Giacomo Leopardi is Italy's greatest modern poet, the first European writer to portray and examine the self in a way that feels familiar to us today. A great classical scholar and patriot, he explored metaphysical loneliness in entirely original ways. Though he died young, his influence was enormous, and it is no exaggeration to say that all modern poetry, not only in Italian, derives in some way from his work.
Leopardi's poetry is notoriously difficult to translate, and he has been less well known to English-language readers than...
A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
Giacomo Leopardi is Italy's greatest modern poet, the first European writer to portray and exa...
