31 - JScholarship - Johns Hopkins University

' LIBRARY 

OF THE 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.

THE PURGATORY OF DANTE

s •

THE PURGATORY 

OF 

DANTE ALIGHIERI 

EDITED WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES 

BY 

ARTHUR JOHN BUTLER 

LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 

Quisque suos patimur Manes, exinde per amplum 

Mittiinur Elysium 

ILoitUon 

MACMILLAN AND CO. 

AND NEW YORK 

1892

66,/62 

!i~ "3 

31 

Fij'si Edition printed i8l 

Second Edition 1892.

PREFACE 

THERE can be very little doubt that of late years the serious 

study of Dante's great poem is beginning to make its way 

in this country. Formerly, the Inferno was read, all 

through, or oftener in fragments, by young people who 

were learning Italian; and then they went on to read a 

little Ariosto, a little Tasso, and so on, till they were considered 

to be 'finished.' Very few, it may be imagined, 

ever looked into the Purgatorio; almost none ventured on 

the Paradiso. Indeed, the second and third Canticles must 

have occupied much the same position in the opinion of 

critics as is held by Paradise Regained. Thus Sismondi 

decides that the interest falls off in the second part of the 

poem : he seems to look back with regret to the ' horror of 

great darkness,' varied only by the diverse torments of Hell. 

In the lively hope which animates ' the folk secure of beholding 

the light on high,' he can see only a lack of 

emotion resulting in frigidity; and even the visions and 

dreams, important as they are to the understanding of the 

Cantica, seem to him adapted only to awaken the impatience 

of the reader, in haste to get to the end of the 

story. The taste of the present generation, less attracted 

by strong colouring than by delicate and subtle touches, 

and inclining, in its best mood, rather to reticence than to 

violent expression of the feelings, k,eenly sensitive moreover

VI PREFACE 

to the influence, of external nature in its various aspects, 

hsts, as might be expected, appreciated more justly the 

merits of the second division of the poem. Thus, Mr. 

Symonds {Study of Dante, chap. v. § 12), directly traversing 

Sismondi's criticism, points out how full of human interest 

are the meetings with Casella, Sordello, Statins, and many 

others. How full, to multiply instances, of a gentle and 

playful humour are such touches as the by-play which goes 

on between Virgil and Dante when Statins, not knowing to 

whom he speaks, expresses his admiration of the Aeneid, 

and his longing to behold its author; or Belacqua's ' Hai 

ben vedato '; or Oderisi's ' E mio in parte.' How dramatic 

again Nino's slightly contemptuous mention of 'the Milanese,' 

for whom his widow, while retaining his name, has 

forsaken his memory; or Hugh Capet's bitter invective 

against his unworthy descendants. This is in fact only 

what we might have expected to find in this part of the 

poem. Absolute evil, no less than absolute good, is so 

utterly unlike anything of which our experience of human 

nature enables us to form a conception, that the attempt 

to represent it in concrete forms must in proportion to its 

very success fail to touch our sympathies. Francesca, 

Peter de Vineis, Brunetto, Guy of Montefeltro, even 

Ulysses, move us not so much by awe at their terrible 

fate, or horror at the sins which earned it, as by the traits 

which show how much of noble and gentle feeling still 

remains to them in the midst of torments and despair. 

Ugolino, it may safely be said, awakens in the majority of 

readers far more of pity for his cruel death than of loathing 

for the crimes which that death was insufficient to expiate. 

In Purgatory we find human nature, in a purified form 

doubtless, but in kind exactly as we know it among those 

of our fellow-men with whom we are most in sympathy.

PREFACE Vll 

The pleasures of memory and the pleasures of hope alike 

are there, while the present discomfort, or even pain, is just 

as in this life fully alleviated by both the one and the other. 

As in this life, too, we find, to use Ozanam's phrase, 'le 

bien et le mal dans leur rapprochement'; and an opportunity 

therefore for deeper study of the human heart. 

Mr. Wicksteed, in the appendix to his Six Sermons, points 

out a good instance of this. ' Never,' he says, ' did Dante 

pierce more deeply into the truth of things, never did he 

bring haras, "ias. justice of punishment more closely to the 

heart, than when he told how the souls in Purgatory do 

not wish to rise to Heaven till they have worked out the 

consequences of their sins. The sin long since repented 

and renounced still haunts us with its shame and its remorse 

. . . still smites us with a keener pain the closer we 

press in to the forgiving Father's presence; and we would 

have it so.' The more thoroughly the reader knows the 

whole poem, the less hesitation will we have in endorsing 

the opinion of Balbo, that the Purgatory ' e forse in tutto 

la piii bella parte della Divina Commedia, o quella almeno 

dove meglio si dimostra la piii bella parte dell' anima di 

Dante.' So too Abate Perez of Verona, in his excellent 

and elaborate study : T sette Cerchi del Purgatorio di Dante, 

while admitting that the Piferno, with its more salient 

points of interest, is most attractive on a first reading, 

contends that, 'le anime studiose delle piii delicate e 

riposte bellezze morali fan principalmente loro delizia del 

Purgatorio.' Those who like movement, however aimless, 

provided that it be violent, will, he thinks, admire the 

Inferno; while those who prefer.a constant progress, moral 

and intellectual, will find what they seek, and an example 

as well, in the souls who are working their way onwards 

' in the love of light, and in the light of love.'

vni PREFACE 

Indeed there are many reasons why the student might 

do well, after making himself acquainted, perhaps, with the 

general story, to begin his more minute studies with the 

second division of the poem. Besides what has been said 

above as to its general character, it contains, perhaps more 

than either of the other divisions, the essence, so to 

speak, of Dante's ethical and political doctrines. The 

personages introduced are also as a rule more interesting. 

Lastly, the language is on the whole freer from difficulties 

of interpretation. 

As to the question of translating poetry into prose, which 

I was at some pains to justify twelve years ago, the time 

that has since elapsed has made such translations so familiar 

that I may be excused from retaining what I then said. 

I may perhaps remark here, that where a question has 

arisen between a literal and an elegant rendering, I have 

preferred the former; my object being, as I have said, not 

to attempt an addition to English literature, but to aid 

beginners in understanding that of Italy. Also, wherever 

it seemed possible to render an Italian word or idiom by a 

cognate form in English, I have not scrupled to do so, even 

at the cost of an occasional archaism. 

I have worked chiefly with Bianchi's edition (Le Monnier) 

of 1863, which seems to me both in text and notes much 

superior to P'raticelli's. The notes of ' Philalethes' are 

invaluable for historical and philosophical information; and 

his translation appears to me at once easier and more 

accurate than that of Herr Witte, if a raw recruit may, 

without presumption, criticise the leader of living Dantophilists. 

The notes of the last-named are most useful; 

also his larger edition of the text; though, as he has admittedly 

employed four MSS. only, his settlement of it can 

hardly be considered final, nor have I hesitated in occasion-

PREFACE 

ally departing from it. I have collated throughout, and 

given the most noteworthy readings of both the Codex 

Cassinensis and also one of the three MSS. possessed by 

the University of Cambridge. This last is a handsome 

book, with illuminated initials to each Cantica, and to 

Canto xxviii. of the Purgatory. It is fully described by 

Dr. lAooxz, Textual Criticism of the D. C, pp. 541-543. Its 

Commentary, which was written towards 1447, is mainly an 

abridgement from that of Benvenuto da Imola, which now is 

accessible in its complete form. The large Venice edition, 

printed three times, in 1564, 1578, and 1596, with Landino's 

and Vellutello's notes, is very useful; though Vellutello 

serves for a warning almost as often as for a pattern. The 

text is practically Vellutello's, and from his preface he seems 

to flatter himself it is as correct as human power can make 

it. John Villani's History is an indispensable companion 

to Dante, and is the more valuable, because Villani was 

politigally a Guelf, while Dante, though not an absolute 

partisan of either side, was more definitely at variance with 

the party which remained in power at Florence after 1302, 

so that by the help of either we can check the estimate of 

persons and actions expressed by the other. Moreover, 

Villani's prose has a good deal of the same straightforward 

directness as Dante's verse. Herr Blanc's Dictionary (of 

which I have used the Italian translation, Barbera, 1859), 

concordance and commentary in one as it is, may be called 

an 'epoch-making' book in the history of the study of 

Dante. It has probably lightened my work at least onehalf 

The only misfortune is that it is not a Dictionary of 

Dante's complete works. His Erklarungen are also useful; 

though here, too, that reliance on erudition to the exclusion 

of taste, which is a common feature of German criticism, 

makes itself sometimes apparent. Dr. Scartazzini's edition 

IX

x PREFACE 

contains nearly everything that has been said on every line 

and word; and therefore necessarily contains much that is 

of service, but the reader has to make his own selection. 

The French have done less than the Germans to promote 

the study of Dante. They have several translations, both 

in prose and verse, but French people do not as a rule care 

to understand the hterature of other nations, and in this 

case it looks almost as if Voltaire's contemptible criticism 

of the ' Divine Comedy' had done a mischief to- the taste 

of the nation in regard to it which, in spite of the efforts 

of such men as Fauriel and Ozanam, is still not wholly 

effaced. In English we have, as I have said, many translations, 

mostly in verse; some, notably those of Cary, 

Carlyle, and Longfellow, possessing useful notes, chiefly 

explanatory, but nothing like a critical edition. Indeed, 

Dr. Carlyle says that when he first thought of publishing 

such an edition with English notes, he was told that he 

would ' make a piebald monstrous book, such as had not 

been seen in this country.' Since that time, however, 

people's views have changed, and it seems no longer to 

be thought necessary that the student of a foreign tongue, 

whether ancient or modern, should be confined to the use 

of that very tongue of which he is ex hypothesi ignorant, 

pitched, so to speak, into deep water, in order that he may 

learn to swim. We no longer teach boys Virgil with the 

help of Latin notes, why should they not have the benefit 

of English notes to learn Dante ? 

I must thank many friends, among whom I may specially 

mention Mr. Paget Toynbee, for calling my attention to 

blunders in the first edition which would certainly have 

escaped my unaided notice. 

October 1892.

CANTO I 

CANTO II 

CANTO III 

CANTO IV 

CANTO V 

CANTO VI 

CANTO VII 

CANTO VIII 

CANTO IX 

CANTO X 

CANTO XI 

CANTO XII 

CANTO XIII 

CANTO XIV 

CANTO XV 

CANTO XVI 

CANTO XVII 

CANTO XVIII 

CANTO XIX 

CANTO XX 

CONTENTS 

I 

13 

24 

' 36 

49 

60 

74 

88 

100 

113 

124 

136 

147 

160 

174 

186 

200 

213 

227 

239

xn CONTENTS 

CANTO XXI 

CANTO XXII . 

CANTO XXIII 

CANTO XXIV . 

CANTO XXV . 

CANTO XXVI . 

CANTO XXVII 

CANTO XXVIII 

CANTO XXIX . 

CANTO XXX . 

CANTO XXXI . 

CANTO XXXII 

CANTO xxxin 

APPENDIX A. THE THREE DREAMS 

APPENDIX B. THE 

XXXIII . 

GLOSSARY . 

ALLEGORY OF CANTOS XXIX.- 

PAGE 

253 

265 

278 

290 

306 

320 

333 

344 

356 

369 

381 

393 

407 

419 

42s 

431

PRELIMINARY NOTE 

PURGATORY is figured as an island-mountain, whose summit 

just reaches to the first of the celestial spheres, that of the 

Moon, resembling in this the mountain described by Pliny 

as existing off the west coast of Africa. From this it is not 

improbable that the notion which Dante adopted was taken. 

It is exactly at the antipodes of Jerusalem, and its bulk is 

precisely equal and opposite to the cavity of Hell. The 

lower part of the mountain forms a kind of ante-Purgatory, 

in which souls have to wait until they have atoned for delay 

in repentance. Purgatory proper consists of seven terraces, 

connected by steep stairways, and corresponding to the seven 

deadly sins: Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony, 

Lust. Chaucer's 'Persones Tale' gives a very good view 

of the medieeval doctrine on the subject of these sins. It 

seems to me not impossible that Chaucer, who certainly 

was well read in Dante (for he quotes him more than 

once), had the Purgatory in his mind when he wrote it. 

On the summit of the mountain is the Earthly Paradise, 

formerly the Garden of Eden. The earliest representation 

of Purgatory as Dante imagined it, with which I am 

acquainted, is in a picture (1465) by Dom. di Michelino, 

over the north door of the cathedral of Florence. The 

action of the Cantica occupies rather more than three days, 

beginning a little before sunrise on Easter Day, and ending 

about noon of the following Wednesday.

ARGUMENT 

PURGATORY 

CANTO I 

Virgil and Dante come out upon the island from which rises the mountain 

of Purgatory. It is the dawn of Easter Day.' They meet 

Cato, the guardian of the place, and to him explain their coming. 

By his direction, Virgil washes Dante's face with dew and girds 

him with a rush. 

To speed over better waters henceforth the bark of my wit 

hoists her sails, for she is leaving behind her so cruel a 

sea; and I have to sing of that second realm, where the 

spirit pf man is purified, and becomes worthy to ascend to 

heaven. 

PER correr miglior acqua alza le vele 

Omai la navicella del mio ingegno, 

Che lascia dietro a se mar si crudele : 

E canterb di quel secondo regno,. 

Ove r umano spirito si purga, 

E di salire al Ciel diventa degno. 

1 correr acqua. So Virgil ' Currere aequora.' Cf. Par. ii. 7. 

^ omai contracted from ora mai = now and henceforth. Boccaccio 

however uses it (Day v. Nov. 2) as = by this time. The converse 

change is illustrated by the late Greek use of irdiirore with future, e.g. 

St. John vi. 35. 

^ che is used here, and frequently, much like ' which' in English, 

B

2 PURGATORY CANTO 

But here let the dead strain arise again, O holy Muses, 

since I am yours; and here let Calliopea somewhat exalt 

herself, accompanying my chant with that sound, the stroke 

whereof the wretched Picae felt so great that they lost hope 

of pardon. 

A sweet hue of oriental sapphire which was gathering 

in the serene aspect of the pure ether up to the prime 

Ma qui la morta poesia risurga, 

O sante Muse, poi che vostro sono, 

E qui Calliopea alquanto surga, 

Seguitando il mio canto con quel suono lo 

Di cui le Piche misere sentiro 

Lo colpo tal, che disperar perdono. 

Dolce color d' oriental zaffiro, 

Che s' accoglieva nel sereno aspetto 

Deir aer puro infino al primo giro, 

as a kind of general connecting particle, a use which though now not 

allowed in literature was once generally recognised. See, for instance, 

the last verse of St. John's Gospel. Diez iii. 311, 348. 

' risurga: is this word intended to remind us that it is the morning, 

almost the hour, of the Resurrection ? 

8 Cf. Inf ii. 7. 

^ The story of the Picae is told in Ov. Met. v. 300 sqq., 663 sqq. 

'^ aer puro, contrasted with aura morta. Elsewhere, however, 

Dante makes little difference in his use of the two words; only he 

seems rather to prefer aura for the stagnant air of Hell. But see 

Glossary s.v. atira. It must be said that all the first five editions, with 

a good many MSS., read dal mezzo (some having also scuro, which 

looks like the alteration of some one who did not understand it). Post. 

Cass, takes mezzo to mean the middle of the sky, and primo giro the 

horizon ; the annotator of Gg. (in which mezzo has been substituted in 

the original hand, for another word), quoting Benv. as usual, says 'i.e. 

ab illo hemisperio inferiore, dicitur enim hemisperium quasi dimidia 

spera'; which seems to point to a reading dal mezzo spero infimo or 

oscuro (following the gender of ' hemisperium '). Primo giro he explains, 

'usque ad circulum lunae, vel melius usque ad circulum ignis.'

I PURGATORY 3 

circle, renewed delight to my eyes, soon as I issued forth 

from the dead air, which had saddened me both eyes 

and heart. The fair planet which encourages to love 

was making all the east to smile, veiling the Fishes that 

were in her escort. I turned me toward the right hand, 

and gave heed to the other pole, and beheld four stars, 

never yet seen, save by the folk of old time. The heaven 

Agli occhi miei ricomincib diletto, 

Tosto ch' io usci' fuor dell' aura morta, 

Che m' avea contristato gli occhi e '1 petto. 

Lo bel pianeta ch' ad amar conforta, 

Faceva tutto rider 1' oriente, 20 

Velando i Pesci ch' erano in sua scorta. 

Io mi volsi a man destra, e posi mente 

AH' altro polo, e vidi quattro stelle 

Non viste mai fuor ch' alia prima gente. 

On the whole, though I have followed the moderns in reading aer, I 

do not see why it should in the first instance have been changed to 

mezzo, while the contrary is likely enough to have happened. If we 

read aer, we must, I think, understand primo giro as = primo mobile, 

the highest sphere, as would appear from Par. xxiii. 112 sqq., to which 

the eye can reach. 

Another possible interpretation would be (putting a comma after 

sereno),'in the clear sky, seen from the dark' (i.e. western) 'half of the 

heaven, even to the horizon.' 

18 Cf. xxvii. 95. 

-1 When Venus is a morning star at this time of year, she is in or 

near Pisces, the Sun. being in Aries. As a matter of fact, at Easter 

1300 she was rising some forty minutes after the Sun. Probably Dante 

took the phenomena as they were when he was vreiting. 

2^ Observe that in order to see these four stars, which denote the 

active or cardinal virtues, he turns to the right hand; in xxxii. 8 he 

turns to the left to look at the nymphs who represent the theological or 

contemplative virtues. 

^ altro polo, the south pole. (That of line 29 is, of course,''the 

north.) There is much discussion in regard to these stars, which are 

almost certainly intended for the Southern Cross. (See Humboldt,

PURGA TOR Y CANTO 

appeared to rejoice in their flames. O widowed region of 

the Northern Star, since thou hast been bereaved of gazing 

upon those! When I had withdrawn from regarding them, 

turning myself a little towards the other pole, to that 

quarter whence the Wain had by this time disappeared, I 

saw hard by me a solitary old man, in aspect worthy of so 

much reverence that no son owes more to father. He 

wore his beard long and mingled with white hair, like to 

Coder pareva il Ciel di lor fiammelle. 

O settentrional vedovo sito, 

Poi che privato sei di mirar quelle ! ^ 

Com' io dal loro sguardo fui partito, 

Un poco me volgendo all' altro polo. 

La onde il Carro gia era sparito,'' 30 

Vidi presso di me un veglio solo, 

Degno di tanta reverenza in vista, 

Che piii non dee a padre alcun figliuolo. 

Lunga la barba e di pel bianco mista 

Portava, ai suoi capegli simigliante, 

" di veder q. Gg. Cass. "^ Lh ove . . . spartito Gg. 

' Cosmos,' Sabine's Transl. vol. ii. p. 291 and note 449; vol. iii. note 

401.) Not only may Dante have heard of it from travellers, but his 

own astronomical knowledge was probably sufficient to tell him that 

the ' Settentrional sito' had once enjoyed the sight of the fouir stars, 

which have been visible as far north as the shores of the Baltic. Therfe 

is, of course, also an allusion in lines 26 and 27 to the commonplace of 

poets, that men have declined in the practice of virtue. It should be 

observed that while in the morning, the time for action, the four stars 

are conspicuous, the evening is adorned by the three which denote the 

theological virtues (viii. 89).. 

3° Or 'where the Wain was no longer to be seen.' 

'1 This is the younger Cato. Virgil's line, ' Secretosque pios, his 

dantem jura Catonem,' Aeneid viii. 670, probably suggested his employment 

as warder of Purgatory.

I PURGATORY 5 

his locks, of which a twofold list fell to his breast. The 

rays of the four holy lights so decked his face with lustre, 

that I saw it as the sun were before me. ' Who are ye that 

against the blind stream have fled the eternal prison ?' 

said he, moving those honourable plumes. 'Who has 

guided you? or who was your lantern, as you issued 

forth from the profound night which ever makes black 

the infernal valley ? Are the laws of the pit thus broken, 

or has a new counsel come about in Heaven, that being 

damned, ye come to my rocks ?' My Leader then took 

Dei quai cadeva al petto doppia lista. 

Li raggi delle quattro luci sante 

Fregiavan si la sua faccia di lume, 

Ch' io il vedea come il Sol fosse davante. 

