Dante's Lyric Poetry: Poems of Youth and of the 'Vita Nuova'

by Dante Alighieri

  2a (B XLI; C 2; FB 2; DR 77) Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri

  Per pruova di saper com vale o quanto lo mastro l’oro, adducelo a lo foco; e, ciò faccendo, chiara e sa se poco,

  To ascertain the worth and weight of gold a goldsmith places it within a fire; and doing this, he clarifies and learns, my friend, if it’s of great or little worth. And so to gauge my poem’s worthiness, I’m sending it to you, my touchstone for whoever claims to rank among the wise, or who is praised and held in high regard.

  4

  amico, di pecunia vale o tanto. Ed eo, per levar prova del meo canto, l’adduco a voi, cui paragone voco di ciascun c’have in canoscenza loco,

  I ask, this being the wisest of my poems, what kind of suffering brought on by Love, in your experience, is worst of all: and this I ask, though not to stir debate, (for, with respect to you, I’d be outclassed), but just to know my worth and future promise.

  8

  o che di pregio porti loda o vanto.

  E chero a voi col meo canto più saggio che mi deggiate il dol maggio d’Amore

  11

  qual è, per vostra scienza, nominare: e ciò non movo per quistioneggiare (che già inver’ voi so non avria valore),

  14

  ma per saver ciò ch’eo vaglio e varraggio.

  METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE EDC.

  2 (B XLII; C 2a; FB 2a; DR 78) Dante Alighieri to Dante da Maiano

  Qual che voi siate, amico, vostro manto di scienza parmi tal, che non è gioco; sì che, per non saver, d’ira mi coco,

  Whoever you may be, my friend, I find the learning you display to be no joke; and so I smart for having failed at least to offer, not to say my praise, some cheer. Be well assured (I know a thing or two), compared to yours my learning is but scant, nor can I row my boat as well as you, so you seem wise in everything you do.

  4

  non che laudarvi, sodisfarvi tanto. Sacciate ben (ch’io mi conosco alquanto) che di saver ver’ voi ho men d’un moco, né per via saggia come voi non voco,

  And since you wish to know my point of view, I’ll tell you openly without deceit, like one conversing with a man who’s wise. My understanding leads me to believe that anyone who loves but is not loved bears in his heart the greatest grief of all.

  8

  così parete saggio in ciascun canto.

  Poi piacevi saver lo meo coraggio, ed io ·l vi mostro di menzogna fore,

  11

  sì come quei ch’a saggio è ’l suo parlare: certanamente a mia coscienza pare, chi non è amato, s’elli è amadore,

  14

  che ’n cor porti dolor senza paraggio.

  METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE EDC. Here Dante Alighieri is following the convention whereby in a poetic exchange (tenzone) the respondent will frequently use some or all of the rhymes used by the proponent (rispondere per le rime). With great virtuosity, Alighieri reprises all of da Maiano’s rhyme scheme and even some of his rhyme words (tanto, voco, canto).

  3a (B XLIII; C 3; FB 3; DR 79) Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri

  Lo vostro fermo dir fino ed orrato approva ben ciò bon ch’ om di voi parla, ed ancor più, ch’ogni uom fora gravato

  The sure and graceful manner of your speech confirms the good that others see in you, and more as well, for anyone would be hard pressed to register your praise in full; now your acclaim has soared to such a height that no one could appraise it properly: and so whoever thinks he credits you with all due praise, I say, speaks foolishly.

  4

  di vostra loda intera nominarla; ché ’l vostro pregio in tal loco è poggiato, che propiamente om no·l poria contar là: però qual vera loda al vostro stato

  You claim that loving without being loved entails the harshest pain of Love there is, yet many say there is still greater pain. So in your wisdom, if you do not mind, I ask you to shed further light on this, and if experience can show it’s true.

  8

  crede parlando dar, dico disparla.

