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Source: Mario Marti (ed.). Poeti giocosi del tempo di Dante, pp.
313-321. Rizzoli, Milano, 1956.
The
following are four Italian-language sonnets by Immanuello Romano. One of them,
on the death of Dante, is answered in a poem from his correspondent, Bosone da
Gubbio.
The
sonnets are interesting as statements against sectarian positions, whether of
religion or of politics.
They
are taken from the Internet. I have not checked them for textual accuracy. I provide a rough and uncompleted
translation
Sonnets
1
(MS Casanat. 433)
Amor
non lesse mai l' avemaria;
Amor non tenne mai legge né fede;
Amor è un cor, che non ode né vede
e non sa mai che misura si sia.
Amor
è una pura signoria,
che sol si ferma in voler ciò che chiede;
Amor fa com' pianeto, che provvede,
e sempre retra sé per ogni via.
Amor
non lassò mai, per paternostri
né per incanti, suo gentil orgoglio;
né per téma digiunt' è, per ch' i' giostri.
Amor
fa quello, di che più mi doglio:
ché non s'attène a cosa ch' io li mostri,
ma sempre mi sa dir: - Pur così voglio. –
TRANSLATION
Love
never read the Ave Maria;
Love
nnever adhered to a religion or religious dogma;
Love
is a heart, which neither hears nor sees
And
never knows what measure it is.
Love
is a pure lordship
Which
only stops in wanting that which it asks for;
Love
acts like a planet, which oversees the world*
And
always withdraws itself through every way.
Love
never relaxed, either for pater-nosters
Or
for incantations, its gentle pride;
Nor
has it […]
Love
does that which grieves me most:
That
it does not attain those things which I may show it,
But
is always able to say to me: "That's how I want it too."
2
(MS Barb. Lat. 3953)
In
steso non mi conosco, ogn'om oda,
che l'esser proprio si è ghibellino:
in Roma so' Colonnes' ed Ursino,
e piacemi se l'uno e l'altro ha loda.
Ed
in Toscana parte guelfa goda;
in Romagna so' ciò ch' è Zappetino;
mal giudeo sono io, non saracino:
ver' li cristiani non drizzo la proda.
Ma
d'ogni legge so' ben desiroso
alcuna parte voler osservare:
de' cristiani lo bever e 'l mangiare,
e
del bon Moisès poco digiunare,
e la lussuria di Macón prezioso,
che non ten fé de la cintura in gioso.
Translation
In
myself…
that
the very being is Ghibelline:
In
Rome I am a Colonnese and Ursino,
And
I am happy whichever one receives praises.
And
in Tuscany let the Guelph party enjoy favour;
In
Romagna I know what is a Zappetino;
I
am a bad Jew, not a Saracen:
I
do not raise my tail against Christians.
But
of every religion I am desirous
Of
wishing to see some part:
Of
the Christians the eating and drinking,
And
a little fasting of the good Moses,
And
the licentiousness of precious Macon,
Which
has no religion below the belt.
3
(MS Barb. Lat. 3953)
Se
san Piero e san Paul da l'una parte,
Moisès ed Aaròn da l'altra stesse,
Macón e Trivican, ciascun volesse
ch' io mi rendesse a volontà né a parte;
ciascun
di lor me ne pregasse en sparte:
duro mi pare ch' io gli ne credesse,
se non da dir a chi me' mi piacesse:
– Viva chi vince, ch' io so' di sua parte! –
Guelfo
né ghibellin, nero né bianco;
a chi piace il color, quel se nel porte:
che ferirò da coda e starò franco.
E
mio compar tradimento stia forte:
ch' i' di voltar mai non mi trovo manco
e aitar ciascun che vince, infin a morte.
Translation
If
St Peter and St Paul on the one side,
And
Moses and Aaron on the other were standing,
Macon
and Trivican, if each wished
That
I should render myself […]
If
each of them took me aside and beseeched me:
It
seems to me hard that I would believe in him,
Except
to say to him who most pleased me:
"Long
live the person who wins, for I am on his side!"
Neither
Guelph nor Ghibbeline, black nor white;
Let
he who likes a particular colour take it away with him:
I
shall strike […] and shall remain free.
