ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ

This lovely corner of the cyber space, dedicated to my reading and studies in literature, is a sister blog of my Réfléxions linguistiques, which was set up for the fibres of literature - language, and of Melihis & Athrämä, which I collaborate with Aleco, showing our constructed languages.

The Canadian essayist Stan Persky's words, 'for readers, there must be a million autobiographies' are quoted by Alberto Manguel, the erudite author of A History of Reading, who explains the quote by confirming, 'we seem to find, in book after book, the traces of our lives'. Convinced that the compilation of my personal anthology is thus a curious way of writing my autobiography, I started this blog and gave it a name in Italian - a language that, after French which I call l'incarnation de la littérature, is the most suitable for literary creation, especially poetry. Given that poetry used to be acclaimed as the most noble form of literature, and prose the vile; Italian, the 'language of poetry' as acknowledged by many a language enthusiast including me, rightfully deserves to name my blog of literary anthology.

As for the name of the blog, I was hesitating between Florilegium and Anthologia, following the notorious (yet well justified) tradition of the literati of worshipping Latin and Greek, until finally I found delight in knowing that both the names had been patented by others, deciding therefore to turn to the merry Italian staccato for a name that has since infused the blog with the allegria of its sound. Fioretti letterari has inherited the original sense of the Latin and Greek words for 'anthology', and at the same time emphasises the essence and the purpose of a collection of works of les belles lettres. It gives this personal collection a melody that will dwell in every page.

The content of this blog, as usual, is indiscriminately multilingual. Translation will not be given unless for purposes such as clarification, for it is assumed that the readers of this blog have a good knowledge in languages and linguistics. Extracts that I cherish, from literature of all genres and song lyrics, are posted, sometimes annotated by me. I hope the flowers of literature picked and collected by me serve as an alternative personal journal that tells of me and my life.