Of course, we do not know that the canzone was written before the sonnet; any discussion of the sonnet “echoing” the canzone can refer only to the experience of reading them in the order in which they are presented within the Vita Nuova. Outside the Vita Nuova we can speak only of similarities between them. Moreover, Venite a ’ntender refers to “la nostra donna” (our lady) (10), not to Beatrice. De Robertis accepts the explanation of the origin of Venite a ’ntender offered in the Vita Nuova: “it was probably composed, as Dante tells us, and we have no reason not to believe him, at the request of a friend of his and close relative of hers to whom it was given” (ed. comm., p. 392). But, as has often been noted in this commentary, the prose framework of the Vita Nuova adds many historical and sociological details that do not appear in the lyrics. In this case, for example, there is no trace in Venite a ’ntender of either the name “Beatrice” or of the friend mentioned by the prose, who is identified by commentators as Manetto Portinari, Beatrice’s brother, on the basis of the assertion in the prose that this friend “fue tanto distretto di sanguinitade con questa gloriosa, che nullo più presso l’era [such a close blood relation of the glorious one that nobody was closer to her]” (VN XXXII.1 [21.1]).
The prose tells us that this friend, the brother of the glorious one, asked Dante for a poem “per una donna che s’era morta [about a woman who had died],” and not only that, but that “simulava sue parole, acciò che paresse che dicesse d’un’altra [he faked his words, so that it seemed that he was talking about another woman]” (VN XXXII.2 [21.2]). According to the prose, Venite a ’ntender is the composition given by Dante to Beatrice’s brother as part of this complex game that recalls the many simulations of the first part of the Vita Nuova. But again, in the sonnet there is no trace of all of this.
As always, if a sonnet of the Vita Nuova exists in a version that pre-exists the version in the libello, this commentary follows the earlier redaction as it has been reproduced by De Robertis. In the case of Venite a ’ntender, the revisions that mark the passage from the first version to the version of the Vita Nuova are slight but consistent, in the sense that they connect the sonnet even more closely to Li occhi dolenti. In the first version we find “la nostra donna, la qual se n’è ita / al loco degno della sua virtute” (11), while in the version of the Vita Nuova it is “la mia donna gentil, che si n’è gita / al secol degno de la sua vertute” (10–11): the change from “nostra donna” to “la mia donna gentil” and the substitution of “secol” for “loco” reprise Li occhi dolenti, where “la mia donna andò nel secol novo [my lady passed into the other world]” (61).
48 (B XXVI; FB 48; DR 67; VN XXXII.5–6 [21.5–6])
First Redaction
Venite a ‘ntender li sospiri miei, o cor’ gentili, che pietà ·l disia, li quali sconsolati vanno via,
Come listen to my sighs, O gracious hearts, the sighs of discontent that issue forth, for this is something pity asks of you,
4
e s’e’ non fosser, di dolor morrei, però che gli occhi mi sarebbon rei molte fïate più ch’io non vorria, lasso!, di pianger sì la donna mia
and were it not for them, I’d die of grief; indeed, my eyes would have to compensate, alas, more often than I would desire, by weeping for my lady in a way
8
che sfogassen lo cor piangendo lei.
that brings my heart relief by dint of tears.
Voi udirete lor chiamar sovente la nostra donna, la qual se n’è ita
You’ll hear them often calling on my love, the lady who has left this world behind
11
al loco degno della sua virtute; e dispregiar talora questa vita in persona dell’anima dolente,
and gone where her perfection is esteemed, and hear them sometimes scorn this life by taking on the voice of my sad soul,
14
abandonata della sua salute.
which is abandoned by its true salvation.
VN 2. O(i) c. – 3. qual’ disconsolati – 5. sarebber – 8. sfogasser – 10. La mia donna gentil, che si n’è gita – 11. Al secol degno
METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDE DCE.
