blog post 13

Dante’s poem Vita Nuova contains the aspect of courtly love from the Troubadours. Especially the poems written by Bernart de Ventadorn describes perfection of a woman who he loves. The power that woman effects on both poets by love is so strong that their poems are filled with praises. From Bernart de Ventadorn’s poem You’ve Asked, My Lord, for Song, he expresses how he is helpless and powerless in front of his lover. For instance, “while she invests my mind,/ I’d never hear at all./ so subtly does she snare/ the heart out of my breast” (Ventadorn 83) illustrates that whatever she does to him, his “best part’s still there” (83). He also expresses how small he can be infront of his love one that “the one thing you might do/ is give me one sweet glance/ if sometime you’ve the chance” (85). He is surely overwhelmed by his lover and expresses that he is delight to get both pain and joy from the love. He also shows that all he needs is the woman that he love as he says “Unless my lady might/ Receive me in that place/ she lies in” (85) meaning that he has gave up on control over his love and relies on her.

           Dante also expresses the perfection of a woman who he is in love. He is explaining that even the Heaven is imperfect as “Heaven, that lacks its full perfection only/ in lacking her, asks for her of its Lord” (Dante 36). Because for him, she is the perfection and because she is alive which means that heaven is missing her, heaven cannot be perfect. Therefore, he concludes that “My lady is desired in highes heaven” (36). He has expressed his love by analyzing his lady so powerful that “Love drives a killing frost into vile hearts that freezes and destroys their every thought;/ and dare a thought remain to look at her/ it has to change to good or else must die” (36).

           Both Ventadorn and Dante illustrates their aspects of love as a courtly love by praising their beloved ones as a powerful and perfect. They both have expressed their love so strong that they are helpless in front of their woman and that they are in a lower level compared to their love.

Troubadour and lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is formed as a genre in ancient Greece, where poets wrote poems sung by choruses accompanied by music played by lyres. Roman poets, inspired by Greek tradition, extended the notion of music in their poems even without the presence of lyre. In the middle ages, Troubadours from South France started again to write words to music that spread from village to village. The term Troubadour means finder or maker--of songs. Troubadour poetry is characterized by pleasing melodies and intricate stanza patterns. Although the melodies are lost, we can observe distinctive metric patterns in Troubadour poems. For example, looking at "The Skylark" by Bernart de Ventadorn, we can see that the first stanza establishes the structure of ending sounds of each line which all following stanzas follow precisely. This untypical rhyme scheme from a modern ear is something unique for the lyric tradition of Troubadour poems. Arnaut Deniel, who is considered the master of Troubadour poems, takes the intricacy of rhyme scheme to a new level. In "Lo ferm voler qu’el cor m’intra", Arnaut recombines the ending words "enters", "nail", "soul", "rod", "uncle" and room with an interweaving pattern that produces a sense of obsession with the courtly love, to his aunt. The rhythmic and musical features of the forms of troubadour poems, as well as the lost melodies, make Troubadour an important part of the development of lyric poetry.

Arnaut Daniel and Dante

Arnaut Daniel, known for his love poetry and the virtuosity of his language, has been praised by Dante as "the better craftsman" and has influenced Dante's poetry in many ways. Despite his extremely ornate language which sets him apart from typical Troubadours, Arnaut demonstrates common themes of courtly love in his poems, such as nature, the secrecy of love and the praise of the lady's qualities. These themes are evident in "Autet e bas entrels prims fuoills"(Now High and Low, Where Leaves Renew).

High and low among the first leaves
the boughs and branches are fresh with flowers,
and no bird there keeps its bill or throat.

Arnaut opens the poem with a beautiful image of spring. Pleasant natural elements are often present in troubadour poems as they can be easily linked to the romantic and joyous aspects of love.

I give thanks to God and to my eyes,
since out of their wisdom came
Joy, which rightfully slays and upbraids
all the sadness and shame I had.

Arnaut then displays both his happiness in love as well as his concern for reputation. The love is one with wisdom and inspired by God. Arnaut focuses on the religious and spiritual aspects of love instead of the physical or erotic aspects, which is an important feature in many troubadour poems. The "joy" is accompanied by "sadness and shame" which rises from slanders since courtly love is a secret love outside marriage which is subject to gossips in the Middle Ages.

Gramercy, Love, that now welcome me!
Bitter it was to me, but I'm grateful nonetheless
since, though that fire burns in
my marrow, I don't want it to be quenched;
but I'll hush
because of some
who make great complaints out of others' joy:
may he who disagrees with Love
have a bleb on his cheek.

Again, Arnaut insists on pursuing love even though it is hurtful. However, he will "hush", or keep silent, since otherwise others would "disagree" with his love. Arnaut expresses his disdain for slanderers as he wishes them "have a bleb on his cheek" and "bit his tongue".

