ABSTRACT
Drawing on the 'cycle of Aspasia' compositions, George Henry Lewes included a paraphrase of the poem 'Amore e morte' in his 1848 review, while the first three translations of 'A se stesso' appeared in succession during the 1860s and 1870s. Margaret Oliphant published her version in 1865, while poets John Addington Symonds and Lee-Hamilton produced their renditions in 1872 and 1878 respectively. The translation of 'A se stesso' is the only case which recurs frequently during the early stages of Giacomo Leopardi's reception in Britain, rivalling 'All'Italia' when identifying the initial canons informing British criticism of the Italian poet. The noun 'noia', which appears in the preceding line, 'amaro e noia | la vita, altro mai nulla', is, moreover, replaced by 'bitterness and pain', missing a crucial element of Leopardi's thought, as the idea that life is but alternation of pain and tedium frequently recurs in many of his works.
