Leopardi

Two centuries earlier, Pascal, with whom Leopardi is sometimes compared, wrote that "the eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me."

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

Mr. Galassi's syntax is smoother and more conventional but, for that very reason, it fails to give us the shiver we feel in Leopardi's verse.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

At times there is something glib in Leopardi's nihilism.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

For all his glowing promise, Leopardi seems to have cultivated such dark thoughts from his earliest years.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

You could easily conclude that the young Leopardi had precious little sense of occasion.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

With the help of his detailed notes — he seems to have read everything about Leopardi in several languages — Mr. Galassi's versions offer the reader without Italian the surest possible grasp of Leopardi's poems.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

Mr. Galassi catches some of this double music at moments, as in this passage from "Broom or The Flower of the Desert," where Leopardi evokes Pompeii:

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

Leopardi has long occupied a hallowed place in the history of European pessimism, often alongside Schopenhauer, a contemporary.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

Of course, Leopardi rejects the extravagant bombast of so much overwrought Italian verse; that is part of his great distinction.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010

It is characteristic of Leopardi that he glimpses "the infinite" best from an impeded point of view, a hilltop on which a hedge obstructs the horizon.

The Raptures of a Tragic Visionary Eric Ormsby 2010