SOURCE: "Reading Pasolini's Roses," m Symposium, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, Fall, 1982, pp. 207-19.

In the following excerpt, Jewell examines the poems "A na fruta," "Poesia informa di rosa," and "Nuova poesia in forma di rosa" in order to find a definition of Pasolini's poetic language.

Pier Paolo Pasolini initiated his literary education writing lyric poetry. Commentators have found elusive, inherent poeticity throughout his work. In fact it is possible to view the poetic as a key to the complexity and diversity of a production which included novels, plays, journalistic essays, drawings and films. I wish to examine moments of Pasolini's poetic practice and theory in order to find a definition of poetic language pertinent to Pasolini's artistic corpus. My point of reference is the long "Poesia in forma di rosa," the title poem for a volume of collected verse from the years 1961-64. Two factors influenced my choice: the...