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PURGATORIO OF DANTE ALIGHIERI

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THE
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CLASSICS

KOMARN
Edited by
ISRAEL
GOLLANCZ
M.A.

VASOM
Soun
ASTAL!
TRASS
ARWE
PORTRAIT OF DANTE WITH THE MOUNT OF PURGATORY IN THE BACKGROUND-
FROM THE PAINTING BY DOMENICO DI MICHELINO IN THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE_1465.
Ordina quest' Amore, O tu che m'ami.
JACOPONE Da Todi.
PURGATORIO
PROLOGUE (1-12). The poets issue on the low-
lying shore east of the Mount of Purgatory, and
Dante's eyes, which in Hell have shared the misery of
his heart, become once more the instruments of delight,
as he looks into the clear blue sky and sees Venus near
the eastern horizon (13-21). The South Pole of the
Heavens is well above the southern horizon, and all is
bathed in the light of the glorious constellation never seen
since man, at the Fall, was banished to the Northern
Hemisphere (22-27). Turning north, the poet per-
ceives the venerable figure of Cato, his face illuminated
by the four stars, typifying the four moral virtues.
(28-39). He challenges the poets as though fugitives
from Hell (40-48); but Virgil pleads the command
of a Lady of Heaven, and explains that Dante still
Anti- Per correr miglior acqua alza le vele
purgatorio omai la navicella del mio ingegno,
che lascia retro a sè mar sì crudele.
E canterò di quel secondo regno,
dove l' umano spirito si purga
e di salire al ciel diventa degno.
Ma qui la morta poesì risurga,
o sante Muse, poichè vostro sono,
e qui Calliopè alquanto surga,
seguitando il mio canto con quel suono,
di cui le Piche misere sentiro
lo colpo tal che disperar perdono.
Dolce color d' oriental zaffiro,
che s'accoglieva nel sereno aspetto
dell' aer puro infino al primo giro,
agli occhi miei ricominciò diletto,
tosto ch'i'uscii fuor dell' aura morta,
che m' avea contristati gli occhi e il petto.
4
7
ΙΟ
13
16
2
CANTO I
lives, and is seeking that liberty for love of which
Cato himself had renounced his life. He further
appeals to him, by his love of Marcia, to further their
journey through his realm (49-84). Cato is untouched
by the thought of Marcia, from whom he is now in-
wardly severed; but in reverence for the heavenly
mandate he bids Virgil gird Dante with the rush of
humility and cleanse his face with dew from the stains
of Hell, that he may be ready to meet the ministers
of Heaven. The sun, now rising, will teach them
the ascent (85-108). The poets seek the shore, as
the sea ripples under the morning breeze; and Virgil
follows Cato's behest, cleansing Dante's face with dew,
and plucking the rush, which instantly springs up again
miraculously renewed (109-136).
To course o'er better waters now hoists sail the Proem
little bark of my wit, leaving behind her a sea
so cruel.
And I will sing of that second realm, where the
human spirit is purged and becomes worthy to
ascend to Heaven.
But here let dead poesy rise up again, O holy Invocation
Muses, since yours am I, and here let Calli-
ope rise somewhat,
accompanying my song with that strain whose
stroke the wretched Pies felt so that they
despaired of pardon.
of Dawn
Sweet hue of orient sapphire which was gather- Approach
ing on the clear forehead of the sky, pure
even to the first circle,
to mine eyes restored delight, soon as I issued
forth from the dead air which had afflicted
eyes and heart.
3
4
PURGATORIO
Anti- Lo bel pianeta che ad amar conforta
Purgatorio
faceva tutto rider l' oriente,
velando i Pesci ch' erano in sua scorta.
Io mi volsi a man destra, e posi mente
all' altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle
non viste mai fuor che alla prima gente.
Goder pareva il ciel di lor fiammelle.
O settentrional vedovo sito,
poichè privato sei di mirar quelle !
Com' io dal loro sguardo fui partito,
un poco me volgendo all' altro polo
là onde il Carro già era sparito,
vidi presso di me un veglio solo,
degno di tanta riverenza in vista,
che più non dee a padre alcun figliuolo.
Lunga la barba e di pel bianco mista
portava, a' suoi capegli simigliante,
de' quai cadeva al petto doppia lista.
Li raggi delle quattro luci sante
fregiavan sì la sua faccia di lume,
ch' io 'l vedea come il sol fosse davante.
"Chi siete voi, che contro al cieco fiume
fuggito avete la prigione eterna?
diss' ei, movendo quell' oneste piume.
"Chi v' ha guidati? o chi vi fu lucerna,
uscendo fuor della profonda notte
che sempre nera fa la valle inferna ?
Son le leggi d' abisso così rotte ?
o è mutato in ciel nuovo consiglio,
che dannati venite alle mie grotte ?
Lo duca mio allor mi diè di piglio,
e con parole e con mano e con cenni,
riverenti mi fe' le gambe e il ciglio.
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
49
CANTO I
5
The fair planet which hearteneth to love was The Planet
making the whole East to laugh, veiling the Venus
Fishes that were in her train.
Stars
I turned me to the right hand, and set my mind The Four
on the other pole, and saw four stars never yet
seen save by the first people.
The heavens seemed to rejoice in their flames.
O Northern widowed clime, since thou art
bereft of beholding them!
When I was parted from gazing at them, turning
me a little to the other pole, there whence the
Wain had already disappeared,
I saw near me an old man solitary, worthy of Cato
such great reverence in his mien, that no son
owes more to a father.
Long he wore his beard and mingled with white
hair, like unto his locks of which a double
list fell on his breast.
The rays of the four holy lights aureoled his
face so with brightness, that I beheld him
as were the sun before him.
"Who are ye that against the dark stream have
fled the eternal prison?" said he, moving
those venerable plumes.
"Who hath guided you? or who was a lamp
unto you issuing forth from the deep night
that ever maketh black the infernal vale?
Are the laws of the pit thus broken, or is there
some new counsel changed in Heaven that
being damned ye come to my rocks?"
Then did my Leader lay hold on me, and with Virgil
words, and with hand, and with signs, made
reverent my knees and brow.
6
PURGATORIO
Anti-
purgatorio
Poscia rispose lui: "Da me non venni.
Donna scese del ciel, per li cui preghi
della mia compagnia costui sovvenni.
Ma da ch'è tuo voler che più si spieghi
di nostra condizion com' ella è vera,
esser non puote il mio che a te si neghi.
Questi non vide mai l'ultima sera,
ma per la sua follia le fu sì presso,
che molto poco tempo a volger era.
Sì come io dissi, fui mandato ad esso
per lui campare, e non v' era altra via
che questa per la quale io mi son messo.
Mostrato ho lui tutta la gente ria;
ed ora intendo mostrar quelli spirti,
che purgan sè sotto la tua balìa.
Come io l'ho tratto, saria lungo a dirti :
dell' alto scende virtù che m'aiuta
conducerlo a vederti ed a udirti.
Or ti piaccia gradir la sua venuta :
libertà va cercando, che è sì cara,
come sa chi per lei vita rifiuta.
Tu il sai, chè non ti fu per
lei amara
in Utica la morte, ove lasciasti
la vesta che al gran dì sarà sì chiara.
Non son gli editti eterni per noi guasti:
prega,
chè questi vive e Minos me non lega;
ma son del cerchio ove son gli occhi casti
di Marzia tua, che in vista ancor ti
o santo petto, che per tua la tegni:
per lo suo amore adunque a noi ti piega.
Lasciane andar li tuoi sette regni :
grazie riporterò di te a lei,
per
se d'esser mentovato laggiù degni."
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
82
CANTO I
7
discourses
Then answered him: "Of myself I came not. Virgil
A lady came down from Heaven through whose of Dante's
prayers I succoured this man with my company. journey
But since it is thy will that more be unfolded
of our state, how it truly is, my will it cannot
be that thou be denied.
He hath ne'er seen the last hour, but by his
madness was so near to it, that very short
time there was to turn.
Even as I said, I was sent to him to rescue him,
and no other way there was but this along
which I have set me.
I have shown him all the guilty people, and now
do purpose showing those spirits that purge
them under thy charge.
How I have brought him, 'twere long to tell
thee: Virtue descends from on high which aids
me to guide him to see thee and to hear thee.
to Cato
Now may
it please thee to be gracious unto his His prayer
coming: he seeketh freedom, which is so
precious, as he knows who giveth up life for her.
Thou knowest it; since for her sake death was not
bitter to thee in Utica, where thou leftest the
raiment which at the great day shall be so bright.
The eternal laws by us are not violated, for he
doth live and Minos binds me not; but I am
of the circle where are the chaste eyes
of thy Marcia, who visibly yet doth pray thee,
O holy breast, that thou hold her for thine
own for love of her then incline thee unto us.
Let us go through thy seven kingdoms: thanks
of thee I will bear back to her, if thou deign
to be mentioned there below."
8
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti-"Marzia piacque tanto agli occhi miei,
mentre ch' io fui di là," diss' egli allora,
"che quante grazie volse da me, fei.
Or che di là dal mal fiume dimora,
più mover non mi può per quella legge
che fatta fu quando me n' uscii fuora.
Ma se donna del ciel ti move e regge,
come tu di', non c' è mestier lusinghe:
bastiti ben che per lei mi richegge.
Va dunque, e fa che tu costui ricinghe
d' un giunco schietto, e che gli lavi il viso
sì che ogni sucidume quindi stinghe :
chè non si converria l'occhio sorpriso
d'alcuna nebbia andar davanti al primo
ministro, ch' è di quei di Paradiso.
Questa isoletta intorno ad imo ad imo,
laggiù, colà dove la batte l' onda,
porta de' giunchi sopra il molle limo.
Null' altra pianta, che facesse fronda
o indurasse, vi puote aver vita,
però che alle percosse non seconda.
Poscia non sia di qua vostra reddita
;
lo sol vi mostrerà, che surge omai,
prender lo monte a più lieve salita."
Così sparì; ed io su mi levai
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
106
109
senza parlare, e tutto mi ritrassi
al duca mio, e gli occhi a lui drizzai.
Ei cominciò: "Figliuol, segui i miei passi : 112
volgiamci indietro, chè di qua dichina
questa pianura a' suoi termini bassi.”
L'alba vinceva l' ôra mattutina
che fuggia innanzi, sì che di lontano
conobbi il tremolar della marina.
115
CANTO I
9
replies to
"Marcia was so pleasing to mine eyes while I Cato
was yonder," said he then, "that every grace Virgil
she willed of me I did.
Now that she dwells beyond the evil stream, no
more may she move me, by that law which was
made when I thence came forth.
But if a heavenly lady moves and directs thee, as
thou sayest, no need is there for flattery: let
it suffice thee that in her name thou askest me.
Go then, and look that thou gird this man with
a smooth rush, and that thou bathe his face
so that all filth may thence be wiped away:
for 'twere not meet with eye obscured by any
mist to go before the first minister of those
that are of Paradise.
This little isle all round about the very base,
there, where the wave beats it, bears rushes on
the soft mud.
No other plant that would put forth leaf or
harden can live there, because it yields not
to the buffetings.
Then be not this way your return; the sun,
which now is rising, will show you how to
take the mount at an easier ascent.'
>>
Dante
So he vanished; and I uplifted me without Virgil and
speaking, and drew me all back to my Leader,
and directed mine eyes to him.
He began: "Son, follow thou my steps: turn we
back, for this way the plain slopes down to
its low bounds.”
The dawn was vanquishing the breath of morn
which fled before her, so that from afar I
recognised the trembling of the sea.
10
PURGATORIO
Anti- Noi andavam per lo solingo piano,
purgatorio
com' uom che torna alla perduta strada,
che infino ad essa gli par ire in vano.
Quando noi fummo dove la rugiada
pugna col sole, per essere in parte
dove ad orezza, poco si dirada,
ambo le mani in su l' erbetta sparte
soavemente il mio maestro pose;
ond' io che fui accorto di su' arte,
porsi ver lui le guance lagrimose:
quivi mi fece tutto discoperto.
quel color che l'inferno mi nascose.
Venimmo poi in sul lito diserto,
che mai non vide navicar sue acque
uomo che di tornar sia poscia esperto.
Quivi mi cinse sì come altrui piacque :
o maraviglia! che qual egli scelse
l'umile pianta, cotal si rinacque
subitamente là onde la svelse.
*
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
** See "Dante's Purgatory," "The Chronology of
the Purgatorio," and the Editorial Note at the close of
this volume.
9-12. Calliope the Muse of Epic Poetry. The
Pierides, the nine daughters of Pierus, King of
Emathia, having challenged the Muses to a contest
of song and suffered defeat, were changed by them
into magpies (see Ovid's Metam. v. 293 sqq.).
19-21. Venus was not actually in Pisces in the
spring of 1300, but Dante is probably following a
tradition as to the position of all the planets at the
moment of Creation (cf. Inf. i. 37-40). In the repre-
sentation of the Creation in the Collegiate Church at San
Gemignano, Venus is depicted as being in Pisces. See
diagram on p. 59.
23-27. We must assume either that Dante invented
these four stars, which he identifies with the four
CANTO I
II
Dante
We paced along the lonely plain, as one who Virgil and
returns to his lost road, and, till he reach it,
seems to go in vain.
When we came there where the dew is striving
with the sun, being at a place where, in the
cool air, slowly it is scattered;
both hands outspread, gently my Master laid
upon the sweet grass; wherefore I who was
ware of his purpose,
raised towards him my tear-stained cheeks: there
made he all revealed my hue which Hell had
hidden.
We came then on to the desert shore, that never
saw man navigate its waters who thereafter
knew return.
There he girded me even as it pleased Another :
O marvel! that such as he plucked the lowly
plant, even such did it forthwith spring up
again, there whence he tore it.
cardinal virtues-Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and
Temperance (cf. Purg. xxix. 130-132; xxxi. 103-
106); or that he had learnt the existence of the
Southern Cross from some traveller.—The prima gente
When these were
are probably Adam and Eve.
driven from the Earthly Paradise (situated on the
summit of the Mount of Purgatory), the southern
hemisphere was held to be uninhabited (cf. Inf. xxvi.
117: mondo senza gente): for according to medieval
geography the whole of Asia and Africa were north of
the equator.
30. Only a portion of the Wain would at any time
be visible in the supposed latitude of Purgatory, and it
was now completely below the horizon.
31 sqq. Cato of Utica (born B.C. 95), one of the chief
opponents of Cæsar's measures. After the battle of
Thapsus, he committed suicide rather than fall into
his enemy's hands (B.c. 46). This was regarded as
12
NOTES
W
the supreme act of devotion to liberty (Conv. iii. 5: 90;
De Mon. ii. 5: 98), and partly accounts for his position
here (see vv. 71, 72); though Virgil's line-secretosque
pios, his dantem jura Catonem (Æn. viii. 670), which refers
to the good set apart from the wicked in the world
beyond, probably weighed more heavily with Dante.
Our poet's general conception of Cato is derived from
Lucan (Pharsalia, ii. 373-391); and his intense admira-
tion of the man and of his character finds expression in
several passages of the Convito (iv. 5: 103; 6: 71;
27: 23; 28: 92). Cato's position as warder of the
Christian Purgatory is probably to be explained in a
similar way as the position of Ripheus in Paradise (see
Par. xx. 118 sqq., and note); note especially the alle-
gorical significance of the stars in vv. 37-39, and the
fact that Sole is often synonymous with God.
N

NOON
S
The course of the Poets round and up the northern half of the
Mount of Purgatory, from East to West. Seen from above.
SUNSET
DAWN
E
CANTO I
13
40. See Inf. xxxiv. 130.
58-60. ultima sera, here used in the double sense of
bodily and spiritual death (f. Conv. iv. 7: 102 sqq.).
The verses refer, of course, to the allegory of Inf. i.
77. For Minos, see Inf. v. 4 sqq.
78-80. Marcia (for whom see Inf. iv. 128) was the
second wife of Cato, who yielded her to his friend
Q. Hortensius. On the death of the latter, she was
again married to Cato. The Convito (iv. 28: 97-159)
contains an elaborate allegory, in which the return of
Marcia to Cato signifies the return of the noble soul
to God.
86. di là. These words when used by themselves in
the Purgatorio always mean "in the other hemisphere."
88. The mal fiume is the Acheron (see Inf. iii.
70 sqq.).
N

W
E
S
Showing the portions of the mountain under light and shade
at 6 o'clock a.m. Cf. Purg. ii. 1-9, ix. 44 (two hours
later), xix. 39, xxvii. 133.
PURGATORIO
AT
T Jerusalem day is setting and night rising, and
in Purgatory day rising and night setting (1-9);
and as the poets, pondering on their course, are delaying
their journey against their will, they see glowing red
in the east a light swiftly approaching them; which
Virgil soon recognises as Charon's angelic counterpart,
who with stroke of wing guides a light barque with
its charge of happy souls to the mountain of purifica-
tion (10-45). As they land the souls chant the psalm of
the Exodus, and with the sign of the cross their angelic
guard departs, to renew his mission (46-51). The
risen sun now shoots full daylight into the sky, obliter-
ating Capricorn from the zenith; the new-come folk
inquire the way and Virgil answers that he and his
companion are strangers like themselves (52-66),
whereon the shades observe that Dante breathes and
is still in the first life, and in their eagerness almost
forget the cleansing for which they have come to
the mount (67-75). One especially, the musician
Casella, presses forward with a look of such affection
that the poet opens his arms to embrace him, but
he only clasps an empty shade (76-87). Dante must
Anti- Già era il sole all' orizzonte giunto,
lo cui meridian cerchio coperchia
Jerusalem col suo più alto punto;
purgatorio
e la notte che opposita a lui cerchia
uscìa di Gange fuor con le bilance,
che le caggion di man quando soperchia :
sì che le bianche e le vermiglie guance,
là dove io era, della bella Aurora,
per troppa etate divenivan rance.
Noi eravam lunghesso il mare ancora,
come gente che pensa suo cammino,
che va col core, e col corpo dimora ;
4
7
ΙΟ
14
CANTO II
now explain the mystery of his own presence in that
place while still in the flesh, and Casella in his turn
must explain the delay of many months between his
death and his admission into the boat of the redeemed
that gathers its happy charge at the mouth of Tiber
(88-105). Dante's heart and senses are still aching
from the anguish of Hell; and the loveliness of earth,
sea and sky has re-awakened his perception of the
healing power of beauty. So a great longing comes
over him once more to hear the sweet singer's voice
that has so often soothed him and banished all his
cares. Does that power of song which on earth seems
akin to the spirit world, survive the great change? (106-
III). Casella's answer is to sing, in tones the sweet-
ness whereof can never die, a song that Dante himself
had written to the praise of Wisdom; whereon Virgil
and all the other souls gather eagerly around, till re-
buked for this premature indulgence and repose by
the stern Cato, who bids them to press forward the
cleansing work of the mountain (112-123). Whereon
they scud along the plain like startled doves (124-
133).
Already had the sun reached the horizon, whose Dawn
meridian circle covers Jerusalem with its of the first
highest point,
and night which opposite to him revolves, from
Ganges forth was issuing with the Scales,
that fall from her hand when she prevails;
so that fair Aurora's white and ruddy cheeks,
there where I was, through too great age were
turning orange.
We were alongside the ocean yet, like folk who
ponder o'er their road, who in heart do go
and in body stay ;
day in
Purgatory
15
16
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- ed ecco, qual sul presso del mattino
per li grossi vapor Marte rosseggia
giù nel ponente sopra il suol marino :
cotal m' apparve, s' io ancor lo veggia,
un lume per lo mar venir sì ratto,
che il mover suo nessun volar pareggia;
dal qual com' io un poco ebbi ritratto
l'occhio per domandar lo duca mio,
rividil più lucente e maggior fatto.
Poi d'ogni lato ad esso m' apparìo
un non sapeva che bianco, e di sotto
a poco a poco un altro a lui uscìo.
Lo mio maestro ancor non fece motto
mentre che i primi bianchi apparser ali;
allor che ben conobbe il galeotto,
gridò: "Fa, fa che le ginocchia cali;
ecco l' Angel di Dio : piega le mani:
omai vedrai di sì fatti ufficiali.
Vedi che sdegna gli argomenti umani,
sì che remo non vuol nè altro velo
che l' ale sue tra liti sì lontani.
Vedi come l' ha dritte verso il cielo,
trattando l'aere con l'eterne penne,
che non si mutan come mortal pelo."
Poi come più e più verso noi venne
l'uccel divino, più chiaro appariva ;
per che l'occhio da presso nol sostenne,
ma chinail giuso; e quei sen venne a riva
con un vasello snelletto e leggiero,
tanto che l'acqua nulla ne inghiottiva.
Da poppa stava il celestial nocchiero,
tal che parea beato per iscritto;
e più di cento spirti entro sediero.
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
CANTO II
17
and lo, as on the approach of morn, through the The Angel
dense mists Mars burns red, low in the Westf God
o'er the ocean-floor;
such to me appeared-so may I see it again!--
a light coming o'er the sea so swiftly, that no
flight is equal to its motion;
from which, when I had a while withdrawn
mine eyes to question my Leader, I saw it
brighter and bigger grown.
draws near
Then on each side of it appeared to me a some- using his
thing white; and from beneath it, little by wings as
little, another whiteness came forth.
My Master yet did speak no word, until the
first whitenesses appeared as wings; then,
when well he knew the pilot,
he cried: "Bend, bend thy knees; behold the
Angel of God: fold thy hands: henceforth
shalt thou see such ministers.
Look how he scorns all human instruments, so
that oar he wills not, nor other sail than his
wings, between shores so distant.
See how he has them heavenward turned, plying
the air with eternal plumes, that are not mewed
like mortal hair."
Then as more and more towards us came the
bird divine, brighter yet he appeared, where-
fore mine eye endured him not near:
but I bent it down, and he came on to the shore
with a vessel so swift and light that the waters
nowise drew it in.
On the stern stood the celestial pilot, such, that
blessedness seemed writ upon him, and more
than a hundred spirits sat within.
B
sails
18
PURGATORIO
Anti- "In exitu Israel de Egitto,"
purgatorio cantavan tutti insieme ad una voce,
con quanto di quel salmo è poscia scritto.
Poi fece il segno lor di santa croce ;
ond' ei si gittar tutti in su la piaggia,
ed ei sen gì, come venne, veloce.
La turba che rimase li selvaggia
parea del loco, rimirando intorno
come colui che nuove cose assaggia.
Da tutte parti saettava il giorno
lo sol, ch' avea con le saette conte
di mezzo il ciel cacciato il Capricorno,
quando la nuova gente alzò la fronte
ver noi, dicendo a noi: “Se voi sapete,
mostratene la via di gire al monte."
E Virgilio rispose: "Voi credete
forse che siamo esperti d' esto loco;
ma noi siam peregrin, come voi siete.
Dianzi venimmo, innanzi a voi un poco,
per altra via che fu sì aspra e forte,
che lo salire omai ne parrà gioco.'
L'anime che si fur di me accorte,
>>
per lo spirare, ch' io era ancor vivo,
maravigliando diventaro smorte;
e come a messagger, che porti olivo,
tragge la gente per udir novelle,
e di calcar nessun si mostra schivo:
così al viso mio s'affissar quelle
anime fortunate tutte quante,
quasi obbliando d' ire a farsi belle.
Io vidi una di lor trarsi davante
per abbracciarmi con sì grande affetto,
che mosse me a far lo simigliante.
46
49
52
55
58
6
6
6
CANTO II
19
"In exitu Israel de Aegypto," sang they all to- The souls
gether with one voice, with what of that psalm enter Pur-
is thereafter written.
Then made he to them the sign of Holy Cross,
whereat they all flung them on the strand and
quick even as he came he went his way.
The throng that remained there seemed strange
to the place, gazing around like one who
assayeth new things.
On every side the sun, who with his arrows bright
had chased the Goat from midst of heaven,
was shooting forth the day,
when the new people lifted up their faces towards
us, saying to us: "If ye know show us the
way to go to the mount.'
about to
gatory
And Virgil answered : "Ye think perchance Virgil
that we have experience of this place, but speaks to
we are strangers even as ye are.
We came but now, a little while before you, by
other way which was so rough and hard, that
the climbing now will seem but play to us."
The souls who had observed me by my breath- Their
ing that I was yet alive, marvelling grew
pale;
and as to a messenger, who bears the olive, the
folk draw nigh to hear the news, and none
shows himself shy at trampling;
so on my face those souls did fix their gaze,
fortunate every one, well nigh forgetting to
go and make them fair.
I saw one of them draw forward to embrace me
with such great affection, that he moved me
to do the like.
amazement
?
20
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- O ombre vane, fuor che nell' aspetto!
tre volte retro a lei le mani avvinsi,
e tante mi tornai con esse al petto.
Di maraviglia, credo, mi dipinsi;
per che l'ombra sorrise e si ritrasse,
ed io, seguendo lei, oltre mi pinsi.
Soavemente disse ch' io posasse;
allor conobbi chi era e 'l pregai
che per parlarmi un poco s 'arrestasse.
Risposemi: "Così com' io t'amai
nel mortal corpo, così t' amo sciolta :
però m' arresto; ma tu perchè vai?”
“Casella mio, per tornare altra volta
là dove son, fo io questo viaggio,”
79
82
85
88
91
diss' io; "ma a te com' è tanta ora tolta?
Ed egli a me: "Nessun m' è fatto oltraggio, 94
se quei, che leva e quando e cui gli piace,
più volte m' ha negato esto passaggio:
chè di giusto voler lo suo si face.
Veramente da tre mesi egli ha tolto
chi ha voluto entrar con tutta pace.
Ond' io che era ora alla marina volto,
dove l'acqua di Tevere s' insala,
benignamente fui da lui ricolto.
A quella foce ha egli or dritta l'ala ;
però che sempre quivi si raccoglie
qual verso d' Acheronte non si cala.”
Ed io "Se nuova legge non ti toglie
memoria o uso all' amoroso canto,
:
che mi solea quetar tutte mie voglie,
di ciò ti piaccia consolare alquanto
l' anima mia, che, con la sua persona
venendo qui, è affannata tanto.'
""
97
100
103
106
109
CANTO II
21
Casella
O shades empty save in outward show! thrice Dante and
behind it my hands I clasped, and as often
returned with them to my breast.
With wonder methinks I coloured me, whereat
the shade smiled and drew back, and I, follow-
ing it, flung me forward.
Gently it bade me pause: then knew I who it
was, and did pray
him that he would stay a
while to speak to me.
He answered me: "Even as I loved thee in
the mortal body so do I love thee freed ;
therefore I stay but wherefore goest thou?"
"Casella mine, to return here once again where
I am, make I this journey," said I, “but how
hath so much time been taken from thee?"
And he to me:
•No wrong is done me, if he
who bears away when and whom he pleases
hath many times denied me this passage;
for of a just will his will is made. Truly for
three months past he hath taken, in all peace,
whoso hath wished to enter.
Wherefore I, who now was turned to the sea- The Tiber's
shore where Tiber's wave grows salt, kindly
by him was garnered in.
To that mouth now he hath set his wings, be-
cause evermore are gathered there, they who
to Acheron sink not down."
And I: "If a new law take not from thee
memory or skill in that song of love which
was wont to calm my every desire,
may it please thee therewith to solace awhile
my soul, that, with its mortal form journeying
here, is sore distressed.”
mouth
22
PURGATORIO
Anti- " Amor che nella mente mi ragiona,”
purgatorio
cominciò egli allor sì dolcemente,
che la dolcezza ancor dentro mi suona.
Lo mio maestro ed io e quella gente
ch' eran con lui parevan sì contenti,
come a nessun toccasse altro la mente.
Noi eravam tutti fissi ed attenti
alle sue note; ed ecco il veglio onesto,
gridando: "Che è ciò, spiriti lenti?
qual negligenza, quale stare è questo?
Correte al monte a spogliarvi lo scoglio,
ch'esser non lascia a voi Dio manifesto."
Come quando, cogliendo biada o loglio,
li colombi adunati alla pastura,
queti senza mostrar l'usato orgoglio,
se cosa appare ond' elli abbian paura,
subitamente lasciano star l'esca
perchè assaliti son da maggior cura :
così vid' io quella masnada fresca
lasciar lo canto, e gire in ver la costa,
come uom che va, nè sa dove riesca ;
nè la nostra partita fu men tosta.
II2
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
1-9. It is sunset at Jerusalem; and midnight on the
Ganges, i.e. in India [when the sun is in Aries, the
night is in the opposite sign of Libra, or the Scales ;
and Libra falls from the hand of night at the time of
the autumn equinox, when the sun enters the constella-
tion, and the nights become longer than the days]: it is
therefore sunrise in Purgatory (see the diagrams on
pp. 13, 34 and 35).
46. According to Dante (Ep. ad Can. Grand. § 7) the
anagogical meaning of this Psalm (cxiv.) is "the exit
of the sanctified soul from the slavery of this corruption
to the liberty of eternal glory." Cf. Conv. ii. 1: 63-65,
and see Par. XXV. 55-57, note.
55-57 and 67, 68. See the chronological note, p. 435.
The light of the rising sun (which was in Aries) had
CANTO II
23
!
singeth
"Love that in my mind discourseth to me," began Casella
he then so sweetly, that the sweetness yet
within me sounds.
My Master and I and that people who were
with him, seemed so glad as if to aught else
the mind of no one of them gave heed.
at the
We were all fixed and intent upon his notes; Cato wroth
and lo the
the old man venerable,
"What is this ye laggard spirits?
crying: tarrying
what negligence, what tarrying is this? Haste
to the mount and strip you of the slough, that
lets not God be manifest to you.
As doves when gathering wheat or tares, all
assembled at their repast, quiet and showing
not their wonted pride,
if aught be seen whereof they have fear, straight-
way let stay their food, because they are
assailed by greater care;
so saw I that new company leave the singing,
and go towards the hillside, like one who
goes, but knoweth not where he may come
forth; nor was our parting less quick.
blotted Capricorn out of mid-heaven (Capricorn touch-
ing the meridian at the moment when Aries touches
the horizon). See diagram on p. 59.
76. Casella, a musician of Florence or of Pistoia, and
a personal friend of Dante's, some of whose verses he
is said to have set to music, including perhaps the
canzone Amor che nella mente mi ragiona (see verse
112) which was subsequently annotated by the poet
in the third book of his Convito.
98. da tre mesi, i.e., since the beginning of the Jubilee
(cf. Inf. xviii. 28-33).
100-105. Salvation is to be attained only in the true
Church, which has its seat at Rome: hence the souls
of those that are not damned assemble at the mouth of
the Tiber, the port of Rome.
PURGATORIO
WH
HEN Dante has recovered from his confusion,
and Virgil from the self-reproach caused by
his momentary neglect of his charge, the poets look
west toward the mountain. The sun shines behind
them and throws Dante's shadow right before him.
Now for the first time he misses Virgil's shadow, and
thinks that he has lost his companionship; but Virgil
reassures him. It is nine hours agone since the sun
rose in the place where lies that part of him which
once cast a shadow (1-30). The nature of the aerial
bodies in the spirit world is unfathomable by human
philosophy, which yearns in vain for solutions of the
mysteries of faith (31-45). When they arrive at the
foot of the mountain, the poets are at a loss how to
scale its precipices; but at their left Dante perceives
a group of souls slowly moving toward them from the
south (46-60). With Virgil's sanction they go to
meet them, and by thus reversing the usual direction.
Anti- Avvegna che la subitana fuga
purgatorio
dispergesse color per la campagna,
rivolti al monte, ove ragion ne fruga,
io mi ristrinsi alla fida compagna;
e come sare' io senza lui corso?
chi m'avria tratto su per la montagna ?
Ei mi parea da sè stesso rimorso:
o dignitosa coscienza e netta,
come t' è picciol fallo amaro morso !
Quando li piedi suoi lasciâr la fretta,
che l'onestade ad ogni atto dismaga,
la mente mia, che prima era ristretta,
lo intento rallargò, sì come vaga;
e diedi il viso mio incontro al poggio,
che inverso il ciel più alto si dislaga.
4
7
IO
13
24
CANTO III
which the souls take, following the sun, they excite
the amazement of the elect spirits from whom they
inquire their way (61-78). These sheep without a
shepherd-for they are the souls of such as died in
contumacy against the Church, and they must dree
their rebellion against the chief Shepherd by thirty
times as long a space of shepherdless wandering-
are yet more amazed than before when they see Dante's
shadow and hear from Virgil that he is still in the
first life (79-99). They make sign to them to
reverse their course; and one of them, King Manfred,
when Dante has failed to recognise him, tells the story
of his death at the battle of Benevento; of the pitiless
persecution even of his lifeless body by the Bishop of
Cosenza and Pope Clement. He declares that the
Infinite Goodness hath so wide an embrace that it
enfolds all who turn to it; explains the limitations of
the power of the Church's malediction, and implores the
prayers of his daughter Constance (100-145).
Although their sudden flight was scattering them The Poets
o'er the plain, turned to the mount where go on their
justice probes us,
I drew me close to my faithful comrade; and
how should I have sped without him? who
would have brought me up the mountain?
Gnawed he seemed to me by self-reproach. O
noble conscience and clear, how sharp a sting
is a little fault to thee!
When his feet had lost that haste which mars
the dignity of every act, my mind, that ere-
while was centred within,
widened its scope as in eager search, and I set
my face to the hillside which rises highest
heavenward from the waters.
way
25
26
PURGATORIO
Anti- Lo sol, che retro fiammeggiava roggio,
purgatorio rotto m' era dinanzi, alla figura
ch' aveva in me de' suoi raggi l'appoggio.
Io mi volsi dallato con paura
d'esser abbandonato, quando io vidi
solo dinanzi a me la terra oscura.
E il mio conforto: "Perchè pur diffidi?
a dir mi cominciò tutto rivolto ;
CC
non credi tu me teco, e ch' io ti guidi?
Vespero è già colà, dov' è sepolto
lo corpo, dentro al quale io facea ombra :
Napoli l'ha, e da Brandizio è tolto.
Ora, se innanzi a me nulla s' adombra,
non ti maravigliar più che de' cieli,
che l'uno all' altro raggio non ingombra.
A sofferir tormenti, caldi e gieli
simili corpi la virtù dispone,
che, come fa, non vuol che a noi si sveli.
Matto è chi spera che nostra ragione
possa trascorrer la infinita via,
che tiene una sustanzia in tre persone.
State contenti, umana gente, al quia :
chè, se potuto aveste veder tutto,
mestier non era partorir Maria;
e disiar vedeste senza frutto
tai, che sarebbe lor disio quetato,
ch' eternalmente è dato lor
dato lor per lutto.
Io dico d' Aristotele e di Plato
e di molti altri.” E qui chinò la fronte ;
e più non disse, e rimase turbato.
Noi divenimmo intanto al piè del monte:
quivi trovammo la roccia sì erta,
che indarno vi sarien le gambe pronte.
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
CANTO III
27
S
fears
The sun, that behind us. was flaming red, was Dante's
broken in front of me in the figure in which
it had its beams stayed by me.
I turned me aside from fear of being for-
saken, when I saw only before me the earth
darkened.
And my Comfort began to say to me, turning set at rest
full round: "Why dost thou again distrust? by Virgil
believest thou not me with thee and that I do
guide thee?
It is already evening there, where the body buried
lies within which I made shadow: Naples
possesses it, and from Brindisi 'tis taken.
Now, if before me no shadow falls, marvel not
more than at the heavenly spheres, that one
doth not obstruct the light from the other.
To suffer torments, heat and frost, bodies such
as these that power disposes, which wills not
that its workings be revealed to us.
Mad is he who hopes that our reason may
compass that infinitude which one substance
in three persons fills.
Be ye content, O human race, with the quiąl
For if ye had been able to see the whole, no
need was there for Mary to give birth;
and ye have seen such sages desire fruitlessly
whose desire had else been satisfied, which is
given them for eternal grief.
I speak of Aristotle and of Plato, and of many
others." And here he bent his brow, and said
no more, and remained troubled.

the Mount
We reached meanwhile the mountain's foot: The foot of
there found we the cliff so steep that vainly
there would legs be nimble.
28
YURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- Tra Lerici e Turbìa, la più diserta,
la più romita via è una scala,
verso di quella, agevole ed aperta.
"Or chi sa da qual man la costa cala,'
disse il maestro mio fermando il passo,
"sì che possa salir chi va senz'ala ?”
E mentre ch' ei teneva il viso basso
esaminando del cammin la mente,
ed io mirava suso intorno al sasso,
da man sinistra m' apparì una gente
d' anime, che movieno i piè ver noi,
e non parevan, sì venivan lente.
"Leva," diss' io, "maestro, gli occhi tuoi :
ecco di qua chi ne darà consiglio,
se tu da te medesmo aver nol puoi.”
Guardò a loro, e con libero piglio
49
52
55
58
61
64
rispose: "Andiamo in là, ch' ei vegnon piano;
e tu ferma la speme, dolce figlio."
Ancora era quel popol di lontano,
dico dopo li nostri mille passi,
quanto un buon gittator trarria con mano,
quando si strinser tutti ai duri massi
dell' alta ripa, e stetter fermi e stretti,
come a guardar, chi va dubbiando, stassi.
"O ben finiti, o già spiriti eletti,"
Virgilio incominciò, "per quella pace
ch' io credo che per voi tutti si aspetti,
ditene dove la montagna giace,
sì che possibil sia l' andare in suso :
chè perder tempo a chi più sa più spiace."
Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso
ad una, a due, a tre, e l' altre stanno
timidette atterrando l'occhio e il muso;
61
70
73
76
79
CANTO III
29
of the
Twixt Lerici and Turbia, the way most desolate, The nature
most solitary, is a stairway easy and free, ascent
compared with that.
"Now who knows on which hand the scarp
doth slope," said my Master, halting his steps,
66
so that he may climb who wingless goes?"
And while he held his visage low, searching in
thought anent the way, and I was looking up
about the rocks,
municate
on the left hand appeared to me a throng of The excom-
souls, who moved their feet towards us, and
yet seemed not to advance, so slow they came.
Master," said I, "lift up thine eyes, behold
there one who will give us counsel, if of
thyself thou mayest have it not."
CC
""
He looked at them, and with gladsome mien
answered: "Go we thither, for slowly they
come, and do thou confirm thy hope, sweet son.
As yet that people were so far off (I mean after
a thousand paces of ours) as a good slinger
would carry with his hand,
when they all pressed close to the hard rocks of
the steep cliff, and stood motionless and close,
as he halts to gaze around who goes in dread.
"O ye whose end was happy, O spirits already.
chosen," Virgil began, "by that same peace
which I believe by you all is awaited,
tell us where the mountain slopes, so that it may
be possible to go upward; for time lost irks
him most who knoweth most."
Like sheep come forth from out the pen, in ones,
in twos, in threes, and the others stand all
timid, casting eye and nose to earth,
30
PURGATORIO
Anti- e ciò che fa la prima, e l' altre fanno,
purgatorio addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta,
semplici e quete, e lo 'mperchè non sanno :
sì vid' io movere a venir la testa
di quella mandria fortunata allotta,
pudica in faccia, e nell' andare onesta.
Come color dinanzi vider rotta
la luce in terra dal mio destro canto,
sì che l'ombra era da me alla grotta,
restaro, e trasser sè indietro alquanto,
e tutti gli altri che venieno appresso,
non sapendo il perchè, fenno altrettanto.
"Senza vostra domanda io vi confesso,
che questo
è
corpo uman che voi vedete,
per che il lume del sole in terra è fesso.
Non vi maravigliate; ma credete
che, non senza virtù che dal ciel vegna,
cerchi di soperchiar questa parete.
""
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
""
103
Così il maestro; e quella gente degna:
"Tornate," disse, "intrate innanzi dunque,'
coi dossi delle man facendo insegna.
Ed un di loro incominciò: "Chiunque
tu se', così andando volgi il viso,
pon mente, se di là mi vedesti unque.'
Io mi volsi ver lui, e guardail fiso:
""
biondo era e bello e di gentile aspetto ;
ma l' un de' cigli un colpo avea diviso.
Quando io mi fui umilmente disdetto
d'averlo visto mai, ei disse: "Or vedi":
e mostrommi una piaga a sommo il petto.
Poi sorridendo disse: "Io son Manfredi,
nepote di Costanza imperadrice;
ond' io ti prego che quando tu riedi,
тоб
109
112
CANTO III
31
and what the first one doeth, the others do also, The excom-
huddling on to her if she stand still,
quiet, and know not why,
silly and
so saw I then the head of that happy flock move
to come on, modest in countenance, in move-
ment dignified.
municate
doubts
When those in front saw the light broken on the Their
ground on my right side, so that the shadow
was from me to the rock,
they halted, and drew them back somewhat;
and all the others that came after, knowing
not why, did the like.
"Without your question I confess to you, that this dispelled
is a human body ye see, by which the sun's by Virgil
light on the ground is cleft.
Marvel ye not, but believe that not without
virtue which cometh from heaven, he seeks
to surmount this wall."
So my Master; and that worthy people said:
"Turn ye, enter then before us," with the
backs of their hands making sign.
And one of them began: "Whoever thou art, Manfred
thus while going turn thy face, give heed if
e’er thou sawest me yonder.'
I turned me to him, and steadfastly did look?
golden-haired was he, and fair, and of noble
mien; but one of his eyebrows a cut had cleft.
When I humbly had
seen him, he said:
showed me a wound
disclaimed ever to have
"Now look
"Now look"; and he
above his breast.
Then smiling said: "I am Manfred, grandson
of Empress Constance; wherefore I pray thee,
that when thou returnest,
32
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- vadi a mia bella figlia, genitrice
dell' onor di Cicilia e d' Aragona,
e dichi il vero a lei, s' altro si dice.
Poscia ch' i' ebbi rotta la persona
di due punte mortali, io mi rendei
piangendo a quei che volentier perdona.
Orribil furon li peccati miei;
ma la bontà infinita ha sì gran braccia
che prende ciò, che si rivolge a lei.
Se il pastor di Cosenza, che alla caccia
di me fu messo per Clemente, allora
avesse in Dio ben letta questa faccia,
l'ossa del corpo mio sarieno ancora
in co' del ponte presso a Benevento,
sotto la guardia della grave mora.
Or le bagna la pioggia e move il vento
di fuor del regno, quasi lungo il Verde,
dov' ei le trasmutò a lume spento.
Per lor maledizion sì non si perde,
che non possa tornar l'eterno amore,
mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde.
Ver è che quale in contumacia muore
di santa Chiesa, ancor che al fin si penta,
stargli convien da questa ripa in fuore
per ogni tempo, ch' egli è stato, trenta,
in sua presunzion, se tal decreto
più corto per buon preghi non diventa.
Vedi oramai se tu mi puoi far lieto,
rivelando alla mia buona Costanza
come m' hai visto, ed anco esto divieto :
chè qui per quei di là molto s' avanza.
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
145
25-27. Vespero is the last of the four divisions of the
day, from 3 to 6 P.M. (cf. Conv. iii. 6: 20; iv. 23: 129).
CANTO III
33
municate
thou go to my fair daughter, parent of the glory The excom-
of Sicily and of Aragon, and tell her sooth,
if other tale be told.
After I had my body pierced by two mortal
stabs, I gave me up weeping to him who
willingly doth pardon.
Horrible were my transgressions; but infinite.
goodness hath such wide arms that it ac-
cepteth all that turn to it.
If Cosenza's Pastor, who to chase of me was
set by Clement, then had well read that page
in God,
burial
the bones of my body would yet be at the bridge- Manfred's
head near Benevento, under the guard of the
heavy cairn.
Now the rain washes them, and the wind stirs them,
beyond the Realm, hard by the Verde, whither
he translated them with tapers quenched.
By curse of theirs man is not so lost, that eternal
love may not return, so long as hope retaineth
aught of green.
True is it, that he who dies in contumacy of Holy The
Church, even though at the last he repent, needs penalty of
must stay outside this bank
thirtyfold for all the time that he hath lived in
his presumption, if such decree be not shortened
by holy prayers.
Look now, if thou canst make me glad, by reveal-
ing to my good Constance how thou hast seen
me, and also this ban: for here, through those
yonder, much advancement comes.
When it is 3 P.M. in Italy, it is 6 P. M. at Jerusalem and
A.M. in Purgatory (see diagrams on pp. 34 and 35).
C
the excom-
municate
34
NOTES
27. This tradition is recorded by Virgil's biographers,
Donatus and Suetonius. The body was transferred by
order of Augustus (cf. Purg. vii. 6).
37. Be satisfied that it is, without asking the reason
why. "Demonstration is two-fold: the one demon-
strates by means of the cause, and is called propter quid
the other by means of the effect, and is called the
demonstration quia" (Thomas Aquinas).
38, 39. Had human reason been capable of penetrat-
ing these mysteries, there would have been no need
for the revelation of the Word of God.
49. Lerici and Turbia are at the E. and W. ex-
tremities of Liguria, respectively.
89, 90. The mountain was on their right, and the
sun on their left.
103-145 This is Manfred (ca. 1231-1266), grandson
of the Emperor Henry VI. and of his wife Constance
(for whom see Par. iii, 109-120), and natural son of
•
11 · !!!
VIII · IX · X · XI. NOON.1

ITALY.
JERUSALEM.
·
VI. VII
SPAIN.
GANGES
NV
PURGATORY.
VIIN
MIDNIGHT⋅IX
Clock marking simultaneous hours at different regions of the
earth. To indicate changes of hour, the reader may imagine
the rim of the clock to revolve counterclockwise, while the five
hands remain stationary, or the hands to revolve clockrvise,
while the rim remains stationary.
CANTO III
35
30°
N
Purgatory.
90°
the Emperor Frederick II. Manfred's wife, Beatrice
of Savoy, bore him a daughter who (in 1262) married
Peter III. of Aragon (for whom and for whose sons
see below, Canto vii. 112-123; cf. also Par. xix.
130-138). Manfred became King of Sicily in 1258,
usurping the rights of his nephew Conradin. The
Popes naturally opposed him, as a Ghibelline, and
excommunicated him; and in 1265 Charles of Anjou
came to Italy with a large army, on the invitation
of Clement IV., and was crowned as counter King of
Sicily. On February 26, 1266, Manfred was defeated
by Charles at Benevento (some thirty miles N.E. of
Naples), and slain. He was buried near the battlefield,
beneath a huge cairn (each soldier of the army con-
tributing a stone); but his body was disinterred by
order of the Pope, and deposited on the banks of the
Verde (now the Garigliano, cf. Par. viii. 63), outside
the boundaries of the Kingdom of Naples and of the
Church States, and with the rites usual at the burial of
hose who died excommunicate (v. 132).
Spain.
Italy.
Jerusalem.
45°
Longitude
India.
90°
180°
E
Purgatory.

PURGATORIO
אן
the eagerness of his attention to Manfred's tale,
Dante takes no note of the passing time, and
thereby furnishes a practical refutation of the Platonic
doctrine of the plurality of souls; for if the soul that
presides over hearing were one, and the soul that notes
the passage of time another, then the completest
absorption of the former could not so involve the latter
as to prevent it from exercising its own special function.
It is three and a half hours from sunrise when the souls
point out the narrow cleft by which the pilgrims are
to ascend the mountain; after which they take their
leave of them (1-24). It is only the wings of longing
and hope that enable Dante to overcome the impedi-
ments of the ascent, and bring him through the cleft
to the open slope of the mountain, which he breasts
at Virgil's direction though it lies at an angle of more
than forty-five degrees (25-42). In answer to his
weary plea for a pause, Virgil urges him to gain a
terrace that circles the mount a little above them (43-
51). There they rest, and, looking east, survey their
ascent, after the complacent fashion of mountain-
climbers; but Dante is amazed to find that the sun
is north of the equator and strikes on his left shoulder
(52-60). Virgil explains that this is because they
are in the southern hemisphere, at the antipodes of
Jerusalem. Were the sun in Gemini instead of Aries,
he would be further to the north yet (61-75). Dante
rehearses and expands the lesson Virgil has taught
him, and then (having meanwhile apparently turned
west, facing the slope) makes inquiry as to the height
of the mountain (76-87). Virgil, without making
Anti- Quando per dilettanze ovver per doglie,
purgatorio
che alcuna virtù nostra comprenda,
l'anima bene ad essa si raccoglie,
36
CANTO IV
any direct answer, cheers his weary companion by
assuring him that as they mount higher, the ascent
becomes ever less arduous, till mounting up becomes
as spontaneous as the movement of a ship dropping
down stream; and then comes rest (89-96). Whereat a
voice suddenly rising from behind a great stone lying
south of them, intimates to Dante that he will probably
experience a keen desire for rest before that consumma-
tion (97-102). Whereon the poets move to the shady
or southern side of the rock where they see souls whose
repentance had been deferred to the moment of death,
stretched in attitudes of indolence. And in particular
sits hugging his
Belacqua, an old friend of Dante's,
knees like Sloth's own brother. It is he who had
given Dante his mocking warning, and who now in
the same vein taunts him with his readiness to reproach
others for their sloth the moment after he himself had
Emplored Virgil to wait for him; and also with his slow-
ness to understand the astronomical phenomena of the
southern heavens (103-120). A smile of relief and
amusement lightens Dante's face as he finds his friend
among the saved, and still his old self. Cannot even
che spirit life check his nimble wit or stir his sluggish
members? (121-126). But Belacqua answers sadly that
unless aided by the prayer of some soul in grace, he
nust live as long excluded from purgation as he had
ived in the self-exclusion of impenitence upon earth
127-135). It is now noonday in Purgatory; night
reigns from Ganges to Morocco; and Virgil urges his
charge to continue the ascent (136-139).
When through impression of pleasure, or of pain, The excom-
which some one of our faculties receives, the municate
soul is wholly centred on that faculty,
37
38
PURGATORIO
Anti- par che a nulla potenza più intenda;
purgatorio
e questo è contra quello error, che crede
che un' anima sopr' altra in noi s'accenda.
E però, quando s'ode cosa o vede
che tenga forte a sè l'anima volta,
vassene il tempo, e l' uom non se n'avvede :
ch' altra potenza è quella che l'ascolta,
ed altra quella che ha l'anima intera;
questa è quasi legata, e quella è sciolta.
Di ciò ebb' io esperienza vera,
udendo quello spirto ed ammirando:
chè ben cinquanta gradi salito era
lo sole, ed io non m'era accorto, quando
venimmo dove quell' anime ad una
gridaro a noi: "Qui è vostro domando."
Salita Maggiore aperta molte volte impruna,
con una forcatella di sue spine,
l'uom della villa, quando l' uva imbruna,
che non era la calla, onde salìne
lo duca mio ed io appresso, soli,
7
IO
13
16
19
22
come da noi la schiera si partìne.
Vassi in Sanleo, e discendesi in Noli;
montasi su Bismantova in cacume
con esso i piè ma qui convien ch' uom voli
dico con l'ali snelle e con le piume
del gran disio, di retro a quel condotto,
che speranza mi dava e facea lume.
Noi salivam per entro il sasso rotto,
e d'ogni lato ne stringea lo stremo,
e piedi e man voleva il suol di sotto.
Poi che noi fummo in su l' orlo supremo
dell' alta ripa, alla scoperta piaggia :
"Maestro mio," diss' io, "che via faremo?"
25
;
28
31
34
CANTO IV
39
municate
it seems that it gives heed to no other of its The excom-
powers; and this is contrary to that error, Dante's
which believes that one soul above another is
kindled within us.
And therefore, when aught is heard or seen
which holds the soul strongly bent to it, the
time passes away and we perceive it not;
for one faculty is that which notes it, and another
that which possesses the undivided soul; the
former is as 'twere bound, the latter free.
Of this I had true experience, while hearing that
spirit and marvelling; for full fifty degrees had
climbed
you
ask."
rapt
wonder
leave the
municate
the sun, and I had not perceived it, when we came The poets
to where those souls with one voice cried out excom-
to us: "Here is what
A bigger opening many a time the peasant hedges
up with a little forkful of his thorns, when the
grape is darkening,
than was the gap by which my leader mounted,
and I after him, we two alone, when the troop
parted from us.
One can walk at Sanleo and get down to Noli; Difficulty of
one can mount Bismantova to its summit, with the ascent
feet alone; but here a man must fly,
I mean with the swift wings and with the plumes.
of great desire, behind that Leader, who gave
me hope, and was a light to me.
We were climbing within the cleft rock, and on
either side the surface pressed against us, and the
ground beneath required both feet and hands.
After we were on the upper edge of the high cliff,
out on the open hillside, "Master mine," said
I, “what way shall we take?”
40
PURGATORIO
Salita
Anti- Ed egli a me:
"Nessun tuo passo caggia;
purgatorio pur su al monte retro a me acquista,
fin che n' appaia alcuna scorta saggia.'
Lo sommo er' alto che vincea la vista,
e la costa superba più assai
che da mezzo quadrante a centro lista.
Io era lasso, quando cominciai:
""
“O dolce padre, volgiti e rimira
com' io rimango sol, se non ristai.”
"Figliuol mio," disse, "infin quivi ti tira,"
additandomi un balzo poco in sue,
che da quel lato il poggio tutto gira.
Sì mi spronaron le parole sue
ch' io mi sforzai, carpando appresso lui,
tanto che il cinghio sotto i piè mi fue.
A seder ci ponemmo ivi ambo e dui
volti a levante, ond' eravam saliti :
chè suole a riguardar giovare altrui.
Gli occhi prima drizzai a' bassi liti;
poscia gli alzai al sole, ed ammirava
che da sinistra n'eravam feriti.
Ben s'avvide il poeta, che io stava
stupido tutto al carro della luce,
dove tra noi ed Aquilone intrava.
Ond' egli a me:
"Se Castore e Polluce
fossero in compagnia di quello specchio,
che su e giù del suo lume conduce,
tu vederesti il Zodiaco rubecchio
ancora all' Orse più stretto rotare,
se non uscisse fuor del cammin vecchio.
Come ciò sia, se il vuoi poter pensare,
dentro raccolto, immagina Sion
con questo monte in su la terra stare,
37
40
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
CANTO IV
41
And he to me :
weariness
"Let no step of thine descend, Dante's
ever up the mount behind me win thy way,
until some wise escort appear to us.
>>
So high was the top that it surpassed my sight,
and the slope steeper far than a line from mid-
quadrant to centre.
Weary was I when I began: "O sweet father,
turn thee and look how I remain alone, if thou
stay not."
66
My son,” said he, "so far as there drag thee,"
pointing out to me a terrace a little higher up,
which on that side circles the whole mountain.
So did his words spur me on, that I forced me,
creeping after him, so far that the ledge was
under my feet.
There we both did sit us down, turned towards The poets
the East, whence we had ascended; for to rest
look back is wont to cheer men.
tion of the
sun
First mine eyes I directed to the shores below; The posi-
then did raise them to the sun, and marvelled
that we were smitten by it on the left side.
Right well the Poet perceived that I was all
astonished at the chariot of the light, where
'twas entering between us and the North.
Whereupon he to me: "If Castor and Pollux explained
were in company of that mirror, which purveys
of his light upward and downward,
thou wouldst see the glowing Zodiac revolve
yet closer to the Bears, unless it strayed from
its ancient path.
If thou wouldst have power to conceive how that
may be, rapt within thyself, imagine Zion and
this mount to be placed on the earth
by Virgil
42
PURGATORIO
Anti- sì che ambo e due hanno un solo orizzon
purgatorio
e diversi emisperi; onde la strada,
che mal non seppe carreggiar Feton,
vedrai come a costui convien che vada
dall' un, quando a colui dall' altro fianco,
se l'intelletto tuo ben chiaro bada."
Certo, maestro mio," diss' io, “unquanco
non vidi chiaro sì com' io discerno,
là dove mio ingegno parea manco,
che il mezzo cerchio del moto superno
66
che si chiama Equatore in alcun' arte,
e che sempre riman tra il sole e il verno,
per la ragion che di', quinci si parte
verso settentrion, quanto gli Ebrei
vedevan lui verso la calda parte.
Ma se a te piace, volentier saprei
quanto avemo ad andar, chè il poggio sale
più che salir non posson gli occhi miei."
Ed egli a me : Questa montagna è tale,
che sempre al cominciar di sotto è grave,
“
e quanto uom più va su, e men fa male.
Però quand' ella ti parrà soave
tanto, che il su andar ti fia leggiero,
come a seconda giuso andar per nave,
allor sarai al fin d' esto sentiero :
quivi di riposar l' affanno aspetta.
Più non rispondo, e questo so per vero."
E, com' egli ebbe sua parola detta,
una voce di presso sonò: "Forse
che di sedere in prima avrai distretta."
Al suon di lei ciascun di noi si torse,
e vedemmo a mancina un gran petrone,
del qual nè io nè ei prima s' accorse.
70
73
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
CANTO IV
43
tinues his
so that both have one sole horizon and different Virgil con-
hemispheres; wherefore the way, which, to discourse
his hurt, Phaeton knew not how to drive,
thou shalt see must needs pass this on the one
side when it passes Zion on the other, if thy
mind right clearly apprehends."
"Of a surety, Master mine," said I,
(C never
saw I so clearly as I discern, there where my
wit seemed at fault,
that the median circle of the heavenly motion, which
is called Equator in one of the sciences, and
which ever remains 'twixt the sun and winter,
for the reason that thou tellest, departs here
towards the North, as far as the Hebrews used
to see it towards the hot climes.
But if it please thee, willingly would I know how
far we have to go, for the hillside rises higher
than mine eyes can reach."
And he to me: "This mountain is such, that
ever at the beginning below 'tis toilsome, and
the more a man ascends the less it wearies.
Therefore when it shall seem to thee so pleasant
that the ascending becomes to thee easy, even
as in a boat to descend with the stream,
then shalt thou be at the end of this path: there
hope to rest thy weariness. No more I answer,
and this I know for truth."
and tells
how the
ascent be-
comes more
easy
And when he had said his word, a voice hard The Late-
by sounded: "Perchance ere that thou wilt Repentant
have need to sit."
At sound of it each of us turned him round, and
we saw on the left a great mass of stone, which
neither I nor he perceived before.
Belacqua
44
PURGATORIO
Anti- Là ci traemmo; ed ivi eran persone
purgatorio
che si stavano all' ombra dietro al sasso,
com' uom per negligenza a star si pone.
Ed un di lor, che mi sembrava lasso,
sedeva ed abbracciava le ginocchia,
tenendo il viso giù tra esse basso.
"O dolce signor mio," diss' io, "adocchia
colui che mostra sè più negligente
che se pigrizia fosse sua sirocchia.”
Allor si volse a noi, e pose mente,
movendo il viso pur su per la coscia,
e disse: "Or va su tu, che se' valente."
Conobbi allor chi era; e quell' angoscia,
che m' avacciava un poco ancor la lena,
non m' impedì l' andare a lui; e poscia
che a lui fui giunto, alzò la testa appena,
dicendo: "Hai ben veduto come il sole
dall'omero sinistro il carro mena?"
Gli atti suoi pigri e le corte parole
mosson le labbra mie un poco a riso;
poi cominciai: “ Belacqua, a me non duole
di te omai; ma dimmi, perchè assiso
quiritta sei? attendi tu iscorta,
o pur lo modo usato t'hai ripriso?"
Ed ei: “Frate, l' andare in su che porta ?
chè non mi lascerebbe ire ai martiri
l'uccel di Dio che siede in su la porta.
Prima convien che tanto il ciel m' aggiri
di fuor da essa, quanto fece in vita,
perch' io indugiai al fine i buon sospiri ;
se orazione in prima non m' aita,
che surga su di cor che in grazia viva:
l'altra che val, che in ciel non è udita?"
103
106
109
II2
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
CANTO IV
45
Repentant
Dante and
Belacqua
Thither drew we on; and there were persons, The Late-
lounging in the shade behind the rock, even as
a man settles him to rest for laziness.
And one of them, who seemed to me weary, was
sitting and clasping his knees, holding his face
low down between them.
"O sweet my Lord," said I, "set thine eye on
that one who shows himself lazier than if Sloth
were his very sister."
Then turned he to us and gave heed, moving his
face only over his thigh, and said: "Now go
thou up who art valiant."
Then knew I who he was; and that toil which
still oppressed a little my breath, did not hinder
my going to him; and after
I had got to him, his head he scarce did lift, say-
ing: "Hast thou truly seen how the sun drives
his chariot on thy left side?"
His lazy actions and the brief words moved my
lips to smile a little; then I began: "Belacqua,
it grieves me not
for thee now; but tell me, why art thou seated
here? dost thou await escort, or hast thou but
resumed thy wonted habit?"
And he "Brother what avails it to ascend? The penalty
:
of the Late-
For God's winged angel that sits at the gate, Repentant
would not let me pass to the torments.
First must the heavens revolve around me out-
side it, so long as they did during my life,
because I delayed my healing sighs to the end:
unless before, a prayer aids
aids me, which
may rise
up
from a heart that lives in grace: what profits
another that in heaven is not heard?"
46
NOTES
Anti- E già il poeta innanzi mi saliva,
purgatorio
e dicea: "Vienne omai, vedi ch'è tocco
meridian dal sole, e dalla riva
copre la notte già col piè Morrocco."
136
139
6. Plato asserted that there were divers souls
with distinct organs in
in one and the same body"
(Thomas Aquinas). On the Aristotelian doctrine of
the three kinds of soul-vegetative, animal, and rational,
see below, Canto xxv. vv. 52 sqq.
12. For this use of questa and quella, cf. Purg. xxv. 54.
15. The sun traverses fifteen degrees every hour: it
is therefore now 9.20 A.M.
25, 26. Sanleo: in the territory of Urbino; Noli:
on the coast of Liguria, between Savona and Albenga;
Bismantova a hill in the Emilia, about twenty miles
S. of Reggio.
40, 41. The angle of the quadrant (quarter of a
circle) is 90°; that of a half quadrant is therefore 45°.
57. They were looking east, and therefore had the
north to their left and the south to their right. South
of the equator the equinoctial sun is north of the
zenith at midday, for the same reason that north of
the equator he is south of it.
61-66. See Argument. Castor and Pollux the
Twins (cf. Par. xxvii. 98 and note), which sign is
further north of the equator than Aries. The sun is
called specchio (like Saturn in Par. xxi. 18), because, in
common with the other planets [for the sun a planet,
cf. Inf. i. 17, note], he receives the divine light from
above, the spheres intervening, and reflects it down-
wards (cf. Par. xxviii. 127); and this is probably the
attribute of the sun referred to in v. 63, though some
commentators take the line to mean that he illuminates
the northern and southern hemisphere alternately.
The Zodiaco rubecchio that part of the Zodiac in which
the sun is. The Orse indicate the North Pole.
68-72. Consider that Purgatory is at the exact
antipodes of Jerusalem.-The strada = the path of the sun,
the ecliptic. For Phaëton, see Inf. xvii. 106-108, note.
82-84. The equator is equi-distant from Jerusalem
and from the Mount of Purgatory.
CANTO IV
47
And already the poet was mounting before me, The Late-
and saying: "Come on now, thou seest the Repentant.
meridian is touched by the sun, and Night
already with her foot covers from Ganges'
banks to Morocco."
98. The Florentine Belacqua, a friend of Dante's, was
a maker of musical instruments, notorious for his sloth.
123. Seeing that thou art on the road to salvation.
137-139. It is noon in Purgatory, sunrise on the
Ganges (the riva), and sunset in Morocco Spain (see
the diagrams on pp. 34, 35, and below).

Z
WT
E
S
Մ
Showing the portions of the mountain under light and
hade at noonday. Cf. Purg. iv. 136-139, xii. 81 (com-
bare xxii. 118-120 with XXV. 1-3), xxxiii. 103-105.
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
S
As they pass up the mountain, Dante's shadow still
A
excites the amazement of the souls; but Virgil
bids him pay no heed to their exclamations (1-12).
group of souls chanting the Miserere breaks into a
cry of wonder, and when two of them, sent out as
messengers, have received Virgil's statement that
Dante is still in the first life, the whole group crowd
around him (22-42). They tell him that they are
souls of the violently slain, who repented and made.
their peace with God at the last moment. Virgil bids
Dante pursue his path, but suffers him to promise to bear
Anti- Io era già da quell' ombre partito,
e seguitava l'orme del mio duca,
quando di retro a me drizzando il dito,
una gridò: "Ve' che non par che luca
lo raggio da sinistra a quel di sotto,
e come vivo par che si conduca.”
Gli occhi rivolsi al suon di questo motto,
e vidile guardar per maraviglia
pur me, pur me, e il lume ch' era rotto.
“Perchè l'animo tuo tanto s' impiglia,”
disse il maestro, "che l' andare allenti?
che ti fa ciò che quivi si pispiglia?
Vien retro a me, e lascia dir le genti;
sta come torre ferma, che non crolla
giammai la cima per soffiar de' venti:
chè sempre l'uomo, in cui pensier rampolla
sopra pensier, da sè dilunga il segno,
perchè la foga l' un dell' altro insolla."
Che poteva io ridir, se non : "Io vegno?"
Dissilo, alquanto del color consperso
che fa l' uom di perdon tal volta degno.
4
7
10
13
16
19
48
CANTO V
news of these souls to their friends on earth and implore
their prayers (43-63). Dante hears the tale of Jacopo
del Cassero (64-84). Then Buonconte da Monte Feltro
tells the story of his death at Campaldino, the struggle
of the angel and the devil for his soul, and the fate of
his deserted body (85-129). And lastly Pia rehearses,
in brief pathetic words, the tragedy of her wedded
life, and implores the poet when he is rested from
his long journey to bethink him of her (130-136).
Repentant
I was already parted from those shades, and was The Late-
following my leader's footsteps, when behind
me, pointing his finger,

amazement
one cried: "See, it seemeth not that the light Their
shines on the left of him below, and he
appears to demean himself like one alive.”
Mine eyes I turned at sound of these words, and
saw them gazing in astonishment at me alone,
me alone, and at the light that was broken.
"Why is thy mind so entangled," said the Virgil
Master, "that thou slackenest thy pace? what Dante for
matters it to thee what they whisper here? tarrying
Follow me and let the people talk; stand thou
as a firm tower which never shakes its summit
for blast of winds:
for ever the man in whom thought wells up on
thought, sets back his mark, because the one
saps the force of the other."
What could I answer, save: "I come"? This
I said, suffused somewhat with that colour
which ofttimes makes a man worthy of pardon.
reproves
D
49
50
PURGATORIO
Anti- E intanto per la costa di traverso
purgatorio venivan genti innanzi a noi un poco,
cantando Miserere a verso a verso.
Quando s'accorser ch' io non dava loco,
per lo mio corpo, al trapassar de' raggi,
mutar lor canto in un'oh' lungo e roco;
e due di loro in forma di messaggi
Se
per
corsero incontro a noi, e domandarne :
“Di vostra condizion fatene saggi."
E il mio maestro: "Voi potete andarne,
e ritrarre a color che vi mandaro,
che il corpo di costui è vera carne.
veder la sua ombra restaro,
com' io avviso, assai è lor risposto;
facciangli onore, ed esser può lor caro."
Vapori accesi non viď io sì tosto
di prima notte mai fender sereno,
nè, sol calando, nuvole d' agosto,
che color non tornasser suso in meno;
e, giunti là, con gli altri a noi dier volta,
come schiera che corre senza freno.
"Questa gente che preme a noi è molta,
e vengonti a pregar," disse il poeta ;
però pur va, ed in andando ascolta."
"O anima, che vai per esser lieta
(6
(C
con quelle membra, con le quai nascesti,"
venian gridando, un poco il passo queta.
Guarda se alcun di noi unque vedesti,
sì che di lui di là novelle porti :
deh, perchè vai? deh, perchè non t'arresti ?
Noi fummo già tutti per forza morti,
e peccatori infino all'ultim' ora:
quivi lume del ciel ne fece accorti
22
29
20
31
34

