The Bones of the Cuttlefish

The first book of Montale's poems is one of the greatest of modern poetry. Its place is just next to Alfred Prufrock and Other Observations, The Elegies of Duino, Signe ascendant by Andre Breton and other important books of poetry of this century. Although it has been translated into English at various occassions, Antonio Mazza's translation should be praised and recognized as one of the best. Mazza has been translating Montale for some years. this choice would seem to be a matter of faithfulness to the voice whose language, also Mazza's mother tongue, is Italian, with all its musical, rhythmical, incantatory and lexical implications.