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Linh Dinh

Far, in the Night

Lontano, nella notte, oltre la morte

sopra una stella azzurra
tra esistenze meravigliose
ancora quest’anima convulsa
nelle sue insoffribili vergogne
esasperanti
senza scampo, per tutto l’universo
dove dovró passare
e il pensiero che infine, nella luce
suprema soffriró ancora il tormento
di non aver urlato
che tanto era inutile.
O forse questa vita
è la sola concessa
e allora mi esaspera, mi taglia il respiro,
il pensiero di non aver urlato,
per la mia anima vile,
confuso a tutti i poveri impotenti
che marciscono sulla terra.

I translate:

Far, in the night, beyond death

above a blue star
among marvelous existences
again this convulsive soul
with its insufferable shames
exasperating
with no escape, in all the universe
where I will have to pass through
and the thought that in the end, in the supreme
light I will suffer again the torment
of not having screamed
that so much was useless.
Or perhaps this life
is the only one granted
and so it’ll exasperate me, shorten my breath,
the thought of not having screamed,
for my debased soul,
mixed with all the impotent poor
who march on earth.

[A Nuovi Autori video, directed by Andrea Galli, with photography by Bernardo Bertolucci and music by Andrea Galli.]
[Click here for more Pavese poetry online.]

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04.29.08 | ONE COMMENT

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Poems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Comment for “Far, in the Night”

  1. … and we have some more Pavese right here, here, and here.

    Vote -1 Vote +1
    Posted By: Don Share on April 30, 2008 at 9:11 am

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