DGR closes his book of translations with a commentary on Boccaccio
and a selection of his sonnets. The intention is to illustrate the continuity
that stretches from the primitive Italian writers of the late twelfth-century to
this great figure of the Italian Renaissance. DGR means to show that “Dante
and his Circle” spread out across a wide cultural horizon.
As his own paintings and poems on the subject of Fiammetta suggest,
however, DGR perceives a deeper significance in Boccaccio's admiration for
Dante in particular. That admiration stands as an index of the availability of
Dante's spirit to later kindred spirits; and Fiammetta thereby becomes the
generic sign and name for the “small fires” that may be lit from
the sun of Dante. (For further commentary see DGR's double work of
Fiammetta.)
Textual History: Composition
DGR probably wrote this commentary fairly late—probably early or
mid-1861, when he was putting the whole book of translations together.
This collection contains 10 texts and images, including:
The Early Italian Poets text
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
DGR closes his book of translations with a commentary on Boccaccio and a selection of his sonnets. The intention is to illustrate the continuity that stretches from the primitive Italian writers of the late twelfth-century to this great figure of the Italian Renaissance. DGR means to show that “Dante and his Circle” spread out across a wide cultural horizon.
As his own paintings and poems on the subject of Fiammetta suggest, however, DGR perceives a deeper significance in Boccaccio's admiration for Dante in particular. That admiration stands as an index of the availability of Dante's spirit to later kindred spirits; and Fiammetta thereby becomes the generic sign and name for the “small fires” that may be lit from the sun of Dante. (For further commentary see DGR's double work of Fiammetta.)
Textual History: Composition
DGR probably wrote this commentary fairly late—probably early or mid-1861, when he was putting the whole book of translations together.
Printing History
First published in 1861 in The Early Italian Poets; it was reprinted in 1874 in Dante and his Circle.