busyThis poem came out of the May 3, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from 
eseme and sponsored by marina_bonomi. A search for "Italian folk tales" turned up the story of Prezzemolina, a variation of Rapunzel. Of course, adding Fiorenza to the mix entails some creative problem-solving! This poem is a terza rima, a flexible Italian form with any number of interlocking triads concluded by a couplet. You can read the other poems about Fiorenza on the "Serial Poetry" page of my website.
When Annalisa's belly grew full round,
She craved the prezzemolo sweet and green,
So tore it from the fairies' sacred ground.
She bore a daughter fair as had been seen,
With rosebud lips and silky raven curls,
But word was taken to the fairy queen.
Two fate came in gowns of satin swirls
To hound fair Annalisa for her crime
And claim for their lost crop this best of girls.
Then Annalisa ran through fields of thyme
To ask the herbalist what she should do,
So Fiorenza sighed, and made the climb.
She gave the fate parsley bales and rue,
With starts of fine French lavender and dill,
And baskets full of bread and pastries too.
The fate all sat down and ate their fill,
Then carried off the plants and went their way,
Agreeing that the payment fit the bill.
"Next time, come to my garden, if you may,"
said Fiorenza, "for there's less to pay!"
Re: Thank you!
May 6 2011, 01:08:25 UTC 10 years ago
Yay!
>> and I'm really curious about the whole community, even new, just-glimpsed characters like Annalisa have a definite personality, you are building a strong cast of characters here.<<
Yeah, I've noticed that these characters often come with a kind of personality tag that suggests what kind of person they are. It gives a lot of flexibility for offshoots or repeat appearances.
>> My pleasure! :), anytime you have questions about everyday Italian things (or not so everyday ones) feel free to ask, I'll be happy to answer and/or do a bit of research or translation for you.<<
I've been looking into the history of herbs, trying to figure out which ones are native to Italy, plus which were imported and roughly when. Similarly I'm watching for information about garden flowers, especially useful ones like roses. When I need stuff to put in her garden, it would be helpful to know what might reasonably be there. I have lots of references on herbs in general, and herbalism, cooking, history of herbal medicine, etc. But it's hard to pin down a chronology for a particular region. If you know of any resources that list native Italian herbs and other useful plants, that would be nifty. Particularly since, by the time this series matures, it's going to have a longish list of "Fiorenza's garden" species much the way one can design a "Shakespeare's garden."
Re: Thank you!
May 6 2011, 18:31:37 UTC 10 years ago
A 'Fiorenza's Garden' would be wonderful! I have a few resources on herbal and kitchen gardens and native plants (I'm interested in the topic myself) but they are in Italian, I could post a few lists of plants and sites (tagged 'Fiorenza')on my LJ, if that could work for you.
Pinpointing a time-frame would be useful, we know that in Fiorenza's time tomatoes are known and used in cooking, tomatoes (sing. pomodoro, plural pomidoro /pomodori 'goldenapples') arrived in Italy in 1596 and were cultivated and used widely in Southern Italy in the second half of the 17th century, at the same time the 'pizza al pomodoro' (tomato pizza) was born.Fiorenza could have got some tomatoes and the pizza recipe from a Neapolitan merchant at the Fermo fair...
Herbalists/hedge witches were present, and influencial, in an understated way, until not so long ago (and in some places, specifically in the Southern countryside still are). I'm talking about the old traditions of folk medicine transmitted through direct apprenticeship. In 1950 my mother injured her ankle and was taken to the 'striòs' (the 'male-witch' or 'the witch-son')a man who had learned herbal medicine and folk remedies from his mother (she was also known for reading either hands or cards, my mother doesn't remember which).That was in a largish and relatively cosmopolitan country town.
Re: Thank you!
May 18 2011, 01:05:38 UTC 10 years ago
Lists would help, yes, if you let me know when you post those. I can save them to my notes for Fiorenza.
>>Pinpointing a time-frame would be useful, we know that in Fiorenza's time tomatoes are known and used in cooking, tomatoes (sing. pomodoro, plural pomidoro /pomodori 'goldenapples') arrived in Italy in 1596 and were cultivated and used widely in Southern Italy in the second half of the 17th century, at the same time the 'pizza al pomodoro' (tomato pizza) was born.Fiorenza could have got some tomatoes and the pizza recipe from a Neapolitan merchant at the Fermo fair...<<
I don't have an exact date pinned down, but that sounds about right ... 1600s maybe. Events in a historic fantasy may not unfold on exactly the same timeline, but should be close enough to sound reasonable rather than jarring.
>> Herbalists/hedge witches were present, and influencial, in an understated way, until not so long ago (and in some places, specifically in the Southern countryside still are). I'm talking about the old traditions of folk medicine transmitted through direct apprenticeship. In 1950 my mother injured her ankle and was taken to the 'striòs' (the 'male-witch' or 'the witch-son')a man who had learned herbal medicine and folk remedies from his mother <<
This sounds so cool!