Sure, pick the long one Neely. I don't think it will be too hard to discuss, though, since it's kind of slow moving. Compared to the other poems, it's practically glacial in its gradual progression. Leopardi introduces an idea and then builds onto it throughout an entire stanza or more. It's not quite as dense as some of the others we've done. "Saturday in the Village" and "The Infinite" were packed tighter than the little 2-door vehicle I carpool to work in. "The Broom or The Flower of the Desert," on the other hand, focuses on just a handful of ideas and takes its time developing them.
The first idea I'd like to bring up is in these lines:
It's this sense that man's dignity lies in a sort of cosmic humility. I don't think it's a particularly new thought--people have been making it since the ancients--but I'm curious about how Leopardi handles it. I also wonder whether Leopardi means to make this point in a general way or whether he's advancing this claim to a specific audience--one located in a particular people at a particular time. Earlier, the speaker addressed the overly hopeful in these lines:Quote:
That man has a truly noble nature
Who, without flinching, still can face
Our common plight, tell the truth
With an honest tongue,
Admit the evil lot we've been given
Clearly, this is leveled at some in a particular time. So what about these people at this time is overly hopeful? There seems to be a topical point as well as a general one that Leopardi seems to be making. The general point isn't all that new, but the topical one might be--and it might help us understand what Leopardi is doing in this poem. I don't really have a good answer to this question right now, but it's something I'm thinking about while I'm rereading the poem.Quote:
Look and see yourself here,
You proud, vain, ignorant century,