The Sovrans of the Old World
Encyclopedia
The Sovrans of the Old World (Italian original title: Li soprani der monno vecchio) is a 1831 sonnet
in the Romanesco
dialect
of Rome
, by Italian poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. It is part of the collection Sonetti romaneschi, sometimes listed as number 361 or 362.
Among the translators of the sonnet, Peter Nicholas Dale, which translated it into Strine
, the Australian English dialect of the 1960s, in which title is rendered as The Lieders a the Old World.
The verse Io sò io, e vvoi nun zete un cazzo (literally "I am I, and you are fucking nothing") was famously appropriated
by Mario Monicelli
in his 1981 movie Il Marchese del Grillo
, in which it is rendered in modern Italian as "io sò io e voi nun siete un cazzo," and has since then become a frequent quote of contemporary Italian culture.
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
in the Romanesco
Romanesco
Romanesco or Romanesque is a regional language or sociolect subsumed within the Italian language spoken in Rome. It is part of the Central Italian dialects and is thus genetically closer to the Tuscan dialect and Standard Italian....
dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, by Italian poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. It is part of the collection Sonetti romaneschi, sometimes listed as number 361 or 362.
Among the translators of the sonnet, Peter Nicholas Dale, which translated it into Strine
Strine
Strine is a term coined in 1964 and subsequently used to describe a broad accent of Australian English. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon the tendency of this...
, the Australian English dialect of the 1960s, in which title is rendered as The Lieders a the Old World.
The verse Io sò io, e vvoi nun zete un cazzo (literally "I am I, and you are fucking nothing") was famously appropriated
Appropriation (art)
Appropriation is a fundamental aspect in the history of the arts . Appropriation can be understood as "the use of borrowed elements in the creation of a new work."...
by Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...
in his 1981 movie Il Marchese del Grillo
Il Marchese del Grillo
Il Marchese del Grillo is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi as the titular character. The movie depicts some episodes of the life of a noble in the Rome of the early 19th century...
, in which it is rendered in modern Italian as "io sò io e voi nun siete un cazzo," and has since then become a frequent quote of contemporary Italian culture.
Further reading
- Norse, HaroldHarold NorseHarold Norse was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse was widely published and anthologized.- Life :Born Harold Rosen to an unmarried Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn...
(1960) The Roman Sonnets of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. Preface by William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
. Introduction by Alberto MoraviaAlberto MoraviaAlberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism....