Dante and his circle : with the Italian poets preceding him (1100-1200-1300) : a collection of lyrics

PART II. Poets chiefly before Dante

BOSTON:

LHTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,

Eo mg JHotljet

/ DEDICATE THIS NEW EDITION OP A BOOK PRIZED BY HER LOVE.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE EDITION

IN re-entitling and re-arranging this book (originally published in 1861 as The Early Italian Poets) my object has been to make more evident at a first glance its important relation to Dante. The Vita Nuova, together with the many among Dante's lyrics and those of his contemporaries which elucidate their personal intercourse, are here assembled, and brought to my best ability into clear connection, in a manner not elsewhere attempted even by Italian or German editors.

Preface To The First Edition

I NEED not dilate here on the characteristics of the first epoch of Italian Poetry, since the extent of my translated selections is sufficient to afford a complete view of it. Its great beauties may often remain unapproached in the. versions here attempted ; but, at the same time, its imperfections are not all to be charged to the translator. Among these I may refer to its limited range of subject and continual obscurity, as well as to its monotony in the use of rhymes or frequent substitution of assonances. But to compensate for much that is incomplete and inexperienced, these poems possess, in their degree, beauties of a kind which can never again exist in art ; and offer, besides, a treasure of grace and variety in the formation of their metres. Nothing but a strong impression, first of their poetic value, and next of the biographical interest of some of them (chiefly of those in my first division), would have inclined me to bestow the time and trouble which have resulted in this collection.

Much has been said, and in many respects justly, against the value of metrical translation. But I think it would be admitted that the tributary art might find a not illegitimate use in the case of poems which come down to us in such a form as do these early Italian ones. Struggling originally with corrupt dialect and imperfect expression, and hardly kept alive through centuries of neglect, they have reached that last and worst state in which the coup-de-grace has almost been dealt them by clumsy transcription and pedantic superstructure. At this stage the task of talking much more about them in any language is hardly to be entered upon ;

vili Preface.

and a translation (involving as it does the necessity of setdir.g many points without discussion) remains perhaps the most direct form of commentary.

The life-blood of rhythmical translation is this commandment, ■ — that a good poem shall not be turned into a bad one. The only true motive for putdng poetry into a fresh language must be to endow a fresh nation, as far as possible, with one more possession of beauty. Poetry not being an exact science, literality of rendering is altogether secondary to this chief law. I say literality, — not fidelity, which is by no means the same thing. When literality can be combined with what is thus the primary condition of success, the translator is fortunate, and must strive his utmost to unite them ; when such object can only be attained by paraphrase, that is his only path.

Any merit possessed by these translations is derived from an effort to follow this principle ; and, in some degree, from the fact that such painstaking in arrangement and descriptive heading as is often indispensable to old and especially to " occasional " poetry, has here been bestowed on these poets for the first time.

That there are many defects in this collection, or that the above merit is its defect, or that it has no merits but only defects, are discoveries so sure to be made if necessary (or perhaps here and there in any case), that I may safely leave them in other hands. The series has probably a wider scope than some readers might look for, and includes now and then (though I believe in rare instances) matter which may not meet with universal approval ; and whose introduction, needed as it is by the literary aim of my work, is I know inconsistent with the principles of pretty bookmaking. My wish has been to give a full and truthful view of early Italian poetry ; not to make it appear to consist only of certain elements to the exclusion of others equally belonging to it.

Of the difficulties I have had to encounter, — the causes of imperfections for which I have no other excuse, — it is the reader's best privilege to remain ignorant; but I may perhaps be pardoned for briefly referring to such among these as concern the exigencies of translation. The task of the translator (and with all humility be it spoken) is one of some self-denial. Often would he avail himself of any special

Preface. ix

grace of his own idiom and epoch, if only his will belonged to him : often would some cadence serve him but for his author's structure — some structure but for his author's cadence : often the beautiful turn of a stanza must be weakened to adopt some rhyme which will tally, and he sees the poet revelling in abundance of language where himself is scantily supplied. Now he would slight the matter for the music, and now the music for the matter; but no, — he must deal to each alike. Sometimes too a flaw in the work galls him, and he would fain remove it, doing for the poet that which his age denied him ; but no, — it is not in the bond. His path is like that of Aladdin through the enchanted vaults : many are the precious fruits and flowers which he nmst pass by unheeded in search for the lamp alone ; happy if at last, when brought to light, it does not prove that his old lamp has been exchanged for a new one, — ghttering indeed to the eye, but scarcely of the same virtue nor with the same genius at its summons.

