Chapter I
PART V
DANTE’S WORKS
CHAPTER I
Italian Works—Lyrical Poems—The Vita Nuova—The Convivio.
DANTE’S earliest known composition is the sonnet beginning
“A ciascun’ alma presa e gentil core,”1
which, as he tells us in the Vita Nuova, he wrote after seeing the marvellous vision which followed on the episode of his being publicly saluted by Beatrice for the first time in the streets of Florence, when they were both in their eighteenth year (i.e. in the year 1283). This sonnet, he further tells us, he sent to many famous poets of the day, from whom he received sonnets in reply. Among those to whom he sent were his first friend, Guido Cavalcanti, Cino da Pistoja, and Dante da Majano, whose replies have been preserved.2
Canzoniere.—This sonnet and thirty other poems (twenty-four sonnets, five canzoni, and one ballata) are grouped together in a symmetrical arrangement in the Vita Nuova (or New Life), the prose text of which is a vehicle for the introduction and interpretation of the poems. Others of Dante’s lyrical poems are introduced in his Convivio (or Banquet), which contains three canzoni, and in his Latin work on the vulgar tongue (De Vulgari Eloquentia), which contains quotations from nine poems, canzoni and sestine. In addition to these there is a collection of between ninety and a hundred lyrical poems attributed to Dante, some of which are almost certainly not his.3 Such of the poems of the Canzoniere as do not belong to the Vita Nuova and Convivio appear to have been composed at various times as independent pieces, though attempts have been made to distinguish one or more definite groups. Both Villani and Boccaccio make mention of Dante’s lyrical poems. The former says:4“When he was in exile he wrote about twenty very excellent canzoni, both moral and on the subject of love”. Boccaccio says:5 “He composed numerous lengthy canzoni, and sonnets, and sundry ballate, both amorous and moral, besides those which are included in the Vita Nuova”.6 The earliest printed collection of Dante’s lyrical poems is that included in Sonetti e Canzoni di diversi antichi Autori Toscani in dieci libri raccolte (Florence, 1527), the first four books of which contain forty-five sonnets, nineteen canzoni, eleven ballate, and one sestina, attributed to Dante. A few, however, of the canzoni and madrigali (as they are described) had been printed at Venice in 1518, and reprinted at Milan in the same year, in a collection entitled Canzoni di Dante. Madrigali del detto. Madrigali di M . Cino et di M. Girardo Novello. Fifteen canzoni of Dante are printed at the end of the editio princeps of the Vita Nuova (Florence, 1576).
Vita Nuova.—Dante’s Vita Nuova or New Life (i.e. according to some, his “young life,” but more probably his “life made new” by his love for Beatrice), the first autobiographical work in modern literature, as it has been described, was written probably between 1292 and 1295, when Dante was under thirty, and some seven or eight years before his exile from Florence. The poems were obviously written before the prose text, which was necessarily composed later than the death of Beatrice in 1290.
The following positive dates are supplied by Dante in the course of the narrative of the Vita Nuova, viz. that he first saw Beatrice in the spring of 1274, when he had nearly completed his ninth year (§ 2, 11. 1-5, 15), and she was at the beginning of her ninth year (§ 2, 11.9-15); that Beatrice saluted him for the first time nine years later, in the spring of 1283 (§ 3, 11. 1-15), when he wrote the sonnet, “A ciascun’ alma presa e gentil core’ (Son. i.), his earliest known composition; that Beatrice died on the evening of 8 June, 12907 (§ 30, 11. 1-13); that on the first anniversary of her death (8 June, 1291) he wrote the sonnet, “Era venuta nella mente mia” (Son. xviii.), in commemoration of her (§ 35, 11. 1-20); that not long after (i.e. probably as appears from Convivio, ii. 2, 11. 1-10, in September, 1291),8 he saw for the first time the “donna gentile” (whom some have identified with Gemma Donati)9 (§ 36, 11. 1-13). To these, if the identity of Beatrice with Beatrice Portinari be accepted, may be added the date of the death of Folco Portinari,10 viz. 31 December, 1289 (§ 22, 11. 1-7).
Boccaccio, who asserts that in later life Dante was ashamed of this work of his youth,11 gives the following account of the Vita Nuova:—
“This glorious poet composed several works in his time, of which I think it fitting to make mention in order, lest any work of his be claimed by another, or the works of others be perchance attributed to him.
“He, first of all, while his tears for the death of Beatrice were yet fresh, when he was nigh upon his twenty-sixth year, collected together in a little volume, to which he gave the title of Vita Nuova, certain small works, such as sonnets and canzoni, composed by him in rime at divers times before, and of marvellous beauty. Above each of these, severally and in order, he wrote the occasions which had moved him to compose them; and below he added the divisions of each poem. And although in his riper years he was much ashamed of having written this little book, yet, if his age be considered, it is very beautiful and delightful, especially to unlearned folk.”12
“The New Life” writes Professor Norton,13 “is the proper introduction to the Divine Comedy. It is the story of the beginning of the love through which, even in Dante’s youth, heavenly things were revealed to him, and which in the bitterest trials of life—in disappointment, poverty, and exile—kept his heart fresh with springs of perpetual solace. It was this love which led him through the hard paths of Philosophy and up the steep ascents of Faith, out of Hell and through Purgatory, to the glories of Paradise and the fulfilment of Hope.
“The narrative of the New Life is quaint, embroidered with conceits, deficient in artistic completeness, but it has the simplicity of youth, the charm of sincerity, the freedom of personal confidence; and so long as there are lovers in the world, and so long as lovers are poets, this first and tenderest love-story of modern literature will be read with appreciation and responsive sympathy.
“It is the earliest of Dante’s writings, and the most autobiographic of them in form and intention. In it we are brought into intimate personal relations with the poet. He trusts himself to us with full and free confidence; but there is no derogation from becoming manliness in his confessions. He draws the picture of a portion of his youth, and displays its secret emotions; but he does so with no morbid self-consciousness and with no affectation. Part of this simplicity is due, undoubtedly, to the character of the times, part to his own youthfulness, part to downright faith in his own genius. It was the fashion for poets to tell of their loves; in following this fashion, he not only gave utterance to genuine feeling, and claimed his rank among the poets, but also fixed a standard by which the ideal expression of love was thereafter to be measured.
“This first essay of his poetic powers rests on the foundation upon which his later life was built. The figure of Beatrice, which appears veiled under the symbolism, and indistinct in the bright halo of the allegory of the Divine Comedy, takes its place in life and on the earth through the New Life as definitely as that of Dante himself. She is no allegorized piece of humanity, no impersonation of attributes, but an actual woman,—beautiful, modest, gentle, with companions only less beautiful than herself,—the most delightful personage in the daily picturesque life of Florence. She is seen smiling and weeping, walking with other fair maidens in the street, praying at the church, merry at festivals, mourning at funerals; and her smiles and tears, her gentleness, her reserve, all the sweet qualities of her life, and the peace of her death, are told of with such tenderness, and purity, and passion, as well as with such truth of poetic imagination, that she remains, and will always remain, the loveliest and most womanly woman of the Middle Ages,—at once absolutely real and truly ideal.
