Sweet Fire

"Tullia d'Aragona is one of the most renowned women writers of the Italian Renaissance. Known as the "courtesan poet," Tullia was loved and desired by many. This collection includes fifty-five of her best poems and a selection of pieces written to her and about her." "Accompanying Tullia's poems is a series of risposte (letters of response) written by well-known men of her day - including Girolamo Muzio, Benedetto Varchi and Lattanzio Bennucci - who offer poetic tributes to her honor, talent, and wit." "In these dialogues, Tullia shows herself a match to her male contemporaries in verbal and intellectual dexterity. As a sexually and financially independent woman, Tullia held a unique position among Renaissance poets in a category apart from other women poets of the era. Her wish to be immortalized in print, renowned in her own "eternal lines to time," will be fulfilled through this bilingual edition. Retaining the music of the Italian, these translations bring Tullia's work to life for an English audience."--Jacket.