Do you write love poetry?
“Non sono in queste rive” by Torquato Tasso
This poem, written by a brilliant Renaissance poet, is a tale of love. Learners are given an opportunity to see how basic vocabulary can be used to create something truly beautiful. Notice the way the poet compares the beauty of the poem’s subject to nature!
Non sono in queste rive
fiori così vermigli
come le labbra de la donna mia,
né ’l suon de l’aure estive
tra fonti e rose e gigli
fa del suo canto più dolce armonia.
Canto che m’ardi e piaci,
t’interrompano solo i nostri baci.
English Translation: “Are Not in These Shores”
Are not in these shores
crimson flowers
like the lips of my lady,
in the sound of the summer breeze
amidst fountains, and roses and lilies
does its song make the sweetest harmony.
Song that inflames, and pleases me,
may you be interrupted only by our kisses.
Another, by Giacomo Leopardi:
Many have loved this poem for its apparent simplicity and basic vocabulary, but the message certainly isn’t simple. This poem speaks to the depths of humanity and the shared feelings of all. It’s a great poem for pronunciation practice, as the words slip off the tongue effortlessly!
Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle,
E questa siepe, che da tanta parte
Dell’ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude.
Ma sedendo e mirando, interminati
Spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani
Silenzi, e profondissima quiete
Io nel pensier mi fingo; ove per poco
Il cor non si spaura. E come il vento
Odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello
Infinito silenzio a questa voce
Vo comparando: e mi sovvien l’eterno,
E le morte stagioni, e la presente
E viva, e il suon di lei. Così tra questa
Immensità s’annega il pensier mio:
E il naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare.
English Translation: “Infinity”
Always dear to me was this still hill,
And this hedge, which in so many ways
Of the last horizon the look excludes.
But sitting and aiming, endless
Spaces beyond that, and superhuman
Silences, and deepest quiet
I pretend in thinking; where for a while
The heart is not afraid. And like the wind
I hear rustling among these plants, I that
Infinite silence to this voice
I am comparing: and the eternal comes to my mind,
And the dead seasons, and the present
And alive, and the sound of her. So between this
Immensity drowns my thought:
And shipwreck is sweet to me in this sea.
This poem, written by a brilliant Renaissance poet, is a tale of love. Learners are given an opportunity to see how basic vocabulary can be used to create something truly beautiful. Notice the way the poet compares the beauty of the poem’s subject to nature!
Non sono in queste rive
fiori così vermigli
come le labbra de la donna mia,
né ’l suon de l’aure estive
tra fonti e rose e gigli
fa del suo canto più dolce armonia.
Canto che m’ardi e piaci,
t’interrompano solo i nostri baci.
English Translation: “Are Not in These Shores”
Are not in these shores
crimson flowers
like the lips of my lady,
in the sound of the summer breeze
amidst fountains, and roses and lilies
does its song make the sweetest harmony.
Song that inflames, and pleases me,
may you be interrupted only by our kisses.
Another, by Giacomo Leopardi:
Many have loved this poem for its apparent simplicity and basic vocabulary, but the message certainly isn’t simple. This poem speaks to the depths of humanity and the shared feelings of all. It’s a great poem for pronunciation practice, as the words slip off the tongue effortlessly!
Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle,
E questa siepe, che da tanta parte
Dell’ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude.
Ma sedendo e mirando, interminati
Spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani
Silenzi, e profondissima quiete
Io nel pensier mi fingo; ove per poco
Il cor non si spaura. E come il vento
Odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello
Infinito silenzio a questa voce
Vo comparando: e mi sovvien l’eterno,
E le morte stagioni, e la presente
E viva, e il suon di lei. Così tra questa
Immensità s’annega il pensier mio:
E il naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare.
English Translation: “Infinity”
Always dear to me was this still hill,
And this hedge, which in so many ways
Of the last horizon the look excludes.
But sitting and aiming, endless
Spaces beyond that, and superhuman
Silences, and deepest quiet
I pretend in thinking; where for a while
The heart is not afraid. And like the wind
I hear rustling among these plants, I that
Infinite silence to this voice
I am comparing: and the eternal comes to my mind,
And the dead seasons, and the present
And alive, and the sound of her. So between this
Immensity drowns my thought:
And shipwreck is sweet to me in this sea.
26-30, F
