Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.
" And today the Palestinians are the Jews of the Israelis."
-- Primo Levi, cited in A Hard Case: The Life and Death of Primo Levi; The New Yorker, 17 Jun 2002.
But the more Levi shouldered his responsibilities as a Jew the more he got caught in the toils of the Holocaust culture. Like most Italian Jews, he believed in assimilation. And he did not consider the Jews to be heroes because Hitler had tried to exterminate them. As he saw it, they were merely human—Fascism's crime was to have deprived them of that status—and humanity was what we had to understand if we harbored any hope of a just world. Accordingly, he gave Israel no breaks. "Everybody is somebody's Jew," he told an Italian newspaper in 1982, "and today the Palestinians are the Jews of the Israelis." After the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, and the massacres at Sabra and Shatila, he said that Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon were bringing down shame on the name of the Jews, and he called for their resignation. This brought a flood of letters accusing him of giving comfort to the enemy. In sum, Levi, the greatest soul, the greatest artist, of the "witness" writers, was not usable the way the others were. It was not Levi but his friend Elie Wiesel who got a Nobel Prize.
U.S. Perpetuates Mass Killings In Iraq
By Peter Phillips
The United States is directly responsible for over one million Iraqi
deaths since the invasion five and half years ago. In a January 2008
report, a British polling group Opinion Research Business (ORB)
reports that, “survey work confirms our earlier estimate that over
1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which
started in 2003…. We now estimate that the death toll between March
2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of
1,033,000. If one takes into account the margin of error associated
with survey data of this nature then the estimated range is between
946,000 and 1,120,000”.
This report comes on the heels of two earlier studies conducted by
Johns Hopkins University published in the Lancet medical journal that
confirmed the continuing numbers of mass deaths in Iraq. A study
done by Dr. Les Roberts from January 1, 2002 to March 18 2003 put the
civilian deaths at that time at over 100,000. A second study
published in the Lancet in October 2006 documented over 650,000
civilian deaths in Iraq since the start of the US invasion. The 2006
study confirms that US aerial bombing in civilian neighborhoods
caused over a third of these deaths and that over half the deaths are
directly attributable to US forces.
The now estimated 1.2 million dead, as of July 2008,
includes children, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, cab
drivers, clerics, schoolteachers, factory workers, policemen, poets,
healthcare workers, day care providers, construction workers,
babysitters, musicians, bakers, restaurant workers and many more. All
manner of ordinary people in Iraq have died because the United States
decided to invade their country. These are deaths in excess of the
normal civilian death rate under the prior government.
The magnitude of these deaths is undeniable. The continuing
occupation by US forces guarantees a mass death rate in excess of
10,000 people per month with half that number dying at the hands of
US forces— a carnage so severe and so concentrated at to equate it
with the most heinous mass killings in world history. This act has
not gone unnoticed.
Recently, Dennis Kucinich introduced a single impeachment article
against George W. Bush for lying to Congress and the American people
about the reasons for invading Iraq. On July 15 The House forwarded
the resolution to the Judiciary Committee with a 238 to 180 vote.
That Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction and Iraq’s threat to
the US is now beyond doubt. Former US federal prosecutor Elizabeth De
La Vega documents the lies most thoroughly in her book U.S. Vs Bush,
and numerous other researchers have verified Bush’s untrue statements.
The American people are faced with a serious moral dilemma. Murder
and war crimes have been conducted in our name. We have allowed the
war/occupation to continue in Iraq and offered ourselves little
choice within the top two presidential candidates for immediate
cessation of the mass killings. McCain would undoubtedly accept the
deaths of another million Iraqi civilians in order to save face for
America, and Obama’s 18-month timetable for withdrawal would likely
result in another 250,000 civilian deaths or more.
We owe our children and ourselves a future without the shame of mass
murder on our collective conscience. The only resolution of this
dilemma is the immediate withdrawal of all US troops in Iraq and the
prosecution and imprisonment of those responsible. Anything less
creates a permanent original sin on the soul of the nation for that
we will forever suffer.
Peter Phillips is a Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University
and director of Project Censored a media research group. He is the
co-editor with Dennnis Loo of the book Impeach the President: The
Case Against Bush and Cheney.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/4/july_4th_special_readings_from_howard
Say No to Star Wars
Sunday, June 22, 11am to ...
(USC4P&J meeting at 4:30pm)
Piazza Navona
Dear peace activists,
This Sunday, June 22, there will be a one-day global hunger strike to
protest the proposed U.S. military base in the Czech Republic, and what is
seen as the first step in creation of the U.S. Missile Defense System in
Europe, aka the new Star Wars. The Missile Defense System is destined to
antagonize Russia (and other countries suspicious of U.S. motives) and
ultimately create a dangerous new arms race. Its only beneficiaries will be
defense contractors such as Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, as
well as European weapons manufacturers. In February 2007, under the
Prodi government, Italy secretly signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the U.S. to participate in the program.
In Rome, Italian activists of Mondo senza guerre are supporting the
struggle in the Czech Republic, where there is tremendous opposition to
the new base, with an all day event in Piazza Navona, starting at 11am.
They'll make use of everything they can -- from street theatre to flyers -- to
inform Italians and tourists of the dangers of this multi-billion dollar program
described as "a solution that technically does not work being applied to a
problem that does not actually exist."
They will be collecting signatures for a petition against the new base, with
the aim of reaching the goal of 200,000 signatures before Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Prague on July 10 to sign an agreement
between the U.S. and the Czech Republic. Over 120,000 signatures have
already been collected (http://petice.nenasili.cz/?lang=en).
USC4P&J fully supports this initiative, and we plan to show our solidarity
and lend a hand by joining them in the afternoon, from 4:30 on. Please do
try to join us, even if only for a short while, and if only to add your name to
the signatories of this important petition, in person!