Chi siete vol, che contro il cieco fiume 40 

Fuggito avete la prigione eterna ? 

Diss' ei, movendo quell' oneste piume. 

Chi vi ha guidati ? o chi vi fu lucerna, 

Uscendo fuor della profonda notte, 

Che sempre nera fa la valle inferna? 

Son le leggi d' abisso cosi rotte ? 

O fe mutato in Ciel nuovo consiglio,"^ 

Che dannati venite alle inie grotte ? 

Lo Duca mio allor mi dife di piglio, 


hold of me, and with words and with hands and with signs 

made me reverent, both in knees and eyelid. Then he 

answered him: 'I came not of myself; a lady descended 

from Heaven, through whose prayers I helped this man 

with my company. But since it is thy will that more 

be unfolded as to our condition, how in truth it is, it 

cannot be mine that it be denied thee. This man has 

not yet seen his last evening, but by his folly he was 

so near to it, that very little time was yet to pass. 

In such wise as I have said, was I sent to him for 

his salvation, and there was no other road than this 

E con parole e con mani e con cenni 50 

Reverenti mi fe' le gambe e il ciglio : 

Poscia rispose lui: Da me non venni: 

Donna scese dal Ciel, per Ii cui preghi 

Delia mia compagnia cestui sowenni. 

Ma da ch' fe tuo voler, che piti si spieghi 

Di nostra condizion, com' ella fe vera, 

Esser non puote il mio ch' a te si nieghi. 

Questi non vide mai 1' ultima sera. 

Ma per la sua follia le fa si presso, 

Che molto poco tempo a volger era. 60 

Si come io dissi, fui mandate ad esso 

Per lui campare, e non v' era altra via 

^' See Inf. ii. 52 sqq. 

^ com' ella h vera. I have followed Bianclii; but the words may 

also mean, ' how true it is,' i.e. ' how we are not deceiving you about it.' 

^' il mio : sc. voler. 

58 Cf. Inf XV. 47. 

^^ Would it not be better to read adesso, ' I was sent straightway' ? 

Cf. xxiv. 113. 

'^ per lui campare. Lo would have been more usual; but lui is 

not uncommon in Dante in this position. See Diez iii. 48. Perhaps 

the preceding per has caused its use here, by a kind of attraction.

I PURGATORY 7 

by which I have set out. I have shown him all the 

guilty folk, and now I purpose to show him those spirits 

who are being cleansed under thy stewardship. How I 

have brought him it were long to tell thee: from on high 

virtue descends, which is aiding me to lead him to see 

thee and to hear thee. Now may it please thee to accept 

his coming graciously; he goes seeking freedom, which is so 

dear, as he knows who for it renounces life. Thoji knowest 

it, seeing that for its sake death was not bitter to thee in 

Utica, where thou didst leave the garment that at the great 

•day shall be so bright. The eternal edicts are not broken 

Che questa per la quale io mi son messo. 

Mostrata ho lui tutta la gente ria, 

Ed ora intendo mostrar quegli spirti, 

Che purgan sfe sotto la tua balia. 

Com' io r ho tratto, saria lungo a dirti. 

Dell' alto scende virtti che m' aiuta 

Conducerlo a vederti ed ad udirti. 

Or ti piaccia gradir la sua venuta; 70 

Liberta va cercando, ch' fe si cara, 

Come sa chi per lei vita rifiuta. 

.Tu il sai: chfe non ti fu per lei amara 

In Utica la morte, ove lasciasti 

La veste, ch' al gran di sara si chiara. 

Non son gli editti eterni per noi guasti: 

'^ Cf. De Men. ii. 5 : ' Ut mundo libertatis amorem accenderet 

quanti libertas esset ostendit, dum e vita liber decedere maluit, quam 

sine libertate remanere in ilia.' 

76 veste. Cf. Par. xxv. 92. If any one wishes to know how Cato, 

an unbaptised heathen, and moreover a suicide, can expect a destiny so 

different from that of all other heathens and suicides, he will find the 

wisdom of the old commentators reduced within moderate compass in 

Bianchi's note.


foK us, for this man lives, and Minos binds me not; but I 

am of the circle where are the chaste eyes of thy Marcia, 

who in her visage [seems] still to pray thee, O holy breast, 

to hold her for thine. For her love's sake, then, bend thyself 

to us. Let us go through thy seven realms; thanks 

will I bear back to her on thy behalf, if thou deignest to 

be mentioned there below.' ' Marcia pleased my eyes so 

much while I was yonder,' said he then, ' that all the favours 

she would of me I did. Now that she dwells beyond the 

evil stream, she can move me no more, by that law which 

was made when I issued forth from thence. But if a dame 

of heaven moves and guides thee, as thou sayest, there is 

Chfe questi vive, e Minos me non lega: 

Ma son del cerchio, ove son gli occhi casti 

Di Marzia tua, che in vista ancor ti prega, 

O santo petto,.che per tua la tegni: so 

Per lo suo amore adunque a noi ti piega. 

Lasciane andar per Ii tuoi sette regni: 

Grazie riporterb di te a lei, 

Se d' esser mentovato laggiii degni. 

Marzia piacque tanto agli occhi miei, 

Mentre ch' io fui di la, diss' egli allora, 

Che quante grazie voile da me fei. 

Or, che di la dal mal fiume dimora, 

Piii muover non mi pub per quella legge, 

Che fatta fu quand' io me n' usci' fuora. 90 

Ma se Donna del Ciel ti muove e regge, 

'' For an explanation of the symbolism of Cato and Marcia see 

Conv. iv. 28. 

santo petto. Cf. sacrdtissimo petto, Conv. iv. 5. 

^ di li=' in the world of living men,' as always in Purgatory. In 

Hell it is lassii, in Heaven laggiii.

I PURGATORY 9 

no need of fair words. Suffice it thee fully that thou askest 

me in her name. Go then, and see that thou gird this 

man with a smooth rush, and that thou wash his face, so 

that thence thou mayest put away all grime; for it would 

not be meet to go with eye overtaken by any cloud before 

the first minister who is of them of Paradise. This little isle 

around its lowest base, down yonder where the water beats 

on it, bears rushes above the soft mud. No plant of other 

kind, such as should put forth leaves or grow hard, can 

there have life; seeing that it yields not to blows. 

Afterwards let not your returning be hitherward. 

Come tu di', non c' fe mestier lusinga : 

Bastiti ben che per lei mi richegge.'' 

Va dunque, e fa che tu costui ricinga 

D' un giunco schietto, e che gli lavi '1 viso. 

Si ch' ogni sucidume quindi stihga: 

Che non si converria 1' occhio sorpriso 

D' alcuna nebbia andar davanti al primo 

Ministro, ch' fe di quel di Paradiso. 

Questa isoletta intofno ad imo ad imo " loo 

Laggiu cola dove la batte 1' onda, 

. Porta dei giunchi sovra il moUe limo. 

Null' altra pianta che facesse fronda, 

O che indurasse, vi puote aver vita; 

Perb ch' alle percosse non seconda. 

Poscia non sia di qua vostra reddita: 

"* Bastiti sol ^; Bastisi ben 135. ^ Quesf isola dint. Gg. 

36 stinga, literally, ' extinguish'; in which sense spegnere has taken 

its place. 

1C2 xhe rush typifies ' the broken and contrite heart.' 

"^ altra is in fact pleonastic. Cf Gr. dXXos, and see Diez iii. 

76, 77-


The Sun, which is even now rising, will show you where 

to take the mountain at an easier ascent.' 

Therewith he disappeared; and I raised myself up 

without speaking, and drew myself wholly back to my 

Leader, and on him bent my eyes. He began: ' Son, 

follow my steps; let us turn back, for on this side this 

plain slopes to its low-lying bounds.' The dawn was conquering 

the shade of early morn, which fled before, so that 

I discerned afar the quivering of the sea. We began going 

through the lonely plain like a man who is returning to the 

Lo Sol vi mostrerk, che surge omai, 

Prender il monte a piti lieve salita.^ 

Cosi spari: ed io su mi levai, 

Senza parlare, e tutto mi ritrassi no 

Al Duca mio, e gli occhi a lui drizzai. 

Ei comincib : Figliuol, segui i miei passi: ^ 

Volgiamci indietro, che di qua dichina 

Questa pianura a' suoi termini bassi. 

L' alba vinceva 1' ora mattutina, 

Che fuggia innanzi, si che di lontano 

Conobbi il tremolar della marina. 

Noi andavam per lo solingo piano, 

' Prendeie Cass. Gg. ; pigliate Aid. 

s Ei com. seguisci Ii m-.p. Gg. Cass. 1234 W. 

107, 108 J e_ tjje easiest ascent is on the east side. 

^15 Lombardi takes ora mattutina = the hour of matins, which 

seems frigid. Another explanation is ora=aura, 'the breeze of morning 

'; but this can hardly be said to fly before the dawn, nor would its 

departure enable Dante to see the sea any better. On the other hand, 

ora=ombra, seems doubtful; but cf adorezzain line 123. See Glossary, 

s.v. atira. 

"' Bianchi compares Virgil's ' Splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus,' 

Aeneid vii. 9.

I PURGATORY II 

road which he has lost, in that until he reaches it he seems 

to himself to be going in vain. When we were where the 

dew strives with the Sun, and from being in a part where it 

is shady, diminishes little, my Master sweetly placed both 

hands spread abroad on the short grass; wherefore I, who 

was ware of his purpose, reached towards him my tearful 

cheeks; then made he in me all discovered that hue which 

Hell had concealed in me. 

We came next upon the desert shore, which never 

yet saw man sail upon its waters, that should ' thereafter 

Com' uom che torna alia smarrita strada, 

Che infino ad essa Ii par ire invano. 120 

Quando noi fummo dove la rugiada 

Pugna col Sole, e per essere in parte 

Ove adorezza, poco si dirada : 

Ambo le mani in su 1' erbetta sparte 

Soavemente il mio Maestro pose : 

Ond' io che fui accorto di su' arte, 

Porsi ver lui le guance lagrimose :, 

Qiiivi mi fece tutto disco.perto 

Quel color che 1' Inferno mi nascose. 

Venimmo poi in sul lito diserto, 130 

Che mai non vide navicar sue acque 

Uomo, che di tornar sia poscia esperto. 

119.120 These lines are rather obscure. The comparison seems to be , 

between their position and that of a man who is trying to hit off a path 

which he has missed, and, till he strikes it, feels as if bis labour was 

wasted. / 

123 adorezza. They are still on the south, therefore the shady side 

of the mountain, where the Sun has least power and the dew can resist 

its influence. It is clear ^^V pugna does not refer to the state of things 

at the moment, because the Sun is not yet up.

12 PURGATORY CANTO I 

know aught of return. There he so girt me as Another 

willed. O marvel! that such as was the lowly plant he 

culled, just such an one there straightway grew again in 

that place whence he plucked it. 

Quivi mi cinse, si come altrui piacque : 

O maraviglia ! che qual egli scelse 

L' umile pianta, cotal si rinacque 

Subitamente la onde la svelse. 

^'^ altrui, not, I think, as most commentators hold, Cato, but God. 

Cf. Inf. xxvi. 141. The rush thus takes the place of the cord which 

he had cast away. Inf. xvi. 106 sqq. 

'^^ Cf. Aeneid vi. 143. Symbolically, God's grace diminishes not by 

being given.

CANTO II 

ARGUMENT 

First sunrise. As the poets are standing on the shore, a boat arrives, 

steered by an Angel, bearing souls to Purgatory. Dante recognises 

Casella, who begins to sing to them, but Cato hurries them on to 

the mountain. 

ALREADY was the Sun come to that horizon whose meridian 

circle covers Jerusalem with its highest point; and the night 

which circles opposite to him was issuing forth from the 

Ganges with the Balances which fall from her hand when 

she gets the mastery : so that the white and ruddy cheeks 

GIA era il Sole all' orizzonte giunto, 

Lo cui meridian cerchio coverchia 

Gerusalem col suo piii alto punto : 

E la Notte, che opposita a lui cerchia, 

Uscia di Gauge fuor coUe bilance, 

Che le caggion di man quando soverchia; 

Si che le bianche e le vermighe guance, 

1 saq- Jerusalem and Purgatory are antipodes ; therefore they have a 

common horizon (iv. 70), on which in one direction is India. The 

' night' means here, as elsewhere in Dante, the point of the heavens 

opposite to the Sun. Cf Inf xxiv. 3. At this time the Sun was in 

Aries, and therefore the ' night' in Libra. When the ' night' is getting 

the mastery, i. e. at the autumnal equinox, the Sun is entering Libra, 

which thus may be said to fall from the hands of the night.


of fair Aurora, there where I was, through too much age 

were becoming orange. 

We- still were alongside the sea, like folk who ponder. 

on their road, who go in heart, but in body loiter; and lo! 

as on the point of morn Mars glows ruddy through the 

thick vapours low in the west above the ocean-floor, just 

such a light (so may I again behold it!) appeared to me 

La dov' io era, della bella Aurora 

Per troppa etate divenivan ranee. 

Noi eravam lunghesso il mare ancora, lo 

Come gente che pensa suo cammino, 

Che va col core, e col corpo dimora: 

Ed ecco qual, sul presso del mattino. 

Per Ii grossi vapor Marte rosseggia 

Gill nel ponente sovra il suoi marine; 

Cotal m' apparve, s' io ancor lo veggia, 

Un lume per lo mar venir si ratto, 

', Imitated by Boccaccio at the beginning of Day iii.; and later by 

various poets. 

13 Witte reads sorpreso dal, to which it is reasonably objected that 

to speak of a setting planet as surprised by the rising Sun is not a very 

good image. Scartazzini prefers suoi presso del, which will not construe, 

for his theory that rosseggia is the infinitive is untenable. Dante did not 

write in Piedmontese. Unless we are to read sol (as an adjective ' Mars 

glows solitary'), sul presso del is the only reading which gives a good 

sense ; and to Fanfani's objection that this substantival use oi p-esso is 

not old, it may be replied that Bembo (to whom the Aldine text is due) 

and Landino presumably knew their own language. Bianchi compares 

such phrases as alf incirca, nel mentre. For the phenomenon, cf. Ar. 

Meteor, i. 5 (342 b), &.vlaxovra. rh. Harpa Kal dvofxeya . . . dm Ka-TrvoO 

ôivtKa (paiperat. 

" Cf. Conv. ii. 14. 

1^ Cf Lat. ' Sic te diva regat'; so v. 85, xxvi. 61. See Diez iii. 328, 

329. It is pretty clear that si {sic) must have got confused with si (si), 

and' thus have passed into se.

II PURGATORY 15 

to come over the sea so swift that no flight might match 

its motion. From the which when I had a short while 

withdrawn my eye to make inquiry of my Leader, I saw it 

again grown more shining and greater. Then on each side 

straightway appeared to me a something white, and on the 

lower side by small degrees came forth another. -My Master 

as yet spake no word until the first white objects appeared 

as wings ; then when he well recognised the helmsman, he 

cried: ' See, see that thou bend thy knees; behold the 

Angel of God; fold thy hands; henceforth thou wilt see 

Che il muover suo nessun volar pareggia ; 

Dal qual com' io un poco ebbi ritratto 

L' occhio per dimandar lo Duca mio, 20 

Rividil piii lucente e maggior fatto. 

Poi d' ogni parte adesso m' appario 

Un non sapea che bianco, ed al di sotto" 

A poco a poco un altro a lui n' uscio. 

Lo mio Maestro ancor non fece motto, 

Mentre che i primi bianchi apparser all:'' 

Allor che ben conobbe il galeotto, 

Gridb : Fa, fa, che le ginochia call: 

Ecco 1' Angel di Dio : piega le mani: 

^ che bianche a dis. Gg.; bianche dis. 15 ; bianco d. s. Cass. 24; 

biancheggiar 3 Land. 

^ che p.b., aparser ali Gg.; aperser lali 12345; '^^'^ i p.b. aperser 

Aid.; aparsi Cass.; apparver Land. 

^ Bianchi reads un non sapea che bianco, e di, which leaves the line 

a syllable short; a difficulty which Witte avoids by reading sapeva, 

and Scart. sapea. The former has no authority, the latter no precedent. 

Non sapea che = 'LB.t. 'nescio quid.' See Diez iii. 50. 

2^ aperser, the old reading, is clearly wrong; for it makes nonsense 

of iprimi; apparser is the reading of the codex of Filippo Villani; also 

of Benvenuto.


thus-fashioned ofiScers. See how he disdains human implements, 

so that he seeks not oar, nor other sail than his 

own wings between shores so distant. See how he has 

them pointed towards the heaven, drawing the air with his 

eternal feathers, that are not moulted like mortal hair.' Then 

as more and more towards us came the bird of God, more 

bright he appeared, by reason whereof the eye endured 

him not near, but I bent it downward, and he came his 

way to shore, with a little vessel, swift and so light that the 

Omai vedrai di si fatti uficiali. 30 

Vedi che sdegna gli argomenti umani; 

Si che remo non vuol, nfe altro velo 

Che r ali sue tra liti si lontani. 

Vedi come 1' ha dritte verso il cielo, 

Trattando 1' aere con 1' eterne penne,'^ 

Che non si mutan come mortal pelo. 

Poi come piti e piu verso noi venne 

L' uccel divino, piii chiaro appariva : 

Perchfe r occhio da presso noi sostenne. 

Ma chinai '1 giuso : e quel sen venne a riva ^ 40 

Con un vasello snelletto e leggiero, 

° lale Gg. 5 ; lali 1234. d chinailviso Gg. 

'" di, partitive, as in French. Diez iii. 149. 

^ Argumentum in Low Lat. has the meaning of ' machine' or ' instrument.' 

Thus Liutprand v. 6, 'Argumentum non solum in prora 

quo ignis projicitur, verum etiam in puppi . . . ponite.' Littre quotes 

Rom. de la R. line 6994, ' Qui sont piliers et argumens ^ soutenir nature 

humaine,' of the bodily organs. In Decam. viii. 6, prender argom. =to 

take measures. 

32 velo=z'«/a, for the sake of rhyme ; though, possibly, at this time 

the distinction, a purely arbitrary one, did not exist. 

^^ trattando is generally taken as = agitando ; but it may here have 

its primary idea of drawing the air, as the swimmer does the water. 

The readings lale and lali, though not uncommon, are clearly wrong. 

^ pelo, for ' feathers'; just as piume, i. 42, for ' hair.'


water sucked not aught of it in. On the poop stood the 

heavenly helmsman, such that he appeared blessed by a 

sure title; and more than a hundred spirits sat within it. 

In exitu Israel de Egypto, were they all together singing in 

one voice, with so much of that psalm as is after written. 

Then made he them the sign of holy Cross; whereat they 

threw themselves all upon the beach, and he went his way 

swift as he had come. 

Tanto che 1' acqua nulla ne inghiottiva. 

Da poppa stava il celestial nocchiero, 

Tal che parea beato per iscripto ;" 

E piii di cento spirti entro sediero: 

In exitu Israel de Egypto 

Cantavan tutti insieme ad una voce. 

Con quanto di quel salmo fe poscia scripto. 

Poi fece il segno lor di santa Croce; 

Ond' ei si gittar tutti in su la piaggia, 50 

• Ed ei sen gi, come venne, veloce. 

'^ faria . . per iscr. Gg.; /aria . . . pur 2 W. 

** Witte prefers faria beato pur descritto, which, as being more 

easily intelligible, is less probably, according to a well-known rule of 

criticism, the true reading. It is also found in a small minority of MSS. 

The usual interpretation of parea beato per iscripto is that taken by 

Lombardi, Bianchi, Blanc, Philalethes, ' as though it were written on 

him.' But Landino says : ' cioe, confirmato beato'; and Ducange says 

inscriptuvi ~ instrttmentum donationis. So Bocc. Dec. viii. 10, of a 

merchant putting goods in a ' borided warehouse'—' dando per iscritto 

la mercatantia.' But see Moore, ' Textual Criticism.' 

"= sediero, formed directly from sederunt. 

^^ Cf. Conv. iii. I, and the letter to Can Grande, § 7. It^may be noted 

that Psalm cxiii. (Vulgate), which includes the cxiv. and cxv. of our 

Prayer Book, has always been held appropriate to Easter. 

C

i8 PURGATORY CANTO 

The crowd which remained there seemed wild to the 

place, gazing around, like one' who is essaying new things. 