“The meaning of the name La Vita Nuova has been the subject of animated discussion. Literally The New Life, it has been questioned whether this phrase meant simply early life, or life made new by the first experience and lasting influence of love. The latter interpretation seems the most appropriate to Dante’s turn of mind and to his condition of feeling at the time when the little book appeared. To him it was the record of that life which the presence of Beatrice had made new.”
The Vita Nuova, which was dedicated to Dante’s earliest friend Guido Cavalcanti (§ 31, 11. 22-3), consists of three distinct elements, viz. the poems, the narrative of the events which gave rise to the poems, and the expositions of the structural divisions of the poems. Two distinctive features of the work are the frequency with which Dante, in accordance with the literary traditions of the day,14introduces the expedient of visions, of which there are no less than seven in the book (§§ 3, 9, 12, 23, 24, 40, 43); and the important part played by the number nine, in connection with the hour, day, month, and year of the various events related concerning Beatrice. Thus Dante first sees Beatrice when they were both in their ninth year (“quasi dal principio del suo nono anno apparve a me, ed io la vidi quasi alla fine del mio nono” § 2, 11. 13-15 ; cf. § 2, 11. 1-8 : “ Nove fiate già,” etc.); he sees her again nine years later (“appunto erano compiuti li nove anni appresso l’ apparimento soprascritto,” § 3, 11. 2-3) ; and receives her first greeting at the ninth hour of the day (“l’ ora, che lo suo dolcissimo salutare mi giunse, era fermamente nona di quel giorno,” § 3, 11. 16-18); his subsequent vision takes place during the first of the last nine hours of the night (“fu la prima ora delle nove ultime ore della notte,” § 3, 11. 63-5). When he was minded to write a poem containing the names of the sixty fairest ladies of Florence, the name of Beatrice would stand nowhere save in the ninth place (“in alcuno altro numero non sofferse il nome della mia donna stare, se non in sul nove, tra’ nomi di queste donne,” § 6, 11. 14-17). The third vision takes place at the ninth hour of the day (“trovai che questa visione m’ era apparita nella nona ora del dì,” § 12, 11. 74-5). The vision in which he has a presentiment of the approaching death of Beatrice, when he is laid low with sickness, occurs on the ninth day of his illness (“nel nono giorno sentendomi dolore quasi intollerabile, giunsemi un pensiero, il quale era della mia donna . . . ,”§ 23, 11. 8-10). In the sonnet, “Io mi sentii svegliar dentro allo core” (Son. xiv.), in which Beatrice is mentioned, her name occurs in the ninth line15 (§ 24, 1. 58). In the date of her death the number nine comes in with special significance, in connection with the day, the month, and the year, which are computed for the purpose according to the Arabian, Syrian, and Roman calendars respectively16 (“secondo l’ usanza d’ Arabia, l’ anima sua nobilissima si partì nella prima ora del nono giorno del mese; e secondo l’ usanza di Siria, ella si partì nel nono mese dell’ anno; . . . e secondo l’ usanza nostra, ella si partì in quello anno della nostra indizione, cioè degli anni Domini, in cui il perfetto numero nove volte era compiuto in quel centinaio nel quale in questo mondo ella fu posta,” § 30, 11. 1-12). Finally, his last vision of Beatrice, when she appeared to him as she was when he first saw her, took place just on the hour of nones (“ si levò un dì, quasi nell’ ora di nona, una forte immaginazione in me,” etc., § 40, 11. 1-3). Dante himself draws particular attention to the fact of this connection of the number nine with Beatrice, and promises to explain the reason of it (§ 29, 11. 29-38), which he subsequently does in detail (§ 30, 11. 13-32), his conclusion being that she was “a nine, that is to say a miracle, whose root is no other than the marvellous Trinity” (“questa donna fu accompagnata dal numero del nove a dare ad intendere, che ella era un nove, cioè un miracolo, la cui radice è solamente la mirabile Trinitade,” § 30, 11. 37-41).
The form of the composition of the Vita Nuova, partly in prose, partly in verse (as in the famous De Consolatione Philosophiae of Boëthius, with which Dante was intimately acquainted, and the early French “chantefable,” Aucassin et Nicolete), was no doubt borrowed from a Provençal model, the prose text being a vehicle for the introduction and interpretation of the poems. The latter, which are thirty-one in number, consisting of twenty-five sonnets (including two which are irregular), five canzoni (two of which are imperfect), and one ballata, are symmetrically arranged in groups around the three principal canzoni, the central poem of all being the canzone, “Donna pietosa e di novella etate” (Canz. ii.).17
The work falls naturally into two main divisions, viz. the period before the death of Beatrice (1274-1290), and the period after her death (1290-c.1295). Taken in more detail it may conveniently be divided into five parts,18 viz. (§§ 1-17) Dante’s youthful love for Beatrice, and his poems in praise of her physical beauty; (§§ 18-28) his praises of the spiritual beauty of Beatrice; (§§ 29-35) the death of Beatrice and the poems of lamentation ; (§§ 36-39) Dante’s love for the “donna gentile,” and the poems about her; (§§ 40-43) Dante’s return to his love for Beatrice, and reverence for her memory.
The division into numbered chapters was not made by Dante himself, and does not appear in any of the MSS., nor even in the printed editions before the middle of the nineteenth century.19 It is, however, convenient for reference, and is now generally adopted in modern editions.20
Analysis of the Vita Nuova:—
Part I. §§ 1-17.—§ 1. (“Proemio”) Introductory, explaining the title of the book (“Incipit Vita Nova”), and the author’s purpose.—§ 2. First meeting of Dante with Beatrice (in the spring of 1274), he being nearly nine years old, and she not yet nine.—§ 3. Nine years later (in the spring of 1283), at the ninth hour of the day, Dante for the first time receives a greeting from Beatrice ; his first vision (Love appears to him holding a lady asleep in his arms, and in his hand Dante’s heart in flames, of which he gives the lady to eat, and then disappears, bearing her away with him); he describes the vision in the sonnet: “A ciascun’ alma presa, e gentil core” (Son. i.), which he sends to the most famous poets of the day for interpretation ; he receives a reply among others from Guido Cavalcanti.—§ 4. Dante falls ill through the intensity of his passion for Beatrice; questioned as to the object of his passion he refuses to reply.—§ 5. He dissembles his love for Beatrice under pretence of devotion to another lady.—§ 6. He composes a serventese containing the names of the sixty fairest ladies in Florence, among which that of Beatrice will stand in no other than the ninth place.—§ 7. The lady of his pretended devotion leaves Florence; he laments her departure in a sonnet: “O voi, che per la via d’ Amor passate” (Son. ii).—§ 8. He writes two sonnets on the death of a beautiful damsel, a friend of Beatrice: “Piangete, amanti, poichè piange Amore” (Son. iii); “Morte villana, di pietà nemica” (Son. iv.).—§ 9. He is obliged to take a journey out of Florence in the direction taken by the lady of his pretended devotion; his second vision (Love appears to him in the guise of a pilgrim of sorrowful aspect, who calls to him and tells him that he brings back his heart from the keeping of the lady who had possessed it awhile, in order that it may be at the service of another lady; whereafter he vanishes) ; which he describes in the sonnet: “ Cavalcando l’ altr’ ier per un cammino” (Son. v.).—§ 10. Dante’s devotion to the second lady occasions remark, and causes Beatrice to deny him her salutation.—§ 11. He describes the marvellous effects on himself of the salutation of Beatrice.—§ 12. Dante’s distress at Beatrice’s denial to him of her salutation; his third vision, which takes place at the ninth hour of the day (Love appears to him in his sleep, sitting at his bedside, and weeping piteously; Dante questions him as to why Beatrice had denied him her salutation ; Love explains and bids him write a poem which shall make manifest to Beatrice his faithful and unaltered devotion to her; he then disappears and Dante awakes); he composes the ballata: “Ballata io vo’ che tu ritrovi Amore” (Ball. i.).—§ 13. Dante is assailed by doubts as to whether the lordship of Love is a good thing or the reverse; he describes his doubts in the sonnet: “Tutti li miei pensier parlan d’ Amore” (Son. vi.).—§ 14. He is conducted by a friend to a marriage-feast where he finds himself in the presence of Beatrice; he is so over-come by emotion that his confusion is remarked, and the ladies, including Beatrice herself, whisper and mock at him, whereupon his friend, perceiving his distress, leads him away; on his return home he addresses to Beatrice the sonnet: “Coll’ altre donne mia vista gabbate” (Son. vii.).—§ 15. He is torn between his longing to be in the presence of Beatrice, and his dread of appearing contemptible in her eyes; he addresses to her the sonnet: “ Ciò che m’ incontra, nella mente mora” (Son. viii).—§ 16. He speaks of the pitiable condition to which he is reduced by the thought of his love; and describes how, though he longs for the sight of Beatrice, he is utterly overcome in her presence; he addresses to her the sonnet: “Spesse fiate vengonmi alla mente” (Son. ix.).—§ 17. Having disburdened his heart in the three preceding sonnets, Dante determines to speak of a new matter.
