John Galsworthy (1867 – 1933) fu uno scrittore inglese noto soprattutto per “The Forsyte Saga”, la transitorietà non si impone con enfasi, ma si deposita, inevitabile, nella coscienza una serie di romanzi e interludi che esplorano le dinamiche familiari, la classe sociale e i cambiamenti dell’Inghilterra tra età vittoriana ed edoardiana. Già apprezzato ai suoi … More John Galsworthy: “Passato” | trad. Luisa Zambrotta
George Herbert (1593–1633) fu poeta e sacerdote anglicano inglese, tra le figure più importanti della poesia metafisica del XVII secolo, spesso accostato a John Donne. Dopo una promettente carriera accademica e politica, scelse la vita religiosa e trascorse gli ultimi anni come parroco in una piccola comunità rurale nel Wiltshire, a circa 75 miglia a … More _Easter Wings_ di George Herbert | trad. Luisa Zambrotta
* The way a crowShook down on meThe dust of snowFrom a hemlock tree Has given my heartA change of moodAnd saved some partOf a day I had rued. * Polvere di neve Il modo in cui un corvomi scrollò addossopolvere di neve lieveda un abete rosso portò nel mio cuoreun mutamento d’umoree salvò parte … More Robert Frost: “Dust of Snow”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) è stato un filosofo e poeta americano, nonché il principale esponente del trascendentalismo del New England, corrente idealistica che fondava la propria visione sulla bontà innata dell’uomo e della natura, corrotta tuttavia dalle convenzioni sociali e dalle istituzioni. In Emerson l’amore (eros) assume il ruolo di forza spirituale primordiale, strumento di connessione … More Ralph Waldo Emerson: Eros
Early December in Croton-on-Hudson Spiked sun. The Hudson’sWhittled down by ice.I hear the bone diceOf blown gravel clicking. Bone-pale, the recent snowFastens like fur to the river.Standstill. We were leaving to deliverChristmas presents when the tire blewLast year. Above the dead valves (*) pines paredDown by a storm stood, limbs bared . . .I want … More Louise Glück: Early December in Croton-on-Hudson, nota di Luisa Zambrotta
October (by Louise Gluck) Is it winter again, is it cold again,didn’t Frank just slip on the ice,didn’t he heal, weren’t the spring seeds planted didn’t the night end,didn’t the melting iceflood the narrow gutters wasn’t my bodyrescued, wasn’t it safe didn’t the scar form, invisibleabove the injury terror and cold,didn’t they just end, wasn’t … More Louise Glück: October | trad. Luisa Zambrotta
AT THE RIVER One night that summer my mother decided it was time to tell me aboutwhat she referred to as pleasure, though you could see she feltsome sort of unease about this ceremony, which she tried to cover upby first taking my hand, as though somebody in the family had just died—she went on … More Louise Glück: At the River/Al fiume – di Luisa Zambrotta
VESPERS Once I believed in you; I planted a fig tree.Here, in Vermont, countryof no summer. It was a test: if the tree lived,it would mean you existed. By this logic, you do not exist. Or you existexclusively in warmer climates,in fervent Sicily and Mexico and California,where are grown the unimaginableapricot and fragile peach. Perhapsthey … More Louise Glück: Vespers, nota di Luisa Zambrotta
Louise Glück Matins / Mattutino MATINS Not the sun merely but the earthitself shines, white fireleaping from the showy mountainsand the flat roadshimmering in early morning: is thisfor us only, to induceresponse, or are youstirred also, helplessto control yourselfin earth’s presence—I am ashamedat what I thought you were,distant from us, regarding usas an experiment: it … More Louise Glück: Matins/Mattutino (2)(Luisa Zambrotta)
Louise Glück Matins / Mattutino Matins Unreachable father, when we were firstexiled from heaven, you madea replica, a place in one sensedifferent from heaven, beingdesigned to teach a lesson: otherwisethe same — beauty on either side, beautywithout alternative — Exceptwe didn’t know what was the lesson. Left alone,we exhausted each other. Yearsof darkness followed; we … More Louise Glück: Matins/Mattutino (Luisa Zambrotta)
Nello stesso anno in cui Louise Glück pubblicò la poesia “Circe’s Power/Il potere di Circe” (vedi qui), cioè nel 1966, pubblicò anche un’altra poesia di tema mitologico “Circe’s Grief/ Il dolore di Circe”, facendo ancora riferimento alla figura classica di Circe dall’Odissea di Omero. * Circe’s Grief In the end, I made myselfKnown to your … More Louise Glück: “Circe’s Grief” (Luisa Zambrotta)
NEOBAR 