I colloqui. Liriche

by Guido Gozzano

Translated here in a bilingual edition is Gozzano's best and best-known collection of poems, The Colloquies, along with a selection of his other poems. Also included is an introductory essay by Eugenio Montale, the Italian poet and winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Literature.



Originally published in 1981.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Genres: Poetry

156 pages

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Guido Gustavo Gozzano was an Italian poet and writer.

He was born in Turin, the son of Fausto Gozzano, an engineer, and of Diodata Mautino, the daughter of Senator Mautino, patriot and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Massimo D'Azeglio. He spent his life in Turin and in Agliè (in the Canavese area), where his family owned several buildings and a large estate: Villa Il Meleto.

Of delicate health (but nevertheless practicing sports such as ice-skating, cycling, and swimming), he completed primary school with mediocre results, and attended Liceo classico Cavour; in 1903, after secondary school, he studied law at the University of Turin but never graduated, preferring to attend the crepuscolari torinesi, i.e. literature lessons by poet Arturo Graf, who was well liked by the young men of letters.

Graf exercised great influence over Gozzano. His Leopardi-inspired pessimism was mitigated by a spiritualistic form of socialism, a combination which young Turinese intellectuals (who saw in his thought an "antidote" to the style of Gabriele D'Annunzio) particularly favoured. Graf helped Gozzano depart from D'Annunzio's canon, which imbued his early work, by "going back to the sources" and devoting himself to a thorough study of the poetry of Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca, which helped refine his poetic sensibility.

Reviews

[pâle Ophélia · Rating 2 out of 5]

sospeso

[Gianluca · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Non vissi. Muto sulle mute carte
ritrassi lui, meravigliando spesso.
Non vivo. Solo, gelido, in disparte,

sorrido e guardo vivere me stesso."
(I colloqui, II, p. 6)

[Panda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Che dolore.

[Robert Walkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep trying to expand my knowledge of modern Italian poetry. I don’t know why. The book’s title “The Man I Pretend to Be” sounds 20th century in tone. But Gozzano’s writing style feels like a cross between the 19th century and 20th centuries. Once I got myself located in time and tone I found Gozzano’s poems quietly powerful. The book includes an essay on Gozzano by Eugenio Montale.

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Durante le mie supplenze, ho molto tempo quindi ho letto questo libro di poesie che volevo affrontare da un po’. È stato un po’ nostalgico riprendere Gozzano dal liceo, la signorina felicità mi ha sempre colpito, ma ho scoperto qualche altra frase bella, tuttavia la maggior parte delle poesie non mi dicono molto, quindi 3/5✨

[edo]

Letto edizione successiva sempre dei fratelli Trevis del 1927 intitolata "I primi e gli ultimi Colloqui"

[Natsugyouninzaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Che animo prezioso...

[Beatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

troppo io

[Gioia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gozzano ti amo

[Rey Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

che due palle.

[Nicolas Shump · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the early influences poetically for Dante.