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Dante's “La Petra”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Jefferson B. Fletcher
Jefferson B. Fletcher*
Affiliation:
Columbia University
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Extract

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam.

As an Italian scholar has said, Dante's “rime pietrose” are a “questione pietrosa.” The rime pietrose—Pietra or Petra poems—are, strictly speaking, a small group of poems in which there is word-play on the lady's name and disposition. One thinks of Shakespeare's “Will” sonnets. Barbi allots to the Petra group one sestina, one sestina “doppia,” two canzoni, and a doubtful sonnet. Other critics would add more poems as being similar in mood and motive. D'Ancona, conceiving la Pargoletta, la Petra, la Donna Gentile, and Lisetta as “una persona in diversi atteggiamenti,” would include in one cycle nearly all Dante's lyrics not addressed to Beatrice. Certain others would identify la Petra with one other of Dante's ladies. Thus Zenatti, Santi, Misciatelli identify her with la Pargoletta; Serafino identifies her with Gentucca. At the other extreme, Federzoni rejects the idea of a Petra group altogether.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , December 1938 , pp. 971 - 988
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1938

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References

Note 1 in page 971 Antonio Abbruzzese, Su le “Rime Pietrose” di Dante Alighieri (Firenze, 1903). He credits the term “rime pietrose” to Vittorio Imbriani.

Note 2 in page 971 Barbi accepts “Petra” for these poems alone. In le Opere di Dante, Testo Critico della Socieià Dantesca Italiana (Firenze, 1921). I follow this edition throughout.

Note 3 in page 971 Barbi, c–ciii, Rime dubbie iv. Certain other poems show the word-play on Petra, but Barbi—and other authorities—regard these as demonstrably spurious.

Note 4 in page 971 Della “Pargoletta” e d'altre donne nel Poema e nelle Rime di Dante (Roma, 1912).

Note 5 in page 971 “Rime di Dante per la Pargoletta,” Rivista d'Italia, ii (1899), 122–132.

Note 6 in page 971 Il Canzoniere di Dante Alighieri (Roma, 1907).

Note 7 in page 971 L'Amore di Dante per Pietra, Lectura Dantis ci (Firenze, 1917).

Note 8 in page 971 Il Canzoniere di Dante (Firenze, 1883).

Note 9 in page 971 La Canzone di Dante “Io son venuto al punto della rota”: Preludio alia Divina Commedia, Giornale Dantesco xix (1911), 147–149, 197–206.

Note 10 in page 971 Geschichte d. Ital. Lit. (Strassburg, 1885), i, 269–271.

Note 11 in page 971 Op. cit.

Note 12 in page 971 The Ladies of Dante's Lyrics (Cambridge, U.S.A., 1917).

Note 13 in page 971 Compendio xvi.

Note 14 in page 971 Annotationi sopra una canzone morale (Padova, 1565).

Note 15 in page 972 “Sulle Canzoni Pietrose di Dante,” Studi Danleschi (1891).

Note 16 in page 972 Op. cit.

Note 17 in page 972 Op. cit.

Note 18 in page 972 Del Veltro Allegorico di Dante (Firenze, 1826).

Note 19 in page 972 “Delle Rime di Dante Alighieri,” Studi Lett. (1874).

Note 20 in page 972 Op. cit.

Note 21 in page 972 Il Canzoniere di Dante (Firenze, 1834).

Note 22 in page 972 La Vita Nuova e il Canzoniere di Dante Alighiere (Firenze, 1863, 1868).

Note 23 in page 972 Enciclopedia Dantesca (Milano, 1896), s.n. Canzoni Pietrose.

Note 24 in page 972 Op. cit.

Note 25 in page 972 La Mirabile Visione (Messina, 1902).

Note 26 in page 972 Stor. d. Lett. Ital. (Firenze, 1881), iv, 292–306.

Note 27 in page 972 Studi svl Canzoniere di Dante (Firenze, 1915). Also, Enciclopedia Italiana, art. Dante Alighieri.

