Dante Alighieri
There is a gentle thought that often springs
to life in me, because it speaks of you.
Its reasoning about love’s so sweet and true,
the heart is conquered, and accepts these things.
‘Who is this’ the mind enquires of the heart,
‘who comes here to seduce our intellect?
Is his power so great we must reject
every other intellectual art?
The heart replies ‘O, meditative mind
this is love’s messenger and newly sent
to bring me all Love’s words and desires.
His life, and all the strength that he can find,
from her sweet eyes are mercifully lent,
who feels compassion for our inner fires.’
Born
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Mid-May to mid-June, c. 1265
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Died
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September 13/14, 1321 (aged about 56)
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Occupation
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Nationality
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Literary movement
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri
Story Summary: The story of the poem is all about a women meeting a man that she fell in love with. The women is also struggling with the balance between the boy she likes and her intellectual ability. The poet met the man once and in the moment fully fell for him. The speaker in the poem is a women writing a poem to the man that she loves. The intended audience for the women is her lover, the man she is writing to.
Imagery and figurative language: “ There is a gentle thought that often springs to life in me, because it speaks of you.” This quote shows the audacity the speaker has towards their significant other. “Who feels compassion for our inner fires”. The speaker is comparing the compassion that they have for their lover to their inner beliefs and stuff inside of them. The author also writes “her sweet eyes”. The speaker is now going in deeper into her emotions and starts talking about herself through him.
Tone- The author has a very sweet tone, because the author is saying nothing but positive things and is writing in a loving manner. The author also has a very sincere tone because everything the author says is serious about their emotions. The author goes on to add another tone that they captivate which includes a perplexed tone.
Theme- The theme that is reoccuring in Dante’s poem is never give up on the ones you truly love. Dante establishes this throughout their entire poem which is depicted by their tone that they use throughout it. Practically every line in the poem has some sort of loving or sweet words that you would say to someone. Dante tells a story through her poem about the man that she loves. Dante also uses her figurative language to capture her goal which is to relay the theme to others.
General info- The poetic form of this poem is very vague there are 14 lines. The poem also includes just lines and one giant stanza as opposed to other poems that are usually broken up more. The poem uses a lot of very flowing words but does not really add a level of rhyme to it. Unlike most poems this poem does add another element to it with using a lot of punctuation that can help give it space when it needs it. Overall, I think the poet's choice to be a little different from the rest of the poets makes the poem a little more mysterious and contributes to the reader being more open to it. Furthermore, this was a good idea to make this poem so different from others.
I disagree with your analysis, but I think your evidence for your analysis of the poem is relevant. I do not think this poem is intended as a love poem. The message of this poem is that loving a man and being with him sets the woman back in her intellectual life. Women historically are expected to spend their lives as under a man's care. They begin their lives as daughters controlled by their fathers, and then they become wives controlled by their husbands. The quote, "Is his power so great we must reject every other intellectual art?" shows that being the wife of the man will become the speaker's only occupation. The quote, " who comes here to seduce our intellect?" shows that the men and the women know what's going to happen if they get together.
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