TE:
THE DIVINE COMEDY
Translated by
HENRY FRANCIS GARY
With 109 illustrations by
JOHN FLAXMAN
Dotm mina
nus tio
Ulu mea
i
OXFORD
ARD AUTHOR
SINCE Gary completed his translation
of Dante's great work in 1812 others
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various forms and with varying degrees
of success. It is this version in blank
verse, however, that has established
itself through several generations as the
most serviceable for readers who require
a straightforward presentation in our
tongue of one of the supreme achieve-
ments of the human mind and spirit
working on the noblest poetic level.
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THE DIVINE COMEDY
Oxjord University Press, Amen Hoitse, London E.G. 4
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI
CAPE TOWN IBADAN NAIROBI ACCRA SINGAPORE
THE
DIVINE COMEDY
being
THE VISION OF
DANTE ALIGHIERI
translated by
HENRY FRANCIS GARY
With 109 illustrations by
John Flaxman
LONDON
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW YORK TORONTO
DANTE ALIGHIERI
Born at Florence sometime between mid-May and mid-
June, 1265
Died at Ravenna ... 14 September 1321
Earliest known manuscript of the poem 1336
First printed texts (three in number) 1472
This edition of Gary's translation was first printed in 1910
and reprinted in 1913, 1916, 1923, '1929, 1950 and 1957.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
O.S.A.
CONTENTS
PAGE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....... vii
_L JtvEFACE XI
LIFE OF DANTE ... ..... xiii
CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE AGE OF DANTE . . xli
THE VISION OF DANTE :
... *
Purgatory ... .121
Paradise .... .241
NOTES ...<. . 359
INDEX ,=.,00 561
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
HELL
PAGE
Virgil as Dante's Guide . ..... 3
Virgil and Beatrice meeting ...... 6
Charon's Boat ......... 10
Christ's Descent to Limbo . . . . . . .12
The Sin of Paola and Francesca . . . . . .17
The Punishment of Paola and Francesca . . . .18
Cerberus .......... 20
The Region of Plutus ........ 22
The City of Dis ' . . . .27
The Furies ......... 30
The Fiery Sepulchres ........ 33
The Tomb of Pope Anastasius ...... 36
Encounter with the Centaurs .... .40
The Forest of Harpies ....... 43
The Statue of Four Metals ....... 49
Dante and Brunette Latini . . . . . . .51
Guidoguerra, Aldobrandi, and Rusticucci . . . .54
Geryon .....;.. 59
Maiebolge ....... .62
The Gulf of Simony . . . 64
Tiresias ....... 68
The Gulf of the Barterers . e . ., . . .71
The Demons threaten Dante and Virgil . . . .72
The Lake of Boiling Pitch ..... .75
The Punishment of Hypocrisy ..... 80
The Serpents ......... 83
Cacus .......... 86
The Flaming Gulf 90
The Contention for Guide da Montefeltro .... 94
Bertrand de Born ........ 98
The Gulf of the Falsifiers 100
Schicchi and Capocchio ....... 103
Antaeus .......... 108
The Frozen Circle 110
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Count Ugolino and his Sons sent to Prison . . . .114
The Death of Ugolino . . . . . . .115
Lucifer . . . . . . . . . .118
The Reascent from Hell ....... 120
PURGATORY
Cato, Virgil, and Dante ....... 122
Virgil girds Dante with a Reed ...... 124
The Approach of the Boat ....... 126
The Spirits disembark ....... 127
Casella .......... 128
The Spirits of the Excommunicate . . . . .131
The Negligent . 135
The Deliverance of Buonconte ... 138
The Meeting with Sordello . 141
The Infants in Limbo . . . . . . .144
The Guardians of the Vale . . . . . . .149
Dante's Dream ...... . . 151
The Gate of Purgatory ... ... 153
The Annunciation ........ 155
The First Cornice, of Pride ....... 158
The Fall of Lucifer 162
The Second Cornice, of Envy . . . . .165
Two Spirits on the Second Cornice ..... 169
The Angel of the Second Cornice . . . . . .172
The Third Cornice, of Anger . . . . . .176
The Angel -of the Third Cornice 180
The Fourth Cornice, of Sloth 185
The Fifth Cornice, of Avarice . . . . . .188
The Earthquake 192
The Meeting with Statius 194
The Sixth Cornice, of Gluttony 199
Nella and Forese Donati ....... 202
The Intemperate ........ 206
The Seventh Cornice, of Lust ... 210
Spirits meeting and kissing . . . . . . .211
The Poets reposing . . . . . . . .216
The Terrestrial Paradise 219
The Procession of Elders ....... 223
The Descent of Beatrice ....... 227
The Car of the Church 230
Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe . . . . .231
The Intrigues of the Church ...... 236
The River Eunoe 239
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
PARADISE
PAGE
Ascent to the Sphere of Fire ...... 242
Beatrice and Dante enter the Moon ..... 245
The First Heaven, of the Moon . ... 249
Spirits returning to the Stars ...... 252
The Second Heaven, of Mercury 257
Spirits of the Ambitious . . . . . . .261
Beatrice and Dante ........ 263
The Third Heaven, of Venus ...... 267
Cunizza .......... 270
The Fourth Heaven, ol the Sun ...... 274
The Church, with St. Francis and St. Dominic . . . 277
A Second Circle of Spirits ....... 280
The Adoration of the Trinity ...... 283
The Fifth Heaven, of Mars. The Figure of the Cross . . 288
The Birth of Cacciaguida ....... 292
Mars in the Constellation Leo ...... 294
Dante discoursing with Cacciaguida ..... 299
The Sixth Heaven, of Jupiter ...... 302
The Celestial Eagle ...... . 305
Ripheus, the Trojan ...... . 309
The Seventh Heaven, of Saturn . . . . . .312
The Sword of Heaven . . . . . . . .315
The Triumph of Christ 319
The Eighth Heaven, of the Fixed Stars . . .
The Church Militant
St. John examines Dante .......
The Heavenly Choir ......
The Ninth, or Crystalline, Heaven ....
The Creation of the Angels ...... 340
The Tenth, or Empyrean, Heaven ....
The Glory of the Blessed Virgin .... 349
St. Bernard and Dante ....
The Beatific Vision . .... 366
PREFACE
IN the years 1805 and 1806, I published the First Part of the
following Translation, with the Text of the Original. Since that
period, two impressions of the whole of the Divina Commedia,
in Italian, have made their appearance in this country. It is
not necessary that I should add a third : and I am induced to
hope that the Poem, even in the present version of it, may not
be without interest for the mere English reader.
The translation of the Second and Third Parts, The Purgatory
and The Paradise, was begun long before the First, and as early
as the year 1797 ; but, owing to many interruptions, not con-
cluded till the summer before last. On a retrospect of the time
and exertions that have been thus employed, I do not regard
those hours as the least happy of my life, during which (to use
the eloquent language of Mr. Coleridge) ' my individual recollec-
tions have been suspended, and lulled to sleep amid the music
of nobler thoughts ' ; nor that study as misapplied, which has
familip^rized me with one of the sublimest efforts of the human
invention.
To those, who shall be at the trouble of examining into the
degree of accuracy with which the task has been executed, I may
be allowed to suggest, that their judgement should not be formed
on a comparison with any single text of my Author ; since, in
more instances than I have noticed, I have had to make my choice
out of a variety of readings and interpretations, presented by
different editions and commentators.
In one or two of those editions is to be found the title of The
Vision ; which I have adopted, as more conformable to the
genius of our language than that of The Divine Comedy. Dante
himself, I believe, termed it simply The Comedy ; in the first
place, because the style was of the middle kind ; and in the next,
because the story (if story it may be called) ends happily.
January, 1814.
The above Advertisement was prefixed to an edition of the
following Translation, printed in so small a character as to deter
a numerous class of readers from perusing it. Amongst the few
xii PREFACE
into whose hands it fell, about two years ago, Mr. Coleridge
became one ; and I have both a pride and a pleasure in acknow-
ledging that it has been chiefly owing to the prompt and strenuous
exertions of that gentleman in recommending the book to public
notice, that the opportunity has been afforded me of sending it
forth in its present form.
July, 1819.
When a Third Edition was called for in 1831, my duties as an
Assistant Librarian in the British Museum were such as to prevent
me from engaging in any task that would have required an
increase of sedentary labour. I was thus hindered not only from
attending to the accuracy of the press (which indeed the care of
my Publisher rendered almost unnecessary), but from collecting
and putting in order the several corrections and additions, which
I had occasionally noted with the purpose of introducing them
into that edition.
A long interval of leisure may since have enabled me to do
more effectually what I was before compelled to leave undone.
In the hope of rendering the Life of Dante and the Notes on the
Poem less imperfect, I have consulted most of the writers by
whom my Author has been recently illustrated. Wherever an
omission or an error in the translation has been pointed out to
me, I have done my best to supply the one and to correct the
other ; and my obligations in all these instances are acknowledged
in the Notes. Among those who have not thought a few hours
thrown away in noticing such oversights, it is gratifying to me to
mention the names of Mr. Carlyle, one of the most original
thinkers of our time ; my long experienced friend, Mr. Darley,
one of our most genuine poets ; and Mr. Lyell, my respected
fellow-labourer in the mine of Dante. At an advanced age, I do
not imagine myself capable of otherwise improving an attempt
which, however defective, has at least the advantage of having
had my earlier days bestowed on it.
February, 1844.
LIFE OF DANTE
DANTE, 1 a name abbreviated, as was the custom in those days,
from Durante or Durando, was of a very ancient Florentine
family. The first of his ancestors 2 concerning whom anything
certain is known, was Cacciaguida, 3 a Florentine knight, who died
fighting in the holy war, under the Emperor Conrad III. Caccia-
guida had two brothers, Moronto and Eliseo, the former of whom
is not recorded to have left any posterit}^ ; the latter is the head
of the family of the Elisei, or perhaps (for it is doubtful which is
the case) only transmitted to his descendants a name which he
had himself inherited. From Cacciaguida himself were sprung
the Alighieri, so called from one of his sons, who bore the appella-
tion from his mother's family, 4 as is affirmed by the Poet himself,
under the person of Cacciaguida, in the fifteenth canto of the
Paradise. This name, Alighieri, is derived from the coat of arms, 5
a wing or, on a field azure, still borne by the descendants of our
Poet at Verona, in the days of Leonardo Aretino.
Dante was born at Florence in May, 1265. His mother's name
was Bella, but of what family is no longer known. His father 6
he had the misfortune to lose in his childhood ; but by the advice
of his surviving relations, and with the assistance of an able
preceptor, Brunette Latini, he applied himself closely to polite
1 A note by Salvini, on Muratori della Perf. Poes. Ital. lib. iii. cap. viii.
2 Leonardo Aretino, Vita di Dante.
3 Par. xv. He was born, as most have supposed, in 1106, and died about
1147. But Lombardi computes his birth to have happened about 1090.
See note to Par. xvi. 31. For what is known of his descendants till the
birth of Dante, see note to Par. xv. 86.
4 Vellutello, Vita di Dante. There is reason to suppose that she was the
daughter of Aldigerio, who was a lawyer of Verona, and brother of one of
the same name, bishop of that city, and author of an epistle addressed to his
mother, a religious recluse, with the title of Tractatus Adalgeri Episc. ad
Rosuvidam reclausam (or, ad Orismundam matrem inclusam) de Rebus
moralibus. See Cancellieri, Osservazioni, &c. Roma, 1814, p. 119.
5 Pelli describes the arms differently. Memorie per la Vita di Dante.
Opere di Dante. Ediz. Zatta, 1758, torn. iv. part. ii. p. 16. The male line
ended in Pietro, the sixth in descent from our Poet, and father of Ginevni,
married in 1549 to the Conte Marcantonio Sarego, of Verona. Pelli, p. 19.
6 His father Alighiero had been before married to Lapa, daughter of
Chiarissimo Cialuffi ; and by her had a son named Francesco, who left two
daughters, and a son, whom he named Durante after his brother. Francesco
appears to have been mistaken for a son of our Poet's. Boccaccio mentions
also a sister of Dante, who was married to Poggi, and was the mother of
Andrea Poggi, Boccaccio's intimate. Pelli, p. 267.
xiv LIFE OF DANTE
literature and other liberal studies, at the same time that he
omitted no pursuit necessary for the accomplishment of a manly
character, and mixed with the youth of his age in all honourable
and noble exercises.
In the twenty-fourth year of his age, he was present at the
memorable battle of Campaldino, 1 where he served in the fore-
most troop of cavalry, and was exposed to imminent danger.
Leonardo Aretino refers to a letter of Dante, in which he described
the order of that battle, and mentioned his having been engaged
in it. The cavalry of the Aretini at the first onset gained so
great an advantage over the Florentine horse, as to compel them
to retreat to their body of infantry. This circumstance in the
event proved highly fortunate to the Florentines ; for their own
cavalry being thus joined to their foot, while that of their enemies
was led by the pursuit to a considerable distance from theirs,
they were by these means enabled to defeat with ease their
separate forces. In this battle, the Uberti, Lamberti, and Abati,
with all the other ex-citizens of Florence who adhered to the
Ghibelline 2 interest, were with the Aretini ; while those inhabi-
tants of Arezzo, who, owing to their attachment to the Guelph s
party, had been banished from their own city, were ranged on the
side of the Florentines. In the following year, Dante took part in
another engagement between his countrymen and the citizens of
Pisa, from whom they took the castle of Caprona, 3 situated not
far from that city.
From what the Poet has told us in his treatise, entitled the
Vita Nuova, we learn that he was a lover long before he was
a soldier, and that his passion for the Beatrice whom he has
immortalized, commenced 4 when she was at the beginning of her,
and he near the end of his, ninth year. Their first meeting was
at a banquet in the house of Folco Portinari 5 her father ; and
the impression then made on the susceptible and constant heart
of Dante, was not obliterated by her death, which happened
after an interval of sixteen years.
But neither war, nor love, prevented Dante from gratifying the
earnest desire which he had of knowledge and mental improve-
ment. By Benvenuto da Imola, one of the earliest of his com-
mentators, it is related that he studied in his youth at the
universities of Bologna and Padua, as well as in that of his native
city, and devoted himself to the pursuit of natural and moral
philosophy. There is reason to believe that his eagerness for
the acquisition of learning, at some time of his life, led him as far
1 G. Villani describes this engagement, lib. vii. cap. cxxx.
2 For the supposed origin of these denominations, see note to Par. vi. 107.
! Hell, xxi. 92.
4 See also the beginning of the Vita Nuova.
5 Folco di Ricovero Portinari was the founder of the hospital of S. Maria
Nuova, in 1280, and of other charitable institutions, and died in 1289, as
appeared from his epitaph. Pelli, p. 55.
LIFE OF DANTE xv
as Paris, and even Oxford ; L in the former of which universities
he is said to have taken the degree of a Bachelor, and distinguished
himself in the theological disputations ; but to have been hin-
dered from commencing Master, by a failure in his pecuniary
resources. Francesco da Buti, another of his commentators
in the fourteenth century, asserts that he entered the order
of the Frati Minori, but laid aside the habit before he was
professed.
In his own city, domestic troubles, and yet more severe public
calamities, awaited him. In 1291, he was induced, by the
solicitation of his friends, to console himself for the loss of
Beatrice by a matrimonial connexion with Gemma, a lady of
the noble family of the Donati, by whom he had a numerous
offspring. But the violence of her temper proved a source of
1 Giovanni Villani, who was his contemporary, and, as Villani himself
says, his neighbour in Florence, informs us, that ' he went to study at
Bologna, and then to Paris, and to many parts of the world ' (an expression
that may well include England), ' subsequently to his banishment.' Hist,
lib. ix. cap. cxxxv. Indeed, as we shall see, it is uncertain whether he might
not have been more than once a student at Paris.
But the fact of his having visited England rests on a passage alluding to it
in the Latin poems of Boccaccio, and on the authority of Giovanni da
Serravalle, Bishop of Fermo, who, as Tiraboschi observes, though he lived
at the distance of a century from Dante, might have known those who were
contemporaries with him. This writer, in an inedited commentary on the
Commedia, written while he was attending the Council of Constance, says
of our Poet : ' Anagorice dilexit theologiam sacram, in qua diu studuit
tarn in Oxoniis in regno Angliae, quam Parisiis in regno Franciae,' &c.
And again : ' Dantes se in juventute dedit omnibus artibus liberalibus,
studens eas Paduae, Bononiae, demum Oxoniis et Parisiis, ubi fecit
multos actus mirabiles, intantum quod ab aliquibus dicebatur magnus
philosophus, ab aliquibus magnus theologus, ab aliquibus magnus
poeta.' Tiraboschi, Stor. della Poes. Ital. vol. ii. cap. iv. p. 14, as extracted
from Tiraboschi's great work by Mathias, and edited bv that gentleman.
Lond. 1803.
The bishop translated the poem itself into Latin prose, at the instance of
Cardinal Amedeo di Saluzzo, and of two English bishops, Nicholas Bubwith,
of Bath, and Robert Halam, of Salisbury, who attended the same Council.
One copy only of the version and commentary is known to be preserved, and
that is in the Vatican. I would suggest the probability of others existing
in this country. Stillingfleet, in the Origines Sacrae, twice quotes passages
from the Paradiso, ' rendered into Latin ' (and it is Latin prose), as that
learned bishop says, ' by F. S.' Orig. Sacr. b. ii. chap. ix. sect, xviii. 4,
and chap. x. sect v. Eclit. Cambridge, 1701. See notes to Par. xxiv. 86,
and 104. This work was begun in February, 1416, and finished in the same
month of the following year.
The word ' anagorice ' (into which the Italians altered ' anagogice ')
which occurs in the former of the above extracts, is explained by Dante in
the Convito. Opere di Dante, torn. i. p. 43. Ediz. Venez. 1793, and more
briefly by Field, Of the Church, b. iii. cap. 26. ' The Anagogicall ' sense is,
' when the things literally expressed unto us do signifie something in the
state of heaven's happiness.' It was used by the Greek Fathers to
signify merely a more recondite sense in a text of Scripture than that
which the plain words offered. See Origen in Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae,
vol. iv. p. 323.
xvi LIFE OF DANTE
the bitterest suffering to him ; and in that passage of the Inferno,
where one of the characters says,
La fiera moglie piu ch' altro mi nuoce.
Canto xvi.
- me, my wife
Of savage temper, more than aught beside,
Hath to this evil brought,
his own conjugal unhappiness must have recurred forcibly and
painfully to his mind. 1 It is not improbable that political
animosity might have had some share in these dissensions ; for
his wife was a kinswoman of Corso Donati, one of the most
formidable, as he was one of the most inveterate of his opponents.
In 1300 he was chosen chief of the Priors, who at that time pos-
sessed the supreme authority in the state ; his colleagues being
Palmieri degli Altoviti and Neri di Jacopo degli Alberti. From
this exaltation our Poet dated the cause of all his subsequent
misfortunes in life. 2
In order to show the occasion of Dante's exile, it may be
necessary to enter more particularly into the state of parties at
Florence. The city, which had been disturbed by many divisions
between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, at length remained in the
power of the former ; but after some time these were again split
into two factions. This perverse occurrence originated with the
inhabitants of Pistoia, who, from an unhappy quarrel between
two powerful families in that city, were all separated into parties
known by those denominations. With the intention of composing
their differences, the principals on each side were summoned to
the city of Florence ; but this measure, instead of remedying the
evil, only contributed to increase its virulence, by communicating
it to the citizens of Florence themselves. For the contending
parties were so far from being brought to a reconciliation, that
each contrived to gain fresh partisans among the Florentines,
with whom many of them were closely connected by the ties of
blood and friendship ; and who entered into the dispute with
such acrimony and eagerness, that the whole city was soon engaged
either on one part or the other, and even brothers of the same
family were divided. It was not long before they passed, by the
usual gradations, from contumely to violence. The factions
were now known by the names of the Neri and the Bianchi, the
former generally siding with the Guelphs or adherents of the
1 Yet M. Artaud, in his Histoire de Dante (8vo, Paris, 1841, p. 85),
represents Gemma as a tender, faithful, and affectionate wife. I certainly
do not find any mention of her unhappy temper in the early biographers.
Regard for her or for her children might have restrained them. But in the
next century, Landino, though commending her good qualities, does not
scruple to assert that in this respect she was more than a Xanthippe.
2 Leonardo Aretino. A late biographer, on the authority of Marchionne
Stefani, assigns different colleagues to Dante in his office of Prior. See
Balbo, Vita di Dante, vol. i. p. 219. Ediz. Torin. 1839.
LIFE OF DANTE xvii
papal power, the latter with the Ghibellines or those who sup-
ported the authority of the Emperor. The Neri assembled
secretly in the church of the Holy Trinity, and determined on
interceding with Pope Boniface VIII to send Charles of Valois
to pacify and reform the city. No sooner did this resolution
come to the knowledge of the Bianchi, than, struck with appre-
hension at the consequences of such a measure, they took arms,
and repaired to the Priors ; demanding of them the punishment
of their adversaries, for having thus entered into private delibera-
tions concerning the state, which they represented to have been
done with the view of expelling them from the city. Those who
had met, being alarmed in their turn, had also recourse to arms,
and made their complaints to the Priors. Accusing their op-
ponents of having armed themselves without any previous public
discussion ; and affirming that, under various pretexts, they had
sought to drive them out of their country, they demanded that
they might be punished as disturbers of the public tranquillity.
The dread and danger became general, when, by the advice of
Dante, the Priors called in the multitude to their protection and
assistance ; and then proceeded to banish the principals of the
two factions, who were these : Corso Donati, 1 Geri Spini, Giacho-
notto de' Pazzi, Rosso della Tosa, and others of the Nera party,
who were exiled to the Castello della Pieve in Perugia ; and of the
Bianca party, who were banished to Serrazana, Gentile and
Torrigiano de' Cerchi, Guido Cavalcanti, 2 Baschiera della Tosa,
Baldinaccio Adimari, Naldo son of Lottino Gherardini, and others.
On this occasion Dante was accused of favouring the Bianchi,
though he appears to have conducted himself with impartiality ;
and the deliberation held by the Neri for introducing Charles of
Valois 3 might, perhaps, have justified him in treating that party
with yet greater rigour. The suspicion against him was increased,
when those whom he was accused of favouring were soon after
allowed to return from their banishment, while the sentence
passed upon the other faction still remained in full force. To
this Dante replied, that when those who had been sent to Serra-
zana were recalled, he was no longer in office ; and that their
return had been permitted on account of the death of Guido
Cavalcanti, which was attributed to the unwholesome air of that
place. The partiality which had been shown, however, afforded
a pretext to the Pope 4 for dispatching Charles of Valois to
Florence, by whose influence a great reverse was soon produced
in the public affairs ; the ex-citizens being restored to their place,
and the whole of the Bianca party driven into exile. At this
juncture, Dante was not in Florence, but at Rome, whither he had
1 Of this remarkable man, see more in the Purg. xxiv. 81.
2 See notes to Hell, x. 59, and Purg. xi. 96. ? See Purg. xx. 69.
4 Boniface VIII had before sent the Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta to
Florence, with the view of supporting his own adherents in that city. The
cardinal is supposed to be alluded to in the Paradise, xii. 115.
CARY B
xviii LIFE OF DANTE
a short time before been sent ambassador to the Pope, with the
offer of a voluntary return to peace and amity among the citizens.
His enemies had now an opportunity of revenge, and, during his
absence on this pacific mission, proceeded to pass an iniquitous
decree of banishment against him and Palmieri Altoviti ; and
at the same time confiscated his possessions, which indeed had
been previously given up to pillage. 1
On hearing the tidings of his ruin, Dante instantly quitted
Rome, and passed with all possible expedition to Siena. Here
being more fully apprised of the extent of the calamity, for
which he could see no remedy, he came to the desperate resolution
of joining himself to the other exiles. His first meeting with them
was at a consultation which they had at Gorgonza, a small castle
subject to the jurisdiction of Arezzo, in which city it was finally,
after a long deliberation, resolved that they should take up their
station. 2 Hither they accordingly repaired in a numerous body,
1 On the 27th of January, 1302, he was mulcted 8,000 lire, and condemned
to two years' banishment ; and in case the fine was not paid, his goods were
to be confiscated. On the 16th of March, the same year, he was sentenced to
a punishment due only to the most desperate of malefactors. The decree,
that Dante and his associates in exile should be burned, if they fell into the
hands of their enemies, was first discovered in 1772, by the Conte Lodovico
Savioli. See Tiraboschi, where the document is given at length.
2 At Arezzo it was his fortune, in 1302, to meet with Busone da Gubbio,
who two years before had been expelled from his country as a Ghibelline,
in about the twentieth year of his age. Busone, himself a cultivator of the
Italian poetry, here contracted a friendship with Dante, which was after-
wards cemented by the reception afforded him under Busone's roof during
a part of his exile. He was of the ancient and noble family of the Rafaelli
of Gubbio ; and to his banishment owed the honourable offices which he
held of governor of Arezzo in 1316 and 1317 ; of governor of Viterbo in the
latter of these years ; then of captain of Pisa ; of deputy to the Emperor
in 1327 ; and finally of Roman senator in 1337. He died probably about
1350. The historian of Italian literature speaks slightly of his poetical pro-
ductions, consisting chiefly of comments on the Divina Commedia, which
were written in terza rima. They have been published by Sig. Francesco
Maria Rafaelli, who has collected all the information that could be obtained
respecting them. Deliciae Eruditor. v. xvii. He wrote also a romance,
entitled L'Avventuroso Ciciliano, which has never been printed. Tiraboschi,
Stor. della Poes. Ital. v. ii. p. 56. In Allacci's Collection, Ediz. Napoli, 1661,
p. 112, is a sonnet by Busone, on the death of a lady and of Dante, which
concludes,
Ma i' mi conforto ch' io credo che Deo
Dante abbia posto in glorioso scanno.
At the end of the Divina Commedia, in No. 3581 of the Harleian MSS.
in the British Museum, are four poems. The first, beginning,
voi che siete nel verace lume,
is attributed, as usual, to Jacopo Dante. The second, which begins,
Aci6 che sia piu frutto e piu diletto
A quei che si dilettan di sapere
Dell' alta comedia vero intelletto,
and proceeds with a brief explanation of the principal parts of the poem, is
here attributed to Messer Busone d'Agobbio. It is also inserted in Nos. 3459
LIFE OF DANTE xix
made the Count Alessandro da Romena their leader, and ap-
pointed a council of twelve, of which number Dante was one. In
the year 1304, having been joined by a very strong force, which
was not only furnished them by Arezzo, but sent from Bologna and
Pistoia, they made a sudden attack on the city of Florence,
gained possession of one of the gates, and conquered part of the
territory, but were finally compelled to retreat without retaining
any of the advantages they had acquired.
Disappointed in this attempt to reinstate himself in his country,
Dante quitted Arezzo ; and his course is, 1 for the most part,
afterwards to be traced only by notices, casually dropped in his
own writings, or discovered in documents, which either chance or
the zeal of antiquaries may have brought to light. From an
instrument 2 in the possession of the Marchesi Papafavi, of Padua,
it has been ascertained that, in 1306, he was at that city and with
that family. Similar proof 3 exists of his having been present in
the following year at a congress of the Ghibellines and the Bianchi,
held in the sacristy of the church belonging to the abbey of
S. Gaudenzio in Mugello ; and from a passage in the Purgatory * we
collect, that before the expiration of 1307 he had found a refuge in
Lunigiana, with the Marchese Morello or Marcello Malaspina, who,
though formerly a supporter 5 of the opposite party, was now
magnanimous enough to welcome a noble enemy in his misfortune.
The time at which he sought an asylum at Verona, under the
hospitable roof of the Signori della Scala, is less distinctlymarked.
It would seem as if those verses in the Paradise 6 , where the shade
of his ancestor declares to him,
Lo primo tuo rifugio e il primo ostello
Sara la cortesia del gran Lombardo,
First refuge thou must find, first place of rest,
In the great Lombard's courtesy,
and 3460 of the same MSS. ; and I have had occasion to refer to it in the
notes to Purg. xxix. 140. The third is a sonnet by Cino da Pistoia to
Busone ; and the fourth, Busone's answer. Since this note was written,
Busone's Romance, above mentioned, has been edited at Florence in the
year 1832, by the late Doctor Nott.
1 A late writer has attempted a recital of his wanderings. For this pur-
pose, he assigns certain arbitrary dates to the completion of the several parts
of the Divina Commedia ; and selecting from each what he supposes to be
reminiscences of particular places visited by Dante, together with allusions to
events then passing, contrives, by the help' of some questionable documents,
to weave out of the whole a continued narrative, which, though it may pass
for current with the unwary reader, will not satisfy a more diligent inquirer
after the truth. See Troya's Veltro Allegorico dfDante, Florence, 1
2 Millesimo trecentesimo sexto, die vigesimo septimo mensis Augusti,
Padue in contrata Sancti Martini in domo Domine Amate Domini Papafave,
praesentibus Dantino quondam Alligerii de Florentia et nunc stat Padue in
contrata Sancti Laurentii, &c. Pelli, p. 83.
3 Pelli, p. 85, where the document is given. 4 Canto viii. 133.
5 Hell, xxiv. 144. Morello's wife Alagia is honourably mentioned in the
Purg. xix. 140. 6 Canto xvii. 68.
xx LIFE OF DANTE
should not be interpreted too strictly : but whether he ex-
perienced that courtesy at a very early period of his banishment,
or, as others have imagined, not till 1308, when he had quitted
the Marchese Morello, it is believed that he left Verona in disgust
at the flippant levity of that court, or at some slight which he
conceived to have been shown him by his muniiicent patron
Can Grande, on whose liberality he has passed so high an enco-
mium. 1 Supposing the latter to have been the cause of his
departure, it must necessarily be placed at a date posterior to
1308 ; for Can Grande, though associated with his amiable
brother Albuino 2 in the government of Verona, was then only
seventeen years of age, and therefore incapable of giving the
alleged offence to his guest.
The mortifications which he underwent during these wan-
derings will be best described in his own language. In his
Convito he speaks of his banishment, and the poverty and distress
which attended it, in very affecting terms. ' Alas,' 3 said he,
' had it pleased the Dispenser of the Universe, that the occasion
of this excuse had never existed ; that neither others had com-
mitted wrong against me, nor I suffered unjustly ; suffered,
I say, the punishment of exile and of poverty ; since it was the
pleasure of the citizens of that fairest and most renowned daughter
of Rome, Florence, to cast me forth out of her sweet bosom, in
which I had my birth and nourishment even to the ripeness of
my age ; and in which, with her good will, I desire, with all my
heart, to rest this wearied spirit of mine, and to terminate the
time allotted to me on earth. Wandering over almost every
part, to which this our language extends, I have gone about like
a mendicant ; showing, against my will, the wound with which
fortune has smitten me, and which is often imputed to his ill-
deserving on whom it is inflicted. I have, indeed, been a vessel
without sail and without steerage, carried about to divers ports,
and roads, and shores, by the dry wind that springs out of sad
poverty ; and have appeared before the eyes of many, who,
perhaps, from some report that had reached them, had imagined
me of a different form ; in whose sight not only my person was
disparaged, but every action of mine became of less value, as well
already performed, as those which yet remained for me to attempt.'
It is no wonder that, with feelings like these, he was now willing
to obtain by humiliation and entreaty, what he had before been
unable to effect by force.
1 Hell, i. 98, and Par. xvii. 75. A Latin Epistle dedicatory of the Para-
dise to Can Grande is attributed to Dante. Without better proof than has
been yet adduced, I cannot conclude it to be genuine. See the question
discussed by Fraticelli, in the Opere minori di Dante, torn. iii. p te ii. 12.
Fir. 1840.
2 Albuino is spoken of in the Convito, iv. 16, in such a manner that it is
not easy to say whether a compliment or a reflection is intended ; but I am
inclined to think the latter.
:< ' Alii ! piaciuto fosse al Dispensatore dell' universe,' &c. Convito, i. 3.
LIFE OF DANTE xxi
He addressed several supplicatory epistles, not only to indi-
viduals who composed the government, but to the people at
large ; particularly one letter, of considerable length, which
Leonardo Aretino relates to have begun with this expostulation :
' Popule mi, quid teci tibi ? '
While he anxiously waited the result of these endeavours to
obtain his pardon, a different complexion was given to the face of
public affairs by the exaltation of Henry of Luxemburg 1 to the
imperial throne ; and it was generally expected that the most
important political changes would follow, on the arrival of the
new sovereign in Italy. Another prospect, more suitable to the
temper of Dante, now disclosed itself to his hopes : he once more
assumed a lofty tone of defiance ; and, as it should seem, without
much regard either to consistency or prudence, broke out into
bitter invectives against the rulers of Florence, threatening them
with merited vengeance from the power of the Emperor, which
he declared that they had no adequate means of opposing. He
now decidedly relinquished the party of the Guelphs, which had
been espoused by his ancestors, and under whose banners he had
served in the earlier part of his life on the plains of Campaldino ;
and attached himself to the cause of their opponents, the Ghibel-
lines. Reverence for his country, says one of his biographers, 2
prevailed on him to absent himself from the hostile army, when
Henry of Luxemburg encamped before the gates of Florence :
but it is difficult to give him credit for being now much influenced
by a principle which had not formerly been sufficient to restrain
him from similar violence. It is probable that he was actuated
by some desire, however weak, of preserving appearances ; for
of his personal courage no question can be made. Dante was
fated to disappointment. The Emperor's campaign ended in
nothing ; the Emperor himself died the following summer (in
1313), at Buonconvento ; and, with him, all hopes of regaining
his native city expired in the breast of the unhappy exile. Several
of his biographers 3 affirm that he now made a second journey to
Paris, where Boccaccio adds that he held a public disputation 4
on various questions of theology. To what other places 5 he
might have roamed during his banishment, is very uncertain.
We are told that he was in Casentino, with the Conte Guido
1 Par. xvii. 80, and xxx. 135. 2 Leonardo Aretino.
3 Benvenuto da Imola, Filippo Villani, and Boccaccio.
4 Another public philosophical disputation at Verona, in 1320, published
at Venice in 1508, seems to be regarded by Tiraboschi with some suspicion
of its authenticity. It is entitled, ' Quaestio florulenta et perutilis de duobus
elementis aquae et terrae tractans, nuper reperta, quae olirn Mantuae
auspicata, Veronae vero disputata et decisa, ac manu propria scripta a Dante
Florentino Poeta clarissimo, quae diligenter et accurate correcta fuit per
Rev. Magistrum Joan. Benedictum Moncettum de Castilione Aretino Ke-
gentem Patavinum Ordinis Eremitarum Divi Augustini, sacraeque
logiae Doctorem excellentissimum.'
5 Vellutello says that he was also in Germany. Vita di Dante.
xxii LIFE OF DANTE
Salvatico, 1 at one time ; and, at another, in the mountains near
Urbino, with the Signori della Faggiola. At the monastery of
Santa Croce di Fonte Avellana, a wild and solitary retreat in the
territory of Gubbio, was shown a chamber, in which, as a Latin
inscription 2 declared, it was believed that he had composed no
small portion of his divine work. A tower, 3 belonging to the Conti
Falcucci, in Gubbio, claims for itself a similar honour. In the
castle of Colmollaro, near the river Saonda, and about six miles
from the same city, he was courteously entertained by Busone da
Gubbio, 4 whom he had formerly met at Arezzo. There are some
1 He was grandson to the valiant Guidoguerra. Pelli, p. 95. See Hell,
xvi. 38.
Hocce cubiculum hospes
In quo Dantes Aligherius habitasse
In eoque non minimum praeclari ac
Pene divini operis partem com-
posuisse dicitur undique fatiscens
Ac tantum non solo aequatum
Philippus Rpdulphius
Laurentii Nicolai Cardinalis
Amplissimi Fratris Filius summus
Collegii Praeses pro eximia erga
Civem suum pietate refici bancque
Illius effigiem ad tanti viri memo-
riam revocandam Antonio Petreio
Canon. Floren. procurante
Collocari mandavit
Kal. Maii. M.D.L.VII. Pelli, p. 98.
3 In tbis is inscribed,
Hie mansit Dantes
Alegbierius Poeta
Et carmina scripsit. Pelli, p. 97.
4 Tbe following sonnet, said to be addressed to bim by Dante, was pub-
lished in the Deliciae Eruditorum, and is inserted in the Zatta edition of our
Poet's works, torn. iv. part ii. p. 264, in which alone I have seen it.
Tu, che stampi lo colle ombroso e fresco,
Ch' e co lo Fiume, cbe non e torrente,
Linci molle lo chiama quella gente
In nome Italiano e non Tedesco :
Ponti, sera e rnattin, contento al desco,
Perche del car figliuol vedi presente
El frutto che speracoi, e si repente
S' avaccia nello stil Greco e Francesco.
Perche cima d' ingegno non s' astalla
In quella Italia di dolor ostello,
Di cui si speri gia cotanto frutto ;
Gavazzi pur el primo Raffaello,
Che tra dotti vedrallo esser veduto,
Come sopr' acqua si sostien la galla.
Translation.
Thou, who where Linci sends his stream to drench
The valley, walk'st that fresh and shady bill
(Soft Linci well they call the gentle rill,
Nor smooth Italian name to German wrench)
LIFE OF DANTE xxiii
traces of his having made a temporary abode at Udine, and
particularly of his having been in the Friuli with Pagano ddl.i
Torre, the patriarch of Aquileia, at the castle of Tolmino, where
he is also said to have employed himself on the Divina Commedia,
and where a rock was pointed out that was called the seat of
Dante. 1 What is known with greater certainty is, that he at
last found a refuge at Ravenna, with Guido Novello da Polenta ; 2
a splendid protector of learning; himself a poet; and the kinsman
of that unfortunate Francesca, 3 whose story has been told by
Dante with such unrivalled pathos.
It would appear from one of his Epistles that about the year
1316 he had the option given him of returning to Florence, on
the ignominious terms of paying a fine, and of making a public
avowal of his offence. It may, perhaps, be in reference to this
offer, which, for the same reason that Socrates refused to save his
life on similar conditions, he indignantly rejected, that he
promises himself he shall one day return ' in other guise ',
and standing up
At his baptismal font, shall claim the wreath
Due to the poet's temples. Par. xxv. 9.
Such, indeed, was the glory which his compositions in his native
tongue had now gained him, that he declares, in the treatise De
Evening and morning, seat thee on thy bench,
Content; beholding fruit of knowledge fill
So early thy son's branches, that grow still
Enriched with dews of Grecian lore and French.
Though genius, with like hopeful fruitage hung,
Spread not aloft in recreant Italy,
Where grief her home, and worth has made his grave ;
Yet may the elder Raffaello see,
With joy, his offspring seen the learned among,
Like buoyant thing that floats above the wave.
1 The considerations which induced the Cavalier Vannetti to conclude
that a part of the Commedia, and the Canzone beginning
Amor, dacche convien pur, ch' io mi doglia,
were written in the valley Lagarina, in the territory of Trento, do not
appear entitled to much notice. Vannetti's letter is in the Zatta edition of
Dante, torn. iv. part ii. p. 143. There may be better ground for concluding
that he was, sometime during his exile, with Lanteri Paratico, a man of
ancient and noble family, at the castle of Paratico, near Brescia, and that he
there employed himself on his poems. The proof of this rests upon a com-
munication made by the Abate Rodella to Dionisi, of an extract from a
chronicle remaining at Brescia. See Cancellieri, Osservazioni intorno alia
questione sopra 1'originalita della Divina Commedia, &c. Roma, 1814, p. 125.
2 See Hell, xxvii. 38.
8 Hell, v. 113, and note. Former biographers of Dante have represented
Guido, his last patron, as the father of Francesca. Troya asserts that he
was her nephew. See his Veltro Allegorico di Dante. Ed. Florence, 1826,
p. 176. It is to be regretted that, in this instance, as in others, he gives no
authority for his assertion. He is however followed by Balbo, Vita di Dante,
Torino, 1839, v. ii. p. 315 ; and Artaud, Histoire de Dante, Paris, 1841,
p. 470.
xxiv LIFE OF DANTE
Vulgar! Eloquentia, 1 it had in some measure reconciled him even
to his banishment.
In the service of his last patron, in whom he seems to have
met with a more congenial mind than in any of the former, his
talents were gratefully exerted, and his affections interested but
too deepty ; for having been sent by Guido on an embassy to the
Venetians, and not being able even to obtain an audience, on
account of the rancorous animosity with which they regarded
that prince, Dante returned to Ravenna so overwhelmed with
disappointment and grief, that he was seized by an illness which
terminated fatally, either in July or September, 1321. 2 Guido
testified his sorrow and respect by the sumptuousness of his
obsequies, and by his intention to erect a monument, which he
did not live to complete. His countrymen showed, too late, that
they knew the value of what they had lost. At the beginning of
the next century, their posterity marked their regret by entreating
that the mortal remains of their illustrious citizen might be
restored to them, and deposited among the tombs of their fathers.
But the people of Ravenna were unwilling to part with the sad
and honourable memorial of their own hospitality. No better
success attended the subsequent negotiations of the Florentines
for the same purpose, though renewed under the auspices of Leo X,
and conducted through the powerful mediation of Michael Angelo. 3
The sepulchre, designed and commenced by Guido da Polenta,
was, in 1483, erected by Bernardo Bembo, the father of the
Cardinal ; and, by him, decorated, besides other ornaments,
with an effigy of the Poet in bas-relief, the sculpture of Pietro
Lombardo, and with the following epitaph :
Exigua tumuli, Danthes, hie sorte jacebas,
Squalenti nulli cognite pene situ.
At nunc marmoreo subnixus conderis arcu,
Omnibus et cultu splendidiore nites.
Nimirum Bembus Musis incensus Etruscis
Hoc tibi, quern imprimis hae coluere, dcdit.
A yet more magnificent memorial was raised so lately as the
year 1780, by the Cardinal Gonzaga. 4
1 Quantum vero suos familiares gloriosos efficiat, nos ipsi novimus, qui
huius dulcedine gloriae nostrum exilium postergamus. V. E. i. 17.
2 Filippo Villani ; Domenico di Bandino d'Arezzo ; and Giov. Villani,
Hist. lib. ix. cap. cxxxv. The last writer, whose authority is perhaps the best
on this point, in the Giunti edition of 1559, mentions July as the month in
which he died ; but there is a MS. of Villani's history, it is said, in the
library of St. Mark, at Venice, in which his death is placed in September.
' Pelli, p. 104.
4 Tiraboschi. In the Literary Journal, Feb. 16, 1804, p. 192, is the follow-
ing article : ' A subscription has been opened at Florence for erecting a
monument in the cathedral there, to the memory of the great poet Dante.
A drawing of this monument has been submitted to the Florentine Academy
of the Fine Arts, and has met with universal approbation.' A monument,
executed by Stefano Kicci of Arezzo, has since been erected to him in the Santa
Croce at Florence, which I had the gratification of seeing in the year 1833.
LIFE OF DANTE xxv
His children consisted of one daughter and five sons, two of
whom, Pietro 1 and Jacopo, 2 inherited some portion of their
father's abilities, which they employed chiefly in the pious task
of illustrating his Divina Commedia. The former of these pos-
sessed acquirements of a more profitable kind ; and obtained
considerable wealth at Verona, where he was settled, by the
exercise of the legal profession. He was honoured with the
friendship of Petrarch, by whom some verses were addressed to
him 3 at Trevigi, in 1361.
His daughter Beatrice * (whom he is said to have named after
the daughter of Folco Portinari) became a nun in the convent of
S. Stefano dell' Uliva, at Ravenna ; and, among the entries of
expenditure by the Florentine Republic, appears a present of
ten golden florins sent to her in 1350, by the hands of Boccaccio,
from the state. The imagination can picture to itself few
objects more interesting, than the daughter of Dante, dedicated
to the service of religion in the city where her father's ashes
were deposited, and receiving from his countrymen this tardy
tribute of their reverence for his divine genius, and her own
virtues.
It is but justice to the wife of Dante not to omit what
1 Pietro was also a poet. His commentary on the Divina Commedia,
which is in Latin, has never been published. Lionardo, the grandson of
Pietro, came to Florence, with other young men of Verona, in the time of
Leonardo Aretino, who tells us, that he showed him there the house of Dante
and of his ancestors. Vita di Dante. To Pietro, the son of Lionardo, Mario
Filelfo addressed his Life of our Poet. The son of this Pietro, Dante III,
was a man of letters, and an elegant poet. Some of his works are preserved
in collections : he is commended by Valerianus de Infelicitate Literal., lib. 1,
and is, no doubt, the same whom Landino speaks of as living in his time at
Ravenna, and calls ' uomo molto literato ed eloquente e degno di tal sangue,
e quale meritamente si dovrebbe rivocar nella sua antica patria e nostra
republica '. In 1495, the Florentines took Landino's advice, and invited him
back to the city, offering to restore all they could of the property that had
belonged to his ancestors ; but he would not quit Verona, where he was
established in much opulence. Vellutello, Vita. He afterwards experienced
a sad reverse of fortune. He had three sons, one of whom, Francesco, made
a translation of Vitruvius, which is supposed to have perished. A better
fate has befallen an elegant dialogue written by him, which was published,
not many years ago, in the Anecdota Literaria, edit. Roma (no date), vol. ii.
p. 207. It is entitled Francisci Aligerii Dantis III. Filii Dialogus Alter de
Antiquitatibus Valentinis ex Cod. MS. Membranaceo. Saec. xvi. nunc primum
in lucem editus. Pietro, another son of Dante III, who was also a scholar,
and held the office of Proveditore of Verona in 1539, was the father of
Ginevra, mentioned above in the note to p. xiii. See Pelli, p. 28, &c. Vellu-
tello, in his Life of the Poet, acknowledges his obligations to this last Pietro
for the information he had given him.
2 Jacopo is mentioned by Bembo among the Rimatori, lib. ii. della Volg.
Ling, at the beginning ; and some of his verses are preserved in MS. in the
Vatican, and at Florence. He was living in 1342, and had children, of
whom little is known. The names of our Poet's other sons were Gabrie o,
Aligero, and Eliseo. The last two died in their childhood. Of Gabnello,
nothing certain is known.
3 Carm. lib. iii. ep. vii. 4 Pelli, p. 33.
xxvi LIFE OF DANTE
Boccaccio 1 relates of her ; that after the banishment of her hus-
band she secured some share of his property from the popular fury,
under the name of her dowry ; that out of this she contrived to
support their little family with exemplary discretion ; and that
she even removed from them the pressure of poverty, by such
industrious efforts as in her former affluence she had never been
called on to exert. Who does not regret, that with qualities so
estimable, she wanted the sweetness of temper necessary for
riveting the affections of her husband ?
Dante was a man of middle stature and grave deportment ;
of a visage rather long ; large eyes ; an aquiline nose ; dark
complexion ; large and prominent cheek-bones ; black curling
hair and beard ; the under lip projecting beyond the upper.
He mentions, in the Convito, that his sight had been transiently
impaired by intense application to books. 2 In his dress, he studied
as much plainness as was suitable with his rank and station in life ;
and observed a strict temperance in his diet. He was at times
extremely absent and abstracted ; and appears to have indulged
too much a disposition to sarcasm. At the table of Can Grande,
when the company was amused by the conversation and tricks
of a buffoon, he was asked by his patron, why Can Grande himself,
and the guests who were present, failed of receiving as much
pleasure from the exertion of his talents, as this man had been
able to give them. ' Because all creatures delight in their own
resemblance,' was the reply of Dante. 3 In other respects, his
manners are said to have been dignified and polite. He was
particularly careful not to make any approaches to flattery, a
vice which he justly held in the utmost abhorrence. He spoke
seldom, and in a slow voice ; but what he said derived authority
from the subtleness of his observations, somewhat like his own
poetical heroes, who
Parlavan rado, con voci soavi.
SpclKC
Seldom, but all their words were tuneful sweet.
Hell, iv. 109.
He was connected in habits of intimacy and friendship with the
most ingenious men of his time ; with Guido Cavalcanti ; * with
1 Vita di Dante, p. 57, ed. Firenze, 1576.
2 ' Per affaticare lo viso molto a studio di leggere, in tanto debilitai gli
spiriti visivi, che le stelle mi pareano tutte d'alcuno albore ombrate. E per
lunga riposanza in luoghi scuri e freddi, e con affreddare lo corpo dell'
occhio con acqua chiara, rivinsi la virtu disgregata, che tornai nel primo buono
stato della vista.' Convito, iii. 9.
3 There is here a point of resemblance (nor is it the only one) in the
character of Milton. ' I had rather,' says the author of Paradise Lost, ' since
the life of man is likened to a scene, that all my entrances and exits might
mix with such persons only, whose worth erects them and their actions to
a grave and tragic deportment, and not to have to do with clowns and vices.'
Colasterion, Prose Works, vol. i. p. 339. Edit. London, 1?53.
4 See Hell, x. and notes.
LIFE OF DANTE xxvii
Bonagiunta da Lucca; 1 with Forese Donati ; 2 with Cino da
Pistoia ; 3 with Giotto, 4 the celebrated painter, by whose hand
his likeness 5 was preserved ; with Oderigi da Gubbio, 6 the illumi-
nator ; and with an eminent musician 7
bis Casella, whom he wooed to sing,
Met in the milder shades of Purgatory.
Milton's Sonnets.
Besides these, his acquaintance extended to some others, whose
names illustrate the first dawn of Italian literature. Lapo 8
1 See Purg. xxiv. 20. Yet Tiraboschi observes, that though it is not impro-
bable that Bonagiunta was the contemporary and friend of Dante, it
cannot be considered as certain. Stor. della Poes. Ital. vol. i. p. 109,
Mr. Mathias's Edit. 2 See Purg. xxiii. 44.
3 Guittoncino de' Sinibuldi, commonly called Cino da Pistoia (besides the
passage that will be cited in a following note from the De Vulg. Eloq.), is
again spoken of in the same treatise, lib. i. c. 17, as a great master of the
vernacular diction in his Canzoni, and classed with our Poet himself, who is
termed ' amicus eius ' ; and likewise in lib. ii. c. 2, where he is said to have
written of ' Love '. His verse are cited too in other chapters. He addressed
and received sonnets from Dante ; and wrote a sonnet, or canzone, on
Dante's death, which is preserved in the library of St. Mark, at Venice.
Tiraboschi, della Poes. Ital. v. i. p. 116, and v. ii. p. 60. The same honour
was done to the memory of Cino by Petrarch, son. 71, part i. ' Celebrated
both as a lawyer and a poet, he is better known by the writings which he
has left in the latter of these characters,' insomuch that Tiraboschi has
observed, that amongst those who preceded Petrarch, there is, perhaps, none
who can be compared to him in elegance and sweetness. ' There are many
editions of his poems, the most copious being that published at Venice in
1589, by P. Faustino Tasso ; in which, however, the Padre degli Agostini,
not without reason, suspects that the second book is by later hands.' Tira-
boschi, ibid. There has been an edition by Seb. Ciampi, at Pisa, in 1813,
&c. ; but see the remarks on it in Gamba's Testi di Lingua Ital. 294. He
was interred at Pistoia, with this epitaph : ' Cino eximio Juris interpret!
Bartolique praeceptori dignissimo populus Pistoriensis Civi suo B. M. fecit.
Obiit anno 1336.' Guidi Panziroli de Claris Legum Interpretibus, lib. ii.
cap. xxix. Lips. 4to. 1721. A Latin letter supposed to be addressed by
Dante to Cino was published for the first time from a MS. in the Laurentian
library, by M. Witte. 4 See Purg. xi. 95.
5 Mr. Eastlake, in a note to Kugler's Hand-Book of Painting, translated
by a Lady, Lond. 1842, p. 50, describes the discovery and restoration, in
July, 1840, of Dante's portrait by Giotto in the chapel of the Podesta at
Florence, where it had been covered with whitewash or plaster. But it
could scarcely have been concealed so soon as our distinguished artist
supposes, since Landino speaks of it as remaining in his time, and Vasari says
it was still to be seen when he wrote.
6 See Purg. xi. 79. 7 Ibid. Canto ii. 88
8 Lapo is said to have been the son of Farinata degli Uberti (see Hell, x. 32,
and Tiraboschi della Poes. Ital. v. i. p. 116), and the father of Fazio degli
Uberti, author of the Dittamondo, a poem which is thought, in the energy
of its style, to make some approaches to the Divina Commedia (Ibid. v. ii.
p. 63), though Monti passes on it a much less favourable sentence (see his
Proposta, v. iii. p te 2. p. 210. 8vo. 1824). He is probably the Lapo mentioned
in the sonnet to Guido Cavalcanti, beginning,
Guido, vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io,
which Mr. Hayley has so happily translated (see Hell, x. 63) ; and also in
a passage that "occurs in the 'De Vulg. Eloq. i. 13 : ' Quamquam fere
xxviii LIFE OF DANTE
degli Uberti ; Dante da Maiano ; l Cecco Angiolieri ; 2 Dino
Frescobaldi ; 3 Giovanni del Virgilio ; 4 Giovanni Quirino ; 8 and
Francesco Stabili, 6 who is better known by the appellation of
Cecco d'Ascoli ; most of them either honestly declared their
sense of his superiority, or betrayed it by their vain endeavours
to detract from the estimation in which he was held.
He is said to have attained some excellence in the art of
designing ; which may easily be believed, when we consider that
no poet has afforded more lessons to the statuary and the painter, 7
omnes Tusci in suo turpiloquio sint obtusi, nonnullos vulgaris excellentiam
cognovisse sentimus, scilicet Guidonem, Lapum, et unum aliuni, Florentines,
et Cinum Pistoriensem, quern nunc indigne postponimus, non indigne
coacti.' ' Although almost all the Tuscans are marred by the baseness of
their dialect, yet I perceive that some have known the excellence of the
vernacular tongue, namely Guido Lapo ' (I suspect Dante here means his
two friends Cavalcanti and Uberti, though this has hitherto been taken for
the name of one person), ' and one other ' (who is supposed to be the author
himself), ' Florentines ; and last, though not of least regard, Cino da Pistoia.'
1 Dante da Maiano flourished about 1290. He was a Florentine, and com-
posed many poems in praise of a Sicilian lady, who, being herself a poetess,
was insensible neither to his verses nor his love, so that she was called the
Nina of Dante. Pelli, p. 60, and Tiraboschi, Storia della Poes. Ital. v. i.
p. 137. There are several of his sonnets addressed to our Poet, who declares,
in his answer to one of them, that, although he knows not the name of its
author, he discovers in it the traces of a great mind.
2 Of Cecco Angiolieri, Boccaccio relates a pleasant storj' in the Decameron,
G. ix. 4. He lived towards the end of the thirteenth century, and wrote
several sonnets to Dante, which are in Allacci's collection. In some of
them he wears the semblance of a friend ; but in one the mask drops, and
shows that he was well disposed to be a rival. See Crescimbeni, Com. alia
Storia di Volg. Poes. v. ii. par. ii. lib. ii. p. 103 ; Pelli, p. 61.
3 Dino, son of Lambertuccio Frescobaldi. Crescimbeni (ibid. lib. iii. p. 120)
assures us that he was not inferior to Cino da Pistoia. Pelli, p. 61. He
is said to have been a friend of Dante's, in whose writings I have not observed
any mention of him. Boccaccio, in his Life of Dante, calls Dino ' in que'
tempi famosissimo dicitore in rima in Firenze '.
4 Giovanni del Virgilio addressed two Latin eclogues to Dante, which were
answered in similar compositions ; and is said to have been his friend and
admirer. See Boccaccio, Vita di Dante ; and Pelli, p. 137. Dante's poetical
genius sometimes breaks through the rudeness of style in his two Latin
eclogues.
5 Muratori had seen several sonnets, addressed to Giovanni Quirino by
Dante, in a MS. preserved in the Ambrosian library. Della Perfetta Poesia
Ital., Ediz. Venezia, 1770, torn. i. lib. i. c. iii. p. 9.
G For the correction of many errors respecting this writer, see Tiraboschi,
Stor. della Lett. Ital. torn. v. lib. ii. cap. ii. 15, &c. He was burned in
1317. In his Acerba, a poem in sesta rima, he has taken several occasions of
venting his spleen against his great, contemporary.
7 Besides Filippo Brunelleschi, who, as Vasari tells us, ' diede molta opera
alle cose di Dante ', and Michael Angelo, whose Last Judgement is probably
the mightiest effort of modern art, as the loss of his sketches on the margin
of the Divina Commedia may be regarded as the severest loss the art has
sustained ; besides these, Andrea Orgagna, Gio. Angelico di Fiesole, Luca
Signorelli, Spinello Aretino, Giacomo da Pontormo, and Aurelio Lomi, have
been recounted among the many artists who have worked on the same
original. See Cancellieri, Osservazioni, &c., p. 75. To these we may justly
LIFE OF DANTE xxix
in the variety of objects which he represents, and in the accuracy
and spirit with which they are brought before the eye. Indeed,
on one occasion, 1 he mentions that he was employed in delineating
the figure of an angel, on the first anniversary of Beatrice's death.
It is not unlikely that the seed of the Paradiso was thus cast into
his mind ; and that he was now endeavouring to express by the
pencil an idea of celestial beatitude, which could only be conveyed
in its full perfection through the medium of song.
