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Originally Posted by Aragorn97
I was thinking that this might me something really similar to what I studied about Dante Alighieri and Jaufre Rudel. They were two poets that describes a very peculiar type of love. I can't explain it really well in English (I studied this at school maybe 6 years ago), so, if you are interested, I could search some English articles about them or anyway I recommend you to read something about them.
However I can tell you that they felt love for women they can't have. Rudel fell in love with an African countess through the poems he heard about her. Dante fell in love with Beatrice: he saw her only 3 times (she was married to another man and died aged 24), but nevertheless she was his first and only love. I don't know how much you know about italian poetry, but, just to be sure you understand the importance Beatrice had for Dante, he made her the most important figure of his masterpiece (and maybe the most important work of our literature): she was his guide through Paradise in the "Divina Commedia".
I'm sorry I can't explain better their poetry, but it would be too complicated to do it in English. As I said I recommend you to read about them.
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Aragorn, what a fascinating comparison! I love Italian poetry. I only wish I spoke the language and could read it exactly as it was originally written. Dante’s “Divina Commedia” (though I have only been able to read the English version, I’m afraid) is indeed one of the all time great works of literature. I am not familiar with Jaufre Rudel, though. But I now intend to look him up. I find it incredible that such brilliant writing can be effectively translated. Have you read any of the English translations of the original Italian poetry? I would be so interested to know how much you feel is lost after the translation.
Several years ago I had a long discussion and correspondence with the college student daughter of a friend. We were discussing the different types of love there are. I wrote her a very detailed explanation of many types I believe exist, and yet I feel I. never really effectively analyzed the type of love you describe here, that you feel for Alizée. I think I included it in a broader definition—I feel as though I’d like to rewrite that.
I think the difficulty here lies in the word “love.” What we have is, I believe, a semantic problem because the language (English, at least) lacks the vocabulary to describe precisely the various complicated feelings that we lump into one word: “love.”
Thank you for your extremely deep and thought-provoking post.
And by the way, let me assure you that your English is terrific and you do a great job making yourself understood!