Part II. §§ 18-28.—§ 18. He discourses with certain ladies of his love for Beatrice, and resolves henceforth to devote himself to the theme of her praises.—§ 19. After a period of hesitation, at last one day, while walking beside a stream, his thoughts take shape, and on his return home he composes the canzone: “Donne, ch’ avete l’ intelletto d’ amore” (Canz. i).—§ 20. One of his friends, having become acquainted with the canzone, desires him to expound the nature of love, whereon he composes the sonnet: “Amore e ’l cor gentil sono una cosa “(Son. x.).—§ 21. He describes in the sonnet, “Negli occhi porta la mia donna Amore” (Son. xi.), the effect produced on others by Beatrice.—§ 22. Folco Portinari, the father of Beatrice, dies (31 December, 1289); Dante composes two sonnets: “Voi, che portate la sembianza umile” (Son. xii.), and, “Se’ tu colui, c’ hai trattato sovente” (Son. xiii.), treating of the discourse of certain ladies on the subject of Beatrice’s grief, and of his grief for her.—§ 23. Dante falls ill; he has presentiments of the death of Beatrice, and on the ninth day of his illness he has a fourth vision (he dreams that Beatrice is dead, and that he is taken to see her as she lies on her death-bed)21; on coming to himself again he relates his vision to certain ladies who were at his bedside, and afterwards writes a description of it in the canzone: “Donna pietosa e di novella etate” (Canz. ii.).—§ 24. He has a fifth vision (Love comes to him from the dwelling-place of his lady, and bids him bless the day whereon he was possessed by Love; shortly after Beatrice herself appears to him, preceded by Giovanna, the lady of his friend Guido Cavalcanti), which he describes in the sonnet: “Io mi sentii svegliar dentro allo core” (Son. xiv.).—§ 25. Dante explains his use of figurative language, which is conceded to poets.—§ 26. Beatrice considered a marvel by all who beheld her; Dante’s sonnet on the subject: “Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare” (Son. xv.).—§ 27. The praise and honour of Beatrice is reflected on the ladies about her; as is set forth by Dante in the sonnet: “Vede perfettamente ogni salute” (Son. xvi.).—§ 28. The effects upon him of his devotion to Beatrice intended to be described in a canzone: “Sì lungamente m’ ha tenuto Amore” (Canz, iii.), which was left unfinished.
Part III. §§ 29-35.—§ 29. The composition of Dante’s projected canzone (Canz. iii.) interrupted by the death of Beatrice; of the part played by the number nine in connection with her death.—§ 30. Of the date of the death of Beatrice, which befell on the ninth day, of the ninth month, of the year in which the perfect number (ten) was completed for the ninth time in the century in which she lived, (i.e. 8 June, 1290), according to the Arabian, Syrian and Italian reckonings respectively; of the significance of the number nine, and of its intimate association with Beatrice.—§ 31. Dante in his desolation addresses a letter, beginning “Quomodo sedet sola civitas,” to the chief personages of the city; his reasons for not transcribing the letter.—§ 32. He vents his grief in a canzone: “Gli occhi dolenti per pietâ del core” (Canz. iv.).—§ 33. At the request of a brother of Beatrice, Dante writes the sonnet: “Venite a intender li sospiri miei” (Son. xvii.) on her death.—§ 34. Dissatisfied with the sonnet, he composes two stanzas of a canzone: “Quantunque volte lasso! mi rimembra” (Canz. v.), on the same subject, which he gives with the sonnet to Beatrice’s brother.—§ 35. On the first anniversary of Beatrice’s death, while drawing an angel, he is interrupted by visitors, to whom he addresses a sonnet, to which he made two beginnings: “Era venuta nella mente mia” (Son. xviii.).
Part IV. §§ 36-39.—§ 36. Dante in deep distress at the thought of the past, beholds a beautiful young lady (“una gentil donna giovane e bella”) regarding him with compassion from a window; he addresses her in a sonnet: “Videro gli occhi miei quanta pietate” (Son. xix.).—§ 37. The “donna gentile” continues to show compassion for him; he addresses a second sonnet to her: “Color d’ amore, e di pietà sembianti” (Son. xx.).—§ 38. He begins to take delight in the sight of the “donna gentile,” and reproaches himself for his inconstancy; he composes a sonnet on the state of his feelings: “L’ amaro lagrimar che voi faceste” (Son. xxi.).—§ 39. In another sonnet he describes the struggle between his heart and his soul as to this new love: “Gentil pensiero, che parla di vui” (Son. xxii.).
Part V. §§ 40-43.—§ 40. While engaged in this struggle Dante has a vision (the sixth) of Beatrice, youthful and clothed in crimson, as when he first saw her, whereon he repents of his inconstancy and devotes himself solely to the thought of her; he records the reconquest of himself, and the effects of the violence of his weeping at the recollection of his past unworthy passion, in a sonnet: “Lasso! per forza de’ molti sospiri” (Son. xxiii.).—§ 41. He addresses a sonnet to certain pilgrims on their way through Florence to visit the Veronica at Rome, whom he assumes to be from a far country, as they show no sign of grief in passing through the grieving city: “Deh peregrini, che pensosi andate” (Son. xxiv.).—§ 42. In response to a request from two ladies for verses of his, he composes a sonnet describing his condition: “Oltre la spera, che più larga gira” (Son. xxv.), which he sends to them, together with the preceding: “Deh peregrini” (Son. xxiv.), and another: “Venite a intender” (Son. xvii.).—§ 43. After composing this sonnet he has a last vision (the seventh), which makes him resolve to speak no more of Beatrice until he shall be able to say of her what was never said of any woman; he concludes with the prayer that his soul may then be permitted to behold the glory of Beatrice in the presence of the Everlasting God.
