Salvatore Quasimodo | Natale / Christmas

Natale. Guardo il presepe scolpito,

dove sono i pastori appena giunti

alla povera stalla di Betlemme.

Anche i Re Magi nelle lunghe vesti

salutano il potente Re del mondo.

Jacopo Tintoretto | The Madonna of the Stars, c. 1575-1585 | National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Pace nella finzione e nel silenzio

delle figure di legno: ecco i vecchi

del villaggio e la stella che risplende,

e l'asinello di colore azzurro.

Leonardo da Vinci | La Vierge, l'Enfant Jésus et Sainte Anne | Paris, Musée du Louvre

Pace nel cuore di Cristo in eterno;

ma non v'è pace nel cuore dell'uomo.

Anche con Cristo e sono venti secoli

il fratello si scaglia sul fratello.

Ma c'è chi ascolta il pianto del bambino

che morirà poi in croce fra due ladri?

Salvatore Quasimodo (August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator.

In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times".

Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, he was one of the foremost Italian poets of the 20th century.

Salvatore Quasimodo | Christmas

Christmas. I look at the sculpted nativity,

where the shepherds have just reached

the poor manger in Bethlehem.

And the three Wise Men in their long gowns

greet the mighty King of the world.

Peace in the fiction and the silence

of the wooden figures: here are the town

elders and the shining star,

and the light blue donkey.

Giovanni Bellini | Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and a Saint

Peace in the heart of Christ for eternity;

but there is no peace in the heart of man.

Notwithstanding Christ for twenty centuries

brother has been fighting his brother.

But is anyone listening to the cries of the child

who will die on the cross between two thieves?

Translation by Matilda Colarossi

Gerard van Honthorst | Adoration of the Christ Child, 1619-1620 | Uffizi Gallery, Florence