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

considered in all its scope. Plainly put, Di

Giacomo is to the Twentieth Century as

Porta is to the Nineteenth, and this takes

nothing away from the poetry of Belli, who

looks to Porta, nor from the poetry of Giotti,

of Tessa, of Marin, of Noventa, which has Di

Giacomo behind it.

Having firmly established this point, one

can tackle all possible arguments in order to

unravel correlations, allegiances, affiliations

and Freudian patricides; what is certain is

that Di Giacomo is “something unique”^12

and is also a great precursor of underworld

poetry, which flourished in European

literature in the Twenties.^13

His recognition as a founding figure, as

can be seen, comes from various parts, and

looking at the studies by Benedetto Croce,

Francesco Gaeta, Borgese, Bracco, Cecchi,