Italian Poetry

Today we read Tacito orror di solitaria selva , by Vittorio Alfieri. This poem has two main historical referents. On the one hand, as is often the case, Petrarca, whose sonnet CLXXVI (they are usually referred to by Roman numeral) contains these verses: Raro un silenzio, un solitario orrore d’ombrosa selva mai tanto mi piacque (A rare silence, a solitary horror of a shadowy forest never have I lik...

Today we read La sabbia del tempo , by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The whole collection of poems in which La sabbia del tempo appears, entitled Alcyone , is a celebration of Summer. It is articulated in five sections, each dedicated to part of the progression of the season, from June to September. This poem belongs to the second-to-last section, where the peak of Summer is at last bound to start declinin...

Today we read La sera del dì di festa , by Giacomo Leopardi. In his short and unhappy life, Leopardi left a staggering amount of prose. A large chunk of it is in the Zibaldone , a sort of daily diary that ranges from Philosophy to Literature to Science — I remember being dumbstruck when I stumbled upon a passage on, I think, Electromagnetism! Yet his undying fame in Italian literature is mos...

Today we read Tacciono i boschi e i fiumi , by Torquato Tasso. We have mentioned elsewhere the tight relationship between poetry and music. Madrigals are a great example, being often written to be set to music. This poem by Torquato Tasso was apparently commissioned by musician Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa 1 . He might not be a household name today, but he has been an inspiration for musicians from St...

Today we read La prigionia di Don Ciccio , by Giovanni Francesco Lazzarelli. Satirical poetry doesn’t get much screen time nowadays, even though in classical times it was a major subgenre. The author of the following sonnet was an abbot and a jurist who got pissed with a colleague, one Bonaventura Arrighini, who once called him a coglione . That’s an insult we liberally use today too, though stric...

Today we read La tigre assenza , by Cristina Campo. Cristina Campo was a sickly child, homeschooled, and grew to be very shy and reserved. She always had a very close relationship with her parents, both successful artists. The subtitle of this excruciating poem is “pro patre et matre,” which in Latin means “for father and mother.” In it, the pain of their death and their ab...

Today we read Amato figlio, or che la dolce vista , by Faustina Maratti Zappi. Faustina Maratti was said to be quite the beauty — so much so that a noble suitor, after her repeated refusals, tried to kidnap her. Out of that adventure he got a harsh sentence, while she got both a prominent scar and a heroic reputation. She was an established poet, being a member of the famous Accademia dell&r...

Today we read Intorno ad una fonte, in un pratello , by Giovanni Boccaccio. Boccaccio’s fame is tightly linked to his collection of novels, il Decamerone — especially so in English speaking countries, where he is recognized as a fundamental model for Chaucer’s The Canterbury’s Tales . But Boccaccio was also a poet. He loved Dante, he admired his friend Petrarca. He certainly appreciated the Dolce...