The Poems of Giacomo Leopardi | Page 2

Italy, and seven in Rome. He was a studious,
thoughtful man; quiet, secluded, scholarly; an eminent student of
Italian literature; a real sympathizer with Italian progress. By the cast of
his mind and the course of his inward experience he was drawn towards
Leopardi. His version adheres as closely to the original as is compatible
with elegance and the preservation of metrical grace. He has not

rendered into English all Leopardi's poems, but he has presented the
best of them, enough to give an idea of his author's style of feeling and
expression. What he has done, has been performed faithfully. It is
worth remarking that he was attracted by the intense longing of the poet
for love and appreciation, and by keen sympathy with his unhappy
condition. It is needless to say that he did not share the pessimism that
imparts a melancholy hue to the philosopher's own doctrine, and that
might have been modified if not dispelled by a different experience.
The translation was finished at Siena, the summer of the earthquake,
and was the last work Mr. Townsend ever did, the commotion outside
not interrupting him, or causing him to suspend his application.
O. B. Frothingham.
CONTENTS.
Dedication
xiii
To Italy 1
O n Dante's Monument 7
To Angelo Mai 15
T o His Sister Paolina 23
T o a Victor in the Game of _Pallone_ 27
The Younger Brutus 30
To the Spring 35
Hymn to the Patriarchs 40
The Last Song of Sappho 45
First Love 48
The Lonely Sparrow 53
The Infinite 56
The Evening of the Holiday 57
To The Moon 59
The