1. LET'SMTJRDERTHE MOONSHINE:
SELECTEDTRITINGS
F. T. MARINETTI
Edited by R. W. Flint
Translated from the Italian by R. W. Flint
and Arthur A. Coppotelli
With a Preface by Marforie Perloff
Sun & Moon Classics
Los Angeles

2. The Founding and Manifesto
of Futurism
Published in LE FIGARo of Paris
February zo, r909
We had stayedup all night, my friends and I, under hanging mosque
lamps with domes of filigreed brass,domes starred like our spirits, shin-
ing like them with the prisoned radiance of electric hearts. For hours
we had trampled our atavisticennui into rich oriental rugs, arguing up
to the last confines of logic and blackening many reams of paper with
our frenzied scribbling.
An immense pride was buoying us up, because felt ourselvesalone
we
at that hour, alone, awake, and on our feet, like proud beaconsor for-
ward sentriesagainst an army of hostile stars glaring down at us from
their celestialencampments.Alone with stokersfeeding the hellish fires
of great ships, alone with the black specters who grope in the red-hot
bellies of locomotives launched down their crazy courses,alone with
drunkards reeling like wounded birds along the city walls.
Suddenly we jumped, hearing the mighty noise of the huge double-
decker trams that rumbled by outside, ablaze with colored lights, like
villages on holiday suddenly struck and uprooted by the flooding Po
and dragged over falls and through gorgesto the sea,
Then the silencedeepened.But, as we listened to the old canal mut-
tering its feeble prayers and the creaking bones of sickly palaces above
their damp green beards,under the windows we suddenly heard the
famished roar of automobiles.
"Let's go!" I said. "Friends, away! Let's go! Mythology and the Mys-
tic Ideal are defeatedat last. We're about to seethe Centaur's birth and.

3. -T
48 49
soon after, the first flight of Angels! . . . We must shake the gates of and stinking-from under the capsizedcar, I felt the white-hot iron of
life, test the bolts and hinges. Let's go! Look there, on the earth, the joy deliciouslvpass through my heart!
very first dawnl There's nothing to match the splendor of the sun's red A crowd of fishermen with handlines and gouty naturalists were al,
sword,slashingfor the first time through our millennial glooml" ready swarming around the prodigy. With patient, loving care those
We went up to the three snorting beasts,to lay amorous hands on people rigged a tall derrick and iron grapnels to fish out my car, like a
their torrid breasts.I stretchedout on my car like a corpseon its bier, big beachedshark. Up it came from the ditch, slowly, leaving in the
but revived at once under the steering wheel, a guillotine blade that bottom like scales heavy framework of good senseand its soft uphol-
its
threatenedmy stomach. stery of comfort.
The raging broom of madnessswept us out of ourselvesand drove us Thev thought it was dead, my beautiful shark, but a caress from me
through streetsas rough and deep as the beds of torrents. Here and was enough to revive it; and there it was, alive again, running on its
there, sick lamplight through window glass taught us to distrust the powerful fins!
deceitfulmathematics our perishingeyes.
of And so, facessmearedwith good factory muck-plastered with me-
I cried, "The scent,the scentalone is enough for our beasts." tallic waste, with senseless sweat, with celestialsoot-we, bruised, our
And like young lions we ran after Death, its dark pelt blotched with arms in slings, but unafraid, declared our high inrentions to all the
pale crossesas it escapeddown the vast violet living and throbbing liuing of.the earth:
sky.
But we had no ideal Mistress raising her divine form to the clouds, MANIFESTO OF FUTURISM
nor any cruel Queen to whom to offer our bodies, twisted like Byzan- r. We intend to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fear-
tine rings! There was nothing to make us wish for death, unless the lessness.
z. Courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our
wish to be free at last from the weight of our courage!
poetry.
And on we raced,hurling watchdogs against doorsteps, curling them
3. Up to now literature has exalted a pensive immobility, ecstasy,and
under our burning tires like collars under a flatiron. Death, domesti-
sleep, We intend to exalt aggressive action, a feverish insomnia, the
cated,met me at every turn, gracefully holding out a paw, or once in a racer's stride, the mortal leap, the punch and the slap.
while hunkering down, making velvety caressingeyesat me from every
4. We say that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new
puddle. beauty; the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with
"Let's break out of the horrible shell of wisdom and throw ourselves great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath-a roaring car that seems
like pride-ripened fruit into the wide, contorted mouth of the wind! to ride on grapeshot-is more beautiful than the Victory ol Samothracc.
I-et's give ourselvesutterly to the Unknown, nor in desperationbut only 5. We want to hymn the man at the wheel, who hurls rhe lanceof his
to replenish deepwells of the Absurd!!"
the spirit acrossthe Earth, along the circle of its orbit.
The words were scarcelyout of my mouth when I spun my car 6. The poet must spend himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity,
to swell the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.
around with the frenzy of a dog trying to bite its tail, and rhere, sud-
denly, were two cyclists coming toward me, shaking their fists, wob- 7. Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an
aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as
bling like two equallv convincingbut nevertheless contradictoryargu-
a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before
ments. Their stupid dilemma was blocking my way-damn! Ouch!
man.
. . . I stopped short and to my disgust rolled over into a ditch with my 8. We stand on the last promontory of the centuries! ... Why
wheelsin the air. . . . should we look back, when what we want is to break down the mys-
Oh! Maternal ditch, almost full of muddv water! Fair factory drain! terious doors of the Impossiblel Time and Space died yesterday. We
I gulped down your nourishing sludge; and I rememberedrhe blessed already live in the absolute, becausewe have created eternal, omnipres-
black breastof my Sudanese nurse When I came up-torn, filthy, ent speed.

