This is DGR's translation of an anonymous street song which he appears to have translated during his 1871
sojourn at Kelmscott with Jane Morris. That context, which inevitably shapes one's sense of the poem's import,
is underscored by the presence of the Bodleian manuscript.
Textual History: Composition
The text of the Italian song is
worked into three pages of Note Book 1 in the Ashley Library, along with a draft text of stanza one of DGR's
translation. A fair copy is
included among the miscellaneous poems DGR gathered at the
back of the
gift book of verses he gave to Mrs. Morris in 1874, along
with a fair copy of the
Italian original. Fair copies of the Italian text and
of the translation are also in the Lilly Library. These were
printer's copy for the 1881 publication. Another
fair copy of both original and translation
is preserved in the Library of Congress, and the Boston Public Library has what appears to be the earliest of the manuscripts
of the song and DGR's
translation.
This collection contains 8 texts and images, including:
The first edition of the 1881 Poems. A New Edition
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
This is DGR's translation of an anonymous street song which he appears to have translated during his 1871 sojourn at Kelmscott with Jane Morris. That context, which inevitably shapes one's sense of the poem's import, is underscored by the presence of the Bodleian manuscript.
Textual History: Composition
The text of the Italian song is worked into three pages of Note Book 1 in the Ashley Library, along with a draft text of stanza one of DGR's translation. A fair copy is included among the miscellaneous poems DGR gathered at the back of the gift book of verses he gave to Mrs. Morris in 1874, along with a fair copy of the Italian original. Fair copies of the Italian text and of the translation are also in the Lilly Library. These were printer's copy for the 1881 publication. Another fair copy of both original and translation is preserved in the Library of Congress, and the Boston Public Library has what appears to be the earliest of the manuscripts of the song and DGR's translation.
Printing History
First published in DGR's 1881 Poems. A New Edition. and collected thereafter.