Yet another adaptation of a WWI poem by the Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, sensitively translated by Marco Sonzogni and Ross Woods. The comic is the product of an ongoing collaboration with Sonzogni and Woods, and with the New Zealand Centre for Literary Translation at Victoria University in Wellington.
And here are the original Italian words:
Sono una creatura
Come questa pietra
del S. Michele
così fredda
così dura
così prosciugata
così refrattaria
così totalmente
disanimata
Come questa pietra
è il mio pianto
che non si vede
La morte
si sconta
vivendo
julian peters comics 
La morte sis nota vivendo is much more subtle than simply saying death is paid by living – sconta means to discount, to offset to make light of, to make bearable
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Scontare does have that meaning, but it also means “to atone for” or “to expiate,” as in, for example, a prison term. But “is paid” has more of the colloquial feel of “si sconta” than those two English expressions, I think. I’m not sure. Translating is aways a fine balancing act.
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Pingback: “Sono una creatura” di Giuseppe Ungaretti (versione originale) | julian peters comics
An arresting and even chilling adaptation, Jools! I like to think Ungaretti would approve and be proud of such a tribute!
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Grazie Marco! I was completely flummoxed as to how to illustrate this one until I saw some images of the military cemetery at Colle Sant’Elia, in which helmets and weapons sit atop various commemorative cairns.
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Reblogged this on A Thousand Words of Deep.
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