Poetry
An Orchid Shining in the Hand
Parole del tempo
Lorenzo Calogero · 1956
Synopsis
A collection of poems in the hermetic manner, published in 1956. It takes up the motifs that run through the author's work: lost childhood, nostalgia, vanished innocence and love. The verse proceeds by ellipsis and unexpected grammatical turns, so that thought is condensed rather than set out, in a language of great density.
Context
The collection appeared in 1956 from Maia, in Siena, between two others published by the same publisher, the last of which, the same year, carries a preface by Leonardo Sinisgalli. Recognition came after the author's death, with the two volumes of poetic works published by Lerici in 1962 and 1966; his manuscripts are today held and digitised by the University of Calabria. In English, John Taylor translated a selection of his poems from 1932 to 1960 under the title “An Orchid Shining in the Hand”.
Who it is for
A short collection of hermetic poems with difficult syntax, which calls for slow reading.
Prizes and reception
According to World Literature Today, this isolated poet, almost unknown in his lifetime, ranks among the European poets of his century.
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