‘Quel segno del cielo’. Il viaggio aerostatico come esperienza di ‘superamento’ nella poesia francese del tardo Settecento

This essay analyzes the cultural significance of the first balloon trips of the late Eighteenth century through the investigation of some of the poems that celebrated these extraordinary events. The aim of the article is to investigate this poetic genre - a predominantly French genre - both from a formal-lexical point of view, and from a wider historical-cultural point of view. The analysis of some examples of this peculiar type of composition will allow us to outline a more organic picture of the complexity covered by these new journeys in the mentality of the men of the time.