Alighieri Dante (Italian: Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321) At the end of the 13th century, on the eve of the Italian Renaissance, a great male poet was born in Florence. This was what Engels praised as " The last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet of the new era" Aligheili Dante (1265-1321). An Italian poet, the founder of modern Italian, and one of the pioneering figures of the European Renaissance. He left his name to future generations with his long poem "The Divine Comedy". Engels commented: “The end of the feudal Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern capitalist era were marked by a great figure. This figure was the Italian Dante. He was the last poet of the Middle Ages and at the same time a leader of the new era. The first poet
Introduction
Dante was born in Florence, Italy, to a declining aristocratic family in 1265. His date of birth is unknown. According to his own name in the poem It is said that he was "born under the sign of Gemini", which should be in late May or early June. His biological mother died when he was 5 years old, and his father had a second marriage. His stepmother gave birth to two younger brothers and a younger sister.
Dante's life works. There are many works, the most valuable of which is undoubtedly the "Divine Comedy". This work reflects the achievements and some major issues in the field of medieval culture through the author's dialogues with various famous figures in hell, purgatory and heaven, with an "encyclopedia" effect. The nature of the "whole book", from which we can also vaguely glimpse the dawn of humanistic thought in the Renaissance. In this epic of more than 14,000 lines, Dante resolutely opposed the obscurantism of the Middle Ages and expressed his persistent pursuit of truth. It had a profound influence on the poetry creation of later generations in Europe.
In addition to "The Divine Comedy", Dante also wrote "Rebirth", "On Colloquialism", "Feast" and "Collected Poems". "Rebirth" includes thirty-one lyric poems, which mainly express the attachment to Beatrice. They are simple, clear, beautiful and moving. Among the poems of the "gentle new style" poetry, it has reached the highest level.
[Edit this paragraph] Life
There are few records of Dante's life, but there are many people who wrote them, many of which are unreliable, and he may not have received formal education. (Some people say that he studied in Bologna and Paris.) He learned a lot from many famous friends and teachers, including Latin, Provence and music. He may have been a knight when he was young and participated in several wars. , married when he was 20 years old, and his wife gave birth to 6 children for him, 3 sons and 1 daughter survived.
At that time, the political circles in Florence were divided into two factions, one was the Zeppelin faction loyal to the Holy Roman Emperor, and the other was the Zeppelin faction. One faction was the Gaelfis who were loyal to the Pope. After 1266, due to the strong power of the Pope, the Gaelfis won and expelled the Zeppelins. After the Gaelfis came to power, Pope Boniface VIII, who was elected in 1294, wanted to control it. In Florence, some wealthy citizens wanted the city to be independent and did not want to be controlled by the Pope, so they divided into the "White Party". Another part of the city did not settle down and hoped to use the power of the Pope to turn over and become the "Black Party". The two factions fought again, and Dante's family started fighting again. Originally a Gaelphite, Dante passionately advocated independence and freedom, so he became the backbone of the White Party and was elected as one of the six members of the Executive Committee of the highest authority. He has a famous saying: Let others tell you to follow your own path.
In 1301, the Pope sent Carlo di Valois, the brother of the French king, to Florence to "mediate peace." The White Party suspected that the trip had another purpose and sent Dante as a delegation. A long delegation went to persuade the Pope to withdraw his order, but to no avail. Sure enough, after Carlo arrived in Florence, he immediately organized the Black Party to massacre the opposition, took control of Florence, and announced the exile of Dante. Once he returned to the city, any Florentine soldier could execute him. Kill him, and Dante will never be able to return to his hometown again.
In 1308, Henry VII of Luxembourg was elected Holy Roman Emperor and prepared to invade Florence. Dante wrote to him, pointing out the locations where he needed to attack, so the White Party also began to hate Dante. When Henry died in 1313, Dante's hopes were dashed.