Note 28 in page 972 La Vita, i Tempi e le Opere di Dante (Milano, 1931). And summarily in Il Canzonieredi Dante, Lectura Dantis (Firenze, 1906). The lecture was given in 1905.

Note 29 in page 973 Inf. xix, 56–57.

Note 30 in page 973 Op. cit.

Note 31 in page 973 Op. cit.

Note 32 in page 973 La Vita Nuova e il Canzoniere (Torino, 1923).

Note 33 in page 973 Barbi CXVI. Episl. iv.

Note 34 in page 973 Toynbee, following Novati, takes “praesentis oraculi seriem” to mean merely “this letter.” (Danlis Alagherii Epistolae, Oxford, 1920, note ad loc.) I have translated, however, literally. This letter does declare a portent.

Note 35 in page 973 I.e., songs about women or, perhaps, their songs or enchantments.

Note 36 in page 973 Or impiously.

Note 37 in page 974 In C. S. Latham, A Translation of Dante's Eleven Letters, ed. by G. R. Carpenter (Boston, 1891), p. 112. P. Misciatelli, however, declares that Scipione Ammirato in his Albero e storia della famiglia dei Conti Guidi (Firenze, 1650), p. 74, offers documentary evidence of Dante's presence at Prato Vecchio in the Casentino in 1310. See “L'Amore di Dante per Pietra,” Lectura Danlis (1917), ci, 44.

Note 38 in page 974 Inf. xxiv, 145–151.

Note 39 in page 974 Purg. viii, 130–132.

Note 40 in page 974 Carpenter, op. cit., p. 97.

Note 41 in page 974 Bull. Soc. Danl. Ital., N.S. x, pp. 139 ff. Torraca is persuaded that the word curia (court), if unqualified, means “court of the sovereign,” i.e., for Dante the Emperor. Henry VII held court at Milan in March, 1911. Dante was there, and Moroello di Giovagallo also.

Note 42 in page 974 Purg. xix, 142–145.

Note 43 in page 975 Op. cit., p. 99.

Note 44 in page 975 “Libri titulus est: 'Incipit Comedia Dantis Alagherii, florentini natione, non montas!” Ep. xiii, 10.

Note 45 in page 975 Par. xxxi, 79–81.

Note 46 in page 975 Cf. Purg. xxx-xxxiii.

Note 47 in page 975 Both in the classics and in Scripture such signs would indicate a more than human visitant. Toynbee refers to Æneid viii, 524 ff., and observes that the form ionilruum “occurs frequently in the Vulgate.” (Op. cit. ad. loc.) Medieval interpreters construe “vox tonitrui tui” of Psalm lxxvi, 18, as a divine menace, comminatio, and “fulgor,” wherever it occurs, as “comminatio peccatorum.” (Rabanus Maurus, Allegories in s. Scripturam— Migne, Patrol, cxii, 1068, 933. Rabanus is named in Paradiso xii, 139.) Dante's experience or vision also recalls that of Saul on the way to Damascus.

Note 48 in page 976 Summa theol. ii–ii, xi, 2, ad 3. Paschal II declared: “Whoever does not agree with the Apostolic See is without any doubt a heretic.” (Cited from A. de Salvio, Dante and Heresy, Boston, 1936, p. 121.)

Note 49 in page 976 Purg. xxxiii, 52–54; Par. xvii, 124–142; Par. xxvii, 61–67.

Note 50 in page 976 Inf. xix, 106–111.

Note 51 in page 976 Purg. xix 1 ff.

Note 52 in page 976 Par. xxvii, 136–138. Cf. “The Daughter of the Sun,” Romanic Review xvi (1925), 230 ff., by the present writer; also H. D. Austin, “Black but Comely,” P. Q., xv (Oct., 1936). I accept Misciatelli's association with the Aglauros episode in Ovid, Met. ii. Of the envious Aglauros it is said: “Nec lapis albus est: sua mens infecerat illam.” (l, 831). Dante is perturbed when Aglauros cries out in Purg. xiv, 137–140.

