Luciano Erba's poems discover in the details of everyday life--a cream-colored tie, an old book, a swallow--access to far-reaching mysteries, including the fact of our being here at all. One of Italy's most important contemporary poets, Erba is approachable yet complex, distinctively and artfully combining traditional and informal means in his brief lyrics. He turns a cool eye on the passing scene, allowing us to see life in a new light.
This bilingual edition contains the most comprehensive and representative selection of Erba's poetry ever published in English. Distinguished British poet and translator Peter Robinson, working with the encouragement and advice of the author, has rendered accurate and elegant English translations of the facing-page Italian originals.
Complete with a preface, introduction, and notes, this is an ideal introduction to a unique and compelling modern Italian poet.
Recenzijos
"Winner of the 2008 John Florio Prize for Italian Translation"
Daugiau informacijos
The splendid Milanese poet Luciano Erba, represented here by a selection from his entire oeuvre, is a strong Italian modernist largely unknown in America, translated extremely well by Peter Robinson. -- Richard Howard, series editor of the "Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation" and author of "Inner Voices: Selected Poems, 1963-2003" For the first time, Peter Robinson makes available in marvelously attuned English translations a generous, judicious, and well-balanced offering of Luciano Erba's poetry from the 1960s to the present. One of the most distinctive voices in Italian poetry of the second half of the twentieth century, Erba merits the attention of English-language readers who will be fortunate to encounter this substantial bilingual collection of his witty, engaging, understated, and refreshingly original verse. The translations are accurate, carefully crafted, and in harmony with the idiom and spirit of the originals. -- John P. Welle, University of Notre Dame Erba's ironic, autobiographical, and imaginative verse deserves to be translated into English. Peter Robinson's fluid translations convey the originality and antirhetorical freshness of Erba's intense, pantheistic vision. And his selection introduces readers to the full spectrum of Erba's long career. -- Gaetana Marrone, Princeton University
Translator's Preface ix Acknowledgments xii The Poetry of Luciano Erba
1 from Il nastro di Moebius / The Moebius Strip (1980) 7 Mi sento le
guance di cartone / I feel my cheeks as pasteboard 8 from Gradus ad
(Early Poems) 11 Piovera / It Will Rain 12 La giacca a quadri / The Checked
Jacket 14 Lontananza da mia madre / Distance from My Mother 16 Unaltra
citta / Another City 18 from Il male minore / The Lesser Evil (1960) 21
Il cavaliere del garbo / The Gallant Gent 22 Nel parco di Versailles / In
the Park at Versailles 24 Sentimento del tempo / Feeling of Time 26 Una
stazione climatica / A Health Resort 28 I globuli rossi / The Red Globules
30 Sul Tamigi / On the Thames 32 Gli ireos gialli / The Yellow Orris 34 Il
bel paese / The Beautiful Country 36 Lombardo-Veneto / Lombard-Veneto 38
Dal dottor K / With Doctor K 40 Undecided / Undecided 42 Senza risposta /
Without Reply 44 La Grande Jeanne / La Grande Jeanne 46 Don Giovanni / Don
Juan 48 Un'equazione di primo grado / A First-Degree Equation 50 Terra e
mare / Land and Sea 52 Qualcosa / Something 54 Tabula rasa? / Tabula Rasa?
