on 3/15/02 4:05 PM, Erminia Passannanti at [log in to unmask] wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 15:30:22 -0500, Candice Ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> What a strange, disturbing poem this is, Henry. To whom is it addressed,
>> Mussolini or Montale himself, I wonder--Candice
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> Please, do not misunderstand this very ebautiful poem by Montale. Here are
> a few lines toe xplain its content and what subject is at its core. Il
> balcone (The balcony) has been said to be an important poem in the
> collection Le Occasioni (The Occasions) inspired by a decisive and most
> mysterious encounter which Montale kept secret throughout his life (see
> dedication:" to I.B " believed to be Irma Brandeis, belonging to one of
> the most illustrious Hebrew mitteleuropean families than emigrated in
> America (with Luigi Brandeis being the first Jewish who entered the
> Supreme Court of the United States, and who was a courageous defender of
> freedom).
>
> The name of this Jewish woman who converted to the Christianity represents
> only a mere curiosity if its enigmatic references did not cover all
> something more profound. Montale's sibylline attitude about unnamed women
> (see for instance " Vixen " as Marialuisa Spaziani): the same happens also
> for this evoked instigator whose name is turned into anagrams.
>
> Composed in 1933, Il Balcone (The Balcony) is a " Mottetto ", type of
> short composition derived from sacred music. Montale entrusts this lyric
> with the burdensome task to open the collection. The poem is constituted
> of 3 quatrains of 'ottonari' rich in rhymes - inner and imperfect - The
> text is constructed on the antithesis between the poet (loaded with -
> tedio malcerto - emptiness - ) and this new human presence, this Irma.
>
> For the Montale, this woman, leaning on the balcony, towards the light and
> full of vitality, while he observes her with the eyes fixed on her
> body 'proteso' (leaning forward) emphasized the chiasm between Montale's
> void and the woman's desire for and fullness of life, a bridge between the
This is fascinating, Erminia--and all new to me. Tell us more?
Thanks,
C
> darkness of the human night and the fullness of the divine luminosity of
> the cosmos. The hope is activated by this female presence: the inner space
> is no longer closed but opens up to the otherness (in this case Montale
> speaks of his room, turned towards the woman who is leaning on the balcony
> representing for Montale what 'Silvia' represented for Leopardi, a woman
> symbolic of the " open space ".
> I hope this helps a little, if not we can keep talking about this poem.
>
> Best , Erminia
>
>
>> on 3/14/02 8:29 AM, Henry Gould at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>>
>>> This poem, which opens Montale's volume Le Occasioni, seems to comment
> on
>>> several of the assertions people have been making on this thread.
> There is
>>> a historical-political aspect - it was written during the Mussolini era.
>>>
>>> THE BALCONY
>>>
>>> It seemed child's play
>>> to change the void yawning before me
>>> into nothingness, your certain fire
>>> into tedious uncertainty.
>>>
>>> Now to that nothingness I have bound
>>> my every sluggish motive,
>>> that arduous void blunts my yearning
>>> to serve you while I live.
>>>
>>> You have no eyes for any life
>>> but that shimmering you alone can see.
>>> You lean out toward it
>>> from this window, now unlit.
>>>
>>> (tr. Wm. Arrowsmith)
>>>
>>>
>>> I have trouble thinking of poetry as either a redundancy, or as
> exceeding
>>> meaning. Nor do I think of meaning as comfortable. Nor as the
> difference
>>> of shifting signifiers. But poetry is many things at the same time to
>>> many people. . .
>>>
>>> Henry
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