ABSTRACT
In a group of infrequently studied poems exchanged between Onesto da Bologna and Cino da Pistoia, Onesto critiques the new style Cino has adapted from his influences, namely 'Guido' and 'Dante'. 1 In '"Mente" ed "umile" e più di mille sporte' ['Mind' and 'humble' and more than a thousand basketfuls], he targets the overuse of certain terms on the part of these poets (such as 'mente' and 'umile'), their philosophizing ('vostro andare filosofando', 1. 6), their dreaming ('vostro andar sognando', 1. 2), and their frequent use of personification and apostrophe ('vostro parlare in terzo con altrui' [your speaking in the third person with someone else], L 10). In 'Bernardo, quel dell'arco del Diamasco' [Bernardo, that one with the bow of Damascus], he singles out Dante for his critique, identifying him as that poet 'che sogna e fa spirti dolenti' [who dreams and makes sad spirits] (1. 3). Cino responds, in 'Bernardo quel gentil che porta l'arco' [Bernardo, that noble one who carries the bow], that the 'dreamer' writes like Mark, 'quei che sogna scrive come Marco' (1. 3), and that, together with Love, he soars so high that he leaves the rest behind: 'e' van sì alto ch'ogn'uom riman basso' (1. 4). In a stand-alone poem, the sonnet 'Non so s'è per mercé mi vien meno' [I don't know if it is for lack of pity], Onesto ironically invokes Dante and company — those poets who dream of scattered spirits and who have tired every man on earth ('voi che sognate i spiriti sparti | e che nn'avete stanco ogn'om tereno', 11. 7—8) — asking them to intervene on his behalf with his lady. Onesto wishes to see her 'd'umiltà vestita' [clothed with humility] (1. 12), an explicit allusion to Dante's sonnet from the Vita nova, 'Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare' [Such sweet decorum and such gentle graces], 2 where Beatrice is praised as 'd'umiltà vestuta' (xxvi. 6, 1. 6) [17. 6]. Despite this verbal echo, Onesto's goal-oriented request stands in sharp contrast with the disinterested praise that characterizes Dante's self-defined poesia della lode.
