ITALIAN POETRY/IL PRIMO SETTEMBRE/SEPTEMBER FIRST by Luciano Somma

ITALIAN POETRY / IL PRIMO SETTEMBRE / 
SEPTEMBER FIRST by Luciano Somma

On this last day of August and the eve of autumn, I felt it appropriate
 to share the poem: SEPTEMBER FIRST written by
 Luciano Somma.  As in all of Luciano’s poetry, we feel
 the sentimental spirit of one of Italy’s foremost poets. You can find
Luciano Somma at:

http://www.partecipiamo.it/Poesie/Luciano_Somma/1.htm

http://www.scolastica2000.it/MUSICALMENTE/somma/somma.htm  

Quality giclee prints of the above painting: Fall in New England  
can be purchased at: 
 http://pamela-allegretto.fineartamerica.com

In quest’ultimo giorno d’agosto e la vigilia d’autunno,
ho sentito che era adatto offrire la poema
IL PRIMO SETTEMBRE 
 scritto di Luciano Somma.  Come tutte delle sue poesie,
 sentiamo lo spirito sentimentale d’un poeta molto noto
in Italia. Si può trovare Luciano Somma a:

http://www.partecipiamo.it/Poesie/Luciano_Somma/1.htm

http://www.scolastica2000.it/MUSICALMENTE/somma/somma.htm  

Si puo` comprare dell stampe di giclee del quadro in alto: 

 Fall in New England a: 
 http://pamela-allegretto.fineartamerica.com

 

IL PRIMO SETTEMBRE

L’ultimo sogno d’Agosto                     

Si sveglia col primo Settembre,                  

questa sera è un incanto!                       

Il cielo è amaranto, uno spiffero di vento           

dolce come la carezza d’un bene                                                        

amaro come il fiele del pianto                          

mi porta una ciurma di pensieri                       

Che affollano la mente 

e mettono in croce questo cuore.              

Vorrei che piovesse e non piove…                                                    

Vorrei tante nuvole intorno                                                                                                                                    

ma la luna è d’argento                                    .

Vorrei che un sogno tornasse                      

ma il sogno non torna.  

Questo sogno è partito

sulle onde                    

dell’ultima sera d’Agosto                     

lasciandomi                 

un grappolo di stelle     

lassù nel cielo amaranto

in questa sera incantata

del primo Settembre.      

Luciano Somma

SEPTEMBER FIRST

The last dream of August

awakens with the first of September,

this evening is enchantment!

The sky bleeds red and purple, a light breeze

soft like a lover’s caress                         

bitter like malicious words

brings me a crew of thoughts

that crowd my mind

and crucify this heart.

I wish it were raining and not rain…             

I’d like a cloud-filled sky                                                                                                      

yet view a silver moon.

I wish the dream was ending

But the dream doesn’t end.

This dream has departed

on the waves

of the final August evening

leaving me

a cluster of stars

far-off in the bleeding sky

in this enchanted evening

of September first.

Pamela Allegretto Franz (translation)

VEDUTA DI VESUVIO / VIEW OF VESUVIUS / ITALIAN POETRY / LUCIANO SOMMA

 Italian Poetry / Voglio Di Tenerezza / Luciano Somma


I recently completed the painting above: VEDUTA DI VESUVIO/VIEW OF VESUVIUS, and 
I thought this would be an appropriate space to insert one of Luciano Somma’s poems.   
Luciano has lived his entire life in Napoli and in VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA / TENDER FEELINGS,    
 his words about Napoli are like delicate brushstrokes that paint a rich, mental 
image. 
VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA is an excerpt from Luciano’s dual-language poetry book: 
“L’ALBA DI DOMANI/TOMORROW’S SUNRISE.”
You can find Luciano Somma at:
http://www.partecipiamo.it/Poesie/Luciano_Somma/1.htm
http://www.scolastica2000.it/MUSICALMENTE/somma/somma.htm 

 The original acrylic on canvas painting can be purchased from my art website:  
http://www.pamelaallegretto-franz.com 
   
Giclee prints from greeting card size to poster size can be purchased at: 
 http://pamela-allegretto.fineartamerie painting above: VEDUTA DI VESUVIO/VIEW OF VESUVIUS, and 
I thought this would be an appropriate space to insert one of Luciano Somma’s poems.   
Luciano has lived his entire life in Napoli and in VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA / TENDER FEELINGS,    
 his words about Napoli are like delicate brushstrokes that paint a rich, mental 
image. 
VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA is an excerpt from Luciano’s dual-language poetry book: 
“L’ALBA DI DOMANI/TOMORROW’S SUNRISE.”
You can find Luciano Somma at:
http://www.partecipiamo.it/Poesie/Luciano_Somma/1.htm
http://www.scolastica2000.it/MUSICALMENTE/somma/somma.htm 

 The original acrylic on canvas painting can be purchased from my art website:  
http://www.pamelaallegretto-franz.com 
   
Giclee prints from greeting card size to poster size can be purchased at: 
 http://pamela-allegretto.fineartamerica.com

Qualche giorni fa ho finito dipingere il quadro sopra: VEDUTA DI VESUVIO/VIEW 
OF VESUVIUS e pensavo 
che allora sarebbe il tempo giusto mettere la poema VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA di Luciano Somma. Luciano ha
 abitato tutta la sua vita a Napoli e nella poema, le sue parole per quanto riguarda Napoli sono come pennellate delicate
 che dipingono nelle menti gli immagini intensi. VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA è un brano dal 
suo libro di doppia lingua: “L’ALBA DI DOMANI/TOMORROW’S SUNRISE.”
Si può trovare Luciano Somma a:
http://www.partecipiamo.it/Poesie/Luciano_Somma/1.htm
http://www.scolastica2000.it/MUSICALMENTE/somma/somma.htm 

