A meeting with Francescu Luciani

Francescu Luciani leads several lives which, ultimately, form a single one. A teacher of the Corsican language, a shepherd and a poet, he grew up in a world where song, the spoken word and the mountains play a vital role. From improvisation to ‘chjam’è rispondi’ and verbal sparring, and then from speech to writing, he crafts poetry deeply rooted in the places and people around him.

Francescu Luciani, guardian of the language and traditions

A passion for passing on knowledge

A shepherd, poet and teacher, Francescu Luciani embodies a vibrant Corsica, where passing on cultural heritage is not just an empty phrase but a militant duty. This guardian of language and traditions draws his strength from the land of his ancestors and the art of finely honed improvisation. Between the chalkboard, the flock and the pen, he offers a powerful testimony to the visceral need to safeguard the soul of his island in order to provide a dignified future for its young people.

Meeting

Was the decision to teach the Corsican language a matter of course, or a calling?

I chose this profession out of a sense of commitment. Corsican is my mother tongue and I believe it is my duty to pass it on. By teaching Corsican, I am not merely teaching my pupils a language. I am teaching them how to live; I am passing on a culture, values and a way of being: being ‘Corsican’. For me, this is not just a vocation or a passion, but a militant duty.

Shepherd and poet: two passions that feed off one another

I was born into a family of shepherds. I am the grandson and nephew of shepherds. By helping my uncle, listening to stories of my ancestors, and observing the traditions and skills, this knowledge was passed on to me quite naturally. And over time, I developed a passion for it.

From a very young age, I was introduced to traditional singing at home by my father, who sang and wrote songs. In the village, the Luciani family were known as ‘i Cucchi’. My grandfather and his brothers used to improvise. Little by little, I began to sing, and it became one of my passions. Then I ended up improvising myself and getting caught up in the fun of rhyming, but in an oral and traditional way, practising‘impruvisate’ (improvisation) and ‘ichjam’è rispondi’ (improvised, sung poetic exchanges). Eventually, I began to put my rhymes down in writing.

Beyond a love of poetry, a visceral need to put pen to paper

Writing gives me strength and hope. For me, poetry is both a necessity and a remedy for the times. It is a vital need, a remedy. Writing gives me strength and hope. Making words rhyme is about finding similarities and common ground between things. As a community activist, it is perhaps this very purpose that drives me. To make rhymes is to find similarities between things. As an activist, this is what drives me.

An inexplicable, sacred bond between a person and their land. It is something that cannot be explained. Communion with my country refers to the maternal aspect that binds a people to their land. The bond is one that has been forged through occupation, culture, and the symbolism that people have built up. A nostra terra hè matre di u nostru populu. Our land is the mother of our people.

A poem by Francescu Luciani

À tè chì ghjunghji frestere
Per ste cunfine manente
À scopre ciò chè t’ùn sai
Di stu mondu è la so ghjente
S’è tù ne pati a brama
Pianta quì è stammi à sente

To you who come from afar, from these enduring frontiers, to discover what you do not know, of this world and those who live in it—if you feel the urge, stop for a moment and listen to me

In punta di Monte Astu
Guarda puru mondi è mari
Po fatti un segnu di croce
Cum’è dananz’à l’altari
Chì stu scornu d’universu
Ùn hà’nlocu li so pari

At the summit of Monte Astu, you may look upon whatever you wish, but make the sign of the cross as you would before an altar, for this corner of the universe has no equal anywhere.

U piacè di ghjunghje quì
Ùn ci hè dettu chì u sprime
In ste fiure cusì belle
Più fideghju le mio cime
È cum’acqua di surgente
Mi correnu le so rime

The joy of arriving here is indescribable; amidst these beautiful landscapes, the more I gaze upon my peaks, the more their verses spring to mind, like spring water

Sappia chì per sta muntagna
Ci aghju passatu a mio vita
Quandu nisun medicina
Ùn curava a mio ferita
Hè statu lu so silenziu
Solu chì a m’hà guarita

Know that I have spent my life in these mountains, whilst no medicine could heal my wounds; his silence alone was my cure

U trattu di a tramuntana
Chì pettina le filette
Cù lu rimore di l’acqua
Quandu à piove ci si mette
Sò forse le prime rime
Chì m’anu datu da riflette

The breath of the north wind caressing the ferns, the murmur of the water when the rain begins to fall are no doubt the first rhymes that have given me food for thought

L’alba matuttina è dolce
Chì face lu so ritornu
Cum’una manu pisata
Ti saluta à tempu ghjornu
Hè quessu u primu cennu
À cacciammi lu frastornu

The early dawn is gentle and returns like a caressing hand. It greets you at daybreak, and this is the first sign to dispel my confusion.

U tempu ùn mi basterà
Pè cunnosce u Mondu interu
Ma da Tenda à Monte Astu
Di sin’à lu Mont’à Peru
Ci cunnoscu ogni petra
Grazi’à Diu, è ne sò fieru !

I wouldn’t have time to get to know the whole world, but from Tenda to Monte Astu, right up to Mont’à Peru, thank God no place holds any secrets from me, and I’m proud of it!

Sta muntagna mi dà fiatu
Ogni volta ch’e a scopru
Chì mi corre ind’è e vene
Più chè lu mio sangue propiu
È po l’averaghju in core
Finch’e campu è ancu dopu

This mountain fills me with joy; every time I see it, it flows through my veins more than my own blood. I shall carry it in my heart for as long as I live, and long after that too.

Passing on knowledge to build the future

It is both a duty and a passion. Whether in everyday life or at school, passing on our heritage is essential to the development and education of future generations… If the link between the different generations is broken, our culture will gradually fall apart…passing on our heritage builds, shapes and preserves a dignified future for our young Corsicans. To pass on our heritage is to build and maintain a dignified future for our young people.