dear Lawrence you also have to realize that Leopardi (aside from being a
write of incredible powers) was
extremely wealthy and extremely ugly (see his love poems and his place,
which you can see now, in Recanati (ma, italy)
On Sat, Dec 12, 2015 at 1:39 PM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Some time ago I bought *Zibaldone *by Giacomo Leopardi but discovered
that it required more attention than I was willing to give it. But in
going through old copies of the NYROB I ran across a review of it (in the
October 10, 2013 issue) entitled "The Greatest Intellectual Diary of
Italian Literature" by Tim Parks. Parks wrote at one point, "Leopardi
spent periods in Milan, Bologna, and Florence, always in the hope of
finding some remunerative literary employment that never materialized,
frequently falling in love with women who were completely unavailable to
him." I recall reading almost those same words, "falling in love with
women who were completely unavailable to him" applied to Borges. Would
getting yourself set back on your heels romantically contribute to your
contemplative nature if your were Leopardi or Borges? One hears that there
is someone for everyone nor matter how homely or inept, but Leopardi was
apparently extremely timid and the fear of rejection may have been too much
for him.
Ah, I found the reference to Borges -- not quite as I thought, but close:
"Borges was always in love. His feelings were rarely if ever reciprocated,
and this caused him pain throughout his life." [from *The Man in the
Mirror of the Book, a life of Jorges Luis Borges *by James Woodall, p
xxix]
When I was in school I encountered the myth that heavy drinking would
enhance your ability to write good poetry. I gave that a try. It didn't
work. But maybe unrequited love gave better results; although if it did
Borges and Leopardi probably weren't happy with the trade.
Lawrence
