Page:Dante and His Circle, with the Italian Poets Preceding Him.djvu/446

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"An awkward intermezzo to the volume."The term "intermezzo" was correct when my brother wrote it; because his introduction, regarding Dante and his friends, appeared in the middle of the original volume entitled The Early Italian Poets, 1861. On republishing the book in 1874, my brother inverted the order of his translations, and made those taken from Dante and his friends to appear in the opening pages of the volume. The word "intermezzo" ought then to have disappeared; it must have been left through inadvertence.

"This sonnet is divided," etc.It may be as well to mention that the expositions (of which this is the first) appended to the various poems of the Vita Nuova were translated by me, not by my brother. Several foot-notes are also mine. The translation of the Vita Nuova had been done by my brother at a very early date, probably 1847–8; when he was more inclined to consult his own preferences in the way of translating than to be at the rigid beck of his original. When he had to prepare the work, 1860, for publication, he felt that he had taken too great a liberty, and asked me to supply what was wanted in relation to these expositions, etc.

—It is no part of my business to revise the translations and interpretations of my brother: yet I may be excused for observing that there is not in this Italian sonnet anything to indicate that Cavalcanti considered the Image to resemble "his Lady"—i.e., the woman he was in love with. He speaks of