Lari's Reflection:
Oh the poetic leanings of the Latin languages. It is one of the reasons why I fell in love with Castellano, i.e. Spanish. But of all the Latin languages, one may argue that the Italians have mastered the art of poetic discourse.
An Italian friend and I have both recently experienced our own...let's just say romantic challenges. Over a glass of wine, he looks at me and smiles. With optimism in his eyes he says to me in Italian, "Se son rose, floriranno." I do not speak Italian, however by knowing Spanish I could understand exactly what he was telling me. It not only made me smile, but it calmed my restless heart.
At this point, my well-meaning American friends had already tried to comfort me with the standard, "If it is meant to be, it will be." or "Time will tell." Ugh! Is it just me or are those words more like salt in the wound than a soothing salve. The literal translation of my Italian friend's comforting words is, "If they are roses, they will bloom." Aaaah, now that soothes the breaking heart.
The Italian expression refers to any kind of promising situation where a happy ending is expected but cannot be taken for granted, after all, life happens. The Italian has within it an inherit hopefulness and optimism, a characteristic that feels more like being safely snuggled in the loving arms of your mother, rather than being slapped in the face with the cold reality of the English.
Now please, do not take this the wrong way, yes, at some point we all must face the hard truth of the situation. But there is a delicate timing when it comes to matters of the heart. That afternoon, on a terraza under the shadows of the Pyrenees Mountains, my heart needed the image of a rose bud whose time had not yet come. But when it did, it would unfold into a glorious beautiful flower.
http://www.thelarigallery.com/photo_wild-pyrenean-rose_21_269.html