With the exception of the Latin Eclogues and Letters, the Vita Nuova was the last of Dante’s works to be printed. The editio princeps, which was printed at Florence, together with fifteen of Dante’s canzoni, and Boccaccio’s Vita di Dante, did not appear until 1576, more than a hundred years later than the first edition of the Divina Commedia. It was not reprinted for a hundred and fifty years, when it was included by Anton Maria Biscioni, together with the Convivio, in his Prose di Dante Alighieri e di Messer Gio. Boccacci, published at Florence in 1723. Since that date there have been some five-and-twenty other editions, exclusive of mere reprints. The editio princeps, which was issued with the imprimatur of the Inquisition, contains a mutilated text, many passages or phrases, which were considered offensive to the Church or to religion, having been altered or suppressed.22 A critical edition was published at Florence by Michele Barbi, under the auspices of the Società Dantesca Italiana, in 1907.
Forty manuscripts of the Vita Nuova are known to exist, including three which are incomplete. Of these, eight belong to the fourteenth century, sixteen to the fifteenth, and sixteen to the sixteenth. None of these was executed in Dante’s lifetime, the earliest being assigned to about the year 1350, that is about thirty years after Dante’s death.23
Convivio.—Besides the Vita Nuova Dante wrote in Italian prose the philosophical treatise to which he gave the name of Convivio24 or Banquet. This work consists of a philosophical commentary, which Dante left incomplete, on three of his canzoni. According to the original scheme it was to have been a commentary on fourteen canzoni,25 and would have consisted of fifteen books, the first being introductory.
Three of these projected books are specifically referred to by Dante, viz. the seventh, in which he was to have treated of temperance 26; the fourteenth, in which he proposed to treat of justice27 and allegory28; and the fifteenth, in which liberality was to have been treated of.29
Various attempts have been made to identify the remaining eleven canzoni, which were to have been the subject of commentary in the unwritten books, but none of these is wholly satisfactory.30
In its unfinished state the Convivio consists of four books, which show a tendency to become more and more prolix as the work proceeds, the fourth book containing thirty chapters, while the first, second, and third contain respectively thirteen, sixteen, and fifteen. The division of the books into chapters was made by Dante himself.31
Giovanni Villani in his Florentine chronicle says of this book:—
“Dante commenced a commentary on fourteen of his moral canzoni in the vulgar tongue, which is incomplete, save as regards three of them, in consequence of his death. This commentary, to judge by what we have of it, would have been a lofty, beautiful, subtle, and very great work, inasmuch as it is adorned by lofty style, and fine philosophical and astrological discussions.”32
Boccaccio says:—
“Dante also composed a commentary in prose in the Florentine vulgar tongue on three of his canzoni at full length; he appears to have intended, when he began, to write a commentary upon all of them, but whether he afterwards changed his mind, or never had time to carry out his intention, at any rate he did not write the commentary on more than these three. This book, which he entitled Convivio, is a very beautiful and praiseworthy little work.”33
The Convivio was written some time after the Vita Nuova, but before the Divina Commedia, in which Dante sometimes corrects opinions he had expressed in the Convivio, such as his theories as to the spots on the moon,34 and the arrangement of the celestial hierarchies.35 From the references to the Emperor Albert I (iv. 3, 1. 42) and to Gherardo da Cammino (iv. 14, 11. 114 ff.) it would appear to have been composed (perhaps at Bologna) between April, 1306 (Gherardo having died on 26 March, 1306) and 1 May, 1308 (the date of Albert’s death).36 It was certainly written after Dante’s exile from Florence, as at the beginning of the work there is a most pathetic reference to the miseries he endured during his wanderings as an outcast from his native city.37
Dante explains in the first book, which is introductory, the meaning of the title, the aim of the work, and the difference between it and the Vita Nuova; he himself, he says, as the author, represents the servants at an actual banquet (convivio); he then points out that the book is of the nature of a commentary, and is written in a lofty style in order to give it an air of gravity and authority, and to counterbalance the objection of its being in Italian; he next gives his reasons for writing it in the vulgar tongue instead of in Latin, in which respect it differs from other commentaries; he further explains that the commentary stands in the same relation to the canzoni as a servant does to his master; and he concludes by declaring that in this work is made manifest the great excellence of the Italian language—that language which he was destined to bring to the highest degree of perfection in the Divina Commedia.
Analysis of the Convivio38:—
Book I.—Chap. 1. Introductory. The work undertaken in order to justify the universal desire for knowledge spoken of by Aristotle. Causes whereby men may be prevented from acquiring the highest knowledge. Happy those who sit at the table where the bread of angels is eaten. Dante himself sits not at the table, but gathers up the fragments which fall from it. Moved with pity for his kind, he reserves a part of his store, both bread and meat, to make a feast (convivio) for them. The meat will be served in fourteen canzoni, the bread will be served in the commentary which will give first the literal, then the allegorical interpretation of the canzoni. The author explains the reason for the difference in style between the present work and the Vita Nuova.—Chap. 2. As bread served at a banquet is freed from impurity by the servants, so must the commentary be freed from objection. Two objections may be urged, viz. that the author has to speak of himself, and that the commentary is difficult to understand. Teachers of rhetoric forbid a man to speak of himself, but it is allowable in exceptional cases, as in self-defence, and for the edification of others. Dante pleads both these reasons in the present instance: he wishes to defend himself from the charge of having yielded to passion in his canzoni, and to instruct others in the writing and understanding of allegory.—Chap. 3. As to the difficulty of the commentary, this is intentional, in order to counteract certain disadvantages under which the author labours. He has been exiled from his beloved Florence, and has wandered in poverty all over Italy, thus becoming known and despised in every quarter. Report magnifies, and personal knowledge diminishes, a man’s good and evil qualities. Good report is magnified as it passes from one to another; so too is evil report.—Chap. 4. On the other hand a man’s presence diminishes his apparent worth for three reasons: viz. the proneness of men, like children, to judge by the outside; their envy, which makes them blind to the truth; and the natural imperfection of the person judged. Wherefore a prophet is without honour in his own country. As Dante’s presence has become familiar throughout Italy during his wanderings as an exile, he wishes to counteract the effect of this familiarity by the adoption of a somewhat lofty style for his commentary; hence its difficulty.—Chap. 5. The commentary has been freed from accidental flaws, but one defect is inherent in it, viz. that it is written in Italian, not in Latin. Three reasons for the choice of the vernacular, viz. to avoid disorder, for the sake of liberality, and from natural affection for the mother-tongue. As to the first reason: the best results are obtained when the qualities of the agent are adapted for the end in view. The qualities of a good servant are subjection, intimate acquaintance with his master, and obedience. Latin is devoid of all these qualities. Firstly, it is not subject, but by nature sovereign.—Chap. 6. Secondly, Latin has not the intimate acquaintance with Italian which is needed for a commentary on the canzoni; it has only a general knowledge of Italian, and has no intimacy with its friends; whereas a good servant should have an intimate knowledge both of his master and of his master’s friends.—Chap. 7. Thirdly, Latin could not be obedient. Perfect obedience should be free from bitterness; it should result from a command, not from choice; and it should be duly measured. Latin could not fulfil these conditions. Remarks on the inadequacy of translation.