Poesie 1850-1900

Di Giosuè Carducci

La poesia di Giosuè Carducci appartiene ormai alla Grande Poesia, la poesia che è diventata immortale e che avrà sempre un posto d'onore nella letteratura di ogni tempo. Carducci costruisce una poesia di ampio respiro, con toni spesso impetuosi e drammatici, utilizzando spesso una lingua aulica, ma senza eccedere nella sua marcatura. Imbevuto e immerso nella cultura risorgimentale che chiedeva un forte impegno morale per ritornare alla forza interiore che aveva animato la prima metà del 1800, Carducci ricorda con nostalgia quei tempi e riprendendo gli ideali del romanticismo invita all'amore per la libertà, la fede forte negli ideali, la contemplazione, a volte commossa, della natura. Carducci peraltro, manifesta anche una vicinanza con gli ideali positivistici: fiducia nella ragione, nella scienza e nel progresso. Controverso fu anche il rapporto con la religione cattolica: molto credente ma poco incline a considerare positivamente l'operato dei sacerdoti. Pur non essendo contro Dio e il divino, scrisse un Inno a Satana che gli procurò molte polemiche e critiche. Resta da dire che la poesia di Carducci è forte e vibrante e vale la pena riportare la motivazione con la quale gli fu consegnato, nel 1906, il Premio Nobel per la Letteratura: "non solo in considerazione della ricerca critica e del grande insegnamento profuso, soprattuto il tributo va alla sua energia creativa, la freschezza di stile e la forza lirica con la quale caratterizza le sue poesie".

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: KKIEN Publ. Int.
• Data di uscita: 12 apr 2015
• ISBN: 9788899214579

Anteprima del libro

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Giosuè Carducci

Poesie di Giosuè Carducci

1850-1900

Volume curato e annotato dallo stesso autore

Poesia

KKIEN Publishing International è un marchio di  KKIEN Enterprise srl

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Prima edizione digitale: 2015

In questo ebook viene pubblicata l'opera poetica di Giosue Carducci prodotta fra il 1850 e il 1900 e raccolta in un solo volume, curato dallo stesso autore, nel 1901.

In copertina: foto giovanile dell’autore

ISBN 978-88-99214-579

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Indice

Premio Nobel a Giosuè Carducci

Evoluzione della poesia di Giosuè Carducci

JUVENILIA

I. PROLOGO

II.  A G. C.

LIBRO I

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

LIBRO II

XXIV. INVOCAZIONE

XXV. A O. T. T.

XXVI. CANTO DI PRIMAVERA

XXVII. A FEBO APOLLINE

XXVIII. A DIANA TRIVIA

XXIX. BRINDISI

XXX. VÓTO

XXXI. A NEERA

XXXII. PRIMAVERA CINESE

XXXIII. ALLA B. DIANA GIUNTINI

XXXIV. A GIULIO

XXXV. ALLA LIBERTÀ

LIBRO III

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII. A F. T.

XXXIX.

XL. GIUSEPPE PARINI

XLI. PIETRO METASTASIO

XLII. CARLO GOLDONI

XLIII. VITTORIO ALFIERI

XLIV. VINCENZO MONTI

XLV. ANCORA VINCENZO MONTI

XLVI. GIOVAN BATTISTA NICCOLINI

XLVII. AD ANTONIO GUSSALLI

XLVIII. A TERENZIO MAMIANI

XLIX. IN SANTA CROCE

L. A UN CAVALLO

LI.

LII. PER I FUNERALI D’UN GIOVANE

LIII.

LIV.