Please note: You don´t have to participate in the hunger strike to take part
in the activities! However, if you would like to join the hunger strike, you can
sign up at: http://tinyurl.com/5mvqyn
**Join us on June 22, 4:30pm to say NO to Star Wars!
For more information, contact us at: info@peaceandjustice.it
For more information on the Missile Defense System, see:
US Pushes Pie-in-the-Sky Missile Defense in Europe
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=10593
US taps Lithuania as alternative to Poland for missile shield plan
http://tinyurl.com/5jygs7
Priceless propaganda video from the US Missile Defense Agency
http://tinyurl.com/3ova44
Anna, Gene, Maria, Maria Chiara and Stephanie
---
U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome
info@peaceandjustice.it
http://www.peaceandjustice.it
"I will never in my life recommend any person join our armed services."
– 24-year Navy veteran, Michael Baranik
"When you discover that your heroes have all broken the rules, do you follow the rules, or do you follow your heroes?"
Dear peace activists,
clic the photo to enlarge
More photos of the NO Bush NO War Protest in Rome have been posted
on our web site: http://www.peaceandjustice.it/g-bush2008.php
We would also like to send our special thanks to Mat Callahan and Yvonne
Moore, (in the picture) who not only took time out of their holiday to come down to Rome to
march with us and play at the end of the protest, but also gave an
incredible performance at Arcobaleno last Friday. Two very talented and
passionate singers coupled with original music and thought provoking lyrics
made for quite a show, and helped raise funds for our work. Thanks, Mat
and Yvonne, and we hope to see you again soon in Rome! More on Mat
and Yvonne's music (http://www.matcallahan.com/ or
http://www.matandyvonne.com/)
And we received some encouraging comments on our group´s presence at
the march that we wanted to pass along:
- Cinzia of the No Dal Molin movement in Vicenza wrote:
"I saw your group on TG1! You were a beautiful site! My compliments to the
`criminals!´"
- Vittoria, an activist with Amnesty and the H in IMPEACH, wrote:
Did you see the photo of the "arrest" of Bush & Co? It was published on "La
Repubblica? " I think your group was the "mejo" (romanesco for meglio -
best), in other words the group that got the most response, the group that
knew, more than any of the others, how to best represent the spirit of the
demonstration! Bravissimi!
- Andrea, an Italian activist, approached us at the Palestine event on
Sunday and said: "I saw your group at the Bush protest the other day. You
were the most lively, creative presence there. You were great!"
Thanks to everyone who participated and put a lot of work and thought into
this demo!
See also photos/videos/articles from the Paris and London protests below:
Paris Protests (June 13)
Reuters: http://tinyurl.com/3t46bn - http://tinyurl.com/3uowj8 -
http://tinyurl.com/3vpnwq
AP: http://tinyurl.com/4pfhuh
YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glkFZy-hFdI
London Protests (June 15)
Reuters Photo: http://tinyurl.com/4vlq2o
Article on The Independent: http://tinyurl.com/59ghar
Anna, Gene, Maria, Maria Chiara and Stephanie
---
U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome
info@peaceandjustice.it
http://www.peaceandjustice.it
At last!!!!!
Congratulations to all those of you who turned out yesterday to say no to
Bush and his war agenda! Big, positive response from the media and
Italians everywhere, as Steph has reported in her email. It was great!
And special kudos to the demo committee that came up with (and prepared,
and acted out) the Bush-Cheney-Rice in chains scenario. Magnificent!
Historical!! Premonitory??? (Let's hope.)
The tide is turning, Kucinich's brave speech on Monday is putting Bush on
the defense; even if Pelosi and Hoyer are stonewalling impeachment, they
now have an arm to threaten Bush with if he attacks Iran -- they can bow
to the demands of the American public.
So lets make our demands heard! (Read below.)
Patrick
Democrats.com wrote on (Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:28:16 -0400):
___________________________________________________
>On Monday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich made history on the floor of the House
>by reading 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
>
>At last!!!!!
>
>We've waited years to find one Member of Congress brave enough to stand
>up for our Constitution, for which generations of Americans have fought
>and died. We are thrilled and honored that Dennis Kucinich has chosen to
>be that one genuine patriot.
>
>We congratulate him on his historic leadership, and pledge to do
>everything in our power to persuade the House to adopt all 35 Articles
>and put George W. Bush on trial before the Senate of the United States,
>exactly as the Founding Fathers wanted.
>
>Of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-8), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-
>5), and Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (IL-5) all remain adamantly
>opposed to impeachment - despite the overwhelming evidence of High
>Crimes, including the "Phase II" report by the Senate Intellligence
>Committee and Scott McClellan's new book.
>
>And when Rep. Robert Wexler (FL-19) called for Judiciary Committee
>hearings on Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment against Vice President
>Cheney in January, only 17 Democrats joined them: Neil Abercrombie (HI-
>1), Tammy Baldwin (WI-2), Michael Capuano (MA-8), Yvette Clarke (NY-11),
>Lacy Clay (MO-1), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Keith
>Ellison (MN-5), Sam Farr (CA-17), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7), Luis Gutierrez
>(IL-4), Barbara Lee (CA-9), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Jim Moran (VA-8), Mike
>Thompson (CA-1), Ed Towns (NY-10), and Lynn Woolsey (CA-6).
>
>So Kucinich's heroic efforts will be in vain unless we inundate Congress
>with emails and calls (202-224-3121) showing our full support for Rep.
>Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment:
>
>http://www.democrats.com/35-articles-of-impeachment
>
>And if you have time to do more, please login to Democrats.com, click
>"Local" and connect with other activists in your Congressional District
>to organize a Honk-To-Impeach gathering at the District Office of your
>Representative or a major local intersection:
>
>http://www.democrats.com/honktoimpeach
>
>Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your constant support
>throughout this long and historic struggle.
>
>Bob Fertik
>
>p.s. Events are moving incredibly fast so we will do our best to keep
>you informed by posting the latest news on our blog at Democrats.com. We
>apologize in advance if our site crashes under the massive surge of
>traffic - our support team is working hard to upgrade our site. If our
>site is down when you visit, please read the latest news at
>http://AfterDowningStreet.org
>Forward this message to everyone you know!