  Dite ch’amare e non essere amato ène lo dol che più d’Amore dole,

  11

  e manti dicon che più v’ ha dol maggio: onde umil prego non vi sia disgrato vostro saver che chiari ancor, se vole,

  14

  se ’l vero o no di ciò mi mostra saggio.

  METRE: sonnet ABAB ABAB ACD ACD. Dante da Maiano reprises only the rhyme in –aggio. His repetition of the –ato rhyme from the quatrains in the tercets is an example of the archaic convention whereby the A rhyme may be carried over from the octave to the tercets, from which it is banned by later poets.

  3 (B XLIV; C 3a; FB 3a; DR 80) Dante Alighieri to Dante da Maiano

  Non canoscendo, amico, vostro nomo, donde che mova chi con meco parla, conosco ben che scienz’à di gran nomo,

  Although, my friend, I do not know your name, whoever it may be that speaks to me, I know indeed his learning’s such a legend no one else can claim to be his peer: for one can recognize intelligence, in conversation, by the words employed. Since I must praise you without naming you, it’s hard to form the words upon my tongue.

  4

  sì che di quanti saccio nessun par l’à; ché si pò ben canoscere d’un omo, ragionando, se ha senno, che ben par là. Conven poi voi laudar, sarà for nomo

  My friend (of this I’m sure, for I have felt true love), know this full well: whoever loves but is not loved will bear the greatest pain; this kind of anguish has the upper hand on all the rest, and takes the name of chief: from this comes every pain that Love inflicts.

  8

  e forte a lingua mia di ciò com parla.

  Amico (certo sonde, a ciò ch’amato per amore aggio), sacci ben, chi ama,

  11

  se non è amato, lo maggior dol porta; ché tal dolor ten sotto suo camato tutti altri, e capo di ciascun si chiama:

  14

  da ciò vèn quanta pena Amore porta.

  METRE: sonnet ABAB ABAB CDE CDE. Alighieri reprises the rhymes –arla and –ato, as well as the rhyme words parla and amato. This is the only sonnet in the sequence that does not use the rhyme –aggio.

  3b (B XLV; C 3b; FB 4; DR 81) Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri

  Lasso, lo dol che più mi dole e serra è ringraziar, ben non sapendo como; per me più saggio converriasi, como

  Alas, the pain that stings and binds the most is that of thanking you, not knowing how; a wiser sort than I should take my place, a mind like yours, to tie up all loose ends. The pain that you ascribe to some who love is yearning you and they feel differently; I’d like to understand this feeling well, for often, as I say, I’m gripped by it.

  4

  vostro saver, ched ogni quistion serra. Del dol che manta gente dite serra è tal voler qual voi lor non ha como; el propio sì disio saver dol, como

  And so I now request that you, my sage, cite which authority substantiates your view, so it can garner more prestige. Then our discussion will have clarified which suffering begets the greater pain, as we resolve, my friend, the pros and cons.

  8

  di ciò sovente dico, essend’a serra.

  Però pregh’eo ch’argomentiate, saggio, d’autorità mostrando ciò che porta

  11

  di voi la ’mpresa, a ciò che sia più chiara; e poi parrà, parlando di ciò, chiara e qual più chiarirem dol pena porta,

  14

  d’el[l]o assegnando, amico, prov’e saggio.

  METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE EDC. Dante da Maiano reprises the rhyme –omo and the rhyme-word porta from the previous sonnet, as well as the rhyme –aggio featured in the first three poems of the exchange.

  Tenzone between Dante Alighieri and Dante da Maiano

  4a Amor mi fa sì fedelmente amare: Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri

  4 Savere e cortesia, ingegno ed arte: Dante Alighieri’s response

  This third and final tenzone between the two Dantes poses the question of the ability of the will to withstand love. Although embedded in an exquisitely courtly dialogue, the theme here broached is funda
mentally ethical, and is rooted in classical philosophy, in for instance Aristotle’s treatment of the will and compulsion (see Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 3.1, for the distinction between voluntary and involuntary action).

