Perhaps no other poet in twentieth-century Italy has aroused such passionate discussions of his works as Rocco Scotellaro, known as "the little mayor of Tricarico." Hailed by some as a Lucanian Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle--providing a new Marseillaise to the oppressed farmworkers of the Italian south--scorned by others as the last epigone of the crepuscolari (twilight poets); saluted as a new Francis of Assisi with class consciousness, or damned as a sentimental imitator of the ermetici (hermetic poets); and believing in the redemption of the masses through poetry and good intentions, Scotellaro became a legend when, compelled by harrowing circumstances, he began to practice his irresistible vocation for poetry with a sincere dedication to political action.

Scotellaro was born on 19 April 1923 into a poor family in the little town of Tricarico, in the Basilicata area of Lucania. His father was a shoemaker and tradesman, his mother the town...