Un’altra “imitation” di Robert Lowell

Abstract

This essay traces the origin of "Will not Come Back (Volverán)" by Robert Lowell, which he never openly stated to be either an original poem or a translation-or rather an "imitation," as he used to call this sort of composition. Mulas also points out the differences between this poem and the sonnet by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, a well-known Spanish romantic poet who inspired Lowell. A close analysis of the two poems shows what is preserved of the original and what is new in Lowell's re-interpretation.