Jacopo da Lentino. “Sonnet. Of his Lady in Heaven.” - Collection Introduction

DGR's efforts to develop a spare and simple style are splendidly realized in this translation of the famous Italian original by Giacomo da Lentini. The poet's exact dates are not known but he flourished in the early thirteenth-century and was a leading figure in the court of Frederick II, where the Sicilian School emerged from an enthusiasm for provencal poetry. He may well have lived for a time in Bologna and Tuscany, where his influence was very great. He was regarded at the time, and may still claim to be, the most important poet of that period in Italy.

DGR's source text in Poeti del primo secolo (I. 319) leads him to the translation of “joyful” in the final line (for “gioia”). But the correct text—a far better one—is “ghiora”, a popular form for “gloria”.