Singing hope

What is a life,

a life in life?

Mine took on meaning from no longer being,

from having been taken away from me...

Lord, my life in you,

with you is mysteriously

yours and mine.

Mario Luzi in The Flower of Sorrow fixes the moment of death of Don Pino Puglisi, murdered by a mafia killer. The poet investigates the theme of pain by covering it with hope. He professes not to be a man of the Church, but he believes deeply in Christ who alone gives reason and meaning to earthly life, however it unfolds. In an interview, he states: «As a citizen I feel the need to be read either through the lines or through the silences of a poem, but also to deal more directly with certain episodic contents that have a forever value».

Born in 1914 near Florence, with Carlo Bo and other friends he founded the magazine Il Frontespizio, which collects the contributions of the hermetic poetic current. He then approaches other writers, such as Montale, Vittorini, Gadda. From then on he published several poetic collections, drawing inspiration from the French symbolism of Mallarmé, Rimbaud and Paul Éluard. He alternated throughout his life between literary production and teaching. In 2004, on his ninetieth birthday, he was appointed senator for life by the President of the Republic; he dies the following year and is buried in Santa Croce in Florence. In 2008 the collection Let me not hold back was published posthumously. Once again, the poet refers to the words of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after the resurrection to show everyone the alternative path to the apparent meaninglessness of human life, that of hope.

Annamaria Gobbato

NP Ottobre 2023