In 1315, Florence was taken over by the military, and it was announced that if Dante was willing to pay a fine, scatter ashes on his head, hang a knife under his neck, and parade through the streets for a week, he would be exempted from crime and return to the country. Dante wrote back: "This method is not my way back to my country! If it damages my reputation, Dante, I will never set foot on the land of Florence again! Can't I enjoy the light of the sun, moon and stars elsewhere?" Am I not allowed to come into contact with precious truths without groveling before the citizens of Florence? To be sure, I will have no bread to eat!”
Dante was in several Italian cities during his exile! He lived in Paris, and some recorded that he had been to Paris. He used his writings to relieve his homesickness, and wrote down all his benefactors and enemies in his life in his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy". He ridiculed the Pope, and wrote about the unrequited lover he had loved throughout his life. A beautiful woman named Bayard who died at the age of 25 was arranged to go to the highest realm of heaven.
Dante died in a foreign country in 1321, in Ravenna, northeastern Italy.
Dante's works are basically written in the Tuscan dialect of Italy, which played a considerable role in the formation of the modern Italian language based on the Tuscan dialect, because in addition to Latin works , only Dante was the first to write in living language in ancient Italian works. His works played a considerable role in the formation of Italian literary language, so they also played a forerunner in the Renaissance movement.
The reason why Dante is called "the first poet of the new era and the last poet of the old era": Dante lived in Italy in the 14th century (but Italy at that time was still a general The concept is composed of many small states, principalities, states, and papal states). It was still the Middle Ages at that time (the so-called Middle Ages refers to Europe’s transition from feudal society after the demise of the Western Roman Empire to the sprout of capitalism). Italy Because it is located in the Mediterranean Sea and has convenient transportation, the maritime economy is particularly developed, which gave rise to the buds of capitalism and the budding ideas of capitalism, that is, the "Renaissance." Dante was the first writer to adopt "Renaissance"ism. There is a lot of humanistic spirit in his "Divine Comedy", such as affirming people and human nature. However, due to centuries of theological rule, theological concepts are still relatively deep-rooted. Therefore, there are many medieval theological factors in the "Divine Comedy", such as the use of theological themes, the use of medieval theological writing methods, etc. You can check it out Let me summarize it myself. After him, the "Renaissance" movement flourished and spread to other European countries. Therefore, Dante is considered the last writer of the Middle Ages and the first writer of the new period of "Renaissance".
Dante’s anecdotes:
1. Once, Dante attended a banquet held by the Venetian consul. What the footman brought to the envoys from various Italian city-states were fat fried fish, but what he gave to Dante was very small fish.
Dante made no protest and did not eat the fish. He picked up the small fish on the plate one by one with his hands, listened close to his ears, as if he heard something, and then put them back on the plate one by one.
When the consul saw this, he was very surprised and asked him what he was doing.
Dante said loudly: "A few years ago, a friend of mine passed away and was buried at sea. I didn't know if his body had been buried under the sea. I asked these little fish one by one to see if they knew. I don't know the situation."
The consul asked: "What did Xiaoyu say?"
Dante said: "They told me that they are still very young and do not know the past. Let me ask the big fish at the same table to find out."
Governing After hearing this, the official burst out laughing and ordered the footman to bring Dante the largest fried fish immediately.
2. When Dante was young, he liked to sit with his back to the sky in the square in his hometown of Florence. Especially on midsummer nights, he often sat there until dawn with the stars in the sky. This lonely young poet has an amazing memory. One night, a stranger walked straight up to Dante, bowed and said: "I have admired the name of your poem for a long time, and I know that you are the pride of Feileng Cui. I promise to answer a question, but I am unable to answer it due to my shallow knowledge, especially Please help, sir. The question I want to answer is: What is the most delicious thing in the world? "Eggs." "Dante blurted out. The man nodded and left. One day a few years later, Dante was still sitting in that square looking up at the stars. The stranger walked up to him and continued the conversation from a few years ago: "So, How to cook it? "Dante glanced at the visitor and replied without hesitation: "Put a little salt on it. "
[Edit this paragraph] Main works
Dante's famous works include:
Love poem "Rebirth"
Philosophical poetry "The Banquet"
Lyric poem "Collection of Verses"
Long poem "The Divine Comedy"
Latin article "On the Sayings"
Politics Essay "On the Kingdom"
Latin poem "Pastoral"
Dante's collected "Letters"
Introduction to "The Divine Comedy"
"The Divine Comedy" represents the highest achievement of medieval literature. The production of such an epoch-making masterpiece is inseparable from the social conditions of Italy at the time, the poet's profound knowledge and unique personal experience.