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Quando si guarda al Casentino, laggiù in basso, la Valle Chiusa stessa diviene pensiero, memoria.
Il passato emerge più vivido del presente ed il corso stesso del fiume diviene il simbolo,
l'immagine delle possenti correnti di vita e di passione che un giorno fluirono attraverso la Valle.
In giorni di un remoto passato il piccolo spazio circoscritto dai verdi colli, ora così pieno di
pace, rinserrò in sé alcune delle più strenue forze della storia d'Italia. La catena di alture irte
di castelli, lungo il corso del fiume e le torri di pietra che scrutano dalle balze ogni valle
laterale sottostante, rammentano il sistema feudale che in passato dominò l'Italia quando, nel diluvio generale, in cui rimasero sommerse legge ed ordine, dopo la caduta dell'Impero e le
successive invasioni del paese, il potere si ritirò sulla cima dei monti e fu impersonato dal
braccio armato del barone indipendente.
Il Casentino, tenuto da grandi Conti Palatini, i Guidi che, colla forza delle armi avevano esteso il loro dominio su tutte le vallate più alte dell'Appennino in entrambi i versanti e fino al cuore della Romagna, fu nell'Undicesimo e Dodicesimo secolo la sede di un potere al quale gli ancora deboli e insignificanti comuni confinanti prestavano omaggio ed obbedienza.
Fu questo il periodo in cui la Vallata fu più strettamente collegata con il mondo esterno. Mercanti e viaggiatori frequentavano le montagne e i villaggi, oggi piccoli e modesti, quasi inaccessibili sulle cime pietrose, che erano allora importanti luoghi di passaggio e sui monti si ergevano numerose e grandi abbazie, ridotte oggi a mucchi di rovine perse nella foresta, sui più alti pendii visitati oggi solo da cacciatori, abbazie che furono un tempo centri di rapporti umani e di attività politiche. La Vallata era probabilmente più popolata allora di oggi: dove il principe aveva la sua sede gli uomini si sentivano sicuri e si riunivano.
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And as one looks down into the Casentino, far beneath, the Valley Enclosed itself becomes a thought, a memory. The past grows more vivid than the present, and the course of the river below symbolises itself into an image of the strong currents of life and passion which once coursed through the Valley. In days long gone by, that little space circumscribed by the green hills, and now so peaceful, contained within it some of the most strenuous forces of Italian history. The chain of castled heights along the course of the river, and the rock-built towers that watch from their crags down each lateral valley, recall the feudal system which once dominated Italy, when in the general deluge, in which law and order were submerged after the downfall of the Empire and the successive invasions of the country, authority retreated to the hill-tops and lodged itself in the strong arm of the independent baron. The Casentino, held by the great Counts Palatine, the Guidi, who sword in hand had stretched their dominion over all the upper Apennine valleys on either side of the mountains and far into the Romagna, was in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the seat of a power to which the yet weak and insignificant communes around gave homage and obedience.
This was the period when the Valley was most closely connected with the outer world. The traffic of life had not yet beaten out broad tracks and easy roundabout ways, but men on mule-back went straight over the face of the hills to their destination. Merchants and travellers frequented the mountains, and villages now mean and dwindled and almost inaccessible upon their rocks were then quite in the world's path, and there was many a great abbey, now but a heap of ruins lost in the forest far up the higher slopes, where only the hunter goes by, which was then a centre of human intercourse and political activity. The Valley was probably more populous at that time than now; where princes inhabited, men were sure to gather together.
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27 gennaio 1302
In nome di Dio, amen.
Io Messer Cante dei Gabrielli da Gubbio, onorevole Potestà della Città di Firenze …
nell’anno del Signore 1302, al tempo del Santissimo Padre Papa Bonifazio VIII…
OMISSIS
Essendomi venuto alle orecchie sulla base di pubbliche dicerie che Dante Alighieri, durante il tempo del suo Priorato o dopo,
1 -aveva commesso per sé o per altri Baratterie, illeciti lucri, inique estorsioni in denaro o altre cose
2 – che lui o chi per lui aveva ricevuto denaro o altra utilità per far eleggere Priori o Gonfalonieri,
ufficiali di distretto, per stanziamenti a favore di rettori e ufficiali del comune di Firenze;
3 – che aveva fatto spendere denari contro il Sommo Pontefice e per impedire la venuta di re
Carlo D’Angiò;
4 – che aveva commesso o fatto commettere frode, falsità, dolo, malizia, baratteria e grave estorsione e aveva operato per dividere la città di Pistoia causando l’espulsione da detta città dei Neri fedeli alla Chiesa Romana, staccandola dall’alleanza con Firenze, dalla soggezione alla Chiesa romana e a re Carlo, paciaro in Toscana;
ordino che detto messer Dante, insieme a Palmerio, Orlanduccio e Lippo,…
venga multato di 5.000 fiorini piccoli, che restituisca quello che ha illegittimamente estorto.
Se non obbedisca alla condanna entro il terzo giorno da oggi
che tutti i suoi beni siano confiscati, devastati e distrutti; e devastati e distrutti restino di proprietà comunale; che, anche se pagante, resti fuori della provincia di Toscana a confino per due anni; che sia escluso per sempre dai pubblici uffici come falsario e barattiere, che paghi la condanna o no.
Tale è la nostra sentenza.
Condanna a morte p.47 del libro
10 marzo 1302
In nome di Dio, amen.
noi Cante, predetto Podestà, diamo e proferiamo la sotto indicata Condanna:
Messer Andrea de Gherardini
Messer Lapo Saltarelli
…
Dante Allighieri
…
contro i quali si è proceduto a seguito della inquisizione del nostro ufficio e della nostra Curia per il fatto pervenuto alle orecchie nostre e della stessa nostra Corte sulla base delle pubbliche dicerie
…che se qualcuno dei predetti in qualsiasi tempo cadrà in potere del detto comune, sia bruciato col fuoco finché muoia.
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27 January 1302
In the name of God, amen.
