Canti

"I canti is a collection of poems with an idea that coincides with my idea of life. In Italy we have many classics which are Catholic, for example Dante , a wonderful poet. But I prefer Leopardi because he doesn’t have this Catholic idea of guilt and punishment. Leopardi doesn’t believe in another world, paradise or hell and he has a deep relationship with nature. One of the most beautiful poems is ‘Un pastore errante nell’Asia’, ‘A shepherd wandering in Asia’, in which he speaks with the moon and he says: ‘Cosa fai, tu, luna in cielo, che fai?’ ‘What do you do, moon in the sky, what do you do?’, and he goes on talking in a friendly way to the moon. He knows that there is no answer, but he goes on, asking her what she sees from up there, and why she follows the footprints of the shepherd. It is wonderful poem. I know it by heart. Leopardi was born in 1798 and died in 1837. He was from Recanati, a small town in the mid-east of Italy. He died of cholera eating an ice-cream in Naples where he had escaped from a intolerant and oppressive father."