UN’EPISTOLA ATTRIBUITA A CANGRANDE DELLA SCALA: ANDAMENTO RITMICO E PATERNITÀ DANTESCA

In the Epistle to Henry vii conjecturally attributed to Dante by Paolo Pellegrini, appear the rhythmic sequences already found previously on the totality of Dante’s epistolary corpus: Binomials and trinomials of clauses symmetrically configured according to a rigid order, “triplets” (ie the three important clauses: Planus velox tardus, aligned), appearing periodically following the same rotation of the chained rhymes. The invariable presence, in Dante’s letters, of a complex and strictly respected order in its general features leads to consider it as a highly connotating element also for the purposes of this attribution. Assigning the authorship of this letter to an author different from Dante appears in fact in clear contradiction with the presence of a scheme attributable only to him; except, of course, if we can find a contrary proof, that is, at least the indication of a counterexample (traces of a similar order in the production certainly alien to Dante).