1968    -    ANTENNI

 In Mario Azzopardi we get especially a sense of vastness of impressions and correlated human activity, sometimes with such force that surrealism becomes the only answer, the only way out of creative atrophy after surfeit of imagination. His poems are kaleidoscopic in variety, shape form and colour – elements which are on the whole sufficiently well controlled.  If the approach is largely subjective it is because Azzopardi has trust  in the power of his ‘antennae' to pick up every vibration, every beat pulsing through the shell-hum of life as he sees,  it as it is related to himself…Azzopardi is distinguished by a real effort to sculpt images out of original vocabulary and the juxtaposition of concrete and symbolic definitions that surprise the reader practically at every turn with their freshness and preciseness; impressions flower immediately into expressions of truth, the impact of which produce in us little revelations of pleasure and flashes of insight.  Azzopardi's wry comments, whether on varicose veins, the Chinese or skiers, burst through abruptly torn veils with intense illumination. They are as much products of this day and age as they are searingly personal-universal.  Azzopardi's cutting down to size is ruthless but the post-cathartic glow is deep, brilliant and richly satisfying.

 Francis Ebejer, Malta News, 20 April 1968

 

 Aktar ma jkunu twal l-antenni, akbar tkun l-attrazzjoni lejn il-gagga tal-propretarju, u ghalhekk Mario Azzopardi jitlob attenzjoni specjali, probabbilment ghaliex id-disinn tal-poezija tieghu jinfirex fuq strata ta' sincerita' akuta…Il-materjal  ta' Azzopardi hu l-materjal mahsud mill-ghlqa tas-socjeta' kontemporanja  kif inhi, minghajr it-toqol ta' riflessjonijiet filosofici, minghajr ilwien imdawla zzejjed mill-bozoz ta' l-astratt. L-atteggjament ta' Azzopardi lejn il-politika barranija u lokali huwa cinikament negattiv, xejn kostruttiv, forsi ghaliex il-poeta  tuilef kull sens ta' fiducja fil-minotawri grotteski “ta' hemm fuq”…Kollox ma' kollox, Azzopardi laqatni bhala studjuz introspettiv tal-karattru tieghu innifsu, u minn dan l-angolu jispikka b'mod interessanti hafna ghall-izvolgiment ta' element drammatiku fil-poezija tieghu, ta' kuntatti intimi bejnu u l-qarrej – kittieb kiefer mieghu innifsu u ma' hbiebu u ghalhekk, ghaliex le ma' min jaqrah?

 Albert Marshall, It-Torca, 23 ta' April 1968 

 

 Bhala porta voce ta' l-awtur modern (Azzopardi) jifrex l-antenni tas-suspett rigeard il-generazzjoni ta' qablu. Bhal fid-dramm tat-‘teatro del grottesco' ta' Luigi Chiarelli, La Maschera e il Volto, Mario Azzopardi jurina l-kuntrast li jezisti bejn l-apparenzi socjali tal-bniedem (il-maskra) u l-karattru veru (il-wicc)l; huwa jhoss l-ideat tieghu inkompatibbli ma' l-istruttura socjali tal-hajja Maltija.  Jekk jimxi fuq il-kuncett Hegeljan tat-tezi u l-antitezi, ma jasal qatt qrib is-sintesi li tghaqqad il-wahda ma' l-ohra…Din il-glieda tieghu anti-konformista taghmel lill-poeta l-aktar wiehed anti-burgiz.   Il-vizjoni anti-socjali tal-poeta ghamlet minnu wkoll poeta introspettiv.

 Dr Philip Sciberras, Il-Haddiem, 23 ta' April 1968

 

 (Azzopardi) is a young man trying to assert his identity in a climate of bourgeois values and morals.  Some oh his works are hate songs in which he declares aggressive desires.  “Look in thy heart and write” is a lesson Azzopardi has learned, and if what he finds there is disgust and hatred, I can only say that his expression of such sentiments is often powerful, daring out in grotesque or violently coloured imagery.

 Dr Paul Xuereb, Sunday Times of Malta, 2 June 1968

 

 (Azzopardi) jurina li f'malta ghandna poeti originali fil-hsieb u ta' immaginazzjoni mhaddma tajjeb; poeti li jghixu, josservaw, jifhmu u jimpurtahom hafna mill-mard socjali, religjuz u kulturali tal-lum, werrieta tad-dinja tal-bierah…Il-poeziji ta' Mario Azzopardi jikkonsistu fi tlaqqigh ta' immaginazzjonim penetranti u hafifa daqs artist tat-“trapeze” jew ta' bicca ballet ta' Nureyev…ma koncentrazzjoni ta' hsibijiet u manipulazzjoni tal-kelma skond il-bzonn.

 (Rev) Bernard Mallia, S.J,. Problem ital-Lum, Gunju/Lulju, 1968  

 

Kummneti kritici ohra  saru minn Albert Cassola (Il-Qawmien, 28 ta' April, 1968);

Fraaans Sammut (Il-Polz, n.6, 1968) u Oliver Friggieri (l-orizzont, 23 ta' April, 1968).

 

 

 1970    -    ANALIZI ‘70

 L-istess kif gara f'Antenni (1968) Azzopardi jolqot ‘l ghajn bil-gabra ta' poeziji tieghu li jirriflettu t-tendenza moderna.  Mhux ghalih il-Malti safi u mhux ghalih l-irbit poetiku, u xoghlijietu jreddnu helsien liema bhalu.

 Charles Flores, It-Torca, 3 ta' Mejju 1970

 

Maltese literature has its very own pop poets who are led by Mario Azzopardi.

(He) is himself the mirror of a permissive society shouting loud its grudges against the evils of the world, the wars, the politics and the dirty stuff.  Azzopardi's style conforms with that of modern poets overseas and seeks satisfaction with a series of often gaudy language but brilliant interpretation of his feeling… Azzopardi can also be mysterious and ugly but incredibly enough, still so poetic.

Charles Flores, Malta News, 7 May 1970

 

Pauper muopicus est Azzopardi.  Mhux fil-mirjorama introspettiva ta' din l-ghazla, aktar milli fit-trattament tas-suggetti tieghu: ghani u b'ghajnejn kbar f'dik li hija psewdoanalizi, fqajjar u mijopiku fl-izvolgiment tat-temi li jhaddan.  Ghal dan tezisti tifsira psikologika, imma mhux bizzejjed, ghaliex il-marda ta' l-egocentrizmu dahlet hekk ‘il gewwa li lanqas l-ibghad immagini ma baqghet bla mittiefsa. Ma taqta xejn

Katina misterjuza ta' riflessjonijiet sottili, kiefra, morali, amorali, perversi jew profane dwar ic-cnagen neolitici taq' l-Imghallem Kompromess… Azzopardi ghad m'ghandux alla. Allura (l-kwealitajiet u r-realazzjonijiet fil-poezija tieghu) jafhom hu biss: ir-realta' kiefra, il-kawza tan-nevrozi ta' dan il-poeta, in-nixxiegha ewlenija ta' l-arti tieghu…Ta' min isemmi l-bruda ta' Azzopardi meta jigi wicc imb'wicc mar-realta'.  Forsi l-embrijun, prominenti wkoll fid-disinji ta' Azzopardi, huwa s-simbolu haj u psikologiku tax-xewqa li ghandu l-artist li jibda mill-gdid?

“Mitluf – l-alla li qieghed infittex m'hux dak li darba blajt mal-presbiterju”  Din hija sekwenza logika hafna : bejn il-kuncett tejista u dak atejista m'hemmx bahar jaqsam bil-mof kif Azzopardi jitratta s-suggett.  Bid-dieher, din hija biss fazi estetika fil-hajja tal-poeta.  Hawn jinsabu l-ossessjoni tat-tfittxija “eterna”; l-imhabba spiritwali wkoll fil-mumenti l-aktar sfaccati  taghha; il-pass sfrenat tar-ritmu tal-poeziji tieghu. Kollox igerbeb lejn u jindika bidla ideologika fil-gejjieni qarib ta' Azzopardi.

Il-“kurcifiss kontemporanju li johlom bih Azzopardi, jien narah bhala paralellizmu ideali bejn il-krucifissjoni “kongtemporanja” u l-psewdo-krucifissjoni avangardista.  Speci ta' Arrabal-sess-religjon.    

