Description

The Befana (Leopardiana) has arrived

For Leopardi, the Befana was not limited to just bringing sweets and coal, but was a sort of old vigilante, rather foul-mouthed and irreverent, which the poet invented to mock family friends, for whom he evidently did not have much respect. At the age of 11 Leopardi wrote a letter where she pretended to be the Befana, who addressed Mrs. Marchesa and her children in a rather trivial way; here is a significant excerpt: "I therefore thought of stopping for a moment to take a piss in your door, and then continue my journey. But I am sending you certain trifles for these children, so that they are good but tell them that if I hear bad reports about them, this other year I will bring them some Shit." Although a little childish, I like this transgressive Befana, who between one trip and another, does her business in front of the door of unpopular people. Today in the world there are many uglinesses, as well as unpleasant characters in Italian and international politics, who in a more or less irresponsible way mock the established rules and norms. I like to think that the Befana visits the door of these characters to leave an unpleasant "souvenir". However, it is a joke, I won't name any names (everyone is free to think of the most hated important person), so I don't feel like a hater.

Happy Befana (almost) to everyone!