Summary
Highlights
The poem 'Temporale' is part of the 'In Campagna' section of Pascoli's 'Myricae' collection. It is a short ballad in hendecasyllables and is part of a trio of poems, along with 'Il Lampo' and 'Il Tuono', dedicated to atmospheric phenomena.
The poem is read aloud. At first glance, it appears simple and visual, focusing on vivid colors and sensory impressions, particularly sight. However, it holds deeper symbolic meanings.
The analysis provides a paraphrase of the poem, explaining the distant rumble of thunder, the red horizon of lightning, and the black, torn clouds. Pascoli describes these natural elements impressionistically, like a painter capturing the moment before a storm.
The poem showcases a palette of strong, potentially negative colors: the fiery red of the horizon, the pitch black of the mountains, and the dirty white of the tattered clouds, contrasting with the pure white of a farmhouse and a seagull's wing. It begins with an auditory impression (the rumble) and then moves into strong visual ones.
The isolated opening line, 'Un bulbo lio lontano', introduces the poem with an onomatopoeia for thunder. Maurizio Perugi suggests that 'bulbo lio' could also refer to the sound of the hoopoe, a bird common in the Romagna countryside, linking Pascoli's interest in nature and ornithology.
'Rosseggia' is the only predicate verb and acts as a pure color. The phrases 'nero di pece' and 'stracci di nubi' are hypallages and typical Pascolian syntagms that convey a sense of infinity, emphasizing the dominant qualities of blackness and tornness.
The most significant analogy is between the farmhouse ('casolare') and the seagull's wing ('ala di gabbiano'). The farmhouse symbolizes the poet's 'nest' and home, pure and white like the wing. The wing represents purity, protection from evil, and the ability to fly through storms, embodying resilience and refuge from the threatening external world.
The poem utilizes an onomatopoeia ('bulbo lio'), a simile ('come avvocato'), two hypallages ('nero di pace', 'stracci di nubi'), and a powerful analogy ('un casolare un ala di gabbiano').