Vita Nuova [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION The Vita nuova, one of Dante's earliest works, is one of the first important examples of Italian literary prose. Composed somedme between 1292 and 1294, this little book is a combination of prose and poetry; many of the poems it contains were written earlier. The work may be thought of as taking shape when Dante, having arrived at a certain age (between 28 and 30), pauses to look back and examine his past experiences, both poetical and personal. Over the previous ten years (probably between 1283 and 1292) he had written many poems, but never before had he attempted to sift this body of work in order to give it order, form, or meaning. In the opening chapter or proemio of his book Dante suggests the purpose of the composition he is about to undertake: he will copy from his 'book of memory' only those past experiences that belong to the period beginning his 'new life'—a Hfe made new by the poet's first meeting with Beatrice and the Lord of Love, who, together with the poet, are the three main characters in the story. Whatever happened before his 'new life' is of no importance here, and Dante reserves the right to select from his 'book of memory' only those poems and events which he now perceives as playing a significant role in his development as a poet and his growth as a lover. His task, then, is to give meaning to that poetry which he composed and to those events which took place after his meeting with Beatrice and 'Love': this would seem to be the primary function of the prose passages in the Vita nuova which offer the occasion for each of the thirty-one poems in the book. Dante, like all men, is searching for happiness, and he believes he has found it before the Vita nuova opens. In fact, the reason for writing the book is precisely that the poet has found his happiness, his meaning: it is his intention in this little book to reveal his discovery gradually and