As nothing that related to such a man was thought unworthy
of notice, one of his biographers, 2 who had seen his handwriting,
has recorded that it was of a long and delicate character, and
remarkable for neatness and accuracy.
Dante wrote in Latin a Treatise De Monarchia, and two books
De Vulgari Eloquio. 3 In the former, he defends the Imperial
rights against the pretensions of the Pope, with arguments that
are sometimes chimerical, and sometimes sound and conclusive.
The latter, which he left unfinished, contains not only much
information concerning the progress which the vernacular poetry
of Italy had then made, but some reflections on the art itself,
that prove him to have entertained large and philosophical prin-
ciples respecting it.
His Latin style, however, is generally rude and unclassical.
It is fortunate that he did not trust to it, as he once intended, for
the work by which his name was to be perpetuated. In the use
of his own language he was, beyond measure, more successful.
The prose of his Vita Nuova and his Convito, although five cen-
turies have intervened since its composition, is probably, to an
Italian eye, still devoid neither of freshness nor elegance. In the
Vita Nuova, which he appears to have written about his twenty-
eighth year, he gives an account of his youthful attachment to
Beatrice. It is, according to the taste of those times, somewhat
mystical : yet there are some particulars in it, which have not at
all the air of a fiction, such as the death of Beatrice's father, Folco
Portinari ; her relation to the friend whom he esteemed next
after Guido Cavalcanti ; his own attempt to conceal his passion,
pride ourselves in being able to add the names of Reynolds, Fuseli, and
Flaxman. The frescoes by Cornelius in the Villa Massimi at Rome, lately
executed, entitle the Germans to a share in this distinction.
1 ' In quel giorno, nel quale si compiva 1'anno, che questa donna era fatta
de' cittadini di vita eterna, io mi sedea in parte, nella quale ricordandomi
di lei, disegnava un angelo sopra certe tavolette e mentre io '1 disegnava,
volsi gli occhi,' &c. Vita Nuova, xxxv.
2 Leonardo Aretino. A specimen of it was believed to exist when Pelli
wrote, about sixty years ago, and perhaps still exists in a MS. preserved in
the archives at Gubbio, at the end of which was the sonnet to Busone, said
to be in the handwriting of Dante. Pelli, p. 51.
3 These two were first published in an Italian translation, supposed to be
Trissino's, and were not allowed to be genuine, till the Latin original was
published at Paris in 1577. Tiraboschi. A copy, written in the fourteenth
century, is said to have been lately found in the public library at Grenoble.
See Fraticelli's Opere minori di Dante, 12. Fir. 1840, torn, iii, p te ii. p. xvi.
A collation of this MS. is very desirable.
xxx LIFE OF DANTE
by a pretended attachment to another lady ; and the anguish he
felt at the death of his mistress. 1 He tells us too, that at the
time of her decease, he chanced to be composing a canzone in
her praise, and that he was interrupted by that event at the
conclusion of the first stanza ; a circumstance which we can
scarcely suppose to have been a mere invention.
Of the poetry with which the Vita Nuova is plentifully inter-
spersed, the two sonnets that follow may be taken as a specimen.
Near the beginning he relates a marvellous vision, which appeared
to him in sleep, soon after his mistress had for the first time
addressed her speech to him ; and of this dream he thus asks for
an interpretation :
To every heart that feels the gentle flame,
To whom this present saying comes in sight,
In that to me their thoughts they may indite,
All health ! in Love, our lord and master's name.
Now on its way the second quarter came
Of those twelve hours, wherein the stars are bright,
When Love was seen before me, in such might,
As to remember shakes with awe my frame.
Suddenly came be, seeming glad, and keeping
My heart in hand ; and in his arms he had
My Lady in a folded garment sleeping :
He waked her ; and that heart all burning bade
Her feed upon, in lowly guise and sad :
Then from my view he turned ; and parted, weeping.
To this sonnet, Guido Cavalcanti, amongst others, returned
an answer in a composition of the same form ; endeavouring to
give a happy turn to the dream, by which the mind of the Poet
had been so deeply impressed. From the intercourse thus begun,
when Dante was eighteen years of age, arose that friendship
which terminated only with the death of Guido.
The other sonnet is one that was written after the death of
Beatrice :
Ah pilgrims ! ye that, haply musing, go,
On aught save that which on your road ye meet,
From land so distant, tell me, I intreat,
Come ye, as by your mien and looks ye show ?
Why mourn ye not, as through these gates of woe
Ye wend along our city's midmost street,
Even like those who nothing seem to weet
What chance hath fall'n, why she is grieving so ?
If ye to listen but a while would stay,
Well knows this heart, which inly sigheth sore,
That ye would then pass, weeping on your way.
Oh hear : her Beatrice is no more ;
And words there are a man of her might say,
Would make a stranger's eye that loss deplore.
1 Beatrice's marriage to Simone dei Bardi, which is collected from a clause
in her father's will dated January 15, 1287, would have been a fact too
unsentimental to be introduced into the Vita Nuova, and is not, I believe,
noticed by any of the early biographers.
LIFE OF DANTE xxxi
In the Convito, 1 or Banquet, which did not follow till some
time after his banishment, he explains very much at large the
sense of three, out of fourteen, of his canzoni, the remainder of
which he had intended to open in the same manner. ' The viands
at his Banquet,' he tells his readers, quaintly enough, ' will be set
out in fourteen different manners ; that is, will consist of fourteen
canzoni, the materials of which are love and virtue. Without the
present bread, they would not be free from some shade of obscurity,
so as to be prized by many less for their usefulness than for their
beauty ; but the bread will, in the form of the present exposition,
be that light, which will bring forth all their colours, and display
their true meaning to the view. And if the present work, which
is named a Banquet, and I wish may prove so, be handled after
a more manly guise than the Vita Nuova, I intend not, therefore,
that the former should in any part derogate from the latter, but
that the one should be a help to the other : seeing that it is fitting
in reason for this to be fervid and impassioned ; that, temperate
and manly. For it becomes us to act and speak otherwise at one
age than at another; since at one age, certain manners are suitable
and praiseworthy, which, at another, become disproportionate
and blameable.' He then apologizes for speaking of himself.
' I fear the disgrace,' says he, * of having been subject to so much
passion, as one, reading these canzoni, may conceive me to have
been ; a disgrace, that is removed by my speaking thus unre-
servedly of myself, which shows not passion, but virtue, to have
been the moving cause. I intend, moreover, to set forth their
true meaning, which some may not perceive, if I declare it not.'
He next proceeds to give many reasons why his commentary was
not written rather in Latin than in Italian ; for which, if no excuse
be now thought necessary, it must be recollected that the Italian
language was then in its infancy, and scarce supposed to possess
dignity enough for the purposes of instruction. ' The Latin,' he
allows, ' would have explained his canzoni better to foreigners,
as to the Germans, the English, and others ; but then it must
have expounded their sense, without the power of, at the same
time, transferring their beauty : ' and he soon after tells us, that
many noble persons of both sexes were ignorant of the learned
language. The best cause, however, which he assigns for this
preference, was his natural love of his native tongue, and the
desire he felt to exalt it above the Provengal, which by many was
said to be the more beautiful and perfect language ; and against
such of his countrymen as maintained so unpatriotic an opinion
he inveighs with much warmth.
1 Perticari (Degli Scrittori del Trecento, lib. ii. c. v.) speaking of the
Convito, observes that Salviati himself has termed it the most ancient and
principal of all excellent prose works in Italian. On the other hand, Balb
(Vita di Dante, v. ii. p. 86) pronounces it to be, on the whole, certainly the
lowest among Dante's writings. In this difference of opinion, a foreign)
may be permitted to judge for himself.
xxxii LIFE OF DANTE
In his exposition of the first canzone of the three, he tells the
reader, that ' the Lady, of whom he was enamoured after his first
love, was the most beauteous and honourable daughter of the
Emperor of the universe, to whom Pythagoras gave the name of
Philosophy : ' and he applies the same title to the object of his
affections, when he is commenting on the other two.
The purport of his third canzone, which is less mysterious,
and, therefore, perhaps more likely to please than the others, is
to show that ' virtue only is true nobility '. Towards the con-
clusion, after having spoken of virtue itself, much as Pindar
would have spoken of it, as being ' the gift of God only ' ;
Ch6 solo Iddio all' anima la dona,
he thus describes it as acting throughout the several stages of life.
L'anima, cui adorna, &c.
The soul, that goodness like to this adorns,
Holdeth it not concealed ;
But, from her first espousal to the frame,
Shows it, till death, revealed.
Obedient, sweet, and full of seemly shame,
She, in the primal age,
The person decks with beauty ; moulding it
Fitly through every part.
In riper manhood, temperate, firm of heart,
With love replenished, and with courteous praise,
In loyal deeds alone she hath delight.
And, in her elder days,
For prudent and just largeness is she known ;
Rejoicing with herself,
That wisdom in her staid discourse be shown.
Then, in life's fourth division, at the last
She weds with God again,
Contemplating the end she shall attain ;
And looketh back ; and blesseth the time past.
His lyric poems, indeed, generally stand much in need of a
comment to explain them ; but the difficulty arises rather from
the thoughts themselves, than from any imperfection of the
language in which those thoughts are conveyed. Yet they
abound not only in deep moral reflections, but in touches of
tenderness and passion.
Some, it has been already intimated, have supposed that
Beatrice was only a creature of Dante's imagination ; and there
can be no question but that he has invested her, in the Divina
Commedia, with the attributes of an allegorical being. But who
can doubt of her having had a real existence, when she is spoken
of in such a strain of passion as in these lines ?
Quel ch' ella par quand' un poco sorride,
Non si puo dicer, ne tener a mente,
Si e nuovo miracolo gentile. Vita Nuova, 21.
Mira che quando ride
Passa ben di dolcezza ogni altra cosa. [Canz. xv.]
LIFE OF DANTE xxxiii
The canzone, from which the last couplet is taken, presents a
portrait which might well supply a painter with a far more
exalted idea of female beauty than he could form to himself
from the celebrated Ode of Anacreon on a similar subject. After
a minute description of those parts of her form which the gar-
ments of a modest woman would suffer to be seen, he raises the
whole by the superaddition of a moral grace and dignity, such as
the Christian religion alone could supply, and such as the pencil
of Raphael afterwards aimed to represent.
Umile, vergognosa e temperata,
E sempre a vertii grata,
Intra suoi be' costumi un atto regna,
Che d' ogni riverenza la fa degna. 1
One or two of the sonnets prove that he could at times con-
descend to sportiveness and pleasantry. The following to
Brunette, I should conjecture to have been sent with his Vita
Nuova, which was written the year before Brunette died.
* Master Brunette, this I send, entreating
Ye'll entertain this lass of mine at Easter ;
She does not come among you as a feaster ;
No : she has need of reading, not of eating.
Nor let her find you at some merry meeting,
Laughing amidst buffoons and drpllers, lest her
Wise sentence should escape a noisy jester :
She must be wooed, and is well worth the weeting.
If in this sort you fail to make her out,
You have amongst you many sapient men,
All famous as was Albert of Cologne.
I have been posed amid that learned rout.
And if they cannot spell her right, why then
Call Master Giano, and the deed is done.
Another, though on a more serious subject, is yet remarkable
for a fancifulness, such as that with which Chaucer, by a few
spirited touches, often conveys to us images more striking than
others have done by repeated and elaborate efforts of skill.
Came Melancholy to my side one day,
And said : ' I must a little bide with thee : '
And brought along with her in company
Sorrow and Wrath. Quoth I to her; f Away:
1 I am aware that this canzone is not ascribed to Dante, in the collection
of Sonetti e Canzoni printed by the Giunti in 1527. Monti, in his Proposta
under the word ' Induare ', remarks that it is quite in the style of Fazio
degli Uberti ; and adds, that a very rare MS. possessed by Perticari restores
it to that writer. On the other hand, Missirini, in a late treatise ' On the
Love of Dante and on the Portrait of Beatrice ', printed at Florence in
1832, makes so little doubt of its being genuine, that he founds on it the
chief argument to prove an old picture in his possession to be intended for
a representation of Beatrice. See Fraticelli's Opere minori di Dante, torn. i.
p. cciii. 12. Fir. 1834.
2 Fraticelli (ibid. p. cccii. ccciii.) questions the genuineness of this sonnet,
and decides on the spuriousness of that which follows. I do not, in either
instance, feel the justness of his reasons.
xxxiv LIFE OF DANTE
I \vill have none of you : make no delay.'
And, like a Greek, she gave me stout reply.
Then, as she talked, I looked and did espy
Where Love was coming onward on the way,
A garment new of cloth of black he had,
And on his head a hat of mourning wore ;
And he, of truth, unfeignedly was crying.
Forthwith I asked : ' What ails thee, caitiff lad ? '
And h j .rejoined : ' Sad thought and anguish sore ;
Sweet brother mine ! our lady lies a-dying.'
For purity of diction, the Rime of our author are, I think, on
the whole, preferred by Muratori to his Divina Commedia, though
that also is allowed to be a model of the pure Tuscan idiom. To
this singular production, which has not only stood the test of *
ages, but given a tone and colour to the poetry of modern Europe,
and even animated the genius of Milton and of Michael Angelo,
it would be difficult to assign its place according to the received
rules of criticism. Some have termed it an epic poem ; and
others, a satire : but it matters little by what name it is called.
It suffices that the poem seizes on the heart by its two great
holds, terror and pity ; detains the fancy by an accurate and lively
delineation of the objects it represents ; and displays throughout
such an originality of conception, as leaves to Homer and Shake-
speare alone the power of challenging the pre-eminence or equality. 1
1 Yet his pretensions to originality have not been wholly unquestioned.
Dante, it has been supposed, was more immediately influenced in his choice
of a subject by the Vision of Alberico, written in barbarous Latin prose
about the beginning of the twelfth century. The incident which is said to
have given birth to this composition, is not a little marvellous. Alberico,
the son of noble parents, and born at a castle in the neighbourhood of Alvito
in the diocese of Sora, in the year 1101 or soon after, when he had com-
pleted his ninth year, was seized with a violent fit of illness, which deprived
him of his senses for the space of nine days. During the continuance of this
trance, he had a vision, in which he seemed to himself to be carried away by
a dove, and conducted by St. Peter, in company with two angels, through
Purgatory and Hell, to survey the torments of sinners ; the saint giving him
information, as they proceeded, respecting what he saw : after which they
were transported together through the seven heavens, and taken up into
Paradise, to behold the glory of the blessed. As soon as he came to himself
again, he was permitted to make profession of a religious life in the monastery
of Monte Casino. As the account he gave of his vision was strangely altered
in the reports that went abroad of it, Girardo the abbot employed one of the
monks to take down a relation of it, dictated by the mouth of Alberico him-
self. Senioretto, who was chosen abbot in 1127, not contented with this
narrative, although it seemed to have every chance of being authentic,
ordered Alberico to revise and correct it, which he accordingly did with the
assistance of Pietro Diaconp, who was his associate in the monastery, and
a few years younger than himself; arid whose testimony to his extreme and
perpetual self-mortification, and to a certain abstractedness of demeanour,
which showed him to converse with other thoughts than those of this life,
is still on record. The time of Alberico's death is not known ; but it is
conjectured that he reached to a good old age. His Vision, with a preface by
the first editor Guido, and preceded by a letter from Alberico himself, is
preserved in a MS. numbered 257 in the archives of the monastery, which
contains the works of Pietro Diacono, and which was written between the
LIFE OF DANTE xxxv
The fiction, it has been remarked, 1 is admirable, and the work of
an inventive talent truly great. It comprises a description
of the heavens and heavenly bodies ; a description of men, their
deserts and punishments, of supreme happiness and utter misery,
and of the middle state between the two extremes : nor, per-
haps, was there ever any one who chose a more ample and fertile
subject ; so as to afford scope for the expression of all his ideas,
from the vast multitude of spirits that are introduced speaking
on such different topics ; who are of so many different countries
and ages, and under circumstances of fortune so striking and so
diversified ; and who succeed, one to another, with such a rapidity
as never suffers the attention for an instant to pall.
years 1159 and 1181. The probability of our Poet's having been indebted
to it, was first remarked either by Giovanni Bottari in a letter inserted in
the Deca di Simboli, and printed at Rome in 1753 ; or, as F. Cancellieri
conjectures, in the preceding year by Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi. In 1801,
extracts from Alberico's Vision were laid before the public in a quarto
pamphlet, printed at Rome with the title of Lettera di Eustazio Dicearcheo
ad Angelio Sidicino, under which appellations the writer, Giustino di
Costanzo, concealed his own name and that of his friend Luigi Anton. Som-
pano ; and the whole has since, in 1814, been edited in the same city by
Francesco Cancellieri, who has added to the original an Italian translation.
Such parts of it, as bear a marked resemblance to passages in the Divina
Commedia, will be found distributed in their proper places throughout the
following notes. The reader will in these probably see enough to convince
him that our author had read this singular work, although nothing to detract
from his claim to originality.
Long before the public notice had been directed to this supposed imitation,
Malatesta Porta, in the Dialogue entitled Rossi, as referred to by Fontanini
in his Eloquenza Italiana, had suggested the probability that Dante had
taken his plan from an ancient romance, called Guerrino di Durazzo il
Meschino. The above-mentioned Bottari, however, adduced reasons for
concluding that this book was written originally in ProvenQal, and not
translated into Italian till after the time of our Poet, by one Andrea di
Barberino, who embellished it with many images, and particularly with
similes, borrowed from the Divina Commedia.
Mr. Warton, in one part of his History of English Poetry (vol. i. s. xviii.
p. 463), has observed, that a poem, entitled Le Voye or Le Songe d'Enfer,
was written by Raoul de Houdenc, about the year 1180 ; and in another
part (vol. ii. s. x. p. 219) he has attributed the origin of Dante's Poem to
that ' favourite apologue, the Somnium Scipionis of Cicero, which, in
Chaucer's words, treats
of heaven and hell,
And earth, and souls that therein dwell.'
Parlement of Foules.
It is likely that a little research might discover many other sources, from
which his invention might with an equal appearance of truth te derived.
The method of conveying instruction or entertainment under the form of
a vision, in which the living should be made to converse with the dead, was
so obvious, that it would be, perhaps, difficult to mention any country in
which it had not been employed. It is the scale of magnificence on which
this conception was framed, and the wonderful development of it in all its
parts, that may justly entitle pur Poet to rank among the few minds to
whom the power of a great creative faculty can be ascribed.
1 Leonardo Aretino, Vita di Dante.
xxxvi LIFE OF DANTE
His solicitude, it is true, to define all his images in such
a manner as to bring them distinctly within the circle of our
vision, and to subject them to the power of the pencil, sometimes
renders him little better than grotesque, where Milton has since
taught us to expect sublimity. But his faults, in general, were
less those of the poet, than of the age in which he lived. For his
having adopted the popular creed in all its extravagance, we have
no more right to blame him, than we should have to blame Homer
because he made use of the heathen deities, or Shakespeare on
account of his witches and fairies. The supposed influence of
the stars on the disposition of men at their nativity, was hardly
separable from the distribution which he had made of the glorified
spirits through the heavenly bodies, as the abodes of bliss suited
to their several endowments. And whatever philosophers may
think of the matter, it is certainly much better, for the ends of
poetry at least, that too much should be believed, rather than less,
or even no more than can be proved to be true. Of what he con-
sidered the cause of civil and religious liberty, he is on all occasions
the zealous and fearless advocate ; and of that higher freedom,
which is seated in the will, he was an assertor equally strenuous
and enlightened. The contemporary of Thomas Aquinas, it is
not to be wondered if he has given his poem a tincture of the
scholastic theology, which the writings of that extraordinary
man had rendered so prevalent, and without which it could not
perhaps have been made acceptable to the generality of his
readers. The phraseology has been accused of being at times
hard and uncouth ; but, if this is acknowledged, yet it must be
remembered that he gave a permanent stamp and character to
the language in which he wrote, and in which, before him, nothing
great had been attempted ; that the diction is strictly vernacular,
without any debasement of foreign idiom ; that his numbers have
as much variety as the Italian tongue, at least in that kind of
metre, could supply ; and that, although succeeding writers may
have surpassed him in the lighter graces and embellishments of
style, not one of them has equalled him in succinctness, vivacity,
and strength.
Never did any poem rise so suddenly into notice after the
death of its author, or engage the public attention more power-
tully, than the Divina Commedia. This cannot be attributed
solely to its intrinsic excellence. The freedom with which the
writer had treated the most distinguished characters of his time,
gave it a further and stronger hold on the curiosity of the age :
many saw in it their acquaintances, kinsmen, and friends, or,
what scarcely touched them less nearly, their enemies, either
consigned to infamy or recorded with honour, and represented in
another world as tasting of
Heaven's sweet cup, or poisonous drug of hell ;
so that not a page could be opened without exciting the strongest
LIFE OF DANTE xxxvii
personal feelings in the mind of the reader. These sources of
interest must certainly be taken into our account, when we
consider the rapid diffusion of the work, and the unexampled
pains that were taken to render it universally intelligible. Not
only the profound and subtle allegory which pervaded it, the
mysterious style of prophecy which the writer occasionally
assumed, the bold and unusual metaphors which he everywhere
employed, and the great variety of knowledge he displayed ;
but his hasty allusions to passing events, and his description of
persons by accidental circumstances, such as some peculiarity
of form or feature, the place of their nativity or abode, some office
they held, or the heraldic insignia they bore all asked for the help
of commentators and expounders, who were not long wanting to
the task. Besides his two sons, to whom that labour most
properly belonged, many others were found ready to engage in it.
Before the century had expired, there appeared the commentaries
of Accorso de' Bonfantini, 1 a Franciscan ; of Micchino da Mezzano,
a canon of Ravenna ; of Fra Riccardo, a Carmelite ; of Andrea,
a Neapolitan ; of Guiniforte Bazzisio, a Bergamese ; of Fra
Paolo Albertino ; and of several writers whose names are un-
known, and whose toils, when Pelli wrote, were concealed in the
dust of private libraries. 2 About the year 1350, Giovanni Visconti,
archbishop of Milan, selected six of the most learned men in Italy,
two divines, two philosophers, and two Florentines ; and gave it
them in charge to contribute their joint endeavours towards the
compilation of an ample comment, a copy of which is preserved in
the Laurentian library at Florence. Who these were is no longer
known ; but Jacopo della Lana, 3 and Petrarch, are conjectured
to have been among the number. At Florence, a public lecture
was founded for the purpose of explaining a poem that was at the
same time the boast and the disgrace of the city. The decree for
this institution was passed in 1373 ; and in that year Boccaccio,
the first of their writers in prose, was appointed, with an annual
salary of a hundred florins, to deliver lectures in one of the
churches, on the first of their poets. On this occasion he wrote
his comment, which extends only to a part of the Inferno, and has
been printed. In 1375 Boccaccio died ; and among his successors
in this honourable employment we find the names of Antonio
Piovano in 1381, and of Filippo Villani in 1401.
The example of Florence was speedily followed by Bologna,
1 Tiraboschi, Stor. della Poes. Ital. vol. ii. p. 39 ; and Pelli, p. 119.
2 The Lettera di Eustazio Dicearcheo, &c., mentioned above, p. xxix,
contains many extracts from an early MS. of the Divina Commedia, with
marginal notes in Latin, preserved in the monastery of Monte Cassino. To
these extracts I shall have frequent occasion to refer.
3 Pelli, p. 119, informs us, that the writer, who is termed sometimes ' the
good ', sometimes the ' old commentator ', by those deputed to correct the
Decameron, in the preface to their explanatory notes, and who began his work
in 1334, is known to be Jacopo della Lana ; and that his commentary was
translated into Latin by Alberigo da Rosada, Doctor of Laws at Bologna.
xxxviii LIFE OF DANTE
by Pisa, b}^ Piacenza, and by Venice. Benvenuto da Iniola, on
whom the office of lecturer devolved at Bologna, sustained it for
the space of ten years. From the comment, which he composed
for the purpose, and which he sent abroad in 1379, those passages,
that tend to illustrate the history of Italy, have been published
by Muratori. 1 At Pisa, the same charge was committed to
Francesco da Buti about 1386.
On the invention of printing, in the succeeding century, Dante
was one of those writers who were first and most frequently given
to the press. But I do not mean to enter on an account of the
numerous editions of our author, which were then, or have since
been published ; but shall content myself with adding such re-
marks as have occurred to me on reading the principal writers, by
whose notes those editions have been accompanied.
Of the four chief commentators on Dante, namely Landino,
Vellutello, Venturi, and Lombardi, the first appears to enter
most thoroughly into the mind of the Poet. Within little more
than a century of the time in which Dante had lived ; himself
a Florentine, while Florence was still free, and still retained
something of her ancient simplicity ; the associate of those great
men who adorned the age of Lorenzo de' Medici ; Landino 2 was
the most capable of forming some estimate of the mighty stature
of his compatriot, who was indeed greater than them all. His
taste for the classics, which were then newly revived, and had
become the principal objects of public curiosity, as it impaired
his relish for what has not inaptly been termed the romantic
literature, did not, it is true, improve him for a critic on the
Divina Commedia. The adventures of King Arthur, by which 3
Dante had been delighted, appeared to Landino no better than
a fabulous and inelegant book.* He is, besides, sometimes, un-
necessarily prolix ; at others, silent, where a real difficulty asks
for solution ; and, now and then, a little visionary in his inter-
pretation. The commentary of his successor, Vellutello, 5 is more
evenly diffused over the text ; and although without pretensions
to the higher qualities by which Landino is distinguished, he is
generally under the influence of a sober good sense, which renders
him a steady and useful guide. Venturi, 6 who followed after a
long interval of time, was too much swayed by his principles, or
1 Antiq. Ital. v. i. The Italian comment published under the name of
Benvenuto da Imola, at Milan, in 1473, and at Venice in 1477, is altogether
different from that which Muratori has brought to light, and appears to be
the same as the Italian comment of Jacopo della Lana before mentioned.
See Tiraboschi.
2 Cristofforo Landino was born in 1424, and died in 1504 or 1.308. See
Bandini, Specimen Litterat. Florent. Edit. Florence, 1751.
3 See note to Purgatory, x.xvi. 132.
4 ' II favoloso, e non molto elegante libro della Tavola Rotonda.' Landino,
in the notes to the Paradise, xvi.
6 Alessandro Vellutello was born in 1519.
6 Pompeo Venturi was born in 1693, and died in 1752.
LIFE OF DANTE xxxix
his prejudices, as a Jesuit, to suffer him to judge fairly of a Glii-
belline poet ; and either this bias, or a real want of tact for the
higher excellence of his author, or, perhaps, both these imperfec-
tions together, betray him into such impertinent and injudicious
sallies, as dispose us to quarrel with our companion, though, in
the main, a very attentive one, generally acute and lively, and at
times even not devoid of a better understanding for the merits of
his master. To him, and in our own times, has succeeded the
Padre Lombardi. 1 This good Franciscan, no doubt, must have
given himself much pains to pick out and separate those ears of
grain, which had escaped the flail of those who had gone before
him in that labour. But his zeal to do something new often
leads him to do something that is not over wise ; and if on certain
occasions we applaud his sagaciousness, on others we do not less
wonder that his ingenuity should have been so strangely perverted.
His manner of writing is awkward and tedious ; his attention,
more than is necessary, directed to grammatical niceties ; and his
attachment to one of the old editions, so excessive, as to render
him disingenuous or partial in his representation of the rest.
But to compensate this, he is a good Ghibelline ; and his opposi-
tion to Venturi seldom fails to awaken him into a perception of
those beauties which had only exercised the spleen of the Jesuit.
He, who shall undertake another commentary on Dante 2 yet
completer than any of those which have hitherto appeared, must
make use of these four, but depend on none. To them he must
add several others of minor note, whose diligence will nevertheless
be found of some advantage, and among whom I can particularly
distinguish Volpi. Besides this, many commentaries and mar-
ginal annotations, that are yet inedited, remain to be examined ;
many editions and manuscripts 3 to be more carefully collated ;
and many separate dissertations and works of criticism to be
considered. But this is not all. That line of reading which the
Poet himself appears to have pursued (and there are many ves-
tiges in his works by which we shall be enabled to discover it)
must be diligently tracked ; and the search, I have little doubt,
would lead to sources of information equally profitable and
unexpected.
If there is anything of novelty in the notes which accompany
the following translation, it will be found to consist chiefly in a
comparison of the Poet with himself, that is, of the Divina Com-
1 Baldassare Lombardi died January 2, 1802. See Cancellieri, Osserva-
zioni, &c. Roma, 1814, p. 112.
2 Francesco Cionacci, a noble Florentine, projected an edition of the
Divina Commedia in one hundred volumes, each containing a single canto,
followed by all the commentaries, according to the order of time in which
they were written, and accompanied by a Latin translation for the use of
foreigners. Cancellieri, ibid. p. 64.
3 The Count Mortara has lately shown me many various readings he has
remarked on collating the numerous MSS. of Dante in the Canonici collection
at the Bodleian. It is to be hoped he will make them public. [January, 1
xl LIFE OF DANTE
media with his other writings ; 1 a mode of illustration so obvious,
that it is only to be wondered how others should happen to have
made so little use of it. As to the imitations of my author by
later poets, Italian and English, which I have collected in addition
to those few that had been already remarked, they contribute
little or nothing to the purposes of illustration, but must be
considered merely as matter of curiosity, and as instances of the
manner in which the great practitioners in art do not scruple to
profit by their predecessors.
1 The edition which is referred to in the following notes, is that printed
at Venice in 2 vols. 8vo. 1793.
CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW
OF
THE AGE OF DANTE
A.D.
1265 May. DANTE, son of Alighieri degli Alighieri and Bella, is
born at Florence. Of his own ancestry he speaks in the
Paradise, Canto xv and xvi.
In the same year, Manfredi, king of Naples and Sicily, is
defeated and slain by Charles of Anjou. H. xxviii. 13 and
Purg. iii. 110.
Guido Novello of Polenta obtains the sovereignty of Ravenna.
H. xxvii. 38.
Battle of Evesham. Simon de Montfort, leader of the barons,
defeated and slain.
1266 Two of the Frati Godenti chosen arbitrators of the differences
of Florence. H. xxiii. 104.
Gianni de' Soldanieri heads the populace in that city. H.
xxxii. 118.
Roger Bacon sends a copy of his Opus Majus to Pope
Clement IV.
1268 Charles of Anjou puts Conradine to death, and becomes king
of Naples. H. xxviii. 16 and Purg. xx. 66.
1270 Louis IX of France dies before Tunis. His widow, Beatrice,
daughter of Raymond Berenger, lived till 1295. Purg.
vii. 126. Par. vi. 135.
1272 Henry III of England is succeeded by Edward I. Purg. vii. 129.
Guy de Montfort murders Prince Henry, son of Richard, king
of the Romans, and nephew of Henry III of England, at
Viterbo. H. xii. 119. Richard dies, as is supposed, of grief
for this event.
Abulfeda, the Arabic writer, is born.
1274 Our Poet first sees Beatrice, daughter of Folco Portinari.
Rodolph acknowledged emperor.
Philip III of France marries Mary of Brabant, who lived till
1321. Purg. vi. 24.
Thomas Aquinas dies. Purg. xx. 67 and Par. x. 96.
Buonaventura dies. Par. xii. 25.
1275 Pierre de la Brosse, secretary to Philip III of France, executed,
Purg. vi. 23.
1276 Giotto, the painter, is born. Purg. xi. 95.
Pope Adrian V dies. Purg. xix. 97.
Guido Guinicelli, the poet, dies. Purg. xi. 96 and xxvi. 83.
1277 Pope John XXI dies. Par. xii. 126.
1278 Ottocar, king of Bohemia, dies. Purg. vii. 97. Robert of
Gloucester is living at this time.
xlii CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW
A.D.
1279 Dionysius succeeds to the throne of Portugal. Par. xix. 135.
1280 Albertus Magnus dies. Par. x. 95.
Our Poet's friend, Busone da Gubbio, is born about this time.
See the Life of Dante prefixed.
William of Ockham is born about this time.
1281 Pope Nicholas III dies. H. xix. 71.
Dante studies at the universities of Bologna and Padua.
About this time Ricordano Malaspina, the Florentine annalist,
dies.
1282 The Sicilian vespers. Par. viii. 80.
The French defeated by the people of Forli. H. xxvii. 41.
Tribaldello de' Manfredi betrays the city of Faenza. H.
xxxii. 119.
1284 Prince Charles of Anjou is defeated and made prisoner by
Rugier de Lauria, admiral to Peter III of Aragon. Purg.
xx. 78.
Charles I, king of Naples, dies. Purg. vii. 111.
Alonzo X of Castile dies. He caused the Bible to be translated
into Castilian, and all legal instruments to be drawn up in
that language. Sancho IV succeeds him.
Philip (next year IV of France) marries Jane, daughter of
Henry of Navarre. Purg. vii. 102.
1285 Pope Martin IV dies. Purg. xxiv. 23.
Philip III of France and Peter III of Aragon die. Purg.
vii. 101 and 110.
Henry II, king of Cyprus, comes to the throne. Par. xix. 144.
Simon Memmi, the painter, celebrated by Petrarch, is born.
1287 Guido dalle Colonne (mentioned by Dante in his De Vulgari
Eloquio) writes ' The War of Troy '.
Pope Honorius IV dies.
1288 Haquin, king of Norway, makes war on Denmark. Par. xix.
135.
Count Ugolino de' Gherardeschi dies of famine. H. xxxiii. 14.
The Scottish poet, Thomas Learmouth, commonly called
Thomas the Rhymer, is living at this time.
1289 Dante is in the battle of Campaldino, where the Florentines
defeat the people of Arezzo, June 11. Purg. v. 90.
1290 Beatrice dies. Purg. xxxii. 2.
He serves in the war waged by the Florentines upon the Pisans,
and is present at the surrender of Caprona in the autumn.
H. xxi. 92.
Guido dalle Colonne dies.
William, marquis of Montferrat, is made prisoner by his
traitorous subjects, at Alessandria in Lombardy. Purg.
vii. 133.
Michael Scott dies. H. xx. 115.
1291 Dante marries Gemma de' Donati, with whom he lives un-
happily. By this marriage he had five sons and a daughter.
Can Grande della Scala is born, March 9. H. i. 98. Purg.
xx. 16. Par. xvii. 75 and xxvii. 135.
The renegade Christians assist the Saracens to recover St. John
d'Acre. H. xxvii. 84.
The Emperor Rodolph dies. Purg. vi. 104 and vii. 91.
OF THE AGE OF DANTE xliii
A.D.
1291 Alonzo III of Aragon dies, and is succeeded by James II.
Purg. vii. 113 and Par. xix. 133.
Eleanor, widow of Henry III dies. Par. vi. 135.
1292 Pope Nicholas IV dies.
Roger Bacon dies.
John Baliol, king of Scotland, crowned.
1294 Clement V abdicates the papal chair. H. iii. 50.
Dante writes his Vita Nuova.
Fra Guittone d'Arezzo, the poet, dies. Purg. xxiv. 50.
Andrea Taffi, of Florence, the worker in mosaic, die;-'.
1295 Dante's preceptor, Brunetto Latini, dies. H. xv. 28.
Charles Martel, king of Hungary, visits Florence (Par. viii. 57),
and dies in the same year.
Frederick, son of Peter III of Aragon, becomes king of Sicily.
Purg. vii. 117 and Par. xix. 127.
Taddeo, the physician of Florence, called the Hippocratean,
dies. Par. xii. 77.
Marco Polo, the traveller, returns from the East to Venice.
Ferdinand IV of Castile comes to the throne. Par. xix. 122.
1296 Forese, the companion of Dante, dies. Purg. xxxiii. 44.
Sadi, the most celebrated of the Persian writers, dies.
War between England and Scotland, which terminates in the
submission of the Scots to Edward I ; but in the following
year, Sir William Wallace attempts the deliverance of Scot-
land. Par. xix. 121.
1298 The Emperor Adolphus falls in a battle with his rival, Albert 1,
who succeeds him in the Empire. Purg. vi. 98.
Jacopo da Varagine, archbishop of Genoa, author of the
Legenda Aurea, dies.
1300 The Bianca and Nera parties take their rise in Pistoia. H.
xxxii. 60.
This is the year in which he supposes himself to see his Vision.
H. i. 1 and xxi. 109.
He is chosen chief magistrate, or first of the Priors of Florence :
and continues in office from June 15 to August 15.
Cimabue, the painter, dies. Purg. xi. 93.
Guido Cavalcanti, the most beloved of our Poet's friends, dies.
H. x. 59 and Purg. xi. 96.
1301 The Bianca party expels the Nera from Pistoia. H. xxiv.
142.
1302 January 27. During his absence at Rome, Dante is mulcted
by his fellow-citizens in the sum of 8,000 lire, and condemned
to two years' banishment.
March 10. He is sentenced, if taken, to be burned.
Fulcieri de' Calboli commits great atrocities on certain of the
Ghibelline party. Purg. xiv. 61.
Carlino de' Pazzi betrays the castle di Piano Travigne, in
Valdarno, to the Florentines. H. xxxii. 67.
The French vanquished in the battle of Courtrai. Purg. xx. 47.
James, king of Majorca and Minorca, dies. Par. xix. 133.
1303 Pope Boniface VIII dies. H. xix. 55. Purg. xx. 86 ; xxxii. 146,
and Par. xxvii. 20.
The other exiles appoint Dante one of a council of twelve, under
xliv CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW
A.D.
1303 Alessandro da Romena. He appears to have been much
dissatisfied with his colleagues. Par. xvii. 61.
Robert of Brunne translates into English verse the Manuel de
Peches, a treatise written in French by Robert Grosseteste,
bishop of Lincoln.
1304 Dante joins with the exiles in an unsuccessful attack on the city
of Florence.
May. The bridge over the Arno breaks down during a repre-
sentation of the infernal torments exhibited on that river.
H. xxvi. 9.
July 20. Petrarch, whose father had been banished two years
before from Florence, is born at Arezzo.
1305 Winceslaus II, king of Bohemia, dies. Purg. vii. 99 and Par.
xix. 123.
A conflagration happens at Florence. H. xxvi. 9.
Sir William Wallace is executed at London.
1306 Dante visits Padua.
1307 He is in Lunigiana with the Marchese Marcello Malaspina.
Purg. viii. 133 ; xix. 140.
Dolcino, the fanatic, is burned. H. xxviii. 53.
Edward II of England comes to the throne.
1308 The Emperor Albert I murdered. Purg. vi. 98 and Par. xix. 114.
Corso Donati, Dante's political enemy, slain. Purg. xxiv. 81.
He seeks an asylum at Verona, under the roof of the Signori
della Scala. Par. xvii. 69.
He wanders, about this time, over various parts of Italy. See
his Convito. He is at Paris a second time ; and, according
to one of the early commentators, visits Oxford.
Robert, the patron of Petrarch, is crowned king of Sicily.
Par. ix. 2.
Duns Scotus dies. He was born about the same time as Dante.
1309 Charles II, king of Naples, dies. Par. xix. 125.
1310 The Order of the Templars abolished. Purg. xx. 94.
Jean de Meun, the continuer of the Roman de la Rose, dies
about this time.
Pier Crescenzi of Bologna writes his book on agriculture, in Latin.
1311 Fra Giordano da Rivalta, of Pisa, a Dominican, the author of
sermons esteemed for the purity of the Tuscan language, dies.
1312 Robert, king of Sicilv, opposes the coronation of the Emperor
Henry VII. Par. viii. 59.
Ferdinand IV of Castile dies, and is succeeded by Alonzo XL
Dino Compagni. a distinguished Florentine, concludes his
history of his own time, written in elegant Italian.
Gaddo Gaddi, the Florentine artist, dies.
1313 The Emperor Henry of Luxemburg, by whom he had hoped
to be restored to Florence, dies. Par. xvii. 80 and xxx. 135.
Henry is succeeded by Lewis of Bavaria.
Dante takes refuge at Ravenna, with Guido Novello da Polenta.
Giovanni Boccaccio is born.
Pope Clement V dies. H. xix. 86 and Par. xxvii. 53 and
xxx 141.
1314 Philip IV of France dies. Purg. vii. 108 and Par. xix. 117.
Louis X succeeds.
OF THE AGE OF DANTE xlr
A.D.
1314 Ferdinand IV of Spain dies. Par. xix. 122.
Jacopo da Carrara defeated by Can Grande, who makes himself
master of Vicenza. Par. ix. 45.
1315 Louis X of France marries Clemenza, sister to our Poet's friend,
Charles Martel, king of Hungary. Par. ix. 2.
1316 Louis X of France dies, and is succeeded by Philip V.
John XXII elected Pope. Par. xxvii. 53.
Joinville, the French historian, dies about this time.
1320 About this time John Gower is born, eight years before his
friend Chaucer.
1321 July. Dante dies at Ravenna, of a complaint brought on by
disappointment at his failure in a negotiation which he had
been conducting with the Venetians, for his patron Guido
Novello da Polenta.
His obsequies are sumptuously performed at Ravenna by
Guido, who himself died in the ensuing year.
THE VISION OF DANTE
HELL
CANTO I
ARGUMENT
The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and being hindered by
certain wild beasts from ascending a mountain, is met by Virgil, who pro-
mises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory ;
and that he shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He
follows the Roman poet.
IN the midway of this our mortal life,
I found me in a gloomy wood, astray
Gone from the path direct : and e'en to tell,
It were no easy task, how savage wild
That forest, how robust and rough its growth,
Which to remember only, my dismay
Renews, in bitterness not far from death. t
Yet, to discourse of what there good befell,
All else will I relate discovered there.
How first I entered it I scarce can say, 10
Such sleepy dullness in that instant weighed
My senses down, when the true path I left ;
But when a mountain's foot 1 reached, where closed
The valley that had pierced my heart with dread,
I looked aloft, and saw his shoulders broad
Already vested with that planet's beam,
Who leads all wanderers safe through every way.
Then was a little respite to the fear,
That in my heart's recesses deep had lain
All of that night, so pitifully past : 20
And as a man, with difficult short breath,
Forespent with toiling, 'scaped from sea to shore,
Turns to the perilous wide waste, and stands
At gaze ; e'en so my spirit, that yet failed.
Struggling with terror, turned to view the straits
That none hath passed and lived. My weary frame
After short pause recomforted, again
I journeyed on over that lonely steep,
The hinder foot still firmer. Scarce the ascent
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO i
Shall worry, until he to hell at length
Restore her, thence by envy first let loose.
I, for thy profit pondering, now devise
That thou mayst follow me; and I, thy guide, no
Will lead thee hence through an eternal space,
Where thou shalt hear despairing shrieks, and see
Spirits of old tormented, who invoke
A second death ; and those next view, who dwell
Content in fire, for that they hope to come,
Whene'er the time may be, among the blest,
Into whose regions if thou then desire
To ascend, a spirit worthier than I
Must lead thee, in whose charge, when I depart,
Thou shalt be left: for that Almighty King, 120
Who reigns above, a rebel to his law
Adjudges me ; and therefore hath decreed
That, to his city, none through me should come.
He in alt parts hath sway ; there rules, there holds
His citadel and throne. O happy those,
Whom there he chooses ! ' I to him in few :
' Bard ! by that God, whom thou didst not adore,
I do beseech thee (that this ill and worse
I may escape) to lead me where thou said'st,
That I Saint Peter's gate may view, and those 130
Who, as thou tell'st, are in such dismal plight.'
Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued.
CANTO II
ARGUMENT
After the invocation, which poets are used to prefix to their works, he shows,
that, on a consideration of his own strength, he doubted whether it sufficed
for the journey proposed to him, but that, being comforted by Virgil, he
at last took courage, and followed him as his guide and master.
Now was the day departing, and the air,
Imbrowned with shadows, from their toils released
All animals on earth ; and I alone
Prepared myself the conflict to sustain,
Both of sad pity, and that perilous road,
Which my unerring memory shall retrace.
Muses ! high genius ! now vouchsafe
Your aid. mind ! that all I saw hast kept
Safe in a written record, here thy worth
And eminent endowments come to proof. 10
1 thus began : ' Bard ! thou who art my guide,
Consider well, if virtue be in me
Sufficient, ere to this high enterprise
CANTO n] HELL 5
Thou trust me. Thou hast told that Silvius' sire,
Yet clothed in corruptible flesh, among
The immortal tribes had entrance, and was there
Sensibly present. Yet if heaven's great Lord,
Almighty foe to ill, such favour showed
In contemplation of the high effect,
Both what and who from him should issue forth, 20
It seems in reason's judgement well deserved ;
Sith he of Rome and of Rome's empire wide,
In heaven's empyreal height was chosen sire :
Both which, if truth be spoken, were ordained
And stablished for the holy place, where sits
Who to great Peter's sacred chair succeeds.
He from this journey, in thy song renowned,
Learned things, that to his victory gave rise
And to the papal robe. In after-times
The chosen vessel also travelled there, 30
To bring us back assurance in that faith
Which is the entrance to salvation's way.
But I, why should I there presume ? or who
Permits it ? not Aeneas 1, nor Paul.
Myself I deem not worthy, and none else
Will deem me. I, if on this voyage then
I venture, fear it will in folly end.
Thou, who art wise, better my meaning know'st,
Than I can speak.' As one, who unresolves
What he hath late resolved, and with new thoughts 40
Changes his purpose, from his first intent
Removed ; e'en such was I on that dun coast,
Wasting in thought my enterprise, at first
So eagerly embraced. ' If right thy words
I scan,' replied that shade magnanimous,
4 Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft
So overcasts a man, that he recoils
From noblest resolution, like a beast
At some false semblance in the twilight gloom.
That from this terror thou mayst free thyself, 50
I will instruct thee why I came, and what
I heard in that same instant, when for thee
Grief touched me first. I was among the tribe
Who rest suspended, when a dame, so blest
And lovely I besought her to command,
Called me ; her eyes were brighter than the star
Of day ; and she, with gentle voice and soft,
Angelically tuned, her speech addressed :
" Oh courteous shade of Mantua ! thou whose fame
" Yet lives, and shall live long as nature lasts ! 60
'' A friend, not of my fortune but myself,
" On the wide desert in his road has met
6
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO n
Hindrance so great, that he through fear has turned.
Now much I dread lest he past help have strayed,
And I be risen too late for his relief,
From what in heaven of him I heard. Speed now,
And by thy eloquent persuasive tongue,
And by all means for his deliverance meet,
Assist him. So to me will comfort spring.
I, who now bid thee on this errand forth, 70
Am Beatrice ; from a place I come
Revisited with joy. Love brought me thence,
Who prompts my speech. When in my Master's sight
I stand, thy praise to him 1 oft will tell."
' She then was silent, and I thus began :
O Lady ! by whose influence alone
" Mankind excels whatever is contained
" Within that heaven which hath the smallest orb,
" So thy command delights me, that to obey
"If it were done already, would seem late. 80
" No need hast thou further to speak thy will :
" Yet tell the rea&on, why thou art not loath
" To leave that ample space, where to return
" Thou burnest, for this centre here beneath."
' She then : " Since thou so deeply wouldst inquire,
" I will instruct thee briefly why no dread
" Hinders my entrance here. Those things alone
" Are to be feared whence evil may proceed ;
" None else, for none are terrible beside.
" I am so framed by God, thanks to his grace ! 90
" That any sufferance of your misery
" Touches me not, nor flame of that fierce fire
LINES 63-141] HELL 7
" Assails me. In high heaven a blessed dame
" Resides, who mourns with such effectual grief
" That hindrance, which I send thee to remove,
" That God's stern judgement to her will inclines.
" To Lucia calling, her she thus bespake :
' Now doth thy faithful servant need thy aid,
' And I commend him to thee.' At her word
"Sped Lucia, of all cruelty the foe, 100
" And coming to the place, where I abode
" Seated with Rachel, her of ancient days,
" She thus addressed me : ' Thou true praise of God !
' Beatrice ! why is not thy succour lent
' To him, who so much loved thee, as to leave
' For thy sake all the multitude admires ?
' Dost thou not hear how pitiful his wail,
' Nor mark the death, which in the torrent flood,
' Swollen mightier than a sea, him struggling holds ? '
"Ne'er among men did any with such speed no
" Haste to their profit, flee from their annoy,
" As, when these words were spoken, I came here,
" Down from my blessed seat, trusting the force
" Of thy pure eloquence, which thee, and all
" Who well have marked it, into honour brings."
' When she had ended, her bright beaming eyes
Tearful she turned aside ; whereat I felt
Redoubled zeal to serve thee. As she willed,
Thus am I come : I saved thee from the beast,
Who thy near way across the goodly mount 120
Prevented. What is this comes o'er thee then ?
Why, why dost thou hang back ? why in thy breast
Harbour vile fear ? Why hast not courage there,
And noble daring ; since three maids, so blest,
Thy safety plan, e'en in the court of heaven ;
And so much certain good my words forebode ? '
As florets, by the frosty air of night
Bent down and closed, when day has blanched their leaves,
Rise all unfolded on their spiry stems ;
So was my fainting vigour new restored, 130
And to my heart such kindly courage ran,
That I as one undaunted soon replied :
' full of pity she, who undertook
My succour ! and thou kind, who didst perform
So soon her true behest ! With such desire
Thou hast disposed me to renew my voyage,
That my first purpose fully is resumed.
Lead on : one only will is hi us both.
Thou art my guide, my master thou, and lord.'
So spake I ; and when he had onward moved, 14
I entered on the deep and woody way.
8 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO m
CANTO III
ARGUMENT
Dante, following Virgil, comes to the gate of Hell ; where, after having read
the dreadful words that are written thereon, they both enter. Here, as he
understands from Virgil, those were punished who had passed their time
(for living it could not be called) in a state of apathy and indifference
both to good and evil. Then pursuing their way, they arrive at the river
Acheron ; and there find the old ferryman Charon, who takes the spirits
over to the opposite shore ; which as soon as Dante reaches, he is seized
with terror and falls into a trance.
' THROUGH me you pass into the city of woe :
Through me you pass into eternal pain :
Through me among the people lost for aye.
Justice the founder of my fabric moved :
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primaeval love.
Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.'
Such characters, in colour dim, I marked 10
Over a portal's lofty arch inscribed.
Whereat I thus : ' Master, these words import
Hard meaning.' He as one prepared replied :
' Here thou must all distrust behind thee leave ;
Here be vile fear extinguished. We are come
Where I have told thee we shall see the souls
To misery doomed, who intellectual good
Have lost.' And when his hand he had stretched forth
To mine, with pleasant looks, whence I was cheered,
Into that secret place he led me on. 20
Here sighs, with lamentations and loud moans,
Resounded through the air pierced by no star,
That e'en I wept at entering. Various tongues,
Horrible languages, outcries of woe,
Accents of anger, voices deep and hoarse,
With hands together smote that swelled the sounds,
Made up a tumult, that for ever whirls
Round through that air with solid darkness stained,
Like to the sand that in the whirlwind flies.
I then, with error yet encompassed, cried : 30
' O master ! what is this I hear ? what race
Are these, who seem so overcome with woe ? '
He thus to me : ' This miserable fate
Suffer the wretched souls of those, who lived
Without or praise or blame, with that ill band
Of angels mixed, who nor rebellious proved,
Nor yet were true to God, but for themselves
LINES 1-86] HELL 9
Were only. From his bounds Heaven drove them forth,
Not to impair his lustre ; nor the depth
Of Hell receives them, lest the accursed tribe 40
Should glory thence with exultation vain.'
I then : ' Master ! what doth aggrieve them thus,
That they lament so loud ? ' He straight replied :
' That will I tell thee briefly. These of death
No hope may entertain : and their blind life
So meanly passes, that all other lots
They envy. Fame of them the world hath none,
Nor suffers ; mercy and justice scorn them both.
Speak not of them, but look, and pass them by.'
And I, who straightway looked, beheld a flag, 50
Which whirling ran around so rapidly,
That it no pause obtained : and following came
Such a long train of spirits, I should ne'er
Have thought that death so many had despoiled.
When some of these I recognized, I saw
And knew the shade of him, who to base fear
Yielding, abjured his high estate. Forthwith
I understood, for certain, this the tribe
Of those ill spirits both to God displeasing
And to his foes. These wretches, who ne'er lived, 60
Went on in nakedness, and sorely stung
By wasps and hornets, which bedewed their cheeks
With blood, that, mixed with tears, dropped to their feet,
And by disgustful worms was gathered there.
Then looking farther onwards, I beheld
A throng upon the shore of a great stream :
Whereat I thus : ' Sir ! grant me now to know
Whom here we view, and whence impelled they seem
So eager to pass o'er, as I discern
Through the blear light ? ' He thus to me in few : 70
' This shalt thou know, soon as our steps arrive
Beside the woful tide of Acheron.'
Then with eyes downward cast, and filled with shame.
Fearing my words offensive to his ear,
Till we had reached the river, I from speech
Abstained. And lo ! toward us in a bark
Comes on an old man, hoary white with eld,
Crying, ' Woe to you, wicked spirits ! hope not
Ever to see the sky again. I come
To take you to the other shore across, 80
Into eternal darkness, there to dwell
In fierce heat and in ice. And thou, who there
Standest, live spirit ! get thee hence, and leave
These who are dead.' But soon as he beheld
I left them not, ' By other way,' said he,
' By other haven shalt thou come to shore.
10
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO in
Not by this passage ; thee a nimbler boat
Must carry.' Then to him thus spake my guide :
' Charon ! thyself torment not : so 'tis willed,
Where will and power are one : ask thou no more.' 90
Straightway in silence fell the shaggy cheeks
Of him, the boatman o'er the livid lake,
Around whose eyes glared wheeling flames. Meanwhile
Those spirits, faint and naked, colour changed,
And gnashed their teeth, soon as the cruel words
They heard. God and their parents they blasphemed,
The human kind, the place, the time, and seed,
That did engender them and give them birth.
Then all together sorely wailing drew
To the cursed strand, that every man must pass 100
Who fears not God. Charon, demoniac form,
With eyes of burning coal, collects them all,
Beckoning, and each, that lingers, with his oar
Strikes. As fall off the light autumnal leaves,
One still another following, till the bough
Strews all its honours on the earth beneath ;
E'en in like manner Adam's evil brood
Cast themselves, one by one, down from the shore,
Each at a beck, as falcon at his call.
Thus go they over through the umbered wave ; no
And ever they on the opposing bank
Be landed, on this side another throng
Still gathers. ' Son,' thus spake the courteous guide,
* Those who die subject to the wrath of God
CANTO rv] HELL 11
All here together come from every clime,
And to o'erpass the river are not loath :
For so heaven's justice goads them on, that fear
Is turned into desire. Hence ne'er hath passed
Good spirit. If of thee Charon complain,
Now mayst thou know the import of his words.' 120
This said, the gloomy region trembling shook
So terribly, that yet with clammy dews
Fear chills my brow. The sad earth gave a blast,
That, lightening, shot forth a vermilion flame,
Which all my senses conquered quite, and 1
Down dropped, as one with sudden slumber seized.
CANTO IV
ARGUMENT
The Poet, being roused by a clap of thunder, and following bis guide onwards
descends into Limbo, wbich is the first circle of Hell, where he finds the
souls of those, who, although they have lived virtuously and have not to
suffer for great sins, nevertheless, through lack of baptism, merit not the
bliss of Paradise. Hence he is led on by Virgil to descend into the second
circle.
BROKE the deep slumber in my brain a crash
Of heavy thunder, that I shook myself,
As one by main force roused. Risen upright,
My rested eyes I moved around, and searched,
With fixed ken, to know what place it was
Wherein I stood. For certain, on the brink
I found me of the lamentable vale,
The dread abyss, that joins a thundrous sound
Of plaints innumerable. Dark and deep,
And thick with clouds o'erspread, mine eye in vain 10
Explored its bottom, nor could aught discern.
' Now let us to the blind world there beneath
Descend ; ' the bard began, all pale of look :
* I go the first, and thou shalt follow next.'
Then I, his altered hue perceiving, thus :
* How may I speed, if thou yieldest to dread,
Who still art wont to comfort me in doubt ? '
He then : ' The anguish of that race below
With pity stains my cheek, which thou for fear
Mistakest. Let us on. Our length of way 20
Urges to haste.' Onward, this said, he moved ;
And entering led me with him, on the bounds
Of the first circle that surrounds the abyss.
Here, as mine ear could note, no plaint was heard
Except of sighs, that made the eternal air
12 THE VISION OF DANTE
Tremble, not caused by tortures, but from grief
Felt by those multitudes, many and vast,
Of men, women, and infants. Then to me
The gentle guide : ' Inquirest thou not what spirits
Are these which thou beholdest ? Ere thou pass
Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin
Were blameless ; and if aught they merited,
It profits not, since baptism was not theirs,
The portal to thy faith. If they before
The Gospel lived, they served not God aright ;
And among such am I. For these defects,
And for no other evil, we are lost ;
IV
Only so far afflicted, that we live
Desiring without hope.' Sore grief assailed
My heart at hearing this, for well I knew 40
Suspended in that Limbo many a soul
Of mighty worth. ' O tell me, sire revered !
Tell me, my master ! ' I began, through wish
Of full assurance in that holy faith
Which vanquishes all error ; ' say, did e'er
Any, or through his own or other's merit,
Come forth from thence, who afterward was blest ? '
Piercing the secret purport of my speech,
He answered : ' I was new to that estate,
When I beheld a puissant one arrive 50
Amongst us, with victorious trophy crowned.