  In the sonnet Amor mi fa sì fedelmente amare Dante da Maiano wants to get Dante Alighieri to “agree” (“Provedi, amico saggio, se l’appruovi [Consider, learned friend, if you agree]” [14]) with the following proposition: it is impossible to oppose love when love grasps us and forces us to desire (“e sì distretto m’have en suo disire [(love) has me bound so tightly in his will]” [2]), because neither strength nor cunning can prevail against love (“ ’inverso Amor non val forze ned arte [strength and shrewdness cannot rival Love]” [10]), and thus it is better to surrender oneself “and serve loyally” (“e ben servir”) (13). This youthful exchange is the courtly variant of an ethical issue on which Dante Alighieri will meditate the length of his life: the problem of free will and of human responsibility. Here we encounter the eros-inflected version of a vast problematic that constitutes the very foundation of the Commedia: are we, as agents, responsible for our actions or are we not?

  If one concedes, as Dante Alighieri does in these sonnets, that we are not responsible in matters of love, because the will does not have the power to resist – “nulla cosa gli è incontro possente [nothing has the power to take him (love) on]” (Savere e cortesia, 13) – one ends up also conceding that human will does not have freedom of choice in its actions. In other words, if the mature Dante had remained in agreement with the young poet who here agrees with Dante da Maiano, sustaining in the sonnet Savere e cortesia that one must submit to eros, precisely because “nulla cosa gli è incontro possente,” there would be no Commedia. The Commedia is founded on the logic of free will and choice, that is, on the premise that our choices become realized into actions by means of the exercise of a will that is by definition free.

  The fascination of Dante’s lyrics derives in great part from the fact that they allow us to trace the pathway that leads Dante Alighieri from his assent to Dante da Maiano’s proposal – according to which we are incapable of acting voluntarily under the goad of amorous compulsion – to his rejection of it. How does he go from the sonnet Savere e cortesia to canto 5 of the Inferno? This trajectory is one that, far from being concealed or covert, is readily signaled by a poet who holds that the transition hereby negotiated is fundamental to the creation of his mature philosophical identity. Precisely in order to indicate this fundamental philosophical shift, Dante takes the iconic and technical verb of the erotic lyric, stringere, used by Dante da Maiano when he writes that Love “sì distretto m’have en suo disire [has me bound tightly to his will],” and has it echo in Francesca’s words, when she announces having read “di Lancialotto come amor lo strinse [of Lancelot, how love bound him]” (Inf. 5.128).

  Dante ends by condemning erotic passion, if it dominates reason, and by insisting that the subordination of reason to desire is sinful: “carnal sinners” are defined precisely as those “who subordinate reason to desire” (“che la ragion sommettono al talento” [Inf. 5.39]). How does Dante arrive at such a formulation, when in Savere e cortesia he maintains exactly the opposite, holding rather that it is not possible to resist passion? The road is long, complex, and signposted by texts that belong to our highest celebrations of erotic passion. From this first youthful formulation, rather insipid and conventional (“Onde se voli, amico, che ti vagli / vertute naturale od accidente,/con lealtà in piacer d’Amor l’adovra,/e non a contastar sua graziosa ovra [So if you wish, my friend, to benefit / from inborn worth or accident of chance,/make proper use of it in pleasing Love:/but you must not oppose his gracious work]” [9–12]), Dante will reach remarkable lyrical heights, such as the rime petrose, written circa 1296, dedicated to the absolute and indomitable force of eros. All of this before coming to the opposite position – that is, to the triumph of reason. This position, too, makes its first appearance in the lyrics, and will be clearly stated in the post-exilic canzone Doglia mi reca nello core ardire.15

  The first quatrain of the response to Dante da Maiano is composed of a graceful string of nouns that recalls Cavalcanti’s sonnet Biltà di donna. Looking forward rather than back, we note too the lexical contaminatio between a courtly register (for instance, the word “cortesia,” which Dante defines in the Convivio as deriving from “court,” in the incipit Savere e cortesia) and the incipient presence of a philosophical-scholastic register (as in verse 10: “vertute natural od accidente”). Such willingness to mix registers is a hallmark of one of the great literary syncretists.