LV. IN UN ALBO

LVI. A N. F. P.

LIBRO IV

LVII. LA SELVA PRIMITIVA

LVIII. PROMETEO

LIX. OMERO

LX. DANTE

LXI. BEATRICE

LXII. AGL’ITALIANI

LXIII. A ENRICO PAZZI

LXIV. LAUDA SPIRITUALE

LXV. ALLA MEMORIA DI D. C.

LXVI. A G. B. NICCOLINI

LXVII. MAGGIO E NOVEMBRE

LXVIII. I VÓTI

LIBRO V

LXIX. A UN POETA DI MONTAGNA

LXX. A UN GEOMETRA

LXXI. A UN FILOSOFO

LXXII. AI POETI

LXXIII. ANCORA AI POETI

LXXIV. A SCUSA D’UN FRANCESISMO SCAPPATO NEL PRECEDENTE SONETTO

LXXV. ALLA MUSA ODIERNISSIMA

LXXVI. PIETRO FANFANI E LE POSTILLE

LXXVII. IL BURCHIELLO AI LINGUAIOLI

LXXVIII. A MESSERINO

LXXIX. SUR UN CANONICO CHE LESSE UN DISCORSO DI PEDAGOGIA []

LXXX. A BAMBOLONE

LXXXI. AL BEATO GIOVANNI DELLA PACE []

LIBRO VI

LXXXII. A VITTORIO EMANUELE

LXXXIII. IN SANTA CROCE

LXXXIV. ANCHE IN SANTA CROCE

LXXXV. GLI AUSTRIACI IN PIEMONTE

LXXXVI. A GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

LXXXVII. MONTEBELLO

LXXXVIII. PALESTRO

LXXXIX. MAGENTA

XC. MODENA E BOLOGNA

XCI. SAN MARTINO

XCII. PER LE STRAGI DI PERUGIA

XCIII. ALLA CROCE DI SAVOIA

VARIANTE CANTATA DELLA CROCE DI SAVOIA []

