(Santa Maria La Longa il 26 gennaio 1917)
M’illumino
d’immenso.
Translator’s Glossary
|
WORD
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|
| il 26 gennaio 1917 (phrase) | the date when Ungaretti wrote this poem | January 26, 1917 |
| m’illumino (pron. + v.) | from the verb illuminare, meaning to fill with light | I brighten, I light up, I am lit up, I shine |
| d’immenso (prep. + n.) | relating to an area so big that it cannot be measured | in its greatness, with the infinite, in the great beyond |
| mattina (n.) | the earliest time of the day | dawn, morning, sunrise |
| Santa Maria La Longa (n.) | an area in northeast Italy close to the border of Slovenia | Santa Maria La Longa |
Artistic Elements
I. About Free Verse
• Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from
limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such
poems are without rhythms and rhyme schemes; do not follow regular rhyme
scheme rules and still provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his
own shape to a poem how he/she desires. However, it still allows poets to use
alliteration, rhyme, cadences or rhythms to get the effects that they consider are
suitable for the piece.
Bio
Giuseppe Ungaretti was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and grew up speaking French. At age 24, he moved to Paris, where he became friends with many writers and artists including Pablo Picasso. He later joined the Italian army and fought in World War I. Ungaretti wrote many of his poems—including this one—on scraps of paper while fighting in the trenches.