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THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINI:

poem updated
Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini
[The Garden of the Finzi-Contini]

On a hillside of the Emilia-Romagna
Cascading colors dark
And somber
Ivy deep green
Shrouding Etruscan faces
Screaming
Paralyzed in stone
Sinews black of Cypress trees
Shadows with no breath
Of sunlight
There lay
Protected and alone
The garden of the Finzi-Contini
Italians of the Sephardic kind
Safe and hidden
From the sounds of war
The year nineteen hundred and forty four

The Fires of madness
Reached their garden door
Played in other gardens
So many times before

Empty graves narrow
Deep
Beyond the broken gate
By ancient prayers
Made holy
For progeny to keep
In the garden of the Finzi-Contini
Italians of the Sephardic kind
The year nineteen hundred and forty-four

Editing stage: 

Comments

Thank you for writing this piece it is lovely, and I have learnt a lot more on another subject hope you don't mind I have put a little about the subject at the bottom of this, take care and know we are there with you, Yours Ian

Simply stated, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS is a dream. Not a dream in any conventional sense, but a dream nevertheless. It is set in Italy just before and during the start of World War II. The aristocratic Jewish families in the story live in a dream world believing fascism will leave their plush existence untouched.

The young Jewish people in the story are full of illusions about romantic love. This causes them almost as much pain as their denial of the consequences of fascism. The whole texture of the film is ethereal, and the lush cinematography by Ennio Guarnieri uses a soft haze to enhance the mood.

Based on the autobiographical novel by Giorgio Bassani, the story starts in 1938 when Mussolini's racial laws are beginning to take force. Like similar ones of his Nazi brethren, his laws start to clamp down on the rights of people of Jewish lineage. The proscribed list includes no servants, no phone listings, no library privileges, no public schools, and no obituaries. And it goes on and on.....

.
There are a million reasons to believe in yourself,
So find more reasons to believe in others..

Thank you Ian. I can no longeeer t ype such an explanation for baxground of story. Thank you 4 doing it 4 mr.

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