Mediterranee

by Umberto Saba

Pienso en un mar lejano, un puerto, ocultas
calles del puerto, donde estuve un día
y donde estoy ahora, que a los dioses alzo
las palmas suplicando no quieran castigarme
por la última victoria que desprecio.
(Pero el corazón, dulce, aguanta apenas);

pienso en la bronca sirena
–delirio, embriaguez, besos–, y en Ulises,
que se levanta allá de un triste lecho.

Mediterránea

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Umberto Saba was an Italian poet and novelist, born Umberto Poli in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean port of Trieste when it was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poli assumed the nom de plume "Saba" in 1910, and his name was officially changed to Umberto Saba in 1928.