3
4
41
4
4
5
CANTO V
51
Repentant
And meanwhile across the mountain slope came The Late-
people a little in front of us, chanting the violently
Miserere verse by verse alterne.
When they perceived that I gave no place, because
of my body, to the passage of the rays, they
changed their chant to an Oh! long and hoarse;
slain
parley with
and two of them in the guise of messengers ran They
"Make us to the poets
to meet us, and asked of us:
know of your condition.'
And my Master: "Ye may go hence and bear
back to those who sent you that the body of
this man is very flesh.
If they stayed for seeing his shadow, as I opine,
enough is answered: let them do him honour
and he may be precious to them.”
Ne'er saw I flaming vapours so swiftly cleave
the bright sky at early night, or August
clouds at setting sun,
but that they returned upward in less, and, arrived
there, with the others wheeled round to us,
like a troop that hastes with loosened rein.
"This people that presses on to us is many, and
they come to entreat thee," said the poet; "but
go thou ever on and, while going, listen."
O soul, that goest to be glad with those
members which thou wast born with," they
came crying, "arrest a while thy step.
Look if e'er thou sawest any one of us, so that thou
mayst bear tidings of him yonder: ah, where-
fore goest thou? ah, wherefore stayest thou not?
We were all slain by violence and sinners up to
the last hour then light from heaven made
us ware
52
PURGATORIO
Anti- sì che, pentendo e perdonando, fuora
di vita uscimmo a Dio pacificati,
purgatorio
che del disio di sè veder n'accora."
Ed io: "Perchè ne' vostri visi guati,
non riconosco alcun; ma, se a voi piace
cosa ch' io possa, spiriti ben nati,
voi dite; ed io farò per quella pace,
che, retro ai piedi di sì fatta guida,
di mondo in mondo cercar mi si face."
Ed uno incominciò: "Ciascun si fida
del beneficio tuo senza giurarlo,
pur che il voler nonpossa non ricida.
Ond' io, che solo innanzi agli altri parlo,
ti prego, se mai vedi quel paese
che siede tra Romagna e quel di Carlo,
che tu mi sie de' tuoi preghi cortese
in Fano sì che ben per me s' adori,
perch' io possa purgar le gravi offese.
Quindi fu' io; ma li profondi fori,
onde uscì il sangue in sul qual io sedea,
fatti mi furo in grembo agli Antenori,
là dov' io più sicuro esser credea.
Quel da Esti il fe' far, che m' avea in ira
assai più là che dritto non volea.
Ma s'io fossi fuggito in ver La Mira,
quando fui sopraggiunto ad Oriago,
ancor sarei di là dove si spira.
Corsi al palude, e le cannucce e il brago
m' impigliar sì ch' io caddi, e lì viď io
delle mie vene farsi in terra lago."
Poi disse un altro: "Deh, se quel disio
si compia che ti tragge all' alto monte,
con buona pietate aiuta il mio.
CANTO V
53
o that, repenting and pardoning, we came forth The Late-
from life reconciled with God, who penetrates violently
Repentant
us with desire to behold him."
And I: "How much soever I gaze in your
faces, I recognise none; but if aught I can do
may please you, ye spirits born for bliss,
peak ye; and I will do it for the sake of that
peace, which, following the steps of such a
guide, makes me pursue it from world to world."
slain
Cassero
And one began: "Each of us trusts in thy good Jacopo del
offices without thine oath, if only want of
power cut not off the will.
Wherefore I, who merely speak before the others,
pray thee, if e'er thou see that country which
lies between Romagna and that of Charles,
hat thou be gracious to me of thy prayers in
Fano, so that holy orison be made for me,
that I may purge away my heavy offences,
Thence sprang I; but the deep wounds whence
flowed the blood wherein my life was set,
were dealt me in the bosom of the Antenori,
here where I thought to be most secure. He
of Este had it done, who held me in wrath
far beyond what justice would.
ut if I had fled towards La Mira, when I was
surprised at Oriaco, I should yet be yonder
where men breathe.
ran to the marshes, and the reeds and the mire
entangled me so, that I fell; and there saw I
a pool growing on the ground from my veins."
"hen said another: "Prithee, and so be that Buonconte
desire satisfied which draws thee up the lofty feltro
mount-with kindly pity help my desire.
da Monte-
54
PURGATORIO
Anti- lo fui di Montefeltro, io son Buonconte;
purgatorio Giovanna o altri non ha di me cura :
per ch' io vo tra costor con bassa fronte."
Ed io a lui: " Qual forza o qual ventura
ti traviò sì fuor di Campaldino
che non si seppe mai tua sepoltura?'
"Oh," rispos' egli, "a piè del Casentino
traversa un'acqua che ha nome l' Archiano,
che sopra l'Ermo nasce in Apennino.
Dove il vocabol suo diventa vano
arriva' io forato nella gola,
fuggendo a piede e sanguinando il piano.
Quivi perdei la vista, e la parola
nel nome di Maria finii; e quivi
caddi, e rimase la mia carne sola.
Io dirò il vero, e tu il ridi' tra i vivi;
l' angel di Dio mi prese, e quel d' inferno
gridava: O tu del ciel, perchè mi privi?
6
Tu te ne porti di costui l'eterno
per una lagrimetta che il mi toglie;
ma io farò dell' altro altro governo.
Ben sai come nell' aere si raccoglie
quell' umido vapor, che in acqua riede
tosto che sale dove il freddo il coglie.
Giunse quel mal voler, che pur mal chiede,
88
91
94
97
100
IO
ΙΟ
ΙΟ
II
II
con l'intelletto, e mosse il fummo e il vento
per la virtù, che sua natura diede.
Indi la valle, come il dì fu spento,
da Pratomagno al gran giogo coperse
di nebbia, e il ciel di sopra fece intento
sì che il pregno aere in acqua si converse:
la pioggia cadde, ed ai fossati venne
di lei ciò che la terra non sofferse ;
II
CANTO V
55
I
25
I was of Montefeltro, I am Buonconte; Giovanna, The Late-
or any other hath no care for me; wherefore Repentant
violently
go among these, with downcast brow." slain
And I to him: "What violence or what chance
made thee stray so far from Campaldino, that
thy burial place ne'er was known?"
"Oh," answered he, "at Casentino's foot a Buon-
stream crosses, which is named Archiano, and death at
rises in the Apennines above the Hermitage. Campal-
There where its name is lost, did I arrive, pierced
in the throat, flying on foot, and bloodying
the plain.
There lost I vision, and ended my words upon
the name of Mary; and there fell I, and my
flesh alone was left.
conte's
dino
I will speak sooth, and do thou respeak it among The devil
the living; the angel of God took me, and one fights for
from Hell cried: "Othou from Heaven, where-
fore robbest thou me?
his soul-
Thou bearest hence the eternal part of this man, in vain
for one little tear that snatches him from me;
but with the other will I deal in other fashion.'
Thou knowest how in the air that damp vapour Thẹ
gathers, which turns again to water soon as it rushing
ascends where the cold condenses it.
He united that evil will, which seeks ill only,
with intellect, and stirred the mist and wind
by the power which his nature gave.
Then when day was spent, he covered the valley
from Pratomagno to the great mountain chain
with mist, and the sky above made lowering
o that the saturated air was turned to water:
the rain fell, and to the water-rills came what
of it the earth endured not;
river
56
PURGATORIO
Anti- e come a' rivi grandi si convenne,
purgatorio
ver lo fiume real tanto veloce
si ruinò, che nulla la ritenne.
Lo corpo mio gelato in su la foce
trovò l'Archian rubesto; e quel sospinse
nell' Arno, e sciolse al mio petto la croce,
ch' io fei di me quando il dolor mi vinse;
voltommi per le ripe e per lo fondo,
poi di sua preda mi coperse e cinse."
"Deh, quando tu sarai tornato al mondo,
e riposato della lunga via,"
seguitò il terzo spirito al secondo,
"ricorditi di me, che son la Pia;
Siena mi fe', disfecemi Maremma :
salsi colui che innanellata, pria
disposando, m' avea con la sua gemma.'
24. The Miserere-Psalm li.
>>
121
124
127
130
133
136
37-39. Medieval science held falling stars and
weather lightning to be due to "flaming vapours."
63-84. Jacopo del Cassero (probably related to the
Guido of Inf. xxviii. 77), a Guelf of Fano (situated in
the mark of Ancona, between Romagna and the kingdom
of Naples, which was ruled by Charles II. of Anjou) was
Podestà of Bologna in 1296. Having incurred the
wrath of Azzo VIII. of Este (for whom see Inf. xii. 110-
112; cf. also Purg. xx. 80), whose designs on the city
he had frustrated, he hoped to escape his vengeance by
exchanging the office at Bologna for a similar one at
Milan (1298). He was, however, murdered by Azzo's
orders [among the assassins being Riccardo da Cam-
mino, for whom see Par. ix. 49-51] while on his way
thither, at Oriaco, between Venice and Padua [the
Paduans are called Antenori in v. 75, from their
reputed founder Antenor, for whom see Inf. xxxii.
88, note; his escape to Italy after the fall of Troy,
and his building of Padua are recorded by Virgil,
CANTO V
57
Repentant
and as it united into great torrents, so swiftly it The Late-
rushed towards the royal stream, that naught violently
held it back.
slain
My frozen body at its mouth the raging Archian The devil's
found, and swept it into the Arno, and loosed vengeance
the cross on my breast,
which I made of me when pain o'ercame me:
it rolled me along its banks and over its bed,
then covered and wrapped me with its spoils.'
66
""
on Buon-
conte's
body
Pray, when thou shalt return to the world, and La Pia
art rested from thy long journey," followed
the third spirit after the second,
"Remember me, who am La Pia: Siena made
me, Maremma unmade me : 'tis known to him
who, first plighting troth, had wedded me with
his gem.
""
Æn. i. 242 sqq.).
Oriaco is situated in a marshy
country, while La Mira would have been easier of
access to Jacopo in his flight (vv. 79-81).
85-129. Buonconte of Montefeltro, son of the
Guido whose death forms the subject of a very similar
episode in Inf. xxvii., and, like his father, a Ghibelline
leader. He was in command of the Aretines when they
were defeated by the Florentine Guelfs at Campaldino,
on June 11, 1289, and was himself among the slain.
[According to Bruni's testimony, Dante took part in
this battle on the Guelf side; see Inf. xxi. 94-96,
note]. Giovanna (v. 89) was Buonconte's wife. Cam-
paldino is in the Upper Val d'Arno, or district of
Casentino (bounded by the mountains of Pratomagno
on the west and by the principal chain of the Apennines
on the east-v. 116; cf. Inf. xxx. 65, and Purg. xiv.
43), between Poppi and Bibbiena. At the latter place
the Archiano, which rises in the Apennines at the
monastery of Camaldoli (v. 96; cf. Par. xxii. 49, note),
falls into the Arno (vv. 97, 124-126).—With vv. 109-
111, cf. Purg. xxviii. 121-12.
58
NOTES
130-136. Until recently the story of la Pia, as given
by the various commentators, was as follows:-The
unfortunate lady belonged to the Sienese family of the
Tolomei, and married Nello d'Inghiramo dei Pannoc-
chieschi (Podestà of Volterra in 1277, and of Lucca in
1314; captain of the Tuscan Guelfs in 1284; still living
in 1322). She was put to death by her husband in 1295
at the Castello della Pietra, in the Sienese Maremma:
some say that she was thrown out of a window, by
Nello's orders, others that she died in some mysterious
way (which probably gave rise to the tradition that the
unhealthy marshes of the district were intended to, and
actually did, kill her). Nello's motives are variously
given according to some accounts he was jealous (with
or without cause); according to others he wished to get
rid of his wife in order to be able to marry the Countess
Margherita degli Aldobrandeschi, the widow of Guy
of Montfort. In the year 1886 this identification of
la Pia was proved (by Banchi) to be impossible; and it
is difficult to say how much truth there may be in the
legends clustering round her name, till fresh documents.
concerning her are unearthed.
1
Rises 10pm.
Rises,
Midnight Z
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M
Rises 4 am
SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORNUS AQUARIUS |

w.dg sassy
m
HORIZON
Rises E
6 a.m
PISCES
ARIES
Rises 8am
VIRGO
au
O
LIBRA
W udg
say
шd+ səsiy
L
Rises 2pm.
noon
•Rises,
Rises 10a-m
·S
Showing the hours at which the several sings of the Zodiac
begin to rise at the spring equinox.
twelve hours after it begins to rise.
North.
Each sign begins to set
The spectator is looking
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
L
IKE a successful gamester who must cleave his way
by payments through the host whose quickened
sense of friendship overflows in obstructive congratula-
tions and reminiscences, so Dante must pay his way by
promises through the crowd of souls to whom he has
power of granting such precious boons (1-12). Of some
of these souls he tells us news, not without side thrusts
of warning or reproach at the living (13-24). When
again free to converse with his guide, Dante asks him
to explain the seeming contradiction between the
anxiety of these souls for the prayers of others, and his
(Virgil's) declaration that the divine Fates cannot be
bent by prayer (25-33). Virgil explains, firstly, that
no bending of the divine will is involved in the grant-
ing of prayer; secondly, that his rebuke was uttered
to souls not in grace; and, finally, that the complete
solution of such questions is not for him (Virgil), but for
Beatrice (34-48); at the mention of whose name Dante
Anti. Quando si
Quando si parte il giuoco della zara,
colui che perde si riman dolente,
ripetendo le volte, e tristo impara ;
con l'altro se ne va tutta la gente:
qual va dinanzi, e qual di retro il prende,
e qual da lato gli si reca a mente.
Ei non s'arresta, e questo e quello intende;
a cui porge la man più non fa pressa ;
e così dalla calca si difende.
Tal era io in quella turba spessa ;
volgendo a loro e qua e là la faccia,
e promettendo, mi sciogliea da essa.
Quivi era l' Aretin, che dalle braccia
fiere di Ghin di Tacco ebbe la morte,
e l'altro che annegò correndo in caccia.
бо
7
ΙΟ
13
CANTO VI
wishes to make greater speed in ascending the moun-
tain, whereto Virgil answers that the journey is of
more days than one (49-57). The poets, now in the
shade of the mountain (since they are on its eastern
slope and the sun is already west of north) so that
Dante no longer casts a shadow, and is therefore not
instantly to be recognised as a living man, perceive the
soul of Sordello gazing upon them like a couching lion ;
but on hearing that Virgil is a Mantuan, he breaks
through all reserve and embraces him as his fellow-
countryman (58-75). The love of these two fellow-
citizens calls back to Dante's heart the miserable
dissensions that rend the cities of Italy, and the
callousness with which the Emperors leave them to
their fate (76-126). But from the reproaches thus
launched against the Italians, Florence is sarcastically
excepted, till the sarcasm breaks down in a wail of
reproachful pity (127-151).
Repentant
When the game of dice breaks up, he who loses The Late-
stays sorrowing, repeating the throws, and sadly violently
learns :
slain
throng
round
Dante
with the other all the folk go away: one goes They
in front, another plucks him from behind, and
another at his side recalls him to his mind.
He halts not and attends to this one and to that:
those to whom he stretches forth his hand press
no more; and so he saves him from the crowd.
Such was I in that dense throng, turning my face
to them, now here, now there, and by promis-
ing freed me from them.
and Guccio
There was the Aretine who by the savage arms Benincasa
of Ghin di Tacco met his death; and the
other who was drowned as he ran in chase.
61
62
PURGATORIO
Anti- Quivi pregava con le mani sporte
purgatorio
Federico Novello, e quel da Pisa
che fe' parer lo buon Marzucco forte.
Vidi Cont' Orso; e l'anima divisa
dal corpo suo per astio e per inveggia,
come dicea, non per colpa commisa-
Pier dalla Broccia dico: e qui provveggia,
mentr' è di qua, la donna di Brabante,
sì che però non sia di peggior greggia.
Come libero fui da tutte e quante
quell' ombre, che pregar pur ch' altri preghi,
sì che s' avacci il lor divenir sante,
io cominciai: “E' par che tu mi neghi,
o luce mia, espresso in alcun testo,
che decreto del cielo orazion pieghi;
e questa gente prega pur di questo.
Sarebbe dunque loro speme vana?
o non m'è il detto tuo ben manifesto?'
“La mia scrittura è piana,
Ed egli a me :
là speranza di costor non falla,
e
se ben si guarda con la mente sana.
Chè cima di giudizio non s' avvalla,
perchè foco d'amor compia in un punto
ciò che dee satisfar chi qui s'astalla ;
e là dov'io fermai cotesto punto,
non si ammendava, per pregar, difetto,
perchè il prego da Dio era disgiunto.
Veramente a così alto sospetto
non ti fermar, se quella nol ti dice,
che lume fia tra il vero e l' intelletto.
Non so se intendi: io dico di Beatrice;
tu la vedrai di sopra, in su la vetta
di questo monte, ridente e felice.”
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
(
CANTO VI
63
There was praying with outstretched hands The Late-
Federigo Novello, and he of Pisa who made Repentant
the good Marzucco show fortitude.
violently
slain
Federico &
Count Orso
and Pier de
la Brosse
I saw Count Orso, and the soul severed from its Farinata
body through hatred and envy, so it said, and
not for any sin committed—
Pierre de la Brosse I mean: and here let the Lady
of Brabant take heed, while she is on earth, so
that for this she be not of a worser herd.
When I was free from all those shades whose one
prayer was that others should pray, so that their
way to blessedness be sped,
of prayer
I began: "It seemeth that thou, O my Light, Efficacy
deniest expressly in a certain passage, that prayer
may bend heaven's decree;
and these people pray but for this.
Can then
their hope be vain? or are not thy words right
clear to me?"
And he to me: (6
'My writing is plain and the
hope of them is not deceived if well thou con-
siderest with mind whole.
For the height of justice is not abased because fire
of love fulfils in one moment the satisfaction
which he owes who here is lodged :
and there where I affirmed that point, default could
not be amended by prayer, because the prayer
was severed from God.
But do not rest in so profound a doubt except
she tell it thee, who shall be a light between
truth and intellect.
I know not if thou understand: I speak of
Beatrice; thou shalt see her above, on the
summit of this mount, smiling and blessed.”
64
PURGATORIO
Anti- Ed io: "Signore, andiamo a maggior fretta; 49
purgatorio
chè già non m' affatico come dianzi;
e vedi omai che il poggio l'ombra getta.”
“Noi anderem con questo giorno innanzi,"
rispose, "quanto più potremo omai;
ma il fatto è d' altra forma che non stanzi.
Prima che sii lassù, tornar vedrai
colui che già si copre della costa,
sì che i suoi raggi tu romper non fai.
Ma vedi là un' anima, che, posta
sola soletta, verso noi riguarda;
quella ne insegnerà la via più tosta.
Venimmo a lei. O anima Lombarda,
come ti stavi altera e disdegnosa,
""
e nel mover degli occhi onesta e tarda!
Ella non ci diceva alcuna cosa;
ma lasciavane gir, solo sguardando
a guisa di leon quando si posa.
Pur Virgilio si trasse a lei, pregando
che ne mostrasse la miglior salita ;
e quella non rispose al suo domando;
ma di nostro paese e della vita
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
c'inchiese. E il dolce duca incominciava :
Mantova, .. e l'ombra, tutta in sè romita,
""
surse ver lui del loco ove pria stava,
dicendo: "O Mantovano, io son Sordello
della tua terra." E l'un l'altro abbracciava.
Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello,
nave senza nocchiero in gran tempesta,
non donna di provincie, ma bordello !
Quell' anima gentil fu così presta,
sol per
di fare al cittadin suo quivi festa;
lo dolce suon della sua terra,
73
76
79
CANTO VI
65
And I: " My Lord, go we with greater haste; The Late-
for already I grow not weary as before, and Repentant
look, the hillside doth now a shadow cast."
We with this day will onward go," answered
he, "so far as yet we may; but the fact is
other than thou deemest.
Ere thou art above, him shalt thou see return that
now is being hidden by the slope, so that thou
makest not his rays to break.
But see there a soul which, placed alone, solitary, Virgil and
looketh towards us; it will point out to us the Sordello-
quickest way."
We came to it: O Lombard soul, how wast thou
haughty and disdainful, and in the movement of
thine eyes majestic and slow!
Naught it said to us, but allowed us to go on,
watching only after the fashion of a lion when
he couches.
Yet did Virgil draw on towards it, praying that
it would show to us the best ascent; and that
spirit answered not his demand,
out of our country and of our life did ask us.
And the sweet Leader began: "Mantua,"
and the shade, all rapt in self,
eapt towards him from the place where first it Mantuans
was, saying: "O Mantuan, I am Sordello of
thy city."
And one embraced the other.
both
Ah Italy, thou slave, hostel of woe, vessel with- Dante
out pilot in a mighty storm, no mistress of inveighs
provinces, but a brothel !
That gentle spirit was thus quick, merely at the
sweet name of his city, to give greeting there
to his fellow-citizen;
against
Italy
E
66
PURGATORIO
Anti- ed ora in te non stanno senza guerra
purgatorio
li vivi tuoi, e l'un l'altro si rode
di quei che un muro ed una fossa serra.
Cerca, misera, intorno dalle prode
le tue marine, e poi ti guarda in seno,
se alcuna parte in te di pace gode.
Che val, perchè ti racconciasse il freno
Giustiniano, se la sella è vota?
Senz' esso fora la vergogna meno.
Ahi gente, che dovresti esser devota,
e lasciar seder Cesar in la sella,
se bene intendi ciò che Dio ti nota!
guarda com' esta fiera è fatta fella,
per non esser corretta dagli sproni,
poi che ponesti mano alla predella.
O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni
costei ch'è fatta indomita e selvaggia,
e dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni,
giusto giudizio dalle stelle caggia
sopra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo ed aperto,
tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia :
chè avete tu e il tuo padre sofferto,
per cupidigia di costà distretti,
che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto.
Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti,
Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura:
color già tristi, e costor con sospetti.
Vien crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura
de' tuoi gentili, e cura lor magagne,
e vedrai Santafior com' è sicura.
Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne,
vedova e sola, e dì e notte chiama :
"Cesare mio, perchè non m' accompagne ?
81
8
8
9
IC
I
10
I
I
CANTO VI
67
and now in thee thy living abide not without war, Dante
and one doth rend the other of those that one inveighs
against
wall and one foss shuts in.
Search, wretched one, around thy seacoasts by
the shores, and then gaze in thy bosom, if any
part of thee enjoy peace.
Italy
What avails it that Justinian should refit thy bridle The
if the saddle is empty? But for that the shame Emperor
were less.
Ah people, that shouldst be obedient, and let
Cæsar sit in the saddle, if well thou under-
standest what God writeth to thee!
see how this beast hath grown vicious, for not
being corrected by the spurs, since thou hast put
thy hand to the bridle.
O German Albert, that dost forsake her who is
become wanton and savage, and that oughtest
to bestride her saddle-bow,
may just judgment fall from the stars upon thy
brood, and be it strange and manifest, so that
thy successor may have fear thereof:
for thou and thy father, held back yonder by
covetousness, have suffered that the garden of
the empire be laid waste.
Come and see Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi
and Filippeschi, thou man without care those
already sad, and these in dread.
Come, cruel one, come, and see the oppression
of thy nobles and tend their sores, and thou
shalt see Santafior how secure it is.
Come and see thy Rome that weepeth widowed
and alone, and day and night doth cry:
"Cæsar mine, wherefore dost thou not com-
panion me?"
68
PURGATORIO
Anti- Vieni a veder la gente quanto s’ama;
e se nulla di noi pietà ti move,
purgatorio
a vergognar ti vien della tua fama.
E se licito m' è, o sommo Giove,
che fosti in terra per noi crucifisso,
son li giusti occhi tuoi rivolti altrove;
o è preparazion, che nell' abisso
del tuo consiglio, fai, per alcun bene
in tutto dall' accorger nostro scisso?
Chè le città d' Italia tutte piene
son di tiranni, ed un Marcel diventa
ogni villan che parteggiando viene.
Fiorenza mia, ben puoi esser contenta
di questa digression che non ti tocca,
mercè del popol tuo che s' argomenta.
Molti han giustizia in cor, ma tardi scocca,
per non venir senza consiglio all'arco;
ma il popol tuo l' ha in sommo della bocca.
Molti rifiutan lo comune incarco;
ma il popol tuo sollecito risponde
IIS
118
121
124
127
13
T31
senza chiamare, e grida: “Io mi sobbarco.”
Or ti fa lieta, chè tu hai ben onde:
tu ricca, tu con pace, tu con senno.
S' io dico 'l ver, l' effetto nol nasconde.
Atene e Lacedemone, che fenno
l'antiche leggi e furon sì civili,
fecero al viver bene un picciol cenno
verso di te, che fai tanto sottili
provvedimenti, che a mezzo novembre
non giunge quel che tu d' ottobre fili.
Quante volte del tempo che rimembre,
legge, moneta, offizio e costume
hai tu mutato, e rinnovato membre !
130
13
141
14
1
CANTO VI
69
Come and see how thy people love one another; Dante
and if no pity for us move thee, come and inveighs
shame thee for thy fame.
And if it be permitted me, O highest Jove, who
on earth for us wast crucified, are thy just
eyes turned elsewhither;
or is it preparation which thou art making in the
depths of thy counsel, for some good end
wholly cut off from our vision?
For the cities of Italy are all full of tyrants, and
every clown that comes to play the partizan
becomes a Marcellus.
against
Italy
O my Florence, thou indeed mayst rejoice at this Florence
digression which touches thee not, thanks to
thy people that reasons so well.
Many have justice in their hearts, but slowly it
is let fly, for it comes not without counsel to
the bow; but thy people hath it ever on its lips.
Many refuse the public burdens; but thy people
answers eagerly without call, and cries out: "I
bend me to the charge."
Now make thee glad, for thou hast good reason:
thou rich, thou at peace, thou so wise. If I
speak sooth, the facts do not conceal it.
Athens and Lacedemon, that framed the laws of
old and were so grown in civil arts, gave a
mere hint at well living
beside thee, who dost make such subtle provision,
that to mid-November reaches not what thou
in October spinnest.
How often in the time which thou rememberest,
laws, coinage, offices, and customs hast thou
changed, and renewed thy members!
70
PURGATORIO
Anti- E se ben ti ricordi e vedi lume,
purgatorio
vedrai te simigliante a quella inferma,
che non può trovar posa in su le piume,
ma con dar volta suo dolore scherma.
1. Zara, a game of chance played with three dice.
148
151
13, 14. "The Aretine" is Benincasa da Laterina,
who, as judge to the Podestà of Siena, condemned to
death a relative of Ghin di Tacco, a notorious high-
wayman. The latter subsequently revenged himself
by murdering Benincasa, while he was sitting as a
magistrate at Rome.
15-17. "The other Aretine is Guccio of the
Tarlati, which family was at the head of the Ghibel-
lines of Arezzo. He was drowned in the Arno; accord-
ing to some accounts, while engaged in pursuing the
Bostoli (a family of exiled Aretine Guelfs, who had
taken refuge in the Castel di Rondine), according to
others, while being pursued by them after the battle
of Campaldino (for which see the preceding canto).
Federico Novello, a member of the great Conti Guidi
family, was slain by one of the Bostoli at Campaldino,
while assisting the Tarlati.
17, 18. It seems probable that Marzucco, of the
Pisan Scornigiani family, "showed his fortitude" by
pardoning the murderer of his son (the quel da Pisa);
though other authorities declare that he slew the
assassin.
19. This murder points to a continuation of the
feud between the brothers Alessandro and Napoleone
degli Alberti, alluded to in Inf. xxxii. 41-60: for
Count Orso was the son of Napoleone, and his
murderer Alberto the son of Alessandro.
19-24. Pierre de la Brosse was surgeon and after-
wards chamberlain of King Philip III. of France
On the sudden death, in 1276, of Louis, Philip's son
by his first wife, and heir to the throne, his second
wife, Mary of Brabant, was suspected of having
poisoned him, so that her own son might succeed.
Among her accusers was Pierre de la Brosse. She
CANTO VI
71
And if thou well bethink thee, and see clear, thou Dante
inveighs
shalt behold thee like unto that sick one, who against
can find no rest upon the down, but by turning Italy
about shuns her pain.
determined to poison all minds against him and
bring about his downfall. According to popular
tradition she accused him of having made an attempt
on her honour; but as Pierre was eventually (in
1278) hanged on a charge of treasonable correspond-
ence with Philip's enemy, Alfonso X. of Castile, it
seems more probable that she attained her end by
causing these letters to be forged.
28-30, 40-42. Among the persons Æneas meets in
hell is his former pilot, Palinurus, who, having been
drowned at sea, is not allowed to cross the Acheron
for a hundred years: that being the penalty imposed
on the souls of those who have not been duly interred.
He entreats Æneas to take him across the river, where-
upon the Sibyl rebukes him with the words: "Cease
to hope that the decrees of the Gods are to be altered
by prayers" (En. vi. 372). These words are addressed
to a heathen and to a spirit in hell. Note that Æneas,
whose aid is invoked by Palinurus, is a heathen, too,
and does not fulfil the conditions of Purg. iv. 133-135;
xi. 33.
58 sqq. Sordello, one of the most distinguished
among the Italian poets who elected to write in
Provençal rather than in their mother-tongue, was
born at Goito, some ten miles from Mantua, about
the year 1200. He led a chequered and wandering
life, the latter portion of which was devoted to the
service of Charles of Anjou, by whom he was well
rewarded. The latest record of him that has come
down to us is dated 1269. To the Dante student
one episode of Sordello's life and one of his poems
are of special interest. Between the years 1227-1229,
while staying at Treviso with Ezzelino III. of Romano,
he had a liaison with the latter's sister Cunizza (see Par.
ix. 25-36), who was the wife of Count Ricciardo di San
Bonifazio, but whom Sordello had abducted (for political
Florence
72
NOTES
reasons) at the request of her brother. When the
latter discovered the intrigue Sordello was forced to
flee to Provence. About the year 1240 he wrote a
very fine planch (or song of lamentation) on the death
of Blacatz, himself a poet and one of the barons of
Count Raymond Berenger IV. In this poem the lead-
ing sovereigns and princes of Europe are exhorted to
eat of the dead man's heart, so that their courage may
increase, and they be fired on to noble deeds. These
verses may have indirectly inspired the patriotic out-
burst for which the appearance of Sordello is made the
pretext; and they certainly induced Dante to assign to
Sordello the task of pointing out the princes in the
following canto.-There is a reference to Sordello in
the Vulg. Eloq. i. 15: 9-14.
88, 89. One of the many passages to be found
throughout Dante's works, which show that what
was really in his mind when he spoke of the Roman
Empire was an executive power adequate to enforce
Roman law. (For Justinian in this connection, cf. Par.
vi., Argument). Much confusion in medieval thought,
and much difficulty in understanding Dante's position
arises from the fact that the King of the Germans was
the feudal head of the territorial nobility who represented
the invaders and conquerors of Italy, whereas the Em-
peror of Rome was the traditional champion of Roman
law and civilisation which represent the native Italian
aspirations; and since the King of Germany and the
Emperor of Rome were one and the same person, it
was possible to regard him as the representative of
either of the two conflicting tendencies and ideals, on
the clash of which the whole medieval history of Italy)
turns.
91-96. These lines are addressed to the priests, who
should leave all secular rule to the Emperor.
CANTO VI
73
97-105. Both Rudolf (for whom see the following
canto, vv. 94-96) and his son Albert I. (Emperor
from 1298-1308) neglected Italy (vv. 103-105): the
former devoted his attention to Austria and Suabia,
while a specimen of the latter's activity is given in
Par. xix. 115-117. Verses 100-101 refer, by anticipa-
tion, to Albert's violent death, at the hands of his
nephew, John. Albert was succeeded by Henry VII.
of Luxemburg (v. 102), on whom Dante rested all his
hopes (see Gardner, pp. 30-34; cf., too, the following
canto, v. 96, and Par. xvii. 82; xxx. 133 597.).
106, 107. Shakespeare has so familiarised us with
the feud of the Veronese Montagues and Capulets,
that a hint from the old commentators to the effect
that the Monaldi and Fillippeschi were hostile families
of Orvieto is sufficient to assure us that Dante is here
giving us two examples of the internal strife so common
in the Italian cities of those days. The reference appears
to be to party strife in general, not to the factions of
the Guelfs and Ghibellines in particular. A more
recent interpretation, according to which all the four
names are those of Ghibelline families belonging to
different towns and requiring the aid of the Emperor,
falls to the ground, because at least one of the families
(the Monaldi) was certainly Guelf.
111. Santafiora-a county in the Sienese Maremma,
held for almost five centuries by the great Ghibelline
family of the Aldobrandeschi (see below, Canto xi.
58 sqq.). These were constantly at war with the
commune of Siena, till the year 1300 when an agree-
ment was arrived at.
125. Marcel, i.e., an opponent of the empire [Marcel-
lus, the Roman consul, was one of Cæsar's most violent
opponents].
PURGATORIO
AFTER repeatedly embracing Virgil, only because
he is a Mantuan, Sordello questions him further;
and on hearing who he is, after a moment's pause,
amazed and half-incredulous, falls at his feet to embrace,
his knees (1-15). In answer to Sordello, Virgil
rehearses in words of deepest pathos the nature of his
mission and the state of the souls in Limbo who
practised the moral, but were never clad with the
theological, virtues (16-36). In answer to Virgil's
questioning concerning the way, Sordello expounds
the law of the mount which suffers no soul to ascend
while the sun is below the horizon; and he offers to
lead the pilgrims, ere the now approaching sunset, to
a fitting place of rest, where they shall find noteworthy
Anti- Poscia che l'accoglienze oneste e liete
purgatorio
furo iterate tre e quattro volte,
Sordel si trasse e disse: "Voi chi siete?
"Prima che a questo monte fosser volte
l'anime degne di salire a Dio,
fur l'ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte.
Io son Virgilio; e per null' altro rio
lo ciel perdei, che per non aver fè”:
così rispose allora il duca mio.
Qual è colui che cosa innanzi sè
subita vede, ond' ei si maraviglia,
che crede e no, dicendo: "Ell' è, non è
tal parve quegli, e poi chinò le ciglia,
ed umilmente ritornò ver lui,
ed abbracciollo ove il minor s' appiglia.
"O gloria de' Latin," disse, "per cui
mostrò ciò che potea la lingua nostra,
o pregio eterno del loco ond' io fui,
;
4
7
1
ΙΟ
I
74
CANTO VII
souls (37-69). In a little lap or dell of the mountain
they find the pensive souls of kings and rulers who had
neglected their higher functions for selfish ease
selfish war.
Now they are surrounded by every sooth-
ing beauty of nature; but relief from the serious cares
of life, which erst they sought unduly, is now an
anguish to them, and their yearning goes forth to
the active purgation of the seven terraces of torment
above them. With the enumeration of the kings-
old enemies singing in harmony, and fathers mourning
over the sins of their still living sons—are mingled
tributes to the worth, or gibes at the degeneracy of
the reigning monarchs, and reflections on the unlike-
ness of sons and fathers (70-136).
After the greetings dignified and glad had been The Late-
repeated three and four times, Sordello drew Repentant
him back, and said: “Who art thou?"
"Ere to this mount were turned those spirits
worthy to ascend to God, my bones by
Octavian had been buried.
thus
I am Virgil; and for no other sin did I lose.
heaven than for not having faith":
answered then my Leader.
As one who seeth suddenly a thing befor
whereat he marvels, who believe
not, saying: "It is, it is no
such seemed he, and forthy
humbly turned back t
embraced him where
O glory of the Lati
our tongue showe
eternal praise of th
Virgil and
Sordello

76
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- qual merito o qual grazia mi ti mostra?
S' io son d'udir le tue parole degno,
dimmi se vien d' inferno, e di qual chiostra.
"Per tutti i cerchi del dolente regno,"
rispose lui, "son io di qua venuto.
Virtù del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno.
Non per far, ma per non far ho perduto
di veder l'alto Sol che tu disiri,
e che fu tardi da me conosciuto.
Loco è laggiù non tristo da martiri,
ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti
non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri.
Quivi sto io coi parvoli innocenti,
dai denti morsi della morte, avante
che fosser dall' umana colpa esenti.
Quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante
virtù non si vestiro, e senza vizio
conobber l'altre e seguir tutte e quante.
Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcuno indizio
dà noi, per che venir possiam più tosto
là dove Purgatorio ha dritto inizio."
Rispose: "Loco certo non c' è posto :
licito m' è andar suso ed intorno;
per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t'accosto.
edi già come dichina il giorno,
di notte non si puote;
sar di bel soggiorno.
qua rimote;
i merrò ad esse,
fien note."
to;
"chi volesse
mpedito
non potesse ?
19
22
25
28

31
34
37
40
43
45
49
CANTO VII
77
Sordello
what merit or what favour sheweth thee to me? The Late-
If I am worthy to hear thy words, tell me if Repentant
thou comest from Hell, and from what cloister." Virgil and
Through all the circles of the woeful realm,"
answered he him, "came I here. A virtue
from heaven moved me, and with it I come.
Not for doing, but for not doing, have I lost the
vision of the high Sun, whom thou desirest,
and who too late by me was known.
Down there is a place not sad with torments, Limbo
but with darkness alone, where the lamenta-
tions sound not as wailings, but are sighs.
There do I abide with the innocent babes, bitten
by the fangs of death, ere they were exempt
from human sin.
There dwell I with those who clad them not
with the three holy virtues, and without
offence knew the others and followed them all.
But if thou knowest and canst, give us some sign
whereby we may most quickly come there
where Purgatory has right beginning."
He answered: "No fixed place is set for us:
'tis permitted to me to go up and around; so
far as I may go, as guide I place me beside thee. The law of
But see now how the day is declining, and ascend
by night we cannot; therefore 'tis well to
think of some fair resting-place.
Here are souls on the right apart; if thou allow
it I will lead thee to them, and not without
joy will they be known to thee.”
"How is that?" was answered; "he who wished
to ascend by night, would he be hindered by
others, or would he not ascend because he
could not?"
the ascent
78
PURGATORIO
purgatorio
Anti- E il buon Sordello in terra fregò il dito,
dicendo: “Vedi, sola questa riga
non varcheresti dopo il sol partito ;
non però che altra cosa desse briga,
che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso:
quella col non poter la voglia intriga.
Ben si poría con lei tornare in giuso,
e passeggiar la costa intorno errando,
mentre che l'orizzonte il dì tien chiuso."
Allora il mio signor, quasi ammirando :
Valle"
Menane, dunque," disse, "là ove dici
che aver si può diletto dimorando.”
Poco allungati c'eravam di lici,
quand' io m' accorsi che il monte era scemo,
a guisa che i vallon li sceman quici.
Colà," disse quell' ombra, "n' anderemo
dove la costa face di sè grembo,
""
e quivi il nuovo giorno attenderemo.'
Tra erto e piano era un sentiero sghembo,
che ne condusse in fianco della lacca,
là dove più che a mezzo muore il lembo.
Oro ed argento fino, cocco e biacca,
indico legno lucido e sereno,
fresco smeraldo in l' ora che si fiacca,
dall'erba e dalli fior dentro a quel seno
posti, ciascun saría di color vinto,
come dal suo maggiore è vinto il meno.
Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto,
ma di soavità di mille odori
vi facea un incognito e indistinto.
Salve, Regina, in sul verde e in sui fiori
quivi seder cantando anime vidi,
che
per la valle non parean di fuori.
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
6
79
81
CANTO VII
79
And the good Sordello drew his finger across The Late-
the ground, saying: "Look, even this line Repentant
thou wouldst not cross after the sun is set;
not for that aught else than the darkness of night
gave hindrance to going upward: that hampers
the will with lack of power.
Truly by night one might return downwards, and
walk, wandering around the mountain side,
while the horizon holds the day closed."
Then my Lord, as tho' marvelling, said: “Lead
us therefore where thou sayest we may have
delight in tarrying."
Virgil and
Sordello
Short way had we thence advanced, when I per-
ceived that the mount was scooped out, after
the fashion that valleys scoop them out here.
"There," said the shade,
66 we will go where the The valley
mountain-side makes of itself a bosom, and of the
there will await the new day."
Neither steep nor level was a winding path, that
led us to the side of that hollow, there where
the valley's edge more than half dies away.
Gold and fine silver, cramoisy and white, Indian
wood bright and clear, fresh emerald at the
moment it is split,
would each be surpassed in colour by the grass
and by the flowers placed within that fold, as
the less is surpassed by the greater.
Not only had Nature painted there, but of the
sweetness of a thousand scents made there
one, unknown and indefinable.
There, seated on the grass and on the flowers,
singing Salve Regina, saw I souls who be-
cause of the valley were not seen from without.
negligent
Rulers
80
PURGATORIO
Anti- "Prima che il poco sole omai s' annidi,"
purgatorio
Valle
cominciò il Mantovan che ci avea volti,
"tra color non vogliate ch' io vi guidi.
Di questo balzo meglio gli atti e i volti
conoscerete voi di tutti e quanti,
che nella lama giù tra essi accolti.
Colui, che più sied' alto e fa sembianti
d'aver negletto ciò che far dovea,
e che non move bocca agli altrui canti,
Ridolfo imperador fu, che potea
sanar le piaghe ch' hanno Italia morta,
sì che tardi per altri si ricrea.
L'altro, che nella vista lui conforta,
resse la terra dove l'acqua nasce,
che Molta in Albia ed Albia in mar ne porta
Ottacchero ebbe nome, e nelle fasce
fu meglio assai, che Vincislao suo figlio
barbuto, cui lussuria ed ozio pasce.
E quel nasetto, che stretto a consiglio
par con colui ch' ha sì benigno aspetto,
morì fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio :
guardate là come si batte il petto.
L'altro vedete ch' ha fatto alla guancia
della sua palma, sospirando, letto.
Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia:
sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda,
e quindi viene il duol che sì li lancia.
Quel che par sì membruto, e che s' accorda
cantando con colui dal maschio naso,
d'ogni valor portò cinta la corda.
E se re dopo lui fosse rimaso
lo giovinetto che retro a lui siede,
bene andava il valor di vaso in vaso;
8
8
9
9
9
10
ΙΟ
10
IO
II
II
CANTO VII
81
"Ere the little sun now sinks to his nest," be- The
gan the Mantuan who had led us aside, Rulers
Negligent
“desire not that I guide you among them.
From this terrace ye will better know the acts
and faces of them all, than if received among
them down in the hollow.
He who sits highest, and hath semblance of having Rudolph
left undone what he ought to have done, and
who moves not his lips with the others' songs,
was Rudolph the Emperor, who might have healed
the wounds that were the death of Italy, so that
too late through another is she succoured.
The other, who looks to be comforting him, ruled Ottocar
the land where the water rises which the
Moldau carries away into the Elbe, and the
Elbe into the sea:
Ottocar for name had he, and in swaddling
clothes was better far than bearded Wenceslas
his son, whom lust and sloth consume.
And that snub-nosed one, who seems close in
counsel with him that hath so kindly a mien,
died in flight and deflowering the lily:
look there how he is beating his breast.
other see, who, sighing, hath made a bed for
his cheek with the palm of his hand.
Father and father-in-law are they of the plague
of France: they know his wicked and foul life,
and hence comes the grief that pierceth them so.
The
Philip III.
and Henry
of France
of Navarre
He who seems so stout of limb, and accords his Peter III.
singing with him of the virile nose, was begirt of Aragon
with the cord of
every worth.
and Charles
I. of Anjou
And if the lad who sits behind him had re- Peter's
mained king after him, the worth would in sons
truth have passed from vessel to vessel;
F
82
PURGATORIO
Anti- che non si puote dir dell' altre erede.
purgatorio Jacomo e Federico hanno i reami;
Valle del retaggio miglior nessun possiede.
Rade volte risurge per li rami
l'umana probitate: e questo vuole
quei che la dà, perchè da lui si chiami.
Anche al nasuto vanno mie parole,
118
121
124
non men ch'all' altro, Pier, che con lui canta,
onde Puglia e Provenza già si duole.
Tant' è del seme suo minor la pianta,
quanto, più che Beatrice e Margherita,
Costanza di marito ancor si vanta.
Vedete il re della semplice vita
seder là solo, Arrigo d' Inghilterra:
questi ha ne' rami suoi migliore uscita.
Quel che più basso tra costor s'atterra,
guardando in suso, è Guglielmo marchese,
per cui ed Alessandria e la sua guerra
fa pianger Monferrato e Canavese."
127
130
133
136
6. Ottaviano, the Emperor Augustus (cf. above, Canto
iii. 27, note).
7, 8 and 25-36. See Inf. iv. 25-42.
44, 49-57. The symbolism is clear if we bear in
mind the analogy between the sun (v. 54) and God.
82. Salve Regina, the famous antiphon invoking the
aid of the Virgin Mary. It is sung after vespers.
91-102. The Emperor Rudolf 1. (1218-1272-1292;
see the preceding canto, vv. 102-105) began by serving
under Ottocar II., King of Bohemia (1253-1278); but
on his election as Emperor he asserted his supremacy,
Ottocar's refusal to acknowledge it gave rise to hostilities
which ended in his defeat and death in a battle near
Vienna (1278). Ottocar's son, Wenceslas IV. (1278.
1305), was permitted to retain Bohemia (vv. 98, 99);
but had to yield Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola
1
1
CANTO VII
83
which may not be said of the other heirs. James The
and Frederick have the realms
heritage none hath possession.
of the better Negligent
Rulers.
Peter's
Rarely doth human probity rise through the sons
branches and this he wills who giveth it, so
that it may be prayed for from him.
son of
of Anjou
Also to the big-nosed one my words do go, not less The de-
than to the other, Peter, who is singing with generate
him, wherefore Apulia and Provence now moan. Charles I.
So much is the plant degenerate from its seed as,
more than Beatrice and Margaret, Constance
yet boasts of her husband.
of England
See the king of the simple life, sitting there Henry III.
alone, Henry of England: he in his branches
hath better issue.
That one who lower down humbleth himself
among them, gazing upward, is William the
Marquis, through whom Alessandria and its war
make Montferrato and the Canavese to weep.
to Rudolf, who placed them under the rule of his own
sons, Albert and Rudolf.
103-111. Philip III., the Bold, of France (1245-
1270-1285), the nasetto, was in 1285 defeated (v. 105)
by Roger di Loria, the admiral of Peter III. of Aragon
(see the following note), whose crown he was attempt-
ing to seize on behalf of his son, Charles of Valois, and
with the connivance of Pope Martin IV. Philip's son,
Philip IV., the Fair (1268-1285-1314; one of Dante's
pet aversions: see Inf. xix. 87; Purg. xx. 91; xxxii.
152; Par. xix. 118-120), married Joan, the daughter of
Henry, the Fat, of Navarre (1270-1274; v. 104); and it
is the young man's wickedness that is here uniting his
father and his father-in-law in a common sorrow.
112-114. Peter III. of Aragon (1276-1285) and his
former enemy, Charles I. of Anjou (1220-1285; King
84
NOTES
of Naples and Sicily, 1266-1282), respectively. When
Charles was driven from the throne after the terrible
outbreak known as the "Sicilian Vespers," he was suc-
ceeded by Peter, whose claim to the crown of Sicily
was based on his marriage with Constance, the daughter
of Manfred, King of Sicily. In spite of strenuous efforts,
Charles was never able to regain the kingdom.—Note
that Peter III. and both his French foes, Charles I. of
Anjou and Philip III. (uncle and nephew), all died in
the same year, 1285.
115-120. Peter III. of Aragon had three sons,
Alfonso III. (King of Aragon, 1285- 1291), the
giovinetto; James II. (King of Sicily, 1285-1296, King
of Aragon, 1291-1327); and Frederick II. (King of
Sicily, 1296-1337). In the present passage Alfonso
is praised, while the other two are termed degenerate.
The blame is repeated in Par. xix. 130; xx. 63; Conv.
iv. 6; De Vulg. El. i. 12. But Purg. iii. 116 raises
a difficulty. The verse cannot apply to Alfonso, who
was never King of Sicily. The onor of Sicily is
generally taken to be Frederick, and the onor ΟΙ
Aragon, James. There is no inconsistency here if
we consider that Manfred is speaking of his grandsons,
and assume that the view expressed is his rather than
Dante's. Some scholars reject this theory on the
ground that it is inadmissible to regard the repentant
Manfred as displaying a mere family pride, and hold
that, at a certain period of his life, Dante lapsed into
an unprejudiced and just estimate of James and
Frederick. To those who cannot conscientiously sub-
scribe to either of these two theories, it may be pointed
out that, in any case, there is no definite historica.
inaccuracy. For it was Frederick's very devotion to
Sicily that led him to neglect the wider imperial
interests of Italy, an omission which probably accounts
for Dante's adverse judgment in the other passages (cf
the note to Par. xix. 130-132). With. regard to
James, it is true that his conduct in Sicilian affairs wa
CANTO VII
85
ishonourable; but he must have ruled well in Spain,
Ise his subjects would not have called him "the Just.
o that it is, at a stretch, possible to explain the
vords onor di Cicilia e d'Aragona, even if we take them to
epresent Dante's own consistent view.
121-123. On the subject of heredity see Par. viii.
1-148.
124-129. Charles II. (1243-1309), King of Naples
= Apulia) and Count of Anjou and Provence, is as
nferior to his father, Charles I. of Anjou (the nasuto),
Is this Charles I. (the husband first of Beatrice of
Provence and then of Margaret of Burgundy) is inferior
o Peter III. of Aragon (the husband of Constance).
Dante frequently inveighs against Charles II. (see Purg.
(x. 79-81; Par. xix. 127-129; xx. 62, 63; Conv. iv.
182,3; De Vulg. El. i. 12: 36-38); in return for
which he once gives him a word of praise (Par. viii.
2, 83).
130-132. Henry III., the pious King of England
1216-1226-1272), who formed so strong a contrast
his active and warlike son, Edward I. (1239-1272-
307). It is worth noting that Henry's wife, Eleanor
f Provence, was a sister of the Beatrice mentioned in
•. 128.
133-136. William, Marquis of Montferrat and
Canavese (1254-1292), at one time favoured Charles I.
f Anjou, but subsequently became the chief of a
ormidable league against him, which was joined by
everal important towns, including Alessandria (in
Piedmont). Some of these towns at times rebelled,
nd in 1290 Alessandria rose against him. While
ttempting to quell this disturbance, he was captured
y the citizens, and exhibited by them in an iron cage
or seventeen months (till his death in 1292). William's
on, John I., tried to avenge his father; but his efforts
nded in failure, for the Alessandrians invaded Mont-
errat and captured several places.
Thick letters indicate names of kings, &c., in the valley (Purgatorio VII. and VIII.).
CAPITALS, those persons mentioned for illustration or contrast in connection with them.
Italics, those mentioned elsewhere by Dante.
Ordinary type, those not mentioned by Dante.
[At many points these tables supplement, and are supplemented by, those on pages 240-243 of the "Paradiso" volume.]
TABLE I
Louis VIII Raymond John
Berengar
Louis IX= Margaret Henry III = Eleanor Richard = Suncha BEATRICE=
Suncha BEATRICE = Charles of = Margaret
of Cornwall
Anjou. 3
OF BUK-
GUNDY

Henry the Fat Philip the Bold
of Navarre
EDWARD I
Henry
William Isabella
Longsword
Joanna PHILIP
THE FAIR
Charles of
Valois
= Margaret
3
86
TABLE II
Ottachero
Rudolf
Albert
WENCESLAS IV = Juta
Charles Martel³ = Clemence
Louis X 1 Clemence
1 See Table I.
3 See Table III.
87
TABLE III
MARGARET
BEATRICE¹= Charles of Anjou = Margaret
CARLO ZOPPO
Pedro III-CONSTANCE 4
Alphonso Charles Clemence 2 Robert Charles = Marg. JAMES=
Martel
=
of Valois 1
Blanche
FREDK. Elnr. Azzo6= Beatrice
1 See Table I.
2 See Table II.
4 See Table IV.
6 See Table VI.
88
TABLE IV
Frederick II
هم
Enzo Adalasia Michel
Zanche
Manfred
==
CONRAD Constance
Pedro III³-CON- Albert Fiesca 6 Manfred Moroello Frederick
daughter Branca d'Oria
Guelfo 5 Ele-
a
na
=
STANCE
3 See Table III
5 See Table V.
Moroello Frances- Obizzino Conrad
Alagia
6
chino
Moroello
6 See Table VI.
89
Ugolino
TABLE V
Elena Guelfo Gaddo Uguccione daughter Giovanni Visconte
=
Nino
Anselmuccio
Nino BEATRICE 6 GALEAZZO
Gherardo da
Cammino
J
GIOVANNA = Riccardo da
Cammino
4 See Table IV.
6 See Table VI.
Gaja
90
Adrian V
TABLE VI
Theodosio dei Fieschi
Niccolo
Obizzo=Giacopina
4
Albert Fiesca
Alagia = Morocllo4
Nino 5 BEATRICE = Galeazzo
3 See Table 111.
Beatrice ³ Azzo
3
* See Table IV.
5 See Table V.



16
AT
PURGATORIO
T the pensive hour of sunset the souls devoutly
join in their evening hymn, with eyes uplifted
to heaven (1-18). As though to remind them that
while outside the gate of the true Purgatory their
wills are not intrinsically above the reach of tempta-
tion, but are guarded only by the express intervention
and protection of divine grace, two angels descend and
stand on either bank of the dell to guard them against
the serpent who would enter this counterpart of Eden
(19-39). At the mention of the serpent Dante shrinks
close up to Virgil; but Sordello invites them to descend,
as the twilight deepens, into the little vale, where Dante
meets his friend Nino, Judge of Gallura, and in answer
to his question tells him that he is still in the first life;
whereon both he and Sordello start back in amazement.
Nino summons Conrad Malaspina to witness this
wonder of God's grace, and then turning to Dantes
again, implores him to obtain the prayers of his
daughter; for his wife, wedded to a Visconte, has
surely forgotten him (40-84). Dante, looking to
Anti- Era già l' ora che volge il disio
purgatorio
Valle
ai naviganti, e intenerisce il core
lo dì ch' han detto ai dolci amici addio;
e che lo nuovo peregrin d' amore
punge, se ode squilla di lontano,
che paia il giorno pianger che si more:
quand' io incominciai a render vano
l'udire, ed a mirare una dell' alme
surta, che l'ascoltar chiedea con mano.
Ella giunse e levò ambo le palme,
ficcando gli occhi verso l' oriente,
come dicesse a Dio: "D' altro non calme."
4
7
10
92
CANTO VIII
heaven, notes that in this season of repose the four
stars that represent the moral virtues have vanished
behind the mountain, and the three that represent
the theological virtues shine in the sky. This is
one of the many indications that the proper business
of Purgatory is ethical, the recovery of the sound
moral will. The season in which the souls
may actually ascend is the one over which the four
stars preside (85-93). Meanwhile the dreaded serpent
approaches, but the angels swoop like celestial hawks
upon it, and having put it to flight return to their
posts (94-108). During the whole assault Conrad
has not ceased to gaze on Dante; and he now asks him
for news of his country of Valdemagra, and of his
kinsfolk there; to which Dante replies that he has
never visited those parts, but the noble character of
the Malaspine rings through all Europe (109-132);
whereon he receives the significant comment that ere
six years are gone he shall know the worth of the
Malaspine better than reportingly (133-139).
'Twas now the hour that turns back the desire The
of those who sail the seas and melts their heart, Rulers
Negligent
that day when they have said to their sweet Sunset of
friends adieu,
and that pierces the new pilgrim with love, if Purgatory
from afar he hears the chimes which seem to
mourn for the dying day;
when I began to annul my sense of hearing, and
}
to gaze on one of the spirits, uprisen, that
craved a listening with its hand.
It joined and lifted up both its palms, fixing its
eyes towards the east, as though 'twere saying
to God: "For aught else I care not.
the first
day in
93
94
PURGATORIO
Anti-"Te lucis ante
"sì devotamente
purgatorio le uscì di bocca, e con sì dolci note,
Valle
che fece me a me uscir di mente.
E l'altre poi dolcemente e devote
seguitar lei per tutto l'inno intero,
avendo gli occhi alle superne rote.
Aguzza qui, lettor, ben gli occhi al vero,
chè il velo è ora ben tanto sottile,
certo, che il trapassar dentro è leggiero.
Io vidi quello esercito gentile
tacito poscia riguardare in sue,
quasi aspettando pallido ed umile ;
e vidi uscir dell' alto, e scender giue
due angeli con due spade affocate,
tronche e private delle punte sue.
Verdi, come fogliette pur mo nate,
erano in veste, che da verdi penne
percosse traean dietro e ventilate.
L' un poco sopra noi a star si venne,
e l'altro scese in l' opposita sponda,
sì che la gente in mezzo si contenne.
Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda ;
ma nelle faccie l'occhio si smarria,
come virtù che al troppo si confonda.
"Ambo vegnon del grembo di Maria,"
disse Sordello, "a guardia della valle,
per lo serpente che verrà via via.”
Ond' io, che non sapeva per qual calle,
mi volsi intorno, e stretto m' accostai
tutto gelato alle fidate spalle.
E Sordello anco: "Ora avvalliamo omai
tra le grandi ombre, e parleremo ad esse;
grazioso fia lor vedervi assai.”
13
16
ΙΩ
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
CANTO VIII
95
Negligent
“Te lucis ante” so devoutly proceeded from its The
mouth, and with such sweet music, that it rapt Rulers
me from my very sense of self.
And the others then sweetly and devoutly ac-
companied it through the entire hymn, having
their eyes fixed on the supernal wheels.
Reader, here sharpen well thine eyes to the
truth, for the veil now is indeed so thin,
that of a surety to pass within is easy.
I saw that noble army thereafter silently gaze
upward, as if in expectancy, pale and
lowly;
Evening
Hymn
Angels
descend
Heaven
and I saw two angels come forth from on high Two
and descend below with two flaming swords,
broken short and deprived of their points. from
Green, as tender leaves just born, was their
raiment, which they trailed behind, fanned
and smitten by green wings.
One came and alighted a little above us, and the
other descended on the opposite bank, so that
the people was contained in the middle.
Clearly I discerned the fair hair of them; but in
their faces the eye was dazed, like a faculty
which by excess is confounded.
"Both come from Mary's bosom," said
Sordello, “as guard of the vale, because of
the serpent that straightway will come."
Whereat I, who knew not by what way,
turned me around, and placed me all icy
cold close to the trusty shoulders.
And Sordello again: "Now go we into the vale
among the mighty shades, and we will speak to
them; great joy will it be to them to see you.”
96
PURGATORIO
Anti- Solo tre passi credo ch' io scendesse,
purgatorio e fui di sotto, e vidi un che mirava
Valle
pur me, come conoscer mi volesse.
Tempo era già che l' aer s' annerava,
ma non sì che tra gli occhi suoi e i miei
non dichiarisse ciò che pria serrava.
Ver me si fece, ed io ver lui mi fei :
Giudice Nin gentil, quanto mi piacque,
quando ti vidi non esser tra i rei!
Nullo bel salutar tra noi si tacque;
poi domandò: "Quant'è che tu venisti
a piè del monte per le lontane acque ?"
“O,” diss' io lui, "per entro i lochi tristi
venni stamane, e sono in prima vita,
ancor che l'altra sì andando acquisti."
E come fu la mia risposta udita,
Sordello ed egli indietro si raccolse,
come gente di subito smarrita.
L' uno a Virgilio, e l' altro ad un si volse
che sedea lì, gridando: "Su, Corrado,
vieni a veder che Dio per grazia volse."
Poi volto a me: "Per quel singular grado,
che tu dei a colui, che sì nasconde
lo suo primo perchè, che non gli è guado,
quando sarai di là dalle larghe onde,
di' a Giovanna mia, che per me chiami
là dove agl' innocenti si risponde.
Non credo che la sua madre più m' ami,
poscia che trasmutò le bianche bende,
le quai convien che misera ancor brami.
Per lei assai di lieve si comprende,
quanto in femmina foco d' amor dura,
se l'occhio o il tatto spesso non l'accende.
CANTO VIII
97
Negligent
Nino de'
Visconti
Only three steps methinks I descended, and was The
below, and saw one who was gazing only at Rulers
me, as tho' he would recognise me.
T'was now the time when the air was darkening,
yet not so dark but that what between his eyes
and mine before was hidden, now grew clear.
He advanced towards me, and I to him: Noble
judge Nino how did I rejoice when I saw
thee, and not among the damned!
To fair greeting was left unsaid between us; then discourses
he asked: "How long is it since thou camest
to the foot of the mount over the far waters?'
Oh," said I to him, "from within the places of
woe came I this morn, and am in my first life,
albeit by this my journeying I gain the other.'
nd when my answer was heard, Sordello
and he shrank back like folk suddenly be-
wildered.
""
'he one turned to Virgil, and the other to one who
was seated there, crying: "Up, Conrad, come
and see what God by his grace hath willed."
hen turning to me: "By that especial grace
which thou owest to him who so hideth his
first purpose that there is no ford to it,
hen thou art beyond the wide waters, tell my
Giovanna that she pray for me there where the
innocent are heard.
do not think her mother loves me more, since
she hath changed her white wimples, which
hapless she must long for once again.
y her right easily may be known, how long
the fire of love doth last in woman, if eye
and touch do not oft rekindle it.
G
with Dante
1མ༥་
98
PURGATORIO
Anti- Non le farà sì bella sepoltura
purgatorio
Valle
la vipera che il Milanese accampa,
com' avria fatto il gallo di Gallura.”
Così dicea, segnato della stampa
nel suo aspetto di quel dritto zelo,
che misuratamente in core avvampa.
Gli occhi miei ghiotti andavan pure al cielo,
pur là dove le stelle son più tarde,
sì come rota più presso allo stelo.
E il duca mio: "Figliuol, che lassù guarde?
Ed io a lui: "A quelle tre facelle,
di che il polo di qua tutto quanto arde."
Ed egli a me: "Le quattro chiare stelle,
che vedevi staman, son di là basse,
e queste son salite ov' eran quelle."
Com' ei parlava, e Sordello a sè il trasse
dicendo: "Vedi là il nostro avversaro ";
e drizzò il dito, perchè in là guardasse.
Da quella parte, onde non ha riparo
la picciola vallea, era una biscia,
forse qual diede ad Eva il cibo amaro.
Tra l'erba e i fior venia la mala striscia,
volgendo ad or ad or la testa al dosso,
leccando come bestia che si liscia.
Io non vidi, e però dicer non posso,
come mosser gli astor celestiali,
ma vidi bene e l'uno e l'altro mosso.
Sentendo fender l'aere alle verdi ali,
fuggì il serpente, e gli angeli dier volta
suso alle poste rivolando eguali.
L'ombra, che s' era al giudice raccolta
quando chiamò, per tutto quell' assalto
punto non fu da me guardare sciolta.
79
8
8
8
9
9
ΙΟ
IO
IO
IC
CANTO VIII
99
The viper that the Milanese blazons on his The
Negligent
shield will not make her so fair a tomb as Rulers
Gallura's cock would have done."
Thus spake he, his countenance stamped with
the mark of that righteous zeal which in due
measure glows in the breast.
Nino
Stars
My yearning eyes were again turned towards The Three
heaven, even there where the stars are slowest,
like a wheel nearest the axle.
And my leader: "Son, what gazest thou at up
there?" And I to him: "At those three torches,
wherewith the whole pole here is flaming."
And he to me: "The four bright stars which
thou sawest this morn are low on the other
side, and these are risen where they were.
As he was speaking, lo Sordello drew him to him- The
self, saying: "See there our adversary," and Serpent
pointed his finger so that he should look thither.
On that side where the little vale hath no
rampart, was a snake, perchance such as gave
to Eve the bitter food.
Through the grass and the flowers came the evil
reptile, turning round now and again its head
to its back, licking like a beast that sleeks itself.
saw not, and therefore cannot tell, how the
celestial falcons moved; but full well I saw
both in motion.
Hearing the green wings cleave through the air, the put to
flight by
serpent fled, and the angels wheeled around, the Angels
flying in equal measure back to their posts.
The shade that had drawn close to the judge Conrad
Malaspina
when he called, through all that assault was
not loosed a moment from gazing at me.

100
PURGATORIO
Anti- "Se la lucerna che ti mena in alto
purgatorio trovi nel tuo arbitrio tanta cera,
Valle
quant'è mestiero infino al sommo smalto,"
cominciò ella, "se novella vera
di Valdimacra o di parte vicina
sai, dilla a me, che già grande là era.
Chiamato fui Corrado Malaspina :
non son l'antico, ma di lui discesi ;
a' miei portai l' amor che qui raffina."
"O," diss' io lui, "per li vostri paesi
giammai non fui; ma dove si dimora
per tutta Europa, ch' ei non sien palesi?
La fama che la vostra casa onora
grida i signori e grida la contrada,
sì che ne sa chi non vi fu ancora.
Ed io vi giuro, s' io di sopra vada,
che vostra gente onrata non si sfregia
del pregio della borsa e della spada.
Uso e natura sì la privilegia,
che, perchè il capo reo lo mondo torca,
sola va dritta, e il mal cammin dispregia."
Ed egli: "Or va, chè il sol non si ricorca
sette volte nel letto che il Montone
con tutti e quattro i piè copra ed inforca,
che cotesta cortese opinione
ti fia chiavata in mezzo della testa
con maggior chiovi che d' altrui sermone,
se corso di giudizio non s' arresta."
1-6, 49-51. See diagram on p. 103.
II2
IIS
118
121
124
I2
139
133

136
139
13. The Ambrosian hymn, Te lucis ante terminum, sung
at Compline (the last office of the day).
19-39. In addition to the general explanation give
in the Argument, the following points should be noted
The green robes and wings of the angels speak of hope
CANTO VIII
ΙΟΙ
Negligent
Rulers
"So may that light which guideth thee on high, The
find in thy will as much wax as is needful to
reach the enamelled summit,'
""
Conrad
it began, "if thou know true tidings of Valdi- Malaspina
macra, or of neighbouring parts, tell it me who
once was mighty there.
I was called Conrad Malaspina: not the elder
am I, but descended from him to mine own
I bore that love which here is purified."
Malaspine
"Oh," said I to him, "through your lands I ne'er Dante
have been, but where do men dwell through- praises the
out Europe to whom they are not renowned ?
The fame which honours your house proclaims
abroad its lords, and proclaims the country, so
that he knows of it who there hath never been.
And I swear to you, so may I go on high, that
'your honoured race strips not itself of the
glory of the purse and of the sword.
Custom and nature so do privilege it, that for all
that the guilty head sets the world awry, it
alone goeth straight and scorns the path of evil.”
And he: "Now depart, for the sun goeth not and is
to rest seven times in the bed which the Ram rewarded
covers and bestrides with all four feet,
ere this courteous opinion shall be nailed in the
midst of thy head, with bigger nails than other
men's words, if course of judgment be not
stayed."
The pointless swords are usually taken to indicate
justice tempered with mercy (f. below, Canto xxxi.
42, note); but perhaps they mean that the battle is in
ruth already decided, the deadly thrust no longer
needed, and that the sword-edge alone is adequate
(see below, Canto xxxi. 2, 3).
by Conrad's
cheering
prophecy
102
NOTES
47-84. Nino' de' Visconti of Pisa (for whom see Inf
xxii. 83, note, and xxxiii. 1-90, note) was appointed by
the Pisans to the judgeship of Gallura in Sardinia, in
the last decade of the 13th century. He married
Beatrice of Este (see, in the Inferno volume, the
table on p. 237; and, above, those on pp. 90, 91)
by whom he had a daughter, Giovanna [v. 71; i
is interesting to note that in 1328 the Commune o
Florence voted a pension of 100 piccoli fiorini to this
Giovanna, on account of her father's faith and devotion
to Florence and the Guelf party, for the injuries and
vexations he had suffered from the Ghibellines, and
as compensation for the spoliation of all her goods
by the Ghibellines]. After his death, Beatric
married Galeazzo Visconti, of Milan; the formalitie.
were probably completed by Easter, 1300, but the
ceremony did not actually take place till June o
that year.
Verse 74 refers to casting off the garb o
widowhood (black robe and white veil), and v. 75 to
the misfortunes of the Milanese Visconti, which dat
from 1302.
The viper and the cock (vv. 80, 81) in
dicate the arms of the Milanese and Pisan Viscont
respectively. These two families appear to have beer
in no way connected with each other; the former wer
Ghibelline, the latter Guelf.
85-93. It must be steadily borne in mind that onl
half the heavens are visible to Dante at this point o
the journey. The steep wall of Purgatory cuts off th
whole portion of them west of the meridian. The fou
bright stars are near the south pole; but in the latitud
of Purgatory the pole itself is only about 32° above th
horizon, and the stars are now behind the mountai
and beneath the pole.
65, 109-139. Currado I. of the Malaspina famil
(l'antico of v. 119) was grandfather of the three cousins
Currado II. (d. ca. 1294), the present speaker; Moroell
III. (d. ca. 1315), to whom Dante's third epistle
accompanied by Canzone xi., is probably addressed
and for whom see Inf. xxiv. 143-150, note; and Fran
CANTO VIII
103
ceschino (d. between 1313 and 1321), who was
Dante's host at Sarzana, in Lunigiana, in the autumn
of 1306 (vv. 133-139: less than seven years-the sun
now being in Aries-from the moment at which
Currado is speaking). The Malaspine were for the
most part Ghibellines; but Moroello III. formed a
notable exception. Valdimacra (v. 116): the Macra
flows through Lunigiana (north-west of Tuscany),
which formed part of the territory of the Malaspine
(cf. Inf. xxiv. 145).—A table of the Malaspina family
will be found on p. 241; see, too, the table on p. 89.
Cera (v. 113), material to feed the flame (lucerna) of
God's grace; the sommo smalto being either the summit
of the Mount of Purgatory or the Empyrean. With
v. 131 compare xvi. 94-112; though some refer the
words specifically to Boniface VIII.
ข.
دارد.
N

F
Showing the portions of the Mountain under light and
shade at 6 o'clock p.m. Cf. "Purgatorio," viii. 1-6,
49-51; xvii. 1-72; xxvii. 1-69.
IT
PURGATORIO
T is now about two and a half hours since sunset.
The Scorpion has begun to pass the horizon, and
the lunar aurora is already whitening in the east,
when Dante, reclining in the bosom of the valley,
resting from his four-night watch and the toil and
anguish of his journey, drops into a deep sleep (1-12).
In the morning hour when dreams are true, he seems
to be clasped in the talons of an eagle-the symbol
at once of justice and of baptismal regeneration—and
to be borne up into the sphere of fire, the burning of
which awakens him; and he starts to find himself
alone with Virgil, higher on the mount, nigh to the
gate of Purgatory proper. He learns from his guide
that, as he slept, Lucia bore him away from Sordello
and the other denizens of the valley, and placed him
here (13-63). His dismay is thus turned into delight
Anti- La concubina di Titone antico
purgatorio già s' imbiancava al balco d'oriente,
Valle
fuor delle braccia del suo dolce amico;
di gemme la sua fronte era lucente,
poste in figura del freddo animale,
che con la coda percote la gente;
e la notte de' passi, con che sale,
fatti avea due nel loco ov' eravamo,
e il terzo già chinava in giuso l'ale;
quand' io, che meco avea di quel d' Adamo,
vinto dal sonno, in su l'erba inchinai
ove già tutti e cinque sedevamo.
Nell' ora che comincia i tristi lai
la rondinella presso alla mattina,
forse a memoria de' suoi primi guai,
4
7
ΙΟ
13
104
CANTO IX
as he follows his guide to the narrow portal with its three
steps and its angel guard, who first challenges the pil-
grims, but on learning their divine authority gives them
courteous welcome (64-93). On the steps of sincerity,
contrition and love, the poet mounts to the gate and
throws himself at the feet of its guardian to implore ad-
mission (94-111). The angel carves on Dante's brow seven
P's, the symbol of the seven deadly sins (peccata), which
are purged on the terraces above, and then turning the
golden and the silver key which he holds in charge
from Peter, he admits Dante; with the solemn warn-
ing that he is not to look behind him, when once past
the gate (112-132). The seldom-turned hinges grate as
the portal swings, and a half-heard song of praise to
God is the first sound that falls on the poet's ear within
the gate, drawing his heart upward (133-145).
Now was the concubine of ancient Tithonus at The first
eastern terrace growing white, forth from her night in
sweet lover's arms;
with gems her forehead was glittering, set in the
form of the cold animal that strikes folk with
its tail;
and Night, in the place where we were, had made
two of the steps where with she climbs, and the
third was already down-stooping its wings;
Purgatory
begins
when I, who with me had somewhat of Adam, and Dante
vanquished by sleep, sank down on the grass
where already all we five were seated.
At the hour when the swallow begins her sad
lays nigh unto the morn, perchance in memory
of her former woes,
falls into
a slumber
105
106
PURGATORIO
Anti- e che la mente nostra, peregrina
purgatorio
più dalla carne e men da' pensier presa,
alle sue vision quasi è divina :
in sogno mi parea veder sospesa
un'aquila nel ciel con penne d'oro
con l'ali aperte, ed a calare intesa.
Ed esser mi parea là dove foro
abbandonati i suoi da Ganimede,
quando fu ratto al sommo consistoro.
Fra me pensava: "Forse questa fiede
pur qui per uso, e forse d'altro loco
disdegna di portarne suso in piede.”
Poi mi parea che, roteata un poco,
terribil come folgor discendesse,
e me rapisse suso infino al foco.
ch'ella
Purgatorio Ivi pareva ch' ella ed io ardesse,
e sì l'incendio imaginato cosse,
che convenne che il sonno si rompesse.
Non altrimenti Achille si riscosse,
gli occhi svegliati rivolgendo in giro,
e non sapendo là dove si fosse,
quando la madre da Chiron a Schiro
trafugò lui dormendo in le sue braccia,
là onde poi li Greci il dipartiro;
che mi scoss' io sì come dalla faccia
mi fuggì il sonno, e diventai ismorto,
come fa l'uom che spaventato agghiaccia.
Da lato m' era solo il mio conforto,
e il sole er' alto già più che due ore,
e il viso m' era alla marina torto.
"Non aver tema," disse il mio signore;
"fatti sicur, chè noi siamo a buon punto;
non stringer, ma rallarga ogni vigore.
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
1
CANTO IX
107
dreams of
the Eagle
and when our mind, more of a wanderer from the Dante
flesh and less prisoned by thoughts, in
visions is almost prophetic;
its
in a dream methought I saw an eagle poised in
the sky, with plumes of gold, with wings out-
spread, and intent to swoop.
And meseemed to be there where his own people
were abandoned by Ganymede, when he was
snatched to the high consistory.
I thought within me: "Haply he strikes only here
through custom, and perchance scorneth to bear
aught upward from other place in his talons.”
Then meseemed that, having wheeled awhile,
terrible as lightning, he descended and snatched
me up far as the fiery sphere.
at morn
There it seemed that he and I did burn, and the and awakes
visionary flame so scorched that needs was
my slumber broken.
Not otherwise Achilles startled, turning his
awakened eyes around, and knowing not
where he might be,
when his mother carried him away sleeping in
her arms from Chiron to Scyros, there whence
the Greeks afterwards made him depart,
than I startled, soon as sleep fled from my face,
and I grew pale even as a man who freezes
with terror.
Alone beside me was my Comfort, and the sun
was already more than two hours high, and
mine eyes were turned to the sea.
"Have no fear," said my Lord, "make thee
secure, for we are at a good spot; hold not
back, but put out all thy strength.
108
PURGATORIO
Purgatorio Tu se' omai al Purgatorio giunto:
Porta del
Purgatorio
vedi là il balzo che il chiude d'intorno;
vedi l'entrata là 've par disgiunto.
Dianzi, nell' alba che precede al giorno,
quando l'anima tua dentro dormia
sopra li fiori, onde laggiù è adorno,
venne una donna, e disse: Io son Lucia;
lasciatemi pigliar costui che dorme,
sì l'agevolerò per la sua via.'
Sordel rimase, e l'altre gentil forme.
Ella ti tolse, e come il dì fu chiaro
sen venne suso, ed io per le sue orme.
Qui ti posò; e pria mi dimostraro
gli occhi suoi belli quell' entrata aperta;
poi ella e il sonno ad una se n'andaro."
A guisa d' uom che in dubbio si raccerta
e che muta in conforto sua paura,
poi che la verità gli è discoperta,
mi cambia' io; e come senza cura
videmi il duca mio, su per lo balzo
si mosse, ed io di retro in ver l'altura.
Lettor, tu vedi ben com' io innalzo
la mia materia, e però con più arte
non ti maravigliar s' io la rincalzo.
Noi ci appressammo, ed eravamo in parte,
che là dove pareami in prima un rotto,
pur come un fesso che muro diparte,
vidi una porta, e tre gradi di sotto,
per gire ad essa, di color diversi,
ed un portier che ancor non facea motto.
E come l'occhio più v❜apersi,
vidil seder sopra il grado soprano,
tal nella faccia, ch' io non lo soffersi;
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
1
CANTO IX
109
tells Dante
has reached
Purgatory
Thou art now arrived at Purgatory; see there Virgil
the rampart that compasseth it around; see that he
the entrance there where it seems cleft.
Erewhile, in the dawn which precedes the day,
when thy soul was sleeping within thee upon
the flowers where with down below is adorned,
came a lady and said: 'I am Lucy, let me take
this man who sleepeth, so will I prosper him
on his way.'
thither by
Lucy
Sordello remained and the other noble forms. borne
She took thee, and as day was bright, came
on upward, and I followed in her track.
Here she placed thee; and first her fair eyes
did show to me that open entrance; then she
and sleep together went away."
As doth a man who in dread is reassured, and
who changes his fear to comfort after the
truth is revealed to him,
their way
resume
I changed me; and when my Leader saw me The poets
freed from care, he moved up by the rampart,
and I following, towards the height.
Reader, well thou seest how I exalt my sub-
ject, therefore marvel thou not if with greater
art I sustain it.
We drew nigh, and were at a place, whence
there where first appeared to me a break just
like a fissure which divides a wall,
the gate of
I espied a gate, and three steps beneath to go to and reach
it, of divers colours, and a warder who as yet Purgatory
spake no word.
Guardian
And as more I opened mine eyes there, I saw The
him seated upon the topmost step, such in his Angel
countenance that I endured him not;
ΙΙΟ
PURGATORIO
Porta del ed una spada nuda aveva in mano,
Purgatorio
che rifletteva i raggi sì ver noi,
ch'io dirizzava spesso il viso in vano
"Dite costinci, che volete voi?"
>>
cominciò egli a dire: "ov'è la scorta?
Guardate che il venir su non vi noi!"
“Donna del ciel, di queste cose accorta,'
rispose il mio maestro a lui, "pur dianzi
ne disse: Andate là, quivi è la porta.
"Ed ella i passi vostri in bene avanzi,”
ricominciò il cortese portinaio;
C
"venite dunque a' nostri gradi innanzi.
Là 've venimmo, allo scaglion primaio,
bianco marmo era sì pulito e terso,
ch' io mi specchiai in esso quale io paio.
Era il secondo tinto più che perso,
d'una petrina ruvida ed arsiccia,
crepata per lo lungo e per traverso.
Lo terzo, che di sopra s' ammassiccia,
porfido mi parea sì fiammeggiante,
come sangue che fuor di vena spiccia.
Sopra questo teneva ambo le piante
I' angel di Dio, sedendo in su la soglia,
che mi sembiava pietra di diamante.
Per li tre gradi su di buona voglia
mi trasse il duca mio, dicendo: "Chiedi
umilemente che il serrame scioglia."
Divoto mi gittai a' santi piedi ;
misericordia chiesi che m' aprisse;
ma pria nel petto tre fiate mi diedi.
Sette P nella fronte mi descrisse
col punton della spada, e: "Fa' che lavi,
quando se' dentro, queste piaghe," disse.
82
85
88
gr
94
97
100
103
106
109
II2
CANTO IX
III
and in his hand he held a naked sword which The
reflected the rays so towards us, that I directed Guardian
mine eyes to it oft in vain.
"Tell, there where ye stand, what would ye?"
he began to say;
Be-
"where is the escort?
ware lest coming upward be to your hurt!"
"A heavenly lady who well knows these things,"
my Master answered him, "even now did say
to us: Go ye thither, there is the gate.
“And may she speed your steps to good,"
again began the courteous door-keeper ;
66 come then forward to our stairs."
I
Angel
steps of
There where we came, at the first step, was The three
white marble so polished and smooth that
mirrored me therein as I appear.
The second darker was than perse, of a stone,
rugged and calcined, cracked in its length and
in its breadth.
The third, which is massy above, seemed to me
of porphyry so flaming red as blood that
spurts from a vein.
Upon this God's angel held both his feet, sitting
upon the
the threshold, which seemed to me
adamantine stone.
Up by the three steps, with my good will, my
Leader brought me, saying: "Humbly ask
that the bolt be loosed."
the gate
admission
Devoutly I flung me at the holy feet; for mercy Dante
I craved that he would open to me; but first craves
on my breast thrice I smote me.
Seven P's upon my forehead he described with The seven
the point of his sword and: "Do thou wash
these wounds when thou art within," he said.
P's
112
PURGATORIO
Porta del Cenere o terra che secca si cavi
Purgatorio
d'un color fora col suo vestimento,
e di sotto da quel trasse due chiavi.
L'una era d'oro e l'altra era d'argento;
pria con la bianca, e poscia con la gialla
fece alla porta sì ch' io fui contento.
Quandunque l' una d' este chiavi falla,
che non si volga dritta per la toppa,'
diss' egli a noi, "non s' apre questa calla.
Più cara è l' una; ma l'altra vuol troppa
(6
>>
d'arte e d'ingegno avanti che disserri,
perch' ell' è quella che il nodo disgroppa.
Da Pier le tengo; e dissemi ch' io erri
anzi ad aprir, che a tenerla serrata,
pur che la gente a' piedi mi s' atterri.”
Poi pinse l'uscio alla porta sacrata,
dicendo: "Entrate; ma facciovi accorti
che di fuor torna chi 'ndietro si guata.
E quando fur ne' cardini distorti
gli spigoli di quella regge sacra
che di metallo son sonanti e forti,
non rugghiò sì, nè si mostrò sì acra
Tarpeia, come tolto le fu il buono
Metello, per che poi rimase macra.
Io mi rivolsi attento al primo tuono,
e Te Deum laudamus mi parea
udir in voce mista al dolce suono.
Tale imagine appunto mi rendea
ciò ch' io udiva, qual prender si suole
quando a cantar con organi si stea:
che or sì or no s' intendon le parole.
IIS
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
14
1-9. Dante never distinguishes between the signs
and the constellations of the Zodiac; that is to say,
CANTO IX
113
draws forth
two keys
Ashes, or earth which is dug out dry, would be of The Angel
one colour with his vesture, and from beneath
it he drew forth two keys.
One was of gold and the other was of silver;
first with the white and then with the yellow
he did so to the gate that I was satisfied.
Whensoever one of these keys fails so that it
turns not aright in the lock," said he to us,
“this passage opens not.
More precious is one, but the other requires ex-
ceeding art and wit ere it unlocks, because it is
the one which unties the knot.
the portal
From Peter I hold them; and he told me to err
rather in opening, than in keeping it locked, if
only the people fell prostrate at my feet."
Then he pushed the door of the sacred portal, and opens
saying: "Enter, but I make you ware that
he who looketh behind returns outside again."
And when in their sockets were turned the pivots
of that sacred portal, which are of metal ring-
ing and strong,
`arpeia roared not so, nor showed her so harsh,
when good Metellus was taken from her, where-
by she after remained poor.
turned me intent for the first sound, and Te
Deum laudamus meseemed to hear in a voice
mingled with sweet music.
ast such impression gave me that which I heard,
as we are wont to receive when people are
singing with an organ, and now the words
are clear, and now are not.
disregards the phenomena which he held to be the
oper motion of the sphere of the stars (cf. Vita
H
114
NOTES
Nuova, § ii. 9-12 and Conv. ii. 3: 36-45; 15: 102-118).
It is the phenomenon known in modern astronomy as the
precession of the equinoxes. Perhaps the reason why
Dante did not make this correction was that he
regarded it as counterbalanced by the error of the
Julian calendar (see Par. xxvii. 142, 143, note), in the
other direction. Thus, he would regard the day on
which, by the uncorrected calendar, the sun enters the
constellation of Aries as coinciding with the day of
which, by the corrected calendar, he would be in the
real equinox, i.e. the first point of the sign of Aries
He chose, therefore, to take his ideal equinox rather by
calendar and constellation than by the strict astrono
mical equinoctial point. This seems to be the mean-
ing of Inf. i. 38-40, and may account for his treating
the statement that the sun was at the equinoctial poin
at the time of his journey now as an exact statement
(Par. x. 31-33), and now as an approximation (Par. i
44). This premised, a reference to the chronologica
note at the close of this volume will show that th
retardation of the moon now amounted to two hour
and thirty-six minutes, and that she was therefore i
the constellation of Scorpio. Of the six hours i
which the night rises, two were gone, and the thir
The luna
had just passed the summit of its course.
aurora was therefore on the horizon. By a somewha
odd analogy she is called the "mistress " of Tithonu
because she is a spurious aurora, and the genuin
Aurora was the "wife" of Tithonus.
15. See below, Canto xvii. 19-21, note.
An
19-33. The eagle, in the " Bestiaries," is said to fl
up in his old age into the circle of fire, where he burn
off all his feathers and falls blinded into a fountain d
water, whence he issues with his youth renewed
This is a symbol of baptismal regeneration.
here Dante, true to the ethical note which pervades th
Purgatory, connects him with moral rather than wit
ceremonial purification by connecting him with Tro
i.e. Rome, i.e. the Empire, law and justice: for Gan
mede (whose beauty had attracted Jupiter, and w
having been borne aloft by an eagle while hunting wi
his friends on Mount Ida in Mysia, became the cup
ļ
CANTO IX
115
bearer of the Gods) was the son of Tros, an ancestor of
Eneas.
This is the first of three dreams or visions (for the
others see below, Cantos xix. and xxvii.), each of
which takes place shortly before dawn (the time being
indicated in a terzina beginning with the words Nell'
ora-see above v. 13, and, in the other cantos, vv. 1 and
94, respectively) and is a forecast of the events im-
mediately following.
34-39. See Inf. xxvi. 62, note.
The amazement of
Achilles is recorded by Statius (Achill. i. 247 sqq.).
44. See the diagram on p. 13.
55. For Lucy, who must be more or less closely
identified with the eagle of Dante's dream, see Inf. ii.
97, 98, note.
78. portier.
fessor.
This angel represents the priest con-
82-84. The sword of Divine Justice, whose ways
are inscrutable to men.
99. crepata, perhaps because contrition breaks the
stubbornness of the heart.
104, 105. The stone of adamant possibly indicates
the firmness and constancy of the confessor.
112. Kraus connects the seven P's not only with the
seven peccata, but with the seven scrutinies as well,
which figured in the Roman Liturgy till the end of the
12th century, and formed part of the service on the
seven Sundays from the first in Lent to Easter Sunday.
115, 116. This hue appears to be a token of the
humility with which the confessor should exercise his
function.
117-129. Cf. Par. v. 55-57, note.
136-138. Metellus, a follower of Pompey, made a
futile effort to protect the Roman treasury (kept in the
temple of Saturn on Mons Tarpeius) against Cæsar
(B. C. 49). Lucan (Phars. iii. 153-168) lays special
stress on the noise made by the opening of the temple
gates on this occasion.
140. The famous Ambrosian hymn, sung at matins
and on solemn occasions. Some commentators refer to
Luke xv. 10, and connect the present singing of the
hymn with the entry of a soul into Purgatory.
Girone 1
THE
PURGATORIO
HE closing door rings behind the poets, but
Dante, mindful of the warning, looks not back
(1-6). The cleft through which the pilgrims mount
is as tumultuous as the heaving sea, and it is three
hours after sunrise ere they issue upon the first terrace,
some eighteen feet in breadth, stretching uniformly as
far as the eye may reach in either direction (7-27).
The outer rim of the terrace verges unprotected upon
The
the precipitous downward slope of the mount.
inner side is of marble, cut vertically out of the moun-
tain, and carved with scenes from sacred and pagan
history, illustrative of humility, seeming to live and
speak in their beautiful and compelling reality (28-
Salita al Poi fummo dentro al soglio della porta,
che il malo amor dell' anime disusa,
perchè fa parer dritta la via torta,
sonando la sentii esser richiusa ;
e s'io avessi gli occhi volti ad essa,
qual fora stata al fallo degna scusa ?
Noi salivam per una pietra fessa,
che si moveva d' una e d'altra parte,
sì come l'onda che fugge e s' appressa.
"Qui si convien usare un poco d'arte,
cominciò il duca mio, "in accostarsi,
or quinci or quindi, al lato che si parte.'
E ciò fece li nostri passi scarsi
tanto, che pria lo scemo della luna
rigiunse al letto suo per ricorcarsi,
che noi fossimo fuor di quella cruna.
Ma quando fummo liberi ed aperti
su dove il monte indietro si rauna,
""
4
7
10
13
16
116
CANTO X
96). As Dante is gazing unsatiated upon the intaglios,
Virgil bids him look to the left, where he beholds
strange objects approaching him, which his eyes cannot
at first disentangle, but which presently reveal them-
selves as human forms bent under huge burdens of
stone, crumpled up in postures of agonised discomfort
(97-120). These are the forms of the proud, mere
larvae not yet developed into the angelic imago, who
had none the less exalted themselves on earth in un-
seasonable pride, and now wail only that the limits.
of their strength enable them to bear no more and
bend no lower in their humility (121-139).
shut behind
When we were within the threshold of the gate, The gate is
which the evil love of souls disuses, because it the poets
makes the crooked way seem straight,
by the ringing sound I heard it was shut again;
and had I turned mine eyes to it what would
have been a fitting excuse for the fault?
continue
We climbed through a cleft rock, which was and they
moving on one side and on the other, even as the ascent
a wave that recedes and approaches.
"Here we must use a little skill," began my
Leader, “in keeping close, now hither now
thither, to the side that is receding."
And this made our steps so scant, that the wan- Morning
ing orb of the moon regained its bed to sink of the
again to rest
But
ere we were forth from that needle's eye.
when we were free and on the open above,
where the mount is set back,
second day
in Purga-
tory
117
118
PURGATORIO
Girone io stancato ed ambedue incerti
di nostra via, ristemmo su in un piano
solingo più che strade per diserti.
Dalla sua sponda, ove confina il vano,
al piè dell' alta ripa, che pur sale,
misurrebbe in tre volte un corpo umano;
e quanto l'occhio mio potea trar d'ale,
or dal sinistro ed or dal destro fianco,
questa cornice mi parea cotale.
Lassù non eran mossi i piè nostri anco,
quand' io conobbi quella ripa intorno,
che, dritta, di salita aveva manco,
esser di marmo candido, e adorno
d' intagli sì che non pur Policreto,
ma la natura li avrebbe scorno.
L'angel che venne in terra col decreto
della molť anni lagrimata pace,
che aperse il ciel dal suo lungo divieto,
dinanzi a noi pareva sì verace
quivi intagliato in un atto soave,
che non sembiava imagine che tace.
Giurato si saria ch' ei dicesse: Ave,
però che ivi era imaginata quella,
che ad aprir l'alto amor volse la chiave.
Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella,
Ecce ancilla Dei, propriamente,
come figura in cera si suggella.
"Non tener pure ad un loco la mente,'
disse il dolce maestro, che m' avea
per
da quella parte onde il core ha la gente;
ch' io mi mossi col viso, e vedea
di retro da Maria, da quella costa
onde m' era colui che mi movea,
3
19
22
25
28
31
37
40
43
46
49¹
CANTO X
119
I wearied and both uncertain of our way, we The proud
stood still on a level place more solitary than
roads through deserts.
From its edge where it borders on the void, to
the foot of the high bank which sheer ascends,
a human body would measure in thrice;
and so far as mine eye could wing its flight, now
on the left now on the right side, such this
cornice appeared to me.
Thereon our feet had not yet moved, when I
discerned that circling bank (which, being up-
right, lacked means of ascent,)
Humility-
to be of pure white marble, and adorned with Examples of
sculptures so that not only Polycletus, but
Nature there would be put to shame.
Virgin
The angel that came to earth with the decree of The
peace wept for since many a year, which opened Mary
heaven from its long ban,
before us appeared so vividly graven there in
gentle mien, that it seemed not an image which
is dumb.
One would have sworn that he was saying: Ave ;
for there she was fashioned who turned the key
to open the supreme love.
And in her attitude were imprinted these words,
Ecce ancilla Dei, as expressly as a figure is
stamped on wax.
Keep not thy mind only on one place," said the
sweet Master, who had me on that side where
folk have the heart;
wherefore I moved my face about, and saw
behind Mary, on that side of me where he
was who was urging me on,
120
PURGATORIO
Girone I un' altra storia nella roccia imposta:
per ch' io varcai Virgilio, e femmi presso,
acciocchè fosse agli occhi miei disposta.
Era intagliato lì nel marmo stesso
lo carro e i buoi traendo l'arca santa,
per che si teme officio non commesso.
Dinanzi parea gente; e tutta e quanta
partita in sette cori, a' due miei sensi
faceva dir l' un “No,” l' altro "Sì, canta.”
Similemente, al fummo degl' incensi
che v'era imaginato, gli occhi e il naso
ed al sì ed al no discordi fensi.
Lì precedeva al benedetto vaso,
trescando alzato, l' umile salmista,
e più e men che re era in quel caso.
D' incontra effigiata ad una vista
d'un gran palazzo Micol ammirava,
sì come donna dispettosa e trista.
Io mossi i piè del loco dov' io stava,
per avvisar da presso un' altra storia
che di retro a Micol mi biancheggiava.
Quivi era storiata l'alta gloria
del roman principato, il cui valore
mosse Gregorio alla sua gran vittoria :
io dico di Traiano imperadore ;
ed una vedovella gli era al freno,
di lagrime atteggiata e di dolore.
Intorno a lui parea calcato e pieno
di cavalieri, e l' aquile nell' oro
sopr' esso in vista al vento si movieno.
La miserella intra tutti costoro
parea dicer: "Signor, fammi vendetta
del mio figliuol ch'è morto, ond' io m' accoro.'
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A
CANTO X
121
another story set in the rock, wherefore I crossed The proud
by Virgil and drew me nigh, that it might be Examples of
displayed to mine eyes.
There was graven on the very marble the cart
and the oxen drawing the sacred ark, whereby
we fear an office not committed to us.
In front appeared people; and the whole divided
into seven choirs, to two of my senses, made the
one say "no," the other, "yes, they do sing.'
In like wise, at the smoke of the incense which
there was imaged, eyes and nose were made
discordant with yes and no.
""
There went before the blessed vessel the lowly
Psalmist, dancing, girt up; and more and less
than king was he in that case.
Figured opposite at a window of a great palace
was Michal, looking on even as a woman
scornful and sad.
I moved my feet from the place where I stood,
to scan closely another story which behind
Michal shone white before me.
Humility-
David
There was storied the high glory of the Roman Trajan
prince whose worth moved Gregory to his
great victory;
of Trajan the emperor I speak; and a poor
widow was at his bridle in the attitude of
tears and of grief.
Round about him appeared a trampling and
throng of horsemen and the eagles in gold
above him moved visibly to the wind.
The poor creature among all these seemed to say:
"Lord, do me vengeance for my son who is
slain, whereby my heart is pierced."
i
122
PURGATORIO
Girone I Ed egli a lei rispondere:
"Ora aspetta
85
tanto ch' io torni." Ed quella: "Signor mio,'
come persona in cui dolor s'affretta,
""
❝se tu non torni?" Ed ei: "Chi fia dov' io 88
la ti farà." Ed quella: "L' altrui bene
a te che fia, se il tuo metti in obblio?"
Ond' egli : "Or ti conforta, chè conviene
ch' io solva il mio dovere, anzi ch' io mova:
giustizia vuole e pietà mi ritiene.
Colui, che mai non vide cosa nuova,
produsse esto visibile parlare,
novello a noi, perchè qui non si trova.
Mentr' io mi dilettava di guardare
le imagini di tante umilitadi,
e per lo fabbro loro a veder care;
"Ecco di qua, ma fanno i passi radi,”
mormorava il poeta, “molte genti;
questi ne invieranno agli alti gradi."
Gli occhi miei ch' a mirar eran intenti,
per veder novitadi onde son vaghi,
volgendosi ver lui non furon lenti.
Non vo' però, lettor, che tu ti smaghi
di buon proponimento, per udire
come Dio vuol che il debito si paghi.
Non attender la forma del martire;
pensa la succession; pensa che, al peggio,
oltre la gran sentenza non può ire.
Io cominciai: "Maestro, quel ch' io veggio
mover a noi, non mi sembran persone,
e non so che, sì nel veder vaneggio.
Ed egli a me : “La grave condizione
""
di lor tormento a terra li rannicchia,
sì che i miei occhi pria n' ebber tenzone.
91
94
97
ΙΟΟ
103
106
109
II2
115
CANTO X
123
And he to answer her: "Now wait until I The proud
And she, like a person in whom
return."
grief is urgent: "My Lord,
if thou do not return?"
And he: "One who
shall be in my place will do it for thee." And
she: "What to thee will be another's good
deed if thou forget thine own?"
Wherefore he: "Now comfort thee, for needs
must I fulfil my duty ere I stir; justice wills
and pity holds me back."
He, who ne'er beheld a new thing, wrought this
visible speech, new to us because here it is not
found.
While I was rejoicing to look on the images of
humilities so great and for their Craftsman's
sake precious to see,

