Abstract

The essay examines the section "Otto recitativi" in Franco Fortini's poetic book entitled "Paesaggio con serpente" and aims to show how this apparently heterogeneous poetry collection actually follows a coherent macrotextual course at both a formal and thematic level. It deals with the author's complex and disenchanted reflection on individual destiny and literature itself. The political scene of Italian society between the late 70s and the 80s is viewed by the old poet as deprived of any revolutionary perspective.