Quotes from book
Collected Poems

Collected Poems
Primo LeviOriginal title Ad ora incerta (1984)

Collected Poems is the English language collection of poems by Italian author Primo Levi. Its Italian title is Ad ora incerta.

Primo Levi photo

“Stand back, leave me alone, submerged people,
Go away. I haven't dispossessed anyone,
Haven't usurped anyone's bread.
No one died in my place. No one.
Go back into your mist.
It's not my fault if I live and breathe,
Eat, drink, sleep and put on clothes.”

Primo Levi book Collected Poems

"The Survivor" (1984)
Collected Poems (1984)

Primo Levi photo

“What to do now? How to detach yourself?
With every work that’s born you die a little.”

Primo Levi book Collected Poems

"The Work" (1983)
Collected Poems (1984)

Primo Levi photo

“Consider whether this is a man,
Who labours in the mud
Who knows no peace
Who fights for a crust of bread
Who dies at a yes or a no.”

Primo Levi book Collected Poems

Collected Poems (1984)

Primo Levi photo

“Is anything sadder than a train
That leaves when it’s supposed to,
That has only one voice,
Only one route?
There’s nothing sadder. Except perhaps a cart horse,
Shut between two shafts
And unable even to look sideways.”

Primo Levi book Collected Poems

"January 17, 1946"
Collected Poems (1984)

Primo Levi photo

“If he believes time has run its course,
A man is a sad thing too.”

Primo Levi book Collected Poems

"January 17, 1946"
Collected Poems (1984)

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