THE COMPLETE POETRY Giacomo da Lentini This volume presents the first translation in English of the complete poetry of Giacomo da Lentini, the first major lyric poet of the Italian vernacular. He was the leading exponent of the Sicilian School (c.1220– 1270) as well as the inventor of the sonnet. Featuring illustrations and new English translations of some forty lyrics, Richard Lansing revives the work of a pioneer of Italian literature, a poet who helped pave the way for later writers such as Dante and Petrarch. Giacomo da Lentini is hailed as the earliest poet to import the Occitan tradition of love poetry into the Italian vernacular. This edition of Giacomo fills a gap in the canon of translations of Italian literature in English and serves as a vital reference source for students as well as scholars and teachers interested in the literature of the romance languages. (The Lorenzo da Ponte Italian Library) giacomo da lentini was an Italian poet of the thirteenth century and a member of the Sicilian School during the reign of Frederick II. The topics of his poetry primarily concerned courtly and chivalrous love. richard lansing is a professor emeritus of Italian and Comparative Literature at Brandeis University. akash kumar is visiting assistant professor of Literature at the Uni­ versity of California, Santa Cruz. THE LORENZO DA PONTE ITALIAN LIBRARY General Editors Luigi Ballerini and Massimo Ciavolella University of California, Los Angeles Honorary Chairs Ambassador Gianfranco Facco Bonetti Doctor Berardo Paradiso Honorable Anthony J. Scirica Advisory Board Remo Bodei, Università di Pisa Lina Bolzoni, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Francesco Bruni, Università di Venezia Cesare De Michelis, Università di Padova Giorgio Ficara, Università di Torino Giuseppe Mazzotta, Yale University Gilberto Pizzamiglio, Università di Venezia Margaret Rosenthal, University of Southern California John Scott, University of Western Australia Elissa Weaver, University of Chicago *** AGINCOURT LTD. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Luigi Ballerini Vivian Cardia Maria Teresa Cometto Nicholas Gravante Lorenzo Mannelli Eugenio Nardelli Berardo Paradiso Silvana Riggio Nicola Tegoni Diego Rodino di Miglione Giorgio Van Straten THE DA PONTE ITALIAN LIBRARY Giacomo da Lentini THE COMPLETE POETRY Translation and Notes by Richard Lansing Introduction by Akash Kumar UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2018 Toronto Buffalo London utorontopress.com Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978­1­4875­0376­5 (cloth) ISBN 978­1­4875­2286­5 (paper) Printed on acid­free, 100% post­consumer recycled paper with vegetable­ based inks. The Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Giacomo, da Lentini, active 13th century [Poems. English] The complete poetry of Giacomo Da Lentini / translation and notes by Richard Lansing; introduction by Akash Kumar. (The Da Ponte Italian library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978­1­4875­0376­5 (cloth). – ISBN 978­1­4875­2286­5 (paper) I. Lansing, Richard H., translator II. Title. III. Series: Lorenzo da Ponte Italian library PQ4471.G3A2 2018 851'.1 C2018­900232­8 This book has been published under the aegis of Agincourt Press LTD. This book has been published with the financial assistance of a grant provided by the Brandeis University Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario. Funded by the Financé par le Government gouvernement of Canada du Canada For Camilla Wynne Angelica figura e comprobata This page intentionally left blank .