Vita d’un uomo / Life of a Man
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Autor:
Giuseppe Ungaretti
Country:
Italy (IT)
Book Theme:
Poets representing your country poetry
Publisher:
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Publishing Year:
2005
Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970) was a pivotal Italian modernist poet. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Italian parents, his early life exposed him to diverse cultures. He moved to Paris in 1912, immersing himself in the avant-garde, befriending figures like Apollinaire and Picasso. World War I profoundly impacted him; his collection L’Allegria (1919) reflects the brevity and intensity of life in the trenches through sparse, essential verses. Ungaretti’s poetics, characterized by “pure poetry” and the “buried word,” sought to strip language to its core, conveying profound meaning with minimal expression. He held academic positions, including a professorship in Brazil. His later works, such as Sentimento del Tempo and Il Dolore.
National Award for Children’s and Young People’s
Abstract
“Vita di un uomo. Tutte le poesie” is the complete collection of the poetic production of Giuseppe
Ungaretti published in 1969. This volume constitutes a literary and spiritual testament of the
author, which collects and rearranges all of his poetic works, from his first lyrics written during
World War I to his latest poems, characterized by a deep reflection on life, death, memory and
the meaning of sacred.
The poetic word becomes a vehicle of a inner truth, of an existential and spiritual path.
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
Ungaretti was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1888. He spent his childhood in a multicultural
environment, which deeply influenced his sensitivity. After studying in Paris, he came back in
Italy and took part as a soldier in World War I. This experience marked his poetics profoundly:
the trenches, the death of his friends, the direct contact with horror led him to seek a new poetic
language, essential, capable to express the urgency of existence.
In the following years, Ungaretti approached catholicism, focused on the themes of pain and
memory (due to his son’s death) and became a reference figure in italian culture of the twentieth
century. His poetry, although it changed over the years, never stopped to question the great
themes of the human condition.
STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION
“Vita di un uomo” includes all of Ungaretti’s main poetic collections, arranged in chronological
order. The most important ones:
1. “Il porto sepolto” (1916)
Written during the war, it contains short poems, where the author expresses the brotherhood
among soldiers. Sentences are essential, the verse is free, often fragmented. The most famous
poem is “Veglia”, written next to the body of a dead friend.
2. “Allegria di naufragi”/“l’Allegria” (1919-1931)
The evolution of “Il Porto Sepolto”, this collection continues the attempt to give meaning to
suffering, finding in survival itself a reason for joy. The central theme is the discovery of human
solidarity and the power of the word.
3. “Sentimento del Tempo” (1933)
It marks a stylistic and thematic change. The language becomes more classical, rich in baroque
images and cultural allusions. The poetic ego is no longer just a witness, but also a meditator of
time, history and death. A strong religious tension and a desire for eternity emerge.
4. “Il Dolore” (1947)
It is one of the most intense and personal collections, written after the death of his son
Antonietto at nine years old. The poetry here becomes elegy, mourning complain, but also
prayer. Ungaretti expresses a cosmic, individual and universal pain at the same time. The tone is
sober, solemn.
5. “La Terra Promessa” (1950)
It is the result of a long process, it is a dense and complex work. The poet assumes the leading
role and reflects on history and the destiny of man. A return to the classical form, but with the
usual inner tension.
6. “Un grido e paesaggi” (1952), “Il taccuino del vecchio” (1960-70) and other poems.
These concluding works show an elderly Ungaretti, but still capable of questioning the meaning
of life and death. The tone becomes more essential, contemplative. Poetry is reduced to
meditation and silence, almost a last prayer.
MAIN THEMES
1. War and pain
World War I is the founding trauma of Ungaretti’s poetry. There is no rhetoric, but the search for
a new language, able to say the unspeakable. Death is always present, as an open wound.
2. Time and memory
With “Sentimento del Tempo” and the following collections Ungaretti reflects on the unstoppable
flow of time, on the past that comes back in memory, on the need to give meaning to personal
and collective history.
3. Religion and the sacred
After the conversion to Catholicism, his poetry is enriched with religious references. Faith is an
inner dialogue, often tormented, with God and the mystery of existence.
STYLE AND LINGUISTIC INNOVATION
Ungaretti is one of the main innovators of Italian poetry. With “Il Porto Sepolto” he breaks
definitively with the traditional metric, introducing the free verse, the use of blank space, the
isolated word in the center of the page. This style has been called “poetry of essentiality”. His
poems, short and intense, are like fragments of life.
Over time, his style evolves: he becomes more articulate, more cultured, but always maintains a
moral tension. The word remains central, but it is enriched with symbolic and religious
meanings.
CONCLUSION
“Vita di un uomo” is not just a collection of poems, but the story of an existence, of a conscience
that crosses the drama of the twentieth century: the war, the loss, the crisis of faith; trying to
find a form of redemption through the poetic word.
Giuseppe Ungaretti knew how to profoundly renew the language of Italian poetry, making it
more essential, more sincere and closer to man. His work is an extraordinary testimony of the
fragility and greatness of the human being, suspended between pain and hope.
