Vittoria Colonna: Selections from the Rime Spirituali with Photographs of Josep Maria Subirachs' Passion Façade

by Jan Zwicky, Robert Moody (Photographs)

A collection of ten Renaissance Italian poems, complemented by contemporary English versions and photographs. This volume provides a unique visual and literary context for Italian poet Vittoria Colonna's classical, spiritual themes.

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Jan Zwicky’s books of poetry include Songs for Relinquishing the Earth, which won the Governor General’s Award, Robinson’s Crossing, which won the Dorothy Livesay Prize, and, most recently Forge, which was short-listed for the Griffin Prize. Her books of philosophy include Wisdom & Metaphor, Lyric Philosophy, and Alkibiades’ Love (forthcoming 2015).

Reviews

[Emily Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is ridiculously good for something I picked up on a whim. It’s so lyrically satisfying in English I can only dream of what the original sounds like.

[Debby Friday · Rating 4 out of 5]

simple and beautiful.

[Mattia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very slim bilingual collection of just ten of Renaissance poet Vittoria Colonna's (c. 1490-1547) religious poems, sent to her longtime friend and correspondent Michelangelo Buonarroti. The Italian text is from Abigail Brundin's scholarly edition and translation, Sonnets for Michelangelo (University of Chicago Press, 2005), and the English is Canadian poet and philosopher Jan Zwicky's 'version' of Brundin's translations. I am usually really not a fan of artistic reinterpretations of poetry translations, but I don't read Italian and these poems were really lovely and touching:

56.
We are blind. The ancient fear of death
assails us often, for we do not carry on our backs
the great and solid wings of hope.
...
Yet death
is what makes room for love.
May I not hoard the mortal beauty
that surrounds me. May I learn to see instead
how, in the fire of being, suffering
is turned to light.

The very minimalist photos of angular modern sculpture are a nice touch too. My only complaint is that the book wasn't longer. I'll definitely try to find a copy of Brundin's translation.