The Angel in the House — Page 6
In shape no slender Grace,
In forme non una snella Grazia,
But Venus; milder than the dove;
Ma Venere; più dolce della colomba;
Her mother's air; her Norman face;
L'aria di sua madre; il suo viso normanno;
Her large sweet eyes, clear lakes of love.
I suoi grandi occhi dolci, chiari laghi d'amore.
Mary I knew. In former time
Mary la conoscevo. In altri tempi
Ailing and pale, she thought that bliss
Malata e pallida, credeva che la beatitudine
Was only for a better clime,
Fosse solo per un clima migliore,
And, heavenly overmuch, scorn'd this.
E, troppo incline al cielo, disprezzava questo.
I, rash with theories of the right,
Io, temerario con teorie del giusto,
Which stretch'd the tether of my Creed,
Che allungavano il guinzaglio del mio Credo,
But did not break it, held delight
Ma non lo spezzavano, consideravo il diletto
Half discipline. We disagreed.
Metà disciplina. Eravamo in disaccordo.
She told the Dean I wanted grace.
Lei disse al Decano che mi mancava la grazia.
Now she was kindest of the three,
Eppure era la più gentile delle tre,
And soft wild roses deck'd her face.
E morbide rose selvatiche adornavano il suo viso.
And, what, was this my Mildred, she
E, come, era questa la mia Mildred, lei
To herself and all a sweet surprise?
Per sé e per tutti una dolce sorpresa?
My Pet, who romp'd and roll'd a hoop?
La mia cocca, che giocava e faceva rotolare un cerchio?
I wonder'd where those daisy eyes
Mi chiedevo dove quegli occhi color margherita
Had found their touching curve and droop.
Avessero trovato la loro commovente curva e il loro declino.
Unmannerly times! But now we sat
Tempi sgarbati! Ma ora sedevamo
Stranger than strangers; till I caught
Più estranei degli stranieri; finché colsi
And answer'd Mildred's smile; and that
E ricambiai il sorriso di Mildred; e quello
Spread to the rest, and freedom brought.
Si diffuse agli altri, e portò libertà.
The Dean talk'd little, looking on,
Il Decano parlava poco, osservando,
Of three such daughters justly vain.
Giustamente orgoglioso di tre tali figlie.
What letters they had had from Bonn,
Che lettere avevano ricevuto da Bonn,
Said Mildred, and what plums from Spain!
Disse Mildred, e che prugne dalla Spagna!
By Honor I was kindly task'd
Da Honor mi fu gentilmente chiesto
To excuse my never coming down
Di giustificare il mio non scendere mai
From Cambridge; Mary smiled and ask'd
Da Cambridge; Mary sorrise e chiese
Were Kant and Goethe yet outgrown?
Se Kant e Goethe fossero già stati superati?
And, pleased, we talk'd the old days o'er;
E, soddisfatti, rievocammo i giorni passati;
And, parting, I for pleasure sigh'd.
E, congedandomi, sospirai di piacere.
Vocabulary
- In
- In, inside, within a place or time period
- forme
- Forms, shapes, or figures of something
- non
- Not, negation particle used before verbs
- una
- A, an; feminine singular indefinite article
- snella
- Slender, slim, graceful in appearance
- Grazia
- Grace, elegance, charm, or a woman's name
- Ma
- But, however; conjunction expressing contrast
- più
- More; used to form comparative adjectives
- dolce
- Sweet, gentle, pleasant to taste or ear
- della
- Of the, from the; feminine singular contraction
- colomba
- Dove; a bird symbolizing peace
- aria
- Air, atmosphere, or a musical melody
- di
- Of, from; preposition indicating possession or origin
- sua
- Her, its; feminine singular possessive pronoun
- madre
- Mother, female parent of a child
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- suo
- His, her, its; possessive pronoun
- viso
- Face, visage, or front of head
- suoi
- His, her, its; masculine plural possessive pronoun
- grandi
- Large, big, great in size or importance
- occhi
- Eyes; plural of occhio
- dolci
- Sweet; plural of dolce
- chiari
- Clear, bright, evident, easy to understand
- laghi
- Lakes; plural of lago
- amore
- Love, affection, or beloved person
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- conoscevo
- I knew; imperfect tense of conoscere
- altri
- Other, different, another; plural form
- tempi
- Times, periods, or tempo in music
- Malata
- Sick, ill, diseased; feminine singular form
- pallida
- Pale, light in color, pallid
- credeva
- She believed; imperfect tense of credere
- che
- That, which, who; relative and subordinate conjunction
- Fosse
- Were; subjunctive imperfect tense of essere
- solo
- Only, sole, alone; also a musical piece
- per
- For, in order to; preposition of purpose
- un
- A, an; masculine singular indefinite article
- clima
- Climate, weather conditions of a region
- migliore
- Better, superior, best; comparative adjective
- troppo
- Too much, too; excessive in quantity or degree
- incline
- Inclined, leaning, tending toward something
- al
- To the, at the; contraction of a+il
- cielo
- Sky, heaven; the atmosphere above earth
- disprezzava
- She despised; imperfect tense of disprezzare
- questo
- This, this one; masculine singular demonstrative
- Io
- I; first person singular subject pronoun
- con
- With; preposition indicating accompaniment or means
- teorie
- Theories; plural of teoria
- del
- Of the, from the; masculine singular contraction
- giusto
- Just, right, correct, fair, proper
- Che
- That, which, who; relative pronoun
- allungavano
- Lengthened, extended; imperfect tense of allungare
- mio
- My, mine; masculine singular possessive pronoun
- Credo
- I believe; present tense of credere
- lo
- It, him; masculine singular direct object pronoun
- spezzavano
- Broke, shattered; imperfect tense of spezzare
- consideravo
- I considered; imperfect tense of considerare
- Metà
- Half, middle; one of two equal parts
- disciplina
- Discipline, training, order, or a subject
- Eravamo
- We were; imperfect tense of essere
- disaccordo
- Disagreement, discord, lack of agreement
- Lei
- She, you formal; third person feminine pronoun
- disse
- Said; past tense of dire
- mi
- Me, to me; first person singular object pronoun
- mancava
- Was missing; imperfect tense of mancare
- grazia
- Grace, elegance, charm, or gratitude
- Eppure
- Yet, however, nevertheless despite something
- era
- Was; imperfect tense of essere
- gentile
- Gentle, kind, courteous, well-mannered person
- delle
- Of the, from the; feminine plural contraction
- tre
- Three; the number 3
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