In relinquishing this work (which, small as it is, is the only contribution I expect to make to our English knowledge of old Italy), I feel, as it were, divided from my youth. The first associations I have are connected with my father's devoted studies, which, from his own point of view, have done so much towards the general investigation of Dante's writings. Thus, in those early days, all around me partook of the influence of the great Florentine ; till, from viewing it as a natural element, I also, growing older, was drawn within the circle. I trust that from this the reader may place more confidence in a work not carelessly undertaken, though produced in the spare-time of other pursuits more closely followed. He should perhaps be told that it has occupied the leisure moments of not a few years ; thus affording, often at long intervals, every opportunity for consideration and revision ; and that on the score of care, at least, he has no need to mistrust it. Nevertheless, I know there is no great stir to be made by launching afresh, on high- seas busy with new traffic, the ships which have been long outstripped and the ensigns which are grown strange.

It may be well to conclude this short preface with a list of the works which have chiefly contributed to the materials of the present volume. An array of modern editions hardly looks so imposing as might a reference to Allacci, Crescim-

X Preface.

beni, etc. ; but these older collections would be found less accessible, and all they contain has been reprinted.

II. Raccolta di Rime antiche Toscane. 4 voi. (Palermo. 1817.)

III. Manuale della Letteratura del primo Secolo, del Prof. V. Nannucci. 3 voi. (Firenze. 1843.)

IV. Poesie Italiane inedite di Dugento Autori : raccolte da Francesco Trucchi. 4 voi. (Prato. 1846.)

V. Opere Minori di Dante. Edizione di P. I. Fraticelli. (Firenze. 1843, etc.)

VI. Rime di Guido Cavalcanti ; raccolte da A. Cicciaporci. (Firenze. 1813.)

VII. Vita e Poesie di Messer Cino da Pistoia. Edizione di S. Ciampi. (Pisa. 1813.)

VIII. Documenti d'Amore; di Francesco da Barberino. Annotati da F. Ubaldini. (Roma. 1640.)

IX. Del Reggimento e dei Costumi delle Donne ; di Francesco da Barberino. (Roma. 181 5.)

X. Il Dittamondo di Fazio degli Uberti. (Milano. 1826.)

Contents

PART I.- DANTE AND HIS CIRCLE.

PAGE

J Introduction to Part i i Dante Alighieri.

Appendix To Part I

I. Forese Donati.

Sonnet (Dante to Forese). He taunts Forese, by the

nickname of Bieci 1 54

Sonnet (Forese to Dante). He taunts Dante ironically for not avetiging Geri AUsrhieri 155

Sonnet (Dante to Forese). He tatmts him concerning

his Wife • ^55

Sonnet (Forese to Dante). He taunts him concerning

the unavenged Spirit of Ceri Alighieri 156

II. Cecco d' Ascoli iS9

Contents.

PAGE

III. Giovanni Boccaccio.

Sonnet. To one who had censured his public Exposition

of Dante l6o

Sonnet. Inscription for a Portrait of Dante . . . . i6o

Sonnet. To Dante in Paradise, after Fiamitietta''s death i6i

Sonnet. Of Fiammetta singins[ i6i

Sonnet. Of his last sight of Fia7nmetta 162

Sonnet. Of three Girls and of their Talk 162

PART II.

POETS CHIEFLY BEFORE DANTE.

./CiULLo d' Alcamo.

Dialogue. Lover and Lady 172

FOLCACHIERO DE' FoLCACHIERI.

Canzone. He speaks of his Condition through Love . . . 180 Lodovico della Vernaccia.

Sonnet, //e exhorts the State to vigilance 182

Saint Francis of Assisi.

Cantica. Our Lord Christ: of Order 183

v/^Frederick IL Emperor.

Canzone. Of his Lady iti Bondage 184

Enzo, King of Sardinia.

Sonnet. On the fitness of Seasons 186

Guido Guinicelli.

Sonnet. Concerning Lticy 187

>/Canzone. Of the gentle Heart 187

Sonnet. He will praise his Lady 189

Canzone. He perceives his Rashness in Love, but has no

choice 189

Sonnet. Of Moderation and Tolerance 190

Sonnet. Of Human Presiutiption 191

GuERZO di Montecanti.

Sonnet. He is 07it of heart ivith his Time 192

Inghilfredi, Siciliano.

Canzone. He rebukes the Evil of that Time 193

Rinaldo d' Aquino.

