Who wrote Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes?

Cesare Pavese, who wrote the poems of the eponymous cycle between March 11 and April 11, 1950.

When was the collection published?

Posthumously, in 1951, by Einaudi, in the "Poeti" series.

How many poems does the volume hold in all?

Nineteen, according to the Fondazione Cesare Pavese, nine from 1945 and ten from 1950.

What themes run through the collection?

Love and death, the two Leopardian themes Treccani says Pavese returns to.

Where does the collection's title come from?

From the first line of the poem that shares its title, written in the spring of 1950.

Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Cesare Pavese's Poetry Collection

In 30 seconds quick read

"Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes" is the poetry collection Cesare Pavese dedicated to the American actress Constance Dowling. Einaudi published the book posthumously in 1951, edited by Massimo Mila and Italo Calvino; it brings together nineteen poems in all: the ten from 1950 that give the collection its title, written between March 11 and April 11 of that year, and nine more written in 1945. Treccani reads the book as Pavese's return to Leopardi's two themes, love and death. In a letter dated April 17, 1950, Pavese wrote: "The poems came to you, and they go away with you."

Key Points

The collection was published posthumously in 1951 by Einaudi, in the "Poeti" series, edited by Massimo Mila and Italo Calvino.
The book holds nineteen poems in all, nine written in 1945 and ten in 1950, according to the Fondazione Cesare Pavese.
The ten poems from 1950 form the cycle that gives the book its title; Pavese dedicated them to Constance Dowling, the American actress with whom he had a relationship Treccani describes as decisive.
They were written between March 11 and April 11, 1950, based on the dates of the first and last poem of the cycle reported by VIV-IT.
Treccani traces the book to Pavese's return to the two Leopardian themes, love and death.
Compared with Hard Labor, according to Einaudi's catalog note these poems leave behind the narrative, epic vein for a lyrical, subjective register.

Key figures

19 The poems in the 1951 Einaudi volume in all: nine written in 1945 and ten in 1950. Source: Fondazione Cesare Pavese
10 The poems written in 1950 that make up the eponymous cycle, dedicated to Constance Dowling. Source: Fondazione Cesare Pavese
March 11 - April 11, 1950 The period in which the poems of the cycle were written, from the date of the first to that of the last. Source: VIV-IT

Deep Dive

A Book Published After Pavese’s Death

According to Treccani, “Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes” is Cesare Pavese’s last volume of verse, published posthumously in 1951. Einaudi placed it in the “Poeti” series, edited by Massimo Mila and Italo Calvino. The volume is not limited to the eponymous cycle: it also includes the group of poems “The Land and Death.”

Two Numbers Not to Confuse

The volume and the eponymous cycle don’t hold the same number of poems. According to the Fondazione Cesare Pavese, the 1951 book gathers nineteen poems in all: nine written in 1945 and ten in 1950. It’s the ten from 1950 that make up the cycle giving the whole collection its name.

	1951 Einaudi volume	Title cycle
Poems	19	10
Years written	1945 and 1950	1950
Dedication	—	Constance Dowling

A Month of Writing, for an American Actress

According to VIV-IT, every poem in the cycle carries a date: the first is from March 11, 1950, the last from April 11 of that same year. Treccani ties those pages to the relationship, described as decisive, that Pavese had with the American actress Constance Dowling, to whom his last volume of verse is dedicated.

On April 17, 1950, a few days after the last poem of the cycle, Pavese wrote in a letter:

The poems came to you, and they go away with you.

— Cesare Pavese, letter of April 17, 1950, quoted by VIV-IT.

Love and Death, a Leopardian Echo

According to Treccani, the book grew out of Pavese’s return to the “two beautiful things” of Giacomo Leopardi, love and death: the two themes that run through the whole collection. VIV-IT describes a register split between two tones: on one side, the thought of suicide, the “absurd vice,” with bleak tones and hopeless words; on the other, love, which still carries uncertainty and torment, told through vivid, colorful images.

“The absurd vice” is the title of a biography of Pavese written by Davide Laiolo, not another work within the collection.