counsel
Lo here," murmured the Poet, "much people, Virgil's
but few they make their steps; these will send
us on to the high stairs."
Mine eyes, that were intent on gazing to see new
things whereof they are fain, were not slow in
turning towards him.
I would not, reader, that thou be scared from a
good purpose through hearing how God wills
that the debt be paid.
Heed not the form of the pain; think what
followeth, think that at worst beyond the
great judgment it cannot go.
(C
I began: Master, that which I see moving
towards us seems not persons to me, yet I
know not what, so wanders my sight.
"
And he to me: "The grievous state of their
torment doubles them down to earth so that
mine eyes at first thereat were at strife.
124
PURGATORIO
Girone I Ma guarda fiso là, e disviticchia
col viso quel che vien sotto a quei sassi;
già scorger puoi come ciascun si picchia."
O superbi Cristian miseri lassi,
che, della vista della mente infermi,
fidanza avete ne' ritrosi passi;
non v' accorgete voi, che noi siam vermi
nati a formar l'angelica farfalla,
che vola alla giustizia senza schermi ?
Di che l'animo vostro in alto galla,
poi siete quasi entomata in difetto,
sì come verme, in cui formazion falla.
Come per sostentar solaio o tetto,
per mensola talvolta una figura
si vede giunger le ginocchia al petto,
la qual fa del non ver vera rancura
nascere a chi la vede: così fatti
vid' io color, quando posi ben cura.
Ver è che più e meno eran contratti,
secondo ch' avean più o meno addosso ;
e qual più pazienza avea negli atti,
piangendo parea dicer: "Più non posso."
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
2. il malo amor. See below, Canto xvii. 103-105.
32. The Greek sculptor Polycletus (ca. 452-412 B.C.)
is lauded by a number of classical writers known in the
Middle Ages, and his art is extolled by Italian poets
prior to Dante.
34-45. The Annunciation (see Luke i.). Note that
the first example of the virtue opposed to the vice
punished on the seven terraces (here, humility as
opposed to pride) is, in each case, an episode drawn
from the life of the Virgin Mary.
55-63. For David dancing before the Ark, see z
Sam. vi.
CANTO X
125
But look steadily there and disentwine with thy The proud
sight what is coming beneath those stones;
already thou canst discern how each one beats
his breast."
O ye proud Christians, wretched and weary,
who, sick in mental vision, put trust in back-
ward steps,
perceive ye not that we are worms, born to form
the angelic butterfly that flieth to judgment
without defence?
Why doth your mind soar on high, since ye are
as 'twere imperfect insects, even as the grub
in which full form is wanting?
As to support ceiling or roof is sometimes Their
seen for corbel a figure joining knees to punishment
breast,
which of unreality begetteth real discomfort in
him who beholds it; in such wise saw I
these when I gave good heed.
True it is that more and less were they con-
tracted, according as they had more or less
upon them, and he who had most patience in
his bearing, weeping seemed to say: "I can

no more."
'The
The
73-93. This version of the popular Trajan story is
apparently derived from the Fiore di Filosofi, which used
to be erroneously attributed to Brunetto Latini.
incident is again alluded to in Par. xx. 44, 45.
ethical bearings of the legend that Pope Gregory's
intercession brought about Trajan's recall from Hell,
so that the Emperor might have a respite for repent-
ance (vv. 74, 75), are discussed in Par. xx. 106-117
(see notes). The reference in VV. 80, 81, is
to the metal (gold-bronze) eagle, the outspread
wings of which might seem to be fluttering in the
wind.
THE
PURGATORIO
HE humbled souls approach, with a paraphrase of
the Lord's Prayer upon their lips, the petition
for protection against temptation being uttered for the
sake of those they have left behind, whether on earth
or, perhaps, in the anti-purgatory, since souls inside the
gate are beyond its reach (1-30); which loving offices
of prayer the living should surely reciprocate for those
who are now purging themselves (31-36). In answer to
Virgil's inquiry, one of the souls directs the pilgrims
to turn to the right, circling the mount with the sun
(37-51). It is the Sienese Omberto, whose insolence
had made him little better than a brigand, and had
involved all his race in ruin (52-72). As the poet
bends down to hearken, another soul, painfully turning
beneath his burden, gazes upon Dante who recognises
him as the miniature painter, Oderisi, now willing to
admit the superior excellence of his rival Franco, and
fully sensible of the empty and transitory nature of
human glory. Cimabue's school of painting is super-
seded by Giotto's; the older poetic school of Guittone,
Girone I "O Padre nostro, che nei cieli stai,
non circonscritto, ma per più amore
che ai primi effetti di lassù tu hai,
laudato sia il tuo nome e il tuo valore
da ogni creatura, com'è degno
di render grazie al tuo dolce vapore.
Vegna ver noi la pace del tuo regno
chè noi ad essa non potem da noi,
s' ella non vien, con tutto nostro ingegno.
Come del suo voler gli angeli tuoi
fan sacrificio a te, cantando Osanna,
così facciano gli uomini de' suoi.
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126
CANTO XI
or Guido, of Arezzo and his companions has been
superseded by that of Guido Guinicelli, to which Guido
Cavalcanti and Dante himself belong; and who knows
whether the founder of yet another school that shall
relegate them all to obscurity, may not already be born!
73-99). Worldly reputation is always of the same
empty quality, though the momentary object to which
it attaches itself changes, one empty reputation differ-
ing from another only in name, and all of them
swallowed up in the course of years, what matter
whether few or many! One of the heroes of Monta-
perti and victims of Colle de Valdelsa, who is pac-
ing before them, is already all but forgotten on the
very scene of his triumphs and defeats. What are his
reputation and his pride to him now, where the only
act of his life that avails him is his self-humiliation in
begging ransom for his friend, in the market place.
of Siena? an act which Dante himself shall learn
better to appreciate in the days of his own anguish
of humiliation (100-142).
“O our Father who art in heaven, not circum- The proud
scribed, but through the greater love thou say the
hast for thy first works on high,
praised be thy name and thy worth by every
creature, as 'tis meet to give thanks to thy
sweet effluence.
May the peace of thy kingdom come upon us,
for we cannot of ourselves attain to it with all
our wit, if it come not.
As of their will thine angels make sacrifice to
thee, singing Hosanna, so may men make
of theirs.
Lord's
Prayer
127
128
PURGATORIO
Girone I Dà oggi a noi la cotidiana manna,
senza la qual per questo aspro diserto
a retro va chi più di gir s' affanna.
E come noi lo mal che avem sofferto
perdoniamo a ciascuno, e tu perdona
benigno, e non guardare al nostro merto.
Nostra virtù che di leggier s'adona,
non spermentar con l'antico avversaro,
ma libera da lui, che sì la sprona.
Quest'ultima preghiera, Signor caro,
già non si fa per noi, chè non bisogna,
ma per color, che retro a noi restaro.
Così a sè e noi buona ramogna
quell' ombre orando, andavan sotto il pondo,
simile a quel che talvolta si sogna,
disparmente angosciate tutte a tondo,
e lasse su per la prima cornice,
purgando le caligini del mondo.
Se di là sempre ben per noi si dice,
di qua che dire e far per lor si puote
da quei ch' hanno al voler buona radice?
Ben si dee loro aitar lavar le note,
che portar quinci, sì che mondi e lievi
possano uscire alle stellate rote.
"Deh! se giustizia e pietà vi disgrevi
tosto, sì che possiate mover l'ala,
che secondo il disio vostro vi levi,
mostrate da qual mano in ver la scala
si va più corto; e se c'è più d' un varco,
quel ne insegnate che men erto cala:
chè questi che vien meco, per l' incarco
della carne d' Adamo ond 'ei si veste,
al montar su, contra sua voglia, è parco.
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CANTO XI
129
Give us this day our daily manna, without which The proud
he backward goes through this rough desert,
who most toileth to advance.
And as we forgive every one the evil we have
suffered, do thou forgive in loving-kindness
and regard not our desert.
Put not our virtue, which lightly is subdued, to
trial with the old adversary, but deliver us from
him who so pricks it.
This last prayer, dear Lord, is not made for
us, for need is not, but for those who have
remained behind us."
Thus those shades, praying good speed for them
and for us, were going under their burden,
like that whereof we sometimes dream,
unequal all in anguish around and weary, along
the first cornice, purging away the foul mists
of the world.
ord
say the
Lord's
Prayer
to pray for
If there ever a good word for us is said, what Admonition
can be said and done for them here, by those the dead
who have their will rooted in good?
Truly we ought to help them to wash away their
stains, which they have borne hence, so that
pure and light they may go forth to the starry
spheres.
that
enquires
Pray!-so may justice and pity soon unload Virgil
ye may spread the wing which may the road
uplift you according to your desire,-
you,
show us on which hand we go quickest towards the
stairway; and if more than one passage there
be, tell us that which least steeply ascends;
for he who cometh with me, because of the weight
of Adam's flesh wherewith he is clad, at
climbing up is slow against his will."
I
130
PURGATORIO
Girone I Le lor parole, che rendero a queste,
che dette avea colui cu' io seguiva,
non fur da cui venisser manifeste;
ma fu detto: "A man destra per la riva
con noi venite, e troverete il passo
possibile a salir persona viva.
E s'io non fossi impedito dal sasso,
che la cervice mia superba doma,
onde portar convienmi il viso basso,
cotesti che ancor vive, e non si noma,
guardere 'io, per veder s' io 'l conosco,
e per farlo pietoso a questa soma.
Io fui Latino, e nato d' un gran Tosco:
Guglielmo Aldobrandesco fu mio padre:
non so se il nome suo giammai fu vosco.
L'antico sangue e l' opere leggiadre
de' miei maggior mi fer sì arrogante,
che, non pensando alla comune madre,
ogni uomo ebbi in dispetto tanto avante
ch' io ne mori', come i Sanesi sanno,
e sallo in Campagnatico ogni fante.
Io sono Omberto e non pure a me danno
superbia fa, chè tutti i miei consorti
ha ella tratti seco nel malanno.
E qui convien ch' io questo peso porti
per lei, tanto che a Dio si satisfaccia,
poi ch' io nol fei tra' vivi, qui tra' morti."
Ascoltando, chinai in giù la faccia ;
ed un di lor, non questi che parlava,
si torse sotto il peso che lo impaccia ;
e videmi e conobbemi e chiamava,
tenendo gli occhi con fatica fisi
a me, che tutto chin con loro andava.
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CANTO XI
131
From whom came the words which were re- The proud
turned to those which he whom I was
following had said, was not manifest,
Aldo-
but it was said: "To the right hand along the Omberto
bank come with us, and ye shall find the pass brandeschi
possible for a living person to ascend.
And if I were not impeded by the stone which
subdues my proud neck, wherefore needs must
I carry my visage low,
him who is yet alive, and names not himself,
would I look at, to see if I know him, and to
make him pitiful to this burden.
replies
his story
I was Italian and son of a great Tuscan: William and tells
Aldobrandesco was my father; I know not if
his name was ever with you.
The ancient blood and gallant deeds of my
ancestors made me so insolent that, thinking
not of our common mother,
all men I held in such exceeding scorn that it
was the death of me, as the Sienese know,
and every child knows in Campagnatico.
I am Humbert; and not to me alone pride works
ill, for all my fellows hath it dragged with it
to mishap.
And here must I therefore bear this load among
the dead, until God be satisfied, since I did it
not among the living.”
Listening I bent down my face; and one of Oderisi of
them, not he who was speaking, twisted him- Gubbio
self beneath the weight which encumbers him;
and saw me and knew me and was calling out,
keeping his eyes with difficulty fixed upon me,
who all bent was going with them.
132
PURGATORIO
Girone I “O,” dissi lui, “non sei tu Oderisi,
l'onor d' Agobbio, e l' onor di quell' arte
che alluminare' è chiamata in Parisi?
"Frate," diss' egli, "più ridon le carte
che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese :
l'onore è tutto or suo, e mio in parte.
Ben non sare' io stato sì cortese
mentre ch' io vissi, per lo gran disio
dell' eccellenza, ove mio core intese.
Di tal superbia qui si paga il fio;
ed ancor non sarei qui, se non fosse,
che, possendo peccar, mi volsi a Dio.
O vanagloria dell' umane posse,
com' poco verde in su la cima dura,
se non è giunta dall' etati grosse !
Credette Cimabue nella pittura
tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido,
sì che la fama di colui è oscura.
Così ha tolto l'uno all' altro Guido
79
82
8
88
91
94
97
la gloria della lingua; e forse è nato
chi l'uno e l' altro caccerà di nido.
Non è il mondan romore altro che un fiato
ΙΟ
di vento, che or vien quinci ed or vien quindi
e muta nome, perchè muta lato.
Che fama avrai tu più, se vecchia scindi
da te la carne, che se fossi morto
innanzi che lasciassi il pappo e il dindi,
pria che passin mill' anni? ch'è più corto
spazio all' eterno, che un mover di ciglia
al cerchio che più tardi in cielo è torto.
Colui, che del cammin sì poco piglia
dinanzi a me, Toscana sonò tutta,
ed ora a pena in Siena sen pispiglia,
I01
ΙΟ
IO
CANTO XI
133
"Oh," said I to him, "art thou not Oderisi, The proud
the honour of Gubbio, and the honour of that Oderisi
art which in Paris is called 'illuminating'?"
"Brother," said he, "more pleasing are the leaves
which Frank the Bolognese paints; the honour
now is all his and mine in part.
Truly I should not have been so courteous while
I lived, because of the great desire of excel-
ling whereon my heart was bent.
For such pride here the fine is paid; and I should
not yet be here, were it not that having power
to sin, I turned me to God.
O empty glory of human powers!
How short The fickle-
Fame
the time its green endures upon the top, if it ness of
be not overtaken by rude ages!
Cimabue thought to hold the field in painting,
and now Giotto hath the cry, so that the fame
of the other is obscured.
Even so one Guido hath taken from the other
the glory of our tongue; and perchance one
is born who shall chase both from the nest.
Earthly fame is naught but a breath of wind,
which now cometh hence and now thence,
and changes name because it changes direction.
What greater fame shalt thou have, if thou strip
thee of thy flesh when old, than if thou hadst
died ere thou wert done with pap and chink,
before a thousand years are passed? which is shorter
space to eternity than the twinkling of an eye to
the circle which slowest is turned in heaven.
All Tuscany rang with the sound of him who Provenzan
moves so slowly along the way in front of me, Salvani
and now hardly is a whisper of him in Siena,
PURGATORIO
134
Girone I ond' era sire, quando fu distrutta
è
la rabbia fiorentina, che superba
fu a quel tempo, sì com' ora putta.
La vostra nominanza è color d' erba,
che viene e va, e quei la discolora,
per cui ell' esce della terra acerba.”
Ed io a lui: "Lo tuo ver dir m' incora
buona umiltà, e gran tumor m' appiani;
ma chi è quei di cui tu parlavi ora?"
"Quegli è," rispose, "Provenzan Salvani;
ed è qui, perchè fu presuntuoso
a recar Siena tutta alle sue mani.
Ito è così, e va senza riposo,
poi che morì: cotal moneta rende
a satisfar chi è di là tropp' oso.”
Ed io: "Se quello spirito che attende,
pria che si penta, l'orlo della vita,
laggiù dimora e quassù non ascende,
se buona orazion lui non aita,
prima che passi tempo quanto visse,
come fu la venuta a lui largita?"
"Quando vivea più glorioso," disse,
"liberamente nel campo di Siena,
ogni vergogna deposta, s' affisse;
e lì, per trar l'amico suo di pena
che sostenea nella prigion di Carlo,
si condusse a tremar per ogni vena.
Più non dirò, e scuro so che parlo;
ma poco tempo andrà che i tuoi vicini
faranno sì che tu potrai chiosarlo.
Quest' opera gli tolse quei confini."
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115
118
12T
124
127
130
133
136
139
141
CANTO XI
135
whereof he was lord, when the rage of Florence The proud
was destroyed who at that time was proud even Oderisi
as now she is degraded.
Your repute is as the hue of grass which cometh
and goeth, and he discolours it through whom
it springeth green from the ground."
And I to him: "Thy true saying fills my heart
with holy humility, and lowers my swollen
pride, but who is he of whom but now thou
wast speaking?'
Salvani's
history
"That," he answered, "is Provenzan Salvani; recounts
and he is here because in his presumption he
thought to bring all Siena in his grasp.
Thus he hath gone and goes without rest since he
died; such coin he pays back in satisfaction
who yonder is too daring."
And I: "If that spirit who awaits the brink of
life, ere he repents, abides there below, and
mounts not up hither,
unless holy prayers aid him, until so much time.
be passed as he hath lived, how has the coming
here been vouchsafed to him?
""
"When he lived in highest glory," said he, "in
the market-place of Siena he stationed himself
of his free will and put away all shame;
and there, to deliver his friend from the pains he
was suffering in Charles's prison, he brought
himself to tremble in every vein.
No more will I tell, and darkly I know that I
speak, but short time will pass ere thy neigh-
bours will act so, that thou shalt be able to
interpret it. This deed released him from
those confines."
136
NOTES
1-21. A paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer (Matt. vi.
9-13; Luke xi. 2-4).—The primi effetti of v. 3 are the
heavens and the angels. For circonscritto (v. 2), see
below, Canto xxv. 88.
49-72. Omberto, Count of Santafiora, in the Sienese
Maremma, was a member of the Aldobrandeschi family
for which see above, Canto vi. 111, note.
He was put
to death at Campagnatico in 1259 by the Sienese, who
had long been at warfare with the family and were
anxious to be rid of their authority. The mode of
Omberto's death is variously given.
74 $99.
Oderisi (of Gubbio in Umbria), an illumin-
ator and miniature painter. He appears to have been
at Rome in 1295, for the purpose (so says Vasari) of
illuminating some MSS. in the Papal Library for
Boniface VIII. According to the same authority, the
work on that occasion was shared by Franco of
Bologna.
91-93. A reputation does not survive the genera-
tion in which it was built up, unless a gross and
unenlightened age happen to follow.
94-96. The works of the Florentine painter Cimabue
(ca. 1240-ca. 1302) are instinct with genius, and mark a
considerable advance on the stiff Byzantine school;
but it was reserved for his pupil, Giotto (1266-1336),
to draw his inspiration at the fount of Nature herself,
and to become the father of modern painting.-Giotto is
said to have been a friend of Dante's, and the well-
known Bargello portrait of the poet is doubtfully
attributed to him.
97-99. The interpretation of these verses given in
the Argument is not the one usually adopted; the view
generally held being that the two Guidos are Guido
Guinicelli (see below, Canto xxvi.) and Guido
Cavalcanti (see Inf. x. 60, note), and that Dante himself
is the poet destined to eclipse the latter. Against
this more obvious interpretation, it may be urged that
it would be out of keeping with the general tone of the
passage; and specifically with xii. 7-9. Moreover,
there is no indication in Dante's works of his regarding
Guido Guinicelli as a superseded worthy, or distin-
CANTO XI
137
guishing between the schools of these two Guidos;
although he repeatedly contrasts the school of Guido (or
Guittone) of Arezzo with the new school of which he
regarded Guido Guinicelli as the chief, and Guido
Cavalcanti and himself as disciples (xxvi. 97-99; see,
further, xxiv. 55-63, xxvi. 124-126; De Vulg. El. i.
13: 7, 8; ii. 6: 85-89). On the other hand, it may
be advanced in favour of the more popular theory, that,
whatever Dante may say in other
passages, Guido
Cavalcanti and the other Florentines actually did write
poetry superior to that of Guido Guinicelli; that a
pupil may surpass his teacher and yet regard him with
affection and admiration; that Dante would probably
have used the form Guittone in this passage, so as to
'make his meaning clear; and that the prophecy may
well refer to our poet himself, who, though in the
circle of the Proud, is probably as conscious of his
literary greatness now as he was in Limbo (see Inf.
iv. 100-105).
=
105. Before you left off your child's prattle: pappo
pane, bread, and dindi danari, money (cf. Inf.
xxxii. 9).
109-138. Provenzan Salvani, a Ghibelline, was chief
in authority among the Sienese at the time of the
battle of Montaperti; and after the defeat of the
Florentines he was the strongest advocate in favour
of the destruction of their city (vv. 112-114; see
Inf. x. 85-87, 91-93, notes). He once humbled him-
self by affecting the garb and manner of a beggar in
the market-place of Siena, so as to procure the money
wherewith to ransom a friend, who was the prisoner of
Charles of Anjou. Provenzan was eventually defeated
and slain (June 1269) in an engagement with the
Florentines at Colle, in Valdelsa (see below, Canto
xiii. 115-119).
116. quei the sun.
127-131. See above, Canto iv. 130-135.
139-142. A prophecy of Dante's exile from Florence
302). The poet will know from bitter experience.
what it is to live on the charity of others (cf. Par.
xvii. 58-60).
DAN
PURGATORIO
ANTE has bent down in a sympathetic attitude of
humility to converse with Oderisi, and when
Virgil bids him make better speed he straightens his
person so far as needful to comply, but still remains
bowed down in heart, shorn of his presumptuous
thoughts (1-9). As he steps forward with a good
will, Virgil bids him once more look down at the
pavement which he is treading, and there he sees as
it were the lineaments of the defeated proud, from
Lucifer and Briareus to Cyrus and Holofernes and
Troy. The proud are laid low upon the pavement as
the humble were exalted to the upspringing mountain-
side (10-72). A wide stretch of the mountain is circled
ere they come to the gentle angel of this terrace of the
proud, whose glory is tempered as a morning star,
and who promises them an easier ascent henceforth
(73-96). A stroke of his wing touches the poet's
Girone I Di pari, come buoi che vanno a giogo,
m' andava io con quella anima carca,
fin che il sofferse il dolce pedagogo.
Ma quando disse: "Lascia lui, e varca,
chè qui è buon con la vela e coi remi,
quantunque può ciascun, pinger sua barca ";
dritto, sì come andar vuolsi, rife' mi
con la persona, avvegna che i pensieri
mi rimanessero e chinati e scemi.
Io m' era mosso, e seguia volentieri
del mio maestro i passi, ed ambo e due
già mostravam come eravam leggieri,
quando mi disse: "Volgi gli occhi in giue:
buon ti sarà, per tranquillar la via,
veder lo letto delle piante tue."
4
7
ΙΟ
13
"
138
CANTO XII
brow, who then approaches such a stair as was made
to ease the ascent to San Miniato in the good old days
when weights and measures were true and public
records ungarbled (97-108). As they mount the
stair the blessing of the poor in spirit falls on their
ears, with sound how different from the wild laments
of Hell! And Dante notes how the steep ascent
seems far more easy than the level terrace of a moment
back (109-120). It is because the P of pride was
erased by the stroke of the angel's wing, and thereon
all the other six became shallower. This Dante, at a
hint from Virgil, ascertains by feeling his brow with
outspread fingers, and in innocent delight at the dis-
covery of the cause of his lightened steps, he looks
into Virgil's face which answers with smile of
sympathy and encouragement (121-136).
a
Even in step, like oxen which go in the yoke, The proud
I went beside that burdened spirit, so long as
the sweet pedagogue suffered it.
But when he said: "Leave him, and press on, for
here 'tis well that with sail and with oars, each
one urge his bark along with all his might";
erect, even as is required for walking I made me
again with my body, albeit my thoughts re-
mained bowed down and shrunken.
I had moved me, and willingly was following
my master's steps, and both of us already
were showing how light of foot we were,
when he said to me: "Turn thine eyes down-
ward: good will it be, for solace of thy way,
to see the bed of the soles of thy feet."
i
139
140
PURGATORIO
Girone I Come, perchè di lor memoria sia,
sopra i sepolti le tombe terragne
portan segnato quel ch' elli eran pria ;
onde lì molte volte se ne piagne
per la puntura della rimembranza,
che solo ai pii dà delle calcagne:
sì vidio lì, ma di miglior sembianza,
secondo l'artificio, figurato
quanto per via di fuor dal monte avanza.
Vedea colui, che fu nobil creato
più ch' altra creatura, giù dal cielo
folgoreggiando scendere da un lato.
Vedea Briareo, fitto dal telo.
celestial, giacer dall' altra parte,
grave alla terra per lo mortal gelo.
Vedea Timbreo, vedea Pallade e Marte,
armati ancora intorno al padre loro,
mirar le membra de' giganti sparte.
Vedea Nembrot a piè del gran lavoro,
quasi smarrito, e riguardar le genti
che in Sennaar con lui superbi foro.
O Niobe, con che occhi dolenti
vedeva io te, segnata in su la strada,
tra sette e sette tuoi figliuoli spenti !
O Saul, come in su la propria spada
quivi parevi morto in Gelboè,
che poi non sentì pioggia nè rugiada!
O folle Aragne, sì vedea io te
già mezza aragna, trista in su gli stracci
dell' opera che mal per te si fe'!
O Roboam, già non par che minacci
quivi il tuo segno; ma pien di spavento
nel porta un carro prima che altri il cacci!
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
CANTO XII
141
As in order that there be memory of them, the The proud
tombs on the ground over the buried bear Examples
figured what they were before;
wherefore there, many a time men weep for
them, because of the prick of remembrance
which only to the pitiful gives spur ;
so saw I sculptured there, but of better similitude
according to the craftsmanship, all that which
for road projects from the mount.
of Pride-
I saw him who was created nobler far than Satan
other creature, on one side descending like
lightning from heaven.
I saw Briareus, transfixed by the celestial bolt, Briareus
on the other side, lying on the earth heavy
with the death chill.
I saw Thymbræus, I saw Pallas and Mars, The Giants
armed yet, around their father, gazing on the
scattered limbs of the giants.
I saw Nimrod at the foot of his great labour, Nimrod
as though bewildered, and looking at the
people who were proud with him in Shinar.
O Niobe, with what sorrowing eyes I saw thee Niobe
graven upon the road between seven and
seven thy children slain!
O Saul, how upon thine own sword there didst Saul
thou appear dead on Gilboa, which thereafter
felt nor rain nor dew!
O mad Arachne, so saw I thee already half Arachne
spider, sad upon the shreds of the work which
to thy hurt was wrought by thee!
O Rehoboam, now thine image there seems no Rehoboam
more to threaten; but full of terror a chariot
beareth it away ere chase be given!
142
PURGATORIO
Girone I Mostrava ancor lo duro pavimento
come Almeon a sua madre fe' caro
parer lo sventurato adornamento.
Mostrava come i figli si gittaro
sopra Sennacherib dentro dal tempio,
e come, morto lui, quivi il lasciaro.
Mostrava la ruina e il crudo scempio
che fe' Tamiri, quando disse a Ciro :
"Sangue sitisti, ed io di sangue t'empio.'
Mostrava come in rotta si fuggiro
gli Assiri, poi che fu morto Oloferne,
ed anche le reliquie del martiro.
Vedeva Troia in cenere e in caverne:
O Ilion, come te basso e vile
Mostrava il segno che lì si discerne!
Qual di pennel fu maestro o di stile,
che ritraesse l'ombre e i tratti, ch'ivi
mirar farieno ogn' ingegno sottile?
Morti li morti, e i vivi parean vivi:
non vide me' di me chi vide il vero,
quant' io calcai fin che chinato givi.
Or superbite, e via col viso altiero,
figliuoli d' Eva, e non chinate il volto,
sì che veggiate il vostro mal sentiero !
Più era già per noi del monte volto,
e del cammin del sole assai più speso,
che non stimava l'animo non sciolto;
quando colui, che sempre innanzi atteso
andava, incominciò: "Drizza la testa;
non è più tempo da gir sì sospeso.
Vedi colà un angel che s' appresta
per venir verso noi; vedi che torna
dal servigio del dì l' ancella sesta.
""
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
CANTO XII
143
It showed the hard pavement-again how The proud
Alcmæon made the luckless ornament seem Examples
costly to his mother.
of Pride-
Eriphyle
It showed how his sons flung themselves upon Sen-
Sennacherib within the temple, and how, him nacherib
slain, there they left him.
It showed the destruction and the cruel slaughter Cyrus
which Tomyris wrought when she said to
Cyrus: "For blood thou didst thirst and with
blood I fill thee!
It showed how in a rout the Assyrians fled, after Holofernes
Holofernes was slain, and also the relics of the
assassination.
I saw Troy in ashes and in ruins :
O Ilion, thee how base and vile [discerned!
It showed the sculpture which there is
What master were he of brush or of graver, who
drew the shades and the lineaments, which
there would make every subtle wit stare?
Dead seemed the dead, and the living, living. He
saw not better than I who saw the reality of all
that I trod upon while I was going bent down.
Now wax proud and on with haughty visage, ye
children of Eve, and bow not down your faces,
so that ye may see your evil path!
Troy
continue
Already more of the mount was circled by us, The poets
and of the sun's path much more spent, than their way
the mind, not set free, esteemed;
when he, who ever in front of me alert was
going, began: "Lift up thy head, this is no
time to go thus engrossed.
See there an angel who is making ready to come
towards us; look how the sixth handmaiden
is returning from the day's service.
144
PURGATORIO
Salita al Di riverenza gli atti e il viso adorna,
Girone II
sì che i diletti lo inviarci in suso:
pensa che questo dì mai non raggiorna."
Io era ben del suo ammonir uso,
pur di non perder tempo, sì che in quella
materia non potea parlarmi chiuso.
A noi venia la creatura bella
bianco vestita, e nella faccia quale
par tremolando mattutina stella.
Le braccia aperse, ed indi aperse l'ale;
disse: “Venite; qui son presso i gradi,
ed agevolemente omai si sale.'
A questo invito vengon molto radi.
O gente umana per volar su nata,
perchè a poco vento così cadi?
Menocci ove la roccia era tagliata;
quivi mi battèo l' ale per la fronte,
poi mi promise sicura l'andata.
Come a man destra, per salire al monte,
dove siede la chiesa che soggioga
la ben guidata sopra Rubaconte,
si rompe del montar l' ardita foga,
per le scalee, che si fero ad etade
ch' era sicuro il quaderno e la doga:
così s' allenta la ripa che cade
quivi ben ratta dall' altro girone;
ma quinci e quindi l'alta pietra rade.
Noi volgendo ivi le nostre persone,
"Beati pauperes spiritu" voci
cantaron sì che nol diria sermone.
Ahi! quanto son diverse quelle foci
dalle infernali: chè quivi per canti
s' entra, e laggiù per lamenti feroci.
82
85
88
91
94
.97
100
103
106
109
112
CANTO XII
145
Adorn with reverence thy bearing and thy face, The Angel
so that it may delight him to send us upward;
of Humility
think that this day never dawns again.'
Right well was I used to his monitions never to
lose time, so that in that matter he could not
speak to me darkly.
To us came the beauteous creature, robed in white,
and in his countenance, such as a tremulous
star at morn appears.
His arms he opened and then outspread his
wings; he said: "Come; here nigh are the
steps, and easily now is ascent made.”
To this announcement few be they who come.
O human folk, born to fly upward, why at a
breath of wind thus fall ye
down?
He led us where the rock was cut; there he
beat his wings upon my forehead, then did
promise me my journey secure.
the ascent
As on the right hand, to ascend the mount where Nature of
stands the church which, over Rubaconte,
dominates the well-guided city,
the bold scarp of the ascent is broken by the
steps, which were made in the times when
the records and the measure were safe.
even so is the bank made easier, which here
right steeply falls from the other cornice, but
on this side and on that the high rock grazes.
While we were turning there our persons, "Beati The first
pauperes spiritu" voices so sweetly sang, that no
speech would tell it.
Ah! how different are these openings from those
in Hell! for here we enter through songs, and
down there through fierce wailings.
K
Beatitude
146
PURGATORIO
Girone II
Salita al Già montavam su per li scaglion santi,
ed esser mi parea troppo più lieve,
che per lo pian non mi parea davanti ;
ond' io: " Maestro, di', qual cosa greve
levata s'è da me, che nulla quasi
per me fatica andando si riceve?"
Rispose: "Quando i P, che son rimasi
ancor nel volto tuo presso ch' estinti,
saranno, come l' un, del tutto rasi,
fien li tuoi piè dal buon voler sì vinti,
che non pur non fatica sentiranno,
ma fia diletto loro esser su pinti."
Allor fec' io, come color che vanno
con cosa in capo non da lor saputa,
se non che i cenni altrui sospicar fanno :
per che la mano ad accertar s' aiuta,
e cerca e trova, e quell' officio adempie
che non si può fornir per la veduta ;
e con le dita della destra scempie
trovai pur sei le lettere, che incise
quel dalle chiavi a me sopra le tempie :
a che guardando il mio duca sorrise.
18).—Not
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
25-27. Satan (cf. Luke x. 18). Not only are the
examples of the vices drawn alternately from sacred
and profane history like those of the virtues; but,
within certain limits, as Dr Moore has pointed out,
the two sets of examples on each terrace correspond
numerically. On the first, third, fourth, and seventh
terraces, the correspondence is exact; on the second
and fifth it becomes so, if we divide the second set
into groups [distinguished, in the present instance,
by the three groups of terzine, beginning with the
words Vedea, O, and Mostrava-vv. 25-60, and summed
up in a final terzina-vv. 61-63]; while on the sixth.
there is apparently no attempt at carrying out the design.
CANTO XII
147
Now were we mounting up by the sacred steps, The ascent
and meseemed I was exceeding lighter, than grows
meseemed before on the flat;
wherefore I: "Master, say, what heavy thing
has been lifted from me, that scarce any toil
is perceived by me in journeying?"
He answered: "When the P's which have re-
mained still nearly extinguished on thy face,
shall, like the one, be wholly rased out,
thy feet shall be so vanquished by goodwill,
that not only will they feel it no toil, but it
shall be a delight to them to be urged upward."
Then did I, like those who go with something
on their head unknown to them, save that
another's signs make them suspect ;
wherefore the hand lends its aid to make certain,
and searches, and finds, and fulfils that office
which cannot be furnished by the sight;
and with the fingers of my right hand outspread,
I found but six the letters, which he with the
keys had cut upon me over the temples:
whereat my Leader looking did smile.
28-30. Briarëus (for whom, see Inf. xxxi. 98, note)
must be separated from the other giants. The parallels
are, Lucifer: Briarëus; the Giants: Nimrod.
30-32. Jupiter, Apollo (called Thymbræus, from his
temple at Thymbra in the Troad), Minerva and Mars,
having defeated and slain the giants, are gazing upon
their scattered limbs.
34-36. For Nimrod, see Inf. xxxi. 46-81, note.
37-39. Niobe, the wife of Amphion, King of Thebes,
was so proud of her fourteen children that she offended
Latona, who had only two-Apollo and Diana. These
latter, in revenge, shot all the fourteen with their
easier
148
NOTES
arrows,
and Niobe herself was changed by Jupiter into
a stone statue, lifeless save for the tears it shed (see
Ovid, Metam. vi. 146-312).
40-42. Saul, after his defeat by the Philistines at
Mount Gilboa, "took a sword and fell upon it
(1 Sam. xxxi. 1-4). Verse 42 refers to the words
of David's lament on the death of Saul: "Ye
mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither
let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings '
(2 Sam. i. 21).
""
44-45. Arachne of Lydia, having boasted of her
skill in weaving (cf. Inf. xvii. 18), and challenged
Minerva to a contest, was eventually changed by the
goddess into a spider for her presumption (see Ovid,
Metam. vi. 1-145).
46-48. The ten tribes revolted against Rehoboam,
King of Israel, because he refused to lighten their
taxes. "Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who
was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with
stones, that he died. Therefore King Rehoboam made
speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem "
(1 Kings xii. 1-18).
49-51. See Par. iv. 103, 104, note.
52-54. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, was defeated
by Hezekiah, King of Judah, and subsequently slain by
his own sons (2 Kings xix. 37).
55-57. Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire
(560-529 B.C.), treacherously murdered the son of
Tomyris, the Scythian queen, whereupon he
himself defeated and slain by the outraged mother.
She had his head cast into a vessel filled with blood,
and scoffed at it, saying: Satia te sanguine quem sitisti,
1
CANTO XII
149
7
cujus per annos triginta insatiabilis perseverasti (Orosius,
ii. 7, § 6). Cf. De Mon. ii. 9: 43-48.
58-60. When Holofernes, one of Nebuchadnezzar's
captains, was besieging Bethulia, the Jewish maiden
Judith obtained access to his tent and cut off his head.
This she had displayed on the walls of the city; where-
upon the Assyrian host took to flight, pursued by the
Jews (Judith x-xiv).
61-63. Cf. Inf. i. 75; xxx. 13-15; see, too, Æn. iii.
2, 3: Ceciditque superbum Ilium.
81. It is therefore just past noon. The conception
of the hours as handmaidens serving the day is repeated
below, in Canto xxii. 118. See the diagram on p. 47.
87. mattutina stella has been rendered "a star at
morn," rather than "the morning star," because the
latter, being a planet, does not twinkle.
100-102. The church of San Miniato commands
Florence across the Rubaconte bridge [i.e. Miniato is
not above the bridge].-la ben guidata, as applied to
Florence, is, of course, ironical.
105. See Par. xvi. 56 and 105, notes.
110. "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their's is
the kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3). Towards
the end of Dante's sojourn on each terrace, he hears one
of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. In
each case, except the present, the angel of the re-
spective circle is specially named as uttering the
words. It has therefore been suggested that the angel
is speaking here, too. But the word voci constitutes a
considerable difficulty, nor is this difficulty removed by
a reference to the voci of Canto xxii. 5.
PURGATORIO
THE poets mount to the second terrace; of dark
rock, tenantless so far as the eye can stretch,
and without mark or indication of any kind (1-9).
Virgil apostrophises the sun, and in lack of any counter
reason, determines to follow him from east to west
(10-21). After a time voices ring through the air
in praise of generosity, the virtue counter to envy;
and Virgil anticipates the direct warning against that
vice ere they leave this the circle of its purification (22-
42). Meanwhile they encounter the once envious
spirits, appealing with full confidence to the ungrudg-
ing love of Mary, of the angels, and of the saints.
The envious eyes that once found food for bitter-
ness in all sights of beauty and joy, must now in
penance refrain from drinking in the gladness of sea
and sky and human love, for the lids are drawn
together with such a suture of wire as is used to tame.
the wildness of the untrained hawk; and their inward
darkness is matched by their sober raiment. They
lean one against another in mutual love and for
mutual support, and upturn their sightless counten-
ances like the blind beggars that gather round church
portals (43-72). Dante is shamed, as though he were
Girone II Noi eravamo al sommo della scala,
ove secondamente si risega
lo monte, che salendo altrui dismala.
Ivi così una cornice lega
dintorno il poggio, come la primaia,
se non che l'arco suo più tosto piega.
Ombra non gli è, nè segno che si paia ;
par sì la ripa, e par sì la via schietta
col livido color della petraia.
4
7
150
CANTO XIII
taking ungenerous advantage of those whom he sees,
but who cannot know his presence; and, having
gained Virgil's leave, addresses the souls in words.
of soothing beauty and aspiration. In answer to
his question whether any of them are of Latium,
Sapia the Sienese, tells that they are all citizens of
one true city; but that she, amongst others, had lived
in her earthly pilgrimage in Latium (73-108). She
tells the story of her evil joy at the defeat of the
Sienese by the Florentines at Colle in Valdelsa, and
utters her thanks to the humble saint whose prayers
have secured her admission to expiatory suffering
- earlier than the else appointed time (109-129). In her
turn Sapia questions Dante as to his journey,—with
open eyes as she judges, and with breath-formed
speech,-around this circle; and he answers that
he too shall one day have his eyes closed there, but
not for long, since he has sinned far less through
envy than through pride (130-138). He further reveals
to her the wonder of his pilgrimage and receives her
petition for his own prayers, and her commission to
bear news of her to her kinsfolk among the vain and
light-minded Sienese (139-154).
envious
We were at the top of the stairway where a The
second time the mount is cut away which, by
our ascent, frees us from evil.
There a cornice binds the hill around like unto
the first, save that its curve more sharply
bends.
No shade is there, nor figure which may be seen;
so naked the bank appears and even so the way,
with the livid hue of the stone.
151
152
PURGATORIO
Girone II "Se qui per domandar gente s' aspetta,"
ragionava il poeta, "io temo forse
che troppo avrà d' indugio nostra eletta."
Poi fisamente al sole gli occhi porse ;
fece del destro lato al mover centro,
e la sinistra parte di sè torse.
"O dolce lume, a cui fidanza i' entro
per lo nuovo cammin, tu ne conduci,”
dicea, " come condur si vuol quinc' entro:
tu scaldi il mondo, tu sopr' esso luci;
s'altra ragione in contrario non pronta,
esser den sempre li tuoi raggi duci."
Quanto di qua per un migliaio si conta,
tanto di là eravam noi già iti,
con poco tempo, per la voglia pronta ;
e verso noi volar furon sentiti,
non però visti, spiriti, parlando
alla mensa d' amor cortesi inviti.
La prima voce che passò volando,
"Vinum non habent," altamente disse,
e retro a noi l' andò reiterando.
E prima che del tutto non s' udisse
per allungarsi, un'altra: "Io sono Oreste "
passò gridando, ed anco non s' affisse.
ΙΟ
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
"O," diss' io, "padre, che voci son queste?" 34
e com' io domandava, ecco la terza
dicendo: "Amate da cui male aveste."
E 'l buon maestro : "Questo cinghio sferza 37
la colpa dell' invidia, e però sono
tratte da amor le corde della ferza.
Lo fren vuol esser del contrario suono;
credo che l'udirai, per mio avviso,
prima che giunghi al passo del perdono.
40
CANTO XIII
153
envious
If here we await people to ask of," the poet The
was saying, "I fear perchance that our choice
may have too great delay.”
Then fixedly on the sun his eyes he set; he
made of his right side a centre of movement,
and the left part of him did turn.
'O sweet light, in whose trust I enter on the
new way, do thou lead us," said he, "as we
would be led here within ;
hou givest warmth to the world, thou shinest
upon it; if other reason urges not to the con-
trary, thy beams must ever be our guide."
As far as here counts for a mile, so far there had
we already gone, in short time, by reason of
our ready will;
and, flying towards us were heard, but not seen, Examples
spirits, speaking courteous invitations to the of Frater-
table of love.
nal Love-
The first voice which passed by in its flight The Virgin
loudly said, "Vinum non habent," and went
on repeating it behind us.
Mary
And ere it had wholly passed out of hearing Orestes
through distance, another passed crying: "I
am Orestes,” and also stayed not.
"O Father," said I, "what voices are these?" Christ's
gospel of
and as I was asking, lo the third saying: Fraternal
"Love them from whom ye have suffered evil." Love
And the good Master : "This circle doth
scourge the sin of envy, and therefore the
cords of the whip are drawn from love.
The bit must be of contrary sound; I think thou
wilt hear it, as I opine, ere thou reachest the
Pass of Pardon.
154
PURGATORIO
Girone II Ma ficca gli occhi per l' aer ben fiso,
e vedrai gente innanzi a noi sedersi,
e ciascun è lungo la grotta assiso."
Allora più che prima gli occhi apersi;
4
4
guarda' mi innanzi, e vidi ombre con manti
al color della pietra non diversi.
E poi che fummo un poco più avanti,
4
udi' gridar: "Maria, ora per noi,”
gridar “Michele, e Pietro, e tutti i Santi.”
Non credo che per terra vada ancoi
uomo sì duro, che non fosse punto
per compassion di quel ch' io vidi poi :
chè, quand' io fui sì presso di lor giunto
che gli atti loro a me venivan certi,
per gli occhi fui di grave dolor munto.
Di vil cilicio mi parean coperti,
e l' un sofferia l' altro con la spalla,
e tutti dalla ripa eran sofferti.
Così li ciechi, a cui la roba falla,
stanno ai perdoni a chieder lor bisogna,
e l'uno il capo sopra l'altro avvalla,
perchè in altrui pietà tosto si pogna,
non pur per lo sonar delle parole,
ma per la vista che non meno agogna.
E come agli orbi non approda il sole,
così all' ombre, là 'v' io parlav' ora,
luce del ciel di sè largir non vuole :
chè a tutte un fil di ferro il ciglio fora,
e cuce sì, come a sparvier selvaggio
si fa, però che queto non dimora.
A me pareva andando fare oltraggio,
veggendo altrui, non essendo veduto:
per ch' io mi volsi al mio consiglio saggio.
5
51
5
6
6.
67
79
73
CANTO XIII
155
envious
But fix thine eyes through the air full steadily, The
and thou shalt see people sitting down in front
of us, and each one along the cliff is seated.”
Then wider than before mine eyes I opened; I
looked before me, and saw shades with cloaks
not different from the hue of the stone.
And after we were a little further forward, I
heard a cry: (6
Mary, pray
for us" ; a cry:
"Michael, and Peter, and all Saints."
believe not that on earth there goeth this day
a man so hardened, who were not pierced with
compassion at what I then saw;
or when I had reached so nigh to them that
their features came distinctly to me, heavy
grief was wrung from mine eyes.
With coarse haircloth they seemed to me covered, Their
and one was supporting the other with the punishment
shoulder, and all were supported by the bank.
Even so the blind, to whom means are lacking,
sit at Pardons begging for their needs; and
one sinks his head upon the other,
o that pity may quickly be awakened in others,
not only by the sound of their words, but by
their appearance which pleads not less.
And as to the blind the sun profits not, so to
the shades there where I was now speaking,
heaven's light will not be bounteous of itself;
or all their eyelids an iron wire pierces and
stitches up, even as is done to a wild hawk
because it abideth not still.
seemed to do them wrong as I went my way
seeing others, not being seen; wherefore I
turned me to my wise Counsel.
156
PURGATORIO
Girone II Ben sapev' ei, che volea dir lo muto;
e però non attese mia domanda,
ma disse: "Parla, e sii breve ed arguto.”
Virgilio mi venia da quella banda
della cornice, onde cader si puote,
perchè da nulla sponda s' inghirlanda;
dall' altra parte m' eran le devote
ombre, che per l'orribile costura
premevan sì che bagnavan le gote.
Volsimi a loro, ed: "O gente sicura,"
incominciai, " di veder l' alto lume,
che il disio vostro solo ha in sua cura;
se tosto grazia resolva le schiume
di vostra coscienza, sì che chiaro
per essa scenda della mente il fiume,
ditemi, chè mi fia grazioso e caro,
s' anima è qui tra voi che sia latina ;
e forse a lei sarà buon, s' io l' apparo."
"O frate mio, ciascuna è cittadina
d'una vera città; ma tu vuoi dire,
che vivesse in Italia peregrina."
Questo mi parve per risposta udire
più innanzi alquanto, che là dov' io stava;
ond' io mi feci ancor più là sentire.
Tra l'altre vidi un' ombra che aspettava
<<
8
8
8
9
9
91
IO
in vista; e, se volesse alcun dir: "Come?”
lo mento, a guisa d'orbo, in su levava.
Spirto," diss' io, "che per salir ti dome,
se tu se' quelli che mi rispondesti,
fammiti conto o per loco o per nome.”
“I' fui Sanese,” rispose, "e con questi
altri rimondo qui la vita ria,
lagrimando a Colui, che sè ne presti.
IO
CANTO XIII
157
66
envious
Well knew he what the dumb would say, and The
therefore awaited not my questioning, but said:
Speak and be brief and to the point."
Virgil was coming with me on that side of the
cornice whence one may fall because it is
surrounded by no parapet;
on the other side of me were the devout shades,
who, through the horrible seam, were pressing
forth tears so that they bathed their cheeks.
speaks
I turned me to them and began: "O people Dante
assured of seeing the Light above, which alone with them
your desire hath in its care;
so may grace quickly clear away the scum of your
conscience, that the stream of memory may
I descend clearly through it,
cell me (for to me 'twill be gracious and dear) if
any soul be among you that is Italian, and per-
chance it will be good for him if I know of it.'
"O brother mine, each one is a citizen of a true
city; but thou wouldest say, that lived a pilgrim
in Italy."
This meseemed to hear for answer somewhat
farther on than there where I was; where-
fore I made me heard yet more that way.
Among the others I saw a shade that was ex- Sapia
pectant in look, and if one would ask, "how
so?" its chin it lifted up after the manner
of the blind.
Spirit," said I, "that dost subdue thee to mount
up; if thou art that one who answered me, make
thyself known to me by place or by name.
I was a Sienese," it answered, "and with these
others here do cleanse my sinful life, weeping
unto Him that he lend himself to us.
158
PURGATORIO
Girone II Savia non fui, avvegna che Sapia
fossi chiamata, e fui degli altrui danni
più lieta assai, che di ventura mia.
E perchè tu non credi ch' io t' inganni,
odi se fui, com' io ti dico, folle.
Già discendendo l'arco de' miei anni,
eran li cittadin miei presso a Colle
in campo giunti coi loro avversari,
ed io pregai Iddio di quel ch' ei volle.
Rotti fur quivi, e volti negli amari
passi di fuga, e veggendo la caccia,
letizia presi a tutte altre dispari;
tanto ch' io volsi in su l' ardita faccia,
•
gridando a Dio: Omai più non ti temo,'
come fa il merlo per poca bonaccia.
Pace volli con Dio in su lo stremo
della mia vita; ed ancor non sarebbe
lo mio dover per penitenza scemo,
se ciò non fosse che a memoria m' ebbe
Pier Pettinagno in sue sante orazioni,
a cui di me per caritate increbbe.
Ma tu chi se', che nostre condizioni
100
112
IIS
118
121
124
127
130
134
vai domandando, e porti gli occhi sciolti,
sì come io credo, e spirando ragioni?"
"Gli occhi," diss' io, "mi fieno ancor qui tolti
ma picciol tempo, chè poca è l' offesa
fatta per esser con invidia volti.
Troppa è più la paura, ond' è sospesa
l'anima mia, del tormento di sotto,
che già lo incarco di laggiù mi pesa.
Ed ella a me : "Chi t' ha dunque condotto 139
quassù tra noi, se giù ritornar credi?
""
136
Ed io: "Costui ch'è meco, e non fa motte;
CANTO XIII
159
envious
Sapient was I not albeit Sapia I was named, The
and of others' hurt I was far more glad than
of mine own good fortune.
And that thou mayst not think I deceive thee,
hear if I was mad as I tell thee. Already
when the arc of my years was descending,
ny townsmen, hard by Colle, were joined in
battle with their foes, and I prayed God for
that which he had willed.
There were they routed, and rolled back in the
bitter steps of flight, and seeing the chase I
took joy exceeding all other;
o much, that I lifted up my impudent face,
crying to God: Now I fear thee no more,
as the blackbird doth for a little fair weather.
would have peace with God on the brink of
my life; and
my debt were not yet reduced by
penitence,
ad it not been that Peter the Combseller re-
membered me in his holy prayers, who in his
charity did grieve for me.
But who art thou that goest asking of our state,
and bearest thine eyes unsewn, as I believe,
and breathing dost speak?"
Sapia
pride
- Mine eyes," said I, "from me here shall yet Dante's
be taken; but for short time, for small is the envy and
offence they did through being turned in envy.
Greater far is the fear wherewith my soul is
suspended, of the torment below, for even
now the burden down there weighs upon me.
And she to me: "Who then hath led thee up
here among us, if thou thinkest to return
below?" And I: "He who is with me
and saith no word ;
160
PURGATORIO
Girone II e vivo sono: e però mi richiedi,
spirito eletto, se tu vuoi ch' io mova
di là per te ancor li mortai piedi."
"Oh questa è ad udir sì cosa nuova,
66
rispose, che gran segno è che Dio t' ami;
però col prego tuo talor mi giova.
E chieggioti per quel che tu più brami,
se mai calchi la terra di Toscana,
che a' miei propinqui tu ben mi rinfami.
Tu li vedrai tra quella gente vana
che spera in Talamone, e perderagli
più di speranza che a trovar la Diana ;
ma più vi perderanno gli ammiragli."
14
14
14
15
15
22. The expression "so far as here counts for
mile" (that is to say, "if you think of walking a mile
you will get the right impression"), is an indication
which should be carefully noted, that we must no
expect to be able to arrive at any consistent representa
tion by exact matter-of-fact measurements in Hell an
Purgatory. Dante was well acquainted with th
approximate size of the earth (Conv. iii. 5: 100-105
and elsewhere), and cannot represent himself, fo
example, as having literally climbed from the centre t
the circumference in something under 24 hours
He is content to avoid all glaring errors of principle
and to make the several scenes realisable (cf. Inf. xxx
86, 87, note.)
28-30. At the marriage in Cana. "And when the
wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, The
have no wine" (John ii. 3).
32, 33. Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, renowne
for his friendship with Pylades. When Orestes wa
condemned to death, Pylades wished to take his place
saying that he was Orestes. Cicero alludes to this in
cident in a passage of the De Amicitia (§ 7), which wa
certainly known to Dante.
35: 36. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies
CANTO XIII
161
and I am living, and therefore do thou ask of The
me, spirit elect, if thou wouldst that yonder I envious
lift yet for thee my mortal feet.”
"Oh this is so new a thing to hear," she answered,
"that 'tis a great token that God loveth
thee; therefore profit me sometimes with thy
prayers.
And I beseech thee by all thou most desirest, if
e'er thou tread the land of Tuscany, that thou
restore my fame among my kinsfolk.
Thou wilt see them among that vain people who
put their trust in Talamone, and will lose
there more hopes than in finding the Diana;
but the admirals shall lose most there."
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you" (Matt. v. 44).
39-42. The examples of charity are the "whip,"
the examples of envy, the "bit" (cf. below, Canto xiv.
143-147); and for the "Pass of Pardon" (of which
there is, of course, one on each terrace), see, in the
present case, Canto xv. 35, 36.
51, 52. The Litany of the Saints, in which, after the
Trinity, are invoked the Virgin Mary, the archangel
Michael with the other angels, St Peter with the other
apostles, and finally the other saints.
100 sqq. Sapia, a noble lady of Siena, the wife of
Viviano dei Saracini, lord of Castiglioncello. She was
filled with envy of her fellow-citizens, and rejoiced at
their defeat under Provenzan Salvani at Colle (see above,
Canto xi. 109-138, note). In 1265 she assisted her
husband in founding a hospice for wayfarers, and after
his death (1269) she made a grant of his castle to the
commune of Siena. These acts of generosity supply a
gloss to vv. 124, 125; and the latter of the two also
proves that she must have become reconciled to the
Sienese shortly after their rout (1269).
108. Cf. Par. i. 22.
L
Sapia
162
NOTES
114. Cf. Inf. i. 1, note.
121-123. According to a popular Italian tradition
and proverb, the blackbird, at the close of January,
cries out: "I fear thee no more, O Lord, now that the
winter is behind me." Sapia meant to imply that, now
she had obtained the dearest wish of her heart, she had
no more need or fear of God.
127-129. Pier, a native of Chianti, was a Franciscan
who had settled at Siena, where he died in 1289. He
was renowned for his piety, and long venerated as a
saint, his festival being officially recognised in 1328.
133-138. Scartazzini, ever anxious to whitewash his
hero, ingeniously quotes Psalms lxxiii. 3, to account
for Dante's self-accusation of envy: "For I was envious
at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked."With regard to our poet's pride, his life
and works afford ample proof thereof. Villani, among
CANTO XIII
163
others, says of him (ix. 136): "On account of his
learning, he was somewhat presumptuous, and harsh,
and disdainful."
151-154. Siena still preserves two documents, dated
1295 and 1303 respectively; the former of which refers
to a resolution to search for the stream of Diana, which
was supposed to flow beneath the city; and the latter,
to the purchase (for 8000 gold florins, from the Abbot
of San Salvatore) of the small port of Talamone (on
the Tyrrhenian Sea, S. W. of the Sienese Maremma),
which would have been a useful outlet to the sea, if
only the creek could have been kept clear of sand and
mud. Both projects failed (at any rate in Dante's
time); and in the latter enterprise a number of
admirals [perhaps contractors, as some early com-
mentators think], directing the dredging operations,
lost their lives (v. 154) owing to the unhealthiness of
the place.
=
As
PURGATORIO
S Dante converses with Sapia, revealing the
wondrous conditions of his own pilgrimage
and the mysterious presence of his guide, he is over-
heard by two spirits who are leaning for support one
against another at his right. Nearest to him is Guido
del Duca of Bertinoro, who is the chief speaker, the
other being Rinieri da Calboli of Forlì. They speak
chiefly to each other, but draw Dante into their con-
versation, questioning him as to his origin; and when
he indicates by a circumlocution that his birthplace
lies upon the Arno, Rinieri asks Guido why Dante
conceals the name under dark hints as though it were
a shameful thing; whereon Guido approves of Dante's
shrinking from expressly naming this accursed ditch
which rises in the midst of brutishness, and as it
swirls through deeper pools, finds ever fiercer or more
Girone II Chi è costui che il nostro monte cerchia,
prima che morte gli abbia dato il volo,
ed apre gli occhi a sua voglia e coperchia ?"
"Non so chi sia; ma so ch' ei non è solo;
domandal tu che più gli t' avvicini,
e dolcemente, sì che parli, acco' lo."
Così due spirti, l' uno all' altro chini,
ragionavan di me ivi a man dritta,
poi fer li visi, per dirmi, supini;
e disse l'uno : "O anima, che fitta
nel corpo ancora, in ver lo ciel ten vai,
per carità ne consola, e ne ditta
onde vieni, e chi sei; chè tu ne fai
tanto maravigliar della tua grazia,
quanto vuol cosa che non fu più mai.”
4
7
IC
I
164
CANTO XIV
degraded neighbours, till it reaches the crowning in-
famy of Pisa (1-54). There follows a prediction of
the woes which Rinieri's relative Fulcieri shall wreak
on Florence in 1303 (55-72). Deeply stirred by their
discourse, Dante questions the spirits as to their own
past, and Guido accompanies his answer by a lamenta-
tion over the degeneracy of the Romandiola from which
they both spring; and implores Dante to pass upon
his way and leave him to weep undisturbed (73-126).
Assured that they are pursuing the right way, since
the generosity of these once envious souls would else
have notified them of their mistake, the two poets
pursue their way, as the warning voices against envy,
anticipated by Virgil, ring in their ears; to which Virgil
adds his sad reflections on the things which human
choice relinquishes and the things it grasps (127-151).
"Who is this that circles our mount ere death The
have given him flight, and opens and shuts his envious
eyes at his will?"
Guido del
Duca and
Calboli
"I know not who he may be, but I know that Rinieri da
he is not alone; do thou question him who
art nearer to him, and gently greet him that
he may speak."
Thus two spirits, one leaning against the other,
were discoursing of me there on the right
hand; then held up their faces to speak to me ;
and one said: "O soul, that fixed yet in thy
body dost journey towards heaven, for charity
console us, and tell us
whence thou comest, and who thou art; for
thou dost make us marvel so greatly at thy
grace, as needs must a thing that never was.'
165
166
PURGATORIO
Girone II Ed io: "Per mezza Toscana si spazia
un fiumicel che nasce in Falterona,
e cento miglia di corso nol sazia.
Di sopr' esso rech' io questa persona ;
dirvi ch' io sia, saria parlare indarno,
chè il nome mio ancor molto non suona.
"Se ben lo intendimento tuo accarno
con lo intelletto," allora mi rispose
quei che prima dicea, “tu parli d' Arno.”
E l'altro disse a lui: "Perchè nascose
questi il vocabol di quella riviera,
pur com' uom fa dell' orribili cose?
E l'ombra, che di ciò domandata era,
si sdebitò così: "Non so, ma degno
ben è che il nome di tal valle pera :
chè dal principio suo, dov'è sì pregno
l' alpestro monte, ond' è tronco Peloro,
che in pochi lochi passa oltra quel segno,
infin là 've si rende
per ristoro
di quel che il ciel della marina asciuga,
ond' hanno i fiumi ciò che va con loro,
virtù così per nimica si fuga
da tutti, come biscia, o per sventura
del loco o per mal uso che li fruga:
ond' hanno sì mutata lor natura
gli abitator della misera valle,
che par che Circe gli avesse in pastura.
Tra brutti porci, più degni di galle
che d'altro cibo fatto in uman uso,
dirizza prima il suo povero calle.
Botoli trova poi, venendo giuso,
ringhiosi più che non chiede lor possa,
ed a lor, disdegnosa, torce il muso.
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
49
41
4
CANTO XIV
167
>>
envious
The Arno
And I: "Through the midst of Tuscany there The
spreads a stream which rises in Falterona and
a course of a hundred miles satiates it not.
From its banks I bring this body; to tell you
who I may be were to speak in vain, for my
name as yet sounds not for much.'
"If I penetrate truly thy meaning with my
understanding," then answered me he who
first spake, "thou art talking of the Arno."
And the other said to him: "Why did he
conceal the name of that river, even as one
does of horrible things?"
And the shade who was asked this question, its valley
acquitted him thus: "I know not, but verily
'tis meet that the name of such a vale perish;
for from its beginning (where the rugged mountain-
chain, whence Pelorus is cut off, is so fruitful
that in few places it exceeds that mark)
as far as there where it yields itself to restore
that which the sky soaks up from the sea,
whence rivers have that which flows with them,
virtue is driven forth as an enemy by all, even
as a snake, either because of the ill-favoured
place or of evil habit which incites them;
wherefore the dwellers in the wretched vale have and those
r that dwell
so changed their nature that it seems as if therein-
Circe had them in her pasturing.
Among filthy hogs, more worthy of acorns than The
of other food made for use of man, it first Casentines
directs its feeble course.
Aretines
Then, coming downward it finds curs snarling the
more than their power warrants, and from them
scornfully turns aside its snout.
168
PURGATORIO
Girone II Vassi cadendo, e, quanto ella più ingrossa,
tanto più trova di can farsi lupi
la maledetta e sventurata fossa.
Discesa poi per più pelaghi cupi,
trova le volpi, sì piene di froda
che non temono ingegno che le occupi.
Nè lascerò di dir, perch' altri m' oda;
e buon sarà a costui, se ancor s'ammenta
di ciò, che vero spirto mi disnoda.
Io veggio tuo nipote, che diventa
cacciator di quei lupi, in su la riva
del fiero fiume, e tutti gli sgomenta.
Vende la carne loro, essendo viva;
poscia gli ancide come antica belva :
molti di vita, e sè di pregio priva.
Sanguinoso esce della trista selva;
lasciala tal, che di qui a mill' anni
nello stato primaio non si rinselva.”
Come all'annunzio de' dogliosi danni
si turba il viso di colui che ascolta,
da qualche parte il periglio lo assanni :
così vid' io l' altr' anima, che volta
stava ad udir, turbarsi e farsi trista,
poi ch' ebbe la parola a sè raccolta.
Lo dir dell' una, e dell' altra la vista
mi fe' voglioso di saper lor nomi,
e domanda ne fei con preghi mista :
per che lo spirto, che di pria parlòmi,
ricominciò: "Tu vuoi ch' io mi deduca
nel fare a te ciò, che tu far non vuo' mi;
ma da che Dio in te vuol che traluca
tanta sua grazia, non ti sarò scarso:
però sappi ch' io son Guido del Duca.
49
52
55
58
61
64
69
70
73
76
79
CANTO XIV
169
envious.
The
Florentines
On it goes in its descent, and, the greater its The
increase, the more it finds the dogs growing to
wolves, this accurst and ill-fated ditch.
Having then descended through many deep gorges, and the
it finds the foxes, so full of fraud that they fear
no wit that may trap them.
Nor will I cease speaking, for all that another
may hear me; and it will be well for him if
he mind him again of what true prophecy
unfolds to me.
Pisans
Calboli
I see thy grandson, who is becoming a hunter of Fulcieri da
those wolves on the bank of the fierce river,
and strikes them all with terror.
He sells their flesh while yet alive; then slaughters
them like worn-out cattle: many he deprives
of life and himself of honour.
He cometh forth bloody from the sad wood;
he leaves it such, that hence a thousand years
it re-woods not itself to its primal state."
As at the announcement of grievous ills the face
of him who listens is troubled, from whatever
side the peril may assault him,
so saw I the other soul, that had turned round
to hear, grow troubled and sad, after it had
gathered these words to itself.
The speech of the one and the other's counte-
nance made me long to know their names, and
question I made of them mingled with prayers:
wherefore the spirit that first spake to me, began
again: "Thou wouldst that I condescend in
doing that for thee which thou wilt not do for me;
out since God wills that so much of his grace
shine forth in thee, I will not be chary with
thee; therefore know that I am Guido del Duca,
170
PURGATORIO
Girone II Fu il sangue mio d' invidia sì riarso,
che, se veduto avessi uom farsi lieto,
visto m' avresti di livore sparso.
Di mia semente cotal paglia mieto.
O gente umana, perchè poni il core
là 'v' è mestier di consorto divieto ?
Questi è Rinier, quest' è il pregio e l'onore
della casa da Calboli, ove nullo
fatto s'è erede poi del suo valore.
E non pur lo suo sangue è fatto brullo,
tra il Po e il monte e la marina e il Reno,
del ben richiesto al vero ed al trastullo:
chè dentro a questi termini è ripieno
di venenosi sterpi, sì che tardi
per coltivare omai verrebber meno.
Ov'è il buon Lizio ed Arrigo Mainardi,
Pier Traversaro e Guido di Carpigna ?
O Romagnoli tornati in bastardi!
Quando in Bologna un Fabbro si ralligna?
quando in Faenza un Bernardin di Fosco,
verga gentil di picciola gramigna ?
Non ti maravigliar, s' io piango, Tosco,
quando rimembro con Guido da Prata
Ugolin d' Azzo che vivette nosco,
Federico Tignoso e sua brigata,
la casa Traversara e gli Anastagi
(e l' una gente e l' altra è diretata),
le donne e i cavalier, gli affanni e gli agi
che ne invogliava amore e cortesia,
là dove i cor son fatti sì malvagi.
O Brettinoro, chè non fuggi via,
poichè gita se n'è la tua famiglia,
e molta gente per non esser ria?
82
85
88
91
9
9
ΙΟ
IO
IC
10
I
CANTO XIV
171
envious
My blood was so inflamed with envy, that if I The
had seen a man make him glad, thou wouldst
have seen me suffused with lividness.
Of my sowing such straw I reap. O human
folk, why set the heart there where exclusion
of partnership is necessary?
This is Rinier; this is the glory and the honour
of the House of Calboli, where none since
hath made himself heir of his worth.
And not only his blood between the Po and the
mountains, and the seashore and the Reno, is
stripped of the good required of truth and
chivalry,
for inside these boundaries is choked with Invective
poisonous growths, so that tardily now would against
they be rooted out by cultivation.
Where is the good Lizio, and Harry Mainardi,
Peter Traversaro and Guy of Carpigna? O
ye Romagnols turned to bastards !
When in Bologna shall a Fabbro take root again?
when in Faenza a Bernardin di Fosco, noble
scion of a lowly plant?
Marvel thou not, Tuscan, if I weep, when I re-
member with Guy of Prata, Hugolin of Azzo
who lived among us,
Frederick Tignoso and his fellowship, the House
of Traversaro, and the Anastagi (the one
race and the other now without heirs),
the ladies and the knights, the toils and the
sports of which love and courtesy enamoured
us, there where hearts are grown so wicked.
O Brettinoro, why dost thou not flee away, since
thy household is gone forth, and much people.
in order not to be guilty?
Romagna
"
172
PURGATORIO
Girone II Ben fa Bagnacaval, che non rifiglia,
e mal fa Castrocaro, e peggio Conio,
che di figliar tai conti più s' impiglia;
ben faranno i Pagan, dacchè il demonio
lor sen girà; ma non però che puro
giammai rimanga d' essi testimonio.
O Ugolin de' Fantolin, sicuro
è il nome tuo, da che più non s' aspetta
chi far lo possa tralignando oscuro.
Ma va via, Tosco, omai, ch' or mi diletta
troppo di pianger più che di parlare,
sì m' ha nostra ragion la mente stretta."
Noi sapevam che quell' anime care
ci sentivano andar; però tacendo
facevan noi del cammin confidare.
Poi fummo fatti soli procedendo,
folgore parve, quando l' aer fende,
voce che giunse d' incontra, dicendo :
"Anciderammi qualunque m' apprende ";
e fuggì, come tuon che si dilegua,
se subito la nuvola scoscende.
Come da lei l'udir nostro ebbe tregua,
ed ecco l'altra con sì gran fracasso,
che somigliò tuonar che tosto segua:
"Io sono Aglauro che divenni sasso”;
ed allor per ristringermi al poeta,
indietro feci e non innanzi il passo.
Già era l'aura d' ogni parte queta,
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
ed ei mi disse: "Quel fu il duro camo,
che dovria l' uom tener dentro a sua meta.
Ma voi prendete l'esca sì che l'amo
145
dell'antico avversario a sè vi tira;
e però poco val freno o richiamo.
CANTO XIV
173
Well doth Bagnacaval that beareth no more sons, The
and ill doth Castrocaro, and Conio worse, that envious
yet troubleth to beget such Counts;
Invective
Romagna
the Pagani will do well when their Demon shall against
go away; but not indeed that unsullied witness
may ever remain of them.
O Hugolin of the Fantolini, thy name is safe,
since no more expectation is there of one who
may blacken it by degenerating.
But now go thy way, Tuscan, for now it delights.
me far more to weep than to talk, so hath our
discourse wrung my spirit."
We knew that those dear souls heard us going;
therefore by their silence they made us con-
fident of the way.
of envy-
After we were left alone journeying on, a voice, Examples
that seemed like lightning when it cleaves the
air, smote against us, saying:
CC
Everyone that findeth me shall slay me"; and
fled like a thunderclap which peals away if
suddenly the cloud bursts.
Cain
When from it our hearing had truce, lo the Aglauros
second, with such loud crash that 'twas like
thunder that follows quickly :
"I am Aglauros who was turned to stone";
and then to press me close to the Poet, I made
a step back, and not forward.
Now was the air quiet on every side, and he
said to me:
"That was the hard bit which
ought to hold man within his bounds.
But
ye take the bait, so that the old adversary's
hook draws you to him, and therefore little
avails bridle or lure.
174
PURGATORIO
Girone II Chiamavi il cielo, e intorno vi si gira,
mostrandovi le sue bellezze eterne,
e l'occhio vostro pure a terra mira;
onde vi batte chi tutto discerne."
148
151
I sqq. These words are spoken by Guido del Duca
(who bears the brunt of the speaking throughout the
canto) and Rinier da Calboli (who does most of the
listening), respectively.
Guido del Duca, a Ghibelline of Bertinoro, belonged
to the Onesti family of Ravenna (other members of
which were Pietro and Romualdo; see Par. xxi. and
xxii). In 1199 he was judge to the Podestà of Rimini.
For years (from 1202, or
1202, or even earlier) he was an
adherent of the Ghibelline leader, Pier Traversaro (v..
98). In 1218, Pier, aided principally by the Mainardi
(v. 97) of Bertinoro, obtained the chief power at
Ravenna, and drove out the Guelfs; whereupon the
latter attacked Bertinoro, destroyed the houses of the
Mainardi, and expelled Pier's adherents. Among
these was Guido, who followed his chief to Ravenna,
and the last preserved record of whom is a deed signed
by him in that city in 1229.
Rinier, belonging to the Guelf family of da Calboli,
of Forli, was Podestà of Faenza (1247), of Parma (1252)
and of Ravenna (1265; and again in 1292). In 1276 he
attacked Forlì (assisted by other Guelfs, among them
Lizio da Valbona; v. 97); but the force had to retire
to Rinier's castle of Calboli (in the valley of Montone),
where they surrendered to Guido of Montefeltro, the
Captain of Forlì, who destroyed the stronghold. When
Rinier was re-elected Podestà of Faenza in 1292, the
captain of the city was Mainardo Pagano (v. 118),
The citizens, supported by their leaders, opposed a
tax levied on them by the Count of Romagna. The
expedition against him and the Ghibellines on his
side (including the Count of Castrocaro, v. 116) was
entirely successful. In 1294 the da Calboli, who wer
becoming too powerful in Forlì, were expelled by the
Ghibellines; but they returned, together with other
exiled Guelfs, in 1296, when the bulk of their enemies
CANTO XIV
175
The heavens call to you, and circle around you, The
displaying unto you their eternal splendours, envious
and your eye gazes only to earth; wherefore
he who discerns all things doth buffet you.”
were absent on an expedition against Bologna.
Shortly afterwards, however, the Guelfs were again
routed and expelled by the Ghibellines, led among
others by one of the Ordelaffi. On this occasion the
aged Rinier was slain.
Guido's invective against Romagna (vv. 91-123 of
the present canto) should be compared with Inf. xxvii.
37-54.
16, 18 and 31-36. Falterona is a summit of the Tuscan
Apennines (N.E. of Florence), where the Arno has its
source. Pregno, as applied to Falterona, may refer
either to the rivers, or to the secondary mountain
chains, springing from it; taken in conjunction with
v. 33, the latter is, geographically, the more correct
interpretation. Peloro (the modern Cape Faro; cf.
Par. viii. 68) is at the N.E. extremity of Sicily, being
separated from the end of the Apennines only by the
Strait of Messina; geologically, the Sicilian mountains
are, of course, only a continuation of the Apennines.—
After a course of about 150 miles, the Arno flows into
the Mediterranean Sea (infin là, v. 34 as far as the sea:
for the vapours exhaled by the sea through the heat of
the sun come down again as rain, swell the rivers and
are thus eventually restored to the sea-vv. 34-36).
37-54. Dante conceives the inhabitants of the Val
d'Arno to have been, as it were, transformed into
beasts by the enchantress Circe, who was endowed with
this power.
Thus the people of Casentino (see above,
Canto v. 85-129, note) have become hogs, the Aretines
-curs, the Florentines-wolves, and the Pisans-foxes.
58-66. Rinier's grandson, Fulcieri da Calboli, was
Podestà of various cities-Milan, Parma and Modena,
but is chiefly notorious for his tenure of that office at
Florence (1303), where he proved himself a bitter foe
of the Whites and Ghibellines (see Villani, viii. 59).—
Selva (v. 64)=Florence; cf. Inf. i. 2, note.
176
NOTES
86, 87. See the following canto, vv. 44-81.
91-123. The people mentioned in these lines were
all inhabitants of the Romagna (the limits of which
are defined in v. 92, as the Po and the Apennines, the
Adriatic and the Reno; for the latter cf. Inf. xviii. 61).
For some of the names see above, note to v. 1 sqq.
After
Lizio da Valbona, a Guelf nobleman of Bertinoro and
follower of Rinier da Calboli; he died between 1279
and 1300.
Arrigo Mainardi, a Ghibelline of Ber-
tinoro and adherent of Pier Traversaro, together with
whom he was captured by the people of Faenza in
1170; he was still alive in 1228.-Pier Traversaro (ca.
1145-1225), the most distinguished member of the
Ghibelline family of the casa Traversara (v. 107); he
was repeatedly Podestà of his native city, and played
a leading part in the politics of Romagna for many
years.-Guido of the Carpegna (a noted family settled
in the district of Montefeltro) was renowned for his
liberality. — Fabbro, one of the Ghibelline Lamber-
tazzi of Bologna, was Podestà of several cities.
his death, in 1259, his sons had a bitter feud with the
Geremei (see Inf. xxxii. 122, 123, note).—Bernardin di
Fosco distinguished himself in the siege of Faenza
against the Emperor Frederick II. (1240); his father
was a field labourer.-Guido da Prata (d. ca. 1245), a
native of Ravenna, near which city he appears to have
owned considerable property. Ugolin d'Azzo, a
wealthy inhabitant of Faenza, one of the Ubaldini (cf.
below, Canto xxiv. 29, note). He married Beatrice
Lancia, the daughter of Provenzan Salvani (see above
Canto xi.) and died at a great age in 1293.-Frederico
Tignoso: a nobleman of Rimini, noted for his gener-
osity, who appears to have lived in the first half of the
13th century. -The Traversari and Anastagi were
noble Ghibelline families of Ravenna. On the death
of Pier Traversaro, his son Paolo turned Guelf-a
CANTO XIV
177
volte-face that soon undermined the influence of the
family. About the middle of the 13th century, the
Anastagi were very much to the fore, owing to their
strife with the Polentani and other Guelfs of Ravenna.
A reconciliation was effected ca. 1258, and after this
date there is no mention of them in the records.-
Brettinoro (now Bertinoro), a little town between
Forlì and Cesena; its inhabitants, several of whom
figure in this canto, had a great reputation for hos-
pitality. Dante is apparently alluding here to the
compulsory exodus of the Ghibellines from the town
(see above, note on Guido del Duca), and rejoicing that
they were spared the spectacle of the place in its
present condition. The Malavicini, Counts of Bagna-
cavallo (between Imola and Ravenna), were Ghibel-
lines. In 1249 they drove Guido da Polenta and his
fellow Guelfs from Ravenna. Subsequently they were
notorious for their frequent change of party.-
Castrocaro and Conio: strongholds near Forlì; the
counts of the former place were Ghibellines, those of
the latter Guelfs. The Pagani were Ghibellines of
Faenza (or Imola). For Mainardo see Inf. xxvii.
49-51, note (cf. Villani, vii. 149). According to
Benvenuto, he was called "devil
called "devil" because of his
cunning.-Ugolino de' Fantolini (d. 1278) did not
take part in public affairs, but led an honourable
retired life. One of his sons was killed at Forlì
(1282) in the engagement with Guido of Monte-
feltro (see Inf. xxvii. 43, 44), and the other died before
1291.
132-135. The words of Cain, after he had slain his
brother Abel (Gen. iv. 14).
137-139. Aglauros, the daughter of Cecrops, King
of Athens, being jealous of Mercury's love for her
sister, Herse, was changed by the God into stone (see
Ovid, Metam. xiv. 139).
M
IT
PURGATORIO
T is three o'clock in the afternoon, and the poe
(having circled nigh a fourth part of the mount
and reached its northern slope) are facing the west
ing sun, when the dazzling light of the angel guardi
of the circle warns them that they have approach
the next ascent (1-33). They are welcomed to
stair far less steep than those they have alrea
surmounted, and hear the blessing of the mercif
together with songs of lofty encouragement, chan
behind them as they mount (34-39). Dante's mi
goes back to words in which Guido del Duca, wh
confessing his own envious disposition on earth,
reproached mankind for fixing their hearts on
things which exclude partnership; and now
questions Virgil as to the meaning of this sayi
(40-45). Virgil answers first briefly, and then in
Girone II Quanto tra l'ultimar dell' ora terza
e il principio del dì par della spera
che sempre a guisa di fanciullo scherza,
tanto pareva già in ver la sera
essere al sol del suo corso rimaso:
vespero là, e qui mezza notte era.
E i raggi ne ferian per mezzo il naso,
perchè per noi girato era sì il monte,
che già dritti andavamo in ver l'occaso,
quand' io senti' a me gravar la fronte
allo splendore assai più che di prima,
e stupor m' eran le cose non conte:
ond' io levai le mani in ver la cima
delle mie ciglia, e fecimi il solecchio,
che del soperchio visibile lima.
178
CANTO XV
detail, that the more of any material thing one man
has, the less of it there is for others; whereas the
more peace or knowledge or love one man has, the more
there is for all the others. Hence envy disturbs men's
hearts only because they are fixed on material instead
of spiritual things. If this exposition does not satisfy'
him, let him await further light from Beatrice, and
meanwhile let him make all speed upon his journey
(46-81). On this they reach the third terrace—that of
the wrathful-whereon Dante in ecstatic vision beholds
examples of meekness and patience (82-114). Waking,
half-bewildered, from his trance, he is called to him-
self by Virgil (115-138), and the two walk toward
the evening sun, till a dark cloud of smoke rolling
towards them, plunges them into the blackness of
more than night (139-145).
As much as between the end of the third hour The
and the beginning of the day appears of the envious
sphere which ever sports after the fashion of
a child,
so much appeared now to be left of the sun's Afternoon
course towards evening; it was vespers there,
and here midnight.
And the rays were smiting on the middle of our
noses, for the mount was so far circled by us,
that we now were going straight to the west,
when I felt my brow weighed down by the
splendour far more than before, and amazement
to me were the unknown things;
wherefore I raised my hands towards the top of
my eyes, and made me the shade which dulls
the excess of light.
of the
› second
day in
Purgatory
179
180
PURGATORIO
Girone II Come quando dall' acqua o dallo specchio
salta lo raggio all' opposita parte,
salendo su per lo modo parecchio
a quel che scende, e tanto si diparte
dal cader della pietra in egual tratta,
sì come mostra esperienza ed arte:
così mi parve da luce rifratta
ivi dinanzi a me esser percosso,
per che a fuggir la mia vista fu ratta.
"Che è quel, dolce padre, a che non posso
schermar lo viso tanto che mi vaglia,
diss' io, "e pare in ver noi esser mosso?"
“Non ti maravigliar, se ancor t' abbaglia
la famiglia del cielo," a me rispose;
"messo è, che viene ad invitar ch' uom sagli
Tosto sarà che a veder queste cose
non ti fia grave, ma fiati diletto,
quanto natura a sentir ti dispose."
Poi giunti fummo all' angel benedetto,
con lieta voce disse: "Entrate quinci
ad un scaleo vie men che gli altri eretto.'
Noi montavam, già partiti da linci,
e
"Beati misericordes
" fue
cantato retro, e "Godi tu che vinci.”
Salita al Lo mio maestro ed io soli ambo e due
irone III
suso andavamo, ed io pensava, andando,
prode acquistar nelle parole sue;
e dirizza' mi a lui sì domandando :
""
"Che volle dir lo spirto di Romagna,
e 'divieto ' e 'consorto' menzionando?
Per ch' egli a me :
“Di sua maggior magagna
conosce il danno; e però non s' ammiri,
se ne riprende perchè men sen piagna.
CANTO XV
181
envious
As when a ray of light leaps from the water or The
from the mirror to the opposite direction, as-
cending at an angle similar
o that at which it descends, and departs as far from
the line of the falling stone in an equal space,
even as experiment and science shows,
o I seemed to be smitten by reflected light in The
front of me, wherefore mine eyes were swift Angel of
to flee.
""
What is that, sweet Father, from which I can-
not screen my sight so that it may avail me,'
said I, “and seems to be moving towards us?"
Marvel thou not if the heavenly household yet
dazes thee," he answered me, "'tis a messenger
that cometh to invite us to ascend.
goon will it be that to behold these things shall
not be grievous to thee, but shall be a joy to
thee, as great as nature hath fitted thee to feel."
When we had reached the blessed angel, with
gladsome voice, he said: "Enter here to a
stairway far less steep than the others."
""
Fraternal
Love
second
We were mounting, already departed thence, and The
"Beati misericordes
was sung behind, and Beatitude
Rejoice thou that overcomest.

