The Greener Meadow: Selected Poems (Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation)

Luciano Erba's poems discover in the details of everyday life--a cream-colored tie, an old book, a swallow--access to far-reaching mysteries, including the fact of our being here at all. One of Italy's most important contemporary poets, Erba is approachable yet complex, distinctively and artfully combining traditional and informal means in his brief lyrics. He turns a cool eye on the passing scene, allowing us to see life in a new light. This bilingual edition contains the most comprehensive and representative selection of Erba's poetry ever published in English. Distinguished British poet and translator Peter Robinson, working with the encouragement and advice of the author, has rendered accurate and elegant English translations of the facing-page Italian originals. Complete with a preface, introduction, and notes, this is an ideal introduction to a unique and compelling modern Italian poet.

"The splendid Milanese poet Luciano Erba, represented here by a selection from his entire oeuvre, is a strong Italian modernist largely unknown in America, translated extremely well by Peter Robinson."--Richard Howard, series editor of the "Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation" and author of "Inner Voices: Selected Poems, 1963-2003"

"For the first time, Peter Robinson makes available in marvelously attuned English translations a generous, judicious, and well-balanced offering of Luciano Erba's poetry from the 1960s to the present. One of the most distinctive voices in Italian poetry of the second half of the twentieth century, Erba merits the attention of English-language readers who will be fortunate to encounter this substantial bilingual collection of his witty, engaging, understated, and refreshingly original verse. The translations are accurate, carefully crafted, and in harmony with the idiom and spirit of the originals."--John P. Welle, University of Notre Dame

"Erba's ironic, autobiographical, and imaginative verse deserves to be translated into English. Peter Robinson's fluid translations convey the originality and antirhetorical freshness of Erba's intense, pantheistic vision. And his selection introduces readers to the full spectrum of Erba's long career."--Gaetana Marrone, Princeton University

Luciano Erba was born in Milan in 1922 and is the author of numerous books of poetry and a short-story collection. Peter Robinson is a renowned British poet, translator, and critic whose books include "Twentieth Century Poetry: Selves and Situations" and a forthcoming collection of interviews, "Talk about Poetry: Conversations on the Art".

Translator's Preface ix

Acknowledgments xii

The Poetry of Luciano Erba 1

from Il nastro di Moebius / The Moebius Strip (1980) 7

Mi sento le guance di cartone / I feel my cheeks as pasteboard 8

from Gradus ad (Early Poems) 11

Pioverà / It Will Rain 12

La giacca a quadri / The Checked Jacket 14

Lontananza da mia madre / Distance from My Mother 16

Unàltra città / Another City 18

from Il male minore / The Lesser Evil (1960) 21

Il cavaliere del garbo / The Gallant Gent 22

Nel parco di Versailles / In the Park at Versailles 24

Sentimento del tempo / Feeling of Time 26

Una stazione climatica / A Health Resort 28

I globuli rossi / The Red Globules 30

Sul Tamigi / On the Thames 32

Gli ireos gialli / The Yellow Orris 34

Il bel paese / The Beautiful Country 36

Lombardo-Veneto / Lombard-Veneto 38

Dal dottor K / With Doctor K 40

Undecided / Undecided 42

Senza risposta / Without Reply 44

La Grande Jeanne / La Grande Jeanne 46

Don Giovanni / Don Juan 48

Un'equazione di primo grado / A First-Degree Equation 50

Terra e mare / Land and Sea 52

Qualcosa / Something 54

Tabula rasa? / Tabula Rasa? 56

Il miraggio / The Mirage 58

Libro d'ore / Book of Hours 60

Caino e le spine / Cain and the Thorns 62

Dignus est intrare / Dignus Est Intrare 64

Ippogrammi and metaippogrammi del pittore Giovanola / Hippograms and Metahippograms of the Painter Giovanola 66

