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Poems of Giosuè Carducci, Translated with two introductory essays: / I. Giosuè Carducci and the Hellenic reaction in Italy. II. Carducci and the classic realism cover

Poems of Giosuè Carducci, Translated with two introductory essays: / I. Giosuè Carducci and the Hellenic reaction in Italy. II. Carducci and the classic realism

Chapter 41: XXXII AT THE TABLE OF A FRIEND
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About This Book

The volume opens with two essays that analyze the poet's Hellenic revival and his classic-realist aesthetic, situating his work amid tensions between ecclesiastical influence, chivalric import, and native national feeling. It then presents translations of numerous poems—hymns, sonnets, dedicatory pieces, patriotic and religious lyrics, and descriptive sketches—covering classical subjects, Dantean and Virgilian allusions, personal reflection, and social observation. Together the critical essays and translated poems emphasize classical forms, historical memory, and a restrained realism that seeks to renew Italian literary identity.

XXXII AT THE TABLE OF A FRIEND

Not since when on me a child

Heaven's gracious radiance smiled

Hast thou, O Sun, such splendour poured

As on my friend's Livornian board.

Never, O God of Feasts, was sent

A solace so benevolent

As wisely glowed within the wines

We drank beneath the Apennines.

O Sun, O Bromius, grant that whole

In loving heart and virtuous soul

We to the quiet shades descend

(Where Horace is)—I and my friend.

Thy fortune smile upon the young

Like flowers around our banquet flung;

Peace to the mothers give, and fame

To valiant youth and love's sweet flame!

Odi Barbare.