49 Quantunque volte, lasso!, mi rimembra
Quantunque volte, a canzone of two stanzas with thirteen lines each, was placed by Dante in Vita Nuova XXXIII (22), as the fifth and final canzone of the libello. The prose frame of the Vita Nuova emphasizes the relationship with Beatrice’s brother, established in the previous chapter: Venite a ’ntender, the sonnet offered (conjecturally) to Manetto Portinari in the preceding chapter, is not a sufficient homage, and therefore “dissi due stanzie d’una canzone, l’una per costui veracemente, e l’altra per me, avvegna che paia l’una e l’altra per una persona detta, a chi non guarda sottilmente [I wrote two stanzas of a canzone, one actually for this man, and the other for me, although to one who doesn’t consider things subtly both may seem written for one person]” (VN XXXIII.2 [22.2]). Presenting Quantunque volte, Dante explains that the first stanza is a lament for the death of Beatrice written from the point of view of the brother and that the second expresses instead the lover’s point of view: “E così appare che in questa canzone si lamentano due persone, l’una de le quali si lamenta come frate, l’altra come servo [And thus it seems that two people are grieving in this canzone, one grieving as a brother, the other as a servant]” (VN XXXIII.4 [22.4]). The supposed “proof” of the change of perspective from brother (“frate”) to lover (“servo,” drawing on the courtly imagery of love-service) is the switch from “la donna” in the first stanza (3) to “la donna mia” in the second (18).
As we know, the prose of the Vita Nuova has its own objectives that are superimposed on the lyrics. Dante perhaps wanted to introduce Beatrice’s brother and to resume the discussion of friendship, now hierarchically arranging his friends: “secondo li gradi de l’amistade, è amico a me immediatamente dopo lo primo [in degree of friendship, he is the friend of mine right after the first]” (VN XXXII.1 [21.1]). Creating a network of relations that includes a father, a sister, and a brother, he offers a glimpse of the elements of the Florentine family. He widens the network of friends and suggests the presence not only of the “primo amico,” Guido Cavalcanti, but of a group of friends, a brigata of young Florentines: thanks to these two contrivances, Dante increases the historical density of the libello. (For the thematic of the male brigata in Dante’s lyrics, see the introductory essays to Deh ragioniamo, Sonar bracchetti, Volgete gli occhi, Guido, i’ vorrei, and Amore e monna Lagia.) On the other hand, as has been seen elsewhere, the canzone has its own poetic integrity that has little to do with the aims of the prose.
Whatever the objective with regard to Guido Cavalcanti, referred to again as “lo primo [amico]” in the introduction to Venite a ’ntender (VN XXXI.1 [21.1]), our can-zone treats the theme of madonna’s death in a decidedly Cavalcantian manner. The first stanza of Quantunque volte is a testimony to Guido’s influence, above all in the personification of the various faculties of the self, fragmented into “heart,” “mind,” and “soul.” The self speaks to his soul in direct discourse. Every time that he recalls that he will never again see his lady on earth, “my grieving memory” (5) accumulates “such pain” (4) around the heart that he must ask: “Anima mia, ché non ten vai?/ché li tormenti che tu porterai / nel secol, che t’è già tanto noioso,/mi fan pensoso di paura forte [My soul, what keeps you here?/Because the pain that you will bear in life,/which you already find so anguishing,/oppresses me with deep anxiety]” (6–9). The result of the extremely Cavalcantian “paura forte [deep anxiety]” of line 9 is an intense desire for death, expressed again in direct discourse: “Ond’io chiamo la Morte,/come soave e dolce mio riposo;/e dico ‘Vieni a me’ con tanto amore,/che sono astioso di chiunque more [And so I call on Death,/the sweet and tender place of final rest,/and say ‘Please come to me’ with so much love / that I am envious of all who die]” (10–13).
Quantunque volte seems to mark a step backward with respect to Li occhi dolenti and Veni
te a ’ntender, as indicated by the use of the verb chiamare. Instead of calling on his dead lady and bringing her to life so that she comforts him, as in the paradigmatic verses of Li occhi dolenti – “e mentre ch’io la chiamo, me conforta [and while I call on her she comforts me]” (56) – Quantunque volte, more traditionally, calls on Death: “Ond’io chiamo la Morte [And so I call on Death]” (10). And it is to Death, not to his dead beloved, that the poet speaks directly, saying “Vieni a me [come to me]” (12).
The second stanza begins by reiterating the suffering of the lover and the invocation of Death: “E’ si raccoglie ne li miei sospiri / un sono di pietate,/che va chiamando Morte tuttavia [A sound of pity gathers in my sighs / that calls on Death / and goes on calling unremittingly]” (14–16). But the meditation on the moment of death of madonna – “quando la donna mia / fu giunta da la sua crudelitate [(the day) my lady was beset / and overtaken by its cruelty]” (18–19) – seems to lend wings to the imaginative capacity of the lover, and the canzone turns to the moment in which madonna, “partendo sé da la nostra veduta [separated from our sight]” (21), is transformed into spirit such as beatifies even the angels: “divenne spirital bellezza grande,/che per lo cielo spande / luce d’amor, che li angeli saluta [was turned into a spirit of great beauty / that spreads through paradise / a light of love which brings the angels bliss]” (22–4). A canzone of Cavalcantian stamp here shows itself capable of reaching a linguistic register that recalls Paradiso; “luce d’amor” in line 24 consistently elicits comparison to “luce intellettüal, piena d’amore [intellectual light, full of love]” (Par. 30.40).
