Sara Teasdale-Poetessa statunitense-Biblioteca DEA SABINA

Biblioteca DEA SABINA

Sara Teasdale-Poetessa statunitense-

Una delle voci più delicate e luminose della poesia americana,Sara Teasdale -La sua vita, breve ma straordinariamente intensa, è intrecciata a una sensibilità poetica che affronta con struggente sensibilità i temi dell’amore, della natura, della solitudine e della mortalità. Nonostante il successo durante la sua vita, il nome di Sara Teasdale è oggi trascurato, e la sua poesia rischia di essere dimenticata.

 

*Giudizio della traduttrice Caterina Mannelli su Sara Teasdale (St. Louis, 1884 – New York, 1933).

L’autrice del Missouri fu la prima donna a vincere il prestigioso Premio Pulitzer per la Poesia. Ottenne il massimo riconoscimento letterario statunitense nel 1918 con la raccolta di liriche ‘Love Songs’, grazie alla quale fu anche insignita dalla Columbia University Society e dalla Società di Poesia d’America.

Cagionevole di salute e di fragile costituzione, non seguì da ragazza un regolare iter scolastico ed iniziò il suo percorso editoriale all’età di 23 anni. Nel 1914 sposò per interesse un benestante uomo d’affari, Ernst Filsinger, pur essendo segretamente innamorata, e da lui ricambiata, dello spiantato pittore vagabondo Vachel Lindsay, che girava nel Sud del Paese guadagnandosi da vivere come poeta di strada.

Divorziò nel ’29 dal marito, che la trascurava. Affetta da depressione e delusa dai suoi tormentati amori, all’età di 49 anni l’inquieta poetessa, ormai celebre, si suicidò con un’overdose di sonniferi, emulando la tragica scelta compiuta due anni prima dall’amico Vachel Lindsay.

“Profondo è l’amore che ho dato e avuto; oh, quando il fuoco del mio spirito andrà a scemare, io sarò stanca e felice di andare”, recita la strofa finale del profetico componimento ‘Io ho amato le ore al mare’, poesia che, secondo il traduttore italiano Paolo Statuti, mostra “l’anima di Sara”.

ALCHIMIA

(Sara Teasdale Trevor Filsinger)

Schiudo il mio cuore come a primavera

nella pioggia la gialla margherita:

sarà una coppa di gioia squisita

benchè trabocchi di puro dolore.

Di fiori e foglie prenderò il colore,

d’ogni goccia che mi potranno dare,

ed il vino di morte trasformare

saprò nell’oro di una vita vera.

 

IL BACIO NELLO SGUARDO

A primavera Stephen mi ha baciata

e Robin in autunno – Colin poi

semplicemente, mi ha solo guardata –

nemmeno il cenno d’un bacio da lui.

Ecco: il bacio di Stephen l’ho scordato,

quello di Robin pure in fumo è andato,

ma il terzo bacio, in quegli occhi di brace,

giorno e notte m’insidia, senza pace.

CANZONE

Amami con il tuo cuore intero

o non darmi nessun amore,

l’amore a metà è una cosa povera,

né legame né libera.

Devi amarmi volentieri

anche anima e corpo,

altrimenti trova un nuovo amore

ed addio a te.

 

DOPO LA SEPARAZIONE

Oh ho seminato il mio amore così ampiamente

che egli lo troverà ovunque:

lo sveglierà di notte,

lo abbraccerà nell’aria.

Poserò la mia ombra alla sua vista.

E l’ho alata col desiderio,

che può essere una nuvola di giorno

e di notte un pozzo di fuoco.

 

LA RISPOSTA

Noi che siamo liberi, diciamo di essere liberi,

liberi di patire la fame, liberi di morire,

liberi di vivere in un mondo reso rosso

dallo spezzarsi dei cuori e dal sangue versato.

Abbiamo ascoltato le voci del vento e del mare,

e le voci degli uomini che gridano a Dio;

ma il vento e il mare non hanno risposte da dare,

e Dio è silenzioso com’era prima.

Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale was an American lyric poet. Her work continues to resonate with readers today for its exploration of themes such as love, nature, and the search for meaning in a world often characterized by impermanence and loss. She is admired for her direct and accessible style, her musical use of language, and her ability to evoke intense emotion with clarity and precision.

Teasdale’s poetry is firmly rooted in the early 20th-century movement known as Imagism. Imagist poets, including Amy Lowell and Ezra Pound, sought to create sharp, concrete images with simple language and a focus on the essence of their subjects. Teasdale shared this commitment to clarity and concision, but she also infused her poems with a personal and emotional depth that distinguished her from some of her contemporaries.

While Teasdale’s work often addresses universal themes, her personal experiences undoubtedly shaped her perspective. She navigated the complexities of romantic love, marriage, and ultimately chose to live independently in a time when such choices were unconventional for women. These experiences, coupled with her lifelong struggles with depression, informed the melancholic undercurrent present in much of her work, even as she celebrated beauty and the natural world.

Sara Teasdale Biography

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on August 8, 1884 in St. Louis Missouri. She was the youngest child of Mary Elizabeth Willard and John Warren Teasdale. At the time of Sara’s birth, Mary was 40, and John was 45. Teasdale had three other siblings. She had two brothers; George, who was the oldest child at 20, and John Warren Jr., was was 14. Teasdale also had a sister, named Mary (she was fondly called “Maime”), and she was 17. Mary loved her sister Sara and took very good care of her. Sara was named after her grandmother. Teasdale’s first word was “pretty”. According to her mother, Sara’s love of pretty things was what inspired her poetry. Teasdale was always very frail, and caught diseases easily. For most of her life, she had a nurse companion that took care of her. Teasdale grew up in a sheltered atmosphere. She was the youngest child. Because of that, she was spoiled and waited on like a princess. She never had to do normal chores, like make her bed, or do the dishes. She was known to have described herself as “a flower in a toiling world”. Because she was so sickly, she was homeschooled until she was nine. She never had communication with her peers. Teasdale grew up around adults. She was forced to amuse heself with stories and things that she made up in her own lonesome world. When Teasdale was ten, she had the first communication with her peers. Her parents sent her to Miss Ellen Dean Lockwood’s school for boys and girls. When she was fourteen, she went to Mary Institute. She didn’t graduate there, but switched to Hosmer Hall when she was fifteen. There, she began to put the thoughts and dreams that amused her as a girl onto paper. Thus, she wrote her first poem. Teasdale’s first published poem was “Reedy’s Mirror”, and it was published in a local newspaper. Her first collection, “Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems”, was published in 1907. In 1911, her second collection, “Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems” was published. She published many other collections including “Rivers to the Sea”, “Love Songs”, “Flame and Shadow”, “Dark of the Moon”, “Stars To-night”, and finally, “Strange Victory”. Teasdale married her sweetheart Ernst Filsinger in 1914. They had a happy marriage, but it was too good to last. They divorced in 1929, and she lived the rest of her life only for her poetry. Sara was always frail and sickly, but in 1933, Teasdale caught chronic pneumonia and it weakened her not only in body but also in mind and spirit. No longer able to see the beauty in simple things, Teasdale committed suicide at age 48 in New York, NY on January 29, 1933. Her final book of poetry was published that year. Teasdale’s works continue to be admired by poets everywhere. Her works show us what a lovely person she was, and how much she appreciated the beautiful things about life. Her love for beautiful things appeared in her poetry. She was a very talented poet, and we are glad she shared her talent with us.)