Zibaldone

by Leopardi, Giacomo

  Pésolo [pendulous], pesolone (pensulus for penzolo, pendulo, etc.).

  Sentito for sensibile, heartfelt; or for sensato [sensible]. See Crusca.

  Lego is [to collect, to read]—lego as [to send as an ambassador], with its compounds.

  Spigolare [to glean], ruzzolare [to tumble]. Mugolare [to whimper], mugghiare [to low].

  For p. 4430. This includes also a very large part of the errors and grammatical mistakes (made generally as well as individually) in popular speech, rustic speech, dialects, etc.

  Monophagy. Convivium, συμπόσιον, coena [dinner] (if the etymology from κοινή [common] is true),2 all nouns meaning commonality, etc.

  For p. 4504, margin. Even the enemy, the aggressor, when reduced to a position of inferiority, to impotence, is not only pitiable but also endearing to the person offended. [4520] It would seem that nature has given weakness a certain appeal as a sort of defense and aid. (17 June [1829].)

  Beatus [blessed], participle used as adjective. Trambasciato [very distressed], trangosciato [very anxious], etc. Trasognato [lost in thought]. Moderato [moderate], etc., smoderato, immoderato [excessive], etc. Invisus for odioso [hateful].

  The ancients used the words Σχολὴ, ozio [leisure], to describe the places, periods, etc., of study, and also the studies themselves (hence, without taking account of their origin, we still say scuola [school] and scolare for student, and the English say scholar for a man of letters, whose etymology would suggest an idle person) which for most of us is the only or main activity.1 (7 July [1829].)

  Succhio (succulus) for succo [juice].

  Δῖος [of Zeus, heavenly], dius–divus [divine].

  Ieiunus (1) contracted participle, apparently, from ieiunatus (thus perhaps also festinus); (2) meaning qui ieiunavit or ieiunat [someone who has fasted or who is fasting]. Delirus [crazy].

  Mordeo [to bite], morsum–morsicare (corruptly mozzicare, smozzicare), morsecchiare [to nibble].

  SImus invariably for sUmus [we are]. Augustus in Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 87; Messalla, Brutus, and Agrippa in Marius Victorinus, De orthographia, p. 2456. ManIbiae for manUbiae [booty] and also constantly used in the Ancira inscriptions also by Augustus. ContIbernali [comrade] on an ancient monument in Achilles Statius on Suetonius’s De claris rhetoribus.2

  Bubulcitare [to behave like a herdsman].

  For p. 4491. In small towns there are factions, friendship does not exist. This means that people meet and join together for a certain time (generally against others) because this suits their interests, but they are never friends. Friendship can only be found in large cities, or between people living far away from each other. (8 July [1829].) See p. 4523.

  [4521] —For p. 4512. The form in accio acciare, azzo azzare, and corresponding French and Spanish forms (and likewise in eccio, iccio, etc.), in fact come, at least generally, from the Latin aceus, iceus, etc. Gallinaceus [of chicken], gallinaccio. That giving this ending to positive forms of nouns or verbs, without altering the meaning, was typical of Vulgar Latin, and that this is where the extensive use of the form in accio, etc., in the daughter languages came from, especially where it does not alter the meaning (as in minae minacce [threats], minari minacciare) can be surmised, among other things, from what Suetonius (Augustus, ch. 87) said about how Augustus used to write pulleiaceus instead of the positive pullus. Augustus followed common speech in particularities of his words and spelling, according to Suetonius (ibid. and ch. 88): his baceolus [simpleton] is our baggeo. This observation therefore is particularly useful for the “Treatise on Vulgar Latin.”1 —The form in ezzare, from which eggiare (but not vice versa), and the corresponding French and Spanish, are from the Greek frequentative in ίζειν, and from the Latin issare, which comes from the Greek. The word betissare [to be a beetroot—to be languid] used by Augustus, in Suetonius (87): in our region we would say bietoleggiare—the i changed as usual to e. (9 July [1829].) —Consequently, if ezzare is for ecciare, then it will belong to what I have said above. And vice versa, if azzo, izzo, etc., is for aggio, etc., then the above will not apply. (10 July [1829].) —IncumULARE–encumbRAR–ingombERARE [to encumber].

  Many adverbs and prepositions in our languages are made by adding a de which is totally pleonastic to the corresponding Latin. De retro: diretro, dirietro, dreto, dietro [behind] (the Marche people, precisely, use the Latin form: de retro); and then [4522] by further doubling the di, di dietro; derrière, detras. De ubi: dove [where]. De unde: donde [from where]. De ante: delante, dianzi, dinanzi, davanti, devant [before]. De post: di poi, dopo, da poi, depuis, despues [after]. De mane: dimani, etc., demain [tomorrow] (11 July). The same with di sopra [above], di sotto [below], da presso [close by], da lungi [from afar], da vicino [close by], da or di lontano [from afar]. It seems that this use was proper to Vulgar Latin: (1) because it is common to all 3 daughter languages, (2) because it is already found in part in written Latin. Desuper [from above], desubito [suddenly], derepente [suddenly]; where the de is redundant: dehinc [from here], deinde [from there]; where the de (as in donde) is repeated; because hinc by itself already means de hic, inde is de in (dein).

  IUvi for iUvavi [I helped], ad-iUtum, etc., for ad-iUvatum.

  Prose in fact, speaking in absolute terms, preceded verse everywhere, as is natural; but written verse preceded written prose almost everywhere. (11 July [1829].)

  The practice by the ancient Greek philosophers of including all parts of knowledge within the cycle of their Treatises (a practice which I have noted elsewhere [→Z 4486]), so that this cycle came to be an encyclopedia, was also followed in later times by the Latins. I say this in relation to those who wrote separate works or one single work, de quattuor or de septem disciplinis [on the four or on the seven disciplines]1 (such as Boethius, Cassiodorus, Martianus Capella, Bede, Alcuin), etc.—small encyclopedias, in which they generally copied between themselves. And I say between themselves because they either did not know, or did not have, or did not read, or could not understand those that were more ancient. (11 July [1829].)

  [4523] For p. 4520, end. Someone who has never been out of small towns, just as he thinks the great vices to be a myth, considers true and solid social virtues in the same light. And as far as friendship is concerned, he believes it to be one of those names that are not things, one of those ideas belonging to poetry and history which are never to be found in real daily life (and which he certainly never expects to find in his own life). And he is mistaken. I am not talking about Pylades or Pirithous, but sincere and cordial friendship actually exists in the world, and it is not rare.

  In any event, the services that can be expected of friends consist either of words (which are often very useful to you) or sometimes of deeds, but never of material goods, and the wise and prudent man must never ask for such things (of such a kind). (21 July [1829].)

  Insatiatus for insatiabilis [insatiable]. Citus [quick], participle used as an adjective.

  NaeVus–neo [mole].

  FriGus [cold]–frio (Spanish). RagUnare–raunare [to gather]. NeGO–nier [to deny]. RaGGI–rai [rays].

  “Bishop Ulfilas, if he was not the first to introduce the alphabet into his nation” (the Goths) “he at least gave it that form which we know.” Castiglioni in the Biblioteca Italiana, May 1829, tome 54, p. 201.

  Not only do we become insensitive to praise, and never to blame, as I suggest elsewhere, [→Z 4167] but at any time, the praises of a thousand highly respected people do not console us, do not compensate the pain inflicted upon us by blame, by one harsh word, one word of contempt from someone totally contemptible, from a wretch. (29 July [1829].)

  Someone who wants to enjoy himself at an entertainment should just think of passing the time. If he seeks and expects enjoyment, he will only be bored, and will pass that time pretty badly.1 (29 July [1829].)

  [4524] “Est Dicaearchi liber de interitu hominum, Peripatetici magni et copiosi, qui collectis ceteris causis, eluvionis, pestilentiae, vastitatis, beluarum etiam repentinae multi
tudinis, quarum impetu docet quaedam hominum genera esse consumta; deinde comparat quanto plures deleti sint homines hominum impetu, id est bellis aut seditionibus, quam omni reliqua calamitate” [“There is a book on the death of men by Dicaearchus, a famous and eloquent Peripatetic, who, when he had gathered together all the other causes of death—floods, pestilence, devastations, and vast hordes of wild animals, whose attacks he shows have wiped out generations of men—he then goes on to explain how much greater is the number of men killed by attacks from other men, that is by wars and civil discord, with respect to all the other calamities”]. Cicero, De officiis 2, 5 (16). (5 Sept. 1829.)1

  Luccicare [to glisten]. Albico as [to make or to be white].

  Rue–ruGa [wrinkle] (old Italian).

  Despicere–despicari [to despise], and similar.

  Burrone, burrato, borro, botro–βόθρος [gully]. (12 April 1830, Easter Monday.)2

  It is curious to see how men of great merit always have simple manners, and how simple manners are always taken as an indication of little merit. (Florence, 31 May 1831.)

  Excellent humanity of the ancients.3 “Quid enim est aliud, erranti viam non monstrare, quod Athenis exsecrationibus publicis sancitum est, si hoc non est? etc.” [“If this is not like refusing to show the right way to someone who has gone astray, which in Athens was made punishable by public execration, what else is?”] Cicero, De officiis, bk. 3, just before the middle.4 (Rome, 14 Dec. 1831.)