 Albert Marshall, l-orizzont, 12 ta' Mejju 1970

 

 Mario Azzopardi jhares lejn il-hajja  minn angolu li haddiehor zgur ma jaqaghlux f'mohhu li jhares minnu… Joghgobni hafna ghall-ideat godda li dahhal fil-letteratura Maltija.  Ghalkemm mhux dejjem huma milqughin kif jixraq mill-qarrejja tal-kotba maltin.  Nahseb li xi espressjonijiet dwar ir-religjon minn Azzopardi kien ikun wisq ahjar li li qatt ma dehru.

 Pawlu Cachia, Telstar, 20 ta' Mejju 1970

 

 Kull kelma hija stimulant ghas-sensibbilta' u tqanqal fija sentimenti ta' xejriet diversi, jekk mhux b'haga ohra, bil-passjoni taghha tahraq 105 Fahrenheit.  In-nirien taa' karmenu Vassallo qishom ilma fietel hdejn il-konflagrazzjoni ta' Azzopardi…Bit-tahlita tieghu ta' “still life”, maghmula minn xbihat inanimati, imqeghdin hdejn dehriet tad-demm u l-laham, ifakkrek fil-“Box” ta' l-artista-pop Tom Wasselmann, li fit-tliet dimensjonalizmu turi laringa ta' l-injam, “ash-tray”, flixkun tal-fwieha u sider ta' tfajla hajja.

 Meta wiehed jidhol fil-burdata ta' dil-kumplessita', dil-klima moderna fl-arti, wiehed ihossu aktar imhejji jistharreg bis-serjeta' l-impatt ta' Azzopardi. F'Azzopardi, bhalma f'Albert Marshall (Dhahen fl-Imhuh) jidhru bhal f'mirja t-“traffic lights” ghal bidu ta' era gdida mhux biss fil-letteratura, izda wkoll fil-lingwa miktuba u mithaddta ssahanistra fl-ambjent Malti.

 Frans Sammut, Il-Hajja, 23 ta' Mejju 1970

 

 (In Azzopardi's poetry) the surrealistic experience reaches rarified heights, when one almost hears –spell-induced of course -  a whole orchestra in the single beat of the drums.  A landscape of grayness  under a blood red sky, bare but, for hat very reason, dramatic. The drums send their echo to a spatial distance mirroring the landscape below…The phraseology still excites and it can also surprise.  Azzopardi's old nihilistic complaint is sublimated.  That's when the ‘cellos force themselves in with soul.

 Francis Ebejer, Malta News, 4 June 1970

 

Jekk wiehed ma jifhmux sewwa,  jista' jahseb li Azzopardi jrid ikun irreverenti u ikonoklasta bhala poza.  Infatti nnotajt li f'dil-gabra gdida hu aktar sincier, inqas ghandu poza.  Issa l-ghan tieghu hu inqas biex jghammex bil-kapacita' ta' l-elasticita' tal-muskoli ta' mohhu.  Hu inqas “esebizzjonistiku”.

 (Rev) Bernard Mallia S.J, Problemi tal-Lum, Gunju 1970

 

 Azzopardi is a symbol of the youthful breakthrough of our day.  Those who have been brought up and lived by a given sense of values are apt to take it for granted it was the right one.  It seldom crosses their minds that they might be wrong…In his poetry, Azzopardi fully realizes his lot as being measured by the crucifix but pleads that his crucifix be a “contemporary” one.  This is a constructive interpretation – interpretation is not always easy with young poets today – of the young soul expressing in verse (also possibly a misnomer) his struggle to free himself from the shackles of archaic yet persistent obstructionism.

 

Roamer's Column, The Sunday Times of Malta, 14 June 1970

 

 

Azzopardi's voice is a voice raised in anger but not in vengeance; a cry squeezed out of a suffering heart which is still able to forgive; a protest emanating from an active intellect which derides tact and subtlety and waves forth a banner of even at the expense  of disagreement, hatred and persecution. (Azzopardi) seems to have faith in God but uncertainty regarding the value of an established Church which comes in between man and his Creator…

    It is this keen torment of a great love that urges (Azzopardi) to go symbolically into space, leaving behind him his own weaknesses to search for God in a new and purer medium.

    When passion dies away, reflection follows and with it a certain amount of resignation or awareness. 

 

Godwin Scerri,  The Malta Economist, 18 June 1970

 

 

Mario Azzopardi is in many ways curious.  His poetry shocks: it shocks in its ideas, in its idiom, in its language and in its intention.  But it shocks the conscience, not the soul and, if taken in the sincerity in which it is written, can have great cathartic effects

on the above-average reader.

 

Joseph Zammit Mangion, The Bulletin, 18 June, 1970   

 

 

Mario Azzopardi is a remarkable young poet, and indeed I have little hesitation in saying that his best pieces are as good as anything being written in English or Italian outside this country.  He is passionately skeptical and brutally frank. His imagery is dazzling, deafening fireworks exploding and briefly illuminating the night-world around him. As magnificently intolerant as the religious or political attitudes he blasts, he can be just as cruel with himself as with others.  Let him catch the slightest tendency to compromise intellectually or morally within himself and the war is on…

    No rest for him.  Even in moments of love-fulfillment he is racked by guilt, by that inability to escape totally from the religious heritage which is obvious in the New Testament imagery of his most poignant lyrics.  In his most successful works Azzopardi paints baroque canvases of religious alienation that are frightening in their intensity, the light almost engulfed by the gigantic shadows.    

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times of Malta, 28 June 1970

 

 

Unless one is prepared to approach Azzopardi's work with the attitude of a ‘tabula rasa', one cannot helped being shocked if one still accepts indiscriminately all the familiar forms of religiosity that have been handed down to usthrough the accumulation of pietistic and devotional accretions which, in a serious way, may have provoked such a deep crisis in Azzopardi's soul.

    My interpretation is that through such “forward” expression Azzopardi shows us his soul-deep concern for God and religion – I may even say that Azzopardi  is the most religious poet of his group.  He does away with mental and moral taboos even if rather wildly, admittedly, in order to strip his mind and soul from all false gods, false mysteries, false conceptions and preconceptions about the true God…

    It is true that some of his poems do seem to border on what most would call “blasphemy” but what rescues his poems from meriting any such condemnation is that often the poet is striking a satirical, ironic hit against smug, automatic acceptance of certain images of God that prevent the true God from emerging through those overlaid images.

 

(Rev) Bernard Mallia S.J., The Sunday Times of Maltra, 12 July 1970

 

 

 

Azzopardi, the most startingly original, writes poetry as dramatic as the baroque works of art to be found throughout Malta.  His satirical poems are devastating and his love of poetry , which has the intensity of despair,  finds lyricism in its frankness.  His imagery is dazzlingly colourful, like the fireworks of our fiestas, briefly illuminating the dark world he sees around him.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, MALTA G.C. Supplement, The Times (London), 29 September, 1970 

 

 

 

 

1971    -    MAS-SEJHA TAT-TNABAR

                       (The Call of the Drums)

 

 

Lil Azzopardi nisthajlu dak il-qaddief li minkejja l-kurrenti u l-mewg jibla' l-art, jibqa' miexi ghad-destinazzjoni tieghu.  Huwa jhoss il-hajja tigdmu u toqorsu bla serhan.  Izda ghalkemm iharsilha bic-ciera, aktarx li jidhaq f'wiccha b'mod sarkastiku, bhallikieku lilu, b'daqshekk, m'hi qed taghmillu xejn.

    Fil-versi ta' Azzopardi wiehed jiltaqa' ma' teoriji xjentifici u ragunar psikologiku li bosta drabi jithabblu f'xulxin u jhallu lill-qarrej bla nifs.

    Mario Azzopardi jinqeda wkoll bi kliem ftit u xejn stramb u barrani li fil-malti la fit-tahdit u lanqas fil-kitba qatt ma deher… (Fih) wiehed jilmah dik ix-xejra ta' hsibijiet originali u wiehed japprezza l-mod konvincenti (li bih) jirnexxilu jsawwar hsibijiet li fihom tidher il-mota tal-hajja tal-lum.