Dante extends the idea of secrecy of love in his poems, keeping silent on his love for Beatrice. Dante takes the secrecy to an even higher ground. Whereas Arnaut hides a mutual romantic relationship from the public, Dante conceals his affection not only from others but also from the lady. Dante is extremely cautious not to reveal his true love, finding himself a screen lady and even writing poems to her to convey a false conception to the public. After the screen lady dies, he writes a sonnet in VII to lament her death, for he knows that if he does not, "people would the sooner become aware" of his secret. Like Arnaut, Dante recognizes the divine properties of love. However, Dante is able to elevate the divine aspect to a new level by externalizing Love as a god who imparts feelings to him. Compared to Arnaut, Dante further diverts away from erotic and physical aspects of love, attempting to explain a pure and heavenly love logically with theological reasons.

Dante and Ventadorn

In Ventadorn's poem, "The Skylark," many themes are present which Dante uses in his Vita Nuova, and some which he either morphs or discards. In the first stanza, Ventadorn says "such great envies seize my thought/ to see the raptures others find," which is a sentiment largely not replicated in Dante's later poetry. He never seems to regret that he and Beatrice cannot be together - indeed, he never even considers it - as other couples are, since she is so otherworldly and heavenly in his eyes. However, the imagery in the next line of desire beginning to "consume away this heart of mine," is very common throughout Dante. The heart being destroyed, either by flame or burning or a very literal consumption - eating. The destruction of the organ which loves as a result of loving is a trope in all lyrical poetry.
In the second stanza, Ventadorn says "I can't control this heart that flies/ to her who pays love no return." Dante further develops this idea, that the lover's love is continuously unrequited, and yet the lover has no choice but to love, in his portrayal of Beatrice. She has his heart, and always will have, and yet will never know of his love. However, in Dante's take, he desires this. He believes it is better to preserve her reputation and leave her unsullied than to fulfill his own love and his own desire, since she is so much more valuable than him. Similarly, in the next line, Ventadorn describes "love's sweet theft," which personifies love to some degree. Dante expands on this idea as well, when he creates Love as an entirely new figure, with a role in his romance. Dante also echoes Ventadorn, and many other troubadour poets, in describing their love as their entire self. Dante says that Beatrice is his world, and by taking away her attention, and eating his heart, she is in many ways taking him over. By saying "she steals herself," she really steals his love and heart, which are one and the same.
This is shown yet again in the third stanza, with "My life's her prize." The concept of love as slavery takes over. Then Dante's fixation on eyes, both as his only way of observing Beatrice and as the windows to her soul, shows forth in Ventadorn's lines "Since she first showed me true delight/ in those bright mirrors, her two eyes." Viewing their loved one, and being viewed by her, is the pathway to any sort of happiness or fulfillment in their love. Indeed this image of sight being the only avenue to contact further emphasizes the distance that is common in troubadour poetry, and the foundation of Dante's.
Here in the fourth stanza is when Ventadorn's poetry truly parts from Dante's. The idea of distrust in women or renouncing them because they are all the same is never seen in Vita Nuova, because although most women may be base, Beatrice's honor, purity, and virtue is unimpeachable. Perhaps instead these next few stanzas might relate to Dante's position with his "screens," but in all honesty, he never seems displeased with them at all, let alone to the degree Ventadorn is.
However, in stanza six, the idea that "she who should yield mercy most/ shows me the least of anyone" is true in Dante insofar as Beatrice does not show Dante mercy (or even interest) when his reputation falls (or at any other part), but Dante does not, unlike Ventadorn, begrudge her for it.
The last two stanzas are again unrelated to Dante, as they relate Ventadorn giving up his love (which Dante would never do to his angelic Beatrice) and leaving to go travel with his poetry. Which Dante does do, to some degree, in publishing it.

Dante and Ventadorn

Dante’s Vita Nuova, indeed shares many aspect with troubadour poems and especially with the works of Ventadorn. Ventadorn’s sincere love poetry fixates on a woman, and describes her perfection and supreme power over him. Interestingly though the poem focuses on the woman’s perfection, troubadour poems become more about the authors rather than the woman themselves.  Ventadorn embodies this aspect of troubadour poetry in When I Behold the Lark, as he describes his helplessness to escape his lover’s charms. He explains,

she became a mirror to my eye, / whereon I gazed complacently … / like young narcissus, thus to sigh, / and thus expire, beholding thee.

Mirrors reflect exactly anything that exists before them. By describing his lover as a mirror, Ventadorn creates a complex image, for although he looks at his lover, he sees himself. Through the lover, he views his own love. Rather than being attracted to the woman for the love she feels toward Ventadorn, he is attracted to her as a result of his own love. This is made clear by the reference to Narcissus, a mythical man who falls in love with his own reflection. The fact that the woman does not return his love is an important aspect of troubadour poetry. Longing and unattainability are important qualities to the work, without which the poems would not exists. Therefore, if the woman loved Ventadorn back, he would no longer yearn for her and thus, he would have no subject center a poem.

