Disaffections: Complete Poems »

Cesare Pavese was one of Italy's great post-war writers. His poetry was revolutionary, both artistically and politically, rejecting the verbal and philosophical constraints of tradition and utilizing direct, colloquial language. His subjects were men and women who, like Pavese himself, felt town between city and country, work and idleness, solitude and desire. This bilingual volume includes all the poetry Pavese ever published, including work originally deleted by Fascist censors and poems discovered after his death.

About the Author

Cesare Pavese (1908-50) was a novelist, poet, and translator, and a major literary figure in post-war Italy. He brought American influence to Italian literature through his translations. Pavese's flight from the Fascists and subsequent confinement were reflected in his writings, which dealt with social struggle and revealed his sympathy for the oppressed. He committed suicide at the height of his literary powers.

Publishers Weekly

Born in 1908, Pavese completed a Ph.D. thesis on Walt Whitman and became one of Italy's leading translators of American writing before committing suicide in 1950. This bilingual edition begins with the brilliant Work's Tiring, a 1936 book written while jailed for "anti-fascist activities," and ends with a poem written in English: "Some one has died/ long time ago-/ some one who tried/ but didn't know." (Dec.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

	Introduction: Walking with Pavese	3
	South Seas	17
	Ancestors	25
	Landscape (I)	29
	Displaced People	33
	Deola Thinking	35
	Street Song	39
	Two Cigarettes	41
	Idleness	43
	Landholders	47
	Landscape (II)	51
	Landscape (III)	53
	A Season	55
	Dina Thinking	59
	Betrayal	61
	Passion for Solitude	65
	The Billy-Goat God	67
	Time Passes	71
	Grappa in September	75
	Atlantic Oil	77
	City in the Country	81
	People Who Don't Understand	85
	House under Construction	89
	Ancient Civilization	93
	Bad Company	97
	Nocturnal Pleasures	99
	Ballet	101
	Fatherhood (I)	103
	Ancient Discipline	105
	Indiscipline	107
	Landscape (V)	109
	Discipline	111
	Green Wood	113
	Revolt	115
	Outside	117
	Work's Tiring (II)	119
	Portrait of the Author	121
	Mediterraneans	125
	Sad Supper	129
	Landscape (IV)	133
	Motherhood	135
	A Generation	137
	Ulysses	139
	Atavism	141
	Affairs	143
	Passionate Women	145
	August Moon	147
	Burnt Lands	149
	Poggio Reale	151
	Landscape (VI)	153
	The Widow's Son	157
	People Who've Been There	161
	The Night	163
	Meeting	165
	Revelation	167
	Morning	169
	Summer (I)	171
	Nocturne	173
	Agony	175
	Landscape (VII)	177
	Tolerance	179
	The Country Whore	181
	Afterwards	185
	Sand-Diggers' Twilight	189
	The Wagoner	193
	A Memory	195
	The Voice	197
	The Boatman's Wife	199
	The Drunk Old Woman	203
	Landscape (VIII)	205
	Smokers of Paper	207
	Words from Confinement	211
	Myth	213
	Paradise above the Roofs	215
	Simplicity	217
	Instinct	219
	Fatherhood (II)	221
	Morning Star over Calabria	223
	Words for a Girlfriend	227
	The Schoolmistresses	231
	Fallen Women	237
	The Blues Blues	241
	Song	243
	Sad Wine (I)	245
	The Boy Who Was in Me	249
	Indian Summer	253
	Work's Tiring (I)	255
	The Unconvinced	259
	Imagination's End	261
	Jealousy (I)	263
	Sad Wine (II)	267
	Creation	269
	Reigning Peace	271
	Other Days	273
	Poetics	277
	Alter Ego	279
	Sketch of a Landscape	281
	Deola's Return	283
	Habits	285
	Summer (II)	287
	Dream	289
	Sleeping Friend	291
	Indifference	293
	Jealousy (II)	295
	Awakening	297
	Landscape (IX)	299
	Two	301
	The House	303
	"Red earth black earth"	309
	"You are like a land"	311
	"You are also hill"	313
	"Your face is sculpted stone"	315
	"You do not know the hills"	317
	"Your gaze is brine and earth"	319
	"You always come from the sea"	323
	"And then we cowards"	327
	"You are earth and death"	329
	"The plants of the lake"	333
	"You also are love"	335
	To C. from C.	339
	In the Morning You Always Come Back	341
	"You have a blood, a breath"	343
	"Death will come and will have your eyes"	347
	You, Wind of March	349
	I Will Pass through Piazza di Spagna	353
	"The mornings pass clear"	355
	The Night You Slept	357
	The Cats Will Know	359
	Last Blues, to Be Read Some Day	363
	Notes on the Text	365
	About the Author	367
	About the Translator	367
	Index of English Titles	369
	Index of Italian Titles	371