 

L-Editur Letterarju, Telstar u Il-Berqa, 11 ta' Lulju, 1917

 

 

Ghal Mario Azzopaerdi, l-hekk imsejjah “imqareb” tal-letteratura Maltija, ma hemmx hanqa, u l-ghajta li genglet min jaf kemm-il pagna letterarja fil-bidu tal-karriera tieghu ghad ghandha l-istess volum u ma jidhru l-ebda sinjali ta' tnaqqis ghall-gejjieni.

    It-twerziq ta' Azzopardi jtarrax izda jsemma', haga li tikkonferma l-genwinita' tieghu. Huwa ma jhossx li ghandu johloq dan l-ambjent biex izomm linja originali jew sensazzjonali, jew lanqas tidhol l-iskuza tant imhaddma wara li nqalet darba – dik li tehel iz-zghozija.

    F'Azzopardi dejjem irnexxieli nifli x-xrar tal-poezija minkejja l-qilla makabra tal-versi tieghu.  Huwa jkun fl-aqwa tieghu meta jhallat l-ironiku mas-surrealizmu, biex b'hekk wiehed ikun jista' jara film kalejdoskopiku ta' imagerija. 

…Mario Azzopardi hu ferm aktar difficli u mitluf fil-poeziji twal tieghu (Addolorata Blues, Process, Iz-Ziemel ta' Trojja, Ghanja ta' Settembru), b'versi li fihom il-poeta jholl il-memorja u jhalli s-subkonxju jigri bih…Imbaghad hemm ukoll Azzopardi f'burdata sarkastika, fejn juza tonalita' duifferenti.  Tonalita' li taqta' bhal sikkina (ara Impressjoni 268).

    Hija haga certa li l-istil li jhaddan Azzopardi rikeb lil bosta awturi ohra, u l-kitba Azzopardjana firxet orizzonti godda li bihom staghna lsienna.  It-timbru  tal-poeta huwa wiehed li jingharaf hesrem…”Ma jimpurtaxd li thoss” mal-poezija ta' Azzopardi.    

 

Charles Flores, It-Torca, 11 ta' Lulju, 1971

 

 

 

 

1972    -    DWAL FIL-PERSJANI 

                         (Lights through the Shutters)

 

With a  bold, masculine voice, Azzopardi integrates religious and sexual images, he fuses contemporary details with a strong sense of hidden truth;  his final atmospheric

climax is the cry of the modern man too burdened and lost in his temporal environment to be able to visualize an eternal view of the cosmos.  Azzopardi's

poems are the protest of an era against the infinite.  Sometimes Mario Azzopardi succeeds in achieving a touch of eternity within his usually ever-present twentieth century world.  It is on such rare occasions that one finds the poet in his most sad and most beautiful moments.

 

Marlene Saliba, The Bulletin, 17 February 1972.

Although Mario Azzopardi  still seems to relish the idea of expounding his personal crises and constant war against society's mores at considerable length, his words are in no way reflective of ego-tripping. Now he has successfully managed the transition from an irate, hysterical youth to a much mellower and contemplative man.  He might have got most things out of his system, liberating himself from the seeds of most frustrations, tyet he has in nom way lost either his bite or grit.  In his very own words, he does not want to commit himself about whether anger's  potent juices will start flowing inside him once more, or not.

 

Mason Ross, Malta News, 24 February 1972

 

 

Azzopardi huwa l-bennej ewlieni ewlieni ta' l-originalita' fit-tlaqqigh ta' espressjonijiet strambi u li jahsdu, espressjonijiet u imagerija li lili jhalluni imbellah bl-effett dirett u b'sahhtu taghhom.  Mario Azzopardi bla dubju ta' xejn iornexxielu jzomm dik l-istess vena u qawwa fil-pinna tieghu u (dawn il-poeziji) ikomplu jseddqu dak kollu li ghidt..Huwa poeta esperimentista li ma jibzax ihaddem certi metodi bl-ghan li jifrex l-imagerija mlewna tieghu, bhal kif jinfirxu l-hwejjeg kuluriti fuq xi bejt ta' kerrejja.

 

Charles Flores, It-Torca, 27 ta' Frar 1972

 

  

Azzopardi remains the man who suffers who cannot turn to anybody for help.  He lives in a sick or a half-dead world and he shares the Ancient Mariner's life in death.  He is alone, all alone and he can have a deeper communication with the solid rocks than with his dear ones.  There is a great sense of loss of something which is irretrievable and only physical beauty which ends in copulation can give an extent of pleasure.

 

Dr Lawrence Quintano, Malta News, February 20 1972

 

Mario Azzopardi continues to shout loud and clear in sharp protestation; against society, against himself, against the forces that have fashioned the prevalent order of things.  The note of his protest is generally impressive, even if the cause is not always very accessible.  Too often his targets are not specific (and) he seems to indulge in an orgy of carpet-bombing.  Targets unimportant, the firing's the thing.  Despite, you can very often detect a richly introspective mind at work.  His imagery is as dark and thrilling as ever, sometimes even near to shocking.  His poetry provides examples oh his frequent excursions into the world of the bizarre and the unexpected.

 

Victor Fenech, Malta News, 12 February 1972

 

This Azzopardi can still dazzle us at times with a startling image, a sudden outburst of impatience, but as he himself admitted  (at a discussion)  Azzopardi has now found a graver vein, is tired of protesting against most things under the sun.  The New Testament imagery shows that the old battle now rages as much as in the early poems, but the tactics are no longer the same.  Even the love poetry has lost its sensuality and the elegiac element, which was previously always in the background, is now predominant.  We find Azzopardi making excellent use of understatement and juxtaposing the transitoriness of his love and the permanence of the landscape before him, though he makes no attempt to contrast them.  Love and death are macabre bedfellows (in Clinic Blues) where the sexual urge is present4ed boldly and yet with great sadness as man's futile challenge to mortality; the silent assignation in the presence of a dying man is described with the sparest and yet most dramatically effective of touches. (Azzopardi) has found a new music and seems to be abandoning

the harshness of so many past poems.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times of Malta, 5 March 1972  

 

 

(Azzopardi) huwa t-tambur ta' l-avangwardja fil-poetika Maltija ta' zmienna.  Huwa l-bniedem li jinqeda bl-esperjenzi kollha tal-hajja, imqar ta' l-icken waqt u jbidduilhom f'noti kiebja li jidhlu fin-nisga tal-ghanja.  Huwa wkoll il-bniedem li jehodha kontra kulma u kull min ma jinzillux, u ghalhekk hu r-ribell mhux biss kontra l-istituzzjoni, izda kontra tieghu innifsu u l-qawwiet qliel li jahkmu fih.  Huwa l-bniedem li drajna nsibuh bhala “l'enfant terrible” tal-letteratrura taghna.  Dak kien Mario Azzopardi l-ikonoklasta, l-anti-konformista, l-anti-tradizzjonalista, l-anti-purista u l-anti istituzzjonalista. Il-Mario Azzopardi li niltaqghu mieghhu f'dan il-ktieb huwa iehor.  Jew inkella huwa l-ghasfur li rega' ha s-sura  mill-irmied  ta' l-iehor li ntemm.  Il-poeta li jigi jaghtina merhba “minn wara l-persjani” huwa poeta aktar hiemed, aktar dhuli….Azzopardi ghamel zvilupp mhux biss fit-tematika tieghu,

izda wkoll fil-lingwagg car, lucidu, u Malti.

 

Frans Sammut, Il-Mument, 5 ta' Marzu 1972         

 

 

Mario Azzopardi juri kunflitt mas-socjeta'  ta' madwaru u sahanistra mieghu innifsu.

Huwa l-poeta ribell kontra kull forma ta' konvenzjoni socjali.  L-idea generali li tohrog mill-poezija azzopardjana hija ta' pessimizmu radikali.  L-immagni li johorgu mill-poeziji ta' Mario Azzopardi huma vjolenti u horox (u) xi drabi l-poeziji tieghu jfakkruni fil-poeta taljan Palazzeschi.