/ Canzone. He is resolved to be joyful in Love 195

/ Canzone. A Lady, in Spring, repents of her Coldness . . 197 Jacopo da Lentino.

Sonnet. Of his Lady in Heaven 198

Canzonetta. Of his Lady, and of her Portrait .... 199 xvi e 0 lit e ì its.

PAGE

Sonnet. N'o Jnvel is worth his Lady 201

Canzonetta He ^vill neither boast tior latnetit to his Lady . 201

CANZONETrA, 0/ his Lady, and of his making her Likeness 203

Sonnet. Of his Lady's Face 204

Canzone. At the end of his Hope 205

Mazzeo di Ricco, da Messina.

Canzone. He solicits his Lady's Pity 207

Canzone. After Six Years' Service he renounces his Lady . 208

Sonnet. Of Self-seeing 209

Pannuccio dal Bagno, Pisano.

Canzone. Of his Change through Lave 211

.y^ Giacomino Pugliesi.

Canzonetta. Of his Lady in Absence 213

Canzonetta. To his Lady, in Spring 214

Canzone. Of kis dead Lady 215

Fra Guittone d' Arezzo.

Sonnet. To the Blessed VÌ7gin Mary 217

Bartolomeo di Sant' Angelo.

Sonnet. He Jests concerning his Poverty 218

Saladino da Pavia.

Dialogue. Lover arid Lady 219

Bon aggiunta Urbiciani, da Lucca.

Canzone. Of the true end of Love ; with a Prayer to his

Lady 221

Canzonetta. How he dreams of his Ljidy 222

Sonnet. Of Wisdom and Foresight 224

Sonnet. Of Contittence in Speech 224

Meg Abbracciavacca, da Pistoia.

Canzone. He will be silent and watchful in his Love . . . 225 Ballata. His Life is by Contraries 227

Ubaldo di Marco.

Sonnet. Of a Lady' s Love for hivi 228

Simbuono Giudice.

Canzone. He fijids that Love has beguiled him, but will trust

in his Lady 229

Masolino da Todi.

Sonnet. Of Work and Wealth 231

Onesto di Boncima, Bolognese.

Sonnet. Of the Last Jjcdgment 232

Sonnet. He ivishes that he could meet his Lady alone . . . 233

Terino da Castel Fiorentino.

Sonnet. To Onesto di Bonci?na, in Answer to the foregoing 234

Maestro Migliore, da Fiorenza.

Sonnet. He declares all Love to be Grief 235

Dello da Signa.

Ballata. His Creed of Ldeal Love 236

Coìitents. xvii

PAGE

Folgore da San Geminiano.

Sonnet. To the Gnelf Faction 237

Sonnet. To the Same 238

Sonnet. Of Virtue 238

Twelve Sonnets. Of the Months 239

Seven Sonnets. Of the Week 245

Guido delle Colonne.

Canzone. To Love and to his Lady 249

Pier Moronelli, di Fiorenza.

Canzonetta. A bitter Song to his Lady 251

CiUNCio Fiorentino

Canzone. Of his Love ; with the Figures of a Stag, of

Water, and of an Eagle 253

Ruggieri di Amici, Siciliano.

Canzonetta. For a Renewal of Favors 255

Carnino Ghiberti, da Fiorenza.

Canzone. Being absent from his Lady, he fears Death . . 257

Prinzivalle Doria.

Canzone. Of his Love, with the Figure of a sudden Storm . 259

Rustico di Filippo.

Sonnet. Of the making of Master Messerin 261

Sonnet. Of the Safety of Messer Fazio 261

Sonnet. Of Messer Ugolino 262

PUCCIARELLO DI FIORENZA.

Sonnet. Of Expediency 263

Albertuccio della Viola.

Canzone. Of his Lady dancing 264

Tommaso Buzzuola, da Faenza.

Sonnet. Lie is in awe of his Lady 265

NOFFO BONAGUIDA.

Sonnet. He is e^ijoined to pure Love 266

Lippo Paschi de' Bardi.

Sonnet. He solicits a Lady's Favors 267

Ser Pace, Notaio da Fiorenza.

Sonnet. A Return to Love 268

Niccolò degli Albizzi.

Prolonged Sonnet. When the Troops were retiirfting

from Milan 269

Francesco da Barberino.

Blank Verse. A Virgin declares her Beauties .... 270

Sentenze. Of Sloth agaiiist Sin 271

Sentenze. Of Sins in Speech 272

Sentenze. Of Importunities and Troublesofne Persons . . 273 Sentenze. Of Caution 275

Fazio degli Uberti.