The end of Quantunque volte is a mix of themes and lexemes already seen in Donne ch’avete and Li occhi dolenti, but compressed in such a way as to recall Paradiso, perhaps too because of the beautiful enjambment “spande / luce d’amor” (enjambment is a rhetorical feature of the third canticle).122 The “spirital bellezza” of madonna, which spills the light of love that causes the angels bliss, is so “gentile” that it arouses wonder in the angelic intellects: “e lo intelletto loro alto, sottile / face maravigliar, sì v’è gentile [and makes their keen and lofty intellect / feel wonderment, so noble is she there]” (25–6).
49 (B XXVII; FB 49; VN XXXIII.5–8 [22.5–8])
Quantunque volte, lasso!, mi rimembra ch’io non debbo gia mai
Alas, whenever I remember now that I shall never see
3
veder la donna ond’io vo sì dolente, tanto dolore intorno ‘l cor m’assembra la dolorosa mente,
the lady on account of whom I grieve, such pain my grieving memory accrues around my heart
6
ch’io dico: “Anima mia, ché non ten vai? ché li tormenti che tu porterai nel secol, che t’è già tanto noioso, mi fan pensoso di paura forte.”
that I must ask: “My soul, what keeps you here? Because the pain that you will bear in life, which you already find so anguishing, oppresses me with deep anxiety.”
10
Ond’io chiamo la Morte, come soave e dolce mio riposo; e dico “Vieni a me” con tanto amore,
And so I call on Death, the sweet and tender place of final rest, and say “Please come to me” with so much love
13
che sono astioso di chiunque more.
that I am envious of all who die.
E’ si raccoglie ne li miei sospiri un sono di pietate,
A sound of pity gathers in my sighs that calls on Death
16
che va chiamando Morte tuttavia: a lei si volser tutti i miei disiri, quando la donna mia
and goes on calling unremittingly. All my desires turned towards it the day my lady was beset
19
fu giunta da la sua crudelitate; perché ‘l piacere de la sua bieltate, partendo sé da la nostra veduta, divenne spirital bellezza grande,
and overtaken by its cruelty, because the splendour of her loveliness, when it was separated from our sight, was turned into a spirit of great beauty
23
che per lo cielo spande luce d’amor, che li angeli saluta, e lo intelletto loro alto, sottile
that spreads through paradise a light of love which brings the angels bliss, and makes their keen and lofty intellect
26
face maravigliar, sì v’è gentile.
feel wonderment, so noble is she there.
METRE: canzone of two stanzas, each composed of thirteen verses (ten hendecasyllables and three settenari), with rhyme scheme AbC AcB BDEeDFF and without congedo. The fronte is six verses (3 + 3) and the sirma is seven verses.
50 Era venuta nella mente mia [Era venuta ne la mente mia]
First Redaction and Redaction of the Vita Nuova
The gloss proposed for Quantunque volte is valid as well for Era venuta nella mente mia: of this sonnet too we can say that theologized features have been grafted onto an originally quite Cavalcantian core. This sonnet exists in a pre–Vita Nuova redaction, and so, as customary, it is presented here in the early redaction. There are, however, further complications in the case of Era venuta, since in the Vita Nuova redaction Dante adds not only lexical touches but even what he calls a new “beginning” in the form of a new first quatrain. He does not substitute the new quatrain for the original; rather he adds it, so that the Vita Nuova redaction of the sonnet is uniquely presented in the libello with two different opening quatrains, labelled by the poet “First beginning” and “Second beginning.”
This is therefore an instance of truly exceptional editorial intervention, exceptional even for an author who is never timid in his revisions. As a result we have here a foundational example of what we could call Dantean “auto-philology.” With respect to the Vita Nuova version of Era venuta De Robertis writes that it presents “the integration of thematic variants … of alternatives into a single solution” (VN, pp. 213–14). Given the exceptional nature of Dante’s editorial intervention, and given Dante’s desire to make the existence of variants obvious, to make manifest the archeology of the sonnet’s composition, Era venuta is printed here both in its first redaction and in the redaction (with two beginnings) that was placed by Dante in Vita Nuova XXXIV (23).