 

Dr Joseph Eynaud, In-Nazzjon taghna, 6 ta' Marzu 1972

 

 

 

Jinhass element gdid f'dawl l-ahhar poeziji ta' Mario Azzopardi.  Jinhass li hu miexi lejn xi haga gdida.  It-temi ghadhom l-istess: il-formalizmu sterjotipizzat ta' religjon wirt (mhux hajja), u l-enemija ta' socjeta' bla wicc, jekk mhux il-wicc ta' l-ipokresija.  Imma m'hemmx ripetizzjoni.  Nara aktar varjazzjoni fuq l-istess temi.  U hi din il-varjazzjoni li qieghda twasslu lejn l-element gdid fil-poezija tieghu.  L-ewwel poeziji tieghu (Antenni/Analizi 70) huma mimlijin tbaqbiq u qilla.  Issa l-hsieb huwa aktar meqjus, il-kelma aktar maghzula, u ghalhekk aktar konvincenti.  L-ewwel poeziji huma poezija ta' gwerra, ta' taqbida, ta' affermazzjoni.  Huma aktar ritratt tas-socjeta' mill ital-poeta. Il-poeziji ta' Dwal fil-Persjani huma poeziji ta' riflessjoni, ta' dahla interjuri.  Aktar milli s-socjeta, iqis lilu nnifsu quddiem din is-socjeta' u fi hdan din is-socjeta'.  Qabel kien aktar mohhu fit-taqlib radikali tal-hsieb u l-forma poetika; il-lum jinsab imhasseb bil-bidla radikali li qieghda tinhass fih.  Qatt ma hassejtu daqshekk  awtobiografiku.  Qatt ma hassejtu daqshekk dghajjef.  Hemm din it-tmellisa patetika, malinkonika fir-riflessjonijiet tieghu.  Hu dan l-element gdid li jaghti xejra isbah u aktar miftuha lill-poeziji tieghu.

F'hadd iktar il-binomju paradossali harba-tfittxija ma jinhass daqshekk.  Mario Azzopardi jahrab mis-socjeta' bla wicc biex ifittex xi haga li ghalih ghadha misterjuza: ifittixha fis-skiet tad-dezert, fil-lejl, fil-bahar, fih innifsu, fis-seher orjentali, fis-solitudni…Marioi Azzopardi diehel fid-dezert niexef u jikwi tar-ruh fejn jista' jsib lilu nnifsu u dak li ma jistax isib u jfisser fl-gheluq ta' xi poeziji tieghu.

 

(Rev) Joseph G. Peresso D.C.D., l-orizzont, 7 ta' Marzu 1972

 

 

Mario Azzopardi jidher li qed jehles mit-timbru li kkaratterizzah fl-ewwel dehriet tieghu, ta' ikonoklasta.  L-akkuza tieghu (j'accuse) tirrizolvi ruhha f'ton enimmatriku, bejn serju u bejn ironiku…Fit-tematika ta' Azzopardi tirrikorri spiss id-deluzjoni ta' dak li jippretendi ahjar minn art twelidu…Azzopardi jiddistingwi ruhu bil-mod kif johloq l-izjed immagni poetici.  Minhabba dan, hu dejjem interessanti taqra l-vesi tieghu, ghax appuntu tista' ma taghtix kaz tat-tematika u lanqas ta' l-ispjegazzjoni li dejjem jinzlu f'ton aktarx prozajku jew jitnizzlu effettivament fi proza f'nofs il-versi…Il-qawwa  ta' Azzopardi qieghda fl-intensita' krejattiva tal-frammenti.

 

Dr Joseph M. Brincat, Il-Mument, 19 ta' Marzu 1972

 

 

Id-damdin jibda minn Mario Azzopardi, poeta li ma' l-ilahna ta' l-imghoddi jinseg

l-ilhna ta' llum.  Il-pittur jidhol fih innifsu u jidhol dahla fil-bniedem, jidhol fil-qalba tal-hajja ta' llum u jinseg it-tapit tal-versi b'ilwien li jghajtu u jitfu, sakemm tissawwar ix-xbiha ta' l-umanita'.  Jaqbez u joghla ma' l-istorja tal-qedem fil-mitologija u jissahhar bl-ilhna taghha u jisthajhjel l-allat madwar il-maltin, jilaghbu mal-holqien u ‘l hinn mill-hajja.  L-element tan-natura huwa f'idejn l-awtur li jahkem

lill-qarrej f'sura imghaggla, jisraq il-ql;ub u jgaghlek tithassar il-farizejizmu li jghix maghna kuljum.

 

Dr Dennis Agius, Il-Hajja, 15 ta' April 1972 

 

 

What (critic and philosopher) Peter Serracino Inglott has called “the breaking

down  of structure and fragmentation of language and of image” can be seen very vividly in the verse of Mario Azzopardi, who is also a painter.  Indeed, it is difficult not to see the influence of his painting in the vivid, highly coloured, sometimes kaleidoscopic imagery of his poems.  At his best, Azzopardi is very good indeed, and since his first collection, published only four years ago, he has developed amazingly in certain ways.  The very angry young man of Antenni (1968) has now matured, something that has caused some disappointment among those who regarded him as the rebel-in-chief of Malta's literary avant-guard.  His development, however, has led inevitably to a toning down of shrillness and to an awareness that only that only the youngest of the young can believe that all conventional wisdom is bad and must be demolished.  In him, more than in any other one, can be seen the agonized soul-searching of today's generation in the process of losing its religious faith. 

     In his early verse he has nothing but scorn for what he saw as the hypocrisy of fatuousness of those who had traditional religious beliefs, but even in these poems, the constant use of biblical imagery hinted at an inner struggle.  The second stage was his looking more soberly at his crisis, and his accepting-with-resignation the loss of his faith.  In his latest collection (Dwal fil-Persjani – Lights behind the Shutters) he seems to have come back to some form of religious belief, but whether this is a transient phase only time will show.  Again, the eroticism of the love poetry in his early work has now changed to a determined renunciation tinged with melancholy.  Azzopardi is still young, and will undoubtedly produce much that is interesting in the future.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times (London), September 1972 

 

 

 

 

 

1976    -    DEMGHAT TAS-SILG 

 

 

Wara ftit snin, l-ewwel ta' sliem u kalma superficjali mbaghad ta' skiet, Mario Azzopardi rega' ha l-post tar-ribell numru wiehed tal-letteratura Maltija, tal-kritiku l-aktar bla hniena u l-anqas inibit tal-konformizmu fis-socjeta' taghna.  Taqbel mieghu jew toboghdu, ma tistax ma tammirax il-virtwozizmu, ma tistax ma tintlaqatx mill-ilwien hajjin, mix-xbihat zeffiena, li ssib tista' tghid f'kull poezija.  Azzopardi hu l-poeta tal-grottesk barokk, poeta mnebbah mill-istess nuqqas ta' ekwilibriju u sliem spiritwali li pproducew l-arti u l-letteratura tas-seklu Sbatax.  F'dawn iz-zminijiet fejn il-valuri l-antiki marru l-bahar u s-socjeta' li konna nafu qieghda tikkrolla madwarna, huwa kelliem importanti  ghal mijiet u eluf ta' erwieh ohra mugugha.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, fil-kopertina tal-ktieb Demghat tas-Silg

 

 

Malta ta' Azzopardi m'hix  “il- gawhra tal-Mediterran” jew “din l-art helwa” jew dik li tohrog mill-vrus tar-romantici Maltin li kitbu bit-Taljan u bil-Malti, bil-hsieb li jseddqu l-ideal modern tal-bini tal-patrija…Azzopardi ghamel il-kuntrarju: inqeda b'dak li hu mbieghed mill-prezent biex juri li z-zmien m'hux bizzejjed biex jaghti l-valuri u li fil-fatt l-epoka tradizzjonali m'hix maqtugha, izda qieghda tissokta.  Ir-riverenza lejn l-imghodi tnehhiet billi tnehha l-ispazju ideali u nizel kollox fl-arena ta' dak li hu attwali. 

     Il-kwadri Maltin tal-poezija tieghu fihom il-kwalitajiet morda li jnizzluhom minn fuq il-pedistall…ikkonkluda li seta' jilmah id-dghjufija tal-prezent, effett tal-pasat.  Il-logika tieghu tinhass ‘l hawn u ‘l hinn f'dan ir-ragunament: jekk Malta l-qadima kienet kif pingewha l-poeti,  Malta ta' llum imissha tkuin l-istess; Malta ta' llum m'hix kif pingewha l-poeti; mela Malta ta' l-imghoddi m'hix kif pingewha l-poeti.  Il-konkluzjoni hi doppja: il-poeti gidbu, u Malta tinsab f'illuzjoni.

