E sì come peregrino che va per una via per la quale mai non fue, che ogni casa che da lungi vede crede che sia l’albergo, e non trovando ciò essere, dirizza la credenza a l’altra, e così di casa in casa, tanto che a l’albergo viene; così l’anima nostra, incontanente che nel nuovo e mai non fatto cammino di questa vita entra, dirizza li occhi al termine del suo sommo bene, e però, qualunque cosa vede che paia in sé avere alcuno bene, crede che sia esso. (Conv. 4.12.15)
[And just as the pilgrim who walks along a road on which he has never travelled before believes that every house which he sees from afar is an inn, and finding it not so fixes his expectations on the next one, and so moves from house to house until he comes to the inn, so our soul, as soon as it enters upon this new and never travelled road of life, fixes its eyes on the goal of its supreme good, and therefore believes that everything it sees which seems to possess some good in it is that supreme good.]
The soul is seduced by the other goods that it continually encounters along the path of life, goods that provoke an erroneous and premature stasis (the “porre” denied Lisetta in our sonnet), for they are not “the inn” of the one true and legitimate peace:
E perché la sua conoscenza prima è imperfetta, per non essere esperta né dottrinata, piccioli beni le paiono grandi, e però da quelli comincia prima a desiderare. Onde vedemo li parvuli desiderare massimamente un pomo; e poi, più procedendo, desiderare uno augellino; e poi, più oltre, desiderare bel vestimento; e poi lo cavallo; e poi una donna; e poi ricchezza non grande, e poi grande, e poi più. E questo incontra perché, in nulla di queste cose truova quella che va cercando, e credela trovare più oltre. (Conv. 4.12.16)
[Because its knowledge is at first imperfect through lack of experience and instruction, small goods appear great, and so from these it conceives its first desires. Thus we see little children setting their desire first of all on an apple, and then growing older desiring to possess a little bird, and then still later desiring to possess fine clothes, then a horse, and then a woman, and then modest wealth, then greater riches, and then still more. This comes about because in none of these things does one find what one is searching after, but hopes to find it further on.]
In the case of the episode that is presented in Per quella via, the seduction fails, the error is forestalled. But, as we see in the parable of the Convivio, which is a model of the narrative structure of the Commedia, the encounters with desirable objects and the choices that arise from such encounters never end.157
Dante is a poet of ideas who loves to express his ideas in non-abstract form, and frequently in female form. The reading “Lisetta” is much more Dantean than the reading “Licenza” (even leaving aside that it is genial, and therefore had such success, while the other is pedestrian): Dante loves to incarnate his moral choices in the figures of women, whether they be called Beatrice, Violetta, Lisetta, la petra, or, looking forward to the earthly paradise, Matelda. Per quella via derives much of its poetic vitality from the non-abstract and exuberant female presence of Lisetta, the “bella donna”158 who arrives on the scene adorned by the splendid adverb, used only here in all of Dante’s oeuvre, “baldanzosamente” (3). And it is noteworthy that when Dante encounters the woman that we might consider the redeemed version of Lisetta (embodying seduction that can no longer se-duce but only con-duct, because the straight path can no longer be lost), this woman, Matelda, is also a “bella donna” (“Deh, bella donna, che a’ raggi d’amore / ti scaldi [Oh, lovely lady, who in the rays of love warm yourself]” [Purg. 28.43–4]), and she too is adorned by an adverb that is a hapax in Dante’s work, “donnescamente”: “la bella donna mossesi, e a Stazio / donnescamente disse [the lovely lady moved, and to Statius said with womanly grace]” (Purg. 33.134–5).159
There is a reserve in the adverb used for Matelda, “donnescamente,” that is not in the more exuberant “baldanzosamente” of Lisetta; and Lisetta remains in our memory above all for the joyous audacity of that entrance: “vanne Lisetta baldanzosamente [Lisetta sallies forth audaciously]” (3). But baldanza – a joyous resolve, a firm faith in oneself – is a two-edged sword, above all when we are dealing with feminine baldanza. The Barbi-Pernicone commentary is not mistaken, even if it uses terms that would be considered suspect today, when it glosses: “striking the pose of a woman excessively and impudently sure of herself” (p. 654). The negative shadow implicit in the bold arrival of Lisetta has become completely explicit by the time that she “goes away completely steeped in shame” (“tutta dipinta di vergogna riede”) (14).
In other words, the figurative choice to embody the abstract discourse of seduction in a historicized form, that is, in a named female figure, carries consequences: Dante chooses to assign this figure an aggressive role and to suggest her moral complicity, such that she goes away feeling ashamed. But, one wonders, what responsibility does the thing that pleases have if the subject errs, opening the door of the mind and accepting it? Or, in less abstract terms, why should Lisetta be ashamed? Isn’t it Dante’s fault if he is too pleased by her? Isn’t it he who has the moral responsibility to remain faithful to the first beloved? The lady of the sonnet Color d’amore is aggressive too, but she is not considered guilty with regard to the possible moral failing of the poet. Given that Lisetta is rejected not for her intrinsic sinfulness but because of the sinfulness of a choice in favour of whoever is not the lady already seated in the mind, what is the possible justification of her “shame”?