XCIV. BRINDISI []

XCV. LA SCOMUNICA

XCVI. VOCE DEI PRETI

XCVII. VOCE DI DIO

XCVIII. IL PLEBISCITO

XCIX. IN SANTA CROCE

C. SICILIA E LA RIVOLUZIONE

LICENZA

LEVIA GRAVIA

I. CONGEDO

LIBRO I

II. IN UN ALBO

III. PER NOZZE B. E T.

IV. PER VAL D’ARNO

V. F. PETRARCA

VI. IN MORTE DI PIETRO THOUAR

VII. ALLA LOUISA GRACE BARTOLINI

VIII. PER RACCOLTA IN MORTE DI RICCA E BELLA SIGNORA

IX. PER NOZZE IN PRIMAVERA

X. PER LE NOZZE DI UN GEOLOGO

XI. L’ANTICA POESIA TOSCANA

XIII. LE NOZZE

XIV. POETI DI PARTE BIANCA []

XV. A P. E.

LIBRO II

XVI. PER LA PROCLAMAZIONE DEL REGNO D’ ITALIA

XVII. IN MORTE DI G. B. NICCOLINI

XVIII. NEI PRIMI GIORNI DEL MDCCCLXI

XIX. PER LA SPEDIZIONE DEL MESSICO

XX. ANCHE PER LA STESSA

XXI. ROMA O MORTE []

XXII DOPO ASPROMONTE

XXIII CARNEVALE

XXIV PER LA RIVOLUZIONE DI GRECIA

XXV. BRINDISI []

XXVI. NEL SESTO CENTENARIO DI DANTE

XXVII. CURTATONE E MONTANARA []

XXVIII. ROMA []

XXIX. PER IL TRASPORTO DELLE RELIQUIE DI UGO FOSCOLO IN SANTA CROCE

A SATANA

GIAMBI ED EPODI

PROLOGO

LIBRO I

I. AGLI AMICI DELLA VALLE TIBERINA

II. MEMINISSE HORRET

III. PER EDUARDO CORAZZINI MORTO DELLE FERITE RICEVUTE NELLA CAMPAGNA ROMANA DEL MDCCCLXVII.

IV. NEL VIGESIMO ANNIVERSARIO DELL’VIII AGOSTO MDCCCXLVIII.

V. IL CESARISMO

VI. PER GIUSEPPE MONTI E GAETANO TOGNETTI

VII. HEU PUDOR!

VIII. LE NOZZE DEL MARE

IX. VIA UGO BASSI

X. ONOMASTICO

XI. LA CONSULTA ARALDICA

XII. NOSTRI SANTI E NOSTRI MORTI

XIII. IN MORTE DI GIOVANNI CAJROLI

XIV. PER LE NOZZE DI CESARE PARENZO

RIPRESA

XV. AVANTI! AVANTI!

LIBRO II

XVI. A CERTI CENSORI

XVII. PER IL LXXVIII ANNIVERSARIO DALLA PROCLAMAZIONE DELLA REPUBBLICA FRANCESE

XVIII. PER VINCENZO CALDESI

XIX. FESTE ED OBLII

XX. IO TRIUMPHE!

XXI. VERSAGLIA

XXII. CANTO DELL’ITALIA CHE VA IN CAMPIDOGLIO

XXIII. GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

XXIV. ALLA MORTE DI GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

XXV. A UN HEINIANO D’ITALIA []

XXVI. PER IL QUINTO ANNIVERSARIO DELLA BATTAGLIA DI MENTANA

XXVII. A MESSER CANTE GABRIELLI DA GUBBIO

XXVIII. LA SACRA DI ENRICO QUINTO

XXIX. A PROPOSITO DEL PROCESSO FADDA

XXX. IL CANTO DELL’AMORE

INTERMEZZO []

RIME NUOVE

I.

I. ALLA RIMA

II.

II. AL SONETTO

III. IL SONETTO

IV. OMERO

V. OMERO

VI. OMERO

VII. DI NOTTE

VIII. COLLOQUI CON GLI ALBERI

IX. IL BOVE

X. VIRGILIO

XI. FUNERE MERSIT ACERBO

XII. NOTTE D’INVERNO

XIII. FIESOLE

XIV. SAN GIORGIO DI DONATELLO

XV. SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI

XVI. DANTE

XVII. GIUSTIZIA DI POETA

XVIII. COMMENTANDO IL PETRARCA

XIX. HO IL CONSIGLIO A DISPETTO

XX. DIETRO UN RITRATTO DELL’ARIOSTO

XXI. SOLE E AMORE

XXII. MATTUTINO E NOTTURNO

XXIII. QUI REGNA AMORE

XXIV. VISIONE

XXV. MITO E VERITÀ

XXVI. IN RIVA AL MARE

XXVII. A UN ASINO

XXVIII. AD UNA BAMBINA

XXIX. A MADAMIGELLA MARIA L.

XXX. MOMENTO EPICO

XXXI. MARTINO LUTERO

XXXII. LA STAMPA E LA RIFORMA

XXXIII. ORA E SEMPRE

XXXIV. TRAVERSANDO LA MAREMMA TOSCANA

XXXV. DIETRO UN RITRATTO

III.

XXXVI. MATTINO ALPESTRE

XXXVII. ROSA E FANCIULLA

XXXVIII. BRINDISI D’APRILE

XXXIX. PRIMAVERA CLASSICA

XL. AUTUNNO ROMANTICO

XLI. IN MAGGIO

XLII. PIANTO ANTICO

XLIII. NOSTALGIA

XLIV. TEDIO INVERNALE

XLV. VIGNETTA

XLVI. LUNGI LUNGI

XLVII. PANTEISMO

XLVIII. PASSA LA NAVE MIA

XLIX. ANACREONTICA ROMANTICA

L. MAGGIOLATA

LI. SERENATA

LII. MATTINATA

LIII. DIPARTITA

LIV. DISPERATA

LV. BALLATA DOLOROSA

LVI. DAVANTI UNA CATTEDRALE

LVII. BRINDISI FUNEBRE

LVIII. SAN MARTINO

LIX. IN CARNIA

LX. VISIONE

IV.

LXI. AD ALESSANDRO D’ANCONA

LXII. PRIMAVERE ELLENICHE (I. EOLIA)

LXIII. PRIMAVERE ELLENICHE (II. DORICA)

LXIV. PRIMAVERE ELLENICHE (III. ALESSANDRINA)

LXV. UNA RAMA D’ALLORO

V.

LXVI. RIMEMBRANZE DI SCUOLA

LXVII. IDILLIO DI MAGGIO

LXVIII. IDILLIO MAREMMANO

LXIX. CLASSICISMO E ROMANTICISMO

LXX. VENDETTE DELLA LUNA

LXXI.

LXXII. DAVANTI SAN GUIDO

LXXIII. NOTTE DI MAGGIO

LXXIV. ALL’AUTORE DEL MAGO

VI.

LXXV. I DUE TITANI

LXXVI. LA LEGGENDA DI TEODORICO

LXXVII. IL COMUNE RUSTICO

LXXVIII. SU I CAMPI DI MARENGO

LXXIX. FAIDA DI COMUNE

LXXX. NINNA NANNA DI CARLO V.

LXXXI. A VITTORE HUGO

Premio Nobel a Giosuè Carducci

Di seguito viene riportata la motivazione espressa dal comitato per l’assegnazione del Premio Nobel con la quale, nel 1906, attribuì a Giosuè Carducci tale riconoscimento, primo tra gli italiani a vincere il Premio Nobel per la letteratura.

Born: 27 July 1835, Val di Castello, Tuscany (now Italy)

Died: 16 February 1907, Bologna, Italy

Residence at the time of the award: Italy

Prize motivation: "not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces".

Field: poetry

Language: Italian

Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907) was born in Val di Castello, a small town near Pisa. He was early attracted to the Greek and Roman authors; in addition, he conscientiously studied the Italian classics: Dante, Tasso, and Alfieri. At the age of twenty he graduated with a degree in philosophy and letters from the University of Pisa. After several difficult years in which he taught in various high schools, he was appointed to the chair of Italian Literature at the University of Bologna, a post that he held until his retirement in 1904.

Inspired both by his own time as well as by his study of the classical and Italian poets, Carducci began writing poetry when he was a child. The first two collections of his poetry were Rime (1857) [Rhymes] and Levia Gravia (1868) [Light and Heavy]. Both reveal his enthusiasm for and imitation of the ancients as well as a strong revolutionary tendency. Inno a Satana (1865) [Hymn to Satan], for which Carducci was considered to be a «notorious praiser of Satan», is the full expression of his free thought and of modern ideas, inventions, and revolutions. Giambi ed epodi (1882) [Iambics and Epodes], a collection of satiric poems of a political nature, expresses Carducci's indignation with his compatriots. In the Nuove poesie (1873) [New Poems] end the three collections of Odi barbare (1877, 1882, and 1889) [The Barbarian Odes], his poetic forms reach perfection.

Carducci was also an excellent translator, and the lyrics of Goethe and Heine greatly influenced the development of his own poetry.

In addition to his fame as a poet he was a noted literary historian and an eminent orator. He conducted research in every phase of literature and eloquently expressed his findings in Studi letterati (1874) [Literary Studies], Bozetti critici e discorsi letterari (1876) [Critical Sketches and Literary Discussigns], and many other works.

Carducci, moreover, led an active political life. After having been named an honorary citizen of Bologna, he was elected to the Senate in 1890; he served as deputy in the House of Representatives for a short time. Carducci's poetry inspired his compatriots in the war for Italian independence, and he enjoyed an immense popularity both at home and abroad. Having manifested a scholarly and dynamic personality in all his endeavours, he stands as the greatest Italian literary figure in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Giosuè Carducci died on February 16, 1907.

Award Ceremony Speech

Presentation Speech by C.D. af Wirsén, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, on December 10, 1906

From the unusually large number of poets and authors proposed for the Nobel Prize this year, the Swedish Academy has chosen a great Italian poet who for a long time has attracted the attention both of the Academy and of the entire civilized world.

Since antiquity, Northern men have been drawn to Italy by her history and her artistic treasures as well as by her sweet and gentle climate. The Northerner does not stop until he has arrived in the eternal city of Rome, just as the war for Italian unity could not stop before Rome was conquered. But before arriving in Rome the visitor is fascinated by the beauty of so many other places. Among these, in the Appenines, is the Etruscan city of Bologna, which is known to us through the Songs of Enzo by Carl August Nicander.

Since the Middle Ages, when a famous university gave it the title of learned, Bologna has been of great importance in the cultural history of Italy. Although in ancient times it was renowned as an authority on jurisprudence, it has now become especially famous for its poetic marvels. Thus, it is today still worthy of the expression «Bononia docet» (Bologna teaches). For its greatest poetic attainments of the present, it is indebted to the man to whom the Nobel Prize has been awarded this year - Giosuè Carducci.