raises a
My Master and I, alone we two, were mounting Dante
up, and I thought while journeying to gain doubt
profit from his words;
hd I directed me to him thus asking: "What
meant the spirit from Romagna by mentioning
exclusion' and 'partnership'?
answered
Whereupon he to me: "He knoweth the hurt of and is
his greatest defect, and therefore let none marvel by Virgil
if he reprove it, that it be less mourned for.
182
PURGATORIO
Salita al Perchè s' appuntan li vostri disiri
Girone III
dove per compagnia parte si scema,
invidia move il mantaco ai sospiri.
Ma se l'amor della spera suprema
torcessse in suso il desiderio vostro,
non vi sarebbe al petto quella tema:
chè per quanti si dice più lì nostro,
tanto possiede più di ben ciascuno,
e più di caritate arde in quel chiostro."
"Io son d'esser contento più digiuno,"
diss' io, che se mi fossi pria taciuto,
e più di dubbio nella mente aduno.
Com' esser puote che un ben distributo
i più posseditor faccia più ricchi
di sè, che se da pochi è posseduto ? ”
"Però che tu rificchi
Ed egli a me :
la mente pure alle cose terrene,
di vera luce tenebre dispicchi.
Quello infinito ed ineffabil bene
che è lassù, così corre ad amore,
come a lucido corpo raggio viene.
Tanto si dà, quanto trova d' ardore,
sì che quantunque carità si estende,
cresce sopr' essa l'eterno valore;
e quanta gente più lassù s' intende,
più v' è da bene amare, e più vi s' ama,
e come specchio l'uno all' altro rende.
E se la mia ragion non ti disfama,
vedrai Beatrice, ed ella pienamente
ti torrà questa e ciascun' altra brama.
Procaccia pur che tosto sieno spente,
come son già le due, le cinque piaghe,
che si richiudon per esser dolente."
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
79
73
76
79
CANTO XV
183
Forasmuch as your desires are centred where the Virgil's
portion is lessened by partnership, envy moves
the bellows to your sighs.
discourse
on worldly
and
material
But if the love of the highest sphere wrested goods
your desire upwards, that fear would not be at
your heart;
For by so many more there are who say 'ours,'
so much the more of good doth each possess,
and the more of love burneth in that cloister."
"I am more fasting from being satisfied,” said I,
“than if I had kept silent at first, and more
perplexity I amass in my mind.
How can it be that a good when shared, shall
make the greater number of possessors richer in
it, than if it is possessed by a few?"
And he to me: "Because thou dost again fix
thy mind merely on things of earth, thou
drawest darkness from true light.
That infinite and ineffable Good, that is on high,
speedeth so to love as a ray of light comes to
a bright body.
As much of ardour as it finds, so much of itself
doth it give, so that how far soever love ex-
tends, eternal goodness giveth increase upon it;
nd the more people on high who comprehend
each other, the more there are to love well,
and the more love is there, and like a mirror
one giveth back to the other.
And if my discourse stays not thy hunger, thou
shalt see Beatrice, and she will free thee wholly
from this and every other longing.
Strive only that soon, even as the other two are,
the five wounds may be rased out, which are
healed by our sorrowing."
184
PURGATORIO
Girone III Com' io voleva dicer: "Tu m' appaghe,”
vidimi giunto in su l' altro girone,
sì che tacer mi fer le luci vaghe.
Ivi mi parve in una visione
estatica di subito esser tratto
e vedere in un tempio più persone ;
ed una donna in su l'entrar con atto
dolce di madre dicer: " Figliuol mio,
perchè hai tu così verso noi fatto?
Ecco, dolenti, lo tuo padre ed io
""
ti cercavamo ; e come qui si tacque,
ciò che pareva prima disparìo.
Indi m' apparve un' altra con quelle acque
giù per le gote, che il dolor distilla
quando di gran dispetto in altrui nacque ;
e dir: "Se tu se' sire della villa,
del cui nome ne' Dei fu tanta lite,
ed onde ogni scienza disfavilla,
vendica te di quelle braccia ardite
82
85
88
91
94
97
28
100
103
che abbracciar nostra figlia, o Pisistrato.'
E il signor mi parea benigno e mite
risponder lei con viso temperato:
"Che farem noi a chi mal ne disira,
se quei, che ci ama, per noi condannato ?"
Poi vidi genti accese in foco d'ira,
è
con pietre un giovinetto ancider, forte
gridando a sè pur : "Martira, martira!
e lui vedea chinarsi, per la morte
che l'aggravava già, in ver la terra,
ma degli occhi facea sempre al ciel porte,
orando all' alto Sire in tanta guerra,
che perdonasse a' suoi persecutori,
con quell' aspetto che pietà disserra.
106
109
II2
CANTO XV
185
The
“Thou dost satisfy me,
As I was about to say :
I saw me arrived on the next circuit, so that wrathful
my eager eyes made me silent.
There meseemed to be suddenly caught up in a Examples
dream of ecstacy, and to see many persons of gentle-
in ness-
a temple,
Mary
and a woman about to enter, with the tender The Virgin
attitude of a mother, saying: "My son, why
hast thou thus dealt with us?
Behold thy father and I sought thee sorrowing";
and as here she was silent, that which first
appeared, disappeared.
Then appeared to me another woman, with those Pisistratus
waters adown her cheeks which grief distils
when it rises in one by reason of great anger,
and saying: "If thou art lord of the city for
whose name was so great strife among the gods,
and whence all knowledge sparkles,
avenge thee of those daring arms which embraced
our daughter, O Pisistratus. And the lord
seemed to me kindly and gently
to answer her with placid mien: "What shall we
do to him who desires ill to us, if he who
loveth us is condemned by us?
Then saw I people, kindled with the fire of anger, Saint
slaying a youth with stones, and ever crying Stephen
out loudly to each other: "Kill, kill!"
and him saw I sinking towards the ground, be-
cause of death, which already was weighing
him down, but of his eyes ever made he
gates unto heaven,
praying to the high Lord in such torture, with
that look which unlocks pity, that he would
forgive his persecutors.
186
PURGATORIO
Girone III Quando l' anima mia tornò di fuori
cose, che son fuor di lei vere,
alle
io riconobbi i miei non falsi errori.
Lo duca mio, che mi potea vedere
far sì com' uom che dal sonno si slega,
disse: "Che hai, che non ti puoi tenere,
ma se' venuto più che mezza lega,
velando gli occhi e con le gambe avvolte,
a guisa di cui vino o sonno piega?"
"O dolce padre mio, se tu m' ascolte,
io ti dirò," diss' io, “ciò che mi apparve
quando le gambe mi furon sì tolte."
Ed ei: "Se tu avessi cento larve
sopra
la faccia, non mi sarien chiuse
le tue cogitazion, quantunque parve.
Ciò che vedesti fu, perchè non scuse
d'aprir lo core all' acque della pace
che dall' eterno fonte son diffuse.
<
115
118
121
124
127
130
Non domandai, Che hai,' per quel che face 133
chi guarda pur con l'occhio che non vede,
quando disanimato il corpo giace;
ma domandai per darti forza al piede :
così frugar conviensi i pigri, lenti
ad usar lor vigilia quando riede.”
Noi andavam per lo vespero, attenti
oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi,
contra i raggi serotini e lucenti;
ed ecco a poco a poco un fummo farsi
verso di noi, come la notte oscuro,
nè da quello era loco da cansarsi.
Questo ne tolse gli occhi e l'aer puro.
136
139
142
145
1-6. The Zodiac, which is improperly described as
a sphere (instead of a zone or great circle on the
CANTO XV
187
wrathful
When my soul returned outwardly to the things The
which are true outside it, I recognised my not
false errors.
My Leader, who could see me acting like a man
who frees himself from sleep, said: "What
aileth thee that thou canst not control thyself,
but art come more than half a league, veiling
thine eyes, and with staggering legs, after the
manner of him whom wine or sleep overcomes?"
"O sweet Father mine, if thou listen to me,
I will tell thee," said I, "what appeared to
me when my legs were thus taken from me.
And he "If thou hadst a hundred masks upon
thy face, thy thoughts, however slight, would
not be hidden from me.
""
What thou sawest was in order that thou have
no excuse from opening thy heart to the
waters of peace, which are poured from the
eternal fount.
I asked not: What aileth thee,' for that reason
which he asks who looks but with the eye that
seeth not when senseless the body lies,
but I asked to give strength to thy feet; so must
the slothful be goaded who are slow to use
their waking hour when it returns.'
""
We were journeying on through the evening,
straining our eyes forward, as far as we could,
against the evening and shining rays;
and lo, little by little,a smoke, dark as night, rolling,
towards us, nor any room was there to escape
from it. This reft us of sight and the
pure air.
sphere), is compared to a skipping child, because in
the course of the day its extremities on the horizon
Virgil and
Dante
188
NOTES
play up and down, and the semi-circle above the
horizon is now all north of the equator, now all south,
and now crossing it from north to south, or from south
to north. At the equinox a quarter of it crosses the
eastern horizon between sunrise and nine o'clock.
Dante tells us, therefore, that, at the moment of which
he is speaking, a quarter of it had to cross the western
horizon before sunset, i.e. it was three o'clock in the
afternoon (here, in Italy, it was midnight, for Roman
time is nine hours later than Purgatory time, and there
it was Vespers, or 3 P.M.; see above, Canto iii. 25-27,
note and diagrams on pp. 34 and 35).
7-9. The representations of the Mount of Purgatory
given in the editions of the Commedia usually depict
the poets as having circled the whole mountain in the
course of their journey. But this is erroneous. They
circle only the northern or sunny side, from east to
west. Here, towards the close of the day, they are
travelling almost due west, and are almost at the
northern point of the mountain.
38, 39. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy" (Malt. v. 7).-The words Godi tu che
CANTO XV
189
12; Rom.
vinci are variously referred to Matt. v. 12;
xii. 21; or Rev. ii. 7.
44, 45. See the preceding canto, vv. 86, 87.
85-93. Mary's words to the child Jesus, after he had
"tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother
knew not of it."
See Luke ii. 43-50.
94-105. Pisistratus Atheniensium tyrannus [ca. 605-527
B.C.], cum adolescens quidam, amore filiæ ejus virginis
accensus, in publico obviam sibi factam osculatus esset, hortante
uxore, ut ab eo capitale supplicium sumeret, respondit :
"Si
eos, qui nos amant, interficimus, quid his faciemus, quibus odio
sumus?" (Valerius Maximus, Fact. et dict. mem, vi. 1.
Verse 98 alludes to the strife between Minerva and
Neptune, as to which of them should name the city of
Athens (see Ovid, Metam. vi. 70 sqq.).
106-114. The stoning of Stephen (Acts vii. 54-60).
117. Dante recognised that the scenes which had
passed before him were merely visions (errori), though
visions of events that had actually occurred in times
gone by (therefore, non falsi).
PURGATORIO
LOSING his eyes against the gross and bitter fog,
CLO
led by Virgil like a blind man, Dante hears the
harmonious and tender chant of the "Lamb of God"
arise from the lips of the once wrathful spirits (1-24).
One of them, who has heard Dante's conversation with
Virgil, questions him and turns back with him to
hear his wondrous tale. The spirits in other circles
have recognised the special grace shown to Dante in
his anticipated vision of unseen things; and to this
grace Dante himself now appeals to win from his new
companion an account of himself, and directions as
to the journey; for meeting these souls circling from
west to east raises a doubt in his mind whether he and
Virgil have been right in still following the sun (25-
45). The spirit reveals himself as Marco Lombardo,
refers, as other spirits had done, to the degeneracy of
the times, reassures Dante as to the course he is taking
and implores his prayers (46-51). Dante, while giving
him the required pledge, catches at this renewed insist-
ance on the evil times, and asks whether it is due to
unfavourable conjunctions in the heavens or to inherent
degeneracy of earth (52-63). Marco heaves a deep
sigh at the blindness implied in such a question; as
if man
were handed over helplessly to planetary
Girone III Buio d' inferno e di notte privata
d'ogni pianeta sotto pover cielo,
quant' esser può di nuvol tenebrata,
non fece al viso mio sì grosso velo,
come quel fummo ch' ivi ci coperse,
nè a sentir di così aspro pelo ;
chè l'occhio stare aperto non sofferse :
onde la scorta mia saputa e fida
mi s'accostò, e l'omero m' offerse.
+
7
190
CANTO XVI
influences ! As if he had no free will and no direct
dependence upon God, which may make him superior
to all material influences! (64-81). The causes of
degeneracy must be sought on earth and will be found
in the absence of any true governor who perceives
at least the turrets of the true city, and so can lead
the guileless and impressionable souls of men on the
right path. And this evil springs not from corrupt-
ness of human nature in general, but from the worldli-
ness and ambition of the clergy who have grafted the
sword upon the crook, so that the two lights of the
world that once shone in Rome have quenched each
other; and the temporal and spiritual powers, con-
founded together, have ceased to guide and check each
other. Hence the world is so degenerate that only
three good old men remain as a rebuke to the living
generation (82-129). Dante accepts the sad wisdom
of Marco's discourse, only requesting a word of
personal explanation as to one of the three still sur-
viving types of antique virtue; and thereon he begins.
to see the light struggle through the enveloping dark-
ness, and is told that the angel guardian of the next
stair is at hand (130-145).
The
Gloom of Hell and of a night bereft of
every wrathful
planet under a meagre sky, darkened by cloud
as much as it can be,
made not to my sight so thick a veil, nor of a
pile so harsh to the feel, as that smoke which
there covered us;
for it suffered not the eye to stay open: where-
fore my wise and trusty Escort closed up to
me, and offered me his shoulder.
Their
punishment
191
192
PURGATORIO
Girone III Sì come cieco va dietro a sua guida
per non smarrirsi, e per non dar di cozzo
in cosa che il molesti o forse ancida :
m' andava io per l'aere amaro e sozzo,
ascoltando il mio duca che diceva
pur: Guarda che da me tu non sie mozzo.
Io sentia voci, e ciascuna pareva
pregar, per pace e per misericordia,
l'Agnel di Dio, che le peccata leva.
Pure "Agnus Dei" eran le loro esordia
una parola in tutti era ed un modo,
sì che parea tra esse ogni concordia.
Quei sono spirti, maestro, ch' i' odo?'
66
IC
13
16
IC
22
diss' io. Ed egli a me: "Tu vero apprendi,
e d'iracondia van solvendo il nodo.”
"Or tu chi se', che il nostro fummo fendi,
e di noi parli pur come se tue
partissi ancor lo tempo per calendi?
Così per una voce detto fue;
onde il maestro mio disse: “ Rispondi,
e domanda se quinci si va sue.
""
Edio: "O creatura, che ti mondi,
per tornar bella a colui che ti fece,
maraviglia udirai se mi secondi."
"Io ti seguiterò quanto mi lece,"
rispose ;
"e se veder fummo non lascia,
l'udir ci terrà giunti in quella vece.”
Allora incominciai: "Con quella fascia
che la morte dissolve men vo suso,
e venni qui per la infernale ambascia;
e, se Dio m'ha in sua grazia richiuso
tanto, che vuol ch' io veggia la sua corte
per modo tutto fuor del modern' uso,
25
28
31
34
37
40
CANTO XVI
193
wrathful
Even as a blind man goeth behind his guide in The
order not to stray, and not to butt against aught
that may do him hurt, or perchance kill him,
so went I through the bitter and foul air, listen-
ing to my Leader who was saying ever:
"Look that thou be not cut off from me.'
""
the
I heard voices, and each one seemed to pray for They chant
peace and for mercy, to the Lamb of God Agnus Dei
that taketh away sins.
Only "Agnus Dei" were their beginnings; one
word was with them all, and one measure; so
that full concord seemed to be among them.
"Are those spirits, Master, that I hear?" said
I. And he to me: "Thou apprehendest
truly, and they are untying the knot of anger."
"Now who art thou that cleavest our smoke, Março
Lombardo
and speakest of us even as if thou didst still
measure time by calends?'
Thus by a voice was said; wherefore my
Master said: "Answer thou and ask if by
this way we go upward."
And I: “O creature that art cleansing thee to
return fair unto him who made thee, a marvel
shalt thou hear if thou follow me."
"I will follow thee so far as is permitted me,"
it answered, "and if the smoke lets us not see,
hearing shall keep us in touch in its stead."
Then began I: "With those swathings which
death dissolves I am journeying upward and
here did come through the anguish of Hell;
and if God hath received me so far into his grace
that he wills that I may behold his court in a
manner quite outside modern use,
N
194
PURGATORIO
Girone III non mi celar chi fosti anzi la morte,
ma dilmi, e dimmi s' io vo bene al varco;
e tue parole fien le nostre scorte.
"Lombardo fui, e fui chiamato Marco;
del mondo seppi, e quel valore amai
al quale ha or ciascun disteso l'arco;
per montar su dirittamente vai.”
Così rispose; e soggiunse: "Io ti prego
che per me preghi, quando su sarai."
Ed io a lui: "Per fede mi ti lego
di far ciò che mi chiedi; ma io scoppio
dentro a un dubbio, s' io non me ne spiego.
Prima era scempio, ed ora è fatto doppio
nella sentenza tua, che mi fa certo,
qui ed altrove, quello ov' io l' accoppio.
Lo mondo è ben così tutto diserto
d'ogni virtute, come tu mi suone,
e di malizia gravido e coperto;
ma prego che m' additi la cagione,
sì ch'io la veggia, e ch' io la mostri altrui
chè nel cielo uno, ed un quaggiù la pone.'
Alto sospir, che duolo strinse in "hui !”
""
mise fuor prima, e poi cominciò: “Frate,
lo mondo è cieco, e tu vien ben da lui.
Voi che vivete ogni cagion recate
pur suso al cielo, sì come se tutto
movesse seco di necessitate.
Se così fosse, in voi fora distrutto
libero arbitrio, e non fora giustizia
per ben, letizia, e per male, aver lutto.
Lo cielo i vostri movimenti inizia ;
non dico tutti, ma, posto ch' io il dica,
lume v'è dato a bene ed a malizia,
:
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
61
70
73
1
CANTO XVI
195
wrathful
hide not from me who thou wast before death, but The
tell it me, and tell me if I am going aright for
the pass; and thy words shall be our escort." Marco
"A Lombard was I and was called Mark; I had
knowledge of the world, and loved that worth
at which now every one hath unbent his bow;
for mounting up thou goest aright." Thus
the cause
answered he, and added: "I pray thee that
thou pray for me, when thou art above."
And I to him: "By my faith I bind me to thee to Dante
do that which thou askest of me, but I am burst- enquires
ing within at a doubt, if I free me not from it. of vice
First 'twas simple, and now is made double by
thy discourse, which makes certain to me, both
here and elsewhere, that whereto I couple it.
The world is indeed so wholly desert of every
virtue, even as thy words sound to me, and
heavy and covered with sin;
but I pray that thou point the cause out to me,
so that I may see it, and that I may show it
to others; for one places it in the heavens and
another here below."
A deep sigh, which grief compressed to "Alas!
Marco's
reply
he first gave forth, and then began: "Brother,
the world is blind, and verily thou comest from it.
Ye who are living refer every cause up to the Stellar
heavens alone, even as if they swept all with influence
them of necessity.
Were it thus, Freewill in you would be destroyed, and
and it were not just to have joy for good and Freewill
mourning for evil.
The heavens set your impulses in motion; I say
not all, but suppose I said it, a light is given
you to know good and evil,
196
PURGATORIO
Girone III e libero voler, che, se fatica
nelle prime battaglie col ciel dura,
poi vince tutto, se ben si nutrica.
A maggior forza ed a miglior natura
liberi soggiacete, e quella cria
76
79
la mente in voi, che il ciel non ha in sua cura.
Però, se il mondo presente disvia,
in voi è la cagione, in voi si cheggia,
ed io te ne sarò or vera spia.
Esce di mano a lui, che la vagheggia
prima che sia, a guisa di fanciulla
che piangendo e ridendo pargoleggia,
l'anima semplicetta, che sa nulla,
salvo che, mossa da lieto fattore,
volentier torna a ciò che la trastulla.
Di picciol bene in pria sente sapore ;
quivi s' inganna, e retro ad esso corre,
se guida o fren non torce suo amore.
Onde convenne legge per fren
porre ;
convenne rege aver, che discernesse
della vera cittade almen la torre.
Le leggi son, ma chi pon mano ad esse?
Nullo però che il pastor che precede
ruminar può, ma non ha l' unghie fesse.
Per che la gente, che sua guida vede
pure a quel ben ferire ond' ell' è ghiotta,
di quel si pasce, e più oltre non chiede.
Ben puoi veder che la mala condotta
è la cagion che il mondo ha fatto reo,
e non natura che in voi sia corrotta.
Soleva Roma, che il buon mondo feo,
due soli aver, che l'una e l'altra strada
facean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo.
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
101
ΙΟ
1
CANTO XVI
197
wrathful
Marco
continues
his
and Freewill, which, if it endure the strain in its The
first battlings with the heavens, at length gains
the whole victory, if it be well nurtured.
Ye lie subject, in your freedom, to a greater power discourse
and to a better nature; and that creates in you
mind which the heavens have not in their charge.
Therefore, if the world to-day goeth astray, in
you is the cause, in you be it sought, and I
now will be a true scout to thee therein.
From his hands who fondly loves her ere she is
in being, there issues, after the fashion of a little
child that sports, now weeping, now laughing,
the simple, tender soul, who knoweth naught save
that, sprung from a joyous maker, willingly she
turneth to that which delights her.
and
temporal
power
First she tastes the savour of a trifling good;
there she is beguiled and runneth after it, if
guide or curb turn not her love aside.
Wherefore 'twas needful to put law as a curb, Spiritual
needful to have a ruler who might discern at
least the tower of the true city.
Laws there are, but who putteth his hand to them?
None; because the shepherd that leads may
chew the cud, but hath not the hoofs divided.
Wherefore the people, that see their guide aiming
only at that good whereof he is greedy, feed
on that and ask no further.
Clearly canst thou see that evil leadership is the
cause which hath made the world sinful, and
not nature that may be corrupted within you.
Rome, that made the good world, was wont to
have two suns, which made plain to sight the
one road and the other; that of the world, and
that of God.
198
PURGATORIO
Girone III L'un l' altro ha spento, ed è giunta la spada 109
col pastorale; e l' un con l'altro insieme
per viva forza mal convien che vada:
però che, giunti, l'un l'altro non teme.
Se non mi credi, pon mente alla spiga,
ch' ogni erba si conosce per lo seme.
In sul paese ch' Adige e Po riga
soleà valore e cortesia trovarsi,
prima che Federico avesse briga ;
or può sicuramente indi passarsi
per qualunque lasciasse per vergogna
di ragionar coi buoni o d' appressarsi.
Ben v'en tre vecchi ancora, in cui rampogna
l'antica età la nuova, e par lor tardo
che Dio a miglior vita li ripogna :
Corrado da Palazzo e il buon Gherardo
e Guido da Castel, che me' si noma
francescamente il semplice Lombardo.
Di' oggimai che la Chiesa di Roma,
per confondere in sè due reggimenti,
cade nel fango, e sè brutta e la soma."
112
115
118
J21
124
127
"O Marco mio," diss' io, "bene argomenti; 130
ed or discerno, perchè da retaggio
li figli di Levi furono esenti;
136
ma qual Gherardo è quel che tu, per saggio, 133
di' ch'è rimaso della gente spenta,
in rimproverio del secol selvaggio?"
"O tuo parlar m'inganna o e' mi tenta,"
rispose a me; "chè, parlandomi tosco,
par che del buon Gherardo nulla senta.
Per altro soprannome io nol conosco,
s' io nol togliessi da sua figlia Gaia.
Dio sia con voi, chè più non vegno vosco.
139
CANTO XVI
199
One hath quenched the other; and the sword is The
joined to the crook; and the one together with wrathful
the other must perforce go ill;
because, being joined, one feareth not the other.
If thou believest me not, look well at the ear,
for every plant is known by the seed.
be attributes
Over the land which the Adige and the Po Marco
water, worth and courtesy were wont to
found, ere Frederick met opposition;
now, safely may it be traversed by whomsoever
had, through shame, ceased to hold converse
with good men, or to draw near them.
the cor-
ruption of
Lombardy
Truly three elders yet are there in whom the olden
times rebuke the new, and it seems to them
long ere God removes them to the better life:
Conrad of Palazzo, and the good Gerard, and
Guy of Castel, who is better named in French
fashion the guileless Lombard.
Say henceforth, that the Church of Rome, by to Rome's
confounding two powers in herself, falls into of the
usurpation
the mire, and fouls herself and her burden.' temporal
"O my Mark," said I, "well thou reasonest,
and now I perceive why Levi's sons were
exempt from inheriting;
י
>>
power
Gaia
but what Gerard is that, who thou sayest is left Gerard and
behind for ensample of the extinct people, in
reproof of the barbarous age?"
"Either thy speech beguiles me, or it tempts me,
he answered me, "for thou, speaking to me in
Tuscan, seemest to know naught of the good
Gerard.
By other surname I know him not, except I
take it from his daughter Gaia. God be with
you, for no further I come with you.
200
PURGATORIO
Girone III Vedi l'albòr, che per lo fummo raia,
già biancheggiare, e me convien partirmi,
l'angelo è ivi, prima ch' io gli appaia.
Così tornò, e più non volle udirmi.
142
145
17-19. See John i. 29; though the reference here is
rather to the prayer in the Mass-Agnus Dei qui tollis
peccata mundi, miserere nobis, dona nobis pacem.
25 sqq. The speaker is Marco Lombardo, of Venice,
a learned and honourable courtier, noted for his
liberality, who flourished in the latter half of the 13th
century.
27. As though thou wert still alive. In the eternal
regions human measurements of time do not apply.
37. Con quella fascia, i.e. with my body.
42. tutto fuor del modern' uso.
See Inf. ii. 13-30.
80. The free will by its nature seeks good (Par.
xxxiii. 103, &c.), and since God is the supreme good,
the free agent is subject to him in the sense that the
whole course of his action is determined by him as its
goal. But this determination of the will to good is
the fulfilment, not the restrictions of liberty. The idea
is familiar to us from the words of the Prayer Book:
"whose service is perfect freedom."
97. See above, Canto vi. 88-90, note.
98, 99. "Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them
that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as
the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth
not the hoof; he is unclean unto you" (Lev. xi. 4).
According to Thomas Aquinas the "chewing of the
cud" signifies meditation and understanding of the
Scriptures; while the "cloven hoof" stands for the
power to discern and distinguish between certain sacred
things-here used apparently of the spiritual and
temporal power (which are, of course, not mentioned
by Aquinas).
CANTO XVI
201
wrathful
See the light, that beams through the smoke, now The
waxing bright; the angel is there, and it
behoves me to depart ere I am seen of him.'
So turned he back and no more would hear me.
""
115-117. Lombardy, or, in the wider sense, Upper
Italy-a veritable hot-bed of dissension, by reason of
the struggle between the Emperor Frederick II. and
the Pope.
124-126, 133-140. Currado da Palazzo, a Guelf of
Brescia, Vicar for Charles of Anjou at Florence (1276),
Podestà of Siena (1279) and of Piacenza (1288).
Gherardo da Cammino, Captain-General of Treviso
from 1283 till his death in 1306 (when he was suc-
ceeded by his son Riccardo; see Par. ix. 50 sqq.).
The commentators differ as to whether his daughter
Gaia (v. 140), who died in 1311, was renowned for
I her virtue or notorious for her loose morals; probably
the latter is the correct interpretation. Dante once
again takes Gherardo as a type of nobility in the
Conv. iv. 14: 114-123.
Guido da Castel was a gentleman of Treviso, famed
for his bounty and hospitality. Some think that
v. 126 refers to the fact that the French called all
Italians Lombart; but Guido was a Lombard, so that
there would be no point in this unless we lay the
stress on the semplice, and assume that he was known
to them as "the simple Italian." Mr Toynbee's theory,
that semplice Lombardo "honest usurer," is ingenious;
the French often used the appellation Lombart for
"usurer," and so this nickname might have been
playfully given to Guido, with reference to his
generosity. Guido is alluded to in the Conv. iv. 16:
67-74, by way of contrast with the Asdente of Inf
XX. 118.
131, 132. So that they might confine themselves.
to spiritual affairs. See Num. xviii. 20, Deut. xviii.
2, Josh. xiii. 14; and cf. De Mon. iii. 13, 64-76.
PURGATORIO
As
S the mists cleave on a mountain side and reveal
the prospect, so the cloud that swathed the
wrathful opened, and the poets looked on the setting
sun, as the shadow of night was already creeping up
the slope (1-12). Visions of the wrathful, corresponding
to the visions of the placable and peaceful already seen,
come upon Dante (13-39); from which he is awakened
by the shining light and the glad summons of the
angel of the stair, to whose spontaneous invitation the
poets gladly respond (40-63). On the first step Dante
feels again the stroke of the angel's wing and hears
the blessing of the peace-makers. But already, when
they reach the summit of the stair, the shadow has
passed beyond them, the rays of the sun fall only on
the higher reaches of the mount, and in accordance
with the law of the place they can rise no higher
while night reigns (64-78). After listening in vain for
any sound in the new circle, Dante questions his guide
as to the nature of the offence purged there. Virgil
answers that it is sloth, and takes occasion to expound
the general system of Purgatory. Not only the Creator,
but every creature also, is moved by love. Natural
love, as that of heavy bodies for the centre, of fire for
the circumference, or of plants for their natural habitat,
is unerring; but rational love may err by being mis-
Girone III Ricorditi, lettor, se mai nell' alpe
ti colse nebbia, per la qual vedessi
non altrimenti che per pelle talpe,
come, quando i vapori umidi e spessi
a diradar cominciansi, la spera
del sol debilemente entra per essi :
e fia la tua imagine leggiera
in giugnere a veder, com' io rividi
lo sole in pria, che già nel corcare era.
4
7
202
CANTO XVII
directed; or by being disproportionate, by defect or
excess. Love directed to primal and essential good,
or to secondary good in due measure, cannot lead to
sin; but perverse and disproportioned love is the seed
of all sin, just as much as rightly directed and measured
love is the seed of all virtue. A human being who has
not become a monster cannot love (that is, cannot be
drawn towards and take delight in) evil to himself or
evil to the God on whom his very being depends. All
perverse rejoicing, then, must be rejoicing in the ill of
our neighbour, and this may be caused by pride, envy,
or anger, which are purged on the three circles already
passed (79-126). Apart from these evil gratifications,
everyone has at least some confused apprehension of a
supreme good wherein the soul can rest, and everyone
therefore seeks to gain it. But this supreme love,
which is no other than the love of God, may err by
defect, either speculative or practical; and the slothful
who have thus erred recover their lost tone in the circle
the pilgrims have now reached (127-132). The inno-
cent or needful enjoyment of which the bodily frame is
the seat, cannot confer true bliss and may be pursued
with disproportionate keenness, or in neglect of the
divinely imposed restraints. Such sins are purged in
the three uppermost circles. (133-139).
The poets
issue forth
Reader, if ever in the mountains a mist hath caught The
thee, through which thou sawest not otherwise wrathful
than moles do through the skin, remember
how, when the damp and dense vapours begin to from the
melt away, the sphere of the sun enters feebly
through them:
and thy fancy will lightly come to see how
first I beheld the sun again, that now was at
the setting.
mist
203
204
PURGATORIO
Girone III Si, pareggiando i miei co' passi fidi
del mio maestro, uscii fuor di tal nube,
ai raggi, morti già nei bassi lidi.
O immaginativa, che ne rube
tal volta sì di fuor, ch' uom non s'accorge,
perchè d' intorno suonin mille tube,
chi move te, se il senso non ti porge?
Moveti lume, che nel ciel s'informa
per sè, o per voler che giù lo scorge.
Dell' empiezza di lei, che mutò forma
nell'uccel che a cantar più si diletta,
nell' imagine mia apparve l'
e qui fu la mia mente sì ristretta
dentro da sè, che di fuor non venia
cosa che fosse allor da lei recetta.
Poi piovve dentro all'alta fantasia
un crocifisso, dispettoso e fiero
nella sua vista, e cotal si moria.
orma;
Intorno ad esso era il grande Assuero,
Ester sua sposa e il giusto Mardocheo,
che fu al dire ed al far così intero.
E come questa imagine rompeo
sè per sè stessa, a guisa d'una bulla
cui manca l'acqua sotto qual si feo,
surse in mia visione una fanciulla,
piangendo forte, e diceva: "O regina,
perchè per ira hai voluto esser nulla?
Ancisa t' hai per non perder Lavina ;
or m' hai perduta; io son essa che lutto,
madre, alla tua pria ch'all' altrui ruina.'
Come si frange il sonno, ove di butto
nuova luce percote il viso chiuso,
che fratto guizza pria che moia tutto :
ΙΟ
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
CANTO XVII
205
wrathful
So, measuring mine with the trusty steps of my The
Master, I issued forth from such a cloud, to
the rays already dead on the low shores.
of wrath-
O fantasy, that at times dost so snatch us out of Examples
ourselves that we are conscious of naught, even
though a thousand trumpets sound about us,
who moves thee, if the senses set naught before
thee? A light moves thee which takes its
form in heaven, of itself, or by a will that
sendeth it down.
The traces of her impiety, who changed her form Procne
into the bird that most delights to sing, ap-
peared in my fancy;
and here my mind was so restrained within itself,
that from outside came naught which was then
received by it.
Then fell within my lofty fantasy one crucified, Haman
scornful and fierce in mien, and even so was
he dying.
Round about him were the great Ahasuerus,
Esther his wife, and the just Mordecai, who
in speech and deed was so sincere.
And as this fancy broke of itself, after the fashion
of a bubble to which the water fails wherein
it was made,
there arose in my vision a maiden weeping sorely, Amata
and she was saying: "O Queen, wherefore
through wrath hast thou willed to be naught?
Thou hast slain thee not to lose Lavinia; now
me hast thou lost; I am she that mourn,
mother, for thy ruin rather than for another's."
As sleep is broken when on a sudden new light
strikes on the closed eyes, and being broken,
quivers ere it wholly dies away;
206
PURGATORIO
Girone III così l' imaginar mio cadde giuso,
tosto ch' un lume il volto mi percosse,
maggiore assai che quello ch'è in nostr' uso.
Io mi volgea per vedere ov' io fosse,
quand' una voce disse: "Qui si monta,
che da ogni altro intento mi rimosse;
e fece la mia voglia tanto pronta
di riguardar chi era che parlava,
che mai non posa, se non si raffronta.
Ma come al sol, che nostra vista grava,
e per soperchio sua figura vela,
così la mia virtù quivi mancava.
66
Questi è divino spirito, che ne la
via d'andar su ne drizza senza prego,
e col suo lume sè medesmo cela.
Sì fa con noi, come l' uom si fa sego:
chè quale aspetta prego, e l' uopo vede,
malignamente già si mette al nego.
Ora accordiamo a tanto invito il piede:
procacciam di salir pria che s' abbui,
chè poi non si poria, se il dì non riede."
Salita al Così disse il mio duca, ed io con lui
volgemmo i nostri passi ad una scala;
e tosto ch' io al primo grado fui,
senti' mi presso quasi un mover d'ala,
e ventarmi nel viso, e dir: "Beati
pacifici, che son senza ira mala.”
Già eran sopra noi tanto levati
Girone IV
gli ultimi raggi che la notte segue,
che le stelle apparivan da più lati.
"O virtù mia, perchè sì ti dilegue?"
fra me stesso dicea, chè mi sentiva
la possa delle gambe posta in tregue
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
CANTO XVII
207
so my imagination fell down soon as a light smote The
Angel of
on my face, greater far than that which is in Meekness
our use.
I turned me to see where I was, when a voice
which removed me from every other intent,
said: "Here one ascends";
and it gave my desire to behold who it was that
spake, such eagerness as never rests until it sees
face to face.
But, as at the sun which oppresses our sight, and
veils his form by excess, so my virtue there
was failing me.
"This is a divine spirit, that directs us to the
way of ascent without our prayer, and conceals
itself with its own light.
It doeth unto us as a man doth unto himself; for
he who awaits the prayer and sees the need,
already sets him unkindly towards denial.
Now accord we our feet to such an invitation;
strive we to ascend ere the night cometh, for
then we could not until the day return."
Thus spake my Leader, and I with him did
turn our footsteps to a stairway; and soon as
I was at the first step,
Beatitude
near me I felt as 'twere the stroke of a wing, and The third
my face fanned, and heard one say: "Beati
pacifici who are without evil wrath."
night in
Now were the last rays whereafter night follow- Second
eth so far risen above us that the stars were Purgatory
appearing on many sides.
"O my virtue, wherefore dost thou pass away
from me thus?" I said within me, for I felt
the power of my legs put in truce.
208
PURGATORIO
Girone IV Noi eravam dove più non saliva
la scala su, ed eravamo affissi,
pur come nave ch' alla piaggia arriva ;
ed io attesi un poco s' io udissi
alcuna cosa nel nuovo girone;
poi mi volsi al maestro mio e dissi :
"Dolce mio padre, di', quale offensione
si purga qui nel giro, dove semo?
Se i piè si stanno, non stea tuo sermone.
Ed egli a me:
"L'amor del bene, scemo
di suo dover, quiritta si ristora,
qui si ribatte il mal tardato remo.
Ma perchè più aperto intendi ancora,
volgi la mente a me, e prenderai
alcun buon frutto di nostra dimora."
"Nè creator nè creatura mai,"
cominciò ei, "figliuol, fu senza amore,
o naturale o d'animo; e tu il sai.
Lo natural è sempre senza errore,
ma l'altro puote errar per malo obbietto,
o per poco o per troppo di vigore.
Mentre ch' egli è ne' primi ben diretto,
e ne' secondi sè stesso misura,
esser non può cagion di mal diletto ;
ma, quando al mal si torce, o con più cura
o con men che non dee corre nel bene,
contra il fattore adopra sua fattura.
Quinci comprender puoi ch' esser conviene
amor sementa in voi d' ogni virtute,
e d'ogni operazion che merta pene.
Or, perchè mai non può dalla salute
amor del suo suggetto torcer viso,
dall' odio proprio son le cose tute ;
""
76
79
82
8
82
9
9
9
ΙΟ
IO
10
CANTO XVII
209
slothful
We stood where the stairway ascended no higher, The
and were fixed even as a ship which arrives
on the shore:
and I gave heed awhile if I might hear aught in
the new circle; then did turn me to my
Master and said:
"Sweet my Father, tell, what offence is purged
here in the circle where we are?
are stayed, stay not thy discourse."
If our feet
And he to me: "The love of good scant of its
duty, just here restores itself; here is plied
again the ill-slackened oar.
But that thou mayest understand yet more
plainly, turn thy mind to me, and thou shalt
take some good fruit from our tarrying."
He began:
Nor Creator, nor creature, my Virgil
son, was ever without love, either natural or
rational; and this thou knowest.
The natural is always without error; but the
other may err through an evil object, or
through too little or too much vigour.
While it is directed to the primal goods, and in
the secondary, moderates itself, it cannot be
the cause of sinful delight;
out when it is turned awry to evil, or speeds
towards the good with more or less care than
it ought, against the Creator his creature works.
Hence thou mayst understand that love must be
the seed of every virtue in you, and of every
deed that deserves punishment.
Now inasmuch as love can never turn its face
from the weal of its subject, all things are safe
from self-hatred;
discourses
of Love
O
210
PURGATORIO
Girone IV e perchè intender non si può diviso,
e per sè stante, alcuno esser dal primo,
da quello odiare ogni affetto è deciso.
Resta, se dividendo bene estimo,
109
II2
che il mal che s' ama è del prossimo, ed esso
amor nasce in tre modi in vostro limo.
È chi per esser suo vicin soppresso
spera eccellenza, e sol per questo brama
ch' e' sia di sua grandezza in basso messo;
è chi podere, grazia, onore e fama
teme di perder perch' altri sormonti,
onde s'attrista sì che il contrario ama;
ed è chi per ingiuria par ch'adonti
sì che si fa della vendetta ghiotto,
e tal convien che il male altrui impronti.
Questo triforme amor quaggiù di sotto
si piange; or vo' che tu dell' altro intende,
che corre al ben con ordine corrotto.
Ciascun confusamente un bene apprende,
nel qual si queti l' animo, e disira :
per che di giugner lui ciascun contende.
Se lento amore in lui veder vi tira,
o a lui acquistar, questa cornice,
dopo giusto penter, ve ne martira.
Altro ben è che non fa l' uom felice;
non è felicità, non è la buona
essenza, d'ogni ben frutto e radice.
L'amor, ch' ad esso troppo s'abbandona,
di sopra noi si piange per tre cerchi;
ma come tripartito si ragiona,
tacciolo, acciocchè tu per te ne cerchi.'
I-72. See diagram on page 103.
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
18. Through the influence of the stars, or by
Divine will.
CANTO XVII
211
slothful
and because no being can be conceived as exist- The
ing alone in isolation from the Prime Being,
every affection is cut off from hate of him.
It follows, if I judge well in my division, that Perverted
the evil we love is our neighbour's, and this Love-
love arises in three ways in your clay.
There is he who through his neighbour's abase- Pride
ment hopes to excel, and solely for this
desires that he be cast down from his greatness;
there is he who fears to lose power, favour, honour Envy
and fame because another is exalted, wherefore
he groweth sad so that he loves the contrary;
and there is he who seems to be so shamed through and Wrath
being wronged, that he becomes greedy of ven-
geance, and such must needs seek another's hurt.
This threefold love down below is mourned for:
now I desire that thou understand of the other,
which hastes toward good in faulty degree.
Each one apprehends vaguely a good wherein the
mind may find rest, and desires it; wherefore
each one strives to attain thereto.
Love-
If lukewarm love draw you towards the vision Defective
of it or the gaining of it, this cornice, after Sloth
due penitence, torments you for it.
Another good there is, which maketh not men Excessive
happy; 'tis not happiness, 'tis not the good
essence, the fruit and root of all good.
Love-
The love that abandons itself too much to this, is Avarice,
Gluttony
mourned for above us in three circles: but how and Lust
it is distinguished in three divisions, I do not
say, in order that thou search for it of thyself."
19-21. Procne's husband, Tereus, dishonoured her
ister Philomela, and cut out her tongue, so as to
212
NOTES
ensure her silence. The injured girl, however, im-
parted to her sister the knowledge of what had
happened by means of a piece of tapestry; whereupon
Procne, in a frenzy, slew her son Itys, and made
Tereus unwittingly partake of his flesh at table.
On discovering the truth he pursued the sisters with
an axe, bent on slaying them; but at their prayer all
three were changed into birds. According to Ovid
(Met. vi. 412-676), whom Dante follows, Procne
became a nightingale, and Philomela a swallow (see
above, Canto ix. 14, 15).
25-30.
See Esther iii.-vii. Ahasuerus, King of the
Persians, advanced Haman to high honours, till the
latter was accused by Esther of having designs on the
life of Mordecai. "So they hanged Haman on the
gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was
the king's wrath pacified" (l.c., vii. 10).
34-39. Lavinia, daughter of Latinus and Amata,
was first betrothed to Turnus, and then promised
to Æneas; whereupon hostilities broke out between
the two heroes. In the course of these, Amata (who
CANTO XVII
213
was opposed to the marriage with Æneas), thinking
that Turnus was killed (though, in point of fact, he
was not yet slain) hanged herself in a frenzy of
despair (Æn. xii. 595 sqq.).
62, 63. See above, Canto vii. 44, 53-60.
68, 69. "Blessed are the peace-makers: for they
shall be called the children of God" (Matt. v. 9.).
91-139.
A careful study of the Argument, and of
the second paragraph in the " Note on Dante's Purga-
tory at the close of this volume, will make this
important passage clear. See, too, Gardner, pp. 107
and 110.
amore d'animo (vv. 92, 93)=conscious desire, as dis-
tinguished from the unconscious trend of inanimate
beings [both of which impulses are regarded as
love"]; with these lines cf. Conv. iii. 3, and Par. i.,
especially vv. 118-120.-ne' primi ben (v. 97), towards
God and virtue; ne' secondi (v. 98), towards worldly
goods.
FURGATORIO
VIRGIL'S discourse has suggested to Dante's mind
the question as to the nature of love which the
group of poets to which he belonged were incessantly
discussing. Would Virgil resent as irrelevant or
Aippant a question on this subject? Or might he
(Dante) take this unique opportunity of learning the
true answer? (1-6). Virgil encourages his question,
and then proceeds to answer it. Love implies a
potential attraction to the loved object. When first it
is presented to the mind, the mind sways towards it,
and then the experience of delight in communion with
it confirms the original attraction; and the desire thus
waked can only be stilled by fruition. Thus, while
the capacity for love, that is to say, sensitiveness in
general, is the sign of a higher organism, and therefore
good, it is a profound misconception to regard every
act of love as itself good, since love of some sort is the
root of all evil as of all good conduct (7-39). Dante
follows keenly; but this universality of love as a
motive power, this necessity of the presentation from
without of its object, and this spontaneous response
of the corresponding and pre-existing latent impulse
within, seem to obliterate all merit or demerit (40-45).
Virgil refers to Beatrice for the final answer, but de-
clares meanwhile that every human soul has a certain
intellectual and emotional constitution (for which it
deserves neither praise nor blame) in virtue of which it
cannot help believing the supreme truths (the axioms)
Girone IV Posto avea fine al suo ragionamento
l'alto dottore, ed attento guardava
nella mia vista, s' io parea contento;
ed io, cui nuova sete ancor frugava,
di fuor taceva e dentro dicea: "Forse
lo troppo domandar, ch'io fo, gli grava."
214
CANTO XVIII
and loving the supreme good (God).
Intellectual
merit begins when we refuse to believe things that
present themselves to us with a specious appearance of
truth but cannot really be affiliated to the axioms.
And so moral merit begins when we refuse to love and
follow things that are speciously attractive but cannot
be affiliated to the love of God. It is not in loving
God, then (which is natural to man), but in rejecting all
impulses which do not harmonise with that love that
man's moral freedom vindicates itself; and it is therein.
that his merit consists (46-75.) It is now near mid-
night; the moon has been some hours above the hori-
zon, but being well advanced in Scorpio, she has risen
south of east, and has therefore not yet been visible to
the poets who are facing due north, and who command
no portion of the southern semi-circle of the horizon;
now she emerges from behind the mountain (76-81).
Dante is dropping into a contented slumber, when he is
re-awakened by the rush of the once slothful souls;
who will not suspend their act of penance even in
order to secure the prayers of the living which would
hasten the fruits of their penitence; so they shout
their directions and their answers to the questions.
they have been asked, together with the rehearsal of
encouraging and warning examples, as they hurry past
(82-138.) Then Dante sinks through a succession of
changing thoughts into dream and sleep (139-145).
slothful
The lofty Teacher had put an end to his The
argument, and was looking intent in my face,
if 1 seemed satisfied;
and I, whom a new thirst was yet tormenting, was
silent outwardly, and within said; "Perchance
the too great questioning which I make irks him."
215
216
PURGATORIO
Girone IV Ma quel padre verace, che s'accorse
del timido voler che non s' apriva,
parlando di parlare ardir mi porse.
Ond' io: "Maestro, il mio veder s'avviva
sì nel tuo lume, ch'io discerno chiaro
quanto la tua ragion porti o descriva;
però ti prego, dolce padre caro,
che mi dimostri amore, a cui riduci
ogni buono operare e il suo contraro.”
Drizza," disse,"ver me l'acute luci
dello intelletto, e fieti manifesto
l'error dei ciechi che si fanno duci.
L'animo, ch'è creato ad amar presto,
ad ogni cosa è mobile che piace,
tosto che dal piacere in atto è desto.
Vostra apprensiva da esser verace
tragge intenzione, e dentro a voi la spiega,
sì che l'animo ad essa volger face.
E se, rivolto, in ver di lei si piega,
quel piegare è amor, quello è natura
che per piacer di nuovo in voi si lega.
Poi come il foco movesi in altura,
per la sua forma, ch'è nata a salire
là dove più in sua materia dura :
così l'animo preso entra in disire,
ch'è moto spiritale, e mai non posa
fin che la cosa amata il fa gioire.
Or ti puote apparer quant' è nascosa
la veritade alla gente, ch' avvera
ciascuno amore in sè laudabil cosa;
però che forse appar la sua matera
sempr'esser buona; ma non ciascun segno
è buono, ancor che buona sia la cera.
7
ΙΟ
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
CANTO XVIII
217
slothful
But that true Father, who perceived the shrink- The
ing desire which disclosed not itself, by
speaking put courage in me to speak.
Wherefore I: " Master, my vision is so quick-
ened in thy light, that I discern clearly all
that thy discourse imports or describes;
therefore I pray thee, sweet Father dear, that
thou define love to me, to which thou dost
reduce every good work and its opposite."
"Direct," said he, "towards me the keen eyes Virgil
of the understanding, and the error of the blind the Nature
who make them guides shall be manifest to thee. of Love
The mind which is created quick to love, is
responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon
as by pleasure it is awakened into activity.
Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression.
from a real object, and unfolds it within you,
so that it makes the mind turn thereto.
And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that
inclination is love; that is nature, which
through pleasure is bound anew within you.
Then, even as fire moves upward by reason of
its form, whose nature it is to ascend, there
where it endures longest in its material;
so the enamoured mind falls to desire, which is
a spiritual movement, and never rests until the
object of its love makes it rejoice.
Now may be apparent to thee, how deeply the
truth is hidden from the folk who aver that
every act of love is in itself a laudable thing,
because, forsooth, its material may seem always
to be good; but not every imprint is good,
albeit the wax may be good."
defines
218
PURGATORIO
Girone IV "Le tue parole e il mio seguace ingegno,"
risposi lui, "m' hanno amor discoperto;
ma ciò m' ha fatto di dubbiar più pregno:
chè, s'amore è di fuori a noi offerto
e l'anima non va con altro piede,
se dritta o torta va, non è suo merto.'
Ed egli a me: "Quanto ragion qui vede
dirti poss❜io; da indi in là t'aspetta
pure a Beatrice, ch' opera è di fede.
Ogni forma sustanzial, che setta
è da materia ed è con lei unita,
specifica virtude ha in sè colletta,
la qual senza operar non è sentita,
nè si dimostra ma' che per effetto,
come per verdi fronde in pianta vita.
Però là onde vegna lo intelletto
delle prime notizie, uomo non sape,
nè de' primi appetibili l'affetto,
che sono in voi, si come studio in ape
di far lo mele ; e questa prima voglia
merto di lode o di biasmo non cape.
Or, perchè a questa ogni altra si raccoglia,
innata v'è la virtù che consiglia,
e dell' assenso de' tener la soglia.
Questo è il principio, là onde si piglia
ragion di meritare in voi, secondo
che buoni e rei amori accoglie e viglia.
Color che ragionando andaro al fondo.
s'accorser d'esta innata libertate,
però moralità lasciaro al mondo.
Onde, pognam che di necessitate
surga ogni amor che dentro a voi s'accende,
di ritenerlo è in voi la potestate.
40
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
F14
67
70
CANTO XVIII
219
slothful
Thy words and my attendant wit," I answered The
him, "have made love plain to me, but that
has made me more teeming with doubt;
for if love is offered to us from without, and the
soul walks with no other foot, it is no merit
of hers whether she go straight or crooked."
And he to me: "So far as reason sees here, I Virgil
can tell thee; from beyond that point, ever Love and
await Beatrice, for 'tis a matter of faith.
Every substantial form, which is distinct from
matter and is in union with it, has a specific
virtue contained within itself
which is not perceived save in operation, nor is
manifested except by its effects, just as life in
a plant by the green leaves.
Therefore man knows not whence the under-
standing of the first cognitions may come, nor
the inclination to the prime objects of appetite,
which are in you, even as the instinct in bees to
make honey; and this prime will admits no
desert of praise or of blame.
Now in order that to this will every other may
be related, innate with you is the virtue which
giveth counsel, and ought to guard the thres-
hold of assent.
This is the principle whence is derived the reason
of desert in you, according as it garners and
winnows good and evil loves.
Those who in their reasoning went
to the
foundation, perceived this innate freedom,
therefore they left ethics to the world.
Wherefore suppose that every love which is
kindled within you arise of necessity, the
power to arrest it is within you.
treats of
Freewill
220
PURGATORIO
Girone IV La nobile virtù Beatrice intende
per
lo libero arbitrio, e però guarda
che l'abbi a mente, s' a parlar ten prende."
La luna, quasi a mezza notte tarda,
facea le stelle a noi parer più rade,
fatta com' un secchione che tutto arda;
e correa contra il ciel, per quelle strade
che il sole infiamma allor che quel da Roma
tra i Sardi e i Corsi il vede quando cade.
E quell'ombra gentil, per cui si noma
Pietola più che villa Mantovana,
del mio carcar deposto avea la soma :
per ch' io, che la ragione aperta e piana
sopra le mie questioni avea ricolta,
stava com' uom che sonnolento vana.
Ma questa sonnolenza mi fu tolta
subitamente da gente, che dopo
le nostre spalle a noi era già volta.
E quale Ismeno già vide ed Asopo
lungo di sè di notte furia e calca,
pur che i Teban di Bacco avesser uopo:
cotal per quel giron suo passo falca,
per quel ch' io vidi di color, venendo,
cui buon volere e giusto amor cavalca.
Tosto fur sopra noi, perchè correndo
si movea tutta quella turba magna;
e due dinanzi gridavan piangendo:
"Maria corse con fretta alla montagna,'
e: "Cesare, per soggiogare Ilerda,
punse Marsilia e poi corse in Ispagna."
"Ratto, ratto, che il tempo non si perda
per poco amor," gridavan gli altri appresso,
"che studio di ben far grazia rinverda."
73
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
CANTO XVIII
221
slothful
By the noble virtue Beatrice understands Freewill, The
and therefore, look that thou have this in mind,
if she betake her to speak with thee thereof."
The moon, almost retarded to midnight, made
the stars appear more thin to us, fashioned
like a bucket all burning;
and her course against the heavens was on those
paths which the sun inflames, when they in
Rome see him between the Sardinians and the
Corsicans at his setting.
And that noble shade through whom Pietola is
more renowned than any Mantuan town, had
put off the burden I had laid upon him;
wherefore I, who had garnered clear and plain
reasons to my questionings, stood like one
who is rambling drowsily.
But this drowsiness was taken from me on a
sudden, by people who behind our backs had
already come round to us.
And even as Ismenus and Asopus saw of old a Their
fury and a rout along their banks by night, if punishment
but the Thebans had need of Bacchus,
uchwise along that circle, quickening their pace,
were coming, by what I saw of them, those
whom good will and just love bestride.
Soon were they upon us, because all that great Examples
throng was moving at a run; and two in front
<
were shouting in tears :
of zeal-
Mary ran with haste to the hill country," and The Virgin
“Cæsar to subdue Ilerda, stabbed Marseilles Mary and
and then raced to Spain."
Haste! Haste! let no time be lost through
little love," cried the others afterwards, "that
striving to do well may renew grace."
Cæsar
222
PURGATORIO
Girone IV "O gente, in cui fervore acuto adesso
ricompie forse negligenza e indugio,
da voi per tepidezza in ben far messo,
questi che vive, e certo io non vi bugio,
vuole andar su, pur che il sol ne riluca ;
però ne dite ov' è presso il pertugio."
Parole furon queste del mio duca ;
ed un di quegli spirti disse: "Vieni
di retro a noi, e troverai la buca.
Noi siam di voglia a moverci sì pieni,
che ristar non potem; però perdona,
se villania nostra giustizia tieni.
Io fui abate in San Zeno a Verona,
sotto lo imperio del buon Barbarossa,
di cui dolente ancor Milan ragiona.
E tale ha già l' un piè dentro la fossa,
che tosto piangerà quel monastero,
e tristo fia d' averne avuto possa:
perchè suo figlio, mal del corpo intero,
e della mente peggio, e che mal nacque,
ha posto in loco di suo pastor vero.
Io non so se più disse, o s' ei si tacque,
tant' era già di là da noi trascorso;
ma questo intesi, e ritener mi piacque.
E quei che m' era ad ogni uopo soccorso
disse: " Volgiti in qua, vedine due
venire, dando all' accidia di morso."
Di retro a tutti dicean: "Prima fue
morta la gente, a cui il mar s' aperse,
che vedesse Jordan le erede sue ";
e: "Quella, che l' affanno non sofferse
fino alla fine col figliuol d' Anchise,
sè stessa a vita senza gloria offerse."
106
100
II2
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
CANTO XVIII
223
slothful
"O people, in whom keen fervour now perchance The
doth make good negligence and delay used by
you through lukewarmness in well-doing,
this one who lives, and surely I lie not to you, de-
sires to ascend, if but the sun shine to us again;
therefore tell us where the opening is near.
These were my Leader's words; and one of The Abbot
"Come behind us,
those spirits said:
thou shalt find the cleft.
""
us, and
We are so filled with desire to speed us, that
stay we cannot; therefore forgive, if thou hold
our penance for rudeness.
I was Abbot of San Zeno at Verona, under the
rule of the good Barbarossa, of whom Milan
yet discourses with sorrow.
of
San Zeno
Alberto
Giuseppe
della Scala
And one I know has already a foot in the grave, condemns
who soon shall mourn because of that monastery, And
and sad will be for having had power there;
because his son, deformed in his whole body and
worse in mind, and who was born in shame,
he has put there in place of its true shepherd."
If more he said, or if he was silent, I know not,
so far already had he raced beyond us; but
this I heard and was pleased to retain.
And he who was my succour in every need, Examples
said: “Turn thee hither, see two of them of sloth—
that come biting at sloth.'
""
Last of them all they said: "The people for The
whom the sea opened, were dead ere Jordan Israelites
saw its heirs ";
Trojans
nd: "That folk who endured not the toil to the The
end with Anchises' son, gave them up to a
life inglorious."
224
PURGATORIO
Girone IV Poi quando fur da noi tanto divise
quell' ombre che veder più non potersi,
nuovo pensiero dentro a me si mise,
del qual più altri nacquero e diversi ;
e tanto d' uno in altro vaneggiai,
che gli occhi per vaghezza ricopersi,
e il pensamento in sogno trasmutai.
139
142
145
22, 23. The apprehensive faculty receives the im-
pression (intenzione) of the concrete thing, form and
material alike (see the note on intenza in Par. xxiv. 75,
for this word with a different sense). According to
Albertus Magnus, "the intention is not part of the
thing like the form, but rather the appearance of the
whole thing as apprehended. [Thus, the form of
a statue would not be affected by the nature of the
material marble, bronze, &c., but the intention
would]. Cf. Par. iv. 41, 42, note.
29. forma, i.e. its essential principle.
30. The circle of fire.
32. All change or action is regarded in the Aris-
totelian philosophy as motion. The act of love is
a spiritual as distinct from a local movement.
49, 50. These lines contain a definition of the
human soul. Thomas Aquinas says that "rational
souls" are "forms which are in
in a certain sense
separated, but yet have to abide in material"; which
he explains by adding that the intellect is separated
inasmuch as it is not "the act of any bodily organ,
as the visual power is of the eye" (see below, Canto
xxv. 66, note), but is nevertheless the vital principle
of a (human) body. Cf., further, Bonaventura:
"Spiritual substances [i.e. beings] are either com-
pletely joined to bodies, as is the case with brute
souls, or joined separably to them, as are rational souls,
or completely separated from them, as are celestial
CANTO XVIII
225
slothful
Then, when those shades were so far parted from The
us, that they could be seen no more, a new
thought was set within me,
sinks into
a slumber
wherefrom many and divers others sprang; and Dante
so from one to another I rambled, that 1
closed mine eyes for very wandering, and
thought I transmuted into dream.
pirits, which the philosophers call intelligence, and
ve call angels."
51. A power specific to it as a human soul, i.e.
belonging to all human souls and to them only. This
pecific power is that of the "possible intellect,"
better known to students of English literature as the
' discursive" intellect, that is, the intellect which
proceeds constructively from the unknown to the
known, develops itself and passes from one object to
nother; as distinct from the "intuitive" intellect of
ngels, which understands without process of thought
nd embraces all objects of contemplation at once.
cf. Par. xxix. 32, 33, note; De Mon. i. 3: 45-65;
Conv. iii. 3: 34, 35; Paradise Lost, v. 486-490; and
ee below, Canto xxv. 64-66, note.)
=
=
The
56, 57. prime notizie the primal or supreme con-
eptions or notions the axioms; primi appetibili — the
rimal or supreme objects of desire God.
lural form is doubtless used because the supreme good
nay present itself in many forms (goodness, perfect
nd noble things, blessedness, truth, supreme ex-
stence, supreme unity, etc. etc.), but all of these
supreme objects of desire are not rivals but rays
heeting and coinciding in the focus, God.
""
63. Ought to be absolute master, whether the will
ssent or dissent.
our
73, 74. Note that the Italian idiom reverses
wn. Cf. Vita Nuova, § 39: il cuore intendo per l'appetito,
by the heart I mean the appetite."
79-81. The setting of the sun between Sardinia and
Corsica cannot be actually seen from Rome, so that
he accuracy of this datum would depend on a rather
P
226
NOTES
elaborate calculation, and would be limited by th
accuracy of Dante's knowledge of the exact latitud
and longitude of the places in question. The moder
astronomers give Sagittarius, but Benvenuto da Imola
who perhaps better reflects the state of knowledge i
Dante's time, gives Scorpio as the position of the moo
indicated. The latter agrees with our other data.
75. See Par. v. 19 sqq.
83. Pietola is identical with the classical Andes
Virgil's birthplace.
91-93. The Thebans, when invoking the aid o
Bacchus for their vineyards, were wont to crowd to th
banks of the Ismenus and Asopus, rivers of Boeotia
near Thebes (cf. Statius, Theb. ix. 434 sqq).
100. After the Annunciation. "And Mary aros
in those days, and went into the hill country wit
haste, into a city of Juda" (Luke i. 39).
101, 102. In order to save time, Cæsar left the sieg
of Marseilles, on which he had been engaged, in th
hands of Brutus, and rushed off to Ilerda (the moder
Lerida) in Catalonia, where he defeated Afranius an
Petreius, the lieutenants of Pompey (B.c. 49.) Luca
(Phars. i. 151-154), speaks of Cæsar as a thunder
bolt.
CANTO XVIII
227
113-126. The speaker is a certain Abbot of San
Zeno (a church and monastery at Verona), probably
Gherardo II., who died in 1187 (during the reign of
Frederick Barbarossa, 1152-1190; Milan was destroyed
by the Emperor in 1162, and rebuilt in 1169.) He
pbraids Alberto della Scala (d. 1301: v. 121), for
ppointing his illegitimate (che mal nacque, v. 125) and
depraved son, Giuseppe, to the abbacy of San Zeno.
Giuseppe held the office from 1291 till 1314, so that
Dante may have known him during his first sojourn at
Verona (1303-1304). For the Della Scala family, see
the table in the Inferno volume, p. 333.
133-135. The Israelites who, after being delivered
rom Pharaoh in the Red Sea, still murmured and
efused to follow Moses, whereupon they perished in
the desert, before reaching the Promised Land (the
Jordan Palestine.) See Ex. xiv. 10-20; Num. xiv.
=
1-39; Deut. i. 26-36.
136-138. The Trojans, whom Æneas left behind in
Sicily with Acestes" as many of the people as were
willing, souls that had no desire of high renown
En. v. 604 sqq.; cf. Conv. iv. 26: 92-96, where the
ncident is quoted in proof of Æneas' solicitude for
old age).
As
PURGATORIO
S morning approaches Dante has a vision of the
Siren, whose filthiness Virgil, at the exhortation
of a lady from heaven, exposes (1-33). Dante is roused
by Virgil's repeated summons. The sun is fully up;
and the pilgrim, deep in thought, advances to the
next stair, where once again he feels the breath of
the angel's wing, and hears the blessing of them that
mourn (34-51). Dante is still plunged in his reverie,
from which Virgil rouses him by question, explanation
and admonition. They who have yielded to the Siren
-foul but seeming fair,-must expiate their offences in
the three remaining circles. Let Dante tread the earth
like a man and raise his eyes to the heaven above. And
so they reach the fifth circle. There the souls of the
avaricious and prodigal cleave to the pavement, no
longer in sordid love, but in the anguished sense that
they are unworthy to look upon aught more fair; and
the limbs which had bound themselves on earth are now
held in helpless captivity (52-75). Virgil inquires the
way, and from the form in which the answer is given
Dante gathers the law of Purgatory, hereafter to be
more fully confirmed, which permits souls to pass
without delay or scathe through any circles of the
Girone IV Nell' ora che non può il calor diurno
intiepidar più il freddo della luna,
vinto da terra o talor da Saturno ;
quando i geomanti lor maggior fortuna
veggiono in oriente, innanzi all' alba,
surger per via che poco le sta bruna:
mi venne in sogno una femmina balba,
negli occhi guercia e sopra i piè distorta,
con le man monche, e di colore scialba.
2
228
CANTO XIX
mount wherein sins are purged by which they them-
selves are unstained. He silently asks Virgil's leave to
stay and question the soul that has spoken (76-87)
It is Pope Adrian V. who for little over a month bore
the weight of the papal mantle, scarce tolerable to him
who would keep it from defilement; and in answer to
Dante's tender entreaty he expounds the nature of the
penalties of this circle. He himself had been given
over to avarice till he reached the summit of human
greatness, saw its emptiness and turned in penitence to
God (88-126). When Dante speaks again, Adrian
perceives that he has knelt down, in reverence to Peter's
successor; whereon he bluntly bids him straighten his
legs, and explains that no formal or official position or
relation, however close or however august, has place in
the spirit world, where personality is stripped of office
(127-138). Then he urges Dante to pass on and leave
his penitence undisturbed, making a reference to his
niece who had married one of Dante's future friends
the Malaspine; which reference the pilgrim may, if he
so choose, interpret as a request for prayers for the
departed soul (139-145).
In the hour when the day's heat, overcome by The
Earth or at times by Saturn, can no more slothful
warm the cold of the moon ;
when the geomancers see their Fortuna Major,
rising in the East, before the dawn, by a way
which short time remains dark to it,
there came to me in a dream, a stuttering woman, Dante
with eyes asquint, and crooked on her feet,
with maimed hands, and of sallow hue.
dreams of
the Siren
229
230
PURGATORIO
Giroue IV Io la mirava; e, come il sol conforta
le fredde membra che la notte aggrava,
così lo sguardo mio le facea scorta
la lingua, e poscia tutta la drizzava
in poco d' ora, e lo smarrito volto,
come amor vuol, così le colorava.
Poi ch' ell' avea il parlar così disciolto,
cominciava a cantar sì che con pena
da lei avrei mio intento rivolto.
"Io son," cantava, "io son dolce Sirena,
che i marinari in mezzo mar dismago :
tanto son di piacere a sentir piena.
Io volsi Ulisse del suo cammin vago
col canto mio; e qual meco si aùsa
rado sen parte, sì tutto l' appago."
Ancor non era sua bocca richiusa,
quando una donna apparve santa e presta
lunghesso me per far colei confusa.
"O Virgilio, o Virgilio, chi è questa?”
fieramente diceva; ed ei venia
con gli occhi fitti pure in quella onesta.
L'altra prendeva, e dinanzi l' apria
ΙΟ
I
10
I
21
2
2
3
fendendo i drappi, e mostravami il ventre;
quel mi svegliò col puzzo che n'uscia.
Io mossi gli occhi, e il buon Virgilio: "Almen tre 3
voci t'ho messe," dicea; "surgi e vieni,
troviam l' aperta per la qual tu entre."
Salita al Su mi levai, e tutti eran già pieni
Girone V
dell' alto dì i giron del sacro monte,
ed andavam col sol nuovo alle reni.
Seguendo lui, portava la mia fronte
come colui che l' ha di pensier carca,
che fa di sè un mezzo arco di ponte,
31
4
CANTO XIX
231
slothful
I gazed upon her; and, as the sun comforteth The
the cold limbs which night weighs down, so
my look made ready
Dante
dreams
her tongue, and then set her full straight in of the Siren
short time, and her pallid face even as love
wills did colour.
When she had her tongue thus loosed, she began
to sing, so that with difficulty should I have
turned my attention from her.
“I am,” she sang, "I am the sweet Siren, who
leads mariners astray in mid-sea, so full am I
of pleasantness to hear.
I turned Ulysses from his wandering way with
my song, and whoso liveth with me rarely
departs, so wholly do I satisfy him."
Her mouth was not yet shut, when a lady
appeared holy and alert alongside me, to put
her to confusion.
"O Virgil, Virgil, who is this?" angrily she
said; and he came with eyes ever fixed on
that honest one.
He seized the other, and, rending her clothes,
laid her open in front and showed me her
belly; that awakened me with the stench
which issued therefrom.
I turned my eyes, and the good Virgil said:
"At least three calls have I uttered to thee;
arise and come, find we the opening by which
thou mayst enter.”
Up I lifted me, and all the circles of the holy Morning of
mount were now filled with the high day, and the third
day in
we journeyed with the new sun at our backs. Purgatory
Following him, I was bearing my brow like one
that hath it burdened with thought, who makes
of himself half an arch of a bridge,
232
PURGATORIO
Girone V
Salita al quand' io udi': "Venite, qui si varca,"
parlare in modo soave e benigno,
qual non si sente in questa mortal marca.
Con l'ali aperte che parean di cigno,
volseci in su colui che sì parlonne,
tra' due pareti del duro macigno.
Mosse le penne poi e ventilonne,
qui lugent affermando esser beati,
ch' avran di consolar l'anime donne.
"Che hai, che pure in ver la terra guati?”
la guida mia incominciò a dirmi,
poco ambo e due dall' angel sormontati.
Ed io: "Con tanta suspizion fa irmi
novella vision ch'a sè mi piega,
sì ch' io non posso dal pensar partirmi."
"Vedesti," disse, “quella antica strega,
che sola sopra noi omai si piagne?
vedesti come l' uom da lei si slega?
Bastiti, e batti a terra le calcagne,
gli occhi rivolgi al logoro, che gira
lo Rege eterno con le rote magne."
Quale il falcon che prima ai piè si mira,
indi si volge al grido, e si protende
per lo disio del pasto che là il tira:
tal mi fec' io, e tal, quanto si fende
la roccia per dar via a chi va suso,
n' andai infino ove il cerchiar si prende.
Girone V Com' io nel quinto giro fui dischiuso,
vidi gente per esso che piangea,
giacendo a terra tutta volta in giuso.
"Adhaesit pavimento anima mea,"
senti' dir lor con sì alti sospiri,
che la parola appena s' intendea.
43
40
4
5
5.
5
6:
6
61
70
73
CANTO XIX
233
when I heard :
of Zeal
"Come, here is the pass," The Angel
spoken in a tone so gentle and kind as is not
heard in this mortal confine.
With outspread wings which swanlike seemed,
he who thus spoke to us did turn us upward,
between the two walls of the hard stone.
He stirred his pinions then, and fanned us, affirm- The fourth
ing qui lugent to be blessed, for they shall Beatitude
have their souls rich in consolation.
"What aileth thee, that thou gazest ever to the
ground? my Guide began to say to me; both
of us having mounted a little above the angel.
And I: “In such dread I am made to go by a Dante's
strange vision, which bends me to itself, so vision
explained
that I cannot keep me from thinking thereon." by Virgil
"Sawest thou," he said, "that ancient witch
because of whom alone above us now they weep?
Sawest thou how man frees him from her?
Let that suffice thee, and spurn the earth with
thy heels, turn thine eyes to the lure which
the eternal King spinneth round with the
mighty spheres.
""
Like the falcon, that first gazes at his feet, then
turns at the call, and spreads his wings with
desire of the repast which draws him there,
such I became; and, far as the rock is cleft to
give passage to him who mounts, such I went,
up to where the circling is begun.
avaricious
and the
prodigal
When I was in the open, on the fifth circle, I The
saw people about it who wept, lying on the
ground all turned downwards.
"Adhaesit pavimento anima mea," I heard them
say with such deep sighs that hardly were the
words understood.
234
PURGATORIO
Girone V "O eletti di Dio, li cui soffriri
e giustizia e speranza fan men duri,
drizzate noi verso gli alti saliri."
"Se voi venite dal giacer sicuri,
e volete trovar la via più tosto,
le vostre destre sien sempre di furi.”
Così pregò il poeta, e sì risposto
poco dinanzi a noi ne fu; per ch' io
nel parlare avvisai l'altro nascosto,
e volsi gli occhi allora al signor mio:
ond' egli m' assentì con lieto cenno
ciò che chiedea la vista del disio.
Poi ch' io potei di me fare a mio senno,
trassimi sopra quella creatura,
le cui parole pria notar mi fenno,
dicendo: "Spirto, in cui pianger matura
quel senza il quale a Dio tornar non puossi,
sosta un poco per me tua maggior cura.
Chi fosti e perchè volti avete i dossi
al su, mi di', e se vuoi ch' io ť' impetri
cosa di là, ond' io vivendo mossi.'
Ed egli a me :
Perchè i nostri diretri
rivolga il cielo a sè, saprai; ma prima,
scias quod ego fui successor Petri.
Intra Siestri e Chiaveri si adima
una fiumana bella, e del suo nome
lo titol del mio sangue fa sua cima.
Un mese e poco più prova' io come
pesa il gran manto a chi dal fango il guarda,
che piuma sembran tutte l' altre some.
La mia conversione, omè! fu tarda;
ma, come fatto fui Roman Pastore,
così scopersi la vita bugiarda.
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
IO
CANTO XIX
235
avaricious
"O chosen of God, whose sufferings both The
justice and hope make less hard, direct us and the
towards the high ascents."
prodigal
Adrian V
"If ye come secure from lying prostrate, and Pope
desire to find the way most quickly, let your
right hands be ever to the outside.'
Thus prayed the poet, and thus a little in front
of us was answer made; wherefore I noted
what else was concealed in the words,
and turned mine eyes then to my Lord; where-
at he gave assent with glad sign to what the
look of my desire was craving.
When I could do with me according to my own
mind, I drew [forward above that creature
whose words before made me take note,
saying: "Spirit, in whom weeping matures that
without which one cannot turn to God, stay a
while for me thy greater care.
Who thou wast, and why ye have your backs
turned upward, tell me, and if thou woulds
that I obtain aught for thee yonder, whence
living I set forth."
his story
And he to me: "Wherefore heaven turneth narrates
our backs to itself shalt thou know; but first,
scias quod ego fui successor Petri.
Between Sestri and Chiaveri flows down a fair
river, and from its name the title of my race
takes origin.
One month, and little more, I learned how the
great mantle weighs on him who keeps it from
the mire, so that all other burdens seem feathers.
My conversion, ah me! was late; but when I
was made Pastor of Rome, so I discovered
the life which is false.
236
PURGATORIO
Girone V Vidi che lì non si quetava il core,
nè più salir poteasi in quella vita:
per che di questa in me s' accese amore.
Fino a quel punto misera e partita
da Dio anima fui, del tutto avara :
or, come vedi, qui ne son punita.
Quel ch' avarizia fa qui si dichiara
in purgazion dell' anime converse,
e nulla pena il monte ha più amara.
Sì come l'occhio nostro non s'aderse
in alto, fisso alle cose terrene,
così giustizia qui a terra il merse.
Come avarizia spense a ciascun bene
lo nostro amore, onde operar perde' si,
così giustizia qui stretti ne tiene,
ne' piedi e nelle man legati e presi;
e quanto fia piacer del giusto Sire,
tanto staremo immobili e distesi.'
""
Io m' era inginocchiato, e volea dire;
ma com' io cominciai, ed ei s' accorse,
solo ascoltando, del mio riverire,
(6
199
II2
115
119
121
124
127
Qual cagion," disse, "in giù così ti torse?" 130
Ed io a lui: "Per vostra dignitate
mia coscienza dritto mi rimorse."
“Drizza le gambe, levati su frate,”
rispose; "non errar, conservo sono
teco e con gli altri ad una potestate.
Se mai quel santo evangelico suono
che dice Neque nubent' intendesti,
ben puoi veder perch' io così ragiono.
Vattene omai; non vo' che più t' arresti,
chè la tua stanza mio pianger disagia,
col qual maturo ciò che tu dicesti.
133
136
139
CANTO XIX
237
avaricious
and the
prodigal
I saw that there the heart was not at rest, nor The
could one mount higher in that life; where-
fore love of this was kindled within me.
Up to that moment, I was a soul wretched and
parted from God, wholly avaricious; now, as
thou seest, here am I punished for it.
What avarice works, here is declared in
purgation of the down-turned souls, and
more bitter penalty hath the mount.
Even as our eye, fixed on earthly things, did not
lift itself on high, so here justice hath sunk it
to earth.
the The form of
no
As avarice quenched our love for every good,
wherefore our works were lost, so justice here
doth hold us fast,
""
their
punishment
explained
by Adrian
checks
Dante's
reverence
for his
person
bound and seized by feet and hands; and so long as
it shall be the pleasure of the just Lord, so long
shall we lie here motionless and outstretched.'
I had kneeled down, and was about to speak; The Pope
but as I began, and he perceived my reverence
merely by listening,
"What reason," he said, "thus bent thee
down?" And I to him: "Because of your
dignity my conscience smote me for standing.'
"Make straight thy legs, uplift thee, brother,"
he answered err not, a fellowservant am I
with thee and with the others unto one Power.
If ever thou didst understand that hallowed
gospel sound which saith, ‘Neque nubent,' well
canst thou see why thus I speak.
""
Now get thee hence; I desire not that thou stay
longer, for thy tarrying disturbs my weeping,
whereby I mature that which thou didst say.
238
PURGATORIO
Girone V Nepote ho io di là ch' ha nome Alagia,
buona da sè, pur che la nostra casa
non faccia lei per esemplo malvagia;
e questa sola di là m' è rimasa.'
•
""
142
145
1-6. An hour before dawn when the last stars of
Aquarius and the first of Pisces would have risen. The
portions of the constellations indicated may be con-
ceived in the form
this being the figure
termed Fortuna Major in geomancy (an occult science
by which events are predicted according to points
placed in certain positions). Verse 3 refers to the
coldness of the earth before dawn, and of the frigid
Saturn (Virgil's Frigida Saturni stella, Georg. i.
336; cf. Par. xviii. 68, and xxii. 146, notes); talor, i.e.
when this planet is on the horizon.
•
•
•
>
7-33, 55-63. Dante's second dream, that of the
Siren (Sensual Pleasure) has reference to the three sins
that remain to be purged (v. 59): avarice, gluttony,
and lust being conceived as due to the wiles of the
Siren. The donna of v. 26 probably stands for the light
of reason, which unites with human wisdom (Virgil,
vv. 28-32; cf. Inf. i. 63, note) in showing Dante the
emptiness of sensual delights. There is a difficulty in
v. 22: for, according to Homer, Ulysses, of course,
withstood the Siren. Dr Moore suggests that Dante's
knowledge of the episode is derived from a passage in
which Cicero, commenting on Homer's Song of the
Sirens, implies that Ulysses was ensnared by them (De
Finibus, v. 18). For the rest, cf. Inf. xxvi. 73-75, and
100-142, notes.
39. See above, diagram on p. 13.
50, 51. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they
shall be comforted" (Matt. v. 4).
73. "My soul cleaveth
soul cleaveth unto the dust" (Ps.
cxix. 25).
79. The speaker is Pope Adrian V. (see below, note
to v. 97 sqq.).
CANTO XIX
239
avaricious
A niece have I yonder, by name Alagia, good The
in herself, if but our house make her not and the
evil by ensample; and she alone is left me prodigal
yonder."
84. This line has been much discussed. We take
the "concealed" or "implied" thing, which was in-
volved in the direct answer to the question, to be a
revelation of the fact that souls are purged in as many
circles as may be necessary, but that some may pass
free through certain circles, if they have not been
guilty of the sins purified in them. This is the first
indication in the poem of this fact; but it is illustrated
later on by Statius rising from the circle of the
Avaricious and making his way straight through the
two that are left, perhaps delaying his course somewhat
for the sake of Virgil's company (xxiv. 8, 9), but not
retarded to endure the penalties of the circles. Dante
has already indicated (xiii. 133-138) his anticipation
of the necessity of sinful souls being purged severally
in the successive terraces, and Statius' confession (xxi.
68; xxii. 93) subsequently confirms it. But this is
the first passage which indicates the possibility of
souls passing through any circle without enduring its
penalties.
97 sqq. Ottobuono de' Fieschi (of Genoa), who
had, while Cardinal, been sent to England as Papal
legate (1268), was elected Pope, as Adrian V., on
July 12, 1276, and died on August 18 of the same.
year (v. 103). The Fieschi were Counts of Lavagna,
and derived their title from a little river of that name,
which flows into the Gulf of Genoa between Sestri
Levante and Chiavari (vv. 100-102). The words in
v. 99 ("Know that I was a successor of Peter") are
spoken in Latin, as the official language of the Church
and Popes.
Adrian's niece, Alagia (vv. 142-145), was the wife of
Moroello III. Malaspina (for whom see above, Canto
viii. 109-139, note). One of her sisters, Fiesca, married
Alberto, belonging to a different branch of the Mala-
spina family; and the other, Jacopina, was the wife
of Obizzo II. of Este (see above, the tables on pp.
Adrian's
niece
240
NOTES
89 and 91, the one opposite, and the one on p. 237
of the Inferno volume).
136-138. The Sadducees, having told Jesus of a
woman who had married seven brothers in succession,
and asked him: "Therefore in the resurrection whose
wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not
knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For
in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given
in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven"
(Matt. xxii. 23-30; Mark xii. 18-25; Luke xx. 27-35).
The passage is usually taken to refer specifically to the
Pope as the spouse of the Church (cf. Inf. xix. 56, 57;
Purg. xxiv. 22). But surely it may be taken with a
wider reference. Marriage is regarded as the closest
instance of special relations which have some legal or
official sanction over and above the purely personal
relations on which they are based, or which spring
out of them. All such relations are abolished in the
spirit world (cf. Par. vi. 10, and other passages).
141. The fruit of repentance (see above, v. 92).
THE MALASPINA FAMILY
("Spino Secco" Branch)
Currado I¹
(d. ca. 1255)
m, Costanza, nat. d. of the Emperor Frederick II
Alberto
3 Purg. viii. 109 sqq.
Moroello II
Franceschino 2
(d. between 1313
and 1321)
Federigo
Currado II 3
(d. ca. 1294)
2 Dante's host in 1306.
1 Purg. viii. 119.
4 Inf. xxiv. 145 sqq.
Manfredi
Moroel
Moroello III 4
(d. ca. 1315)
m. Alagia de'
Fieschi 5
5 Purg. xix. 142 sqq.
241
PURGATORIO
NWILLING to break short his conference, but
UNWILLING
more unwilling yet further to trespass on the
courteous forbearance of his interlocutor, Dante passes
among the weeping souls, through whose eyes that
curse of all the world is distilling itself away! When
will He come who shall chase the wolf of avarice from
earth? (1-15). Dante hears one of the prostrate souls
rehearse examples of generous poverty (16-33), and
learns that he is the ancestor of the royal line of
France, the root of that evil tree that darkens all
the Christian lands with its shadow. Comparatively
harmless in its earlier generations, this house had
gathered evil as it gathered strength; hero and saint
alike have been its victims; it couched the lance of
Girone V Contra miglior voler voler mal pugna:
onde contra il piacer mio, per piacerli,
trassi dell' acqua non sazia la spugna.
Mossimi; e il duca mio si mosse per li
lochi spediti pur lungo la roccia,
come si va per muro stretto ai merli:
chè la gente, che fonde a goccia a goccia
per gli occhi il mal che tutto il mondo occupa
dall' altra parte in fuor troppo s'approccia.
Maledetta sie tu, antica lupa,
che più di tutte l'altre bestie hai preda,
per la tua fame senza fine cupa!
O ciel, nel cui girar par che si creda
le condizion di quaggiù trasmutarsi,
quando verrà per cui questa disceda ?
Noi andavam con passi lenti e scarsi,
ed io attento all' ombre ch'io sentia
pietosamente piangere e lagnarsi;
I
I
I
242

