the southern
coast of the island of Capri with a view to the sea, the Faraglioni
rocks and across to the Sorrentine peninsula.
CONCA DEI MARINI1
Enchanted
sea
the cliff watches
while the south-west wind
tests the ancient tower.
A
struggle with no quarter
between sea-foam
and clear-cut rocks.
When
the waters swell
even the green brush
is steeped by you
Enchanted sea.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 54)
notes:
1.Conca dei Marini is a hill town near the coast, not far from
Amalfi.
VETTICA DI PRAIANO1
At
Cava de lo Grado2
the stern tower above
this black fjord
holds watch,
the
sun on the sea
filters the waltzing light
The
curtain rises
The wisterias dance.3
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 55)
notes:
1.Vettica di Praiano, like Conca di Marina, is one of the towns
near Amalfi.
2. At Vettica di Praiano there is a tower called Torre (tower)
Grado (the place name) next to a trench, the Cava, called Cava
de lo Grado.
3. The stage and dance terms refer to the well-known (at least
to locals) presence of Rudolf Nuryev on Li Galli islands off the
Amalfi Coast.
POSITANO
The
cuoccio1 lies in the sand
scent of iodine and wind,
To one side Fornillo
and Vetara
And Li Galli.2
High
spindrift
whitens the hair
A gull, as if stunned in flight,
suddenly swerves.
Boats
safely moored
yellow-white
blue-white
wait for spring.
It
is raining now
The cloud banks pass
swiftly.
The
nets
as agile as serpents
wend up the ramps.
Now
in the distance
lightning sings
a strident hymn
to the sea.
Below,
the majolic
of Maria Assunta
in Cielo3
A palm sways
amid vivid colors
of houses arrayed
like an ancient theater.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 56-57)
notes:
1. Cuoccio. Dialect term for a fish common in many seas of the
world, known in English by various names: gurnet, and, commonly,
the Hawaiian term mahi-mahi.
2. Fornillo, Vetara and Li Galli. The first is a small beach at
Positano; Vetara and Li Galli are islands off the Amalfi coast.
3. Reference to the majolica tile dome of the church of Maria
Assunta in Cielo in Positano.
GENEROSA CIVALE OF NERANO
"Thinking
is an illness
Walking is medicine
Jealousy is poison."
Amidst
the walls
of bluish berries
and brown pods,
donkeys no longer teeter
on the ragged slopes
loaded with rusty wares
along unmortared walls.
It
is not the
de La Bruyères2
who tell us
how to live,
but rather the
weathered skin
of old devotion.
Speech,
the golden coin
of ancient wisdom
just a step
from Jeranto
and from the Silentium
of Villa Rosa.3
She
may have railed
against that reprobate
Norman Douglas,
but she asked
if we are Catholic.
If
not for our own haste in
these places known to Gods,
She'd have been
a fine and ceaseless
flow of opinion.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 58-59)
notes:
1. The poem is a tribute to Generosa Civale, recently deceased.
She was a fixture in Nerano, one of the unlettered, wise old sages
of the community, a guardian of local faith and values. She is
responsible for the first verse, in quotes. Nerano is part of
the town of Massa Lubrense on the Sorrentine peninsula.
2. Refers to Jean de La Bruyere (1654-1696), French moralist and
philosopher.
3. Refers to the Casa Silentium, the residence of Norman Douglas
while he wrote Siren Land (1911).
SUNSET OVER POSILLIPO
Gusts
of wind
the ruby clouds
behind Posillipo
twist like branches.
The
rapture of the view
widens the eye
to the finite space
of our grand being.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Maree", in "Poesie" 1998-2010,
Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 64)
ABSENCES
Among
the nets piled
at Corricella
moments of solitude
as the breeze
strikes her colors.
Rose
yellow
blue green water
a weary bell tolls twice
but repents,
the brine wind
stirs and is joined
by rows of boats
that move upon the waters.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Passato e presente", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 114)
MONTE DI PROCIDA1
From
here
I behold
the soul of Miseno,
the light-house amidst
the green
and the bare rock.
