La Noia

I Feel this Dazed by the NOTHING which
Is Surrounding me that, IF I went Mad
In this VERY moment, my Own Insanity
Wouldn’t be but, an ETERNAL sitting down
My EYES Astounded, my MOUTH’s opened
My HANDS hidden, between my knees
Neither Laughing nor Weeping
Nor EVEN Moving, if not on Compulsion
From the Place where I’d be
I have no more VIGOUR
To Conceive any WISH, not even a Deadly one
And not because I FEAR death, but 'cos I NO LONGER see
Any difference between DEATH and this LIFE of mine
Where NOBODY comes to Relieve me
Not EVEN the Sorrow
This is the First time that TEDIUM not only Tires
And weighs Down on me, it’s also Worrying
And Tearing me, just like the STRONGEST of Pains
I’ve got so Frightened by the VANITY of things
And the Condition of Mankind — Death of every Passion —
As they’re ALL DEAD, in My Heart
That I’m going Insane, thinking that my DESPAIR itself
Isn’t BUT NOTHING
Farewell
(Lyric: a free interpretation & translation from)
(«Sulla Noia e la Disperazione» by Giacomo Leopardi 1819)