Chapter 15 - Italy

Summary

This chapter provides a brief summary of the historical context particular to Italy before moving into an overview of key literary themes and concerns of wartime poets, including a consideration of the difference between the poet-soldier and the soldier-poet; the early enthusiasm for intervention and what was seen by some as war’s potential for national renewal; and a later ambivalence about the war on the part of many poets. Individual sections dedicated to Gabriele D’Annunzio, Vittorio Locchi, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Ardengo Soffici, Clemente Rebora, Piero Jahier, Corrado Alvaro, Ugo Betti, and Umberto Saba explore and contrast the very different experiences, attitudes and styles of these nine literary figures, some far better-known than others. The final section focuses on the work of Ada Negri, one of the most important Italian women poets of the era, and her descriptions of maternal anguish on the home front.