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LEOPARDI'S 'CANTO NOTTURNO DI UN PASTORE ERRANTE
DELL'ASIA' AND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN
SPATIAL SIGNIFIERS AND DRAMATIS PERSONAE
"Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia" is, in many respects, a
typical Leopardi poem and yet it is one of the most complex from a
structural and dramatic standpoint. As he does in many other
compositions, especially the "grandi idilli," the poet utilizes spatial
designators as vehicles for the communication of his celebrated
"pessimismo cosmico." This technique is evident, for example, in
"L'infinito" where he situates the poetic subject within a space that is
divided between the foreground and the background — a division which
allows Leopardi to develop the spatio-temporal dialectic that, in turn,
lies at the heart of his metaphysical dilemma: rejection of the ephemeral
and/ or attachment to the same. In the same poem, a distinction is made
between "questa siepe" (the here and now) and "quello infinito silenzio"
(the sweet hereafter). Angelo Marchese offers an extremely insightful
interpretation of the poem in which this feature is his central interpretive
premise (Marchese, 1981: 237-49). In "Il passero solitario" this same
tendency to privilege spatial representation assumes a vertical
directionality, with the "passero" occupying the upper elevation, "d'in
su la vetta della torre antica" (Leopardi: 257), while the poetic subject
is located below, from which vantage point he directs his soliloquy or
apostrophe towards the heavens. What is at play in this and in other
Leopardi poems is what Marchese calls "biplanarità lirico-narrativa"
(Marchese, 1985: 180) — a term introduced in his study of Pascoli's
poem, "X agosto." However, the space in "Canto notturno" is articulated
along several planes, not merely the horizontal and vertical ones evident
in the two poems cited here, and the dramatis personae are several;
therefore the poem represents a more complete expression of the poet's
artistic vision. As one critic reminds us, this particular canto is "uno dei
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supremi capolavori del Leopardi e della moderna poesia europea — e
conclusione dell'argomentazione metafisica di questo ciclo lirico" (A.
Negri: 190). Such an effect is owed in large measure to the visual and
thematic structures outlined here.
Furthermore, the tendency to have interlocutors and the poetic
subject engage in discourse (at least from the formal, if not pragmatic,
standpoint, which is to say that the subject appears to be speaking to
someone, but the communicative circuit is incomplete) reappears in
"Canto notturno." This structural feature can be noted in poems such as
"Alla luna" and "A Silvia," as well as in the previously mentioned
"Passero solitario." In these lyrical situations, the interlocutor may be
animate or inanimate; in either case, the addressee of the poetic
subject's utterances is unresponsive and functions as a literary device
which enables the poet to establish different, if not oppositional,
perspectives, as regards the phenomenon of existence. The point to be
made here is that the "players" in "Canto notturno" are more numerous
than in most other Leopardi poems and this affords the poet a more
elaborate stage and cast of characters with which to construct an
intricately and elegantly expressive form.
In the first instance, we can take inventory of the terms which in
"Canto notturno" denote the space wherein the poetic subject and the
other dramatis personae operate. As opposed to several other
compositions where the area of contemplation is generally narrowed to
"quest'ermo colle" (Leopardi: 126), "questa valle" (Leopardi: 258),
"questa / rimota parte alla campagna" (Leopardi: 260), "la piazzuola"
(Leopardi: 291), or the seemingly ever present "villaggio," the
representational canvass of "Canto notturno" is expanded to embrace
virtually the entire physical universe, from the heights of the "cielo" to
the unfathomable depths of the "abisso" and almost every geological
formation in between: "valli," "campo," "fontane," "erbe," "montagna,"
"sassi," "rena," "fratte," "sole," "aria," "piano," "stelle," "ombra," "luna."
These features, in turn, increase the surface area implied by the poem's
title — which restricts the dimensions of the scene to Asia. Of course,
if we look more closely at the arrangement of these lexical items and
their corresponding referents, we become aware of their particular
distribution along at least three directional axes: vertical, horizontal, or
linear, and circular. These vectors are complementary to one another.
In addition, Leopardi sets up a contrasting locus which is synonymous
with a lack of motion or stillness.
