Leopardi: Without Imagination, One is Dead

            In reading the assorted works of Giacomo Leopardi, I was astounded by his emphasis on two completely opposite themes. He puts a large focus on the concept of imagination and the emotions of despair and desolateness. He even writes of his yearning for death. I was confused by these opposite fascinations, one holding so much light and opportunity, the other so dark and final. However, after reading his poem, “To Sylvia,” I was able to determine a correlation between the two themes. I want to argue that the poem, “To Sylvia,” is an allegory for Leopardi’s belief that one’s imagination is destroyed as he/she grows older. Once the imagination is lost, life lacks pleasure and death is the only release.

            Leopardi often praises imagination and slights reason in his works. He writes that, “the imagination, as I said, is the prime source of human happiness” (Casale 51).  Additionally, he states, “infinite pleasure unfindable in reality is thus found in the imagination, from which derive hope, the illusions, etc.” (Casale 50-51). He believes imagination is the only way humans can achieve a state of happiness, and “reason is the enemy of anything great” (Casale 35).  I enjoyed these uplifting passages about resisting the way of the world and letting one’s mind wander. However, a depressing undertone began to emerge in his writing. Leopardi compared himself to “a walking sepulcher, who bears inside him a dead man, a heart once extremely feeling which feels no more” (Casale 137). He also stated that, “(he) was certain that nothing else remained for (him), yet (he) took pleasure only in imagining death” (Bergin and Paolucci 4).

            Thinking on these dark musings, I realized that the tone of his writing had so dramatically shifted, because he was mourning the loss of his own imagination. He

mentions that he has “a heart once extremely feeling which feels no more,” and “nothing else remain(s) for (him)” (Casale 137; Bergin and Paolucci 4). In his youth, he felt the joys of imagination; he had substance in his life and a reason to live. However, he has grown older and the requirements of the adult world cause him to lose his beautiful imagination. My surmises were further validated when Leopardi wrote that, “experience and truth strip away from us day by day some portion of our riches. . . Man is born rich in all, growing up he grows poorer, and arrived at old age he finds himself with almost nothing” (Casale 59).  Leopardi is referring to the naiveté and imagination of youth as the riches. He proclaims that “life, without the imagination is a death,” and “liv(ing) externally made (him) stupid, inept, and inwardly dead” (Bergin and Paolucci 5; Casale 162-163). Leopardi often dwells on imagination and death, because he realizes without his imagination, he is already dead. He longs for the finality of death, because he believes he is no longer able to feel pleasure in life with his imagination gone.

            I believe Leopardi’s poem, “To Sylvia,” is an allegory for the death of imagination in the time of one’s youth. He begins the poem, by addressing Sylvia, a young, beautiful girl who dies at an early age. He asks her,

Sylvia do you still remember / that time in your mortal life / when beauty shone in your elusive / and smiling eyes, and you, / thoughtful and happy, climbed / the threshold of your youth?                                                      (Bergin and Paolucci 81)

I believe Sylvia to be Leopardi’s own imagination. Within the allegory, I believe these first verses to be a remembering of the life and vibrancy his imagination used to possess. He is recalling how Sylvia, his imagination, was once thriving, beautiful and happy. He remembers how his imagination reached a peak, creating beautiful opportunities and ideas before him. He goes on to say,

my Sylvia! / What human life and fate seemed like, back then! When I’m reminded / of all that hope a desolate and bitter / feeling takes hold of me, and once again / I mourn my wretched fate.                       (Bergin and Paolucci  81, 83)

In these verses, Leopardi reminisces on the promise life used to hold. He realizes that life has been only a disappointment to these hopeful imaginings. The reality of “his wretched fate” makes him bitter. I find this verse interesting, because Sylvia is the person whose hopes never got the chance to prosper; the poem is actually focusing on her wretched fate. He refers to his own fate, however, which I believe further confirms the identity of Sylvia as his imagination, because her death led to his unimaginative, unhappy life.  The poem continues to explain Sylvia’s death at a very early age. Leopardi mourns, writing,

Oh, how quickly, how / quickly you went by, dear friend of my / young age, my long-mourned hope! / Is this that world? /. . .  / this the destiny of man? At the sight / of the truth you fell, poor wretch, / and with your hand pointed, far of, / to a cold death and a bare tomb.                                                    (Bergin and Paolucci 83)

Leopardi acknowledges that Sylvia died at a “young age,” taking “(his) long-mourned hope” with her (Bergin and Paolucci 83). Leopardi wrote previously that hope is derived from imagination, confirming that Sylvia is his imagination, because with her death, she took away hope (Casale 50-51). He mentions that “at the sight / of the truth, (she) fell” (Bergin and Paolucci 83). I believe the truth he is referring to is the truth that the working, functioning world does not desire imagination. It requires reason and intelligence. The world often leaves little to no room for imagination, and because of this, Sylvia, Leopardi’s imagination, died. With her death she pointed to the grave, meaning that life without her is just a meaningless march to the release of death. Without imagination there is no pleasure in life, and the only thing left is “a cold death and a bare tomb” (Bergin and Paolucci 83).

            Leopardi focuses on imagination and death throughout his writings. I believe he connects the two ideas through his poem, “To Sylvia,” an allegory for the disappearance of youth’s imagination. He uses writing techniques like these to share his belief that without imagination, one can no longer experience pleasure, and death is the only release.