Se l’asse cede (excerpt)
By Elisa Biagini - Italy, 1970 –
Transitional | Language, Nature
Se l’asse cede, se la
voce affonda
c’è qui
nell’aria, la
parola-ramo
che ci tiene.
Glossary
|
WORD
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|
| affonda (v.) | from the verb affondare, meaning to make a downward movement | descends, falls, drops, sinks |
| c’è (v.) | from the verb essere—to be | there is, there exists |
| cede (v.) | from the verb cedere—to lose force | collapses, falls, breaks, gives way |
| che (pron.) | refers to something previously mentioned | that, which |
| ci tiene (pron. + v.) | from the verb tenere—to hold or bear the weight of | holds us, keeps us, supports us |
| l'asse (n.) | a long, flat piece of wood | the plank, the board, the beam |
| la (art.) | denoting an individual object | the |
| nell’aria (phrase) | among the invisible gaseous substance surrounding the earth | in the atmosphere, in the air, in the sky |
| parola (n.) | a unit of language | word, term, phrase, speech |
| qui (adv.) | used to express the location or position of the speaker | here, in this place, at this point |
| ramo (n.) | a piece of a tree or plant | branch, twig, stem |
| se (conj.) | used to express a future possibility or condition | if, in the event that |
| voce (n.) | the sound of speaking | voice, talking |
Bio
Elisa Biagini is a poet, artist, and translator. She writes in English and Italian. Born in the city of Florence, she studied and taught writing in the United States for several years. Her poems often talk about ordinary objects in unusual ways. She has described writing as a way of dealing with the things that frighten her. She explains that poetry “means forcing yourself to rediscover (and to cause to rediscover) reality, to pause for a longer time in front of things, to hear their inner noise.”*
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