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Taking as a heuristic springboard the theories of spatiality applied
to poetic discourse, as formulated by Angelo Marchese and Juri
Lotman, we can begin by examining first those elements that converge
along a vertical axis. Several items, including the poetic subject's
principal interlocutor, the moon, and the subject's own eyes move or
align themselves upward: the predicates "sorgi" and "sorge" are referred
to the moon's rising above the line of the horizon, to its zenith from
where it figuratively looks down upon the subject who says "vedi," as
he projects his speech-thought in that direction. The subject's eyes of
course implicitly trace the trajectory of ascent and the sweeping motion
is reiterated in verbal constructions such as "Ti miro" and "miro in
cielo." In addition, in a moment of hypothetical ecstasy, the speaking
subject imagines himself soaring upward, toward the stratum occupied
by the celestial bodies: "s'avessi l'ale / da volar su le nubi." As well,
the essential phases of life's journey of the " vecchierel bianco, infermo"
configure themselves along a vertical plane, with the early years being
associated with the upward thrust of growth, that is "crescendo," while
the climax of the vertical physical extension and the horizontal temporal
progression that is sequential time coincides with a steep fall, as is
suggested by the gerund "precipitando" into the bottomless pit that is
the "abisso orrido, immenso."
Even before taking into consideration the signifying role played by
the dramatis personae, other than that of the poetic subject who is
occupying an anchoring position on the vertical and horizontal axes
denoted by the terms listed above, it should be pointed out that the
expressed desire to float above the clouds is strongly connotative of the
heavens or the stratosphere as a locus of refuge and freedom.
Conversely, the earth where the subject is located already connotes
limitation, gravity, and displeasure. However, a fuller examination of the
role of the poetic subject appears later in this paper.
The denotators of verticality in "Canto notturno" are
counterbalanced by lexical markers which emphasize horizontal flow.
Although several of the pertinent predicates can conceivably indicate
movement that is non-linear, the absence of specific modifiers which
expressly evoke motion other than along a flat plane permits us to
privilege linearity in our interpretation. Verbs like "vai," "move,"
"viaggiando" and nouns such as "corso," "vagar," and "andar" all
function semiotically in this fashion. Perhaps most expressive of a
departure from a particular point and arrival at another is the sequence:
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"Corre via, corre, anela, / varca torrenti e stagni, / cade, risorge, e più
e più s'affretta [...] infin ch'arriva." When we consider that the poet is
here outlining a cadenced and telescoped progression from birth to
death, it is not difficult to argue in favour of a Leopardian
conceptualization of existence as an essentially predetermined movement
towards a point that in no way is coincidental with the point of
departure. K. H. Hartley's interpretation concurs with this view as he
points out: "it is an allegory of the whole span of mortal existence in
the guise of today's journey" (Hartley: 120). In some passages, the
displacement or shift is envisioned as being endless — which occurs in
phrases such as, "infinito andar del tempo" and "solitudine immensa."
The latter is suggestive of physical extension without perceivable
boundaries or limits.
To complicate the spatial scheme, Leopardi also introduces the
notion of circularity — usually evoking the image of the circle either in
explicit terms, as in expressions like "girando senza posa," "eterni giri,"
or "suo giro lontano," or by implication, as when he writes: "tornar
sempre là donde son mosse." In this perceptual misidentification,
Leopardi is speaking of the apparent revolution of the stars — as
opposed to the path of the earth and sun projected against the
background of the constellations, which then appear to return to their
habitual position if observed at the same time on successive nights.
Interestingly, the circle traced by the moon and stars against the night
sky are metaphorically etched by reflected light, in the case of the
moon, and self-generated light in the case of the stars. The poem,
therefore, generates quite a geometric pattern of straight lines and arcs
within and through which the intellectual tension of the poem
materializes.
Counterpoised against the three representations of motion indicated
above, are those few but important syntagms which evoke a sense of
stasis or inertia. Virtually all of the poem's signifiers of inertia
characterize the speaker as being in a sitting or prone position: "Io pur
seggo," "Sedendo," and "S'io giaccio in riposo." Similar qualifiers apply
to the "greggia" which is said to be "Giacendo / a bell'agio." The sheep
are also collectively addressed with these words: "Tu siedi all'ombra."
