CHILDHOOD: a meaning of a poppy

if I say PAPAVERO – which is the equivalent of POPPY in Italian – I am pretty sure that the first logical association made by the average Italian speaker is related to a childhood song:
Papaveri e Papere”, which literally means poppies and ducklings,
and I’m pretty sure about this

because it’s the song that your grandpa used to sing to you… and that you used to sing with him

 

“lo sai che i papaveri son alti alti alti
e tu sei piccolina
sei nata paperina,
che cosa ci vuoi far?!”
(do you know that poppies are very very tall
and you are very tiny
a duckling you were born,
what can you do?!)

 

the grandpa of many of us, I believe

this song is part of our Italian childhood and it involuntarily recalls the light-heartedness that is typical of children: the sunny days in the countryside, the affection of your grandparents… and those silly questions that – with a smile – every child asks their grandpa with a smile

 

“La papera al papero disse:
Papà, pappare i papaveri, come si fa?”
(The duckling said to father drake
Dad, how can you gobble poppies?)

 

and you smile for a moment

remembering those values you grew up with
(and perhaps you even ask yourself if your grandpa would be proud of you, and if you made some bad decisions without him…)

do you still remember those values?

and you dive into the past: a caress to the wheat with the hand, a hug to grandpa, the mud on the toys

and that taste of simplicity that today you can barely see hidden
somewhere

 

“Ma questo romanzo ben poco durò
Poi venne la falce che il grano tagliò
E un colpo di vento i papaveri in alto portò”
(But this romance lasted little
Then the sickle came to cut the wheat,
And a gust of wind brought the poppies away)

 

 

 

with love, but always irriverent

LADYSARA

 

 

P.S. If you want to discover all the other meanings click HERE 😉