English: Cecco Angiolieri was a tuscan poet who lived in the second half of the 13th century.

He wrote poems against the serious and thoughtful literary movement known as Dolce Stil Novo (to which poets like Dante Alighieri belonged to), full of heavenly topics and generally characterized by a solemn style and aulic words.

Cecco was not his real name: it was the playful diminutive of Francesco.

This is an anti-paternal sonnet in which Cecco mocks the figures of god, of the pope, of the emperor, of the father and mother, and of all honest people.

Were I fire, I would set fire to the world,
Were I wind, I would blow furious storms on it,
Were I water, I would drown it,
Were I god, I would sink it in the depth of the earth.

Were I the pope, then I would be cheerful and smile
'Cause I would ensnare all the christians.
Were I the emperor, you know what?
I would force everybody to become priest (i.e. I would cut their hair the way priests are used to).

Were I death, I would visit my father,
Were I life, I would escape from him.
The same I would do about my mother.

Were I Cecco, as I've always been and I am still,
I would chase young and graceful women
and let filthy and old ones to others.

This version of the poem can be freely downloaded from here

Quality of sound: tolerable

Quality of recitation: poor

This audio file is supposed to be used as an introduction to the reading.