The New Life (La Vita Nuova)

About the book

"The New Life (La Vita Nuova)" by Dante Alighieri is a prosimetrum published in 1294. Combining both prose and verse, this "little book" traces Dante's love for Beatrice from their first meeting at age nine through her death and beyond. Through commentaries on twenty-five sonnets and several other poems, Dante transforms courtly love into something sacred, marking a turning point in European poetry by writing in Italian rather than Latin and drawing on personal experience.