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NOTE:
64 words
the Montale is 64 words
very tightly drawn together
particularly note the first words
of each of his lines – the dies illa –
not recapturable.
I consider this poem the clef
the sphinx to the sequence.
No 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.
Introduction
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
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