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[Natura]
FARABOLA FOTO
Neruda sulla spiaggia
di Isla Negra, in Cile.
A destra, un tramonto
sul mare di Capri.
Neruda on the beach
on Islan Negra, in
Chile. Right, the sun
sets in front of Capri.
l’anima donato a
Matilde per consolarla
della perdita
prematura del loro
bambino. Canta
“l’uomo nuovo”,
i «milioni di figli
nuovi che daranno
la terra agli affamati», intrecciando al
tema dell’amore per la sua donna l’altro
grande amore della sua vita: quello per il
popolo che soffre, a cominciare dall’originaria
stirpe india delle Americhe, la «dolce
razza, figlia dei monti, stirpe di torri e di
turchese».
Capri non resta sfondo ma mescola
“benedetto” dai suoi raggi, infila l’anello
al dito della “sposa”.
Non è solo un’invocazione romantica all’astro,
ben noto ispiratore di tutti i poeti
innamorati: è forse l’istintiva reminiscenza
di “Mama Quilla”, la “madre luna” della cosmogonia
incaica, divinizzazione e protezione
del principio femminile. In ogni caso per
i due “sposi” quell’originale matrimonio dal
sapore pagano avrà valore per tutta la vita.
I due libri capresi
L’amore per Matilde e la bellezza del paesaggio
di Capri sono uno stimolo inesauribile.
Ogni giorno Neruda scrive febbrilmente,
con inchiostro verde, fucsia e azzurro
su foglietti sparsi. Matilde li raccoglie, li
conserva gelosamente e ricopia a macchina
i testi. Dal soggiorno caprese nascono due
libri. Los versos del Capitàn racchiude la
storia “dell’amore terribile che li ha incatenati”;
Las uvas y el viento è il “figlio” delchild.
Unable to legally wed, the poet was keen
to provide his love with a symbolic union every
bit as valid in his mind. A seamstress thus
sewed the bridal gown, and Neruda adorned
the house with festoons of leaves and flowers
he had braided himself. When the full moon had
reached its zenith directly over the sea, and the
terrace was flooded with its light, Neruda led
Matilde outside into that magic dimension all of
silver. And then, before the enigmatic smile of
the witness who watched them from on high,
he asked to be bound to his loved one forever;
once “blessed” by the moon’s rays, he slid the
ring on his “bride’s” finger.
This was no mere romantic invocation of a
celestial body that is the official muse of all
poets in love: it was, perhaps, the instinctive
reminiscence of Mama Quilla, the “moon
mother” in Incan cosmogony, the divinization
and guardian of the feminine principle. In any
case, that highly original wedding, with its
pagan underpinnings, would never diminish in
value for the rest of their lives.
The two books about Capri
Neruda’s love for Matilde, combined with
the sheer beauty of the island of Capri,
represented a source of inspiration that never
ran dry. The poet wrote
feverishly every day, filling
loose sheets of paper with
green, fuchsia or blue ink.
Matilde would gather up the
pages, file them carefully, and
prepare a typewritten version
of each text. Two books were
to come out of Neruda’s stays
on the island. Los versos
del Capitàn (The Captain’s
Verses) contains the story
“of the tremendous love that
bound them to each other”,
while Las uvas y el viento
(The Grapes and The Wind)
represented the “child” the
poet wished to give Matilde to
console her for the premature
loss of their own baby. He
sang of “the new man”, and
“the millions of new children
who would provide land for the
hungry”, thus interweaving two
themes: his love for a woman,
and the other great love of his life, the love for
long-suffering peoples, starting with the Native
Indian race of the Americas, the “sweet race,
child of the mountains, bloodline of towers and
turquoise”.
Capri serves as much more than a backdrop,
however; it mingles its essence with that of all
living creatures. Hence, the poet can tell his
love, “I made you out of sea and soil, as I sang
(…) The soil was full of sacred grapes, ripe on
the vine. Sea and soil/exploded in your hands/
with their ripe fruits. (...) And so you were/
M. MASTRORILLO
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