Note 53 in page 977 Par. xxv, 52–53.

Note 54 in page 977 S. T. iii, iii, 64, ad 5.

Note 55 in page 977 Purg. xx, 85 ff.

Note 56 in page 977 Atlantic Monthly, cxli (April, 1928), 539.

Note 57 in page 977 Par. xvii, 49–51.

Note 58 in page 977 Doubtful in Dante's case would be the escape offered in Purg. iii, 133–135. One “in contumacy” might still be saved if he repented, even in extremis—of his contumacy. But was Dante prepared to do that, to recant his just denunciations of the malign acts and policies of the Church?

Note 59 in page 978 That fact would make Dante's “meditations on things heavenly and earthly” fittingly refer to the Church.

Note 60 in page 978 Par. xviii, 4–6.

Note 61 in page 978 Par. xxvii, 22–24.

Note 62 in page 978 Inf. xvii, 2. In Inf. xix, 56–57 Boniface is said to have seized the “fair Lady” (Church) “by fraud” (a'nganno).

Note 63 in page 679 Inf. xvii, 10–11.

Note 64 in page 679 J. E. Shaw has convincingly shown the possibility of this in the case of the Donna Gentile. The Lady “Philosophy” in the Comiivio, Dante Soc. (Cambridge, U.S.A., 1938).

Note 65 in page 679 See above, p. 974 and note 41.

Note 66 in page 980 Bartoli's idea that the Woman of the Letter is Florence is negated by this envoy. Cf. Carpenter, op. cit., pp. 113 ff.

Note 67 in page 980 Par. xvii, 49–51.

Note 68 in page 980 In Prov. Salomon, iii (Migne cxi, 78).

Note 69 in page 980 Cf. Rupertus in Migne clxix, 1039. But the interpretation is common.

Note 70 in page 980 I. 7 (Vulgate).

Note 71 in page 980 vi. 9.

Note 72 in page 980 viii. 6.

Note 73 in page 980 Par. xxvii, 136–138. Cf. above, note 52.

Note 74 in page 980 iv. 7 and Rev. xxi 7–8.

Note 75 in page 980 i. 4.

Note 76 in page 980 Par. xii, 81–93.

Note 77 in page 980 Purg. xxx, 11. Cf. Song of Songs iv. 8.

Note 78 in page 981 Purg. xxxii, 148 ff. Cf. Inf. xix, 106–108; Rev. xvii.

Note 79 in page 981 Inf. xix, 109–111.

Note 80 in page 981 Rev xvii. 6.

Note 81 in page 981 Purg. xxxii, 148.

Note 82 in page 981 This Latin spelling appears only in these poems. Could it point to the Vulgate?

Note 83 in page 981 Matt. xvi. 18.

Note 84 in page 981 Daniel ii. 35. Migne cxciii, 351. Tertullian refers to the “lapis” of the Vulgate text as “petra”—Migne ii. 330.

Note 85 in page 981 I Cor. x. 4. Cf. Isa. i. I;II Regum xxii. 2: “Dominus petra mea.” Cf. also “Rock of ages” in the familiar hymn.

Note 86 in page 981 Adnotationes in Job (Migne xxxiv. 885). It is interesting that St. Augustine derives Peter's name from petra, and not vice versa.

Note 87 in page 981 xxxvi. 26.

Note 88 in page 981 Isa. viii. 14; Romans ix. 33.

Note 89 in page 981 Jer. xxiii. 29: “Quasi malleus conterens petram.” Dante uses the figure in Inf. xi, 90.

Note 90 in page 982 Inf. ix, 52 ff.; 11. 61–63 imply a hidden significance in the episode.

Note 91 in page 982 Purg. xxxiii, 73–75.

Note 92 in page 982 lb. 85 ff.

Note 93 in page 982 Par. xxvii, 22 ff.

Note 94 in page 982 Purg. ix, 78, 103–105, 117, 126.

