Want to learn more about Pascoli from Italy? Read on for a historical overview of the famous Italian poet and classical scholar known as Giovanni Pascoli…
Over the course of history the country of Italy has served as the breeding ground for many great artists, thinkers and scholars. The name of Giovanni Pascoli is counted among the great poets and classical scholars of Italy.
Pascoli Life and History
The renowned poet was born to a wealthy family at San Mauro di Romagna. However he had a very tragic childhood and early in his life he witnessed the murder of his father and the passing away of his mother as well as his three siblings. This was followed up by a severe economic decline which left the young Pascoli in utter disarray. The event of his father’s assassination echoed in one of his most popular pieces of poetry titled as “La Cavallina storna”. The Italian poet reflected the events of his unhappy childhood in many of his works. His first complete work was published in 1891 and was entitled Myricae and it was centered upon his childhood.
Despite the death of four of his family members Pascoli still had of six brothers living with him. Together they moved to Rimini in 1871. It was here that Pascoli befriended Andrea Costa following which he began to partake in Socialist demonstrations that were taking place at the time. He was even imprisoned for a brief duration in Bologna because of his participation in these demonstrations. Pascoli continued his education at the University of Bologna. After his graduation in 1882 he acquired a teaching position in different high schools in the region. Pascoli maintained close ties with the remaining members of his family and even during his teaching years he preferred to live next door to his sisters. However Pascoli did not marry or form his own family throughout his life.
The poet began to contribute to the Vita nuova magazine which was the first to publish his poems. In 1894 the Italian poet was summoned to Rome for the purpose of working for the Ministry of Public Instruction. It was here that he got the chance to publish his work titled Poemi Conviviali. He continued to live in different Italian cities such as Bologna, Messina and Florence. It was just before World War I, in 1912, that Pascoli acquired the literature chair position at the University of Bologna in place of the poet Giosuè Alessandro Michele Carducci.
Pascoli’s early work was relatively simple centered on themes of domestic life and nature. This was regarded as being the era of positivism and scientism for the Italian poet. However innate belief in a mysterious truth came to the fore in many of his works through symbolic associations. Later on in his life Pascoli began to experiment with his style but he centered his work on similar themes. His knowledge of various subjects such as classical antiquity also came forward in his works of poetry. Pascoli also contributed to the world of poetry by rendering translation services of Italian and Latin poems into the English language.
