{"id":6210,"date":"2021-01-30T11:26:48","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T11:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/?p=6210"},"modified":"2021-10-23T13:26:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-23T13:26:42","slug":"peter-hughes-poems-from-via-leopardi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/6210\/peter-hughes-poems-from-via-leopardi\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Hughes: Poems from ‘Via Leopardi’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My versions of Leopardi\u2019s first 21 poems came out from Equipage in 2017 under the title via Leopardi 21. The following poems are from the second half of his poetic output. My Leopardi project is influenced by Stephen Rodefer\u2019s wonderful Villon versions, especially in the employment of footnotes. These poems are therefore dedicated to his memory, and that of John James, \u2018il migio fab bro, whose moving cadences, deft manoeuvres & expert nightcap recommendations have kept me going for years.\u2019<\/p>\n

Peter Hughes, Bethesda, Epiphany 2021<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

via Leopardi 22\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

talk about these northern constellations<\/p>\n

nor did I expect to come back here\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

& contemplate our eerie dispositions<\/span><\/p>\n

from a high window in my parents\u2019 house<\/span><\/p>\n

back across the evening\u2019s vacant courtyards<\/span><\/p>\n

you reminding me of hedgehogs & compost<\/span><\/p>\n

from goats & donkeys\u2019 years ago<\/span><\/p>\n

my vast imaginings about the future\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

never had me standing here like this\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

still wearing these unprepossessing trousers\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

& staring through my back-lit reflection<\/span><\/p>\n

at so much interrupted emptiness<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d have to spend so long<\/span><\/p>\n

among resentful locals either\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

affecting interest in their football team<\/span><\/p>\n

as all this ancient rain goes down the drain<\/span><\/p>\n

the damaged van abandoned\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

bobbing & rotating in the flooded lay-by<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is nothing quite like excessive rain running down the drains at night outside a house you used to live in. Anonymous new neighbours peer out suspiciously at this stranger then quickly draw the curtains.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

via Leopardi 25<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the poet gets carried away again<\/p>\n

\n

well reckless sex on an office chair with wheels<\/span><\/p>\n

& this severely sloping floor<\/span><\/p>\n

will always introduce an element<\/span><\/p>\n

of unpredictability<\/span><\/p>\n

yet I cannot agree with the\u00a0Maestro<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

that happiness cannot exist<\/span><\/p>\n

before we crash into the wall<\/span><\/p>\n

on the good ship\u00a0Lustprinzip<\/i><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

how like you this she stepped out of her\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

towel & condensation & why not<\/span><\/p>\n

fuck to a little velvet underground<\/span><\/p>\n

as the sticky winter Sunday afternoon<\/span><\/p>\n

or is it Thursday wondering which way to<\/span><\/p>\n

turn not knowing from which of these angles\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

to regard you & your current presences<\/span><\/p>\n

well this will do as well as the next<\/span><\/p>\n

what Jack wouldn\u2019t have given\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

to have shrugged off his cardigan<\/span><\/p>\n

anxieties & cold despair<\/span><\/p>\n

to have spent just an hour<\/span><\/p>\n

as the sun goes down<\/span><\/p>\n

& so do I<\/span><\/p>\n

& the old year<\/span><\/p>\n

groans &\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

comes<\/span><\/p>\n

to an awareness of felicity<\/span><\/p>\n

as you walk my plank<\/span><\/p>\n

I walk yours &<\/span><\/p>\n

what is that you\u2019re rubbing<\/span><\/p>\n

on & in my back<\/span><\/p>\n

& front an unexpected blend of Beethoven aniseed<\/span><\/p>\n

balls & hot chocolate<\/span><\/p>\n

it smells a lot like guacamole<\/span><\/p>\n

& still you hold my eye from that position<\/span><\/p>\n

leaning slightly to the left then<\/span><\/p>\n

banking into this tremendously\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

tight bend<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This poem was written to slip into one of those dummy books on a shelf in a furniture showroom which has sadly closed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

via Leopardi 27<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

love or death<\/p>\n

love or hake<\/span><\/p>\n

death or cake<\/span><\/p>\n

approach it at an angle<\/span><\/p>\n

those hours in Recanati<\/span><\/p>\n

when you couldn\u2019t think of love<\/span><\/p>\n

without a little death<\/span><\/p>\n

erecting an insubstantial<\/span><\/p>\n

monument no sooner sensed<\/span><\/p>\n

than woken from another<\/span><\/p>\n

hopeless dream of goats<\/span><\/p>\n

& gnats & scarecrows in west Cambridge<\/span><\/p>\n

or just another Woody Allen film<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry that Tom Raworth\u2019s gone<\/span><\/p>\n