Note 95 in page 982 The Petra canzoni and the “Mountain Ode” must be, it seems, among the fourteen to be treated in the Convivio. Without them, there are not enough—extant, at least—to make up fourteen.

Note 96 in page 983 Purg. xxx. 31–33.

Note 97 in page 983 It is the springtime that gives Dante hope against the leopard. Inf. i. 37–43.

Note 98 in page 983 Purg. iii. 133–135.

Note 99 in page 983 Cf. Inf. ii. 94–96. It is to her that Dante prays “morning and evening.”—Par. xxiii. 88–89.

Note 100 in page 984 Purg. ix. 5–6.

Note 101 in page 984 Rabanus Maurus says “petra” also signifies “quilibet vir stabilis” (Prov. xxx. 19). Migne cxii (1928).

Note 102 in page 984 Dante invokes “e mane e sera” Mary, Mother of the Church. Par. xxiii. 88–89.

Note 103 in page 985 The canzone Le-dolci-rime of Conv. iv and Inf. xxxii both begin with a similar declaration. Both are doctrinal poems.

Note 104 in page 985 See above, p. 982.

Note 105 in page 985 11. 73–74.

Note 106 in page 985 liv. 12. The church is named in the chapter-heading even in the English authorized version. “Propugnacula” means “defences.”

Note 107 in page 985 Cf. Inf. ix. 109–111 and Purg. xxxii. 142–147: good defences become evil.

Note 108 in page 985 Inf. xvii. 2.

Note 109 in page 985 Purg. xxxiii. 73–74.

Note 110 in page 985 See above, p. 981.

Note 111 in page 985 Par. xxxi. 1–3.

Note 112 in page 986 Par. ix. 130 ff. Florence's florin, or money-power, Satan's tool.

Note 113 in page 986 Inf. xxxvi. 141.

Note 114 in page 986 Purg. xxxiii. 52–64; Par. xxvii. 61–66. Dante is the agent in procuring this punishment of the guilty Church.

Note 115 in page 986 1. 58.

Note 116 in page 986 Purg. xxxiii. 44: fuia—of the Eagle's inheritance.

Note 117 in page 986 In the canzone Donne-ch'avele-intettetto, 24–28, Dante the lover of Beatrice represents himself in hell.

Note 118 in page 986 Inf. xix.

Note 119 in page 986 Inf. xxxii. 97 ff.

Note 120 in page 986 Par. xvii. 55–56.

Note 121 in page 986 Par. xxii. 14–15.

Note 122 in page 987 Par. xxv. 1 ff.

Note 123 in page 987 Above, pp. 18, 23, 24–25.

Note 124 in page 987 xxvii. 136–38. Cf. above, pp. 976, 977, 980 and Note 52.

Note 125 in page 987 Purg. xxxiii. 67.

Note 126 in page 987 Inf. i. 134.

Note 127 in page 987 Inf. xix. 14.

Note 128 in page 987 Canzone Amor-tu-vedi, 26.

Note 129 in page 987 Piero Misciatelli (op. cit., note 13) associates with the Petra cycle Dante's sonnet to Giovanni Quirini—Nulla-mi-apparve. (Barbi, Rime Dubbie viii.) It is an appeal for sympathy. In his responsive sonnet Non-siegue-umanità (which follows in Barbi's text) Quirini advises Dante “to flee the fair image that holds hidden in itself thy death,” but assures him that

“se pur te agrada a cotant'ira
sogietto star, passendo d'amara erba,”
(Cf. the “gir pascendo l'erba” of the sestina Al-poco-giorno 35.) Quirini, as Pylades to Orests,
“me offro a te fin a la pira.”

There is a tempting suggestion in this promise of a friend to back the victim of la Petra “to the fire.” Misciatelli, being committed to taking la Petra as a real woman, does not notice it. But on my hypothesis, Quirini's attitude would appear that of one who sympathized with Dante as against the Church.

And the same thing would apply to Cino in the sonnets named.