This solitary hill has always been dear to me
And this hedge, which prevents me from seeing most of
The endless horizon.
But when I sit and gaze, I imagine, in my thoughts
Endless spaces beyond the hedge,
An all encompassing silence and a deeply profound quiet,
To the point that my heart is almost overwhelmed.
And when I hear the wind rustling through the trees
I compare its voice to the infinite silence.
And eternity occurs to me, and all the ages past,
And the present time, and its sound.
Amidst this immensity my thought drowns:
And to flounder in this sea is sweet to me.
Notes
English translation by Kenneth David West
Displayed with the kind permission of Kenneth David West
copyright2003
copying for other than personal use strictly forbidded.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
-
Being Italian, I feel fortunate to know some English in order to be able to read the original works of such marvellous writers as Shakespeare, Donne, Shelley, ... At the same time I believe that the possibility to read Leopardi's poems in the original could be enough to justify that anyone could learn and read fluently in Italian. I cannot think of an absolute ranking of the works of art and literature, still I am favourably impressed in coming to know that Jhirrad rates "L'infinito" as the best poem of all time: yes, it is in the front line of the most splendid poems.
PS - please amend one painful slip in Leopardi's biography on your site: he published collections of his poems as "songs" = Italian: CANTI or CANZONI. Please note that if you drop the "N" from CANZONI as in your biography, you result in a quite improper Italian word, that I would rather not translate. -
It's a great poem. I have been writing poetry for the past 35 years, and it is still inspiring and accepted in today's reasoning...it inspires youth, eternity and the smallness of man.
-
It's really beautiful. I'm glad I read the translation, Jhirrad.
Edited on Dec 30, 12:13 because '
'.
-
Best poem of all time! I love the way that Leopardi really describes with such beauty and magnificence nature in all of it's power. The way that it is just filled with power and the sense of overwhelming infinity of nature. In about two months I'll be seeing 'il colle del'Infinito', the hill of the Infinite, from where Leopardi was inspired to write this piece. He is truly a master of poetic genius, and underappreciated by English speaking audiences.
Adding your comment:
