Water in Italian Literature

PURIFICATION
DEATH
EXILE
WATER AS…
HOMESICKNESS
PLAY
ORIGIN
BEAUTY
SENSATION
PURIFICATION
DEATH
EXILE
WATER
AS…
HOMESICKNESS
ORIGIN
BEAUTY
PLAY
SENSATION
La pioggia nel pineto
G .D’Annunzio
E piove su i nostri vólti
silvani,
piove su le nostre mani
ignude,
su i nostri vestimenti
leggieri,
su i freschi pensieri
che l'anima schiude
novella,
su la favola bella
che ieri
m'illuse, che oggi t'illude,
o Ermione.
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)
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!
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….
La fontana malata
A. Palazzeschi
Clof, clop, cloch,
cloffete,
cloppete,
clocchette,
chchch......
E' giu',
nel cortile,
la povera
fontana
malata;
che spasimo!
sentirla
tossire.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Divina Commedia, Purgatorio
canto XXVIII (Dante)
L’Acqua che vedi non surge di vena
Che 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 peccato
Da l’altra d’ogne ben fatto la rende.
Water brings Purification
In 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.
I fiumi
(Ungaretti)
Stamani mi sono disteso
In un’urna d’acqua
E come una reliquia
Ho riposato
L’Isonzo scorrendo
Mi levigava
Come un suo sasso
Ho tirato su
Le mie quattro ossa
E me ne sono andato
Come un acrobata
Sull’acqua
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.
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".
Water brings Death
 In 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