DANTE: LIFE AND MINOR WORKS
In the preceding chapter we have outlined the development of early
Italian poetry, endeavoring to show how from the Sicilian school it was
carried over to Tuscany; how Guido Guinicelli, in Bologna, had
transformed it from a slavish imitation of the troubadours into a new
school of symbolical philosophical poetry, and finally, how from Bologna
the new doctrines spread to Florence.
There were a number of early poets of Florence and other Tuscan cities
who wrote in the manner of Guido Guinicelli, among the best known being
Cino da Pistoia, Lapo Gianni, Dante da Majano, and especially worthy of
note, Guido Cavalcanti. The latter, who was the intimate friend of
Dante, was a member of a noble family, and was prominent in all the
intellectual and political life of Florence. He was among those who were
exiled from the city in 1300, and died soon after his return in the same
year. Dante refers to him in the New Life as the "first of his friends,"
and records in the Inferno a pathetic interview with his father in the
city of Dis. To him and a mutual friend, Lapo, he addressed the
following beautiful sonnet, so well translated by Shelley:
Guido, I would that Lapo, thou and I,
Led by some strong enchantment, might ascend
A magic ship, whose charmed sails should fly,
With winds at will where'er our thoughts might wend,
And that no change, nor any evil chance
Should mar our joyous voyage; but it might be,
That even satiety should still enhance
Between our hearts their strict community:
And that the bounteous wizard then would place
Vanna and Bice and my gentle love,
Companions of our wandering, and would grace
With passionate talk, wherever we might rove,
Our time, and each were as content and free
As I believe that thou and I should be.
As a sample of Guido Cavalcanti's own poetical skill we may take the
following sonnet, translated by Cary:
Whatso is fair in lady's face or mind,
And gentle knights caparison'd and gay,
Singing of sweet birds unto love inclined,
And gallant barks that cut the watery way;
The white snow falling without any wind,
The cloudless sky at break of early day,
The crystal stream, with flowers the meadow lined,
Silver, and gold, and azure for array:
To him that sees the beauty and the worth
Whose power doth meet and in my lady dwell,
All seem as vile, their price and lustre gone.
And, as the heaven is higher than the earth,
So she in knowledge doth each one excel,
Not slow to good in nature like her own.
It is with Dante alone, however, that we can busy ourselves here, for in
him are summed up all the various tendencies and characteristics of his
predecessors and contemporaries.
The figure of Dante Alighieri is one of the saddest in literary history;
his life seemed to contain all the sorrow that can fall to the lot of
humankind. An exile from his native city, separated from family and
friends, deprived of his property, and thus forced to live in poverty or
become the recipient of charity, disappointed in his patriotic hopes,
the only thing left him to do was to turn his eyes inward and to build
up out of his very sufferings and sorrow, his immortal poem:
"Ah! from what agony of heart and brain,
What exultations trampling on despair,
What tenderness, what tears, what hate of wrong,
What passionate outcry of a soul in pain,
Uprose this poem of the earth and air,--
This medieval miracle of song."
We see, then, that even more important than in the case of other poets
is some knowledge of the great Florentine.
Unfortunately we have not a reliable and complete record of that life.
Legend and fancy have been interwoven with facts so closely that often
it is hard to separate one from the other. The following data, however,
are well established. Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in the year
1265, the day and month being uncertain, but probably falling between
May 18th and June 17th. He belonged to a family which was counted among
the lesser nobility. Dante himself does not seem to have been able to
trace his ancestry further back than four generations. In the fifteenth
canto of Paradise there is a famous passage where the poet tells how he
meets in Mars his great-grandfather, Cacciaguida, who gives him certain
autobiographical details: That he was baptized at the church of San
Giovanni in Florence; that he had two brothers; that his wife came from
the Po valley (whence originated the name Alighieri); that he had gone
on the crusades with the Emperor Conrad, by whom he had been dubbed
knight, and finally, that he had been killed by the Arabs. This is all
Dante knew, for he makes Cacciaguida say:
"They, of whom I sprang,
And I, had there our birthplace,"
that is, in a certain quarter of Florence--
"Thus much
Suffice of my forefathers; who they were,
And whence they hither came, more honorable
It is to pass in silence than to tell."