    Mill-gidba Azzopardi jiehu jiehu t-teatralita' qadima li hu jismerr, u mill-imghoddi jiehu l-hwejjeg li jikkaratterizzaw lil Malta l-entika, waqt li jnezzaghhom mir-ruh li jmiossha ssostnihom.  It-tahlit ta' ridikulagni u pathos, mibeghda u mhabba, iwettaq il-fehma li d-deskrizzjoni m'hix awtonoma, ma tghixx ghaliha nnifisha biex issawwar kwadru u lanqas m'hi element barrani biex issebbah.  Hemm il-poeta fiha daqskemm hemm fl-istqarija, fis-suggestjoni, fit-tixbihat imdahhlin wahda fl-ohra biex jesprimu tahbila u biex jeqirdu xi haga wisq aqwa mill-ordni ta' l-arkitettura poetika: l-illuzjoni ta' l-ordni fid-dinja tal-prezent.

    Il-gost tal-grottesk fit-tixbihat ta' Azzopardi m'ghandu x'jaqsam xejn mat-tidwir barokk, ma' l-izvog f'dak li hu minfuh u mkabbar biex jaghti sodisfazzjon lis-sensi barranin.  That id-deformazzjoni hemm l-isfiducja, l-insult imrazzan izda l-gudizzju bla ekwivoci..  Fuq kollox, il-bnedmin huma mghawga, impittrin bl-esagerazzjoni, uzati ghall-parodija.  Il-materja (l-art) u l-persuni (il-Maltin) huma elementi ta' dinja wahda, fejn dak li hu inorganiku jista' jidher uman u dak li hu uman jista' jisher inorganiku.  L-art tfakkar fil-poplu u l-poplu jfakkar fl-art; it-twahhid m'hux gej mill-qima, bhalma hu f'Dun karm, izda mill-vizjoni ta' nazzjon dizintegrat, imnawwar minn gewwa.

 

Dr Oliver Friggieri fid-dahla kritika ghal  Demghat tas-Silg

 

 

Ta' importanza  specjali f'din il-gabra hija s-sezzjoni Il-Gzira tal-Mohba, fejn l-awtur jersaq proprju lejn problemi attwali li jmissu lill-pajjiz.  Fost dawn il-problemi hem mil-qaghda tal-haddiem Malti llum, il-frustrazzjoni taz-zghazagh fir-“rahal”,  ghaliex is-sistema tal-pajjiz m'hix thallihom jesprimu ruhhom u jkunu ta' fejda ghall-pajjiz, il-problema ta' l-ipokresija u l-korruzzjoni politika, il-periklu tan-nuqqas ta' identita' Maltija u fuq kollox  Azzopardi jsejhilha “l-ewtanasja tal-poplu” malti.  F'Mario Azzopardi hemm ukoll hazna kbira ta' simboli sesswali: is-sess dejjem kien punt iehor li jqajjem reazjoni kbira kontra l-poeziji ta' dan l-awtur.

 

Rubbrika “ Ahna z-Zghazagh”,  migbura minn hector Bruno, Il-Mument, 24 ta' Lulju, 1976.

 

 

Mario Azzopardi is one of the very few outstanding poets in the Maltese language who have appeared during the past thirty years.  Revealed as the angriest of the young (poets) he has developed both technically and emotionally.  Though he can still be cavalier in his treatment of the Maltese language and careless in his use of borrowings from other languages, his style has tightened up, and he now seeks much more consciously a rhythmic shape as well as melodic effects.

    The anger and contempt for what Azzopardi sees as man's enslavement  to ritual and convention have not disappeared, but the early loudness and stridency  have now been replaced by “curses not loud but deep”, and the blackness of his vision is at times dispelled by the light of passionate love.

    When reading the verse in this new and rich volume one would do well to remember all the time that he is a painter and graphic artist as well as a poet.  Some poems recall a thickly peopled canvas of the Italian baroque, and others immediately summon up Salvador Dali and other surrealists.

….Love and death, sex and sorrow often march together in this book as well as in some of Azzopardi's previous verse.  A longing for death as a seal of present bliss can be found in Manikata, a poem of communion both with nature and the beloved and in Laring minn Gaffa (Oranges from Jaffa) sexual arousal comes in the midst of a scene of sorrow…Most of (these poems) flow with a vigour and a spontaneity which show that Azzopardi's creative impulse is stronger than ever.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times of Malta, 8 August, 1976       

 

 

 

Demghat tas-Silg is possibly the most important collection of Maltese poetry to be published in the last couple of years, and Azzopardi's stature gains considerably.  We have here a mature poet, able to mould his material skillfully, a craftsman that has through sacrifice achieved better control over highly intractable matter.  Many poems are unflawed, understatement taking over magnificently to register  facets of deep emotion far better than the brash strident protest of former days…This is often beautiful poetry of rejection, deviationist but brill;iant, with irony that connects, rhythm and  imagery that haunts…

    In the Pellegrin section, Azzopardi registers his rejection through physical exile.  In the broader expanses of Europe, a fugitive, he wanders unsurely towards a permanent release.  If anything, separation and antithesis become more pronounced.  The people he meets belong to nightmare, he is surrounded by “spies” who would dissipate his humanity, so that he has to retreat into himself, towards a guilt that spurs him on to the most daring, deliberately obscene imagery hat is also an attempt to strip off traditional beliefs and modes of behaviour….

    Azzopardi's language often and rhythm successfully evoke Christian ritual and liturgy.  I have taken a count of his “litanies, vespers, psalms, virgins, novenas, vigils, etc” and find it significant that a poet who claims to have rejected the religious past of his childhood should be so haunted by the long remembered ritual of religious ceremony. This is not surprising, for however longhis journey, however arduous, Azzopardi has not yet reached his destination; he is still furtively wandering between two worlds.  In Christian terminology this is called the harrowing of hell.

 

Dr Daniel Massa, The Times of Malta, 18 August, 1976           

 

 

Azzopari baqa' poeta fost l-ahjar poeti ta' zmienna, anzi fost li xandru kitbiethom dan l-ahhar, ghandu l-ewwel post.  Baqa' jhoss l-istess tqanqiliet, izda sar jesprimihom mod iehor.  Il-protesta, ir-reibelljoni issa hunma muti.  Jinhassu izda minghajr aghjat u thambiq. Ghalfejn tghajjat u thambaq fost il-folla?  Mhux ahjar twarrab fil-genb forsi mka titniggisx, u tghanni ghanjietek meta thoss it-tqanqila gewwenija, bhall-osservatur li m'ghandux x'jaqsam? Is-sinjal tal-protesta xorta jibqa', l-aktar fil-vokabularju u x-xbihat, certament l-aktar qawwijin fost dawk tal-poeti kontemporanji.

    Il-qawwa deskrittiva ta' Azzopardi f'Demghat tas-Silg tohrog fl-ahjar taghha.  Il-konnessjonijiet sostantivi u aggettivali huma kwazi dejjem l-aktar inaspettati u ghalhekk jolqtuk, anzi jahsduk u jitfghulek ma' wiccek tixbihat deskrittivi anti-konvenzjonali li jaqtghu fil-laham il-haj.  Fir-thaddim ta' din l-imagery barra mil-linja tas-soltu, Azzopardi jfakkarni fil-kuncett tal-lateral thinking ta' Edward de Bono, fejn il-mohh jahrab il-logika komuni u jesplora linji arbitrarji biex jasal ghal soluzzjoni.  U sahansitra meta soluzzjoni ma tintlahaqx, ikunu nholqu ideat godda.

 

Rev. Joe Felice Pace, Illum, Awissu , 1976.          

