After Dante wrote the famous Poem called “Ladies who have intelligence of love”/”Donne ch’avete intelletto d’amore” – which he is also referencing in the Purgatory XXIV:
But, tell me, do I not see standing here
him who brought forth the new poems that begin:
‘Ladies who have intelligence of Love’.
Ma dì s’i’ veggio qui colui che fore
trasse le nove rime, cominciando
‘Donne ch’avete intelletto d’amore’».
he writes a little Sonnett about the Nature of Love, beginning “Love and the Gracious heart”
Love and the gracious heart are a single thing,
as Guinizelli tells us in his poem:
one can no more be without the other
than can the reasoning mind without its reason.
Nature, when in a loving mood, creates them:
Love to be king, the heart to be his home,
a place for Love to rest while he is sleeping,
perhaps for just a while, or for much longer.
And then the beauty of a virtuous lady
appears, to please the eyes, and in the heart
desire for the pleasing thing is born;
and this desire may linger in the heart
until Love’s spirit is aroused from sleep.
A man of worth has the same effect on ladies.
This poem is very interesting for many reasons, both for the references to his contemporary friend Guinizelli, and to see the early versions of Dante’s technique of blending structured intellectual thought with deeply emotional and beautiful themes of Life. He wants here to make the distinctions between Love and the Heart, but also how they can be the same thing – once Love is awaken from a short, or maybe a much longer, sleep. And he points out the transition from initial desire to a much deeper form of Love, as the sleeping Love’s Spirit is brought back to life.
Enjoy! 😀