Night Road to Life

Themes of the sea and the emotions, particularly the deeply felt joys and melancholies experienced by men, are a touchstone of this work. Ferdinando Manzo's thoughts are not bound to fluidity; they fly to the greatest heights of exhilaration in poems such as, The sky above us, which displays 'a mantle of stars that burns in my heart' and in the evocative lines of Eclipse: 'the moon rose, bright between the eyelids of the night'. Even the constellation Andromeda is given due recognition, breaking her chains and ready for revenge, before another poem The voice of the universe explores 'a hidden legend as far away as waves in outer space'. A distinctive quality of this collection of poems is its musicality - the sounds of words carefully chosen, and their rhythms. The pleasing effect of the sensuality of sounds, ranging from gentleness to the drama of sex, is in tune with the gamut of human emotion.