Journal of Italian Translation

John DuVal and Louise Rozier/Giorgio Roberti 123
There they knelt. “Now I can’t wait to bust
his eye out, men,” he yelled, “so make sure
this will be the last he sees of us!”
XL
The Giant Blinded
The four flag bearers aimed, charged, planted, ground
the long shaft deep into the cyclops’ socket.
Furious, frantic, fast, Ulysses struck it
deeper and turned it like a merry-go-round.
At once that moribund volcano hurled
forth great eye fragments and little wads of jell
out of his monster brain. He yelled a yell
enough to raise goose pimples on the world.
As he was screaming, Mother Nature frowned,
wrinkling her great face, and started to stir
and raised up mountains from the level ground.
Beholding earth beneath them relandscaped,
many a luminous, uneasy star
turned into a comet and escaped.
XLI
The Giant’s Cousins Arrive
The other cyclopes had come to town
to snack and have a card game. One said, “Wasn’t
that Poliphemo?”--”Yeah! What’s with our cousin?”--
And they ran to find out what was going on.
--”Hey, Poliphemo! Hey! Are you all right?
Who’s got you crying like a little kid?
Why have you pulled your cave door shut and hid
yourself away from us and out of sight?”
And him: “No One has caused me all this pain.
No One, god damn it! Goddamn No One’s taken
all of my personal point of view away.”
--”What is it, cousin, worms? Ear ache? Migraine?”
“I already told you: No One!” --”No one? Then, hey,
shut the fuck up and quit your belly aching.”