Leopardi, Giacomo - David Castronuovo (essay date December 1998)
David Castronuovo (essay date December 1998)
SOURCE: Castronuovo, David. “Metamorphosis of the Occasion in ‘Nelle Nozze Della Sorella Paolina.’” Rivista di Studi Italiani 16, no. 1 (December 1998): 160-84.
[In the following essay, Castronuovo explains Leopardi's poem “Nelle Nozze Della Sorella Paolina,” which purports to be a brother's remarks on his sister's marriage, but which is actually a pessimistic assessment of his sister's transition from childhood to adulthood.]
All literary works are occasioned in some sense; occasional verse differs in having not a private but a public or social occasion.
(Miner et al., 851)
What is poetry's relationship to its occasion? Does poetry imitate it? Merely complement or report it? Recreate it? Create a parallel occasion? Supplant it? Does poetry compensate for it, create the occasion where history neglected or failed to?...
[The entire page is 9681 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
