Giuseppe Gioachino Belli
Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863), nicknamed “the Pope’s jester,” was a Roman poet whose body of work represents the largest documentation of 19th century Romanesco dialect. His collection, including around 2300 sonnets, are a testament to lower class lifestyle, tradition, and culture from the 19th century. He is memorialized by a monument located on Viale di Trastevere, in Piazza Sonnino. Read below to see one of his translated sonnets.
Nove mesi a la puzza: poi in fassciola
Tra sbasciucchi, lattime e llagrimoni:
Poi p’er laccio, in ner crino, e in vesticciola,
Cor torcolo e l’imbraghe pe ccarzoni
Poi comincia er tormento de la scola,
L’abbeccè, le frustate, li ggeloni,
La rosalía, la cacca a la ssediola,
E un po’ de scarlattina e vvormijjoni.
Poi viè ll’arte, er diggiuno, la fatica,
La piggione, le carcere, er governo,
Lo spedale, li debbiti, la fica.
Er zol d’istate, la neve d’inverno…
E pper urtimo, Iddio sce bbenedica,
Viè la morte, e ffinisce co l’inferno.
Nine months in the stench: the swaddling clothes,
with kisses, milk, and tears,
then on the leash, in the cradle, in toddling clothes,
harness and pants.
Then begins the torment of the school,
the ABC, the whip, the chilblains,
measles, the shit in the seat,
and a bit of scarlet fever and small pox.
Then comes the apprenticeship, fasting,
work, the rent, the jail, and taxes,
the sick bed, debts, and fucks.
The summer’s sun, the winter’s snow…
And at last, God bless us all,
comes death, and it all ends with hell.
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, La vita dell’omo