On the Willow Branches

I wanted to post this poem by Salvatore Quasimodo on the 25th of April, anniversary of the Italian resistance against Fascism and the Nazist occupation, but I couldn't find an English translation. I've finally found it, so here it is. The translation is by Allen Mandlebaum, but I have modified it slightly.

On the Willow Branches

And how could we sing
with the foreign foot upon our heart,
among the dead abandoned in the squares
on the grass hard with ice, to the children's
lamb lament, to the black howl
of the mother gone to meet her son
crucified on the telegraph pole?
On the the willow branches, by our vow,
our lyres, too, were hung,
lightly they swayed in the sad wind.

The Italian original:

Alle fronde dei salici

E come potevano noi cantare
con il piede straniero sopra il cuore,
fra i morti abbandonati nelle piazze
sull’erba dura di ghiaccio, al lamento
d’agnello dei fanciulli, all’urlo nero
della madre che andava incontro al figlio
crocifisso sul palo del telegrafo?
Alle fronde dei salici, per voto,
anche le nostre cetre erano appese,
oscillavano lievi al triste vento.