THE FARMER HIMSELF KEEPS HOLIDAYS WHEN, AT EASE IN A MEADOW,
A FIRE IN THE MIDST, AND FRIENDS TO CROWN THE FLOWING BOWL,
HE DRINKS THE HEALTH OF THE WINE-GOD AND ARRANGES FOR HIS
HERDSMEN A DARTS-MATCH, SETTING UP THE TARGET ON AN ELM TREE,
AND THE LABORERS BARE THEIR SINEWY BODIES FOR COUNTRY WRESTLING.
*
“IT WAS BEYOND ALL QUESTION.” Returned from Florence. “THAT TUSCANY GREW TO GREATNESS.” Author resituates himself in Rome, for conversation with three undergraduates: Floriana, Simona 1, Simona 2.
MM: “Floriana, what do you think the future of Rome will be?”
Floriana: “I wish it could become great again, as it was in the past.” “SUCH WAS THE LIFE THE SABINES LIVED IN DAYS OF OLD.” “And not cut off from the rest of Italy.”
MM: “You mean Rome as it was historically?” “AND REMUS AND HIS BROTHER.” “Tell me about that.” “HOW ROME BECAME QUEEN OF THE WORLD.”
Floriana: “Rome was the chief and most beautiful and most powerful city.”
MM: “And what about the Roman people?”
Floriana: “I think the people of Rome had more fun than we do.”
MM: “You mean they had more discos?”
Floriana: “Yes, perhaps more psychedelic lights.”“RINGING HER SEVEN CITADELS WITH A SINGLE WALL.”“Their behavior was more transgressive.”
MM: “How so?”
Floriana: “Well, I’m not sure, but I suppose it to have been.”“BEFORE THE RISE OF THE CRETAN / LORD.”“Compared to what I do, they were really better.”“BEFORE IMPIOUS MEN SLAUGHTERED BULLOCKS FOR THE BANQUET.”“They drank more than me, for instance.”
MM: “But did they have anyone to equal Alessio?” “SUCH AS THE LIFE THAT GOLDEN SATURN LIVED UPON EARTH.”All three girls giggle.
Floriana: “No, and they had no one to equal Professor Speranza.” “MANKIND HAD NOT YET HEARD THE BUGLE BELLOW FOR WAR.” Again the girls laugh.
MM: “Your remarks, Floriana, are very well taken, but your discussion has been perhaps too serious.” “HAD NOT YET HEARD THE CLANK OF THE SWORD ON THE HARD ANVIL.” “Simona, what have you to say about all this?”
Simona 1: “I think Floriana is correct. My hope is that we will regain the power to have a wonderful time, that all our monuments and culture will be restored.”
MM: “Some, you know, say that Rome already has too much culture, too much religion. I notice that you have many churches.”
Simona 2: “I think we have too many churches.” “HE HAS NO POOR TO PITY.”
MM: “Do you all think that Rome will get better?” “NO ENVY FOR THE RICH.” “Is there life after death?” “THE FRUIT ON THE BOUGH.” “Will Rome be reborn, and will you return to live here again?”
Simona 1: “No. I don’t think so. And I don’t think Rome will be reborn. But yes, I think it may regain the power of the past.”
MM: “Isn’t Rome still a very beautiful city?”“THE CROPS THAT THE FIELD IS GLAD TO BEAR.” “Other great civilizations of the past, like Egypt and India and China, have now been replaced by rather tawdry remnants.” “ARE HIS FOR THE GATHERING.” “Aren’t you all complaining too much?”
Simona 1: “I think that Rome today is only here because of the Pope. It is only because it could not be destroyed.”
MM: “Why are you all so pessimistic? Perhaps Rome is better than it has ever been.”
Simona 1: “No, people today are too egoistic, too selfish.”
MM: “Are you yourself too egoistic?”
Simona 1: “Yes, I feel that I do not care about the other.”
MM: “But what of Rome itself, its beautiful churches, its prosperity, its civilized way of life?” “HE SPARES NOT A GLANCE FOR THE IRON / RIGOR OF LAW, THE MUNICIPAL RACKET, THE PUBLIC RECORDS.”
Simona 1: “Well, we may talk about these churches, but we don’t know what is inside them. I am speaking now honestly of the Catholic religion. I myself believe in most of its doctrines, but when I listen to the most perfect religious people I find them out of touch with our daily reality.”
MM: “Would things have been better in the Middle Ages? Would Simona 2, for example, have been happier living as a nun in a cloister?” Simona 1 laughs.
Simona 1: “I don’t know.”
MM: “What about you, Simona 2?”
Simona 2: “I myself don’t think the Middle Ages were superior to the present. We are more comfortable, and we can make things better. Medieval people had no model.”
MM: “The Romans had the Greeks for their model.” “OTHER MEN DARE THE SEA WITH THEIR OARS BLINDLY.” “Weren’t they too, like you, burdened with all this past?”
Simona 2: “The Romans did not have a great sense of history.” “OR DASH / ON THE SWORD.” “We consider history in a different way. We believe that we can learn from it.”
