Posthumous Diary

Many American readers enjoy the Italian poet Eugenio Montale (1896-1981) in Jonathan Galassi's celebrated translations. Now Galassi (editor-in-chief of Farrar, Straus & Giroux) offers the first English translation of Montale's controversial Posthumous Diary. These fragmentary verses appeared in Italian after the poet's death, in editions supervised by his companion, Cima Isella; some Italian critics think she helped write it. Whatever their source, the disturbing and charming poems provide a window into the fears, pride and palimpsests of old age: ""The bard is dead, long live his terminator."" (Dec.)