Some Ancient Parallels in Giovanni Pascoli’s Myricae

Abstract

When studying the reception of classical themes in the literature of any given nation, scholars first seek out passages where ancient historical figures, places, or characters from ancient Greek and Roman mythology are explicitly mentioned. In such cases, the link between the modern and the clas­sical texts – whether direct or indirect – is undeniable. Yet it remains essential to consider what deeper significance the writer’s invocation of classical material conveys.

Far more intriguing – and more challenging – is uncovering subtler resemblances that surface in a particular poetic image, a narrative detail, or even a single epithet echoing the motifs of classical literature. True, in these instances the author does not name ancient Greek or Roman characters or locales, but the more striking the parallel to classical forms or tropes, the more justified it becomes. Revealing these parallels allows us to read not on­ly the new work with fresh insight but also to rediscover the ancient source itself from a renewed perspective. In this light, Giovanni Pascoli’s oeuvre is especially revealing, for Pascoli was, by training and profession, a classicist. He not only taught Greek and Latin grammar and Roman literature at the universities of Bologna, Messina, and Pisa at various times, but also was a pro­lific translator of classical texts. His first symbolist poetry collection – which he continued to enrich with new poems throughout his life, just as Petrarch kept augmenting his Book of Songs – holds a singular place in Italian verse. The poet deliberately chose the Latin word “myricae” rather than the Italian “tamerici” (“tamarisks”). Even the title of this collection is inspired by classical literature: Pascoli takes “myricae” from a passage in Virgil’s Bucolics:

Sicelides Musae, paulo maiora canamus!

Non omnis arbusta iuvant humilesque myricae.

The poet prefaced not only Myricae but also two other collections – Canti di Castelvecchio and Poemi Conviviali – with this quotation as an epigraph, because in all three volumes his focus falls on small, everyday stories and ordinary people.

In the present article, I discuss two of the poet’s shorter poems, “La cu­citrice” and “O reginella”. Although no ancient characters or geographic lo­ca­les are mentioned in them, the inspiration drawn from classical literature remains unmistakable.