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Description

“Death huddled in my heart.

She thought I would break.

But the spirit

In me until the last day

Will scream, ‘I shall defy!’.”

" LA MORTE SI È ACQUATTATA NEL MIO CUORE
CREDEVA CHE MI SAREI INFRANTO,
MA LO SPIRITO
CHE È IN ME FINO ALL'ULTIMO GIORNO

GRIDERÀ: IO MI RIBELLERÒ.

[ Srečko Kosovel ]

Photo: Me

Detail of a small memorial complex for the Partisans who perished during WWII in Opticina, Italy. As a border territory, the area around Trieste suffered quite a lot during both wars; it also suffered under fascist Italy, as all the Slavic minorities dwelling in the area were Italianised, with people forced to change their first and last names into Italian-sounding ones, or to migrate to Yugoslavia altogether; they were also constantly targeted by fascists, which led to the formation of a particularly strong Slavic partisan movement.

It is interesting to note that present-day Opticina denizens are one of the biggest Slovene minorities in Italy, and the use of this poem is probably anything but coincidental: despite his young age, Kosovel, who was born in nearby Tomaj, was one of the Slovenian-born intellectuals who refused the Italianisation until his very untimely death, occurred in 1926 due to meningitis.

Description

“Death huddled in my heart.

She thought I would break.

But the spirit

In me until the last day

Will scream, ‘I shall defy!’.”

" LA MORTE SI È ACQUATTATA NEL MIO CUORE
CREDEVA CHE MI SAREI INFRANTO,
MA LO SPIRITO
CHE È IN ME FINO ALL'ULTIMO GIORNO

GRIDERÀ: IO MI RIBELLERÒ.

[ Srečko Kosovel ]

Photo: Me

Detail of a small memorial complex for the Partisans who perished during WWII in Opticina, Italy. As a border territory, the area around Trieste suffered quite a lot during both wars; it also suffered under fascist Italy, as all the Slavic minorities dwelling in the area were Italianised, with people forced to change their first and last names into Italian-sounding ones, or to migrate to Yugoslavia altogether; they were also constantly targeted by fascists, which led to the formation of a particularly strong Slavic partisan movement.

It is interesting to note that present-day Opticina denizens are one of the biggest Slovene minorities in Italy, and the use of this poem is probably anything but coincidental: despite his young age, Kosovel, who was born in nearby Tomaj, was one of the Slovenian-born intellectuals who refused the Italianisation until his very untimely death, occurred in 1926 due to meningitis.