The poem as an idea of poetry by Alberto Girri

Clara Cattarossi

Photo by Susana Mulé.


The poem as an idea of poetry

Shall the purpose
be to provoke the feeling
of the words,
and to reach
the challenge of expression,
to pursue the objects
that adjust to feeling,
to sink into objects
down to the adequate emotion,
it is proven
and so much proven and proven,
as it is not
the fact that in those matters
the primal tendency be
through where does the inspiration travel,
“if either cold or warm”,
and it is not
that Homer shall be followed
amongst the Muses, and his begging for assistance,
and to Plato
waving to beautiful verses
mediocre but enlightened
that amongst sagacious and exclusively skilfull ,
sheltered by its own forces,
and to Dante, as he claims
the intervention of the gods
perhaps without believing in them:

O buono Apollo, all'ultimo lavoro
fammi del tuo valor…

But still not a
serious proof against the opposite,
let the poem
drive into the mind as
an experiment in natural science,
and shall the combinatorial
ability of the mind be
the sole recognisable inspiration.

El poema como idea de la poesía


Que la finalidad
sea provocar el sentimiento
de las palabras,
y alcanzar
el desafío de la expresión,
perseguir objetos
que se ajustan al sentimiento,
hundirse en objetos
hasta la emoción adecuada,
está probado,
y tanto, probado y probado,
como no lo está
el que en esos tránsitos
la tendencia madre sea
por dónde va la inspiración,
«si en frío o en caliente»,
y no lo está
que haya que seguir a Homero
entre las Musas, su rogar que lo asistan,
y a Platón
saludando hermosos versos
más en mediocres pero iluminados
que en sagaces y hábiles exclusivamente
al amparo de sus propias fuerzas,
y a Dante, el reclamar
la intervención de dioses
acaso sin creer en ellos:

O buono Apollo, all'ultimo lavoro
fammi del tuo valor...

Pero tampoco ninguna
terminante prueba hacia lo opuesto,
que el poema
se conduzca en la mente como un
experimento en una ciencia natural,
y que la aptitud
combinatoria de la mente sea
la solo inspiración reconocible.


Alberto Girri was an Argentine poet and translator, born in Buenos Aires in 1919 and died in the same city in 1991. He belonged to the Generación del 40, which was characterized by a nostalgic look at the city, with landscapes that were being lost and forgotten. However, his very personal way of writing is difficult to categorize. Often considered extremely intellectual, producing incomprehensible texts, his poems reflect the search for spiritual perfection. Throughout his life, which to his delight bordered on anonymity, he wrote more than thirty books and contributed to the magazine Sur and the newspaper La Nación.

Clara Cattarossi

Clara Cattarossi (Buenos Aires, 1999) is a poet and journalist. She studied Humanities and Social Studies at Universidad de Palermo. She writes for fashion, law, and music media, and her poetry has been published in various literary magazines. (Instagram: @clachi_ )

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