Meanwhile, in contrast to the vertical and circular motion identified
already, the moon is also perceived by the poetic subject as appearing
to come to rest: "Ti posi," "posi," and "Si riposa," he says to and of the
moon. Predicates such as these, when contextualized within the
geometry of moving bodies, suggest that, from the perspective of the
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poet who, in a sense, stands outside the structure which his poem elicits,
it is possible to be free of the forces that cause matter to be set and kept
in motion, on the level of physics, and to be free of the "pena e
tormento" which these same forces provoke, on the level of
metaphysics.
This last observation serves as a useful transition from
consideration of the signifiers of directionality to consideration of the
poem's traditionally noted pessimism with respect to the poetic subject's
interpretation of human existence set against that of animals and
inanimate objects. Of course, without the dramatis personae, the verbal
vectors outlined above would generate only a marginal sense of disquiet
in the reader. What allows the personages to function as vehicles or as
"objective correlatives" of sorts is the presence of the participants in the
patterns of motion. These personages can be divided into three
categories: the human, the animal, and the inanimate. The human agents
in the poem are the poetic subject and the "pastore errante dell'Asia."
Whether these are two distinct personae or merely one figure will be
considered shortly. The other personages are the "greggia," and the
"luna" — which are treated as entities that, within the scope of the
poetic imagination, can at least be addressed, even if they cannot
respond or empathize with the plight or lamentations of the speaker.
The role of the moon is something of a composite one in the sense that,
like the "greggia," the moon is unresponsive to the vocative structures
of the subject and yet it has anthropomorphic properties in that it is, as
already noted, capable of observing: "vedi," writes Leopardi; and it has
at least the imagined potential of divulging to the speaker the essence
of Being. This notion of referring to objects or animals as dramatis
personae is explicitly validated by at least one other poet, Guido
Gozzano, in a poem entitled "Pioggia d'agosto," where we read the
following verses: "e l'achenio del cardo che s'invola, / la selce,
l'orbettino, il macaone, / sono tutti per me come personae, / hanno tutti
per me qualche parola" (Picchione: 82). It is apparent in these lines that
by designating plants as personae, one turns on the perception of
"speech" emanating from the entity (a Symbolist stance) rather than the
Leopardian technique of attributing "listening" capabilities to the same.
If we examine closely those structures that pertain either to objects
at rest or in circular motion, we note that the poetic subject associates
these with the condition of absence of tedium or "affanno" which is
transparent in virtually all of the "canti." The "greggia" is depicted as
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resting, sitting, or following the "pastore errante" in his daily
wanderings, which presumably lead him back to his starting point: at
least, his wanderings would remain inside the perimeter of his Asia. For
the Leopardian speaker the flock's circular or rotational pattern of
grazing, with its intervals of rest, correlate to contentment and respite
from "miseria." We read, for instance, "O greggia mia che posi,"
followed by "tu sei quieta e contenta" and "senza noia." Indeed, the
subject perceives this state as propitious ("fortunata sei") and as a form
of enjoyment ("quel che tu goda"). Clearly, in the case of this persona,
the lack of motion equates with lack of awareness of the life cycle.
Indeed, one critic suggests that this state of unconsciousness is the
equivalent of living totally in the present, that is, effectively negating
time and motion: "[Leopardi] fa consistere la felicità dell'animale nella
naturale attitudine [...] a vivere come un'assoluta esperienza il suo
presente" (I. Negri: 70). This state of psychological immediacy,
therefore, is synonymous with relief from the "mal di vivere." The latter
assumes the configuration of a trajectory from the point of birth to the
point of death: a relentless linear progression through time, spatialized
time. Consequently, the subject confesses his desire to trade places with
his mute interlocutor (we read, "invidia ti porto") and implores her to
divulge the secret of her obliviousness: "Se tu parlar sapessi," he
wistfully speculates.
A parallel (no pun intended) case of equating circularity and
contentment applies to the figure of the moon, Leopardi's constant
companion, in a sense. The daily and monthly orbit of the earth's
satellite is unending and for this reason it is "elevated" to the status of
symbol of eternal life in a physical, rather than spiritual, sense. In
addressing this persona, the poet writes: "tu mortal non sei." This
statement represents the first important distinction between the aesthetic
and conceptual functions of the two "personified" objects, the moon and
the flock. In other words, although both entities are "animated" in that
each is visualized as being capable of contentment and of receiving the
message directed at them by the speaker, the moon's circular motion
repeats itself into eternity, for all intents and purposes; whereas the
circular (by implication) "errare" of the flock and of the "pastore" are
instead finite. This is significant in terms of the perceptions of the
poetic subject, as we shall see in greater detail, in that both references
to the "eterni giri" and the "non sai" are symptomatic of envy for the
simple reason that one (i.e., the moon) transcends death, thereby
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escaping the "abisso orrido, immenso" and the other (i.e., the flock) is
ignorant of the fact that its rest, as well as its daily pattern of grazing,
are destined to collapse into the abyss of nothingness.
