Fate Ada Negri Jutborizea' Translation from Tbe Italian by A. M. Von

F A T E AD A N EGR I ' Jutborizea Transla tion from tbe Italia n by A M VO N BL M . O BE R G BOSTON COPELAND AND DAY 1 89 8 1 8 8 C PE L D 9 , O AN PAG E xi B EY ON D T H E "SON G O F TH E PIC K AX E TH E H AN D I N T H E W H EELWO R K LOU D G ROAN S TH E M AC H I N E O N E O F TH E PEOPLE F LOWE R O F TH E P EOP L E T H E PA GAN KISS TH E A R A B I AN H O RSE T H EE A LON E S I N' ITE P A RVU LOS N EN IA M AT E RNA IN TH E H U R RI CAN E TA K E M E AWA Y SO I S EE IT ONC E M O R E ST RAN A C H A LL EN G E SALV ETE H AV E M E R C Y " 0 0 N o AP RI L SO N G TH E WO R K I N G M OTH E R IT CANN OT B E P H ANTO M S N I G HT JOU RN E Y A SOU L D ROUG HT T H OU WOULD EST K NOW C O M E T o T H E F IELD S DEEP I N TH E DUS K Y WOO DS T H E CASCA D E M ISTIC A H AST T H OU B E EN WO R K I N G ? To M A RI E B ASH K IRTSEF F O N H I G H A LONE S PES T H E VV I D O \V TH E FA D E D ROS E AD A N E GR I l i - HE l ve s at Motta Visconti . So much we know because all her poems bear this indi n - cation i the left hand lower corner . But who is Ada Negri ? Why does she write only for the Illwtraz ione Popolare ? Why does she not step out into plain daylight, and why does no one help her to do so A t i w b e t mes , hen striving passionately to L o f I cr o sed rom these hateful bonds , curse and y T a . he v in world laughs , and listens not to me Why does no one listen to her ? These were the questions asked only a few ' months ago by the subscribers to the Corrzere df l/d 1 It is the general custom to introduce lecturers fi T in and poets at their rst public appearance . o tro d u c e A da N we egri , recur to a most simple m means which to us see s also the best , that is , to reproduce the article another distingu ished and highly valued authoress dedicated to her in the Carrier della Sa a D : r last ecember . X1 Sara and the Illustraz ione Popolare even those who neither understand nor care for poetry felt ’ rs themselves deeply moved by Ada Negri s ve e . h Strange, indeed , t at, thus known and admired riva te/ fin d p y , she should not a way out of the i th ckets lining her path , to step forth openly upon the highroad . Still it may have been best for her so : her struggle with obstacles which she di d not kno w as such , her never appeased thirst for glory , surely helped to kindle the flame that now warms all t her poetry , giving it the stamp of such rue feel so ing , new and so entirely her own . l t Her readers , it le by little , have come to under i stand that the pain in her verses is real pa n , that this young creature must have suffered as much as if she had already lived a long life and they she will finally come to the conviction that , is i conscious as she of her gen us , and made strong sad by experience , might emerge at any moment into the sunshine of that glory she dreams o f with such ardour . The " austere figure that appears at her bedside one night and that calls itself Misfortune says , after having crushed her with the prophecy of what she is destined to suffer ’ ’ H e who creates in sufl e ring s night ’ A lo n e sees glo ry s day . ’ fl T is pain that teaches thoughts their highest ight . ” And she who had repelled her answers Stay . xii Misfortune how well we feel that it was the Ada N egri Negri ’s youth " maybe that her childhood She knew Of u the sleepless nights seless prayer, F w' d ull of the morro s drea , maybe she also knew " those long days without bread A m d k id the ar , here in my heart did reign A fo r s u n mad , unbridled craving the . At the age of eighteen she bids her mother farewell , leaving Lodi to take a position as a - teacher at Motta Visconti , a squalid , dismal vil l age, not reached even yet by the wheels of a tram there it lies , as if forgotten , on the ridge above the Ticino where the great woods extend , well known to the huntsmen of Milan " here it is that Ada Negri goes to listen to the voices of th e rising wind , which , P u k ro dly its pinions sha ing , twists and turns A n d rages furiously . Ada Negri , when your verses shall appear col le c te d in in a volume , much will be said and vented concerning your person and your life " Let me tell first a little of the melancholy truth . This melancholy truth is an honour to you " and some day you will think of your poverty with tenderness and gratitude , for it is largely to poverty that you owe what you are . h Let us t en cross the wide , muddy courtyard on which the Stables Open and where the geese u are Splashing , to go and knock at yo r crazy door, climbing the two steep flights of worn brick We r steps . come to g eet you in your dim room , W - where the indow panes are not glass but paper, where the box that contains your books and that serves you as a divan is the most elegant piece of furniture . Our hearts contract the first moment, but then they expand , they swell with emotion and admiration . if I mis It was in a literary magazine , am not Workin Mat/y er taken , that the g was published , the description of that great mill where , without W respite , a poor , weary woman is working , hose careworn brow seems illumined by a noble pride , for She is working for her so n who is to study 0 H e r o j y , H e r t one ambi ion , her one son , behind Whose brow she has divined T fl he lofty ight of genius . has Who not thought , on reading this passage , that perhaps it should be a dang/p ref P The poor woman , weary and ill , who has no w worked all her life , has taken refuge with her daughter, and awaits , timorous and thought ful , the bright future when the dark head will be crowned with gold and laurel wreaths . Is ? it coming , that great day Already letters , magazines , and books arrive from all parts of Italy , xiv ’ and her daughter s name is everywhere " the Ada N egri she she is streets which walks ring with it, and thrilled with pride and reverence . ’ Yes , your daughter s name is known , but no kn she is she one ows who , and knows no one, and will , for some time yet, have to go in her wooden shoes to the school where seventy to eighty dirty urchins Shout to bid her good -morn and the ing try her patience , reciting alphabet in unison . Her mother sees her coming home with pale f n ace , burni g hands , and flashing eyes , and trem she bles with fear lest be ill . It is the intense ff e ort of living two lives , of listening to two voices . she While hears those from without , and speaks and answers an d with rigid firmness fulfils her duty , a thousand other voices speak within her, n a stra ge music rising from her soul , wishing to break out " but it must not before the dead of night , when all is silent around her and the duty of the day is done . It is then that a vast radiant horizon opens before her . He who reads her poetry might think that she has seen and known everything " she but knows only solitude and misfortune , a dark , cold world where the light from without appears dazzling , and the world of the fortunate is more sweet and warm than it really . Ada Negri has read very few modern books , but she kn ows them all from the various contradictory criticisms of the literary reviews and it is strange xv how she seizes the truth out of the good and the bad , said of them . She has never seen a theatre , has o s but is enthusiastic about Duse , and been p sessed lately by such a craving to se e and hear her that she can think of nothing else : it is always her papers and periodicals that bring her all information , a whole bundle of them , almost she re c e ivm there are in Italy , which has been g i every week for the last two years , bear ng the - Milan post mark , from an admirer that has never let her know his identity .

Load more