LEOPARDI, Giacomo
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E questa siepe, che da tanta parte Dell'ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude. Ma sedendo e mirando, interminati Spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani Silenzi, e profondissima quiete Io nel pensier mi fingo; ove per poco Il cor non si spaura. E come il vento Odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello Infinito silenzio a questa voce Vo comparando: e mi sovvien l'eterno, E le morte stagioni, e la presente E viva, e il suon di lei. Così tra questa Immensità s'annega il pensier mio:
E il naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare.
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And this low hedge, whose potent littleness Forbids the vast horizon to the eye ; For, as I sit and muse, my fancy frames Interminable space beyond its bound, And silence more than human, and secure Unutterable and unending rest, Where even the heart has peace. And as I hear The faint wind's breath among the trees, my mind Compares these lispings with the infinite hush Of that invisible distance, and the dead And unborn hours of dim Eternity With this hour, and its voices. Thus my thought Gulphing Infinity doth swallow up,
And sweet to me is shipwreck in this sea.
en deze hoge heg, die overal de verre einder aan mijn blik ontzegt. Doch goed is dromen hier, dan gaat verbeelding die grens voorbij naar ruimten mateloos, naar stilten, die de mens niet kent, en rust oneindig-groot; en vrij blijft daar het hart van elke vrees. En als ik dan de wind zo dicht nabij hoor ruisen in het loof, verbind ik gindse grondeloze stilte met dit geluid, en denk aan de eeuwigheid en aan de dode tijden en het uur van ’t levend heden met zijn vlucht’ge stem. Zo zinkt mijn mijm’ring weg in de diepe wat’ren.
En zoet is mij de schipbreuk in die zee.
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passero solitario, alla campagna cantando vai finché non more il giorno; ed erra l’armonia per questa valle. Primavera d’intorno brilla nell’aria, e per li campi esulta, sí ch’a mirarla intenerisce il core. Odi greggi belar, muggire armenti; gli altri augelli contenti, a gara insieme per lo libero ciel fan mille giri, pur festeggiando il lor tempo migliore: tu pensoso in disparte il tutto miri; non compagni, non voli, non ti cal d’allegria, schivi gli spassi; canti, e cosí trapassi
dell’anno e di tua vita il piú bel fiore.
al tuo costume il mio! Sollazzo e riso, della novella etá dolce famiglia, e te, german di giovinezza, amore, sospiro acerbo de’ provetti giorni, non curo, io non so come; anzi da loro quasi fuggo lontano; quasi romito, e strano al mio loco natio, passo del viver mio la primavera. Questo giorno, ch’omai cede alla sera, festeggiar si costuma al nostro borgo. Odi per lo sereno un suon di squilla, odi spesso un tonar di ferree canne, che rimbomba lontan di villa in villa. Tutta vestita a festa la gioventú del loco lascia le case, e per le vie si spande; mira ed è mirata, e in cor s’allegra. Io, solitario in questa rimota parte alla campagna uscendo, ogni diletto e gioco indugio in altro tempo; e intanto il guardo steso nell’aria aprica mi fère il sol, che tra lontani monti, dopo il giorno sereno, cadendo si dilegua, e par che dica
che la beata gioventú vien meno.
del viver che daranno a te le stelle, certo del tuo costume non ti dorrai; ché di natura è frutto ogni vostra vaghezza. A me, se di vecchiezza la detestata soglia evitar non impetro, quando muti questi occhi all’altrui core, e lor fia vòto il mondo, e il dí futuro del dí presente piú noioso e tetro, che parrá di tal voglia? che di quest’anni miei? che di me stesso? Ahi! pentirommi, e spesso, ma sconsolato, volgerommi indietro.