4. f
50 51
t
9. We will glorify war-the world's only hygiene-militarism, pa- Do vou, then, wish to waste all your best powers in this eternal and
triotism, the destructivegesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas futile worship of the past, frorn which you emerge fatally exhausted,
worth dying for, and scornfor woman. ) shrunken,beatendownl
I
ro. We will destroythe museums, academies everykind,
libraries, of In truth I tell you that daily visits to museums, libraries, and acade-
will fight moralism, feminism,everyopportunistic utilitariancow-
or i
mies (cemeteries empty exertion, calvariesof crucified dreams, regis-
of
ardice. tries of aborted beginningsl) is, for artists, as damaging as the pro-
ri. We will sing of great crowds excitedby work, by pleasure, and
longed supervisionby parents of certain young people drunk with their
by riot; we will sing of the multicolored,polyphonictides of revolution
talent and their ambitious wills. When the future is barred ro rhem, rhe
in the modern capitals;we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of
admirable past may be a solacefor the ills of the moribund, the sickly,
arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electricmoons;greedyrail-
way stationsthat devour smoke-plumedserpents;factorieshung on the prisoner. . . . But we want no part of it, the past, we the young and
cloudsby the crookedlinesof their smoke;bridgesthat stridethe rivers I strong Futuristsl
like giant gymnasts, fashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adven- So let them come, the gay incendiaries with charred fingers! Here
turous steamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chestedIocomotives whose they are! Here they are! . . C,omeon! set fire to the library shelves!
wheelspaw the trackslike the hoovesof enormoussteelhorses bridled Turn asidethe canalsto flood the museums! . . . Oh, the joy of seeing
by tubing; and the sleekflight of planeswhosepropellers chatterin the the glorious old canvases bobbing adrift on those waters,discoloredand
wind like banners and seemto cheerlike an enthusiastic crowd. shredded! ... Take up your pickaxes, your axes and hammers, and
) wreck, wreck the venerablecities,pitilessly!
. It is from Italy that we launch through the world this violently upset-
',ting,
incendiary manifesto of ours. With it, today, we establishFutur-
becausewe 4'ant to free this land from its smelly gangrene of The oldest of us is thirty: so we have at least a decadefor finishing
iisrz
archaeologists, ciceroni, and antiquarians. For too long has our work. When we are forty, other younger and stronger men wili
fprofessors,
fltaly been a dealer in secondhandclothes.We mean to free her from the probably throw us in the wastebasket like uselessmanuscripts-we want
numberlessmuseumsthat cover her like so many graveyards. it to happenl
Museums: cemeteries!. . . Identical, surely, in the sinister promiscu- They will come against us, our successors, will come from far away,
ity of so many bodies unknown to one another. Museums: public dor- {rom every quarter, dancing to the winged cadenceof their first songs,
mitories where one lies forever besidehated or unknown beings. Muse- flexing the hooked claws of predators,sniffing doglike at the academy
ums; absurd abattoirs of painters and sculptors ferociously macerating doors the strong odor of our decaying minds, which already will have
each other with color-blows and line-blows, the length of the fought- been promised to the literary catacombs.
over walls! But we won't be there. . . At last they'll find us----one winter's night
-in open country, beneath a sad roof drummed by a monotonous rain.
That one should make an annual pilgrimage, just as one goes to the
graveyard on All Souls' Day-that I grant. That once a year one should They'll see us crouched beside our trembling airplanes in the act of
leavea floral tribute beneath the Gioconda, I grant you that. . . . But I warming our hands at the poor little blaze that our books of today will
don't admit that our sorrows, our fragiie courage,our morbid r€stless- give out when they take fire from the fight of our images.
ness should be given a daily conducted tour through the museums. They'll storm around us, panting with scorn and anguish, and all of
Why poison ourselves Why rotl
I them, exasperated our proud daring, will hurtle to kill us, driven by
by
And what is there to seein an old picture exceptthe laborious contor- hatred: the more implacable it is, the more their hearts will be drunk
tions of an artist throwing himself against the barriers that thwart his with love and admiration for us.
desireto express dream completelyI . . . Admiring an old picture is
his Injustice, strong and sane,will break out radiantiy in their eyes.
the same as pouring our sensibility into a funerary urn instead of hurl- Art, in fact, can be nothing but violence,cruelty, and injustice.
ing it far off, in violent spasmsof action and creation. The oldest of us is thirty: even so we have already scatteredtreasures,

5. , ,hurrrrrd treasures force, love, courage,astuteness,
Let's Murder the Moonshine
of and raw will
power; have thrown them impatiently away, with fury, carelessly, un-
hesitatingly, breathlessand unresting.. . . Look ar usl We are still un-
tired! Our hearts know no wear.iness becausethey are fed with fire,
hatred, and speed! . . Does that amaze youl It should, because you April, r9o9
can never remember having lived! Erect on the summit of the world,
onceagain we hurl our defiance the starsl
at
You have objectionsl-Enough! Enough! We know them . . .
rve've understoodl . . . Our fine deceitful intelligence tells us that we
are the revival and extensionof our ancestors-perhaps! . . . If only it
were so!-But who caresl We dont want to understand!. . . Woe to
anyonewho saysthoseinfamouswords to us again!
Lift up your heads!
Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl defianceto the
stars ! I
Paolo Buzzi'
Hail! great incendiary poets' my Futurist friends! Hail!
Palazzeschi,cavacchioli, Govoni, Altomare, Folgore, Boccioni, carri,
Let's flee Paralysis'
Russolo,Balla, Severini, Pratella' D'Alba, Mazzal'
let's devastateGout and lay the great military Railroad to the flanks of
Gorisankar, summit of the world!
searchfor
With a quick firm stride, almost dancing in our universal
our hearts' the
obstacles conquer' we left the city' Around us and in
to
between wine-
immense intoxication of the old European sun swaying
great torch of
colored clouds. . . . That sun struck our faces with its
incandescent purple, then flared out' vomiting itself to infinity' 1" -
Whirlwinds of aggressive dust; a blinding mixture of sultur' Potasn' f .
new
and silicates through the windows of the ldeal! ' ' Fusion of a i '
solar orb that soon we shall seeshine forth!
heapedbe-
"Cowards!" I cried, turning to the inhabitants of Paralysis
now for our wait-
low us, an enormous mass of angry howitzers ready
ing cannon'
ICow"rd,l Cowards! Why these cries of yours' like cats skinned
hovels?-Not yet!
alivel . . . Afraid perhaps that we'll set fire to your
... But next winter *. *"y need to warm ourselves!" ' For the
like rotten
moment we are content with blowing up all the traditions'
bridgesl-Warl . . . Very well, yes: It's our only hope' our reasonfor
you' for dying too
liuing, our only desire! .. ' Yes' war! Against
,lo*l-y, and againstall the dead for cluttering our roads!

