Vita Nuova

The Vita Nuova (literally "new life") is a collection of love poems written by Dante. The poems vary in form, including several sonnets, and are linked by short pieces of prose explaining the circumstances of their composition. All of the poems are inspired by Beatrice, a young woman whom Dante chose as his muse, and are an example of Dante's dolce stilo nuovo (sweet new style), an innovative take on the tradition of courtly love.

The Vita Nuova is notable both in its own right, and as a forerunner of the Divine Comedy: it ends with a promise to immortalise Beatrice forever in a much more ambitious work, which in retrospect seems to describe the Comedy perfectly.