A Different Style From Hard Labor

According to Einaudi’s catalog note, the poems in this collection move away from the narrative, epic vein of Hard Labor and return to a lyrical, subjective register, built more on rhythm, imagery and sound than on direct confession.

Slide deck

Slides ready to download and make your own in PowerPoint or Google Slides, with speaker notes. Pick the Flash cut or the Full one.

Slide 1 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes

Slide 2 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Nineteen poems, or ten?

Slide 3 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: What's ahead

Slide 4 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Chapter 01: A book published after death

Slide 5 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: The collection's numbers

Slide 6 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Chapter 02: The 1950 cycle

Slide 7 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: When the cycle was written

Slide 8 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Cesare Pavese, letter of April 17, 1950 (VIV-IT)

Slide 9 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Chapter 03: Love and death, a recurring pair

Slide 10 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: The two tones of the verses

Slide 11 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: Chapter 04: A different voice

Slide 12 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: The collection leaves behind the narrative vein of Hard Labor

Slide 13 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: How many poems does the 1951 Einaudi volume hold in all?

Slide 14 of the presentation on Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes: The full Recap

Flash10 slidesThe essential thread, to present in class Full14 slidesEvery chapter and the deeper detail

Common myths

✗ Myth The 1951 volume contains the same ten poems as the eponymous cycle.

✓ Reality According to the Fondazione Cesare Pavese, the 1951 Einaudi volume gathers nineteen poems in all: nine written in 1945 and ten in 1950. Only those last ten make up the cycle that gives the whole collection its name and that Pavese dedicated to Constance Dowling.
✗ Myth The poems continue the narrative style of Hard Labor.

✓ Reality According to Einaudi's catalog note, no: compared with Hard Labor, these verses leave the narrative, epic vein behind and return to a lyrical, subjective register, where rhythm, imagery and sound matter more than direct confession.
✗ Myth The Absurd Vice is another work in the collection.

✓ Reality No. Davide Laiolo chose that title for his biography of Pavese. Within the collection, the thought of suicide appears as the bleak undertone of some poems, according to VIV-IT, not as the title of a separate text.

Mind map

Drag the background to move around and the nodes to reposition them; use − and + to collapse and expand branches.

Quiz: test yourself

Answer the questions to check what you have learned: you get instant feedback and a short explanation.

Grade 0/10 0/5

1 In what year was Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes published?

2 How many poems does the 1951 Einaudi volume hold in all?

3 Who are the ten poems of the 1950 eponymous cycle dedicated to?

4 Who edited the 1951 Einaudi edition?

5 Between which dates were the poems of the title cycle written?

Flashcards

Tap the card to flip it and check whether you remember the answer, then move to the next one.

1 / 8

Explain it in your own words

The ultimate test: if you can explain it in simple words, you've truly understood it. Write your explanation, then compare it with the Recap.

Your explanation is saved only on this device.

Frequently asked questions

What is Death Will Come and Will Have Your Eyes about?

It is the poetry collection Cesare Pavese dedicated to Constance Dowling, the American actress with whom he had, according to Treccani, a decisive relationship. The central themes, again according to Treccani, are love and death, the same ones Pavese returns to from the Leopardian tradition; the thought of suicide, told in bleak tones, and love, told through vivid images, are the two voices VIV-IT finds in the verses.

Where can I read the full text of the poems?

In the printed Einaudi edition, edited by Massimo Mila and Italo Calvino, which collects the nineteen poems of the 1951 volume. It is the reference edition for readers looking for the complete text, not an online excerpt.

How many poems does the collection really have, ten or nineteen?

Both numbers are correct, but they refer to two different things: the 1951 Einaudi volume holds nineteen poems in all, nine from 1945 and ten from 1950; the cycle that gives the book its title counts only the ten from 1950.

Who is Constance Dowling?

The American actress to whom Pavese dedicated his last volume of verse. Treccani describes the relationship between the two as decisive for the writing of the 1950 cycle.

What does the collection's title mean?

It takes up the opening line of the poem of the same name, written by Pavese in the spring of 1950. The line opens the cycle dedicated to Dowling and anticipates the two themes that, according to Treccani, run through the whole volume: love and death.