6. t5
)+
up for battle by the mil-
"Look down there, those ears of grain lined
"Yes, our nerves demand war and despisewomen, becausewe fear with sharp bayonets'.glorify the
lion . . . those ears' agile soldiers
suppJicatingarms that might encircle our knees on the morning of de- and shoots straight uP to the
power of bread that changes into blood
parture! . . . What can they want, women, the sedentary,invalids, the or splendor until it is freed
i."ui. sa.j, as you kno"*, ht' no value
sick, alrd all the prudent counselorsl To their vacillating lives, broken iron and firel And we'll teach all
from the prison of the arteries with
by dismal agonies,by fearful dreams and heavy nightmares, we prefer how blood should be shed' ' ' ' But
,i, or*r) soldiers of the world
violent death and glorify it as the only thing worthy of man, that beast where you Pullulate' insects
;;r,-;. must clean out the great Barracks
of prey. ' ' ' Meanwhile' monkeys' you can
"We want our sons to follow their whims joyfully, to opposethe old ,i", ,"r ^r.f-It won't be difficult'
traditional Pallets on which we'll
brutally and to mock everything consecrared time! still go home tonight to the dirty
by
neversleeP again!"
"This offends you? You hiss mel . . . Louder!-I missed the insultl
As I turned away' I could sensefrom the pain in my back that for-too
Louder! What's thatl Ambitiousl . . . By allmeansl We're ambitious
t# i'; b*; ;;;;;'h;' moribund jT-:?l';'T"*::
1", .'
men, we are, because don't wish to rub against your smelly feece, O
we
;:i'J;;;;, ff;:Gle th' fY."]"'"'
with foolish rriskiness
Tn'T;l'^1
reeking, mud-colored fock, driven dorvn the ancient streets of the against cliffsof
th'o*" bv theevening the
Earth. But
'ambitious'
is not the exact word! We're more like young
l::::,i:HilJ"o?,i;ht
my forehead.
artillerymen on a tootl-and you, however you may hate it, must get
used to the thunder of our cannon! What sayl . . . We're mad? . . . 2
All hail! There it is, at last the word I was looking for!-Ah! Ah! cackle' its impotent prides of
The city o[ Paralysrswith its henhouse 'little
Happiest inspiration! Pick up this massively golden word with care, that give birth to mean
truncated columns, its bloated domes
carry it quickly in procession,and hide it deep in your safest cellarl curling from childish bastions
statues,the whim of its cigarette smoke
With this word between your fingers and on your lips you could live nose ' ' ' it fades behind us' danc-
,t*r t""i,. you to Poke them in the
another twenty centuries. . . . For my part I tell you that the world is
ing to the beat of our swift strides'
rotten with wisdoml away' the Madhouse suddenly
Ahead of us, still sevetal kilometers
"That is why we teach today a daily methodical heroism, a joy in frisking
.."r, ,tp, high on the ridge of an elegant hill that seemsto be
desperationwhen the heart yields up all its profir, the habit of enrhusi-
like a colt.
asm,an abandonment vertigo.
to last time' before we go on to
"Brothers," I said, "lecs rest for the
"We teach the plunge into shadowy death under the white, staring
construct the greatFuturist Railroadl"
eye of the ldeal. . . . And we ourselveswill give the example, abandon- in the limitless madnessof
We lay down to ,1..p; t;; of t.t' *'"pptd
ing ourselvesto the raging Tailoress of battles rvho, when she has sewn
us into handsomescarletuniforms, gorgeousin the sun, will anoint our
hair with flame and brush it smooth with projectiles.|ust so does the
t the Milky Way, in the shadow of tht
",.f,
P"i'ct of the living' and immedi-
,ft.' ,rpro", of the great square hammers
silent. . . . But Paolo tlt"'i tot'ldn't
of space and time fell
sleep; his exhaustedbody contin-
heat of a summer's night spreadthe 6elds with an undulant shimmer of stars that assailedus from
ually started up, pricked by the poisonous
firefies.
"Each day men must electri{y their nerves to a fearlesspride! . . .
Men must stake their lives on a single cast, not on the lookout for
I everyquarter.
"Brother!" I murmured"'scatter far from
me these bees' who buzz
on the purPle roseof mY will!"
cheating croupiersor trying to control the wheels, but standing bowed visionary shade of the Palace
Th.n *. went back to sleep' in the
above the vast green carpets of war, brooded over by the sun's luck- there wafted the soothing, amPle
crowned with fantasy from which
bearing iamp. It is necessary-do you understandl-necessary for the
melopoeiaof eternal ioY'
soul to launch the body in flames,like a fireship, againsrthe enemy, the dreaming out loud: "I feel my
Enrico Cavacchioli was dozing and
eternal enemy that we would have to invent if it didn't exist.

