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 THE 
 
 PURGATORY 
 
 OF 
 
 DANTE ALIGHIERI 
 
 EDITED WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR JOHN BUTLER 
 
 
 
 LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 1880
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, 
 CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 CONSIDERING the enormous number of translations and 
 editions which the "Divine Comedy" has already undergone 
 at the hands of fifteen or more generations, it would seem 
 to be only decent that a fresh one should offer some apology 
 for its existence. The best, perhaps, is that suggested by 
 Sainte-Beuve : " Lire Dante," he says, " et le lire de pres, 
 c'est presque inevitablement desirer de le traduire, c'est 
 entrer dans les replis de son genie, et apres y avoir pene'tre 
 (ce qui demande tout un effort), c'est concevoir la pense'e 
 d' y introduire les autres." AYithout pretending to the hardi- 
 hood, so characteristic of the writer's nation, which talks 
 easily of penetrating into the recesses of Dante's genius, 
 the present translator may admit that some such idea as 
 that indicated in the above passage was what first suggested 
 the task he has undertaken. There are, indeed, sundry 
 signs which go to show that of late years the serious study 
 of Dante's great poem is beginning to make its way in this 
 country. Formerly, the " Inferno " was read in its entirety, 
 or oftener in fragments, by young people who were learning 
 Italian ; and then they went on to read a little Ariosto, 
 a little Tasso, and so on, till they were considered to be 
 " finished." Very few, it may be imagined, ever looked 
 into the " Purgatorio ; " almost none ventured on the 
 " Paradise." Indeed, the second and third Canticles must
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 have occupied much the same position in the opinion of 
 critics as is held by " Paradise Regained." Thus Sismondi 
 decides that the interest falls off in the second part of the 
 poem : he seems to look back with regret to the " horror of 
 great darkness," varied only by the diverse torments of Hell. 
 In the lively hope which animates " the folk secure of be- 
 holding the light on high," he can see only a lack of 
 emotion resulting in frigidity ; and even the visions and 
 dreams, important as they are to the understanding of the 
 Cantica, seem to him adapted only to awaken the impa- 
 tience of the reader, in haste to get to the end of the story. 
 The taste of the present generation, less attracted by strong 
 colouring than by delicate and subtle touches, and inclining, 
 in its best mood, rather to reticence than to violent expres- 
 sion of the feelings, keenly sensitive moreover to the 
 influence of external nature in its various aspects, has, as 
 might be expected, appreciated more justly the merits of 
 the second division of the poem. Thus, Mr. Symonds 
 ("Study of Dante," chap. v. 12), directly traversing 
 Sismondi's criticism, points out how full of human in- 
 terest are the meetings with Casella, Sordello, Statius, 
 and many others. How full, to multiply instances, of 
 a gentle and playful humour are such touches as the 
 by-play which goes on between Virgil and Dante when 
 Statius, not knowing to whom he speaks, expresses his 
 admiration of the "./Eneid," and his longing to behold its 
 author ; or Belacqua's " Hai ben veduto ; " or Oderisi's 
 "E mio in parte." How dramatic again Nino's slightly 
 contemptuous mention of "the Milanese," for whom his 
 widow, while retaining his name, has forsaken his memory ; 
 or Hugh Capet's bitter invective against his unworthy de- 
 scendants. This is in fact only what we might have 
 expected to find in this part of the poem. Absolute evil,
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 no less than absolute good, is so utterly unlike anything of 
 which our experience of human nature enables us to form a 
 conception, that the attempt to represent it in concrete 
 ' forms must in proportion to its very success fail to touch 
 our sympathies. Francesca, Peter de Vineis, Brunetto, Guy 
 of Montefeltro, even Ulysses, move us not so much by awe 
 at their terrible fate, or horror at the sins which earned it, 
 as by the traits which show how much of noble and gentle 
 feeling still remains to them in the midst of torments and 
 despair. Ugolino, it may safely be said, awakens in the 
 majority of readers far more of pity for his cruel death than 
 of loathing for the crimes which that death was insufficient 
 to expiate. In Purgatory we find human nature, in a puri- 
 fied form doubtless, but in kind exactly as we know it among 
 those of our fellow-men with whom we are most in sym- 
 pathy. The pleasures of memory and the pleasures of 
 hope alike are there, while the present discomfort, or even 
 pain, is just as in this life fully alleviated by both the one 
 and the other. The more thoroughly the reader knows the 
 whole poem, the less hesitation will he have in endorsing 
 the opinion of Balbo, that the " Purgatory" "e forse in tutto 
 la piu bella parte della Divina Commedia, o quella almeno 
 dove meglio si dimostra la piu bella parte dell' anima di 
 Dante." So too Father Perez of Verona, in his excellent 
 and elaborate study : "I sette Cerchi del Purgatorio di 
 Dante," while admitting that the " Inferno," with its more 
 salient points of interest, is most attractive on a first 
 reading, contends that, "le anime studiose delle piu deli- 
 cate e riposte bellezze morali fan principalmente loro delizia 
 del Purgatorio." Those who like movement, however aim- 
 less, provided that it be violent, will, he thinks, admire 
 the " Inferno ; " while those who prefer a constant progress, 
 moral and intellectual, will find what they seek, and an
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 example as well, in the souls who are working their way 
 onwards " in the love of light, and in the light of love." 
 
 These considerations would have been enough to induce 
 me to begin with the second Cantica, even had not the 
 late Dr. Carlyle's admirable prose translation already been 
 in existence. As it was, it seemed wholly superfluous, for 
 the present at all events, to go over the same ground as he 
 had done. 1 My object being what I have said, when so 
 good an " initiateur " (to use another expression of Sainte- 
 Beuve's) was at hand, whom I could not hope or wish to 
 supersede, it was obviously natural to go on from the point 
 where he had left off. Some such continuation seemed not 
 uncalled for. As far as I know, there exists only one English 
 prose translation besides Dr. Carlyle's. That does indeed 
 profess to render the whole poem, but it does not go beyond 
 profession, for its performance is of poor quality. Verse- 
 translations 2 of course we have, many and good ; but no 
 verse-translation can be a wholly satisfactory " crib ; " and 
 it is at the production of a " crib," pure and simple, that I 
 have aimed. Even blank verse, in spite of Herr Witte's 
 dictum, does not quite "allow that freedom of movement, 
 without which the thought of the original runs too great a 
 risk of being defaced or displaced through the exigences 
 of form." After all, when our first Latin scholar has not 
 scrupled to put Lucretius into prose, multa aim laude, 
 prose-translations of poetry need no justification. I may 
 perhaps remark here, that where a question has arisen 
 
 1 1 ought to mention that, in reply to an inquiry of mine, 
 Dr. Carlyle very kindly informed me that he had no intention of 
 proceeding any further with his Translation. 
 
 3 On looking at Mr. Longfellow's translation, I find repeated in- 
 stances in which my rendering of a whole line or more is identical with, 
 his. As I had not read twenty lines of his, or any other, these resem- 
 blances are purely fortuitous.
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 between a literal and an elegant rendering, I have preferred 
 the former ; my object being, as I have said, not to attempt 
 an addition to English literature, but to aid beginners in 
 understanding that of Italy. Also, wherever it seemed 
 possible to render an Italian word or idiom by a cognate 
 form in English, I have not scrupled to do so, even at the 
 cost of an occasional archaism. 
 
 I have worked chiefly with Bianchi's edition (Le 
 Monnier) of 1863, which seems to me both in text and 
 notes much superior to Fraticelli's. That of Signer Giuliani 
 did not appear in time for me to avail myself of it. The 
 notes of " Philalethes " are invaluable for historical and 
 philosophical information ; and his translation appears to 
 me at once easier and more accurate than that of Herr 
 Witte, if a raw recruit may, without presumption, criticise 
 the leader of living Dantophilists. The notes of the last- 
 named are most useful ; also his larger edition of the text ; 
 though, as he has admittedly employed four MSS. only, 
 his settlement of it can hardly be considered final, nor have 
 I hesitated in occasionally departing from it. I have col- 
 lated throughout, and given the most noteworthy readings 
 of both the Codex Cassinensis (this from the splendid 
 edition published by the fathers of Monte Cassino, for which 
 I have to thank a friend who trusted me with his copy) 
 and also one of the three MSS. possessed by the University 
 of Cambridge. This last is a handsome book, with illumi- 
 nated initials to each Cantica, and to Canto xxviii. of the 
 " Purgatory." It appears to have been written by a Tuscan, 
 about the end of the fourteenth century. Its Commentary, 
 which was written towards 1447, is mainly an abridgement 
 from that of Benvenuto da Imola; this, unfortunately, has 
 not yet, as far as I know, been printed in the original Latin, 
 though there is a (not very literal) Italian translation of it.
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 The large Venice edition of 1576, with Landino's and 
 Vellutello's notes, is very useful ; though Vellutello serves 
 for a warning almost as often as for a pattern. The text, 
 which appears to be Vellutello's (and which from his preface 
 he seems to flatter himself is as correct as human power can 
 make it), agrees pretty much with Landino's, and I have 
 therefore referred to it as " Land." 1 John Villani's History 
 is an indispensable companion to Dante, and is the more 
 valuable, because Villani was politically a Guelf, while 
 Dante, though not an absolute partisan of either side, has 
 generally and on the whole justly been reckoned as a 
 Ghibeline, so that by the help of either we can check 
 the estimate of persons and actions expressed by the other. 
 Moreover, Villani's prose has a good deal of the same 
 straightforward directness as Dante's verse. Herr Blanc's 
 Dictionary (of which I have used the Italian translation, 
 Barbera, 1859), concordance and commentary in one as it 
 is, may be called an " epoch-making " book in the history 
 of the study of Dante. It has probably lightened my work 
 at least one-half. The only misfortune is that it is not a 
 Dictionary of Dante's complete works. His " Erklarungen " 
 are also useful ; though here, too, that reliance on erudition 
 to the exclusion of taste, which is a common feature 
 of German criticism, makes itself sometimes apparent. 
 Dr. Scartazzini's enormous compilation contains nearly 
 everything that has been said on every line and word; 
 and therefore necessarily contains much that is of service, 
 but the reader has to make his own selection. The French 
 have done less than the Germans to promote the study 
 of Dante. They have several translations, both in prose 
 and verse, but it looks almost as if Voltaire's contemptible 
 
 1 In two passages, however (ii. 23 and xxviii. 67), where that edition 
 follows Landino's note, the reading given is that of his text (1481).
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 criticism of the " Divine Comedy " had done a mischief to 
 the taste of the nation in regard to it which, in spite of 
 the efforts of such men as Fauriel and Ozanam, is still 
 not wholly effaced. In English we have, as I have said, 
 many translations, mostly in verse ; some, notably those 
 of Gary, Carlyle, and Longfellow, possessing useful notes, 
 chiefly explanatory, but nothing like a critical edition. 
 Indeed, Dr. Carlyle says that when he first thought of 
 publishing such an edition with English notes, he was 
 told that he would " make a piebald monstrous book, 
 such as had not been seen in this country." Since that 
 time, however, people's views have changed, and it seems 
 no longer to be thought necessary that the student of a 
 foreign tongue, whether ancient or modern, should be con- 
 fined to the use of that very tongue of which he is ex 
 hypothesi ignorant, pitched, so to speak, into deep water, 
 in order that he may learn to swim. We no longer 
 teach boys Virgil with the .help of Latin notes, why should 
 they not have the benefit of English notes to learn Dante ? 
 This principle is recognised in Mr. CotterilPs "Selections 
 from Dante's Inferno," published at the Clarendon Press, 
 with Introductory Chapters and copious notes in English. 
 His sketch of the history of the times and account of 
 Dante's life will be found very useful ; the notes, however, 
 show signs of haste, and, especially on points of philology, 
 would be all the better for revision. Still they have a 
 claim on our regard as a protest against the doctrine implied 
 by the Mentors whom Dr. Carlyle quotes. 
 
 Lastly, as to the importance of the " Divine Comedy " as 
 a subject of study at all, over and above its purely aesthetic 
 merits. It is not too much to say that there is no one work 
 of human genius which can equal it as an instrument of 
 education, intellectual and moral. As to the former, it is
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 only needful to realise that it is the summary of all the 
 thought and speculation, the record of all the action of the 
 thirteenth century : the age which of all whose memory 
 remains to us produced the greatest number of great men. 
 This was the age of Frederick II., Lewis IX., Simon of 
 Montfort, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon ; the age which 
 saw the revival of painting in Cimabue and Giotto, of 
 sculpture in Nicholas; while Amiens and Westminster, the Old 
 Palace of Florence and the Holy Field of Pisa are living 
 evidence of what it could do in the noblest of all the arts. 
 It was to such an age as this that Dante's poem first gave a 
 voice ; and he who would appreciate the poem, must first 
 have made himself in some degree familiar with the age. 
 
 In estimating the moral value of the " Divine Comedy," I 
 cannot do better (more especially as they seem to corroborate 
 the views of Sainte-Beuve with which I began) than quote the 
 eloquent words of the Dean of St. Paul's, whose admirable 
 essay x ought to be in the hands of every reader of Dante. 
 " Those who know it best will best know how hard it is to 
 be the interpreter of such a mind, but they will sympathise 
 with the wish to call attention to it. They know and would 
 wish others to know, not by hearsay, but by experience, the 
 power of that wonderful poem. They know its austere yet 
 subduing beauty ; they know what force there is in its free 
 and earnest yet solemn verse, to strengthen, to tranquillise, 
 to console. It is a small thing that it has the secret of 
 Nature and Man ; that a few keen words have opened their 
 eyes to new sights in earth and sea and sky ; have taught 
 them new mysteries of sound ; have made them recognise, 
 in distinct image or thought, fugitive feelings, or their un- 
 heeded expression by look or gesture or motion; that it 
 
 1 Now republished in a separate form by Messrs. Macmillan.
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 has enriched the public and collective memory of society 
 with new instances, never to be lost, of human feelings and 
 fortune ; has charmed ear and mind by the music of its 
 stately march, and the variety and completeness of its plan. 
 But, besides this, they know how often its seriousness has 
 put to shame their trifling, its magnanimity their faint- 
 heartedness, its living energy their indolence, its stern and 
 sad grandeur rebuked low thoughts, its thrilling tenderness 
 overcome sullenness and assuaged distress, its strong faith 
 quelled despair and soothed perplexity, its vast grasp 
 imparted harmony to the view of clashing truths." 
 
 A few words of explanation as to abbreviations, etc., 
 will suffice. The numerals, i, 2, 3, 4, 5 denote respectively 
 the editions of Foligno, Jesi, Mantua, Naples (Francesco 
 del Tuppo) and Naples (1477). The readings of the last 
 are taken from the late Dr. Barlow's " Seicento Lezioni," 
 published in 1875. For the Cambridge MS. mentioned 
 above, I have used fautede mieux the letters Gg. by which 
 it is known in the catalogue. Diez's . " Grammar of the 
 Romance Languages " is quoted by volume and page from 
 the French translation of MM. Brachet, Morel-Fatio, and 
 Gaston Paris. (Paris : Franck. 1874-76.) References to 
 Villani are according to the chapters as they are numbered 
 in the edition in two volumes published at Milan, without 
 date, a few years ago, edited by Dr. A. Racheli. Besides 
 these, there are, I believe, no references or abbreviations 
 which will not explain themselves.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CANTO I i 
 
 CANTO II 13 
 
 CANTO III 25 
 
 CANTO IV 37 
 
 CANTO V. 50 
 
 CANTO VI 6r 
 
 CANTO VII 75 
 
 CANTO VIII 88 
 
 CANTO IX 100 
 
 CANTO X 113 
 
 CANTO XI :. ... 124 
 
 CANTO XII 136 
 
 CANTO XIII 147 
 
 CANTO XIV 160 
 
 CANTO XV , 174 
 
 CANTO XVI 186 
 
 CANTO XVII 200 
 
 CANTO XVIII 212 
 
 CANTO XIX 226 
 
 CANTO XX 238
 
 CONTENTS. XY 
 
 PACK 
 
 CANTO XXI 252 
 
 CANTO XXII 264 
 
 CANTO XXIII 277 
 
 CANTO XXIV 289 
 
 CANTO XXV. 306 
 
 CANTO XXVI 321 
 
 CANTO XXVII 334 
 
 CANTO XXVIII 346 
 
 CANTO XXIX 358 
 
 CANTO XXX. ' 371 
 
 CANTO XXXI 384 
 
 CANTO XXXII 397 
 
 CANTO XXXIII 411 
 
 APPENDIX A 422 
 
 APPENDIX B 427 
 
 GLOSSARY 433
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTE. 
 
 PURGATORY is figured as an island-mountain, whose summit 
 just reaches to the first of the celestial spheres, that of 
 the Moon, resembling in this the mountain described by 
 Pliny as existing off the west coast of Africa. From this it 
 is not improbable that the notion which Dante adopted was 
 taken. It is exactly at the antipodes of Jerusalem, and 
 its bulk is precisely equal and opposite to the cavity of 
 Hell. The lower part of the mountain forms a kind of 
 ante-Purgatory, in which souls have to wait until they have 
 atoned for delay in repentance. Purgatory proper consists 
 of seven terraces, connected by steep stairways, and cor- 
 responding to the seven deadly sins : Pride, Envy, Anger, 
 Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony, Lust. Chaucer's "Persones Tale" 
 gives a very good view of the mediaeval doctrine on the 
 subject of these sins. It seems to me not impossible that 
 Chaucer, who certainly knew something of Dante (for he 
 quotes him more than once), had the "Purgatory" in his 
 mind when he wrote it. On the summit of the mountain 
 is the Earthly Paradise, formerly the Garden of Eden. The 
 earliest representation of Purgatory as Dante imagined it, 
 with which I am acquainted, is in a picture (1465) by Dom. 
 di Michelino, over the north door of the cathedral of 
 Florence. The action of the Cantica occupies rather more 
 than three days, beginning a little before sunrise on Easter 
 Day, and ending about noon of the following Wednesday.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 P. 4, 1. 10 for "fringed" read "adorned." 
 
 P. 8, note d for " Basti " read " Bastiti ; " for " 5 " read " 135." 
 
 P. 9, 1. 9 for "puts . . . grows" read "should put . . . grow." 
 
 P. 10, note 8 for " 124" read " 1234." 
 
 P. 12, canto i. note to 1. 133 add : "The rush thus takes the place 
 
 of the cord which he had cast array, Inf. xvi. 106 sqq., where see 
 
 Carlyle's note. " 
 
 P. 15, note a should be "che bianche a dis. Gg. ; bianche dis. 15; 
 
 bianco d. s. Cass. 24; biancheggiar 3 Land. (1481)." note b add 
 
 " apparver Land. (1481)." 
 
 P. 16, note c for "45 " read " 5 " ; for " 12 " read " 1234." 
 
 P. 21, canto ii. note to It+gi the words "sciolta sc. anima" refer 
 
 to 1. 89. 
 
 P. 26, 1. 3 for "attentions" read "attention." 
 
 P. 33, 1. 10 after "my" insert "fair." 
 
 P- 39> ! 7 f r "mounted" read "were mounting." 
 
 P. 48, 1. 23 for " torepav . . . core " read " erepav . . . &<rre." 
 
 P. 61, 1. 3 of Argument for "Gordello" read "Sordello." 
 
 P. 66, canto vi. 61 for "Vennimo" read "Venimmo." 
 
 P. 109, 1. ii for "open the sacred door" read "the door of the 
 
 sacred gateway." 
 
 P. 114, 1. 2 dele "of." 
 
 P. 118, note e for " 134" read " 1234." 
 
 P. 175, note to canto xv. 15 for "dicht" read "Licht" 
 
 P. 212, canto xviii. 1. 7 for "padra" read "padre." 
 
 P. 221, canto xviii. 1. 94 add to note : " May not the true reading 
 
 be valca, ' strides ' ? " 
 
 P. 227, 1. 7 for "nimble" read "straight"; for "straight" read 
 
 " upright." 
 
 P. 236, note ' add "dentro 14." 
 
 P. 247, canto xx. note to 11. 91-93 for " Vellutello " read "Villani."
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 P. 254, note to canto xxi. 1. 20 for "degna" read "degni" ; and 
 add " The subj. is used because ' che ' is equiv. to ' tali che.' " 
 
 P. 261, 1. 5 for "bondage" read "banishment." 
 
 P. 264, note a for "124" read " 1234." 
 
 P. 272, note to canto xxii. 1. 98, and 1. 5 in note for " Varus" read 
 " Varius." 
 
 P. 276, note n for "aperte" read "aperto." 
 
 P. 295, note s insert "3 " after " Cass." and add " il n. c. 124." 
 
 P. 296, note h , line 2 dele " W. ;". 
 
 P. 309, note c dele " 124." 
 
 P. 342, note ' for " I " read "2." 
 
 P. 356, note to canto xxviii. 1. 122 for " vv." read " v." 
 
 P. 362, note f for "14" read "134"; note to xxix. 1. 47, for 
 "volto" read "volte." 
 
 P. 381, note to canto xxx. 1. 124 for "last note" read "note to 
 1. II5-" 
 
 P. 392, note to canto xxxi. 1. 95 transpose "warp" and "woof." 
 
 P. 400, note d for "foglia 124" read " foglie 124." 
 
 P. 408, note 'dele " 3," and for " 14" read " 124." 
 
 P. 416, note f after " Bi. ;" insert "pietrato 3 ;" dele " 3" before 
 " W.j" and add "cinto 14." 
 
 P. 427, 1. 3 for "it" read "them." 
 
 %* I feel that some apology is owing for so long a list of over- 
 sights, and probably several more which I have failed to discover. My 
 only excuse must be want of experience in correcting somewhat com- 
 plicated proofs. A. J. B.
 
 
 PURGATORY. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Virgil and Dante come out upon the island from which rises the mountain 
 of Purgatory. It is the dawn of Easter Day. They meet Cato, the 
 guardian of the place, and to him explain their coming. By his 
 direction, Virgil washes Dante's face with dew and girds him with 
 a rush. 
 
 To speed over better waters henceforth the bark of my wit 
 hoists her sails, for she is leaving behind her so cruel a 
 sea ; and I have to sing of that second realm, where the 
 spirit of man is purified, and becomes worthy to ascend to 
 heaven. 
 
 PER correr miglior acqua alza le vele 
 Omai la navicella del mio ingegno, 
 Che lascia dietro a se mar si crudele : 
 
 E canterb di quel secondo regno, 
 Ove F umano spirito si purga, 
 E di salire al Ciel diventa degno. 
 
 1 Correr acqua. So Virgil "Currere aequora." Cf. Par. ii. 7. 
 
 2 Omai contracted from ora mai = now and henceforth. Boccaccio 
 however uses it (Day v. Nov. 2) as = by this time. The converse 
 change is illustrated by the late Greek use of TTOOTOTC with future, e.g. 
 St. Johnvi. 35. 
 
 3 Che is used much as in Inf. i. 3. See Diez Gram. Rom. iii. 311. 
 (But it is even more like the vulgar English use of ' ' which. " Cf. 1. 120. ) 
 
 B
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO i. 
 
 But here let the dead strain arise again, O holy 
 Muses, since I am yours ; and here let Calliopea some- 
 what exalt herself, accompanying my chant with that 
 sound, the stroke whereof the wretched Picae felt so 
 great that they lost hope of pardon. 
 
 A sweet hue of oriental sapphire which was gathering 
 in the serene aspect of the pure ether up to the prime 
 
 Ma qui la morta poesia risurga, 
 O sante Muse, poi che vostro sono, 
 E qui Calliopea alqttanto surga, 
 
 Seguitando il mio canto con quel suono 10 
 
 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, 
 
 8 Cf. Inf. ii. 7. 
 
 11 The story of the Picae is told in Ov. Met. v. 300 sqq. , 663 sqq. 
 
 13 Aer puro, contrasted with aura morta. Elsewhere, however, 
 Dante makes little difference in his use of the two words ; only he 
 seems rather to prefer aura for the stagnant air of Hell. But see 
 Glossary. It must be said that all the first five editions, with a good 
 many MSS., read dal mezzo (some having also scuro, which looks like 
 the alteration of someone who did not understand it). Post. Cass. 
 takes mezzo to mean the middle of the sky, and primo giro the horizon ; 
 the annotator of Gg. (in which mezzo has been substituted in the original 
 hand, for another word, says "i.e. ab illo hemisperio inferiore, dicitur 
 enim hemisperium quasi dimidia spera ; " which seems to point to a 
 reading dal mezzo spero infimo (following the gender of "hemisperiuni"). 
 Primo giro he explains, " usque ad circulum lunre, vel melius usque ad 
 circulum ignis." On the whole, though I have followed the moderns in 
 reading aer, I do not see why it should in the first instance have been 
 changed to mezzo, while the contrary is likely enough to have happened. 
 If we read aer, we must I think understand primo giro as = primo mobile, 
 the highest sphere, as would appear from Par. xxiii. 112 sqq., to which 
 the eye can reach.
 
 CAXTO I. PURGATORY. 
 
 circle, renewed delight to ray eyes, soon as I issued forth 
 from the dead air, which had saddened me both eyes 
 and heart. The fair planet which encourages to love 
 was making all the east to smile, veiling the Fishes that 
 were in her escort. I turned me toward the right hand, 
 and gave heed to the other pole, and beheld four stars, 
 never yet seen, save by the folk of old time. The heaven 
 
 Agli occhi miei ricomincio diletto, 
 Tosto ch'io usci' fuor dell' aura morta, 
 Che m' avea contristato gli occhi e'l petto. 
 
 Lo bel pianeta ch' ad amar conforta, 
 
 Faceva tutto rider 1'oriente, 20 
 
 Velando i Pesci ch' erano in sua scorta. 
 
 lo mi volsi a man destra, e posi mente 
 All' altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle 
 Non viste mai fuor ch' alia prima gente. 
 
 '9 Cf. xxvii. 95. 
 
 21 When Venus is a morning star at this time of year, she is in or 
 near Pisces, the Sun being in Aries. As a matter of fact, at Easter 
 1 300 she was rising some forty minutes after the Sun. Probably Dante 
 took the phenomena as they were when he was writing. 
 
 22 Observe that in order to see these four stars, which denote the 
 active or cardinal virtues, he turns to the right hand', in xxxii. 8 he 
 turns to the left to look at the nymphs who represent the theological or 
 contemplative virtues. 
 
 24 Altro polo, the south pole. (That of line 29 is of course the 
 north.) There is much discussion in regard to these stars, which are 
 almost certainly intended for the Southern Cross. (See Humboldt, 
 "Cosmos," Sabine's Transl. vol. ii. p. 291 and note 449; vol. iii. 
 note 401.) Not only may Dante have heard of it from travellers, but 
 his own astronomical knowledge was probably sufficient to tell him 
 that the " Settentrional sito " had once enjoyed the sight of the four 
 stars, Vhich have been visible as far north as the shores of the Baltic. 
 There is, of course, also an allusion in lines 26 and 27 to the commonplace 
 of poets, that men have declined in the practice of virtue. It should be 
 
 6 2
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO i. 
 
 appeared to rejoice in their flames. O widowed region of 
 the Northern Star, since thou hast been bereaved of gazing 
 upon those ! When I had withdrawn from regarding them, 
 turning myself a little towards the other pole, to that 
 quarter where the Wain had by this time disappeared, I 
 saw hard by me a solitary old man, in aspect worthy of so 
 much reverence that no son owes more to father. He 
 wore his beard long and mingled with white hair, like to 
 his locks, of which a twofold list fell to his breast. The 
 rays of the four holy lights so fringed his face with lustre, 
 
 Coder pareva il Ciel di lor fiammelle. 
 O settentrional vedovo sito, 
 Poi che privato se' di mirar quelle ! a 
 
 Com' io dal loro sguardo fui partito, 
 Un poco me volgendo all' altro polo, 
 La onde il Carro gia era sparito, b 30 
 
 Vidi presso di me un veglio solo, 
 Degno di tanta reverenza in vista, 
 Che piu 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 si la sua faccia di lume, 
 
 a di veder q. Gg, Cass. b L& ove . . . spartito Gg. 
 
 observed that while in the morning, the time for action, the four stars are 
 conspicuous, the evening is adorned by the three which denote the 
 theological virtues (viii. 89). 
 
 30 Or " where the Wain was no longer to be seen." 
 
 31 This is the younger Cato. Virgil's line " Secretosque pios, his 
 dantem jura Catonem," yEneid viii. 670, probably suggested his 
 employment as warder of Purgatory.
 
 CANTO i. PURGATORY. 5 
 
 that I saw it as the sun were before me. " Who are ye that 
 against the blind stream have fled the eternal prison?" 
 said he, moving those honourable plumes. "Who has 
 guided you ? or who was your lantern, as you issued 
 forth from the profound night which ever makes black 
 the infernal valley ? Are the laws of the pit thus broken, 
 or has a new counsel come about in Heaven, that being 
 damned, ye come to my rocks ? " My leader then took 
 hold of me, and with words and with hands and with signs 
 
 Ch' io '1 vedea come il Sol fosse davante, 
 Chi siete voi, che contro '1 cieco fiume 40 
 
 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 cosi rotte ? 
 
 O e mutato in Ciel nuovo consiglio, 
 
 Che dannati venite alle mie grotte ? 
 Lo Duca mio allor mi die di piglio, 
 
 E con parole e con mani e con cenni 50 
 
 c ha mut. il Ciel Gg. 
 
 39 Come for come se; see Diez iii. 337. 
 
 40 II cieco fiume, see Inf. xxxiv. 130. 
 
 42 Piume, cf. Hor. Od. iv. io, 2. 
 
 4 3 Psalm cxix. 105. 
 
 46 Notice the omission of the article before abisso, the word being 
 used here in a special signification. So Petr. Son. cxiii. " Ponmi in 
 Cielo, od in terra, od in abisso." Cf. meridian, iv. 138. 
 
 49 Die di piglio. Cf. dar di morso, xviii. 132, di becco, xxiii. 30. 
 This use, which appears to be a form of the " partitive genitive," seems 
 to have escaped the notice of Diez.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO i. 
 
 made me reverent, both in knees and brow. Then he 
 answered him : " I came not of myself; a lady descended 
 from Heaven, through whose prayers I helped this man 
 with my company. But since it is thy will that more 
 be unfolded as to our condition, how in truth it is, it 
 cannot be mine that it be denied thee. This man has 
 not yet seen the last evening [of life], but by his folly he 
 was so near to it, that very little time was yet to pass. 
 In such wise as I have said, was I sent to him for 
 his salvation, and there was no other road than this 
 
 Reverenti mi fe' le gambe e il ciglio : 
 
 Poscia rispose lui : Da me non venni : 
 Donna scese dal Ciel, per li cui preghi 
 Delia mia compagnia costui sovvenni. 
 
 Ma da ch' e tuo voler, che piu si spieghi 
 Di nostra condizion, com' ella k vera, 
 Esser non puote il mio ch' a te si nieghi. 
 
 Questi non vide mai 1' ultima sera, 
 Ma per la sua follia le fu si presso, 
 Che molto poco tempo a volger era. 60 
 
 Si come io dissi, fui mandate ad esso 
 Per lui campare, e non v' era altra via 
 Che questa per la quale io mi son messo. 
 
 53 See Inf. ii. 52 sqq. 
 
 56 Come ella e vera. I have followed Bianchi ; but the words 
 may also mean, "how true it is," i.e. "how we are not deceiving you 
 about it." 
 
 57 II mio sc. voler. 
 
 61 Would it not be better to read adesso, " I was sent straightway? " 
 Cf. xxiv. 113. 
 
 62 Per lui campare. Lo would have been more usual ; but lui is not 
 uncommon in Dante in this position. See Diez iii. 48. Perhaps the 
 preceding per has caused its use here, by a kind of attraction.
 
 CANTO i. PURGATORY. 
 
 by which I have been sent. I have shown him all the 
 guilty race, and now I purpose to show him those spirits 
 who are being cleansed under thy stewardship. How I 
 have brought him it were long to tell thee : from on high 
 virtue descends, which is aiding me to lead him to see 
 thee and to hear thee. Now may it please thee to accept 
 his coming graciously ; he goes seeking freedom, which is 
 so dear, as he knows who for it refuses life. Thou knowest 
 it, seeing that for its sake death was not bitter to thee in 
 Utica, where thou didst leave the garment that at the great 
 day shall be so bright. The eternal edicts are not broken 
 for us, for this man lives, and Minos binds me not ; but I 
 
 Mostrata ho lui tutta la gente ria, 
 Ed ora intendo mostrar quegli spirti, 
 Che purgan se sotto la tua balia. 
 
 Com' io 1' ho tratto, saria lungo a dirti. 
 DelP alto scende virtu che m' aiuta 
 Conducerlo a*vederti ed ad udirti. 
 
 Or ti piaccia gradir la sua venuta : 70 
 
 Liberia va cercando, ch' e si cara, 
 Come sa chi per lei vita rifiuta. 
 
 Tu il sai : che non ti fu per lei amara 
 In Utica la morte, ove lasciasti 
 La veste, ch' al gran di sara si chiara. 
 
 Non son gli editti eterni per noi guasti : 
 Che questi vive, e Minos me non lega : 
 
 73 Cf. De Mon. ii. 5. " Ut mundo libertatis amorem accenderet 
 quanti libertas esset ostendit, dum e vita liber decedere maluit, quam 
 sine libertate remanere in ilia. " 
 
 75 If anyone wishes to know how Cato, an unbaptised heathen, and 
 moreover a suicide, can expect a destiny so different from that of all 
 other heathens and suicides, he will find the wisdom of the old com- 
 mentators reduced within moderate compass in Bianchi's note.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO I. 
 
 am of the circle where are the chaste eyes of thy Marcia, 
 who in her visage [seems] still to pray thee, O holy breast, 
 to hold her for thine. For her love's sake, then, bend thy- 
 self to us. Let us go through thy seven realms ; thanks 
 will I bear back to her on thy behalf, if thou deignest to 
 be mentioned there below." " Marcia pleased my eyes so 
 much while I was yonder," said he then, " that all the favours 
 she would of me I did. Now that she dwells beyond the 
 evil stream, she can move me no more, by that law which 
 was made when I issued forth from thence. But if a dame 
 of heaven moves and guides thee, as thou sayest, there is 
 
 Ma son del cerchio, ove son gli occhi casti 
 Di Marzia tua, che in vista ancor ti prega, 
 
 O santo petto, che per tua la tegni : , So 
 
 Per lo suo amore adunque a noi ti piega. 
 Lasciane andar per li tuoi sette regni : 
 
 Grazie riporterb di te a lei, 
 
 Se d' esser mentovato laggiu degni. 
 Marzia piacque tan to agli occhi miei, 
 
 Mentre ch' io fui di la, diss' egli allora, 
 
 Che quante grazie voile da me fei. 
 Or, che di la dal mal fiume dimora, 
 
 Piu muover non mi puq per quella legge, 
 
 Che fatta fu quand' io me n' usci' fuora. 90 
 
 Ma se Donna del Ciel ti muove e regge, 
 
 Come tu di', non c' e mestier lusinga : 
 
 Bastiti ben che per lei mi richegge. 01 
 
 d Basti sol 4 ; Bastisi ben 5. 
 
 ? 9 For an explanation of the symbolism of Cato and Marcia, see 
 Conv. iv. 28. 
 
 80 Santo petto. Cf. sacratissimo petto. Conv. iv. 5. 
 
 86 Di lk = "in the world of living men," as always in the Purgatory.
 
 CANTO I. PURGATORY. 
 
 no need of fair words. Suffice it thee fully that thou askest 
 me in her name. Go then, and see that thou gird this 
 man with a smooth rush, and that thou wash his face, so 
 that thence thou mayest put away all grime ; for it would 
 not be meet to go with eyes possessed by any cloud before 
 the first minister who is of them of Paradise. This little 
 isle around its lowest base, yonder where the water beats on 
 it, bears rushes above the soft mud. No plant of other 
 kind, such as puts forth leaves or grows hard, can there 
 have life ; seeing that it yields not to blows. Afterwards 
 let not your returning be hitherward. .The Sun, which is 
 
 Va dunque, e fa che tu costui ricinga 
 
 D' un giunco schietto, e che gli lavi '1 viso, 
 Si ch' ogni sucidume quindi stinga : 
 
 Che non si converria 1' occhio sorpriso 
 D' alcuna nebbia andar davanti al primo 
 Ministro, ch' e di^quei di Paradise. 
 
 Questa isoletta intorno ad imo ad imo e 100 
 
 Laggiu cola dove la batte F onda, 
 Porta de' giunchi sovra '1 molle limo. 
 
 Null' altra pianta che facesse fronda, 
 O che indurasse, vi puote aver vita ; 
 Perb ch' alle percosse non seconda. 
 
 Poscia non sia di qua vostra reddita : 
 Lo Sol vi mostrera, che surge omai, 
 
 e Quest'' isola dint. Gg. 
 
 96 Stinga, literally, "extinguish;" in which sense spegnere 
 
 taken its place. 
 
 I0 - The rush typifies the "broken and contrite heart." 
 
 104 Altra is in fact pleonastic. Cf. Gr. aXXo?, and see Diez iii. 
 
 76, 77-
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO i. 
 
 even now rising, will show you where to take the mountain 
 at an easier ascent." 
 
 Therewith he disappeared ; and I raised myself up 
 without speaking, and drew myself wholly back to my 
 leader, and on him bent my eyes. He began : " Son, 
 follow my steps ; let us turn back, for on this side this 
 plain slopes to its low-lying bounds." The dawn was con- 
 quering the shade of early morn, which fled before, so that 
 I discerned afar the glimmer of the sea. We began going 
 through the lonely plain like a man who is returning to the 
 
 Prender il monte a piu lieve salita/ 
 
 Cosi spari : ed io su mi levai, 
 
 Senza parlare, e tutto mi ritrassi no 
 
 Al Duca mio, e gli occhi a lui drizzai. 
 
 Ei comincib : Figliuol, segui i miei passi : g 
 Volgianci indietro, che di qua dichina 
 Questa pianura a' suoi termini bassi. 
 
 L' alba vinceva 1'ora mattutina, 
 
 Che fuggia innanzi, si che di lontano 
 Conobbi il tremolar della marina. 
 
 Noi andavam per lo solingo piano, 
 
 f Prendete Cass. Cg.; pigliate Aid. 
 
 s Ei com. segiiisci li m.p. Gg. Cass. 124 IV. 
 
 107, 108 j >e> tne eas i es t ascent is on the east side. 
 
 115 Lombardi takes ora mattutina = the hour of matins, which 
 seems frigid. Another explanation is ora = aura, "the breeze of morn- 
 ing ; " but this can hardly be said to fly before the dawn, nor would its 
 departure enable Dante to see the sea any better. On the other hand, 
 ora = ombra, seems doubtful ; but cf. adorezza in line 123. Vid. sub ora. 
 
 117 Bianchi compares Virgil's " Splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus. " 
 vii. 9.
 
 CANTO i. PURGATORY. 
 
 road which he has lost, in that until he reaches it he seems 
 to himself to be going in vain. When we were where the 
 dew strives with the Sun, and from being in a part where it 
 is shady, diminishes little, my master sweetly placed both 
 hands spread abroad on the short grass; wherefore I, who 
 was ware of his purpose, reached towards him my tearful 
 cheeks ; then made he in me all discovered that hue which 
 Hell had concealed. 
 
 We came next upon the desert shore, which never 
 yet saw man sail upon its watdrs, that should thereafter 
 
 Com' uom che torna alia smarrita strada, 
 
 Che infino ad essa li par ire invano 120 
 
 Quando noi fummo dove la rugiada 
 
 Pugna col Sole, e per essere in parte 
 
 Ove adorezza, poco si dirada : 
 Ambo le mani in su 1' 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 1' Inferno mi nascose. 
 Venimmo poi in sul lito diserto, 130 
 
 Che mai non vide navicar sue acque 
 
 Uomo, che di tornar sia poscia esperto. 
 
 
 
 "9, 12 These lines are rather obscure. The comparison seems to be 
 between their position in the trackless and guideless plain and that of a 
 man who is trying to hit off* a lost path, and has no means of knowing 
 that he is going right till he strikes it. 
 
 123 Adorezza. They are still on the south, therefore the shady side 
 of the mountain, where the Sun has least power and the dew can resist 
 its influence. It is clear that pugna does not refer to the state of things 
 at the moment, because the Sun is not yet up.
 
 12 PURGATORY. CANTO i. 
 
 know aught of return. There he so girt me as Another 
 willed. O marvel ! that such as was the lowly plant he 
 culled, just such an one there straightway grew again in 
 that place whence he plucked it. 
 
 Quivi mi cinse, si come altrui piacque : 
 O maraviglia ! che qual egli scelse 
 L' umile pianta, cotal si rinacque 
 
 Subitamente Ik onde la svelse. 
 
 '33 Altrui, not, I think, as most commentators hold, Cato, but 
 God. Cf. Inf. xxvi. 141. 
 
 133 Cf. ^Eneid vi. 143. Symbolically, God's grace diminishes not by 
 being given.
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 First sunrise. As the poets are standing on the shore, a boat arrives, 
 steered by an Angel, bearing souls to Purgatory. Dante recognises 
 Casella, who begins to sing to them, but Cato hurries them on to the 
 mountain. 
 
 ALREADY was the Sun come to that horizon whose meridian 
 circle covers Jerusalem with its highest point ; and the night 
 which circles opposite to Mm was issuing forth from the 
 Ganges with the Balances which fall from her hand when 
 
 GIA era il Sole all' orizzonte giunto, 
 
 Lo cui meridian cerchio coverchia 
 
 Gerusalem col suo piu alto punto : 
 E la Notte, che opposita a lui cerchia, 
 
 Uscia di Gange fuor colle bilance, 
 
 Che le caggion di man quando soverchia ; 
 
 i sqq. Jerusalem and Purgatory are antipodes ; therefore they have a 
 common horizon (iv. 70), on which in one direction is India. The 
 "night" means here, as elsewhere in Dante, the point of the heavens 
 opposite to the Sun. Cf. Inf. xxiv. 3. At this time the Sun was in 
 Aries, and therefore the "night" in Libra. When the "night" is 
 getting the mastery, i.e. at the autumnal equinox, the Sun is entering 
 Libra, which thus may be said to fall from the hands of the night.
 
 14 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 she gets the mastery : so that the white and ruddy cheeks 
 of fair Aurora, there where I was, through too much age 
 were becoming orange. 
 
 We still were alongside the sea, like folk who ponder 
 on their road, who go in heart, but in body loiter and lo ! 
 as on the point of morn Mars glows ruddy through the 
 thick vapours low in the west above the ocean-floor, just 
 such a light (so may I again behold it !) appeared to me 
 
 SI che le bianche e le vermiglie guance, 
 La dov* io era, della bella Aurora 
 Per troppa etate divenivan ranee. 
 
 Noi eravam lunghesso il mare ancora, io 
 
 Come gente che pensa suo cammino, 
 Che va col core, e col corpo dimora : 
 
 Ed ecco qual, sul presso del mattino, 
 Per li grossi vapor Marte rosseggia 
 Giu nel ponente sovra il suol marine ; 
 
 Cotal m' apparve, s' io ancor lo veggia, 
 Un lume per lo mar venir si ratto, 
 
 9 Imitated by Boccaccio at the beginning of Day iii. 
 
 Witte reads sorpreso dal, to which it is reasonably objected that 
 to speak of a setting planet as surprised by the rising Sun, is not a 
 very good image. Scartazzini prefers suol presso del, which will not 
 construe, for his theory that rosseggia is the infinitive is untenable. 
 Dante did not write in Piedmontese. Sul presso del is the only 
 reading which gives a good sense ; and to Fanfani's objection that this 
 substantival use of presso is not old, it may be replied that Bembo and 
 Landino presumably knew their own language. Bianchi compares such 
 phrases as alf incirca, nel mentre. For the phenomenon, cf. Ar. Met. i. 5, 
 avi^xovra TO. acrrpa Kal dvopeva . . . 8ia KOTTVOV (froiviKa 0atVerot. 
 
 14 Cf. Conv. ii. 14. 
 
 16 Cf. Lat. " Sic te diva regat ;" so v. 85, xxvi. 61. See Diez iii. 
 328, 329. It is pretty clear that si (sic) must have got confused with 
 si (si), and thus have passed into se.
 
 CANTO ir. PURGATORY. 
 
 to come over the sea so swift that no flight might match 
 its motion. From the which when I had a short while 
 withdrawn my eye to make inquiry of my leader, I saw 
 it again grown greater and more shining. Then on each 
 side straightway appeared to me a something white, and 
 below it by small degrees came forth another. My Master 
 as yet spake no word until the first white objects appeared 
 as wings ; then when he well recognised the helmsman, he 
 cried : " See, see that thou bend thy knees ; behold the 
 Angel of God ; fold thy hands ; henceforth thou wilt s ee 
 
 Che il muover suo nessun volar pareggia ; 
 Dal qual com' io un poco ebbi ritratto 
 
 L' occhio per dimandar lo Duca mio, 20 
 
 Rividil piu lucente e maggior fatto. 
 Poi d' ogni parte adesso m' appario 
 
 Un non sapea che bianco, ed al di sotto a 
 
 A poco a poco up altro a lui n' uscio. 
 Lo mio Maestro ancor non fece motto, 
 
 Mentre che i primi bianchi apparser ali : b 
 
 Allor che ben conobbe il galeotto, 
 Grido : Fa', fa', che le ginochia cali : 
 
 Ecco 1' Angel di Dio : piega le mani : 
 
 a che bianche a dis. Gg. ; bianche d.s. 15 ; bianco 24 Land.; 
 biancheggiar 3 ; bianco d.s. Cass. 
 
 b che p.b., aparser ali Gg.; aperser lali 12345 ; che i.p.b. aperser 
 Aid. Land.; aparsi Cass. 
 
 - 3 Bianchi reads un non sapea che bianco, e di, which leaves the 
 line a syllable short ; a difficulty which Witte avoids by reading sapeva, 
 and Scart. sapea. The former has no authority, the latter no precedent. 
 Non sapea che = Lat. " nescio quid." See Diez iii. 50. 
 
 26 Aperser, the old reading, is clearly wrong ; for it makes 
 nonsense of i primi ; apparser is the reading of the codex of Filippo 
 Villani ; also of Benvenuto.
 
 1 6 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 //^//j-fashioned officers. See how he disdains human imple- 
 ments, so that he seeks not oars, nor other sail than his 
 own wings between so distant shores. See how he has 
 them pointed towards the heaven, drawing the air with 
 his eternal feathers, that are not mewed like mortal hair." 
 Then as more and more towards us came the bird of God, 
 more bright he appeared, by reason whereof the eye 
 endured him not near, but I lowered it, and he came his 
 
 Omai vedrai di si fatti uficiali. 30 
 
 Vedi che sdegna gli argomenti umani ; 
 
 Si che remo non vuol, ne altro velo 
 
 Che 1' ali sue tra liti si lontani. 
 Vedi come 1' ha dritte verso il cielo, 
 
 Trattando 1' acre con 1' eterne penne, c 
 
 Che non si mutan come mortal pelo. 
 Poi come piu e piu verso noi venne 
 
 L' uccel divino, piu chiaro appariva : 
 
 Perche 1' occhio da presso nol sostenne, 
 
 c lale Gg. 45 ; lali 12. 
 
 3 Di, partitive, as in French. Diez iii. 149. 
 
 31 Argumentum in Low Lat. has the meaning of "stratagem" 
 and "instrument," especially of torture. Hence it may have been 
 transferred to other instruments. Or it may be that an instrument is 
 the proof of the action performed by it. Littre quotes Rom. de la R. 
 line 6994, "Qui sont piliers et argumens a soutenir nature humaine," of 
 the bodily organs. In Decam. viii. 6, prender argom. = to take measures. 
 
 32 Velo = vela, for the sake of rhyme ; though, possibly, at this time 
 the distinction, a purely arbitrary one, did not exist. 
 
 35 Trattando is generally taken as = agitando ; but it may here 
 have its primary idea of drawing the air, as a swimmer does the water. 
 The readings lale and lali, though not uncommon, are clearly wrong. 
 
 36 Pelo, for "feathers;" just asfiurnf, i. 42, for "hair."
 
 CANTO ii. PURGATORY. 17 
 
 way to the shore, with a little boat, swift and so light that 
 the water sucked not aught of it in. On the poop stood the 
 heavenly helmsman, such that he appeared blessed by a 
 sure title ; and more than a hundred spirits sat within 
 it. /;/ exitu Israel de Egypto, were they all singing in 
 one voice, with so much of that psalm as is after written. 
 Then made he them the sign of holy Cross ; whereat they 
 
 Ma chinai '1 giuso : e quei sen venne a riva d 40 
 Con un vasello snelletto e leggiero, 
 Tanto che 1' acqua nulla ne inghiottiva. 
 
 Da poppa stava il celestial nocchiero, 
 Tal che parea beato per iscritto ; e 
 E piu di cento spirti entro sediero : 
 
 In exitu Israel de Egitto 
 
 Cantavan tutti insieme ad una voce, 
 
 Con quanto di quel salmo e poscia scritto. 
 
 Poi fece il segno lo*r di santa Croce ; 
 
 d chinail visa Gg. 
 e faria . . . per iscr. Gg,; faria . . . pur 2 W. 
 
 44 Witte prefers faria beato pur descritto, which, as being more 
 easily intelligible, is less probably, according to a well-known rule of 
 criticism, the true reading. The usual interpretation of parea beato per 
 iscritto is that taken by Lombard!, Bianchi, Blanc, Philalethes, "as 
 though it were written on him." But Landino says : " cioe, confirmato 
 beato ;" and Ducange says inscriptum = instrunientttm donationis. So 
 Bocc. Dec. viii. 10, of a merchant putting goods in a "bonded ware 
 house " "dando per iscritto la mercatantia." 
 
 43 Sediero, formed directly from sederunt. 
 
 46 Cf. Conv. iii. i, and the letter to Can Grande, 7. It may be 
 noted that this Psalm has always been held appropriate to Easter. 
 
 C
 
 1 8 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 threw themselves all upon the beach, and he went his way 
 swift as he had come. 
 
 The crowd which remained there seemed strange to the 
 place, gazing around, like one who is essaying new things. 
 On all sides the Sun was darting the day, who had with 
 his gentle shafts chased Capricorn from the midst of 
 heaven ; when the new folk raised their faces toward us. 
 
 Ond' ei si gittar tutti in su la piaggia, 50 
 
 Ed ei sen gi, 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 alzb la fronte 
 
 55 Conte Land, says : "vere e certe ; " Veil, "manifesti e not! ;" 
 Bianchi explains, "chiare, o forse pratiche, esperte nel cogliere il segno ; " 
 Blanc, "luminosi;" Philal., ' ' leuchtend ; " Witte, "licht." The 
 word is the Italian form of " cognitus," which, according to a glossary 
 of the I2th century, quoted by Diez, seems to have been used as equi- 
 valent to " benignus," " humanus." May it not have been used in some 
 early translation of Homer to represent ayavos, the regular epithet of 
 Apollo's arrows ? No complete translation is known to have existed at 
 this time, and Dante himself says, Conv. i. 7, that " Omero non si 
 muto di greco in latino." But he quotes Homer, as in V.N. 2, and 
 in De Mon., and, as he knew less Greek than Shakespeare, this can 
 only be from a Latin version. Moreover Burckhardt, "History of the 
 Renaissance," chap, iii., mentions the existence of a fragment of a 
 translation earlier than that made by Boccaccio and Leontius Pilatus ; 
 so that the theory which I have ventured to adopt at least involves no 
 anachronism. 
 
 57 When Aries, in which the Sun is at this time, is on the horizon, 
 Capricorn is on the meridian. The meaning, therefore, is that the Sun 
 was half a sign, or 15 degrees high.
 
 CANTO ii. PURGATORY. 19 
 
 saying to us : " If you know, show us the way to go toward 
 the mount." And Virgil answered : " You think perhaps 
 that we are experienced of this place ; but we are strangers, 
 as ye are. We came erewhile, a little before you, by 
 another way that was so rough and hard that climbing 
 henceforth will seem sport to us." The spirits, who had 
 observed in me by my breathing that I was still alive, 
 marvelling, grew pale with wonder ; and as to a messenger 
 who bears olive the folk draw to hear news, and none shows 
 himself shy of trampling, so on my aspect fixed themselves 
 
 Ver noi, dicendo a noi ; Se voi sapete, 
 Mostratene la via di gire al monte, 60 
 
 E Virgilio rispose : Voi credete 
 
 Forse che siamo sperti d' esto loco : 
 Ma noi sem peregrin, come voi siete : 
 
 Dianzi venimmo, innanzi a voi un poco, 
 Per altra via qhe fu si aspra e forte, 
 Che lo salire omai ne parra gioco. 
 
 L'anime che si fur di me accorte 
 Per lo spirar, ch' io era ancora vivo, 
 Maravigliando diventaro smorte : 
 
 E come a messaggier, che porta olivo, 70 
 
 Tragge la gente per udir novelle/ 
 E di calcar nessun si mostra schivo : 
 
 Cosi al viso mio s' affissar quelle 
 
 f per safer Gg. 
 
 6 s Aspra e forte, cf. Inf. i. 5. 
 
 69 Smorte, cf. the Shakespearian " all amort." The spirits of course 
 resemble their living selves in complexion as in feature. 
 
 70 Readers of "Romola" will remember an illustration, bk. iii. 
 ch. 2. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 all those fortunate souls, as though forgetful of going 
 to make themselves fair. I saw one of them draw 
 forward to embrace me with so great affection that it 
 moved me to do the like. O shadows, unreal, save 
 in the appearance ! Thrice behind him I clasped my 
 hands, and as often I returned with them to my own 
 breast. Of wonder, I suppose, I took the hue; because 
 the shade smiled, and drew back, and I following it 
 pressed further. Gently he bade me pause ; then I knew 
 who he was, and prayed that to speak with me he would 
 stay a little. He answered me : "As I loved thee in the 
 
 Anime fortunate tutte quante, 
 Quasi obbliando d' ire a farsi belle. 
 
 lo vidi una di loro trarsi avante 
 
 Per abbracciarmi con si grande affetto, 
 Che mosse me a far il simigliante. 
 
 O ombre vane, fuor che nell' aspetto ! 
 
 Tre volte dietro a lei le mani awinsi, 80 
 
 E tante mi tornai con esse al petto. 
 
 Di maraviglia, credo, mi dipinsi : 
 Perche 1' ombra sorrise e si ritrasse, 
 Ed io, seguendo lei, oltre mi pinsi. 
 
 Soavemente disse ch' io posasse : 
 Allor conobbi chi era, e pregai e 
 Che per parlarmi un poco s' arrestasse. 
 
 Risposemi : Cosi com' io t' amai 
 
 s Conobbi allora Aid. ; allor W. [which leaves the line at least a syllable 
 short] ; ? all. con. c. era ed U pr. 
 
 75 "Forgetting that they had to go on to the Mountain of Purifica- 
 tion."
 
 CANTO ii. PURGATORY. 21 
 
 mortal body so love I thee being a spirit unbound ; there- 
 fore I stay ; but wherefore goest thou ? " " My Casella, 
 that I may return a second time to that place where I am, 
 I make this journey," said I ; " but from thee how has so 
 much time been taken ? " And he to me : " No outrage has 
 been done me, if he who takes up both when and whom he 
 pleases has many times denied me that passage ; for of a just 
 will is his will framed. Nevertheless for three months past 
 he has taken whoso would enter, with all peace. Wherefore 
 I, who had now turned towards the sea, where Tiber's water 
 
 Nel mortal corpo, cosi t' amo sciolta : 
 
 Pero m' arresto : ma tu perche vai ? 90 
 
 Casella mio, per tornare altra volta 
 La dove io son, fo io questo viaggio : 
 Diss' io, ma a te com' e tanta ora tolta ? h 
 
 Ed egli a me : Nessun m' e fatto oltraggio, 
 Se quei, che leva* e quando e cui gli piace, 
 Piu volte m' ha negate esto passaggio ; 
 
 Che di giusto voler Io suo si face. 
 Veramente da tre mesi egli ha tolto, 
 Chi ha voluto entrar con tutta pace. 
 
 Ond' io che era ora alia marina volto, 100 
 
 Dove 1' acqua di Tevere s' insala, 
 
 h Ala a te com' era tanta terra tolta Gg. Aid. 12345 ; Ma a te cotit 1 
 & diss' io t. o. t. Land. 
 
 91 Cf. xxx. 136 sqq. Sciolta sc. anima, 91. 
 
 93 " How is it that you have been kept waiting so long before coming 
 here?" 
 
 95 I.e. the angel who bears the souls. 
 
 98 Since the beginning of the jubilee, i.e. since Christmas 1299.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 enters the salt, was in his goodness gathered in by him. 
 To that mouth has he now his wing directed, since always 
 there is assembled whatsoever falls not towards Acheron." 
 And I : " If a new law takes not away from thee memory or 
 use in the amorous chant which was wont to quiet all my 
 wishes, let it please thee therewith to comfort somewhat my 
 soul, which coming here with its body is so wearied." Love, 
 which discourses in my mind to me, then began he so 
 sweetly, that the sweetness yet sounds within me. My 
 Master, and I, and that folk who were with him appeared 
 
 Benignamente fui da lui ricolto. 
 A quelle foce ha egli or dritta 1' ala : 
 
 Perocche 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 cib ti piaccia consolare alquanto 
 
 L' anima mia, che con la sua persona, no 
 
 Venendo qui, e affannata tanto. 
 Amor che nella menie mi ragiona, 
 
 Comincib egli allor si dolcemente, 
 
 Che la dolcezza ancor dentro mi suona. 
 Lo mio Maestro, ed io, e quella gente, 
 
 Ch' eran con lui, parevan si contenti, 
 
 112 The first line of the Canzone of Conv. iii. 
 
 113 Cf. Milton, Sonnet xiii. A ballad set to music by Casella is said 
 to be still extant in the Vatican Library. 
 
 "4 Dentro mi ; so innanzi mi, iv. 136. See Diez iii. 288. He 
 regards it as an instance of the adverb being used as a preposition ; but 
 is not mi a dative here ?
 
 CAXTO II. PURGATORY. 23 
 
 so content, as though naught else touched the minds of any. 
 We were all fixed and intent on his notes ; and lo ! the 
 honourable ancient, crying: "What is this, lazy spirits? 
 What negligence, what halt is this ? Haste to the mount 
 to strip you of the slough, which allows not God to be 
 manifest to you." 
 
 As when, plucking wheat or tare, the pigeons assembled 
 at their feeding, quiet, without showing their accustomed 
 pride, if anything appears whereof they have fear, suddenly 
 let their food stay, because they are assailed by a greater 
 
 Com' a nessun toccasse altro la mente. 
 
 Noi eravam tutti fissi ed attend 1 
 
 Alle sue note : ed ecco il veglio onesto, 
 Gridando, Che e cio, spirito lenti? 120 
 
 Qual negligenza, quale stare e questo ? 
 Correte al monte a spogliarvi lo scoglio, 
 Ch' esser non laseia a voi Dio manifesto. 
 
 Come quando, cogliendo biada o loglio, k 
 Gli colombi adunati alia pastura, 
 Queti senza mostrar 1' usato orgoglio, 
 
 Se cosa appare, ond' elli abbian paura, 
 Subitamente lasciano star 1' esca, 
 
 ' Noi andavam W. k E come raccogl. Gg. 
 
 "- Scoglio for scoglia, as velo for vela in 1. 32. Cruse, recognises 
 this form, but does not quote this passage. In Vanzon's Diet, is quoted 
 " Lo serpe getta ogni anno lo scoglio vecchio." 
 
 128, 30, 32 i do not f ee i sure {1^ we i iave g O t the correct reading of 
 these lines. Many MSS. and edd. have, s'arresta or s'arresca (the two are 
 much alike in MSS.). Fresca, in the sense of "newly come," is not very 
 common, and one is tempted to suggest presta, but there is no authority 
 for it ; and the difficulty remains of the rhyme to esca.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO n. 
 
 care, so saw I this fresh-come troop leave the song, and 
 flee toward the hillside, as one who goes, nor knows where 
 he is coming forth. Nor less swift was our own departure. 
 
 Perche assaliti son da maggior cura : 
 Cosi vid' io quella masnada fresca 130 
 
 Lasciar lo canto, e gire inver la costa, 1 
 Com' uom che va, ne sa dove riesca : m 
 Ne la nostra partita fu men tosta. 
 
 m s'arresta Gg. Land. Aid.; saresca Cass.; sarrcsca 145 ; sircsca 23.
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Dante perceives that he casts a shadow, Virgil none. Virgil explains the 
 reason, and so they reach the foot of the mountain. A troop of souls 
 overtake them, who show them the right point to begin the ascent. 
 Manfred talks with Dante, who learns that these are the souls of men 
 who had died excommunicate, but had repented before death. 
 
 ALBEIT their sudden flight had scattered those over the 
 plain, turned towards the mountain, whither reason goads 
 us, I drew close to the faithful escort ; and how should I 
 have sped without him ? *Who would have drawn me up 
 over the mountain ? He seemed to me for his own self 
 remorseful. O conscience, dignified and pure, how bitter 
 a sting is a small fault to thee ! 
 
 AWEGNACHE la subitana fuga 
 
 Dispergesse color per la campagna, 
 Rivolti al monte ove ragion ne fruga : 
 
 lo mi ristrinsi alia fida compagna : 
 E come sare' io senza lui corso ? 
 Chi m' avria tratto su per la montagna ? 
 
 Ei mi parea da se stesso rimorso : 
 O dignitosa coscienza e netta, 
 Come t' e picciol fallo amaro morso ! 
 
 3 Ove ragion ne fruga. Bianchi compares xxi. 64.
 
 26 PURGATORY. CANTO in. 
 
 When his feet had left the haste which undoes the seem- 
 liness in every action, my mind, which before was restrained, 
 rewidened its attentions as though eager, and I set my 
 face toward the steep, which from the water rises loftiest 
 towards the heaven. The Sun, which behind was blazing 
 ruddy, was broken before me, according to the figure which 
 the check to his rays received in me. I turned me round 
 with fear of being abandoned, when I saw only in front of 
 myself the earth darkened ; and my comfort, turning wholly 
 towards me, began to say : " Why art thou still distrustful ? 
 
 Quando li piedi suoi lasciar la fretta, 10 
 
 Che 1' onestade ad ogni atto dismaga, 
 La mente mia, che prima era ristretta, 
 
 Lo intento rallargo, si come vaga ; 
 
 E diedi il viso mio incontro al poggio, 
 Che inverso il ciel piu alto si dislaga. 
 
 Lo Sol, che dietro fiammeggiava roggio, 
 Rotto m' era dinanzi, alia figura 
 Ch' aveva in me de' suoi raggi 1' appoggio. 
 
 lo mi volsi dallato con paura 
 
 D' esser abbandonato, quand' io vidi 20 
 
 Solo dinanzi a me la terra oscura : 
 
 E il mio conforto : Perche pur diffidi, 
 A dir mi comincio tutto rivolto ; 
 
 13 Vaga. " Desiderosa cli conoscere quei nuovi oggetti." Lomb. 
 
 *7 Land, and Lomb. read " dinanzi alia figura ; " which also gives 
 a good sense. Che would of course be rendered " for ; " and Lo Sol 
 would be the subject of aveva. 
 
 22 The force of pur is a little doubtfuL Lomb., whom Bianchi 
 follows, says it = ancora with reference to 1. 4. It seems better to join 
 it with diffidi than with perche, and to understand it as meaning rather 
 "constantly" than "again."
 
 CANTO in. PURGATORY. 27 
 
 Believest thou not that I am with thee, and that I guide 
 thee? It is already evening there, where is buried the 
 body within which I cast a shadow. Naples has it, and 
 from Brundusium was it taken. Now if before me nothing 
 lies in shade, marvel thou no more than at the heavens, 
 wherein the one impedes not the other's rays. To suffer 
 torments both of heat and cold that Power ordains like 
 bodies, which will not that the manner of its working be 
 revealed to us. Mad is he who hopes that our reason can 
 travel over the boundless way, which one Substance in three 
 Persons holds. Remain content, race of mankind, at the 
 
 Non credi tu me teco, e ch' io ti guidi ? 
 
 Vespero e gia cola, dov' e sepolto 
 
 Lo corpo, dentro al quale io facea ombra : 
 Napoli 1' ha, e da Brandizio e tolto : 
 
 Ora, se innanzi a me nulla s' adombra, 
 Non ti maravigliar piu che de' cieli, 
 Che 1' uno all' altto raggio non ingombra. 30 
 
 A sofferir tormenti e caldi e gieli 
 Simili corpi la virtu dispone, 
 Che come fa non vuol ch' a noi si sveli. 
 
 Matto e chi spera, che nostra ragione 
 Possa trascorrer la infinita via, 
 Che tiene una Sustanzia in tre Persone. 
 
 State contend, umana gente, al quia : 
 
 30 My spiritual form no more hinders the passage of the Sun's rays 
 than does one of the spheres which compose the universe those proceed- 
 ing from another. 
 
 32 Simili, like this which I bear. Virgil meets Dante's doubt 
 before he has expressed it. In xxv. 20 he states a similar difficulty, 
 and receives a fuller explanation. 
 
 3 7 Quia in its later meaning of " that," " on : " "Be content with 
 the fact and do not search into the how or why. " For use of adverb as 
 substantive, see Diez iii. 289.
 
 28 PURGATORY. CANTO in. 
 
 quia, for if you could have seen all no need was there that 
 Mary should bring forth ; and ye have seen desiring without 
 fruition men such that their desire would have been set at 
 rest, which is given them eternally for a grief. I speak 
 of Aristotle and of Plato, and of many others." And here 
 he bowed his forehead, and said no more, and remained 
 disquieted. 
 
 We were come therewithal to the foot of the mount. 
 There we found the rock so steep that in vain would the 
 legs be nimble. 'Twixt Lerici and Turbia, the most desolate, 
 
 Che se potuto aveste veder tutto, 
 
 Mestier non era partorir Maria : 
 E disiar vedeste senza frutto 40 
 
 Tai, che sarebbe lor disio quetato, 
 
 Ch' eternalmente e dato lor per lutto : 
 I' dico d' Aristotile e di Plato, 
 
 E di molti altri : e qui chinb la fronte ; 
 
 E piu non disse, e rimase turbato. 
 Noi divenimmo in tanto appie del monte : 
 
 Quivi trovammo la roccia si erta, 
 
 Che indarno vi sarien le gambe pronte. 
 Tra Lerici e Turbia, la piu diserta, 
 
 38, 39 Se aveste . . . era. So \ 7 illani : " Se fossono giunti i loro 
 pedoni, non ne campava niuno." See Diez iii. 32 ; and cf. the Latin 
 idiom. 
 
 40 It is to be regretted that there appears to be no MSS. authority 
 which would encourage us to read ne vedreste, and thereby avoid the 
 awkwardness of the change in form of the sentence. 
 
 41 I.e. if they could have discovered causes as well as effects. 
 
 4 Lerici on the east of the Gulf of Spezzia ; Turbia above Monaco.
 
 CANTO ill. PURGATORY. 29 
 
 the most broken landslip is beside this one a ladder, easy 
 and open. " Now, who kno\vs on which hand the moun- 
 tain-side falls," said my Master, staying his step, "so that 
 he may ascend who goes without wings ? " And while that, 
 holding his face low, he was examining the fashion of the 
 road, and I was gazing up around the rock, on the left hand 
 
 La piu rotta ruina e una scala a 50 
 
 Verso di quella, agevole ed aperta. 
 
 Or chi sa da qual man la costa cala, 
 
 Disse il Maestro mio, fermando il passo, 
 Si che possa salir chi va senz' ala ? 
 
 E mentre che tenendo il viso basso b 
 Esaminava del cammin la mente, c 
 Ed io mirava suso intorno al sasso, 
 
 Da man sinistra m'appari una gente 
 
 a rimota via Gg. ; romita \ *2| > Cass.; romita via Land. Aid. W> 
 b cK ei teneva, W. c Esaminando Gg. 3 W. 
 
 s Rotta ruina gives so very much better a sense than the reading 
 which has the slight balance of authority, romita via, that I venture to 
 adopt it, with Philal. and Bianchi, against the opinion of the majority. 
 Ropta niia and roita uia are very much alike, and Turbia just above may 
 easily have confused a scribe. Ruina, as in Inf. xii. 4. 
 
 54 Cf. iv. 27. 
 
 56 The Italian commentators understand mente of the mind of 
 Virgil, whether as subject or object of esaminava. Blanc, in his 
 " Erkl'arungen," calls "la mente del cammin ," a "ganz unerhorte Meta- 
 phor ; " but in his "Dictionary," while maintaining that it is daring, he 
 believes it to be the true construction. Of this there can be little 
 doubt. Mente is exactly equivalent to the Latin ingenium (loci 
 aruorum, &c. ). 
 
 s 8 These are persons who have put off repentance till death, and 
 have then died in contumacy of the Church.
 
 30 PURGATORY. CANTO in. 
 
 appeared to me a folk of souls who were moving their feet 
 toward us, and yet seemed not, so slow they came. " Raise," 
 said I to my Master, "thy eyes. Lo, on this side is one 
 who will give us counsel, if thou canst not have it of 
 thyself." He looked at them, and with frank mien answered : 
 " Let us go thitherward, for they come slowly ; and thou 
 confirm thy hope, sweet son." 
 
 Still was that people so far off, I mean after a thousand 
 of our paces, as a good thrower would hurl with his hand, 
 Avhen they all drew up to the hard masses of the lofty bank, 
 and stood firm and close, as he who goes in doubt stands 
 still to look. " O ye who have made a good end, O spirits 
 already elect," Virgil began, " by that peace which I think 
 
 D' anime, che movieno i pie ver noi, 
 
 E non parevan, si venivan lente. 60 
 
 Leva, diss' io al Maestro, gli occhi tuoi : 
 
 Ecco di qua chi ne dara consiglio, 
 
 Se tu da te medesmo aver nol puoi. 
 Guardb a loro, e con libero piglio d 
 
 Rispose : Andiamo in la, ch' ei vengon piano, 
 
 E tu ferma la speme, dolce figlio. 
 Ancora era quel popol di lontano, 
 
 I' dico dopo i nostri mille passi 
 
 Quanto un buon gittator trarria con mano, 
 Quando si strinser tutti ai duri massi 70 
 
 Dell' alta ripa, e stetter fermi e stretti, 
 
 Com' a guardar, chi va dubbiando, stassi. 
 O ben finiti, o gia spiriti eletti, 
 
 Virgilio incomincio, per quella pace, 
 
 d Guardommi allora, Aid. Land. Bi. 
 59 Movieno for moveano. See Diez ii. 130.
 
 CANTO in. PURGATORY. 31 
 
 is awaited by you all, tell us where the mountain falls, so 
 that it is possible to go upward ; for loss of time displeases 
 most who most knows." As the sheep issue from the folds 
 by one, by two, by three, and the others stand timid, 
 holding eye and muzzle to earth, and that which the first 
 does the rest do too, coming close behind her if she stops, 
 simple and quiet, and know not the why or wherefore ; so 
 saw I then move to come, the head of that fortunate flock, 
 modest in face and dignified in gait. When those in front 
 saw the light on the ground broken to the right side of 
 
 Ch' io credo che per voi tutti s' aspetti, 
 
 Ditene dove la montagna giace, 
 
 Si che possibil sia 1' andare in suso : 
 
 Che '1 perder tempo a chi piu sa, piu spiace. 
 
 Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso 
 
 Ad una, a due, a tre, e 1' altre stanno 80 
 
 Timidette atterraqdo 1' occhio e il muso, 
 
 E cib che fa la prima, e 1' altre fanno, 
 Addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta, 
 Semplici e quete, e lo 'mperche non sanno : 
 
 Si 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, 
 
 79 He uses the same simile Conv. i. n. 
 
 * It is still early morning, for but just now the Sun was shining 
 red ; and it is not till after some time that he has gone through 50 degrees 
 of arc. Dante has therefore his left side towards the east, and these 
 folk are approaching from the south (see also 1. 58). The general direction 
 of the course through Purgatory i? -with the Sun, i.e. from E. to W. 
 by the N. (see iv. 60). By the first evening they have got somewhat
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO in. 
 
 me, so that the shadow was from me to the rock, they 
 stayed and drew themselves a little back, and all the others 
 that were coming after, not knowing why or wherefore, did 
 the same. " Without demand from you, I declare to you 
 that this man whom you see is a human body, whereby the 
 Sun's light is cloven on the earth. Marvel you not ; but 
 believe that not without power which comes from Heaven he 
 seeks to surmount this wall." Thus the Master. And that 
 worshipful folk said : " Turn, enter then before us," making 
 a sign with the backs of their hands. And one of them 
 
 Si che 1' ombra era da me alia grotta, 90 
 
 Ristaro, e trasser se indietro alquanto, 
 
 E tutti gli altri che venieno appresso, 
 
 Non sappiendo il perche, fero altrettanto. 
 Senza vostra dimanda io vi confesso, 
 
 Che questo e corpo uman che voi vedete, 
 
 Perche il lume del Sole in terra e fesso : 
 Non vi maravigliate ; ma credete, 
 
 Che non senza virtu che dal Ciel vegna, 
 
 Cerca di soverchiar questa parete. 
 Cosi il Maestro : e quella gente degna, 100 
 
 Tornate, disse : intrate innanzi dunque, 
 
 Coi dossi delle man facendo insegna. 
 
 to the N., but not enough to see the setting Sun (vi. 57). On the 
 second evening they have the sunset full in face (xv. 9, 141), and the next 
 morning they start with the Sun at their backs (xix. 39), i.e. they are 
 on the north side of the mountain. On the last evening they sleep on 
 the west side, as appears from the fact that when they reach the summit, 
 Dante has the morning Sun full on his face (xxvii. 133). It must be 
 remembered that the time is just after the equinox.
 
 CANTO in. PURGATORY. 33 
 
 began : " Whoever thou art, turn thy face as thou goest 
 thus, give heed if yonder thou sawest me ever." I turned 
 me to him and looked fixedly on him ; fair-haired he was, 
 and beautiful and of noble countenance ; but one of his 
 brows a stroke had divided. When I had humbly dis- 
 claimed to have ever seen him, he said : " Now look," and 
 showed me a wound high on his breast. Then he said 
 smiling : " I am Manfred, grandson of Constance the 
 empress ; wherefore I pray thee that when thou returnest 
 thou go to my daughter, mother of the honour of Sicily 
 
 Ed un di loro incomincib : Chiunque 
 Tu se', cosi andando volgi il viso : 
 Pon mente, se di 1& mi vedesti unque. 
 
 lo mi volsi ver lui, e guardail fiso : 
 
 Biondo era e bello, e di gentile aspetto : 
 Ma F un de' cigli un colpo avea diviso. 
 
 Quando mi fui umilmente disdetto 
 
 D' averlo visto mai, ei disse : Or vedi ; no 
 
 E mostrommi una piaga a sommo il petto. 
 
 Poi disse sorridendo : lo son Manfredi 
 Nipote di Gostanza Imperadrice : 
 Ond' io ti prego, che quando tu riedi, 
 
 Vadi a mia bella figlia, genitrice 
 
 103 This is Manfred, king of Sicily and Apulia, natural son of the 
 emperor Frederick II., killed at the battle of Grandella, near Bene- 
 vento, Feb. 26, 126$. Giovanni Villani (book vi.) gives sufficient 
 evidence to justify his confession: " Orribil furon li peccati miei." 
 But he was a stanch opponent of the Pope and Charles of Anjou. 
 
 112 Sorridendo. Foscolo has called attention to the beauty of this 
 touch. His death-wound and the rage of his enemies are now only 
 subjects for a smile. 
 
 " s Constance, wife of Peter of Aragon (see vii. 112), and mother 
 of Frederick king of Sicily and James king of Aragon. Looking to 
 
 D
 
 34 PURGATORY. CANTO HI. 
 
 and Aragon, and say to her the truth, if else be said. 
 After that I had my form torn with two mortal stabs, I 
 betook myself weeping to Him who willingly pardons. 
 Horrible were my sins ; but the infinite goodness has arms 
 so wide that it receives that which turns back to it. If the 
 pastor of Cosenza, who in the chase of me was sent by 
 Clement, had then in God duly read that page, the bones of 
 my body would still be at the bridge-head near Benevento, 
 
 DelP onor di Cicilia e d' Aragona, 
 E dichi a lei il ver, s' altro si dice. 
 
 Poscia ch' i' ebbi rotta la persona 
 Di due punte mortali io mi rendei 
 Piangendo a quei che volentier perdona. 120 
 
 Orribil furon li peccati miei : 
 
 Ma la bonta infinita ha si gran braccia, 
 Che prende cib che si rivolge a lei. 
 
 Se il Pastor di Cosenza, che alia caccia 
 Di me fu messo per Clemente, allora 
 Avesse in Dio ben letta questa faccia, 
 
 L' ossa del corpo mio sarieno ancora 
 
 the character of these princes, and especially to Dante's own opinion of 
 them as expressed in vii. 120 and elsewhere, there is a little difficulty 
 about onor. But it should be remembered that it is their grandfather 
 who is speaking, and that in his view some credit might be due to 
 those who had to a certain extent avenged the house of Swabia on that 
 of Anjou. 
 
 120 Quei in oblique cases is rare. But cf. Inf. ii. 104, Par. xvii. 93, 
 and " per mala guardia di quegli che '1 custodiva," Villani vi. 69. See 
 note to vii. 96. 
 
 124 As an example of the blunders of copyists, it may be mentioned 
 that four of the first five editions (1245) read " dico senza," making of 
 course absolute nonsense. 
 
 126 Faccia. " Per ciascuna banda del foglio." Diet. Cruse., which 
 refers to this passage.
 
 CANTO in. PURGATORY. 35 
 
 under the guard of the heavy stone-heap. Now the rain 
 washes them, and the wind moves them forth from the 
 kingdom, hard by the Verde, whither he transported them 
 with light put out. Through their malediction one is not 
 so lost that the eternal love cannot return, so long as hope 
 has any bloom of green. True it is that whoso dies in 
 
 In co' del ponte presso a Benevento, 
 
 Sotto la guardia della grave mora. 
 Or le bagna la pioggia e muove il vento 130 
 
 Di fuor del regno, quasi lungo il Verde, 
 
 Ove le trasmutb a lume spento. 
 Per lor maladizion si non si perde, 
 
 Che non possa tornar F eterno amore, 
 
 Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde. 6 
 
 e Efuor del Aid. 
 
 131 Regno, of Naples, or Apulia ; as always, when the word is 
 used alone. Villani's account, written evidently with this passage 
 before his eyes (vii. 9) is as follows: " Imperocch' era scomunicato, 
 non voile il re Carlo che fosse recato in luogo sacro ; ma appie del 
 ponte di Benivento fu soppellito, e sopra la sua fossa per ciascuno 
 dell' oste gittata una pietra ; onde si fece grande mora di sassi. Ma 
 per alcuni si disse, che poi per mandate del papa, il vescovo di 
 Cosenza il trasse di quella sepoltura, e mandollo fuori dal Regno, e 
 ch' era terra di Chiesa, e fu sepolto lungo il flume di Verde, a confini 
 del Regno e di Campagna." The last words show that Villani did 
 not, with most of the older commentators, understand the Verde here 
 mentioned to be the small stream which flows into the Tronto near 
 Ascoli, but as is now generally thought, the Liris or Garigliano. See 
 Blanc, who notices (Erklarungen) that in either case the body would 
 have been taken into Church territory, whether the March of Ancona, 
 or the Campagna of Rome. 
 
 133 Ha fior. Fior is used much as in Inf. xxv. 144, xxxiv. 26, 
 but rather more literally. Others read 2 fuor, and take it to allude to 
 the practice, mentioned by Sacchetti, Nov. xli., of painting the bottom 
 
 D 2
 
 36 PURGATORY. CANTO in. 
 
 contumacy of holy Church, although at last he repents him, 
 it behoves him to stay without this bank, for all the time 
 that he has remained in his presumption, thirty-fold, if such 
 decree does not become shortened by kindly prayers. 
 Hereafter see if thou canst make me happy, revealing to 
 my good Constance how thou hast seen me, and also this 
 prohibition ; for here through those yet there much may be 
 gained. 
 
 Ver e, che quale in contumacia muore 
 Di Santa Chiesa, ancor che al fin si penta, 
 Star li convien da questa ripa in fuore 
 
 Per ogni tempo, ch' egli e stato, trenta, 
 
 In sua presunzion, se tal decreto 140 
 
 Piu corto per buon prieghi non diventa. 
 
 Vedi oramai se tu mi puoi far lieto, 
 Rivelando alia mia buona Gostanza, 
 Come m' hai visto, ed anco esto divieto : 
 
 Che qui per quei di la molto s' avanza. 
 
 of a candle green. Cf. Petr. Son. xxvi., where "speme condotta al 
 verde," is called by Gesualdo, in Giglio's edition of 1553, "meta- 
 phora de la candela," as though it were common. But, as Speroni 
 says, " II Petrarca crede imitar Dante, e s' inganna quanto alia cosa, e 
 quanto alia lingua." The other reading seems unquestionably the best, 
 and far more like Dante's manner. Green, it may be observed, is the 
 colour denoting hope. M. Angelo's "Poiche d'ogni mia speme il verde 
 e spento," is consistent with either explanation.
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They enter a gap in the hillside and begin to climb. Virgil explains the 
 motion of the sun as seen in the hemisphere where they are. Dante 
 talks with Belacqua, whom he finds among those who have delayed 
 their repentance through indolence. 
 
 WHEN, by reason of deligttt, yea, or of pain, which any 
 capacity of ours conceives, the soul fully collects itself 
 thereto, it seems that it attends to no power more; and 
 this is against that error, which believes that one soul above 
 another is kindled in us. And therefore, when anything is 
 
 QUANDO per dilettanze ovver per doglie, 
 Che alcuna virtu nostra comprenda, a 
 L'anima bene ad essa si raccoglie, 
 
 Par ch' a nulla potenzia piu intenda : 
 E questo e contra quello error che crede 
 
 3 A, nostra vertute Cass. a. v. n. si comp. Gg. 
 *- 12 See note at end of this Canto.
 
 38 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 heard or seen of such sort as to hold the soul fast turned 
 towards itself, the time goes by, and the man recks not 
 thereof, for that which is listening to it is one power, and 
 that which keeps the soul entire is another; the latter is 
 as it were bound, and the former is at large. 
 
 Of this I had a true experience, hearing that spirit and 
 marvelling. For full fifty degrees had the sun mounted, 
 and I had not heeded, when we came where those spirits 
 with one voice cried to us : " Here is what you ask ! " 
 A larger opening many a time the villager hedges up with 
 a forkful of his thorns, when the grape is growing brown, 
 
 Che un' anima sovr* altra in noi s' accenda. 
 E perb quando s' ode cosa o vede, 
 
 Che tenga forte a se 1' anima volta, 
 
 Vassene il tempo, e 1' uom non se n' avvede : 
 Ch' altra potenzia e quella che 1' ascolta ; 10 
 
 Ed altra e quella che ha 1' anima intera : 
 
 Questa e quasi legata, e quella e sciolta. 
 Di cib ebb' io esperienzia vera, 
 
 Udendo quello spirto ed ammirando ; 
 
 Che ben cinquanta gradi salito era 
 Lo Sole, ed io non m' era accorto, quando 
 
 Venimmo dove quell' anime ad una 
 
 Gridaro a noi : qui e vostro dimando. 
 Maggiore aperta molte volte impruna 
 
 Con una forcatella di sue spine, 20 
 
 L' uom della villa, quando 1' uva imbruna, 
 
 * I have rather emphasised the subjunctive tenga to mark the exact 
 equivalence of the construction with the similar one in Latin.
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 39 
 
 than was the gap from which my leader mounted, and I 
 after him alone, when the troop parted from us. One 
 goes to Sanleo and descends on Noli ; one mounts over 
 Bismantova to the summit, with only feet ; but here behoves 
 it that one fly, I mean with the swift wings and with the 
 feathers of the great desire, following that guidance which 
 gave me hope and made a light for me. We mounted 
 within the broken rock, and its surface grazed us on either 
 
 Che non era la calla, onde saline b 
 
 Lo Duca mio ed io appresso soli, 
 
 Come da noi la schiera si partine. 
 Vassi in Sanleo, e discendesi in Noli : 
 
 Montasi su Bismantova in cacume 
 
 Con esso i pi : ma qui convien ch' uom voli, 
 Dico con 1' ali snelle e con le piume 
 
 Del gran disio diretro a quel condotto, 
 
 Che speranza mi dava, e facea lume. 30 
 
 Noi salavam per entro '1 sasso rotto, 
 
 E d' ogni lato ne stringea lo stremo, 
 
 b Lo calk Gg. etc. La calle, 23. 
 
 - Calla ; so ix. 123 ; callaia, xxv. 7, is the commoner form. 
 
 251 =* San Leo in the duchy of Urbino, not far from San Marino. 
 Noli, on the western Riviera between Albenga and Savona. Bisman- 
 tova, said to be a mountain near Reggio. " Cacume e una molto ripida 
 montagna in campagna," says Landino, and Vellutello follows him. 
 This is of course absurd. 
 
 27 Con esso i pie ; so " con esso i due," xxiv. 98, etc. For this 
 use of esso indeclinable, see Diez ii. 426. Uom here exactly = Fr. on 
 (homo), cf. 1. 90, Diez iii. 280. 
 
 *9 Condotto ; so used also Conv. i. u. 
 
 31 There seems no reason for rejecting the Florentine form salavam, 
 which is found in most early edd. and many MSS.
 
 40 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 side, and the ground below us required both feet and hands. 
 When we were on the upper rim of the lofty bank, on the 
 open mountain-side : " My master," said I, " what course 
 shall we make ? " And he to me : " Let no step of thine 
 descend; only gain ground upwards on the mountain 
 behind me, until some wise escort appears for us." The 
 summit was lofty, that it surpassed our sight, and the mountain 
 side full steeper than a band from mid-quadrant to centre. 
 I was weary, when I began : " O sweet father, turn thee 
 and behold how I remain alone, if thou stay not." " O 
 son," said he, " draw thyself as far as there," pointing me out 
 a terrace not much above, which on that side circles the 
 
 E piedi e man voleva il suol di sotto. 
 
 Quando noi fummo in su 1' orlo supremo 
 Dell' alta ripa, alia scoperta piaggia, 
 Maestro mio, diss' io, che via faremo ? 
 
 Ed egli a me : nessun tuo passo caggia : 
 Pur suso al monte dietro a me acquista, 
 Fin che n' appaia alcuna scorta saggia. 
 
 Lo sommo er' alto che vincea la vista, 40 
 
 E la costa superba piu assai, 
 Che da mezzo quadrante a centre 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. 
 
 3 8 Acquista, cf. Inf. xxvi. 126. 
 
 42 More than forty-five degrees a very sufficient inclination, as all 
 mountaineers know. 
 
 48 Da quel lato, "on that side of," i.e. "above" where we were.
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 41 
 
 whole steep. His words so spurred me that I forced 
 myself, climbing behind him until I had the ring beneath 
 my feet. There we both sate us down, turned towards the 
 east, whence we had mounted, for to look backwajd is wont 
 to please any man. First I directed my eyes to the low 
 shores ; afterwards I raised them to the sun, and wondered 
 that we were smitten by him on the left. The poet well 
 perceived that I was standing stupefied before the chariot 
 of the light, where between us and Aquilo he was entering. 
 
 Si mi spronaron le parole sue, 
 
 Ch' io mi sforzai, carpando appresso lui, 50 
 
 Tanto che il cinghio sotto i pie mi fue. 
 A seder ci ponemmo ivi ambedui 
 
 Volti a levante, ond' eravam saliti, 
 
 Che suole a riguardar giovare altrui. c 
 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 restava 
 
 Stupido tutto al carro della luce, 
 
 Ove tra noi ed Aquilone intrava. 60 
 
 c PerchZ snole a gtiardar Gg. 
 
 s 1 Tanto che, so Fr. tant que. The indicative follows because 
 the completion of the action is past. Diez iii. 321. 
 
 54 For this use of altrui, as an indefinite pronoun, cf. Inf. i. 18. See 
 Diez iii. 76. Infinitive with a, after giovare, is not common, but a 
 is sometimes almost "otiose." Thus M. Ang. Sonnet 77, "a trovar 
 grazia . . . e raro." In French we have "il lui plait a faire qqch." 
 
 56 sqq. g ee no te to ii^ gg > <i a sinistra, cf. Conv. iii. 5. vedrebbe 
 quello andarsi per Io braccio sinistro.
 
 42 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 Wherefore he to me : " If Castor and Pollux had been in 
 company of that mirror, which leads of its light both 
 upward and down, thou wouldst have seen the fiery Zodiac 
 rotate yet closer to the Bears, unless it had issued forth 
 from its old road. How that is, if thou wouldst be able to 
 conceive, . with inward recollection picture to thyself that 
 Sion stands with this mountain in suchwise on the earth, 
 that both have a single horizon and diverse hemispheres ; 
 whence, if thy intellect considers clearly, thou wilt see 
 how it behoves that the road, whereon to his own mishap 
 
 Ond' egli a me : se Castore e Polluce 
 Fossero in compagnia di quello specchio, 
 Che su e giu del suo lume conduce, 
 
 Tu vedresti il Zodiaco rubecchio 
 Ancora all' Orse piu stretto rotare, 
 
 Se non uscisse fuor del cammin vecchio. 
 Come cib sia, se il vuoi poter pensare, 
 Dentro raccolto immagina Sion 
 Con questo monte in su la terra stare, 
 
 Si ch' ambedue hanno un solo orizon, 70 
 
 E diversi emisperi : onde la strada, 
 Che mal non seppe carreggiar Feton, 
 
 Vedrai com' a costui convien che vada 
 
 61 I.e. if it were the month of June, when the sun is in Gemini, that 
 part of the Zodiac in which he then would be would lie nearer the 
 north. 
 
 62 Specchio. So of the planet Saturn, Par. xxl 18. The light 
 they reflect is from God. 
 
 7 See note to ii. i. 
 
 ? 2 Dante is fond of referring to the legend of Phaethon. See xxix. 
 117, Par. xxxi. 125.
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 43 
 
 Phaethon knew not how to drive, should pass on the one 
 side of this mount, when it is on the other side of that." 
 
 " Certes, my master," said I, " never saw I aught so 
 clearly as I [now] discern, there where my intellect seemed 
 wanting, that the mid-circle of heavenly movement, which 
 in a certain art is called Equator, and which ever remains 
 between the sun and the winter, here, for the reason that 
 thou sayest, is distant towards the north, by so much as the 
 Hebrews saw it towards the warm quarter. But if it please 
 thee, willingly would I know how far we have to go, for 
 the hill mounts more than my eyes are able." And he 
 to me : " This mountain is such that ever at the beginning 
 below it is hard, and the more one mounts, the less it pains 
 
 Ball' un, quando a colui dall' altro fianco, 
 
 Se 1' intelletto tuo ben chiara bada. 
 Certo, Maestro mio, diss' io, unquanco 
 
 Non vid' io chiar^o si, com' io discerno, 
 
 La dove mio 'ngegno parea manco, 
 Che 1 mezzo cerchio del moto superno, 
 
 Che si chiama Equatore in alcun' arte, 80 
 
 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, che il poggio sale 
 
 Piu che salir non posson gli occhi miei. 
 Ed egli a me : Questa montagna e tale, 
 
 Che sempre al cominciar di sotto e grave, 
 
 80 Alcun' arte ; sc. astronomy. 
 
 8 9. 9 The way of repentance is hard at first, but becomes easy by 
 persistence.
 
 44 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 him. Wherefore, when it shall appear so pleasant to thee 
 that to go upon it is to thee as easy as to go down with 
 a favouring stream on shipboard, then wilt thou be at the 
 end of this road ; there expect to repose thy weariness : 
 more I answer not, and this I know for true." 
 
 And, as he had said his word, a voice from hard by 
 sounded : " Mayhap that thou wilt first have need to sit." 
 At the sound of it each of us turned, and we saw on the 
 left a great stone, whereof neither I nor he had before 
 taken heed. We drew thither ; and there were persons 
 
 E quanto nom piu va su, e men fa male. 90 
 
 Pero quand' ella ti parra soave 
 
 Tanto, che il su andar ti fia leggiero, 
 Come a seconda il giu andar per nave : 
 
 Allor sarai al fin d' esto sentiero : 
 Quivi di riposar 1' affanno aspetta : 
 Piu non rispondo, e questo so per vero. 
 
 E, com' egli ebbe sua parola delta, 
 Una voce di presso sono, Forse 
 Che di sedere in prima avrai distretta. 
 
 Al suon di lei ciascun di noi si torse, 100 
 
 E vedemmo a mancina un gran petrone, 
 Del qual ne io ne ei prima s' accorse. 
 
 La ci traemmo : ed ivi eran persone, 
 
 93 Seconda, or "a favouring breeze." 
 
 100 Si torse ; in Dante, torcersi = " to turn at right angles," "to 
 face ;" volgersi = " to turn right round," " to face about ; " tornare 
 = "to turn back to a former position." This distinction, however, 
 does not appear to have been maintained in Italian. 
 
 103 Those who have postponed repentance to the last moment 
 through indolence.
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 45 
 
 who stood in the shade behind the rock, as one through 
 listlessness sets him to stand. And one of them who 
 seemed to me weary, was sitting and embracing his knees, 
 holding his face down low between them. " O my sweet 
 Lord," I cried, "cast eye on him who shows himself more 
 careless than if sloth were his sister." Then he turned him 
 to us, and gave heed, only moving his face upward by 
 the thigh, and said : " Go up thou, for thou art strong." 
 I knew then who he was ; and that struggle which was 
 still quickening my breath a little, did not hinder me from 
 going to him ; and after I had reached him he hardly 
 raised his head, saying : " Hast thou quite perceived how 
 
 Che si stavano all' ombra dietro al sasso, 
 
 Como uom per negligenza a star si pone. 
 Ed un di lor che mi sembrava lasso, 
 
 Sedeva ed abbracciava le ginocchia, 
 
 Tenendo il viso giu tra esse basso. 
 O dolce Signor mio, diss' io, adocchia 
 
 Colui che mostra se piu negligente, no 
 
 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' impedi F andare a lui : e poscia, 
 Ch' a lui fui giunto, alzo la testa appena, 
 
 Dicendo, Hai ben veduto, come il Sole 
 
 "' Bianchi compares De Monarchia ii. I : " Cum causam cognos- 
 cimus, eos qui sunt in admiratione restantes quadam derisione despi- 
 cimus." I am disposed, however, to think that there is a far finer 
 dramatic touch in the passage, as Landino sees. His comment is 
 " Sempre i pigri scherniscono chi e diligente ad investigare alcuna 
 cosa degna."
 
 46 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 the Sun guides his chariot by thy right shoulder ? " His 
 lazy gestures, and his curt words moved my lips a little 
 to a smile ; then I began : " Belacqua, henceforth it grieves 
 me not for thee ; but tell me, why art thou seated here ? 
 Awaitest thou escort, or has thy wonted habit only retaken 
 thee ? " And he : " Brother, what boots it to go up ? for 
 the bird of God who sits above the gate would not permit 
 me to go to the torments. Behoves that first the heaven 
 must circle round me [waiting] outside thereof, for so 
 
 Ball' omero sinistro il carro mena? 120 
 
 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, perche assiso 
 
 Quiritta sei ? attendi tu iscorta, 
 
 O pur lo modo usato t' ha ripriso ? 
 Ed ei : Frate, 1' andar su che porta ? 
 
 Che non mi lascerebbe ire ai martiri 
 
 L' uccel di Dio, che siede in su la porta. d 
 Prima convien, che tanto il Ciel m' aggiri 130 
 
 d angel Bi. etc. uscier Cr. 
 
 123 Belacqua ( = Bevilacqua) fu un eccelente fabricatore di cetre e di 
 altri istrumenti musicali, ma uomo pigrissimo. Bianchi. 
 
 123 Quiritta. So xvii. 86. 
 
 I2 9 Philalethes has "der Pfortner Gottes," following the Cruscan 
 edition. There does not, however, appear to be much MS. support for 
 this otherwise satisfactory reading. But cf. ix. 104, and vid. Blanc. 
 Diet. s.v. uscier. The slight familiarity of the term is not unsuitable in 
 the mouth of the easy-going Belacqua. 
 
 '30, 131 < ' Conviene che il cielo mi giri tanto tempo fuori di essa porta 
 di Purgatorio cioe che passi tanto tempo, quanto tempo passo in vita. 
 Landino. This use of aggirare is similar to that in Conv. iii. 5 : "II 
 mondo dal Sole e girato," and in the Canzone of the same book.
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 47 
 
 long a time as it did in my life, because I delayed to the 
 end my pious sighs : if prayer first helps me not, such as 
 may rise up from a heart that lives in grace ; what avails 
 other, which is not heard in heaven ? " 
 
 And already the poet was mounting before me, and 
 was saying : " Come now away, see how the meridian is 
 touched by the Sun, and on the verge the night covers 
 already with her foot Morocco." 
 
 Di fuor da essa, quanto fece in vita, e 
 Perch' io indugiai al fin li buon sospiri, 
 
 Se orazione in prima non m' aita, 
 
 Che surga su di cuor che in grazia viva : 
 L' altra che val, che in Ciel non b udita ? f 
 
 E gia il Poeta innanzi mi saliva, 
 
 E dicea : Vienne omai : vedi ch' e tocco 
 Meridian dal Sole, ed alia riva 
 
 Cuopre la notte gia col pie Marrocco. 
 
 e quant' iofeci Gg. 1234 Lomb. ; quanta fed Cass. r gradita Aid. 
 
 137 Tocco. For this syncopated form of the participle, see Diez ii. 
 p. 138. 
 
 139 Morocco being on the eastern horizon of Purgatory, as India 
 {ii. 5) is on the western. 
 
 f 
 
 NOTE TO LINES 1-12. 
 
 The general drift of these lines is plain enough ; but there is a point 
 to be noticed which seems to have escaped attention, though it has some 
 importance as bearing on Dante's philosophy. Most, or all, the com- 
 mentators have taken virtu and potenzia as signifying the same thing ;
 
 48 PURGATORY. CANTO iv. 
 
 thus Bianchi : " Per virtu o potenza dell' anima s'intendono generalmente 
 le facolA per cui opera." That virtute and potentia are used indis- 
 criminately by the schoolmen to represent tjie Aristotelian 8vvdfj.fi, as 
 opposed to actu, (vepyeiq, there can be no doubt ; but there is also a 
 sense in which virtus is by no means the same as potentia, though 
 Aristotle had only one word for the two meanings. Still he says (Metaph. 
 viii. l) iraXiv 6 avrai ai Swa^fis \fyovrai, rj rov povov Troujcrai if 
 TraOflv fj rov KO\>S. Cf. iv. 12. Now this second Suva/us, not the 
 mere potentiality of doing, but capacity of doing well, issues when mani- 
 fested in dprrr], which (Eth. Nic. i. 6) ov av 77 dpcrr) avro re ev OTroreXcT 
 KOI TO epyov avrov fv dTroSi'Scoo-i. This probably accounts for the use 
 of virtus as equivalent to the good dvvafjus. At any rate Aquinas (S.T. 
 2.1. Q. 55. Art. i. ) says: "Virtus nominal quamdam potentiae perfec- 
 tionem. ... Id enim in quod ultimo potentia potest, est id quod 
 dicitur virtus rei." Dante clearly indicates this distinction. Thus in 
 Canto xvii. 73-75 at the approach of night, this virtu of walking " melts 
 away," but the possa is only suspended. So in the same Canto, at the 
 sight of the resplendent angel it is his virtu which fails ; but in the 
 presence of God (Par. xxxiii. 142) "alia fantasia manco/owa." Com- 
 paring these and the present passage with Eth. Nic. x. 5, 3,4 ol yap 
 <p[\av\oi dftvvaTOixri roils Aoyot? Trpocre^etJ' eav KaraKova-oxnv aiiXovv- 
 ros, jiaXXov ^alpovrts avXrjriKTJ rfjs Trapovcrr^s (vepyeias ; and f) yap 
 7)8ia>v rrfv &Tepav fKKpovei, ecrre p.ij8' evepydv Kara rrjv erepav, we see 
 that Dante brings his virtu sometimes very near eWpyeia. We must, 
 however, I think, stop short of this, and explain as follows : "When 
 any one ' power ' of the soul is manifesting itself in the due performance 
 (bene si raccoglie] of any of its functions in this case the sensitive in its 
 function of listening the soul cannot be acted on by any other ; in that 
 case that which keeps the soul ' entire ' and the various ' powers ' duly 
 balanced, and by which we are conscious of the flight of time." This 
 last 8vvap.is rfjy ^VXTJS, it may be remarked, seems to have been dis- 
 covered since Aristotle's classification (De Anima ii. 3) was made ; nor 
 does Dante, in his expositions of Aristotle's doctrine (Conv. iii. 2. iv. 7) 
 specify it. It may be taken to be a department of TO diavorjriKov, intel- 
 lectiva. The argument against the Platonic doctrine (Timaeus 69) of 
 separate souls, which Dante incidentally deduces from the inability of 
 two potenzie to manifest themselves simultaneously, is almost directly 
 from Aquinas, who says (S. T. I. i. Ixxvi. 3) : "Si ponamus animam 
 corpori unici sicut formam, omnino impossibile videtur plures animas 
 per essentiam differentes in uno corpore esse. . . . Apparet hoc esse
 
 CANTO iv. PURGATORY. 49 
 
 impossibile, per hoc quod una operatic (here is fVfpyeia again) animae 
 cum fuerit intensa, impedit aliam." 
 
 There seems to be a little difference of opinion as to which potenzla 
 
 is legata and which sciolta. See Giuliani's note to Conv. ii. 14, and 
 
 Philal. here. It is I think pretty clear that we must take sciolta as = 
 
 free to perform its function," and therefore as applying to the faculty 
 
 of hearing.
 
 CANTO V. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They are overtaken by another troop, certain of whom, on learning that 
 Dante is a living man, make themselves known to him. These are 
 they who have been cut off by violence, but have repented at the point 
 of death. Among them are Jacopo del Cassero, Buonconte da Monte- 
 feltro, and Pia. They recount the manner of their deaths. 
 
 I HAD already parted from those shades, and was following 
 the tracks of my leader, when behind me, pointing the 
 finger, one cried : " Look, for it seems that the ray illumi- 
 nates not to the left of him who is lowermost, and as a 
 living man he seems to demean himself." I turned my 
 eyes back at the sound of this word, and saw them 
 
 Io era gia da quell' ombre partito, 
 
 E seguitava 1' orme del mio Duca, 
 
 Quando diretro a me, drizzando il dito, 
 Una gridb : 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
 
 CANTO v. PURGATORY. 51 
 
 gaze for wonder at me, me only, and the light that was 
 broken. 
 
 " Why does thy mind so much perplex itself," said my 
 master, " that thou slackenest thy going ? What is it to 
 thee, that which is whispered there? Come behind me, 
 and let the folk talk ; stand like a firm tower which never 
 shakes its top for blast of winds. For ever the man, in 
 whom thought wells up over thought, removes far from 
 himself his mark, because the onset of the second dissolves 
 the first." What could I reply, if not " I come " ? I said 
 it, overspread somewhat with that colour which makes a 
 man worthy at times of pardon. 
 
 Pur me, pur me, e il lume ch' era rotto. 
 
 Perche 1' animo tuo tanto s'impiglia, 10 
 
 Disse il Maestro, che 1' andare allenti ? 
 Che ti fa cib che quivi si pispiglia ? 
 
 Vien dietro a me, e* lascia dir le genti, 
 Sta come torre ferma, che non crolla a 
 Giammai la cima per soffiar de' vend 
 
 Che sempre 1' uomo, in cui pensier rampolla 
 Sovra pensier, da se dilunga il segno, 
 Perche la foga 1' un dell' altro insolla. 
 
 Che poteva io ridir, se non : lo vegno ? 
 
 Dissilo, alquanto del color consperso, 20 
 
 Che fa 1' uom di perdon tal volta degno 
 
 a Fermo Si. 
 
