Belfield Italian Library
1 total work
"Vita Nuova" (1292-1294) is the first of Dante's major writings. It is a work of love in which 31 poems are linked by a lyrical prose narrative celebrating and debating the subject of love. In the opening chapter Dante sets himself the task of giving meaning to the poetry which he composed and the events which took place after his meeting with Beatrice and the "Lord of Love". The "new life" which this meeting inspired is the subject of Dante's most profound creation, which has been read variously as biography, religious allegory, and a meditation on poetry itself.