Gedichte

by Giosuè Carducci

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Genres: Poetry, Nobel Prize, Italian Literature, Italy, 19th Century, Literature

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1892

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

[Calandrino_Tozzetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

La visita a Bolgheri, ma soprattutto a Castagneto Carducci, luoghi cari all'immenso Giosuè, sede di una sua piccola casa e dei ricordi della memorabile Nonna Lucia, hanno risvegliato in me l'amore per questo poeta ormai fuori, così mi dicono, dai programmi scolastici.
L'Italia ha senza dubbio avuto versificatori migliori e più originali del Carducci, eppure io non posso fare a meno di amarlo, complici forse proprio le reminiscenze di scuola, del tempo in cui tra i banchi s'imparavano a memoria "San Martino" e "Alla stazione in una mattina d'autunno".
Ho ripreso con piacere tra le mani questa antologia egregiamente curata dal Barberi Squarotti; ho rivissuto per un attimo le peripezie di quegli anni, ricordando in particolare il giorno in cui il mio compagno Gostinello Impanatura mi fregò la penna a sfera. La settimana dopo si trasferì a Isernia con la famiglia, e poi chi l'ha più rivisto.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giosue Carducci is one of Italy´s most beloved poets, but the present translation doesn't really do him justice unfortunately. There is also the factor that times have changed greatly since the translation was prepared - at least 3 or 4 subsequent generations have elapsed, tastes have changed, and the present translation, which is seemingly emulating a florid, monumental style along with torturing the text in order to force it into end rhymes, is so out of date, as to be almost unintentionally humorous at times. The poetry translation isn't natural, so it comes out as cryptic and difficult to interpret; add to that that the poet is referencing historical events and trends of 19th C Italy with which I at least am not too familiar, and the result is a nearly insurmountable text in terms of intelligibility. I am going to look for a more recent translation of Carducci however, because even under the difficult circumstances of the present translation I could see that he was deeply committed to the idea of a free and united Italy, and also tremendously wedded to the land of Italy. The poems probably are very beautiful if only they had received even a plain text literal translation, but alas the translator, Maud Holland, albeit presumably meaning well, transformed them into nearly impossible to decipher, and therefore, sometimes laugh out loud ridiculous, lines. Or, maybe someone more familiar with 19th C Italian history could get something out of them other than mystification and occasional laughter. Still, we have to cut Ms. Holland slack: She was trying to recreate the poet´s style in English, and force the lines to convey the meaning of the poem, in a highly wrought ¨poetic¨ style. The result is unfortunately, sometimes absurd.

Some quotes from the Preface:

¨In 1848 the torch of revolution passed from one European country to another with a celerity and a flare disconcerting to that immense majority of quiet people whom timidity and honest conviction always bind together--in all lands and times--as moderates.¨

¨Essentially a lover of beauty, he saw beauty in its highest expression in the old forms of Greek thought, and failed to perceive it in the Christian idea.¨

Some samples of the translations:

From ¨For Eduardo Corazzini¨

¨If, ´neath the Sabine hills, thine armies spread
By fame´s immortal home
Clasp friendly hands and mingle with the dread
Black troops of papal Rome;¨

From ¨Feasting and Forgetting¨

¨Or fills with its insolent beauty the attic
Where wakes to the cares of a morrow of dread
The mother who on this fine feast-day ecstatic
In vain down the highways went asking for bread.¨

From ¨Funere Mersit Acerbo¨

¨It is my little son who at thy drear
Door stands and knocks, who held within his keeping
Thy fair, high name; he too flies fields grown sear,
Which thou didst find, O brother, bitter reaping.¨

From ¨Idyll of the Maremma¨

¨O since that time how cold to me the flight
Of years hath seemed, worthless and dark and gone?
Better have married thee, O Mary bright!¨

From ¨Before San Guido¨

¨Phantoms of evil that your hearts long vexing,
Stirred by your aching thoughts that give them form,
Glide past you as from graveyards will-o´-the-wisps perplexing
Flit before the traveler ´wildered in the storm.¨

