Vita nuova (XVIII) ~ Dante Alighieri


Vita nuova (XVIII, 1-9)

(1) Because of my appearance many people had learned the secret of my heart, and certain ladies who had seen me swoon at one time or another, and who knew my heart very well, happened to be gathered together one day, enjoying each other's company, when I, as if guided by fortune, passed near them and heard one of these gentlewomen call to me.

(2) The lady who addressed me had a very lively way of speaking, and so, when I had come up to them and saw that my most gracious lady was not with them, gaining confidence, I greeted them and asked what I could do to please them.

(3) There were many ladies present: several were laughing together; others were looking at me as if waiting for me to say something; there were others talking among themselves - one of whom, turning her eyes toward me and calling me by name, said: "Why do you love this lady of yours, if you are unable to endure the sight of her? Tell us, for surely the goal of such a love must be strange indeed." After she had said these words, not only she but all the others showed by their expression that they were waiting for my answer

(4) I said: "Ladies, the goal of my love once consisted in receiving the greeting of this lady to whom you are, perhaps, referring, and in this greeting rested the bliss which was the goal of all my desires. But since it pleased her to deny it to me, my lord, Love, through his grace, has placed all my bliss in something that cannot fail me."

(5) With this the ladies began to speak among themselves and, just as sometimes the rain can be seen falling mingled with beautiful flakes of snow, so did I seem to hear their words issuing forth mingled with sighs.

(6) After they had spoken to each other for awhile, the one who had first addressed me spoke to me again, saying: "We beg you to tell us where this bliss of yours now rests." And I answered her: "In those words that praise my lady."

 (7) And the one who had asked me the question said: "If you are telling us the truth, then those words you addressed to her describing your condition must have been written with some other intention."

(8) Then I, shamed by her words, departed from these ladies, saying to myself: "Since there is so much bliss in words that praise my lady, why have I ever written in any other way?"

(9) Therefore, I resolved that from then on I would always choose as the theme of my poetry whatever would be in praise of this most gracious one. Then, reflecting more on this, it seemed to me that I had undertaken a theme too lofty for myself, so that I did not dare to begin writing, and I remained for several days with the desire to write and the fear of beginning.

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