I, the undersigned Messere Cante dei Gabrielli from Gubbio, honorable Podestà of the city of Florence....in the year of our Lord 1302, at the time of our most Holy Father Pope Boniface VIII … OMISSIS
It having come to my ear from public rumours that Dante Alighieri, during his mandate as Priore or after
1 – had indulged, to his own or to other parties' benefit, in barter, illicit gains, iniquitous extortions of money or of other goods.
2 – that he, or others on his behalf, had received monies or other benefits to the effect that district officers should be elected as Priors or Gonfalonieri to make monies available to the rectors and officials of the commune of Florence.
3 – that he had caused the spending of monies against the Pope and in trying to prevent the coming of King Charles of Anjou;
4 – that he had committed, or caused to commit, fraud , falsehood, deceit, malice, barter and serious extortion and had endeavoured to divide the city of Pistoia, causing the expulsion of the Black Guelfs who were faithful to the Roman Church from the city, breaking its alliance with Florence, from its subjection to the Roman Church and King Charles, peacemaker in Tuscany; I rule that the above mentioned Messer Dante, along with Palmiero, Orlanduccio and Lippo..... be fined the sum of 5.000 small florins, and that he shall return whatever he has illegitimately extorted.
Should he not obey to the ruling within the third day from this, I order that all his assets shall be confiscated, devastated and destroyed; that thus devastated and destroyed they shall remain in the property of the commune; that even if he should pay the above mentioned fine, that he shall remain outside the province of Tuscany in confinement for two years; that he shall be barred from public offices as a forger and barterer, whether he pays the fines or not.
Such is our ruling
Second ruling
10 March 1302 In the name of God, Amen.
I, Cante, above said Podestà, pronounce and proffer the following Sentence:
Messer Andrea de Gherardini
Messer Lapo Saltarelli
…
Dante Allighieri
…
against whom we have proceeded following the inquisition by our Office and of our Jurisdiction concerning the fact reaching our ears and the “referred public knowledge” which has reached our Court;
... that if any of the above listed at any time should fall within the power of the said commune, be burned by fire till they do die.
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*** Veramente io sono stato legno sanza vela e sanza governo, portato a diversi porti e foci e liti dal vento secco che vapora la dolorosa povertade; e sono apparito alli occhi di tanti in modo molto diverso da come forse per alcuna fama m’aveano imaginato: nel conspetto de’ quali posso aver perduto stima e considerazione come persona, in modo che ne potrebbe risentire il giudizio anche riguardo ad ogni mia opera, sì già fatta come quella che fosse a fare.
(Convivio I - 3° cap.)
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Truly I have been a ship without sail or rudder, brought to different ports, inlets, and shores by the dry wind that painful poverty blows. And I have appeared before the eyes of many who perhaps because of some report had imagined me in another form. In their sight not only was my person held cheap, but each of my works was less valued, those already completed as much as those yet to come.
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Questa lettera è stata scritta da Dante Alighieri a Oberto e Guido conti di Romena dopo la morte del loro zio conte Alessandro, per esprimere le sue condoglianze. Il vostro zio Alessandro era il mio signore e tale rimarrà nella mia memoria finché vivrò, perché mi avevano reso suddito la sua magnificenza e la sua bontà durante lunghi anni di tormentate vicissitudini.
…
Io poi, oltre a tutto questo, mi scuso, come vostro suddito, di fronte alla vostra discrezione, della mia assenza alle dolorose esequie; perché sono stato impedito non da negligenza né ingratitudine, ma dalla improvvisa povertà che l’esilio mi ha procurato. Questa povertà infatti, davvero crudele persecutrice, dopo avermi privato di armi e di cavalli, mi ha ormai cacciato nell’antro della sua prigionia dove, impietosa com’è, fa di tutto per tenermi imprigionato.
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This letter was written by Dante Alighieri to the Counts Oberto and Guido da Romena, after the death of their uncle, Count Alessandro da Romena, to condole with them on his decease. Your uncle, the illustrious Count Alessandro, who in these last days returned, after the spirit, to the heavenly fatherland whence he came, was my Lord, and his memory will have dominion over men so long as my life shall last in this world; for his nobility of soul, which now is richly recompensed with meet rewards beyond the stars, for long years past, as he willed, made me his servant ...
But I must add a word on my own behalf, in appeal to your judgement, to excuse myself, as your servant, for my absence from the mournful ceremony; for it was neither neglect nor ingratitude which kept me away, but the unlooked-for poverty brought about by exile.
Poverty, like a vindictive fury, has thrust me, deprived of horses and arms, into her prison den, where she has set herself relentlessly to keep me in durance; and though I struggle with all my strength to get free, she has hitherto prevailed against me.
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Tu proverai sì come sa di sale
Lo pane altrui; e come è duro calle
Lo scendere e salir per l’altrui scale.
(Par. XVII, 58-60)
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You shall learn how salt is the taste
of another man's bread and how hard is the way, going down and then up another man's stairs.
Paradiso XVII, 58-60
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…"Nessun maggior dolore
che ricordarsi del tempo felice ne la miseria; e ciò sa 'l tuo dottore. Ma s'a conoscer la prima radice
del nostro amor tu hai cotanto affetto, dirò come colui che piange e dice. (Inf. V, 121-126)
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And she to me: 'There is no greater sorrow
than to recall our time of joy
in wretchedness -- and this your teacher knows.
'But if you feel such longing
to know the first root of our love,
I shall tell as one who weeps in telling.
Inferno, V, 121-126
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In tanta dissonanza che tutte queste varietà producono nel volgare italiano, mettiamoci sulle tracce della lingua più decorosa d'Italia, la lingua illustre; e per aprire alla nostra caccia una strada transitabile, in primo luogo buttiamo fuori dalla selva cespugli aggrovigliati e rovi.
E diciamo pure che quello dei Romani - che non è neanche una lingua ma piuttosto uno squallido gergo - è il più brutto di tutti i volgari italiani.
