Riparto D'Assalto Poem by Ernest Hemingway

Riparto D'Assalto

Rating: 2.9


Drummed their boots on the camion floor,
Hob-nailed boots on the camion floor.
Sergeants stiff,
Corporals sore.
Lieutenant thought of a Mestre whore -
Warm and soft and sleepy whore,
Cozy, warm and lovely whore;
Damned cold, bitter, rotten ride,
Winding road up the Grappa side.
Arditi on benches stiff and cold,
Pride of their country stiff and cold,
Bristly faces, dirty hides -
Infantry marches, Arditi rides.
Grey, cold, bitter, sullen ride -
To splintered pines on the Grappa side
At Asalone, where the truck-load died.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Fabrizio Frosini 28 February 2016

''Riparto D'Assalto'' - the correct Italian is 'REPARTO D'Assalto'' Mestre is a city close to Venezia Grappa = Monte Grappa is a mountain (about 1,800 mt high) in Veneto, north-east of Italy. The river Piave is close to it (on its east side) . Some of the events of World War I and World War II took place on Monte Grappa. On its summit a military memorial monument was erected in 1935, where the remains of 12,615 soldiers are guarded (10,332 of them are unknown) . Arditi = Italian for 'The Braves'.

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Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Oak Park, Illinois
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