dell'Arco, Mario / Di Martino, Marc Alan (tr.): Day Lasts Forever

World Poetry, paperback

Publication Date: November 12, 2024

Translated by: Marc Alan Di Martino

Publisher Marketing: 

The first English-language collection of post-war poet Mario dell'Arco, the most significant voice in modern Roman dialect poetry after Belli and Trilussa. Dell'Arco (1905-1996) wrote concise, epigrammatic poems about personal loss and everyday astonishment. His stance was skeptical and bittersweet, yet infused with a sense of epiphany at every turn. Deeply influenced by Martial, Horace and the poets of the Greek anthology, he published roughly 60 collections of Romanesco verse in a career which spanned half a century. His subjects included cats, wine, and of course his beloved native city of Rome. His work is colored by the death of his infant son, about whom he wrote often and movingly. Critically acclaimed in his lifetime-Pier Paolo Pasolini was an early admirer-his work has never before been available to a general readership in English.

"I'm not sure if this is a book, a butterfly, or a handful of angels." —PIER PAOLO PASOLINI

"The poet Marc Alan Di Martino is a formal virtuoso, as dexterous as they come. He is the perfect match for Mario dell'Arco, a poet who played his native dialect, Romanesco, like a priceless musical instrument. Di Martino exploits all the resources of English to produce a music every bit as alluring as dell'Arco's own, as intoxicating as the Genzano wine the Italian master praises: 'With every glass another feather sprouts / on my wings, heaven grows kinder.' It is impossible to get one's fill of such poetry." —BORIS DRALYUK

"Mario dell'Arco's short poems bring alive daily life in Rome in a unique colloquial voice that often feels like a blend of Martial's humor, Giuseppe Belli's grittiness, and the surrealists of the era. Di Martino deftly handles Dell'Arco's unconventional rhythms and rhymes in ways that are admirably faithful to the original poems." —A.M. JUSTER

"With his illuminating introduction and intrepid translations, Di Martino has done Anglophone readers of Italian poetry a great service: Mario dell'Arco can now take a well deserved a spot on our shelves alongside such giants of Romanesco poetry as Belli, Pascarella, and Trilussa." —GEOFFREY BROCK