We are face to face with an extraordinary process
of evolution. The young girl he had seen a few times, and who died in
her youth, goes on growing and developing in his soul, until, at last,
in him the will to raise woman above time into eternity, the will to
make her a member of the divine system, reaches its full realisation.
What had been begun by the troubadours and fully comprehended by the
poets of the _sweet new style_, reached completion in Dante, and, was
henceforth an eternal value for all humanity.
We see that the later troubadours were inclined to blend the lady of
their heart with the universal Lady of Heaven; the need of deifying the
loved woman was at the root of many dubious growths, and possibly these
early poets were also to some extent influenced by their dread of the
Inquisition (which never gained much importance in Italy). The new poets
deepened this feeling, stripped it of all externalities, and appeared
before the adored simply as lovers. They did not require the dogmatic
support of the Church, their own feeling was sufficient guarantee.
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