Carducci was born on July 27, 1835, in Val di Castello. He himself has given an interesting account of his impressions from his childhood and youth, and he has been the subject of several good biographies.

In order to judge properly the development of his mind and his talents, it is important to know that his father, Dr. Michele Carducci, was a member of the Carboneria (a secret political society working for Italian unity) and was active in the political movements for Italian liberty, and that his mother was an intelligent and liberal woman.

Michele obtained a position as a doctor in Castagneto. The young poet thus spent his earliest years in the Tuscan Maremma. He learned Latin from his father, and Latin literature was to become very familiar to him. Although Carducci later opposed Manzoni's ideas with great fervour, he was also strongly influenced for a long time by his father's admiration for the poet. At this time he also studied the Iliad and the Aeneid, Tasso's Gerusalemme, Rollin's Roman history, and Thier's work on the French Revolution.

It was a time of great political tension, and one can well believe that in those days of discord and oppression the young poet's fiery imagination absorbed everything which had to do with ancient liberty and the impending unification.

The boy soon turned into a little revolutionary. As he himself recounts, in his games with his brothers and friends he organized little republics which were governed by archons or consuls or tribunes. Vigorous brawls frequently broke out. Revolution was considered a normal state of affairs; civil war was always the order of the day. The young Carducci stoned a make-believe Caesar who was about to cross the Rubicon. Caesar had to flee and the republic was saved. But the next day the little patriotic hero got a sound trouncing from the conquering Caesar.

Not too much stress need be laid on these games, since they are frequent among young boys. But Carducci did, in fact, embrace strong republican sympathies in later life.

In 1849 the family moved to Florence, where Carducci was enrolled in a new school. Here, in addition to his required studies, he first read the poetry of Leopardi, Schiller, and Byron. And soon he started writing poetry - satiric sonnets. He later studied at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, where he seems to have shown a great deal of energy in his work. After finishing his studies he became a teacher of rhetoric in San Miniato. Because of his expressions of radical ideas, the grand-ducal government annulled his later election to a post at the Arezzo elementary school. Afterward, however, he taught Greek at the lyceum in Pistoia. Finally he obtained a chair at the University of Bologna, where he has had a long and highly successful career.

These in brief are the general lines of his external life. There has been no lack of struggle in his career. He was, for example, even suspended for some time from teaching in Bologna, and on several occasions he was involved in lively polemics with several Italian authors. He suffered great personal tragedies, of which his brother Dante's suicide was undoubtedly the most painful. But his family life and his love for his wife and children have offered him great consolation.

The fight for Italian liberty was extremely important to the development of his sensibility. Carducci was a passionate patriot; he followed the war with all the fire of his soul. And no matter how much he may have been embittered by the defeats at Aspromonte and Mentana, and no matter how much he was disillusioned by the new parliamentary government, which was not being organized in accordance with his desires, he was, nevertheless, overjoyed at the triumph of his sacred patriotic cause.

His ardent nature was tormented by anything which in his opinion interfered with the fulfilment of the work for Italian unity. He was not one to wait patiently; he continuously demanded immediate results and felt a strong aversion to diplomatic delays and the diplomatic festina lente.

In the meantime his poetry blossomed abundantly. Although he is also the author of excellent historical and literary criticism, we should be concerned above all with his poetry, for it is through his poetry that he has won his greatest fame.

The volume Juvenilia (1863) contains, as the title indicates, his youthful work of the 1850's. Two qualities characterize this collection: on the one and, its classical cast and intonation, sometimes carried to the point where Carducci salutes Phoebus Apollo and Diana Trivia; and on the other, its profoundly patriotic tone, accompanied by a violent hatred of the Catholic Church and of the Pope's power, the strongest obstacles to Italian unity.

In strong opposition to ultramontanism, Carducci in his songs evokes the memories of ancient Rome, the images of the great French Revolution, and the figures of Garibaldi and Mazzini. At times, when be believes Italy's state hopeless and fears that all of its ancient virtues and valiant deeds have been vitiated, he plunges into the profoundest despair.

