Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 205, Volume 38 Number 5, May - June 2012.

Four Versions of 'Motets' by Eugenio Montale C.K. Stead
Lo sai: debbo riperderti e non posso

I have to lose you again, you know that -
and that I can't. Like well-aimed blows
whatever's done, whatever's said or shouted,
even this salt fog flooding up from the quays
putting spring in the shade -
they shake me.

Sottoripa, region of iron,
of spar-forests in a dusty twilight -
a long groan comes in from nowhere,
an eternal fingernail on glass.
I look for the lost sign,
for the one pledge freely given -
your gift to me. 
                             And hell is assured.



La speranza di pure rivederti

It was when I saw
under the arcades at Modena
a liveried servant leading
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image