A second differentiating feature of the moon persona is the
attribution to it of the act of observing the motion of the landscape
below as well as the other personae who occupy it. The relevant
references are these: "vedi il frutto del mattin," "contemplando i
deserti," "mirar queste valli." As a consequence of such a perceived
privileged position, the moon appears to the monologist to possess
knowledge as to the origin and purpose of all things — a knowledge not
available to the ignorant "greggia" nor to the rational "pastore."
Ascribing to it oracular power, the subject insists: "tu certo comprendi
/ il perché delle cose;" "Mille cose tu sia;" "tu per certo / giovinetta
immortal, conosci il tutto." The certainty of these assertions is
modulated somewhat by the introduction of a degree of doubt in the one
speculative sentence that reads: "tu forse intendi." Resulting from this
premise are the implorations, on the part of the subject, for the
interlocutor to disclose her hermetically sealed secret. "Dimmi," he
urges on two occasions. The subject, who appears situated beneath, on
the plane of mortal earth and of finitude, wanting to be a participant in
infinity, wishes to have divulged by this persona the answers to the notso-rhetorical ten questions which punctuate his one-way conversation.
Tragically, the distance, expressed in terms of verticality, between the
persona of the moon and the persona that is the speaker, translates into
silence — both acoustical and metaphysical; hence the references to the
muteness of the respondent: "ti miro / star così muta."
Alvaro Valentini treats the anthropomorphized moon as something
of an aloof figure, as a consequence of the space interposed between the
two personae. He notes: "la distanza [...] gli consente un colloquio che,
proprio per essere affettuoso e tenero, risulta più disperato" (Valentini:
48). This comment in fact allows the reader to appreciate the
illusionistic effect which the situation creates. In other words, the
language and tone of the speaker's discourse suggest intimacy and
proximity. The speaker not only poses questions to his confidante, but
he expects the words to be heard. However, the distance between the
subject and his addressee is too great to permit actual contact: hence the
contradictory stance. The resulting failure of the communicative act
brings to mind the échec confessed by Montale's speaker in his "I
limoni" where, in a moment of meditative rapture, he intuits that he is
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on the verge of having Nature disclose its "ultimo segreto"; however,
as occurs in "Canto notturno," the contact is broken and "l'illusione
manca" (Picchione: 230).
As we have seen, since the spatial signifiers, as well as the
dramatis personae are constructed by the poetic subject, it is not
possible to separate the "luna" and "greggia" personae from the speaker
figure since the former depend on the latter in order to exist, in that he
evokes them. Despite this complication, to this point in the study the
focus has been on the primacy of the "luna" and the "greggia"
functioning within the poetic scenario. We will now turn our attention
to the perspective(s) of the poetic subject himself. As is indicated by the
title, the principal protagonist is the "pastore errante dell'Asia." There
is some difference of opinion among Leopardi scholars as to whether
the "pastore" and the speaking subject are one and same persona or two
distinct personages. The more popular view is the one which erases the
difference. O'Connor, for one, refers to "the shepherd Leopardi" (Comin
and O'Connor: 60), while Perella argues that, "the relationship between
the shepherd and the poet — as in 'Canto notturno' — is one of identity"
(Cecchetto: 73) and also refers to the "philosophical-minded shepherd"
(Perella: 107). One scholar indeed refers to the shepherd as "Leopardi's
mouthpiece" (Singh: 67), in something of an oversimplification. On the
other side of the issue are critics who suggest that the equation poetshepherd does not hold up. Bigi, for example, contends that the
meditation in the poem is not that of the sophisticated implied poet, but
the "canto di un spirito semplice, cioè ignorante" (Bigi: 126). Along
these lines, John Scott writes: "The simple shepherd addresses the
moon" (Comin and O'Connor: 19), and Bronzini cites the "stato
d'animo assunto dal poeta in sintonia col carattere melanconico dei
Kirghisi e delle loro composizioni" (Bronzini: 130), thereby preserving
the aesthetic distance between poetic subject and shepherd.
