Analysis of LI SPIRITI IV (Ghosts 4)

Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli 1791 (Rome) – 1863



Un mese, o ppoco ppiù, doppo er guadaggno
De la piastra, che ffece er zanto prete,
Venne la pasqua, e 'r gabbiano che ssapete
Cominciò a lavorà de scacciaraggno.

"Ch'edè? Un bucio ar zolaro! Oh, pprete caggno",
Fece allora er babbeo che conoscete:
"Eccolo indove vanno le monete!
Va che lo scudo mio cerca er compaggno?"

Doppo infatti du' notte de respiro,
Ecchete la Badessa della muffa
A daje giù cor zolito sospiro.

"Sor don Libborio mio, basta una fuffa",
Strillò quello; "e le messe, pe sto giro,
Si le volete dì, ditele auffa".

About one month, or slightly more, after
the holy priest's profit of one shilling,
Easter came, and the aforesaid fool
Began cleaning his house .

"What's this? A hole in the ceiling! Oh, damned priest",
Said the fool you know:
"This is where my money goes!
I bet that my shilling is going to double" .

And actually after two nights of rest,
There goes the old Abbess again
Whith the usual sigh.

"Father Liborio, one trick's enough"
He cried; "and this time,
If you want to say mass, say mass for free".


Scheme ABBA ABBA CDC DCD CXXX XAXX XAD DXC
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101 11111011 111011111 10111 11111111 110111 11101 11111101 111111 111101 011111 111110101 110101111 101111 0111110110 0101101110 10100011 011011 11010010111 10111 1111101 111110110110 0100101111 1101101 101001 1011101 11011 1111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,059
Words 189
Sentences 15
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 98
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
116

Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli

Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. more…

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