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my interest in it slackened, I took up another; still using these secular studies as a screen between me and that prying curiosity which was piqued by my close application. But as my avidity grew, my attention was divided: I had no longer my old singleness of aim, and I became less receptive of the angelic salutation. The feints and pretences by which I had hoped to impose upon others had imposed upon myself, and I had almost ceased to hear the voice of her whose lightest whisper moves me more Than all the rangèd reasons of the world."

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• Then I determined to renounce all counterfeits, and to make an open profession of the faith and love that was in me, and which had been mine from childhood. At the same time I openly avowed the tastes which I had acquired for some branches of secular learning. This was not advantageous to me with ecclesiastics, who mistrusted me because of my secular tastes. I was coldly regarded by those who should have been my natural allies, and I had no comfort outward or inward. I still endeavoured to feed my imagination upon the wondrous beauty of revealed truth, and to sustain my devotion by worshipping the lady of my mind. And yet, spite of my resolution, there were moments in which I yielded to my chagrin, writing lamentable sonnets, and bewailing myself in abject fashion. I thought too much about myself and my discomforts; my religion was anxious and peevish. From these alternations of mood I was roused by an incident which I proceed to relate.

2. A new elevation of mind was produced in me by a cause so unexpected, that the tale of it may be interesting. I knew many gentle ladies who lived in the pleasures of worldly society, and who being acquainted with my favourite pursuits, so alien to theirs, honoured me with their special curiosity. On one occasion when I was in their company, some of them had their tittering laugh aside among themselves; others watched me and waited to hear what I would say; others, again, were holding close converse together. Of this last group one turning her eyes on me called me by name and said: "Your adoration is a strange one; it does not seem to make you happy; what do you aim at?" "I aim at the praise of heavenly beauty.' "That sounds very different from your lugubrious poems, all about your own pitiable condition." These just words made me ashamed of my dejection, and I resolved that I would from that time forward change my complainings for the voice of praise.

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'I flung off my dejection, and resolved to have no thought for any other thing than the praise of my divine mistress. In this I found a sublime elation of mind, which yet was not without a corresponding fear. I became newly aware that she, though in the world, was not of the world; and the old apprehension that she must be translated to another sphere returned upon me. I even saw her in vision carried up to heaven in a bright cloud, attended by an innumerable company of angels. And all this was mysteriously connected with a progressive interest in other subjects: for I now began to perceive

that

that secular studies are calculated to open new avenues of light even in the pages of revealed truth, and that Science is to Theology what the Harbinger was to Christ.

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3. But the long-sustained ecstasy brought on a reaction. My overwrought enthusiasm ended in dulness and apathy; it seemed as if she whom I loved was removed beyond the reach of my affections. When I had again a time of reflection, I found that my spiritual taste was dormant, while my intellectual curiosity was sharpened; and I inclined more to Science than to Theology. Captivated with the exacter forms of demonstration, I suffered the higher and vaguer aspirations to recede, until their remoteness alarmed me. Then I made a stand and rose in arms against this intellectual bondage. I returned to my first love with resolute purpose, and my first love appeared to me with that roseate glow which had kindled my emotions on the first day of my New Life.

'While Theology was thus reinstated in her native supremacy, I had made a third step in the discovery of the subordinate and tributary excellence of secular learning. And in these studies I had a further aim. The more I perceived the high elevation of Theology, and how it rises in solitary state above scholastic definitions and syllogistic processes, the more I became aware that in things divine a peculiar delicacy and subtlety of touch is required. The subject is too ethereal to be handled vocabulis propriis; its reasonings may more fitly be intimated by analogies, through the figured imagery of allegory and of poetry.

But, alas! our Italian figurative diction is crude and undeveloped; at least it is so on every theme but one, namely that of amorous love, in which it has been industriously exercised by generations of lyrical poets; and this is the only garb of allegory that is at present available in our vulgar tongue. Here then is one reason why I cultivate every branch of knowledge; namely, to find materials for expanding the range of our native poetry, that so it may serve me to image forth the beatitude of heavenly wisdom in a worthier manner than anything that has been attempted hitherto.'

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In thus endeavouring to sketch the real contents of the 'Vita Nuova,' we have carefully preserved the Ego of the original. But it must not be supposed that we regard that story as a personal narrative, or as a piece of covert autobiography. This idea has been a prolific source of confusion. Biographers have taken parts of the Vita Nuova,' and have pieced it out with passages of the 'Convito' or the 'Commedia' so as to make a seemingly compact story. We contend that the 'Vita Nuova' is not a composition which can be used in this manner. real meaning is inward and mental, while the apparent story is only a garment. That much of the author's experience is there embalmed we certainly know; and that a great deal more of the same kind is there may well be surmised; but the intention

Its

is not autobiographical, and it is impossible for us to distinguish what is from what is not personal. The intention is to sketch the destined path of man, when he aims at the perfection of his nature, and sets out in search of happiness in wisdom. The Ego is not the Ego of the man Dante Alighieri, but of the ideal pilgrim whom Dante personates; or, as Scartazzini variously expresses it, il mistico viatore,' or 'il mistico pellegrino.'

The Vita Nuova' is instinct with truth, and its truthfulness touches the mind of every sympathetic reader. But it is possible to perceive this and yet to mistake it. For it is truth, not of the historical and biographical order, but truth poetical, mystical, universal. It draws, indeed, upon a memory stored with experiences and reminiscences, but it does not marshal facts with verity of time and place. Nay, it re-arranges them freely in the light of a glowing imagination, and subserviently to the exposition of a spiritual thought.

