The time will come when this universe and nature herself will be no more. And just as of very great human kingdoms and empires and of their marvelous exploits, which were so very famous in other ages, there remains no sign of fame whatsoever, so too of the entire world, and of the infinite vicissitudes and calamities of all created things, no single trace will remain, but a naked silence and a most profound quiet will fill the immensity of space. Thus, this stupendous and frightening mystery of universal existence, before it can be declared or understood, will vanish and be lost.
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation
Leopardi, Giacomo. "Cantico del gallo silvestre [Song of the Wild Rooster]." Operette morali [Small Moral Works]. Naples: Presso Saverio Starita, 1835.
Current Citation
Leopardi, Giacomo. "Song of the Great Wild Rooster." Operette Morali: Essays and Dialogues. University of California Press, 1983.