La Vita Nuova

By Dante

In this celebration of a poet's passionate love for the woman he worshiped from afar, Dante weaves together rapturous sonnets and canzoni with prose commentaries and an autobiographical narrative. La Vita Nuova records the poet's adoration of Beatrice, the celestial figure who would ultimately guide him through his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy.
In addition to its appeal as a sublime meditation on the anguish and ecstasy of love, this volume also serves as a treatise on the art and technique of poetry. Dante's commentaries explicate each poem, further refining his concept of romantic love as the initial step in the spiritual development that culminates in the capacity for divine love. His unconventional approach — drawing upon personal experience, addressing readers directly, and writing in Italian rather than Latin — marked a turning point in European poetry, when writers departed from highly stylized forms in favor of a simpler style. This complete and unabridged edition features the distinguished translation by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Jun 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9780486157146

Dante

Dante was born in Florence, Italy, in 1265. Heir of a poor but noble family, he was one of the seven elected officials in charge of the government of Florence. Civil war was common in Florence at the time and the issues were further complicated by the question of Papal influence. In 1300, Dante along with his fellow magistrates confirmed anti-papal measures. When in 1302, the French prince acting under orders from the Pope captured power in Florence, Dante was sentenced on charges of corruption and opposition to the Church and exiled from Florence on pain of execution by burning if he ever returned. He spent the rest of his life in exile, pining for his native city. He withdrew from active politics to a large extent and concentrated on his literary creations. We do not know exactly when Dante began work on The Divine Comedy. He had been moving about from court to court after his exile and 1n 1317 had settled at Ravenna, where he completed his great work. Extant correspondence shows that the first and second parts of The Divine Comedy, the "Inferno" and the "Purgatario" were generally known around 1319. The last part, the "Paradiso" was completed only in 1321. Dante died at Ravenna on 14 September 1321 and the last thirteen Cantos of the "Paradiso" were published posthumously.

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DOVER THRIFT EDITIONS

GENERAL EDITOR: PAUL NEGRI

EDITOR OF THIS VOLUME: JOSLYN PINE

Copyright Note copyright © 2001 by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2001, is an unabridged republication of Rossetti’s translation of Dante’s La Vita Nuova, which originally appeared in The Early Italian Poets from Ciullo d’Alcamo to Dante Alighieri (1100—1200—1300): in the original metres, together with Dante’s Vita Nuova, translated by D. G. Rossetti, and published in 1861 by Smith & Elder, London. A new introductory Note has been specially prepared for this edition.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321.

[Vita nuova. English]

La vita nuova / Dante Alighieri; translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

p. cm.

Originally published: London: Smith & Elder, 1861.

9780486157146

1. Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1828–1882. II. Title.

PQ4315.58 .R713 2001

851’.1—dc21

2001028585

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

41915003

www.doverpublications.com

Table of Contents

Dover Thrift Editions Fiction

Title Page

Copyright Page

Note

LA VITA NUOVA - (The New Life)

DOVER • THRIFT • EDITIONS

Note

DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265–1321) is widely acknowledged as the greatest of Italian poets, occupying one of the three most honored places in Western literature, alongside Shakespeare and Goethe. He was born in Florence, Italy, at a propitious time in the city’s history when trade and industry were flourishing. Although his family was descended from the feudal nobility, like many others of their class they were impoverished and losing ground to the new bourgeoisie. These circumstances did not adversely affect young Dante’s education, however, since he completed primary school and continued with a course of study that included Latin, mathematics, and music—to which he formed a passionate attachment. And finally, like many Florentine intellectuals of his day, he learned to write verse. The diligent student grew into a learned scholar, an innovative political thinker, and the poet-visionary who would pen the epic poem La Divina Commedia—The Divine Comedy. As one critic described him, Dante is not, as Homer is, the father of poetry springing in the freshness and simplicity of childhood out of the arms of mother earth; he is rather, like Noah, the father of a second poetical world, to whom he pours forth his prophetic song fraught with the wisdom and the experience of the old world.

Since not much is known of Dante’s life—outside of what can be gleaned from his writings—it is illuminating to see him through the eyes of contemporaries who impart a sense of the man, and something of the depth and breadth of his accomplishments. A friend and neighbor, also a chronicler of the time, wrote of him:

This Dante was an honourable and ancient citizen of Florence . . . a great scholar in almost every branch of learning, although he was a layman: he was a great poet and philosopher, and a perfect rhetorician both in prose and verse, and in public debate he was a very noble speaker; in rime he was supreme, with the most polished and beautiful style that ever had been in our language, up to his time and since.

