SOURCE: Rosenthal, Alan S. “Baudelaire and Leopardi: An Affinity in Anguish.” Essays in Literature 3, no. 2 (fall 1976): 251-67.

In the following essay, Rosenthal discusses similarities in themes, imagery, and even phrasing in the work of Leopardi and Baudelaire.

Considering the differences in their respective backgrounds, the likelihood of parallels between Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837) would, at first glance, appear remote. Yet, in spite of the obvious contrasts, there does indeed exist between the two poets a remarkable and largely unheralded literary affinity.¹ Surprisingly, these seemingly dissimilar individuals treated many of the same themes and ideas, employed analogous imagery, and at times used almost identical phraseology. There has been, up to now, little tangible evidence to support the possibility of direct influence. Nevertheless, the parallels are undeniable; and their very nature and number suggest that they are not the product of mere coincidence. They seem, instead, to...