Assenze/presenze

Maxime Cella (Rueil-Malmaison, France, 1980 - Udine, Italy, 2019) was a poet and translator. He began publishing his first poems in 2009 and in 2011 the booklet Dieci poesie (‘Ten Poems’) was released. This essay offers a purely formalistic reading of the posthumously published Foss’io colui (‘Were I the one who’). After analysing the metrical aspects of the poem, the paper looks at the function of the “step verses” in order to evaluate its effect on versification and on the setting of the mise en page, which will be further examined in light of rhymes’ suffixes. Before concluding on a note on the vocalic phonosymbolism of the poem, the paper will then bring to light its dense phonic plot, from which Cella’s poetic awareness and ability can be clearly observed.