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Article: Six poems by Umberto Saba.
- Article from:
- New Criterion
- Article date:
- February 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Foundation for Cultural Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1911, two years after Marinetti spawned Futurism, the all-but-unknown Umberto Saba (1883-1957) wrote his own manifesto, which sadly never had the impact of Marinetti's; it remained unpublished until after Saba's death. His tract, titled "What Remains for Poets to Do" begins with typical directness: "It remains for poets to make poetry honest."
Today, when much poetry seems merely honest, it may be difficult to appreciate Saba's prescription. But Italian poetry was emerging from the decadentismo of Gabriele d'Annunzio, who could falsify "passions and admirations ... for the sole wretched end of gaining a more striking stanza or a more resonant line." Saba's ...