The Fallen Oak
helmet13
original Italian poem
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audio of "La Quercia Caduta"
Geoffrey Brock reads the original poem, La Quercia Caduta by Giovanni Pascoli in Italian
La Quercia Caduta
Dov’era l’ombra, or sé la quercia spande
morta, né più coi turbini tenzona.
La gente dice: Or vedo: era pur grande!
Pendono qua e là dalla corona
i nidietti della primavera.
Dice la gente: Or vedo: era pur buona!
Ognuno loda, ognuno taglia. A sera
ognuno col suo grave fascio va.
Nell’aria, un pianto… d’una capinera
che cerca il nido che non troverà.
(1900)
english translation
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audio of The Fallen Oak
Geoffrey Brock reads the poem in translation, The Fallen Oak by Giovanni Pascoli (translated from the Italian.)
The Fallen Oak
Where its shade was, the oak itself now sprawls,
lifeless, no longer vying with the wind.
The people say: I see now—it was tall!
The little nests of springtime now depend
from limbs that used to rise to a safer height.
People say: I see now—it was a friend!
Everyone praises, everyone cuts. Twilight
comes and they haul their heavy loads away.
Then, on the air, a cry—a blackcap in flight,
seeking a nest it will not find today.
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