On all sides the Sun was darting the day, who had with 

his gentle shafts chased Capricorn from the midst of 

heaven; when the new folk raised their faces toward us, 

saying to us : ' If you know, show us the way to go. toward 

the mount.' And Virgil answered: 'You deem perhaps 

La turba che rimase Ii, selvaggia 

Parea del loco, rimirando intorno ; 

Come colui che nuove cose assaggia. 

Da tutte parti saettava il giorno 

Lo Sol, ch' avea con le saette conte 

Di mezzo il ciel cacciato il Capricorno : 

Quando la nuova gente alzb la fronte 

Ver noi, dicendo a noi: Se voi sapete, 

Mostratene la via'di gire al monte. 60 

E Virgilio rispose: Voi credete 

^ conte: Benv. says 'manifestis'; Land, 'vere e certe'; Veil. 

' manifest! e noti'; Bianchi explains, ' chiare, o forse pratiche, esperte 

nel cogliere il segno'; Blanc, ' luminosi'; Philal. ' leuchtend'; Witte, 

' licht.' The word is the Italian form of ' cognitus,' which, according to 

a glossary of the twelfth century, quoted by Diez, seems to have been 

used as equivalent to 'benignus,' 'humanus' (cf. the meanings of English 

' kin,' ' kind'). May it not have been used in some early translation of 

Homer to represent i.ya.v6^, the regular epithet of Apollo's arrows ? No 

complete translation is known to have existed at this time, and Dante 

himself says, Conv. i. 7, that 'Omero non si muto di greco in latino.' 

But he quotes Homer, as in V. N. § 2, and in De Mon., and, as he knew 

less Greek than Shakespeare, this can only be firom a Latin version. 

Moreover Burckhardt, ' History of the Renaissance,' chap, iii., mentions 

the existence of a fragment of a translation earlier than that made by 

Boccaccio and Leontius Pilatus; so that the theory which I have ventured 

to adopt at least involves no anachronism. 

^^ When Aries, in which the Sun is at this time, is on the horizon, 

Capricorn is on the meridian. The meaning, therefore, is that the Sun 

was half a sign, or 15 degrees higli.


that we are experienced of this place; but we are strangers, 

as ye are. We came erewhile, a little before you, by another 

way that was so rough and hard that the climbing 

henceforth will seem sport to us.' The spirits, who had 

observed in me by my breathing that I was still alive, 

marvelling, grew pale with wonder; and as to a messenger 

who bears olive the folk draw to hear news, and none shows 

himself shy of trampling, so on my aspect fixed themselves 

all those fortunate souls, as though forgetful of going 

to make themselves fair. I saw one of them draw 

Forse che siamo sperti d' esto loco: 

Ma noi sem peregrin, come voi siete : 

Dianzi venimmo, innanzi a voi un poco. 

Per altra via che fu si aspra e forte, 

Che lo salire omai ne parra gioco. 

L' anime che si fur di me accorte 

Per lo spirar, ch' io era ancora vivo, 

Maravigliando diventaro smorte: 

E come a messaggier, che porta olivo, 70 

Tragge la gente per udir novelle,*^ 

E di calcar nessun si mostra schivo : 

Cosi al viso mio s' affissar quelle 

Anime fortunate tutte quante. 

Quasi obbliando d' ire a farsi belle. 

Io vidi una di loro trarsi avante 

' per saper Gg. 

^ aspra e forte, cf Inf. i. 5. 

'" smorte, cf the Shakespearian ' all amort.' The spirits of course 

resemble their living selves in complexion as in feature. 

Readers of ' Romola' will remember an illustration, bk. iii. ch. 2. 

'° ' Forgetting that they had to go on to the Mountain of Purification.' 

''^ una. This, as will appear, is Casella, a famous musician of the


forward to embrace me with so great affection that it 

moved me to do the like. O shadows, unreal, save 

in the appearance ! Thrice behind him I clasped my 

hands, and as often I returned with them to my own 

breast. Of wonder, I suppose, I took the hue; because 

the shade smiled, and drew back, and I following it 

pressed further. Gently he bade me pause; then I knew 

who he was, and prayed that to speak with me he would 

stay a little. He answered me: 'As I loved thee in the 

mortal body so love I thee being a spirit unbound; therefore 

I stay; but wherefore goest thou?' 'My Casella, 

Per abbracciarmi con si grande affetto, 

Che mosse me a far il simigliante. 

O ombre vane, fuor che nell' aspetto ! 

Tre volte dietro a lei le mani avvinsi, 80 

E tante mi tornai con esse al petto. 

Di maraviglia, credo, mi dipinsi: 

Perchfe r ombra sorrise e si ritrasse, 

Ed io, seguendo lei, oltre mi pinsi. 

Soavemente disse ch' io posasse : 

Allor conobbi chi era, e pregai ^ 

Che per parlarmi un poco s' arrestasse. 

Risposemi: Cosi com' io t' amai 

Nel mortal corpo, cosi t' amo sciolta: 

Perb m' arresto : ma tu perchfe vai ? 90 

8 Conobbi allora Aid.; allor W. [which leaves the line at least a syllable 

short]; ? all. con. c. era ed Up-. 

time. Milton's allusion. Sonnet xiii., to this incident is well knowTi. 

A ballad set to music by Casella is said to be extant in the Vatican 

Library. 

88 sciolta: sc. anima.

11 PURGATORY, 21 

that I may return a second time to that place where I am, 

I make this journey,' said I; ' but from thee how has so 

much -time teen taken ?' And he to me : ' No outrage has 

been done me, if he who takes up both when and-whom he 

pleases has many times denied me that passage ; for of a just 

will is his will framed. Nevertheless for three months past 

he has taken whoso would enter, with all peace. Wherefore 

I, who had now turned towards the sea, where Tiber's water 

enters the salt, was in his goodness gathered in by him. To' 

that mouth has he now his wing directed, sitice always there 

Casella mio, per tornare altra volta 

La dove io son, fo io questo viaggio : 

Diss' io, ma a te com' fe tanta ora tolta ? '' 

Ed egli a me:. Nessun m' fe fatto oltraggio, 

Se quel, che leva e quando e cui gli place. 

Pill volte m' ha negato esto passaggio ; 

Chfe di giusto voler lo suo si face. 

Veramente da tre mesi egli ha tolto, 

Chi ha voluto entrar con tutta pace. 

Ond' io che era ora alia marina volto, loo 

Dove r acqua di Tevere s' insala, 

Benignamente fui da lui ricolto. 

A quelle foce ha egli or dritta 1' ala: 

Perocchfe sempre quivi si iraccoglie, 

h Ma a te coni era tanta terra tolta Gg. Aid. 12345 ; Ma a te com' 

i diss' io t. 0. t. Land. 

"^ Cf. XXX. 136 sqq. 

"^ ' How is it that you have been kept waiting so long before coming 

here ?' 

^= I.e. the angel who bears the souls. 

^8 Since the beginning of the jubilee, i.e. since Christmas 1299.


is assembled whosoever falls not'towards Acheron.' And I: 

' If a new law takes not away from thee memory or use in 

the amorous chant which was wont to quiet for me all my 

wishes, let it please thee therewith to comfort somewhat 

my soul, which coming here with its body is so wearied.' 

Love, that discourses in my mind to me, then began he so 

sweetly, that the sweetness yet sounds within me. My 

Master, and I, and that folk who were with him appeared 

so content, as though naught else touched the minds of any. 

We were all fixed and intent on his notes; and lo ! the 

honourable atjcient, crying: ' What is this, lazy spirits ? 

Qual verso d' Acheronte non si cala. 

Ed io : Se nuova legge non ti toglie 

Memoria o uso all' amoroso canto, 

Che mi solea quetar tutte mie voglie, 

Di cib ti piaccia consolare alquanto 

L' anima mia, che con la sua persona, 

Venendo qui, fe affannata tanto. 

Amor che nella mente mi ragiona, 

Comincib egli allor si dolcemente, 

Che la dolcezza ancor dentro mi suona. 

Lo mio Maestro, ed io, e quella gente 

Ch' eran con lui, parevan si content!, 

Com' a nessun toccasse altro la mente. 

Noi eravam tutti fissi ed attenti' 

Alle sue note : ed ecco il veglio onesto, 

Gridando : Che fe cio, spiriti lenti ? 

' Noi andavam W. 

"2 The first line of the Canzone of Conv. iii. 

^" dentro mi; so innanzi mi, iv. 136. See Diez iii. 288. He 

regards it as an instance of the adverb being used as a preposition; but 

is not mi a dative here ? 

no 

120


What negligence, what halt is this ? Haste to the mount 

to strip you of the slough, which allows not God to be 

manifest to you.' 

As when, plucking wheat or tare, the pigeons assembled 

at their feeding, quiet, without showing their accustomed 

pride, if anything appears whereof they have fear, suddenly 

let their food stay, because they are assailed by a greater 

care, so saw I this fresh-come troop leave the song, and 

go toward the hillside, as one who goes, nor knows where 

he is coming forth. Nor less hasty was our own departure. 

Qual negligenza, quale stare fe questo ? 

Correte al monte a spogliarvi lo scoglio, 

Ch' esser non lascia a voi Dio manifesto. 

Come quando, cogliendo biada o loglio,''^ 

Gli colombi adunati alia pastura, 

Queti senza mostrar 1' usato orgoglio, 

Se cosa appare, ond' elli abbian paura, 

Subitamente lasciano star 1' esca, 

Perchfe assaliti son da maggior cura : 

Cos! vid' io quella masnada fresca 130 

Lasciar lo canto, e gire invar la costa,' 

Com' uom che va, nfe sa dove riesca :" 

Nfe la nostra partita fu men tosta. 

'^ E come raccogl. Gg. ' efuggir ver Bi. 

s'arresta Gg, Land. Aid.; saresca Cass.; sarresca 145 ; siresca 23. 

"^ scoglio for scoglia, as velo for vela in i. 32. Cruse, recognises 

this form, but does not quote this passage. In Vanzon's Diet, is quoted 

' Lo serpe getta ogni anno lo scoglio vecchio.' 

1^2 Cf. V. N. § xiii.: come colui che non sa per qual via pigli il suo 

cammino, e che vuole andare e non sa ove vada.

CANTO III 

ARGUMENT 

Dante perceives that he casts a shadow, Virgil none. Virgil explains 

the reason, and so they reach the foot of the mountain. A troop 

of souls overtake them, who; show them the right point to begin 

the ascent. Manfred talks with Dante, who learns that these 

are the souls of" men who had died excommunicate, but had 

repented before death. 

ALBEIT their sudden flight had scattered those over the 

plain, turned towards the mountain, whither reason goads 

us, I drew close to my faithful escort; and how should I 

have sped without hirii ? Who would have drawn me up 

over the mountain? Pie seemed to me for his own self 

AvvEGNACHi; la subitana fuga 

Dispergesse color per la campagna, 

Rivolti al monte ove ragion ne fruga; 

Io mi ristrinsi alia fida compagna : 

E come sare' io senza lui corso ? 

Chi m' avria tratto su per la montagna ? 

Ei mi parea da sfe stesso rimorso : 

'" ove ragion ne fruga. Bianchi compares xxi. 64. 

•* compagna: perhaps for compagnia (taken as in Inf. xxi. n6); 

but more probably a formation like scorta, guardia. See Diez ii. 14.

CANTO HI PURGATORY 25 

remorseful. O conscience, dignified and pure, how bitter 

a sting is a small fault to thee ! 

When his feet had left the haste which undoes the come 

liness in every action, my mind, which before was restrained, 

rewidened its attention as though eager, and I set my face 

toward the steep, which from the water rises loftiest towards 

the heaven. The Sun, which behind was blazing ruddy, was 

broken in front of me, according to the figure which the 

check to his rays received in me. I turned me aside with 

fear of having been abandoned, when I saw only in front of 

myself the earth darkened ; and my comfort, turning wholly 

O dignitosa coscienza e netta. 

Come t' fe picciol fallo amaro morso! 

Quando Ii piedi suoi lasciar la fretta, lo 

Che 1' onestade ad ogni atto dismaga. 

La mente mia, che prima era ristretta, 

Lo intento rallargb, si come vaga; 

E diedi il viso mio incontro al poggio, 

Che inverso il ciel piti alto si dislaga. 

Lo Sol, che dietro fiammeggiava roggio, 

Rotto m' era dinanzi, alia figura 

Ch' aveva in me dei suoi raggi 1' appoggio. 

Io mi volsi dallato con paura 

D' esser abbandonato, quand' io vidi 20 

Solo dinanzi a me la terra oscura : 

E il mio conforto ; Perchfe pur diffidi, 

^^ vaga. ' Desiderosa di conoscere quel nuovi bggetti.'-^Lomb. 

'" Land, and Lomb. read ' dinanzi alia figura'; which also gives 

a good sense, che would of course be rendered ' for'; and lo Sol 

would be the subject of aveva. 

22 The force of pur is a little doubtful. Lomb., whom Bianchi 

follows, says '\t=âncora with reference to 1. 4. It seems better to join 

it with difSidi than with perch^, and to understand it as meaning rather 

'constantly' than 'again.'


towards me, began to say: ' Why art thou stiU distrustful ? 

Believest thou not that I am with thee, and that I guide 

thee? It is already evening there, where is buried the 

body within which I cast a shadow. Naples has it, and 

from Brundusium was it taken. Now if in front of me no 

shade falls, marvel thou no more than at the heavens, 

wherein the one impedes not the other's rays. To suffer 

torments both of heat and cold that Power ordains such 

bodies, which will not that the manner of its working be 

revealed to us. Mad is he who hopes that our reason can 

A dir mi comincib tutto rivolto; 

Non credi tu me teco, e ch' io ti guidi ? 

Vespero fe gia cola, dov' fe sepolto 

Lo corpo, dentro al quale io facea ombra: 

Napoli r ha, e da Brandizio e tolto : 

Ora, se innanzi a me nulla s' adombra, 

Non ti maravigliar piti che de' cieli, 

Che 1' uno all' altro raggio non ingombra. 30 

A sofferir tormenti e caldi e gieli 

Simili corpi la virtii dispone, 

Che come fa non vuol ch' a noi si sveli. 

Matto fe chi spera, che nostra ragione 

Possa trascorrer la infinita via, 

^ My spiritual form no more hinders the passage of the Sun's rays 

than does one of the spheres which compose the universe those proceeding 

firom another. 

31-33 Virgil meets Dante's doubt before he has expressed it. In xxv. 

20 a similar difficulty is stated, and receives a fuller explanation. Cf 

De An. ii. 2 : oiJ T6 awixi ianv hreKixîa, fvxvs, d W a^'i; o-ci/xaris 

rlyos • Kal dA TOOTO KOKQS {nroXafi^dyovinv, oTs Soicet //.-TIT' ivei cr^/iaros 

eTvai . . . -i) i/vxfi" aajxa iJ.h yap oiK gem, (TilifiaTos W TI, Kal Bid, rovro 

iv (TiiiMiTi iwdpxei., Kal ev adi/JMn Towirif, simili in 1. 32 seems meant 

to render Toioirtf,

Ill PURGATORY 27 

travel over the boundless way, which one Substance in three 

Persons holds. Remain content, race of mankind, at the 

quia, for if you could have seen all no need was there that 

Mary should bring forth; and ye have seen desiring without 

fruition men such that their desire would have been set at 

rest, which is given them eternally for a grief. I speak 

of Aristotle and of Plato, and of many others.' And here 

he bowed his forehead, and said no more, and remained 

troubled. 

We were come therewithal to the foot of the mount. 

There we found the rock so steep that in vain would the legs 

Che tiene una Sustanzia in tre Persone. 

State contenti, umana gente, al quia : 

Che se potuto aveste veder tutto, 

Mestier non era partorir Maria : 

E disiar vedeste senza frutto 40 

Tai, che sarebbe lor disio quetato, 

Ch' eternalmente fe dato lor per lutto : 

r dico d' Aristotile e di Plato, 

E di molti altri: e qui chinb la fronte ; 

E piti non disse, e rimase turbato. 

Noi divenimmo in tanto appie del monte: 

Quivi trovammo la roccia si erta, 

Che indarno vi sarien le gambe pronte. 

'"'' quia in its later meaning of 'that,' 'fin': 'Be content with the 

fact and do not search into the how or why.' For use of adverb as 

substantive, see Diez iii. 289. 

38,39 gg aveste . . . era. So Villani: ' Se fossono giunti i loro 

pedoni, non ne campava niuno.' See Diez iii. 32; and cf the Latin 

idiom. 

*" It is to be regretted that there appears to be no MS. authority 

which would encourage us to read ne . . . vedreste, and thereby 

avoid the awkwardness of the change in form of the sentence. 

•" I. e. if they could have discovered causes as well as effects.


' be nimble there. 'Twixt Lerici and Turbia, the most desolate, 

the most broken landslip is beside this one a ladder, easy 

and open. 'Now, who knows on which hand the mountain-side 

falls,' said my Master, staying his step, 'so that 

he may ascend who goes without wings ? ' And while that, 

holding his face low, he was examining the fashion of the 

road, and I was gazing up around the rock, on the left hand 

Tra Lerici e Turbia, la piii diserta. 

La pill rotta ruina fe una scala " 50 

Verso di quella, agevole ed aperta. 

Or chi sa da qual man la costa cala, 

Disse il Maestro mio, fermando il passo. 

Si che possa salir chi va senz' ala ? 

E mentre che tenendo il viso basso ^ 

Esaminava del cammin la mente,"^ 

Ed io mirava suso intorno al sasso. 

Da man sinistra m' appari una gente 

^ rimota via Gg. ; romita \ . \ Cass. ; romita via Land. Aid. W. 

y nana) 

* ch' ei teneva W. ° Esaminando Gg. 3 W. 

*^ Lerici on the east of the Gulf of Spezzia ; Turbia above Monaco. 

rotta ruina gives so very much better a sense than the reading 

which has the slight balance of authority, romita via, that I venture to 

adopt it, with Philal. and Bianchi, against the opinion of the majority. 

Ropta ruia and roita uia are very much alike, and Turbia just above 

may easily have confiised a scribe, ruina, as in Inf. xii, 4. 

" Cf iv. 27. 

^ The Italian commentators understand mente of the mind of 

Virgil, whether as subject or object of esaminava. Blanc, in his 

'Erklarungen,' calls 'la tnente del cammin' a 'ganz unerhorte Metaphor 

'; but in his ' Dictionary,' while maintaining that it is daring, he 

believes it to be the true construction. Of this there can be httle 

doubt. Mente is exactly equivalent to the Latin ingenium {loci, 

arvorum, etc.) 

^ These are persons who have put off repentance till death, and 

have then died in contumacy of the Church.

in PURGATORY 29 

appeared to me a folk of souls who were moving their feet 

toward us, and yet seemed not, so slow they came. ' Raise,' 

said I to my Master, 'thy eyes. Lo, on this side is one 

who will give us counsel, if thou canst not have it of thyself.' 

He looked at them, and with frank mien answered : ' Let 

us go thitherward, for they come slowly; and thou confirm 

tSy hope, sweet son.' 

Still .was that people so far off, I mean after a thousand 

of our paces, as a good thrower would hurl with his hand, 

when they all drew up to the hard masses of the lofty bank, 

and stood firm and close, as he who goes in doubt stands 

still to look. ' O ye who have made a good end, O spirits 

already elect,' Virgil began, 'by that peace which I think 

D' anime, che movieno i pie ver noi, 

E non parevan, si venivan lente. 60 

Leva, diss' io al Maestro, gli occhi tuoi: 

Ecco di qua chi ne dara consiglio, 

Se tu da te medesmo aver noi puoi. 

Guardb a loro, e con libero piglio ^ 

Rispose: Andiamo in la, ch' ei vengon piano, 

E tu ferma la speme, dolce figlio. 

Ancora era quel popol di lontano, 

I' dico dopo i nostri mille passi, 

Quanto un buon gittator trarria con mano, 

Quando si strinser tutti ai duri massi 70 

Deir alta ripa, e stetter fermi e stretti. 

Com' a guardar, chi va dubbiando, stassi. 

O ben finiti, o gia spiriti eletti, 

Virgilio incomincib, per quella pace, 

d Guardommi allora Aid. Land. Bi. 