MM: “But don’t you have a choice: can’t you choose between thinking about history and living your life, say, with a soccer player?” “OR INSINUATE THEMSELVES INTO ROYAL COURTS.”
Simona 2: “It depends. There are certain fields of enlightenment, to be sure, that you can leave aside. If you wish privacy, you should do that.”
Simona 2: “History is something that comes by itself, like a wheel.” “IN HIS LUST FOR JEWELLED CUPS.” “Even if different situations are not identical, men always behave basically the same way.” “FOR SCARLET LINEN TO SLEEP ON.” “History does not depend upon the particular events.”
MM: “When we think of your parents and grandparents, of historical figures, we are thinking about the past. What of the future?”“ONE PILES UP GREAT WEALTH.”“In a sense it is you who represent it.”“GLOATS OVER HIS CACHE OF GOLD.”“Is the future for you going to be the same as the present is for your parents?”“ONE IS WORKED UP TO HYSTERIA.”“Or the past for your ancestors?”“BY THE PLAUDITS OF THE SENATE.”
Simona 1: “I think the main difference is our education. My mother had only the primary school, but I am in the university.”
MM: “Does this make you better, or worse, than your mother?”
Simona 1: “Not better, but it is possible for me to work and to live more.”
MM: “Will you, then, be happier than your parents because of all your education?”
Simona 1: “I don’t think so. Culture makes people more frenetic.”
MM: “So by going to the university.” “ONE GAWKS AT THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS.” “We might say that you are perpetuating your problem, you are making it worse.”
Simona 1: “Yes, in a certain way.”
Floriana: “I think our parents made the best of what they had. But now we can do it better, can study what people have done in the past.”“AT THE PEOPLE RESOUNDING ACROSS THE BENCHES.” “And so perhaps we may get wiser. But we must all strive to be happy.”
MM: “At some point you will become the present, and your children will become the future. And they’re going to say, ‘I don’t want to be exactly like my mother.’”
Simona 1: “Yes, that’s for sure. I know that my children will grow up and say, ‘Oh, she’s such an old-fashioned mother.’” “THESE SHED THEIR BROTHERS’ BLOOD / MERRILY.” “‘Who wants a mother like this?’”
MM: “And what will your children, twenty years from now, be like?” “THEY BARTER FOR EXILE THEIR HOMES BELOVED.”
Simona 2: “I don’t know.” “AND LEAVE FOR COUNTRIES LYING BENEATH AN ALIEN SUN.” “I only hope that they will be free and intelligent, that they can make decisions for themselves to control their lives. And of course to enjoy themselves.”
MM: “There seems to be a contradiction in what you all are saying. You wish to be free but you also wish to be tied to the past. How is it, then, that you can become free?”
Simona 2: “Being educated doesn’t mean being tied to the past but knowing the past, judging it, learning from it, so that we may evolve. Otherwise, life is just a jump into the blue.”
MM: “You know, I’ve talked to many Italians over the past five weeks, and I find that most are pessimistic. But you are all quite optimistic. Is this because your education is making you freer, so that you may realize more choices?”
Floriana: “We have the possibility, I think, to be open-minded about how things go around us, out of Italy and out of our house. So I find myself really lucky, with the opportunity to meet people of foreign countries, and to speak English, for instance, to talk with you or other persons I would not otherwise have the chance to meet in the culture. Because, if you don’t compare to the other, you cannot even reflect upon your self.”
MM: “Yes, English is very important. Have you used your English to speak with Japanese people or with others who don’t understand Italian?”
Floriana: “We find Japanese people a little difficult to understand.”
MM: “What about people from Latin America? Do you speak with them in Spanish?”
Floriana: “No we cannot do that.”
MM: “Alessio says that Spanish is very easy, you just add an ‘s’ to every Italian word.”
Floriana: “Well, we don’t study it.”
MM: “Last night, when we had dinner together with your fellow students, and they all told jokes and recited rap lyrics and did parodies of Shakespeare, do you think that was an important part of your education? Or were you just having fun?”
Simona 1: “I think it was an experience.”
Simona 2: “Yes, it was a very civilized experience, to speak a long night in English.”
Floriana: “To be able to speak what you believe without asking the others, I find it very nice. I also like the Chinese way of eating.”
MM: “Yes, in a Chinese restaurant you can share food with other people.”
Simona 1: “We students come from different environments. So, to stay at the same table and share the same food is good, and to share different points of view.”
MM: “That is interesting, because up till now we have been talking as though you all shared the same opinions. How, Simona 1, do you think that Floriana is different from you?”
Simona 1: “That is hard to say, because I know her from so long. I would have to say that Floriana is much more practical than me.”
MM: “Now Floriana is a Roman, and you are not. What is it to be a Roman, to be practical or to be more idealistic?”
Simona 1: “Romans are more lazy. When you are in the library here in Rome you cannot find the book you are looking for, because the Romans are too lazy to put it back.”
MM: “For a while we have not heard from Simona 2. She has a special interest, and that is Ireland. How long have you been interested in this subject?”
Simona 2: “Ever since I began reading Yeats. I started with his poetry and then became interested in Ireland. I wanted to know everything about the country.”
