The New Life (La Vita Nuova)

What it is

This is Dante Alighieri's Vita Nuova (The New Life), a mix of poetry and prose from his youth, translated into English by the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. This edition was printed in London in 1899.

Why it matters

The original text, written by Dante himself, is one of the earliest works to blend personal narrative with poetry, and it set the stage for his later Divine Comedy. Rossetti's translation, made centuries later, shows how later poets and artists admired and reinterpreted Dante's work for new audiences.

Look closer

• Why might a poet like Rossetti feel moved to translate Dante's earliest writing rather than only his most famous poem?
• What can autobiographical writing like this tell us about Dante as a person, beyond his reputation as a great poet?
• How might translating poetry differ from translating prose?