59 movieno for moveano.- So venieno, 1. 92. See Diez ii. 130.


is awaited by you aU, tell us where the mountain falls, so 

that it is possible to go upward; for loss of time displeases 

most who most knows.' As the sheep issue from the fold 

by one, by two, by three, and the others stand timid, 

holding eye and muzzle to earth, and that which the first 

does the rest do too, coming close behind her if she stops, 

simple and quiet, and know not the why or wherefore ; so 

saw I then move to come, the head of that fortunate flock, 

shamefast in face and in their gait dignified. When those 

in front saw the light on the ground broken to the right side 

Ch' io credo che per voi tutti s' aspetti, 

Ditene dove la montagna giace. 

Si che possibil sia 1' andare in suso : 

Che il perder tempo a chi piti sa, piii spiace. 

Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso 

Ad una, a due, a tre, e 1' altre stanno 8o 

Timidette atterrando 1' occhio e il muso, 

E cib che fa la prima, e 1' altre fanno, 

Addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta, 

Semplici e quete, e lo imperchfe non sanno : 

Si vid' io movere, a venir, la testa 

Di quella mandria fortunata allotta, 

Pudica in faccia, e nell' andare onesta. 

Come color dinanzi vider rotta 

La luce in terra dal mio destro canto, 

'" He uses the same simile Conv. i. ii. 

^ It is still early morning, for but just now the Sun was shining 

red; and it is not till after some time that he has gone through 50 degrees 

of arc. Dante has therefore his left side towards the east, and these 

folk are approaching from the south (see also 1.58). The general direction 

of the course through Purgatoiy is with the Sun, i.e. from E. to W. 

by the N. (see iv. 60). By the first evening they have got somewhat 

to the N., but not enough to see the setting Sun (vi. 57). On the

Ill PURGATORY 31 

of me, so that the shadow was from me to the rock, they 

stayed and drew themselves a little back, and all the others 

that were coming after, not knowing wherefore, did as 

much. ' Without demand from you, I declare to you that 

this man whom you see is a human body, whereby the 

Sun's light is cloven on the earth. Marvel you not; but 

believe that not without power which comes from Heaven he 

seeks to surmount this wall.' Thus the Master. And that 

worshipful folk said : ' Turn, enter then before us,' making 

a sign with the backs of their hands. And one of them 

began : ' Whoever thou art, turn thy face as thou goest 

Si che 1' ombra era da me alia grotta, 90 

Ristaro, e trasser sfe indietro alquanto, 

E tutti gli altri che venieno appresso, 

Non sapendo il perchfe, fero altrettanto. 

Senza vostra dimanda io vi confesso, 

Che questo fe corpo uman che voi vedete, 

Perchfe il lume del Sole in terra fe fesso : 

Non vi maravigliate ; ma credete, 

Che non senza virtii che dal Ciel vegna, 

Cerca di soverchiar questa parete. 

Cosi il Maestro : e quella gente degna, 100 

Tornate, disse : intrate innanzi dunque, 

Coi dossi delle man facendo insegna. 

Ed un di loro incomincib : Chiunque 

Tu sei, COSI andando volgi il viso : 

second evening they have the sunset full in face (xv. 9, 141), and the next 

morning they start with the Sun at their backs (xix. 39), i.e. they are 

on the north side of the mountain. On the last evening they sleep on 

the west side, as appears from the fact that when they reach the summit, 

Dante has the morning Sun full on his face (xxvii. 133). It must be 

remembered that the time is just after the equinox. 

103 Xhis is Manfred, king of Sicily and Apulia, natural son of the


thus, give heed if on that side thou sawest me ever.' I 

turned me to him and looked fixedly on him; fair-haired 

he was, and beautiful and of noble countenance ; but one 

of his eyelids a stroke had divided. When I had humbly 

disclaimed to have ever seen him, he said: ' Now look,' 

and showed me a wound high on his breast. Then he 

said smiling : ' I am Manfred, grandson of Constance the 

empress; wherefore I pray thee that when thou returnest 

thou go to my fair daughter, mother of the honour of Sicily 

Pon mente, se di la mi vedesti unque. 

Io mi volsi ver lui, e guardail fiso : 

Biondo era e bello, e di gentile aspetto : 

Ma 1' un dei cigli un colpo avea diviso. 

Quando mi fui umilmente disdetto 

D' averlo visto mai, ei disse : Or vedi; no 

E mostrommi una piaga a sommo il petto. 

Poi disse sorridendo : Io son Manfredi 

Nipote di Gostanza Imperadrice : 

Ond' io ti prego, che quando tu riedi, 

Vadi a mia bella figlia, genitrice 

emperor Frederick II., killed at the battle of Grandella, near Benevento, 

Feb. 26, I26-|. Giovanni Villani (book vi.) gives sufficient 

evidence to justify his confession : ' Orribil furon Ii peccati miei.' 

But he was a stanch opponent of the French intruders. 

^12 sorridendo. Foscolo has called attention to the beauty of this 

touch. His death-wound and the rage of his enemies are now only 

subjects for a smile. 

i« Constance, wife of Peter of Aragon (see vii. 112), and mother 

of Frederick king of Sicily and James king of Aragon. Looking to 

the character of these princes, and especially to Dante's own opinion of 

them as expressed in vii. 120 and elsewhere, there is a little difficulty 

about o«(jr. But if should be remembered that it is their grandfather 

who is speaking, and that in his view some credit might be due to those 

who had to a certain extent avenged the house of Swabia on that of 

Anjou.


and Aragon, and say to her the truth, if else be said. 

After that I had my body torn with two deadly stabs, I 

betook myself weeping to Him who willingly pardons. 

Horrible were my sins ; but the infinite ^goodness has arms 

so wide that it receives that which turns back to it. If the 

pastor of Cosenza, who to the chase of me was sent by 

Clement, had then in God duly read this page, the bones of 

my body would still be at the bridge-head near Benevento, 

under the guard of the heavy stone-heap. Now the rain 

washes them, and the wind moves them forth from the 

Deir onor di Cicilia e d' Aragona, 

E dichi a lei il ver, s' altro si dice. 

Poscia ch' i' ebbi rotta la persona 

Di due punte mortali io mi rendei 

Piangendo a quel che volentier perdona. T2O 

Orribil furon Ii peccati miei: 

Ma la bonta infinita ha si gran braccia, 

Che prende cib che si rivolge a lei. 

Se il Pastor di Cosenza, che alia caccia 

Di me fu messo per Clemente, allora 

Avesse in Dio ben letta questa faccia, 

L' ossa del corpo mio sarieno ancora 

In co' del ponte presso a Benevento, 

Sotto la guardia della grave mora. 

Or le bagna la pioggia e muove il vento 130 

^2" quei in oblique cases is rare. But cf. Inf ii. 104, Par. xvii. 93, 

and 'per mala guardia di quegU che '1 custodiva,' Villani vi. 69. See 

note to vii. 96. 

^' As an example of the blunders of copyists, it may be mentioned 

that four of the first five editions (1245) read 'dico senza,' making of 

course absolute nonsense. 

126 faccia. ' Per ciascuna banda del foglio.' Diet. Cruse, which 

refers to this line. The allusion may be to Ezekiel xviii. 27. 

D


kingdom, hard by the Verde, whither he transported them 

with ligjit put out. Through their malediction one is not 

so lost that the eternal love cannot return, so long as hope 

Di fuor del regno, quasi lungo il Verde, 

Ove le trasmutb a lume spento. 

Per lor maladizion si non si perde, 

Che non possa tornar 1' eterno amore, 

Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde.® 

^ efuor del Aid. 

131 regno, of Naples, or Apulia; as always, when the word is 

used alone. Villani's account, written evidently with this passage 

before his eyes (vii. 9), is as follows : ' Imperocch' era scomunicato, 

non voile il re Carlo che fosse recato in luogo sacro; ma appie del 

ponte di Benivento fu soppellito, e sopra la sua fossa per ciascuno 

deir oste gittafa una pietra; onde si fece grande mora di sassi. Ma 

per alcuni si disse, che poi per mandate del papa, il vescovo di 

Cosenza il trasse di quella sepoltura, e mandollo fuori dal Regno, e 

ch' era terra di Chiesa, e fu sepolto lungo il fiume di Verde, a confini 

del Regno e di Campagna.' The last words show that Villani did 

not, with most of the older commentators, understand the Verde here 

mentioned to be the small stream which flows into the Tronto near 

Ascoh, but as is now generally thought, the Liris or Garigliano. See 

Blanc, who notices (Erklarungen) that in either case the body would 

have been taken into Church territory, whether the March of Ancona 

or the Campagna of Rome. 

135 ha fior. Fior is used much as in Inf. xxv. 144, xxxiv. 26 

but rather more literally. Others read i fuor, and take it to aUude to 

the practice, mentioned by Sacchetti, Nov. xli., of painting the bottom 

of a candle green. Cf. Petr. Son. xxvi., where 'speme condotta al 

verde,' is called by Gesualdo, in Giglio's edition of 1553, 'metaphora 

de la candela,' as though it were common. But, as Speroni 

says, ' II Petrarca crede imitar Dante, e s' inganna quanto alia cosa, e 

quanto alia lingua.' The other reading seems unquestionably the best, 

and far more Uke Dante's manner. Green, it may be observed, is the 

colour denoting hope. M. Angelo's ' Poich^ d' ogni mia speme il verde 

e spento' is consistent with either explanation.


has any bloom of its green. True it is that whoso dies in 

contumacy of holy Church, although at last he repents him, 

it behoves him to stay without this bank, for all the time 

that he has remained in his presumption, thirty-fold, if such 

decree does not become shortened by kindly prayers. 

Hereafter see if thou canst make me happy, revealing to 

my good Constance how thou hast seen me, and also this 

interdict; for here through those on that side much 

furthering is' had. 

Ver fe, che quale in contumacia muore 

Di Santa Chiesa, ancor che al fin si penta. 

Star 11 convien da questa ripa in fuore 

Per ogni tempo, ch' egli fe stato, trenta. 

In sua presunzion, se tal decreto 140 

Pill corto per buon prieghi non diventa. 

Vedi oragiai se tu mi puoi far lieto, 

Riyelando alia mia buona Gostanza, 

Come m' hai visto, ed anco esto divieto : 

Chfe qui per quei di la molto s' avanza.

CANTO IV 

ARGUMENT 

They enter a gap in the hillside and begin to climb. Virgil explains 

the motion of the sun as seen in the hemisphere where they are. 

Dante talks with Belacqua, whom he finds among those who 

have delayed their repentance through indolence. 

WHEN, by reason of delight, yea, or of pain, which any 

virtue of ours conceives, the soul fully collects itself 

thereto, it seems that it attends to no power more; and 

this is against that error, which believes that one soul upon 

another is kindled in us. And therefore, when anything is 

heard or seen of such sort as to hold the soul fast turned 

QUANDO per dilettanze ovver per doglie, 

Che alcuna virtii nostra comprenda,^ 

L' anima bene ad essa si raccoglie. 

Par ch' a nulla potenzia piii intenda : 

E questo fe contra quello error che crede 

Che un' anima sovr' altra in noi s' accenda. 

E perb quando s' ode cosa o vede, 

Che tenga forte a se 1' anima volta, 

^ a. nostra vertute Cass.; a. v. n. si comp. Gg. 

i'i2 See note at end of this Canto. 

" I have rather emphasised the subjunctive tenga to mark the exact 

equivalence of the construction with the similar one in Latin.

GANTO IV PURGATORY 37 

towards itself, the time goes by, and the man recks not 

thereof,, for that which is listening to it is one power, and 

that which keeps the soul entire is another; the latter is 

as it were bound, and the former is at large. 

Of this I had a true experience, hearing that spirit and 

marvelling. For full fifty degrees had the sun climbed, 

and I had not heeded, when we came where those spirits 

with one voice cried to us: ' Here is what you ask!' 

A larger opening many a time the villager hedges up with 

a forkful of his thorns, w-hen the grape is growing brown, 

than was the gap from which my Leader mounted, and I 

after him alone, when the troop parted from us. One 

Vassene il tempo, e 1' uom non se n' awede: 

Ch' altra potenzia fe quella che 1' ascolta; lo 

Ed altra fe quella che ha 1' anima intera: 

Questa fe quasi legata, e quella fe sciolta. 

Di cib ebb' io esperienzia vera, 

Udendo quello spirto ed ammirando; 

Chfe ben cinquanta gradi sahto era 

Lo Sole, ed io non m' era accorto, quando 

Venimmo dove quell' anime ad una 

Gridaro a noi: Qui fe vostro dimando. 

Maggiorc'aperta molte volte impruna 

Con una forcatella di sue spine, 20 

L' uom della villa, quando 1' uva imbruna, 

Che non era la calla, onde saline'' 

Lo Duca mio ed io appresso soli. 

Come da noi la schiera si partine. 

b lo calle Gg. etc.; la calle 23. 

^2 calla; so ix. 123 ; callaia, xxv. 7, is the commoner form.

38 . PURGATORY CANTO 

goes to Sanleo and descends on Noli; one mounts over 

Bismantova to the summit, with only feet; but here behoves 

it that one fly, I mean with the swift wings and with, the 

feathers of the great desire, following that guidance which 

gave me hope and made a light for me. We were climbing 

within the broken rock, and its surface grazed us on either 

side, and the ground below us required both feet and hands. 

When we were on the upper rim of the lofty bank, on the 

open mountain-side: ' My Master,' said I, ' what course 

shaU we make ?' And he to me: ' Let no step of thine 

Vassi in Sanleo, e discendesi in Noli: 

Montasi su Bismantova in cacume 

Con esso i pife : ma qui convien ch' uom voli, 

Dico con r ali snelle e con le piume 

Del gran disio diretro a quel condotto, 

Che speranza mi dava, e facea lume. 30 

Noi salavam per entro il sasso rotto, 

E d' ogni lato ne stringea lo stremo, 

E piedi e man voleva il suoi di sotto. 

Quando noi fummo in su 1' orlo supremo 

Dell' alta ripa, alia scoperta piaggia. 

Maestro mio, diss' io, che via faremo ? 

Ed egli a me : Nessun tuo passo caggia : 

26, 25 gan Leo in the duchy of Urbino, not far from San Marino. 

Noli, on the western Riviera between Albenga and Savona. Bismantova, 

said to be a mountain near Reggio. ' Cacume fe una molto ripida 

montagna in campagna,' says Landino, and Vellutello follows him. 

This is of course absurd. 

2' con esso i pi6; so ' con esso i due,' xxiv. 98, etc. For this 

use of esso indeclinable, see Diez ii. 426. uom here exactly=Fr. on 

(homo), cf. 1. 90, Diez iii. 280. 

29 condotto ; so used also Conv. i. 11. 

31 There seems no reason for rejecting the Florentine form salavam, 

which is found in most early edd. and many MSS.

IV PURGATORY 39 

descend; only gain ground upwards on the mountain 

behind me, until some wise escort appears for us.' The 

summit was lofty, that it surpassed our sight, and the mountain-side 

full steeper than a band from mid-quadrant to 

centre. I was weary, when I began : ' O sweet father, turn 

thee and behold how I remain alone, if thou stay not.' ' My 

son,' said he, 'draw thyself as far as there,' pointing me out 

a terrace not much above, which on that side circles the 

whole steep. His words so spurred me that I forced 

myself, clambering behind him until I had the ring beneath 

my feet. There we both sate us down, turned towards the 

Pur suso al monte dietro a me acquista. 

Fin che n' appaia alcuna scorta saggia. 

Lo sommo er' alto che vincea la vista, 40 

E la costa superba piii assai, 

Che da mezzo quadrante a centro lista. 

Io era lasso, quando cominciai: 

O dolce padre, volgiti e rimira. 

Com' io rimango sol, se non ristai. 

Figliuol mio, disse, infin quivi ti tira, 

Additandomi un balzo poco in sue, 

Che da quel lato il poggio tutto gira. 

Si mi spronaron le parole sue, 

Ch' io mi sforzai, carpando appresso lui, 50 

Tanto che il cinghio sotto i pife mi fue. 

A seder ci ponemmo ivi ambedui 

38 acquista, cf Inf. xxvi. 126. 

«2 More than forty-five degrees—a very sufficient inclination, as all 

mountaineers know. 

'^ da quel lato, ' on that side of,' i.e. ' above' where we were. 

51 tanto che, so Fr. tant que. The indicative follows because 

the completion of the action is past. Diez iii. 321.


east, whence we had mounted, for to look backward is wont 

to please any man. First I directed my eyes to the low 

shores; afterwards I raised them to the sun, and wondered 

that we were smitten by him on the left. The poet well 

perceived that I was standing all stupefied before the chariot 

of the light, where between us and Aquilo he was entering. 

Wherefore he to me: ' If Castor and Pollux had been in 

company of that mirror, which leads of its light both 

Volti a levante, ond' eravam saliti, 

Chfe suole a riguardar giovare altrui.'^ 

Gli occhi prima drizzai ai bassi liti, 

Poscia gli alzai al Sole, ed ammirava, 

Che da sinistra n' eravam feriti. 

Ben s' avvide il Poeta, che io restava 

Stupido tutto al carro della luce, 

Ove tra noi ed Aquilone intrava. 60 

Ond' egli a me : Se Castore e Polluce 

Fossero in compagnia di quello specchio, 

Che su e giii del suo lume conduce, 

•= Perchi suole a guardar Gg. 

5* For this use of altrui, as an indefinite pronoun, cf Inf. i. iS. See 

Diez iii. 76. Infinitive with a, jifter giovare, is not common, but a 

is sometimes almost ' otiose.' ' In vece del articolo si prepone talvolta, 

per un certo vezzo toscano, la preposizione a all' infinito. Bocc. Day 

8, Nov. 9. Che cosa e a favellare e ad usare co' savj.' Corticelli. So 

M. Ang. Sonnet 77, 'a trovar grazia . . . e raro.' In French we have 

' il lui plait a faire qqch.' 

6S sqq. See note to iii. 89. da sinistra, cf Conv. iii. 5, vedrebbe 

quello andarsi per lo braccio sinistro. 

*i I.e., if it were the month of June, when the sun is in Gemini, that 

part of the Zodiac in which he then would be would lie nearer the 

north. 

^2 specchio : the Sun. So of the planet Saturn, Par. xxi. 18. The 

light they reflect is from God.


upward and down, thou wouldst see the fiery Zodiac 

rotate yet closer to the Bears, unless it had issued forth 

from its old road. How that is, if thou wouldst be able to 

conceive, with inward recollection picture to thyself that 

Sion stands with this mountain in suchwise on the earth, 

that both have a single horizon and diverse hemispheres; 

whence, if thy intellect considers clearly, thou wilt see 

how it behoves that the road, whereon to his own mishap 

Phaethon knew not how to drive, should pass on the one 

side to this mount, when to that it is on the other side.' 

'Certes, my Master,' said I, 'never saw I aught so 

Tu vedresti il Zodiaco rubecchio 

Ancora all' Orse piii stretto rotare, 

Se non uscisse fuor del cammin vecchio. 

Come cib sia, se il vuoi poter pensare, 

Dentro raccolto immagina Sion 

Con questo monte in su la terra stare, 

Si ch' ambedue hanno un solo orizon, 70 

E diversi emisperi: onde la strada, 

Che mal non seppe carreggiar Feton, 

Vedrai com' a costui convien che vada 

Dair un, quando a colui dall' altro fianco, 

Se 1' intelletto tuo ben chiara bada. 

Certo, Maestro mio, diss' io, unquanco 

'•" See note to ii. i. 

'2 Dante is fond of referring to the legend of Phaethon. See 

xxix. 118, Par. xxxi. 125. Here he is possibly thinking of Timaeus, 

22 C, where the myth is explained to mean ' ^ deviation of the 

bodies that move round the earth in the heavens, whereby comes 

at long intervals of time a destruction with much fire of the 

things that are upon earth' (Archer Hind, who understands the reference 

to be to some phenomenon recurring regularly, but at long 

intervals).


clearly as I [now] discern, there where my intellect seemed 

wanting, that the mid-circle of heavenly movement, which 

in a certain art is called Equator, and which ever remains 

between the sun and the winter, here, for the reason that 

thou sayest, is distant towards the north, by so much as the 

Hebrews saw it towards the warm quarter. But if it please 

thee, willingly would I know how far we have to go, for 

the hill mounts more than my eyes are able.' And he 

to me : ' This mountain is such that ever at the beginning 

below it is hard, and the more one mounts, the less it pains 

him. Wherefore, when it shall appear so pleasant to thee 

Non vid' io chiaro si, com' io discerno. 