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from the crest of the ancient tower to the landscape, while day dies: while music wanders the valley. Spring brightens the air around, exults in the fields, so the heart is moved to see it. Flocks are bleating, herds are lowing: more birds happily make a thousand circles in the clear sky, all around, celebrating these happy times: you gaze pensively, apart, at it all: no companions, and no flight, no pleasures call you, no play: you sing, and so see out
the year, the sweet flowering of your life.
your ways to mine! Pleasure and Joy youth’s sweet companions, and, Love, its dear friend, sighing, bitter at passing days, I no longer care for them, I don’t know why: indeed I seem to fly far from them: seem to wander, a stranger in my native place, in the springtime of my life. This day, yielding to evening now, is a holiday in our town. You can hear a bell ring in the clear sky, you can hear the cannon’s iron thunder, echoing away, from farm to farm. Dressed for the festival young people here leave the houses, fill the streets, to see and be seen, with happy hearts. I go out, alone, into the distant country, postpone all delight and joy to some other day: and meanwhile my gaze takes in the clear air, brings me the sun that sinks and vanishes among the distant mountains, after the cloudless day, and seems to say, that the beauty of youth diminishes.
of this life the stars grant you, truly, cannot regret your existence: since your every action is born of nature. But I, if I can’t evade through prayer, the detested threshold of old age, when these eyes will be dumb to others, and the world empty, and the future darker and more irksome than the present, what will I think of such desires? Of these years of mine? Of what happened? Ah I’ll repent, and often,
un-consoled, I’ll gaze behind me.
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Del formidabil monte Sterminator Vesevo, La qual null'altro allegra arbor nè fiore, Tuoi cespi solitari intorno spargi, Odorata ginestra, Contenta dei deserti. Anco ti vidi De' tuoi steli abbellir l'erme contrade Che cingon la cittade La qual fu donna de' mortali un tempo, E del perduto impero Par che col grave e taciturno aspetto Faccian fede e ricordo al passeggero. Or ti riveggo in questo suol, di tristi Lochi e dal mondo abbandonati amante, E d'afflitte fortune ognor compagna. Questi campi cosparsi Di ceneri infeconde, e ricoperti Dell'impietrata lava, Che sotto i passi al peregrin risona; Dove s'annida e si contorce al sole La serpe, e dove al noto Cavernoso covil torna il coniglio; Fur liete ville e colti, E biondeggiàr di spiche, e risonaro Di muggito d'armenti; Fur giardini e palagi, Agli ozi de' potenti Gradito ospizio; e fur città famose Che coi torrenti suoi l'altero monte Dall'ignea bocca fulminando oppresse Con gli abitanti insieme. Or tutto intorno Una ruina involve, Dove tu siedi, o fior gentile, e quasi I danni altrui commiserando, al cielo Di dolcissimo odor mandi un profumo, Che il deserto consola. A queste piagge Venga colui che d'esaltar con lode Il nostro stato ha in uso, e vegga quanto E' il gener nostro in cura All'amante natura. E la possanza Qui con giusta misura Anco estimar potrà dell'uman seme, Cui la dura nutrice, ov'ei men teme, Con lieve moto in un momento annulla In parte, e può con moti Poco men lievi ancor subitamente Annichilare in tutto. Dipinte in queste rive Son dell'umana gente Le magnifiche sorti e progressive. Qui mira e qui ti specchia, Secol superbo e sciocco, Che il calle insino allora Dal risorto pensier segnato innanti Abbandonasti, e volti addietro i passi, Del ritornar ti vanti, E proceder il chiami. Al tuo pargoleggiar gl'ingegni tutti, Di cui lor sorte rea padre ti fece, Vanno adulando, ancora Ch'a ludibrio talora T'abbian fra se. Non io Con tal vergogna scenderò sotterra; Ma il disprezzo piuttosto che si serra Di te nel petto mio, Mostrato avrò quanto si possa aperto: Ben ch'io sappia che obblio Preme chi troppo all'età propria increbbe. Di questo mal, che teco Mi fia comune, assai finor mi rido. Libertà vai sognando, e servo a un tempo Vuoi di novo il pensiero, Sol per cui risorgemmo Della barbarie in parte, e per cui solo Si cresce in civiltà, che sola in meglio Guida i pubblici fati. Così ti spiacque il vero Dell'aspra sorte e del depresso loco Che natura ci diè. Per questo il tergo Vigliaccamente rivolgesti al lume Che il fe palese: e, fuggitivo, appelli Vil chi lui segue, e solo Magnanimo colui Che se schernendo o gli altri, astuto o folle,
Fin sopra gli astri il mortal grado estolle.