Of Dante's immediate family we know little. Strangely enough for one who
reveals himself so completely in his poetry, he says nothing of either
father or mother. As to his education we can only infer it from his
works and the condition of the times. The statements made by Boccaccio
and Villani concerning his early school life, are fables. He did not go
to school under Brunetto Latini, for the latter had no school; although
Dante was undoubtedly influenced by Latini's _Tresor_ (a vast
encyclopedical compilation of contemporary knowledge) which laid the
foundations of the poet's learning. Moreover, it may well be that the
distinguished statesman, judge, and writer directed by his personal
counsel the studies of the bright young scholar, for whom he prophesied
a brilliant career. Hence Dante's joy and gratitude at meeting in the
Inferno the "dear paternal image of him who had taught him how man
becomes eternal."
It is certain that Dante studied the regular curriculum of medieval
education, the so-called seven liberal arts, consisting of the
Quadrivium and the Trivium.[3] He knew Latin, but no Greek; he quotes
frequently Vergil, Horace, Statius, and others. He was a profound
student of philosophy and theology; loved art, music, and poetry. In the
Divine Comedy he shows a wide knowledge, embracing practically all the
science and learning of the times. All this he largely taught himself,
especially in his early life. Later he visited the universities of Padua
and Bologna, and probably Paris. It is quite unlikely that he got as far
as Oxford, as Mr. Gladstone endeavored to prove some years ago. He was
not unacquainted with military life, having been present at the battle
of Campaldino and at the surrender of Caprona.
He was married before 1298 to Gemma Donati, and thus became related to
one of the most powerful families in Florence. Here again he shows a
strange reticence, never mentioning his wife or children. We have no
reason, however, to believe his marriage unhappy, or that he lacked
affection for his children.
It is true that his wife did not follow him in exile, but there was
reason enough for this in his poverty and wandering life. The apotheosis
of Beatrice need not presuppose lack of conjugal affection, for his love
for her was entirely Platonic and became later a mere symbol of the
spiritual life. He had by Gemma several children, two sons, Pietro and
Jacopo, and one daughter, Beatrice; that he had another daughter, named
Antonia, is probable, but not certain. His children joined him later in
life in Ravenna.
Of the greatest importance for the understanding of the Divine Comedy is
a knowledge of the political doctrines and public life of Dante. Tuscany
at that time was in a wild and stormy condition. It shared in the
terrible disorders of the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines
(the former supporting the pope, the latter the emperor). It likewise
had private quarrels of its own. The old feudal nobility had been
repressed by the rise of the cities, into which the nobles themselves
had migrated, and where they kept up an incessant series of quarrels
among themselves or with the free citizens. Yet, in spite of this
constant state of warfare, the cities of Tuscany increased in power and
prosperity, especially Florence. We need only remember that at the time
Dante entered public life (1300) an extraordinary activity manifested
itself in all branches of public works; new streets, squares, and
bridges were laid out and built; the foundations of the cathedral had
been laid, and Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio had been begun. Such
extensive works of public improvement presuppose a high degree of
prosperity and culture. The political condition of Florence itself at
this time was something as follows: In 1265, to go back a few years in
order to get the proper perspective, Charles of Anjou, brother of the
king of France, had been called by Pope Urban IV. to Italy to aid him in
the war with the house of Swabia, and through him the mighty imperial
family of the Hohenstaufens, which had counted among its members
Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II., was destroyed. Manfred, the
natural son of Frederick II., was killed at the battle of Beneventum
(1260), and his nephew, the sixteen-year-old Conradin, the last member
of the family, was betrayed into the hands of Charles after the battle
of Tagliacozza and brutally beheaded in the public square of Naples
(1268). It was through Charles of Anjou that the Ghibellines, who having
been banished from Florence in 1258, had returned after the battle of
Montaperti in 1260, were once more driven from the city; and the
Guelphs, that is, the supporters of the pope, were restored to power.
The government was subject to frequent changes, becoming, however, more
and more democratic in character. The decree of Gian della Bella had
declared all nobles ineligible to public office, and granted the right
to govern only to those who belonged to a guild or who exercised a
profession. It was undoubtedly to render himself eligible to office that
Dante joined the guild of physicians. In 1300 he was elected one of the
six priors who ruled the city, for a period of two months only. From
this brief term of office Dante himself dates all his later misfortunes.
At this time, in addition to the two great parties of Guelphs and
Ghibellines, which existed in Florence as in the rest of Italy, there
were in the city two minor parties, which at first had nothing to do
with papal or imperial politics. These parties, known as Whites and
Blacks, came from Pistoia, over which Florence exercised a sort of
protectorate. The rulers of the latter city tried to smooth out the
quarrels of the above local factions of Pistoia, by taking the chiefs of
both parties to themselves; but the quarrels continued in Florence, and
soon the whole city was drawn into the contest, the Blacks being led by
Corso Donati, and the Whites by the family of the Cerchi.
Pope Boniface VIII., who claimed Tuscany as the heir of the Countess
Matilda, endeavored to take advantage of the state of discord in order
to further his own selfish plans. For this purpose he sent the Cardinal
Acquasparta to Florence, who, failing to accomplish his mission,
excommunicated the recalcitrant city and left it in a rage. At this
juncture the priors, of whom, as we have seen, Dante was one, thought to
still the discord by banishing the leaders of the Whites and Blacks, an
act, however, which only served to bring the hatred of both parties on
the heads of the magistrates.
In 1301 Charles of Valois was called to Florence, ostensibly to pacify
the divided city; he favored the party of the Blacks, however, and let
in Corso Donati, who had been exiled the year before, and for five days
murder, fire, and rapine raged through the streets of the devoted city.
All the Whites who were not slain were exiled and their property
confiscated or destroyed. Among the exiled was Dante. There are several
decrees against him still extant in the archives of Florence. The first
is dated January 27, 1302, and accuses him, with several others, of
extortion, bribery, defalcation of public money, and hostility to the
pope and the church. We need not say that of all these accusations the
latter was alone true. In case the accused did not appear before the
court to answer the charges, they were condemned in contumacy, to pay a
fine of five hundred gold florins; if this was not paid within three
days, their property should be confiscated. This decree was followed by
another, on March 10, 1302, in which the same charges were repeated, and
in which Dante, as a delinquent, was declared an outlaw, and condemned
to be burned alive if ever caught within Florentine territory.
Thus begins the poignant story of Dante's exile. We know but few
definite details of that long period of wandering. He himself says, in
his Banquet, that he traveled all over Italy, "a pilgrim, almost a
beggar."
In the seventeenth canto of Paradise Cacciaguida gives a brief summary
of Dante's exile in the form of a prophecy:
"Thou shalt leave each thing
Beloved most dearly: this is the first shaft
Shot from the bow of exile. Thou shalt prove
How salt the savor is of other's bread;
How hard the passage, to descend and climb
By other's stairs. But that shall gall thee most,
Will be the worthless and vile company,
With whom thou must be thrown into these straits.
For all ungrateful, impious all, and mad,
Shall turn 'gainst thee: but in a little while,
Theirs, and not thine, shall be the crimson'd brow,
Their course shall so evince their brutishness,
To have ta'en thy stand apart shall well become thee.
"First refuge thou must find, first place of rest,
In the great Lombard's courtesy, who bears,
Upon the ladder perch'd, the sacred bird.
He shall behold thee with such kind regard,
That 'twixt ye two, the contrary to that
Which 'falls 'twixt other men, the granting shall
Forerun the asking."
We see from these lines that Dante first went to Verona, the seat of
Bartolommeo della Scala (the "great Lombard," whose coat of arms was a
ladder "scala," with an eagle perched upon it). From there he went to
Bologna, thence to Padua, and thence to the Lunigiana. It is about this
time that he is said to have gone to Paris (this is probable), and to
Germany, Flanders, and England; it is not at all probable that he ever
saw the last-mentioned place.
Dante never gave up altogether the hope that he might one day return to
Florence. He yearned all his life for the "beautiful sheep-fold" where
he had lived as a lamb. Yet even this happiness he would not accept at
the price of dishonor. When, in 1312, a general amnesty was proclaimed
by Florence, and he might have returned if he would consent to certain
humiliating conditions, he wrote the following noble words to a friend
in Florence:
"This is not the way of coming home, my father! Yet, if you or
other find one not beneath the fame of Dante and his honor, that
will I gladly pursue. But if by no such way can I enter
Florence, then Florence shall I never enter. And what then! Can
I not behold the sun and the stars from every spot of earth?
