Translated from the Italian by Taije Silverman and Marina Della Putta Johnston
Published: Tue Jan 30 2018
Diego Isaias Hernández Méndez, Convertiendse en Characoteles / Sorcerers Changing into Their Animal Forms (detail), 2013, oil on canvas. Arte Maya Tz’utujil Collection.
AGNI 83
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The Rooted Oar
Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912) was a founding figure in modern Italian poetry. His use of natural imagery and his incorporation of dialect into formal verse paved the way for twentieth- century poets. Primarily inspired by his devotion to family and his grief over the early deaths of his parents and siblings, Pascoli’s masterworks include Myricae and Canti di Castelvecchio. He was also a renowned professor of Italian literature at the University of Bologna.
The poems of Taije Silverman have appeared in Poetry, AGNI, Ploughshares, Pleiades, Harvard Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of the book Houses Are Fields (Louisiana State University Press, 2009) and was a 2011 Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Bologna. Her translations of Italian poetry have been published in New England Review, The Kenyon Review, Crazyhorse, AGNI, The Nation, and elsewhere. She lives in Philadelphia and teaches poetry and translation at the University of Pennsylvania. (updated 4/2016)
Marina Della Putta Johnston is assistant director of the Center for Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where her scholarly work focuses on Medieval and Renaissance texts. (updated 4/2016)