“This careful work by Susan Stewart and Patrizio Ceccagnoli is the most capacious English rendering so far of this major contemporary Italian poet. One is able to follow the poetic and spiritual journey of Milo De Angelis as revealed in his passage from a gently eloquent tone to a more urgent language (perhaps precipitated by a lacerating personal loss). To be sure, the poet remains faithful to his distinguished elaboration of the post-symbolist heritage, such as the phrase repetitions with an emotional tinge, certain softly surreal images (“And you will fly across the courtyard / while someone you don’t know leans / from the balcony with asphalt in his hands”), and well-rounded, quotable lines placed at strategic points (“in the secret clamor where they return”). But in the poetic development documented by this important volume, the Milanese poet—exploring his particular city-within-the-city—enters more and more deeply into a courageous exploration of self and past, resulting in a new opening to the world.”

“Milo De Angelis is surely among the most important Italian poets of our day, and this supple and subtle translation of his two most recent books is a gratifying event. These are poems of dense abstraction and rugged lyricism, and they come to life in grief, amid the asphalt of the poet’s native city, Milan. Susan Stewart and Patrizio Ceccagnoli have done a terrific job of bringing them to America.”

“The translation is remarkable and adroit. . . . De Angelis’s voice is heard in both languages.  There is music, and perhaps more—a distance that allows echoes to linger and resonate.”