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content with deserts: here on the arid slope of Vesuvius, that formidable mountain, the destroyer, that no other tree or flower adorns, you scatter your lonely bushes all around. I’ve seen before how you beautify empty places with your stems, circling the City once the mistress of the world, and it seems that with their grave, silent, aspect they bear witness, reminding the passer-by of that lost empire. Now I see you again on this soil, a lover of sad places abandoned by the world, a faithful friend of hostile fortune. These fields scattered with barren ash, covered with solid lava, that resounds under the traveller’s feet: where snakes twist, and couple in the sun, and the rabbits return to their familiar cavernous burrows: were once happy, prosperous farms. They were golden with corn, echoed to lowing cattle: there were gardens and palaces, the welcome leisure retreats for powerful, famous cities, which the proud mountain crushed with all their people, beneath the torrents from its fiery mouth. Now all around is one ruin, where you root, gentle flower, and as though commiserating with others’ loss, send a perfume of sweetest fragrance to heaven, that consoles the desert. Let those who praise our existence visit these slopes, to see how carefully our race is nurtured by loving Nature. And here they can justly estimate and measure the power of humankind, that the harsh nurse, can with a slight movement, obliterate one part of, in a moment, when we least fear it, and with a little less gentle a motion, suddenly, annihilate altogether. The ‘magnificent and progressive fate’ of the human race is depicted in this place. Proud, foolish century, look, and see yourself reflected, you who’ve abandoned the path, marked by advancing thought till now, and reversed your steps, boasting of this regression you call progress. All the intellectuals, whose evil fate gave them you for a father, praise your babbling, though they often make a mockery of you, among themselves. But I’ll not vanish into the grave in shame: As far as I can, I’ll demonstrate, the scorn for you, openly, that’s in my heart, though I know oblivion crushes those hated by their own time. I’ve already mocked enough at that fate I’ll share with you. You pursue Freedom, yet want thought to be slave of a single age again: by thought we’ve risen a little higher than barbarism, by thought alone civilisation grows, only thought guides public affairs towards the good. The truth of your harsh fate and the lowly place Nature gave you displease you so. Because of it you turn your backs on the light that illuminated you: and in flight, you call him who pursues it vile, and only him great of heart who foolishly or cunningly mocks himself
or others, praising our human state above the stars.
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Calm after storm
The storm hath passed;
I hear the birds rejoice; the hen,
Returned into the road again,
Her cheerful notes repeats. The sky serene
Is, in the west, upon the mountain seen:
The country smiles; bright runs the silver stream.
Each heart is cheered; on every side revive
The sounds, the labors of the busy hive.
The workman gazes at the watery sky,
As standing at the door he sings,
His work in hand; the little wife goes forth,
And in her pail the gathered rain-drops brings;
The vendor of his wares, from lane to lane,
Begins his daily cry again.
The sun returns, and with his smile illumes
The villas on the neighboring hills;
Through open terraces and balconies,
The genial light pervades the cheerful rooms;
And, on the highway, from afar are heard
The tinkling of the bells, the creaking wheels
Of waggoner, his journey who resumes.
Cheered is each heart.
Whene'er, as now, doth life appear
A thing so pleasant and so dear?
When, with such love,
Does man unto his books or work return?
Or on himself new tasks impose?
When is he less regardful of his woes?
O pleasure, born of pain!
O idle joy, and vain,
Fruit of the fear just passed, which shook
The wretch who life abhorred, yet dreaded death!
With which each neighbor held his breath,
Silent, and cold, and wan,
Affrighted sore to see
The lightnings, clouds, and winds arrayed,
To do us injury!
O Nature courteous!
These are thy boons to us,
These the delights to mortals given!
Escape from pain, best gift of heaven!
Thou scatterest sorrows with a bounteous hand;
Grief springs spontaneous;
If, by some monstrous growth, miraculous,
Pleasure at times is born of pain,
It is a precious gain!