Canzone. His Portrait of his Lady, Angiola of Verona . . 276 Extract from the "Dittamondo." Of Ettgland, and

of its Marvels 278 xviii Contents.

PAGE

Extract from the "Dittamondo." Of the Dukes of Normandy, and thence of the Kincrs of England, from

William I. to Edward III. . . ' 281

Franco Sacchetti.

Ballata. His Talk with certain Peasant-girls 284

Catch. On a Fine Day 285

Catch. On a Wet Day 286

Anonymous Poems.

Sonnet. A Lady laments for her lost Lover, by similitude of

a Falcon 288

Ballata. One speaks of the Beginning of his Love . . . 288

Ballata. One speaks of his false Lady 289

Ballata. One speaks of his Feigned and Real Love . . . 289

Ballata. Of True and False Singing 290

PART I.

DANTE AND HIS CIRCLE.

I. DANTE ALIGHIERI.

II. GUIDO CAVALCANTI.

IIL CINO DA PISTOIA.

IV. DANTE DA MAIANO.

V. CECCO ANGIOLIERI.

VL GUIDO ORLANDI.

VII. BERNARDO DA BOLOGNA.

VIIL GIANNI ALFANI.

IX. DINO COMPAGNI.

X. LAPO GIANNI.

XL DINO FRESCOBALDI.

XIL GIOTTO DI BONDONE.

XIII. SIMONE DALL' ANTELLA.

XIV. GIOVANNI QUIRINO.

DANTE AND HIS CIRCLE.

Introduction To Part I

IN the first division of this volume are included all the poems I could find which seemed to have value as being personal to the circle of Dante's friends, and as illustrating their intercourse with each other. Those who know the Italian collections from which I have drawn these pieces (many of them most obscure) will perceive how much which is in fact elucidation is here attempted to be embodied in themselves, as to their rendering, arrangement, and heading : since the Italian editors have never yet paid any of them, except of course those by Dante, any such attention ; but have printed and reprinted them in a jumbled and disheartening form, by which they can serve little purpose except as testi di lingua — dead stock by whose help the makers of dictionaries may smother the language with decayed words. Appealing now I believe for the first time in print, though in a new idiom, from their once living writers to such living readers as they may find, they require some preliminary notice.

The Vita Nuova (the Autobiography or Autopsychology of Dante's youth till about his twenty-seventh year) is already well known to many in the original, or by means of essays and of English versions partial or entire. It is, therefore, and on all accounts, unnecessary to say much more of the work here than it says for itself. Wedded to its exquisite and intimate beauties are personal peculiarities which excite wonder and conjecture, best replied to in the words which Beatrice herself is made to utter in the Commedia : " Questi f^^ tal nella

Dante and His Circle.

sua vita nuova." ^ Thus then young Dante was. All that seemed possible to be done here for the work was to translate it in as free and clear a form as was consistent with fidelity to its meaning ; to ease it, as far as possible, from notes and encumbrances ; and to accompany it for the first time with those poems from Dante's own lyrical series which have reference to its events, as well as with such native commentary (so to speak) as might be afforded by the writings of those with whom its author was at that time in familiar intercourse. Not chiefly to Dante, then, of whom so much is known to all or may readily be found written, but to the various other members of his circle, these few pages should be devoted.

It may be noted here, however, how necessary a knowledge of the Vita Nuova is to the full comprehension of the part borne by Beatrice in the Commedia. Moreover, it is only from the perusal of its earliest and then undivulged self-communings that we can divine the whole bitterness of wrong to such a soul as Dante's, its poignant sense of abandonment, or its deep and jealous refuge in memory. Above all, it is here that we find the first manifestations of that wisdom of obedience, that natural breath of duty, which afterwards, in the Com7?iedia, lifted up a mighty voice for warning and testimony. Throughout the Vita Nuova there is a strain like the first falling m'lrmuT which reaches the ear in some remote meadow, and prepares us to look upon the sea.