7. 56 57
the
twenty-year-oldbody growing young againl . . . With an ever-younge r "O madmen, O belovedbrothersof ours, follow me!-We'll build
step, I return to my cradle. . Soon I'll reenter mv mother,s womb! Railroad over all the mountain peaks,as far as the sea! How ma[y are
want bore-
. . . F o r m e , t h e n , e v e r y t h i n gi s l a w { u l l . . . I want expensive lay- p y o u ? . . . T h r e e t h o u s a n d l . . . N o t e n o u g h !Y o u d o n ' t
things to smash . . cities to crumble, human anthills to kick aside! dom and monotony to cut short your fine beginnings' ' ' Let's run for
the Capital
. I want to domesticate winds and hold them on a leash.. . . I
the advice to the beastsof the menageriesclustered around
want a pack of winds, supple greyhounds ro chasethe flaccid, bearded gates.Of all beings they are the most alive' the most rootless'the least
cirrus." vegetal!Forward!-To Gout! To Gout!"
gate'
The breathing of my sleeping brothers feigned the sleep of a potent 5o *. *.rr,, a mighty dischargefrom an enormoussluice
down the
seaalong the beach.But the inexhaustible enthusiasm the dawn was
of From plain to pt"in ,tt. army of madnessadvanced'poured
of a liquid
already pouring down from rhe mounrains, as richly as the night had valieys,,*iftly .ii-bed the peaks' with the easy fatal rush
foreheads'and
pouredout perfumesand heroicessences. paolo Buzzi, suddenlvwaked b.t*..n huge connecting uer,.l,. Finally, with outcries'
from that delirious flood, tossedas if in the anguish of a nightmare. fists,it rakeJ the walls of Gout untii they rang iike a bell'
them drunk'
"Do you hear it, the Earth's sighingt . . . The Earth is tormented by When it had killed or trampled the guardians or made
the horror of lightl . . . Too many suns lean over its livid pillowl Let the gesticulatingtide swamPedthe slimy corridors of the seragliowhose
it sleep! . . . Longerl Forever! . . . Give me clouds, masses clouds, ."gi, frrll of dancing tresses, swayed in the vapor of savage urines'
of
mad'
to coverits eyesand its rveepir-rg mouth!" sw-ungmore lightly than canary cagesin the embraceof the
At theservords rhe sun presentedto us its red and trembling wheel of Thi reign of the lions reiuvenated the Capital' The rebellion of their
out the fagades'
fire, irom the farthesthorizon. manes and the swelling arches of their backs carved
" G e t u p , P a o l o l " I c r i e d . " S e i z et h a t w h e e l ! . . . I Their torrential force dug up the pavement and transformed the streets
proclaimyou
vegetation ot
driver of the world! But, alas. we rvon't be equal to the rvork of into so many tunnels with open vaults' All the phthisic
the great Futurist Railroad! our hearrsare still full of filthv rubbish: the inhabitants of Gout was baked to a crisp in their houses'which' full
hail of dismay that
peacocks' tails, pompous weathercocks, fancy scentedhandkerchiefs! of howling limbs, trembled under the boisterous
And rve still haven't emptied our heads of the lugubrious anrs of wis_ riddled their roofs.
mounted the
dom. . . . We needmadmen!-Away and free them!', With sudden leapsand the mien of clowns the madmen
We approachedwalls flooded with solar jov, coasteda sinister valley beautiful, diffident lions who were hardly aware of them' and those
the tails that continu-
where thirtv metal cranesrose up with a cry, railway cars full of smok_ weird knights exulted in the tranquil swishing of
mad-
ing laundry, the useless linen of those pure Ones already cleansed ally brushld them off. . . . Then the animals pulled up short' the
of
'
everystain of logic. men fell silent before the walls that no longer moved' ' '
All the
Two alienistsappeared, categorically, the palace threshold.I had
on "The old onesare dead! . ' ' The young have run away! ' ' '
rods! Rob the
nothing in my hand but a blinding automobileheadlight; with its pol- better!-Quick! Strip off the statues and lightning
' Melt every pre-
ishedbrasshandleI dealtthem out death. strongboxesheaped with gold! Ingots and.coinl! ' '
Madmen and madrvomenpouredout bv the thousands frorn the open ciousmetal down, for the great military Railroad!"
madwomen
doors, in torrenrs,shirtless,
half-naked,ro rejuvenateand recolor the We all rushed out, the madmen gesticulating and the
by naked horsemen
Earth'swrinkled face. disheveled,the lions, tigers, and panthers ridden
Imrnediately sor.neof rhem wanred ro brandish the shining bell rigid and contortedin the fever of their wild excitement'
wine in foaming
towers Iike ivory batons; others begar-r sit in a circle and toss the
to Gout was no more than an immense tub of red
domesaround iike balls. . . . The women were combing their distant gorges,pouring vehemently out of gates whose drowned drawbridges
cloud-tresses the sharp pointsof a constellation.
with shudderedand sounded.

8. 58 59
We crossed the ruins of Europe and enteredAsia, scatteringthe terri- distant loquaciousechoes crouching in the mountains' But while we' all
fied hordes of Gout and Paralysis, as sowers cast their seed in wide of ,rr, *.r. raging to free our arms and legs from the last clinging
of lovely warm
sweepinggestures. lianas, suddeniy *. f"lt the carnal Moon, the Moon
thighs, abandoning herself languidly againstour-broken backs'
"Let's murder
3 ,i.ry *.n, up i.t th. airy solitudeof the high plains:
At midnight we were almost in the sky, on the high Persian plateau, the moonshine!"
sublime altar of the world, whose boundless sreppesbear populous Some ran te r-rearby cascades; gigantic lvheels rvere raised' and tur-
that rushed
cities.Reaching to infinity along the Railroad, we panred over crucibles bines transformed the rushing waters into magnetic pulses
of barite, aluminum, and manganesethat every so often terrified the up wires,up high poles, to shining,humming globes'
up
with their rays
clouds with their blinding explosions; and looking down on us from So it was that three hundred electric moons canceled
of loves'
above was the majestic circular patrol of lions who switched their tails, of blinding mine ral whitenessthe ancient green queen
Railroad' fol-
cast their manes ro the wind, bored holes in the deep black sky with And the military Railroad was built' An extravagant
their burly white roarings. lowing the chain of the highest mountains on which our vehement
down one Peak.and
But, little by little, the clear, rvarm smile of the moon broke from the locomotives soon set out, plumed with loud cries,
torn clouds. And when she finally appeared,dripping with the intoxi- up another, casting themselves into every gulf and climbing everywhere
cating milk of acacias, the madmen felt their hearts bursr from their in .."r.h of hungrv abysses. ridiculous turns' and impossible zigzags'
breastsas they climbed ro the surfaceof the liquid night. . . . From f^. and from every side boundlesshatred marked our
"*ry the hordes o[ Gout
Suddenly a piercing cry split the air: the sound spread out, everyone horizon that bristled with fugitives' ' ' ' They were
ran up. It was a very young madman with a virgin's eyes,struck and Paralysis,and we threw them head-over-heels into Hindustan'
by lightning on the Railroad.