He forth the shade of our first parent drew,
Abel his child, and Noah righteous man,
LINES 26-102] HELL 13
Of Moses lawgiver for faith approved,
Of patriarch Abraham, and David king,
Israel with his sire and with his sons,
Nor without Rachel whom so hard he won,
And others many more, whom he to bliss
Exalted. Before these, be thou assured,
No spirit of human kind was ever saved.' 60
We, while he spake, ceased not our onward road,
Still passing through the wood ; for so I name
Those spirits thick beset. We were not far
On this side from the summit, when I kenned
A flame, that o'er the darkened hemisphere
Prevailing shined. Yet we a little space
Were distant, not so far but I in part
Discovered that a tribe in honour high
That place possessed. ' O thou, who every art
And science valuest ! who are these, that boast 70
Such honour, separate from all the rest ? '
He answered : ' The renown of their great names,
That echoes through your world above, acquires
Favour in heaven, which holds them thus advanced.'
Meantime a voice I heard : ' Honour the bard
Sublime ! his shade returns, that left us late ! '
No sooner ceased the sound, than I beheld
Four mighty spirits toward us bend their steps,
Of semblance neither sorrowful nor glad.
When thus my master kind began : ' Mark him, 80
Who in his right hand bears that falchion keen,
The other three preceding, as their lord.
This is that Homer, of all bards supreme :
Flaccus the next, in satire's vein excelling ;
The third is Naso ; Lucan is the last.
Because they all that appellation own,
With which the voice singly accosted me,
Honouring they greet me thus, and well they judge.'
So I beheld united the bright school
Of him the monarch of sublimest song, 90
That o'er the others like an eagle soars.
When they together short discourse had held,
They turned to me, with salutation kind
Beckoning me ; at the which my master smiled :
Nor was this all ; but greater honour still
They gave me, for they made me of their tribe ;
And I was sixth amid so learned a band.
Far as the luminous beacon on we passed,
Speaking of matters, then befitting well
To speak, now fitter left untold. At foot 100
Of a magnificent castle we arrived,
Seven times with lofty walls begirt, and round
14 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO iv
Defended by a pleasant stream. O'er this
As o'er dry land we passed. Next, through seven gates,
I with those sages entered, and we came
Into a mead with lively verdure fresh.
There dwelt a race, who slow their eyes around
Majestically moved, and in their port
Bore eminent authority : they spake
Seldom, but all their words were tuneful sweet. no
We to one side retired, into a place
Open and bright and lofty, whence each one
Stood manifest to view. Incontinent,
There on the green enamel of the plain
Were shown me the great spirits, by whose sight
I am exalted in my own esteem.
Electra there I saw accompanied
By many, among whom Hector I knew,
Anchises' pious son, and with hawk's eye
Caesar all armed, and by Camilla there 120
Penthesilea. On the other side,
Old king Latinus seated by his child
Lavinia, and that Brutus I beheld
Who Tarquin chased, Lucretia, Cato's wife
Marcia, with Julia and Cornelia there ;
And sole apart retired, the Soldan fierce.
Then when a little more I raised my brow,
I spied the master of the sapient throng,
Seated amid the philosophic train.
Him all admire, all pay him reverence due. 130
There Socrates and Plato both I marked
Nearest to him in rank, Democritus,
Who sets the world at chance, Diogenes,
With Heraclitus, and Empedocles,
And Anaxagoras, and Thales sage,
Zeno, and Dioscorides well read
In nature's secret lore. Orpheus I marked
And Linus, Tully and moral Seneca,
Euclid and Ptolemy, Hippocrates,
Galenus, Avicen, and him who made 140
That commentary vast, Averroes.
Of all to speak at full were vain attempt ;
For my wide theme so urges, that oft-times
My words fall short of what bechanced. In two
The six associates part. Another way
My sage guide leads me, from that air serene,
Into a climate ever vexed with storms :
And to a part I come, where no light shines.
CANTO v] HELL 15
CANTO V
ARGUMENT
Coming into the second circle of Hell, Dante at the entrance beholds Minos
the Infernal Judge, by whom he is admonished to beware how he enters
those regions. Here he witnesses the punishment of carnal sinners, who
are tossed about ceaselessly in the dark air by the most furious winds.
Amongst these, he meets with Francesca of Rimini, through pity at whose
sex! tale he falls fainting to the ground.
FROM the first circle I descended thus
Down to the second, which, a lesser space
Embracing, so much more of grief contains,
Provoking bitter moans. There Minos stands,
Grinning with ghastly feature : he, of all
Who enter, strict examining the crimes,
Gives sentence, and dismisses them beneath,
According as he foldeth him around :
For when before him comes the ill-fated soul,
It all confesses ; and that judge severe 10
Of sins, considering what place in hell
Suits the transgression, with his tail so oft
Himself encircles, as degrees beneath
He dooms it to descend. Before him stand
Alway a numerous throng ; and in his turn
Each one to judgement passing, speaks, and hears
His fate, thence downward to his dwelling hurled.
' O thou ! who to this residence of woe
Approachest ! ' when he saw me coming, cried
Minos, relinquishing his dread employ, 20
' Look how thou enter here ; beware in whom
Thou place thy trust ; let not the entrance broad
Deceive thee to thy harm.' To him my guide :
' Wherefore exclaimest ? Hinder not his way
By destiny appointed ; so 'tis willed,
Where will and power are one. Ask thou no more.'
Now 'gin the rueful wailings to be heard.
Now am I come where many a plaining voice
Smites on mine ear. Into a place I came
Where light was silent all. Bellowing there groaned 30
A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn
By warring winds. The stormy blast of hell
With restless fury drives the spirits on,
Whirled round and dashed amain with sore annoy.
When they arrive before the ruinous sweep,
There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moans,
And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in heaven.
I understood, that to this torment sad
The carnal sinners are condemned, in whom
16 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO v
Reason by lust is swayed. As in large troops 40
And multitudinous, when winter reigns,
The starlings on their wings are borne abroad ;
So bears the tyrannous gust those evil souls.
On this side and on that, above, below,
It drives them : hope of rest to solace them
Is none, nor e'en of milder pang. As cranes,
Chanting their dolorous notes, traverse the sky,
Stretched out in long array ; so I beheld
Spirits, who came loud wailing, hurried on
By their dire doom. Then I : ' Instructor ! who 50
Are these, by the black air so scourged ? ' ' The first
'Mong those, of whom thou question'st,' he replied,
' O'er many tongues was empress. She in vice
Of luxury was so shameless, that she made
Liking be lawful by promulged decree,
To clear the blame she had herself incurred.
This is Semiramis, of whom 'tis writ,
That she succeeded Ninus her espoused ;
And held the land, which now the Soldan rules.
The next in amorous fury slew herself. 60
And to Sicheus' ashes broke her faith :
Then follows Cleopatra, lustful queen.'
There marked I Helen, for whose sake so long
The time was fraught with evil ; there the great
Achilles, who with love fought to the end.
Paris I saw, and Tristan ; and beside,
A thousand more he showed me, and by name
Pointed them out, whom love bereaved of life.
When I had heard my sage instructor name
Those dames and knights of antique days, o'erpowered 70
By pity, well nigh in amaze my mind
Was lost ; and I began : ' Bard ! willingly
I would address those two together coming,
Which seem so light before the wind.' He thus :
' Note thou, when nearer they to us approach.
Then by that love which carries them along,
Entreat ; and they will come.' Soon as the wind
Swayed them toward us, I thus framed my speech :
' O wearied spirits ! come, and hold discourse
With us, if by none else restrained.' As doves 80
By fond desire invited, on wide wings
And firm, to their sweet nest returning home,
Cleave the air, wafted by their will along ;
Thus issued, from that troop where Dido ranks,
They, through the ill air speeding : with such force
My cry prevailed, by strong affection urged.
* gracious creature and benign ! who go'st
Visiting, through this element obscure,
LINES 40- 1 1 6]
HELL
Us, who the world with bloody stain imbrued ;
If, for a friend, the King of all, we owned,
Our prayer to him should for thy peace arise,
Since thou hast pity on our evil plight.
Of whatsoe'er to hear or to discourse
It pleases thee, that will we hear, of that
Freely with thee discourse, while e'er the wind,
As now, is mute. The land, that gave me birth,
Is situate on the coast, where Po descends
To rest in ocean with his sequent streams.
' Love, that in gentle heart is quickly learnt,
Entangled him by that fair form, from me
Ta'en in such cruel sort, as grieves me still :
17
9 o
100
Love, that denial takes from none beloved,
Caught me with pleasing him so passing well,
That, as thou seest, he yet deserts me not.
Love brought us to one death : Ca'ina waits
The soul, who spilt our life.' Such were their words ;
At hearing which, downward I bent my looks,
And held them there so long, that the bard cried :
' What art thou pondering ? ' I in answer thus :
' Alas ! by what sweet thoughts, what fond desire
Must they at length to that ill pass have reached ! '
Then turning, I to them my speech addressed,
And thus began : ' Francesca ! your sad fate
Even to tears my grief and pity moves.
But tell me ; in the time of your sweet sighs,
By what, and how, Love granted that ye knew
no
18
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO v
Your yet uncertain wishes ? ' She replied :
' No greater grief than to remember days
Of joy, when misery is at hand. That kens
Thy learned instructor. Yet so eagerly
If thou art bent to know the primal root,
From whence our love gat being, I will do
As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One day,
For our delight we read of Lancelot,
How him love thralled. Alone we were, and no
Suspicion near us. Oft-times by that reading
Our eyes were drawn together, and the hue
Fled from our altered cheek. But at one point
Alone we fell. When of that smile we read,
The wished smile so rapturously kissed
By one so deep in love, then he, who ne'er
From me shall separate, at once my lips
All trembling kissed. The book and writer both
Were love's purveyors. In its leaves that day
We read no more.' While thus one spirit spake,
The other wailed so sorely, that heart-struck
I, through compassion fainting, seemed not far
From death, and like a corse fell to the ground.
120
I 3
CANTO vi] HELL 19
CANTO VI
ARGUMENT
On his recovery, the Poet, finds himself in the third circle, where the glut-
tonous are punished. Their torment is to lie in the mire, under a con-
tinual and heavy storm of hail, snow, and discoloured water ; Cerberus
meanwhile barking over them with his threefold throat, and rending
them piecemeal. One of these, who on earth was named Ciacco, foretells
the divisions with which Florence is about to be distracted. Dante pro-
poses a question to his guide, who solves it ; and they proceed towards the
fourth circle.
MY sense reviving, that erewhile had drooped
With pity for the kindred shades, whence grief
Overcame me wholly, straight around I see
New torments, new tormented souls, which way
Soe'er I move, or turn, or bend my sight.
In the third circle I arrive, of showers
Ceaseless, accursed, heavy and cold, unchanged
For ever, both in kind and in degree.
Large hail, discoloured water, sleety flaw
Through the dun midnight air streamed down amain : 10
Stank all the land whereon that tempest fell.
Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange,
Through his wide threefold throat, barks as a dog
Over the multitude immersed beneath.
His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard,
His belly large, and clawed the hands, with which
He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs
Piecemeal disparts. Howling there spread, as curs,
Under the rainy deluge, with one side
The other screening, oft they roll them round, 20
A wretched, godless crew. When that great worm
Descried us, savage Cerberus, he oped
His jaws, and the fangs showed us ; not a limb
Of him but trembled. Then my guide, his palms
Expanding on the ground, thence filled with earth
Raised them, and cast it in his ravenous maw.
E'en as a dog, that yelling bays for food
His keeper, when the morsel comes, lets fall
His fury, bent alone with eager haste
To swallow it ; so dropped the loathsome cheeks 30
Of demon Cerberus, who thundering stuns
The spirits, that they for deafness wish in vain.
We, o'er the shades thrown prostrate by the brunt
Of the heavy tempest passing, set our feet
Upon their emptiness, that substance seemed.
They all along the earth extended lay,
Save one, that sudden raised himself to sit,
Soon as that way he saw us pass. ' O thou 1 '
20
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vi
He cried, ' who through the infernal shades art led,
Own, if again thou know'st me. Thou wast framed 40
Or ere my frame was broken.' I replied :
' The anguish thou endurest perchance so takes
Thy form from my remembrance, that it seems
As if I saw thee never. But inform
Me who thou art, that in a place so sad
Art set, and in such torment, that although
Other be greater, none disgusteth more.'
He thus in answer to my words rejoined :
' Thy city, heaped with envy to the brim,
Aye, that the measure overflows its bounds, 50
Held me in brighter days. Ye citizens
Were wont to name me Ciacco. For the sin
Of gluttony, damned vice, beneath this rain,
E'en as thou seest, I with fatigue am worn:
Nor I sole spirit in this woe : all these
Have by like crime incurred like punishment.'
No more he said, and I my speech resumed :
* Ciacco ! thy dire affliction grieves me much,
Even to tears. But tell me, if thou know'st,
What shall at length befall the citizens
Of the divided city ; whether any
Just one inhabit there : and tell the cause,
Whence jarring Discord hath assailed it thus.'
He then : ' After long striving they will come
To blood ; and the wild party from the woods
Will chase the other with much injury forth.
Then it behoves that this must fall, within
Three solar circles ; and the other rise
60
LINES 39- ii 7] HELL 21
By borrowed force of one, who under shore
Now rests. It shall a long space hold aloof
Its forehead, keeping under heavy weight
The other oppressed, indignant at the load,
And grieving sore. The just are two in number,
But they neglected. Avarice, envy, pride,
Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
On fire.' Here ceased the lamentable sound ;
And I continued thus : ' Still would I learn
More from thee, further parley still entreat.
Of Farinata and Tegghiaio say,
They who so well deserved ; of Jacopo, 80
Arrigo, Mosca, and the rest, who bent
Their minds on working good. Oh ! tell me where
They bide, and to their knowledge let me come.
For I am prest with keen desire to hear
If heaven's sweet cup, or poisonous drug of hell,
Be to their lip assigned.' He answered straight :
' These are yet blacker spirits. Various crimes
Have sunk them deeper in the dark abyss.
If thou so far descendest, thou rnayst see them.
But to the pleasant world, when thou return'st, 90
Of me make mention, I entreat thee, there.
No more I tell thee, answer thee no more.'
This said, his fixed eyes he turned askance,
A little eyed me, then bent down his head,
And 'midst his blind companions with it fell.
When thus my guide : ' No more his bed he leaves,
Ere the last angel-trumpet blow. The Power
Adverse to these shall then in glory come,
Each one forthwith to his sad tomb repair,
Resume his fleshly vesture and his form, 100
And hear the eternal doom re-echoing rend
The vault.' So passed we through that mixture foul
Of spirits and rain, with tardy steps ; meanwhile
Touching, though slightly, on the life to come.
For thus I questioned : ' Shall these tortures, Sir !
When the great sentence passes, be increased,
Or mitigated, or as now severe ? '
He then : ' Consult thy knowledge ; that decides,
That, as each thing to more perfection grows,
It feels more sensibly both good and pain. no
Though ne'er to true perfection may arrive
This race accursed, yet nearer then, than now,
They shall approach it.' Compassing that path,
Circuitous we journeyed ; and discourse,
Much more than I relate, between us passed :
Till at the point, whence the steps led below,
Arrived, there Plutus, the great foe, we found.
22
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vii
CANTO VII
ARGUMENT
In the present Canto Dante describes his descent into the fourth circle, at
the beginning of which he sees Plutus stationed. Here one like doom
awaits the prodigal and the avaricious ; which is, to meet in direful con-
flict, rolling great weights against each other with mutual upbraidings.
From hence Virgil takes occasion to show how vain the goods that are
committed into the charge of Fortune ; and this moves our author to
inquire what being that Fortune is, of whom he speaks : which question
being resolved, they go down into the fifth circle, where they find the
wrathful and gloomy tormented in the Stygian lake. Having made
a compass round great part of this lake, they come at last to the base
of a lofty tower.
c AH me ! Satan ! Satan ! ' loud exclaimed
Plutus, in accent hoarse of wild alarm :
And the kind sage, whom no event surprised,
To comfort me thus spake : ' Let not thy fear
Harm thee, for power in him, be sure, is none
To hinder down this rock thy safe descent.'
Then to that swollen lip turning, ' Peace ! ' he cried,
' Cursed wolf ! thy fury inward on thyself
Prey, and consume thee ! Through the dark profound,
Not without cause, he passes. So 'tis willed
On high, there where the great Archangel poured
Heaven's vengeance on the first adulterer proud.'
As sails, full spread and bellying with the wind,
Drop suddenly collapsed, if the mast split ;
So to the ground down dropped the cruel fiend.
10
LINES 1-64] HELL 23
Thus we, descending to the fourth steep ledge,
Gained on the dismal shore, that all the woe
Hems in of all the universe. Ah me !
Almighty Justice ! in what store thou heap'st
New pains, new troubles, as I here beheld. 20
Wherefore doth fault of ours bring us to this ?
E'en as a billow, on Charybdis rising,
Against encountered billow dashing breaks ;
Such is the dance this wretched race must lead,
Whom more than elsewhere numerous here I found.
From one side and the other, with loud voice,
Both rolled on weights, by main force of their breasts,
Then smote together, and each one forthwith
Rolled them back voluble, turning again ;
Exclaiming these, ' Why boldest thou so fast ? ' 30
Those answering, ' And why castest thou away ? *
So, still repeating their despiteful song,
They to the opposite point, on either hand,
Traversed the horrid circle ; then arrived,
Both turned them round, and through the middle space
Conflicting met again. At sight whereof
I, stung with grief, thus spake : ' Oh say, my guide !
What race is this ? Were these, whose heads are shorn,
On our left hand, all separate to the church ? '
He straight replied : ' In their first life, these all 40
In mind were so distorted, that they made,
According to due measure, of their wealth
No use. This clearly from their words collect,
Which they howl forth, at each extremity
Arriving of the circle, where their crime
Contrary in kind disparts them. To the church
Were separate those, that with no hairy cowls
Are crowned, both Popes and Cardinals, o'er whom
Avarice dominion absolute maintains.'
I then : ' 'Mid such as these some needs must be, 50
Whom I shall recognize, that with the blot
Of these foul sins were stained.' He answering thus :
' Vain thought conceivest thou. That ignoble life,
Which made them vile before, now makes them dark,
And to all knowledge indiscernible.
For ever they shall meet in this rude shock :
These from the tomb with clenched grasp shall rise,
Those with close-shaven locks. That ill they gave,
And ill they kept, hath of the beauteous world
Deprived, and set them at this strife, which needs 60
No laboured phrase of mine to set it off.
Now mayst thou see, my son ! how brief, how vain,
The goods committed into Fortune's hands,
For which the human race keep such a coil !
24 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vii
Not all the gold that is beneath the moon,
Or ever hath been, of these toil-worn souls
Might purchase rest for one.' I thus rejoined :
' My guide ! of thee this also would I learn ;
This Fortune, that thou speak'st of, what it is,
Whose talons grasp the blessings of the world.' 70
He thus : ' O beings blind ! what ignorance
Besets you ! Now my judgement hear and mark.
He, whose transcendent wisdom passes all,
The heavens creating, gave them ruling powers
To guide them ; so that each part shines to each,
Their light in equal distribution poured.
By similar appointment he ordained,
Over the world's bright images to rule,
Superintendence of a guiding hand
And general minister, which, at due time, 80
May change the empty vantages of life
From race to race, from one to other's blood,
Beyond prevention of man's wisest care :
Wherefore one nation rises into sway,
Another languishes, e'en as her will
Decrees, from us concealed, as in the grass
The serpent train. Against her naught avails
Your utmost wisdom. She with foresight plans,
Judges, and carries on her reign, as theirs
The other powers divine. Her changes know 90
None intermission : by necessity
She is made swift, so frequent come who claim
Succession in her favours. This is she,
So execrated e'en by those whose debt
To her is rather praise : they wrongfully
With blame requite her, and with evil word ;
But she is blessel, and for that recks not:
Amidst the other primal beings glad,
Rolls on her sphere, and in her bliss exults.
Now on our way pass we, to heavier woe 100
Descending : for each star is falling now,
That mounted at our entrance, and forbids
Too long our tarrying.' We the circle crossed
To the next steep, arriving at a well,
That boiling pours itself down to a foss
Sluiced from its source. Far murkier was the wave
Than sablest grain : and we in company
Of the inky waters, journeying by their side,
Entered, though by a different track, beneath.
Into a lake, the Stygian named, expands no
The dismal stream, when it hath reached the foot
Of the grey withered cliffs. Intent I stood
To gaze, and in the marish sunk descried
CANTO vin] HELL 25
A miry tribe, all naked, and with looks
Betokening rage. They with their hands alone
Struck not, but with the head, the breast, the feet,
Cutting each other piecemeal with their fangs.
The good instructor spake : ' Now seest thou, son !
The souls of those, whom anger overcame.
This too for certain know, that underneath 120
The water dwells a multitude, whose sighs
Into these bubbles make the surface heave,
As thine eye tells thee wheresoe'er it turn.
Fixed in the slime, they say : ;t Sad once were we,
" In the sweet air made gladsome by the sun,
" Carrying a foul and lazy mist within :
" Now in these murky settlings are we sad."
Such dolorous strain they gurgle in their throats,
But word distinct can utter none.' Our route
Thus compassed we, a segment widely stretched 130
Between the dry embankment, and the core
Of the loathed pool, turning meanwhile our eyes
Downward on those who gulped its muddy lees ;
Nor stopped, till to a tower's low base we came.
CANTO VIII
ARGUMENT
A signal having been made from the tower, Phlegyas, the ferryman of the
lake, speedily crosses it, and conveys Virgil and Dante to the other side.
On their passage, they meet with'Filippo Argenti, whose fury and tor-
ment are described. 'They then arrive at the city of Dis, the entrance
whereto is denied, and the portals closed against them by many Demons.
MY theme pursuing, I relate, that ere
We reached the lofty turret's base, our eyes
Its height ascended, where we marked uphung
Two cressets, and another saw from far
Return the signal, so remote, that scarce
The eye could catch its beam. I, turning round
To the deep source of knowledge, thus inquired :
* Say what this means ; and what, that other light
In answer set : what agency doth this ? '
' There on the filthy waters,' he replied,
* E'en now what next awaits us mayst thou see,
If the marsh-gendered fog conceal it not.'
Never was arrow from the cord dismissed,
That ran its way so nimbly through the air,
As a small bark, that through the waves I spied
Toward us coming, under the sole sway
Of one that ferried it, who cried aloud :
26 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vm
' Art thou arrived, fell spirit ? ' ' Phlegyas. Phlegyas,
This time thou criest in vain,' my lord replied ;
' No longer shalt thou have us, but while o'er 20
The slimy pool we pass.' As one who hears
Of some great wrong he hath sustained, whereat
Inly he pines : so Phlegyas inly pined
In his fierce ire. My guide, descending, stepped
Into the skiff, and bade me enter next,
Close at his side ; nor, till my entrance, seemed
The vessel freighted. Soon as both embarked,
Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow,
More deeply than with others it is wont.
While we our course o'er the dead channel held, 30
One drenched in mire before me came, and said :
' Who art thou, that thus comest ere thine hour ? '
I answered : ' Though I come, I tarry not :
But who art thou, that art become so foul ? '
' One, as thou seest, who mourn : * he straight replied.
To which I thus : ' In mourning and in woe,
Cursed spirit ! tarry thou. I know thee well,
E'en thus in filth disguised.' Then stretched he forth
Hands to the bark ; whereof my teacher sage
Aware, thrusting him back : ' Away ! down there 40
To the other dogs ! ' then, with his arms my neck
Encircling, kissed my cheek, and spake : * Oh soul,
Justly disdainful ! blest was she in whom
Thou wast conceived. He in the world was one
For arrogance noted : to his memory
No virtue lends its lustre ; even so
Here is his shadow furious. There above,
How many now hold themselves mighty kings,
Who here like swine shall wallow in the mire,
Leaving behind them horrible dispraise.' 50
I then : ' Master ! him fain would I behold
Whelmed in these dregs, before we quit the lake.'
He thus : ' Or ever to thy view the shore
Be offered, satisfied shall be that wish,
Which well deserves completion.' Scarce his words
Were ended, when I saw the miry tribes
Set on him with such violence, that yet
For that render I thanks to God, and praise.
To Filippo Argenti ! ' cried they all :
And on himself the moody Florentine 60
Turned his avenging fangs. Him here we left,
Nor speak I of him more. But on mine ear
Sudden a sound of lamentation smote,
Whereat mine eye unbarred I sent abroad.
And thus the good instructor : ' Now, my son,
Draws near the city, that of Dis is named,
LINES 18-94]
HELL
27
With its grave denizens, a mighty throng.'
I thus : ' The minarets already, Sir !
There, certes, in the valley I descry,
Gleaming vermilion, as if they from fire
Had issued.' He replied: 'Eternal fire,
That inward burns, shows them with ruddy flame
Illumed ; as in this nether hell thou seest.'
We came within the fosses deep, that moat
This region comfortless. The walls appeared
As they were framed of iron. We had made
Wide circuit, ere a place we reached, where loud
The mariner cried vehement : ' Go forth :
The entrance is here.' Upon the gates I spied
70
More than a thousand, who of old from heaven 80
Were showered. With ireful gestures, ' Who is this,'
They cried, ' that, without death first felt, goes through
The regions of the dead ? ' My sapient guide
Made sign that he for secret parley wished ;
Whereat their angry scorn abating, thus
They spake : ' Come thou alone ; and let him go,
Who hath so hardily entered this realm.
Alone return he by his witless way ;
If well he know it, let him prove. For thee,
Here shalt thou tarry, who through clime so dark 90
Hast been his escort.' Now bethink thee, reader !
What cheer was mine at sound of those cursed words.
I did believe I never should return.
* O my loved guide ! who more than seven times
28 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vra
Security hast rendered me, and drawn
From peril deep, whereto I stood exposed,
Desert me not,' I cried, ' in this extreme.
And, if our onward going be denied,
Together trace we back our steps with speed.'
My liege, who thither had conducted me, 100
Replied ; ' Fear not : for of our passage none
Hath power to disappoint us, by such high
Authority permitted. But do thou
Expect me here ; meanwhile, thy wearied spirit
Comfort, and feed with kindly hope, assured
I will not leave thee in this lower world.'
This said, departs the sire benevolent,
And quits me. Hesitating I remain
At war, 'twixt will and will not, in my thoughts.
I could not hear what terms he offered them, no
But they conferred not long, for all at once
Pellmell rushed back within. Closed were the gates,
By those our adversaries, on the breast
Of my liege lord : excluded, he returned
To me with tardy steps. Upon the ground
His eyes were bent, and from his brow erased
All confidence, while thus in sighs he spake :
' Who hath denied me these abodes of woe ? '
Then thus to me ; ' That I am angered, think
No ground of terror : in this trial I 120
Shall vanquish, use what arts they may within
For hindrance. This their insolence, not new,
Erewhile at gate less secret they displayed,
Which still is without bolt ; upon its arch
Thou saw'st the deadly scroll : and even now,
On this side of its entrance, down the steep,
Passing the circles, unescorted, comes
One whose strong might can open us this land.'
CANTO IX
ARGUMENT
After some hindrances, and having seen the hellish furies and other mon-
sters, the Poet, by the help of an angel, enters the city of Dis, wherein he
discovers that the heretics are punished in tombs burning with intense
fire : and he, together with Virgil, passes onwards between the sepulchres
and the walls of the city.
THE hue, which coward dread on my pale cheeks
Imprinted when I saw my guide turn back,
Chased that from his which newly they had worn,
And inwardly restrained it. He, as one
Who listens, stood attentive : for his eye
CANTO ix] HELL 29
Not far could lead him through the sable air,
And the thick-gathering cloud. ' It yet behoves
We win this fight ; ' thus he began : ' if not,
Such aid to us is offered. Oh ! how long
Meseems it, ere the promised help arrive." 10
I noted, how the sequel of his words
Cloaked their beginning ; for the last he spake
Agreed not with the first. But not the less
My fear was at his saying ; sith I drew
To import worse, perchance, than that he held,
His mutilated speech. ' Doth ever any
Into this rueful concave's extreme depth
Descend, out of the first degree, whose pain
Is deprivation merely of sweet hope ? '
Thus I inquiring. ' Rarely,' he replied, 20
' It chances, that among us any makes
This journey, which I wend. Erewhile, 'tis true,
Once came I here beneath, conjured by fell
Erictho, sorceress, who compelled the shades
Back to their bodies. No long space my flesh
Was naked of me, when within these walls
She made me enter, to draw forth a spirit
From out of Judas' circle. Lowest place
Is that of all, obscurest, and removed
Farthest from heaven's all-circling orb. The road 30
Full well I know : thou therefore rest secure.
That lake, the noisome stench exhaling, round
The city of grief encompasses, which now
We may not enter without rage.' Yet more
He added : but I hold it not in mind,
For that mine eye toward the lofty tower
Had drawn me wholly, to its burning top ;
Where, in an instant, I beheld uprisen
At once three hellish furies stained with blood :
In limb and motion feminine they seemed ; 40
Around them greenest hydras twisting rolled
Their volumes ; adders and cerastes crept
Instead of hair, and their fierce temples bound.
He, knowing well the miserable hags
Who tend the queen of endless woe, thus spake :
' Mark thou each dire Erynnis. To the left,
This is Megaera ; on the right hand, she
Who wails, Alecto ; and Tisiphone
I' th' midst.' This said, in silence he remained.
Their breast they each one clawing tore ; themselves 50
Smote with their palms, and such shrill clamour raised,
That to the bard I clung, suspicion-bound.
' Hasten Medusa : so to adamant
Him shall we change ; ' all looking down exclaimed :
30
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO ix
' E'en when by Theseus' might assailed, we took
No ill revenge.' ' Turn thyself round, and keep
Thy countenance hid ; for if the Gorgon dire
Be shown, and thou shouldst view it, thy return
Upwards would be for ever lost.' This said,
Himself, my gentle master, turned me round ;
Nor trusted he my hands, but with his own
He also hid me. Ye of intellect
Sound and entire, mark well the lore concealed
Under close texture of the mystic strain.
And now there came o'er the perturbed waves
Loud-crashing, terrible, a sound that made
Either shore tremble, as if of a wind
60
Impetuous, from conflicting vapours sprung,
That 'gainst some forest driving all his might,
Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and hurls 70
Afar ; then, onward passing, proudly sweeps
His whirlwind rage, while beasts and shepherds fly.
Mine eyes he loosed, and spake : ' And now direct
Thy visual nerve along that ancient foam,
There, thickest where the smoke ascends.' As frogs
Before their foe the serpent, through the wave
Ply swiftly all, till at the ground each one
Lies on a heap ; more than a thousand spirits
Destroyed, so saw I fleeing before one
Who passed with unwet feet the Stygian sound. 80
He, from his face removing the gross air,
Oft his left hand forth stretched, and seemed alone
LINES 5 5- 1 3 1] HELL 3J
By that annoyance wearied. I perceived
That he was sent from heaven ; and to my guide
Turned me, who signal made that I should stand
Quiet, and bend to him. Ah me ! how full
Of noble anger seemed he. To the gate
He came, and with his wand touched it, whereat
Open without impediment it flew.
' Outcasts of heaven ! O abject race, and scorned ! ' 90
Began he, on the horrid grunsel standing,
' Whence doth this wild excess of insolence
Lodge in you ? wherefore kick you 'gainst that will
Ne'er frustrate of its end, and which so oft
Hath laid on you enforcement of your pangs ?
What profits, at the fates to butt the horn ?
Your Cerberus, if ye remember, hence
Bears still, peeled of their hair, his throat and maw.'
This said, he turned back o'er the filthy way,
And syllable to us spake none ; but wore 100
The semblance of a man by other care
Beset, and keenly prest, than thought of him
Who in his presence stands. Then we our steps
Toward that territory moved, secure
After the hallowed words. We, unopposed,
There entered ; and, my mind eager to learn
What state a fortress like to that might hold,
I, soon as entered, throw mine eye around,
And see, on every part, wide-stretching space,
Replete with bitter pain and torment ill. no
As where Rhone stagnates on the plains of Aries,
Or as at Pola, near Quarnaro's gulf,
That closes Italy and laves her bounds,
The place is all thick spread with sepulchres ;
So was it here, save what in horror here
Excelled : for 'midst the graves were scattered flames,
Wherewith intensely all throughout they burned,
That iron for no craft there hotter needs.
Their lids all hung suspended ; and beneath.
From them forth issued lamentable moans, 120
Such as the sad and tortured well might raise.
I thus : ' Master ! say who are these, interred
Within these vaults, of whom distinct we hear
The dolorous sighs.' He answer thus returned :
* The arch-heretics are here, accompanied
By every sect their followers ; and much more,
Than thou belie vest, the tombs are freighted : like
With like is buried; and the monuments
Are different in degrees of heat.' This said,
He to the right hand turning, on we passed 130
Betwixt the afflicted and the ramparts high.
32 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO x
CANTO X
ARGUMENT
Dante, having obtained permission from his guide, holds discourse with
Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante Cavalcanti, who lie in their fiery
tombs that are yet open, and not to be closed up till after the last judge-
ment. Farinata predicts the Poet's exile from Florence ; and shows him
that the condemned have knowledge of future things, but are ignorant of
what is at present passing, unless it be revealed by some new comer from
earth.
Now by a secret pathway we proceed.
Between the walls, that hem the region round,
And the tormented souls : my master first,
I close behind his steps. ' Virtue supreme ! '
I thus began : ' who through these ample orbs
In circuit lead'st me, even as thou will'st ;
Speak thou, and satisfy my wish. May those,
Who lie within these sepulchres, be seen ?
Already all the lids are raised, and none
O'er them keeps watch.' He thus in answer spake : 10
' They shall be closed all, what time they here
From Josaphat returned shall come, and bring
Their bodies, which above they now have left.
The cemetery on this part obtain,
With Epicurus, all his followers,
Who with the body make the spirit die.
Here therefore satisfaction shall be soon,
Both to the question asked, and to the wish
Which thou conceal'st in silence.' I replied:
' I keep not, guide beloved ! from thee my heart 20
Secreted, but to shun vain length of words ;
A lesson erewhile taught me by thyself.'
' O Tuscan ! thou, who through the city of fire
Alive art passing, so discreet of speech :
Here, please thee, stay awhile. Thy utterance
Declares the place of thy nativity
To be that noble land, with which perchance
I too severely dealt.' Sudden that sound
Forth issued from a vault, whereat, in fear,
I somewhat closer to my leader's side 30
Approaching, he thus spake : ' What dost thou ? Turn :
Lo ! Farinata there, who hath himself
Uplifted : from his girdle upwards, all
Exposed, behold him.' On his face was mine
Already fixed : his breast and forehead there
Erecting, seemed as in high scorn he held
E'en hell. Between the sepulchres, to him
My guide thrust me, with fearless hands and prompt ;
LINES 1-66]
HELL
This warning added : ' See thy words be clear.'
He, soon as there I stood at the tomb's foot, 40
Eyed me a space ; then in disdainful mood
Addressed me : ' Say what ancestors were thine.'
I, willing to obey him, straight revealed
The whole, nor kept back aught : whence he, his brow
Somewhat uplifting, cried : ' Fiercely were they
Adverse to me, my party, and the blood
From whence I sprang : twice, therefore, I abroad
Scattered them.' ' Though driven out, yet they each time
From all parts,' answered I, ' returned ; an art
Which yours have shown they are not skilled to learn.' 50
Then, peering forth from the unclosed jaw,
Rose from his side a shade, high as the chin,
Leaning, methought, upon its knees upraised.
It looked around, as eager to explore
If there were other with me ; but perceiving
That fond imagination quenched, with tears
Thus spake : ' If thou through this blind prison go'st,
Led by thy lofty genius and profound,
Where is my son ? and wherefore not with thee ? '
I straight replied : ' Not of myself I come ;
By him, who there expects me, through this clime
Conducted, whom perchance Guido thy son
Had in contempt.' Already had his words
And mode of punishment read me his name,
Whence I so fully answered. He at once
Exclaimed, up starting, ' How ! said'st thou, he had ?
60
34 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO x
No longer lives he ? Strikes not on his eye
The blessed daylight ? ' Then, of some delay
I made ere my reply, aware, down fell
Supine, nor after forth appeared he more. 70
Meanwhile the other, great of soul, near whom
I yet was stationed, changed not countenance stern,
Nor moved the neck, nor bent his ribbed side.
' And if.' continuing the first discourse,
' They in this art,' he cried, ' small skill have shown ;
That doth torment me more e'en than this bed.
But not yet fifty times shall be relumed
Her aspect, who reigns here queen of this realm,
Ere thou shalt know the full weight of that art.
So to the pleasant world mayst thou return, So
As thou shalt tell me why, in all their laws,
Against my kin this people is so fell.'
' The slaughter and great havoc,' I replied,
' That coloured Arbia's flood with crimson stain
To these impute, that in our hallowed dome
Such orisons ascend.' Sighing he shook
The head, then thus resumed : ' In that affray
I stood not singly, nor without just cause,
Assuredly, should with the rest have stirred ;
But singly there I stood, when, by consent 90
Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed,
The one who openly forbade the deed.'
' So may thy lineage find at last repose,'
I thus adjured him, ' as thou solve this knot,
Which now involves my mind. If right I hear,
Ye seem to view beforehand that which time
Leads with him, of the present uninformed.'
' We view, as one who hath an evil sight,'
He answered, ' plainly, objects far remote ;
So much of his large splendour yet imparts 100
The Almighty Ruler : but when they approach,
Or actually exist, our intellect
Then wholly fails ; nor of your human state,
Except what others bring us, know we aught.
Hence therefore mayst thou understand, that all
Our knowledge in that instant shall expire,
When on futurity the portals close.'
Then conscious of my fault, and by remorse
Smitten, I added thus : ' Now shalt thou say
To him there fallen, that his offspring still no
Is to the living joined ; and bid him know,
That if from answer, silent, I abstained,
'Twas that my thought was occupied, intent
Upon that error, which thy help hath solved.'
But now my master summoning me back
CANTO xi] HELL 35
I heard, and with more eager haste besought
The spirit to inform me, who with him
Partook his lot. He answer thus returned :
' More than a thousand with me here are laid.
Within is Frederick, second of that name, 120
And the Lord Cardinal ; and of the rest
I speak not.' He, this said, from sight withdrew.
But I my steps toward the ancient bard
Reverting, ruminated on the words
Betokening me such ill. Onward he moved,
And thus, in going, questioned : ' Whence the amaze
That holds thy senses wrapped ? ' I satisfied
The inquiry, and the sage enjoined me straight :
' Let thy safe memory store what thou hast heard
To thee importing harm ; and note thou this,' 130
With his raised finger bidding me take heed,
' When thou shalt stand before her gracious beam,
Whose bright eye all surveys, she of thy life
The future tenor will to thee unfold.'
Forthwith he to the left hand turned his feet :
We left the wall, and towards the middle space
Went by a path that to a valley strikes,
Which e'en thus high exhaled its noisome steam.
CANTO XI
ARGUMENT
Dante arrives at the verge of a rocky precipice which encloses the seventh
circle, where he sees the sepulchre of Anastasius the Heretic ; behind the
lid of which pausing a little, to make himself capable by degrees of endur-
ing the fetid smell that, steamed upward from the abyss, he is instructed
by Virgil concerning the manner in which the three following circles are
disposed, and what description of sinners is punished in each. He then
inquires the reason why the carnal, the gluttonous, the avaricious and
prodigal, the Avrathful and gloomy, suffer not their punishments within
the city of Dis. He next asks how the crime of usury is an offence against
God ; and at length the two Poets go towards the place from whence
a passage leads down to the seventh circle.
UPON the utmost verge of a high bank,
By craggy rocks environed round, we came,
Where woes beneath, more cruel yet, were stowed :
And here, to shun the horrible excess
Of fetid exhalation upward cast
From the profound abyss, behind the lid
Of a great monument we stood retired,
Whereon this scroll I marked : ' I have in charge
Pope Anastasius, whom Photinus drew
From the right path.' 'Ere our descent, behoves 10
CARY D
36
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO xi
We make delay, that somewhat first the sense,
To the dire breath accustomed, afterward
Regard it not.' My master thus ; to whom
Answering I spake : ' Some compensation find,
That the time pass not wholly lost.' He then :
' Lo ! how my thoughts e'en to thy wishes tend.
My son ! within these rocks,' he thus began,
' Are three close circles in gradation placed,
As these which now thou leavest. Each one is full
Of spirits accursed ; but that the sight alone
Hereafter may suffice thee, listen how
And for what cause in durance they abide.
20
* Of all malicious act abhorred in heaven,
The end is injury ; and all such end
Either by force or fraud works other's woe.
But fraud, because of man peculiar evil,
To God is more displeasing ; and beneath,
The fraudulent are therefore doomed to endure
Severer pang. The violent occupy
All the first circle ; and because, to force,
Tiiree persons are obnoxious, in three rounds,
Each within other separate, is it framed.
To God, his neighbour, and himself, by man
Force may be offered ; to himself I say,
And his possessions, as thou soon shalt hear
At full. Death, violent death, and painful wounds
Upon his neighbour he inflicts ; and wastes,
3
LINES n-86] HELL 37
By devastation, pillage, and the flames,
His substance. Slayers, and each one that smites
In malice, plunderers, and all robbers, hence 4.0
The torment undergo of the first round,
In different herds. Man can do violence
To himself and his own blessings : and for this,
He, in the second round must ay deplore
With unavailing penitence his crime,
Whoe'er deprives himself of life and light,
In reckless lavishment his talent wastes,
And sorrows there where he should dwell in joy.
To God may force be offered, in the heart
Denying and blaspheming his high power, 50
And Nature with her kindly law contemning.
And thence the inmost round marks with its seal
Sodom, and Cahors, and all such as speak
Contemptuously of the Godhead in their hearts.
' Fraud, that in every conscience leaves a sting,
May be by man employed on one, whose trust
He wins, or on another who withholds
Strict confidence. Seems as the latter way
Broke but the bond of love which Nature makes.
Whence in the second circle have their nest, 60
Dissimulation, witchcraft, flatteries,
Theft, falsehood, simony, all who seduce
To lust, or set their honesty at pawn,
With such vile scum as these. The other way
Forgets both Nature's general love, and that
Which thereto added afterward gives birth
To special faith. Whence in the lesser circle,
Point of the universe, dread seat of Dis,
The traitor is eternally consumed.'
I thus : ' Instructor, clearly thy discourse 70
Proceeds, distinguishing the hideous chasm
And its inhabitants with skill exact.
But tell me this : they of the dull, fat pool,
Whom the rain beats, or whom the tempest drives,
Or who with tongues so fierce conflicting meet,
Wherefore within the city fire-illumed
Are not these punished, if God's wrath be on them ?
And if it be not, wherefore in such guise
Are they condemned ? ' He answer thus returned :
' Wherefore in dotage wanders thus thy mind, 80
Not so accustomed ? or what other thoughts
Possess it ? Dwell not in thy memory
The words, wherein thy ethic page describes
Three dispositions adverse to Heaven's will,
Incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness,
And how incontinence the least offends
38 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xi
God, and least guilt incurs ? If well thou note
This judgement, and remember who they are,
Without these walls to vain repentance doomed,
Thou shalt discern why they apart are placed 90
From these fell spirits, and less wreakful pours
Justice divine on them its vengeance down.'
' sun ! who healest all imperfect sight,
Thou so content'st me, when thou solvest my doubt,
That ignorance not less than knowledge charms.
Yet somewhat turn thee back,' I in these words
Continued, ' where thou said'st, that usury
Offends celestial Goodness ; and this knot
Perplexed unravel.' He thus made reply :
' Philosophy, to an attentive ear, 100
Clearly points out, not in one part alone,
How imitative Nature takes her course
From the celestial mind, and from its art :
And where her laws the Stagirite unfolds,
Not many leaves scanned o'er, observing well
Thou shalt discover, that your art on her
Obsequious follows, as the learner treads
In his instructor's step ; so that your art
Deserves the name of second in descent
From God. These two, if thou recall to mind no
Creation's holy book, from the beginning
Were the right source of life and excellence
To human kind. But in another path
The usurer walks ; and Nature in herself
And in her follower thus he sets at naught,
Placing elsewhere his hope. But follow now
My steps on forward journey bent ; for now
The Pisces play with undulating glance
Along the horizon, and the Wain lies all
O'er the north-west ; and onward there a space 120
Is our steep passage down the rocky height.'
CANTO xn] HELL 30
CANTO XII
ARGUMENT
Descending by a very rugged way into the seventh circle, where the violent
are punished, Dante and his 'leader find it guarded by the Minotaur ;
whose fury being pacified by Virgil, they step downwards from cr;ig to
crag ; till, drawing near the bottom, they descry a river of blood, wherein
are tormented such as have committed violence against their neighbour.
At these, when they strive to emerge from the blood, a troop of Centaurs,
running along the side of the river, aim their arrows ; and three of their
band opposing our travellers at the foot of the steep, Virgil prevails so far,
that one consents to carry them both across the stream ; arid on their
passage, Dante is informed by him of the course of the river, and of those
that are punished therein.
THE place, where to descend the precipice
We came, was rough as Alp ; and on its verge
Such object lay, as every eye would shun.
As is that ruin, which Adice's stream
On this side Trento struck, shouldering the wave,
Or loosed by earthquake or for lack of prop ;
For from the mountain's summit, whence it moved
To the low level, so the headlong rock
Is shivered, that some passage it might give
To him who from above would pass ; e'en such 10
Into the chasm was that descent : and there
At point of the disparted ridge lay stretched
The infamy of Crete, detested brood
Of the feigned heifer : and at sight of us
It gnawed itself, as one with rage distract.
To him my guide exclaimed : ' Perchance thou deem'st
The King of Athens here, who, in the world
Above, thy death contrived. Monster ! avaunt !
He comes not tutored by thy sister's art,
But to behold your torments is he come.' 20
Like to a bull, that with impetuous spring
Darts, at the moment when the fatal blow
Hath struck him, but unable to proceed
Plunges on either side ; so saw I plunge
The Minotaur ; whereat the sage exclaimed :
4 Run to the passage ! while he storms, 'tis well
That thou descend.' Thus down our road we took
Through those dilapidated crags, that oft
Moved underneath my feet, to weight like theirs
Unused. I pondering went, and thus he spake :
' Perhaps thy thoughts are of this ruined steep,
Guarded by the brute violence, which I
Have vanquished now. Know then, that when I erst
Hither descended to the nether hell,
This rock was not yet fallen. But past doubt,
40
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xn
(If well I mark) not long ere He arrived,
Who carried off from Dis the mighty spoil
Of the highest circle, then through all its bounds
Such trembling seized the deep concave and foul,
I thought the universe was thrilled with love,
Whereby, there are who deem, the world hath oft
Been into chaos turned : and in that point,
Here, and elsewhere, that old rock toppled down.
But fix thine eyes beneath : the river of blood
Approaches, in the which all those are steeped,
Who have by violence injured.' O blind lust 1
O foolish wrath ! who so dost goad us on
In the brief life, and in the eternal then
Thus miserably o'erwhelm us. I beheld
An ample foss, that in a bow was bent,
40
As circling all the plain ; for so my guide
Had told. Between it and the rampart's base,
On trail ran Centaurs, with keen arrows armed,
As to the chase they on the earth were wont.
At seeing us descend they each one stood ;
And issuing from the troop, three sped with bows
And missile weapons chosen first ; of whom
One cried from far : ' Say, to what pain ye come
Condemned, who down this steep have journeyed. Speak
From whence ye stand, or else the bow I draw.' 60
To whom my guide : ' Our answer shall be made
To Chiron, there, when nearer him we come.
Ill was thy mind, thus ever quick and rash.'
Then me he touched, and spake : ' Nessus is this,
Who for the fair Deianira died,
And wrought himself revenge for his own fate.
He in the midst, that on his breast looks down,
LINES 36-116] HELL 41
Is the great Chiron who Achilles nursed ;
That other, Pholus, prone to wrath.' Around
The foss these go by thousands, aiming shafts 70
At whatsoever spirit dares emerge
From out the blood, more than his guilt allows.
We to those beasts, that rapid strode along,
Drew near ; when Chiron took an arrow forth,
And with the notch pushed back his shaggy beard
To the cheek-bone, then, his great mouth to view
Exposing, to his fellows thus exclaimed :
' Are ye aware, that he who comes behind
Moves what he touches ? The feet of the dead
Are not so wont.' My trusty guide, who now 80
Stood near his breast, where the two natures join,
Thus made reply : ' He is indeed alive,
And solitary so must needs by me
Be shown the gloomy vale, thereto induced
By strict necessity, not by delight.
She left her joyful harpings in the sky,
Who this new office to my care consigned.
He is no robber, no dark spirit I.
But by that virtue, which empowers my step
To tread so wild a path, grant us, I pray, 90
One of thy band, whom we may trust secure,
Who to the ford may lead us, and convey
Across, him mounted on his back ; for he
Is not a spirit that may walk the air.'
Then on his right breast turning, Chiron thus
To Nessus spake : ' Return, and be their guide.
And if ye chance to cross another troop,
Command them keep aloof.' Onward we moved,
The faithful escort by our side, along
The border of the crimson-seething flood, 100
Whence, from those steeped within, loud shrieks arose.
Some there I marked, as high as to their brow
Immersed, of whom the mighty Centaur thus :
' These are the souls of tyrants, who were given
To blood and rapine. Here they wail aloud
Their merciless wrongs. Here Alexander dwells,
And Dionysius fell, who many a year
Of woe wrought for fair Sicily. That brow,
Whereon the hair so jetty clustering hangs,
Is Azzolino : that with flaxen locks no
Obizzo of Este, in the world destroyed
By his foul stepson.' To the bard revered
I turned me round, and thus he spake : ' Let him
Be to thee now first leader, me but next
To him in rank.' Then further on a space
The Centaur paused, near some, who at the throat
42 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xn
Were extant from the wave ; and, showing us
A spirit by itself apart retired,
Exclaimed: 'He in God's bosom smote the heart,
Which yet is honoured on the bank of Thames.' 120
A race I next espied who held the head,
And even all the bust, above the stream.
'Midst these I many a face remembered well.
Thus shallow more and more the blood became,
So that at last it but imbrued the feet ;
And there our passage lay athwart the foss.
' As ever on this side the boiling wave
Thou seest diminishing,' the Centaur said,
' So on the other, be thou well assured,
It lower still and lower sinks its bed, 130
Till in that part it re-uniting join,
Where 'tis the lot of tyranny to mourn.
There Heaven's stern justice lays chastising hand
On Attila, who was the scourge of earth,
On Sextus and on Pyrrhus, and extracts
Tears ever by the seething flood unlocked
From the Rinieri. of Corneto this,
Pazzo the other named, who filled the ways
With violence and war.' This said, he turned,
And quitting us, alone repassed the ford. 140
CANTO XIII
ARGUMENT
Still in the seventh circle, Dante enters its second compartment, which con-
tains both those who have done violence on their own persons and those
who have violently consumed their goods ; the first changed into rough
and knotted trees whereon the harpies build their nests, the latter chased
and torn by black female mastiffs. Among the former, Piero delle Vigne
is one who tells him the cause of his having committed suicide, and more-
over in what manner the souls are transformed into those trunks. Of the
latter crew, he recognizes Lano, a Sienese, and Jacomo, a Paduan : and
lastly, a Florentine, who had hung himself from his own roof, speaks to
him of the calamities of his countrymen.
ERE Nessus yet had reached the other bank,
We entered on a forest, where no track
Of steps had worn a way. Not verdant there
The foliage, but of dusky hue ; not light
The boughs and tapering, but with knares deformed
And matted thick : fruits there were none, but thorns
Instead, with venom filled. Less sharp than these,
Less intricate the brakes, wherein abide
Those animals, that hate the cultured fields,
Betwixt Corneto and Cecina's stream. 10
CANTO xin]
HELL
43
Here the brute Harpies make their nest, the same
Who from the Strophades the Trojan band
Drove with dire boding of their future woe.
Broad are their pennons, of the human form
Their neck and countenance, armed with talons keen
The feet, and the huge belly fledge with wings.
These sit and wail on the drear mystic wood.
The kind instructor in these words began :
' Ere farther thou proceed, know thou art now
I' th' second round, and shalt be, till thou come
Upon the horrid sand : look therefore well
Around thee, and such things thou shalt behold,
As would my speech discredit.' On all sides
I heard sad plainings breathe, and none could see
From whom they might have issued. In amaze
Fast bound I stood. He, as it seemed, believed
That I had thought so many voices came
From some amid those thickets close concealed,
And thus his speech resumed : * If thou lop off
A single twig from one of those ill plants, 30
The thought thou hast conceive:! shall vanish quite.'
Thereat a little stretching forth my hand,
From a great wilding gathered I a branch,
And straight the trunk exclaimed ; * Why pluck'st thou me ?
Then, as the dark blood trickled down its side,
These words it added : ' Wherefore tear'st me thus ?
Is there no touch of mercy in thy breast ?
Men once were we, that now are rooted here.
44 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xm
Thy hand might well have spared us, had we been
The souls of serpents.' As a brand yet green, 40
That burning at one end from the other sends
A groaning sound, and hisses with the wind
That forces out its way, so burst at once
Forth from the broken splinter words and blood.
I, letting fall the bough, remained as one
Assailed by terror ; and the sage replied :
' If he, O injured spirit ! could have believed
What he hath seen but in my verse described,
He never against thee had stretched his hand.
But I, because the thing surpassed belief, 50
Prompted him to this deed, which even now
Myself I rue. But tell me, who thou wast ;
That, for this wrong to do thee some amends,
In the upper world (for thither to return
Is granted him) thy fame he may revive.'
* That pleasant word of thine,' the trunk replied,
' Hath so inveigled me, that I from speech
Cannot refrain, wherein if I indulge
A little longer, in the snare detained,
Count it not grievous. I it was, who held 60
Both keys to Frederick's heart, and turned the wards,
Opening and shutting, with a skill so sweet,
That besides me, into his inmost breast
Scarce any other could admittance find.
The faith I bore to my high charge was such,
It cost me the life-blood that warmed my veins.
The harlot, who ne'er turned her gloating eyes
From Caesar's household, common vice and pest
Of courts, 'gainst me inflamed the minds of all ;
And to Augustus they so spread the flame, 70
That my glad honours changed to bitter woes.
My soul, disdainful and disgusted, sought
Refuge in death from scorn, and I became,
Just as I was, unjust toward myself.
By the new roots, which fix this stem, I swear,
That never faith I broke to my liege lord,
Who merited such honour ; and of you,
If any to the world indeed return.
Clear he from wrong my memory, that lies
Yet prostrate under envy's cruel blow.' 80
First somewhat pausing, till the mournful words
Were ended, then to me the bard began :
' Lose not the time ; but speak, and of him ask,
If more thou wish to learn.' Whence I replied :
* Quest on thou him again of whatsoe'er
Will, as thou think'st, content me ; for no power
Have I to ask, such pity is at my heart.'
LINES 39-136] HELL 45
He thus resumed : ' So may he do for thee
Freely what thou entreatest, as thou yet
Be pleased, imprisoned spirit ! to declare, 90
How in these gnarled joints the soul is tied ;
And whether any ever from such frame
Be loosened, if thou canst, that also tell.'
Thereat the trunk breathed hard, and the wind soon
Changed into sounds articulate like these :
' Briefly ye shall be answered. When departs
The fierce soul from the body, by itself
Thence torn asunder, to the seventh gulf
By Minos doomed, into the wood it falls,
No place assigned, but wheresoever chance 100
Hurls it ; there sprouting, as a grain of spelt,
It rises to a sapling, growing thence
A savage plant. The Harpies, on its leaves
Then feeding, cause both pain, and for the pain
A vent to grief. We, as the rest, shall come
For our own spoils, yet not so that with them
We may again be clad ; for what a man
Takes from himself it is not just he have.
Here we perforce shall drag them ; and throughout
The dismal glade our bodies shall be hung, no
Each on the wild thorn of his wretched shade.'
Attentive yet to listen to the trunk
We stood, expecting further speech, when us
A noise surprised ; as when a man perceives
The wild boar and the hunt approach his place
Of stationed watch, who of the beasts and boughs
Loud rustling round him hears. And lo ! there came
Two naked, torn with briers, in headlong flight,
That they before them broke each fan o' th' wood.
' Haste now,' the foremost cried, ' now haste thee, death ! '
The other, as seemed, impatient of delay, 121
Exclaiming, ' Lano ! not so bent for speed
Thy sinews, in the lists of Toppo's field.'
And then, for that perchance no longer breath
Sufficed him, of himself and of a bush
One group he made. Behind them was the wood
Full of black female mastiffs, gaunt and fleet,
As greyhounds that have newly slipped the leash.
On him, who squatted down, they stuck their fangs,
And having rent him piecemeal bore away 13
The tortured limbs. My guide then seized my hand,
And led me to the thicket, which in vain
Mourned through its bleeding wounds : ' Jacomo
Of Sant' Andrea ! what avails it thee,'
It cried, * that of me thou hast made thy screen ?
For thy ill life, what blame on me recoils ? '
46 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xin
When o'er it he had paused, my master spake :
' Say who wast thou, that at so many points
Breathest out with blood thy lamentable speech ? '
He answered: ' O ye spirits ! arrived in time 140
To spy the shameful havoc that from me
My leaves hath severed thus, gather them up,
And at the foot of their sad parent-tree
Carefully lay them. In that city I dwelt,
Who for the Baptist her first patron changed.
Whence he for this shall cease not with his art
To work her woe : and if there still remained not
On Arno's passage some faint glimpse of him,
Those citizens, who reared once more her walls
Upon the ashes left by Attila, 150
Had laboured without profit of their toil.
I slung the fatal noose from my own roof.'
CANTO XIV
ARGUMENT
They arrive at the beginning of the third of those compartments into which
this seventh circle is divided. It is a plain of dry and hot sand, where
three kinds of violence are punished ; namely, against God, against
Nature, and against Art ; and those who have thus sinned, are tormented
by flakes of fire, which are eternally showering down upon them. Among
the violent against God is found Capaneus, whose blasphemies they hear.
Next, turning to the left along the forest of self-slayers, and having
journeyed a little onwards, they meet with a streamlet of blood that
issues from the forest and traverses the sandy plain. Here Virgil speaks
to our Poet of a huge ancient statue that stands within Mount Ida in
Crete, from a fissure in which statue there is a dripping of tears, from
which the said streamlet, together with the three other infernal rivers, are
formed.
SOON as the charity of native land
Wrought in my bosom, I the scattered leaves
Collected, and to him restored, who now
Was hoarse with utterance. To the limit thence
We came, which from the third the second round
Divides, and where of justice is displayed
Contrivance horrible. Things then first seen
Clearlier to manifest, I tell how next
A plain we reached, that from its sterile bed
Each plant repelled. The mournful wood waves round 10
Its garland on all sides, as round the wood
Spreads the sad foss. There, on the very edge,
Our steps we stayed. It was an area wide
Of arid sand and thick, resembling most
The soil that erst by Cato's foot was trod.
Vengeance of heaven ! Oh ! how shouldst thou be feared
CANTO xiv] HELL 47
By all, who read what here mine eyes beheld.
Of naked spirits many a flock I saw,
All weeping piteously, to different laws
Subjected ; for on the earth some lay supine, 20
Some crouching close were seated, others paced
Incessantly around ; the latter tribe
More numerous, those fewer who beneath
The torment lay, but louder in their grief.
O'er all the sand fell slowly wafting down
Dilated flakes of fire, as flakes of snow
On Alpine summit, when the wind is hushed
As, in the torrid Indian clime, the son
Of Aminon saw, upon his warrior band
Descending, solid flames, that to the ground 30
Came down ; whence he bethought him with his troop
To trample on the soil ; for easier thus
The vapour was extinguished, while alone :
So fell the eternal fiery flood, wherewith
The marl glowed underneath, as under stove
The viands, doubly to augment the pain.
Unceasing was the play of wretched hands,
Now this, now that way glancing, to shake off
The heat, still falling fresh. I thus began :
' Instructor ! thou who all things overcomest, 40
Except the hardy demons that rushed forth
To stop our entrance at the gate, say who
Is yon huge spirit, that, as seems, heeds not
The burning, but lies writhen in proud scorn,
As by the sultry tempest irnmatured ? '
Straight he himself, who was aware I asked
My guide of him, exclaimed : ' Such as I was
When living, dead such now I am. If Jove
Weary his workman out, from whom in ire
He snatched the lightnings, that at my last day 50
Transfixed me ; if the rest he weary out,
At their black smithy labouring by turns,
In Mongibello, while he cries aloud,
" Help, help, good Mulciber ! ' as erst he cried
In the Phlegraean warfare ; and the bolts
Launch he, full aimed at me, with all his might ;
He never should enjoy a sweet revenge.'
Then thus my guide, in accent higher raised
Than I before had heard him : ' Capaneus !
Thou art more punished, in that this thy pride 60
Lives yet unquenched : no torment, save thy rage.
Were to thy fury pain proportioned full.'
Next turning round to me, with milder lip
He spake : ' This of the seven kings was one,
Who girt the Theban walls with siege, and held,
48 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xiv
As still he seems to hold, God in disdain,
And sets his high omnipotence at naught.
But, as I told him, his despiteful mood
Is ornament well suits the breast that wears it.
Follow me now ; and look thou set not yet 70
Thy foot in the hot sand, but to the wood
Keep ever close.' Silently on we passed
To where there gushes from the forest's bound
A little brook, whose crimsoned wave yet lifts
My hair with horror. As the rill, that runs
From Bulicame, to be portioned out
Among the sinful women ; so ran this
Down through the sand ; its bottom and each bank
Stone-built, and either margin at its side,
Whereon I straight perceived our passage lay. 80
' Of all that I have shown thee, since that gate
We entered first, whose threshold is to none
Denied, naught else so worthy of regard,
As is this river, has thine eye discerned,
O'er which the flaming volley all is quenched.'
So spake my guide ; and I him thence besought,
That having given me appetite to know,
The food he too would give, that hunger craved.
' In midst of ocean,' forthwith he began,
' A desolate country lies, which Crete is named ; 90
Under whose monarch, in old times, the world
Lived pure and chaste. A mountain rises there,
Called Ida, joyous once with leaves and streams,
Deserted now like a forbidden thing.
It was the spot which Rhea, Saturn's spouse,
Chose for the secret cradle of her son ;
And better to conceal him, drowned in shoute
His infant cries. Within the mount, upright
An ancient form there stands, and huge, that turns
His shoulders towards Damiata ; and at Rome, 100
As in his mirror, looks. Of finest gold
His head is shaped, pure silver are the breast
And arms, thence to the middle is of brass,
And downward all beneath well-tempered steel,
Save the right foot of potter's clay, on which
Than on the other more erect he stands.
Each part, except the gold, is rent throughout ;
And from the fissure tears distil, which joined
Penetrate to that cave. They in their course,
Thus rar precipitated down the rock, no
Form Acheron, and Styx, and Phlegethon ;
Then by this straitened channel passing hence
Beneath, e'en to the lowest depth of all,
Form there Cocytus, of whose lake (thyself
LINES 66-138]
HELL
49
Shalt see it) I here give thee no account.'
Then I to him : ' If from our world this sluice
Be thus derived ; wherefore to us but now
Appears it at this edge ? ' He straight replied :
' The place, thou know'st, is round : and though great part
Thou have already passed, still to the left 120
Descending to the nethermost, not yet
Hast thou the circuit made of the whole orb.
Wherefore, if aught of new to us appear,
It needs not bring up wonder in thy looks.'
Then I again inquired : ' Where flow the streams
Of Phlegethon and Lethe ? for of one
Thou tell'st not ; and the other, of that shower,
Thou say'st, is formed.' He answer thus returned :
' Doubtless thy questions all well pleased I hear.
Yet the red seething wave might have resolved
One thou proposest. Lethe thou shalt see,
But not within this hollow, in the place
Whither, to lave themselves, the spirits go,
Whose blame hath been by penitence removed.'
He added : ' Time is now we quit the wood.
Look thou my steps pursue : the margins give
Safe passage, unimpeded by the flames ;
For over them all vapour is extinct.'
'3
50 THE VISION OF DANTE [CAXTO xv
CAXTO XV
ARGUMENT
Taking their way upon one of the mounds by which the streamlet, spoken
of in the last Canto, was embanked, and having gone so far that they could
no longer have discerned the forest if they had turned round to look for it,
they meet a troop of spirits that come along the sand by the side of the
pier. These are they who have done violence to Nature ; and amongst
them Dante distinguishes Brunette Latini, who had been formerly his
master : with whom, turning a little backward, he holds a discourse which
occupies the remainder of this Canto.
of the solid margins bears us now
Enveloped in the mist, that, from the stream
Arising, hovers o'er, and saves from fire
Both piers and water. As the Flemings rear
Their mound, 'twixt Ghent and Bruges, to chase back
The ocean, fearing his tumultuous tide
That drives toward them ; or the Paduans theirs
Along the Brenta, to defend their towns
And castles, ere the genial warmth be felt
On Chiarentana's top ; such were the mounds, 10
So framed, though not in height or bulk to these
Made equal, by the master, whosoe'er
He was, that raised them here. We from the wood
Were now so far removed, that turning round
I might not have discerned it, when we met
A troop of spirits, who came beside the pier.
They each one eyed us, as at eventide
One eyes another under a new moon ;
And toward us sharpened their sight, as keen
As an old tailor at his needle's eve. 20
w
Thus narrowly explored by all the tribe,
I was agnized of one, who by the skirt
Caught me, and cried, " What wonder have we here ? '
And I, when he to me outstretched his arm.
Intently fixed my ken on his parched looks,
That, although smirched with fire, they hindered not
But I remembered him ; and towards his face
My hand inclining, answered : ' Ser Brunette !
And are ye here ? ' He thus to me : ' My son !
Oh let it not displease thee, if Brunetto 30
Latini but a little space with thee
Turn back, and leave his fellows to proceed.'
I thus to him replied : ' Much as I can,
I thereto pray thee ; and if thou be willing
That I here seat me with thee, I consent :
His leave, with whom I journey, first obtained.'
' son ! ' said he, ' whoever of this throng
LINES 1-68]
HELL
51
One instant stops, lies then a hundred years,
No fan to ventilate him, when the fire
Smites sorest. Pass thou therefore on. I close
Will at thy garments walk, and then rejoin
My troop, who go mourning their endless doom.'
I dared not from the path descend to tread
On equal ground with him, but held my head
Bent down, as one who walks in reverent guise.
' What chance or destiny,' thus he began,
' Ere the last day, conducts thee here below ?
And who is this that shows to thee the way ? '
' There up aloft,' I answered, ' in the life
Serene, I wandered in a valley lost,
Before mine age had to its fullness reached.
40
5
But yestermorn I left it : then once more
Into that vale returning, him I met ;
And by this path homeward he leads me back.'
' If thou,' he answered, ' follow but thy star,
Thou canst not miss at last a glorious haven ;
Unless in fairer days my judgement erred.
And if my fate so early had not chanced,
Seeing the heavens thus bounteous to thee, I
Had gladly given thee comfort in thy work.
But that ungrateful and malignant race,
Who in old times came down from Fiesole,
Aye, and still smack of their rough mountain- flint,
Will for thy good deeds show thee enmity.
Nor wonder ; for amongst ill-savoured crabs
It suits not the sweet fig-tree lay her fruit.
Old fame reports them in the world for blind,
Covetous, envious, proud. Look to it well :
60
52 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xv
Take heed thou cleanse thee of their ways. For thee,
Thy fortune hath such honour in reserve, 70
That thou by either party shalt be craved
With hunger keen : but be the fresh herb far
From the goat's tooth. The herd of Fiesole
May of themselves make litter, not touch the plan%
If any such yet spring on their rank bed,
In which the holy seed revives, transmitted
From those true Romans, who still there remained,
When it was made the nest of so much ill.'
' Were all my wish fulfilled,' I straight replied.
' Thou from the confines of man's nature yet So
Hadst not been driven forth ; for in my mind
Is fixed, and now strikes full upon my heart,
The dear, benign, paternal image, such
As thine was, when so lately thou didst teach me
The way for man to win eternity :
And how I prized the lesson, it behoves,
That, long as life endures, my tongue should speak.
What of my fate thou tell'st, that write I down ;
And, with another text to comment on,
For her I keep it, the celestial dame, 90
Who will know all, if I to her arrive.
This only would I have thee clearly note :
That, so my conscience have no plea against me.
Do Fortune as she list, I stand prepared.
Not new or strange such earnest to mine ear.
Speed Fortune then her wheel, as likes her best :
The clown his mattock ; all things have their course.'
Thereat rny sapient guide upon his right
Turned himself back, then looked at me. and spake :
' He listens to good purpose who takes note.' 100
I not the less still on my way proceed,
Discoursing with Brunetto, and inquire
Who are most known and chief among his tribe.
' To know of some is well : ' he thus replied,
' But of the rest silence may best beseem.
Time would not serve us for report so long.
In brief I tell thee. that all these were clerks,
Men of great learning and no less renown,
By one same sin polluted in the world.
With them is Priscian ; and Accorso's son, no
Francesco, herds among that wretched throng :
And, if the wish of so impure a blotch
Possessed thee. him thou also rnightst have seen,
Who by the servants' servant was transferred
From Arno's seat to Bacchiglione, where
His ill-strained nerves he left. I more would add,
But must from further speech and onward way
CANTO xvi] HELL ;, :i
Alike desist ; for yonder I behold
A mist new-risen on the sandy plain.
A company, with whom I may not sort, 120
Approaches. I commend my Treasure to thee,
Wherein I yet survive ; my sole request.'
This said, he turned, and seemed as one of those
Who o'er Verona's champain try their speed
For the green mantle ; and of them he seemed,
Not he who loses but who gains the prize.
CANTO XVI
ARGUMENT
Journeying along the pier, which crosses the sand, they are now so near the
end of it, as to hear the noise of the stream falling into the eighth circle,
when they meet the spirits of three military men ; who, judging Dante,
from his dress, to be a countryman of theirs, entreat him to stop. He
complies, and speaks with them. The two Poets then reach the place
where the water descends, being the termination of this third compart-
ment in the seventh circle ; and here Virgil having thrown down into the
hollow a cord, wherewith Dante was girt, they behold at that signal
a monstrous and horrible figure come swimming iip to them.
Now came I where the water's din was heard,
As down it fell into the other round,
Resounding like the hum of swarming bees :
When forth together issued from a troop,
That passed beneath the fierce tormenting storm,
Three spirits, running swift. They towards us came,
And each one cried aloud, ; Oh ! do thou stay,
Whom, by the fashion of thy garb, we deem
To be some inmate of our evil land.'
Ah me ! what wounds I marked upon their limbs, 10
Recent and old. inflicted by the flames.
E'en the remembrance of them grieves me yet.
Attentive to their cry, my teacher paused,
And turned to me his visage, and then spake :
' Wait now : our courtesy these merit well :
And were 't not for the nature of the place,
Whence glide the fiery darts, I should have said,
That haste had better suited thee than them.'
They, when we stopped, resumed their ancient wail,
And, soon as they had reached us, all the three 20
Whirled round together in one restless wheel.
As naked champions, smeared with slippery oil
Are wont, intent, to watch their place of hold
And vantage, ere in closer strife they meet ;
Thus each one, as he wheeled, his countenance
At me directed, so that opposite
54
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvi
The neck moved ever to the twinkling feet.
' If woe of this unsound and dreary waste,'
Thus one began, ' added to our sad cheer
Thus peeled with flame, do call forth scorn on us
And our entreaties, let our great renown
Incline thee to inform us who thou art,
That dost imprint, with living feet unharmed,
The soil of Hell. He, in whose track thou seest
My steps pursuing, naked though he be
And reft of all, was of more high estate
Than thou believest ; grandchild of the chaste
Gualdrada, him they Guidoguerra called.
Who in his lifetime many a noble act
30
Achieved, both by his wisdom and his sword.
The other, next to me that beats the sand,
Is Aldobrandi, name deserving well,
In the upper world, of honour ; and myself,
Who in this torment do partake with them,
Am Rusticucci, whom, past doubt, my wife,
Of savage temper, more than aught beside
Hath to this evil brought.' If from the fire
I had been sheltered, down amidst them straight
I then had cast me ; nor my guide, I deem,
Would have restrained my going : but that fear
Of the dire burning vanquished the desire,
Which made me eager of their wished embrace.
I then began : ' Not scorn, but grief much more,
Such as long time alone can cure, your doom
Fixed deep within me, soon as this my lord
40
LINES 27- io4] HELL 55
Spake words, whose tenor taught me to expect
That such a race, as ye are, was at hand.
I am a countryman of yours, who still
Affectionate have uttered, and have heard
Your deeds and names renowned. Leaving the gall, 60
For the sweet fruit I go, that a sure guide
Hath promised to me. But behoves, that far
As to the centre first I downward tend.'
' So may long space thy spirit guide thy limbs,'
He answer straight returned ; ' and so thy lame
Shine bright when thou art gone, as thou shalt tell,
If courtesy and valour, as they wont,
Dwell in our city, or have vanished clean :
For one amidst us late condemned to wail,
Borsiere, yonder walking with his peers, 70
Grieves us no little by the news he brings.'
' An upstart multitude and sudden gains,
Pride and excess, Florence ! have in thee
Engendered, so that now in tears thou mourn'st ! '
Thus cried I, with my face upraised, and they
All three, who for an answer took my words,
Looked at each other, as men look when truth
Comes to their ear. ' If at so little cost,'
They all at once rejoined, ' thou satisfy
Others who question thee, O happy thou ! So
Gifted with words so apt to speak thy thought.
Wherefore, if thou escape this darksome clime,
Returning to behold the radiant stars,
When thou with pleasure shalt retrace the past,
See that of us thou speak among mankind.'
This said, they broke the circle, and so swift
Fled, that as pinions seemed their nimble feet.
Not in so short a time might one have said
' Amen,' as they had vanished. Straight my guide
Pursued his track. I followed : and small space 90
Had we passed onward, when the water's sound
Was now so near at hand, that we had scarce
Heard one another's speech for the loud din.
E'en as the river, that first holds ite course
Unmingled, from the Mount of Vesulo,
On the left side of Apennine, toward
The east, which Acquacheta higher up
They call, ere it descend into the vale,
At Forli, by that name no longer known,
Rebellows o'er Saint Benedict, rolled on 100
From the Alpine summit down a precipice,
Where space enough to lodge a thousand spreads ;
Thus downward from a craggy steep we found
That this dark wave resounded, roaring loud,
56 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvi
So that the ear its clamour soon had stunned.
I had a cord that braced my girdle round,
Wherewith I erst had thought fast bound to take
The painted leopard. This when I had all
Unloosened from me (so my master bade)
I gathered up, and stretched it forth to him. no
Then to the right he turned, and from the brink
Standing few paces distant, cast it down
Into the deep abyss. ' And somewhat strange,'
Thus to myself I spake, ' signal so strange
Betokens, which my guide with earnest eye
Thus follows.' Ah ! what caution must men use
With those who look not at the deed alone,
But spy into the thoughts with subtle skill.
' Quickly shall come,' he said, ' what I expect ;
Thine eye discover quickly that, whereof 120
Thy thought is dreaming.' Ever to that truth,
Which but the semblance of a falsehood wears,
A man, if possible, should bar his lip ;
Since, although blameless, he incurs reproach.
But silence here were vain ; and by these notes,
Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee,
So may they favour find to latest times !
That through the gross and murky air I spied
A shape come swimming up, that might have quelled
The stoutest heart with wonder ; in such guise 130
As one returns, who hath been down to loose
An anchor grappled fast against some rock,
Or to aught else that in the salt wave lies,
Who, upward springing, close draws in his feet.
CANTO XVII
ARGUMENT
The monster Geryon is described ; to whom while Virgil is speaking in
order that he may carry them both down to the next circle, Dante, by
permission, goes a little farther along the edge of the void, to descry the
third species of sinners contained in this compartment, namely, those who
have done violence to Art ; and then returning to his master, they both
descend, seated on the back of Geryon.
' Lo ! the fell monster with the deadly sting,
Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced walls
And firm embattled spears, and with his filth
Taints all the world.' Thus me my guide addressed,
And beckoned him, that he should come to shore,
Near to the stony causeway's utmost edge.
Forthwith that image vile of Fraud appeared,
CANTO xvii] HELL 57
His head and upper part exposed on land,
But laid not on the shore his bestial train.
His face the semblance of a just man's wore, i
So kind and gracious was its outward cheer
The rest was serpent all : two shaggy claws'
Reached to the armpits ; and the back and breast,
And either side, were painted o'er witli nodes
And orbits. Colours variegated more
Nor Turks nor Tartars e'er on cloth of state
With interchangeable embroidery wove,
Nor spread Arachne o'er her curious loom.
As oft-times a light skiff, moored to the shore,
Stands part in water, part upon the land ; 20
Or, as where dwells the greedy German boor,
The beaver settles, watching for his prey ;
So on the rim, that fenced the sand with rock,
Sat perched the liend of evil. In the void
Glancing, his tail upturned its venomous fork,
With sting like scorpion's armed. Then thus my guide :
' Now need our way must turn few steps apart.
Far as to that ill beast, who couches there.'
Thereat, toward the right our downward course
We shaped, and, better to escape the flame 30
And burning marl, ten paces on the verge
Proceeded. Soon as we to him arrive,
A little farther on mine eye beholds
A tribe of spirits, seated on the sand
Near to the void. Forthwith my master spake :
'That to the full thy knowledge may extend
Of all this round contains, go now, and mark
The mien these wear : but hold not long discourse.
Till thou returnest, I with him meantime
Will parley, that to us he may vouchsafe 40
The aid of his strong shoulders.' Thus alone,
Yet forward on the extremity I paced
Of that seventh circle, where the mournful tribe
Were seated. At the eyes forth gushed their pangs.
Against the vapours and the torrid soil
Alternately their shifting hands they plied.
Thus use the dogs in summer still to ply
Their jaws and feet by turns, when bitten sore
By gnats, or flies, or gadflies swarming round.
Noting the visages of some, who lay 5
Beneath the pelting of that dolorous fire,
One of them all I knew not ; but perceived,
That pendent from his neck each bore a pouch
With colours and with emblems various marked,
On which it seemed as if their eye did feed.
And when, amongst them, looking round I came,
58 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvn
A yellow purse I saw with azure wrought,
That wore a lion's countenance and port.
Then, still my sight pursuing its career,
Another I beheld, than blood more red, 60
A goose display of whiter wing than curd.
And one, who bore a fat and azure swine
Pictured on his white scrip, addressed me thus :
' What dost thou in this deep ? Go now and know,
Since yet thou livest, that my neighbour here
Vitaliano on my left shall sit.
A Paduan with these Florentines am I.
Oft-times they thunder in mine ears, exclaiming,
" Oh ! haste that noble knight, he who the pouch
" With the three beaks will bring." This said, he writhed 70
The mouth, and lolled the tongue out, like an ox
That licks his nostrils. I, lest longer stay
He ill might brook, who bade me stay not long,
Backward my steps from those sad spirits turned.
My guide already seated on the haunch
Of the fierce animal I found ; and thus
He me encouraged. ' Be thou stout : be bold.
Down such a steep flight must we now descend.
Mount thou before : for, that no power the tail
May have to harm thee, I will be i' th' midst.' 80
As one, who hath an ague fit so near,
His nails already are turned blue, and he
Quivers all o'er, if he but eye the shade ;
Such was my cheer at hearing of his words.
But shame soon interposed her threat, who makes
The servant bold in presence of his lord.
I settled me upon those shoulders huge,
And would have said, but that the words to aid
My purpose came not, ' Look thou clasp me firm.'
But he whose succour then not first I proved, 90
Soon as I mounted, in his arms aloft,
Embracing, held me up ; and thus he spake :
' Geryon ! now move thee : be thy wheeling gyres
Of ample circuit, easy thy descent.
Think on the unusual burden thou sustain'st.'
As a small vessel, backening out from land,
Her station quits ; so thence the monster loosed,
And, when he felt himself at large, turned round
There, where the breast had been, his forked tail.
Thus, like an eel, outstretched at length he steered, 100
Gathering the air up with retractile claws.
Not greater was the dread, when Phaeton
The reins let drop at random, whence high heaven,
Whereof signs yet appear, was wrapt in flames ;
Nor when ill-fated Icarus perceived,
By liquefaction of the scalded wax,
LINES 57-132]
HELL
The trusted pennons loosened from his loins,
His sire exclaiming loud, ' 111 way thou keep'st ; '
Than was my dread, when round me on each part
The air I viewed, and other object none
Save the fell beast. He, slowly sailing, wheels
His downward motion, unobserved of me,
But that the wind, arising to my face,
Breathes on me from below. Now on our right
I heard the cataract beneath us leap
With hideous crash ; whence bending down to explore,
New terror I conceived at the steep plunge ;
For flames I saw, and wailings smote mine ear :
I 10
So that, all trembling, close I crouched my limbs,
And then distinguished, unperceived before,
By the dread torments that on every side
Drew nearer, how our downward course we wound.
As falcon, that hath long been on the wing,
But lure nor bird hath seen, while in despair
The falconer cries. ' Ah me ! thou stoop'st to earth,'
Wearied descends, whence nimbly he arose
In many an airy wheel, and lighting sits
At distance from his lord in angry mood ;
So Geryon lighting places us on foot
Low down at base of the deep-furrowed rock,
And, of his burden there discharged, forthwith
Sprang forward, like an arrow from the string.
120
130
60 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvin
CANTO XVIII
ARGUMENT
The Poet describes the situation and form of the eighth circle, divided into
ten gulfs, which contain as many different descriptions of fraudulent
sinners ; but in the present Canto he treats only of two sorts : the first is
of those who, either for their own pleasure, or for that of another, have
seduced any woman from her duty ; and these are scourged of demons in
the first gulf : the other sort is of flatterers, who in the second gulf are
condemned to remain immersed in filth.
THERE is a place within the depths of hell
Called Malebolge, all of rock dark-stained
With hue ferruginous, e'en as the steep
That round it circling winds. Right in the midst
Of that abominable region yawns
A spacious gulf profound, whereof the frame
Due time shall tell. The circle, that remains,
Throughout its round, between the gulf and base
Of the high craggy banks, successive forms
Ten bastions, in its hollow bottom raised. 10
As where, to guard the walls, full many a foss
Begirds some stately castle, sure defence
Affording to the space within ; so here
Were modelled these : and as like fortresses,
E'en from their threshold to the brink without,
Are flanked with bridges ; from the rock's low base
Thus flinty paths advanced, that 'cross the moles
And dikes struck onward far as to the gulf,
That in one bound collected cuts them off.
Such was the place, wherein we found ourselves 20
From Geryon's back dislodged. The bard to left
Held on his way, and I behind him moved.
On our right hand new misery I saw,
New pains, new executioners of wrath,
That swarming peopled the first chasm. Below
Were naked sinners. Hitherward they came,
Meeting our faces, from the middle point ;
With us beyond, but with a larger stride.
E'en thus the Romans, when the year returns
Of Jubilee, with better speed to rid 30
The thronging multitudes, their means devise
For such as pass the bridge ; that on one side
All front toward the castle, and approach
Saint Peter's fane, on the other towards the mount,
Each diverse way, along the grisly rock,
Horned demons I beheld, with lashes huge,
That on their back unmercifully smote.
Ah ! how they made them bound at the first stripe !
LINES 1-87] HELL 61
None for the second waited, nor the third.
Meantime, as on I passed, one met my sight, 40
Whom soon as viewed, ' Of him,' cried I, ' not yet
Mine eye hath had his fill.' I therefore stayed
My feet to scan him, and the teacher kind "
Paused with me, and consented I should walk
Backward a space ; and the tormented spirit,
Who thought to hide him, bent his visage down.
But it availed him naught ; for I exclaimed :
' Thou who dost cast thine eye upon the ground,
Unless thy features do belie thee much,
Venedico art thou. But what brings thee 50
Into this bitter seasoning ? ' He replied :
' Unwillingly I answer to thy words.
But thy clear speech, that to my mind recalls
The world I once inhabited, constrains me.
Know then 't was I who led fair Ghisola
To do the Marquis' will, however fame
The shameful tale have bruited. Nor alone
Bologna hither sendeth me to mourn.
Rather with us the place is so o'erthronged,
That not so many tongues this day are taught, 60
Betwixt the Reno and Savena's stream,
To answer Sipa in their country's phrase.
And if of that securer proof thou need,
Remember but our craving thirst for gold.'
Him speaking thus, a demon with his thong
Struck and exclaimed, ' Away, corrupter ! here
Women are none for sale.' Forthwith I joined
My escort, and few paces thence we came
To where a rock forth issued from the bank.
That easily ascended, to the right 70
Upon its splinter turning, we depart
From those eternal barriers. When arrived
Where, underneath, the gaping arch lets pass
The scourged souls : ' Pause here,' the teacher said,
' And let these others miserable now
Strike on thy ken ; faces not yet beheld,
For that together they with us have walked.'
From the old bridge we eyed the pack, who came
From the other side toward us, like the rest,
Excoriate from the lash. My gentle guide, 80
By me unquestioned, thus his speech resumed :
' Behold that lofty shade, who this way tends,
And seems too woe- begone to drop a tear.
How yet the regal aspect he retains !
Jason is he, whose skill and prowess won
The ram from Colchos. To the Lemnian isle
His passage thither led him, when those bold
62
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvm
And pitiless women had slain all their males.
There he with tokens and fair witching words
Hypsipyle beguiled, a virgin young,
Who first had all the rest herself beguiled
Impregnated, he left her there forlorn.
Such is the guilt condemns him to this pain.
Here too Medea's injuries are avenged.
All bear him company, who like deceit
To his have practised. And thus much to know
90
Of the first vale suffice thee, and of those
Whom its keen torments urge.' Now had we come
Where, crossing the next pier, the straitened path
Bestrides its shoulders to another arch. 100
Hence, in the second chasm we heard the ghosts,
Who gibber in low melancholy sounds,
With wide-stretched nostrils snort, and on themselves
Smite with their palms. Upon the banks a scurf,
From the foul steam condensed, encrusting hung,
That held sharp combat with the sight and smell.
So hollow is the depth, that from no part,
Save on the summit of the rocky span,
CANTO xix] HELL
Could I distinguish aught. Thus far we came ;
And thence I saw, within the foss below, no
A crowd immersed in ordure, that appeared
Draff of the human body. There beneath
Searching with eye inquisitive, I marked
One with his head so grimed, 't were hard to deem
If he were clerk or layman. Loud he cried :
' Why greedily thus bendest more on me,
Than on these other filthy ones, thy ken ? '
' Because, if true my memory,' I replied,
' I heretofore have seen thee with dry locks ;
And thou Alessio art, of Lucca sprung. 120
Therefore than all the rest I scan thee more.'
Then beating on his brain, these words he spake :
' Me thus low down my flatteries have sunk,
Wherewith I ne'er enough could glut my tongue.'
My leader thus : ' A little farther stretch
Thy face, that thou the visage well mayst note
Of that besotted, sluttish courtezan,
W 7 ho there doth rend her with defiled nails,
Now crouching down, now risen on her feet.
Thai's is this, the harlot, whose false lip 130
Answered her doting paramour that asked,
' Thankest me much ? ' -" Say rather, wondrously,"
And, seeing this, here satiate be our view.'
CANTO XIX
ARGUMENT
They come to the third gulf, wherein are punished those who have been
guilty of simony. These are fixed with the head downwards in certain
apertures, so that no more of them than the legs appears without, and on
the soles of their feet are seen burning flames. Dante is taken down by
his guide into the bottom of the gulf ; and there finds Pope Nicholas the
Fifth, whose evil deeds, together with those of other pontiffs, are bitterly
reprehended. Virgil then carries him up again to the arch, which affords
them a passage over the following gulf.
WOE to thee, Simon Magus ! woe to you.
His wretched followers ! who the things of God,
Which should be wedded unto goodness, them,
Rapacious as ye are, do prostitute
For gold and silver in adultery.
Now must the trumpet sound for you, since yours
Is the third chasm. Upon the following vault
We now had mounted, where the rock impends
Directly o'er the centre of the foss.
Wisdom Supreme ! how wonderful the art, 10
Which thou dost manifest in heaven, in earth,
64
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xix
And in the evil world, how just a meed
Allotting by thy virtue unto all.
I saw the livid stone, throughout the sides
And in its bottom full of apertures,
All equal in their width, and circular each.
Nor ample less nor larger they appeared
Than, in Saint John's fair dome of me beloved,
Those framed to hold the pure baptismal streams,
One of the which I brake, some few years past,
To save a whelming infant : and be this
A seal to undeceive whoever doubts
The motive of my deed. From out the mouth
Of every one emerged a sinner's feet,
20
\i
And of the legs high upward as the calf.
The rest beneath was hid. On either foot
The soles were burning ; whence the flexile joints
Glanced with such violent motion, as had snapped
Asunder cords or twisted withes. As flame,
Feeding on unctuous matter, glides along
The surface, scarcely touching where it moves ;
So here, from heel to point, glided the flames.
' Master ! say who is he, than all the rest
Glancing in fiercer agony, on whom
A ruddier flame doth prey ? ' I thus inquired.
' If thou be willing,' he replied, ' that I
Carry thee down, where least the slope bank falls,
He of himself shall tell thee, and his wrongs.*
I then : ' As pleases thee, to me is best.
LINES 12-88] HELL
Thou art my lord ; and know'st that ne'er I quit 40
Thy will : what silence hides, that know'st thou.'
Thereat on the fourth pier we came, we turned,
And on our left descended to the depth,
A narrow strait, and perforated close.
Nor from his side my leader set me down,
Till to his orifice he brought, whose limb
Quivering expressed his pang. 'Whoe'er thou art,
Sad spirit ! thus reversed, and as a stake
Driven in the soil,' I in these words began ;
' If thou be able, utter forth thy voice.' 50
There stood I like the friar, that doth shrive
A wretch for murder doomed, who, e'en when fixed,
Calleth him back, whence death awhile delays.
He shouted : ' Ha : already standest there ?
Already standest there, O Boniface !
By many a year the writing played me false.
So early dost thou surfeit with the wealth,
For which thou fearedst not in guile to take
The lovely lady, and then mangle her ? '
I felt as those who, piercing not the drift 60
Of answer made them, stand as if exposed
In mockery, nor know what to reply ;
When Virgil thus admonished : ' Tell him quick,
" I am not he, not he whom thou believest." '
And I, as was enjoined me, straight replied.
That heard, the spirit all did wrench his feet,
And, sighing, next in woful accent spake :
' What then of me requirest ? If to know
So much imports thee, who I am, that thou
Hast therefore down the bank descended, learn 70
That in the mighty mantle I was robed,
And of a she-bear was indeed the son,
So eager to advance my whelps, that there
My having in my purse above I stowed,
And here myself. Under my head are dragged
The rest, my predecessors in the guilt
Of simony. Stretched at their length, they lie
Along an opening in the rock. 'Midst them
I also low shall fall, soon as he comes,
For whom I took thee, when so hastily 80
I questioned. But already longer time
Hath passed, since my soles kindled, and I thus
Upturned have stood, than is his doom to stand
Planted with fiery feet. For after him,
One yet of deeds more ugly shall arrive,
From forth the west, a shepherd without law,
Fated to cover both his form and mine.
He a new Jason shall be called of whom
66 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xix
In Maccabees we read ; and favour such
As to that priest his king indulgent showed, 90
Shall be of France's monarch shown to him.'
I know not if I here too far presumed,
But in this strain I answered : ' Tell me now
What treasures from Saint Peter at the first
Our Lord demanded, when he put the keys
Into his charge ? Surely he asked no more
But " Follow me ! ' Nor Peter, nor the rest,
Or gold or silver of Matthias took,
When lots were cast upon the forfeit place
Of the condemned soul. Abide thou then ; 100
Thy punishment of right is merited :
And look thou well to that ill-gotten coin,
Which against Charles thy hardihood inspired.
If reverence of the keys restrained me not,
Which thou in happier time didst hold, I yet
Severer speech might use. Your avarice
O'ercasts the world with mourning, under foot
Treading the good, and raising bad men up.
Of shepherds like to you, the Evangelist
Was ware, when her, who sits upon the waves, no
With kings in filthy whoredom he beheld ;
She who with seven heads towered at her birth,
And from ten horns her proof of glory drew,
Long as her spouse in virtue took delight.
Of gold and silver ye have made your god.
Differing wherein from the idolater,
But that he worships one, a hundred ye ?
Ah, Constantino ! to how much ill gave birth,
Not thy conversion, but that plenteous dower,
Which the first wealthy Father gained from thee.' 120
Meanwhile, as thus I sang, he, whether wrath
Or conscience smote him, violent upsprang
Spinning on either sole. I do believe
My teacher well was pleased, with so composed
A lip he listened ever to the sound
Of the true words I uttered. In both arms
He caught, and, to his bosom lifting me,
Upward retraced the way of his descent.
Nor weary of his weight, he pressed me close,
Till to the summit of the rock we came, 130
Our passage from the fourth to the fifth pier.
His cherished burden there gently he placed
Upon the rugged rock and steep, a path
Not easy for the clambering goat to mount.
Thence to my view another vale appeared.
CANTO xx] HELL 67
CANTO XX
ARGUMENT
The Poet relates the punishment of such as presumed, while living, to pre-
dict future events. It is to have their faces reversed arid set the contrary
way on their limbs, so that, being deprived of the power to see before
them, they are constrained ever to walk backwards. Among these Virgil
points out to him Amphiaraiis, Tiresias, Aruns, and Manto (from the
mention of whom he takes occasion to speak of the origin of Mantua),
together with several others, who had practised the arts of divination
and astrology.
AND now the verse proceeds to torments new,
Fit argument of this the twentieth strain
Of the first song, whose awful theme records
The spirits whelmed in woe. Earnest I looked
Into the depth, that opened to my view,
Moistened with tears of anguish, and beheld
A tribe, that came along the hollow vale,
In silence weeping : such their step as walk
Choirs, chanting solemn litanies, on earth.
As on them more direct mine eye descends, 10
Each wondrously seemed to be reversed
At the neck-bone, so that the countenance
Was from the reins averted ; and because
None might before him look, they were compelled
To advance with backward gait. Thus one perhaps
Hath been by force of palsy clean transposed,
But I ne'er saw it nor believe it so.
Now, reader ! think within thyself, so God
Fruit of thy reading give thee ! how I long
Could keep my visage dry, when I beheld 20
Near me our form distorted in such guise,
That on the hinder parts fallen from the face
The tears down -streaming rolled. Against a rock
I leant and wept, so that my guide exclaimed :
' What, and art thou, too, witless as the rest ?
Here pity most doth show herself alive,
When she is dead. What guilt exceedeth his,
Who with Heaven's judgement in his passion strives ?
Raise up thy head, raise up, and see the man
Before whose eyes earth gaped in Thebes, when all 30
Cried out " Amphiaraiis, whither rushest ?
" Why leavest thou the war ? ' He not the less
Fell ruining far as to Minos down,
Whose grapple none eludes. Lo ! how he makes
The breast his shoulders ; and who once too far
Before him wished to see, now backward looks
And treads reverse his path. Tiresias note,
CART E
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xx
Who semblance changed, when woman he became
Of male, through every limb transformed ; and then
Once more behoved him with his rod to strike 40
The two entwining serpents, ere the plumes,
That marked the better sex, might shoot again.
' Aruns, with rear his belly facing, comes.
On Luni's mountains 'midst the marbles white,
Where delves Carrara's hind, who wons beneath,
A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars
And main-sea wide in boundless view he held.
' The next, whose loosened tresses overspread
Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair
On that side grows) was Manto, she who searched 50
Through many regions, and at length her seat
Fixed in my native land : whence a short space
My words detain thy audience. When her sire
From life departed, and in servitude
The city dedicate to Bacchus mourned,
Long time she went a wanderer through the world.
Aloft in Italy's delightful land
A lake there lies, at foot of that proud Alp
That o'er the Tyrol locks Germania in,
Its name Benacus, from whose ample breast
A thousand springs, methinks, and more, between
Camonica and Garda, issuing forth,
Water the Apennine. There is a spot
At midway of that lake, where he who bears
Of Trento's flock the pastoral staff, with him
Of Brescia, and the Veronese, might each
Passing that way his benediction give.
A garrison of goodly site and strong
60
LINES 38-117] HELL
Peschiera stands, to awe with front opposed
The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore 70
More slope each way descends. There, whatsoe'er
Benacus' bosom holds not, tumbling o'er
Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath
Through the green pastures. Soon as in his course
The stream makes head, Benacus then no more
They call the name, but Mincius, till at last
Reaching Governo, into Po he falls.
Not far his course hath run, when a wide flat
It finds, which overstretching as a marsh
It covers, pestilent in summer oft. 80
Hence journeying, the savage maiden saw
Midst of the fen a territory waste
And naked of inhabitants. To shun
All human converse, here she with her slaves,
Plying her arts, remained, and lived, and left
Her body tenantless. Thenceforth the tribes,
Who round were scattered, gathering to that place,
Assembled ; for its strength was great, enclosed
On all parts by the fen. On those dead bones
They reared themselves a city, for her sake 90
Calling it Mantua, who first chose the spot,
Nor asked another omen for the name ;
Wherein more numerous the people dwelt,
Ere Casalodi's madness by deceit
Was wronged of Pinamonte. If thou hear
Henceforth another origin assigned
Of that my country, I forewarn thee now,
That falsehood none beguile thee of the truth.'
I answered, ' Teacher. I conclude thy words
So certain, that all else shall be to me 100
As embers lacking life. But now of these,
Who here proceed, instruct me, if thou see
Any that merit more especial note.
For thereon is my mind alone intent.'
He straight replied : ' That spirit, from whose cheek
The beard sweeps o'er his shoulders brown, what time
Graecia was emptied of her males, that scarce
The cradles were supplied, the seer was he
In Aulis, who with Calchas gave the sign
When first to cut the cable. Him they named no
Eurypilus : so sings my tragic strain,
In which majestic measure well thou know'st,
Who know'st it all. That other, round the loins
So slender of his shape, was Michael Scott,
Practised in every sleight of magic wile.
' Guido Bonatti see : Asdente mark.
Who now were willing he had tended still
70 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xx
The thread and cordwain, and too late repents.
' See next the wretches, who the needle left,
The shuttle and the spindle, and became 120
Diviners : baneful witcheries they wrought
With images and herbs. But onward now :
For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine
On either hemisphere, touching the wave
Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight
The moon was round. Thou mayst remember well :
For she good service did thee in the gloom
Of the deep wood.' This said, both onward moved.
CANTO XXI
ARGUMENT
Still in the eighth circle, which bears the name of Malebolge, they look
down from the bridge that passes over its fifth gulf, upon the barterers or
public peculators. These are plunged in a lake of boiling pitch, and
guarded by Demons, to whom Virgil, leaving Dante apart, presents him-
self ; and licence being obtained to pass onward, both pursue their way.
THUS we from bridge to bridge, with other talk
The which my drama cares not to rehearse,
Passed on ; and to the summit reaching, stood
To view another gap, within the round
Of Malebolge, other bootless pangs.
Marvellous darkness shadowed o'er the place.
In the Venetians' arsenal as boils
Through wintry months tenacious pitch, to smear
Their unsound vessels ; for the inclement time
Seafaring men restrains, and in that while 10
His bark one builds anew, another stops
The ribs of his that hath made many a voyage,
One hammers at the prow, one at the poop,
This shapeth oars, that other cables twirls,
The mizen one repairs, and main-sail rent ;
So, not by force of fire but art divine,
Boiled here a glutinous thick mass, that round
Limed all the shore beneath. I that beheld,
But therein naught distinguished, save the bubbles
Raised by the boiling, and one mighty swell 20
Heave, and by turns subsiding fall. While there
I fixed my ken below, ' Mark ! mark ! ' my guide
Exclaiming, drew me towards him from the place
Wherein I stood. I turned myself, as one
Impatient to behold that which beheld
He needs must shun, whom sudden fear unmans,
That he his flight delays not for the view.
CANTO xxi]
HELL
71
Behind me I discerned a devil black,
That running up advanced along the rock.
Ah ! what fierce cruelty his look bespake. 30
In act how bitter did he seem, with wings
Buoyant outstretched and feet of nimblest tread.
His shoulder, proudly eminent and sharp,
Was with a sinner charged ; by either haunch
He held him, the foot's sinew gripping fast.
' Ye of our bridge ! ' he cried, ' keen-taloned fiends !
Lo ! one of Santa Zita's elders. Him
Whelm ye beneath, while I return for more.
That land hath store of such. All men are there,
Except Bonturo, barterers : of " no " 40
For lucre there an " aye " is quickly made.'
Him dashing down, o'er the rough rock he turned ;
Nor ever after thief a mastiff loosed
Sped with like eager haste. That other sank,
And forthwith writhing to the surface rose.
But those dark demons, shrouded by the bridge,
Cried, ' Here the hallowed visage saves not : here
Is other swimming than in Serchio's wave,
Wherefore, if thou desire we rend thee not,
Take heed thou mount not o'er the pitch.' This said, 50
They grappled him with more than hundred hooks,
And shouted : ' Covered thou must sport thee here
So, if thou canst, in secret mayst thou filch.'
E'en thus the cook bestirs him, with his grooms,
To thrust the flesh into the cauldron down
72
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO
With flesh-hooks, that it float not on the top.
Me then my guide bespake : ' Lest they descry
That thou art here, behind a craggy rock
Bend low and screen thee : and whate'er of force
Be offered me, or insult, fear thou not ;
For I am well advised, who have been erst
In the like fray.' Beyond the bridge's head
Therewith he passed ; and reaching the sixth pier,
Behoved him then a forehead terror-proof.
With storm and fury, as when dogs rush forth
Upon the poor man's back, who suddenly
From whence he standeth makes his suit ; so rushed
60
Those from beneath the arch, and against him
Their weapons all they pointed. He, aloud :
' Be none of you outrageous : ere your tine 70
Dare seize me, come forth from amongst you one,
Who having heard my words, decide he then
If he shall tear these limbs.' They shouted loud,
' Go, Malacoda ! ' Whereat one advanced,
The others standing firm, and as he came,
' What may this turn avail him ? ' he exclaimed.
' Believest thou, Malacoda ! I had come
Thus far from all your skirmishing secure,'
My teacher answered, ' without will divine
And destiny propitious ? Pass we then ; 80
For so Heaven's pleasure is, that I should lead
Another through this savage wilderness.'
Forthwith so fell his pride, that he let drop
The instrument of torture at his feet,
LINES 5 6- 1 3 3] HELL 73
And to the rest exclaimed : ' We have no power
To strike him.' Then to me my guide : ' O thou !
Who on the bridge among the crags dost sit
Low crouching, safely now to me return.'
I rose, and towards him moved with speed ; the fiends
Meantime all forward drew : me terror seized, oo
Lest they should break the compact they had made.
Thus issuing from Caprona, once I saw '
The infantry, dreading lest his covenant
The foe should break ; so close he hemmed them round.
I to my leader's side adhered, mine eyes
With fixed and motionless observance bent
On their unkindly visage. They their hooks
Protruding, one the other thus bespake :
' Wilt thou I touch him on the hip ? ' To whom
Was answered : ' Even so ; nor miss thy aim.' 100
But he, who was in conference with my guide,
Turned rapid round ; and thus the demon spake :
* Stay, stay thee, Scarmiglione ! ' Then to us
He added : ' Further footing to your step
This rock affords not, shivered to the base
Of the sixth arch. But would ye still proceed,
Up by this cavern go : not distant far,
Another rock will yield you passage safe.
Yesterday, later by five hours than now,
Twelve hundred threescore years and six had filled no
The circuit of their course, since here the way
Was broken. Thitherward I straight dispatch
Certain of these my scouts, who shall espy
If any on the surface bask. With them
Go ye : for ye shall find them nothing fell.
Come, Alichino, forth,' with that he cried,
4 And Calcabrina, and Cagnazzo thou !
The troop of ten let Barbariccia lead.
With Libicocco, Draghignazzo haste,
Fanged Ciriatto, Graffiacane fierce, 120
And Farfarello, and mad Rubicant.
Search ye around the bubbling tar. For these,
In safety lead them, where the other crag
Uninterrupted traverses the dens.'
I then : * O master ! what a sight is there.
Ah ! without escort, journey we alone,
Which, if thou know the way, I covet not.
Unless thy prudence fail thee, dost not mark
How they do gnarl upon us, and their scowl
Threatens us present tortures ? ' He replied : 1 30
' I charge thee, fear not : let them, as they will,
Gnarl on : 'tis but in token of their spite
Against the souls who mourn in torment steeped.'
74 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxi
To leftward o'er the pier they turned ; but each
Had first between his teeth pressed close the tongue,
Toward their leader for a signal looking,
Which he with sound obscene triumphant gave.
CANTO XXII
ARGUMENT
Virgil and Dante proceed, accompanied by the Demons, and see other sinners
of the same description in the same gulf. The device of Ciampolo, one of
these, to escape from the Demons, who had laid hold on him.
IT hath been heretofore my chance to see
Horsemen with martial order shifting camp,
To onset sallying, or in muster ranged,
Or in retreat sometimes outstretched for flight :
Light-armM squadrons and fleet foragers
Scouring thy plains, Arezzo ! have I seen,
And clashing tournaments, and tilting jousts,
Now with the sound of trumpets, now of bells,
Tabors, or signals made from castled heights,
And with inventions multiform, our own, 10
Or introduced from foreign land ; but ne'er
To such a strange recorder I beheld,
In evolution moving, horse nor foot,
Nor ship, that tacked by sign from land or star.
With the ten demons on our way we went ;
Ah, fearful company ! but in the church
With saints, with gluttons at the tavern's mess.
Still earnest on tho pitch I gazed, to mark
All things whate'er the chasm contained, and those
Who burned within. As dolphins that, in sign 20
To mariners, heave high their arched backs,
That thence forewarned they may advise to save
Their threatened vessel ; so, at intervals,
To ease the pain, his back some sinner showed,
Then hid more nimbly than the lightning- glance.
E'en as the frogs, that of a watery moat
Stand at the brink, with the jaws only out,
Their feet and of the trunk all else concealed,
Thus on each part the sinners stood ; but soon
As Barbariccia was at hand, so they 30
Drew back under the wave. I saw, and yet
My heart doth stagger, one, that waited thus,
As it befalls that oft one frog remains,
While the next springs away : and Graffiacan,
Who of the fiends was nearest, grappling seized
His clotted locks, and dragged him sprawling up,
CANTO xxn]
HELL
That he appeared to me an otter. Each
Already by their names I knew, so well
When they were chosen I observed, and marked
How one the other called. ' O Rubicant ! 40
See that his hide thou with thy talons flay,'
Shouted together all the cursed crew.
Then I : ' Inform thee, Master ! if thou may,
What wretched soul is this, on whom their hands
His foes have laid.' My leader to his side
Approached, and whence he came inquired ; to whom
Was answered thus : ' Born in Navarre's domain,
My mother placed me in a lord's retinue ;
For she had borne me to a losel vile,
A spendthrift of his substance and himself. 50
The good king Thibault after that I served :
To peculating here my thoughts were turned,
Whereof I give account in this dire heat.'
Straight Ciriatto, from whose mouth a tusk
Issued on either side, as from a boar,
Ripped him with one of these. 'Twixt evil claws
The mouse had fallen : but Barbariccia cried,
Seizing him with both arms : ' Stand thou apart,
While I do fix him on my prong transpierced.'
Then added, turning to my guide his face,
'Inquire of him, if more thou wish to learn,
Ere he again be rent.' My leader thus :
' Then tell us of the partners in thy guilt ;
Knowest thou any sprung of Latian land
Under the tar ?''! parted,' he replied,
* But now from one, who sojourned not far thence ,
60
76 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxn
So were I under shelter now with him,
Nor hook nor talon then should scare me more.'
' Too long we suffer,' Libicocco cried ;
Then, darting forth a prong, seized on his arm, 70
And mangled bore away the sinewy part.
Him Draghignazzo by his thighs beneath
Would next have caught ; whence angrily their chief,
Turning on all sides round, with threatening brow
Restrained them. When their strife a little ceased,
Of him, who yet was gazing on his wound,
My teacher thus without delay inquired :
' Who was the spirit, from whom by evil hap
Parting, as thou hast told, thou earnest to shore ? '
' It was the friar Gomita,' he rejoined, 80
' He of Gallura, vessel of all guile,
Who had his master's enemies in hand,
And used them so that they commend him well.
Money he took, and them at large dismissed ;
So he reports ; and in each other charge
Committed to his keeping played the part
Of barterer to the height. With him doth herd
The chief of Logodoro, Michel Zanche.
Sardinia is a theme whereof their tongue
Is never weary. Out ! alas ! behold 90
That other, how he grins. More would I say,
But tremble lest he mean to maul me sore.'
Their captain then to Farfarello turning,
Who rolled his moony eyes in act to strike,
Rebuked him thus : ' OS, cursed bird ! avaunt ! '
' If ye desire to see or hear,' he thus
Quaking with dread resumed, ' or Tuscan spirits
Or Lombard, I will cause them to appear.
Meantime let these ill talons bate their fury,
So that no vengeance they may fear from them, 100
And I, remaining in this self-same place,
Will, for myself but one, make seven appear,
When my shrill whistle shall be heard : for so
Our custom is to call each other up.'
Cagnazzo at that word deriding grinned,
Then wagged the head and spake : ' Hear his device,
Mischievous as he is, to plunge him down.'
Whereto he thus, who failed not in rich store
Of nice-wove toils : * Mischief, forsooth, extreme !
Meant only to procure myself more woe.' no
No longer Alichino then refrained,
But thus, the rest gainsaying, him bespake :
* If thou do cast thee down, I not on foot
Will chase thee, but above the pitch will beat
My plumes. Quit we the vantage ground, and let
CANTO xxm] HELL
1 t
The bank be as a shield ; that we may see,
If singly thou prevail against us all.'
Now, reader, of new sport expect to hear.
They each one turned his eyes to the other shore,
He first, who was the hardest to persuade. 120
The spirit of Navarre chose well his time,
Planted his feet on land, and at one leap
Escaping, disappointed their resolve.
Them quick resentment stung, but him the most
Who was the cause of failure : in pursuit
He therefore sped, exclaiming, ' Thou art caught.'
But little it availed ; terror outstripped
His following flight ; the other plunged beneath,
And he with upward pinion raised his breast :
E'en thus the water-fowl, when she perceives 130
The falcon near, dives instant down, while he
Enraged and spent retires. That mockery
In Calcabrina fury stirred, who flew
After him, with desire of strife inflamed ;
And, for the barterer had 'scaped, so turned
His talons on his comrade. O'er the dike
In grapple close they joined ; but the other proved
A goshawk able to rend well his foe ;
And in the boiling lake both fell. The heat
Was umpire soon between them ; but in vain 140
To lift themselves they strove, so fast were glued
Their pennons. Barbariccia, as the rest,
That chance lamenting, four in flight dispatched
From the other coast, with all their weapons armed.
They, to their post on each side speedily
Descending, stretched their hooks towards the fiends,
Who floundered, inly burning from their scars :
And we departing left them to that broil.
CANTO XXIII
ARGUMENT
The enraged Demons pursue Dante, but he is preserved from them by
Virgil. On reaching the sixth gulf, he beholds the punishment of the
hypocrites ; which is, to pace continually round the gulf under the pressure
of caps and hoods, that are gilt on the outside, but leaden within. He is
addressed by two of these, Catalano and Loderingo, knights of St. Mary,
otherwise called Joyous Friars of Bologna. Caiaphas is seen fixed to
a cross on the ground, and lies so stretched along the way, that all tread
on him in passing.
Ix silence and in solitude we went,
One first, the other following his steps,
As minor friars journeying on their road.
The present fray had turned my thoughts to muse
78 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxm
Upon old Aesop's fable, where he told
What fate unto the mouse and frog befell ;
For language hath not sounds more like in sense,
Than are these chances, if the origin
And end of each be needfully compared.
And as one thought bursts from another forth, 10
So afterward from that another sprang,
Which added doubly to my former fear.
For thus I reasoned : ' These through us have been
So foiled, with loss and mockery so complete,
As needs must sting them sore. If anger then
Be to their evil will conjoined, more fell
They shall pursue us, than the savage hound
Snatches the leveret panting 'twixt his jaws.'
Already I perceived my hair stand all
On end with terror, and looked eager back. 20
' Teacher,' I thus began, ' if speedily
Thyself and me thou hide not, much I dread
Those evil talons. Even now behind
They urge us : quick imagination works
So forcibly, that I already feel them.'
He answered : ' Were I formed of leaded glass,
I should not sooner draw unto myself
Thy outward image, than I now imprint
That from within. This moment came thy thoughts
Presented before mine, with similar act 30
And countenance similar, so that from both
I one design have framed. If the right coast
Incline so much, that we may thence descend
Into the other chasm, we shall escape
Secure from this imagined pursuit.'
He had not spoke his purpose to the end,
When I from far beheld them with spread wings
Approach to take us. Suddenly my guide
Caught me, even as a mother that from sleep
Is by the noise aroused, and near her sees 40
The climbing fires, who snatches up her babe
And flies ne'er pausing, careful more of him
Than of herself, that but a single vest
Clings round her limbs. Down from the jutting beach
Supine he cast him to that pendent rock,
Which closes on one part the other chasm.
Never ran water with such hurrying pace
Adown the tube to turn a land- mill's wheel,
When nearest it approaches to the spokes,
As then along that edge my master ran, 50
Carrying me in his bosom, as a child,
Not a companion. Scarcely had his feet
Reached to the lowest of the bed beneath,
LINES 5-102] HELL 79
When over us the steep they reached : but fear
In him was none : for that high Providence,
Which placed them ministers of the fifth foss,
Power of departing thence took from them all.
There in the depth we saw a painted tribe,
Who paced with tardy steps around, and wept,
Faint in appearance and o'ercome with toil. 60
Caps had they on, with hoods, that fell low down
Before their eyes, in fashion like to those
Worn by the monks in Cologne. Their outside
Was overlaid with gold, dazzling to view,
But leaden all within, and of such weight,
That Frederick's compared to these were straw.
Oh, everlasting wearisome attire !
We yet once more with them together turned
To leftward, on their dismal moan intent.
But by the weight oppressed, so slowly came 70
The fainting people, that our company
Was changed, at every movement of the step.
Whence I my guide addressed : ' See that thou find
Some spirit, whose name may by his deeds be known ;
And to that end look round thee as thou go'st.'
Then one, who understood the Tuscan voice,
Cried after us aloud : ' Hold in your feet,
Ye who so swiftly speed through the dusk air.
Perchance from me thou shalt obtain thy wish.'
Whereat my leader, turning, me bespake : 80
' Pause, and then onward at their pace proceed.'
I stayed, and saw two spirits in whose look
Impatient eagerness of mind was marked
To overtake me ; but the load they bare
And narrow path retarded their approach.
Soon as arrived, they with an eye askance
Perused me, but spake not : then turning, each
To other thus conferring said : ' This one
Seems, by the action of his throat, alive ;
And, be they dead, what privilege allows 90
They walk unmantled by the cumbrous stole ? '
Then thus to me : ' Tuscan, who visitest
The college of the mourning hypocrites,
Disdain not to instruct us who thou art.'
' By Arno's pleasant stream,' I thus replied,
' In the great city I was bred and grew,
And wear the body I have ever worn.
But who are ye. from whom such mighty grief,
As now I witness, courseth down your cheeks ?
What torment breaks forth in this bitter woe ? ' 100
' Our bonnets gleaming bright with orange hue,'
One of them answered, ' are so leaden gross,
80 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxm
That with their weight they make the balances
To crack beneath them. Joyous friars we were,
Bologna's natives ; Catalano I,
He Loderingo named ; and by thy land
Together taken, as men use to take
A single and indifferent arbiter,
To reconcile their strifes. How there we sped,
Gardingo's vicinage can best declare.' no
' O friars ! ' I began, ' your miseries '
But there brake off, for one had caught mine eye,
Fixed to a cross with three stakes on the ground :
He, when he saw me, writhed himself, throughout
Distorted, ruffling with deep sighs his beard.
And Catalano, who thereof was 'ware,
Thus spake : ' That pierced spirit, whom intent
Thou view'st, was he who gave the Pharisees
Counsel, that it were fitting for one man
To suffer for the people. He doth lie 120
Transverse ; nor any passes, but him first
Behoves make feeling trial how each weighs.
In straits like this along the foss are placed
The father of his consort, and the rest
Partakers in that council, seed of ill
And sorrow to the Jews.' I noted then,
How Virgil gazed with wonder upon him,
Thus abjectly extended on the cross
In banishment eternal. To the friar
He next his words addressed: 'We pray ye tell, 130
If so be lawful, whether on our right
Lies any opening in the rock, whereby
We both may issue hence, without constraint
CANTO xxiv] HELL 8i
On the dark angels, that compelled they come
To lead us from this depth.' He thus replied :
' Nearer than thou dost hope, there is a rock
From the great circle moving, which o'ersteps
Each vale of horror, save that here his cope
Is shattered. By the ruin ye may mount :
For on the side it slants, and most the height 140
Rises below.' With head bent down awhile
My leader stood ; then spake : ' He warned us LI
Who yonder hangs the sinners on his hook.'
To whom the friar : ' At Bologna erst
I many vices of the devil heard ;
Among the rest was said, " He is a liar,
" And the father of lies ! " When he had spoke,
My leader with large strides proceeded on,
Somewhat disturbed with anger in his look.
I therefore left the spirits heavy laden, 150
And, following, his beloved footsteps marked.
CANTO XXIV
ARGUMENT
Under the escort of his faithful master, Dante not without difficulty makes
his way out of the sixth gulf ; and in the seventh, sees the robbers tor-
mented by venomous and pestilent serpents. The soul of Vanni Fucci,
who had pillaged the sacristy of St. James in Pistoia, predicts some
calamities that impended over that city, and over the Florentines.
IN the year's early nonage, when the sun
Tempers his tresses in Aquarius' urn,
And now towards equal day the nights recede ;
Whenas the rime upon the earth puts on
Her dazzling sister's image, but not long
Her milder sway endures ; then riseth up
The village hind, whom fails his wintry store,
And looking out beholds the plain around
All whitened ; whence impatiently he smites
His thighs, and to his hut returning in, 10
There paces to and fro, wailing his lot,
As a discomfited and helpless man ;
Then comes he forth again, and feels new hope
Spring in his bosom, finding e'en thus soon
The world hath changed its countenance, grasps his crook.
And forth to pasture drives his little flock :
So me my guide disheartened, when I saw
His troubled forehead , and so speedily
That ill was cured ; for at the fallen bridge
Arriving, towards me with a look as sweet,
82 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxiv
He turned him back, as that I first beheld
At the steep mountain's foot. Regarding well
The ruin, and some counsel first maintained
With his own thought, he opened wide his arm
And took me up. As one, who, while he works,
Computes his labour's issue, that he seems
Still to foresee the effect ; so lifting me
Up to the summit of one peak, he fixed
His eye upon another. ' Grapple that,'
Said he, ' but first make proof, if it be such 30
As will sustain thee.' For one capped with lead
This were no journey. Scarcely he, though light,
And I, though onward pushed from crag to crag s
Could mount. And if the precinct of this coast
Were not less ample than the last, for him
I know not, but my strength had surely failed.
But Malebolge all toward the mouth
Inclining of the nethermost abyss,
The site of every valley hence requires,
That one side upward slope, the other fall. 40
At length the point from whence the utmost stone
Juts down, we reached ; soon as to that arrived,
So was the breath exhausted from my lungs
I could no farther, but did seat me there.
' Now needs thy best of man ; ' so spake my guide :
' For not on downy plumes, nor under shade
Of canopy reposing, fame is won ;
Without which whosoe'er consumes his days,
Leaveth such vestige of himself on earth,
As smoke in air or foam upon the wave. 50
Thou therefore rise : vanquish thy weariness
By the mind's effort, in each struggle formed
To vanquish, if she suffer not the weight
Of her corporeal frame to crush her down.
A longer ladder yet remains to scale.
From these to have escaped sufficeth not,
If well thou note me, profit by my words.'
I straightway rose, and showed myself less spent
Than I in truth did feel me. ' On,' I cried,
' For I am stout and fearless.' Up the rock 60
Our way we held, more rugged than before,
Narrower, and steeper far to climb. From talk
I ceased not, as we journeyed, so to seem
Least faint ; whereat a voice from the other foss
Did issue forth, for utterance suited ill.
Though on the arch that crosses there I stood,
What were the words I knew not, but who spake
Seemed moved in anger. Down I stooped to look ;
But my quick eye might reach not to the depth
LINES 21-96]
HELL
83
For shrouding darkness ; wherefore thus I spake : 70
' To the next circle, teacher, bend thy steps,
And from the wall dismount we ; for as hence
I hear and understand not, so 1 see
Beneath, and naught discern.' ' I answer not,'
Said he, ' but by the deed. To fair request
Silent performance maketh best return.'
We from the bridge's head descended, where
To the eighth mound it joins ; and then, the chasm
Opening to view, I saw a crowd within
Of serpents terrible, so strange of shape 80
And hideous, that remembrance in my veins
Yet shrinks the vital current. Of her sanda
Let Libya vaunt no more : if Jaculus,
Pareas and Chelyder be her brood,
Cenchris and Amphisbaena, plagues so dire
Or in such numbers swarming ne'er she showed,
Not with all Ethiopia, and whate'er
Above the Erythraean sea is spawned.
Amid this dread exuberance of woe
Ran naked spirits winged with horrid fear,
Nor hope had they of crevice where to hide,
Or heliotrope to charm them out of view.
With serpents were their hands behind them bound,
Which through their reins infixed the tail and head,
Twisted in folds before. And lo ! on one
Near to our side, darted an adder up,
90
84 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxiv
And, where the neck is on the shoulders tied,
Transpierced him. Far more quickly than e'er pen
Wrote or I, he kindled, burned, and changed
To ashes all, poured out upon the earth. 100
When there dissolved he lay, the dust again
Uprolled spontaneous, and the self-same form
Instant resumed. So mighty sages tell,
The Arabian Phoenix, when five hundred years
Have wellnigh circled, dies, and springs forthwith
Renascent : blade nor herb throughout his life
He tastes, but tears of frankincense alone
And odorous amornum : swaths of nard
And myrrh his funeral shroud. As one that falls,
He knows not how, by force demoniac dragged no
To earth, or through obstruction fettering up
In chains invisible the powers of man,
Who, risen from his trance, gazeth around,
Bewildered with the monstrous agony
He hath endured, and wildly staring sighs ;
So stood aghast the sinner when he rose.
Oh ! how severe God's judgement, that deals out
Such blows in stormy vengeance. Who he was,
My teacher next inquired ; and thus in few
He answered: ' Vanni Fucci am I called, 120
Not long since rained down from Tuscany
To this dire gullet. Me the bestial life
And not the human pleased, mule that I was,
Who in Pistoia found my worthy den.'
I then to Virgil : ' Bid him stir not hence ;
And ask what crime did thrust him hither : once
A man I knew him, choleric and bloody.'
The sinner heard and feigned not, but towards me
His mind directing and his face, wherein
Was dismal shame depictured, thus he spake : 130
' It grieves me more to have been caught by thee
In this sad plight, which thou beholdest, than
When I was taken from the other life.
I have no power permitted to deny
What thou inquirest. I am doomed thus low
To dwell, for that the sacristy by me
Was rifled of its goodly ornaments,
And with the guilt another falsely charged.
But that thou mayst not joy to see me thus,
So as thou e'er shalt 'scape this darksome realm, 140
Open thine ears and hear what I forebode.
Reft of the Neri first Pistoia pines ;
Then Florence changeth citizens and laws ;
From Valdimagra, drawn by wrathful Mars,
A vapour rises, wrapped in turbid mists,
CANTO xxv] HELL 85
And sharp and eager driveth on the storm
With arrowy hurtling o'er Piceno's field,
Whence suddenly the cloud shall burst, and strike
Each helpless Bianco prostrate to the ground.
This have I told, that grief may rend thy heart.' 150
CANTO XXV
ARGUMENT
The sacrilegious Fucci vents bis fury in blasphemy, is seized by serpents,
and flying is pursued by Cacus in the form of a Centaur, who is described
with a swarm of serpents on his haunch, and a dragon on his shoulders
breathing forth fire. Our Poet then meets with the spirits of three of his
countrymen, two of whom undergo a marvellous transformation in his
presence.
WHEN he had spoke, the sinner raised his hands
Pointed in mockery, and cried : ' Take them, God !
I level them at thee.' From that day forth
The serpents were my friends ; for round his neck
One of them rolling twisted, as it said,
' Be silent, tongue ! ' Another, to his arms
Upgliding, tied them, riveting itself
So close, it took from them the power to move.
Pistoia ! ah, Pistoia ! why dost doubt
To turn thee into ashes, cumbering earth 10
No longer, since in evil act so far
Thou hast outdone thy seed ? I did not mark,
Through all the gloomy circles of the abyss,
Spirit, that swelled so proudly 'gainst his God ;
Not him, who headlong fell from Thebes. He fled,
Nor uttered more ; and after him there came
A centaur full of fury, shouting, ' Where,
Where is the caitiff ? ' On Maremma's marsh
Swarm not the serpent tribe, as on his haunch
They swarmed, to where the human face begins. 20
Behind his head, upon the shoulders, lay
With open wings a dragon, breathing fire
On whomsoe'er he met. To me my guide :
' Cacus is this, who underneath the rock
Of Aventine spread oft a lake of blood.
He, from his brethren parted, here must tread
A different journey, for his fraudful theft
Of the great herd that near him stalled ; whence found
His felon deeds their end, beneath the mace
Of stout Alcides, that perchance laid on 30
A hundred blows, and not the tenth was felt.'
While yet he spake, the centaur sped away :
86
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxv
And under us three spirits came, of whom
Nor I nor he was ware, till they exclaimed,
' Say who are ye ! ' We then brake off discourse,
Intent on these alone. I knew them not :
But, as it chanceth oft, befell, that one
Had need to name another. ' Where,' said he,
' Doth Cianfa lurk ? ' I, for a sign my guide
Should stand attentive, placed against my lips
The finger lifted. If, O reader ! now
Thou be not apt to credit what I tell,
No marvel ; for myself do scarce allow
The witness of mine eyes. But as I looked
Toward them, lo ! a serpent with six feet
40
Springs forth on one, and fastens full upon him :
His midmost grasped the belly, a forefoot
Seized on each arm (while deep in either cheek
He fleshed his fangs) ; the hinder on the thighs
Were spread, 'twixt which the tail inserted curled 50
Upon the reins behind. Ivy ne'er clasped
A doddered oak, as round the other's limbs
The hideous monster intertwined his own.
Then, as they both had been of burning wax,
Each melted into other, mingling hues,
That which was either now was seen no more.
Thus up the shrinking paper, ere it burns,
A brown tint glides, not turning yet to black,
And the clean white expires. The other two
Looked on, exclaiming, ' Ah ! how dost thou change, 60
Agnello ! See ! Thou art nor double now,
LINES 33-110] HELL 87
Nor only one.' The two heads now became
One, and two figures blended in one form
Appeared, where both were lost. Of the four lengths
Two arms were made : the belly and the chest,
The thighs and legs, into such members changed
As never eye hath seen. Of former shape
All trace was vanished. Two, yet neither, seemed
That image miscreate, and so passed on
With tardy steps. As underneath the scourge
Of the fierce dog-star that lays bare the fields,
Shifting from brake to brake the lizard seems
A flash of lightning, if he thwart the road ;
So toward the entrails of the other two
Approaching seemed an adder all on fire,
As the dark pepper-grain livid and swart.
In that part, whence our life is nourished first,
One he transpierced ; then down before him fell
Stretched out. The pierced spirit looked on him,
But spake not ; yea, stood motionless and yawned, 80
As if by sleep or feverous fit assailed.
He eyed the serpent, and the serpent him.
One from the wound, the other from the mouth
Breathed a thick smoke, whose vapoury columns joined.
Lucan in mute attention now may hear,
Nor thy disastrous fate, Sabellus, tell,
Nor thine, Nasidius. Ovid now be mute.
What if in warbling fiction he record
Cadmus and Arethusa, to a snake
Him changed, and her into a fountain clear, 90
I envy not ; for never face to face
Two natures thus transmuted did he sing,
Wherein both shapes were ready to assume
The other's substance. They in mutual guise
So answered, that the serpent split his train
Divided to a fork, and the pierced spirit
Drew close his steps together, legs and thighs
Compacted, that no sign of juncture soon
Was visible : the tail, disparted, took
The figure which the spirit lost ; its skin 100
Softening, his indurated to a rind.
The shoulders next I marked, that entering joined
The monster's arm-pits, whose two shorter feet
So lengthened, as the others dwindling shrank.
The feet behind then twisting up became
That part that man conceals, which in the wretch
Was cleft in twain. While both the shadowy smoke
With a new colour veils, and generates
The excrescent pile on one, peeling it off
From the other body, lo ! upon his feet no
88 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxv
One upright rose, and prone the other fell.
Nor yet their glaring and malignant lamps
Were shifted, though each feature changed beneath.
Of him who stood erect, the mounting face
Retreated towards the temples, and what there
Superfluous matter came, shot out in ears
From the smooth cheeks ; the rest, not backward dragged,
Of its excess did shape the nose ; and swelled
Into due size protuberant the lips.
He, on the earth who lay, meanwhile extends 120
His sharpened visage, and draws down the ears
Into the head, as doth the slug his horns.
His tongue, continuous before and apt
For utterance, severs ; and the other's fork
Closing unites. That done, the smoke was laid.
The soul, transformed into the brute, glides off,
Hissing along the vale, and after him
The other talking sputters ; but soon turned
His new-grown shoulders on him. and in few
Thus to another spake: 'Along this path 130
Crawling, as I have done, speed Buoso now ! '
So saw I fluctuate in successive change
The unsteady ballast of the seventh hold :
And here if aught my pen have swerved, events
So strange may be its warrant. O'er mine eyes
Confusion hung, and on my thoughts amaze.
Yet scaped they not so covertly, but well
I marked Sciancato : he alone it was
Of the three first that came, who changed not : thou
The other's fate, Gaville ! still dost rue. 140
CANTO XXVI
ARGUMENT
Remounting by the steps, down which they had descended to the seventh
gulf, they go forward to the arch that stretches over the eighth, and from
thence behold numberless flames wherein are punished the evil counsel-
lors, each flame containing a sinner, save one, in which were Diomede and
Ulysses, the latter of whom relates the manner of his death.
FLORENCE, exult ! for thou so mightily
Hast thriven, that o'er land and sea thy wings
Thou beatest, and thy name spreads over hell.
Among the plunderers, such the three I found
Thy citizens ; whence shame to me thy son,
And no proud honour to thyself redounds.
But if our minds, when dreaming near the dawn,
Are of the truth presageful, thou ere long
CANTO xxvi] HELL
Shalt feel what Prato (not to say the rest)
Would fain might come upon thee ; and that chance 10
Were in good time, if it befell thee now.
Would so it were, since it must needs befall !
For as time wears me, I shall grieve the more.
We from the depth departed ; and my guide
Remounting scaled the flinty steps, which late
We downward traced, and drew me up the steep.
Pursuing thus our solitary way
Among the crags and splinters of the rock,
Sped not our feet without the help of hands.
Then sorrow seized me, which e'en now revives, zc
As my thought turns again to what I saw,
And, more than I am wont, I rein and curb
The powers of nature in me, lest they run
Where Virtue guides not ; that, if aught of good
My gentle star or something better gave me,
I envy not myself the precious boon.
As in that season, when the sun least veils
His face that lightens all, what time the fly
Gives way to the shrill gnat, the peasant then,
Upon some cliff reclined, beneath him sees 30
Fire-flies innumerous spangling o'er the vale,
Vineyard or tilth, where his day-labour lies ;
With flames so numberless throughout its space
Shone the eighth chasm, apparent, when the depth
Was to my view exposed. As he, whose wrongs
The bears avenged, at its departure saw
Elijah's chariot, when the steeds erect
Raised their steep flight for heaven ; his eyes, meanwhile,
Straining pursued them, till the flame alone,
Upsoaring like a misty speck, he kenned : 40
E'en thus along the gulf moves every flame,
A sinner so enfolded close in each,
That none exhibits token of the theft.
Upon the bridge I forward bent to look,
And grasped a flinty mass, or else had fallen,
Though pushed not from the height. The guide, who marked
How I did gaze attentive, thus began :
' Within these ardours are the spirits, each
Swathed in confining fire.'--' Master ! thy word,'
I answered, ' hath assured me ; yet I deemed
Already of the truth, already wished
To ask thee who is in yon fire, that comes
So parted at th-e summit, as it seemed
Ascending from that funeral pile where lay
The Theban brothers.' He replied : ' Within,
Ulysses there and Diomede endure
Their penal tortures, thus to vengeance now
90
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvi
Together hasting, as erewhile to wrath.
These in the flame with ceaseless groans deplore
The ambush of the horse, that opened wide
A portal for that goodly seed to pass,
Which sowed imperial Rome ; nor less the guile
Lament they, whence, of her Achilles 'reft,
Deidamia yet in death complains.
And there is rued the stratagem that Troy
Of her Palladium spoiled.' ' If they have power
Of utterance from within these sparks,' said I,
' O master ! think my prayer a thousandfold
In repetition urged, that thou vouchsafe
To pause till here the horned flame arrive.
See, how toward it with desire I bend.'
60
70
He thus : ' Thy prayer is worthy of much praise,
And I accept it therefore ; but do thou
Thy tongue refrain : to question them be mine ;
For I divine thy wish ; and they perchance,
For they were Greeks, might shun discourse with thee.'
When there the flame had come, where time and place
Seemed fitting to my guide, he thus began :
' O ye, who dwell two spirits in one fire !
If, living, I of you did merit aught, 80
Whate'er the measure were of that desert,
W T hen in the world my lofty strain I poured,
Move ye not on, till one of you unfold
In what clime death o'ertook him self-destroyed
Of the old flame forthwith the greater horn
Began to roll, murmuring, as a fire
LINES 58-135] HELL 1)1
That labours with the wind, then to and fro
Wagging the top, as a tongue uttering sounds,
Threw out its voice, and spake : ' When I escaped
From Circe, who beyond a circling year 90
Had held me near Caieta by her charms,
Ere thus Aeneas yet had named the shore ;
Nor fondness for my son, nor reverence
Of my old father, nor return of love,
That should have crowned Penelope with joy,
Could overcome in me the zeal I had
To explore the world, and search the ways of life,
Man's evil and his virtue. Forth I sailed
Into the deep illimitable main,
With but one bark, and the small faithful band 100
That yet cleaved to me. As Iberia far,
Far as Morocco, either shore I saw,
And the Sardinian and each isle beside
Which round that ocean bathes. Tardy with age
Were I and my companions, when we came
To the strait pass, where Hercules ordained
The boundaries not to be o'erstepped by man.
The walls of Seville to my right I left,
On the other hand already Ceuta past.
' brothers!' I began, "who to the west 110
' Through perils without number now have reached ;
" To this the short remaining watch, that yet
; ' Our senses have to wake, refuse not proof
; ' Of the unpeopled world, following the track
" Of Phoebus. Call to mind from whence ye sprang :
' Ye were not formed to live the life of brutes,
" But virtue to pursue and knowledge high."
With these few words I sharpened for the voyage
The mind of my associates, that I then
Could scarcely have withheld them. To the dawn 120
Our poop we turned, and for the witless flight
Made our oars wings, still gaining on the left.
Each star of the other pole night now beheld,
And ours so low, that from the ocean floor
It rose not. Five times re-illumed, as oft
Vanished the light from underneath the moon,
Since the deep way we entered, when from far
Appeared a mountain dim, loftiest methought
Of all I e'er beheld. Joy seized us straight;
But soon to mourning changed. From the new land 130
A whirlwind sprung, and at her foremost side
Did strike the vessel. Thrice it whirled her round
With all the waves ; the fourth time lifted up
The poop, and sank the prow ; so fate decreed :
And over us the booming billow closed.'
92 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvn
CANTO XXVII
ARGUMENT
The Poet, treating of the same punishment as in the last Canto, relates that
he turned towards a flame in which was the Count Guido da Montefeltro,
whose inquiries respecting the state of Romagna he answers ; and Guido
is thereby induced to declare who he is, and why condemned to that
torment.
Now upward rose the flame, and stilled its light
To speak no more, and now passed on with leave
From the mild poet gained ; when following came
Another, from whose top a sound confused,
Forth issuing, drew our eyes that way to look.
As the Sicilian bull, that rightfully
His cries first echoed who had shaped its mould,
Did so rebellow, with the voice of him
Tormented, that the brazen monster seemed
Pierced through with pain ; thus, while no way they found, 10
Nor avenue immediate through the flame,
Into its language turned the dismal words :
But soon as they had won their passage forth,
Up from the point, which vibrating obeyed
Their motion at the tongue, these sounds were heard :
' O thou ! to whom I now direct my voice,
That lately didst exclaim in Lombard phrase,
" Depart thou ; I solicit thee no more ; "
Though somewhat tardy I perchance arrive,
Let it not irk thee here to pause awhile, 20
And with me parley : lo ! it irks not me,
And yet I burn. If but e'en now thou fall
Into this blind world, from that pleasant land
Of Latium, whence I draw my sum of guilt,
Tell me if those who in Romagna dwell
Have peace or war. For of the mountains there
Was I, betwixt Urbino and the height
Whence Tiber first unlocks his mighty flood.'
Leaning I listened yet with heedful ear,
When, as he touched my side, the leader thus : 30
' Speak thou : he is a Latian.' My reply
Was ready, and I spake without delay :
' O spirit ! who art hidden here below,
Never was thy Romagna without war
In her proud tyrants' bosoms, nor is now :
But open war there left I none. The state,
Ravenna hath maintained this many a year,
Is steadfast. There Polenta's eagle broods ;
And in his broad circumference of plume
O'ershadows Cervia. The green talons grasp 40
LINES 1-89] HELL 93
The land, that stood erewhile the proof so long
And piled in bloody heap the host of France.
' The old mastiff of Verruchio and the young,
That tore Montagna in their wrath, still make,
Where they are wont, an auger of their fangs.
' Lamone's city, and Santerno's, range
Under the lion of the snowy lair,
Inconstant partisan, that changeth sides,
Or ever summer yields to winter's frost.
And she, whose flank is washed of Savio's wave, 50
As 'twixt the level and the steep she lies,
Lives so 'twixt tyrant power and liberty.
4 Now tell us, I entreat thee, who art thou :
Be not more hard than others. In the world,
So may thy name still rear its forehead high.'
Then roared awhile the fire, its sharpened point
On either side waved, and thus breathed at last :
* If I did think my answer were to one
Who ever could return unto the world,
This flame should rest unshaken. But since ne'er, 60
If true be told me, any from this depth
Has found his upward way, I answer thee,
Nor fear lest infamy record the words.
' A man of arms at first, I clothed me then
In good Saint Francis' girdle, hoping so
To have made amends. And certainly my hope
Had failed not, but that he, whom curses light on,
The high priest, again seduced me into sin.
And how, and wherefore, listen while I tell.
Long as this spirit moved the bones and pulp 70
My mother gave me, less my deeds bespake
The nature of the lion than the fox.
All ways of winding subtlety I knew,
And with such art conducted, that the sound
Reached the world's limit. Soon as to that part
Of life I found me come, when each behoves
To lower sails and gather in the lines ;
That, which before had pleased me, then I rued,
And to repentance and confession turned,
Wretch that I was ; and well it had bested me. So
The chief of the new Pharisees meantime,
Waging his warfare near the Lateran,
Not with the Saracens or Jews (his foes
All Christians were, nor against Acre one
Had fought, nor trafficked in the Soldan's land),
He, his great charge nor sacred ministry,
In himself reverenced, nor in me that cord
Which used to mark with leanness whom it girded.
As in Soracte, Constantino besought,
94
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvn
To cure his leprosy, Sylvester's aid ; 90
So me, to cure the fever of his pride,
This man besought : my counsel to that end
He asked ; and I was silent ; for his words
Seemed drunken : but forthwith he thus resumed :
" From thy heart banish fear : of all offence
' I hitherto absolve thee. In return,
' Teach me my purpose so to execute,
' That Penestrino cumber earth no more.
" Heaven, as thou knowest, I have power to shut
" And open : and the keys are therefore twain, 100
" The which my predecessor meanly prized."
' Then, yielding to the forceful arguments,
Of silence as more perilous I deemed,
And answered : " Father I since thou washest me
" Clear of that guilt wherein I now must fall,
' Large promise with performance scant, be sure,
" Shall make thee triumph in thy lofty seat."
' When I was numbered with the dead, then came
Saint Francis for me ; but a cherub dark
He met, who cried, ' ' Wrong me not ; he is mine,
'' And must below to join the wretched crew,
' For the deceitful counsel which he gave.
' E'er since I watched him, hovering at his hair.
k No power can the impenitent absolve ;
' Nor to repent, and will, at once consist,
" By contradiction absolute forbid."
Oh misery ! how I shook myself, when he
no
CAKTO xxvni] HELL ( jo
Seized me, and cried, " Thou haply thought'st me not
' A disputant in logic so exact ! '
To Minos down he bore me; and the judge 120
Twined eight times round his callous back the tail,
Which biting with excess of rage, he spake :
1 This is a guilty soul, that in the fire
' Must vanish." Hence, perdition-doomed, I rove
A prey to rankling sorrow, in this garb.'
When he had thus fulfilled his words, the flame
In dolour parted, beating to and fro,
And writhing its sharp horn. We onward went,
I and my leader, up along the rock,
Far as another arch, that overhangs 130
The foss, wherein the penalty is paid
Of those who load them with committed sin.
CANTO XXVIII
ARGUMENT
They arrive in the ninth gulf, where the sowers of scandal, schismatics, and
heretics, are seen with their limbs miserably maimed or divided in different
ways. Among these the Poet finds Mahomet, Piero da Medicina, Curio,
Mosca, and Bertrand de Born.
WHO, e'en in words unfettered, might at full
Tell of the w^ounds and blood that now I saw,
Though he repeated oft the tale ? No tongue
So vast a theme could equal, speech and thought
Both impotent alike. If in one band
Collected, stood the people all, who e'er
Poured on Apulia's happy soil their blood,
Slain by the Trojans, and in that long war,
When of the rings the measured booty made
A pile so high, as Rome's historian writes 10
Who errs not ; with the multitude, that felt
The griding force of Guiscard's Norman steel,
And those the rest, whose bones are gathered yet
At Ceperano, there where treachery
Branded the Apulian name, or where beyond
Thy walls, Tagliacozzo, without arms
The old Alardo conquered ; and his limbs
One were to show transpierced, another his
Clean lopped away ; a spectacle like this
Were but a thing of naught, to the hideous sight
Of the ninth chasm. A runlet, that hath lost
Its middle or side stave, gapes not so wide
96 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvin
As one I marked, torn from the chin throughout
Down to the hinder passage : 'twixt the legs
Dangling his entrails hung, the midriff lay
Open to view, and wretched ventricle,
That turns the englutted aliment to dross.
Whilst eagerly I fix on him my gaze,
He eyed me, with his hands laid his breast bare,
And cried, ' Now mark how I do rip me : lo ! 30
How is Mohammed mangled : before me
Walks All weeping, from the chin his face
Cleft to the forelock ; and the others all,
Whom here thou seest, while they lived, did sow
Scandal and schism, and therefore thus are rent.
A fiend is here behind, who with his sword
Hacks us thus cruelly, slivering again
Each of this ream, when we have compassed round
The dismal way ; for first our gashes close
Ere we repass before him. But, say who 40
Art thou, that standest musing on the rock,
Haply so lingering to delay the pain
Sentenced upon thy crimes.' ' Him death not yet,'
My guide rejoined, ' hath overta'en, nor sin
Conducts to torment ; but, that he may make
Full trial of your state, I who am dead
Must through the depths of hell, from orb to orb,
Conduct him. Trust my words ; for they are true.'
More than a hundred spirits, when that they heard,
Stood in the foss to mark me, through amaze 50
Forgetful of their pangs. ' Thou, who perchance
Shalt shortly view the sun, this warning thou
Bear to Dolcino : bid him, if he wish not
Here soon to follow me, that with good store
Of food he arm him, lest imprisoning snows
Yield him a victim to Novara's power ;
No easy conquest else : ' with foot upraised
For stepping, spake Mohammed, on the ground
Then fixed it to depart. Another shade,
Pierced in the throat, his nostrils mutilate 60
E'en from beneath the eyebrows, and one ear
Lopped off, who, with the rest, through wonder stood
Gazing, before the rest advanced, and bared
His wind-pipe, that without was all o'ersmeared
With crimson stain. ' O thou ! ' said he, ' whom sin
Condemns not, and whom erst (unless too near
Resemblance do deceive me) I aloft
Have seen on Latian ground, call thou to mind
Piero of Medicina, if again
Returning, thou behold'st the pleasant land 70
That from Vercelli slopes to Mercabo ;
LINES 23-120] HELL 97
And there instruct the twain, whom Fano boasts
Her worthiest sons, Guido and Angelo,
That if 'tis given us here to scan aright
The future, they out of life's tenement
Shall be cast forth, and whelmed under the waves
Near to Cattolica, through perfidy
Of a fell tyrant. 'Twixt the Cyprian isle
And Balearic, ne'er hath Neptune seen
An injury so foul, by pirates done, 80
Or Argive crew of old. That one-eyed traitor
(Whose realm, there is a spirit here were fain
His eye had still lacked sight of) them shall bring
To conference with him, then so shape his end,
That they shall need not 'gainst Focara's wind
Offer up vow nor prayer.' I answering thus :
' Declare, as thou dost wish that I above
May carry tidings of thee, who is he,
In whom that sight doth wake such sad remembrance.'
Forthwith he laid his hand on the cheek-bone 90
Of one, his fellow spirit, and his jaws
Expanding, cried : ' Lo ! this is he I w r ot of :
He speaks not for himself : the outcast this,
Who overwhelmed the doubt in Caesar's mind,
Affirming that delay to men prepared
Was ever harmful.' Oh ! how T terrified
Methought was Curio, from whose throat was cut
The tongue, which spake that hardy word. Then one,
Maimed of each hand, uplifted in the gloom
The bleeding stumps, that they with gory spots 100
Sullied his face, and cried ; ' Remember thee
Of Mosca too ; I who, alas ! exclaimed,
" The deed once done, there is an end," that proved
A seed of sorrow to the Tuscan race.'
I added : ' Aye, and death to thine own tribe.'
W T hence, heaping woe on woe, he hurried off,
As one grief-stung to madness. But I there
Still lingered to behold the troop, and saw
Thing, such as I may fear without more proof
To tell of, but that conscience makes me firm, no
The boon companion, who her strong breastplate
Buckles on him, that feels no guilt within,
And bids him on and fear not. Without doubt
I saw, and yet it seems to pass before me,
A headless trunk, that even as the rest
Of the sad flock paced onward. By the hair
It bore the severed member, lantern-wise
Pendent in hand, which looked at us, and said,
' Woe's me ! ' The spirit lighted thus himself ;
And two there were in one, and one in two. i>o
98
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvm
How that may be, he knows who orclereth so.
When at the bridge's foot direct he stood,
His arm aloft he reared, thrusting the head
Full in our view, that nearer we might hear
The words, which thus it uttered : ' Now behold
This grievous torment, thou, who breathing go'st
To spy the dead : behold, if any else
Be terrible as this. And, that on earth
Thou mayst bear tidings of me, know that I
Am Bertrand, he of Born, who gave king John
The counsel mischievous. Father and son
I set at mutual war. For Absalom
And David more did not Ahitophel,
Spurring them on maliciously to strife.
For parting those so closely knit, my brain
Parted, alas ! I carry from its source,
That in this trunk inhabits. Thus the law
Of retribution fiercely works in me.'
130
CANTO xxix] HELL 99
CANTO XXIX
ARGUMENT
Dante, at the desire of Virgil, proceeds onward to the bridge that crosses the
tenth gulf, from whence he hears the cries of the alchemists and forgers,
who are tormented therein ; but not being able to discern anything on
account of the darkness, they descend the rock, that bounds this the last
of the compartments in which the eighth circle is divided, and then behold
the spirits who are afflicted by divers plagues and diseases. Two of them,
namely, Griffolino of Arezzo and Capocchio of Siena, are introduced
speaking.
So were mine eyes inebriate with the view
Of the vast multitude, whom various wounds
Disfigured, that they longed to stay and weep.
But Virgil roused me : ' What yet gazest on ?
Wherefore doth fasten yet thy sight below
Among the maimed and miserable shades ?
Thou hast not shown in any chasm beside
This weakness. Know, if thou wouldst number them,
That two and twenty miles the valley winds
Its circuit, and already is the moon 10
Beneath our feet : the time permitted now
Is short ; and more, not seen, remains to see.'
' If thou,' I straight replied, ' hadst weighed the cause,
For which I looked, thou hadst perchance excused
The tarrying still.' My leader part pursued
His way, the while I followed, answering him,
And adding thus : ' Within that cave I deem,
Whereon so fixedly I held my ken,
There is a spirit dwells, one of my blood,
Wailing the crime that costs him now so dear.' 20
Then spake my master : ' Let thy soul no more
Afflict itself for him. Direct elsewhere
Its thought, and leave him. At the bridge's foot
I marked how he did point with menacing look
At thee, and heard him by the others named
Geri of Bello. Thou so wholly then
Wert busied with his spirit, who once ruled
The towers of Hautefort, that thou lookedst not
That way, ere he was gone.' ' guide beloved !
His violent death yet unavenged,' said I, 30
' By any, who are partners in his shame,
Made him contemptuous ; therefore, as I think,
He passed me speechless by ; and, doing so,
Hath made me more compassionate his fate.'
So we discoursed to where the rock first showed
The other valley, had more light been there,
E'en to the lowest depth. Soon as we came
CARY F
100
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxix
O'er the last cloister in the dismal rounds
Of Malebolge, and the brotherhood
Were to our view exposed, then many a dart 40
Of sore lament assailed me, headed all
With points of thrilling pity, that I closed
Both ears against the volley with mine hands.
As were the torment, if each lazar- house
Of Valdichiana, in the sultry time
'Twixt July and September, with the isle
Sardinia and Maremma's pestilent fen,
Had heaped their maladies all in one foss
Together ; such was here the torment : dire
The stench, as issuing steams from festered limbs. 50
We on the utmost shore of the long rock
Descended still to leftward. Then my sight
Was livelier to explore the depth, wherein
The minister of the most mighty Lord,
All-searching Justice, dooms to punishment
The forgers noted on her dread record.
More rueful was it not methinks to see
The nation in Aegina droop, what time
Each living thing, e'en to the little worm,
All fell, so full of malice was the air
(And afterward, as bards of yore have told,
The ancient people were restored anew
From seed of emmets), than was here to see
The spirits, that languished through the murky vale,
Up-piled on many a stack. Confused they lay,
60
LINES 38-114] HELL 101
One o'er the belly, o'er the shoulders one
Rolled of another ; sideling crawled a third
Along the dismal pathway. Step by step
We journeyed on, in silence looking round,
And listening those diseased, who strove in vain
To lift their forms. Then two I marked, that sat
Propped 'gainst each other, as two brazen pans
Set to retain the heat. From head to foot,
A tetter barked them round. Nor saw I e'er
Groom currying so fast, for whom his lord
Impatient waited, or himself perchance
Tired with long watching, as of these each one
Plied quickly his keen nails, through furiousness
Of ne'er abated pruriency. The crust
Came drawn from underneath in flakes, like scales So
Scraped from the bream, or fish of broader mail.
' O thou ! who with thy fingers rendest off
Thy coat of proof,' thus spake my guide to one,
' And sometimes makest tearing pincers of them,
Tell me if any born of Latian land
Be among these within : so may thy nails
Serve thee for everlasting to this toil.'
' Both are of Latium,' weeping he replied,
' Whom tortured thus thou seest : but who art thou
That hast inquired of us ? ' To whom my guide : 90
* One that descend with this man, who yet lives,
From rock to rock, and show him hell's abyss.'
Then started they asunder, and each turned
Trembling toward us, with the rest, whose ear
Those words redounding struck. To me my liege
Addressed him : ' Speak to them whate'er thou list.'
And I therewith began : ' So may no time
Filch your remembrance from the thoughts of men
In the upper world, but after many suns
Survive it, as ye tell me, who ye are, 100
And of what race ye come. Your punishment,
Unseemly and disgustful in its kind,
Deter you not from opening thus much to me.'
' Arezzo was my dwelling,' answered one,
4 And me Albero of Siena brought
To die by fire : but that, for which I died,
Leads me not here. True is, in sport I told him,
That I had learned to wing my flight in air ;
And he, admiring much, as he was void
Of wisdom, willed me to declare to him u
The secret of mine art : and only hence,
Because I made him not a Daedalus,
Prevailed on one supposed his sire to burn me.
But Minos to this chasm, last of the ten,
102 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxix
For that I practised alchemy on earth,
Has doomed me. Him no subterfuge eludes.'
Then to the bard I spake : ' Was ever race
Light as Siena's ? Sure not France herself
Can show a tribe so frivolous and vain.'
The other leprous spirit heard my words, 120
And thus returned : ' Be Stricca from this charge
Exempted, he who knew so temperately
To lay out fortune's gifts ; and Niccolo,
Who first the spice's costly luxury
Discovered in that garden, where such seed
Roots deepest in the soil : and be that troop
Exempted, with whom Caccia of Asciano
Lavished his vineyards and wide-spreading woods,
And his rare wisdom Abbagliato showed
A spectacle for all. That thou mayst know 130
Who seconds thee against the Sienese
Thus gladly, bend this way thy sharpened sight,
That well my face may answer to thy ken ;
So shalt thou see I am Capocchio's ghost,
Who forged transmuted metals by the power
Of alchemy ; and if I scan thee right,
Thou needs must well remember how I aped
Creative nature by my subtle art.'
CANTO XXX
ARGUMENT
In the same gulf, other kinds of impostors, as those who have counterfeited
the persons of others, or debased the current coin, or deceived by speech
under false pretences, are described as suffering various diseases. Sinon
of Troy and Adamo of Brescia mutually reproach each other with their
several impostures.
WHAT time resentment burned in Juno's breast
For Semele against the Theban blood,
As more than once in dire mischance was rued ;
Such fatal frenzy seized on Athamas,
That he his spouse beholding with a babe
Laden on either arm, ' Spread out,' he cried,
' The meshes, that I take the lioness
And the young lions at the pass : ' then forth
Stretched he his merciless talons, grasping one,
One helpless innocent, Learchus named, 10
Whom swinging down he dashed upon a rock ;
And with her other burden, self-destroyed,
The hapless mother plunged. And when the pride
Of all presuming Troy fell from its height,
CANTO xxx]
HELL
103
By fortune overwhelmed, and the old king
With his realm perished ; then did Hecuba,
A wretch forlorn and captive, when she saw
Polyxena first slaughtered, and her son,
Her Polydorus, on the wild sea-beach
Next met the mourner's view, then reft of sense
Did she run barking even as a dog ;
Such mighty power had grief to wrench her soul.
But ne'er the Furies, or of Thebes, or Troy,
With such fell cruelty were seen, their goads
Infixing in the limbs of man or beast,
As now two pale and naked ghosts I saw,
That gnarling wildly scampered, like the swine
Excluded from his sty. One reached Capocchio,
And in the neck-joint sticking deep his fangs,
20
Dragged him, that o'er the solid pavement rubbed 30
His belly stretched out prone. The other shape,
He of Arezzo, there left trembling, spake :
' That sprite of air is Schicchi ; in like mood
Of random mischief vents he still his spite.'
To whom I answering : ' Oh ! as thou dost hope
The other may not flesh its jaws on thee,
Be patient to inform us, who it is,
Ere it speed hence.' ' That is the ancient soul
Of wretched Myrrha,' he replied, ' who burned
With most unholy flame for her own sire, 40
And a false shape assuming, so performed
The deed of sin ; e'en as the other there,
That onward passes, dared to counterfeit
Donati's features, to feigned testament
The seal affixing, that himself might gain,
For his own share, the lady of the herd.'
When vanished the two furious shades, on whom
104 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxx
Mine eye was held, I turned it back to view
The other cursed spirits. One I saw
In fashion like a lute, had but the groin 50
Been severed where it meets the forked part.
Swoln dropsy, disproportioning the limbs
With ill-converted moisture, that the paunch
Suits not the visage, opened wide his lips,
Gasping as in the hectic man for drought,
One towards the chin, the other upward curled.
' O ye ! who in this world of misery,
Wherefore I know not, are exempt from pain,'
Thus he began, ' attentively regard
Adamo's woe. When living, full supply 60
Ne'er lacked me of what most I coveted ;
One drop of water now, alas ! I crave.
The rills, that glitter down the grassy slopes
Of Casentino, making fresh and soft
The banks whereby they glide to Arno's stream,
Stand ever in my view ; and not in vain ;
For more the pictured semblance dries me up,
Much more than the disease, which makes the flesh
Desert these shrivelled cheeks. So from the place,
Where I transgressed, stern justice urging me, 70
Takes means to quicken more my labouring sighs.
There is Romena, where I falsified
The metal with the Baptist's form impressed,
For which on earth I left my body burnt.
But if I here might see the sorrowing soul
Of Guido, Alessandro, or their brother,
For Branda's limpid spring I would not change
The welcome sight. One is e'en now within,
If truly the mad spirits tell, that round
Are wandering. But wherein besteads me that ? 80
My limbs are fettered. Were I but so light,
That I each hundred years might move one inch,
I had set forth already on this path,
Seeking him out amidst the shapeless crew,
Although eleven miles it wind, not less
Than half of one across. They brought me down
Among this tribe ; induced by them, I stamped
The florins with three carats of alloy.'
' Who are that abject pair,' I next inquired,
' That closely bounding thee upon thy right 90
Lie smoking, like a hand in winter steeped
In the chill stream ? ' -' When to this gulf I dropped,'
He answered, ' here I found them ; since that hour
They have not turned, nor ever shall, I ween,
Till time hath run bis course. One is that dame,
The false accuser of the Hebrew youth ;
LINES 48- 145] HELL
10.1
Sinon the other, that false Greek from Troy.
Sharp fever drains the reeky rnoistness out^
In such a cloud upsteamed.' When that he heard,
One, galled perchance to be so darkly named, 100
With clenched hand smote him on the braced paunch,
That like a drum resounded : but forthwith
Adamo smote him on the face, the blow
.Returning with his arm, that seemed as hard.
'Though my o'erweighty limbs have ta'en from me
The power to move,' said he, ' I have an arm
At liberty for such employ.' To whom
Was answered : ' When thou wentest to the fire,
Thou hadst it not so ready at command;
Then readier when it coined the impostor gold.' no
And thus the dropsied : ' Aye, now speak'st thou true :
But there thou gavest not such true testimony,
When thou wast questioned of the truth, at Troy.'
* If I spake false, thou falsely stamp'dst the coin,'
Said Sinon ; ' I am here for but one fault,
And thou for more than any imp beside.'
' Remember,' he replied, ' O perjured one !
The horse remember, that did teem with death ;
And all the world be witness to thy guilt.'
' To thine,' returned the Greek, ' witness the thirst 1 20
Whence thy tongue cracks, witness the fluid mound
Reared by thy belly up before thine eyes,
A mass corrupt.' To whom the coiner thus :
' Thy mouth gapes wide as ever to let pass
Its evil saying. Me if thirst assails,
Yet I am stuffed with moisture. Thou art parched :
Pains rack thy head : no urging wouldst thou need
To make thee lap Narcissus' mirror up.'
I was all fixed to listen, when my guide
Admonished : ' Now beware. A little more, 130
And I do quarrel with thee.' I perceived
How angrily he spake, and towards him turned
With shame so poignant, as remembered yet
Confounds me. As a man that dreams of harm
Befallen him, dreaming wishes it a dream,
And that which is, desires as if it were not ;
Such then was I, who, wanting power to speak,
Wished to excuse myself, and all the while
Excused me, though unweeting that I did.
' More grievous fault than thine has been, less shame,' 140
My master cried, ' might expiate. Therefore cast
All sorrow from thy soul ; and if again
Chance bring thee where like conference is held,
Think I am ever at thy side. To hear
Such wrangling is a joy for vulgar minds.'
106 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxi
CANTO XXXI
ARGUMENT
The Poets, following the sound of a loud horn, are led by it to the ninth
circle, in which there are four rounds, one enclosed within the other, and
containing as many sorts of Traitors ; but the present Canto shows only
that the circle is encompassed with Giants, one of whom, Antaeus, takes
them both in his arms and places them at the bottom of the circle.
THE very tongue, whose keen reproof before
Had wounded me, that either cheek was stained,
Now ministered my cure. So have I heard,
Achilles' and his father's javelin caused
Pain first, and then the boon of health restored.
Turning our back upon the vale of woe,
We crossed the encircled mound in silence. There
Was less than day and less than night, that far
Mine eye advanced not : but I heard a horn
Sounded so loud, the peal it rang had made 10
The thunder feeble. Following its course
The adverse way, my strained eyes were bent
On that one spot. So terrible a blast
Orlando blew not, when that dismal rout
O'erthrew the host of Charlemagne, and quenched
His saintly warfare. Thitherward not long
My head was raised, when many a lofty tower
Methought I spied. ' Master,' said I, ' what land
Is this ? ' He answered straight : ' Too long a space
Of intervening darkness has thine eye 20
To traverse : thou hast therefore widely erred
In thy imagining. Thither arrived
Thou well shalt see, how distance can delude
The sense. A little therefore urge thee on.'
Then tenderly he caught me by the hand ;
' Yet know,' said he, ' ere farther we advance,
That it less strange may seem, these are not towers,
But giants. In the pit they stand immersed,
Each from his navel downward, round the bank.'
As when a fog disperseth gradually, 30
Our vision traces what the mist involves
Condensed in air ; so piercing through the gross
And gloomy atmosphere, as more and more
We neared toward the brink, mine error fled,
And fear came o'er me. As with circling round
Of turrets, Montereggion crowns his walls ;
E'en thus the shore, encompassing the abyss,
Was turreted with giants, half their length
Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heaven
Yet threatens, when his muttering thunder rolls. 40
LINES 1-89] HELL
107
Of one already I descried the face,
Shoulders, and breast, and of the belly huge
Great part, and both arms down along his ribs.
All-teeming Nature, when her plastic hand
Left framing of these monsters, did display
Past doubt her wisdom, taking from mad War
Such slaves to do his bidding ; and if she
Repent her not of the elephant and whale,
Who ponders well confesses her therein
Wiser and more discreet ; for when brute force 50
And evil will are backed with subtlety,
Resistance none avails. His visage seemed
In length and bulk, as doth the pine that tops
Saint Peter's Roman fane ; and the other bones
Of like proportion, so that from above
The bank, which girdled him below, such height
Arose his stature, that three Frieslanders
Had striven in vain to reach but to his hair.
Full thirty ample palms was he exposed
Downward from whence a man his garment loops. 60
' Raphel ba'i ameth, sabi almi : '
So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymns
Became not ; and my guide addressed him thus :
' senseless spirit ! let thy horn for thee
Interpret : therewith vent thy rage, if rage
Or other passion wring thee. Search thy neck,
There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on.
Spirit confused ! lo, on thy mighty breast
Where hangs the baldrick ! ' Then to me he spake :
' He doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this, 70
Through whose ill counsel in the world no more
One tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor waste
Our words ; for so each language is to him,
As his to others, understood by none.'
Then to the leftward turning sped we forth,
And at a sling's throw found another shade
Far fiercer and more huge. I cannot say
What master hand had girt him ; but he held
Behind the right arm fettered, and before,
The other, with a chain, that fastened him fco
From the neck down ; and five times round his form
Apparent met the wreathed links. ' This proud one
Would of his strength against almighty Jove
Make trial,' said my guide : ' whence he is thus
Requited : Ephialtes him they call.
Great was his prowess, when the giants brought
Fear on the gods : those arms, which then he plied,
Now moves he never.' Forthwith I returned :
* Fain would I, if 'twere possible, mine eyes,
108
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxi
Of Briareus immeasurable, gained
Experience next.' He answered : ' Thou shalt see
Not far from hence Antaeus, who both speaks
And is unfettered, who shall place us there
Where guilt is at its depth. Far onward stands
Whom thou wouldst fain behold, in chains, and made
Like to this spirit, save that in his looks
More fell he seems.' By violent earthquake rocked
Ne'er shook a tower, so reeling to its base,
9
As Ephialtes. More than ever then
I dreaded death ; nor than the terror more
Had needed, if I had not seen the cords
That held him fast. We, straightway journeying on,
Came to Antaeus, who, five ells complete
Without the head, forth issued from the cave.
' O thou, who in the fortunate vale, that made
Great Scipio heir of glory, when his sword
Drove back the troop of Hannibal in flight,
Who thence of old didst carry for thy spoil
An hundred lions ; and if thou hadst fought
100
CANTO xxxn] HELL 10'.
In the high conflict on thy brethren's side, 1 1 o
Seems as men yet believed, that through thine arm
The sons of earth had conquered ; now vouchsafe
To place us down beneath, where numbing cold
Locks up Cocytus. Force not that we crave
Or Tityus' help or Typhon's. Here is one
Can give what in this realm ye covet. Stoop
Therefore, nor scornfully distort thy lip.
He in the upper world can yet bestow
Renown on thee ; for he doth live, and looks
For life yet longer, if before the time 120
Grace call him not unto herself.' Thus spake
The teacher. He in haste forth stretched his hands
And caught my guide. Alcides whilom felt
That grapple, straitened sore. Soon as my guide
Had felt it, he bespake me thus : ' This way,
That I may clasp thee ; ' then so caught me up,
That we were both one burden. As appears
The tower of Carisenda, from beneath
Where it doth lean, if chance a passing cloud
So sail across, that opposite it hangs; 130
Such then Antaeus seemed, as at mine ease
I marked him stooping. I were fain at times
To have passed another way. Yet in the abyss,
That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs,
Lightly he placed us ; nor, there leaning, stayed ;
But rose, as in a bark the stately mast.
CANTO XXXII
ARGUMENT
This Canto treats of the first, and, in part, of the second of those rounds,
into which the ninth and last, or frozen circle, is divided. In the former,
called Ca'ina, Dante finds Camicion de' Pazzi, who gives him an account
of other sinners who are there punished ; and in the next, named Ante-
nora, he hears in like manner from Bocca degli Abati who his fellow
sufferers are.
COULD I command rough rhymes and hoarse, to suit
That hole of sorrow o'er which every rock
His firm abutment rears, then might the vein
Of fancy rise full springing : but not mine
Such measures, and with faltering awe I touch
The mighty theme ; for to describe the depth
Of all the universe, is no emprize
To jest with, and demands a tongue not used
To infant babbling. But let them assist
My song, the tuneful maidens, by whose aid 10
110
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxn
Amphion walled in Thebes ; so with the truth
My speech shall best accord. Oh ill-starred folk,
Beyond all others wretched ! who abide
In such a mansion, as scarce thought finds words
To speak of, better had ye here on earth
Been flocks, or mountain goats. As down we stood
In the dark pit beneath the giants' feet,
But lower far than they, and I did gaze
Still on the lofty battlement, a voice
Bespake me thus : ' Look how thou walkest. Take
Good heed, thy soles do tread not on the heads
Of thy poor brethren.' Thereupon I turned,
And saw before and underneath my feet
A lake, whose frozen surface liker seemed
20
To glass than water. Not so thick a veil
In winter e'er hath Austrian Danube spread
O'er his still course, nor Tanais far remote
Under the chilling sky. Rolled o'er that mass
Had Tabernicch or Pietrapana fallen,
Not e'en its rim had creaked. As peeps the frog 30
Croaking above the wave, what time in dreams
The village gleaner oft pursues her toil,
So, to where modest shame appears, thus low
Blue pinched and shrined in ice the spirits stood,
Moving their teeth in shrill note like the stork.
His face each downward held ; their mouth the cold,
Their eyes expressed the dolour of their heart.
A space I looked around, then at my feet
Saw two so strictly joined, that of their head
The very hairs were mingled. ' Tell me ye, 40
LINES 11-89] HELL 111
Whose bosoms thus together press,' said I,
* Who are ye ? ' At that sound their necks they bent ;
And when their looks were lifted up to me,
Straightway their eyes, before all moist within,
Distilled upon their lips, and the frost bound
The tears betwixt those orbs, and held them there.
Plank unto plank hath never cramp closed up
So stoutly. Whence, like two enraged goats,
They clashed together : them such fury seized.
And one, from whom the cold both ears had reft, 50
Exclaimed, still looking downward : ' Why on us
Dost speculate so long ? If thou wouldst know
Who are these two, the valley, whence his wave
Bisenzio slopes, did for its master own
Their sire Alberto, and next him themselves.
They from one body issued : and throughout
Cai'na thou mayst search, nor find a shade
More worthy in congealment to be fixed ;
Not him, whose breast and shadow Arthur's hand
At that one blow dissevered ; not Focaccia ; 60
No, not this spirit, whose o'er jutting head
Obstructs my onward view : he bore the name
Of Mascheroni : Tuscan if thou be,
Well knowest who he was. And to cut short
All further question, in my form behold
What once was Camicion. I await
Carlino here my kinsman, whose deep guilt
Shall wash out mine.' A thousand visages
Then marked I, which the keen and eager cold
Had shaped into a doggish grin ; whence creeps 70
A shivering horror o'er me, at the thought
Of those frore shallows. While we journeyed on
Toward the middle, at whose point unites
All heavy substance, and I trembling went
Through that eternal chillness, I know not
If will it were, or destiny, or chance,
But, passing 'midst the heads, my foot did strike
With violent blow against the face of one.
' Wherefore dost bruise me ? ' weeping he exclaimed.
' Unless thy errand be some fresh revenge
For Montaperto, wherefore troublest me ? *
I thus : ' Instructor, now await me here,
That I through him may rid me of my doubt :
Thenceforth what haste thou wilt.' The teacher paused;
And to that shade I spake, who bitterly
Still cursed me in his wrath. ' What art thou, speak,
That railest thus on others ? ' He replied :
' Now who art thou, that smiting others' cheeks,
Through Antenora roamest, with such force
112 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxn
As were past sufferance, wert thou living still ? ' 90
' And I am living, to thy joy perchance,'
Was my reply, ' if fame be dear to thee,
That with the rest I may thy name enrol.'
' The contrary of what I covet most,'
Said he, ' thou tender'st : hence ! nor vex me more.
Ill knowest thou to flatter in this vale.'
Then seizing on his hinder scalp I cried :
' Name thee, or not a hair shall tarry here.'
' Rend all away,' he answered, ' yet for that
I will not tell, nor show thee, who I am, 100
Though at my head thou pluck a thousand times.'
Now I had grasped his tresses, and stripped off
More than one tuft, he barking, with his eyes
Drawn in and downward, when another cried,
* What ails thee, Bocca ? Sound not loud enough
Thy chattering teeth, but thou must bark outright ?
What devil wrings thee ? ' ' Now,' said I, ' be dumb,
Accursed traitor ! To thy shame, of thee
True tidings will I bear.' ' Off ! ' he replied ;
* Tell what thou list : but, as thou scape from hence, no
To speak of him whose tongue hath been so glib,
Forget not : here he wails the Frenchman's gold.
'Him of Duera," thou canst say, "I marked,
" Where the starved sinners pine." If thou be asked
What other shade was with them, at thy side
Is Beccaria, whose red gorge distained
The biting axe of Florence. Farther on,
If I misdeem not, Soldanieri bides,
With Ganellon, and Tribaldello, him
Who oped Faenza when the people slept.' 120
We now had left him, passing on our way,
When I beheld two spirits by the ice
Pent in one hollow, that the head of one
Was cowl unto the other ; and as bread
Is ravened up through hunger, the uppermost
Did so apply his fangs to the other's brain,
Where the spine joins it. Not more furiously
On Menalippus' temples Tydeus gnawed,
Than on that skull and on its garbage he.
' thou ! who show'st so beastly sign of hate 130
'Gainst him thou prey'st on, let me hear,' said I,
* The cause, on such condition, that if right
Warrant thy grievance, knowing who ye are,
And what the colour of his sinning was,
I may repay thee in the world above,
If that, wherewith I speak, be moist so long.'
CANTO xxxin] HELL 1 1 :j
CANTO XXXIII
ARGUMENT
The Poet is told by Count Ugolino de' Gherardeschi of (be cruel manner in
which he and his children were famished in the tower at Pisa, by com-
mand of the Archbishop Ruggieri. He next discourses of the third round
called Ptolomea, wherein those are punished who have betrayed others
under the semblance of kindness ; and among these he finds" the Friar
Alberigo de' Manfredi, who tells him of one whose soul was already tor-
mented in that place, though his body appeared still to be alive upon the
earth, being yielded up to the governance of a fiend.
His jaws uplifting from their fell repast,
That sinner wiped them on the hairs o' the head,
Which he behind had mangled, then began :
' Thy will obeying, I call up afresh
Sorrow past cure ; which, but to think of, wrings
My heart, or ere I tell on 't. But if words,
That I may utter, shall prove seed to bear
Fruit of eternal infamy to him,
The traitor whom I gnaw at, thou at once
Shalt see me speak and weep. Who thou mayst be 10
I know not, nor how here below art come :
But Florentine thou seemest of a truth,
When I do hear thee. Know, I was on earth
Count Ugolino, and the Archbishop he
Ruggieri. Why I neighbour him so close,
Now list. That through effect of his ill thoughts
In him my trust reposing, I was ta'en
And after murdered, need is not I tell.
What therefore thou canst not have heard, that is,
How cruel was the murder, shalt thou hear, 20
And know if he have wronged me. A small grate
Within that mew, which for my sake the name
Of famine bears, where others yet must pine,
Already through its opening several moons
Had shown me, when I slept the evil sleep
That from the future tore the curtain off.
This one, methought, as master of the sport,
Rode forth to chase the gaunt wolf, and his whelps,
Unto the mountain which forbids the sight
Of Lucca to the Pisan. With lean brachs 30
Inquisitive and keen, before him ranged
Lanfranchi with Sismondi and Gualandi.
After short course the father and the sons
Seemed tired and lagging, and methought I saw
The sharp tusks gore their sides. When I awoke,
Before the dawn, amid their sleep I heard
My sons (for they were with me) weep and ask
114
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxm
For bread. Right cruel art them, if no pang
Thou feel at thinking what my heart foretold ;
And if not now, why use thy tears to flow ?
Now had they wakened ; and the hour drew near
When they were wont to bring us food ; the mind
Of each misgave him through his dream, and I
Heard, at its outlet underneath locked up
The horrible tower : whence, uttering not a word,
I looked upon the visage of my sons.
I wept not : so all stone I felt within.
They wept : and one, my little Anselm, cried,
" Thou lookest so ! Father, what ails thee ? " Yet
40
I shed no tear, nor answered all that day 50
Nor the next night, until another sun
Came out upon the world. When a faint beam
Had to our doleful prison made its way,
And in four countenances I descried
The image of my own, on either hand
Through agony I bit ; and they, who thought
I did it through desire of feeding, rose
O' the sudden, and cried, " Father, we should grieve
' Far less, if thou wouldst eat of us : thou gavest
' These weeds of miserable flesh we wear ; 60
" And do thou strip them off from us again."
Then, not to make them sadder, I kept down
My spirit in stillness. That day and the next
We all were silent. Ah, obdurate earth !
LINES 38-97]
HELL
115
Why open'dst not upon us ? When we came
To the fourth day, then Gaddo at my feet
Outstretched did fling him, crying, " Hast no help
' For me, my father ! ' There he died ; and e'en
Plainly as thou seest me, saw I the three
Fall one by one 'twixt the fifth day and sixth :
Whence I betook me, now grown blind, to grope
Over them all, and for three days aloud
Called on them who were dead. Then, fasting got
The mastery of grief.' Thus having spoke,
Once more upon the wretched skull his teeth
He fastened like a mastiff's 'gainst the bone,
Firm and unyielding. Oh, thou Pisa ! shame
Of all the people, who their dwelling make
In that fair region, where the Italian voice
70
Is heard ; since that thy neighbours are so slack 80
To punish, from their deep foundations rise
Caprara and Gorgona, arid dam up
The mouth of Arno ; that each soul in thee
May perish in the waters. What if fame
Reported that thy castles were betrayed
By Ugolino, yet no right hadst thou
To stretch his children on the rack. For them,
Brigata, Uguccione, and the pair
Of gentle ones, of whom my song hath told,
Their tender years, thou modern Thebes, did make 90
Uncapable of guilt. Onward we passed,
Where others, scarfed in rugged folds of ice,
Not on their feet were turned, but each reversed.
There, very weeping suffers not to weep ;
For, at their eyes, grief, seeking passage, finds
Impediment, and rolling inward turns
For increase of sharp anguish : the first tears
116 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxm
Hang clustered, and like crystal vizors show,
Under the socket brimming all the cup.
Now though the cold had from my face dislodged 100
Each feeling, as 't were callous, yet meseemed
Some breath of wind I felt. ' Whence cometh this,'
Said I, ' my Master ? Is not here below
All vapour quenched ? ' ' Thou shalt be speedily,'
He answered, ' where thine eyes shall tell thee whence,
The cause descrying of this airy shower.'
Then cried out one, in the chill crust who mourned :
' O souls ! so cruel, that the farthest post
Hath been assigned you, from this face remove
The hardened veil; that I may vent the grief no
Impregnate at my heart, some little space,
Ere it congeal again.' I thus replied :
' Say who thou wast, if thou wouldst have mine aid ;
And if I extricate thee not, far down
As to the lowest ice may I descend.'
' The friar Alberigo,' answered he,
4 Am I, who from the evil garden plucked
Its fruitage, and am here repaid, the date
More luscious for my fig.' ' Hah ! ' I exclaimed,
' Art thou too dead ? ' ' How in the world aloft 120
It fareth with my body,' answered he,
' I am right ignorant. Such privilege
Hath Ptolomea, that oft-times the soul
Drops hither, ere by Atropos divorced.
And that thou mayst wipe out more willingly
The glazed tear-drops that o'erlay mine eyes,
Know that the soul, that moment she betrays,
As I did, yields her body to a fiend
Who after moves and governs it at will,
Till all its time be rounded: headlong she 130
Falls to this cistern. And perchance above
Doth yet appear the body of a ghost,
Who here behind me winters. Him thou know'st,
If thou but newly art arrived below.
The years are many that have passed away,
Since to this fastness Branca d'Oria came.'
' Now,' answered I, ' methinks thou mockest me ;
For Branca d'Oria never yet hath died,
But doth all natural functions of a man,
Eats, drinks, and sleeps, and putteth raiment on.' 140
He thus : ' Not yet unto that upper foss
By the evil talons guarded, where the pitch
Tenacious boils, had Michel Zanche reached,
When this one left a demon in his stead
In his own body, and of one his kin,
Who with him treachery wrought. But now put forth
CANTO xxxiv] HELL 117
Thy hand, and ope mine eyes.' I oped them not.
Ill manners were best courtesy to him.
Ah Genoese ! men perverse in every way,
With every foulness stained, why from the earth 150
Are ye not cancelled ? Such an one of yours
I with Romagna's darkest spirit found,
As, for his doings, even now in soul
Is in Cocytus plunged, and yet doth seem
In body still alive upon the earth.
CANTO XXXIV
ARGUMENT
In the fourth and last round of the ninth circle, those who have betrayed
their benefactors are wholly covered with ice. And in the midst is Lucifer,
at whose back Dante and Virgil ascend, till by a secret path they reach
the surface of the other hemisphere of the earth, and once more obtain
sight of the stars.
' THE banners of Hell's Monarch do come forth
Toward us ; therefore look,' so spake my guide,
' If thou discern him.' As, when breathes a cloud
Heavy and dense, or when the shades of night
Fall on our hemisphere, seems viewed from far
A windmill, which the blast stirs briskly round ;
Such was the fabric then methought I saw.
To shield me from the wind, forthwith I drew
Behind my guide : no covert else was there.
Now came I (and with fear I bid my strain 10
Record the marvel) where the souls were all
Whelmed underneath, transparent, as through glass
Pellucid the frail stem. Some prone were laid ;
Others stood upright, this upon the soles,
That on his head, a third with face to feet
Arched like a bow. When to the point we came,
Whereat my guide was pleased that I should see
The creature eminent in beauty once,
He from before me stepped and made me pause.
' Lo ! ' he exclaimed, ' lo Dis ; and lo the place, 20
Where thou hast need to arm thy heart with strength.'
How frozen and how faint I then became,
Ask me not, reader ! for I write it not ;
Since words would fail to tell thee of my state.
I was not dead nor living. Think thyself,
If quick conception work in thee at all.
How I did feel. That emperor, who sways
The realm of sorrow, at mid breast from the ice
Stood forth ; and I in stature am more like
118
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxiv
A giant, than the giants are his arms. 30
Mark now how great that whole must be, which suits
With such a part. If he were beautiful
As he is hideous now, and yet did dare
To scowl upon his Maker, well from him
May all our misery flow. Oh what a sight !
How passing strange it seemed, when I did spy
Upon his head three faces : one in front
Of hue vermilion, the other two with this
Midway each shoulder joined and at the crest ;
The right 'twixt wan and yellow seemed ; the left 40
To look on, such as come from whence old Nile
Stoops to the lowlands. Under each shot forth
Two mighty wings, enormous as became
A bird so vast. Sails never such I saw
Outstretched on the wide sea. No plumes had they,
But were in texture like a bat ; and these
He flapped i' the air, that from him issued still
Three winds, wherewith Cocytus to its depth
Was frozen. At six eyes he wept : the tears
Adown three chins distilled with bloody foam.
At every mouth his teeth a sinner champed,
Bruised as with ponderous engine ; so that three
Were in this guise tormented. But far more
Than from that gnawing, was the foremost panged
By the fierce rending, whence oft-times the back
Was stripped of all its skin. ' That upper spirit,
LINES 30-105] HELL 110
Who hath worst punishment,' so spake my guide,
* Is Judas, he that hath his head within
And plies the feet without. Of the other two,
Whose heads are under, from the murky jaw 60
Who hangs, is Brutus : lo ! how he doth writhe
And speaks not. The other, Cassius, that appears
So large of limb. But night now reascends ;
And it is time for parting. All is seen.'
I clipped him round the neck ; for so he bade :
And noting time and place, he, when the wings
Enough were oped, caught fast the shaggy sides,
And down from pile to pile descending stepped
Between the thick fell and the jagged ice.
Soon as he reached the point, whereat the thigh 70
Upon the swelling of the haunches turns,
My leader there, with pain and struggling hard,
Turned round his head where his feet stood before,
And grappled at the fell as one who mounts ;
That into hell methought we turned again.
' Expect that by such stairs as these,' thus spake
The teacher, panting like a man forespent,
' We must depart from evil so extreme : '
Then at a rocky opening issued forth,
And placed me on the brink to sit, next joined 80
With wary step my side. I raised mine eyes,
Believing that I Lucifer should see
Where he was lately left, but saw him now
With legs held upward. Let the grosser sort,
Who see not what the point was I had past,
Bethink them if sore toil oppressed me then.
' Arise,' my master cried, ' upon thy feet.
The way is long, and much uncouth the road ;
And now within one hour and half of noon
The sun returns.' It was no palace-hall 90
Lofty and luminous wherein we stood,
But natural dungeon where ill-footing was
And scant supply of light. ' Ere from the abyss
I separate,' thus when risen I began :
' My guide ! vouchsafe few words to set me free
From error's thraldom. Where is now the ice ?
How standeth he in posture thus reversed ?
And how from eve to morn in space so brief
Hath the sun made his transit ? ' He in few
Thus answering spake : ' Thou deemest thou art still 100
On the other side the centre, where I grasped
The abhorred worm that boreth through the world.
Thou wast on the other side, so long as I
Descended ; when I turned, thou didst o'erpass
That point, to which from every part is dragged
120
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxxiv
All heavy substance. Thou art now arrived
Under the hemisphere opposed to that,
Which the great continent doth overspread,
And underneath whose canopy expired
The Man, that was born sinless and so lived.
Thy feet are planted on the smallest sphere,
Whose other aspect is Judecca. Morn
Here rises, when there evening sets : and he,
Whose shaggy pile we scaled, yet standeth fixed,
As at the first. On this part he fell down
From heaven ; and th' earth, here prominent before,
Through fear of him did veil her with the sea,
And to our hemisphere retired. Perchance,
no
To shun him, was the vacant space left here,
By what of firm land on this side appears,
That sprang aloof.' There is a place beneath,
From Belzebub as distant, as extends
The vaulted tomb ; discovered not by sight,
But by the sound of brooklet, that descends
This way along the hollow of a rock,
Which, as it winds with no precipitous course.
The wave hath eaten. By that hidden way
My guide and I did enter, to return
To the fair world : and heedless of repose
We climbed, he first, I following his steps,
Till on our view the beautiful lights of heaven
Dawned through a circular opening in the cave
Thence issuing we again beheld the stars.
120
I 3
PURGATORY
CANTO I
ARGUMENT
The Poet describes the delight he experienced at issuing a little before dawn
from the infernal regions, into the pure air that surrounds the isle of
Purgatory ; and then relates how, turning to the right, he beheld four
stars never seen before but by our first parents, and met on his left the
shade of Cato of Utica, who, having warned him and Virgil what is needful
to be done before they proceed on their way through Purgatory, dis-
appears ; and the two poets go towards the shore, where Virgil cleanses
Dante's face with the dew, and girds him with a reed, as Cato had com-
manded.
O'ER better waves to speed her rapid course
The light bark of my genius lifts the sail,
Well pleased to leave so cruel sea behind ;
And of that second region will I sing,
In which the human spirit from sinful blot
Is purged, and for ascent to Heaven prepares.
Here, O ye hallowed Nine ! for in your train
I follow, here the deadened strain revive ;
Nor let Calliope refuse to sound
A somewhat higher song, of that loud tone 10
Which when the wretched birds of chattering note
Had heard, they of forgiveness lost all hope.
Sweet hue of eastern sapphire, that was spread
O'er the serene aspect of the pure air,
High up as the first circle, to mine eyes
Unwonted joy renewed, soon as I 'scaped
Forth from the atmosphere of deadly gloom,
That had mine eyes and bosom filled with grief.
The radiant planet, that to love invites,
Made all the orient laugh, and veiled beneath 20
The Pisces' light, that in his escort came.
To the right hand I turned, and fixed my mind
On the other pole attentive, where I saw
Four stars ne'er seen before save by the ken
Of our first parents. Heaven of their rays
Seemed joyous. thou northern site ! bereft
Indeed, and widowed, since of these deprived.
As from this view I had desisted, straight
Turning a little towards the other pole,
There from whence now the wain had disappeared, 30
122
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO i
I saw an old man standing by my side
Alone, so worthy of reverence in his look,
That ne'er from son to father more was owed.
Low down his beard, and mixed with hoary white,
Descended, like his locks, which, parting, fell
Upon his breast in double fold. The beams
Of those four luminaries on his face
So brightly shone, and with such radiance clear
Decked it, that I beheld him as the sun.
' Say who are ye, that stemming the blind stream, 40
Forth from the eternal prison-house have fled ? '
He spoke and moved those venerable plumes.
* Who hath conducted, or with lantern sure
Lights you emerging from the depth of night,
That makes the infernal valley ever black ?
Are the firm statutes of the dread abyss
Broken, or in high heaven new laws ordained,
That thus, condemned, ye to my caves approach ? '
My guide, then laying hold on me, by words
And intimations given with hand and head,
Made my bent knees and eye submissive pay
Due reverence ; then thus to him replied :
' Not of myself I come ; a Dame from heaven
Descending, him besought me in my charge
To bring. But since thy will implies, that more
Our true condition I unfold at large,
Mine is not to deny thee thy request.
LINES 31-106] PURGATORY | L >;{
This mortal ne'er hath seen the farthest gloom
But erring by his folly had approached
So near, that little space was left to turn. 60
Then, as before I told, I was dispatched
To work his rescue ; and no way remained
Save this which I have ta'en. I have displayed
Before him all the regions of the bad ;
And purpose now those spirits to display,
That under thy command are purged from sin.
How I have brought him would be long to say.
From high descends the virtue, by whose aid
I to thy sight and hearing him have led.
Now may our coming please thee. In the search 70
Of liberty he journeys : that how dear,
["hey know who for her sake have life refused.
Thou knowest, to whom death for her was sweet
In Utica, where thou didst leave those weeds,
That in the last great day will shine so bright.
For us the eternal edicts are unmoved :
He breathes, and I of Minos am not bound,
Abiding in that circle, where the eyes
Of thy chaste Marcia beam, who still in look
Prays thee, O hallowed spirit ! to own her thine. 80
Then by her love we implore thee, let us pass
Through thy seven regions ; for which, best thanks
I for thy favour will to her return,
If mention there below thou not disdain.'
' Marcia so pleasing in my sight was found,'
He then to him rejoined, ' while I was there,
That all she asked me I was fain to grant.
Now that beyond the accursed stream she dwells,
She may no longer move me, by that law,
Which was ordained me, when I issued thence. 90
Not so, if Dame from heaven, as thou sayst,
Moves and directs thee ; then no flattery needs.
Enough for me that in her name thou ask.
Go therefore now : and with a slender reed
See that thou duly gird him, and his face
Lave, till all sordid stain thou wipe from thence.
For not with eye, by any cloud obscured,
Would it be seemly before him to come,
Who stands the foremost minister in heaven.
This islet all around, there far beneath, 100
Where the wave beats it, on the oozy bed
Produces store of reeds. No other plant,
Covered with leaves, or hardened in its stalk,
There lives, not bending to the water's sway.
After, this way return not ; but the sun
Will show you, that now rises, where to take
124
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO i
The mountain in its easiest ascent.'
He disappeared ; and I myself upraised
Speechless, and to my guide retiring close,
Toward him turned mine eyes. He thus began :
' My son ! observant thou my steps pursue.
We must retreat to rearward ; for that way
The champain to its low extreme declines.'
The dawn had chased the matin hour of prime,
Which fled before it, so that from afar
I spied the trembling of the ocean stream.
We traversed the deserted plain, as one
Who, wandered from his track, thinks every step
Trodden in vain till he regain the path.
1 10
When we had come, where yet the tender dew 120
Strove with the sun, and in a place where fresh
The wind breathed o'er it, while it slowly dried ;
Both hands extended on the watery grass
My master placed, in graceful act and kind.
Whence I of his intent before apprised,
Stretched out to him my cheeks suffused with tears.
There to my visage he anew restored
That hue which the dun shades of hell concealed.
Then on the solitary shore arrived,
That never sailing on its waters saw 130
Man that could after measure back his course,
He girt me in such manner as had pleased
Him who instructed ; and O strange to tell !
As he selected every humble plant,
Wherever one was plucked another there
Resembling, straightway in its place arose.
CANTO ii] PURGATORY li>.,
CANTO II
ARGUMENT
They behold a vessel under conduct of an angel, coming over the waves
with spirits to Purgatory, among whom, when the passengers have landed,
Dante recognizes his friend Casella ; but, while they are entertained by
him with a song, they hear Cato exclaiming against their negligent loiter-
ing, and at that rebuke hasten forwards to the mountain.
Now had the sun to that horizon reached,
That covers, with the most exalted point
Of its meridian circle, Salem's walls ;
And night, that opposite to him her orb
Rounds, from the stream of Ganges issued forth,
Holding the scales, that from her hands are dropped
When she reigns highest : so that where I was,
Aurora's white and vermeil-tinctured cheek
To orange turned as she in age increased.
Meanwhile we lingered by the water's brink, 10
Like men, who, musing on their road, in thought
Journey, while motionless the body rests.
When lo ! as, near upon the hour of dawn,
Through the thick vapours Mars with fiery beam
Glares down in west, over the ocean floor ;
So seemed, what once again I hope to view,
A light, so swiftly coming through the sea,
No winged course might equal its career.
From which when for a space I had withdrawn
Mine eyes, to make inquiry of my guide, 20
Again I looked, and saw it grown in size
And brightness : then on either side appeared
Something, but what I knew not, of bright hue,
And by degrees from underneath it came
Another. My preceptor silent yet
Stood, while the brightness, that we first discerned,
Opened the form of wings : then when he knew
The pilot, cried aloud, * Down, down ; bend low
Thy knees ; behold God's angel : fold thy hands :
Now shalt thou see true ministers indeed.
Lo ! how all human means he sets at naught ;
So that nor oar he needs, nor other sail
Except his wings, between such distant shores.
Lo ! how straight up to heaven he holds them reared,
Winnowing the air with those eternal plumes.
That not like mortal hairs fall off or change.'
As more and more toward us came, more bright
Appeared the bird of God, nor could the eye
Endure his splendour near : I mine bent down.
He drove ashore in a small bark so swift
126
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO n
And light, that in its course no wave it drank.
The heavenly steersman at the prow was seen,
Visibly written Blessed in his looks.
Within, a hundred spirits and more there sat.
' In Exitu Israel de Aegypto,'
All with one voice together sang, with what
In the remainder of that hymn is writ.
Then soon as with the sign of holy cross
He blessed them, they at once leaped out on land :
He, swiftly as he came, returned. The crew,
There left, appeared astounded with the place,
Gazing around, as one who sees new sights.
5
From every side the sun darted his beams,
And with his arrowy radiance from mid heaven
Had chased the Capricorn, when that strange tribe,
Lifting their eyes toward us : 'If ye know,
Declare what path will lead us to the mount.'
Them Virgil answered : ' Ye suppose, perchance,
Us well acquainted with this place : but here,
We, as yourselves, are strangers. Not long erst
We came, before you but a little space,
By other road so rough and hard, that now
The ascent will seem to us as play.' The spirits,
Who from my breathing had perceived I lived,
Grew pale with wonder. As the multitude
Flock round a herald sent with olive branch,
To hear what news he brings, and in their haste
60
LINES 41-97]
PURGATORY
127
Tread one another down ; e'en so at sight
Of me those happy spirits were fixed, each one
Forgetful of its errand to depart 70
Where, cleansed from sin, it might be made all fair.
Then one I saw darting before the rest
With such fond ardour to embrace me, I
To do the like was moved. shadows vain !
Except in outward semblance : thrice my hands
I clasped behind it, they as oft returned
Empty into my breast again. Surprise
I need must think was painted in my looks,
For that the shadow smiled and backward drew.
To follow it I hastened, but with voice 80
Of sweetness it enjoined me to desist.
Then who it was I knew, and prayed of it,
To talk with me it would a little pause.
It answered : ' Thee as in my mortal frame
I loved, so loosed from it I love thee still,
And therefore pause : but why walkest thou here ? '
' Not without purpose once more to return,
Thou find'st me, my Casella, where I am,
Journeying this way,' I said : ' but how of thee
Hath so much time been lost ? ' He answered straight : 90
' No outrage hath been done to me, if he,
Who when and whom he chooses takes, hath oft
Denied me passage here ; since of just will
His will he makes. These three months past indeed,
He, whoso chose to enter, with free leave
Hath taken ; whence I wandering by the shore
Where Tiber's wave grows salt, of him gained kind
128
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO n
Admittance, at that river's mouth, toward which
His wings are pointed ; for there always throng
All such as not to Acheron descend.' 100
Then I : 'If new law taketh not from thee
Memory or custom of love-tuned song,
That whilom all my cares had power " v to assuage ;
Please thee therewith a little to console
My spirit, that encumbered with its frame,
Travelling so far, of pain is overcome.'
' Love, that discourses in my thoughts,' he then
Began in such soft accents, that within
The sw r eetness thrills me yet. My gentle guide,
And all who came with him, so w r ell were pleased, no
That seemed naught else might in their thoughts have room.
Fast fixed in mute attention to his notes
We stood, when lo ! that old man venerable
Exclaiming, ' How is this, ye tardy spirits ?
What negligence detains you loitering here ?
Run to the mountain to cast off those scales,
That from your eyes the sight of God conceal.'
As a wild flock of pigeons, to their food
Collected, blade or tares, without their pride
Accustomed, and in still and quiet sort, 120
If aught alarm them, suddenly desert
Their meal, assailed by more important care ;
So I that new-come troop beheld, the song
Deserting, hasten to the mountain's side,
As one who goes, yet, where he tends, knows not.
Nor with less hurried step did we depart.
CANTO in] PURGATORY 1 :><.)
CANTO III
ARGUMENT
Our Poet, perceiving no shadow except that cast by his own body, is fearful
that Virgil has deserted him ; but he is freed from that error, and both
arrive together at the foot of the mountain : on finding it too steep to
climb, they inquire the way from a troop of spirits that are coming towards
them, and are by them shown which is the easiest ascent. Manfred!, king
of Naples, who is one of these spirits, bids Dante inform his daughter
Costanza, queen of Aragon, of the manner in which he had died.
THEM sudden flight had scattered o'er the plain,
Turned towards the mountain, whither reason's voice
Drives us : I, to my faithful company
Adhering, left it not. For how, of him
Deprived, might I have sped ? or who, beside,
Would o'er the mountainous tract have led my steps ?
He, with the bitter pang of self-remorse,
Seemed smitten. O clear conscience, and upright !
How doth a little failing wound thee sore.
Soon as his feet desisted (slackening pace) 10
From haste, that mars all decency of act,
My mind, that in itself before was wrapped,
Its thought expanded, as with joy restored ;
And full against the steep ascent I set
My face, where highest to heaven its top o'erflows.
The sun, that flared behind, with ruddy beam
Before my form was broken ; for in me
His rays resistance met. I turned aside
With fear of being left, when I beheld
Only before myself the ground obscured. 20
When thus my solace, turning him around,
Bespake me kindly : ' Why distrustest thou ?
Believest not I am with thee, thy sure guide ?
It now is evening there, where buried lies
The body in which I cast a shade, removed
To Naples from Brundusium's w r all. Nor thou
Marvel, if before me no shadow fall,
More than that in the skyey element
One ray obstructs not other. To endure
Torments of heat and cold extreme, like frames
That virtue hath disposed, which, how it works,
Wills not to us should be revealed. Insane,
Who hopes our reason may that space explore,
Which holds three persons in one substance knit.
Seek not the wherefore, race of human kind ;
Could ye have seen the whole, no need had been
For Mary to bring forth. Moreover, ye
Have seen such men desiring fruitlessly ;
130 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO in
To whose desires, repose would have been given,
That now but serve them for eternal grief. 40
I speak of Plato, and the Stagirite,
And others many more.' And then he bent
Downwards his forehead, and in troubled mood
Broke off his speech. Meanwhile we had arrived
Far as the mountain's foot, and there the rock
Found of so steep ascent, that nimblest steps
To climb it had been vain. The most remote,
Most wild, untrodden path, in all the tract
'Twixt Lerice and Turbia, were to this
A ladder easy and open of access. 50
' Who knows on which hand now the steep declines ? '
My master said, and paused ; ' so that he may
Ascend, who journeys without aid of wing ? '
And while, with looks directed to the ground,
The meaning of the pathway he explored,
And I gazed upward round the stony height ;
On the left hand appeared to us a troop
Of spirits, that toward us moved their steps ;
Yet moving seemed not, they so slow approached.
I thus my guide addressed : ' Upraise thine eyes : 60
Lo ! that way some, of whom thou mayst obtain
Counsel, if of thyself thou find'st it not.'
Straightway he looked, and with free speech replied :
' Let us tend thither : they but softly come.
And thou be firm in hope, my son beloved.'
Now was that crowd from us distant as far,
(When we some thousand steps, I say, had passed,)
As at a throw the nervous arm could fling ;
When all drew backward on the massy crags
Of the steep bank, and firmly stood unmoved, 70
As one, who walks in doubt, might stand to look.
' O spirits perfect ! O already chosen ! '
Virgil to them began : ' by that blest peace,
Which, as I deem, is for you all prepared,
Instruct us where the mountain low declines,
So that attempt to mount it be not vain.
For who knows most, him loss of time most grieves.'
As sheep, that step from forth their fold, by one,
Or pairs, or three at once ; meanwhile the rest
Stand fearfully, bending the eye and nose 80
To ground, and what the foremost does, that do
The others, gathering round her if she stops,
Simple and quiet, nor the cause discern ;
So saw I moving to advance the first,
Who of that fortunate crew were at the head,
Of modest mien, and graceful in their gait.
When they before me had beheld the light
LINES 39-115]
PURGATORY
L31
9
From my right side fall broken on the ground,
So that the shadow reached the cave ; they stopped,
And somewhat back retired : the same did all
Who followed, though unweeting of the cause.
'Unasked of you, yet freely I confess,
This is a human body which ye see.
That the sun's light is broken on the ground,
Marvel not : but believe, that not without
Virtue derived from Heaven, we to climb
Over this wall aspire.' So them bespake
My master ; and that virtuous tribe rejoined :
' Turn, and before you there the entrance lies ; '
Making a signal to us with bent hands. IOD
Then of them one began. ' Whoe'er thou art,
Who journey'st thus this way, thy visage turn ;
Think if me elsewhere thou hast ever seen.'
I towards him turned, and with fixed eye beheld.
Comely and fair, and gentle of aspect
He seemed, but on one brow a gash was marked.
When humbly I disclaimed to have beheld
Him ever : ' Now behold ! ' he said, and showed
High on his breast a wound : then smiling spake
* I am Manfredi, grandson to the Queen
Costanza : whence I pray thee, when returned,
To my fair daughter go, the parent glad
Of Aragonia and Sicilia's pride ;
And of the truth inform her, if of me
Aught else be told. When by two mortal blows
CART U
1 10
132 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO HI
My frame was shattered, I betook myself
Weeping to him, who of free will forgives.
My sins were horrible : but so wide arms
Hath goodness infinite, that it receives
All who turn to it. Had this text divine 120
Been of Cosenza's shepherd better scanned,
Who then by Clement on my hunt was set,
Yet at the bridge's head my bones had lain,
Near Benevento, by the heavy mole
Protected ; but the rain now drenches them,
And the wind drives, out of the kingdom's bounds,
Far as the stream of Verde, where, with lights
Extinguished, he removed them from their bed.
Yet by their curse we are not so destroyed,
But that the eternal love may turn, while hope 130
Retains her verdant blossom. True it is,
That such one as in contumacy dies
Against the holy church, though he repent,
Must wander thirtyfold for all the time
In his presumption past ; if such decree
Be not by prayers of good men shorter made.
Look therefore if thou canst advance my bliss ;
Revealing to my good Costanza, how
Thou hast beheld me, and beside, the terms
Laid on me of that interdict ; for here 140
By means of those below much profit comes.'
CANTO IV
ARGUMENT
Dante and Virgil ascend the mountain of Purgatory, by a steep and narrow
path pent in on each side by rock, till they reach a part of it that opens
into a ledge or cornice. There seating themselves, and turning to the east,
Dante wonders at seeing the sun on their left, the cause of which is ex-
plained to him by Virgil ; and while they continue their discourse, a voice
addresses them, at which they turn, and find several spirits behind the
rock, and amongst the rest one named Belacqua, who had been known to
our Poet on earth, and who tells that he is doomed to linger there on
account of his having delayed his repentance to the last.
WHEN by sensations of delight or pain,
That any of our faculties hath seized,
Entire the soul collects herself, it seems
She is intent upon that power alone ;
And thus the error is disproved, which holds
The soul not singly lighted in the breast.
And therefore whenas aught is heard or seen,
That firmly keeps the soul toward it turned,
Time passes, and a man perceives it not.
CANTO iv] PURGATORY 1 ;j;>
For that, whereby we hearken, is one power ; 10
Another that, which the whole spirit hath :
This is as it were bound, while that is free.
This found I true by proof, hearing that spirit,
And wondering ; for full fifty steps aloft
The sun had measured, unobserved of me,
When we arrived where all with one accord
The spirits shouted, ' Here is what ye ask.'
A larger aperture oft-times is stopped,
With forked stake of thorn by villager,
When the ripe grape imbrowns, than was the path, 20
By which my guide, and I behind him close,
Ascended solitary, when that troop
Departing left us. On Sanleo's road
Who journeys, or to Noli low descends,
Or mounts Bismantua's height, must use his feet ;
But here a man had need to fly, I mean
With the swift wing and plumes of high desire,
Conducted by his aid, who gave me hope,
And with light furnished to direct my way.
We through the broken rock ascended, close 30
Pent on each side, while underneath the ground
Asked help of hands and feet. When we arrived
Near on the highest ridge of the steep bank,
Where the plain level opened, I exclaimed,
' O Master ! say, which way can we proceed.'
He answered, ' Let no step of thine recede.
Behind me gain the mountain, till to us
Some practised guide appear.' That eminence
Was lofty, that no eye might reach its point ;
And the side proudly rising, more than line 40
From the mid quadrant to the centre drawn.
I, wearied, thus began : ' Parent beloved !
Turn and behold how I remain alone,
If thou stay not.' ' My son ! ' he straight replied,
* Thus far put forth thy strength ; ' and to a track
Pointed, that, on this side projecting, round
Circles the hill. His words so spurred me on,
That I, behind him, clambering, forced myself,
Till my feet pressed the circuit plain beneath.
There both together seated, turned we round
To eastward, whence was our ascent : and oft
Many beside have with delight looked back.
First on the nether shores I turned mine eyes,
Then raised them to the sun, and wondering marked
That from the left it smote us. Soon perceived
That poet sage, how at the car of light
Amazed I stood, where 'twixt us and the north
Its course it entered. Whence he thus to me :
134 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO iv
' Were Leda's offspring now in company
Of that broad mirror, that high up and low 60
Imparts his light beneath, thou mightst behold
The ruddy Zodiac nearer to the Bears
Wheel, if its ancient course it not forsook.
How that may be, if thou wouldst think ; within
Pondering, imagine Sion with this mount
Placed on the earth, so that to both be one
Horizon, and two hemispheres apart,
Where lies the path that Phaeton ill knew
To guide his erring chariot : thou wilt see
How of necessity by this, on one, 70
He passes, while by that on the other side ;
If with that clear view thine intellect attend.'
' Of truth, kind teacher ! ' I exclaimed, ' so clear
Aught saw I never, as I now discern,
Where seemed my ken to fail, that the mid orb
Of the supernal motion (which in terms
Of art is called the Equator, and remains
Still 'twixt the sun and winter) for the cause
Thou hast assigned, from hence toward the north
Departs, when those, who in the Hebrew land 80
Were dwellers, saw it towards the warmer part.
But if it please thee, I would gladly know,
How far we have to journey : for the hill
Mounts higher, than this sight of mine can mount.'
He thus to me : ' Such is this steep ascent,
That it is ever difficult at first,
But more a man proceeds, less evil grows.
When pleasant it shall seem to thee, so much
That upward going shall be easy to thee
As in a vessel to go down the tide, 90
Then of this path thou wilt have reached the end.
There hope to rest thee from thy toil. No more
I answer, and thus far for certain know.'
As he his words had spoken, near to us
A voice there sounded : ' Yet ye first perchance
May to repose you by constraint be led.'
At sound thereof each turned ; and on the left
A huge stone we beheld, of which nor I
Nor he before was ware. Thither we drew ;
And there were some, who in the shady place 100
Behind the rock were standing, as a man
Through idleness might stand. Among them one,
Who seemed to be much wearied, sat him down,
And with his arms did fold his knees about,
Holding his face between them downward bent.
' Sweet Sir ! ' I cried, ' behold that man who shows
Himself more idle than if laziness
LINES 59-135]
PURGATORY
Were sister to him.' Straight he turned to us,
And, o'er the thigh lifting his face, observed,
Then in these accents spake : ' Up then, proceed,
Thou valiant one.' Straight who it was I knew
Nor could the pain I felt (for want of breath
Still somewhat urged me) hinder my approach.
And when I came to him, he scarce his head
Uplifted, saying, ' Well hast thou discerned,
How from the left the sun his chariot leads.'
His lazy acts and broken words my lips.
To laughter somewhat moved ; when I began :
' Belacqua, now for thee I grieve no more.
But tell, why thou art seated upright there.
I 10
120
Waitest thou escort to conduct thee hence ?
Or blame I only thine accustomed ways ? '
Then he : ' My brother ! of what use to mount,
When, to my suffering, would not let me pass
The bird of God, who at the portal sits ?
Behoves so long that heaven first bear me round
Without its limits, as in life it bore ;
Because I, to the end, repentant sighs
Delayed ; if prayer do not aid me first,
That riseth up from heart which lives in grace.
What other kind avails, not heard in heaven ? '
Before me now the poet, up the mount
Ascending, cried : ' Haste thee : for see the sun
Has touched the point meridian ; and the night
Now covers with her foot Morocco's shore.'
130
136 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO v
CANTO V
ARGUMENT
They meet with others, who had deferred their repentance till they were
overtaken by a violent death, when sufficient space being allowed them,
they were then saved ; and amongst the.se, Jacopo del Cassero, Buon-
conte da Montefeltro, and Pia, a lady of Siena.
Now had I left those spirits, and pursued
The steps of my conductor ; when behind,
Pointing the finger at me, one exclaimed :
1 See, how it seems as if the light not shone
From the left hand of him beneath, and he,
As living, seems to be led on.' Mine eyes
I at that sound reverting, saw them gaze,
Through wonder, first at me ; and then at me
And the light broken underneath, by turns.
' Why are thy thoughts thus riveted,' my guide 10
Exclaimed, ' that thou hast slacked thy pace ? or how
Imports it thee, what thing is whispered here ?
Come after me, and to their babblings leave
The crowd. Be as a tower, that, firmly set,
Shakes not its top for any blast that blows.
He, in whose bosom thought on thought shoots out,
Still of his aim is wide, in that the one
Sicklies and wastes to naught the other's strength.'
What other could I answer, save ' I come ' ?
I said it, somewhat with that colour tinged, 20
Which oft-times pardon meriteth for man.
Meanwhile traverse along the hill there came,
A little way before us, some who sang
The ' Miserere ' in responsive strains.
When they perceived that through my body I
Gave way not for the rays to pass, their song
Straight to a long and hoarse exclaim they changed ;
And two of them, in guise of messengers,
Ran on to meet us, and inquiring asked :
' Of your condition we would gladly learn.' 30
To them my guide : ' Ye may return, and bear
Tidings to them who sent you, that his frame
Is real flesh. If, as I deem, to view
His shade they paused, enough is answered them :
Him let them honour : they may prize him well.'
Ne'er saw I fiery vapours with such speed
Cut through the serene air at fall of night,
Nor August's clouds athwart the setting sun,
That upward these did not in shorter space
Return ; and, there arriving, with the rest 40
Wheel back on us, as with loose rein a troop.
LINES 1-90] PURGATORY I.;;
'Many,' exclaimed the bard, 'are these, who throng
Around us : to petition thee, they come.
Go therefore on, and listen as thou go'st.'
' O spirit ! who go'st on to blessedness,
With the same limbs that clad thee at thy birth,'
Shouting they came : ' a little rest thy step.
Look if thou any one amongst our tribe
Hast e'er beheld, that tidings of him there
Thou mayst report. Ah, wherefore go'st thou on ?
Ah, wherefore tarriest thou not ? We all
By violence died, and to our latest hour
Were sinners, but then warned by light from heaven ;
So that, repenting and forgiving, we
Did issue out of life at peace with God,
Who, with desire to see him, fills our heart.'
Then I : ' The visages of all I scan,
Yet none of ye remember. But if aught
That I can do may please you, gentle spirits !
Speak, and I will perform it ; by that peace, 60
Which, on the steps of guide so excellent
Following, from world to world, intent I seek.
In answer he began : ' None here distrusts
Thy kindness, though not promised with an oath ;
So as the will fail not for want of power.
Whence I, who sole before the others speak,
Entreat thee, if thou ever see that land
Which lies between Romagna and the realm
Of Charles, that of thy courtesy thou pray
Those who inhabit Fano, that for me 70
Their adorations duly be put up,
By which I may purge off my grievous sins.
From thence I came. But the deep passages,
Whence issued out the blood wherein I dwelt,
Upon my bosom in Antenor's land
Were made, where to be more secure I thought.
The author of the deed was Este's prince,
Who, more than right could warrant, with his wrath
Pursued me. Had I towards Mira fled,
When overta'en at Oriago, still
Might I have breathed. But to the marsh I sped ;
And in the mire and rushes tangled there
Fell, and beheld my life-blood float the plain.'
Then said another : ' Ah ! so may the wish,
That takes thee o'er the mountain, be fulfilled,
As thou shalt graciously give aid to mine.
Of Montefeltro I ; Buonconte I :
Giovanna nor none else have care for me ;
Sorrowing with these I therefore go.' I thus :
' From Campaldino's field what force or chance 90
138
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO v
Drew thee, that ne'er thy sepulture was known ? '
' Oh ! ' answered he, ' at Casentino's foot
A stream there courseth, named Archiano, sprung
In Apennine above the hermit's seat.
E'en where its name is cancelled, there came I,
Pierced in the throat, fleeing away on foot,
And bloodying the plain. Here sight and speech
Failed me ; and, finishing with Mary's name,
I fell, and tenantless my flesh remained.
I will report the truth ; which thou again
Tell to the living. Me God's angel took,
Whilst he of hell exclaimed : ' ; O thou from heaven !
100
" Say wherefore hast thou robbed me ? Thou of him
" The eternal portion bear'st with thee away,
" For one poor tear that he deprives me of.
" But of the other, other rule I make."
' Thou know'st how in the atmosphere collects
That vapour dank, returning into water
Soon as it mounts where cold condenses it.
That evil will, which in his intellect
Still follows evil, came ; and raised the wind
And smoky mist, by virtue of the power
Given by his nature. Thence the valley, soon
As day was spent, he covered o'er with cloud,
From Pratomagno to the mountain range ;
And stretched the sky above ; so that the air
Impregnate changed to water. Fell the rain ;
no
CANTO vi] PURGATORY
And to the fosses came all that the land
Contained not ; and, as mightiest streams are wont,
To the great river, with such headlong sweep, 120
Rushed, that naught stayed its course. My stiffened frame,
Laid at his mouth, the fell Archiano found,
And dashed it into Arno ; from my breast
Loosening the cross, that of myself I made
When overcome with pain. He hurled mo on,
Along the banks and bottom of his course ;
Then in his muddy spoils encircling wrapped.'
' Ah ! when thou to the world shalt be returned,
And rested after thy long road,' so spake
Next the third spirit; 'then remember me. 130
I once was Pia. Siena gave me life ;
Maremma took it from me. That he knows,
Who me with jewelled ring had first espoused.'
CANTO VI
ARGUMENT
Many besides, who are in like case with those spoken of in the last Canto,
beseech our Poet to obtain for them the prayers of their friends, when he
shall be returned to this world. This moves him to express a doubt to his
guide, how the dead can be profited by the prayers of the living ; for the
solution of which doubt he is referred to Beatrice. Afterwards he meets
with Sordello the Mantuan, whose affection, shown to Virgil his country-
man, leads Dante to break forth into an invective against the unnatural
divisions with which Italy, and more especially Florence, was distracted.
WHEN from their game of dice men separate,
He who hath lost remains in sadness fixed,
Revolving in his naind what luckless throws
He cast : but, meanwhile, all the company
Go with the other ; one before him runs,
And one behind his mantle twitches, one
Fast by his side bids him remember him.
He stops not ; and each one, to whom his hand
Is stretched, well knows he bids him stand aside ;
And thus he from the press defends himself. 10
E'en such was I in that close-crowding throng ;
And turning so my face around to all,
And promising, I 'scaped from it with pains.
Here of Arezzo him I saw, who fell
By Ghino's cruel arm ; and him beside,
Who in his chase was swallowed by the stream.
Here Frederic Novello, with his hand
Stretched forth, entreated ; and of Pisa he,
Who put the good Marzucco to such proof
Of constancy. Count Orso I beheld ; 20
140 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vi
And from its frame a soul dismissed for spite
And envy, as it said, but for no crime ;
I speak of Peter de la Brosse : and here,
While she yet lives, that Lady of Brabant,
Let her beware ; lest for so false a deed
She herd with worse than these. When I was freed
From all those spirits, who prayed for others' prayers
To hasten on their state of blessedness ;
Straight I began : ' O thou, my luminary !
It seems expressly in thy text denied, 30
That heaven's supreme decree can ever bend
To supplication ; yet with this design
Do these entreat. Can then their hope be vain ?
Or is thy saying not to me revealed ? '
He thus to me : ' Both what I write is plain,
And these deceived not in their hope ; if well
Thy mind consider, that the sacred height
Of judgement doth not stoop, because love's flame
In a short moment all fulfils, which he,
\Vho sojourns here, in right should satisfy. 40
Besides, when I this point concluded thus,
By praying no defect could be supplied ;
Because the prayer had none access to God.
Yet in this deep suspicion rest thou not
Contented, unless she assure thee so,
Who betwixt truth and mind infuses light :
I know not if thou take me right ; I mean
Beatrice. Her thou shalt behold above,
Upon this mountain's crown, fair seat of joy.'
Then I : ' Sir ! let us mend our speed ; for now 50
I tire not as before : and lo ! the hill
Stretches its shadow far.' He answered thus :
' Our progress with this day shall be as much
As we may now dispatch ; but otherwise
Than thou supposest is the truth. For there
Thou canst not be, ere thou once more behold
Him back returning, who behind the steep
Is now so hidden, that, as erst, his beam
Thou dost not break. But lo ! a spirit there
Stands solitary, and toward us looks : 60
It will instruct us in the speediest way.'
We soon approached it. Oh thou Lombard spirit !
How didst thou stand, in high abstracted mood,
Scarce moving with slow dignity thine eyes.
It spoke not aught, but let us onward pass,
Eyeing us as a lion on his watch.
But Virgil, with entreaty mild, advanced,
Requesting it to show the best ascent.
In answer to his question none returned ;
LINES 21-99]
PURGATORY
But of our country and our kind of life
Demanded. When my courteous guide began,
' Mantua,' the shadow, in itself absorbed.
Rose towards us from the place in which it stood,
And cried, ' Mantuan ! I am thy countryman,
Sordello.' Each the other then embraced.
Ah, slavish Italy ! thou inn of grief !
Vessel without a pilot in loud storm !
Lady no longer of fair provinces,
But brothel-house impure ! this gentle spirit,
Even from the pleasant sound of his dear land
Was prompt to greet a fellow citizen
With such glad cheer : while now thy living ones
In thee abide not without war ; and one
141
70
80
Malicious gnaws another ; aye, of those
Whom the same wall and the same moat contains.
Seek, wretched one ! around thy sea-coasts wide ;
Then homeward to thy bosom turn ; and mark,
If any part of thee sweet peace enjoy.
What boots it, that thy reins Justinian's hand
Refitted, if thy saddle be unpressed ?
Naught doth he now but aggravate thy shame.
Ah, people ! thou obedient still shouldst live,
And in the saddle let thy Caesar sit,
If well thou marked'st that which God commands.
Look how that beast to fellness hath relapsed,
From having lost correction of the spur,
Since to the bridle thou hast set thine hand,
O German Albert ! who abandon'st her
That is grown savage and unmanageable,
90
142 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vi
When thou shouldst clasp her flanks with forked heels. 100
Just judgement from the stars fall on thy blood ;
And be it strange and manifest to all ;
Such as may strike thy successor with dread ;
For that thy sire and thou have suffered thus,
Through greediness of yonder realms detained,
The garden of the empire to run waste.
Come, see the Capulets and Montagues,
The Filippeschi and Monaldi, man
Who carest for naught ! those sunk in grief, and these
With dire suspicion racked. Come, cruel one! no
Come, and behold the oppression of the nobles,
And mark their injuries ; and thou mayst see
What safety Santafiore can supply.
Come and behold thy Rome, who calls on thee,
Desolate widow, day and night with moans,
' My Caesar, why dost thou desert my side ? '
Come, and behold what love among thy people :
And if no pity touches thee for us,
Come, and blush for thine own report. For me,
If it be lawful, O Almighty Power ! 120
Who wast in earth for our sakes crucified.
Are thy just eyes turned elsewhere ? or is this
A preparation, in the wondrous depth
Of thy sage counsel made, for some good end,
Entirely from our reach of thought cut off ?
So are the Italian cities all o'erthronged
With tyrants, and a great Marcellus made
Of every petty factious villager.
My Florence ! thou mayst well remain unmoved
At this digression, which affects not thee 130
Thanks to thy people, who so wisely speed.
Many have justice in their heart, that long
Waiteth for counsel to direct the bow,
Or ere it dart unto its aim : but thine
Have it on their lip's edge. Many refuse
To bear the common burdens : readier thine
Answer uncalled, and cry, ' Behold I stoop ! '
Make thyself glad, for thou hast reason now,
Thou wealthy ! thou at peace ! thou wisdom-fraught !
Facts best will witness if I speak the truth. 140
Athens and Lacedaemon, who of old
Enacted laws, for civil arts renowned,
Made little progress in improving life
Towards thee, who usest such nice subtlety,
That to the middle of November scarce
Reaches the thread thou in October weavest.
How many times within thy memory.
Customs, and laws, and coins, and offices
CANTO vn] PURGATORY 1 43
Have been by thee renewed, and people changed.
If them remember'st well and canst see clear, 1 50
Thou wilt perceive thyself like a sick wretch,
Who finds no rest upon her down, but oft
Shifting her side, short respite seeks from pain.
CANTO VII
ARGUMENT
The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello conducts our Poet
apart to an eminence, from whence they behold a pleasant recess, in form
of a flowery valley, scooped out of the mountain ; where are many famous
spirits, and among them the Emperor Rodolph, Ottocar, king of Bohemia,
Philip III of France, Henry of Navarre, Peter III of Aragon, Charles I of
Naples, Henry III of Engla-nd, and William, Marquis of Montferrat.
AFTER their courteous greetings joyfully
Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew
Exclaiming, ' Who are ye ? ' -' Before this mount
By spirits worthy of ascent to God
Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care
Been buried. I am Virgil ; for no sin
Deprived of heaven, except for lack of faith.'
So answered him in few my gentle guide.
As one, who aught before him suddenly
Beholding, whence his wonder riseth, cries, 10
' It is, yet is not,' wavering in belief ;
Such he appeared ; then downward bent his eyes,
And, drawing near with reverential step,
Caught him, where one of mean estate might clasp
His lord. ' Glory of Latium ! ' he exclaimed,
' In whom our tongue its utmost power displayed ;
Boast of my honoured birth-place ! what desert
Of mine, what favour, rather, undeserved,
Shows thee to me ? If I to hear that voice
Am worthy, say if from below thou comest, 20
And from what cloister's pale.'- 'Through every orb
Of that sad region,' he replied, ' thus far
Am I arrived, by heavenly influence led :
And with such aid I come. Not for my doing,
But for not doing, have I lost the sight
Of that high Sun, whom thou desirest, and who
By me too late was known. There is a place
There underneath, not made by torments sad,
But by dun shades alone ; where mourning's voice
Sounds not of anguish sharp, but breathes in sighs.
There I with little innocents abide,
Who, by death's fangs were bitten, ere exempt
144 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vii
From human taint. There I with those abide,
Who the three holy virtues put not on,
But understood the rest, and without blame
Followed them all. But, if thou know'st, and canst,
Direct us how we soonest may arrive,
Where Purgatory its true beginning takes.'
He answered thus : ' We have no certain place
Assigned us : upwards I may go, or round. 40
Far as I can, I join thee for thy guide.
But thou beholdest now how day declines ;
And upwards to proceed by night, our power
Excels : therefore it may be well to choose
A place of pleasant sojourn. To the right
Some spirits sit apart retired. It thou
Consentest, I to these will lead thy steps :
And thou wilt know them, not without delight.'
' How chances this ? ' was answered : ' whoso wished
To ascend by night, would he be thence debarred 50
By other, or through his own weakness fail ? '
The good Sordello then, along the ground
Trailing his finger, spoke : ' Only this line
Thou shalt not overpass, soon as the sun
Hath disappeared ; not that aught else impedes
Thy going upwards, save the shades of night.
These, with the want of power, perplex the will.
With them thou haply mightst return beneath,
Or to and fro around the mountain's side
LINES 33-108] PURGATORY | jr,
Wander, while day is in the horizon shut.' 60
My master straight, as wondering at his speech,
Exclaimed : ' Then lead us quickly, where thou sayst
That, while we stay, we may enjoy delight.'
A little space we were removed from thence,
When I perceived the mountain hollowed out,
Even as large valleys hollowed out on earth.
' That way,' the escorting spirit cried, ' we go,
Where in a bosom the high bank recedes :
And thou await renewal of the day.'
Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path 70
Led us traverse into the ridge's side,
Where more than half the sloping edge expires.
Refulgent gold, and silver thrice refined,
And scarlet grain and ceruse, Indian wood
Of lucid dye serene, fresh emeralds
But newly broken, by the herbs and flowers
Placed in that fair recess, in colour all
Had been surpassed, as great surpasses less.
Nor nature only there lavished her hues,
But of the sweetness of a thousand smells 80
A rare and undistinguished fragrance made.
' Salve Regina,' on the grass and flowers,
Here chanting, I beheld those spirits sit,
Who not beyond the valley could be seen.
' Before the westering sun sink to his bed,'
Began the Mantuan, who our steps had turned,
1 'Mid those, desire not that I lead ye on.
For from this eminence ye shall discern
Better the acts and visages of all,
Than, in the nether vale, among them mixed. 90
He, who sits high above the rest, and seems
To have neglected that he should have done,
And to the others' song moves not his lip,
The Emperor Rodolph call, who might have healed
The wounds whereof fair Italy hath died,
So that by others she revives but slowly.
He, who with kindly visage comforts him,
Swayed in that country, where the water springs,
That Moldau's river to the Elbe, and Elbe
Rolls to the ocean : Ottocar his name : roo
Who in his swaddling clothes was of more worth
Than Winceslaus his son, a bearded man,
Pampered with rank luxuriousness and ease.
And that one with the nose depressed, who close
In counsel seems with him of gentle look,
Flying expired, withering the lily's flower.
Look there, how he doth knock against his breast.
The other ye behold, who for his cheek
146 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vn
Makes of one Land a couch, with frequent sighs.
They are the father and the father-in-law no
Of Callia's bane : his vicious life they know
And foul ; thence comes the grief that rends them thus.
' He, so robust of limb, who measure keeps
In song with him of feature prominent,
With every virtue bore his girdle braced.
And if that stripling, who behind him sits,
King after him had lived, his virtue then
From vessel to like vessel had been poured ;
Which may not of the other heirs be said.
By James and Frederick his realms are held; 120
Neither the better heritage obtains.
Rarely into the branches of the tree
Doth human worth mount up : and so ordains
He who bestows it, that as his free gift
It may be called. To Charles niy words apply
No less than to his brother in the song ;
Which Pouille and Provence now with grief confess.
So much that plant degenerates from its seed,
As, more than Beatrix and Margaret,
Costanza still boasts of her valorous spouse. 130
' Behold the king of simple life and plain,
Harry of England, sitting there alone :
He through his branches better issue spreads.
' That one, who, on the ground, beneath the rest,
Sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft,
Is William, that brave Marquis, for whose cause,
The deed of Alexandria and his war
Makes Montferrat and Canavese weep.'
CANTO VIII
ARGUMENT
Two angels, with flaming swords broken at the points, descend to keep
watch over the valley, into which Virgil and Dante entering by desire of
Sordello, our Poet meets with joy the spirit of Nino, the judge of Gallura,
one who was well known to him. Meantime three exceedingly bright
stars appear near the pole, and a serpent creeps subtly into the valley, but
flees at hearing the approach of those angelic guards. Lastly, Conrad
Malaspina predicts to our Poet his future banishment.
Now was the hour that wakens fond desire
In men at sea, and melts their thoughtful heart
Who in the morn have bid sweet friends farewell,
And pilgrim newly on his road with love
Thrills, if he hear the vesper bell from far,
That seems to mourn for the expiring day :
CANTO vin] PURGATORY 147
When I, no longer taking heed to hear,
Began, with wonder, from those spirits to mark
One risen from its seat, which with its hand
Audience implored. Both palms it joined and raised, 10
Fixing its steadfast gaze toward the east,
As telling God, ' I care for naught beside.'
