or Hermetism Italian Ermetismo
Modernist poetic movement originating in Italy in the early 20th century.
Works produced within the movement are characterized by unorthodox structure, illogical sequences, and highly subjective language. Its formalistic devices were partly derived from Futurism , but the cryptic brevity, obscurity, and involution of the Hermetics was forced on them by fascist censors. Giuseppe Ungaretti , Salvatore Quasimodo , and Eugenio Montale were the principal exponents of the movement, which was named for Hermes Trismegistos, a reputed author of occult symbolic works (see Hermetic writings ).