ANNUNZIO, GAnRIELE (1864—). An Italian novelist and poet, more widely discussed. both at home and abroad, than any other writer of his country. He was born at Francavilla al Mare. near Pescara. In his fifteenth year, while a student at Prato, he pub lished his first (collection of verse, Primo l'ere, followed at intervals by In Memoriam (1880), Couto noro (]S82), Intermezzo di rim.. (1883), isfrot to Guttad Otro 0880. and e in Chimera (1890). From the appearaneo of his first volume he was hailed as a poet of excep tional promise, although the frankly licentious tone of many of his earlier poems provoked much censure. His first novel, 11 Pincer(' (translated under the title The Child of Pleasure), appeared in 1889, and was evidently written under the dominating influence of Maupassant and Bourget. In the main, it is a psychological study of a thorough-going egol ist whose affections are divided between two women, and who in the end ruins the life of one of them as well as his own. His next volumes, L'Innocente (The Intruder, 1891), and Gioranni Episeopo (1892), are both powerful but gruesome stories, showing strongly the influence of the Russian school, and especi ally that of Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata. 11 trionfo della. monk* (The Triumph of Death ) appeared in 1894, and confirmed his reputation as a searching psychological writer, although its au dacity has made it impossible to translate the volume in its entirety. About this time some of his volumes were translated into French by llerelle, and shortly after their appearance 11. Vogiie wrote a highly eulogistic appreeiation of d'Annunzio for the Revue des Deux Notaries, under the caption "La Renaissance latine." with the result that the young author suddenly awoke to an international reputation. and his works were speedily translated into French, German, and English.
During the last few years, d'Annunzio's liter ary ideals seem to have undergone an interesting evolution. Grouping together his earlier novels, 11 I'iaeerc, L'Innoeente, and 11 trionfo, as the Romances of the Rose, he conceived the idea of a triple trilogy, the second and third groups to be respectively known as the Romances of the Lily and Romances of the Pomegranate. The first "Romance of the Lily," Le rergini delle rocce ("Virgins of the flocks"), appeared in 1896. The scheme of the story is sym bolic to the last degree. and the fluent and rhythmic prose in which it is couched shows the extreme development of the author's application of the Wagnerian leitmotir to literature. His leng-promised rime() ("Flame of Life"). the first of the "Pomegranate" series, appeared in the au tumn of 1900. it is an apotheosis of poetry, physical Wanly, and sensual love, and incident ally excited much comment because ninny renders chose to identify the heroine with the well-known .actress Elemm•a Duse. Recently, d'Annunzio has turned his attention to the drama. which it is his ambition to restore to the grandeur and unity of the classic Greek tragedy. His plays include: 11 soqno d'un mattino di primarera (1897), 11 soyno (Pun tramonto d'autH11110 (1898), La (Wet morta (1898), La Gioconda (1898), which has won considerable success upon the stage, and Francesca da Rimini (1901). There is no question that d'Annunzio is ex erting a marked influence upon Italian letters, whether for good or for ill it is still too early to determine. lie is a firm believer in a new Renais sance—a Renaissance which will begin by "rePs tablishing the worship of Alan," and which will "exalt and glorify above all things the beauty and power of man, the conqueror."