ABSTRACT
Not only is Italian poetry becoming much more available in the United States, but the many new translations that have been issued during the past decade should make us reconsider commonplace hierarchies that we Anglophones tend to assign to modern and contemporary European literature. The poetic and philosophical tension informing Betocchi (1899-1986) throughout his writing career is already formulated in his first title, Realita vince il sogno (1932). Wings, by Franco Buffoni (b. 1948), juxtaposes vivid, subtly mysterious poems recalling childhood (in The Reopened House, 2000, as well as in several pieces from Theios, 2001) and two long poems about torture and brutality from a different series, War (2001). The poems of Giancarlo Pontiggia (b. 1952), which have been beautifully rendered by Luigi Bonaffini, are similarly oriented. Like Merini, Amelia Rosselli (1930-1996) also composes psychologically stunning verse.