Shall I not be able to meditate on the sweetest truths in every
place beneath the sky, unless I make myself ignoble, yea,
ignominious to the people and state of Florence? Nor shall bread
be wanting."
A great hope rose above the horizon of his life when Henry VII., of
Luxemburg, came to Italy to restore the ancient power of the empire.
Dante's letters written at this time are couched in exultant, almost
extravagant, language: "Rejoice, Oh! Italy," he cries, "for thy
bridegroom, the comfort of the world, and the glory of the people, the
most merciful Henry, the divine Augustus and Caesar is hastening hither
to the wedding feast." His joy and exultation, alas! were doomed to a
speedy end.
In 1312 Henry, who, after the murder of Albert, had been crowned emperor
(in 1309), came to Pisa, thence to Rome. Then, after having in vain
besieged Florence, which had become the leader of the anti-imperial
movement, he retired to Buonconvento, where he died (probably from
poison) August 24, 1313.
With the tragic death of Henry, Dante seems to have given up all hope of
earthly happiness and from now on turned his eyes to heaven, from which
alone he could hope for justice to himself and peace and righteousness
for unhappy Italy. The composition of the Divine Comedy dates from this
period. His final refuge and place of rest was at Ravenna, at the court
of Guido da Polenta, uncle of Francesca da Rimini, whose pathetic story
is quoted in the next chapter. Here, in comparative comfort and peace,
he spent the evening of his life, occupying his time in writing the
Divine Comedy and in occasional journeys in the interest of his patron.
In 1321, while on one of these journeys to Venice, he caught fever and
died on the 13th of September of that year.
Many anecdotes and legends are told of these years of exile. Thus it is
said that while in Verona, as he was walking one day through the
streets, some women saw him and said: "Behold, there is the man who has
been in hell." A beautiful story is told in a letter, doubtful however,
written by Fra Ilario of the Monastery of Santa Croce on Monte Corvo, to
the effect that one day a dust-stained, travel-worn man, carrying a roll
of manuscript under his arm, knocked at the door of the monastery, and
on being asked what he wanted, answered "pace, pace" (peace, peace).
This legend has been beautifully rendered by Longfellow in the following
lines:
"Methinks I see thee stand with pallid cheeks
By Fra Ilario in his diocese,
As on the convent walls in golden streaks
The ascending sunbeams mark the day's decrease.
And as he asks what there the stranger seeks
Thy voice along the cloisters whispers 'peace.'"
Dante's character reveals itself in all its phases in his works. His
youth as represented in the New Life was a happy one, filled with ardor
for study, with affection for friends, and with the ecstasy of a pure
and virtuous love. He needed, however, the death of Beatrice, the long
years of exile, and the disappointment of all his hopes to develop that
strong and noble character which the world admires almost as much as his
poetry. He was an enthusiastic student, yet mingled with the affairs of
men; never willingly doing wrong himself, he was unyielding in what he
conceived to be right, and consecrated his consummate powers to the
cause of the noble and the good. His own conscience was clear, and under
this "breastplate," as he calls it, he went steadily on his way. He was
proud of his learning, strong in his opinions, and does not hesitate to
constitute himself the stern judge of all his contemporaries; this in a
lesser man would have seemed presumptuous; in Dante it was only the
prosecution of a solemn and, as he thought, a Godgiven duty. Yet, in
spite of this sternness his heart was soft and tender.
Like Tennyson's poet, Dante was "dowered with love of love," as well as
"hate of hate and scorn of scorn."
Those who read only the Inferno, may get the impression of a savage,
revengeful spirit, but the Purgatory and Paradise are full of tenderest
poetry of sublimest imagination, and show their author to have had a
heart full of love and gentleness, sweetness and light. A deep
melancholy weighed over the whole later life of Dante; his heart never
ceased to long for home and friends, yet this melancholy is not
pessimism; he never lost his confidence in God, never doubted right
would win.
