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The theme of Water in italian literature

SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

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Page 1: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

The theme of Water

in italian literature

Page 2: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

SENSATION

BEAUTY

ORIGIN

PURIFICATION

WATER AS…

EXILEDEATH

HOMESICKNESS

PLAY

Page 3: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

WATER AS…

PURIFICATION

LIFE SOURCE

ORIGINS

LOVE

SENSATION

PLAY

HOMESICKNESS

DEATH

Page 4: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

La pioggia nel pinetoG .D’Annunzio

E piove su i nostri vóltisilvani,

piove su le nostre maniignude,

su i nostri vestimentileggieri,

su i freschi pensieriche l'anima schiude

novella,su la favola bella

che ierim'illuse, che oggi t'illude,

o Ermione.

Page 5: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

Water creates Sensations The poem is set in a coastal wood in Tuscany, during a summer

shower. The poet walks with his beloved under the light rain and enjoys with her all the sensations arising from the rain.The poet invites his beloved to be silent and appreciate the music of the rain, its fresh smell of vegetation, its greenish hues.All the senses are alarmed to make the most of this experience: sights, smells, touch, taste hearing intermingle to make the experience more complete and satisfying.The rain permeates everything so that the poet and his woman herself seem to undergo a transformation: they have been transformed in natural substances: therr life mingles with the life of nature, thus evoking Ovid’s scenes in the Metamorphoses. The poem is rich in figures of speech and of sound, which makes the languuge particularly evocative.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OsUnxY5mgw)

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I Promessi sposi A. Manzoni

« Addio, monti sorgenti dall'acque- ed elevati al cielo, cime inuguali, note a chi è cresciuto tra voi, e impresse nella sua mente non meno che l’aspetto de' suoi familiari, torrenti- de' quali si distingue lo scroscio come il suono delle voci domestiche, ville sparse e biancheggianti sul pendìo, come branchi di pecore pascenti, addio! Quanto è tristo il passo di chi, cresciuto tra voi, se ne allontana!

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Water inspires Homesickness “Quel ramo del lago di Como...” the novel opens with

a detailed description of the native lake, from where the protagonist, Lucia, has to flee with haste to escape from an unwanted lover.In this scene, Lucia says goodbye to the places where she has spent all her life, not knowing if she’ll ever come back.Her eyes linger on well known visula and aural details: the high mountains hanging on the lake, the voice of the little rivers, the white houses scattered on the hilly slopes. This last glance will help her in her long journey ahead….

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La fontana malata A. Palazzeschi Clof, clop, cloch,

cloffete,cloppete,clocchette,chchch......E' giu',nel cortile,la poverafontanamalata;che spasimo!sentirlatossire.

Page 9: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

Water as a Means to Play The poet reproduces the sound of falling drops

in a public fountain. The poem makes great use of onomatopoetic sounds and the broken rhythm in the verses helps representing the irregular cadence produced by falling water.

The fountain is personified: the poet talks to it and expresses his pity for its sufference.

Thus the image of the poor, coughing fountain becomes symbol of anguish and personal sufference and the poet’s words are a universal message of sympathy.

Page 10: SENSATION BEAUTY ORIGIN PURIFICATION WATER AS… EXILEDEATH HOMESICKNESS PLAY

A Zacinto , U. Foscolo Nè più mai toccherò le sacre sponde

    Ove il mio corpo fanciulletto giacque,    Zacinto mia, che te specchi nell’onde    Del greco mar, da cui vergine nacque

Venere, e fea quelle isole feconde    Col suo primo sorriso, onde non tacque    Le tue limpide nubi e le tue fronde    L’inclito verso di Colui che l’acque

Cantò fatali, ed il diverso esiglio    Per cui bello di fama e di sventura    Baciò la sua petrosa Itaca Ulisse?

Tu non altro che il canto avrai del figlio,    O materna mia terra; a noi prescrisse    Il fato illacrimata sepoltura.

