Audens Ischia

Forios strand, sedd genom ett bussfönster

Dearest to each his birthplace; but to recall a green
valley where mushrooms fatten in the summer nights
and silvered willows copy
the circumflexions of the stream

is not my gladness today: I am presently moved
by sundrenched Parthenopea, my thanks are for you, Ischia,
to whom a fair wind has
brought me rejoicing with dear friends

from soiled productive cities. How well you correct
our injured eyes, how gently you train us to see
things and men in perspective
underneath your uniform light

that lean against ample Epomeo, holding on
to the rigid folds of her
skirts? The boiling springs
which betray her secret fever,
make limber the gout-stiffened joint

and improve the venereal act; your ambient peace
in any case is a cure for, ceasing to think
of a way to get on, we
learn to simply wander about

by twisting paths which at any moment reveal
some vista as an absolute goal; eastward, perhaps,
suddenly there, Vesuvius,
looming across the bright bland bay

like a massive family pudding, or, around
a southern point, sheer-sided Capri who by herself
defends the cult of Pleasure,
a jealous, sometimes a cruel, god.

Ur "Ischia" av W. H. Auden, 1948

W. H. Auden började tillbringa sina sommarhalvår i Forio på Ischia 1948 - ett tiotal år senare flydde han därifrån, omgärdad av förgiftat skvaller. Det är väl inte att undra på att hans dikt är skriven den första paradisiska tiden av hans vistelse...

Ann

"sheer-sided Capri"