Saturday Rave: S'i' fosso foco by Cecco Angliolieri.

 It's not just writers in English who can be funny, you know. Or people of the modern age.

Cecco Angliolieri lived in Siena in Italy from 1260 - c1312. It sounds as if he had a lot of fun, and his sonnet sounds as if it could have been written yesterday.

This translation is by Lorna de' Lucchi. 

If I were fire

If I were fire, I'd burn the world; if wind,

Around about it furiously I'd blow;

If water, drowning it would suit my mind;

If God, then I'd dispatch it straight below;

If I were pope, I'd have a bit of fun

In setting Christians one against another;

If emp'ror, well, what think ye I'd have done?

All heads chopped off, and so an end to bother!

I would go seek my father were I death;

But were I life from him I'd flee away;

And I'd behave the same towards my mother;

If Cecco, as I am and draw my breath,

I'd choose such ladies as are young and gay,

Leaving the old and ugly to another.

S'i' fosso foco

Si'i' fosse foco, arderei 'l mondo

S'i' fosso vento, lo tempersterei

S'i' fosse acqua, i' l'annegherei

Si'i fosse Dio mandereil' en profondo

Si'i fosse Papa allor sarei giocondo

che' tutti cristiani 'mbrigarei

S'i' fosse 'imperator ben lo farei

a tutti taglierei lo capo a tondo

Si'i fosse morte andarei a mi padre

Si'i fosse vita non starei con lui

similmente faria con mi' madre

Si'i fosse Cecco com'i' sono e fui

torrei le donne giovani e leggiadre

le zoppe e vecchie lasserei altrui.

Word To Use Today: fire. This word was fȳr in Old English, and goes back through various Germanic languages all the way to the Greek word pur.