The Souls of Black Folk — Page 9
In song and exhortation swelled one refrain—Liberty; in his tears and curses the God he implored had Freedom in his right hand.
Nel canto e nell'esortazione si gonfiava un ritornello—Libertà; nelle sue lacrime e nelle sue maledizioni il Dio che implorava aveva la Libertà nella mano destra.
At last it came,—suddenly, fearfully, like a dream.
Alla fine arrivò,—d'improvviso, terribilmente, come un sogno.
With one wild carnival of blood and passion came the message in his own plaintive cadences:—
Con un selvaggio carnevale di sangue e passione giunse il messaggio nelle sue stesse cadenze lamentose:—
"Shout, O children! Shout, you're free! For God has bought your liberty!"
«Gridate, o figli! Gridate, siete liberi! Poiché Dio ha comprato la vostra libertà!»
Years have passed away since then,—ten, twenty, forty; forty years of national life, forty years of renewal and development, and yet the swarthy spectre sits in its accustomed seat at the Nation's feast.
Da allora sono passati anni,—dieci, venti, quaranta; quaranta anni di vita nazionale, quaranta anni di rinnovamento e sviluppo, eppure lo spettro bruno siede nel suo solito posto al banchetto della Nazione.
In vain do we cry to this our vastest social problem:—
Invano gridiamo a questo nostro più vasto problema sociale:—
"Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble!"
«Prendi qualsiasi forma tranne quella, e i miei nervi saldi Non tremeranno mai!»
The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land.
La Nazione non ha ancora trovato pace dai suoi peccati; il liberto non ha ancora trovato nella libertà la sua terra promessa.
Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,—a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the simple ignorance of a lowly people.
Qualunque bene possa essere emerso in questi anni di cambiamento, l'ombra di una profonda delusione grava sul popolo negro,—una delusione tanto più amara perché l'ideale non raggiunto era sconfinato, limitato soltanto dalla semplice ignoranza di un popolo umile.
The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for freedom, the boon that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,—like a tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the headless host.
Il primo decennio fu semplicemente un prolungamento della vana ricerca della libertà, il dono che sembrava sfuggire sempre di poco alla loro presa,—come un fuoco fatuo seducente, che rendeva folle e sviava la schiera senza guida.
Vocabulary
- Nel
- In the, within the (preposition + article contraction)
- canto
- Song, singing, or section of a poem
- nell
- In the (preposition + article contraction, variant)
- esortazione
- Exhortation, urging, strong encouragement or appeal
- si
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, himself, herself, itself
- gonfiava
- Swelled, inflated, puffed up (imperfect tense)
- un
- A, an (indefinite article masculine singular)
- ritornello
- Refrain, recurring musical or poetic phrase
- Libertà
- Freedom, liberty (noun, feminine)
- nelle
- In the (preposition + article, feminine plural)
- sue
- His, her, its (possessive adjective feminine plural)
- lacrime
- Tears, weeping (noun feminine plural)
- maledizioni
- Curses, maledictions, damning words (noun plural)
- il
- The (definite article masculine singular)
- Dio
- God (noun masculine singular)
- che
- That, which, who (relative pronoun)
- implorava
- Implored, begged, pleaded (imperfect tense)
- aveva
- Had (third person singular imperfect of avere)
- la
- The (definite article feminine singular)
- nella
- In the (preposition + article feminine singular)
- mano
- Hand (noun feminine singular)
- destra
- Right, right-hand (adjective feminine)
- Alla
- To the, at the (preposition + article feminine)
- fine
- End, finish, conclusion (noun feminine)
- arrivò
- Arrived, came (past tense third person singular)
- improvviso
- Sudden, abrupt, unforeseen (adjective masculine)
- terribilmente
- Terribly, horribly, in a frightening manner (adverb)
- come
- Like, as, how (conjunction or preposition)
- sogno
- Dream (noun masculine singular)
- Con
- With (preposition)
- selvaggio
- Wild, savage, fierce (adjective masculine)
- carnevale
- Carnival, masquerade, wild celebration (noun)
- di
- Of, from (preposition)
- sangue
- Blood (noun masculine singular)
- passione
- Passion, intense emotion or feeling (noun)
- giunse
- Arrived, reached, came (past tense third person)
- messaggio
- Message, communication, announcement (noun masculine)
- stesse
- Same, identical (adjective feminine plural)
- cadenze
- Cadences, rhythmic falls or conclusions (noun plural)
- lamentose
- Mournful, sorrowful, lamenting (adjective feminine plural)
- Gridate
- Shout, cry out (imperative second person plural)
- figli
- Sons, children, offspring (noun masculine plural)
- siete
- Are (second person plural present of essere)
- liberi
- Free, unoccupied, available (adjective masculine plural)
- Poiché
- Since, because, for the reason that (conjunction)
- ha
- Has (third person singular present of avere)
- comprato
- Bought, purchased (past participle masculine)
- vostra
- Your (possessive adjective feminine singular)
- Da
- From, by, since (preposition)
- allora
- Then, at that time, from then on (adverb)
- sono
- Am, are (first person present of essere)
- passati
- Passed, gone by (past participle masculine plural)
- anni
- Years (noun masculine plural)
- dieci
- Ten (number)
- venti
- Twenty (number)
- quaranta
- Forty (number)
- vita
- Life (noun feminine singular)
- nazionale
- National, relating to the nation (adjective)
- rinnovamento
- Renewal, renovation, rejuvenation (noun masculine)
- sviluppo
- Development, growth, progress (noun masculine)
- eppure
- Yet, nevertheless, still, however (conjunction)
- lo
- It, him (direct object pronoun masculine singular)
- spettro
- Ghost, phantom, specter (noun masculine)
- bruno
- Brown, dark (adjective masculine singular)
- siede
- Sits, is seated (third person singular present)
- suo
- His, her, its, one's (possessive adjective)
- solito
- Usual, customary, accustomed (adjective masculine)
- posto
- Place, position, seat (noun masculine singular)
- al
- To the, at the (preposition + article masculine)
- banchetto
- Banquet, feast, table (noun masculine singular)
- della
- Of the (preposition + article feminine singular)
- Nazione
- Nation, country, people (noun feminine singular)
- Invano
- In vain, uselessly, fruitlessly (adverb)
- gridiamo
- We cry, we shout (first person plural present)
- questo
- This, this one (demonstrative adjective masculine)
- nostro
- Our (possessive adjective masculine singular)
- più
- More, most (adverb of quantity)
- vasto
- Vast, wide, extensive (adjective masculine singular)
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