Journal of Italian Translation

GIORGIO ROBERTI
Sonnets from A Stick in the Eye (‘na zeppa a l’occhio)
Situation: the Cyclops has Ulysses and his men trapped in his cave
and has already gobbled down six of them.
XXXVI
The Gift of Wine
Ulysses approached him when the snack was done,
grinning hard to hide a twitch of fear,
cradling a jug above his hip bone: “Here!
Here’s a drop to wash your breakfast down.
Here, taste. It’s from the paradisal stock
we brought here for you. That’s why the jug’s so big.”
A little confused, the poor brute took a swig...
another swig..., and swallowed the whole crock,
then said, “My wines were pretty strong I thought,
because each grape is bigger than a billiard ball,
but let’s praise Bacchus for the stuff you brought,
sailing over the wine dark sea. You call
your country Greater Greece, because you dine
on greater grease I guess--and stronger wine!”
XXXVII
The Cyclops Blind Drunk
And since the crock was really more a tub,
an “Agonale Basin with the Moore,”
he got so stinking drunk, a tavern, pub,
or barroom never saw the like before,
then, looking at Ulysses, said, “Hey you,
one good deed deserves another. Tell
me what your name is. Pigmy? Corky Screw?
Mouse Pill? Mosquito? Tommy Tinkerbell?”
--”I’m No One. Anyone will swear I am.”
--”Okay, then for your gift of wine, you’ve won
first prize: you’ll be the last I eat, No One.”