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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 9: IV VIRGIL
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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.

IV VIRGIL

As when above the heated fields the moon

Hovers to spread its veil of summer frost,

The brook between its narrow banks half lost

Glitters in pale light, murmuring its low tune;

The nightingale pours forth her secret boon,

Whose strains the lonely traveller accost;

He sees his dear one's golden tresses tossed,

And time forgets in love's entrancing swoon;

And the orphaned mother who has grieved in vain

Upon the tomb looks to the silent skies

And feels their white light on her sorrow shine;

Meanwhile the mountains laugh, and the far-off main,

And through the lofty trees a fresh wind sighs:

Such is thy verse to me, Poet divine!

Levia Gravia.