From ¨To the Author of the Magician¨

¨Printing its shadow on the waters creeping
Wherein the sluggish eel doth ripening lie.
O love of singing, O ´twixt waking, sleeping,
Madness of dreams lost in immensity.¨

From ¨From ¨By the Sources of Clitumnus¨

¨Pensive the father with the skin of wild kids
wound o´er his sinews like a faun of old time
Guideth the painted wagon and the strength of
Beautiful oxen.¨

From ¨Near a Monastery¨

¨Fromthe greenness still remaining, from the leaflets thin and shaken,
Ruddy tinted of acacia where no breeze is one is taken:
And with lightest breath meseemeth
That a soul sinks quietly.¨

[Eleonora · Rating 4 out of 5]

ammetto di non aver mai letto o studiato nulla di suo. e si, ho anche trovato alcune difficoltà durante la lettura.

ne è valsa la pena.

Carducci sa quanto possa fare male aspettare chi non ci appartiene e mai ci apparterrà. 💔

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone on a quixotic quest to read at least one book by every winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, this collection of poems by Giosue Carducci the poet laureate of the Risorgimento was an unadulterated joy. His poems were well structured and teemed with striking images. The English translation by Frank Sewall was exhilerating.
I personally disliked Carducci's scurrillous attacks on the Roman Catholic Church. What will bother most GR members more is his habit of comparing himself to Dante.
Gabriele d'Annuzio obviously would have been a better choice to be the first Italian winner of the Nobel Prize, but in this collection Carducci nonetheless reveals himself as a significant talent.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As when above the heated fields the moon
Hovers to spread its veil of summer frost,
The brook between its narrow banks half lost
Glitters in pale light, murmuring its low tune;

The nightingale pours forth her secret boon,
Whose strains the lonely traveller accost;
He sees his dear one's golden tresses tossed,
And time forgets in love's entrancing swoon;

And the orphaned mother who has grieved in vain
Upon the tomb looks to the silent skies
And feels their white light on her sorrow shine;

Meanwhile the mountains laugh, and the far-off main,
And through the lofty trees a fresh wind sighs:
Such is thy verse to me, Poet divine!

[Elia Mantovani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carducci è diventato il poeta della mia vita. Il suo animo profondamente malinconico e nostalgico riflette molto bene ciò che sento, così come percepisco mia la metanoia esistenziale che lo ha trasportato dalla composizione arcaica e patriottica alla lirica sentimentale ed intima. Il motivo che mi ha spinto ad adorare il Vate è il seguente: l'uomo è per definizione animale sociologico, ovvero plasma la sua identità in forza delle variabili casuali che inopinatamente interferiscono con il suo percorso esistenziale. Insomma, ogni poeta è figlio del suo tempo, dei suoi congiunti e dei suoi luoghi. Così allora non si può capire Montale senza prima aver visitato le coste Liguri, non si comprende il sentimento di Saba senza prima passeggiare per i viali di Trieste e non ci si diverte assistendo ad una qualsiasi piece goldoniana senza prima aver vissuto le calli di Venezia. Carducci è l'unico artista del quale ho fatto esperienza che è stato in grado di invertire la tendenza: sebbene il Poeta Professore fu sempre imprescindibilmente legato alla sua carissima Versilia, la stessa Toscana non sarebbe la stessa senza le parole del Carducci. I cipressi che davanti San Guido portano a Bolgheri, difatti, non sarebbero tali se la sua elegante penna non li avessa dipinti così magnificamente.

[Mara]

1906 winner to the Nobel Prize in Lit. I read his poem Hymn to Satan in a class at UA. It was translated and the book is out of print. Satan is not literal but representative of moral struggle, free thought versus convention.

[Lettrice G♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poesie bellissime.

