Starting from the mid-fifties, the twentieth-century Italian poetry embraces new expressive needs and shows a significant interest in the mise en page. By taking into consideration this turning point, the article intends to investigate the stylistic use of the graphic space in order to describe its qualities and verify its application in the examined context. The main values of the spacing, linked to the syntax, the semantic enhancement and the rhythm of the lyrics, are here observed through the analysis of examples by Montale, Sereni and Caproni. On the other hand, as far as the non-syntactic writing is concerned, the analysis focuses on Sanguineti and Zanzotto. Specific attention is given to those rhetorical and linguistic elements which tend to connect the textual areas close to the white space. As a matter of fact, beyond the specificities of each single author, the peculiar use of the page reveals conventional elements connected both to traditions and avant-garde.
