Zoe Vickers

The Infinite 
By Count Giacomo Leopardi

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 founder in this sea is sweet to me.

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-infinite-2/

"and this hedge...which prevents me from seeing most of the endless horizon",  The hedge in the picture represents the hedge in the poem.  

Biological Information:
>Gianco was born on June 29, 1798 in Recanati, a small isolated village in Italy and he hated it. He tried to leave on many occasions.
>He held interest in philosophy, politics and literature and owned a personal library with books on these subjects.
>He studied from expensive private tutors and spoke Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, English, French, and Spanish.
>His family was extremely religious, but he was quite liberal. 
>Due to extensive reading and writing, Leopardi developed a deformity in his spine and his vision deteriorated to an extent where one of his eyes lost sight completely.

https://www.famousauthors.org/giacomo-leopardi


Analysis:

The poem "The Infinite" follows the thought process of a young Leopardi as he looks out upon a landscape he had seen throughout his life. He contrasts the silence with the busy-ness of his immense thoughts. The poem directly correlates to Leopardi's desire to leave the small town Recanati. Throughout his entire life he wanted to leave the town that encapsulated him but was never able to. Leopardi's use of figurative language usually had a melancholy connotation. For instance when he compared the wind to the endless silence, "And when I hear the wind rustling through the trees, I compare its voice to the infinite silence.". He views his ideas are trapped in this town, "Amidst this immensity my thought drowns: And to founder in this sea is sweet to me.", with the inability to escape. By introducing these dismal comparisons of "drowning" and "infinite silence" Leopardi invokes emotion in the reader. Leopardi makes his poem more alluring by telling a story. He incorporates writing about his thoughts as well as his surroundings to build on the plot. 
His tone is solemn and grim because he knows he cannot venture farther, so he imagines what is located beyond. Leopardi has alot of resentment for the place he grown up in because he has been forced to stay there. He so desperately wants to adventure beyond, but he knows of the consequences, so he sits in his melancholy and dreams of what could be.
The overall theme is somber because he will never know anything except for the small town he lives in.