Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy (Italian Poetry in Translation Book 2)

full range of the octave. What is more, the

poet conveys the full awareness of someone

who has not resorted to dialect as a game or

as the usual expedient, but because in dialect

he has found a deeper and more elegant

means of poetic expression.

One can therefore understand why the

best part of his vast output is not to be found

in his yielding to the nostalgia that takes him

back into the world of the Roman people,

but elsewhere, where he frees himself from

the weight of the Roman dialect models, in

the first place Belli, but Trilussa as well.

This is a poet who heeds his feelings and

makes good use of them, even when the

notes become tender and idyllic.

Essential Bibliography: Taja, ch’è rosso

[Cut, It’s Red], Rome: Migliaresi, 1946; La

stella de carta [The Paper Star], Rome: