At last night’s COF2011 welcome dinner, Friulian journalist Adriano Del Fabro recited “Song of the Bells,” a poem in Friulian by Pier Paolo Pasolini and I read a translation by my friend, the great Italian translator Stephen Sartarelli.

Video by Nicolas Contenta.

I had written to Stephen last week asking him for permission to use one of his translations and he graciously and generously agreed.

I selected the poem especially because of the occasion — “strangers” coming to Friuli.

If poetry is the Devil’s wine, is wine the Devil’s poetry?