Sonnets

Since the early Renaissance, poets throughout Europe have imitated the sonnets of Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), pursuing a lyrical programme according to which the loving and suffering individual should recognise the universal human in himself through his own experiences. Alfieri's "Petrarchism", however, is entirely self-centred and almost expressionistic in its dramatic emphasis on his own emotions. His sonnets are characterised by exuberant passion and a strong need for expression. Eros, the urge for freedom and the pursuit of poetic fame are his main concerns; Alfieri is closer to the Sturm und Drang than to the courtly culture of the cinquecento. The bilingual volume presented here gives a representative selection of Alfieri's sonnets, including political, satirical, philosophical, autobiographical, poetic andbiographical, poetry-related and amorous - the latter dedicated without exception to Luise Gräfin zu Stolberg (1746-1824). Christoph Ferber (born 1954) has, among other things He has translated poetry by Gaspara Stampa, Ugo Foscolo, Eugenio Montale, Salvatore Quasimodo and Stéphane Mallarmé. He lives in Ragusa, Sicily. Georges Güntert (born 1938) isThe bilingual volume also includes all of Ronsard's scattered amors, so that all of his love poetry is now available in the highly acclaimed translation by André Gide Prize winner Georg Holzer.