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Two Poems for T. Summary & Study Guide Description
Two Poems for T. Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:
This detailed literature summary also contains Bibliography on Two Poems for T. by Cesare Pavese.
"Two Poems for T." was written in Italian poet Cesare Pavese's notebook in 1946 and not published until after his death. It is assumed that the T. of the title was a woman with whom Pavese had an affair several months earlier. Although his diaries contain little about the person who scholars think was T., it is clear from the poem that she was going through a difficult period in her life and that the poet is trying to offer her some greater perspective. The poem itself provides an excellent example of the kind of advice a fatalistic intellectual poet might offer to a distraught young person. It also provides readers with a good example of Pavese's technical skill.
Cesare Pavese is considered one of Italy's greatest twentieth-century writers. He is celebrated for his novels more than his poetry, but he was prolific in almost every aspect of literature: fiction, poetry, essays, and translation. He is highly regarded for his Italian translations of American literature, including works by Hawthorne and Melville, which he penned during Italy's fascist period, when the government tightly controlled what people could read. A generation of French intellectuals look to Pavese with a debt of gratitude for these translations, along with admiration for Pavese's own creative works.
"Two Poems for T." is available in the collection Disaffections: Complete Poems, 1930—1950, translated by Geoffrey Brock.
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This section contains 229 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |