A lume spento

"A Lume Spento", Ezra Pound’s first collection of poetry, was published in Venice in 1908 in a limited edition of 150 copies at the author’s own expense. Pound was twenty-three years old at the time. Long relegated to the margins of Pound's work, as a result of the severe criticism the poet himself repeatedly directed against it since the publication, "A Lume Spento" is an eclectic collection of poetry that deserves to be (re)discovered in order both to deepen our understanding of Pound's early work and cast new light on his later and more mature writings, particularly the "Cantos". Indeed, "A Lume Spento" already bears witness to the poetic craftsmanship that, later developed to a higher degree of self-awareness, would establish Pound as one of the major figures of world literature.