Giovanni Pascoli

Biography

Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (1855–1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. His tragic childhood, the assassination of his father, the early deaths of his mother, sister and two brothers, and the subsequent financial decline of the family echoe in several of his most popular poems, and his debut volume Myricae (1891) in particular. Although he was not an active participant in any literary movement of the time, nor showed any particular propensity towards contemporary European poetry, he manifests in his works spiritualistic and idealistic tendencies typical of late nineteenth century. Overall his work appears to be followed by a constant tension between the old classicist tradition inherited from his teacher Giosuè Carducci, and the new themes of decadentism.