An Ancient Soul in a New Body: Giovanni Pascoli's Homeric Translations

Abstract

Giovanni Pascoli's translations from the Iliad represent a significant part of his literary work as a whole. Nonetheless, they have so far received surprisingly scarce critical attention. This article attempts to fill such a lamentable lacuna, studying Pascoli's translations as important attempts at poetical reformation and a noteworthy case of collaboration between the old and the new philology and creativity in Italy, where translations rarely meant much to the progress of the national canon. Translating from the language of Homer helped Pascoli to explore new rhythmic possibilities in Italian and also contributed essential elements to the development of his imagination as a poet. The focus of the article is on Pascoli's verbal choices and metrical solutions. Both in word selection and in formal structuring Pascoli cultivated rhythm more than semantic equivalence or cultural correctness. Indeed, rhythm is at the core of all of Pascoli's revolutionary poetic research.