DANTE'S STATUE - LINCOLN CENTER

Autumn Song

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on it for a covering,
And how sleep seems a goodly thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

And how the swift beat of the brain
Falters because it is in vain,
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf
Knowest thou not? and how the chief
Of joys seems--not to suffer pain?

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the soul feels like a dried sheaf
Bound up at length for harvesting,
And how death seems a comely thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

Dante is considered the greatest of Italian Romantic poets, especially since hthe Florentine broke from the tradition of writing in Latin to present his works in Tuscan, the middle age Italian dialect of his home. Only to be faithful to the doctrines of the Church as typical for most people of the Middles Ages. most of the translation tend to come from the work of Classical English poet. Who spoke in such a manner?

Dante's Statue in Lincoln Center

Walking to the Empire Hotel I spotted a badly-lit statue before Lincoln Center. I wandered onto the grass and was surprised to see a plaque for Dante, the legendary poet of The Inferno. The Middle Age Tuscan poet has been credited with the creation of the modern Italian language.

I love his description of Satan.

he had three faces: one in front bloodred; and then another two that, just above the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first; and at the crown, all three were reattached; the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white; the left in its appearance was like those who come from where the Nile, descending, flows.

Oh, great Satan.

And oh, Dante, may you stand forever in New York.