Summary
Highlights
The video introduces the analysis of Umberto Saba's poem 'Trieste,' which is part of his collection 'Il Canzoniere,' specifically from the section 'Trieste e una donna' written between 1910 and 1912. Saba expresses his love for Trieste, his birthplace. The poem is a free song, composed of hendecasyllables and heptasyllables, often with alternate and rhyming couplets, a meter also used by Giacomo Leopardi.
Saba's 'Il Canzoniere' originates from specific instances. In 'Trieste,' Saba, while walking through the city, expresses a declaration of love for Trieste. The collection 'Trieste e una donna' compares Trieste to a woman, specifically Saba's wife, Carolina, whom he calls Lina. Both Trieste and Carolina are protagonists, loved for their unique and unmistakable qualities.
The poem describes Saba traversing the city and ascending a hill. Initially crowded, it becomes deserted, ending at a small wall where he finds a corner to sit alone, feeling that the city ends there. The stanza uses a chiasmus (popolosa in principio in là deserta), alliteration ('solo siedo'), and a polyptoton ('termina termina').
Saba describes Trieste with a 'scontrosa grazia' (sullen grace), comparing it to a 'ragazzaccio aspro e vorace' (rough and voracious boy) with blue eyes and hands too big to offer a flower, like a love tinged with jealousy. The description uses personification, simile, and oxymoron ('scontrosa grazia'), highlighting the city's unique and sometimes harsh beauty, characterized by its blue sky, sea, and the cold Bora wind.
From the elevated path, Saba observes every church and street in Trieste, which can lead to a crowded beach or a rocky hilltop with a solitary house. Everything in Trieste has a strange, tormented air – the 'aria natia' (native air). This phrase alludes to Petrarch's 'Canzoniere,' specifically his lyric about his beloved Laura in ancient hills. The poem also references Leopardi's 'Silvia' with the phrase 'pensoso e schiva agli occhi ridenti e fuggitivi'.
The poem features frequent enjambments, anastrophes ('ogni chiesa ogni sua via scopro'), hyperbatons ('intorno circola ad ogni cosa... un'area strana un'area tormentosa'), and hypallage ('alla mia vita persosa e schiva'). These devices contribute to Saba's unique style.
Saba's poem expresses a genuine and immediate connection to Trieste. He uses simple, often rhyming couplets, reflecting his dedication to everyday, humble poetry. Trieste, despite its 'sullen grace,' offers both the vibrancy of a crowded city and the solitude the poet seeks, much like a mother provides comfort. Saba's style is simple and communicative, yet incorporates technical complexities like inversions, adjective prolepsis, and dislocated verbs. He draws on classical traditions, referencing Petrarch and Leopardi, rejecting the Hermetic movement and seeking to reintegrate classical heritage into contemporary poetry. Saba's limited yet carefully chosen lexicon mirrors Petrarch's approach, making Petrarch one of his models.