NEW LIFE; TRANS. BY J.G. NICHOLS

the long version

"New Life is Dante's account of his lifelong muse Beatrice, an unobtainable woman who predeceased him by many years, but inspired the most beautiful poetry of his youth." "From his first meeting with her, dressed modestly but strikingly in crimson, Dante sensed that his life would never be quite the same again. The story of his attachment follows: his helpless emotional and physical reactions to her, his strange visions, and his desperate subterfuges, together with all the moving sonnets and canzoni that 'his gracious lady' inspired. At once a subtle spiritual allegory and a moving portrait of the youthful love that can afflict us all, New Life is the acknowledged masterpiece of Dante's early life, prefiguring in many ways both the poetic fruition of The Divine Comedy and the modern novel form."--Jacket.