Centre for Romanian Studies

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCXLVIII): IRELAND – Oscar WILDE (1856 – 1900): “Sonnet On Approaching Italy”, “Sonet Italiei”

Sonnet On Approaching Italy
Oscar Wilde (1856, Dublin – 1900, Paris)

I reached the Alps: the soul within me burned,
Italia, my Italia, at thy name:
And when from out the mountain’s heart I came
And saw the land for which my life had yearned,

I laughed as one who some great prize had earned:
And musing on the marvel of thy fame
I watched the day, till marked with wounds of flame
The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned.

The pine-trees waved as waves a woman’s hair,
And in the orchards every twining spray
Was breaking into flakes of blossoming foam:

But when I knew that far away at Rome
In evil bonds a second Peter lay,
I wept to see the land so very fair.
* * * * *

Dar când, în vechea Romă stau zăcând,
În fiare, sfinţii tăi fiind priponiţi,
Cu lacrimi, am văzut al tău temei.

Versiune în limba Română de Constantin ROMAN,
© 2014, Copyright Constantin ROMAN, Londra

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