SOURCE: "Vita Nuova," in An Essay on the "Vita Nuova," 1949. Reprinted by The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977, pp. 78-109.

In the following excerpt, Singleton examines the relationship between the Vita Nuova and Provençal love poetry, discerning that Dante's use of medieval mysticism in his book's conception of love distinguishes it from the Proven, cal tradition.

The three visions foretelling the death of Beatrice all bear the mark of a number nine and point thus to special meaning in that number. They would seem also, by being three, to stress the presence of some special meaning for the root of nine as well. The poet's gloss on the death of Beatrice and on the number nine (chapter XXIX) does much to confirm this: three is the "factor" by itself of nine, three is the sign of the "factor" of miracles which is the Holy Trinity.

Furthermore, it is...