 10 Impigliare is used in its literal sense in line 83, metaphorically 
 as here, in xiv. 117. 
 
 i6_is "T ne man w h o a ii ow s one thought to follow on another, fails 
 to keep his object clearly before him." 
 
 18 Insolla ; for sollo, see xxvii. 40. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 PURGATORY. CANTO v. 
 
 And therewithal along the hillside across were coming 
 folk in front of us a little, singing Miserere, verse by verse. 
 When they perceived that by reason of my body I did not 
 give place to the passage of the rays, they changed their 
 chant into an O long and hoarse, and two of them in guise 
 of messengers ran to meet us, and demanded of us : " Make 
 us acquainted with your condition." And my master : 
 " Ye can go your way, and report to them that sent you 
 that the body of this man is very flesh. If for the sight 
 of his shadow they stood still, as I opine, enough is 
 answered them ; let them do him honour, and he may 
 
 E intanto per la costa da traverse 
 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 O liingo e roco, 
 
 E due di loro in forma di messaggi 
 Corsero incontr' a noi, e dimandarne. 
 Di vostra condizion fatene saggi. 30 
 
 E il mio Maestro : Voi potete andarne, 
 E ritrarre a color che vi mandaro, 
 Che il corpo di costui e vera carne. 
 j Se per veder la sua ombra restarp, 
 
 Com' io avviso, assai e lor risposto : 
 Faccianli onore, ed esser pub lor caro. 
 
 24 Miserere, i.e. the 5ist (or in the Vulgate 5oth) Psalm. 
 
 25 Per lo mio corpo. I have followed Blanc and Biagioli in taking 
 per as equivalent to the Latin prae, as in iv. i, and frequently. 
 Lombard! takes it as = per "the passage of the rays through my body." 
 The former seems belter to suit the order of the words.
 
 CANTO v. PURGATORY. 53 
 
 be dear to them." Never saw I kindled vapours so swiftly 
 cleave at early night the clear sky, nor, as the sun is falling, 
 August clouds that these did not return upward in less 
 time, and arrived there they with the others wheeled round 
 to us, like a troop which goes without rein. " This folk 
 which presses on us is many and they come to beg of thee," 
 said the poet, " wherefore only go on, and in thy going 
 listen." They came crying : " O spirit, that goest to be happy 
 with those limbs which thou hadst at thy birth, slacken thy 
 
 Vapori accesi non vid' io si tosto 
 
 Di prima notte mai fender sereno, b 
 
 Ne, Sol calando, nuvole d' Agosto, 
 Che color non tornasser suso injneno, 40 ' 
 
 E giunti la, con gli altri a noi dier volta, 
 
 Come schiera che corre senza freno. 
 Questa gente che preme a noi. e molta, 
 
 E vengonti a pregar, disse il Poeta, 
 
 Pero pur va, ed in andando ascolta. 
 O anima, che vai per esser lieta 
 
 Con quelle membra, con le quai nascesti, 
 
 Venian gridando, un poco il passo queta. 
 
 b Mezza notte Aid. c E imapinando Go. 
 
 37 Following Aristotle (Meteorol. i. 4) he regards shooting-stars 
 and " summer " lightning as different forms of the same phenomenon, 
 considering both due to kindled vapour. This is obviously the right 
 interpretation, and that which takes nuvole d' Agosto as the subject and 
 not the object of fendere, for the motion of clouds is never so great as to 
 suggest extreme rapidity. Cf. Par. Lost iv. 556. 
 
 40 Che non = Latin quin. 
 
 48 membra. So usually ; but sometimes membre, as vi. 147.
 
 5; PURGATORY. CANTO v. 
 
 pace a little. Look if thou hast ever seen any one of us, so 
 that thou mayest bear news of him there ; why goest thou, 
 prithee? why dost thou not stay? We were all once 
 slain by violence, and sinners up to our last hour; then 
 light of heaven made us conscious, so that repenting and 
 forgiving, we issued forth of life reconciled to God, who 
 pricks our hearts with the desire to see him." And I : 
 " For all that I gaze in your faces, I do not recognise any 
 one ; but if aught that I can do pleases you, O spirits 
 born to bliss, do ye say it, and I will do it for the sake 
 of that peace, which makes me, following the feet of such a 
 guide, seek it from world to world." 
 
 Guarda se alcun di noi unque vedesti, 
 
 Si che di lui di la novelle porti : 50 
 
 Deh perche vai ? deh perche non t' arresti ? d 
 
 Noi fummo gia tutti per forza morti, 
 E peccatori infino all' ultim' ora : 
 Quivi lume del Ciel ne fece accorti cs*** 
 
 Si, che pentendo e perdonando, fuora 
 Di vita uscimmo a Dip pacificati, 
 Che del disio di se veder n' accora. 
 
 Ed io : Perche ne' vostii visi guati, 
 Non riconosco alcun, ma s' a voi piace 
 Cosa ch' io possa, spirit! ben nati, 60 
 
 Voi dite ed io faro per quella pace, 
 Che, dietro a' piedi di si fatta guida, 
 Di mondo in mondo cercar mi si face. 
 
 d Di percht . . . none arr. Gg. 
 
 51 perche vai seems a sort of formula. Cf. ii. 90. 
 57 Se ; so si cercar in 1. 63, corresponding precisely with the 
 Lalin use. Accora. Inf. xv. 82, cf. iii. 3. 
 
 s 8 For the use of perche, cf. vi. 38 and xvii. 15, and see Diez iii. 332.
 
 CANTO v. PURGATORY. 55 
 
 And one began : " Each one puts his faith in thy good 
 offices, without thy swearing it, so only that want of power 
 cut not will away. Whence I, who speak alone before 
 the rest, pray thee, if ever thou see the land which lies 
 between Romagna and Charles's land, that thou wouldst 
 be gracious to me of thy prayers in Fano, so that on my 
 behalf supplication be well made, that I may have power to 
 purge my heavy offences. Thence sprang I, but the deep 
 wounds, whence issued the blood whereon my soul held 
 its seat, were made for me in the midst of the sons of 
 
 Ed uno incomincio : 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 prieghi cortese 70 
 
 In Fano si, che ben per me s' adori, 
 
 Perch' io possa purgar le gravi offese. 
 Quindi fu' io, ma li profondi fori, 
 
 Ond' usci il sangue, in sul qual io sedea, 
 
 64 This is Jacopo del Cassero of Fano, forme i\.y podesta of Bologna ; 
 who was assassinated by order of Azzo d'Este while on his way to 
 assume the same office at Milan (Bianchi). The date is given as 1298, 
 but as peace between Bologna and Ferrara was only made, after a three 
 years' war, in May 1299 (Villani viii. 28), this murder could hardly 
 have been committed earlier. If he had been killed by an open enemy 
 he would hardly speak as he does. A Jacopo de Fano is mentioned 
 by Villani, vii. 120, among a number of Guelf chiefs. 
 
 69 Quel di Carlo = the kingdom of Apulia. 
 \l 74 Io ; the soul being that which preserves the personal identity.
 
 56 PURGATORY. CANTO v. 
 
 Antenor, there where I trusted to be most secure ; he of 
 Esti bade do it, who had me in wrath far enough beyond 
 what justice willed. But if I had fled towards La Mira 
 when I was overtaken at Oriaco, still should I be on that 
 side where they breathe. I ran to the marsh, and the 
 cane-brake and the mud entangled me so that I fell, and 
 there saw I a lake form itself on the ground from my 
 veins." 
 
 Then said another : " I pray so may that desire be 
 fulfilled which draws thee to the lofty mount, with kindly 
 piety help mine. I was of Montefeltro, I am Buonconte ; 
 
 Fatti mi furo in grembo agli Antenori, 
 La dov' io piii sicuro esser credea : 
 
 Quel da Esti il fe' far, che m' avea in ira 
 
 Assai piii la che il dritto non volea. 
 Ma s' io fossi fuggito inver La Mira, 
 
 Quand' io fui sovraggiunto ad Oriaco, 80 
 
 Ancor sarei di la, dove si spira. 
 Corsi al palude, e le cannucce e il braco 
 
 M' impigliar si, ch' io caddi, e 11 vid' io 
 
 Delle mie vene farsi in terra laco. 
 Poi disse un' altro : Deh, se quel disio 
 j I) Si compia che ti tragge all' alto monte, 
 
 Con buona pietate aiuta il mio. 
 
 75 Antenori, Paduans. " Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque 
 locavit Teucrorum." Virg. yEn. i. 252. Philalethes thinks with an 
 allusion to their treacherous understanding with Azzo, Antenor being 
 one of the typical traitors, after whom a quarter of hell is named. 
 
 79, 80 i^ Mj ra anc j Oriaco. Two small towns on the Brenta between 
 Padua and Venice. 
 
 81 " I should still be in the world of living men." 
 
 85 See note to ii. 16.
 
 CANTO v. PURGATORY. 57 
 
 Joan, or any other, has no care of me; wherefore I go 
 among these with lowered brow." And I to him : "What 
 force or what adventure led thee so far astray from Cam- 
 paldino, that thy sepulture has never been known ? " " Oh," 
 answered he, "at foot of the Casentino a stream goes 
 across, which has to name Archiano, which takes its rise 
 above the hermitage in Apennine. Where its name becomes 
 
 lo fui di Montefeltro, io son Buonconte : 
 Giovanna, o altri non ha di me cura ; 
 Perch' io vo tra costor con bassa fronte. 90 
 
 Ed io a lui : Qual forza, o qual ventura 
 Ti travio si fuor di Campaldino, 
 Che non si seppe mai tua sepoltura ? 
 
 Oh, rispos' egli, appie del Casentino 
 
 Traversa un' acqua che ha nome 1' Archiano, 
 Che sovra 1' Ermo nasce in Apennino. 
 
 Dove '1 vocabol suo tliventa vano, e 
 
 e La've 6V. Aid. Land. Bi. etc. 
 
 88 Buonconte da Montefeltro fought on the side of Arezzo and the 
 Ghibellines, at the battle of Campaldino or Certomondo, in . the upper 
 valley of the Arno (called the Casentino) on June II, 1289. On the 
 other side were the Guelfs of Tuscany, with Florence at the head, in 
 whose ranks Dante himself fought. The men of Arezzo were beaten 
 and their leaders slain. See Villani vii. 131. 
 
 9 s L'Ermo ; the monastery of Camaldoli. 
 
 97 Where it falls into the Arno, and loses its own name. The point 
 is just above Bibbiena. The reading la 've is probably an instance of 
 a very common source of corruptions in a text Nome (which is found 
 in some MSS. ) was no doubt written as a gloss on vocabol. Then it 
 got substituted for it. Then some one prefixed la to dove to make the 
 line scan. Then vocabol got restored, and to get rid of a superfluous 
 syllable, dove was cut down to 've.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO v. 
 
 of no avail came I, pierced in the throat and staining the 
 plain with blood. There I lost my sight, and my speech 
 finished with the name of Mary, and there I fell, and my 
 flesh alone remained. I will tell the truth, and do thou 
 repeat it among the living ; the Angel of God took me, and 
 he of Hell cried : ' O thou from heaven, why robbest thou 
 me ? Thou bearest away for thyself the eternal part of this 
 man, for one little tear which takes him from me ; but with 
 the other part will I take other order.' Thou knowest 
 well how in the air collects itself that moist vapour which 
 returns to water as soon as it mounts where the cold con- 
 
 Arriva' io forato nella gola, 
 
 Fuggendo a piede, e sanguinando il piano. 
 Quivi perdei la vista, e la parola f 100 
 
 Nel nome di Maria fini, e quivi K 
 
 Caddi, e rimase la mia carne sola. 
 Io diro il vero, e tu il ridi' tra i vivi : 
 
 L' Angel di Dio mi prese, e quel d' Inferno 
 
 Gridava : O tu dal Ciel, perche nii privi ? 
 Tu te ne porti di costui 1' eternp 
 
 Per una lagrimetta che '1 mi toglie, 
 
 Ma io faro dell' altro altro governo. 
 Ben sai come nell' aer si raccoglie 
 
 Quell' umido vapor che in acqua riede, no 
 
 Tosto che sale dove il freddo il coglLe. 
 
 { laparola; Bl. s finii, W. 
 
 102 Rimanere is a technical word for being killed in battle. See 
 Villani passim. 
 
 104 Compare the account of his father's end, Inf. xxvii. 113. 
 
 108 Faro governo ; so Inf. xxvii. 47. 
 
 109.111 SiWoraTai f) dr/xi? tyvxop.fvr) KOI yiverai v8a>p f tlfpos- 
 Ar. Meteor. i. 9.
 
 CANTO v. PURGATORY. 59 
 
 denses it. Thither came that evil will, which seeks evil 
 only with its intelligence, and moved the vapour and the 
 wind through the power which its nature gave. Then, 
 when the day was spent, he covered the valley from 
 Pratomagno to the great ridge with clouds, and made 
 overcast the heaven above, so that the teemirjg air was / 
 
 turned to water; the rain fell, and to the trenches came 
 so much of it as the earth did not endure ; and as it came 
 together into great streams, it rushed so swift towards 
 the royal river that naught held it back. My body, cold, 
 
 Giunse quel mal^voler, che pur mal chiede 
 
 Con 1' intelletto, e mosse il fumo e il vento 
 
 Per la virtu, che sua natura diede. 
 Indi la valle, come il di fu spento, 
 
 Da Pratomagno al gran giogo coperse 
 
 Di nebbia, e il ciel di sopra fece intento' 1 
 Si, che il pregnp acre jn acqua si converse : 
 
 La pioggia cadde. e ai fossati venne 
 
 Di lei cio che la terra non sofferse : 120 
 
 E come a' rivi grandi si convenne, 
 
 Ver lo fiume real tanto veloce 
 
 Si ruinb, che nulla la ritenne. 
 
 h ilgiel Cg. W. 
 
 12 Cf. Eph. ii. 2. Tov apxovra TTJS e^ovcrias rov ufpos- Che pur 
 mal chiede. St. Thomas, Summa P. I. qu. Ixiv. art. 2, discusses 
 the question " Utrum voluntas daemonum sit obstinata in malo," and 
 decides it in the affirmative. 
 
 116 Gran giogo, the main ridge of the Apennine, which forms the 
 east side of the Casentino, the ridge of Pratomagno being on the west. 
 
 - = Fiume real, usually understood to mean the Arno, though Scart. 
 thinks the Archiano. The question is not very important ; but the 
 former seems to have the best claim to the epithet.
 
 60 / PURGATORY. CANTO v. 
 
 hard upon its mouth the swollen Archiano found ; and 
 that hurried it into the Arno, and loosened on my breast 
 the cross, which I made of myself when the pain overcame 
 me ; it rolled me by the banks and by the bottom ; then 
 with its booty covered me and girt me." 
 
 " Ah ! when thou art returned to the world, and rested 
 from thy long journey," the third spirit followed on the 
 second, " be mindful of me, that am Pia. Siena gave me 
 birth, Maremma undid me ; he knows it, who, ringed as I 
 was before, had espoused me with his own gem." 
 
 Locorpo mio gelato in su la foce 
 
 Trovb 1' Archian rubesto ; e quel sospinjse Xw^ 
 
 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 tomato al mondo, 130 
 
 E riposato della lunga via, 
 
 Seguitb il terzo spirito al secondo, 
 Ricorditi di me, che son la Pia : 
 
 Siena mi fe, disfecemi Maremma 
 
 Salsi colui che innanellata pria, 
 Disposato m' avea con la sua gemma. 
 
 124 In su, "just over," i.e. " close upon ; " in this sense more often 
 of time, as xxvii. 38. 
 
 129 Preda, the stones and earth which it carried down. 
 
 133 Pia Guastelloni, married first to a Tolomei, then to Nello 
 Pannocchieschi, of Castel della Pietra ; murdered by order of her second 
 husband, on a suspicion of infidelity, at a castle in the Sienese Maremma. 
 
 135 Salsi = se lo sa. So xxxi. 90. This use of the reflexive form 
 cf. vi. 2) must be distinguished from its use as equivalent to passive 
 e.g. in line 93. 
 
 136 The early edd. read disposando. The more recent editions 
 seem to agree in disposato, which is decidedly preferable in point of 
 sense. See Bianchi's note. 
 
 V
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Dante speaks with other spirits, among whom is Peter de la Brosse. 
 Virgil enlightens him on the subject of prayer for those in Purgatory. 
 They meet Gordello of Mantua, who greets Virgil, when he learns 
 that he is his countryman. Dante inveighs against the divisions of 
 Italy and the Emperor's neglect, and especially against his own city of 
 Florence. 
 
 WHEN the game of hazard breaks up. he who loses remains 
 sorrowfully recalling the throws, and learns by his grief; 
 with the other, all the folk go their way j one goes before, 
 
 QUANDO si parte il giuoco della zara 
 Colui che perde si riman dolente, 
 Ripetendo le volte, e tristo impara : 
 
 1 Zara played with three dice. See Blanc, Erklarungen. Phila- 
 lethes, following Buti, says that the thrower backed the numbers from 
 7-14, and when any of these turned up cried zara = zero. The odds 
 are considerably in favour of the thrower, and this the loser finds out 
 by experience. Vallutello, who gives a somewhat different account, says 
 that it is also called cianza = chance.
 
 62 PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 and one catches him from behind, and another on one side 
 brings himself to his remembrance. He stays him not, and 
 listens to one and the other ; the man to whom he reaches 
 his hand makes no more press, and thus he defends himself 
 from the jostling. Such was I in that thick crowd, turning 
 to them here and there my face and promising, I got me 
 clear of it. Here was the Aretine, who from the fierce 
 arms of Ghino di Tacco had his death ; and the other who 
 was drowned while running in the rout. Here was praying 
 
 Con P altro se ne va tutta la gente : 
 
 Qual va dinanzi, e qual diretro 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 piu non fa pressa : 
 E cosi dalla calca si difende. 
 
 Tal era io in quella turba spessa, 10 
 
 Volgendo a loro e qua e la la faccia, 
 E promettendo mi sciogliea da essa. 
 
 Quivi era P Aretin, che dalle braccia 
 Fiere di Ghin di Tacco ebbe la morte, 
 E P altro ch' annegb correndo in caccia. 
 
 *3 Benincasa of Arezzo being acting podestil of Siena put to death 
 the brother of Ghino di Taceo, a famous highwayman, and was himself 
 slain by Ghino while sitting in the Papal audit office at Rome. For an 
 amusing passage in Ghino's history, see Boccaccio, Decam. Day x. 
 nov. 2. 
 
 *5 One of the Tarlati of Arezzo. It does not seem certain whether 
 he was in the " chase " as pursuer or pursued. One story makes him 
 among the fugitives at Campaldino. (Land, says Monteaperto, but 
 there do not seem to have been any Aretines engaged there.) His 
 name is given variously as Guccio, Ciacco, and Cione. Both he and 
 the next named, Federigo, son of Guido Novello of Battifolle, met their
 
 CANTO vi. PURGATORY. 63 
 
 with his hands outspread, Frederick Novello, and he of 
 Pisa who made the good Marzucco show his fortitude. I 
 saw Count Orso ; and the spirit divided from its body 
 through hate and envy, as he said, not for fault committed, 
 Peter de la Brosse I mean ; and here let the dame of 
 Brabant take forethought while she is in this world, so that 
 therefore she be not of a worser flock. 
 
 Quivi pregava con le mani sporte 
 Federigo Novello, e quel da Pisa, 
 Che fe parer lo buon Marzucco forte. 
 
 Vidi Cont' Orso, e 1' anima divisa 
 
 . Dal corpo suo per astio e per inveggia, 20 
 
 Come dicea, non per colpa commisa : 
 
 Pier dalla Broccia dico : e qui provveggia, 
 Mentr' e di qua, la donna di Brabante, 
 Si che perb non sia di peggior greggia 
 
 death at the hands of the Bostoli, or Bartoli. annego. For this intran- 
 sitive use of annegare and other words, see Corticelli, Lingua Tosc., 
 bk. ii. ch. 3, and cf. the similar idiom in English. 
 
 18 The one point agreed by all the Commentators is that the son of 
 Marzucco de' Scornigiani, a gentleman of Pisa, was murdered. There is 
 a difference of opinion as to whether it was in revenge or forgiveness 
 that he showed his fortitude, but the weight of evidence is in favour of 
 the latter interpretation. The person here mentioned is the son. 
 
 J 9 There is even greater uncertainty as to Count Orso. See Phila- 
 lethes's note. 
 
 22 Peter de la Brosse, surgeon and afterwards chamberlain to 
 Philip III. of France. He was hung in 1276, on a charge of treason- 
 able correspondence with the king of Castile. Another story says that 
 Mary of Brabant, Philip's second wife, accused him of attempting her 
 chastity, in revenge for his having suspected her of poisoning the king's 
 eldest son Louis. Both charges may have been brought, the latter being 
 not uncommon in the Middle Ages, whenever a wife wished to ruin a 
 husband's favourite.
 
 64 PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 When I was free from all those shades, whose prayer 
 was only that another pray, so that their sanctification may 
 come quickly, I began : " Methinks thou tellest me, O my 
 light, expressly in a certain passage, that prayer bends not 
 decree of Heaven, and these folk pray only for that. 
 Would then their hope be vain, or is thy saying not rightly 
 manifest to me ? " And he to me : " My writing is plain, 
 and the hope of these fails not, if it is looked at well with 
 sound judgement ; since the high summit of justice is not 
 vailed because the fire of love accomplishes in one moment 
 that satisfaction which he owes who is lodged here ; and 
 in the case where I affirmed that point, a defect was not 
 
 Come libero fui da tutte quante 
 
 Quell' ombre, che pregar pur ch' altri preghi, 
 
 Si che s' avacci il lor divenir sante, 
 lo cominciai : E' par che tu mi nieghi, 
 
 O luce mia, espresso in alcun testo, 
 
 Che decreto del Cielo orazion pieghi : 30 
 
 E questa gente prega pur di questo. 
 
 Sarebbe dunque loro speme vana ? 
 
 O non m' e il detto tuo ben manifesto ? 
 Ed egli a me : La mia scrittura e piana, 
 
 E la speranza di costor non falla, 
 
 Se ben si guarda con la mente sana : . -il 
 Che cima di giudicio non s' awalla, 
 
 Perche fuoco d' amor compia in un punto 
 
 Cio, che dee soddisfar chi qui s' astalla : a 
 E la dov' io fermai cotesto"punto, 40 
 
 * Si stalla Gg. (altered from s'as.); W. 
 =9 " Desine fata Deum flecti sperare precando." /En. vi. 376.
 
 CANTO vi. PURGATORY. 65 
 
 amended by praying, because the prayer was disjoined 
 from God. But in regard to so lofty a doubt, rest not 
 thyself, until she tell it thee, who will be a light betwixt 
 the truth and the understanding. I know not if thou 
 comprehend : I speak of Beatrice ; thou wilt see her 
 above, upon the summit of this mount, smiling in bliss." 
 And I : " Master, go we with greater speed ; for now 
 I grow not wearied as before ; and see how the slope 
 begins now to cast its shadow." "We will go forward 
 with this daylight," he answered, "as far as we shall yet 
 
 Non si ammendava, per pregar, difetto, 
 Perche il prego da Dio era disgiunto. 
 
 Veramente a cosl alto sospetto 
 
 Non ti fermar, se quella nol ti dice, 
 Che lume fia tra il vero e 1' intelletto : 
 
 Non so se intend! : io dico di Beatrice : 
 Tu la vedrai di sopra, in su la vetta 
 Di questo monte, ridere felice. b 
 
 Ed io : Signore, andiamo a maggior fretta, 
 
 Che gia non m' affatico come dianzi : 50 
 
 E vedi omai, che il poggio 1'ombra getta. 
 
 Noi anderem con questo giorno innanzi, 
 Rispose, quanto piu potremo omai : 
 
 b ridere e Cass. 2 W. rider e 1345 ; tidenie e Aid. Land. Bi. 
 c Buon Duca and. Aid. Bi. 
 
 3 Veramente = Lat. verum, as in xxii. 28, and Conv. i. 2. 
 
 SI Omai. See i. 2. This shows how the original meaning passes 
 into the other. " Henceforth the hill casts a shadow" is the same as 
 " the hill has now begun to cast, or already casts."
 
 66 PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 be able, but the fact is otherwise than thou supposest. 
 Before thou art there on high, thou wilt see return him 
 who already is being covered by the hillside, so that thou 
 makest not his rays to break. But see there a soul 
 which posted all alone is looking towards us ; it will point 
 out to us the quickest way." We came to it. O Lombard 
 soul, how wert thou standing haughty and disdainful ! and in 
 the movement of thine eyes dignified and tranquil. It was 
 
 Ma il fatto e d' altra forma che non staijzi. 
 Prima che sii lassu, tornar vedrai 
 
 Colui che gia si cuopre della costa, 
 
 SI che i suoi raggi tu romper non fai. 
 Ma vedi la un' anima, che posta 
 
 Sola soletta verso noi riguarda : 
 
 Quella ne insegnerk la via piu tosta. 60 
 
 Vennimo a lei : o anima Lombarda, 
 
 Come ti stavi altera e disdegnosa, 
 
 E nel muover degli occhi onesta e tarda -* 
 Ella non ci diceva alcuna cosa : 
 
 54 Dante thinks that they will be abl6 to travel faster when the sun 
 is off them, and will reach the summit soon ; but Virgil explains that 
 they have farther to go than can be accomplished in one night's journey. 
 There is no question here of inability to go by night. As appears 
 from vii. 50, Virgil is not yet himself aware that any such difficulty 
 exists. 
 
 57 There is no other instance in Dante of rompere intrans., except 
 in Conv. iv. 28, where it has the technical meaning of "to be wrecked." 
 At the same time there is still greater difficulty about understanding 
 fai as puoi or even as a mere auxiliary verb. One is tempted to wonder 
 whether fare ever got mixed up with Goth, fahan, Germ.fahcn (fangen), 
 whence fiihig. W. gives a variant sat, but no authority for it. 
 
 63 Onesta e tarda. Cf. iii. 10, n.
 
 CANTO vi. PURGATORY. 67 
 
 saying nothing to us, but was letting us go on, only looking 
 in fashion of a lion when he reposes. Nevertheless, Virgil 
 drew near to it, praying that it would show us the best 
 ascent; and it answered not to his demand, but inquired 
 of us about our country and our life. And the gentle 
 leader began : " Mantua . . . ." And the shade that was 
 all self-contained and lonely sprang toward him from the 
 place where before it was standing, saying : " O Mantuan, 
 
 Ma lasciavane gir, solo guardando d 
 
 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 dimando : 
 Ma di nostro paese e della vita 70 
 
 C' inchiese. E il dolce Duca incominciava, 
 
 Mantova ...El' ombra tutta in se rojmta, 
 Surse ver lui del luogo, ove pria stava, 
 
 Dicendo, O Mantovano, io son Sordello 
 
 d sol rigtiard. Gg. 
 
 72 Tutta in se romita. The words are almost untranslatable, from 
 their exceeding compression. Philalethes perhaps succeeds best with 
 his '' ganz in sich vertieft' erst ; " but this hardly gives the force of / 
 romita, "hermit." 
 
 74 Sordello soldier, statesman, and poet was born early in the 
 thirteenth century, and was living in 1266, as appears from a letter of 
 Pope Clement IV. to Charles of Anjou, dated in that year. Dante 
 mentions him, De Vulg. Eloq. i. 15 ; but only as an instance of a 
 person who had abandoned his native dialect in writing and speaking. 
 Villani does not mention him. The chief evidence for his having been 
 podesta of Mantua seems to be his position here in company with men 
 who were all rulers ; on the other hand, these officers were almost, if 
 not quite invariably, chosen from the citizens of another state than 
 that which they ruled. All that is known with any certainty about 
 Sordello may be found in Fauriel, vol. i. p. 504, sq. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 I am Sordello of thy land." And the one embraced the 
 other. Ah Italy ! thou slave, hostel of woe, ship without 
 pilot in so great a tempest, not lady of provinces, but 
 brothel ! This noble spirit was thus ready, only for the 
 sweet sound of his country's [name], to make joyous greeting 
 for his fellow-citizen here ; and now in thee thy living 
 men stay not without war, and one gnaws the other of 
 those whom one wall enlocks and one moat. Search, 
 wretch, thy sea-coasts all about the shores, and then 
 look into the heart, if any part in thee enjoys peace. What 
 
 Delia tua terra. E 1' un 1' altro abbracciava. 
 Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello, 
 
 Nave senza nocchiero in gran tempesta, 
 
 Non donna di provincie, ma bordello ; 
 Quell' anima gentil fu cosi presta, 
 
 Sol per lo dolce suon della sua terra, e 80 
 
 Di fare ar cittadin suo quivi festa : 
 Ed ora in te non stanno senza guerra 
 
 Li vivi tuoi, e 1' un 1' altro si rode 
 
 Di quei, che unjnuro ed una fossa serra. 
 Cerca, misera, intorno dalle prode 
 
 Le tue marine, e poi ti guarda in seno, 
 
 S' alcuna parte in te di pace gode. 
 
 e per quel Gg. 
 
 7$ Observe that though Dante cannot embrace a shade, one shade 
 can sometimes embrace another ; though even this is not always allowed. 
 See xxi. 135, 136. 
 
 17 In Conv. iv. 4, Dante works out at some length the image of ship 
 and pilot as appropriate to the relations of the state and the emperor. 
 
 78 Cf. Isaiah xlvii. 5. 
 
 81 Festa. So in xxvi. 33.
 
 CANTO vr. PURGATORY. 69 
 
 boots it that Justinian should have put thy rein in order, 
 if the saddle is empty? Without that were the shame 
 less. Ah folk that ought to have been devout and to let 
 Caesar sit in the saddle, if ye understand well that which 
 God ordains to you, look how that beast has become fell, 
 through not being corrected with the spurs, since ye have 
 placed your hands upon the headstall. O German Albert, 
 who abandonest her that is become untamed and savage, 
 and oughtest to have bestridden her saddlebows, may a 
 
 Che val, perche ti racconciasse il freno 
 Giustiniano, se la sella^ e vota ? 
 Senz' esso fora la vergogna meno. 90 
 
 Ahi gente, che dovresti esser devota, 
 E lasciar seder Cesare in la sella, 
 Se bene intendi cib che Dio ti nota, 
 
 Guarda com' esta fiera e fatta fella, 
 Per non esser corretta dagli sproni, 
 Poi che ponesti mano alia predella. 
 
 O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni 
 Costei ch' e fatta indomita e selvaggia, 
 E dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni : 
 
 91 Gente ; the clergy. 
 
 93 "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." 
 
 96 Predella (or as some MSS. read, bridella), "e quella parte della 
 briglia che si tiene in mano" (Landino). " Quella parte della briglia 
 che si gira alia guancia del cavallo presso il morso " (note in the Milan 
 edition of Villani ix. 241). Though no doubt the same word as our 
 bridle, it thus has not quite the same meaning. Lombard! takes it in 
 the modern sense of "a footstool," as if a mounting-block, which seems 
 unnecessary and weak. For the whole comparison of Italy to a riderless I 
 horse, cf. Conv. iv. 9. 
 
 97 Albert I. of Hapsburg, emperor (but never crowned) from 
 1298-1308, in which year he was assassinated by his nephew. (Vill. 
 viii. 94.) This took place almost within sight of the castle of Hapsburg.
 
 7o PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 just judgment fall from the stars on thy blood, and may it 
 be strange and evident, such that thy -successor may have 
 fear of it ; for ye have, thou and thy father, suffered 
 through covetousness being drawn away from hence that 
 the garden of the empire should lie desert. Come and see 
 Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi, thou 
 careless man, those already grieving, these in suspicion. 
 
 Giusto giudicio dalle stelle caggia 100 
 
 Sovra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo, ed aperto, 
 Tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia : 
 
 Che avete tu e il tuo padre sofferto, 
 Per cupidigia di costa distretti, 
 Che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto. 
 
 Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, 
 Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura, 
 Color gia tristi, e costor con sospetti. 
 
 106-108 T^ q ues ti on here is, as Philalethes points out, whether these 
 are to be regarded as pairs of opposing families, or as all examples of 
 oppressed Ghibellines. The known enmity of the first-named pair 
 rather countenances the former view, and with regard to the Monalcl 
 and Filippeschi, who were noble families of Orvieto, Land, and Veil, 
 tell us that they were " due contrarie famiglie." (Vellutello, it may be 
 remarked, takes line 108 as referring to the Monaldi and Filippeschi only ; 
 the former sad at being oppressed by the latter, and these fearing ven- 
 geance. But most commentators prefer the more obvious interpre- 
 tation.) Pietro di Dante gives similar evidence. Bianchi and Blanc 
 call them all four Ghibelline families. Philalethes "does not know to 
 which party the Monaldeschi belonged ; " but quotes some evidence 
 pointing not very distinctly to the supposition that the Filippeschi were 
 Guelfs. Neither of the learned German commentators seems to have 
 referred to Villani, who says (ix. 40), that in 1312 on the occasion of 
 the emperor Henry VII. 's passage through Orvieto, "i Filippeschi 
 d'Orbivieto, col loro seguito di Ghibellini cominciarono battaglia nella 
 citta contro a Monaldeschi e gli altri Guelfi d'Orbivieto, per dare la terra 
 allo imperadore." This appears conclusive.
 
 CANTO vr. PURGATORY. 71 
 
 Come, cruel, come, and behold the oppression of thy 
 nobles, and heal their disorders, and thou wilt see in what 
 wise Santafiore is at ease. Come to see thy Rome who 
 weeps, widowed, alone, and day and night cries out : 
 " My Caesar, wherefore art thou not my companion ? " 
 Come to see how much the folk love one another ; and 
 if no pity for us moves thee, come to shame thyself for thy 
 own renown. And if it is allowed me, O highest Jove, 
 who upon earth wast crucified for us, are thy just eyes 
 turned other-whither ? Or is it preparation, which in the 
 
 Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura 
 
 De' tuoi gentili, e cura lor magagne, no 
 
 E vedrai Santafior, com' e sicura. 
 Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, 
 
 Vedova, sola, e di e notte chiama, 
 
 Cesare mio, perche non m' accompagne ? 
 Vieni a veder la gente, quanto s' ama : 
 
 E se nulla di noi pieta ti muove, J , 
 
 A vergognar ti vien della tua fama. 
 E se licito m' e, o sommo Giove, 
 
 Che fosti in terra per noi crocifisso, 
 
 Son li giusti occhi tuoi rivolti altrove ? 120 
 
 O e preparazion, che nell' abisso 
 
 111 Santafiore, a county in the territory of Siena, formerly an 
 imperial fief, now in the hands of the Guelfs of the city. Villani 
 mentions the counts more than once among the leading Ghibellines of 
 Tuscany. There is another reading, come si cura ; but the irony of 
 com' e sicura is quite in Dante's manner, cf. line 115. 
 
 118 Philalethes suggests, what is probably true, that Dante imagined 
 Jehovah and Jove to be the same word. Otherwise he would hardly 
 have used the name of one of the " dei [falsi e bugiardi " in such a 
 collocation.
 
 72 PURGATORY. CANTO vr. 
 
 abyss of thy counsel thou makest for some good, wholly 
 cut off from our comprehension ? For the lands of Italy 
 are all full of tyrants, and every churl that comes parti- 
 sanning it becomes a Marcellus. My Florence, well 
 mayst thou be satisfied with this digression that touches 
 thee not, thanks to thy people that is so full of reason. 
 Many have justice in heart, but it shoots forth late, through 
 not coming to the bow without counsel ; but thy people 
 
 Del tuo consiglio fai per alcun bene ; 
 
 In tutto dalP accorger nostro ascisso ? &*^ *fp 
 Che le terre d' Italia tutte piene 
 
 Son di tiranni ; ed un Marcel diventa f 
 
 Ogni villan che parteggiando viene ? 
 Fiorenza mia, ben puoi esser contenta 
 
 Di questa digression che non ti tocca 
 / Merce del popol tuo, che si argo.menta. 
 
 Mold han giustizia in cuor, ma tardi scocca, 130 
 
 Per non venir senza consiglio all' arco : 
 
 Ma il popol tuo P ha in sommo della bocca. 
 
 f un Metel Gg. 
 
 123 A Marcellus was consul in each of the years A. U. C. 703, 704, 
 and 705, and they were all opponents of Ctesar. The one more par- 
 ticularly in Dante's mind was probably the first of these, M. Claudius 
 Marcellus, the Marcellus loquax of Lucan, who was the most bitter in 
 his opposition. See the letters of Caelius to Cicero during 703 and 704. 
 It is curious, as showing how the conception of the empire was changed, 
 to observe that Dante likens the man of low birth who gets a reputa- 
 tion by attacking the nobles, to the very men who defended the nobles 
 in former times against the democratic party and Caesar. The reading 
 is explained by Metel ix. 138. 
 
 129 Landino, Blanc, Fraticelli read s'argomenta "takes thought," 
 as in xxv. 15. I think the si is wanted ; and there is probably a play 
 on two meanings of the word, which the English "reason" partly 
 conveys.
 
 CANTO vi. PURGATORY. 73 
 
 has it on the outermost lips. Many refuse the burden of 
 the commonweal ; but thy people answers eagerly without 
 call, and cries : " I charge myself." Now make thyself 
 happy, for thou hast surely wherefore : thou who art rich, 
 at peace, thou [filled] with wisdom. If I say true, the 
 result conceals it not. Athens and Lacedaemon, that framed 
 the ancient laws, and were so civilised, made in regard 
 to living well a small mark compared with thee, who 
 makest such subtle provisions, that to mid-November 
 reaches not what thou in October dost spin. How often in 
 
 Molti rifiutan lo comune incarco : 
 Ma il popol tuo sollecito risponde 
 Senza chiamare, e grida : lo mi sobbarco. 
 
 Or ti fa lieta, che tu hai ben onde : 
 Tu ricca, tu con pace, tu con senno. 
 S' io dico ver, 1' effetto nol nasconde. 
 
 Atene e Lacedem&na, che fenno 
 
 Le antiche leggi, e furon si civili, 140 
 
 Fecero al viver bene un picciol cenno, 
 
 Verso di te, che fai tanto sottili 
 
 Proveddimenti, ch' a mezzo Novembre 
 Non giunge quel che tu d' Ottobre fili. 
 
 Quante volte del tempo, che rimembre, 
 
 135 Sobbarco = to gird up the garments for work (Bianchi). ft 
 
 39,u Villani (xii. 19) quotes these lines as appropriate to the state 
 of the city in 1343 ; and ib. 97 the three following with reference to 
 the change of coinage in 1347. Philalethes gives, in a note, a short ac- 
 count of the changes in Florentine parties during the thirteenth century, 
 and adds, with some naivete, " Freilich, was ist dieses, gegen die 
 Umwalzungen und Verfassungsveranderungen von 1789-1851?" No 
 better justification of Dante's words is needed than may be found in 
 Villani passim, and Macchiavelli Hist. Flor. bk. ii.
 
 74 PURGATORY. CANTO vi. 
 
 the time that thou rememberest hast thou changed law, 
 money, and offices, and customs, and renewed thy 
 members ? And if thou rightly call thyself to mind, and 
 see light, thou wilt behold thyself in semblance of that 
 sick one, who cannot find repose upon the feathers, but 
 with turning over keeps off her pain. 
 
 Legge, moneta, e ufici, e costume 
 Hai tu mutato, e rinnovato membre ? 
 
 E se ben ti ricorda, e vedi lume, 
 
 Vedrai te simigliante a quella inferma, 
 
 Che non pub trovar posa in su le piume, 150 
 
 Ma con dar volta suo dolore scherma. 
 
 I4 ? Mutato. The rule of the agreement of participles is not 
 invariable in Dante.
 
 CANTO VII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Virgil makes himself and his condition known to Sordello, who leads them 
 to a little valley on the mountain-side, where they find many kings and 
 princes such as had, through the cares of this world, put off repentance. 
 Among them are Rudolf the Emperor, Charles of France, king of 
 Apulia, Peter king of Aragon, Henry king of England, and Philip king 
 of France. 
 
 AFTER that the noble and joyful Jgreetings had been re- 
 peated thrice and four times, Sordello drew back, and 
 said : " Who are ye ?" " Before that the souls worthy to 
 ascend to God were turned toward this mount were my 
 bones buried by Octavian. I am Virgil, and for no other 
 crime did I lose Heaven than for not having faith," thus 
 answered then my Leader. As he who sees on a sudden a 
 
 POSCIACH& 1' accoglienze oneste e liete 
 Furo iterate tre e quattro volte, 
 Sordel si trasse, e disse : Voi chi siete ? 
 
 Prima ch' a questo monte fosser volte 
 L' anime degne di salire a Dio, 
 Fur 1' ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte : 
 
 lo son Virgilio : e per null' altro rio 
 Lo Ciel perdei, che per non aver f e ; 
 Cosl rispose allora il Duca mio.
 
 76 PURGATORY. CANTO vn. 
 
 thing before him, whereof he so wonders that he believes 
 and doubts, saying: " It is, it is not ;" such appeared he, 
 and then he veiled his brows, and humbly turned again 
 toward the other, and embraced him where the inferior 
 takes hold. " O glory of the Latins," said he, " through 
 whom our tongue showed what its power was ; O eternal 
 treasure of the place whence I sprang, what desert or what 
 favour shows thee to me ? If I am worthy to hear thy 
 words, tell me if thou comest from Hell, and from what 
 ward." " Through all the circles of the realm of woe," 
 
 Qual e colui, che cosa innanzi a se 10 
 
 Subita vede, ond' ei si maraviglia, 
 Che crede e no, dicendo : Ell' e, non e, 
 
 Tal parve quegli : e poi chinb le ciglia, 
 Ed umilmente ritorno ver lui, 
 Ed abbracciollo ove il minor s' appiglia. a 
 
 O gloria de' Latin, disse, per cui 
 
 Mostro cio che potea la lingua nostra : 
 O pregio eterno del loco, ond' io fui : 
 
 Qual merito, o qual grazia mi ti mostra ? 
 
 S' io son d' udir le tue parole degno, 20 
 
 Dimmi se vien d' Inferno, e di qual chiostra ? 
 
 Per tutti i cerchi del dolente regno, 
 
 a abbracriol la ove Gg. . . . cio let dove Cass. ... V nutrir Gg. 
 (marg.) Aid. etc. 
 
 " I venture to read ond' ei si maraviglia, instead of the usual si, 
 as it seems to make the sense run more smoothly. 
 
 '5 Ove '1 minor s' appiglia. Usually taken to mean the knees ; 
 but Land, "sotto le braccia." Others, ove 'I nutrir, Le. the navel, 
 hence, the waist. 
 
 21 Chiostra ; so Inf. xxix. 40.
 
 CANTO VII. PURGATORY. 77 
 
 he answered him, " am I come to this side ; a power from 
 Heaven moved me, and with it I come. Not for doing, but 
 for not doing, have I lost the sight of the Sun on high 
 whom thou desirest, and who was too late known by me. 
 There is a place below, not sad with torments, but with 
 gloom only, where the lamentations sound not as wails but 
 are sighs. There stay I, with the little innocents bitten by 
 the teeth of death, before that they were freed from human 
 sin. There stay I, with those who were not clad with the 
 three holy virtues, but faultless knew the others, and followed 
 every one. But if thou knowest and canst, give us some 
 
 Rispose lui, son io di qua venuto : 
 Virtu del Ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno. 
 
 Non per far, ma per non fare ho perduto 
 Di veder 1' alto Sol che tu disiri, 
 E che fu tardi da me conosciuto. 
 
 Luogo e laggiu no'h tristo da martiri, 
 Ma di tenebre solo, ove i lament! 
 Non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri. 30 
 
 Quivi sto io co' parvoli innocenti, b 
 Dai denti morsi della morte, avante 
 Che fosser dell' umana colpa esenti. 
 
 Quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante 
 Virtu non si vestiro, e senza vizio 
 Conobber 1'altre, e seguir tutte quante. 
 
 Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcun indizio 
 
 b pargoli Gg. 
 
 34 The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity ; 1'altre in 
 line 36 being the moral virtues of temperance, justice, fortitude, and 
 prudence. Notice the Latin construction of virtu si vestiro.
 
 78 PURGATORY. CANTO vn. 
 
 direction, whereby we may come more quickly there where 
 Purgatory has its right beginning." He answered : " A certain 
 place is not assigned to us : it is permitted me to go upward 
 and around : as far as I can go, I put myself at thy side 
 as guide. But see already how the day declines, and to go 
 upward in the night is not possible ; wherefore it is good to 
 think about a fair sojourn. There are spirits to the right 
 here, apart, if thou give me thy consent, I will lead thee 
 to them, and not without delight will they become known 
 to thee." " How is that ? " was the reply ; " he who 
 would mount at night, would he be hindered of any? or 
 
 Da noi, perche venir possiam piu tosto 
 Lk dove il Purgatorio ha dritto inizio. 
 
 Rispose : Luogo certo non c' e posto : 40 
 
 Licito m' e andar suso ed intorno : 
 Per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t' accosto : 
 
 Ma vedi gia come dichina il giorno, 
 Ed andar su di notte non si puote : 
 Perb e buon pensar di bel soggiorno. 
 
 Anime sono a destra qua rimote : 
 
 Se '1 mi consenti, io ti merro ad esse, c 
 E non senza diletto ti fien note. 
 
 Com' e cib ? fu risposto : chi volesse 
 
 Salir di notte, fora egli impedito 50 
 
 D' altrui ? ovver saria che non potesse ? d 
 
 c Se mi Cass. Gg. Aid. Land, menerotti Bi. 
 
 d o lion sarria Cass. Aid. (i) Lontb. ; o pur sarria Aid. (2); o pur 
 saria Land. 
 
 40 Cf. yEn. vi. 673. 
 
 5' Ower saria. Philalethes and Blanc prefer the reading, o non 
 sarria = saliria. Landino's reading seems to give, on the whole, the 
 best sense, but lacks MS. authority. In o pur sarria, in the Aldine of 
 1515, the second r is probably a misprint.
 
 CANTO vii. PURGATORY. 79 
 
 would it be that he could not?" And the good Bordello 
 rubbed his ringer on the ground, saying : " See, only this 
 line thou wouldst not pass after the sun was set ; not, how- 
 ever, that anything, other than the gloom of night, would 
 give hindrance to going upward ; that with want of power 
 hampers the will. Well were it possible with it to turn 
 downward, and pass over the hillside wandering about, 
 while that the horizon holds the day closed." Then my 
 Master, as though wondering, said : " Lead us then to the 
 place where thou sayest that one may have delight in 
 tarrying." 
 
 A little distance had we gone away from that place, 
 
 E il buon Sordello in terra fregb il dito, 
 Dicendo : Vedi, sola questa riga 
 Non varcheresti dopo il Sol partito : 
 
 Non perb che altra cosa desse briga, 
 Che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso : 
 Quella col non poter la voglia intriga. 
 
 Ben si poria con lei tornare in giuso, 
 E passeggiar la costa intorno errando, 
 Mentre che 1' orizzonte il di tien chiuso. 60 
 
 Allora il mio Signer, quasi ammirando, 
 Menane, disse, dunque la 've dici 
 Che aver si pub diletto dimorando. 
 
 Poco allungati c' eravam di lici, 
 
 54 It may be remarked that though the shades are too unsubstantial 
 to be grasped by mortal arms, yet Sordello can mark the ground with 
 his finger. 
 
 57 Cf. v. 66. The meaning of the passage generally is, as Philalethes 
 points out, that without God's grace man cannot make any progress 
 towards good, while his own power suffices to enable him to fall into
 
 8o PURGATORY. CANTO vn. 
 
 when I was aware that the mountain was cut away in 
 fashion as the valleys cut them away here. " Yonder," said 
 that shade, " will we take our way, where the hillside makes 
 of itself a bosom, and there will we await the new day." 
 Part steep, part level, was a winding path, which led us 
 into a side of the hollow, there where the rim dies more 
 than half away. Gold and fine silver, cochineal and white 
 lead, the Indian wood lucid and serene, fresh emerald in 
 
 Quand' io m' accorsi che il monte era scemo, 
 
 A guisa che i vallon li sceman quici. e 
 Cola, disse quell' ombra, n' anderemo, 
 
 Dove la costa face di se grembo, 
 
 E quivi il nuovo giorno attenderemo. 
 Tra erto e piano era un sentiere sghembo, 70 
 
 Che ne condusse in fianco della lacca, 
 
 La ove piu che a mezzo muore il lembo 
 Oro ed argento fino, cocco e biacca, 
 
 Indico legno lucido e sereno/ 
 
 e valloni Aid, Land. Bi ; ? vallon si. c lucido sereno Cass. Gg. 14. 
 
 63 Era scemo. " Cioe aveva concavita." Buti. 
 
 67. 9 While Sordello speaks of the place as to be gone to, it is cola ; 
 when he is saying what is to be done there, it is quivi. 
 
 70 Tra erto e piano. I am inclined to think with Landino and 
 Bianchi that these words refer not to the position but to the nature of 
 the path. Cf. such .expressions as " centocinquanta migliaia di persone 
 tra uccisono e menarono ; " "avea armate centoventi tra galee e altri 
 legni." Villani. Cf. xxiv. 13. 
 
 72 Muore. It will be noticed that Dante generally uses the present 
 tense in describing the physical features of Purgatory ; a natural touch 
 which perhaps more than anything else gives an effect of reality to his 
 descriptions.
 
 CANTO vii. PURGATORY. 81 
 
 the hour when it flakes, each would be vanquished in colour 
 by the grass and by the flowers placed within that lap, as 
 by its greater is vanquished the less. Nature had not only 
 painted there, but with the sweetness of a thousand odours 
 made there one, unknown, and undistinguished. There I 
 saw souls sit singing Salve Regina on the green and on the 
 
 Fresco smeraldo in 1' ora che si fiacca, 
 DalP erba e dalli fior dentro a quel seno 
 Posti, ciascun saria di color vinto, 
 Come dal suo maggiore e vinto il meno. 
 Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto, 
 
 Ma di soavita di mille odori 80 
 
 Vi facea un incognito e indistinto. x x x ^ J/o 
 Salve, regina, in sul verde e in sui fiori 
 
 73, 74, 73 it will be noticed that these represent the colours with 
 which the illuminators of books would chiefly work. There is much 
 difficulty about indico legrio. A blue is clearly wanted, but it seems 
 doubtful whether the words can mean indigo. Many commentators 
 understand ebony, and Blanc compares Georg. ii. 116 ; but the epithets 
 do not seem appropriate ; nor is a black substance in place here. It 
 may be observed that lucidi sereni is used by Boccaccio more than 
 once (i. 10, v. 6) in the sense of "clear skies," especially at night. 
 Possibly this meaning, which is also found in Latin (e.g. Georg. i. 393), 
 may have been sufficiently common to allow Dante to denote by it 
 "the blue of heaven," in which case the indico legno might still be 
 indigo, and the general idea would be that metals, pigments, animal 
 vegetable or mineral, precious stones, and even the colour of the sky 
 itself, were inadequate to represent the brilliant colouring of this 
 " Valley of Princes." It is not necessary to hold with Mr. Ruskin that 
 smeraldo is " emerald green ; " the uncut (fresco) emerald is not bright, 
 and it is not until the stone is split or flaked that the full colour is seen. 
 [Since this note was written I find that Mr. Parsons, an American 
 translator, has taken the same view as to lucidi serem'.] 
 
 81 Indistinto : " not to be separated into its component parts." 
 s - Salve Regina is one of the Compline Antiphons. 
 
 G
 
 82 PURGATORY. CANTO VII. 
 
 flowers, who by reason of the valley did not appear outside. 
 "Before the little sun that remains sets," began the Mantuan, 
 who had brought us, " desire not that I should guide you 
 among them. From this ledge better will you observe the 
 acts and countenances of each and all, than when received 
 among them in the dell below. He who sits highest, and 
 has the semblance of having neglected that which he ought 
 to have done, and who moves not his mouth to the others' 
 chants, was Rudolf the emperor, who had the power to 
 heal the wounds which have slain Italy, so that too late she 
 
 Quindi seder cantando anime vidi, 
 
 Che per la valle non parean di fuori. 
 Prima che il poco Sole omai s' annidi, 
 
 Comincio il Mantovan che ci avea volti, 
 
 Tra color non vogliate ch' io vi-guidi. 
 Da questo balzo meglio gli atti e i volti 
 
 Conoscerete voi di tutti quanti, 
 
 Che nella lama giu tra essi accolti. 90 
 
 Colui che piu sied' alto, ed ha sembianti 
 
 D' aver negletto cib che far dovea, 
 
 E che non muove bocca agli altrui canti, 
 Ridolfo Imperador fu, che potea 
 
 Sanar le piaghe ch' hanno Italia morta, 
 
 Si che tardi per altri si ricrea. 
 
 83 The shades of kings and other rulers who had deferred their 
 repentance, owing to the pressure of temporal interests. 
 
 **, 9S " Se avesse voluto passare in Italia sanza contrasto n'era 
 signore." Villani vii. 55. 
 
 96 Altri is rare in oblique cases ; so quei in iii. 120. Vid. Diez ii. 
 74, 75, 82. He is not quite consistent with himself. Henry VII. 
 of Luxemburg is the person meant.
 
 CANTO vii. PURGATORY. 83 
 
 is seeking cure through another. The other, who in visage is 
 comforting him, ruled the land where the water takes its rise 
 that Moldau into Elbe, and Elbe bears away into sea. Ottocar 
 had he to name, and in his swaddling-clothes was better far 
 than Wenceslas his son a bearded man, whom luxury and 
 ease feed. And that small-nosed man, who appears close 
 in counsel with him who has so benign a mien, died flying 
 and deflowering the lily ; look there, how he beats his 
 
 L' altro, che nella vista lui conforta, 
 Resse la terra dove 1' acqua nasce, 
 Che Molta in Albia, e Albia in mar ne porta. ff 
 
 Ottachero ebbe nome, e nelle fasce 100 
 
 Fu meglio assai, che Vincislao suo figlio 
 Barbuto, cui lussuria ed ozio pasce. 
 
 E quel nasetto, che stretto a consiglio' 1 
 Par con colui c' ha si benigno aspetto, 
 Mori fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio : 
 
 Guardate la, come si batte il petto. 
 
 s muta Gg. mcnta 3 Aid. Land. 
 h nasuto W. \btit he translates " stumpf Bellas' te"~\ 
 
 97 Ottocar, king of Bohemia, killed in battle against Rudolf 1277 
 (Vill. vii. 55). nella vista, etc. Cf. i. 79. 
 
 ioi Wenceslas died in 1310 (Vill. ix. i) ; cf. Par. xix. 125. His 
 daughter married John, son of the emperor Henry VII., who became 
 king of Bohemia and was killed at Crecy. 
 
 103 Philip III. of France died at Perpignan, Oct. 6, 1285, after a 
 disastrous retreat from Gerona. He had captured the town, but his 
 fleet was immediately afterwards destroyed in the Gulf of Rosas, by 
 Roger di Loria, admiral of Peter of Aragon, and his supplies being cut 
 off, he was compelled to retire. Witte says that his short nose may 
 still be observed in his effigy at Narbonne. 
 
 104 Colui. Henry III. of Navarre, whose daughter married Philip 
 the Fair, son of Philip III., and the mal di Francia. Cf. 1. 109. 
 
 Q 2
 
 84 PURGATORY. CANTO vn. 
 
 breast. The other ye see how he has made of his palm, 
 sighing, a bed for his cheek. Father and father-in-law are 
 they of the woe of France ; they know his corrupt and 
 filthy life, and hence comes the grief that so pierces them. 
 He who appears so large-limbed, and keeps time in his 
 chanting with him of the manly nose, wore girt on him 
 the cord of every worth. And if the youth who sits behind 
 
 L' altro vedete c' ha fatto alia guancia 
 
 Delia sua palma, sospirando, letto. 
 Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia : 
 
 Sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda, no 
 
 E quindi viene il duol, che si gli lancia. 
 Quel che par si membruto, e che s' accorda 
 
 Cantando con colui dal maschio naso, 
 
 D' ogni valor portb cinta la corda : 
 E se Re dopo lui fosse rimaso 
 
 112 Peter III., king of Aragon, and in the later years of his life 
 after the expulsion of the French at the " Sicilian Vespers" of Sicily, 
 and son-in-law to Manfred, died Nov. 8, 1285, of a wound received in 
 a skirmish with the French before Gerona. Villani (vii. 103) says of 
 him: " Fu valente signore e pro' in arme e bene awenturoso e savio 
 come nullo re che regnasse al suo tempo. " This notwithstanding the 
 rather discreditable trick played on Charles of Anjou, which practically 
 gave him Sicily. 
 
 "3 Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, king of Sicily and 
 Apulia, was the greatest champion whom the Guelf cause ever had. By 
 his defeats of Manfred (1265) and Conradin (1269), the power of the 
 Hohenstaufens was brought to an end in Italy. He died Jan. 7, I28|. 
 The first ninety-five chapters of Villani's seventh book are occupied 
 almost entirely with his doings. His character and person are sketched 
 in the first chapter, and the historian does not omit to mention his large 
 nose. He would seem to have been a man of high principles, and 
 sincerely religious, but lacking the sweetness of temper which, except 
 when a heretic was in question, distinguished his brother.
 
 CANTO vii. PURGATORY. 85 
 
 him had remained king after him, well had the worth gone 
 from vessel to vessel ; which cannot be said of the other 
 heirs. James and Frederick have the kingdoms : of the 
 better heritage no one possesses aught. Seldom rises human 
 goodness through the branches ; and this wills He who 
 gives it in order that from him it may be claimed. To the 
 
 Lo giovinetto che retro a lui siede, 
 
 Bene andava il valor di vaso in vaso : 
 Che non si puote dir dell' altre rede : 
 
 Jacomo e Fedeiico hanno i reami : 
 
 Del retaggio miglior nessun possiede. 120 
 
 Rade volte risurge per li rami 
 
 L' umana probitate : e questo vuole 
 
 Quei che la da, perche da lui si chiami. 
 Anco al nasuto vanno mie parole 
 
 Non men, ch' all' altro, Pier, che con lui canta : 
 
 * 
 
 116 Probably Alfonso, eldest son of Peter, who succeeded his father 
 in the kingdom of Aragon, but died after a reign of a few years only. 
 
 118 Notice rede fern. This is not unusual in the Romance lan- 
 guages. Cf. gitida, and Sp. guia, centinela. So Fr. sentinelle, Mte, even 
 when a male is referred to. 
 
 119 James, second son of Peter, succeeded at his father's death to the 
 throne of Sicily. On his elder brother's death, in 1295, he went to 
 Aragon, leaving Sicily under the control of his brother Frederick, thus 
 defrauding Charles II. (of Apulia), to whom he had promised to resign 
 it. Later, James and Charles joined against Frederick, and defeated 
 him in a sea-fight, July 4, 1299 ; but he continued to hold Sicily, and 
 showed himself in 1302 more than a match for Charles of Valois. Dante 
 apostrophises Charles of Apulia and Frederick in Conv. iv. 6 ; and 
 alludes to them with some bitterness, Par. xx. 61. But see iii. 1-16. 
 
 121 Cf. Odyssey, B. 276. 
 
 123 Others take chiami as = called or named. The point is, that 
 whereas physical qualities are received from the parent, those of the 
 mind or soul come directly from God. Cf. xxv. 70 sqq.
 
 86 PURGATORY. CANTO vii. 
 
 large-nosed man come my words, not less than to the other, 
 Peter, who sings with him; whence Apulia and Provence 
 already grieve. The plant is so much worse than its seed, 
 as, more than Beatrice and Margaret, Constance still boasts 
 
 Onde Puglia e Provenza gia si duole. 
 Tant' e del seme suo miglior la pianta, 
 
 Quanto piu che Beatrice e Margherita, 
 
 Gostanza di marito ancor si vanta 
 Vedete il Re della semplice vita 130 
 
 Seder Ik solo, Arrigo d' Inghilterra. 
 
 126 Charles II. , son of Charles of Anjou (il Nasuto), king of Apulia 
 and count of Provence, died May 3, 1308. " Uno de' [? piu] larghi e 
 graziosi signori che al suo tempo vivesse, e fu chiamato il secondo 
 Alessandro per la cortesia ; ma per altre virtu fu di poco valore," says 
 Villani viii. 1 08 ; and cf. Par. xix. 127. 
 
 128, 129 Beatrice and Margaret, daughters of Raimond Berenger, count 
 of Provence, were wives to Charles of Anjou and Louis IX. ; and 
 Constance, daughter of Manfred, was, as has been said, wife to Peter. 
 It may seem strange that Dante should so depreciate St. Louis ; but 
 probably his dislike to the royal house of France extended itself to its 
 head. At any rate, it is curious that that great king is nowhere men- 
 tioned throughout the poem. The meaning is, Charles's son is as 
 much inferior to him as Charles and Louis to Peter. Another view is 
 that the Margaret referred to is Charles's second wife, daughter of 
 Eudes, duke of Burgundy. Note in Gg. says : " Istse duae erant nurus 
 dominae Constantise uxores d. Jacopi et di Frederici " ; and Land, and 
 Veil, say that Beatrice was wife to Frederick, Margaret to James. This, 
 however, does not appear to agree with the facts ; as the wives of those 
 princes (daughters of Charles II.) were named respectively Eleanor 
 and Blanche. 
 
 131 Henry III. He sits apart probably as having no territorial con- 
 nection with the empire. Villani (v. 4) sums up his character shortly: 
 " Fu semplice uomo e di buona fe, e di poco valore ; " and elsewhere : 
 " Fu uomo di semplice vita." He agrees also with Dante in his opinion 
 of Edward I. : "II buono re Adoardo, uno de' piu valorosi signori al 
 suo tempo " (viii. 90). 

 
 CANTO vii. PURGATORY. 87 
 
 of her husband. See the king of the simple life sitting 
 there alone Henry of England ; he has in his branches 
 better issue. He who lower down sits on the ground 
 among those, looking upward, is William the marquis, for 
 whose sake Alessandria and her war makes Monferrato and 
 the Canavese weep. 
 
 Questi ha ne' rami suoi migliore uscita. 1 
 Quel che piu basso tra costor s' atterra, 
 
 Guardando insuso, e Guglielmo Marchese, 
 
 Per cui Alessandria e la sua guerra 
 Fa pianger Monferrato e il Canavese. 
 
 1 reami Cass. Gg. 134. 
 
 '3* William, marquis of Montferrat, and the Canavese (the district, 
 according to Philalethes, between the two Doras and the Po), was 
 captured and imprisoned by the men of Alessandria. He died 1292, 
 and his sons, to avenge him, went to war. Dante commemorates him 
 (Conv. iv. 6) among men renowned for generosity.
 
 CANTO VIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 First sunset. The souls pray together, and two angels come to guard 
 them. The poets descend among them, and Dante meets Nino de' 
 Visconti and Conrad Malaspina. A serpent comes, and is put to flight 
 by the angels. Then Dante and his friends converse till far into the 
 night. 
 
 IT was already the hour which brings desire upon sea- 
 farers, and makes tender their heart, the day that they 
 have said farewell to their sweet friends ; and which pricks 
 the new pilgrim with love, if he hears a bell from afar, 
 which seems to mourn the day that is dying ; when I began 
 to render vain my hearing, and to gaze on one of the souls 
 
 ERA gik 1' ora che volge il disio 
 Ai naviganti, e intenerisce il cuore 
 Lo di 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 muore, 
 
 Quand' io incominciai a render vano 
 L' udire, ed a mirare una dell' alme 
 
 5 Se ode. For the hiatus, cf. iv. 2, Par. xxvi. 34. 
 7 I.e. I listened no more to Sordello.
 
 CANTO viii. PURGATORY. 
 
 which, risen up, was with its hand beseeching attention. 
 It joined and lifted both its palms, fixing its eyes toward 
 the East, as it had said to God : " Aught else I heed not" J 
 Te luds ante so devoutly issued from its mouth, and with 
 such sweet notes, that it made me issue from my own 
 thought. And the others then sweetly and devoutly 
 followed it throughout the entire hymn, having their eyes 
 on the supernal wheels. Sharpen here, reader, well thy 
 eyes to the truth, for the veil is now, surely, full fine enough 
 for the passing within to be easy. 
 
 Surta, che F ascoltar chiedea con mano. 
 Ella giunse e levo ambo le palme, 10 
 
 Ficcando gli occhi verso 1' oriente, 
 
 Come dicesse a Dio : D' altro non calme. / 
 Te luds ante si divotamente 
 
 Le use! di bocca, e con si dolci note, 
 
 Che fece me a me sscir di mente : 
 E 1' altre poi dolcemente e divote 
 
 Seguitar lei per tutto 1' inno intero, 
 
 Avendo gli occhi alle superne ruote. 
 Aguzza qui, Letter, ben gli occhi al vero ; 
 
 Che il velo e ora ben tanto sottile, 20 
 
 Certo, che il trapassar dentro e leggiero. 
 
 12 Non calme = non mi cale ; so xxx. 135. 
 
 13 The famous Compline hymn. " Te lucis ante terminum, Rerum / 
 Creator, poscimus, Ut pro tua dementia Sis praesul et custodia." 
 
 j s Made me forget everything else. Cf. again Eth. Nic. x. 5 (quoted 
 in note to iv. 1-12). 
 
 19, 21 The meaning of these lines has been much discussed. There 
 can be little doubt however that the simplest interpretation is also the 
 right one, viz. : " Here, if anywhere, is the point at which the allegorical 
 sense may be comprehended." At the same time it must be said that
 
 90 PURGATORY. CANTO vin. 
 
 I saw that noble army silently thereafter gaze upward, 
 as though awaiting, pale and humble; and I saw issue 
 from on high, and descend downward, two angels with two 
 flaming swords, shortened and deprived of their points. 
 Green, as leaflets but just born, they were in raiment, which 
 they drew after them smitten and blown about by their 
 green wings. The one came to a halt a little above us, 
 and the other descended upon the opposite bank, so that 
 the folk was held in the midst. Well discerned I in them 
 their fair heads ; but in their faces the eye lost itself, as 
 
 lo 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. 30 
 
 L' un poco sovra noi a star si venne, 
 
 E 1' altro scese in 1' opposita sponda, 
 
 Si che la gente in mezzo si contenne. 
 Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda : 
 
 Ma nelle facce 1' occhio si smarria, 
 
 none of the explanations is very satisfactory. Perhaps the key is to be 
 found in the fact that the angels are clad in green. In the parallel 
 passage, Inf. ix. 37-63, it may be observed that the Furies, by a kind 
 of infernal parody, are " girt with greenest snakes." As they summon 
 Medusa, or Despair, to turn the gazer into stone, so here we have our 
 attention called to the Hope which animates the souls of the righteous.
 
 CANTO vin. PURGATORY. 91 
 
 a faculty which is confounded by excess. " Both come 
 from the bosom of Mary," said Sordello, "for guard of 
 the valley, by reason of the serpent which will straightway 
 come." Whence I, who knew not by what path, turned me 
 around, and straitly placed myself, all chilled, beside the 
 trusted shoulders. And Sordello again : " Now let us go 
 down at once among the mighty shades, and we will speak 
 to them ; well-pleasing will it be to them to see you." 
 
 Only three steps I think that I descended, and I was 
 below, and saw one who was gazing only at me, as though 
 he wished to know me. By this it was a time when the air 
 was growing black, yet not so much but that between his 
 
 Come virtu che a troppo si confonda. 
 Ambo vegnon del grembo di Maria, 
 
 Disse Sordello, a guardia della valle, 
 
 Per lo serpente che verra via via. 
 Ond' io che non sapeva per qual calle, 40 
 
 Mi volsi intorno, e stretto m' accostai 
 
 Tutto gelato alle fidate spalle. 
 E Sordello anche : Ora avvalliamo omai 
 
 Tra le grandi ombre, e parleremo ad esse : 
 
 Grazioso fia lor vedervi assai. 
 Solo tre passi credo ch' io scendesse, 
 
 E fui di sotto, e vidi un che mirava 
 
 Pur me, come conoscer mi volesse. 
 Tempo era gia, che 1' aer s' annerava, 
 
 36 VirtJi as in iv. 2. Cf. xvii. 53, Par. v. 133,134. The idea is from 
 De Anima ii. 12 : TO>I> aifrdijTiov al vjrtpftoXal <p6(ipovcri TO. alcrdrjrfjpia, 
 or in the old Latin version which Dante almost certainly used : 
 " Sensibilium excellentite corrumpunt sensitiva." Cf. also De An. iii. 2. 
 
 49-51 Though it was growing dusk, there was still light enough to 
 enable us when we approached to recognise each other through the less 
 space of air.
 
 92 PURGATORY. CANTO vm. 
 
 eyes and mine it let grow clear that which till then it hid. 
 Towards me he moved, and I moved towards him ; noble 
 judge Nino, how much it pleased me when I saw that 
 thou wast not among the damned ! No fair salute was 
 silent between us ; then he asked : " How long is it since 
 thou hast come to the foot of the mount by the distant 
 waters ? " " Oh," said I to him, " by way of the regions of 
 woe I came this morning, and I am in my first life, albeit 
 that by so going I am seeking to gain the second." And 
 
 Ma non si, che tra gli occhi suoi i miei 50 
 
 Non dichiarasse cio 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 dimandb : Quant' e, che tu venisti 
 Appfe del monte per le lontane acque ? 
 
 O, diss' io lui, per entro i luoghi tristi 
 Venni stamane, e sono in prima vita, 
 Ancor_che 1' altra si andando acquisti. 60 
 
 E come fu la mia riposta udita, 
 
 53 Nino de' Visconti of Pisa, nephew (or, as Villani says, perhaps 
 from a confusion with Nino called Brigata, grandson) of Count Ugolino 
 della Gherardesca, was the leader of the Pisan Guelfs about the year 
 1 288. Sardinia having been captured by the Pisans from the Saracens 
 in the eleventh century, was divided into four portions under certain 
 noble families of Pisa, who governed it as feudatories of the Republic, 
 with the title of judges, the district of Gallura falling to the share of 
 the Visconti. By this time, however, the Giudici seem to have become 
 merely Pisan nobles. Philalethes suggests that Dante may have met 
 Nino at the capture of Caprona in 1289. See also Inf. xxii. 82-90. 
 
 60 It will be observed that his own salvation is always represented 
 as the object of Dante's journey. Cf. xxx. 136.
 
 CANTO viil. PURGATORY. 93 
 
 as my answer was heard, Sordello and he drew themselves 
 backward, as folk bewildered of a sudden. The one turned 
 round to Virgil, and the other to one who was sitting 
 there, crying : " Up, Conrad, come to see what God through 
 His grace has willed." Then, turning to me : " By this 
 singular favour, which thou owest to Him who so hides 
 His own first wherefore that there is no fathoming it, when 
 thou shalt be beyond the broad waters say to my Joan 
 that she cry there for me where answer to the innocent 
 is given. I think that her mother loves me not any more, 
 since she has changed the white wimple, which it behoves 
 
 Sordello ed egli indietro si raccolse, 
 
 Come gente di subito smarrita. 
 L' uno a Virgilio, e 1' altro ad un si volse, 
 
 Che sedea 11, gridando : Su Currado, 
 
 Vieni a veder che Dio per grazia volse. 
 Poi volto a me : Per quel singular grade, 
 
 Che tu dei a colui, che si nasconde 
 
 Lo suo primo perche, che non gli e guado, 
 Quando sarai di la dalle larghe onde, 70 
 
 Di' a Giovanna mia, che per me chiami 
 
 La dove agl' innocenti si risponde. 
 Non credo che la sua madre piu m' ami, 
 
 Poscia che trasmutb le bianche bende, 
 
 62 As Blanc points out, vi. 57 explains why Sordello has not till 
 now known that Dante is alive. 
 
 64 Si volse. See note to iv. 100. 
 
 69 Guado ; literally, "it has no shallow." 
 
 73 Nino's wife was an Este. After his death she married Galeazzo 
 Visconti of Milan. 
 
 ? 4 Philalethes quotes Boccaccio to show that black clothes and 
 white headgear were then, as now, the mark of widowhood.
 
 94 PURGATORY. CANTO vin. 
 
 that she poor soul must long for yet again. Through 
 her easily enough one may understand how long a flame 
 of love lasts in a woman, if eye or touch often rekindle 
 it not. The viper which the Milanese bears will not make 
 her so fair a sepulture, as the cock of Gallura would have 
 made." Thus he spoke, marked in his aspect with the 
 stamp of that upright zeal which burns, in due measure, in 
 his heart. 
 
 My eyes were going eagerly to the heaven only, even 
 there where the stars are slower, as a wheel where it is nearer 
 
 Le quai convien che misera ancor brami. 
 Per lei assai di lieve si comprende 
 
 Quanto in femmina fuoco d' amor dura, 
 
 Se 1' occhio o il tatto spesso nol raccende. 
 Non le fara si bella sepoltura 
 
 La vipera che il Melanese accamrja,' 1 80 
 
 Com' avria fatto il gallo di Gallura. 
 Cosi dicea, segnato della stampa 
 
 Nel suo aspetto di quel dritto zelo, 
 
 Che misuratamente in cuore avvampa. 
 Gli occhi miei ghiotti andavan pure al cielo, 
 
 Pur la dove le stelle son piu tarde, 
 
 a che i Melanesi Gg. Land. 14 W. ; che Menalesi Cass. 
 
 80 I have followed Bianchi and Fraticelli in reading " che il 
 Melanese accampa." Blanc "regards as preferable in all respects" 
 the older "che i Melanesi ace." "which sets the Milanese in battle- 
 array ;" or, as Philalethes translates " drunter Mailands Volk sich 
 lagert." But surely this is introducing an uncalled-for idea, and more- 
 over, " il Melanese " is exactly the term by which a Visconti of Pisa 
 would designate one of the same name (if not the same stock) at Milan. 
 Accampa "bears on the field of his escutcheon." See Diet. Cruse, 
 for campo = " field " (heraldic).
 
 CANTO viil. PURGATORY. 95 
 
 to the axle. And my leader: "Son, at what gazest thou 
 on high ? " And I to him : " At those three torches, where- 
 with the whole pole on this side burns." And he to me : 
 " The four clear stars which thou sawest this morning are 
 low on that side, and these are risen where those were." 
 As he was beginning to speak, Sordello drew him to 
 himself, saying : " See there our adversary," and pointed 
 his finger that he might look that way. On that side when 
 
 S\ come ruota piu presso allo stelo. 
 E il Duca mio : Figliuol, che lassu guarde ? 
 
 Ed io a lui : A quelle tre facelle, 
 
 Di che il polo di qua tutto quanto arde. 90 
 Ed egli a me : Le quattro chiare stelle, 
 
 Che vedevi staman, son di la basse, 
 
 E queste son salite ov' eran quelle. 
 Com' ei parlava, e Sordello a se '1 trasse, b 
 
 Dicendo : Vedi la il nostro avversaro, 
 
 E drizzb il dito, perche in la guatasse. 
 Da quella parte, onde non ha riparo 
 
 b Com' io parl. W. 
 
 89 Whether Dante had really any three stars in his mind, and if so, 
 what they were, is a favourite subject of discussion among commen- 
 tators. The most commonly-selected are a Eridani ( Achernar), a Argus 
 (Canopus), and a Doradus. An objection to this is that these are too 
 near the Cross to be high when that is set ; nor are they very near the 
 pole. Others suggest Canopus and the Magellanic Clouds. But these 
 speculations are not of much use. What is certain is that the four seen 
 in the morning (i. 23) denote the cardinal or active virtues, and these 
 the theological or contemplative. See xxxi. 106. It must be observed 
 that all the seven are near the pole. The seven all together form the 
 *' settentrion del primo cielo," xxx. i.
 
 96 PURGATORY. CANTO vin. 
 
 the little valley has no barrier was a snake; perchance 
 such as gave to Eve the bitter food. Through the grass 
 and flowers came the evil reptile, turning now and again 
 its head towards its back, and licking, like a beast which 
 sleeks itself. I saw not, and therefore I cannot say, how 
 the heavenly hawks moved, but I surely saw both one and 
 the other in motion. Hearing their green wings cleave the 
 air the serpent fled, and the angels wheeled upward to 
 their posts, flying back abreast. The shade which had 
 drawn close to the judge when he called, through all that 
 assault had not a moment loosed its gaze from me. "So 
 
 La picciola vallea, era una biscia, 
 Forse qual diede ad Eva il cibo amaro. 
 
 Tra 1' erba e i fior venia la mala striscia, 100 
 
 Volgendo ad or ad or la testa al dosso, 
 Leccando come bestia che si liscia. c 
 
 lo nol vidi, e pero dicer nol posso, i 
 
 Come mosser gli astor celestiali : 
 Ma vidi bene e 1' uno e 1' altro mosso. 
 
 Sentendo fender 1' acre alle verdi ali, 
 Fuggi il serpente, e gli Angeli dier volta 
 Suso alle poste rivolando iguali. 
 
 L' ombra che s' era al Giudice raccolta, 
 
 Quando chiamb, per tutto quell' assalto no 
 
 Punto non fu da me guardare sciolta. 
 
 Se la lucerna che ti mena in alto, 
 
 c e il dosso Lecc. 2, Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 106 Sentendo fender alle ali ; so legar vidi allafiera xxxii. 96. Cf. 
 Fr. " entendre dire, voir faire, a qqun." Diez Gr. Rom. iii. 123. 
 108 Cf. Odyssey, B. 149.
 
 CANTO vin. PURGATORY. 97 
 
 may the lantern which is leading thee on high find in thy 
 will candle so much as needs to reach the enamel of 
 the summit," it began, " if thou knowest true news of 
 Valdimagra, or of its neighbourhood, tell it to me, for once 
 was I great there. I was called Conrad Malaspina ; I 
 
 Truovi nel tuo arbitrio tanta cera, 
 Quant' e mestiero infino al sommo smalto, 
 
 Comincib ella : se novella vera 
 Di Valdimagra, o di parte vicina 
 Sai, dilla a me, che gia grande la era. 
 
 Chiamato fui Currado Malaspina. d 
 d Fu gib chiam. Gg. Fu io, 124. 
 
 112 "May God's grace " (typified by the lantern, as by Lucia) "find 
 in thy free-will sufficient material whereon to act ; " or, as Philalethes 
 well renders : " Soil jene Leuchte, die dich fiihrt nach oben, So vieles 
 Oel in deinen Willen finden." The construction is the same as in ii. 16, 
 v. 85, etc. 
 
 114 Smalto. The flower-enaiaflled summit of the mountain. So 
 the meadow in which the great men of pre-Christian times walk is 
 called (Inf. iv. 118) "il verde smalto." Others take it as meaning 
 the highest heaven. 
 
 "6, " 8 Valdimagra. The Magra rises at the N. end of the province 
 of Lunigiana and flows into the sea just E. of the Gulf of Spezia. Of 
 this territory the Malaspina were lords at the end of the thirteenth 
 century. This Conrad appears to have been grandson of the " Antico" 
 and cousin of Moroello, the "Vapor di Valdimagra" of Inf. xxiv. 
 145, who was not only a Guelf, but a leader of the " Black " party, 
 while Conrad would appear, from Boccaccio (Day ii. Nov. 6), to have 
 been a Ghibeline. There is, however, some obscurity as to the politics 
 of the family, but Dante had grounds of personal gratitude enough 
 to outweigh any political differences in the case of a house under 
 whose protection he was living in 1306 and 1307. The Purgatory 
 was dedicated to a Moroello Malaspina, probably a cousin s son to the 
 Moroello above named ; Foscolo thinks to Spinetta, the friend of 
 Uguccione and Can della Scala. Villani does not mention them, but 
 see Philalethes here, and Balbo, Vita di Dante, part ii. ch. 6, also 
 Bianchi's note, for the genealogy of the family. 
 
 H
 
 98 PURGATORY. CANTO vin. 
 
 am not the Ancient, but I am descended from him ; I bare 
 to mine the love which here is purified." " Oh," said I 
 to him, " through your country I never was ; but where 
 dwell there men throughout all Europe, that it is not 
 known ? The fame that honours your house shouts forth 
 its lords, and shouts forth the country, so that he knows 
 of it who never yet was there. And I swear to you, so 
 may I go on high, that your honoured race ceases not 
 to be adorned with the glory of the purse and of the sword. 
 Custom and nature so privilege it, that whereas the guilty 
 
 Non son 1' antico, ma di lui discesi : 
 
 A' miei portai 1' amor che qui raffina. 120 
 
 O, dissi lui, per li vostri paesi e 
 
 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, 
 Si 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 si la privilegia, 130 
 
 e Certo, dis? io, Oft. 
 
 120 p or tai tanto atnore a' miei, che io ne lasciai la cura dell' 
 anima, ed indugiai 1' opere meritorie della salute per guerreggiare ed 
 acquistare amici ; il quale amore qui si cimenta e purga. " Ottimo. 
 
 " 8 Notice vostra as denoting respect. Cf. Inf. xv. 30, and see 
 Diez iii. 50. 
 
 129 Landino, though in his text he has sfregia, seems by his note 
 to prefer fregia, and takes borsa and spada in a bad sense. Gg. has 
 non sifrtsgia (sic), "i.e. non deornatur et spoliatur."
 
 CANTO vni. PURGATORY. 99 
 
 head is turning the world astray, it alone goes straight, and 
 despises the evil road." And he : " Go now, for the sun 
 lays not himself seven times more in the bed which the 
 Ram covers and bestrides with all four feet, but this 
 courteous opinion will be fastened in the midst of thy head 
 with stronger nails than of another's speech ; if course of 
 doom be not arrested." 
 
 Che perche il capo rep lo mondo torca, 
 Sola va dritta, e il mal cammin dispregia. 
 
 Ed egli : Or va, che il Sol non si ricorca 
 
 Sette volte nel letto che il Montone rf v*iJ 
 
 Con tutti e quattro i pie cuopre ed inforca, 
 
 Che cotesta cortese opinione 
 
 Ti fia chiavata in mezzo della testa 
 Con maggior chiovi che d'altrui sermone, 
 
 Se corso di giudicio non s' arresta. 
 
 131 The usual interpretation seems the best, which understands by 
 capo reo, the pope Boniface VIII. Landino passes over the words 
 in silence, a pretty clear proof how he understood them. Vellutello talks 
 some astounding nonsense about the pommel (capo) of the sword being 
 kept downwards. Blanc prefers to take mondo as the subject, 
 "whereas the world turns aside its guilty head," sc. from the right 
 path. 
 
 133, 34 i. e . the spring equinox will not recur seven times. See note, 
 1. 116. 
 
 </ ' <L 
 l A^i*. i t 
 
 H 2
 
 CANTO IX. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Dante falls asleep, and dreams a dream of an eagle. Second sunrise. 
 In his sleep he is borne by Lucy to the door of Purgatory, where 
 he finds an angel, seated over three steps of divers stone. The angel 
 admits them into Purgatory, but first makes certain marks on Dante's 
 forehead. 
 
 THE bedfellow of ancient Tithonus was already growing 
 white on the gallery of the east, forth from the arms of 
 her sweet paramour her forehead was bright with gems, 
 placed in the figure of the cold animal that smites folk with 
 
 LA concubina di Titone antico, 
 
 Gia s' imbiancava al balzo d' oriente, a 
 Fuor delle braccia del suo dolce amico : 
 
 Di gemme la sua fronte era lucente, 
 Poste in figura del freddo animale, 
 Che con la coda percuote la gente : 
 
 a balco Cass. W. 
 
 1-9 See note at end of this Canto. 
 
 1 N.B. the form Titone for Titono. Scart. reads Titan, meaning 
 the sun, his concubina being the sea. There is little authority for the 
 Beading ; nor need more be desired. 
 
 2 S'imbiancava, so s'impingua, Par. x. 96.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGATORY. 101 
 
 its tail ; and the night, of the steps wherewith she mounts, 
 had in the place where we were made two, and the third 
 was already inclining downward its wings, when I, who had 
 with me part of what was Adam's, overcome by sleep 
 reclined on the grass, there where, all five, already we 
 were sitting. 
 
 In the hour when the swallow begins her sad lays, near 
 to the morning, perhaps in memory of her former woes, 
 and when our mind, pilgrim rather from the flesh, and less 
 bound by its thought, is in its visions as it were divine ; in 
 a dream I seemed to see an eagle with feathers of gold, 
 
 E la notte de' passi con che sale 
 
 Fatti avea due nel luogo ov' eravamo, 
 E il terzo gia chinava ingiuso 1' ale : 
 
 Quand' io che meco avea di quel d' Adamo, 10 
 Vinto dal sonno in su 1' erba inchinai, 
 La 've gia tutti Q cinque sedevamo. 
 
 NelP ora che comincia i tristi lai 
 La rondinella presso alia mattina, 
 Forse a memoria de' suoi primi guai, 
 
 E che la mente nostra pellegrina 
 
 Piu dalla carne, e men da' pensier presa, 
 Alle sue vision quasi e divina, 
 
 In sogno mi parea veder sospesa 
 
 Un' aquila nel ciel con penne d' oro, 20 
 
 K Tutti e cinque. Dante, Virgil, Sordello, Nino, Conrad. 
 
 l6 - *7 Blanc thinks the construction here ' ' etwas gezwungene, " and 
 perhaps there is an objection to the form in which the sentence is cast, 
 " fill pellegrina" and " men presa " being only apparently antithetical. 
 The sense is however plain. 
 
 J 9 For this and the other dreams seen by Dante in Purgatory, see 
 note to Canto xxvii.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 poised in heaven, with its wings open and astrain to swoop. 
 And meseemed I was in that place where his friends were 
 abandoned by Ganymede, when he was ravished to the con- 
 sistory on high. Within myself I thought, perhaps it strikes by 
 custom only here, and perhaps from another place it disdains 
 to bear away aloft in its claw. Then meseemed that having 
 wheeled a little more terrible as a thunderbolt it descended, 
 and snatched me upward as far as the fire. There it seemed 
 that it and I burned, and so the imagined conflagration 
 scorched, that it behoved that my sleep broke. Not other- 
 wise Achilles shook himself, turning his awakened eyes 
 
 Con P ali aperte, ed a calare intesa : 
 
 Ed esser mi parea la dove foro 
 Abbandonati i suoi da Ganimede, 
 Quando fu ratto al sommo concistoro. 
 
 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 piii rotata un poco, b 
 Terribil come folgor discendesse, 
 E me rapisse suso infino al foco. 30 
 
 Ivi pareva ch' ella ed io ardesse, 
 E si lo incendio immaginato cosse, 
 CKe~convenne che il sonno si rompesse. 
 
 Non altrimenti Achille si riscosse, 
 Gli occhi svegliati rivolgendo in giro, 
 
 b che roteata W. che pair. Gg. Cass. 
 
 23 I.e. on Ida. 
 
 30 foco. The sphere of fire, or empyrean. See Conv. ii. 4. 
 
 33 sqq. gee Statius, Ach. i., especially lines 247 sqq.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGATORY. 103 
 
 around, and not knowing where he was, when his mother 
 from Chiron carried him across sleeping in her arms to Scyros, 
 the place whence afterwards the Greeks made him depart, 
 than did I shake myself, so soon as from my face sleep fled, 
 and I became all amort, as does the man who freezes in his 
 fear. Beside me was my Comforter alone, and the sun 
 was already more than two hours high, and my face was 
 turned to the sea. "Have no fear," said my Master, "make 
 thyself secure, for we are at a good point ; contract not, 
 but widen all thy force. Thou art from this point come 
 
 E non sapendo la dove si fosse : 
 
 Quando la madre da Chirone a Schiro 
 Trafugo lui dormendo in le sue braccia, 
 La onde poi gli Greci il dipartiro : 
 
 Che mi scoss' io, si come dalla faccia 40 
 
 Mi fuggi il sonno, e diventai ismorto, 
 Come fa 1' uom che spaventato agghiaccia. 
 
 Da lato m' era solo il mio conforto, 
 E il Sole er' alto gia piii di due ore, 
 E il viso m' era alia marina torto. 
 
 Non aver tema, disse il mio Signore : 
 
 Fatti sicur, che noi siamo a buon punto : 
 Non stringer, ma rallarga ogni vigore. 
 
 Tu se' omai al Purgatorio giunto : 
 
 c accaccia Gg. acaccia Cass. 12345. 
 
 36 si fosse. So si is used with sapere, v. 135 ; with guatare xx. 
 1. 132; so ti stavi vi. 62. So, too, io mi sono xxiv. 5 2 > xxvii. 101. 
 See Diez iii. 176. 
 
 39 For the almost identical form of the line, cf. Inf. i. 1 1 1. 
 
 40 si come. Cf. Par. xxiv. 152, where it corresponds with tosto chd 
 in 1. 150. So "just as " is used in English both of time and manner.
 
 ip4 PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 to Purgatory ; see there the gallery which closes it round ; 
 see the entry there where it appears disjoined. Ere this, in 
 the dawn which goes before the day, when thy soul was 
 sleeping within thee on the flowers, wherewith it is adorned 
 down yonder, came a dame, and said : ' I am Lucy ; let me 
 take this man who sleeps, so will I speed him on his way.' 
 Sordello remained, and the other noble forms ; she took 
 thee up, and, as the day was clear, went her way upward, 
 and I in her track. Here laid she thee ; and first her fair 
 eyes showed me that entry open ; then she and sleep to- 
 
 Vedi la il balzo, che il chiude dintorno : 50 
 Vedi P entrata la Ve par disgiunto. 
 
 Dianzi, nelP alba che precede al giorno, 
 Quando 1' anima tua dentro dormia, 
 Sopra li fiori, onde laggiu e adorno, 
 
 Venne una donna, e disse : lo son Lucia : 
 Lasciatemi pigliar costui che dorme : 
 Si 1' agevolerb per la sua via. 
 
 Sordel rimase, e 1' altre gentil forme : 
 Ella ti tolse, e come il di fu chiaro, 
 Sen venne suso, ed io per le sue orme. 60 
 
 Qui ti posb : e pria mi dimostraro 
 
 Gli occhi suoi belli quell' entrata aperta : 
 Poi ella e il sonno ad una se n' andaro. 
 
 55 For Lucia, symbolising, say the commentators, illuminant grace, 
 see Inf. ii. 97 ; and with the whole of this passage compare the way in 
 which Dante is brought in an unconscious swoon to the edge of Hell. 
 Inf. iii. and iv. 
 
 58 forme = anirne, the soul being the form, in the metaphysical 
 sense, of the body. De An. ii. I : avaynaiov TTJV ^fvx^v ovcriav tlvai 
 u>s (I8os o-co/xarof <f)v<Tiitov. So Aquinas S.T. Part 1. 1. Qu. 76, 
 passim ; and Canto xviii. 49.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGATORY. 105 
 
 gather went their way." In fashion of a man who in doubt 
 reassures himself, and who turns into comfort his fear, after 
 that the truth is disclosed to him, myself I changed ; and 
 as my leader saw me free from care, he moved upward 
 along the ledge, and I behind him toward the height. 
 
 Reader, thou seest well how I exalt my matter, and 
 therefore wonder not if with more art I sustain it. 
 
 We drew us near, and were at such a part that there 
 where first had seemed to me a breach, only like a crack 
 which parts a wall, I saw a gate, and three steps below 
 
 A guisa d' uom che in dubbio si raccerta, 
 E che muta in conforto sua paura, d 
 Poi che la verita gli e discoverta, 
 
 Mi cambia' io : e come senza cura 
 Videmi il Duca mio, su per lo balzo 
 Si mosse, ed io diretro inver F altura. 
 
 Lettor, tu vedi be, com' io innalzo 70 
 
 La mia materia, e perb con piu arte 
 Non ti maravigliar s' io la rincalzo. 
 
 Noi ci appressammo, ed eravamo in parte, 
 Che la, dove pareami prima un rotto, 
 Pur come un fesso che muro diparte, 
 
 Vidi una porta, e tre gradi di sotto 
 
 d E mutin conf. Cass. 14 ; e mutin ne 2 ; e muti per 3 ; e che mutt 
 in c. Aid. Land. Bi. ; e che muta c . 5 ; e indi riconforta G$. 
 
 6 s The reading muti seems the less satisfactory, because there does 
 not appear to be any need for the harsh change from the indie. 
 raccerta ; though but for this we might perhaps expect a subjunctive. 
 See Diez iii. 345. 
 
 ? 2 rincalzo. Par. xxi. 130.
 
 io6 PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 it to go to it, divers of colours, and a porter who as yet 
 spake no word. And as I opened more and more my eye 
 to it, I saw that he sat over the highest step, such in his 
 face that I endured it not ; and he had a naked sword 
 in his hand, which reflected the rays so towards us, that I 
 directed often my sight in vain. " Tell me, from where ye 
 stand, what would ye ? " he began to say ; " where is your 
 escort ? Look to it, that to come upward hurt you not." " A 
 dame of Heaven, knowing of these things," answered my 
 Master to him, " but ere now said to us : ' Go thither, there is 
 the gate.'" "And may she further your steps to good," 
 began again the courteous gatekeeper ; " come then forward 
 
 Per gire ad essa, di color diversi, 
 
 Ed un portier, che ancor non facea motto. 
 
 E come 1' occhio piu e piii v' apersi, 
 
 Vidil seder sopra il grado soprano, So 
 
 Tal nella faccia, ch' io non lo soffersi : 
 
 Ed una spada nuda aveva in mano, 
 Che riflettea i raggi si ver noi, 
 Ch' io dirizzava spesso il viso in vano : 
 
 Ditel costinci, che volete voi ? 
 
 Comincib egli a dire : ov* e 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 la, quivi e la porta. 90 
 
 Ed ella i passi vostri in bene avanzi, 
 Ricomincib il cortese portinaio : 
 Venite dunque a' nostri gradi innanzi. 
 
 79 So xiii. 46.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGATORY. 107 
 
 to our stair." There came we ; and the first stair was white 
 marble, so polished and rubbed that I was mirrored in it as 
 I appear. The second, tinted more deeply than perse, was 
 of a rugged and fire-burnt rock, cracked through its length 
 and across. The third, which masses itself above, seemed 
 to me porphyry so flaming as blood which spirts forth from 
 
 La ne venimmo : e lo scaglion primaio e 
 Bianco marmo era si pulito e terso, 
 Ch' io mi specchiai in esso quale io paio. 
 
 Era il secondo tinto piu che perso, 
 D' una petrina ruvida ed arsiccia, 
 Crepata per lo lungo e per traverse. 
 
 Lo terzo, che di sopra s' ammassiccia, 100 
 
 Porfido mi parea si fiammeggiante, 
 Come sangue che fuor di vena spiccia. 
 
 c La ove (or 've) venimmo allo sc*. Cass. Gg. 12345 W. La citraemmo 
 allo, Caet. 
 
 9-* Much has been written about the symbolical meaning of these three 
 steps. There is no question but that they denote the state of mind with 
 which penance is to be approached ; or as Miss Rossetti, " Shadow of 
 Dante," well puts it : "Candid confession mirroring the whole man, 
 mournful contrition breaking the hard heart of the gazer on the Cross ; 
 love all aflame offering up in satisfaction the life-blood of body, soul, 
 and spirit." The rest of the passage may be read with advantage. 
 
 97 Perso. "e un colore misto di purpureo e di nero, ma vince il 
 nero." Conv. iv. 20. "aer perso." Inf. v. 89. " buia molto piu 
 che persa." Ib. vii. 103. In Chaucer,, prologue to "Canterbury 
 Tales," 1. 439, we read of the Doctor of Physic that " In sanguine and 
 in perse he clad was all " ; where, by the way, Dr. Morris can hardly 
 be right in explaining it as "a bluish-gray," "sky-blue." 
 
 99 It is curious that Miss Rossetti should have been (apparently) the 
 first commentator to detect the obvious allusion to the Cross in the/ 
 cracking of the stone in its length and breadth.
 
 io8 PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 a vein. Upon this the Angel of God was holding both his 
 feet, sitting on the threshold, which seemed to me a rock 
 of adamant. Over the three steps upward with a good 
 will my leader drew me, saying : " Ask humbly that he undo 
 the lock." Devout I threw myself at the holy feet ; I asked 
 for mercy, and that he would open to me ; but first upon my 
 breast three times I smote myself. Seven P's upon my forehead 
 he described with the point of the sword, and " See that thou 
 wash, when thou art within, these strokes," said he. Cinder, or 
 earth that should crack with drought, would be of one colour 
 with his vestment, and from beneath this he drew two keys. 
 
 Sopra questo teneva ambo le piante 
 
 L' 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 '1 serrame scioglia. 
 
 Divoto mi gittai a santi piedi : 
 
 Misericordia chiesi e che m' aprisse, no 
 
 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. 
 
 Cenere o terra che secca si cavi, 
 D' un color fora col suo vestimento : 
 E di sotto da quel trasse due chiavi. 
 
 f tre volte Caet. etc. 
 
 111 For this use of dare, cf. xxiv. 148 ; and such expression as "dar 
 nel brocco " (to hit the mark). 
 
 112 Seven P's (Peccalo) for the seven deadly sins.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGATORY. 109. 
 
 The one was of gold, and the other was of silver ; first with 
 the white, and afterward with the yellow, he dealt with 
 the gate so that I was content. " Whenever one of these 
 keys fails, so that it does not turn straight through the 
 keyhole," said he to us, " this gap opens not. One is more 
 costly, but the other needs much of art and wit ere it 
 unlocks, because it is that which disentangles the knot. 
 From Peter I hold them ; and he bade that I should err 
 rather toward opening than toward keeping it locked, so 
 only that the folk prostrated themselves at my feet." 
 Then he pushed open the sacred door, saying : " Enter, but 
 
 L' una era d' oro, e 1' altra era d' argento : 
 Pria con la bianca, e poscia con la gialla 
 Fece alia porta si ch' io fui contento. 120 
 
 Quandunque 1' una d' este chiavi falla, 
 Che non si volga dritta per la toppa, 
 Diss' egli a noi, non s' apre questa calla. 
 
 Piii cara e 1' una ; ma 1' altra vuol troppa 
 D' arte e d' ingegno avanti che disserri, 
 Perch' elP e 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 1' uscio alia porta sacrata, 130 
 
 Dicendo : Intrate ; ma facciovi accorti 
 
 118 The silver key is the science which discerns the true penitent ; / 
 the golden, the power of absolution, more costly, because purchased by / 
 the death of Christ. See Philalethes here, who refers to Aquinas 
 S.T. iii. Suppl. Q. 17. "On the entity and quiddity of the keys." 
 
 123 calla. See iv. 22.
 
 no PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 I do you to wit that forth returns whoso looks him back." 
 And when upon the hinges were turned the pins of that 
 holy portal, which are of metal, resounding and strong, 
 Tarpeia bellowed not so, nor showed herself so shrill, when 
 taken from her was the good Metellus, whereby afterwards 
 she remained lean. I turned me round attentive to the 
 first tone, and methought I heard Te Deum laudamus, in 
 a voice mingled with the sweet harmony. Just such an 
 
 Che di fuor torna chi indietro si guata. 
 
 E quando fur ne' cardini distorti 
 Gli spigoli di quella regge sacra 
 Che di metallo son sonanti e forti, 
 
 Non ruggio si, ne si mostrb si acra 
 Tarpeia, come tolto le fu il buono 
 Metello, per che poi rimase macra. g 
 
 lo mi rivolsi attento al primo tuono, 
 
 E Te Deum laudamus, mi parea 140 
 
 Udire in voce mista al dolce suono. 
 
 s donde poi Aid. Land. 
 
 132 si guata. See note, 1. 36. 
 
 *3 6 Alluding to Lucan's description of the plunder of the temple of 
 Saturn by Caesar, in spite of the opposition of the tribune Metellus. 
 Pharsalia iii. 115-168, especially 1. 153 sqq. : 
 
 4 ' Protinus abducto patuerunt templa Metello, 
 Tune rapes Tarpeia sonat, magnoque reclusas 
 Testatur stridore fores." 
 and 167, 168 
 
 "Tristi spoliantur templa rapina, 
 Pauperiorque fuit tune primum Caesare Roma. " 
 139 rivolsi, i. e. : "I turned away from the gate ; " not, of course, 
 back towards it, which had just been forbidden ; tuono, merely the 
 sound of music heard from within, not as some take it, of the gate 
 opening or closing. See x. 4-6.
 
 CANTO ix. PURGA TOR Y. 1 1 r 
 
 image gave me that which I heard, as one is wont to receive 
 when they stand to sing with an organ, when now are heard 
 the words and now are not. 
 
 Tale immagine appunto mi rendea 
 Gib ch' io udiva, qual prender si suole, 
 Quando a cantar con organi si stea : 
 
 Che or si or no s' intendon le parole. 
 
 144 organi, plural, because the instrument consists of a number of 
 pipes. So in old French orgiics is sometimes used of a single instrument. 
 
 NOTE TO LINES I -9. 
 
 There is much controversy as to the time indicated in these lines. 
 The analogy of the two following nights would make it probable 
 that Dante does not fall asleep until towards morning ; and the bed- 
 fellow of Tithonus, according to ajl mythology, should only be Aurora. 
 But from the fourteenth century downwards, commentators, with few 
 exceptions, have agreed in understanding the phenomena to be those of 
 moonrise, chiefly on the ground that when the sun is in Aries, Scorpio 
 is too far off for its stars to appear as gems on the forehead of the dawn. 
 They then interpret the passi as hours, and fix the time at two to 
 three hours after sunset. But it must be remarked that all these interpre- 
 tations omit to notice that this is the moon of the spring equinox, which in 
 Italy would not rise at four days after the full until past eleven o'clock, 
 while, being the "harvest-moon" of the other hemisphere, it would rise 
 "nel loco ov' eravamo," about seven. It would seem from x. 14 that 
 Dante did not forget this difference between the two hemispheres. 
 Anyhow, it is not likely that so accurate an observer would overlook 
 the rapid latening of moonrise at this season here, and in neither case 
 can passi denote hour*. Secondly, the Right Ascension of this moon, at 
 this age, is about sixteen hours, which puts her right among the stars of 
 Scorpio (though in the sign of Sagittarius), so that no more would those 
 stars be gems on the forehead of the lunar dawn. Now it is hardly 
 possible to doubt that Dante is describing the phenomena from his own 
 observation ; and if anyone will do the same, he will, I think, see
 
 ii2 PURGATORY. CANTO ix. 
 
 that at the beginning of April, when the dawn is just beginning to 
 "whiten" in the east, i.e. about three A.M., the constellation 
 Scorpio is just on the meridian, in which position it may be said to 
 be on the forehead of the dawn. In England it is low ; but in Italy, 
 and, of course, still more in Purgatory (say 32 S. ), it would be much 
 higher. Passi I understand to be " signs," though there is, on any 
 explanation, some confusion in lines 7-9 ; but line 9 can only refer 
 to something which goes downward. Now the "night" (ii. 4) is in 
 Libra, and the Signs "with which she rises" are Libra, Scorpio, 
 Sagittarius. The first two are past, and the third (which, by the pre- 
 cession of the equinoxes, would about correspond with Scorpio the 
 constellation), is just turning the meridian. On the whole, therefore, I 
 agree with Bianchi in understanding the passage in its obvious meaning, 
 though I do not hold with Prof. Mossotti, whom he quotes, in supposing 
 the "freddo animale" to be the Fish, the stars of which are too insig- 
 nificant to form a feature. As a slight corroboration it may be added 
 that the poets, from Petrarch to Redi, have used such expressions as 
 "arnica," "fanciulla," " druda di Titone," for the sundawn. The re- 
 semblance to Iliad K. 251-253 is curious, but can hardly be more than 
 accidental. 

 
 
 
 CANTO X. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The first or lowest circle of Purgatory, where those are purified who have 
 sinned through pride. They see certain images carved on the rock 
 wherein acts of humility are commemorated. As they stay to look at 
 these, the souls overtake them, each bearing on his back a heavy burden. 
 