It is this inspiring combination of noble qualities in Dante's
character, reflected in every page of the Divine Comedy, which makes the
study of the latter not merely an aesthetic pleasure, but a spiritual
exercise, ennobling and uplifting the minds of those who read it with
the "spirit and with the understanding also."
The works of Dante are not many. They consist of prose and poetry, the
former comprising the so-called Banquet (Convito) and the essay on
Universal Monarchy. The former was to have been finished in fifteen
books or chapters, but is only a fragment of four. It is a sort of
encyclopedia of knowledge, such as were so popular in the Middle Ages,
but written in Italian, in order to bring it within the reach of the
unlearned reader. It is full of the scholastic learning of the times,
and while not attractive to the ordinary reader, is of great importance
for a complete understanding of the Divine Comedy. Likewise important
in this respect is the political treatise on the Monarchy, in which
Dante sums up his theory of world-politics. This book, written in Latin,
is divided into three parts: in Book I., the author shows the necessity
of a universal empire; in Book II., he shows the right of Rome to be the
seat of this empire; in Book III., he shows the independence of the
emperor from the pope. This theory of the separation of the church and
state runs like a thread through the whole of the Divine Comedy, in
which Dante constantly attributes the sufferings of Italy to the lust
for temporal power on the part of the pope and clergy.
For the general reader, however, the most interesting of Dante's
writings, after the Divine Comedy, is the New Life, a strange and
beautiful little book which serves as a prologue to the Divine Comedy.
It is the story of Dante's love for Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of
Folco, a neighbor and friend of the poet's father. It is a simple story,
containing but few actual events, the details consisting for the most
part of repetitions of the theory of love propounded by Guido
Guinicelli, of analyses of Dante's own state of mind, and of mystical
visions. The form of the book is peculiar, part prose, part poetry, the
latter being accompanied by a brief commentary. Yet there is a truth and
sincerity in the book which prove that it is no mere allegory or symbol,
but the record of an actual love on the part of Dante for the fair young
Florentine girl who is its heroine.
Dante tells us in quaint and scholastic language how he first saw
Beatrice at a May festival, when she was at the beginning of her ninth
year and he was at the end of his. She was dressed in red, with
ornaments suited to her youthful age, and was so beautiful "that surely
one could say of her the words of the poet, Homer: 'She seemed not the
daughter of mortal man but of God.'" He tells us, further, how he felt
the spirit of love awaken within him and how, after that first meeting,
he sought every opportunity of seeing her again.
Nine years later, again in May, he records another occasion when he met
Beatrice, this time dressed in white and accompanied by two ladies, "and
passing along the street she turned her eyes toward the place where I
stood, very timid, and through her ineffable courtesy she gently saluted
me, so that it seemed to me that I experienced all the depths of bliss.
The hour was precisely the ninth of that day, and inasmuch as it was the
first time that her words reached my ears, such sweetness came upon me
that, intoxicated, as it were, with joy, I left the people and went to
my solitary chamber, and began to muse upon this most courteous lady."
This love, accompanied as it was with violent alternations of joy and
sorrow, produced a strong effect on Dante; his health suffered, his
nerves were shattered, and he became frail and weak. Yet he refused to
tell her name, although he confessed that love was the cause of his
sufferings: "And when they asked me by means of whom love brought me to
this wretched state, I looked at them with a smile, but said nothing."
In order, however, to put people on the wrong track, he pretended to
love another lady, and so successful was this subterfuge, that even
Beatrice herself believed it, so that one day, meeting Dante, she
refused to salute him, an act which filled him with deepest affliction:
"Now after my happiness was denied me, there came upon me so much grief
that leaving all people I went my way to a solitary place to bathe the
earth with bitterest tears; and when I was somewhat relieved by this
weeping, I entered my chamber where I could lament without being heard.
And there I began to call on my lady for mercy, and saying: 'Love, help
thy faithful one,' I fell asleep in tears like a little, beaten child."
