E quanne su nd u strittue du Barone, Albino Pierro was a 20th century Italian poet who was twice nominated for the Nobel prize for literature (in 1986 and 1988) despite the relatively narrow nature of his work. He came from a small town in the south of the country called Tursi and much of his later work was written in the local “Lucan” dialect.
His subject matter seemed to be almost exclusively based on his hometown and when nominated for the award many saw it as a controversial move with some literary critics saying that others were more deserving. His memory is preserved in Tursi with many local festivals and events celebrating his work, yet outside of this region his name is less well known.
E quanne su nd u strittue du Barone by Albino Pierro
E quanne su’ nd’u strìttue d’u Barone,
le gìrene u taùte chiène chiène;
su’ cchiù vicine ancore chille grire
scattète nda nu mère di suspire:
“Oh scasce méja granne; oh bene d’ ‘a mamma”.’A cruce quèse tòcchete i finestre
e chille ca ci chiàngene arranzète;
I’ìnghiete ‘a strète ‘a folla com’u mère
ca nghiànete annivrichète.
Pó, quanne su’ nd’ ‘a chiazza, cchiù affuchète
le sèntese, e a la logne, n’atu grire:
“Bene d’u tèta sue, bene d’u tèta”,
tante ca mó le càngene u culore,
nda chille facce “a bumme”, ianche e russe,
prèvete e previticchie ca pó càntene
cchiù sincire e cchiù forte di nu trone.
Ti scàntese ca i vitre d’i balcune
nd’u “grèpe e chiure” trèmene e lampìjene;
ca pur’i pétre chiàngene nd’i strète
cchi tutte ll’ate cose, e ci cannìjene
cristiène senza vrazze e senza iamme
ca uèrena scappè e s’arruzzuuìne
mmischète com’a ghiòmmere di pice
a pulle senza pére e senza scille.
