Margaret Lawlace
on translating Giuseppe Ungaretti
I have tried to approximate Ungaretti’s pared-down style while maintaining some of the repetition of sounds and a certain ambiguity as to how the narrator describes the person they are beside.
about the author
Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) was an Italian poet, critic, and journalist. The father of the Hermetic style, Ungaretti wrote poetry characterized by short lines, ambiguous syntax, and a lack of punctuation. As evident in this poem, he was deeply affected by his time as a soldier in World War I.
about the translator
Margaret Lawlace is a Penn employee and post-baccalaureate student.