And
the dead sea
and Mt. Vesevo2
and the Lattari3
and Nisida
and Capri
and the park of Posillipo
midst
foliage and pines
direct and close
from
here
from the mount
that looks at Ischia
and Procida.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Passato e presente", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 116)
notes:
1. Monte di Procida is the high vantage point at the northern
end of the Gulf of Naples.
2. Vesevo: archaic/poetic for Vesuvius.
3. The Lattari mountains form the backbone of the Sorrentine peninsula.
NAPLES 1822
Fire
spirals into
the night of the gulf
Somma1
is calm,
the other mouth
rends the air
with endless spasms
like bolts down to the sea.
At
the San Vincenzo pier
sundry fishermen
spread their nets
while tiny boats
their lateen sails unfurled
but motionless
wrap the sight
in curious embrace.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Passato e presente", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 152)
notes:
1. Mt. Vesuvius is more properly called Somma-Vesuvius, referring
to the two main cones; Somma is the smaller of the two and on
the left as seen from Naples and in most paintings of eruptions.
WITH ELSA
Memory
does not rust time
but holds
like solid wood.
In
your little garden
the green lemon trees
sky-blue heaven
fadeless amaranth upon the sea
roses in Terra Murata
resist the sunset,
the sunset of time.
It
is true
that I must live
every day
as my day.
I
glady give myself
to the sun
that now has set
behind the volcano.
Vivid the sky
vivid the soul.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 188)
CETARA1
The
tower trembles
from the blows of the sea
the tuna leaps free
from the purse-seine2
free in the waves
taken by the cry of the sea.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 204)
notes:
1. Cetera is a small port town on the Amalfi Coast.
2. The poet uses a precise term, cianciola, for the kind of fishing
net called, in English, purse-seine; that is, a net that may be
pursed or drawn into the shape of a bag, used for catching shoal
fish.
MARONTI1
The
shoreline winds
to Sant'Angelo
where tiny holes
in the sand spurt and
quicken the air
with signs of smoke
mystery
of the island
whose bowels hide
the depths of Hades2 and
the mystery of what may come
I
miss my lost friend
taken by the eternal dilemma,
to
live boldly like the great cats
or die that Hades
might hide his remains
in Canopic vases.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 209)
notes:
1. Maronti is the name of a beach on the island of Ischia.
2. Hades is used here to mean the kingdom of the dead .
3. "Canopic vases" refers to the jars in which the ancient
Egyptians placed the entrails of their mummies. The word derives
from Canopus, the bright star n the southern constellation Argo.
CITARA1
The
lighthouse at
Punta Imperatore
hovers o'er the reef
along the beach
and the algae ravaged by autumn
The
reef of urchins
whose eggs
my faithful friend
offers me as a gift
even
today
after twenty years.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 210)
notes:
1. Citara refers to the bay and beach of that name on the island
of Ischia.
AT SEA
Just
off Vivara1
a distant beacon gleams
from Punta Carena2
to herald sunset.
I
glance and see Epomeo.3
Streaks
of rose
then ruby
hang o'er the island
at the end of this hot day
of late autumn
as night falls
and stills the breath,
but
not mine,
I await the sudden lights
of Procida and those nearby,
like a blind man craving light.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 211)
notes:
1. Vivara is a small, satellite isle of the island of Procida.
2. Punta Carena is at the SW tip of the isle of Capri; there is
a large lighthouse there.
3. Epomeo is the highest point on the island of Ischia.
CASAMICCIOLA1
A
cut to the stems
and the first mandarins
on the day of the Immacolata2
drop in the basket
their leaves fresh and green.
Unlike
the yellow-red
persimmons you pass
that tinge the air and wet earth
with autumn.