'Te Lucis Ante,' so devoutly then
Came from its lip, and in so soft a strain,
That all my sense in ravishment was lost.
And the rest after, softly and devout,
Followed through all the hymn, with upward gaze
Directed to the bright supernal wheels.
Here, reader ! for the truth make thine eyes keen :
For of so subtle texture is this veil, ?.o
That thou with ease mayst pass it through unmarked.
I saw that gentle band silently next
Look up, as if in expectation held,
Pale and in lowly guise ; and, from on high,
I saw, forth issuing descend beneath,
Two angels, with two flame-illumined swords,
Broken and mutilated of their points.
Green as the tender leaves but newly born,
Their vesture was, the which, by wings as green
Beaten, they drew behind them, fanned in air. 30
A little over us one took his stand ;
The other lighted on the opposing hill ;
So that the troop were in the midst contained.
Well I descried the whiteness on their heads ;
But in their visages the dazzled eye
Was lost, as faculty that by too much
Is overpowered. ' From Mary's bosom both
Are come,' exclaimed Bordello, ' as a guard
Over the vale, 'gainst him, who hither tends,
The serpent.' Whence, not knowing by which path 40
He came, I turned me round ; and closely pressed,
All frozen, to my leader's trusted side.
Sordello paused not : ' To the valley now
(For it is time) let us descend ; and hold
Converse with those great shadows : haply much
Their sight may please ye.' Only three steps down
Methinks I measured, ere I was beneath,
And noted one who looked as with desire
To know me. Time was now that air grew dim ;
Yet not so dim, that, 'twixt his eyes and mine, 50
It cleared not up what was concealed before.
Mutually towards each other we advanced.
Nino, thou courteous judge ! what joy I felt,
When I perceived thou wert not with the bad.
No salutation kind on either part
148 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO vin
Was left unsaid. He then inquired : ' How long,
Since thoa arrived'st at the mountain's foot,
Over the distant waves ? ' -' Oh ! ' answered I,
' Through the sad seats of woe this morn I came ;
And still in my first life, thus journeying on, 60
The other strive to gain.' Soon as they heard
My words, he and Sordello backward drew,
As suddenly amazed. To Virgil one,
The other to a spirit turned, who near
Was seated, crying : ' Conrad ! up with speed :
Come, see what of his grace high God hath willed.'
Then turning round to me : ' By that rare mark
Of honour, which thou owest to him, who hides
So deeply his first cause it hath no ford ;
When thou shalt be beyond the vast of waves, 70
Tell my Giovanna, that for me she call
There, where reply to innocence is made.
Her mother, I believe, loves me no more ;
Since she has changed the white and wimpled folds,
Which she is doomed once more with grief to wish.
By her it easily may be perceived,
How long in woman lasts the flame of love,
If sight and touch do not relume it oft.
For her so fair a burial will not make
The viper, which calls Milan to the field, 80
As had been made by shrill Gallura's bird.'
He spoke, and in his visage took the stamp
Of that right zeal, which with due temperature
Glows in the bosom. My insatiate eyes
Meanwhile to heaven had travelled, even there
Where the bright stars are slowest, as a wheel
Nearest the axle ; when my guide inquired :
' What there aloft, my son, has caught thy gaze ? '
I answered : ' The three torches, with which here
The pole is all on fire.' He then to me : 90
' The four resplendent stars, thou saw'st this morn,
Are there beneath ; and these, risen in their stead.'
While yet he spoke, Sordello to himself
Drew him, and cried : ' Lo there our enemy ! '
And with his hand pointed that way to look.
Along the side, where barrier none arose
Around the little vale, a serpent lay,
Such haply as gave Eve the bitter food.
Between the grass and flowers, the evil snake
Came on, reverting oft his lifted head ; 100
And, as a beast that smooths its polished coat,
Licking his back. I saw not, nor can tell,
How those celestial falcons from their seat
Moved, but in motion each one well descried.
LINES 56-132]
PURGATORY
149
Hearing the air cut by their verdant plumes,
The serpent fled ; and, to their stations, back
The angels up returned with equal flight.
The spirit (who to Nino, when he called,
Had come), from viewing me with fixed ken,
Through all that conflict, loosened not his sight.
' So may the lamp, which leads thee up on high,
Find, in thy free resolve, of wax so much,
As may suffice thee to the enamelled height,'
It thus began : ' If any certain news
Of Valdimagra and the neighbour part
Thou know'st, tell me, who once was mighty there.
They called me Conrad Malaspina ; not
1 10
That old one ; but from him I sprang. The love
I bore my people is now here refined.'
'In your domains,' I answered, 'ne'er was I. 120
But, through all Europe, where do those men dwell,
To whom their glory is not manifest ?
The fame, that honours your illustrious house,
Proclaims the nobles, and proclaims the land ;
So that he knows it, who was never there.
I swear to you, so may my upward route
Prosper, your honoured nation not impairs
The value of her coft'er and her sword.
Nature and use give her such privilege,
That while the world is twisted from his course 130
By a bad head, she only walks aright,
And has the evil way in scorn.' He then :
150 THE VISION OF DANTE I.CANTOVIII
' Now pass thee on : seven times the tired sun
Revisits not the couch, which with four feet
The forked Aries covers, ere that kind
Opinion shall be nailed into thy brain
With stronger nails than other's speech can drive ;
If the sure course of judgement be not stayed.'
CANTO IX
ARGUMENT
Dante is carried up the mountain, asleep and dreaming, by Lucia ; and, on
wakening, finds himself, two hours after sunrise, with Virgil, near the
gate of Purgatory, through which they are admitted by the angel deputed
by St. Peter to keep it.
Now the fair consort of Tithonus old,
Arisen from her mate's beloved arms,
Looked palely o'er the eastern cliff ; her brow,
Lucent with jewels, glittered, set in sign
Of that chill animal., who with his train
Smites fearful nations : and where then we were,
Two steps of her ascent the night had passed ;
And now the third was closing up its wing,
When I, who had so much of Adam with me,
Sank down upon the grass, o'ercome with sleep, 10
There where all five were seated. In that hour,
When near the dawn the swallow her sad lay,
Remembering haply ancient grief, renews ;
And when our minds, more wanderers from the flesh,
And less by thought restrained, are, as 'twere, full
Of holy divination in their dreams ;
Then, in a vision, did I seem to view
A golden-feathered eagle in the sky,
With open wings, and hovering for descent ;
And I was in that place, methought, from whence 20
Young Ganymede, from his associates 'reft,
Was snatched aloft to the high consistory.
' Perhaps,' thought I within me, ' here alone
He strikes his quarry, and elsewhere disdains
To pounce upon the prey.' Therewith, it seemed,
A little wheeling in his aery tour,
Terrible as the lightning, rushed he down,
And snatched me upward even to the fire.
There both, I thought, the eagle and myself
Did burn ; and so intense the imagined flames, 30
That needs my sleep was broken off. As erst
Achilles shook himself, and round him rolled
His wakened eyeballs, wondering where he was,
CANTO ix]
PURGATORY
151
Whenas his mother had from Chiron fled
To Scyros, with him sleeping in her arms
(There whence the Greeks did after sunder him) ;
E'en thus I shook me, soon as from my face
The slumber parted, turning deadly pale,
Like one ice-struck with dread. Sole at my side
My comfort stood : and the bright sun was now
More than two hours aloft : and to the sea
My looks were turned. ' Fear not,' my master cried,
' Assured we are at happy point. Thy strength
Shrink not, but rise dilated. Thou art come
To Purgatory now. Lo ! there the cliff
40
That circling bounds it. Lo ! the entrance there,
Where it doth seem disparted. Ere the dawn
Ushered the daylight, when thy wearied soul
Slept in thee, o'er the flowery vale beneath
A lady came, and thus bespake me : " I 50
" Am Lucia. Suffer me to take this man,
' Who slumbers. Easier so his way shall speed."
Sordello and the other gentle shapes
Tarrying, she bare thee up : and, as day shone,
This summit reached : and I pursued her steps.
Here did she place thee. First, her lovely eyes
That open entrance showed me ; then at once
She vanished with thy sleep.' Like one, whose doubts
Are chased by certainty, and terror turned
To comfort on discovery of the truth, 60
Such was the change in me : and as my guide
152 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO ix
Beheld me fearless, up along the cliff
He moved, and I behind him, towards the height.
Reader ! thou markest how my theme doth rise ;
Nor wonder therefore, if more artfully
I prop the structure. Nearer now we drew,
Arrived whence, in that part, where first a breach
As of a wall appeared, I could descry
A portal, and three steps beneath, that led
For inlet there, of different colour each ; 70
And one who watched, but spake not yet a word.
As more and more mine eye did stretch its view,
I marked him seated on the highest step,
In visage such, as passed my power to bear.
Grasped in his hand, a naked sword glanced back
The rays so towards me, that I oft in vain
My sight directed. ' Speak, from whence ye stand ; '
He cried : ' What would ye ? Where is your escort ?
Take heed your coming upward harm ye not.'
* A heavenly dame, not skilless of these things/ So
Replied the instructor, ' told us, even now,
" Pass that way : here the gate is." -' And may she,
Befriending, prosper your ascent,' resumed
The courteous keeper of the gate : ' Come then
Before our steps.' We straightway thither came.
The lowest stair was marble white, so smooth
And polished, that therein my mirrored form
Distinct I saw. The next of hue more dark
Than sablest grain, a rough and singed block,
Cracked lengthwise and across. The third, that lay 90
Massy above, seemed porphyry, that flamed
Red as the life-blood spouting from a voin.
On this God's angel either foot sustained,
Upon the threshold seated, which appeared
A rock of diamond. Up the trinal steps
My leader cheerly drew me. ' Ask,' said he,
' With humble heart, that he unbar the bolt.'
Piously at his holy feet devolved
I cast me, praying him for pity's sake
That he would open to me ; but first fell 100
Thrice on my bosom prostrate. Seven times
The letter, that denotes the inward stain,
He, on my forehead, with the blunted point
Of his drawn sword, inscribed. And ' Look ', he cried,
' When entered, that thou wash these scars away.'
Ashes, or earth ta'en dry out of the ground,
Were of one colour with the robe he wore.
From underneath that vestment forth he drew
Two keys, of metal twain : the one was gold,
Its fellow silver. With the pallid first, no
LINES 62-131]
PURGATORY
153
And next the burnished, he so plyed the gate,
As to content me well. ' Whenever one
Faileth of these, that in the key-hole straight
It turn not, to this alley then expect
Access in vain.' Such were the words he spake.
' One is more precious : but the other needs
Skill and sagacity, large share of each,
Ere its good task to disengage the knot
Be worthily performed. From Peter these
I hold, of him instructed that I err
Rather in opening, than in keeping fast ;
So but the suppliant at my feet implore.'
Then of that hallowed gate he thrust the door,
Exclaiming, ' Enter, but this warning hear :
He forth again departs who looks behind.'
As in the hinges of that sacred ward
The swivels turned, sonorous metal strong,
Harsh was the grating ; nor so surlily
Roared the Tarpeian, when by force bereft
Of good Metellus, thenceforth from his loss
To leanness doomed. Attentively I turned,
120
130
154 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO ix
Listening the thunder that first issued forth ;
And ' We praise thee, O God ', methought I heard,
In accents blended with sweet melody.
The strains canie o'er mine ear, e'en as the sound
Of choral voices, that in solemn chant
With organ mingle, and, now high and clear
Come swelling, now float indistinct away.
CANTO X
ARGUMENT
Being admitted at the gate of Purgatory, our Poets ascend a winding path
up the rock, till they reach an open and level space that extends each way
round the mountain. On the side that rises, and which is of white marble,
are seen artfully engraven many stories of humility, which whilst they
are contemplating, there approach the souls of those who expiate the sin
of pride, and who are bent down beneath the weight of heavy stones.
WHEN we had passed the threshold of the gate
(Which the soul's ill affection doth disuse,
Making the crooked seem the straighter path),
I heard its closing sound. Had mine eyes turned,
For that offence what plea might have availed ?
We mounted up the riven rock, that wound
On either side alternate, as the wave
Flies and advances. ' Here some little art
Behoves us,' said my leader, ' that our steps
Observe the varying flexure of the path.' 10
Thus we so slowly sped, that with cleft orb
The moon once more o'erhangs her watery couch,
Ere we that strait have threaded. But when free,
We came, and open, where the mount above
One solid mass retires ; I spent with toil,
And both uncertain of the way, we stood,
Upon a plain more lonesome than the roads
That traverse desert wilds. From whence the brink
Borders upon vacuity, to foot
Of the steep bank that rises still, the space 20
Had measured thrice the stature of a man :
And, distant as mine eye could wing its flight,
To leftward now and now to right dispatched,
That cornice equal in extent appeared.
Not yet our feet had on that summit moved,
When I discovered that the bank, around,
Whose proud uprising all ascent denied,
Was marble white ; and so exactly wrought
With quaintest sculpture, that not there alone
Had Polycletus, but e'en nature's self 30
Been shamed. The angel (who came down to earth
CANTO x]
PURGATORY
155
With tidings of the peace so many years
Wept for in vain, that oped the heavenly gates
From their long interdict) before us seemed,
In a sweet act, so sculptured to the life,
He looked no silent image. One had sworn
He had said ' Hail ! ' for she was imaged there,
By whom the key did open to God's love ;
And in her act as sensibly impressed
That word, ' Behold the handmaid of the Lord,'
As figure sealed on wax. ' Fix not thy mind
On one place only,' said the guide beloved,
Who had me near him on that part where lies
40
The heart of man. My sight forthwith I turned,
And marked, behind the Virgin Mother's form,
Upon that side where he that moved me stood,
Another story graven on the rock.
I passed athwart the bard, and drew me near,
That it might stand more aptly for my view.
There, in the self-same marble, were engraved
The cart and kine, drawing the sacred ark,
That from unbidden office awes mankind.
Before it came much people ; and the whole
Parted in seven choirs. One sense cried ' Nay ',
Another, ' Yes, they sing.' Like doubt arose
Betwixt the eye and smell, from the curled fume
Of incense breathing up the well-wrought toil.
Preceding the blest vessel, onward came
5
156 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO x
With light dance leaping, girt in humble guise,
Israel's sweet harper : in that hap he seemed 60
Less, and yet more, than kingly. Opposite,
At a great palace, from the lattice forth
Looked Michal, like a lady full of scorn
And sorrow. To behold the tablet next,
Which, at the back of Michal, whitely shone,
I moved me. There, was storied on the rock
The exalted glory of the Roman prince,
Whose mighty worth moved Gregory to earn
His mighty conquest, Trajan the Emperor.
A widow at his bridle stood, attired 70
In tears and mourning. Round about them trooped
Full throng of knights ; and overhead in gold
The eagles floated, struggling with the wind.
The wretch appeared amid all these to say :
* Grant vengeance, Sire ! for, woe beshrew this heart,
My son is murdered.' He replying seemed :
* Wait now till I return.' And she, as one
Made hasty by her grief : ' O Sire ! if thou
Dost not return ? ' ' Where I am, who then is,
May right thee.' ' What to thee is other's good, So
If thou neglect thy own ? ' -' Now comfort thee ; '
At length he answers. ' It beseemeth well
My duty be performed, ere I move hence :
So justice wills ; and pity bids me stay.'
He, whose ken nothing new surveys, produced
That visible speaking, new to us and strange,
The like not found on earth. Fondly I gazed
Upon those patterns of meek humbleness,
Shapes yet more precious for their artist's sake ;
When ' Lo ! ' the poet whispered, ' where this way 90
(But slack their pace) a multitude advance.
These to the lofty steps shall guide us on.'
Mine eyes, though bent on view of novel sights,
Their loved allurement, were not slow to turn.
Reader ! I would not that amazed thou miss
Of thy good purpose, hearing how just God
Decrees our debts be cancelled. Ponder not
The form of suffering. Think on what succeeds :
Think that, at worst, beyond the mighty doom
It cannot pass. ' Instructor ! ' I began, 100
' What I see hither tending, bears no trace
Of human semblance, nor of aught beside
That my foiled sight can guess.' He answering thus :
' So courbed to earth, beneath their heavy terms
Of torment stoop they, that mine eye at first
Struggled as thine. But look intently thither ;
And disentangle with thy labouring view,
CANTO xi] PURGATORY 157
What, underneath those stones, approacheth : now,
E'en now, mayst thou discern the pangs of each.'
Christians and proud! O poor and wretched ones! no
That, feeble in the mind's eye, lean your trust
Upon unstaid perverseness : know ye not
That we are worms, yet made at last to form
The winged insect, imped with angel plumes,
That to heaven's justice unobstructed soars ?
Why buoy ye up aloft your unfledged souls ?
Abortive then and shapeless ye remain,
Like the untimely embryon of a worm.
As, to support incumbent floor or roof,
For corbel, is a figure sometimes seen, 120
That crumples up its knees unto its breast ;
With the feigned posture, stirring ruth unfeigned
In the beholder's fancy ; so I saw
These fashioned, when I noted well their guise.
Each, as his back was laden, came indeed
Or more or less contracted ; and it seemed
As he, who showed most patience in his look,
Wailing exclaimed : ' I can endure no more.'
CANTO XI
ARGUMENT
After a prayer uttered by the spirits, -who were spoken of in the last Canto,
Virgil inquires the way upwards, and is answered by one, who declares
himself to have been Omberto, son of the Count of Santafiore. Next our
Poet distinguishes Oderigi, the illuminator, who discourses on the vanity
of worldly fame, and points out to him the soul of Provenzano Salvani.
* THOU Almighty Father ! who dost make
The heavens thy dwelling, not in bounds confined,
But that, with love intenser, there thou view'st
Thy primal effluence ; hallowed be thy name :
Join, each created being, to extol
Thy might ; for worthy humblest thanks and praise
Is thy blest Spirit. May thy kingdom's peace
Come unto us ; for we, unless it come,
With all our striving, thither tend in vain.
As, of their will, the angels unto thee 10
Tender meet sacrifice, circling thy throne
With loud hosannas ; so of theirs be done
By saintly men on earth. Grant us, this day,
Our daily manna, without which he roams
Through this rough desert retrograde, who most
Toils to advance his steps. As we to each
Pardon the evil done us, pardon thou
158
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO xi
Benign, and of our merit take no count.
'Gainst the old adversary, prove thou not
Our virtue, easily subdued ; but free
From his incitements, and defeat his wiles.
This last petition, dearest Lord ! is made
Not for ourselves ; since that were needless now ;
But for their sakes who after us remain.'
Thus for themselves and us good speed imploring,
Those spirits went beneath a weight like that
We sometimes feel in dreams ; all, sore beset,
But with unequal anguish ; wearied all ;
Round the first circuit ; purging as they go
The world's gross darkness off. In our behoof
20
If their vows still be offered, what can here
For them be vowed and done by such, whose wills
Have root of goodness in them ? Well beseems
That we should help them wash away the stains
They carried hence ; that so, made pure and light,
That may spring upward to the starry spheres.
' Ah ! so may mercy-tempered justice rid
Your burdens speedily ; that ye have power
To stretch your wing, which e'en to your desire
Shall lift you ; as ye show us on which hand
Toward the ladder leads the shortest way.
And if there be more passages than one,
Instruct us of that easiest to ascend :
For this man, who comes with me, and bears yet
40
LINES 1 3-93] PURGATORY 159
The charge of fleshly raiment Adam left him,
Despite his better will, but slowly mounts.'
From whom the answer came unto these words,
Which my guide spake, appeared not ; but 'twas said :
' Along the bank to rightward come with us ;
And ye shall find a pass that mocks not toil 50
Of living man to climb : and were it not
That I am hindered by the rock, wherewith
This arrogant neck is tamed, whence needs I stoop
My visage to the ground ; him, who yet lives,
Whose name thou speak'st not, him I fain would view ;
To mark if e'er I knew him, and to crave
His pity for the fardel that I bear.
I was of Latium ; of a Tuscan born,
A mighty one : Aldobrandesco's name,
My sire's, I know not if ye e'er have heard. 60
My old blood and forefathers' gallant deeds
Made me so haughty, that I clean forgot
The common mother ; and to such excess
Waxed in my scorn of all men, that I fell,
Fell therefore ; by what fate, Siena's sons,
Each child in Campagnatico, can tell.
I am Omberto : not me, only, pride
Hath injured, but my kindred all involved
In mischief with her. Here my lot ordains
Under this weight to groan, till I appease 70
God's angry justice, since I did it not
Amongst the living, here amongst the dead.'
Listening I bent my visage down : and one
(Not he who spake) twisted beneath the weight
That urged him, saw me, knew me straight, and called ;
Holding his eyes with difficulty fixed
Intent upon me, stooping as I went
Companion of their way. ' Oh ! ' I exclaimed,
4 Art thou not Oderigi ? art not thou
Agobbio's glory, glory of that art 80
Which they of Paris call the limner's skill ? '
' Brother ! ' said he, ' with tints, that gayer smile
Bolognian Franco's pencil lines the leaves.
His all the honour now ; my light obscured.
In truth, I had not been thus courteous to him
The whilst I lived, through eagerness of zeal
For that pre-eminence my heart was bent on.
Here, of such pride, the forfeiture is paid.
Nor were I even here, if, able still
To sin, I had not turned me unto God. 90
Oh powers of man ! how vain your glory, nipped
E'en in its height of verdure, if an age
Less bright succeed not. Cimabue thought
160 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xi
To lord it over painting's field ; and now
The cry is Giotto's, and his name eclipsed.
Thus hath one Guido from the other snatched
The lettered prize : and he, perhaps, is born,
Who shall drive either from their nest. The noise
Of worldly fame is but a blast of wind,
That blows from diverse points, and shifts its name, 100
Shifting the point it blows from. Shalt thou more
Live in the mouths of mankind, if thy flesh
Part shrivelled from thee, than if thou hadst died
Before the coral and the pap were left ;
Or ere some thousand years have passed ? and that
Is, to eternity compared, a space
Briefer than is the twinkling of an eye
To the heaven's slowest orb. He there, who treads
So leisurely before me, far and wide
Through Tuscany resounded once; and now 110
Is in Siena scarce with whispers named :
There was he sovereign, when destruction caught
The maddening rage of Florence, in that day
Proud as she now is loathsome. Your renown
Is as the herb, whose hue doth come and go ;
And his might withers it, by whom it sprang
Crude from the lap of earth.' I thus to him :
' True are thy sayings : to my heart they breathe
The kindly spirit of meekness, and allay
What tumours rankle there. But who is he, 120
Of whom thou spakest but now ? ' ' This,' he replied,
' Is Provenzano. He is here, because
He reached, with grasp presumptuous, at the sway
Of all Siena. Thus he still hath gone,
Thus goeth never-resting, since he died.
Such is the acquittance rendered back of him,
Who, in the mortal life, too much hath dared.'
I then : ' If soul, that to life's verge delays
Repentance, linger in that lower space,
Nor hither mount (unless good prayers befriend), 130
Or ever time, long as it lived, be past ;
How chanced admittance was vouchsafed to him ? '
' When at his glory's topmost height,' said he,
' Respect of dignity all cast aside,
Freely he fixed him on Siena's plain,
A suitor to redeem his suffering friend,
Who languished in the prison-house of Charles ;
Nor, for his sake, refused through every vein
To tremble. More I will not say ; and dark,
I know, my words are ; but thy neighbours soon 140
Shall help thee to a comment on the text.
This is the work, that from these limits freed him.'
CANTO xii] PURGATORY 161
CANTO XII
ARGUMENT
Dante being desired by Virgil to look down on the ground which they are
treading, observes that it is wrought over with imagery exhibiting various
instances of pride recorded in history and fable. They leave the first
cornice, and are ushered to the next by an angel who points out the way.
WITH equal pace, as oxen in the yoke,
I, with that laden spirit, journeyed on,
Long as the mild instructor suffered me ;
But, when he bade me quit him, and proceed
(For 'Here', said he, 'behoves with sail and oars
Each man, as best he may, push on his bark'),
Upright, as one disposed for speed, I raised
My body, still in thought submissive bowed.
I now my leader's track not loath pursued ;
And each had shown how light we fared along, 10
When thus he warned me : ' Bend thine eyesight down :
For thou, to ease the way, shalt find it good
To ruminate the bed beneath thy feet.'
As, in memorial of the buried, drawn
Upon earth-level tombs, the sculptured form
Of what was once, appears (at sight whereof
Tears often stream forth, by remembrance waked,
Whose sacred stings the piteous often feel),
So saw I there, but with more curious skill
Of portraiture o'erwrought, whate'er of space 20
From forth the mountain stretches. On one part
Him I beheld, above all creatures erst
Created noblest, lightening fall from heaven :
On the other side, with bolt celestial pierced,
Briareus ; cumbering earth he lay, through dint
Of mortal ice-stroke. The Thymbraean god,
With Mars, I saw r , and Pallas, round their sire,
Armed still, and gazing on the giants' limbs
Strewn o'er the ethereal field. Nimrod I saw :
At foot of the stupendous work he stood, 30
As if bewildered, looking on the crowd
Leagued in his proud attempt on Sennaar's plain.
O Niobe ! in what a trance of woe
Thee I beheld, upon that highway drawn,
Seven sons on either side thee slain. Saul !
How ghastly didst thou look, on thine own sword
Expiring, in Gilboa, from that hour
Ne'er visited with rain from heaven, or dew.
fond Arachne ! thee I also saw,
Half spider now, in anguish, crawling up 40
The unfinished web thou weaved'st to thy bane.
162 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xn
O Rehoboam ! here thy shape doth seem
Louring no more defiance ; but fear-smote,
With none to chase him, in his chariot whirled.
Was shown beside upon the solid floor,
How dear Alcmaeon forced his mother rate
That ornament, in evil hour received :
How, in the temple, on Sennacherib fell
His sons, and how a corpse they left him there.
Was shown the scath, and cruel mangling made 50
By Tomyris on Cyrus, when she cried,
' Blood thou didst thirst for : take thy fill of blood.'
Was shown how routed in the battle fled
The Assyrians, Holofernes slain, and e'en
The relics of the carnage. Troy I marked,
In ashes and in caverns. Oh ! how fallen,
How abject, Ilion, was thy semblance there.
What master of the pencil or the style
Had traced the shades and lines, that might have made
The subtlest workman wonder ? Dead, the dead ; 60
The living seemed alive : with clearer view,
His eye beheld not, who beheld the truth,
Than mine what I did tread on, while I went
Low bending. Now swell out, and with stiff necks
Pass on, ye sons of Eve ! vale not your looks,
Lest they descry the evil of your path.
I noted not (so busied was my thought)
How much we now had circled of the mount ;
And of his course yet more the sun had spent ;
LINES 42-118] PURGATORY 163
When he, who with still wakeful caution went, 70
Admonished : ' Raise thou up thy head : for know
Time is not now for slow suspense. Behold,
That way, an angel hasting towards us. Lo,
Where duly the sixth handmaid doth return
From service on the day. Wear thou, in look
And gesture, seemly grace of reverent awe ;
That gladly he may forward us aloft.
Consider that this day ne'er dawns again.'
Time's loss he had so often warned me 'gainst,
I could not miss the scope at which he aimed. 80
The goodly shape approached us, snowy white
In vesture, and with visage casting streams
Of tremulous lustre like the matin star.
His arms he opened, then his wings; and spake:
* Onward ! the steps, behold, are near ; and now
The ascent is without difficulty gained.'
A scanty few are they, who, when they hear
Such tidings, hasten. O, ye race of men !
Though born to soar, why suffer ye a wind
So slight to baffle ye ? He led us on 90
Where the rock parted ; here, against my front,
Did beat his wings ; then promised I should fare
In safety on my way. As to ascend
That steep, upon whose brow the chapel stands
(O'er Rubaconte, looking lordly down
On the well-guided city), up the right
The impetuous rise is broken by the steps
Carved in that old and simple age, when still
The registry and label rested safe ;
Thus is the acclivity relieved, which here, 100
Precipitous, from the other circuit falls :
But, on each hand, the tall cliff presses close.
As, entering, there we turned, voices, in strain
Ineffable, sang : ' Blessed are the poor
In spirit.' Ah ! how far unlike to these
The straits of hell : here songs to usher us,
There shrieks of woe. We climb the holy stairs :
And lighter to myself by far I seemed
Than on the plain before ; whence thus I spake :
'Say, master, of what heavy thing have I no
Been lightened ; that scarce aught the sense of toil
Affects me journeying ? ' He in few replied :
' When sin's broad characters, that yet remain
Upon thy temples, though wellnigh effaced,
Shall be, as one is, all clean razed out ;
Then shall thy feet by heartiness of will
Be so o'ercome, they not alone shall feel
No sense of labour, but delight much more
CABY TT
164 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xii
Shall wait them, urged along their upward way.'
Then like to one, upon whose head is placed 120
Somewhat he deems not of, but from the becks
Of others, as they pass him by ; his hand
Lends therefore help to assure him, searches, tinds,
And well performs such office as the eye
Wants power to execute ; so stretching forth
The fingers of my right hand, did I find
Six only of the letters, which his sword,
Who bare the keys, had traced upon my brow.
The leader, as he marked mine action, smiled.
CANTO XIII
ARGUMENT
They gain the second cornice, where the sin of envy is purged ; and having
proceeded a little to the right, they hear voices uttered by invisible spirits
recounting famous examples of charity, and next behold the shades, or
souls, of the envious clad in sackcloth, and having their eyes sewed up
with an iron thread. Amongst these Dante finds Sapia, a Sienese lady,
from whom he learns the cause of her being there.
WE reached the summit of the scale, and stood
Upon the second buttress of that mount
Which healeth him who climbs. A cornice there,
Like to the former, girdles round the hill ;
Save that its arch, with sweep less ample, bends.
Shadow, nor image there, is seen : all smooth
The rampart and the path, reflecting naught
But the rock's sullen hue. ' If here we wait,
For some to question,' said the bard, ' I fear
Our choice may haply meet too long delay.' 10
Then fixedly upon the sun his eyes
He fastened ; made his right the central point
From whence to move ; and turned the left aside.
' O pleasant light, my confidence and hope !
Conduct us thou,' he cried, 'on this new way,
Where now I venture ; leading to the bourn
We seek. The universal world to thee
Owes warmth and lustre. If no other cause
Forbid, thy beams should ever be our guide.'
Far, as is measured for a mile on earth, 20
In brief space had we journeyed ; such prompt will
Impelled ; and towards us flying, now were heard
Spirits invisible, who courteously
Unto love's table bade the welcome guest.
The voice, that first flew by, called forth aloud,
' They have no wine,' so on behind us passed,
CANTO xm]
PURGATORY
165
Those sounds reiterating, nor yet lost
In the faint distance, when another came
Crying, ' I am Orestes,' and alike
Winged its fleet way. ' father ! ' I exclaimed, 30
' What tongues are these ? ' and as I questioned, lo !
A third exclaiming, ' Love ye those have wronged you.'
' This circuit,' said my teacher, ' knots the scourge
For envy ; and the cords are therefore drawn
By charity's correcting hand. The curb
Is of a harsher sound ; as thou shalt hear
(If I deem rightly) ere thou reach the pass,
Where pardon sets them free. But fix thine eyes
Intently through the air ; and thou shalt see
A multitude before thee seated, each 4
Along the shelving grot.' Then more than erst
I oped mine eyes ; before me viewed ; and saw
Shadows with garments dark as was the rock ;
And when we passed a little forth, I heard
A crying, ' Blessed Mary ! pray for us,
Michael and Peter ! all ye saintly host ! '
I do not think there walks on earth this day
Man so remorseless, that he had not yearned
With pity at the sight that next I saw.
Mine eyes a load of sorrow teemed, when now 50
I stood so near them, that their semblances
Came clearly to my view. Of sackcloth vile
Their covering seemed ; and, on his shoulder, one
Did stay another, leaning ; and all leaned
Against the cliff. E'en thus the blind and poor,
166 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xm
Near the confessionals, to crave an alms,
Stand, each his head upon his fellow's sunk ;
So most to stir compassion, not by sound
Of words alone, but that which moves not less,
The sight of misery. And as never beam 60
Of noonday visiteth the eyeless man,
Even so was heaven a niggard unto these
Of his fair light : for, through the orbs of all,
A thread of wire, irnpiercing, knits them up,
As for the taming of a haggard hawk.
It were a wrong, methought, to pass and look
On others, yet myself the while unseen.
To my sage counsel therefore did I turn.
He knew the meaning of the mute appeal,
Nor waited for my questioning, but said : 70
' Speak ; and be brief, be subtile in thy words.'
On that part of the cornice, whence no rim
Engarlands its steep fall, did Virgil come ;
On the other side me were the spirits, their cheeks
Bathing devout with penitential tears,
That through the dread impalement forced a way.
I turned me to them, and ' O shades ! ' said I,
4 Assured that to your eyes unveiled shall shine
The lofty light, sole object of your wish,
So may heaven's grace clear whatsoe'er of foam 80
Floats turbid on the conscience, that thenceforth
The stream of mind roll limpid from its source ;
As ye declare (for so shall ye impart
A boon I dearly prize) if any soul
Of Latium dwell among ye : and perchance
That soul may profit, if I learn so much.'
' My brother ! we are, each one, citizens
Of one true city. Any, thou wouldst say,
Who lived a stranger in Italia's land.'
So heard I answering, as appeared, a voice 90
That onward came some space from whence I stood.
A spirit I noted, in whose look was marked
Expectance. Ask ye how ? The chin was raised
As in one reft of sight. ' Spirit,' said I,
' Who for thy rise art tutoring (if thou be
That which didst answer to me), or by place,
Or name, disclose thyself, that I may know thee.'
' I was,' it answered, ' of Siena : here
I cleanse away with these the evil life,
Soliciting with tears that He, who is, 100
Vouchsafe him to us. Though Sapia named,
In sapience I excelled not ; gladder far
Of other's hurt, than of the good befell me.
That thou mayst own I now deceive thee not,
LINES 56-145] PURGATORY 167
Hear, if my folly were not as I speak it.
When now my years sloped waning down the arch,
It so bechanced, my fellow-citizens
Near Colle met their enemies in the field ;
And I prayed God to grant what He had willed.
There were they vanquished, and betook themselves 110
Unto the bitter passages of flight.
I marked the hunt ; and waxing out of bounds
In gladness, lifted up my shameless brow,
And, like the merlin cheated by a gleam,
Cried, " It is over. Heaven ! I fear thee not."
Upon my verge of life I wished for peace
With God ; nor yet repentance had supplied
What I did lack of duty, were it not
The hermit Piero, touched with charity,
In his devout oraisons thought on me. 120
But who art thou that questionest of our state,
Who go'st, as I believe, with lids unclosed,
And breathest in thy talk ? ' ' Mine eyes,' said I,
' May yet be here ta'en from me ; but not long ;
For they have not offended grievously
With envious glances. But the woe beneath
Urges my soul with more exceeding dread.
That nether load already weighs me down.'
She thus : ' Who then, amongst us here aloft,
Hath brought thee, if thou weenest to return ? ' 130
' He,' answered I, ' who standeth mute beside me.
I live : of me ask therefore, chosen spirit !
If thou desire I yonder yet should move
For thee my mortal feet.' ' Oh ! ' she replied,
' This is so strange a thing, it is great sign
That God doth love thee. Therefore with thy prayer
Sometime assist me : and, by that I crave,
Which most thou covetest, that if thy feet
E'er tread on Tuscan soi!, thou save my fame
Amongst my kindred. Them shalt thou behold 140
With that vain multitude, who set their hope
On Talamone's haven ; there to fail
Confounded, more than when the fancied stream
They sought, of Dian called : but they, who lead
Their navies, more than ruined hopes shall mourn/
168 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xiv
CANTO XIV
ARGUMENT
Our Poet on this second cornice finds also the souls of Guido del Duca of
Brettinoro, and Rinieri da Calboli of Homagna ; the latter of whom,
hearing that he comes from the banks of the Arno, inveighs against the
degeneracy of all those who dwell in the cities visited by that stream ;
and the former, in like manner, against the inhabitants of Romagna. On
leaving these, our Poets hear voices recording noted instances of envy.
' SAY, who is he around our mountain winds,
Or ever death has pruned his wing for flight ;
That opes his eyes, and covers them at will ? '
* 1 know not who he is, but know thus much ;
He comes not singly. Do thou ask of him,
For thou art nearer to him ; and take heed,
Accost him gently, so that he may speak.'
Thus on the right two spirits, bending each
Toward the other, talked of me ; then both
Addressing me, their faces backward leaned, 10
And thus the one began : * O soul, who yet
Pent in the body, tendest towards the sky !
For charity, we pray thee, comfort us ;
Recounting whence thou comest, and who thou art :
For thou dost make us, at the favour shown thee,
Marvel, as at a thing that ne'er hath been.'
' There stretches through the midst of Tuscany,'
I straight began, ' a brooklet, whose well-head
Springs up in Falterona ; with his race
Not satisfied, when he some hundred miles 20
Hath measured. From his banks bring I this frame.
To tell you who I am were words misspent :
For yet my name scarce sounds on rumour's lip.'
' If well I do incorporate with my thought
The meaning of thy speech,' said he, who first
Addressed me, ' thou dost speak of Arno's wave.'
To whom the other : ' Why hath he concealed
The title of that river, as a man
Doth of some horrible thing ? ' The spirit, who
Thereof was questioned, did acquit him thus : 30
' I know not : but 'tis fitting well the name
Should perish of that vale ; for from the source,
Where teems so plenteously the Alpine steep
Maimed of Pelorus (that doth scarcely pass
Beyond that limit), even to the point
Where unto ocean is restored what heaven
Drains from the exhaustless store for all earth's streams,
Throughout the space is virtue worried down,
As 'twere a snake, by all, for mortal foe ;
LINES 1-69]
PURGATORY
169
Or through disastrous influence on the place, 40
Or else distortion of misguided wills
That custom goads to evil : whence in those,
The dwellers in that miserable vale,
Nature is so transformed, it seems as they
Had shared of Circe's feeding. 'Midst brute swine,
Worthier of acorns than of other food
Created for man's use, he shapeth first
His obscure way ; then, sloping onward, finds
Curs, snarlers more in spite than power, from whom
He turns with scorn aside : still journeying down, 50
By how much more the cursed and luckless foss
Swells out to largeness, e'en so much it finds
Dogs turning into wolves. Descending still
Through yet more hollow eddies, next he meets
A race of foxes, so replete with craft,
They do not fear that skill can master it.
Nor will I cease because my words are heard
By other ears than thine. It shall be well
For this man, if he keep in memory
What from no erring spirit I reveal.
Lo ! I behold thy grandson, that becomes
A hunter of those wolves, upon the shore
Of the fierce stream ; and cows them all with dread.
Their flesh, yet living, sets he up to sale,
Then, like an aged beast, to slaughter dooms.
Many of life he reaves, himself of worth
And goodly estimation. Smeared with gore,
Mark how he issues from the rueful wood ;
Leaving such havoc, that in thousand years
60
170 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xiv
It spreads not to prime lustihood again.' 70
As one, who tidings hears of woe to come,
Changes his looks perturbed, from whate'er part
The peril grasp him ; so beheld I change
That spirit, who had turned to listen ; struck
With sadness, soon as he had caught the word.
His visage, and the other's speech, did raise
Desire in me to know the names of both ;
Whereof, with meek entreaty, I inquired.
The shade, who late addressed me, thus resumed :
' Thy wish imports, that I vouchsafe to do 80
For thy sake what thou wilt not do for mine.
But, since God's will is that so largely shine
His grace in thee, I will be liberal too.
Guido of Duca know then that I am.
Envy so parched my blood, that had I seen
A fellow man made joyous, thou hadst marked
A livid paleness overspread my cheek.
Such harvest reap I of the seed I sowed.
O man ! why place thy heart where there doth need
Exclusion of participants in good ? 90
This is Rinieri's spirit ; this, the boast
And honour of the house of Calboli ;
Where of his worth no heritage remains.
Nor his the only blood, that hath been stripped
('Twixt Po, the mount, the Reno, and the shore)
Of all that truth or fancy asks for bliss :
But, in those limits, such a growth has sprung
Of rank and venomed roots, as long would mock
Slow culture's toil. Where is good Lizio ? where
Mainardi, Traversaro, and Carpigna ? 100
O bastard slips of old Romagna's line !
When in Bologna the low artisan,
And in Faenza yon Bernardin sprouts,
A gentle scion from ignoble stem.
Wonder not, Tuscan, if thou see me weep,
When I recall to mind those once loved names,
Guido of Prata, and of Azzo him
That dwelt with us ; Tignoso and his troop,
With Traversaro's house and Anastagio's,
(Each race disherited) ; and beside these, 110
The ladies and the knights, the toils and ease,
That witched us into love and courtesy ;
Where now such malice reigns in recreant hearts.
O Brettinoro ! wherefore tarriest still,
Since forth of thee thy family hath gone,
And many, hating evil, joined their steps ?
Well doeth he, that bids his lineage cease,
Bagnacavallo ; Castrocaro ill,
CANTO xv] PURGATORY 171
And Conio worse, who care to propagate
A race of Counties from such blood as theirs. 120
Well shall ye also do, Pagani, then
When from amongst you hies your demon child ;
Not so, howe'er, that thenceforth there remain
True proof of what ye were. O Hugolin,
Thou sprung of Fantolini's line ! thy name
Is safe ; since none is looked for after thee
To cloud its lustre, warping from thy stock.
But, Tuscan ! go thy ways ; for now I take
Far more delight in weeping, than in words.
Such pity for your sakes hath wrung my heart.' 130
We knew those gentle spirits, at parting, heard
Our steps. Their silence therefore, of our way,
Assured us. Soon as we had quitted them,
Advancing onward, lo ! a voice, that seemed
Like volleyed lightning, when it rives the air,
Met us, and shouted, ' Whosoever finds
Will slay me ' ; then fled from us, as the bolt
Lanced sudden from a downward-rushing cloud.
When it had given short truce unto our hearing,
Behold the other with a crash as loud 140
As the quick-following thunder : ' Mark in me
Aglauros, turned to rock.' I, at the sound
Retreating, drew more closely to my guide.
Now in mute stillness rested all the air ;
And thus he spake : ' There was the galling bit,
Which should keep man within his boundary.
But your old enemy so baits the hook,
He drags you eager to him. Hence nor curb
Avails you, nor reclaiming call. Heaven calls,
And, round about you wheeling, courts your gaze 150
With everlasting beauties. Yet your eye
Turns with fond doting still upon the earth.
Therefore He smites you who discerneth all.'
CANTO XV
ARGUMENT
An angel invites them to ascend the next steep. On their way Dante
suggests certain doubts, which are resolved by Virgil ; and, when they
reach the third cornice, where the sin of anger is purged, our Poet, in
a kind of waking dream, beholds remarkable instances of patience ; and
soon after they are enveloped in a dense fog.
As much as 'twixt the third hour's close and dawn,
Appeareth of heaven's sphere, that ever whirls
As restless as an infant in his play ;
So much appeared remaining to the sun
172 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xv
Of his slope journey towards the western goal.
Evening was there, and here the noon of night ;
And full upon our forehead smote the beams.
For round the mountain, circling, so our path
Had led us, that toward the sunset now
Direct we journeyed ; when I felt a weight
Of more exceeding splendour, than before,
Press on my front. The cause unknown, amaze
Possessed me ! and both hands against my brows
Lifting, I interposed them, as a screen,
That of its gorgeous superflux of light
Clips the diminished orb. As when the ray,
Striking on water or the surface clear
10
Of mirror, leaps unto the opposite part,
Ascending at a glance, e'en as it fell,
And as much differs from the stone, that falls
Through equal space (so practic skill hath shown) ;
Thus, with refracted light, before me seemed
The ground there smitten ; whence, in sudden haste,
My sight recoiled. ' What is this, sire beloved !
'Gainst which I strive to shield the sight in vain ? '
( Vied I, ' and which toward us moving seems ? '
" Marvel not, if the family of heaven,'
He answered, ' yet with dazzling radiance dim
Thy sense. It is a messenger who comes,
Inviting man's ascent. Such sights ere long,
Not grievous, shall impart to thee delight,
As thy perception is by nature wrought
Up to their pitch.' The blessed angel, soon
20
LINES 5-82] PURGATORY 173
As we had reached him, hailed us with glad voice :
' Here enter on a ladder far less steep
Than ye have yet encountered.' We forthwith
Ascending, heard behind us chanted sweet,
' Blessed the merciful,' and ' Happy thou,
That conquerest'. Lonely each, my guide and I,
Pursued our upward way ; and as we went, 40
Some profit from his words I hoped to win,
And thus of him inquiring, framed my speech :
' What meant Romagna's spirit, when he spake
Of bliss exclusive, with no partner shared ? '
He straight replied : ' No wonder, since he knows
What sorrow waits on his own worst defect,
If he chide others, that they less may mourn.
Because ye point your wishes at a mark,
Where, by communion of possessors, part
Is lessened, envy bloweth up men's sighs. 50
No fear of that might touch ye, if the love
Of higher sphere exalted your desire.
For there, by how much more they call it ours,
So much propriety of each in good
Increases more, and heightened charity
Wraps that fair cloister in a brighter flame.'
' Now lack I satisfaction more,' said I,
' Than if thou hadst been silent at the first ;
And doubt more gathers on my labouring thought.
How can it chance, that good distributed, 60
The many, that possess it, makes more rich,
Than if 't were shared by few ? ' He answering thus
' Thy mind, reverting still to things of earth,
Strikes darkness from true light. The highest good
Unlimited, ineffable, doth so speed
To love, as beam to lucid body darts,
Giving as much of ardour as it finds.
The sempiternal effluence streams abroad,
Spreading, wherever charity extends.
So that the more aspirants to that bliss 70
Are multiplied, more good is there to love,
And more is loved ; as mirrors, that reflect,
Each unto other, propagated light.
If these my words avail not to allay
Thy thirsting, Beatrice thou shalt see,
Who of this want, and of all else thou hast,
Shall rid thee to the full. Provide but thou,
That from thy temples may be soon erased,
E'en as the two already, those five scars,
That, when they pain thee worst, then kindliest heal.' 80
' Thou,' I had said, ' content'st me ' ; when I saw
The other round was gained, and wondering eyes
174 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xv
Did keep me mute. There suddenly I seemed
By an ecstatic vision wrapped away ;
And in a temple saw, methought, a crowd.
Of many persons ; and at the entrance stood
A dame, whose sweet demeanour did express
A mother's love, who said, ' Child ! why hast thou
Dealt with us thus ? Behold thy sire and I
Sorrowing have sought thee ; ' and so held her peace ; 90
And straight the vision fled. A female next
Appeared before me, down whose visage coursed
Those waters, that grief forces out from one
By deep resentment stung, who seemed to say :
' If thou, Pisistratus, be lord indeed
Over this city, named with such debate
Of adverse gods, and whence each science sparkles,
Avenge thee of those arms, whose bold embrace
Hath clasped our daughter ; ' and to her, meseemed,
Benign and meek, with visage undisturbed, 100
Her sovereign spake : ' How shall we those requite
Who wish us evil, if we thus condemn
The man that loves us ? ' After that I saw
A multitude, in fury burning, slay
With stones a stripling youth, and shout amain
' Destroy, destroy ' ; and him I saw, who bowed
Heavy with death unto the ground, yet made
His eyes, unfolded upward, gates to heaven,
Praying forgiveness of the Almighty Sire,
Amidst that cruel conflict, on his foes, no
With looks that win compassion to their aim.
Soon as my spirit, from her airy flight
Returning, sought again the things whose truth
Depends not on her shaping, I observed
She had not roved to falsehood in her dreams.
Meanwhile the leader, who might see I moved
As one who struggles to shake off his sleep,
Exclaimed : ' What ails thee, that thou canst not hold
Thy footing firm ; but more than half a league
Hast travelled with closed eyes and tottering gait, 120
Like to a man by wine or sleep o'ercharged ? '
' Beloved father ! so thou deign,' said I,
' To listen, I will tell thee what appeared
Before me, when so failed my sinking steps.'
He thus : ' Not if thy countenance were masked
With hundred vizards, could a thought of thine,
How small soe'er, elude me. What thou saw'st
Was shown, that freely thou mightst ope thy heart
To the waters of peace, that flow diffused
From their eternal fountain. I not asked, 130
What ails thee ? for such cause as he doth, who
CANTO xvi] PURGATORY 175
Looks only with that eye, which sees no more,
When spiritless the body lies ; but asked,
To give fresh vigour to thy foot. Such goads,
The slow and loitering need ; that they be found
Not wanting, when their hour of watch returns.'
So on we journeyed, through the evening sky
Gazing intent, far onward as our eyes,
With level view, could stretch against the bright
Vespertine ray: and lo ! by slow degrees 140
Gathering, a fog made towards us, dark as night.
There was no room for 'scaping ; and that mist
Bereft us, both of sight and the pure air.
CANTO XVI
ARGUMENT
As they proceed through the mist, they hear the voices of spirits praying.
Marco Lombardo, one of these, points out to Dante the error of such as
impute our actions to necessity ; explains to him that man is endued with
free will ; and shows that much of human depravity results from the
undue mixture of spiritual and temporal authority in rulers.
HELL'S dunnest gloom, or night unlustrous, dark,
Of every planet 'reft, and palled in clouds,
Did never spread before the sight a veil
In thickness like that fog, nor to the sense
So palpable and gross. Entering its shade,
Mine eye endured not with unclosed lids ;
Which marking, near me drew the faithful guide,
Offering me his shoulder for a stay.
As the blind man behind his leader walks,
Lest he should err, or stumble unawares 10
On what might harm him or perhaps destroy ;
I journeyed through that bitter air and foul,
Still listening to my escort's warning voice,
' Look that from me thou part not.' Straight I heard
Voices, and each one seemed to pray for peace,
And for compassion, to the Lamb of God
That taketh sins away. Their prelude still
Was ' Agnus Dei ' ; and through all the choir,
One voice, one measure ran, that perfect seemed
The concord of their song. ' Are these I hear 20
Spirits, master ? ' I exclaimed ; and he,
' Thou aim'st aright : these loose the bonds of wrath.'
' Now who art thou, that through our smoke dost cleave,
And speak'st of us, as thou thyself e'en yet
Dividedst time by calends ? ' So one voice
Bespake me ; whence my master said, ' Reply ;
176 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvx
And ask, if upward hence the passage lead.'
' O being ! who dost make thee pure, to stand
Beautiful once more in thy Maker's sight ;
Along with me : and thou shalt hear and wonder.' 30
Thus I, whereto the spirit answering spake :
' Long as 'tis lawful for me, shall my steps
Follow on thine ; and since the cloudy smoke
Forbids the seeing, hearing in its stead
Shall keep us joined.' I then forthwith began:
' Yet in my mortal swathing, I ascend
To higher regions ; and am hither come
Thorough the fearful agony of hell.
And, if so largely God hath doled his grace,
That, clean beside all modern precedent,
He wills me to behold his kingly state ;
From me conceal not who thou wast, ere death
Had loosed thee ; but instruct me : and instruct
If rightly to the pass I tend ; thy words
The way directing, as a safe escort.'
' I was of Lombardy, and Marco called :
Not inexperienced of the world, that worth
I still affected, from which all have turned
The nerveless bow aside. Thy course tends right
Unto the summit : ' and, replying thus,
He added, ' I beseech thee pray for me,
When thou shalt come aloft.' And I to him
' Accept my faith for pledge I will perform
40
LINES 27-102] PURGATORY 177
What thou requirest. Yet one doubt remains,
That wrings me sorely, if I solve it not.
Singly before it urged me, doubled now
By thine opinion, when I couple that
With one elsewhere declared ; each strengthening other.
The world indeed is even so forlorn
Of all good, as thou speak'st it, and so swarms 60
With every evil. Yet, beseech thee, point
The cause out to me, that myself may see,
And unto others show it : for in heaven
One places it, and one on earth below.'
Then heaving forth a deep and audible sigh,
' Brother ! ' he thus began, ' the world is blind ;
And thou in truth comest from it. Ye, who live,
Do so each cause refer to heaven above,
E'en as its motion, of necessity,
Drew with it all that moves. If this were so, 70
Free choice in you were none ; nor justice would
There should be joy for virtue, woe for ill.
Your movements have their primal bent from heaven
Not all : yet said I all ; what then ensues ?
Light have ye still to follow evil or good,
And of the will free power, which, if it stand
Firm and unwearied in Heaven's first assay,
Conquers at last, so it be cherished well,
Triumphant over all. To mightier force,
To better nature subject, ye abide 80
Free, not constrained by that which forms in you
The reasoning mind uninfluenced of the stars.
If then the present race of mankind err,
Seek in yourselves the cause, and find it there.
Herein thou shalt confess me no false spy.
' Forth from his plastic hand, who charmed beholds
Her image ere she yet exist, the soul
Comes like a babe, that wantons sportively,
Weeping and laughing in its wayward moods ;
As artless, and as ignorant of aught, 90
Save that her Maker being one who dwells
With gladness ever, willingly she turns
To whate'er yields her joy. Of some slight good
The flavour soon she tastes ; and, snared by that,
With fondness she pursues it ; if no guide
Recall, no rein direct her wandering course.
Hence it behoved, the law should be a curb ;
A sovereign hence behoved, whose piercing view
Might mark at least the fortress and main tower
Of the true city. Laws indeed there are : TOO
But who is he observes them ? None ; not he,
Who goes before, the shepherd of the flock,
178 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvr
Who chews the cud but doth not cleave the hoof.
Therefore the multitude, who see their guide
Strike at the very good they covet most,
Feed there and look no further. Thus the cause
Is not corrupted nature in yourselves,
But ill-conducting, that hath turned the world
To evil. Rome, that turned it unto good,
Was wont to boast two suns, whose several beams no
Cast light on either way, the world's and God's.
One since hath quenched the other ; and the sword
Is grafted on the crook ; and, so conjoined,
Each must perforce decline to worse, unawed
By fear of other. If thou doubt me, mark
The blade : each herb is judged of by its seed.
That land, through which Adice and the Po
Their waters roll, was once the residence
Of courtesy and valour, ere the day
That frowned on Frederick ; now secure may pass 1 20
Those limits, whosoe'er hath left, for shame,
To talk with good men, or come near their haunts.
Three aged ones are still found there, in whom
The old time chides the new : these deem it long
Ere God restore them to a better world :
The good Gherardo ; of Palazzo he,
Conrad ; and Guido of Castello, named
In Gallic phrase more fitly the plain Lombard.
On this at last conclude. The church of Rome,
Mixing two governments that ill assort, ^30
Hath missed her footing, fallen into the mire,
And there herself and burden much defiled.'
* O Marco ! ' I replied, ' thine arguments
Convince me : and the cause I now discern,
Why of the heritage no portion came
To Levi's offspring. But resolve me this :
Who that Gherardo is, that as thou say'st
Is left a sample of the perished race,
And for rebuke to this untoward age ? '
' Either thy words,' said he, ' deceive, or else 140
Are meant to try me ; that thou, speaking Tuscan,
Appear'st not to have heard of good Gherardo ;
The sole addition that, by which I know him ;
Unless I borrowed from his daughter Gaia
Another name to grace him. God be with you.
I bear you company no more. Behold
The dawn with white ray glimmering through the mist.
I must away the angel comes ere he
Appear.' He said, and would not hear me more.
CANTO xvii] PURGATORY 179
CANTO XVII
ARGUMENT
The Poet issues from that thick vapour ; and soon after his fancy represents
to him in lively portraiture some noted examples of anger. This imagina-
tion is dissipated by the appearance of an angel, who marshals them on-
ward to the fourth cornice, on which the sin of gloominess or indifference
is purged ; and here Virgil shows him that this vice proceeds from a defect
of love, and that all love can be only of two sorts, either natural, or of the
soul ; of which sorts the former is always right, but the latter may err
either in respect of object or of degree.
CALL to remembrance, reader, if thou e'er
Hast on an Alpine height been ta'en by cloud,
Through which thou saw'st no better than the mole
Doth through opacous membrane ; then, whene'er
The watery vapours dense began to melt
Into thin air, how faintly the sun's sphere
Seemed wading through them : so thy nimble thought
May image, how at first I re beheld
The sun, that bedward now his couch o'erhung.
Thus, with my leader's feet still equalling pace, 10
From forth that cloud I came, when now expired
The parting beams from off the nether shores.
O quick and forgetive power ! that sometimes dost
So rob us of ourselves, we take no mark
Though round about us thousand trumpets clang ;
What moves thee, if the senses stir not ? Light
Moves thee from heaven, spontaneous, self-informed ;
Or, likelier, gliding down with swift illapse
By will divine. Portrayed before me came
The traces of her dire impiety, 20
Whose form was changed into the bird, that most
Delights itself in song : and here my mind
Was inwardly so wrapped, it gave no place
To aught that asked admittance from without.
Next showered into my fantasy a shape
As of one crucified, whose visage spake
Fell rancour, malice deep, wherein he died ;
And round him Ahasuerus the great king ;
Esther his bride ; and Mordecai the just,
Blameless in word and deed. As of itself 30
That unsubstantial coinage of the brain
Burst, like a bubble, when the water fails
That fed it ; in my vision straight uprose
A damsel weeping loud, and cried, ' queen !