This bitterness helps to explain Carducci's numerous attacks on various authors and on other people; Carducci was generally violent in his polemics. But in Juvenilia there are also poems with a more positive content, like the song to Victor Emanuel, written in 1859 at the moment when it became obvious that a war with Austria would soon break out. In this song he jubilantly celebrates the monarch who bore the banner of Italian unity.

True patriotism is expressed in the sonnet «Magenta» and in the poem «II Plebiscito», in which he renews his enthusiastic praise of Victor Emanuel. . . The most beautiful of the poems in Juvenilia is probably the poem to the Savoy cross...

The later collection called Levia Gravia ( 1868) [Light and Heavy ] contains the poems of the sixties. A certain sadness can be heard in many of these poems. The long delay of the conquest of Rome contributed much to Carducci's bitter feelings, but there were a great many other things which Carducci passionately regretted in the prevailing politics of the day. Carducci had expected more from the new political conditions than they could offer. Yet we encounter some very beautiful poems in this collection. Carducci was familiar with fourteenth-century poetry, and a great many echoes of this epoch are heard, for instance, in «Poeti di Parte Bianca» [«Poets of the White Party»] and in his poem on the proclamation of the Italian kingdom.

Only in the Rime nuove (1877) [New Rhymes] and in the three collections of the Odi barbare (1877-89) [The Barbarian Odes ] do Carducci's full lyrical maturity and accomplished stylistic beauty appear. Here we no longer find the same disdainful poet who fought with sword and fire under the pseudonym of Enotrio Romano. Instead, the character of the poet seems wholly transformed; sweeter, softer melodies are to be heard. The introductory poem «Alla Rima» [«To Rhyme»] is extremely musical, a true hymn to the beauty of rhyme. Its ending excellently characterizes Carducci himself... Evidently Carducci understood his own temperament, which he compares with the Tyrrhenian Sea. But his uneasiness is not continuous, and notes of real joy resound in the enchanting poem «Idillio di Maggio» [«A May Eclogue»]. «Mattinata» [«Morning»], which clearly recalls Hugo, is also lovely, as are the songs entitled «Primavere Elleniche» [«Hellenic Springtimes»] ...

«Ca Ira» [«The Rebellion»], a section of the Rime nuove, is composed of a series of sonnets. Although it is not of great poetic value, it does represent Carducci's more or less unreserved apotheosis of the French Revolution.

The poet's greatness is more fully revealed in his Odi barbare, the first collection of which came out in 1877, the second in 1882, and the third in 1889. There is some justification, however, for criticism of the work's form.

Although Carducci adopted ancient meters, he transformed them so entirely that an ear accustomed to ancient poetry will not hear the classical rhythms. Many of these poems attain the pinnacle of perfection in their poetic content. Carducci's genius has never reached greater heights than in some of his Odi barbare. One need only name the fascinating «Miramar» and the melodious and melancholy poem «Alla Stazione in una Mattinata d'Autunno» [«To the Station On an Autumn Morning»], products of the most noble inspiration. The song «Miramar» is about the unfortunate emperor Maximilian and his brief Mexican adventure. It excels as much in its moving tragic tone as it does in its vivid nature imagery. The Adriatic shore is depicted with perfect mastery. This song exhales a certain feeling of compassion which is rare in Carducci's treatment of Austrian subject matter, but which he expressed yet another time in the beautiful song on the Empress Elizabeth's sad fate in Rime e Ritmi (1898) [Rhymes and Rythms]...

Many contrasts clearly are to be found in a violent and rich poetic nature like Carducci's. Disapproval from many sides has thus been mixed with the just admiration for this poet. Yet Carducci is without doubt one of the most powerful geniuses of world literature, and such disapproval, voiced also by his compatriots, has not been spared even the greatest poets. No one is without defect.

The blame is not, however, directed at his sometimes passionate republican tendencies. Let his opinions remain his own possession. No one will contest his independent political position. In any case, his hostility toward the monarchy has subsided with the years. He has come more and more to consider the Italian dynasty as the protector of Italian independence. In fact, Carducci has even dedicated poems to the queen mother of Italy, Margherita. A venerable woman revered by almost all factions, her poetic soul has been celebrated by Carducci's grandiose art. He has paid her beautiful and affectionate homage in the magnificent song «alla Regina d'Italia» [«To the Queen of Italy»] and in the immortal poem «Il Liuto e la Lira» [«Lute and Lyre»], in which, through the Provençal sirventes and the pastoral, he expresses his admiration of the noble princess... The petty, obstinate republicans, because of these and other tributes, have looked upon Carducci as a deserter of their cause. He justly responded, however, that a song of admiration dedicated to a magnanimous and good woman has nothing whatever to do with politics, and that he reserved the right to think and write whatever he pleased about the reigning Italian family and its members.