 AFTER we were within the threshold of the gate which evil 
 love makes unfrequented oi^ souls, because it makes the 
 crooked way seem straight, I heard by its resounding that it 
 
 Poi fummo dentro al soglio della porta 
 Che il malo amor dell' anime disusa, 
 Perche fa parer dritta la via torta, 
 
 Sonando la send' esser richiusa : 
 
 1 Poi for poiche. So xv. 34. Par. ii. 56. Conv. ii. 7. Even in later 
 Italian this omission of che is almost as common as the similar omission 
 of that in English. Such constructions as " giudicava necessario gli 
 fusse data la signoria," may be found in Macchiavelli passim. Diez iii. 
 3", 339. 
 
 2 It seems better to treat disusa as a verb like disgravare (Inf. xxx. 
 144), etc., than to take dell' anime as a genitive depending on amor, 
 malo amor, see xvii. 85 sqq. 
 
 I
 
 ii4 PURGATORY. CANTO x. 
 
 was shut ; and if I had turned my eyes to it what excuse 
 had been meet for of the fault ? 
 
 We were mounting through a cleft in the rock, which 
 kept shifting on one side and the other like as a wave that 
 recedes and draws near. " Here it behoves to use a little 
 art," began my leader, " in approaching now this way now 
 that, to the side where it parts." And this made our steps 
 so scant that the waned moon returned to her bed for her 
 setting before that we were forth from that needle's eye. But 
 
 E s' io avessi gli occhi volti ad essa, 
 Qual fora stata al fallo degna scusa ? 
 
 Noi salavam per una pietra fessa, 
 Che si moveva d' una e d' altra parte, 
 SI come 1' onda che fugge e s' appressa. 
 
 Qui si convien usare un poco d' arte, io 
 
 Comincib il Duca mio, in accostarsi 
 Or quinci or quindi al lato che si parte. 
 
 E cib fece li nostri passi scarsi a 
 
 Tanto, che pria Io scemo della Luna b 
 Rigiunse al letto suo per ricorcarsi, 
 
 Che noi fossimo fuor di quella cruna. 
 
 a E cibfecer i n.p. W. fecer li Cass. ; queslofece Gg. 
 b stremo Aid. Land. 
 
 6 degna a. So Inf. i. 122, ii. 33. 
 
 8> 9 It is not necessary to suppose with Padre d' Aquino (vid. Blanc, 
 Erklarungen) that a physical movement of the rocks is meant. Dante 
 does not multiply miracles unnecessarily. 
 
 4, >s See note to ix. I. This moon at this age would set' to the other 
 side of the world a little before midday. They have thus occupied 
 three hours, or thereabouts, since Dante woke (ix. 44) in reaching this 
 point.
 
 CANTO x. PURGATORY. 115 
 
 when we were free and in the open space above, where the 
 mount gathers itself back, I wearied, and both uncertain of 
 our way, we halted above in a level place more solitary than 
 roads through deserts. From its rim, where the void bounds 
 it, to the foot of the high bank which only rises, a human 
 body would in thrice have measured ; and so far as my eye 
 could wing its flight, whether on the left or the right hand, 
 this cornice appeared to me alike. Our feet were not yet 
 moved thereupon, when I perceived that bank which lacked 
 right of ascent, to be of marble all about, white, and 
 
 Ma quando fummo liberi ed aperti 
 
 Su, dove il monte indietro si rauna, 
 lo stancato, ed ambedue incerti 
 
 Di nostra via, ristemmo su in un piano 20 
 
 Solingo piu che strade per diserti. 
 Dalla sua sponda, ove confina il vano, 
 
 Appie delP altra ripa, che pur sale, 
 
 Misurrebbe in tre volte un corpo umano : 
 E quanto 1' occhio mio potea trar d' ale, 
 
 Or dal sinistro ed or dal destro fianco, 
 
 Questa cornice mi .parea cotale. 
 Lassu non eran mossi i pie nostri anco, 
 
 Quand' io conobbi quella ripa intorno, 
 
 Che dritto di salita aveva manco, c 30 
 
 Esser di marmo candido, ed adorno 
 
 c Che dritta di J. Gg. 3 ; diritta Cass. 
 
 23 che pur sale, i. e. has no slope, but rises perpendicularly. 
 30 I.e. the inner side, where the mountain rose steeply. 
 
 I 2
 
 ii6 PURGATORY. CANTO x. 
 
 adorned so with sculptures, that not only Polycletus, but 
 nature herself would have had shame there. The angel 
 that came on earth with the decree of the many years wept- 
 for peace, which opened Heaven from its long refusal, before 
 us appeared so truly sculptured there in a gentle act, that it 
 seemed not a mute image. One would have sworn that he 
 said Ave, because there was imaged she who turned the 
 key to open the high love. And she had upon her action 
 this speech imprinted Ecce ancilla Dei! as aptly as a figure is 
 made on wax by a seal. " Fix not thy mind on one place 
 only," said the sweet Master, who had me on that side where 
 
 D' intagli si, che non pur Policreto, 
 
 Ma la natura li avrebbe scorno. d 
 L' Angel che venne in terra col decreto 
 
 Delia molt' anni lagrimata pace, 
 
 Che aperse il Ciel dal suo lungo divieto, 
 Dinanzi a noi pafeva si verace 
 
 Quivi intagliato in un atto soave, 
 
 Che non sembiava immagine che tace. 
 Giurato si saria, ch' ei dicesse Ave: 40 
 
 Perche quivi era immaginata quella, 
 
 Che ad aprir 1' alto amor volse la chiave. 
 Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella, 
 
 Ecce ancilla Dei, si propriamente, 
 
 Come figura in cera si suggella. 
 Non tener pure ad un luogo la mente, 
 
 Disse il dolce Maestro, che m' avea 
 
 d gli averebbe Cass. Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 32 intagli seems anciently to have been used of any carving, not 
 necessarily sunk in. Thus the Chiose call Polycletus "uno de piu 
 sommi intagliatori del mondo."
 
 CANTO x. PURGATORY. 117 
 
 folk have the heart ; wherefore I turned me with my face 
 and behind Mary saw on that side where I had him who was 
 urging me, another history placed upon the rock ; wherefore 
 I passed Virgil and put myself near, so that it might be set 
 out before my eyes. There in the very marble was there 
 carved the car and the oxen drawing the sacred ark, 
 whereby men fear an office not entrusted to them. Before 
 it folk appeared ; and all of them, divided into seven choirs, 
 caused two of my senses to say, the one " No," the other, 
 "Yes, they sing." In like manner at the smoke of the 
 
 Da quella parte, onde il core ha la gente : 
 Perch' io mi volsi col viso, e vedea e 
 
 Diretro da Maria per quella costa, 50 
 
 Onde m' era colui che mi movea, 
 Un' altra storia nella roccia imposta : 
 
 Perch' io varcai Virgilio, e femmi presso, 
 
 Acciocche fosse agji occhi miei disposta. 
 Era intagliato n nel marmo stesso 
 
 Lo carro e i buoi traendo 1' area santa ; 
 
 Perche si teme ufficio non commesso. 
 Dinanzi parea gente ; e tutta quanta 
 
 Partita in sette cori, a duo miei sensi 
 
 Faceva dir : 1' un No, 1' altro Si canta/ 60 
 
 Similemente al fummo degl' incensi, 
 
 e mi mossi Gg. Cass. Land. W. 
 f Facea dicer Aid. Bi. ; Facean l'un dir Cass. 
 
 ^S 1 Observe the use of onde, where we should use where. The 
 Italian, like the Latin, regards the bearing of an object from the 
 spectator, rather than its absolute place ; thus we have ' ' da man 
 sinistra" (iii. 58), and in Latin, such phrases as " a contumelia quam a 
 laude propius." Tacitus. 
 
 ss sqq. 2 Samuel, chap. vi.
 
 u8 PURGATORY. CANTO x. 
 
 incense which there was imaged, the eyes too and the nose 
 became discordant in " Yes " and " No." There was going 
 before the blessed vessel, dancing, with garments girt high, 
 the humble Psalmist, and more and less than king was he in 
 that case. Portrayed opposite, in a view of a great palace, 
 Michal was looking on, as a dame despiteful and sad. I 
 moved my feet from the place where I was standing to look 
 from anear at another history which I saw gleaming white 
 behind Michal. Here was narrated the high glory of the 
 Roman prince, whose great worth moved Gregory to his 
 
 Che v' era immaginato, e gli occhi el naso, 
 
 Ed al si ed al no discordi fensi. 
 Li precedeva al benedetto vaso, 
 
 Trescando alzato, F umile Salmista, 
 
 E piii e men che re era in quel caso. 
 Di contra effigiata ad una vista 
 
 D' un gran palazzo Micol ammirava, 
 
 Si come donna dispettosa e trista. 
 lo mossi i pie del loco dov' io stava, 70 
 
 Per avvisar da presso un' altra storia, 
 
 Che diretro a Micol mi biancheggiava. 
 Quivi era storiata 1' alta gloria 
 
 Del Roman prince, lo cui gran valore* 
 
 Mosse Gregorio alia sua gran vittoria : 
 
 s principal 'o, il cui v. Gg. Cass. W. 134. 
 
 64 vaso. Cf. xxxiii. 34. 
 
 6 s Others, e.g. Bianchi, take alzato as = "rising in the air ;" but 
 cf. Par. xxi. 132. Here it probably represents the "accinctus" of the 
 Vulgate.
 
 CANTO x. PURGATORY, 119 
 
 great victory ; I mean of Trajan the emperor ; and a poor 
 woman was at his bridle, in attitude of tears and of grief. 
 About him it seemed trampled and full of horsemen, and 
 the eagles in gold over him moved, in seeming, to the 
 wind. The poor woman among all these seemed to be 
 saying : " Sir, avenge me for my son who is dead, whereof I 
 grieve my heart." And he to answer her : " Wait now so 
 long until I return." And she : " My lord " (as a person in 
 whom grief is urgent), " if thou return not ? " And he : 
 
 lo dico di Traiano Imperadore : 
 Ed una vedovella gli era al freno 
 Di lagrime atteggiata e di dolore. 
 
 Dintorno a lui parea calcato e pieno 
 
 Di cavalieri, e 1' aquile nell' oro h 80 
 
 Sovr' esso in vista al vento si movieno. 
 
 La miserella infra tutti costoro 
 
 Parea dicer : Signor, fammi vendetta 
 
 Del mio figliuol, ch' e morto, ond' io m' accoro. 
 
 Ed egli a lei rispondere : Ora aspetta, 
 
 Tanto ch' io tornL E quella : Signor mio, 
 Come persona in cui dolor s' affretta : 
 
 h e aquile Gg. deW oro Bi. BL 
 
 K The prayers of St. Gregory the Great were said to have freed 
 Trajan from Hell, in recompense for this good deed. See Par. xx. 106. 
 The story may be found in Philalethes's note, and most commentaries. 
 
 80 nell' oro. This reading seems to have far the most authority ; 
 but it is impossible to accept the view of Witte, Scartazzini, and others 
 that it means " worked on a gold ground," Dante must have known 
 that the eagles were not banners, as sculptured representations of Roman 
 triumphs, etc., are common, nell' oro for "made of gold" (Fr. en or) 
 is rare. One is tempted to suggest in alloro, "laurel- wreathed." 
 
 86 Tanto che. See iv. 51. The action being future, the verb is in 
 the subjunctive.
 
 120 PURGATORY. CANTO x. 
 
 " He who will be where I am will do it for thee." And 
 she : " What will another's good deed be to thee if thy 
 own thou puttest out of mind ? " Wherefore he : " Now 
 comfort thyself, for it behoves that I perform my duty before 
 I move. Justice will have it, and pity holds me back." He 
 who never beheld a new thing drew forth this visible speech, 
 new to us, because it is not found here. 
 
 While I was delighting myself with gazing on the images 
 of such humble deeds, and, for their craftsman's sake, dear 
 to behold : " Lo on this side, but the paces they make are 
 few," murmured the Poet, " are much folk ; they will put us 
 in the way to the higher steps." My eyes, which were 
 
 Se tu non torni ? Ed ei : Chi fia dov' io, 
 
 La ti fara. Ed ella : L' altrui bene 
 
 A te che fia, se il tuo metti in obblio ? 90 
 
 Ond' elli : Or ti conforta ; che conviene 
 
 Ch' io solva il mio dovere, anzi ch' io muova : 
 
 Giustizia vuole, e pieta mi ritiene. 
 Colui, che mai non vide cosa nuova, 
 
 Produsse esto visibile parlare, 
 
 Novello a noi, perche qui non si truova. 
 Mentr' io mi dilettava di guardare 
 
 L' immagini di tante umilitadi, 
 
 E per Io fabbro loro a veder care ; 
 Ecco di qua, ma fanno i passi radi, 100 
 
 Mormorava il Poeta, molte genti : 
 
 Questi ne invieranno agli alti gradi. 
 
 
 ' mcntranno Gg. 
 
 100 I.e. from the left, Virgil being now on that side of Dante. See 
 note to iii. 89.
 
 CANTO x. PURGATORY. 121 
 
 
 
 intent to look, for seeing new things whereof they are fain, 
 in turning toward him were not slow. I would not, however, 
 reader, that thou shouldest be dismayed of a good purpose, 
 for hearing how God wills that the debt be paid. Think 
 not of the form of the punishment; consider that which 
 follows, consider that at worst, beyond the great sentence it 
 cannot go. I began : " Master, they whom I see to move 
 toward us seem not to me persons, and I know not what ; so 
 fail I in my sight." And he to me : " The grievous con- 
 dition of their torment bows them so to earth that my eyes 
 
 Gli occhi miei, ch' a mirar erano intenti, k 
 Per veder novitadi onde son vaghi, 
 Volgendosi ver lui non furon lenti. 
 
 Non vo' per6, Letter, 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 a peggio, no 
 Oltre la gran sentenzia non puo ire. 
 
 lo cominciai : Maestro, quei ch' io veggio 
 Muover ver noi, non mi sembran persone, 
 E non so che ; si nel veder vaneggio. 1 
 
 Ed egli a me : La grave condizione 
 Di lor tormento a terra gli rannicchia, 
 
 k eran contenti Cass. Gg. W. l E non so, s' io Land. etc. 
 
 106 For this meaning of perb (per hoc) cf. vii. 55, xiii. 26. In 
 Spanish it is more common ; indeed, the word has come to mean simply 
 "but." The connection of this meaning with the original may be seen 
 from Eng. "for all that." Dante means "do not be dismayed or 
 despair at hearing of the penalty inflicted on even penitent sinners." 
 
 110 N.B. omission of the art. with peggio. Witte, without much 
 authority, inserts it. 
 
 "4 vaneggio ; so render vano, viii. 7. Cf. xviii. 143.
 
 122 PURGATORY. CANTO x. 
 
 . ___ _____ . _ 
 
 first were thereat strained. But look fixedly there, and 
 disentangle with thy sight him who is corning below those 
 rocks; by now canst thou perceive how each is pinched." 
 O proud Christians, wretched and weary, who, weak in the 
 sight of the mind, have confidence in your backward paces, 
 do ye not perceive that we are worms, born to form the 
 angelic butterfly which flies without screen to the judgement? 
 For what does your mind float on high, since ye are as it 
 were defective insects, like a worm in which formation is in 
 default? 
 
 Si, che i miei occhi pria n' ebber tenzone. 
 Ma guarda fiso la, e disviticchia 
 
 Col viso quel che vien sotto a quei sassi : 
 
 Gia scorger puoi come ciascun si picchia. 120 
 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 1' angelica farfalla, 
 
 Che vola alia giustizia senza schermi ? 
 Di che 1' anima vostra in alto galla ? 
 
 Poi siete quasi entomata in difetto, m 
 
 m Voi Si. aniom. Gg. W. attorn. Cos*. 
 
 118 disviticchiare, properly, to put vines aside in order to see 
 through them. 
 
 120 There is another reading, si nicchia : "cries as a woman in 
 travail." 
 
 121 Imitated by Petrarch, Tri. of Fame iii. 
 126 Cf. xxi. 64-66. 
 
 08 entomata. Blanc (Erklamngen) thinks that Dante, who was not 
 more of a Greek scholar than others of his time, was misled by the 
 TO. of a dictionary, and compares the "arttentin" " hormin"
 
 CANTO x. PURGATORY. 123 
 
 As, to support a floor or roof, by way of corbel, one 
 sometimes sees a figure join the knees to the breast, the 
 which, out of its untruth, causes a true discomfort in 
 whoso sees it, thus saw I these shaped, when I well gave 
 heed. True is it that they were more and less drawn 
 together, according as they had more or less on their backs ; 
 and he who had most endurance in his mien, weeping 
 seemed to say, " I can no more." 
 
 Si come verme, in cui formazion falla. 
 Come per sostentar solaio o tetto, 130 
 
 Per mensola talvolta una figura 
 
 Si vede giunger le ginocchia al petto, 
 La qual fa del non ver vera rancura 
 
 Nascer a chi la vede ; cosi fatti 
 
 Vid' io color, quando posi ben cura. 
 Ver e che piu e meno eran contratti, 
 
 Secondo ch' avean-^iu e meno addosso : 
 
 E qual piu pazienza avea negli atti, 
 Piangendo parea dicer : Piu non posso. 
 
 of Conv. iv. In his Dictionary, however, he inclines to agree with 
 Bianchi, who thinks it is formed on the analogy of poemata. The 
 remark of the Ottimo is amusing : " Poiche voi siete cosl diffettuosi, 
 quasi antomata che e una figura in difettuoso parlare." Post. Cass. 
 understands, atoms, motes.
 
 X 
 
 CANTO XI. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The first circle continued. The souls, as they go along, recite the Lord's 
 Prayer. Dante talks with Omberto Aldobrandeschi, and Oderisi of 
 Agubbio, who also shows him Provenzano Salvani. 
 
 "OUR FATHER, who in the heavens abidest, not as cir- 
 cumscribed, but through the greater love which Thou hast 
 to the first effects on high, praised be Thy name and Thy 
 worth by every creature, as it is meet to render thanks to 
 Thy sweet Spirit. Let the peace of Thy kingdom come to 
 
 O PADRE nostro che ne' Cieli stai, 
 Non circonscritto, ma per piu amore, 
 Che ai primi effetti di lassu tu hai, a 
 
 Laudato sia il tuo nome, e il tuo valore 
 Da ogni creatura, com' e degno 
 Di render grazie al tuo dolce vapore. 
 
 Vegna ver noi la pace del tuo regno, 
 
 a affetti Gg. 
 3 i primi effetti : the first-created things, i.e. heaven and the angels.
 
 CANTO xi. P URGA TOR Y. 125 
 
 us, for we towards it can naught of ourselves, if it comes 
 not, with all our wit. As of their will Thy angels make 
 sacrifice to Thee, chanting Hosanna, so may men do of 
 theirs. Give this day to us the daily manna, without which 
 through this rough desert backward he goes who most toils 
 to go forward. And as we forgive to each man the evil 
 which we have suffered, do Thou also graciously forgive, 
 and not regard our merit. Our strength, which easily 
 surrenders, put not Thou to proof with the old adversary, 
 but deliver it from him, who so urges it. This last prayer, 
 
 noi ad essa non potem da noi, 
 
 S' ella non vien, con tutto nostro ingegno. 
 Come del suo voler gli Angeli tuoi 10 
 
 Fan sacrificio a te, cantando Osanna, 
 
 Cosi facciano gli uomini de' suoi. 
 Da oggi a noi la cotidiana manna, 
 
 Senza la qual per questo aspro diserto 
 
 A retro va chi piu 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 virtu che di leggier s' adona, 
 
 Non spermentar con 1' antico avversaro, 20 
 
 Ma libera da lui, che si la sprona. 
 Quest' ultima preghiera, Signer caro, 
 
 '? It may be better to take perdoniamo as subj. "as we would 
 forgive." 
 
 19 adonare. Inf. vi. 34. 
 
 21 sprona, literally "spurs." 
 
 22 quest' ultima preghiera. Blane raises a question as to the 
 meaning of this, and rather inclines to suppose that it refers only to 
 the last line, thinking that the shades, though they cannot sin, are still
 
 126 PURGATORY. CANTO XL 
 
 dear Lord, no longer is made for us, for it needs not, but 
 for those who have remained behind us." Thus praying 
 for themselves and us good speed, these shades were all 
 going under their load, like that which sometimes is felt in 
 a dream, in diverse anguish, around and wearily up by the 
 first ledge, purging away the darkness of the world. If 
 there a good word is alway spoken for us, here what can be 
 said and done for them, by those who have a good root to 
 their will ? Surely we ought to aid them to wash the stains 
 
 Gia non si fa per noi, che non bisogna ; 
 
 Ma per color che dietro a noi restaro. 
 Cos! a se e noi buona ramogna 
 
 Quell' ombre orando, andavan sotto il pondo 
 
 Simile a quel che tal volta si sogna, 
 Disparmente angosciate tutte a tondo, 
 
 E lasse su per la prima cornice, 
 
 Purgando la caligine del mondo. 30 
 
 Se di la 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, si che mondi e lievi 
 
 liable to temptation. This seems far-fetched ; and, besides, "di leggier 
 Jadona" implies the possibility that those for whom the prayer is made 
 may fall. There is no difficulty in the nostra. They say the prayer as 
 they find it 
 
 33 G& non = Lat. jam non. So xii. 46. 
 
 28 Disparmente. See x. 136. 
 
 33 " Die sich namlich im stande der Gnade befinden, ohne die der 
 Mensch das Gute weder zu wollen, noch zu vollbringen vermag." 
 Philalethes, who compares iv. 134.
 
 CANTO XL PURGATORY. 127 
 
 which they bore hence, so that clean and light they may 
 issue to the starry circles. " Pray you so may justice and 
 pity soon disburthen you, that ye may be able to move the 
 wing which may raise you according to your desire show 
 us on which hand is the shortest way towards the stair ; and 
 if there is more than one passage, teach us that one which 
 falls least steeply : for this man who comes with me, through 
 the burthen of the flesh of Adam, wherewith he is clad, is 
 niggard, against his will, in mounting upward." Their words, 
 which they returned to these, which he whom I was following 
 had spoken, were not manifest from whom they came ; but 
 it was said : " Come to the right along the bank with us, 
 and ye shall find the pass possible for a living person to 
 
 Possano uscire alle stellate ruote. 
 Deh ! se giustizia e pieta vi disgrevi 
 
 Tosto, si che possiate muover 1' ala, 
 
 Che secondo il disk) vostro vi levi ; 
 Mostrate da qual mano inver la scala 40 
 
 Si va piu corto ; e se c' e piu d' un varco, 
 
 Quel ne insegnate, che men erto cala : 
 Che questi che vien meco, per 1' incarco 
 
 Delia carne d' Adamo, onde si veste, 
 
 Al montar su contra sua voglia e parco. 
 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 50 
 
 & rote. So viii. 18. 
 
 45 parco. Parcus with inf. in this sense belongs to late Latin ; 
 e.g. Silius Italicus.
 
 128 PURGATORY. CANTO xi. 
 
 ascend. And if I were not hindered by the stone which 
 quells my proud neck, whence it behoves me to bear my 
 face low, this man who yet lives, and names not himself, 
 would I gaze upon, to see if I knew him, and to make him 
 pitiful to this burthen. I was Latin, and born of a great 
 Tuscan : William Aldobrandeschi was my father ; I know 
 not if his name was ever with you. The ancient blood and 
 the fair deeds of my ancestors made me so arrogant, that 
 not thinking of the common mother, I had every man so 
 
 Possibile a salir persona viva. 
 
 E s' io non fossi impedito dal sasso, 
 Che la cervice mia superba doma, 
 Onde portar conviemmi il viso basso : 
 
 Cotesti che ancor vive, e non si noma, 
 Guardere' io, per veder s' io il conosco. 
 E per farlo pietoso a questa soma. 6-<^v <v*t 
 
 Io fui Latino, e nato d' un gran Tosco : 
 Guglielmo Aldobrandeschi fa mio padre : 
 Non so se il nome suo giammai fu vosco. 60 
 
 L' antico sangue e 1' opere leggiadre 
 De' miei maggior mi fer si arrogante, 
 Che non pensando alia comune madre, 
 
 51 The construction is remarkable, and can only be explained by 
 regarding salir persona viva as one verb. See Diez (who, however, 
 gives no exact parallel) iii. 231. 
 
 58 Latino = Italian. So xiii. 92. Inf. xxii. 65, and elsewhere. 
 So Benv. in his note to xxvi. 140: " quasi dicat Latine t>i' abbellisce," 
 etc. 
 
 59 The Aldobrandeschi were counts of Santafiore (vi. m), and in a 
 state of chronic hostility to the Sienese. Humbert, the speaker, was 
 murdered in the year 1259, at his castle of Campagnatico, by some men 
 of Siena. Campagnatico and Santafiore are both in the modern province 
 of Grosseto, formerly the Sienese Maremma.
 
 CANTO xi. PURGATORY. 129 
 
 deeply in despite that of it I died, as they of Siena know, 
 and every child in Campagnatico knows it. I am Humbert ; 
 and not only to me did Pride work loss, for all my consorts 
 has she drawn with her into disaster. And here it behoves 
 that I carry this weight on her account, until God is satisfied, 
 here among the dead, since I did it not among the living." 
 
 Listening, I bent my face downward, and one of them 
 (not he who was speaking) twisted himself beneath the 
 weight which hampers him ; and saw me, and knew me, 
 and called me, holding with labour his eyes fixed on me, 
 who, all stooping, was going with them. " Oh," said I to 
 
 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 fe', che tutti i miei consorti 
 
 Ha ella tratti seco nel malanno : 
 
 * 
 
 E qui convien ch' io questo peso porti 70 
 
 Per lei, tanto che a Dio si soddisfaccia, 
 Poi ch' io nol fei tra' vivi, qui tra' morti. 
 
 Ascoltando chinai in giu la faccia : 
 Ed un di lor, non questi che parlava, 
 Si torse sotto il peso, che Io impaccia : 
 
 E videmi e conobbemi e chiamava, 
 Tenendo gli occhi con fatica fisi 
 A me, che tutto chin con loro andava. <i p^ 
 
 i 5*^ 
 
 6 ? fante. Bianchi thinks it means here "grown-up person; "but 
 the word undoubtedly may mean "child," and this seems to give by far 
 the most effective sense here. 
 
 ? 8 Notice that Dante has to undergo a part at least of the punish- 
 ment proper to this circle, and compare xiii. 136, 7 ; also xvi. 1-7, 
 and xxvii. 49-51. 
 
 K
 
 130 PURGATORY. CANTO xi. 
 
 him, "art them not Oderisi, the honour of Agubbio, and 
 the honour of that art which is called illuminating \T\ Paris ?" 
 " Brother," said he, " more smile the parchments which 
 Franco of Bologna pencils ; the honour is now his wholly, 
 and mine in part. Be sure I should not have been so 
 courteous while I lived, for the great desire of excelling 
 whereon my heart was intent. Of such pride here is 
 
 O, dissi lui, non se' tu Oderisi, 
 
 L' onor d' Agobbio, e 1' onor di quell* arte 80 
 Che alluminare & chiamata in Parisi? 
 
 Frate, diss' egli, piu ridon le carte, b 
 Che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese : 
 L' onore e tutto or suo, e mio in parte. 
 
 Ben non sare' io stato si cortese 
 
 Mentre ch' io vissi, per lo gran disio 
 DelP eccellenza, ove mio core intese. 
 
 Di tal superbia qui si paga il fio : 
 
 b diss 1 ei per piu Gg. 
 
 79 Oderisi of Agubbio, and ( 83 ) Franco Bolognese, are mentioned by 
 Vasari in his Life of Giotto, where this passage is quoted. He testifies 
 from his own observation to the superiority of Franco. 
 
 81 alluminare, Fr. enluminer, whence Eng. limn. The Italian 
 word is miniare, from minium, red lead, whence "miniature" It 
 may be remarked that Dante's rendering of the French word shows the 
 pronunciation of Fr. en to have been the same then as now. 
 
 84 "My honour only remains as a part of his." Vellutello says that 
 Franco was Oderisi's pupil ; but there does not seem to be any evidence 
 for this, and Vasari's statement that they were employed at the same 
 time by the Pope (Boniface VIII.) is against it. "La mia fa in a 
 appena si conserva e la sua e ora in capo." Ott. It is hard not to 
 suppose that the e mio in parte is a little natural touch ; the old 
 instinct of pride has not yet quite yielded to the purificatory discipline. 
 
 Cf. xxiii. 79.
 
 CANTO xi. PURGATORY. 131 
 
 paid the fee; and even here I should not be, if it were 
 not that while I had the power to sin I turned to God. 
 O vain glory of human powers, how little time does the 
 green remain on its top, if it be not overtaken by uncouth 
 ages ! Cimabue thought to hold the field in painting ; and 
 now Giotto has the cry, so that he obscures the 'fame of 
 
 Ed ancor non sarei qui, se non fosse c 
 
 Che, possendo peccar, mi volsi a Dio. 90 
 
 O vana gloria dell' umane posse, 
 
 Com' poco verde in su la cima dura, d 
 
 Se non e giunta dall' etadi grosse ! 
 Credette Cimabue nella pintura 
 
 Tener lo campo : ed ora ha Giotto il grido, 
 
 Si che la fama di colui oscura. 6 
 
 c C' ancor non sarei io qui Gg. * d Con poco Cass. ? in la sua cima. 
 e 2 oscura Gg. 124 W. ; 2 scura Cass. 3. 
 
 92 Some read U verde, but the art. seems unnecessary. Cf. Inf. 
 xxiv. 6. 
 
 93 I.e. unless it happen to be followed by an age less cultivated. 
 Giunta = sopraggiunta, as in Inf. xxii. 126. 
 
 94, 95 It is not necessary to speak of Cimabue and Giotto. Villani 
 does not mention the former, but he records Giotto's death (xi. 12) 
 calling him " il piu sovrano maestro stato in dipintura che si trovasse al 
 suo tempo, e quegli che piu trasse ogni figura e atti al naturale. " He 
 died Jan. 8, 1337. The date of Cimabue's death is given by Vasari as 
 1300. If so, it must have been later in the year than the supposed date 
 of Dante's journey, as otherwise Dante would hardly have failed to 
 introduce him, and, judging from the character assigned to him, in this 
 very circle. See the commentator (Ottimo), on this passage, quoted by 
 Vasari. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 PURGATORY. CANTO xi. 
 
 him. Thus has one Guido from the other taken the 
 glory of the language; and perhaps he is born who will 
 chase the one and the other from the nest. The rumour 
 of the world is naught else than a breath of* wind, which 
 now comes hence and now comes thence, and changes 
 name because it changes quarter. What fame wilt thou 
 have more, if when it is old thou loose from thee thy 
 
 Cosi ha tolto 1' uno all' altro Guido 
 La gloria della lingua : e forse e nato 
 Chi 1' uno e 1' altro caccera di nido. 
 
 Non e il mondan romore altro ch' un fiato 100 
 
 Di vento, ch' or vien quinci, ed or vien quindi, 
 E muta nome, perche muta lato. 
 
 Che fama avrai tu piu, se vecchia scindi f 
 
 { Che voce Gg. Cass. 12345. 
 
 97 Blanc takes the usual view that the allusion is to Guido Guinicelli 
 (xxvi. 92 ; Conv. iv. 20 ; Vulg. El. i. 9 ; 15, where he is called 
 maximus; ii. 5, etc.), and Guido Cavalcanti (Inf. x. 63, Vulg. El. 
 i. 13, and elsewhere), Dante's most intimate friend. The difficulty of 
 this interpretation, as Philalethes has pointed out, lies in the fact that 
 Guido Cavalcanti's reputation does not seem to have been so great as 
 that would imply. There seems more likelihood that Guittone d'Arezzo 
 (xxiv. 56 ; xxvi. 124 ; Vulg. El. ii. 6) is the altro, and Guinicelli the 
 uno. It is evident from the passages referred to that Dante considered 
 Guittone a much overrated poet, and that he held Guinicelli in great 
 esteem. The date of Guittone's death is uncertain. Guinicelli died 
 1276, and Cavalcanti 1300. On the other side, however, must be set 
 Petrarch's mention of "i duo Guidi" (Tri. An. iv. 34). But Petrarch 
 had not read Dante with much attention. 
 
 " That Dante himself is indicated here can hardly be doubted. 
 
 103 sqq. cf. Boethius, Cons. Phil. ii. 7, "Vosautem immortalitatem 
 vobis propagare videmini, cum futuri famam temporis cogitatis. Quod si 
 ad aeternitatis spatia pertractes, quid habes, quod de tui nominis diutur- 
 nitate laeteris ? "
 
 CANTO XL PURGATORY. 133 
 
 flesh, than if thou hadst died before thou hadst left off 
 thy child's prattle, ere a thousand years are past? which 
 beside the eternal is a shorter space than is a move- 
 ment of the eyelid beside the circle which in heaven 
 turns the slowest. Of him who is taking the road so slowly 
 in front of me, all Tuscany resounded, and now hardly in 
 Siena do they whisper of him, whereof he was lord when 
 the Florentine rage was destroyed, which was as proud at 
 
 Da te la carne, che se fossi morto 
 Innanzi che lasciassi il pappo e il dindi, s 
 
 Pria che passin mill' anni ? ch' e piu corto 
 Spazio all' eterno, che un muover di ciglia, 
 Al cerchio che piu tardi in cielo e torto. 
 
 Colui, che del cammin si poco piglia 
 
 Dinanzi a me, Toscana sono tutta, no 
 
 Ed ora a pena in Siena sen pispiglia ; 
 
 Ond' era Sire, quando fu distrutta 
 La rabbia Fiorentina, che superba 
 Fu a quel tempo, si com' ora e putta. 
 
 s ami che tu la Gg. Cass. 12345. 
 
 105 Pappo and dindi, childish for padre and danari. Cf. Inf. xxxii. 9. 
 
 108 The eighth, or circle of the fixed stars. Philalethes thinks piu 
 tardi fe torto means " for a given length of arc separates least from its 
 tangent," but this seems unnecessarily abstruse. The astronomy of 
 Dante's age put the revolution of the starry heaven, i.e. the cycle of the 
 precession of the equinoxes, at 36,0x30 years. It is really 26,000. 
 
 10 9 I have followed Blanc and Bianchi. Philalethes renders "welcher 
 hier vor mir vom Weg so wenig zuriicklegt." It might be "who is 
 taking the road such a short distance in front of me." 
 
 114 Blanc makes a difficulty about putta, thinking the opposition not 
 exact enough. But cf. vi. 78. The allusion is to the battle of 
 Montaperti ; Villani (vi. 78), evidently with a reference to this passage, 
 says, Guelf as he is, " cosl s'adono la rabbia dell' ingrato e superbo 
 popolo di Firenze."
 
 134 PURGATORY. CANTO XL 
 
 that time as now it is vile. Your reputation is as hue of 
 grass, which comes and goes, and he discolours it, through 
 whose power it came forth unripe from the ground." And 
 I to him : " Thy true tale puts in my heart a good humility, 
 and brings low in me a great pride ; but who is that of 
 whom thou but now spakest?" "That is," he answered, 
 " Provenzano Salvani, and he is here, because he was pre- 
 sumptuous to bring Siena wholly into his hands. He has 
 gone so, and goes without repose since he died. Such coin 
 pays in satisfaction he who yonder is too daring." And I : 
 " If that spirit which awaits, before it repents, the edge of 
 
 La vostra nominanza e 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' incuora 
 Buona umilta, e gran tumor m' appiani : 
 Ma chi e quei, di cui tu parlavi ora? 120 
 
 Quegli e, rispose, Provenzan Salvani, 
 Ed e qui, perche fu presuntuoso 
 A recar Siena tutta alle sue mani. 
 
 Ito e cosi, e va senza riposo, 
 
 Poi che morl : cotal moneta rende 
 A soddisfar, chi e di la tropp' oso. 
 
 Ed io : Se quello spirito che attende, 
 Pria che si penta, 1' orlo della vita, 
 
 116 quei, the sun ; and so, the lapse of time. 
 
 121 Provenzano Salvani was killed when the Florentines, with the 
 help of some of Charles of Anjou's Frenchmen, defeated a mixed force 
 of Sienese, Germans, and Spaniards at Colle in Valdelsa, June n, 
 1269. See Villani vii. 31, who says, " Questo messere Provenzano 
 fu grande uomo in Siena al suo tempo dopo la vittoria, ch' ebbe a 
 Montaperti . . . . e era molto presuntuoso di sua volonta. "
 
 CANTO xi. PURGATORY. 135 
 
 life, tarries down there and ascends not hither, if kindly 
 prayer aid it not, until so long a time has passed as it lived, 
 how was the entrance allowed to him ? " " When he was 
 living in greatest glory," said he, "freely in the open place 
 of Siena, all shame laid aside, he took his stand ; and 
 there, to draw his friend from punishment which he was 
 enduring in the prison of Charles, he brought himself to 
 tremble through every vein. More I will not say, and I 
 know that I speak darkly ; but little time will pass that thy 
 neighbours shall so do, that thou shalt be able to expound 
 it. This work cleared for him those boundaries." 
 
 Laggiu dimora, e quassu non ascende, 
 
 Se buona orazion lui non aita, 130 
 
 Prima che passi tempo, quanto visse, 
 Come fu la venuta a lui largita ? 
 
 Quando vivea piii glorioso, disse, 
 Liberamente ne^ campo di Siena, 
 Ogni vergogna deposta, s' affisse : 
 
 E 11, per trar 1' amico suo di pena, 
 Che sostenea nella prigion di Carlo, 
 Si condusse a tremar per ogni vena. 
 
 Piii non diro, e scuro so che parlo : 
 
 Ma poco tempo andra che i tuoi vicini 140 
 Faranno si che tu potrai chiosarlo. 
 
 Quest' opera gli tolse quei confini. 
 
 '3 See iv. 133. 
 
 133 sqq. The friend's name was Vigna. He was captured at the 
 battle of Tagliacozzo, and held to ransom at 10,000 florins by Charles 
 of Anjou. Provenzano raised the money by begging in the market- 
 place of Siena. (Ottimo, quoted by Philalethes : Landino.)
 
 CANTO XII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The first circle continued. They come to a place where all the way is 
 paved with stones whereon notable examples of pride and its fall are 
 represented. At last they see an angel, who shows them the road by 
 which to ascend to the second circle. The first mark disappears from 
 Dante's forehead. 
 
 PAIRED, as oxen that go in the yoke, was I going with that 
 burthened soul, so long as my sweet guardian suffered it. 
 But when he said : " Leave him and pass on, for here it is 
 good with the sail and with the oars, as much as each is 
 able, to urge his boat," I made myself again as upright as 
 
 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, 
 Che qui e buon con la vela e co' remi, a 
 Quantunque pub ciascun, pinger sua barca : 
 
 Dritto si, come andar vuolsi, rife' mi 
 
 a buon collali Gg. (alt. ) 
 
 i vuolsi. So xiii. 18, xxiii. 6, and elsewhere. The meaning is 
 different from Lat. "sibi vult."
 
 CANTO xir. PURGATORY. 137 
 
 to walk requires, with my outward form ; albeit my thoughts 
 remained both bowed low and brought down. I had 
 moved, and was following willingly the steps of my master, 
 and both of us were already showing how agile we were ; 
 when he said to me : " Turn thy eyes downward ; it will be 
 good for thee, for easing of the way, to behold that whereon 
 thy soles are laid." 
 
 As when, that there be memory of them, above buried 
 folk the mounds of earth bear designed that which they 
 once were, whence tears are often shed there again, by 
 reason of the prick of remembrance, which only to the 
 pious gives the spur; so figured, but of better semblance, 
 
 Con la persona, avvegna che i pensieri 
 Mi rimanessero e chinati e scemi. 
 
 lo m' era mosso, e seguia volentieri 10 
 
 Del mio Maestro i passi, ed amendue 
 Gia mostravam come eravam leggieri, 
 
 Quando mi disse : Volgi gli occhi in glue : 
 Buon ti sara, per tranquillar la via, b 
 Veder lo letto delle piante tue. 
 
 Come, perche di lor memoria sia, 
 Sovr' a' sepolti le tombe terragne 
 Portan segnato quel ch' elli eran pria : 
 
 Onde li molte volte se ne piagne, 
 
 Per la puntura della rimembranza, 20 
 
 Che solo a' pii da delle calcagne : 
 
 SI vid' io 11, ma di miglior sembianza, 
 
 b per alleggiar Aid. Land. Bi. Bl. 
 " leggieri, as having nothing to carry, says Philalethes.
 
 138 PURGATORY. CANTO xii. 
 
 according to the craftsmanship, saw I there all that which 
 for road projects forth from the mountain. I saw him who 
 was created noble more than any other creature fall like 
 lightning from heaven, on one side. I saw Briareus, pierced 
 by the celestial dart, lie on the other side, weighed to the 
 earth by the chill of death. I saw Thymbraeus, I saw Pallas 
 and Mars, armed yet around their father, gaze on the 
 strewn limbs of the giants. I saw Nimrod at the foot of his 
 
 Secondo 1' artificio, figurato 
 
 Quanto per via di fuor dal monte avanza. 
 
 Vedea colui che fu nobil creato 
 Piu ch' altra creatura, giu dal Cielo 
 Folgoreggiando scendere da un lato. 
 
 Vedeva Briareo fitto dal telo 
 Celestial giacer dall' altra parte, 
 Grave alia terra per lo mortal gielo. 30 
 
 Vedea Timbreo, vedea Pallade e Marte, 
 Armati ancora intorno al padre loro, 
 Mirar le membra de' giganti sparte. 
 
 23 secondo 1'artificio. Bianchi and Fraticelli seem right in under- 
 standing this to refer to the Divine handiwork of the figures. Others 
 take it as merely = " better as regards workmanship." figurato. The 
 resemblance to the famous pavement of the Duomo of Siena which has 
 struck many readers must be accidental, as that was probably not begun 
 till after Dante's death, and certainly could not have been seen by him. 
 Bianchi remarks that the sculptures on the wall are instances of humility, 
 while pride is figured on the ground only. 
 
 25 Colui. Luke x. 1 8. The other instances of defeated pride which 
 follow are all familiar. It will be observed that they are taken alter- 
 nately from sacred and profane story. Notice also the structure of the 
 whole passage, broken into three groups of four, each distinguished by 
 its initial word ; the whole being as it were summed up in the lines 
 61-63.
 
 CANTO xii. PURGATORY. 139 
 
 great toil, as though bewildered, and the nations looking on 
 who were proud with him in Shinar. O Niobe, with what 
 weeping eyes saw I thee portrayed on the road, amid seven 
 and seven of thy children slain ! O Saul, how on thy 
 own sword there appearedst thou dead on Gilboa, which 
 thenceforth felt not rain nor dew ! O foolish Arachne, so 
 saw I thee, already half-spider, sad upon the tatters of the 
 work which to thy hurt was wrought. O Rehoboam, here 
 no longer appears thy image to threaten ; but full of terror 
 a chariot bears it away before another pursue it. The hard 
 pavement showed moreover how Alcmaeon made appear 
 
 Vedea Nembrotto appie 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 40 
 
 Quivi parevi morto in Gelboe, 
 Che poi non sentl pioggia, ne rugiada ! 
 
 O folle Aragne, si vedea io te, 
 
 Gia mezza aragna, trista in su gli stracci 
 Dell' opera che mal per te si fe ! 
 
 O Roboam, gia non par che minacci 
 Quivi il tuo segno : ma pien di spavento 
 Nel porta un carro prima che altri il cacci. 
 
 Mostrava ancora il duro pavimento 
 
 Come Almeone a sua madre fe' caro 50 
 
 3 6 So Vulg. El. i. 7. 
 
 50 Alcmaeon slew his mother Eriphyle, because, persuaded by the 
 bribe of a necklace, she had betrayed by Polynices the hiding-place of 
 her husband Amphiaraus, so that he went to Thebes and was killed. 
 Stat. Theb. ii. and iv., Horn. Od. X. 327.
 
 140 PURGATORY. CANTO xir. 
 
 costly to his mother her luckless adornment. It showed 
 how his sons threw themselves on Sennacherib within the 
 temple, and how they left that place when he was dead. 
 It showed the ruin and the cruel example which Tomyris 
 made when she said to Cyrus : " For blood thou hast thirsted, 
 and with blood I fill thee." It showed how the Assyrians 
 fled in rout after that Holofernes was dead, and also the 
 remnants of the slaughter. I saw Troy in cinders and in 
 pits ; O Ilion, how base and vile showed thee the image 
 which is there discerned ! What master was ever of pencil 
 and graving-tool to have portrayed the shadows and their 
 
 Parer lo sventurato adornamento. 
 Mostrava come i figli si gittaro 
 
 Sovra Sennacherib dentro dal tempio, 
 
 E come morto lui quivi lasciaro. 
 Mostrava la ruina e il crudo scempio 
 
 Che fe' Tamiri, quando disse a Giro ; 
 
 Sangue sitisti, ed io di sangue t' empio. 
 Mostrava come in rotta si fuggiro c 
 
 Gli Assiri, poi che fu morto Oloferne, 
 
 Ed anche le reliquie del martiro. 60 
 
 Vedeva Troia in cenere e in caverne : 
 
 O Ilion, come te basso e vile 
 
 Mostrava il segno che li si discerne ! 
 Qual di pennel fu maestro e di stile, 
 
 ^ f rotta Gg. 
 
 ss N.B. quivi as substantive : cf. xxi. 43. 
 
 60 le reliquie del martiro. Blanc and Philalethes take this to mean 
 the corpse of Holofernes ; Vellutello, Bianchi, and Fraticelli, those of 
 the Assyrians. 
 
 64 pennel e stile ; showing, as Blanc points out, that these pictures 
 were engraved, not raised, as M. Dore has represented them. Phila-
 
 CANTO xii. PURGATORY. 141 
 
 lineaments which there would make to wonder every subtile 
 intellect ? The dead appeared dead, and the living living ; 
 he who sees the truth sees not better than I all that I 
 walked upon, so long as I went bowed. Now be proud, 
 and forward with haughty visage, ye sons of Eve, and bow 
 not your face so as to see your evil path. 
 
 More of the mountain had already been passed round 
 by us, and of the sun's road far more spent than the mind 
 not at leisure estimated ; when he who always went in 
 front attentive began : "Raise upright thy head ; there is no 
 longer time to go bending thus. See there an angel who is 
 
 Che ritraesse 1' ombre e i tratti, ch' ivi d 
 
 Mirar farieno ogni 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, 70 
 
 Figliuoli d' Eva, e non chinate il volto, 
 
 Si che veggiate il vostro mal sentiero. 
 Piu era gia per noi del monte volto, 
 
 E del cammin del Sole assai piu speso, 
 
 Che non stimava 1' animo non sciolto ; 
 Quando colui che sempre innanzi atteso 
 
 Andava, comincio : Drizza la testa : 
 
 Non e piu tempo da gir si sospeso. 
 
 d gli atti Bi. 
 
 lethes seems to think that the meaning is, "Who could reproduce 
 them?" but it clearly is, "What artist has there ever been good 
 enough to do them?" For the constr. see Diez iii. 346. Lat. "Qualis 
 fuit qui depingeret ? " 
 
 681 *9 Symbolically, humility must precede knowledge of the truth. 
 
 75 Cf. iv. 9, 12, sqq.
 
 142 PURGATORY. CANTO xn. 
 
 making ready to come toward us ; see how the sixth hand- 
 maid is returning from the service of the day. Adorn with 
 reverence thy acts and thy face, so that it may please him 
 to put us in the upward way ; think that this day never 
 dawns again." I was well used to his admonitions, above 
 all not to lose time, so that in that matter he could not 
 speak darkly to me. To us came the fair creature, clad in 
 white, and in his face such as appears in its quivering gleam 
 a star of morning. He spread his arms, and then spread 
 his wings. He said : " Come : here are the steps hard by, 
 and easily from henceforth one ascends." To this bidding 
 
 Vedi cola un' Angel, che s' appresta, 
 
 Per venir verso noi : vedi che torna 80 
 
 Dal servigio del dl 1' ancella sesta. 
 Di riverenza gli atti e il viso adorna, 
 
 SI che il diletti lo inviarci in suso : 
 
 Pensa che questo di mai non raggiorna. 
 lo era ben del suo ammonir uso, 
 
 Pur di non perder tempo, si che in quella 
 
 Materia non potea parlarmi chiuso. 
 A noi venia la creatura bella 
 
 Bianco vestita, e nella faccia quale 
 
 Par tremolando mattutina Stella. 90 
 
 Le braccia aperse, ed indi aperse 1' ale : 
 
 Disse : Venite ; qui son presso i gradi, 
 
 Ed agevolemente omai si sale. 
 
 81 It is now past noon. They have therefore been about an hour in 
 this circle. See x. 14 sqq. It will be found that of no other circle, except 
 the 7th, does the passage occupy so short a time. This is accounted for 
 by the fact that in these they never stay to converse, but talk to the souls 
 as they go.
 
 CANTO xii. PURGATORY. 143 
 
 come they very scant ; O race of men, born to fly upward, 
 why at a little wind fall ye so down ? He led us where the 
 rock was cut ; there he beat his wings over my forehead ; 
 then he promised me my journey secure. 
 
 As on the right hand, to mount to the hill where stands 
 
 A questo invito vengon molto radi : e 
 
 O gente umana, per volar su nata, 
 
 Perchb a poco vento cosi cadi ? 
 Menocci ove la roccia era tagliata : 
 
 Quivi mi batteo 1' ali per la fronte, 
 
 Poi mi promise sicura 1' andata. 
 Come a man destra, per salire al monte 100 
 
 Dove siede la chiesa, che soggioga 
 
 e annunzio Gg. Cass. Aid. Land. etc. 
 
 94-96 B] anCj differing from mdst commentators, regards these lines 
 as Dante's own remark, and not the continuation of the angel's words. 
 Landino, however, says "le parole possono essere e dell' angelo e del 
 poeta," the meaning of which is not very obvious. I have followed 
 Blanc, as there is no other instance of any reflection of the kind being 
 made by any of the angels who point out the way. As to the reading 
 of 1. 94, annunzio has perhaps most authority, but invito makes so much 
 the best sense that I have followed Witte and Bianchi in adopting 
 it. It may be said, too, that invito may easily have been read nunto, 
 from which the step to annunzio is short ; whereas no contrary process 
 is likely to have taken place. 
 
 & Blanc's interpretation of this line seems more questionable. 
 Vento has been almost universally taken to mean the wind of vain- 
 glory, as in xi. 100 ; he, however, compares Matt. xiv. 30, as though 
 want of faith were the cause of the frequent failures of men to rise 
 on high. But looking to x. 125, as well as the passage referred to 
 above, there seems little doubt that the usual is also the correct inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 101 chiesa. Samminiato.
 
 144 PURGATORY, CANTO xn. 
 
 the church which above Rubaconte overhangs the well- 
 guided city, one breaks the bold steepness of the ascent by 
 the steps that were made at an age when the archives and 
 the measure were safe ; so grows gentler the slope which 
 here falls very steep from the second circle ; but on this 
 hand and on that the lofty rock grazes. We turning there 
 our bodies, Beati pauperes spiritu sang voices in such wise 
 that speech would not tell it. O how different are these 
 
 La ben guidata sopra Rubaconte, 
 
 Si rompe del montar 1'ardita foga, 
 Per le scalee, che si fero ad etade, 
 Ch' era sicuro il quaderno e la doga ; 
 
 Cosi s' allenta la ripa che cade 
 Quivi ben ratta dall' altro girone : 
 Ma quinci e quindi 1' alta pietra rade. 
 
 Noi volgendo ivi le nostre persone, 
 Beati pauperes spiritu, voci no 
 
 Cantaron si, che nol diria sermone. 
 
 Ahi quanto son diverse quelle foci 
 
 101 La ben guidata, ironically of Florence. 
 
 102 Rubaconte ; the bridge now called Ponte alle Grazie. It was 
 built in 1237, the first stone being laid by Messer Rubaconte da 
 Mandello of Milan, then Podesta. Villani vi. 26. 
 
 105 il quaderno e la doga. In 1299 Messer Niccola Acciaiuoli 
 and Messer Baldo d'Aguglione (Par. xvi. 56) abstracted from the 
 public records a leaf containing the evidence of a disreputable trans- 
 action, in which they, together with the Podesta, had been engaged. 
 At about the same time Messer Durante de' Chiaramontesi, being officer 
 of the customs for salt, took away a stave (doga) from the standard 
 measure, thus making it smaller (see Par. xvi. 105). Both the 
 Acciaiuoli and the Chiaramontesi were Guelfs, and hence perhaps it 
 is that Villani says nothing about these matters. It is to be noticed, 
 however, that he makes no mention of the Podesta on the occasion 
 of the founding of the walls of Florence in 1299. (Bk. viii. 31.)
 
 CANTO XII. PURGATORY. 145 
 
 passages to those of hell, for here one enters through chants, 
 there through fierce laments. 
 
 We were already mounting up by the holy stairs, and I 
 seemed to myself far more light than on the level I had 
 seemed before ; wherefore I said : " Master, say what heavy 
 thing has been lifted from me, that scarce any weariness is 
 found by me in going ? " He answered : " When the P's 
 which still remain on thy forehead almost extinct, shall be, 
 as one has been, wholly erased, thy feet will be so overcome 
 of goodwill, that not only will they not feel weariness, but 
 
 Dall' infernali ! che quivi per canti 
 S' entra, e laggiu per lamenti feroci. 
 
 Gia montavam su per li scaglion sand, 
 Ed esser mi parea troppo piu lieve, 
 Che per lo pian non mi parea davanti : 
 
 Ond' io : Maestro, di', qual cosa greve 
 Levata s' e da rite, che nulla quasi 
 Per me fatica andando si riceve? 120 
 
 Rispose : Quando i P, che son rimasi 
 Ancor nel volto tuo presso che stinti, 
 Saranno, come 1' un, del tutto rasi, 
 
 Fien li tuoi pie dal buon voler si vinti, 
 Che non pur non fatica sentiranno, 
 
 iao For this use otper equiv. to Latin ab with abl. see Diez iii. 162, 
 and cf. iii. 75, xv. 8, etc. So Germ, durch 
 
 132 Because pride being gone, the original root of sin (according to 
 the theologians) has been taken away, and the other sins tend to be- 
 come extinct. See Aquinas S. T. ii. 2, Q. 162 (where he quotes 
 Ecclus. x. 13), especially Art. 7- " Superbia causat gravitatem aliorum 
 peccatorum," and "inter graviora peccata primum est superbia, sicut 
 causa per quam alia peccata aggravantur." 
 
 L
 
 146 PURGATORY. CANTO xn. 
 
 it will be a delight to them to be urged upward." Then 
 did I, as those who go with something on their head not 
 known to them, save that the gestures of another make 
 them suspect ; wherefore the hand gives its aid to ascertain, 
 and searches and finds, and fulfils that service which can- 
 not be rendered by the sight ; and with the fingers of my 
 right spread out I found to be six only, the letters which he 
 of the keys carved on me above the temples; looking 
 whereat my leader smiled. 
 
 Ma fia diletto loro esser su pinti. 
 
 Allor fee' io come color, che vanno 
 Con cosa in capo non da lor saputa, 
 Se non che i cenni altrui sospicar fanno : 
 
 Perche la mano ad accertar s' aiuta, 130 
 
 E cerca e trova, e quell' ufficio adernpie, 
 Che non si pub fornir per la veduta : 
 
 E con le dita della destra scempie 
 Trovai pur sei le lettere, che incise 
 Quel dalle chiavi a me sovra le tempie : 
 
 A che guardando il mio Duca sorrise.
 
 CANTO XIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The poets reach the second circle, wherein the sin of Envy is purged. At 
 first they see no man, but presently they hear voices, calling to mind 
 examples of the contrary virtue, and exhorting to it. Then they come 
 upon the shades, who sit along the rock, clad in hair-shirts, and 
 having their eyelids sewn up with iron thread. Dante talks with Sapia, 
 a lady of Siena. 
 
 WE were at the summit of the stair where a second time 
 is cut back the mount which by its ascent frees any from 
 ill ; there a cornice binds around the steep, in like manner 
 as the 'first, save that its arc more quickly bends. Shade 
 
 Noi eravamo al sommo della scala, 
 Ove secondamente si risega a 
 Lo monte, che salendo altrui dismala. 
 
 Ivi cosl una cornice lega 
 
 Dintorno il poggio, come la primaia, 
 Se non che Farco suo pill tosto piega. 
 
 * rilega Gg. 12345. 
 
 3 altrui, as in iv. 54; "any other," i.e. than the subject of the 
 verb, so "anyone." ^ 
 
 6 This phrase to some extent bears out Philalethes' interpretation of 
 xi. 1 08, q. v. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 PURGATORY. CANTO xm. 
 
 there is not, nor image that may appear, so bare appears 
 the bank, so bare the way, with the livid hue of the rock. 
 " If here one awaits folk to inquire," reasoned the Poet, " I 
 fear that perhaps our selection may have too much delay." 
 Then he directed his eyes fixedly to the sun ; he made of 
 his right side centre to his movement, and turned the left 
 part of himself. "O sweet light, in whose confidence I 
 enter by the new road, do thou conduct us," said he, "as 
 
 Ombra non gli e ne segno che si paia : 
 
 Par si la ripa, e par si la via schietta, 
 
 Col livido color della petraia. 
 Se qui per dimandar gente s' aspetta, 10 
 
 Ragionava il Poeta, io temo forse 
 
 Che troppo avra d' indugio nostra eletta : 
 Poi fisamente al Sole gli occhi porse : 
 
 Fece del destro lato al muover centre, 
 
 E la sinistra parte di se torse. 
 O dolce lume, a cui fidanza io entro 
 
 Per Io nuovo cammin, tu ne conduci. 
 
 7 Ombra. Does this mean "shades " in the usual sense, or pictures ? 
 Landino is undecided ; Philalethes leaves it open. Buti, Bianchi, and 
 others take the latter view. Vellutello says " Cioe non era anima," 
 and Blanc agrees in his Erklarungen (though taking the other view 
 in his Dictionary), comparing x. 21. Besides, Virgil's next remark 
 distinctly requires it, in order to be apposite. Segno = Lat. signum ; 
 the reason of the absence of these is plain, as the shades would be 
 unable to see them. 
 
 9 Bianchi takes col to be contracted from come U ; but this seems 
 unnecessary. 
 
 9 livido ; lividus in Latin is almost oftener used as = envious than 
 in its literal sense.
 
 CANTO xiii. PURGATORY. 149 
 
 one would be conducted herewithin ; thou warmest the 
 world, thou shinest over it ; if other reason urges not to the 
 contrary, thy rays ought to be always guides." 
 
 As much as one reckons here for a mile distance, so far 
 were we already gone from there, in a short time, through 
 the eagerness of our will. And towards us were heard, not 
 however seen, to fly, spirits speaking courteous bidding 
 to the table of love. The first voice that passed in its 
 flight said in loud tone : Vinum non habent, and went 
 repeating it behind us. And before it was wholly unheard 
 through growing distant, another passed, crying : " I am 
 
 Dicea, come condur si vuol quinc' entro : b 
 Tu scaldi il mondo, tu sovr' esso luci : 
 
 S' altra ragione in contrario non pronta, c 20 
 
 Esser den sempre li tuoi raggi duci. 
 Quanto di qua per un migliaio si conta, 
 
 Tanto di la noi eravam gia iti 
 
 Con poco tempo, per la voglia pronta : 
 E verso noi volar furon sentiti, 
 
 Non perb visti, spiriti, parlando 
 
 Alia mensa d' amor cortesi inviti. 
 La prima voce, che passo volando, 
 Vinum non habent, altamente disse, 
 
 E dietro a noi 1' andb reiterando. 30 
 
 E prima che del tutto non s' u disse 
 
 Per allungarsi, un' altra : I' sono Oreste, 
 
 b qui dentro Gg. c cagione Aid. Land. Si. 
 
 36 pero, as in vii. 55. 
 
 32 The words, of course, are those of Pylades, in the well-known 
 story. Dante may have got it from Cic. de Am, 24.
 
 150 PURGATORY. CANTO XIIL 
 
 Orestes," and also did not stay. " Oh," said I, " Father, 
 what voices are these ? " And as I asked, lo, the third, 
 saying : " Love them from whom ye have evil." The good 
 Master : " This circle scourges the sin of envy, and there- 
 fore are the lashes of the scourge wielded by love. The 
 rein will have to be of the contrary sound ; I think that 
 thou wilt hear it, in my judgement, before thou reachest the 
 passage of pardon. But fix thine eyes intently through the 
 air, and thou wilt see folk sitting in front of us, and each 
 one is seated along the cliff." Then I opened my eyes 
 more than before ; I looked before me, and saw shades 
 
 Passb gridando, ed anche non s' affisse. 
 O, diss' io, Padre, che voci son queste ? 
 
 E com' io dimandai, ecco la terza, 
 
 Dicendo : Amate, da cui male aveste, 
 Lo buon Maestro : Questo cinghio sferza. 
 
 La colpa della invidia, e pero sono 
 
 Tratte da amor le corde della ferza. 
 Lo fren vuol esser del contrario suono : 40 
 
 Credo che 1' udirai, per mio avviso, 
 
 Prima che giunghi al passo del perdono. 
 Ma ficca gli occhi per 1' aere ben fiso, 
 
 E vedrai gente innanzi a noi sedersi, 
 
 E ciascun e lungo la grotta assiso. 
 Allora piu che prima gli occhi apersi ; 
 
 Guarda' mi innanzi, e vidi ombre con manti 
 
 40 Vuol esser is nearly equivalent to sard, but the vuol is rather 
 more than a mere auxiliary ; it is almost exactly = Germ. muss. So 
 Villani uses "vollero esser presi," "were going to be taken." The use 
 is noticed by Corticelli, who explains it as equivalent to essere per 
 essere. Dante uses the figure of the rein and the spur (corresponding 
 to the whip here) in Conv. iv. 26.
 
 CANTO xin. PURGATORY. 151 
 
 with cloaks not different from the colour of the rock. And 
 after that we were a little more forward I heard them cry: 
 " Mary, pray for us ! " cry " Michael," and " Peter," and all 
 the saints. I do not believe that there goes on the earth 
 this day a man so hard, that he were not pricked by com- 
 passion for those whom I next saw ; for when I had arrived 
 so near them that their actions came clearly to me, the 
 tears were drawn from my eyes for heavy grief. They 
 appeared to me covered with common hair-cloth, and one 
 was supporting another with his shoulder, and all were 
 supported by the bank. Thus blind men, to whom sub- 
 
 Al color della pietra non diversi. 
 
 E poi che fummo un poco piu avanti, 
 
 Udi' gridar, Maria, ora per noi; 50 
 
 Gridar, Michele, e Pietro, e tutti i Santi. 
 
 Non credo, che per terra vada ancoi 
 Uomo si duro, che non fosse punto 
 Per compassion di quei ch' io vidi poi : 
 
 Che quando fui si 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 1' un sofferia 1' altro con la spalla, 
 E tutti dalla ripa eran sofferti. 60 
 
 48 Diversi al. So Inf. ix. 12. The construction is equivalent to 
 the Latin with dative, which though the less usual is not unfrequent, 
 especially in Horace. See Zumpt Gr. 468. 
 
 5* Bianchi reads quel; but as no particular person is referred to, 
 and quello is not often used as equivalent to cid, I have preferred 
 quel 
 
 51 munto : mulgere, not mungere. Diez i. 189.
 
 152 PURGATORY. CANTO xm. 
 
 stance is lacking, stand by the pardons to beg their need, 
 and one lets his head fall on another, so that in others pity 
 shortly is planted, not only through the sound of the words, 
 but through the face which no less yearns. And as the 
 Sun reaches not to those deprived [of sight], so to the 
 shades in the place whereof I was but now speaking, light 
 of Heaven will not bestow of itself : for in all of them a 
 
 Cos! li ciechi, a cui la roba falla, 
 
 Stanno ai pejdojii a chieder lor bisogna 
 E 1' uno il capo sovra 1' altro avvalla, 
 
 Perche in altrui pieta tosto si pogna, 
 Non pur per lo sonar delle parole, 
 Ma per la vista, che non meno agogna. C^r s^ 
 
 E come agli orbi non approda il Sole, 
 Cosi all' ombre, dov 5 io parlava ora, d 
 Luce del Ciel di se largir non vuole : 
 
 d ombre qul ona" io Gg. om. ov 1 io Cass. quivi ov 1 io farlo 45. 
 far lava 12. la v' io. W. 
 
 61 a cui la roba falla. So Inf. xxiv. 7. 
 
 6a perdoni, the church-doors and other places where notice of 
 indulgences is given. 
 
 67 approda. The word occurs Inf. xxi. 78, where, however, it 
 seems rather to be connected with prodesse. Here the best inter- 
 pretation would appear to be that which takes it as = arriva (proda = 
 riva in vi. 85, and elsewhere) ; and with this Blanc (Erklarungen) 
 finally agrees, though in his Dictionary he has preferred the meaning 
 " profits," which Philalethes also adopts. Bianchi, however, explains, 
 "non arriva, non giunge a farsi vedere." Ott. "non giova." 
 
 63 dov' io parlav' ora. Not, I think, quite as Bianchi puts it, 
 " del luogo nel quale," for he has not yet spoken ; nor as Philalethes, 
 "die ich erwahnt," for dove is not equivalent to delle quali. It is 
 rather a compressed way of saying, "nel luogo del quale." ora, as in 
 xi. 120. So French " tout-a-1'heure, " is used of time just past.
 
 CANTO xni. PURGATORY, 153 
 
 thread of iron bores the eyelid, and sews it in such wise as 
 is done to a wild hawk because he remains not quiet. As 
 I went I seemed to myself to be doing outrage in seeing 
 others and not being seen, wherefore I turned to my sage 
 Counsel. Well knew he what I, the silent, would say, and 
 therefore he awaited not my demand, but said : " Speak, 
 and be brief and clear." Virgil was going between me and 
 that edge of the cornice, whence one may fall, because it is 
 enringed with no border ; on the other side me were the 
 
 Che a tutte un fil di ferro il ciglio fora, 70 
 
 E cuce si com' a sparvier selvaggio 5 
 
 Si fa, pero che quefolnon dimora. 
 ,, A me pareva andando fare oltraggio, 
 Vedendo altrui, non essendo veduto : 
 Perch' io mi volsi al mio consiglio saggio. 
 
 Ben sapev' ei, che volea dir lo muto ; 
 E pero non atte^e mia dimanda ; 
 Ma disse : Parla, e sii breve ed arguto. 
 
 Virgilio mi venia da quella banda e 
 
 Delia cornice, onde cader si puote, 80 
 
 Perche da nulla sponda s' inghirlanda : 
 
 Dall' altra parte m' eran le devote 
 
 e landa Gg, 
 
 Literally, " was going with regard to me in the direction of that 
 border." This is one of the little explanations which Dante is so fond 
 of giving to enable the reader to get his bearings. venia, because 
 Dante had gone a little in front. Da, as in iv. 57, etc. Diez iii. 149. 
 Gg. reading landa, explains "i.e. planitie cxtrcma." 
 
 81 sponda. Latin sponda is a bedstead, and more especially the 
 side away from the wall, which would project a little beyond the 
 mattress. (Hor. Epod. iii. 22). Here the meaning is that the path 
 came to the very edge of the precipice.
 
 154 PURGATORY. CANTO xiu. 
 
 devout shades, who through the horrible stitching were 
 straining so that they bathed their cheeks. I turned to 
 them and began : " O folk secure of seeing the light on high 
 which alone your desire has in its care, so may grace 
 quickly loosen the scum of your conscience in such wise 
 that the stream of the mind may ascend clear through it, 
 tell me (for it will be gracious and precious to me) if there 
 is here among you a soul that is Latin ; and perhaps to him 
 it will be good, if I become known to him." " O my brother, 
 each is citizen of a true city ; but thou wouldst say, who 
 
 Ombre, che per 1' orribile costura 
 
 Premevan si, che bagnavan le gote. 
 Volsimi a loro, ed : O gente sicura, 
 
 Incominciai, di veder 1' alto lume 
 
 Che il disio vostro solo ha in sua cura j 
 Se tosto grazia risolva le schiume 
 
 Di vostra coscienzia, si che chiaro 
 
 Per essa scenda della mente il fiume, 90 
 
 Ditemi (che mi fia grazioso e caro) 
 
 S' anima e qui tra voi, che sia Latina : 
 
 E forse a lei sark buon, s' io 1' apparo. 
 O frate mio, ciascuna e cittadina 
 
 D' una vera cittH ; ma tu vuoi dire, 
 
 8 s sf i<j- Cf. iii. 73-75- 
 88 se, as in ii. 16. 
 
 90 Blanc takes mente in the sense of "remembrance " (as in Par. ix, 
 104), with special reference to the effects of the water of Lethe. 
 
 92 Latino. So xl 58. 
 
 93 lei, fern, because it represents anima. So vi. 6l. 
 
 94 Cf. St. Augustine, "Qui vero cives sunt in populo Dei, ipsi sunt 
 in terra peregrini." Comment, in Psal. cxviii.
 
 CANTO xin. PURGATORY. 155 
 
 lived as a pilgrim in Italy." This methought I heard 
 by way of answer somewhat more in front than the place 
 where I was standing, wherefore I let myself be heard still 
 more that way. Among the others I saw a shade which 
 in its face was expectant ; and if any would say " How ? " 
 it was raising its chin upward in fashion of one blind. 
 " Spirit," said I, " that art quelling thyself in order to 
 mount, if thou art that one which answered to me, make 
 thyself known to me either by place or name." " I was 
 of Siena," it answered, " and with these others I cleanse 
 here my guilty life, weeping to Him, that He may grant 
 Himself to us. Sage I was not, albeit I was called Sapia, 
 
 Che vivesse in Italia peregrina. 
 
 Questo mi parve per risposta udire 
 
 Piu innanzi alquanto, che la dov' io stava ; f 
 Ond' io mi feci ancor piu la sentire. 
 
 Tra V altre vidi un' ombra, che aspettava 100 
 
 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 luogo o per nome. 
 
 Io fui Sanese, rispose, e con quest! 
 Altri rimondo qui la vita ria, 
 Lagrimando a calm, che se ne presti. 
 
 Savia non fui, avvegna che Sapia 
 
 { Piu a. Aid. W. 
 
 99 Because the spirit could only thus know of his approach. 
 
 109 " Sapia fu gentildonna Sanese ; ma in esilio viveva in Colle, e 
 tanta invidia portava allo stato Sanese che essendo rotti i Sanesi non 
 lontano da Colle, tanta letizia ne prese, che alzando gli occhi al cielo
 
 1 56 PURGATORY. CANTO xin. 
 
 and Iwas far more glad of others'harm than of myown fortune. 
 And that thou mayest not think that I deceive thee, hear 
 whether I was foolish as I tell thee. As the arch of my years 
 was already turning downward, my fellow-citizens were, near 
 to Colle, joined in the field with their adversaries, and 
 I prayed God for that which was his will. There were they 
 routed, and turned to the bitter passes of flight, and seeing 
 the chace, I took pleasure beyond all other : so much that 
 I upraised my daring face, crying to God : ' Henceforth I 
 
 Fossi chiamata, e fui degli altrui danni no 
 
 Piu lieta assai, che di ventura mia. 
 E perche tu non credi, ch' io t' inganni, 
 
 Odi se fui, com' io ti dico, folle. 
 
 Gia discendendo 1'arco de' miei anni, 
 Erano i cittadin miei presso a Colle 
 
 In campo giunti co' loro avversari : 
 
 Ed io pregava Dio di quel ch' ei volle. g 
 Rotti fur quivi, e volti negli arnari 
 
 Passi di fuga, e veggendo la caccia, 
 
 Letizia presi ad ogni altri dispari : 120 
 
 Tanto, ch' io levai in su 1' ardita faccia, 
 
 Gridando a Dio ; Omai piu non ti temo : 
 
 s prcgai 2 Aid. fregai Iddio W. 
 
 disse, Fammi hoggimai Iddio il peggio che tu puoi, che viver6 e moriro 
 contenta." Landino. This was the battle in which Provenzano Salvani 
 was slain (see xi. 121), and some of the early commentators say that 
 Sapia was a relation of his. Philalethes thinks this improbable, because 
 she was his enemy, but it is hard to see why one would have been 
 incompatible with the other in those times. 
 
 114 For the comparison of human life to an arch, see Conv. iv. 23, 
 where he puts the summit of the arch between the thirty-fifth and 
 fortieth years.
 
 CANTO xiii. PURGATORY. 157 
 
 fear thee no more,' as did the merle for a little fair weather. 
 I wished for peace with God on the verge of my life ; and 
 not yet would my debt be reduced through penitence, if 
 it were not that Peter Pettinagno had me in memory in his holy 
 prayers, whom, of his charity, it grieved for me. But who 
 art thou, that goest asking our conditions, and bearest thine 
 eyes loosed, as I believe, and breathing talkest ? " " My 
 eyes," said I, " will yet be taken from me here ; but for 
 a little time, for small is the offence wrought by them 
 through being turned with envy. Far greater is the fear 
 
 Come fe il merlo per poca bonaccia. 
 Pace volli con Dio in su lo stremo 
 
 Delia mia vita : ed ancor non sarebbe 
 
 Lo mio dover per penitenza scemo, 
 Se cio non fosse ch' a memoria m' ebbe 
 
 Pier Pettinagno in sue sante orazioni, 
 
 A cui di me per caritade increbbe. 
 Ma tu chi se', che nostre condizioni 130 
 
 Vai dimandando, e porti gli occhi sciolti, 
 
 S\ come io credo, e spirando ragioni ? 
 Gli occhi, diss' io, mi fieno ancor qui tolti, 
 
 Ma picciol tempo : che poca e 1' offesa 
 
 Fatta per esser con invidia volti. 
 
 "3 Blanc and Philalethes, after Lombardi, state that in North Italy A 
 the last three days of January are known as "giorni del merlo." 
 Sacchetti (Nov. cxlix.) quotes the proverb ; " Piu non ti euro Domine, ' 
 che uscito son del verno." 
 
 126 I.e. "I should not have yet entered Purgatory," cf. iv. 133. 
 
 128 Piero Pettinagno (or Pettinaio as some read) is said to have 
 been a hermit, of the Franciscan order, a Florentine by birth, but 
 dwelling near Siena, and renowned for his piety and miracles. He is 
 still, according to Philalethes, revered as a saint at Siena. 
 
 133 gli occhi ; observe the allusion to the etymology of invidia. /
 
 158 PURGATORY. CANTO xiu. 
 
 whereby my soul is in suspense of the torment below, for 
 already yonder burden weighs on me." And she to me : 
 " Who then has led thee up here among us, if thou thinkest 
 to return below ? " And I : " He here who is with me, 
 and speaks no word ; and I am alive ; and therefore ask 
 of me, elect spirit, if thou wilt that yonder I move for thee 
 hereafter my mortal feet." " Oh, this is so new a thing to 
 hear," she answered, " that it is a great sign that God loves 
 thee, wherefore with thy prayer at some time help me. And 
 I ask thee by that which thou most desirest, if ever thou 
 treadest the land of Tuscany that thou surely make good 
 
 Troppa e piu la paura, ond' e sospesa 
 L' anima mia, dal tormento di sotto : 
 Che g& lo incarco di laggiu mi pesa, 
 
 Ed ella a me : Chi t' ha dunque condotto 
 
 Quassu tra noi, se giu ritornar credi ? 140 
 
 Ed io : Costui, ch' e meco, e non fa motto. 
 
 E vivo sono : e perb mi richiedi, 
 
 Spirito eletto, se tu vuoi ch' io muova 
 Di la per te ancor li mortai piedi h 
 
 O questa e a udir si cosa nuova, 1 
 
 Rispose, che gran segno e che Dio t' ami : 
 Perb col prego tuo talor mi giova : 
 
 E cheggioti per quel che tu piu brami, 
 Se mai calchi la terra di Toscana, 
 
 h Dilbinpartt. Gg. 12345. ! Or questa. 3 W. 
 
 36-138 Dante's pride seems to have been the point in his character 
 which most struck his contemporaries. See Villani ix. 136 : "Per lo 
 suo savere fu alquanto presuntuoso e schifo e isdegnoso," and sundry 
 anecdotes to the same effect are preserved by Sacchetti and others.
 
 CANTO xiii. PURGATORY. 159 
 
 again my fame among my kin. Thou wilt see them among 
 that vain folk who have hope in Talamone, and will lose 
 there more hope than in finding the Diana ; but yet more 
 will the admirals lose there." 
 
 Ch' a' miei propinqui tu ben mi rinfami. 150 
 
 Tu gli vedrai tra quella gente vana, 
 Che spera in Talamone, e perderagli 
 Piu di speranza, ch' a trovar la Diana : 
 
 Ma pill vi perderanno gli ammiragli. k 
 
 . I0 
 
 mctteranno Gg. 12345 Aid. W. 
 
 131 gente vana. Cf. Inf. xxix. 122. 
 
 '5 2 Talamone is a small seaport at the south-west corner of the 
 territory of Grosseto, in the Sienese Maremma, not far from the mouth 
 of the Ombrone. The Sienese bought it in 1305 with the view of 
 becoming a naval power, wherein they did not succeed. It was 
 captured by the Sicilian fleet, undr Don Peter (grandson of Peter III. 
 of Aragon), acting on the side of the Emperor Lewis IV. against the 
 Guelfs in 1328 (Villani x. 103). 
 
 J 53 Diana, a spring fabled to exist under Siena, in the search for 
 which much time and money was spent. It, or another, was actually 
 found in the course of the fourteenth century ; see Vasari, lives of 
 Agnolo and Agostino. 
 
 154 Because they lost their lives owing to the unhealthiness of the 
 place.
 
 CANTO XIV. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Second circle continued. Dante talks with Guido del Duca and Rinier da 
 Calboli, who lament the decline of virtue in the present age. They 
 pass on and hear other voices, which recall examples of the sin of envy 
 and its punishment. . 
 
 " WHO is this that circles our mountain before that death 
 have given him power of flight, and opens and shuts his 
 eyes at his will ? " "I know not who he is, but I know that 
 he is not alone. Ask thou of him that he draw nearer thee, 
 and greet him sweetly, so that he may speak." Thus two 
 
 Chi e 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 e solo : 
 Dimandal tu, che piu gli t' avvicini, a 
 E dolcemente, si che parli, accol 
 
 iccoio. 
 chini, 
 
 Cosi due spirti, 1' uno all' altro 
 a sepih Gg. 
 
 / 6 accolo, accoglilo, accoilo, acco'lo. 
 
 "> For the names of these two, see 11. 8 1, 88.
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 161 
 
 spirits, leaning the one against the other, were talking of me 
 there to the right hand ; then they turned their faces upward 
 to speak to me, and one said : " O soul that fixed yet in the 
 body goest thy way towards Heaven, in charity console us 
 and tell us whence thou comest and who thou art, for thou 
 makest us marvel so much at the grace thou hast, as that 
 must needs do, which has never else happened." And I : 
 " Through midmost Tuscany takes its way a little stream, 
 which rises in Falterona, and a hundred miles of course 
 
 Ragionavan di me ivi a man dritta : 
 
 Poi fer li visi, per dirmi, supini : 
 E disse 1' uno ; O anima, che fitta 10 
 
 Nel corpo ancora, inver lo Ciel ten vai, 
 
 Per carita ne consola, e ne ditta, 
 Onde vieni, e chi se' : che tu ne fai 
 
 Tan to maravigliar della tua grazia, 
 
 Quanto vuol cosa, che non fu piu mai. 
 Ed io : Per mezza Toscana sfspazia 
 
 Un fiumicel che nasce in Falterona, 
 
 E cento miglia di corso nol sazia. 
 / Di sovr' esso rech' io questa persona ; 
 Dirvi ch' io sia saria parlare indarno ; 20 
 
 Che il nome mio ancor molto non suona. 
 
 8 a man dritta. Because Dante, talking to Sapia, had his face 
 towards the mountain. 
 
 9 So xiii. 1 02. The gesture is very familiar in the blind. 
 
 10 fitto, fisso, fiso are all frequent. For the first form, see Diez 
 i. 13. 
 
 18 sazia. N.B. the singular, as if it were, "corso di cento 
 miglia." 
 
 19 Di, not, I think, " from," as Philalethes and Bianchi take it, but 
 as in "di quella costa," Par. xi. 49, and "di la," " di qua." Reco as 
 in xxvi. 60, xxxiii. 78. 
 
 M
 
 162 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 sate it not. Upon its banks I bear this body. To tell you 
 who I am would be to speak in vain, for as yet my name 
 makes no great sound." " If I well pierce thy meaning 
 with my understanding," answered me then he who first 
 spoke, " thou talkest of Arno." And the other said to 
 him : " Why did he hide the name of that river just as a 
 man does of horrible things ? " And the shade which was 
 asked of this. delivered itself thus : " I know not, but worthy 
 it is surely that the name of such a vale perish, for, from its 
 source (where so teems the lofty mountain, whence Pelorum 
 is cut, that in few places does it pass beyond that mark) 
 
 Se ben lo intendimento tuo accarno 
 Con lo intelletto, allora mi nspose 
 Quei che prima dicea, tu parli d' Arno. b 
 
 E 1' altro disse a lui ; Perche nascose 
 Quest! il vocabol di quella riviera, 
 Pur com' uom fa dell' orribili cose ? 
 
 E 1' ombra che di cib dimandata era, 
 Si sdebitb cosl : Non so, ma degno 
 Ben' e, che il nome di tal valle pera : 30 
 
 Che dal principio suo (dov' e si pregno 
 L' alpestro monte, ond' e tronco Peloro, 
 Che in pochi luoghi passa oltra quel segno) 
 
 Infm la Ve si rende per ristora 
 
 b dicea pria 1234, d. prima Cass. diceva pria W. 
 
 >/ 22 accarno, properly "pierce the flesh." Cf. " accuorare." 
 
 31 si pregno. Both the Arno and the Tiber are among the streams 
 which rise in the neighbourhood of Monte Falterona. Compare with 
 this passage the description of the course of the Mincio, Inf. xx. 
 
 32 monte, the Apennine, from which Pelorum is cut off by the Strait 
 of Messina.
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY, 163 
 
 even to that spot where it renders itself for repayment of 
 what the heaven dries up of the sea, whence the rivers 
 get that which goes with them, virtue is shunned for an 
 enemy by all men just like a serpent, either through mishap 
 of the place or through evil custom which pricks them on, 
 wherefore the inhabiters of the unhappy vale have so 
 changed their nature that it seems as though Circe had had 
 them in feeding. Among foul hogs, more worthy of galls 
 than of any food made for the use of men, it first directs 
 its miserable path. Next it finds curs, as it conies lower, 
 
 Di quel che il ciel della marina asciuga, 
 Ond' hanno i fiumi cio, che va con loro, 
 
 Virtu cosi per nimica si fuga 
 
 Da tutti, come biscia, o per sventura 
 Del luogo, o per mal uso che gli fruga : 
 
 Ond' hanno si mutata lor natura 40 
 
 Gli abitator della misera valle, 
 Che par che Circe* gli avesse in pastura. 
 
 Tra brutti porci, piu degni di galle, 
 Che d' altro cibo fatto in umano uso, 
 Dirizza prima il suo povero calle. 
 
 Botoli truova poi venendo giuso 
 Hinghiosi piu che non chiede lor possa, 
 
 43 porci, the men of the Casentino ; probably with especial reference 
 to the great family known as the Conti Guidi, lords of Romena (Inf. 
 xxx. 73), and Porciano, to which latter name there is perhaps an 
 allusion. See Philalethes here, and to Inf. xvi. 39. 
 
 43 galle for ghiande says Blanc : but surely it is contemptuous, 
 " fit not even for acorns, only galls." 
 
 44 altro. See xxxii. 39. 
 
 46-48 botoli, the Aretines, who were in a state of almost constant 
 feud with Florence, and for a long time more or less in subjection to it. 
 The Arno, as will be seen on the map, flows south-east almost to 
 Arezzo, and then makes a great sweep away to the north-west. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 snarling more than their power demands, and at them in 
 disdain it turns aside its muzzle. It goes its way downward, 
 and in proportion as it grows greater so much the more does 
 the accursed and ill-fated fosse find, out of dogs, wolves 
 made. Then, having descended through more hollow 
 basins, it finds the foxes, so full of fraud that they have no 
 fear of a wit that may forestall them. Nor will I leave 
 speaking for all that another hear me ; and good will it be for 
 this man if hereafter he bethinks him of that which a spirit 
 of truth unfolds to me. I see thy grandson, who becomes 
 
 Ed a lor disdegnosa torce il muso, 
 Vassi caggendo, e quanto ella piu ingrossa, 
 
 Tanto piu truova di can farsi lupi 50 
 
 La maladetta e sventurata fossa, . 
 Discesa poi per piu pelaghi cupi, 
 
 Truova le volpi si piene di froda, 
 
 Che non temono ingegno che le occupi. 
 Ne lascerb di dir, perch' altri m' oda : 
 
 E buon sara a costui, se ancor s' ammenta 
 
 Di cib che vero spirto mi disnoda. 
 lo veggio tuo nipote, che diventa 
 
 50 lupi, the Florentines, of course with especial allusion, as in Par. 
 xxv. 6 and elsewhere, to the Guelfs. 
 
 52 pelaghi cupi. Philalethes points out the topographical accuracy 
 of all this description of the Arno's course. Those who have travelled 
 along the railway from Pisa to Florence will remember the deep_ 
 hollows through which the river makes its way between those townsi 
 ,^_^&' volpi, the Pisans. 
 
 5 ? vero spirto. It seems hardly necessary to hold with Buti that a 
 direct angelic communication is here implied. 
 
 s 8 Fulcieri da Calvoli was Podesta of Florence in 1302. Villani 
 (viii. 59) calls him "uomo feroce e crudele," and describes the de- 
 struction wrought by him among the White party. It is curious, as
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 165 
 
 a chaser of those wolves upon the bank of the savage 
 stream and scares them all ; he sells their flesh while it is 
 alive ; afterward slays them like a beast grown old ; many of 
 life he deprives and himself of honour. Bloody he issues 
 from the sorry wood ; he leaves it such that, for a thousand 
 years hence, it replants itself not in its first state." As at the 
 
 Cacciator di quei lupi in su la riva 
 
 Del fiero fiume, e tutti gli sgomenta. 60 
 
 Vende la carne loro, essendo viva : 
 Poscia gli ancide come antica belva : 
 Molti di vita, e se di pregio priva. 
 
 Sanguinoso esce della trista selva, 
 Lasciala tal, che di qui a mill' anni 
 Nello stato primaio non si rinselva. 
 
 bearing on the question of Dante's place in the political parties of the 
 time, to observe that although* it was the White Guelfs, generally 
 supposed to have been his own party, whom Fulcieri so harried, they 
 are here classed all alike as ' ' wolves. " It was, indeed, this treatment that 
 bound them closely to the Ghibelines, and henceforward Villani always 
 speaks of "i bianchi e ghibellini." But the classing of Dante crudely 
 as a Ghibeline is extremely misleading. See Par. vi. 105. 
 
 61 It is difficult to understand the meaning of this line. The treat- 
 ment of Donate Alberti, to which Philalethes thinks it may refer, does 
 not seem much to the point, for though it might be said that he was 
 exposed in the shambles, he can hardly be said to have been sold. Nor 
 is Landino's explanation, "per prezzo uccidera mold," much more 
 satisfactory. Villani, at all events, gives no hint that Fulcieri had 
 any inducement, save party feeling, to act as he did. The allusion 
 is probably to some transaction known at the time and since forgotten. 
 
 62 Blanc finds a difficulty, which does not seem to have struck the 
 Italian commentators, in the use of belva to signify a domestic animal. 
 
 64 selva. So Inf. i. 2. 
 
 65 See Villani I.e. and ch. 68 for the misery which succeeded 
 Fulcieri's year of office.
 
 1 66 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 announcement of doleful losses the face of him who listens 
 is troubled, from what quarter soever the danger may assail 
 him, so saw I the other soul that was remaining turned to 
 hear, grow troubled and become sad, after it had con- 
 sidered the word within itself. The speech of the one and 
 the visage of the other made me desirous to know their 
 names, and I made demand of them mingled with prayer. 
 Wherefore the spirit which first spoke to me began again : 
 " Thou wilt that I humble myself in doing to thee that thou 
 
 Come all' annunzio de' dogliosi danni c 
 Si turba il viso di colui che ascolta, d 
 Da qual che parte il periglio lo assanni : 
 
 Cosi vid' io F altr/ anima, che volta 70 
 
 Stava ad udir, turbarsi e farsi trista, 
 Poi ch' ebbe la parola a se raccolta. 
 
 Lo dir dell' una e dell' altra la vista 
 Mi fe' voglioso di saper lor nomi, 
 E dimanda ne fei con prieghi mista. 
 
 Perche lo spirto, che di pria parlbmi, 
 Ricomincio : Tu vuoi ch' io mi deduca 
 Nel fare a te cib che tu far non vuo' mi. 
 
 c fnturi danni Aid. Bi. d di colui, che ascolta Da qualche Aid. 
 
 6 ? The reading futuri gives, as Scart. says, a much better sense ; but 
 it lacks authority. 
 
 69 qual che = Fr. quel que, or as it would now be written quelque 
 . . . que. See Littre under both these phrases. It is not quite the 
 same as qualunque. 
 
 69 assannare, properly, to attack with the teeth, as Inf. xxx. 29. 
 
 71 Stava = little more than era. Cf. Inf. vii. 109, where, however, 
 it may be rendered "I was standing," which it cannot here, as the 
 shades are sitting. For this use, see Diez iii. p. 188.
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 167 
 
 v/ilt not do to me ; but seeing that God wills that His grace 
 should in thee shine out so great, I will not be sparing 
 toward thee j wherefore know that I am Guido del Duca. 
 My blood was so on fire with envy that, if thou hadst seen 
 a man grow prosperous, thou wouldst have seen me with 
 livid hue overspread. Of my sowing such is the straw I 
 reap. O race of men, why place ye your hearts there 
 where refusal of companionship is necessary ? This is 
 
 Ma da che Dio in te vuol che traluca 
 
 Tanta sua grazia, non ti sarb scarso : 80 
 
 Perb sappi ch' io son Guido del Duca. 
 
 Fu il sangue mio d' invidia si riarso, 
 Che se veduto avessi uom farsi lieto, 
 Visto m' avresti di livore sparse. 
 
 Di mia semenza cotal paglia mieto. 
 O gente umana, perche poni il cuore 
 La V e mestier. di consorto divieto ? 
 
 81 Of Guido del Duca even Philalethes has been able to discover no 
 more than that he was of Brettinoro, or Bertinoro, a town in Romagna, 
 near Forll. From Villani viii. 93, it would appear to have been a 
 Ghibeline town, for we find the Guelfs besieging it in 1307. 
 
 83 I prefer to take avessi as the second person. The grammatical 
 connection of the sentence is thereby more satisfactory and the idea 
 more vivid. Besides Guido would not surely say " s'io avessi veduto," 
 but " s'io vidi," or at least " vedessi." 
 
 8 ? A difficult line to render exactly. It must be remembered that 
 the order of the words is " ove divieto di consorto e mestier ; " mestier, / 
 
 as in i. 92 and elsewhere, Standing by itself. Philalethes has "wobei 
 zulassig nicht Gemeinschaft. " Blanc quotes Boethius (Con. Phil. ii. 5) : 
 "O angustas inopesque divitias quas nee habere totos pluribus licet, et 
 ad quemlibet sine ceterorum paupertate non veniunt." 
 
 88 Philalethes thinks there is some reason for identifying the person 
 here named with a Rinier of Calvoli, who was Podesta of Parma in 
 1252. The family were Guelfs of the straitest sect, and were in 1306
 
 168 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 Rinier, this is the prize and the honour of the house of 
 Calboli, where no man has since made himself heir of his 
 worth. And not his blood only, between the Po and the 
 mountain, and the sea and the Reno, has been stripped bare 
 of the good sought for earnest and for pastime, for all within 
 these boundaries is so full of poisonous stocks, that late would 
 they hereafter be diminished by cultivation. Where is the 
 
 Questi b Rinier : questi e il pregio e 1' onore 
 Delia casa da Calboli, ove nullo 
 Fatto s' e reda poi del suo valore. 90 
 
 E non pur lo suo sangue e fatto brullo 
 
 Tra il Po e il monte, e la marina e il Reno, 
 Del ben richiesto al vero ed al trastullo ; 
 
 Che dentro a questi termini k ripieno 
 Di venenosi sterpi, si che tardi 
 Per coltivare omai verrebber meno. 
 
 Ov' e il buon Lizio, ed Arrigo Manardi, 
 
 driven out oBrettinoro, where they possessed a castle, by the inhabi- 
 tants, aided by the men of Forli. Here then it would seem, just as 
 in Canto vii. , Dante brings men who on earth were of opposite parties 
 into close and affectionate intimacy. 
 
 52 That is, in Romagna. The Reno flows a little west of Bologna 
 (Inf. xviii. 6l), and presently turns to the south-east, and becomes 
 connected with the southern mouths of the Po. Monte = the 
 Apennine. 
 
 97 These and the following names are all those of men or families 
 who shared in the struggle of Guelfs and Ghibelines for supremacy in 
 Romagna, which lasted through all the last quarter of the thirteenth 
 century. Lizio da Valbona appears in 1274 in connection with Rinier 
 da Calvoli as on the side of the Guelfs against Guido da Montefeltro 
 and the Ghibelines, and with Ricciardo da' Manardi of Brettinoro, 
 under more peaceful circumstances, in Bocc. Dec. v. 4. See the notes 
 of Philalethes to this passage, and at the end of Inf. xxvii., where he 
 gives a general sketch of the affairs of Romagna during this period,
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 169 
 
 good Lizio, and Henry Manardi, Peter Traversaro, and Guy 
 of Carpigna ? O men of Romagna turned to bastards ! When 
 does a Fabbro take rank again in Bologna, when in Faenza 
 a Bernardin son of Fosco, noble scion of humble plant? 
 
 Pier Traversaro, e Guido di Carpigna ? 
 
 O Romagnuoli tornati in bastardi ! 
 Quando in Bologna un Fabbro si ralligna ? 100 
 
 Quando in Faenza un Bernardin di Fosco, 
 
 Verga gentil di picciola gramigna ? 
 Non ti maravigliar, s' io piango, Tosco, 
 
 in which several of these names will be found. Of the rest the early 
 commentators mostly tell us little more than we might gather from the 
 text, viz. that they were noble and courteous gentlemen, given to 
 liberality. In Dec. v. 8 (the well-known story which Dryden has 
 adapted as "Theodore and Honoria") the hero is Anastagio and the 
 heroine of the Traversaro family. 
 
 100 There is some difficulty, fcfr want of an accurate knowledge of 
 the meaning of the allusion, in deciding whether these three lines are 
 to be taken interrogatively, or as an explanation of the previous 
 bastardi ("bastards," when men of no birth take rank among nobles), 
 in which latter case there should be only a comma at the end of 1. 99, 
 and 1. 102 must be taken as ironical. Landino, though he omits, 
 perhaps by a printer's error, the note of interrogation, follows the 
 earliest commentators in adopting the former way, and says that a 
 certain Lambertaccio Fabbro (Big Lambert the Blacksmith) was the 
 founder of the great Ghibeline family of Bologna, the Lambertazzi. 
 Of Bernardino, Philalethes finds that he was the son of Fosco a 
 peasant, whom for his virtue and wise talk the nobles used often to 
 visit. At the same time the learned and royal commentator renders 
 it, "O der Bastardbrut Romagna's Weil in Bologn' ein Fabbro, 
 in Faenza Treibt neue Wurzeln,"etc., and therefore seems to understand 
 the words as used in dispraise. I prefer to follow his notes rather than 
 his translation. Blanc also supports this interpretation, which certainly 
 seems more in agreement with the rest of the passage. It is not want 
 of birth but of manners which Guido is reprehending in his countrymen.
 
 170 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 Marvel not if I weep, Tuscan, when I remember, with Guy 
 of Prata, Ugolin d'Azzo who lived with us ; Frederick 
 Tignoso and his company, the house of Traversaro, and the 
 Anastagi (both the one race and the other is void of heirs), 
 the dames and the cavaliers, the toils and the repose, which 
 love and courtesy put in our will, there where the hearts are 
 now become so wicked. O Brettinoro, why fleest thou not 
 away ; since thy family is departed, and much folk, to be 
 free from guilt ? Well does Bagnacavallo, that it bears no 
 
 Quando rimembro con Guido da Prata 
 
 Ugolin d' Azzo, che vivette nosco : 
 Federigo Tignoso e sua brigata : 
 
 La casa Traversara, e gli Anastagi 
 
 (E 1' una gente e 1' altra e diretata), 6 
 Le donne e i cavalier, gli affanni e gli agL- 
 
 Che ne invogliava amore e cortesia,^ no 
 
 La dove i cuor son fatti si malvagi. 
 O Brettinoro, che non fuggi via, 
 
 Poiche gita se n' e la tua famiglia, 
 
 E molta gente per non esser ria ? 
 Ben fa Bagnacaval, che non rifiglia ; 
 
 c diredata. Aid. Land. 
 
 105 Some read vosco ; but the whole passage relates to persons 
 who belonged to Romagna. Ugolino d'Azzo is said to have been of 
 the Tuscan family of the Ubaldini, and domiciled in Faenza. He was 
 cousin to Archbishop Roger of Inf. xxxiii. 
 
 108 diretata is from low Latin deherito. 
 
 109 Stolen by Ariosto (O. F. i. i), and spoilt in the stealing. 
 
 "3. s -j;h e c oun t s of Bagnacavallo do not as a matter of fact seem 
 to have become extinct before the end of the fourteenth century. Those 
 of Castrocaro were Ghibelines ; those of Conio, Guelfs.
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 171 
 
 more sons, and ill does Castrocaro, and worse Conio, that 
 it sets itself any more to beget such counts. Well will the 
 Pagani do, from the time that their Demon shall go his way ; 
 but yet not in such wise that a pure record of them should 
 ever remain. O Ugolin of the Fantoli, secure is thy name, 
 since no longer is one expected who can by going astray 
 make it obscure. But go thy way now, Tuscan, for now it 
 
 E mal fa Castrocaro, e peggio Conio, 
 Che di figliar tai conti piu s' impiglia. 
 
 Ben faranno i Pagan, da che il Demonic 
 Lor sen gira : ma non pero che puro 
 Giammai rimanga d' essi testimonio/ 120 
 
 O Ugolin de' Fantoli, sicuro 
 
 E il nome tuo, da che piu non s' aspetta 
 Chi far lo possa tralignando oscuro. 
 
 Ma va' via, Tosco, ojnai, ch' or mi diletta 
 Troppo di pianger piu che di parlare, 
 
 f di se Gg. 
 
 "7 The Pagani were citizens of Imola. Their Demon is the famous 
 partisan-leader Maghinardo Pagani da Susinana, the "leoncel dal nido 
 bianco" of Inf. xxvii. 50. Villani (vii. 149) says of him: "fu uno 
 grande e savio tiranno , savio fu di guerra, e bene awenturoso in piu 
 battaglie, e al suo tempo fece grandi cose. Ghibellino era di sua 
 nazione e in sue opere, ma co' Fiorentini era guelfo, e nimico di tutti 
 loro nimici, guelfi o ghibellini che fossono." He was left when a child 
 to the guardianship of the city of Florence. He took Imola from the 
 Bolognese in 1296 (Villani viii. 1 6) and remained lord of the city till his 
 death in 1302. 
 
 121 Ugolino de' Fantoli, of Faenza, died about 1292. 
 
 123 tralignando. Par. xii. 90, xvi. 58. So Villani xii. 44. Cf. 
 ralligna in 1. 100.
 
 i;2 PURGATORY. CANTO xiv. 
 
 delights me far more to weep than to talk, so has our 
 converse constrained my mind." 
 
 We knew that those dear souls were hearing us go; 
 therefore in silence we made ourselves confident of the 
 road. After we were alone as we went forward, appeared, 
 like lightning when it cleaves the air, a voice which came 
 to meet us, saying : " Whosoever findeth me shall slay me ; " 
 and it fled, like thunder which melts away if suddenly the 
 cloud bursts. When from it our hearing had truce, lo the 
 
 SI m' ha nostra ragion la mente stretta. g 
 Noi sapevam che quell' anime care 
 
 Ci^ sentivano andar : perb tacendo 
 
 Facevan noi del cammin confidare. 
 Poi fummo fatti soli procedendo, 130 
 
 Folgore parve, quando 1' aer fende, 
 
 Voce che giunse di contra, dicendo : 
 Anciderammi qualunque m'apprende ; 
 
 E fuggio, come tuon che si dilegua, 
 
 Se subito la nuvola scoscende. 
 Come da lei 1' udir nostro ebbe tregua ; 
 
 Ed ecco 1' altra con si gran fracasso, 
 
 % vostra 2 Aid, Land, region Bi. 
 
 126 nostra ragion. Cf. xxii. 130. If we read vostra, the sense 
 must be "your,"i.e. "human reason," which breeds compassion. It 
 cannot be "your talk," because only Dante has spoken. Bianchi's 
 reading, nostra region, " the thought of our country," is not unsatis- 
 factory, if supported by MSS. 
 
 las, 129 B ecause they knew that if they went wrong, the souls would 
 perceive it and warn them. 
 
 133 Genesis iv. 14.
 
 CANTO xiv. PURGATORY. 173 
 
 other with so great uproar that it seemed a thundering 
 which should quickly follow : "I am Aglauros, that became 
 a stone." And then, to draw close to the Poet, I made my 
 pace backward and not forward. 
 
 Already was the air quiet on every hand, and he said to 
 me : " That was the hard bit, which ought to hold the man 
 within his bound. But ye take the bait, so that the hook 
 of the old adversary draws you to him; and therefore 
 little avails bridle or recall. The heaven calls you, and 
 turns around you, showing you its eternal beauties; and 
 your eye gazes only on the earth ; wherefore he who 
 discerns all scourges you." 
 
 Che somiglib tonar che tosto segua : 
 
 lo sono Aglauro che divenni sasso ; 
 
 Ed allor per istringermi al poeta, 140 
 
 Indietro feci e non innanzi il passo. 
 
 Gia era 1' aura d' ogni parte queta : 
 Ed ei mi disse : Quel fu il duro camo, 
 Che dovria 1' uom tener dentro a sua meta. 
 
 Ma voi prendete 1' esca, si che F amo 
 Dell' antico avversario a se vi tira ; 
 E pero poco val freno o richiamo. 
 
 Chiamavi il cielo, e intorno vi si gira, 
 Mostrandovi le sue bellezze eterne, 
 E 1' occhio vostro pure a terra mira; 150 
 
 Onde vi batte chi tutto discerne. 
 
 139 See Ovid Metam. ii. 800 sqq. ' Cf. xiii. 40. ^ 8 Cf. xix. 62. 
 
 J
 
 CANTO XV. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They come to an angel of wonderful brightness, who showsvthem the way 
 to the next circle. Virgil explains a doubt which has arisen in Dante's 
 mind. They enter the third circle, where the sin of anger is purged. 
 Dante falls into a trance, or ecstasy, and beholds as in a vision certain 
 events, whereby the contrary virtue is set forth. He comes to himself, 
 and of a sudden they are involved in a thick smoke. 
 
 As much as, between the end of the third hour and the 
 beginning of the day, appears of the sphere which ever 
 sports in fashion of a child, so much by this appeared to 
 remain to the Sun of his course towards the evening; 
 
 Quanto tra 1' ultimar dell' ora terza, 
 E il principio del dl par della spera, 
 Che sempre a guisa di fanciullo scherza, 
 
 Tanto pareva gia inver la sera 
 
 Essere al Sol del suo corso rimaso ; 
 Vespero la, e qui mezza notte era. 
 
