The author of this article examines the genesis of D’Annunzio’s Primo vere, published when D’Annunzio was 16 while he attended the famous Cicognini college in Prato. The first edition appeared in 1879 (the second, in the following year)...
moreThe author of this article examines the genesis of D’Annunzio’s Primo vere, published when D’Annunzio was 16 while he attended the famous Cicognini college in Prato. The first edition appeared in 1879 (the second, in the following year) and it was considered a great work; in fact, it was reviewed by Giuseppe Chiarini, one of the most popular writers of his time. Next, the author provides an analysis of Per nozze, one of the Alcaic lyrical poems in D’Annunzio’s book. This ode belongs to an established literary genre (for instance, poems by Catullus, Claudian, Theocritus, and Sappho are of this genre), and it is an important one because it allows us to foresee the later and greater D’Annunzio. At the end of the article, the author investigates why D’Annunzio used the Alcaic metre in this ode. It is not only a tribute to Horace (one of D’Annunzio’s favourite poets; in the appendix of Primo vere are some of Horace’s lyrics translated by D’Annunzio), who used this metre in 37 of his poems; there is another reason. In fact, we can establish a parallel between the metre and the ode: the Alcaic one has ascending and descending rhythms like D’Annunzio’s Per nozze, and it is full of happiness (a marriage takes place), but also of sadness, as he wants to underline the brevity of life and its vanity.