—Chap. 8. The second reason for choosing Italian is its liberality. Perfect liberality gives to many; its gifts are useful; and it gives without being asked. Explanation of these characteristics, which are shown to be essential.—Chap. 9. In the case of Latin, the liberality would not have been perfect, for it does not possess these characteristics. It would not have served many, for it would not have been understood, inasmuch as nobody learns Latin except for gain. It would not have been useful, for few would have used it. It would not have given itself unasked, for every one demands that commentaries should be in Latin.—Chap. 10. The third reason for choosing Italian is the natural affection which a man feels for his mother-tongue. Natural affection prompts a man to magnify its object, to be jealous for it, and to defend it. Dante displays his love for Italian in all these three ways. He magnifies it by displaying it in act, not merely in potentiality. His jealousy for it moved him to write his commentary in Italian, lest if he wrote it in Latin some bungler hereafter should translate it into Italian. He is anxious to defend his mother-tongue against those who disparage it, in favour of Provençal, for instance, and to exhibit it in its native beauty. This is best displayed in prose, as a woman’s beauty is seen best when unadorned.—Chap. 11. Five detestable causes move men to disparage their mother-tongue, viz. lack of discernment, deceitful excuses, love of vainglory, the prompting of envy, and faintheartedness. As to the first, those who lack discernment are like blind men, or senseless sheep. As to the second, the bad workman blames his tools or his materials, not himself. Those who are unskilled in the use of Italian lay the blame on it, and exalt another tongue at its expense. As to the third, vainglory impels a man to seek praise for mastering a tongue other than his own. As to the fourth, those who cannot use Italian envy those who can, and therefore decry it. As to the fifth, a faint-hearted man always thinks meanly of himself and his belongings, and therefore despises his mother-tongue.—Chap. 12. Dante’s affection for his mother-tongue incontestable. Affection is inspired by propinquity and goodness, and increased by benefits conferred, and by common aims and intercourse. A man’s mother-tongue is nearest to him. Also, it displays the characteristic excellence of language, in that it best enables a man to express his meaning.—Chap. 13. The conditions which increase affection are also present. If existence is the greatest boon, then a man’s mother-tongue is to be loved as having given him existence, by bringing his parents together. Further, it led Dante into the way of knowledge by enabling him to learn Latin. The vernacular, moreover, if it could have a conscious aim, would seek to preserve itself by assuming the most durable shape, namely the poetic. It has been Dante’s aim to give it this shape. All his life he has also had the most familiar intercourse with his mother-tongue. Dante may thus claim to have purged his Italian commentary from all stain, so that the meat may now be served up with this bread, and may be partaken of by the multitude.
Book II.—Canzone:“Voi ch’ intendendo il terzo ciel movete”.—Chap. 1. The commentary on the canzoni will explain both the literal and allegorical sense. Four senses of writings to be distinguished, viz. the literal, which lies on the surface; the allegorical, which is the truth underlying the literal; the moral, which conveys a lesson of life and conduct; and the anagogical, or spiritual, which refers to heavenly things. Reasons why the literal sense must first be determined.—Chap. 2. The first canzone says, literally, that Venus had completed two revolutions when a gentle lady appeared to the poet in company with Love. The victory of the new thought, concerning this lady, over the former thought, concerning Beatrice, impels him to address the heavenly powers whence the new thought derived its strength. Division of the canzone into three principal parts.—Chap. 3. To make the literal sense of the first part clear, Dante explains who they are whom he addresses, and what is the third heaven which they move. Discussion of the number of the heavens; eight enumerated by Aristotle; a ninth recognized by Ptolemy.—Chap. 4. The order of the first eight heavens, which are those of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Fixed Stars. Beyond these is the Crystalline Heaven or Primum Mobile. Outside of this again is situated, according to the teaching of the Church, the Empyrean, which is the abode of the Deity and of Blessed Spirits, and which exists not in space but only in the Primal Mind. Description of the construction of the heavens, each of which has two poles and an equator. Of the epicycle of Venus.—Chap. 5. The beings who move the heavens explained to be angelic Intelligences. Opinions of Aristotle, Plato, and others on the subject. Of the active, and contemplative, life. The latter the most appropriate to Angels, as being the highest. The motion of the heavens due to the thought of certain of these Angels. These beings created by the Deity in infinite numbers, as even the intellect of man, who sees but darkly, can conceive.—Chap. 6. Of Angels according to the Scriptures. Their division into three hierarchies, each consisting of three orders. Distribution of the nine orders among the various heavens. The manner of their contemplation determined by the nature of the Trinity. The Thrones assigned to the third heaven, that of Venus. Virgil, Ovid, and Alfraganus, cited as to the function, and threefold motion, of this heaven, the movers of which are those to whom Dante addresses himself.—Chap. 7. The meaning of his prayer for audience, his reasons for addressing the movers of the third heaven, and the inducement offered to them. Explanation of certain terms used in the canzone.—Chap. 8. Literal sense of the second part of the canzone, which has two subdivisions. Of the two contending thoughts mentioned above. Further explanations of terms employed.—Chap. 9. Solution of difficulty as to the inspiration of Dante’s new thought by the same Intelligences which inspired the old. Digression on the immortality of the soul. Agreement of pagan and Christian teaching on the subject.—Chap. 10. Further explanation of expressions used in the canzone. Incidental statement as to how impressions enter the eye, and become stamped on the imagination.—Chap. 11. Consideration of the reasons alleged by the Spirit of Love in favour of the second lady, especially the qualities of pity and courtesy. Of the relation between “piety” and “pity”. Definition of “courtesy,” which if named from the courts of that day, especially in Italy, would mean baseness.—Chap. 12. Having dealt with the literal meaning of the part of the canzone addressed to the Intelligences of the third heaven, Dante now deals with the last part, the tornata, which is addressed to the canzone itself. Explanation of the term. Of the beauty and goodness of the canzone.—Chap. 13. The literal sense being disposed of, Dante now passes to the allegorical meaning. How, in his desire to find consolation for the loss of his soul’s first delight, he turned to the study of Boëthius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae, and to Cicero’s De Amicitia, and was thereby led on to the study of philosophy, which in time banished all other thoughts. His canzone in praise of philosophy written in the vulgar tongue ostensibly about a lady, since philosophy per se was too exalted to be praised in the vernacular, and further, men would more readily credit him with love for a lady than for philosophy. The canzone thus being an allegory of philosophy, the third heaven and its movers must also receive an allegorical interpretation.—Chap. 14. Heaven allegorically interpreted signifies scientific knowledge, and the heavens signify the sciences. Three points of resemblance between the heavens and the sciences. Correspondence of the first seven heavens with the seven sciences of the Trivium and Quadrivium, of the eighth with physics and metaphysics, of the ninth with moral science, and of the tenth with divine science, or theology. Detailed statement of points of comparison between the seven sciences and the first seven heavens.—Chap. 15. Points of comparison between physics and metaphysics and the eighth heaven, between moral philosophy and the ninth heaven, between theology and the tenth heaven. Incidental discussion of the various opinions as to the nature of the Galaxy. The third heaven shown to represent rhetoric.—Chap. 16. The movers of the third heaven represent rhetoricians, such as Boëthius and Cicero above mentioned. The lady of the canzone thus shown to be philosophy, and her eyes the demonstrations of philosophy.
