Dante and Caproni's afterworld

The studies on the presence of Dante in Caproni's poems have so far concentrated mainly on the final collections, starting with Il muro della terra (1975). Analysis of the critical apparatus of the poems, however, makes it possible to highlight a series of contacts with the Commedia in the central phase of Caproni's production, between Il passaggio d'Enea (1956) and Congedo del viaggiatore cerimonioso & altre prosopopee (1965). This is a less ostentatious and more profound kind of celebration of Dante, which stems from an autobiographical matrix: Caproni gave shape to his very personal gateway to the beyond and on several occasions planned a work in which the poet's voice could go beyond this gateway and enter into contact with those who had already crossed it.