Il Sabato del Villagio
Giacomo Leopardi
La donzelletta vien dalla campagna
in sul calar del sole,
col suo fascio dell'erba; e reca in mano
un mazzolin di rose e viole,
onde, siccome suole, ornare ella si appresta
dimani, al dí di festa, il petto e il crine.
Siede con le vicine
su la scala a filar la vecchierella,
incontro là dove si perde il giorno;
e novellando vien del suo buon tempo,
quando ai dí della festa ella si ornava,
ed ancor sana e snella
solea danzar la sera intra di quei
ch'ebbe compagni nell'età piú bella.
My grandma’s favourite poem is ‘Il Sabato del Villagio’ , ‘The Saturday of the Village’, by Giacomo Leopardi. She likes it because it reminds her of her childhood, and preparing for a festival. She grew up in a village called Toffia, which is near Rome. She feels the poem describes her childhood, and explains the simplicity of life in her village. One of her favourite lines is “La donzeletta vien dalla campagna in sul calar del sole”, “The young woman comes from the fields at sunset” because she sees herself as the young woman.
The girl comes from the fields,
at sunset,
carrying her sheaf of grass: in her fingers
a bunch of violets and roses:
she’s ready, as before,
to wreathe her hair and bodice,
for tomorrow’s holiday.
The old woman sits spinning,
facing the dying sunlight,
on the stairway, with her neighbours,
telling the tale of her own young days,
when she dressed for the festival,
and still slim and lovely,
danced all evening, with those young
boys, companions of her fairer season.