Rosamunda
                    by Guillaume Apollinaire

                    English and Italian translation by Justin Vitiello

Rosamunda

 

At the foot of the stairs

in this house I haunt

the lady I pursued in Amsterdam

two whole hours ascended…

 

My fingers sent kisses…

 

But the canal was empty

like the boulevard, no one saw

how my kisses could reach her

even one day for two hours,

reach her, the idol of my sacrifice…

 

 

I dubbed her Rosamunda

wanting to recall her mouth

in that Holland of flowers –

then, slowly, always questing, I left

the Rose of the World…

 

Rosemonde

 

Longtemps au pied du perron de

La maison où entra la dame

Que j’avais suivie pendant deux

Bonnes heures à Amsterdam

Mes doigts jetèrent des baisers

 

Mais le canal était désert

Le quai aussi et nul ne vit

Comment mes baisers retrouvèrent

Celle à qui j’ai donné ma vie

Un jour pendant plus de deux heures

 

Je la surnommai Rosemonde

Voulant pouvoir me rappeler

Sa bouche fleurie en Hollande

Puis lentement je m’en allai

Pour quêter la Rose du Monde

 

 Rosamunda

 

A lungo ai piedi della scalinata

della casa dov’entro era salita

la signora che ad Amsterdam io avevo

per due buone ore seguita

inviarono baci le mie dita

 

Ma vuoto era il canale, anche il vïale,

e niuno vide in quale

modo ebbero  trovato i baci miei

lei a cui ho donato la mia vita

un giorno per piú di due ore

 

 

Rosamonda la soprannominai

volendo ricordarmi la sua bocca

in Olanda fiorita

poi lentamente in cerca me ne andai

della Rosa del Mondo


Translator: Justin Vitiello, professor Emeritus of Italian, taught for many years at Temple in both Philadelphia and Rome.  A poet and translator working primarily in English, Italian and Spanish, he has translated texts between all of these languages in addition to Latin, Italian dialects, and French.  His published collections include Il carro del pesce di Vanzetti (1989), subsequently translated as Vanzetti’s Fish Cart (1993);  Subway Home (1994), translated into Italian in 1998; Suicidio di un poeta etnico / Suicide of an Ethnic Poet (2004); and Amapolas y cardos / Poppies and Thistles (2006).