Instinct (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Cesare Pavese
- First Published: 1936
- Type of Work: Narrative
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative poetry
The Poem
Cesare Pavese’s “Instinct” portrays the power of instinct and its complexities, especially as seen by the poem’s central character, an old, nameless man. Written in five loose, unrhyming stanzas of free verse, the poem follows the consciousness of the old man as he negotiates between the role of instinct in his past and in the present moment of the poem while he watches two mating dogs “satisfy their instinct.”
The poem begins with a clarity that is typical of Pavese: It is almost as if he is providing a stage direction for a play when he announces...
[The entire page is 1373 words long]
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