This chapter examines Vita nova XXXII as a key instance of Dante’s occasional poetry, focusing on the commissioned sonnet “Venite a intender li sospiri miei,” written in response to a friend’s request to lament a woman’s death. It explores how the prose frame shapes the lyric’s meaning and highlights the poem’s deliberately simple diction and conventional vocabulary within the Duecento lyric tradition. The analysis emphasizes intertextual links with the Lamentations of Jeremiah and with Guido Cavalcanti, whose influence appears in the lexicon of sorrow and the appeal to shared compassion. At the same time, Dante’s revisions redirect the poem toward a more explicitly Christian vision of mourning, anticipating the canzone “Quantunque volte” and marking a step in Dante’s progressive poetic independence from Cavalcanti.
Vita nova XXXII [21]
Valentina Mele
2023-01-01
Abstract
This chapter examines Vita nova XXXII as a key instance of Dante’s occasional poetry, focusing on the commissioned sonnet “Venite a intender li sospiri miei,” written in response to a friend’s request to lament a woman’s death. It explores how the prose frame shapes the lyric’s meaning and highlights the poem’s deliberately simple diction and conventional vocabulary within the Duecento lyric tradition. The analysis emphasizes intertextual links with the Lamentations of Jeremiah and with Guido Cavalcanti, whose influence appears in the lexicon of sorrow and the appeal to shared compassion. At the same time, Dante’s revisions redirect the poem toward a more explicitly Christian vision of mourning, anticipating the canzone “Quantunque volte” and marking a step in Dante’s progressive poetic independence from Cavalcanti.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
