336 - D’Annunzio, Gabriele. *Il Vate alla Scala: Two Autograph Prayers*. , *Il Vate alla Scala: Two Autograph Prayers*

D’Annunzio, Gabriele. *Il Vate alla Scala: Two Autograph Prayers*. , *Il Vate alla Scala: Two Autograph Prayers* D’Annunzio, Gabriele. Two signed autograph manuscripts, titled *Per i cittadini* and *Per i combattenti*, 17 and 15 quarto-sized pages respectively, bound in a leather folder; on the upper cover, a cartouche bearing the “Per non dormire” and the inscription in gold lettering “Teatro alla Scala, January 19, MCMXVI.” The verses of the first poem belong to the fourth book of *Laudi del cielo, del mare, della terra e degli eroi* (*Praises of Heaven, Sea, Earth, and Heroes*), titled *Merope*, while the *Canzone per i combattenti* (*Song for the Combatants*) was later included in *Canti della guerra latina* (*Songs of the Latin War*), composed during World War I. These are the two prayers recited by the Poet at the Teatro alla Scala on January 19, 1916, during the celebration organized by the Lombard Association of Journalists. The event took place a few days after the serious plane crash in Grado, during which, following a forced landing on water, D’Annunzio had lost his right eye. His words were met with repeated bursts of applause, particularly during the most moving passages. The manuscripts of the two prayers were donated by the Vate to the Lombard Association of Journalists itself, which subsequently auctioned them off, donating the proceeds to war orphans. Luigi Albertini published the text the following day in the *Corriere della Sera*. The Vate at La Scala: Two Autograph Prayers