[Steve R · Rating 2 out of 5]

As part of my task of trying to read - if only in translation - examples of the work of all Nobel Prize winners for literature, this slim volume of poems by a late nineteenth century Italian, published in 1892, wasn't bad but neither was it in any significant way remarkable.

Part of the problem may have been that of the 70 pages of this edition, the first 45 were given over to two expository essays by the translator, who felt it proper that commentary not only on Carducci, but also on Tennyson, Byron, Alfieri, Monte and many other poets be of interest. This left only 25 pp. of actual poems by the author, which were chosen, as attested to in the introduction, according to what the translator thought to be the main thematic threads of the author's verse.

Carducci seems, like other poets I've detected this problem with, to be too caught up with the idea of being a poet to actually have something tangible to say. Thus, there are poems of praise for Homer, Virgil, Alfieri, Monti, Petrarch, Goldoni, Niccolini and, of course, Dante. Most of these combine some fairly vivid natural images with the thought that the writer somehow managed to represent, among other things, pastoral beauty. The longest poem in the collection, that on 'Dante' varied significantly from this analysis in focusing on Alighieri's political and military concerns.

Carducci is distinctive for his social consciousness. There are a series of poems reflecting the various levels and sectors of Italian society: the palace, the hovel, the banquet, the garret and, ominously, 'beneath'. He is fiercely patriotic, and feels 'for slavery has Italia sold her dower/And feasts with those who against her are conspiring'. Even more strident is his anticlerical attitude, especially as expressed in 'Voice of the Priests'.

In general, not all that inspiring but not bad.

[Fromlake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insieme a Pascoli ed a D’Annunzio, Carducci fu il nome più in vista della scena poetica italiana nell’Ottocento.

Cresciuto nel periodo risorgimentale e dell’unità d’Italia, nella sua opera si trova tutto il suo amore per la patria.

Ma nell’Italia appena unita la mediocrità prende presto il sopravvento, soprattutto nella vita politica. L’opera di Carducci si rivolge allora con particolare forza verso il recupero delle gesta eroiche del passato, in particolare di quelle romane, a fare da contrappunto al grigiore ed alla meschinità dei tempi correnti.

Soprattutto nelle sue prime raccolte di poesie, non è inusuale trovare nomi di politici del tempo sbeffeggiati, insieme ai preti ed al Papa. Carducci era infatti un acceso anticlericale, a causa della posizione della Chiesa che ostacolava l’annessione territoriale di Roma al Regno d’Italia.

La sua poesia è piena di rimandi a storie e miti della classicità ed è molto strutturata: per Carducci infatti la metrica è fondamentale. Questo rende i suoi versi oggi non particolarmente facili da leggere, con l’eccezione forse della sua produzione più matura.

Anche a causa di sue vicende personali (la morte del fratello e del figlio), nelle ultime raccolte prevale una vena maggiormente intimista e malinconica. “Traversando la maremma toscana” e “Alla stazione in una mattina d’autunno” ne sono un esempio.

Per chi volesse avere un’ampia quanto esauriente panoramica della sua produzione poetica, questa raccolta edita da Garzanti è consigliatissima. Oltre a contenere tutte le sue opere più importanti di tutte le sue raccolte poetiche, vi è anche una bellissima introduzione di Giorgio Barberi Squarotti. Unico neo è l’edizione forse un po’ troppo economica in rapporto alla ricchezza del contenuto.