 

 

 

 

Jista' jkun li Azzopardi ghaddej minn wiehed minn zewg tipi ta' krizi.  Jew wara li fis-snin ta' qabel ipprova jersaq lejn il-klassi tal-haddiema b'mod zbaljat u fantastiku, allura issa jhossu ttradut u mar l-estrem l-iehor, jattakka ‘l din il-klassi.  Jew ghaddej minn krizi li jghaddu minnha l-membri ta' klassi socjali li qed tghib mill-istorja ghax spiccawlha r-ragunijiet ghall-ezistenza taghha.  Naqraw b'barunijiet li fl-ghabex ta' l-aristokrazija issakkru fi djarhom, biddluhom f'kunventi un qaghdu jifflagellaw lilhom infushom.  F'Malta ghadu ‘l boghod l-ghabex tal-borgezija, pero' jista' jkun li Azzopardi fl-ghazla politika li ghamel, diga' tilef it-tifsira socjali tieghu ghax ma jridx jissieheb mal-klassi tal-haddiema u ma tantx hu qalbu bhala intellettwali tal-borgezija… Demghat tas-Silg hu l-produzzjoni ta' intellettwali li jhossu aktar qrib Breughel, Freud, Grotowski, id-dizzjunarju Malti, Modigliani jew Dvorak milli qrib in-nies tad-demm u l-laham li jikteb dwarhom.

 

Evarist Bartolo, analizi mhux ippubblikata, Settembru 1976, miktuba fi Trappeto.

 

 

 

Mario Azzopardi huwa essenzjalment  poeta ta' spontanjeta', qilla u ribelljoni.  Huwa l-poeta tal-filosofija mutabbli, jigifieri l-filosofija li tipproponi l-immagni tal-Bniedem  

Inventive li jaf li kontinwament il-qaghda prekarja tieghu fil-konfront tal-bqija u wkoll fil-konfront ta' l-ilhna go fih.  Din hija l-filosofija tal-Bnedem li jagixxi ghalih innifsu u ghas-socjeta' statika, ghal dak kollu li huwa fossilizzat jew mejjet-haj. Hafna minn din il-filosofija mutabbli tohrog biex tikkontesta ‘l-qoxriet hoxnin li qdiemu.  Hija tezi kontra l-Istabbiliment, l-Istat, il-Knisja u l-kollettivizmu tal-folla, li flimkien isiru l-fantazma subkoxjenti tal-bniedem li jrid jahseb u jimrah fit-toroq hielsa t'Alla.

….Il-poezija ta' Azzopardi tghaddi mil-livell ta' arti letterarja ghal-livell messaggier, billi ssejjah lill-bniedem b'urgenza qabel il-kollass li qed jhedded  li jitilfu ghal kollox. 

 

Doreen Micallef, Il-Mument,  3 ta' Ottubru 1976

 

 

 

Dak li jaghzel lil Azzopardi, il-poeta tal-kelma ghaliex juri l-ossessjoni bil-kwalitajiet taghha u b'dak kollu li tista' tassimila biex tiggedded, minn poeti ohrajn huwa t-tiftix kontinwu tal-bniedem li jahseb, maghqud haga wahda mal-bniedem li jikteb…It-tnejn indirizzati lejn il-gdid, lejn is-sejba ta' espressivita' gdida.  Jekk il-kelma hi l-idea u vici-versa, f'Azzopardi hemm kemm id-deformazzjoni li tidher fis-sintassi, fil-lessiku u fl-irqaqat l-ohrajn li jbiddlu n-norma f'devjazzjonital-vizjoni,  u hemm ukoll id-deformazzjoni tal-vizjoni tal-vizjoni tal-vizjoni  li jbiddlu dak li missirijietna hasbu f'dak li issa hu  l-kritika qarsa , l-ezami nazzjonali ta' min irid  jaghti vot ta' sfiducja lil pajjizu.  Il-kritika tan-nazzjon hi fundamentali fil-poeta, bhalma hi wkoll il-htiega li dan il-kontenut differenti jidentifikah ma' forma li ma tezisti fl-ebda ktieb tal-precettistika letterarja, izda tohrog wara jew filwaqt li tinkiteb.  Hi r-rizultat  a posteriori, u l-poeta jghid: dan hu li ktibt.  Il-poeta tradizzjonali kien jersaq lejn il-problema b'sentiment aprioristiku: dan hu li se nikteb.

 

Dr Oliver Friggieri, In-Nazzjon Taghna, 18 ta' Settembru, 1976. 

 

 

(Il-poezija ta' Azzopardi) dejjem laqtitni bhala l-izjed illustrazzjoni cara fil-letteratura taghna tal-funzjoni socjali ta' l-arti letterarja  skond il-Formalisti Russi

(1916) zviluppata fic-Cirkolu ta' Praga (1929) u li gab mieghu Jacobson fil-Punent, fejn hadet fl-1960 u ghadha tirrenja sal-lum: l-iskop tal-letteratura hu li tnehhi l-qoxra li fir-rutina ta' kuljum ma thalliniex naraw l-oggett, tikxef l-oggett fl-essenza tieghu, u ggeghilna nharsu lejh fit-tul biex narawh sew.  B'hekk nispokru l-poezija tal-oggetti ta' madwarna, anki dawk komuni.

    Biex ikollok poezija ta' dan it-tip tinhtieg ghajn analitika ta' pittur u id kreattiva ta' poeta.  Azzopardi ghandu dawn iz-zewg doni (percezzjoni u teknika) u juzahom tajjeb, tant li f'dan il-ktieb l-essenza tal-poezija tieghu tohrog cara daqs il-kristall, ghax il-gabra tista' tinqara bhala diskors wiehed, mhux kiontinwu f'sens progressive (rakkont) imma interrott f'mumenti izolati u uniformi (il-poeziji).

…F'dil-gabra ghandna Azzopardi gdid: l-ottimizmu ta' l-ikonoklasta qed ibatti, il-poeta resaq aktar lejn id-dizilluzjoni tad-Dekadenti milli lejn il-loghob ferriehi bil-versi ta' Palazzeschi.  Azzopardi ghadu “l-ispecjalista tar-ritratt istantanju” (Peter Serracino Inglott) imma meta jwaqqaf ghajnejh fuq ir-ritratt jara kollox jitmermer.  Din hi r-raguni ghaliex tant u tant poeziji f'dil-gabra ghandhom ton ta' presentiment funerarju, jidhru bhala demghat kiesha ta' lfiqa wahda.

 

Dr Joseph M. Brincat, Illum, Ottubru, 1976           

 

 

Azopardi's  image as the rebel poet is confirmed and he is above all socially involved.  His protest is directed against the masses and the literary man who keeps aloof from all political and existential issues.  His poetry is a blending of love and hatred, although the latter is more in the limelight… Azzopardi has utilized various media to launch his protest, ranging from poetry and painting to theatre.  Personally I think that   his poetry has best conveyed his message of rebellion against conventions and taboos.  The language adopted is sardonic and sarcastic, purely anti-rhetorical , free from any conventional jargon.  He hits at all institutions and advocates liberty which he will never find in this world – his utopia is unattainable.  Nor does Azzopardi give any solution on attaining liberty, the way he understands it.  Yet punctilious stoicism is one of the fundamental aspects of his poetry and he has cancelled any trace of religious or pagan mysticism of Maltese poets.

    His poetry is courageous and has erased the facile aristocracy of literature.  His target is the rhetorical decantentism of literature which has lost the noble privileges of human reasoning.  His attention is focused on man.  Modern man according to Azzopardi is on the edge of a precipice ready to fall down amidst the continuous collapse of human values. The poet rather than giving the reader the dramatic tension of this crisis or declaring himself prophet of new values, presents more the imminent consequences.

 

Dr Joseph Eynaud, Malta News, 1 November, 1976

 

 

 

F'din il-gabra gdida tieghu Mario Azzopardi huwa l-kelliem f'isem il-qawwa tal-bneidem.  Hija l-qawwa li messha tkun go fih izda li hija michuda minhabba xi haga fin-natura jew minhabba bnedmin ohra.  Il-poeta stess jidher li m'hux zgur mill-potenza tal-bniedem innifsu, izda xorta wahda jidher anzjuz biex jara din il-qawwa mwettqa fil-milja taghha, jigifieri permezz tal-kwalitajiet kollha li jaghzlu lill-bniedem, kwalitajiet morali, intellettwali, socjali u estetici.