The era in which Dante lived was different from the situation in Genoa, Venice, Florence, Milan and other places in northern Italy in the 13th century, when European society developed relatively slowly, industry and commerce were extremely underdeveloped, and Christianity had a complete monopoly on ideology. , due to the vigorous development of maritime trade and industry and commerce, it became the richest region in Europe.
The early bourgeoisie became increasingly powerful and established city-states and republics, gaining autonomy even from the whole of Europe. Compared with most other parts of Italy, this was only a small victory for the bourgeoisie, but it had a profound impact on social reality and the historical process of Europe. Dante's political tendency was the same as that of Italy's bourgeoisie. At that time, Italy was not a unified country in today's sense, but just a fragmented region, and its economic development was extremely uneven.
There are two main powers that dominate Italy politically, one is the Holy Roman Emperor and the other is the Pope. The so-called "Holy Roman Empire" is a historical name left over from the middle ages.
In 962, the then Pope John XII crowned German King Otto I (reigned 936-973) and named him "Holy Roman Emperor," possessing Italy. Therefore, all the successive emperors of the empire were of Germanic descent. Due to the constant civil strife in Germany, its kings were just feudal lords with varying degrees of power. The center of rule was always in Germany, and control over Italy was sometimes tight and loose. The Pope of Rome has always regarded Italy as his sphere of influence and had many conflicts with the emperor. The Italian people wanted the country to be unified, but the struggle between the pope and the emperor and their respective ambitions were obstacles to unification. They adopted a divide-and-rule policy, fearing that a unified Italy would threaten their rule. Complex contradictions make Italy's political life extremely active. The conflicts of interests between political opponents and different classes often manifest themselves in extremely cruel forms. Dante is one of the witnesses of political persecution.
From the perspective of culture, Christianity’s tight control had become ineffective by the 12th century. In the process of theological exploration, it is often necessary to rely on the concepts and logical argumentation methods of ancient Greek philosophy such as Plato and Aristotle to prove and discuss the existence and attributes of God, and to elaborate on the relationship between the earthly world and the other side.
After the 12th century, more and more compilations of works from the ancient Greek and Roman periods appeared. The original intention of the church is to find methodology and basis for its own theological theory, but researchers have discovered another cultural realm that is completely different from Christian theory. Italy produced the earliest classical scholars in Western Europe, and Dante was one of the most erudite among them.
Dante was born into a noble family in a city in Florence. His father had been in business for a long time due to the decline of his family. At that time, the city had the Kybelin Party, which represented the interests of the feudal aristocracy and supported the Pope, and the Guelph Party, which supported the Holy Roman Emperor and represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. Dante's father naturally supported the Guelphists, and Dante himself later became one of its leaders.
In his early years, Dante studied under the famous scholar Brunetto Latini, and systematically studied Latin, rhetoric, poetics and classical literature. He highly admired the great Roman poet Virgil. In the fields of painting and music, Dante also had extraordinary achievements. In addition, Dante studied theology and philosophy carefully, and the thoughts of the ancient church father St. Augustine had a particularly profound influence on him.
Dante had an unforgettable love, which left an indelible mark on his literary creation. It was in his boyhood that he attended a friend's party with his father and met a girl named Beatrice who was under 8 years old. The girl's dignity, chastity and elegant temperament made Dante fall in love with her at first sight and never forget her. Unfortunately, Beatrice followed her father's orders to marry someone else, and died of illness a few years after their marriage. Dante, who was in deep sorrow, connected the thirty-one lyric poems he had written to Beatrice over the past few years with prose, and published them in a collection called "New Life" (1292-1293). The poem expresses the poet's deep feelings, pure love and endless longing for the girl. The style is fresh and natural, delicate and euphemistic.