Dopo costoro strappiamo via gli abitanti della Marca Anconitana, che dicono Chignamente state siate: (possiate mantenervi come state ndr) e assieme a loro via anche gli Spoletini.
Dopo di questi estirpiamo Milanesi e Bergamaschi.
E dopo ancora, setacciamo via Aquileiesi e Istriani, che con quel loro accento ferino pronunciano: Ces fas-tu? E assieme a questi buttiamo via tutte le parlate montanare e campagnole, come quelle dei Casentinesi e degli abitanti di Fratta, che, col loro accento aberrante da tutte le regole, suonano in modo da far a pugni col linguaggio di chi abita nel centro delle città. (v. De Vulg. Eloq. I, 11)
Ma poiché i Toscani sopra gli altri folleggiano in cosiffatta ebbrezza, mi sembra utile cosa e degna sfrondare alquanto, l’uno appresso dell’altro, ciascun volgare municipale toscano. I fiorentini dicono: Manichiamo, introcque che noi non facciamo altro(Intanto mangiamo: noi che non facciamo altro). E i Pisani: Bene andonno li fatti de Fiorensa per Pisa. I Lucchesi: Fo voto a Dio ke in grasrra eie lo comuno de Lucca (giuro su Dio che il Comune di Lucca sta nella grascia). I Senesi. Onche renegata avess’io Siena. Ch’ee chesto? Neppure avessi mai rinnegato Siena. Che è questo? Onche = numquam)E gli Aretini: Vo’ tu venire ovelle? (vuoi tu venire dove che sia?)
…Se adunque prendiamo a studiare le loquele di Toscana non resterà dubbio che il vulgare che noi andiam cercando sia bene altro da quello elle genti toscane. (De vulgari eloquentia, I, 13)
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1 Amid the cacophony of the many varieties of Italian speech, let us hunt for the most respectable and illustrious vernacular that exists in Italy; and, so that we may have an unobstructed pathway for our hunting, let us begin by clearing the tangled bushes and brambles out of the wood.
2 Accordingly, since the Romans believe that they should always receive preferential treatment, I shall begin this work of pruning or uprooting, as is only right, with them; and I do so by declaring that they should not be taken into account in any didactic work about effective use of the vernacular. For what the Romans speak is not so much a vernacular as a vile jargon, the ugliest of all the languages spoken in Italy; and this should come as no surprise, for they also stand out among all Italians for the ugliness of their manners and their outward appearance …
3 After these let us prune away the inhabitants of the Marches of Ancona, who say 'Chignamente state siaté'; [be as you are] and along with them we throw out the people of Spoleto …
5 After these let us root out the Milanese, the people of Bergamo…
6 After these let us pass through our sieve the people of Aquileia and Istria, who belch forth 'Ces fas-to?' [What are you up to?] with a brutal intonation. And along with theirs I reject all languages spoken in the mountains and the countryside, by people like those of Casentino and Fratta, whose pronounced accent is always at such odds with that of city-dwellers. De vulgari eloquentia I, xi, 1-7
1) …Now, since the Tuscans are the most notorious victims of this mental intoxication, it seems both appropriate and useful to examine the vernaculars of the cities of Tuscany one by one, and thus to burst the bubble of their pride.
2) When the Florentines speak, they say things like: 'Manichiamo, introcque che noi non facciamo altro' [Let's eat, since there's nothing else to do]. The Pisans: 'Bene andonno li fatti de Fiorensa per Pisa' [The business at Florence went well for Pisa]. The people of Lucca: 'Fo voto a Dio ke ingrassarra eie lo comuno de Lucca' [I swear to God, the city of Lucca is really in the pink]. The Sienese: 'Onche renegata avess'io Siena. Chée chesto?' [If only I'd left Siena for good! What's up now?]. The people of Arezzo: 'Vuo' tu venire ovelle?' [Do you want to go somewhere?]. …
(4) Therefore, if we study the languages spoken in Tuscany, and if we think what kind of distinguished individuals have avoided the use of their own, there can be no doubt that the vernacular we seek is something other than that which the people of Tuscany can attain.De vulgari eloquentia I, xiii, 1-5)
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***Ero appena uscito dalla corte dove mi era stato possibile vivere in piena libertà, ed avevo posto sicuro ed incauto i piedi presso la corrente del Sarno, quando, ahimè, all’improvviso, non so come, mi apparve una donna, come folgore dall’alto, in tutto per costumi e bellezza conforme alle mie aspettative.O quanto fu il mio stupore a quella apparizione! Ma lo stupore cessò per il terrore del fragore che seguì. Poiché come ai diurni baleni succedono i tuoni, così alla vista della fiamma di questa bellezza, Amore tremendo ed imperioso mi ebbe suo, e feroce come un signore che rientri nelle sue terre dopo un lungo esilio, uccise o sbandì o imprigionò qualsiasi cosa fosse stata a lui contraria dentro di me. Soffocò dunque quel proposito lodevole per cui mi tenevo lontano dalle donne e dai loro canti, e cacciò empiamente come sospette le assidue meditazioni con le quali andavo considerando le cose del cielo e della terra. Infine, perché l’anima mia non potesse più ribellarsi contro di lui, mise in catene il mio libero arbitrio, sicché bisogna ch’io mi volga dove vuole lui e non io.
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I had just departed from that court which had afforded me life in full liberty, and had set my incautious foot on the banks of the Sarno than suddenly, alak! Like a flash of lightning from on high, a woman appeared, I know not how, in all respects ofcharacter and appearance most congenial to my taste. How great was my amazemet at this apparition! .But amazement gave way to the thunderbolt which followed. Just as thunder follows upon lightning, so, upon gazing on this flam of beauty Love, tremendous in majesty, took hold of me. Like a lord, returning after a long exile to his land, he killed, imprisoned or threw out from within me all that was not to his pleasing.
Thus he slew praiseworthy resolve which held me aloof from women and from their songs and without pity banished as suspect those unceasing meditations wherein I used to ponder the things of heaven and of earth. Lastly, that my soul might never again rebel against him, he fettered my free will, so that it behoves me to turn not whither I will, but whither he wills.