CANTO XX
Judas against Florence; its own flesh and blood
and the sacred orders of chivalry are alike regarded
by it as things to coin; and the very person
of the Vicar of Christ has been crucified by it
while thieves were left alive. At such deeds wrath
would torture the divine peace itself were it not
soothed by the prospect of vengeance (34-96). Warn-
ing examples of avarice uttered at night balance the
daily recitation of the virtuous counterparts (97-123).
The mountain now shakes as with an earthquake, and
a mighty cry of "Glory to God in the highest " rises
from all its terraces; startled and perplexed by which,
though bidden by Virgil not to fear, Dante swiftly
pursues his path (124-151).
avaricious
and the
prodigal
Against a better will the will fights ill, where- The
fore, against my pleasure, to please him, I
drew the sponge from the water unfilled.
moved on, and my Leader moved on by the
free spaces, ever along the rock, as one goes
by a wall close to the battlements ;
or the people who distill through their eyes, drop
by drop, the evil that fills the whole world,
on the other side approach too near the edge.
Accurst be thou, she-wolf of old, that hast
more prey than all the other beasts, for thy
hunger endlessly deep!
O heaven, in whose revolution it seems that
conditions here below are thought to be
changed, when will he come through whom
she shall depart?
We went on, with steps slow and scant, and I
intent on the shades that I heard piteously
weeping and complaining;
243

244
PURGATORIO
e V e per ventura udi': "Dolce Maria,"
dinanzi a noi chiamar così nel pianto,
come fa donna che in partorir sia
e seguitar : "Povera fosti tanto,
quanto veder si può per quell' ospizio,
ove sponesti il tuo portato santo.
Seguentemente intesi: “O buon Fabbrizio,
con povertà volesti anzi virtute,
che gran ricchezza posseder con vizio.”
Queste parole m'eran sì piaciute,
>>
ch' io mi trassi oltre per aver contezza
di quello spirto, onde parean venute.
Esso parlava ancor della larghezza
che fece Niccolao alle pulcelle,
per condurre ad onor lor giovinezza.
"O anima che tanto ben favelle,
dimmi chi fosti," dissi, "e perchè sola
tu queste degne lode rinnovelle ?
Non fia senza mercè la tua parola,
s' io ritorno a compier lo cammin corto
di quella vita che al termine vola.”
Ed egli: "Io 'l ti dirò, non per conforto
ch'io attenda di là, ma perchè tanta
grazia in te luce prima che sii morto.
Io fui radice della mala pianta,
che la terra cristiana tutta aduggia
sì che buon frutto rado se ne schianta.
Ma, se Doagio, Lilla, Guanto e Bruggia
potesser, tosto ne saria vendetta ;
ed io la cheggio a lui che tutto giuggia.
Chiamato fui di là Ugo Ciapetta ;
di me son nati i Filippi e i Luigi,
per cui novellamente Francia è retta.
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
49
43
4
CANTO XX
245
avaricious
prodigal
Examples
and by chance I heard one in front of us calling The
with tears:
"Sweet Mary," even as a woman and the
who is in travail ;
and continuing: "So poor wast thou, as may of Poverty
- be seen by that hostelry where thou didst lay and Liber-
down thy holy burden."
Following I heard: "O good Fabricius, thou Mary
didst desire to possess virtue with poverty,
rather than great riches with iniquity.
These words were so pleasing to me, that I drew
me forward to have knowledge of that spirit,
from whom they seemed to have come.
It
ality-
The Virgin
Fabricius
Nicholas
went on to speak of the bounty which and St
Nicholas gave to the maidens, to lead their
youth to honour.
"O spirit, that discoursest so much of good,
tell me who thou wast," said I, " and where-
fore thou alone renewest these worthy lauds?
Thy words shall not be without reward, if I
return to complete the short way of that life
which is flying to its end."
Capet
And he: "I will tell it thee, not for any solace Hugh
that I expect from yonder, but because so
much grace shineth in thee ere thou art dead.
was the root of the evil tree which o'er-
shadows all Christian lands, so that rarely is
good fruit plucked therefrom.
But if Douay, Lille, Ghent and Bruges had
power, soon were vengeance taken for it, and
I beseech this from him who judgeth all.
Hugh Capet was I called yonder; of me are
born the Philips and the Lewises by whom
of late France is ruled.
246
PURGATORIO
Girone V Figlio fu' io d' un beccaio di Parigi.
Quando li regi antichi venner meno
tutti, fuor ch' un, renduto in panni bigi,
trovaimi stretto nelle mani il freno
del governo del regno, e tanta possa
di nuovo acquisto, e si d' amici pieno,
ch' alla corona vedova promossa
la testa di mio figlio fu, dal quale
cominciar di costor le sacrate ossa.
Mentre che la gran dote Provenzale
al sangue mio non tolse la vergogna,
poco valea, ma pur non facea male.
Lì cominciò con forza e con menzogna
la sua rapina; e poscia, per ammenda,
Pontì e Normandia prese e Guascogna.
Carlo venne in Italia, e, per ammenda,
vittima fe' di Curradino; e poi
ripinse al ciel Tommaso, per ammenda.
Tempo vegg' io, non molto dopo ancoi,
che tragge un altro Carlo fuor di Francia,
per far conoscer meglio e sè e i suoi.
Senz' arme n' esce solo e con la lancia
con la qual giostrò Giuda; e quella ponta
sì, ch' a Fiorenza fa scoppiar la pancia.
Quindi non terra, ma peccato ed onta
guadagnerà, per sè tanto più grave,
quanto più lieve simil danno conta.
L'altro, che già uscì preso di nave,
veggio vender sua figlia e patteggiarne,
come fanno i corsar dell' altre schiave.
O avarizia, che puoi tu più farne,
poscia ch' hai lo mio sangue a te sì tratto,
che non si cura della propria carne?
52
55
58
61
64
67
79
73
70
79
8
CANTO XX
247
avaricious
Son was I of a butcher of Paris. When the The
ancient kings came to an end, all save one and the
given over to grey garments,
prodigal
I found tight in my hands the reins of the
government of the realm, and so much power
from new possessions, and so rich in friends,
that to my son's head the widowed crown was The
promoted, from whom began the consecrated Capetian
bones of those.
So long as the great dowry of Provence had not
taken shame from my race, it was of little
worth, but yet it did no evil.
dynasty
There by force and fraud its rapine began; Charles I.
and then, for amends, Ponthieu and Normandy
it seized, and Gascony.
Charles came to Italy, and, for amends, made a
victim of Conradin; and then thrust Thomas
back to heaven, for amends.
of Anjou
of Valois
A time I see, not long after this day, that Charles
brings another Charles forth from France, to
make both him and his better known.
Forth he comes, alone, without an army, and
with the lance wherewith Judas jousted; and
that he couches so, that he makes the paunch
of Florence to burst.
the Lame
Thence shall he win, not land, but sin and
shame, for himself so much the more grievous,
as he the more lightly counts such wrong.
The other, who once came forth a captive from Charles
a ship, I see selling his daughter, and haggling
over her, as pirates do with other bondwomen.
avarice, what more canst thou do to us, since
thou hast so drawn my race to thee, that it
hath no care of its own flesh?
248
PURGATORIO
Girone V Perchè men paia il mal futuro e il fatto,
veggio in Alagna entrar lo fiordaliso,
e nel vicario suo Cristo esser catto.
Veggiolo un' altra volta esser deriso;
veggio rinnovellar l'aceto e il fele,
e tra vivi ladroni esser anciso.
Veggio il nuovo Pilato sì crudele,
che ciò nol sazia, ma, senza decreto,
porta nel tempio le cupide vele.
O Signor mio, quando sarò io lieto
a veder la vendetta, che, nascosa,
fa dolce l'ira tua nel tuo segreto ?
Ciò ch' io dicea di quell' unica sposa
dello Spirito Santo, e che ti fece
verso me volger per alcuna chiosa,
tant' è risposta a tutte nostre prece,
quanto il dì dura; ma, quand' e' s' annotta,
contrario suon prendemo in quella vece.
Noi ripetiam Pigmalione allotta,
cui traditore e ladro e patricida
fece la voglia sua dell' oro ghiotta ;
e la miseria dell' avaro Mida,
che seguì alla sua domanda ingorda,
per la qual sempre convien che si rida.
Del folle Acam ciascun poi si ricorda,
come furò le spoglie, sì che l' ira
di Josué qui par ch' ancor lo morda.
Indi accusiam col marito Safira;
lodiamo i calci ch' ebbe Eliodoro;
ed in infamia tutto il monte gira
Polinestor ch' ancise Polidoro.
Ultimamente ci si grida: 'Crasso,
dicci, chè il sai, di che sapore è l' oro?'
85
88
91
94
97
IOC
103
10
100
II2
TIS
CANTO XX
249
avaricious
prodigal
In order that the ill to come and past, may The
seem less, I see the fleur-de-lys enter Alagna, and the
and in his vicar Christ made captive.
A second time I see him mocked; I see the the Fair
vinegar and the gall renewed, and him slain and Boni-
between living thieves.
I see the new Pilate so cruel, that this sateth
him not, but, lawlessly, he bears his greedy
sails into the temple.
O my Lord, when shall I rejoice to see the
vengeance, which, being hidden, maketh sweet
thine anger in thy secret counsel ?
What I was saying of that only Bride of the
Holy Ghost, and which made thee turn
toward me for some gloss,
Philip
face VIII
so much is the answer to all our prayers, as long Examples
of Avar-
as the day lasts; but when the night cometh, ice-
a contrary sound we take up instead of that.
Then we rehearse Pygmalion, whom insatiate Pygmalion
lust of gold made traitor, thief, and par-
ricide,
and the misery of the avaricious Midas, which Midas
followed his greedy request, because of which
'tis right we forever laugh.
The mad Achan then each one recalls, how he Achan
stole the spoils, so that Joshua's wrath seems
here yet to bite him.
Ananias
and and
Then we accuse Sapphira and her husband; we Sapphira,
praise the kicks which Heliodorus had;
all the mount doth circle in infamy
Heliodorus
nestor and
Polymnestor who slew Polydorus. Last of all Polym-
Crassus, tell us, for thou Crassus
here we cry:
knowest, of what savour is gold?'
250
PURGATORIO
Girone V Talor parla l' un alto e l' altro basso,
secondo l'affezion ch' a dir ci sprona,
ora a maggiore, ed ora a minor passo ;
però al ben che il dì ci si ragiona,
dianzi non er' io sol; ma qui da presso
non alzava la voce altra persona.
Noi eravam partiti già da esso,
e brigavam di soperchiar la strada
tanto, quanto al poder n' era permesso;
quand' io senti', come cosa che cada,
tremar lo monte: onde mi prese un gelo,
qual prender suol colui che a morte vada.
Certo non si scotea sì forte Delo,
pria che Latona in lei facesse il nido
a partorir li due occhi del cielo.
Poi cominciò da tutte parti un grido
118
121
124
127
130
133
tal che il maestro in ver di me si feo,
dicendo: "Non dubbiar, mentr' io ti guido."
“Gloria in excelsis," tutti, " Deo,”
dicean, per quel ch' io da' vicin compresi,
onde intender lo grido si poteo.
Noi ci restammo immobili e sospesi,
come i pastor che prima udir quel canto,
fin che il tremar cessò, ed ei compièsi.
Poi ripigliammo nostro cammin santo,
guardando l'ombre che giacean per terra,
tornate già in su l'usato pianto.
Nulla ignoranza mai con tanta guerra
mi fe' desideroso di sapere,
se la memoria mia in ciò non erra,
quanta pare' mi allor pensando avere;
nè la fretta domandarn' er' oso,
per
nè per me lì
potea cosa vedere :
così m' andava timido e pensoso.
136
139
142
145
148
151
CANTO XX
251
avaricious
Sometimes we discourse, the one loud the other The
low, according to the impulse which spurs us to and the
speak, now with greater, now with lesser force; prodigal
therefore at the good we tell of here by day,
I was not alone before, but here, near by, no
other person was raising his voice."
We were already parted from him, and striving
to surmount the way so far as was permitted
to our power,
when I felt the mountain quake, like a thing The
Mountain
which is falling; whereupon a chill gripped shakes
me, as is wont to grip him who is going to death.
Of a surety, Delos was not shaken so violently,
ere Latona made her nest therein to give
birth to heaven's two eyes.
Then began on all sides a shout, such that the
Master drew toward me, saying: "Fear not
while I do guide thee.”
"Gloria in excelsis Deo," all were saying, by
what I understood from those near by, whose
cry could be heard.
Motionless we stood, and in suspense, like the
shepherds who first heard that hymn, until
the quaking ceased and it was ended.
Then we took up again our holy way, looking
at the shades, that lay on the ground already
returned to their wonted plaint.
No ignorance, if my memory err not in this, did
ever with so great assault give me yearning
for knowledge
as I then seemed to have, while pondering; nor
by reason of our haste was I bold to ask; nor
of myself could I see aught there: thus I
went on timid and pensive.

252
NOTES
8, 10-15. The mal and the antica lupa are, of course,
Avarice (see Inf. i. 49-60; 94-101); while the de-
liverer anxiously alluded to in v. 15 corresponds to
the veltro of Inf. i. 101-111, though the indication here
is less definite than in the earlier passage—perhaps
because Dante was beginning to lose hope at the time
of the composition of the present Canto?
13, 14. See above, Canto xvi. 67 sqq.
19-24.
"And she brought forth her first-born son,
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him
in a manger; because there was no room for them in
the inn" (Luke ii. 7).-With vv. 19-21, cf. Par. xv.
133-135, and note.
25-27. Caius Fabricius, the Roman Consul (B.C.
282) and Censor (275), refused the gifts of the Samnites
on settling terms of peace with them, and, subsequently,
the bribes of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, when negotiating
with him concerning an exchange of friends. Virgil's
words in this connection-parvoque potentem Fabricium
(Æn. vi. 844) are quoted in the De Mon. ii. 5: 90-99;
and in the Conv. iv. 5: 107-110, there is a further
allusion to Fabricius' refusal of the bribes (here he is
mentioned together with Curius Dentatus; as by Lucan,
Phurs. x. 151, who quotes the pair for their simplicity
of manners and contempt of luxury-et nomina pauperis
evi Fabricios Curiosque graves).
31-33. Nicholas (fourth century, Bishop of Myra in
Lycia) saved the three daughters of a fellow-townsman,
who was in dire straits of poverty, from leading lives
of shame, by secretly throwing into their window at
night bags of gold, which served them as dowries and
enabled them to marry (see the Legenda Aurea and Brev.
Rom. ad 6 Decemb.).
40 $99. The speaker is Hugh Capet, King of
France (987-996); but as some of the details given by
Dante can apply only to his father, Hugh the Great
(Duke of the Franks, etc., and Count of Paris,
d. 956), it is plain that the poet has confused these
two personages. In v. 52 we find a legend very
generally accredited in those days, but always referred
to the father, never to the son. Verses 53-59 state that
when the Carlovingian dynasty came to an end (with
CANTO XX
253
Louis V., d. 987), the speaker's son succeeded, whereas
in reality it was Hugh Capet himself who succeeded.
And it was Hugh Capet who founded the Capetian
dynasty (vv. 59, 60), not his son and successor,
Robert I.
46-48. The treachery of Philip the Fair and his
brother Charles of Valois towards the Count of Flanders
in 1299 (Villani, viii. 32) was avenged three years
later at the battle of Courtrai, in which the French
were completely routed by the Flemish (Villani, viii.
55-58).
50, 51. Between the years 1060 and 1300, the French
throne was occupied exclusively by four Philips (I.-IV.)
and four Louis (VI.-IX.).
54. When Louis V. died in 987 without children
there was only one formidable Carlovingian left-
Charles, Duke of Lorraine, the son of Lonis IV. Hugh
Capet, seeing the danger, promptly had him put into
prison, where he died in 991. Dante is wrong in say-
ing that Charles was a monk; there is probably a con-
fusion with Childeric III., the last of the Merovingians,
who was deposed in 752 and ended his days in a convent.
61. After the death of Count Raymond Berengar of
Provence, Charles I. of Anjou married, in 1246, his
daughter, Beatrice, who had inherited the county (see
above, Canto vii. 128, and Par. vi. 127-142, notes).
65. Note the irony of the per ammenda, thrice re-
peated.
66. A reference to the English chronicles and
histories will show that Dante does not adhere strictly
to the correct chronology in this line, and that the
origin of the differences between the French and English
Kings alluded to goes back to a date earlier than that
of the gran dote provenzale. However, he is right in all
the essential facts, which held good, as stated by him,
for many years. Thus, Villani says that Edward III.,
when on the point of invading France in 1346, told
his barons that the French King "was wrongfully
occupying Gascony, and the county of Ponthieu,
which came to him [Edward] with the dowry of his
254
NOTES
mother, and that he was holding Normandy by fraud
(xii. 63).
67, 68. For Charles of Anjou's expedition to Italy,
see above, Canto iii. 103-145, note; and for the battle
of Tagliacozzo, in which he defeated Conradin, the
last of the Swabians, see Inf. xxviii. 17, 18, note. On
Oct. 29, 1268, two months after his defeat, Conradin,
who was in his seventeenth year, was beheaded by
Charles' orders.
69. Dante here follows a popular but erroneous
tradition (see Villani, ix. 218), according to which
Thomas Aquinas, while proceeding to the Council of
Lyons in 1274, was poisoned in the Abbey of Fossa-
nuova, at the instigation of Charles of Anjou.
70-78. Charles of Valois, the brother of Philip the
Fair, entered Florence, with some nobles and 500 horse-
men (v. 73), on November 1, 1301, and left the city on
April 4 of the following year. For the success of the
Blacks over the Whites, which was solely due to the
favour he treacherously (vv. 73, 74) showed to the
former party (at the instigation of Boniface VIII., who
had sent him to Florence ostensibly as "peacemaker "),
see Inf. vi. 64-69, note, and Gardner, pp. 21-23. Charles
was nicknamed Senzaterra ="Lack-land" (v. 76), per-
haps because he was driven from the throne of Naples
and Sicily (see above, Canto vii. 112-114, note).
79-84. While Charles the Lame (see above, Canto
vii. 124-129; Par. vi. 106-108, notes, etc.) was assisting
his father, Charles I. of Anjou, in his futile attempt to
recover Sicily, he was defeated by Roger di Loria, the
admiral of Peter III. of Aragon, and taken prisoner
(June 1284). In 1305 he married his youngest daughter,
Beatrice, to Azzo VIII. of Este, who was her senior by
We have no record of the monetary
many years.
transaction which excited Dante's wrath.
85-90. For Boniface VIII. (the cause of most of
Dante's troubles, whom the poet invariably condemns,
but whose death is in the present passage treated
as an outrage on the Holy See) see Inf. vi. 69, xix.
52-57, xxvii. 70-111; Purg. viii. 131 (?), xxxii. 150,
xxxiii. 44; Par. xii. 25-27, 90, xvii. 49-51, xxvii.
22-24, XXX. 146-148.
CANTO XX
255
"Sciarra Colonna and William de Nogaret, [the vivi
ladroni, v. 90] in the name of Philip the Fair [the
fiordaliso, v. 86] seized Boniface VIII. at Anagni [the
Pope's birthplace, about forty miles S.E. of Rome]
and treated the old Pontiff with such barbarity that
he died at Rome in a few days, October 11th, 1303"
- (Gardner, p. 26; see Villani, viii. 63).
91-93. Philip the Fair (who is called nuovo Pilato
because he delivered Boniface to his enemies, the
Colonnesi, even as Pilate delivered Jesus to the will of
the Jews) caused the Order of the Templars to be per-
secuted, from the year 1307. According to Villani
(viii. 92), many people held that the accusations levied
against them were unjust, and prompted only by the
desire to obtain their treasure.
94-96. Cf. Par. xxii. 16-18.
97-99 and 118-123. Hugh is answering Dante's
question contained in vv. 35, 36 and relating to the
example drawn from the life of Mary (v. 19 sqq.),
among others.
103 sqq. According to Dr Moore (see above, Canto
xii. 25-27, note), the groups of the examples of vice
are, on this fifth terrace, marked off by "putting
together two or more instances from Profane and Sacred
History respectively, instead of making the instances
alternate."
103-105. Pygmalion, the brother of Dido, and
murderer of her husband (their uncle), Sichaeus: "He,
impious, and blinded with the love of gold, having taken
Sichaeus by surprise, secretly assassinates him before
the altar, regardless of his sister's great affection " (Æn.
∙i. 350 sqq.).
106-108. Bacchus was so grateful to Midas, King
of Phrygia, for the kindness he had shown to his friend
Silenus, that he promised to grant him any request.
Midas wished everything he touched to be turned to
gold, but soon begged Bacchus to relieve him of this
privilege, when he found that even his food changed
into the precious metal. It is somewhat strange that
Dante should consider this incident laughable; the
only really funny thing about Midas (which, however,
256
NOTES
has nothing to do with greed of gold) being the asses
ears, that were bestowed on him by Apollo, for pre
suming to decide against him and in favour of Par
after a singing contest. (See Ovid, Met. xi. 100 sqq.).
109-111. At the capture of Jericho, Joshua ordered
all the treasure to be consecrated to the Lord; which
decree having been disregarded by Achan, he and hi
family were stoned and burned (Josh. vi. 19, and
vii.).
112. After the Apostles had preached to the people
"the multitude of them that believed were of one hear
and of one soul: neither said any of them that ough
of the things which he possessed was his own; bu
they had all things common. and great grace wa
upon them all. Neither was there any among them
that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands o
houses sold them, and brought the prices of the thing
that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles
feet and distribution was made unto every man ac
cording as he had need. And Joses.. having land
sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the
apostles' feet. But a certain man named Ananias
with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, and kep
back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it
and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles
feet." Ananias and his wife were rebuked by Pete
for their hypocrisy, and fell down dead. (See Acts iv
32-37; V. 1-11.)
113. Heliodorus, the treasurer of King Seleucus
having gone with his guard to the Temple of Jerusalem
to remove the treasure, "there appeared unto them an
horse with a terrible rider upon him, and adorned with
a very fair covering, and he ran fiercely, and smote a
Heliodorus with his forefeet, and it seemed that h
CANTO XX
257
chat sat upon the horse had complete harness of gold
2 Macc. iii. 25.)
115. "This Polydore unhappy Priam had formerly
ent in secrecy, with a great weight of gold, to be
rought up by the King of Thrace [Polymnestor],
when he now began to distrust the arms of Troy, and
aw the city with close siege blocked up. He, as soon
s the power of the Trojans was crushed, and their
ortune gone, espousing Agamemnon's interest and
ictorious arms, breaks every sacred bond, assassinates
Polydore, and by violence possesses his gold. Cursed
hirst of gold, to what dost thou not drive the hearts
f men!" (En. iii. 49 sqq.)
116, 117. Marcus Licinius Crassus, surnamed Dives,
he Wealthy, was triumvir with Cæsar and Pompey,
c. 6o. He was so notorious for his love of gold, that
when he had been slain in a battle with the Parthians,
heir King, Hyrodes, had molten gold poured down his
roat. Florus (Epitome, iii. 11) says that his head
ludibrio fuit, neque indigno. Aurum enim liquidum in
ctum oris infusum est, ut cujus animus arserat auri cupiditate,
us etiam mortuum et exsangue corpus auro ureretur.
•
128. See the following canto, vv. 40-72.
130, 32. Juno, being jealous of Jupiter's love for
-atona, drove the latter from place to place, till she
eached Delos, which had been a floating island, tossing
pout in the sea, till Jupiter made it fast in order to
ceive her. Here she bore him two children-Apollo
nd Diana—the sun and the moon (cf. Par. x. 67, xxii.
39, xxix. 1). See Ovid, Met. vi. 189 sqq.
136, 140. Gloria in excelsis Deo, pax hominibus bonæ
oluntatis. ("Glory to God in the highest, and on
arth peace, good will toward men.") See Luke ii. 8-14.
R
WITH
PURGATORIO
the thirst for knowledge, which God only
can slake, keen within him, hastening along
the impeded path to keep pace with his leader, and
pierced with sympathetic grief for the souls at his
feet, Dante pursues his way, till a shade coming
behind them gives them the salutation of peace, to
which Virgil answers (1-15). They are on the
western side of the mountain, and the sun still
neighbours the east, so that Dante casts no shadow,
and the new-come soul does not recognise him as
one still living in the first life; and so he gathers from
the words of Virgil's benediction that he and his
companion alike are souls excluded from bliss (16-21).
In answer to the question that hereon arises, Virgil
explains his own state and Dante's; and to the keen
satisfaction of the latter, asks in his turn for an
explanation of the earthquake and the shout (22-39).
The shade answers that no material or casual thing
can affect the sacred ways of the mount. It trembles
only when some soul rises from lying prone with the
avaricious, or starts from any other point of the
mount to ascend to the earthly Paradise (40-60).
The repentant souls, though they wish to gain the
Girone V La sete natural che mai non sazia,
se non con l'acqua onde la femminetta
Sammaritana domandò la grazia,
mi travagliava, e pungeami la fretta
per la impacciata via retro al mio duca,
e condoleami alla giusta vendetta ;
ed ecco, sì come ne scrive Luca
che Cristo apparve ai due ch' erano in via,
già surto fuor della sepulcral buca,
7
258
CANTO XXI
term and gather the fruit of their penance, are mean-
while as keen to suffer as once they were to sin;
and when their present impulse unites with their
ultimate desire and creates the instant will to rise,
this in itself is a token and assurance that their
purgation is complete, and the whole mountain rings
with the praises of the spirits. May they, too, soon
be sped upon their way! (61-78). Virgil now asks
the shade to reveal himself, and learns that he is the
poet Statius.
He combines with an enumeration
of his own works a glowing tribute to the Æneid.
and its author; to have lived on earth with whom he
would accept another year of exile (79-102). Virgil's
glance checks the smile that rises on Dante's face at
these words, but not till Statius has caught its flash
upon his features. Pressed on either side, the poet is
finally released from Virgil's prohibition, and informs
Statius that he is indeed in the presence of that very
one who strengthened him to sing of men and gods
(103-129); whereon Statius, forgetting that he and
Virgil are empty shades, drops at his dear master's
feet to kiss them (130-136).
The natural thirst which never is sated, save The
with the water whereof the poor Samaritan avaricious
woman asked the grace,
was burning within me, and haste was goading me
along the encumbered way behind my Leader,
and I was grieving at the just penance;
nd lo, even as Luke writes to us that Christ
appeared to the two who were on the way,
already risen from the mouth of the tomb,
and the
prodigal
259
260
PURGATORIO
Girone V ci apparve un' ombra, e retro a noi venia
da piè guardando la turba che giace;
nè ci addemmo di lei, sì parlò pria,
dicendo: "Frati miei, Dio vi dea pace.”
Noi ci volgemmo subito, e Virgilio
rende' gli il cenno ch' a ciò si conface.
Poi cominciò: "Nel beato concilio
ti ponga in pace la verace corte,
che me rilega nell' eterno esilio."
"Come," diss' egli, e parte andavam forte,
se voi siete ombre che Dio su non degni,
chi v' ha per la sua scala tanto scorte?"
E il dottor mio: "Se tu riguardi i segni
che questi porta e che l' angel profila,
ben vedrai che coi buon convien ch' ei regni.
Ma perchè lei che dì e notte fila
non gli avea tratta ancora la conocchia,
che Cloto impone a ciascuno e compila,
l'anima sua, ch'è tua e mia sirrocchia,
venendo su, non potea venir sola,
però ch' al nostro modo non adocchia :
ond' io fui tratto fuor dell' ampia gola
d'inferno, per mostrargli, e mostrerolli
oltre, quanto il potrà menar mia scuola.
Ma dinne, se tu sai, perchè tai crolli
diè dianzi il monte, e perchè tutti ad una
parver gridare infino ai suoi piè molli?”
Sì mi diè domandando per la cruna
del mio disio, che pur con la speranza
si fece la mia sete men digiuna.
Quei cominciò: "Cosa non è che sanza
ordine senta la religione
della montagna, o che sia fuor d'usanza.
ΤΟ
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
CANTO XXI
261
avaricious
prodigal
,, Statius and
a shade appeared to us, and came on behind us, The
gazing at its feet on the prostrate crowd, nor and the
did we perceive it until it first spake,
saying: "My brothers, God give you peace." Virgil
Quickly we turned us, and Virgil gave back
to him the sign that is fitting thereto.
Then began: "May the true court, which binds
me in eternal exile, bring thee in peace to the
council of the blest."
"How,” said he, and meantime we went sturdily,
"if ye are shades that God deigns not above,
who hath escorted you so far by his stairs?"
And my Teacher: "If thou lookest at the marks
which this man bears, and which the angel out-
lines, clearly wilt thou see 'tis meet he reign
with the good.
But since she who spins day and night, had not
yet drawn for him the fibre which Clotho
charges and packs on the distaff for each one,
his spirit, which is thy sister and mine, coming
up, could not come alone, because it sees not
after our fashion :
wherefore I was brought forth from Hell's wide
jaws to guide him, and I will guide him on-
ward, so far as my school can lead him.
But tell us, if thou knowest, why the mount gave Cause
before such shakings, and wherefore all seemed of the
to shout with one voice down to its soft base." trembling
Thus, by asking, did he thread the very needle's
eye of my desire, and with the hope alone my
thirst was made less fasting.
That spirit began: "The holy rule of the
mount suffereth naught that is arbitrary, or
that is outside custom.
Mountain's
262
PURGATORIO
Girone V Libero è qui da ogni alterazione;
di quel che il ciel da sè in sè riceve
esserci puote, e non d' altro, cagione:
perchè non pioggia, non grando, non neve,
non rugiada, non brina più su cade
che la scaletta dei tre gradi breve.
Nuvole spesse non paion, nè rade,
nè corruscar, nè figlia di Taumante,
che di là cangia sovente contrade.
Secco vapor non surge più avante
ch' al sommo dei tre gradi ch' io parlai,
ov' ha il vicario di Pietro le piante.
Trema forse più giù poco od assai ;
ma, per vento che in terra si nasconda,
non so come, quassù non tremò mai.
Tremaci quando alcuna anima monda
sentesi, sì che surga, o che si mova
per salir su, e tal grido seconda.
Della mondizia sol voler fa prova,
che, tutta libera a mutar convento,
l'alma sorprende, e di voler le giova.
Prima vuol ben; ma non lascia il talento
che divina giustizia contra voglia,
come fu al peccar, pone al tormento.
Ed io che son giaciuto a questa doglia
cinquecento anni e più, pur mo sentii
libera volontà di miglior soglia.
Però sentisti il tremoto, e li pii
spiriti per lo monte render lode
a quel Signor, che tosto su gl' invii.”
Così ne disse; e però ch' ei si gode
tanto del ber quant' è grande la sete,
non saprei dir quant' ei mi fece prode
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
CANTO XXI
263
and the
Statius
Here it is free from all terrestrial change; that The
which Heaven receives into itself from itself avaricious
may here operate as cause, and naught else : prodigal
since neither rain, nor hail, nor snow, nor dew, continues
nor hoarfrost, falls any higher than the short his
little stairway of the three steps.
on the
Clouds, dense or thin, appear not, nor lightning and its
earthquake
discourse
flash, nor Thaumas' daughter, who yonder oft cause
changes her region.
Dry vapour rises not higher than the top of the
three steps which I spake of, where Peter's
vicar hath his feet.
It quakes perchance lower down little or much, but
by reason of wind which is hidden in the earth,
I know not how, it has never quaked up here.
It quakes here when some soul feeleth herself
cleansed, so that she may rise up, or set forth, to
mount on high, and such a shout follows her.
Of the cleansing the will alone gives proof, which
fills the soul, all free to change her cloister,
and avails her to will.
She wills indeed before, but that desire permits it
not which divine justice sets, counter to will,
toward the penalty, even as it was toward the
sin.
And I who have lain under this torment five
hundred years and more, only now felt
free will for a better threshold.
Therefore didst thou feel the earthquake, and heart
the pious spirits about the mount give praises
to that Lord-soon may he send them above.'
Thus he spake to us; and since we enjoy most
the draught in proportion as our thirst is great,
I could not tell how much he profited me.
264
PURGATORIO
Girone V E il savio duca: “Omai veggio la rete
che qui vi piglia, e come si scalappia,
per che ci trema, e di che congaudete.
Ora chi fosti piacciati ch' io sappia,
e, perchè tanti secoli giaciuto
qui sei, nelle parole tue mi cappia."
"Nel tempo che il buon Tito con l'aiuto
del sommo Rege vendicò le fora,
ond' uscì il sangue per Giuda venduto,
col nome che più dura e più onora
era io di là," rispose quello spirto,
“famoso assai, ma non con fede ancora.
Tanto fu dolce mio vocale spirto,
che, Tolosano, a sè mi trasse Roma,
dove mertai le tempie ornar di mirto.
Stazio la gente ancor di là mi noma;
cantai di Tebe, e poi del grande Achille,
ma caddi in via con la seconda soma.
Al mio ardor fur seme le faville,
che mi scaldar, della divina fiamma,
onde sono allumati più di mille :
dell' Eneida dico, la qual mamma
fummi, e fummi nutrice poetando ;
senz' essa non fermai peso di dramma.
E, per esser vivuto di là quando
visse Virgilio, assentirei un sole
più che non deggio al mio uscir di bando."
Volser Virgilio a me queste parole
con viso che, tacendo, dicea: "Taci."
Ma non può tutto la virtù che vuole :
chè riso e pianto son tanto seguaci
alla passion da che ciascun si spicca,
che men seguon voler nei più veraci.
76
79
82
85
88
91
24
97
IOC
103
100
CANTO XXI
265
And the wise Leader: "Now I see the net that The
catches you here, and how one breaks through, and the
avaricious
wherefore it quakes here, and whereat ye make prodigal
glad together.
Now may
it please thee that I know who thou
wast; and why thou hast lain here so many
ages, let me learn from thy words.”
narrates
"What time the good Titus with help of the Statius
Highest King avenged the wounds whence his history
issued the blood by Judas sold,
with the name which most endures, and honours
most,” answered that spirit, "I was yonder,
great in fame, but not yet with faith.
So sweet was the music of my words, that me,
a Toulousian, Rome drew to herself, where I
did merit a crown of myrtle for my brow.
I
Statius folk yonder still do name me;
sang of
Thebes, and then of the great Achilles; but
I fell by the way with the second burden.
reverence
The sparks, which warmed me, from the divine His
flame whence more than a thousand have been for Virgil
kindled, were the seeds of my poetic fire:
of the Æneid I speak, which was a mother to
me, and was to me a nurse in poesy; without
it I had not stayed the weight of a drachm.
And to have lived yonder, when Virgil was alive,
I would consent to one sun more than I owe
to my coming forth from exile.”
These words turned Virgil to me with a look
that silently said: "Be silent." But the
virtue which wills is not all powerful;
for laughter and tears follow so closely the
passion from which each springs, that they
least obey the will in the most truthful.
266
PURGATORIO
Girone V lo pur sorrisi, come l' uom ch' ammicca:
per che l'ombra si tacque, e riguardommi
negli occhi, ove il sembiante più si ficca.
E❝Se tanto lavoro in bene assommi,"
CC
disse, perchè la faccia tua testeso
un lampeggiar di riso dimostrommi?
Or son io d'una parte e d'altra preso :
l' una mi fa tacer, l' altra scongiura
ch' io dica; ond' io sospiro, e sono inteso
dal mio maestro; e "Non aver paura,"
mi disse, "di parlar; ma parla, e digli
quel ch' ei domanda con cotanta cura.
Ond' io: "Forse che tu ti maravigli,
antico spirto, del rider ch' io fei;
ma più d' ammirazion vo' che ti pigli.
Questi, che guida in alto gli occhi miei,
è quel Virgilio, dal qual tu togliesti
forza a cantar degli uomini e de' Dei.
Se cagione altra al mio rider credesti,
lasciala per non vera esser e credi
quelle parole che di lui dicesti.”
Già si chinava ad abbracciar li piedi
""
al mio dottor; ma egli disse:
ma egli disse: "Frate,
non far, chè tu se' ombra, ed ombra vedi."
Ed ei surgendo: "Or puoi la quantitate
comprender dell' amor ch' a te mi scalda,
quando dismento nostra vanitate,
trattando l'ombre come cosa salda."
109
112
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
1. Dante begins his Convito by quoting Aristotle's
words (Metaphysics, i. 1), that "all men naturally
desire knowledge.'
2, 3. See John iv. 7-15 "Whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst
CANTO XXI
267

and the
I did but smile, like one who makes a sign; The
whereat the shade was silent and looked at avaricious
me in the eyes, where most the soul is fixed. prodigal
And he said: "So may such great toil achieve
Statius
its end; wherefore did thy face but now
display to me a flash of laughter ?
Now am I caught on either side; one makes me
keep silence, the other conjures me to speak;
wherefore I sigh and am understood
by my Master, and he said to me, "Have no fear
of speaking, but speak, and tell him that which
he asketh with so great desire."
Wherefore I: "Perchance thou dost marvel, O
ancient spirit, at the laugh I gave, but I desire
that yet greater wonder seize thee.
He who guideth mine eyes on high, is that
Virgil from whom thou drewest power to
sing of men and gods.
""
If thou didst believe other cause for my laughter,
set it aside as untrue, and believe it was those
words which thou spakest of him.'
Already was he stooping to embrace my Teacher's
feet; but he said : "Brother, do not so, for
thou art a shade and a shade thou seest."
And he, rising: "Now canst thou comprehend
the measure of the love which warms me
toward thee, when I forget our nothingness,
and treat shades as a solid thing."
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst not .
•
•
""
7-9. Luke xxiv. 13-15: "And, behold, two of them
vent that same day to a village called Emmaus, which
was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And
and Virgil

268
NOTES
they talked together of all these things which had
happened. And it came to pass, that, while they
communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew
near, and went with them.”
10 sqq. This is the poet Statius, who remains with
Dante till the end of the Cantica (see below, Canto
xxxiii. 134, 135). He was born at Naples about the
year 50, and died there ca. 96. In making Statius a
native of Toulouse (v. 89) Dante follows a common
medieval error, probably due to a confusion with the
poet's contemporary, Lucius Statius, the rhetorician
who really was born at Toulouse. The poet lived
mostly at Rome (v. 89) during the reign of Vespasian
(69-79), whose son, Titus, captured Jerusalem in the
year 70 (vv. 82-84; cf. Par. vi. 92, 93 and vii.). The
nome of v. 85 is, of course, that of poet. Statius was
author of the Thebaid and of the Achilleid, a fragment
(vv. 92, 93), which deal with the expedition of the
Seven against Thebes and the Trojan war, respec-
tively, and with which Dante was well acquainted,
[The MS. of the Silvae was not discovered till the
CANTO XXI
269
beginning of the 15th century]. For v. 68, see the
following canto, vv. 92, 93.—ma non con fede ancora (v.
87): see the following canto, vv. 59-91.
con-
15. The early commentators, who probably knew
best, say that the regular "countersign
sisted of the words-Et cum spiritu tuo, "And with
chy spirit."
25-27. Clotho prepared the thread of life, which
was spun by Lachesis and cut by Atropos (cf. Inf.
xxxiii. 26; Purg. xxi. 25, xxv. 79).
30. Being still chained to its body.
33. Cf. above, Canto xviii. 46-48.
44. A human soul (see above, Canto xvi. 85
99.).
50, 51. Iris, the daughter of Thaumas and Electra.
In classical mythology she personified the rainbow,
and was represented as the messenger of the gods
(cf. Par. xii. 10-12, xxviii. 32, 33, xxxiii. 118).
64. Compare the distinction made between the
absolute and the practical will, in Par. iv. 100-114.
PURGATORIO
THE
HE pilgrims have already begun to mount the
stair that leads to the sixth circle. Another
P has been struck by an angel-wing from Dante's
brow, and the blessing pronounced on those that
thirst after righteousness (1-6). Virgil, with friendly
insistance, presses to know how so great a soul as
that of Statius could have harboured so puny a vice
as avarice; whereon the other acknowledges with a
smile the tender friendliness which this very per-
plexity implies, but answers that the keen scent of
friendship is this time following a false track, for it
is prodigality, not avarice, that has kept him more
than five hundred years a prisoner in the fifth circle,
where the two opposing sins are punished together.
Nor had he escaped the pains of Hell for his offence,
though committed in ignorance, had he not read a
hidden warning in lines of Virgil's own (7-54). Virgil
goes on to ask how Statius became a Christian, for
there is no indication in his poems of his conversion;
and Statius answers that it was Virgil's self who,
like one passing through the night, bearing a lantern
Salita al Già era l' angel retro a noi rimaso,
Girone VI
l' angel che n' avea volti al sesto giro,
avendomi dal viso un colpo raso;
e quei ch' hanno a giustizia lor disiro,
detto n' avea beati, e le sue voci
con sitiunt, senz' altro, ciò forniro.
Ed io, più lieve che per l' altre foci,
m' andava sì che senza alcun labore
seguiva in su gli spiriti veloci;
quando Virgilio cominciò: "Amore,
acceso di virtù, sempre altro accese,
pur che la fiamma sua paresse fuore:
7
ΙΟ
270
CANTO XXII
behind him, had lightened the path for the feet of
others, though not for his own. It was that pro-
phetic Eclogue which had revealed the truth to him,
and won his sympathy for the persecuted saints;
but he concealed his faith, and had atoned for his
laggard love in the circle of the slothful for over
four hundred years (55-93). Statius in his turn
now questions Virgil as to the fate of other Latin
poets, and Virgil tells him of the sad and noble life
in Limbo, of the Greek and Latin poets there, and
of the heroic souls whose story Statius himself had
told (94-114). It is past ten o'clock in the morning
when the pilgrims issue upon the sixth terrace, and,
with the tacit approval of Statius, follow their usual
course with the sun counter-clockwise, Dante eagerly
hearkening to the converse of the two Latin poets.
115-129). This is the circle of the gluttons; and
the pilgrims encounter a wondrous tree, fruit-laden,
nd bedewed with clear water from a neighbouring
all, from the midst of the foliage of which a voice
ecites examples of abstinence (130-154).
Already was the angel left behind us, the angel The
that had turned us to the sixth circle, having Angel of
erased a scar from my face,
Liberality
nd had said to us that those who have their de- The fifth
sire to righteousness were blessed, and his words Beatitude
accomplished that with sitiunt, and naught else.
And I, lighter than by the other passages, went on
so that without any toil I was following the
fleet spirits upward,
hen Virgil began: "Love, kindled by virtue,
hath ever kindled other love, if but its flame
were shown forth :
271
272
PURGATORIO
Salita al onde, dall' ora che tra noi discese
{Girone VI
nel limbo dello inferno Juvenale,
che la tua affezion mi fe' palese,
mia benvoglienza inverso te fu quale
più strinse mai di non vista persona,
si ch' or mi parran corte queste scale.
Ma dimmi, e come amico mi perdona
se troppa sicurtà m' allarga il freno,
e come amico omai meco regiona :
Come potè trovar dentro al tuo seno
loco avarizia, tra cotanto senno
di quanto, per tua cura, fosti pieno?”
Queste parole Stazio mover fenno
un poco a riso pria; poscia rispose
Ogni tuo dir d' amor m' è caro cenno.
Veramente più volte appaion cose,
che danno a dubitar falsa matera,
per le vere ragion che sono ascose.
La tua domanda tuo creder m' avvera
esser ch' io fossi avaro in l'altra vita,
forse per quella cerchia dov' io era.
Or sappi ch' avarizia fu partita
troppo da me, e questa dismisura
migliaia di lunari hanno punita ;
e, se non fosse ch' io drizzai mia cura,
quand' io intesi là dove tu esclame,
crucciato quasi all' umana natura :
'Perchè non reggi tu, o sacra fame
dell' oro, l'appetito de' mortali?'
voltando sentirei le giostre grame.
Allor m' accorsi che troppo aprir l' ali
potean le mani a spendere, e pente' mi
così di quel come degli altri mali.
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
CANTO XXII
273
wherefore from that hour when Juvenal, who The sin of
made thy affection manifest to me, descended Statius
among us in the limbo of Hell
my goodwill towards thee hath been such as
never yet did bind to an unseen person, so that
now these stairs will seem short to me.
But tell me, and as a friend forgive me if too
great confidence slacken my rein, and talk with
me now as with a friend:
How could avarice find place in thy breast, amid
so much wisdom as by thy diligence thou wast
filled with?"
These words first moved Statius a little to
laughter; then he answered: "Every word
of thine is a precious token of love to me.
Truly many times things appear that give false.
matter for doubting, because of the true reasons
which are hidden.
Thy question proves to me thy belief to be, that
I was avaricious in the other life, perchance
because of that circle where I was.
Now know that avarice was too far parted from
me, and this excess thousands of moons have
punished;
nd were it not that I set straight my inclination,
when I gave heed to the lines where thou ex-
claimest, angered as 'twere against human nature:
Wherefore dost thou not regulate the lust of
mortals, O hallowed hunger of gold? '—at the
rolling I should feel the grievous jousts.
Then I perceived that our hands could open
their wings too wide in spending, and I
repented of that as well as of other sins.
S
274
PURGATORIO
Salita al Quanti risurgeran coi crini scemi,
Girone VI
per ignoranza, che di questa pecca
toglie il penter vivendo, e negli estremi !
E sappi che la colpa, che rimbecca
per
dritta opposizione alcun peccato,
con esso insieme qui suo verde secca.
Però, s' io son tra quella gente stato
che piange l'avarizia, per purgarmi,
per
lo contrario suo m' è incontrato."
"Or quando tu cantasti le crude armi
della doppia tristizia di Jocasta,"
disse il cantor de' bucolici carmi,
"per quello che Cliò teco lì tasta,
non par che ti facesse ancor fedele
la fè, senza la qual ben far non basta.
Se così è, qual sole o quai candele
ti stenebraron sì, che tu drizzasti
poscia di retro al pescator le vele?"
Ed egli a lui: "Tu prima m' inviasti
verso Parnaso a ber nelle sue grotte,
e poi appresso Dio m' alluminasti.
Facesti come quei che va di notte,
che porta il lume retro e sè non giova,
ma dopo sè fa le persone dotte,
quando dicesti: 'Secol si rinnova ;
torna giustizia e primo tempo umano,
e progenie discende dal ciel nuova.
Per te poeta fui, per te cristiano ;
ma perchè veggi me' ciò ch' io disegno,
a colorare stenderò la mano.
Già era il mondo tutto quanto pregno
della vera credenza, seminata
Fer li messaggi dell' eterno regno;
40
44
Մ
S
5
S
CANTO XXII
275
How many will rise again with shorn locks, The sin of
through ignorance, which taketh away repent- Statius
ance of this sin during life and at the last hour!
And know that the offence which repels any sin
by its direct opposite, here, together with it,
dries up its luxuriance.
""
Therefore if I, to purge me, have been among
that people who bewail avarice, this hath
befallen me because of its contrary.'
“Now when_thou didst sing of the savage strife His con-
of Jocasta's twofold sorrow," said the singer versi
of the Bucolic lays,
by that which Clio touches with thee there, it
seems not that faith had yet made thee faithful,
without which good works are not enough.
If this be so, what sun or what candles dispelled
the darkness for thee, so that thou didst there-
after set thy sails to follow the Fisherman?"
And he to him: "Thou first didst send me
towards Parnassus to drink in its caves, and
then didst light me on to God.
Thou didst like one who goes by night, and
carries the light behind him, and profits not him-
self, but maketh persons wise that follow him,
when thou saidst: The world is renewed,
justice returns and the first age of man, and a
new progeny descends from heaven.'
Through thee I was a poet, through thee a
Christian, but that thou mayst see better what
I outline I will put forth my hand to fill in colour.
lready the whole world was big with the true
belief, sown by the apostles of the everlasting
kingdom;
version to
Chris-
tianity
276
PURGATORIO
Salita al e la parola tua sopra toccata
Girone VI
sì consonava ai nuovi predicanti,
ond' io a visitarli presi usata.
Vennermi poi parendo tanto santi,
che, quando Domizian li perseguette,
senza mio lagrimar non fur lor pianti.
E mentre che di là per me si stette,
io li sovvenni, e lor dritti costumi
fer dispregiare a me tutte altre sette ;
e pria ch' io conducessi i Greci ai fiumi
di Tebe, poetando, ebb' io battesmo;
ma per paura chiuso cristian fu' mi
lungamente mostrando paganesmo;
e questa tepidezza il quarto cerchio
cerchiar mi fe' più ch' al quarto centesmo.
Tu dunque, che levato hai il coperchio
che m'ascondeva quanto bene io dico,
mentre che del salire avem soperchio,
dimmi dov'è Terenzio nostro antico,
Cecilio, Plauto e Varro, se lo sai;
dimmi se son dannati, ed in qual vico.”
"Costoro, e Persio, ed io, e altri assai,
rispose il duca mio, "siam con quel Greco
che le Muse lattar più ch' altro mai,
nel primo cinghio del carcere cieco.
>>
Spesse fiate ragioniam del monte,
che sempre ha le nutrici nostre seco.
Euripide v'è nosco ed Antifonte,
Simonide, Agatone ed altri piùe
Greci, che già di lauro ornar la fronte.
Quivi si veggion delle genti tue
Antigone, Deifile ed Argia,
ed Ismene sì trista come fue.
79
8:
8
8
9
9
ΙΟ
Ι
I
I
CANTO XXII
277
and thy words, touched on above, harmonised so Statius'
with the new preachers, that the habit took conversion
me of visiting them.
They then became so holy in my sight, that
when Domitian persecuted them, their wail-
ings were not without tears of mine.
And while by me yon world was trod, I succoured
them, and their righteous lives made me despise
all other sects;
and ere in my poem I had brought the Greeks
to Thebes' rivers, I received baptism, but
through fear I was a secret Christian,
ong time pretending paganism; and this luke-
warmness made me speed round the fourth circle
more than four times a hundred years.
to Chris-
tianity
worthies of
Thou therefore, who hast lifted the covering The
which hid from me the great good I tell of, antiquity
while we have time to spare on the ascent,
cell me, where is our ancient Terence, Cæcilius,
Plautus, and Varro if thou knowest; tell me
(
if they are damned, and in what ward.”
They, and Persius, and I, and many others,'
my Leader answered, "are with that Greek
to whom the Muses gave suck more than to
any other,
n the first circle of the dark prison. Ofttimes
we talk of the mount which hath our foster-
mothers ever with it.
Euripides is there with us, and Antiphon,
Simonides, Agathon, and many other Greeks,
who once decked their brows with laurel.
There are seen
of thy people Antigone,
Deiphyle and Argia, and Ismene so sad as
she was.
278
PURGATORIO
Salita al Vedesi quella che mostrò Langia;
evvi la figlia di Tiresia, e Teti,
Girone VI
Girone VI
e con le suore sue Deidamia.
Tacevansi ambo e due già li poeti,
di nuovo attenti a riguardare intorno,
liberi dal salire e dai pareti ;
112
115
117
e già le quattro ancelle eran del giorno
rimase addietro, e la quinta era al temo,
drizzando pure in su l'ardente corno;
quando il mio duca : “Io credo ch'allo estremo 121
le destre spalle volger ci convegna,
girando il monte come far solemo."
Così l'usanza fu lì nostra insegna,
e prendemmo la via con men sospetto
per l'assentir di quell' anima degna.
Elli givan dinanzi, ed io soletto
diretro, ed ascoltava i lor sermoni
ch' a poetar mi davano intelletto.
124
127
Ma tosto ruppe le dolci ragioni
130
un arbor che trovammo in mezza strada,
con pomi ad odorar soavi e buoni.
E come abete in alto si digrada
133
di ramo in ramo, così quello in giuso,
cred' io perchè persona su non vada.
Dal lato, onde il cammin nostro era chiuso,
cadea dell' alta roccia un liquor chiaro,
e si spandeva per le foglie suso.
Li due poeti all' arbor s' appressaro;
ed una voce per entro le fronde
gridò: "Di questo cibo avrete caro.
Poi disse: "Più pensava Maria onde
fosser le nozze orrevoli ed intere,
>>
ch' alla sua bocca, ch' or per voi risponde.
136
139
142
CANTO XXII
279
There is seen she who showed Langia; there is The
Tiresias' daughter, and Thetis, and Deidamia worthies of
with her sisters."
Now were both poets silent, intent anew on
gazing around, freed from the ascent and
from the walls;
nd already four handmaids of the day were
left behind, and the fifth was at the chariot
pole, directing yet upward its flaming horn,
when my Leader: "I think it behoves us to
turn our right shoulders to the edge and
circle the mount as we are wont to do."
Thus custom there was our guide, and we took
up our way with less doubt because of the
assent of that worthy spirit.
They journeyed on in front, and I, solitary,
behind; and I hearkened to their discourse
which gave me understanding in poesy.
antiquity
The
gluttonous
gress of the
three poets
is hindered
But soon the sweet converse was broken by The pro-
a tree which we found in the midst of the way,
with fruit wholesome and pleasant to smell.
And even as a pine tree grows gradually less by a tree
from bough to bough upwards, so did that
downwards; I think so that none may go up.
On the side where our path was blocked, a clear
spring fell from the high rock and spread
itself above over the leaves.
The two poets drew near the tree; and a voice from which
from within the foliage cried: "Of this food are recited
ye shall have scarcity."
Then it said: CC
Mary thought more how the
wedding-feast might be honourable and com-
plete, than of her own mouth, which now
answers for you.
Examples
of Temper-
ance-
The Virgin
Mary
280
PURGATORIO
*
Girone VI E le Romane antiche per lor bere
contente furon d'acqua, e Daniello
dispregiò cibo ed acquistò sapere.
Lo secol primo quant' oro fu bello;
fe' saporose con fame le ghiande,
e nettare con sete ogni ruscello.
Mele e locuste furon le vivande
che nutriro il Batista nel diserto;
per ch' egli è glorioso, e tanto grande
quanto per l' Evangelio v'è aperto."
6:
145
148
151
154
4-6. Matt. v. Beati qui [esuriunt et] sitiunt
justitiam; "Blessed are they which do [hunger and]
thirst after righteousness." The words of this
Beatitude that have been placed in square brackets-
are reserved for the Angel of the sixth terrace (see
below, Canto xxiv. 151-154).
13. Juvenal, the satirist, lived ca. 47-130; he
praises Statius in the seventh Satire, v. 82 sqq.
37-42. Dante frequently misunderstood the classical
Latin writers. He evidently read them with the same
ease and security and the same keen appreciation but
frequent misconception with which an Englishman,
who has made no special study of Elizabethan
English, reads Shakespeare. But if he really took
Virgil's quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames (En.
iii. 56, 57) to mean that a moderate, and therefore
hallowed, desire for wealth ought to moderate ex-
travagance, it constitutes a more portentous blunder
in Latinity than any other that can be brought home
to him. Many ingenious attempts have been made
to escape this; but the only legitimate one is to
suppose that Dante, while understanding the sense
in which Virgil uttered the words, considered him-
self justified in supposing that his writings, like the
Scripture, had many senses, and that for purposes of
edification we must look into all the possible mean-
ings that any passage might have apart from the
context in which it occurs. [For the context of
the passage in question, see above, Canto xx. 115,
note]. And, as a matter of fact, this was the
CANTO XXII
281
gluttonous,
of Temper-
And the Roman women of old were content The
with water for their drink, and Daniel despised Examples
food and gained wisdom.
The first age was fair as gold; it made acorns The Roman
savoury with hunger, and every stream nectar women and
with thirst.
Honey and locusts were the meat which nourished

