Poesia magazine, Number 3-4-5-6, April/July 1909 (5th year). Special issue devoted to Futurism, cover by Alberto Martini.

This magazine, published in Milan for an international circulation, was founded in 1905 by F.T. Marinetti who was, at the time, involved in a personal crusade for the renovation of poetry. In this year he launched an international discourse on the subject of "free-verse" which achieved wide and enthusiastic approval as well as heavy participation among the leading personalities in the field.

In this historic issue of Poesia, Marinetti introduced his latest creation, Futurism. Ironically, the new Futurist ideas led directly to the end of the magazine. In its last issue, dated September 1909, Poesia featured the Manifesto politico futurista (Futurist Political Manifesto) which outlined Marinetti's anarchist and nationalist nature. Eventually it became evident that the role and format of Poesia had become outdated. Indeed, for Marinetti, the denial of the past could no longer be only a literary affair but became a way of life. Now Poesia, with its glossy pages and 19th Century cover style, belonged to the past, and therefore faced its demise.

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