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Amor, da che convien pur ch’io mi doglia
Perché la gente m’oda,
E mostri me d’ogni vertute spento,
Dammi savere a pianger come voglia,
Sì che ‘l duol che si snoda
Portin le mie parole com’io ‘l sento.
Io non posso fuggir ch’ella non vegna
Ne l’immagine mia,
se non come il pensier che la vi mena.
Così m’hai concio, Amore, in mezzo l’Alpi,
Ne la valle del fiume
Lungo il qual sempre sopra me se’ forte:
…
O montanina mia canzon, tu vai:
Forse vedrai Fiorenza, la mia terra,
Che fuor di sé mi serra,
Vota d’amore e nuda di pietade;
va’ dicendo: “Omai
Non vi può far lo mio fattor più guerra:
Là ond’io vegno una catena il serra
Tal che, se piega vostra crudeltate,
Non ha di ritornar qui libertate”
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Love, since after all I am forced to grieve for others to hear me and to show myself bereft of all resistance, grant me the skill as well as the will to lament; so that the grief that is unleashed may be carried by my words just as I feel it. I cannot avoid her coming into my imagination
any more than the thought that brings her there. To this state, Love, you have reduced me, among the mountains, in that river's valley along whose banks you have always been powerful …. My mountain song, go your way. Perhaps you will see Florence, my city, that shuts me out from her, void of love and stripped of compassion. If you should enter, say: 'Now my maker can make war on you no longer; he's bound by such a chain in the place I come from that even were your harshness to relax, he is not free to return here.' |
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Ma com'era l'Italia nel 1310?
Il papato aveva avuto un periodo non breve di sede vacante. Poi con Celestino V era fallito l’esperimento spirituale, con Bonifacio VIII fallisce l’esperimento temporale, con Clemente V il pontefice è ormai vassallo del re di Francia, in Avignone.
L’Impero ormai da molti anni non è più punto di riferimento nelle mille contese tra feudatari e mercanti, tra città e campagna; l’Italia è una nave senza nocchiero in gran tempesta. La Sicilia si libera dai francesi con i vespri siciliani per far posto agli Aragonesi: Federico II ne fa campo di battaglia prima col fratello Giacomo poi con Carlo II d’Angiò. Genova ha sconfitto Pisa alla Meloria e poi Venezia a Curzola. Marco Polo, reduce dalle glorie del Catai, trova il tempo per dettare le sue memorie nelle prigioni genovesi, mentre Giotto ha da poco finito di dipingere la cappella degli Scrovegni a Padova.
L’industria tessile costituisce l’asse portante dello sviluppo economico; la lana proviene dalla Castiglia e dall’Inghilterra: Firenze, Lucca, Milano, Como, Bergamo, Brescia sono centri di produzione che eguagliano quelli delle Fiandre e della Francia del Nord. L’artigiano ha bisogno del mercante che procuri la materia prima e fornisca il denaro per il primo acquisto. Il mercante ha bisogno di vie di comunicazione sicure e libere da balzelli. Firenze chiede il passo alle città confinanti; se Arezzo, Siena, Pisa e Lucca si mettono sulla sua strada è guerra.
Dentro la città il mercante-artigiano guelfo chiede il passo al magnate ghibellino; il partito guelfo, una volta vincitore, si divide al suo interno. Bianco contro nero, popolo minuto contro popolo grasso, salariato contro proprietario...
Il momento è drammatico, altamente drammatico. Tutti gli antichi fuorusciti fiorentini, Ghibellini e Bianchi, sono intenti a seguire le mosse dell’alto Arrigo, e impazienti vorrebbero che egli non ponesse ulteriori indugi, e subito puntasse al cuore della Toscana. Con la speranza prende corpo in Dante una diversa o comunque più precisa convinzione politica. Dante, qui dal Casentino, scrive tre lunghe infuocate lettere ai Signori d’Italia, agli scelleratissimi fiorentini, al divo Enrico. Ancora fresca d’inchiostro la stesura del 6° canto del Purgatorio che di queste lettere costituisce la parafrasi. E che parafrasi.
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But what was the situation in Italy in 1309?
The papacy, following a long vacancy, the failed experiment of the spiritual Celestine V, and the hegemony of Boniface VIII was now in Avignon, a vassal of the King of France.
For many years the Empire has no longer been relevant in the struggles between the feudal lords and the merchants, between town and country: truly ‘bound upon on a storm tossed ship with no hemsman’.
The Sicilian Vespers rid Sicily of the French only to replace them with the Aragonese. Frederick II used the island as a battlefield:
At Meloria Genova had defeated Pisa and then defeated Venice at Curzola; Marco Polo, back from Cathay, wrote his memoires in a genoese prison and Giotto had put the finishing touches on the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
The textile industry had brought about this economic development and Florence, Lucca, Milano, Como, Bergamo and Brescia were centers for processing wool from Castille and England, rivalling the centres of Flanders and northen France.
The craftsman needed the merchant to make the initial payment for the raw materials. The merchant needed safe, good roads. So Florence negotiated safe passages with her neighbouring cities: if Arezzo, Siena, Pisa and Lucca blocked her way, it was war.
Within the city the Guelf mercantile class demand free passage from the Ghibelline magnate. Once in power, the Guelf party split, and White Guelf was set against Black Guelf, the popolo minuto against the popolo grasso, the salaried employee against the employer.
The moment was highly charged with drama. All of the longstanding Florentine exiles, all the Ghibellines and White Guelfs, are intent upon the Emperor’s movements, impatient of further delays and wishing him to focus on the heart of Tuscany. In Dante’s case, a surge of new hope leads to a new, or rather a more precise political conviction. From the Casentino, he pens three long and passionate letters. One addressed to the Lords of Italy, one to those wicked people of Florence, and one to the great Henry himself. On his desk is the ink is not yet dry on the pages of Purgatorio VI a paraphrase of these letters.