 *-* I.e. it was three hours past noon in Purgatory, wherefore it 
 must have been three hours after midnight at Jerusalem, and just mid- 
 night at Florence. Spera is the sphere in which the sun is fixed, 
 which is said to sport, because its great circle the ecliptic is always 
 rising or falling, to appearance, in the sky.
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 175 
 
 there it was late afternoon, and here midnight. And the 
 rays were striking us on mid-nose, because the mount had 
 been so circled by us, that we were already going straight 
 towards the sunset ; when I felt the splendour weigh down 
 my forehead far more than before, and the things not 
 understood were an astonishment to me. Wherefore I raised 
 my hand towards the top of my eyebrows, and made to 
 myself the sun-shade which pares away the superfluity of 
 vision. As when from water or from the mirror the ray 
 rises toward the opposite part, mounting up in the manner 
 
 E i raggi ne ferian per mezzo il naso, 
 Perche per noi girato era si il monte, 
 Che gia dritti andavamo inver 1' occaso ; 
 
 Quando io send' a me gravar la fronte i o 
 
 Allo splendore assai piu che di prima, 
 E stupor m' erau le cose non conte : 
 
 Ond' io levai le mani inver la cima 
 Delle mie ciglia, e fecimi il solecchio, 
 Che del soverchio visibile lima. 
 
 Come quando dall' acqua o dallo specchio 
 Salta Io raggio all' opposita parte, 
 Salendo su per Io modo parecchio 
 
 A quel che scende, e tanto si diparte 
 
 8 - 9 See note to iii. 89. With this use of per cf. that of durch in 
 German. 
 
 10 - " senti' allo splendore. See note to viii. 106. 
 
 15 soverchio visibile. Cf. viii. 36. It is the alo-Qrjrov vTrepftoXr) 
 of Aristotle; and Philalethes's "das dicht das von oben eiafiel," is 
 clearly a mistranslation. Cf. xvii. 58. 
 
 18 parecchio, Fr. pareil, has in Italian quite gone out of use in this 
 its primary sense.
 
 1 76 P URGA TOR Y. CANTO x v. 
 
 similar to that in which it descends, and parts itself equally 
 far from the fall of the plummet in an equal space, as 
 experiment and art show; so I seemed to be struck by 
 light reflected there in front of me, wherefore my sight was 
 quick to fly. "What is that, sweet father," said I, "from 
 which I cannot screen my face so much as may avail me, 
 and it appears to be in motion toward us?" " Marvel not 
 if still the family of Heaven dazzle thee," he answered me ; 
 " it is a messenger who comes to bid one mount. Soon 
 will it be that to see these will not be grievous to thee, but 
 
 Dal cader della pietra in igual tratta, a 20 
 
 SI come mostra esperienza e arte : 
 
 Cosi mi parve da luce rifratta 
 Ivi dinanzi a me esser percosso : 
 Perche a fuggir la mia vista fu ratta. 
 
 Che e quel, dolce Padre, a che non posso 
 Schermar lo viso tanto che mi vaglia, 
 Diss' io, e pare inver noi esser mosso ? 
 
 Non ti maravigliar se ancor t' abbaglia 
 La famiglia del Cielo, a me rispose : 
 Messo e che viene ad invitar ch' uom saglia. 30 
 
 Tosto sara che a veder queste cose 
 Non ti fia grave, ma fieti diletto, 
 
 a pietra lacqua Gg. 
 
 30 I.e. at a given distance from the reflecting surface the incident 
 and reflected rays are equidistant from the perpendicular. 
 
 21 esperienza ed arte, a kind of ei/ did 8voiv, hence the singular 
 verb. "Arte, la prospettiva. " Land. 
 
 22 Note that here as elsewhere (Par. xix. 6, etc.) Dante uses 
 rifrangere where we should say " reflect." It is the translation of 
 Gr. dvaK^aadai, which seems to have been used in both senses. 
 
 30 uom, as in iv. 27.
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 177 
 
 will be to thee a delight, as much as nature has disposed 
 thee to feel." 
 
 After we were come to the blessed angel, with joyful 
 voice he said : " Enter here," to a stair far less steep than 
 the others. We were mounting, having already departed 
 thence ; and Beati misericordes was chanted behind us, 
 and " Rejoice thou that conquerest." 
 
 My master and I, solitary, were both going upward, and 
 I was thinking as I went to gain profit in his words ; and I 
 directed myself to him, thus inquiring : " What meant the 
 spirit from Romagna, making mention both of a refusal and 
 companionship ?" Wherefore he to me : " Of his own 
 
 Quanto natura a sentir ti dispose. 
 Poi giunti fummo all' Angel benedetto, 
 
 Con lieta voce disse : Intrate quinci 
 
 Ad un scaleo vie men che gli altri eretto. 
 Noi montavamo, gia partiti linci, b 
 
 E Beati misericordes fue 
 
 Cantato retro, e : Godi tu che vinci. 
 Lo mio Maestro ed io soli amendue 40 
 
 Suso andavamo, ed io pensava, andando, 
 
 Prode acquistar nelle parole sue : 
 E dirizza' mi a lui si dimandando, 
 
 Che voile dir Io spirto di Romagna, 
 
 E divieto e consorto menzionando ? 
 Perch' egli a me : Di sua maggior magagna 
 
 Conosce il danno : e pero non s' ammiri, 
 
 b Noi eravamo Cass.; montavam g. p. dilinci Gg. 124; da Una W. 
 
 See xiv. 87. 
 
 N
 
 178 PURGATORY. CANTO xv. 
 
 greatest blemish he recognises the bane ; and therefore let 
 there be no wonder if he reproves it, that he may the less 
 mourn for it. Because your desires come to their point 
 where through companionship a part is lost, envy moves the 
 bellows to your sighs. But if the love of the highest sphere 
 moves your desire upward, you would not have that fear at 
 the heart ; because the more there are by whom ' Ours ' is 
 said there, so much the more of good each possesses, and 
 
 Se ne riprende, perche men sen piagna. 
 
 Perche s' appuntano i vostri desiri, c 
 
 Dove per compagnia parte si scema : 50 
 
 Invidia muove il mantaco a' sospiri. 
 
 Ma se 1' amor della spera suprema 
 Torcesse in suso il desiderio vostro, 
 Non vi sarebbe al petto quella tema : 
 
 Che per quanti si dice piu li nostro, d 
 Tanto possiede piu di ben ciascuno, 
 
 c nostri Gg. 
 d per quanta Cass.-, quantunque Gg.; Perche quanta Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 4 9 appuntarsi is more frequent in the Paradise. See, for example, 
 ix. Il8, xxvi. 7, and (cf. with this passage) xxix. 12. 
 
 49-51 " Invidia nihil aliud est nisi animi labes quaedam et depravatio, 
 qua quispiam alieno bono earn ob causam maeret, quod per id bonum 
 suum commodum impediri vel diminui arbitretur." Sum. Theol. ii. 2, 
 Q. 36. 
 
 55-56 Landino and Philalethes quote Augustine De Civ. Dei. xv. 15 : 
 " Nullo modo fit minor accedente socio possessio bonitatis quam tanto 
 latius, quanto concordius possidet individua sociorum charitas." The 
 former also quotes Boethius : " Omne bonum in commune deductum 
 pulcrius elucescit." There can be little doubt that W. is correct in 
 reading quanti, as is shown by the expansion given in line 73 to the 
 doctrine stated here. " Quanto sunt plures possessores ibi in caelo " is 
 the comment in Gg.
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 179 
 
 the more of charity burns in that cloister." " I am more 
 fasting from being satisfied," said I, " than if I had before 
 held my peace, and I unite more doubt in my mind. How 
 can it be that a good distributed makes the more possessors 
 richer in it, than if it is possessed by a few ?" And he to 
 me : " Because thou dost fix thy mind only on earthly 
 things, of true light thou gatherest darkness. That infinite 
 and ineffable good which is on high, so runs to love as a 
 
 E piu di caritate arde in quel chiostro. 
 
 lo son d' esser contento piu digiuno, 
 Diss' io, che se mi fosse pria taciuto : 
 E piu di dubbio nella mente aduno. 60 
 
 Com' esser puote che un ben distributo 
 I piu posseditor faccia piu ricchi 
 Di se, che se da pochi e posseduto ? 
 
 Ed egli a me : Perocche tu rificchi 
 La mente pure alle cose terrene, 
 Di vera luce tenebre dispicchi. 
 
 Quello infinite ed ineffabil bene, 
 Che lassu e, cosi corre ad amore, 
 Come a lucido corpo raggio viene. 
 
 37 chiostro ; cf. xxvi. 128. 
 
 69 Cf. Conv. Hi. 7 : " Certi corpi per molta chiarita di diafano 
 avere in se mista, tosto che '1 Sole gli vede diventano tanto luminosi, 
 che per multiplicamento di luce in quelli appena discernibile e il loro 
 aspetto, e rendono agli altri di se grande splendore ; siccome 1'oro, 
 e alcuna pietra .... Certi altri sono tahto senza diafano, che quasi 
 poco della luce ricevono ; siccome la terra. Cosi la bonta di Dio e 
 rincontra altrimenti dalle sustanzie separate . . . e altrimenti dall' 
 umana natura," etc. The whole of this passage should be read, and 
 compared with iv. 20, where he quotes Aristotle De Anima ii. 2 : 
 yap tp TO> TTCKT^OVTI KOI 8ia.Ti6ep.fva> f/ rS>v TroirjriKvv vi 
 
 N 2
 
 1 80 P URGA TOR Y. CANTO XV, 
 
 ray comes to a shining body. It gives as much of ardour 
 as it finds : so that in proportion as charity extends, in- 
 creases upon it the eternal worth. And the more the folk 
 who comprehend each other on high the more there are to 
 
 Tan to si da, quanto truova d' ardore : 70 
 
 Si che quantunque carita si stende, 
 Cresce sovr' essa 1' eterno valore. 
 
 E quanta gente piu lassu s' intende, 
 Piu v' e da bene amare, e piu vi s' ama, 
 
 73 s' intende, is the only reading that has any authority here, 
 though, considering the resemblance between c and t in MSS. some- 
 thing may be said for s'incende, which Blanc gives from Perazzini, 
 and seems to prefer. It is, however, little more than a repetition of 
 the idea in line 70. Vellutello, reading as it would seem al su, and 
 Fraticelli lassuso, explain it, the one (whom Gary and Longfellow 
 have followed) by "intende e aspira a quel bene di la su," the other 
 by "e intenta nella visione di Dio." Landino has in his text (ed. 
 1578) lo su, and explains "non minuisce la gloria nell' anime in cielo 
 per esservene piu," which looks as if he took gente to be the object 
 ands'intende in the sense of" stretches itself over," "contains," lo su 
 being heaven. Witte has " Je mehr der Herzen droben sich begegnen. " 
 Blanc (in his Voc. Dant.) " Essere compreso." Scartazzini follows 
 Fanfani, who says that intendersi was used in the sense of innamorarsi ; 
 but this would make pih vi s' ama superfluous. Philalethes, Lombardi, 
 and Bianchi adopt the interpretation which I have followed, and which 
 seems on the whole the best, if we are to keep the usual reading. Of 
 this, however, I do not feel sure. A comparison with Par. xxvi. 28 sqq, 
 suggests a reading 1* intende, "comprehends it" i.e. the bene, and look- 
 ing to the small difference between long s and / in MSS. this seems at 
 least worth considering. But a reference to Aquinas, S. T. ii. 2, Q. 
 xxiv. Art. 5 : "Charitas augetur gradus intensionis suscipiendo," sug- 
 gests a better emendation, viz. to read " E in quanta gente," taking 
 caritate as the subject of s 'intende. The alteration would merely 
 be from et to et ; and the words would mean : "The more there are 
 among whom charity increases, the more they obtain of the one true 
 good, the love of God."
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 181 
 
 love rightly, and the more love there is, and as a mirror one 
 renders it to another. And if my reasoning abates not thy 
 hunger, thou wilt see Beatrice, and she will fully take away 
 from thee this and each other craving. Only use diligence, 
 that quickly may be erased, as are already the two, the five 
 wounds which are closed by means of sorrowing." 
 
 As I was wishing to say " Thou dost appease me," I saw 
 that I was come upon the next gallery, so that my wandering 
 eyes made me hold my peace. There meseemed that I 
 was drawn of a sudden into an ecstatic vision, and saw in 
 
 E come specchio F uno all' altro rende. 
 E se la mia ragion non ti disfama, 
 
 Vedrai Beatrice : ed ella pienamente 
 
 Ti torra qtiesta e ciascun' altra brama. 
 Procaccia pur, che tosto sieno spente, 
 
 Come son gia le due, le cinque piaghe, 80 
 
 Che si richiudon per esser dolente. ^ ** JL 
 
 Com' io voleva dicer: Tu m' appaghe ; 
 
 Vidimi giunto in su 1' altro girone, 
 
 Si che tacer mi fer le luci vaghe. 
 Ivi mi parve in una visione 
 
 Estatica di subito esser tratto, 
 
 E vedere in un tempio piii persone : 
 Ed una donna in su 1' entrar, con atto 
 
 83 Observe that here, as in the last circle, the bodily eyes are 
 rendered useless, by the nature of the punishment, and the examples 
 of the sin and its contrary virtue need therefore again to be presented 
 to the mind by some other means than through their aid. Here the 
 method adopted is that of trance, or vision, and perhaps with special 
 reference to the way in which anger deprives a man temporarily of the 
 power to observe external things, and not merely, as Ginguene says, 
 " pour varier les moyens."
 
 
 1 82 PURGATORY. CANTO xv. 
 
 a temple sundry persons ; and a dame in the entry, with 
 sweet gesture of a mother, said : " My son, why hast thou 
 thus dealt with us ? Behold thy father and I were seeking 
 thee sorrowing." And as here she held her peace, that 
 which first appeared disappeared. Then appeared to me 
 another, with those waters fallen on her cheeks which grief 
 distils, when it arises from great despite toward another; 
 and she said : " If thou art lord of the town, of whose name 
 there was such strife among the gods, and whence all 
 knowledge sparkles forth, avenge thee of those daring arms 
 which embraced our daughter, O Pisistratus." And the 
 lord appeared to me kindly and gently to answer her with 
 
 Dolce di madre dicer : Figliuol mio, 
 
 Perch e hai tu cosi verso noi fatto ? 90 
 
 Ecco dolenti lo tuo padre ed io 
 
 Ti cercavamo. E come qui si tacque, 
 
 Cib che pareva prima dispario. 
 Indi m' apparve un' altra con quell' acque 
 
 Giii per le gote, che il dolor distilla 
 
 Quando per gran dispetto in altrui nacque : 
 E dir : Se tu se' sire della villa, 
 
 Del cui nome ne' Dei fu tanta lite, 
 
 Ed onde ogni scienzia disfavilla, 
 Vendica te di quelle braccia ardite, 100 
 
 Che abbracciar nostra figlia, o Pisistrato : 
 
 E il signor mi parea benigno e mite 
 Risponder lei con viso temperate ; 
 
 Che farem noi a chi mal ne disira, 
 
 9 s Ovid Met. vi. 70. Quoted also from Varro by St. Augustine, 
 
 \ Civ. Dei. xviii. 9 : " de lite deorum suorum nomen accepit." The story 
 
 here referred to is told by Valerius M axioms, v. I, 2, in the second part.
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 
 
 temperate mien : " What should we do to whoso wishes us 
 ill, if he who loves us is condemned by us ? " Afterward I 
 saw folk kindled into fire of rage slay with stones a youth, 
 loudly crying to each other only : " Kill, kill ; " and him I 
 saw bow himself in death which was weighing him down 
 already toward the earth, but of his eyes he made ever gates 
 to the heaven ; praying to the Lord on high in so great 
 strife that He would pardon his persecutors, with that aspect 
 which sets loose pity. When my mind turned outward again 
 to the things which are true externally to it, I recognised 
 my not false errors. My leader who could see me do as 
 does a man who loosens himself from his sleep, said : "What 
 
 Se quei che ci ama e per noi condannato ? 
 
 Poi vidi genti accese in fuoco d' ira, 
 Con pietre un giovinetto ancider, forte 
 Gridando a se pur ; Martira martira : 
 
 E lui vedea chinarsi per la morte, 
 
 Che 1' aggravava gia, inver la terra, no 
 
 Ma degli occhi facea sempre al Ciel porte, 
 
 Orando all' alto Sire in tanta guerra, 
 Che perdonasse a' suoi persecutori, 
 Con quell' aspetto che pieta disserra. 
 
 Quando 1' anima mia torno di fuori 
 Alle cose, che son fuor di lei vere, 
 lo riconobbi i miei non falsi errori. 
 
 Lo Duca mio, che mi potea vedere 
 
 Far si com' uom che dal sonno si slega, 
 
 Disse : Che hai, che non ti puoi tenere? 120 
 
 "4 che pieta disserra. I have followed the interpretation of 
 Bianchi, Fraticelli, and Blanc. Philalethes refers it to Divine as 
 \vell as human pity. Vellutello has " che in apparenza di fuori mani- 
 festa pieta," taking pieta = piety.
 
 1 84 PURGATORY. CANTO xv. 
 
 ails thee, that thou canst not contain thyself? Nay, thou 
 hast come more than half a league veiling thy eyes, and 
 with thy legs entangled, in guise of one whom wine or sleep 
 bows down." " O my sweet father, if thou listenest to me, 
 I will tell thee," said I, " that which appeared to me when 
 my legs were so seized from me." And he : " If thou hadst 
 a hundred masks over thy face, thy meditations would not 
 be closed to me, however small. That which thou sawest 
 was in order that thou shouldest not excuse thyself from 
 opening thy heart to the waters of peace, which are poured 
 abroad from the eternal fount. I did not ask, What ails 
 thee ? for the reason that he does, who looks only with the 
 eye that sees not when the body lies inanimate ; but I asked 
 
 Ma se' venuto piii 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, 
 
 lo ti dirb, diss' io, cio che mi apparve 
 
 Quando le gambe mi furon si tolte. 
 Ed ei : Se tu avessi cento larve e 
 
 Sovra la faccia, non mi sarien chiuse 
 
 Le tue cogitazion, quantunque parve. oVt *^ 
 Cio che vedesti fu, perche non scuse 130 
 
 D' aprir lo cuore all' acque della pace, 
 
 Che dall' eterno fonte son diffuse/ 
 Non dimandai, Che hai, per quel che face 
 
 Chi guarda pur con 1' occhicTche non vede, 
 
 .Quando disanimato il corpo giace : 
 Ma dimandai per darti forza al piede : 
 
 c mills Gg. 23. f dischiuse Gg.
 
 CANTO xv. PURGATORY. 185 
 
 to give force to thy feet ; so behoves it to urge the lazy, slow 
 to use their wakefulness when it returns." 
 
 We were going through the evening, gazing onward as 
 far as the eyes could reach, against the late and shining 
 rays, and beheld little by little a smoke draw toward us, as 
 the night obscure ; nor from that was there place to with- 
 draw oneself ; this took from us our eyes and the pure air. 
 
 Cosi frugar conviensi i pigri, lenti 
 
 Ad usar lor vigilia quando riede. 
 Noi andavam per lo vespero attenti 
 
 Oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi, 140 
 
 Contra i raggi serotini e lucenti : 
 Ed ecco a poco a poco un fumo farsi 
 
 Verso di noi, come la notte oscuro, 
 
 Ne da quello era luogo da cansarsi : 
 Questo ne tolse gli occhi, e 1' aer puro. 
 
 142 Dante can hardly have been aware of the etymological connec- 
 tion between 6vp.os and fumus.
 
 CANTO XVI. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Third circle continued. They go forward in the smoke, seeing nothing : 
 but by their voices become aware that the spirits are at hand. Dante 
 talks with Marco Lombardo, who speaks to him of the free-will and 
 responsibility of man, and the need for two governments, the spiritual 
 
 . and the temporal ; by the confounding of which great evils have 
 befallen the world. 
 
 GLOOM of hell, and of a night bereft of every planet .under 
 a poor sky, darkened all that it can be by cloud, made not 
 to my sight so thick a veil as that smoke which there 
 covered us, nor of so harsh a texture to feel ; for it suffered 
 
 Buio d' inferno, e di notte privata 
 D' ogni pianeta sotto pover cielo, 
 Quant' esser pub di nuvol tenebrata, 
 
 Non fece al viso mio si grosso velo, 
 Come quel fumo ch' ivi ci coperse, 
 Ne a sentir di cosi aspro pelo : 
 
 6 pelo is hard to render here. The idea is of a veil of some coarse 
 and harsh material, from which threads stick out like hairs. Phila- 
 lethes has only " dem Gefuhl so rauh."
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 187 
 
 not the eye to stay open ; wherefore my learned and faithful 
 escort moved to my side, and offered me his shoulder. 
 Just as a blind man goes behind his guide in order not to 
 stray, and not to stumble against aught that can harm him 
 or maybe slay him, I was going through the bitter and foul 
 air listening to my leader, who said only : " See that thou 
 be not cut off from me." I began to hear voices, and each 
 appeared to be praying for peace and mercy to the Lamb of 
 God who takes away sins. Only Agnus Dei were then- 
 preludes ; one word in all there was, and one measure, so 
 that there appeared among them all concord. 
 
 " Are those spirits, master, which I hear ? " said I. And 
 
 Che 1' occhio stare aperto non sofferse : 
 Onde la Scorta mia saputa e fida 
 Mi s' accostb, e 1' omero m' offerse. 
 
 Si come cieco va dietro a sua guida 10 
 
 Per non smarrirsi, e per non dar di cozzo 
 In cosa che il molesti, o forse ancida, 
 
 M' andava io per 1' 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 tutte era ed un modo, 20 
 
 Si che parea tra esse ogni concordia. 
 
 Quei sono spirti, Maestro, ch' io odo ? 
 
 " dar di cozzo; so di piglio, i. 49, di morso, xviii. 132, di 
 becco, xxiii. 30.
 
 1 88 PURGATORY. CANTO xvi. 
 
 he to me : " Thou apprehendest truly, and of anger they 
 go loosing the knot." 
 
 " Now who art thou who cleavest our smoke, and talkest 
 of us only, as if thou still dividest thy time by calends ? " 
 Thus by one voice was spoken. Wherefore my master said 
 to me : " Answer, and ask if from this point one goes 
 upward." And I : " O creature that art purifying thyself, 
 to return fair to Him who made thee, thou shall hear a 
 marvel if thou follow me." " I will follow thee as far as is 
 allowed me," he answered ; " and if smoke lets us not see, 
 hearing will hold us joined in place thereof." Then I began : 
 
 Diss' io : Ed egli a me : Tu vero apprendi, 
 E d' iracondia van solvendo il nodo. 
 
 Or tu chi se', che il nostro fumo fendi, 
 E di noi parli pur come se tu 
 Partissi ancor lo tempo per calendi ? 
 
 Cosi per una voce detto fue : 
 
 Onde il Maestro mio disse : Rispondi, 
 
 E dimanda se quinci si va sue. 30 
 
 Ed io : O creatura, che ti mondi, 
 Per tornar bella a cokii, che ti fece, 
 Maraviglia udirai se mi secondi. 
 
 Io ti seguiterb quanto mi lece, 
 
 Rispose : e se veder fumo non lascia, 
 L' udir ci terra giunti in quella vece. 
 
 25 parli pur, "only talkest about us, without being one of us." 
 Or perhaps better, with Landino, "pur come," "just as if" (as in xiv. 
 27, and elsewhere). Pur, from Lat. "pure," means originally. "simply," 
 "with no admixture of anything else," from which idea those of 
 "only" and " exactly" are easily obtained. 
 
 36 in quella vece = in vece di qiiello ; as Inf. xxi. io.
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 189 
 
 "With that burthen which death unlooses, I go my way 
 upward, and I have come here through the weariness of 
 Hell ; and if God has in His grace revealed to me so much 
 that He wills that I should see His court, in a fashion 
 wholly apart from modern use, conceal not from me who 
 thou wast before thy death, but tell it me ; and tell me if 
 I go aright to the passage, and let thy words be our escort." 
 " A Lombard was I, and I was called Mark ; I had know- 
 
 Allora incominciai : Con quella fascia, 
 Che la morte dissolve, men vo suso ; 
 E venni qui per la infernale ambascia : a 
 
 E se Dio m' ha in sua grazia richiuso b 40 
 
 Tanto che vuol ch' io veggia la sua corte 
 Per modo tutto fuor del modern' uso, 
 
 Non mi celar chi fosti anzi la morte, 
 
 Ma dilmi, e dimmi s' io vo bene al varco, 
 E tue parole fieti le nostre scorte. 
 
 Lombardo fui, e fui chiamato Marco : 
 
 a per refrenar Vamb. Cass. b rinchiuso Gg. 124. 
 
 40 Bianchi, in common with most other commentators, explains 
 richiuso by ricevuto. Except, however, in the passages, Par. ix. 
 40 and 102, richiudere is never used in B.C. without the idea of 
 ^closing. I have, therefore, preferred to take it here in the sense of 
 Lat. recludere; a rendering which is also borne out by comparison 
 with Par. xv. 30. 
 
 42 Cf. Inf. ii. 32. 
 
 46 This Marco is said to have been a Venetian by birth, so that' 
 Lombardo must either be used generally for Italian, or, as seems more 
 probable, have been a surname, most likely given on account of his 
 family being by origin Lombard. Boccaccio and others say that he 
 was " di ca' (casa) Lombardi da Vinegia," and Vellutello adds that 
 in his time the family still existed. The commentators for the most
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO xvi. 
 
 ledge of the world, and I loved that virtue towards the 
 which each man has now unbent his bow. Thou goest 
 rightly for mounting upwards." Thus he answered ; and he 
 added : " I pray that for me thou pray, when thou art on 
 high." And I to him : " Faithfully I bind me to thee, to 
 do that which thou askest of me ; but I am bursting in- 
 wardly with a doubt, if I have not an explanation thereof. 
 
 Del mondo seppi, e quel valore amai, c 
 Al quale ha or ciascun disteso 1'arco. 
 
 Per montar su dirittamente vai. 
 
 Cos! rispose ; e soggiunse : lo ti prego, 50 
 
 Che per me preghi quando su sarai. 
 
 Ed io a lui : Per fede mi ti lego 
 
 Di far cio che mi chiedi : ma io scoppio 
 Dentro da un dubbio, s' io non me ne spiego. 
 
 c voler Gg. Cass. (the editors of -which call it " lezione unica "). 
 
 part identify him with the Marco Lombardo whose repartee to Count 
 Ugolino is recorded by Villani, vii. 121. It may be remarked that 
 Sismondi in narrating this incident, which he seems to have got from 
 some source other than Villani, makes Ugolino address him with 
 "Ehbien, lombard;" and in the Cento Nov. Antiche the name is 
 written with /. 
 
 47 quel valore is taken by some to mean the virtue of liberality, 
 but it is hard to see the appropriateness of the allusion here, or why 
 it should not mean " worth " generally. 
 
 48 This metaphor, in which purpose is represented by the figure of 
 the bow, which sends forth the arrow of action, is a favourite one with 
 Dante. Cf. vi. 131. So Boccaccio Day x. Nov. 7, at end. 
 
 51 Blanc finds a difficulty in understanding su to mean "in heaven," 
 because there is nothing elsewhere in D.C. to show that Dante's 
 prayer will be more efficacious when he is there ; nor does a reference 
 to xxvi. 127, satisfy him. But surely this is a somewhat pedantic 
 objection ; and su must have the same meaning here as in line 49. 
 
 54 me spiego seems to have a force not unlike that of the Greek 
 middle voice.
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 191 
 
 First it was simple, and now it is made twofold in thy 
 speech, which makes sure to me, here and elsewhere, that 
 whereunto I couple it. The world is indeed as desert of 
 all virtue as thou proclaim est to me, and pregnant of wicked- 
 ness, and overspread with it ; but I pray that thou wouldst 
 point out to me the occasion, so that I may see it, and that 
 I may show it to others ; for one places it in the stars, and 
 another here below." A deep sigh, which grief strained to 
 a groan, he first sent forth, and then began : " Brother, the 
 world is blind, and surely thou comest from it. Ye who 
 
 Prima era scempio, ed ora e fatto doppio 
 
 Nella sentenzia tua, che mi fa certo 
 
 Qui ed altrove, quello ov' io 1' accoppio. 
 Lo mondo e ben cosl tutto diserto 
 
 D' ogni virtute, come tu mi suone, 
 
 E di malizia gravido e coverto : 60 
 
 Ma prego che m' additi la cagione, d 
 
 Si ch' io la vegga, e ch' io la mostri altrui : 
 
 Che nel ciel uno, ed un quaggiti la pone. 
 Alto sospir, che duolo strinse in hui, 
 
 Mise fuor prima : e poi comincib : Frate, 
 
 d mi diti (altered from did) Gg. 
 
 53 His doubt is as to the cause of the present corruption of the 
 world, of the existence of which he now feels certain, having heard it 
 mentioned by two people. 
 
 63 cielo, i.e. in the movements of the various heavens, or as we 
 should say, the influence of the stars. I have avoided "heaven," 
 which would be ambiguous in English. For the properties of the 
 "heavens," and their connection with the sciences, see Conv. ii. 14, 
 and for the scholastic doctrine on the subject, Sum. Theol. L Q. 115, 
 Art. 3-5. In regard to the influence of the " heavens " upon man's 
 free-will, St. Thomas holds that "voluntas non potest nisi indirecte 
 a'corporibus caelestibus moveri. S. T. ii. i. Q. 9, Art. 5.
 
 192 PURGATORY. CANTO XVL 
 
 live refer every occasion only upward to the stars, just as if 
 they moved all with them of necessity. If it were thus, 
 free judgement in you would be destroyed, and it were not 
 justice to have for good joy, and for evil woe. The stars 
 give beginning to your movements ; I say not all, but 
 granted that I say it, light is given you to good and ill, and 
 free-will which, if weariness lasts in its first battles with the 
 stars, afterwards wins in the whole, if it is well nurtured. 
 To a greater power and a better nature ye are free subjects, 
 and that creates the mind in you, which the stars have not 
 
 Lo mondo e cieco, e tu vien ben da lui. 
 Voi che vivete ogni cagion recate 
 Pur suso al ciel cosi, come se tutto e 
 Movesse seco di necessitate. 
 
 Se cosi fosse, in voi fora distrutto 70 
 
 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' b dato a bene ed a malizia : 
 E libero voler, che, se fatica f 
 
 Nelle prime battaglie col ciel dura, 
 Poi vince tutto, se ben si notrica. 
 A maggior forza ed a miglior natura 
 
 Liberi soggiacete, e quella cria 80 
 
 La mente in voi, che il ciel non ha in sua cura. 
 e cielo si 3 Aid. Land. Bi. ; cielo pur 124. f safatica Cass. 
 
 7 sqq. cf, Boethius, Cons. Phil. v. 3 : Frustra enim bonis malisque 
 praemia poenaeve proponuntur, quae nullus meruit liber ac voluntarius 
 motus animorum. 
 
 ? 6 There is another reading, s'affatica. If this be followed che 
 is the subject to dura. But this is not so good. 
 
 ? 8 vince tutto. So " vince ogni battaglia," Inf. xxiv. 53.
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 193 
 
 in their care. Wherefore, if the present world goes astray, 
 in you is the occasion, in you let it be sought ; and I will be 
 to thee now a true scout in the matter. From His hand who 
 loves it before it is, in guise of a girl that plays weeping and 
 laughing, comes forth the soul in its simplicity, which knows 
 nothing save that, set in motion by a glad Maker, it turns 
 willingly to that which gives it pleasure. Of a small good at 
 first it perceives the savour ; here it deceives itself, and runs 
 after that, if guide or bit turns not its affection. Whence it 
 
 Pero se il mondo presente disvia, 
 
 In voi e la cagione, in voi si cheggia : 
 Ed io te ne sarb or vera spia. 
 
 Esce di mano a lui, che la vagheggia 
 Prima che sia, a guisa di fanciulta 
 Che piangendo e ridendo pargoleggia, 
 
 L' anima semplicetta, che sa nulla, 
 Salvo che, mossa da lieto fattore, 
 Volentier torna a cib che la trastulla. 90 
 
 Di picciol bene in pria sente sapore ; 
 Quivi s' inganna, e dietro ad esso corre, 
 Se guida o fren non torce il suo amore. 
 
 By- w Because "ciascuno effetto ritenga della natura della sua 
 cagione." Conv. Hi. 2. 
 89 lieto ; cf. xxv. 70. 
 
 91 Cf. Convito iv. 12 : "E perche le sua conoscenza prima e im- 
 perfetta, per non essere sperta, ne dottrinata, piccioli beni le paiono 
 grandi." The whole of this passage should be read. 
 
 92 Eth. Nic. iii. 4. rots TroXXoty 17 avarr) Sia TTJV ijSoi'jji/ eoiKf 
 yiyvfoQai. 
 
 93 Cf. De Mon. iii. 15 : "nisi homines, tanquam equi, sua bestiali- 
 tate vagantes, in chamo et fraeno compescerentur in via. Propter quod 
 opus fuit homini duplici directivo, secundum duplicem finem : scilicet 
 summo pontifice, qui secundum revelata humanum genus perduceret 
 ad vitam aeternam ; et imperatore qui secundum philosophica docu- 
 menta genus humanum ad temporalem felicitatem dirigeret." 
 
 O
 
 194 
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO xvi. 
 
 behoved to lay down laws for a bit ; it behoved to have a 
 king who should discern of the true city at least the tower. 
 The laws are there, but who puts hand to them ? No man ; 
 because the shepherd who goes before may chew the cud, 
 but has not the hooves divided. Wherefore the folk who 
 see their guide strike only at that good whereof they are 
 
 Onde convenne legge per fren porre : 
 Convenne rege aver, che discernesse 
 Delia vera cittade almen la torre. 
 
 Le leggi son, ma chi pon mano ad esse ? 
 Nullo : perocche il pastor che precede 
 Ruminar pub, ma non ha 1' unghie fesse. g 
 
 Perch e la gente, che sua guida vede 100 
 
 s Rugumar Gg. Cass. 
 
 96 La vera cittade. Cf. xiii. 95. There is implied here the 
 mystical connection which Dante is fond of suggesting between the 
 empire with its capital on earth, and the heavenly city " onde Cristo e 
 Romano" (xxxii. 102). 
 
 s? Cf. vi. 96. 
 
 99 " Sie konnen viel schwatzen meint er iiber die Decretalen, aber 
 sie selbst iiben keine Tugend." Philalethes. Bianchi takes a similar 
 view. The older commentators, however, give a different interpre- 
 tation. Thus Landino : " Prima bisogna che ogni governatore con- 
 sider! bene ed intendi quello che ha a fare. Dopo pone 1'unghie fesse 
 per la discretione, la qual distingue le cose temporali dalle spirituali." 
 It is, however, simpler to suppose that Dante was thinking of St. 
 Augustine's exposition : " Fissa enim ungula ad mores ruminatio vero 
 ad sapientiam pertinet. Quare ad mores fissa ungula ? Quia difficile 
 labitur. Ruminatio autem ad sapientiae doctrinam quomodo pertinet? 
 Quia dixit Scriptura, Thesaurus desiderabilis requiescit in ore sapientis, 
 vir autem stultus glutit ilium" Serm. 149. St. Thomas (S. T. ii. I. 
 Q. 102, Art. 6) is less clear on the point, but says that the division of 
 the hoof signifies among other things "distinctionem duarum naturarum 
 in Christ o, vel discretionem boni et mali." With the former cf. Dante's 
 use of reggimenti in line 128, and in xxxi. 123.
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 195 
 
 greedy, feed themselves on that, and seek no further. Well 
 canst thou see that evil guidance is the occasion that has 
 made the world guilty, and not nature having become 
 corrupt in you. Rome, that made the good world, was 
 wont to have two suns, that showed the one and the other 
 road, of the world and of God. The one has put out the 
 other, and the sword is joined with the crook; and the one 
 
 Pur a quel ben ferire ond' ella e ghiotta, 
 Di quel si pasce, e piu oltre non chiede. 
 
 Ben puoi veder che la mala condotta 
 E la cagion che il mondo ha fatto reo, 
 E non natura che in voi sia corrotta. 
 
 Soleva Roma, che il buon mondo feo, 
 Duo Soli aver, che 1' una e 1' altra strada 
 Facean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo. 
 
 L' un 1' altro ha spento, ed e giunta la spada 
 
 Col pasturale, e 1' uno e 1' altro insieme no 
 
 101 ferire : of a bird of prey ; as in ix. 25. 
 
 103 One is rather tempted to suggest " quella mal condotta," sc. the 
 Church, comp. "la ben guidata," xii. 102. 
 
 106 Cf. De Mon. ii. 6 : " Romanus populus, subjiciendo sibi orbem, 
 bonum publicum intendit," and Conv. iv. 5, "Ne '1 mondo non fu mai 
 ne sara si perfettamente disposto, come allora che alia voce d' un 
 solo principe del roman popolo e comandatore fu ordinato." 
 
 107 duo Soli. Evidently with an allusion to the argument for the 
 inferiority of the temporal power drawn from the analogy of the Sun 
 and the Moon, which he discusses and dismisses De Mon. iii. 4. 
 Similarly in lines 109, no, the allusion in " la spada col pastorale " 
 is to the argument from the two swords, disposed of in 9 of the same 
 treatise. There are, he would seem to imply, two suns, not a sun and 
 a moon ; not two swords, but sword and pastoral staff. Cf, Bryce, 
 Holy Roman Empire, ch. xv. ad fin. 
 
 109,110 There would seem to be an allusion here to the action of 
 Boniface VIII. after the victory of Albert of Hapsburg over Adolf 
 
 O 2
 
 1 96 PURGATORY. . CANTO xvi. 
 
 and the other together of very necessity it behoves that 
 they go ill ; because when joined the one fears not the other. 
 If thou dost not believe me, consider the ear, how that 
 every herb is known by its seed. Upon the land which 
 Adige and Po water, were worth and courtesy wont 
 to be found before that Frederick had strife ; now may 
 a secure passage be had there by whosoever has ceased 
 through shame to speak with good men or to draw near 
 
 Per viva forza mal convien die vada ; 
 Perocche, giunti, 1' un 1' altro non teme. 
 
 Se non mi credi, pon mente alia spiga ; 
 
 Ch' ogni erba si conosce per lo seme. 
 In sul paese ch' Adige e Po riga, 
 
 Solea valore e cortesia trovarsi, 
 
 Prima che Federico avesse briga : 
 Or pub sicuramente indi passarsi 
 
 Per qualunque lasciasse, per vergogna, 
 
 Di ragionar coi buoni, o d' appressarsi. 120 
 
 of Nassau. Not only did he refuse to crown the conqueror, but, says 
 Sismondi, "placing the crown on his own head, he seized a sword, and 
 cried : ' I am Caesar, I am emperor, I will defend the rights of the 
 empire.' " Repub. Ital. ch. xxiv. 
 
 115 Lombardy, the native, or at least ancestral land of the speaker. 
 
 116 valore e cortesia are coupled, Inf. xvi. 67. The latter is the 
 translation into act of the former. Bianchi. 
 
 117 I.e. before the wars between Frederick II. and the Lombard 
 towns. 
 
 "8 "Indi vale per quel luogo." Corticelli instancing this line. It 
 is more usually an adverb of time. 
 
 119. 120 Bi ancn i renders " by whoever has ceased [to pass there] 
 through shame of," etc. Another reading, which Fraticelli prefers, is 
 co' buoni, d'appressarsi. For lasciare di, cf. xiv. 55 ; and for per 
 (in per qualunque), xv. 8.
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 197 
 
 them. There are indeed three old men still, in whom the 
 ancient age reproves the new, and it seems to them long 
 ere God remove them to a better life Conrad of Palazzo, 
 and the good Gerard, and Guy of Castel, who is better 
 named in French fashion the simple Lombard. Say from 
 this day forth that the Church of Rome, through con- 
 founding in herself two governments, falls in the mire, and 
 
 Ben v' en tre vecchi ancora, in cui rampogna 
 L' antica eta la nuova, e par lor tardo 
 Che Dio a miglior vita li ripogna ; 
 
 Currado 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, h 
 Per confondere in se duo reggimenti, 
 
 h della chiesa, 1245. 
 
 1:1 en = sono : formed directly from L 
 
 1-4, 125 Gherardo da Cammino of Treviso is named in Convito iv. 14 
 as an instance of nobility. He was so much respected that, according 
 to Philalethes, the brothers Azzo and Francesco of Este sought knight- 
 hood at his hands. His son Richard married the daughter of Nino 
 Visconti of Pisa. Conrad of Palazzo was a gentleman of Brescia. 
 Philalethes says he was Podesta of Siena in 1279, "in which year that 
 city concluded peace with the Florentines." But this was in 1269, 
 soon after the defeat of the Sienese at Colle. However, Conrad being 
 a Guelf, may have been put in by the Florentines. His services as 
 Podest-i seem to have been much sought after. Guido da Castello is 
 also commemorated in the Convito (iv. 16). He was of Reggio, and 
 seems from a notice in the Ottimo to have been a kind of 7rpof vor 
 to the French who passed that way. Hence, probably, the allusion in 
 line 126. The explanation of some commentators that "Lombard" 
 was a general name in France for an Italian is not to the point, for if 
 he was a Lombard there is nothing specially French in calling him so. 
 
 128 " Et sic non habet ungulam fessam," says the note in Gg., 
 evidently with reference to the passage of Aquinas quoted above.
 
 198 PURGATORY. CANTO xvi. 
 
 befouls herself and her burden." " O my Marco," said I, 
 " thou reasonest well ; and now I perceive why the sons of 
 Levi were exempted from the heritage ; but what Gerard is 
 that who thou sayest is left for a sample of the extinct folk, 
 in reproof of the savage generation?" "Either thy speech 
 deceives me, or it is making trial of me," he answered me ; 
 " that, speaking Tuscan to me, it seems that thou knowest 
 naught of the good Gerard. By other surname I know 
 him not, but if I were to take it from his daughter Gaia. 
 
 Cade nel fango, e se brutta e la soma 
 O Marco mio, diss' io, bene argomenti; 130 
 
 Ed or discerno perche dal retaggio 
 
 Li figli di Levi furono esenti. 
 Ma qual Gherardo e quel che tu per saggio 
 
 Di' ch' e rimaso della gente spenta, 
 
 In rimproverio del secol selvaggio ? 
 O tuo parlar m' inganna, o e' mi tenta, 
 
 Rispose a me, che, parlandomi Tosco, 
 
 Par che del buon Gherardo nulla senta. 
 Per altro soprannome io nol conosco.. 
 
 S' io nol togliessi da sua figlia Gaia. 140 
 
 131. 132 Because of the evils which arise from worldly power being in 
 the hands of churchmen. Cf. De Mon. Hi. 13. . 
 
 133 The commentators puzzle a good deal over this inquiry about a 
 man whose name was afterwards clearly familiar to Dante. But I do 
 not see why the most obvious reason should not be the true one, viz. that 
 Dante had not heard of him at the supposed date of this conversation. 
 
 140 As to Gaia's character we have diametrically opposite evidence. 
 The Ottimo says : " madonna Gaja fu donna di tal reggimento circa le 
 dilettazioni amorose, ch' era notorio il suo nome per tutta Italia ; " and 
 note in Gg. "ista Gaia fuit pulcherrima vere gaia et tota amorosa 
 trevisana j " while John of Serravalle, Bishop of Fermo, writing some
 
 CANTO xvi. PURGATORY. 199 
 
 God be with you, for further I go not with you. Thou 
 seest the whiteness, which sends its rays through the smoke, 
 already gleaming ; and it behoves me to depart the angel 
 is there before that he appears." Thus he turned, and 
 would no longer hear me. 
 
 Dio sia con voi, che piu non vegno vosco. 
 
 Vedi P albbr che per lo fumo raia, 
 
 Gia biancheggiare, e me convien partirmi, 
 L' Angelo e ivi, prima ch' egli paia : ' 
 
 Cosi torno, e piu non voile udirmi. k 
 
 1 cK iogliappaia Cass, W. che gli ap. 3 che li paia Gg. 124 che' 7 di 
 
 paia Land. (note). 
 k parlb Aid. Land, che piu Gg. 
 
 eighty years later, calls her "prudens domina, literata, et magnae 
 prudentiae, maximae pulchritudkiis. " With him Buti agrees. See 
 Blanc, Erkl. and Foscolo, Discorso sul testo, 62. 
 
 d . /3'
 
 CANTO XVII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They come out of the smoke as the sun is sinking. Before they reach the 
 ascent to the next circle Dante falls into a trance, and sees, as in a 
 vision, certain notable examples of wrath and its punishment. They 
 enter the fourth circle, where the sin of sloth is purged. Second sunset. 
 Virgil explains how love is the root of all sin, no less than of all virtue. 
 
 BETHINK thee, reader, if ever in the Alps a mist-cloud has 
 enfolded thee, through the which thou sawest not otherwise 
 than moles through their skin, how when the humid and 
 thick vapours begin to grow thin the globe of the sun 
 enters feebly through them; and thy imagination will be 
 
 RICORDITI, letter, 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 immagine leggiera 
 
 7 Both Bianchi and Philaleth.es understand leggiera as meaning 
 " weak " : "you will form but a faint image." There seems no reason 
 for this, nor is it quite easy to see the sense of it. Dante has said that 
 the smoke was darker than a dark night, but it does not follow that 
 it was denser than an Alpine mist ; nor if it were, would the pheno- 
 menon he describes be very different in the two cases.
 
 CANTO xvn. PURGATORY. 201 
 
 nimble in coming to see how I first beheld again the sun, 
 which was already in its setting. So, making my own equal 
 to the faithful steps of my master, I issued forth from such 
 a cloud to the rays already dead upon the low shores. O 
 power of fancy, that at whiles so snatchest us from external 
 things, that a man heeds not whereas around are sounding 
 a thousand trumpets, who moves thee, if the sense set thee 
 not forth? Light moves thee, which is given form in 
 
 In giugnere a veder com' io rividi 
 
 Lo sole in pria, che gia nel corcare era. a 
 Si pareggiando i miei co' passi fidi io 
 
 Del mio Maestro usci' fuor di tal nube, 
 
 Ai raggi morti gia nei bassi lidi. 
 O immaginativa, che ne rube 
 
 Tal volta si di fuor, ch' uom non s' accorge, 
 
 Perche d' intorno^suonin mille tube, 
 Chi muove te, se il senso non ti porge ? 
 
 Muoveti lume, che nel Ciel s' informa, 
 
 a calcar (for calar) Gg. 
 
 12 But they were now halfway up the mountain, so that the sun 
 had not set to them. 
 
 13 immaginativa is the faculty by which we are capable of fantasia. 
 This is the (fravrao-ia of De Aninia iii. 3, where it is defined as 
 KLVTJCTI.S VTTO TTJS al<r6^(rfa>s TTJS KUT' evepyeiav yevofjifvrjs- Elsewhere 
 he says that /i"?/<iJ? and (fravTaa-ia belong to the same part of the soul ; 
 which Aquinas (S.T. i. Q. 78, A. 4) expands by making fantasia : sensus 
 communis : : memoria : aestimativa. Dante uses rather different phrase- 
 ology, e.g. inV.N. 16, where he says: "quando la mia memoria 
 movesse la fantasia ad immaginare." Cf. 1. 7. 
 
 '5 Perche. So in v. 58. 
 
 16 I. e. if the impression corresponds to no external object.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO xvn. 
 
 heaven, of itself, or through a will which sends it down. 
 Of the impiety of her, who changed her form into the 
 bird which most delights in singing, in my imagination 
 appeared the traces ; and here was my mind so restrained 
 within itself, that from without came nothing then to be 
 received by it. Next rained down within my deep fantasy 
 one crucified, despiteful and proud in his visage, and so 
 he was dying. Around him were the great Ahasuerus, 
 Esther his wife, and the just Mordecai, who was in speech 
 and act so incorrupt. And as this image broke of itself, 
 
 Per se, o per voler che giu lo scorge. 
 
 Dell' empiezza di lei, che muto forma 
 
 Nell' uccel che a cantar piu si diletta, 20 
 
 Nell' immagine mia apparve 1' orma : 
 
 E qui fu la mia mente si ristretta 
 Dentro da se, che di fuor non venia 
 Cosa che fosse ancor da lei recetta. 
 
 Poi piowe dentro all' alta fantasia 
 Un crocifisso dispettoso e fiero 
 Nella sua vista, e cotal si moria. 
 
 Intorno ad esso era il grande Assuero, 
 Ester sua sposa, e il giusto Mardocheo, 
 Che fu al dire ed al far cosl intero. 30 
 
 E come questa immagine rompeo 
 
 r9 - 20 Dante takes the less common version, which makes Procne 
 the nightingale and Philomela the swallow. In Eel. vi. 81, though 
 not elsewhere, Virgil seems to follow the same. See also Ar. Rhet. 
 iii. 3 fin. 
 
 21 orma, "footprint;" hence impression generally. 
 
 25 piowe = simply "came down;" cf. Inf. xxx. 95; also Canto 
 xxxii. 1 10. Note the retention of the Greek accent in fantasia.
 
 CANTO xvii. PURGATORY. 203 
 
 in fashion of a bubble whereto fails the water beneath 
 which it was made, there rose in my vision a maiden 
 weeping bitterly, and she was saying : " O queen, wherefore 
 for wrath hast thou chosen to be naught ? Thou hast slain 
 thyself not to lose Lavinia ; now thou hast lost me : I am she 
 that grieve, mother, for thy ruin rather than for another's." 
 As, when of a sudden a new day strikes on the closed sight, 
 sleep breaks, that quivers when broken before it wholly dies, 
 so my imagination fell down as soon as a light smote my 
 face, greater by far than that which is in our wont. I was 
 
 Se per se stessa, a guisa d' una bulla b 
 Cui manca 1' acqua sotto qual si feo : 
 
 Surse in mia visione una fanciulla, 
 Piangendo forte, e diceva : O regina, 
 Perche per ira hai voluto esser nulla ? 
 
 Ancisa t' hai per nqn perder Lavina ; 
 Or m' hai perduta : io son essa che lutto, 
 Madre, alia tua pria ch' all' altrui ruina. 
 
 Come si frange il sonno, ove djjbuttp 40 
 
 Nuova luce percuote il viso chiuso, 
 Che fratto guizza pria che muoia tutto : 
 
 Cosi 1' immaginar mio cadde giuso, 
 
 Tosto che un lume il volto mi percosse c 
 Maggiore assai che quel ch' e in nostr' uso. 
 
 b Per s2 Cg. c il lume Gg. Cass. Aid. Land. 
 
 35 sotto qual, the omission of the article is unusual. See Corticelli, 
 p. 79, "fi abuso de' volgari." Diez. iii. 339. 
 
 s*- 39 See yn. xii. 593-607. As Philalethes remarks, Dante supplies 
 the words which Virgil only alludes to. 
 
 40 di butto. Cf. Fr. tout d'un coup.
 
 204 PURGATORY. CANTO XVIL 
 
 turning myself to see where I was, when a voice said : 
 " Here is the ascent," which removed me from every other 
 thought, and made my wish to behold who he was that 
 was speaking, so prompt, as that which never reposes, if it 
 be not met. But as at the Sun, which weighs down our 
 sight, and by excess [of light] veils its form, so my power 
 here failed. " This is a spirit of God, who is directing us on 
 the way up, without prayer, and with his own light himself 
 conceals himself. So deals he with us as a man does with 
 
 I' 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, 50 
 
 Che mai non posa, se non si raffronta. 
 
 Ma come al sol, che nostra vista grava, 
 E per soverchio sua figura vela, 
 Cosi la mia virtu quivi mancava. 
 
 Questi e divino spirito, che ne la 
 
 Via d' andar su ne drizza senza prego, 
 E col suo lume se medesmo cela. 
 
 51 There is a mixture of constructions here. For posa we expect 
 posato avrebbe, followed by se non fosse raffrontata. But the words 
 have reference to the future as well as the past. The Ottimo says : 
 "L'angelica voce fu di tanta dolcezza, che dice che 1'animo suo non si 
 posera mai, in fino che non si raffronta a riudirla " (so I read the last 
 words). 
 
 53 Cf. for the idea viii. 36; and Milton P.L. iii. 380: "Dark 
 with excessive bright thy skirts appear." soverchio, cf. xv. 15. 
 
 54 Cf. Par. xxxiii. 142, and see note at end of Canto iv. 
 56 senza prego, i.e. without being asked.
 
 CANTO xvii. PURGATORY. 205 
 
 himself, for he who awaits a prayer, and sees the wish, 
 unkindly is already putting himself on the side of refusal. 
 Now let us set the foot in accordance with such invitation ; 
 let us be diligent to mount before it grows dark, for after it 
 will not be possible, except the day returns." So spake my 
 leader ; and I with him, we turned our steps to a stair ; 
 and soon as I was at the first step I felt as it were one 
 move wing near me and fan me in the face, and say : 
 " Beati pacifiri who are free from evil wrath." 
 
 Already were so much raised above us the last rays, 
 
 Si fa con noi, come 1' uom si fa sego : 
 Che quale aspetta prego, e 1' uopo vede, 
 Malignamente gia si mette al nego. 60 
 
 Ora accordiamo a tanto invito il piede : d 
 Procacciam di salir pria che s' abbui : 
 Che poi non si poria, se il di non nede. 
 
 Cosi disse il mioJDuca ; ed io con lui 
 Volgemmo i nostri passi ad una scala : 
 E tosto ch' io al primo grado fui, 
 
 Senti'mi presso quasi un muover d' ala, 
 E ventarmi nel volto, e dir : Beati 
 Pacifia, che son senza ira mala. 
 
 Gia eran sopra noi tanto levati 70 
 
 d secondiamo 5. 
 
 5 s come 1' uom fa sego. The commentators nearly all agree in 
 seeing a reference to the precept "Love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 Landino's " cioe 1' un huomo con I'altro " is clearly wrong. 
 
 6 ? muover d'ala ; not, I think, as Philalethes (agreeing with Blanc) 
 translates " Fliigelschlag," for, if so, the construction of ventar and dir 
 will be changed ; but rather an instrumental use of di. Corticelli says : 
 " Di serve all' ablative in vece di con." 
 
 7 They enter the fourth, or middle circle, that of sloth, and the 
 second night begins.
 
 206 PURGATORY. CANTO xvu. 
 
 which the night follows, that the stars were appearing on 
 many sides. "O my virtue, wherefore so meltest thou away?" 
 I began to say within myself, as I felt the power of my legs 
 placed in truce. We were where the stair mounted no 
 more upwards, and we were fixed, just like a ship which 
 comes ashore on the beach. And I listened a little if I 
 might hear anything in the new circle ; afterwards I turned 
 back to my master, and said : " Sweet my Father, say what 
 offence is purged here in the circle where we are ? if our 
 feet be stayed, be not thy discourse." And he to me : " The 
 
 Gli ultimi raggi che la notte segue, 
 Che le stelle apparivan da piu lati. 
 
 O virtu mia, perchk si ti dilegue ? 
 Fra me stesso dicea, che mi sentiva 
 La possa delle gambe posta in tregue. 
 
 Noi eravam dove piu non saliva 
 La scala su, ed eravamo afrissi, 
 Pur come nave ch' alia piaggia arriva : 
 
 Ed io attesi un poco s' io udissi 
 
 Alcuna cosa nel nuovo girone : 80 
 
 Poi mi rivolsi al mio Maestro, e dissi : 
 
 Dolce mio Padre, di', quale offensione 
 Si purga qui nel giro, dove semo ? 
 Se i pib si stanno, non stea tuo sermone. 
 
 Ed egli a me : L'amor del bene, scemo 
 
 " It is almost impossible to render virtu here. It is not, of course, 
 strictly speaking, the faculty, 8vvafj.is of locomotion, which vanishes at 
 the approach of night, but the exercise, or evepyeia of it : " my operant 
 powers their functions leave to do." Meanwhile the Suva/its (possa) 
 may justly be said to be posta in tregue. 
 
 85 "Acedia est fastidium interni boni." St. Augustine. "Quod 
 quemdam torporem incutit ammo." St. Bernard.
 
 CANTO xvn. PURGATORY. 207 
 
 love of the good fallen short of its duty, right here restores 
 itself; here makes again its stroke the ill-delayed oar. 
 But that thou mayest understand yet more openly, turn thy 
 mind to me, and thou shalt reap some good fruit of our 
 tarrying. Neither Creator nor creature," he began, "was 
 ever, my son, without love, either natural, or of the mind : 
 and thou knowest it. The natural is always free from 
 error ; but the other may err through a bad object, or by 
 excess, or by defect of vigour. While in regard to the 
 
 Di suo dover, quiritta si ristora : 
 Qui si ribatte il mal tardato remo. e 
 
 Ma perche piu aperto intendi ancora, 
 Volgi la mente a me, e prenderai 
 Alcun buon frutto di nostra dimora. 90 
 
 Ne creator, ne creatura mai, 
 
 Comincio ei, fig^liuol, fu senza amore, 
 O naturale, o d' animo ; e tu il sai. 
 
 Lo natural e sempre senza errore : f 
 
 Ma 1' altro puote errar per malo obbietto, 
 O per troppo, o per poco di vigore. 
 
 e Et si rib. Gg. f Lo -n. fu Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 8 7 Bianchi's explanation "qui si punisce il tardo rematore," is, as 
 Blanc points out, weak, and also does not account for ribatte. 
 Landino halts between two opinions : ' ' Usa traslatione dalla ciurma 
 di galea, laquale perche voga pigramente, e con battiture punita, e 
 costretta a battere il remo." Philalethes has : " Hier holt wieder ein 
 man durch frischen Ruderschlag die schHmme Zogrung." Cf. xii. 5. 
 
 9I - 3 Cf. xvi. 90. naturale o d' animo, instinctive or rational. 
 
 94 Sum. Theol. i. Q. 60, Art. I. "Sicut cognitio naturalis semper est 
 vera ita dilectio naturalis semper est recta ; cum amor naturalis nihil 
 aliud sit quam inclinatio naturae indita ab auctore naturae. Dicere 
 ergo quod inclinatio naturae non sit recta est derogare auctori naturae."
 
 208 PURGATORY. CANTO xvn. 
 
 first it is well directed, and in regard to the second 
 moderates itself, it cannot be an occasion of evil delight ; 
 but when it turns aside to ill, or runs in the way of good 
 with more care or with less than it ought, against the 
 Maker operates his work. Hence thou mayest understand, 
 how it belioves that love should be the seed in you of 
 every virtue, and of every operation which merits punish- 
 
 Mentre ch' egli e nel primo ben diretto, g 
 E ne' secondi se stesso misura, 
 Esser non pub cagion di mal diletto ; 
 
 Ma quando al mal si torce, o con piu cura, 100 
 
 O con men che non dee, corre nel bene, 
 Contra il Fattore adovra sua fattura. 
 
 Quinci comprender puoi, ch' esser conviene 
 Amor sementa in voi d' ogni virtute, 
 E d'ogni operazion che merta pene. 
 
 s tie" primiAld. (i) Land, (text) W. Si. 
 
 97- 9 s I have followed the reading of the Aldine of 1515, nel primo, 
 which is also that of Gg. and Cass., and seems to give a better sense than 
 that which is obtained by reading ne' primi ben, and taking it to mean 
 "towards the first goods," i.e. God and virtue, the second being the 
 goods of this world. As I understand the words they mean "so long 
 as regards the object the love is well directed ; and, as regards degree, 
 is duly moderated, erring neither by excess nor defect." And with 
 this the Ottimo seems to agree, though the passage is obviously 
 corrupt : ' ' quando 1' uomo si costituisce cosa, e cos! e [read, cost, cosi, 
 che sid\ buono 1' obietto, e mala [read V amd\ quanto dee." So the 
 comm. of another MS. at Cambridge : "cioe quando a bono obietto," 
 and"cioe nelle affezioni se misura." Secondi: plur. because com- 
 prising troppo and poco. 
 
 103-5 This is the foundation of Aquinas' ethical doctrine, to be found 
 passim in S.T., e.g. ii. I. Q. 28, A. 6 : " Omne agens agit propter 
 finem aliquem ; finis autem est bonum desideratum et amatum uni- 
 cuique. Unde manifestum est quod omne agens quodcunque sit agit 
 quamcunque actionem ex aliquo amore." It is of course a develop- 
 ment of dyadov nvos ec
 
 CANTO xvn. PURGATORY. 209 
 
 ment. Now, seeing that love can never turn back 
 its gaze from the weal of its subject, things are safe from 
 hatred of themselves ; and seeing that it is not possible to 
 conceive any being as divided, or standing of itself apart, 
 from its first cause, every affection is cut off from hating that. 
 It remains, if in my division I rightly estimate, that the ill 
 which is loved is that of the neighbour, and this love takes 
 
 Or perche mai non pub dalla salute 
 
 Amor del suo suggetto volger viso, h 
 
 Dall' odio proprio son le cose tute : 
 E perche intender non si pub diviso, 
 
 Ne per se stante, alcuno esser dal primo, no 
 
 Da quello odiare ogni affetto e deciso. 
 Resta, se dividendo bene stimo, 
 
 Che il mal che s' ama e del prossimo : ed esso -<> 
 
 h torcar visa W. 
 
 106 st i<i- Conv. iv. 22 : "ogni animale siccome ella e nato si razionale 
 come bruto se medesimo ama." S.T. ii. i. Q. 29, Art. 4: "Impossibile 
 est quod aliquis odiat (sic) seipsum." So Bp. Butler, Serm. i. : "There 
 is no such thing as self-hatred." 
 
 107 Witte's reading, forcer, is not only against the weight of authority, 
 but I think inconsistent with the meaning. Odio is the exact opposite 
 of amore ; and, therefore, according to the rule stated in note to 
 iv. 100, volger is the word required. 
 
 111 Nor is it possible to hate God. Dante goes further than 
 St. Thomas (S.T. ii. 2. Q. 34), who holds that though "secundum 
 essentiam suam," God cannot be hated, "secundum quosdam justitiae 
 suae effectus," He maybe. Ought we not to read effetto here? Cf. 
 xi. 3, where there is a v.l. affetlo^ showing that copyists confused the 
 two. Of course the use of effectns, in the passage quoted from Aquinas, 
 is in a different sense. 
 
 112 dividendo in its technical sense as a logical term (diaip>v) ; 
 from general to individuals. 
 
 P
 
 2io PURGATORY. CANTO xvn. 
 
 birth in three modes in your clay. There is who, through 
 his neighbour being kept down, hopes for excellence, and 
 only for this reason yearns that he may be from his greatness 
 brought low. There is who fears to lose power, grace, honour, 
 and fame, in case another mounts up, wherefore he grows 
 so sad that he loves the contrary ; and there is who through 
 injury appears so to take shame that he becomes gluttonous 
 of vengeance ; and such an one it behoves that he put 
 forward another's ill. This three-formed love bewails itself 
 here below : now I will that thou understand the other, 
 
 Amor nasce in trejnodi in vostro limo. 
 fe chi, per esser_suo-yicimoppresso, 
 
 Spera eccellenza, e sol per questo brama 
 
 Ch' el sia di sua grandezza in basso messo. 
 E chi podere, grazia, onore, e fama ' 
 
 Teme di perder, perch' altri sormonti, 
 
 Onde s' attrista si die il contrario ama. 1 20 
 
 Ed e chi per ingiuria par ch' adonti 
 * Si che si fa della vendetta ghiotto; 
 
 E tal convien che il male altrui impronti. 
 Questo triforme^ amor quaggiu disotto 
 
 Si piange : or vo' che tu dell' altro intende, 
 
 ' grande, alt. to gratia Gg. 
 
 120 il contrario, his neighbour's abasement. 
 
 123 impronti. There seems to be some uncertainty as to the mean- 
 ing of this word. Blanc takes it (following apparently Vellutello) as a 
 form of imprentare, and so in its modern use of "stamps," "prints." 
 But the older commentator explains it by " segni in altri ; " the modern 
 by " imagines," herein agreeing with Bianchi. The latter connects it 
 with Fr. emprunter, as to which see Littre. The Ottimo has "e im- 
 pronto" (i.e. importunate); Philalethes, " trachten nach." I take it 
 as directly from " promptus," " impromptare."
 
 CANTO xvn. PURGATORY. 211 
 
 which hastes to the good with order violated. Each one 
 confusedly apprehends a good wherein his mind may rest, 
 and desires it; wherefore each one strives to reach Him. If 
 a too slow love draws you towards His sight, or to the search 
 of Him, this gallery, after just penitence, torments you for it. 
 Another good there is, which makes not the man happy ; it 
 is not happiness, it is not the good essence, fruit and root 
 of every good. The love which gives itself up too much to 
 that bewails itself above us through three circles ; but how 
 it is spoken of as tripartite, I say nothing thereof, to the end 
 that thou mayest enquire of it for thyself." 
 
 Che corre al ben con ordine corrotto. 
 Ciascun confusamente un behe apprende, 
 
 Nel qual si queti 1' animo, e desira : 
 
 
 
 
 Per che di giunger lui ciascun contende. 
 Se lento amor in lui veder vi tira, 130 
 
 O a lui acquistar, questa cornice 
 
 Dopo giusto penter ve ne martira. 
 Altro ben e che non fa 1' uom felice : 
 
 Non e felicita, non e la buona 
 
 Essenzia, d' ogni ben frutto e radice. k 
 L'amor, ch' ad esso troppo s' abbandona, 
 
 Di sovra a noi si piange per tre cerchi ; 
 
 Ma come tripartite si ragiona, 
 Tacciolo, acciocche tu per te ne cerchi. 
 
 <\ 
 
 k essenza alcun ban frutto et laradice 5 <f ogni buon frutto r. W. 
 
 128 queti .... desira. See the passage from Aquinas quoted in 
 note to xviii. 19. 
 
 130 < Peccatum acediae est quando quis contristatur in his quae ei 
 imminent facienda propter Deum. " S. T. ii. 2. Art. 35, Q. 3. 
 
 P 2
 
 CANTO XVIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 During the night Virgil continues to explain how love is the root of all 
 action, and proceeds further to discourse of free-will and the origin 
 of morality. A great crowd of souls run quickly past, calling to mind 
 instances of alacrity. Dante speaks with a certain Abbot ; and after 
 hearing the reproach of sloth from those who go last of the crowd, he 
 falls asleep. 
 
 THE profound Teacher had put an end to his reasoning, 
 and was looking intently in my face, if I appeared content. 
 And I, whom yet a new thirst began to urge, was silent 
 outwardly, and within was saying, Perhaps the excessive 
 inquiry that I make grieves him. But that truthful Father, 
 who took note of the timid will that would not disclose 
 itself, by speaking, furnished to me courage to speak. 
 
 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 dimandar, ch' io fo, li grava. 
 
 Ma quel padra verace, che s' accorse 
 Del timido voler che non s' apriva, 
 Parlando, di parlare ardir mi porse.
 
 CANTO xvin. PURGATORY. 213 
 
 Wherefore I : " Master, my sight is so quickened in thy 
 light, that I discern clearly all that thy reasoning imports 
 or describes ; wherefore I pray thee, sweet Father dear, 
 that thou demonstrate to me the love to which thou dost 
 reduce all good working and its contrary." " Direct," said 
 he, " towards me the keen eyes of thy intellect, and the 
 error will be manifest to thee of the blind who make 
 themselves leaders. The mind which is created ready to 
 love, is quick to move to everything which pleases it so soon 
 
 Ond' io : Maestro, il mio veder s'avviva i o 
 
 Si nel tuo lume, ch' io discerno chiaro 
 Quanto la tua ragion porti, o descriva : 
 
 Pero ti prego, dolce Padre caro, 
 Che mi dimostri amore, a cui riduci 
 Ogni buono operare e il suo contraro. 
 
 Drizza, disse, ver me 1'acute luci 
 Dello intelletto* e fieri manifesto 
 L' error de' ciechi che si fanno duci. 
 
 L' animo, ch' e creato ad amar presto, 
 
 Ad ogni cosa e mobile che piace, 20 
 
 *9 sqq. cf. xvi. 90, xvii. 92.95. The mind is potentially capable of 
 being attracted by pleasure, and is actually attracted by the presence of 
 the pleasant object, or by the abstract notion which the apprehensive 
 faculty (see below) forms of it in the mind. Thus desire, which may 
 be good or bad, is aroused, and action follows : ov yap fj opety avrrj 
 rj ap^Jj ro\> TrpaKTKov vov. . . . vovs p.tv ovv Tray opdos optf-is 8e Kal 
 <pavra<ria /cat opdr) not OVK opdrj (De An. iii. io). Comparing the first 
 clause of this with Eth. vi. 2 (irpdt-eus fj.ev ovv apxfi Trpoaipecris odev 
 T) Kivrja-is . . . Trpoaipecrftos Se opegis), I think we must take in atto, 
 not with Blanc, Bianchi, and Philalethes as = actu, but as depending 
 on desto. Cf. also S. T. ii. I. Q. 26. 2 : "Prima immutatio appetitus 
 ab appetibili, vocatur amor ; qui nihil est aliud quam complacentia 
 appetibilis, et ex hac complacentia sequitur motus in appetibile qui est 
 desiderium ; et ultimo, quies, quae est gaudium."
 
 214 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 as by the pleasure it is aroused to act. Your apprehensive 
 power draws an intention from a truly existing object, and 
 displays it within you, so that it makes the mind turn to 
 that. And if, turning back, it bends itself towards it, that 
 bending is love, that is nature, which for pleasure is binding 
 itself anew within you. Afterward, as the fire moves on 
 high, by reason of its form, which has the nature to rise 
 there where it abides most in its matter, so the mind seized 
 enters into desire, which is a motion of the spirit, and never 
 
 Tosto che dal piacere in atto e desto. 
 Vostra apprensiva da esser verace 
 
 Tragge intenzione, e dentro a voi la spiega, 
 
 Si che 1' animo ad essa volger face. 
 E se, rivolto, in ver di lei si piega, 
 
 Quel piegare e amor, quello e natura, 
 
 Che per piacer di nuovo in voi si lega. 
 Poi come il fuoco muovesi in altura, 
 
 Per la sua forma, ch' e nata a salire 
 
 La dove piu in sua materia dura : 30 
 
 Cosi F animo preso entra in disire 
 
 Ch' e moto spiritale, e mai non posa 
 
 12 s< w. Apprehension or conception consists in the power which the 
 mind has of forming an image of attributes. Images so formed are first 
 intentions (e?87, species intelligibiles), as when we regard the individual 
 Socrates as man, white, etc. Second intentions are obtained by ab- 
 stracting the relations of first intentions to one another, as humanity, 
 whiteness, etc. First intentions are predicable, second not Mansel. da 
 esser verace. Cf. Pascal : " Les apprehensions des sens sont toujours 
 vraies." De An. iii. 6: "17 T>V ddiatpfruiv VOTJCTIS fv TOVTOIS irtpl A 
 OVK fo-ri TO ilrfvdos." So S.T. i. Q. 85. I. 
 
 26 - 31 An expansion of xvii. 93. 
 
 27 si lega, as we should say, " is striking a fresh root." 
 
 30 I.e. towards the sphere of fire.
 
 CANTO xvin. PURGATORY. 
 
 reposes until the thing loved makes it rejoice. Now can it 
 appear to thee how much the truth is hidden from the folk 
 who aver that each love is, in itself, a laudable thing, 
 because perhaps its matter appears always to be good ; but 
 not every seal is good, even though good be the wax." 
 
 " Thy words, and my wit which follows them," I answered 
 him, " have disclosed love to me ; but that has made me 
 teem more with doubt, in that if love is offered to us from 
 without, and the soul goes not with other foot, whether 
 it goes straight or crooked is not its own merit." And he 
 
 Fin che la cosa amata il fa gioire. 
 
 Or ti puote apparer quant' e nascosa 
 
 La veritade alia gente ch' avyera L/-> ^ 
 
 Ciascuno amore in se laudabil cosa ; 
 
 Perocche forse appar la sua matera 
 
 Sempr' esser buona ; ma non ciascun segno 
 & buono, ancor che buona sia la cera. 
 
 Le tue parole e il mio seguace ingegno, 40 
 
 Risposi io lui, m' hanno amor discoverto ; 
 Ma cio m' ha fatto di dubbiar piu pregno ; 
 
 Che s' amore e di fuori a noi offerto, 
 E 1' anima non va con altro piede, 
 Se dritto o torto va, non e suo merto. 
 
 Ed egli a me : Quanto ragion qui vede 
 
 3 ? matera must here be the mind, or rather, its dvvapis (t<mv r] 
 vXrj Swapis. De An. ii. i). Following the analogy of 11. 28-30, we 
 have the tendency to rise : fire : : the tendency to love : the mind ; and 
 vovs Troy opdbs comes in again. 
 
 42 - 45 The objection that " apprehensum secundum sensum ex neces- 
 sitate movet appetitum sensitivum " and therefore "apprehensum secun- 
 dum intellectum ex necessitate movet voluntatem " is dealt with by 
 Aquinas S.T. i. Q. 82, A. 2.
 
 216 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 to me : " All that reason here sees I can tell thee ; beyond 
 that point wait only on Beatrice, for it is work of faith. 
 Every substantial form that is separate from matter, and is 
 in union with it, has a specific virtue stored within itself, 
 the which without operation is not felt, nor demonstrates 
 itself save by effect, as by green leaves life in a plant. 
 
 Dir ti poss' io : da indi in la t' aspetta 
 Pure a Beatrice, ch' e opra di fede. a 
 
 Ogni forma sustanzial, che setta 
 
 E da materia, ed e con lei unita, 50 
 
 Specifica virtude ha in se colletta, 
 
 La qual senza operar non e sentita, 
 Ne si dimostra ma che per effetto, 
 Come per verdi fronde in pianta vita. b 
 
 a che opera Z Cass. W. che opera di Gg. b in p. e irta Gg. 
 
 / 49 Format separatae are God, angels, human souls. The last (which, 
 as involving the TO ri rjv etvai, or "essential quiddity," are substantial 
 forms) are united with matter to constitute the man ("unus est homo 
 anima rationalis et caro "), and possess the faculty of forming images or 
 species ; for so I think we must understand specifica, and not as merely 
 = special, peculiar. De An. iii. 4, where Aristotle approves the view 
 that the ^VXTJ voyriKr) is Swdpei. the TOTTOS fl8>i>. St. Thomas's 
 doctrine as to the origin of knowledge is contained in S.T. i. Q. 84, 85, 
 which should be read, together with the sketch of the psychology of 
 Thomas Aquinas, given by Philalethes, at the end of this Canto, by 
 anyone who wishes to comprehend Dante's system of ethics and politics. 
 Lines 60-69 explain how the former science is connected with his 
 psychology and ultimately with his political system, as may be seen by 
 comparing xvi. 75 sqq. , and De Mon. i. 14. 
 
 It may be noticed that the commentator of Cass. takes setta to 
 mean septa, ' ' id est circumclusa. " Of course he is wrong. The postilla 
 to the line gives an alternative " abscissa." 
 
 52 6 apa Ka\ovp.fvos rfjs ^VXTJS vovs oiidfv tariv Ivepydq rav 
 ovrcav Trplv voeiv. De An. iii. 4. 
 
 54 Cf. xvi. 113, 114.
 
 CANTO xviii. PURGATORY. 217 
 
 Wherefore, man knows not whence comes the understand- 
 ing of the first cognitions, and the affection of the first 
 objects of appetite, which are in you, as in the bee the 
 desire of making its honey ; and this first volition admits 
 not desert of praise or blame. Now, whereas about this 
 every other gathers itself, there is innate in you the faculty 
 which counsels, and which should hold the threshold of 
 
 Pero, Ik onde vegna lo intelletto 
 
 Delle prime notizie, uomo non sape, 
 E de' primi appetibili 1' 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. 60 
 
 Or, perche a questa ogni altra si raccoglia, 
 Innata v' e la virtu che consiglia, d 
 E dell' assenso de' tener la soglia. 6 
 
 
 c E perche G~. d Innata ' e v. che la cons. Gg. 
 
 e Et e lascenso da Cass. ond' ella ha senso di 3. 
 
 53-57 "The origins of knowledge and appetite are unknown." It 
 will be seen that Dante does not hold the doctrine of Innate Ideas. 
 Nothing is innate save free-will. 
 
 59. 60 jTjk Nic. ii. I. SijXoi/ on oiSf/ii'a T>V ydiKuiv aperon? (v<rei 
 rjfjuv cyyiverai. 
 
 61 There are several interpretations of this line. Of those who 
 render perche " in order that," some take questa to be the virtfc about 
 to be mentioned, but this, as Bianchi says, involves too great a disloca- 
 tion of the words. Others, e.g. Witte and Philalethes, interpret "in 
 order that every other will may unite itself with this primary and blame- 
 less will ; " but they seem to forget that, if blameless, it also has no 
 merit, being merely instinctive. In order for desert to exist a choice 
 must be made. I have, therefore, followed Cotnm. Cass. and Bianchi, 
 taking perche, as in v. 58, xvii. 15 ; almost = "although." 
 
 62 la virtn, i.e. free-will. S.T. i. Q. 22. 2. "Agunt creaturae 
 rationales per liberum arbitrium, quo consiliantur et eligunt. "
 
 2i8 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 assent. This is the principle whereto occasion of desert 
 in you is attached, according as it gathers up and winnows 
 out good or guilty loves. They who in reasoning have 
 gone to the foundation have taken note of that innate 
 liberty, wherefore they have left morality to the world. 
 Whence let us lay down that of necessity arises every 
 love which kindles itself within you ; of keeping it in check 
 the power is in you. The noble faculty, Beatrice under- 
 stands for free-will, and therefore look that thou have it in 
 mind, if she takes in hand to speak to thee of it." 
 
 Quest' e il principio la onde si piglia 
 Cagion di meritare in voi, secondo f 
 Che buoni e rei amori accoglie e viglia. 
 
 Color che ragionando andaro al fondo, 
 S' accorser d' esta innata libertate ; 
 Pero moralita lasciaro al mondo. 
 
 Onde pognam che di necessitate 70 
 
 Surga ogni amor che dentro a voi s' accende, 
 Di ritenerlo e in voi la potestate. 
 
 La nobile virtu Beatrice intende 
 Per lo libero arbitrio, e perb guarda 
 Che P abbi a mente, s' a parlar ten prende. 
 
 f Ragion Gg. Cass. 1234 W. 
 
 64, 65 S.T. ii. I. Q. 1 14, A. 4. "Humanus actus habet rationem merendi 
 ex parte liberi arbitrii ; in quantum scilicet homo habet prae ceteris 
 creaturis ut perseagat, voluntarie agens. " Eth. Nic. iii. 5- 'E0 '^/** I/ &f 
 
 KOi T! dpfTT] l'lfJ.I>LU>S 8e KO.I fj KClKia. 
 
 69 moralita, the science of ethics. 
 
 73 Beatrice nowhere uses this expression, but it may be deduced 
 from Par. v. 19 sqq. Cf. De Mon. i. 14: " Haec libertas est maximum 
 doiium humanae naturae a Deo collatum. "
 
 CANTO xviii. PURGATORY. 219 
 
 The Moon slow moving at about the night's meridian 
 was making the stars appear more scant to us, shaped like 
 a bucket that should be all glowing ; and was running her 
 course against the heaven, by that road which the Sun 
 inflames at that time, when the man of Rome sees him 
 between Sards and Corsicans as he is setting : and that 
 noble shade for whose sake Pietola has a greater name 
 
 La luna,, quasi a mezza notte tarda, 
 Facea le stelle a noi parer piii 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 80 
 Tra' Sardi e' Corsi il vede quando cade ; 
 
 E quell' ombra gentil, per cui si noma 
 Pietola piu che villa Mantovana, 
 
 76 The usual interpretation is "latened in its rising nearly to mid- 
 night ;" but, in the first place, ifwould rise fully an hour before that 
 time ; and, secondly, the words must be meant to indicate the hour which 
 we have now reached, and which would seem from the long conversa- 
 tion which has taken place to be a good deal later. I therefore prefer to 
 take mezza. notte as meaning, like mezzo dl, the meridian line, only 
 with regard to those heavenly bodies which are seen at night ; com- 
 paring xxv. 2, 3 and xxxiii. 103, 104. Quasi, much as in iii. 131. The 
 time would thus be between 2 and 3 A.M., the moon "southing "at this 
 age soon after 3. 
 
 78 secchione is the large hemispherical bucket which may still be 
 seen in Italy. Looked at somewhat obliquely the outline of one of these 
 forms no bad comparison for the gibbous moon, arda : for the use of 
 subj. see Diez iii. 347. 
 
 801 8l I. e. when he sets west by south, or about the end of November. 
 Strade means therefore the stars of Scorpio, corresponding with the 
 sign of Sagittarius, in which the sun is at that season, and of which the 
 moon would by this have traversed about half. 
 
 83 Or " has a greater name than that of a Mantuan village." This 
 seems to be the interpretation taken by Pietro di Dante "ultra ullas 
 villas Mantuanas nominatur," and is perhaps preferable, as villa, though
 
 220 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 than Mantua town, had put aside the burthen of my load. 
 Wherefore I, who had gleaned his reasoning open and clear 
 upon my questions, was standing like a man who, drowsy, 
 wanders. But this drowsiness was taken from me suddenly 
 by folk who behind our shoulders were already turned 
 toward us. And as Ismenus once saw, and Asopus, a fury 
 and trampling along their banks by night, only because 
 the Thebans had need of Bacchus, just such a trampling 
 through that circle curves its way, according to what I 
 
 Del mio carcar disposto avea la soma. 
 Perch' io, che la ragione aperta e piana 
 
 Sovra le mie questioni avea ricolta, 
 
 Stava com' uom, che sonnolento 
 Ma questa sonnolenza mi fu tolta 
 
 Subitamente da gente, che dopo 
 
 Le nostre spalle a noi era gia volta. 90 
 
 E quale. Ismeno gia vide ed Asopo, 
 
 Lungo di se di notte furia e calca, 
 
 Pur che i Teban di Bacco avessero uopo: <yu-*- 
 Tale per quel giron suo passo falca, 
 
 used by Dante occasionally for "town, "more often meant "village." 
 See, for instance, Landino's note to xv. 97, where he says that sire, in 
 the sense of signore, and villa, in that of ritld, are both French words. 
 Here, too, he begins by saying that Pietola is "una villa del Mantovano." 
 91 So the river Ismenus says of himself (Stat. Theb. ix. 434) : 
 " Ille ego clamatus sacris ululatibus amnis 
 Qui molles thiasos Bacchaeaque cornua puro 
 Fonte lavare feror." 
 There would seem to be an allusion to the " Bacchae " of Euripides. 
 
 94 falca. There is some uncertainty as to the force of this word. 
 Landino explains it " piegare," and this is the meaning usually adopted, 
 e.g. by Philalethes, who renders "dreht," and looking to the etymo- 
 logical connection between "falx" and "flectere," it is perhaps the 
 most satisfactory. Bianchi thinks it is a metaphor from the action of a
 
 CANTO xvni. PURGATORY. 221 
 
 saw, of those coming whose rider is a good will and a 
 just love. Soon they were upon us, because all that mighty 
 rout was moving at a run ; and two in front were shouting 
 in their weeping : " Mary ran with haste into the hill- 
 country," and " Caesar to subdue Ilerda, stung Marseilles, 
 and then ran into Spain." " Haste, haste, that the time be 
 not lost through too little love," were the others crying after 
 them ; " so that the study to do well may refresh grace." 
 
 " O folk, in whom keen fervour at the present haply 
 repairs negligence and delay put by you, through luke- 
 warmness, in well-doing, this man who lives (and surely I 
 
 Per quel ch' io vidi, di color venendo, 
 Cui buon volere e giusto amor cavalca. 
 
 Tosto fur sovra noi, perche correndo 
 Si movea tutta quella turba magna f 
 E due dinanzi gridavan piangendo : 
 
 Maria corse con fretta alia montagna ; 100 
 
 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. 
 
 O gente, in cui fervore acuto adesso 
 Ricompie forse negligenza e indugio ' 
 Da voi per tepidezza in ben far messo, 
 
 s Si monta Cass. h furor Gg. favore 12345. ' Ricuopre Gg. 
 
 high-stepping horse ; fr.faucher. Witte, from his rendering "schleu- 
 nigten," seems to follow those who, like Vellutello, take it as the 
 opposite of difalcare ; "increase," as opposed to "take away from," 
 but this is contrary to all etymology. 
 
 100 Luke i. 39. 
 
 101 Coesar B.C. i. 36 sqq., Lucan Phars. iii. 453-55, etc.
 
 222 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 do not lie to you), wishes to go upward, so only that the 
 Sun light us again ; wherefore tell us on what side the 
 opening is near." These were words of my leader ; and 
 one of those spirits said : " Come behind us, and thou wilt 
 find the passage. We are so full of will to move ourselves 
 that rest we cannot ; wherefore pardon us if discourtesy 
 thou deemest our justice. I was Abbot in Saint Zeno at 
 Verona, under the empire of the good Redbeard, of whom 
 
 Questi, che vive (e certo io non vi bugio) 
 
 Vuole andar su, purche il Sol ne riluca; no 
 
 Perb ne dite ond' e presso il pertugio, 
 Parole furon queste del mio Duca j 
 
 E un di quegli spirti disse : Vieni 
 
 Diretro a noi, e troverai la buca. 
 Noi siam di voglia a muoverci si pieni, 
 
 Che ristar non potem : pero perdona, 
 
 Se villania nostra giustizia tieni. 
 Io fui Abate in san Zeno a Verona, 
 
 Sotto Io imperio del buon Barbarossa, 
 
 114 That is, go in the same direction as we are going. Of course 
 Dante could not move now, as it was night. 
 
 118 There is some uncertainty about the speaker. The older people 
 say his name was Albert ; but there appears to have been no abbot of that 
 name in the reign of Barbarossa, the incumbent of the office during the 
 latter part of that time being named Gerard. One Albert was, how- 
 ever, abbot in 1 145. The Ottimo gives no name ; but the mistake 
 probably arose from a confusion of the speaker with the person of whom 
 he speaks. In connection with Dante's choice of an ecclesiastic as an 
 example of "accidia," it may be noted that St. Bernard says: "Hoc 
 quidem vitio religiosi homines maxima affliguntur." 
 
 "9 There is some controversy as to whether buon is to be regarded 
 as ironical. Bianchi and Witte both think so, the latter oddly enough 
 speaking as though the epithet were used by Dante in his own person.
 
 CANTO xvin. PURGATORY. 223 
 
 Milan yet talks grieving. And such an one has already one 
 foot within the grave that shortly will lament that 
 monastery, and will be sorry to have had power there; 
 because his son, evil in his whole body, and in his 
 mind worse, and who was basely born, has he placed 
 in the room of its true pastor." I know not if he 
 said more, or if he held his peace, so much already had 
 he traversed beyond us; but this I heard, and to retain 
 
 Di cui dolente ancor Melan ragiona. 120 
 
 E tale ha gia 1' un pie dentro la fossa, 
 
 Che tosto piangera quel monistero, 
 
 E tristo fia d' avervi avuta possa. 
 Perche suo figlio, mal del corpb intero, 
 
 E della mente peggio, e che mal nacque, 
 
 Ha posto in luogo di suo pastor vero. k 
 lo non so se piii disse, o s' ei si tacque, 
 
 Tant' era gia di 1& da noi trascorso ; 
 k E posto Gg. 
 
 The answer to this question must depend upon who the speaker is. It is to 
 be noted that Verona was the last of the Lombard towns to join the league 
 against Frederick I. ; in fact, she did not do so till 1164, two years after 
 the destruction of Milan. Now, if any abbot of San Zeno died 
 during those two years he would naturally speak favourably of the great 
 emperor ; whether this was so I am unable to ascertain. After peace 
 was made in 1183, Frederick and the Pope visited Verona together, 
 and were, according to the chronicler, "hilariter recepti et honorifke 
 pertractati, " which looks as if the ' ' Redbeard " had been personally as 
 popular there as other Tedeschi were long afterwards, though his rule 
 may have been no less detested than theirs. 
 
 121 tale. Albert della Scala, father of Can Grande. He died 1301 
 (Villani viii. 48), having previously made his bastard son Joseph, Abbot 
 of St. Zeno. This man is said to have been lame and an evil-liver. As 
 Philalethes points out, his tenure of the office would thus have coincided 
 in part with Dante's sojourn at Verona. See also Foscolo, "Discorso 
 sul Testo," Ixxxvi.
 
 224 PURGATORY. CANTO xvm. 
 
 it pleased me. And he who was my succour at every need 
 said : " Turn thee hither, see two of them come putting 
 a bit on sloth.'"' In rear of all they were saying : " The 
 folk to whom the sea opened itself were dead before 
 Jordan beheld his inheritors. And that people, who 
 suffered not the toil to the full end with the son of 
 Anchises, offered themselves to life inglorious." Then 
 when those shades were so separated from us that they 
 could no more be seen, a new thought formed itself within 
 
 Ma questo intesi, e ritener mi piacque. 
 E quei, che m' era ad ogni uopo soccorso, 130 
 
 Disse : Volgiti in qua, vedine due 
 
 Venire dando all' accidia di morso. 
 Diretro a tutti dicean : Prima fue 
 
 Morta la gente, a cui il mar s' aperse, 
 
 Che vedesse Giordan le rede sue. 
 E quella, che 1' affanno non sofferse 
 
 Fino alia fine col figliuol d' Anchise, 
 
 Se stessa a vita senza gloria offerse. 
 Poi quando fur da noi tanto divise 
 
 Quell' ombre, che veder piu non potersi, ' 140 
 
 Nuovo pensier dentro da me si mise, 
 Del qual piu altri nacquero e diversi : 
 
 1 Da qtiel Gg. 
 
 's 2 dando di morso. Most commentators understand this to mean 
 "blaming," "reproaching;" "mordendo o trafiggendo." Bianchi. 
 I think, however, we must take it as parallel with xiv. 143. P. di Dante 
 seems again to be right in explaining "pro freno debet esse ... a 
 vitio tali retinendo nos ipsos," though, in the case of this particular 
 vice, the metaphor is rather bold. 
 
 136 See yEneid v. 713-718, 750 sqq. Dante alludes to the same in 
 Conv. iv. 26.
 
 CANTO xviii. PURGATORY. 225 
 
 me, of which more were born other and divers, and so I 
 went idly from one to another, that I closed my eyes for 
 wandering, and changed my musing into dream. 
 
 E tanto d' uno in altro vaneggiai, 
 Che gli occhi per vaghezza ricopersi, 
 E il pensamento in sogno trasmutai. 
 
 144 The modern commentators seem all to understand vaghezza in 
 the usual sense of "pleasure ;" but Landino's explanation : "cioe, per 
 quel discorso vagabondo," appears to suit the passage better, as following 
 up the idea of ' ' vaneggiai. " For vago, in the sense of Lat. vagus, see 
 xix. 22.
 
 CANTO XIX. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Dante has a dream of a Siren. Third sunrise. They mount up to the 
 fifth circle, where they find the souls lying prostrate, purging them- 
 selves of the sins of avarice and prodigality. Dante talks with Pope 
 Adrian the Fifth. 
 
 IN the hour when the heat of day can no more warm the 
 cold of the Moon, being overcome by Earth, or at times by 
 Saturn ; when the geomants see their Greater Fortune in 
 
 NELL' ora che non puo il calor diurno 
 Intiepidar piu il freddo della Luna, 
 Vinto da Terra, o talor da Saturno : 
 
 Quando i geomanti lor Maggior Fortuna 
 
 1 Nell" ora ; the regular phrase with which these dreams are intro- 
 duced. See ix. 13, xxvii. 94. 
 
 3 In Conv. ii. 14 he speaks of the " freddura di Saturno." 
 
 4 The Geomants obtained their results from certain arbitrary arrange- 
 ments of dots on the ground, one of which in this form : : was known 
 as the Greater Fortune. This shape can be obtained from some of the 
 stars on the confines of Pisces and Aquarius, which would be rising just 
 before daybreak. (The view of Philalethes that it is to be found in the 
 Dolphin will not do, as at the beginning of April that constellation rises 
 soon after midnight. )
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 227 
 
 the east before the dawn, rise by a way that stays little 
 while dusk for it ; came to me in a dream a woman stam- 
 mering, with her eyes squinting, and crooked upon her feet, 
 with her hands deformed, and pallid of hue. I began to 
 gaze at her; and as the Sun strengthens the cold limbs 
 which the night weighs down, so my look made her tongue 
 nimble, and afterwards set her wholly straight in a little 
 space, and so coloured her marred countenance as love 
 will have it. After that she had her speech thus set free, 
 she began to sing so that with pain should I have turned 
 away from her my attention. " I am," she sang, " I am a 
 
 Veggiono in oriente innanzi all' alba 
 
 Surger per via che poco le sta bruna ; 
 Mi venne in sogno una femmina balba, 
 
 Con gli occhi guerci, e sovra i pik distorta, 
 
 Con le man monche, e di colore scialba. 
 lo la mirava : e come il Sol conforta 10 
 
 Le fredde membra che la notte aggrava, 
 
 Cos! lo sguardo mio le facea scorta 
 La lingua, e poscia tutta la drizzava 
 
 In poco d' ora, e lo smarrito volto, 
 
 Come amor vuol, cosi le colorava. 
 Poi ch' ell' avea il parlar cosi disciolto, 
 
 Cominciava a cantar si, che con pena 
 
 Da lei avrei mio intento rivolto. 
 lo son, cantava, io son dolce Sirena, 
 
 7 This woman is almost universally understood to denote the plea- 
 sures of the flesh, and, from a comparison of 1. 59 of this Canto with 
 xvii. 137, it is clear that this must be at least part of Dante's meaning. 
 In the note to Canto xxvii. , however, I have given reasons for thinking 
 that the allegory of the three dreams is more distinctly connected. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 PURGATORY. CANTO xix. 
 
 sweet Siren, who charm aside the mariners amid the sea ; 
 so am I full of pleasure to hear. I turned Ulysses from his 
 road, wandering to my song ; and he who makes his home 
 with me rarely departs, so wholly I give him peace." Her 
 mouth was not yet closed, when a dame appeared, holy 
 and ready, close beside me to put that one to confusion. 
 " O Virgil, Virgil, who is this ? " proudly she began to say ; 
 
 Che i marinari in mezzo il mar dismago. 20 
 
 Tanto son di piacere a sentir piena. 
 lo volsi Ulisse del suo cammin vago a 
 
 Al canto mio : e qual meco s' ausa b 
 
 Rado sen parte, si tutto 1' appago. 
 Ancor non era sua bocca richiusa, ' 
 
 Quando una donna apparve santa e presta 
 
 Lunghesso me, per far colei confusa. 
 O Virgilio, Virgilio, chi e questa ? 
 
 Fieramente dicea : ed ei veniva 
 
 a lo trassi Aid. b Col canto W. 
 
 20 The usual meaning of dismago will hardly suit here ; unless we 
 may render it "unman." But cf. xxvii. 104. Philalethes has "ver- 
 lockt;" Land., "lusingare." (See Glossary.) 
 
 22 Bianchi and Philalethes both take vago in its original and less 
 usual sense of " vagus ;" but both regard it as agreeing with cammin. 
 The objection to this is that it weakens the point ; and besides, at the 
 particular time Ulysses was going with a definite aim. It seems better 
 to take it as " proleptic." volsi appears to have better authority than 
 trassi. The principal objection to it is that the Sirens did not turn 
 Ulysses out of his road ; but this does not seem of much importance. 
 We may either suppose her to be lying, or Dante may have got the 
 story incorrectly, or may have confused it with that of Circe. Possibly 
 the right reading is torsi. 
 
 29 dicea. The Ottimo oddly takes this as first person, as though 
 Dante were summoning Virgil. It is quite clear that he is entirely 
 passive in his dreams.
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 229 
 
 and he came, with his eyes fixed only on that honest one. 
 He seized the other, and opened her before, cleaving her 
 draperies, and showed me her belly : that awoke me with 
 the stench that issued therefrom. I turned my eyes, and 
 the good Virgil said : " At least three calls have I given 
 thee ; rise and come. Let us find the gateway by which 
 thou mayest enter." I lifted myself up, and wholly with 
 the high day were already filled the circles of the sacred 
 mount, and we were going with the new Sun on our reins. 
 
 Con gli occhi fitti pure in quella onesta. 30 
 
 L' altra prendeva, e dinanzi 1' apriva 
 
 Fendendo i drappi, e mostravami il ventre : c 
 
 Quel mi sveglio col puzzo che n' usciva. 
 lo volsi gli occhi; e il buon Virgilio : Almen tre d 
 
 Voci t' ho messe, dicea, surgi e vieni : e 
 
 Troviam la porta, per lo qual tu entre/ 
 Su mi levai : e tutti e*ran gia pieni 
 
 DelP alto di i giron del sacro monte, 
 
 Ed andavam col Sol nuovo alle reni. 
 
 c mostrandomi Cass. 3 W. 
 d buon maestro Gg. ; al btwn m. e mcntre Cass. 1245. Virg e 
 
 mentre 3 ; lo mossi W, 
 
 e messe e Gg. ; Voci come se dices si 145 ; dicesse 3 ; co messe dicea 2. 
 f taperto Aid. Land. ; Vaperta W. 
 
 3' Some take this as the action of the donna onesta ; but it seems 
 better to suppose that she only calls Virgil to help. If, as I believe, 
 she is the donna gentil of Inf. ii. 94, this would be in keeping with her 
 procedure there. 
 
 34, 35 The earlier editions have made a wonderful confusion of these 
 lines. Even Aldus reads "al mentre ; " but the first five clearly have 
 not the least idea of the sense. 1345, for instance, read come se for 
 t' ho messe. For the curious rhythm almen tre, cf. per li in xx. 4. 
 
 39 Observe that they have now passed the north side of the mountain, 
 and are going rather south of west.
 
 230 PURGATORY. CANTO xix. 
 
 Following him I was bearing my brow as one who has 
 it laden with thought, who makes of himself a bridge's half 
 arch, when I heard : " Come, here is the passage," spoken, 
 in fashion sweet and benign, such as is never heard in this 
 mortal march. With his wings open, which appeared a 
 swan's, he who thus spoke to us turned us upward, between 
 the two walls of the hard flint. He moved his feathers 
 then, and fanned us, affirming that blessed are Qui lugent, 
 for they shall have their souls lords of consolation. " What 
 
 Seguendo lui, portava la mia fronte 40 
 
 Come colui che 1' ha di pensier carca, 
 Che fa di se un mezzo arco di ponte ; 
 
 Quando io udi' : Venite, qui si varca ; 
 Parlare in modo soave e benigno, 
 Qual non si sente in questa mortal marca. 
 
 Con 1' ali aperte che parean di cigno, 
 Volseci in su colui che si parlonne, 
 Tra i due pareti del duro macigno. 
 
 Mosse le penne poi e ventilonne, 
 
 Qui lugent affermando esser beati, 50 
 
 / Ch' avran di consolar 1' anime donne. e 
 
 s conseglar Gg. 
 
 50 It is not easy, as Philalethes points out, to detect at first sight the 
 special applicability here of this beatitude. His explanation is that 
 those who mourn are those who, being most convinced of their incom- 
 pleteness, strive most to improve ; which is just the point wherein the 
 ' ' accidiosi " fail. 
 
 51 donne is the reading of nearly every edition. Buti has done 
 (=donate), which does not rhyme. Blanc seems to find a difficulty 
 in the use of the word, but agrees, faute de mieux, with the usual inter- 
 pretation, which, from the expressions used in his Diet., he seems to 
 think he was the first to suggest. It occurs in the same sense in the
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 231 
 
 ails thee that thou lookest only toward the earth ? " my 
 Guide began to say to me, when we had both mounted up 
 a little way from the Angel. And I : " With so great 
 suspicion a new vision makes me to go, which so bends me 
 to itself that I cannot part myself from thinking of it." 
 " Hast thou seen," said he, " that ancient witch, who alone 
 above us from this point laments ? Hast thou seen how 
 the man looses himself from her ? Suffice it thee, and beat 
 on earth thy heels, turn back thine eyes to the lure, which 
 the Eternal King is whirling with the mighty wheels." Like 
 
 Che hai, che pure in ver la terra guati ? 
 La Guida mia incomincib a dirmi, 
 Poco amendue dall' Angel sormontati. 
 
 Ed io : Con tanta suspizion fa irmi 
 Novella vision ch' a se mi piega, 
 Si ch' io non posso dal pensar partirmi. 
 
 Vedesti, disse, quSlla antica Strega, 
 Che sola sovra noi omai si piagne ? 
 Vedesti come 1' uom da lei si slega ? 60 
 
 Bastiti, e batti a terra le calcagne : 
 Gli occhi rivolgi al logoro, che gira 
 Lo rege eterno con le ruote magne. 
 
 Canzone : " Amor tu vedi ben," 1. 6 ; " D'ogni crudelita si fece donna." 
 Cf. the Span. : " Ser dueiiio de alguna cosa." Vellutello's explanation, 
 which makes anime the object to consolar, and takes donne = genlili, 
 is, like others of his, too absurd to.be seriously discussed. 
 
 59 So xvii. 137. " Corpus otii tabe confectum concupiscentiarum 
 carnalium pascit ac nutrit insaniam." Lorenzo Giustiniani, quoted by 
 Perez. 
 
 60 Cf. xv. 119. 
 
 62-66 The simile of the falcon is evidently suggested by logoro. 
 Dante is fond of drawing his illustrations from this sport. See for 
 example Inf. xvii. 127 ; and Philalethes here.
 
 232 PURGATORY. CANTO xix. 
 
 the falcon which first gazes at his feet, then turns at the cry, 
 and stretches himself forth, for the desire of the food which 
 draws him there, such made I myself, and such, as far as 
 the rock is split to give way to whoso goes up, I went even 
 to the point where one takes to circling. 
 
 When I was set free in the fifth circle, I saw folk 
 throughout it which were weeping, lying on the earth all 
 turned downwards. "Adhaesit pavimento anima mea," I 
 heard them say, with sighs so deep that the word was 
 hardly understood. "O elect of God, whose sufferings 
 both hope and justice make less hard, direct us to the 
 ascents on high." " If ye come secure from the lying down, 
 and wish to find the way most quickly, let your right 
 
 Quale il falcon che prima a' pie si mira, 
 Indi si volge al grido, e si protende, 
 Per lo disio del pasto che la il tira ; 
 
 Tal mi fee' io : e tal, quanto si fende 
 La roccia per dar via a chi va suso, 
 N' andai infino ove il cerchiar si prende. 
 
 Com' io nel quinto giro fui dischiuso, 70 
 
 Vidi gente per esso che piangea, 
 Giacendo a terra tutta volta in giuso. 
 
 Adhaesit pavimento anima mea, 
 Sentia di lor con si alti sospiri, 
 Che la parola appena s' intendea. 
 
 O eletti di Dio, gli 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 piu tosto, 80 
 
 71 The avaricious.
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 233 
 
 hands be ever on the outside." Thus prayed the Poet, 
 and thus was answer made a little in advance of us ; where- 
 fore I gave heed in their speaking to the other who was 
 hidden ; and turned my eyes then to my master, whence 
 he gave me assent, with glad gesture, to that which my face 
 of desire besought. When I had power to do according to 
 my thought, I drew me over that creature, whose words 
 erewhile caused me to remark, saying : " Spirit in whom 
 tears are ripening that without which man cannot turn to 
 God, stay a little for me thy greater care. Tell me who 
 
 Le vostre destre sien sempre di furi. 
 
 Cosi prego il poeta, e si risposto 
 Poco dinanzi a noi ne fu ; perch' io 
 Nel parlare avvisai 1' altro nascosto ; 
 
 E volsi gli occhi allora al Signer mio : h 
 Ond' egli m' assent! con lieto cenno 
 Cio che chiedeala vista del disio. 
 
 Poi ch' io potei di me fare a mio senno, 
 Trassimi sopra quella creatura, 
 Le cui parole pria notar mi fenno ; 90 
 
 Dicendo : Spirto, in cui pianger matura 
 
 Quel, senza il quale a Dio tornar non puossi, 
 Sosta un poco per me tua maggior cura. 
 
 h agli occhi al Gg. Cass. 1345 Aid. Land. ; del 2. 
 
 84 There has been some discussion over the meaning of this line. 
 Philalethes has: " Ich, aus solcher Rede, was sonst darin war noch 
 verborgen, merkte," and explains it to be the doubt whether they were 
 living men, and the wish to have their prayers. This is given also by 
 Bianchi ; but rightly, as I think, set aside by him as "vuota di concetto ;" 
 and certainly any such meaning is very much hidden in the simple direc- 
 tion which the spirit gives. It seems much simpler to take avvisai as 
 in (e.g.) x. 71, and 1'altroas merely ="the other interlocutor," opposed 
 to il poeta.
 
