IDLING IN ITALY
IDLING IN ITALY
STUDIES OF
LITERATURE AND OF LIFE
BY
JOSEPH COLLINS
AUTHOR OF "MY ITALIAN YEAR"
I loaf and invite my soul
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1920
Copyright, 1920, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published September, 1920
TO M. K. C.
... Io vengo di lontana parte,
Dov'era lo tuo cuor.
PREFACE
Nothing obstacled my pleasure so much when Ifirst went to Italy as unfamiliarity with its literature.Every one who would add to his spiritual stature andhis emotional equanimity by tarry in Italy shouldhave some intimacy with the Bible, with mythology,and with Italian writers, especially the poets. I soughtbooks about books but was not very successful in findingthem. Interpretative articles on men and bookswhich are so common in British and American literatureare exceptional in Italy. One who is ambitiousto get even a bowing acquaintance with them mustmake the introduction himself. In 1918 an enterprisingItalian, Signor A. T. Formiggini, attemptedto supply such introduction by the publication of aliterary review called L'Italia Che Scrive, a monthlysupplement to all the periodicals. He has had gratifyingsuccess.
My purpose in publishing the essays on fictionalliterature in this volume is in the hope of awakeninga larger interest in America in Italian letters and toaid in creating a demand for their translation intoEnglish. I shall be glad if they serve to orient anyone who is bewildered by his first glance into the mazeof Italian modern, improvisional literature.
Americans go to Italy by the thousands, but veryfew of them take the trouble to acquaint themselveswith her history or with her ideals and accomplishments.This is to be regretted, for proportionatelyas they did that their pleasure would be enhanced andtheir profit increased. Moreover, it would contributeto better mutual understanding of Americans andItalians.
The remaining chapters are the outgrowth of experiencesand emotions in Italy during and after thewar.
Some of these essays originally appeared in TheBookman, Scribner's Magazine, and The North AmericanReview, and I thank the editors of those journalsfor permission to make use of them.
CONTENTS
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