We must then give credit to messer Aldobrandino for wanting to liberate Lisetta from the shame unjustly imposed upon her by Dante’s sonnet, in his reply “Lisetta I want to release you from shame” (Lisetta vòi de la vergogna sciorre). But Dante’s art lives precisely in the interstices between clarity of moral doctrine and the opacity of the lived: an opacity evoked and incarnated in the name “Lisetta.” It is precisely the dynamic tension generated by the simple evocation of an ambiguous and complex real creature – let’s call her “Lisetta” – that is lost in the “Licenza” version of the sonnet.
With the shame of Lisetta, we have moved from a philosophical and psychological analysis of desire to the area of cultural and social values associated with gender. Lisetta’s shame belongs to a social reality in which the woman – the object of desire – is held responsible for the moral errors of those who desire her. In the introductory essay to Lasso, per forza, I discussed the strong sense of shame that Dante feels because of his own behaviour; in Per quella via he focuses instead on the shame imposed by society on the “bella donna” who is the object of masculine desire. There are instances of similes, above all in Paradiso, which reflect the same social values: instances of the pressure imposed by society on women, as carriers of their families’ honour and therefore shame. We think, for example, of the following evocation of a “donna onesta” who becomes ashamed just at hearing of the fault of another woman: “E come donna onesta che permane / di sé sicura, e per l’altrui fallanza,/pur ascoltando, timida si fane [And like a woman who, although secure in her own honesty, will pale on even hearing about another woman’s failing]” (Par. 27.31–3). This is clearly a theme that held a certain appeal for Dante.
Per quella via contains two words that appear only here in Dante’s lyrics: not only “baldanzosamente,” Lisetta’s word, but also “verga,” the sign of the mastery of the lady who resides in Dante’s mind. These words can serve as emblems of the conflict dramatized in this sonnet, a conflict that does not run its course here but that will continue throughout the whole arc of Dante’s career. Two of the canzoni of the Convivio (Voi che ’ntendendo and Amor che nella mente) return to this conflict, as does the prose of the Convivio and the Commedia itself (where the same two canzoni, bearers of this conflict, surface again as autocitations; see the introductory essay to Donne ch’avete for the autocitations of the Commedia). And in fact this volume ends with Per quella via because it is a text that signals with great force the variability and mutability of Dante’s thought: the questions we have been deal
ing with in this volume are not now neatly resolved and concluded, as the reader might think if our journey ended with Oltra la spera. On the contrary. Per quella via che la Bellezza corre is the perfect emblem – in its theme, its lexicon, and its metaphorical fabric – of the long road, of the intricate twists and turns, that Dante still has to travel.
58 (B CXVII; C 54; FB 58; DR 47)
Two Redactions
[versione Am Mc1]
Redaction Am Mc1
Per quella via che la Bellezza corre quando a chiamare Amor va ne la mente vanne Lisetta baldanzosamente,
Along the path that Beauty quickly moves when entering the mind to waken Love, Licence goes along audaciously,
4
come colei che mi si crede tôrre. E quando giunse al piè di quella torre che s’apre quando l’anima consente, udissi voce dir cortesemente:
like one who thinks to get the best of me. And when she came up to the tower’s base, which opens when the soul provides consent, a voice was heard to say with due respect:
8
“Volgiti, bella donna, e non ti porre!
“Turn back, fair lady, you may not remain,
ché donna dentro nella mente siede la qual di signoria tolse la verga:
for here within a lady now resides who seized the sceptre of authority:
11
tosto che giunse, Amor sì glila diede.” Quando costei acommiatar si vede di quella parte dove Amor alberga,
as soon as she arrived, Love tendered it.” And when she sees herself dismissed in haste from that abode where Love sets up its home,
14
tutta dipinta di vergogna riede.
she goes away completely steeped in shame.
[versione ar]
Redaction ar
Per quella via che ·lla Bellezza corre quando a destare Amor va nella mente passa Licenza baldanzosamente,
Along the path that Beauty quickly moves when entering the mind to waken Love, Licence goes along audaciously,
4
come colei che mi si crede tôrre. Quand’ ella è giunta a piè di quella torre che tace quando l’animo aconsente, odesi boce dir subitamente:
like one who thinks to get the best of me. And when she comes up to the tower’s base, which acquiesces when the soul consents, a voice is heard to say quite suddenly:
8
“Lèvati, bella donna, e non ti porre!
