‘Resistenti al buio’ by Federica Introna is the third poetic collection by the Baroque writer and philologist, author of the collections ‘Terre di Sole’ (Il Filo, 2007) and ‘Sull’orlo del cerchio’ (Stilo Editrice, 2014).
She has also published essays on classical literature, including “La retorica nell’antica Roma” (Carocci, 2008), and the historical novels “La Congiura” (Newton Compton, 2017) and “La regina guerriera” (Tre60, 2021). Resistenti al buio’ is divided into four sections – Resistenti al buio, Camminare insieme, Cieli di libertà and Dal mare ai sassi; what characterises this collection most is the author’s desire to set her poems in the contemporary world, with an eye to the most debated social issues, and at the same time to link some of the meanings that emerge in the poems to events related to classical mythology, proposing original parallels. The first part of the work contains the poems that are most closely related to our times and to the heinous acts that are destroying our society and our world. These are the most dramatic poems, in which the author expresses her interest in social issues. There are lyrics of denunciation in which she speaks of violence against women, cruelty to animals and the destruction of our environment. Some of the poems are written from unusual points of view, such as the lyric ‘Il Mio Lockdown’, in which a lion rejoices at the disappearance of humans from its territory, as they are locked up during the most difficult phases of the coronavirus.
In the second part, the author takes up the theme of love, demystifying this emotion and showing the harsh reality that can hide behind a love affair. These are bitter lyrics in which the strength of women is often emphasised, as when, in ‘Penelope rules’, the heroes, including Ulysses, have disappeared, while Penelope has single-handedly driven out the Prosi and taken possession of the throne – ‘…. And yet, with tears that wet her black eyelashes, she reigns in the sun of Ithaca’. In the third section, the most hopeful, the beauty of the cosmos is sung in all its extraordinary splendour: in particular, the sky, the moon and the stars become the protagonists of moving lyrics in which human feelings acquire positive connotations precisely in relation to these celestial elements. In the last section of the work, the author speaks of what she considers to be one of the greatest values: the attachment to one’s roots. These poems, all entitled with the names of the places where the poet was born and lived, express her love and nostalgia for the land of her birth and for the sensations and atmospheres now lost. Federica Introna gives us verses that speak of resistance and courage, presenting a work that focuses on the complexity of the human condition, that invites us to reflect and reminds us of the importance of our memories.
