L'Allegria

"Trench warfare and lyric poetry are an unusual-pairing. Some readers would doubtless even recoil at the notion of linking the two. After all, the former shows the ugliness and bestiality that mankind is all too capable of inflicting on the world. The latter, on the other hand, shows the beauty and humanity to which the genius of the human mind can aspire and the lasting beauty that it can produce. And yet there are artists who find, if not beauty, then at least eternal verities in cataclysmic events that can inspire them to creative heights. One such artist was the Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970), whose collection L'Allegria was composed while the poet himself was engaged in the brutal, dehumanizing, life-and-death combat of the trench warfare of World War I." (Frank Hugus, University of Massachusetts Amherst) Wally Swist has published over forty books of poetry and prose. This skillful and faithful translation of L'Allegria exposes Swist's love and ardor for the poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti, most especially, L'Allegria, his "cheerfulness" in the face of adversity.

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L'Allegria

"Trench warfare and lyric poetry are an unusual-pairing. Some readers would doubtless even recoil at the notion of linking the two. After all, the former shows the ugliness and bestiality that mankind is all too capable of inflicting on the world. The latter, on the other hand, shows the beauty and humanity to which the genius of the human mind can aspire and the lasting beauty that it can produce. And yet there are artists who find, if not beauty, then at least eternal verities in cataclysmic events that can inspire them to creative heights. One such artist was the Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970), whose collection L'Allegria was composed while the poet himself was engaged in the brutal, dehumanizing, life-and-death combat of the trench warfare of World War I." (Frank Hugus, University of Massachusetts Amherst) Wally Swist has published over forty books of poetry and prose. This skillful and faithful translation of L'Allegria exposes Swist's love and ardor for the poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti, most especially, L'Allegria, his "cheerfulness" in the face of adversity.

21.95 In Stock
L'Allegria

L'Allegria

L'Allegria

L'Allegria

Overview

"Trench warfare and lyric poetry are an unusual-pairing. Some readers would doubtless even recoil at the notion of linking the two. After all, the former shows the ugliness and bestiality that mankind is all too capable of inflicting on the world. The latter, on the other hand, shows the beauty and humanity to which the genius of the human mind can aspire and the lasting beauty that it can produce. And yet there are artists who find, if not beauty, then at least eternal verities in cataclysmic events that can inspire them to creative heights. One such artist was the Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970), whose collection L'Allegria was composed while the poet himself was engaged in the brutal, dehumanizing, life-and-death combat of the trench warfare of World War I." (Frank Hugus, University of Massachusetts Amherst) Wally Swist has published over forty books of poetry and prose. This skillful and faithful translation of L'Allegria exposes Swist's love and ardor for the poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti, most especially, L'Allegria, his "cheerfulness" in the face of adversity.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781956056969
Publisher: Shanti Arts LLC
Publication date: 08/08/2023
Pages: 198
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Giuseppe Ungaretti (8 February 1888-2 June 1970), Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, and academic influenced by symbolism, especially the French-Romanian poet Tristan Tzara, he was briefly aligned with futurism. Ungaretti led the experimental trend known as Ermetismo ("Hermeticism"), in which he advocated "a personal approach to poetry," and became one of the most significant contributors to twentieth-century Italian literature. Ungaretti debuted as a poet while fighting in the trenches in World War I, later publishing his iconic and possibly best-known book, L'Allegria. During the interwar period, he was a foreign-based correspondent, but after spending several years in Brazil, he returned to Italy during World War II and was assigned a teaching post at the University of Rome, where he spent his final decades. In 1970 he was the initial recipient of the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature, awarded biennially by World Literature Today.

Wally Swist (26 April 1953- ) has published over forty books and chapbooks of poetry and prose, including Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love (Southern Illinois University Press, 2012); Daodejing: A New Interpretation, with Steven Schroeder and David Breeden (Lamar University Press, 2015); Awakening and Visitation, Evanescence: Selected Poems, and Taking Residence (Shanti Arts Publishing, 2020, 2020, 2021). Swist's translations have appeared in Asymptote (Taiwan), Chicago Quarterly Review, Chiron Review, DASH: Literary Journal, Eureka Street (Australia), Ezra: An Online Journal of Translation, The Montreal Review, Poetry London, The RavensPerch: Adding Breath to Words, Solace: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, Today's American Catholic, Transference, Transom, Visions International, and Vox Populi.His latest book, A Writer's Statements on Beauty: New and Selected Essays and Reviews, was published by Shanti Arts in 2022.
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Poetry
European Poetry
Italian Poetry
Poetry
European Poetry
Italian Poetry

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