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

began in the Seventeenth Century with

Giacomo de Matteis Turresi e Girolamo Bax

(Alias Ciommo Bàcchisi) and has continued

in other periods with Agostino Chimienti,

Arcangelo Lotesoriero, Francesco A. Nucci,

Oronzo P. Orlando (alias Lu Stunese), Pietro

Pignatelli (alias Lu Barcalaru), Francesco

Tamborrino (alias Tam-Tam). Today at

Ceglie Messapico there is the best poet of

this part of Apulia, Pietro Gatti, epic bard of

his land in broad stanzas that express “an

alluring play of sounds and assonances in

which is reflected the contemplation of

many mascìe [magic spells]” (Poesia dialettale

dal Rinascimento a oggi, cit., p. 1008).

In conclusion, we think we can say that

with its leading exponents, who have

reached maturity far into the Twentieth

century, dialectal Apulia has overcome the

complex of the old mask of Don Pancrazio