A Brief Giacomo Leopardi Bio

Leopardi (Giacomo), count, Italian pessimist poet, b. Recanati (Ancona), 29 June, 1798. In 1818 he won a high place among poets by his lines addressed To Italy. His Canti, ’31, are distinguished by eloquence and pathos, while his prose essays, Operette Morali, ’27, are esteemed the finest models of Italian prose of this century. Leopardi’s short life was one long disease, but it was full of work of the highest character. As a poet, philologist, and philosopher, he is among the greatest of modern Italians. Died at Naples, 14 July, 1837.