A case can be made for both interpretations based on textual
evidence. The title itself appears to indicate that the poem's subject
matter or protagonist is a third person and, in fact, he is referred to in
that mode in the verses: "Somiglia alla tua vita / la vita del pastore" and
"a che vale / al pastor la sua vita." However, the subject also speaks in
the first person; when, for example, he addresses the flock as "O
greggia mia," and when he constructs the temporal clause, "quando tu
siedi all'ombra." The question is more intricate than either position
would appear to imply and the spatial axes of the text contribute to the
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reader's impression of dramatic complexity.
One way of resolving or at least accounting for the apparent
doubling of the narrative voice is to examine each voice or agent in
relation to the spatial signifiers and to the other dramatis personae
identified above. From the poem's opening lines to verse 104, where the
shift from third to first person narration occurs, there is a definite
distinction between the physical position of the moon interlocutor "in
ciel" and that of the speaker and of the "pastore" who are located in
"queste valli." There is also a grammatical dissociation or differentiation
between the "lifeline," as it were, of the shepherd who rises each dawn
to resume his journey to nowhere, and that of the speaker who refers to
his own destiny in the expression, "questo vagar mio." At this particular
point, to assume that the separation of speaker and "pastore" collapses
is effectively to step outside the textual boundaries, on the one hand, or
to erase the clear distinction between the speaker and such characters
as the "artigian, che riede a tarda notte" (Leopardi: 142) in "La sera del
di di festa," in terms of intertextuality on the other. There is no reason
to assume that, within the semantic parameters of "Canto notturno,"
Leopardi would endow his anonymous shepherd with the capacity to
articulate metaphysical or existential thoughts while denying this same
ability to other personae, such as the "artigian" mentioned above and to
the "vecchierel bianco, infermo" of the present poem.
The primary opposition, both in spatial and metaphysical terms, in
the first two-thirds of the poem structures itself around the speaker (first
person), the moon (second person), and the "pastore," "vecchierel," and
"altri" (third person). In verses 18-20, this dynamic is succinctly and
powerfully formulated: "ove tende / questo vagar mio breve, / il tuo
corso immortale?" By building up a contrast between the brevity of his
own linear progression through time — suggested by the phrase "ove
tende" — and the perpetual revolutions of the moon/interlocutor, the
destination or purpose of whose motion is contained in the "corso
immortale," the poetic subject identifies the source of his perplexity and
pessimism. Once this unbridgeable gap is acknowledged between the
temporal and the atemporal, or between the finite and infinite, the
subject extrapolates his predicament to include the plight of the three
other rational personae which, naturally, relate to the subject himself by
synecdoche, in that we consider them as parts of the "io poetante," or
by metonymy, if we consider them to be products of his fiction. In
other words, the "breve vagar" or the speaker equates with the action
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whereby the shepherd "move la greggia oltre pel campo" — which
equates with the verb sequence "corre via, corre, anela" of the
"vecchierel." The accelerated Odyssey of the archetypal old man
replicates and at the same time subsumes the journey of the new-born
who, as he grows to maturity, is accompanied by parents whose task is
to console and encourage him to proceed along his predetermined route,
until such time as he becomes the "vecchierel bianco." The subject
answers his own question regarding where this path leads, "ove tende":
the abyss "ov'ei precipitando, il tutto oblia." Certainly, such a
metaphorical line that comes to an inevitable and abrupt end contrasts
sharply with the "tacito, infinito andar del tempo." Whether it is infinity
expressed as interminable circular motion (the moon's) or linear
extension with no end point (that of time as well as of space, the "aria
infinita"), much of the subject's contention, "a me la vita è male," can
be read as an emotional response to the irreconcilability of these planes
and the life forces they represent.