Book III.—Canzone: “Amor, che nella mente mi ragiona”.—Chap. 1. Three reasons which impelled Dante to give expression to his passion for the gentle lady, viz. the desire of gaining honour for himself through his friendship with her, the desire that this friendship should be lasting, and the desire to avoid reproach by stating who the lady was. Division of the canzone into three principal parts.—Chap. 2. Explanation of the first part. Love defined as the spiritual union of the soul with the object loved. Of all things the human soul has most affinity with God, and consequently is most closely united with whatever most nearly resembles God. The love of which Dante speaks is the union of his soul with the gentle lady. The place where love discourses is the mind, or thinking faculty, which is the highest of the three faculties of the soul, and which belongs only to man and to divine substances.—Chap. 3. Man, though his essence be one, is capable of feeling every sort of love, such as is felt by simple and composite bodies, by plants, and by animals. The love which is the poet’s theme is the highest of all; he can neither fully apprehend it nor express it.—Chap. 4. Explanation of this incapacity of mind and speech, for which Dante is not to be blamed, since blame attaches to want of will, not to want of power.—Chap. 5. Discussion of the second stanza of the canzone, in which the lady is praised as a whole, both in soul and body. Long digression explaining and illustrating the revolution of the Sun round the Earth.—Chap. 6. Explanation of the meaning of “temporal” and “equal” hours. The Intelligences on high gaze on his lady, as a thought existing in the divine mind. She is beloved by God as being endowed with a special portion of the divine nature, and admired by man inasmuch as her soul dignifies the body, which is the actuality of the soul.—Chap. 7. Praise of the lady as regards her soul. The goodness of God is diffused over all things, but enters into various substances, as light does, in proportion to their receptivity. In the intellectual order are infinite gradations, hence it may be assumed that some human being is little lower than the angels. Such is this lady. Her speech and acts afford an example to others, and are an aid to the faith of all mankind, whereby they gain everlasting life.—Chap. 8. Praise of the lady in respect of her body, especially of those parts in which the soul chiefly operates, viz. the eyes and mouth. Explanation of sundry expressions in the fourth stanza of the canzone. Distinction between innate and habitual vices. Definition of the end and source of this lady’s beauty.—Chap. 9. Discussion of third division of the canzone. Explanation why the lady, who was formerly called proud and disdainful, is now called humble. Illustration drawn from the sky, which always has the quality of brightness, but does not always appear bright. Statement of. the theory of vision. Reference to Dante’s own weakness of sight.—Chap. 10. Of judgment by outward appearance at the prompting of desire; and of the rhetorical figure known as dissimulation.—Chap. 11. Allegorical meaning of the canzone discussed. Origin of the terms “philosophy” and “philosopher,” i.e. lover of wisdom. Of the nature of friendship. The name of philosophy given to the sciences, natural, moral, and metaphysical, above all to the last, which is called philosophy par excellence.—Chap. 12. Of two kinds of devotion (studio). Reasons why the Sun is worthy to be a type of God. As the Sun illumines first itself, and then all other sensible objects, so God illumines first Himself, and then all other intellectual beings. As injury done by the Sun is not intentional but accidental, so badness in things which partake of intellectual light, as in bad angels, is not designed but accidental. Philosophy part of the divine essence, and as it were the bride, the sister, and daughter of the Emperor of heaven.—Chap. 13. Philosophy resides also in the celestial Intelligences, Her highest gifts enjoyable only in use, not merely in possession, though he who only possesses her is still a philosopher, for philosophy is always transcendent.—Chap. 14. The allegorical interpretation, following the literal, passes from general commendation of the lady to particular. Discussion and explanation of various expressions in the third stanza of the canzone. Of the distinction between “light” and “splendour”. The ancient philosophers indifferent to all things save wisdom. Of the effect of philosophy on the soul, especially in aiding faith.—Chap. 15. Discussion of the fourth stanza. The eyes of philosophy explained to be her demonstrations, and her smiles her persuasions. The difficulty of understanding her obliges man sometimes to be content with negations; but the desire of wisdom is not futile in man or angels, because it is always proportionate to their nature. The beauty of wisdom signifies the moral virtues, which are impaired by vanity and pride; hence she teaches humility. Her highest praise is that she is mother of first principles, hence she was the partner of God in the creation of the world. Passing to the tornata, Dante explains why at first he called philosophy fierce and disdainful.
Book IV.—Canzone“Le dolci rime d’ amor, ch’ io solìa”.—Chap. 1. Dante’s love for philosophy makes him love truth and hate falsehood. Hence his desire to lead men to entertain true and reject false opinions with regard to human goodness, or nobility. Nobility the theme of the third canzone; consequently the exposition will not be concerned with allegory, but will give a fuller treatment of the literal meaning.—Chap. 2. Division of the canzone into two principal parts, the preface, and the main argument. The preface subdivided into three parts. Importance of choosing the right time, as well for the speaker as for the hearer. Dante’s object both to refute what is false, and, more especially, to emphasise the truth.—Chap. 3. Subdivision of the main argument (trattato) of the canzone into three parts, the first of which is again subdivided into two. Nobility defined by the Emperor Frederick II as ancestral wealth and fine manners.—Chap. 4. Mention of the Emperor leads Dante to consider at length the nature of the Imperial authority, its origin, and necessity. The Roman Empire shown to be the seat of this authority.—Chap. 5. The working of divine Providence demonstrated in the rise and progress of the Roman Empire, and in the noble deeds of her sons.—Chap. 6. Discussion of the derivation and meaning of the word “authority”. Aristotle, the master and leader of human reason, declared to be the highest authority. His opinion, and that of other philosophers as to the “end of human life” examined. Aristotle’s opinion shown not to conflict with the Imperial authority; both philosopher and emperor needed to constitute the highest authority.—Chap. 7. Of the danger of allowing a wrong opinion to prevail unchecked. The defects of popular opinion due to disregard of proper guidance. Those who go astray for this reason the vilest of all, just as he is least excusable who strays from the path with the footprints of others to guide him. Such an one, in the words of the canzone, “is dead while he liveth”.—Chap. 8. Of discernment, and of reverence, one of its fairest fruits. In rejecting common opinion Dante appeals from the judgment of sense to that of reason; and in rejecting the opinion of the Emperor, he is not irreverent, since Imperial authority does not extend to the domain of reason.—Chap. 9. Imperial authority has jurisdiction over all human activities, but these are limited, some being purely natural, while others are subject to reason and will. Activities with which reason is concerned are of four kinds. That activity which derives its character solely from the act of the will is most completely under our control; and, generally speaking, responsibility is proportionate to the power exercised by the will. Law intended to be a guide to the will. Action may be compared with art, that is, production. Many processes of production are purely technical, and here art is supreme; but in others art is limited by the laws of its subject-matter. Similarly the Emperor’s authority is limited by the law of reason and of nature. The definition of nobility therefore does not come within his scope.—Chap. 10. Criticism of previous opinions. In so far as definitions of nobility make fine manners essential to it they are right, though defective. But in introducing the notion of time, or of wealth, they are erroneous. Philosophical arguments against making nobility dependent on wealth.