Boccaccio, in his Life of Dante, tells us that the great poet, in later life, was ashamed of this work of his youth. Such a statement hardly seems reconcilable with the allusions to it made or implied in the Commedia ; but it is true that the Vita Nuova is a book which only youth could have produced, and which must chiefly remain sacred to the young ; to each of whom the figure of Beatrice, less lifelike than lovelike, will seem the friend of his own heart. Nor is this, perhaps, its least praise. To tax its author with effeminacy on account of the extreme sensitiveness evinced by this narrative of his love, would be manifestly unjust, when we find that, though love alone is the theme of the Vita Nuova, war already ranked among its author's experiences at the period to which it relates. In the year 1289, the one preceding the

1 Purgatorio, C. jcxx.

Introduction to Part I.

death of Beatrice, Dante served with the foremost cavalry in the great battle of Campaldino, on the eleventh of June, when the Florentines defeated the people of Arezzo. In the autumn of the next year, 1290, when for him, by the death of Beatrice, the city as he says "sat solitary," such refuge as he might find from his grief was sought in action and danger : for we learn from the Commedia (Hell, C. xxi.) that he served in the war then waged by Florence upon Pisa, and was present at the surrender of Caprona. He says, using the reminiscence to give life to a description, in his great way : —

" l 've seen the troops out of Caprona go

On terms, affrighted thus, when on the spot They found themselves with foemen compass'd so."

( C AY LE Y 's Tratistation . )

A word should be said here of the title of Dante's autobiography. The adjective Nuovo, nuova, or Novello, Jiovella^ literally New, is often used by Dante and other early writers in the sense oi young. This has induced some editors of the Vita Nuova to explain the title as meaning Early Life. I should be glad on some accounts to adopt this supposition, as everything is a gain which increases clearness to the modern reader ; but on consideration I think the more mystical interpretation of the words, as Ne7v Life (in reference to that revulsion of his being which Dante so minutely describes as having occurred simultaneously with his first sight of Beatrice), appears the primary one, and therefore the most necessary to be given in a translation. The probability may be that both were meant, but this 1 cannot convey.^

1 I must hazard here (to reheve the first page of my translation from a long note) a suggestion as to the meaning of the most puzzling passage in the whole Vita Nziova, — that sentence just at the outset which says, "La gloriosa donna della mia mente, la quale fìi chiamata da molti Beatrice, i quali non sapeano che si chiamare." On this passage all the commentators seem helpless, turning it about and sometimes adopting alterations not to be found in any ancient manuscript of the work. The words mean literally, " The glorious lady of my mind who was called Beatrice by many wlio knew not how she was called." This presents the obvious difficulty that the lady's name really was Beatrice, and that Dante throughout uses that name himself. In the text of my version I have adopted, as a rendering, the one of the various compromises which seemed to give the most beauty to the meaning. But it occurs to me that a less irrational escape out of the difficulty than any I have seen suggested may possibly be found by linking this passage with tlie close of the sonnet at page 56 of the Vita Nitova, beginning, " I felt a spirit of Love begin to stir," in the last line of which sonnet Love is made to assert that the name of Bea-

Dante and His Circle.

Among the poets of Dante's circle, the first in order, the first in power, and the one whom Dante has styled his "first friend," is Guido Cavalcanti, born about 1250, and thus Dante's senior by some fifteen years. It is therefore probable that there is some inaccuracy about the statement, often repeated, that he was Dante's fellow-pupil under Brunetto Latini ; though it seems certain that they both studied, probably Guido before Dante, with the same teacher. The Cavalcanti family was among the most ancient in Florence ; and its importance may be judged by the fact that in 1280, on the occasion of one of the various missions sent from Rome with the view of pacifying the Florentine factions, the name of " Guido the son of Messer Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti " appears as one of the sureties offered by the city for the quarter of San Piero Scheraggio. His father must have been notoriously a sceptic in matters of religion, since we find him placed by Dante in the sixth circle of Hell, in one of the fiery tombs of the unbelievers. That Guido shared this heresy was the popular belief, as is pjain from an anecdote in Boccaccio which I shall give ; and some corroboration of such reports, at any rate as applied to Guido's youth, seems capable of being gathered from an extremely obscure poem, which I have translated on that account (at page 113) as clearly as I found possible. It must be admitted, however, that there is to the full as much devotional as sceptical tendency implied here and there in his writings ; while the presence of either is very rare. We may also set against such a charge the fact that Dino Compagni refers, as will be seen, to his having undertaken a

