Straddling two worlds

    The poem  “A Page of Life”, originally written in Italian by my father, Dante Manganelli, deals with the painful experience of  leaving one’s homeland and  loved ones in a time when no form of technology existed to make separation less doleful.

     The poem starts with a long description of  the scene of a spring day, the symbol  of  the dawn of  a new and fruitful experience: the opportunity for change and improvement. 

      After this lengthy description, the  poem  underscores  the heartbreaking experience of  lengthy  family separation. Family cohesion is a value which  Italian immigrants fostered  in their “new homeland”.

      Finally the last lines sum up two contrasting feelings: eagerness  to start a new life and  sorrow for what one leaves behind.

      The last words of the poem  are the most meaningful: the poet defines the USA  his “second homeland”.  These words express appreciation for two very different cultures and an open-minded attitude to reconcile  the best aspects of two worlds and of past and future. 

 

A Page of Life

Spring was in the air

And thousands of thoughts were swarming  in my mind

For the sad day of my leaving

Was drawing near.

A restlessness

Drove me out of my house

To admire once again

The beauty of nature.

The March day was exhilarating:

The sun was  shining,

Skylarks were flying in the bright sky,

While a few shallows were happily screeching,

perhaps because they had found their lost nests.

Fresh blades of fragrant  grass,

and colorful tiny flowers emerged from the damp earth.

Bushes were becoming green

And some violets sprouted among the hawthorns.

Here and there spots of soft snow still covered the ground.

The light rustle of leaves,

The singing of young farmers,

The roaring of the stream,

The sparkling dewdrops,

The dazzling sun setting behind the hill

Altogether made that dying day lovely.

These moments of sublime joy

Were swiftly blurred

By the  broken-hearted faces of  my loved ones,

In whose eyes an awesome, endless sadness shone.

Eager to join the woman

 whom I had bound my life to

and sorrowful for leaving home,

I departed for a very distant land

Which fatally became my second homeland.

                                                                                                    Dante Manganelli