As we have already said, there is little action in this book, only a few
meetings in the street, in church, or at funerals; even the death of
Beatrice's father is spoken of vaguely and allusively. The importance of
all lies in the psychological analysis of feelings and thoughts of the
poet. The descriptions of Beatrice are vague and her figure is wrapped
in an atmosphere of "vaporous twilight." Her beauty is not presented to
us by means of word-painting, but rather by its effect on all who behold
her. This is illustrated in the following sonnet, which is justly
considered the most beautiful not only of Dante's poetry but of all
Italian literature:
So gentle and so noble doth appear
My lady when she passes through the street,
That none her salutation dare repeat
And all eyes turn from her as if in fear.
She goes her way, and cannot help but hear
The praise of all,--yet modest still and sweet;
Something she seems come down from heaven,--her seat,
To earth a miracle to show men here.
So pleasing doth she seem unto the eye,
That to the heart a sweetness seems to move,
A sweetness only known to those who feel.
And from her lips a spirit seems to steal,--
A gentle spirit, soft and full of love,--
That whispers to the souls of all men,--"sigh."
The effect of all the conflicting sentiments which agitated Dante's
bosom was to throw him into a serious illness, in the course of which he
had a terrible vision of the approaching death of Beatrice. "Now a few
days after this, it happened that there came upon me a dolorous
infirmity, whence for nine days I suffered most bitter pain; this led me
to such weakness that I was not able to move from my bed. I say, then,
that on the ninth day, feeling my pain almost intolerable, there came to
me a thought concerning my lady. And when I had thought somewhat of her,
and turned again in thought to my own weakened life, and considered how
fragile is its duration, even though it be in health, I began to weep to
myself over so much misery. Whence I said to myself with sighs: verily
the most gentle Beatrice must sometime die. Wherefore there came upon me
so great a depression that I closed my eyes and began to wander in mind,
so that there appeared to me certain faces of ladies with disheveled
hair, who said to me, 'Thou also shalt die.' And after these ladies
certain other faces, horribly distorted, appeared and said: 'Thou art
dead.' Then I seemed to see ladies with disheveled hair going along the
street weeping, and wondrous sad; and the sun grew dark, so that the
stars showed themselves, of such color that methought they wept; and the
birds as they flew fell dead; and there were mighty earthquakes; and as
I wondered and was smitten with terror in such fancies, methought I saw
a friend come to me and say: 'Dost thou not know? Thy peerless lady has
departed this life.' Then I began to weep very piteously, and not only
in dream, but bathing my cheeks in real tears. And I dreamed that I
looked skyward and saw a multitude of angels flying upwards, and they
had before them a small cloud, exceedingly white.[4] And the angels
seemed to be singing gloriously, and the words which I seemed to hear
were these: 'Hosanna in the Highest,' and naught else could I hear. Then
it seemed to me that my heart, which was so full of love, said to me:
'It is true, indeed, that our lady lies dead.' And so strong was my
wandering fancy that it showed me this lady dead; and I seemed to see
ladies covering her head with a very white veil, and her face had so
great an aspect of humility that she seemed to say: 'I have gone to
behold the beginning of peace.' And then I seemed to have returned to my
own room, and there I looked toward heaven and began to cry out in
tears: 'O, soul most beautiful, how blessed is he who beholds thee.' And
as I said these words with sobs and tears, and called on death to come
to me, a young and gentle lady who was at my bedside, thinking that my
tears and cries were for grief on account of my infirmity began also to
weep in great fear. Whereupon other ladies who were in the room, noticed
that I wept, and leading away from my bedside her who was joined to me
by close ties of blood,[5] they came to me to wake me from my dream,
and saying: 'Weep no more,' and again: 'Be not so discomforted.' And as
they thus spoke, my strong fancy ceased, and just as I was about to say:
'O, Beatrice, blessed art thou,' and I had already said, 'O, Beatrice--'
giving a start I opened my eyes and saw that I had been dreaming."
The presentiment of Dante in the above exquisite passage came true.
Beatrice, too fair and good for earth, was called by God to Himself. One
day the poet sat down to write a poem in praise of her and had finished
one stanza when the news came that Beatrice was dead. At first he seemed
too benumbed even for tears, and after a quotation from Jeremiah--
"How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is
she become a widow, she that was great among the nations!"--
at the beginning of the next paragraph, he gives a fantastic discussion
of the symbolical figure nine and its connection with the life and death
of Beatrice. Then the tears began to flow, and unutterable sadness took
possession of his heart. A whole year after he tells us how one day he
sat thinking of her and drawing the picture of an angel, a picture,
alas! which was never finished, as he was interrupted by visitors.[6] At
another time he tells how one day he saw a number of pilgrims passing
through Florence on their way to Rome, and to them he addressed one of
his most beautiful sonnets:
Oh, pilgrims who move on with steps so slow,
Musing perchance of friends now far away;
So distant is your native land, oh say!
