Page 20 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(2) (2024)

fined features the sonnet, the canzone, and the ognized (1920). In his reading of the biblical pas-
canzonetta. All these poems are written in vul- sage dedicated to the Corinthians, he states:
gar language, borrowing from Latin, Provençal ‘Or my spirit that is my reasoning prays, which
and other Italian languages. The vernacular in means [my reason] organizes in me so that I may
these poems acquires greater sophistication. frequently say those things that are for good,
whether by one’s own words or of the other holy
Giacomo da Lentini - Love Is a Desire that ones. Or my spirit, which is the viewpoint stored
Comes from the Heart in the mind. Prays, inasmuch if voices are the
Giacomo da Lentini occupies an essential place likeness of physical things only as a record [in the
among Sicilian lyricists. It is believed that he is mind] separate from this which is being under-
the creator of the sonnet. He has written 16 can- stood by the intellect’. Therefore, he adds, ‘But
zones and 22 sonnets. He uses metaphors to de- my mind, that is my intellect, is without fruit,
20 scribe the variations of the feeling of love and because he does not understand and therefore
its psychological effects on the subject. For him, prophecy or interpretation is better than the gift
the image has a very significant role both from a of tongues’ (Aquinas Lectures on I Corinthians,
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 12 (2024), številka 2 / volume 12 (2024), number 2
philosophical point of view and from the point chapter 14, 1C3) (Aquinas n.d.). The first senso-
of view of the formal shaping of the poem. Vis- ry perception shakes the soul, so it can later be
ualization precedes imagination. Love obsession transformed into a rational image (imaginatio ie
is transferred from the actual image to a mental, interpretatio), which is psychologically carried
imaginary image. The emphasis is not on the real despite the absolute absence of the object of love.
lady, but she is the inspiration for the turmoil After the collapse of the Sicilian court,
born in the poet’s soul. around 1266, the dominant cultural and poetic
environment became Tuscany, where the Tuscan
Amor è un[o] desio che ven da core
per abondanza di gran piacimento; school of poetry developed. For a long time, Si-
e li occhi in prima genera[n] l’amore cilian poetry circulated throughout Central Ita-
ly, where it inspired the creation of new works of
4
e lo core li dà nutricamento. love typical of that climate. The themes and the
[Lansing 2018, 109–148]
literary level of the poetry remain unchanged,
In this first stanza of the sonnet, as the poet with the difference that political or patriotic
moves from visual concern to contemplation, content is also present in the Tuscan School. Its
the sight of the beloved strongly affects him. The leading representative is Guitone d’Arezzo, who
interior of the lady emanates from her gaze, and sets program poems that re-actualize the psy-
the poet’s perception leads to an inner transfor- chological stages of falling in love and imaginary
mation that gives birth to a poem. Love for a girl visualization, similar to previous poets. Howev-
is also an analogy for love for God (Love is a de- er, the actual value of medieval poetry will come
sire that comes from the heart / Amor è uno desio to the fore with the emergence of the third poet-
che ven da core). Lentini’s understandings corre- ic school of the Sweet New Style.
spond to the science of the time, in which Aqui-
nas’s division of the soul into three functions Sweet New Style (Dolce Stil Novo)
– rational, sensory, and nutritional – can be rec- The Dolce Stil Novo appears in the 80s of the
13th century. It retains the feeling of love as the
4 ‘Love is a desire that comes from the heart through abun- essential element but acquires a more significant
dance of great pleasure; and the eyes generate love at first, emotional and thought depth while being more
and the heart nurtures it there . . . That love that grasps
with fury is born of the eyes. For the eyes present to the refined in style and formality. Poetry has moral
heart everything that is good, bad, and how it is natural- sublimity as a prerequisite, and it is the purity of
ly formed; and the heart, that which imagines and pleases
that desire, is the conceiver.’ the soul that the poet will notice in the woman