Similar to Ventadorn, Dante emphasizes his beloved’s power by elevating her to a point just shy of divinity. In chapter XIX, Dante asserts that “Heaven lacks its perfection only in lacking her”(36), and he swears that with Beatrice’s creation, “God, intended something new of earth”(36). Rather than redirecting the subject from the beloved back toward himself, however, Dante seems to earnestly worship Beatrice in a way similar to the manner in which one would worship a deity. Unlike Vertadorn, who basks in the not reciprocated love of a woman, Dante wishes fervently for the favor of Beatrice. Through her love, not his own love of her, will Dante himself will gain salvation, just as the love of god saves the soul of a sinner.

            By moving past the longing and unrequited aspects of loves, Dante differs from the earlier works of the Troubadours.

Blog Post #12: Dante to Bernart de Ventadorn

Blog Post #12: Dante to Ventadorn

                Dante and the Troubadours both avidly describe the dualities offered by courtly love. Like the aged authors Arnaut Daniel and Bernart de Ventadorn, Dante also uses his poetry to delve into the often torturous courtly love. Where Dante moves ahead is in his attempt to distinguish himself from the previous Troubadour art form is by taking a more active role in his love life. This is in contrast to the more passive reaction to courtly love seen in the Troubadours.

                The Troubadour poet, Bernart de Ventadorn, uses love to vent his frustrations. There is no hint of action in his voice and it would appear he is willing to passively accept the fate courtly love has provided for him. In his poem “You’ve Asked, My Lords, for Song” he asks “Oh Love, what shall I do? / Shall we two live in strife? / The griefs that must ensue would surely end my life” (85). The question posed “what shall I do?” acts quite passively and ensures no solution is created for Bernart de Ventadorn’s current situation. The “strife” discussed seems quite persistent and the questioning adds to the passivity of the poem as a whole. Bernart de Ventadorn is reactive to the problems of courtly love and is essentially at the mercy of the ebb and flow of the love.

                Conversely, Dante attempts to adjust his fate when faced with turmoil at the hands of courtly love. In his poem in Chapter 3 of Vita Nuova, Dante requests the help of his ballad to aid him in fetching his love, Beatrice. He states “Ballad, I wish for you to seek out Love / and go with him into my lady’s presence”. Unlike the more passive Bernart de Ventadorn, who only begs love for answers to his problems with courtly love, Dante seeks to actively correct the issues ahead of him. He “requests the help” of his ballad to help him correct his current predicament. Here, Dante is moving past the woes usually associated with the Troubadours passivity and seeks a more active path to resolutions of courtly love. 

Dante to Troubadour

In troubadour’s poetry, courtly love is the main theme and Dante’s work also contains its similar theme. The troubadours were highly effective at the height of the Middle Ages in southern France. Moreover, their songs of romantic love, with pleasing melodies and intricate verse forms, have inspired poets and songwriters ever since and Dante is one of them. As Bernart de Ventadorn expresses his feeling towards his beloved in the poem “The Skylark,” Dante has also written love poetry that was less centered on him yet more aimed at his beloved, Beatrice.

“Alas, I thought I’d grown so wise;

In love I had so much to learn:

I can’t control this heart that flies

To her who pays love no return.

Ay! Now she steals, through love’s sweet theft,

My heart, my self, my world entire;

She steals herself and I am left

Only this longing and desire.”

“The Skylark” written by Bernart de Ventadorn, he depicts the theme of courtly love that the poet regrets greatly that he cannot go any closer to his beloved. In the third line, “this heart” is connected to the skylark that also refers to his beloved. In the sixth line, Ventadorn constantly relates everything to her and says, “My heart; my self, my world entire.” He cannot live without her and the sequence of heart to self, self to world entire portrays his love towards her becoming larger and larger.

Interestingly, Dante also interprets courtly love into his poem. Many of his tropes and languages are correlated to his sacred love poetry. Although troubadour poetry presents courtly love through different poets, Dante solely writes upon Beatrice throughout the whole poem. “Beatrice for Dante was the embodiment of this kind of love—transparent to the absolute, inspiring the integration of desire aroused by beauty with the longing of the soul for divine splendor.” In other words, he admires Beatrice from a far distance and characterizes the beloved as a divine figure that is perfect and incomparable to other women. Overall, both Dante and troubadour poems have similarity in writing about courtly love and throughout Dante’s narrative in Vita Nuova, he tries to move past the troubadours by breaking down his personal love story with more details.