[Caos Anemos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il volume, diviso in sezioni ( rime e ritmi, Odi Barbare, Inni), si presenta come una raccolta di poesie e lettere di Giosue Carducci, che ben inquadrano la sua sensibilità artistica.
Carducci si fa portavoce di un processo di sintesi tra il Neoclassicismo e il Romanticismo espressa nella condizione del suo essere nostalgico e al contempo amante della vita.
Il frequente recupero delle passate vicende storiche si interseca con temi politici contemporanei, come nella raccolta in "giambi ed epodi " in cui si evince la sua opposizione nei confronti della monarchia. Già il titolo da modo di comprendere non solo le aspirazioni, ma anche i topoi letterari dal quale attinge, come la produzione poetica di Archiloco o Ovidio. Profondo stimatore della letteratura classica, Carducci seppe incanalare e rielaborare opere di Virgilio, Ovidio, ma anche Leopardi e Pascoli lasciandosi influenzare soprattutto dal punto di vista del linguaggio, tentando di riadattare la metrica greca e latina ad un linguaggio moderno. Per questo la lettura non è semplice senza una preparazione adeguata. Infine, centrale è il tema della natura e non mancano odi dedicate al paesaggio italiano, in particolare la Maremma, luogo in cui era cresciuto.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobel Prize 🏆 in Literature 1906
Giosuè Carducci is still considered the greatest Romantic Italian poet (at least in Italy), as exemplified by the size of his (Italian) wikipedia page.
This collection has two fairly boring essays by the translator, the first of which is mildly informative and the second seems intended to bitch at 19th century realism, quoting artists like Turgenev and Tolstoy as bad examples. Ignore that essay.
The poems themselves are technically good and the translation very well written. Content-wise, this collection comes from three or four bundles, of which the Juvenalia are (as the title suggests) early works that are overly romantic. The poems taken from the Odi Barbari are most interesting, with freer metre and rhyme. And of course, the highlight is his Ode to Satan, which almost got him excommunicated.

[ROLLAND Florence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the introduction of the book, because it really helps with understanding the context of these poems. Carducci is writing about a somewhat mythical time. Imperial Rome was not quite like what the 19th century generally assumed, it was sure antique Rome but not romantic (pun intended).

Carducci writes a lot about legacy, from Rome to Dante. Italian identity was a big deal at the time - this is poetry fit for the aftermath of the unification of Italy (1814 - 1861). What does it mean to be Italian? How can Italy be modern, and not just mourn its glorious past? How is the Italian identity connected to its geography?

I did not find any genius in Carducci, but definitely salute the political purpose of his work.

[Giacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dolce paese, onde portai conforme
L’abito fi ero e lo sdegnoso canto
E il petto ov’odio e amor mai non s’addorme,
Pur ti riveggo, e il cuor mi balza in tanto.
Ben riconosco in te le usate forme
Con gli occhi incerti tra ’l sorriso e il pianto,
E in quelle seguo de’ miei sogni l’orme
Erranti dietro il giovenile incanto.
Oh, quel che amai, quel che sognai, fu in vano;
E sempre corsi, e mai non giunsi il fi ne;
E dimani cadrò. Ma di lontano
Pace dicono al cuor le tue colline
Con le nebbie sfumanti e il verde piano
Ridente ne le pioggie mattutine

e non dico altro....

[Riccardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"io credo che solo, che eterno,
che per tutto nel mondo è novembre.

Meglio a chi ’l senso smarrì de l’essere,
meglio quest’ombra, questa caligine:
io voglio io voglio adagiarmi
in un tedio che duri infinito."

Come poeta della nazione, Carducci appartiene con tutto sé stesso al secolo in cui è vissuto; le sue liriche più intime, invece, continuano a echeggiare nel nostro tempo con riverberi profondi.

[Francesco Abate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intenso, epico, a volte doloroso, ma sempre molto evocativo. Poesie da leggere e rileggere.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poche poesie mi sono piaciute: quelle delle "Rime Nuove" , che del resto avevo studiato a scuola.Tuttavia l' introduzione, le note bibliografiche, le spiegazioni introduttive ad ogni gruppo di poesie e le note a fine pagina sono molto soddisfacenti.

[James Violand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I regret not knowing the Italian language because here is a poet whose work is so prescient as to amaze me in reading a translation! His Idyll of the Maremma and Before San Guido are the closest one can come to perfection. No wonder he won the Nobel in 1906 for literature. I only wish that there was a better edition of his work than this one. It is basically a reprint of a Xeroxed 1907 book found in the library of the University of California and is littered with rough underlining and other cyphers of the original owner.