Aleardo Aleardi

Aleardo Aleardi, whose name was originally Gaetano Maria Aleardi, was born in Verona in 1812 to Maria Channels and Count Giorgio Aleardi. After studying law at the University of Padua together with friends John Meadows and Arnaldo Fusinato, he returned to Verona with an interest in poetry and art criticism. Among his earliest compositions was Marriage (1842), an exaltation of marriage as an expression of civilization, and the Arnalda Roca in 1844. This poem had the historical protagonist of a young woman who dies defending her honor: here we find the search for theatrical effects and dramatic color that is typical of the entire oeuvre of Aleardi. His first success was achieved in 1846 with the two Letters to Mary, in verse, in which the poet addresses a friend proposing a platonic love. It was an opportunity to express his belief in the immortality of the soul and pour out his emotional suffering in a spirit of romanticism.

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