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tr Dana Gioia, bilingual ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite helpful, if somewhat dated.
This volume of SELECTED POEMS of Eugenio Montale, edited by G Singh, is an annotated Italian-language text meant for students of Italian literature and Montale fans looking to read the poet in the original. This was actually the first annotated edition of Montale's poetry to either in Italy or anywhere, and for it Montale wrote a brief foreward in which he provides some enlightening remarks on his aesthetic. Published in 1975, the collection holds poems from Montale's three great volumes "Ossi di seppia", "Le occasioni", and "La Bufera e altro". It also includes Montale's subsequent "back of the shop" poetry from "Satura", and six poems from "Diario del '71 e del '72".

Singh's notes on "Ossi di seppia" are extremely helpful for understanding the metrical devices and Ligurian background of Montale's first volume of poetry. About the treatment of "Le occasioni" I am less satisfied. On one hand, Singh includes all of the Motetti, Montale's hermetic poems of love and perhaps his masterpiece. On the other hand, the volume appeared before it became publicly known that Montale had written these poems to Irma Brandeis, so the annotations are detached from the context of the poetry. With "La Bufera" Singh does give the important political setting of these poems, but seems to take "Il sogno del prigioniero" as the poets story about some political prisoner, instead of as a metaphor of his own doubts about the post-war scene. Finally, the poems "Satura" include the entire "Xenia" work, with useful information about Montale's relationship to his late wife.

Although the notes are not always perfect, they are helpful to grasp the poetry, especially for readers whose Italian is shaky. As a further help to students, the book contains a vocabulary of some of the more literary or uncommon words that Montale uses.

If you are a fan of Montale hoping to tackle his poetry in the original Italian, this volume can be a good way of doing so. It also provides critical information, which is always welcome. Still, the limited commentary of the Motetti is unfortunately; if you're able to read Italian comfortably. Dante Isella's collection of those poems with commentary, published in 1980 by Il Saggiatore of Milano, is better, but even that lacks Brandeis. ... Read more