Nella torre d'avorio / In the Ivory Tower 70

Vanitas varietatum / Vanitas Varietatum 72

Molto di là dagli agghiacciati mari / Far beyond the Frozen Seas 74

Lo svagato / The Inattentive 76

Incompatibilità / Incompatibility 80

Super flumina / Super Flumina 82

Aerostatica / Aerostatics 86

Dopo le vacanze / After the Holidays 88

from Il prato più verde /The Greener Meadow (1977) 91

Gli anni quaranta / My Forties 92

Tra spazio e tempo / Between Space and Time 94

Halloween / Halloween 96

Epifania / Epiphany 98

Trasferimento / Relocation 100

Barcellona Baltimora . . . / Barcelona Baltimore . . . 102

Pastello / Pastel 104

Perché non io / Why Not Me 106

Festa delle nazioni / Festival of Nations 108

Le giovani coppie / The Young Couples 110

Nuovi metodi del dottor K / New Methods of Doctor K 112

Mailand / Mailand 114

Idea fissa / Idée Fixe 116

Gli addii / The Goodbyes 118

Sette e mezzo / Seven and a Half 120

from L'ippopotamo / The Hippopotamus (1989) 123

Nel bosco / In the Wood 124

Grafologia di un addio / Graphology of a Goodbye 126

Istria / Istria 128

Il pubblico e il privato / The Public and the Private 130

Il roccolo / The Bird Trap 132

Richiudendo un baule / Closing a Trunk Once More 134

Suite americana / Suite Americana 136

Quartiere Solari / Quartiere Solari 138

Fine delle vacanze / End of the Holidays 140

Abito a trenta metri dal suolo / I Live Thirty Meters from the Ground 142

Se non fosse / If It Weren't 144

Se è tutto qui . . . / If This Is All . . . 146

L'io e il non io / The I and Not-I 148

Quando penso a mia madre / When I Think of My Mother 150

Una visita a Caleppio / A Visit to Caleppio 152

Implosion / Implosion 154

Ponte e città / Bridge and City 156

Filo di ferro / Iron Wire 158

Seguivo il tuo viaggio / I Was Following Your Journey 160

Il tranviere metafisico / The Metaphysical Tramdriver 162

L'ippopotamo / The Hippopotamus 164

La vida es . . . / La Vida Es . . . 166

Irreversibilità / Irreversibility 168

Quale Milano? / Which Milan? 170

Autoritratto / Self-Portrait 172

Motus in fine velocior / Motus in Fine Velocior 174

from L'ipotesi circense / The Circus Hypothesis (1995) 177

Un cosmo qualunque / Any Old Cosmos 178

Autunnale / Autumnal 180

Senza bussola / Without a Compass 182

Genius loci / Genius Loci 184

Off limits for doctor K / Off Limits for Doctor K 186

Questi ultimi anni / These Last Years 188

Soltanto segni? / Only Signs? 190

Dasein / Dasein 192

A scuola di sguardo / École du regard 194

L'ipotesi circense / The Circus Hypothesis 196

Suite ferroviaria / Railway Suite 198

Rincorrendo Vittorio S sulla strada di Zenna / Chasing Vittorio S on the Zenna Road 200

Altrove padano / Po Plain Elsewhere 202

Il circo / The Circus 204

Questo è tempo di haiku / This Is Haiku Time 206

Resta ancora qualcosa / Something Remains Still 208

Scale / Stairs 210

from Nella terra di mezzo / In the Middle Ground (2000) 213

Capodanno a Milano / New Year in Milan 214

Angeli neri / Black Angels 216

Gli incaricati / The Entrusted Ones 218

Vi era quasi una voce / There Was Almost a Voice 220

Il formaggio / The Cheese 222

Quando ce ne andiamo / When We Go Away 224

Linea lombarda / Lombard Line 226

Il dottor K raddoppia / Doctor K Redoubles 228

Dalla terrazza / From the Balcony 230

Vi sono giornate di vento / There Are Windy Days 232

Mani / Hands 234

Vorrei passare alla storia / I Would Like to Enter History 236

from Poesie 1951-2001 / Poems 1951-2001 (2002) 239

Una delle cose / One of the Things 240

from Làltra metà / The Other Half (2004) 243

E pur mi giova la ricordanza / And Yet the Memory Cheers Me 244

Altra seduta dal dottor K / Other Session with Doctor K 246

Quartine del tempo libero / Free-Time Quatrains 248

Homo viator / Homo Viator 250

Uomo pensoso con gatto / Pensive Man with Cat 252

Làltra metà / The Other Half 254

"On Tradition and Discovery" by Luciano Erba 257

Notes 263