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UGO
FOSCOLO
THOMAS
GRAY
Between 1770 to 1820
From Germany and
Great Britain to
every part of
Europe
U
G
O
F
O
S
C
O
L
O
FOSCOLO : The highlights of life…
1778
1793
1797
• He was born in Zante
• Venice: cradle of studies
• Treaty of Campoformio
1807
• Publication “Dei Sepolcri”
1815
• Congress of Vienna
• Exile
“Poiché sono solo contro tutti, mi è difficile
diffendere la propria patria, per tanto a
male in cuore decido di accettare l'esilio.”
1827
1871
• He dies in London
•The body is moved to Florence in
the church of Santa Croce
Life…
1716
26th December, London
• He studied at Eton College and
at Cambridge
1751
• “Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard”
1757
1768
1771
• Refused the laureateship
• Became Professor of History and
Modern Languages at Cambridge
• Died on 30th July, Cambridge
Story:
 Second half of 18th century
 New poetic genre within pre-romanticism culture
 Foreign models: English and German
 “Night” by Young and “Ossian” by Macpherson
 “The Elegy” and “I Sepolcri”
Themes:

Pain of life, death, grave, immortality, sehnsucht

Interest in a melancholic nature

Love for dark and gloomy landscapes
“Sepolcri”
“Elegy”
“Dei
sepolcri”
“Elegy”
WORK
WORK
 TOPIC
TOPIC
 CARME
ELEGY

 MODELS
LOCATION
The work…
“Dei Sepolcri” is a poem
written by the Italian poet
Ugo Foscolo in 1806 and
published in 1807.
The Napoleonic edict of
Saint Cloud…
The idea behind the poem can be
traced back to 1804, when the
Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud was
issued.
1806 the edict was applied to Italy.
THE EDICT…
 All burials must take place
outside the city walls;
The burial monuments must all
be of the same size;
Their inscriptions controlled by a
special commission
T
O
P
I
C
The underlying theme
is that of the tomb,
which is analyzed in
its fundamental
aspects…
SENTIMENTAL VALUE
CIVIC VALUE
• The tomb provides the
memory of the dead in
the memory of the
living;
• Enables the
"correspondence of
amorous senses“.
• The cult of the tomb
as an expression of
civilization;
• Examples of
cemeteries and funeral
rites (two negative:
medieval age and Italy,
two positive: ancient
civilizations and
England).
HISTORICAL
VALUE
FUNCTION OF
POETRY
• The tombs of
posterity as an
example for
present and
future
generations;
• The mound of
the Athenians.
• Poetry
eternatrice;
• Omero and the
Trojan myth.
Models…
Pindemonte : « I Cimiteri»
Foscolo
Thomas Gray:
«Elegy written in a country churchyard»
The work…
TITLE: Elegy written in a
country churchyard
WRITTEN IN: 1750
THIS ELEGY IS A MODEL
FOR FOSCOLO
In literature, an elegy is a
melancholic or plaintive
poem, especially a funeral
song or a lament for the dead.







1750
More than seven years to
write The Elegy
Inspired by the death of his
friend Richard West
Horace’s First Book of Odes
(twenty-fourth Ode)
Descriptions and reflections
Universality of themes
(death, obscurity,
contentment, etc.)
Idyllic view of country-life
(like Virgil's pastoral
poetry)
Structure of The elegy:
Stanzas 1-11: images of
humble country life
Gray's meditation on
death
Stanzas 12-21: pompous
exequies of the great
VS simple funeral of the
poor
Stanzas 22-32: supposed
death of the author and
his tomb's epitaph
The epitaph: themes of
transience, obscurity and
fame.
The poem is set in an
cemetery, probably at
Stoke Poges,
surrounded by the
English countryside. It
looks like a naked,
austere cemetery, far
from the description
of Foscolo’s one.
Stoke Poges Memorial
dedicated to the elegy
COMPARING
TEXTS
Vv. 115-119: I Sepolcri
Ma cipressi e cedri
Stanza 4: The Elegy
Beneath those rugged elms,
that yew-tree's shade,
di puri effluvi i zefiri
impregnando
Where heaves the turf in
many a mouldering heap,
perenne verde
protendean su l'urne
per memoria perenne, e
prezïosi
vasi accogliean le lagrime
votive.
Each in his narrow cell for
ever laid,
The rude Forefathers of the
hamlet sleep.
“Senti raspar fra le macerie e
i bronchi
la derelitta cagna ramingando
su le fosse e famelica
ululando;(v 80)
e uscir del teschio, ove fuggia
la luna,
l'úpupa, e svolazzar su per le
croci
sparse per la funerëa
campagna
e l'immonda accusar col
luttüoso
singulto i rai di che son pie le
stelle(v 85)
alle obblïate sepolture”
“Save that from
yonder ivymantled tower
The moping owl
does to the moon
complain
Of such, as
wandering near
her secret bower,
Molest her ancient
solitary reign.”
FOSCOLO crede invece
che se un
uomo durante la vita ha
agito bene, verrà
ricordato dai posteri.
La vita dei posteri è
quindi una
continuazione della vita
del defunto.
Le virtù del morto, non
sono sepolte nella
tomba, ma grazie agli
amici continuano ad
esistere nel mondo dei
vivi
25. “negò loro la
sorte, che
represse
lor colpe insieme
a lor virtù”
“.. Fu di gran
cuore e di sincera
fede; e premio il
Cielo gli mandò..”
C’è in Gray un
uguaglianza
universale, tutto è
destinato allo
stesso fine
Anche Foscolo pensa
che tutti gli uomini
siano accomunati da
un destino
inevitabile: la morte
21. “Pompa e poter, vanto di
stirpe eletta,
quanto beltà o ricchezza a noi
prepara,
tutto egualmente l’ultim’ora
aspetta:
della gloria il sentier mena
alla bara
23. Urna scolpita, o effige al
ver conforme
può al frale richiamar l’alma
fuggita?
può onore stimolar polve che
dorme?
può l’orecchia di Morte esser
blandita?”
Luca Montanari