Sicilian Poetry
Sicilian Poetry |
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Domenico Canalella (1914-1978) |
Father Domenico Canalella was born in Mussomeli in the province of Caltanisetta on June 28, 1914 and died in Palermo on July 30, 1978. He belonged to the order of Frati Predicatori and had the distinction of having translated several classics into Sicilian.A Brief BiographyAt Caltanisetta he dedicated himself to the study of philosophy and the classics and entered the diocesan seminary, where he joined the order of San Domenico di Guzmàn. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1943. He served in eastern Sicily until 1958, traveling through Acireale, Catania, and Messina, then being stationed in Palermo. He has an extensive body of excellent work in the translation of classics into Sicilian that includes Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Dante's Divine Comedy the work for which he received the Gold Medal from the Minister of Public Instruction. His translations initially appeared serially in various journals. The translation of The Divine Comedy was published in its entirety by Nuova Ipsa in 2004. The first three verses of The Divine Comedy | |
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Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura! Tant'è amara che poco è più morte; ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai, dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v' ho scorte. --Dante's original Florentine |
'Nt'u mezzu d'u caminu di la vita 'ntra un voscu scuru iu mi ritruvai, ca a un trattu la via dritta avia smarrita. Quantu a diri qual era duli assai 'stu voscu rampianti e sdirrupusu tremu a pinsarlu comu ddà trimai! Lu muriri nun è cchiù dulurusi: ma pr' addicari a 'u beni chi ddà cc'era, di l'antru vistu iu vi dirrò ccà jusu. --Sicilian translation by Domenico Canalella |
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'Nt'u mezzu d'u caminu di la vita 'ntra un voscu scuru iu mi ritruvai, ca a un trattu la via dritta avia smarrita. Quantu a diri qual era duli assai 'stu voscu rampianti e sdirrupusu tremu a pinsarlu comu ddà trimai! Lu muriri nun è cchiù dulurusi: ma pr' addicari a 'u beni chi ddà cc'era, di l'antru vistu iu vi dirrò ccà jusu. --Sicilian translation by Domenico Canalella |
Midway on our life's journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost. To tell About those woods is hard--so tangled and rough And savage that thinking of it now, I feel The old fear stirring: death is hardly more bitter. And yet, to treat the good I found there as well I'll tell what I saw, though how I came to enter I cannot well say, being so full of sleep Whatever moment it was I began to blunder --English translation by Robert Pinsky |
Note: The material for this page was copied from the Italian Wikipedia and translated into English by Arthur Dieli. The Robert Pinsky translation of the first three verses are from a bilingual edition of his book, The Inferno Of Dante: A new Verse Translation, The Noonday Press, New York, 1994. |
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