Daily Poem: The Glorious Days of Old ~ Lucia Bertani dell’Oro
The Glorious Days of Old
~ Lucia Bertani dell’Oro
Translated from Italian by Laura Anna Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie
The glorious days of old were glad to own
Both Sappho and Corinna, whose wise pens
Raised them as high as to the light of heaven
Through many honorable, virtuous ways.
And now these two, whose hair is bound with laurel,
Not only pour out new streams from Aganippe
But quench all impious and evil customs
With their high works, eternal and rare.
Such that their fame not only overshadows
The ancient two, but everywhere the names
Of Gambara and Pescara resound,
These noble souls inspire me to strive
To bring my little light out of the shadow,
Only that it may shine forth to the world.
Notes: Aganippe is a fountain in Greece, sacred to the Muses. Gambara and Pescara are Veronica Gambara and Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara, both famous women poets of the Italian Renaissance.
