Vita Nuova

Dante and Mark Musa

Narrated by Tim Lundeen

Book published by Indiana University Press

Vita Nuova (1292-94) is regarded as Dante's most profound creation. The thirty-one poems in this, the first of his major writings, are linked by a lyrical prose narrative celebrating and debating the subject of love. Composed upon Dante's meeting with Beatrice and the "Lord of Love," it is a love story set to the task of confirming the "new life" this meeting inspired. With a critical introduction and explanatory notes, this is a new translation of a supreme work which has been read variously as biography, religious allegory, and a meditation on poetry itself.

Mark Musa , Distinguished Professor of Italian at Indiana University, has translated and edited critical editions of many Italian literary classics, including Dante’s Divine Comedy, The Decameron, The Portable Machiavelli, and The Portable Dante.