November: The Staghorn Sumac & Vivaldi's Autumn
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"...Fa ch'ogn'uno tralasci e bali e canti, L'aria che temperata dà piacere. È la staggion ch'invita tanti e tanti D'un dolcissimo sonno al bel godere..." from Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Le Stagioni: L'Autunno (Concerto III) This week, an image called Staghorn Sumac, Autumn Also: a new translation from the Italian. |
The guest poem for this week is a new English
translation of a little-known sonnet
which was published together with the first edition of
Antonio Vivaldi's
(1678-1741)
Le Stagioni: L'Autunno / The Seasons: Autumn. Whether
Vivaldi himself
composed the sonnet is somewhat doubtful, but it does condense his own quasi
programmatic phrases included in the margins of the original score. Whatever
we
might think of the poetry these days, the images of Fall upon which it is
based did
lead Vivaldi to compose some of the most inspired string music of all time:
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L'Autunno Celebra il vilanel con balli e canti Del felice raccolto il bel piacere, E del liquor di Bacco accesi tanti Finiscono col sonno il lor godere. Fa ch'ogn'uno tralasci e bali e canti, L'aria che temperata dà piacere. È la staggion ch'invita tanti e tanti D'un dolcissimo sonno al bel godere. I cacciator' alla nov'alba a caccia Con corni, schioppi, e canni escono fuore. Fugge la belva, e seguono la traccia. Già sbigottita e lassa al gran rumore De' schioppi e canni, ferita, minaccia Languida di fuggir, ma oppressa, muore. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) (Sonnet used in Vivaldi's Op. 8 No. 3) |
Autumn The peasants celebrate the pleasures of fall, Great bountiful harvest with dance and song, So fortified by wine of Bacchus all They end their feast with sleep deep and long. From songs and dances they all have done As a gentle breeze tempers delight. `Tis the season that invites all and one To that sweetest of pleasures found in dream at night. The hunters depart with the coming of first light With horns and muskets and dogs they are led. And chase the wild game, its trail in their sight. The beast is frightened by the noise overhead Of muskets and dogs—wounded, still threatens to fight And stand and flee, but overwhelmed, it falls and is dead. (tr. Cliff Crego) The Four Seasons: Autumn (Concerto III) |
| view / print Picture/Poem Poster:
Autumn (86 K) | or download
as PDF |
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See also: new |
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"Straight
roads, Slow rivers, Deep clay." |
A collection of contemporary Dutch poetry in English translation, with commentary and photographs by Cliff Crego |
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See also another website by Cliff Crego: The Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke |
A presentation of 80 of the best poems of Rilke in both German and new English translations: biography, links, posters |