Dante: The Poet, the Political Thinker, the Man
by Barbara Reynolds
I.B. Tauris, HK$273
Dante's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is more respected than read and the Florentine poet seems an austere, remote figure. Barbara Reynolds, a Dante scholar and translator, brings the man and his work closer in a book that connects his life with his writing.
As a young man, Dante was one of a Florentine group who wrote sophisticated, rather ethereal love poems. What transformed this gifted but limited versifier into the creator of a poem that embraces a swathe of history plus hell, purgatory and heaven? He wasn't just a poet but a front-line cavalryman in bloody battles, was burdened by family responsibilities from an early age and, famously, fell hopelessly in love with blonde and beautiful Beatrice, who took little notice of him.
Iron entered his soul, Reynolds suggests, largely because of his unfortunate political career. He was a leading city official, but chose the losing side in turbulent Florentine politics. Moreover, he was on the wrong side of the reigning pope Boniface VIII: this was a personal as well as a political feud. Dante was one of three ambassadors sent to negotiate with Boniface to ensure armed forces allied with him would respect Florence if it opened its gates to them. But the pope reneged on his promise and Dante was exiled from his home town for life. It spurred him to write something more than love lyrics.
