Poetry
The Day
Il giorno
Giuseppe Parini · 1763
Opening lines
Giovin Signore, o a te scenda per lungo
Di magnanimi lombi ordine il sangue
Purissimo celeste, o in te del sangue
Emendino il difetto i compri onori
E le adunate in terra o in mar ricchezze
Dal genitor frugale in pochi lustri,
Me Precettor d’amabil rito ascolta.
Young Lord, whether down a long
line of noble loins your blood descends
most pure and heavenly, or whether in you the blood's
defect is mended by purchased honours
and by the riches gathered on land or sea
by a frugal father in a few lustres,
hear me, Preceptor of a pleasant rite.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from it.wikisource.org
Synopsis
Addressing a young lord of Milan with the gravity of a tutor, the poet teaches him the art of filling his day: waking, the choice of lunch, the toilette, visits, gallant encounters, the evening's entertainments. Every frivolous gesture is described in the lofty style of the epic, and it is the contrast between the futility of the day and the nobility of the tone that makes this picture a satire of the aristocracy.
Context
Only two parts appeared in the author's lifetime, the Morning in 1763 and the Midday in 1765; the last two, the Evening and the Night, remained unfinished and were published only after his death. The device borrows from the epic of Homer and Virgil, in the mock-heroic manner of Alexander Pope. A French translation in verse appeared under the title “Le Jour”; Sébastien Camugli produced a bilingual translation, under the same title, in the Collection bilingue des classiques étrangers. In English, the poem appeared in 1978 under the title “The Day”.
Who it is for
A long satirical poem, without a plot, in which praise is always ironic: to be read slowly, part by part.
Prizes and reception
The poem marks the beginning of polished literature in Italy.
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