The Markets of Venice
Early morning in the fish markets of Venice. Where, it seems, every type of seafood from the Venetian lagoon is on sale.
The smell was of salt, and of the sea. Afterall, Venice is built on the sea. The markets are by the Grand Canal, just behind the Rialto Bridge. Everything on display was incredibly fresh, with boxes unloaded from nearby boats as we watched. The call of gulls filled the air.
Even those things I had no idea how to cook I wanted to buy, for they appeared so tantalising. Beside the seafood stalls, there were row upon rows of fresh fruit and vegetables, plus small shops filled with necessities like olive oil an impossibly rich green in colour.
The Literary Traveller
Ezra Pound’s Cantos are not for the faint-hearted. Consisting of 116 sections, or Cantos, it is considered by many one of the most significant works of modernistic poetry; Gertrude Stein, however, mocked his obsessive need to insert his versions of history, thought, economics, and morality throughout his poetry.
The collection was published whilst he was involuntarily retained at a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of narcissism and being a psychopath. Whilst incarcerated he was awarded the Bollingen Prize for poetry. In "Canto LXXVI" Pound writes of how he contemplated throwing the work into the Grand Canal: "by the soap-smooth stone posts where San Vio / meets with il Canal Grande / between Salviati and the house that was of Don Carlos / shd/I chuck the lot into the tide-water?
Whatever your opinion, the Cantos are a worthy companion to read whilst sipping a prosecco and watching the gondolas of Venice
Enjoy my writing? Please subscribe here to follow my blog. Or perhaps you’d like to buy me a coffee? (Or a pony?)
If you like my photos please click either here or on the link in my header to buy (or simply browse) my photos. Or else, please click here to buy either my poetry or novel ebooks. I even have a YouTube channel. Thank you!
Plus, this post contains affiliate links, from which I (potentially) earn a small commission.