    Fl-osservazzjonijiet  tal-bniedem fid-dinja  ma bnedmin ohrajn, imdawwar bl-istituzzjonalizmu, valuri jew nuqqas taghhom, mimli impressjonijiet u ideat kontra xulxin (kultant effett tal-biza' jew l-injoranza) Azzopardi johrog bi stampa li turi Bnedmin mitlufin minn sensihom.  Minghajr hjiel tal-kundizzjoni tieghu innifsu, il-Bniedem ihoss biss l-effetti tal-madwar, u jagixxi b'disperazzjoni jew ironija jew, l-aktar l-aktar, b'dahqa ta' tragikummiedja.  Il-krizi fikl-poezija ta' Azzopardi tfaqqas meta l-awtur ihoss din il-qawwa kreattiva tad-destin tal-Bniedem imxekkla u mahnuqa minhabba t-terrur ta' l-injoranza jew il-poter abbuzat tal-politika.  Dan iwassal lill-Bniedem ghal xkiel “spiritwali” u l-qaghda tinhass fl-attivita' kollha ta' l-esseri uman, ibda mill-hajja sesswali sar-realazzjonijiet industrijali, mill-arti sar-religjon.  L-imblukkar jinhass l-aktar fil-poetika Azzopardjana li tistharreg l-aspetti sesswali u politici kif jaghfsu fuq l-individwu: hawnhekk l-istess ghazla ta' vokabularju turi illi dawn iz-zewg aspetti ma huma xejn hlief zewg fenomeni mill-qawwa kumbattiva tal-Bniedem ghal forma ta' ghajxien ahjar.  Minn dan in-nuqqas ta' potenza johorgu wkoll it-temi l-ohrajn aktar fondi ta' Azzopardi: is-Solitudni, il-Mewt u l-Eternita'.

 

Adrian Stivala, Il-Mument, 21 ta' Novembru, 1976.    

 

 

NOTE: In 1978, Mario Azzopardi's Demghat tas-Silg was set as a text for the University of Malta's Matriculation Examionation, together with Frans sammut's novel, Samuraj. Their introduction for the Matriculation syllabus creatyed a violent reaction from the traditionalist lobby, best described as “a witchhunt” by Dr Paul Xuereb (The Sunday Times of Malta, 5 November 1978).  Thecrusade against the books started with an article published in Roamer';s Coln in the same paper on 29 October, 1978.  A fiery polemic developed in the correspondence pages and raged for several months, lasting until March, 1979.      

 

 

 

 

 

1977    -    PASSIFLORA

 

 

Kollox juri li wasal fuq Azzopardi l-mument liriku.  Il-polemika tbiddlet f'accettazzjoni, u l-protesta hadet is-sura ta' kontemplazzjoni.  Il-karikatura m'ghadhiex mnostruza, u saret surrealistaa, tiddeforma minghajr ma twegga' u hi aktar il-frott tal-pittur fin milli ta' l-iskultur robust, tidher aktar milli tinhass.  Anki r-ritwal li qabel kien imqanqal mill-provokazzjoni, issa hu mmexxi bil-hlewwa b'sensibbilta' delikata.  Kull hidma umana, anki l-izjed semplici, hi religjuza, u l-“qassisin” godda li jiehdu sehem fiz-zifna Griega qadima bl-imniegel, li tissimbolegga l-fertilita' ta' l-art, huma xempju iehor ta' l-ossessjoni mnikkta-kuntenta ta' Azzopardi, il-femminilita'.

 

Dr Oliver Friggieri fil-kopertina ta' Passiflora

 

 

Azzopardi jidher li qed ixerred fil-poezija recenti tieghu sistema ta' elementi li, ghallinqas f'ghajnejn il-kritiku, jistghu jidhru bhala l-frott ta' programmazzjoni twila, waqt li ghall-psikologu jistghu jissuggerixxul-qaghda l-gdida tal-mohh li jfantas.  Hu x'inhu, jixhdu dejjem li l-poeta qieghed ihares lejn il-poeziji ta' perijodu ta' hajtu bhala poezija twila, wahda u shiha, maghmula minn waqtiet partikolari li ghandhom bosta hwejjeg komuni bejniethom. 

     Din hi poezija li thaddan konglomerazzjoni ordinata ta' eghliem maghzula u ta' forom mimlija tifsir li, ghad li gejjin mid-dinja ta' barra, u huma estraletterarji, jistghu jitbiddlu f'elementi ta' bini ta' dinja li hi entita' shiha, fidila lejn l-interpretazzjoni artistika li l-poeta jrid johrog minn ghadd ta' poeziji jew waqtiet “differenti” ta' esperjenza li tidher wahdanija.  Is-simetrija tinhass meta l-qarrej ikun kiseb id-dehra ta' kollox, qasam il-poeziji f'partijiet u kixef il-metodu tal-kompozizzjoni.  Huma aktar importanti bhala elementi li jappartjenu lid-dinja ta' gewwa, lill-qasam tal-mohh li jbiddel is-simetrija f'korp differenti, u jittraduci dak kollu li hu barrani ghall-poezija f'mezz poetiku gdid.  Hi prominenti f'dan id-dawl ix-xbiha matematika: sinjal, pjaneta, singi, l-istilla tal-lvant, marki, rikostruzzjoni, cellulati, kurva tac-cirku, piramida, satellite, pulzieri, crieki, teorema, linji.      

 

Dr Oliver Friggieri, Introduzzjoni ghal Passiflora

 

Did-darba Azzopardi tbiddel fl-espressjoni tieghu: hsiebu sar ixaqleb lejn il-mistiku u hawnhekk qed jilhaq il-quccata li dejjem bassart li kellu jilhaq. Hu differenti mill-poeta feroci ta' dari…Il-bazi ta' kultura Ewropea u Orjentali f'Azzopardi kompliet ghenitu jseddaq il-qawwa u turi l-profondita' ta' l-esperjenza filosofika ta' dan ir-ragel imgarrab sew fil-hajja sew fl-arti u fil-kuntatt psikiku  tieghu mal-mohh kozmiku tal-univers u l-qawwa astrali jew sopranaturali.

 

Doreen Micallef, Il-Mument, 10 ta' April 1977

 

 

Azzopardi baqa' ghaddej bla ma qatt hares lura u b'pass imghaggel, u l-maturita' li zviluppa fih geghlitu jikteb poezija poezija awtentika, anqas poezija ta' protesta, aktar poezija ta' kontemplazzjoni u kalma…Il-poeziji li hemm migbura f'Passiflora huma kollha dehriet jew ahjar metafori b'mod tali li l-ghadd taghhom isir dehra jew metafora wahda jew ahjar, il-poezija nfisha.

    Azzopardi sahanistra jaf jibni minn metafori mfarrka metafori godda, process mhux biss ta' xi haga li tidher isda aktar ta' xi haga li tinhass ghax fil-poezija hemm aktar il-poeta  li jhoss inmqar meta s-suggett hu xi haga barra minnu nnifsu.

 

Gorg Borg, In-Nazzjon taghna, 27 ta' April 1977/ It-Torca,

1 ta' Mejju -Torca, 1977.

 

 

Taqrah u kwazi ma taghirfux.  Imbaghad tibda miexi lura, sena sena, ktieb ktieb, u ssib li hu l-istess poeta li jikteb li jhoss, inaqqax hajtu fil-poezija.  Hawn m'hawnx il-vokabularju ta' dari, iniggez u jaqta', jahraq u jikwi daqs l-azzar fil-forga, deskrittiv ta' sitwazzjonijiet socjali koroh li jqanqlu lill-awtur biex jghajjat u jaghdab. Lanqas hawn ix-xbihat gfrotteski, kuntrastanti, idarrsuk, simboli mehudin mill-kosmos krudil li jdawwarna bhal f'morsa.  Dan hu imghoddi li ghadda wkoll ghall-poeta.  Issa n-nar hu kiebi, il-herqa mietet, malta m'ghadhiex tigbdu.  Issa l-gewwieni jintlaqat minn qaghdiet godda, it-tqanqiliet huma religjuzi u erotici, il-lehmiet ghandhom bidu f'artijiet ohra fejn il-misticizmu u l-erotizmu jitwahhdu.

    Kien ilu l-poeta jghaddi minn esperjenza ghal ohra, ifittex “religjon”, skop ta' komunikazzjoni fl-imhabba.  Fi zmien il-poezija ta' Passiflora bhal sabhom fil-Lvant u sar sacerdot ta' mara gdida, tenera, mistika, li taghti lin-natura dehra sielma, li xxahxhu fil-hajja u tfakkru fil-mewt.

