The Infinite
I always loved this solitary hillAnd this green hedge that hides on every sideThe last and dim horizon from our view.But as I sit and gaze, a never-endingSpace far beyond it and unearthly silenceAnd deepest quiet to my thought I picture,And as with terror is my heart o'ercastWith wondrous awe. And while I hear the windAmid the green leaves rustling, I compareThat silence infinite unto this sound,And to my mind eternity occurs,And all the vanished ages, and the present;Whose sound doth meet mine ear. And so in thisImmensity my thought is drifted on,And to be wrecked on such a sea is sweet.
Words in this poem
- unearthly a.
- Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- immensity n.
- The state or quality of being immense; inlimited or immeasurable extension; infinity; vastness in extent or bulk; greatness. [L. immensitas: cf. F. immensité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Infinite is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Leopardi, Project Gutenberg ebook #53020, the Frederick Townsend translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Giacomo Leopardi, The Infinite, in The Poems of Leopardi (1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #53020, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/leopardi-poems/the-infinite.html, id L15295.
Form and metre
The Infinite is 15 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 53% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I always loved this solitary hill | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘· |
| And this green hedge that hides on every side | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The last and dim horizon from our view. | 10 | ····˘/˘·/· |
| But as I sit and gaze, a never-ending | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Space far beyond it and unearthly silence | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| And deepest quiet to my thought I picture, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| And as with terror is my heart o'ercast | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With wondrous awe. And while I hear the wind | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Amid the green leaves rustling, I compare | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| That silence infinite unto this sound, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| And to my mind eternity occurs, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And all the vanished ages, and the present; | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Whose sound doth meet mine ear. And so in this | 10 | ·········· |
| Immensity my thought is drifted on, | 10 | ˘/˘˘···/˘· |
| And to be wrecked on such a sea is sweet. | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.