Poetry

‘AUIEO’ (Convivio IV, vi, 3): midway in his career, Dante explores an etymology for poetic authority that singles out poets as those who join together words with rhyme and rhythm. In his linguistic thought, Dante views poetry as a form of ‘binding’ that stabilizes and preserves the vernacular, and turns it into an established language (a ‘grammar’, like Latin or Greek), without annihilating the vitality of the natural language. This chapter argues that the reach of poetry in Dante’s work extends well beyond language, to become a true episteme that is able to accurately read and retell the world and even God. Disenfranchised from the burden of authenticity and authentication (and also from automatism and replication), the poet forges a new outlook on the universe, and endows poetry with powers of exploration and reflection, whilst still retaining its lyrical genetic code and its links to affectivity and individuality.