  4a (B XLVI; C 4; FB 5a; DR 82) Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri

  Amor mi fa sì fedelmente amare e sì distretto m’have en suo disire, che solo un’ora non porria partire

  Love causes me to love so steadfastly and has me bound so tightly in his will that even for a single hour my heart could not take leave of thinking but of him. I’ve set my mind to testing Ovid’s art which told how lovesickness is remedied. But what he said I hold to be a lie; so I’m resigned to begging just for pity.

  4

  lo core meo da lo suo pensare. D’Ovidio ciò mi son miso a provare che disse per lo mal d’Amor guarire, e ciò ver’ me non val mai che mentire:

  And now I fully understand as fact that strength and shrewdness cannot rival Love, nor schemes and teachings one might come across, but only pity, waiting patiently and serving loyally – this is your role. Consider, learned friend, if you agree.

  8

  per ch’ eo mi rendo a sol mercé chiamare.

  E ben conosco omai veracemente che ’nverso Amor non val forza ned arte,

  11

  ingegno né leggenda ch’omo trovi, mai che merzede ed esser sofferente e ben servir: così n’have omo parte.

  14

  Provedi, amico saggio, se l’appruovi.

  METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE CDE.

  4 (B XLVII; C 4a; FB 5; DR 83) Dante Alighieri to Dante da Maiano

  Savere e cortesia, ingegno ed arte, nobilitate, bellezza e riccore, fortezza e umiltate e largo core,

  Courtesy and knowledge, wit and skill, nobility and beauty, worldly wealth, great strength and kindness, generosity, renown and valour, joined or separate, these benefits and virtues everywhere by their delight can overpower Love: though one may prove more worthy as its foe than might another, each one plays a part.

  4

  prodezza ed eccellenza, giunte e sparte, este grazie e vertuti in onne parte con lo piacer di lor vincono Amore: una più ch’altra bene ha più valore

  So if you wish, my friend, to benefit from inborn worth or accident of chance, make proper use of it in pleasing Love: but you must not oppose his gracious work, for nothing has the power to take him on, if one should want to start a fight with him.

  8

  inverso lui, ma ciascuna n’ha parte.

  Onde se voli, amico, che ti vaglia vertute naturale od accidente,

  11

  con lealtà in piacer d’Amor l’adovra, e non a contastar sua graziosa ovra; ché nulla cosa gli è incontro possente,

  14

  volendo prendere om con lui battaglia.

  METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE EDC. Dante Alighieri does not respond per le rime and he changes the pattern of the tercets. He reprises the rhymes –arte and –ente as well as the rhyme-words arte and parte.

  5 A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core

  In the sonnet A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core Dante addresses two categories of readers: all those who are in love – all the souls “prese,” seized, made captive by love – and all hearts that are “gentili,” noble. In another sonnet, Amore ’l cor gentil sono una cosa, Dante, following Guinizzelli, will explicitly state what here remains implicit: that these two categories are in truth one. If “Love and the noble heart are one sole thing,” as stated in the incipit Amore ’l cor gentil sono una cosa, it follows then that “every captive soul” is necessarily also a “noble heart.” The technical and courtl
y lexicon used by the poet to cue the restricted group he writes to will remain useful to him much later on. One thinks of Francesca da Rimini in canto 5 of the Inferno, who will display similar (ab)uses of the adjective gentile and of the verb prendere (“Amor, ch’al cor gentil ratto s’apprende,/prese costui … [Love, that can quickly grasp the noble heart, seized him …]” [Inf. 5.100–1]), as well as the great definition of love in Purgatorio 18, where the “alma presa” of A ciascun’alma has become the “animo preso” that achieves its desire (Purg. 18.31).