The sonnet, one of Cavalcanti's most celebrated, responds to and interprets the
Vita
Nuova
Rime di Guido Cavalcanti
The translation at line 6 is based on a reading in the original
(“nella piatosa mente”)
that is no longer accepted: the authoritative Italian text is “nel cāssar della
mente”, i.e., in the mind's fortress. The sonnet's last tercet is by no means
lucid in the original and DGR's translation, while reasonable (if also somewhat free in
line 13), would not be favored by Italian scholars, who take “Che”
(line 14) as a pronoun and understand “contrario” as the opposite of
the “dolce sonno”, i.e., as the coming of wakefulness. DGR's rhyme
scheme in the sestet differs from his model, and his
The “lord” in line 4 is of course Love, as initially referenced in Dante's sonnet.
Probably an early translation, late 1840s.
The translation was first published in 1861 in
The
Early Italian Poets
Dante
and his Circle
The Early Italian Poets)Poeti de Duecento
Guido Cavalcanti. Rime