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

period of time encompassing sixty years. To

Mercadante’s “school”, but also Di

Giovanni’s (although, with respect to the

latter, the poet from Bagheria has always

avoided any reference) could not belong a

better pupil. We will expand on it in the

anthology.

His works (which are dealt with in the

introduction of the anthological section)

have become ─ from their first appearance,

one might say ─ true “classics” of the

island’s vernacular muse.

The aftermath of the war had been

characterized by a deep spirit of rebirth; in

Sicily also, since 1943, when the war had

virtually come to an end with the landing of

the Allies. Dialect poets, in their own sphere,

were not excluded from the fervor of

initiatives in every area. In Palermo, they

were led by Federico De Maria (1883-1954),