Slashing Sounds

Jolanda Insana (b. 1937, Messina, Italy; d. 2016, Rome) is the author of several volumes of poetry, beginning with Sciarra amara in 1977. In addition to writing poetry and teaching classics to high school students, Insana was also a prolific translator of Greek and Latin, including works by Sappho, Euripides, and Martial. Insana won the Viareggio Prize for poetry for La Stortura in 2002 and the Premio Pascoli Prize in 2009. Catherine Theis is the author of the poetry collection The Fraud of Good Sleep and the play MEDEA, an adaptation of the Euripides story. She teaches at the University of Southern California.  

Translator’s Note

Niente dissi / I Said Nothing
Un vecchio piacere / An Old Pleasure
Un’altra afasia / Another Loss of Speech
Nessuna consolazione / No Consolation
Stercoraria e nullatenente / Destitute and Living in Dung
Del poesificio / In the Poetry Factory
Coltellate di bellezza / Stabs of Loveliness
Sono questi i fiori / These Are the Flowers
Non è per vanto / It’s Not for Boasting
È un vecchio chiodo / It’s an Old Nail
Servizio d’attesa / Waiting Service
E venga un nuovo scorticatore / And a New Cheapskate Comes
Corda bagnata in acqualanfa / Noose Soaked in Orange Blossom Water

Notes on Latin Phrases
Acknowledgments