La Vita Nuova (Thrift Editions) - Softcover

Dante, Dante

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486419150 ISBN 13: 9780486419152

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc, 2001

Synopsis

This celebration of the poet's passionate love for his immortal Beatrice weaves together rapturous sonnets and canzoni with prose commentaries and an autobiographical narrative. A predecessor to The Divine Comedy, La Vita Nuova (The New Life) also serves as an ever-relevant treatise on the art and technique of poetry.

About this title

Review:

Some translators have been too academic, draining the vigor and wonder from this work but Slavitt's version stays true to the spirit...Considering all the books today about finding one's center in our crazy, image-driven culture, then, "La Vita Nuova"--especially in Slavitt's version--couldn't be more relevant.--Nick Owchar"Los Angeles Times" (09/12/2010)

The "Vita Nuova", Dante's first major work of certain attribution, is an original and sophisticated creation, too often cast aside as little more than a youthful prologue to the "Divine Comedy"...This handsome English edition of the "Vita Nuova" is translated by David R. Slavitt and prefaced by an engaging essay by Seth Lerer...Freed from the customary shackles of academic apparatus, the poetic quality of its lyrics freshly reinstated, the "Vita Nuova"'s signature hybrid texture is here elegantly conveyed.--Tristan Kay"Times Literary Supplement" (10/29/2010)

Graceful, readable, and just--David Slavitt's translation is a delicate and surprising achievement. This is another triumph for Slavitt, and a treat for the rest of us.--Henry Taylor

The "Vita Nuova," Dante's first major work of certain attribution, is an original and sophisticated creation, too often cast aside as little more than a youthful prologue to the "Divine Comedy."..This handsome English edition of the "Vita Nuova" is translated by David R. Slavitt and prefaced by an engaging essay by Seth Lerer...Freed from the customary shackles of academic apparatus, the poetic quality of its lyrics freshly reinstated, the "Vita Nuova"'s signature hybrid texture is here elegantly conveyed.--Tristan Kay"Times Literary Supplement" (10/29/2010)

Synopsis:

First transcribed c.1292, La Vita Nuova (The New Life) is a celebration in poetry and prose of Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) passionate love for the woman he worshiped from afar; his beloved Beatrice. A precursor of The Divine Comedy, this groundbreaking masterpiece comprises Dante's early sonnets and canzoni with prose commentaries, connected by an autobiographical prose narrative of his love for Beatrice. The commentaries explicate each poem, placing it within the context of the poet's life, and further refining Dante's concept of romantic love as the initial step in the spiritual development that culminates in the capacity for divine love. The entire work, reproduced here complete and unabridged, encompasses 42 brief chapters with commentaries on 25 sonnets, one ballata, and 4 canzoni; an unfinished fifth canzone was abandoned at the news of Beatrice's death. Dante's unconventional approach - using Italian rather than Latin, addressing readers directly, and writing from personal experience - ushered in a new era in lyrical poetry, in which writers departed from highly stylized forms in favor of a simpler style.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0486419150
• ISBN 13: 9780486419152
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64