On the part of Beatrice there is misunderstanding of the
amatory verses he writes at this period and she withholds her greeting.
Then, more than ever, he realizes what that salutation meant to him.
Deprived of it now, he dwells upon the sweet memory of the salutation:
"In the hope of her marvelous salutation there no longer remained to me
an enemy, nay, a flame of charity possessed me which made me pardon
everyone who had done me wrong." Under the influence of her salutation,
Dante tells us that he devised this sonnet:
"So gentle and so gracious doth appear
My lady when she giveth her salute
That every tongue becometh, trembling, mute:
Nor do the eyes to look upon her dare
Although she hears her praises, she doth go
Benignly vested with humility:
And like a thing come down, she seems to be,
From heaven to earth, a miracle to show.
So pleaseth she whoever cometh nigh.
She gives the heart a sweetness through the eyes,
Which none can understand who doth not prove
And from her countenance there seems to move
A spirit, sweet, and in Love's very guise,
Who to the soul, in going sayeth: 'Sigh.'"
(Norton's translation.)
Because she now denies to him the bliss of salutation he says: "I went
into a solitary place to bathe the earth with most bitter tears.
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