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#WeAreWithItaly // Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

The Irish poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin kindly sent us her translation of the poem Contro Scauro by Antonella Anedda as a message of solidarity with Italy and a tribute to her relationship with Italian culture. The poem is transcribed below in its Irish, Italian and Logudorese (Northern Sardinian) versions. Thank you so much Eiléan!

An chúis in aghaidh Scaurus

Ní féidir liom scríobh faoin Róimh.
An iomad áilleachta, galántachta, ionar línéadaigh.
Mar sin b’fhéidir – fiche céad bliain ó shin – a cheap na Sardaí úd
a tháinig ann chun ceart a éileamh in aghaidh Scaurus.

‘Dream gan muinín … tír agus fiú an mhil ina domlas ann’

Mar sin a labhair Cicearó ina óráid. Anois sciurdann a ainm
i measc na gcloch, mion, mear. Ach mar a bhí ansin
faigheann na finnéithe bás, tagann tuirse ar an mbeach.
Seasann an mhil: teanga na bhfeochadán, na gcaithní, teanga an tsalainn.

*

Contro Scauro

Non so scrivere di Roma.
Troppa bellezza, eleganza, tuniche di lino.
Forse così – venti secoli fa – pensarono quei sardi
venuti a chiedere giustizia contro Scauro.

“Gente senza fede… terra dove perfino il miele è fiele”

Così diceva Cicerone nella sua orazione. Ora il suo nome
gira tra le pietre, minuscolo, veloce. Ma come allora
muoiono i testimoni, l’ape si affatica.
Resiste il miele: la lingua di cardo, corbezzolo, sale.

*

Contra Scaurum

No ischio iscrivere de Roma.
Meda belluria, dechidu, mutas ‘e linu.
Forzis gòi – sunt binti seculus – pessaint cuddos sardos
bennitos a dimandare zusstissia contra Scauro.

“Zente chene ide… terra ue peri su mele est ‘ele”

Gòi nàrriat Cicero in faeddu suo. Ora, in mesu petras
bortat suo lumene, lestru, minutu. Ma sicutera
morint sos distimonzos, s’ape tribulat.
Reghet su mele: limba e ‘lidone, gardu et sale.

*

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Born in Cork, Irish poet, translator, and editor Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin is the daughter of a writer and a professor who fought in the Irish War of Independence. She earned a BA and MA at University College Cork and also studied at Oxford University.

Ní Chuilleanáin is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Acts and Monuments (1966), which won the Patrick Kavanagh Award; The Magdalene Sermon (1989), which was selected as one of the three best poetry volumes of the year by the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Poetry Book Prize Committee; Selected Poems (2009); and The Sun-fish (2010), which won the International Griffin Poetry Prize. Her most recent volume, The Boys of Bluehill (2015), was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. She translated two books by the Romanian poet Ileana Malancioiu, After the Raising of Lazarus (2005) and The Legend of the Walled-Up Wife (2012), as well as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’s The Water Horse (2001, co-translated with Medbh McGuckian). Ní Chuilleanáin’s work has been featured in several anthologies, including The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women’s Poetry, 1967-2000 (1999, edited by Peggy O’Brien).

Since 1975 she has edited the literary magazine Cyphers, and she has also edited Poetry Ireland Review. She has taught at Trinity College Dublin since 1966. With her husband, poet Macdara Woods, she divides her time between Ireland and Italy.

_____________________

A few days ago, through our newsletter, we have launched #WeAreWithItaly, an open call to collect messages of solidarity to be shared on the IIC social media channels, for Italy and indeed all parts of the world confronting the Covid-19 emergency. Anybody with an existing connection to Italy, or who wishes to join the tributes that have been pouring from all over as means to breach the distance in this time of separation, is welcome to follow these simple steps:

• Make a video recording with their smartphone OR write a message and choose a picture to go with it;
• Send the material to iicdublino@esteri.it, using the platform WeTransfer if necessary.

We believe it is extremely important to foster unity in the extraordinary situation that we all have to confront right now and we would be happy to receive your contribution, which will be uploaded to our social media to endorse a powerful message of social cohesion.