Core Text:

Leopardi, Giacomo, Canti , transl. by Jonathan Galassi ( Penguin 2010)

L'infinito (Infinity), pp. 106-107
La sera del dì di festa (The Evening of the Holiday), pp.108-11
A Silvia (To Silvia), pp. 172-77
Le ricordanze (The Recollections), pp. 178-91
Il sabato del villaggio (Saturday in the Village), pp. 208-11

QUESTIONS (Choose one)

• Outline and discuss the relationship between the speaking subject and Nature in La Sera del dì di festa OR L'Infinito.
• Compare and discuss the description of landscape in La sera del dì di festa AND L'infinito, paying specific attention to the way the speaking subject relates to it.
• Examine the way the themes of individual life and collective human history are superimposed in La sera del dì di festa.
• Examine the way the world of lower classes is portrayed in either A Silvia or Il sabato del villaggio, or both, and discuss its role in the poem(s).
• Comment and discuss critically the poem L'Infinito.
• Examine the ways the theme of hope and disenchantment is developed in either A Silvia OR Il sabato del villaggio OR Le Ricordanze.
• Comment and discuss critically the way Leopardi portrays the figure of Silvia.