But how is the architect to obtain this depth and multiplicity in a building of his making? Can vagueness and openness be planned? ls
there not a contradiction here to the claim of accuracy that Williams’s argument seems to imply?
Calvino finds a surprising answer to this in a text by Leopardi. Calvino points out that in Leopardi’s own texts, this lover of the indeterminate reveals a painstaking fidelity to the things he describes and offers to our contemplation, and he comes to the conclusion:“This, then, is what Leopardi demands of us so that we can enjoy the beauty orther indeterminate and vague! He calls for highly accurate and pedantic attention in the composition of each picture, in the meticulous definition of details, in the choice of objects, lighting, and atmosphere with the aim of attaining the desired vagueness." Calvino closes with the seemingly paradoxical proclamation:“The poet of the vague can only be the poet of precision!