Prophecy
In this poem, Gioia looks at the ways different people such as children, women, and men view prophecy. He also examines how prophecy can be used and how some people seem destined to suffer. However, he ends the poem with the revelation that suffering may be a good thing.
Pity the Beautiful
A poem about pitying those who only have beauty because this beauty will eventually fade and they will be left with nothing.
The Gift
This text describes a present the narrator receives and has yet to open. The gift was probably given to him by someone close to him.
The Haunted
A poem about a man who goes to visit the house of his rich lover Mara and sees a ghost in one of the bedrooms in an experience that shakes him to his core.