El dolor

by Giuseppe Ungaretti

Giuseppe Ungaretti (Alexandria, Egipte, 1888 - Milà, 1970) és un dels poetes essencials i imprescindibles del Novecento italià.«El dolor és el llibre que més estim», va deixar escrit. Un llibre que reflecteix, d'una banda, els viaranys del seu dolor individual: pèrdua del germà i del fill Antonietto de tan sols nou anys i, de l'altra, el dolor col·lectiu: l'inici de la Segona Guerra Mundial. Dolor seu i dolor nostre; en definitiva, dolor universal. A més a més, aquesta obra irradia el llarg itinerari de la profunda recerca espiritual del poeta.«Ara sols podré besar en el somni les confiades mans... I convers, treball, a penes he canviat, tinc por, fum... Com pot ser que jo resisteixi a tanta nit?».

Paperback

First published December 1, 1947

About the author

Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic and academic. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as ermetismo, he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned with futurism. Like many futurists, he took an irredentist position during World War I. Ungaretti debuted as a poet while fighting in the trenches, publishing one of his best-known pieces, L'allegria ("The Joy").

During the interwar period, Ungaretti was a collaborator of Benito Mussolini (whom he met during his socialist accession), as well as a foreign-based correspondent for Il Popolo d'Italia and La Gazzetta del Popolo. While briefly associated with the Dadaists, he developed ermetismo as a personal take on poetry. After spending several years in Brazil, he returned home during World War II, and was assigned a teaching post at the University of Rome, where he spent the final decades of his life and career. Ungaretti's Fascist past was the subject of controversy.