«Ti prometto che tornerò»: il sodalizio Valli-Comi

The essay reviews the numerous studies that Donato Valli has dedicated over the years to the Salentine poet Girolamo Comi (1890-1968), making a decisive contribution to the understanding and enhancement of his poetry. Valli's critical interventions are based not only on the thorough and precise analysis of Comi's works, but also on the direct, almost daily, attendance of the baronial palace of Lucugnano, at the time the seat of the «Accademia salentina», an outpost, deep inside South, of the best Italian culture after World War II. Valli was welcomed into that exclusive environment already at a very young age, and from there, as he recalled in his late essay-memorial, Chiamami maestro. Vita e scrittura con Girolamo Comi (2008), he will begin his literary vocation.