This quote beautifully illustrates how memories can surface vividly without a clear, tangible origin, like water drawn from a deep well. It reflects on the enigmatic nature of recollection and its mysterious connection to the past.
Quote by Eugenio Montale: “The well‑pulley creaks, the water rises to the light, a memory without an object.”
The well‑pulley creaks, the water rises to the light, a memory without an object.
Insight
Historical Context
In the aftermath of WWI, many poets grappled with the fragmented nature of memory and experience, seeking to articulate the internal landscape of a world scarred by conflict and uncertainty.
About the Author
Italian poet and Nobel laureate, born in Genoa in 1896 and awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1975. His spare, melancholic poetry — especially the collections Ossi di seppia and La bufera — explored the human condition under fascism and modernity with compressed lyrical intensity.
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