A love letter from Augusto, 1917

During the First World War Italy joined the Allied Powers in 1915. On Feb 11th 1916 Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control in the US. A few months later, on May 4 1916, activist Jane Jacobs was born. On March 4th 1917 Woodrow Wilson was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. On August 14th 1917 the Republic of China declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. On August 29th 2017 Canada passed the Military Service Act in order to give the Canadian government the right to conscript men into the army. A day later, on August 30th 1917, Augusto penned a letter to his love.

It’s hard to tell if the letter ever got sent.

A te sola che amo, ardentemente, ti invio un mio verso, sul motivo, di Ladra

ma ora (Amore)

Il primo giorno che io t'o [ti ho] veduta, il cuore mio, fù colpito in pièn. A scriverti m'affrettai all'insaputa per poterti giurare eterna fè!!

E tu!.. E tu!..

Che sola col tuo amore vivere mi fai. Ti dono il cuore per farne quel che vuoi è [e] il tuo bel volto non lo scordo mai.

Fine.

Tu sola amico[a] mio[a] idolo consolatore, affettuosamente. Ti saluto, e ti bacio, e credermi in eterno, il tuo per sempre.

Augusto.

(Pensa à colui, che arde del tuo amore.)

Here’s a translation, in English, preserving as much as possible the original words, while still communicating meaningfully the sense of the letter.

To you alone that I love, ardently, to you I send, my verse, as in Ladra.

But now (Love)

The first day that I saw you, my heart was struck. Without thinking about it, I write to you to be able to vow my eternal loyalty.

And you! And you!

Your love alone sustains my life. I gift you my heart to do with it what you want, and your beautiful face I will never forget.

End.

You alone, my friend, my comforting idol, affectionately, I greet you, and I kiss you, and you trust me forever, yours forever.

Augusto.

[Think of the him, the one, that in your love, burns.]

Thanks to my muse Maria Elena Seidenari for help not merely with the translation but also for sustained creative nourishment.

Found at a vintage shop at the corner of Via Broccaindosso and Strada Maggiore in Bologna, Italy.