As the major Italian poet of the final third of the nineteenth century, Giosuè Carducci represented the contradictions of his age. A celebrator in verse of the Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy, he demonstrated a vigorous public commitment to the sacred ideal of the homeland. Known as “the last shield bearer of the classics”, Carducci advocated a restoration of the classical heritage and a return to the civic and natural virtues it represents. At the same time he authored a sentimental, melancholy body of verse and was radically innovative in his technical and metrical experimentation, deviating from established meters and verse forms. Fiercely anti-clerical in a country in which the Catholic Church long exercised political power, Carducci combined erudition with secular…
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Citation: Peterson, Thomas E.. "Giosuè Carducci". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=733, accessed 21 November 2024.]