Immediately the body was raised.In his hands he held an ardenr 4
impetuous
white fower whose pistil flickered like a woman's rongue. Some wished Hot pursuit-now the Ganges is overleapt! Finally our
to touch it, but no: as swift as dawn spreadingover the sea,a sighing breathing put to flight the shufling clouds and their clinging hostility'
throb of. the
verdure rose by magic from an earth crisped by surprising undulations. and on the horizon we caught sight of the dark-green
a fantastic golden
From the blue fluctuations of the meadows there emerged the 6lmy Indian Ocean, over which the sun was fitting
and Oman' it was
crowns of numberlessswimming women, who sighed as they opened muzzie.. . . Languishing in the gulfs of Bengal
the petals of their mouths and their humid eyes.Then, in the inebriat- treacherously preparing an invasion of the land'
a rubbie
ing drench of perfumes,we saw a fabulous forest growing and spread- At the fa. end of the promontory of Cormorin' edged with
Ass' whose grayish
ing around us; its drooping leaves seemed tired by a lazv breeze. A of gray-white bones, beitold the coiossalfleshless
of the
bitter tenderness wavered there. . . . Nightingales were drinking the p"rlh-.n, rump has been hollowed by the delicious weight
patched up with
shadowswith long gurgles of pleasure.From time ro time in their hid- Moon. . . Behold the learned Ass, its wordy member
its asthmatic rancor
ing places they broke into laughter like lively, wicked children at hidc- writings, as from time immemorial it rattles
motionless vessels
and-seek. Gradually the sweet drowsinessbegan to conquer the army of ,g"i.rr, th. -i,t, of the horizon where three great
the mad, who began to howl with terror. their sparslooking like human spines in an X ray'
"Iu"n.., ridden by madmen
Impetuously the rvild beasrs ran to help them. Three times the tigers Suddenly, the immense troop of wild beasts
under a whirling fiare of
bore down, rolled tight as balls, their claws sharp with explosive rage, had spread numberlesssnouts over the waves'
Ocean answeredtheir
on the invisible phanroms in whom the depths of that forest of delighrs -"n., ,h"t cailed on the Ocean for help' And the
constantlyrose to the surface.. .. Finally a breach was forced: huge arching a mighty back and shaking the promontories before it
"pf."l, its haunchesand
convulsions of stricken foliage whose drarvn-our moans wakened the ,pr"rrg. Fo, iong time it tested its strength' moving
"

9. 60 61
flexing its sonorousbellv between its vast, elasticfoundations.Then. to the right, those azure shuttles . . . they're the madmen cradling
with a great heaveof the loins, the ocean succeeded lifting its rvhole
in their monoplanesin the south wind's hammock! I, meanwhile, sit
massand flooded the crooked line of its shores. . . Thus did the fear_ like a weaver before his loom, weaving the sky's evening blue!-{h!
ful invasion begin. All the fresh valleys,all the wild mountains beneathus! How many
We rvere marching in the wide waves,pawing embrace,great globes flocks of rosy sheepscatteredon the slopesof the green hills that offer
of white spume that rol.ledand toppled,soaking the lions' backs.. . . themselves the sunset! . . . My soul, you have loved them! ' ' ' No!
to
And they, drawn up in a semicirclearound us, added their fangs to the No! Enough! No more, never again will such insipidities pleaseyou!
fangs of the sea, the hissing spray and the howling. Sometimes from . . . The reeds that once we shaped to shepherds' pipes make the
hilltops we watchedthe ocean slowlv strerchits monstrousprofile,like armor of this plane! . . . Nostalgia! Triumphal intoxication! ' ' '
an immensewhale that drives aheadon a million fins. And it was we Soon we,ll overrake the inhabitants of Gout and Paralysisbecausethe
who led it up to the Himalayan chain as we spread open the fleeing h e a d w i n d sg i v e u s s p e e d . . . . W h a t s a y st h e a n e m o m e t e r l' " T h e
hordes like a fan, whom we meant to shatteron the sidesof Gorisankar. wind from ahead has a speed of one hundred kilometers an hour!-
"Hurry, my brothersl-Do you want the beasts overtakeus? We
to Who cares I climb to two thousand meters to surmount the high pla-
I
must stay ahead,despiteour slow stepsthat pump the earth'sjuices. teau. . Look! There are the hordes! There, there, ahead of us, al-
. . . To the devil with these sticky hands and root-dragging feetl . . . ready beneath our feet! . . . Look down, straight down, among the
Oh! We're norhing but poor vagabondtreesl We need wings!-Then masses greenery,the riotous tumult of that human flood in fight!-
of
let'smake airplanes." This uproar?-It's the crashof trees!Ah! Ahl The enemy hordesare
"Make them blue!" the madmen shouted,,,blue, betrerto hide us
the already thrown against the high walis of Gorisankar! ' ' ' And the
from the watchful enemy and confound us with the blue of the sky, the battle is joined! ... Do you hear, do you hear how our motors al>
sky that chattersagainstthe wind-blown peaks like an immense ban_ plaud ? . . . What ho, great Indian Ocean' to the rescue!"
ner." solemnly the ocean followed us, leveling the walls of veneratedcities
And, to the Buddha's glorv, the madmen seized sky-blue manrles and casting iliustrious towers from their seats. Old horsemen with
from ancientpagodas, build their flying machines.
