L'infinito / Giacomo Leopardi

 L'infinito (Canti, XII)

Sempre caro mi fu quest'ermo colle,
e questa siepe, che da tanta parte
dell'ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude.
Ma sedendo e mirando, interminati
spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani
silenzi, e profondissima quiete
io nel pensier mi fingo, ove per poco
il cor non si spaura. E come il vento
odo stormir tra queste piante, io quello
infinito silenzio a questa voce
vo comparando: e mi sovvien l'eterno,
e le morte stagioni, e la presente
e viva, e il suon di lei. Così tra questa
immensità s'annega il pensier mio:
e il naufragar m'è dolce in questo mare.

28 Maggio 1819

Giacomo Leopardi





The Infinite (Literal English Translation)

Always dear to me was this solitary hill
and this hedge, which, from so many parts
of the far horizon, the sight excludes.
But sitting and gazing, endless
spaces beyond it, and inhuman
silences, and the deepest quiet
I fake myself in my thoughts; where almost
my heart scares. And as the wind
I hear rustling through these trees, I, that
infinite silence, to this voice
keep comparing: and I feel the eternal,
the dead seasons, the present,
and living one, and the sound of her. So in this
immensity drown my own thoughts:
and sinking in this sea is sweet to me.

Giacomo Leopardi





The Infinite (Alternate translation)

This lonely hill was always dear to me,
and this hedgerow, which cuts off the view
of so much of the last horizon.
But sitting here and gazing, I can see
beyond, in my mind’s eye, unending spaces,
and superhuman silences, and depthless calm,
till what I feel
is almost fear. And when I hear
the wind stir in these branches, I begin
comparing that endless stillness with this noise:
and the eternal comes to mind,
and the dead seasons, and the present
living one, and how it sounds.
So my mind sinks in this immensity:
and foundering is sweet in such a sea.

Giacomo Leopardi

Translated by Jonathan Galassi





The Infinite (Sonnet translation)

I’ve always loved this solitary hill,
I’ve always loved this hedge that hides from me
So much of what my earthly eyes can see.
For as I sit and gaze, all calm and still,
I conjure up my thoughts; my mind I fill
With distances that stretch out boundlessly
And silences that somehow cannot be
Heard by my heart, which feels a sudden chill.
It seems these rustling leaves, this silence vast
Blend into one. Eternity draws nigh.
The present sounds and seasons, those long past
Become one sea of endless lives and deaths.
My thought is drowned, and yet it does not die:
It plunges into sweet, refreshing depths.

Giacomo Leopardi

(Translated by Z.G., with the title "Boundless Depths")





El infinito (Canto XII)

Amé siempre esta colina,
y el cerco que me impide ver
más allá del horizonte.
Mirando a lo lejos los espacios ilimitados,
los sobrehumanos silencios y su profunda quietud,
me encuentro con mis pensamientos,
y mi corazón no se asusta.
Escucho los silbidos del viento sobre los campos,
y en medio del infinito silencio tanteo mi voz:
me subyuga lo eterno, las estaciones muertas,
la realidad presente y todos sus sonidos.
Así, a través de esta inmensidad se ahoga mi pensamiento:
y naufrago dulcemente en este mar.

Giacomo Leopardi

Versión de Carlos López S.





El infinito (Canto XII / otra versión)

Siempre querido me fue este yermo cerro
y este cerco que tanta parte
a la mirada excluye del último horizonte.
Mas, sentado y mirando interminables
espacios de allá lejos, sobrehumanos
silencios y su hondísima quietud,
me quedo ensimismado hasta que casi
el corazón no teme. Y como el viento
cuyo tráfago escucho entre las hojas, a este
silencio sin fin esta voz
voy comparando, y pienso en lo eterno
y en las muertas estaciones y en la viva presente,
y sus sonidos. Así a través de esta
inmensidad se anega el pensamiento mío;
y naufragar en este mar me es dulce.

Giacomo Leopardi

Versión de L.S.





Sonsuzluk

Hoşlanırım oldum olası bu ıssız tepeden,
bu çitten, birçok yerinden en uzaktaki
ufkun görüntüsünü yok eden gözümden.
ama durup bakarken ardındaki bitmez
tükenmez boşluklara, insan ötesi sessizlik,
sınırsız huzura; dalıp giderim düş
dünyama; duracak gibi olur kalbim orada.
ne ki, duyar duymaz hışırtı sesini
yaprakların rüzgarda ölçerim o sonsuz
sessizliği bu sese oranla: bir yandan
ölümsüzlük gelir aklıma, bir yandan ölü
mevsimler; yaşanmakta olan güncel ve
ardından yaşananların yankısı. dalarken bu
sonsuzluğa düşüncelerim, keyif alırım bu
denizde, batan gemide olmaktan...

Giacomo Leopardi

 

Casa Leopardi. Recanati, Italy, photo by Ermo colle