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

their rigor. One gets the impression that he

is amused in discovering in verses written in

the Cappella dialect the hidden sense of a

rhythm that would otherwise be a rigid and

perfect hexameter. But one also senses that

the motivations which prompt him to delve

into his childhood self are authentic and

conceal a dense core that at times sparkles

and breaks into fireworks.

The anthology ends with Tommaso

Pignatelli (pseudonym of an unidentified

Italian politician) who with Pe cupia’ ‘o

chiarfo appears as an authentic revelation of

the poetry from Campania. Tullio De Mauro

in the preface, Natalino Sapegno in the

inside cover, and Franco Loi in Sole 24 Ore

have cited Pignatelli as a high and

extraordinary voice that at the opportune

moment is able to leave behind the usual

melodic flow of tradition and, at the same