O mother ! wherefore has intemperate ire
Driven thee to loathe thy being ? Not to lose
Lavinia, desperate thou hast slain thyself.
180
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvn
Now hast thou lost me. I am she, whose tears
Mourn, ere I fall, a mother's timeless end.'
E'en as a sleep breaks off, if suddenly
Now radiance strike upon the closed lids,
The broken slumber quivering ere it dies ;
Thus, from before me, sunk that imagery,
Vanishing, soon as on my face there struck
The light, outshining far our earthly beam.
As round I turned me to survey what place
I had arrived at, ' Here ye mount ' : exclaimed
A voice, that other purpose left me none
Save will so eager to behold who spake,
40
I could not choose but gaze. As 'fore the sun, 50
That weighs our vision down, and veils his form
In light transcendent, thus my virtue failed
Unequal. ' This is Spirit from above,
Who marshals us our upward way, unsought ;
And in his own light shrouds him. As a man
Doth for himself, so now is done for us.
For whoso waits imploring, yet sees need
Of his prompt aidance, sets himself prepared
For blunt denial, ere the suit be made.
Kefuse we not to lend a ready foot 60
At such inviting : haste we to ascend,
Before it darken : for we may not then,
Till morn again return.' So spake my guide ;
And to one ladder both addressed our steps ;
LINES 38-113] PURGATORY 181
And the first stair approaching, I perceived
Near me as 't were the waving of a wing,
That fanned my face, and whispered : ' Blessed they,
The peacemakers : they know not evil wrath.'
Now to such height above our heads were raised
The last beams, followed close by hooded night, 70
That many a star on all sides through the gloom
Shone out. ' Why partest from me, my strength ? '
So with myself 1 communed ; for I felt
My overtoiled sinews slacken. We had reached
The summit, and were fixed like to a bark
Arrived at land. And waiting a short space,
If aught should meet mine ear in that new round,
Then to my guide I turned, and said : ' Loved sire !
Declare what guilt is on this circle purged.
If our feet rest, no need thy speech should pause.' 80
He thus to me : ' The love of good, whate'er
Wanted of just proportion, here fulfils.
Here plies afresh the oar, that loitered ill.
But that thou mayst yet clearlier understand,
Give ear unto my words ; and thou shalt cull
Some fruit may please thee well, from this delay.
' Creator, nor created being, e'er,
My son,' he thus began, ' was without love,
Or natural, or the free spirit's growth.
Thou hast not that to learn. The natural still 90
Is without error : but the other swerves,
If on ill object bent, or through excess
Of vigour, or defect. While e'er it seeks
The primal blessings, or with measure due
The inferior, no delight, that flows from it,
Partakes of ill. But let it warp to evil,
Or with more ardour than behoves, or less,
Pursue the good ; the thing created then
Works 'gainst its Maker. Hence thou must infer,
That love is germin of each virtue in ye, 100
And of each act no less, that merits pain.
Now since it may not be, but love intend
The welfare mainly of the thing it loves,
All from self -hatred are secure ; and since
No being can be thought to exist apart,
And independent of the first, a bar
Of equal force restrains from hating that.
' Grant the distinction just ; and it remains
The evil must be another's, which is loved.
Three ways such love is gendered in your clay. 1 1 o
There is who hopes (his neighbour's worth depressed)
Pre-eminence himself ; and covets hence,
For his own greatness, that another fall.
182 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvn
There is who so much fears the loss of power,
Fame, favour, glory (should his fellow mount
Above him), and so sickens at the thought,
He loves their opposite : and there is he,
Whom wrong or insult seems to gall and shame,
That he doth thirst for vengeance ; and such needs
Must dote on other's evil. Here beneath, 120
This threefold love is mourned. Of the other sort
Be now instructed ; that which follows good,
But with disordered and irregular course.
'All indistinctly apprehend a bliss,
On which the soul may rest ; the hearts of all
Yearn after it ; and to that wished bourne
All therefore strive to tend. If ye behold,
Or seek it, with a love remiss and lax ;
This cornice, after just repenting, lays
Its penal torment on ye. Other good 130
There is, where man finds not his happiness :
It is not true fruition ; not that blest
Essence, of every good the branch and root.
The love too lavishly bestowed on this,
Along three circles over us, is mourned.
Account of that division tripartite
Expect not, fitter for thine own research.'
CANTO XVIII
ARGUMENT
Virgil discourses further concerning the nature of love. Then a multitude
of spirits rush by ; two of whom in van of the rest, record instances of
zeal and fervent affection, and another, who was abbot of San Zeno in
Verona, declares himself to Virgil and Dante ; and lastly follow other
spirits, shouting forth memorable examples of the sin for which they
suffer. The Poet, pursuing his meditations, falls into a dreamy slumber.
THE teacher ended, and his high discourse
Concluding, earnest in my looks inquired
If I appeared content ; and I, whom still
Unsated thirst to hear him urged, was mute,
Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said :
' Perchance my too much questioning offends.'
But he, true father, marked the secret wish
By diffidence restrained ; and, speaking, gave
Me boldness thus to speak : ' Master ! my sight
Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams, 10
That all, thy words convey, distinct is seen.
Wherefore I pray thee, father, whom this heart
Holds dearest, thou wouldst deign by proof to unfold
CANTO xvm] PURGATORY 183
That love, from which, as from their source, thou bring'st
All good deeds and their opposite.' He then :
' To what I now disclose be thy clear ken
Directed ; and thou plainly shalt behold
How much those blind have erred, who make themselves
The guides of men. The soul, created apt
To love, moves versatile which way soe'er 20
Aught pleasing prompts her, soon as she is waked
By pleasure into act. Of substance true
Your apprehension forms its counterfeit ;
And, in you the ideal shape presenting,
Attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn,
Incline toward it ; love is that inclining,
And a new nature knit by pleasure in ye.
Then, as the fire points up, and mounting seeks
His birthplace and his lasting seat, e'en thus
Enters the captive soul into desire, 30
Which is a spiritual motion, that ne'er rests
Before enjoyment of the thing it loves.
Enough to show thee, how the truth from those
Is hidden, who aver all love a thing
Praiseworthy in itself ; although perhaps
Its matter seem still good. Yet if the wax
Be good, it follows not the impression must.'
* What love is,' I returned, ' thy words, O guide !
And my own docile mind, reveal. Yet thence
New doubts have sprung. For, from without, if love 40
Be offered to us, and the spirit knows
No other footing ; tend she right or wrong,
Is no desert of hers.' He answering thus :
' What reason here discovers, I have power
To show thee : that which lies beyond, expect
From Beatrice, faith not reason's task.
Spirit, substantial form, with matter joined,
Not in confusion mixed, hath in itself
Specific virtue of that union born,
Which is not felt except it work, nor proved 50
But through effect, as vegetable life
By the green leaf. From whence his intellect
Deduced its primal notices of things,
Man therefore knows not, or his appetites
Their first affections ; such in you, as zeal
In bees to gather honey ; at the first,
Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise.
But o'er each lower faculty supreme,
That, as she list, are summoned to her bar,
Ye have that virtue in you, whose just voice 60
Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep
The threshold of assent. Here is the source,
184 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvra
Whence cause of merit in you is derived ;
E'en as the affections, good or ill, she takes,
Or severs, winnowed as the chaff. Those men,
Who, reasoning, went to depth profoundest, marked
That innate freedom ; and were thence induced
To leave their moral teaching to the world.
Grant then, that from necessity arise
All love that glows within you ; to dismiss 70
Or harbour it, the power is in yourselves.
Remember, Beatrice, in her style,
Denominates free choice by eminence
The noble virtue ; if in talk with thee
She touch upon that theme.' The moon, wellnigh
To midnight hour belated, made the stars
Appear to wink and fade ; and her broad disk
Seemed like a crag on fire, as up the vault
That course she journeyed, which the sun then warms ;
When they of Rome behold him at his set 80
Betwixt Sardinia and the Corsic isle.
And now the weight, that hung upon my thought,
Was lightened by the aid of that clear spirit,
Who raiseth Andes above Mantua's name.
I therefore, when my questions had obtained
Solution plain and ample, stood as one
Musing in dreamy slumber ; but not long
Slumbered ; for suddenly a multitude,
The steep already turning from behind,
Rushed on. With fury and like random rout, 90
As echoing on their shores at midnight heard
Isinenus and Asopus, for his Thebes
If Bacchus' help were needed ; so came these
Tumultuous, curving each his rapid step,
By eagerness impelled of holy love.
Soon they o'ertook us ; with such swiftness moved
The mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head
Cried, weeping, ' Blessed Mary sought with haste
The hilly region. Caesar, to subdue
Ilerda, darted in Marseilles his sting, 100
And flew to Spain.'-' Oh, tarry not : away ! '
The others shouted ; ' let not time be lost
Through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal
To serve reanimates celestial grace.'
' O ye ! in whom intenser fervency
Haply supplies, where lukewarm erst ye failed,
Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part
Of good and virtuous ; this man, who yet lives
(Credit my tale, though strange), desires to ascend,
So morning rise to light us. Therefore say 1 10
Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock.'
LINES 63-138]
PURGATORY
185
So spake my guide ; to whom a shade returned
' Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft.
We may not linger : such resistless will
Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then
Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thce
Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I
Was abbot of San Zeno, when the hand
Of Barbarossa grasped Imperial sway,
That name ne'er uttered without tears in Milan.
And there is he, hath one foot in his grave,
Who for that monastery ere long shall weep,
Ruing his power misused : for that his son,
120
Of body ill compact, and worse in mind,
And born in evil, he hath set in place
Of its true pastor.' Whether more he spake,
Or here was mute, I know not : he had sped
E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much
I heard, and in remembrance treasured it.
He then, who never failed me at my need,
Cried, ' Hither turn. Lo ! two with sharp remorse
Chiding their sin.' In rear of all the troop
These shouted : ' First they died, to whom the sea
Opened, or ever Jordan saw his heirs :
And they, who with Aeneas to the end
Endured not suffering, for their portion chose
Life without glory.' Soon as they had fled
Past reach of sight, new thought within me rose
130
186 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xvm
By others followed fast, and each unlike
Its fellow : till led on from thought to thought, 140
And pleasured with the fleeting train, mine eye
Was closed, and meditation changed to dream.
CANTO XIX
ARGUMENT
The Poet, after describing his dream, relates how, at the summoning of an
angel, he ascends with Virgil to the fifth cornice, where the sin of avarice
is cleansed, and where he finds Pope Adrian the Fifth.
IT was the hour, when of diurnal heat
No reliques chafe the cold beams of the moon,
O'erpowered by earth, or planetary sway
Of Saturn ; and the geomancer sees
His Greater Fortune up the east ascend,
Where grey dawn checkers first the shadowy cone ;
When, 'fore me in my dream, a woman's shape
There came, with lips that stammered, eyes aslant,
Distorted feet, hands maimed, and colour pale.
I looked upon her : and, as sunshine cheers 10
Limbs numbed by nightly cold, e'en thus my look
Unloosed her tongue ; next, in brief space, her form
Decrepit raised erect, and faded face
With love's own hue illumed. Recovering speech,
She forthwith, warbling, such a strain began,
That I, how loath soe'er, could scarce have held
Attention from the song. ' I,' thus she sang,
' I am the Syren, she, whom mariners
On the wide sea are wildered when they hear :
Such fullness of delight the listener feels. 20
I, from his course, Ulysses by my lay
Enchanted drew. Whoe'er frequents me once,
Parts seldom : so I charm him, and his heart
Contented knows no void.' Or ere her mouth
Was closed, to shame her, at my side appeared
A dame of semblance holy. With stern voice
She uttered : ' Say, O Virgil ! who is this ? '
Which hearing, he approached, with eyes still bent
Toward that goodly presence : the other seized her,
And, her robes tearing, opened her before, 30
And showed the belly to me, whence a smell,
Exhaling loathsome, waked me. Round I turned
Mine eyes : and thus the teacher : ' At the least
Three times my voice hath called thee. Rise, begone.
Let us the opening find where thou mayst pass.'
I straightway rose. Now day, poured down from high,
CANTO xix] PURGATORY 187
Filled all the circuits of the sacred mount ;
And, as we journeyed, on our shoulder smote
The early ray. I followed, stooping low
My forehead, as a man, o'ercharged with thought, 40
Who bends him to the likeness of an arch
That midway spans the flood ; when thus I heard,
' Come, enter here,' in tone so soft and mild,
As never met the ear on mortal strand.
With swan-like wings dispread and pointing up,
Who thus had spoken marshalled us along,
Where, each side of the solid masonry,
The sloping walls retired ; then moved his plumes,
And fanning us, affirmed that those, who mourn,
Are blessed, for that comfort shall be theirs. 50
' What aileth thee, that still thou look'st to earth ? '
Began my leader ; while the angelic shape
A little over us his station took.
' New vision,' I replied, ' hath raised in me
Surmisings strange and anxious doubts, whereon
My soul intent allows no other thought
Or room, or entrance.' ' Hast thou seen,' said he,
' That old enchantress, her, whose wiles alone
The spirits o'er us weep for ? Hast thou seen
How man may free him of her bonds ? Enough. 60
Let thy heels spurn the earth ; and thy raised ken
Fix on the lure, which heaven's eternal King
Whirls in the rolling spheres.' As on his feet
The falcon first looks down, then to the sky
Turns, and forth stretches eager for the food,
That wooes him thither ; so the call I heard :
So onward, far as the dividing rock
Gave way, I journeyed, till the plain was reached.
On the fifth circle when I stood at large,
A race appeared before me, on the ground 70
All downward lying prone and weeping sore.
' My soul hath cleaved to the dust,' I heard
With sighs so deep, they well nigh choked the words.
' O ye elect of God ! whose penal woes
Both hope and justice mitigate, direct
Towards the steep rising our uncertain way.'
' If ye approach secure from this our doom,
Prostration, and would urge your course with speed,
See that ye still to rightward keep the brink.'
So them the bard besought ; and such the words, 80
Beyond us some short space, in answer came.
I noted what remained yet hidden from them :
Thence to my liege's eyes mine eyes I bent,
And he, forthwith interpreting their suit,
Beckoned his glad assent. Free then to act
18S
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xix
As pleased me, I drew near, and took my stand
Over that shade whose words 1 late had marked.
And, ' Spirit ! ' I said, ' in whom repentant tears
IMatuiv that blessed hour when thou with God
Shalt find acceptance, for a while suspend
For me that mightier care. Say who thou wast ;
Why thus ye grovel on your bellies prone ;
And if, in aught, ye wish my service there,
Whence living I am come.' He answering spake :
' The cause why Heaven our back toward his cope
Iv- verses, shalt thou know: but me know first,
Tho successor of Peter, and the name
And title of my lineage, from that stream
That 'twixt Chiaveri and Siestri draws
90
His limpid waters through the lowly glen.
A month and little more by proof I learnt,
With what a weight that robe of sovereignty
Upon his shoulder rests, who from the mire
Would guard it ; that each other fardel seems
But feathers in the balance. Late, alas !
Was my conversion : but, when 1 became
Rome's pastor, I discerned at once the dream
And cozenage of life ; saw that the heart
Rested not there, and yet no prouder height
Lured on the climber : wherefore, of that life
No more enamoured, in my bosom love
Of purer being kindled. For till then
I was a soul in misery, alienate
From God, and covetous of all earthly things ;
Now, as thou seest, here punished for my doting.
Such cleansing from the taint of avarice,
100
I 10
CANTO xx] PURGATORY 189
Do spirits, converted, need. This mount inflicts
No direr penalty. E'en as our eyes
Fastened below, nor e'er to loftier clime
Were lifted ; thus hath justice levelled us, 120
Here on the earth. As avarice quenched our love
Of good, without which is no working ; thus
Here justice holds us prisoned, hand and foot
Chained down and bound, while heaven's just Lord shall please,
So long to tarry, motionless, outstretched.'
My knees I stooped, and would have spoke ; but he,
Ere my beginning, by his ear perceived
I did him reverence ; and ' What cause ', said he,
' Hath bowed thee thus ? ' -' Compunction,' I rejoined,
' And inward awe of your high dignity.' 130
' Up,' he exclaimed, ' brother ! upon thy feet
Arise ; err not : thy fellow servant I,
(Thine and all others') of one Sovereign Power.
If thou hast ever marked those holy sounds
Of gospel truth, " nor shall be given in marriage,"
Thou mayst discern the reasons of my speech.
Go thy ways now ; and linger here no more.
Thy tarrying is a let unto the tears,
With which I hasten that whereof thou spakest.
I have on earth a kinswoman ; her name 140
Alagia, worthy in herself, so ill
Example of our house corrupt her not :
And she is all remaineth of me there.'
CANTO XX
ARGUMENT
Among those on the fifth cornice, Hugh Capet records illustrious examples
of voluntary poverty and of bounty ; then tells who himself is, and speaks
of his descendants on the French throne ; and, lastly, adds some noted
instances of avarice. When he has ended, the mountain shakes, and all
the spirits sing ' Glory to God '.
ILL strives the will, 'gainst will more wise that strives :
His pleasure therefore to mine own preferred,
I drew the sponge yet thirsty from the wave.
Onward I moved : he also onward moved,
Who led me, coasting still, wherever place
Along the rock was vacant ; as a man
Walks near the battlements on narrow wall.
For those on the other part, w T ho drop by drop
Wring out their all-infecting malady,
Too closely press the verge. Accurst be thou, 10
Inveterate wolf ! whose gorge ingluts more prey,
100 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xx
Than every beast beside, yet is not filled ;
So bottomless thy maw. Ye spheres of heaven !
To whom there are, as seems, who attribute
All change in mortal state, when is the day
Of his appearing, for whom fate reserves
To chaso her hence ? With wary steps and slow
We passed ; and I attentive to the shades,
Whom piteously I heard lament and wail ;
And, 'midst the wailing, one before us heard 20
Cry out ' blessed Virgin ! ' as a dame
In the sharp pangs of childbed ; and ' How poor
Thou wast,' it added, * witness that low roof
Where thou didst lay thy sacred burden down.
good Fabricius ! thou didst virtue choose
With poverty, before great wealth with vice.'
The words so pleased me, that desire to know
The spirit, from whose lip they seemed to come,
Did draw me onward. Yet it spake the gift
Of Nicholas, which on the maidens he 30
Bounteous bestowed, to save their youthful prime
Unblemished. ' Spirit ! who dost speak of deeds
So worthy, tell me who thou wast,' I said,
* And why thou dost with single voice renew
Memorial of such praise. That boon vouchsafed
Haply shall meet reward ; if I return
To finish the short pilgrimage of life,
Still speeding to its close on restless wing.'
' I,' answered he, ' will tell thee ; not for help,
Which thence I look for ; but that in thyself 40
Grace so exceeding shines, before thy time
Of mortal dissolution. I was root
Of that ill plant whose shade such poison sheds
O'er all the Christian land, that seldom thence
Good fruit is gathered. Vengeance soon should come,
Had Ghent and Douai, Lille and Bruges power ;
And vengeance I of heaven's great Judge implore.
Hugh Capet was I hight : from me descend
The Philips and the Louis, of whom France
Newly is governed : born of one, who plied 50
The slaughterer's trade at Paris. When the race
Of ancient kings had vanished (all save one
Wrapt up in sable weeds) within my grip
1 found the reins of empire, and such powers
Of new acquirement, with full store of friends,
That soon the widowed circlet of the crown
Was girt upon the temples of my son,
He, from whose bones the anointed race begins.
Till the great dower of Provence had removed
The stains, that yet obscured our lowly blood, 60
LINES 12-109] PURGATORY 191
Its sway indeed was narrow ; but howe'er
It wrought no evil : there, with force and lies,
Began its rapine : after, for amends,
Poitou it seized, Navarre and Gascony.
To Italy came Charles ; and for amends,
Young Conradine, an innocent victim, slew ;
And sent the angelic teacher back to heaven,
Still for amends. I see the time at hand,
That forth from France invites another Charles
To make himself and kindred better known. 70
Unarmed he issues, saving with that lance,
Which the arch-traitor tilted with ; and that
He carries with so home a thrust, as rives
The bowels of poor Florence. No increase
Of territory hence, but sin and shame
Shall be his guerdon ; and so much the more
As he more lightly deems of such foul wrong.
I see the other (who a prisoner late
Had stepped on shore) exposing to the mart
His daughter, whom he bargains for, as do So
The Corsairs for their slaves. O avarice !
What canst thou more, who hast subdued our blood
So wholly to thyself, they feel no care
Of their own flesh ? To hide with direr guilt
Past ill and future, lo ! the flower-de-luce
Enters Alagna ; in his Vicar Christ
Himself a captive, and his mockery
Acted again. Lo ! to his holy lip
The vinegar and gall once more applied ;
And he 'twixt living robbers doomed to bleed. 90
Lo ! the new Pilate, of whose cruelty
Such violence cannot fill the measure up,
With no decree to sanction, pushes on
Into the temple his yet eager sails.
' O sovereign Master ! when shall I rejoice
To see the vengeance, which thy wrath, well-pleased,
In secret silence broods ? While daylight lasts,
So long what thou didst hear of her, sole spouse
Of the Great Spirit, and on which thou turn'dst
To me for comment, is the general theme 100
Of all our prayers : but, when it darkens, then
A different strain we utter ; then record
Pygmalion, whom his gluttonous thirst of gold
Made traitor, robber, parricide : the woes
Of Midas, which his greedy wish ensued,
Marked for derision to all future times :
And the fond Achan, how he stole the prey,
That yet he seems by Joshua's ire pursued.
Sapphira with her husband next we blame ;
192
THE VISION OF DANTE
[CANTO xx
And praise the forefeet, that with furious ramp
Spurned Heliodorus. All the mountain round
Rings with the infamy of Thracia's king,
Who slew his Phrygian charge : and last a shout
Ascends : " Declare, O Crassus ! for thou know'st,
The flavour of thy gold." The voice of each
Now high, now low, as each his impulse prompts,
Is led through many a pitch, acute or grave.
Therefore, not singly, I erewhile rehearsed
That blessedness we tell of in the day :
But near me, none, beside, his accent raised.'
From him we now had parted, and essayed
no
120
With utmost efforts to surmount the way ;
When I did feel, as nodding to its fall,
The mountain tremble ; whence an icy chill
Seized on me, as on one to death conveyed.
So shook not Delos, when Latona there
Couched to bring forth the twin- born eyes of heaven.
Forthwith from every side a shout arose
So vehement, that suddenly my guide
Drew near, and cried : ' Doubt not, while I conduct thee.' 130
' Glory ! ' all shouted (such the sounds mine ear
Gathered from those, who near me swelled the sounds)
' Glory in the highest be to God.' We stood
Immovably suspended, like to those,
The shepherds, who first heard in Bethlehem's field
That song : till ceased the trembling, and the song
CANTO xxi] PURGATORY 193
Was ended : then our hallowed path resumed,
Eyeing the prostrate shadows, who renewed
Their customed mourning. Never in my breast
Did ignorance so struggle with desire 140
Of knowledge, if my memory do not err,
As in that moment ; nor through haste dared I
To question, nor myself could aught discern.
So on I fared, in thoughtfulness and dread.
CANTO XXI
ARGUMENT
The two Poets are overtaken by the spirit of Statius, who, being cleansed, is
on his way to Paradise, and who explains the cause of the mountain
shaking, and of the hymn ; his joy at beholding Virgil.
THE natural thirst, ne'er quenched but from the well
Whereof the woman of Samaria craved,
Excited ; haste, along the cumbered path,
After my guide, impelled ; and pity moved
My bosom for the 'vengeful doom though just.
When lo ! even as Luke relates, that Christ
Appeared unto the two upon their way,
New-risen from his vaulted grave ; to us
A shade appeared, and after us approached,
Contemplating the crowd beneath its feet. 10
We were not ware of it ; so first it spake,
Saying, ' God give you peace, my brethren ! ' then
Sudden we turned : and Virgil such salute,
As fitted that kind greeting, gave ; and cried :
' Peace in the blessed council be thy lot,
Awarded by that righteous court which me
To everlasting banishment exiles.'
' How ! ' he exclaimed, nor from his speed meanwhile
Desisting ; ' If that ye be spirits whom God
Vouchsafes not room above ; who up the height 20
Has been thus far your guide ? ' To whom the bard :
' If thou observe the tokens, which this man,
Traced by the finger of the angel, bears ;
'Tis plain that in the kingdom of the just
He needs must share. But sithence she, whose wheel
Spins day and night, for him not yet had drawn
That yarn, which on the fatal distaff piled,
Clotho apportions to each wight that breathes ;
His soul, that sister is to mine and thine,
Not of herself could mount ; for not like ours 30
Her ken : whence I, from forth the ample gulf
Of hell, was ta'en, to lead him, and will lead
194 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxr
Far as my lore avails. But, if thou know,
Instruct us for what cause, the mount erewhile
Thus shook, and trembled : wherefore all at once
Seemed shouting, even from his wave-washed foot.'
That questioning so tallied with my wish,
The thirst did feel abatement of its edge
E'en from expectance. He forthwith replied :
' In its devotion, nought irregular 40
This mount can witness, or by punctual rule
Unsanctioned ; here from every change exempt,
Other than that, which heaven in itself
Doth of itself receive, no influence
Can reach us. Tempest none, shower, hail, or snow,
Hoar frost, or dewy moistness, higher falls
Than that brief scale of threefold steps : thick clouds,
Nor scudding rack, are ever seen : swift glance
Ne'er lightens ; nor Thaumantian Iris gleams,
That yonder often shifts on each side heaven. 50
Vapour adust doth never mount above
The highest of the trinal stairs, whereon
Peter's vicegerent stands. Lower perchance,
With various motion rocked, trembles the soil :
But here, through wind in earth's deep hollow pent,
I know not how, yet never trembled : then
Trembles, when any spirit feels itself
So purified, that it may rise, or move
For rising ; and such loud acclaim ensues.
Purification, by the will alone, 60
Is proved, that free to change society
LINES 33-110] PURGATORY 195
Seizes the soul rejoicing in her will.
Desire of bliss is present from the first ;
But strong propension hinders, to that wish
By the just ordinance of heaven opposed :
Propension now as eager to fulfil
The allotted torment, as erewhile to sin.
And I, who in this punishment had lain
Five hundred years and more, but now have felt
Free wish for happier clime. Therefore thou felt'st 70
The mountain tremble ; and the spirits devout
Heard'st, over all his limits, utter praise
To that liege Lord, whom I entreat their joy
To hasten.' Thus he spake : and, since the draught
Is grateful ever as the thirst is keen,
No words may speak my fullness of content.
' Now,' said the instructor sage, ' I see the net
That takes ye here ; and how the toils are loosed ;
Why rocks the mountain, and why ye rejoice.
Vouchsafe, that from thy lips I next may learn 80
Who on the earth thou wast ; and wherefore here,
So many an age, wert prostrate.' ' In that time,
When the good Titus, with Heaven's King to help,
Avenged those piteous gashes, whence the blood
By Judas sold did issue ; with the name
Most lasting and most honoured, there, was I
Abundantly renowned,' the shade replied,
' Not yet with faith endued. So passing sweet
My vocal spirit ; from Tolosa, Rome
To herself drew me, where I merited 90
A myrtle garland to inwreathe my brow.
Statius they name me still. Of Thebes I sang,
And next of great Achilles ; but i' the way
Fell with the second burthen. Of my flame
Those sparkles were the seeds, which I derived
From the bright fountain of celestial fire
That feeds unnumbered lamps ; the song I mean
Which sounds Aeneas' wanderings : that the breast
I hung at ; that the nurse, from whom my veins
Drank inspiration : whose authority 100
Was ever sacred with me. To have lived
Coeval with the Mantuan, I would bide
The revolution of another sun
Beyond my stated years in banishment.'
The Mantuan, when he heard him, turned to me j
And holding silence, by his countenance
Enjoined me silence : but the power, which wills,
Bears not supreme control : laughter and tears
Follow so closely on the passion prompts them,
They wait not for the motions of the will no
CART i
196 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxi
In natures most sincere. I did but smile,
As one who winks ; and thereupon the shade
Broke off, and peered into mine eyes, where best
Our looks interpret. ' So to good event
Mayst thou conduct such great emprise,' he cried,
' Say, why across thy visage beamed, but now,
The lightning of a smile.' On either part
Now am I straitened ; one conjures me speak,
The other to silence binds me : whence a sigh
I utter, and the sigh is heard. ' Speak on,' 120
The teacher cried : ' and do not fear to speak ;
But tell him what so earnestly he asks.'
Whereon I thus : ' Perchance, O ancient spirit !
Thou marvel'st at my smiling. There is room
For yet more wonder. He, who guides my ken
On high, he is that Mantuan, led by whom
Thou didst presume of men and gods to sing.
If other cause thou deem'dst for which I smiled
Leave it as not the true one : and believe
Those words, thou spakest of him, indeed the cause.' 130
Now down he bent to embrace my teacher's feet ;
But he forbade him : ' Brother ! do it not :
Thou art a shadow, and behold'st a shade.'
He, rising, answered thus : ' Now hast thou proved
The force and ardour of the love I bear thee,
When I forget we are but things of air,
And, as a substance, treat an empty shade.'
CANTO XXII
ARGUMENT
Dante, Virgil, and Statius mount to the sixth cornice, where the sin of
gluttony is cleansed, the two Latin Poets discoursing by the way. Turn-
ing to the right, they find a tree hung with sweet-smelling fruit, and
watered by a shower that issues from the rock. Voices are heard to
proceed from among the leaves, recording examples of temperance.
Now we had left the angel, who had turned
To the sixth circle our ascending step ;
One gash from off my forehead razed ; while they,
Whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth,
' Blessed ! ' and ended with ' I thirst ' : and I,
More nimble than along the other straits.
So journeyed, that, without the sense of toil,
I followed upward the swift-footed shades ;
When Virgil thus began : ' Let its pure flame
From virtue flow, and love can never fail 10
To warm another's bosom, so the light.
CANTO xxn] PURGATORY 197
Shine manifestly forth. Hence, from that hour,
When, 'mongst us in the purlieus of the deep,
Came down the spirit of Aquinum's bard,
Who told of thine affection, my good will
Hath been for thee of quality as strong
As ever linked itself to one not seen.
Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me.
But tell me : and, if too secure, I loose
The rein with a friend's licence, as a friend 20
Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend :
How chanced it covetous desire could find
Place in that bosom, 'midst such ample store
Of wisdom, as thy zeal had treasured there ? '
First somewhat moved to laughter by his words,
Statius replied : ' Each syllable of thine
Is a dear pledge of love. Things oft appear,
That minister false matter to our doubts,
When their true causes are removed from sight.
Thy question doth assure me, thou belie vest 30
I was on earth a covetous man ; perhaps
Because thou found'st me in that circle placed.
Know then I was too wide of avarice :
And e'en for that excess, thousands of moons
Have waxed and waned upon my sufferings.
And were it not that I with heedful care
Noted, where thou exclairn'st as if in ire
With human nature, " Why, thou cursed thirst
" Of gold ! dost not with juster measure guide
" The appetite of mortals ? ' I had met 40
The fierce encounter of the voluble rock.
Then was I ware that, with too ample wing,
The hands may haste to lavishment ; and turned,
As from my other evil, so from this,
In penitence. How many from their grave
Shall with shorn locks arise, who living, ay,
And at life's last extreme, of this offence,
Through ignorance, did not repent ! And know,
The fault, which lies direct from any sin
In level opposition, here, with that, 50
Wastes its green rankness on one common heap.
Therefore, if I have been with those, who wail
Their avarice, to cleanse me ; through reverse
Of their transgression, such hath been my lot.'
To whom the sovereign of the pastoral song :
' While thou didst sing that cruel warfare waged
By the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb,
From thy discourse with Clio there, it seems
As faith had not been thine ; without the which,
Good deeds suffice not. And if so, what sun 60
198 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxn
Rose on thee, or what candle pierced the dark,
That thou didst after see to hoise the sail,
And follow where the fisherman had led ? '
He answering thus : ' By thee conducted first,
I entered the Parnassian grots, and quaffed
Of the clear spring : illumined first by thee,
Opened mine eyes to God. Thou didst, as one,
Who, journeying through the darkness, bears a light
Behind, that profits not himself, but makes
His followers wise, when thou exclaimed'st, " Lo ! 70
A renovated world, Justice returned,
Times of primaeval innocence restored,
And a new race descended from above."
Poet and Christian both to thee I owed.
That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace,
My hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines
With livelier colouring. Soon o'er all the world,
By messengers from heaven, the true belief
Teemed now prolific ; and that word of thine,
Accordant, to the new instructors chimed. 80
Induced by which agreement, I was wont
Resort to them ; and soon their sanctity
So won upon me, that, Domitian's rage
Pursuing them, I mixed my tears with theirs ;
And, while on earth I stayed, still succoured them ;
And their most righteous customs made me scorn
All sects besides. Before I led the Greeks,
In tuneful fiction, to the streams of Thebes,
I was baptized : but secretly, through fear,
Remained a Christian, and conformed long time 90
To Pagan rites. Four centuries and more,
I, for that lukewarmness, was fain to pace
Round the fourth circle. Thou then, who hast raised
The covering which did hide such blessing from me,
Whilst much of this ascent is yet to climb,
Say, if thou know, where our old Terence bides,
Caecilius, Plautus, Varro : if condemned
They dwell, and in what province of the deep.'
' These,' said my guide, ' with Persius and myself,
And others many more, are with that Greek, 100
Of mortals, the most cherished by the nine,
In the first ward of darkness. There, oft-times,
We of that mount hold converse, on whose top
For ay our nurses live. We have the bard
Of Pella, and the Teian, Agatho,
Simonides, and many a Grecian else
Ingarlanded with laurel. Of thy train,
Antigone is there, Dei'phile,
Argia, and as sorrowful as erst
LINES 61-136]
PURGATORY
199
Ismene, and who showed Langia's wave :
Dei'damia with her sisters there,
And blind Tiresias' daughter, and the bride
Sea-born of Peleus.' Either poet now
Was silent ; and no longer by the ascent
Or the steep walls obstructed, round them cast
Inquiring eyes. Four handmaids of the day
Had finished now their office, and the fifth
Was at the chariot-beam, directing still
Its flamy point aloof ; when thus my guide :
' Methinks, it well behoves us to the brink
Bend the right shoulder, circuiting the mount,
1 10
120
As we have ever used.' So custom there
Was usher to the road ; the which we chose
Less doubtful, as that worthy shade complied.
They on before me went : I sole pursued,
Listening their speech, that to my thoughts conveyed
Mysterious lessons of sweet poesy.
But soon they ceased ; for midway of the road
A tree we found, with goodly fruitage hung,
And pleasant to the smell : and as a fir,
Upward from bough to bough, less ample spreads ;
So downward this less ample spread ; that none,
Methinks, aloft may climb. Upon the side,
That closed our path, a liquid crystal fell
From the steep rock, and through the sprays above
Streamed showering. With associate step the bards
130
200 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxn
Drew near the plant ; and, from amidst the leaves,
A voice was heard : ' Ye shall be chary of me ; '
And after added : ' Mary took more thought
For joy and honour of the nuptial feast, 140
Than for herself, who answers now for you.
The women of old Rome were satisfied
With water for their beverage. Daniel fed
On pulse, and wisdom gained. The primal age
Was beautiful as gold : and hunger then
Made acorns tasteful ; thirst, each rivulet
Run nectar. Honey and locusts were the food,
Whereon the Baptist in the wilderness
Fed, and that eminence of glory reached
And greatness, which the Evangelist records.' 150
CANTO XXIII
ARGUMENT
They are overtaken by the spirit of Forese, who had been a friend of our
Poet's on earth, and who now inveighs bitterly against the immodest
dress of their countrywomen at Florence.
ON the green leaf mine eyes were fixed, like his
Who throws away his days in idle chase
Of the diminutive birds, when thus I heard
The more than father warn me : ' Son ! our time
Asks thriftier using. Linger not : away.'
Thereat my face and steps at once I turned
Toward the sages, by whose converse cheered
I journeyed on, and felt no toil : and lo !
A sound of weeping, and a song : ' My lips,
O Lord ! ' and these so mingled, it gave birth 10
To pleasure and to pain. ' Sire beloved !
Say what is this I hear.' Thus I inquired.
' Spirits,' said he, ' who, as they go, perchance,
Their debt of duty pay.' As on their road
The thoughtful pilgrims, overtaking some
Not known unto them, turn to them, and look,
But stay not ; thus, approaching from behind
With speedier motion, eyed us, as they passed,
A crowd of spirits, silent and devout.
The eyes of each were dark and hollow ; pale 20
Their visage, and so lean withal, the bones
Stood staring through the skin. I do not think
Thus dry and meagre Erisicthon showed,
When pinched by sharp-set famine to the quick.
' Lo ! ' to myself I mused, ' the race, who lost
Jerusalem, when Mary with dire beak
CANTO xxin] PURGATORY 201
Preyed on her child.' The sockets seemed as rings,
From which the gems were dropped. Who reads the name
Of man upon his forehead, there the M
Had traced most plainly. Who would deem, that scent 30
Of water and an apple could have proved
Powerful to generate such pining want,
Not knowing how it wrought ? While now I stood,
Wondering what thus could waste them (for the cause
Of their gaunt hollowness and scaly rind
Appeared not), lo ! a spirit turned his eyes
In their deep-sunken cells, and fastened them
On me, then cried with vehemence aloud :
' What grace is this vouchsafed me ? ' By his looks
I ne'er had recognized him : but the voice 40
Brought to my knowledge what his cheer concealed.
Remembrance of his altered lineaments
Was kindled from that spark ; and I agnized
The visage of Forese. ' Ah ! respect
This wan and leprous- withered skin,' thus he
Suppliant implored, ' this macerated flesh.
Speak to me truly of thyself. And who
Are those twain spirits, that escort thee there ?
Be it not said thou scorn'st to talk with me.'
' That face of thine,' I answered him, ' which dead 50
I once bewailed, disposes me not less
For weeping, when I see it thus transformed.
Say then, by Heaven, what blasts ye thus ? The whilst
I wonder, ask not speech from me : unapt
Is he to speak, whom other will employs.'
He thus : ' The water and the plant, we passed,
With power are gifted, by the eternal will
Infused ; the which so pines me. Every spirit,
Whose song bewails his gluttony indulged
Too grossly, here in hunger and in thirst 60
Is purified. The odour, which the fruit,
And spray that showers upon the verdure, breathe,
Inflames us with desire to feed and drink.
Nor once alone, encompassing our route,
We come to add fresh fuel to the pain :
Pain, said I ? solace rather : for that will,
To the tree, leads us, by which Christ was led
To call on Eli, joyful, when he paid
Our ransom from his vein.' I answering thus :
' Forese ! from that day, in which the world 70
For better life thou changedst, not five years
Have circled. If the power of sinning more
Were first concluded in thee, ere thou knew'st
That kindly grief which re-espouses us
To God, how hither art thou come so soon ?
202
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxm
I thought to find thee lower, there, where time
Is recompense for time.' He straight replied :
' To drink up the sweet wormwood of affliction
I have been brought thus early, by the tears
Streamed down my Nella's cheeks. Her prayers devout, 80
Her sighs have drawn me from the coast, where oft
Expectance lingers ; and have set me free
From the other circles. In the sight of God
So much the dearer is my widow prized,
She whom I loved so fondly, as she ranks
More singly eminent for virtuous deeds.
The tract, most barbarous of Sardinia's isle,
Hath dames more chaste, and modester by far,
Than that wherein I left her. O sweet brother !
What wouldst thou have me say ? A time to come 90
Stands full within my view, to which this hour
Shall not be counted of an ancient date,
When from the pulpit shall be loudly warned
The unblushing dames of Florence, lest they bare
Unkerchiefed bosoms to the common gaze.
What savage women hath the world e'er seen,
What Saracens, for whom there needed scourge
Of spiritual or other discipline,
To force them walk with covering on their limbs ?
But did they see, the shameless ones, what Heaven 100
Wafts on swift wing toward them while I speak,
Their mouths were oped for howling : they shall taste
Of sorrow (unless foresight cheat me here)
Or e'er the cheek of him be clothed with down,
CANTO xxiv] PURGATORY 203
Who is now rocked with lullaby asleep.
Ah ! now, my brother, hide thyself no more :
Thou seest how not I alone, but all,
Gaze, where thou veil'st the intercepted sun.'
Whence I replied : ' If thou recall to mind
What we were once together, even yet no
Remembrance of those days may grieve thee sore.
That I forsook that life, was due to him
Who there precedes me, some few evenings past,
When she was round, who shines with sister lamp
To his that glisters yonder,' and I showed
The sun. ' 'Tis he, who through profoundest night
Of the true dead has brought me, with this flesh
As true, that follows. From that gloom the aid
Of his sure comfort drew me on to climb,
And, climbing, wind along this mountain-steep, 120
Which rectifies in you whate'er the world
Made crooked and depraved. I have his word,
That he will bear me company as far
As till I come where Beatrice dwells :
But there must leave me. Virgil is that spirit,
Who thus hath promised,' and I pointed to him ;
' The other is that shade, for whom so late
Your realm, as he arose, exulting, shook
Through every pendent cliff and rocky bound.'
CANTO XXIV
ARGUMENT
Forese points out several others by name who are here, like himself, purify-
ing themselves from the vice of gluttony ; and amongst the rest, Bona-
giunta of Lucca, with whom our Poet converses. Forese then predicts the
violent end of Dante's political enemy, Corso Donati ; and, when he has
quitted them, the Poet, in company with Statius and Virgil, arrives at
another tree, from whence issue voices that record ancient examples of
gluttony ; and proceeding forwards, they are directed by an angel which
way to ascend to the next cornice of the mountain.
OUR journey was not slackened by our talk,
Nor yet our talk by journeying. Still we spake,
And urged our travel stoutly, like a ship
When the wind sits astern. The shadowy forms,
That seemed things dead and dead again, drew in
At their deep-delved orbs rare wonder of me,
Perceiving I had life ; and I my words
Continued, and thus spake : ' He journeys up
Perhaps more tardily than else he would,
For others' sake. But tell me, if thou know'st, 10
Where is Piccarda ? Tell me, if I see
204 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxiv
Any of mark, among this multitude
Who eye me thus.' ' My sister (she for whom,
T \vixt beautiful and good, I cannot say
Which name was fitter) wears e'en now her crown,
And triumphs in Olympus.' Saying this,
He added : ' Since spare diet hath so worn
Our semblance out, 'tis lawful here to name
Each one. This,' and his finger then he raised,
' Is Bonagiunta, Bonagiunta, he 20
Of Lucca : and that face beyond him, pierced
Unto a leaner fineness than the rest,
Had keeping of the church ; he was of Tours,
And purges by wan abstinence away
Bolsena's eels and cups of muscadel.'
He showed me many others, one by one :
And all, as they were named, seemed well content ;
For no dark gesture I discerned in any.
I saw, through hunger, Ubaldino grind
His teeth on emptiness ; and Boniface, 30
That waved the crozier o'er a numerous flock :
I saw the Marquis, who had time erewhile
To swill at Forli with less drought ; yet so,
Was one ne'er sated. I howe'er, like him
That, gazing 'midst a crowd, singles out one,
So singled him of Lucca ; for methought
Was none amongst them took such note of me.
Somewhat I heard him whisper of Gentucca :
The sound was indistinct, and murmured there,
Where justice, that so strips them, fixed her sting. 40
' Spirit ! ' said I, ' it seems as thou wouldst fain
Speak with me. Let me hear thee. Mutual wish
To converse prompts, which let us both indulge.'
He, answering, straight began : ' Woman is born,
Whose brow no wimple shades yet, that shall make
My city please thee, blame it as they may.
Go then with this forewarning. If aught false
My whisper too implied, the event shall tell.
But say, if of a truth I see the man
Of that new lay the inventor, which begins 50
With " Ladies, ye that con the lore of love ".'
To whom I thus : ' Count of me but as one,
Who am the scribe of love ; that, when he breathes,
Take up my pen, and, as he dictates, write.'
' Brother ! ' said he, ' the hindrance, which once held
The notary, with Guittone and myself,
Short of that new and sweeter style I hear,
Is now disclosed : I see how ye your plumes
Stretch, as the inditer guides them ; which, no question,
Ours did not. He that seeks a grace beyond, 60
LINES 12-109] PURGATORY 205
Sees not the distance parts one style from other.'
And, as contented, here he held his peace.
Like as the birds, that winter near the Nile,
In squared regiment direct their course,
Then stretch themselves in file for speedier flight ;
Thus all the tribe of spirits, as they turned
Their visage, faster fled, nimble alike
Through leanness and desire. And as a man,
Tired with the motion of a trotting steed,
Slacks pace, and stays behind his company, 70
Till his o'erbreathed lungs keep temperate time ;
E'en so Forese let that holy crew
Proceed, behind them lingering at my side,
And saying : ' When shall I again behold thee ? '
' How long my life may last,' said I, ' I know not :
This know, how soon soever I return,
My wishes will before me have arrived :
Sithence the place, where I am set to live,
Is, day by day, more scooped of all its good ;
And dismal ruin seems to threaten it.' 80
' Go now,' he cried : ' lo ! he, whose guilt is most,
Passes before my vision, dragged at heels
Of an infuriate beast. Toward the vale,
Where guilt hath no redemption, on it speeds,
Each step increasing swiftness on the last ;
Until a blow it strikes, that leaveth him
A corse most vilely shattered. No long space
Those wheels have yet to roll ' (therewith his eyes
Looked up to heaven), ' ere thou shalt plainly see
That which my words may not more plainly tell. 90
I quit thee : time is precious here : I lose
Too much, thus measuring my pace with thine.'
As from a troop of well ranked chivalry,
One knight, more enterprising than the rest,
Pricks forth at gallop, eager to display
His prowess in the first encounter proved ;
So parted he from us, with lengthened strides ;
And left me on the way with those twain spirits,
Who were such mighty marshals of the world.
When he beyond us had so fled, mine eyes 100
No nearer reached him, than my thought his words ;
The branches of another fruit, thick hung,
And blooming fresh, appeared. E'en as our steps
Turned thither ; not far off, it rose to view.
Beneath it were a multitude, that raised
Their hands, and shouted forth I know not what
Unto the boughs ; like greedy and fond brats,
That beg, and answer none obtain from him,
Of whom they beg ; but more to draw them on,
206
THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxiv
no
He, at arm's length, the object of their wish
Above them holds aloft, and hides it not.
At length, as undeceived, they went their way :
And we approach the tree, whom vows and tears
Sue to in vain ; the mighty tree. ' Pass on,
And come not near. Stands higher up the wood,
Whereof Eve tasted : and from it was ta'en
This plant.' Such sounds from midst the thickets came.
Whence I, with either bard, close to the side
120
That rose, passed forth beyond. ' Remember,' next
We heard, ' those unblest creatures of the clouds,
How they their twyfold bosoms, overgorged,
Opposed in fight to Theseus : call to mind
The Hebrews, how, effeminate, they stooped
To ease their thirst ; whence Gideon's ranks were thinned,
As he to Madian marched adown the hills.'
Thus near one border coasting, still we heard
The sins of gluttony, with woe erewhile
Reguerdoned. Then along the lonely path,
Once more at large, full thousand paces on
We travelled, each contemplative and mute. 130
CANTO xxv] PURGATORY 207
' Why pensive journey so ye three alone ? '
Thus suddenly a voice exclaimed : whereat
I shook, as doth a scared and paltry beast ;
Then raised my head, to look from whence it came.
Was ne'er, in furnace, glass, or metal, seen
So bright and glowing red, as was the shape
I now beheld. ' If ye desire to mount,'
He cried ; ' here must ye turn. This way he goes,
Who goes in quest of peace.' His countenance
Had dazzled me ; and to my guides I faced 140
Backward, like one who walks as sound directs.
As when, to harbinger the dawn, springs up
On freshened wing the air of May, and breathes
Of fragrance, all impregned with herb and flowers ;
E'en such a wind I felt upon my front
Blow gently, and the moving of a wing
Perceived, that, moving, shed ambrosial smell ;
And then a voice : ' Blessed are they, whom grace
Doth so illume, that appetite in them
Exhaleth no inordinate desire, 150
Still hungering as the rule of temperance wills.'
CANTO XXV
ARGUMENT
Virgil and Statius resolve some doubts that have arisen in the mind of Dante
from what he had just seen. They all arrive on the seventh and last
cornice, where the sin of incontinence is purged in fire ; and the spirits of
those suffering therein are heard to record illustrious instances of chastity.
IT was an hour, when he who climbs, had need
To walk uncrippled : for the sun had now
To Taurus the meridian circle left,
And to the Scorpion left the night. As one,
That makes no pause, but presses on his road,
Whate'er betide him, if some urgent need
Impel ; so entered we upon our way,
One before other ; for, but singly, none
That steep and narrow scale admits to climb.
E'en as the young stork lifteth up his wing 10
Through wish to fly, yet ventures not to quit
The nest, and drops it ; so in me desire
Of questioning my guide arose, and fell,
Arriving even to the act that marks
A man prepared for speech. Him all our haste
Restrained not ; but thus spake the sire beloved :
' Fear not to speed the shaft, that on thy lip
Stands trembling for its flight.' Encouraged thus,
208 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxv
I straight began : ' How there can leanness come,
Where is no want of nourishment to feed ? ' 20
' If thou,' he answered, ' hadst remembered thee,
How Meleager with the wasting brand
Wasted alike, by equal fires consumed ;
This would not trouble thee : and hadst thou thought,
How in the mirror your reflected form
With mimic motion vibrates ; what now seems
Hard, had appeared no harder than the pulp
Of summer-fruit mature. But that thy will
In certainty may find its full repose,
Lo Statius here ! on him I call, and pray 30
That he would now be healer of thy wound.'
' If, in thy presence, I unfold to him
The secrets of heaven's vengeance, let me plead
Thine own injunction to exculpate me.'
So Statius answered, and forthwith began :
' Attend my words, O son, and in thy mind
Receive them ; so shall they be light to clear
The doubt thou offer'st. Blood, concocted well,
Which by the thirsty veins is ne'er imbibed,
And rests as food superfluous, to be ta'en 40
From the replenished table, in the heart
Derives effectual virtue, that informs
The several human limbs, as being that
Which passes through the veins itself to make them.
Yet more concocted it descends, where shame
Forbids to mention : and from thence distils
In natural vessel on another's blood.
There each unite together ; one disposed
To endure, to act the other, through that power
Derived from whence it came ; and being met, 50
It 'gins to work, coagulating first ;
Then vivifies what its own substance made
Consist. With animation now indued,
The active virtue (differing from a plant
No further, than that this is on the way,
And at its limit that) continues yet
To operate, that now it moves, and feels,
As sea-sponge clinging to the rock : and there
Assumes the organic powers its seed conveyed.
This is the moment, son ! at which the virtue, 60
That from the generating heart proceeds,
Is pliant and expansive ; for each limb
Is in the heart by forgeful nature planned.
How babe of animal becomes, remains
For thy considering. At this point, more wise,
Than thou, has erred, making the soul disjoined
From passive intellect, because he saw
LINES 1 9- 1 1 6] PURGATORY 209
No organ for the latter's use assigned.
' Open thy bosom to the truth that comes.
Know, soon as in the embryo, to the brain 70
Articulation is complete, then turns
The primal Mover with a smile of joy
On such great work of nature ; and imbreathes
New spirit replete with virtue, that what here
Active it finds, to its own substance draws ;
And forms an individual soul, that lives,
And feels, and bends reflective on itself.
And that thou less mayst marvel at the word,
Mark the sun's heat ; how that to wine doth change,
Mixed with the moisture filtered through the vine. So
' When Lachesis hath spun the thread, the soul
Takes with her both the human and divine,
Memory, intelligence, and will, in act
Far keener than before ; the other powers
Inactive all and mute. No pause allowed,
In wondrous sort self-moving, to one strand
Of those, where the departed roam, she falls :
Here learns her destined path. Soon as the place
Receives her, round the plastic virtue beams,
Distinct as in the living limbs before : 90
And as the air, when saturate with showers,
The casual beam refracting, decks itself
With many a hue ; so here the ambient air
Weareth that form, which influence of the soul
Imprints on it : and like the flame, that where
The fire moves, thither follows ; so, henceforth,
The new form on the spirit follows still :
Hence hath it semblance, and is shadow called,
With each sense, even to the sight, endued :
Hence speech is ours, hence laughter, tears, and sighs, 100
Which thou mayst oft have witnessed on the mount.
The obedient shadow fails not to present
Whatever varying passion moves within us.
And this the cause of what thou marvel'st at.'
Now the last flexure of our way we reached ;
And to the right hand turning other care
Awaits us. Here the rocky precipice
Hurls forth redundant flames ; and from the rim
A blast up-blown, with forcible rebuff
Driveth them back, sequestered from its bound. no
Behoved us, one by one, along the side,
That bordered on the void, to pass ; and I
Feared on one hand the fire, on the other feared
Headlong to fall : when thus the instructor warned ;
' Strict rein must in this place direct the eyes.
A little swerving and the way is lost.'
210 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxv
Then from the bosom of the burning mass,
' O God of mercy ! ' heard I sung, and felt
No less desire to turn. And when I saw
Spirits along the flame proceeding, I 120
Between their footsteps and mine own was fain
To share by turns my view. At the hymn's close
They shouted loud, ' I do not know a man ; '
Then in low voice again took up the strain ;
Which once more ended, ' To the wood,' they cried,
' Ran Dian, and drave forth Callisto stung
With Cytherea's poison : ' then returned
Unto their song ; then many a pair extolled,
Who lived in virtue chastely and the bands
Of wedded love. Nor from that task, I ween,
Surcease they ; whilesoe'er the scorching fire
Enclasps them. Of such skill appliance needs,
To medicine the wound that healeth last.
130
CANTO XXVI
ARGUMENT
The spirits wonder at seeing the shadow cast by the body of Dante on the
flame as he passes it. This moves one of them to address him. It proves
to be Guido Guinicelli, the Italian poet, who points out to him the spirit
of Arnaut Daniel, the Provencal, with whom he also speaks.
WHILE singly thus along the rim we walked,
Oft the good master warned me : ' Look thou well.
Avail it that I caution thee.' The sun
CANTO xxvi]
PURGATORY
211
Now all the western clime irradiate changed
From azure tinct to white ; and, as I passed,
My passing shadow made the umbered flame
Burn ruddier. At so strange a sight I marked
That many a spirit marvelled on his way.
This bred occasion first to speak of me.
' He seems,' said they, ' no insubstantial frame : '
Then, to obtain what certainty they might,
Stretched towards me, careful not to overpass
The burning pale. ' O thou ! who followest
The others, haply not more slow than they,
But moved by reverence ; answer me, who burn
In thirst and fire : nor I alone, but these
K>
All for thine answer do more thirst, than doth
Indian or Aethiop for the cooling stream.
Tell us, how is it that thou makest thyself
A wall against the sun, as thou not yet 20
Into the inextricable toils of death
Hadst entered ? ' Thus spake one : and I had straight
Declared me, if attention had not turned
To new appearance. Meeting these, there came,
Midway the burning path, a crowd, on whom
Earnestly gazing, from each part I view
The shadows all press forward, severally
Each snatch a hasty kiss, and then away.
E'en so the emmets, 'mid their dusky troops,
Peer closely one at other, to spy out 30
Their mutual road perchance, and how they thrire.
212 THE VISION OF DANTE [CANTO xxvi
That friendly greeting parted, ere dispatch
Of the first onward step, from either tribe
Loud clamour rises : those, who newly come,
Shout ' Sodom and Gomorrah ! ' these, ' The cow
Pasiphae entered, that the beast she wooed
Might rush unto her luxury.' Then as cranes,
That part towards the Riphaean mountains fly,
Part towards the Lybic sands, these to avoid
The ice, and those the sun ; so hasteth off 40
One crowd, advances the other ; and resume
Their first song, weeping, and their several shout.
Again drew near my side the very same,
Who had ere while besought me ; and their looks
Marked eagerness to listen. I, who twice
Their will had noted, spake : ' O spirits ! secure,
Whene'er the time may be, of peaceful end ;
My limbs, nor crude, nor in mature old age,
Have I left yonder : here they bear me, fed
With blood, and sinew-strung. That I no more 50
May live in blindness, hence I tend aloft.
There is a dame on high, who wins for us
This grace, by which my mortal through your realm
I bear. But may your utmost wish soon meet
Such full fruition, that the orb of heaven,
Fullest of love, and of most ample space,
Receive you ; as ye tell (upon my page
Henceforth to stand recorded) who ye are ;
And what this multitude, that at your backs
Have passed behind us.' As one, mountain-bred, 60
Rugged and clownish, if some city's walls
He chance to enter, round him stares agape,
Confounded and struck dumb ; e'en such appeared
Each spirit. But when rid of that amaze
(Not long the inmate of a noble heart),
He, who before had questioned, thus resumed :
' O blessed ! who, for death preparing, takest
Experience of our limits, in thy bark ;
Their crime, who not with us proceed, was that
For which, as he did triumph, Caesar heard 70
The shout of " queen ", to taunt him. Hence their cry
Of '' Sodom ", as they parted ; t 
