TRILUSSA (pseudonym of CARLO ALBERTO SALUSTRI). — Poet, born in Rome on 25 Oct. 1873, died there on 21 Dec. 1950, a few weeks after his appointment as senator. He studied at the Roman College of St Joseph in Piazza di Spagna.
His orientation toward political and social satire, arising from the humorous depiction of small episodes and vignettes from daily life, became more pronounced when T. moved from sonnets to the varied metres of fable, conceived as parody and inversion of the classical fable. Starting, in fact, from themes drawn from tradition, the poet arrived at negative and ironic conclusions, creating a fable entirely his own, in which animals, mere conventions, are, by psychology and manner of acting, the masks of men. T.’s satire, often light-hearted and good-natured, sometimes sharpens into biting sarcasm against the hypocrisies, cunning and selfishness of the contemporary world. In some compositions the poet appears nostalgic and melancholy, and then reveals, as it were in a turning inward upon himself, his true face, in which the mocking smile fades into the furrows of thoughtful humanity. The dialect he used, and which contributed to his wide popularity, is that of the middle classes.
In his work (Le cose, Milan 1922; I sonetti, ibid. 1922; Le storie, ibid. 1922; Le favole, ibid. 1922; Nove poesie, ibid. 1922; Ommini e bestie, ibid. 1922; Lupi e agnelli, ibid. 1923; La gente, ibid. 1927; Libro n. 9, ibid. 1929; Giove e le bestie, ibid. 1932; Picchiabbò, ibid. 1933; Libro muto, ibid. 1935; Acqua e vino, ibid. 1945) vice escapes explicit moral condemnation: to the indulgent and sceptical spirit of the poet it seems almost innate to the lot of man. There are nonetheless hints and aspirations of a religious nature, in accordance with that idea of faith fixed by T. in a writing of 7 July 1935: «From childhood, by a deep and invincible instinct, I have had absolute faith in a Providence that rules over men, in a supreme Goodness and Wisdom that govern the world; in God... On this subject my faith has remained absolute, untouched and simple, as when I was a boy. And it has always helped and comforted me in life.»