 234 PURGATORY. CANTO xix. 
 
 them wast, and why ye have your, backs turned upward, 
 and if thou wilt that I obtain aught for thee there whence 
 I have moved yet living." And he to me : " Wherefore 
 the heaven turns our back parts to it, thou shall know, 
 but first Scias quod ego fui successor Petri. Between Siestri 
 and Chiavari flows down a fair large river, and from its 
 name the title of my race makes its boast. One month 
 and little more I proved how the great mantle weighs on 
 
 Chi fosti, e perche volti avete i dossi 
 Al su mi di', e se vuoi ch' io t' impetri 
 Cosa di la ond' io vivendo mossi. 
 
 Ed egli a me : Perche i nostri diretri 
 Rivolga il cielo a se, saprai : ma prima 
 Scias, quod ego fui successor Petri ^ 
 
 Intra Siestri e Chiaveri s' adima 100 
 
 Una fiumana bella, e del suo nome 
 Lo titol del mio sangue fa sua cima. 
 
 Un mese e poco piii prova' io come 
 
 ' quot ego sumfui 145. 
 
 99 "Know that I was a successor of Peter." This is Pope 
 Adrian V., formerly Cardinal Ottobuono da' Fieschi of Genoa. He 
 became Pope on July 12, 1276, and held the office thirty-nine days. 
 Villani vii. 5- He is interesting to Englishmen as having, in the 
 capacity of papal legate, taken a share in the restoration of peace after 
 the Barons' War, and preached the crusade of 1270 in this country. 
 He must be distinguished from his namesake and kinsman, who, as 
 Pope Innocent IV., reigned from 1241 to 1252, and excommunicated 
 Frederick II. 
 
 101 The Lavagna, from which the Fieschi took the title of Counts. 
 The railway from Genoa to Spezia crosses it just beyond Chiavari. 
 
 102 Blanc, with most commentators, takes cima as = " origin. " Both 
 Bianchi and Philalethes, however, prefer the interpretation which I 
 have followed, and which agrees with the Tuscan use of cima, as given 
 by Fanfani : "il piit alto grado di alcuna cosa."
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 
 
 him who guards it from the mire, that all other burthens 
 seem feathers. My conversion, ah me ! was late ; but 
 when I became Roman pastor, thus I discovered that life 
 was false. I saw that there the heart quieted not itself, nor 
 could one mount any higher in that life ; wherefore of this 
 a love was kindled in me. Up to that point, I was a soul 
 wretched and separated from God, wholly avaricious ; now 
 as thou seest, here I am punished for it. What avarice does is 
 here displayed in the purging of the converted souls, and 
 the mount has no more bitter penalty. Just as our eye did 
 
 Pesa il gran manto a chi dal fango il guarda : 
 
 Che piuma sembran tutte 1' altre some. 
 La mia conversione oime ! fu tarda ; 
 
 Ma come fatto fui Roman Pastore, 
 
 Cosi scopersi la vita bugiarda. 
 Vidi che li non si quetava il cuore, k 
 
 Ne piu salir poteas] in quella vita ; no 
 
 Perche 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 piu amara. 
 
 k non posava Gg. 
 
 104 ji gran manto ; so Inf. xix. 69. 
 
 114 The feminine punita agrees of course with anima, though a man 
 is speaking. 
 
 "7 This line is worthy of attention, as showing that there is not, as 
 is sometimes said, any regular gradation of penalties in Purgatory, like 
 that of the torments in Hell. Also, as Philalethes points out, the 
 discipline is sometimes imitative of the sin, as here and in the third 
 and seventh circles ; sometimes, as in the cases of pride, gluttony, and 
 sloth, opposed to it.
 
 236 PURGATORY. CANTO xix. 
 
 not erect itself on high, being fixed to earthly things, so 
 justice here has sunk it to earth. As avarice extinguished 
 our love toward every good, whence labour was lost, so 
 justice here holds us straitly bound and prisoners in feet 
 and hands ; and as long as it shall be the pleasure of the 
 righteous Lord, so long shall we stay immovable and out- 
 stretched." I had knelt down, and was in mind to speak ; 
 but when I began, and he was aware, only by hearing, of my 
 reverence : " What occasion," said he, " has so bent thee 
 down ?" And I to him : '' For your dignity my conscience 
 rightly pricked me." " Make straight thy legs, and rise up, 
 brother," he answered; "err not. I am a fellow-servant 
 
 Si come 1' occhio nostro non s' aderse 
 
 In alto, fisso alle cose terrene, 
 
 Cosi giustizia qui a terra il merse. 120 
 
 Come avarizia spense a ciascun bene 
 
 Lo nostro amore, onde operar perdesi, 
 
 Cosi 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. 
 lo m' era inginocchiato, e volea dire : 
 
 Ma com' io cominciai, ed ei s' accorse, 
 
 Solo ascoltando, del mio riverire, 
 Qual cagion, disse, in giu cosi ti torse ? 130 
 
 Ed io a lui : Per vostra dignitate, 
 
 Mia coscienza dritto mi rimorse. 1 
 Drizza le gambe, e levati su, frate, 
 
 Rispose : non errar; conservo sono 
 
 1 dritta Gg. 23 Aid. Land. 
 '34, 135 Imitated from Rev. xix. io, and xxii. 9.
 
 CANTO xix. PURGATORY. 237 
 
 with thee and with the others unto one power. If thou 
 hast ever understood that holy note of the Gospel which 
 says Neque nubent, well mayest thou see why I speak thus. 
 Now go thy way; I will not that thou stay more, for thy 
 stay disturbs my weeping, wherewith I ripen that which 
 thou hast said. A niece have I yonder, who has to name 
 Alagia, good of herself, so only that our house make her 
 not by example wicked; and she alone yonder remains 
 to me." 
 
 Teco e con gli altri ad una potestate. 
 Se mai quel santo Evangelico suono, 
 
 Che dice Neque nubent, intendesti, 1 " 
 
 Ben puoi veder perch' io cosi ragiono. 
 Vattene omai : non vo' che piu t' arresti : 
 
 Che la tua stanza mio pianger disagia, 140 
 
 Col qual maturo cib che tu dicesti. 
 Nipote ho io di la,*ch' ha nome Alagia ; 
 
 Buona da se, pur che la nostra casa 
 
 Non faccia lei per esempio malvagia ; 
 E questa sola m' e di la rimasa. 
 
 m nunquam n. Gg. 
 
 I3 7 Matt. xxii. 20. The meaning here is that earthly distinctions of 
 whatever kind are done away with in the next life. 
 
 139 Vattene omai. Cf. xiv. 124. 
 
 '" Cf. 1. 92. 
 
 142 This Alagia is said to have been married to Moroello Malaspina. 
 
 I4 5 Not that he had no other relations, but she was the only one ff 
 whose prayers would avail him.
 
 CANTO XX. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 As they go fonvard they hear a voice proclaiming instances of liberality. 
 This is that of Hugh Capet, who speaks of the evils wrought through 
 avarice by the house of France ; and tells how at night the spirits cry 
 out against famous examples of this vice. Of a sudden, the whole 
 mountain shakes, and all the spirits glorify God. 
 
 AGAINST a better will, a will fights badly ; wherefore against 
 my own pleasure, to please him, I drew from the water 
 the sponge unfilled. I moved myself, and my Leader 
 himself by the unencumbered places, ever along the rock, 
 as one goes along a wall close to the battlements ; for the 
 folk who are pouring drop by drop through their eyes the 
 
 CONTRA miglior voler, voler mal pugna ; 
 Onde contra il piacer mio, per piacerli, 3 
 Trassi dell' acqua non sazia la spugna. b 
 
 Mossimi, e il Duca mio si inosse per li 
 Luoghi spediti pur lungo la roccia, 
 Come si va per muro stretto a' merli : 
 
 Che la gente che fonde a goccia a goccia 
 
 a voler mio Gg. b la pugna Cass.
 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 239 
 
 evil which possesses all the world, in the other direction 
 approach too near the outer side. Accursed be thou, 
 ancient she-wolf, that more than all the other beasts hast 
 prey, through thy hunger endlessly deep ! O stars, in 
 whose turning it seems men believe that the conditions 
 of this lower world are transmuted, when will he come 
 through whom she will depart ? 
 
 We were going with slow steps and few, and I intent 
 upon the shades which I heard piteously weep and bewail 
 themselves, and by adventure I heard one cry "Sweet 
 
 Per gli occhi il mal che tutto il mondo occupa, 
 
 Ball' altra parte in fuor troppo s' approccia. 
 Maledetta sie tu, antica lupa, 10 
 
 Che piu che tutte F altre bestie hai preda, 
 
 Per la tua fame senza fine cupa. 
 O ciel, nel cui girar par che si creda 
 
 Le condizion di quaggiu trasmutarsi, 
 
 Quando verra per cui questa disceda ? 
 Noi andavam co' passi lenti e scarsi ; 
 
 Ed io attento all' ombre ch' i' sentia 
 
 Pietosamente piangere e lagnarsi ; 
 E per ventura udi' : Dolce Maria, 
 
 10 lupa. The wolf in the D.C. denotes (i) the sin of avarice; 
 (2) the Guelf party ; (3) as connected with the last, the Papal power 
 and " clericalism " generally. Notice that the first soul whom Dante 
 meets in this circle is a Pope, and cf. Inf. vii. 46-48. Also notice that 
 Plutus, who is on guard over the avaricious in hell, is called by Virgil, 
 " Maledetto lupo." How far the Guelf party, as a whole, can be 
 connected otherwise than through their name with the sin which the 
 wolf denotes, it is impossible to say ; but it may be remarked that the 
 trading classes for the most part held to it. That there is a secondary 
 reference to it here, and in Inf. i., is clear from a comparison of the 
 next three lines, 13-15 with Inf. i. 101 sqq. 
 
 13 ciel, as in xvi. 67, etc.
 
 240 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 Mary," in front of us, in its wail just as a woman does who 
 . is in travail, and continue : " So poor wast thou, as one 
 may see by that hostelry where thou laidest down thy 
 sacred burthen." Following this I heard : " O good 
 Fabricius, thou wouldest rather virtue with poverty than 
 to possess great riches with crime." These words were so 
 pleasing to me, that I drew myself further to have acquaint- 
 ance of that spirit from whom they seemed to have come. 
 It was yet speaking* of the largess which Nicholas made to the 
 maidens, to bring their youth to honour. " O soul, that 
 
 Dinanzi a noi chiamar cosi nel pianto, 20 
 
 Come fa donna, che in partorir sia; 
 
 E seguitar : Povera fosti tanto, 
 
 Quanto veder si puo per quell' ospizio, 
 Ove sponesti il tuo portato santo. 
 
 Seguentemente intesi : O buon Fabbrizio, 
 Con poverta volesti anzi virtute,' 
 Che gran ricchezza pbsseder con vizio. 
 
 Queste parole m' eran si piaciute, 
 
 Ch' io mi trassi oltre per aver contezza 
 
 Di quello spirto, onde parean venute. 30 
 
 Esso parlava ancor della larghezza, 
 Che fece Niccolao alle pulcelle, 
 Per condurre ad onor lor giovinezza. 
 
 25 Cf. Conv. iv. 5. " Chi dira che fosse sanza divina spirazione. 
 Fabrizio infinita quasi multitudine d'oro rifiutare, per non volere abban- 
 donare sua patria?" He is also commemorated in De Mon. ii. 5. 
 The story is told in Val. Max. iv. 3, 6, where he is called "honoribus 
 et auctoritate omni cive temporibus suis major, censu par unicuique 
 pauperrimo." 
 
 31 St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, dowered three girls, who would 
 otherwise have been brought up to an immoral life.
 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 241 
 
 talkest so well, tell me who thou wast," I said, " and where- 
 fore thou alone renewest these worthy praises ? Thy speech 
 shall not be without reward, if I return to fulfil the short 
 journey of that life which flies to its end." And he : "I 
 will tell thee, not for any help which I may expect from 
 thence, but because so great grace shines in thee ere thou 
 art dead. I was root of the ill plant, which overshadows 
 
 O anima, che tanto ben favelle, 
 
 Dimmi chi fosti, dissi, e perchb sola 
 Tu queste degne lode rinnovelle ? 
 
 Non fia senza merce la tua parola, 
 
 S' io ritorno a compier lo cammin corto c 
 Di quella vita ch' al termine vola. 
 
 Ed egli : io ti diro, non per conforto 40 
 
 Ch' io attenda di la, ma perche tanta 
 Grazia in te luce prima che sii morto. d 
 
 Io fui radrce della mala pianta, 
 
 c se mat torno Cass. d anzi che s. Gg. 
 
 43 Dante has probably fallen into two confusions in this well-known 
 passage. The speaker calls himself Hugh Capet, but implies in 1. 59 
 that he himself was never crowned, and also calls himself son of a 
 butcher, according to the legend to which Villon refers : " Hue Capet, 
 qui fut estraict de boucherie. " Now in the version given by Villani 
 (iv. 4), who has the same story of the origin of the family, it was Hugh 
 the Great who was "stratto di nazione di buccieri;" and having 
 married the widow of the Duke of Orleans (sic), became duke himself. 
 Thus Dante has apparently mixed up the father and the son, just as in 
 1. 54 the allusion to Childeric, the last of the Menvings, can hardly be 
 doubted. None of the later Karlings is known to have turned monk 
 (and this is the only explanation at all satisfactory of "rendutoin 
 pannibigi") -whereasVillani mentions that Childeric "rendesi monaco" 
 (ii. 12). Moreover, " li antichi regi " is more applicable to the Merwings, 
 
 R
 
 242 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 all Christendom in such wise that good fruit is rarely 
 plucked from it. But if Douai, Ghent, Lille, and Bruges 
 had the power, soon would there be vengeance taken on it, 
 and I ask it of him who judges all. I was called there 
 Hugh Capet ; of me are born the Philips and the Lewises, 
 by whom of late France has been ruled. Son was I of 
 a butcher of Paris. When the ancient kings came to an 
 end, all save one who had betaken himself to gray garments, 
 I found so fast within my hands the rein of the government 
 
 Che la terra cristiana tutte aduggia 
 Si che buon frutto rado se ne schianta. 
 
 Ma se Doagio, Guanto, Lilla, e Bruggia 
 Potesser, tosto ne saria vendetta : 
 Ed io la cheggio a lui che tutto giuggia. 
 
 Chiamato fui di la Ugo Ciapetta : 
 
 Di me son nati i Filippi e i Luigi, 50 
 
 Per cui novellamente e Francia retta. 
 
 Figliuol fui d' un beccaio di Parigi. 
 Quando li Regi antichi venner meno 
 Tutti, fuor ch' un renduto in panni bigi, 
 
 Trova' mi stretto nelle mani il freno 
 Del governo del regno, e tanta possa 
 
 whose origin was lost in a fabulous antiquity, than to the more recent 
 Karlings. It must be remembered that Hugh Capet had been dead 
 three hundred years, and that trustworthy histories did not exist. Even 
 Villani, professed historian as he is, is often quite at sea as to events 
 which happened before his own time. 
 
 46 In allusion to the treatment of Flanders and its count by Philip 
 the Fair. The revenge came in 1301, when a massacre of the French 
 took place, which was followed by the battle at Courtrai, called the 
 Battle of the Spurs, March 21, 1302. Villani viii. 55, 56.
 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 243 
 
 of the kingdom, and such power of new acquirement, and so 
 full of friends, that to the widowed crown was the head of 
 my son promoted, from which began of these the conse- 
 crated bones. So long as the great dowry of Provence took 
 not shame away from my race, it had little worth, but still 
 it did not evil. There began with violence and with false- 
 hood its rapine ; and afterward, for amends, it took Ponthieu 
 
 Di nuovo acquisto, e si d' amici pieno, 
 
 Ch' alia corona vedova promossa 
 La testa di mio figlio fu, dal quale 
 Cominciar di costor le sacrate ossa. 60 
 
 Mentre che la gran dote Provenzale 
 Al sangue mio non tolse la vergogna, 
 Poco valea, ma pur non facea male. 
 
 Li comincib con forza e con menzogna 
 La sua rapina : e poscia per ammenda 
 Ponti e Normandia prese, e Guascogna. 
 
 57 The construction of si d' amici pieno is rather harsh. It must 
 be explained by supposing that trova' mi is to be repeated in the sense 
 of " I found myself ; " mi being me, not mihi as in 1. 55. 
 
 60 Lombardi and others take sacrate as "accursed," which seems 
 weak. 
 
 61 In allusion to the marriages of Louis IX. and Charles of Anjou 
 with Blanche and Beatrice, daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of 
 Provence. Between them they brought the county to the crown of 
 France ; and it is said to have been owing to the wish of his wife to be a 
 queen, as well as her sisters, that Charles accepted the crown of Apulia, 
 and became the champion of the Pope against the House of Swabia. 
 Villani vi. 89. It must be remembered that Dante is only concerned 
 with foreign powers as they affect Italy. 
 
 66 There is some confusion of chronology in these lines, for no 
 attempt to take Ponthieu from the English crown seems to have been 
 made till 1324 (Henry of Blaneforde, Chronicle, ad fin.), and it was in 
 English hands for some years later, while Normandy was lost in the 
 
 R 2
 
 244 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 and Normandy and Gascony. Charles came into Italy, 
 and for amends made a victim of Conradin ; and then 
 forced Thomas back to Heaven, for amends. I see a time 
 not long after this day, which draws another Charles forth 
 
 Carlo venne in Italia, e per ammenda 
 Vittima fe' di Curradino ; e poi 
 Ripinse al Ciel Tommaso, per ammenda. 
 
 Tempo V6gg* io non molto dopo ancoi, 70 
 
 reign of John, 1203 (Villani iv. 4), and thus long before the "dote 
 Provenzale " existed. It may be said, however, that the claim of the 
 English king on Normandy was not renounced till early in the reign of 
 Philip the Fair. The attempt on Gascony, to which Dante specially 
 refers, is probably that of Philip, in 1294 (Villani viii. 4) ; but there 
 was also an inroad fifty years before in that direction, when the English 
 were defeated at Saintes, by Louis IX., which ultimately led to the 
 acquisition of Poitou. Is it possible that Paito and not Ponti is the 
 right reading? See Gary's note to this passage. Villani, however 
 (xii. 63), in narrating Edward III.'s first invasion of France, makes 
 him lay claim to "Ponfi," " Normandia" and " Guascogna." As to 
 Dante's opinion of St. Louis, see note to vii. 128. 
 
 6 7-*9 Charles of Anjou came into Italy in 1265, at the invitation of 
 the Popes Urban IV. and Clement IV., to take the crowns of Apulia 
 and Sicily, and overthrow the house of Swabia. He defeated and slew 
 Manfred at Benevento, in February I26f, and his nephew, Conradin, at 
 Tagliacozzo in August, 1268. (See Villani vi. 87, and the first part of 
 book vii. It should be noticed that Villani gives a -very different 
 picture of Charles to that usually accepted. See also note to Canto 
 vii. 113.) The story that St. Thomas Aquinas was poisoned by his 
 order seems to rest on no evidence beyond the merest suspicion. The 
 only certain fact is that Aquinas died at Fossa Nova in Campania in 
 1274, on his way to the Council of Lyons. A knight according to the 
 Ottimo, a physician according to Villani (ix. 2 1 8) gave him poison, 
 " thinking to please the king," to whom he was supposed to be 
 obnoxious probably on political grounds.
 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 245 
 
 from France, to make him and his better known. Without 
 arms he goes forth thence, and only with the lance where- 
 with Judas jousted ; and that he pushes so that he makes 
 the paunch of Florence to burst. Therefrom not land, but 
 sin and shame will he gain, for himself so much the more 
 grievous as he counts light the like harm. The other who 
 has already gone a prisoner out of his ship, I see sell his 
 
 Che tragge un altro Carlo fuor di Francia, 
 Per far conoscer meglio e se e i suoi. 
 
 Senz' arme n' esce, e solo con la lancia,' 
 Con la qual giostro Giuda ; e quella ponta 
 Si ch' a Fiorenza fa scoppiar la pancia. 
 
 Quindi non terra, ma peccato ed onta 
 Guadagnera, per se tanto piu grave, 
 Quanto piu lieve simil danno conta. 
 
 L' altro, che gia usci preso di nave, 
 
 e esce solo e 3 W. 
 
 71 un altro Carlo. Charles of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair, 
 called in Italy "Carlo sanza Terra" (cf. 1. 76), was summoned by 
 Boniface VIII. in the year 1300, says Villani (viii. 43) : "per doppio 
 intendimento : principalmente per aiuto del re Carlo (II. of Apulia) 
 per la guerra di Cicilia ; . . . e oltre a questo gli die titolo di paciario 
 in Toscana, per recare colla sua forza la citta di Firenze al suo inten- 
 dimento." He entered Florence on All Saints' Day of the following 
 year, and took the side of the Black party, after promising to pacify the 
 factions. In the nertt April the Whites were driven out : "onde alia 
 nostra citta di Firenze seguirono molte rovine e pericoli," admits the 
 Guelf historian. He passed on to Sicily, made peace, unknown to 
 Charles II., with Don Frederick, and returned to France in the follow- 
 ing November, " scemata e consumata sua gente e con poco onore." 
 
 79 L'altro. Charles II. of Apulia was defeated off Naples by 
 Roger di Loria, June 5, 1284, shortly before his father's death. His 
 life was only spared at the request of the Queen of Aragon, Constance*
 
 246 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 daughter, and bargain over her, as do the corsairs with 
 the other slaves. O avarice, what canst thou do more with 
 us, since thou hast so drawn my race to thee that it cares 
 not for its own flesh ! In order that the future evil and the 
 past may appear less, I see the fleur-de-lys enter into 
 Alagna, and in his Vicar Christ himself made captive. I 
 see him being mocked a second time, I see the vinegar and 
 the gall renewed, and him between new thieves put to 
 
 Veggio vender sua figlia, e patteggiarne, 80 
 
 Come fan li corsar delF altre schiave. 
 
 O avarizia, che puoi tu piu fame, 
 
 Poi ch' hai il sangue moi a te si tratto, 
 Che non si cura della propria carne ? 
 
 Perche 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 1' aceto e il fele, 
 E tra nuovi ladroni essere anciso/ 90 
 
 1 vivi Cass. Gg. W. etc. 
 
 daughter of Manfred, and he was detained in Aragon till November, 
 1288. Vill. vii. 93, 125, etc. His daughter was married to Azzo III. 
 da Este of Ferrara, in 1305, according to Philalethes. Villani mentions 
 the marriage, but says nothing of the alleged money transaction. 
 
 86 la September, 1303, Sciarra Colonna and William de Nogaret 
 (minister of Philip the Fair) seized and imprisoned Boniface VIII. at 
 Anagni. He was treated with every sort of indignity, and died in a few 
 days after his release, on October 12. Villani viii.. 63, where Dante's 
 expressions are curiously paralleled. 
 
 "9 Of course aceto and fele are strictly the object of rinnovellar. 
 
 90 vivi ladron is the more usual reading ; but nuovi, which Bianchi 
 and Fraticelli prefer, seems to make so very much the best sense that 
 I have ventured to go against the balance of authority. Ottimo takes 
 ladroni to mean the cardinals : "perocche rubano tutto il mondo."
 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 247 
 
 death. I see the new Pilate so cruel that that sates him 
 not, but without decree he bears into the temple his greedy 
 sails. O my Lord, when shall I rejoice to see thy ven- 
 geance, which makes sweet thy wrath, hidden in thy secret 
 place ? That which I was saying of that only spouse of 
 the Holy Spirit, and which made thee turn toward me for 
 some gloss, is ordered for all our prayers, so long as the 
 
 Veggio il nuovo Pilato si crudele, 
 Che cio nol sazia, ma senza decreto 
 Porta nel tempio le cupide vele. 
 
 O Signer mio, quando saro io lieto, 
 A veder la vendetta, che nascosa 
 Fa dolce 1' ira tua nel tuo segreto ? 
 
 Cio ch' io dicea di quell' unica sposa. 
 Dello Spirito Santo, e che ti fece 
 Verso me volger per alcuna chiosa, 
 
 Tant' e disposto a tutte nostre prece, 100 
 
 9'-93 Alluding to the destruction of the Templars by Philip the Fair 
 in 1307 and the following years. It is not easy to see what Dante 
 means by " senza decreto," as Philip was acting, at least ostensibly, with 
 the Pope's authority. See Vellutello viii. 92. Probably Benvenuto's 
 explanation, "vult dicere injuste," is all that is needed. 
 
 96 Bianchi takes this to mean that the certainty of God's vengeance 
 enables his anger to cool ; or, as Blanc puts it, prevents it breaking 
 out before the time. Philalethes prefers to interpret "the justice of 
 God, knowing that its vengeance is inevitable, is content to wait. " I 
 am inclined for once to prefer Vellutello's explanation : " Per esser 
 dolce cosa a giusti veder punir gl' impii de le sceleraggini loro." The 
 allusion to Ps. Iviii. 9 seems clear. With nascosa and segreto cf. 
 arcanamente giusto xxix. 120. Cf. also S. T. Suppl. Q. 94, A. 3. 
 ' ' Hoc modo (sc. per accidens) sancti de poenis impiorum gaudebunt, 
 considerando hi eis divinae justitiae ordinem." 
 
 97 This is an answer to Dante's question in 1. 35, referring to 1. 19. 

 
 248 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 day lasts, but when it grows night, we take instead thereof 
 a contrary sound. We recall Pygmalion then, whom his 
 will, gluttonous of gold, made traitor and robber and 
 parricide ; and the misery of the avaricious Midas, which 
 followed his greedy demand, for the which it ever behoves 
 that men laugh. Of the foolish Achan each then bethinks 
 himself, how he stole the spoils, so that the wrath of 
 Joshua seems here still to bite him. Then we accuse 
 Sapphira with her husband ; we praise the kicks which 
 Heliodorus had ; and in infamy circles all the mount 
 Polymnestor who slew Polydorus. Lastly, our cry is 
 
 Quanto il di dura : ma quando s' annotta,^ 
 
 Contrario suon prendemo in quella vece. 
 Noi ripetiam Pigmalion allotta, 
 
 Cui traditore e ladro e patricida 
 
 Fece la voglia sua dell' oro ghiotta : 
 E la miseria dell' avaro Mida, 
 
 Che segui alia sua dimanda ingorda, 
 
 Per la qual sempre convien che si rida. 
 Del folle Acam ciascun poi si ricorda, 
 
 Come furb le spoglie, si che 1' ira no 
 
 Di Giosue qui par ch' ancor lo morda. 
 Indi accusiam col marito Safira : 
 
 Lodiamo i calci ch' ebbe Eliodoro, 
 
 Ed in infamia tutto il monte gira 
 Poltnestor ch' ancise Polidoro : 
 
 Ultimamente ci si grida : Crasso, 
 
 s da che 'I s'ann. Gg. come 'I Cass. 
 
 101 in quella vece for "in v. di quello." 
 
 103 Pygmalion. JEn i. 347. The other instances of avarice, or 
 rather lust of wealth, are all familiar. The story of Heliodorus is in 
 2 Macca. iii. 

 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 249 
 
 "Crassus, tell us, for thou knowest, of what savour is 
 gold ? " Sometimes we talk one loud and another low, 
 according to the affection which spurs us in speaking, now 
 to a greater now to a lesser pace. Wherefore, in regard to 
 the good which by day is talked of among us, I was not 
 erewhile alone ; but here no other person was raising his 
 voice hard by." 
 
 We were already parted from him, and were striving 
 to overcome the way, so far as was permitted to our power, 
 when I felt the mount totter as a thing which falls ; 
 wherefore a chill seized me, such as is wont to seize him 
 who goes to death. Certes Delos was not so mightily 
 
 Dicci, che il sai, di che sapore e 1' oro. 
 Talor parliam 1' un alto, e 1' altro basso, 
 
 Secondo 1' affezion ch' a dir ci sprona 
 
 Ora a maggior, ed ora a minor passo. 120 
 
 Pero al ben, che il di 4 ci si ragiona, 
 
 Dianzi non er' io sol : ma qui da presso 
 
 Non alzava la voce altra persona. 
 Noi eravam partiti gia da esso, 
 
 E brigavam di soverchiar la strada 
 
 Tanto, quanto al poter n' era permesso ; 
 Quand' io send', come cosa che cada, 
 
 Tremar Io monte : onde mi prese un gielo, 
 
 Qual prender suol colui ch' a morte vada. 
 Certo non si scotea si forte Delo, 130 
 
 Pria che Latona in lei facesse il nido, 
 
 IM Answering the second question in i. 35. 
 
 1*7.29 cada an d vada. For this use of the subj. cf. viii. 6, xviii. 78, etc. 
 It is not, however, so purely imaginary a simile as the second of these. 
 
 130 This seems simply to refer to the tossing that the island of Delos 
 may be supposed to have undergone before the filial piety of Apollo 
 fixed it. 

 
 250 PURGATORY. CANTO xx. 
 
 shaken before that Leda made in it the nest to bring forth 
 the two eyes of the heaven. Then began from all parts 
 a cry such that the Master turned him to me, saying : 
 " Doubt not, while I guide thee." " Gloria in excelsis Deo? 
 all were saying, by what I understood from those near, 
 from whence one might distinguish the cry. We rested 
 motionless and surprised, like the shepherds who first heard 
 that chant, until the trembling ceased, and it was finished. 
 Then we took again our sacred way, looking at the shades 
 which lay upon the earth, returned already to their wonted 
 
 A partorir li due occhi del cielo. 
 Poi comincib da tutte parti un grido 
 
 Tal, che il Maestro inver 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 Io grido si poteo. 
 Noi ci restammo immobili e sospesi, 
 
 Come i pastor che prima udir quel canto, 140 
 
 Fin che il tremar cessb, ed ei compiesi. h 
 Poi ripigliammo nostro cammin santo, 
 
 Guardando 1' ombre che giacean per terra, 
 
 Tornate gia in su 1' usato pianto. 
 Nulla ignoranza mai con tanta guerra 
 
 h io compresi Gg. io '/ compr. Cass. 124. 
 
 1J 7 It seems better to read da' vicin, as "to hear close by," which 
 would be the meaning of da vicin, is not quite the same sense as " to 
 hear from those close by," and it is the latter that Dante means. 
 Post, Gg. has "i.e. spiritibus" 
 
 ' per terra. Cf. Fr.farterrt. 

 
 CANTO xx. PURGATORY. 251 
 
 plaint. No ignorance ever with such striving made me 
 desirous to know, if my memory in that matter errs not, 
 as that which I seemed then in my thought to have : 
 neither, for our haste, did I dare to ask, nor of myself 
 could I see aught there. Thus I went my way timid and 
 full of thought. 
 
 Mi fe' desideroso di sapere, 
 
 Se la memoria mia in cio non erra, 
 
 Quanta pareami allor pensando avere : 
 Ne per la fretta dimandare er' oso, 
 Ne per me li potea cosa vedere. 150 
 
 Cosi m' andava timido e pensoso.
 
 CANTO XXL 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They are overtaken by a spirit, who, having completed his purification, is 
 on his way upwards. He explains the reason for which the mountain 
 shook, and the manner in which the souls know that they are free to 
 mount upwards. Being asked his name, he declares himself to be 
 Statins the poet, and Dante reveals to him who Virgil is. 
 
 THE natural thirst which is never sated, if not with the 
 water, the grace whereof the woman of Samaria asked, was 
 working upon me, and haste was urging me along the 
 
 LA sete natural che mai non sazia, 
 
 Se non coll' acqua onde la femminetta 
 Sammaritana dimando la grazia, 
 
 Mi travagliava, e pungeami la fretta a 
 
 a porgeami Gg. 
 
 1 N.B. sazia used intransitively. For the figure, cf. Conv. i. i, 
 where "la natural sete" is used to denote the desire of knowledge. 
 Here it is of course the desire to know the reason why the mountain 
 quaked. 
 
 - onde exactly = Fr. dont. So xi. 112, xxxii. 102, etc. It will 
 be observed that while the pronominal meaning is alone retained in 
 French, the adverbial is far the more usual in Italian. See Corticelli, 
 Lingua Toscana, p. 79.
 
 CANTO xxi. PURGATORY. 253 
 
 impeded way behind my Leader, and I was full of com- 
 passion at the just vengeance. And lo, just as Luke 
 writes of it, how Christ appeared to the two that were in 
 the way, already risen forth from the hole of the tomb, to us 
 appeared a shade, and it was coming behind us, regarding 
 at its feet the prostrate crowd ; nor took we note of it, so 
 it spoke first, saying : " My brethren, God give you peace." 
 We turned on a sudden, and Virgil gave back to him the 
 sign which befits that. Then he began : " May the true 
 
 Per la impacciata via retro al mio'Duca, 
 
 E condoliemi alia giusta vendetta. b 
 Ed ecco, si come ne scrive Luca, 
 
 Che Cristo apparve ai due, ch' erano in via, 
 
 Gia surto fuor della sepulcral buca, 
 Ci apparve un' ombra, e dietro a noi venia, 10 
 
 Dappie guardando la turba che giace ; 
 
 Ne ci addemmo di lei, si parlo pria, 
 Dicendo : Frati miei, Dio vi dea pace. 
 
 Noi ci volgemmo subito, e Virgilio 
 
 Rende lui il cenno, ch' a cio si conface. 
 
 b condolexmi 3 IV. ; conduceami 2 ; conduciemi 14. 
 
 6 condoliemi. For the form, cf. movieno x. 81, and see Diez ii. 
 130. 
 
 i ne may be also taken in its frequent sense as dat. of noi, " writes 
 for us." 
 
 11 Notice the present giace, as elsewhere, when he is referring to a 
 permanent feature. 
 
 12 " addarsi vale accorgersi," says Corticelli (p. 264). si = cost, 
 according to Blanc ; rather = Fr. aussi. Cf. Inf. xxix. 30. In 
 both places Bianchi explains by "sin eft?," which seems awkward. 
 Philalethes, "also."
 
 254 PURGATORY. CANTO xxr. 
 
 court which banishes me in eternal exile, set thee in peace 
 within the blessed council." " How ? " said he (and we 
 were going stoutly the while) " if ye are shades that God 
 on high deems not worthy, who has escorted you thus far 
 along his stair ? " And my Teacher : " If thou regard the 
 marks that this man carries, and that the Angel draws, thou 
 wilt well see that it behoves that he reign with the good. 
 
 Poi comincio : 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, 20 
 
 Chi V ha per la sua scala tanto scorte ? 
 
 E il Dottor mio : Se tu riguardi i segni 
 Che questi porta e che 1' Angel profila, 
 Ben vedrai che co' buon convien ch' ei regni. 
 
 c andavan Gg. 3; egli, ptrcht andava Aid. (i) ; e perche andate, Aid. (2) ; 
 
 Land. 
 
 *? la verace corte. Cf. xxxi. 41. Par. vii. 51. 
 
 *9 If the reading perche be taken, the words of course form part of 
 Statius's question. On the other hand the first five editions have parte 
 andavam, or andavan (this perhaps a misprint), and the parenthetic 
 remark is quite in Dante's style, and adds much to the picture, cf. 
 andavamo introcque, Inf. xx. 130. Parte for "intanto" is a frequent 
 Tuscan idiom. It occurs, for instance, Inf. xxix. 16, and Petrarch 
 Son. cccii. See Fanfani and Corticelli, s.v. Post. Cass. "i.e. interim." 
 
 20 degna. digno and dignor are not unfrequent in this sense, but 
 usually, or always, have a qualifying ablative, as " non equidem tali 
 me dignor honore." There is, however, an instance of digno with 
 infinitive in Lucr. v. 51. I do not think Bianchi's explanation of su 
 degni as =" degni di ricever su," though supported by Landino's 
 degne di star in cielo," is consistent with grammar. Degna, in fact, is 
 exactly the opposite of sdegna.
 
 CANTO xxi. PURGATORY. 255 
 
 But since she who spins night and day had not yet drawn 
 for him the skein which Clotho puts on for each man and 
 packs together, his soul, which is sister to thine and mine, 
 coming up could not come alone, because it beholds not 
 after our fashion; wherefore I was drawn forth from the 
 ample throat of Hell to show him, and I shall show him 
 further as far as my schooling may bring him. But tell 
 us, if thou knowest, wherefore the mountain gave erewhile 
 such shudders, and wherefore all at once appeared to cry as 
 far as its soft base ? " Thus questioning pierced he for me 
 
 Ma perche lei, che di e notte fila, d 
 
 Non gli avea tratta ancora la conocchia, 
 Che Cloto impone a ciascuno e compila ; 
 
 L' anima sua, ch' e tua e mia sirocchia, 
 Venendo su non potea venir sola, 
 Perocch' al nostro modo non adocchia; 6 30 
 
 Ond' io fui tratto fudr dell' ampia gola 
 D' inferno per mostrarli, e mostrerolli 
 Oltre, quanto il potra menar mia scuola. 
 
 Ma dinne, se tu sai, perche tai crolli 
 
 Die dianzi il monte, e perche tutti ad una f 
 Parver gridare infino a' suoi pie molli ? g 
 
 d per colei Cass. 12345/0' colri Si. ; di con notte Gg. 
 nostro mondo Gg. f tutto (alt. to tutti) Gg. ; tutta Cass. 
 
 s parve Gg. 145 ; gradir 1245. 
 
 85 colei. Lachesis ; cf. xxv. 79. Bianchi's reading po' is, of course, 
 for poi, taken as in x. I. 
 
 27 compila. " Compone distribuendo a ciascuno . . . stame 
 Vellutello; "ristringe, girandole in torno" Bianchi; "riunire, adattare 
 Blanc ; " umwickelt " Philalethes. 
 
 35 dianzi. So xx. 122.
 
 256 PURGATORY. CANTO xxi. 
 
 through the needle's eye of my desire, so that, only with 
 hope, my thirst became less craving. 
 
 That one began : " Thing is there none which without 
 order the religion of the mountain feels, or which is beyond 
 wont. This place is free from every alteration ; occasion 
 may arise by reason of one whom the heaven is of itself 
 receiving into itself, but not of aught else; because not 
 rain, not hail, not snow, not dew, not hoar-frost falls any 
 higher than the short stairway of three steps. Clouds 
 
 Si mi die dimandando per la crurja \^i>^tr a-v 
 
 Del mio disio, che pur con la speranza 
 
 Si fece la mia sete men digiuna. 
 Quei comincib : Cosa non e che sanza 40 
 
 Ordine senta la religipne 
 
 Delia montagna, o che sia fuor d' usanza. 
 Libero e qui da ogni alterazione : 
 
 Di quel che il ciel in se da se riceve, 
 
 Esserci puote, e non d' altro, cagione. h 
 Perche non pioggia, non grando, non neve, 
 
 Non rugiada, non brina piu su cade,' 
 
 Che la scaletta dei tre gradi breve. 
 Nuvole spesse non paion ne rade, 
 
 h altra cag. Cass. 14 Bi. { bruma Gg. 
 
 37 mi di& per la cruna, cf. "nel petto mi diedi " ix. iii. " dar per 
 la fronte " xxiv. 148. 
 
 41 religione, "ritual "or " rule," much as in Par. xi. 93. 
 
 4 3 Bianchi notices the use of qui as = questo luogo. Cf. xii. 55. 
 
 45 altro appears to have the weight of authority, though altra, 
 which Bianchi and Philalethes adopt, is perhaps the easier reading. I 
 doubt the latter's interpretation of da s& in 1. 44 as = " from it," i.e. the 
 mountain ; for though, as he says, sui, etc. often lose their reflexive force 
 in late Latin and the derived languages, the transition here is too harsh. 
 There seems no objection to Vellutello's explanation : " II cielo, cioe 
 Iddio, mosso da se. "
 
 CANTO xxr. PURGATORY. 257 
 
 appear not dense or rare, nor lightning-flash, nor Thaumas's 
 daughter, who yonder often changes quarters. Dry vapour 
 advances no further upward than to the highest of the three 
 steps which I said, where the vicar of Peter has his feet. 
 It quakes perhaps lower down little or much ; but by 
 reason of wind which is hidden (I know not how) in the 
 earth, up here it has quaked never ; it quakes here when 
 
 Ne corruscar, ne figlia di Taumante, . 50 
 
 Che di la cangia sovente contrade. 
 
 Secco vapor non surge piu avante, 
 
 Ch' al sommo dei tre gradi ch' io parlai, 
 Ov' ha il Vicario di Pietro le piante. k 
 
 Trema forse piu giu poco od assai : 
 
 Ma, per vento che in terra si nasconda, 1 
 Non so come, quassu non tremo mai : 
 
 Tremaci quando alcuna anima monda 
 
 k Do~j il vie, . . . ha le Gg. ' nasconda ? Gg. 
 
 m non so come, e . . . mai ? Gg. 
 
 3 % 
 
 si Thaumas's daughter = Iris. The rainbow of course changes its 
 position with the sun. contrada seems here to have its proper force, 
 of a district lying over against the observer ; like Germ, gegend, of 
 which it was probably a translation ; di Ik i.e. of course, as usual " on 
 the earth." The symbolical meaning of this passage is that earthly i 
 passions are here extinct. 
 
 s 2 secco vapor. Probably only the wind fj r)pa avadvpicHns 
 TO>V TrvfvpaTuv apx*) Kc " $w(rtff Trdvrcw. Ar. Met. iv. 4 but the view 
 that shooting-stars are intended receives some support from v. 37. Cf. 
 xxviii. 97-102. 
 
 & voelv on . . . Tpopav KOI a-(pvyfj.S)v alnov e'orii' ?/ TOV 
 TrvfvfjMTOS (vaTToXap-ftavonevov 8vvapis. Id. iv. 8. 
 
 57 non so come, almost = Lat. "nescio quomodo." Cf. ii. 23, 
 xxiv. 37. 
 
 S
 
 258 PURGATORY. CANTO xxi. 
 
 any soul feels itself so pure that it rises or that it moves 
 to mount up ; and such a cry speeds it. Of its purity, its 
 sole volition makes proof, which wholly free to change its 
 company, seizes the soul and aids it with will. It wills 
 indeed at first ; but that impulse allows it not, which divine 
 justice sets against will, as it was [formerly] toward sin, [so 
 
 Si sente, si che surga, o che si muova 
 
 Delia mondizia il sol voler fa pruova," 
 Che tutto libero 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. 
 
 ? m. 'suo voler Cass.; sol voler Gg. W. De la immond. solver si fa 
 nova 2 ; mond. solver si fa 1345. 
 tutta libera 23 W. 
 
 63 di voler le giova. ' ' Am Wollen Freud' ihr gebend. ' ' Philalethes. 
 But is not giovare in this sense always impersonal ? I have followed 
 Blanc. 
 
 64 Philalethes explains this passage by a reference to Aquinas's 
 doctrine (S.T. Suppl. Q. 100, Art. 4), of an absolute and a conditioned 
 will, the germ of which may be found in Ar. Eth. iii. 4. The absolute 
 will (voglia) tends towards virtue in this world and happiness in the 
 next ; but the conditioned (talento), by which men bear present apparent 
 pain for the sake of good to follow ("sicut ustio est voluntaria propter 
 sanitatem consequendam") is made the means in the next world of purga- 
 tion, by disposing the soul to suffer until it is purified. It is a kind of 
 perversion of this which makes men sin in spite of consequences. 
 Talento has of course here, as in Inf. v. 39, x. 55, and in the sonnet 
 beginning "Guido vorrei," its original meaning of a weight in the 
 balance (rdXavrov), hence an impulse or desire. So Bocc. ii. 9 : " M' e 
 venuto in talento." The modern meaning of " talent," arising from the 
 parable, is comparatively recent. It seems to date from the fifteenth 
 century in English, and does not appear in French till the seventeenth.
 
 CANTO xxi. PURGATORY. 259 
 
 now] toward the torment. And I, who have lain in this 
 woe five hundred years and more, have but now felt a 
 free will for a better threshold. Wherefore thou didst 
 feel the earthquake, and hear the pious spirits throughout 
 the mount render praise to that Lord, by whom may they 
 soon be led upward." Thus said he to him ; and because 
 one delights in drinking in proportion as one's thirst is 
 great, I should not skill to say how great benefit he did 
 me. And my sage Leader: "Now I see the net which 
 holds you here, and how the snare is broken; wherefore 
 it quakes here, and whereof ye rejoice together. Now 
 please it thee that I know who thou wast, and that I under- 
 stand in thy words wherefore thou hast lain so many ages 
 here." " At the time that the good Titus, with the aid of 
 
 Ed io che son giaciuto a questa doglia 
 Cinquecento anni e piu, pur mo sentii 
 Libera volonta di miglior soglia. 
 
 Perb sentisti il tremoto, e li pii 70 
 
 Spiriti per lo monte render lode 
 A quel Signer, che tosto su gl' invii. 
 
 Cosi gli disse : e perb che si gode 
 Tanto del ber quant' e grande la sete, 
 Non saprei dir quanto mi fece prode. h^ 
 
 E il savio Duca : Omai veggio la rete 
 Che qui vi piglia, e come si scalappia, 
 Perche ci trema, e di che congaudete. 
 
 Ora chi fosti piacciati ch' io sappia ; 
 
 E perche tanti secoli giaciuto 80 
 
 Qui se', nelle parole tue mi cappia. 
 
 Nel tempo che il buon Tito, con 1' aiuto 
 Del sommo Rege, vendicb le fora 
 
 8 3 C Par. vi. 92. 
 
 S 2
 
 260 PURGATORY. CANTO xxi. 
 
 the most high King, avenged the wounds whence issued 
 the blood sold by Judas, with the name which most lasts 
 and most honours, was I there," answered that spirit 
 " famous enough, but not as yet with faith. So sweet was 
 the spirit of my voice, that Tolosan as I was, Rome drew 
 me to herself, where I merited to adorn my temples with 
 myrtle. Statius the folk still name me there : I sang 
 of Thebes and of the great Achilles ; but I fell in the 
 way with the second burthen. To my ardour were seed 
 the sparks which warmed me of the divine flame, whence 
 
 Ond' usci il sangue per Giuda venduto ; 
 
 Col nome che piii dura e piu onora, 
 Er' io di Ik, rispose quello spirto, 
 Famoso assai, ma non con fede ancora. 
 
 Tanto fu dolce mio vocale spirto, . 
 Che Tolosano a se mi trasse Roma, 
 Dove mertai le tempie ornar di mirto. 90 
 
 Stazio la gente ancor di la 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, 
 
 83 I.e. the name of poet. The exact date of Statius's birth is un- 
 certain, but it was probably about A.D. 65. As he died in the last year 
 of Domitian, A.D. 96, the other date which Philalethes gives, A.D. 85, 
 is impossible. The belief that he was bom at Toulouse arises from a 
 confusion of him with a rhetorician of the same name, for which 
 Lactantius is responsible. From Silvae v. 3. 11. 105, 106 it appears 
 that he was a Neapolitan. But the Silvae had not been found in 
 Dante's time. 
 
 88 dolce. In Conv. Hi. 25 he is called "Stazio, il dolce poeta." 
 Cf. Juvenal vii. 84. 
 
 93 The Achilleid ends abruptly at 1. 452 of the second book.
 
 CANTO xxi. PURGATORY. 261 
 
 more than a thousand have been kindled ; I speak of the 
 ./Eneid, which was mother to me, and was to me a nurse in 
 poet's art ; without it I had not stayed a drachm's weight. 
 And to have lived on earth when Virgil lived, I would agree 
 to a year more than I owe, to my issue from bondage." 
 These words turned Virgil to me with a face which in its 
 silence said, "Be silent;" but virtue cannot all it would; 
 for laughter and tears follow so much the passion from 
 which each springs, that they least obey will in the most 
 truthful men. I at all events smiled, as the man who 
 makes a sign ; wherefore the shade held its peace and 
 
 Onde sono allumati piu di mille : 
 
 DelP Eneida dico, la qual mamma 
 Fummi, e fummi nutrice poetando : 
 Senz' essa non fermai peso di dramma. p 
 
 E per esser vivuto di la quando 100 
 
 Visse Virgilio, assentirei un sole 
 Piu ch' i' non deggio al mio uscir di bando. 
 
 Volser Virgilio a me queste parole 
 Con viso che tacendo dicea : Taci : 
 Ma non puo tutto la virtu, che vuole ; 
 
 /Che riso e pianto son tanto seguaci , 
 
 Alia passion da che ciascun si spicca, -" " 
 Che men seguon voler ne' piu veraci. >*-- 
 lo pur sorrisi, come 1' uom ch' ammicca ; 
 
 Perche 1' ombra si tacque, e riguardommi no 
 P non ft mat Gg.; fer mat 124. 
 
 99 fermai ; literally, "made stationary in the scale," i.e. balanced. 
 
 I0 5 Most interpreters take la virtu che vuole (as in Par. vii. 25, and 
 1. 33 of the Canzone " Amor dacche ") to mean the faculty that wills, 
 i.e. the will. But this seems rather pedantic in a passage of such 
 playful humour.
 
 262 PURGATORY. CANTO xxi. 
 
 looked me in the eyes, where the semblance fixes itself 
 most. And, "So mayest thou bring so great labour to a 
 good consummation," said he, " why did thy face but now 
 show me a flash of laughter ? " Now am I caught on one 
 side and the other ; the one makes me hold my peace, the 
 other conjures me to say; wherefore I sigh, and am per- 
 ceived. " Say," said my Master to me, " and have no fear 
 of speaking; but speak and tell him that which he asks 
 with so great care." Wherefore I : "It may be that thou 
 marvellest, ancient spirit, at the smile which I gave ; but I 
 will that greater admiration seize thee. This who guides on 
 high my eyes is that Virgil from whom thou tookest force 
 to sing of men and gods. If thou didst suppose other 
 
 Negli occhi ove il sembiante piu si ficca. 
 
 E, Se tanto lavoro in bene assommi, 
 Disse : perche la faccia tua testeso 
 Un lampeggiar di riso dimostrommi ? 
 
 Or son io d' una parte e d' altra preso : 
 L' una mi fa tacer, 1' altra scongiura 
 Ch' io dica : ond' io sospiro, e sono inteso. 
 
 Di', il mio Maestro, e non aver paura, 
 Mi disse, di parlar, ma parla, e digli 
 Quel ch' e' dimanda con cotanta cura. 120 
 
 Ond' io : Forse che tu ti maravigli, 
 Antico spirto, del rider ch' io fei : 
 Ma piu d' ammirazion vo' che ti pigli. 
 
 Questi che guida in alto gli occhi miei, 
 quel Virgilio, dal qual tu togliesti 
 Forza a cantar degli uomini e de' Dei. 
 
 " l il sembiante = "the expression of the face;" cf. Sp. sembiante. 
 So Inf. xxiii. 146.
 
 CANTO xxi. PURGATORY. 263 
 
 occasion for my laughter, leave it for untrue ; and believe 
 that it was those words which thou spakest of him." 
 Already he was bending to embrace my Teacher's feet ; 
 but he said : " Brother, do it not, for thou art a shade, 
 and a shade thou seest." And he, rising : " Now canst 
 thou comprehend the greatness of the love which warms 
 me toward thee, when I forget our emptiness, handling the 
 shadows as it were a solid thing." 
 
 Se cagione altra al mio rider credesti, 
 Lasciala per non vera, ed esser credi q 
 Quelle parole die di lui dicesti. 
 
 Gia si chinava ad abbracciar li piedi 130 
 
 Al mio Dottor : ma e' gli disse : Frate, 
 Non far : che tu se' ombra, ed ombra vedi. 
 
 Ed ei surgendo : Or puoi la quantitate 
 Comprender dell' 4 amor ch' a te mi scalda, 
 Quando dismento nostra vanitate, 
 
 Trattando 1' ombre come cosa salda. 
 
 i vera esstr e cr. Cass. 1234 W.; asser 5. 
 
 132 sqq. Yet Sordello and Virgil had embraced each other (vi. 75). 
 It is curious that Dante should have been guilty of this oversight ; still 
 more curious that, as far as I know, no commentator should have 
 observed it. 
 
 133 quantitate. Not used elsewhere in D. C. In fact it was at this 
 time a learned word, representing Gr. ITOCTOTTJS. Philalethes renders 
 " Wievielheit." 
 
 SI
 
 CANTO XXII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They ascend to the sixth circle, while Statius explains how he was turned 
 from his sin, and led to become a Christian by the reading of certain 
 passages of Virgil. Presently they reach a tree of strange form, and 
 afterwards hear voices uttering examples of the virtue of abstinence. 
 
 ALREADY the Angel was left behind us the Angel who 
 had turned us to the sixth circle, having erased from my 
 face one stroke ; and those who have their desire to justice 
 he had pronounced to us Blessed, and his voices with 
 
 GIA era 1' Angel dietro a noi rimaso, 
 L' Angel che n' avea volti al sesto giro, 
 Avendomi dal viso un colpo raso : 
 
 E quei c' hanno a giustizia lor disiro, 
 Detto n' avea Beati, e le sue voci a 
 
 a avean Cass. 124. W. ; in le sue Aid. 
 
 5 I have followed Bianchi and Philalethes in reading avea, which 
 is found in Gg., though avean has, as Blanc points out, more autho- 
 rity. He takes quei as the subject, ne as the object of the sentence ; 
 " the souls remaining behind called us blessed." Landino and Vellutello 
 also take this view, and suppose the words to have been those of the 
 Psalm Beati quorum. But this is utterly against all analogy, as is
 
 CANTO xxii. PURGATORY. 265 
 
 sitiunt and naught else, furnished forth this. And I lighter 
 than through the other passages was going my way in such 
 wise that without any labour I followed upward the swift 
 spirits ; when Virgil began : " Love, set on fire of virtue, 
 always kindles another, so only that its flame appear out- 
 wardly. Wherefore, from the hour when Juvenal descended 
 among us in the border of Hell, who made known to me 
 
 Con sitiunt, senz' altro cib forniro. b 
 Ed io piu lieve che per 1' altre foci, 
 
 M' andava si che senza alcun labore 
 
 Seguiva in su gli spiriti veloci : c 
 Quando Virgilio comincio : Amore io 
 
 Acceso da virtu sempre altro accese, 
 
 Pur che la fiamma sua paresse fuore. 
 Onde, dall' ora che tra noi discese 
 
 Nel limbo dello inferno Giuvenale, 
 
 * 
 
 b sitio e sens' a. W. ; sitio senz' Gg. Cass. 1234. 
 c Segiiivan su Gg. 
 
 also the notion involved in the -reading sitio, which they take as a 
 detached ejaculation. It will be observed, that although the beatitudes 
 at the end of each circle are sometimes uttered apparently by several 
 voices, yet, wherever an angel is specially mentioned as stationed at 
 the passage, it is he who pronounces the words ; and in the other cases 
 the voices would seem to be angelic. Here perhaps the other voices 
 may be understood to follow in a kind of chorus. Cf. xii. I io. Fornire 
 originally means "to further," "complete; " so here it may convey the 
 idea of filling up, or confirming. The words here indicated are evi- 
 dently "Beati qui sitiunt justitiam," csuriunt being left for the sixth 
 circle, xxiv. 154. The emphasis is on the justitiam, irXfove^ia being, 
 according to Ar. Eth. v. I, a subdivision of d8ucia. Cf. also De. Mon. 
 i. 13, "justitiae maxime contrariatur cupiditas ; " and see Perez ("I 
 sette Cerchi"), who quotes Aquinas to show that this is the appropriate 
 beatitude for this point, and also points out the parallel in these and 
 the next three lines to the exit from the first circle, xii. 115-117. 
 11 accese has here the force of an aorist. See note xxxii. 34.
 
 266 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 thy affection, my goodwill toward thee was as great as ever 
 bound me for an unseen person, so that now these steps will 
 appear to me short But tell me, and as a friend pardon 
 me if too great security loosens my rein, and henceforth talk 
 with me as a friend ; how could avarice find a place within 
 thy breast, amid wisdom so great as that whereof through 
 thy care thou wast full ? " These words made Statius move 
 a little towards laughter first ; then he answered : " Every 
 word of thine is to me a dear token of love. But oftentimes 
 things appear which give false material for doubting, by 
 reason of the true occasions which are hidden. Thy 
 demand proves to me that thy belief is that I was avaricious 
 
 Che la tua affezion mi fe' palese, 
 
 Mia benvoglienza inverse te fu quale 
 Piu strinse mai di non vista persona, 
 Si ch' or mi parran corte queste scale. 
 
 Ma dimmi, e come amico mi perdona, 
 
 Se troppa sicurta m' allarga il freno, 20 
 
 E come amico omai meco ragiona : 
 
 Come poteo trovar dentro al tuo seno 
 Luogo avarizia, tra cotanto senno, 
 Di quanto per tua cura fosti pieno ? 
 
 Queste parole Stazio muover fenno 
 Un poco a riso pria ; poscia rispose : 
 Ogni tuo dir d' amor m' e caro cenno. 
 
 Veramente pill volte appaion cose, 
 Che danno a dubitar falsa matera, 
 Per le vere cagion che son nascose. 30 
 
 La tua dimanda tuo creder m' awera 
 Esser, ch' io fossi avaro in 1' altra vita, 
 
 28 Veramente, as in vi. 43.
 
 CANTO xxn. PURGATORY. 267 
 
 in the other life, perhaps by reason of that circle where I 
 was. Know then that avarice was put too far away from me, 
 and this disproportion thousands of the moon's revolutions 
 have punished. And if it were not that I made right my 
 care, when I understood the passage where thou criest, in 
 rage as it were at human nature : ' Why restrainest thou 
 not, O holy hunger of gold, the desire of mortals ? ' I 
 had found myself turning in the woful jousts. Then I 
 
 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 la dove tu chiame, 
 
 Crucciato quasi all' umana natura, 
 Perche non reggi rt, o sacra fame 40 
 
 Dell' oro, 1' appetito de''mortali? d 
 
 d gli appetiti G". Cass. 
 
 36 Six thousand months, says Philalethes, estimating by xxi. 67. 
 
 40,41 These lines, intended as a rendering of Aen. iii. 56, 57, have 
 puzzled the commentators greatly. They are divided, in the first place, 
 between the readings Perche and Ache (for Buti's Perche, "through 
 what ways," is of no value). Theweight of authority is altogether in favour 
 of perche, and this is the reading of 12345, Aldus, Landino ; the latter 
 of whom either does not see, or shirks the difficulty. The Ottimo 
 reads perche, but explains a che ; and in the note to xx. 60, translates 
 the same passage from Virgil, with a che, which is of course the correct 
 rendering of "Quid" here, and therefore all the less likely to have 
 been altered by copyists to perche. We must next observe that the 
 only meaning of "cogis," which can be rendered by reggi, is " re- 
 strainest ;" and from this it is pretty clear that Dante understood 
 "sacra fames" in a good sense, equivalent to the "holy poverty" of 
 theologians. There is, however, something to be said for the interpre-
 
 268 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 perceived that the hands could spread their wings too 
 much to spend, and thus I repented of this as of other 
 sins. How many will arise with shortened hair, through 
 the ignorance which takes away repentance for this sin 
 while they live, and in their last hour ! And know that the 
 fault which meets any sin by direct opposition, together 
 with it in this world dries its green. Wherefore if I have 
 been among that folk who bewail avarice, to purge me, it 
 
 Voltando sentirei le giostre grame. 
 
 All or m' accorsi che troppo aprir Pali 
 Potean le mani a spendere, e pentemi 6 
 Cos! di quel come degli altri mali. 
 
 Quanti risurgeran coi crini scemi 
 Per 1' ignoranza che di questa pecca 
 Toglie il pentir vivendo, e negli estremi ! 
 
 E sappi, che la colpa che rimbecca 
 
 Per dritta opposizione alcun peccato, 50 
 
 Con esso insieme qui suo verde secca. 
 
 Pero s' io son tra quella gente stato, 
 Che piange 1' avarizia, per purgarmi, 
 Per lo contrario suo m' e incontrato. 
 
 e spander Gg. 
 
 tation of J. della Lana, that a "holy hunger," is. that which would 
 keep a man from spending unduly. Reggere usually takes a (Diez iii. 
 118) ; so that we ought, perhaps, to read all' appetite. 
 
 42 Voltando sentirei. I think a similar construction to Lat. "sensit 
 delapsus ; " but sentirei may be taken as governing giostre. The 
 reference is of course to the punishment of the avaricious and prodigal 
 in Hell, as described in Inf. vii. 
 
 46 See Inf. vii. 57. These are the prodigals. 
 
 49 rimbecca. " Proprio rimbeccare e quando ripercotiamo indietro 
 la palla, che ci viene incontro." Land.
 
 CANTO xxn. PURGATORY. 269 
 
 has befallen me by reason of its contrary." " Then, too, 
 when thou sangest the cruel war of the twofold grief of 
 Jocasta," said the Singer of the Bucolic strains, "by that 
 string which Clio there with thee touches, it seems that that 
 faith had not yet made thee faithful, without the which good 
 works suffice not. If thus it is, what sun or what candles 
 so dispelled thy darkness that thou directedst afterward thy 
 sails behind the Fisher ? " And he to him : " Thou at first 
 leddest me toward Parnassus to drink in its caverns, and 
 next didst light me on the road to God. Thou didst as he 
 
 Or quando tu cantasti le crude armi 
 Delia doppia tristizia di Giocasta, 
 Disse il cantor de' bucolici carmi, 
 
 Per quel che Clio li con teco tasta, 
 Non par che ti facesse ancor fedele 
 La fe, senza.la qual ben far non basta. f 60 
 
 Se cosi e, qual sole o quai candele 
 Ti stenebraron si che tu drizzasti 
 Poscia diretro al Pescator le vele ? 
 
 Ed egli a lui : Tu prima m' inviasti 8 
 Verso Parnaso a ber nelle sue grotte, 
 E poi appresso Dio m' alluminasti. h 
 
 f Lafede senza qual Gg. Cass. s prima m'intitasti Cass. 
 
 h E prima Aid. 
 
 56 doppia tristizia, i. e. the quarrel between her two sons. 
 
 58 The reference is to 1. 41 of the first book of the Thebaid, where 
 Clio is invoked. It is odd that this should be regarded as an evidence 
 of paganism, seeing how often Dante does the like. Con teco; cf. h>p. 
 contigo. 
 
 6 3 II Pescator, St. Peter. So Par. xviii. 136. 
 
 66 E poi. The reading which Witte and Bianchi take is evidently 
 right.
 
 270 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 who goes by night, who bears a light behind him, and helps 
 not himself, but after him makes the people wise, when 
 thou saidst : ' The world renews itself; 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 mayest see that which I outline, 
 I will stretch forth my hand to put the colours. Already 
 was the whole world teeming with the true belief, sown by 
 the messages of the eternal realm ; and thy word above- 
 mentioned was in harmony with the new preachers ; where- 
 
 Facesti come quei che va di notte, 
 
 Che porta il lume dietro, e se non giova, 
 
 Ma dopo se fa le persone dotte ; 
 Quando dicesti : Secol si rinnova, 70 
 
 Torna giustizia, e primo tempo umano, 
 
 E progenie discende dal Ciel nuova. 
 Per te poeta mi, per te cristiano ; 
 
 Ma perche veggi me' cio ch' io disegno, 
 
 A colorar distenderb la mano. 
 Gia era il mondo tutto quanto pregno 
 
 Delia vera credenza, seminata 
 
 Per li messaggi dell' eterno regno ; 
 E la parola tua sopra toccata 
 
 Si consonava a' nuovi predicant! : 80 
 
 67 quei che va. The subjunctive would be - more usual (as in 
 Inf. xv. 45, etc.), but see Diez iii. 347. 
 
 7 Virg. Eel. iv. 5 sqq. 
 
 73 It is impossible now to say what were Dante's reasons for sup- 
 posing Statius to have been a Christian, as no evidence appears to 
 exist either way. He is quoted more than once in the Convito, but 
 without any reference being made to his conversion. 

 
 CANTO xxii. PURGATORY. 271 
 
 fore I took the custom to visit them. At last they came to 
 seem to me so holy, that when Domitian persecuted them, 
 their plaints were not without tears from me. And whilst 
 there was a station for me in that world, I aided them, and 
 their upright fashions made me hold all other sects of small 
 price. And before that I brought the Greeks to the rivers of 
 Thebes in my poem had I baptism, but through fear I was 
 a hidden Christian, for a long time making a show of 
 paganism ; and this lukewarmth made me circle the fourth 
 ring for more than the fourth century. Thou, then, who 
 didst lift for me the covering which hid from me so much 
 good as I say, while that we still have surplus of our ascent, 
 
 , 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 la per me si stette, 
 Io gli sovvenni, e lor dritti costumi 
 Fer dispregiare a me tutte altre sette. 
 
 E pria ch' io conducessi i Greci a' fiumi 
 Di Tebe poetando, ebb' io battesmo : 
 Ma per paura chiuso cristian m' mi, 90 
 
 Lungamente mostrando paganesmo : 
 E questa tiepidezza il quarto cerchio 
 Cerchiar mi fe' piu che il quarto centesmo. 
 
 Tu dunque, che levato m' hai il coperchio 
 Che m' ascondeva quanto bene io dico, 
 Mentre che del salire avem soverchio, 
 
 86 Fer dispregiare a me. Cf. the Fr. faire fairs &. See note 
 to viii. 1 06.
 
 272 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 tell me where is our ancient Terence, Csecilius, Plautus, 
 and Varro, if thou knowest ; tell me if they are damned, 
 and in what quarter." 
 
 " They, and Persius, and I, and others enough," answered 
 my Leader, " are with that Greek, whom the Muses suckled 
 more than ever another, in the first girdle of the blind 
 prison. Many times talk we of the mount which has our 
 nursing-mothers always with it. Euripides is there with 
 
 Dimmi dov' e Terenzio nostro antico,' 
 Cecilio, Plauto e Varro, se lo sai : k 
 Dimmi se son dannati, ed in qual vico. 
 
 Costoro e Persio ed io ed altri assai, 100 
 
 Rispose il Duca mio, siam con quel Greco, 
 Che le Muse lattar piu ch' altro mai, 
 
 Nel primo cinghio del carcere cieco. 
 Spesse fiate ragioniam del monte, 
 Ch' ha le nutrici nostre sempre seco. 
 
 ' amico Gg. Cass. Aid. k Varo Cass. Gg. 
 
 97 I read antico with Witte, Blanc, and Bianchi, as the usual amico 
 seems absurd when applied by Statius to Terence. 
 
 98 Varro. If this, and not Varo be the right reading, it is 
 probably P. Terentius Varro Atacinus (Hor. i. Sat. x. 46) who is 
 meant, as the more famous Varro was not a poet, and it is of these 
 alone that Statius speaks. I am inclined to agree however with 
 Blanc that Dante was thinking of Varus, who is more than once 
 mentioned by Horace in company with Virgil (especially A. P. 54, 55, 
 where Caecilius and Plautus are also named), and by Virgil himself 
 (according to one reading) in Eel. ix. 35. Blanc thinks we should read 
 Vario. 
 
 104 monte, Parnassus. 
 103 nutrici, the Muses.
 
 CANTO xxn. PURGATORY. 273 
 
 us and Antiphon, Simonides, Agathon, and other more 
 Greeks, who once adorned their brows with laurel. There 
 may be seen of thy folk Antigone, Deiphile, and Argia, and 
 Ismene, sad as she lived. There is seen she who showed 
 Langia ; there is the daughter of Tiresias, and Thetis, and 
 Deidamia with her sisters." 
 
 Euripide v' e nosco ed Antifonte, 1 
 
 Simonide, Agatone, e altri piue 
 
 Greci, che gia di lauro ornar la fronte. 
 Quivi si veggion delle genti tue 
 
 Antigone, Deifile, ed Argia, no 
 
 Ed Ismene si trista come fiie. 
 Vedesi quella che mostrb Langia : 
 
 Evvi la figlia di Tiresia, e Teti, 
 
 E con le suore sue Deidamia. o-i 
 
 . 
 1 Anacreonte. Aid. Land. Si. 
 
 106 Antifonte, a tragedian mentioned by Aristotle in the Rhetoric 
 (ii. 2,6,23). MSS. give no sufficient authority for substituting 
 Anacreonte. Blanc's Dictionary appears here to be a better guide 
 than his Erklarungen. 
 
 109 tue, i. e. named in the Thebaid and Achilleid. 
 
 112 This is Hypsipyle, who showed the spring called Langia to 
 Adrastus and his army (Theb. iv. 716 sqq. ). 
 
 113 la figlia di Tiresia. There is a difficulty here, because the 
 only daughter of Tiresias, named by Statius, or whom Dante could 
 have heard of, is Manto, who is placed among the soothsayers in the 
 fourth pit of the Malebolge (Inf. xx. 52 sqq.). The commentators solve 
 the problem in various ways. Blanc (Diet.) and Bianchi say it must be 
 one of the other daughters, though in his Erkl. the former points out 
 the impossibility of this ; others hold the meaning of ivi to be merely 
 "in Hell," but this will hardly do ; while Philalethes boldly assumes 
 that Dante, like Homer, has for once taken a nap ; and this is perhaps 
 the most reasonable explanation, unless indeed we may suppose that 
 there is a wrong reading, of which there seems no evidence. 
 
 T
 
 274 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 Now both the poets began to hold their peace, intent 
 afresh on looking round, free from the ascent and the 
 walls; and already four handmaids of the day were left 
 behind, and the fifth was at the pole of the car, directing 
 ever upward its blazing point, when my Leader : " I think 
 that it behoves us to turn our right shoulders to the outer 
 edge, circling the mount as we are wont to do." Thus 
 usage was there our guidance, and we took the way with 
 less doubt for the assent of that worthy soul. 
 
 They were going in front, and I solitary behind, and I 
 was listening to their talk, which gave me understanding to 
 sing. But soon the pleasant converse was broken by a tree 
 which we found in mid-road, with apples sweet and good to 
 
 Tacevansi amendue gia li poeti, 
 
 Di nuovo attenti a riguardare intorno, 
 
 Liberi dal sal ire e da' pareti : 
 E gia le quattro ancelle eran del giorno 
 
 Rimase addietro, e la quinta era al temo 
 
 Drizzando pure in su 1' ardente corno, 120 
 
 Quando il mio Duca : lo credo ch' allo stremo 
 
 Le destre spalle volger ci convegna, 
 
 Girando il monte come far solemo. 
 Cosi 1' usanza fu li nostra insegna : 
 
 E prendemmo la via con men sospetto, 
 
 Per 1' assentir di quell' anima degna. 
 Elli givan dinanzi, ed io soletto 
 
 Diretro, ed ascoltava i lor sermoni, 
 
 Ch' a poetar mi davano intelletto. 
 Ma tosto ruppe le dolci ragioni 130 
 
 Un' alber che trovammo in mezza strada, 
 
 118 I.e. it was now between ten and eleven A.M. Cf. for the 
 expression xii. 81. The metaphor here seems a little confused.
 
 CANTO xxii. PURGATORY. 275 
 
 smell. And as a fir-tree grows less by degrees upward, 
 from branch to branch, so that downward ; I think in order 
 that no one may go up. On the side upon which our road 
 was closed, fell from the lofty rock a clear liquor, and 
 spread itself over the leaves. The two poets drew near the 
 tree, and a voice within the leaves cried : " Of this food 
 ye shall have dearth." Then it said : " Mary thought more 
 how the wedding should be honourable and complete, than 
 
 Con pomi ad odorar soavi e buoni. 
 E come abete in alto si digrada 
 
 Di ramo in ramo, cosi quello in giuso, 
 
 Cred' io perche persona su non vada, 
 Dal lato onde il cammin nostro era chiuso, 
 
 Cadea dall' alta roccia un liquor chiaro, 
 
 E si spandeva per le foglie suso. 
 Li due poeti all' albe*r s' appressaro ; 
 
 Ed una voce per entro le fronde 140 
 
 Grido : Di questo cibo ayrete caro: y e j ^fM. 
 Poi disse : Piu pensava Maria, onde 
 
 Fosser le nozze orrevoli ed intere, 
 
 133 There is no reason to imagine this tree as growing downwards, 
 in the fashion represented by the picture in the Venice edition of 1578. 
 Blanc's explanation seems perfectly satisfactory: "Dieser Baum hat 
 nicht, wie die Tanne, unten die starksten Zweige, sondern seine Zweige 
 sind unten diinn und schwach, und werden nach den Gipfel zu imzner 
 starker." 
 
 138 per le foglie suso. "Nichts weiter heiszt, als iiber die Blatter 
 verbreitete es sich, gerade wie xxiii. 69." Blanc. Su per is little 
 more than equivalent to Lat. super, e.g. Inf. viii. io. 
 
 141 There appears to be an allusion to John iv. 3. Caro, for carestia, 
 is common in early Italian, e.g. Villani vii. 3, and elsewhere. Later, 
 aver caro di seems, like our "want," to have got the meaning "to 
 wish." 
 
 T 2
 
 276 PURGATORY. CANTO xxn. 
 
 of her mouth, which answers now for you. And the Roman 
 women of old time for their drink were content with water, 
 and Daniel held food of low price, and acquired wisdom. 
 The first age was as gold beautiful ; it made with hunger 
 acorns savorous, and nectar with thirst every brook. 
 Honey and locusts were the viands which nourished the 
 Baptist in the desert ; wherefore he is glorious, and so great 
 as by the Gospel is revealed to you." 
 
 Ch' alia sua bocca, ch' or per voi risponde : 
 E le Romane antiche per lor bere 
 
 Contente furon d' acqua : e Daniello 
 
 Dispregio cibo, ed acquisto savere. 
 Lo secol prime quant' oro fu bello ; m 
 
 Fe' savorose con fame le ghiande, 
 
 E nettare con sete ogni ruscello. 150 
 
 Mele e locuste furon le vivande 
 
 Che nudriro il Batista nel diserto : 
 
 Perch' egli e glorioso, e tanto grande, 
 Quanto per 1' Evangelio v' e aperto." 
 
 m che quanf or* fu W. n ' aperte Gg. Cass. 1234. 
 
 U[ > Val. Max. ii. I. 5, "Vini usus olim Romanis feminis ignotus 
 fuit."
 
 CANTO XXIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 As they wait by the tree, they are overtaken by souls who are expiating the 
 sin of gluttony. These are lean with hunger ; and amongst them 
 Dante sees Forese Donati, with whom he converses, and who foretells 
 evil to the women of Florence for their excessive wantonness. 
 
 WHILE I was fixing my eyes through the green leaves in 
 such wise as he is wont to do who wastes his life after the 
 little bird, my more than father began to say to me : " Son, 
 come now, for the time that is assigned to us must be more 
 usefully apportioned." I turned my gaze, and my pace not 
 
 MENTRE che gli occhi per la fronda verde 
 
 Ficcava io cosi, come far suole ._ , > 
 
 Chi dietro all' uccellin sua_yita jperde, 3 
 Lo piu che Padre mi dicea ; Figliuole, 
 
 Vieni oramai, che il tempo che c' e imposto, 
 
 Piu utilmente compartir si vuole. 
 
 a agli uccellini Cass. ; uccellin W. 
 
 \ figliuole. Bianchi says that this form occurs in prose, but gives 
 no example, nor is it mentioned by either Diez or Corticelli. It seems 
 best to take it with Blanc as a vocative.
 
 278 PURGATORY. CANTO xxm, 
 
 less quickly after the sages, who were talking so that they 
 made going of no cost to me. And one was heard to weep 
 and chant, Labia mea Domtne, in such fashion that it gave 
 birth to delight and grief. " O sweet Father, what is that 
 which I hear ? " I began ; and he : " Shades which go, per- 
 chance loosing the knot of their debt." As do the pilgrims 
 full of thought when overtaking by the way folk unknown, 
 that they turn round to them and stay not ; so as they came 
 behind us with more rapid motion, and passed, was gazing 
 at us, silent and devout, a crowd of souls. In the eyes was 
 each dark and hollow, pale in the face, and so wasted that 
 
 lo volsi il viso, e il passo non men tosto 
 Appresso ai savi, che parlavan sie 
 Che P andar mi facean di nullo costo : 
 
 Ed ecco piangere e cantar s' udle, 10 
 
 Labia mea Domzne, per modo 
 Tal che diletto e doglia parturie. 
 
 O dolce Padre, che e quel ch' io odo ? 
 Comincia' io : ed egli : Ombre che vanno 
 Forse di lor dover solvendo il nodo. 
 i Si come i peregrin pensosi fanno, 
 
 Giugnendo per cammin gente non nota, 
 Che si volgono ad essa e non ristanno ; 
 
 Cos! diretro a noi, piu tosto mota, 
 
 Venendo e trapassando, ci ammirava 20 
 
 D' anime turba tacita e devota. 
 
 Negli occhi era ciascuna oscura e cava, 
 Pallida nella faccia, e tanto scema 
 
 9 The pleasure of hearing them repaid the labour. 
 11 Labia mea Domine. Ps. li. 15, with allusion to the glutton's 
 abuse of his lips to sin.
 
 CANTO xxiii. PURGATORY. 279 
 
 the skin took its form from the bones. I do not believe 
 that when his hide alone was left, Erisichthon became so 
 dried by hunger, when he most had fear of it. I began to 
 say within myself, thinking : " Lo the folk who lost Jerusalem 
 when Mary set her teeth in her son ! " Their eye-hollows 
 appeared rings without gems : whoso reads OMO in the face 
 of men, would surely there have recognised the M. Who 
 would have believed that the scent of an apple would so 
 have ordered, begetting a longing, and that of a stream, if 
 
 Che dalP ossa la pelle s' informava. 
 
 Non credo che cosi a buccia strema 
 Erisiton si fusse fatto secco 
 Per digiunar, quando piu n' ebbe tema. 
 
 lo dicea fra me stesso pensando, Ecco 
 La gente che perde Gerusalemme, 
 Quando Maria *riel figlio die di becco. 30 
 
 Parean 1' occhiaie anella senza gemme. 
 Chi nel viso degli uomini legge omo, /f 
 Bene avria quivi conosciuto 1'^emme. Ss~ 
 
 Chi crederebbe che F odor d' un pomo 
 Si governasse, generando brama, b 
 E quel d' un' acqua, non sapendo como ? c 
 
 b gpvernando generasse 5. c e quel dunqite 145. 
 
 26 For the story of Erisichthon, see Ov. Met. viii. 738 sqq. 
 
 2 ? Some take tema as = " cause," "ground;" Lat. thema, but 
 this, as Blanc points out, is unsatisfactory ; nor does there seem any 
 difficulty about the usual rendering. 
 
 30 Josephus relates that, during the siege of Jerusalem, a woman 
 named Mary was constrained by hunger to eat her own child. Cf. , 
 Deuter. xxviii. 57. die di becco, cf. dar di piglio, di mono, di I 
 cozzo, etc., see note to i. 49. Philalethes boldly renders "schnabeL" 
 
 32 ' The eyes make the o's, the eye orbits and nose the m.
 
 280 PURGATORY. CANTO xxin. 
 
 he knew not how ? I was already in act to look what so 
 hungered them, by reason of the occasion, not yet manifest, 
 of their leanness, and of their sorry scurf; and lo ! from 
 the depth of its head a shade turned its eyes on me, and 
 gazed fixedly ; then cried aloud : " What grace, I pray, is 
 this ? " Never should I have recognised him by the face, 
 but in his voice became clear to me that which the aspect 
 held subdued in itself. This spark rekindled in me all my 
 
 Gia era in ammirar che si gli affama, 
 Per la cagione ancor non manifesta 
 Di lor magrezza e di lor trista squama : 
 
 Ed ecco del profondo della testa 40 
 
 Volse a me gli occhi un' ombra, e guardb fiso, 
 Poi grido forte : Qual grazia m' e questa ? 
 
 Mai non 1' avrei riconosciuto al viso : 
 Ma nella voce sua mi fu palese 
 Cio che 1' aspetto in se avea conquiso. d 
 
 Questa favilla tutta mi raccese 
 
 d I 1 aspetto suo av. Gg. 
 
 38 Both for sense and construction cf. xxii. 30. 
 
 39 squama. The " desquamation " of the skin is a well-known 
 symptom of extreme starvation. See, for example, The Times of 
 July 17, 1877, containing a report of the famine in the Madras 
 Presidency. Dante may have observed it in some of the frequent 
 
 ' famines of that time. 
 
 42 mi seems here to be a "dativus ethicus." " Was wird mir da 
 fiir Gnade." Philalethes. See Diez iii. 59. 
 
 45 conquiso. " Conquidere importunare, turbare," says Fanfani ; 
 but, as Blanc points out, there is no need here for any meaning other 
 than that of Fr. conqnis. Avea conquiso is not exactly a pluperfect 
 (cf. xviii. 51, xix. 1 6) ; rather, conquiso is in apposition with che, cio 
 being "his identity."
 
 CANTO xxin. PURGATORY. . 281 
 
 knowledge towards the altered lip, and I beheld again the 
 face of Forese. " Ah ! be not intent upon the dry scab 
 which discolours my skin," he began to pray, " nor upon 
 what lack of flesh I have ; but tell me the truth of thyself, 
 and who are those two souls who there make escort for 
 thee ; delay not thou to speak to me." " Thy face, which 
 
 Mia conoscenza alia cambiata labbia. 
 
 E ravvisai la faccia di Forese. 
 Deh non contendere all' asciutta scabbia, 
 
 Che mi scolora, pregava, la pelle, 50 
 
 Ne a difetto di carne ch' io abbia. 
 Ma dimmi il ver di te, e chi son quelle 6 
 
 Due anime che la ti fanno scorta : 
 
 Non rimaner che tunon mi favelle. 
 
 C/ o ^\*Af 9 *~~ - -"-^ 
 
 La faccia tua, ch' ij lagrimai gia morta, 
 dl chi Gg. Cass. 1234. 
 
 48 Forese Donati, brother of Corso and Piccarda (Par. iii. 49) and 
 kinsman of Dante's wife Gemma. (Landino, by the way, absurdly 
 confuses Corso with Francesco d'Accorso, the jurist, who is mentioned 
 Inf. xv. Vellutello goes further, and makes Forese brother of Accorso 
 himself, who died some forty years before Dante was born). 
 
 4 9 Blanc in his Dictionary makes an unnecessary difficulty about 
 contendere, and ends by taking it in "the Latin sense" of rtcusare, 
 comparing Inf. xvi. 29. But the usual rendering is in fact much more 
 in accordance with Latin ; cf. Lucr. iv. 802. " Stare ammirativo." 
 Vellutello. 
 
 s 1 Notice ch' io abbia, not ch' io ho, though just before we have 
 che scolora. But the meaning is not quite the same. It is a difetto, 
 not al difetto ; the fact being that the construction is somewhat confused 
 by the exigences of metre. But the point to which attention is drawn 
 is in the one case the existence of the scabbia, in the other the amount 
 of the difetto. Philalethes renders, "achte nicht auf jene Schuppen 
 die meine Haut verfarben, noch drauf, dass ich . . . Mangel leide."
 
 282 PURGATORY. CANTO xxm. 
 
 being dead I once wept for, gives me now no less pain of 
 sorrow," I answered him, "when I see it so distorted. 
 Wherefore tell me, in God's name, what strips you so; 
 make me not speak while I am marvelling, for ill can he 
 speak who is full of other wish." And he to me : " Of the 
 eternal counsel descends virtue into the water and into the 
 plant which is left behind us, whereby I am thus made lean. 
 All this folk who sing weeping, for following their appetite 
 beyond measure, in hunger and in thirst are here making 
 themselves again holy. The odour which issues from the 
 apple, and from the spray which spreads itself over the 
 greenery, kindles in us care of drink and food. And not 
 
 Mi da di pianger mo non minor doglia, 
 
 Rispos' io lui, veggendola si torta. 
 Perb mi di', per Dio, che si vi sfoglia ; { 
 
 Non mi far dir, mentr 5 io mi maraviglio ; 
 
 Che mal pub dir chi e pien d' altra voglia. 60 
 Ed egli a me : Dell' eterno consiglio 
 
 Cade virtu nell' acqua e nella pianta 
 
 Rimasa addietro, ond' io si mi sottiglio. 
 Tutta esta gente che piangendo canta, 
 
 Per seguitar la gola oltre misura, 
 
 In fame e in sete qui si rifa santa. 
 Di bere e di mangiar n' accende cura 
 
 L' odor ch' esce del porno e dello sprazzo 
 
 Che si distende su per la verdura. g 
 E non pure una volta, questo spazzo 70 
 
 f spoglia Gg. Cass. s discende Gg. Cass. 
 
 7 Probably meaning only that there were more trees than one ; 
 a second is mentioned in the next Canto. It may, however, if the 
 comma after volta be omitted, mean that the circuit had to be made 
 more than once.
 
 CANTO xxin. PURGATORY. 283 
 
 once only as we circle this course does our pain renew 
 itself; I say pain and I ought to say solace ; for that Will 
 leads us to the tree which led Christ with joy to say, ' Eli,' 
 when he freed us with his blood." And I to him : " Forese, 
 from that day in the which thou didst change world to a 
 better life, five years have not passed up to now. If the 
 power of sinning more was ended in thee before the hour 
 
 Girando, si rinfresca nostra pena : 
 lo dico pena, e dovria dir sollazzo : 
 
 Che quella voglia all' arbore ci mena, h 
 Che menb Cristo lieto a dire Eli, 
 Quando ne libero con la sua vena. 
 
 Ed io a lui : Forese, da quel di, 
 Nel qual mutasti mondo a miglior vita, 1 
 Cinqu 7 anni non son volti insino a qui. 
 
 Se prima fu la possa in te finita 
 
 h all albori Cass. aglalberi Gg. ! mnt. modo Gg. 
 
 "> voglia. Nearly all the commentators take this in much the 
 same sense as the talento of xxi. 64, and explain "as Christ desired to 
 expiate the sins of men, so we to expiate our sins." But this is surely 
 a false parallel, and it seems better to take voglia to mean "thewill 
 of God," with an allusion to "not my will but thine be done." The 
 Ottimo seems to see this also, though the note is somewhat rambling. 
 
 77 Not as it is usually rendered "Didst exchange the \\oi\d for a. 
 better life. " Dante is very careful about his use of articles ; and besides, 
 we should have had per, not a. Mutare mondo is like " mutar parte " 
 in Inf. xxvii. 51, or "mutar lato" xi. 102; Lat. "mutare sedes," 
 " urbem," etc. Cf. Petr. Son. cccii. " Contenta aver cangiato albergo." 
 I am aware that my rendering is somewhat awkward ; but ' ' change 
 world" may be defended on the analogy of such expressions as "change 
 front," etc. 
 
 79 " if you did not repent until infirmity put an end to your power 
 of sinning more [cf. xi. 90], how is it that you have not had to wait 
 longer at the foot of the mountain?" [cf. iv. 130 sqq.]. The " buon 
 dolor " I take to be merely death.
 
 284 PURGATORY. CANTO xxm. 
 
 came on of the kindly sorrow which re-weds us to God, 
 how art thou come thus high ? I thought to find thee still 
 yonder below, where time by time repairs itself." Where- 
 fore he to me : " My Nella, with her bursts of weeping, has 
 brought me thus speedily to drink the sweet wormwood of 
 the torments. With her devout prayers and with sighs she 
 has drawn me from the coast where one waits, and has 
 freed me from the other circles. My widow, whom so 
 much I loved, is the more dear to God, and more beloved, 
 in proportion as in good works she is solitary ; for the 
 
 Di peccar piu, che sorvenisse 1' ora 80 
 
 Del buon dolor ch' a Dio ne rimarita, 
 
 Come se' tu quassii venuto ? Ancora k 
 lo ti credea trovar laggiu di sotto, 
 Dove tempo per tempo si ristora. 1 
 
 Ond' egli a me : Si tosto m' ha condotto 
 A ber lo dolce assenzio de' martiri 
 La Nella mia col suo pianger dirotto. 
 
 Con suoi prieghi devoti e con sospiri 
 Tratto m' ha della costa ove s' aspetta, 
 E liberate m' ha degli altri giri. 90 
 
 Tant' e a Dio piu cara e piu diletta 
 La vedovella mia che molto amai, 
 Quanto in bene operare e piu soletta : 
 
 k di qua Aid. Land. ; venuto ancora ? Cass. Aid. Land. 
 1 tema per tern a 124. 
 
 82 The reading venuto ancora? involves taking ancora as equivalent 
 to gia, for which there seems no authority ; though, as non ancora is 
 the negative of gia, and vice versa, it is possible that the meaning of 
 ' ' hanc horam " may not yet have been definitely restricted to a future 
 signification.
 
 CANTO xxiir. PURGATORY. 285 
 
 Barbagia of Sardinia is in its women far more chaste than 
 the Barbagia where I left her. O sweet brother, what 
 wouldst thou that I say ? A time to come have I already 
 in view, whereat this hour shall not be very ancient, in 
 which it shall be forbidden in pulpit to the unblushing 
 dames of Florence to go showing the bosom with the paps. 
 
 Che la Barbagia di Sardigna assai 
 Nelle feminine sue e piu pudica, 
 Che la Barbagia dov' io la lasciai. 
 
 O dolce frate, che vuoi tu ch' io dica ? 
 Tempo future m' e gia nel cospetto, 
 Cui non sara quest' ora molto antica, 
 
 Nel qual sara in pergamo interdetto 100 
 
 Alle sfacciate donne Fiorentine 
 L' andar mostrando con le poppe il petto. 
 
 94 Barbagia is a district in the south of Sardinia. The inhabitants 
 are said to have been originally called Barbaricini, and to have sprung 
 from a settlement of prisoners (probably from Africa) by the Vandals. 
 At this time they formed a semi-savage tribe, independent of the juris- 
 diction of the Pisans or any other. The mention of Saracens in 1. 103 
 seems to suggest that they may have been regarded as the remainder of 
 those who at one time occupied the island. See Philalethes's note. 
 According to an authority quoted by Witte, the fashion of baring the 
 bosom seems to have continued among the women of this district almost 
 to the present time. 
 
 100 The Ottimo, apparently crediting Dante with real prophetic 
 powers, says that this denunciation from the pulpit occurred in 1351. 
 The reference of Philalethes to Villani ix. 245 is not much more to the 
 point, as the ordinance therein recorded was made in 1 324. Severe 
 sumptuary laws seem also to have been passed in 1329 (Vill. x. 153) ; 
 and in vi. 69, the historian compares the ancient simplicity with the 
 luxury of this time, much as Cacciaguida does in Par. xv. IOO sqq. He 
 does not, however, distinctly mention any ecclesiastical or other censure 
 to which Forese's words might refer.
 
 286 PURGATORY. CANTO xxm. 
 
 What women of Barbary, what Saracens were ever, for 
 whom there needed, to make them go covered, either 
 spiritual or other discipline? But if the shameless ones 
 were well informed of that sheaf which the swift heaven is 
 binding for them, already would they have their mouths 
 open to howl. For, if my foresight here deceives me not, 
 they will be sorrowful, ere he clothes with hair his cheeks 
 who now is comforted with lullaby. Ah brother ! now 
 hide thee no more from me ; thou seest that not only I, 
 but all this folk are gazing at that place where thou 
 screenest the Sun." Wherefore I to him : " If thou recall to 
 mind what thou wast with me and what I was with thee, still 
 will the present remembrance be grave. From that life he 
 
 Quai Barbare fur mai, quai Saracine, 
 Cui bisognasse, per farle ir coverte, 
 O spiritali o altre discipline ? 
 
 Ma se le svergognate fosser certe 
 
 Di quel che il ciel veloce loro ammanna," 1 
 Gia per urlare avrian le bocche aperte. 
 
 Che se 1' antiveder qui non m' inganna, 
 
 Prima fien triste che le guance impeli no 
 
 Colui che mo si consola con nanna. 
 
 Deh frate, or fa che piu non mi ti cell : 
 Vedi che non pur io, ma questa gente , 
 Tutta rimira la dove il sol veli. 
 
 Perch' io a lui : Se ti riduci a mente, 
 Quai fosti meco e quale io teco fui, 
 Ancor fia grave il memorar presente. 
 
 Di quella vita mi volse costui, 
 
 m di cib che Gg. 
 "' With allusion to lines 52, 59.
 
 CANTO xxiii. PURGATORY. 287 
 
 who goes before me turned me the other day, when round 
 the sister of him there showed herself" (and I showed the 
 Sun). " He has brought me through the deep night of those 
 dead indeed, with this true flesh which follows him. Thence 
 his succour has led me up, ascending and circling the 
 mountain which straightens you whom the world made 
 crooked. So long he speaks of bearing me company, till 
 I am there where Beatrice will be ; there it behoves that I 
 remain without him. Virgil is this who thus speaks to me " 
 
 Che mi va innanzi, T altr' ier, quanto tonda 
 Vi si mostro la suora di colui, 120 
 
 / E il sol mostrai. Costui per la profonda 
 Notte menato m' ha de' 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 sarb la dove fia Beatrice : p 
 Quivi convien che senza lui rimagna. 
 
 Virgilio e questi che cosi mi dice : 130 
 
 n viva carne Gg. riguardando Gg. Cass. P dove sara Gg. 
 
 1 1 " 9 1' altr' ier = literally "the other yesterday;" not of course in 
 its modern sense of "the day before yesterday." quando tonda, etc. 
 Cf. Inf. xx. 127. This portion of the poem is remarkable for a curious 
 variation on Dante's usual descriptive style. He introduces in 11. 121 
 and 131 of this Canto, and 19 and 89 of the next, short parentheses, 
 almost like stage directions, to describe some gesture of the speaker. 
 There is another instance in xxvi. 126. It will be observed that it is 
 only in the sixth and seventh circles that the shades have the free use of 
 eyes and limbs. Hitherto one or the other has always been under 
 some constraint.
 
 288 PURGATORY. CANTO xxnr. 
 
 (and I pointed to him), " and this other is that shade, for 
 whom erewhile your realm which is discharging him from 
 itself, shook every crag." 
 
 V 
 
 (_E addita' lo :ye quest' altro e quell' ombra, 
 
 Per cui scosse dianzi ogni pendice 
 Lo vostro regno, che da se la sgombra.
 
 CANTO XXIV. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Sixth circle continued. Dante has further talk with Forese, who points out 
 Pope Martin IV. and others. Bonagiunta of Lucca prophesies to 
 him concerning his exile ; and also speaks of the new art of poetry. 
 They pass on, hearing instances of the ills wrought by the sin of 
 gluttony ; and presently reach a very bright angel, who shows them 
 the passage to the next circle. 
 
 SPEECH made not going, nor going speech more slow ; but 
 in our converse we were going stoutly, as a ship urged by a 
 good wind. And the shades which seemed things twice 
 dead, through the pits of their eyes kept drawing in wonder 
 at me, being made aware of my living. And I, in con- 
 
 Nfi il dir 1' andar ne 1' andar lui piu lento 
 Facea, ma ragionando andavam forte, 
 SI come nave pinta da buon vento. 
 
 E 1' ombre, che parean cose rimorte, 
 Per le fosse degli occhi ammirazione 
 Traean di me, di mio vivere accorte. 
 
 Ed io continuando il mio sermone 
 
 2 andvam forte. Cf. xxi. 19. 
 
 7 continuando, from the words with which the last Canto ends. 
 
 U
 
 290 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 tinuance of my discourse, said : " He goes his way upward 
 perchance slower than he would do, for the sake of another. 
 But tell me, if thou knowest, where is Piccarda ; tell me if 
 I see any person to remark among this folk who so gaze on 
 me." "My sister, who, between fair and good, was I 
 know not which the most, triumphs already, joyful of her 
 crown, in the high Olympus." So said he first. And then : 
 "Here it is not forbidden to name each one, since our 
 likeness is so pressed out by reason of our fare. This" 
 (and he showed with his finger) " is Bonagiunta Bonagiunta 
 of Lucca and that face beyond him, more seamed than 
 
 Dissi : Ella sen va su forse piu tarda, 
 Che non farebbe, per 1' altruj cagione. 
 
 Ma dimmi, se tu sai, dov' e Piccarda; 10 
 
 Dimmi, s' io veggio da notar persona 
 Tra questa gente che si mi riguarda. 
 
 La mia sorella che tra bella e btiona 
 Non so qual fosse piu, trionfa lieta 
 Nell' alto Olimpo gia di sua corona. 
 
 Si disse prima ; e poi : Qui non si vieta 
 Di nominar ciascun, da ch' e si munta 
 Nostra sembianza via per la dieta. 
 
 Questi, e mostro col dito, e Bonagiunta, 
 
 Bonagiunta da Lucca : e quella faccia 20 
 
 8 ella, sc. anima, as elsewhere. 
 s 9 altrui : Dante himself. 
 
 '7 I have followed the general interpretation of munta here, and no 
 doubt mugnere is usually mulgere, as in xiii. 57 ; but mungere would 
 give a better sense here "wiped away." There seems, however, no 
 instance of this. 
 
 19 Bonagiunta of Lucca is mentioned De Vulg. El. i. 13 among 
 those who wrote in their local dialects. He was of the family of the 
 Orbicciani.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 291 
 
 the others, had the Holy Church in its arms. He was of 
 Tours, and through fasting purges the eels of Bolsena, and 
 the strong white wine." Many others he showed me one 
 by one; and with their naming all appeared content, so 
 
 Di la da lui, piu che 1' 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 mostrb ad uno ad uno : 
 
 - 1 trapunta. " Trapunto, lavoro fatto col punto d' ago ; ricamo." 
 Diet. Cr. Here it explains by "stenuato," a sense which it is not easy 
 to obtain from the literal meaning of the word. 
 
 22 I.e. was Pope, and therefore husband of the Church (cf. xix. 137). 
 It is Martin IV. who was Pope from January 25, I28|to March 24, 128*. 
 The date of his death given by Vfllani (vii. 106) is obviously a clerical 
 error ; and the matter has been further confused by the fact that some 
 historians seem to have partly overlooked the change of style, so that his 
 Papacy has been made, e.g. by Philalethes, to last a year too long. 
 His name was Simon de Brie. He was canon of St. Martin of Tours, 
 and obtained the tiara by the aid of Charles of Anjou, with whom the 
 previous Pope Nicholas III. had not been on good terms. Though he 
 did his best for the French cause he was unable to prevent the reverses 
 which befell Charles in his later years. His reign opened with the 
 Sicilian Vespers, and before the end of it his patron was dead of grief, 
 leaving his son a prisoner in the hands of his enemies. Villani speaks 
 well of Martin IV., and does not mention his gluttonous propensity, 
 which, however, is testified to by various anecdotes. 
 
 24 vernaccia, Sp. garnacka, means a certain choice grape, and the 
 wine made from it ; also a drink of wine and honey. In the Decameron, 
 however (Day x. Nov. 2), Ghino di Tacco gives the Abbot of Cluny 
 dry toast and vernaccia in order to restore his health, impaired by too 
 much good living ; so that in that case it would seem to be some less 
 choice wine. Here, too, as Pope Martin is said to have drowned his 
 eels in the wine, it may be doubted if he would have used the best 
 wine for that purpose. Philalethes has " Firnewein." 
 
 U 2
 
 292 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 that I saw not therefore one surly gesture. Using for very 
 hunger their teeth on emptiness I saw Ubaldino of La Pila r 
 and Boniface, who shepherded many peoples with his staff. 
 I saw Master Marchese, who once had room to drink at 
 Forli with less thirst, and even so was such that he felt 
 himself not sated. But as he does who looks, and then 
 
 E del nomar parean tutti contenti, 
 Si ch' io pero non vidi un attp.bruno. q&^r^ 
 Vidi per fame a vuoto usar li denti 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ubaldin dalla Pila, e Bonifazio 
 Che pasturb col rocco molte genti. 30 
 
 Vidi Messer Marchese, ch' ebbe spazio 
 Gia di bere a Forli con men secchezza, 
 E si fu tal che non si senti sazio. 
 
 =9 Ubaldino (of Pila, a castle in the Mugello, or upper valley of the 
 Sieve) belonged to the powerful Ghibelline family of the Ubaldini. 
 Philalethes finds that he was father of Archbishop Roger of Pisa 
 (Inf. xxxiii.), brother of Cardinal Octavian (Inf. x. 120, if it be he who 
 is there intended), and uncle of Ugolino d'Azzo (xiv. 105). There is 
 more variance of opinion as to the identity of Boniface, who was 
 Archbishop of Ravenna, 1274-1295. The Ottimo says nothing ; 
 Landino says, "fu francioso ;" Vellutello makes him son to Ubaldino ; 
 Philalethes, however, finds them both in error, and believes him to 
 have been of the family of the Fieschi, and nephew of Pope Innocent IV. 
 He was employed by Honorius IV. to settle the quarrel between 
 France and Aragon. 
 
 30 rocco. There is a question whether the word means here 
 "rochet," or "pastoral staff." I have preferred the latter, as giving a 
 better sense, following herein Blanc and Bianchi ; Philalethes translates 
 " Priesterrock," but is not positive. See also Glossary, s.v. " Rocco." 
 
 31 Messer Marchese of Forli, according to Landino and others, 
 belonged to the family of the Rigogliosi, but even this is uncertain. 
 The story goes that "dicendo il canovaio, che per tutto si dicea, che 
 non facea mai altro che bere, rispose ridendo, Perche non dicon essi 
 \al. di tu loro], ch' io ho sempre sete ? " Landino.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 293 
 
 takes account more of one than another, did I to him of 
 Lucca, who more appeared to wish acquaintance of me. 
 He was muttering; and I think I heard "Gentucca," there 
 where he felt the stroke of the justice which so plucks 
 
 Ma come fa chi guarda, e poi fa prezza 3 
 
 Piu d' un che d' altro, fe' io a quel da Lucca, 
 Che piu parea di me voler contezza. b 
 
 Ei mormorava ; e non so che Gentucca 
 Sentiva io la ov' ei sentia la piaga 
 Delia giustizia che si gli pilucca. 
 
 a s' apprezza Cass. 124 ; si prezza W. '; e non si p. 3. 
 b di me aver Cass. W. ; veder 14. 
 
 3 6 voler gives so much the best sense that I have adopted it, rather 
 against authority, contezza, cf. xx. 29. 
 
 w Gentucca. This word has puzzled commentators as much as 
 anything in the whole poem. Two explanations have been proposed : 
 (a) Benvenuto and the Ottimo take the word as equivalent to gentuccia, 
 " low or common folk," and the former understands it as an allusion to 
 injurious expressions used by Dante of Lucca, while the latter, taking 
 "non so che" as part of the speaker's words, sees in them a prophecy 
 of the rise of the White party and the "popolani ; " (b) that Gentucca 
 was the name of a Lucchese lady, of whom Dante was said to be en- 
 amoured, platonically or otherwise. This is the view of Buti, Landino, etc. 
 Blanc agrees with Benvenuto, because Gentucca is not found elsewhere 
 as a proper name, and, moreover, Dante would not be likely to refer to 
 any irregular passion later than the supposed date of the Vision. But 
 is gentucca for gentuccia supported by any analogy ? and is there any 
 reason to suppose that Dante's relations with the Femmina of 1. 43 
 were other than honourable ? On the whole, Philalethes seems justified 
 in calling this view " sehr abenteuerlich," and in preferring, with 
 Bianchi, the other, and, as I venture to think, at once simpler and more 
 poetical explanation of this difficult passage. 
 
 38 Ik, i.e. between his lips. It is of course impossible to render the 
 double sentiva. 
 
 39 pilucca, a similar metaphor to "si vi sfoglia," xxiii. 58.
 
 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 
 them. "O soul," said I, "who seemest so desirous to 
 speak with me, do so that I may understand thee, and 
 satisfy thyself and me with thy speech." "A woman is 
 born, and wears not yet the wimple," he began, " who shall 
 make my city please thee, in what fashion soever men may 
 blame it. Thou shalt go thy way with this presage : if in 
 my muttering thou didst receive error, the truth of things 
 shall yet make it clear to thee. But say, if I see here him 
 who drew forth the new rimes beginning, 'Ladies who 
 
 O anima, diss' io, che par si vaga 40 
 
 Di parlar meco, fa si ch' io t' intenda ; 
 E te e me col tuo parlare appaga. c 
 
 Femmina e nata, e non porta ancor benda, 
 Comincib ei, che ti fara piacere 
 La mia citta, come ch' uom la riprenda. d 
 
 Tu te n' andrai con questo antivedere : 
 Se nel mio mormorar prendesti errore, e 
 Dichiareranti ancor le cose vere. 
 
