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.