The distinguished Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), author of the Decameron, who for his Vita di Dante collected impressions of Dante from many of his surviving acquaintances, gave the following description of him:

Our poet was of middle height, and after he had reached mature years he walked with somewhat of a stoop; his gait was grave and sedate; and he was ever clothed in most seemly garments, his dress being suited to the ripeness of his years. His face was long, his nose aquiline, his eyes rather large than small, his jaws heavy, with the under lip projecting beyond the upper. His complexion was dark, and his hair and beard thick, black, and crisp; and his countenance always sad and thoughtful. Whence it happened one day in Verona (the fame of his writings having by that time been spread abroad everywhere, and especially of that part of his Commedia to which he gave the title of Hell, and he himself being known by sight to many men and women), that as he passed before a doorway where several women were sitting, one of them said to the others in a low voice, but not so low but that she was plainly heard by him and by those with him, ‘Do you see the man who goes down to Hell, and returns at his pleasure, and brings back news of those who are below?’ To which one of the others answered in all simplicity: ‘Indeed, what you say must be true; don’t you see how his beard is crisped and his colour darkened by the heat and smoke down below?’ Dante, hearing those words behind him, and perceiving that they were spoken by the women in perfect good faith, was not ill pleased that they should have such an opinion of him, and smiling a little passed on his way.

Dante’s first work, La Vita Nuova, was written c. 1293 when the poet was probably in his late twenties, and it is many things to many scholars: a book of collected lyrics written in the poet’s youth, a treatise for poets on the

Reviews for La Vita Nuova

[jonfaith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Your sisters bringing messages of gladness;
And you, who are the daughter of my sadness,
Seek out their company, disconsolate.

Lovely structure and I applaud the Florentine when he isn’t burning sinners. The spirit and sense data are privileged over reason. Our boy is loopy over Beatrice. He drools and convulses in her presence. Composure is found afterwards and sonnets composed. He’s got it bad.

I won’t spoil the turn. Extreme emotion appears fairly uniform. That is a treatise all its own. As would be a song cycle from Beatrice’s perspective. The entire project reeks of dislocation, not yearning.

There’s an intriguing aside late in the text regarding the rise of vernacular poetry. It occurred so women could be wooed. Also ubiquitous is the number nine, though I fear if you played it backwards it would say turn me on, dead man, turn me on. If that isn’t a plea for Christ, I don’t know what is. I again offer apologies for my apostasy.

[danielstj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great, first-person look at Dante's young life and his exposure to Beatrice- who permeated and influenced much of his work. The passion, trembling and careful, that he espouses onto the pages here is without measure in nearly all accounts that I have seen. This is seeing Dante's world through his own eyes and it is quite a portrait indeed. Through reading this, I was able to understand him a little better and that's a great thing when we are dealing with someone with such an important literary stature and importance.4 stars.

[encephalical · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was more fascinated by his dissection of his own poems than the poems themselves.

[gcamp_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dante lived in an era when 'courtly love' or 'unrequitted love' was common. This was during the age of chivalry, and was often a secret love between members of nobility. Dante was very much in love with Beatrice, but he had to keep his love secret. To do so he used what he called 'screen loves' in which he showed admiration to other women so that no one would know who his true love was. For Dante, his love for Beatrice was so deep that with only a smile or a gracious word, she could cause him to become weak. To show his love, Dante wrote poetry in honor of Beatrice. Dante felt that Beatrice was so special that he held her in higher esteem than other humans. In fact, her name means 'blessed' and when she died Dante believed that God saw how good Beatrice was and He wanted her to be near Him, so he took her up to be with Him in heaven. Dante felt that we didn't deserve to have her here on earth with us. In his 'Divine Comedy,' Dante will place Beatrice in one of the very highest levels of heaven. Dante often talked of Beatrice as being a 'nine' which to him was a nearly perfect number. The number three was special because of its association with the Trinity, and nine was three times three, therefore he held it to be of the highest importance.

[bishopjoey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rossetti's translation is kind of strange, but it was a nice backup to reading the Divine Comedy.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mengeling van proza en po?zie: naar analogie met Bo?thius.Enkele pareltje van liefdespo?zie, maar over het algemeen toch veel gesteun en gekreun gericht op het eigen ik en veel te veel effectjagerij naar mijn smaak.

[bayardus-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The aspect of Vita Nuova I found most interesting is that it is simultaneously doing several things: it functions as an account of part of Dante's life and career, as well as a compilation of his poetry, an explanation of that poetry, and a love story. Unfortunately none of these facets of the work stood out to me as particularly moving or interesting. It's far too bare-bones an account of Dante's life and career to satiate my curiosity on that front, I didn't find the poetry on display here very beautiful or striking (though I read an English translation by Mark Musa, and translation often strips poetry of much of its force), the insight that Dante shares about his poetry leans toward the technical, and when it comes to being a love story I found this far inferior to the love story aspect of The Divine Comedy.

A bit disappointing, but gives a better understanding of Dante's thoughts and writing style. Though I found it underwhelming on its own, I may yet be happy I read it when I get around to rereading The Divine Comedy.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mengeling van proza en poëzie: naar analogie met Boëthius.Enkele pareltje van liefdespoëzie, maar over het algemeen toch veel gesteun en gekreun gericht op het eigen ik en veel te veel effectjagerij naar mijn smaak.

[humdog · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this is a beautiful book. all the beatrice stuff is here.