ance-
Daniel
The Golden
Agé
John the
the Baptist in the wilderness; therefore he is Baptist
glorious, and so great as in the Gospel is
revealed to you.
generally received theory in Dante's day.-Verse 42
alludes to the punishment of the Avaricious and
Prodigal in Hell (see Inf. vii. 22 sqq.).
46. Cf. Inf. vii. 56, 57.
49-51. The idea of virtue being the mean between.
two extremes is, of course, the guiding principle of
Aristotle's Ethics, but it does not harmonise well
with the Christian scheme, which regarded many
extremes that Aristotle actually or hypothetically
condemned, as virtues. In the Christian scheme, for
instance, there could be no excess of self-denial or of
humility. In his abstract ethical sympathies, if not
in his concrete instincts, Dante is far more Christian
than Aristotelian, and can therefore find no room for
the consistent application of the Aristotelian doctrine,
which is indeed conspicuous by its absence from the
Commedia. But here, where he finds a concrete
instance which appeals to him, he takes the oppor-
tunity of expressing it as a general principle.
55-60. Jocasta, the mother, and afterwards the wife,
of Oedipus, by whom she had the two sons alluded
to in Inf. xxvi. 53, 54 (see note). Virgil (here called
cantor de' bucolici carmi, probably in anticipation of the
verses from his fourth Eclogue quoted below) is not
referring to the invocation to Clio, the Muse of
History, with which the Thebaid begins, but to the
pagan theme and entirely pagan treatment of the
whole poem.
63. pescator, "the Fisherman," i.e. St Peter.
282
NOTES
66-73. Magnus ab integro sæculorum nascitur ordo Jam
redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna; Jam nova progenies
cælo demittitur alto (Virgil, Eclogue iv. 5-7). No one
who reads Virgil's fourth Eclogue can fail to be
impressed by its similarity to "Messianic"
Messianic" passages
of the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah.
It is easy
to understand that it was universally accepted as a
divinely inspired prophetic utterance in the Middle
Ages. It seems probable that, as a matter of fact,
the poem is an indirect imitation of Isaiah, for the
Jews of Alexandria wrote a number of Sibylline
verses; that is to say, Greek hexameters embodying
their religious ideas, and largely based on Scripture,
which they put into the mouths of the Sibyls. Some
of these date from pre-Christian times, and Virgil
may well have come across them, have been struck
by them, and have combined them with features of
the pagan tradition in this remarkable poem.
83. The Emperor Domitian (81-96) is accused by
Eusebius and Tertullian of having cruelly persecuted
the Christians; but there is no contemporary evidence
of this.
88, 89. With these words Statius is generally sup-
posed to indicate the entire Thebaid, not any particular
episode in the poem. We have no record of Statius'
conversion.
97-108. All these writers, divided into two groups,
Roman and Greek respectively, are in Limbo, together
with Homer (vv. 101-103). Verses 104 and 105
refer, of course, to Mount Parnassus and the Muses.
Terence (195-159, B.C.), Caecilius Statius (d. 168,
B. C.), Plautus (254-184, B.C.): comic poets; Varro
(born 82, B.c.): author of epics and satires [perhaps
the reading should be Vario; in which case the
reference is to Lucius Varius Rufus, author of a
tragedy and epics, who lived in the Augustan Age
and is mentioned by Horace, Ars Poet., 54, 55,
together with Caecilius and Plautus]; Persius
(34-62): the satirist.-Euripides (480-441, B.C.),
Antiphon and Agathon (ca. 448-400, B.C.): tragic
poets; Simonides (ca. 556-467, B.C.): lyric poet.
109-114. The genti of Statius are the people he
celebrates in the Thebaid and Achilleid:
CANTO XXII
283
Antigone and Ismene: daughters of Oedipus, by
his mother Jocasta, and sisters of Eteocles and
Polynices (see above, vv. 55-60, note); Deiphile (the
mother of Diomed) and Argia (the wife of Polynices):
daughters of Adrastus, King of Argos; Hypsipyle
(v. 112; cf. Inf. xviii. 91-95) to whom Lycurgus
had entrusted his son, Archemorus, directed the
seven heroes who fought against Thebes to a fountain
called Langia, and, the child having been killed by a
serpent in her absence, Lycurgus would have slain
her, had not her sons came to the rescue (see below,
Canto xxvi. 94, 95, and cf. Conv. iii. 11: 165-169); for
Tiresias and his daughter Manto, see Inf. xx. 40-45,
52 sqq. and 55-93, note; for Thetis and Deidamia,
see Inf. xxvi. 61, 62, note.
: 118-120. It is past 10 A.M. Cf. above, Canto xii.
v. 81.
131-138. Some commentators hold that because
the companion tree, situated at the end of the terrace,
was raised from the tree of knowledge of good and
evil (see below, Canto xxiv. 116, 117), the present
tree must have some connection with the tree of life
(Gen. ii. 9). But this appears somewhat doubtful.
142-144. Dante has used this incident once already,
as an example of generosity (see above, Canto xiii.
28-30).
145, 146. Thomas Aquinas, in a passage recom-
mending sobriety to women and young people,
quotes the words of Valerius Maximus (II. i. 3.):
Vini usus olim romanis fœminis ignotus fuit.
146, 147. See Dan. i. 8, 17: "But Daniel purposed
in his heart that he would not defile himself with
the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which
he drank: and Daniel had understanding in all
•
visions and dreams."
148-150. For the Golden Age, cf. Inf. xiv. 96, 106
and 112, and Purg. xxviii. 139-144. See, too, Ovid,
Met. i. 103 sqq., whose description Dante may have
had in mind.
151-154. For the locusts and honey eaten by John
the Baptist, see Matt. iii. 4, Mark i. 6; and for his
glory and greatness, see Matt. xi. 11, Luke vii. 28.
PURGATORIO
ANTE'S eyes search the foliage of the tree till
he is summoned to advance by Virgil. Then
he hears the cry, at once grievous and soothing, of the
souls who presently overtake the travellers and turn to
look upon them as they pass, though without pausing
(1-21). These are the once gluttonous souls, with
faces now drawn by thirst and hunger, so emaciated
that the extremest examples of famine in sacred or
profane records rush to Dante's mind.
Their eye-
sockets are like rings that have lost their gems; and
he who reads omo (homo) on the face of man would
find the three strokes of the m writ plain enough in
the gaunt bones of cheek and nose (22-33). How can
the fruit and trickling water work in such fashion
on the shadowy forms? (34-39). One of them turns
his eyes from deep down in the sockets upon Dante,
who, when he speaks, recognises his old companion
Forese; and each of the astonished friends demands
Girone VI Mentre che gli occhi per la fronda verde
ficcava io così, come far suole
chi retro agli uccellin sua vita perde,
lo più che padre mi dicea: "Figliuole,
vienne oramai, chè il tempo che c'è imposto
più utilmente compartir si vuole."
Io volsi il viso e il passo non men tosto
appresso ai savi, che parlavan sie
che l'andar mi facean di nullo costo.
Ed ecco piangere e cantar s'udie:
"Labia mea Domine," per modo
tal che diletto e doglia parturie.
"O dolce padre, che è quel ch' i' odo?"
comincia' io; ed egli: "Ombre che vanno
forse di lor dover solvendo il nodo."
7
ΙΩ
13
284
CANTO XXIII
priority of satisfaction for his own amazed curiosity
(40-60). Forese explains that there are other trees
like to this, and that each renews the pain of the
purging souls; nay, rather their solace; for they
exult in crucifying with Christ the old Adam in
them (61-75). Forese further shows how he owes
to his widowed Nella his speedy promotion to the
sweet bitterness of torment. She is all the dearer to
God in proportion to the loneliness of her virtue in
the place of infamy in which she lives (76-96). Forese
proceeds to denounce the dissolute fashions of the
women of Florence (97-111). Dante must now in
his turn unfold the story of how he had been rescued
from the worldly life which he and Forese had once
lived together, of the strange journey on which
Virgil has conducted him, of the promise that he
shall meet Beatrice, and of the manner in which
they have encountered Statius (112-133).
While I was thus fixing mine eyes through the The
green leaves, even as he is wont to do who gluttonous
throws away his life after birds,
my more than father said to me: "Son, come
""
now onward, for the time which is allotted to
us must be more usefully apportioned.'
I turned my face, and my step not less quickly,
towards the sages, who were discoursing so
that they made the going of no cost to me.
And lo, in tears and song was heard: "Labia mea
Domine," in such manner that it gave birth to
joy and grief.
>>
"O sweet Father, what is that which I hear?
began I; and he: "Shades that perchance
go loosening the knot of their debt.”
285
286
PURGATORIO
Girone VI Sì come i peregrin pensosi fanno,
giugnendo per cammin gente non nota,
che si volgono ad essa e non ristanno :
così di retro a noi, più tosto mota,
venendo e trapassando, ci ammirava
d' anime turba tacita e devota.
Negli occhi era ciascuna oscura e cava,
pallida nella faccia, e tanto scema
che dall'ossa la pelle s' informava.
Non credo che così a buccia strema
Eresitone fosse fatto secco,
per digiunar, quando più n' ebbe tema.
Io dicea fra me stesso pensando: “Ecco
la gente che perdè Jerusalemme,
quando Maria nel figlio die' di becco."
Parean l'occhiaie anella senza gemme:
chi nel viso degli uomini legge omo,
ben avria quivi conosciuto l' emme.
Chi crederebbe che l' odor d' un pomo
si governasse, generando brama,
e quel d' un' acqua, non sapendo como?
Già era in ammirar che sì gli affama,
per la cagione ancor non manifesta
di lor magrezza e di lor trista squama;
ed ecco del profondo della testa
I
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
volse a me gli occhi un' ombra, e guardò fiso,
poi gridò forte: "Qual grazia m' è questa?"
Mai non l'avrei riconosciuto al viso ;
ma nella voce sua mi fu palese
ciò che l'aspetto in sè avea conquiso.
Questa favilla tutta mi raccese
mia conoscenza alla cambiata labbia,
e ravvisai la faccia di Forese.
43
16
CANTO XXIII
287
gluttonous
Even as musing wayfarers do, who on over- The
taking strange folk by the way, turn round to
them and stay not,
so behind us, moving more quickly, coming,
and passing by, a throng of spirits, silent and
devout, was gazing upon us in wonder.
Dark and hollow-eyed was each one, pallid of Their
punishment
face, and so wasted away that the skin took
form from the bones.
I do not believe that Erisicthon became thus
withered to the very skin by hunger, when
greatest fear he had thereof.
I said in thought within me :
"Behold the
people that lost Jerusalem when Mary fed on
her child."
Their eye-sockets seemed gemless rings: he who
reads 'omo' in the face of man would clearly
have recognised there the 'm.’
Who, not knowing the reason, would believe
that the scent of fruit and that of water had
thus wrought, by begetting desire?
Donati
Already I was in astonishment at what thus
famishes them, because of the reason not yet
manifest, of their leanness, and of their sad scurf,
when lo, from the hollow of the head a shade Forese
turned its eyes to me and fixedly did gaze;
then cried aloud: “What grace is this to me?'
Never had I recognised him by the face, but in
his voice, was revealed to me, that which was
blotted out in his countenance.
This spark rekindled within me all my know-
ledge of the changed features, and I recognised
the face of Forese.
288
PURGATORIO
Girone VI "Deh non contendere all' asciutta scabbia,
che mi scolora," pregava,
“la pelle,
nè a difetto di carne ch' io abbia ;
ma dimmi il ver di te, e chi son quelle
due anime che là ti fanno scorta;
non rimaner che tu non mi favelle."
"La faccia tua, ch' io lagrimai già morta,
mi dà di pianger mo non minor doglia,
rispos' io lui, "veggendola sì torta.
Però mi di', per Dio, che sì vi sfoglia ;
non mi far dir mentr' io mi maraviglio,
chè mal può dir chi è pien d' altra voglia."
Ed egli a me: "Dall' eterno consiglio
cade virtù nell'acqua, e nella pianta
rimasa retro, ond' io sì m' assottiglio.
Tutta esta gente, che piangendo canta,
per seguitar la gola oltra misura
in fame e in sete qui si rifà santa.
Di bere e di mangiar n' accende cura
l'odor ch' esce del pomo, e dello sprazzo
che si distende su per la verdura.
E non pure una volta, questo spazzo
girando, si rinfresca nostra pena,
io dico pena e dovrei dir sollazzo ;
chè quella voglia all' arbore ci mena,
che meno Cristo lieto a dire: 'Elì,'
quando ne liberò con la sua vena.
Ed io a lui: "Forese, da quel di
""
nel qual mutasti mondo a miglior vita,
cinqu' anni non son volti infino a qui.
Se prima fu la possa in te finita
di peccar più, che sorvenisse l' ora
del buon dolor ch' a Dio ne rimarita,
49
$2
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
CANTO XXIII
289
"Ah stare not," he prayed, "at the dry leprosy The
which discolours my skin, nor at any default gluttonous
of flesh that I may have,
but tell me sooth of thyself, and who those two
spirits are that there make thy escort; abide
thou not without speaking to me.
"Thy face," answered I him, "which in death
I wept for once, gives me now not less grief,
even unto tears, seeing it so disfigured.
Therefore tell me, in God's name, what strips you
so; make me not talk while I am marvelling, for
ill can he speak who is full of other desire."
And he to me: "From the eternal counsel virtue
descends into the water, and into the tree left
behind, whereby I thus do waste away.
All this people, who weeping sing, sanctify
themselves again in hunger and thirst, for
having followed appetite to excess.
The scent which issues from the fruit, and from
the spray that is diffused over the green,
kindles within us a desire to eat and to drink.
And not once only, while circling this road, is
our pain renewed, I say pain and ought to
say solace;
for that desire leads us to the tree, which led
Christ joyfully to say: Eli' when he made
us free with his blood."
And I to him: “Forese, from that day on
which thou didst change the world for a
better life, not five years have revolved till now.
If power to sin more came to an end in thee ere
the hour supervened of the holy sorrow which
weds us anew to God,
T
Forese and
Dante
290
PURGATORIO
""
Girone VI come se' tu quassù venuto? Ancora
io ti credea trovar laggiù di sotto,
dove tempo per tempo si ristora.
Ed egli a me: "Sì tosto m' ha condotto
a ber la dolce assenzio de' martiri
la Nella mia col suo pianger dirotto;
con suoi preghi devoti e con sospiri
tratto m' ha della costa ove s' aspetta,
e liberato m' ha degli altri giri.
Tant' è a Dio più cara e più diletta
la vedovella mia, che molto amai,
quanto in bene operare è più soletta :
chè la Barbagia di Sardigna assai
nelle femmine sue è più pudica
che la Barbagia dov' io la lasciai.
O dolce frate, che vuoi tu ch' io dica?
Tempo futuro m' è già nel cospetto,
cui non sarà quest' ora molto antica,
nel qual sarà in pergamo interdetto
alle sfacciate donne Fiorentine
l'andar mostrando con le poppe il petto.
Quai Barbare fur mai, quai Saracine,
cui bisognasse, per farle ir coperte,
o spiritali o altre discipline?
Ma se le svergognate fosser certe
di quel che il ciel veloce loro ammanna,
già per urlare avrian le bocche aperte :
chè, se l'antiveder qui non m' inganna,
prima fien triste che le guance impeli
colui che mo si consola con nanna.
Deh, frate, or fa che più non mi ti celi;
vedi che non pur io, ma questa gente
tutta rimira là dove il sol veli."
82
85
89
91
94
97
100
103
106
100
II2
CANTO XXIII
291
how art thou come up here? I thought to find The
thee yet down below, where time for time is
repaid."
gluttonous
contrasts
And he to me:
"Thus soon hath led me to Forese
drink the sweet wormwood of the torments, his wife's
my Nella by her flood of tears;
by her prayers devout and by sighs she hath
- brought me from the borders where they wait,
and set me free from the other circles.
So much more precious and beloved of God is
my dear widow, whom I loved so well, as she
I is the more lonely in good works;
virtues
For the Barbagia of Sardinia is far more modest with the
in its women than the Barbagia where I left vices of the
her.
O sweet brother, what wouldst thou have me
say? Already in my vision is a time to
come to which this hour shall not be very old,
when the brazen-faced women of Florence shall
be forbidden from the pulpit to go abroad
showing their breasts with the paps.
What Barbary, what Saracen women ever lived,
to whom either spiritual, or other discipline
were necessary, to make them go covered?
ut if the shameless creatures were assured of what
swift heaven is preparing for them, already
would they have their mouths open to howl:
or if prevision here beguile me not, they shall
be sorrowing ere he shall clothe his cheeks
with down, who now is soothed with lullaby.
ray brother, look that thou hide thee no longer
from me; thou seest that not only I, but all this
people are gazing where thou veilest the sun.”
other
Florentine
women
292
PURGATORIO
Girone VI Per ch' io a lui: "Se ti riduci a mente
qual fosti meco e quale io teco fui,
ancor fia grave il memorar presente.
Di quella vita mi volse costui
che mi va innanzi, l' altr' ier, quando tonda
vi si mostrò la suora di colui-"
115
118
(e il sol mostrai). "Costui per la profonda 121
notte menato m' ha da' veri morti,
con questa vera carne che il seconda.
Indi m' han tratto su li suoi conforti,
salendo e rigirando la montagna,
che drizza voi che il mondo fece torti.
Tanto dice di farmi sua compagna,
ch' io sarò là dove fia Beatrice;
quivi convien che senza lui rimagna.
Virgilio è questi che così mi dice.
(e addita' lo), e quest' altro è quell' ombra
per cui scosse dianzi ogni pendice
lo vostro regno che da sè lo sgombra."
124
127
130
133
II. "O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth
shall shew forth thy praise" (Ps. li. 15). [All the
offices begin with the invocation Domine labia mea
aperies.]
25-27. The Thessalian, Erisichton, cut down an
oak in the sacred grove of Ceres, whereupon the
goddess punished him by making him endure such
hunger that he was reduced to gnawing his own
flesh; of which, by that time, there was so little lef
that his hunger opened the yet more terrible prospec
of death by starvation (Ovid, Met. viii. 738-878).
28-30. During the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the
famine became so terrible, that a Jewess, named
Mary, killed her child and devoured it (see Josephus
De Bello Jud. vi. 3).
32, 33. Longfellow quotes an interesting passag
from a sermon of Brother Berthold (a Francisca
CANTO XXIII
293
Wherefore I to him: "If thou bring back to The
mind what thou hast been with me and what lattonous
I have been with thee, the present memory bante
prese and

will still be grievous.
From that life he who goeth before me did
turn me, the other day, when full was shown
to you the sister of him,
""
and I pointed to the sun). "This one through
the deep night hath led me from the truly dead,
in this solid flesh which follows him.
Thence his comforts have brought me up, ascend-
ing and circling the mount, which makes you
straight whom the world made crooked.
So long he talks of making me his comrade,
until I shall be there where Beatrice will be;
there must I remain bereft of him.
Virgil is he who thus speaks to me (and I
pointed to him) and this other is that shade for
whom before in every scarp your realm did
shake which now discharges him from itself."
ciar who lived at Regensburg in the 13th century),
which proves, what is indeed implied in Dante's
words, that this conception was current at the
me.
40 sqq. This is Dante's friend, Forese Donati, the
rother of Corso (see the following canto, vv. 79-
p) and of Piccarda (see the following canto, vv. 10,
3-15, and Par. iii. 34 sqq., especially the note to
49). Forese, who bore the nickname of Bicci
Iovello, died on July 28, 1296 (v. 78). For his
elations with Dante, which throw considerable
ght on the somewhat unedifying but highly
teresting and important period of our poet's life
nat followed the death of Beatrice, see vv. 115-119
nd cf. Gardner, p. 14 sq.
73-75. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
294
NOTES
with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me ?" (Matt. xxviii. 46, Mark xv. 34).—
quella voglia-the desire to conform our will to the
will of God.
•
79-84. If you delayed repentance till the last
moment, how is it that you are not still in the
Antipurgatorio ?'
85-93. In one of the sonnets referred to below
(note to vv. 115-119) Dante describes Forese's neglect
of his wife, Nella, but with a coarseness that is well-
nigh incredible. The present passage may have been
intended by the poet to atone in a measure for that
poem, and to offer the widow some consolation by
representing Forese, in his new condition, as one of
the tenderest of husbands.
94-111. Dante compares the shamelessness of the
Florentine women with that of the women in Bar-
bagia (a mountainous district in the south of Sardinia).
CANTO XXIII
295
who are said to have been descended either from the
Vandals or the Saracens. We have no contemporary
record of sermons or decrees relating to this subject.
A law dealing with a kindred matter-the luxury of
the women-is mentioned by Villani (ix. 245) as
having been passed in 1324. See Par. xv. 99 sqq.
115-119. These verses afford a clear proof that the
life from which Virgil rescued Dante was not merely
one of philosophical or religious error, as has been
contended, but of moral unworthiness. There is
still extant a poetical correspondence between Dante
and Forese (consisting of three sonnets by the former
and two by the latter) on a level quite beneath any-
thing else that we possess of Dante's. The two
friends rail at each other in a vein which may have
been meant playfully, but is extremely stinging and
anything but refined.
119, 120. See Inf. xx. 127-129.
127-129. See Inf. i. 112-126.
THE
PURGATORIO
HE souls gather in amazement round the living
man; who utters a surmise to his friend that
Statius is perchance lingering on his way for the
sake of Virgil's companionship; and then questions
him concerning his sister Piccarda, and learns that
she is already in heaven (1-15). The souls are so
emaciated as to be barely recognisable, and Forese
names a number of them as he points them out to
Dante; an office which they accept with complacency,
for recognition can bring no added shame, but may
bring sympathy or aid to souls in Purgatory (16-33).
Amongst them is Buonagiunta da Lucca, a poet of
the old school of Guittone of Arezzo, who mutters a
prophecy concerning a child of the name of Gentucca,
whose gracious offices to Dante when she comes to
woman's estate, shall give him tender associations.
with that city of Lucca which he and others have
so fiercely denounced (34-48). Then he questions
Dante as to the secret of the new school of Tuscan
poetry which has superseded the one to which he
belonged, and learns that it lies in the principle of
trying not to say things beautifully, but to say
Girone VI Nè il dir l' andar, nè l' andar lui più lento
facea, ma ragionando andavam forte,
sì come nave pinta da buon vento.
E l'ombre, che parean cose rimorte,
per le fosse degli occhi ammirazione
traean di me, di mio vivere accorte.
Ed io, continuando il mio sermone,
dissi: “Ella sen va su forse più tarda
che non farebbe, per l' altrui cagione.
4
7
296
CANTO XXIV
beautiful things truly; a criticism in which he
acquiesces with full content and satisfaction (49-63).
Then all the other souls sweep forward, while
Forese, like a straggler from a caravan, remains
behind to question Dante as to his expected term
of life, to hear his lamentations over the state of
Florence, to utter a prophecy of the death of his
relative Corso Donati, and then to speed forward
to rejoin his companions, leaving Dante to follow
the two great poets (64-99). The pilgrims now
pass another tree like the one already encountered.
They hear that it is a shoot from the one whereof
Eve tested the fruit; and from amongst its foliage
warning examples of gluttonous excess are rehearsed
(100-129). After a lengthened march in silent thought,
they are startled by the blinding glory of the angel
guardian, whose wing wafts a breath laden as with.
perfume of flowers on a May morning upon Dante's
brow; and the pilgrims hear the blessing pronounced
on those whose hunger is measured by righteousness
(130-154).
Neither did our speech make the going, nor the The
going it more slow; but, talking, we went gluttonous
bravely on, even as a ship driven by a fair
wind.
And the shades, that seemed things twice dead,
drew in wonderment at me through the pits of
their eyes, aware of my being alive.
And I, continuing my discourse, said: "Per-
chance he goeth upward more slowly than he
would do, for another's sake.
297
298
PURGATORIO
""
""
Girone VI Ma dimmi, se tu 'l sai, ov' è Piccarda ;
dimmi s' io veggio da notar persona
tra questa gente che sì mi riguarda.
"La mia sorella, che tra bella e buona
non so qual fosse più, trionfa lieta
nell' alto Olimpo già di sua corona.
Sì disse prima, e poi : "Qui non si vieta
di nominar ciascun, da ch' è sì munta
nostra sembianza via per la dieta.
Questi (e mostrò col dito) è Bonagiunta,
Bonagiunta da Lucca; e quella faccia
di là da lui, più che l' altre trapunta,
ebbe la santa Chiesa in le sue braccia :
dal Torso fu, e purga per digiuno
l'anguille di Bolsena e la vernaccia.'
Molti altri mi nomò ad uno ad uno;
e del nomar parean tutti contenti,
sì ch' io però non vidi un atto bruno.
Vidi fame a vôto usar li denti
per
Ubaldin dalla Pila, e Bonifazio
che pasturò col rocco molte genti.
Vidi messer Marchese, ch' ebbe spazio
già di bere a Forlì con men secchezza,
e sì fu tal che non si sentì sazio.
Ma, come fa chi guarda e poi s'apprezza
IC
13
16
I
22
25
28
31
34
"
37
più d'un che d' altro, fe' io a quel da Lucca,
che più parea di me aver contezza.
Ei mormorava, e non so che “Gentucca
sentiva io là ov' ei sentia la piaga
della giustizia che sì li pilucca.
vaga
"O anima," diss' io, "che par sì
di parlar meco, fa sì ch' io t' intenda,
e te e me col tuo parlare appaga."
49
CANTO XXIV
299
But tell me, if thou knowest, where Piccarda is; The
tell me if I see any person to be noted among
this people who gaze so at me.
CC
My sister, who, whether she were more fair or
more good I know not, now triumphs, rejoic-
ing in her crown on high Olympus."
gluttonous
Piccarda's
place in
Paradise
points out
some fellow
spirits
Thus spake he at first, and then: "Here 'tis Forese
not forbidden to name each one, since our
features are so wrung by abstinence.
This (and he showed with his finger) is Bona- Bonagiunta
giunta, Bonagiunta of Lucca; and that visage, and Pope
beyond him, shrivelled more than the others, Martin IV
held Holy Church within its arms: from Tours
sprang he, and by fasting purges the eels of
Bolsena and the sweet wine."
Many others he named to me, one by one, and
all did seem glad at the naming, so that I
saw therefore not one black look.
of Lucca
and
saw Ubaldino della Pila using his teeth for very Ubaldino
hunger on the void; and Boniface who pastured Boniface
many peoples with the rook.
Marchese
I saw Messer Marchese, who once had leisure Messer
to drink at Forlì with less thirst, and yet was
so craving that he never felt sated.
But as he doth who looks, and then esteems one Dante and
more than another, so did I to him of Lucca Bonagiunta
who seemed to have most knowledge of me.
He was muttering, and something like "Gen-
tucca," I heard there where he was feeling the.
wounds of Justice, which so doth pluck them.
"O soul," said I, "that seemeth yearning so to
talk with me, speak so that I may understand
thee, and satisfy me and thee with thy speech."
300
PURGATORIO
Girone VI "Femmina è nata, e non porta ancor benda," 43
cominciò ei, “che ti farà piacere
la mia città, come ch' uom la riprenda.
Tu te n' andrai con questo antivedere ;
se nel mio mormorar prendesti errore,
dichiariranti ancor le cose vere.
Ma di' s' io veggio qui colui che fuore
trasse le nuove rime, cominciando :
'Donne, ch' avete intelletto d' Amore.'
Ed io a lui: “Io mi son un che, quando
amor mi spira, noto, ed a quel modo
che ditta dentro, vo significando."
“O frate, issa veggio,” disse, “il nodo
che il Notaro, e Guittone e me ritenne
di qua dal dolce stil nuovo ch'i' odo.
Io veggio ben come le vostre penne
di retro al dittator sen vanno strette,
che delle nostre certo non avvenne.
E qual più a guardar oltre si mette,
non vede più dall' uno all' altro stilo "
e quasi contentato si tacette.
Come gli augei che vernan lungo il Nilo
alcuna volta in aer fanno schiera,
poi volan più in fretta e vanno in filo:
così tutta la gente che lì era,
volgendo il viso, raffrettò suo passo,
e per magrezza e per voler leggiera.
E come l'uom che di trottare è lasso
lascia andar li compagni, e si passeggia
fin che si sfoghi l' affollar del casso:
sì lasciò trapassar la santa greggia
Forese, e retro meco sen veniva,
;
dicendo: "Quando fia ch' io ti riveggia?"
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
CANTO XXIV
301
gluttonous
"A woman is born and wears not yet the The
wimple," he began, "who will make my city Bona-
pleasing to thee, however man may rebuke it. giunta's
Thou shalt go hence with this prophecy; if thou prophecy
hast taken my muttering in error, the real facts
will make it yet clear to thee.
(
But tell if I see here him who invented the He
new rhymes beginning: Ladies that have
intelligence of Love.""
And I to him: "I am one who, when Love
inspires me take note, and go setting it forth
after the fashion which he dictates within me.
"O brother," said he, "now I see the knot which
kept back the Notary, and Guittone, and me,
short of the sweet new style that I hear.
Truly I see how your pens follow close after
him who dictates, which certainly befell not
with ours.
And he who sets himself to search farther, has lost
all sense of difference between the one style and
the other"; and, as if satisfied, he was silent.
As birds that winter along the Nile sometimes
make of themselves an aerial squadron, then
fly in greater haste and go in file;
so all the people that were there, facing round,
quickened their pace, fleet through leanness
and desire.
And as one who is weary of running lets his
comrades go by, and walks until the panting
of his chest be eased;
so Forese let the holy flock pass by, and came
on behind with me, saying: "When shall it
be that I see thee again?
discourses
with Dante
on poetry
302
PURGATORIO
Girone VI "Non so,” rispos' io lui, “quant' io mi viva ; 76
ma già non fia il tornar mio tanto tosto,
ch' io non sia col voler prima alla riva:
però che il loco, u' fui a viver posto,
di giorno in giorno più di ben si spolpa,
ed a trista ruina par disposto.
""
79
"Or va," diss' ei, "chè quei che più n' ha colpa 82
vegg' io a coda d' una bestia tratto
in ver la valle, ove mai non si scolpa.
La bestia ad ogni passo va più ratto,
crescendo sempre, fin ch' ella il percuote,
e lascia il corpo vilmente disfatto.
Non hanno molto a volger quelle rote,
(e drizzò gli occhi al ciel) che ti fia chiaro
ciò che il mio dir più dichiarar non puote.
Tu ti rimani omai, chè il tempo è caro
in questo regno, sì ch' io perdo troppo,
venendo teco si a paro a paro.
دو
Qual esce alcuna volta di galoppo
lo cavalier di schiera che cavalchi,
e va per farsi onor del primo intoppo,
tal si partì da noi con maggior valchi;
ed io rimasi in via con esso i due,
che fur del mondo sì gran maliscalchi.
E quando innanzi a noi entrato fue,
che gli occhi miei si fero a lui seguaci
come la mente alle parole sue,
parvermi i rami gravidi e vivaci
d' un altro pomo, e non molto lontani,
per esser pure allora volto in làci.
Vidi gente sott' esso alzar le man
e gridar non so che verso le fronde
quasi bramosi fantolini e vani
;
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
тоб
CANTO XXIV
303
gluttonous
"I know not," answered I him, "how long I may The
live, yet my return will not be so soon but that
I be not before with my desire at the bank :
for the place where I was put to live, is day by The misery
day more stripped of good, and seems doomed due to
to woeful ruin."
of Florence
Corso
Donati
"Now go," said he, "for him who is most in whose
fault I see dragged at the tail of a beast, death is
predicted
towards the vale where sin is never cleansed. by Forese
Faster goes the beast at every step, increasing
ever till it dashes him, and leaves his body
hideously disfigured.
Yon wheels (and he lifted his eyes up to the
heavens) have not long to revolve ere that
shall be clear to thee which my words may
no further declare.
Now remain thou behind, for time is precious in
this realm, so that I lose too much coming with
thee thus at equal pace.
""
As a horseman sometimes comes forth at a gallop
from a troop that is riding, and goes to win the
honour of the first encounter,
so parted he from us with greater strides; and I
was left by the way with the two who were such
great marshals of the world.
And when he had advanced so far ahead of us,
that mine eyes made such pursuit of him, as
my mind did of his words,
the laden and green boughs of another tree ap- A second
peared to me, and not very far away, for I was tree
but then come round thither.
saw people beneath it lifting up their hands, and
crying out something towards the foliage, like
spoilt and greedy children,
304
PURGATORIO
Girone VI che pregano, e il pregato non risponde,
ma per fare esser ben la voglia acuta,
tien alto lor disio e nol nasconde.
Poi si partì sì come ricreduta;
e noi venimmo al grande arbore adesso,
che tanti preghi e lagrime rifiuta.
Trapassate oltre senza farvi presso;
legno è più su che fu morso da Eva,
e questa pianta si levò da esso.”
Sì tra le frasche non so chi diceva ;
per che Virgilio e Stazio ed io, ristretti,
oltre andavam dal lato che si leva.
"Ricordivi," dicea, "dei maledetti
nei nuvoli formati, che satolli
Teseo combattêr coi doppi petti;
e degli Ebrei, ch' al ber si mostrar molli,
per che no' i volle Gedeon compagni,
quando ver Madian discese i colli."
Sì accostati all' un de' due vivagni
passammo, udendo colpe della gola,
seguite già da miseri guadagni.
Poi, rallargati per la strada sola,
ben mille passi e più ci portaro oltre,
contemplando ciascun senza parola.
"Che andate pensando sì voi sol tre?'
subita voce disse; ond' io mi scossi,
come fan bestie spaventate e poltre.
Drizzai la testa per veder chi fossi ;
e giammai non si videro in fornace
vetri o metalli sì lucenti e rossi,
Iog
II2
IIS
118
121
124
127
139
133
139
com' io vidi un che dicea: “S'a voi piace 139
montare in su, qui si convien dar volta ;
quinci si va chi vuole andar per pace."
CANTO XXIV
305
¿
who beg, and he of whom they beg, answers not, The
but to make their longing full keen, holds gluttonous
what they desire on high, and hides it not.
Then they departed as though undeceived; and
now we came to the great tree which mocks
so many prayers and tears.
"Pass onward without drawing nigh to it; higher From the
up is a tree which was eaten of by Eve, and second tree
this plant was raised from it.”
are recited
Examples
of
Thus amid the branches some one spake; where- Gluttony-
fore Virgil and Statius and I, close together,
went forward by the side which rises.
"Remember," he said, "the accursed ones formed The
in the clouds, who when gorged, fought Centaurs
Theseus with their double breasts;
and the Hebrews who showed themselves soft The
Hebrews
at the drinking, wherefore Gideon would have
them not for comrades when he came down the
hills to Midian.”
Thus we passed close against one of the two
margins, hearing sins of gluttony, once
followed by woeful gains.
Then, spread out along the solitary way, full a
thousand paces and more bore us onward, each
in contemplation without a word.
"What go ye thus pondering on ye lone three," The Angel
sudden voice did say; wherefore I startled of Temper-
as frightened and timid beasts do.
I raised my head to see who it was, and never in a
furnace were glasses or metals seen so glowing
and red,
as I saw one who said: "If it please you to
mount upward, here must a turn be given;
hence goeth he who desires to go for peace.
U
ance
306
PURGATORIO
Girone VI L'aspetto suo m' avea la vista tolta :
per ch' io mi volsi retro a' miei dottori,
com' uom che va secondo ch' egli ascolta.
E quale, annunziatrice degli albori,
l' aura di maggio movesi ed olezza,
tutta impregnata dall' erba e da' fiori :
tal mi sentii un vento dar per mezza
la fronte, e ben senti' mover la piuma,
che fe' sentir d' ambrosia l' orezza.
E senti' dir: "Beati cui alluma
tanto di grazia, che l'amor del gusto
nel petto lor troppo disir non fuma,
esuriendo sempre quanto è giusto."
10, 13-15. For Piccarda, see Par. iii. 34 sqq.
14
14
ΙΔ
IS
IS
19 sqq. Bonagiunta Orbicciani degli Overardi,
Lucchese poet, who was still living in 1296. Se
below, note to vv. 52-63.
20-24. Simon de Brie was Pope, as Martin IV
from 1281 till 1285. See Villani, vii. 58 and 106; i
the latter passage we learn that "he was a good ma
and very favourable to Holy Church and to those
the house of France, because he was from Tours
Martin died of eating too many eels from the Lak
of Bolsena stewed in Vernaccia wine. His epitap
ran: Gaudent anguillae, quia mortuus hic jacet ille Qui qua
morte reas excoriabat eas.
29. Of Ubaldin dalla Pila, a member of the Tusca
Ghibelline family of the Ubaldini, we know that h
was a glutton, and that he was brother of th
Cardinal Ottaviano (Inf. x. 120), father of the Arch
bishop Roger of Pisa (Inf. xxxiii.), and uncle
Ugolino d'Azzo (see above, Canto xiv. 105).
29, 30. This is probably Bonifazio dei Fieschi, wh
was Archbishop of Ravenna (1274-1295). We ha
no record of his greediness.-Rocco refers to the orn
CANTO XXIV
307
His countenance had bereft me of sight; where- The
fore I turned me back to my Teachers, like gluttonous
one who goeth according as he listens.
And as the May breeze, herald of the dawn, stirs
and breathes forth sweetness, all impregnate
with grass and with flowers,
such a wind felt I give on the middle of my brow,
and right well I felt the pinions move which
wafted ambrosial fragrance to my senses;
And I heard say: "Blessed are they who are The sixth
illumined by so much grace, that the love of
taste kindleth not too great desire in their
breasts, and who hunger always so far as is just."
ment, shaped like a rook at chess, at the top of the
ancient pastoral staff of the Archbishops of Ravenna.
31-33. Messer Marchese, of Forlì, who belonged
either to the Argogliosi or to the Ordelaffi family,
was Podestà of Faenza in 1296. When told that he
was always drinking he retorted by saying that he
was always thirsty.
37-48. A much discussed passage. A few of the
early commentators, somewhat absurdly, took gentucca
as a substantive, the pejorative of gente. It seems
probable that Minutoli's identification is correct, and
that the lady in question was Gentucca Morla, the
beautiful wife of Cosciorino Fondora, of Lucca, in
whose will (1317) she is mentioned. The friendship,
For such it assuredly was, may be placed between the
years 1314-1316, when Dante is most likely to have
been at Lucca (see Gardner, p. 35). In 1300 Gentucca
was still quite young and unmarried, and therefore did
not yet wear the benda (v. 43), which was reserved for
married women (and, when white, for widows, see
bove, Canto viii. v. 74).
51. The first line of a canzone contained in the
Vita Nuova, § xix.
52-63. Italian lyrical poetry before 1300 may be
Beatitude
308
NOTES
roughly divided into three schools. (a) The Sicilian
school (continued in Central Italy), which was based
on Provençal traditions; to this belong Jacopo da
Lentino, commonly called il Notaio, Bonagiunta, and
Guittone of Arezzo in his first period. (b) The
philosophical school, which may be represented by
the later poems of Guittone and which reached its
climax in the works of Guido Guinicelli of Bologna.
(c) The Florentine school of the dolce stil nuovo, the
most distinguished representatives of which are
Guido Cavalcanti and Dante. Their poetry is
strongly influenced by that of Guido Guinicelli, but
shows more genuine inspiration than any that had
gone before in Italy. See above, Canto xi. vv. 77-79,
note. [Bonagiunta wrote a poem in derision of Guido
Guinicelli; and if, as seems probable, this poem
induced Dante to select Bonagiunta for the purpose
of making him eat humble pie in the present canto,
we have another piece of evidence in favour of the
theory that the two Guidos are Guittone of Arezzo
and Guido Guinicelli.]
79-90. Corso Donati, Podestà of Bologna (1283,
1288) and of Pistoja (1289), and head of the Floren-
tine Blacks, was from all accounts a very distinguished
man; but he ruined himself and wrought incalculable
harm to others through his ambition. When the
disturbances of Florence became so unbearable, in
1300, that the heads of both factions were exiled, he
went to Rome and induced Boniface to send Charles
of Valois to the city as peacemaker. The latter
favoured the Blacks, who exiled their enemies and acted
relentlessly towards them for many years. Corso
finally tried to obtain supreme authority, and being
suspected of a treacherous intrigue with his father-
CANTO XXIV
309
n-law, the Ghibelline captain Uguccione della
Faggiuola, he was condemned to death. He attempted
o escape but was captured on the way; whereupon,
ather than meet so ignominious an end, he let him-
elf slip from his horse and was killed (Oct. 6, 1308).
See Villani, viii. 96; cf. Inf. vi. 64-69 and Purg. xx.
10-78.
103-117. See above, Canto xxii. 131-138, note.
121-123. The Centaurs (born of Ixion and a cloud
n the shape of Hera), were present at the wedding
of their half-brother, Pirithous, King of the Lapithae,
.nd Hippodame. One of their number, Eurytus, heated
with wine, attempted to carry off the bride, and the
est followed his example with the other women.
Theseus, the friend of Pirithous, having rescued Hippo-
lame, a general fight ensued between the Lapithae
nd the Centaurs, in which the latter were vanquished
see Ovid, Met. xii. 210-535).
"and the Lord
124-126. See Judges vii. 1-7 :
aid unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water
with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set
by himself; likewise every one that boweth down.
apon his knees to drink. And the number of them
hat lapped, putting their hand to their mouths, were
hree hundred men: but all the rest of the people
bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And
he Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred
men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the
Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other
people go every man unto his place."
151-154. "Blessed are they which do hunger [and
hirst] after righteousness: for they shall be filled"
Matt. v. 6). See above, Canto xxii. 4-6, note.
Girone VII
THE
PURGATORIO
HE pilgrims pursue their way up the stair in
single file (1-9). As the little stork longs but
ventures not to try its wings, so Dante feels the
question as to the meaning of what he has seen ever
kindled by longing and quenched by diffidence on hi
lips (10-15); till, encouraged by Virgil, he seeks for
instruction as to how the shadowy forms which need
no sustenance can present the appearance and ex
perience the sensations of gnawing hunger (16-21)
Virgil hints by analogies from pagan story and from
natural philosophy that our own experiences and
sensations may well reflect themselves in unsubstantia
appearances; or may be connected with physica
changes in matter other than that of our bodies o
Aesh and blood; but refers to Statius, his Christian
counterpart, for fuller exposition; for in truth thi
matter, though no part of Christian revelation, ye
verges on those mysterious and intricate portions o
Aristotle's doctrine which none save Christian philo
sophers have had vision clear enough truly to expoun
(22-30). Statius, after a polite disclaimer, proceeds to
expound the Aristotelian doctrines of generation and
embriology, showing how the human foetus passe
through every stage, differing only from the lowe
forms of plant, polype, or animal, in that it posseses the
potentiality of further development; whereas they
have reached their goal (31-60). At the critica
Salita al Ora era onde il salir non volea storpio,
chè il sole avea lo cerchio di merigge
lasciato al Tauro e la notte allo Scorpio.
Per che, come fa l' uom che non s' affigge,
ma vassi alla via sua, checchè gli appaia,
se di bisogno stimolo il trafigge:
310
CANTO XXV
point now reached, Averroës himself went wrong, for
finding no organ in the human body appropriated to the
immaterial principle of intelligence, he conceived it to
be no part of the individual life of man, but a universal
all-pervading principle; whereas in truth the human
soul or life is inbreathed direct by God into the
perfect animal form of the man that is to be; and
thereon it draws into itself all the lower vital functions
already active there (61-78). Therefore when the
body dies, the gates of sense are indeed closed; but the
soul itself which came from without remains with the
purely immaterial powers of memory, intelligence, and
will, isolated indeed from intercourse with outward
things, but in themselves more vivid than ever (79-84).
Then the soul drops at once to the bank of Acheron
or the mouth of Tiber, becomes aware of its
destination, and reflects itself upon an aerial body,
flame- or rainbow-like, and through the instrumentality
of this aerial body renews its intercourse with the outer
world and the experiences of sense (85-108). They
have now reached the topmost circle, which is filled
with flames, save a narrow outward margin on which
the poets march, single file, and whereon Dante must
take good heed to his steps; so that he can give but
broken attention to the souls who commemorate
examples of chastity from the midst of the glowing
heat (109-139).
of the third
day in
Purgatory
'Twas an hour when the ascent brooked no im- Afternoon
pediment, for the sun to the Bull, and night
to the Scorpion, had left the meridian circle.
Wherefore as does a man who halts not, but goes
on his way whatever may appear to him, if the
spur of necessity prick him,
311
312
PURGATORIO
Salita al così entrammo noi per la callaia,
Girone VII
uno innanzi altro, prendendo la scala.
che per artezza i salitor dispaia.
E quale il cicognin che leva l' ala
per voglia di volare, e non s'attenta
d'abbandonar lo nido, e giù la cala :
tal era io con voglia accesa e spenta
di domandar, venendo infino all'atto
che fa colui ch' a dicer s' argomenta.
Non lasciò, per l' andar che fosse ratto,
lo dolce padre mio, ma disse: “Scocca
l'arco del dir che insino al ferro hai tratto.”
Allor sicuramente aprii la bocca,
e cominciai: “Come si può far magro
là dove l' uopo di nutrir non tocca?”
"Se t'ammentassi come Meleagro
si consumò al consumar d' un stizzo,
non fora," disse, “questo a te sì agro;
e se pensassi come al vostro guizzo
guizza dentro allo specchio vostra image,
ciò che par duro ti parrebbe vizzo.
Ma perchè dentro a tuo voler t' adage,
ecco qui Stazio, ed io lui chiamo e prego,
che sia or sanator delle tue piage.'
"Se la veduta eterna gli dislego,'
""
""
rispose Stazio, “là dove tu sie,
discolpi me non potert' io far nego.
Poi cominciò: "Se le parole mie,
figlio, la mente tua guarda e riceve,
lume ti fieno al come che tu die.
Sangue perfetto, che mai non si beve
dall' assetate vene, e si rimane
quasi alimento che di mensa leve,
IC
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
CANTO XXV
313
doubts con-
so we entered by the gap, one in front of the Dante's
other, mounting the stairway, which by its cerning the
straitness parts the climbers.
And like the little stork that lifts its wing through
desire to fly, and, venturing not to abandon the
nest, drops it down,
even so was I with desire to ask kindled and
quenched, going so far as the movement which
he makes who is preparing to speak.
My sweet Father did not cease, even though the
pace was swift, but said: "Discharge the bow of
thy speech which thou hast drawn to the iron.'
Then securely I opened my mouth, and began:
"How can one grow lean there where the
need of food is not felt?"
"If thou wouldst call to mind how Meleager
;
leanness of
the spirits
by Statius,
was consumed at the consuming of a firebrand,'
said he, "this would not be so difficult to thee
and if thou wouldst think how, to your every
movement your image flits about in the mirror,
that which seems hard would seem easy to thee.
But in order that thou mayst find rest in thy dispelled
desire, lo here Statius, and him I call and pray, who dis-
that he now be the healer of thy wounds.'
"If," answered Statius, "I unfold to him in thy
presence the eternal things he has seen, let
my excuse be that I may not deny thee."
Then he began:“ Son, if thy mind heed and
receive my words, they shall be a light unto
thee on the how which thou utterest.
C
>>
Perfect blood, which never is drunk by the
thirsty veins, and is left behind, as 'twere food
which thou removest from the table,
courses on
generation
314
PURGATORIO
Girone VII
Salita al prende nel core a tutte membra umane
virtute informativa, come quello
ch' a farsi quelle per le vene vane.
Ancor digesto, scende ov' è più bello
tacer che dire; e quindi poscia geme
sopr' altrui sangue in natural vasello.
Ivi s' accoglie l' uno e l' altro insieme,
l'un disposto a patire e l'altro a fare,
per lo perfetto loco onde si preme;
e, giunto lui, comincia ad operare,
coagulando prima, e poi avviva
ciò che per sua materia fe' constare.
Anima fatta la virtute attiva,
qual d' una pianta, in tanto differente,
che quest' è in via e quella è già a riva,
tanto opra poi che già si move e sente,
come fungo marino; ed indi imprende
ad organar le posse ond' è semente.
Or si spiega, figliuolo, or si distende
la virtù ch'è dal cor del generante,
ove natura a tutte membra intende ;
ma come d' animal divegna fante,
non vedi tu ancor; quest' è tal punto
che più savio di te fe' già errante:
sì che, per sua dottrina, fe' disgiunto
dall' anima il possibile intelletto,
perchè da lui non vide organo assunto.
Apri alla verità che viene il petto,
e sappi che, sì tosto come al feto
l'articular del cerebro è perfetto,
lo Motor primo a lui si volge, lieto
sopra tanta arte di natura, e spira
spirito nuovo di virtù repleto,
40
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
79
CANTO XXV
315
generation
acquires in the heart a virtue potent to inform Statius dis-
all human members, like that blood which courses on
flows through the veins to become those.
Refined yet again, it descends there whereof to
be silent is more seemly than to speak, and
thence afterwards distils upon other's blood, in
natural vessel.
There the one is mingled with the other; one
designed to be passive, the other to be active,
by reason of the perfect place whence it springs;
and, joined thereto, it begins to operate, first
coagulating, and then giving life to that which
it had solidified for its own material.
The active virtue having become a soul, like that
of a plant, in so far different that the former is
on the way, and the latter is already at the goal,
then effects so much that now it moves and feels,
like a sea-fungus; and then sets about develop-
ing organs for the powers whereof it is the germ.
Now, son, expands, now distends, the virtue
which proceeds from the heart of the begetter,
where nature intends all human members;
infusion of
but how from an animal it becomes a human and on the
being thou seest not yet; this is that point the rational
which made one wiser than thou to err;
so that by his teaching he made the intellectual
faculty separate from the soul, because he saw
no organ occupied by it.
Open thy breast to the truth which is coming,
and know that so soon as the organisation of
the brain is perfect in the embryo,
the First Mover turns him to it, rejoicing over
such handiwork of nature, and breathes into
it a new spirit with virtue filled,
soul into
the body
316
PURGATORIO
Salita al che ciò che trova attivo quivi tira
Girone VII
in sua sustanzia, e fassi un' alma sola,
che vive e sente, e sè in sè rigira.
E perchè meno ammiri la parola,
guarda il calor del sol che si fa vino,
giunto all' umor che dalla vite cola.
E quando Lachesìs non ha più lino,
solvesi dalla carne, ed in virtute
ne seco porta e l' umano e il divino :
l' altre potenze, tutte quante mute;
memoria, intelligenza e volontade,
in atto molto più che prima acute.
Senz' arrestarsi, per sè stessa cade
mirabilmente all' una delle rive;
quivi conosce prima le sue strade.
Tosto che loco lì la circonscrive,
la virtù formativa raggia intorno,
così e quanto nelle membra vive ;
e come l'aer, quand' è ben piorno,
per l' altrui raggio che in sè si riflette
di diversi color diventa adorno,
così l'aer vicin quivi si mette
in quella forma che in lui suggella
virtualmente l'alma che ristette ;
e simigliante poi alla fiammella
che segue il fuoco là 'vunque si muta,
segue allo spirto sua forma novella.
Però che quindi ha poscia sua paruta,
è chiamat' ombra; e quindi organa poi
ciascun sentire infino alla veduta.
Quindi parliamo, e quindi ridiam noi,
quindi facciam le lagrime e i sospiri
che per lo monte aver sentiti puoi.
73
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
CANTO XXV
317
deals with
the soul
after death
which draws into its substance that which it finds Statius,
active there, and becomes one single soul, that continuing,
lives, and feels, and turns round upon itself.
And that thou mayst marvel less at my words,
look at the sun's heat, that is made wine when
combined with the juice which flows from the
vine.
And when Lachesis has no more thread, it frees
itself from the flesh, and bears away in potency
both the human and the divine;
he other powers, the whole of them mute;
memory, intelligence and will, keener far in
action than they were before.
Staying not, it falls of itself in wondrous wise
to one of the shores; there it first learns its
ways.
aerial
Soon as it is circumscribed in place there, the and with
formative virtue radiates around, in form and bodies
quantity as in the living members;
nd as the air, when it is full saturate, becomes
decked with divers colours through another's
rays which are reflected in it,
o the neighbouring air sets itself into that form
which the soul that is there fixed impresses
upon it by means of its virtue
nd then, like the flame which follows the fire
wheresoever it moves, the spirit is followed by
its new form.
Inasmuch as therefrom it afterwards has its sem-
blance, it is called a shade; and therefrom it
forms the organs of every sense even to sight.
By this we speak, and by this we laugh, by this
we make the tears and the sighs which thou
mayst have heard about the mount.
318
PURGATORIO
Girone VII Secondo che ci affliggono i disiri
e gli altri affetti, l'ombra si figura;
e questa è la cagion di che tu ammiri."
E già venuto all' ultima tortura
s' era per noi, e volto alla man destra,
ed eravamo attenti ad altra cura.
Quivi la ripa fiamma in fuor balestra,
e la cornice spira fiato in suso,
che la riflette, e via da lei sequestra :
onde ir ne convenìa dal lato schiuso
ad uno ad uno; ed io temeva il foco
quinci, e quindi temea cadere in giuso.
Lo duca mio dicea: "Per questo loco
si vuol tenere agli occhi stretto il freno,
però ch' errar potrebbesi per poco."
"Summae Deus clementiae" nel seno
""
al grande ardore allora udii cantando,
che di volger mi fe' caler non meno
e vidi spirti per la fiamma andando:
per ch' io guardava loro ed a' miei passi,
compartendo la vista a quando a quando.
Appresso il fine ch' a quell' inno fassi,
gridavano alto: "Virum non cognosco
indi ricominciavan l'inno bassi.
Finitolo, anco gridavano: "Al bosco
si tenne Diana, ed Elice caccionne
che di Venere avea sentito il tosco.'
Indi al cantar tornavano; indi donne
gridavano e mariti che fur casti,
come virtute e matrimonio imponne.
E questo modo credo che lor basti
""
""
per tutto il tempo che il foco gli abbrucia :
con tal cura convien, con cotai pasti
che la piaga dassezzo si ricucia.
Jo
IOC
II2
IIS
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
CANTO XXV
319
The shade takes its form according as the desires The lustful
and the other affections prick us, and this is the
cause of that whereof thou marvellest.
""
And now had we come to the last turning, and
had wheeled round to the right hand, and were
intent on other care.
There the bank flashes forth flames, and the Their
cornice breathes a blast upward, which bends punishment
them back, and keeps them away from it;
wherefore it behoved us to go on the side which
was free one by one; and on this side I feared
the fire, and on that I feared to fall downward.
My Leader said: "Along this place the rein
must be kept tight on the eyes, because lightly
a false step might be taken."
“Summae Deus clementiae” I then heard sung in
the heart of the great burning, which made me
no less eager to turn aside
;
and I saw spirits going through the flames;
wherefore I looked at them and at my steps,
with divided gaze from time to time.
Examples of
then Chastity--
The Virgin
Mary
After the end which is made to that hymn, they
cried aloud: "Virum non cognosco"
softly began the hymn again.
It being finished, they further cried: "Diana Diana
kept in the wood, and chased Helice forth
who had felt the poison of Venus."
Then turned they to their chanting; then cried
they women and husbands who were chaste,
as virtue and marriage require of us.
And this fashion I think suffices them for all the
time the fire burns them: with such treatment,
and with such diet, must the last wound be
healed.
320
NOTES
1-3. In Purgatory it is two o'clock P.M., or later.
Aries being on the Purgatory meridian at noon, the
succeeding sign of Taurus holds that position at 2 P.M.;
while at the same time Scorpio (the sign opposite
Taurus) is on the meridian of Jerusalem, where it
is consequently 2 A.M.
10-12. The stork, in the "Bestiaries," is the type of
obedience. It does not attempt to fly out of its nest
till its mother gives it leave.
22, 23. At the birth of Meleager, son of Oeneus,
King of Calydon, and Althaea, the Fates predicted that
he would live as long as a certain log of wood was
not consumed by fire. Subsequently he slew the
Calydonian boar, and gave the skin to his mistress,
Atalanta. His uncles (Althaea's brothers) having taken
it from her, he killed them, too; whereupon Althaea
in a rage threw the log on the fire, and brought about
her son's death (Ovid. Met. viii. 445-525).
37, 38. With this passage, compare Conv. iv. 21: 28-48.
52, 55, 61. The three souls, vegetative, animal and
rational (cf. above, Canto iv. 5, 6.)
64-66. Brutes have no intellectus. Man's intellect is
"possible," i.e. has powers undeveloped or not in
action; whereas the angelic intellect is continuously
and perfectly "actualised" (cf. Par. v. 22-24; xxix.
76-81). Hence "no creature save man, either above
or below him, apprehends by possible intellect" (De
Mon. i. 3: 52-55). It follows that none of the corporal
organs which are common to men and animals can be
the seat of intellect. Whence the possible intellect
is called separate because it is not the act of a corporal
organ" (Aquinas). For the erroneous inferences (ad-
verse to the doctrine of personal immortality) which
Averroes drew from this fact, see Argument. Cf., too,
above, Canto xviii. 51, note.
75. On the subject of self-consciousness there is some
confusion in the writings of the schoolmen. Dante
with sound insight follows Averroës in making it the
special characteristic of the rational or intellectual soul,
as life is of the vegetable, and sensation of the animal
soul. "The action of the intellect is likened to a
circle, because it turns round upon itself and under-
stands itself" (Averroës).
CANTO XXV
321
79. See above, Canto xxi. 25-27, note.
83. Cf. Par. xxix. 72.
85-87. See Inf. iii. 70 sqq. (e.g. 121-129); and Purg.
i. 100-105.-It has been pointed out that in dealing
with the two Montefeltros (Inf. xxvii., Purg. v.) Dante
Follows the popular ideas rendered familiar by re-
presentations in art, but not strictly reconcilable with
the doctrine here laid down.
88. circonscrive. "A thing is said to be in space by
circumscription, when a beginning, middle and end can
be assigned to it in space, or if its parts are measured
by the parts of space; and in this sense the body is in
pace. A thing is said to be in space by definition, when
t is here in such a sense as not to be elsewhere; and in
his sense Angels are in space, for an Angel is where
ae is operative. And, according to Damascenus, this is
he case also with disembodied souls. I say disembodied
because the soul when united with the body is in the
ame place as the person in his totality. A thing is
aid to be in space repletively, because it fills space; and
hus God is said to be in every place because he fills
very place" (Albertus Magnus). Cf. Purg. xi. 2,
Par. xiv. 30.
121-127, 129-130, 133. The hymn sung by the lust-
ul began with the verse quoted by Dante in his day,
nd for some three hundred years after his time (till the
Breviary was revised by Pope Urban VIII. in 1631).
This may be seen by a reference to the ancient " uses,
s Dr Moore points out. The hymn is entirely appro-
riate to the occupants of this terrace, the third verse
anning-Lumbos jecurque morbidum Flammis adure congruis,
ccincti ut artus excubent Luxu remoto pessimo.
128. "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
hd bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,
eing I know not a man?" (Luke i.
(Luke i. 31-34).
•
130-132. Helice or Callisto, one of Diana's nymphs,
aving borne Jupiter a son (named Arcas), was dis-
issed by Diana and changed into a bear by Juno, who
as jealous of her. In that form she was being pursued
y Arcas, when Jupiter set both the mother and the
on in the sky as constellations (see Ovid, Met. ii. 401-
30, and cf. Par. xxxi. 32, 33).
X
PURGATORIO
THE
HE flames redden under Dante's shadow and the
amazed souls gather to him, careful, however, not
to issue from the flame (1-15). One of them has barely
questioned Dante, when a group, circling the mountain
in the opposite direction, meets them with a brief
salutation, and each group alike proclaims a warning
example of lust; after which they sweep past each
other like flocks of birds, and continue to utter the
wail and song suited to their state (16-48). But this
does not prevent their drawing again to Dante, who
tells them his tale and questions them as to their state
(49-66). When the souls have somewhat recovered
from their amazement, one of them explains that the
group accompanying the poet failed to restrain their
carnal appetites within the limits prescribed by the
Girone VII Mentre che sì per l' orlo, uno innanzi altro,
ce n' andavamo, e spesso il buon maestro
diceva: "Guarda; giovi ch' io ti scaltro."
Feria mi il sole in su l' omero destro,
che già, raggiando, tutto l'occidente
mutava in bianco aspetto di cilestro ;
ed io facea con l'ombra più rovente
parer la fiamma; e pure a tanto indizio
vid' io molt' ombre, andando, poner mente.
Questa fu la cagion che diede inizio
loro a parlar di me; e cominciarsi
a dir: "Colui non par corpo fittizio."
Poi verso me, quanto potevan farsi,
certi si feron, sempre con riguardo
di non uscir dove non fossero arsi.
"O tu che vai, non per esser più tardo,
ma forse reverente, agli altri dopo,
rispondi a me che in sete ed in foco ardo;
IC
13
16
4
322
CANTO XXVI
social institutions of humanity, whereas the other
group had not even observed the laws laid down by
nature (67-87). Dante's interlocutor is Guido Guini-
celli, the founder (or precursor) of the new style of
Tuscan poetry, the father of Dante and of his betters;
to whom Dante renders his passionate homage of affec-
tion and loyalty (88-114). But he points to the shade
of the Troubadour Arnaut Daniel as superior to himself
and superior to all Provençal rivals by as much as the
new Tuscan school excels the old school of Guittone
of Arezzo (115-125). Then, with a petition for Dante's
prayers, he yields his place to Arnaut himself; who
tells of his state, in his own Provençal tongue; and
in his turn implores Dante's prayers (127-148).
While we were thus advancing, one in front of the The lustful
other, along the brink, often the good Master
said: “Give heed, let my skill avail thee.”
On my right shoulder the sun was beating, that
already with his rays was changing the whole
face of the west from azure to white
and with my shadow, ruddier I made the flames
appear, and even at so slight a sign many
shades I saw, as they passed, give heed.
This was the cause which gave them an opening to
speak of me; and one to the other they began
to say:
“He doth not seem a shadowy body."
Then certain of them made towards me, so far as
they could, ever on their guard not to come
forth where they would not be burned.
Guinicelli
“O thou that goest behind the others, not for being Guido
slacker but perchance for reverence, make an-
swer unto me who in thirst and fire do burn;
323
324
PURGATORIO
Girone VII nè solo a me la tua risposta è uopo:
chè tutti questi n' hanno maggior sete
che d'acqua fredda Indo o Etiopo.
Dinne com'è che fai di te parete
al sol, come se tu non fossi ancora
di morte entrato dentro dalla rete.'
Si mi parlava un d' essi, ed io mi fora
già manifesto, s' io non fossi atteso
ad altra novità ch' apparve allora :
chè per lo mezzo del cammino acceso
venia gente col viso incontro a questa,
la qual mi fece a rimirar sospeso.
Lì veggio d'ogni parte farsi presta
ciascun' ombra, e baciarsi una con una,
senza restar, contente a breve festa:
così per entro loro schiera bruna
s'ammusa l' una con l'altra formica,
forse ad espiar lor via e lor fortuna.
Tosto che parton l' accoglienza amica,
prima che il primo passo lì trascorra,
sopragridar ciascuna s'affatica;
la nuova gente : "Soddoma e Gomorra,"
e l'altra: "Nella vacca entra Pasife,
perchè il torello a sua lussuria corra.
Poi come gru, ch' alle montagne Rife
volasser parte, e parte in ver l' arene,
queste del gel, quelle del sole schife :
l'una gente sen va, l' altra sen viene,
e tornan lagrimando ai primi canti,
ed al gridar che più lor si conviene;
e raccostarsi a me, come davanti,
essi medesmi che m' avean pregato,
attenti ad ascoltar nei lor sembianti.
""
I
2
2
3
3
31
4
4
4
4
CANTO XXVI
325
nor alone to me is thine answer needful, for all The lustful
these have greater thirst for it than Indian or
Ethiop for cold water.
Tell us how it is that thou makest of thee a wall
against the sun, as if thou wert not yet caught
within death's net.
""
Thus spake one of them to me, and already would
I have revealed myself, had I not been intent
on another strange thing which then appeared;
for through the midst of the fiery path, people Their
were coming with their faces opposite to these, division
who made nie pause in wonderment.
There I see on either side each shade make
haste, and one kiss the other without staying,
satisfied with short greeting:
even so within their dark battalions one ant
rubs muzzle with another, perchance to spy
out their way and their fortune.
Soon as they break off the friendly greeting, ere
the first step there speeds onward, each one
strives to shout loudest,
the new people,
"Sodom and Gomorrah," and
the other: "Pasiphae enters the cow that the
• young bull may haste to her lust."
Then like cranes that should fly, some to the
Rhipean mountains, others towards the sands;
these shy of the frost, those of the sun,
the one people passes on, the other comes away,
and weeping they return to their former chants,
and to the cry which most befits them;
and those very same who had entreated me, drew
close to me as before, intent on listening in
their appearance.
twofold
326
PURGATORIO
Girone VII Io, che due volte avea visto lor grato,
incominciai: "O anime sicure
d'aver, quando che sia, di pace stato,
non son rimase acerbe nè mature
le membra mie di là, ma son qui meco
col sangue suo e con le sue giunture.
Quinci su vo per non esser più cieco;
donna è di sopra che n' acquista grazia,
per che il mortal pel vostro mondo reco.
Ma, se la vostra maggior voglia sazia
tosto divegna, sì che il ciel v' alberghi,
ch' è pien d'amore e più ampio si spazia,
ditemi, acciocchè ancor carte ne verghi,
chi siete voi, e chi è quella turba
che se ne va di retro ai vostri terghi?"
Non altrimenti stupido si turba
lo montanaro, e rimirando ammuta,
quando rozzo e salvatico s' inurba,
che ciascun'ombra fece in sua paruta;
ma poichè furon di stupore scarche,
lo qual negli alti cor tosto s' attuta,
“Beato te, che delle nostre marche,”
ricomincio colei che pria m' inchiese,
'per viver meglio, esperienza inbarche!
La gente che non vien con noi offese
di ciò per che già Cesar, trionfando,
Regina' contra sè chiamar s' intese :
però si parton Soddoma' gridando,
rimproverando a sè, com' hai udito,
ed aiutan l'arsura vergognando.
Nostro peccato fu ermafrodito ;
ma perchè non servammo umana legge,
seguendo come bestie l'appetito,
5
5
S
6
7
7
7
8
CANTO XXVI
327
I, who twice had seen their desire, began: “○ The lustful
souls, certain of having, whenever it may be,
a state of peace,
my members have not remained yonder, green or
ripe, but here are with me, with their blood
and with their joints.
Hence upward I go to be blind no longer; there is
a lady above who winneth grace for us, wherefor
I bring my mortal body through your world.
But—so may your greater desire soon be satisfied,
so that the heaven may house you which is
filled with love and broadest spreads-
tell me that I may yet trace it on paper, who are
ye and what is that throng which is going
away behind your backs?”
Not otherwise the dazed highlander grows troubled ?
and stares about speechless, when rough and
savage he enters the city,
than each shade did in its appearance; but after
they were unladen of their bewilderment, which
in lofty hearts soon is calmed,
resumes his
"Blessed thou," began again the shade that first Guido
did ask of me, “who, for a holier life, art em- discourse
barking knowledge of our borders!
The people who come not with us offended in
that for which Cæsar of old in his triumph
heard Regina' called out against him;
6
therefore they part from us crying out 'Sodom
reproving themselves as thou hast heard, and
aid the burning by their shame.
Our sin was hermaphrodite; but because we ob-
served not human law, and followed our lusts
like brute beasts,
328
PURGATORIO
Girone VII in obbrobrio di noi, per noi si legge,
quando partiamci, il nome di colei
che s' imbestiò nell' imbestiate schegge.
Or sai nostri atti, e di che fummo rei;
se forse a nome vuoi saper chi semo,
tempo non è da dire, e non saprei.
Farotti ben di me volere scemo:
son Guido Guinizelli, e già mi purgo
per ben dolermi prima ch' all' estremo."
Quali nella tristizia di Licurgo
si fer due figli a riveder la madre,
tal mi fec' io, ma non a tanto insurgo,
quand' i' odo nomar sè stesso il padre
mio, e degli altri miei miglior, che mai
rime d'amore usar dolci e leggiadre;
e senza udire e dir pensoso andai,
lunga fiata rimirando lui,
nè per lo foco in là più m' appressai.
Poichè di riguardar pasciuto fui,
tutto m' offersi pronto al suo servigio,
con l'affermar che fa credere altrui.
Ed egli a me: "Tu lasci tal vestigio,
per quel ch' i' odo, in me e tanto chiaro,
che Lete nol può tor, nè farlo bigio.
Ma, se le tue parole or ver giuraro,
dimmi che è cagion per che dimostri
nel dire e nel guardare avermi caro."
Ed io a lui: "Li dolci detti vostri
che, quanto durerà l'uso moderno,
faranno cari ancora i loro inchiostri."
“O frate,” disse, “questi ch' io ti scerno
col dito" (ed additò un spirto innanzi)
"fu miglior fabbro del parlar materno.
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
тоб
109
112
115
CANTO XXVI
329
to our infamy by us is read, when we part us, The lustful
the name of her who imbruted herself in the Guido
brute-like framework.
Now knowst thou our deeds and what we were
guilty of; if haply thou wouldst know who we
are by name, there is no time to tell, nor could I.
Thy desire of me, I will indeed make to wane :
Guido Guinicelli am I, and already purge me,
because I full repentance made before the end."
As in the sorrow of Lycurgus two sons became Dante's
on beholding again their mother, so became reverence
I, but not to such height do I rise,
when I hear name himself the father of me, and
of others my betters, who ever used sweet and
graceful rhymes of love;
and without hearing and speaking, pondering I
I went, long time gazing at him, nor because
of the fire drew I nigher thither.
When I was filled with beholding, I offered me
all ready to his service, with the oath which
compels another's belief.
And he to me: "Thou leavest, by that which I
hear, traces so deep and so clear, that Lethe
cannot take them away, nor make them dim.
But if thy words just now sware truth, tell me,
what is the cause wherefore thou showest in
speech and look that thou holdest me so dear.”
And 1 to him: "Your sweet ditties, which so
long as modern use shall last, will make their
very ink precious.
for his
forerunner
Arnaut
"O brother," said he, "this one whom I dis- Guido
tinguish to thee with my finger" (and he pointed points out
to a spirit in front) "was a better craftsman of Daniel
the mother tongue.
330
PURGATORIO
Girone VII Versi d' amore e prose di romanzi
soperchiò tutti, e lascia dir gli stolti
che quel di Lemosì credon ch' avanzi.
A voce più ch' al ver drizzan li volti,
e così ferman sua opinione
prima ch' arte o ragion per lor s'ascolti.
Così fer molti antichi di Guittone,
di grido in grido pur lui dando pregio,
fin che l'ha vinto il ver con più persone.
Or, se tu hai sì ampio privilegio,
che licito ti sia l' andare al chiostro,
nel quale è Cristo abate del collegio,
fagli per me un dir di un paternostro,
quanto bisogna a noi di questo mondo,
dove poter peccar non è più nostro."
Poi, forse
dar loco altrui secondo,
per
che presso avea, disparve per lo foco,
come per I' acqua pesce andando al fondo.
Io mi feci al mostrato innanzi un poco,
e dissi ch' al suo nome il mio disire
apparecchiava grazioso loco.
Ei cominciò liberamente a dire :
“Tan m'abelis vostre cortes deman,
qu' ieu no-m puesc, ni-m vueil a vos cobrire.
Ieu sui Arnaut, que plor e vau cantan ;
consiros vei la passada folor,
e vei jausen lo jorn, qu' esper, denan.
Ara vos prec, per aquella valor
que vos guida al som de l'escalina,
sovegna vos a temps de ma dolor."
Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina.
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
145
148
16 sqq. The speaker is Guido Guinicelli (ca. 1230-
ca. 1276; see above, notes to Cantos xi. 97-99 and xxiv.
CANTO XXVI
331
In verses of love, and prose tales of romance, all The lustful
he surpassed, and let fools talk, who think that
he of Limoges excels.
To rumour rather than to truth they turn their
faces, and thus do fix their opinion ere art or
reason is listened to by them.
So did many of our fathers with Guittone, shout-
ing in turn and praising him alone; but truth
has prevailed at length with most persons.
Now if thou hast such ample privilege, that 'tis
permitted thee to go to the cloister wherein
Christ is abbot of the college,
ends his
do me there the saying of a Pater Noster so far Guido
as is needful to us of this world, where power discourse
to sin is no more ours."
Then perchance to give place to another follow-
Daniel
ing close, he vanished through the flames, like
a fish going through the water to the bottom.
A little forward I drew me towards the one he Arnaut
had pointed out, and said that my desire was
preparing a grateful place for his name.
Willingly he began to say: "So doth your
courteous request please me that I cannot, nor
will I, hide me from you.
I am Arnault that weep and go a-singing; in
thought I see my past madness, and I see
with joy the day which I await before me.
Now I pray you, by that Goodness which guideth
you to the summit of the stairway, be mindful
in due time of my pain." Then he hid him
in the fire which refines them.
52-63), a member of the Ghibelline Principi family, of
Bologna. Little is known of his life, save that he was
332
NOTES
Podestà of Castelfranco in 1270, and that he was exiled
in 1274, together with the Lambertazzi (cf. Inf. xxxii.
122, 123; Purg. xiv. 99, 100, notes); the city of his
refuge and death may have been Verona. As a poet,
Guido began as an imitator of the later method of
Guittone d'Arezzo, but he soon outshone his model
(vv. 124-126), and his best works (notably the famous
canzone Al cor gentil ripara sempre Amore, which may be
said to mark an epoch in Italian literature), inspired
much of the poetry of the Florentine school (vv.
97-99). For Guido see, in addition to the references
given above, De Vulg. El. i. 9, 15; ii. 5,
6; Conv. iv.
20; Vita Nuova, Sonnet x. v. 2 (il Saggio).
40 and 79. For Sodom and Gomorrah, see Gen.
xix.
41, 42 and 86, 87. For Pasiphaë, who attained her
end by entering an artificial cow, made by Daedalus,
see Inf. xii. 12-18, note.
43, 44. "The Rhipean mountains "-a general term
with medieval geographers and writers, to express
mountains in the north of Europe and Asia; "the
sands," i.e. those of the African desert.
59, 60. Some hold that Dante is alluding to Beatrice
(Inf. ii. 52 sqq.); others, that the reference is to the
Virgin Mary (ib., 94 sqq.).
62, 63. The Empyrean; see Par. xxx. 39 sqq.
77, 78. This opprobrious epithet was given to
Cæsar on account of his relations with Nicomedes,
King of Bithynia. See Suetonius' Cæsar [49]; though
Dante's immediate source was probably rather the
Magnae Derivationes of Uguccione da Pisa, s.v.
triumphus.
82-87. Their sin was indeed bi-sexual [ermafrodito:
Hermaphoditus, having excited the love of a nymph to
which he remained indifferent, she prayed that their
bodies might be joined together for ever; and the gods
granted her prayer-see Ovid, Met. iv. 288-388], and
so far natural and generically human; but inasmuch
as it transgressed the specifically human law of marriage
(see the preceding canto, v. 135), there was an element
CANTO XXVI
333
of brutishness in it. Bestialità is used by Dante in
many different senses; but always as opposed to the
specifically human element in man. In general terms
that specifically human element is reason, and therefore
bestialità (like the French bêtise) is sometimes used for
"stupidity" or "want of intelligence," as, for ex-
ample, in Conv. iv. 14: 107. Here it implies simply
a neglect of the specifically human regulations of a
relation which is not specifically human in itself.
94-96. Thoas and Euneos, the sons of Hypsipyle;
for the incident, cf. above, Canto xxii. 112, and see
Statius, Theb. iv. 785 sqq., v. 499 sqq.
108. Lethe, the river of forgetfulness; see below,
Canto xxviii. 130, etc.
115. sqq. Arnaut Daniel, a distinguished Provençal
poet, flourished ca. 1180-1200. Among his patrons
was Richard Coeur-de-Lion. He was a master of the
so-called trobar clus, or obscure style of poetry, which
revelled, besides, in difficult rhymes and other compli-
cated devices. As such, he was very naturally" caviare
to the general"; and the lines in which Dante deals
with the popular preference for Guiraut de Bornelh
[quel di Lemosì; ca. 1175-ca. 1220; called by his
contemporaries "master of the troubadours"] are easier
for us to understand than his own evident bias in
favour of Arnaut. For the best modern criticism not
only places Guiraut well above Arnaut (whose fame
is at a very low ebb), but is almost unanimous in
setting him at the head of all the troubadours; his
only rival, if rival he have, being Bernart de Ventadorn
(whom Dante never mentions).-Verses 118, 119
mean, not that Arnaut wrote better love songs and
better prose romances than anyone else (for it is
practically certain that he wrote no prose at all), but
that he surpassed every writer in France, not only
the troubadours of the South, but also the authors of
the prose romances in the North [in De Vulg. El.
10: 12-16, Dante speaks of prose works as the special
province of the langue d'oil, or Northern French].-For
Arnaut, cf. De Vulg. El. ii. 2, 6, 10, 13; and for
Guiraut, ib. i. 9; ii. 2, 5, 6.
NIGHT
PURGATORIO
JIGHT had already fallen on the foot of the moun-
tain when the angel of the circle greeted the
poets and pronounced the blessing on the pure in
heart (1-9). When summoned to cross the flame
Dante recalls with horror the sight he had ere now
witnessed of men burned to death; and remains deaf
to all Virgil's appeals, till the utterance of Beatrice's
name at last overcomes his reluctance; whereat
Virgil, for reasons of his own, smiles as we smile
at a child that knows not what he seeks (10-45).
Then Virgil, Dante and Statius enter the awful
burning, Dante comforted by Virgil's discourse of
Beatrice and by the welcome and blessing of the
angel at the further side (46-60). Meanwhile the
shadow of night has been creeping up the mountain,
and before they have ascended many of the steps
which they are now climbing, it swallows the poet's
shadow, and he is bereft of power further to ascend
(61-75). Each of the pilgrims makes a stair his
Girone VII Sì come quando i primi raggi vibra
là dove il suo Fattore il sangue sparse,
cadendo Ibero sotto l' alta Libra,
e l'onde in Gange da nona riarse,
sì stava il sole: onde il giorno sen giva,
quando l' angel di Dio lieto ci apparse.
Fuor della fiamma stava in su la riva,
“ Beati mundo corde,'
e cantava:
in voce assai più che la nostra viva.
Poscia: "Più non si va, se pria non morde,
anime sante, il foco; entrate in esso,
ed al cantar di là non siate sorde,"
4
7
ΙΟ
334
CANTO XXVII
couch, and Dante, like a goat between two shepherds,
sees the great stars shine brighter than their wont,
as he drops into such a sleep as sees the things that
are to be (76-93). Towards daybreak he has a
vision of Leah, the type of the active life, singing
of herself and her sister Rachael, the type of the
contemplative life (94-108). Now nigh to his im-
mediate goal, he awakes with the morning, and
Virgil tells him that he is at last to gather that
fruit of liberty which he has so long been seeking;
and when he has mounted eagerly to the summit of the
stair his guide informs him that his function is now
discharged, for they have reached the goal of Purga-
tory. Dante has recovered from the dire effects of
the fall of man; his will is free, unwarped and
sound; he has no further need of direction or
directive institutions; he has reached the goal of
all imperial and ecclesiastical organization and is
king and bishop of himself (109-142).
As when he shoots forth his first beams there The lustful
where his Creator shed his blood, while Ebro Sunset of
falls beneath the lofty Scales,
the third
day in
Purgatory
of Chastity
The Angel
and Ganges' waves by noonday heat are scorched,
so stood the sun; wherefore the day was pass-
ing away when God's glad angel appeared to us.
Outside the flames on the bank he was standing The
and singing "Beati mundo corde" in a voice seventh
more piercing far than ours.
O hallowed
Then : No farther may ye go,
souls, if first the fire bite not; enter therein and
to the singing beyond be not deaf,”
Beatitude
335
336
PURGATORIO
Passo ci disse come noi gli fummo presso :
attraverso
la fiamma
per ch' io divenni tal quando lo intesi,
quale è colui che nella fossa è messo.
In su le man commesse mi protesi,
guardando il foco, e immaginando forte
umani corpi già veduti accesi.
Volsersi verso me le buone scorte,
e Virgilio mi disse: "Figliuol mio,
qui può esser tormento, ma non morte.
Ricordati, ricordati . . . e, se io
sopr' esso Gerion ti guidai salvo,
che farò ora presso più a Dio?
Credi per certo che, se dentro all'alvo
di questa fiamma stessi ben mill' anni,
non ti potrebbe far d' un capel calvo;
e se tu credi forse ch' io t' inganni,
fatti ver lei, e fatti far credenza
con le tue mani al lembo de' tuoi panni.
Pon giu ʊmai, pon giù ogni temenza ;
volgiti in qua, e vieni oltre sicuro."
Ed io pur fermo e contro a coscienza.
Quando mi vide star pur fermo e duro,
turbato un poco disse: "Or vedi, figlio,
tra Beatrice e te è questo muro."
Come al nome di Tisbe aperse il ciglio
Piramo in su la morte, e riguardolla,
allor che il gelso diventò vermiglio :
così, là mia durezza fatta solla,
mi volsi al savio duca, udendo il nome
che nella mente sempre mi rampolla.
Ond' ei crollò la testa e disse: "Come?
volemci star di qua?” indi sorrise,
come al fanciul si fa ch' è vinto al pome.
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
CANTO XXVII
337
urges
he said to us when we were nigh to him; where- Virgil
fore I became when I heard him, such as one Dante
who is laid in the grave.
to pass
through
I bent forward over my clasped hands, gazing at the flame
the fire, and vividly imagining human bodies.
once seen burnt.
The kindly escorts turned them toward me, and
Virgil said to me: "My son, here may be
torment but not death.
Remember thee, remember thee, . . . and if
on Geryon I guided thee safely, what shall I
do now nearer to God?
Of a surety believe, that if within the womb of
these flames thou didst abide full a thousand
years, they could not make thee bald of one hair;
and if perchance thou thinkest that I beguile
thee, get thee toward them, and get credence
with thy hands on the hem of thy garments.
Put away now, put away all fear; turn thee hither,
and onward come securely." And I, yet
rooted, and with accusing conscience.
When he saw me stand yet rooted and stubborn,
troubled a little he said: "Now look my son,
twixt Beatrice and thee is this wall."
As at Thisbe's name Pyramus opened his eyes
at the point of death, and gazed at her, when
the mulberry became red,
so, my stubbornness being softened, I turned me
to my wise Leader on hearing the name which
ever springs up in my mind.
Whereupon he shook his head, and said: “What?
do we desire to stay this side?" then smiled as
one does to a child that is won by an apple.
Y
338
PURGATORIO
Passo Poi dentro al foco innanzi mi si mise,
attraverso
la fiamma
Paradiso
Terrestre
pregando Stazio che venisse retro,
che pria per lunga strada ci divise.
Come fui dentro, in un bogliente vetro
gittato mi sarei per rinfrescarmi,
tant' era ivi lo incendio senza metro.
Lo dolce padre mio, per confortarmi,
pur di Beatrice ragionando andava,
dicendo: "Gli occhi suoi già veder parmi."
Guidavaci una voce che cantava
di là ; e noi, attenti pure a lei,
venimmo fuor là dove si montava.
"Venite benedicti patris mei,”
sonò dentro ad un lume che lì era,
tal che mi vinse e guardar nol potei.
“Lo sol sen va," soggiunse, "e vien la sera ;
non v'arrestate, ma studiate il passo,
mentre che l' occidente non s' annera.
""
Salita al Dritta salia la via per entro il sasso,
verso tal parte, ch' io toglieva i raggi
dinanzi a me del sol ch' era già basso.
E di pochi scaglion levammo i saggi,
che il sol corcar, per l'ombra che si spense,
sentimmo retro ed io e li miei saggi.
E pria che in tutte le sue parti immense
fosse orizzonte fatto d' un aspetto,
e notte avesse tutte sue dispense,
ciascun di noi d' un grado fece letto:
chè la natura del monte ci affranse
la possa del salir più che il diletto.
Quali si fanno ruminando manse
le capre, state rapide e proterve
sopra le cime, avanti che sien pranse,
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
CANTO XXVII
339
Then he entered into the fire in front of me, pray- The
ing Statius that he would come behind, who passage
through
for a long way before had separated us.
the flame
When I was within, I would have flung me into
molten glass to cool me, so immeasurable there
was the burning.
My sweet Father, to encourage me, went on dis-
coursing ever of Beatrice, saying: "Already
I seem to behold her eyes."
A voice guided us, which was singing on the
other side, and we, intent only on it, came
forth, there where the ascent began.
"Venite benedicti patris mei," rang forth from
within a light which was there, so bright that
it vanquished me, and look upon it I could not.
"The sun is sinking," it added, "and the even-
ing cometh; stay ye not but mend your pace
while the west grows not dark."
I
three poets
resume
their way
but soon
halt for
repose
Straight the way mounted through the rock, The
toward such a quarter, that in front of me
stayed the rays of sun who already was low.
And of few steps made we assay, when I and my
sages perceived that the sun had set behind us,
because of the shadow which had vanished.
And ere the horizon in all its stupendous range
had become of one hue, and night held all her
dominion,
each of us made a bed of a step; for the law of
the mount took from us the power, rather than
the desire, to ascend.
As goats that have been agile and wanton upon
the heights ere they are fed, grow tame while
ruminating,
340
PURGATORIO
Paradiso
Salita al tacite all' ombra, mentre che il sol ferve,
Terrestre guardate dal pastor, che in su la verga
poggiato s' è, e lor poggiato serve;
e quale il mandrian che fuori alberga,
lungo il peculio suo queto pernotta,
guardando perchè fiera non lo sperga :
tali eravamo tutti e tre allotta,
io come capra ed ei come pastori,
fasciati quinci e quindi d' alta grotta.
Poco potea parer lì del di fuori;
ma per quel poco vedev' io le stelle,
di lor solere e più chiare e maggiori.
Si ruminando, e sì mirando in quelle,
mi prese il sonno: il sonno che sovente,
anzi che il fatto sia, sa le novelle.
Nell' ora, credo, che dell' oriente
66
prima raggiò nel monte Citerea,
che di foco d' amor par sempre ardente,
giovane e bella in sogno mi parea
donna vedere andar per una landa
cogliendo fiori; e cantando dicea :
Sappia, qualunque il mio nome domanda,
ch' io mi son Lia, e vo movendo intorno
le belle mani a farmi una ghirlanda.
Per piacermi allo specchio qui m' adorno;
ma mia suora Rachel mai non si smaga
dal suo miraglio, e siede tutto giorno.
Ell' è de' suoi begli occhi veder vaga,
""
com' io dell' adornarmi con le mani :
lei lo vedere, e me l' oprare appaga.
E già, per gli splendori antelucani,
che tanto ai peregrin surgon più grati
quanto tornando albergan men lontani,
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
105
109
CANTO XXVII
341
falls into a
silent in the shade, when the sun is hot, guarded Dante
by the herd who has leaned upon his staff, slumber
and, leaning, minds them;
and like the shepherd who lodges in the open,
holds silent vigil by night longside his flock,
watching lest a wild beast scatter it;
such were we then all three, I as a goat and
they as shepherds, bounded by the high rock
on this side and on that.
Little of the outside could there be seen, but
through that little I saw the stars brighter
and bigger than their wont.
As I was thus ruminating, and thus gazing at them,
sleep fell on me, sleep which oft doth know
the news ere the fact come to pass.
of Lucy
and of
Rachel
In the hour, methinks, when Cytherea, who and dreams.
seemeth ever burning with fire of love, first
beamed from the east on the mount,
meseemed to behold in a dream, a lady, young
and fair, going along a plain gathering flowers;
and singing she said :
(6
Know, whoso asketh my name, that I am Leah,
and go moving my fair hands around to make
me a garland.
To please me at the glass here I deck me; but
Rachel my sister ne'er stirs from her mirror,
and sitteth all day.
She is fain to behold her fair eyes, as I to deck
me with my hands: her, contemplation; me,
action, doth satisfy."
And now, at the brightness ere dayspring born,
which rises the gratefuller to wayfarers as on
their return they lodge less far from home,
342
PURGATORIO
Salita al le tenebre fuggian da tutti i lati,
Paradiso
Terrestre
(C
e il sonno mio con essse; ond' io leva' mi,
veggendo i gran maestri già levati.
Quel dolce pome, che per tanti rami
cercando va la cura dei mortali,
oggi porrà in pace le tue fami."
Virgilio inverso me queste cotali
parole usò, e mai non furo strenne
che fosser di piacere a queste eguali.
Tanto voler sopra voler mi venne
dell' esser su, ch' ad ogni passo poi
al volo mi sentia crescer le penne.
Come la scala tutta sotto noi
fu corsa, e fummo in sul grado superno,
in me ficcò Virgilio gli occhi suoi,
e disse: "Il temporal foco e l'eterno
veduto hai, figlio, e sei venuto in parte
dov' io per me più oltre non discerno.
Tratto t'ho qui con ingegno e con arte;
lo tuo piacere omai prendi per duce:
fuor sei dell' erte vie, fuor sei dell' arte.
Vedi là il sol che in fronte ti riluce;
vedi l'erbetta, i fiori e gli arbuscelli,
che qui la terra sol da sè produce.
Mentre che vegnan lieti gli occhi belli,
che lagrimando a te venir mi fenno,
seder ti puoi e puoi andar tra elli.
Non aspettar mio dir più, nè mio cenno.
Libero, dritto e sano è tuo arbitrio,
e fallo fora non fare a suo senno:
per ch' io te sopra te corono e mitrio."
I12
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
1-5. It was sunrise at Jerusalem, midnight in Spain
(where Libra, the sign opposite to Aries, would be on
CANTO XXVII
343
awakes
the shades of night were fleeing on every side, and Danțe
my sleep with them; wherefore I arose, see-
ing the great Masters already risen.
"That sweet fruit whereof the care of mortals
goeth in search on so many boughs, this day
shall give thy hungerings peace.
Words such as these did Virgil use to me, and
never have there been gifts that were equal in
sweetness to these.
So greatly did desire upon desire come over me
to be above, that at every step after I felt my
pinions grow for the flight.
When the stairway was all sped beneath us, and
we were upon the topmost step, on me did
Virgil fix his eyes,
last words
and said: "Son, the temporal fire and the eternal, Virgil's
hast thou seen, and art come to a place where
I, of myself, discern no further.
Here have I brought thee with wit and with art;
now take thy pleasure for guide; forth art thou
from the steep ways, forth art from the narrow.
Behold there the sun that shineth on thy brow, be-
hold the tender grass, the flowers, and the shrubs,
which the ground here of itself alone brings forth.
While the glad fair eyes are coming, which weep-
ing made me come to thee, thou canst sit thee
down and canst go among them.
No more expect my word, nor my sign. Free,
upright, and whole, is thy will, and 'twere a fault
not to act according to its prompting; where-
fore I do crown and mitre thee over thyself.
the meridian) and noon in India: it was, therefore,
sunset at the base of the Mount of Purgatory (see
344
NOTES
diagrams on pp. 34 and 35). But there was still an
interval before sunset at the height the poets had
reached (cf. above, Canto xvii. v. 12).—See diagram
on p. 103.
6. As this angel corresponds to the angels that
welcome and direct Dante at the end of his journey
through each of the other circles, we must suppose
that he struck the last P from Dante's brow with his
wing. It is vain, therefore, to seek for any personal
confession in Dante's statement that he had to pass
through the flame. The same is true of Statius, for
whose final liberation the souls of Purgatory had
already sung their hymn of glory to God. The fact
seems to be that this flame, in addition to being the
instrument of purification on the seventh circle, does
duty for the wall of fire, which, according to some
representations, surrounds the Garden of Eden.
8. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God" (Matt. v. 8).
23. See Inf. xvii. 79 sqq.
an ox.
37-39. While Thisbe was waiting for her lover,
Pyramus, near a mulberry-tree, a lioness came up from
which she fled, dropping a garment in her haste.
This the beast stained with blood, having just devoured
When Pyramus came up and saw it on the
ground, he thought that Thisbe was dead and stabbed
himself Thisbe returned just in time to see her
lover die and then slew herself too; whereupon the
colour of the mulberries changed from white to red.
Dante knew the story from Ovid, Met. iv. 55-166,
and refers here specially to vv. 145, 146: Ad nomen
Thisbes oculos jam morte gravatos Pyramus erescit, visaque
See below, Canto xxxiii. 69, and cf. De
recondidit illa.
Mon. ii. 9: 30-34.
43-45. In mentioning Beatrice, Virgil is appealing
to a higher motive than any he has yet urged; but he
knows that Dante takes the reference on a lower plane.
As yet Dante knows nothing of the celestial Beatrice,
and it is an earthly emotion, however pure, that
responds to Virgil's heavenly appeal. Hence a kind
of half pathetic amusement on Virgil's part, on seeing
CANTO XXVII
345
the eagerness with which Dante responds, not to the
higher plea he urged, but to the lower plea he sug-
gested.
58. The words to be spoken to the righteous at
the Last Judgment: "Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world" (Matt. xxv. 34).
92-93. Cf. Inf. xxvi. 7, and Purg. ix. 16-18.
95. Venus is often called Cytherea by Virgil, from
the island Cythera, near which she rose from the sea
and where she was worshipped with special venera-
tion. For the position of the planet Venus in Pisces
(the constellation preceding Aries or dawn), see above,
Canto i. 19-21, note.
97-108. This third and last vision of Dante's, in
which Leah and Rachel, the Old Testament types of
the Active and Contemplative Life (Gen. xxix. sqq.)
appear to him, is a forecast of the positions Matilda
and Beatrice will occupy in the Earthly Paradise. [It
should be noted that Mr Gardner, whose view is shared
by others, holds that Matilda's "counterpart, as Rachel
to Leah, is not Beatrice, as sometimes supposed, but
St Bernard, in the closing cantos of the Paradiso."]
In the New Testament the types are represented by
Martha and Mary; see Conv. iv. 17: 85-111: "Verily,
it is to be known that we can have in this life two
happinesses by following two different roads, both
good and excellent, which lead to them; the one is the
Active Life and the other is the Contemplative Life,
which (although by the Active Life one may attain,
as has been said, to a good state of happiness) leads us
to supreme happiness, even as the philosopher proves
in the tenth book of the Ethics; and Christ affirms it
with his own lips in the gospel of Luke, speaking to
Martha, when replying to her: Martha, Martha, thou
art anxious and troubled about many things: Verily,
one thing alone is needful,' meaning, that which thou
hast in hand; and he adds: Mary has chosen the
better part, which shall not be taken from her.' And
Mary, according to that which is previously written
346
NOTES
in the gospel, sitting at the feet of Christ, showed no
care for the service of the house, but listened only to
the words of the Saviour. For if we will explain this
in the moral sense, our Lord wished to show thereby
that the Contemplative Life was supremely good, al-
though the Active Life might be good; this is evident
to him who will give his mind to the words of the
gospel." See, too, Conv. iv. 2: 156-162.
115. The pome is the summum bonum, peace with
God, as opposed to the many false ideals of men on
earth. Cf. Par. xi. 1-15, and Conv iv. 12: 138-201.
127-142. Note that Virgil's mission is over when
he has brought Dante to the Earthly Paradise, which
is the immediate goal of the souls in Purgatory. Some
difficulty has been found in the last lines of the canto,
because it is said that Virgil cannot make Dante bishop
as well as king of himself; but we learn from the De
Mon. iii. 5: 107-117, that in Dante's opinion man
would not have needed the Church, as an organised
CANTO XXVII
347
institution, any more than the Empire, had he not
fallen from the state of innocence. Accordingly, when
he recovers that state he is absolved from the spiritual
as well as from the temporal rule. The institutions
of the Empire and the Church are, of course, to be
distinguished from the human and divine reason, or
Philosophy and Revelation, of which they ought to be
guardians and exponents. The concluding chapter of
the De Mon. shows us very clearly the distinction
between the essential means of temporal and spiritual
blessedness (human reason as developed by the philo-
sophers, and Revelation as declared by the writers of
Scripture) on the one hand, and the external institu-
tions or regimens on the other, founded to check the
perversity which perpetually drives mankind out of
the true path thus indicated.
For v. 133, see the diagram on p. 13; and with vv.
134-135 compare the following canto, vv. 69 and
118 sqq.
ᎠᏎ
PURGATORIO
ANTE enters the Garden of Eden from the west,
facing the rising sun, and meeting a sweet breeze
laden with the odours of Paradise and full of the song
of birds to which the leaves of the divine forest
murmur a pedal bass (1-21). On the opposing banks
of a stream that flows pure under the forest shade,
he perceives a lady gathering flowers and singing, as
enamoured (22-42). It is Matilda, the genius of
Eden; and in answer to Dante's petition she ap-
proaches the stream with downcast eyes, the song on
her lips growing ever more articulate. Then, her
hands still busy with the flowers, she flings upon
him the blaze of her laughing eyes (43-69). As a
responsive rapture awakes in Dante's heart, she
initiates him into the frank and innocent love and
joy of Eden, and proffers all further service he may
desire (70-84). In answer to his question she con-
firms what Statius had already said as to the higher
regions of the mount above the gate being unaffected
by meteorological phenomena. The stream and the
Paradiso Vago già di cercar dentro e dintorno
la divina foresta spessa e viva,

