Translation Trashbin - 43. discorrevano il tuo fondo

Another World War 1 poet brought to my attention by Lucy London, Great War historian and poet.

Montale's style is derived from Expressionism, but deals with issues on how to make the inherent melodiousness of Italian more spare in nature. In grappling with translating this poem, I've come to appreciate Montale's double or sometimes triple meanings of terms. Grotta is a good one. It means "cave" on surface appearances, but grotto indicates a natural structure, while grotta means a man-made one. In a military context, it means dugout.

Alba is another. On the surface it appears to speak of half-light (either at dawn or dusk), but in a military context means the day of one's discharge from active duty.

Incidentally, I found some stunningly beautiful same-sex love poetry from Montale. I'm looking forward to digging in  

Thank You for This Latest Post , It Reminded Me of The Ukrainian People and Those of The Sudan Right Now . 

45 minutes ago, JohnnyC said:

Thank You for This Latest Post , It Reminded Me of The Ukrainian People and Those of The Sudan Right Now . 

Aw, thanks, John. That's touching, and we hope for the best for all people around the world facing war 

Thanks for this excellent poem AC.  The description of the area and the effects of war on a soldier were very moving.  I look forward to more of these poems.

1 hour ago, raven1 said:

Thanks for this excellent poem AC.  The description of the area and the effects of war on a soldier were very moving.  I look forward to more of these poems.

Thanks, Terry. I have to say, it feels refreshing to get back to Italian for a bit. Thanks for reading and commenting!