Si puo` comprare il quadro originale al mio sito d'arte: http://www.pamelaallegretto-franz.com

Si uo` comprarne delle stampe di gliclee qui:   http://pamela-allegretto.fineartamerica.com

VOGLIO DI TENEREZZA  
Questa sera     
profuma d’estate 
profuma di te    
Napoli   
un’aria di mare  
m’inebria
e volo confuso  
con la fantasia 
verso lidi lontani                                
il ricordo mi porta 
un sorriso  
e cresce 
come la pioggia in un fiume    
questa dannata voglia   
che ho dentro   
d’un soffio di tenerezza
una carezza  
per vivere.
Luciano Somma


TENDER FEELINGS
This evening
summer’s perfume
your perfume
Napoli
a sea air
inebriates me
and I fly confused
with fantasy
toward distant beaches                      
the memory brings me
a smile
and it grows
like rain in a river
this cursed desire
I have inside
of a warm whisper
a caress
to be alive.
Pamela Allegretto-Franz  (translation)
ca.com

PAINTING IN ITALY / PIEMONTE / LAGO D'ORTA / LAKE ORTA / ORTA SAN GIULIO / ISOLA SAN GIULIO

     Shadowed by the Matterhorn, the small, picturesque Lago D’Orta 
(Lake Orta) is surrounded by forests with a wild and melancholy beauty.  
Just eight miles long and less than two miles wide, Lake Orta is one of the smallest and least known of northern Italy's sub-Alpine lakes.  The German
 philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who visited the lake in 1882, believed the experience changed his life forever.  He inscribed the date "von Orta an" 
("from Orta onwards") as a preface to his masterpiece Thus Spake Zarathustra. I can’t guarantee that going to Lake Orta to paint will change your life forever, 
but I can promise you’ll come away with some of the most beautiful images 
you’ve every put down on canvas.  Other 19th-century writers enchanted by 
its quiet beauty include the French novelist Honoré de Balzac, who wrote rapturously of this "gray pearl in a green jewel-box", and Robert Browning whose 
poem "By the Fireside" contemplates the beauty of a setting where "Alp 
meets heaven in snow", describes the lakeside village of Pella as a luminous "speck of white... in the evening-glow".    
     With all this glowing praise, you might imagine Orta San Giulio, the main
 town of Lake Orta, to be swarming with tourists, but it’s not.  Many visitors ignore this little gem and flock eastwards to the nearby, much larger Lago Maggiore. Their loss is your gain, as it keeps the crowds to a minimum. 
    Parking in the town center can be a bit tricky, well okay, more than tricky: impossible, as it is traffic-free.  But there are a few small parking lots up on the main road and the walk down into town is an easy one.  Don’t try parking on the main 
road; there are blue lines on each side that indicate resident parking only.  
Parking tickets are common sites and the fines are steep and payable on site. 
     In town, you’ll find more than enough paint-worthy subjects: stone 
archways, flower-choked balconies, and courtyards tucked behind ornate iron gates.  Pastel-washed 16^th and 17^th-century buildings house small shops, and 
winding alleyways zigzag to a maze of narrow streets.  Piazza Motta is the 
perfect location to set up.  This broad, flagged square runs parallel to the waterfront and is partially shielded from the hustle and bustle of the jetty by an impressive row of chestnut trees.  Colorful cafés spread out across the piazza if you prefer to sketch while sipping a glass of the local wine. 
     Certainly, you must allow time to visit Isola San Giulio. From the jetty of 
Orta San Giulio, boats leave every ten minutes for the five-minute trip to the island in the middle of the lake.  Centuries-old legend says the island was home to dragons, but don’t be scared off, St Julius, the island's namesake and founder of its basilica, arrived at Lake Orta over 1,600 years ago and dispatched the dragons with his sword.  So if you were looking forward to painting dragons, I’m sorry to disappoint
 you.  But don’t worry, there’s plenty more to keep your artist’s eye excited.
     Even without dragons, the island has a magical “feel.”  Take the flagged alleyway, which flits in and out of the sunlight as it weaves around the island’s
 interior.  There are many quiet places to stop and sketch.  I emphasize “quiet,” as the alleyway is signed: “the way of silence,” in one direction and “the way of meditation” in the other.  You will also come across small signs in various 
languages that remind you this is a place for reflection such as: "If you can 
be yourself, you are everything."   And, “Listen to the water, the wind, 
your steps." 
     Lovely old palazzi, draped in wisteria and trumpet vines, ring the 
waterfront of Isola San Giulio, making it an ideal spot to sit and paint or 
sketch.  The views from the waterfront back to the mainland town of Orta San Giulio are luscious. 
     I recommend bringing along some bottled water if you plan to stay on the island for a few hours.  There is only one small gift shop where water is available. 
     Back on the mainland, Orta San Giulio’s pièce de résistance demands a 
bit of a climb (325ft above the lake if you’re counting) up to the Sacro Monte 
di San Francesco.  This hilltop plateau laid out with 20 chapels dedicated to 
the life of Saint Francis of Assisi is very cool.  All the chapels are unique in design, reflecting the fact that building took place over a 200-year period. 
     Sacro Monte was designated a National Park in 1980. The chapels are 
built like a village, amid meandering paths, woods, and a plethora of 
wildflowers, all this, plus incredible views of Lake Orta lying dreamily below 
on her mountain bed. 
     Do bring water, and I suggest a picnic.  There’s a lot to paint and you’ll 
really need at least half a day. Once you’re here, your only dilemma will be 
what to paint first.
      Since this is a National Park, be sure to follow the rules and stay on the designated paths so as not to trample nature’s balance.  If you do go off the paths, 
there are groundskeepers in the area who will quickly get you back on track.
      Buon Viaggio!