The Dark of the Sun: Selected Poems of Umberto Saba

This book is comprised of forty-three poems of Umberto Saba in their original Italian form which were written between 1909 and 1934. The works are coupled with English translations by Christopher Millis. Selections cover pieces from more than ten separate volumes of Saba's work filling a longstanding gap in Italian literature in translation. This book brings to the English-speaking world poems of one of Italy's most important and least translated authors.

About the Author :
Christopher Millis is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at the College of Basic Studies at Boston University.

Review :
In Christopher Millis's new translation, we hear Saba's voice with its true accents, at once delicate and direct. We can no longer complain that Saba has been unjustly neglected; this book is a splendid introduction to one of this century's best poets. -- J.D. McClatchy, Editor, THE YALE REVIEW Christopher Millis's fine new book provides the largest selection to date of Saba's extraordinary work...Here at last is a chance for American readers to discover one of the most generously human poets of the modern era. -- Dana Gioia, writer Umberto Saba is a great poet, and he will live among the greatest poets of our time. -- Dana Gioia, writer Elsa Morante Saba is a poet in perpetual self-making...always experimenting. But that is why, now, on his seventieth birthday, we can say that he has...raised the life of his emotions into poetry. -- Dana Gioia, writer Pier Paolo Pasolini Here we have a fine translation of an Italian poet too long unknown to those outside. This is a beautiful rendition of thoughts about that whirlwind of cultures centered in Trieste with a reminder of Italo Svevo and James Joyce. It is a book that should be read. -- Gregory Rabassa, Distinguished Professor, Queens College and The Graduate School, CUNY Pier Paolo Pasolini Christopher Millis has enriched our own American poetry by bringing over Saba's generosity of spirit, accuracy of observation, and sublimely aggressive gentleness into our own idiom. -- Garrett Hongo, Director, Creative Writing Program, University of Oregon In Christopher Millis's new translation, we hear Saba's voice with its true accents, at once delicate and direct. We can no longer complain that Saba has been unjustly neglected; this book is a splendid introduction to one of this century's best poets. -- J.D. McClatchy, Editor, THE YALE REVIEW Christopher Millis's fine new book provides the largest selection to date of Saba's extraordinary work...Here at last is a chance for American readers to discover one of the most generously human poets of the modern era. -- Dana Gioia, writer Umberto Saba is a great poet, and he will live among the greatest poets of our time. -- Dana Gioia, writer Elsa Morante Saba is a poet in perpetual self-making...always experimenting. But that is why, now, on his seventieth birthday, we can say that he has...raised the life of his emotions into poetry. -- Dana Gioia, writer Pier Paolo Pasolini Here we have a fine translation of an Italian poet too long unknown to those outside. This is a beautiful rendition of thoughts about that whirlwind of cultures centered in Trieste with a reminder of Italo Svevo and James Joyce. It is a book that should be read. -- Gregory Rabassa, Distinguished Professor, Queens College and The Graduate School, CUNY Pier Paolo Pasolini Thank goodness for twenty years of labor of love on the part of Christopher Millis. He has given us, as J. D. McClatchy says of the book, 'a splendid introduction to one of this century's best poets.' -- Jean Monahan, THE BOSTON BOOK REVIEW Pier Paolo Pasolini