L’infanzia di Maria [English translation]
L’infanzia di Maria [English translation]
1
Maybe it was at terce, maybe at nona,2
after sewing some lilies on your artless dress,
maybe it was out of need or - worse - to set a good example
that they took your three years of age and brought them to the temple,
that they took your three years of age and brought them to the temple.
There no longer was Anne’s breast - inside the discreet walls -
to comfort your crying, to soothe your thirst;
they say it was an angel to tell you the hours,
to measure your time between the food and the Lord,
to measure your time between the food and the Lord.
Snow melts in the sun, water flows back to the sea,
the wind and the season get back to playing.
But not for you, girl; you’re left in the temple, bowed;
but not for you, girl; you’re left in the temple, bowed.
And when the priests refused you a lodging,
you were twelve and had no blame on you;
yet, to the priests, the blame was your May,
your virginity that was tinging in red,
your virginity that was tinging in red.
And they want to give a husband to someone who didn’t want one,
they search the countryside, they ferret around the streets,
wifeless people, men of any standing;
they make a lottery out of a virgin’s body,
they make a lottery out of a virgin’s body.
Loosen your hair and look, they’re already coming:
«Look at her, look at her, she’s loosening her hair,
it’s longer than our cloaks;
look at her skin, tender, soft,
in the sunlight it shines like snow.
Look at her hands, look at her face,
she looks like she’s come from Heaven,
look at her shape, her proportions,
she looks like she’s come as a temptation.
Look at her, look at her, she’s loosening her hair,
it’s longer than our cloaks;
look at her hands, look at her face,
she looks like she’s come from Heaven.
Look at her eyes, look at her hair,
look at her hands, look at her neck,
look at her flesh, look at her face,
look at her heavenly hair.
Look at her flesh, look at her neck,
she looks like she’s come from her smile,
look at her eyes, look at the snow,
look at her heavenly flesh.
And it was to you, Joseph, a survivor from the past,
a carpenter by necessity, a father by profession;
that an impolite fate assigned
one more daughter - for no reason at all -
a little girl you had no wish for.
And while you go away, tired of being tired,
with the girl by your hand and sadness by your side,
you think ‟Those priests gave her as a wife
to fingers that are too dry to close around a rose,
to a heart that’s too old, that is taking its rest now”.
As per the order he received,
Joseph took the girl to his house,
and he immediately left for some job
that was waiting for him outside Galilee.
He was away for four years.
1. Mary - Jesus’ mother - is a little girl who is made to join the temple of Jerusalem when she is three.
She has to give up her mother Anne and her whole youth; yet, when she has her menarche, she is considered impure and is banished from the temple where she has served so far.
The priests organize a sort of lottery among all the unmarried men of the city, and Mary is the prize.
She is assigned to Joseph who is already old, so he is more a father than a husband to Mary and is sad about her harsh destiny.2. In the Liturgy of the Hours, terce {third} is about 9 a.m., while nona {ninth} is about 3 p.m.
- Artist:Fabrizio De André
- Album:La buona novella (1970)