This collection of poems was one of the important works of the "gentle new style" poetic school in the Italian literary world at that time. It was also the first autobiographical poem in the history of Western European literature that revealed the heart and disclosed secret emotions.
As early as his youth, Dante had joined the Guelph Party with passionate political enthusiasm, devoted himself to the struggle against the feudal aristocracy, and participated in the battle to crush the Kybelin Party. After the Guelphs came to power in Florence, Dante was elected magistrate of the city. The party later split into the black and white parties. Dante belonged to the white party and opposed the papal intervention in Florence. The Pope, together with the French army, supported the Black Party in defeating the White Party in 1302, seized power, and began to purge members of the White Party. Dante had all his family property confiscated and was sentenced to lifelong exile. He never returned to his hometown until his death in Ravenna.
Some scholars once compared Dante with Qu Yuan of our country, saying that Qu Yuan wrote "Li Sao" after he was exiled, and it was only after Dante was exiled that he wrote "The Divine Comedy". This comparison makes sense from the perspective that the two poets' spiritual realms continued to improve during the process of displacement, and they remained obsessed with caring about the country and the people. Twenty years of exile gave Dante a deeper understanding of the reality of Italian society, and he gradually integrated his destiny into his deep thinking about the future of the nation.
In the early years of his exile, Dante wrote two books: "The Feast" (1304-1307) and "On the Sayings". The former hoped to use morality and knowledge to eliminate the conflicts between and within the city-states. The latter refutes the tendency to only emphasize Latin and despise Italian. This not only shows that Dante transcends narrow partisanship and thinks about the national reality and future with rational consciousness, but also shows that he attaches great importance to the national language and culture, which has far-reaching significance for the development of Italian literature.
Dante has the tenderness and passion of a poet, as well as the sharpness and wisdom of a scholar. He was one of the most outstanding linguists of his time, and a politician surfing in the rapids of the times. This is a profound and profound statement. The basis for the advent of "The Divine Comedy".
"The Divine Comedy" (1307-1321) is a long poem that Dante completed in fourteen years during his exile. It was originally called "Comedy".
In the Middle Ages, people's interpretation of "comedy" was different from that of today. It meant a story with a happy ending. After 1555, people added the modifier "holy" before the original title, which not only expressed their respect for the poet, but also implied the solemn and profound theme of the poem and the majestic and sublime artistic conception. In our country, the title of the book is translated as "Divine Comedy".
), symbolizing the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A preface is added to the front, ending with 100 verses, which means "the perfection of perfection". It is composed of three parts: "Hell", "Purgatory" and "Paradise". The length of each part is roughly equal, and each part is basically the same (Hell 4720 lines; Purgatory 4755 lines; Paradise 4758 lines). Each part starts with "stelle" (stelle). ) ends with the word ). It is a magical description of Dante's fantasy journey through the three realms. The poet recounts that in the spring of 1300, the Holy Year of Judgment, he was halfway through his 35-year-old life. On April 8 of that year, the poet was lost in a dark forest. Just as he was trying to climb the mountain, the only exit was blocked by a female leopard, a male lion and a female wolf, which symbolized lust, rape and greed. The poet panicked and was in a dilemma. At this critical moment, the great Roman poet Virgil suddenly appears. Entrusted by Beatrice, Dante's spiritual lover who has become an angel, he saves Dante from danger and travels to hell and purgatory. Under the leadership of Virgil, Dante first entered hell, but saw the howling wind and the roiling evil waves. The situation was terrifying and the scene was shocking. Hell is divided into nine levels, shaped like a funnel, getting smaller as you go down. The people who live here are all those who committed serious crimes during their lifetime. Their souls are arranged to suffer eternal punishment in different levels according to the severity of their sins. There are corrupt officials, hypocrites, evil popes, priests, thieves, prostitutes, false accusers, loan sharks, as well as lustful, gluttonous, and angry cultists. The poet hated traitors and betrayers the most, and put them on the ninth floor, frozen in the ice lake, and tortured.
