Forese’s second poem to Dante refers to three build­ings: Santa Maria a San Gallo, an old (in Dante’s time) Flo­ren­tine hos­pi­tal; the Altrafronte Castle, on which Dante may have super­vised on some con­struc­tion work; and the hos­pi­tal of San Paolo a Pinti, which was founded and main­tained by the Donati family. Tana and Francesco were Dante’s half-​sister and -brother, i.e. off­spring of his father’s second mar­riage. Bel­luzzo was a (pre­sum­ably igno­ble) rel­a­tive of Dante’s.

The ear­lier poems are avail­able here, here, and here.

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Forese to Dante

Go pay back San Gallo before you waste
your words on others’ poverty,
for this last winter brought you
too much pity from its patrons.
And besides, if we’re as poor as you say,
why do you keep both­er­ing us for hand­outs?
You’ve carved so much out of the Altrafronte Castle
that I’m sure you’re eating just fine.

Really, some work would do you well—
and Tana and Francesco—if (God help you)
you wouldn’t be stuck with Bel­luzzo.
But I’ll bet you end up at the Pinti hospice—
yes, I can see you at the table there,
the third, after Alighiero and his shirt.

+ + +

Va’ rivesti San Gal prima che dichi
parole o motti d’altrui pover­tate,
ché troppo n’è venuta gran pietate
in questo verno a tutti suoi amichi.
E anco, se tu ci hai per sì men­dichi,
perché pur mandi a noi per car­i­tate?
Dal castello Altra­fonte ha’ ta’ grem­bi­ate
ch’io saccio ben che tu te ne nutrichi.

Ma ben ti lecerà il lavo­rare,
se Dio ti salvi la Tana e ‘l Francesco,
che col Bel­luzzo tu non stia in brigata.
A lo spedale a Pinti ha’ riparare;
e già mi par vedere stare a desco,
ed in terzo, Alighier co la farsata.

The first punch of the second round: Dante strikes back at Forese, accus­ing him of glut­tony and theft. (The first two poems are here and here.) A few notes: the revenge promised by the hide in the fourth line is, I think, a ref­er­ence to a belt. San Simone is a church in Flo­rence, but the allu­sion here is to the prison that stood nearby. And Stagno’s son (last line) was hanged for robbery.

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Dante to Forese

Solomon and par­tridge breasts
may very well tie your knot, young Bicci,
but the lamb loin will do you even worse,
for soon enough the hide will avenge the meat,
and you’ll be penned at San Simone
unless you’re able to slip away.
(Though even if you escape that stom­ach of yours
it’s too late now to make amends.)

But I’ve been told you know a trade
that, if true, could set you to rights,
for it’s worth a fair for­tune.
So go to it as if you didn’t fear
the sum­mons that would end the job—
and never mind how ill it served Stagno’s son.

+ + +

Ben ti faranno il nodo Sala­m­one,
Bicci nov­ello, e’ petti de le starne,
ma peggio fia la lonza del cas­trone,
ché ‘l cuoio farà vendetta de la carne;
tal che starai più presso a San Simone
se tu non ti pro­cacci de l’andarne:
e ‘ntendi che ‘l fug­gire el mal boc­cone
sarebbe oramai tardi a ricomprarne.

Ma ben m’è detto che tu sai un’arte
che, s’egli è vero, tu ti puoi rifare,
però ch’ell’è di molto gran guadagno;
e fa sì, a tempo, che tema di carte
non hai, che ti bisogni sci­op­er­are;
ma ben ne colse male a’ fi’ di Stagno.

Today, Forese’s response to Dante’s first poem. There are a few useful things to know here: Alighiero di Bellincione, Dante’s father, was a money­len­der, and his appear­ance here is prob­a­bly sup­posed to be spec­tral. Also, Solomon’s knot is an ancient design, rep­re­sented above, and was a symbol of nat­ural per­fec­tion for medievals.

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Forese to Dante

The other night I got a bad cough
because I had no clothes to wear.
And so, as soon as it was day, I set out
to earn some money how­ever I could.
Now listen to the luck I man­aged:
think­ing I’d dis­cov­ered pearls in a box­wood
and florins coined from red gold,
instead I found Alighiero down among the graves,
bound by a knot whose name I don’t know—
it might have been Solomon’s, or the work of some other sage.
I crossed myself before the rising sun,
and then he cried, “For the love of Dante,
untie me!” But I couldn’t see how,
so I left him there and went on my way.

+ + +

L’altra notte mi venne una gran tosse,
perch’i’ non avea che tener a dosso;
ma incon­ta­nente che fu di’, fui mosso
per gir a guadag­nar ove che fosse.
Udite la for­tuna ove m’addosse:
ch’i’ cre­detti trovar perle in un bosso
e be’ fiorin coniati d’oro rosso;
ed i’ trovai Alaghier tra le fosse,
legato a nodo ch’i’ non saccio il nome,
se fu di Sala­m­one o d’altro saggio.
Allora mi segna’ verso ‘l lev­ante:
e que’ mi disse: “Per amor di Dante,
scio’mi”. Ed i’ non potti veder come:
tornai a dietro, e compie’ mi’ vïaggio.