MM: “What other Irish writers do you like?”
Simona 2: “I like Joyce very much.”
MM: “Do you think that Joyce is a Catholic?”
Simona 2: “That’s a difficult question. Sometimes I think so, and sometimes not.”
MM: “People who struggle with their religious beliefs are often more religious than those who don’t.”
Simona 2: “I think his struggle with his religion was like his struggle with Ireland.”
MM: “You know, someone has written a book about Joyce and Dante. She has said that all Joyce’s work from beginning to end follows the structure of the Divine Comedy. What was Dante really writing about?”
Simona 2: “I think he was writing about the people of his time and about their values.”
MM: “One feature of Dante that makes him different from other medieval writers is that he is writing about himself. How do you feel about the personal element in literature?”
Simona 2: “I believe that through the presentation of just one character the author can find himself and at the same time humanize, even universalize, others. Reading this poetry, rather than only one experience I find a general way of life made available to everyone. It gives the possibility for the reader to find himself.”
MM: “Ancient Rome was the first universal empire. And you have suggested that Dante is universal. Is it possible that you too are universal?”
Simona 2: “I myself have only begun to discover other cultures. I have only begun to study other religions. But when I do this, I find that another world has opened.”
MM: “Simona 2, you like Irish literature. But who is your favorite Italian writer?”
Simona 2: “My favorite poet is Leopardi.”
MM: “Tell me why you like Leopardi.”
Floriana: “I think he is very sad.”
Simona 2: “Yes, I agree. But sometimes when you read something sad you can say, ‘Yes, but I am not so.’” This causes Floriana and Simona 1 to laugh.
MM: “It’s a kind of paradox, isn’t it? Shakespeare, when he was writing his comedies, was having difficulty in his life. But when he wrote his tragedies, he seems to have been very happy.” All three girls laugh. “Simona 1, who is your favorite Italian writer?”
Simona 1: “Pirandello. He is one of the best playwrights. And as a poet, Leopardi.”
MM: “So perhaps the two Simonas are closer to one another than they suppose.” The two Simonas laugh. “Floriana, what about you?”
Floriana: “I like Moravia. And as a poet, I really like Ungaretti, because in his imagismo you will find a complete philosophy.” The two Simonas agree.
MM: “Leopardi, Pirandello and Ungaretti all come from a tragic period, don’t they?”
Floriana: “Well, most Italians think that Ungaretti is pessimistic, but he is not really.”
MM: “He writes about the experience of World War I, yet he transcends it.”
Floriana: “Yes. In a poem he says that although he is fighting, he is writing the letters full of love. I think he catches the real meaning of life.”
MM: “As people who have read both English and Italian literature, which do you prefer?” “STILL THE FARMER FURROWS THE LAND WITH HIS CURVING PLOUGH.”
Simona 1: “I have always liked English literature better than Italian.” “THE LAND IS HIS ANNUAL LABOR.” “It gives me more sensation.” “IT KEEPS HIS NATIVE COUNTRY.”
MM: “Isn’t this interesting.” “HIS LITTLE GRANDSONS AND HERDS OF CATTLE AND TRUSTY BULLOCKS.” “Simona 2 likes Irish literature and Simona 1 prefers English. What about you, Floriana?” “UNRESTING THE YEAR TEEMS WITH ORCHARD FRUIT.”
Floriana: “I too prefer English literature.” “OR YOUNG / OF CATTLE.”
Simona 2: “We feel that English literature is more deep than Italian literature.” “OR SHEAVES OF CORN.”
MM: “Well, English literature, of course, is very good.” “BRIMMING THE FURROWS WITH PLENTY, OVERFLOWING THE BARNS.” “But what about Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ariosto, Tasso?” “WINTER COMES.”
Simona 1: “Dante is the exception to the rule.” “WHEN OLIVES ARE CRUSHED IN THE PRESS.” “He is one of the greatest.” “AND PIGS RETURN ELATE WITH ACORNS.”
MM: “And you don’t consider Ariosto and Tasso to be among the greatest?” “AND WOODS GIVE ARBUTUS BERRIES.”
Floriana: “They are only canonical.” “AND AUTUMN DROPS HER VARIED FRUITS AT OUR FEET.” The two Simonas nod. “WHILE FAR / ABOVE ON SUNNY ROCKS.” But now our time is up. “THE VINTAGE BASKS AND MELLOWS.” For all three students must return to class.
THUS OF AGRICULTURE AND THE CARE OF FLOCKS I SANG,
AND FORESTRY, WHILE GREAT CAESAR FIRED HIS LIGHTNINGS
AND BY DEEP EUPHRATES CONQUERED, AND GAVE JUSTICE TO
DOCILE PEOPLES, WINNING HIS WAY TO THE IMMORTALS.
SUCH WAS THE TIME WHEN I, UNKNOWN TO FAME, FOLLOWED
THE PURSUITS OF PEACE, WHO DALLIED WITH PASTORAL VERSE,
THEN, EMBOLDENED BY AGE, O VERGIL, SANG
WITH YOU IN THE SHADE OF A SPREADING BEECH.
*