Journal of Italian Translation - Brooklyn College - Academic Home ...

Journal of Italian Translation
two heavy wings and hid behind the cloud banks,
and with a sudden light flashing, as of a meteor, it came to
[meet us.
Well, then, it’s late to defer the explanations
until another time.
I am watching a mystical landslide of the castles in the air. (37)
Always from the early poetry, Una nota del 1926 (A note
from 1926) takes the level of estrangement to its zenith, being
just based on a list of objects and their prices (supposedly both
belonging to this “note”) with no given explanation about their
coexistence. Here, it does not seem enough to talk about the coldness
and impersonality of Neri’s poetical style. It would indeed
be more proper to mention the deep and infinite sense of incommunicability
that this simple list carries, and which maybe refers
to the impossibility of grasping the forever elusive past:
Un orologio d’oro gander Watch acquistato a Bellinzona,
cinquecento franchi.
Un abito della sartoria Frigerio, duemila lire.
Il conto dell’albergo Crotto Rosa per cinque bottiglie
di champagne, cinquecento lire.
Cento fiaschi di vino comune, trecento lire.
Un etto di burro, una lira.
Vicino alla ferrovia, un grande prato con la cinta di rete
metallica era chiamato campo sportivo o solare.
Serviva anche per il tiro a segno, il tiro al piccione. (70)
The translation is really effective not just in being faithful to
the poem’s estranged register, but also, in our opinion, in using
all the resources of English (as is especially displayed with the
selection of the vocabulary) in order to render this portrayal of
an “ossified” nature mirrored through the dispersed items of the
aforementioned list.
A gold Gander Watch, bought in Bellinzona,
five-hundred Swiss francs.
A suit from Frigerio tailor’s shop, two thousand liras.
The bill from the Crotto Rosa Hotel for five bottles
386