Poetry
English translation: Peter Byrne
(Swans - November 15, 2010)
Vorrà pure dire qualcosa, no?
che il Mosé del grande
Michelangelo Buonarroti non
proferisca verbo, mentre
il burattino di Mastro
Geppetto (un artigiano, un praticone)
non solo parla, ma cammina,
pensa e addirittura,
come un uomo, sbaglia.*
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Can it mean nothing
that great Michelangelo
could not make his Moses speak
while Pinocchio,
plain Geppetto's handiwork,
not only speaks, thinks, strides
but puts a foot wrong,
like any one of us? *
* There is a legend about Michelangelo Buonarroti's statue of Moses in the
Roman church of St. Peter's in Chains. When the artist finished it in 1515, he
was angered by his work. A figure so full of life ought not to remain silent.
He struck its knee with a hammer, shouting, "Why don't you speak?" This was
the same statue that Sigmund Freud studied four centuries later.
If you find Fabio De Propris's work valuable, please consider helping us
Legalese
Feel free to insert a link to this work on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting the first paragraph or providing a summary. However, DO NOT steal, scavenge, or repost this work on the Web or any electronic media. Inlining, mirroring, and framing are expressly prohibited. Pulp re-publishing is welcome -- please contact the publisher. This material is copyrighted, © Fabio De Propris 2010. All rights reserved.
Have your say
Do you wish to share your opinion? We invite your comments. E-mail the Editor. Please include your full name, address and phone number (the city, state/country where you reside is paramount information). When/if we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country.
About the Author
Fabio De Propris is a Roman writer who has also lived in Istanbul. He has published three novels (Brenda e Plotino, Se mi chiami Amore, Nero Istanbul) and translated books from English (Markheim of R. L. Stevenson, Paradoxes and Problems of John Donne, An Anthology of William Hazlitt's Essays) and from Turkish (Two Girls of Perihan Magden, translated with Mehmet S. Bermek, The Clown and His Daughter of Halide Edip Adivar.) Fabio teaches in Rome and writes occasionally in Il Manifesto. He is presently at work on his fourth novel. His poems appear in the paintings of the group Artisti di Fortebraccio. (back)