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Lawrence was in Italy for the first time in August 1912. He wrote his first book, «Twilight in Italy» in 1916. In this year he discovered Verga apart from having seen «La Cavalleria Rusticana» in Catania.

His interest in Verga grew when he spent two years in Taormina (1919-1921) that he used to call «Bewitched Sicily». He feels chose to Verga and especially to the Verga’s comunity. For many reasons he compares Sicily to Nottinghamshire, where he grew up: for a ritualistic life, for the heavy rhythm of existence punctuated by violence and conflicts. And he said that the Sicilians have a self sufficient pride and feeling for the immediacy of the physical world, which is to be found in Lawrence’s own writing.

We can see this in Don Gesualdo’s words to his beloved daughter, Isabella, when he is about to die.

«Le raccomandava la sua roba, di proteggerla, di difenderla (….). Spiegava quel che gli erano costati quei poderi, li passava tutti in rassegna amorosamente, rammentava come erano venuti a lui, uno dopo l’altro, a poco a poco, le terre seminative, i pascoli, le vigne; li descriveva minutamente, zolla per zolla, colle qualità buone o cattive. Gli tremava la voce, gli tremavano le mani, gli si accendeva tuttora il sangue in viso, gli spuntavano le lacrime agli occhi».

«He begged her to look after the property, to prospect it and defend it (….). He explained all that they had cost him, those fields and groves, he lingered over them with loving resignation: he recalled how they had come to him, one after the other, little by little, the arable lands, the pastures, the vineyards; he descrived them minutely, furrow by furrow, and their quality, good or bad. His voice trembled, his hands trembled, all his blood flamed in his face, tears came to his eyes».

Lawrence translated «Mastro Don Gesualdo» in 1923, and «Cavalleria Rusticana» in 1928. He said that Verga is extraordinarily good, peasant, quite modern, «Homeric» and he through that the South was an ideal mythical area not yet spoiled by industrial expansion. Through Verga, «La Sicilianità», in its meaning of Sicilian culture, permeates the consciousness of the new Italian nation.

Unrestrained by traditional prejudices and academic conventions, Laurence approaches Verga’s work with fresh interest and an open sensibility, plunging himself in the Sicilian world evoked by the author and participating in its life. So it comes to life a personal experience rather than the result of a methodical analysis. Just to see how all this was realized in practice we will start from one of the many remarkable interpretations which keeps the flavour of Verga’s Italian and offers an appropriate idea of what is going on English too.

A key word to Verga’s novel is «Roba», «Property», which recurs throughout the story. In fact, the «Property» is one of the most recurrent theme of Verga’s novels. Besides one of the things that surely strikes whoever reads «Mastro Don Gesualdo» is Verga continuous use of expressions typical of a deeply imbued Catholic society ad the Sicilian one: «Gesummaria!» – «Oh, Heaven above!», «Viva Maria» – «Mary be praised». But, in these continuously recurring kinds of phrases, Lawrence sometimes even leaves expression such as «Viva Maria» in Italian.

However not withstanding his protestant upbringings, he always keeps the flavour of these expression. On the other hand, his tendency to secularize many other Catholic phrases so widely used in Verga’s text comes inevitably out. He virtually ignores the word «Dio» («God») whenever it is related to food. Another point concerning religion is the usage of the word «cristiano» («Christian») written by Verga with the small «c» while, by Lawrence, with a capital «C». In fact, to the average italian this word usually means «human being», people that have a conscience, without any religions connotation. The word «Christian» takes its religions connotation, just like when Don Gesualdo il preparing himself «to die as a good Christian».

Of course, then also a great deal of awkward obscurities due to misinterpretations, which come out as an inevitable consequence of Lawrence’s haste, rather than as the result of his actual inability to translate. An instance concerns one of those things italians are famous for, gesticulating while speaking, «Don Gesualdo si sfogò, infine con lui, appuntandogli contro le corna, con tutt’e due le mani», which is incorrectly rendered as «Don Gesualdo turned on him now, taking the stuffing out of him, to some tune». Lawrence completely misses its meaning of superstitions gesture used as if to keep away bad luck.

However «horns» is one of those recurring words in «Mastro Don Gesualdo» used. «Horns» are often related to unfaithfulness in marriage, which, especially in Sicily, until not long ago, was considered an extremely offensive action sometimes leading even to murder. A problem wich Lawrence is aware is the use of the dialect. We can read a passage from Lawrence’s translation where we can see how he uses the broad Eastwood dialect in a conversation between Don Gesualdo and Diodata, his servant/lover, whom had borne two sons.

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