  Βρίαχος l’ubbriaco [the drunkard], description of a Silenus on an antique vase. Muséum étrusque du prince de Canino, no. 1005.5 (Rome, 14 Dec. 1831.)

  “ὅμως δὲ τοῦτο μὲν ἴτω” (let it be, i.e., eveniat), “ὅπῃ τῷ θεῷ φίλον” [“{let it be} as God pleases”]. Plato, Apologia Socratis, not far from the beginning ed. Ast, Opera, tome 8, p. 102 (in the margin 19a). In Crito (beginning, p. 164, in the margin, 43d, also Socrates says: “εἰ ταύτῃ τοῖς θεοῖς φίλον, ταύτῃ ἔστω” [“if this is what the Gods will, then so be it”].6

  “τούτου πᾶν τοὐναντίον εὑρήσετε” [“you will find that it is the exact opposite”] (entirely the contrary). Ibid., 138 (34a) and thus elsewhere in the same Apology.

  “οὐκ ἔσθ' ὅτι μᾶλλον, ὦ ἄνδρες ᾿Αθηναῖοι, πρέπει οὕτως ὡς” [“there is nothing more fitting, men of Athens, than”], etc. [4525] (instead of μᾶλλον … ἢ) [more … than], ibid., 144 (36d)—nessuna cosa più … quanto [nothing more … than], etc., our idiom, also used by good and old writers.

  “ὄνομα ἕξετε καὶ αἰτίαν ὡς Σωκράτη ἀπεκτόνατε.” “You will have the name of having killed Socrates.” Ibid., 148 (38c).1 (Rome, 6 Jan. 1832.)

  Original men are less rare than you think.2

  Men approach life in the same way as Italian husbands do their wives: they need to believe they are faithful even though they know otherwise. The same way someone who has to live in a place needs to think it is lovely and good; the same way men believe life is a lovely thing. Ridiculous in my view, like a cuckold who’s tender with his wife. (Florence, 23 May 1832.)

  Something very rare in society: a truly tolerable man.

  Two truths that men will generally never believe: one, that we know nothing, the other, that we are nothing. Add the third, which depends a lot on the second: that there is nothing to hope for after death.

  A great concern (ambition) among men when they are immature is to seem to be fully grown, and when they are fully grown, to appear immature. (16 Sept. 1832.)

  The most unexpected thing for someone who is entering social life, and very often for someone who has grown old there, is to find that the world is as it has been described to him, and as he already knows and believes it to be in theory. Man is stupefied to see in his own case that the [4526] general rule is shown to be true.1 (Florence, 4 Dec. 1832.)

  Leopardi’s 1827 Index and the “Separate Slips”

  Editors’ Premise

  The alphabetical Index that Leopardi compiled in Florence in the summer and autumn of 1827 was conceived for his own purposes. As well as the page, Leopardi nearly always indicates the paragraph (note that he generally references only the beginning of an entry, which may in fact extend over several pages), but identifying them is not always easy because he also takes marginal additions into account, and sometimes he makes mistakes. For these reasons, we have decided not to correct the places where the paragraphs appear to be mistaken, so long as these occur on the same page. We use editorial square brackets in two specific cases: if the reference is incomprehensible we add a question mark or give the reader the number of the page that will make it clear; if the page is wrong, we identify the correct one. Zibaldone page numbers are given in the order written by Leopardi, occasionally out of numerical sequence; we also follow the author’s practice in the use of capital letters, italics, and punctuation: a comma is used to divide the page number from the paragraph number, a period to divide one paragraph from another and to close each entry. In the alphabetical order, entries with the same headword are arranged as follows: first, the words followed by a period, then those followed by a comma, and finally words in a phrase, without taking articles into account. We have also tried to keep the main word in the position wanted by Leopardi (mainly by placing the adjective after the noun, e.g., “History, Roman,” “Duties, moral”), even if it has not always been possible. The subheadings are placed one after the other inside the main entry.

  Leopardi built up his Index using tiny pieces of paper, 555 of which were incorporated in the Index proper. He also makes reference to “separate slips.” These are of two kinds: those that are “referred to in the 1827 Index” and those that are not. The first group comprises 38 slips providing the relevant Zibaldone page and paragraph numbers for the fifteen subject headings for which Leopardi does not provide the full list of references in the Index itself. They are all of the same form and size (35 × 65 mm). The “separate slips not referred to in the 1827 Index” differ from the first group in that there is no direct cross-reference from the Index. They are also different in form and larger in size than the referred slips (five of them measuring 155 × 55 mm, the other two 160 × 115 mm). We reproduce both sets in full, as a necessary adjunct to the Index itself.

  INDEX

  TO MY ZIBALDONE DI PENSIERI

  begun on the eleventh of June 1827 in Florence

  The first numbers indicate the pages of the Zibaldone:

  the others refer to the paragraphs on each page.

