My Name on the Wind: Selected Poems

by Michael Palma

This bilingual edition is a selection of fifty-one poems representing all phases of Valeri's extraordinary long career, from 1910 to 1976. Also included is an essay by Valeri, in which he records the sensations and reflections on his work--that were occasioned by his reading the proof for the collected edition of his poems.

Genres: Poetry

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaves, falling leaves in the softly falling rain,
coming down on this sweet evening of despair.
Leaves, falling leaves, great heavy soaking wet
leaves from the chestnut tree, and light and green
and trembling little leaves from the locust tree,
down through the chilly brightness of the lamplight,
down on the glossy asphalt of the street . . .

And here the two of us are walking, walking,
without a word, the one beside the other,
each carrying the burden of the same
full weight of melancholy in the heart.

Leaves, falling leaves. Between us there may be
something that dies in the middle of our life,
that dies this way, and doesn't want to die.

[Chicory Poetry · Rating 1 out of 5]

A nice introduction to my all time favorite unknown poet ... I am translating one of his later books ...

The last poem misses the mark by my understanding of a key word in the translation.

.... Here there is always a little wind....

He writes of love reflecting upon nature & the seasons instead of sappy old fashion rhetoric ..

I have two editions of his collective works in Italian ...