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

Book Reviews
Of Champagne, five hundred liras.
A hundred flasks of table wine, three hundred liras.
A hectogram of butter, one lira.
Near the rail road, a large meadow,enclosed by wire netting,
was called the Play Ground or the Sunny Field.
It served also for target practice, pigeon shooting. (71)
One of the most beautiful and archetypal poems by Neri is
certainly “Due tempi” (Two Times), for the presence of a very
symbolic animal to the poet , the owl. This text contains and
powerfully communicates - as if in a transparent cell - the poetic
vision by Neri, the eternal pendulum of nature between quietness
and bursts of violence:
La civetta è un uccello pericoloso di notte
quando appare sul terreno
come un attore sulla scena
ha smesso la sua parte di zimbello.
Con una strana voce
fa udire il suo richiamo,
vola nell’aria notturna.
Allora tace chi si prendeva gioco,
si naconde dietro un riparo di foglie.
Ma è breve il seguito degli atti,
il teatro naturale si allontana.
All’apparire del giorno
la civetta ritorna al suo nido,
al suo dimesso destino. (88)
The translator seems to have been particularly successful in
representing the alternation of the bird’s peaceful-violent behavior
as a theatrical performance. Furthermore, this allows him to put in
context the implied contrast between the magic of the night and
the dullness of the day:
The owl is a bird dangerous at night
when it makes its appearance over its domain
like an actor on stage
who has cast off his role as a clown.
387