Terrestre
ch' agli occhi temperava il nuovo giorno,
senza più aspettar lasciai la riva,
prendendo la campagna lento lento
su per lo suol che d' ogni parte oliva.
Un'aura dolce, senza mutamento
avere in sè, mi feria per la fronte
non di più colpo che soave vento,
per cui le fronde, tremolando pronte,
tutte e quante piegavano alla parte
u' la prim' ombra gitta il santo monte ;
4
7
IO
348
CANTO XXVIII
breeze, therefore, are not such as those on earth.
The breeze is caused by the sweep of the atmospheric
envelope of the earth, from east to west, with the
primum mobile; and it bears with it germs from the
divine forest; which may explain the seeming spon-
taneous generation of wondrous plants on earth.
And the water of the stream does not rise from the
pulsations of any mist- and rain-fed vein, but issues
from a fountain which draws supplies for this and
a companion stream direct from the will of God.
These streams are Lethe and Eunöe, the one of
which washes away all memory of sin, and the other
restores the memory of all righteous doing; and for
the full effect to be experienced, both alike must be
tasted. So much in answer to Dante's questions.
But Matilda further delights her pupil by suggesting
that some confused tradition of the state of innocence
lay behind the dreams of the classical poets who sang
of the Golden Age; whereon he sees a smile of recog-
ition lighten the faces of Virgil and Statius (85-148).
enters the
forest at
sunrise
Now eager to search within and around the divine Dante
forest dense and verdant, which to mine eyes divine
was tempering the new day,
without waiting more I left the mountain-side,
crossing the plain with lingering step, over the
ground which gives forth fragrance on every side.
A sweet breeze, itself invariable, was striking on
my brow with no greater force than a gentle
wind,
efore which the branches, responsively trembling,
were all bending toward that quarter, where
the holy mount casts its first shadow;
349
350
PURGATORIO
Paradiso non però dal lor esser dritto sparte
Terrestre tanto, che gli augelletti per le cime
lasciasser d'operare ogni lor arte;
ma con piena letizia l' ôre prime,
cantando, ricevièno intra le foglie,
che tenevan bordone alle sue rime:
tal qual di ramo in ramo si raccoglie
per la pineta in sul lito di Chiassi,
quand' Eolo Scirocco fuor discioglie.
Già m' avean trasportato i lenti passi
dentro alla selva antica tanto, ch' io
non potea rivedere ond' io m' entrassi;
ed ecco il più andar mi tolse un rio,
che in ver sinistra con sue picciole onde
piegava l'erba che in sua riva uscìo.
Tutte l'acque che son di qua più monde
parrieno avere in sè mistura alcuna,
verso di quella che nulla nasconde ;
avvegna che si mova bruna bruna
sotto l'ombra perpetua, che mai
raggiar non lascia sole ivi, nè luna.
Coi piè ristetti e con gli occhi passai
di là dal fiumicello, per mirare
la gran variazion dei freschi mai;
e là m' apparve, sì com' egli appare
subitamente cosa che disvia
per maraviglia tutt' altro pensare,
una donna soletta, che si gia
cantando ed iscegliendo fior da fiore,
ond' era pinta tutta la sua via.
"Deh, bella donna, ch' ai raggi d' amore
ti scaldi, s' io vo' credere ai sembianti
che soglion esser testimon del core
I
I
I
2
2
2
3
دیا
3
3
4
4
CANTO XXVIII
351
wanders on
yet not so far bent aside from their erect state, Dante
that the little birds in the tops ceased to
practise their every art;
but, singing, with full gladness they welcomed
the first breezes within the leaves, which were
murmuring the burden to their songs;
even such as from bough to bough is gathered
through the pine wood on Chiassi's shore,
when Aeolus looses Sirocco forth.
Already my slow steps had carried me on so far
within the ancient wood, that I could not see
whence I had entered;
reaches
and lo, a stream took from me further passage till he
which, toward the left with its little waves, Lethe
bent the grass which sprang forth on its bank.
All the waters which here are purest, would seem
to have some mixture in them, compared with
that, which hideth nought;
albeit full darkly it flows beneath the everlasting
shade, which never lets sun, nor moon, beam
there.
With feet I halted and with mine eyes did pass
beyond the rivulet, to gaze upon the great
diversity of the tender blossoms;
and there to me appeared, even as on a sudden
something appears which, through amazement,
sets all other thought astray,
a lady solitary, who went along singing, and Matilda
culling flower after flower, wherewith all
her path was painted.
Pray, fair lady, who at love's beams dost warm
thee, if I may believe outward looks, which
are wont to be a witness of the heart,
352
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso vegnati voglia di trarreti avanti,
diss' io a lei, "verso questa riviera,
tanto ch' io possa intender che tu canti.
Tu mi fai rimembrar, dove e qual era
Proserpina nel tempo che perdette
la madre lei, ed ella primavera."
Come si volge, con le piante strette
a terra ed intra se, donna che balli,
e piede innanzi piede a pena mette,
volsesi in sui vermigli ed in sui gialli
fioretti verso me, non altrimenti
che vergine che gli occhi onesti avvalli;
e fece i preghi miei esser contenti,
sì appressando sè, che il dolce suono
veniva a me co' suoi intendimenti.
Tosto che fu là dove l' erbe sono
bagnate già dall' onde del bel fiume,
di levar gli occhi suoi mi fece dono.
Non credo che splendesse tanto lume
sotto le ciglia a Venere trafitta
dal figlio, fuor di tutto suo costume.
Ella ridea dall' altra riva dritta,
traendo più color con le sue mani,
che l'alta terra senza seme gitta.
Tre passi ci facea il fiume lontani;
ma Ellesponto, dove passò Xerse,
ancora freno a tutti orgogli umani,
più odio da Leandro non sofferse,
per mareggiare intra Sesto ed Abido,
che quel da me, perchè allor non s' aperse.
"Voi siete nuovi, e forse perch' io rido,"
cominciò ella, "in questo loco eletto
all' umana natura per suo nido,
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
CANTO XXVIII
353
Matilda
may it please thee to draw forward," said I to Dante and
her, "towards this stream, so far that I may
understand what thou singest.
Thou makest me to remember, where and what
Proserpine was in the time her mother lost
her, and she lost the spring."
As a lady who is dancing turns her round with
feet close to the ground and to each other,
and hardly putteth foot before foot,
she turned toward me upon the red and upon
the yellow flowerets, not otherwise than a
virgin that droppeth her modest eyes;
ind made my prayers satisfied, drawing so near
that the sweet sound reached me with its
meaning.
Soon as she was there, where the grass is already
bathed by the waves of the fair river, she
vouchsafed to raise her eyes to me.
I do not believe that so bright a light shone forth
under the eyelids of Venus, pierced by her son,
against all his wont.
She smiled from the right bank opposite, gather-
ing more flowers with her hands, which the
high land bears without seed.
Three paces the river kept us distant; but
Hellespont, where Xerxes crossed, to this
day a curb to all human pride,
ndured not more hatred from Leander for its
turbulent waves 'twixt Sestos and Abydos, than
that did from me, because it opened not then.
New-comers are ye," she began, “and per-
chance, because I am smiling in this place,
chosen for nest of the human race,
Z
354
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso maravigliando tienvi alcun sospetto;
ma luce rende il salmo Delectasti,
che puote disnebbiar vostro intelletto.
E tu, che sei dinanzi, e mi pregasti,
di' s'altro vuoi udir: ch' io venni presta
ad ogni tua question, tanto che basti."
"L'acqua," diss' io, “e il suon della foresta,
impugnan dentro a me novella fede
di cosa, ch' io udi' contraria a questa."
Ond'ella: "Io dicerò come procede
per sua cagion ciò ch'ammirar ti face,
e purgherò la nebbia che ti fiede.
Lo sommo Ben, che solo esso a sè piace,
fece l' uom buono, e a bene, e questo loco
diede per arra a lui d'eterna pace.
Per sua diffalta qui dimorò poco;
per sua diffalta in pianto ed in affanno
cambiò onesto riso e dolce gioco.
Perchè il turbar, che sotto da sè fanno
l'esalazion dell' acqua e della terra,
che, quanto posson, retro al calor vanno,
all' uomo non facesse alcuna guerra,
questo monte salio verso 'l ciel tanto ;
è libero n'è d' indi, ove si serra.
Or, perchè in circuito tutto e quanto
l'aer si volge con la prima volta,
se non gli è rotto il cerchio d'alcun canto,
in questa altezza, che in tutto è disciolta
nell' aer vivo, tal moto percote,
e fa suonar la selva perch' è folta;
e la percossa pianta tanto puote,
che della sua virtute l' aura impregna,
e quella poi girando intorno scote;
I
I
I
I
ČANTO XXVIII
355
ome doubt doth hold you marvelling; but the Matilda
discourses
psalm Delectasti giveth light which may clear
on the
the mist from your understanding.
wind in the
Earthly
And thou, who art in front, and didst entreat Paradise
me, say if aught else thou wouldst hear: for
I came ready to all thy questioning till thou
be satisfied."
The water," said I, "and the music of the
forest, are combatting within me a new belief
in a thing which I have heard contrary to this."
Wherefore she: "I will tell from what cause
that arises which makes thee marvel, and I
will purge away the mist that offends thee.
The highest Good, who himself alone doth please,
made man good and for goodness, and gave
this place to him as an earnest of eternal peace.
Through his default, small time he sojourned
here; through his default, for tears and sweat
he exchanged honest laughter and sweet play.
In order that the storms, which the exhalations of
the water and of the earth cause below it, and
which follow so far as they can after the heat,
hould do no hurt to man, this mount rose thus
far towards heaven, and stands clear of them
from where it is locked.
Now since the whole of the air revolves in a
circle with the primal motion, unless its circuit
is broken in some direction,
uch motion strikes on this eminence, which is
all free in the pure air, and makes the wood
to sound because it is dense;
nd the smitten plant has such power that with its
virtue it impregnates the air, and that in its
revolution then scatters it abroad;
356
PURGATORIO
Paradiso e l'altra terra, secondo ch 'è degna
Terrestre
per sè e per suo ciel, concepe e figlia
di diverse virtù diverse legna.
Non parrebbe di là poi maraviglia,
udito questo, quando alcuna pianta
senza seme palese vi s' appiglia.
E saper dei che la campagna santa,
ove tu sei, d' ogni semenza è piena,
e frutto ha in sè che di là non si schianta.
L'acqua che vedi non surge di vena
che ristori vapor che giel converta,
come fiume ch' acquista e perde lena;
ma esce di fontana salda e certa,
che tanto dal voler di Dio riprende,
quant' ella versa da due parti aperta.
Da questa parte con virtù discende,
che toglie altrui memoria del peccato;
dall' altra, d'ogni ben fatto la rende.
Quinci Letè, così dall' altro lato
Eunoè si chiama, e non adopra,
se quinci e quindi pria non è gustato.
A tutt' altri sapori esto è di sopra ;
ed avvegna ch' assai possa esser sazia
la sete tua, perch' io più non ti scopra,
darotti un corollario ancor per grazia;
nè credo che il mio dir ti sia men caro,
se oltre promission teco si spazia.
Quelli che anticamente poetaro
l'età dell' oro e suo stato felice,
forse in Parnaso esto loco sognaro.
Qui fu innocente l'umana radice;
qui primavera è sempre, ed ogni frutto;
nettare è questo di che ciascun dice."
II
II
II
12
12
12
13
13
13
13
14
CANTO XXVIII
357
continuing,
nd the other land, according as it is worthy of Matilda,
itself and of its climate, conceives and brings treats of
forth divers trees of divers virtues.
Were this understood, it would not then seem a
marvel yonder when some plant takes root
there without manifest seed.
And thou must know that the holy plain where
thou art, is full of every seed, and bears fruit
in it which yonder is not plucked.
the plants
water
Paradise
The water which thou seest wells not from a and of the
spring that is fed by moisture which cold con- in the
denses, like a river that gains and loses volume, Earthly
ut issues from a fount, constant and sure, which
regains by God's will, so much as it pours
forth freely on either side.
On this side it descends with a virtue which takes
from men the memory of sin; on the other it
restores the memory of every good deed.
On this side Lethe, as on the other Eunoe 'tis
called, and works not except first it is tasted
on this side and on that.
This exceedeth all other savours; and albeit
thy thirst may be full sated, even tho' I
reveal no more to thee,
will give thee yet a corollary as a grace; nor
do I think that my words will be less precious to
thee if they extend beyond my promise to thee.
They who in olden times sang of the golden age and of its
and its happy state, perchance dreamed in
Parnassus of this place.
Here the root of man's race was innocent; here
spring is everlasting, and every kind of fruit;
this is the nectar whereof each one tells."
Golden
Age
358
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Io mi volsi di retro allora tutto
Terrestre a' miei poeti, e vidi che con riso
udito avevan l'ultimo costrutto;
poi alla bella donna tornai il viso.
II, 12. Towards the west.
=
145
148
19-21. The mournful notes heard in the pine-forest
of Ravenna, on the Adriatic shore [Chiassi, near
Ravenna, the Classis of the Romans, who used it as a
naval station and harbour; in Christian times a fortress
was built there], when Aeolus, king of the winds
(Aen. i. 52 sqq.), lets loose the sirocco, or S.E. wind.
See Byron's Don Juan, iv. 105.
40. This is Matilda (see below, Canto xxxiii. 118,
119), in all probability to be taken as the type of
the Active Life (v. 80). Historically, it is safest to
identify her with Matelda, the Grancontessa of Tuscany
(1046-1115), the supporter of Pope Gregory VII., the
friend and bounteous benefactor of the Holy See and
Church. Other attempts at identification have been
made, some of them, notably Göschel's and Preger's,
being of great ingenuity; but here, as so often, we
shall do best in following the early commentators.
49-51. While gathering flowers in a lovely meadow,
Proserpina was carried off by Pluto (cf. Inf. ix. 44, x.
80), in the presence of her mother and companions.
A reference to Ovid, Met. v. 385 sqq. and to Par. xxx.
6, will show that primavera means the " "spring
flowers" that fell from her tunic, when Pluto bore
her off in his car.
64-66. When she became enamoured of Adonis.
See Ovid, Met. x. 525-526: Namque pharetratus dum
dat puer oscula matri, Inscius exstanti destrinxit arundine
pectus.
71-75. When Xerxes, King of Persia (485-465 B.C.
crossed the Hellespont (the modern Dardanelles) over
a bridge of boats, to invade Greece, he had with him
a host of a million soldiers; on his return, in a fishing
boat, he was accompanied by a few men only [Orosius,
whom Dante probably follows, points a similar moral

CANTO XXVIII
359
Matilda
Then did I turn me right back to my poets, and Dante and
saw that with smiles they had heard the last
interpretation; then to the fair Lady I turned
my face.
ii. 9 and 10]. The same strait separated Leander
rom his mistress Hero; in order to see her, he swam
cross it many times and was eventually drowned
see Ovid, Heroid. xviii., xix.).
•
"For
80. Delectasti me, Domine, in factura tua.
hou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work:
will triumph in the works of thy hands" (Ps.
【cii. 4).
87. See above, Canto xxi. 43 sqq.
102. From the Gate of Purgatory (see above, Canto
x. 76, 130 sqq.).
103-108. "The air also flows in a circle, because
t is drawn along with the circulation of the whole "
[Aristotle)." And thus that air which exceeds the
greatest altitude of the mountains flows round, but
the air which is contained within the altitude of the
mountains is impeded from this flow by the im-
noveable parts of the earth" (Thomas Aquinas).
109-117. Here Dante gives a sort of supernatural-
ationalistic explanation of what was in his day an
ccepted fact. "And the same holds with plants also,
ince some are produced by seed, others spontaneously
by nature" (Aristotle).
121-123. For the formation of rain on earth, cf.
bove, Canto v. 109-111.
"These are
124-126. See Genesis ii. 4-6 and 10 sqq. :
he generations of the heavens and of the earth when
hey were created, in the day that the Lord God made
he earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field
before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field
before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to
ain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till
the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth,
360
NOTES
and watered the whole face of the ground. . . And
a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and
from thence it was parted, and became into fou
heads...." Cf. below, Canto xxxiii. vv. 112-114
note.
128. For Lethe, see Inf. xxxiv. 130 and Purg
i. 40.
130-132. It would be natural to understand thi
passage as asserting that the drinking of Lethe pro
duced no effect until Eunoë had been also drunk; bu
we see from xxxiii. 91-99 that this is not the case. W
are therefore compelled to interpret the passage mor
subtly. It appears, then, that the true function of th
twofold stream is to sift out evil and sinful memorie
from the sources of joy and gratitude with which they
CANTO XXVIII
361
are often inseparably mixed up on earth. For instance,
when some unkindness or neglect of our own has been
the cause of revealing to us the beauty and generosity
of another's character; or when the shock consequent
upon some error or sin that we have committed has
roused within us the powers of resistance and aspira-
tion, or brought us into contact with some strong and
helpful soul, it appears that the immediate effect of
drinking Lethe is not to separate out the good and
bad, but to engulf in the forgetfulness of all evil, into
which it throws the soul, the memory of all incidental
good that was connected with it. See below, Canto
xxxiii. 91-99, note.
139-144 For the Golden Age, see above, Canto
xxii. 148-150, note.
As
PURGATORIO
S she chants a blessing on those whose sins are
forgiven, Matilda takes her way along one
bank of the stream, while Dante keeps pace with
her on the other; till the air, kindling with splen-
dour and laden with sweet strains of song, fills Dante
at once with the rapture of the Earthly Paradise and
a sense of indignation against the act of sin which
had bereft him and mankind of such delights
delights which all the waters of Helicon can scarce
enable him to set in verse (1-42). Dante is pacing
eastward, with the stream on his left hand flowing
towards him, and on the other side of the stream a
divine pageant approaches him; the details of which,
together with words of song, are gradually disen-
tangled by eye and ear. But when he turns to Virgil
for enlightenment, his faithful teacher can no longer
instruct him; these are things beyond the reach of
his art (43-57). Seven lights leave the air painted
with seven great rainbow streamers of colour stretch-
ing away as far as the eye can reach, throwing their
Paradiso Cantando come donna innamorata,
Terrestre
continuò col fin di sue parole:
“Beati, quorum tecta sunt peccata.”
E come ninfe che si givan sole
per le salvatiche ombre, disiando
qual di veder, qual di fuggir lo sole,
allor si mosse contra il fiume, andando
su per la riva, ed io pari di lei,
picciol passo con picciol seguitando.
Non eran cento tra i suo' passi e i miei,
quando le ripe igualmente dier volta,
per modo ch' a levante mi rendei.
4
7
ΤΟ
362
CANTO XXIX
glory over the heaven and glowing upon the stream.
They represent the sevenfold gifts of the spirit, and
beneath their glory tread four and twenty elders,
crowned with lilies, representing the books of the
Old Testament, chanting blessings on the Virgin
(58-87). They are followed by the four Gospel
beasts as described by Ezekiel and John, enclosing
between them the triumphal chariot of the Church,
resting on the two wheels of the contemplative and
active life, drawn by a grifon whose twofold nature
represents the two natures in one person of Christ
(88-114). The sun itself has not so glorious a
chariot. By the right wheel the three theological
virtues dance, and by the left the four cardinal virtues
(115-132). Then come two elders, then four, then
one, crowned with roses, representing the remaining
books of the New Testament (133-150). When
Dante is just opposite the car, a peal of thunder
arrests the whole procession (151-154).
Matilda
At the end of her words, singing like an Dante and
enamoured lady, she continued: "Beati, quorum
tecta sunt peccata."
And, as nymphs who used to wend alone
through the woodland shades, one desiring
to see, another to flee the sun,
she then advanced against the stream, walking
on the bank, and I abreast of her, little step
answering with little step.
Not a hundred were her steps with mine, when
both banks alike made a bend in such wise
that I turned me to the east.
363
364
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Nè ancor fu così nostra via molta,
Terrestre quando la donna tutta a me si torse,
dicendo: "Frate mio, guarda, ed ascolta."
ed ecco un lustro subito trascorse
da tutte parti per la gran foresta,
tal che di balenar mi mise in forse.
Ma perchè il balenar, come vien, resta,
e quel durando più e più splendeva,
nel mio pensar dicea: "Che cosa è questa?'
Ed una melodia dolce correva
per
l'aer luminoso; onde buon zelo
mi fe' riprender l'ardimento d' Eva,
che, là dove ubbidia la terra e il cielo,
femmina sola, e pur testè formata,
non sofferse di star sotto alcun velo;
sotto il qual, se devota fosse stata,
avrei quelle ineffabili delizie
sentite prima, e più lunga fiata.
Mentr' io m' andava tra tante primizie
dell' eterno piacer, tutto sospeso,
e disioso ancora a più letizie,
dinanzi a noi, tal quale un foco acceso,
ci si fe' l'aer sotto i verdi rami,
e il dolce suon per canto era già inteso.
O sacrosante Vergini, se fami,
freddi o vigilie mai per voi soffersi,
cagion mi sprona, ch' io mercè ne chiami.
Or convien ch' Elicona per me versi,
ed Urania m' aiuti col suo coro,
forti cose a pensar mettere in versi.
Poco più oltre sette arbori d'oro
falsava nel parere il lungo tratto
del mezzo, ch' era ancor tra noi e loro;
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
CANTO XXIX
365
of the
Nor yet was our way thus very far, when the Approach
lady turned her full round to me, saying, Divine
"Brother mine, look and hearken."
And lo, a sudden brightness flooded on all sides
the great forest, such that it set me in doubt
if 'twere lightning.
But since lightning ceases even as it cometh, and
that enduring, brighter and brighter shone, in
my mind I said: "What thing is this?
And a sweet melody ran through the luminous
air; wherefore righteous zeal made me reprove
Eve's daring,
who, there where heaven and earth obeyed, a
woman alone and but then formed, did not
bear to remain under any veil,
under which, if she had been devout, I should
have tasted those ineffable joys ere this, and
for a longer time.
While I was going amid so many first-fruits of
the eternal pleasance, all enrapt and still yearn-
ing for more joys,
the air in front of us under the green boughs, be-
came even as a flaming fire to us, and the sweet
sound was heard as a chant.
Pageant
O holy, holy, Virgins, if e'er for you I have Invocation
endured fastings, cold, or vigils, occasion
me to crave my reward.
spurs
Now 'tis meet that Helicon for me stream forth
and Urania aid me with her choir to set in verse
things hard to conceive.
of the
Muses
A little farther on, a delusive semblance of seven The seven
trees of gold was caused by the long space Candle-
that was yet between us and them;
sticks
366
PURGATORIO
ད
Paradiso ma quando fui si presso di lor fatto,
Terrestre
che l'obbietto comun, che il senso inganna,
non perdea per distanza alcun suo atto,
la virtù ch' a ragion discorso ammanna
sì com'elli eran candelabri apprese,
e nelle voci del cantare, “Osanna.”
Di sopra fiammeggiava il bello arnese
più chiaro assai che luna per sereno
di mezza notte nel suo mezzo mese.
Io mi rivolsi d' ammirazion pieno
al buon Virgilio, ed esso mi rispose
con vista carca di stupor non meno.
Indi rendei l'aspetto all' alte cose,
che si moveano incontro a noi sì tardi,
che foran vinte da novelle spose.
"Perchè ardi
pur
La donna mi sgridò :
sì nell'aspetto delle vive luci,
e ciò che vien di retro a lor non guardi?
Genti vid' io allor, com' a lor duci,
venire appresso, vestite di bianco :
e tal candor di qua giammai non fuci.
L'acqua splendeva dal sinistro fianco,
e rendea a me la mia sinistra costa,
s' io riguardava in lei, come specchio anco.
Quand' io dalla mia riva ebbi tal posta,
che solo il fiume mi facea distante,
per veder meglio ai passi diedi sosta,
e vidi le fiammelle andar davante,
lasciando retro a sè l' aer dipinto,
e di tratti pennelli avean sembiante;
sì che lì sopra rimanea distinto
di sette liste, tutte in quei colori,
onde fa l'arco il sole e Delia il cinto.
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
CANTO XXIX
367
The seven
but when I had drawn so nigh to them that the The Divine
general similitude of things, which deceives the Pageant
senses, lost not by distance any of its features, Candle-
the faculty which prepares material for reason sticks
distinguished them as candlesticks, even as
they were, and in the words of the chant,
"Hosannah."
Above, the fair pageant was flaming forth, brighter
far than the moon in clear midnight sky in her
mid month.
Full of wonderment I turned me to the good
Virgil, and he answered me with a face not
less charged with amazement.
Then I turned my countenance back to the sublime
things, which moved towards us so slowly, that
they would be vanquished by new-wedded brides.
The lady cried to me : "Wherefore art thou so The seven
ardent only for the vision of these bright lights, Pennants
and heedest not that which comes after them?"
Then I beheld people, clad in white, following
as after their leaders; and whiteness so pure
here never was with us.
Bright shone the water on my left flank, and re-
flected to me my left side, if I gazed therein,
even as a mirror.
When I was so placed on my bank that the
river alone kept me distant, to see better I
gave halt to my steps,
and I saw the flames advance, leaving the air
behind them painted, and of trailing pennants
they had the semblance;
so that the air above remained streaked with
seven bands, all in those colours whereof the
sun makes his bow, and Delia her girdle.

368
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Questi ostendali retro eran maggiori
Terrestre
che la mia vista; e, quanto al mio avviso,
dieci passi distavan quei di fuori.
Sotto così bel ciel, com' io diviso,
ventiquattro seniori, a due a due,
coronati venian di fiordaliso.
Tutti cantavan: "Benedetta tue
nelle figlie d' Adamo, e benedette
sieno in eterno le bellezze tue."
Poscia che i fiori e l' altre fresche erbette,
a rimpetto di me dall' altra sponda,
libere fur da quelle genti elette,
sì come luce luce in ciel seconda,
vennero appresso lor quattro animali,
coronato ciascun di verde fronda.
Ognuno era pennuto di sei ali,
79
82
85
88
91
93
le penne piene d'occhi; e gli occhi d' Argo,
se fosser vivi, sarebber cotali.
A descriver lor forme più non spargo
rime, lettor; ch' altra spesa mi strigne
tanto, che a questa non posso esser largo.
Ma leggi Ezechiel, che li dipigne
come li vide dalla fredda parte
venir con vento, con nube e con igne:
e quali i troverai nelle sue carte,
tali eran quivi, salvo ch' alle penne
Giovanni è meco, e da lui si diparte.
Lo spazio dentro a lor quattro contenne
un carro, in su due rote, trionfale,
ch' al collo d' un grifon tirato venne.
Esso tendea in su l'una e l'altr' ale
tra la mezzana e le tre e tre liste,
sì ch' a nulla fendendo facea male.
97
100
103
106
109
CANTO XXIX
369
These banners streamed to the rearward far The Divine
beyond my sight, and as I might judge, the Pageant
outermost were ten paces apart.
and twenty
Beneath so fair a sky, as I describe, came four The four
and twenty elders, two by two, crowned with Elders
flower-de-luce.
All were singing: "Blessed thou among the
daughters of Adam, and blessed to all eternity
be thy beauties."
When the flowers and the other tender herbs
opposite to me on the other bank, were free
from those chosen people,
even as star follows star in the heavens, four The four
creatures came after them, each one crowned Beasts
with green leaves.
Everyone was plumed with six wings, the plumes
full of eyes; and the eyes of Argus, were they
living, would be such.
To describe their form, reader, I spill no more
rhymes; for other charges bind me so, that
herein I cannot be lavish.
But read Ezekiel who depicts them as he saw
them coming from the cold region, with
whirlwind, with cloud, and with fire;
and as thou shalt find them in his pages, such
were they here, save that in the pinions John
is with me, and differs from him.
The space within the four of them contained a The
car triumphal, upon two wheels, which came
drawn at the neck of a grifon.
And he stretched upwards one wing and the other,
between the middle and the three and three
bands, so that he did hurt to none by cleaving.
Chariot
and the
Grifon
2 A
370
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Tanto salivan, che non eran viste;
Terrestre
le membra d'oro avea, quanto era uccello,
e bianche l'altre di vermiglio miste.
Non che Roma di carro così bello
rallegrasse Affricano, o vero Augusto,
ma quel del sol saria pover con ello:
quel del sol, che sviando fu combusto,
per l'orazion della Terra devota,
quando fu Giove arcanamente giusto.
Tre donne in giro, dalla destra rota,
venian danzando: l'una tanto rossa
ch' a pena fora dentro al foco nota ;
l'altr'era come se le carni e l'ossa
fossero state di smeraldo fatte ;
la terza parea neve testè mossa;
ed or parevan dalla bianca tratte,
or dalla rossa, e dal canto di questa
l'altre togliean l' andare e tarde e ratte.
Dalla sinistra quattro facean festa,
in porpora vestite, dietro al modo
d' una di lor, ch' avea tre occhi in testa.
Appresso tutto il pertrattato nodo,
vidi due vecchi in abito dispari,
ma pari in atto, ed onesto e sodo :
l'un si mostrava alcun de' famigliari
di quel sommo Ippocrate, che natura
agli animali fe' ch' ell' ha più cari;
mostrava l'altro la contraria cura
con una spada lucida ed acuta,
tal che di qua dal rio mi fe' paura.
Poi vidi quattro in umile paruta,
e di retro da tutti un veglio solo
venir, dormendo, con la faccia arguta.
I12
115
118
121
I24
127
13
13.
13
13
14
CANTO XXIX
371
The
So high they rose that they were not seen; his The Divine
members had he of gold, so far as he was a bird, Pageant
and the others white mingled with vermilion. Chariot
Not only Africanus, nor in sooth, Augustus, e'er Grifon
rejoiced Rome with a car so fair, but that of
the sun would be poor beside it,
that of the sun, which straying was consumed at
the devout prayer of the earth, when Jove was
mysteriously just.
and the
Three ladies came dancing in a round by the The Theo-
right wheel; one so red that hardly would logical
she be noted in the fire;
the next was as if her flesh and bone had been
made of emerald; the third seemed new fallen
snow;
and now seemed they led by the white, now by
the red, and from the song of her the others
took measure slow and quick.
Virtues
Cardinal
By the left wheel, four clad in purple, made The
festival, following the lead of one of them, Virtues
who had three eyes in her head.
Paul
After all the group described, I saw two aged Luke and
men, unlike in raiment, but like in bearing,
and venerable and grave:
one showed him to be of the familiars of that
highest Hippocrates whom nature made for
the creatures she holds most dear
the other showed the contrary care, with a
sword glittering and sharp, such that on this
side the stream it made me afeard.
rearguard
Then saw I four of lowly semblance; and The
behind all, an old man solitary, coming in a
trance, with visage keen.
372
PURGATORIO
Paradiso E questi sette col primaio stuolo
erano abituati; ma di gigli
Terrestre
dintorno al capo non facevan brolo,
anzi di rose e d' altri fior vermigli :
giurato avria poco lontano aspetto,
che tutti ardesser di sopra dai cigli.
E quando il carro a me fu a rimpetto,
un tuon s'udì; e quelle genti degne
parvero aver l' andar più interdetto,
fermandos' ivi con le prime insegne.
145
148
151
154
3. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered" (Ps. xxxii. 1).
27. Cf. Par. xix. 48, note.
37-42. With this invocation to the Muses, cf. Inf.
ii. 7-9, xxxii. 10, 11; Purg. i. 7-12; Par. i. 16, 17,
ii. 9, xviii. 82-85.-Helicon was in reality a mountain
in Boeotia, sacred to the Muses (from which sprang
two fountains associated with them-Aganippe and
Hippocrene). Urania-the Muse of astronomy and
heavenly things.
43, 50.
•
•
"And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks . . . and the seven candlesticks
are the seven churches" (Rev. i. 12, 20)..
"and there were seven lamps burning before the
throne, which are the seven Spirits of God" (Rev. iv.
5). Dante seems to have amalgamated these two
passages for the purpose of his allegory. See, too.
Conv. iv. 21: 100-112: "By the Theological way
it is possible to say that, when the supreme Deity.
that is God, sees his creature prepared to receive his
good gift, so freely he imparts it to his creature ir
proportion as it is prepared to receive it.
because these gifts proceed from ineffable Love, and
the Divine Love is appropriate to the Holy Spirit
therefore it is that they are called the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, which, even as the Prophet Isaiah distin
guishes them [Vulgate, xi. 2, 3], are seven, namely
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge
Pity and the Fear of the Lord."
And
47. The "proper" objects of the senses are thos
CANTO XXIX
373
Pageant
halts
And these seven were arrayed as the
the first The Divine
company; but of lilies around their heads no
garland had they,
rather of roses and of other red flowers; one who
viewed from short distance would have sworn
that all were aflame above the eyes.
And when the car was opposite to me, a thunder
clap was heard; and those worthy folk seemed
to have their further march forbidden, and
halted there with the first ensigns.
which are perceived by one sense only, as colour by
the sight, sound by the hearing, savour by the taste;
and in these, according to Aristotle, the senses cannot
be deceived. "But the common objects are motion,
rest, number, shape, size; for such things are not
the proper objects of any sense, but are common to
all," and with respect to them the senses may err.
49. Probably the apprehensive faculty (see above,
Canto xviii. 22, 23, note).—Mr Butler quotes Hamlet,
i. 2: "A beast that wants discourse of reason.
51. "Hosanna," the word with which the Jews
hailed Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem (Matt. xxi. 9;
Mark xi. 9; John xii. 13); here used by the twenty-
four elders (vv. 64,83) preceding Christ's chariot.
73-81. The seven bands or pennons trailing behind
the candlesticks may be taken as the seven sacraments,
or, perhaps better, as the working of the seven gifts.
The colours of the rainbow and of the moon's halo
[Diana was born on the island of Delos] may have
been suggested by Rev. iv. 3:
and there was
a rainbow about the throne in sight like unto an
emerald." The paces of v. 81 probably indicate the
ten commandments.
•
83, 84. These elders represent the twenty-four
books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch, the
historical books and the three ascribed to Solomon
counting as one each). Their voices and their white
garments (emblematical of Faith; see Hebrews xi.)
were referred to above in vv. 51, 64-66; and the
whole conception of them was derived by Dante from
NOTES
374
Rev. iv. 4:
"And round about the throne were four
and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four and
twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and
they had on their heads crowns of gold.”
crowns of "flower-de-luce" suggest the purity of
their faith and teaching.
The
"____the
women
among
85, 86. "Blessed art thou
words of the angel and of Elizabeth to Mary (Luke
i. 28, 42); here addressed either to Mary or to
Beatrice.
92-105. See the description of these four beasts in
The faces of the
Ezek. i. 4-14 and Rev. iv. 6-9.
man, lion, ox (or calf) and eagle represent Matthew,
The green
Mark, Luke, and John, respectively.
leaves indicate Hope ("Lord Jesus Christ, which is
our hope" 1 Tim. i. 1). According to Pietro di
Dante the beast's six wings are the six laws-
natural, Mosaic, prophetic, evangelical, Apostolic
and canonical; [in Ezekiel we read that "everyone
had four wings;" while John says that "the four
beasts had each of them six wings about him"].
The eyes indicate the knowledge of things past and
future; [for Argus, with the hundred eyes, see
below, Canto xxxii. 64-66, note].
107. The two wheels have been explained in many
different ways, the interpretation adopted in the
Argument being one of the most satisfactory. Accord-
ing to others, they indicate the Old and the New
Testament;
the orders of the Dominicans and
Franciscans, etc., etc.
109-111. Looking to Pss. xxxvi. and lvii. and
comparing verses 5 and 7 of the former with 1 and
II of the latter, it seems that we must understand
them [the wings] as denoting-the one mercy, the
other truth or justice. Then their position with
regard to the bands will be made intelligible by a
"O stretch forth thy
reference to Ps. xxxvi. 10:
mercy over those that know thee [scientia], and thy
justice over them that are of a right heart [consilium]
(Butler).
113, 114. "My beloved is white and ruddy, the
His head is as the
chiefest among ten thousand
most fine gold .
•
•
(Song of Solomon, v. 10, 11).
CANTO XXIX
375
115, 116. The cars used by these and all victorious
Roman generals in their "triumphs."
117-120. For Phaëton see Inf. xvii. 106-108, note.
121-129. Faith (white), Hope (green) and Charity
(red); cf. above, Canto viii. 89-93. The song of
Charity leads the measure because, according to
1 Cor. xiii. 13: ". now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity."
130-132. For the moral or cardinal virtues, see
above, Canto i. vv. 23-27, note.-Even in the Convito
(iv. 17: 77-84), where Dante follows Aristotle (in
whose system Prudence is an intellectual virtue), he
feels constrained to say: By many, Prudence, that
is Wisdom, is well asserted to be a moral virtue ;
but Aristotle numbers that amongst the intellectual
virtues, although it is the guide of the moral, and
points out the way by which they are formed, and
without which they cannot be." The three eyes of
Prudence have reference to the past, present and
future, and the purple garb of the four virtues to the
Empire (cf. below, Canto xxxii. vv. 58, 59, note).
134-141. These two are Luke (considered as author
of the Acts) and Paul. Paul describes Luke (in
Col. iv. 14) as "the beloved physician"; he is
therefore regarded as a spiritual Hippocrates (this
being the name of a famous Greek physician). The
animali of v. 138 of course mankind. The explana-
tion of Paul's sword is to be found either in his
own words (Eph. vi. 17): ". the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God"; or in the circum-
stance that he was always represented with one (in
reference to his martyrdom by sword).
142. James, Peter, John and Jude the authors of
the four canonical epistles.
143, 144. John, considered as author of Revelation
-a series of visions, concerning things that must
shortly come to pass: hence he is represented as
dormendo and con la faccia arguta.
145-150. We saw that the fiordaliso (v. 84) was em-
blematical of the purity of the Old Testament; now
the charity of the New Testament is indicated by the
rose and altri fior vermigli.

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PURGATORIO
Terrestre
WHE
'HEN the car arrests itself, all the elders who
had preceded it, turn and face round to it;
and when one of them invokes the bride of Lebanon,
blessed spirits rise up around it, as men shall rise at
the last day. Flowers are flung in a cloud from their
hands as they utter blessings, culled from Christian
and Gentile scriptures; and a form clad in the colours
of the three theological virtues rises like the sun
in their midst (1-33). Dante without further testi-
mony from his eyes, recognises the tokens of the
ancient flame, and like a terrified child turns round
to ask comfort and support from Virgil (34-48). But
Virgil has gone, and not even the joys of the Earthly
Paradise can prevent Dante's cheeks, though cleansed
by the mountain dew, from darkening again with
tears (49-54). But the sense of outward loss when
bereft of Virgil is soon swallowed up in the sense of
inward loss caused by his own faithlessness and sin;
for Beatrice sternly recalls him to face his own
Paradiso Quando il settentrion del primo cielo,
che nè occaso mai seppe nè orto,
nè d'altra nebbia che di colpa velo,
e che faceva lì ciascuno accorto
di suo dover, come il più basso face
qual timon gira per venire a porto,
fermo si affisse, la gente verace,
venuta prima tra il grifone ed esso,
al carro volse sè, come a sua pace;
ed un di loro, quasi da ciel messo,
"Veni, sponsa, de Libano" cantando
gridò tre volte, e tutti gli altri appresso,
Quali i beati al novissimo bando
surgeran presti ognun di sua caverna,
la rivestita voce alleluiando,
4
7
ΙΟ
13
378
CANTO XXX
insulted and outraged ideal (55-75). Bereft of Virgil's
support when he looks around, encountering his own
image in the stream when he looks down, like a child
before an angered mother, Dante feels his heart at first
frozen by reproaches, then melted by the pleading
intercession of the angels (76-99). But Beatrice is still
unbending; and turning to the angelic presences she
rehearses the promise of Dante's youth and the un-
worthiness of his manhood, the gracious and fleeting
beauty of his early vows, the pursuit of false good to
which he then surrendered himself, her own unavail-
ing pleadings with him, and his fall, so deep that
naught save the vision of the region of the lost, won for
him by her prayers and tears, could avail to save him
(100-141). The deep fate of God were broken
should he taste of the higher joys, access to which
she had won for him, without paying some scot of
penitential tears (142-145).
•
When the wain of the first heaven which setting The Divine
nor rising never knew, nor veil of other mist Pageant
than of sin,
and which made there each one aware of his
duty, even as the lower wain guides him who
turns the helm to come into port,
had stopped still, the people of truth, who had
first come between the grifon and it, turned
them to the car as to their peace ;
and one of them as if sent from heaven "Veni
sponsa de Libano" did shout thrice in song,
and all the others after him.
As the saints at the last trump shall rise ready
each one from his tomb, with re-clad voice
singing Halleluiah,
379
380
PURGATORIO
Paradiso cotali, in su la divina basterna,
Terrestre si levar cento, ad vocem tanti senis,
ministri e messaggier di vita eterna.
Tutti dicean: "Benedictus, qui venis
e, fior gittando di sopra e dintorno,
"Manibus o date lilia plenis."
Io vidi già nel cominciar del giorno
la parte oriental tutta rosata
e l' altro ciel di bel sereno adorno,
e la faccia del sol nascere ombrata,
sì che per temperanza di vapori,
l'occhio la sostenea lunga fiata :
così dentro una nuvola di fiori,
che dalle mani angeliche saliva
e ricadeva in giù dentro e di fuori
sopra candido vel cinta d'oliva
>>
donna m' apparve, sotto verde manto,
vestita di color di fiamma viva.
E lo spirito mio, che già cotanto
tempo era stato che alla sua presenza
non era di stupor, tremando, affranto,
senza degli occhi aver più conoscenza,
per occulta virtù che da lei mosse,
d'antico amor sentì la gran potenza.
Tosto che nella vista mi percosse
l'alta virtù, che già m' avea trafitto
prima ch' io fuor di puerizia fosse,
volsimi alla sinistra col rispitto
16
19
;
col quale il fantolin corre alla mamma,
quando ha paura o quando egli è afflitto,
per dicere a Virgilio : "Men che dramma
di sangue m' è rimaso, che non tremi ;
conosco i segni dell' antica fiamma.”
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
CANTO XXX
381
such on the divine chariot rose up a hundred ad The Divine
vocem tanti senis, ministers and messengers of Pageant
life eternal.
All were saying: "Benedictus qui venis” ; and,
strewing flowers above and around, "Manibus
o date lilia plenis.”
Ere now have I seen, at dawn of day, the
eastern part all rosy red, and the rest of
heaven adorned with fair clear sky,
and the face of the sun rise shadowed, so that by
the tempering of the mists the eye long time
endured him :
so within a cloud of flowers, which rose from
the angelic hands and fell down again within
and without,
olive-crowned over a white veil, a lady appeared Beatrice
to me, clad, under a green mantle, with hue
of living flame.
And my spirit, that now so long a time had
passed, since, trembling in her presence, it
had been broken down with awe,
without having further knowledge by mine eyes
through hidden virtue which went out from
her, felt the mighty power of ancient love.
Soon as on my sight the lofty virtue smote,
which already had pierced me ere I was out
of my boyhood,
I turned me to the left with the trust with which
the little child runs to his mother when he is
frightened or when he is afflicted,
to say to Virgil: "Less than a drachm of blood
is left in me that trembleth not; I recognise
the tokens of the ancient flame."
382
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso Ma Virgilio n' avea lasciati scemi
di sè, Virgilio dolcissimo patre,
Virgilio a cui per mia salute die' mi:
nè quantunque perdè l'antica matre
valse alle guance nette di rugiada,
che lagrimando non tornassero atre.
Dante, perchè Virgilio se ne vada,
non pianger anco, non pianger ancora :
chè pianger ti convien per altra spada.”
Quasi ammiraglio, che in poppa ed in prora
viene a veder la gente che ministra
per gli altri legni, ed a ben far la incuora,
in su la sponda del carro sinistra,
quando mi volsi al suon del nome mio,
che di necessità qui si regista,
vidi la donna, che pria m' appario
velata sotto l'angelica festa,
drizzar gli occhi ver me di qua dal rio.
Tutto che il vel che le scendea di testa,
cerchiato dalla fronde di Minerva,
non la lasciasse parer manifesta,
regalmente nell' atto ancor proterva
continuò, come colui che dice
e il più caldo parlar di retro serva :
"Guardami ben: ben son, ben son Beatrice.
Come degnasti d' accedere al monte?
non sapei tu che qui è l' uom felice?"
Gli occhi mi cadder giù nel chiaro fonte ;
ma, veggendomi in esso, i trassi all' erba,
tanta vergogna mi gravò la fronte.
Così la madre al figlio par superba,
com' ella parve a me: perchè d'amaro
sente '1 sapor della pietade acerba.
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
CANTO XXX
383
and Dante
But Virgil had left us bereft of himself, Virgil Beatrice
sweetest Father, Virgil to whom for my weal
I
gave me up;
nor did all that our ancient mother lost, avail to
keep my dew-washed cheeks from turning
dark again with tears.
"Dante, for that Virgil goeth away, weep not
yet, weep not yet, for thou must weep for
other sword.”
Even as an admiral, who at stern and at bow,
comes to see the folk that man the other ships,
and heartens them to brave deeds,
so on the left side of the car, when I turned me
at sound of my name, which of necessity here
is recorded,
I saw the lady, who first appeared to me veiled
beneath the angelic festival, directing her eyes.
to me on this side the stream.
Albeit the veil which fell from her head, crowned
with Minerva's leaves, did not let her appear
manifest, distinctly
queenlike, in bearing yet 'stern, she continued,
like one who speaks and holdeth back the
hottest words till the last:
"Look at me well; verily am 1, verily am I Beatrice.
How didst thou deign to draw nigh the mount?
knewest thou not that here man is happy?
Mine eyes drooped down to the clear fount; but
beholding me therein, I drew them back to the
grass, so great a shame weighed down my brow.
So doth the mother seem stern to her child, as
she seemed to me; for the savour of harsh pity
tasteth of bitterness."
384
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Ella si tacque, e gli angeli cantaro
Terrestre
""
di subito: "In te, Domine, speravi";
ma oltre "pedes meos non passaro.
Sì come neve tra le vive travi
per lo dosso d' Italia si congela,
soffiata e stretta dagli venti schiavi,
poi liquefatta in sè stessa trapela,
pur che la terra, che perde ombra, spiri,
sì che par foco fonder la candela :
così fui senza lagrime e sospiri
anzi il cantar di quei che notan sempre
retro alle note degli eterni giri.
Ma poi che intesi nelle dolci tempre
lor compatire a me, più che se detto
avesser:
Donna, perchè sì lo stempre?'
lo gel che m' era intorno al cor ristretto,
spirito ed acqua fessi, e con angoscia
per la bocca e per gli occhi uscì del petto.
Ella, pur ferma in su la detta coscia
del carro stando, alle sustanzie pie
volse le sue parole così poscia :
“Voi vigilate nell' eterno dìe,
sì che notte nè sonno a voi non fura
passo che faccia il secol per sue vie :
onde la mia risposta è con più cura
che m' intenda colui che di là piagne,
per che sia colpa e duol d' una misura.
Non pur per opra delle rote magne,
che drizzan ciascun seme ad alcun fine,
secondo che le stelle son compagne ;
ma per larghezza di grazie divine,
che sì alti vapori hanno a lor piova
che nostre viste là non van vicine,
82
85
88
91
94
97
IOO
103
106
109
112
CANTO XXX
385
of a sudden"
and Dante
She was silent, and straightway the angels sang: Beatrice
"In te, Domine, speravi; " but beyond "pedes
meos they passed not.
""
རྒྱུ་
Shaddero
As the snow amid the living rafters along Italia's
back is frozen under blast and stress of
Slavonian winds,
then melted trickles down through itself, if but
the land that loseth shade do breathe, so that
it seems fire melting the candle,
"
so without tears or sighs was I before the song
of those who ever accord their notes after the
melodies of the eternal spheres.
But when I heard in their sweet harmonies their
compassion on me, more than if they had said
Lady, why dost thou so shame him?”
66
A
the ice which had closed about my heart became
breath and water, and with anguish through
mouth and eyes issued from my breast.
She, standing yet fixed on the said side of the
car, then turned her words to the pitying angels
thus :
robs
"Ye watch in the everlasting day, so that nor
night nor sleep stealéth from you one step
which the world may take along its ways;
wherefore my answer is with greater care, that
he who 'yon side doth weep may understand
me, so that sin and sorrow be of one measure.
Not only by operation of the mighty spheres that
direct each seed to some end, according as the
stars are its companions,
but by the bounty of graces divine, which have
for their rain vapours so high that our eyes
reach not nigh them,
Stale

