Genius is enigmatic ...

[Dave Monroe]

>From Robert Pinsky, "Dante: The Personal was
Political," New York Times, Sunday, July 29th, 2001
...

"Genius is enigmatic: in the English language, this
truism is reinforced by the bland, oval face of
Shakespeare, gazing in silence from behind the poems
and plays. Outside of them, he says nothing about his
own work or life. He leaves no comment about the city
of London, where he chose to live for about 20 years,
away from his wife and children, before returning to
them (again without extant comment) and his native
town of Stratford. That silence has become part of
Shakespeare's legend."

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/29/books/review/29PINSKYT.html

Just make the appropriate substitutions, is all.  Then
again ...

"How could Dante incorporate Florentine lore, history
and scandal into a work including classical and pagan
legends, drama and allegory, vast categories of
thought, making a transcendent yet personal whole?"

And recall Charles Hollander's mention of Dante's
encryption (if even) of contemporaries in his essay on
The Crying of Lot 49 ...

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger
http://phonecard.yahoo.com/