The fundamental importance of style in literature and in particular in poetry, over and above in a “serious” form in the works on poetics (such as the Discorso intorno alla poesia romantica or the Prefazioni to the Crestomazie), was also treated by Leopardi in a playful way, but not for this less significant, in the work entitled Scherzo, the last of the Canti.

Also in the Zibaldone he insists a lot on the lack of style in modern poetry, as compared to the ancient:

 

The different styles in a language almost seem like different languages [321, 1313-5, 1683-4, 2197-9] – today it is an art that is almost entirely lost [976] – on the style of the ancient, strong and effective [1470-2] – the strength of poetic style is in rapidity and conciseness [2041-3, 2239, 2337, 2358-9]; and images must only be hinted to: this is pleasant as it obliges to imagine [2054-7] – “one can be poet, having nothing poetic other than style”, such as Horace [2049-52] – “So much more daring are the ancient poetics, languages and styles, than the modern” [2172, 2443, 3864] – “It is not sufficient for the writer to be master of his style. It is necessary for his style to be the master of things” [2611-3] – today “there is but one style for all, and this consists much more in being sententious than in words” [2914-7] – clarity and simplicity are the effects of art [3047-50] – in writing an apparent carelessness is a thing of beauty[3050-1] – “whoever is incapable of imagining, thinking, hearing, inventing, can neither possess a good poetic style, nor hold its art, nor execute it, nor judge it ... And so he can never be a poet for style he who is not a poet in all else” [3388-9, 4465, 4503] – it languishes if there is no imagination [3719-20] – it requires “immense effort” [4021] – he who today in writing seeks perfection in style can be said to be writing for the dead [4240] – today it is all the worse the more materially beautiful are the publications; and yet without it there cannot be literary glory [4268-71].