La dove mio ingegno parea manco, 

Che il mezzo cerchio del moto superno, 

Che si chiama Equatore in alcun' arte, 80 

E che sempre riman tra il Sole e il verno, 

Per la ragion, che di', quinci si parte 

Verso settentrion, quanto gli Ebrei 

Vedevan lui verso la calda parte. 

Ma, se a te place, volentier saprei, 

Quanto avemo ad andar, chfe il poggio sale 

Piii che salir non posson gli occhi miei. 

Ed egli a me : Questa montagna fe tale, 

Che sempre al cominciar di sotto fe grave, 

E quanto uom piii va su, e men fa male., 90 

Pero quand' ella ti parra soave 

8" alcun' arte; astronomy, arte is the Aristotelian T^X"'?) which 

includes science, quite as much as what we mean by ' art.' See Bonitz, 

to Metaph. 981 B. 

89, 90 'pjjg â^y of repentance is hard at first, but becomes easy by 

persistence.


that to go upon it shall be to thee as easy as to go down with 

a favouring stream on shipboard, then wilt thou be at the 

end of this road; there expect to repose thy weariness: 

more I answer not, and this I know for true.' 

And, as he had said his word, a voice from hard by 

sounded: ' Mayhap that thou wilt first have constraint to 

sit.' At the sound of it each of us turned, and we saw on 

the left a great stone, whereof neither I nor he had before 

taken note. We drew thither; and there were persons 

who stood in the shade behind the rock, as one through 

Tanto, che il su andar ti fia leggiero. 

Come a seconda il giti andar per nave : 

Allor sarai al fin d' esto sentiero : 

Quivi di riposar 1' affanno aspetta: 

Pill non rispondo, e questo so per vero. 

E, com' egli ebbe sua parola detta, 

Una voce di presso sonb : Forse 

Che di sedere in prima avrai distretta. 

Al suon di lei ciascun di noi si torse, loo 

E vedemmo a mancina un gran petrone, 

Del qual ne io nfe ei prima s' accorse. 

\A ci traemmo ; ed ivi eran persone, 

Che si stavano all' ombra dietro al sasso, 

'3 seconda, or 'a favouring breeze.' 

^ This line is worth -noting as an extreme instance of the way in 

which Dante, agreeably to the genius of all the Romance languages, 

arranges his words quite regardless of what would appear to be their 

natural scansion. 

lO" si torse; in Dante, ;or«r«=usually 'to turn at right angles,' 

' to face'; 'volgersi=' to turn right round,' ' to face about'; tomare= 

'to turn back to a former position.' This distinction, however, does 

not appear to have been maintained in Italian. 

i°3 Those who have po'stponed repentance to the last moment 

through indolence.


listlessness sets him to stand. And one of them who 

seemed to me weary, was sitting and embracing his knees, 

holding his face down low between them. ' O my sweet 

Lord,' I cried, ' cast eye on him who shows himself more 

careless than if laziness were his sister.' Then he turned 

him to us, and gave heed, merely moving his face upward 

by the thigh, and said: ' Go up now thou, for thou art 

strong.' I knew then who he was; and that struggle which 

was still quickening my breath a little, did not hinder my 

going to him; and after I had reached him he hardly 

raised his head, saying: ' Hast thou quite perceived how 

Como uom per negligenza a star si pone. 

Ed un di lor che mi sembrava lasso, 

Sedeva ed abbracciava le ginocchia, 

Tenendo il viso giii tra esse basso. 

O dolce Signor mio, diss' io, adocchia 

Colui che mostra se piii negligente, iro 

Che se pigrizia fosse sua sirocchia. 

Allor si volse a noi, e pose mente, 

Movendo il viso pur su per la coscia, 

E disse : Or va su tu che sei valente. 

Conobbi allor chi era; e quell' angoscia, 

Che m' avacciava un poco ancor la lena, 

Non m' impedi 1' andare a lui; e poscia 

Ch' a lui fui giunto, alzb la testa appena, 

Dicendo : Hai ben veduto, come il Sole 

11* Bianchi compares De Monarchia ii. i : ' Cum causam cognoscimus, 

eos qui sunt in admiratione restantes quadam derisione despicimus.' 

I am disposed, however, to think that there is a far finer 

dramatic touch in the passage, as Landino sees. Plis comment is 

'Sempre i pigri scherniscono chi e diligente ad investigare alcuna 

cosa degna.'


the Sun guides his chariot by thy left shoulder?' His 

lazy gestures, and his curt words moved my lips a little 

to a smile; then I began : ' Belacqua, henceforth it grieves 

me not for thee; but tell me, why art thou seated here? 

Awaitest thou escort, or has thy wonted habit only retaken 

thee?' And he: 'Brother, what boots it to go up? for 

the bird of God who sits above the gate would not permit 

me to go to the torments. Behoves that first the heaven 

Dair omero sinistro il carro mena ? rao 

Gli atti suoi pigri, e le corte parole 

Mosson le labbra mie un poco a riso : 

Poi cominciai: Belacqua, a me non duole 

Di te omai: ma dimmi, perchfe assiso 

Quiritta sei ? attend! tu iscorta, 

O pur lo modo usato t' ha ripriso ? 

Ed ei: Frate, 1' andar su che porta ? 

Chfe non mi lascerebbe ire ai martiri 

L' uccel di Dio, che siede in su la porta.'^ 

Prima convien, che tanto il Ciel m' aggiri 130 

Ii angel Bi. etc,; uscier Cr. 

123 Belacqua (= Bevilacqua) fu un eccelente fabricatore di cetre e di 

altri istrumenti musicali, ma uomo pigrissimo. Bianchi. 

125 quiritta. So xvii. 86. 

123 Cf. ii. 38. Philalethes has ' der Pfdrtner Gottes,' foUovnng the 

Cruscan edition. There does not, however, appear to be much MS. 

support for this otherwise satisfactory reading. But vid. Blanc. Diet. 

s.v. tiscier. The slight familiarity of the term is not unsuitable in the 

mouth of the easy-going Belacqua. The reading angel'ôvXd. seem to be 

borrowed from ix. 104. 

130, 131 ' Conviene che il cielo mi giri tanto tempo fuori di essa porta 

di Purgatorio cioe che passi tanto tempo, quanto tempo pass6 in vita.'— 

Landino. This use of aggirareM similar to that in Conv. iii. £ : 'II 

mondo dal Sole e girato,' and in the Canzone of the same book.

46 ' PURGATORY CANTO 

must circle round me [waiting] outside thereof, for so 

long a time as it did in my Ufe, because I delayed to the 

end my pious sighs; if prayer first helps me not, such as 

may rise up from a heart that lives in grace; what avails 

the other, which is not heard in heaven ?' 

And already the poet was mounting before me, and was 

saying : ' Come now away, see how the meridian is touched 

by the Sun, and on the verge the night covers already with 

her foot Morocco.' 

Di fuor da essa, quanto fece in vita," 

Perch' io indugiai al fin Ii buon sospiri, 

Se orazione in prima non m' aita, 

Che surga su di cuor che in grazia viva: 

L' altra che val, che in Ciel non fe udita ? ^ 

E gia il Poeta innanzi mi saliva, 

E dicea: Vienne omai: vedi ch' fe tocco 

Meridian dal Sole, ed alia riva 

Cuopre la notte gia col pife Marrocco. 

^ guant' io feci Gg. 1234 Lomb. ; qiianto feci Cass. * gradita Aid. 

13? tocco. For this syncopated form of the participle, see Diez ii. 

138. 

133 Morocco being on the eastern horizon of Purgatory, as India 

(ii. 5) is on the western. 

NOTE TO LINES I-I2. 

The general drift of these lines is plain enough ; but there is a point 

to be noticed which seems to have escaped attention, though it has some 

importance as bearing on Dante's philosophy. Most of, or all, the commentators 

have taken virtii and potenzia as signifying the same thing; 

thus Bianchi: ' Per virtii o potenza dell' anima s' intendono generalmente 

le facolta per cui opera.' That virtute and potentia are used 

indiscriminately by the schoolmen to represent the Aristotelian Swdfiei,


as opposed to aciu, inepyeiq,, there can be no doubt; but there is also a 

sense in which virtus is by no means the same as potentia, though 

Aristotle had only one word for the two meanings. Still he says 

(Metaph. Q I—1046 a) ivoXiv 8' airai al Svffdfieis X^yovrat, ^ roD fibvov 

TTOi^trat •? iraBetv i) rod KaXfis. Cf. iv. 12. Now this second divapj.s, 

not the mere potentiality of doing, but capacity of doing well, issues 

when manifested in dpcTT], which (Eth. Nic. ii. 5—1106 a) oS hv § iperi] 

aOrd re ed dTToreXet Kal rb 'ipyov aiirou ed diro5idia(n. This probably accounts 

for the use of virtus as equivalent to the good Sivafus. At any rate 

Aquinas (S.T. ii. I. Q. 55. A. i)says: ' Virtus nominat quamdam potentiae 

perfectionem. . . . Id enim in quod ultimo potentia potest, est id quod 

dicitur virtus rei.' Dante clearly indicates this distinction. Thus in 

Canto xvii. 73-75 at the approach of night, this virtu of walking 

' melts away,' but the/*j-a is only suspended. So in the same Canto, 

at the sight of the resplendent angel it is his virtii which fails; but in 

the presence of God (Par. xxxiii. 142) 'alia fantasia manco possa.' 

Comparing these and the present passage with Eth. Nic. A. 5 (1175 b) 

Oi ydp (piKavXoL ddvvarouo-i rots \6yoi^ irpoa^x^^^ ^^^ KaTaKob

48 PURGATORY CANTO IV 

a se gli spiriti umani, che sono quasi principalmente vapori del cuore, 

sicch^ quasi cessano da ogni operazione, si e 1' anima intera quando I'ode, 

e la virtii di tutti quasi corre alio spirito sensibile che riceve il suono. 

See Giuliani's note to this passage, and that of Philalethes here. It is 

I think pretty clear that we must take sciolta as =' free to perform its 

function,' and therefore as applying to the faculty of hearing. It is 

interesting to compare Locke's account of the converse state of mind : 

' How often may a man observe in himself that whilst his mind is 

intently employed in the contemplation of some objects, and curiously 

surveying some ideas that are there, it takes no notice,of impressions of 

sounding bodies made upon the organ of the hearing.' Essay: ii. 

ch. 9 § 4.

CANTO V 

ARGUMENT 

They are overtaken by another troop, certain of whom, on learning 

that Dante is a living man, make themselves known to him. 

These are they who have been cut off by violence, but have 

repented at the point of death. Among them are Jacopo del 

Cassero, Buonconte da Montefeltro, and Pia. They recount the 

manner of their deaths. 

I HAD already parted from those shades, and was foUowing 

the tracks of my Leader, when behind me, pointing the 

finger, one cried: ' Look, how it seems that the ray illuminates 

not to the left of him who is lowermost, and as a 

living man he seems to demean himself.' I turned my 

eyes back at the sound of this word, and saw them 

gaze for wonder at me, me only, and the light that was 

broken. 

Io era gia da quell' ombre partito, 

E seguitava 1' orme del mio Duca, 

Quando diretro a me, drizzando il dito, 

Una gridb : Ve', che non par che luca 

Lo raggio da sinistra a quel di sotto, 

E come vivo par che si conduca. 

Gli occhi rivolsi al suon di questo motto, 

E vidile guardar per maraviglia 

Pur me, pur me, e il lume ch' era rotto. 

E


'Why does thy mind so much perplex itself,' said my 

Master, 'that thou- slackenest thy going? What is it to 

thee, that which is whispered there? Come behind me, 

and let the folk talk; stand like a firm tower which never 

shakes its top for blast of winds. For ever the man, in 

whom thought wells up over thought, removes far from 

himself his mark, because the rush of the second slackens 

the first' What could I reply, if not 'I come'? I said 

it, overspread somewhat with that colour which makes a 

man worthy at times of pardon. 

And therewithal along the hillside across were coming 

Perchfe r animo tuo tanto s' impiglia, lo 

Disse il Maestro, che 1' andare allenti ? 

Che ti fa cib che quivi si pispiglia ? 

Vien dietro a me, e lascia dir le genti, 

Sta come torre ferma, che non crolla'' 

Giammai la cima per soffiar dei venti. 

Chfe sempre 1' uomo, in cui pensier rampoUa 

Sovra pensier, da sfe dilunga il segno, 

Perchfe la foga 1' un dell' altro insoUa. 

Che poteva io ridir, se non : Io vegno ? 

Dissilo, alquanto del color consperso, 20 

Che fa r uom di perdon tal volta degno. 

E intanto per la costa da traverse 

* fermo Bi. 

1° impigliare is used in its literal sense in line 83 : metaphorically, 

as here, in xiv. 117. 

16-18 < Xhe man who allows one thought to follow on another fails 

to keep his object cleai-ly before him.' 

1^ foga: Buti appears to read soga, as if the metaphor were from 

a, bowstring! Several edd. before 1500 le&A forza.—insoUa; for 

MUO, see xxvii. 40.

V PURGATORY SI 

folk in front of us a little, singing Miserere, verse by versCi 

When they perceived that by reason of my body I did not 

give place to the passage of the rays, they changed their 

chant into an O long and hoarse, and two of them in guise 

of messengers ran to meet us, and demanded of us : ' Make 

us acquainted with your condition.' And my Master: 

'Ye can go your way, and report to them that sent you 

that the body of this man is very flesh. If for the sight 

of his shadow they stood still, as I opine, enough is 

answered them; let them do him honour, and he may 

be dear to them.' Never saw I kindled vapours so swiftly 

Venivan genti innanzi a noi un poco, 

Cantando Miserere a verso a verso. 

Quando s' accorser ch' io non dava loco. 

Per lo mio corpo, al trapassar de' raggi, 

Mutar lor canto in un O lungo e roco,, 

E due di loro in forma di messaggi 

Corsero incbntr' a noi, e dimandarne : 

Di vostra condizion fatene saggi. 30 

E il mio Maestro : Voi potete andarne, 

E ritrarre a color che vi mandaro, 

Che il corpo di Costui e vera carne. 

Se per veder la sua ombra restaro. 

Com' io awiso, assai fe lor risposto : 

Faccianli onore, ed esser pub lor caro. 

Vapori accesi non vid' io si tosto 

2^ Miserere, i.e. the Sist (or in the Vulgate Soth) Psalm. 

2' per lo mio corpo. I have followed Blanc and Biagioli in taking 

per as equivalent to the Latin prae, as in iv. I, and frequently. 

Lombardi takes it z.%=per 'the passage of the rays through my body.' 

The former .seems better to suit the order of the words. 

37 Following Aristotle (Meteorol. i. 4) he regards shooting - stai-s


cleave at early night the clear sky, nor, as the sun is falling, 

August clouds that these did not return upward in less 

time, and arrived there they with the others wheeled round 

to us, like a troop which goes without rein. 'This folk 

which presses on us is many and they come to entreat thee,' 

said the poet, 'wherefore only go on, and in thy going 

listen.' They came crying : ' O spirit, that goest to be happy 

with those limbs which thou hadst at thy birth, slacken thy 

pace a little. Look if thou hast ever seen any one of us, so 

that thou mayest bear news of him on that side; why goest 

Di prima notte mai fender sereno,'' 

Nfe, Sol calando, nuvole d' Agosto, 

Che color non tornasser suso in meno, 40 

E giunti 1^, con gli altri a noi dier volta. 

Come schiera che corre senza freno. 

Questa gente che preme a noi, fe molta, 

E vengonti a pregar, disse il Poeta, 

Perb pur va, ed in andando ascolta."^ 

O anima, che vai per esser lieta 

Con quelle membra, con le quai nascesti, 

Venian gridando, un poco il passo queta. 

Guarda se alcun di noi unque vedesti. 

Si che di lui di la novelle porti: 50 

1) Mezza notte Aid. c ,; imaginando Gg. 

and ' summer' lightning as different forms of the same phenomenon, 

considering both due to kindled vapour. This is obviously the right 

interpretation, and not that which takes nuvole d' Agosto as the subject 

and not the object of fendere, for the motion of clouds is never so great 

as to suggest extreme rapidity. Cf Par. Lost iv. 556. 

*" che non=Latin quin. 

^ membra. So usually; but sometimes membre, as vi. 147.

V PURGATORY 53 

thou, prithee ? why dost thou not stay ? We were all once 

slain by violence, and sinners up to our last hour; then 

light of heaven made us conscious, so that repenting and 

forgiving, we issued forth of life reconciled to God, who 

pricks our hearts with the desire to see Him.' And I: 

' For all that I gaze -in your faces, I do not recognise any 

one ; but if aught that I can do pleases you, O spirits born 

to bliss, do ye say it, and I will do it for the sake of that 

peace, which makes me, following the feet of a guide thus- 

fashioned, seek it from world to world.' 

Deh perchfe vai? deh perchfe non t' arresti?"^ 

Noi fummo gia tutti per forza morti, 

E peccatori infino all' ultim' ora : 

Quivi lume del Ciel ne fece accorti 

Si, che pentendo e perdonando, fuora 

Di vita uscimmo a Dio pacificati, 

Che del disio di sfe veder n' accora. 

Ed io : Perchfe nei vostri visi guati, 

Non riconosco alcun, ma s' a voi place 

Cosa ch' io possa, spiriti ben nati, 60 

Voi dite ed io faro per quella pace, 

Che, dietro ai piedi di si fatta guida, 

Di mondo in mondo cercar mi si face. 

^ Di perchi , . . none arr. Gg. 

^' perchfe vai seems a sort of formula. Cf ii. 90. 

5' se; so si cercar in 1. 63, corresponding precisely with the Latin 

use. accora; Inf xv. 82, cf iii. 3. 

55 perchfe, see notes Inf. xv. 15, xvi. 93. 

59 non riconosco : merely, no doubt, because he had never met them 

in life.


And one began : ' Each one puts his faith in thy good 

ofifices, without thy swearing it, so only that want of power 

cut not win away. Whence I, who speak alone before 

the rest, pray thee, if ever thou see that land which lies 

between Romagna and Charles's land, that thou wouldst 

be gracious to me of thy prayers in Fano, so that on my 

behalf supplication be well made, that I may have power to 

purge my heavy offences. I of that place was, but the 

deep wounds, whence issued the blood whereon my soul 

held its seat, were made for me in the midst of the sons of 

Ed uno incomincib : Ciascun si fida 

Del beneficio tuo senza giurarlo. 

Pur che il voler nonpossa non ricida. 

Ond' io, che solo, innanzi agli altri parlo, 

Ti prego, se mai vedi quel paese, 

Che siede tra Romagna e quel di Carlo, 

Che tu mi sie dei tuoi prieghi cortese 70 

In Fano si, che ben per me s' adori. 

Perch' io possa purgar le gravi offese. 

Quindi fu' io, ma Ii profondi fori, 

Ond' usci il sangue, in sul qual io sedea, 

Fatti mi furo in grembo agli Antenori, 

^* This is Jacopo del Cassero of Fano (doubtless a relative of Guido 

del Cassero, Inf xxviii. 76) formerly podestd. of Bologna; who was 

assassinated by order of Azzo d' Este while on his way to assume the 

same office at Milan (Bianchi). The date is given as 1298, but as 

peace between Bologna and Ferrara was only made, after a three years' 

war, in May 1299 (Villani viii. 28), this murder could hardly have been 

committed earlier. If he had been killed by an open enemy he would 

hardly speak as he does. A Jacopo da Fano is mentioned by Villani, 

vii. 120, among a number of Guelf cliiefs. 

"3 quel paese : the March of Ancona. 

"" quel di Carlo : the kingdom of Apulia. 

^^ io; the soul being that which preserves the personal identity. 

'5 Antenori, Paduans. ' Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque

V PURGATORY SJ 

Antenor, there where I trusted to be most secure; he of 

Esti bade do it, who had me in wrath far enough beyond 

what justice willed. But if I had fled towards La Mira 

when I was overtaken at Oriaco, still should I be on that 

side where they breathe. I ran to the marsh, and the 

cane-brake and the mud entangled me so that I fell, and 

there saw I a lake form itself qn the ground from my 

veins.' 

