Читать книгу Gesammelte Aufsätze zur romanischen Philologie – Studienausgabe. Herausgegeben und ergänzt um Aufsätze, Primärbibliographie und Nachwort von Matthias Bormuth und Martin Vialon онлайн

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For the verses Par. 27, 136–138:

Cosi si fa la pella bianca nera

nel primo aspetto de la bella figlia

di quel ch’apporta mane e lascia sera,

the interpretation of the daughter of the sun (di quel ch’apporta mane e lascia sera) as Circe, given first by Filomusi-GuelfiFilomusi-Guelfi, L., seems to me not an ideal solution, in spite of Michele Barbi’sBarbi, M. approval and in spite of the fact that some earlier passages31 may be alleged to support it. Neither am I inclined to accept the explanation of filia solis as humanity by referring to Par. 22, 116, where the sun is called padre d’ogni mortal vita. Indeed, I too believe that humanity or at least Christianity is meant, but that cannot be established in this way, and if for no other reason than that mortal vita is not humanity alone.

I think that those are on the right track who have referred to the Canticles for an explanation. But they base themselves, as far as I know, only on Cant. 7, 1 in connexion with Psalm 44, 14, where filia principis or regis is mentioned; this was sometimes interpreted, in the Middle AgesMittelalter, as the Church. But it is a rather weak support; for principis or regis is not solis; and every expert in the figurative tradition will agree with me that the Church (or Christianity or the faithful soul) is very often symbolized as sponsa Christi, but scarcely as his daughter32 – and there is no doubt that the sun, in the typological tradition, can mean nothing else but Christ, sol iustitiae and oriens ex alto. It is very likely that DanteDante was in difficulties for a rhyme, and thus he may have combined the unusual image filia principis with sponsa solis; or even, the difficulty of the rhyme may have induced him to a somewhat violent and ambiguous order of words: so that di quel ch’ apporta mane e lascia sera would depend not on figlia, but on primo aspetto; thus, the problem filia solis would disappear, and the sentence, in normal word-order, would run: Cosi si fa la pelle bianca della bella figlia nera, nel primo aspetto di quel … But although I personally am very much inclined to adopt this solution, I have no means of proving it.