This word takes me back to age 12, when my grandfather, despite that I spoke no Italian, gave me an exercise in pronunciation. He had me memorize a passage from The Divine Comedy, in which Dante describes Beatrice with a verse ending "E par che della sua labbia si muova/ Uno spirito soave e pien d'amore,/Che va dicendo all'anima: sospira!" which, as best I can recall, translates "and it seems that from her lips there moves a spirit, sweet and full of love, that says to the soul, over and over: 'sigh!'" Somehow it sounds much prettier in Italian.