Respecting this line Mr. W. M. Rossetti writes—“Shelley has fallen into a singular misapprehension here. Bice is simply Beatrice, and is herself, of course, Dante’s ‘gentle love.’ The literal translation of the Italian runs—‘And then Lady Vanna and Lady Bice, with her who is on number thirty.’ The latter enigmatic-sounding phrase (not enigmatic to a Dantesque reader) indicates the inamorata of Lapo Gianni. If we were to read, ‘and his gentle love,’ the sense would be correct; and possibly my is, after all, only a misprint.” This sonnet has also been translated by Hayley, and by D. G. Rossetti. [back]