 Ma di' s' io veggio qui colui che fuore 
 
 Trasse le nuove rime, cominciando, 50 
 
 Donne, eft avete intelletto d'amore. 
 
 c del tuo Gg. & come Ftiom Gg. Se del Gg. 
 
 43 Femmina. The Ottimo identifies her with the Alagia of xix. 142 
 (as an alternative to the symbolical interpretation already mentioned), 
 who is said to have been married to Moroello Malaspina. The benda 
 ^ was the headdress of married women and (as in viii. 74) of widows. 
 
 45 This line seems to dispose of Benvenuto's explanation given above. 
 There is a clear opposition between the pleasure which Lucca will give 
 to Dante, and the hard things said of it, not by him as if that were 
 right we should expect but by others. 
 
 51 The beginning of the first Canzone in the Vita Nuova.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 295 
 
 understanding have of love.' " And I to him : " I am one 
 who mark when Love inspires, and in that fashion which he 
 dictates within, go setting it forth." "O brother, now I 
 see," said he, " the knot which held back the Notary, and 
 Guittone, and myself, short of the sweet new style which I 
 
 Ed io a lui : lo mi son un che, quando 
 Amore spira, noto, ed a quel modo, 
 Ch' ei detta dentro, vo significando. 
 
 O frate, issa__yegg' io, diss' egli, il nodo, 
 Che il Notaio e Guittone e me ritenne 
 Di qua dal dolce stil nuovo ch' i' odo. g 
 
 f disse, il n. 3 W. % el nucrvo chiodo Cass. 
 
 53 noto. The Ottimo absurdly takes this with spira, " when Love 
 blows full south," and thereupon gives a long account of the names of 
 the different winds ! 
 
 55 issa, Lombard for or a. Cf. Inf. xxvii. 21. Landino says it is a 
 Lucchese idiom, for which he is severely reproved by Vellutello, who 
 defends the purity of his native dialect at the expense of the Florentine. 
 
 56 il Notaio. Jacopo, of Lentino in Sicily, one of the early writers 
 of sonnets and canzoni, seems to have flourished about the middle of the 
 1 3th century. Ginguene gives several specimens of his verses, a good 
 many of which are extant. The two last quotations in Vulg. El. i. 12 
 are from him. Guittone d'Arezzo, one of the brotherhood of Frati 
 Godenti, has the credit of having, if not invented, at least established 
 the sonnet in its regular form. See note to xi. 97. 
 
 57 Di qua = Lat. citra. ch' i' odo : Cass. reading e '1 nuovo 
 chiodo, translates novum davum, and explains: "Alludens vendentibus 
 cartam Bononiae, et quaternos cum lineis habentibus certos clavos in se, 
 secundum . . . formam librorum et voluminum veterum vel novorum. " 
 Another note, however, has " Quasi diceret, si modo deberem meas 
 rimas compillare, modus quern tenes esset clavus meae menti ; videlicet 
 nunquam scriberem nisi incitatus a corde." Benvenuto, confusing 11. 55 
 and 57, has " ora conosco el novo chiodo 1' ostacolo che ritenne" etc.
 
 296 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 hear. I see well how your pens go along straitly after 
 him who dictates, the which surely did not happen to ours. 
 And he who sets himself to look beyond this, sees no 
 more from the one to the other style." And as though 
 satisfied, he held his peace. 
 
 As the birds that winter along the Nile for a space form in 
 the air a troop, then fly more swiftly and go in file, so all the 
 folk that were there, turning away their faces, hastened their 
 
 lo veggio ben come le vostre penne 
 Diretro al dittator sen vanno strette, 
 II che alle nostre certo non avvenne. 60 
 
 E qual piii a guardar oltre si mette, h 
 Non vede piu dall' uno all' altro stilo. 
 E quasi contentato si tacette. 
 
 Come gli augei che vernan lungo il Nilo, 
 Alcuna volta in 1' aer fanno schiera,' 
 Poi volan piu in fretta e vanno in filo ; 
 
 Cosi tutta la gente che li era, 
 
 alii gradir 
 
 h piii a gradir (alt. fr. guardar) Gg.; piu a riguardar Cass. ; a 
 rig. W. ; pin 124. piu a rig. W. ; piu a gradir 3 Aid. 
 
 1 nel aeref. riga Cass. ; di sef. s. Benv. ; di lor Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 60 I have ventured to make what seems an obvious correction in this 
 line. The usual reading is Che delle nostre, etc. But awenire di 
 means "to result from" (as in Inf. iv. 28); while the meaning here 
 can only be "to befall," in which sense there does not appear to be any 
 authority for the use of di with awenire. Moreover, where the ante- 
 cedent is a sentence, il che, if not invariable, is far more usual than che. 
 
 6t - 6y See note at the end of this Canto. 
 
 64 Cf. xxvi. 43, Inf. v. 47. Dante's images from birds have been 
 often noticed.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 297 
 
 pace ; nimble both through leanness and through goodwill. 
 And as the man-who is weary of running lets his companions 
 go, and so paces on until the panting of his chest is 
 allayed, thus Forese let pass on the holy flock, and came 
 along behind me, saying : " When will it come to pass that 
 I see thee again ? " "I know not," I answered him, " how 
 long I may live ; but never will my return be so speedy 
 that I shall not be with my wish sooner at the shore; 
 because the place where I was put to live from day to day 
 grows thinner of good, and seems ordained to woful ruin." 
 
 Volgendo il viso raffretto suo passo, 
 E per magrezza e per voler leggiera. k 
 
 E come 1' uom che di trottare e lasso, 70 
 
 Lascia andar li compagni, e si passeggia 
 Fin che si sfoghi 1^ affollar del casso ; : 
 
 Si lascio trapassar la santa greggia 
 Forese, e dietro meco sen veniva 
 Dicendo : Quando fia ch' i' ti riveggia ? 
 
 Non so, risposi lui, quant' io mi viva ; 
 Ma gia non fia il tornar mio tanto tosto, 
 Ch' io non sia col voler prima alia riva. 
 / Perocche il luogo, u' fui a viver posto, 
 
 Di giorno in giorno piu di ben si spolpa, 80 
 
 E a trista ruina par disposto. 
 
 k pervolar Cass. Gg. (alt.) 124. 
 1 sfoga Cass. 14 ; finchessi sfoga Gg. 
 
 71 reading si passeggia. Bianchi reads si, as in mi viva, 1. 76. 
 
 72 casso. So Inf. xii. 122 and elsewhere. I have used "chest," 
 from the similarity of idiom ; but it must not be supposed that " capsa " 
 and "cista " are etymologically akin.
 
 298 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 " Go now thy way," said he, " for him who has therefore 
 most blame I see dragged at the tail of a beast toward the 
 valley where there is no forgiveness. The beast at every 
 step goes ever faster, increasing until it strikes him, and 
 leaves the body vilely undone. Those wheels" (and he 
 directed his eyes to the heaven) " have not far to turn for 
 that to become clear to thee which my speech cannot 
 make clearer. Now do thou stay behind, for time is so 
 
 Or va, diss' ei, che quei che piu n' ha colpa, 
 Vegg' io a coda d' una bestia tratto 
 In ver la valle ove mai non si scolpa. 
 
 La bestia ad ogni passo va piu ratto, 
 
 Crescendo sempre fin ch' ella il percuote, 
 E lascia il corpo vilmente disfatto. 
 
 Non hanno molto a volger quelle ruote. 
 
 E drizzb gli occhi al ciel, che ti fia chiaro m 
 
 Cib che il mio dir piu dichiarar non puote. 90 
 
 Tu ti rimani omai, che il tempo e caro 
 
 m cK 1 a te fia Gg. Aid. Bi. 
 
 82 Or va. So viii. 133. quei. The commentators agree in under- 
 standing the reference to be to Corso Donati, though Forese's prophecy 
 does not strictly agree with the manner of his death as related by Villani 
 (viii. 96) and others, who say that having fled from the city he was 
 captured by some Catalonian mercenaries, and chancing to fall, either 
 by accident or design, from his horse, was killed by them. This happened 
 in 1308. May not the language, however, be metaphorical? Thus the 
 bestia would be the popular party, of which Corso once thought him- 
 self the head, while he was really being dragged on by them, and by 
 which he was ultimately destroyed. Cf. belva, xiv. 62. It is curious 
 that Padre d' Aquino omits these three lines from his Latin version, his 
 usual practice only where the Papacy is attacked.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 299 
 
 precious in this realm, that I lose too much going thus level 
 with thee." 
 
 As issues sometimes at a gallop a horseman from a troop 
 which rides, and goes to do himself honour in the first 
 assault, so departed he from us with greater strides; and 
 I remained in the way with but the two, who were so great 
 commanders of the world. And when he was gone so far 
 in front of us that my eyes went in pursuit of him in like 
 manner as my mind of his words, there appeared to me the 
 laden and living branches of another apple tree, and not 
 
 In questo regno si, ch' io perdo troppo 
 
 Venendo teco si a paro a paro. 
 Qual' esce alcuna volta di galoppo 
 
 Lo cavalier di schiera che cavalchi, 
 
 E va per farsi onof del primo intoppo ; 
 Tal si parti da noi con maggior valchi : 
 
 Ed io rimasi in via con esso i due," 
 
 Che fur del mondo si gran marescalchi. 
 E quando innanzi a noi si entrato fue, 100 
 
 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, 
 
 n con essi due Cg. 
 
 9* As happened actually at Campaldino, notes Philalethes. 
 
 99 Notice marescalchi, " marshals," already in its modern use of 
 high officers. 
 
 101 I.e. his form was no clearer to my eyes than his words to my 
 mind.
 
 300 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 very far off, seeing that I had but then turned that way. 
 I saw folk beneath it raise their hands and cry I know not 
 what, towards the leaves ; like children who pray eagerly 
 and in vain, and he who is prayed answers not; but to 
 make their wish be very keen holds their desire on high, 
 and hides it not. Then they departed, as if undeceived ; 
 and right so came we to the great tree, which rejects so 
 many prayers and tears. "Pass ye on further without 
 drawing near ; a tree there is higher up which was eaten of 
 by Eve, and this plant was raised from it." Thus among 
 the branches some one spake ; wherefore Virgil, and Statius, 
 and I, drawing close together, went further on the side 
 
 Per esser pure allora volto in laci. 
 Vidi gente sott' esso alzar le mani, 
 
 E gridar non so clie verso le fronde, 
 
 Quasi bramosi fantolini e vani, 
 Che pregano, e il pregato non risponde ; 
 
 Ma per fare esser ben lor voglia acuta, no 
 
 Tien alto lor disio, e nol nasconde. 
 Poi si parti si come ricreduta : 
 
 E noi venimmo al grande arbore adesso, 
 
 Che tanti prieghi e lagrime rifiuta. 
 Trapassate oltre senza farvi presso : 
 
 Legno e piu su che fu morso da Eva, 
 
 E questa pianta si levb da esso. 
 Si tra le frasche non so chi diceva : 
 
 Per che Virgilio e Stazio ed io ristretti 
 
 f. o nani Gg. 
 
 103 I.e. because we had only just turned the shoulder of the 
 mountain sufficiently to come in sight of it. The curve would by this 
 time have become sharp. 
 
 116 The tree of knowledge, Canto xxxii.
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 301 
 
 where is the rise. " Bethink ye," it said, " of the accursed 
 ones formed in the clouds, who, when full fed, fought 
 against Theseus with their twofold breasts ; and of the 
 Hebrews, who showed themselves at the drinking weak, so 
 that Gideon would not have them for companions when he 
 descended the hills toward Midian." So skirting one of 
 the two edges we passed, hearing faults of gluttony, already 
 followed by unhappy guerdon. Then, spreading out again 
 over the solitary road, full a thousand paces and more we 
 bore ourselves further, each contemplating without a word. 
 
 Oltre andavam dal lato che si leva. 120 
 
 Ricordivi, dicea, de' maladetti 
 
 Ne' nuvoli formati, che satolli 
 
 Teseo combatter coi doppj petti : 
 E degli Ebrei ch' al her si mostrar molli, 
 
 Che non gli voile Gedeon compagni, p 
 
 Quando inver Madian discese i colli. q 
 Si accostati all' un de' duo vivagni, 
 
 Passammo udendo colpe della gola 
 
 Seguite gia da miseri guadagni. 
 Poi rallargati per la strada sola, 130 
 
 Ben mille passi e piu ci portammo oltre/ 
 
 Contemplando ciascun senza parola, 
 
 P Perche non if ebbe Cass. 1234 Aid. ; non gli ebbe Bi. ; no' i voile W. 
 i distese Gg. 1234. r ci portar Gg. Cass. W. 
 
 120 I.e. between the tree and the rock. 
 
 121 The Centaurs, born of Ixion and a cloud. The allusion is to 
 their fight "super mero" with the Lapithae and Theseus, at the 
 wedding of Pirithous. Ov. Met. xii. 2iosqq. 
 
 125 I have followed the reading of Gg., which seems to give the 
 best sense without spoiling the rhythm.
 
 302 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 " Whereof go ye so in thought, ye lone three ?" a sudden voice 
 said ; whereat I started, as do beasts affrighted and timid. 
 I raised my head to see who it was, and never were seen 
 in furnace glass or metal so shining and ruddy as I saw one 
 who was saying : " If it pleases you to mount upward, here 
 it behoves to turn ; this way he goes who would go for his 
 peace." His aspect had taken away my sight ; wherefore I 
 turned back to my teachers, like a man who goes according 
 as he hears. And as, a herald of the dawn, the breeze of 
 May stirs and smells sweet, all impregnate with the grass 
 and with the flowers ; so felt I a wind touch me amid the 
 
 Che andate pensando si 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 si lucenti e rossi, 
 
 Com' io vidi un che dicea : S' a voi piace 
 
 Montare in su, qui si convien dar volta; 5 140 
 Quinci si va chi vuole andar per pace. 
 
 L' aspetto suo m' avea la vista tolta : 
 
 Perch' io mi volsi indietro a' miei dottori 
 Com' uom che va secondo ch' egli ascolta. 
 
 E quale, annunziatrice degli albori, 
 L' aura di Maggio muovesi^H olezza, 
 Tutta impregnata dalP erba e da' fiori, 
 
 Tal mi senti' un vento dar per mezza 
 
 s montare in p. Gg. 
 
 148 Compare with this the passage from the third circle, xvii. 67, 
 and see note to xxii. 5.
 
 CANTO xxrv. PURGATORY. 303 
 
 forehead, and well I heard the plumes move that made me 
 perceive the fragrance of ambrosia ; and I heard say : 
 " Blessed are they whom so great grace illumines, that the 
 love of taste makes not too great desire smoke in their 
 breasts ; hungering always for whatsoever is righteous." 
 
 La fronte : e ben senti' muover la piuma 
 
 Che fe' sentir d' ambrosia 1' orezza : 150 
 
 E senti' dir : Beati cui alluma 
 
 Tanto di grazja, che 1' amor del gusto 
 Nel petto lor troppo disir non fuma, 
 
 Esuriendo sempre quanto e giusto. ^9 
 
 *&* *53 Bianchi notes the contrast between alluma and fuma. 
 *s* I.e. reserving their hunger "for righteousness, not for bodily food. 
 Not, I think, " hungering in moderation." 
 
 NOTE TO LINES 61, 62. 
 
 " Luogo oscurissimo," says Blanc (in his Dictionary, s.v. gradire), 
 and, it may be added, almost certainly corrupt. In fact the whole of 
 this passage, from L 52 onwards, has, as may be seen from the notes to 
 1L 53 and 57, puzzled the commentators terribly. Pietro di Dante 
 passes it almost without notice ; Benvenuto is only just better than the 
 " alcuni," who, as he tells us, " per dittatore vogliono interpretar 
 Tullio sommo oratore " (!) ; Landino makes good enough sense, but one 
 hardly to be extracted from the words, and the moderns have mostly 
 followed him. Setting aside slight differences of arrangement, there are 
 two readings of L 6l, both of nearly equal authority and both equally 
 difficult to interpret satisfactorily. These are " qua! pin: a gradir," and 
 41 qua! piu a guardar " or " riguardar." In two of the three MSS. at
 
 304 PURGATORY. CANTO xxiv. 
 
 Cambridge, each of these readings finds one supporter, while the third 
 and best, that which I have called " Gg.," having originally contained 
 aguardar, now shows an alteration in a hand not much later, to 
 agrardir (sic). Codex Cassinensis halts in much the same way, 
 giving riguardar in the line, with the variant gradir written over it. 
 Benvenuto has gridar, but attempts no explanation. Of the early 
 editions, 3, Aldus, and others, have gradir, and are followed by 
 Lombardi, Blanc, Philalethes (giving, however, a different rendering), 
 and Fraticelli ; while Bianchi, Scartazzini, and Witte, after 124, and 
 Landino, prefer guardar or riguardar. Those who take gradire, 
 mostly explain, with Lombardi, "he who goes beyond the leader in the 
 wish to give more pleasure ; " but Philalethes, following Tommaseo, 
 understands gradire as = Lat. gradlri. There is, however, no autho- 
 rity for the latter rendering, and not much for the former, gradire 
 being usually "to accept," not " to give pleasure." If we read riguardar, 
 Bianchi's interpretation is as good as any : " Chiunque si pone a riguar- 
 dare piu a dentro, chi approfondisce coll' intelletto i vostri componi- 
 menti." Either of these, however, has very little connection with 
 what has gone before ; but the main difficulty is in the next line. There 
 is, as far as I know, no variety of readings here, nor, from Landino 
 downwards, much difference of interpretation. Benvenuto, Buti, and 
 the Ottimo, give indeed various explanations, which greatly need ex- 
 plaining themselves ; but Landino's " Dante precede tanto, che non 
 si puo veder tutto lo spatio che e tra lui e chi riman dietro," is intelli- 
 gible enough, and most commentators since, whatever reading of the 
 preceding line they took, have accepted his view that 1. 61 means literally 
 "cannot see the distance between the old style [that of artificial con- 
 ceits, etc.] and the new [that of simply writing as Love prompts]." 
 But surely this meaning can, in the first place, only be extracted from 
 the words by doing great violence to the,ir obvious sense. "To see from 
 one to the other," is not the same as "to see the distance between one 
 and the other," " discernere la differenza che c' e fra," as Scartazzini puts 
 it. Further, if the meaning were ever so clear in the words, what is 
 the connection of the thought? "Now I see," says Bonagiunta, 
 ' ' wherein we of the old school failed as compared with you. I see 
 how you write as you feel the inspiration, and in obedience only to it ; 
 which was not our case." Surely it is a very lame conclusion to say : 
 " And he who tries to please more [or to look farther] does not realise 
 the difference between the styles. " Scartazzini's suggestion of gradire 
 altri, though (if gradire without a is admissible) it is somewhat sup- 
 ported by V.N. xxv. ("coloro che rimano sopra altra mciteria), does
 
 CANTO xxiv. PURGATORY. 305 
 
 not, as he fondly thinks, remove the difficulties. What we want is 
 something like the following : 
 
 " Che qual pur a suo grado oltre si mette 
 Non viene piu dall' uno all' altro stilo." 
 
 I.e. "For whoso, merely at his own pleasure, sets himself beyond 
 (does not follow) the dittator has no chance of arriving at the new and 
 improved style. " This will, I think, be found to complete, pretty satis- 
 factorily, the thought expressed by Bonagiunta ; and the departure from 
 either of the received readings is, letter for letter, very small. " Vade " 
 would be preferable to "viene," if there were any instance of such a 
 form, which I doubt. The suggestion of a suo grado is in agreement 
 with the use on the part of the Cassinese commentator (though his note 
 is very confused) of such phrases as " suo motu," "ad libitum ; " and 
 even Vellutello's "si mette a volersi avanzare " looks as if there was 
 some traditional interpretation pointing to this or a similar reading. 
 
 Of course, without some MS. authority, my reading must remain 
 conjectural, and as such I could not venture to put it outright in the 
 text ; but I feel almost certain that it, or something like it, was what 
 Dante wrote. 
 
 It should be added that of the best-known English translations, one 
 (Gary) has 
 
 He that seeks a grace beyond 
 Sees not the distance parts one style from other ; 
 
 and the other (Longfellow) : 
 
 And he who sets himself to go beyond, 
 
 No difference sees from one style to another.
 
 CANTO XXV. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 As they proceed, Statins, taking occasion from Dante's question how hunger 
 can be felt where there is no body, expounds the nature of the soul, 
 from its first origin in the embryo, and shows how it forms to itself a 
 spiritual body after the other is dead. They reach the seventh circle, 
 where the sin of lust is purged, and hear the souls singing amid a great 
 fire, and commemorating examples of chastity. 
 
 IT was an hour from which the ascent brooked not a cripple, 
 for the Sun had left to the Bull and Night to the Scorpion 
 
 ORA era onde il salir non volea storpio, 
 Che il Sole avea lo cerchio di merigge 
 Lasciato al Tauro, e la notte allo Scorpio. 
 
 1 onde appears to have most authority ; though Bianchi and some 
 others read che. Blanc says "von welcher aus" in his Erklarungen, 
 but "e percio" in his Diet. The last, however, requires an awkward 
 parenthesis between ora and its relative (as on this construction it must 
 be) che, and we should expect 1' ora. 
 
 2 - 3 Aries, in which the Sun was, had passed the meridian, and 
 Taurus was on it, which would make the time about 2 P.M. La Notte 
 as in ii. 4, and Inf. xxiv. 3, means that part of the heavens which is 
 opposite to the Sun. This would be now in Libra, and Libra would be 
 wholly past the meridian, its place being taken by Scorpio (the sign). 
 This would now be culminating on the opposite side of the earth. Cf. 
 xviii. 79.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 307 
 
 the meridian circle ; wherefore as does the man who stays 
 him not, but goes upon his way, whatever may appear to 
 him, if prick of business goads him, thus entered we 
 through the passage, one before another taking the stair, 
 that through its narrowness uncouples those who mount. 
 And as the young stork that lifts its wing through wish to 
 fly, and attempts not to leave the nest, and lets it drop, 
 such was I with will of asking kindled and quenched, 
 coming at last to the action which he does who makes 
 ready to speak. For all that our going was quick, my sweet 
 
 Per che, come fa 1' uom che non s' affigge, 
 Ma vassi alia via sua, checche gli appaia, 
 Se di bisogna stimolo il trafigge ; 
 
 Cos! entrammo noi per la callaia, 
 
 Uno anzi all' altro prendendo la scala, 
 Che per artezza i salitor disrjaia. 
 
 E quale il cicognin che leva 1' ala 10 
 
 Per voglia di volare, e non s' attenta 
 D' abbandonar lo nido, e giu la cala ; 
 
 Tal era io con voglia accesa e spenta 
 Di dimandar, venendo infino all' atto 
 Che fa colui ch' a dicer s' argomenta. 
 
 Non lascio per 1' andar che fosse ratto, 
 
 6 bisogno, " necessity," is the usual reading; but bisogna seems 
 to give a better sense. There is of course no difference originally 
 between the two words ; and the idea of a man who has an urgent 
 business on hand seems more in Dante's style. 
 
 8 Here, and in xxvi. I, I have followed a variant given by Witte, as 
 innanzi is seldom a preposition of place. 
 
 9 dispaia. Cf. xii. i. 
 
 15 s' argomenta, " equips himself." See note to ii. 31. 
 
 16 There is some difference of opinion as to the meaning of non 
 lascio. Landino takes it as "did not overlook" ("s" accorse^") ; so 
 
 X 2
 
 308 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 Father missed it not, but said : " Discharge the bow of thy 
 speech, which thou hast drawn even to the iron." Then 
 securely I opened my mouth, and began : " How can one 
 grow lean there where the need of nourishment touches 
 not?" "If thou hadst called to mind how Meleager was 
 consumed in the consuming of a firebrand this would not 
 be," said he, " so harsh to thee ; and if thou hadst thought 
 
 Lo dolce Padre mio, ma disse : Scocca 
 
 L' arco del dir, eke infino al ferro hai tratto. 
 
 Allor sicuramente aprii la bocca, 
 
 E cominciai : Come si puo far magro, 20 
 
 La dove 1' uopo di nutrir non tocca ? 
 
 Se t' ammentassi come Meleagro 
 
 Si consume al consumar d' un stizzo, 
 Non fora, disse, questo a te si agro. 
 
 Witte, " bemerkt' es ; " Vellutello, " non lasso di dir," and so Bianchi ; 
 Philalethes translates "nicht schwieg," which looks as if he agreed with 
 the last, per ratto. The subj. fosse shows that che is not a relative, 
 but to be taken with per, Diez iii. 333 ; perche as in xiv. 55, or 
 xvii. 15. 
 
 17 scoccare properly applies rather to the arrow than the bow ; 
 but it seems to be used in as many ways as our "discharge." In vi. 
 130, the arrow "scocca;" here the man "scocca" the bow; in xxxi. 
 16, the bow "scocca." Ferro = the arrow-head. Others understand 
 it of the catch to which in a crossbow the string is drawn, and which is 
 let go by the trigger. 
 
 - 3 The story of Meleager is told in Ov. Met. viii. 260 sqq. The 
 point of this and the following allusion seems merely to be that we 
 have instances in other cases of physical changes in an object, real or 
 apparent, caused by the changes in another object without physical 
 communication between the two ; but the apparent good faith in which 
 the legend of Meleager is quoted, as equally good evidence on a scientific 
 question with a matter of everyday observation, is very curious. 
 
 23 consumar. This form, arising from a confusion with consummare, 
 accounts for the French consommer. 
 
 24 agro. Cf. "acerbo," Par. xxx. 79.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 309 
 
 how at your moving moves within the mirror your image, 
 that which appears hard would seem to thee easy. But in 
 order that thou mayest set thyself at ease within thy wish, 
 lo here is Statins, and I call and pray him that he be now 
 healer of thy wounds." " If I disclose to him the eternal 
 view," answered Statins, "where thou art present, let it 
 excuse me that I cannot to thee make denial." 
 
 Then he began : " If thy mind, my son, looks at and 
 
 E se pensassi come al vostro guizzo 
 
 Guizza dentro allo specchio vostra image," 
 Cib che par duro ti parrebbe vizzo. 
 
 Ma perche dentro a tuo voler t' adage, 
 Ecco qui Stazio : ed io lui chiamo e prego, 
 Che sia or sanator delle tue piage. 30 
 
 Se la veduta eterna gli dislego, b 
 Rispose Stazio, la dove tu sie, 
 Discolpi me non potert' io far niego. 
 
 Poi comincio : Se le parole mie, c 
 Figlio, la mente tua guarda e riceve, 
 
 a Drizza Cass. 
 b vendetta Aid. Land.; disflego Cass.; dispiego Bi. c che poi Cass. 124. 
 
 31 Several of the earlier edd. read vendetta (Land, by a printer's 
 error omitting gli). Philalethes follows them, and Blanc, in his 
 Erklarungen, though in his Diet, he seems uncertain. On the whole 
 it seems to have less authority than veduta, which Bianchi adopts 
 (reading also dispiego, after the Nidobeatina), though the objection that 
 the punishment of Purgatory is not eternal, does not seem of much 
 weight ; for we may understand eterna either as some do alaivios 
 in N. T., viz. as "affecting the eternal part of man, "or else "eternally 
 ordained" (cf. vi. 121). "La divina giustizia" Land. Veil. The 
 reading interna, which has been suggested, makes good sense, but is 
 unsupported.
 
 310 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 receives my words, they will be a light to thee for the ' how ' 
 which thou sayest. A perfected blood, which is never 
 drunk by the thirsty veins, and remains like food which 
 you remove from table, takes in the heart a virtue in- 
 formative in regard to all human members, as that does 
 which, to become these, runs its course through the veins. 
 Digested yet again, it descends to that part whereof it is 
 more seemly to be silent than to speak, and thence after- 
 wards it trickles upon another's blood in the natural vessel. 
 There the one and the other meet together, the one by 
 
 Lume ti fieno al^come_ che tu die. 
 
 Sangue perfetto, che mai non si beve 
 DalP assetate vene, e si rimane 
 Quasi alimento che di mensa leve, 
 
 Prende nel cuore a tutte membra umane, 40 
 
 Virtute informativa, come quello 
 Ch' a farsi quelle per le vene vane. Cf** 
 
 Ancor digesto scende ov' e piu bello 
 Tacer che dire : e quindi poscia geme 
 Sovr' altrui sangue in natural vasello. 
 
 Ivi s' accoglie 1' uno e 1' altro insieme, d 
 d in seme Aid. Land. 
 
 & il come. So "il quia," iii. 37. Diez iii. 289. 
 
 37 The passage which follows should be compared with Conv. iv. 
 21. The doctrines set forth as far as 1. 60 follow very closely the 
 conclusions of Aristotle in Books i. and ii. of the De Gen. An. I 
 have given at the end of this Canto the passages which Dante has 
 more directly imitated, both from that treatise and from the De Anima. 
 The text is so clear that they are hardly required to elucidate it, and 
 they would probably not be interesting to all readers. 
 
 39 leve. For this use of the second person, see Diez iii. 284. The 
 plural is more common. 
 
 42 vene vane. Dante is rather fond of these verbal jingles. Cf. xxii. 
 54, Inf. i. 36, etc. See Fanfani, Vocab. dell' uso Toscano, s. v. Bisticcio. 
 
 46 The reading, in seme, is directly opposed to Aristotle's opinion, 
 TO 6r)\v ov <ru/i/3oAAeTat crTrep/^a et? TTJV ytvecriv. Gen. An. i. 19, 15.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 311 
 
 disposition passive, the other active, through the perfect 
 place whence it is expressed; and with that in union it 
 begins to operate, first by coagulating, and then quickens 
 that which for its material it caused to grow solid. The 
 active virtue having become soul, like that of a plant, 
 differing in this only, that this is on the way, and that has 
 already arrived, works then in such wise that motion and 
 sense appear as in a sea-fungus ; and at that point it takes 
 
 L' un disposto a patire e 1' altro a fare, 
 Per lo perfetto luogo onde si preme : 
 
 E giunto lui comincia ad operare, 
 
 Coagulando prima, e poi avviva 50 
 
 Cio che per sua materia fe' constare. e 
 
 Anima fatta la virtutfi attiva/ 
 
 Qual d' una pianta, in tanto differente, 
 Che quest' e in via, e quella e gia a riva, 
 
 Tanto ovra poi, che gia si muove e sente, 
 Come fungo marino : ed ivi imprende 
 
 c gesture Aid.; sostare Benv. f Z' anima fatta per v. a. Gg. 
 
 48 lo perfetto luogo. It seems best to understand this of the heart, 
 but other interpretations are given. 
 
 49 lui altrui sangue. It seems better to regard the construction 
 as a dative absolute, like latrando lui in Inf. xxxii. 105 (Diez iii. 247), 
 than to construe it with Bianchi as "congiunto 'il sangue virile al 
 femmineo." 
 
 s 1 Most of the older edd. read gestare ; but constare, "to curdle," 
 is evidently required to render the trwiaroadot of Aristotle. Gen. An. 
 ii. 4, 29, etc. 
 
 54 "One has reached its full development with the acquirement of 
 life, the other 'has yet to receive reason." a riva ; hence arrivare. 
 
 56 fungo marino ; i.e. a zoophyte. Was this suggested by a mis- 
 understanding of ovdev TJTTOV TO. a-rreppara Kal ra KvypaTa rcSi/ a>a>i/ 
 
 rj TU>V (f)VT<BV ?
 
 312 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 in hand to make organs for the faculties whereof it is the 
 seed. Now is displayed, my son, now is put forth the virtue 
 which has its being from the heart of the begetter, where nature 
 designs all members. But how from an animal it becomes 
 a speaking being thou seest not yet ; this is the point that 
 
 Ad organar le posse ond' e semente. 
 
 Or si spiega, figliuolo, or si distende 8 
 La virtu ch' & dal cuor del generante, 
 Dove natura a tutte membra intende. 60 
 
 Ma come d' animal divenga fante, 
 Non vedi tu ancor : quest' tal punto 
 Che piu savio di te gia fece errante ; 
 
 s piega Cass. Aid. 
 
 63 piu savio di te. This is generally understood to refer to 
 Averroes ; but, as M. Renan points out, it was not the intellectus 
 possibilis but the intellectus agens, which he held to be one and in- 
 divisible for all men. See also Hallam, Lit. of Eur. Part I. chap. iii. 
 86. M. Renan, however, considers (Averroes, Part II. chap, ii.) 
 that Dante was misled by Aquinas, who appears to have misunderstood 
 the philosopher of Cordova, who himself probably misunderstood 
 Aristotle. The passages on which he founds his doctrine of the unity 
 of the active intellect, and as a necessary consequence, its separate- 
 ness from the soul, a doctrine which, of course, is inconsistent with 
 personal immortality, and as such was fiercely combated by Albert and 
 Aquinas, and subsequently anathematised by the Church, would seem to 
 be De Anima iii. 4, 5. In the latter chapter Aristotle distinctly says 
 that it is the active intellect which is ^apioros KOI aira6f}s KOI d[j.iyr)s 
 rrj ovcria a>v tvfpyfiq, while the 7radr}TiKos vovs is perishable. Here, 
 as elsewhere (e.g. De An. ii. 4, Gen. An. ii. i), more explicitly, 
 Aristotle declares against the immortality of the individual. Post. 
 Cass. understands the pifo savio di te to be Aristotle, and looking to 
 line 70 he may be right. See also Philalethes here. The intellectus 
 agtns stands to the intellectus possibilis (called also passibilis], in much 
 the same relation as sensation to sense. "Vis ultima in homine est 
 .... esse apprehensivum per intellectum possibilem, quod . . nulli 
 ab homine alio competit," De Mon. i. 4.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 313 
 
 has already made a wiser than thou go astray, so that by 
 his teaching he made the potential intellect separate from 
 the soul, because he saw no organ appropriated by it. 
 Open thy breast to the truth which is coming, and know 
 that so soon as in the embryo the fitting of the brain is 
 perfected, the first Mover turns him to it, with joy over such 
 art of nature, and breathes a new spirit replete with virtue, 
 which draws into its own substance that which it finds 
 active there, and makes of itself one single soul, which 
 lives, and feels, and revolves within itself. And that thou 
 mayst the less wonder at my speech, look at the heat of 
 
 Si che per sua dottrina fe' disgiunto 
 Dall' anima il possibile intelletto, 
 Perche da lui non vide organo assunto. 
 
 Apri alia verita che viene il petto, 
 E sappi, che si tosto come al feto 
 L' articolar del cerebro e perfetto, 
 
 Lo Motor primo a lui si volge lieto 70 
 
 Sovra tanta arte di natura, e spira 
 Spirito nuovo di virtu repleto, 
 
 Che cio che trova attivo quivi tira 
 In sua sustanzia, e fassi un' alma sola, 
 Che vive e sente, e se in se rigira. 
 
 E perche meno ammiri la parola, 
 Guarda il calor del Sol che si fa vino, 
 
 70 lieto. Cf. xvi. 89, Par. xxxiii. 64. Lo Motor primo. With 
 Aristotle the fipxn T *l s ^ v W fa>s resides in the male parent ; here 
 Christian doctrine parts company with him. 
 
 71 Cf. Genesis ii. 7. Thus every individual has his own soul : and 
 of this the intellect is a faculty, and not something separate from the 
 individual soul. 
 
 74 un' alma sola. Cf. iv. 5, 6.
 
 314 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 the Sun which becomes wine, joined to the moisture which 
 percolates from the vine-plant. And when Lachesis has no 
 more thread it looses itself from the flesh, and virtually 
 bears away with it both the human and the divine ; the other 
 powers all mute memory, intelligence, and will, in act 
 far keener than before. Without resting, of itself it 
 falls in wondrous wise to one of the shores ; here it first 
 knows its road. As soon as place there bounds it, the 
 
 Giunto all' umor che dalla vite cola. 
 
 E quando Lachesis non ha piu lino, 1 ' 
 
 Solvesi dalla carne, ed in virtute_ 80 
 
 Ne porta seco e 1' umano e il divino : 
 
 L' altre potenzie tutte quante mute/ 
 Memoria intelligenzia e voluntade 
 In atto molto piu che prima acute. 
 
 Senza restarsi, per se stessa cade 
 Mirabilmente all' una delle rive : 
 Quivi conosce prima le sue strade. 
 
 h Quando L piu dd lino Cass. Gg. Land. 
 
 1 quasi m. Gg. 
 
 81 Bianchi puts a full stop at the end of this line, apparently under- 
 standing divengono, or some such word, after memoria, etc. , in 1. 83. 
 It seems, however, best to understand the clauses of the next three lines 
 as explanatory of this line, umano, the senses and passions = 1' altre 
 potenzie ; divino, the intellect, comprising memoria intelligenzia e 
 volontade. Aristotle, De An. ii. 2, holds that it is only the vovs 
 and the ^etapjjriK/) 8vvap.is which eVSe^erat xu>pif<rdai, Kadimep TO 
 rndiov TOV (pOaprov. 
 
 86 rive, i.e. of Acheron (Inf. iii. 78), or Tiber (ii. 100-105). This 
 is not the doctrine of Aquinas, but of Origen. See Ozanam, Part II. 
 chap. iii.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 315 
 
 formative virtue rays around, in such manner and quantity 
 as it lives in the members. And as the air, when it is very 
 rainy, through another's ray which is reflected in it, shows 
 itself adorned with divers colours, thus here the neigh- 
 bouring air puts itself in that form which the soul that has 
 remained by its virtue seals upon it ; and then, like to the 
 flame which goes after the fire wheresoever it shifts, its new 
 form follows the spirit. Because from this it has hereafter 
 its appearance, it is called a shade ; and from this it gives 
 
 Tosto che luogo 11 la circonscrive, k 
 
 La virtu informativa raggia intorno, 
 
 Cos! e quanto nelle membra vive. 90 
 
 E come 1' acre, quand' e ben piorno, ' 
 
 Per 1' altrui raggio che in se si riflette, 
 
 Di diversi color si mostra adorno, m 
 Cosi 1' aer vicin quivi si mette 
 
 In quella forma, che in lui suggella 11 
 
 Virtualmente 1' alma che ristette. 
 E simigliante poi alia fiammella, 
 
 Che segue il fuoco la 'vunque si muta, 
 
 Segue allo spirto sua forma novella. p 
 Perocche quindi ha poscia sua paruta, 100 
 
 E chiamata ombra : e quindi organa poi ^ 
 
 k il luogo Cass. li la cerlo scr. 1245. 
 1 come quando Faere 2 ben piu orno Gg. 
 m diventa adorno Cass. n si suggella Cass. Gg. 
 
 air alma Cass. 124. P sp. suo Gg. 
 
 88 This is the doctrine of Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles iv. 79. 
 (Uebenveg, Hist, of Philosophy, 101. His account of the philosophy 
 of Aquinas and Averroes may be read with advantage, together with all 
 this passage. See also Ozanam, Dante, Part II. chap, iii.) 
 
 92 Ar. Meteor, iii. 4. 
 
 96 virtualmente. So in virtute y \. So.
 
 316 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 each sense, even to the sight, its own organ. From this we 
 speak, and from this we laugh ; from this we make the tears 
 and the sighs which thou mayest have heard over the 
 mountain. According as the desires and the other affections 
 fix us, the shade takes its shape ; and this is the occasion 
 of that whereof thou wonderest." 
 
 And by this time we were come to the last turning, and 
 had wheeled to the right hand, and were intent on other 
 
 Ciascun sentire, infino alia veduta. 
 
 Quindi parliamo, e quindi ridiam noi : 
 Quindi facciam le lagrime e i sospiri, 
 Che per lo monte aver sentiti puoi. 
 
 Secondo che ci affigono i disiri q 
 
 E gli altri affetti, 1' ombra si figura : r 
 E questa e la cagion di che tu ammiri. 
 
 E gia venuto all' ultima tortura 
 
 S' era per noi, e volto alia man destra, no 
 
 Ed eravamo attenti ad altra cura. 
 
 q a ffis on I2 4> Land.; transfigono Benv.; affligon IV. 
 1 effctti Cass. 14. 
 
 106 ci affigono seems to be the reading with most authority. It 
 is, however, difficult to accept Blanc's view that it is intended to 
 represent Lat. afficiunt. If we are to retain it, it seems best to take 
 it in the sense of " tie us down," the man's character being fixed at his 
 death, and the shade taking its appearance accordingly. The note in 
 Gg., "cum enim anima sit perfectio corporis remanent in ea et in 
 potentiis ejus passiones inclinantes ad motus corporis," suggests si 
 affigono. But should we not read ci affingono, "fashion us ? " 
 
 109 Most understand tortura in its modern sense of " torture," but, 
 as Scartazzini points out, this meaning is not found in early Italian ; 
 nor, it may be added, in Latin, though Dante may have formed it from 
 tortor. But it seems safer to take it as I have done. 
 
 110 volto seems here to mean merely "turned at a right angle :" 
 perhaps being used to avoid tor to after tortura.
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY. 317 
 
 care. Here the bank flashes flame outwards, and the 
 cornice breathes a blast upwards, which bends it back, and 
 keeps it away at a distance therefrom. Wherefore it behoved 
 us to go one by one on the open side, and I feared the fire 
 on this hand, and on that, to fall down. My leader kept 
 saying: "Through this place needs one to keep the rein 
 tight on the eyes, because for a little cause one might go 
 astray." " Summcz Deus dementia " in the bosom of the great 
 heat then I heard them singing, which made me not less 
 eager to turn. And I saw spirits going through the flame, 
 wherefore I looked at them and at my steps, apportioning 
 
 Quivi la ripa fiamma in fuor balestra, 
 E la cornice spira fiato in suso, 
 Che la reflette e via da lei sequestra ; 
 
 Onde ir ne convenia dal lato schiuso 
 Ad uno ad uno : ed io temeva il fuoco 
 Quinci, e quindi temea cadere giuso. 5 
 
 Lo Duca mio dicea : Per questo loco 
 Si'vuol tenere agli occhi stretto il freno, 
 Perocch' errar potrebbesi per poco. 120 
 
 Siimma Deus dementia, nel seno 
 
 Del grande ardore allora udi' cantando, 
 Che di volger mi fe' caler non meno. 
 
 E vidi spirti per la fiamma andando : 
 Perch' io guardava loro ed a' miei passi, 
 
 s tsmeva il cader g. Aid. Bi.; temea Land.; c. dig. Gg. 
 
 119 Probably with allusion to Matt. v. 28. 
 
 121 The hymn at matins, containing the lines : 
 
 " Lumbos jecurque morbidum 
 Flammis adure congruis." 
 
 123 volger here = to turn back, stop.
 
 318 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv. 
 
 my view from time to time. After the end which is made 
 to that hymn they cried aloud, " Virum non cognosco /" then 
 they began the hymn again in a low voice. Having finished 
 it, they cried again : " Diana stayed in the wood, and drove 
 Helice from it, for she had felt the poison of Venus." Then 
 they returned to their singing ; then they cried on dames 
 and husbands who were chaste, as virtuous marriage vow 
 lays on us. And this fashion I think suffices them for all 
 the time that the fire burns them ; with such care and with 
 such diet it behoves that the last wound should close itself. 
 
 Compartendo la vista a quando a quando. 
 Appresso il fine ch' a quell' inno fassi, 
 
 Gridavano alto Virum non cognosco: 
 
 Indi ricominciavan 1' inno bassi. 
 Finitolo anche, gridavano : Al bosco 130 
 
 Si tenne Diana, ed Elice caccionne, 1 
 
 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 fuoco gli abbrucia ; 
 
 Con tal cura conviene e con tai pasti," 
 Che la piaga dassezzo si ricucia. 
 
 ' Corse Aid. 
 u Cotal Gg. Cass. 1234; convien con. cotai Cass. Gg. W. 
 
 128 Virum non cognosco. Luke i. 34. 
 
 131 I have followed Bianchi in preferring si tenne, the older reading, 
 to corse, as being more in agreement with Ovid's version of the story ; 
 especially '"I procul hinc' dixit," Met. ii. 464. 
 
 139 Blanc says dassezzo must be an adverb ; but the Italian com- 
 mentators do not seem to see the necessity. Why should it not be like 
 "uomo da bene" and such constructions? Cf. Petr. Tr. Am. iv. 36. 
 
 r
 
 CANTO xxv. PURGATORY, 319 
 
 PASSAGES FROM ARISTOTLE ILLUSTRATING 
 LINES 37-66. 
 
 37 xprjcripov Trepirrco/mro? p.epos TL ecm TO cnrfpp.a- ^p^crt/icoraToi' 
 8e TO etrxciTov, KOI e' ov rJ8rj ytverai eKaorov rS>v /uopiW (cf. 1. 42). 
 Gen. An. \. 18. 
 
 Ae'yw 8e TrfpiYrw/xa, TO TT}? Tpo(prjs V7r6\fip.p.a. Ib. id. 
 
 cpdvepov OTI TTJS alp.aTi.Kris civ fir] trfpiTTu>p.a Tpocpfjs TO o~7repp.a. 
 Ib. 19. 
 
 41 Sp.OlOV TO TTpOCreXdbv TTpOS TO. p.fprj TO) VTToXfXpdfVTl. Ib. id. 
 47.49 TO ye 6r/\V, rj 6fj\V, TTud^TlKOV TO 8f (ippfV, 1] appfV, TTOIIJTIKOV. 
 Ib. 21. TO TTOlJJTlKOf KOI TO TTadlJTlKOV, OTUV GiyOMTlV, vdllS TO fj.fl> 
 
 TTOtet, TO 8e Tracrj^fi. ii. 4. 
 
 50 OTOV eX^i; (sc. TO <nrepp.a) els TTJV varTepav, o~vi>io~TTjo-i Tf Kai 
 Kivfl TO Trepirnafjia TOV dr)\eos TT/V O.VTIJV Kivrjcriv, fjvTTfp avTo rvy%dvei 
 Kivovpevov. Ib. 3. (So also ib. 4 and i. 20. ) 
 
 51 del 8e irape^ei TO pev 6r)\v TTJV v\r]v TO 8e lippevTo Srjpiovpyovv. 
 Ib. 4. 
 
 52 ^ V X*) e 'o"T' eVreXe^eia f] TrputTT] o-o>p.aTos <$>VO-IK.OV 8vvdp.fi a>f]V 
 fXovTos. De An. ii. I. 
 
 5 3 dpfTTTlKOV 8f \fJOp.fV TO TOtOVTOV jJ.6plOV TTJS ^^^5 OV KO.I TCI 
 
 (f)VTa p.fTfxei, Ib. 2. Trjv 6pfTTTiKriv ^V)(TJV TO. cnrfpp.aTa Kai TO, 
 Kvf)p.a.Ta Tit xwpiora 8rj\ov OTI 8vvdfifi fj,ev e^oira OfTtov, evepyfta 8e 
 OVK e^ovTa irplv rj Kaddnfp TO. ^wpifd/iei/a r&v KVT)p.aT<i>v e\Kfi TTJV 
 Tporpijv, KOI Troifi TO TTJS TOiavTTjs ^V^TJS epyov. ILp&TOV p.fV yap 
 anavT eoiKf T)V TCI TOtavTa (pvTov fttov. Gen. An. ii. 3. 
 
 60 ofoi> fKfivav eKatTTov (sc. T>V fiepcov) fvepyeia TOLOVTOV TO cnrepiia 
 8vvdp.ei. i. 19. ft r) Kap8ia TTp&Tov ev TICTI fcooi? yiyveTcu, . . . fK 
 Tavrrjs civ e"iT) 17 dp^jj. ii. I. dpx*7 Tr l s <pvo~fa>s rj Kap8ia. . 4 . 
 
 61 ou -yap ap.a yLvfTM u>ov KOI civdpamos. Ib. 3- 
 
 65 firfi 8' eocTTrep ev airdcrr) T// cpvaei, CCTTI TI TO p.ev v\rf Kao - To) 
 yfvei (TOVTO 8f 6 irdvra cjvvap.fi eKfiva) (Tfpov 8e TO OITIOV KOL TroirjTiKov, 
 TO) Troielv Trdvra, . . . avciynr) /cat eV TTJ ^vxfi v?rdp^eiv TavTas Tas 
 8ia<popds. KOI ecrTiv 6 p.ev TOIOVTOS vovs T< jravra ytvecrdai, 6 8e TO> 
 Trdvra iroielv . . . KOI OVTOS 6 vovs ^wpiOTo? . . . ^a)pto~^i? 8' ecrrl 
 p.ovov Tovd oirfp fcrrl KOI TOVTO povov dddvaTov KOI di8iov. ov fj,vr)fj.ov-
 
 320 PURGATORY. CANTO xxv 
 
 evopfv 8e, on rovro p.fv dnades, 6 8e TradrjriKos vovs (pdapros, Ka\ 
 (iveo TOVTOV ovdev voel. De An. iii. 5. o apa KoXou/ieros Ttjs ^VXTJS 
 vovs (Xeyco Se vovv w Siavodrai KU'L vrroka^avfi rj ^vxy) ovdev ftrnv 
 fVfpyfia TU>V ovrcov irp\v votiv. Sto ovSe p-ffju^dai tvXoyov avrbv TW 
 crc!)/iarf TroTof TIS yap av yiyvoiro, ^u^pos 77 depp.6s, fj KO.V opyavov TI 
 fir) uxrirfp TW alo-6r)TiK<0- vvv S' ovdfv eVrtv. Ib. 4.
 
 CANTO XXVI. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They pass along the seventh circle, outside of the fire, and hear other souls 
 recalling instances of lust. Dante talks with the poets Guido Guinicelli 
 and Arnald Daniel, who speaks to him in the Proven9al tongue. 
 
 A 
 
 WHILE thus we were going along the edge one before 
 another, the good Master kept often saying : " Take heed ; 
 let it profit that I instruct thee." The Sun was striking me 
 on the right shoulder, which already with his rays was 
 turning all the west from the hue of the sky to a white 
 
 MENTRE che si per 1' orlo, uno anzi all' altro, a 
 Ce n' andavamo, spesso il buon Maestro 
 Diceva : Guarda ; giovi ch' io ti scaltro. 
 
 Feriami il Sole in su 1' omero destro, 
 Che gia raggiando tutto 1' occidente 
 
 a Mentre cost Gg. 
 
 4 The evening Sun is to their right ; they are therefore now going 
 about south by west, having made nearly half the circuit of the mountain, 
 and having, as Philalethes points out, occupied some three hours in the 
 ascent from the sixth to the seventh circle. In the circle itself they 
 only spend about an hour. See note xii. 61.
 
 322 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 aspect, and I was making with my shadow the flame ap- 
 pear more ruddy, and to such token only I saw many 
 shades as they went give heed. This was the occasion 
 which gave them a starting-point to speak of me, and they 
 began to say among themselves : " That one seems not a 
 fictitious body." Then certain made towards me as far as they 
 could, always with heed not to issue forth where they would 
 not be burnt. "O thou who goest, not through being slower, 
 but haply of reverence, after the others, answer to me, who 
 burn in thirst and fire ; nor only to me is thy answer a need, 
 for all these here have thereof greater thirst than of cold 
 
 Mutava in bianco aspetto di cilestro : 
 
 Ed io facea con 1' ombra piu rovente 
 Parer la fiamma, e'pure a tanto indizio 
 Vidi molt' ombre andando poner mente. 
 
 , Questa m la cagion che diede inizio io 
 
 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 piu tardo, 
 Ma forse riverente, agli altri dopo, 
 Rispondi a me, che in sete ed in fuoco ardo. 
 
 Ne solo a me la tua risposta e uopo : 
 
 Che tutti questi n' hanno maggior sete, 20 
 
 6 The sky in the neighbourhood of the Sun always looks white until 
 close upon sunset. It would be now about five P.M. ; so this is still 
 more than an hour distant. 
 
 7 A well-known phenomenon, being, of course, the converse of the 
 putting-out effect which the Sun is popularly supposed to exercise on fire. 
 
 8 pur. Cf. v. 9. 
 
 12 fittizio would seem to support my suggestion affingono in xxv. 106.
 
 CANTO xxvi. PURGATORY. 323 
 
 water Indian or Ethiop. Tell us how it is that thou makest 
 of thyself a wall to the Sun, as if thou wert not yet entered 
 within the net of death." So to me spoke one of them, 
 and I should already have declared myself if I had not been 
 intent on another new thing which then appeared ; for 
 through the middle of the burning road came folk with 
 their faces opposite to these, who made me wait to gaze. 
 There I see on every side each shade make ready, and kiss 
 one with one, without staying, content with short greeting. 
 Thus within their brown troop one ant touches muzzle with 
 another, perhaps to find out their road and their fortune. 
 
 Che d' acqua fredda Indo o Etiopo. 
 
 Dinne com' e che fai di te parete 
 Al sol, come se tu non fossi ancora b 
 Di morte entrato dentro dalla rete. 
 
 Si mi parlava un d' essi, ed io mi fora 
 Gia manifesto, s' io non fossi atteso 
 Ad altra novita ch' apparse allora ; 
 
 Che per Io mezzo del cammino acceso, 
 Venne gente col viso incontro a questa, c 
 La qual mi fece a rimirar sospeso. 30 
 
 Li veggio d' ogni parte farsi presta 
 
 Ciascun' ombra, e baciarsi una con una 
 Senza restar, contente a breve festa. 
 
 Cosi per entro loro schiera bruna 
 S' ammusa 1' una con 1' altra formica, 
 Forse ad espiar lor via e lor fortuna. d 
 
 b Al sol pur come tu Gg. c ititonw a Gg. d a spiar 3 Aid. Bi. 
 
 21 I have followed the usual reading of this line, as there seems no 
 trace of any variant ; but it is hard to see how it scans. May we read 
 1* Indo o 1' Etiopo ? 
 
 33 festa. So vi 8i./ 
 
 ' Y 2
 
 324 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 As soon as they part the friendly greeting, before the first 
 step goes beyond that point, each one toils to cry further, 
 the new folk " Sodom and Gomorrah ! " and the other 
 " Pasiphae enters into the cow that the bull may hasten to 
 her lust." Then like cranes which should fly part to the 
 Rhipsean mountains and part toward the sands, these 
 shunning the frost and those the sun, the one folk goes, the 
 other comes on its way, and they return weeping to their 
 first chants, and to the cry which most befits them ; and 
 there drew near again to me as before, those same who had 
 prayed me, in their lineaments intent on listening. I, who 
 
 Tosto che parton 1' accoglienza arnica, 
 Prima che il primo passo li trascorra, 
 Sopra gridar ciascuna s' affatica : 
 
 La nuova gente : Soddoma e Gomorra, 40 
 
 E I' altra : Nella vacca entra Pasife, 
 Perche il torello a sua lussuria corra. 
 
 Poi come gru, ch' alle montagne Rife 
 Volasser parte, e parte inver 1' arene, 
 Queste del giel, quelle del sole schife ; 
 
 L' una gente sen va, 1' altra sen viene, 
 E tornan lagrimando a' primi canti, 
 Ed al gridar che piu lor si conviene : 
 
 E raccostarsi a me, come davanti, 
 
 Essi medesmi che m' avean pregato, 50 
 
 Attenti ad ascoltar ne' lor sembianti. 
 
 43 Some commentators object to this image that the cranes fly to the 
 north and to the south at different seasons, and altogether when they 
 do go. It is not, however, "volano" or "volino," but "volassero," 
 showing that the picture is purely imaginary. See Blanc, Erklarungen. 
 
 51 sembianti. So xxi. 1 1 1.
 
 CANTO xxvi. PURGATORY. 325 
 
 twice had seen their desire, began : " O souls secure of 
 having, whensoever it be, a state of peace, my limbs have not 
 remained yonder rathe nor ripe, but are here with me, with 
 their blood and with their joints. Here I ascend in order to be 
 no longer blind ; there is a dame above who gains grace for 
 me, wherefore I take my mortal part through your world. 
 But, so may your greatest wish soon become satisfied in such 
 wise that that heaven may harbour you which is full of love 
 and spreads itself most broad ; tell me, to the end that I may 
 hereafter mark paper therewith, who are ye, and what is 
 
 lo, che due volte avea visto lor grato, 
 Incominciai : O anime stcure 
 D' aver, quando che sia, di pace stato, 
 
 Non son rimase acerbe ne mature 
 
 Le membra mie di la, ma son qui meco, 
 Col sangue suo e con le sue giunture. 
 
 Quinci su vo per non esser piu cieco : 
 Donna e di sopra che n' acquista grazia, 
 Perche il mortal pel vostro mondo reco. 60 
 
 Ma, se la vostra maggior voglia sazia 
 Tosto divegna, si che il Ciel v' alberghi 
 Ch' e pien d' amore e piu ampio si spazia, 
 
 Ditemi, acciocche ancor carte ne verghi, 
 
 59 It seems best to take ne (as in Par. xxiv. 28) like Lat. nos, in 
 the sense of " me," though it may mean only " for it," i.e. my journey. 
 Philalethes : " erwirbt mir die Gnade." 
 
 63 For the omission of the article before piu, see Diez iii. 8. It 
 is as if he had said " il ciel piii ampio che si spazia." Cf. Inf. xv. 102, 
 which is the regular Italian construction. 
 
 64 So Petr. Son. cxiv. : "Alma gentil, cui tante carte vergo." 
 Vcr?o lit. = to mark in lines.
 
 326 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 that crowd which goes its way thus behind your backs ? " 
 Not otherwise is stupefied and confused, and gazing grows 
 dumb the mountaineer, when rough and savage he enters a 
 city, than each shade did in its appearance ; but after they 
 were discharged of their astonishment, the which in lofty 
 hearts is soon at rest : " Happy thou, that from our borders," 
 began again that one which first asked me, " art laying in 
 store of experience for better life ! The folk that comes 
 not with us have offended in that for which once Csesar 
 in his triumph heard them shout, " Queen ! " against him. 
 
 Chi siete voi, e chi e quella turba, 
 Che se ne va diretro 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 : 70 
 
 Ma poiche furon di stupore scarche, 
 Lo qual negli alti cuor tosto s' attuta, 
 
 Beato te, che delle nostre marche, 
 Ricomincio colei che pria ne chiese, 
 Per viver meglio e.sperienza imbarche ! e 
 
 La gente che non vien con noi offese 
 Di cio perche gia Cesar trionfando 
 
 Per morir meglio Gg. 12345 W. 
 
 "" fece. "Fare si usa in luogo del vcrbo precedente." Corticelli. 
 Cf. the well-known passage of Thucydides (ii. 49) TroXXoi TOVTO tbpuaav 
 (i.e. threw themselves) e'y <$>pta.Ta. So iv. 131, xv. 133. 
 
 73 Beato te. Diez iii. 113. 
 
 74 ne again, I think, as in line 59. Philalethes has "uns;" but 
 only Dante has been addressed. See line 16. 
 
 73 imbarche ; lit. " take on board."
 
 CANTO xxvr. PURGATORY. 327 
 
 Wherefore they depart crying "Sodom!" reproaching them- 
 selves, as thou hast heard, and aid the burning by their 
 shame. Our sin was hermaphrodite ; but because we kept 
 not human law, following like brute beasts our appetite, in 
 our disgrace by us is mentioned, when we part, the name of 
 her who made herself a brute in the brute-formed planks. 
 Now thou knowest our acts and whereof we were guilty ; if 
 haply thou wishest to know by name who we are, there is 
 not time to say, and I should not know. I will surely 
 
 Regina contra se chiamar s' intese : 
 
 Perb si parton Soddoma gridando, 
 
 Rimproverando a se, com' hai udito, 80 
 
 E aiutan 1' arsura vergognando. 
 
 Nostro peccato fu ermafrodito ; 
 
 Ma perche nofi servammo umana legge, 
 Seguendo come bestie 1' appetite, 
 
 In obbrobrio di noi per noi si legge, 
 Quando partiamci, il nome di colei 
 Che s' imbestio nelP imbestiate schegge. 
 
 Or sai nostri atti, e di che fummo rei ; 
 Se forse a nome vuoi saper chi semo, 
 Tempo non e da dire, e non saprei. 90 
 
 Farotti ben di me volere scemo : 
 
 82 "Namlich sie entfernte sich nicht von der natiirlichen Vereini- 
 gung der getrennten Geschlechter, deren Symbol die Fabel vom Her- 
 maphiodit ist." Philalethes. And this seems the best explanation, 
 and moreover the only one which agrees with line 84 ; TCI yap drjpia 
 irapa (pixriv BVPoWif ou ^p^rai. Aquinas, he adds, holds that there 
 is a law for man (umana legge) higher than the law of nature, and that 
 sexual excess, though not contrary to the latter, violates the former. 
 Thus Pasiphae "scheint das Symbol der angemessenen, den Menschen 
 zum Thiere herabwiirdigenden Befriedigung des natiirlichen Triebes zu 
 sein." S.T. ii. 2. Q. 54, Arts, n, 12, also bear upon this question.
 
 328 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 in respect of myself make thy wish less. I am Guido 
 Guinicelli, and I purge myself already, through duly lament- 
 ing sooner than at the last." Such, as in the sorrow of 
 Lycurgus, two sons became at seeing again their mother, 
 such became I, but not to so great a height, when I heard 
 name himself of me and others mine the best father, who 
 ever used sweet and graceful rimes of love ; and without 
 hearing or speech I went thoughtful, gazing at him a long 
 space, nor, by reason of the fire, did I draw nearer thither. 
 
 Son Guido Guinicelli, e gia mi purgo 
 Per ben dolermi prima ch' allo stremo. 
 
 Quali nella tristizia di Licurgo 
 Si fer due figli a riveder la madre, 
 Tal mi fee' io, ma non a tanto insurgo, 
 
 Quando i' udi' nomar se 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 100 
 
 Lunga fiata rimirando lui, 
 Ne per lo fuoco in la piu m' appressai. 
 
 92 Guido Guinicelli of Bologna. See note to xi. 97. 
 
 93 I.e. he had not delayed his repentance until the moment of death. 
 Cf. iv. 132. 
 
 94 When Hypsipyle "showed Langia" (xxii. 112) she was in charge 
 of the young son of Lycurgus, king of Nemea. The child slipped 
 away, and was killed by a serpent. In the midst of the lamentations 
 which followed she was recognised by her sons, who were among the 
 Argive army, and embraced by them. Stat. Theb. v. 720. 
 
 96 non a tanto insurgo : because the fire would prevent him from 
 embracing Guido. Of course it is literally " I rise not so far." 
 
 98 miglior is usually taken with miei ; but whom would Dante call 
 " his betters " ? Such mock humility is quite contrary to his usual style. 
 May we read " maggior," "my elders " ?
 
 CANTO xxvi. PURGATORY. 329 
 
 After I had fed full of gazing I offered myself all ready to 
 his service, with. that assurance which makes others believe. 
 And he to me : " Thou leavest such a trace, by that which 
 I hear, in me, and one so clear that Lethe cannot take it 
 away or make it dim. Yet, if thy words but now sware 
 truly, tell me what is the reason why thou showest in thy 
 speech and in thy look that thou holdest me dear." And 
 I to him : " Your sweet sayings, which, so long as modern 
 use shall last, will still make precious their very ink." " O 
 brother," said he, " he whom I distinguish for thee with my 
 
 Poiche di riguardar pasciuto fui, 
 
 Tutto m' offersi pronto al suo servigio, 
 Con 1' 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 pub torre ne far bigio/ 
 
 Ma se le tue parole or ver giuraro, 
 
 Dimmi che e cagion perche dimostri no 
 
 Nel dire e nel guardar d' avermi caro ? 
 
 Ed io a lui : Li dolci detti vostri 
 Che, quanto durera 1' uso moderno, g 
 Faranno cari ancora i loro inchiostri. 
 
 O frate, disse, questi ch' io ti scerno h 
 
 f tor ntfarlo b. W. s 1 snon mod. Gg. 
 
 h Frate . . . ricerno Gg. ; fr. . . . qiiei cK io mo ti 3. 
 
 "3 uso moderno. Cf. "Io stil nuovo," xxiv. 56. 
 
 115 Arnald Daniel, according to Nostradamus, was of Tarascon, or 
 Montpelier, and died about 1189. Petrarch (Tri. Am. iv. 41) calls him 
 " gran maestro d'amor ;" but modern critics have not formed so high 
 a judgement of him.
 
 330 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 finger" (and he pointed to a spirit in front) "was a better 
 craftsman in the mother speech. In verses of love and prose 
 of romance he excelled them all ; and lets the fools talk who 
 believe that he of Limoges surpasses him. To rumour more 
 than to the truth they turn their faces, and thus they fix 
 their opinion before that art or reason is heard by them. 
 Thus did many ancients with Guittone, from voice to voice 
 giving him only the prize, until the truth prevailed with 
 
 Col dito (e addito un spirto innanzi), 
 Fu miglior fabbro del parlar materno : 
 
 Versi d' amore e prose di romanzi 
 Soverchib tutti, e lascia dir gli stolti, 
 Che quel di Lemosi credon ch' avanzi. 126 
 
 A voce piu ch' al ver drizzan li volti, 
 E cosi ferman sua opinione, 
 Prima ch' arte o ragion per lor s' ascolti. 
 
 Cosi fer molti antichi di Guittone, 
 
 Di grido in grido pur lui dando pregio, 
 Fin che 1' ha vinto il ver con piu persone.' 
 
 ' che V aiutb, Gg. 3 ; aiuntb 15 ; a giunto 4, 
 
 120 quel di Limosi. Gerard of Borneuil, who was called "the 
 Master of the Troubadours ; " ' ' il meglior Poeta nella lingua Proven- 
 zale, che fusse d' avanti o doppo lui." Both he and Arnald are 
 frequently mentioned and quoted in the De Vulg. El. See, for instance, 
 ii. 2, where he is said " poetasse circa rectitudinem," and Arnald " circa 
 amorem." 
 
 124 See xxiv. 56 as to Guittone. In Vulg. El. i. 13 D. speaks of 
 "Guidonem aretinum, qui nunquam se ad curiale vulgare direxit;" 
 and in ii. 6: "Desistant ergo ignorantiae sectatores Guidonem aretinum 
 et quosdam alios extollentes, nunquam in vocabulis atque constructione 
 desuetos plebescere. " Petrarch mentions him twice ; once (Tri. Am. 
 iv. 33) with apparent allusion to this passage. 
 
 126 con pih persone. It seems better to understand this with 
 Lombardi, as meaning "with the majority of people," than either
 
 CANTO xxvi. PURGATORY. 331 
 
 more persons. Now, if thou hast so ample privilege that it 
 be permitted thee to go to the cloister in the which Christ 
 is abbot of the community, make to Him for me a saying 
 of a paternoster, so far as needs for us in this world, where 
 power of sinning is no longer ours." Then, perhaps to 
 give place to another after him, whom he had at hand, he 
 disappeared through the fire, as through the water the fish 
 going to the bottom. I made a little forward to him who 
 was pointed out, and said that for his name my desire was 
 preparing a place of thanks. He began frankly to say : 
 " So pleases me your courteous request that I have not 
 
 Or se tu hai si ampio privilegio, 
 
 Che licito ti sia 1' andare al chiostro, 
 Nel quale e Cristo abate del collegio, 
 
 Fagli per me un dir di un paternostro, 130 
 
 Quanto bisogna a noi di questo mondo, 
 Ove poter peccar non e piu nostro. 
 
 Poi forse per dar luogo altrui secondo 
 Che presso avea, disparve per lo fuoco, 
 Come per 1' acqua il pesce andando al fondo. 
 
 lo mi feci al mostrato innanzi un poco, 
 E dissi ch' al suo nome il mio desire 
 Apparecchiava grazioso loco. 
 
 Ei comincib liberarnenteTa dire : 
 
 Tan m' abelis vostre cortes deman, 140 
 
 with Bianchi, Philalethes, and (?) Witte, "by reason of the greater 
 number of better poets who have arisen," or "him, together with 
 others." I do not understand lo to refer exactly either to Guittone or 
 to pregio, but rather as in Fr. I'emporter sur. 
 
 '3 2 Cf. xi. 22. 
 
 140 sqq. These lines are in the Provencal language. The MSS. have, 
 as might be expected, made curious work of the words and the early 
 edd. of the rendering. Raynouard and Diez have both tried their hands
 
 332 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvi. 
 
 power or will to hide myself from you. I am Arnald, who 
 weep and go singing, as thou seest, my past folly, and 
 view with joy the day which I hope for hereafter. Now 
 I pray you by that goodness which is guiding you to the 
 summit of this stair, bethink you in due season of my pain." 
 Then he hid himself in the fire which refines them. 
 
 Qu' ieu no-m puesc, ni-m veuil a vos cobrirc. 
 leu sui Arnaut, que plor, e vau cantan 
 
 Coma tti ves la passadafolor; 
 
 E vet iausen lo torn, qu' esper denan. 
 Ara vos prec per aquella valor, 
 
 Que vos guida al som de /' escalina, 
 
 Sovenhavus a temps de ma dolor : 
 Poi s' ascose nel fuoco che gli affina. 
 
 at restoring them, but with different results. In the first three lines the 
 differences are mostly only matters of orthography ; but in 11. 143, 144 
 the divergence is considerable. Raynouard gives "consiros vei," and 
 " E vei jauzen lo joi ; " while Diez has " Car, sitot vei " and " Eu vei 
 jausen lo jour ; " " for as soon as I see my past folly I view with joy 
 the day." In the last line, Raynouard, with little authority, reads "a 
 temprar ma dolor." The chief question, however, is as to the reading 
 of 1. 146. Diez adheres to the usual " al som de 1' escalina." But this 
 causes a difficulty of scansion, unless we may also read ' ' Que guida 
 vus;" for "vos condus," which is sometimes found, is obviously a gloss. 
 Raynouard, followed by Bianchi and Philalethes, prefers "al som sens 
 freich e sens calina," comparing iii. 31. Blanc, in his Erkliirungen, 
 seems to accept the reading of Diez ; but in his Dictionary he pronounces 
 for the other, with the exception that he wishes to substitute " dol " for 
 "freich," on the (rather pedantic) ground that cold plays no part in the 
 torments of Purgatory. However, there is some MS. authority for 
 "dol," none for "freich." Probably the earliest attempt at a correct 
 editing of the lines is to be found in the MS. I call " Gg." This appears 
 to have been in the first half of the fifteenth century owned, or part 
 owned, by one "Cola de Castillione, " who has given in the margin 
 what he supposed to be a correct version, signing it with his name,
 
 CANTO xxvi. PURGATORY. 
 
 "Cola in provincia enutritus." It should be premised that in the 
 original MS. there are many erasures, but on the whole the readings 
 are those of Diez. The first word of 1. 143 is illegible, but the postilla is 
 "i.e. sicut vides." In 1. 146 we find "al senses (alt.fr. som) dell eses 
 scalina." Cola's emendation (my deciphering of which Mr. Bradshaw 
 has kindly corrected) is as follows : 
 
 " Tant mabellis vostre cortes demant 
 Que jeu non puesc ni vuelh a vos cubrir 
 Jeu suy Raynaut que plor & vac cantant 
 Coma tu ves la passada follor 
 Et vey gausent lo jorn que speri deciavant 
 Aras vos prec per aquella valor 
 Que vos guida al som de lescalina 
 Sovenha vos a temps de ma dolor." 
 
 Except in the fifth line, where Cola's ear for rhythm appears to have 
 failed him, this is not unsatisfactory. His ' ' coma tu ves " is supported 
 by two of the MSS. consulted by^Herr Witte (of which, by the way, 
 three have "condus" in 1. 147). With such good authority as this I 
 have ventured to adopt it in my text ; otherwise, except for a letter or 
 two, I have followed Diez.
 
 CANTO XXVII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They see an angel who bids them pass through the fire in order to mount 
 up. Dante hesitates, but is persuaded by Virgil, who speaks of Beatrice. 
 Third sunset. They halt in the passage ; and Dante falls asleep, and 
 dreams of Rachel and Leah. Fourth sunrise. They reach the summit 
 of the mountain, and Virgil explains that his power to guide is now at 
 an end. 
 
 JUST as when he makes his first rays quiver there where his 
 Maker shed His blood, Ebro falling beneath the high Scales, 
 and the waves in Ganges being scorched by the noon, so 
 the Sun was standing; wherefore the day was departing, 
 
 SI come quando i primi raggi vibra 
 La dove il suo fattore il sangue sparse, 
 Cadendo Ibero sotto 1' alta Libra, 
 
 E 1' onde in Gange da nona riarse, a 
 
 Si stava il sole ; onde il giorno sen giva, 
 
 a dinuovo Gg. 3; da nova 1245. 
 
 1 s< w- It was sunrise at Jerusalem, midnight in Spain, noon in India, 
 and therefore sunset in Purgatory. (See note to ii. I.) 
 
 4 The process by which nones, the ninth hour, or 3 P.M., became 
 noon or midday, is explained by Dante in Conv. iv. 23.
 
 CANTO xxvii. PURGATORY. 335 
 
 when the angel of God with joy appeared to us. Outside of 
 the flame was he standing on the bank, and was singing Beati 
 inundo corde, in a far more living voice than ours. After- 
 wards : " Further goes not any, if first the fire bites not, ye 
 holy souls ; enter into it, and to the chant beyond be ye not 
 deaf," said he to us when we were near him ; so that I 
 became such, when I heard it, as is he who is put into the 
 grave. Upwards I stretched forth my clasped hands, 
 looking at the fire, and strongly imagining human bodies 
 ere now seen burnt. The kind escorts turned towards me, 
 
 Quando 1' Angel di Dio lieto ci apparse. 
 Fuor della fiamma stava in su la riva, 
 
 E cantava : Beati mundo corde, 
 
 In voce assai piu cb.e la nostra viva : 
 Poscia: Piu non si va, se pria non morde, 10 
 
 Anime sante, il fuoco : entrate in esso, 
 
 Ed al can tar di la non siate sorde, 
 Ci disse, come noi gli fummo presso ; 
 
 Perch' io divenni tal, quando lo intesi, 
 
 Quale e colui che nella fossa e messo. 
 In su le man commesse mi protesi, 
 
 Guardando il fuoco, e immaginando forte 
 
 Umani corpi gia veduti accesi. 
 Volsersi verso me le buone scorte : 
 
 12 See 1. 55. Blanc remarks that it is the only instance in which 
 they hear and are greeted by an angel from a higher terrace. It is, 
 however, hardly correct to speak of the point where the angel stands as 
 a higher terrace, it is rather a part of the seventh circle, only high 
 enough on the mountain-side to be clear of the flames. Indeed, the use 
 of di & would almost seem to imply that the angel is on the hither side, 
 between the fire and the outside of the ledge ; but it may be relative 
 only to those whom he addresses.
 
 336 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvii. 
 
 and Virgil said to me : " My son, here may be torment, but 
 not death. Bethink thee, bethink thee and if I guided 
 thee safely on even Gerion, what shall I do now, nearer to 
 God? Believe for certain, that if within the heart of this 
 flame thou stayedst, ay, a thousand years, it could not make 
 thee bald of one hair. And if thou think perchance that I 
 deceive thee, turn thee toward it, and make thyself give 
 credence with thy hands on the skirt of thy garments. Lay 
 down henceforth, lay down all fear : turn thee hitherward, 
 and come on secure." And I yet stand still, and against 
 my conscience. When he saw me stand quite still and 
 
 E Virgilio mi disse : Figliuol mio, 20 
 
 Qui puote esser tormento, ma non morte : 
 Ricordati, ricordati . . . e, se io 
 
 Sovr' esso Gerion ti guidai salvo, 
 
 Che faro ora, presso phi a Dio? b 
 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. 30 
 
 Pon giu omai, pon giu 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, 
 
 b or, che son piii pr. Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 Notice ti not elided before e, making the break more forcible. 
 23 sovr'esso. See note to iv. 27. The reference is to Inf. xvii. 
 91 sqq.
 
 CANTO xxvii. PURGATORY. 337 
 
 unyielding, a little troubled he said : " See now, my son, 
 between Beatrice and thee is this wall." As at the name 
 of Thisbe Pyramus opened his eyelids on point of death, 
 and looked upon her, what time the mulberry became ver- 
 milion, so my obstinacy being loosened, I turned to my sage 
 leader, hearing the name which ever wells up in my mind. 
 Wherefore he nodded his head, and said : " How ! wish we 
 to stay on this side ? " then he smiled, as one does on the 
 child that yields at the apple. Then he placed himself in 
 the fire in front of me, praying Statius that he would come 
 
 Tra Beatrice e te e questo muro. 
 
 Come al nome di Tisbe aperse il ciglio 
 
 Piramo in su la morte, e riguardolla, ^ 
 
 Allor che il gelso diventb vermiglio \/ , 
 
 Cos! la mia durezza fatta solla, 40 
 
 Mi volsi al savio Duca udendo il nome, 
 Che nella mente sempre mi rampolla. 
 
 Ond' ei crollo la testa, e disse : Come, 
 Volemci star di qua ? indi sorrise, 
 Come al fanciul si fa ch' e vinto al pome. 
 
 Poi dentro al fuoco innanzi mi si mise, 
 Pregando Stazio che venisse retro, 
 Che pria per lunga strada ci divise. 
 
 Come fui dentro, in un bogliente vetro 
 
 33 Beatrice is rarely, if ever, a word of four syllables; so that 
 something is probably missing in this line. 
 
 37 Philalethes quotes Ov. Met. iv. 145 : " Ad nomen Thisbes oculo, 
 jam morte gravatos Pyramus erexit." 
 
 49, so Notice that here, as in the first and third circles, Dante has 
 himself to participate in the punishment (see xii. I, 2, and xv. 145). 
 The sins which are expiated in these cases are those which we know 
 from the evidence of Villani and Boccaccio, as well as from his own 
 admission (xiii. 136, xxx. 126), to have been the special defects in his 
 character. 
 
 Z
 
 338 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvn. 
 
 behind, who hitherto through a length of road had divided 
 us. When I was within, I would have flung myself into 
 boiling glass to cool me, so was the burning there im- 
 measurable. My sweet Father, to strengthen me, went 
 talking only of Beatrice, saying : " I seem already to see 
 her eyes." A voice guided us which was singing beyond ; 
 and we, intent only on it, came forth there where was the 
 ascent. Venite, benedidi Patris mei, sounded within a light 
 which was there such that it overcame me, and I could not 
 gaze on it. " The Sun is going his way," it added, " and 
 the even comes ; stay not, but study your pace so long as 
 the west grows not dark." 
 
 Gittato mi sarei per rinfrescarmi, 50 
 
 Tant' era ivi lo incendio senza metro. 
 
 Lo dolce Padre mio per confortarmi, 
 Pur di Beatrice ragionando andava 
 Dicendo : Gli occhi suoi gik veder parmi. 
 
 Guidavaci una voce, che cantava 
 Di la : e noi attenti pure a lei 
 Venimmo fuor Ik ove si montava. 
 
 Venite, benedidi Patris mei, 
 Sono dentro ad un lume che li era, 
 Tal che mi vinse, e guardar nol potei. 60 
 
 Lo Sol sen va, soggiunse, e vien la sera : 
 Non v' arrestate, ma studiate il passo, 
 Mentre che 1' occidente non s' annera. 
 
 * Cf. Par. vii. t;, 18. 
 
 58 Venite, bentdicii, etc. Matt. xxv. 34. These words begin the 
 Introit appropriate to the Wednesday in Easter week, which day has 
 (for liturgic purposes) now begun. 
 
 fa ' 63 Evidently with allusion to John xii. 35.
 
 CANTO xxvii. PURGATORY. 339 
 
 The way mounted straight through the rock, towards 
 such a quarter that I took away in front of me the rays of 
 the Sun, which was already low. And of few steps did we 
 make trial, when, through the shadow being spent, both I 
 and my sages perceived that the Sun was set behind us. 
 And before that in all its unmeasured parts the horizon was 
 become of one aspect, and Night had her full distributij 
 
 Dritta salia la via per entro il sasso 
 Verso tal parte, ch' io toglieva i raggi 
 Dinanzi a me del Sol ch' era gia basso. 
 
 E di pochi scaglion levammo i saggi, 
 
 Che il Sol corcar, per 1' ombra che si spense, 
 Sentimmo dietro ed io e gli miei saggi. 
 
 E pria che in tutte le sue parti immense 70 
 
 Fosse orizzonte fa*tto d' un aspetto, 
 E notte avesse tutte sue dispense/ 
 
 c Che pria Gg.; E prima Cass. d gib tuttt disp. Gg. 
 
 65 I.e. they are now on the west side of the mountain, having made 
 the half-circuit (cf. 1. 133). 
 
 66 basso is the older reading ; the modern edd. prefer lasso, which 
 Blanc thinks more poetical. But is it not for that very reason out of 
 place in a merely topographical passage? Cf. also xvii. 12. 
 
 67 The use of levare is somewhat curious ; but compare that of 
 toglierc, Inf. xviii. 30. In English we use " to pick up," colloquially, 
 in a very similar way. 
 
 71 For the omission of the art. before orizzonte, cf. meridian, iv. 
 138. The meaning is, of course, "before the glow of sunset had faded." 
 
 ' 2 There is some difficulty about the meaning of dispense. Phila- 
 lethes translates "Kammern;" but the only kind of "chamber" 
 denoted by dispensa is a pantry. Vellutello explains " tutte le sue 
 parti" (does he not understand sue of orizzonte?). Note in Gg. 
 has : " i. e. dispensationes ; quasi diceret antequam nox esset plena 
 ubique." On the whole Blanc's explanation seems the best; nor is it 
 necessary, with Bianchi, to supply fatto. 
 
 Z 2
 
 340 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvu. 
 
 each of us made of a stair a bed : for the nature of the mount 
 broke up in us rather the power of ascending than the 
 delight. As the goats ruminating become quiet, who have 
 been swift and wanton on the peaks before that they were 
 fed, silent in the shade while that the Sun is hot, watched 
 by the herdsman, who upon his staff has propped himself, 
 and propped tends them ; and as the shepherd, who lodges 
 out of doors, passes the night in quiet beside his flock, 
 watching that wild beast scatter it not; such were we all 
 three then, I as the goat and they as shepherds, bound on 
 
 Ciascun di noi d' un grado fece letto ; 
 Che la natura del monte ci affranse 
 La possa del salir piii che il diletto. 
 
 Quali si fanno ruminando manse 
 Le capre, state rapide e proterve 
 Sopra le cime, avanti che sien pranse," 
 
 Tacite all' ombra mentre che il Sol ferve, 
 
 Guardate dal pastor, che in su la verga So 
 
 Poggiato s' e, e lor poggiato serve : f 
 
 E quale il mandrian, che fuori alberga, 
 Lungo il peculio suo queto pernotta, 
 Guardando perche fiera non lo sperga;* 
 
 Tali eravamo tutti e tre allotta, 
 lo come capra, ed ei come pastori, 
 
 e prima che Aid. Land. Bi. 
 
 a\iifoggiaio 
 
 f e lor di posa s. Gg. Bi. IV.; di posa Can. 
 * nol disperga Gg.; nello sp. Cass. 
 
 81 The reading for the alteration which Bianchi and Witte adopt 
 here, lor di posa serve, seems the less satisfactory. As Blanc points 
 out, the repetition of poggiato is much in Dante's style.
 
 t^^ 
 
 CANTO xxvn. PURGATORY. 341 
 
 v 
 
 this side and on that by a high rock. Little could there 
 appear of the outside ; but through that little I beheld the 
 stars, clearer and larger than their wont. So ruminating, 
 and so gazing on them, sleep took me ; sleep which often 
 before the fact comes to pass knows the news. 
 
 In the hour, I think, when from the east first beamed 
 on the mount Cytherea, who with fire of love appears ever 
 burning, I seemed in dreams to see a dame young and fair 
 go through a plain gathering flowers ; and singing she was 
 saying : " Let him know, whoso inquires my name, that I 
 am Leah, and I go moving about my fair hands to make 
 
 Fasciati quinci e quindi d' alta grotta. 
 Poco potea parer li del di fuori ; 
 
 Ma per quel pocovedev' io le stelle, 
 
 Di lor solere e piu chiare e maggiori. 90 
 
 Si ruminando, e si mirando in quelle, 
 
 Mi prese il sonno ; il sonno che sovente 
 
 Anzi che il fatto sia sa le novelle. h 
 Nell' ora, credo, che dell' oriente 
 
 Prima raggib nel monte Citerea, 
 
 Che di fuoco 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 dimanda, 100 
 
 Ch' io mi son Lia, e vo movendo intorno 
 
 Le belle mani a farmi una ghirlanda. 
 
 h ilfato Veil. i fiori G?. 
 
 As to this and the other dreams, see note to this Canto, Appendix A.
 
 342 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvn. 
 
 me a garland. To delight me at the glass here I adorn 
 myself; but my sister Rachel never is drawn from her 
 mirror, and sits all day. She is fain to see her fair eyes, as 
 I to adorn myself with my hands ; to see satisfies her, me 
 to work." 
 
 And already, through the brightness before the light, 
 which arises the more grateful to pilgrims, as on their 
 
 Per piacermi allo specchio qui m' adorno ; 
 Ma mia suora Rachel mai non si smaga 
 Dal suo miraglio, e siede tutto giorno. 
 
 Ell' e di suoi begli occhi veder vaga, 
 Com' io dell' adornarmi con le mani : 
 Lei lo vedere, e me 1' ovrare appaga. k 
 
 E gik per gli splendori antelucani, 
 
 Che tanto ai peregrin surgon piii grati, no 
 
 Quanto tornando albergan men lontani, 1 
 
 k e me f ornare Gg. 1245 ; ontar map. Can. 
 1 piu lontani Cass. 13 W. 
 
 104 It is hard to find an English word to give the force of smaga. 
 Philalethes is happy in having "weichen." Cf. xix. 20. Veil, has 
 "non si smarrisce." 
 
 106 There is a question whether we ought to read de' or di, "fain 
 to see with her eyes," or "fain of seeing her eyes." The former makes 
 a better parallel to adornarmi colle mani, but the objection to it is 
 that such words as vago are rarely (vago itself never in D.C.) followed 
 by a simple infinitive. Diez iii. 216. I have therefore followed 
 Philalethes rather than Bianchi and Witte. The former says " Das 
 beschauliche Leben findet seine Befriedigung im Erkennen der Wahr- 
 heit welches gleichsam das Auge der Seele ist." See also Conv. iv. 2 
 ad fin. , which agrees with this reading. 
 
 108 Cf. Par. xxxi. 29. 
 
 111 The reading taken by Witte, piu lontani, seems to spoil the 
 sense. The piii has clearly slipped in from the line above. See 
 Scartazzini's note, which seems conclusive against the reading which he 
 adopts.
 
 CANTO xxvii. PURGATORY. 343 
 
 return they lodge less far away, the shadows were fleeing 
 on all sides, and my sleep with them ; wherefore I rose up, 
 seeing the great masters already risen. " That sweet apple, 
 which through so many branches the care of mortals 
 goes seeking, to-day will set at peace thy hunger." Virgil 
 toward me used such words as these, and never were there 
 gifts which were for pleasure equal to these. Desire upon 
 desire so came to me of being above, that at every after 
 pace I felt my wings grow for the flight. When the whole 
 stair was passed, and below us, and we were on the topmost 
 step, Virgil fixed his eyes on me, and said : " The temporal 
 fire and the eternal hast thou seen, my son, and thou art 
 come to a part where of myself I discern no further. I 
 
 Le tenebre fuggian da tutti i lati, 
 
 E il sonno mio con esse ; ond' io leva'mi, 
 
 Veggendo i gran Maestri gia levati. 
 Quel dolce pome, che per tanti rami 
 
 Cercando va la cura de' mortali, 
 
 Oggi porra in pace le tue fami : 
 Virgilio inverse me queste cotali 
 
 Parole uso ; e mai non furo strenne 
 
 Che fosser di piacere a queste"1guali. 120 
 
 Tanto voler sovra voler mi venne 
 
 Dell' esser su, ch' ad ogni passo poi 
 
 Al volo mi sentia crescer le penne. m 
 Come la scala tutta sotto noi 
 
 Fu corsa, e fummo in su il grado superno, 
 
 In me ficcb Virgilio gli occhi suoi, 
 E disse : II temporal fuoco e 1' eterno 
 
 Veduto hai, figlio, e se' venuto in parte 
 
 m Alvolo mio Gg.; vuol mio Cast.
 
 344 P URGA TOR Y. CANTO xxvii. 
 
 have drawn thee hither with wit and with art, henceforth 
 take thine own pleasure for guide ; forth art thou of the 
 steep ways, forth of the narrow. See there the Sun, which 
 shines upon thy forehead ; see the young grass, the flowers, 
 and the shrubs which here the land of itself alone brings forth. 
 While the fair eyes with joy are coming, which with their 
 weeping made me come to thee, thou mayest sit, and 
 mayest go among them. Await no more my word or my 
 
 Ov' io per me piu oltre non discerno. 
 Tratto t' ho qui con ingegno e con arte; 130 
 
 Lo tuo piacere omai prendi per duce ; 
 
 Fuor se' dell' erte vie, fuor se' dell' arte. 
 Vedi la il Sol, che in fronte ti riluce : 
 
 Vedi 1' erbetta, i fiori e gli arbuscelli, 
 
 Che qui la terra sol da se produce." 
 Mentre che vegnon lieti gli occhi belli, 
 
 Che lagrimando a te venir mi fenno, 
 
 Seder ti puoi, e puoi andar tra elli. 
 Non aspettar mio dir piu, ne mio cenno : 
 
 " quella Cass. Gg. (alt. fr. qui la) Aid. Land.; qutsta Si. 
 
 " 9 Because Virgil represents human knowledge. 
 
 130 ingegno ed'arte. Cf. ix. 125. "Durch Ausbildung des 
 speculativen und praktischen Intellects bist du hierher gelangt " 
 Philalethes ; who also points the allusion to the contemplative and 
 active life in the seder and andar of 1. 138. The same is also 
 expressed by the crown and mitre. Here of course the " wit" is that 
 which discovers, the "art," that which utilises the discovery.
 
 CANTO xxvn. PURGATORY. 345 
 
 sign ; free, right, and sound is thy judgement, and it were a 
 fault not to act according to it ; wherefore thee over thyself 
 I crown and mitre. 
 
 Libero dritto e sano e tuo arbitrio, 140 
 
 E fallo fora non fare a suo senno ; 
 Perch' io te sopra te corono e mitrio. 
 
 ^ tutto arb. Gg. 
 
 140 sqq. cf. c onv . H. i. " Nell' uscita dell' anima del peccato, essa si 
 e fatta santa e libera in sua podestate." 
 
 : 
 
 +**
 
 CANTO XXVIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Dante proceeds, followed by Virgil and Statins, through a forest wherein 
 are birds singing and many flowers. They are stopped by a little 
 stream, on the other side of which is a lady gathering the flowers. She 
 explains that this is the earthly Paradise, made at the first for man ; 
 and tells him of the nature of its soil and climate, and of the stream 
 which flows through it. 
 
 ALREADY fain to search within and around the divine forest 
 thick and living, which to my eyes was tempering the new 
 day, without waiting more I left the bank, taking the level 
 ground at gentle pace over the soil which on all sides 
 
 VAGO gia di cercar dentro e dintorno 
 La divina foresta spessa e viva, 
 Ch' agli occhi temperava il nuovo giorno, 
 
 Senza piu aspettar lasciai la riva, 
 Prendendo la campagna lento lento 
 Su per lo suol che d' ogni parte oliva. 
 
 3 Contrast this with the "selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte" of 
 Inf. i. 
 
 4 lasciai ; notice the singular number. Dante now goes where he 
 will, and the others follow. Cf. 1. 82.
 
 CANTO xxviii. PURGATORY. 347 
 
 gave sweet odours. A soft breeze, without any change in it, 
 smote me on the forehead, with no heavier stroke than a 
 gentle wind; by reason of which the leaves quickly 
 trembling, were all bending towards the quarter where the 
 holy mount casts its earliest shade ; not, however, spread 
 from their natural uprightness so much that the birds through 
 the tree-tops needed to leave setting all their arts in work : 
 but with full joy chanting they received the breezes of 
 morning among the leaves, which were keeping a ground- 
 
 Un' aura dolce, senza mutamento 
 Avere in se, mi feria per la fronte, 
 Non di piu colpo che soave vento ; 
 
 Per cui le fronde tremolando pronte 10 
 
 Tutte quante piegavano alia parte, 
 U' la prim' ombra gitta il santo monte ; 
 
 Non perb dal lor esser dritto sparte 
 Tanto che gli augelletti per le cime 
 Lasciasser d' operare ogni lor arte ; 
 
 Ma con piena letizia 1' ore prime 
 Carltando ricevieno intra le foglie, 
 Che tenevan bordope alle sue rime, 
 
 12 That is, towards the west ; the breeze blowing from the east, 
 with the diurnal motion of the universe (1. 103), or, as we should say, 
 against that of the earth. 
 
 16 Witte, in common with most commentators, ancient and modern, 
 takes ore as horas. The difficulty of this is that if it is understood 
 merely as " the morning hour " there is no reason for the plural ; while, 
 if we take it with cantando, "singing matins," there is no object to 
 ricevieno. Unless, therefore, we can suppose that this latter word is 
 corrupt (Witte gives a variant risedeano), we must, I think, follow 
 Bianchi in accepting Benvenuto's interpretation, and taking ore = 
 auras. Blanc's objection that, as the breeze was senza mutamento, 
 there could be no " first," seems a little pedantic. 
 
 18 tenevan bordone. So Redi. Bacco in Toscana, 408.
 
 348 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvm. 
 
 bass to their strains, such as collects itself from branch to- 
 branch through the pinewood on the shore of Chiassi when 
 ^Eolus lets forth Scirocco. 
 
 Already my slow steps had carried me so far within the 
 ancient wood that I could no longer see back to where I 
 entered, and lo a stream stayed further going, which towards 
 the left with its little waves was bending the grass that 
 sprang upon its bank. All the waters that are in this world 
 ntost pure had. seemed to have in them some admixture 
 beside that which hides naught ; albeit it moves along all 
 
 Tal, qual di ramo in ramo si raccoglie, 
 
 Per la pineta in sul lito di Chiassi, 20 
 
 Quand' Eolo Scirocco fuor discioglie. 
 
 Gia m' avean trasportato i lenti passi 
 Dentro all' antica selva, tanto ch' io 
 Non potea rivedere ond' io m'entrassi : 
 
 Ed ecco piu andar mi tolse un rio, 
 
 Che inver sinistra con sue picciole onde 
 Piegava 1'erba che in sua ripa uscio. 
 
 Tutte 1' acque che son di qua piu monde, 
 Parrieno avere in se mistura alcuna, 
 Verso di quella che nulla nasconde ; 30 
 
 Avvegna che si muova bruna bruna 
 Sotto 1' ombra perpetua, che mai 
 
 50 chiassi, i.e. Classis, the old harbour of Ravenna, the site of 
 which is now occupied by the famous pine forest. Bocc. Day v. 
 nov. 8. 
 
 2 s Dante is going towards the east. The stream at this point is 
 therefore flowing from south to north, having turned at right angles 
 to its original course, which, as will appear from xxix. 12, was from 
 east to west. It is the stream Lethe.
 
 CANTO xxvni. PURGATORY. 349 
 
 brown beneath the perpetual shade, which lets not sun nor 
 inoon shine ever there. With my feet I stood still, and 
 with my eyes I passed beyond the little stream to gaze at 
 the great variety of fresh May flowers, and there appeared 
 to me, just as appears suddenly a thing which turns aside 
 through wonder every other thought, a solitary dame, who was 
 
 Raggiar non lascia sole ivi, ne luna. 
 
 Co' pie ristetti, e con gli occhi passai a 
 Di la dal fiumicel per ammirare 
 La gran variazion de' freschi mai : 
 
 E la m' apparve, si com' egli appare 
 Subitamente cosa che disvia 
 Per maraviglia tutt' altro pensare, 
 
 Una donna soletta, che si gia 40 
 
 a Cot pit ristretti e. c. g. o. 134 ; pit e. c. g. o. ristr. 2. 
 
 36 mai. " Cos! chiama il Toscano i verdi rami, che per antica 
 consuetudine nel primo giorno di Maggio appicchiamo alle finestre." 
 Land. 
 
 37 egli. For this redundant use of the pronoun, see Diez iii. 279. 
 So in French, e.g. "il me vient une pensee." 
 
 40 The name of this lady, as will appear from xxxiii. 119, is Matilda. 
 There is much controversy as to the person meant, but the oldest 
 commentators are nearly unanimous in identifying her with " the great 
 Countess " Matilda of Tuscany, the ally of Gregory VII. and bene- 
 factor of the Papal see. For a short account of her, Sir J. Stephen's 
 Essay on Hildebrand may be referred to with advantage. See also 
 Villani iv. 21. Bianchi, in objecting that Dante would not have put so 
 ardent a partisan of the Papacy and opponent of the empire in this 
 important post, seems to have overlooked the very similar function 
 assigned to Cato, who was no less remarkable as an antagonist of the 
 Caesar of his day. Dante probably was not aware how appropriately- 
 named a personage he had chosen to symbolise the active life. Matilda, 
 Mechtilde = battle-might.
 
 350 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvm. 
 
 going along singing, and selecting flower from flower where- 
 with was painted all her way. " Ah, fair dame, who at love's 
 rays dost warm thyself, if I may believe thy countenance, 
 which is wont to be a witness of the heart, may will come 
 to thee to draw forward," said I to her, "toward this stream, 
 so far that I may understand that which thou singest. Thou 
 makest me remember where and what was Proserpine, in 
 the time when her her mother lost, and she the spring." 
 As turns herself, with feet close to the ground and to each 
 other, a dame who dances, and scarce puts foot before 
 foot, she turned, over the vermilion and the yellow flowers 
 
 Cantando ed iscegliendo fior da fiore, 
 
 Ond' era pinta tutta la sua via. 
 Deh, bella Donna, ch' a raggi d' amore 
 
 Ti scaldi, s' io vo' credere a' sembianti, 
 
 Che soglion esser testimon del cuore, 
 Vegnati voglia di trarreti avanti, b 
 
 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 50 
 
 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 su' vermigli ed in su' gialli 
 
 b di trarti davanti Gg. 2 ; di traurti av. Cass.; in voglia W. 
 
 & 5I See Ovid Met. v. 385 sqq. By primavera some understand the 
 spring flowers which Proserpine let fall ; but it is probably only a 
 reminiscence of Ovid's " perpetuum ver est."
 
 CANTO xxvin. PURGATORY. 351 
 
 toward me, not otherwise than a virgin who casts down her 
 honest eyes ; and made my prayers to be content, drawing 
 herself so near that the sweet sound came to me with its 
 meaning. As soon as she was there where the grass is 
 just bathed by the waves of the fair stream, she did me the 
 grace of raising her eyes. I do not think that such light 
 beamed under the eyelids of Venus pierced by her son, out 
 of all his custom. She was smiling from the other bank, 
 upright and arranging many hues with her hands, which the 
 
 Fioretti verso me, non altrimenti 
 
 Che vergine che gli occhi onesti avvalli ; 
 
 E fece i prieghi miei esser content!, 
 Si appressando se che il dolce suono 
 Veniva a me co' suoi intendimenti. 60 
 
 Tosto che fu la dve 1' erbe sono 
 Bagnate gia 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, 
 
 Trattando piu color con le sue mani, c 
 
 c Traendo Gg. Cass. 134 Aid. W. 
 
 66 I.e. unintentionally. Ovid Met. x. 525, 526, "Namque phare- 
 tratus dum dat puer oscula matri, Inscius exstanti destrinxit arundine 
 pectus. " 
 
 67 dritta is generally taken to mean merely " the right bank." 
 But surely this is an unnecessary pleonasm ; and, besides, dritta in 
 this sense only occurs once elsewhere (xiv. 8). I have followed Blanc 
 in understanding it of Matilda's attitude. See also the woodcut in 
 the Venice ed. of 1578. As a necessary consequence we must, with 
 Landino, read trattando in the following line, instead of the more usual 
 traendo.
 
 352 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvin. 
 
 high earth sends forth without seed. Three paces the 
 stream kept us apart, but Hellespont, there where Xerxes 
 passed, a bridle still to all pride of men, endured not from 
 Leander greater hate, for surging between Sestos andAbydos, 
 than that from me, for that then it opened not. " Ye are 
 new come, and perhaps wherefore I smile," she began, " in 
 this place, set apart to the human kind for its nest, some 
 doubt holds you marvelling; but the psalm Delectasti 
 renders a light which may uncloud your understanding. 
 
 Che 1' alta terra senza seme gitta. d 
 Tre passi ci facea il flume lontani : 70 
 
 Ma Ellesponto, la 've passb Serse, 
 
 Ancora freno a tutti orgogli umani, 
 Piu odio da Leandro non sofferse, 
 
 Per mareggiare intra Sesto ed Abido, 
 
 Che quel da me, perche allor non s' aperse. 
 Voi siete nuovi, e forse perch' io rido, 
 
 Comincio ella, in questo luogo eletto 
 
 All' umana natura per suo nido, 
 Maravigliando tienvi alcun sospetto : 
 
 Ma luce rende il salmo Delectasti, 80 
 
 Che puote disnebbiar vostro intelletto. 
 
 d altra 134. 
 
 ^ If we read altra, the meaning will be " more than the other (i.e. 
 this) earth bears without sowing." 
 
 1 " II questo fiume tre passi largo, perche tre cose bisogna a entrar 
 in queste virtu, prima conoscere il vitio, seconda conosciutolo odiarlo, 
 terza odiatolo dimenticarlo," says Landino, a good specimen of the 
 elaborate interpretation of the early commentators. 
 
 80 Psalm xcii. 4 (Vulg. xci. 5), "Delectasti me, Domine, in factura 
 tua." See note to last canto.
 
 CANTO xxviii. PURGATORY. 353 
 
 And thou that art in front, and prayedst me, say if thou 
 wouldst hear aught else, for I come ready for thy every 
 question, so far as may suffice." " The water," said I, " and 
 the sound of the forest, strive in me with a new belief of a 
 matter which I heard contrary to this." Wherefore she : 
 " I will tell how by its cause proceeds that which makes 
 thee wonder ; and I will purge away the cloud which smites 
 thee. The highest good, which does only its own pleasure, 
 made the man good and for good, and gave him this place 
 for an earnest to him of eternal peace. Through his own 
 
 E tu che se' 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 dicerb come precede 
 Per sua cagion, cib ch' ammirar ti face, 
 E purgherb la nebbia che ti fiede. e 90 
 
 Lo sommo Ben, che solo esso a se piace/ 
 Fece 1' uom buono e a Sene, e questo loco e 
 Diede per arra a lui d' eterna pace. 
 
 Per sua diffalta qui dimorb poco ; 
 
 e lede Gg. 
 
 { bene che solo esso se Cass.; esse 4 ; solo a se2$ Bi. 
 
 8 Fe fuom buon e ben di q. Cass.; e bene a 1345 ; Fece . , . buono a 
 
 bene e 2 Aid. Land. ; buono e' I ben di q. Bi. 
 
 82 Dante is now going in front. 
 
 85 Statius has told him (xxi. 46 sqq.) that the mountain above the 
 gate of Purgatory is free from all atmospheric changes. Dante is there- 
 fore at a loss to understand whence comes the wind which sounds in 
 the leaves, and how where rain never falls there can be a stream of 
 water. 
 
