Guido Gozzano

Guido Gustavo Gozzano (; 19 December 1883 – 9 August 1916) was an Italian poet and writer.

Biography He was born in Turin, the son of Fausto Gozzano, an engineer, and of Diodata Mautino, the daughter of Senator Mautino, in pure post-decadent style. In this poem, the author deals with many of his work's usual themes (his health condition, his pessimistic worldview, his yearning to visit far and exotic countries) in his trademark witty and ironic manner.

Gozzano's worsening health prompted the decision to travel to India and Ceylon, looking for a climate more suited to his breathing impairment. His cruise ship left Genoa on 16 February 1912, returning in May 1913 after visits to Colombo and Bombay. He did not get better, but the travel, together with extensive reading, inspired the texts that were to be collected and posthumously published (in 1917) under the title Verso la cuna del mondo (lit., "Towards the world's cradle").

The last years of Gozzano's life yielded little literary production. In March 1914, he published on La Stampa some fragments of the long poem Le Farfalle (lit. "The butterflies"), also known as Epistole entomologiche (lit. "Entomological epistles"), which he would never complete. The collection of six fairy tales he had written for the children's magazine Corriere dei Piccoli, titled I tre talismani (lit. "The three talismans"), was also published at this time. An avid theatre and movie fan, Gozzano adapted some of his short stories for production. Between 1914 and 1915 he composed a few unremarkable poems about World War I, which met little success with his audience.

In 1916, shortly before his death, Gozzano began writing the script for a film about Francis of Assisi, which was never filmed. The poet was laid to rest in Agliè. He was an atheist.

Works

Poetry La via del rifugio (1907) I colloqui (1911) Tutte le poesie (editor A. Rocca, ed., introduction by M. Guglielminetti; 1980. Includes all Gozzano's poems)

Prose I tre talismani (1914) La principessa si sposa. Fiabe (1918) Verso la cuna del mondo. Lettere dall'India (1912-1913) (with preface by G.A. Borgese, 1917, first edition) L'altare del passato (1918) L'ultima traccia (1919) Primavere romantiche (1924) La moneta seminata e altri scritti con un saggio di varianti e una scelta di documenti (F. Antonicelli, ed.; 1968) Journey Toward the Cradle of Mankind (The Marlboro Press / Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, translated by David Newton Marinelli, 1996, 156 pp., ISBN 0-8101-6007-2, ISBN 0-8101-6008-0. Verso la Cuna del mondo - Lettere dall'India (Flaminio di Biagi, ed., with afterword by Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti, 2005; first complete edition) Requiems & Nightmares (2015)

Letters Lettere d'amore di Guido Gozzano e Amalia Guglielminetti (S. Asciamprener, ed., 1951) Lettere a Carlo Vallini con altri inediti (Giorgio Di Rienzo, ed., 1971)