Death

From the youthful Appressamento della morte to the “rifiutate” or refused canzoni to Arimane, Leopardi never abandoned the idea of death (nor did he alas ever stop desiring it).

The theme becomes most intense in the Canti, in particular with reference to the death of young women (Il sogno, A Silvia, Le Ricordanze, the “sepolcrali”); and in the Operette: Moda e Morte, Plotino e Porfirio, Tristano, and above all Dialogo di Federico Ruysch e delle sue mummie, where, in the extraordinary initial Chorus, voice is indeed given to death (“In you, death, rests / our naked nature; / happy not, but safe / from ancient pain”).

In the Zibaldone his reflections on death reveal the “integral materialism” of Leopardi:

The desire for death, when one fears death, mutates into desire for life [66] - “The ancient believed that the dead had no other thoughts than to matters of this world” [116] – be the soul material or spiritual, death is sweet [281-3] – death is a sort of torpor, it is like falling asleep, and there would be more of a desire for it if it were not for fear of future life [290-2, 2466-7] – “Only youth does not admit and does not see other consolation than death” [302] – “To see die a loved one is far less lacerating than to see them  waste away and transform themselves in their body and the soul” [479-80] – in the death of a person, even if indifferent, it is terrible to think we shall never see them again [644-6] – on the fact that Christianity forbids suicide [814-8] – given that nature is a productive destructive cycle, “death is necessary to life” [1530-1] – consideration of death among the ancient [2672-3, 2943-4, 4410] – “it can be said that the ancient living do not fear death, and the modern not living, do fear it” [3029-31] – contradiction between existence and death [3813-5] – to weep for the dead proves that we do not believe in the immortality of the soul [4277-9] – “who has the courage of laughter, is master of the others, like he who has the courage to die” [4391].