Translation of the song Spesso il male di vivere ho incontrato artist Eugenio Montale

Spesso il male di vivere ho incontrato

I often encountered the evil of living:

era il rivo strozzato che gorgoglia

it was the choked brook that gurgles,

era l’incartocciarsi della foglia

it was the curling of the sun-parched

riarsa, era il cavallo stramazzato.

leaf, it was the horse that collapses.

Bene non seppi, fuori del prodigio

The good I did not know, beyond the miracle

che schiude la divina Indifferenza:

unfolded by divine Indifference:

era la statua nella sonnolenza

it was the statue in the drowsiness

del meriggio, e la nuvola, e il falco alto levato.

of midday, and the cloud, and the hawk soaring high