Mattia Acetoso is an Assistant Professor of Italian at Boston College, USA. He received his PhD from Yale University in 2012. His research interests include modern Italian poetry, the relationship between literature and music, and contemporary Italian cinema.

1. Introduction.

2. From Bayreuth to Fiume: D'Annunzio, Wagner and the Death of Italian Opera.

3. Umberto Saba and the Verdian Sound of Italy.

4. More Than Words: Ossi di seppia, Opera, and the Miracle of Counter-Eloquence.

5. Heart of Darkness: Saba's Operatic Eroticism.

6. Strange Mercy: Montale, Opera, and the Death of Tragedy.

7. Poetry and the Beast: Giorgio Caproni's Simulations of Opera.

8. Conclusions