The Flame
Описание книги
The novel «The Flame» (Italian: Il fuoco) is set in 1883 Venice and tells the story of a young artist and his mistress, a famous actress. This novel reflects D'Annunzio's romance with Eleonora Duse, an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. Duse was five years older than her lover, and this theme got a reflection in the novel. The protagonist of the story, an alter-ego of D'Annunzio, is a young poet Stelio Effrena, a close friend of Richard Wagner and his artistic successor. He and his lover La Foscarina come to Venice six months before Wagner's death. Both of them have inner conflicts to live through. Effrena tries to find his place as an artist, and La Foscarina suffers from the fact that her incredible beauty is aging, and thus, she will soon no longer be a muse for the great poet. The book is full of D'Annunzio's recollections on art, poetry, music and is often perceived as his artistic manifest. It also reflects the real-life rivalry between two great actresses, Eleonora Duse, and Sarah Bernhardt, who was rumored to return her presentation copy to the author unopened.
Оглавление
Gabriele D'Annunzio. The Flame
The Flame
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
BOOK I. THE EPIPHANY OF THE FLAME
CHAPTER I. THE BELLS OF SAN MARCO
CHAPTER II. THE FACE OF TRUTH
CHAPTER III. THE NUPTIALS OF AUTUMN AND VENICE
CHAPTER IV. THE SPIRIT OF MELODY
CHAPTER V. THE EPIPHANY OF THE FLAME
CHAPTER VI. THE POET'S DREAM
CHAPTER VII. THE PROMISE
CHAPTER VIII "TO CREATE WITH JOY!"
BOOK II. THE EMPIRE OF SILENCE
CHAPTER I "IN TIME!"
CHAPTER II. AFTER THE STORM
CHAPTER III. A FALLEN GIANT
CHAPTER IV. THE MASTER'S VISION
CHAPTER V. SOFIA
CHAPTER VI. A BROTHER TO ORPHEUS
CHAPTER VII. ONLY ONE CONDITION
CHAPTER VIII. ILLUSIONS
CHAPTER IX. THE LABYRINTH
CHAPTER X. THE POWER OF THE FLAME
CHAPTER XI. REMINISCENCE
CHAPTER XII. CASSANDRA'S REINCARNATION
CHAPTER XIII. THE STORY OF THE ARCHORGAN
CHAPTER XIV. THE WORLD'S BEREAVEMENT
CHAPTER XV. THE LAST FAREWELL
Отрывок из книги
Gabriele D'Annunzio
The Love and Art in Venice
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"You will see now, Perdita, what is the real beneficence of symbols. By affinity, I am led to develop myself in accord with the magnificent genius of the plant which it pleases me to fancy as the symbol of my aspirations toward a full, rich life. This arboreous image of myself suffices to assure me that my powers should follow nature in order to attain naturally the end for which they were created. 'Nature has disposed me thus' is the epigraph of Leonardo da Vinci, which I placed on the title-page of my first book; and the pomegranate, as it continually blossoms and bears its fruit, repeats to me that simple phrase over and over again. We obey only the laws written in our own substance, and by reason of this we shall remain intact in the midst of dissolution, in the unity and plenitude that make our joy. No discord exists between my art and my life."
He spoke with perfect freedom, as if the mind of the listening woman were a chalice into which he poured his thoughts till it was full to the brim. An intellectual felicity filled him, blended with a vague consciousness of the mysterious action whereby his mind was preparing itself for the effort it was soon to make. From time to time, as if by a lightning flash, his mental vision beheld, as he bent toward his beloved friend and listened to the beat of the oar in the silence of the great estuary, the crowd, with its thousand faces, gathering in the vast hall; and he felt a rapid throbbing of his heart.
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