to sounding armor toPpledfrom the marble archesof temples'
,
We cut our Futurist planesfrom the ocher-colored cloth of sailing Finallyl Finally! So there you are aheadof us' great swarming popu-
ships. Some had balancing wings and, carrying their motors, rose like lace of Paralysisand Gout, disgusting leprosy devouring the mountain-
the bloodyvulturesthat lift thrashingheifersinto the skv. sides. . . . Swiftly we fly againstyou, flanked by the galloping lions our
Here it is: my own multicellularbiplanesteered the tail; roo Hp, g
by brothers,and behind us the menacing friendship of the Ocean that fol-
cylinders,fio kilograms. Between my feet I have a tinv machine lows closely to foul the foot-draggers! . . . That's a mere Precaution,
gun that I can fire by pushing a steelbutton. . . . because don't fear you! . . . But you are numberless!' ' ' And we
we
And we take off, in the intoxication of a keen maneuver, a livelv, might use up our ammunition and grow old in the slaughter! ' ' ' Let
snappingfight, rhythmic and gracefullike a songof invitation to drink - . d i . . . , t h e f i r e ! . . . U p 8 o o m e t e r s !R e a d y ! " ' F i r e ! " ' O h !
and dance. the iov of playing billiards with Death! ' ' ' This is something you
"Hurrahl Finally we're worthy to command the great armv of the cannot take from us! . . . Still hanging back? We'll soon be over this
mad and the unchainedbeasts! Hurrah! We masterour rearguard, the plateau! . . . My airplane runs on its wheels,skatesalong, and then up
Ocean with its tangle of foaming cavalryl Forward, madmen, again i., flightl . . . I'm fying against the wind! ' ' ' Brauissimi' mad-
madwomen, lions, tigers, and panthers! Forward, you squadronsof r n . n ! . . . C o n t i n u e t h e m a s s a c r e.!. ' W a t c h m e ! I s e i z et h e s t i c k
wavesl . . For you our biplaneswill be as war bannersand oassionate and glide smoothly down, magniGcently stable, and touch ground
lovers.Deliciouslovers who swim with open arms on the undulating where the fight rageshottest!
leaves, who gentlv idle in the breeze's
or seesarv!-Butlook down there. Seethe furious coitus of war, gigantic vulva stirred by the friction of

10. 62
courage,shapeless vulva that spreadsto o6er itself to the terrific soasm
of 6nal victoryl It's ours, the victory . . . of that I,m sure, because
madmen are already hurling their hearts roward heaven, like bombs!
the Against Past-lovingVenice
...I r a i s em y s i g h t st o a h u n d r e d m e r e r s ! . . R e a d y !. . . F i r e !
.
... Our bloodl-Yesl All our blood, in waves, ro recolor the sick
dawns of the Earth! Yes, we will warm you again between our April, 27, Iglo
smoking arms, O pitiful, decrepit, and shivering sun, trembling on
the
summit of Gorisankarl
We renounce the old Venice, enfeebledand undone by worldly luxury,
although we once ioved and possessed in a great nostalgic dream'
it
We renounce the Venice of foreigners' market for counterfeiting
antiquarians, magnet for snobbery and universal imbecility' bed un-
sprung by caravansof lovers,jeweled bathtub for cosmopolitancourte-
sans, cloacamaxima of passdism.
We want to cure and heal this putrefying city, magnificent sore from
the past.We want to cheerand ennoble the Venetian people,fallen from
their ancient grandeur, drugged by a contemptible mean cowardice in
the practiceof their little one-eyedbusinesses.
We want to prepare the birth of an industrial and military Venice
that can dominate the Adriatic Sea,that great Italian lake.
Let us hasten to fill in its little reeking canals with the shards of its
leprous,crumbling palaces.
Let us burn the gondolas,rocking chairs for cretins' and raise to the
heavensthe imposing geometry of metal bridges and howitzers plumed
with smoke, to abolish the falling curvesof the old architecture'
Let the reign of holy Electric Light finally come' to liberate Venice
from its venal moonshineof furnished rooms.
fOn luly 8, r9ro,8oo,ooo leafletscontaining this manilesto uere launched
by the Futurist pocts and paifltcrs lrom the top ol thc Clocft Touter
onto a croud returning from the Lido. Therewith began the campaign
that Futurists kcpt uP for three yearsagainstpastJoaing Venice'

11. 65
o4
foreigners'Your servility
The following "Speechto the Venetians"uta! irnprouisedby Marinetti But you want to Prostrateyourself before all
and prouofted a tcrriblc battlc. The Futurists were hissed, the pass1ists is repulsive!
to be faithful slaves
tucrc ftnocftcdoround. Venetiansl Venetians! Why do you always want
of the past? The seedy custodians of the greatestbordello in history'
Thc Futurist painters Boccioni, Russolo, and Carri punctuated this
where mortally corrupted
speechwith resounding slaps.The fists ol Armando Mazza, a Futurist nurses in the saddesthospital in the world'
soulslanguish in the pestilence of sentimentalityI
poet a.,horuasalso an athlete,lelt an unlorgettableimpression.-Ed,.l
and silly inertia' like that
Oh! I lack no images to describeyour vain
singer! Your gondo-
MARINETTI'S FUTURIST SPEECHTO THE of a great man's son or the husband of a famous
gravediggerstrying in ca-
VENETIANS liers, can't you perhaps comParethem with
denceto dig ditchesin a fooded cemetery ?
Venetiansl
But nothing can offend you' your humility is boundless!
