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The Canti: With A Sele...
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The Canti: With A Selection Of His Prose
Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837) was the greatest Italian poet after Petrarch and one of the great prose writers of the nineteenth century. Caught between devotion to the classical past and a sense of the impoverished present, Leopardi rejected both the Catholicism of his childhood and Enlightenment optimism. In his world, all that we love and value is illusory, and therefore...more
Published
(first published 1837)
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If you love poetry, why haven't your read this book?
If you answer that you have never heard of its author (Giacomo Leopardi), after visiting this page, you no longer have that excuse. Once in a very great while we read something that changes our life and this, dear friend, is one of those books. Sincerest congratulations to John Galassi for his wonderful translations and very helpful notes. His suggestion that a newcomer should begin with the idylls is well heeded. However, the bays and laurels...more
If you answer that you have never heard of its author (Giacomo Leopardi), after visiting this page, you no longer have that excuse. Once in a very great while we read something that changes our life and this, dear friend, is one of those books. Sincerest congratulations to John Galassi for his wonderful translations and very helpful notes. His suggestion that a newcomer should begin with the idylls is well heeded. However, the bays and laurels...more
Leopardi's poetry is modern in its themes ("the first modern Italian poet") and timeless in its beauty. Galassi's translation is exceedingly graceful and astute. If you know even a little Italian, you can also enjoy the sound and rhythm of Leopardi's deft verse on facing pages. Reading the translation allows one to experience the fine emotional depth he touched in his lyrics. A beautiful edition, highly recommended.
Gelezen in het Nederland. Zwargalligheid troef
Enkele pareltjes:
XIX aan Graaf Carlo Pepoli: het leven heeft geen zin, maar we proberen het wel te vullen; programmagedicht!
XXV ’s Zaterdags in het dorp: prachtig, ingehouden beschrijving, met weemoedige ondertoon; XXVI de allesoverheersende gedachte,: perfecte ode aan de liefde, als balsem in dit tranendal, veel opgewekter dan alle overige gedichten samen
Enkele pareltjes:
XIX aan Graaf Carlo Pepoli: het leven heeft geen zin, maar we proberen het wel te vullen; programmagedicht!
XXV ’s Zaterdags in het dorp: prachtig, ingehouden beschrijving, met weemoedige ondertoon; XXVI de allesoverheersende gedachte,: perfecte ode aan de liefde, als balsem in dit tranendal, veel opgewekter dan alle overige gedichten samen
I read Leopardi's poetry in my late teens/early twenties. I think its themes of alienation, loneliness, doomed love and man's insignificance within the universe (fairly traditional Romantic/Enlightenment themes) were handled and interpreted in such a personal and authentic manner that Leopardi's poetry will speak clearly and movingly to all people at all times.
This was a wonderful book... I loved the style of poetry. I read this book in between reading another book because I wanted to take my time with the fabulous work of this translation.
A se stesso
Or poserai per sempre,
stanco mio cor. Perì l'inganno estremo,
ch'eterno io mi credei. Perì. Ben sento,
in noi di cari inganni,
non che la speme, il desiderio è spento.
Posa per sempre. Assai
palpitasti. Non val cosa nessuna
i moti tuoi, né di sospiri è degna
la terra. Amaro e noia
la vita, altro mai nulla; e fango è il mondo.
T'acqueta omai. Dispera
l'ultima volta. Al gener nostro il fato
non donò che il morire. Omai disprezza
te, la natura, il brutto
poter che, ascoso, a comun dann...more
Or poserai per sempre,
stanco mio cor. Perì l'inganno estremo,
ch'eterno io mi credei. Perì. Ben sento,
in noi di cari inganni,
non che la speme, il desiderio è spento.
Posa per sempre. Assai
palpitasti. Non val cosa nessuna
i moti tuoi, né di sospiri è degna
la terra. Amaro e noia
la vita, altro mai nulla; e fango è il mondo.
T'acqueta omai. Dispera
l'ultima volta. Al gener nostro il fato
non donò che il morire. Omai disprezza
te, la natura, il brutto
poter che, ascoso, a comun dann...more
Thank you, FSG! I won a promotional copy this morning and cannot wait to dive in.
EDIT: This translation is serving as a great introduction to Leopardi. Galassi is astute to note the poet's influence on nearly every modern writer of verse, and the translation itself is readable and vivid. I will be returning to this collection periodically.
EDIT: This translation is serving as a great introduction to Leopardi. Galassi is astute to note the poet's influence on nearly every modern writer of verse, and the translation itself is readable and vivid. I will be returning to this collection periodically.
Oh what a rollicking ride through the emotions and ideas of a very remarkable young man. These poems read more than a little overdramatic, almost Shatneresque, but it's heck of real, hecka hecka. Might never have known of dear Leopardi if it were not for Marquez quoting him in "Memories of My Melancholy Whores". The depth of that quote proved almost boundless as I poured through Leopardi's works, and provided intriguing dimension and context for Marquez's latest little masterpiece. Shit made me...more
Voto medio e nessuna recensione. Non vogliatemene, ma non ho gli strumenti né le conoscenze per recensire un'opera di poesia.
A puro titolo personale, però, ho rivalutato Leopardi. Non amo la poesia, poiché non riesce a trasmettermi nulla. Sono 4 le poesie che fanno eccezione,e una è l'Infinito i Leopardi. Nel Leggere i Canti ho trovato altri componimenti piacevoli - non belli, secondo il mio gusto - ma almeno piacevoli. Ad esempio La sera del dì di Festa, A se stesso, o l'ultima strofa de La Gi...more
A puro titolo personale, però, ho rivalutato Leopardi. Non amo la poesia, poiché non riesce a trasmettermi nulla. Sono 4 le poesie che fanno eccezione,e una è l'Infinito i Leopardi. Nel Leggere i Canti ho trovato altri componimenti piacevoli - non belli, secondo il mio gusto - ma almeno piacevoli. Ad esempio La sera del dì di Festa, A se stesso, o l'ultima strofa de La Gi...more
So far, I like this book. I'm taking my time with the poems; I like reading one or two and giving myself time to think it over. I'm not fluent in Italian, so I can't say much about the translation or the Italian text.
My edition is the 2008 from Oneworld Classics, which not only has the sober and accurate translation by JG Nichols, but also is a dual-language edition with the Italian original on facing pages.
Beautiful book! Passed this one onto my daughter, who is at university with Italian as one of her studies.
These compositions are so beautiful,so deep,so sad and true and musical and theatral...
Yay! Another GoodReads First-Reads win! I am looking forward to this gem!
Dec 30, 2010
Noreen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2010,
poetry
Making my way through slowly, savoring each canto in this stellar translation.
These poems will break your heart.
May 19, 2013
Chaitra
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nytimes-notable-books
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Italian scholar, poet, and philosopher, one of the great writers of the 19th century. Leopardi was a contemporary of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, with whom he shared a similar pessimistic view of life. Leopardi's love problems inspired some of his saddest lyrics. In his late years, when he lived on the slopes of Vesuvius, Leopardi meditated upon the possibility of the total destruct...more
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“Freedom is the dream you dream
While putting thought in chains again --”
—
5 people liked it
While putting thought in chains again --”
“E tu, cui già dal cominciar degli anni sempre onorata invoco, bella Morte, pietosa tu sola al mondo dei terreni affanni[…] chiudi alla luce omai questi occhi tristi […] nel mio sangue innocente non ricolmar di lode, non benedir, com’usa per antica viltà l’umana gente”
—
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