Foscolo aspires to an ideal of an absolute poem in Le Grazie, which is presented as a model of unreachable perfection that seeks to combine diverse material in a harmonious whole. Foscolo's own judgement is illuminating: "Such is the design of this architectured poem, so as to say, and of fragments exhumed from antiquity, and of material that we have in front of our eyes every day, and of ornaments imagined in an unknown world" (“Tale è il disegno di questo poema architettato, per così dire, e di frammenti dissotterati dall’antichità, e di materiali che abbiamo giornalmente presenti agli occhi, e di ornamenti immaginati in un mondo non conosciuto”). So the poem presents itself as an attempted synthesis between a mythical past and the present, between harmonious beauty and the ancients' demand for civilization and compassion for the present shaken by wars and conflicts. The poem opposes this threatening, disturbing universe with a world of balance and serenity, outlined by precise, luminous, sound-rich expressions in line with the contemporary figurative (Canova above all) and poetic experiences of European Neoclassicism. The poem shuns all excess of artifice, it must be inspired by the heart and evoke a mythical, sacred, absolute world via references, allusions and quotes. The comforting scenario evoked by the Graces and by Venus is a sign of the civilization and purification performed by art and beauty, thanks to which man can find temporary satisfaction and reach an intense peace, albeit illusory and precarious.
The sense of precariousness is at the origin of the fragmentary nature of the text, which only in brief scenes manages to reach the perfect synthesis the author hoped for. The poem of Le Grazie, therefore, comes down to short fragments of extraordinary intensity that are rightly celebrated: the solitary virgin, the dancer, the harp player, the weaving of the veil of the Graces.
Poem of Le Grazie (The Graces)
