Skip to main content

The Line of Children Dancing on the Beach

After Montale — La farandola dei fanciulli sul greto

The line of children dancing on the beach:
life bursting from the deadness of the drought.
Amongst the scrawny reeds and one dry stump
the human shoot was thriving in the limpid air.

It was a torture to the passer-by
to sense his separation from those ancient roots.
Here was the age of gold in flower along the happy strand,
where even names, and clothing, were a fall from grace.

La farandola dei fanciulli sul greto — Montale

La farandola dei fanciulli sul greto
era la vita che scoppia dall’arsura.
Cresceva tra rare canne e uno sterpeto
il cespo umano nell’aria pura.

Il passante sentiva come un supplizio
il suo distacco dalle antiche radici.
Nell’età d’oro florida sulle sponde felici
anche un nome, una veste, erano un vizio.