«Fedele o infedele che sia». Su metrica e stile di Montale traduttore dall’inglese

This article analyses the metrical and stylistic solutions adopted by Montale in his Quaderno di traduzioni for his translations from English. With a perspective aimed at comparing linguistic systems, poetic traditions and the translator’s own idiolect, this study highlights the process of mediation between these various poles, from which there emerges Montale’s tenacious persistence in opting for certain solutions and the resulting formal choices dictated by such preferences. In so doing, the article seeks to go beyond the traditional dichotomy on which most critics have focused their attention, i.e. whether Montale was ‘faithful’ or ’unfaithful’ to the original, revealing instead the multi-layered and dynamic nature of his renderings and his undeniable commitment to respect the linguistic and stylistic aims of the texts being translated.