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Water as Symbol of Exile

The poet speaks about the Greek island from where his family moved to come to Italy. The poet feels as an exile, who has been denied the right to touch again his original ground .The classicist culture of the poet emerges in the description of Zakyntos, as the place where Venus was born from the sea spray. Nearby lies another famous island, Itaca, from where Ulysses left to fight the War of Troy. Ulysses’ exile, wanted by hostile G0ds is mirrored in the poet’s own exile , wanted by a hostile government. The poet is thus a symbol of all men who are exiled from their native land and who suffer the loss of a part of themselves..As Ulysses was made famous by his perilous adventures, so the poet hopes that memory and glory will bring him back to his island, at least in the memory of the people who live there.

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Chiare fresche e dolci acque F. Petrarca

Chiare fresche e dolci acque ove le belle membra

pose colei che sola a me par donna; gentil ramo, ove piacque,(con sospir mi rimembra)

a lei di fare al bel fianco colonna; erba e fior che la gonna

leggiadra ricoverse con l'angelico seno; aere sacro sereno

ove Amor co' begli occhi il cor m'aperse: date udienza insieme

a le dolenti mie parole estreme.

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Water highlights Beauty The poem describes the beauty of his beloved woman and

the beauty of nature, mingling them together as if there were part of the same supernataral vision: the two elements cannot be divided, as the woman partakes of the beauty of the natural world and is a part of the divine spirit in it.

"chiare, fresche e dolci acque“ in Valchiusa (near Florence) represent a location cleary printed in the poet’s memory, the only place in which he can find peace because it reminds him of the beuty of his beloved.

He remembers the day in which he first saw Laura leaning against a tree and being covered by a light dress and a cloud of flowers: in that very moment Love took his heart and this episode determined his future destiny forever.

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Divina Commedia, Purgatorio canto XXVIII (Dante) L’Acqua che vedi non surge di venaChe ristori vapor che gel converta,Come fiume ch’acquista e perde lena;

Ma esce di fontana salda e certa,Che tanto dal voler di Dio riprende,Quant’ella versa da due parti parta.

Da questa parte con virtù discende Che toglie altrui memoria del peccatoDa l’altra d’ogne ben fatto la rende. 

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Water brings PurificationIn this passage Dante meets two rivers, Lete and Eunoe. They spring form the same pure source and divide the water in equal parts. They are created by God to help Men to complete his purification after the expiation performed in Purgatory.Lete has the power to make people forget their sins and get ready to move to Paradise,Eunoe has the power to make people remember all the good deeds they have performed in life and be ready to continue along the right path.

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I fiumi (Ungaretti)

Stamani mi sono distesoIn un’urna d’acquaE come una reliquiaHo riposato

L’Isonzo scorrendoMi levigavaCome un suo sassoHo tirato suLe mie quattro ossaE me ne sono andatoCome un acrobataSull’acqua

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Water as Personal Origins In the short poem “I fiumi” Ungaretti recollects the rivers which had the greatest importance in his life: Isonzo, where he fought in the I World War,The Nile, as he was born in Egypt where his family had

moved at that time The Seine, as he spent an important period in Paris

Here again we see how Man feels the importance of one’s origins, connected to the natural world, the earth, the sky,the water. The idea of the river also represents the ever passing water, symbolizing the passing of time and, subjectively, of life.

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Divina Commedia, Inferno canto XXVI (Dante)

"O frati", dissi "che per cento milia perigli siete giunti a l’occidente, a questa tanto picciola vigilia                                        

d’i nostri sensi ch’è del rimanente, non vogliate negar l’esperienza, di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente.                        

Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste a viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza".                           

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Water brings DeathIn this passage Dante meets Ulysses in Hell. The

famous hero describes his last voyage, when, already old and weak, he decided to take the sea and leave for another adveture.

The hero is unable to stand still and prefers facing dangers to staying idly at home.

Having surpassed Hercules’ Columns, Ulysses’ ship will fall down from the brim of the known world and il will take with it the lives of the old sailors.

This touching passage is an exaltation of the spirit of human entrerprise and its thirst for knowledge