ISBN La vita nuova

La vita nuova

A unique treatise by a poet, written for poets, on the art of poetry 

The La Vita Nuova is elaborately and symbolically patterned, consisting of a selection of Dante’s early poems, interspersed with his own prose commentary. The poems themselves tell the story of his love for Beatrice, from their first meeting at a May Day party in her father’s house, through Dante’s sufferings and his attempts to conceal the true object of his devotion by the use of ‘screen-loves’, to his overwhelming grief at her death, ending with the transformative vision of her in heaven. These are some of the richest love poems in literature and the movement from self-pitying lament to praise for the beloved’s beauty and virtue, illustrate the elevating power of love. 

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About author(s)
Dante Alighieri, born in Florence, Italy, c. 1265, is considered one of the world’s greatest poets. His use of the Florentine dialect established it as the basis for modern Italian. His late medieval epic, The Divine Comedy, was above all inspired, as was all his poetry, by his unrequited love for Beatrice, a woman he may have seen only from afar. He died in 1321, having completed his great work, yet an exile from his native city.