Fratelli<\/p>\n
Before reading the poem \u201cFratelli\u201d I did some research on Giuseppe Ungaretti to understand when the poem was written and to hopefully get context clues. Discovering that he served in World War I influenced my perception of the poem. I perceived \u201cFratelli\u201d to be a poem about how during war, everyone is a brother to one another, no matter what unit they are on or who they are. The poem also speaks about how fragile men are during the war. Ungaretti’s poems are short and the reader has to read deeply to understand the point he is making. In this particular poem, it was clear that it was about soldiers at war, but it took much analyzing for me to have a deeper understanding of the poem.<\/p>\n
Literal translation:
\nBrothers<\/p>\n
What regiment are you<\/p>\n
brothers?<\/p>\n
Word trembling<\/p>\n
in the night.<\/p>\n
Leaf now born.<\/p>\n
In the spasmic air<\/p>\n
involuntary revolts<\/p>\n
of man present at his<\/p>\n
fragility.<\/p>\n
Brothers.<\/p>\n
Communicative translation:<\/p>\n
Brothers<\/p>\n
What regiment are you<\/p>\n
brothers?<\/p>\n
Trembling word<\/p>\n
in the night.<\/p>\n
New leaf is born.<\/p>\n
In the uneasy air<\/p>\n
Involuntary rebellion<\/p>\n
of a fragile man.<\/p>\n
Brothers.<\/p>\n
My communicative translation was a close version to my literal translation of the poem. I thought that it was important for me to keep the poem short and to the point, and not as important to keep any rhythmic scheme because it did not have as large of a role in the poem.<\/p>\n
Soldati<\/p>\n
The Poem \u201cSoldiers\u201d is very short and contains a minimal amount of words, which follows his style of writing. In my opinion the minimal amount of words makes this piece even more moving. Ungaretti compares the soldiers to leaves in autumn. He doesn\u2019t specifically say in the poem that it is the soldiers are what he is comparing to the leaves in autumn, but because the title translates to \u201csoldiers\u201d, I assume that is what he means. I think that he means the soldiers will end up dying in war, just as leaves fall off of the branches and die during and at the end of autumn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Literal translation:<\/p>\n Soldiers<\/p>\n It is like<\/p>\n