Then said another: ' I pray so may that desire be 

fulfiUed which draws thee to the lofty mount, with kindly 

piety help mine. I was of Montefeltro, I am Buonconte; 

La dov' io piii sicuro esser credea : 

Quel da Esti il fe' far, che m' avea in ira 

Assai pill la che il dritto non volea. 

Ma s' io fossi fuggito inver La Mira, 

Quand' io fui sovraggiunto ad Oriaco, 80 

Ancor sarei di la, dove si spira. 

Corsi al palude, e le cannucce e il braco 

M' impigliar si, ch' io caddi, e 11 vid' io 

Delle mie vene farsi in terra laco. 

Poi disse un' altro : Deh, se quel disio 

Si compia che ti tragge all' alto monte, 

Con buona pietate aiuta il mio. 

Io fui di Montefeltro, io son Buonconte : 

locavit Teucrorum.'—Virg. Aeneid i. 247. Philalethes thinks with an 

allusion to their treacherous understanding with Azzo, Antenor being 

one of the typical traitors, after whom a quarter of hell is named. 

'9. 80 La Mira and Oriaco. Two small towns on the Brenta between 

Padua and Venice. 

51 ' I should still be in the world of living men.' 

55 See note to ii. 16. 

58 Buonconte da Montefeltro, son of Guido, fought on the side of

56 PUJ^GATORY CANTO 

Joan, or any other, has no care of me; wherefore I go 

among these with lowered brow.' And I to him : ' What 

force or what, adventure led thee so far astray from Campaldino, 

that thy sepulture has never been known?' 'Oh,' 

answered he, 'at foot of the Casentino a stream goes 

across, which has to name Archiano, which takes its rise 

above the hermitage in Apennine. Where its name becomes 

void came I, pierced in the throat, flying on foot, and stain- 

Giovanna, o altri non ha di me cura; 

Perch' io vo tra costor con bassa fronte. co 

Ed io a lui: Qual forza, o qual ventura 

Ti travib si fuor di Campaldino, 

Che non si seppe mai tua sepoltura ? 

Oh, rispos' egli, appife del Casentino 

Traversa un' acqua che ha nome 1' Archiano, 

Che sovra 1' Ermo nasce in Apennino. 

Dove il vocabol suo diventa vano,^ 

Arriva' io forato nella gola, 

Fuggendo a piede, e sanguinando il piano. 

s La 've Gg. Aid. Land. Bi. etc. 

Arezzo and the Ghibelines, at the battle of Campaldino or Certomondo, 

in the upper valley of the Arno (called the Casentino) on June II, 1289. 

On the other side were the Guelfs of Tuscany, vrith Florence at the head, 

in whose ranks Dante himself is said to have fought. The men of 

Arezzo were beaten and their leaders slain. See Villani vii. 131. fui 

. . . son: see note Inf xxxiii. 13. 

95 r Ermo: the monastery of Camaldoli. 

9' Where it falls into the Arno, and loses its own name ; see I. 122. 

The point is just above Bibbiena. The reading la 've is probably an 

instance of a very common source of corruptions in a text. Nome 

(which is found in some MSS.) was no doubt written as a gloss on 

vocabol. Then it got substituted for it. Then some one prefixed la to 

dove to make the line scan. Then vocabol got restored, and to get rid 

of a superfluous syllable, dove was cut down to 've.


ing the plain with blood. There I lost my sight, and my 

speech finished with the name of Mary, and there I fell, and 

my flesh alone remained. I will tell the truth, and do thou 

repeat it among the livitig; the Angel of God took me, and 

he of Hell cried : " O thou from heaven, why robbest thou 

me ? Thou bearest away for thyself the eternal part of this 

man, for one little tear which takes him from me; but with 

the other part will I take other order." Thou knowest 

well how in the air collects itself that moist vapour which 

returns to water as soon as it mounts where the cold con 

denses it. Thither came that evfl will, which seeks evil 

Quivi perdei la vista, e la parola* roo 

Nel nome di Maria fini, e quivi ^ 

Caddi, e rimase la mia carne sola. 

Io dirb il vero, e tu il ridi' tra i vivi: 

L' Angel di Dio mi prese, e quel d' Inferno 

Gridava : O tu dal Ciel, perchfe mi privi ? 

Tu te ne porti di costui 1' eterno 

Per una lagrimetta che '1 mi toglie. 

Ma io faro dell' altro altro governo. 

Ben sai come nell' aer si raccoglie 

Quell' umido vapor che in acqua riede, no 

Tosto che sale dove il freddo il coglie. 

Giunse quel mal voler, che pur mal chiede 

^ la parola ; Bl. i finii W. 

i''2 rimanere is a technical word for being killed in battle. See Villani 

passim. 

1"* Compare the account of his father's end. Inf. xxvii. 113. It is 

worth noting that Buonconte, like Manfred, died excommunicate. 

i°5 faro governo; so Inf xxvii. 47. 

109-111 XvylffraraL ij drfils ^vxoîvrj . . . Kal ylverat iidup i^ d^po 

Ar. Meteor, i. 9. 

112 che pur mal chiede; S.T. i. Q. 64. A. 2, discusses the question


only with its intelligence, and moved the vapour and the 

wind through the power which its nature gave. Then, 

when the day was spent, he covered the vaUey from 

Pratomagno to the great ridge with clouds, and made 

overcast the heaven above, so that the teeming air was 

turned to water; the rain fell, and to the trenches came 

so much of it as the earth did not endure; and as it came 

together into the great streams, it rushed so swift towards 

the royal river that naught held it back. My body, cold. 

Con r intelletto, e mosse il fumo e il vento 

Per la virtii, che sua natura diede. 

Indi la valle, .come il di fu spento. 

Da Pratomagno al gran giogo coperse 

Di nebbia, e il ciel di sopra fece intento *" 

Si, che il pregno aere in acqua si converse : 

La pioggia cadde, e ai fossati venne 

Di lei cib .che la terra non sofferse : 120 

E come ai rivi grandi si convenne, 

Ver lo fiume real tanto veloce 

Si ruinb, che nulla la ritenne. 

11 ilgiel Gg. W. 

' Utrum voluntas daemonum sit obstinata in malo,' and decides it in the 

affirmative. 

11* Cf Eph. ii. 2 rhv ttpxovTa TTJS iôvcrias TOU dipos. 

i!8 gran giogo, the main ridge of the Apennine, which forms the 

east side of the Casentino, the ridge of Pratomagno being on the west. 

122 fiume real, usually understood to mean the Arno, though Scart. 

thinks the Archiano. The question is not veiy important; but the 

former seems to have the best claim to the epithet. Cf. Claudian Bell. 

Get. 333 sqq. of the Rhine and Danube:— 

Primo fonte breves, mox alto gurgite regnant, 

Et fluvios cogunt unda coeunte minores 

In nomen transire suum.


hard upon its mouth the swollen Archiano found; and 

that hurried it into the Arno, and loosened on my breast 

the cross, which I made of myself when the pain overcame 

me; it rolled me by the banks and by the bottom; then 

with its plunder covered me and girt me.' 

' I pra.y, when thou art returned to the world, and rested 

from thy long journey,' the third spirit followed on the 

second, ' be mindful of me, that am Pia. Siena made me, 

Maremma unmade me; he knows it, who, ringed as I was 

before, had espoused me with his own gem.' 

Lo corpo mio gelato in su la foce 

Trovb 1' Archian rubesto; e quel sospinse 

Nell' Arno, e sciolse al mio petto la croce, 

Ch' io fei di me quando il dolor mi vinse : 

Voltommi per le ripe, e p?r lo fondo; 

Poi di sua preda mi coperse e cinse. 

Deh, quando tu sarai tornato al mondo, 130 

E ripos'ato della lunga via, 

Seguitb il terzo spirito al secondo, 

Ricorditi di me, che son la Pia : 

Siena mi fe, disfecemi Maremma : 

Salsi colui che inannellata pria 

Disposato m' avea con la sua gemma. 

12^ in su, 'just over,' i.e. ' close upon'; in this sense more often of 

time, as xxvii. 38. 

129 preda, the stones and earth which it carried down. 

133 Pia Guastelloni, married first to a Tolomei, then to Nello Pannocchieschi, 

of Castel della Pietra ; murdered by order of her second 

husband, on a suspicion of infidelity, at a castle in the Sienese Maremma. 

135 salsi = se lo sa. So xxxi. 90. This use of the reflexive form 

(cf. vi. 2) must be distinguished from its use as equivalent to passive, 

e.g. in line 93. 

136 The early edd. read disposando. The more recent editions seem 

to agree in disposato, which is decidedly preferable in point of sense. 

See Bianchi's note.

CANTO VI 

ARGUMENT 

Dante speaks with other spirits, among whom is Peter de la Brosse. 

Virgil enlightens him on the subject of prayer for those in Purgatory. 

They meet Sordello of Mantua, who greets Virgil, when 

he learns that he is his countryman. Dante inveighs against the 

divisions of Italy and the Emperor's neglect, and especially against 

his own city of Florence. 

WHEN the game of hazard breaks up, he who loses remains 

dolefully recalling the throws, and learns by his grief; 

with the other, all the folk go their way; one goes before, 

and one catches him from behind, and another on one side 

QUANDO si parte il giuoco della zara 

Colui che perde si riman dolente, 

Ripetendo le volte, e tristo impara: 

Con r altro se ne va tutta la gente : 

Qual va dinanzi, e qual diretro il prende, 

E qual da lato gli si reca a mente : 

1 zara played with three dice. See Blanc, Erklarungen. Philalethes, 

following Buti, says that the thrower backed the numbers from 

7-14, and when any of these turned up cried zara = zero. The odds 

,are considerably in favour of flie thrower, and this the loser finds out 

by experience. Vellutello, who gives a somewhat different account, says 

that it is also called cianza = chance.

CANTO VI PURGATORY 6i 

brings himself to his remembrance. He stays him not, and 

listens to one and the other; the man to whom he reaches 

his hand makes no more press, and thus he defends himself 

from the jostling. Such was I in that thick crowd, turning 

to them here and there my face and promising, I got me 

clear of it. Here was the Aretine, who from the fierce 

arms of Ghino di Tacco had his death; and the other who 

was drowned while running in the rout. Here was praying 

with his hands outspread Frederick Novello, and he of 

. Ei non s' arresta, e questo e quello intende : 

A cui porge la man piii non fa pressa : 

E COSI dalla calca si difende. 

Tal era io in quella turba spessa, lo 

Volgendo a loro e qua e la la faccia, 

E promettendo mi sciogliea da essa. 

Quivi era 1' Aretin, che dalle braccia 

Fiere di Ghin di Tacco ebbe la morte, 

E 1' altro ch' annegb correndo in caccia. 

Quivi pregava con le mani sporte 

Federigo Novello, e quel da Pisa, 

13 Benincasa of Arezzo being acting podesth of Siena put to death 

the brother of Ghino di Tacco, a famous highwayman, and was himself 

slain by Ghino while sitting in the Papal audit office at Rome. For an 

amusing passage in Ghino's history, see Boccaccio, Decam. Day x. 

Nov. 2. 

1^ One of the Tarlati of Arezzo. It does not seem certain whether 

he was in the ' chase' as pursuer or pursued. One story makes him 

among the fugitives at Campaldino. (Land, says Montaperti, but 

there do not seem to have been any Aretines engaged there.) His 

name is given variously as Guccio, Ciacco, and Clone. Both he and 

the next named, Federigo, son of Guido Novello of Battifolle, met their 

death at the hands of the Bostoli, or Bartoli.—annegfe. For this intransitive 

use of annegare and other words, see Corticelli, Lingua Tosc, 

bk. ii. ch. 3, and cf. the similar idiom in English.


Pisa who made the good Marzucco show his fortitude. I 

saw Count Orso; and the spirit divided from its body 

through hate and envy, as he said, not for fault committed, 

Peter de la Brosse I mean; and here let the dame of 

Brabant take forethought while she is in this world, so that 

therefore she be not of a worser flock. 

When I was free from all those shades, whose prayer 

was only that another pray, so that their sanctification may 

come quickly, I began: ' Methinks thou tellest me, O my 

Che fe parer lo buon Marzucco forte. 

Vidi Cont' Orso, e 1' anima divisa 

Dal corpo suo per astio e per inveggia, EO 

Come dicea, non per colpa commisa: 

Pier dalla Broccia dico : e qui provveggia, 

Mentr' fe di qua, la donna di Brabante, 

Si che perb non sia di peggior greggia. 

Come libero fui da tutte quante 

Quell' ombre, che pregar pur ch' altri preghi. 

Si che s' avacci il lor divenir sante, 

Io cominciai: E' par che tu mi nieghi, 

15 The one point on which all the Commentators agree is that the 

son of Marzucco de' Scomigiaui, a, gentleman of Pisa, was murdered. 

There is a difference of opinion as to whether it was in revenge or forgiveness 

that he showed his fortitude, but the weight of evidence is in favour 

of the latter interpretation. The person here mentioned is the son. 

19 There is even greater uncertainty as to Count Orso. See Philalethes's 

note. 

22 Peter de la Brosse, surgeon and afterwards chamberlain to 

Philip III. of France. He was hanged in 1276, on a charge of treasonable 

correspondence with the king of Castile. Another story says that 

Mary of Brabant, Philip's second wife, accused him of attempting her 

chastity, in revenge for his having suspected her of poisoning the king's 

eldest son Louis. Both charges may have been brought, the latter being 

not uncommon in the Middle Ages, whenever a wife wished to ruin a 

husband's favourite.

VI PURGATORY 

light, expressly in a certain passage, that prayer bends not 

decree of Heaven, and these folk pray only for that. 

Would then their hope be vain, or is thy saying not rightly 

manifest to me ?' And he to me : ' My scripture is plain, 

and the hope of these deceives not, if it is looked at well 

with sound judgement; since the high summit of j.ustice is 

not vailed albeit the fire of love accomplishes in one moment 

that satisfaction which he owes who is lodged here; and 

in the case where I affirmed that point, a defect was not 

amended by praying, because the prayer was disjoined 

O luce mia, espresso in alcun testo, 

Che decreto del Cielo orazion pieghi: 30 

E questa gente prega pur di questo. 

Sarebbe dunque loro speme vana ? 

O non m' e il detto tuo ben manifesto ? 

Ed egli a me : La mia scrittura fe plana, 

E la speranza di costor non falla, 

Se ben si guarda con la mente sana: 

Chfe cima di giudicio non s' avvalla, 

Perchfe fuoco d' amor compia in un punto 

Cib, che dee soddisfar chi qui s' astalla : ^ 

E la dov' io fermai cotesto punto, 40 

Non si ammendava, per pregar, difetto, 

Perchfe il prego da Dio era disgiunto. 

^ si stalla Gg. (altered from s' as.) W. 

2" Desine fata Deum flecti sperare precando.. Aen. vi. 376. 

The reference to Virgil on a question of Christian doctrine is, as 

Professor Bartoli points out, somewhat curious. But it must be remembered 

that to Dante the Aeneid was a sacred book, though doubtless of 

less authority than the Bible, yet in the same class with it. A somewhat 

similar difficulty is discussed by Aquinas S.T. i. Q. 23. A. 8, 

where he decides that the purposes of God, though they cannot be 

impeded, can be furthered by the prayers of the saints.


from God. But in regard to so lofty a doubt, be not thou 

fixed, until she tell it thee, who will be a light betwixt 

the truth and the understanding. I know not if thou 

comprehend: I speak of Beatrice; thou wilt see her 

above, upon the summit of this mount, smiling in bliss.' 

And I: ' Master, go we with greater speed; for now 

I grow not wearied as before; and see how the slope 

begins now to cast its shadow.' ' We will go forward 

with this daylight,' he answered, ' as far as we shall yet 

be able, but the fact is of other fashion than thou sup- 

Veramente a cosi alto sospetto 

Non ti fermar, se quella noi ti dice, 

Che lume fia tra il vero e 1' intelletto: 

Non so se intendi: io dico di Beatrice : 

Tu la vedrai di sopra, in su la vetta 

Di questo monte, ridere felice.'' 

Ed io : Signore, andiamo a maggior fretta,'' 

Chfe gia non m' affatico come dianzi: 50 

E vedi omai che il poggio 1' ombra getta. 

Noi anderem con questo giorno innanzi, 

Rispose, quanto piii potremo omai: 

Ma il fatto fe d' altra forma che non stanzi. 

b ridere e Cass. 2 W.; rider e 1345 ; ridente e Aid. Land. Bi. 

° Buon Duca and. Aid. Bi. 

VI PURGATORY 65 

posest Before thou art up there, thou wilt see return him 

who already is being covered by the hillside, so that thou 

makest not his rays to break. But see there a soul which 

posted all alone is looking towards us; it will point out to 

us the quickest way.' We came to it. O Lombard soul, 

how wert thou standing haughty and disdainful! and in 

the movement of thine eyes dignified and slow. It was 

saying nothing to us, but was letting us go on, only looking 

in fashion of a Hon when he reposes. Nevertheless, 

Prima che sii lassii, tornar vedrai 

Colui che gia si cuopre della costa 

Si che i suoi raggi tu romper non fai. 

Ma vedi 1&. un' anima, che posta 

Sola soletta verso noi rigiiarda : 

Quella ne insegnera la via piii tosta. 60 

Venimmo a lei: o anima Lombarda, 

Come ti stavi altera e disdegnosa, 

E nel muover degli occhi onesta e tarda. 

Ella non ci diceva alcuna cosa: 

Ma lasciavane gir, solo guardando ^ 

A guisa di leon quando si posa. 

d sol riguard. Gg. 

they have farther to go than can be accomplished in one night's journey. 

There is no question here of inability to go by night. As appears 

from vii. Jo, Virgil is not yet himself aware that any such difficulty 

exists. 

^ There is no other instance in Dante of rompere intrans., except 

in Conv. iv. 28, where it has the technical meaning of 'to be wrecked.' 

At the same time there is still greater difficulty about understanding 

fai as puoi or even as a mere auxiliary verb. One is tempted to wonder 

whether/«?-« ever got mixed up with Goth, fahan, Qe,Tca.fahen {fangen), 

whsacefdhig. W. gives a. variant sai, but no authority for it. 

°^ onesta e tarda. Cf iii. 10, 11. 

F


Virgil drew near to it, praying that it would show us the 

best ascent; and it answered not to his demand, but inquired 

of us about our country and our life. And the 

gentle Leader began: 'Mantua . . . .' And the shade 

all hermit-like in itself sprang toward him from the 

place where before it was standing, saying : ' O Mantuan, 

I am Sordello of thy land.' And the one embraced the 

other. Ah Italy! thou slave, hostel of woe, ship without 

Pur Virgilio si trasse a lei, pregando, 

Che ne mostrasse la miglior salita : 

E quella non rispose al suo dimando : 

Ma di nostro paese e della vita 70 

C inchiese. E il dolce Duca incominciava : 

Mantova ...El' ombra tutta in sfe romita, 

Surse ver lui del luogo, ove pria stava, 

Dicendo : O Mantovano, io son Sordello 

Della tua terra. E 1' un 1' altro abbracciava. 

AM serva Italia, di dolore ostello, 

'2 tutta in sfe romita. The words are almost untranslatable, from 

their exceeding compression. Philalethes perhaps succeeds best with 

his ' ganz in sich vertieft'; but this hardly gives the force of romita. 

'^ Sordello—soldier, statesman, and poet—was born early in the 

thirteenth century, and was living in 1266, as appears from a letter of 

Pope Clement IV. to Charles of Anjou, dated in that year. Dante 

mentions him, De Vulg. Eloq. i. 15 ; but only as an instance of a 

person who had abandoned his native dialect in writing and speaking. 

Villani does not mention him. The chief evidence for his having been 

podestcL. of Mantua seems to be his position here in company with men 

who were all rulers; on the other hand, these officers were almost, if 

not quite invariably, chosen from the citizens of another state than 

that which they ruled. All that is known with any certainty about 

Sordello may be found in Fauriel, vol. i. p. 504 sq. 

