The Complete Poems of Michelangelo

Michelangelo--as sculptor, painter, architect--no name is more celebrated in the history of the arts. Yet often overshadowed by the magnificence of his achievements as a visual artist is his devotion to poetry, a devotion that was almost as intense and in its way more intimate and heartfelt than his connection with the visual arts. Michelangelo used poetry to express what was too personal to display in sculpture or painting; what he dared not say directly, he gave voice to in the harmonies and discords of verse. John Frederick Nims has brought this verse to life in The Complete Poems of Michelangelo. Michelangelo actually studied and wrote poetry throughout his life, frequently turning to it in times of emotional crisis or stress. His finest literary efforts are often allied with the masterworks of his visual art. As he labored in the Sistine Chapel with visions of the Last Judgment, he composed a series of passionate love sonnets. And while struggling, near the end of his life, to complete his final Pieta, he worked at religious poems anguished in their fervor. Indeed, the power of his verse seemed to grow with age, as if compensating for his diminishing physical strength. Nims, an eminent poet in his own right, has translated the entire body of Michelangelo's poetry, from the artist's juvenilia to his later years. Nims brings to his translations a unique sensitivity and grasp of both Michelangelo's language and his poetic temperament. In the end, he captures all the pathos, complexity, and ardor of Michelangelo's verse. The results give us a surprising glimpse into one of the most fascinating minds in the history of art.