About the Book: Canti: Poems/A Bilingual Edition
A "New York Times" Notable Book for 2011 Giacomo Leopardi is Italys 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.Leopardis
poetry is notoriously difficult to translate, and he has been less well known to
English-language readers than his central significance for his