trice is Love. Dante appears to have dwelt on this fancy with some pleasure, from what is said in an earlier sonnet (page 31) about "Love in his proper form •' (by which Beatrice seems to be meant) bending over a dead lady. And it is in connection with the sonnet where the name of Beatrice is said to be Love, that Dante, as if to show us that the Love he speaks of is only his own emotion, enters into an argument as to Love being merely an accident in substance, — in other words, "Amore e il cor gentil son una cosa." This conjecture may be pronounced extravagant; but the Vita Nuova ^ when examined, proves so full of intricate and' fantastic analogies, even in the mere arrangement of its parts (much more than appears on any but the closest scrutiny), that it seems admissible to suggest even a whimsical solution of a difficulty which remains unconquered. Or to have recourse to the much more welcome means of solution afforded by simple inherent beauty : may not the meaning be merely that any person looking on so noble and lovely a creation, without knowledge of her name, must have spontaneously called her Beatrice, — i. <?., the giver of blessing ? This would be analogous by antithesis to tlie translation I have adopted in my text.

Introduction to Part I.

religious pilgrimage. But indeed he seems to have been in all things of that fitful and vehement nature which would impress others always strongly, but often in opposite ways. Self-reliant pride gave its color to all his moods ; making his exploits as a soldier frequently abortive through the headstrong ardor of partisanship, and causing the perversity of a logician to prevail in much of his amorous poetry. The writings of his contemporaries, as well as his own, tend to show him rash in war, fickle in love, and presumptuous in belief; but also, by the same concurrent testimony, he was distinguished by great personal beauty, high accomplishments of all kinds, and daring nobility of soul. Not unworthy, for all the weakness of his strength, to have been \ the object of Dante's early emulation, the first friend of his youth, and his precursor and fellow-laborer in the creation of Italian Poetry.

In the year 1267, when Guido cannot have been much more than seventeen years of age, a last attempt was made in Florence to reconcile the Guelfs and Ghibellines. With this view several alliances were formed between the leading families of the two factions ; and among others, the Guelf Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti wedded his son Guido to a daughter of the Ghibelline Farinata degli Uberti. The peace was of short duration ; the utter expulsion of the Ghibellines (through French intervention solicited by the Guelfs) following almost immediately. In the subdivision, which afterwards took place, of the victorious Guelfs into so-called " Blacks " and " Whites," Guido embraced the White party, which tended strongly to Ghibellinism, and whose chief was Vieri de' Cerchi, while Corso Donati headed the opposite faction. W^hether his wife was still living at the time when the events of the Vita Nuova occurred is probably not ascertainable ; but about that time Dante tells us that Guido was enamoured of a lady named Giovanna or Joan, and whose Christian name is absolutely all that we know of her. However, on the occasion of his pilgrimage to Thoulouse, recorded by Dino Compagni, he seems to have conceived a fresh passion for a lady of that city named Mandetta, who first attracted him by a striking resemblance to his Florentine mistress. Thoulouse had become a place of pilgrimage' from its laying claim to the possession of the body, or part of the body, of St. James the Greater ; though

Dante and His Circle.

the same supposed distinction had already made the shrine of Compostella in Galicia one of the most famous throughout all Christendom. That this devout journey of Guido's had other results besides a new love will be seen by the passage from Compagni's Chronicle. He says : —

" A young and noble knight named Guido, son of Messer Cavalcante Cavalcanti, — full of courage and courtes}^ but disdainful, solitary, and devoted to study, — was a foe to Messer Corso (Donati), and had many times cast about to do him hurt. Messer Corso feared him exceedingly, as knowing him to be of a great spirit, and sought to assassinate him on a pilgrimage which Guido made to the shrine of St, James ; but he might not compass it. Wherefore, having returned to Florence and being made aware of this. Guido incited many youths against Messer Corso, and these promised to stand by him. Who being one day on horseback with certain of the house of the Cerchi, and having a javelin in his hand, spurred his horse against Messer Corso, thinking to be followed by the Cerchi that so their companies might engage each other; and he running in on his horse cast the javelin, which missed its aim. And with Messer Corso were Simon, his son, a strong and daring youth, and Cecchino de' Bardi, who with many others pursued Guido with drawn swords ; but not overtaking him they threw stones after him, and also others were thrown at him from the windows, whereby he was wounded in the hand. And by this matter hate was increased. And Messer Corso spoke great scorn of Messer Vieri, calling him the Ass of the Gate ; because, albeit a very handsome man, he was but of blunt wit and no great speaker. And therefore Messer Corso would say often, * To-day the Ass of the Gate has brayed,' and so greatly disparage him; and Guido he called Cavicchia)- And thus it was spread abroad of X\i& jongleurs ; and especially one named Scampolino reported worse things than were said, that so the Cerchi might be provoked to engage the Donati."