Passing through the center of the earth from the bottom of the glacial lake, you arrive at purgatory. Purgatory is a lonely mountain in the sea, also divided into nine levels. This is the place where sinful souls wash away their sins. After their sins are purified, they can still hope to enter heaven. Sinners who repented late were not allowed to enter and had to wait outside the mountain gate for a long time. Each level of purgatory is inhabited by the souls of the less serious sins among the "seven sins" of Christianity, such as pride, jealousy, anger, laziness, greed, food, and sex. Dante traveled from level to level, and finally came to the earthly paradise on the top floor, and Virgil left immediately. It turns out that he is not qualified to enter heaven as a husband, so he can only wait in the "waiting center". At this time, the sky is filled with colorful clouds and auspicious clouds. In the colorful rain of flowers, Beatriz, wearing an olive leaf laurel crown, a raccoon red dress, and a white gauze, slowly descended. Beatrice gently scolded the poet not to stray into the forest, which symbolizes sin, while guiding him to enjoy various scenic spots. Under her guidance, Dante entered the "River of Lethe" and suddenly felt refreshed physically and mentally, forgetting the pain of the past. Then Beatrice took him into heaven.
There are nine heavens in heaven, namely the Moon Sky, Mercury Sky, Venus Sky, Sun Sky, Mars Sky, Jupiter Sky, Saturn Sky, Sidereal Sky and Crystal Sky. Angels live here. Those who can enter heaven are all righteous people during their lifetime. Only wise monarchs, academic saints and devout priests can enjoy eternal happiness here. The atmosphere of heaven is majestic, solemn, radiant, full of love and joy. In the eighth heaven, Dante accepted inquiries from three saints about the three theological virtues of "faith, hope, and love". He felt ecstatic and followed Saint Penetdo into the mysterious and bright sky, hoping to have a glimpse of the "Trinity". Deep meaning, but with a flash of golden light, the fantasy and the whole poem came to an abrupt end in a blissful atmosphere.
Today’s readers often feel that the content of “The Divine Comedy” is complicated, the plot is bizarre, and the meaning is obscure. This is because they are not familiar with the medieval cultural background of the book. In fact, the structure of "The Divine Comedy" is rigorous, the plot is subordinate to the theme of the whole poem, and the characters and scenes are all mentioned. Here we only talk about relevant issues from a broad perspective. Dante hated the then Pope Boniface VIII and some of the deceased popes who had committed heinous crimes, and he also had a clear negative attitude towards religious ignorance, but he did not deny the Christian faith. The last chapter of the third volume of "On the Empire" written in 1309 is a key to understanding the "Divine Comedy". Dante believes that there are two kinds of happiness in life: "Happiness in this life lies in personal good deeds; happiness in eternal life lies in receiving divine grace." "The happiness in this life is symbolized by the kingdom of heaven on earth, and the happiness of eternal life is symbolized by the kingdom of heaven. Happiness in this life must be achieved through the practice of morality and knowledge under the guidance of philosophy (including all human knowledge). Happiness in eternal life must be achieved through revelation. "Achieved through the practice of theological virtues (faith, hope, charity) under the guidance of This is actually a replica of the "heaven on earth" and "kingdom in heaven" proposed by Augustine in "City of God". In the Divine Comedy, Dante carefully arranged two characters as his mentors, one is Virgil, who symbolizes reason and knowledge, and the other is Beatrice, who symbolizes faith and piety. We have mentioned before that Christianity believes that everyone is a sinner. Therefore, the people imprisoned in hell and purgatory are all guilty souls. The only difference is the nature of sin and the severity of sin. They are all realities. The embodiment of all kinds of people in society. People in heaven are souls who have gone through purgatory and lived out their sins, and can share the glory with God.