 

Rev. Joe Felice Pace, Illum, Mejju 1977       

 

Il-poeta m'ghadux jara l-ispettri (grotteski) hergin minn kullimkien; m'ghadux jarahom kulfejn idawwar wiccu.  Forsi ghaliex il-poezija ta' Passiflora, bhal parti mill-poezija f'Demghat tas-Silg, hija l-poezija tas-safar tal-poeta ‘l boghod minn art twelidu, milqut minn kulturi ohra.  L-interess tematiku, fil-fatt, ghalkemm universali, huwa mqieghed f'kuntest jew qafas barrani, l-aktar il-Grecja.  U dak li jolqot l-izjed huwa r-ritwal tal-ghana u z-zfin, tas-simboli eterni tal-fertilita' u l-hajja dejjiema, ta' l-imhabba u l-mewt, simboli li mhux jinftiehmu minn min m'hux midhla taghhom. (L-istess isem ta' l-antologija), Passiflora, hu xbieha li tigbor is-sabih tal-fjura mat-tbatija li tissimbolegga l-estetika tat-tbatija, l-“estetique du mal”, jekk irridu ninqdewe bil-frazi ta' Baudelaire.

…. (Hawn) qeghdin kwazi fl-atmosfera ta' l-Iljieli Gharbin jew fil-mitologija tal-Grecja u l-Indja, mnejn fil-fatt, Azzopadi jiehu hafna mis-simboli f'din il-gabra.      Tematikament, l-assocjazzjoni Imhabba-Mewt ggibilna quddiemna wahda mill-ossessjonijiet ewlenin tar-Romanticizmu (e.g. il-poezija Adam u Eva).  Stilistikament, dawn it-temi-qofol jitkebbu fi shab ohxon ta' incense ifuh, li jostor l-oggett u jtarrax is-sensi ta' min qed jaqra.

 

Dr Joe Friggieri, Il-Mument, l-1 ta' Mejju 1977.      

 

 

The general tone in Passiflorais apollonic rather Dionysian and it seems that Azzopardi is moving towards a position which allows him to consider a religious solution to the socio-political crisis which was manifest in his earlier work.  It appears that the poet has now found refuge  (it is too early to predict whether this is a permanent or temporary one) in the shade, beneath the wings of the sea-birds (Marinara).  The anger provoked in the earlier Azzopardi, confronted with the sickly realities of life, the parched protest cry against the impotence of human beings at odds with the desire of “self-creation”, are now being turned into a lament harmonized with sadness.  The anger in Demghat tas-Silg has mellowed into the existentialist “mal” of Passiflora, a human elegy which permits Azzopardi to achieve more tonality of feeling.

     Azzopardi's sadness, however, is not characterized by weakness.  One can still feel the strength of an unbroken man, even though the man bends under the weight of a congested universe.  The poet's strength emanates from sensual connotations: a seagull shrieks in the night, stars refuse to watch the drama, the water is thirsty and the sea is drowning. 

…(The social-psychologist J.J. Bachofen) in his theory about religions attaches Woman to religious sentiment.  Azzopardi uses this analogy frequently and in fact, passiflora is essentially an expression of a spiritual sentiment which places Woman in a sphere which has the power to transform Her into a being beyond the natural.

 

Adrian Stivala, Times of Malta , 28 May, 1977.

 

NOTE:  Stivala's reference to the Woman image in Azzopardi's verse instigated a debate in the letter pages of Times of Malta, published between June 18 – July 11, 1977.

 

  

These poems have a basic theme: the substitution of our religion by an eclectic one inspired by the ruins of ancient Greece and the obscure religions of the Far East.  In former anthologies Azzopardi used to protest against the religion of the Establishment; in this anthology the protest has disappeared and a search for a “genuine” religion has started.  There is a great insistence on ritual, quotations from the Bible (introduced for the poet's purpose) and from the Upanishads.  The pioet is much nearer to a godlike substabnce than ever before.

 

Dr Lawrence Quintano, The Democrat, 28 May ,1977

 

 

 

Issa Azzopardi beda jikkuntempla l-kwiekeb fil-hemda tal-lejl (il-hin, skond Shakespeare, meta hadd hlief il-qattiela u l-hallelin ma jkun hemm fit-toroq) u hekk hu li fl-ahhar gabra ta' poeziji li hareg, passiflora, insibuh emigrat f'dinja tal-holm, holm izda li jfakkrek izjed fl-incens ifewwah, tiela' ‘l fuq f'xi maqdes. Milli fl-impenn attivista ta' min jaqbad l-azzarin jew almenu, l-izbandola… F'Passiflora jien nilmah it-tfittxija ghal religjon gdida, ghal mezz ta' espressjoni m'hux materjalista u wisq inqas vulgari, li pero' ma jkunx lanqas dak tas-soltu, u f'dan is-sentiment Azzopardi qieghed ikun, forsi minghajr ma jirrejalizza, rapprezentattiv ta' certi elementi mill-generazzjoni zaghzugha (li hu ghadu jaghmel parti minnha) ; ta' aspirazzjoni ftit imhawda…”religjon” gdida b'valuri umani profondi, ghalkemm dawn jidhru aktarx f'kunflitt mal-“valuri” konvenzjo, dawk li hafna jassocjaw mal-prattika religjuza.

 

Dr Henry Frendo, It-Torca, 12 ta' Gunju, 1977

 

 

Azzopardi juri pass ‘il quddiem u zvilupp fil-vina poetika tieghu.  Il-hsieb tieghu hu izjed  car u izjed accettabbli milli qatt qabel.  Il-vokabularju hu aktar imrazzan u l-istruttura sintattika li jiehu tinftiehem ahjar.  F'dan is-sens, il-poeziji ahharin jitfghu f'perspettiva aktar xierqa lill-poeziji bikrin tieghu.

    It-transitorjeta' tal-hajja tidher li hi mwahhla mal-kittieb ta' dawn il-poeziji…Il-poeta li jkun daq il-hajja  mhux lakemm jahrab minn esperjenzi qarsa bhal dawn. Fil-poezija ta' Azzopardi nsibu tixbih u tlaqqigh ta' ideat mhux tas-soltu: insibu s-sbuhija lessikali u sintattika meta jfisser tajjeb it-tigrib tieghu emozzjonali 9U0 l-isthajjil tieghu narawh jispikka spiss.

 

Rev Patri Edward Fenech, In-Nazzjon taghna, 26 ta' Lulju, 1977..               

 

 

While these poems do indeed mark a dramatic change from fiercer, satirical poetry of Demghat tas-Silg and of course from his earlier poetry, anyone familiar with Mas-Sejha tat-Tnabar (1971), Dwal fil-Persjani (1972) and Demghat tas-Silg (1976) itself,

Ought to perceive that the melancholy, introspective man has long been there, side by side with the fiery iconoclast, or perhaps that some of the poems are the product of a manic, others of a depressive phase. Passiflora could almost be subtitled “Childe Mario's Pilgrimage” since it is mainly a poetic diary of a voyage to Greece, like part of Childe Harold.  But, unlike the latter,  the journey here is mainly in the head, the landscape or seascape being phantasmagoric, or perceived, as it were, at the extreme limits of vision…A number of these poems make only what I can call a purely pictorial and aural impact, as they yield no coherent meaning, even after several careful readings.

    It is as if in some poems Azzopardi has determined that, like the abstract or surrealist painter, he is entitled to communicate only on a sensual level, his experiences being too deep or too fleeting for comprehensible expression.

…Like many contemporaries in other lands, his search for the sacred and numinous in life has led him to other religions, the old Inca religion (Verakoka) and Buddhism (Sepulkru and Sanatkumara).

   Azzopardi has imposed upon himself a greater technical discipline.  Though he does not use traditional metres regularly, he tends to slip into them from time to time, and in any case his verse is rarely as jolting in its rhythms as it used to be.  On the contrary, he experiments successfully with modulations and counter-pointed rhythms, and sometimes even uses rhymes most successfully…The signs of greater maturity and a wider exploration of imagery make this collection a significant one for the student of Azzopardi.  If this poet can maintain what he has gained and at the same time recover some of his passion, he ought to write some remarkable poetry in future.

 

Dr Paul Xuereb, The Sunday Times of Malta, 31 July, 1977

 

 

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

TO BE CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED

to cover the following personal anthologies by Mario Azzopardi:

 

TABERNAKLI  (1979)

MONOKORDI  (1984)

NOTI MIS-SANATORJU TAL-MISTICI  (1994)