Although he did not actively participate in any literary movement of the time nor show any particular inclination towards contemporary European poetry (unlike Gabriele D'Annunzio), he manifested predominantly spiritualistic and symbolistic tendencies in his production, typical of the decadentist culture of the end of the century, marked by the progressive fading away of positivism.

Overall, his work is characterized by a constant tension between the classical tradition inherited from his teacher, Giosuè Carducci, and emerging decadent themes.

Understanding the true meaning of his most significant works is challenging without considering the painful and tormented biographical and psychological elements he obsessively restructured throughout his life, forming the foundational semantic system of his poetic and artistic world.

Ruggero Pascoli was returning home from the market at Cesena in a carriage drawn by a black-and-white mare (cavalla storna).

Giovanni Pascoli had a tragic childhood, struck by the murder of his father and the early deaths of his mother, sister and two brothers and the subsequent financial decline of the family.

In the same year, Pascoli dedicated a literary work to the memory of the Freemason Giuseppe Garibaldi, a leading figure of the Italian Risorgimento movement, as well as to Giosuè Carducci, his beloved teacher and close friend.

In 1895 he and his sister Maria moved into a house at Castelvecchio, near Barga, in Tuscany, bought with money gained from literary awards.

The political and social turmoil of the early 20th century, which was to lead to Italy's participation in World War I and to the advent of fascism, further strengthened Pascoli's insecurity and pessimism.

[4][5] Although he was not an active participant in any literary movement of the time, nor showed any particular propensity towards contemporary European poetry (as opposed to D'Annunzio), he manifests in his works mainly spiritualistic and idealistic tendencies, typical of late nineteenth-century culture marked by the progressive exhaustion of Positivism.

Overall his work appears to be followed by a constant tension between the old classicist tradition inherited from his teacher Giosuè Carducci, and the new themes of decadentism.

However, even in that period of Positivism and scientism, Pascoli believed that life is a mystery; only symbolic associations discovered in the humble things of nature can lead man to catch a glimpse of the truth behind mere appearances.

Pascoli abandoned the previous era's grandiose language and rhetoric, including that of his mentor Giosuè Carducci, for poetry that was simple and inspired by day-to-day life and objects.

In a refusal of both Classicism and Romanticism, Pascoli opposed both the renunciation of self-analysis and the abandonment of the self-centered point of view, in favour of a semi-irrational comfort which the poet gives himself through poetry.

The celebration, in Rimini's recently-restored Palazzo dell'Arengo [it], was attended by senior cultural figures and representatives of the Italian and Sammarinese governments, including Alfredo Panzini, Aldo Oviglio, and Giuliano Gozi.