The Infinite.

    This lonely hill to me was ever dear,
    This hedge, which shuts from view so large a part
    Of the remote horizon. As I sit
    And gaze, absorbed, I in my thought conceive
    The boundless spaces that beyond it range,
    The silence supernatural, and rest
    Profound; and for a moment I am calm.
    And as I listen to the wind, that through
    These trees is murmuring, its plaintive voice
    I with that infinite compare;
    And things eternal I recall, and all
    The seasons dead, and this, that round me lives,
    And utters its complaint. Thus wandering
    My thought in this immensity is drowned;
    And sweet to me is shipwreck on this sea.

Giacomo Leopardi

Giacomo Leopardi was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Born in Recanati into a noble family, he is often considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century. Leopardi's works are noted for their pessimism and philosophical depth, exploring existential themes such as suffering, the nature of happiness, and the human condition. His notable works include the collection "Canti" and the philosophical dialogue "Operette morali." He died young at the age of 38 in Naples.

Giacomo Leopardi

Calm After Storm.

Giacomo Leopardi, Simple Poetry

To The Moon.

Giacomo Leopardi, Simple Poetry

To Sylvia.

Giacomo Leopardi, Simple Poetry

English

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Canzone XVII.

Di pensier in pensier, di monte in monte.

DISTANCE AND SOLITUDE.


    From hill to hill I roam, from thought to thought,
With Love my guide; the beaten path I fly,
For there in vain the tranquil life is sought:
If 'mid the waste well forth a lonely rill,
Or deep embosom'd a low valley lie,
In its calm shade my trembling heart's still;
And there, if Love so will,
I smile, or weep, or fondly hope, or fear.
While on my varying brow, that speaks the soul,
The wild emotions roll,
Now dark, now bright, as shifting skies appear;
That whosoe'er has proved the lover's state
Would say, He feels the flame, nor knows his future fate.

On mountains high, in forests drear and wide,
I find repose, and from the throng'd resort
Of man turn fea...

Francesco Petrarca

The Lonely Life.

    The morning rain, when, from her coop released,
    The hen, exulting, flaps her wings, when from
    The balcony the husbandman looks forth,
    And when the rising sun his trembling rays
    Darts through the falling drops, against my roof
    And windows gently beating, wakens me.
    I rise, and grateful, bless the flying clouds,
    The cheerful twitter of the early birds,
    The smiling fields, and the refreshing air.
    For I of you, unhappy city walls,
    Enough have seen and known; where hatred still
    Companion is to grief; and grieving still
    I live, and so shall die, and that, how soon!
    But here some pity Nature shows, though small,
    Once in this spot to me so courteous!
    Thou, too, O Nature, turn'st away thy gaze
    From mis...

Giacomo Leopardi

To Himself.

    Nor wilt thou rest forever, weary heart.
    The last illusion is destroyed,
    That I eternal thought. Destroyed!
    I feel all hope and all desire depart,
    For life and its deceitful joys.
    Forever rest! Enough! Thy throbbings cease!
    Naught can requite thy miseries;
    Nor is earth worthy of thy sighs.
    Life is a bitter, weary load,
    The world a slough. And now, repose!
    Despair no more, but find in Death
    The only boon Fate on our race bestows!
    Still, Nature, art thou doomed to fall,
    The victim scorned of that blind, brutal power
    That rules and ruins all.

Giacomo Leopardi

The Ruling Thought.

    Most sweet, most powerful,
    Controller of my inmost soul;
    The terrible, yet precious gift
    Of heaven, companion kind
    Of all my days of misery,
    O thought, that ever dost recur to me;

    Of thy mysterious power
    Who speaketh not? Who hath not felt
    Its subtle influence?
    Yet, when one is by feeling deep impelled
    Its secret joys and sorrows to unfold,
    The theme seems ever new however old.

    How isolated is my mind,
    Since thou in it hast come to dwell!
    As by some magic spell,
    My other thoughts have all,
    Like lightning, disappeared;
    And thou, alone, like some huge tower,
    In a deserted plain,
    Gigantic, solitary, dost remain.

    How worthless quite,
    S...

Giacomo Leopardi

First Love.

    Ah, well can I the day recall, when first
    The conflict fierce of love I felt, and said:
    If this be love, how hard it is to bear!

    With eyes still fixed intent upon the ground,
    I saw but her, whose artless innocence,
    Triumphant took possession of this heart.

    Ah, Love, how badly hast thou governed me!
    Why should affection so sincere and pure,
    Bring with it such desire, such suffering?

    Why not serene, and full, and free from guile
    But sorrow-laden, and lamenting sore,
    Should joy so great into my heart descend?

    O tell me, tender heart, that sufferest so,
    Why with that thought such anguish should be blent,
    Compared with which, all other thoughts were naught?

    That t...

Giacomo Leopardi

The Lonely Sparrow.

    Thou from the top of yonder antique tower,
    O lonely sparrow, wandering, hast gone,
    Thy song repeating till the day is done,
    And through this valley strays the harmony.
    How Spring rejoices in the fields around,
    And fills the air with light,
    So that the heart is melted at the sight!
    Hark to the bleating flocks, the lowing herds!
    In sweet content, the other birds
    Through the free sky in emulous circles wheel,
    In pure enjoyment of their happy time:
    Thou, pensive, gazest on the scene apart,
    Nor wilt thou join them in the merry round;
    Shy playmate, thou for mirth hast little heart;
    And with thy plaintive music, dost consume
    Both of the year, and of thy life, the bloom.

    Alas, how much my ways

Giacomo Leopardi