In Zakynthos

Birth of Venus, 1862, Oil On Canvas,
Eugène Amaury-Duval (copyright at bottom)

No more and never will touch the sacred shores
where the little boy lay my body, 
Zakynthos mine that mirrors you nell'onde 
the greek virgin birth came in off sea 

Venus and fea those fertile islands
with his first smile,
so not silent clear your clouds
and your leaves
towards the illustrious man who waters 

Ulysses Returns Chryseis to her Father, c. 1644,
Oil on Canvas, Claude Lorrain (copyright at bottom)

sang fatal, and a different exile 
so nice of fame and misfortune 
kissed her stony Ithaca Ulysses. 

You do not have nothing but the singing of his son,
or my mother earth, we prescribed 
Fate illacrimata burial. 

Alone, Illustration for Edgar Allen Poe, Edmund Dulac

~ Ugo Foscolo

"The sonnet begins with a triple negation (which is a bitter realization of the poet's loss of his home), and ends with the final judgment of his exile and his illacrimata burial in a foreign land. Between these two poles is contained negative, through the binding of the images and wonderful nostalgic representation of the ideal world of the poet of childhood and the mythical transfiguration of his own experience of exile that is through the analogy between his figure is that of Ulysses. Ulysses, "looking for fame and misfortune" is the image of the poet, himself an exile magnanimously opposed by fate and by man, but above all represents the new concept of the romantic hero, the great strength and dignity with which bears the ravages of misfortune (the exile hesitated, however, will be different; Foscolo unlike Ulysses will be buried in a foreign land and no one will pay for the teardrops on his grave). Other mythic images are also present in the verses, which is that of Homer's poetry eternatrice and heroism of the highest values ​​and Venus, according to myth was born from the foam of the sea, symbol of the fertilizing nature, beauty and harmony, which With her smile has made fruitful and flourishing homeland of the poet (http://www.antelitteram.com/antologia/foscolo.htm)." 

"Fate illacrimata burial" is essentially an unmourned and unlamented burial..... 

Birth of Venus, Eugène Amaury-Duval, 1862, Oil On Canvas, 197x109 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille,Image and original data provided by Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, N.Y., http://www.artres.com/c/htm/Home.aspx, Rights -Contact information: Ryan Jensen, General Manager, Art Resource, 536 Broadway (5th floor), New York, N.Y. 10012; Tel No: (212) 505-8700; Fax: (212) 505-2653; Email: RJensen@artres.com / Please note that if this image is under copyright, you may need to contact one or more copyright owners for any use that is not permitted under the ARTstor Terms and Conditions of Use or not otherwise permitted by law. While ARTstor tries to update contact information, it cannot guarantee that such information is always accurate. Determining whether those permissions are necessary, and obtaining such permissions, is your sole responsibility.


Ulysses Returns Chryseis to her Father, Claude Lorrain, c. 1644, Oil on Canvas, 119x150 cm, Musée du Louvre,Image and original data provided by SCALA, Florence/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. / http://www.artres.com/c/htm/Home.aspx & http://www.scalarchives.com / Image Rights:(c) 2006, SCALA, Florence / ART RESOURCE, N.Y. Please note that if this image is under copyright, you may need to contact one or more copyright owners for any use that is not permitted under the ARTstor Terms and Conditions of Use or not otherwise permitted by law. While ARTstor tries to update contact information, it cannot guarantee that such information is always accurate. Determining whether those permissions are necessary, and obtaining such permissions, is your sole responsibility.