Another interesting aspect of this perspectival play of sight lines
and lines of thought is the parallel which the speaker establishes
between the life of the "pastore" and that of the "luna." He suggests:
"Somiglia alla tua vita / la vita del pastore." He constructs the equation
on the basis of what he perceives to be an analogy between the regular
rising of the moon and of the shepherd, their coming to rest at certain
points in their "travels to hyperreality," and their return to their
respective activities. However, the poem actually constructs an inverse
relationship in this regard, instead of a coextensive one. This is because
the moon rises in the evening, "Sorgi la sera e vai," he writes; whereas
the shepherd rises in the morning, "Sorge in sul primo albore / move la
greggia." Not only does the linearity of the shepherd's journey not
match the circularity of the moon's, but their respective activities of
watching (i.e., illuminating) the earth in the case of the moon, and
watching (i.e., tending) the flock in the case of the shepherd occur in
opposite halves of the day/night continuum. By extrapolation, we can
argue that this same incommensurability envelopes the speaker, the old
man and the new-born. Of course, not wishing to be absolutist or
categorical about his perceptions, the speaker does allow for exceptions
to this existential dead-end, by sketching out in rather faint lines, still
another human persona in the speculation: "qualche bene ο contento /
avrà fors'altri." This Other is reminiscent of the individual who, like
Montale's "l'uomo che se ne va sicuro [...] e l'ombra sua non cura che
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la canicola / stampa sopra uno scalcinato muro" (Picchione: 231), is
closer to the level of awareness exhibited by the "greggia" in "Canto
notturno" and to that of the carefree "artigiano" of "La sera del dì di
festa" or of the sleeping Silvia in the poem of the same name. They are
all self-absorbed and unconscious of the clash or contradiction between
the timeless and the temporary.
In considering next the interplay between the "pastore" and the
"greggia," some noteworthy patterns or design features emerge. Lines
indicative of identity are inscribed on the poem's expressive surface by
those phrases which entwine the movements of the personae; these are
the phrases that attribute virtual lock-step motion ("la mia greggia /
seguirmi viaggiando a mano a mano") and phrases that attribute rest to
both ("quando tu siedi all'ombra" and "s'io giaccio in riposo").
Nevertheless, the divergence between the two personae, that is the
shepherd and his flock, does not rely on different trajectories, as does
the shepherd-moon pairing. The shepherd's and the flock's spatiotemporal lines are complementary: both start at the point of birth and
end at the point of death, Montale's "punto morto del mondo"
(Picchione: 230). Within this unstoppable march to the metaphorical
finish line, there is in the lifespan of each persona aimless or pointless
wandering, that is to say, the "errare" already mentioned. The difference
is essentially explainable in terms of consciousness. If the moon appears
as indifferent to the subject and to the shepherd, taken here to be two
distinct personalities ("forse del mio dir poco ti cale," he laments), and
unresponsive, as indeed does the flock ("a bell'agio, ozioso / s'appaga
ogni animal," he says with an appreciable degree of envy), it is due to
two factors: the moon is depicted as indifferent because it proceeds
uninterrupted on its daily and monthly scheduled orbits — unconcerned
with the human drama unfolding on the earth below; and the "greggia"
is depicted as equally indifferent because it is unaware of its situation
of being on a revolving planet and on a conveyor that takes it
inexorably to the terminal point.
It is precisely in this aspect of the poem that the identification of
the speaker as the "pastore errante dell'Asia" is rather problematic. If
it is plausible that the "pastore" would direct his thoughts and feelings
to his flock, it is implausible that the same persona would presume to
characterize human existence in general by making reference to the
"vecchierel bianco, infermo," by stating, "Nasce l'uomo a fatica," and
by being so sophisticated as to allow that others may not share in his
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world view. In addition, it is hard to reconcile the shepherd's confession
of angst, in "s'io giaccio in riposo, il tedio assale" — which appears in
the context of the monologue he directs at his flock — and the poetic
subject's characterization of the shepherd, earlier in the poem, in the
following terms: "poi stanco si riposa in su al sera: / altro mai non
ispera." The logical conclusion to be drawn is that the poetic subject
subsumes the shepherd persona in a subtle interplay of perspectives, the
purpose of which will be interpreted shortly. Be that as it may, the
shepherd persona, in "communicating" with the flock persona, closes
his discourse with a wish: namely, to be able to escape his horizontal
and time-limited Odyssey by joining the other persona/addressee, the
moon, in its elevated and infinite space: "Forse s'avess'io l'ale / da
volar su le nubi / e noverar le stelle ad una ad una / e come il tuono
erar di giogo in giogo, / più felice sarei."