Before Dante entered Purgatory, the angel used a sharp knife to carve seven "P" words symbolizing sin (the first letter of the word "sin" in Italian) on his forehead. Every time the poet climbed to one level in Purgatory, there was a The angel erased one "P", and when he walked out of Purgatory Mountain, all seven "P"s were erased, indicating that his sins were cleared and he could go to heaven. Hell, purgatory and heaven correspond to the "heaven on earth" and the "kingdom of heaven" respectively. Virgil, who symbolizes reason, can only serve as the poet's guide in the "heaven on earth", and Beatrice, who symbolizes faith, is qualified to lead the poet into the "heavenly kingdom". This clearly shows that Dante placed faith over reason. The theme of "The Divine Comedy" is intended to explore the future destiny of the poet himself, the Italian nation, and even mankind. Dante's conclusion is that the Italian nation and all mankind must regulate their behavior rationally and implement moral perfection and spiritual realm under the inspiration of faith. Only by constantly transcending can we become one with the highest truth and gain a bright future. The structure of the nine heavens in Dante's description of heaven is based on the Ptolemaic celestial theory accepted by the church. The so-called "eternal wheel" in the poem is exactly Ptolemy's idea that the universe is organized on the same axis. A portrayal of the spherical body theory composed of the Nine Heavens.
As a poet in the transitional period between the old and the new, it is impossible for Dante not to accept the baptism of medieval culture. However, the profound critical spirit and the germination of new ideas shown in the "Divine Comedy" made the poet a poet in the new era of the Renaissance. The prophet of things to come. Dante expressed his heartfelt admiration for the ancient Greek and Roman sages such as Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil and others, affirming these representatives of the splendid culture of the pagan period, affirming the knowledge and rational spirit, and objectively criticizing Because of the cultural absolutism and obscurantism of the Middle Ages, although as a Christian, Dante could not arrange them directly into heaven, he put these "noble" pagans into a beautiful and quiet place in hell where they would not suffer any pain. . Dante also sympathized with Paul and Francesca, who were brutally killed for love and suffered in hell, and criticized the asceticism of the church. Many places in the long poem reveal a strong desire to end partisan disputes and achieve national reunification. The poet's deep love for the motherland often makes the poet unable to help himself. In the sixth song of "Inferno", the fragmented Italy arouses Dante's infinite regret:
Alas, slave-like Italy, your journey of sorrow, you alone in the storm without a helmsman. , you are no longer a housewife in the provinces, but a brothel! …Thy living and sick people live in you, and not a day goes by without war, and those who are surrounded by a wall and a trench kill each other. You poor thing! Look around at the shores of your land, and then look at your hinterland to see if there is a land where you can enjoy peace and happiness.
Lamentation for the reality of the nation’s homeland immediately turned into anger against those who harmed the country and the people. Dante exposed the interference of some popes in secular politics and their greed for power as the main culprits of national discord and city-state strife. Encountering the soul of Pope Nicholas III in hell, the poet denounced: "Because of your greed you have made the world miserable, ravaged the good and exalted the evil". Pope Boniface VIII was still alive at the time, but the poet found a place for him in prison, and he fell upside down in a cave to be burned at the stake. Dante also criticized the corrupt church forces and compared the money-grubbing and immoral bishops to "greedy wolves dressed in shepherd's clothes" through the apostle Peter. The poet despised those politicians who lost their principles and took advantage of the situation in fierce political struggles. For this reason, he set up a corridor for their souls outside the first level of hell. These people were not even accepted by hell. They were stung by countless big yellow peaks in the corridor and were blown around by the strong wind. In fact, although the "Divine Comedy" adopts a dream form, its specific descriptions-especially in the "Inferno"-are a microcosm of the social reality of Italy at that time.