2 B
386
PURGATORIO
Paradiso questi fu tal nella sua vita nuova
Terrestre
virtualmente, ch' ogni abito destro
fatto averebbe in lui mirabil prova.
Ma tanto più maligno e più silvestro
si fa il terren col mal seme e non colto,
quant' egli ha più del buon vigor terrestro.
Alcun tempo il sostenni col mio volto ;
mostrando gli occhi giovinetti a lui,
meco il menava in dritta parte volto.
Sì tosto come in su la soglia fui
di mia seconda etade, e mutai vita,
questi si tolse a me, e diessi altrui.
Quando di carne a spirto era salita,
e bellezza e virtù cresciuta m' era,
fu' io a lui men cara e men gradita ;
e volse i passi suoi per via non vera,
imagini di ben seguendo false,
che nulla promission rendono intera.
Nè impetrare spirazion mi valse,
con le quali ed in sogno ed altrimenti
lo rivocai; sì poco a lui ne calse.
Tanto giù cadde, che tutti argomenti
alla salute sua eran già corti,
fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti.
Per questo visitai l' uscio dei morti,
ed a colui che l' ha quassù condotto
li preghi miei, piangendo, furon porti.
Alto fato di Dio sarebbe rotto,
se Lete si passasse, e tal vivanda
fosse gustata senza alcuno scotto
di pentimento che lagrime spanda.
""
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
145
1-6. The "wain of the first heaven " are the seven
candlesticks, which are the spiritual guides of the
CANTO XXX
387
and Dante
this man was such in his new life potentially, Beatrice
that every good talent would have made
wondrous increase in him.
But so much the more rank and wild the ground
becomes with evil seed and untilled, the more
it hath of good strength of soil.) "sath by mig.
Some time I sustained him with my countenance;
showing my youthful eyes to him I led him
with me turned to the right goal.
So soon as I was on the threshold of my second
age, and I changed life, he forsook me, and
gave him to others.
When I was risen from flesh to spirit, and beauty
and virtue were increased within me, I was less
precious and less pleasing to him;
and he did turn his steps by a way not true,
pursuing false visions of good, that pay (back)
no promise(entire.)" in full:
Nor did it avail me to gain inspirations, with
which in dream and otherwise, I called him
back;,so little recked he of them.
So low sank he, that all means for his salvation
were already short, save showing him the lost
people.
For this I visited the portal of the dead, and to
him who has guided him up hither, weeping
my prayers were borne.
God's high decree would be broken, if Lethe
were passed, and such viands were tasted,
without some scot of penitence that may shed) fort

tears."
righteous; even as the seven stars of the Septentrio
or Ursa Minor direct the mariner making for port.
Moon
388
NOTES
7, 8. The twenty-four elders.
IO,
11. The elder representing the books of
Solomon sang aloud three times the words of the
Song of Solomon (iv. 8): "Come with me from Lebanon,
my spouse, with me from Lebanon.”
17, 18. These are identical with the angels of vv.
29 and 82; ad vocem tanti senis, "at the voice of so
great an elder."
19. "Blessed art thou that comest." See Matt.
xxi. 9, Mark xi. 9, Luke xix. 38, John xii. 13; and cf.
the preceding canto, v. 51, note.
21. "Oh, with full hands give lilies" (En. vi.
884).
31-33. This is Beatrice. Note the colours of
Faith, Hope and Charity. In the Vita Nuova [the
whole of which should be read in conjunction with the
present and the following canto; see, too, Gardner,
pp. 8, 9, 13-15, 45-53], Beatrice appears in red and
white, but never in green. The olive was sacred to
Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom (v. 68).
34-48. The appearance of Beatrice has the same
effect on Dante now as in the days of the Vita Nuova
(§ ii. 19 sqq., xi., xiv. 24-49, xxiv. 1-14). Cotanto
tempo (vv. 34, 35): ten years-1290-1300; see below,
note to vv. 124, 125. Dante first met Beatrice when
he was in his ninth year (v. 42), she being also eight
years old, but some months younger (Vita Nuova, § ii.),
Verse 48 is a translation of Virgil's Agnosco veteris
vestigia flamma (Æn. iv. 23).
52. The beauties of the Earthly Paradise.
53. See above, Canto i. 95 sqq.
55, 63. The only instance in which Dante's name
occurs in the Commedia (for in Par. xxvi. 104, da te
is almost certainly the correct reading). In the Vita
Nuova, Conv. and De Mon. he does not name himself,
either; and in the De Vulg. El. he goes out of his
way to call himself amicus Cini or alius Florentinus. The
explanation of this circumstance (which would pass
CANTO XXX
389
unnoticed with almost any other author, but which
is curious in the case of so personal and subjective a
writer as Dante) is to be found in the Conv. (i. 2),
where we learn that "it appears to be unlawful for
anyone to speak of himself"; and that "one does
not permit any rhetorician to speak of himself with-
out a necessary cause." In his epistles, which are
personal communications, not posing as literature
(though they have since achieved literary fame),
Dante does not follow this rule.
83, 84. See Ps. xxxi. 1-8: "In thee, O Lord,
do I put my trust thou hast set my feet in a
large room.
•
85-90. These lines describe the snow on the ridges
of the Apennines, first congealed, when the winds
blow from the north; and then dissolved, at the time
of the warm and gentle breezes that come from Africa
("where twice a year, at noon, the sun touches the
zenith of each point; so that the shadow of an opaque
body, in a vertical position, falls at its base and ap-
pears nowhere.”— Antonelli).
93. See Par. i. 76-84.
IOI. sustanzie.
See above, Canto xviii. 49, 50, note;
and cf. Par. vii. 5, etc.
109-111. Cf. Inf. xv. 55 sqq., and Purg. xvi. 73 $99.
112-114. Cf. Par. xx. 118-120, xxxii. 65, 66.
115. The use of the phrase vita nuova in this line is
relied on by those who understand Dante's work
which bears this title simply as a record of his
"Early Life"; but it is better to reverse the argu-
ment, and take this verse to mean: "but in the new
life into which love led him, had such power," etc.
For though there are many cases in which nova età
means "early life," none has been produced in which
nova vita has that meaning, and Dante's elder contem-
porary, Dante da Majano, whose language evidently
had a considerable influence upon Dante Alighieri,
uses the phrase (in the poem which begins Giovane
donna dentro al cor mi siede) in such a way as to leave
390
NOTES
no room for ambiguity: Gli spirti innamorati cui diletta
Questa lor nova vita ("the enamoured spirits, whom
this new life of theirs delights).
121-123. For sixteen years, from 1274, the year in
which Dante first met Beatrice, till 1290, the year of
her death.
124-125. Beatrice was twenty-five years old when
she died a period that covers the first of Dante's
fourages. "The first is called Adolescence, that is
the growth of life. . . . Of the first no one doubts,
but each wise man agrees that it lasts even to the
twenty-fifth year; and up to that time our soul waits.
for the increase and the embellishment of the body
(Conv. iv. 24: 1-4, 11-15).
""
126-132. These lines refer to the period of Dante's
life (1290-1300) which has already been touched on
in connection with Forese Donati (see above, Canto
xxiii.). Verses 127-129 (like vv. 22-30, 49-63 of the
following canto) have a very personal ring, and
would seem to refer not so much to the donna gentile
of the Vita Nuova, § xxxvi. sqq. (whether allegori-
cally or literally, and whether, in the latter capacity,
she be Gemma Donati or another), as to those other,
CANTO XXX
391
less creditable, infidelities to Beatrice's memory, of
which our poet was undoubtedly guilty at this time,
and to which several of his minor poems and Purg.
xxiii. bear witness. On the other hand, vv. 130-132
possibly allude to Dante's temporary indifference to
religion, due to his philosophical studies during this
period; and may therefore be connected with the donna
gentile of the Vita Nuova, who is, in the Conv. ii. 13,
identified with Philosophy.
133-135 in sogno. A vision of this kind, and
apparently the last, is described in the Vita Nuova,
§ xl., where Dante tells how his "heart began pain-
fully to repent of the desire by which it had so basely
let itself be possessed during so many days, contrary
to the constancy of reason. And then, this evil
desire being quite gone from me, all my thoughts
turned again unto their excellent Beatrice.
say most truly that from that hour I thought con-
stantly of her with the whole humbled and ashamed
heart; the which became often manifest in sighs,
that had among them the name of that most gracious
creature, and how she departed from us."
136-141. See Inf. ii. 52 sqq.
And I
TUR
PURGATORIO
URNING direct to Dante, Beatrice receives his
broken confession of how he fell away so soon
as her countenance was hidden from him (1-36).
Whereon she shows him how that very loss of her
bodily presence, which he urges as the cause of his
defection, should have taught him the emptiness of
all earthly and mortal beauty, weaned his heart from
earth and given it to her in heaven (37-63). Like a
chidden child, dumb with shame, confessing and
repenting, Dante stands; but Beatrice will not suffer
him to take refuge in childish pleas or excuses, and
in the very terms whereby she summons him to look
on her, remind him that he has reached man's estate,
and should long have put away childish things.
Whereon, in yet deeper shame, he wrenches up his
downcast face to look on her, and sees her surpassing
her former self more now than erst she surpassed all
others. The passion of his penitence and his hatred
of all those things which had enticed him away from
her so vanquish him that he falls senseless to the
Paradiso "O tu, che sei di là dal fiume sacro,'
Terrestre
""
volgendo suo parlare a me per punta
che pur per taglio m' era paruto acro,
ricominciò, seguendo senza cunta,
"di', di', se questo è vero: a tanta accusa
tua confession conviene esser congiunta."
Era la mia virtù tanto confusa,
che la voce si mosse e pria si spense
che dagli organi suoi fosse dischiusa.
Poco sofferse, poi disse ;
Rispondi a me chè le memorie triste
in te non sono ancor dall' acqua offense.
"Che pense ?
4
7
ΙΟ
392
CANTO XXXI
ground (64-90). Dante comes to himself neck-deep
in the stream, into which he plunges his head, of
which he drinks, and which he crosses, by Matilda's
ministration. After which he is drawn into the
dance of the four star-nymphs who promise to lead him
to the light of Beatrice's eyes; into which their three
sisters, Faith, Hope and Charity, will strengthen
him to gaze (91-111). They keep their word ; but
Dante's passionate reminiscences and longings are
awed by the august impersonation of Revelation,
whom he has found where he looked only for the
Florentine maiden he had lost on earth. The divine
and human nature of Christ are flashed alternately
from the reflection in her eyes though ever combined
in the mysterious being himself, while the three
nymphs implore Beatrice to turn their light upon her
faithful pilgrim and unveil to him the beauty of her
smile (112-138). Never was poet who could utter in
words the splendour that now bursts upon him.
(139-145).
and Dante
"O thou that art yon side the sacred stream," Beatrice
her speech directing with the point towards me,
which even with the edge had seemed (sharp)`k、、、、"
to me,
she began again, continuing without delay, "say,
say, if this is true; to such accusation thy
confession must be joined."
My virtue was so confounded that the voice
stirred and was spent ere it was set free from
its organs.
wait que
Short time she forebore, then said: "What thinkest
thou? Answer me, for the sad memories in
thee are not yet destroyed by the water.
393
394
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Confusione e paura insieme miste
Terrestre
mi pinsero un tal "sì" fuor della bocca,
al quale intender fur mestier le viste.
Come balestro frange, quando scocca
da troppa tesa, la sua corda e l'arco,
e con men foga l' asta il segno tocca:
sì scoppia' io sott' esso grave carco,
fuori sgorgando lagrime e sospiri,
e la voce allentò per lo suo varco.
Ond' ella a me : "Per entro i miei disiri,
che ti menavano ad amar lo bene
di là dal qual non è a che s' aspiri,
quai fossi attraversati o quai catene
trovasti, per che del passare innanzi
dovessiti così spogliar la spene?
E quali agevolezze o quali avanzi
nella fronte degli altri si mostraro,
per che dovessi lor passeggiare anzi?"
Dopo la tratta d' un sospiro amaro,
a pena ebbi la voce che rispose,
e le labbra a fatica la formaro.
Piangendo dissi: "Le presenti cose
col falso lor piacer volser miei passi,
tosto che il vostro viso si nascose.
Ed ella: "Se tacessi, o se negassi
ciò che confessi, non fora men nota
la colpa tua: da tal giudice sassi.
Ma quando scoppia dalla propria gota
l'accusa del peccato, in nostra corte
rivolge sè contra il taglio la rota.
Tuttavia, perchè mo vergogna porte
del tuo errore, e perchè altra volta
udendo le Sirene sie più forte,
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
CANTO XXXI
395
the eyes
bat
free chem
Confusion and fear, together mingled, drove forth Beatrice
from my mouth a "Yea
and Dante
such that to
understand it the eyes were needed.
As a cross-bow breaks, when shot at too great
tension, both its string and bow, and with less
force the bolt hits the mark,
so burst I under this heavy charge, pouring forth
a torrent of tears and sighs, and my voice died
away in its passage.
Wherefore she to me: “Within_thy desires of
me which led thee to love the good beyond
which is nought that (may be aspired to,) on
what pits didst find athwart thy path, or what
chains that thou needs must strip thee of the
hope of passing onward?
And what allurements or what advantages were

mary
displayed to thee (in the aspect of the others,
that thou must needs (wander before them?" Wan
After the heaving of a bitter sigh, scarce had I
voice that answered, and my lips with labour
gave it form.
Weeping I said : "Present things with their
false pleasure turned away my steps soon as
your face was hidden.”
And she: "If thou wert silent, or if thou hadst
denied what thou confessest, not less noted
were thy fault; by such a judge 'tis known.
But when self-accusation of sin bursts from the
cheeks in our Court, the grindstone is turned X
back against the edge.
Howbeit in order that now thou mayst bear
shame for thy transgression, and that other
time hearing the Sirens thou be of stouter heart,
lever
дин
396
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso pon giù il seme del piangere, ed ascolta:
sì udirai come in contraria parte
mover doveati mia carne sepolta.
Mai non t'appresentò natura o arte
piacer, quanto le belle membra in ch' io
rinchiusa fui, e sono in terra sparte ;
e se il sommo piacer sì ti fallio
per la mia mortè, qual cosa mortale
dovea poi trarre te nel suo disio?
Ben ti dovevi, per lo primo strale
delle cose fallací, levar suso
di retro a me che non era più tale.
Non ti dovean gravar le penne
in giuso,
ad aspettar più colpi, o pargoletta,
o altra vanità con sì breve uso.
Nuovo augelletto due o tre aspetta ;
ma dinanzi dagli occhi dei pennuti
rete si spiega indarno o si saetta.
Quali i fanciulli vergognando muti
""
con gli occhi a terra, stannosi ascoltando,
e sè riconoscendo, e ripentuti,
tal mi stav' io. Ed ella disse: "Quando
per udir sei dolente, alza la barba,
e prenderai più doglia riguardando."
Con men di resistenza si dibarba
robusto cerro, o vero al nostral vento,
o vero a quel della terra di Iarba,
ch' io non levai al suo comando il mento;
e quando per la barba il viso chiese,
ben conobbi il velen dell' argomento.
E come la mia faccia si distese,
posarsi quelle prime creature
da loro aspersion l'occhio comprese ;
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
CANTO XXXI
397
wide thi Savin, of Frais
put away the seed of weeping,) and hearken; so Beatrice
shalt thou hear how my buried flesh should and Dante
have moved thee towards a contrary goal.
Ne'er did nature and art present to thee pleasure
so great as the fair members wherein I was
enclosed, and are scattered to dust;
and if the highest pleasure thus failed thee by my
death, what mortal thing ought then to have
drawn thee (to desire it?)"into" dueens"
Truly oughtest thou, at the first arrow of deceit-
ful things, to rise up after me who was such 父
​no longer.
"of so bring a wee"
Young damsel or other vain thing (with so brief
enjoyment) should not have weighed down thy
wings to await more shots.
لي
A
The young bird waits two or three, but before
the eyes of the full-fledged in vain the net is
spread or arrow shot."
silauk
As children, dumb with shame, stand listening
with eyes to earth, self-confessing, and re-
pentant,
such stood I. And she said: "Since through
hearing thou art grieving, lift up thy beard and
more grief shalt thou receive by looking."
With less resistance is uprooted the sturdy oak,
whether by wind of ours, or that which blows
from Iarbas' land, the Lord harbers
than at her command I lifted up my chin; and
when by the beard she asked for my face, well
I knew the venom of the argument.
And when my face was stretched forth, my
sight perceived those primal creatures resting
from their strewing,
?
398
PURGATORIO
Paradiso e le mie luci, ancor poco sicure,
Terrestre vider Beatrice volta in su la fiera,
ch'è sola una persona in due nature.
Sotto suo velo ed oltre la riviera
vincer pareami più sè stessa antica,
vincer che l' altre qui quand' ella c' era.
Di penter sì mi punse ivi l'ortica,
che di tutt' altre cose, qual mi torse
più nel suo amor, più mi si fe' nimica.
Tanta riconoscenza il cor mi morse,
ch' io caddi vinto, e quale allora femmi
salsi colei che la cagion mi porse.
79
82
85
88
Poi, quando il cor di fuor virtù rendemmi,
la donna ch' io avea trovata sola
91
sopra me vidi, e dicea: "Tiemmi, tiemmi."
94
Tratto m' avea nel fiume infino a gola,
e, tirandosi me dietro, sen giva
sopr' esso l'acqua, lieve come spola.
Quando fui presso alla beata riva,
Asperges me" sì dolcemente udissi,
ch' io nol so rimembrar, non ch' io lo scriva.
La bella donna nelle braccia aprissi,
abbracciommi la testa, e mi sommerse
ove convenne ch' io l'acqua inghiottissi ;
indi mi tolse, e bagnato m' offerse
dentro alla danza delle quattro belle,
e ciascuna del braccio mi coperse.
97
100
103
“Noi siam qui ninfe, e nel ciel siamo stelle; 106
pria che Beatrice discendesse al mondo,
fummo ordinate a lei per sue ancelle.
Menrenti agli occhi suoi; ma nel giocondo
lume ch'è dentro aguzzeranno i tuoi
le tre di là, che miran più profondo."
109
CANTO XXXI
399
and mine eyes, as yet hardly steadfast, saw Beatrice Beatrice
turned towards the beast, which is one sole and Dante
person in two natures.
Under her veil and beyond the stream, to me she
seemed to surpass more her ancient self, than she
surpassed the others here when she was with us.
The nettle of repentance here so did sting me,
that of all other things, that which turned me
most to love of it became most hateful to me
So much remorse gnawed at my heart that I fell
vanquished, and what I then became, she
knoweth who gave me the cause.
Then when my heart restored to me the sense of Matilda
outward things, the lady whom I had found Dante into
plunges
alone I saw above me; and she said: “Hold Lethe
me! Hold me ! "
She had drawn me into the river up to my neck,
and, pulling me after her, went along over the
water light as a shuttle.
When I was nigh unto the blessed bank
Asperges me so sweetly I heard that I cannot
remember it much less describe it.
The fair lady opened her arms, clasped my head,
and dipped me where I must needs swallow
of the water;
then drew me forth, and led me bathed within The hand-
the dance of the four fair ones, and each did
cover me with her arm.
"Here we are nymphs and in heaven are stars;
ere Beatrice descended to the world we were
ordained to her for her handmaids.
We will lead thee to her eyes; but the three on
the other side who deeper gaze, will sharpen
thine eyes to the joyous light that is within."
maidens of
Beatrice
*
400
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso Così cantando cominciaro; e poi
al petto del grifon seco menarmi,
ove Beatrice volta stava a noi.
Disser: "Fa che le viste non risparmi ;
posto t' avem dinanzi agli smeraldi,
ond' Amor già ti trasse le sue armi."
Mille disiri più che fiamma caldi
strinsermi gli occhi agli occhi rilucenti,
che pur sopra il grifone stavan saldi.
Come in lo specchio il sol, non altrimenti
la doppia fiera dentro vi raggiava,
or con uni, or con altri reggimenti.
Pensa, lettor, s' io mi maravigliava
quando vedea la cosa in sè star queta,
e nell' idolo suo si trasmutava.
Mentre che, piena di stupore e lieta,
l'anima mia gustava di quel cibo,
che, saziando di sè, di sè asseta ;
sè dimostrando di più alto tribo
negli atti, l'altre tre si fero avanti,
danzando al loro angelico caribo.
Volgi, Beatrice, volgi gli occhi santi,
era la lor canzone, "al tuo fedele
che, per verderti, ha mossi passi tanti.
Per grazia fa noi grazia che disvele
a lui la bocca tua, sì che discerna
la seconda bellezza che tu cele."
O isplendor di viva luce eterna,
chi pallido si fece sotto l'ombra
sì di Parnaso, o bevve in sua cisterna,
che non paresse aver la mente ingombra,
tentando a render te qual tu paresti
là dove armonizzando il ciel t' adombra,
quando nell' aere aperto ti solvesti ?
II2
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
145
CANTO XXXI
401
Thus singing they began; and then did lead me Christ
with them up to the breast of the grifon, where reflected
Beatrice stood turned towards us.
They said: "Look that thou spare not thine
eyes; we have placed thee before the emeralds
whence Love once drew his shafts at thee.'
A thousand desires hotter than flame held mine.
eyes bound to the shining eyes, which remained
ever fixed upon the grifon.
As the sun in a mirror, not otherwise the twofold
beast was beaming within them, now with the
attributes of one, now of the other nature.
Think, reader, if I marvelled within me when I
saw the thing itself remain motionless, and in
its image it was changing.
While my soul, filled with wonderment and glad,
was tasting of that food which, satisfying of
itself, causes thirst of itself,
the other three, showing them to be of the
chiefest order in their bearing, drew forward,
dancing to their angelic roundelay.
“Turn, Beatrice, turn thy holy eyes," was their
song, to thy faithful one, who to see thee
hath moved so many steps.
Of thy grace do us the grace that thou unveil
thy mouth to him, that he may discern the
second beauty which thou hidest.'
in the eyes
of Beatrice
+
ナ
​unveiled
O glory of living light eternal, who that so pale Beatrice
hath grown beneath the shade of Parnassus, or
hath drunk at its well,
that would not seem to have mind encumbered, on
trying to render thee as thou appearedest, when
in the free air thou didst disclose thee, where
heaven in its harmony shadows thee forth?
2 C
402
NOTES
12. The water of Lethe (see above, Canto xxviii. v.
128; and vv. 94-102 of of the present canto).
23, 29. bene=God; altri [beni]=worldly ideals.
42. Confession, by softening the Divine wrath,
blunts the edge of the sword of Justice. Cf. above,
Canto viii. vv. 26, 27, and the first interpretation
given in the note to those lines.
59. It seems best not to attempt to identify the
pargoletta.
61. due o tre [sc. colpi].
62, 63. Cf. Prov. i. 17, in the Vulgate: Frustra
jacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum.
71, 72. nostral vento-the wind blows from the
north of Europe (the continent in which Italy is)
quel della terra di Iarba—the south wind coming from
Africa, called "Iarbas' land" from the Libyan king
of that name, one of Dido's suitors (see Æn. iv. 196)
77. prime creature, the angels; cf. Inf. vii. 95 ; Purg
xi. 3.
98. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Ps
li. 7).
106. See above, Canto i. 23-27, note.
107, 108. It is quite natural for those who argu
that Beatrice is a purely allegorical character t
insist on this passage as implying her pre-existenc
in heaven, before her incarnation an earthl
maiden. The passage, however, does not necessaril
imply this, for it is only carrying a little further th
familiar language employed by Dante in the Vit
Nuova, xxvi., lines 7 and 8 of the sonnet; Conv. iv
CANTO XXXI
403
-8: 5-10; Purg. xx. 68, 69; xxi. 44; Par. XXX. 114
-all indicating that the soul comes from heaven.
From the assertion that the ascent to heaven at death
s a return, it is but a very small step to describe the
irth as a descent to the world.
116. The eyes of Beatrice are called "emeralds,"
ot with reference to their colour, but because of
heir brightness (occhi rilucenti, v. 119).
117. Cf. Vita Nuova, § xxi, the first line of the
onnet: "My lady carries love within her eyes."
This idea occurs elsewhere in Dante's poems and is
commonplace with his predecessors and contem-
oraries.
121-126. This passage is to be taken in a purely
llegorical sense. 'We may read in Revelation now
he divine and now the human attributes of Christ;
-ut the human mind is incapable of combining them.
As we contemplate Revelation we may see now one
nd now the other, but not both at once.'
128-129. Cf. the words of Wisdom in Eccles. xxiv.
I: "They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and
hey that drink me shall yet be thirsty."
138. See vv. 55-58 of the canzone in the third
ook of the Convito, which run as follows: "Her
spect shows delight of Paradise, Seen in her eyes
nd in her smiling face; Love brought them
here as to his dwelling-place." From Dante's
ommentary to the words Dico negli occhi
е
nel
o dolce riso (ib. chap. 8), it seems probable that la
econda bellezza, to which the theological virtues are
ow leading Dante, is the smile of Beatrice; the car-
inal virtues having guided him to her eyes (see above,
v. 106-111).
PURGATORIO
THE
HE eager gaze with which Dante quenches his
ten years' thirst, is for a moment blinded by the
glory on which he looks (1-9). When he recover
his full powers of vision he perceives the procession
deploying north, toward the noon-day sun; and h
and Statius take their places by the right wheel of the
chariot; and pass on, to the accompaniment of angeli
song, through the forest, till Beatrice descend
(10-36). They approach the tree of the knowledg
of good and evil, which represents the principle o
obedience, and therefore of the Empire, whereas th
car from which Beatrice has descended represent
the Church; the ideal relations between which tw
powers are represented by the reverence of the grifo:
for the tree, the binding of the pole of the chariot t
it, and the spring beauty that at once falls on i
Paradiso Tanto eran gli occhi miei fissi ed attenti
Terrestre a disbramarsi la decenne sete,
che gli altri sensi m'eran tutti spenti;
ed essi quinci e quindi avean parete
di non caler, così lo santo riso
a sè traeali con l'antica rete
quando per forza mi fu volto il viso
ver la sinistra mia da quelle Dee,
perch' io udia da loro un "Troppo fiso."
E la disposizion, ch' a veder ee
negli occhi pur testè dal sol percossi,
senza la vista alquanto esser mi fee;
ma poi che al poco il viso riformossi
(io dico al poco, per rispetto al molto
sensibile, onde a forza mi rimossi),
104
CANTO XXXII
(37-60). Here slumber falls upon the poet, from
which he wakes bewildered, like the apostles after the
transfiguration, to find Beatrice bereft of all her
glorious escort save the seven nymphs, bearing in
their hands the seven tapers (61-99). Here, in this
deserted Earthly Paradise, which would be thronged
with inhabitants had Church and State been true to
their mission, Dante beholds an allegorical portrayal
of the perverse relations between the two, and of the
disasters and corruptions of the Church, of her per-
secutions, of the heresies that threatened her, of the
yet more fatal favour of Christian emperors, of the
great schism of Islam, of the foul corruption of the
Court of Rome, and the Babylonian captivity of
Avignon (100-160).
So fixed and intent were my eyes on satisfying Dante's
their ten years' thirst, that all my other senses
were quenched;
and they on either side had a wall of unconcern,
so the holy smile drew them to itself in the
toils of old;
when perforce my face was turned toward my
left by those goddesses, because I heard from
them a : "Too fixedly."
And that condition of the sight, which is in eyes
but just smitten by the sun, made me remain
a while without vision;
but after my sight re-formed itself to the lesser (I
mean the lesser in respect to the greater object
of sense wherefrom perforce I turned me away)
rapt gaze
405
406
PURGATORIO
Paradiso vidi in sul braccio destro esser rivolto
Terrestre
lo glorioso esercito, e tornarsi
col sole e con le sette fiamme al volto.
per
Come sotto gli scudi salvarsi
volgesi schiera, e sè gira col segno
prima che possa tutta in sè mutarsi :
quella milizia del celeste regno,
che precedeva, tutta trapassonne
pria che piegasse il carro il primo legno.
Indi alle rote si tornar le donne,
e il grifon mosse il benedetto carco,
sì che però nulla penna crollonne.
La bella donna che mi trasse al varco,
e Stazio ed io seguitavam la rota
che fe' l'orbita sua con minore arco.
Sì passeggiando l'alta selva, vota
colpa di quella ch' al serpente crese,
temprava i passi un' angelica nota.
Forse in tre voli tanto spazio prese
disfrenata saetta, quanto eramo
rimossi quando Beatrice scese.
Io sentii mormorare a tutti: "Adamo";
poi cerchiaro una pianta dispogliata
di fiori e d' altra fronda in ciascun ramo.
La coma sua, che tanto si dilata
più quanto più è su, fora dagl' Indi
nei boschi lor per altezza ammirata.
"Beato sei, grifon, che non discindi
col becco d' esto legno dolce al gusto,
poscia che mal si torce il ventre quindi."
Così d'intorno all' arbore robusto
gridaron gli altri; e l'animal binato :
"Sì si conserva il seme d' ogni giusto."
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
49
43
4
CANTO XXXII
407
Pageant
moves
eastwards
I saw the glorious host had wheeled upon the The Divine
right flank, and was returning with the sun
and with the seven flames in its face.
As under its shields a troop turns about to
retreat, and wheels round with the standard
ere it can wholly change front,
that soldiery of the heavenly realm, which was
in the van, passed all by us ere the car turned
its pole.
Then to the wheels the ladies returned, and the
grifon moved the hallowed burden, so that
thereby no plume of it was ruffled.
The fair lady who drew me across the ford, and
Statius, and I, were following the wheel which
made its orbit with the lesser arc.
So pacing the lofty forest, empty through the
fault of her who gave credence to the serpent,
a melody of angels gave measure to our steps.
Haply in three flights so much space an arrow
shot forth had covered, as we had advanced
when Beatrice descended.
Tree
I heard all murmur "Adam!" Then did they The mystic
surround a tree despoiled of flowers, and of
other foliage, in every bough.
Its crown of foliage, which more expands the
loftier it is, would be marvelled at for its
height by Indians in their woods.
"Blessed art thou, grifon, that with thy beak
dost rend naught from this tree sweet to taste,
since ill writhes the belly therefrom."
Thus round about the sturdy tree the others
cried; and the beast of two natures : "Thus
is preserved the seed of all righteousness.
>>
408
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso E volto al temo ch' egli avea tirato,
trasselo al piè della vedova frasca ;
e quel di lei a lei lasciò legato.
Come le nostre piante, quando casca
giù la gran luce mischiata con quella
che raggia retro alla celeste lasca,
turgide fansi, e poi si rinnovella
di suo color ciascuna, pria che il sole
giunga li suoi corsier sott' altra stella :
men che di rose e più che di viole
colore aprendo, s' innovò la pianta,
che prima avea le ramora sì sole.
Io non lo intesi, e qui non si canta
l'inno che quella gente allor cantaro,
nè la nota soffersi tutta quanta.
S'io potessi ritrar come assonnaro
gli occhi spietati, udendo di Siringa,
gli occhi a cui più vegghiar costò sì caro:
come pittor che con esemplo pinga,
disegnerei com' io m' addormentai;
ma qual vuol sia che l'assonnar ben finga.
Però trascorro a quando mi svegliai,
e dico ch' un splendor mi squarciò il velo
del sonno, ed un chiamar: "Surgi, che fai?
Quale a veder dei fioretti del melo,
che del suo pomo gli angeli fa ghiotti
e perpetue nozze fa nel cielo,
Pietro e Giovanni e Jacopo condotti,
e vinti ritornaro alla parola,
dalla qual furon maggior sonni rotti,
e videro scemata loro scuola,
così di Moisè come d' Elia,
ed al maestro suo cangiata stola:
49
52
55
58
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
CANTO XXXII
409
Tree
And having turned to the pole which he had The mystic
drawn, he dragged it to the foot of the widowed
bough; and to it left bound that which came
from it.
As trees of our land when the great light falls
down mingled with that which beams behind
the celestial carp,
burgeon forth, and each then is decked anew
with its colour ere the sun yokes his steeds
beneath another constellation,
opening out into a hue, less than of roses and
more than of violets, the tree renewed itself,
which before had its boughs so naked.
I understood it not, nor here is sung, the hymn
which then that people sang, nor did I endure
its melody outright.
If I could pourtray how the pitiless eyes did
slumber hearing of Syrinx, the eyes whose
longer vigil cost so dear,
falls into
as a painter who paints from a model, I would Dante
depict how I feel asleep; be he who he may a slumber
that can rightly image drowsiness.
Wherefore I pass on to when I awoke, and I
say that a bright light rent the veil of my
sleep, and a call: "Arise, what doest thou?"
As to behold some flowerets of the apple tree,
which makes the angels greedy for its fruit,
and makes perpetual marriage feast in heaven,
Peter and John and James were brought, and,
being overcome, came to themselves at the word
by which greater slumbers had been broken,
and saw their band diminished by Moses, as
well as by Elias, and their Master's raiment
changed,
410
PURGATORIO
Paradiso tal torna' io, e vidi quella pia
Terrestre
sopra me starsi, che conducitrice
fu de' miei passi lungo il fiume pria.
82
88
E tutto in dubbio dissi: “Ov'è Beatrice?" 85
ond' ella: "Vedi lei sotto la fronda
nuova sedersi in su la sua radice.
Vedi la compagnia che la circonda ;
gli altri dopo il grifon sen vanno suso,
con più dolce canzone e più profonda.
E se più fu lo suo parlar diffuso
""
non so, però che già negli occhi m' era
quella ch' ad altro intender m' avea chiuso.
Sola sedeasi in su la terra vera,
come guardia lasciata lì del plaustro,
che legar vidi alla biforme fiera.
In cerchio le facevan di sè claustro
le sette ninfe, con quei lumi in mano
che son sicuri d' Aquilone e d' Austro.
Qui sarai tu poco tempo silvano,
e sarai meco, senza fine, cive
di quella Roma onde Cristo è Romano.
Però, in pro del mondo che mal vive,
al carro tieni or gli occhi, e quel che vedi,
ritornato di là, fa che tu scrive."
91
94
97
100
103
Così Beatrice; ed io, che tutto ai piedi
106
de' suoi comandamenti era devoto,
la mente e gli occhi, ov' ella volle, diedi.
Non scese mai con si veloce moto
109
foco di spessa nube, quando piove
da quel confine che più va remoto,
com' io vidi calar l'uccel di Giove
per l'arbor giù, rompendo della scorza,
non che dei fiori e delle foglie nuove ;
I12
CANTO XXXII
4II
awakes
Beatrice
even so I came to myself, and saw that pitying Dante
one bending o'er me, who before was guide and sees
to my steps along the stream.
And all perplexed I said: "where is Beatrice!
and she "Behold her sitting beneath the
new foliage upon its root.
Behold the company that encircleth her; the
others are mounting up after the grifon with
sweeter and profounder song."
And if her words extended farther I know not,
because now before mine eyes was she, who
had shut me off from heeding aught else.
Alone sat she upon the bare earth, left there as
guardian of the chariot, which I had seen the
beast of two forms make fast.
The seven nymphs in a ring made of them a fence
about her, with those lights in their hands which
are secure from north wind and from south.
guarding
the chariot
}}
mission
"Here shalt thou be short time a forester, and Dante's
with me everlastingly shalt be a citizen of that
Rome whereof Christ is a Roman.
Therefore to profit the world that liveth ill, fix
now thine eyes upon the car, and look that thou
write what thou seest, when returned yonder."
Thus Beatrice; and I, who was all obedient at
the feet of her commands, gave mind and
eyes whither she willed.
Ne'er did fire from dense cloud descend, with The Eagle
motion so swift, when it falls from that confine
which is most remote,
as I saw Jove's bird swoop down through the
tree, rending its bark, likewise its flowers
and its new leaves;
412
PURGATORIO
Paradiso e ferì il carro di tutta sua forza,
Terrestre
ond' ei piegò come nave in fortuna,
vinta dall' onde, or da poggia or da orza.
Poscia vidi avventarsi nella cuna
del trionfal veiculo una volpe,
che d'ogni pasto buon parea digiuna.
Ma, riprendendo lei di laide colpe,
la donna mia la volse in tanta futa,
quanto sofferson l'ossa senza polpe.
Poscia, per indi ond' era pria venuta,
l'aquila vidi scender giù nell' arca
del carro, e lasciar lei di sè pennuta.
E qual esce di cor che si rammarca,
tal voce uscì del cielo, e cotal disse:
"O navicella mia, com' mal sei carca!
Poi parve a me che la terra s' aprisse
tr' ambo le rote, e vidi uscirne un drago,
che per lo carro su la coda fisse;
e, come vespa che ritragge l'ago,
a sè traendo la coda maligna
trasse del fondo e gissen vago vago.
Quel che rimase, come di gramigna
vivace terra, della piuma, offerta
forse con intenzion sana e benigna,
si ricoperse, e funne ricoperta
e l'una e l'altra rota e il temo, in tanto
che più tiene un sospir la bocca aperta.
Trasformato così il dificio santo
mise fuor teste per le parti sue,
tre sopra il temo, ed una in ciascun canto.
Le prime eran cornute come bue;
ma le quattro un sol corno avean per fronte:
simile mostro visto ancor non fue.
II5
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
142
145
CANTO XXXII
413
and he smote the car with all his might; whereat The Eagle
it reeled like a vessel in a storm, beaten by the
waves, now to starboard, now to larboard.
Then saw I a she-fox, that seemed fasting from The Fox
all good food, leap into the body of the
triumphal vehicle.
But, rebuking her for foul sins, my Lady put
her to flight, as swift as the fleshless bones
did bear.
Then, from thence whence he first had come, I The
Eagle's
saw the eagle descend down into the body of the second
car, and leave it feathered with his plumage. descent
And as a voice comes from a heart that sorroweth,
such voice came from heaven, and thus it spake:
"O my little bark, how ill art thou laden!"
Then it seemed to me that the earth opened twixt The
Dragon
the two wheels, and I saw a dragon come forth
that fixed his tail up through the car
Chariot's
formation
and like a wasp, that draws back her sting, draw-
ing to him his spiteful tail he wrenched out part
of the bottom and went his vagrant way.
That which remained,—even as teeming land The
with grass, with those plumes, haply offered trans-
with sincere and kind intent,
did again cover itself, and both wheels and the
pole were covered again by them, in such time
that a sigh keeps the mouth open longer.
Thus transformed, the sacred edifice put forth
heads above its parts, three over the pole, and
one at each corner.
The first were horned like an ox, but the four
had one single horn at the forehead; such
monster never yet was seen.
عصر
414
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Sicura, quasi rocca in alto monte,
Terrestre
seder sopr' esso una puttana sciolta
m' apparve con le ciglia intorno pronte.
E, come perchè non gli fosse tolta,
vidi di costa a lei dritto un gigante,
e baciavansi insieme alcuna volta ;
ma, perchè l'occhio cupido e vagante
a me rivolse, quel feroce drudo
la flagellò dal capo infin le piante.
Poi, di sospetto pieno e d' ira crudo,
disciolse il mostro, e trassel per la selva
tanto, che sol di lei mi fece scudo
alla puttana ed alla nuova belva.
2. Cf. above, Canto xxx, 121-125, notes.
9.
[Thou art gazing on Beatrice] too fixedly."
148
151
154
157
160
26, 27. These lines perhaps mean that Christ
guides His Church, not by force or external means,
but with the spirit only.
29, 30. The right wheel; for the whole procession
had turned to the right (v. 16).
>>
37. mormorare = reproachfully murmur. See
Rom. v. 12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
38. For this tree, see Gen. ii. 9, and cf. above,
Canto xxii. 131-138, note.
40-42. Cf. the following canto, vv. 64-66.—It
seems probable that Dante's conception of the height
of trees in India was derived from Virgil, Georg. ii.
122-124.
48. Thus "-namely, by not allowing the spiritual
and secular powers to encroach on each other.
49-51. According to legend, the cross was made of
wood taken from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil.
CANTO XXXII
415
Seated upon it, secure as a fortress on a steep The harlot
hill, a shameless harlot appeared to me, with and the
giant
eyes quick around.
And, as though she should not be taken from
him, a giant I saw erect at her side, and from
time to time each kissed the other;
but, because her lustful and vagrant eye she turned
upon me, that fierce paramour did scourge her
from head to feet.
Then filled with jealousy and cruel with rage, he
loosed the monster, and dragged it so far through
the wood, that of this alone he made a screen
between me and the harlot and the strange beast.
52-54. In spring, when the sun is in Aries (the
sign following Pisces-here called "the celestial
carp "):
58-60. The purple of Empire (cf. above, Canto
xxix. 131).
63-65. The all-seeing" Argus (cf. above, Canto
xxix. 95) was set by Juno to watch over Io, whom
she had, in a fit of jealousy, changed into a cow for
yielding to Jupiter. The goddess selected Argus
because he was able to keep awake longer than
others (più vegghiar), resting some of his eyes while
the others were watching. The monster was lulled
to sleep (and then slain) by Mercury, while listening
to the god's recital of the story of the nymph Syrinx
(who, when pursued by Pan, was at her prayer
changed into a reed; see Ovid, Met. i. 568 sqq.).
66-81. The Transfiguration; see Matt. xvii. 1-8:
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and
John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high
mountain apart, and was transfigured before them:
and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
was white as the light, and, behold, there appeared
unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
416
NOTES
Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it
is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make
here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for
Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake,
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and
behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And
Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and
be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes,
they saw no man, save Jesus only." Jesus is called
"the apple tree" in v. 73, according to the allegory
of the Song of Solomon ii. 3 ("As the apple tree among
the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the
sons").
86, 87, and 94-96. Divine Wisdom is seated at the
root of the tree (Rome, the seat of the Empire);
and in the shadow of "the new foliage," which
blossomed forth when the Church (whose seat is at
Rome, too) was united to the Empire (see above, vv.
49-60), she is left to guard the interests of that
Church (the plaustro of v. 95).
100. Mr Butler holds that qui "signifies in this
world,' denoted by the Earthly Paradise"; and he
quotes (from the De Mon. iii. 15: 45-47): beatudinem
hujus vitae, quæ
per terrestrem Paradisum
figuratur.
•
·
109-117. The ten persecutions of the Christian
Church, instigated by the Emperors, from Nero to
Diocletian (64-314). For the eagle, cf. Ezek. xvii. 3;
and see Par. xviii.-xx.
118-123. The heresies which threatened the early
Church, but which were eventually suppressed by
CANTO XXXII
417
the writings of the Fathers and more violent measures.
With the fox, cf. Lam. v. 18, etc.
124-129. This second descent of the eagle indicates
the "donation of Constantine"; see Par. xx. 55-60,
note.
130-135. The dragon, in all probability, represents
the great schism wrought by Mohammed (who figures
among the "sowers of discord" in Inf. xxviii.).
Though Dante's dragon was undoubtedly suggested
by the dragon of Rev. xii. 3, it is not necessary to
assume that the two beasts have the same symbolical
meaning. (The Biblical monster was in the Middle
Ages identified with Satan.)
136-141. According to Mr. Butler, the fresh feathers
signify the further gifts of territory made by Pippin
and Charles."
142-147. It seems best to take these seven horned
heads (which were evidently suggested by Rev. xvii.
3) as the seven capital sins.
148-160. The harlot (see Rev. xvii. 3 sqq. and cf.
Inf. xix. 107 sqq.) represents the Papal Court in its
corrupt condition under Boniface VIII. and Clement
V. The giant is the French dynasty, notorious for its
intrigues with the Popes; the king specially referred
to being undoubtedly Philip the Fair. He it was
whose bitter feud with Boniface, after pseudo-alli-
ances for political ends (v. 153), was crowned by the
Pope's death (v. 156; cf. above, Canto xx. 85-90, note);
and, again, it was with Philip's connivance that
Clement V. transferred the Papal See to Avignon (vv.
158-160; cf. Inf. xix. 79-87, notes).-Verse 155 is
very difficult.
It is perhaps safest to take Dante as
occupying here the position he represents through-
out the entire poem-that of the typical Christian.
2 D
PURGATORIO
Paradiso
THE
HE seven virtues in alternate strains now proclaim,
with tears, that the forces of the world have
found their hour; and Beatrice declares that though
her glory will for a time be withdrawn from them, it
is but for a season (1-12). Then she signs to Matilda,
to Dante and to Statius to follow her; but after only
a few steps, graciously summons Dante to her side,
bids him drop all diffidence, interprets the things he
has just seen, and hints at the political Messiah who
shall restore the due relations of Church and State and
purify them both (13-45). But her comment is far
darker than the text. So at least she knows it will
seem to Dante's dull and over-crusted mind; wherefore
the stamp has been impressed upon his eye rather than
on his unreceptive intellect (46-81). Dante gently
expostulates with her for uttering herself only in
inextricable enigmas. She answers that she does so
to show him how inadequate has been the training
of the teaching he has lately followed; but he, who,
since he drank of Lethe, has forgotten all the interval
between his loss of Beatrice upon earth and his finding
of her again in Eden, answers that he cannot mind
him of ever having wandered from her or being in
need of any other school than that of her wisdom
"Deus, venerunt gentes" alternando,
Terrestre or tre or quattro, dolce salmodia
le donne incominciaro, e lagrimando ;
e Beatrice sospirosa e pia
quelle ascoltava sì fatta, che poco
più alla croce si cambiò Maria.
Ma poi che l' altre vergini dier loco
a lei di dir, levata dritta in piè
rispose, colorata come foco:
418
CANTO XXXIII
upon which she reminds him that this forgetfulness
of ever having left her is a sign that it was tainted
with evil; for only the memory of what is so tainted
is washed away by Lethe. Finally she promises that
henceforth she will vex him no more by veiled dis-
course, but will speak with the naked simplicity that
his untrained powers demand (82-102). The sun is
now in high heaven, and they reach a fountain whence
two streams flow, and seem loth to part from each
other. Dante has forgotten all that Matilda told him
about them, not so much that Lethe has washed away
the thought, for surely it was untainted by any evil,
as that before Eunoë is tasted and secures every good
impression from being obliterated, such all-absorbing
experiences as have but now been Dante's, may ob-
literate from the memory even the most beautiful
thoughts that have preceded them. Henceforth, how-
ever, all fair memories of good, whatsoever their rela-
tive significance, shall be secured against oblivion and
shall take their perfect place in the perfect whole; for
Dante, followed by Statius, drinks of the stream of
Eunoë; and thence with life fresh as the leaves of spring
he issues, inly equipped and cleansed for his further
journey to the stars (103-145).
""
"Deus, venerunt gentes : now three, now four, Beatrice
alternately and weeping, a sweet psalmody the and the
ladies began;
and Beatrice sighing and compassionate was
hearkening to them so altered, that little
more did Mary change at the cross.
But when the other virgins gave place to her to
speak, uprisen erect on her feet, she answered
in hue of fire:
seven
virtues
419
420
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso"Modicum, et non videbitis me,
et iterum, sorelle mie dilette,
modicum, et vos videbitis me.
Poi le si mise innanzi tutte e sette,
e dopo sè, solo accennando, mosse
me e la donna e il savio che ristette.
Così sen giva, e non credo che fosse
lo decimo suo passo in terra posto,
quando con gli occhi gli occhi mi percosse ;
e con tranquillo aspetto : “Vien più tosto,"
mi disse, "tanto che s' io parlo teco,
ad ascoltarmi tu sie ben disposto.'
Sì com' io fui, com' io doveva, seco,
dissemi: " Frate, perchè non ti attenti
a domandarmi omai venendo meco
Come a color, che troppo reverenti
""
? "
dinanzi a' suoi maggior parlando sono,
che non traggon la voce viva ai denti,
avvenne a me, che senza intero suono
incominciai: "Madonna, mia bisogna
voi conoscete, e ciò ch' ad essa è buono.”
Ed ella a me : “Da tema e da vergogna
voglio che tu omai ti disviluppe,
sì che non parli più com' uom che sogna.
Sappi che il vaso, che il serpente ruppe,
fu e non è, ma chi n' ha colpa creda
che vendetta di Dio non teme suppe.
Non sarà tutto tempo senza ereda
l'aquila che lasciò le penne
al carro,
per che divenne mostro e poscia preda:
ch' io veggio certamente, e però il narro,
a darne tempo già stelle propinque,
sicure d'ogni intoppo e d' ogni sbarro,
IO
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
CANTO XXXIII
421
"Modicum, et non videbitis me, et iterum, my Beatrice
beloved sisters, modicum, et
me.
""
and the
VOS videbitis seven
virtues
Then she placed them all seven in front of her,
and, merely by her nod, motioned behind her,
me and the Lady and the Sage who had stayed.
Thus she went on, and I believe not that her
tenth step was put on the ground, when with Beatrice
her eyes mine eyes she smote;
and with tranquil mien did say to me: "Come
more quickly so that if I speak with thee, thou
be well placed to listen to me."
""
Soon as I was with her, as 'twas my duty to be, she
said to me: Brother, wherefore coming now
with me, venturest thou not to ask of me?'
As to those, who in presence of their betters are
too lowly in speech so that they bring not their
voice whole to the lips,
it happened to me and without full utterance I
began: "My Lady, my need you know, and
that which is good for it.'
""
And she to me: "From fear and from shame I
would that now thou unbind thee, so that thou
speak no more like one that is dreaming.
ahi Dante
prophesies
Church and
Know that the vessel which the serpent broke, She
was, and is not; but let him whose fault it is, the future
believe that God's vengeance fears no sops. of the
Not for all time shall be without heir the eagle Empire
that left the plumage on the car, whereby it
became a monster and then a prey;
for of a surety I see, and therefore do tell it, stars
already nigh, secure from all impediment and
from all hindrance, that shall bring us times
422
PURGATORIO
Paradiso nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque,
Terrestre messo da Dio, anciderà la fuia
con quel gigante che con lei delinque.
E forse che la mia narrazion, buia
qual Temi e Sfinge, men ti persuade,
perch' a lor modo lo intelletto attuia;
ma tosto fien li fatti le Naiade,
che solveranno questo enigma forte,
senza danno di pecore o di biade.
Tu nota; e, sì come da me son porte,
così queste parole segna ai vivi
del viver ch'è un correre alla morte
ed abbi a mente, quando tu le scrivi,
di non celar qual hai vista la pianta,
ch' è or due volte dirubata quivi.
Qualunque ruba quella o quella schianta,
con bestemmia di fatto offende a Dio,
che solo all' uso suo la creò santa.
Per morder quella, in pena ed in disio
cinquemili' anni e più l' anima prima
bramò Colui che il morso in sè punio.
Dorme lo ingegno tuo, se non estima
per singular cagione essere eccelsa
lei tanto, e sì travolta nella cima.
E, se stati non fossero acqua d' Elsa
li pensier vani intorno alla tua mente,
e il piacer loro un Piramo alla gelsa,
per tante circostanze solamente
la giustizia di Dio, nello interdetto,
conosceresti all' arbor moralmente.
Ma, perch' io veggio te nello intelletto
fatto di pietra ed, impietrato, tinto
sì che t' abbaglia il lume del mio detto,
43
46
49
52
55
58
61
64
61
70
73
CANTO XXXIII
423
wherein a five hundred ten and five, sent by God, Beatrice
shall slay the thief, with that giant who sins the future
with her.
prophesies
of the
Church and
And perchance my prophecy, obscure as Themis Empire
and Sphinx, doth less persuade thee, because.
after their fashion it darkens thy mind;
but soon the facts shall be the Naiades that will
solve this hard riddle without loss of flocks
or of corn.
Note thou; and even as these words from me are
borne, so do thou signify them to those who live
that life which is a race unto death
;
and bear in mind when thou writest them, not to
conceal how thou hast seen the tree which
now twice hath been despoiled here.
Whoso robs that or that doth rend, with blas- and
phemy in act offendeth God, who alone for
his service did create it holy.

discourses
on the
sacredness
of the Tree
For eating of that, in torment and in desire, of Empire
five thousand years and more the first soul did
yearn for him who punished the bite in himself.
Thy wit sleepeth if it judge not that tree to be
for special cause thus lofty and thus trans-
posed at the top.
And if thy idle thoughts had not been Elsan
waters about thy mind, and their pleasantness
a Pyramus to the mulberry,
by so many circumstances alone thou wouldst
recognise in the tree morally, God's justice
in the ban.
But because I see thy mind turned to stone and,
stonelike, such in hue that the light of my
word dazes thee,
424
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso voglio anche, e se non scritto, almen dipinto,
che il te ne porti dentro a te, per quello
che si reca il bordon di palma cinto."
Ed io: "Sì come cera da suggello,
che la figura impressa non trasmuta,
segnato è or da voi lo mio cervello.
Ma perchè tanto sopra mia veduta
vostra parola disiata vola,
che più la perde quanto più s' aiuta?"
"Perchè conoschi," disse, "quella scuola.
ch' hai seguitata, e veggi sua dottrina
come può seguitar la mia parola;
e veggi vostra via dalla divina
distar cotanto, quanto si discorda
da terra il ciel che più alto festina."
Ond' io risposi lei: "Non mi ricorda
ch' io straniassi me giammai da voi
nè honne coscienza che rimorda."
"E se tu ricordar non te ne puoi,”
sorridendo rispose, "or ti rammenta
come bevesti di Letè ancoi;
e se dal fummo foco s' argomenta,
cotesta oblivion chiaro conchiude
colpa nella tua voglia altrove attenta.
Veramente oramai saranno nude
le mie parole, quanto converrassi
quelle scoprire alla tua vista rude.”
E più corrusco, e con più lenti passi,
teneva il sole il cerchio di merigge,
che qua e là, come gli aspetti, fassi,
quando s' affisser, sì come s' affigge
chi va dinanzi a gente per iscorta,
se trova novitate o sue vestigge,
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
100
103
106
CANTO XXXIII
425
I also will that thou bear it away within thee, Beatrice
and if not written at least outlined, for the and Dante
reason that the pilgrim's staff is brought back
wreathed with palm.'
""
And I: "Even as wax under the seal, that
the imprinted figure changeth not, my brain
is now stamped by you.
But why doth your longed-for word soar so far
beyond my sight, that the more it straineth
the more it loses it?"
"That thou mayst know," she said, "that
School which thou hast followed, and see how
its teaching can keep pace with my word;
and mayst see your way so far distant from the
divine way, as the heaven which highest
speeds is removed from earth.”
Wherefore I answered her: "I remember not
that I e'er estranged me from you, nor have
I conscience thereof that gnaws me.
>>
"And if thou canst not remember it," smiling
she answered, "now bethink thee how thou
didst drink of Lethe this very day;
and if from smoke fire is argued, this forgetful-
ness clearly proves fault in thy desire other-
where intent.
But now my words shall be naked, so far as shall
be meet to discover them to thy rude vision."
Both more refulgent, and with slower steps, the Noon in
sun was holding the meridian circle, which the Earthly
varies hither and thither as positions vary,
when did halt, even as he halts who goes for
escort before folk, if he finds aught that is
strange or the traces thereof,
Paradise
426
PURGATORIO
Terrestre
Paradiso le sette donne al fin d' un' ombra smorta,
qual sotto foglie verdi e rami nigri
sopra suoi freddi rivi l' Alpe porta.
Dinanzi ad esse Eufrates e Tigri
veder mi parve uscir d' una fontana,
e quasi amici dipartirsi pigri.
“O luce, o gloria della gente umana,
66
che acqua è questa che qui si dispiega
da un principio, e sè da sè lontana ?
Per cotal prego detto mi fu : Prega
Matelda che il ti dica"; e qui rispose,
come fa chi da colpa si dislega,
la bella donna: "Questo, ed altre cose
dette gli son per me; e son sicura
che l'acqua di Letè non gliel nascose.
E Beatrice: "Forse maggior cura,
che spesse volte la memoria priva,
fatto ha la mente sua negli occhi oscura.
Ma vedi Eunoè che là deriva:
menalo ad esso, e, come tu sei usa
la tramortita sua virtù ravviva."
Com' anima gentil che non fa scusa,
ma fa sua voglia della voglia altrui,
tosto ch' ell' è per segno fuor dischiusa :
così, poi che da essa preso fui,
la bella donna mossesi, ed a Stazio
donnescamente disse: "Vien con lui.”
S' io avessi, lettor, più lungo spazio
da scrivere, io pur canterei in parte
lo dolce ber che mai non m'. avria sazio;
ma perchè piene son tutte le carte
ordite a questa Cantica seconda,
non mi lascia più ir lo fren dell' arte.
109
112
115
118
121
124
127
130
133
136
139
CANTO XXXIII
427
Statius
hose seven ladies at the margin of a pale shadow, Dante and
such as beneath green leaves and dark boughs, drink of
the Alp casts over its cool streams.
In front of them I seemed to behold Euphrates
and Tigris welling up from one spring, and
parting like friends that linger.
"O light, O glory of human kind, what water
is this that here pours forth from one source,
and self from self doth wend away?"
At such prayer was said to me: "Pray Matilda
that she tell it thee " and here made answer,
as he doth who frees him from blame,
the fair Lady: "This and other things have
been told him by me, and sure am I that
Lethe's water hid then not from him."
And Beatrice : 66
Haply a greater care that oft
bereaves of memory hath dimmed his mind's
eyes.
But behold Eunoe, which there flows on; lead
him to it, and as thou art wont, requicken his
fainting virtue."
As a gentle soul that maketh no excuse, but makes
her will of the will of another, soon as it is
disclosed by outward sign,
so the fair Lady, after I was taken by her,
set forth, and to Statius with queenly mien
"Come with him."
did say:
If, reader, I had greater space for writing, I
would sing, at least in part, of the sweet
draught which never would have sated me;
but forasmuch as all the pages ordained for this
second canticle are filled, the curb of art no
further lets me go.
Eunoë
428
PURGATORIO
Paradiso Io ritornai dalla santissim' onda
Terrestre
rifatto sì, come piante novelle
rinnovellate di novella fronda,
puro e disposto a salire alle stelle.
142
145
1. Ps. lxxix., beginning: "O God, the heathen
are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple
have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on
heaps."
10-12. Christ's words to his disciples: "A little
while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little
while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the
Father" (John xvi. 16).
34, 35. See the preceding canto, vv. 130-135.
Dante applies to the Church (corrupted as it was in
his time) the words used by John in Rev. xvii. 8 :
"The beast thou sawest was, and is not."
35, 36. "In the olden time in Florence, if an
assassin could contrive to eat a sop of bread and
wine at the grave of the murdered man, within nine
days after the murder, he was free from the vengeance
of the family; and to prevent this they kept watch
at the tomb. There is no evading the vengeance of
God in this way. Such is the interpretation of this
passage by all the old commentators " (Longfellow).
37. senza ereda. In the Conv. iv. 3: 38-43, Dante
speaks of Frederick II. (d. 1250) as "the last Emperor
of the Romans (I say 'last' with respect to the pre-
sent time, notwithstanding that Rudolf, and Adolphus,
and Albert were elected after his death and from his
descendants)."
38, 39. See the preceding canto, vv. 124-129, and
142-160.
?
40-45. Another of the so-called Veltro passages (cf.
Inf. i. 101-105, note, and see above, Canto xx. 8,
10-15, note). The numbers of v. 43 are generally ex-
plained as DVX-leader (on the analogy of the
numbers in Rev. xiii. 18, which indicate Nero); but
surmises as to who that leader might be (whether
CANTO XXXIII
429

I came back from the most holy waves,
again, even as new trees renewed with
foliage, pure and ready to mount to
stars.
born Dante
purified
new his
forhis
the heaven-
Can Grande, or Henry of Luxemburg, or another)
are entirely futile. For vv. 44, 45, see the preceding
canto, vv. 150-160.
See
46-51. When dipus had solved the famous riddle
of the Sphinx, Themis (renowned for her oracle) was
so enraged that she sent a wild beast to work havoc
among the herds and fields of the Thebans.
Ovid, Met. vii.-The Naiads had nothing to do with
the solving of riddles; Dante followed a corrupt
reading in v. 759 of the passage in Ovid, where
Heinsius' emendation of Laiades (for Naiades) is now
almost universally adopted [Laiades = Edipus, the son
of Laius].
57. First by Adam, then by the giant for the
wood of the chariot-pole came from the tree (see the
preceding canto, v. 51), and the chariot was dragged
away by the giant (ib. vv. 157-160).
61-63. Dante follows the chronology of Eusebius,
according to which Adam was on earth for 930 years,
and in Limbo for 4302 years, making 5232 years in
all. Cf. Par. xxvi. 118-120. With v. 63 cf. Par.
vii. 25 $99.
The
64-66. See the preceding canto, vv. 40-42.
height probably indicates the vast extent and might
of the Empire; while the widening towards the
summit may be compared with v. 135 of Canto xxii.,
and taken to denote the inviolability of the Empire,
as desired by God.
The
67-69. These lines are glossed by vv. 73-75.
Elsa is a Tuscan river, whose water has, in certain
portions of its course, the property of turning objects
to stone; and the hues of the mulberry (pure white
changed to guilty red) are explained in the note to
Canto xxvii. vv. 37-39.
ward
asdent

430
NOTES
78, 79. per quello, namely, to show that thou has
been in the Earthly Paradise. Cf. Vita Nuova, § xl
44-46: "They are called Palmers who go beyond th
seas eastward, whence often they bring palm
branches."
85-99. Great stress is very naturally laid upon thi
passage by Witte and his followers, who maintaine
that Dante's sin consisted, primarily at any rate, no
in moral but in philosophical aberrations. The
understand Beatrice to reproach Dante with having
followed Philosophy instead of Religion, and, on hi
declaring that he had no recollection of any suc
thing, to answer that it is because he has drunk d
Lethe and forgotten all evil actions.
But the passag
cannot really be cited to support this view.
school that Dante has followed just before coming t
Beatrice, and which has so imperfectly prepared hin
to understand her, is the school of Virgil (see above
Canto xxi. v. 33). And it is impossible to suppos
that Beatrice reproaches Dante for having followe
Virgil, who was her own emissary. He was th
initial instrument of Dante's salvation from his error
not the seducer who led him into it.
Th
We must apparently suppose that when Dant
drank of Lethe, he forgot his fall and all the step
that led to his recovery from it, which required fo
their understanding a conscious reference to i
Therefore, when Beatrice speaks of the inadequac
CANTO XXXIII
431
(not the perversity) of the training he has had as
yet, he misunderstands the reference as an im-
plication that he had wandered from her to some
other school. Beatrice takes him up on his own
ground, and replies that, for the matter of that,
so he did desert her, and guiltily too, else he would
not have forgotten it.
When Dante has further drunk of Eunoë, he will
remember all the incidental good of Virgil's faithful
love and guidance; but it will no longer be painfully
associated with his own sin; and that sin he will re-
member again, but as an external thing that does not
now belong to his own personality. It will dwell
in his mind merely as the outward occasion of the
love manifested and the blessings secured to him.
Cf. Par. ix. 103-105; and see above, Canto xxviii.
vv. 130-132, note.
70.
103-105. See the diagram on p. 47.
109-111. At the edge of the forest, whose shadow
resembled the shadow cast by the trees at the foot of
the Alps on to the streams below.
112-114. Dante was probably thinking not of Gen.
ii. 14, but of Boëthius' verses (De Cons. Phil. v. metr.
i.): Tigris et Euphrates uno se fonte resolvant, Et mox
abjunctis dissociantur aquis.
121, 122. See above, Canto xxviii. vv. 85 sqq.
H. O.
NOTE ON
DANTE'S PURGATORY
§ 1. THE CENTRAL IDEA OF THE PURGATORY.
THE key to the comprehension of Dante's representa-
tion of Purgatory is to be found in the connection of
the mountain with the Earthly Paradise, or Garden of
Eden, situated at its summit. We learn from careful
reading of the last lines of the Inferno that the mountain
of Purgatory was thrown up (like a mole-hill, if one
may use such an illustration) when Satan was hurled
down from heaven to the centre of the earth.
upper bulk was thrust into Hell, which was already
there to receive him; and beneath the Mount of
Purgatory the earth closed up behind him, leaving a
huge cavern, into which his nether limbs stretched up.
His
So the fall of Satan was the occasion for a portion
of the substance of the earth to leap up heavenward
above all the elemental perturbations of the lower
atmosphere, thus making itself worthy to become
the seat of that human race which was to replace
the fallen angels.
Now the life of Eden, had man persevered, was to
have been an earthly life, including what may be
thought of as natural religion,-a consciousness of the
love and nearness of God, a perfect spontaneity of
human joy and goodness, and a knowledge of all
earthly wisdom. But the higher revelations which
would complete the life of man, not as an earthly but
as a heavenly being, were to have been subsequently
added. Therefore, when man fell he forfeited im-
mediately the perfect earthly life, and ultimately the
perfect heavenly life. His first task, then, must be
to recover the life of the Earthly Paradise; and as
purgation, or recovery from the fall, consists primarily
in regaining Eden, the mountain pedestal of the
Garden of Eden becomes by a necessity of symbolic
432
DANTE'S PURGATORY™
433
logic the scene of purgation. Physically and spiritually
man must climb back to the " uplifted garden." Hence
the key-note of the Purgatory is primarily ethical, and
only by implication spiritual. Cato, the type of the
moral virtues, is the guardian of the place; Virgil, the
type of human philosophy, is the guide; and the
Earthly Paradise, the type of the "blessedness of this
life" (De Mon. iii. 16: 43-52), is the immediate goal.
Beatrice is only realised by Dante as he had known
her in the Eden-like "new life" of his youth, and by
no means as the august impersonation of revealed truth.
She appears to him in due course, surrounded by her
escort, when he has reached the state of earthly per-
fection; and the vacancy of that region of earthly bliss
is explained to him by the Vision of false and confused
government, wherein is portrayed the failure of Church
and State to bring man back to the life of Eden.
the Church as an earthly organisation, or regimen, the
grace of God has committed by anticipation such re-
vealed truth as is necessary to help the enfeebled will of
man to recover the state of Eden. But the Church, as
a regimen, is not to be confounded with Revelation
(Beatrice) herself. The
The proper office of the Church, as
a regimen, ends when the proper office of Beatrice
begins. See De Monarchia, iii. 4: 107-111.
§ 2. THE DIVISIONS OF THE PURGATORY.
To
The details of the second cantica follow the general
scheme; based on three, sub-divided into seven, raised
by unlike additions to nine, and by a final member on
a totally different plane, to ten.
The threefold division, which is expounded at length
in Canto xvii., rests on the distinction between (i) per-
verse, (ii) defective, and (iii) excessive love. By perverse
love is meant a delight in things which ought to grieve
us, and of the three natural objects of love, God, self, and
neighbour, the two first are secured (except in case
of such monstrous perversion as is punished in Circle
7 of Hell) from hate. (I) Perverse love, then, must
consist in taking a delight in evil that befalls others.
The proud man desires to excel, and therefore rejoices in
defeating the attempts of others (i). The envious man
hates being over-shadowed and made to think meanly
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434
DANTE'S PURGATORY
of himself and his belongings, and therefore rejoices in
the misfortunes of others (ii). The angry man wishes in
his indignation to make those who have offended him
smart, and so finds a satisfaction in their sufferings (iii).
(II) They who are spiritually and intellectually sluggish
in the contemplation of the divine goodness, or sluggish
in the will to pursue it, are alike guilty of sloth, or
inadequate love (iv). (III) And those who pursue
wealth (v), or the pleasures of the table (vi), or carnal
appetite (vii), without observing due limitations, are
guilty of excessive and ill-regulated love for things which
should only take a secondary place in their affections.
Hence the threefold division, by sub-division of its ex-
treme numbers, has given us a sevenfold division which
coincides with the seven deadly sins of the Catholic
Church. Besides this we have on the island at the base
of the mountain those who have died in contumacy
against the Church; and on the slopes of the mount
below the gate we have the late-repentant.
These
two classes raise seven to nine; and at the top of the
mountain we have the Earthly Paradise, not part of
Purgatory at all, but the goal to which the purified
souls are led.
ΙΟ
01∞ 76
6
543
Love
The Garden of Eden
Carnality vii.
Gluttony vi.
Avarice v.
The Earthly
Paradise
Excessive III.
The seven
circles of pur-
Defective II.
Sloth iv.
gation of the
Anger iii.
seven deadly
Perverted I.
Envy ii.
Pride i.
sins
3
τ
The Late-repentant
The Excommunicate
Antepurgatory
P. H. W.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE
"PURGATORIO"
It is near sunrise when the poets issue at the eastern
base of the Mount of Purgatory (i. 19-21), and close
upon sunrise, 6 A.M., as they leave Cato (i. 107-117).
The stars in mid heaven have disappeared when the
souls are discharged from the angel's boat (ii. 55-57),
though shadows are not yet distinctly visible since the
souls recognise Dante as a living man only by his
breathing (ii. 67, 68). The sun is up and the hour
of Vespers, 3 F.M., has already arrived in Italy, as
the poets turn westward again towards the mountain
(iii. 16-26). The conversation with Manfred is over
about 9.20 A.M. (iv. 15). It is noonday when Dante
has finished his conversation with Belaqua (iv. 137-139);
that is to say, the sun is in the north; and since the
poets are almost on the due east portion of the
mountain, it is not long ere the sun disappears behind
the hill (vi. 51). So Dante casts no shadow, and is
not recognized as a living man by Sordello, with whom
Virgil converses till day is declining (vii. 43).
sunset the souls in the valley of the kings sing their
evening hymn (viii. 1-18); very soon after which the
poets descend (descent being possible after sunset,
though they could not have ascended, cf. vii. 58, 59)
into the valley, as twilight deepens (viii. 43-51).
Taking the moment of full moon to have been at
sunrise on the Friday morning, it is now 3 × 24 hours
since full moon, and the retardation of the moon is
therefore 3 × 52 minutes = 2 hours 36 minutes; and the
moon, therefore, has passed through the Scales and
is 36 minutes deep in Scorpion. The first stars of
Scorpion, then, and the glow of the lunar aurora are
on the horizon, and it is just over 8.30 P.M. on what
with the reservations indicated in the chronological
2 E*
435
At
436 CHRONOLOGY OF “PURGATORIO "
note on the Inferno) we may call Monday evening,
when Dante falls asleep (ix. 1-12). Before dawn on
the next morning Dante has a vision of the eagle,
and is in point of fact carried up by Lucia near to
the gate of Purgatory (ix. 13-63), where he awakes
at about 8 A.M. (ix. 44). The retardation of the moon
is now 3 hours and 2 minutes, and when they issue
upon the first terrace she has already set (x. 13-16).
It is therefore about 9 A.M. About 12 o'clock noon
they reach the stair to the second circle (xii. 80, 81).
When the poets pass from the second to the third
terrace they are walking westward and have therefore
reached the northern quarter of the mount, and it is
3 o'clock in the afternoon (xv. 1-9); and their direction
has not sensibly changed when they meet the wrathful
(xv. 139). The sun has already set at the base of
the mountain (xvii. 12) when the final visions of
the circle of the wrathful come upon Dante, and
he sets to the poets, high up on the mountain,
just as they have completed the ascent of the stair to
the fourth circle (xvii. 70-75). By comparing these
data, it will be seen that the poets traverse portions
of the first three circles, constituting altogether a
quadrant or a little more, during this day. They
start on the eastern side of the mountain, and end at
the north, or a little west of it, and have spent about
three hours in each circle. About three hours more
are occupied by Virgil's discourse, which ends towards
midnight, when the moon, which rose at 9.28, a good
way south of east, now first appears due east, or a
trifle north of due east, from behind the mountain
(xviii. 76-81) Before dawn (xix. 1-6) on what we
may call Wednesday, Dante has his vision of the Siren,
and it is full daylight when he wakes. They still
travel due, or nearly due, west, with the newly risen
sun at their backs (xix. 37-39). They swiftly pass
the fourth circle and reach the fifth, in which they
stay so long that it is after ten when they reach the
sixth circle (xxii. 115-120). Though they are now well
to the west of the mountain, the sun has travelled with
them, so that Dante casts a shadow (xxiii. 114). In-
deed it is after two o'clock when they reach the stair
which leads to the seventh circle (xxv. 1-3), so that by
CHRONOLOGY OF “PURGATORIO” 437
this time shadows are visible on the mountain from
near the north-east to near the south-west of its
surface. As Dante converses with the shades on the
seventh terrace the sun is almost due west; the poet is
walking nearly due south, the sun on his right and
the flame glowing redder under his shadow at the left
(xxvi. 1-9). And the position is not perceptibly changed
when the angel of the circle appears to them as the
sun sets at the base of the mountain (xxvii. 1-6); nor
have they mounted many stairs after passing through
the flame, before the sun, exactly behind them, sets on
the higher regions of the mount where they now are
(xxvii. 61-69). Before sunrise (xxvii. 94-96) on the
day we may call Thursday, Dante sees Leah in his
vision, and wakes at dawn of day (xxvii. 109-114).
The sun shines full upon their faces as they enter the
Earthly Paradise from the western point, facing east
(xxvii. 133); and it is noonday (xxxiii. 103-105) as they
reach the source of Lethe and Eunoë.
... For the time references in the Paradiso, see Parad.
xxvii. 83, 84, Argument, note and map.
P. H. W.
The present edition of the "Purgatorio," uniform with
the "Inferno" and "Paradiso" already issued in "The
Temple Classics," has been edited by Mr H. Oelsner,
M.A., Ph.D., who is responsible for the Italian text
(based on the editions of Witte, Moore and Casini),
and for the notes at the end of each canto. The English
version is by Mr Thomas Okey, joint author (with Mr
Bolton King) of "Italy To-day," translator of Mazzini's
“Essays," &c. The Arguments have been written by the
Rev. Philip H. Wicksteed, M.A., who has also contri-
buted the matter on pages 432-437 (uniform with the corre-
sponding papers from his pen at the close of the other two
volumes), and by whom most of the diagrams have again becn
designed.
October 14, 1901.
I. G.
439
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
THE translation of the Purgatorio here offered to
the public has been undertaken solely to enable the
publishers to complete their issue of the Commedia
in The Temple Classics. Its aim is to lend a helping
hand to those who, already possessing some know-
ledge of Latin or of a kindred language, may desire
to read the poem in the original Italian. It is not
intended to compete with, still less to supersede, any
existing translation. Some experience in introducing
Dante to English students has convinced the writer
how essential it is, if interest and enthusiasm are to
be maintained, that the text should be studied in
Italian. Few are they who begin their author in a
translation but who soon decide, either to drop the
study, or to learn to read him in the original. The
difficulties that beset the reader of the Commedia are
not so much philological as exegetical. Of the supreme
poets none loses so much by translation as Dante;
none so quickly repays a study of the original text.
Many passages indeed are clearer in Italian than in
English. It will be found that text and translation
correspond consistently terzetto for terzetto, but not
line for line, and that for greater clearness the text
has generally been construed in accord with the
English rather than the Italian idiom. Where a
literal rendering would convey no meaning a para-
phrase (as in xxix. 47) has been hazarded, and the
technical equivalent, when thought necessary, given
and explained in a note.
The translator is keenly conscious how far he has
fallen short of achievement, and will welcome any
suggestions for the improvement of his work. He
hopes that at least his labours will facilitate the
passage of a few pilgrims through the secondo regno,
and further in some small way the ever-growing
interest in Dante studies in England.
T. O.
440
EDITORIAL NOTE
my
I DESIRE to acknowledge once again my special in-
debtedness (in the way of references and historical
data) to Mr Paget Toynbee's Dante Dictionary, a work
to which all Dante students and scholars must turn
with gratitude; and to express my heartiest thanks to
Mr Wicksteed for a number of valuable suggestions
(relating especially to astronomical, philosophical,
and allegorical points, and to the finer shades of the
poet's meaning), which, I feel, impart to
Purgatorio notes any distinction they may be found
to possess. Dr Moore kindly consented to my
reproducing the diagrams on pp. 34 and 35 from his
Time-References. The map of Upper and Central
Italy is copied, with certain alterations, from the one
prepared by Witte for Kannegiesser's German trans-
lation of the Commedia (Leipzig, 1843). Reference
should be made throughout to Mr E. G. Gardner's
Dante in the Temple Primers. A useful handbook for
the
numerous historical passages illustrated by
Villani is Selfe and Wicksteed's Selections from Villani's
Chronicle. For the general scope of the notes the
reader is referred to the Editorial Note at the close of
the volume containing the Paradiso.
H. O.
441
INDEX TO PLATES, TABLES, ETC.
DIAGRAMS SHOWING-
(a) THE COURSE OF THE POETS ROUND AND Up
THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE MOUNT OF
PURGATORY, FROM EAST TO WEST
(b) THE PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN UNDER
light and shade at 6 O'CLOCK A.M.
•
(c)
THE PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN
LIGHT AND SHADE AT NOONDAY
PAGE
ΙΣ
13
UNDER
47
(d) THE PORTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN UNDER
LIGHT AND Shade at 6 o'clock p.m.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING SYNCHRONISMS
•
•
103
34, 35
SHOWING THE HOURS AT WHICH THE SEVERAL SIGNS
OF THE ZODIAC BEGIN TO RISE AT THE SPRING
EQUINOX
FAMILY TABLES.
MAP OF UPPER AND Central Italy
442
52
59
86-91, 241
376, 377
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