O human race, unto the gods so dear!
Too happy, in a respite brief
From any grief!
Then only blessed,
When Death releases thee unto thy rest!
To His Lady
Beloved beauty who inspires
love in me from afar, your face obscured
except when your celestial image
stirs my heart in sleep, or in the fields
where light and nature's laughter shine more lovely—
was it maybe you who blessed
the innocent age called golden,
and do you now, blithe spirit,
fly among men? Or does that miser fate
who hides you from us save you for the future?
No hope of seeing you alive
remains for me now,
except when, naked and alone,
my soul will go down a new street
to its unknown home. Already at the dawn
of my dark, uncertain day
I imagined you a fellow traveler
on this arid ground. But there's no thing
that resembles you on earth. And if someone
had a face like yours, in act and word she'd be,
though something like you, far less beautiful.
In spite of all the suffering
fate decreed for human time,
if there were anyone on earth
who truly loved you as my thought depicts you,
this life for him would be a blessing.
And I see clearly how your love
would lead me still to strive for praise and virtue,
as I used to in my early years.
Though heaven gave no comfort for our troubles,
yet with you mortal life would be
like what in heaven leads to divinity.
In the valleys, where the song
of the weary farmer sounds,
and when I sit and mourn
the illusions of youth fading,
and on the hills where I recall
and grieve for my lost desires
and my life's lost hope, I think of you
and start to shake. If only I, in this
sad age and unhealthy atmosphere,
could keep hold of your noble look; for since the real thing's
missing I must make do with the image.
Whether you are the only one
of the eternal ideas eternal wisdom
refuses to see arrayed in sensible form
to know the pains of mortal life
in transitory spoils,
or if in the supernal spheres another earth
from among unnumbered worlds receives you
and a near star lovelier than the Sun
warms you and you breathe benigner ether,
from here, where years are both ill-starred and brief,
accept this hymn from your unnoticed lover.
Translation: Jonathan GALASSI
On The Portrait Of A Beautiful Woman, Carved On Her Monument.
Such wast thou: now in earth below,
Dust and a skeleton thou art.
Above thy bones and clay,
Here vainly placed by loving hands,
Sole guardian of memory and woe,
The image of departed beauty stands.
Mute, motionless, it seems with pensive gaze
To watch the flight of the departing days.
That gentle look, that, wheresoe'er it fell,
As now it seems to fall,
Held fast the gazer with its magic spell;
That lip, from which as from some copious urn,
Redundant pleasure seems to overflow;
That neck, on which love once so fondly hung;
That loving hand, whose tender pressure still
The hand it clasped, with trembling joy would thrill;
That bosom, whose transparent loveliness
The color from the gazer's cheek would steal;
All these have been; and now remains alone
A wretched heap of bones and clay,
Concealed from sight by this benignant stone.
To this hath Fate reduced
The form, that, when with life it beamed,
To us heaven's liveliest image seemed.
O Nature's endless mystery!
To-day, of grand and lofty thoughts the source,
And feelings not to be described,
Beauty rules all, and seems,
Like some mysterious splendor from on high
Forth-darted to illuminate
This dreary wilderness;
Of superhuman fate,
Of fortunate realms, and golden worlds,
A token, and a hope secure
To give our mortal state;
To-morrow, for some trivial cause,
Loathsome to sight, abominable, base
Becomes, what but a little time before
Wore such an angel face;
And from our minds, in the same breath,
The grand conception it inspired,
Swift vanishes and leaves no trace.
What infinite desires,
What visions grand and high,
In our exalted thought,
With magic power creates, true harmony!
O'er a delicious and mysterious sea,
The exulting spirit glides,
As some bold swimmer sports in Ocean's tides:
But oh, the mischief that is wrought,
If but one accent out of tune
Assaults the ear! Alas, how soon
Our paradise is turned to naught!
O human nature, why is this?
If frail and vile throughout,
If shadow, dust thou art, say, why
Hast thou such fancies, aspirations high?
And yet, if framed for nobler ends,
Alas, why are we doomed
To see our highest motives, truest thoughts,
By such base causes kindled, and consumed?