Summary
Highlights
Giuseppe Ungaretti was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1888 to parents from Lucca, Italy. His father died in a work accident at the Suez Canal. Growing up in Egypt, he received an international education and developed an interest in literature. In 1912, he moved to Paris, studying at the Collège de France and the Sorbonne, where he engaged with Decadentism and French Symbolism.
In 1914, Ungaretti began connecting with Florentine Futurists and started publishing his first poems in 'Lacerba' in 1915. He volunteered for the war in 1914, fighting on the Karst Front, which inspired his collection 'Il Porto Sepolto' (1916). These verses later appeared in 'L'Allegria di Naufragi' (1919), eventually merging into 'L'Allegria' (1931-1942).
After the war, Ungaretti settled in Paris, married Jeanne Dupoux in 1919, and returned to Rome in 1921, where he joined Fascism, believing it would strengthen national solidarity. He contributed to various Italian periodicals. From 1936 to 1942, he taught Italian literature at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He returned to Italy to teach at the University of Rome. In 1937, he suffered the loss of his brother, and two years later, his young son, leading to his collection 'Il Dolore' (1947).
Ungaretti's complete works, published by Mondadori as 'Vita di un uomo,' highlight his autobiographical approach. He believed art must be a confession to be sincere and true. For Ungaretti, poetry was an illumination, with the poet acting as a 'priest of the word,' capable of grasping the secret connections between things and illuminating life's mystery through poetic language.
'L'Allegria' underwent several editorial stages: 'Il Porto Sepolto' (1916), 'L'Allegria di Naufragi' (1919), and finally 'L'Allegria' (1931 and 1942). 'Il Porto Sepolto' alludes to a secret, undecipherable inner mystery, drawing inspiration from accounts of a submerged port in ancient Alexandria. 'L'Allegria di Naufragi' is an oxymoron, where 'allegria' signifies a sudden joy and 'naufragi' represents the destructive effect of death and the ephemeral nature of all things.
The work is divided into five sections: 'Ultime,' 'Il Porto Sepolto,' 'Naufragi,' 'Girovago,' and 'Prime.' 'Ultime' contains early texts, 'Il Porto Sepolto' reflects his Karst Front experience, and 'Naufragi' compiles war poems from late 1916 to mid-1917. 'Girovago' covers his experiences on the French front in 1918, while 'Prime' anticipates his subsequent poetic period.
Recurring themes in Ungaretti's poetry include his childhood in Alexandria, the desert, mirages, Arab chants, the sea, ports, travel, migration, nomadism, estrangement, exile, and the profound experience of the war front. These themes are infused with his wartime experiences, characterized by a deep aversion to war and a search for peace. He regarded 'L'Allegria' as a war diary, with most texts dated and located, aiming to broaden his private experience to encompass all humanity through shared suffering.
'Il Porto Sepolto' is a programmatic poem, reflecting the author's life and his birthplace. The 'buried port' symbolizes an introspective journey, a subterranean, ancient world holding an inexhaustible secret that poetry reveals. The act of sharing his poetry is likened to the Cumaean Sibyl scattering prophecies, and his descent into the 'buried port' mirrors Orpheus's journey to the underworld, from which he emerges with his verses.
'Veglia' depicts the poet's night-long vigil beside a fallen comrade in the trenches on December 23, 1915, juxtaposing life and death. During this vigil, he writes letters filled with love, demonstrating his profound attachment to life. The poem employs 'excavated words'—essential, spare language—to unearth profound truths. 'Mattina' (Morning) evokes the infinite through the vast, illuminated sky, where 'I am illumined by immensity,' conveying an orphic, illumination-based understanding of the universe and deep connectedness among all living beings.
'I Fiumi' describes Ungaretti's spiritual journey through various rivers: the Serchio, representing his family's origins; the Nile, where he was born; the Seine, where he found artistic consciousness; and the Isonzo, symbolizing his present and a reconnection with the universe. The poem moves from the war-ravaged landscape to a sense of peace and a journey of self-discovery, embracing both light and the anguish of life's darkness.
'Fratelli' (July 15, 1916) opens with a question that emphasizes human fragility and vulnerability in war: 'Of what regiment are you, brothers?' It's a call for brotherhood amid the desperation of the front. 'San Martino del Carso' (August 27, 1916) portrays the devastation of war, where only fragments of the town remain, symbolizing the poet's shattered heart. The poem expresses the horrifying reality of war and death through analogies and an unyielding desire for life.
In 1919, Ungaretti began writing poems for 'Sentimento del Tempo,' published in 1933, marking a shift in his perspective on time, viewing it as a subjective duration (duration, as per Henri Bergson), a continuous process of destruction and rebirth. He felt time as historical depth in landscapes, human destiny threatened by death, and the aging of his own body. 'Il Dolore,' published in 1947, expresses his deep grief and laceration, acknowledging the finality of death.
His later works include 'La Terra Promessa' (1950), an outline of a melodrama inspired by Aeneas's adventures and his love for Dido, and 'Il taccuino del vecchio' (1961), a collection of poems from 1952 to 1960.