What Sex Is Death?

Dario Bellezza (1944–96) was one of Italy’s most significant and prolific poets, authors, and playwrights. He published more than twenty books over the course of twenty-five years and won the Viareggio Prize, Italy’s most prestigious poetry award, and the Montale Prize for lifetime poetic achievement.Peter Covino is an award-winning translator, editor, and poet. He is an associate professor of English at the University of Rhode Island, the founding editor and faculty advisor of the Ocean State Review, and a founding editor-trustee of the nonprofit press Barrow Street Inc.

“Dario Bellezza remains one of the essential Italian voices of the latter half of the twentieth century. Thanks to poet-translator Peter Covino’s scrupulous yet daring versions, which are labors of both love and skill, American readers can now trace the arc of Bellezza’s career, an aching, disruptive testament to ‘this infected world.’” - Geoffrey Brock, judge, Wisconsin Prize for Poetry in Translation“Groundbreaking. Covino introduces an English-speaking audience to Dario Bellezza’s riveting work through a complex theoretical introduction, incisive selection, and nuanced translation. The volume emphasizes Bellezza’s invaluable impact on the emergence of an Italian queer culture and contributes to the shaping of a transnational Italian queerness.” - Caterina Romeo, Sapienza Università di Roma“A carefully curated volume composed of more than seventy essential translations of Bellezza’s poems. A prizewinning multivolume author of verse in his own right, Covino offers non-Italian readers a most adept and lyrical series of translations that seem, in themselves, original compositions.” - Anthony Julian Tamburri, Calandra Italian American Institute

• Introduction: Oltraggio e scandalo – (Out)rage and Scandal: Rediscovering Dario Bellezza(i-xv/xvi-xxii) with endnotes Da Invettive e licenze / From Invective and License (1971) Quale sesso ha la morte? / What Sex Is Death?Infante di una infanzia un po’ cresciuta / Infant of a slightly precocious infancyL’insonnia che mi prende / The insomnia that grips meAscoltavo la morte nel mio sogno / I listened to death in my dreamA Elsa Morante / To Elsa MoranteA Pier Paolo Pasolini / To Pier Paolo PasoliniSe viene la guerra / If the war comesAll’Ambra Jovinelli / At the Amber PalaceTi cadono i capelli, qualcuno / Your hair falls out, someone Da Morte segreta / From Secret Death (1976) da Apologia / from ApologiaE abbandono morte. Giocattolo di Dio. / And I abandon death. Plaything of God.da Paranoia / from ParanoiaAd Anna Maria Ortese / To Anna Maria OrteseHo paura. Lo ripeto a me stesso / I’m afraid. I repeat it to myselfda Appunti / from NotesL.S.D. / L.S.DFosse l’ultimo amore il tuo / If yours were the last loveda Storia Personale (1974) / from Personal History (1974)La mattina, birre, “salade,” un po’ di caviale / In the morning, beer, “salade,”a bit of caviarDa Libro d’amore / From Lovebook (1982) da Amore / from LoverNella mia notte il pessimo tuo mattino / In my night the worst of your morningsSulla mi vita scatenata non entri / You no longer enter into my unraveledIl passato della felicitá. La sigaretta / The passing of happiness. A cigaretteDi lá ti masturbi senza lode / From the other room you masturbate without praiseDove riposi io guardo. / Where you rest I watch.da De profundis: / from The Depths:Pallido, scarmigliato. I tuoi capelli / Pale, disheveled. Your hairLe trombe squilleranno / The trumpets will blareTi leccavo tra le sporche lenzuola. / I licked you between dirty sheets.Da io / From i (1983) Polvere e Cenere / Ashes and Dustda Il Viaggatore D’Ombra: / from Traveler of Shadow: Non raggiungerò il Sublime perché sono vivo / I will never arrive at the Sublime becauseI’m alivePenso che dovrei avere un figlio / I believe I should have a childda Gatti: / from Cats: Uscita da una tomba / Exited from a tombRimorso a guardarti nella confusione / I feel remorse looking at you in confusionCessa di puntarmi come il cane / Stop staring at me like the dogUna giornata di maggio, piovosa / May, a rainy dayLa gattitá / Catnessda io / from iDura legge sapere che niente / Harsh law to know nothingFelice te passero (impudicizia mi spinge / Happy sparrow (shamelessness drives meda Il Dopo: / from The After:La Fine Del Mondo / The End of the WorldQuando si abbandona la strada / When one abandons the roadNon c’È niente di meglio che barare / There’s nothing better to barterDa Serpenta / From Snakewoman (1987) Lingua, tu non rispondi, né apri / Tongue, you do not respond, nor unleashda Lo sguardo punisce chi guarda / from The Gaze Punishes the GazerMa il quotidiano insiste. Ed io volo / But the quotidian insists. And I flyda Lodi del corpo maschile: / from Praise of the Male Body:Se è giovanetto il corpo maschile / If the male body is boyishNé maschile né femminile, il suo sguardo / Neither male nor female, that gazeRagazzo laggiù, tesoro nascosto / Hey boy down there, hidden treasureAd Hart Crane / To Hart CraneIl Tevere si perde nella notte / At night we lose sight of the TiberSottoponte / Below Bridgeda Serpenta: / from Snakewoman:Fuggono tutti i miei giorni / All my days escapeQuando sarai chiamata in Paradiso / When you are called to ParadiseDa Libro di poesia / From Poetry Book (1990) da Il Viaggatore D’ombra: / from The Traveler of Shadow:Lacrima amoris: / Lacrima Amoris:da Casa: / from Home:La mia casa, l’entrata / My House, the Entrance WayUn Trasloco / A RelocationAIDS / AIDSI giovani padri / The Young FathersPratiche attivitá / Practical Activitiesll’ “Appendice 1968-1988”: Colosseo / ColiseumDa L’avversario / From The Adversary (1994) I / III / IIIII Roma 1989 / III Rome 1989VIII / VIIIda L’avversario / from The AdversaryL’avversario / The AdversaryIn Calabria / In Calabriada Ritrovate / from RediscoveredL’ombrello di Elsa / Elsa’s Umbrellada Inquiete larve / from Restless LarvaeIeri un famoso libro mi tenne compagnia / Yesterday a famous book kept me companyScaricato alla stazione a Martina Franca / Cast-off at the station in Martina Francada Congedi / from Good-byesGatti / CatsProclama sul fascino / Proclamation on Glamor (1996) Il Fascino / GlamorMarilyn / Marilynda Il Nulla: / from Nothingness:Traditore, menagramo, sporcificante assedio / Traitor, mishap, filthy besiegerLaggiù, oltre il telefono / Down there, beyond the telephoneSei Dio forse / You are God perhapsOra, tra i morti, mio libero fratello / Now, among the dead, my liberated brotherSaresti morto di AIDS / You would be dead of AIDSCongedo / Farewellda Appunti per un romanzo in versi / from Notes for a Romance in VerseDi nuovo ecco la ripetizione / Once again behold repetitionBibliography