68 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



sources of their inspiration. Wliat they glorify is 

 not so much a woman as an idea. For, to tell the 

 truth, the loves of Dante and Petrarch in their 

 material aspect partake much more of the ridiculous 

 than the sublime. Dante saw Beatrix as a child, and 

 fell in love with her as a model of grace, beauty, and 

 purity ; but she never became his wife, his mistress, 

 or even his friend. So far from reciprocating his 

 sentiments, she hardly noticed the love-sick youth 

 who dogged her steps in the streets of Florence. 

 And by great good fortune she died young, remaining 

 a beautiful memory to the poet, who thus never lost 

 his illusions. In recounting the story of his love in 

 the Vita Nuova Dante expresses the fervent hope 

 that he may witness the glory of Beatrix in heaven 

 among the blessed, Petrarch was less fortunate in 

 his attachment. Laura did not die young. In fact, 

 she lived to be another man's wife and the mother of 

 a family. Thus the love of Petrarch for Laura is more 

 literary than that of Dante for Beatrix; it springs 

 more from his imagination than from his heart, and 

 it is without regret that we find him in his dialogues 

 De Contemptu Mundi owning to his interlocutor, the 

 spirit of St. Augustine, that his lifelong passion has 

 been a mistake. As exponents of unsensual love, 