56 Il miraggio / The Mirage 58 Libro d'ore / Book of Hours 60 Caino e le
spine / Cain and the Thorns 62 Dignus est intrare / Dignus Est Intrare 64
Ippogrammi & metaippogrammi del pittore Giovanola / Hippograms &
Metahippograms of the Painter Giovanola 66 Nella torre d'avorio / In the
Ivory Tower 70 Vanitas varietatum / Vanitas Varietatum 72 Molto di la dagli
agghiacciati mari / Far beyond the Frozen Seas 74 Lo svagato / The
Inattentive 76 Incompatibilita / Incompatibility 80 Super flumina / Super
Flumina 82 Aerostatica / Aerostatics 86 Dopo le vacanze / After the
Holidays 88 from Il prato piu verde /The Greener Meadow (1977) 91 Gli
anni quaranta / My Forties 92 Tra spazio e tempo / Between Space and Time 94
Halloween / Halloween 96 Epifania / Epiphany 98 Trasferimento / Relocation
100 Barcellona Baltimora ... / Barcelona Baltimore ... 102 Pastello /
Pastel 104 Perche non io / Why Not Me 106 Festa delle nazioni / Festival of
Nations 108 Le giovani coppie / The Young Couples 110 Nuovi metodi del
dottor K / New Methods of Doctor K 112 Mailand / Mailand 114 Idea fissa /
Idee Fixe 116 Gli addii / The Goodbyes 118 Sette e mezzo / Seven and a Half
120 from L'ippopotamo / The Hippopotamus (1989) 123 Nel bosco / In the
Wood 124 Grafologia di un addio / Graphology of a Goodbye 126 Istria /
Istria 128 Il pubblico e il privato / The Public and the Private 130 Il
roccolo / The Bird Trap 132 Richiudendo un baule / Closing a Trunk Once More
134 Suite americana / Suite Americana 136 Quartiere Solari / Quartiere
Solari 138 Fine delle vacanze / End of the Holidays 140 Abito a trenta
metri dal suolo / I Live Thirty Meters from the Ground 142 Se non fosse / If
It Weren't 144 Se e tutto qui ... / If This Is All ... 146 L'io e il non io
/ The I and Not-I 148 Quando penso a mia madre / When I Think of My Mother
150 Una visita a Caleppio / A Visit to Caleppio 152 Implosion / Implosion
154 Ponte e citta / Bridge and City 156 Filo di ferro / Iron Wire 158
Seguivo il tuo viaggio / I Was Following Your Journey 160 Il tranviere
metafisico / The Metaphysical Tramdriver 162 L'ippopotamo / The Hippopotamus
164 La vida es ... / La Vida Es ... 166 Irreversibilita / Irreversibility
168 Quale Milano? / Which Milan? 170 Autoritratto / Self-Portrait 172
Motus in fine velocior / Motus in Fine Velocior 174 from L'ipotesi
circense / The Circus Hypothesis (1995) 177 Un cosmo qualunque / Any Old
Cosmos 178 Autunnale / Autumnal 180 Senza bussola / Without a Compass 182
Genius loci / Genius Loci 184 Off limits for doctor K / Off Limits for
Doctor K 186 Questi ultimi anni / These Last Years 188 Soltanto segni? /
Only Signs? 190 Dasein / Dasein 192 A scuola di sguardo / Ecole du regard
194 L'ipotesi circense / The Circus Hypothesis 196 Suite ferroviaria /
Railway Suite 198 Rincorrendo Vittorio S sulla strada di Zenna / Chasing
Vittorio S on the Zenna Road 200 Altrove padano / Po Plain Elsewhere 202 Il
circo / The Circus 204 Questo e tempo di haiku / This Is Haiku Time 206
Resta ancora qualcosa / Something Remains Still 208 Scale / Stairs 210
from Nella terra di mezzo / In the Middle Ground (2000) 213 Capodanno a
Milano / New Year in Milan 214 Angeli neri / Black Angels 216 Gli
incaricati / The Entrusted Ones 218 Vi era quasi una voce / There Was Almost
a Voice 220 Il formaggio / The Cheese 222 Quando ce ne andiamo / When We Go
Away 224 Linea lombarda / Lombard Line 226 Il dottor K raddoppia / Doctor K
Redoubles 228 Dalla terrazza / From the Balcony 230 Vi sono giornate di
vento / There Are Windy Days 232 Mani / Hands 234 Vorrei passare alla
storia / I Would Like to Enter History 236 from Poesie 1951-2001 /
Poems 1951-2001 (2002) 239 Una delle cose / One of the Things 240 from
Laltra meta / The Other Half (2004) 243 E pur mi giova la ricordanza / And
Yet the Memory Cheers Me 244 Altra seduta dal dottor K / Other Session with
Doctor K 246 Quartine del tempo libero / Free-Time Quatrains 248 Homo
viator / Homo Viator 250 Uomo pensoso con gatto / Pensive Man with Cat 252
Laltra meta / The Other Half 254 "On Tradition and Discovery" by Luciano
Erba 257 Notes 263
Luciano Erba was born in Milan in 1922 and is the author of numerous books of poetry and a short-story collection. Peter Robinson is a renowned British poet, translator, and critic whose books include "Twentieth Century Poetry: Selves and Situations" and a forthcoming collection of interviews, "Talk about Poetry: Conversations on the Art".
