Eugenio Montale
MOTTETTI / MOTETS translated by Alan Tucker
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15
Al primo chiaro, quando
al primo buio, quando
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XV
At first light when
at first darkness when
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NOTE: 64 wordsNo translation of this poem makes adequate sense without careful study of the pattern of the original Italian. The rhymes parla – tarla, sasso – passo and misti – insisti are not more important than the first words of each line, di, di, il.. da, then al, il, la, and the rhyming of nel – del which I suspect is there to draw attention to this echo of the Requiem Mass, in illa die tremenda. The din of the railroad, that takes away… a straight path to hell. To me this is the key poem of the set.
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX
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