Dante: Poi mi rivolsi a loro

Medievile

New Member
Singapore, English
hi

need some help translating this particular verse from dante's inferno, canto five:

Poi mi rivolsi a loro e parla' io,
e cominciai: Francesca, i tuoi martiri
a lagrimar mi fanno tristo e pio

this is quite a serious post, and i;m really looking for some help in translation, so no jokes please, and anybody who is sincere in wanting to offer his/her interpretation will be quite appreciated.

thanks
 
  • Medievile said:
    hi

    need some help translating this particular verse from dante's inferno, canto five:

    Poi mi rivolsi a loro e parla' io,
    e cominciai: Francesca, i tuoi martiri
    a lagrimar mi fanno tristo e pio

    this is quite a serious post, and i;m really looking for some help in translation, so no jokes please, and anybody who is sincere in wanting to offer his/her interpretation will be quite appreciated.

    thanks

    Hello Medievile. Welcome to the WOrd REference Forums. I hope you'll enjoy it. Don't worry about jokes, this is (quite) a serious forum.

    My tuppenceworth:

    Then I addressed them and spoke,
    I began: Francesca, your weeping martyrs
    sadden me and make me pious.

    L.
     
    Hello,

    I would say that 'martiri' in that Dante's sentence would have an accent on the 1st i from left: martìri. This would be plural for 'martirio', i.e. martyrdoms.

    Here I would translate troubles.

    The rest of Leopold's translation seems to me pretty good.

    That's one of the most beautiful pieces of the Inferno: Paolo e Francesca.

    I found a complete translation here:

    Even as doves when summoned by desire,
    borne forward by their will, move through the air
    with wings uplifted, still, to their sweet nest,

    those spirits left the ranks where Dido suffers,
    approaching us through the malignant air;
    so powerful had been my loving cry.

    "O living being, gracious and benign,
    who through the darkened air have come to visit
    our souls that stained the world with blood, if He

    who rules the universe were friend to us,
    then we should pray to Him to give you peace,
    for you have pitied our atrocious state.

    Whatever pleases you to hear and speak
    will please us, too, to hear and speak with you,
    now while the wind is silent, in this place.

    The land where I was born lies on that shore
    to which the Po together with the waters
    that follow it descends to final rest.

    Love, that can quickly seize the gentle heart,
    took hold of him because of the fair body
    taken from me— how that was done still wounds me.

    Love, that releases no beloved from loving,
    took hold of me so strongly that through his beauty
    that, as you see, it has not left me yet.

    Love led the two of us unto one death.
    Caina waits for him who took our life."
    These words were borne across from them to us.

    When I had listened to those injured souls,
    I bent my head and held it low until
    the poet asked of me: "What are you thinking?"

    When I replied, my words began: "Alas,
    how many gentle thoughts, how deep a longing,
    had led them to the agonizing pass!"

    Then I addressed my speech again to them,
    and I began: "Francesca, your afflictions
    move me to tears of sorrow and of pity.

    But tell me, in the time of gentle sighs,
    with what and in what way did Love allow you
    to recognize your still uncertain longings?"

    And she to me: "There is no greater sorrow
    than thinking back upon a happy time
    in misery— and this your teacher knows.

    Yet if you long so much to understand
    the first root of our love, then I shall tell
    my tale to you as one who weeps and speaks.

    One day, to pass the time away, we read
    of Lancelot— how love had overcome him.
    We were alone, and we suspected nothing.

    And time and time again that reading led
    our eyes to meet, and made our faces pale,
    and yet one point alone defeated us.

    When we had read how the desired smile
    was kissed by one who was so true a lover,
    this one, who never shall be parted from me,

    while all his body trembled, kissed my mouth.
    A Gallehault indeed, that book and he
    who wrote it, too; that day we read no more."

    And while one spirit said these words to me,
    the other wept, so that— because of pity—
    I fainted, as if I had met my death.

    And then I fell as a dead body falls.

    — Dante, InfernoV.82-142
    translated by Allen Mandelbaum


    Hope this helps.

    Regards,
    Pippi
     
    hi

    thanks for the help. i'm studying dante in school and am relying on the translation by anthony esolen. indeed it is a beautiful canto. was perplexed over the various translations into 'pity' as offered by the esolen because the italian appears to differ from section to section.
    :) am relieved to find a no-nonsense forum.
    cheers!
     
    Medievile said:
    hi

    thanks for the help. i'm studying dante in school and am relying on the translation by anthony esolen. indeed it is a beautiful canto. was perplexed over the various translations into 'pity' as offered by the esolen because the italian appears to differ from section to section.
    :) am relieved to find a no-nonsense forum.
    cheers!

    Hi Medievile,

    as for the meaning of PIO, literally it is not 'PITY but PIOUS i.e. an adjective, not a noun. (italian for PITY is PIETA', direct from latin PIETAS.)
    Problem is that sometimes translating literally Dante would not render the full meaning of what he said, since his italian is soooo rich but also so archaic, and that's poetry, not prose, you know.
    So, even knowing what the literal meaning of PIO is, I would still prefer the translation with PITY here.
    But I'm not an expert. Love of Dante poetry moves me.....
    icon12.gif


    I'm a junior member of this forum (registered only few days ago) but I do find this is definitely a no-nonsense environment. There's always much more than simply grammar and words in a language exchange. It always enriches you (me, at least) in a wider sense. Doesn't it?

    Bye
    Pippi
     
    me again.....

    found something interesting: some other translations of this canto.

    http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/LD/numbers/01/bergin.html
    Lectura Dantis at the Yale..... yum!

    and:
    http://www.stjohnsprep.org/teachers/mm_english/dante/inferno/text/italian_hwl/canto5.html

    And this is another interesting essay, I believe:

    http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/LD/numbers/03/fleming.html

    ah...Naufragar m'e' dolce in questo mare...

    (well: this is not Dante, of course, but I find it good for expressing the comfort of googling at least once per day).

    Have a nice reading (hoping it is interesting for you, Medievile)

    Bye,
    Pippi
     
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