Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE TWO BLIND MEN (NEAPOLITAN DIALECT), by SALVATORE DI GIACOMO


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE TWO BLIND MEN (NEAPOLITAN DIALECT), by                    
First Line: Tell me one thing. Have you, within your brain
Last Line: Shone in the sky, the sun that is of gold.
Subject(s): Blindness; Visually Handicapped


Tell me one thing. Have you, within your brain,
The face of anybody in the world
You saw, before you never saw again?

-- Ah yes; and you? -- No, brother, I have none.
I was born blind. So, for my sins, God willed
Before my life had even been begun.

-- Speak not of God! How many times I prayed,
Brother, you cannot think how many times,
And now his darkness over me is laid.

-- But in the street, now, does the sun shine there?
And what is the sun like? -- The sun's of gold,
And it is like my Serafina's hair.

-- Who is your Serafina? Some one who'll
Come here to see you sometimes? -- Yes, sometimes.
-- And . . . she is beautiful? -- Yes, beautiful.

Then he who had been blind when he was born
Sighed. And the other blind man sighed, and hid
His face between his hands, as one forlorn.

The first said: Do not weep; have I not known
The mother of the body that I bear,
Have I not known her by her voice alone?

And both were silent. And about them rolled
The perfume of the garden, and the sun
Shone in the sky, the sun that is of gold.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net