The reasons for the antagonism of his friends and political partisans toward him are of a completely different origin. This antagonism is occasioned less by his ferocious assaults on persons of differing political opinions than by his overenthusiastic paganism, which often assumes a biting tone toward Christianity itself. His anti-Christian sentiments have above all produced his much discussed hymn to Satan.

There is a good deal of justice in many of the attacks on Carducci's anti-Christianity. Although one cannot perfectly approve of the way in which he has tried to defend himself in Confessioni e battaglie [Confessions and Battles] and in other writings, a knowledge of the attendant circumstances helps to explain, if not to justify, Carducci's attitudes.

Carducci's paganism is understandable to a Protestant, at least. As an ardent patriot who saw the Catholic Church as in many ways a misguided and corrupt force opposed to the freedom of his adored Italy, Carducci was quite likely to confuse Catholicism with Christianity, extending to Christianity the severe judgments with which he sometimes attacked the Church.

Still we must not forget the genuine religious sentiments expressed in some of his poems. It is helpful to remember the end of «La Chiesa di Polenta» [«The Church of Polenta«], which stands in healthy contrast to «In una Chiesa Gotica» [«In a Gothic Church»].

And as to the impetuous Inno a Satana (1865) [Hymn to Satan], it would be a great wrong to Carducci to identify him, for example, with Baudelaire and to accuse Carducci of poisonous and unhealthy «Satanism» In fact, Carducci's Satan has an ill-chosen name. The poet clearly means to imply a Lucifer in the literal sense of the word - the carrier of light, the herald of free thought and culture, and the enemy of that ascetic discipline which rejects or disparages natural rights. Yet it seems strange to hear Savanarola praised in a poem in which asceticism is condemned. The whole of the hymn abounds with such contradictions. Carducci himself in recent times has rejected the entire poem and has called it a «vulgar sing-song». Thus, there is no reason to dwell any longer on a poem which the poet himself has disavowed.

Carducci is a learned literary historian who has been nurtured by ancient literature and by Dante and Petrarch. But he cannot be easily classified. He is not devoted to romanticism, but rather to the classical ideal and Petrarchan humanism. Regardless of the criticism which can justly be launched against him, the irrefutable truth remains that a poet who is always moved by patriotism and a love of liberty, who never sacrifices his opinions to gain favour, and who never indulges in base sensualism, is a soul inspired by the highest ideals.

And insofar as his poetry in the aesthetic sense attains a rare force, Carducci can be considered worthy in the highest degree of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Swedish Academy thus pays respect to a poet who already enjoys a world-wide reputation, and adds its homage of admiration to the many praises already given him by his country. Italy has elected Carducci senator and repaid the honour he has brought her by assigning him a life-long pension amounting to a considerable sum.

At the banquet, C.D. af Wirsén spoke in Italian about the poet whom illness had prevented from coming to Stockholm. Subsequently he addressed himself to the Italian chargé d'affaires, Count Caprara, and recalled that through the Nobel Prize Sweden had wanted to honour his country and one of her greatest sons at the same time. Mr. Caprara expressed his gratitude in French and, after a speech addressed to the country of Alfred Nobel, promised to convey the homage to the poet.

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969.

Conversazione di Antonio Piromalli presso la Rubiconia Accademia dei Filopatridi

Savignano sul Rubicone,  24 marzo 2002

II° Giornata Carducciana

Evoluzione della poesia di Giosuè Carducci

(N.B.: conferenza tenuta a braccio, il testo è stato trascritto ex post dalla registrazione)

Parlerò oggi dell'evoluzione della poesia di Giosuè Carducci, in relazione allo sviluppo della società del suo tempo. Il Carducci fu, dal 1860 al 1905, professore