When we cried out, "Let's murder the moonshine we were think-
l" absorbedin enriching the
ing of you, old Venicesoiledwith romanticisml One knows, moreover,ttt" yo' are sagely
why you stubbornly sit
But now our voice grorvs louder, and we roar, "Let's free the world So.o,y of Grand Hotels, and this is exactly
from the tyranny of amore! We're sick of erotic adventures, lechery, there and rot!
of and gifted artists' auda-
sentimentality,and nostalgia! " And yet, once you were invincible rvarriors
and tireless merchants'
Why then so stubborn, Venice, in offering us veiled women at every cious nauigators, ingenious industrialists'
ciceroni' pimps' antiquarians'
twilit turn of your canalsI And you iru. b..o-. waiters in hotels'
and,coPyists' Have you for-
Enough! Enough! Stop rvhispering obsceneinvitations ro every mor- i-port.r., fakers of old pictures,pla-giarists
you lt"li'n" and in the language of
tal passerby, Venice, old procuress,who, under vour heavy mosaic
O gotten that first of ^that
"ll "t
mantilla, still eagerly prepare exhausting romanric nights, querulous tirto.y thi, word means: builders of the future?
up the debilitating effectsof
serenades, and {rightful ambushes ! Oh! Don't defend yourselves bringing
by
warlike wind that filied the
Nevertheless, Venice, I used to love the sumptuous shade of your
O the sirocco!What else*"' it bt't th"t torrid
sailsof the heroesof Lepanto? This very African wind will one day' on
Grand Canal steepedin exotic lewdnesses, the hectic pallor of your of the corroding waters that
women who slip from their balconies down ladderswoven of lightning, some hellish noon, 'pttd the blind work
slanting rain, and moonrays,to the tinkle of crossed mine your venerablecitY'
swords.
But enough! All this absurd, abominable,and irritating nonsense oh!Howwe'lldanceonthatdayloh!Howwe'llapplaudthela.
And what a splendid round
nauseates And now we want electriclamps brutally to cut and strip
us! goons, will egg them o" to dt't"tttion!
i"n..'w.,ll hlu. in the illustrious ruins! All of us will be insanely gay'
away with their thousand poinrs of light your mysrerious,sickening,
worldl
alluring shadows! we, the last student rebelsof this too wise
before the
So it was, O Venetians, that we sang' danced' and laughed
Your Grand Canal, widened and dredged, must becomea great com- a wornout mouse be-
the Island of piit" that peiished like
mercial port. Trains and trams, launched on wide roads built over ca- "gr"f "r doors in
hind the Aswan Dam, immense trap with electric folding
nals that have finally been filled in, will bring you mountains of goods sacredwa-
imprisons the fleeing
and a shrewd, wealthy, busy crowd of industrialisrs and business- which the Futurist gtnit' of England
men! ters of the Nile!
at me that I'm a barbarian'
Don't howl against the so-calleduglinessof locomorrves, All right, shrug your shouldersand shout
rrams, auto- hovers over your enchanting
mobiles, and bicycles,in which we see the first outlines of the great .,nrbl. io .nioy tht divine poetry that
Futurist aesthetic.They can alrvays serve to upset some horrible gro- isles!
of it! ' ' '
tesqueNordic professorin his Tyrolean hat. Come! You have no reasonto be so proud

12. 66
Free Torcello, Burano, and the Isle of the Dead from all the diseased
literature and all the endlessromanric embroidery draped over rhem by
poets poisonedwith the Venetian fever; then, laughing with me, think
Futurist Speech the English
to
of theseislands as heaps of manure dropped at raldom by mammoths
as they forded your prehistoric iagoons!
But you conremplare them stupidly, hrppy to decay in your dirty Giuen at the LYceum Ctub of London
waters, happy to go on enriching the Society of Grand Hotels as it r9Io
anxiously preparesits elegant nights for all the magnificos of the earthl
Certainly, it's no smail thing to stimulate their love. Say that your
guest is an emperor: for hours he navigatesin the filth of this immense
sewer full of cracked historical crockery; his gondoliers dig their way
with oars through several kilometers of liquefied excrement, passing
close,in a sacredstink of larrines,to bargesheapedwith lovely garbage,
escortedby dubious floating paper bags, before he reacheshis goal in
true imperial styie,pieasedwith himself and his lordly statel
are' I will tell you first what we
This, this has bee your glory up ro now, O Ve netiansI
n To give you a clear idea of what we
Shameon you! Shameon you! And you throw yourselves on top one think of you.
frankness and abstain entirely
of another like bags of sand to make an earthworks on the border, I will expressmyself rvith comPlete
cosmopolitanlecturersrvho crush
while we preparea great strong industrial, commercial,and military from paying you court in the style of
them full of banalities'
Venice on the Adriaric Sea,that grear Italian lake! their audienceswith praise before cramming
One of our young humorists has said that every good Futurist should
I will be discourteouswith you'
be discourteoustwenty trmes a day' So
think of the English' after hav-
bravely confessingto you all the ill we
ing spoken n.ruchgood of them'
- 'B..ur.,,.,
bellicosepatriot-
a, you well know, we love the indomitable
national pride that guides your
ism that sets you aPart; we love the
love the potent individrralism
great muscuiarly courageousrace; we
of
that doesn't prevent you from opening your arms to individualists
e v e r yl a n d .w h e t h e rl i b e r t a r i a no r a n a r c h i s t s '
s
all we admire' What most sets
But your broad love of libertv is not
and evangelical cow-
yo,, is that, amid so much pacifistnonsense
"p"r, for every kind of struggle'
ardice, you nourish an unbridled passion
roaring
irorr', Uo"lng-simple, brutal' and rapid-to the monstrous
yo.,t dreadnoughts, crouched.in
necks of the cannon on the decks of
distant' delectable
their swiveling caves of steel, turning to scent the
enemysquadrons.
is nothing worse for a' lnan's
You know perfectly rvell that there
you know that prolonged peace'
blood than the forgivenessof offenses;

13. FUTURIST
SYN ESIS THEWAR
OT
We glorify war. which for us is the.only hygiene of the wor workr
( First-Futurist M anifestor . whereast". ri" b""r-"".- 'ndorved with creativegeniue the'Futuristicright to dettroy
ii- r-. lil.i.5rti. ii*tt beloigs solelv to the Italian creative Geniue'
i r* r",.i r"i-i;;;;;' i;""",._ oid
rhe :;;;i"';i".;;?il";';;""* and-greater beautv on the ruina of
terest; but we deny medieval, plagiarist, ";,il;;;i.';;';::'f
"i;;;-d;";;"y, of rbeold.
