No, I haven’t stopped blogging. But I do have a life. Among the many things I manage to pack into the twenty-four measly hours of a day, I translate poetry. Since I’m working on a manuscript, the blog logically goes on the back burner. And since nobody reading this has probably ever heard of Mario Dell’Arco, here is a sample of his work. This and about ten other lyrics were published in the Autumn 2009 issue of the Journal of Italian Translation. Go buy a copy.

Diffidenza

Giove compie mill’anni, e l’animali
je porteno er cadò.
La serpe striscia co una rosa in bocca
e Giove: – Cocca, accetto li regali;
ma da una serpe, e da la bocca, no.

Diffidence

At Jove’s one-thousandth birthday bash
the animals paid their respects.
The serpent brought him a rose. Jove quipped:
– That I love presents everybody knows;
but from the snake, and from its mouth,
that gift I can’t accept.