To Italy (1818) Comments

In his early writing years, Leopardi worked on translations. He translated texts from classical works such as Horace and Moschus, and sections of the Aeneid and the Odyssey. In 1813, at the age of 15, Leopardi wrote is his first original piece titled Storia della astronomia (History of Astronomy) . Two years later came Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi (Essay on the Popular Errors of the Ancients) .1816 onwards Leopardi shifted his concentration towards creative writing. His poems All’Italia (To Italy) and Sopra il monumento di Dante (On Dante’s Monument) drove inspiration from a friend’s visit to Italy in 1818. L’Infinito (The Infinite) , Alla luna (To the Moon) , and Alla Primavera (To the Spring) are some of his most liked poems written sometime after 1819. The year 1824 brought Leopardi’s first poetry collection, Canzoni followed by another collection Canti in 1831.