At the May Day Concert, Emma read a poem by Virginia Woolf.
Emma is also on the May Day stage, after Paolillo – who had read a text by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Dacia Maraini – he reads a text, this time a poem by Virginia Woolf. The singer had taken the stage a few minutes earlier for her performance at the Concertone on May Day, where she had performed first with a medley of da “Stupida allegria”, “La mia città”, “Cercavo amore” and “Io sono bella” before performing his latest song “Mezzo mondo”, which anticipates his record comeback.
The meaning of Stay Alive and Emma’s dedication
After Lazza’s performance, however, the Apulian singer is back on stage to read a poem by Virginia Woolf, which she finally dedicated to her mother, her brother Francesco and her father – looking up at the sky -, who passed away a few months ago: “I wish you all to stay alive, always, despite everything. A I kiss my mum, my brother Francesco. Bye, Dad!”. Woolf’s poem is an exhortation to never lose yourself, hope and direction in your life. It is an incitement to live, learn, study and above all to think because “There is only one thing that you must not waste in life, and that is life itself” as the poet closes.
The text of Stay Alive by Virginia Woolf
Whatever happens, stay alive.
Don’t die before you’re really dead.
Don’t lose yourself
do not lose hope,
don’t lose direction.
Stay alive, with all of yourself,
with every cell of your body,
with every fiber of your skin.
Stay alive, learn, study, think,
build, invent, create,
speak, write, dream, design.
Stay alive, stay alive inside you,
stay alive even outside,
filled with the colors of the world,
fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.
Stay alive with joy.
There’s only one thing you mustn’t waste in life,
and it is life itself.