I contemplate his collage<\/span><\/p>\n

where every multi-coloured window<\/span><\/p>\n

is an opening on<\/span><\/p>\n

love as well as death<\/span><\/p>\n

could be an opening on<\/span><\/p>\n

anything that was & is<\/span><\/p>\n

or might be sometime soon<\/span><\/p>\n

I recommend the fishcakes & prosecco<\/span><\/p>\n

followed by the nutty chocolate hearts<\/span><\/p>\n

keep an eye out for the odd bone<\/span><\/p>\n

don\u2019t go to bed<\/span><\/p>\n

too late<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The influence of Leopardi on Eddie Izzard was but one of the interesting<\/em>\u00a0topics covered in my rejected PhD. proposal to the University of Ancona,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>or maybe Ascoli Piceno. I\u2019m pretty sure it was an A town.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

via Leopardi 29<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was so attracted<\/p>\n

by your static<\/span><\/p>\n

allure Aspasia I a\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

hovering sausage<\/span><\/p>\n

dog with no legs<\/span><\/p>\n

yet the closest I<\/span><\/p>\n

got was you rubbing<\/span><\/p>\n

me against your jumper<\/span><\/p>\n

then sticking me<\/span><\/p>\n

to the wall of the lobby<\/span><\/p>\n

during the lowest point<\/span><\/p>\n

of a birthday party for your kids<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought you were a kind\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

of goddess in Ugg boots<\/span><\/p>\n

enveloped in a glowing<\/span><\/p>\n

cloud of of mint & yogurt<\/span><\/p>\n

flavoured hairspray<\/span><\/p>\n

orchestrated by Berlioz<\/span><\/p>\n

during one of his<\/span><\/p>\n

more imbalanced sets<\/span><\/p>\n

but now I see that all<\/span><\/p>\n

your fascination was sprayed on<\/span><\/p>\n

by the tanning studios of\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

my own imagination<\/span><\/p>\n

& maybe Hector\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n

there will now be\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

a short ballet<\/span><\/p>\n

accompanied by a lot of<\/span><\/p>\n

accidentally amplified clattering<\/span><\/p>\n

& antique dust<\/span><\/p>\n

from ancient men<\/span><\/p>\n

cavorting in the footlights<\/span><\/p>\n

sit down lads<\/span><\/p>\n

it\u2019s true I stood upon<\/span><\/p>\n

your burning decks<\/span><\/p>\n

in a Nelson hat<\/span><\/p>\n

& cricket pads for far too long<\/span><\/p>\n

but now it\u2019s time to start again<\/span><\/p>\n

o historically retarded<\/span><\/p>\n

Anglophone administrations\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

now the panto\u2019s over<\/span><\/p>\n

& Easter eggs & fireworks<\/span><\/p>\n

are in the local shops<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sat in this pub garden<\/span><\/p>\n

at half 3 in the morning<\/span><\/p>\n

listening to a blackbird<\/span><\/p>\n

even more fucked up than me<\/span><\/p>\n

struggling to remember<\/span><\/p>\n

who\u2019s a firestarter<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The government\u2019s response to the latest set of emergencies has a lot to<\/em>\u00a0answer for. It is however reassuring to note that Eton & its stakeholders have been largely insulated. Also personal disillusionment after a relationship is sometimes a necessary phase, important for recalibration & balance.\u00a0\u00a0But, like standing on one leg with your eyes closed, it should only go on for about forty-five seconds.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To read Peter Hughes’ Essay ‘On Translation’: On translation<\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peter Hughes is currently based in north Wales where he writes, runs Oystercatcher Press and teaches creative writing. He has produced various innovative versions of Italian classics.<\/span><\/div>\n
Recent poetry publications include\u00a0Cavalcanty<\/i>\u00a0(Carcanet 2017),\u00a0A Berlin Entrainment<\/i>\u00a0(Shearsman 2019), and\u00a0Bethesda Constellations\u00a0<\/i>(Oystercatcher 2020).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction. My versions of Leopardi\u2019s first 21 poems came out from Equipage in 2017 under the title via Leopardi 21. The following poems are from the second half of his poetic output. My Leopardi project is influenced by Stephen Rodefer\u2019s wonderful Villon versions, especially in the employment of footnotes. These poems are therefore dedicated to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[58,12],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/images-2.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42xiC-1Ca","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6210"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6340,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions\/6340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glasfrynproject.org.uk\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}