ELASTICITY
INTUITIVE SYNTHESIS
INVENTION
MULTIPLICATION RIGIDITY
OF FORCES {NALYSIS
INVISIBLE ORDER Iteruootcel IIllrATloN
CREATIVE
GENIUS ADDITION SHEEPISHNESS
- AWKWARDNESS
OF IDIOCIES -PHILOSOPHICALFUMES
NUMISMATIC ORDER
- HEAVINESS
CULTURE
GERMAN z _ CRUDENESS
F
INDEPENDENCE - BRUTATITY
& AMBITION - ESPIONACE
t.J TEMERITY z PRACTICAT SPIRIT & -PROFESSIONALPEDANTRY
rt1 SENSEOF DUTY lrl
(5 _ ARCHAEOTOGY
COMMERCIAL HONESTY -coilsTIPATlOtl oF
z
Ir1
RESPECT FOR
INDUSTRIAL CAMELOTS
INDIVIDUALITY
-BOTCHERS AND GAFFEURS
ENERGY
wrtt o
INITIATIVE
&
(5
I
INDUSTRIAT lrl INDEPENDENCE
EI
PERFECTION z AMBITION
F TEMERITY ,
EI
INTETLIGENCE
COURAGE
z
=
z
NI$l'I t[$s
IISl[
Q SPEID AGITITY THEIR PEDANTIC CRITICS
z ETEGANCE PROGRESS OPLE.PgET
E SPONTANEITY RESOTUTENESS
l& EXPLOSIVEI{ESS
EASE
ALL THE STRENGTHS tDtocY -
- FILTHINESS FEROCITY
E1
ALL THE WEAXNESSES
F - POLICEDIMWITTEDI{ESS
OFGENIUS -CIOTTED BTOOD tll
POWER - t4 -0
Hl
(A - GALLOWS ESPIONAGE
.A
SOTIDITY - BIGOTRY &
= IMPREGNABITITY - PAPALISM F
x QUANTITY - TNQUISITION
- REQUlSlTlot{
-
- BEDBUGS PRIESTS
IMRINETTI
B0cct0NI
IIFD T
D?TAEAT
A
DI ATT]
From tfre Mif anese Cell,September 20, 1914
Directory ;f th; ii;,t';i;a Movement: Corso Venezia, 6l-MILAN

14. 81 "1
In this campaign of ours for liberation, our best allies are the suffra- *
Against Amoreand gettes, because the more rights and powers they win for woman, the
I
more will she be deprived'of Amore, and by so much will she ceaseto
Parliamentarianism be a magnet for sentimental passionor lust.
The carnal life will be reduced to the conservationof the species, and
---
that will be so much gain for the growing statureof man'
As for the supposedinferiority of woman, we think that if her bodf .
From War, the World's Only Hygiene and spirit had, for many generationspast. been subiectedto the same /
rgr r-rgr 5 physical and spiritual education as man, it would perhapsbe legitimatef
to speakof the equality of the sexes.
It is obvious, in any case,that in her actual state of intellectual and
I , ,"' erotic slavery,woman finds herself wholly inferior in respectto charac-
l.: ,iJ',r1 ter and intelligence and can therefore be only a mediocre legislative
,f.;',.,5
.. I instrument.
^v 'j,,/
't'_ il iy i. For just this reasonwe mosr enthusiasticallydefend the rights of the
suffragettes, the same time that we regret their childish eagerness for
I il' at
" This hatred, precisely, for the ryranny of Amore we expressedin a right to vote.
the miserable,ridiculous
laconicphrase:"scornfor women.,' Indeed, we are convinced that they will win it hands down, and thus
/' we scorn woman conceivedas the sole idear, the divine reservoir of made up of cor-
involuntarily help us to destroy that grand foolishness,
.,"! . Amore, the woman-poison, woman the tragic trinket, the fragile ruption and banality, to which parliamentarianism is now reduced'
woman, obsessingand fatal, whose voice, heavy with destiny, and j This style of government is exhaustedalmost everywhere' It accom-
l-.r , ' i
;,:
j '
i
whose dreaming rresses
drenchedin moonshine.
reach out and mingle with the foliage of forests
I plished a few good things: it created the illusory participation of the
majority in government. I say "illusory" becauseit is clear that the
i:r- We despise horrible, dragging Amorcthat hinders the march of man, people cannot be and never will be representedby spokesmenwhom
,,, .l him from transcending his own humanity, from redoubling
.*.greventing they do not know how to choose.
.',u.:,i.*'himself, from going beyond himself and becoming what
we call the Consequently,the people are always estrangedfrorn the government'
: multiplied man.
- " . i ! +,. On the other hand, it is preciselyto parliamentarianism that the people
. -,' I We scorn horrible, dragging Amorc, immense leash with which the .
owe their real existence
sun in its orbit chains the courageousearth that would surely rather
.tJ The pride of the mob was inflated by the electivesystem'The stature
"' leapat random,run everystarry risk. But this
of the individual was heightened by the idea of representation.
'.q We are convinced that Amore-sentimentality by immeasur-
11, and lechery_is the idea has completely undermined the value of intelligence
least natural thing in the world. There is nothing narural and impor_
, i ably exaggeratingthe worth of eioquence.This state of affairs worsens
t
I tant exceptcoitus,whose purposeis the futurism of the species. day by day.
'
Amorc-romantic, voluptuary obsession-is nothing but an invention entranceot women
Therefore I welcome with pleasurethe aggressive
of the poets, who gave it to humanity. . . . And it will be the poers find a dynamite more impatient
into the parliaments.Where could we
who will take ir away from humanity, as one recoversa manuscript
or more effective I
from the hands of a publisher who has shown himself incapable of Nearly all the European parliaments are mere noisy chicken coops'
printing it decendy.
cow stalls,or sewers.
Their first principles are: r) financial corruption, shrewdness brib-
in