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|  |
| Author | Luigi Sailer |
|---|---|
| Language | italian |
| Genre | poetry |
| Published | 1850 |
La farfalletta (Italian pronunciation: [la farˈfalletta], English: The little butterfly) also known as "La vispa Teresa", is a poem by Luigi Sailer, written around 1850[1] and inside the children's poetry collection L'arpa della fanciullezza (1865); it's among the most well known nursery rhymes in Italy.[2]
In 1917 Trilussa wrote an ironic and irreverent follow up to Sailer's poem, with the title of La vispa Teresa.[1]
Text
editLa vispa Teresa
avea tra l'erbetta
Al volo sorpresa
gentil farfalletta
E tutta giuliva
stringendola viva
gridava a distesa:
“L'ho presa! L'ho presa!”.A lei supplicando
l'afflitta gridò:
“Vivendo, volando
che male ti fò?
Tu sì mi fai male
stringendomi l'ale!
Deh, lasciami! Anch'io
son figlia di Dio!”.Teresa pentita
allenta le dita:
“Va', torna all'erbetta,
gentil farfalletta”.
Confusa, pentita,
Teresa arrossì,
dischiuse le ditae quella fuggì
— Luigi Sailer, La farfalletta
In English:
Lively Teresa
had caught a butterfly
in middle flight, by surprise,
among the grass;
she was extremely blithe,
and while holding it alive in her grips,
she was shouting out loudly:
“I got it! I got it!”.Begging her,
the afflicted thing cried:
“By living, by flying,
what harm do I cause you?
You do hurt me
by gripping my wings!
Please, let go of me! I’m
God’s child too!”.Teresa, regretful,
loosens her grip:
“Fly, go back to the grass,
you kind little butterfly”.
Confused and regretful,
Teresa blushed,
she opened her handand the creature fled.
— Luigi Sailer, La farfalletta
Analysis
editThe poem is made of 24 verses, all hexasyllable, divided in three stanzas of eight verses. The rhymes follow an atypical rhyming scheme: ABABCCAA - DEDEFFGG - HHBBHIHI.
- 1 2 "La vispa Teresa | Noi parliamo italiano". parliamoitaliano.altervista.org.
- ↑ Umberto Cattabrini (2014-04-01). "La Vispa Teresa | Museo della Scuola" (in Italian).
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