The
gardens are laden
with fruit on the hill
where the north-wind pounds,
at the Marina,
the spray of the sea is heedless
of the pungent yet sweet smells
of this earth of ours.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 214)
notes:
1. Casamicciola is a port town on the island of Ischia.
2. The Immacolata: the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, the day
on which mandarin oranges are
traditionally harvested.
THE COAST, A FRAGMENT
The
loveliest spot
where the tower stands,
cylindrical in front,
trim sides square the back,
water pounds restlessly
on the rocks
water
mad in the flow and backwash
strong yellows
snapdragons, spring daisies
just blossomed
while warmth welcomes
the seated woman
bent to a book
that frees her from time
and the secret thoughts of memory.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 240)
CHANGES
The
dawn brightens your eyes
with the hard light of diamonds
Awakening is an elegy to life
born to the all-consuming sun of spring.
Today
is gloomy
it rains on the cactus,
the play of light on the sea
is oil on an ancient table.
If
you turn into Trara Genoino1
you find the countryside, Fornillo
and orange-lily bougonvillias
bursting colours
as the sun appears,
indeed, for it shines now
full on Positano
mirror of the sea and terraced realm.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il mare di dentro", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 242)
notes:
1. Trara Genoino: a part of Positano
PASSER, DELICIAE MEAE PUELLAE1
From
my corner of the world
in this silent and unreal Naples,
insistent chirps of nesting birds
attend the dawn of a new day
as when no wind stirs the leaves
at the Certosa.
A
few grey lines in the light-blue sky,
a music staff with some secret melody.
I'd
like to sing a hymn of joy
because I think of you
but today your sparrow died
it no longer sings or flies
and you are no longer free.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 282)
notes:
1. Passer, deliciae meae puellae ("Sparrow, my lady's pet...")
is a quote in Latin of the first line of Catullus 2, a poem by
Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 - c. 54 BC) that describes
the affectionate relationship between an unnamed "puella"
(possibly Catullus' lover, Lesbia), and her pet sparrow.
TRAGARA
The
infinite gives a sense of peace,
a moment of annulling death
that stops at your door.
How
I envy the age-old soul
of certain trees,
that do anything to survive.
On
Capri they inhale the salty air
and the iodine and the privilege
of dwelling on an island
far from the dejection
far from the foul odor
that now descends on the mainland
far from the foul odor of men
who no longer have the dignity
to act like Men.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 292)
notes:
1. Tragara refers to Punta Tragara, a geological feature on Capri.
DA JERANTO
Every
evening the olive trees, aged by centuries,
and sunset over Capri--enchanted eyes behold
and are stunned, for even with the same palette,
the colors change, like clear sky and the clouds.
What
endless shapes they form!
The
olives wait in nets for mules,
then leave this magic place
where they came of age;
The oil-press awaits them, they shall give from Jeranto
the essence of the glowing sun that sets beyond the Faraglioni;
ancient wounds of Creation are now healed;
everlasting return of the living and dead.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 300)
SAN
LIBERATORE1
This
cetrangolo2 is from San Liberatore,
bitter as a day of spring rain
on a colourful town in the South3
But
taste the bitter slices
with cane sugar on them
and see what the life of man is,
a mix of bitter and sweet
of highs and lows
Jeranto
is windy and yellow with flowers,
it's usually sweet when the bay is at peace,
then think of the bitter
when it's time to leave.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 306)
notes:
1. San Salvatore is a small town overlooking Marina della Lobra
near Massa Lubrense on the Sorrentine peninsula.
2. The poet uses the unusual but precise Italian name of the fruit,
cetrangolo. It is a crisp citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia.
The scientific name is Citrus maxima; common names in English
are pomelo, pummelo and shaddock.
3. ...the South, specifically southern Italy. The poet uses the
term Mezzodì, a synonym of Mezzogiorno, meaning southern
Italy.
MOUNT COSTANZO
I
have trod in your footsteps
I have seen with your eyes
I have held fast to memories of you,
to your places of contemplation.
The rust in my mind
has not eroded even one.
