Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth-century poetry. In this essay, Aubrey discusses how other poems in Montale's book Cuttlefish Bones shed light on the themes of "On the Threshold."

Montale is generally regarded as a difficult, rather obscure poet who does not make interpretation easy for his reader. "On the Threshold" is no exception to this rule. It is a mysterious poem that hints at much more than it explains but, fortunately for the reader, whose interest is piqued by this glimpse into Montale's interior world, Montale tends to repeat his themes (imprisonment/freedom, salvation, memory) and images (wall, water); a reading of the other poems that make up the collection Cuttlefish Bones sheds considerable light on the poetic universe that Montale inhabited in the early stages of his long poetic career. It is easy to see why "On...