Fathers Day Saying from Dante
Il 16 di Giugno
Buona Festa della Papà!
Happy Father’s Day!
Auguri! = Best Wishes
a tutti i padri, nonni, e bisnonni del mondo!
Fathers Day saying from Dante? Why? Well, I have to confess that the famous Italian poet of old, so famous that we all have come to know him by just one name – Dante – has crept unexpectedly into my life.
I have recently been reading Dianne Hales book La Bella Lingua, a little bit each night. The subtitle to this book is, “My love affair with Italian, the world’s most enchanting language,” and I would encourage every serious student of Italian to read this book to discover just how the Italian language we love so much came about.
In this book, we relive the “story” of the adoption of Italian by Italians as told through Dianne’s experiences in Italy; she discovers the facts of history, bit by bit, directly from scholars she interviews as well as from the families that she meets every day during the many months of the year she spends in Italy.
The third chapter is dedicated to Dante, who was born into an educated family for Florence as Durante degli Alighieri in 1265. At the beginning of Dante’s life, Latin was the language of scholars. Diane explains Dante’s genius as a poet in the Italian language that had been developing for hundreds of years before his time. Dante’s three volume Commedia (The Divine Comedy) was the longest serious work written in Italian up to that point, and earned him the title “Father of Italian.” The Renaissance developed in Florence as Dante was writing this book in the early 1300’s. Italians still study Dante in school today; his rhyming story-line of one man’s journey from hell to paradise, and the different characters he meets along the way, still permeate the culture in many ways.
After I discovered Dante’s history and place in Italian life, I decided I had to learn more. So, I went to an Italian website, and found several of Dante’s most famous phrases. I’ve reprinted his verse that includes a phrase about true love for everyone to enjoy this Fathers Day.
When I first read this verse written so long ago, it made me think of the type of love that can be shared by families even today. The type of love that parents show their children to let them know that they believe in them. The type of love that my father showered on his two daughters when he was alive, and for which I will always be grateful.
Do Dante’s words remind you of a loved one?
Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
Happy American Fathers Day!
I
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle:
«Alla mia grande capacità di immaginazione mancarono le forze;
ma Dio, l’amore che fa muovere il sole e le altre stelle,
faceva già girare il mio desiderio e la mia volontà,
come una ruota che gira con moto uniforme».
If you would like to read more famous phrases by Dante, here is the link:
Conversational Italian! 
The Love that moves the sun and other stars is the Love that moves us to love. We love, because He first loved us. Grazie mille for a bellissimo post! 🙂
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Prego! And thank you also for the translation!
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