Jeranto,* San Costanzo high above,
where the silence spoke your name,
and of your generous soul,
there just a step from heaven.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 318)
*A
bay on the Sorrentine peninsula
SECRET
AND ANCIENT NAPLES
In
the heart of magic Sanità1
sunken mysterial voices
of animulae vagulae et blandulae2
from deep Cumaean chambers hewn with blood
from wounds of ancient hands
invade the mind.
It flees in surprise and disbelief
to the aspidistra and red fire of camellias,
to the paths of lemons, plums and mandarines-
the true joy of this secret garden.
By soft dim torchlight on a fair summer's eve
in these depths of most ancient Naples,
this hallowed spot-serene, unexpected, still-
laden with history in apotropaic rock.
The solid blocks, grave and low,
intone their tales, their memories-
radioactive, electric, eternal, through the ages
like the poetry of ancient Greece
in a world both formed and unformed,
like the voices, the thread between life and death,
between pagan beliefs and Christian.
(in Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 346)
notes:
1.
Sanità is one of the oldest area of Naples.
2. The Latin phrase (line 3) is proverbial in Italian and left
untranslated in the poem. It is from Hadrian's poem that starts
"Animulae vagulae et blandulae/hospes comesque corpis..."-roughly,
"Little souls, wandering and faint/guests and companions
of my body...".
SANTA MARIA DEL CASTELLO
At
the castle of Positano
rubrato aglianico1 runs in their veins
in your name,
a dense fog covers
Sant'Angelo a tre Pizzi2
like the heath of the distant North,
you
who rule the mountains and sea
as far as the Faraglione of Tiberius Augustus,
you have seen Saracens storm
the myths, the buzzing coasts and fishermen,
and seen them flee with the others up up
the ragged steps to the Castle.
you
have seen that angel of my daughter
gather the yellow cobs along the long steps
that lead to a Church and a Cross, now hers.
Here
there is only peace,
Zephyr breathes from Elysian Fields.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 359)
notes:
1. Rubra Aglianico is a popular wine in Campania. Rubra refers
to the dark ruby-like color of the grape; Aglianico is the name
of the wine. The vine originated in Greece and was brought to
the south of Italy by Greek settlers.
2. Sant'Angelo a tre Pizzi is a mountain near Positano in the
Lattari range near Positano.
RAVELLO
The
last day of autumn
marsia paestum "Good for what ails you."1
Not
a day of mist, but like the
serene light in Primo Vere.(2)
Parsifal
started here and
here is where the Norman queen(3)
opened her heart to the southern sun.
Here
Arab ogive(4) and
Romanesque arches wed,
where
even papyrus thrived,
the ducal and byzantine parchment
the
colours now spent will burst
at the next equinox
across the gamma of warm tones of the heart,
and will speak in the language of flowers,
speak of our souls and happy moments.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 360)
notes:
1. Marsia paestum is a local wine. "Good for...." The
original Italian was "ogni male stuta," a pun on the
Neapolitan proverb "la ruta ogni male stuta." Ruta is
rue, a plant widely used for medicinal purposes.
2. Primo Vere is the title of the first book (pub. 1879) by Italian
author Gabriele d'Annuzio (1863-1938). It is an account of his
youth. The Latin title means "At the beginning of spring."
3. "Norman queen" is a reference to Costanza d'Altavilla,
queen of Sicily and mother of Frederick II.
4. An ogive arch is a pointed arch used in the Near East in pre-Islamic
as well as Islamic architecture.
THE
BAY OF NAPLES
At
the highest point, today,
up there where once fire ruled,
Vesuvius is garbed in snow,
above the slope and plain
it wears the laurels of beauty
unmatched in the Bay of Naples,
nordic Goethe gleaned her marvels with reserve,
how the colors stand out from the city,
her characters and men,
the human misery
and the haughty pomp of power.
