Nobel Prize

Spanish 12 Diciembre, 1977 En una hora como esta, tan importante en la vida de un cultivador de las letras, quisiera expresar, con las palabras más bellas, la emoción que un hombre siente y la gratitud que experimenta en unos actos como los que ahora se desarrollan. Yo nací de una familia burguesa, pero tuve…

Works in Spanish Ámbito. – Málaga : Litoral, 1928 Espadas como labios. – Madrid : Espasa–Calpe, 1932 Pasión de la tierra. – Mexico City : Fábula, 1935 La destrucción o el amor. – Madrid : Signo, 1935. – Rev. ed. 1944 Sombra del paraíso. – Madrid : Adán, 1944 En la vida del poeta. –…

As the Laureate was unable to be present at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1977, the speech of thanks was read by Mr Jorge Padrón (in Spanish) Majestades, Altezas Reales, Señoras y Señores, En esta reunión tan grata para todos, unos, la mayoría, están aquí son su presencia física; alguna como yo con su asistencia…

English December 12, 1977 (Translation)   At a moment like this, so important in the life of a man of letters, I should like to express in the most eloquent words at my command the emotion that a human being feels and the gratitude he experiences in the face of an event such as that…

Credit: ITN Archive/Reuters

  The Wall To lie in shadow on the lawn By a crumbling wall, pale and withdrawn And spy in the weeds the gliding snake And hear the rustle blackbirds make – To watch in the cracked earth and the grass Battalions of red ants at drill, That break and form ranks, pass and repass…

Works in Italian Ossi di seppia. – Turin : Gobetti, 1925. – Enlarged ed., Turin: Fratelli Ribet, 1928 La Casa dei doganieri e altri versi. – Florence : Vallecchi, 1932 Le occasioni. – Turin : Einaudi, 1939 Finisterre. – Lugano, Switzerland : Collana di Lugano, 1943 La bufera e altro. – Venice : Neri Pozza,…

English Eugenio Montale’s speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1975 (Translation) Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, During a fairly long period of my life, for more than 20 years, freedom of press was somewhat reduced in Italy. But poets were not considered dangerous and they were advised to exercise selfcensorship. At…

Italian Eugenio Montale’s speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1975 (in Italian) Maestà, Altezze Reali, Signore, Signori, Durante un periodo abbastanza lungo della mia vita oltre vent’anni la libertà di stampa era piuttosto ridotta in Italia. Ma i poeti non erano considerati pericolosi e ad essi era consigliata l’autocensura. Tutt’al più ai poeti si…

Eyvind Johnson’s speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, December 10, 1974 (Translation) On behalf of Harry Martinson and myself I will speak as briefly as possible on the situation in which we now find ourselves. A poet or prose narrator usually looks back on what he has achieved against a…