Poem of the month

selected by David Underdown

Sonnet

by Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321)

Guido, I wish that you and Lapo and I
Were carried off by magic
And put in a boat, which, every time there was a wind,
Would sail on the ocean exactly where we wanted.

In this way storms and other dangerous weather
Wouldn’t be able to harm us –
And I wish that, since we were all of one mind,
We’d go on wanting more and more to be together.

And I wish that Vanna and Lagia too
And the girl whose name on the list is number thirty
Were put into the boat by the magician too

And that we all did nothing but talk about love
And I wish that they were just as glad to be there
As I believe the three of us would be.

This sonnet by Dante is translated from the Italian by Kenneth Koch. The translator has abandoned the metrical and rhyming schemes of the original (recognising perhaps how much easier it is to rhyme in Italian than English) but has captured instead its playfulness and whimsy. After 700 years it’s as fresh as a salt breeze.