Souls (fragment of 'The crazy virgins')

Abstract

Amalia Guglielminetti was born in Turin in 1881. He had a religious school education, conditioned by the presence of his grandfather, who assumed the role of pater familias after the death of Amalia's father. His first book of poems was published in 1901, but it was considered too childish and simple. With the second, however, Le vergini folli (of which we have translated the first section, dedicated to souls), he achieved success and his verses, well structured and of great technical perfection, earned him the praise of her teacher, Arturo Graf, of the critic Dino Mantovani and of the poet Guido Gozzano, especially because of their spontaneity. However, she considered that she had barely touched the essence of art and considered that she should continue working to reach that state. Amalia Guglielminetti was a very prolific writer who dedicated herself not only to poetry, but also to theater (both comedy and tragedy) and narrative. After an attempt to become a journalist in Rome, he returned to Turin, where he died in 1941 because of an injury done when he was going down to an air raid shelter.