A Satana

by Giosuè Carducci

A Satana
Giosuè Carducci, poeta e scrittore italiano (1835-1907)

Questo libro elettronico presenta «A Satana», di Giosuè Carducci.

Indice interattivo:
-01- A proposito di questo libro
-02- A SATANA

Genres: Poetry, Nobel Prize, Classics, Italian Literature

12 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1863

About the author

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1906, "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."

Reviews

[Drkshadow03 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poem dedicated to praising Satan by the Noble Prize winning Italian poet Giosuè Carducci. The poem is an anti-Catholic poem and celebration of freethinking, the lost glories and splendor of Rome and Greece, and materialism.

Carducci associates Satan with the paganism of the past, reason, and the joys of the material world such as wine, which helps us deal with grief and inspires love. Describing Satan like a bolt of lighting, Carducci also assigns him the role of Muse behind all sculpture, painting, and poetry. He is the wild Dionysian force behind the provocative dancing, enjoyment of the physical, and lust of the ancient world that Carducci advocates as positive. In the poem, he blames Christianity for the loss of the wild ecstasy, ideals, and beauties of the ancient world with its focus on spiritual matters and abstract ideals. However, the poem argues that the power and hegemony of the church on human thought is fading away as symbolized in images of the archangel Michael’s rusting sword, powerless angels falling lifeless from heaven, accusations that mortification in sackcloth are futile and will not stop the coming of Satan, allusions to John Wycliffe, Jan Huss, and Martin Luther’s rebellions against the Church, and denunciations of wicked popes and evil kings.

“And already mitres
and crowns tremble:
from the cloister
rebellion rumbles

Preaching defiance
in the voice of the
cassocked Girolamo
Savonarola

As Martin Luther
threw off his monkish robes,
so throw off your shackles,
O mind of man,”

Not only does the poem challenge Catholic authority and worldview, but it is a call to action advocating free thought and embracing the material world over a fake spiritual one. It is a call to embrace the lost spirit of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Obviously many will find this poem blasphemous and will have trouble with Carducci’s attempt to recast the traditional villain of Christianity as the symbolic hero of all things good and beautiful in the material world. His themes that Christianity is to blame for the loss of pagan glories and cultural spirit is not unique to him and can be found in many other writers, but using Satan as the primary symbol of the argument and as representing something praiseworthy is what makes this a provocative piece of art.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know a lot of people find Carducci old fashioned, but I found this poem's declamatory style rousing, filled with calls to rage against the shackles designed to imprison passion. It reminded me of the Communist Manifesto in its rhetorical fervour - except advocating for a different kind of revolution.

His foe is the Catholic Church and the way it deadens rather than enlivens the soul with its proscriptions. He enlists a motley crew of legendary figures into his army to fight his battle, placing the Christian reformer Luther beside Ahriman, the personification of evil in Zoroastrianism, and Adonis, the lover and champion of Venus.

"Salute, o Satana
O ribellione,
O forza vindice
De la ragione!"

[BlasterBlade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il poeta attraversa una fase di impegno politico rivoluzionario e patriottico rivolto contro la Chiesa e le fazioni conservatrici. Satana e la locomotiva sono per Carducci il simbolo del progresso che divorerà l’antica civiltà delle disuguaglianze e la superstizione.

[MissPesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

È da leggere e rileggere.

[Michael Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite raced for the time !

[✦ katullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

carducci era così metal

[Kurt Rongey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it as a revolt against Catholoicism, sneering at fears of heretics such as Luther. It does seem to escalate in its fervor in a masterful way. But on further reading about Carducci's intent, it seems that hedonism and a carpe diem mentality are at work.

I read a verse translation by G.L. Bickersteth.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were (are) rarely people that love more the ancient world than Carducci did. Anyone would be interested in reading his poems and especially this one.