^5 Observe that though Dante cannot embrace a shade, one shade 

can sometimes embrace another; though even this .is not always 

allowed. See xxi. 135, 136.


pilot in a great tempest, not lady of provinces, but 

brothel! That noble soul was thus ready, only for the 

sweet sound of its own country, to make joyous greeting 

for its fellow-citizen here; and now in thee thy living men 

stay not v?ithout war, and one gnaws the other of those 

whom one wall enlocks and one moat. Search, wretch, 

thy sea-coasts all about the shores, and then look into 

thy heart, if any part in thee enjoys peace. What boots 

it that Justinian should have put thy bit in order again, if 

the saddle is empty ? Without that were the shame less. 

Nave senza nocchiero in gran tempesta, 

Non donna di provincie, ma bordello; 

Quell' anima gentil fu cosi presta, 

Sol per lo dolce suon della sua terra,^ 80 

Di fare al cittadin suo quivi festa: 

Ed ora in te non stanno senza guerra 

Li vivi tuoi, e 1' un 1' altro si rode 

Di quei, che un muro ed una fossa serra. 

Cerca, misera, intorno dalle prode 

Le tue marine; e poi ti guarda in seno, 

S' alcuna parte in te di pace gode. 

Che val, perchfe ti racconciasse il freno 

Giustiniano, se la sella fe vota ? 

Senz' esso fora la vergogna meno. 90 

" per quel Gg. 

"" In Conv. iv. 4, Dante works out at some length the image of ship 

and pilot as appropriate to the rislations of the state and the emperor. 

^5 Cf Isaiah xlvii. 5. 

51 festa. So in xxvi. 33. 

55 freno; so xvi. 94. The whole passage may be compared with 

this. 

55 For Justinian, see Par. vi.


Ah folk that ought to have been at prayer and to let Caesar 

sit in the saddle, if ye understand well that sign which 

God is giving to you, look how this beast has become fell, 

through not being corrected with the spurs, since ye have 

placed your hands to the headstaU. O German Albert, 

who abandonest her that is become untamed and savage, 

and QUghtest to have bestridden her saddlebows, may a 

just judgement fall from the stars upon thy blood, and may it 

be strange and evident, such that thy successor may have 

Ahi gente, che dovresti esser devota, 

E lasciar seder Cesare in la sella, 

Se bene intendi cib che Dio ti nota, 

Guarda com' esta fiera fe fatta fella, 

Per non esser corretta dagli sproni, 

Poi che ponesti mano alia predella. 

O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni 

Costei ch' fe fatta indomita e selvaggia, 

E dovresti inforcar Ii suoi arcioni: 

Giusto giudicio dalle stelle caggia loo 

Sovra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo ed aperto, 

Tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia: 

^1 gente; the clergy. 

^3 ' Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's.' 

S6 predella (or as some MSS. read, bridella), ' e quella parte della 

brigha che si tiene in mano ' (Landino). ' Quella parte della briglia 

che si gira alia guancia del cavallo presso il morso' (note in the Milan 

edition of Villani ix. 241). Though no doubt the same word as our 

bridle, it thus has not quite the same meaning. Lombardi takes it in 

the"modern sense of 'a footstool,' as if a.mdunting-block, which seems 

unnecessary and weak. For the whole comiparison of Italy to a riderless 

horse, cf Conv. iv. 9. 

^ Albert I. of Hapsburg, emperor (but never crowned) from 1298- 

1308, in which year he was assassinated by his nephew (Vill. viii. 94). 

This took place almost within sight of the castle of Hapsburg.


fear of it; for ye have, thou and thy father, suffered— 

through covetousness being drawn away from hence—that 

the garden of the empire should lie desert. Come and see 

Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi, thou 

careless man, those already grieving, these in suspicion. 

Come, cruel, come, and behold the hard case of thy 

nobles, and heal their blemishes, and thou wilt see in what 

Chfe avete tu e il tuo padre soiferto. 

Per cupidigia di costa distretti, 

Che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto. 

Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, 

Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura, 

Color gia tristi e costor con sospetti, 

Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura 

Dei tuoi gentili, e cura lor magagne, no 

1°" An English translator is bound to keep the somewhat arbitrary 

forms under which Shakespeare has immortalised Montecchi (called 

also Monticoli) and Cappelletti. The former seem to have been 

favoured by Eccelino, and to have been the leaders of the Veronese 

GhibeUnes in the first half of the thirteenth century. They are now 

triati as being in banishment. 

1°^ Monaldi and Filippeschi were the leaders respectively of the 

Guelfs and the Ghibelines at Orvieto. The two factions seem to have 

gone on quarrelling, but neither able to get wholly rid of the other. In 

April 1312 the Filippeschi, emboldened by the proximity of Henry 

VII., attacked their rivals, but got the worst of it (Villani ix. 40); and 

in the foUovidng year were finally banished (Ceccarelli, Storia di Casa 

Monaldesca). In 1337 the tyranny of the Monaldeschi led to their own 

expulsion. 

158 con sospetti. Looking to Villani's use (vii. 13) of non sospetti 

this may mean specifically ' in dread of banishment.' Ceccarelli, op. 

cit., uses the term of the Monaldeschi. They were defending the city 

against Salinguerra about 1245, 'e con sospetto per essere dentro anco 

i Filippeschi.' 

no gentili; ;. e. the Ghibeline families. See Bryce, Holy Roman 

Empire, p. 263 (4th ed.)


wise Santafiore is at ease. Come to see thy Rome who 

weeps, widowed, alone, and day and night cries out: 

'My Caesar, wherefore art thou not my companion?' 

Come to see how much the folk love,one another; and 

if no pity for us moves thee, come to shame thyself for thy 

own renown. And if it is allowed me, O highest Jove, 

who upon earth wast crucified for us, are thy just eyes 

turned other-whither ? Or is it preparation, which in the 

abyss of thy counsel thou makest for some good, wholly 

E vedrai Santafior, com' fe sicura. 

Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, 

Vedova, sola, e di e notte chiama: 

Cesare mio, perchfe' non m' accompagne ? 

Vieni a veder la gente, quanto s' ama: 

E se nulla di noi pieta ti muove, 

A vergognar ti vien della tua fama. 

E se licito m' fe, o sommo Glove, 

Che fosti in terra per noi crocifisso. 

Son Ii giusti occhi tuoi rivolti altrove ? 120 

O fe preparazion, che nell' abisso 

Del tuo consiglio fai per alcun bene ; 

m Santafiore, a county in the territory of Siena, formerly an 

imperial fief, now in the hands of the Guelfs of the city. Villani 

mentions the counts more than once among the leading Ghibelines of 

Tuscany. From 1300 to 1302 Count Guido of Santafiore held Radicofani 

against repeated attempts at its capture on the part of the 

Monaldeschi and Gueffs of Orvieto (Ceccarelli, op. cit.) May not 

there be an allusion to this here ? There is another reading, come si 

cura; but the irony of com' fe sicura is quite in Dante's manner, cf. 

line 115. 

115 Philalethes suggests, what is probably true, that Dante imagined 

Jehovah and Jove to be the same word. Otherwise he would hardly 

have used the name of one of the 'dei falsi e bugiardi' in such a 

collocation.


cut off from our observation ? For the lands of Italy are 

all full of tyrants, and every churl that comes partisanning 

it becomes a Marcellus. My Florence, well mayst 

thou be satisfied with this digression that touches thee 

not, thanks to thy people that is so full of reason. Many 

have justice in heart, but it shoots forth too late, through 

not coming to the bow without counsel; but thy people 

has it on the outermost lips. Many refuse the burden of 

I In tutto dall' accorger nostro ascisso ? 

Chfe le terre d' Italia tutte piene 

Son di tiranni; ed un Marcel diventa ^ 

Ogni villan che parteggiando viene. 

Fiorenza mia, ben puoi essei: contenta 

Di questa digression che non ti tocca 

Mercfe del popol tuo, che si argomenta. 

Molti han giustizia in cuor, ma tardi scocca, 130 

Per non venir senza consiglio all' arco : 

Ma il popol tuo 1' ha in sommo della bocca. 

Molti rifiutan lo comiine incarco : 

* un Metel Gg. 

125. A Marcellus was consul in each of the years A.U.C.'7o3, 704, 

and 705, and they were all opponents of Caesar. The ohe more particularly 

in Dante's mind was probably the first.of these, M. Claudius 

Marcellus, the Marcellus loquax of Lucan, who was the most bitter in 

his opposition. See the letters of Caelius to Cicero during 703 and 704. 

It is curious, as showing how the conception of the empire was changed, 

to observe that Dante likens the man of low birth who gets a reputation 

by attacking the nobles, to the very men who defended the nobles 

in former times against the democratic party and Caesar. The reading 

Metel is explained by ix. 138. 

12^* Landino, Blanc, Fraticelli read s' argomenta 'takes thought,' as 

in xxv. 15. I think the si is wanted ; and there is probably a play on 

two meanings of the word, which the English ' reason' partly conveys.


the commonweal; but thy people answers eagerly without 

call, and cries: 'I charge myself.' Now make thyself 

happy, for thou hast' surely wherefore: thou who art rich, 

at peace,' thou [filled] with wisdom. If I say true, the 

result conceals it not. Athens and Lacedaemon, that framed 

the ancient laws, and were so civilised, made in regard 

to living well a small mark compared with thee, who 

makest such subtle provisions, that to mid-November 

reaches not what thou in October dost spin. How often in 

the time that thou rememberest hast thou changed law, 

Ma il popol tuo sollecito risponde 

Senza chiamare, e grida: Io mi sobbarco. 

Or ti fa lieta, chfe tuhai ben onde : 

Tu ricca, tu con pace, tu con senno. 

S' io dico ver, 1' effetto noi nasconde. 

Atene e Lacedemona, che fenno 

Le antiche leggi, e furon si civili, 140 

Fecero al viver bene un picciol cenno. 

Verso di te, che fai tanto sottiU 

Proveddimenti, ch' a mezzo Novembre 

Non giunge quel che tu d' Ottobre fill. 

Quante volte del tempo, che rimembre, 

1^^ sobbarco = to gird up the garments for work (Bianchi). 

isa, wo Villani (xii. 19) quotes these lines as appropriate to the state 

of the city in 1343 ; and ib. 97 the three follovring vrith reference to 

the change of coinage in 1347. Philalethes gives, in a note, a short account 

of the changes in Florentine parties during the thirteenth century, 

and adds, with some naivete, 'Freilich, was ist dieses, gegen die 

Umwiilzungen und Verfassungsverauderungen von 1789-1851?' No 

better justification of Dante's words is needed than may be found in 

Villani/arm>«, and Macchiavelli Hist. Fior. bk. ii. 

"2 sottili; 'subtle'or 'slender.'


money, and offices, and customs, and renewed thy 

members ? And if thou rightly call thyself to mind, and 

see light, thou wilt behold thyself in semblance of that 

sick one, who cannot find repose upon^ the feathers, but 

vrith turning over keeps off her pain. 

Legge, moneta, e ufici, e costume 

Hai tu mutato, e rinnovato membre ? 

E se ben ti ricorda, e vedi lume, 

Vedrai te simigliante a qrrella inferma, 

Che non pub trovar posa in su le piume, 150 

Ma con dar volta suo dolore scherma. 

1*'mutato. Theruleof the agreement of participles is,nbt invariable 

in early Italian.

CANTO VII 

ARGUMENT 

Virgil makes himself and his condition known to Sordello, who leads 

them to a little valley on the mountain-side, where they find many 

kings and princes such as had, through the cares of this world, 

put off repentance. Among them are Rudolf the Emperor, 

Charles of Anjou, king of Apulia, Peter king of Aragon, Henry 

king of England, and Philip king of France. 

AFTER that their greetings, dignified and blithe, had been 

repeated thrice and four times, Sordello drew back, and 

said : ' "Who are ye ?' ' Before that the souls worthy to 

ascend to God were turned toward this mount were my 

bones buried by Octavian. I am Virgil, and for no other 

crime did I lose Heaven than for not having faith,' thus 

answered then my Leader. As he who sees on a sudden a 

PosciACHi; r accoglienze oneste e liete 

Furo iterate tre e quattro volte, 

• Sordel si trasse, e disse : Voi.chi siete? 

•Prima ch' a questo monte fosser volte 

L' anime degne di salire a Dio, 

Fur r ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte : 

Io son Virgilio : e per null' altro rio 

Lo Ciel perdei, che per non aver f fe; 

Cosi rispose allora il Duca mio. 

Qual fe colui, che cosa innanzi a sfe lo

CANTO Vll PURGATORY 75 

thing before him, whereof he so wonders that he believes 

and doubts, saying: ' It is, it is not'; such appeared he, 

and then he lowered his eyelids, and humbly turried again 

toward the other, ajid embraced him where the inferior 

takes hold. 'O glory of the Latins,' said he, 'through 

whom our tongue showed what its power was; O eternal 

treasure of the place whence I sprang, what desert or what 

favour shows thee to me? If I am worthy to hear thy 

words, tell me if thou comest from Hell, and from what 

ward.' 'Through all the circles of the realm of woe,' 

Subita vede, ond' ei si maraviglia 

Che crede e no, dicendo : EU' fe, non fe, 

Tal parve quegli: e poi chinb le ciglia, 

Ed umilmente ritornb ver lui, 

Ed abbraccioUo ove il minor s' appiglia.^ 

O gloria dei Latin, disse, per cui 

Mostrb cib che potea la lingua nostra : 

O pregio eterno del loco, ond' io fui: 

Qual merito o qual grazia mi ti mostra ? 

S' io son d' udir le tue parole degno, 20 

Dimmi se vien d' Inferno, e di qual chiostra ? 

Per tutti i cerchi del dolente regno, 

^ abbracciol Ih ove Gg.; abbraccio Ih dove Cass.; 

'Inutrir Gg. {marg,) Aid, etc. 

11 I venture to read ond' ei si maraviglia, instead of the usual si, 

as it seems to make the sense run more smoothly. 

15 ove il minor s' appiglia. Usually taken to mean the knees ; but 

Land. ' sotto le braccia.' Others, ove 'I nutrir, i.e. the navel, hence, 

the waist. 

21 chiostra; so Inf xxix. 40.


he answered him, 'am I come to this side; virtue frcim 

Heaven sent me forth, and with it I come. Not for doing, 

but for not doing, have I lost the sight of the Sun on high 

whom thou desirest, and who was too late known by me. 

There is a place below, not sad with torments, but with 

gloom only, where the lamentations sound not as wails but 

are sighs. There stay I, with the little innocents bitten by 

the teeth of death, before that they were freed from human 

sin. There stay I, with those who were not clad with the 

three holy virtues, but faultless knew the others, and followed 

every one. But if thou knowest and,canst, give us some 

Rispose lui, son io di qua venuto : 

Virtu del Ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno. 

Non per far, ma per non fare ho perduto 

Di veder 1' alto Sol che tu disiri, 

E che fu tardi da me conosciuto. 

Luogo fe laggiti non tristo da martiri. 

Ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti 

Non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri. 30 

Quivi sto io coi parvoli innocenti,'^ 

Dai denti morsi della morte, avante 

Che fosser dell' umana colpa esenti. 

Quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante 

Virtti non si vestiro, e senza vizio 

Conobber 1' altre, e seguir tutte quante. 

Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcun indizio 

!> pargoli Gg. 

31 This shows that it is limbus puerorum in which the virtuous 

heathen are. See Inf. iv. 32. 

^* The theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity ; 1' altre in Une 

36 being the moral virtues of temperance, justice, fortitude, and prudence. 

Notice the Latin construction of virtii si vestiro.

VII PURGATORY 77 

direction, whereby we may come more quickly to the place 

where Purgatory has its right beginning.' He answered : 'A 

certain place is not assigned to us : it is permitted me to go 

upward and around: as far as I can go, I put myself at thy 

side as guide. But see already how the day declines, and to 

go upward in the night is not possible; therefore it is good 

to think about a fair sojourn. There are spirits to the 

right here, apart, if thou give me thy consent, I will lead 

thee to them, and not without delight will they become 

known to thee.' 'How is that?' was the reply; 'hewhowould 

mount at night, would he be hindered of any? or 

Da noi, perchfe venir possiam piti tosto 

La dove il Purgatorio ha dritto inizio. 

Rispose : Luogo certo non c' fe posto : 40 

Licito m' fe andar suso ed intorno : 

Per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t' accosto : 

Ma vedi gia come dichina il giorno, 

Ed andar su di notte non si puote: 

Perb fe buon pensar di bel soggiorno. 

Anime sono a destra qua rimote: 

Se il mi consenti, io ti merrb ad esse,'^ 

E non senza diletto ti fien note. 

Com' fe cib ? fu risposto : chi volesse 

Salir' di notte, fora egli impedito 5° 

D' altrui? o.pur saria che non potesse?'' 

c Se mi Cass. Gg. Aid. Land. ; m,enerotti Bi. 

d ovver saria Gg.; 0 non sarria Cass. Aid. (i); 0pur sarria Aid. (2). 

*» Cf Aeneid vi. 673. 

51 The readings of this line, as may be seen by reference to Dr. 

Moore's Textual Criticism, are very various, but they may be grouped 

into two main classes, according as sarria (^=saliria) or saria is read.


would it be only that he could not ?' And the good Sordello 

rubbed his finger on the ground, saying: ' See, only 

this line thou wouldst not overstep after the sun was set; 

not, however, that anything, other than the gloom of -night, 

would give hindrance to going upward; that with impotency 

hampers the will. Well were it possible with it to turn 

downward, and pass over the hiUside wandering about, 

while that the horizon holds the day closed.' Then my 

Master, as though wondering, said: ' Lead us then to the 

E il buon Sordello in terra fregb il dito, 

Dicendo : Vedi, sola questa riga 

Non varcheresti dopo il Sol partito : 

Non perb che altra cosa desse briga, 

Che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso : 

Quella" col non poter la voglia intriga. 

Ben si poria con lei tornare in giuso, 

E passeggiar la costa intorno errando, 

Mentre che 1' orizzonte il di tien chiuso. 60 

Allora il mio Signor, quasi ammirando, 

Menane, disse, dunque 1^ 've dici 

Naturally non goes with the first, so that the cases, which are many, of 

non saria would seem to belong to the former class. This has no doubt 

the great weight of authority; but the other gives so far more vigorous 

and natural a turn to the question that I cannot but believe it to be the 

right reading. Moreover, if che =' because' (as, if nmt sarria be read, 

it does) we ought surely to h's^^ potrebbe. The subjunctive seems to 

demand che ='that.' 

^2 It may be remarked that though the shades are too unsubstantial 

to be grasped by mortal arms, yet Sordello can mark the ground with 

his finger. 

5' Cf V. 66. The meaning of the passage generally is, as Philalethes 

points out, that without God's grace man cannot make any progress 

towards good, while his own power suffices to enable him to fall into 

error.


place where thou sayest that one may have delight in 

tarrying.' 

A httle distance had we gone away from that place, 

when I was aware that the mountain was cut away in 

fashion as the valleys cut them away here. ' Yonder,' said 

that shade, ' will we take our way, where the. hillside makes 

of itself a bosom, and there will we await the new day.' 

Part steep, part level, was a winding path, which' led us 

into a side of the hollow, there where the rim dies more 

Che aver si pub diletto dimor£tndo. 

Poco allungati c' eravam'di lici, 

Quand' io m' accorsi che il monte era scemo, 

A guisa che i vallon Ii sceman quici." 

Cola, disse quell' ombra, n' anderemo. 

Dove la costa face di sfe grembo, 

E quivi il nuovo giorno attenderemo. 

Tra erto e piano era un sentiere sghembo, 70 

Che ne condusse in fianco della lacca, 

Lk ove piii che a mezzo muore il lembo. 

s •valloni Aid. Land. Bi.; ? vallon si. 

^ era scemo. ' Cioe aveva concavita.' Buti. 

67, 69 'WTiile Sordello speaks of the place as to be gone to, it is col^; 

when he is saying what is to be done there, it is quivi. 

'" tra erto e piano. I am inclined to think with Landino and 

Bianchi that these words refer not to the position but to the nature of 

the path. Cf such expressions as ' centocinquanta migliaia di persone 

tra uccisono e menarono'; ' avea armate centoventi tra galee e altri 

legni.' Villani. Cf xxiv. 13. 

72 muore. It will be noticed that Dante generally uses the present 

tense in describing the physical features of Purgatory; a natural touch 

which perhaps more than anything else gives an effect of reality to his 

descriptions.