“Be off, fair lady, you may not remain,
ché quella donna che disopra siede, quando di signoria chiese la verga,
for when that lady who now reigns within sought out the sceptre of authority,
11
com’ella volse, tosto Amor glie ·l diede.” E quando quella acommiatar si vede di quelle parti dove Amore alberga,
as was her wish, Love quickly tendered it.” And when she sees herself dismissed in haste from that abode where Love sets up its home,
14
tutta dipinta di vergogna riede.
she goes away completely steeped in shame.
METRE: sonnet ABBA ABBA CDC CDC.
Alphabetic Index of First Lines
The number between parentheses after the incipit refers to the order followed in this volume. The next column indicates the placement of the poem in the Vita Nuova, if any, and any other relevant information. Page numbers are at the far right.
A ciascun ’alma presa e gentil core (5)
VN III(1)
62
Amore e ’lcor gentil sono una cosa (34)
VN XX(11)
190
Amore e monna Lagia e Guido ed io (20)
126
Amor mifa sifedelmente amare (4a)
Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri
57
Ballata, i ‘voi che tu ritrovi Amore (24)
VN XII(5)
141
Cavalcando l‘altr ‘ierper un cammino (23)
VN IX(4)
137
Ció che m‘incontra, nella mente more (27)
VN XV (8) (First Redaction)
152
Color d ‘amore e dipietà sembianti (52)
VNXXXVI (25) (First Redaction)
274
Com più vi fere Amor co ‘suo ‘vincastri (15)
99
Con l‘altre donne mia vista gabbate (26)
VN XIV (7) (First Redaction)
147
Degli occhi délia mia donna si move (29)
157
Deh pellegrini che pensosi ándate (56)
VNXL (29) (First Redaction)
293
Deh ragioniamo insieme un poco, Amore (13)
92
Deh, Vïoletta, che ‘n ombra d ’Amore (22)
132
Di donne io vidi una gentil schiera (45)
238
Donna pietosa e di novella etate (40)
VN XXIII (14)
216
Donne ch ‘avete intelletto d‘amore (33)
VN IX(10)
185
E ‘m ‘incresce di me sì duramente (32)
174
Era venuta nella mente mia [Era venuta ne la mente mia] (50)
VN XXXIV (23)
263
(First Redaction and Redaction of the Vita Nuova)
Gentilpensero che parla di vui (54)
VN XXXVIII (27)
284
Guido, i ‘vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io (19)
121
Io mi senti ‘svegliar dentro a lo core (42)
VN XXIV (15)
224
La dispietata mente che pur mira (11)
84
L‘amaro lagrimar che voifaceste (53)
VN XXXVII (26)
279
Lasso, lo dol chepiù mi dole e serra (3b)
Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri
54
Lasso, perforza di molti sospiri (55)
VN XXXIX (28) (First Redaction)
289
Li occhi dolenti perpietà del core (47)
VN XXXI (20)
252
Lo doloroso amor che mi conduce (31)
168
Lo meo servente core (7)
68
Lo vostro fermo dirfino ed orrato (3a)
Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri
53
Madonna, quel signor che voi pórtate (12)
89
Morte villana, dipietá nemica (10)
KVVÏÏI(3)
78
Negli occhiporta la mia donna Amore (35)
VNXXl (12) (First Redaction)
193
Ne le man vostre, gentil donna mia (30)
160
No me poriano zamaifar emenda
102
[Non mi poriano già mai fare ammenda] (16)
(Two Redactions)
Non canoscendo, amico, vostro nomo (3)
53
Oltra la spera che piii larga gira (57)
VNXU (30) (First Redaction)
299
Onde venue voi cosipensóse? (38)
202
0 voi che per la via d ‘Amor passate (8)
VN VII (2) (First Redaction)
73
Perpruova di saper com vale o quanto (2a)
Dante da Maiano to Dante Alighieri
52
Per quella via che la Bellezza corre
308
[Per quella via chella Bellezza corre] (58)
(Two Redactions)
Per una ghirlandetta (21)
130
Piangete, amanti, poi che piange Amore (9)
VNVm(3)
76
Provedi, saggio, ad esta visïone (la)
Dante da Maiano to several poets
42
Quai che voi siate, amico, vostro manto (2)
52
Quantunque volte, lasso!, mi rimembra (49)
VN XXXIII (22)
258
Savere e cortesía, ingegno ed arte (4)
57
/> Savete giudicar vostra ragione (1)
42
Se Lippo amico se tu che mi leggi (6)
66
Se ‘tu colui c ‘hai trattato sovente (37)
VNXXII (13)
200
Si lungiamente m‘ha tenuto Amore (46)
VN XXVII (18)
242
Sonar bracchetti e cacciatori aizzare (17)
109
Sonetto, seMeuccio t‘è mostrato (14)
96
Spesse fiate vegnonmi a la mente (28)
KVXVI(9)
154
Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare (43)
KVXXVI (17) (First Redaction)
231
Tutti li miei penser parlan d Amore (25)
VNXlll(6)
145