Friday, March 15, 2013

First poem encounters

Giacomo's most popular poems are combined in I Canti which is Italian for the songs. I scrolled through all the poems that were listed on one particular website in a random order. I decided to choose two fairly short ones and I knew I needed a longer one. I looked for my final one by cross referencing for one of the important ones or more well analyzed compared to the rest. L'italia was the long poem which I read in Italian first. I surprised myself with how much I initially understood and I looked up the meaning for some of the more intricate vocabulary in the Italian language. Then I read it in English. I realized that things in your own language seem less original or appealing. It's may be common with most people as we are stimulated by things that are new or different. That may just be human nature working with my thought processes. I learned a lot about Giacomo as a person from this poem. He lived a lonely life, yet he was very patriotic because the love for his country was the only love he could ever encounter during his life. His parents were cruel and practically neglects him and his siblings in patently ways. He was at war every day with his health and he would not let that bother him. He would die for his country if he needed to. This poem also show boated his classical knowledge as he mastered Latin, Greek, and somewhat Hebrew as a young adult. I admired L'Italia and the symbolism and passion behind Giacomo.


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