"The Divine Comedy" has achieved extremely high achievements in art and is a treasure nurtured by medieval literature. The poet uses the Christian concept of salvation and the theological doctrines of hell, purgatory, and heaven to structure the entire poem, integrating the complicated materials into a rigorous framework. The long poem is naturally divided into three parts, each with thirty-three chapters, plus an introductory poem, totaling 100 chapters. Every three lines are divided into sections, and the lines of each poem are roughly consistent. Not only is it neat and well-proportioned, but the structure itself is also rich in symbolic meaning. Although many of the characters in the poem are ghosts written by Dante, because they are all based on reality, they are written with full flesh and blood and distinct personalities, making them unforgettable for readers. The poet inherited the tradition of prophetic literature and apocalyptic literature, combining surging passion with incredible fantasies, combining the judgment of reality with sincere belief in the "Kingdom of Heaven", showing the poet's amazing imagination, combining dreams, Medieval literature and art characterized by allegory and symbolism reached their peak.
About the "Old Bridge" (ponte vecchio) and Dante's love
There are many beautiful ancient bridges across the Arno River that runs through the city. Every bridge records a legend from the past. The most famous one is the "Old Bridge" (ponte vecchio) located under the Trinita Bridge. It is the only covered bridge on the Arno River. It is like a "air corridor" and connects the Uffizi Gallery and the Beati Palace. . This weather-beaten old bridge was built in the ancient Roman period. It was hit by floods twice in 1177 and 1333, leaving only two marble piers.
The current elegant three-arch covered bridge was rebuilt on the original piers in 1345. There are three-story buildings on both sides of the bridge deck aisle, and there is a space of about 20 meters wide on both sides of the middle section of the bridge deck. As an observation deck, this unique design makes the entire bridge appear unrestrained and harmonious. In the summer of 1944, during World War II, the other nine of the ten ancient bridges on the Arno River were blown up by the Nazi army, but the "Old Bridge" was left intact.
However, the reason why this ancient bridge is famous is not entirely due to its ancient and legendary history. The more important reason is that another version of the "Covered Bridge Lost Dream" was once performed here, and its protagonist It is Dante, the great poet admired by the world.
It was a bright spring morning, and the sun shone on the Arno River, with sparkling waves. The covered bridge on the river (the old bridge at that time still looked like the ancient Roman period, the bridge deck and bridge corridors were Made of wood) and the pedestrians on the bridge make it even more dazzling. A noble and beautiful 8-year-old girl walked towards the Old Bridge accompanied by a maid. At this time, Dante was welcoming an 8-year-old girl onto the covered bridge from the other end of the covered bridge. The two met unexpectedly on the bridge. Dante stared at the 8-year-old girl, feeling surprised and disappointed; but the 8-year-old girl was holding flowers, looking straight ahead, and walked straight past Dante, as if she had not seen Dante. But the strange light radiating from her eyes and the flush on her face revealed the emotional information of the girl.
This is the scene where Dante and Beatrice met and fell in love at first sight, as depicted by the famous painter Henri Haurida in his oil painting "Dante and Beatrice Encounter". The girl holding flowers in the painting is the poet Dante's dream lover Beatrice.
In fact, this oil painting depicts only the beginning of Dante's first love. Beatrice did not marry Dante in the end. When Dante saw her for the second time, she had been forced to marry a count and died soon after. Beatrice took away Dante's dream and left the beauty and sadness to Dante. Dante is a man who is committed to love. He has been in love with her forever. Such sadness and longing led to his early poem "Rebirth".
After Dante expressed his pure love for Beatrice in "Rebirth", he then described his lover as the embodiment of pursuing the truth of heaven, and her soul flew into the sky. , got a new life. Even in his later years, Dante still couldn't let go of his obsession with Beatrice. In "The Divine Comedy", he portrayed Beatrice as a goddess who combined truth, goodness and beauty and guided him into heaven as a way of sustenance. His beautiful feelings for Beatrice. Love gave birth to "Rebirth", and "Rebirth" prepared the emotions and materials for his creation of "The Divine Comedy" in his later years. And all this stems from an encounter at "Covered Bridge". It was this encounter at the "Covered Bridge" that created Dante's status as "the last poet in the Middle Ages and the first great poet in the new era", and also created the masterpiece "Divine Comedy".