—Chap. 11. The inferiority of wealth attributable to three special imperfections, viz. lack of discrimination in its advent, dangers attendant upon its increase, and disasters consequent on its possession. Consideration of the first of these imperfections. Of that most noble exchange, made, alas! by so few, of riches for the hearts of men. Instances of munificence.—Chap. 12. Increase of wealth shown to be evil, inasmuch as it brings the torment of boundless and therefore futile desire. Those who would apply this same argument in the case of knowledge, ignore the essential difference between the two kinds of desire.—Chap. 13. The desire of riches is uniform and keeps growing, and is therefore never consummated; while the desire of knowledge is a succession of desires, each of which is consummated in turn. Consideration of the disasters consequent on the possession of wealth, which not only inflicts positive evil on its possessor, but also deprives him of good.—Chap. 14. Refutation of the error which makes nobility depend on time, by defining it as consisting in ancestral wealth. The opinion that no one who begins by being a clown can ever become a gentleman, and vice versa, antagonistic to the claim that time is requisite for nobility. The contention that nobility begins when low birth is forgotten, shown to be absurd on four grounds. Firstly, a feeble memory, which is a bad thing, would be the cause of nobility, which is a good thing, and the shorter men’s memories the quicker would nobility be engendered. Secondly, the distinction between mean and noble would not be applicable to anything but man, whereas we often speak of a noble or mean horse, falcon, pearl, etc. Thirdly, the thing engendered (nobility) would often be in existence before its cause (oblivion) came into operation. Fourthly, some would be considered noble after death who were not noble during life.—Chap. 15. Again, if a man cannot change from simple to gentle, and vice versa, one of two absurdities must follow: either nobility does not exist at all, or the world must always have had more than one man in it, which is contrary to both Christian and pagan belief. The error in question is manifest to sound minds. Minds are sound when not hampered by evil dispositions, three kinds of which are specified, viz. boastfulness, dejection of mind, and levity of nature.—Chap. 16. Dante now passes to the examination of the true definition of nobility. “Nobility” signifies in each thing the perfection of the nature peculiar to it. The word derived not from nosco, as some suppose, but from non vile. The quality will be defined by its fruits, viz. the moral and intellectual virtues.—Chap. 17. The moral virtues peculiarly our own fruits, as being wholly in our own power. Aristotle’s classification of these virtues. His definition of happiness. We have two kinds of happiness, according as we follow the active or the contemplative life, of which the latter is the higher, as Christ teaches with reference to Martha in the Gospel of Luke.—Chap. 18. Every moral virtue springs from right choice. Right choice is also characteristic of nobility. One of these (virtue or nobility) therefore must come from the other, or both from a third. The more comprehensive of the two terms (nobility) must be taken as the original source of the characteristic.—Chap. 19. Nobility shown to be a wider term than virtue, as including divers other kinds of excellence, as well bodily as mental; it even extends to regions where virtue is not found, as in the qualities of woman and of the young.—Chap. 20. Thus nobility enters into the conception of virtue, and is something divine. But the gift is bestowed only on the soul adapted for its reception. Hence nobility is a seed of blessedness placed by God in the soul fitted to receive it.—Chap. 21. Of the agencies, natural and spiritual, by which nobility descends into men. Theories of the ancients as to the nature and origin of the soul. Natural agencies, including the influences of the generating soul, of the heaven, and of the “complexion” of the material, prepare the material to receive the formative virtue which proceeds from the generating soul; the formative virtue in turn prepares it for the heavenly virtue from which life comes. The potential intellect, in which exist potentially the universal forms derived from the primal Intelligence, is imparted by the mover of the heaven. The purity of the soul is in proportion to the goodness of the various agencies; and in proportion to its purity the divine excellence multiplies in the intellectual virtue, and becomes the seed of happiness. Divine agencies impart the sevenfold gift of the Spirit, but man is responsible for the cultivation of the seed.—Chap. 22. Of natural appetite, which at first is without discrimination, but afterwards becomes discriminated. Rational desire belonging to the mind, i.e. the will and intellect, is the highest and brings the highest happiness. Such as have not this desire implanted in them by nature, may get it ingrafted in them. Of the higher blessedness of the contemplative over the active life.—Chap. 23. Discussion of the seventh stanza of the canzone. Dante shows how nobility is displayed in the different stages of life. The life of man likened to an arch rising to its highest point (at the thirty-fifth year) and declining. Illustration from the life of the Saviour. Correspondence between the four ages in man (adolescence, youth, old age, decline) and the four divisions of the year (the seasons) and of the day (the canonical tierce, none, sext, and vespers, of which an explanation is given).—Chap. 24. Of the duration of the four ages of human life. Adolescence lasts till the twenty-fifth year; youth to the forty-fifth; old age to the seventieth; after which begins decline. Adolescence naturally endowed with four things, obedience, suavity, sense of shame, and comeliness. Of obedience.—Chap. 25. Of suavity in adolescence. Of the sense of shame, which consists in awe, modesty, shamefacedness. These three qualities illustrated from the history of Adrastus in the Thebaid of Statius. Of bodily comeliness.—Chap. 26. Five characteristics of youth, to be temperate, brave, full of love, courteous, and loyal. Temperance and courage respectively the bridle and spur of desire, as exemplified by Virgil in the history of Aeneas in the A eneid, whence also illustrations of the other three qualities are drawn.—Chap. 27. Of the four virtues most suitable to old age, viz. to be prudent, just, bountiful, and fairspoken (affabile). Illustrations of these qualities drawn from the history of Cephalus and Aeacus in the Metamorphoses of Ovid.—Chap. 28. Of the two qualities most proper to the fourth stage of life (decline), resignation of the soul to God, and thankfulness for the journey ended. Illustrations from the history of Marcia and Cato in Lucan’s Pharsalia.—Chap. 29. Of those who believe themselves noble because they are of noble lineage. A family may be called noble if the majority of its members are truly noble, but a worthless member of it is not entitled to claim nobility on that score. Illustration from a heap of grain.—Chap. 30. Discussion of the tornata of the canzone. Its title (Contra gli erranti) imitated from that of Aquinas’ book Contra Gentiles. The canzone bidden to address herself only to such as have some love for the gentle lady, philosophy. The friend of philosophy, mentioned in the last line, explained to be nobility, there being ever the deepest love and admiration between these two.
The first printed edition of the Convivio was issued at Florence in 1490, eighteen years later than the editio princeps of the Divina Commedia. The treatise was three times reprinted at Venice in the sixteenth century (1521, 1529, 1531). No edition of it was published in the seventeenth century. The fifth edition did not appear until 1723, when the work was printed by Anton Maria Biscioni (under the title of Convito),39 together with the Vita Nuova, in his Prose di Dante A lighieri e di Messer Gio. Boccacci, published at Florence in that year. Critical editions, with a more or less improved text, were published at Milan in 1826 (reprinted at Padua in the following year), and at Modena in 1831; but the first really critical text, based on the authority of all the available manuscripts, was that of Dr. Moore, which was first printed in the Oxford Dante in 1894, and was reprinted in an amended form in the third edition of that work in 1904.
