After Sappho, I am staying with love but moving from ancient Greek to medieval Italian. I began with Dante’s Italian, an approximate pronunciation guide and a deliberately plain translation before reading any of the polished English versions.
The poem
Italian text: Treccani
From: Vita nuova, chapter XXVI
Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta,
ch’ogne lingua deven tremando muta,
e gli occhi no l’ardiscon di guardare.Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
benignamente d’umiltà vestuta;
e par che sia una cosa venuta
dal cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira,
che dà per li occhi una dolcezza al core,
che ‘ntender no la pò chi no la prova:e par che de la sua labbia si mova
un spirito soave pien d’amore,
che va dicendo all’anima: Sospira.
Approximate pronunciation
This is a guide for an English speaker, not a reconstruction of exactly how Dante’s Florentine Italian sounded.
TAHN-toh jen-TEE-leh eh TAHN-toh oh-NES-tah PAH-reh
lah DON-nah MEE-ah kwahn-DELL-ah AHL-troo-ee sah-LOO-tah
KOH-nyeh LEEN-gwah DEH-ven treh-MAHN-doh MOO-tah
eh lyee OK-kee noh lahr-DEE-skohn dee gwahr-DAH-reh
EH-lah see vah, sen-TEN-doh-see lau-DAH-reh
beh-neen-nyah-MEN-teh doo-meel-TAH veh-STOO-tah
eh pahr keh SEE-ah OO-nah KOH-zah veh-NOO-tah
dahl CHEH-loh een TEHR-rah ah mee-RAH-kohl moh-STRAH-reh
MOH-strah-see see pyah-CHEN-teh ah kee lah MEE-rah
keh dah pehr lee OK-kee OO-nah dohl-CHET-tsah ahl KOH-reh
keh NTEN-dehr noh lah paw kee noh lah PROH-vah
eh pahr keh deh lah SOO-ah LAHB-byah see MOH-vah
oon SPEE-ree-toh soh-AH-veh pyen dah-MOH-reh
keh vah dee-CHEN-doh ahl-LAH-nee-mah: soh-SPEE-rah
A simple, naive translation
So noble and so dignified appears
my lady when she greets another,
that every tongue, trembling, becomes mute,
and eyes do not dare to look at her.She goes on, hearing herself praised,
kindly clothed in humility;
and she seems to be something that has come
from heaven to earth to show a miracle.She appears so pleasing to whoever looks at her
that through the eyes she gives a sweetness to the heart
which cannot be understood by anyone who has not felt it;and it seems that from her face there moves
a gentle spirit filled with love
that goes saying to the soul: Sigh.
This is deliberately plain. Several familiar-looking words had different shades of meaning in Dante’s Italian, but I am leaving those for later.
Before I read a polished translation
I’m sure we have all had the chance to see a loved one, colleague or friend in their element, gliding across a room and dazzling people, almost holding court.
That is the picture this poem first brought to mind: a person who mesmerizes everyone around her while still seeming to be “clothed in humility.”
Listening to the Italian
I listened to Luigi Maria Corsanico read the poem. Unfortunately, the music distracted me from the reading. I know a little Italian, but not enough to follow this poem without help, so this time I will have to rely on a good translation.
Two translations
First, a close modern rendering:
So noble in spirit, so full of dignity
my lady appears when she greets another,
that every trembling tongue falls silent
and no one’s eyes dare look at her.She passes on, hearing herself praised,
graciously clothed in humility,
and seems a being come
from heaven to earth to reveal a miracle.She appears so lovely to whoever sees her
that through the eyes she sends a sweetness to the heart
which no one can understand without feeling it;and from her countenance there seems to move
a gentle spirit, full of love,
saying to the soul: Sigh.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s translation is much more romantic:
My lady looks so gentle and so pure
When yielding salutation by the way,
That the tongue trembles and has nought to say,
And the eyes, which fain would see, may not endure.And still, amid the praise she hears secure,
She walks with humbleness for her array;
Seeming a creature sent from Heaven to stay
On earth, and show a miracle made sure.She is so pleasant in the eyes of men
That through the sight the inmost heart doth gain
A sweetness which needs proof to know it by:And from between her lips there seems to move
A soothing essence that is full of love,
Saying for ever to the spirit, “Sigh!”
After reading the translations
I prefer Rossetti’s romantic version, although I miss the phrase “clothed in humility.” His “humbleness for her array” means much the same thing, but I don’t picture it as vividly. “Clothed in humility” makes me see someone wearing her humility as she glides through the room.
What I learned
Vita nuova was Dante’s first major work, written not long after 1292. It mixes poems with prose that tells the story around them. It follows Dante’s love for Beatrice from their childhood meetings through her death and its aftermath. This sonnet comes in chapter XXVI, while Beatrice is still alive, and is part of what Dante calls his poetry of praise.
The prose around the sonnet changed the scene for me. Beatrice is not gliding across a room. She is walking through Florence, and people hurry to see her pass. Their reaction is not just Dante’s private infatuation. My original picture was not so far away, but the audience is a crowd.
Some of the Italian looks more familiar than it really is. Gentile means spiritually noble, not just gentle. Onesta is closer to dignity and an outward grace than simple honesty. Pare does not mean that she only seems this way. It means that she reveals herself to be so. Even her greeting carries more weight than a social hello. Dante treats it as an act of grace that changes the person receiving it.
Most interesting to me, “clothed in humility” is not a translator’s embellishment. Dante uses vestuta, meaning clothed or dressed. Treccani traces the image to Saint Paul’s instruction to clothe oneself in compassion, kindness and humility. Her humility is not hidden inside her. It is something people can see her wearing.
The poem is part of the dolce stil novo, the “sweet new style” associated with Dante and a small group of thirteenth-century Italian poets. The woman being praised could be more than a courtly love interest. Beatrice is presented as a sign of divine love, someone come from heaven to make a miracle visible. That helps explain why Dante gives us almost no physical description of her. We know her by what happens when she appears: voices fail, eyes lower and souls sigh.
Rereading it
I was a little disappointed to learn that this is not simply Dante’s infatuation with one particular person, but Beatrice’s effect on everyone who sees her. It makes the poem feel less private.
Still, if anything, that should make Beatrice even more extraordinary. She does not dazzle only the person in love with her. Everyone sees it.
The line or image I kept thinking about
It is still very much “clothed in humility.” That image survived everything I learned about the poem. I can still see her wearing it as she moves through Florence.