As by your actions ye do seem to show?
For lo! you weep and mourn not when you go,
Through these our city streets, so sad to-day;
Nor unto us your meed of pity pay,
Bowed as we are 'neath heavy weight of woe.
If while I speak you will but wait and hear,--
Surely,--my heart in sighing whispers me,--
That then you shall go on with sorrow deep.
Florence has lost its Beatrice dear;
And words that tell what she was wont to be,
Are potent to make all that hear them weep.
With these lines the New Life practically ends. After one more sonnet,
in which he tells how he was lifted in spirit and had a vision of
Beatrice in paradise, he concludes the book with the following
paragraph, in which we first see a definite purpose on the part of Dante
to write a long poem in praise of Beatrice: "After this sonnet there
appeared to me a wonderful vision, in which I saw things which made me
resolve to say no more of this blessed one until I should be able to
treat more worthily of her, and to come to that I study as much as I
can, as she truly knows. So that if it shall be the pleasure of Him in
whom all things live that my life endure for some years more, I hope to
say of her that which has never yet been said of mortal woman. And then
may it please Him who is Lord of Courtesy, that my soul may go to see
the glory of its lady, that is, the blessed Beatrice who gloriously
looks on the face of him 'qui est per cuncta saecula benedictus in saecula
saeculorum. Amen.'" (Who is blessed throughout all the ages.)
SUMMARY AND QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
Early Tuscan poetry--Guido Cavalcanti, a contemporary of
Dante--Guelphs and Ghibellines, Whites and Blacks at
Florence--Dante born 1265; his education; his love for Beatrice;
marriage and home life; an exile; dies in Ravenna 1321.
1. Mention some of the early Tuscan poets.
2. What is the date of Dante's birth?
3. What is known of his family?
4. How and where was he educated?
5. Tell what you can of his family life.
6. What was the political condition of Florence in
Dante's time?
7. Who were the Guelphs and Ghibellines,--the Whites and
Blacks?
8. When and why was Dante exiled?
9. Name some of the places he is known to have visited.
10. How and when did he die?
11. Describe briefly his character.
12. Name the chief works of Dante, giving a brief
indication of their contents.
13. Tell briefly the story of his love for Beatrice.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
No poet in Italian literature is better adapted to special study
than Dante, nor is any so profitable. The material is abundant.
The reader should provide himself with Scartazzini's Companion
to Dante, translated by A. J. Butler, or Symond's Introduction
to Dante. These will furnish all necessary facts concerning the
life and works of the poet. It must be remembered that the
Divine Comedy is a difficult poem, and that it takes many
readings and much study to master it. It will be best to begin
by reading Maria F. Rossetti's A Shadow of Dante, which gives a
general outline of the story with copious extracts. Then one of
the numerous translations should be taken up and studied
carefully, canto by canto--Cary's, Longfellow's, and Norton's
translations (the latter in prose) are the best. An edition of
Cary's translation has been made by the writer of this book
(published by T. Y. Crowell & Co.), with special reference to
the general reader. It contains an introduction, Rossetti's
translation of the New Life, and a revised reprint of Cary's
version of the Divine Comedy furnished with a popular commentary
in the form of foot notes. The number of essays and critical
estimates of Dante in English is legion; perhaps the best three
are those by Carlyle (in Heroes and Hero Worship), Dean Church,
and Lowell. Of especial value is Dinsmore's Aids to the Study of
Dante (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.).
FOOTNOTES:
[3] The Quadrivium included arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music;
the Trivium, grammar (_i. e._, Latin), dialectics, and rhetoric.
[4] The soul of Beatrice.
[5] Dante's sister.
[6]
"You and I would rather see that angel,
Painted by the tenderness of Dante,
Would we not? than read a fresh Inferno."
Browning (One Word More).