 2 A
 
 354 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvin. 
 
 default he abode here little time ; through his own default 
 he changed to weeping and toil honest laughter and sweet 
 mirth. In order that the tumult to which below the 
 exhalations of the water and of the earth of themselves 
 give rise, which so far as they can, go after the heat, should 
 not cause to the man any trouble, this mount rose thus far 
 toward the heaven, and is free from them, from that point 
 where is the barrier. Now, since in a circuit the whole air 
 turns with the prime turning, if its circle is not broken by 
 
 Per sua diffalta in pianto ed in affanno 
 
 Cambib onesto riso e dolce giuoco. 
 Perche il turbar, che sotto da se fanno 
 
 L' esalazion dell' acqua e della terra, 
 
 Che quanto posson dietro al calor vanno, 
 All uomo non facesse alcuna guerra, 100 
 
 Questo monte sallo ver lo Ciel tanto, 
 
 E libero n' e d' indi, ove si serra. 
 Or perche in circuito tutto quanto 
 
 L'aer si volge con la prima volta, 
 
 Se non gli e rotto il cerchio d' alcun canto, 
 
 97 Bianchi takes sotto da se = below the mountain. But (though 
 we find di sotto da) there seems to be no example of sotto da, and 
 se for lui is at the best very harsh. On the whole da se seems to make 
 the best sense with fanno. 
 
 9 8 , 99 Cf. Aristotle Meteor, ii. 4 : vcravros re yap TJ yrj r)patvop,fvr) 
 IITTO Tf rov Iv avrfj 6fpfj.ov KOI vno TOV avadfv, d 
 
 102 Cf. xxi. 49. 
 
 103 Cf. lines n, 12. 
 
 Io s Witte, Bianchi, Blanc, Philalethes, all take d' alcun canto as 
 = merely "in any part." I have ventured to give it a more special 
 meaning. The upper air revolves steadily from east to west with the 
 movement of the universe ; but, being met by a projection, like this
 
 CANTO xxviii. PURGATORY. 355 
 
 any corner, on this height, which is all unbounded in the 
 living air, such motion strikes and makes the wood sound, 
 for that it is close-set ; and the plant when struck has such 
 power that with its virtue it impregnates the breeze, and 
 that again in its revolution around shakes it off; and the 
 rest of the earth, according as it is fit by itself or by its sky, 
 conceives and brings to birth of divers virtues divers trees. It 
 would, not then on earth appear a marvel, when this is heard, 
 whensoever any plant, without seed appearing, takes hold in 
 it. And thou must know that the holy country where thou 
 art is full of every seed, and has fruit in itself which yonder 
 is not plucked. The water that thou seest rises not from 
 
 In questa altezza, che tutta e disciolta 
 
 Nell' aer vivo, tal moto percuote, 
 
 E fa sonar la selva perch' e folta : 
 E la percossa pianta tanto puote, 
 
 Che della sua virtute 1' aura impregna, no 
 
 E quella poi girando intorno scuote : 
 E P altra terra, secondo ch' e degna 
 
 Per se o per suo ciel, concepe e figlia 
 
 Di diverse virtu diverse legna. 
 Non parrebbe di la poi maraviglia, 
 
 Udito questo, quando alcuna pianta 
 
 Senza seme palese vi s' appiglia. 
 E saper dei che la campagna santa, 
 
 Ove tu se', d' ogni semenza e piena, 
 
 E frutto ha in se che di la non si schianta. 120 
 
 mountain, it is felt as a breeze. By this the seeds (in which the virtu 
 resides) are shaken from the trees and plants, and let fall on the earth 
 below, where they spring up to all appearance spontaneously. 
 119 An allusion probably to Genesis ii. 9. 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 PURGATORY. CANTO xxvm. 
 
 a vein which the vapour that cold converts may restore, as a 
 river which gains or loses force, but issues from a fountain 
 steady and sure, which by the will of God receives back 
 so much as opening on two sides it pours forth. On this 
 side it descends with a virtue which takes away from a man 
 memory of sin ; on the other it restores that of every good 
 deed. On this hand Lethe, so on the other Eunoe is it called, 
 and it works not, if it is not first tasted on this hand and on 
 that. Of all other savours this is sovereign. And albeit that 
 thy thirst may be sated enough, for all that more I reveal 
 
 L' acqua che vedi non surge di vena h 
 Che ristori vapor che giel converta, 
 Come fiume ch' acquista o perde lena ; 
 
 Ma esce di fontana salda e certa, 
 
 Che tanto del voler di Dio riprende, k 
 Quant' ella versa da due parti aperta. 
 
 Da questa parte con virtu discende, 
 Che toglie altrui memoria del peccato ; 
 DalP altra, d' ogni ben fatto la rende. 
 
 Quinci Lete, cosi dali' altro lato 130 
 
 Eunoe si chiama : e non adopra, 
 Se quinci e quindi pria non e gustato. 
 
 A tutt' altri sapori esto e di sopra : 
 E avvegna ch' assai possa esser sazia 
 La sete tua, perch' io piii non ti scopra, 
 
 h non esce Gg. 
 
 1 Saspetta Cass. 12345 Aid.; Come /' altra c 1 acq. Gg. 
 k risplende Gg. 
 
 111 See Aristotle Meteor, i. 13. 
 
 1M converta, i.e. changes back to water. Cf. vv. 109-111. 
 
 3S perche*, as v. 58, etc.
 
 CANTO xxviii. PURGATORY. 357 
 
 not to thee, I will of favour give thee yet a corollary ; nor 
 think I that my word will to thee be less precious if beyond 
 promise it go along with thee. Those who in ancient time 
 sang of the age of gold and its happy state, haply in 
 Parnassus dreamt of this place. Here was the root of 
 mankind innocent ; here is spring ever, and every fruit ; 
 nectar is this of which each speaks." 
 
 I turned me quite round then to my poets, and saw that 
 with a smile they had heard the last interpretation. Then 
 to the fair dame I turned again my face. 
 
 Darotti un corollario ancor per grazia ; ' 
 Ne credo, che il mio dir ti sia men caro 
 Se oltre promission teco si spazia. 
 
 Quelli ch' anticamente poetaro 
 
 L' eta dell' oro e suo stato felice, 140 
 
 Forse in Parnaso esto loco sognaro. 1 " 
 
 Qui fu innocente 1' umana radice ; 
 Qui primavera sempre, ed ogni frutto ; 
 Nettare e questo di che ciascun dice. 
 
 lo mi rivolsi addietro allora tutto 
 A' miei Poeti, e vidi che con riso 
 
 
 Udito avevan 1' ultimo costrutto : 
 Poi alia bella donna tornai il viso. 
 
 1 Dirotti Gg. 
 m segnaro Gg. Cass. (al. sogn.) ; 1245 signaro 3. 
 
 1 < I Daniello quotes Persius Prol. 2: "Nee in bicipiti somniasse 
 Parnasso ; " which, except for the sound of the words, does not seem 
 much to the point. 
 
 148 tornai, as usual, with the idea of not merely "turning," but 
 ' '_ turning back to a former position. "
 
 CANTO XXIX. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They proceed along the banks of the stream, which presently turns to the 
 eastward, and of a sudden perceive a bright light and a sweet music. 
 There appears a wondrous pageant, preceded by seven candlesticks, a 
 car drawn by a Grifon, and escorted by four-and-twenty elders and 
 four beasts, with other personages. They halt opposite to where the 
 poets stand. 
 
 SINGING, as a dame enamoured, she went on with her final 
 words, Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata. And like nymphs 
 who used to go solitary through the wooded shades, desiring 
 one to fly, one to behold the sun, so she then moved against 
 
 CANTANDO come donna innamorata, 
 
 Continuo col fin di sue parole : 
 
 Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata : 
 E come Ninfe che si givan sole* 
 
 Per le salvatiche ombre, disiando 
 
 Qual di fuggir, qual di veder lo sole ; 
 
 * che seguivan Gg. 
 3 Psalm xxxii. I.
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 359 
 
 the stream, going up along the bank, and I abreast of her, 
 following with little steps her little steps. There were not 
 a hundred paces between hers and mine, when the banks 
 made a turn equally, in such wise that I again set myself 
 toward the sunrising. Nor thus, too, had our way been 
 long when the lady turned wholly towards me, saying: " My 
 brother, look and listen." And lo, a brightness suddenly 
 rushed from all quarters through the great forest such that 
 it set me questioning of lightning. But whereas of the 
 
 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 suoi passi e i miei, io 
 
 Quando le ripe*igualmente dier volta, 
 Per modo ch' a levante mi rendei. 
 
 Ne anche fu cosi nostra via molta, 
 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. b 
 
 b mife inf. Gg. 
 
 ^ They now turn to the south, and go less than fifty paces each 
 (1. io) in that direction, when they reach a bend in the stream, and face 
 eastward. They go a little further (11. 13, 46), when Dante finally 
 halts (1. 70), and remains standing on the bank until he is taken through 
 the river by Matilda (xxxi. 94). Vellutello thinks that the turn to the 
 right denotes application to good works, and the return to the east the 
 renewal of contemplation. 
 
 18 mi mise in forse. So Inf. viii. no. See also note to iii. 37.
 
 360 PURGATORY. CANTO xxix. 
 
 lightning the stay is even as the coming, and this continuing, 
 kept shining more and more, I began to say within my thought : 
 " What thing is this ? " And a sweet melody was running 
 through the luminous air, wherefore a good zeal made me 
 reproach the boldness of Eve; that there, where heaven and 
 earth were obedient, a woman alone, and she but lately 
 formed, did not endure to stay under any veil ; under the 
 which if she had stayed devout, I should have felt these 
 ineffable delights ere now, and after for a long time. 
 
 While I was going along among such firstfruits of the 
 
 Ma perche il balenar, come vien, resta, 
 
 E quel durando piu e piu splendeva, 20 
 
 Nel mio pensar dicea : Che cosa e questa ? 
 Ed una melodia dolce correva 
 
 Per F aer luminoso : onde buon zelo 
 
 Mi fe' riprender F ardimento d' Eva ; 
 Che, la dove ubbidia la terra e il Cielo, 
 
 Femmina sola, e pur teste formata, 
 
 Non sofferse di star sotto alcun velo : 
 Sotto il qual se divota fosse stata, 
 
 Avrei quelle ineffabili delizie 
 
 Sentite prima, e poi lunga fiata. d 30 
 
 Mentr' io m' andava tra tante primizie 
 
 c Qtiella disiibbitiib Gg. 
 d prima e piu Gg. 1234 W.; prima piu Cass. 
 
 19 come vien, i.e. momentarily. 
 
 26 teste. In longer form testeso, xxi. 113. From ante istud ipsum 
 according to Diez iii. 436. Boccaccio and Sacchetti use it also of the 
 immediate future. In Inf. vi. 69, and Par. xix. 7 it is present. 
 
 30 I.e. through this life and the next.
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 361 
 
 eternal pleasure, all in suspense and desirous yet for more 
 joys, before us the air became to us even as a burning fire 
 under the green branches, and the sweet sound was already 
 perceived for a chant. O most holy Virgins, if fasts, cold, 
 or watches I have ever endured for you, occasion spurs me 
 to claim reward therefore. Now it behoves that Helicon 
 pour forth for me and that Urania aid me with her choir to 
 put in verse things mighty to conceive. 
 
 A little further on the long interval which was still 
 between us and them made falsely in appearance seven 
 
 /ieut 
 / ** 
 
 Dell' eterno piacer, tutto sospeso, 
 
 E disioso ancora a piu letizie, 
 Dinanzi a noi, tal quale un fuoco acceso 
 
 Ci si feM' aer, sotta i verdi rami, 
 
 E il dolce suon per canto era gia inteso. 
 O sacrosante Vergini, se fami, 
 
 Freddi, o vigilie mai per voi soffersi, 
 
 Cagion mi sprona ch' io merce ne chiami. 
 Or convien ch' Elicona per me versi, 40 
 
 E Urania m' aiuti col suo coro, 
 
 Forti cose a pensar mettere in versi. 
 Poco piu oltre ; sette alberi d' oro e 
 
 Falsava nel parere il lungo tratto 
 
 Del mezzo, ch' era ancor tra noi e loro : 
 
 W. 
 
 42 Cf. Milton's " Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme." Par. 
 L. i. 16. Bianchi can hardly be right in understanding ed a before 
 mettere, and taking both this and pensar as dependent on aiuti, 
 though Philalethes seems to take the same view : "Das Schwerer ich 
 erdenk."
 
 362 PURGATORY. CANTO xxix. 
 
 masts of gold; but when I was so near them that the 
 common object, which cheats the sense, lost not through 
 distance any of its features, the faculty which gathers argu- 
 ments for reason apprehended them as they were candle- 
 Ma quando i' fui si presso di lor fatto, 
 
 Che 1' obbietto comun, che il senso inganna/ 
 Non perdea per distanza alcun suo atto ; 
 La virtu ch' a ragion discorso ammanna, 
 
 Si com' elli eran candelabri apprese, 50 
 
 f che Vobbico 14 ; com' uom Gg. (margin cammin). 
 acese (al. aprese) Cass. access 14. 
 
 47 T obietto comun. So Conv. iv. 8: "nelli sensibili comuni, la 
 dove il senso spesse volto e ingannato. " This use of the expression 
 seems here to be founded on a misunderstanding of "TO KOIVOV," in 
 De Anima ii. 6. Aristotle uses it of such attributes as may be perceived 
 by more than one sense, as motion, number, size, etc. ; Dante is speak- 
 ing of attributes common to more than one object of sense, which are 
 the first to be perceived, and thus cause mistakes. In the present case 
 candlesticks and masts (not, I think, "trees," as Philalethes renders), 
 have the common property of height, straightness, etc. The distinguish- 
 ing characteristics, e.g. colour, are regarded as attributes laid upon the 
 obietto comun, as features upon the face ; atto being used much as in 
 xxiv. 27. 
 
 49 la virtu. Philalethes takes this to be the intellect, which enables 
 the reason to express its conclusions by means of speech, since it gives it 
 its material, viz. the species intelligibiles. It seems better, however, 
 to take it in the more restricted sense of the "apprehensive" faculty 
 (xviii. 22), which collects the evidence given by the senses, and passes 
 it on for the reason to pronounce upon it. (De Anima iii. 3. Cf. 
 Ozanam, Dante, Part II. chap. iii. I, 2.) Cf. Hamlet i. 2: "A 
 beast that wants discourse of reason." "Discursus," says Aquinas, "est 
 motus sive progressus mentis ab uno judicio ad aliud," or more properly, 
 the progress from two concerted judgements to a third resulting from 
 their connection, a syllogism ; the materials for it being given by 
 "apprehensio."
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 363 
 
 sticks, and in the voices of the chanting Hosanna. On high 
 was flaming the fair equipment, far brighter than the Moon 
 in a clear sky at midnight in her mid-month. I turned me 
 back full of wonder to the good Virgil, and he answered me 
 with a look charged no less with astonishment. Then I set 
 my face again to the lofty objects which were moving to 
 meet us so slowly that they would have been overcome by 
 new-wedded brides. The lady cried to me : " Why turnest 
 thou thus in thy desire only towards the living lights, and 
 that which comes behind them regardest not ? " Then saw 
 I folk, as after their guides, come behind, clad in white, and 
 
 E nelle" voci del cantare Osanna. 11 
 
 Di sopra fiammeggiava il bello arnese 
 Piu chiaro assai, che luna per sereno 
 Di mezza notte nel suo mezzo mese. 
 
 lo mi rivolsi d' ammirazion pieno 
 Al buon Virgilio, ed esso mi rispose 
 Con vista carca di stupor non meno. 
 
 Indi rendei 1' aspetto all' alte cose, 
 Che si movieno incontro a noi si tardi, 
 Che foran vinte da novelle spose. 60 
 
 La donna mi sgridb : Perche pur ardi 
 Si nell' affetto delle vive luci/ 
 E cib che vien diretro a lor non guardi ? 
 
 Genti vid' io allor, com' a lor duci, 
 Venire appresso, vestite di bianco : 
 
 h mile bocche Gg. ' nelf aspetto Gg. Cass. 14 W.; effetto 2. 
 
 51 " Alia nobile anima si fanno incontro ad osannare quelli cittadin 
 dell' eterna vita." Conv. iv. 28, ed. Giuliani. 
 
 26 affetto, as in xviii. 57. Land, seems to read prime for vive.
 
 364 PURGATORY. CANTO xxix. 
 
 such whiteness never was there in this world. The water 
 was shining on the left flank, and returned to me my left 
 side if I gazed in it, even like a mirror. When on my 
 bank I had such position, that only the river separated me, 
 to see better I gave a halt to my steps, and I saw the 
 flames go forward, leaving behind them the air painted ; and 
 
 E tal candor giammai di qua non jucL 
 L' acqua splendeva dal sinistro fianco, k 
 E rendea a me la mia sinistra costa, 1 
 S' io riguardava in lei, come specchio anco. 
 Quand' io dalla mia riva ebbi tal posta, 70 
 
 Che solo il flume mi facea distante, 
 Per veder meglio a' passi diedi sosta : ^0^3 
 E vidi le fiammelle andare avante, 
 Lasciando dietro a se 1' aer dipinto, 
 
 k L'acgua imprendea Gg. Cass. 15 ; prendea 4 ; prendeami 3. 
 1 rendea mi Gg. 134 ; rendeame Cass. 
 
 67 The reading splendeva is the most intelligible, and the one 
 adopted by most editors from Aldus downward, though called by 
 Scarabelli (according to Barlow, Seicento Lezioni, p. 47), " un grosso 
 errore." The usual rule, to look with suspicion on the easier reading, 
 is somewhat modified here by the presence of rendea in the next line, 
 and the possibility that this having been inserted here by a very common 
 copyist's blunder may have given rise to the prendea readings. The 
 Venice ed. of 1578 has impiendea, and pendea is found in some MSS. 
 Ought we not to read impendeva : "I hung over the water"? 
 Otherwise line 68 seems to involve a lack of Dante's usual accuracy 
 about details, for no one could see his own left side reflected in a stream 
 without bending over it. Scartazzini adopts splendeva without remark, 
 which is curious, as he seldom misses an opportunity of girding at 
 Scarabelli. It is not impossible that the whole passage from 1. 64 is 
 corrupt. The repetition of a lor allor a lor is awkward, as is also 
 the position of anco at the end of 1. 69.
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 365 
 
 they had the semblance of pencils drawn along, so that 
 above them it remained distinct with seven bands, all in 
 those colours whereof the sun makes his bow and Delia 
 her girdle. To the rearward these banners were too great 
 for my sight ; and as far as I could judge, ten' paces were 
 apart those on the outside. Under so fair a sky as I devise, 
 four-and-twenty elders, two by two, were coming, crowned 
 with lily flowers. They all were singing : " Blessed thou 
 among the daughters of Adam, and blessed be for ever thy 
 beauties." After that the flowers and the other fresh 
 
 E di tratti pennelli avea sembiante, 
 Si che di sopra rimanea distinto 
 
 Di sette liste, tutte in que' colori, 
 
 Onde fa 1' arco il*Sole, e Delia il cinto. 
 Questi stendali dietro eran maggiori 
 
 Che la mia vista : e quanto a mio avviso 80 
 
 Dieci passi distavan quei di fuori. 
 Sotto cosi 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 F altre fresche erbette, 
 
 75 It seems best to take pennelli, with the older commentators, in 
 the same sense as it has in xii. 64, though its use in the sense of 
 " pennons " is not unknown. But the likening of the flames to painters' 
 brushes, drawn along and leaving a band of colour behind, is quite in If 
 Dante's manner. 
 
 ? 8 Rainbow and lunar halo (Par. x. 67). As to the interpretation 
 of these bands, and of the whole pageant, see Appendix B.
 
 366 PURGATORY. CANTO xxix. 
 
 herbage abreast of me, on the other bank, were clear of those 
 elect folk, just as light follows light in heaven, came after 
 them four living creatures crowned each with green leaves. 
 Each one had six feathered wings, the feathers full of 
 eyes ; and the eyes of Argus, if they were living, would be 
 such. To describe their form I scatter rhymes no more, 
 reader, for other expense binds me so, that in this I cannot 
 be lavish. But read Ezekiel, for he depicts them as he 
 saw them come from the cold quarter with wind, with cloud, 
 and with fire ; and such as thou shalt find them in his 
 
 A rimpetto di me dall' altra sponda, 
 
 Libere fur da quelle genti elette, 90 
 
 Si come luce luce in ciel seconda, 
 
 Vennero appresso lor quattro animali, 
 
 Coronati ciascun di verde fronda. m 
 Ognuno era pennuto di sei ali, 
 
 Le penne piene d' occhi ; e gli occhi d' Argo, 
 
 Se fosser vivi, sarebber cotali. 
 A discriver lor forma piu non spargo 
 
 Rime, letter ; ch' altra spesa mi strigne 
 
 Tanto, che in questa non posso esser largo. 
 Ma leggi Ezechiel, che li dipigne 100 
 
 Come li vide dalla fredda parte 
 
 Venir con vento con nube e con igne : 
 E quai li troverai nelle sue carte, 
 
 m Coronato W. Bi. 
 ? 4 pennuto di ali. Cf. the Greek constr. e.g. ajrenXos ffrapew, 
 
 100 Ezekiel i. 4. In v. 6 he says: "Every one had four wings." 
 The "four beasts" seen by St. John, Rev, iv. 8, "had each of them 
 li six wings about him ; " hence Dante's remark in 1. 105.
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 367 
 
 book, such were they here, save that as to the wings John 
 is with me, and separates from him. The space between 
 them four contained a car upon two wheels, triumphal, 
 which came drawn by the neck of a Grifon ; and he was 
 stretching up his wings one and the other between the 
 midmost band and the three and three, so that to no one, 
 by cleaving it, did he do harm. They rose so high that 
 they were out of sight ; he had his limbs of gold so far as 
 he was bird, and white the others with vermilion mingled. 
 Not only did Rome never rejoice with car so fair Afiicanus 
 or Augustus, but that of the Sun would be poor beside it ; 
 
 Tali eran quivi, salvo ch' alle penne_ 
 i % Giovanni e meco, e da lui si diparte. 
 
 Lo spazio dentro a lor*quattfo contenne 
 Un carro in su duo ruote trionfale, 
 Ch' al collo d' un Grifon tirato venne : 
 
 Ed esso tendea su 1' una e 1' altr' ale, 
 
 Tra la mezzana e le tre e tre liste, no 
 
 S\ ch 1 a nulla fendendo facea male." 
 
 Tanto salivan che non eran viste : 
 
 Le membra d' oro avea quant' era uccello, 
 E bianche 1' altre di vermiglio miste. 
 
 Non che Roma di carro cosi bello 
 
 Rallegrasse Affricano, o vero Augusto : 
 Ma quel del Sol saria pover con ello : 
 
 n qffendendo Cass. ; che nullo off. 14. 
 
 I0 9 I. e. the middle band was between his wings, which passed along 
 in the spaces between that and the third and fifth. 
 112 salivan, sc. his wings. 
 "3- "4 Canticles v. 10, u.
 
 368 
 
 PURGATORY. 
 
 CANTO XXIX. 
 
 that of the Sun which going astray was burnt, through the 
 prayer of the devoted Earth, when Jove was in his hidden 
 counsels just. Three ladies, whirling on the right wheel's 
 side, came dancing, the one so red, that hardly would she 
 have been marked within the fire ; the second was as if her 
 flesh and bones had been made out of emerald ; the third 
 appeared snow but lately driven. And now they seemed 
 led by the white, now by the red, and from her chant the 
 others took both slow and quick their pace. On the left 
 side four made holiday, clad in purple, following the fashion 
 of one of them who had three eyes in her head. After all the 
 afore-mentioned group I saw two old men unlike in habit, but 
 like in feature, both dignified and grave. The one showed 
 
 Quel del Sol, che sviando fu combusto, 
 
 Per 1' orazion della Terra devota, 
 A- Quando fu Giove arcanamente giusto. 120 
 
 Tre donne in giro dalla destra ruota 
 Venian danzando, 1' una tanto rossa, 
 Ch' a pena fora dentro al fuoco nota ; 
 
 L' altr' era, come se le carni e 1' ossa 
 Fossero state di smeraldo fatte ; 
 La terza parea neve teste mossa : 
 
 Ed or parevan dalla bianca tratte, 
 Or dalla rossa, e dal canto di questa 
 L' altre toglien 1' andare e tarde e ratte. 
 
 Ualla sinistra quattro facean festa, 130 
 
 In porpora vestite dietro al modo 
 D' una di lor, ch' avea tre occhi in testa .- 
 ' Appresso tutto il pertrattato nodo, 
 
 Vidi duo vecchi in abito dispari, 
 Ma pari in atto ed onestato e sodo. 
 " Cf. vi. 121, xx. 95.
 
 CANTO xxix. PURGATORY. 369 
 
 himself one of the familiars of that great Hippocrates 
 whom nature made for the animals that she holds 
 dearest. The other showed the contrary care, with a 
 sword bright and keen, such that on the hither side 
 of the stream it gave me fear. Afterward saw I four 
 in humble guise, and behind all a solitary old man 
 come sleeping with his countenance undimmed. And 
 these seven were habited as the first band ; but 
 they made not a garden of lilies around their heads ; 
 
 L' un si mostrava alcun de' famigliari 
 
 Di quel sommo Ippocrate, che natura / 
 '-., Agli animali fe' ch' ella ha piu cari. / 
 
 Mostrava 1' altro la contraria cura. 
 
 Con una spada lucida ed acuta, / 140 
 
 Tal che di qua del rio mi fe' paura. 
 
 Poi vidi quattro in umile paruta, 
 E diretro da tutti un veglio solo 
 Venir, dormendo, con la faccia arguta. 
 
 E questi sette come il primaio stuolo 
 Erano abituati ; ma di gigli 
 Dintorno al capo non facevan brolo ; 
 
 136 L'un, St. Luke, as author of the Acts. Famigliari, i.e. 
 physicians. 
 
 138 I.e. mankind. 
 
 39 L'altro, St. Paul. Contraria cura, because the sword slays. 
 
 143 un veglio, St. John, as author of the Apocalypse. 
 
 I4S The usual reading is col primaio, but this leaves a syllable 
 wanting, for the termination -aio reckons as one syllable only, e.g. 
 Inf. vi. 79, xiv. 66. I have therefore ventured to make the slight 
 change in the text. 
 
 2 B
 
 370 PURGATORY. CANTO xxix. 
 
 rather of roses and other vermilion flowers. Seeing them 
 from a short distance one would have sworn that they 
 were all on fire from the eyebrows upward. And when the 
 car was abreast of me a thundering was heard, and those 
 worshipful folk appeared to have their further advance 
 forbidden, halting there with the first ensigns. 
 
 Anzi di rose e d'altri fior vermigli : 
 Giurato avria poco lontano aspetto, 
 Che tutti ardesser di sopra dai cigli. 150 
 
 E quando il carro a me fu ajrimpetto, 
 Un tuon s' udi ; e quelle genti degne 
 Parvero aver 1' andar piu interdetto, 
 
 Fermandos' ivi con le prime insegne. 
 
 148 anzi, Fr. cans (a word which has unfortunately become obsolete). 
 The signification is precisely the same as our "rather" (= "sooner") ; 
 ma, mais (magis), being of course "more." 
 
 149 Lit. "a look at no great distance would have sworn."
 
 CANTO XXX. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Beatrice appears, standing on the car, amid the flowers which the angels 
 strew. Virgil has disappeared ; and she calls upon Dante by name, 
 and while he weeps at the sight of her, she recounts to those around 
 her how he has fallen away from the promise of his early life, and how 
 she has caused him to make this journey for his salvation. 
 
 A 
 
 WHEN the wain of the first heaven, which never knew 
 setting nor rising, nor veil of other cloud than sin, and 
 
 QUANDO il settentrion del primo cielo, 
 Che ne occaso mai seppe ne orto, 
 Ne d' altra nebbia che di colpa velo : 
 
 1 settentrion is usually understood of the seven candlesticks. 
 Landino indeed says: "La sententia e, quando s' affisse e ferm6 il 
 carro," and so P. di Dante j and the marginal reading of the Duke of 
 Sermoneta's Codex, given by Witte, che for tra, in line 8, if it could be 
 supposed to be the correct reading, would make this clearly right. In 
 some ways it is more satisfactory than the ordinary interpretation ; 
 because it is rather the Church (denoted by the car), than the seven gifts 
 of the Spirit, which may be regarded as teaching men their duty ; also 
 the parallel of the " Wain" is better preserved. In default, however, of 
 more MS. authority, the usual explanation must be taken. In that case 
 suo dover means merely " the way they were to go." primo cielo must 
 here = the Empyrean heaven, usually reckoned as the tenth. Bianchi's 
 "il cielo del Paradiso terrestre " can hardly be right. 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 PURGATORY. CANTO xxx. 
 
 which was there making each one acquainted with his duty, 
 as that lower one makes whoso turns the helm to come to 
 port, fixed itself at a halt, all that truthful folk who first had 
 come between the Grifon and it, turned to the car as to 
 their peace ; and one of them, as though sent from heaven, 
 singing, cried thrice : " Vent, sponsa de Libano" and all the 
 others after him. As the blessed at the last proclamation 
 shall rise ready every one from his own cavern, singing 
 
 E che faceva li ciascuno accorto 
 
 Di suo dover, come il piu basso face 
 Qual timon gira per venire a porto, 
 
 Fermo s' arfisse ; la gente verace 
 Venuta prima tra il Grifone ed esso, 
 Al carro volse se, come a sua pace. 
 
 E un di loro quasi da ciel messo, 10 
 
 Veni, sponsa de Libano, cantando, 
 Grid6 tre volte, e tutti gli altri appresso, 
 
 Quali i-beati al novissimo bando 
 
 Surgeran presti, ognun di sua caverna, 
 La rivestita voce alleluiando, a 
 
 a alleviando Gg. Cass. 14 ; carne allev. Aid. Land. 23. 
 
 5 il piu basso. The real constellation of the Wain, which is in the 
 eighth heaven. 
 
 6 Dante appears to use the form timone only of the helm of a rudder, 
 the pole of a cart being temo. 
 
 7 la gente verace., i.e. the twenty-four elders, denoting the Old 
 Testament writers, who prophesied. 
 
 10 uno. Solomon. The words he utters are from Canticles iv. 8. 
 
 13 carne, for voce, is probably an importation from Par. xiv. 43. 
 I have followed Bianchi and the Germans in preferring alleluiando, 
 which, besides giving a far finer image, is much more likely to have 
 been corrupted into than from the easier alleviando. Comm. Gg. has : 
 "i.e. cum gaudio cantando alleluia." For the constr. see Diez iii. 
 p. 107, and compare arridere un cenno, Par. xv. 71.
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 373 
 
 Hallelujah in the voice which they have again put on, 
 such upon the divine chariot, uprose a hundred, ad vocem 
 tanti senis, ministers and messengers of life eternal. All 
 were saying : Benedidus qui venis, and casting flowers above 
 and all around, Manibus o date lilia plenis. I have seen 
 ere now at the beginning of the day the eastern quarter 
 all rosy, and the rest of heaven beautiful with fair clear 
 sky, and the face of the sun rise shadowed, so that through 
 tempering of vapours the eye sustained it a long time ; so 
 within a cloud of flowers which was rising from the angelic 
 hands and falling down again within and without, crowned 
 
 Cotali, in su la divina basterna, 
 Si levar cento, ad vocem tanti senis, 
 Ministri e messaggier di vita eterna. 
 
 Tutti dicean : Benedidus qui vents, 
 
 E fior gittando di sopra e dintorno, 20 
 
 Manibus o date lilia plenis. 
 
 Io vidi gia nel cominciar del giorno 
 La parte oriental tutta rosata, 
 E 1' altro ciel di bel sereno adorno : 
 
 E la faccia del Sol nascere ombrata, 
 Si che per temperanza di vapori, 
 L' occhio lo sostenea lunga fiata : 
 
 Cosi dentro una nuvola di fiori, 
 Che dalle mani angeliche saliva, 
 E ricadeva giu dentro e di fuori, 30 
 
 '? "at the voice of so great an elder." 
 
 21 Aen. vi. 884. In order to scan this and other Latin lines in 
 Dante every syllable must be given the value of its position. 
 
 23 rosata. Bianchi says "sparsa di rugiada," and so "misty ; " but 
 there seems no authority for the word in this sense ; and, besides, 
 rosata ought, on the analogy of Fr. rosee, to mean "dew," not 
 " dewy."
 
 374 PURGATORY. CANTO xxx. 
 
 with olive over a white veil appeared a lady, clad under 
 green mantle with colour of living flame. And my spirit 
 for already had it been so long a time without being in her 
 presence broken down, trembling, with wonder without 
 having more cognisance by the eyes, through hidden virtue 
 which moved from her, felt the great power of an ancient 
 love. Soon as the high virtue smote me on the face, 
 which already had pierced me ere I was forth of boyhood, 
 I turned me round to the left with that regard wherewith 
 
 Sovra candido vel cinta d' oliva 
 
 Donna m' apparve, sotto verde manto 
 Vestita di color di fiamma viva. 
 
 E lo spirito mio, che gik cotanto 
 
 Tempo era stato ch' alia sua presenza b 
 Non era di stupor tremando affranto, 
 
 Sanza degli occhi aver piu conoscenza, 
 Per occulta virtu che da lei mosse, 
 D' antico amor senti la gran potenza. 
 
 Tosto che nella vista mi percosse c 40 
 
 L' alta virtu, che gi& m' avea trafitto 
 Prima ch' io fuor di puerizia fosse ; 
 
 Volsimi alia sinistra col rispitto, 
 
 b cholla sua Gg. ; con la sua 35 Aid. c nella vita Gg. 
 
 31 Notice the colours in which Beatrice is clad, which recur frequently, 
 and denote the three theological virtues, as is seen in the last canto. They 
 are also those used by Giotto in painting Dante's own portrait on the 
 wall of the Bargello at Florence, but were changed for political reasons 
 after the discovery of the picture in 1840, as being the colours chosen for 
 the flag of Italian unity. 
 
 36 Cf. Vita Nuova, ii. and the sonnet in xxi. So, too, Conv. ii. 8. 
 
 4I> ** Dante was nine years old when he first saw Beatrice.
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 375 
 
 the infant runs to his mother when he is frightened or 
 when he is in trouble, to say to Virgil : " Less than a dram 
 of blood remains to me which trembles not ; I recognise the 
 signs of the ancient flame." But Virgil had left us shorn of 
 himself; Virgil my sweetest father; Virgil to whom for my 
 salvation I gave myself; nor whatsoever the ancient mother 
 lost availed to my cheeks, cleansed as they were with dew, 
 that with weeping they should not turn foul again. 
 
 " Dante, for all that Virgil goes his way, weep not now, 
 
 Col quale il fantolin corre alia mamma, 
 Quando ha paura o quando egli e afflitto, d 
 
 Per dicere a Virgilio : Men che dramma 
 Di sangue m' e rimasa, che non tremi ; 
 Conosco i segni dell' antica fiamma. 
 
 Ma Virgilio n' avea lasciati scemi 
 
 Di se, Virgilio dolcissimo padre, 50 
 
 Virgilio, a cui per mia salute die' mi : 
 
 Ne quantunque perdeo 1' antica madre, 
 Valse alle guance nette di rugiada-, 
 Che lagrimando non tornassero adre. 
 
 Dante, perche Virgilio se ne vada, 
 
 d trafitto Gg. Cats. 124. 
 
 48 Aen. iv. 23 : "Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae." 
 s 1 die ' mi. We should have expected the ra to be doubled ; but cf. 
 xiv. 76. 
 
 5 2 quantunque, etc. , all the beauties of the earthly Paradise. 
 
 53 nette di rugiada. Not, I think, as Bianchi explains, " non 
 lacrimose," but with allusion to i. 127. Philalethes, " thauge- 
 waschnen," which seems better. 
 
 ss The only mention of Dante's name throughout the poem ; see 
 63, and cf. Conv. i. 2, Aristotle, Rhet. iii. 17, 15.
 
 376 PURGATORY. CANTO xxx. 
 
 weep not yet awhile ; seeing it behoves thee to weep for 
 other wound." As an admiral, who on poop and on prow 
 comes to see the folk that are serving throughout the other 
 vessels and encourages them to do well, upon the left rim 
 of the car when I turned round at the sound of my own 
 name, which of necessity here is registered I saw the dame 
 who first appeared to me veiled beneath the greeting of the 
 angels, direct her eyes towards me on my side of the stream. 
 For all that the veil, which descended from her head, 
 circled with the leaf of Minerva, did not allow her to appear 
 manifest, royally, in her mien still haughty she continued, 
 
 Non pianger anco, non piangere ancora, 
 
 Che 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, 60 
 
 In su la sponda del carro sinistra, 
 
 Quando mi volsi al suon del nome mio, 
 
 Che di necessitk qui si registra, 
 Vidi la Donna che pria m' appario, 
 
 Velata sotto 1' angelica festa, 
 
 Drizzar gli occhi ver me di qua dal rio. 
 Tutto che il vel che le scendea di testa, 6 
 
 Cerchiato dalla fronde di Minerva, 
 
 Non la lasciasse parer manifesta : 
 
 e Tutto qnelv. Gg,; tie! v. Cass. 
 
 61 sponda. See note to xiii. 81. The car is probably imagined as 
 having a kind of bulwark round it, on the flat top of which she stands. 
 
 65 festa, as in vi. 81, xxvi. 33. Here it alludes to the flowers 
 which the angels scatter.
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 377 
 
 as one who speaks and keeps back his strongest word : 
 " Look at me well ; I am, ay, I am Beatrice ; how deignedst 
 thou to approach the mount ? Knewest thou not that here 
 the man is happy ? " My eyes dropped down to the clear 
 fount, but seeing myself in it I drew them toward the grass, 
 so great shame lay heavy on my brow. In such wise the 
 mother to the son seems proud, as she appeared to me, 
 because the savour of her stern pity has a taste of bitter. 
 
 Regalmente nell' atto ancor proterva 70 
 
 Continue-, come colui che dice 
 
 E il piu caldo parlar dietro riserva : 
 Guardaci ben ; ben sem, ben sem Beatrice : f 
 
 Come degnasti d' accedere al monte ? 
 
 Non sapei tu, che QUI e 1' uom felice ? 
 Gli occhi mi cadder giu nel chiaro fonte ; 
 
 Ma veggendomi in esso, io trassi all' erba, 
 
 Tanta vergogna mi gravo la fronte. 
 Cosi la madre al figlio par superba, 
 
 Com' ella parve a me ; perche d' amaro So 
 
 Sente il sapor della pietate acerba. 
 
 f Guardami ben sio son 5 ; '... son . . . son Aid. Land. Bi.; 
 d . . . son . . . son W. 
 
 7 Bianchi quotes Conv. iii. 15 : " Essa Filosofia parea a me fiera," 
 etc. 
 
 " I have followed the reading which has by far the most authority. 
 The use of the plural may be taken as continuing the idea of " regal- 
 mente." 
 
 ? 4 Ironical: "how was it that you thought it worth while ?" The 
 next line of course drops the irony. 
 
 79- 81 Cf. Petr. Tri. della M. ii. 93, "Ne per ferza e pero madre 
 men pia." 
 
 8. 8l d'amaro sente ; so, " sa di sale " Par. xvii. 58. Diez appears 
 to have overlooked this construction, which is, however, recognised by 
 Corticelli, book ii. chap. 4. Witte, following Aldus, reads senti.
 
 3?8 PURGATORY. CANTO xxx. 
 
 She held her peace, and the angels sang on a sudden : In 
 te, Domine, speravi; but beyond pedes meos they passed not. 
 As snow among the living beams along the backbone of 
 Italy congeals, blown on and bound close by the winds of 
 Slavonia, afterwards melting niters through into itself, so 
 only that the land which loses shadow breathe, in such 
 wise that it seems fire melting the candle, just so was I 
 without tears or sighs before the chanting of those who are 
 
 Ella si tacque, e gli Angeli cantaro 
 
 Di subito : In te, Domine, spercmi, 
 
 Ma oltre pedes meos non passaro. 
 Si come neve tra le vive travi 
 
 Per lo dosso d' Italia si congela, 
 
 Soffiata e stretta dalli venti Schiavi, 
 Poi liquefatta in se stessa trapela, 
 
 Pur che la terra che perde ombra spiri, 
 
 SI che par fuoco fonder la candela : 90 
 
 Cosi fui senza lagrime e sospiri 
 
 Anzi il cantar di quei che notan sempre 
 
 83 Psalm xxxi. to the end of verse 9. The following verses, as 
 Philalethes remarks, would be out of place here. 
 
 85 vive travi, the trees. So Ovid Met. viii. 329. "Silva frequens 
 trabibus." (It also occurs Aen. ix. 87, but the line is probably spurious.) 
 
 86 dosso. The Apennine. 
 
 87 venti Schiavi. North-east winds from the Dalmatian moun- 
 tains. M. Villani xi. 60, "Un vento Schiavo temperato." 
 
 89 la terra che perde ombra is the torrid zone, within which the 
 Sun is vertically overhead twice in each year, so that the shadow is 
 ''lost." 
 
 50 The construction js curious ; it seems to be a sort of confusion 
 between " fuoco par fondere," and " par fuoco che fonde."
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 379 
 
 ever quiring after the notes of the eternal circles ; but 
 when I heard in their sweet harmonies their sympathy with 
 me, more than if they had said : " Lady, why dost thou so 
 distemper him ? " the frost which had been tight bound 
 around my heart became breath and water, and with anguish 
 through the mouth and eyes issued from my breast. She, 
 standing ever unmoved on the aforesaid flank of the car, 
 next turned her words to the pious substances in this 
 wise : " Ye watch in the eternal day so that night nor sleep 
 
 Dietro alle note degli eterni giri ; 
 Ma poiche intesi nelle dolci tempre 
 
 Lor compatire a me, piu che se detto s 
 
 Avesser : Donna, perche si lo stempre ? 
 Lo giel che m' era intorno al cuor ristretto, 
 
 Spirito ed acqua fessi, e con angoscia 
 
 Per la bocca e per gli occhi usci del petto. 
 Ella, pur ferma in su la detta coscia h 
 
 Del carro stando, alle sustanzie pie 
 
 Volse le sue parole cosi poscia : 
 Voi vigilate nell' eterno die, 
 
 Si che notte ne sonno a voi non fura 
 
 s par cK esse d. Gg.; come' s' 2. 3 ; part eke se 14. 
 h destra coscia Gg. Aid. Land. 
 
 93 Cf. Merchant of Venice, act v. sc. I. There is another reading, 
 rote, perhaps suggested by xix. 63, and 1. 109. 
 
 100 detta, the left, see 1. 61. Land, and Veil, with others of the 
 early edd. and some MSS. read destra, which is clearly wrong. The 
 woodcut in the Venice ed. of 1578 correctly represents Beatrice as 
 standing on the left edge of the car. 
 
 101 sustanzie, as in Par. vii. 5, and elsewhere. It is, of course, in 
 the metaphysical sense. See note to xviii. 49.
 
 380 
 
 PURGATORY. 
 
 CANTO XXX. 
 
 steals from you a step which the age may make upon its ways ; 
 wherefore my reply is with more care that he may hear me 
 who is weeping on the other bank, so that fault and sorrow 
 may be of one measure. Not only by operation of the 
 mighty wheels, which direct every seed to some end, ac- 
 cording as the stars accompany ; but by largess of divine 
 graces, which have to their rain clouds so lofty that our 
 sight comes not there a-nigh, this man was such in his new 
 life, potentially, that every right habit would have made in 
 him a wondrous example. But all the more malign and the 
 
 Passo, che faccia il secol per sue vie : 
 
 Onde la mia risposta e con piu cura, 
 Che m' intenda colui che di la piagne, 
 Perche sia colpa e duol d' una misura. 
 
 Non pur per ovra delle ruote magne, 
 Che drizzan ciascun seme ad alcun fine, 
 Secondo che le stelle son coinpagne : 
 
 Ma per larghezza di grazie divine, 
 Che si alti vapori hanno a lor piova, 
 Che nostre viste la non van vicine ; 
 
 Questi fu tal nella sua vita nuova 
 Virtualmente, ch' ogni abito destro 
 Fatto averebbe in lui mirabil pruova. 
 
 Ma tanto piii maligno e piu silvestro 
 
 no 
 
 I0 9 rote magne. Cf. xix. 63. 
 
 111 Cf. xvi. 73. 
 
 115 vita nuova here, as in the title of Dante's work, means simply 
 /f "young life," or what he elsewhere denotes by "adolescenza." See 
 Conv. iv. 24, where he fixes its limit at the age of twenty-five. After 
 this begins the second age, or " gioventute. "
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 381 
 
 more wild becomes the ground with bad seed and unculti- 
 vated, the more of good force it has of the earth. A certain 
 time I stayed him with my countenance ; showing my young 
 eyes to him I led him with me turned to the right part. So 
 soon as I was on the threshold of my second age, and 
 changed life, this man took himself from me and gave him- 
 self to another. When I was risen from flesh to spirit, and 
 beauty and virtue had increased upon me, I was to him less 
 
 Si fa il terren col mal seme e non colto, 
 
 Quant' egli ha piu di buon vigor terrestro. 1 20 
 Alcun tempo il sostenni col mio volto ; 
 
 Mostrando gli occhi giovinetti a lui, 
 
 Meco il menava in dritta parte volto. 
 Si tosto come in su la soglia fui 
 
 Di mia seconda etatle e mutai vita, 
 
 Questi si tolse a me e diessi altrui. 
 Quando di carne a spirto era salita, 
 
 E bellezza e virtu cresciuta m' era, 
 
 119 Comparing Conv. iv. 21: "Se questo (1'animo) non e bene 
 culto e sostenuto diritto per buona consuetudine, poco vale la sementa, 
 e meglio sarebbe non esser seminato," one is tempted to suggest " il 
 terreno col mal seme colto." 
 
 I2 4, "5 Beatrice died June 9, 1290 (Vita Nuova, xxx.). She was 
 then in her twenty-fifth year, and therefore, as explained in the last 
 note, close on the beginning of the "second age." mutai vita, like 
 "mutasti mondo," xxiii. 77. 
 
 126 What the literal meaning of this charge may be, we cannot now 
 say. It can hardly refer to Dante's marriage, which, according to 
 mediaeval notions, would not be incompatible with continued fidelity 
 to Beatrice, herself a married woman. That there is an allusion to 
 some amour, more or less discreditable, must I think be admitted. Cf. 
 xxxi. 6 1 ; and see note to xxvii. 49. Allegorically no doubt Dante is 
 reproached for turning away from a life of study and contemplation to 
 the business and pleasures of the world. The year in which the action 
 of the D. C. is placed that in which he was Prior.
 
 382 PURGATORY. CANTO xxx. 
 
 dear and less acceptable ; and he turned his steps on a way 
 that was not true, following false images of good which 
 give back no promise unbroken. Nor did it avail me to 
 obtain inspirations, with the which both in dreams and 
 otherwise I recalled him ; so little heed had he of them. So 
 low he fell that all means were already too short for his 
 salvation, apart from showing him the lost folk. For this I 
 visited the gate of the dead, and to him who has brought 
 him up hither my prayers, in my weeping, were borne. God's 
 
 Fu' io a lui men cara e men gradita : 
 
 E volse i passi suoi per via non vera, 130 
 
 Immagini di ben seguendo false, 
 Che nulla promission rendono intera. 
 
 Ne impetrare spirazion mi valse, 1 
 
 Con le quali ed in sogno ed altrimenti 
 Lo rivocai : si poco a lui ne calse. 
 
 Tanto giu cadde, che tutti argomenti 
 Alia salute sua eran gia corti, 
 Fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti. 
 
 Per questo visitai F uscio de' morti, 
 Ed a colui che 1' ha quassu condotto, 140 
 
 Li prieghi miei piangendo furon porti. 
 
 L' alto fato di Dio sarebbe rotto, 
 
 ' impetrare (alt from -ale) Gg.; V impetrare Cass. 3. 
 
 134 sogno. 'Cf. the Frequent dreams of the Vita Nuova. 
 136 argomenti : in much the same sense as in ii. 31, only rather 
 more extended. 
 
 142 For this use of rotto, cf. i. 46.
 
 CANTO xxx. PURGATORY. 383 
 
 high destiny would be broken if Lethe were passed and 
 such viand were tasted without any scot of repentance which 
 may pour forth tears." 
 
 Se Lete si passasse, e tal vivanda 
 Fosse gustata senza alcuno scotto 
 Di pentimento che lagrime spanda.
 
 CANTO XXXI. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Beatrice continues to upbraid Dante, speaking now directly to him. He 
 makes confession of his fault ; after which Matilda draws him through 
 the water of Lethe, and he is led to the place where Beatrice is standing. 
 She unveils herself, and he is ravished with her beauty. 
 
 " O THOU that art on that side the sacred stream," turning 
 to me with its point her speech, which even with the edge 
 had seemed keen to me, she began again, pursuing with- 
 out delay, " say, say if this is true ; to such accusation it 
 behoves that thy confession be attached." My power was 
 so confounded that the voice moved, and was extinct 
 
 O TU, che se' di la dal flume sacro, 
 Volgendo suo parlare a me perjpunta, a 
 Che pur per taglio m' era parut' aero", 
 
 Ricomincib seguendo senza cunta, 
 
 Di', di', se quest' e vero : "afanta accusa 
 Tua confession conviene esser congiunta. 
 
 Era la mia virtu tanto confusa, 
 Che la voce si mosse, e pria si spense, 
 
 a sue parole Gg.
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 385 
 
 before it was unloosed from its organs. A little while she 
 suffered it, then said : " What thinkest thou ? Answer me, 
 for the sad memories in thee have not yet been washed out 
 by the water." Confusion and fear together mingled forced 
 such a "Yes" forth from my mouth that to hear it the 
 eyes were needed. As an arbalest breaks, when it shoots at 
 too great stretch, its own cord and the bow, and with less 
 
 Che dagli organi suoi fosse dischiusa. 
 
 Poco sofferse, poi disse : Che pense? 10 
 
 Rispondi a me ; che le memorie triste 
 In te non sono ancor dall' jicqua offense. 
 
 Confusione e paura insieme miste 
 Mi pinsero un tal Si fuor della bocca, 
 Al quale intender*fur mestier le viste. 
 
 Come balestro frange, quando scocca 
 Da troppa tesa, la sua corda e 1' arco, b 
 E con men foga F asta il segno tocca, 
 
 b Per troppa tesa a la sua Gg. 
 
 12 offense. It is not easy to see the force of this word here. 
 Blanc explains it by " tormentato," with what idea I do not under- 
 stand. Bianchi, following Benvenuto, has " scancellate;" Philalethes 
 "verletzet." Witte merely says "das Wasser hat nicht genommen." 
 Diet. Cruse, quotes the passage between two others where simply 
 " offend" is meant. On the whole it seems best to take it as " come 
 in contact with," "beaten against," as Lat. "offendere," and still 
 more "offensare" (as Lucr. vi. 1053). Indeed, I am inclined to think 
 that both here and Inf. v. 109, it is not from offendo, but stands for 
 offensate. It must be said, however, that the word only occurs in / 
 rime. The allusion is of course to the water of Lethe. / 
 
 16 frange. Bianchi and Blanc take this as intrans., but it does not 
 appear to be ever so used by Dante. Philalethes has " sprenget," and 
 this seems best. 
 
 2 C
 
 386 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxi. 
 
 violence the bolt touches the mark, so burst I under that 
 heavy burden, sending forth from my throat tears and sighs, 
 and my voice failed in its passage. Wherefore she to me : 
 " Within my desires, which were leading thee to love that 
 good beyond the which there is naught to aspire unto, 
 what trenches across the path or what chains didst thou 
 find, for which thou shouldst thus have to put off the hope 
 of passing further ; and what easement or what furthering 
 showed itself in the countenance of the others wherefore 
 thou wert obliged to pass before them ? " After the drawing 
 
 Si scoppia' io sott' esso grave carco, 
 
 Fuori sgorgando lagrime e sospiri, 20 
 
 E la voce allentb per lo suo varco. 
 
 Ond' ell' a me : Per entro i miei desiri, 
 
 . Che ti menavano ad amar lo bene, 
 Di la dal qual non e a che s' aspiri, 
 
 Quai fosse attraversate, o quai catene 
 Trovasti, perche del passare innanzi 
 Dovessiti cosi spogliar la spene ? 
 
 E quali agevolezze, o quali avanzi 
 Nella fronte degli altri si mostraro, 
 Perche dovessi lor passeggiare anzi ? 30 
 
 22 Per entro. Cf. xxv. 28. i miei desiri. "i.e. desideria quae 
 habebas ad me. " Comm. Gg. 
 
 29 gli altri. "Sc. dominarutni.e. scientiarum." Comm. Gg. But 
 the parallelism of lines 28-30 with the preceding six makes it clear that 
 we must understand desiri. The allusion is evidently again twofold : 
 literally, to some passion on Dante's part, figuratively, to his desertion 
 of the contemplative life. 
 
 30 lor passeggiar anzL No satisfactory explanation of these 
 words has been given. Blanc takes them to mean, "go before, as a 
 servant goes in front of his master," hence "serve." Philalethes 
 renders "zu ihnen hinzuwandeln ; " Bianchi, "vagheggiar ;" Balbo 
 thinks there is an allusion to the coming before the " gentil donna," of
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 387 
 
 of a bitter sigh hardly had I the voice which answered, and 
 the lips with labour formed it. Weeping, I said : " The 
 present things with their false pleasures turned away my 
 steps soon as your face was hidden." And she : " If thou 
 hadst been silent or hadst denied that which thou confessest, 
 thy fault would not be less, by such a judge is it known ; 
 but when the accusation of the sin bursts from the sinner's 
 own mouth, in our court the wheel turns back against the 
 edge. At all events, that thou mayest better bear shame 
 
 Dopo la tratta d' un sospiro amaro, 
 Appena ebbi la voce che rispose, 
 E le labbra a fatica la formaro. c 
 / Piangendo dissi : Le present! cose 
 
 Col falso lor piacer volser miei passi, 
 / Tosto che il vosjro viso si nascose. 
 
 Ed ella : Se tacessi, o se negassi 
 Gib che confessi, non fora men nota 
 La colpa tua : da tal giudice sassi. 
 
 n-votS Ma quando scoppia dalla propria gota 40 
 
 L' accusa del peccato, in nostra corte, 
 Rivolge se contra il taglio la ruota. 
 i> Tuttavia perche me' vergogna porte d 
 
 c lafermaro Cass. I. 
 d mo -verg. Gg. Cass. 145 W.; piu v. 23. 
 
 V. N. xxxvi. ; but there he goes away from before her ; Gary has 
 "that thou elsewhere shouldst rather wait." May we venture to read 
 with the alteration of one letter only, " pargoleggiar anzi," "to toy 
 rather," comparing line 59 ? 
 
 42 The grindstone turns back against that which is being sharpened, // 
 "takes off the edge." 
 
 43 I have followed Blanc, Bianchi, and Philalethes in reading me' 
 (= megiio), which has MS. authority, and seems to give a better 
 sense. 
 
 2 C 2
 
 388 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxi. 
 
 for thy error, and that a second time hearing the Sirens 
 thou mayest be stronger, lay aside the seed of weeping and 
 listen ; so shalt thou hear how to the contrary part my 
 body buried ought to have moved thee. Never did nature 
 and art present to thee a pleasure so great as the fair 
 members within which I was enclosed, and which are earth, 
 scattered ; and if the highest pleasure so failed thee through 
 my death, what mortal thing ought afterwards to have 
 drawn thee into desire of it? Verily oughtest thou at the 
 
 Del tuo errore, e perche altra volta 
 
 Udendo le sirene sie piii forte, 
 ^ Pon giii il ^ejnejieXpiange^e, ed ascolta ; 
 
 Si udirai come in contraria parte 
 
 Muover doveati mia carne sepolta. 
 Mai non t' appresento natura ed arte 
 
 Piacer, quanto le belle membra in ch' io 50 
 
 Rinchiusa fui, e che son terra sparte : e 
 E se il sommo piacer si ti fallio 
 
 Per la mia morte, qual cosa mortale 
 
 Dovea poi trarre te nel suo disio ? 
 
 e e sono in terra W.; che sono in Cass.; e che sono in 2. 
 
 46 il seme del piangere. Cf. Psalm cxxvi. 7. 
 
 s 1 e che son terra. Witte reads, without apparently much au- 
 thority, e sono in terra. (What is the nominative to sono ?) Fanfani 
 (Voc. Tosc.) s. v. parte, wishes to substitute this, in its Tuscan sense, 
 as in xxi. 19, for sparte, and speaks with some truculence of the 
 usual reading ; but he gives no authority for his view, nor does parte 
 seem to be used of present time. Another reading, and perhaps the 
 best, as far as the sense goes, is che son in terra ; P. di Dante has- 
 " membris meis mine in terra dispersis." There seems, however, not 
 much difficulty in understanding the usual reading. Philalethes, "und 
 die zerstreut als Staub jetzt," renders it very well.
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 3^9 
 
 first arrow of things deceitful to have raised thee on high 
 after me, who was no more of such sort. Nor should have 
 weighed thy wings downwards to await more strokes, either 
 girl or other vanity of so short using. The young bird 
 awaits two or three, but before the eyes of the full-fledged 
 a net is spread in vain or arrow shot." As boys stand dumb 
 with shame, with their eyes to earth, listening and recol- 
 
 Ben ti dovevi per lo primo strale 
 Delle cose fallaci levar suso 
 Diretro a me, che non era piti tale. 
 
 Non ti dovea gravar le penne in gtuso 
 Ad aspettar piu colpi, o pargoletta, 
 O altra vanita con si breve uso. f 60 
 
 Nuovo augelletto due o tre aspetta ; 
 Ma dinanzi dagli occhi de, pennuti 
 Rete si spiega indarno o si saetta. 
 
 Quali i fanciulli vergognando muti, 
 
 Con gli occhi a terra stannosi ascoltando, 
 E se riconoscendo, e ripentuti ; 
 
 f altra novita Gg. 
 
 53 per lo primo strale. " Cioe, pel primo colpo che ti dette lo 
 fortuna, quando ti tolse il mio corpo." Land. See the next note. 
 
 59 pargoletta. Here, again, it is impossible to say what is the 
 particular allusion. It is only clear that this pargoletta cannot pos- 
 sibly be, as some commentators have hastily assumed, the " femmina " of 
 xxiv. 43, who was still a child. Some understand it of Beatrice herself, 
 as though she were saying that the loss of one maiden ought not so 
 to have affected him, and Philalethes takes the primo strale to mean 
 the loss of her. But it is hard to see how this fits the general tone 
 of her remarks. 
 
 62 Prov. i. 17, where the Vulg. has " Frustra jacitur rete ante oculos 
 pennatoritm"
 
 390 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxi. 
 
 lecting themselves and penitent, so was I standing. And she 
 said : " Since through hearing thou art grieved, raise thy 
 beard, and thou shalt receive greater grief seeing." With 
 less of resistance is uprooted a stout oak, whether with wind 
 of our land or with that from the land of larbas, than did 
 I raise at her command my chin. And when by name of 
 the beard she asked for my visage, well knew I the venom 
 of the argument. And as my face opened itself, the sight 
 understood that those first created beings were resting from 
 their strowing ; and my eyes, yet little secure, saw Beatrice 
 
 Tal mi stav' io. Ed ella disse : Quando 
 
 Per udir se' dolente, alza la barba, 
 
 E prenderai piu doglia riguardando. 
 Con men di resistenza si dibarba 70 
 
 Robusto cerro, o vero a nostral vento, 
 
 O vero a quel della terra d' larba, 
 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 1' occhio comprese : 
 E le mie luci, ancor poco sicure, 
 
 7 1 nostral. Philalethes reads austral, which has little authority ; 
 though nostral, as denoting a northerly wind, is not very satisfactory. 
 May we read mastral, i.q. maestral, that is, the mistral, or north- 
 west wind, quel d. t. d'larba, being the south-east or scirocco? 
 
 ? 3 ch' io non levai. For this insertion of the negative in a com- 
 parison in the Rom. languages, see Diez iii. 394. 
 
 75 Because the allusion was to his mature age. 
 
 78 aspersion. Cf. xxx. 20. Cruse, reads apparsion, which has no 
 meaning. 
 
 /^
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 39 i 
 
 turned towards the animal, who is only one person in two 
 natures. Under her veil, and beyond the stream, she 
 seemed to me to surpass her ancient self, to surpass it 
 more than, when here she was, the others here. So pricked 
 me then the nettle of penitence that of all other things 
 that which most turned me aside in love of it became most 
 hateful to me. Such recognition gnawed my heart that I 
 felt overcome, and what then became of me she knows who 
 gave me the cause. 
 
 Then when my heart restored me my outward functions, 
 the dame whom I had found alone I saw above me, and 
 
 Vider Beatrice volta in su la jiera^ 80 
 
 Ch' e sola una persona in duo nature. 
 <\ t Sotto suo velo, ed oltre la riviera 
 
 Vincer pareami piu se stessa antica, g 
 Vincer, che 1' altre qui, quand' ella c' era.' 1 
 
 Di penter si mi punse ivi 1'ortica, 
 Che di tutt' altre cose, qual mi torse 
 Piu nel suo amor, piu mi si fe' nemica. 
 
 Tanta riconoscenza il cuor mi morse, 
 Ch' io caddi vinto, e quale allora femmi, 
 Salsi colei che la cagion mi porse. 90 
 
 Poi quando il cuor virtu di fuor rendemmi, 
 La Donna ch' io avea trovata sola, 
 
 s Verde Aid. Land. Bi. h qudV altre Gg. 
 
 83. 84 Verde, the reading of most edd. after Aldus, has little or no 
 MS. authority. Witte's suggestion, "Vincer pareami p. s. s. a. Che 
 vincea 1'a." seems good, if supported. 
 
 89 With this swoon compare his unconsciousness before entering 
 Hell (Inf. iii. 135) and Purg. (ix. 59).
 
 392 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxi. 
 
 she was saying : " Hold me, hold me." She had led me 
 into the stream up to the neck, and drawing me behind her 
 was going her way right over the water, light as a shuttle. 
 When I was near the bank of the blessed, Asperges me I 
 heard so sweetly that I cannot recall it to mind, far less 
 can write it. The fair dame opened her arms, embraced 
 my head, and plunged me under, where it behoved that I 
 swallowed the water; then she took me up, and, bathed, 
 presented me within the dance of the four fair ones, and 
 
 Sopra me vidi, e dicea : Tiemmi, tienimi. 
 Tratto m' avea nel flume infino a gola, 
 
 E tirandosi me dietro, sen giva 
 / Sovr' esso 1' acqua lieve come spola.' 
 
 Quando fu' presso alia beata riva, 
 
 Asperges me si dolcemente udissi, 
 
 Ch' io nol so rimembrar, non ch' io Io scriva. 
 La bella donna nelle braccia aprissi, 100 
 
 Abbracciommi la testa, e mi sommerse, 
 
 Ove convenne ch' io 1' acqua inghiottissi ; 
 Indi mi tolse, e bagnato m' offerse 
 
 Dentro alia danza delle quattro belle, 
 
 ' stola Gg. Cass. 1234. 
 
 '6 spola, the shuttle which carries the warp through the woof. 
 Others read stola, "i.e. genus navigii," says Comm. Gg. 
 
 9 s Psalm li. 7 (1. 8, in the Vulg.), "Asperges me hyssopo et 
 mundabor." 
 
 100 nelle braccia aprissi, lit. "opened herself in the arms," a 
 curious construction which Diez appears to have overlooked. 
 
 104 le quattro, the ladies who came on the left hand of the car, 
 xxix. 130. They are the cardinal virtues; the tre of line III being 
 those of xxix. 121 ; i.e. the theological. Cf. viii. 89.
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 393 
 
 each covered me with her arm. " Here are we nymphs, 
 and in the sky we are stars ; before that Beatrice descended 
 to the world were we ordained to her for her handmaids. 
 We will lead thee to her eyes, but in the joyous light that 
 is within, thine will the three beyond, who look more deeply 
 make keen." Thus singing they began, and next to the 
 breast of the Grifon they led me with them, where Beatrice 
 was standing turned to us. They said : " See that thou 
 spare not thy gazes; we have placed thee before the 
 emeralds, whence love once took his weapons for thee." 
 
 E ciascuna col braccio mi coperse. 
 
 Noi sem qui ninfe, e nel ciel semo stelle : 
 Pria che Beatrice discendesse al mondo, 
 Fummo ordinate a lei per sue ancelle. 
 s+ Menrenti agli occhi suoi : ma nel giocondo 
 
 Lume ch' e dentro,*aguzzeran li tuoi no 
 
 Le tre di Ik, che miran piu profondo. 
 
 Cosi 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 gia ti trasse le sue armi. 
 
 106 stelle, those spoken of in i. 24. 
 
 108 Cf. De Mon. i. 4. ad fin.: "speculation! ancillantur." 
 
 109 menrenti = meneremo ti. occhi. With this passage Phila- 
 lethes bids us compare Conv. iii. 8, " perocche in quelli due luoghi 
 quasi tutte e tre le nature dell' anima hanno giurisdizione, cioe negli 
 occhi e nel la bocca," and 15, "qui si conviene sapere che gli occhi 
 della sapienzia sono le sue dimostrazioni .... e '1 suo riso sono le sue 
 persuazioni. " It is by the eyes and smile of Beatrice that Dante is 
 carried forward and instructed in Paradise. See xxvii. 54 ; also Par. i. 
 95, 101, ii. 52, iv. 139, xxx. 26, etc. 
 
 111 di Ik, " beyond, i.e. on the right-hand side of the car."
 
 394 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxi. 
 
 Thousand desires hotter than flame bound my eyes fast to 
 the gleaming eyes, which were remaining fixed only on the 
 Grifon. As the Sun in the mirror, not otherwise the two- 
 fold animal was beaming therewithin, now with one now 
 with other deportment. Think, reader, if I marvelled 
 when I saw the thing stay quiet in itself, and it was changing 
 itself in its image. While, full of astonishment and happy, 
 my soul was tasting of that food which, sating of itself, of 
 itself makes thirst, showing themselves of the most lofty 
 race in their demeanour, the other three came forward, 
 
 Mille disiri piu che fiamma caldi 
 
 Strinsermi gli occhi agli occhi rilucenti, 
 
 Che pur sovra il Grifone stavan saldi. 120 
 
 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 se 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 se, di se asseta : 
 Se dimostrando del piu alto tribo 130 
 
 Negli atti, 1' altre tre si fero avanti, 
 
 123 reggimenti are denned in Conv. iii. 7 as among the operations 
 of the rational soul, and as being, together with speech, peculiar to 
 man. Here, of course, the allusion is primarily to the Divine and 
 human nature ; but the use of the word carries us back to xvi. 128. It 
 is only in Christ that the functions of King and Priest are rightly 
 joined. 
 
 I2 An allusion to Ecclus. xxiv. 20 (Vulg.) " Qui edunt me (sc. 
 sapientiam) adhuc esurient."
 
 CANTO xxxi. PURGATORY. 395 
 
 dancing to their angelic measure. " Turn, Beatrice, turn thy 
 holy eyes," was their song, " to thy faithful one, who to see 
 thee has moved so many paces. Of thy favour do us the 
 favour to unveil to him thy mouth, so that he may discern 
 the second beauty which thou dost conceal." 
 
 O splendour of eternal living light, who is there that 
 has in such wise grown pale beneath the shadow of Par- 
 nassus, or has drunk at its cistern, that he would not seem 
 to have his mind encumbered, trying to render thee as thou 
 appearedst, there where with its harmonies the heaven 
 
 Danzando al loro angelico caribcv 
 Volgi, Beatrice, volgi gli occhi santi, 
 
 Era la sua canzone, al tuo fedele, 
 
 Che per vederti iia mossi passi tanti. 
 Per grazia fa' noi grazia che disvele 
 
 A lui la bocca tua, si che discerna 
 
 La seconda bellezza che tu cele. 
 O isplendor di viva luce eterna, k 
 
 Chi pallido si fece sotto 1' ombra 140 
 
 Si di Parnaso, o bevve in sua cisterna, 
 Che non paresse aver la mente ingombra, 
 
 Tentando a render te qual tu paresti, 
 
 k O splendor di divina Gg.; O isplendori div. Cass.; -or div. 135 ; 
 -ore div, 2. 
 
 137 bocca. See above note, line 109. 
 
 '39 di viva has most authority,but the reading of Gg. is perhaps the 
 best. 
 
 140-143 "\vh o has so devoted himself to the poetic art as to have * / 
 / acquired power to tell. "
 
 396 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxr. 
 
 overshadows thee, when thou didst in the open air disclose 
 thyself? 
 
 La dove armonizzando il ciel t' adombra, 
 Quando nell' aere aperto ti solvesti ? 
 
 144 adombra. There is some uncertainty about the meaning of this 
 word here. Witte understands it as "shadows around," like the back- 
 ground of a picture. I have followed Bianchi and Blanc. In any case 
 it is hardly necessary to look, as some commentators have done, for a 
 deep symbolical meaning in what appears to be a purely poetical 
 outburst. 
 
 J 
 
 7
 
 CANTO XXXII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The procession returns through the forest, Dante and Statius following. 
 They reach a tree, to which the Grifon fastens the car. The tree is 
 strangely transformed, and Dante falls asleep. When he awakes, 
 Beatrice, Matilda, and the seven ladies alone remain. He sees a 
 wondrous vision, setting forth trie history of the Church and Empire, 
 and showing what shall shortly come to pass. 
 
 So fixed and intent were my eyes to put off the longing of 
 the ten years' thirst that all my other senses were ex- 
 tinguished ; and they themselves had on this hand and on 
 that a wall of unheedingness, so did the holy smile draw then 
 to it with the ancient net ; when perforce my gaze was turned 
 
 TANTO eran gli occhi miei fissi ed attenti 
 
 A disbramarsi la decenne sete 
 
 Che gli altri sensi m' eran tutti spenti': 
 Ed essi quinci e quindi avean parete 
 
 Di non caler, cosi lo santo riso 
 
 A se traeli con 1' antica rete : 
 Quando per forza mi fu volto il viso 
 
 s caler. Some MSS. read calar, which has merits. (? cader.)
 
 398 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxn. 
 
 to my left hand by those goddesses, for that I began to hear 
 from them a "Too fixed." And the disposition which 
 exists with regard to sight in eyes but lately smitten by the 
 sun caused me to be some while without power of seeing, 
 but after that my sight reformed itself to the lesser object 
 (I say the lesser with respect to the great object of sense, 
 from which by force I removed myself) I saw that the 
 glorious army had wheeled on its right flank, and was 
 returning with the sun and with the seven flames in its face. 
 
 Ver la sinistra mia da quelle Dee, 
 Perch' io udia da loro un : Troppo fiso. 
 
 E la disposizion ch' a veder ee io 
 
 Negli occhi, pur teste dal sol percossi, 
 Sanza la vista alquanto esser mi fee : 
 
 Ma poiche al poco il viso riformossi, 
 Io dico al poco, per rispetto al_moltg. 
 Sgnsjbile, onde a forza mi rimossi, 
 
 Vidi in sul braccio destro esser rivolto 
 Lo glorioso esercito, e tornarsi 
 Col sole e con le sette fiamme al volto. 
 
 8 ver la sinistra mia, i.e. as he is facing the car (xxxi. 113), the 
 three on the right side of it (ib. ill), 
 
 10 Cf. xvii. 52. 
 
 i<5-24 Notice that the leading band (the prophets, etc.) must have 
 turned back since xxx. 9, to their first position. Here they " counter- 
 march by the right," exactly as an army would do in the face of an 
 enemy, keeping the shield-arm towards him. Dante must have seen 
 the manoeuvre often enough in his soldiering days. The car is evidently 
 suggested by the carroccio then in use. (See Sismondi, Rep. It. chap, 
 vi. and G. Villani vi. 75. ) 
 
 18 As they are returning eastwards, and still have the Sun in front, it 
 is clear that all the action since xxvii. 133 has occupied but a very 
 short time.
 
 CANTO xxxir. PURGATORY. 399 
 
 As under the shields for retreat wheels a troop, and turns 
 with the standard, before it is able wholly to face about, 
 that soldiery of the heavenly kingdom which was leading 
 all went past us before the front beam turned the car. 
 Then the ladies returned to the wheels, and the Grifon 
 moved the blessed burthen, yet in such wise that no 
 feather of him shook. The fair dame who drew me to the 
 passage and Statius and I were following the wheel that 
 made its track with a smaller arc. So as we passed through 
 the high wood, empty by fault of her who trusted to the 
 .serpent, an angelic strain measured our paces. 
 
 Come sotto li scudi, per salvarsi, 
 Volgesi schiera, e se gira col segno, 20 
 
 Prima che possa tutta in se mutarsi ; 
 
 Quella milizia del celeste regno, 
 Che precedeva, tutta trapassonne, 
 Pria che piegasse il carro il primo legno. 
 
 Indi alle ruote si tornar le dorme^ 
 E il Grifon mosse il benedetto carco, 
 SI che pero nulla penna crollonne. a 
 
 La bella donna che mi trasse al varco, 
 E Stazio ed io seguitavam la ruota, 
 Che fe' 1' orbita sua con minore arco. 30 
 
 Si passeggiando 1' alta selva vota, 
 
 Colpa di quella ch' al serpente crese, b 
 Temprava i passi un' angelica nota. 
 
 Forse in tre voli tanto spazio prese 
 
 a Si che poi Cass. 124; da poi 3 ; collonne Cass. b attese G. 
 
 24 primo legno, the pole. 
 
 ^ 3 I.e. they were to the "right rear" of the car. 
 
 34 prese, not quite equal to a-vea, or avrebbe preso. It is precisely 
 the use of the Greek aorist. See Goodwin, Gr. M. and T. 30. Cf. 
 jcxii. II.
 
 400 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxir. 
 
 Perhaps in three flights an arrow let from the string 
 takes such a space as we had removed, when Beatrice 
 alighted. I heard all murmur " Adam ; " then they circled 
 a plant despoiled of flower and of leafage too on every 
 branch. Its topmost boughs, which widen out the more as 
 they are higher up, would be wondered at for height by the 
 Indians in their forests. " Blessed art thou, Grifon, that 
 thou tearest not with thy beak of this wood sweet to the 
 taste, seeing that ill was the belly griped therefrom." Thus 
 
 Disfrenata saetta, quanto eramo c 
 
 Rimossi, quando Beatrice scese. 
 lo send' mormorare a tutti : Adamo : 
 
 Poi cerchiaro una pianta dispogliata 
 
 Di fiori e d' altra fronda in ciascun ramo. d 
 La corjja sua, che tanto si dilata 40 
 
 Piu, quanto piu e su, fora dagl' Indi 
 
 Ne' boschi lor per altezza ammirata. 
 Beato sei, Grifon, che non discindi 
 
 Col becco d'esto legno dolce al gusto, 
 
 Posciache mal si torse il ventre quindi. 
 Cosi d' intorno all' arbore robusto 
 
 c Disferrata Cass. 2 ; differrata 14. 
 d Difoglia Gg. 3, Aid. Land.; foglia 124 ; con suo ramo Cass. 124. 
 
 39 altra. So iL 32, xiv. 44. See Diez iii. 76, and compare 
 "ou yap r\v Copras oi>8e oXXo 8ti>8pov ovdev," Xen. An. i. 5, 5, 
 and similar uses. 
 
 40 coma is the reading of most MSS. Aid. and Land. The later 
 edd. have often chioma. Cima, however, is found ; and a comparison 
 with xxxiii. 66, would suggest that it may be the right reading. Gg. 
 reads coma, "i.e. cima." Ottimo explains "vetta." With the arrange- 
 ment of the branches cf. xxii. 133.
 
 CANTO xxxii. PURGATORY. 401 
 
 round about the stalwart tree cried the others; and the 
 animal of two natures : " So is preserved the seed of all 
 that is righteous." And turning to the pole which he had 
 pulled, he drew it to the foot of the widowed branch, 
 and to it he left bound that which was of it. As our 
 plants, when downward falls the great light mingled with 
 that which beams behind the heavenly carp, grow turgid, 
 and then each renews itself with its own colour before that 
 the Sun yoke his coursers under another star, [so] showing a 
 colour less than of roses and more than of violets, the plant 
 
 Gridaron gli altri : e 1' animal binato : 
 Si si conserva il seme d' ogni giusto. 6 
 
 E volto al temo ch' egli avea tirato, 
 
 Trasselo al pie della vedova frasga ; 50 
 
 E quel di lei a lef lascio legato. 
 
 Come le nostre piante, quando casca 
 Giu la gran luce mischiata con quella 
 Che raggia dietro alia 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 piu che di viole, 
 
 Gridando Gg. Cass. 124 ; ben nato Gg. (m.) 
 
 s 1 quel di lei. This is variously explained. Primarily it must, I 
 I think, allude to the old legend that the cross of Christ, which I j 
 take the pole to denote, was made of the wood of the tree of Life. / 
 (See Trench Sacred Latin Poetry, p. 181.) Buti has also, according j 
 to Philalethes, noticed the same legend. 
 
 54 la celeste lasca = the sign of the Fish. The light behind it 
 is the Ram, and the meaning is merely, when the Sun is in Aries : 
 " when the yonge Sonne hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne." 
 
 2 D *
 
 402 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxn. 
 
 renewed itself which before had had its branches so desert. 
 I understood it not, nor here is sung the hymn which that 
 folk then sang, nor did I endure the strain throughout. If 
 I could portray in what wise fell asleep the pitiless eyes at 
 hearing the tale of Syrinx, the eyes to which too great 
 watchfulness cost so dear, as a painter who paints with a 
 model would I represent how I went to sleep ; but whoso 
 would do it let him be able well to represent slumber. 
 
 Colore aptendo, s' innovb la pianta/ 
 
 Che prima avea le ramora si sole. 60 
 
 lo non lo intesi, ne qui non si canta e 
 L' inno che quella gente allor cantaro, 
 Ne la nota soffersi tutta quanta. 
 
 S' io potessi ritrar come assonnaro 
 Gli occhi spietati, udendo di Siringa, 
 Gli occhi a cui piu vegghiar costo si caro ; h 
 
 Come pintor che con esemplo pinga, 
 Disegnerei com' io m'addormentai : 
 Ma qual vuol,sia che 1' assonnar ben finga : 
 
 f si nuova Gg.; miovo Cass. 3. 
 
 s * qui gib non Gg.; e qui non Cass. Land, (note) W.; ne qui non si 5 ; 
 
 ne di qua Land. ; ne quaggih Aid. Bi. 
 
 h pur vegliar Gg,; vegghiar 124. 
 
 60 ramora ; for this and similar forms, see Diez ii. 26. 
 
 61 The readings vary a good deal. Ne quaggiii seems to want 
 MS. authority. N& qui non seems the best. For the double negative, 
 see Diez iii. 389, 390. Witte's e qui non makes the line a syllable 
 short. 
 
 o+ Ovid Met. i. 678-723. 
 
 "9 "Let it be that he well represent." assonnar = lit. "to fall 
 asleep." Philalethes remarks that Dante himself has succeeded in 
 doing this better than any one, in xviii. 141.
 
 CANTO xxxii. PURGATORY. 403 
 
 Wherefore I pass on to when I awoke, and I say that a 
 brightness tore for me the veil of my sleep, and a call : 
 " Arise ! what doest thou ? " 
 
 As, led to behold of the flowerets of the apple which 
 makes the angels greedy of its fruit and makes everlasting 
 wedding in heaven, and overcome, Peter and John and 
 James returned, at the word whereby greater slumbers were 
 broken, and beheld their band diminished by Moses, even 
 as by Elias, and the raiment of their master changed ; so 
 came I to myself, and saw that kindly one standing over 
 me who was before conductress of my steps along the 
 
 Perb trascorro a quando mi svegliai; 70 
 
 E dico, ch' un splendor mi squarcio il velo 
 Del sonno, ed un chiamar ; Surgi, che fai ? 
 
 Quale a veder de' fioretti del melo, 
 Che del suo porno gli Angeli fa ghiotti, 
 E perpetue nozze fa nel Cielo, 
 
 Pietro e Giovanni e lacopo condotti 
 E vinti, ritornaro alia parola, 
 Dalla qual furon maggior sonni rotti, 
 
 E videro scemata loro scuola, 
 
 Cosl di Moise come d' Elia, So 
 
 Ed al Maestro suo cangiata stola ; 
 
 Tal torna' io : e vidi quella pia 
 Sovra me starsi, che conducitrice 
 Fu de' miei passi lungo il fiume pria : 
 
 " The "apple" is Christ, with allusion to Canticles ii. 3; the 
 "flowers" are the foretaste of his glory, as seen by the Apostles at 
 the Transfiguration ; the "fruit" is its full fruition in Heaven. 
 
 79 loro for suo. Diez iii. 55, 65. (He is rather meagre. ) Corticelli, 
 Ling. Tosc. p. 55, says that when more than one person is the subject 
 of the sentence, loro is the better use. 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 PURGATORY. CANTO XXXII. 
 
 stream; and all in doubt I said: "Where is Beatrice?" 
 And she : " Behold her underneath the new leaves, sitting 
 on its root. Behold the company which surrounds her; 
 the others are going their way on high with the Grifon, with 
 sweeter song and more profound." And if her speech was 
 further poured forth I know not, because already I had in 
 view her who had closed me to hearing aught else. She 
 was sitting alone on the very ground, as guardian left there 
 
 E tutto in dubbio dissi : Ov' e Beatrice ? ! 
 Ed 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 piu dolce canzone e piu profonda. 90 
 
 E se fu piu lo suo parlar diffuse, 
 
 Non so : perocche gia negli occhi m' era 
 Quella ch' ad altro intender m' avea chiuso. 
 
 Sola sedeasi in su la terra vera, 
 
 ' seconda Cass. 124. 
 
 90 In allusion to Rev. xiv. 3. 
 
 94 vera. The meaning of this word has been a good deal dis- 
 cussed, and various interpretations suggested, of which Vellutello's 
 " perche la Theologia e fondata sopra la vera e non fitta humilta" is 
 no better nor worse than the average. The annotator of Gg. says 
 "ubi arbor scientiae boni." Witte compares Inf. ii. 23, and thinks 
 it means that the Roman empire (denoted by the Tree) was the tnie 
 seat of the Church. He renders by " wahrhaft," Philalethes by "echt." 
 All these seem to me to make too much of what is probably only an 
 "epitheton ornans." At the same time there may be something of 
 the same idea as in xiii. 95, and xvi. 96. Other readings are mera and 
 nera.
 
 CANTO xxxn. PURGATORY. 405 
 
 of the wain which I saw the two-formed animal tie. In circle 
 were making of themselves an enclosure to her the seven 
 nymphs, with those lights in their hands which are secure 
 from Aquilo and Auster. " Here thou shall be a little time 
 a woodman, and thou shalt be with me without end a 
 citizen of that Rome whereof Christ is a Roman ; where- 
 fore, to the profit of the world which lives ill, keep now 
 thine eyes on the car, and what thou seest, when thou art 
 returned yonder, see that thou write." Thus Beatrice, and 
 I who at the feet of her commands was all devoted, set my 
 
 Come guardia lasciata 11 del plaustro, 
 
 Che legar vidi alia biforme fiera. 
 In cerchio le facevan di se claustro 
 
 Le sette Ninfe con que' lumi in mano, 
 
 Che son sicuri d' Aquilone e d' Austro. 
 Qui sarai tu poco tempo silvano, k 100 
 
 E sarai meco sanza fine cive 
 
 Di quella Roma onde Cristo e Romano : 
 Perb injjjjo del mondo che mal vive, 
 
 Al carro tieni or gli occhi, e quel che vedi, 
 
 Ritornato di la fa' che tu scrive. 
 Cos! Beatrice : ed io che tutto a' piedi 
 
 De suoi comandamenti era devoto, 
 
 La mente e gli occhi, ov' ella voile, diedi. 
 k starai Cass. 14 
 
 96 vidi legar alia f. Cf. L 37, and see note to viii. 106. Alia must 
 not be regarded as = dalla. 
 
 too silvano. Is there not a suggestion of foresta, forestiere, con- 
 necting the thought with that of xiii. 96 ? Qui signifies " in this 
 world," denoted by the earthly Paradise. " Beatitudinem hujus vitae, 
 quae .... per terrestrem paradisum figuratur," De Mon. iii. 15. 
 
 102 Cf. for a variation of the expression xxvi. 129. 
 
 10 3 Cf. xvi. 103. 
 
 IOS Copied from Rev. i. 1 1.
 
 406 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxn. 
 
 mind and my eyes where she would have. Never de- 
 scended with such swift motion fire from a thick cloud when 
 rain is falling from that boundary which is most remote, as 
 I beheld the bird of Jove swoop downward through the 
 tree, rending of the bark, much more the flowers and the 
 new leaves ; and he smote the car with all his force, 
 whereat it reeled, as a ship in a tempest overcome by the 
 
 Non scese mai con si veloce moto 
 
 Fuoco di spessa nube, quando piove no 
 
 Da quel confine che piu e remote, 1 
 
 Com' io vidi calar 1' uccel di Giove 
 Per 1' arbor giu, rompendo della scorza, 
 Non che de' fiori e delle foglie nuove, 
 
 E ferio il carro di tutta sua forza ; 
 Ond' ei piegb, come nave in fortuna, 
 
 1 piu va Gg. Cass. 3 W. ; piu ha 124. 
 
 109-111 Lightning is generated in those clouds which approach nearest 
 to the sphere of fire (the lower limit of which is at the level of the 
 entrance to Purgatory; cf. xxi. 46 sqq.). TruKvorepas rfjs crva~rdare<t)s 
 r<av vf<j><av yiyvofji.fvr)s Trpoy TO eoxarov mpas. Aristotle Meteor, ii. 9. 
 Beyond this clouds do not go ; it is therefore their remotest boundary. 
 Bianchi takes piove in the sense in which curiously enough it is most 
 often used by Dante, of "falls," and understands it of the lightning. 
 But it seems best, with the great majority of interpreters, to take it in 
 its literal sense. On the other hand I have followed him in reading, 
 with most of the early edd., piu e, instead of the piu va which many 
 MSS. give. The v may easily have slipped in from piove in the line 
 before, and then piuue would have got altered to piuua. The doubt 
 between e and va in line 46 may also have affected the readings here ; 
 but va has there a meaning, while it is hard to see how a fixed boundary 
 can be said to "go more remote." 
 
 116 fortuna. Littre gives several examples of the use of fortune in 
 // this sense. It appears to have been almost a technical term. Thus 
 Froissart : "II eut une fortune de vent sur mer." So in the sonnet, 
 " Guido, vorrei," 1. 5.
 
 CANTO xxxn. PURGATORY. 407 
 
 waves, now to starboard now to larboard. Next I saw come 
 into the hollow of the triumphal chariot a vixen, which from 
 all good food appeared fasting ; but reproaching her with 
 loathly sins, my lady turned her to such flight as the 
 fleshless bones allowed. Next, from thence, whence it had 
 before come, I saw the eagle come down into the ark of 
 the car, and leave it feathered from itself. And as comes 
 from a heart that is embittered, such a voice issued from 
 Heaven and spoke thus : " O my ship, how ill art thou 
 
 Vinta dall' onda or da jpoggia or da orza. 
 2. Poscia vidi awentarsi nella cuna m 
 
 kfr*'e4 u^A t P e ^ trionfal veiculo una volpe, 
 
 Che d' ogni pasto buon parea digiuna. 120. 
 
 Ma riprendendo lei di laide colpe, 
 La donna mia la volse in tanta futa, 
 Quanto sofferson 1' ossa senza polpe. 
 
 Poscia per indi ond' era pria venuta, 
 L' aquila vidi scender giu nell' area 
 Del carro, e lasciar lei di se pennuta." 
 
 E qual' esce di cuor che si rammarca, 
 
 r - Tal voce usci del Cielo, e cotal disse : 
 fi> fa*4 *r*t*~~ 
 
 m per la G.; ver la 3. n cosi pen Cass. 
 
 "7 orza and poggia appear to Ibe rather the sheets, than, as most 
 commentators say, the braces. 
 
 123 voce ; of St. Peter. The annotator of Gg. tells a story, which 
 Witte also mentions as a legend current in early ages, that at the time 
 of Constantine's donation a voice had been heard to cry from heaven : 
 " Hodie diffusum est venenum in ecclesia Dei ;" and cf. Inf. xix. 115. 
 It must be remembered that no doubt existed in Dante's time as to the 
 genuineness of the donation ; and it was not until the next century that 
 the fiction was exposed by Valla. See Gibbon, chap. xlix.
 
 4o8 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxn. 
 
 freighted ! " Then it appeared to me that the earth opened 
 herself between the two wheels, and I saw issue therefrom 
 a dragon, who fixed his tail up through the car ; and, like a 
 wasp which draws back its sting, drawing to himself the 
 malignant tail, he drew part of the floor, and went his way 
 rambling about. That which remained, like ground alive 
 with herbage, covered itself again with the feathers, offered 
 haply with sound and benign intention, and was covered 
 again therewith, both one and the other wheel and the 
 pole, in so long time that the open mouth longer holds 
 
 O navicella mia, com' mal se' carca ! 
 
 Poi parve a me che la terra s' aprisse 130 
 
 Tr' ambo le rote, e vidi uscirne un drago, p 
 Che per lo carro su la coda fisse : 
 
 E come vespa che ritragge 1' ago, 
 A se 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, q 
 
 Si ricoperse e funne ricoperta 
 
 E 1' una e 1' altra ruota e il temo in tanto, 140 
 Che piii tiene un sospir la bocca aperta. 
 
 co mal Gg. Cass. P indi Gg. <i casta e b. Aid. Bi. 
 
 129 com' for come is not very satisfactory, though there are in- 
 stances of it ; none, however, before a word beginning with ;. If we 
 read co, may it not stand for ecco, as in coloro, etc. ? 
 
 J 3S For di in a "partitive" sense, cf. 11. 113, 114, and see Diez iii. 
 149. The repetition of vago shows that it must here be in the less 
 usual meaning of "vagus," not as some have thought " greedy." 
 
 '* Cf. Par. xx. 56. 

 
 CANTO xxxii. PURGATORY. 49 
 
 a sigh. Transformed thus the holy edifice put forth heads 
 through its parts, three over the pole and one in every 
 corner. The first were horned like an ox, but the four had 
 a single horn on the forehead ; a like prodigy was never yet 
 seen. Secure as a fortress on a lofty mountain, meseemed 
 there sat thereon a dishevelled harlot, with brows quick 
 to move around. And, as if in order that she should not 
 be taken from him, I saw beside her upright a giant, 
 
 Trasformato cosi il dificio santo 
 
 Mise fuor teste per le parti sue, 
 
 Tre sovra 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 ^ncor non fue. r 
 Sicura, quasi rocca in alto monte, 
 <1 ? Seder sovr' esso una puttana sciolta 
 
 M' apparve con le ciglia intorno pronte. 150 
 
 E come perche non li fosse tolta, 
 
 Vidi di costa a lei dritto un gigante, 
 
 ancor visto Gg. 3; v. anco Cass.; s. in nostra vista 14; in vista mai 
 Aid. ; visto mai Bi. 
 
 ' For the seven heads and ten horns, cf. Rev. xiii. i, and xvii. 9, 
 12. The harlot is taken from xvii. 3. There is a similar allusion, 
 Inf. xix. 1 06. 
 
 147 It is not easy to see how Dante, when obviously taking the idea 
 of these seven heads from the beast seen by St. John, can have said 
 that "the like had never been seen." I have followed the usually 
 accepted reading, Simile mostro visto (or in vista) mai (or ancor) 
 non fue, but it is very probable that I, 2, and 4 are right in reading 
 simile in nostra vista. Or is mai corrupt? Simile m. in vista 
 mia would give a good sense.
 
 410 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxn. 
 
 and they kissed together a certain while ; but because she 
 turned her lustful and roving eye to me, that fierce paramour 
 scourged her from the head even to the soles of her feet. 
 Then, full of jealousy and cruel with rage, he cast loose the 
 monster, and drew it through the wood so far that only 
 with it he shielded from me the harlot and the new-made 
 beast. 
 
 E baciavansi insieme alcuna volta. 
 
 Ma perche 1' occhio cupido e vagante 
 A me rivolse, quel feroce drudo 
 La flagello dal capo insin 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 
 
 Alia puttana ed alia nuova belva. 160 
 
 153 alcuna volta ; not, I think, as it is usually rendered "several 
 times,'" but as in xxiv. 65. So lunga fiata, in xxx. 27, and else- 
 where. 
 
 *S9 I.e. so far that the wood alone was enough to hide them from me.
 
 CANTO XXXIII. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 They proceed a little distance, and Beatrice explains that the vision will 
 shortly be fulfilled, and prophesies of one who will restore the Empire. 
 It is midday, and Matilda leads Dante and Statius to drink of the 
 water of Eunoe, which makes them fit to ascend to Heaven. 
 
 )EUS, venerunt gentes, now three, now four in alternation, a 
 sweet psalmody, the ladies began, weeping ; and Beatrice, 
 sighing and pitiful, listened to them in such guise that little 
 more did Mary change herself at the cross. But after that 
 the other maidens gave place to her to speak, risen upright 
 
 I}EUS, venerunt gentes, alternando, 
 
 Or tre or quattro, dolce salmodia 
 
 Le donne incominciaron lagrimando. 
 E Beatrice sospirosa e pia 
 
 Quelle ascoltava si fatta, che poco 
 
 Piu alia croce si cambio Maria. 
 Ma poiche 1' altre vergini dier loco 
 
 A lei di dir, levata dritta in pie 
 
 1 Deus venerunt. Psalm Ixxxix. i.
 
 412 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxni. 
 
 on her feet she made answer, being in hue like to fire : 
 " Modicum et non videbitis me, et iterum, my beloved sisters, 
 modicum et vos videbitis me." Then she put them all seven in 
 front of her, and after her, only making a sign, she caused 
 to go me and the Dame and the Sage who remained. Thus 
 she moved away, and I do not think that her tenth step 
 had been placed on the ground when with her eyes she smote 
 my eyes, and with calm aspect : " Come more quickly," she 
 said to me, " so much that if I speak with thee thou mayest 
 be well placed to listen to me." So soon as I was, as was 
 my duty, with her, she said to me : " Brother, why dost 
 thou not attempt to inquire, now that thou art coming with 
 
 Rispose, colorata come fuoco, 
 Modicum, et non videbitis me: 10 
 
 Et iterum, sorelle mie dilette, 
 
 Modicum, et vos videbitis me. 
 Poi le si mise innanzi tutte e sette : 
 
 E dopo se, solo accennando mosse 
 
 Me e la donna e il savio che ristette. 
 Cosl 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 piu tosto, 
 
 Mi disse, tanto che s' io parlo teco, 20 
 
 Ad ascoltarmi tu sie ben disposto. 
 SI com' io fui, com' io doveva, seco, 
 
 Dissemi : Frate, p'erche non t' attenti 
 
 A dimandar omai venendo meco ? 
 
 9 come fuoco, i. e. with the colour of love. 
 
 10 John xvi. 16. 
 
 '5 U savio. Statius, who has been with them all the time.
 
 CANTO xxxni. PURGATORY. 413 
 
 me?" As befalls those who being over-reverent before their 
 betters are in act to speak, that they bring not the voice 
 alive to the teeth, it befell me that I began without perfect 
 sound : " My lady, my care you know, and that which for 
 it is good." And she to me : " From fear and from shame 
 I will that thou henceforward disenfold thyself, so that thou 
 speak no more as one who dreams. Thou knowest that the 
 vessel which the serpent broke was and is not, but let him 
 who has the blame thereof believe that God's vengeance 
 
 Come a color che troppo reverenti 
 Dinanzi a suo maggior parlando sono, 
 Che non traggon la voce viva a' denti, 
 
 Avvenne a me, che senza intero suono 
 Incominciai : Madonna, mia bisogna 
 Voi conoscete e cio ch' ad essa e buono. 30 
 
 Ed ella a me : Da tema e da vergogna 
 Voglio che tu omai ti disviluppe, 
 Si che non parli piu com' uom che sogna. 
 
 Sappi che il vaso, che il serpente ruppe, 
 Fu, e non e : ma chi n' ha colpa creda 
 Che vendetta di Dio non teme suppe. 
 
 Non sara tutto tempo sanza reda a 
 
 * Non sard d'ogni t. Gg. 
 
 *s Cf. xxxi. 7. 
 
 35 Fu e non e, from Rev. xvii. 8. 
 
 3 6 non teme suppe. Alluding to the superstition, current in 
 Florence in the Middle Ages, that if a murderer could contrive within 
 eight days after the crime to eat a piece of bread dipped in wine (or any 
 food, say some), on his victim's grave, he would escape the relations' 
 vengeance. See Fauriel, Dante, vol. i. p. 535. The idea here is 
 probably like Horace's " Venena fas nefasque non valent convertere." 
 
 37 sanza reda. Because in Dante's view there had been no real
 
 414 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxin. 
 
 fears not sops. For all time without heir the eagle will not 
 be who left his feathers on the car, whereby it became a 
 monster and afterward a prey ; for I see certainly, and there- 
 fore I tell it, stars secure from all assault and all hindrance, 
 already near to give us a time, in the which a five hun- 
 dred, ten, and five, sent by God shall slay the runagate, 
 together with that giant who sins with her. And it may be 
 that my tale, dark like Themis and Sphinx, persuades thee 
 
 L' aquila che lascio le penne al carro : 
 Per che divenne mostro e poscia preda. 
 
 Ch' io veggio certamente, e pero il narro, 40 
 
 A darne tempo gia stelle propinque 
 Sicure d' ogni intoppo e d' ogni sbarro : b 
 
 Nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque 
 Messo di Dio ancidera la fuia, 
 Con quel gigante che con lei delinque. 
 
 E forse che la mia narrazion buia, 
 Qual Temi e Sfinge, men ti persuade, 
 
 b ogni stroppia Gg. 
 c spinge Gg. Cass. 1234 ; erne ti Gg.; me ti Cass. 124. 
 
 emperor since the death of Frederick II. Cf. Conv. iv. 3, where 
 Frederick is called "ultimo imperadore de' Romani, per rispetto a 
 tempo presente." 
 
 41 stelle. Cf. xx. 13. 
 
 44 fuia. "sc. meretricem," says the annotator of Gg. ; but this is 
 probably an explanation, not a translation. "Rauberin," Witte, with 
 whom Blanc agrees. "Vettel," Philalethes. But see Glossary. 
 
 47 Qual Temi e Sfinge. The allusion is to Ovid Met vii. 758 
 sqq. " Carmina Laiades non intellecta priorum solverat ingeniis," etc., 
 where, until emended into this form by Heinsius, former edd, following 
 a blunder of the MSS., read "Naiades solvunt." The attempts to 
 justify the accuracy of the older reading by reference to Pausanias, 
 Lactantius, and others, are obviously futile, if only because the pluperf. 
 solverat is nearly as much needed as the name of (Edipus.
 
 CANTO xxxin. PURGATORY. 415 
 
 less, because after their fashion it chokes the understand- 
 ing ; but soon the facts will be the Naiades, who will solve 
 this hard riddle, without loss of flocks or of corn. Do 
 thou mark, and in such wise as from me are borne these 
 words, so teach them to those who live with the life 
 which is a hastening unto death ; and bear in mind, when 
 thou writest them, not to conceal what thou hast seen 
 the plant, which has now been twice plundered here. Who- 
 soever robs that or strips it offends God with blasphemy 
 of act, for to His own use only He created it holy. For 
 biting that, in pain and in desire five thousand years and 
 more the first soul longed for Him who in His own self 
 
 > 
 
 Perch' a lor modo lo intelletto attuia : 
 Ma tosto fien li fatti le Naiade, d 
 
 Che solveranno questo enigma forte, ' 50 
 
 Sanza danno di pecore e di biade. 
 Tu nota ; e si come da me son porte 
 
 Queste parole, si le insegna a' vivi 
 
 Del viver ch' e un correre alia morte ; 
 Ed aggi a mente, quando tu le scrivi, 
 
 Di non celar qual hai vista la pianta, 
 
 Ch' e or due volte dirubata quivi. 
 Qualunque ruba quella o quella schianta, 
 
 Con bestemmia di fatto offende Dio, 
 
 Che solo all' uso suo la creo santa. 60 
 
 Per morder quella, in pena e in disio 
 
 CinquemiP anni e piu, 1' anima prima 
 
 Bramb colui che il morso in se punio. 
 
 d fer lefate Cass.; fien lefate e 5. 
 
 57 First by Adam, secondly by the separation from it of the car t 
 "' which was of it" (xxxii. 51).
 
 416 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxiu. 
 
 avenged the bite. Thy intellect sleeps if thou judge not 
 that for a special reason it is so high, and so spread at the 
 top. And if thy vain thoughts had not been as water of 
 Elsa around the mind, and their pleasure as Pyramus to the 
 mulberry tree, through so great circumstances only hadst 
 thou recognised with thy moral sense the justice of God in 
 the interdict upon the tree. But because I see thee in thy 
 understanding made of stone, and of stony tint, so that the 
 light of my word dazzles thee, I will moreover and if not 
 written, at least depicted that thou bear it away within 
 
 Dorme lo ingegno tuo, se non istima 
 Per singular cagione essere eccelsa 
 Lei tanto, e si travolta nella cima. e 
 
 E se stati non fossero acqua d' Elsa 
 Li pensier vani intorno alia tua mente, 
 E il piacer loro un Piramo alia gelsa ; 
 
 Per tante circostanze solamente 70 
 
 La giustizia di Dio nello interdetto 
 Conosceresti all' alber moralmente. 
 
 Ma perch' io veggio te nello intelletto 
 Fatto di pietra e di petrato tinto/ 
 
 e tanto si tr. essere in c. Gg. 
 { in petrato t. Gg. Cass. Bi.; impetrato 124; ed itnpietrato, t. 3 W. 
 
 67 sqq. The r iver Elsa in Tuscany was reputed to have a petrifying 
 power. The mulberry was white until the blood of Pyramus stained it 
 (xxvii. 39). The meaning therefore is : "If your mind had not been 
 hardened and its purity lost, by reason of worldly cares and pleasures, 
 you would have understood, from what has happened to the tree, the 
 justice of God in forbidding any hand to be laid on it." For the mean- 
 ing, in connection with the whole allegory, see Appendix B. 
 
 7* Witte's impietrato, tinto, seems rather clumsy. I venture to 
 adopt a variant given by him. Cf. xiii. 9, for the colour of stone.
 
 CANTO xxxin. PURGATORY. 417 
 
 thee for that wherefore the staff circled with palm is taken." 
 And I : "As wax by a seal, which changes not the figure 
 impressed, so is my brain novV stamped by them. But why 
 so far above my view flies your desired speech, that more it 
 loses it the more it strives ? " " That thou mayest know," 
 said she, " that school which thou hast followed, and mayest 
 see how its doctrine is able to follow my speech, and mayest 
 see that your way is from God's way so far apart as is distant 
 
 SI che t' abbaglia il lume del mio detto ; 
 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. L*A. 
 
 Ed io : Si come cera da suggello, 
 
 Che la figura impressa non trasmuta, 80 
 
 Segnato e or da vot lo mio cervello. 2 
 Ma perche tanto sovra mia veduta 
 
 Vostra parola disiata vola, 
 
 Che piu la perde quanto piu s' aiuta? J 
 Perche conoschi, disse, quella scuola, 
 
 Ch' hai seguitata, e veggi sua dottrina 
 
 Come pub seguitar la mia parola ; 
 E veggi vostra via dalla divina 
 
 Distar cotanto, quanto si discorda 
 
 e Segn. ho io di voi Gg. 
 
 76 I.e. if not put in words at least figured in your mind. 
 
 77, 78 i. e . in memory of the places which you have visited. For the 
 different kinds of pilgrims, see V. N. xli. 
 
 79 Dante is fond of this metaphor of the seal and the wax. Cf. 
 x. 45, xviii. 39. 
 
 84 s'aiuta. Cf. xii. 130. 
 
 8 7 come, i.e. how little, 
 
 a*- 8 ? Isaiah Iv. 8, 9. 
 
 2 E
 
 418 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxm. 
 
 from earth the heaven, which speeds the highest." Wherefore 
 I answered her : " It conies not to my mind that I estranged 
 myself ever from you, nor have I conscience thereof to 
 prick me." " And if thou canst not remember thee thereof," 
 smiling she answered, "now bethink thee how thou hast 
 this day drunk of Lethe ; and if from the smoke fire is 
 argued, this forgetfulness clearly concludes a fault in thy 
 will intent elsewhere. But truly henceforth my words will 
 be plain so far as shall behove to uncover them to thy 
 untrained sight." 
 
