Poetry as Prayer in Iacopone’s Laude

Il saggio studia le poesie in forma di preghiera contenute nel laudario di Iacopone da Todi, evidenziando in particolare la scelta lessicale, metrica e retorica che rende il contenuto di preghiera vera poesia. The lauda is a genre created as an expression of devotion, and many laude take the form of prayer. Iacopone’s laudario shows the importance accorded to prayer forms, with poetry intended to express not only the invocations of the believer to the divine, but his living in His presence, and even union. The essay scrutinizes Iacopone’s many poems that come in the form of prayer, an aspect that has not yet been fully investigated. It considers the many ways the author uses this form, how he addresses the divine, Biblical influences, and other literary or theological models he follows, as well as the differences between a personal and a communal prayer.