He
saw just the white of Etna
from the heights of the Monti Rossi1,
of Sterminator Vesevo just the red fire
and in mid-spring the fragrant broom
from which Leopardi made poetry
just a step from this city, fertile, oft fercious,
that had taken and inspired him in youth.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 365)
notes:
1.The Monti Rossi, the Red Mountains, are two cones on the slopes
of Mt. Etna in Sicily. They were formed by a powerful eruption
in 1669.
FROM CETARA
Between
half-sleep and dream
oblivion and memory
you rest at the foot of the Tower.
sturdy and proud guardian of Punto Licosa,
it holds back the waves and the warm south wind
and the hours of our conscience or idleness,
the course of the sun waits to turn and look
on that which is and that which is not,
the night of reason
the light of day.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Il viaggio della vita", in "Poesie"
1998-2010, Napoli 2011, M. D'Auria Editore, p. 380)
Come
non ricordarsi di quel giorno
con gli amici conosciuti
tra i fiordi della Norvegia
e ora insieme con me
nel piccolo borgo marinaro
dell'isola di Mimante
dolcemente addormentata
nei Campi Flegrei,
dove solo i gabbiani
e il tocco delle campane
rompono il silenzio
dove solo qui alla Corricella
i colori pastello delle case
le une sulle altre arroccate
si riflettono sul mare
e gli archi rampanti toccano il cielo.
L'anima
di ciascuno di noi
può qui contemplare
ciò che veramente è il silenzio
il silenzio eterno in inverno.
Qualche
goccia di pioggia
cambia questo paesaggio irreale,
ma per poco, tutto torna alla calma
e
i raggi del sole
una bella amicizia riscaldano,
noi seduti all'aria aperta
attorno a una tavola
con del buon vino bianco
e ben freddo.
Napoli,
13 gennaio 2012
How can I not recall that day
with friend on the fjords of Norway
who are with me now
at the small port on
the isle on Mimas(1)
gently cradled in the Campi Flegrei.
where only the gulls and the peal
of a church-bell break the silence,
where only here at Coricella
the pastel colours of the houses
mounted like a castle one upon the other
are mirrored in the sea
and the rampant arches touch the heavens.
Each
of our souls
can ponder here
what silence truly is,
the eternal silence in winter.
Drops
of rain briefly change
this unreal landscape
but it is calm again
The
rays of the sun,
a dear friend, bring us warmth
as we sit round a table
in the open air
with a good cold white wine.
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "L'amour et le violon", Napoli 2012,
M. D'Auria Editore, p. 56)
notes:
1. The isle of Mimas (in Italian, Mimante): the island of Procida.
In Greek mythology, Mimas was one of the Titans of Zeus thrown
into the sea as punishment. Mimas landed at Procida. His struggles,
as well of those of the other Titans bound in the sea nearby,
to free themselves, were the mythological cause of eruptions and
earthquakes.
VESUVIANA
Il
tuo Vesuvio è donna
adagiata sui crateri,
sinuose le linee di fuoco
solari le curve oblunghe
sostengono arditi seni,
che guardano il cielo
e accarezzano i pensieri
travolti dalla tramontana,
che sconvolge fino a Capri
le nuvole.
Il tuo Vesuvio è donna
abbarbicata al nostro
essere soli, sospesa sul mare
azzurro del nostro Golfo,
protesa ad arco nelle viscere
della terra madre,
lì dove ha tutto origine.
Napoli,
30 gennaio 2013
VESUVIANA
Your
Vesuvius is woman,
gently resting on the craters.
lithe the lines of fire
drawn-out solar curves
form the daring bosom
watching the heavens,
caressing the thoughts
brought by the north-wind
that tussles the clouds on Capri.
Your Vesuvius is woman,
clinging to our solitude
hung o'er the blue sea of our Gulf,
an arc stretched from the womb
of mother earth
where all things begin.
Naples,
January 30, 2013
(in
Giacomo Garzya, "Un anno", Napoli 2013, M. D'Auria Editore,
p. 35)
N.B.
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