We can see in this contrary-to-fact sentence that the attainment of
liberation from the oppressive "noia" or "affanno" by the shepherd is
achieved through breaking the psycho-physical boundaries of his
existence. In wishing to possess wings, this persona substitutes the
"greggia" with the synecdochic reference to the bird (in the term "ale"),
but integrates in that figure his human consciousness. In other words,
the imagined flight enables him to break the horizontal plane and reach
vertically toward the plane occupied by the moon interlocutor and, from
that vantage point, project his human capacity for calculation onto the
activity of counting (i.e., "noverar") the stars — an infinite task.
Consequently, the bird suggests non-rational consciousness and so
belongs to the "greggia" persona by association or equivalency;
however, the activity of floating endlessly among the constellations —
possibly in orbital fashion — exploits the shepherd-moon similarity. This
promotes in the reader a sense of experienced relief from the "affanno,"
not by virtue of unconsciousness, as do the shepherd-bird, shepherdflock, and shepherd-thunderclap associations, but by virtue of the
infinity of motion that the imaginary metamorphosis ensures: breaking
the bonds of gravity, in a sense.
Now if we take the last wish to be a lament, melancholy prayer, or
"canto," we can add one more factor to the architecture of expressive
lines of this fascinating Leopardi poem. By this is meant that these
words or thoughts phrased as a sombre or lugubrious song are explicitly
those of the shepherd and they too imply directionality: the "canto" is
directed upward and as such tends to correspond to the eye of the
'Canto notturno'
255
shepherd which is also focused on the moon-interlocutor. In turn, both
the "canto" and the gaze of the "pastore errante" mirror those of the
poetic subject who is presented as a separate and distinct narrative entity
in the first part of the poem — as indeed has been argued above. On this
basis, then, it is possible to assert the existence of a lateral link between
the shepherd and the speaking subject as there is a complementary
vertical thrust in the latter's own upwardly directed "canto" and gaze.
Additionally, if we choose to go outside the poem itself, we in fact find
that the attribution of the capacity to produce the song to the speaking
subject as well as to other dramatis personae occurs quite often in the
Leopardian Canti. For example, in "Sopra il monumento di Dante," the
speaker refers to "il canto mio" (Leopardi: 96), but in "Bruto minore"
the "canto" is that of the "villanello industrioso"; in "La sera del dì di
festa" we find "il solitario canto / dell'artigian" (Leopardi: 142), and in
"Alla mia donna" the reader is asked to visualize "del faticoso
agricoltore il canto" (Leopardi: 214). This being the case, then, there is
a horizontal referral or echo from the subject and shepherd of "Canto
notturno" to the personages of the other poems cited here, which are
simultaneously present to the Leopardi reader by virtue of synchronic
intertextual association.
To bring this analysis to a conclusion, what does the speaker
accomplish by creating an at best thinly veiled screen or aesthetic
distance between himself and the persona or alter ego of the shepherd?
From the standpoint of spatialization of criteria adopted in this paper,
several responses present themselves. By introducing not only a
shepherd, but an Asian shepherd, the poet stretches the physical horizon
of the "idilli," from the local (read, the Recanati countryside) to the
global; and he expands the message of the "canto." This expansion of
the poetical microcosm subsequently has the effect of universalizing the
condition of the dramatis personae. Finally, by evoking the image of
the "pastore errante dell'Asia," the poet traces an interpretive line back
into time — a vertical plunge into prehistoric time, indeed as does the
Job allusion which is remarked upon by Russo (Leopardi: 294): from
the present of the contemporary speaker of the first 104 verses, to the
past symbolized by the shepherd who represents, in many respects, a
millennial activity or way of life. This is a view proposed by one
Leopardi critic as well who argues as follows: "Nel suo rapporto con la
luna e la notte c'è qualcosa di più che una preoccupazione di sé stesso
e della propria infelicità: c'è insieme una meraviglia e un'estrema nuova
Corrado Federici
256
iniziale inquisizione sul senso, ο sull'assenza di senso, del mondo; il
tremore del primo uomo sulla terra, ma anche la sua commozione"
(Ficara:
578). In the final analysis, Giacomo Leopardi, in "Canto
notturno," succeeds in tracing a direct line from the poetic subject to an
archetype, which line projects the reader simultaneously backward into
the misty past and forward toward an equally nebulous future — with
everything between the two poles being "immoto andare."
CORRADO FEDERICI
Brock University,
St. Catharines, Ontario
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