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There is a book by Francis W. Newman which appeared in the year 1850, with the title Phases of Faith; or, Passages from the History of my Creed.' In drift and tendency it is the very reverse of Dante's work, for it assumes the principle that science is the measure of truth in matters of faith. Nevertheless its design as an Apologia, and its general relation to the mind of the author, gives it an analogy with the Vita Nuova,' which makes the two books akin. It is cast in the form of personal reminiscences, it has the word 'History' in its title, and it might easily have seemed an autobiographical memoir but for a warning in the Preface. This we quote, because mutatis mutandis it seems to fit the case of the 'Vita Nuova':

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The historical form has been deliberately selected, as easier and more interesting to the reader; but it must not be imagined that the author is giving his mental history in general, much less an autobiography. The progress of his creed is his sole subject; and other topics are introduced either to illustrate this or as digressions suggested by it.'

In this book of Mr. Newman there are incidents, adventures, and even conversations, which are certainly matters of fact; notably the great passage about his juvenile discussions in Oxford with his elder brother, who was afterwards Cardinal Newman. Where such descriptions agree with our abundant knowledge from other sources, we readily accept their historical verity. Thus also, in the Vita Nuova,' two events stand solid as Jachin and Boaz, one in the opening and the other at the close of the book, being fully witnessed by other evidence; and accordingly we have not hesitated to invest them with an

axiomatic

axiomatic value for the purposes of this argument. But this. brings us no nearer to a solution of the question whether 9 June, 1290, is a real or a fanciful date.* There is much history in the book, yet the book is not historical; and it cannot without other evidence confer historical value upon any statement which it contains.

But here the question naturally arises: If this little book is essentially an allegory, how came it to pass that it has been generally taken for a narrative of events? If this is an error, in what way shall we account for its being so prevalent? We think that this question can be answered, and that the endeavour to answer it may bring into view the immediate and peculiar motive of the Vita Nuova.'

In seeking to account for the prevalent opinion, we must bear in mind what it feeds upon. We have already considered the assertion of Boccaccio and the date assigned to the Ideath of Beatrice. These are the only two facts that the literalists can bring in aid of their contention. But there is another influence, which lies outside argument and is stronger than argument. There is the style and manner of the 'Vita Nuova itself. Such blank artlessness and simplicity, such a palpable concrete and realistic air, such easy volubility of detail, throw the reader off his guard and persuade him to accept the narrative as matter of fact, however surrounded with a halo of mysticism. It is in this artless and realistic appearance that the tenacity of the literalist interpretation is rooted. And this appearance is certainly illusory. This little book is really a work of calculated ingenuity and studied artifice. The discovery of Mr. Eliot Norton is by itself enough to assure us of the prodigality of contrivance that was lavished upon the arrangement of it. If so much thought was devoted to an inner framework which was entirely concealed, shall we suppose that the outward and visible surface of the discourse is really that easy off-hand work which it has the appearance of being?

Now, if it be once admitted that all this artifice is there, we cannot help asking what was the motive of it. The motive of so much contrivance must have been connected with the leading design of his mind if he had such a leading design. Now we know, from the last section of the Vita Nuova,' that he had a great design in meditation and in course of execution. That

*In the Oxford edition of Dante's Works we note that in 'Vita Nuova,' c. 30, where this famous date is discussed, the reading 'Italia' has crept in by oversight. Dr. Moore in the Academy' (Dec. 2, 1894) stated that he considers'Arabia' undoubtedly the right reading.

this announcement of his was perfectly sincere is for us, as we have already stipulated, an axiomatic truth. When Dante wrote the 'Vita Nuova,' he had his great Vision before him in contemplation. This unquestionable fact offers us a starting-point. The last paragraph of the Vita Nuova' reveals its genesis. That paragraph represents the junction of the Vita Nuova' with the 'Commedia.' The sacred poem, while yet in preparation, threw out the Vita Nuova' as an offshoot.

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In what respect was the 'Vita Nuova' to subserve the design of the 'Commedia '? A glance at the literary situation of the poet will suggest the answer to this question. Dante had been in search of a character to represent Heavenly Wisdom, and in that search he was not easily satisfied. A well-known personage was to represent the wisdom of natural Reason, but who should personate the heavenly Wisdom which is by Faith? The chief action of the Commedia' was to hinge upon that character; and that character, moreover, was the poet's own special creation. Into that important place he would not admit an unsubstantial phantom, a descriptive or symbolic Name, as was usual in the character-epics of that era. Alanus de

Insulis, in his 'Anticlaudianus,' had represented the Virtuesassembled in council in the palace of Dame Nature, and there, upon a proposal made by Reason, resolving to send Prudence and Reason together as a deputation to the throne of the Highest, to ask a boon of Him. The envoys of all the Virtues proceed on their way in a chariot drawn by five horses (which are the five Senses), Reason being the charioteer. Having reached a certain elevation, the horses refuse to go any further. At this crisis an august lady is seen approaching, and she is Theologia. This lady will conduct Prudence to her destination, but only on condition that she shall dismiss her indiscreet companion, Reason. As they approach the dazzling splendours the heart of Prudence fails, and she faints away. Here Faith appears, and raises her; and, thus supported, she comes before the Throne.

Under such abstract names and symbolical figures were characters introduced in the highest poetry of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In that satirical epic which rose in the Low Countries, and of which the best known example is 'Reynard the Fox,' human characters are symbolized under the names. of animals. But the poem of the greatest European vogue in Dante's youth was the 'Roman de la Rose.' In this famous society-poem the characters have all of them descriptive names: Belacueil (Fair Address), Dangier (Authority), Déduit (Plea-sure), Barat (Trickery), &c.

Dante

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