And
let my peer* betrayal stand strong:
For
I find myself not lacking in turncoat behaviour
And
I cheer each person who is a victor, unto death.
4
(MS Casanat. 433)
A
messer Bosone da Gubbio
Io,
che trassi le lagrime del fondo
de l'abisso del cor che 'n su le 'nvea,
piango: ché 'l foco del dolor m'ardea,
se non fosser le lagrime in che abbondo.
Ché
la lor piova ammorta lo profondo
ardor, che del mio mal fuor ml traea;
per non morir, per tener altra vea,
al percoter sto forte e non affondo.
E
ben può pianger cristiano e giudeo,
e ciaschedun sedere 'n tristo scanno:
pianto perpetüal m' è fatto reo.
Per
ch' io m'accorgo che quel fu il mal'anno;
sconfortomi ben, ch' i' veggio che Deo
per invidia del ben fece quel danno.
Translation
I,
who drew the tears from the bottom
Of
the abyss of the heart which was sending them up,
weep:
and the fire of grief would have burned me
If
it were not for the tears in which I abound.
Inasmuch
as their downpouring deadens the deep
Burning,
which was drawing me out of my deep ills;
In
order not to die, to have another way,
I
stand strong against their striking and do not drown.
And
both Christian and Jew may well weep,
And
each of them sit in sad mourning:
Perpetual
weeping has made me a prisoner.
Because
I have realised that that was the bad year;
I
am much discomfited, because I see that God
Did
that harm from enviousness of the good.
[See
alternative translation below]
Messer
Bosone a Manoello Giudeo, essendo morto Dante
(MS
Casanat. 433)
Duo
lumi son di novo spenti al mondo
in cui virtù e bellezza si vedea;
piange la mente mia, che già ridea,
di quel che di saper toccava il fondo.
Pianga
la tua del bel viso giocondo,
di cui tua lingua tanto ben dicea;
omè dolente, che pianger devea
ogni omo che sta dentro a questo tondo.
E
pianga dunque Manoel Giudeo:
e prima pianga il suo proprïo danno,
poi pianga 'l mal di questo mondo reo;
ché
sotto 'l sol non fu mai peggior anno.
Ma mi conforta ch' i' credo che Deo
Dante abbia posto 'n glorïoso scanno.
Translation
Messer Bosone to Manuello Giudeo, Dante having died.
Two lights are once again extinguished to the world,
In which virtue and beauty were seen;
My mind weeps, which formerly laughed,
For the man who knew how to touch deep things.
Let yours also weep for the fine cheerful face
Of which your tongue said such good;
Oh woe for my grief which should weep
For every man who stands within this round.
And so let Manuello Giudeo weep:
And first let him weep for his own loss,
And then let him weep for the ills of this wicked world;
Because there never was a worse year under the sun.
But I am comforted by the belief that God
Has placed Dante in a glorious position.*
[See alternative translation below]
[THE FOLLOWING ARE TWO ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS
TAKEN FROM THE TEXT OF JONATHAN SIGER'S THESIS ON
IMMANUELLO]
Mr.
Bosone to HaRomi upon the Death of Dante
“Two lamps of life have waxed dim and died,
Two souls for virtue loved and blessed grace;
Thou, friend may’st smile no more with happy face
But weep for him, sweet song’s and learning’s pride.
And weep for her, thy spouse, torn from thy side
In all her charm of native loveliness,
Whom thou hast sung so oft ere thy distress,
That is mine, too, and with me doth abide.
Not I alone bewail thy hapless lot,
But others, too: do thou bewail thine own,
And then the grief that all of us have got,
In this the direst year we’re have known;
Yet Dante’s soul, that erst to us was given,
Now ta’en from the earth, dost glisten bright in Heaven.”
++++++++++
To Mr.
Bosone of Gubbio
“The
floods of tears well from my deepest heart;
can
they e’er quench my grief’s eternal flame:
I
weep no more, my woe is still the same;
I
hope instead that death may soothe the smart.
Then
Jew and Gentile weep, and sit with me
On
morning-stool: for sin hath followed woe;
I
prayed to God to spare this misery,
And
now no more my trust in Him I show.”
Ends