 And more flashing and with slower pace the Sun was 
 
 Da terra il ciel che piu alto festina. 90 
 
 Ond' io risposi lei : Non mi ricorda 
 Ch' io straniassi me giammai da voi, h 
 Ne honne coscienzia che rimorda. 
 
 E se tu ricordar non te ne puoi, 
 Sorridendo, rispose, or ti rammenta 
 Come bevesti di Lete ancoi : 
 
 E se dal fummo fuoco s' argomenta, 
 Cotesta oblivion chiaro conchiude 
 Colpa nella tua voglia altrove attenta. 
 
 Veramente oramai saranno nude 100 
 
 Le mie parole, quanto converrassi 
 Quelle scovrire alia tua vista rude. 
 
 E piu corrusco, e con piu lenti passi 
 
 h straviassi Gg. (alt. to strati. ) ; Cass. 
 
 96 sqq. Because Lethe only takes away the memory of faults. 
 
 103 pifc lenti. The sun seems to travel slower when it is high, be- 
 cause the shadows change less in a given time than they do when it 
 is near the horizon.
 
 CANTO xxxiii. PURGATORY. 419 
 
 holding the meridian circle, which sets itself here and there 
 according as you observe it, when fixed themselves (as fixes 
 himself he who goes before a troop by way of escort, if he 
 finds aught new in his track) the seven dames, at the end of 
 a pale shadow, such as under green leaves and black boughs 
 the Alps bear above their cool brooks. In front of them 
 meseemed I saw Euphrates and Tigris issue from one fount, 
 and, like friends, separate slowly. " O light, O glory of the 
 race of men, what water is this which here displays itself 
 from one beginning and parts itself from itself ? " For such 
 prayer it was said to me : " Pray Matilda that she tell thee." 
 
 Teneva il sole il cerchio di merigge, 
 Che qua e la, come gli aspetti, fassi, 
 
 Quando s' affisser, si come s' affigge 
 Chi va dinanzi a* schiera per iscorta, 
 Se truova novitate in sue vestigge, 
 
 Le sette donne al fin d' un' ombra smorta, 
 
 Qual sotto foglie verdi e rami nigri, no 
 
 Sovra suoi freddi rivi 1' Alpe porta. 
 
 Dinanzi ad esse Eufrates e Tigri 
 
 Veder mi parve uscir d' una fontana, 
 E quasi amici dispartirsi pigri. 
 
 O luce, O gloria della gente umana, ! 
 Che acqua e questa che qui si dispiega 
 Da un principio, e se da se lontana ? 
 
 Per cotal prego detto mi fu : Prega 
 Matelda, che il ti dica : e qui rispose, 
 
 ' mente um. Gg. 
 
 103 I.e. varies with the longitude, aspetti, like "leve," xxv. 39.. 
 "9 Matilda's name is here mentioned for the first time. 
 
 2 E 2
 
 420 PURGATORY. CANTO xxxin. 
 
 And here replied, as he does who sets him free from blame, 
 the fair lady : " This and other things have been told him 
 by me; and I am sure that the water of Lethe has not 
 hidden them from him." And Beatrice : " Perchance a 
 greater care, which oftentimes takes away memory, has made 
 his mind dim in the eyes. But behold Eunoe which there 
 has its source ; lead thou him to it, and as thou art wont 
 quicken again his virtue partly dead." As a noble soul 
 that makes not excuse, but makes its will of the will of 
 another, so soon as by a sign it is outwardly disclosed ; in 
 such wise, after I had been taken by her, the fair lady 
 moved, and to Statius said in manner as a lady: "Come 
 with him." 
 
 If I had, reader, longer space to write, I should sing, 
 
 Come fa chi da colpa si dislega, 120 
 
 La bella donna : Questo ed altre cose 
 Dette li son per me : e son sicura 
 Che F acqua di Lete non gliel nascose. 
 
 E Beatrice : Forse maggior cura, 
 Che spesse volte la memoria priva, 
 Fatto ha la mente sua negli occhi oscura. 
 
 Ma vedi Eunoe che la deriva : 
 
 Menalo ad esso, e come tu se' usa, 
 La tramortita sua virtu ravviva. 
 
 Com' anima gen til che non fa scusa, 130 
 
 Ma fa sua voglia della voglia altrui, 
 Tosto com' e per segno fuor dischiusa : 
 
 Cos! poi che da essa preso fui, 
 
 La bella donna mossesi, ed a Stazio 
 Donnescamente disse : Vien con lui. 
 
 S' io avessi, lettor, piu lungo spazio k 
 k piu largo Gg.
 
 CANTO xxxin. PURGATORY. 421 
 
 at all events in part, the sweet draught which never would 
 have sated me ; but, for that all the sheets put in frame for 
 this second Canticle are full, the bridle of my art lets me 
 go no further. I turned back from the most holy wave 
 refect in such wise as new plants renewed with new foliage, 
 pure and disposed to mount up to the stars. 
 
 Da scrivere, io pur cantere' in parte 
 
 Lo dolce ber che mai non m' avria sazio. 
 
 Ma perche piene son tutte le carte 
 Ordite a questa cantica seconda, 140 
 
 Non mi lascia piu ir lo fren dell' arte. 
 
 Io ritornai dalla santissim' onda 
 Rifatto si, come piante novelle 
 Rinnovellate di novella fronda, 
 
 Puro e disposto a salire alle stelle. 
 
 138 Cf. xxxi. 139. 
 
 ' As has often been remarked, each Cantica ends with the 
 word stelle. 
 
 
 ft- 

 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 (NOTE TO CANTO xxvu.) 
 THE DREAMS OF CANTOS IX. XIX. AND XXVII. 
 
 SINCE of the three divisions of the future world it is Purgatory alone 
 in which time can be said to have any place, it is natural that there 
 alone we should find the ordinary division of time into days and 
 nights still existing. For the shades, who being free from the physical 
 burden of the flesh, have no need of physical repose, the change from 
 day to night merely causes a change in the subjects of their penitential 
 meditation ; but the human traveller, with Adam's part still in him, 
 needs rest no less than on earth. Accordingly, as has been seen, a 
 part of each night is spent by Dante in sleep ; and each night his sleep 
 is visited by a dream. From their position in the poem, marking as it 
 were the passage from the events of one day to those of the next, it can 
 hardly be doubted that they are intended as a kind of prelude to what 
 is about to follow. In the case of the last, indeed, he not only tells 
 us as much (xxvii. 93), but makes it clear by the occupation of Matilda 
 in the next Canto, exactly reproducing that of Leah in the dream. But 
 with regard to the two former dreams, that of the Eagle and that of the 
 Siren, this prefatory character is less obvious on the surface, and 
 accordingly seems to have escaped most or all of those who have 
 commented on them. Philalethes, for example, says " In der ersten 
 Nacht am Thore des Purgatoriums, erscheint ihm Lucia (this is hardly 
 correct, for she does not appear to Dante) die gratia praevenicm oder 
 operans, in der zweiten Nacht in der Mitte der biissenden Kreise sieht er 
 den kampf des Menschen mit der Sinnlichkeit und seine Unterstiitzung 
 durch die mitwirkende Gnade (gratia cooperans), und hier im Eingange 
 des irdischen Paradieses hat er einen dritten Traum, dessen Bedeutung 
 sich als auf den Zustand der Vollendung [sc. der Rechtfertigung] 
 deutend zeigen wird." It will be seen that in this brief summary he
 
 APPENDIX A. 423 
 
 follows the older commentators, such as Landino, who talk much of 
 prevenient, illuminant, and co-operant Grace. I should be far from 
 saying that their interpretations are incorrect ; but, as we are told* by 
 Dante himself that the poem is "polysemous," we are surely at liberty 
 to find another, and as it would seem, more significant interpretation. 
 
 In considering the three dreams, and Dante's mode of narrating 
 them, one point of resemblance will be at once observed. Each takes 
 place immediately before the dawn: "cum somnia vera;" "presso 
 al mattin di ver si sogna ; " and in each the hour is indicated by the 
 introduction, beginning in every case with the words "Nell' ora" 
 (which, with one exception, occur nowhere else in D.C.), and having 
 reference to some natural phenomenon. It is the hour " when the 
 swallow begins her song," "when the earth is chilliest," "when Venus 
 first beamed on the mount." This makes it pretty clear that Dante 
 intended the dream in each case to be associated with the experiences 
 of the day at the opening of which it is placed ; and a little closer con- 
 sideration will perhaps throw light on the nature of the association. 
 The line with which Leah ends seems to contain the key to the 
 whole: "Lei lo veder, e me 1'ovrare appaga." The division of 
 evtpyeiat into TTpaifriKal and dfcapriTiicai, active and contemplative, is 
 expounded by Aristotle, Eth. Nic. i. 5, and x. 7, 8. The latter passage 
 Dante himself discusses in Conv. ii. 5, where he decides that ' ' questa 
 (the contemplative) vita e piii divina." Here, as elsewhere, he is the 
 obedient disciple of " the master of all human reason," " the master of 
 those who know." Again, in Conv. iv. 22, he says : " L' uso del nostro 
 animo e doppio, doe pratico e speculative. Quello del pratico si e 
 operare per noi vertuosamenti, cioe onestamente, con prudenzia, con 
 temperanza, con fortezza, e con giustizia ; quello dello speculative si e 
 non operare per noi, ma considerare 1' opere di Dio e della natura." 
 See also De Mon. iii. 15 : " Duos fines Providentia ilia enarrabilis 
 homini proposuit intendendos, beatitudinem scilicet hujus vitae, quae in 
 operatione propriae virtutis consistit et per terrestrem paradisum figu- 
 ratur, et beatitudinem vitae aeternae, quae consistit in fruitione divini 
 aspectus." It follows then that every life (excepting the mere brute life 
 of sensual enjoyment, the dno\av(TTiKos ^i'os,t which could in no case 
 
 * Epistle to Can Grande. So Foscolo remarks "Chi sapra mai quali e 
 quanti 1' Autore intendevasi di velare in ogni parola, e con quanta diversita 
 di maniere ei spiegavali ? " 
 
 t " Chi usa pur la vita sensitiva, non vive uomo ma vive bestia," Conv. 
 ii. 8, and bestialita, dr)pi6rr)s, in common with the other disposition, 
 malizia, which is punished within the city of Dis (Inf. xi.), does not admit 
 of any purgation.
 
 424 APPENDIX A. 
 
 be represented in Purgatory), falling under one or other of these two 
 divisions, sins may be classified according as they attach themselves 
 more to the one or the other side of man's nature. This classification, 
 though nowhere explicitly stated, seems to be plainly enough implied in 
 the order wherein Dante arranges sinners in Purgatory. Thus, in the 
 three lower circles are punished Pride, Envy, Anger, sins of contem- 
 plation the two first of which, it may be remarked, have no place in 
 Hell, because until they result in action (when they become schism, 
 malice, and treachery, just as anger becomes violence, and are placed 
 in the lowest Hell), they injure only the man himself, and not the fabric 
 of society. Anger, indeed, like Sloth, may so destroy a man's moral 
 nature as to render it unfit for purification ; and so the Angry and 
 Slothful lie together in Hell, forming there, as the Slothful by them- 
 selves in Purgatory, the division between the two chief classes of sins. 
 That the Slothful are put by themselves in Purgatory is probably due to 
 considerations of symmetry, and also because the sin of Sloth may be 
 regarded as affecting both the Active and the Contemplative life, and 
 checking the due development of one as much as of the other. 
 
 Passing above this intermediate zone, we find those who have sinned 
 by Avarice, Gluttony, and Lasciviousness. Now these three sins do 
 not exist save in Action : they postulate a corporeal existence. A 
 purely abstract intelligence may be conceived as obnoxious to the attacks 
 of Pride, Envy, and Anger, but not to the lusts of the flesh. We thus 
 have, in addition to the division of sins given in Canto xvii., a further 
 classification into sins of the contemplative and sins of the active life, 
 with Sloth, or Accidia, assailing both, but more apparent in its effects 
 on the latter, and leading more directly to those faults which especially 
 belong to it. 
 
 We are now in a position to examine somewhat more closely the 
 circumstances of each dream. In the first place, it is to be noted that 
 the introduction, by which, as has been said, the hour is fixed, gives hi 
 each case the keynote to what follows. Thus, in the first night it is the 
 swallow, with her memory of ancient woes, meditating upon the sorrows 
 which she endured in human form. Moreover, it is the hour when the 
 mind of man is "quasi divina " in its visions, the very same term being 
 used which Dante applies to the contemplative life in the passage 
 already quoted from the Convito. The poet is then seized by an Eagle, 
 the emblem from the earliest Christian times of the soul which most 
 aspires to meditate on divine things, and as such adopted for the special 
 ' ' cognisance " of St. John the Divine ; he is borne up to the fire, or 
 Empyrean heaven, "luogo," as he says, "di quella somma Deita che
 
 APPENDIX A. 425 
 
 se sola compiutamente vede," and when he wakes, his face is turned out 
 to seaward, in the attitude which most suggests contemplation. 
 
 The second vision is of a different character, in that it deals rather 
 with the fault to be avoided than the grace to be sought. The hour is 
 that of the greatest cold, when all activity is at its weakest ; and the 
 allusions to the groping geomants and the dull planet Saturn appear to 
 be intended to heighten the effect of the suggestion. The ordinary 
 interpretation of this vision is different from that here indicated. The 
 Siren has been generally taken to denote the false pleasure arising 
 from the joys of this world, and leading to the sins which are punished 
 in the three higher circles ; and this is to some extent borne out by 
 Virgil's words : " Che sola sovra noi omai si piagne,"* when taken in 
 conjunction with the similar expression in xvii. 136, 137; but here again 
 one interpretation does not exhaust the whole of the allegory. For let 
 us consider the description of the figure which Dante sees. She is 
 "balba, con gli occhi guerci, e sovra i pie distorta." Are not these the 
 very symptoms of Sloth, which arrests the development of the active 
 life ? As he dwells on her, she becomes more and more attractive ; 
 and after she has been put to flight by the " donna + santa e presto, " (note 
 this epithet it is a lady holy \nd alert who defeats the Siren), the 
 recollection of her draws him back and makes him slow to mount 
 upwards, so that Virgil has to enjoin upon him to use the action of 
 a man who is arousing himself from sloth. Nor indeed does this expla- 
 nation of the vision conflict with other evidence. The Siren says that 
 it was she who drew Ulysses from his road. Now we do not find that 
 the temptation which the Sirens held out to Ulysses was that of sensual 
 pleasures ; that is rather the part of Circe and the Lotos-eaters. The 
 Sirens ' ' know all the toils which Argives and Trojans had in broad 
 Troy ; " it is by the inducement of a slothful rest that they seek to draw 
 men from their duty, and the enjoyment which they offer is intellectual 
 rather than sensual ; in any case it is inactive. Thus we seem irresistibly 
 drawn to the conclusion that Dante's Siren, though, since idleness is at 
 
 * Also by xxxi. 45. 
 
 t This lady is clearly the "Donna gentil" of Inf. ii. 94. It will be 
 observed that there she is connected with Lucia, whom she sends to 
 Beatrice in order to move her to the aid of Dante ; and here she performs 
 a similar office to that discharged by Lucia in the first vision, namely, that 
 of bringing it to an end, and arousing the sleeper. Comparing Inf. ii. 102, 
 with Par. xxxii. 8, and looking to the juxtaposition of Maria with Lucia in 
 Conv. iii. 5, we can hardly doubt that she is the Virgin Mary. (Since 
 writing this, I find that Ozanam has come to the same conclusion).
 
 426 APPENDIX A. 
 
 once the cause and the effect of fleshly sins, she may not unfitly denote 
 " the love which abandons itself too much to them " is primarily 
 "improba Siren desidia." It is to be observed also that just as, on 
 awaking from the first dream, Dante finds himself as we have seen 
 in an attitude fitted for contemplation, so in this case he notices on 
 coming to himself that "we were going with the new Sun at our backs ;" 
 the position which a man who wishes to see the work that lies before 
 him would naturally assume. 
 
 Lastly as to the third dream, in Canto xxvii. All commentators 
 seem agreed in considering that Rachel and Leah are understood by 
 Dante, following all* the theologians of the Middle Age, as holding 
 symbolically in the Old Testament the same position as Martha and 
 Mary in the New. What that is he sets forth plainly in Conv. iv. 17. 
 In the world of history the typical representatives of the active and 
 contemplative life are respectively Matilda and Beatrice. It is therefore 
 right and fitting that after he has been awakened, not, as in the other 
 dreams, by any special intervention, but merely by the splendour of 
 the dawn, and after Virgil has resigned his charge at the entrance of the 
 Earthly Paradise, giving him full power physical and spiritual, as 
 implied by the crown and mitre, over himself, Dante should be met by 
 Matilda, employed in the same manner as the Leah of his dream, and 
 be led by her to the spot where Beatrice, descended from her place 
 beside Rachel (Inf. ii. 102), comes to receive him. 
 
 It should be observed finally that Matilda, as representing here the 
 glorified active life, finds her highest pleasure in ' ' giving praise for the 
 operations of God's hands ;" that is, the ultimate perfection of one life is 
 practically the same as that of the other Leah decks herself, but takes 
 "pleasure at her mirror "no less than Rachel. Herein, indeed, lies 
 the key to most of Dante's moral and theological system, and even, as 
 will be understood by a reference to the passage already indicated of the 
 De Monarchia, to much of his political doctrine also ; and I have there- 
 fore entered somewhat at length into what may seem to some, as they 
 did to Sismondi, among the less interesting portions of the Cantica. 
 Possibly further consideration may lead to the belief that his judgement 
 was formed hastily. 
 
 * Thus Hugh of St. Victor (quoted by Trench, Sacred Latin Poetry) 
 has " Lia quae interpretatur laboriosa, significat vitam activam .... 
 Rachel, quae interpretatur visum principium, designat vitam contem- 
 plativam." Adam of St. Victor, " Lippam Liam latent multa quibus 
 videns Rachel fulta Pari nubit foedere." And Bernard of Cluny, "Tune 
 Jacob Israel, et Lia tune Rachel efficietur."
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 ON THE ALLEGORY OF CANTOS XXIX, -XXXIII. 
 
 IT seems, for several reasons, more convenient to relegate such exposi- 
 tion as must be given of these quasi-apocalyptic Cantos to a separate 
 note, than to explain it step by step, by means of a running commentary. 
 In the first place, such a course would rather overcrowd the pages with 
 notes ; and further, to those who read the poem merely for its poetry, 
 this long historical disquisition for it is indeed little else, in spite of 
 an occasional outburst in Danta's grandest style may seem a little 
 wearisome, and by no means to be emphasized by frequent notes. 
 Lastly, the general drift of the whole, in spite of the obscurity of details, 
 is so clear and so connected, that the student will probably be best 
 served by an attempt to elucidate it as a whole. So much of Dante's 
 political doctrine is contained in it that this attempt is worth making. 
 As will be seen, a great part of it contains a statement of the same 
 theories which he expounded in a more strictly scientific form in the 
 De Monarch ia ; and, of any interest which that treatise possesses, these 
 Cantos may be fairly held to claim a share. 
 
 Perhaps it will be convenient to begin with a few words as to the 
 personages. Of course it will be understood that Dante, Beatrice, and 
 Virgil are primarily themselves; the "ten years' thirst," which is 
 quenched in the light of the eyes " whence Love once drew his armoury,' 
 is no mere figure of the state of a man who has left the study of 
 theology, or has been desirous to understand the mystic sense of Holy 
 Scripture, as certain of the old expounders deem. On the other hand> 
 it is not merely the woman Beatrice Portinari, to whom, before her birth, 
 the Virtues themselves were appointed for handmaidens, or who ad- 
 dresses the ladies personifying these virtues in the very words used by 
 Christ to his disciples. Thus there is a sense in which Beatrice and 
 Virgil and Dante himself must be regarded as abstractions personified 
 no less than those ladies, or the seven candlesticks, or the tree, or the
 
 428 APPENDIX B. 
 
 mystic car. We may understand the two first as denoting the highest 
 perfection which man can in the contemplative life attain Virgil, by 
 the light of nature, Beatrice as informed by revelation. Dante himself 
 is the type of the soul of man in its search after this perfection ; 
 Matilda is the active life, which works with temperance, prudence, 
 fortitude, and justice (Conv. iv. 22), but, in order to attain its highest 
 bliss, needs to be blended with the contemplative, as indicated by the 
 allusion to "the Psalm Delectasti" By this a man is guided through 
 the world, figured, as we are told in the De Monarchia, by the earthly 
 paradise, and led on to the point where he becomes worthy to enjoy the 
 beatific contemplation of the Deity. 
 
 We may now follow the allegory step by step, from the point 
 (xxix. 1 6) where Dante, warned by Matilda, turns his attention to what 
 is coming. Seven candlesticks, denoting the gifts of the Spirit,* come 
 first, apparently self-moved, and leaving behind them luminous bands? 
 of the seven prismatic colours, in which some have seen the seven 
 sacraments. It is, however, difficult to adapt these to the seven gifts, 
 and also there is a want of appropriateness in making them precede the 
 o / coming of Christ ; so that, on the whole, it seems better to understand 
 , / the bands merely as the working of the gifts. A distance of ten paces 
 is said to separate the two on the outside, apparently with allusion to 
 the Commandments. Then follow twenty-four elders, representing the 
 books of the Old Testament,i clad and crowned with white, the colour of 
 faith (Heb. xi.). After these comes the car of the Church, surrounded 
 by four Beasts, resembling those of the Apocalypse, but crowned with 
 green, denoting the four Gospels, as specially connected with "Christ, 
 which is our hope" (l Tim. i. i). It is drawn by a Grifon, that is, 
 Christ. In his lion (or human) part he combines the colours of the 
 Old and New Testament ; while his bird (or divine) part is golden. 
 His wings stretch up out of sight, and have three of the bands on each 
 
 (' side and one between them. The symbolism of this part is very obscure. 
 Witte gives up the attempt to explain it, only remarking that none of 
 the explanations hitherto given are satisfactory. Looking to Psalms 
 xxxvi. and Ivii., and comparing verses 5 and 7 of the former with I and 
 
 * See Isaiah xi. 2 ; also, S. T. ii. i. Q 6. The gifts are sapientia, 
 intellecttts, consilium, fortitude, scientia, fietas, timor Domini. Cf. Conv. 
 iv. 21. 
 
 t It will be observed that Dante does not reckon the Apocryphal books 
 The. number 24 is obtained by reckoning the Pentateuch, the Historical 
 books, and the three ascribed to Solomon as forming only three altogether.
 
 APPENDIX B. 429 
 
 1 1 of the latter, it seems that we must understand them as denoting 
 the one mercy, the other truth or justice. Then their position with 
 regard to the bands will be made intelligible by a reference to Ps. xxxvi. 
 10, which in the Vulgate (where it is xxxv. u) reads as follows: 
 " Praetende misericordiam tuam scientibus te, et justitiam tuam his 
 qui recto sunt corde ; " " O stretch forth thy mercy over those that 
 know thee (scuntia), and thy justice over them that are of a right heart 
 (consilium). " On the right side of the car are three ladies, clad in red, 
 white and green, respectively denoting the theological virtues of Love, 
 Faith, and Hope ; and on the left side four, the cardinal virtues of 
 Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. These are clad in 
 purple, and are led by Prudence, who has three eyes. Seven elders , 
 follow, who are robed, like the others, in white, but crowned with red 
 flowers ("faith, which worketh by love." Gal. v. 6), and represent the 
 remainder of the New Testament, the Epistles of St. Paul reckoning 
 as one book. 
 
 When it is over against the spot where Dante and Statius are standing, 
 the procession halts. Virgil has vanished, and Beatrice appears stand- 
 ing on the car, clad in the three mystic colours, red, white, and green. 
 She calls Dante to account for his unfaithfulness to her, which, as I have 
 elsewhere said, I take to have been both literal and metaphorical. At 
 least, if with some commentators we are to reject the former notion, 
 it seems hard to see the force of such lines as xxxi. 59. There is much 
 evidence to support the belief that Dante at all events in his earlier 
 manhood had yielded to temptations to which men of his strong nature 
 and highly imaginative temperament are prone. After he has been 
 brought to confession and contrition he is drawn by Matilda through 
 the stream of Lethe, and led by the four Virtues who, as pertaining to 
 the active life, form a link between her and Beatrice to the breast of the 
 Grifon. At first he sees only the eyes of Beatrice, which are fixed on 
 the Grifon, and reflect alternately the one and the other nature ; but at 
 the prayer of the three virtues she unveils her whole face. Dazzled by 
 its splendour, Dante at first sees nothing else, but presently he is aware 
 that the whole procession has turned, and he, Statius, and Matilda take 
 their places by the right wheel of the car, and accompany it. They 
 pass through the wood until they reach a leafless tree. This is primarily | 
 the tree of knowledge, but denotes further the virtue of obedience, of j 
 which that tree was the test, and as such serves to recall the obedience ' 
 of Christ. To this the Grifon attaches the pole of the car (that is, the I 
 Cross), and it breaks out into leaves and flowers, which by their hue ' 
 suggest the imperial purple. Henceforth the tree and car together
 
 430 APPENDIX B. 
 
 become the symbol of the union of Empire and Church, which, it must 
 be remembered, were in Dante's eyes merely two aspects of the same 
 institution. At this point Dante loses consciousness, and awakes again 
 to find the whole pageant departed. Beatrice remains, sitting on the 
 ground under the tree, to indicate that the highest perfection of life is 
 only attainable under the Empire ; a doctrine which is reasoned out in 
 the first eight chapters of the De Monarchia. The seven lights are now 
 in the hands of the seven Virtues. 
 
 The second part of the vision now begins. An eagle descends 
 through the tree, tearing the flowers and making the car totter. This 
 refers to the persecutions endured by the early church at the hands of 
 the first emperors. Next a fox, denoting the earlier heresies, and 
 perhaps more particularly that of Arius, appears in the car, but is 
 driven away by Beatrice. The eagle then descends again, leaving the 
 car covered with its feathers, figuring the donations of Constantine. A 
 dragon appears between the wheels of the car, and, fixing its tail 
 into the floor of it, draws part away. This probably alludes to the 
 Iconoclastic schism (A. D. 728), though many have seen in it an allusion 
 to Mahommed. The two are not incompatible, for, as Mr. Bryce 
 (Holy Roman Empire, chap, iv.) has shown, there was a belief in 
 Dante's time that Mahommedanism was a result of the schism. The 
 remainder of the car now puts forth more feathers, signifying the 
 further gifts of territory made by Pippin and Charles ; * and then seven 
 heads, three on the pole and one in each corner, the first having two 
 horns, the others one. Many interpretations of these have been given, 
 but I do not find that anyone has suggested what appears by far the 
 simplest, namely, that they denote the seven electors, three of whom 
 were mitred the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Coin and four 
 temporal princes. It must be remembered that these were originally 
 appointed (circa A.D. 1000) by the Pope,t and hence they are appro- 
 priately made to spring from the Church. After this a harlot is seen in 
 the car, together with a giant, who first fondles her, and then, on her 
 
 * Holy Roman Empire, chap. iv. ; Villani ii. 13, " Conferm6 alia Chiesa 
 ci6 che Pipino suo padre le avea dotato, e oltre a ci6 dot6 la Chiesa del 
 ducato di Spuleto e di Benivento." 
 
 t Gregory V. (996) says Mr. Bryce ; but Villam (iv. 3) says : " Morto 
 Otto il terzo ... si parve a papa Sergio quarto (this cannot be correct, as 
 Otto died 1002, and the accession of Sergius was 1009) . . . che d' allora 
 innanzi lo "mperio andasse per elezione del piii degno, . . . e furono per 
 dicreto ordinati sette elettori, etc." Observe that Dante (De Mon. iii. 15} 
 speaks of the electors as "nebula cupiditatis obtenebrati."
 
 APPENDIX B. 431 
 
 turning her eyes to Dante,* beats her cruelly, and afterwards looses the 
 car from the tree, and draws it out of sight through the wood. In this 
 there can be no doubt that we must see the relations of Philip IV. of 
 France and Boniface VIII. , and the removal of the Papal see to 
 Avignon in 1305. 
 
 We now come to the third stage of the allegory. Beatrice, attended 
 by the seven ladies, Dante, Statius, and Matilda, moves on a short 
 distance, and then proceeds to foretell what is about to happen. "A 
 five hundred and fifteen" is to slay the harlot and the giant. Over 
 this obscure allusion commentators have puzzled greatly ; some even 
 having found in it a prophecy of Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi. 
 Nearly all have sought an explanation in the letters DXV, which are 
 transposed to DVX, and taken to signify the coming of some great 
 leader. A consideration of dates may make the matter simpler, if we 
 observe further the connection between the mystic number and "the 
 eagle who left his feathers to the car." " In the autumn of 799," says 
 Mr. Bryce, "Charles descended from the Alps once more, while Leo 
 revolved deeply the great scheme for whose accomplishment the time 
 was now ripe " that is, the revival of the Western Empire in Charles's 
 person. Five hundred and fifteen years from this entry of the first 
 Teutonic Caesar brings us to 1314, in which year Lewis of Bavaria was 
 elected emperor. Under him, and several great partisan leaders, 
 Matthew Visconti, Can Grande t of Verona, Castruccio Castracane, 
 Uguccione della Faggiuola, the cause of the Empire began again to 
 make head against the Papacy. The same year also saw the deaths of 
 Philip the Fair and Clement V., the first of the Avignon popes, after 
 whose death the see remained vacant for two years. To this there is 
 probably an allusion in the " fu, e non e " of xxxiii. 35, and if my 
 view be correct it may serve to fix the date at which the Purgatory 
 was finished. The statement that Beatrice had not moved ten paces 
 when she began her prophecy probably is an allusion to the interval 
 of nine years from 1305 to 1314. 
 
 All this, Beatrice says, speaking to mankind in the person of Dante, 
 they might have perceived but for the hardness and dulness of their 
 hearts. God's command, not to eat of the tree, is violated by those 
 who, forgetting their due obedience, attempt to despoil the Empire of 
 that which in the due order of things belongs to it. 
 
 Such appears to be the general outline of what Dante meant his 
 
 * ' ' Quod bonifatius voluit respicere ad gentem ytalicam, dimissa gallica, 
 quod nolebat amplius pati servitatem phylippi," says Comm. Gg.
 
 432 APPENDIX B. 
 
 readers to gather from this obscure allegory. Where a symbolical 
 meaning may be found in every line, almost in every word, it is 
 impossible to be sure that one has not overlooked some points ; but a 
 reference to any of the older commentaries will enable the reader 
 abundantly to supply all deficiencies. 

 
 GLOSSARY. 1 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS: v. sub, "see under"; s. v. "under the word"; cf. 
 "compare"; A. S. "Anglo-Saxon"; O. E. " Old English "; M. E. 
 "Middle English"; O. Fr. "Old French"; O. G. "Old German." 
 The rest explain themselves. 
 
 Abbagliare, xv. 28, xxxiii. 75, "to dazzle." It appears to be 
 from a simple form bagliare for bargliare, containing the particle ber- 
 which is also found in the forms be-, bar-, and bis- (Fr. bevue, berlue, 
 etc.). Various origins are given for this : Diez is inclined to suggest the 
 Lat. bis, the idea of "double" passing into that of "confused," and 
 so "awry," as in Sp. bisojo,^ This, however, does not account 
 for the rest of the word. It seems far more likely that it contains the 
 same root as blear, which again is connected with blink, and Germ. 
 blicken, all being from a root, BHARG, whence also bright (Skeat). 
 Curtius also connects Gr. (Xe-yo>, Lat. fulgeo. The word is thus 
 probably a survival of some word in the spoken Latin, which has 
 otherwise disappeared. 
 
 Abbandonare, iii. 20, etc. ; v. sub bando. 
 
 Accorgere, most often in the reflexive form accorgersi, i. 126, 
 67, ii. v. 25, vi. 123, etc., "to make to understand." From Lat. 
 
 1 This Glossary does not profess to be exhaustive. I have given only 
 such words as seemed interesting either from their obscure derivation, or 
 from some peculiarity in their use, or else as being specially illustrative of 
 some principle of Romance etymology. The term " late Latin " is used in 
 the case of such words as, though not in use in classical times, are to be 
 found in Forcellinus. "A Latin" implies that the word, though not 
 found, might have existed. "Cieasby" is used to denote Cleasby and 
 Vigfusson's Icelandic Dictionary. It must not, of course, be supposed that 
 any Italian words are derived from the Old Norse or Icelandic ; but Gothic, 
 which has supplied many words to Italian, is a closely-allied language, and 
 we can in many cases use Icelandic to reconstruct forms which the Gothic 
 probably possessed, but of which, through the scantiness of its remaining 
 literature, all trace is now lost. 
 
 2 F
 
 434 GLOSSARY. 
 
 ad-corrigere, "to put in the right way towards," hence reflexively "to 
 understand," "perceive." In vi. 123, where I have, with most of my 
 predecessors, rendered "!' accorger nostro," "our comprehension," it 
 may perhaps be better to take it as "our guidance." See also 
 scorgere. 
 
 Adorezzare, i. 123 ; v. sub aura. 
 
 Aduggiare, xx. 44, "to overshadow." From uggia, "shade." 
 Diez suggests a Kymric hudd. But it is better to take it from the 
 Teutonic root, which gives Icel. iigga, " to fear," adj. ttggligr, Eng. 
 ugly. The meaning of "shadow" is probably derived, not original, 
 as it always seems to mean an unwholesome shade. \Ubbia, "fear," 
 may well be from the same. Cf. the forms deblo and dcggio.~\ 
 
 Affanno, iv. 95, xiv. 109, etc., "toil, distress ;" verb tr. affannare, 
 ii. Ill, etc.; O. Fr. ahan, verb intr. ahaner ; Sp. afan, afano, afanar. 
 Ducange derives the Fr. word from a supposed interjection, han ! the 
 sound of a forcible expiration, as of a man making a strong effort (com- 
 pare the well-known "sigh" of a paviour). This would suit the 
 Fr. very well, but it is difficult to see how the h could have become./ 
 Diez suggests a Kymric afan, "strife, unrest," but this presents the 
 same difficulty, as it would hardly have got into Italian except through 
 French. There is, however, a Prov. afan, which may have been the 
 link. 
 
 Affollar, xxiv. 72, "to press," simple form foliar, Fr. fouler, 
 Sp. hollar. Lat. fullare does not exist, but the root is found infullo. 
 Diez. (Mr. Skeat, however, thinks that the notion of bleaching, rather 
 than that of pressing, is the original one.) It seems more probable 
 that the word is here formed from follis,' and means literally "to pant," 
 as I have rendered it. 
 
 Agio, xiv. 109, "ease"; verb tr. disagiare, xix. 140; adj. 
 agevole, iii. 51, xii. 93; sub. agevolezza, xxxi. 28; verb tr. 
 agevolare, ix. 57. Fr. aise. A word of most obscure origin. Most 
 of the modern European families of language contain something like it. 
 Gothic azfts, "easy, pleasant," A.-S. eaft- (prefix), ea^Se, adj. "easy"; 
 also toft, " wealth" ; Icel. au^S- (prefix), at&r ; Gael, adhais, "leisure, 
 ease." The absence of the word from Spanish would seem to be 
 against its Gothic origin ; and its presence in Italian in an earlier form 
 than the French, against its introduction from any Celtic language. 
 May not the adj. agevole (from a Latin agibilis) be the parent-word, 
 agio being formed from it by analogy ? In this case Eng, case would 
 be unconnected with Fr. aise, but might have been modified, according 
 to a frequent practice, by its influence.
 
 GLOSSARY. 435 
 
 Ammannare, xxiii. 107, xxix. 49. "to bind in a sheaf." From 
 manna, Sp. mafia (to be distinguished from mafia, "cunning"), "a 
 sheaf, bundle." The Spanish word seems to be akin to manada, "a 
 handful," and if so, must be from manus (cf. manipulus), though the 
 doubling of the n in Italian is unusual. 
 
 Ammiccare, xxi. 109, " to make a quick sign." Lat. micare, "to 
 move quickly, "of the hands, ears, or (in Ennius, quoted by Servius to 
 Aen. x. 396), of the eyes. (Diez seems only to know micare in its 
 secondary meaning of "to shine.") 
 
 Arnese, xxix. 52, "equipment." Fr. harnois -ais, and Sp. arnes, 
 Eng. harness. Originally, "anything made of iron." Bret, haiamaez, 
 Welsh haiarn, from the same root as iron, eisen, O. G. isarn, 
 
 Arra, xxviii. 93, "earnest, pledge." Fr. arrhes, Sp. arras. From 
 Lat. arrha, arrhabo ; this through Gr. appaft&v from the Hebrew. It 
 is not clear whether Eng. earnest, M. E. ernes, Gael, earlas, are con- 
 nected or not with the Rom. word. Skeat. 
 
 Astio, vi. 20, "hatred, spite." From Goth, haifsts, "strife, 
 division " (Diez) ; perhaps modified in meaning by Germ, hassen. 
 
 Astore, viii. 104, "a hawk." Fr. autour, Sp. azor. From 
 asturius, a supposed derivative of astur, "a hawk," so called from 
 the district of Asturia in Spain. Littre. Diez prefers to take it from 
 acceptorem, a vulgar form of accipitrem. 
 
 Attuiare, xxxiii. 48, " to stop up," for atturare. Sp. aturar. The 
 root appears in Latin in the compound obturare. Blanc wishes to read 
 in this passage ottuia, for which, in presence of the Spanish form, 
 there seems no need. 
 
 Aura, i. 17, xxiv. 146, etc., and in xxviii. 16, in form ora, "air, 
 breeze;" sub. orezza, xxiv. 150; verb intr. adorezzare, i. 123, "to 
 be shady ; " from Lat. aura. With the form ora cf. O. Fr. ore, 
 whence orage. In i. 17 it seems to mean "a heavy air," contrasted 
 with aer, this use being perhaps suggested by Aristotle, De 
 Mundo, cap. 4 : aijpas KaXovpev ras e vypov (pepo/jievas fiarvoas. 
 Adorezzare is directly from rezzo (Inf. xvii. 87, etc. ) or the longer form 
 orezzo; this from auritium, which would mean originally "a breezy 
 " place," hence " cool," and hence " shady," by a converse process to 
 that which has formed Fr. abri, "shelter," from apricus, "sunny" 
 (cf. Icel. hie, "lee," hlyja, " to shelter, " hlyr, "warm"; also calma, 
 "calm," through Latin from Greek Kavpa, " heat " ). 
 
 Avacciare, iv. 116, vi. 27, "to hasten;" (adv. avaccio, Inf. x. 
 116, etc.) Diez derives from abactiare, a supposed frequentative of 
 abigere, and if this be correct, avaccio must be a syncopated participle. 
 
 2 F 2
 
 436 GLOSSARY. 
 
 An objection to it is that it is inconsistent with any known meaning 
 of abigere. It must be said, too, that avaccio looks far more like 
 a compound with a. May it not be from Germ, wachsen ? (Cf. Fr. 
 avachir, from -wdchen, O. G. weichjan.) 
 
 Awampare, viii. 84, " to burn." From vampo = Lat. -vapor 
 (as sarto = sartor). Hence also Sp. hampa, "brag," hampon, 
 "pompous." 
 
 Badare, iv. 75, "to gaze." Fr. bayer, O. Fr. beer (whence par- 
 ticiple beant). Originally ' ' to open the mouth, " hence ' ' to stand 
 a-gape" (stare a bada, Inf. xxxi. 139), and so "to wait," "to watch." 
 Probably from ba, a sound expressive of opening the mouth, from 
 which come badigliare, Fr. b&iller, Fr. badin and tbahir, also (?) 
 Sp. badajo, "the clapper of a bell," and met. "a chatterer." 
 
 Balia, i. 66, "authority." Fr. baillis, Sp. bay Ha, Eng. bail, M. 
 Eng. bay lie (Wiclif, in Luke xvi. 2). From Lat. bajulus, "a porter," 
 so "the bearer of anything," whence bailo, balire, Fr. bailler or -ir. 
 
 Balzo, iv. 47, ix. 2, etc., "a gallery." I have adopted this spelling 
 in the text, as it has the weight of authority, but balzo, " a cliff," does 
 not in every place suit the meaning, so that it must either be another 
 form or a corruption of balco (which some MSS. have in ix. 2), from 
 O. G. balcho, Icel. bdlkr, Eng. balk, "a beam" or "timber" (cf. 
 bulk-head]. Hence it comes to mean "a platform," "balcony," or 
 "gallery." 
 
 Bando, xxi. 102, xxx. 13, "a proclamation." Fr. ban, Sp. bando, 
 Eng. ban, banns. (Verbs, bandire, bannii; banish. ) From low Lat. 
 bandum, this (d being imported as in thunder) from O. G. bannan, "to 
 proclaim," hence "prohibit by edict," "interdict." From this the 
 notion of banishing is easily derived. Abbandonare appears to come 
 directly from the O. Fr., in which bandon had the meaning "per- 
 mission," hence "order," M. E. baundoun. Thus mettre a bandon, or 
 abandonner qqc. a qqun. " to put it at his orders," " leave it to him." 
 
 Bastare, i. 93, etc. " to suffice." Sp. bastar. Only found in French 
 in the interj. baste, adj. bastant, which are probably borrowed direct 
 from Italian. The original idea seems to be "to support," and the 
 root appears in bastire, Fr. bdtir ; bastone, Fr. baton ; Lat. basterna, 
 "a litter," whence basterna in xxx. 16 ; and basto (also Sp.) from bat, 
 "a pack-saddle." From this last word is almost certainly derived 
 bastardo (xiv. 99), Fr. bdtard, as if "begotten on a pack-saddle," for 
 Cleasby's attempt (s. v. bastar^r) to find a Scandinavian origin for it, 
 though ingenious, is hardly satisfactory, since the word does not appear
 
 GLOSSARY. 437 
 
 in Scandinavian writers, as he himself admits, until it is used of 
 William the Conqueror. Moreover fille de bast actually occurs in O. 
 Fr. It may be observed that Sp. basto means as an adj. " coarse, 
 rude," as if the "pack-saddle" suggested the manners of a camp. 
 The root of these words is obscure, but cf. Gr. fta<rra(iv. 
 
 Biacca, vii. 73, "a white pigment, white lead." From Germ. 
 bleich, "pale," Icel. bleikr, Eng. bleak, vb. bleach. 
 
 Biada, ii. 124, xxxiii. 51, "corn." Also biado. Fr. ble, O. Fr. 
 blee. Probably from ablatttm, plur. ablata, late Lat. for " carried 
 corn." Diez. (But Littre rather doubts, and it is an objectipn that 
 both biada and ble mean "standing corn.") The older derivation is 
 from A. S. bla^, "fruit," or some kindred Germ, root; but it is a 
 question whether this word is Teutonic, and it can hardly have got 
 into Italian from A. S. direct. On the whole I do not feel sure that 
 it does not contain some form of Germ, blatt, Icel. blaft, Eng. blade. 
 
 Bigio, xx. 54, xxvi. 108, "dark gray, dark." Fr. bis and (dial.) 
 bige. It seems originally to have denoted "a yellowish gray," 
 and the most satisfactory derivation takes it from Lat. bysseus, from 
 bysstis, Gr. jSuao-os (an Easternword), in the sense of "coarse linen 
 cloth." Cf. Sp. bazo from bombaceiis, "made of cotton," and v. sub 
 buio. 
 
 Biondo, iii. 107, viii. 34, "fair-haired." Fr. blond. Derivation 
 very uncertain. A. S. blonden-feax seems to mean ' ' with hair in which 
 gray is blended with dark." Diez suggests a connection with Icel. 
 blatter, "soft, weak," which Mr. Skeat thinks absurd. It may, 
 however, be observed that in O. Fr. the word seems to be applied to 
 women almost exclusively, and that blat&r is used as a taunt to the 
 beardless Njal in the saga ; and, further, is actually used as = "female" 
 of animals. In any case it has apparently got modified in meaning by 
 bianco and blanc. 
 
 Biscia, viii. 98, xiv. 38, "a serpent." O. Fr. bisse (used in heraldry). 
 Sp. bicho, "a grub." From a German root found in beissen, Eng. bite. 
 
 Bisogna, xiii. 62, xxv. 6, xxxiii. 29, "business." Fr. besogne; and 
 bisogno (perhaps in xxv. 6), "necessity," Fr. besoin. Simpler forms 
 are O. It. sogna, Fr. soin, "care." Diez connects with Goth, sun/a, 
 "truth," O. G. sunnis, Icel. sannr, "true," Eng. sooth, and so with 
 Icel. syn, "the repelling of a charge," whence comes the notion of 
 "hindrance." The prefix bi- or be- is, however, a difficulty. Diez 
 sees objections to the " pejorative " bis (v. sub abbagliare), which Littre 
 (who has an affection for this particle), thinks of insufficient weight. 
 Why should not Germ, besonnen (from besinnen), or some older form
 
 438 GLOSSARY. 
 
 of the same, answer all requirements ? [N. B. Eng. business is almost 
 certainly quite unconnected with the Rom. words.] 
 
 Bordone (i), xxviii. 18, "a ground-bass." Fr. bourdon, Sp. bordon, 
 Eng. burden. Almost certainly formed from the sound ; though Diez 
 is inclined to derive it from the next word, taking it to mean originally 
 "an organ pipe," which resembles a staff. 
 
 Bordone (2), xxxiii. 78, " a pilgrim's staff." Fr. and M. E. bourdon, 
 Sp. bordon. Diez derives it from low Lat. burdo, "a mule," com- 
 paring Sp. muleta, which means both "a mule," and "a crutch." 
 Skeat suggests bordone (i) ; the staff being supposed to contain a pitch- 
 pipe. But O. Fr. bohort, behourde, "a jousting lance," connected 
 probably with Welsh hwrdd, "a ram" (and hence, "a push"), and 
 so with Fr. heurter, Ital. urtare, Eng. hurt, seems to offer a better 
 derivation. In this case the word would have come into Italian from 
 French, which would be natural, as pilgrims would more probably pass 
 from France into Italy than the other way. 
 
 Bordello, vi. 75, "a brothel." Fr. bordel, Sp. burdeL Originally 
 " a hut," from Goth, baurd, Eng. board. [The word appears, in spite 
 of the similarity, to be unconnected with the English, which is con- 
 nected with break (cf. brittle}, and meant "a transgressor," thus 
 primarily denoting a person, not a place. Skeat. It is curious, how- 
 ever, that in the passage referred to, Dante seems to use the word very 
 much in this sense, contrasting bordello with donna. ] 
 
 Bramar, xv. 78, xxiii. 35, "desire, longing." Verb bramare, 
 viii. 75, etc., adj. bramoso, xxiv. 108. Fr. bramer, " to bellow, " so 
 Sp. bramar. This seems to be the original meaning, from O. G. 
 breman, corresponding with Gr. ftpcfteiK Diez. For the change 
 of signification cf. latrare'vn. Lucr. ii. 17, and Hor. 2 Sat. ii. 18. 
 
 Briga, vii. 55, "hindrance," xvi. 117, "strife ;" brigare, xx. 125, 
 "to strive;" brigata, xiv. 106, "a troop." Fr. brigue, Mguer("to 
 intrigue "), brigade, Sp. bregar. From Goth, brikan, ' ' to break," 
 whence the idea of strife or contention easily comes. Cf. Icel. brjdtask, 
 "to struggle, fight," refl. of brj6ta, "to break." Brigata was 
 originally "a troop of soldiers," brigante, "a soldier," brigantino, 
 "a ship of war." The Fr. word no doubt comes from the Italian, the 
 native Fr. form being broyer, Pr. bregar. 
 
 Brina, xxi. 47, "hoar-frost." Probably from Lat. pruina: but a 
 Venetian form borina suggests that it may be from -vapor. Diez. 
 The Fr. bmine, "a cold fog, drizzle," however, seems conclusive for 
 the first. 
 
 Brolo, xxix. 147, "a garden," lit. "thicket." Fr. breuil, Eng.
 
 GLOSSARY. 439 
 
 Broylc (a local name near Chichester). From low Lat. brogilus, this 
 from Celt, brog, "a swelling up." Diez, however, considers that the 
 suffix -il implies a German origin, and takes it from M. Germ, brogen, 
 " to rise up." Ital. broglio, Fr. brouiller, are perhaps from the same root. 
 
 Brullo, xiv. 91, "stripped." (Alsobrollo.) Muratori gives a form 
 sbrollo, which he derives from expendus, for experulatus, ' ' stripped of 
 his wallet " (perula). Diez approves of this, but points out that the 
 ex is not required. (Cf. populatus, from populus.) But is not the 
 quantity otperiila a difficulty ? 
 
 Buca, xviii. 114, xxi. 9, "a hole." (Also buco.) Sp. buque, " the 
 hull of a ship." Connected with Germ, bauch, "the belly," Icel. 
 biikr, "the trunk." (Cf. Gr. KolXos, KoiAi'o.) 
 
 Buccia, xxiii. 25, " hide, skin." Probably from the same root 
 as buca. (Cf. M. E. "hole," "the hull, or husk of a nut," and 
 "hole"= "hollow.") 
 
 Bugiare, xviii. 109, "to lie;" bugiardo, xix. 108, "false." 
 From bugia, "a lie." Diez mentions an O. Fr. boisie, "deceit." Of 
 very uncertain origin, perhaps connected with Germ, posse, "a joke," 
 posse n, " a trick." 
 
 Buio, xvi. r, xxxiii. 46, "dark." O. Fr. buire, "dark-brown." 
 From a late Lat. burius, from burrus, Gr. Trvppos . Hence Fr. hire, 
 "coarse cloth," and Sp. buriel, which means both the stuff and the 
 colour. Cf. bigio. 
 
 Calere, viii. 12, xxx. 135, xxxii. 5, "to be of importance." Fr. 
 (obsolete) chaloir, Sp. (obsolete) caler. From Lat. calere, "to grow 
 warm." Usually impersonal; but in xxxii. 5 it seems to mean "to 
 heed ; " and cf. Fr. nonchalant. 
 
 Cammino, ii. n, etc., "a road." Fr. chemin, Sp. camino. From 
 low Lat. caminus, this almost certainly from Kymric caman. 
 
 Canto, iii. 89, etc., "a corner." Eng. cant, sub. " an edge," and 
 cant, verb, " to tilt on the edge." Cf. cantle, Henry IV. Part I, 
 Act iii. Sc. I. From Germ, kante. Diez and Littre take Fr. canton 
 from this, which Mr. Skeat thinks doubtful. The root seems to be the 
 same as in Gr. y&via. 
 
 Caribo, xxxi. 132, " a dance-tune " Bianchi; "a country-dance." 
 Baretti. Probably connected with Eng. carol, O. Fr. carole, from a 
 Celtic root, found in carol, verb caroli, " to dance " Skeat ; all 
 connected with Skt. char, " to move," and Lat. curro. 
 
 Cenno, i. 50, xxi. 15, etc., "a quick gesture, sign;" vb. 
 accennare, xxxiii. 14. Sp. ceiio, "a frown, scowl." Cinnus in late
 
 440 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Latin seems to have had the meaning of "a nod," and also of "the 
 eyelash." V. Forcell. s. v. It is probably akin to cilium, and cf. 
 cincinnus, "a lock of hair." These are all connected by the idea of 
 quick movement, and seem to contain the same root as Gr. Kivtu>, 
 Lat. cieo. 
 
 Cerchio, i. 78, etc., and cerchia, xxii. 33, "a circle." From Lat. 
 circulus. Blanc makes a distinction between the use of the two forms, 
 the masculine being, according to him, "a circle " generally, while the 
 feminine is usually (as Inf. xviii. 3) "a circular enclosure." In the 
 passage referred to above, however, this distinction does not seem to be 
 maintained. From cerchio comes verb cerchiare ; while cercare, Fr. 
 chercher, Eng. search, is from low Lat. circare. 
 
 Cerro, xxxi. 71, "an oak." From Lat. cerrus (described by Pliny, 
 Hist. Nat. xvi. 8, apparently a kind of holm-oak). 
 
 Compilare, xxi. 27, "to heap up." Fr. compiler, Sp. compilar, 
 Eng. compile. From Lat. compilare, "to plunder," "pillage." The 
 original idea is thus "to collect stolen goods." "Compilatus, ex- 
 structus." Du Cange. (It is curious that Forcellinus mentions a 
 supposed derivation of Lat. pilare from Gr. Tti\ovv, "quia fures 
 stipant ea, quae furantur," showing that the two ideas are easily 
 connected.) [The form compigliare is also found in the sense of " to 
 embrace ; " v. sub pigliare.] 
 
 Conocchia, xxi. 26, "a skein, "properly "a distaff." Fr. qu/mouille 
 (which also has both meanings), Germ, kunkel. From Lat. conucula, 
 for colucula, from colus. 
 
 Conto, ii. 56, xiii. 105, xv. 12, "known;" sub. contezza, xx. 29, 
 xxiv. 36. O. Fr. cointe, whence accointer, Eng. acquaint, M. Eng. 
 queynte ( = cunning). From Lat. cognitus. The word has clearly been 
 confused with conto, or as it is spelt in Conv. iv. 25, comto, from 
 comptus, from which there is also an O. Fr. cointe, and, as I venture to 
 think, M. E. queynte, in the sense of "elegant," hence "curious," 
 mod. quaint, which usually has a notion of prettiness. This may ex- 
 plain the use of conto in ii. 56, where clearly some other than the 
 usual meaning is wanted ; though on the whole I prefer the explanation 
 which I have given in the note. 
 
 Crucciato, xxii. 39, " to anger," contracted from corrucciare. 
 Fr. courroucer. From corruccio, Fr. courroux. According to Diez 
 this is for colleruccio, from Lat. cholera, "gall," this from Gr. x ^ 1 ?- 
 (It is to be noticed that cholera does not appear to have been used, like 
 bilis, metaphorically.) Littre, however, prefers to take it from a sup- 
 posed corruptium, from corruptus ; and considering that the / does not
 
 GLOSSARY. 44i 
 
 appear in any of the cognate languages, that there is an O. Fr. corroz, 
 and that corrotto is used in Italian (e. g. Villani vi. 45) in the sense of 
 " vexation," he is most likely right. The form crucciare has probably 
 been influenced by cruciare, from crux ; cf. Eng. cross. 
 
 Cruna, x. 16, xxi. 37, " the eye of a needle." From Lat. corona. 
 (Diez. But ?). 
 
 Cucire, xiii. 71, "to sew" ; ricucire, xxv. 139. Fr. coudre, Sp. 
 coser and cusir. From low Lat. cusire, a corruption of consucre. Sb. 
 costura, xiii. 83, from consutura. 
 
 Dileguarsi, xiv. 134, xvii. 73, "to melt away." From Lat. 
 deliquare. Fr. delayer, with which Diez connects it, probably comes, 
 through delai, from dilatum, part, of differre. 
 
 Disgroppare, ix. 126, "to loosen a knot." From groppo (Inf. xi. 
 96, etc.) "a knot." Fr. groupc, Sp. grupo, Eng. group. From Germ. 
 kropf, Icel. kroppr ("a hump"), Eng. crop. The root is, however, 
 also found in Celtic. From the same are groppa, Fr. croupe and 
 croupir, Sp. grupa. (Eng. crouch, is, according to Mr. Skeat, rather 
 a form of crook. ) 4 
 
 Divisare, xxix. 82, "to devise, describe." O. Fr. deviser, from 
 sb. devis, Eng. device, Sp. divisa. From low Lat. divisare, this from 
 dividers, the sequence of meaning being ' ' to divide, to distinguish, 
 to explain," whence come further the modern Fr. sense of "to 
 converse," and Eng. "to contrive." 
 
 Doga, xii. 105, " a barrel -stave." Fr. douve, Germ, daube. From 
 late Lat. doga, "a vessel," used of the measurement of ships, cups, 
 etc. (Hence perhaps dogger.) This from Gr. So;^, which seems to 
 have been used for "a reservoir." Diez traces the meaning of "a 
 barrel-stave " from the banks enclosing a reservoir. It is to be observed, 
 however, that Icel. \>ufa signifies "a mound," and that according to 
 Cleasby (s. v.) Germ, daube has locally the same meaning. Nowp/a 
 cannot have come from daube, but is cognate with it, so that the 
 " mound " may be the original sense of the German, which may have 
 passed into that of "stave," through the stages suggested by Diez, in 
 which case the Italian and French would be derived from it. For the v 
 cognate with g cf. tregua. 
 
 Drudo, xxxii. 155, "a paramour." O. Fr. dru (distinct from dru, 
 adj.). Originally, in good sense, merely " a friend." Low Lat. drudus, 
 from O. Germ, trut, mod. traut, Icel. tnir, Eng. true, trusty. 
 
 Fango, xvi. 129, xix. 104, "mire." Fr. fange, Sp. fango ("the
 
 442 GLOSSARY. 
 
 ooze at the bottom of the sea "). From Goth, fani, gen. fanjis, " mud," 
 Eng. fan. Diez, Gr. Rom. i. 297. From Lat. famex, ace. famicem* 
 Littre. It is hard to say which of these two is more likely to be 
 correct. Famicem would suit the French, but hardly the Italian 
 though we have in Dante sorco, from soricem. It is also possible that 
 fangoso, from famicosus (which appears to have existed in low Latin) 
 may be the original. Famcx, however, seems only to have meant 
 "an ulcer," so that on the whole the Germanic origin would seem the 
 more probable. 
 
 Farfalla, x. 125, "a butterfly." From O. G. fifaltra, Icel. fifrildi. 
 Latin papilio seems further off, though Diez takes it to be the more 
 immediate origin of the word, through the form parpaglionc ; but all 
 these words are clearly connected, and also (?) Gr. 7ro/n(6Xt;, "a 
 bubble." 
 
 Fello, vi. 94, "fierce." O. Fr. fel, Eng. fell. From low Latin 
 fdo, the form fellone being from felonem (cf. ladro and ladrone from 
 latro and latronenf). O. G. flllan, ' ' to scourge," may be connected. 
 Mr. Skeat, however, doubts the connection of fell and felon, and is 
 inclined to think the latter is Celtic, e.g. Welsh ffel, "wily." 
 
 Fiata, ix. in, etc., "a time," xxvi. 101, etc., "a period of 
 time." Fr.fois, Sp. vez. Probably from a low Lat. vicata, this from 
 vicem, the Fr. and Sp. being from vices. The O. Fr. forms fiee and 
 foice, and Prov. vegada, agree better with this than with the derivative 
 from via, which Diez prefers ; and a further argument against his view 
 is that they?- in fiata is usually a separate syllable, while the vi- in via 
 is not (ix. in, is one of the few exceptions). 
 
 Fiaccarsi, vii. 75, "to be split." The meaning, both here and in 
 Inf. vii. 14, and xii. 15, seems to suggest a connection rather with 
 Eng. flake, Icel. flakna, than the derivation which Diez gives, from 
 Lat. flaccus, flaccidus. In Inf. vi. 54, however, the latter seems to 
 suit better. The two can hardly be akin ; though the resemblance of 
 Eng. flag, "a slice," or "flake of stone," and flag, "to droop," is at 
 least curious. 
 
 Fianco, iv. 74, etc., "side, _/?&", ~$?.flanc. From Lat. flaccus, 
 "soft," as being the soft part between the hip and the ribs. Cf. 
 Germ, zudche in the same sense. 
 
 Ficcare, xiii. 43, etc. "to fix," usually of the eyes. Fr. ficher, 
 Sp. hincar. From a \^^\.. flgicare, a (supposed) frequentative oiflgere, 
 as vellicare of vellere. 
 
 Foga, v. 1 8, xii. 103, xxxi. 18, "force, speed," and hence 
 41 steepness." (Cf. Gr. dtya, alirvs.) Fr. fougue, Sp. fuga. Vb.
 
 GLOSSARY. 443 
 
 sfbgarsi, xxiv. 72. Probably from Lat. fuga, "flight," but focus 
 is also suggested, in which case it would be another form of fuoco. 
 Fougue does not appear in French till the sixteenth century, and in 
 Spanish the secondary meaning for the word also means "flight" 
 may have been borrowed from the French. Littre gives also fougon, 
 a southern word for "a ship's kitchen," so that the word, if from 
 focus, may have come through the Provencal. 
 
 Foresta, xxviii. 2, etc., "a forest." Fr.forfr, Sp.faresta, Germ. 
 Forst. From low Lat. foresia ; this from forts, " outside," i.e. "un- 
 enclosed." Cf. forestiere, " a foreigner," with which compare selvaggio, 
 savage, from siiva. 
 
 Fornire, xii. 132, xxii. 6, "to furnish, complete." Fr. fournir, 
 Sp. fornir. From O. G. frumjan, Icel. fremja. That this is the true 
 derivation is shown by the Prov. forms, formir, fromir. Connected 
 with former, further, sub. and verb (in the latter of which the same 
 notion appears), Germ, fordern, Lat. primus, etc. 
 
 Frasca, xxiv. 118, xxxii. 50, "a branch." Fr. frasqtie (in a dif- 
 ferent sense), Sp. frasca. Diez suggests that it is for virasca, from 
 virerc, which does not seem yery satisfactory. Prove^al frascar 
 means "to break" (Fr. fracasser), which suggests that it maybe "a 
 broken branch," only that in Dante (except perhaps Inf. xiii. 114), it 
 seems to mean always "a branch on the tree." May it not be from 
 fraxinus, originally "an ash-branch"? [Cf. Fr. buisson, from buis, 
 buxus, "box."] 
 
 Fregiare, i. 38, "to adorn," and sfregiarsi, viii. 128, "to lose 
 adornment." Diez is inclined to connect it with Fr. f riser, Eng. frizzle, 
 etc., in the sense of " to curl " (whence alsofrtese in architecture), and 
 to derive it from some supposed German form. We have, however, in 
 Icel. friftr, "handsome," verb frffia, "to adorn." May there not 
 have been a Goth, fridjan corresponding to this? [Eng./rzV is quite 
 unconnected, being through Fr. from Lat. jimbria ; I have therefore 
 altered my rendering of i. 38, as likely to be misleading.] 
 
 Fretta, iii. 10, etc. "haste," vb. affrettarsi, x. 87. From vb. 
 frcttarc, originally "to rub," from Lat. frictare, frequentative of 
 fricare ; Fr. frotter. 
 
 Frugare, iii. 3, etc., "to urge." Sp. hurgar. From, Lat. furca, 
 literally "to push as with a fork." (It also means "to grope about," 
 e.g. Bocc. Decam. Day x. Nov. 6.) 
 
 Fuia, xxxiii. 44. There is some doubt as to the meaning of this 
 word. It is, according to Diez, used only by Dante ; and occurs in 
 only two other passages, Inf. xii. 90, and Par. ix. 75. The derivation
 
 444 GLOSSARY. 
 
 from Lat. fur is the only one which seems satisfactory. The idea 
 of "desertion" (in Inf. xii. 90, and Purg. xxxiii. 44), or of "con- 
 cealment" (in Par. ix. 75), seems to be the fundamental one, and both 
 these can be got from that of "stealing." Compare our use of "to 
 steal away," and "stealth," and Gr. \av6dva), Xrjcmjs, \ddpa. 
 
 Galoppo, xxiv. 94, "a gallop.' 1 '' Fr. galop, Sp. galope. Verb 
 galoppare ; according to Diez and Littre from O. G. gahlaufan (mod. 
 laufeir, with intensitive particle prefixed). But the existence of a 
 Flemish and M. E. walop makes this very doubtful. It seems better 
 to take this as the original form of the word (w passing regularly into 
 g), and connect it with Germ, ivallen, "to boil, bubble," Eng. well, 
 wallop (in "pot-walloper"); further with walk, wallow, walzen, Icel. 
 valka, Lat. volvere(tf. Virgil's " sinuetque alterna volumina crurum ") ; 
 the common idea being that of "rolling" or "turning." 
 
 Gamba, i. 51, etc. "a leg." ?. jambe, Sp. gamba. From late 
 Lat. gamba, " the pastern," Gr. Ka/iTnj, "a bending, joint." The 
 same root with a similar meaning occurs in Eng. ham. 
 
 Gemere, xxv. 44, "to trickle, drip." The word (which also 
 occurs in this sense Inf. xiii. 41), is probably from Lat. gemere, 
 though that is not found with this meaning. Its original signification, 
 however, according to Curtius, is "to be full," Gr. yeftw, whence the 
 idea of overflowing easily follows. 
 
 Ghirlanda, xxvii. 102, "a garland." ~?^.gidrlande,?^.guirnalda. 
 Perhaps from M. G. wierelen, this from wieren, "to plait round," 
 "adorn," wiere, " inlaid work. " Diez. [? Eng. wire.] 
 
 Giostra, xxii. 42, "a joust," and verb giostrare, xx. 74. Fr. 
 joute, jouter, Sp. justa, jus far. From Lat. juxta, "near," the original 
 meaning being merely "to meet." This is retained in the dialect of 
 Berry, where jofiter means "to border upon." 
 
 Gota, xiii. 84, xxxi. 40, etc. "the cheek," hence "mouth." Fr. 
 joue. According to Diez from Lat. gabata, "a dish," which again may 
 be connected with Gr. yavXos, "a pail." The idea seems to be of 
 something round and hollow. With the use of the word for guancia 
 compare that of piota for pianta. There seems to have been a ten- 
 dency to adopt words of somewhat similar but harder sound for the 
 more common words, thus otta for ora, guatare for guardare, etc. 
 
 Gramo, xxii. 42, "wretched." From Germ, gram (sb.), Icel. 
 gramr. The root is the same as in grimm, grimr, Eng. grim. 
 
 Gridare, ii. 28, etc., "to cry," and sb. grido, xi. 95, etc. Fr. 
 crier, Sp. gritar. From Lat. qufrilare, said to be a frequentative of
 
 GLOSSARY. 445 
 
 queri, but the quantity of the second i is against this. The old view 
 was that it meant "to call on the Quirites for aid" (cf. the Jersey 
 "Haro"). It is more likely that it was formed from the sound of 
 some animal's cry, and was afterwards generalised. [Eng. cry, " to 
 weep," though doubtless modified by this, would seem to be originally 
 distinct from it, and to belong to Icel. grata, A. S. grtztan, Scotch greet ^ 
 
 Grotta, i. 48, iii. 90, xxii. 65, etc. "a cavern," hence "a rock." 
 Fr. grotte, Sp. grata. From Lat. crypta, low Lat. grupta (which was 
 probably the older form ; cf. Burrus for Pyrrhus), this from Gr. 
 KpvTrrri. In the Venetian Alps the word frequently occurs in the form 
 croda. 
 
 Guadagno, xxiv. 129, "gain," verb guadagnare, xx. 77. Fr. 
 gagner. From O. G. weidanjan = weidendn, " to pasture " (modern 
 weiden). That this is the true derivation is made clear by the O. Fr. 
 form gaaigner, and mod. gagnage ; also by Sp. guadana, " a sithe." Eng. 
 gain is from a totally different root, being identical with Icel. gagn, 
 but has probably been modified by Fr. gain ; Sp. ganar, if it be 
 not distinct from both, is most likely connected with the Scand. root, 
 which also appears in Gothic. 
 
 Guizzare, xvii. 42, xxv. 26, "to move quickly to and fro." From 
 Germ, (dial.) witsen, Eng. twitch. 
 
 Impacciare, xi. 75, xxi. 5, "to hamper, hinder." Sp. empachar. 
 From impactiare, a supposed frequentative of impingere (cf . avacciare) . 
 Diez. The original meaning of pango, "to fix," Gr. Tr^yvvfjn, 
 suits this fairly well ; but the compound impingere seems only to mean 
 "to strike against." The word may, however, have got modified in 
 sense by Fr. empecher, which is from impedicare (Eng. impeach}. It is 
 curious that no one seems to have suggested Germ, einpacken, which, 
 in two of the three passages where the word occurs in D. C. (Inf. xxii. 
 151, and Purg. xxi. 5), would suit the sense very well. 
 
 Indarno, iii. 48, etc. "in vain." From Slavonic darmo, "at a 
 gift," and so " fruitlessly." The word is curious as being the only one 
 which has come into Italian from Slavonic. 
 
 Ingannare, xiii. 122, etc., "to deceive." O. Fr. enganer, Sp. 
 engafiar. From low Lat. gannare, " to mock," sub. gannum. Pro- 
 bably from O. G. gaman, Eng. game. Cf. Eng. gammon, which has 
 both meanings, and though now a slang word, is, according to Mr. Skeat, 
 merely the M. E. gamen. 
 
 Ingombrare, iii. 30, xxxi. 142, "to encumber," and sgombrare, 
 xxiii. 133, "to discharge." Fr. encombrer, decombrer, Sp. escombrar,
 
 446 GLOSSARY. 
 
 "to clear." [Encttmbrar, "to raise up," descumbrar (in part, descum- 
 brado) "to level," are from cumbre= Lat. admen.] From low Lat. 
 cumbrus, modified from cumulus. Fr. combler is directly from cumulare. 
 Intoppo, xxiv. 96, xxxiii. 42, "a collision," hence "assault." From 
 toppo, "a block," Sp. tope, connected with Germ, zopf, Icel. toppr, 
 Eng. tuft and A?/ (in both meanings), also Fr. toupet and toupie. The 
 Sp. word well illustrates the connection between the various senses of 
 these different forms. It denotes "a cross piece on a pointed instru- 
 ment," "an obstacle," "a quarrel," " the truck on a masthead," " the 
 top of anything," while topar is " to run against," topetar, " to butt." 
 
 Lai, ix. 13, "songs." Fr. lai, Eng. lay. It seems to be a Celtic 
 word, Welsh llais, Gael, laoidh. At all events it appears as a Breton 
 term in early French literature, from which Dante possibly borrowed 
 it. Otherwise one would be inclined to connect it more directly with 
 Germ. lied. 
 
 Laido, xxxii. 121, "ugly." Fr. laid. From O. G. leid (the 
 modern word has undergone a slight change in meaning). Icel. hiftr, 
 A. S. Af'S, Eng. loath-some. 
 
 Landa, xxvii. 98, "a plain." Fr. lands, Sp. landa, M. E. laund, 
 modern lawn. It is a question whether the word comes immediately 
 from Germ, land, or Celt, lann, Welsh llan, " an inclosure." The two, 
 however, are probably cognate. It may be noted that in xiii. 79, Gg. 
 reads landa for banda, and glosses "i.e. planicie extrema ;" with which 
 compare the use of " lands " for the overlapping edges of the strakes in 
 a "clinker-built" boat." 
 
 Lasciare, i. 3, iv. 128, etc., "to leave, allow." Fr. laisser 
 (probably modified by Germ, lassen, as we have also lacker], Sp. laxar. 
 From Lat. laxare. 
 
 Lega, xv. 121, "a league." Fr.Zteue, Sp. hgua. From low Lat. 
 leuca, a Gaulish word. 
 
 Lisciare, viii. 102, "to smooth." From liscio, Fr. lisse, Sp. Ifso 
 ("plain," "even"), this from O. G. list, modern leise, the root being 
 the same as in Gr. Xitrordy, Xeioy. 
 
 Lista, i. 36, iv. 42, xxix. 77, "a band." Fr. liste, and (deriva- 
 tive), lisiere, Sp. lista. From O. G. lista, modern leiste, Eng. list. 
 
 Lusinga, i. 92, "flattery." O. Fr. losenge, Sp. lisonja. From a 
 low Lat. laudemia (like vindemia), as appears from the Prov. lauzenga, 
 from which the Italian word probably comes. This is the derivation 
 given by Diez ; but Goth, laus, "empty, vain," akin to Icelandic. 
 lausung, "lying," Eng. leasing, seems to offer one even more satis-
 
 GLOSSARY. 447 
 
 factory. In any case the i in the Spanish word is abnormal ; it may be 
 an instance of the converse change to that which has made domandare 
 from dimandare in Italian. 
 
 Magagna, vi. no, xv. 46, "a blemish." A word of very obscure 
 origin. There is an O. Fr. mehaing, low Lat. mahamium, from which 
 Eng. maim (also spelt mahim), appears to come. Skeat. In Breton we 
 find machafi in the same sense ; but Diez is inclined to take the Lat. 
 word from a supposed O. G. man-hamjan (Icel. hamla, Eng. hamper, cf. 
 Germ, hammel}. He mentions, however, that in the dialect of Como 
 the simple form maga is found, which suggests that the word may be 
 from the root MAK, "to pound, bruise," found in macto, macula, 
 (?) malleus, etc. Cf. Sp. majar and magiillar, "to bruise." 
 
 Malvagio, xiv. in, xix. 144, "bad." Fr. mauvais. From Goth. 
 balvavesis, "wicked," modified by confusion with Lat. mains. The 
 adj. is not found, but is assumed from the sub. balvavesei, "wicked- 
 ness, malice." The first part of this word implies a sub. balvs, Icel. 
 bol, Eng. bale, as in baleful; the termination is cognate with German 
 wesen. 
 
 Masnada, ii. 130, "a troop." Sp. mesnada. From low Lat. 
 mansionata, "a household." Hence also Fr. menage. 
 
 Menare, iv. 120, etc., "to lead, guide." Fr. mencr, Sp. menear. 
 From Lat. minarc, used (e.g. by Ausonius) of driving or leading cattle, 
 the original idea probably being the same as in minari, " to threaten," 
 hence "shout at." 
 
 Mentre, ii. 26, etc., "while." Sp. mientras. From Lat. dum 
 interim. Of several suggested derivations this is the only one which 
 fits at once the form and the meaning of the word. [The Spanish form 
 looks as if there had been an idea that trans (in its later sense of 
 "between," Italian tra} entered into the composition of the word.] 
 
 Merlo (i), xx. 6, " battlement." Fr. merlon (the space between two 
 embrasures in a battery), Sp. merlon. From Lat. moerulus, diminutive 
 of moerus = murus. Littre suggests a derivation from the next word, 
 which does not seem applicable. 
 
 Merlo (2), xiii. 123, " a blackbird. " Fr. merle, Sp.merla. From 
 Lat. menilus ; in classical Latin merula. 
 
 Moderno, xvi. 42, xxvi. 113, "modern." Fr. moderne, Sp. 
 moderno. From late Lat. modernus, this from modo "now." 
 
 Montone, viii. 134, "a sheep, ram." Fr. mouton. From low 
 Lat. mtflto, originally "a wether," from mutilus (cf. Germ, hammel). 
 Littre prefers to take it from the Celtic, e.g. Gael, mult, Bret, maotid.
 
 448 GLOSSARY. 
 
 But are not these rather from the Latin ? The objection to the deriva- 
 tion first given, that montone is used for "a ram," does not seem 
 serious when we see that Germ, ividder (Eng. wether} = "a ram," and 
 ocks (Eng. ox) = " a bull. " 
 
 Motto, ii. 25, etc., "a word." Fr. mot, Sp. mote. From low 
 Lat. (probably colloquial) muttum. Muttire (Eng. mutter] is found in 
 Terence and Persius. 
 
 Mozzo, xvi. 15, "cut off." Fr. mousse, "blunted," Sp. mocho. 
 From Germ, mutzen ; connected with Lat. mtitilus, from which the 
 Spanish probably comes directly. 
 
 Muso, iii. Si, xiv. 48, " a muzzle," and verb ammusarsi, xxvi. 35. 
 Fr. museau. Diez is inclined, on account of the Prov. mursel, to 
 derive it from Lat. morsus, the r disappearing as in Fr. dos, from 
 dorsum ; but it seems simpler to take it from Goth, munths, A. S. mu^, 
 Eng. mouth. 
 
 Noiare, ix. 87, "to hurt," from noia. Fr. ennui, Sp. enojo, Eng. 
 sb. and vb. annoy. From Lat. in odio (esse, habere, etc.). Dante's use 
 of the verb suggests a confusion with nocere. 
 
 Ordire, xxxiii. 140, "to set up the warp in the loom," hence 
 "arrange." Fr. ourdir, Sp. urdir. From low Lat. ordire ordiri, 
 "to begin." 
 
 Orlo, iv. 34, xi. 128, xxvi. I, "an edge, rim." Fr. orle, verb ourler 
 ("to hem"), Sp. orla, orilla. From a Lat. orula, diminutive of ora. 
 
 Orma, v. 2, ix. 60, xvii. 21, "a track." From Gr. 007x77, "smell," 
 hence "scent." Diez, who identifies it with Sp. hnsmo, verb husmear. 
 (For the change of s into r, cf. ciurma, from KeXeutr/ia.) 
 
 Orza, xxxii. 117, " the larboard sheet " (or rather, perhaps, 
 "brace"). Fr. orse, Sp. orza (in the phrase orza de avante "star- 
 board your helm "). Probably from Germ, (dial.) fars, " left," and so 
 for lorza ; the /, by a common confusion, having been taken for the 
 article, and therefore dropped. 
 
 Pargoletta, xxxi. 59, "a girl," verb pargoleggiare, "to play." 
 From Lat. parvulus. For the interchangeableness of g and v we may 
 compare Pagolo from Paulus with cavolo from caulis. 
 
 Picchiare, x. 120, "to squeeze together." Fr. pincer, O. Fr. 
 pinchier, Eng. pinch. So I think we must take the word here, as the 
 ordinary sense of "to knock" is quite out of place. Diez connects 
 pincer with a Germ, pfetzen. (But v. sub pigliare.)
 
 GLOSSARY. 449 
 
 Picciolo, iii. 9, etc., "small," also piccolo. Sp. pequeiio. Diez 
 takes it from pic in the sense of "a point," hence "a dot," and con- 
 siders that Fr. petit is from a different root, though one of a similar 
 meaning. But as we have in Fr. petiof, beside (dial. ) p'chot, p'quiot, 
 pctignd, there seems no reason for seeking a separate origin for the 
 southern and northern forms. 
 
 Pigliare, ix. 56, etc., "to take," and compare appigliarsi, vii. 15, 
 etc., "to take hold," also impigliare, v. 83, "to entangle," and 
 impigliarsi, v. 10, etc., "to be \ busy." Fr. (late) piller, Sp. pillar. 
 From pillare, a late form of pllarc (v. sub compilare ; Comm. Cass. 
 in note to xxiv. 55, writes: "meas rimas compillarc "). Hence sub. 
 piglio, i. 49, etc., "a grasp," also (in iii. 64), "mien, look." (Cf. 
 countenance, from continere. ) 
 
 I have followed Diez, but his derivation hardly seems fully to 
 explain all the senses of this curious word. Looking to the resem- 
 blance in meaning as well as in form of appigliare with apply, and 
 impigliare with implicare and employ, and also to compigliare, "to 
 embrace," it is hard to avoid the belief that if not from the same root as 
 Lat. plicarc it has at least undergone some modification through a 
 confusion with it. Picchiare being already in existence from another 
 root, pliculare might easily become pigliare. We might even go so 
 far as to take picchiarsi, in x. 120, from the same. V. sub picchiare. 
 
 Piluccare, xxiv. 39, "to pick" (lit. used of grapes, etc.), Fr. 
 epluchcr. From Lat. pttus, "a hair," hence properly "to pull out 
 hairs." From the same are Fr. pcluchc and perruque, Sp. peluca. 
 Germ, pfliicken, Eng. pluck, are according to this view derived from 
 the Rom. word. If it were the other way, we should have had 
 piuccare in Italian. It may be added that in German words begin- 
 ning with pf~ are usually foreign. 
 
 Poggia, xxxii. 117, "the starboard sheet," or "brace." From 
 Gr. TroSioi/, dim. of TTOVS, in the sense of "sheet" (as Od. v. 260) ; 
 Lat. pes. There seems no. particular reason why it should be the 
 starboard sheet, but that orza (q. v. ) was necessarily that on the port 
 side. 
 
 Poggio, iii. 14, etc., "a hill." Fr. puy, Sp. poyo ("a bench"). 
 From Lat. podium, originally "the front bench in the amphitheatre" 
 (Juvenal), "a balcony" (Pliny). In late Latin it got the sense of "a 
 bank" (so lank and bench are forms of the same word), or "mound." 
 Hence appoggio, iii. 18, "a stay, support." Fr. appui, Sp. apoyo. 
 
 Poltro, xxiv. 135, "timid." (?) ~Fr. plcutrc; s\so poltrone, Fr. Sp. 
 poltron, Eng, poltroon. The original meaning seems to be "lazy" 
 
 2 G
 
 450 GLOSSARY. 
 
 (cf. Eng. to palter}, and the word is probably from O. G. polstar, "a 
 pillow," Eng. bolster, whence also Italian loldronc, "a blanket," and 
 (dtaL)/tf/fer, poltrona. [The old derivation from pollice trunco, even if 
 it were etymologically admissible tm poltronc, would clearly not account 
 for the simple form.] 
 
 Predella, vi. 96, "a headstall," usually predcllo. Fr. bride, Sp. 
 brida, Eng. bridle. From O. G. friddel, brittil. Connected with 
 briden, "to braid" Icel. brcgSa, the bridle being braided or plaited. 
 [Fr. bretelles would seem to be the same word, though Littre gives a. 
 different derivation.] 
 
 Rado, vii. 121, etc., "rare." From Lat. rarus. For the change 
 of r into d cf. chiedere from quaerere, proda from prora. 
 
 Ramogna, xi. 25. Perhaps from Lat. remits, "an oar." Cf. 
 Fr. rame, in the sense of "a convoy." Littre. There can be no 
 doubt of the meaning of the word, but its origin is obscure. It is 
 curious that Diez has quite overlooked it. 
 
 Rampognare, xvi. 121, "to reprove." Literally "to claw, tear," 
 from rampone, "a hook." Is not this akin to Gr. apirr], "a sickle"? 
 Rampare, Fr. ramper, "to climb," rampe (but probably not rempart), 
 are kindred words ; also Lat. raperc (cf. corripio in the sense of "to 
 blame "), Germ, raffcn, Eng. rape. 
 
 Rampollare, v. 16, xxvii. 42, "to spring up." From Lat. rcfullulare 
 (with m inserted for euphony, as n in rendere), " Rampollo significa 
 nuovo ramo nato in sul vecchio." Landino, to v. 16. So rampollo 
 in Conv. iv. 21, and Sp. rampollo, "a cutting." To xxvii. 42, how- 
 ever, Landino says: "diciamo rampollar 1'acqua, quando surge da 
 terra," which looks as if there was a confusion with bullare. So Guido 
 Guinicelli, "fonti d'acqua rampollavano. " 
 
 Rancura, x. 133, "an unpleasant feeling." Fr. rancune, Sp. 
 rencor, Eng. rancour. From late Lat. rancor, lit. "rancidness," but 
 used in the sense of "malice." (Cf. putidus.) 
 
 Recare, vi. 6, etc., "to bring" (in xvi. 97, there seems to be a 
 notion of "referring," as if the word was thought to be compounded 
 with re-) ; from O. G. reccMn, modern reckcn, "to stretch," and so 
 ''hold forth, offer." Eng. rack, Iccl. rakkr, "straight," are cognate 
 words. 
 
 Rincalzare, ix. 72, "to prop up," "sustain." Properly " to pile 
 up the earth round a plant," Fr. cnchausser; from Lat. calccus, "a 
 shoe." 
 
 Roba, xiii. 61, "substance." From O. G. roub, modern raub,
 
 GLOSSARY. 451 
 
 " booty, plunder." It is, of course, the same as Fr. robe, Sp. ropa, 
 Eng. robe, but in these it is confined to the special sense of clothing, 
 whereas in Italian it is often just equivalent to " stuff." 
 
 Rocca, xxxii. 148, ' ' a tower. " All commentators seem agreed in 
 so understanding it, and if this be correct, it may mean, as Blanc says, 
 a fortress among rocks ; v. sub roccia. But may it not also be from 
 the "castle" in chess, It. rocco, Fr. roc, Eng. rook ; from the Persian 
 name of the piece, rokh, "a cimel " ? 
 
 Roccia, iii. 47, etc. "a rock." Fr. rochc. Perhaps from a sup- 
 posed low Lat. rupca, from rupes. In this case rocca, Fr. roc, Sp. 
 roca, must be from another form, rupica. But the root is found in 
 all Celtic languages, so the word may have its direct origin thence. 
 
 Rocco, xxiv. 30, "a pastoral staff." From O. G. rocco, modern 
 rockcn, Icel. rokkr, M. E. rock, "a distaff," whence It. rocca, Sp. 
 rucca. (Others take it as = rocchctto, "a rocket," Sp. rocio, "ajerkin," 
 from Germ, rock.) 
 
 Rubesto, v. 125, "swollen." From Lat. robustus. " Robustas, 
 iluminis violentia, rapiditas." Du Cange. 
 
 Rugiada, i. 121, etc., "dew." Fr. roste, Sp. ruxada, rociada. 
 From Lat. ros, through roscidus, whence we must suppose a verb, 
 roscidare. The verb does not exist in Italian, but we have Fr. arroscr, 
 Sp. rociai', ruxar. The form of the Italian word suggests that it may 
 have been borrowed from the Spanish. 
 
 Ruvido, ix. 98, "rough." From Lat. ruidus. Pliny. This is 
 the derivative given by Diez ; but why should it not be from a 
 Teutonic source Germ, rauh, A. S. nih, Eng. rough ? The meaning 
 of Pliny's word is not certain, but if it be correctly interpreted, it is 
 probably from the same root. 
 
 Sbarro, xxxiii. 42, "a hindrance." Perhaps immediately from 
 O. G. sparro, mod. spcrrcn, "to lock," but more probably formed 
 from barra, Fr. barrc, Eng. bar, of Celtic origin. (Hence embarrass.) 
 
 Scalappiarsi, xxi. 77, "to escape from a snare." From calappio, 
 "a noose," properly "trap." This from an O. G. klapjo = klappa, 
 mod. klappc, " a flap or valve." Hence also chiappare. [But is it not 
 rather from some root connected with A. S. clyppan, " to draw tight " 
 (Eng. clip, " to embrace "), and still more remotely with Lat. laqueus, 
 if we may suppose that to stand for g-laqu-eus ?] 
 
 Scaltrire, xxvi. 3, "to instruct." Sp. (only in part) escaldrido, 
 "cunning" (which is probably taken from the Italian). Diez derives 
 it from scalpturire, as if the original notion were " to hew a rough 
 
 2 G 2
 
 452 GLOSSARY. 
 
 block into shape," and thinks that calterire, "to gall," may be the 
 same word, with the s dropped. This is not satisfactory ; and it seems 
 better to accept Muratori's suggestion of cauteriare (or -ire) for the 
 latter word (cf. calma, from Kavp.a) and understand scaltrire as 
 meaning primarily "to heal a sore." 
 
 Scarso, x. 13, xiv. 80, xx. 16, "scant, niggard." Fr. echars (used 
 of base money and shifting winds), Sp. escaso, Eng. scarce. According 
 to Muratori, whom Diez follows, from low Lat. excarpsus, for exccrptus. 
 I should be inclined rather to take it from a Teutonic root ; that which 
 gives Icel. skera (which used reflexively means " to refuse ") and skai^r, 
 "diminished," A. S. sceran, Eng. shear and short. 
 
 Scemare, vii. 66, etc., "to diminish." O. Fr. semcr. From low 
 Lat. semare, literally "to halve" (probably with ex- prefixed). But 
 may it not be rather from a supposed simarc ? We only find simus in 
 the sense of "snub-nosed," but it may very well have meant generally 
 "stunted." (The chief objection would be that long * seldom becomes 
 e in Italian, but the vowel of a verb in Latin sometimes has a different 
 quantity from that of its kindred substantive. ) 
 
 Scempio (i), xii. 55, "an example, i.e. punishment." From 
 Lat. exemplum. The word had this meaning early, e.g. Ten Eun. v. 
 4, 11. 24, 26. 
 
 Scempio (2), xii. 133, xvi. 55, "simple," hence "separate." From 
 a low Lat. exsimplaius, formed from simplus = simplex. 
 
 Schermo, x. 126, "defence, screen." O. Fr. escren, mod. Icran ; but 
 these probably are from the English more immediately. From O. G. skirtn, 
 mod. schirm ; whence verb skerman, " to fight " (cf. Gr. d^ivi/eer&u), and 
 from this Fr. escrimcr, "to fence," Sp. esgrimir, and also probably 
 scaramuccia, escarmouche, skirmish. 
 
 Schiantare, xx. 45, etc., "to strip, tear." Fr. (intr.) edater, Sp. 
 estallar for eslatar. From O. G. skleizhi, modern schleissen, Icel. slita, 
 Eng. slit, slice (and ? split, splinter). 
 
 Schietto, i. 95, xiii. 8, "smooth." From Goth, slalkts, Icel. 
 slctr, Germ, schlccht, Eng. slight. [The original meaning is only 
 preserved in Germarf in the adverbs schlechthin, schlcchtwcg j for the 
 change in meaning of the adj. cf. schlimm, Eng. slim.'} 
 
 Schivo, ii. 72, and schifo, xxvi. 45, -"shy" Sp. esquivo, Icel. 
 skjarr, Germ, scheu. Vb. schivare, Fr. esquiver. From O. G. skiuhan, 
 modern scheucn. 
 
 Sciogliere, ii. 89, etc., " to loose." From cxsolvcre. Diez. It is, 
 however, not impossible that it may be from excolligere, as scegliere from 
 ex-seligere. (For the softening of c cf. ciascuno from quisqm unus.
 
 GLOSSARY. 453 
 
 Note that sd- when followed by a, o, or u, almost invariably implies a 
 Latin ex-. ) 
 
 Scoccare, vi. 130, "to go off, let off." From cocca, " the notch 
 of the arrow," Fr. cache, Eng. cock (of a gun). Perhaps of Celtic 
 origin. Eng. cog appears to be the same word. 
 
 Scoglio, ii. 122, "the cast skin of a snake," also scoglia. From 
 M. G. sluch, Eng. slough (? Icel. sl6g, "the entrails of fish"), con- 
 nected with Gr. crKvXov, "a hide." This is, according to Curtius, 
 quite distinct from <TKV\OV, Lat. spolium, from which Diez, following 
 Diet. Cruse., wishes to derive the word. Vanzon says " quasi scaglia" 
 which is hardly more satisfactory. 
 
 Scorgere, xvii. 18, xxi. 21, "to direct," sub. scorta, i. 21, etc. 
 "an escort." Fr. escorle, Sp. escolta. From Lat. ex-corrlgere. See 
 accorgere. 
 
 Scorno, x. 33, "shame, scorn" From scornare. This from 
 excornare, "to take the horns off." Chaucer's "the fesaunt scorner 
 of the cocke by night" (Assembly of Foules), suggests a somewhat 
 different original meaning. 
 
 Scotto, xxx. 144, " payment." Fr. ccot, Sp. escote. From low 
 Lat. scolum, this from O. G. scaz ("then jungiston scaz" = "the 
 uttermost farthing "), modern schatz, Icel. skattr, Eng. scot and shot. 
 [Mod. Germ, schoss looks very much like a corruption, due perhaps to 
 the influence of the English word. In spite of the change of vowel the 
 meanings of the Teutonic and Romance words are so similar that it 
 seems hardly possible to doubt their connection.] 
 
 Senno, vi. 137, etc., "sense, wisdom." From O. G. sin, modern 
 sinn. The word, which formerly existed in both Fr. and Sp. is now 
 only represented by the Fr. forcene, "insane," formerly forscnc, i.e. 
 foris-scnnatus. 
 
 Smagare (and dismagare), iii. 11, etc., "to weaken, undo." Sp. 
 desmayar, Eng. dismay. Fr. only in sub. (obsolete) emoi. From 
 Rom. prefix dis- and O. G. magan, modern mb'gen, " to be able," Icel. 
 mega, Eng. may. [Still better would be the transitive form, if such 
 existed in Goth, or O. G. corresponding to Icel. magna, "to enable, 
 strengthen."] In one passage, xix. 20, it seems not improbable that 
 Dante confused it with magus. 
 
 Smalto, viii. 114, " enamel" Fr. hnail, Sp. esmalte. From O. G. 
 smelzan, mod. schmelzen, Eng. smelt and melt. That this is the true 
 derivation is pretty clear from the fact that smeltr passed early into 
 Icel. in the sense of " enamel." 
 
 Smarrire, i. 119, viii. 63, xix. 14, etc., "to make dim, bewilder."
 
 454 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Fr. (part.) marri, "grieved" (obs.) Sp. marrar, "to go astray." 
 From low Lat. marrire, this from Goth, marzjan, O. G. marran, 
 Eng. mar. (The root is found in all Aryan languages, and appears in 
 Gr. Pporos and napaivco, Lat. mors and marceo, Goth, maurthr, Eng. 
 murder, etc.) 
 
 Sobbarcarsi, vi. 135, "to undertake." Sp. sobarcar, "to carry 
 under the arm." From Lat. brachium, through a supposed sitb- 
 brachican. According to Bianchi and Post Gg. the notion is "to 
 gird up the garments," but this seems unnecessary. 
 
 Soma, xi. 37, etc., "a burthen." Fr. somme (whence assommer), 
 and sdme, Sp. salma and xaltna, Germ, saum (in saumthien 
 Eng. sumpter, and saumen). From low Lat. salma = sagma, Gr. 
 0-dyp.a. 
 
 Sozzo, xvi. 13, "foul." Sp. sucio. From Lat. sucidus, properly 
 of uncleansed wool witli the grease in it. 
 
 Spada, viii. 26, etc., "a sword." Fr. <^?,'Sp. espada. From 
 late Lat. spatha, "a blade, a broadsword," Gr. arirddij (which also 
 has this sense). It is not, however, impossible that spatha, in this 
 sense, may be a Celtic word. 
 
 Spalla, viii. 42, etc., "a shoulder." Fr. tpaule, Sp. espalda, 
 From low Lat. spatula, "the shoulder-blade," dim. of spatha (and 
 perhaps confused with scapula). 
 
 Spazzo, xxiii. 70. In this passage I take it to be used in the 
 sense of the Lat. spatium, "a race-course," not in its more usual 
 meaning of "ground or pavement." 
 
 Spegnere, iii 132, "to extinguish." From Lat. ex-pingere in. i\i& 
 sense of "to paint out," but evidently confused with extinguere, if not 
 with expcndere. The part, spento may often be rendered by " spent." 
 
 Spia, xvi. 84, "a scout," verb espiare, xxvi. 36, "to search out." 
 'Fr. tpier, Sp. espiar, Eng. spy, espy. From O. G. speh&n, mod. 
 spdhen, Icel. spa ("to prophesy"). Connected with Gr. intone to, 
 Lat. spicio. 
 
 Spola, xxxi. 96, "a shuttle." Fr. espoule, Sp. espolin. From 
 O. G. spuolo, mod. spule, Eng. spool. Perhaps cognate with Gr. 
 <r(})vpa. [It is curious, looking to the reading of Gg. given at the 
 passage, and the explanation of it, to observe that schiff is used in 
 Germ, to denote a shuttle.] 
 
 Squilla, viii. 5, "a bell." Sp. esquila. From O. G. skilla, mod. 
 schelle. 
 
 Stancare, x. 19, "to weary." Identical with Fr. ttancher, Sp. 
 estancar, Eng. staunch. From Lat. stagnum, properly "to dam up
 
 GLOSSARY. 455 
 
 water." The transition of meaning is not very hard to follow from the 
 idea of damming up to that of stopping the flow, hence the force of 
 anything. Littre gives instances of the use of the Fr. word (which 
 otherwise, like the Spanish and English, preserves the original 
 meaning), as applied to horses in Cents, xiii. and xvi. 
 
 Strale, xxxi. 55, "an arrow." From O. G. stnila, or M. G. 
 strtil, mod, strahl, "a ray." Connected with star, and (perhaps) 
 streiv. 
 
 Storpio, xxv. I (perhaps "a hindrance," but) probably for stpr- 
 piato, from storpiare (also stroppiare, and in xxxiii. 42 some read 
 stroppio), "to cripple." Fr. estropier, Sp. estropear (also tropezar, 
 "to stumble"). Perhaps from exlorpidare, Cf. Germ, tro/f, "a 
 blockhead." 
 
 Tagliare, xii. 97, "to cut." Fr. tailler, Sp. 'tallar and tajar. 
 From low Lat. taliare, this from talea, "a cutting of a plant," also "a 
 stake." The original meaning is therefore "to cut wood," as in Fr, 
 taillis. Sub. taglio, xxxi. 3, "an edge." 
 
 Tirare, xiv. 146, etc., "to flraw." Fr. tirtr, Sp. tirar. From 
 Goth, tairan, Germ, zcrren, Eng. tear. In the earliest example given 
 by Littre it is used of pulling out the hair in anger, subsequently all 
 idea of violence passed out of the word. 
 
 Toccare, ii. 117, etc., "to touch." Fr. toucher and toqtter, Sp. 
 tocar. According to Diez from O. G. zuchon, mod. zucken, which 
 appears to be a frequentative of ziuhan, zie/ien, "to draw." There 
 does not, however, appear to be any reason why it should not come 
 from the simple verb. Goth, tifihan, Icel. tjriga, Eng. tug. The 
 original idea was evidently that of drawing ; thus in O. Fr. se toucher 
 de = se tircr de, and the mod. Fr. construction with d no doubt arises 
 from this. [Fr. toque, "a cap," is generally taken to be a Celtic word, 
 but it may well be " something drawn on."] 
 
 Tornare, ii. 81, etc., "to turn, return." Fr. tourncr, Sp. tornar. 
 From Lat. tornare, "to turn in a lathe," this from tornus, "a lathe," 
 Gr. ropvos, "a tool for drawing circles." Connected with reiptiv, 
 "to rub," Topeii/, "to bore," Lat. tero, O. G. drdjan, mod. drehsn. 
 
 Tosto, i. 17, etc., adv. "soon,"ii. 133, etc. adj., "quick." Fr. tot, 
 (only adv. except perhaps in the phrase, au plus tot). From Lat. 
 tostus, part, of torreo, hence literally "hot" (cf. calere ; also the 
 use of torrens for a rapid stream). [The derivation from tot-cito, which 
 Diez suggests as an alternative, and Brachet adopts, is almost certainly 
 wrong. Those who prefer it must find evidence that tot was ever used
 
 456 GLOSSARY. 
 
 for tarn, and must account for the adjectival use, which is quite as old 
 as the adverbial.] 
 
 Trapelare, xxx. 88, "to filter through." Probably from pelo, 
 "hair," Lat. pflus, as if "to strain through a hair-sieve." Pdo, how- 
 ever, means also "a crack in a wall," so the word may mean "to 
 trickle through cracks." 
 
 Trastullo, xiv. 93, "amusement," and vb. trastullare, xvi. 90. 
 From O. G. stictta, "a moment," probably connected with stunde. 
 Cf. Eng. pastime. For the Rom. prefix cf. smagare. 
 
 Travagliare, xxi. 4, "to weary, oppress." From travaglio, Fr. 
 travail, Sp. trabajo. Dante also has (Inf. vii. 20), the fern, tra- 
 vaglia. Diez considers that the simple form is found in Prov. travar t 
 "to fetter, hamper." Fr. entraver, from trabs, "a beam," the idea 
 being of a prisoner fastened to a log ; cf. Sp. trabar. There is, how- 
 ever, Goth, trigo, "vexation," Icel. tregi, A. S. trega, which maybe 
 worth considering. It should be observed that in Dante, as in early 
 French (where it is usually coupled with "douleur" or "peine"), the 
 word has always a bad meaning; the sense of "work" is later. [In 
 Par. xxxiii. 114 it seems to = "to change," and is perhaps a different 
 word. ] 
 
 Tregua, xiv. 136, xvii. 75, "truce, cessation." Fr. trtve, Sp. 
 tregua. From low Lat. treuga, this from O. G. triuiaa, mod. treue, 
 Goth, triggva, akin to Icel. tryggft, A. S. tre<ntf&, Eng. both. 
 
 Trescare, x. 65, "to dance." Sp. triscar ("to stamp"). From 
 Goth, thriskan, Germ, dreschen, Eng. thresh. 
 
 Trovare, vi. 150, etc., "to find." Fr. trouver. From Lat. turbare, 
 the original idea being "to disturb by seeking." This derivation is 
 rendered almost certain by the fact that in its earliest use the word 
 seems to have meant "to seek" as well as to find, and in some 
 languages (e.g. Portuguese and Neapolitan), to have even retained 
 the original meaning of "to disturb." The use of trovar in Sp. as 
 = "to pervert the sense of words," seems also to arise from this, 
 though it may be with a satirical allusion to the word in its sense of 
 "to write poetry." 
 
 Tuono, ix. 139, xiv. 134, xxix. 152, "thunder," verb tonar, xiv. 
 138. Fr. tonner, Sp. tronar. In ix. 139 the word appears to mean 
 merely "a tone," from Lat. tonus. This from Gr. TOVOS (reiVeo 
 = "the tone or note of a string." In the other passages it is from 
 tonare, "to thunder" which, though from the same root, is not 
 directly formed from (onus, any more than Germ, donncr from dehnen.
 
 GLOSSARY. 457 
 
 Uscio, ix. 130, xxx. 139, "a door." Fr. huis (now only in phrase 
 "a huis clos"). From Lat ostium; whence also (through adjective 
 ostiarius) Fr. huissier, Sp. uxier, Eng. usJier. 
 
 Uscire, ii. 24, etc., "to go out, issue." Also escire, O. Fr. issir. 
 The form in u probably arises from a confusion with the foregoing 
 word ; but cf. uguale, from aequalis. 
 
 Vago, iii. 13, etc., " desirous," xix. 22, xxxii. 135, "wandering." 
 The first meaning seems to be derived from the second, through the idea 
 of wandering from one object to another. 
 
 Valco, xxiv. 97, " a stride, " varco, xi. 41, etc., " a passage, " verb 
 varcare, vii. 54, etc. From low Lat, varicare, "to walk," which 
 Diez takes to be identical with varicare, "to straddle," from varus. 
 It is, perhaps, better to connect it with the Teutonic root which 
 appears in Icel. vdlka, "to roll, wallow," Germ, wallen and walken, 
 A. S. wealcan, weallan, Eng. walk, which also appears in gallop. V. 
 sub galoppare. 
 
 Vermiglio, ii. 7, etc., "vermilion." Fr. vermeil, Sp. bermejo. 
 From vermifulus, i.e. the cochineal insect. The colour is thus dif- 
 ferent from that which we now call vermilion, i. e. cinnabar, but as late as 
 Shakespeare (see Sonnet xcviii. " the deep vermilion in the rose ") the 
 word is used to denote what we now call crimson. [Note that crimson, 
 Fr. cramoisi, being from Sanskrit krimi, "a worm," cognate with 
 vermis, is from the same root as vermilion.] 
 
 Vernaccia, xxiv. 24, "a white wine." M. E. vernage (Chaucer, 
 "Merchant's Tale"). Said by some to be from Verona, but it would 
 seem more likely that it means " wine which has gone through a hard 
 winter " (vernaccio). Cf. the Swiss vin du glacier. 
 
 Vigliare, xviii. 66, "to winnow, sift." According to Diez from 
 verriculare, this from verriculum, "a net," from verrere, "to sweep." 
 I should prefer to take it from a supposed vinmilare, this from low Lat. 
 vinna, which means "a trap for fish" (like our eel-baskets), whence 
 Fr. vanne, "a flood-gate," connected with Eng. winnow and fan. 
 The modem vagliare is certainly from vannulus, dim. of vannus. 
 
 Vivagno, xxiv. 127, "an edge, margin." A very obscure word, 
 not given by Diez. It seems properly to mean "the list of cloth." 
 May it be connected with Lat. vibex, "a weal, stripe"? 
 
 Vizzo, xxv. 27, "soft," hence "easy." From Lat. vietus, which 
 seems to mean "easily bent." 
 
 Voto, vi. 89, xxxii. 31, "empty." Fr. vide, O. Fr. vuit, Eng. 
 
 2 H
 
 458 GLOSSARY. 
 
 void. From Lat. viduus. Diez, however, doubts the connection of 
 the Ital. and Fr. words, and suggests that the former is contracted for 
 voltO) in the sense of "vaulted over," and hence "hollow," which is 
 not very satisfactory. If viduus will not do, may it not be from vacaius, 
 as gota (q. v. ) from gabata ? 
 
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