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Epistola V (settembre-ottobre 1310)
Alle sorgenti dell’Arno.
A Tutti e ai singoli Re d’Italia e ai Senatori della santa città, nonché ai Duchi, Marchesi, Conti e ai Popoli, l’umile italiano Dante Alighieri fiorentino ed esule senza colpa invoca pace.
“Ecco ora il tempo accettevole”, nel quale sorgono i segni della consolazione e della pace. Un giorno nuovo infatti comincia a splendere mostrando dal suo nascere l’aurora che già riduce le tenebre della lunga calamità; e già le brezze orientali si fanno più frequenti; rosseggia il cielo ai confini dell’orizzonte e conforta di dolce serenità le speranze delle genti. O Italia, ora degna di pietà perfino per i araceni,
…asciuga le lacrime e cancella i segni dell’afflizione, o bellissima, è vicino colui che ti libererà dal carcere degli empi, che percuotendo a fil di spada i malvagi li disperderà e affiderà la sua vigna ad altri agricoltori che al tempo del raccolto diano in cambio il frutto di giustizia.
E voi che piangete oppressi “sollevate l’animo, ché vicina è la vostra salvezza”. Prendete il sarchio della buona umiltà e, spezzate le zolle della riarsa animosità, spianate il campicello della vostra mente affinché la pioggia celeste, venendo per caso prima che sia gettata la vostra semente, non cada a vuoto dall’alto.
Non si ritragga da voi la grazia divina come la rugiada quotidiana dal sasso, ma come una valle feconda concepite e germinate il verde; il verde, dico, fruttifero di vera pace; e sulla vostra terra ritornata verdeggiante il nuovo agricoltore dei Romani aggiogherà con maggior rispetto e con maggiore fiducia i buoi della sua saggezza.
Perdonate, perdonate già da ora, voi che con me avete sofferto ingiustizia, perché Colui dal quale come da un punto si biforca la potestà di Pietro e di Cesare, volentieri punisce la sua famiglia ma più volentieri ne ha pietà.
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(1) To all and singular the Princes of Italy, and the Senators of the Sacred City, as also the Dukes, Marquises, Counts, and Peoples, a humble Italian, Dante Alighieri, a Florentine undeservedly in exile, prayeth peace.
2) Behold now is the accepted time, wherein arise the signs of consolation and peace. For a new day beginning to break, revealing the dawn in the East, which even now is dispersing the darkness of our long tribulation. Already the orient breeze is freshening, the face of the heavens grows rosy, and confirms the hopes of the peoples with an auspicious calm.
3) Dry thy tears, and wipe away the stains of thy weeping, most beauteous one; for he is at hand who shall bring thee forth from the prison of the ungodly, and shall smite the workers of iniquity with the edge of the sword, and shall destroy them. And his vineyard shall he let out to other husbandmen, who shall render the fruit of justice in the time of harvest….
(16) Let not the grace of God be turned from you, as is the daily dew from the rock, but may ye conceive like a fertile valley, and put forth green, the green, that is, which shall be fruitful of true peace. And when your land shall be green with this verdure, the new husbandman of the Romans with greater love and more confidence shall yoke the oxen of his counsel to the plough ...
(17) Forbear, forbear, from henceforth, well-beloved, who with me have suffered wrong, For though the temporal chastisement be committed to his hands from above, yet that he may be redolent of the goodness of Him, from whom, as from a point, the power of Peter and of Caesar doth bifurcate, he delighteth him in the correction of his household, but delighteth him yet more in showing them compassion.
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Agli scelleratissimi fiorentini
Epistola VI
Alle sorgenti dell’Arno 1311.
Dante Alighieri fiorentino ed esule senza colpa agli scelleratissimi Fiorentini che vivono tra le mura di Firenze.
La pia provvidenza dell’eterno Re che mentre perpetua nella sua bontà le cose del cielo, non abbandona disprezzandole le nostre cose di quaggiù, ha disposto che le cose umane debbano essere governate dal sacrosanto Impero dei Romani affinché nella serenità di tanto presidio il genere mortale abbia pace e civilmente possa vivere. O cinti da un ridicolo riparo confidate in qualche difesa? O malvagiamente concordi! O accecati da una incredibile passione! A che gioverà aver cinto di steccato la città, a che averla armata di ripari e di merli, quando sopravverrà l’aquila in campo d’oro terribile, che trasvolò superba un tempo i vasti mari?
Vedrete i vostri edifici... precipitare sotto i colpi dell’ariete, e, tristi, esser inceneriti dal fuoco.
Vedrete la plebe d’ogni intorno infuriante ora divisa a favore o contro, poi unita contro di voi gridare terribile perchè non sa essere affamata e timorosa insieme
E non vi accorgete, poiché siete ciechi, che è la cupidigia che vi domina, che vi blandisce con velenosi sussurri, che vi tiene costretti con minacce fallaci e vi imprigiona nella legge del peccato e vi proibisce di ubbidire alle santissime leggi che sono fatte a immagine della giustizia naturale; l’osservanza delle quali, se lieta, se libera, non solo è dimostrato che non è servitù, ma anzi, a chi guardi con perspicacia, appare chiaro che è la stessa suprema libertà. Se non volete dissimulare, riconoscete dunque che è giunto il tempo di pentirvi amarissimamente delle temerarie presunzioni. E un tardivo pentimento d’ora in poi non porterà il perdono, ma coinciderà con l’inizio di un tempestivo castigo. Scritto il 31 marzo 1311 in Toscana, alle sorgenti dell’Arno, nel primo anno della faustissima venuta di Enrico Cesare in Italia
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1) Dante Alighieri, a Florentine undeservedly in exile, to the most iniquitous Florentines within the city.
2) The gracious providence of the Eternal King, who in his goodness ever rules the affairs of the world above, yet ceases not to look down upon our concerns here below, committed to the Holy Roman Empire the governance of human affairs, to the end that mankind might repose in the peace of so powerful a protection, and everywhere, as nature demands, might live as citizens of an ordered world. ….
