Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
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