Thirty-three manuscripts of the Convivio are known, of which three are in England.40 No critical account nor classification of these manuscripts has yet been published, but at least six of them belong to the fourteenth century.41
DANTE AND HIS BOOK
From the picture by Domenico di Michelino, in the Duomo at Florence
1“To every captive soul and gentle heart
Unto whose ken these present words shall come,
That they may write me back their thoughts thereon,
Be greeting in their Lord’s name, that is Love.
A third part well-nigh of those hours had passed
Wherein shines brightly every star on high,
When on a sudden Love appeared to me;
And still I shudder when I think on him.
Methought Love stood all joyful as he held
My heart within his hand, and in his arms
My Lady bore enshrouded and asleep.
Whom then he waked, and of this flaming heart
Humbly did make her eat, she sore afraid—
Then, as I looked, he wept and went his way.”
2 Translations of these three sonnets in reply (which are in the same rimes as Dante’s sonnet) are given by D. G. Rossetti in Dante and his Circle (ed. 1874), pp. 131, 183, 198.
3See Dante Dictionary, s.v. Canzoniere; and The Vita Nuova and Canzoniere of Dante, by T. Okey and P. H. Wicksteed (1906), pp. 155-357.
4 Bk. ix. ch. 136.
5 Vita di Dante, ed. Macrì-Leone, § 16, p. 74.
6 There are three English translations of the Canzoniere, viz. by Charles Lyell (in unrimed verse, in the metres of the original) in The Canzoniere of Dante, including the poems of the Vita Nuova and Convito (1835, 1840, 1845; a revised version of The Poems of the Vita Nuova and Convito was issued, with other matter, in 1842); by Dean Plumptre (in rimed verse) in The Commedia and Canzoniere of Dante, vol. ii. pp. 199-317 (1887); by P. H. Wicksteed (in prose) in The Convivio of Dante (1903), and in The Vita Nuova and Canzoniere of Dante, pp. 156-357 (1906).
7 See note on p. 47.
8See G. R. Carpenter, The Episode of the Donna Pietosa, in Annual Report of the Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Society for 1889, p. 60.
9 See note on p. 67.
10 See above pp. 46-7.
11 This is not borne out by what Dante himself says of it at the beginning of the Convivio: “E se nella presente opera, la quale è Convivio nominata e vo’ che sia, più virilmente si trattasse che nella Vita Nuova, non intendo però a quella in parte alcuna derogare, ma maggiormente giovare per questa quella; veggendo siccome ragionevolmente quella fervida e passionata, questa temperata e virile essere conviene. Chè altro si conviene e dire e operare a una etade, che ad altra” (i. 1, ll. 111-20).
12 Vita di Dante, ed. cit, § 13, p. 63.
13 The New Life of Dante Alighieri, pp. 93 ff.
14 See A. Bartoli, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. iv. p. 173.
15 This might be used as an argument in favour of the reading “Bice” instead of “Lagia” in the sonnet, “Guido, vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io” (Son. xxxii.), where the name occurs in the ninth line.
16 On this point see above, p. 47, note.
17 See C. E. Norton, The New Life of Dante (1892), pp. 129-34. Norton’s views, however, are contested by M. Scherillo, in La Forma Architettonica della Vita Nuova, in Giornale Dantesco, ix. (1901).
18 See T. Casini, La Vita Nuova (1891), p. xxiii.
19 It was first introduced in the edition of A. Torri, Livorno, 1843.
20 Unfortunately all editors have not adopted the same numeration. Witte (Leipzig, 1876) and Casini, for example, do not number the opening paragraph, which Dante himself refers to as “il proemio che precede questo libello” (§ 29, 11. 17-18); while Torri, the Oxford Dante, and others count it as § 1. Again, Torri’s § 3 is divided by Witte and Casini into two (§§ 2, 3); while, on the other hand, Torri’s and Witte’s §§ 26, 27, are run by Casini into one (§ 26). In the critical edition recently published by M. Barbi (Florence, 1907) for the Società Dantesca Italiana the chapter divisions differ from those of all previous editions; and in the Oxford Dante, the arrangement of which is followed in this book, yet another system is adopted.
21This is the subject of D. G. Rossetti’s famous picture “Dante’s Dream,” now in the Walker Art Gallery at Liverpool.
22 See Paget Toynbee, The Inquisition and the Editio Princeps of the Vita Nuova, in Modern Language Review, April, 1908, vol. iii. pp. 228-31.
23 See the introduction (pp. xvii. ff.) to Barbi’s critical edition. There are eight English translations of the Vita Nuova, of which the first, by Joseph Garrow, was published at Florence in 1846. Of the others the best known are those by D. G. Rossetti (1862), Theodore Martin (1862), and C. E. Norton (1867). The latest is that by Thomas Okey (1906).
24 This is the form of the title in the MSS., almost without exception, and in the editio princeps (1490); in the three sixteenth-century editions (1521, 1529, 1531) the title is L’ amoroso Convivio. The title Convito appears for the first time in the edition published by Biscioni (in Prose di Dante Alighieri e di Messer Gio. Boccacci) at Florence in 1723. The correct title Convivio was restored by Witte in 1879, and is now almost universally adopted (see Witte, Dante-Forschungen, vol. ii. pp. 574-80).
25 See Convivio, i. 1, 11. 102-5.
26 Conv. iv. 26, 11. 66-7
27 Conv. i. 12, 11. 86-8 ; iv. 27, 11. 100-2.
28 Conv . ii. 1, 11. 34-6.
29 Conv. i. 8, 11. 130-2; iii. 15, 1. 144.
30 See Antonio Santi, Il Canzoniere di Dante Alighieri, vol. ii. pp. 13 ff. (Roma, 1907).
31 See Conv. i. 4, 1, 4; ii. 7, 1. 1; iii. 6, 1. 1; iv. 2, 1. 77; etc. etc.
32Bk. ix. ch. 136. This passage is omitted from some MSS. of the Cronica.
33 Vita di Dante, ed. cit. § 16, p. 74.
34 Conv. ii. 14, 11. 69 ff.; Par. ii. 49-148; xxii. 139-41.
35 Conv. ii. 6, 11. 39 ff.; Par. xxviii. 40-139.
36See Zingarelli, Vita di Dante (1905), pp. 45, 52.
37 Conv. i. 3, 11. 20 ff.; see the passage quoted above, pp. 88-9.
38 Adapted, by kind permission of the author, from the “Summary of Contents” prefixed to each book in the translation of the Convivio by the Rector of Exeter College, Dr. W. W. Jackson (Oxford, 1909).
39 As to this form of the title of the treatise, see above, p. 173, note 3.
40 One in the Canonici collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; one in the Earl of Leicester’s collection at Holkham; and one in the possession of Dr. Edward Moore at Canterbury. There are four English translations of the Convivio, viz. by Elizabeth Sayer (1887), Katharine Hillard (1889), P. H. Wicksteed (1903), and W. W. Jackson (1909).
41 See Zingarelli, Dante, p. 389.