(12) Do you put your trust in defences, in that you are girt about by a contemptible rampart? O you of one mind only for evil! O you blinded by wondrous greed! What shall it avail you to have girt you with a rampart, and to have fortified yourselves with bulwarks and battlements, when, terrible in gold, the eagle shall swoop down upon you, which, soaring now over the Pyrenees, now over Caucasus, now over Atlas, ever strengthened by the support of the host of heaven, gazed down of old on the vast expanse of ocean in its flight? What shall these avail you, most wretched of men, when you stand confounded in the presence of him who shall subdue the raging of Hesperia?
22) Nor are ye ware in your blindness of the overmastering greed which beguiles you with venomous whispers, and with cheating threats constrains you, yea, and has brought you into captivity to the law of sin, and forbidden you to obey the most sacred laws; those laws made in the likeness of natural justice, the observance whereof, if it be joyous, if it be free, is not only no servitude, but to him who observes with understanding is manifestly in itself the most perfect liberty.
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Leva dunque gli indugi. Restando a Milano passandovi dopo l’inverno la primavera, credi di uccidere l’idra pestifera con l’amputarle le teste? Per estirpare alberi non vale il taglio dei rami; anzi crescono più numerosi e vigorosi fin quando rimangono le radici da cui prendono nutrimento.
Che cosa credi di aver compiuto, o unico Signore del mondo, quando avrai piegato il collo di Cremona ribelle? Forse che allora non si gonfierà inaspettata la rabbia o di Brescia o di Pavia? Anzi, quando questa rabbia anche flagellata sarà abbattuta, subito l’altra di Vercelli o di Bergamo o altrove scoppierà di nuovo, finché non si elimini alla radice la causa di questo tumore purolento e, strappata la radice di così grave errore, i rami pungenti insieme col tronco inaridiscano.
O forse ignori e non scorgi dalla specola della somma altezza dove si rintani la piccola volpe di tanto fetore, noncurante dei cacciatori? scellerata non si abbevera alle acque precipiti del Po, né al tuo Tevere, ma le sue fauci infettano ancora la corrente dell’Arno impetuoso, e si chiama Firenze, forse non sai?, questo crudele flagello. Questa è la vipera avventatasi contro le viscere della
madre; questa è la pecora malata che infetta col suo contagio il gregge del suo pastore.
Scritto in Toscana alla sorgente dell’Arno, il 17 aprile [1311], l’anno primo della faustissima venuta in Italia del divo Enrico.
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20 [6]. Tu Mediolani tam vernando quam hiemando moraris et hydram pestiferam per capitum amputationem reris extinguere? Quod si magnalia gloriosi Alcide recensuisses, te ut illum falli cognosceres, cui pestilens animal, capite repullulante multiplici, per damnum crescebat, donec instanter magnanimus vite principium impetivit.
21 Non etenim ad arbores extirpandas valet ipsa ramorum incisio quin iterum multiplicius virulenter ramificent, quousque radices incolumes fuerint ut prebeant alimentum.
22 Quid, preses unice mundi, peregisse preconicis cum cervicem Cremone deflexeris contumacis? nonne tunc vel Brixie vel Papie rabies inopina turgescet? Ymo, que cum etiam flagellata resederit, mox alia Vercellis vel Pergami vel alibi returgebit, donec huius scatescentie causa radicalis tollatur, et radice tanti erroris avulsa, cum trunco rami pungitivi arescant.
Or perhaps thou ignore, most excellent among princes, and do not see, from the lookout of the highness where lye such scented a fox, careless of hunters?
Certainly the wicked one does not dring the precipitous waters of the Po, neither thou to those of the Tiber, but its jaws still pollute the waters of the impetuous Arno, and its name is Florence, perhaps thou do not know? This cruel scourge.
Written in Tuscany by the source of the Arno, on April 17 [1311], the first year of the most proptious descent in to Italy of the divine Henry.
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Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello,
nave sanza nocchiere in gran tempesta,
non donna di province, ma bordello!
…
Cerca, misera, intorno da le prode
le tue marine, e poi ti guarda in seno,
s’alcuna parte in te di pace gode.
…
Ché le città d’Italia tutte piene
son di tiranni, e un Marcel diventa
ogne villan che parteggiando viene.
Fiorenza mia, ben puoi esser contenta
di questa digression che non ti tocca,
mercè del popol tuo che si argomenta.
…
Or ti fa lieta, ché tu hai ben onde:
tu ricca, tu con pace, e tu con senno!
S’io dico ‘l ver, l’effetto nol nasconde.
Atene e Lacedemona, che fenno
l’antiche leggi e furon sì civili,
fecero al viver bene un picciol cenno
verso di te, che fai tanto sottili
provedimenti, ch’a mezzo novembre
non giugne quel che tu d’ottobre fili.
Quante volte, del tempo che rimembre,
legge, moneta, officio e costume
hai tu mutato e rinovate membre!
E se ben ti ricordi e vedi lume,
vedrai te somigliante a quella inferma
che non può trovar posa in su le piume,
ma con dar volta suo dolore scherma.
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Ah, abject Italy, you inn of sorrows,
you ship without a helmsman in harsh seas,
no queen of provinces but of bordellos!
Squalid Italy,
search round your shores and then look inland-see if any part of you delight in peace.
My Florence, you indeed may be content
that this digression would leave you exempt:
your people's strivings spare you this lament.
You might be happy now, for you have cause!
You with your riches, peace, judiciousness!
If I speak truly, facts won't prove me wrong.
Compared to you, Athens and Lacedaemon,
though civil cities, with their ancient laws,
had merely sketched the life of righteousness;
for you devise provisions so ingenious-
whatever threads October sees you spin,
when mid-November comes, will be unspun.
How often, in the time you can remember,
have you changed laws and coinage, offices
and customs, and revised your citizens!
And if your memory has some clarity,
then you will see yourself like that sick woman
who finds no rest upon her feather-bed,
but, turning, tossing, tries to ease her pain.
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