  A

  Academies (literary). 144,1. 161,1.

  Accidental difficulties in nature. 1079,1. 1530,2. 1789,2. 1959,1. 2599,1. 3374,1. 3792. 3883. 4248,9.

  Adjectives in place of adverbs. 4012,1. 4053,7. 4068,4.

  Aeolic digamma. 1127. 1276,1. 2070. 2195,2. 2321. 2744. 3169,2. 3624,2. 3698,1. 3704,1. See Running together of vowels. F, letter. V, letter. Synizeses. Diphthongs.

  Affectation. 189,1. 203,2. 236,1. 237,1. 705. 1329,1. 2682,1.

  Age. Harm of knowing one’s own age. 102,1.

  Agriculture. 342,1. 2686,1. 2454,2.

  Aims of man, stretch further the less the span of life he can allow himself, and vice versa. 3265,1.

  Albinos. See White Moors.

  Alfieri. 701. 2453,1. 2455,2. 2595,1. 3418. 3458–9.

  Allegro in music. 3364,1.

  All is evil. 4174,2. 4257,11. See Contradictions and monstrosities, etc. Artifice, etc.

  Alphabet: see Writing, Literature.

  Alphabets of varied nature. 51,6. 54,2. 191,1. 711,1. 1014,3. 1338,3. 1342,1. 1346,3. 1816,1. 2740,1.

  Altro, ἄλλος, redundant or having the sense of none, nothing, etc., in Italian, Greek, etc. 2864,2. 3587,1. 4000,1. 4010,5. 4014,2.6. 4015,3. 4018,3. 4025,4. 4026,5. 4030,4. 4036,10. 4041,1. 4042,1. 4044,7. 4057,1. 4090,1.4. 4101,9. 4103,5. 4122,1.8.18. 4124,6. 4125,9. 4127,5.7. 4135,3. 4139,5. 4140,11. 4145,2. 4158,2. 4163,9. 4166,11. 4167,2. 4182,6.
4188,7. 4227,4. 4229,2. 4231,3. 4238,2. 4243,1.5. 4248,10. 4282,3. 4285,3.4.

  Anacreon. 28,1. 30,3. 3441,1. 3982,1. 3983,2. 3991,2. 3995,3. 4177,2.

  Ancients. 115,2. 116,2. 123,2. 121,1. 125,2. 130,1. 131,2. 162,2. 163,1. 195,2. 197,1. 204,2. 207,2. 222,1. 231,1. 253,1.[?] 254,1. 266,1. 270,3. 274,1. 277,1. 280,2. 285,2. 328,1. 338,1. 338,2. 340,1. 343,1. 352,2. 420,2. 453,1. 453,2. 473,3. 459,1. 463,1. 474,2. 484,1. 503,1. 520,1. 528,1. 536,3. 543,1. 590,1. 593,1. 598,4. 601,3. 601,1. 112,2. 618,2. 625,3. 661,2. 663,1.2. 678,3. 684,2. 725,1. 866,1. 872,1. 911,1. 923,1. 926,2. 931,2. 1001,2. 1004,1. 1009,1.2. 1016,1. 1018,1. 1026,1. 1028,4. 1037,1. 1043,1. 1078,1. 1083,2. 1096,1. 1163,3. 1165,2. 1169,1. 1174,2. 1175,1. 1315,1. 1330,1. 1347,1. 1361,3. 1362,1. 1364,1. 1378,1. 1422,1. 1470,1. 1482,1. 1487,1. 1494,1. 1554,2. 1555,1. 1563,1. 1573,1. 1606,2. 1607,1. 1794,1. 1842,1. 1860,1. 1899. 1975,1. 1988,1.3. 2088,1. 2215,1. 2420,1. 2434,2. 2544,1. 2583,1. 2736,1. 2759,2. 2987,3. 3029,1.2. 3251,3. 3291,1. 3482,1. 3520,1. 3613,1. 3638,3. 3676,1. 3909,2. 3921,1. 4185,2. 4256,1. 4281,3. 4289,2. We still have a lot to recover from ancient civilization, particularly as far as the physical is concerned; and the progress of modern civilization is still, to a great extent, a revival. 4289,1. The ancients did everything for eternity, the moderns for the moment. Application of this thought to architecture, literature, etc. Important observations. 3435,1. 4267,3. 4268,7. Humanity of the ancients, greater than modern. 4245,1.

  Ancients, not very exact in their descriptions of passions and characters; and why. 3482,1. In metaphysics and in moral philosophy they knew and said everything. 4172,3. Indeed they knew more about these things than moderns do; and why. 4192,1. 4206,4.

  Antiquity. We only know its last period, Greeks and Romans. 926,1.