. St. Nicholas [serial]. It is full of obscure political andhistorical allusions, its language is quaint andcurious, and it is very long. But it is the greatest THE DIVINE POET OF FLORENCE 971 work of its time or, in certain respects, of all place is beside the Iliad of Homer and theplays created by the genius of is just one more point I should like tomention in regard to it, and that is that it was themeans of crystallizing into definite form and shapethe modern Italian language. Dante consid redthat it was far better to write as the peopl of hisday really talked th
. St. Nicholas [serial]. It is full of obscure political andhistorical allusions, its language is quaint andcurious, and it is very long. But it is the greatest THE DIVINE POET OF FLORENCE 971 work of its time or, in certain respects, of all place is beside the Iliad of Homer and theplays created by the genius of is just one more point I should like tomention in regard to it, and that is that it was themeans of crystallizing into definite form and shapethe modern Italian language. Dante consid redthat it was far better to write as the peopl of hisday really talked than to use words known only While he was prior, it was decided to banish theleaders of both divisions from Florence in orderto try if by this means peace might be Blacks coming into power Dante was, inturn, banished. For twenty years he wandered, an exile, gene-rally in poverty. He was dependent on the gene-rosity of princes and noble scholars, and had tolive as others wished to gain even his daily Painted by Henry H DANTES SECOND MEETING WITH BEATRICE to men of learning, who would thus be the onlypersons able to read his book. Thus he per-formed a great service to his country, and otherwriters followed his example. In this way Italianliterature, as distinct from Latin, began. During those years while Dante was growingolder and beginning his great epic, iruny politicalchanges took place in Florence. Dante, havingattained to some importance, was elected to serveas prior—one of the six men who ruled the Re-public of Florence. This election was the mostunfortunate thing for him, for from it all histroubles began. The city was in a perpetualferment, and the Guelph party splitting in two,called the Bianchi and Neri (the Whites andBlacks), the streets were continually disturbedby quarrels, brawls, and bloodshed. Dante be-longed to the party of the Whites. He says himself in one of his best-known verses,which you have probably often heard quoted, thathe had had t
Size: 1859px × 1345px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
