’La scimmia’ di Vladislav Chodasevič come commento sulla Grande Guerra

This article offers a brief introduction to the Russian poet Vladislav Chodasevič and his poem “The Monkey” (1918-1919), an unusual commentary on World War I. Chodasevič conveys the shock of the conflict’s sudden eruption by juxtaposing the announcement of war with the daily routine of a summer day and transforming an encounter between the poet and an itinerant Serbian street performer and his monkey into a curious augury of war. This article also provides a review of the startling similarity between Chodasevič’s “Monkey” and Ivan Bunin’s “With a Monkey” (1907), and of both poems’ participation in a rich literary tradition featuring Southern European organ grinders and their animal companions.