Roberto Roversi's poetry is characterized by experimentalism--semantic research applied to the current usage of poetic language. However, in his later poetry he rejects the unrestricted technical experimentation of the neo-avant-garde and the neofuturists, searching instead for a new kind of poetic expression. Le descrizioni in atto (Descriptions in Progress, 1969) is the culmination of all his previous work. These poems are not easily read: they use the techniques of collage and of fragmentary reporting. With that collection Roversi can be acclaimed as the chronicler of the contradictions and tensions of modern historical events, described in a tone showing his anger against cultural and political degradation. Atypical of Italian intellectuals, though, Roversi considers himself neither a poet nor a professional writer but simply a lover of letters. Unlike most Italian writers, he avoids publicity and shuns the release of overt personal opinions on any public, political, or cultural event.

Roversi...