The prose of the Vita Nuova situates the composition of Era venuta within a detailed scene: it is the day of the anniversary of Beatrice’s death and the poet is drawing “uno angelo sopra certe tavolette [an angel on some boards]” (VN XXXIV.1 [23.1]), when he sees beside him some distinguished men (their identity is not specified, but the phrase “vidi lungo me uomini a li quali si convenia di fare onore [I saw beside me some men whose rank required that one greet them respectfully]” [VN XXXIV.1 (23.1)] leaves no doubt as to their social standing). The poet explains in a veiled way that he had been absorbed in contemplating his lady – dead, but undoubtedly present, because “meco [with me]”: “e salutando loro dissi: ‘Altri era testé meco, però pensava’ [and greeting them I said, ‘Someone else was just with me; that is why I was absorbed in thought’]” (VN XXXIV.2 [23.2]). When the men leave the poet decides to write to them, “quasi per annovale [as a kind of anniversary memorial]” (VN XXXIV.3 [23.3]); that is, to commemorate the anniversary of the death of madonna.123
What can be confirmed of this elaborate story? The first version of Era venuta is undoubtedly commemorative, and the fact that it commemorates precisely the first anniversary of the death of “quella donna gentil cui piange Amore [that noble lady because of whom Love weeps]” (Era venuta, first redaction, 2) is confirmed by the declaration of the final verses, directed to madonna herself: “O nobile intelletto,/oggi fa un anno che nel ciel salisti [This day, O noble intellect,/completes a year since you rose heavenward]” (Era venuta, first redaction, 13–14). Barbi-Maggini conclude “that therefore [the sonnet] must have been composed in June 1291” (p. 136). This date is deduced from the prose of the Vita Nuova, but the identity of madonna is not ascertainable on the basis of the sonnet.
The first version begins with a memory of madonna: “Era venuta nella mente mia / quella donna g
entil cui piange Amore [That lady came into my memory,/the noble one because of whom Love weeps]” (Era venuta, first redaction, 1–2). Her memory is linked to a specific occasion (“entro quell’ora [precisely when]” [3]), in which “the power of her soul / forced you to see what I was doing then” (“lo suo valore / vi trasse a riguardar quel ch’e’ facea”) (Era venuta, first redaction, 3–4). In other words, the first version of Era venuta addresses people (“vi,” you) whose sex and identity are not specified, but who have felt the presence of madonna (“lo suo valore” [3]) and are drawn to it, watching the activity (also unspecified) of the poet: “quel ch’e’ facea [what I was doing then]” (4). At this point Era venuta falls back on typical Cavalcantian phrasing, with however a very important caveat: the “distrutto core [ravaged heart]” of line 6 is suffering over the real death of madonna, not, as in Cavalcanti, over the metaphorical “death” of the self because of his love for madonna. The Cavalcantian motifs include the vital spirits exiled from the self to whom they belong and Love’s use of direct discourse to address them: “dicev’ ai sospiri: ‘Andate fore,’/per che ciascun dolente se ·n partia./Parlando uscivan fori del mio petto [said to every sigh: ‘Now leave at once,’/and so they all went off unhappily./As they departed from my breast all spoke]” (Era venuta, first redaction, 7–9).
But Era venuta does not close in this Cavalcantian vein. Like Quantunque volte, the sonnet moves on to the redeeming power of madonna in paradise. Thus, the powerful presence of the Cavalcantian adverb of interior exile, fuori (as distilled in the persona of Guido invoked in Amore e monna Lagia’s “e Guido ancor, che·nn’è del tutto fore” [12]), is first applied in typical Cavalcantian fashion to the self’s spirits, who are instructed to leave, “Andate fore” (7), and who do in fact depart, “uscivano fori” (9).124 But there is redemptive resolution in a third use where uscire fuori (to go out) becomes an indicator of madonna’s arrival in heaven. In line 12 the verb “uscian fuor” indicates the action of the sighs that speak to the noble intellect of madonna, in her abode outside and distant from earthly suffering: “Ma quei che ne uscian fuor conminor pena / venian dicendo: ‘O nobile intelletto,/oggi fa un anno che nel ciel salisti’ [But those that issued forth with lesser pain / remarked: ‘This day, O noble intellect,/completes a year since you rose heavenward’]” (Era venuta, first redaction, 12–14).
Dante's Lyric Poetry: Poems of Youth and of the 'Vita Nuova' Page 38