a citation and English comment with a Michael Kenna's photo

Michael Kenna, Campo San Vio Viewpoint, Venice, 2007
Courtesy of Robert Man Gallery, Chelsea


under the two-winged cloud
as of less and more than a day
by the soap-smooth stone posts where San Vio
meets with il Canal Grande
between Salviati and the house than was of Don Carlos
sht/I chuck the lot into the tide-water?
le bozze "A Lume Spento"/
and by the column of Todero
sht/I shift to other side
or wait 24 hours,
free then, therein the difference

from Canto LXXVI by Ezra Pound


"A Lume Spento" is in Italian and means "With tapers (lights)quenched". This Italian expression is the title of Pound's first book of verse published in 1908 in Venice.
The lights and shades of expression maybe means "After The Enlightenment".
The verse "or wait 24 hours" concern a dramatic moment in Pound's life as well as a turning point. According to his own account, he sat on the bank of the Grand Canal trying to decide whether he should throw the proofsheets of his book into the water and give un poetry, or shift to other side of the canal on the way to deliver the proofsheets to the printer (presumably) or do neither, but wait for 24 hours before deciding.