My eyes can also see
The green hills
Such a scene lights up
My homesick heart.
Poet Ms. Elizabeth Guyon Spennato is part French, part Maltese with origins in Ischia, Italy.
Poet Ms. Elizabeth Guyon Spennato is part French, part Maltese with origins in Ischia, Italy. She studied at the University of Taiwan, lived in Rome and Paris and became a sworn interpreter in Chinese, Italian and French. She has lived in Beijing where she was an actress and a lyrics/poem writer in Chinese. In 2003, she was involved in a serious road accident following which she dedicated herself to studying Persian during her long recovery. Elizabeth has published three books in France, however photography is a new source of inspiration. Supported by the Banque Populaire Foundation, she published Regards Persans in December 2018 (a bilingual book of poems and photography in Persian and French). Her poems written in Mandarin or in Italian are published in anthologies or in poetry magazines. In 2024, two book collections of her poems are published in Taiwan and in Italy.
New books:
– 2024: “Fantasia ‘e ll’isola”, Bertoni editore, Italy
– 2024: « 臉上的太陽 », 秀威出版, Taiwan
– 2023: « Des fleurs pour Alcide – Alcide d’Orbigny », (éds Esperluète)
– November 2022: “真心 – Coeur pur”, poésie taïwanais-français, Papiers Coupés, papiers.coupés@orange.fr
– 2019: “The dream life of Little Paul”, Faraxa Publishing, Malte. Un livre pour enfants
– 2019: “La langue du Sud – 南方的语言“, poésie chinois-français, Papiers Coupés, papiers.coupés@orange.fr
– 2018: ‘Regards Persans, l’âme d’une génération’ (“Persian Eyes, the soul of a generation”), Orients Éditions, France. A collection of her photography; and poems translated by the author.
‘Persian Eyes’ Photography by Elizabeth Guyon Spennato
She narrates in her own words, “I began working on Persian Eyes after years of rehabilitation, following a serious accident, where I also took up Persian. Following eye surgery, it occurred to me that photography was probably THE best medium for expressing what it is, about Iran that continues to inspire me.
My wish was not only to capture the sheer depth and beauty of Persian eyes but also and more importantly, to peer into and unveil the Iranian soul. I felt it important to let the people of Iran show something of themselves, at times so different to what is portrayed in the Media.
During long stays in Iran spanning 2012 – 2017, I took pictures of eyes that belong to the so called “Burnt Generation” – people born between 1966 and 1990 who experienced the effects of the 1979 Revolution, followed by the Iran/Iraq War.
My photographs combine with poems which lend each image a powerful eloquence. The poetry is broad in scope drawing from poets ancient and contemporary – some well-known, others unknown in the West, male and female – all representative of the eternal and enduring nature of the Iranian poetic spirit.”
Homesick
HomesickIn Pinglin, on a hillside
My friend
Owns a piece of land
Over there
Tea plants grow freely
And bloom as they please
Spring has come
Let us enjoy
The scent of wild tea
Whose taste is clear and fresh!
My friend
Likes to sit up on the top
Of his tea field
Thinking that the grandfather
Of his grandfather
May have seated
In the
Same place
He looks down where the tea plants grow
Straight ahead
In a thick fog
His eyes make out the green hills
Humming softly
The world is really beautiful
And the heart is serene
Back in our far south
I taste the Pouchong of the little snail
One of my friend’s teas
Straight ahead, in that thick fog
My eyes can also see
The green hills
Such a scene lights up
My homesick heart.
***
그리운 집
그리운 집내 친구는
핑린(坪林)에
작은 산비탈을 가지고 있어요.
그곳에선
차나무가 자유롭게 자라
꽃을 피워요.
봄이 오면
야생 찻잎의
맑은 향기를
마음껏 즐길 수 있어요.
그 차의 맛은 정말 맑고 상쾌해요.
내 친구는
차밭 꼭대기에
앉아 있는 걸 좋아해요.
그는 자기 할아버지의
할아버지가
아마도 이 자리에
앉았을 거라고
상상해요.
눈앞에는
차나무로 가득 찬 산과
안개가 덮인 푸르른 산비탈이
펼쳐져 있고
가만히 말해요.
세상은 참 아름답다고,
마음은 소박하고 고요해요.
멀리 남쪽으로 돌아가면
내 친구의
차를 마셔요.
눈앞에 보이는
안개 속 푸르른 산비탈의
이 풍경은
그리운 집을 생각하는
마음에 빛을 비춰요.
________________
