Orphic Songs

Dino Campana's small and intensely magical body of poetry from the early years of the twentieth century--prose and free verse that combine the visual and the visionary with astonishing vigor and haunting grace--is little known to English-speaking readers. Now, thanks to the efforts of Pulitzer-winning poet Charles Wright, we have the best of Campana, superbly translated, and enhanced by Jonathan Galassi's Introduction and Eugenio Montale's thoughtful essay identifying the heart of Campana's achievement. This vivid contemporary presentation will demonstrate why Italian readers have cherished Campana's poems since the first appearance of Orphic Songs in 1914.