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| "Ossi di Seppia", cover of the 1925 edition |
Do not ask us for the word
Do not ask us for the word that gives shape from all angles
to our formless soul, and in letters of fire
declares it, and shines forth like a crocus,
lost in the middle of a dusty field.
Ah, the man who goes on confidently,
to others and to himself a friend,
unfazed by his own shadow which the Dog Star
stamps over a decrepit wall!
Do not demand from us the formula unfolding worlds before you,
rather a few crooked syllables - and dry like a twig.
That alone today we can tell you,
who we are not, what we do not want.
rather a few crooked syllables - and dry like a twig.
That alone today we can tell you,
who we are not, what we do not want.
Eugenio Montale, from "Ossi di Seppia", 1923
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| http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-the-full-montale-1046186.html |
Original text in Italian
