In this installment we're featuring the Neapolitan poetry of Raffaele Viviani and Cav. Charles Sant'Elia.
Amicizia
Di Raffaele Viviani
Amicizia è n'acqua chiara,
cristallina, trasparente,
ca s'appanna dint'a niente
e pirciò ch'e cosa rara.
Cchiù 'amicizia è bella e cara,
cchiù se sporca facilmente:
'mmisturata 'a tanta gente
ca te lassa 'a vocca amara.
Chi 'a vò limpida 'e durata,
nn' 'a sfruttasse pè prufitto,
s' 'a tenesse, comm'è nata,
dint' 'o core. E llà, 'amicizia,
quanno 'o calculo sta zitto,
nun se sporca e nun s'avvizia.
Friendship
By Raffaele Viviani
Friendship is a clear water,
crystalline, transparent,
that all of a sudden fogs up
and therefore is a rare thing.
The more friendship is beautiful and dear,
the more it gets easily sullied:
churned up by so many people
that it leaves you with a bitter taste.
He who wants it clean for the long haul,
must not exploit it for profit,
must keep it, as it was born,
in his heart. And there, friendship,
When calculating reason is silent,
It does get sullied and does spoil.
Translated by Cav. Charles Sant’Elia
Lásseto
Da Charles Sant’Elia
Na jurnata nfucata
Te voglio lassà,
Na sciusciata int’’e fronne,
Feneste ‘e primmavera arapute,
Nu cielo senza fine
Manco nguacchiato
Cu na chélleta ‘e núvola,
Nu mare annanze
Futo e sbrénneto,
Ca t’hadda nchiuvà a riva
A sunnà
Addò nisciuna varca
T’hadda maje purtà
Luntano.
Sulo chesto te voglio lassà,
Quanno nun t’arrecuorde chiù
Manco ‘o nomme mio
E nun nce pienze
Ca nce sò passat’i’
Na vota.
Bequest
By Charles Sant’Elia
A fiery day
I want to leave you,
A blowing in the leaves,
Spring windows open,
A sky without end
Not even marred
By the hint of a cloud,
A sea before you
Deep and splendid,
So that it will have you fixed by the shore
Dreaming
Where no boat
Will ever take you
Far away.
Only this I want to leave you,
When you don’t even
Remember my name anymore
And you think about it,
That I passed by there
Once.
* Self-published in 2010, Meridiunalata/Southernade is a treasury of poems gleaned from Cav. Sant'Elia's previous collections (Nchiuso dint''o presente, 'A cuntrora, and 'O pino e l'éllera), which were circulated among friends in New York City and Naples. Special thanks to Cav. Sant'Elia for allowing us to reprint his poetry and translations.
