SOURCE: Hays, Gregory. “Le Morte Stagioni: Intertextuality in Quasimodo's Lirici Greci.” Forum Italicum 29, no. 1 (spring 1995): 26-43.

In the following essay, Hays addresses the striking originality of Quasimodo's translations of Sappho and Catallus in Lirici Greci, compares Quasimodo's translations to that of Foscolo and Pascoli, and examines the influence of Leopardi's translations on both Quasimodo's translations and original poetry.

Who is Plato? He is Satie's librettist.

(Ned Rorem)

1. Introduction1

Quasimodo's late poem “Micene” opens on a eucalyptus-shadowed street at the modern site of Mycenae, a place where

puoi trovare formaggio di pecora e vino resinato “A la belle Hélène de Ménélas,” un' osteria. … 

The jarring contrast between the face that launched a thousand ships and the name (echoing Offenbach) of a modern “osteria,” between the fabled palace of Agamemnon and the “covo di briganti” unearthed below Mt. Zara leads into a meditation on the fate...