Happy Summer!

Apollo (Photo by New York Scugnizzo)

In celebration of the summer solstice, or midsummer, I would like to share a poem by the great Sicilian poet and 1959 Nobel Laureate Salvatore Quasimodo from The Night Fountain: Selected Early Poems translated by Marco Sonzogni and Gerald Sawe, Arc Publications, 2008, p. 48-49. The accompanying photo of Apollo was taken at the Temple of Apollo (below) in Pompeii. In addition to being the god of music, poetry and prophecy, Apollo was, of course, the god of the sun.

Soul

The untouched soul, in the airy batiste apron,

with sacred gesture spreads seeds.

You have to love her with pure eye,

when her naked feet skim the earth

and the sun burns the silk of her hair:

because the earth is her temple

and the sun is her Lord.

Eliosismo

L'anima intatta, nel vaporoso grembiule di batista,

con gesto sacro, sparge la semente.

Bisonga amarla con occhio di purezza,

quando i suoi piedi nudi sfiorano la terra

e il sole le brucia la seta dei capelli:

ché la terra è il suo tempio,

e il sole suo Signore.

Temple of Apollo, Pompeii (Photo by New York Scugnizzo)