Wilmot Max Ramsay

Prof. Fiora Bassanese

April 2, 1990.

[UMass Boston]

                                      A LOOK AT DANTE AND PETRARCA'S STYLES:

     IN THEIR writings both Dante and Petrarca mourn the loss of their beloved departed with continued desire and longing to 'see' their fair One.  Due to death -- the physical removal of the persona -- the chase is over and both writers are filled with sorrow knowing very well that the power which enriched their literary genius is now passe and all that lingers of  their prima causa is but share memory.

     For Dante, Beatrice "denied me her most sweet salutation, in which alone was my blessedness" is proof of his thought of that which could have been had he been able to fully win her hand.  For the young Dante, also, at the time of her death, at about 25, Beatrice, in a purely physical sense, was at the peak of her charm, grace and beauty.  Though the purpose of his poetry was "to serve, to fear [and] to conceal" Dante could not resist, like Petrarca with Laura, "cry[ing] out in silence" of the beauty he once knew.  Dante's conduit to perfection here below was now no more and still yearning to meet with Beatrice again, he contemplates of a higher life beyond.  Dante treats Beatrice with utmost reverence.

     Laura's death plays in opposition to Petrarca's 'crowning moments.'  Left only with the wonderful memories of Laura's "sweet" being as his solace; and viewing his femme adorée reduced to "dust", Petrarca appears disarmed; sees death as his only answer of seeing Laura again.  Petrarca feels himself being left to the perils of life, void of his laurel, and thus no longer relevant in executing his craft as "the ink" no longer seems to flow on his pages ending in profound lamentation.  Petrarca loses his fame and glory with the death of his Laura.  With Laura's passing, Petrarca returns to matters more religious.

      Petrarca's Laura seems more like a "real" person compared to Dante's Beatrice especially with the former's more human and mortal image.  Dante, however, treats his Beatrice as immortal.  Both Dante and Petrarca imagine being finally re-united with their dearly beloved departed.

     [The following bibliography was constructed after a literary confrontation on the aforesaid Paper on which I was questioned as the source of said material.  This, with all honesty, thanks be to God, I am able to supply.  Though my integrity was questioned, and I did supply words taken from elsewhere in quotation marks, that was, apparently, NOT good enough for Fiora A. Bassanese, an Eve-like creature.  A temptress indeed she is!  The good sense, however, prevailed!]

*BIBLIOGRAPHY

A LOOK AT DANTE AND PETRARCA'S STYLES:

TREATMENT OF THE DEAD

"denied me her most sweet salutation, in which alone was my blessedness" -- The Portable Dante, p. xviii, ll. 2-4.

"to serve, to fear [and] to conceal" -- Ibid, p. xi, l. 4

"cry[ing] out in silence" -- Nancy J. Vickers (Class Hand-out), p. 270, l. 8

"sweet" -- Poem # CCLXVII, l. 1 -- Petrarca

"dust" -- Poem # CCXCII, l. 8 -- Petrarca

"the ink" [no longer seems to flow on his pages] -- Vickers, 270,, l. 9

"real" -- Class Notes of 3/12/90 (March 12, 1990)

*supplied upon request, following a literary mêlée

[HONORS 238: IMAGES OF WOMEN IN ITALIAN CULTURE, UMASS/BOSTON]

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