Amore Italiani
Dante’s Francesca Speech: 5 Love Lines From Inferno V, With Translations
Five love lines from Francesca’s speech in Dante’s Inferno V: Italian text checked on Gutenberg, plain English glosses, and which note each fits.
Updated
Almost every famous Italian love line from Dante comes out of one speech: one long speech in Canto V of the Inferno, spoken by Francesca da Rimini in the second circle of Hell. She is damned, and she is the one who explains love to him. This page takes five lines from that speech, gives the Italian exactly as it stands in the Project Gutenberg text of the Divina Commedia, a plain English gloss, and a note on where each line can safely be borrowed.
The English glosses are ours (literal, not poetic). For a wider set of Italian lines from several poets, see 14 short Italian love quotes; this page stays inside one scene.
The scene in Canto V
Dante and Virgil reach the circle of the lustful, where souls are blown about by a storm that never stops. Dante calls to two who fly together, and Francesca answers for both: Paolo Malatesta, who is beside her and silent, was her husband's brother. She speaks in three tercets that each begin with the word Amor, and the repetition is the whole trick of the passage.
Francesca's three "Amor" tercets
The first two of the three are the most quoted lines of Italian love poetry. Here they are, together as Francesca says them.
Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende, / prese costui de la bella persona / che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno V, 100–102 (written c. 1308–1320)
Gloss: Love, which quickly takes hold in a gentle heart, seized this man for the beautiful body that was taken from me, and the manner of it still hurts. The first line borrows the courtly idea that love and a noble heart are one thing, and Francesca uses it as an excuse. On a card, the first line alone is the safer excerpt.
Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona, / mi prese del costui piacer sì forte, / che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno V, 103–105 (written c. 1308–1320)
Gloss: Love, which lets no one who is loved refuse to love in return, seized me so strongly with his charm that, as you see, it has not left me even now. "Perdona" means "pardons" or "spares", so the first line says that love gives the beloved no exemption from loving back. Francesca means that she had no choice. That is the case a reader should keep in mind before sending it as a romantic line.
The reading scene, and the line that outlived it
Dante asks how love first showed itself to them, and she answers with a scene, not a theory.
Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto / di Lancialotto come amor lo strinse; / soli eravamo e sanza alcun sospetto.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno V, 127–129 (written c. 1308–1320)
Gloss: One day we were reading for pleasure about Lancelot and how love bound him; we were alone and suspected nothing. The couple are reading a romance, and in the lines that follow the passage about Lancelot kissing the longed-for smile makes Paolo kiss her, trembling. The poem's point is that a love story can lead its readers into the same story.
Galeotto fu 'l libro e chi lo scrisse: / quel giorno più non vi leggemmo avante.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno V, 137–138 (written c. 1308–1320)
Gloss: The book was a Galeotto, and so was whoever wrote it; that day we read no further. Galeotto is the go-between in the Lancelot story who brought Lancelot and Guinevere together, and in modern Italian galeotto has come to mean anything that brings two people together, such as a dinner or a letter. This line suits a note to someone you met through a shared book or message.
Nessun maggior dolore / che ricordarsi del tempo felice / nella miseria; e ciò sa 'l tuo dottore.
Dante Alighieri, Inferno V, 121–123 (written c. 1308–1320)
Gloss: There is no greater sorrow than remembering the happy time in misery, and your teacher knows it. "Your teacher" is Virgil. The line is about a lost happiness, so it fits a farewell or a letter of grief far better than a birthday card.
Which line fits which note
| Line | What it says in context | Fits | Avoid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende | love takes hold quickly in a noble heart | a short caption, a first-confession note | a wedding vow (the speaker is damned) |
| Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona | being loved obliges you to love back | a card to someone who loved you first | pressing an unsure person to answer |
| Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto | two people reading a love story together | a gift of a book, a reading-club couple | anything else |
| Galeotto fu 'l libro e chi lo scrisse | a go-between that began the affair | thanking a book, a friend or a letter that brought you together | a note where the affair itself is a secret |
| Nessun maggior dolore | remembered joy hurts most in misery | grief or farewell letters | an anniversary card |
Borrowing a line without borrowing Francesca's story
Italian readers know where these lines come from, so a plain credit helps: write the line, then "Dante, Inferno V". Do not attach the line to Dante's own love, Beatrice, because Beatrice belongs to the Vita Nuova and the Paradiso, not to this scene. If you want to write your own note beside it, how to write a love letter has a step-by-step method.
Lines we removed from the earlier version of this page
An earlier version of this page listed lines that we could not trace. They are listed here so that nobody repeats them as sourced.
| Line | Credited to | Why it was removed |
|---|---|---|
| "Amami, perché, senza te, niente posso, niente sono" | Vittorio Alfieri, Lettere, 1793 | Italian quote sites such as Libreriamo credit it to Paul Verlaine; no Alfieri source turned up |
| "Saremo felici o saremo tristi…" | D'Annunzio, Il Piacere | not found in the text; wording unchecked |
| "Ieri sera era amore…" | Alda Merini, Vuoto d'amore | no source was checked |
| "Sei nell'anima…" | Gianna Nannini, 2006 | lyric not checked against a source |
| "Mille cuori non basterebbero…" | "Italian folk expressions" | no author or source |
Questions readers ask
Does Italian use different words for loving family versus partners?
Yes. "Ti amo" is normally kept for a romantic partner, while "ti voglio bene" is used for friends, children and relatives. Dante's amor is the romantic or courtly kind.
Why are Dante’s lines translated so differently?
Translators have to choose between the literal sense and the rhyme and meter of the terza rima. The glosses on this page are literal so that you can see the Italian structure.
Can I use one of these lines in a wedding vow?
You can, but remember that Francesca says them from Hell, so a line about love's compulsion is a risky choice. A short line from a different poem may suit a ceremony better; see our Italian quotes for love and marriage.
Source: Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia, Italian text, Project Gutenberg #1000 (Inferno V). Line numbers follow the standard numbering of the canto.
