Giovanni Pascoli Book order

Renowned for his contribution to modern Italian poetry, Giovanni Pascoli's work reflects the cultural spirit of late 19th-century Italy, influenced by French Symbolism and Decadentism. His poetry showcases a distinctive voice, utilizing traditional meter, onomatopoeic language, and a rich multilingual vocabulary. Pascoli's evocative portrayals of nature are marked by haunting imagery and a profound sensitivity, bridging classical traditions with contemporary themes.

An impassioned exploration of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, this work delves into the complexities of Dante's thought and its profound implications. Pascoli combines poetic expression with critical analysis, reflecting on the challenge of fully grasping Dante's intentions. He aims to illuminate the obscurities within Dante's writing, emphasizing the elusive nature of understanding. Through this scholarly investigation, readers are invited to engage with the depths of Dante's genius and the transformative power of his literary legacy.

This acclaimed work, recognized with the 2020 Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award, showcases the beauty and depth of its poetic language. The translation captures the essence of the original text, bringing forth themes of identity, culture, and human experience. Readers will find a rich tapestry of emotions and vivid imagery that resonates across different contexts, making it a significant contribution to contemporary literature. The award highlights its excellence in translation, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural dialogue through poetry.

The most comprehensive collection in English of the founder of modern Italian poetry Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912)—the founder of modern Italian poetry and one of Italy's most beloved poets—has been compared to Robert Frost for his evocation of natural speech, his bucolic settings, and the way he bridges poetic tradition and the beginnings of modernism. Featuring verse from throughout his career, and with the original Italian on facing pages, Selected Poems of Giovanni Pascoli is a comprehensive and authoritative collection of a fascinating and major literary figure. Reading this poet of nature, grief, and small-town life is like traveling through Italy's landscapes in his footsteps—from Romagna and Bologna to Rome, Sicily, and Tuscany—as the country transformed from an agrarian society into an industrial one. Mixing the elevated diction of Virgil with local slang and the sounds of the natural world, these poems capture sense-laden moments: a train's departure, a wren's winter foraging, and the lit windows of a town at dusk. Incorporating revolutionary language into classical scenes, Pascoli's poems describe ancient rural dramas—both large and small—that remain contemporary. Framed by an introduction, annotations, and a substantial chronology, Taije Silverman and Marina Della Putta Johnston's translations render the variety, precision, and beauty of Pascoli's poetry with a profoundly current vision.

Pascoli stands in the doorway. He is both a last romantic and Italy's first modern poet. Beloved for his poems of family and the nest, he is also one of the first voices of modern depth psychology. Steeped in the Italian landscape and drawn into the spell of little creatures, he catches the natural world with scientific accuracy, becoming one of our earliest ecological poets. A revolutionary who writes with emotion about the rural poor, he also reports on the first wave of Italian immigrants to the new world. This collection assembles Giovanni Pascoli's central and prophetic study of the imagination, O Little One, an extensive selection of poems delineating his long career, and a late and previously untranslated essay on the poetry of dead languages. The translator's introduction examines Pascoli's place as a liminal figure, situated at the conjunction of multiple worlds, casting a visionary light on whatever he beholds.