8o PURGATORY CANTO' 

than half away. Gold and fine silver, cochineal and white 

lead, the Indian wood lucid and serene, fresh emerald in 

the hour when it is flaked, each would be vanquished in colour 

by the grass and by the flowers placed -within that lap, as 

by its greater is vanquished the less. Nature had not only 

painted there, but with a sweetness of a thousand odours 

Oro ed argento fino, cocco e biacca, 

Indico legno lucido e sereno,^ 

Fresco smeraldo in 1' ora che si fiacca, 

Dair erba e dalli fior dentro a quel seno 

Posti, ciascun saria di color vinto. 

Come dal suo maggibre fe vinto il meno. 

Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto. 

Ma di soavita di mille odori 80 

' lucido sereno Cass. Gg. 14. 

73, 74, 76 n y/î ]5g noticed that these represent the colours vrith which 

the illuminators of books would chiefly work. There is much difficulty 

about indico legno. A blue is clearly wanted, but it seems doubtfiil 

whether the words can mean indigo. Many commentators understand 

ebony, and Blanc compares Georg. ii. 116 ; but the epithets do not seem 

appropriate ; nor is a black substance in place here. In French, dovm 

to the sixteenth century, inde seems to have been used to denote a violet 

colour. The modern bois d'Inde is Campeachy wood, which gives a red 

dye. It may be observed that lucidi sereni is used by Boccaccio more 

than once (i. 10, v. 6) in the sense of ' clear skies,' especially at evening; 

perhaps by a false derivation from sera. Possibly this meaning, which 

is also found in Latin (e.g. Georg. i. 393), may have been sufficiently 

common to allow Dante to denote by it, as Benvenuto says, 'pulcer 

color aeris puri sereni'; in which case the indico legno might still be 

indigo, and the general idea would be that metals, pigments, animal 

vegetable or mineral, precious stones, and even the blue of the sky itself, 

were inadequate to represent the brilliant colouring of this ' Valley of 

Princes.' It is not necessary to hold with Mr. Ruskin that smeraldo is 

' emerald green'; the uncut {fresco) emerald is not bright, and it is not 

until the stone is split or flaked that the full colour is seen. [Since this 

note was written I find that Mr. Parsons, an American translator has 

taken the same view as to lucidi sereni. ]

•VII PURGATORY 8 

made there one, unrecognised, and undistinguished. There 

I saw souls sit singing Solve Regina on the green and on the 

flowers, who by reason of the valley did not appear outside. 

' Before the little sun that remains sets,' began the Mantuan, 

who had turned us back, ' desire not that I should guide you 

among them. From this ledge better will you observe the 

acts and countenances of each and all, than when received 

among them in the hollow below. He who sits highest, and 

has the semblance of having neglected that which he ought 

to have done, and who moves not his mouth to the others' 

chants, was Rudolf the emperor, who had the power to 

Vi facea un incognito e indistinto. 

Salve Regina, in sul verde e in sui fiori 

Quindi seder cantando anime vidi, 

Che per la valle non parean di fuori. 

Prima che il poco sole omai s' annidi, 

Comincib il Mantovan che ci avea volti, 

Tra color non vogliate ch' io vi guidi. 

Da questo balzo meglio gli atti e i volti 

Conoscerete voi di tutti quanti, 

Che nella lama giii tra essi accolti. 90 

Colui che pill sied' alto, ed ha sembianti 

D' aver negletto cib che far dovea, 

E che non muove bocca agli altrui canti, 

Ridolfo Imperador fu, che potea 

51 indistinto : ' not to be separated into its component parts.' It is a 

technical word of the Schoolmen. S. T. Suppl. Q. 93. A. 3 : Videmus 

quod quando conveniunt duo corpora in unum, destruitur esse distinctum 

utriusque, et acquiritur utrique simul unum esse indistinctum. 

52 Salve Begina is one of the Compline Antiphons. 

53 The .shades of kings and other rulers who had deferred their 

repentance, owing to the pressure of temporal interests. 

^ Rudolf, Count of Hapsburg in the valley of the Aar, elected 

G

82 PURGATORY CANTO • 

heal the wounds which have slain Italy, so that too late she 

is seeking cure through another. The other, who in his 

visage is comforting him, ruled the land where the water takes 

its rise that Moldau into Elbe, and Elbe bears away into sea. 

Ottocar had he to name, and in his swaddling-clothes was 

better far than Wenceslas his son a bearded man, whom luxury 

Sanar le piaghe ch' hanno Italia morta. 

Si che tardi per altri si ricrea. 

L' altro, che nella vista lui conforta, 

Resse la terra dove 1' acqua nasce, 

Che Molta in Albia, e Albia in mar ne porta ^ 

Ottachero ebbe nome, e nelle fasce loo 

Fu meglio assai, che Vincislao suo figlio 

Barbuto, cui lussuria ed ozio pasce. 

i muta Gg.; monta 3 Aid. Land. 

Emperor in 1273, died 1292. By investing his son Albert with the fief 

of Austria, he laid the foundation of the fortune of the Hapsburg family. 

94,95 < gg avesse voluto passare in Italia sanza contrasto n'erasignore.' 

Villani vii. 55. Paulus Aemilius Veronensis, writing towards the end 

of the next century, says : ' Mortuo Ricardo Anglo Germani proceres 

Caesarem delegerunt Rodolfum comitem Aspurgensem. xviii imperavit 

annos, nunquam Italiam ingressus, semper novas occupationes publice 

caussatus ; sed apud amicos non dissimulatus se ab Italia deterreri 

quod Caesarum in Italiam vestigia laeta magnifica jDlenaque bonae spei 

videret; ex Italia vero referentia et foras versa, tristia misera luctuosa.' 

*^ altri is rare in oblique cases ; so quei in iii. 120. See Diez ii. 

74, 75, 82. I-Ie is not quite consistent with himself Henry VII. of 

Luxemburg is the person meant, tardi si ricrea. Cf Inf xvi. 54. 

^'' Ottocar, king of Bohemia, killed in battle against Rudolf 1277 

(Vill. vii. 55). nella vista, etc. Cf i. 79. 

loi Wenceslas died in 1305. Villani (ix. i), apparently ignoring three 

intervening kings, makes his reign last till the accession of his son-in-law. 

Cf Par. xix. 125. His daughter married John, son of the emperor 

Henry VII., who became king of Bohemia and was killed at Crecy.


and ease feed. An4 that small - nosed man, who appears 

close in counsel with him who has so benign a mien, died 

flying and deflowering the lily; look there, how he beats his 

breast. The other ye see how he has made of his palm, 

sighing, a bed for his cheek. Father and father-in-law are 

they of the woe of France; they know his corrupt and 

filthy life, and hence comes the grief that so pierces them. 

He who appears so large-limbed, and keeps time in his 

E quel nasetto, che stretto a consiglio'^ 

Par con colui c' ha si benigno aspetto, 

Mori .fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio : 

Guardate la, come si batte il petto. 

L' altro vedete c' ha fatto alia guancia 

Delia sua palma, sospirando, letto. 

Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia : 

Sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda, no 

E quindi -viene il duol, che si gli lancia. 

Quel che par si membruto, e che s' accorda 

^ nasuto W. [but he translates ' stumpf Benas'te.'] 

1°^ Philip III. of France died at Perpignan, Oct. 6, 1285, after a 

disastrous retreat from Gerona. He had captured the town, but his 

fleet was immediately afterwards destroyed in the Gulf of Rosas, by 

Roger di Loria, admiral of Peter of Aragon, and his supplies being cut 

off, he was compelled to retire. Witte says that his short nose may still 

be observed in his effigy at Narbonne. 

104 colui. Henry III. of Navarre, whose daughter married Philip 

the Fair, son of Philip III., and the mal di Francia. Cf 1. 109. 

112. Peter III., king of Aragon, and in the later years of his life— 

after the expulsion of the French at the ' Sicihan Vespers '—of Sicily, 

and son-in-law to Manfred, died Nov. 8, 1285, of a wound received in 

a skirmish with the French before Gerona. Villani (vii. 103) says of 

him : ' Fu valente signore e pro' in arme e bene awenturoso e savio 

come nuUo re che regnasse al suo tempo.' This notwithstanding the 

rather discreditable trick played on Charles of Anjou, which practically 

gave him Sicily.


chanting with him of the manly nose, wore girt on him 

the cord of every worth. And if the youth who sits behind 

him had remained king after him, weU had the worth gone 

from vessel to vessel; which cannot be said of the other 

heirs. James and Frederick have the kingdoms: of the 

Cantando con colui dal maschio nasp, 

D' ogni valor portb cinta la corda : 

E se re dopo lui fosse rimaso 

Lo giovinetto che retro a lui siede, 

Bene andava il valor di vaso in vaso : 

Che non si puote dir dell' altre rede: 

Jacomo e Federico hanno i reami: 

11' Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, king of Sicily and Apulia, 

was the greatest champion whom the Guelf cause ever had. By his 

defeats of Manfred (1265) and Conradin (1269), the power of the 

Hohenstaufen was brought to an end in Italy. He died Jan. 7, I28f. 

The first ninety-five chapters of Villani's seventh book are occupied 

almost entirely with his doings. His character and person are sketched 

in the first chapter, and the historian does not omit to mention his large 

nose. He would seem to have been a man of high principles, and 

sincerely religious, but lacking the sweetness of temper which, except 

when a heretic was in questioii, distinguished his brother. 

11^ Probably Alfonso, eldest son of Peter, who succeeded his father 

in the kingdom of Aragon, but died after a reign of a few years only. 

115 Notice rede fem. This is not unusual in the Romance languages. 

Cf. guida, and Sp. guia, centinela. So F;:. sentinelle, Mte, 

even when a male is referred to. 

11^ James, second son of Peter, succeeded at his father's death to the 

throne of Sicily. On his elder brother's death, in 1295, he went to 

Aragon, leaving Sicily under the control of his brother Frederick, thus 

defrauding Charles II. (of Apulia), to whom he had promised to resign 

it. Later, James and Charles joined against Frederick, and defeated 

him in a sea-fight, July 4, 1299 ; but he continued to hold Sicily, and 

showed himself in 1302 more than a match for Charles of Valois. Dante 

apostrophises Charles of Apulia and Frederick in Conv. iv. 6; and 

alludes to them with some bitterness,' Par. xx. 6r. But see iii. 116.

VII PURGATORY S5 

better heritage no one has possession. Seldom rises human 

goodness. through the branches; and this wills He who 

gives it in order that from Him it may be claimed. To the 

large-nosed man come my words, not less than to the other, 

Peter, who sings with him; whence Apulia and Provence 

already grieve. The plant is so much better than its seed, 

as, more than Beatrice and Margaret, Constance still boasts 

Del retaggio miglior nessun possiede. 120 

Rade volte risurge per Ii rami 

L' umana probitat^ : e questo vuole 

Quei che la da, perchfe da lui si chiami. 

Anco al nasuto vanno mie parole 

Non men, ch' all' altro. Pier, che con lui canta : 

Onde Puglia e Provenza gia si duole. 

Tant' fe del seme suo miglior la pianta, 

Quanto piii che Beatrice e Margherita, 

Gostanza di marito ancor si vanta. 

121 Cf.- Odyssey, ii. 276; and' Par. viii. 122-135. Chaucer's paraphrase 

(Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 6719 sqq.) is well known : 

Fui selde upriseth by his branches smale 

Prowess of man, for God of his goodnesse 

Wol that we claim of him our gentilesse. 

MachiaveUi, Discorsi, i. 11, quotes the lines to enforce the importance 

of good institutions in a state. 

125 Others take chiami as = call or natne; ' that from him it may take 

its name.' The point is, that whereas physical qualities are received 

from the parent, those of the mind or soul come directly from God. 

C£ xxv. 70 sqq. 

126 Charles II., son of Charles of Anjou {it Nasuto), king of Apulia 

and count of Provence, died May 3, 1308. 'Uno de' [?piii] larghi e 

graziosi signori che al suo tempo -vivesse, e fu chiamato il secondo 

Alessandro per la cortesia; ma per altre virtii fii di poco valore,' says 

Villani viii. 108 ; and cf Par. xix. 127. 

128,129 Beatrice and Margaret, daughters of Raimond Berenger, count


of her husband. See the king of the simple life sitting 

there alone—Henry of England; he has in his branches 

better issue. He who lower down sits on the ground 

among those, looking upward, is William the marquis, for 

Vedete il re della semplice vita 130 

Seder la solo, Arrigo d' Inghilterra. 

Questi ha nei rami suoi migliore uscita.' 

Quel che piii basso tra costor s' atterra, 

Guardando insuso, fe Guglielmo Marchese, 

i reami Cass. Gg. 134. 

of Provence, were wives to Charles of Anjou and Louis IX.; and 

Constance, daughter of Manfred, was, as has been said, wife to Peter. 

It may seem strange that Dante should so depreciate St. Louis; but 

probably his dislike to the royal house of France extended itself to its 

head; and the fact that Louis was canonised by Boniface VIII. would 

not be a recommendation. At any rate, it is curious that that great 

king is nowhere mentioned throughout the poem. The meaning is, 

Charles's son is as much inferior to him as Charles and Louis to Peter. 

Another view is that the Margaret referred to is Charles's second wife, 

daughter of Eudes, duke of Burgundy. Note in Gg. says : ' Istae duae 

erant nurus dominae Constantiae uxores d. Jacopi et d. Frederici'; and 

Land, and Veil, say that Beatrice was wife to Frederick, Margaret to 

James. This, however, does .not appear to agree with the facts ; as the 

wives of those princes (daughters of Charles II.) were named respectively 

Eleanor and Blanche. 

1^1 Henry III. He sits apart probably as having no territorial connexion 

with the empire. Villani (v. 4) sums up his character shortly : 

' Fu semplice uomo e di buona fe, e di poco valore '; and elsewhere : 

' Fu uomo di semplice -vita.' He agrees also with Dante in his opinion 

of Edward I. : 'II buono re Adoardo, uno de' piu valorosi signori al 

suo tempo' (-riii. 90). So again Fazio, Dittamondo iv. 25, after 

calling Henry 

Bello del corpo e misero del core, 

proceeds— 

da lui nacque lo buon Odoardo, 

Del cui valor nel mondo fe fama adesso. 

134 -William, marquis of Montferrat, and the Canavese (the district

VII PURGATORY "il 

whose sake Alessandria and her war makes Monferrato and 

the Canavese weep. 

Per cui Alessandria e la sua guerra 

Fa pianger Monferrato e il Canavese. 

enclosed between the two Doras and the Po), was captured and 

imprisoned by the men of Alessandria. He died 1292, and his sons, 

to avenge him, went to war. Dante commemorates him (Conv. iv. 6) 

among men renowned for generosity.

CANTO VIII 

ARGUMENT 

First sunset. The souls pray together, and two angels come to guard 

them. The poets descend among them, and meet Nino de' Visconti 

and Conrad Malaspina. ,A serpent comes, and is put to 

flight by the angels. - Then the author and his friends converse 

far into the night. 

IT was already the hour which turns backward their longing 

in seafarers, and makes tender their heart, the day that they 

have said farewell to their sweet friends ; and which pricks 

the new pilgrim with love, if he hears a beU from afar 

seeming to mourn the day that is dying; when I began 

to- render vain my hearing, and to gaze on one of the souls 

ERA gia 1' ora che volge il disio 

Ai naviganti, e intenerisce il cuore 

Lo di ch' han detto ai dolci amici addio: 

E che lo nuovo peregrin d' amore 

Punge, se ode squilla di lontano, 

Che paia il giorno pianger che si muore, 

Quand' io incomirtciai a render vano 

L' udire, ed a mirare una dell' alme 

^ se ode. For the hiatus, cf iv. 2, Par. xx-vi. 34. 

' I.e. I listened no more to Sordello.

CANTO VIII PURGATORY 89 

which, risen up, was with its hand craving attention. It 

joined and lifted both its palms, fixing its eyes toward the 

East, as it were saying to God: ' Aught else I heed not.' 

Te lucis ante so devoutly issued from its mouth, and with 

such sweet notes, that it made me issue from my own 

thought. And the others then sweetly and devoutly 

followed' it throughout the entire hymn, having their eyes 

on the supernal wheels. Sharpen here, reader, well thy 

eyes to the truth, for the veil is now indeed of a surety so 

fine that to pass within is easy. 

Surta, che 1' ascoltar chiedea con mano. 

Ella giunse e levb ambo le palme, 10 

Ficcando gli occhi verso 1' oriente. 

Come dicesse a Dio: D' altro non calme. 

Te lucis ante si divotamente , 

Le usci di bocca, e con si dolci note, 

Che fece me a me uscir di mente : 

E r altre poi dolcemente e divote 

Seguitar lei per tutto 1' inno intero, 

Avendb gli occhi alle superne ruote. 

Aguzza qui, Lettor, ben gli occhi al vero; 

Chfe il velo fe ora ben tanto sottile, 20 

Certo, che il trapassar dentro fe leggiero. 

12 non calme = «flK mi cale ; so xxx. 135. 

15 The well - known Compline hymn. ' Te lucis ante terminum, 

Rerum Creator, poscimus, Ut pro tua dementia Sis praesul et custodia.' 

1^ Made me forget everything else. Cf again Eth. Nic. x. 5 (quoted 

in note to iv. 1-12). 

19-31 The meaning of these lines has been much discussed. There 

can be little doubt, however, that, the simplest interpretation is also the 

right one, viz.; ' Here, if anywhere, is the point at which the allegorical 

sense may be comprehended.' At the same time it must be said that 

none of the explanations is very satisfactory. Perhaps the key is to be


I saw that noble army silently thereafter gaze upward, 

as though awaiting, pale and humble; and I saw issue 

from on high, and descend downward, two angels with two 

flaming swords, shortened and deprived of their points. 

Green, as leaflets but just born, they were in raiment, which 

they drew after them smitten and blown about by green 

wings. The one came to a halt a little above us, and 

the other descended upon the opposite bank, so that the 

folk was held in the midst. Well discerned I in them 

their fair heads; but in their faces the eye went astray, as 

a faculty which is confounded by excess. 'Both come 

Io vidi quello esercito gentile 

Tacito poscia riguardare in sue, 

Quasi aspettando pallido ed umile : 

E vidi uscir dell' alto, e scender giue 

Due Angeli con due spade affocate, 

Tronche e private delle punte sue. 

Verdi come fogliette pur mo nate 

Erano in veste, che da verdi penne 

Percosse traean dietro e ventilate. 30 

L' un poco sovra noi a star si venne, 

E 1' altro scese in 1' opposita sponda. 

Si che la gente in mezzo si contenne. 

Ben discerneva in lor la testa bionda: 

Ma nelle facce 1' occhio si smarria, 

Corne virtii che a troppo si confonda. 

found in the fact that the angels are clad in green. In the parallel 

passage, Inf ix. 37-63, it, may be observed that the Furies, by a kind 

of infernal parody, are 'girt with greenest snakes.' As they summon 

Medusa, or Despair, to turn the gazer into stone, so here we have our 

attention called to the Hope which animates the souls of the righteous. 

'^ -virfc-vi as in iv. 2. Cf. xvii. 53, Par. v. 133, 134. The idea is from 

De Anima ii. 12 : rdv aiadTp-Qv al uirepôXal tp6eipov(rt, rb. al(r8riri}pia, 

or in the old Latin version which Dante almost certainly used:

VIII PURGATORY 91 

from the bosom of Mary,' said Sordello, 'for guard of 

the valley, by reason of the serpent which will straightway 

come.' "Whence I, who knew' not by what path, turned me 

around, and straitly placed myself, all chilled, beside the 

trusted shoulders. And Sordello again: ' Now let us go 

down at once among the mighty shades, and we will speak 

to them; weU-pleasing will it be to them to see you.' 

Only three steps I think that I descended, and I was 

below, and saw one who was gazing only at me, as though 

he wished to know me. By this it was a time when the air 

was growing dark, yet not so much but that between his 

eyes and mine it let grow clear that which till then it hid. 

Ambo vegnon del grembo di Maria, 

Disse Sordello, a guardia della valle, 

Per lo serpente che verra via via. 

Ond' io che non sapeva per qual calle, 40 

Mi volsi intorno, e stretto m' accostai 

Tutto gelato alle fidate spalle. 

E Sordello anche : Ora awalliamo omai 

Tra le grandi ombre, e parleremo ad esse : 

Grazioso fia lor vedervi assai. 

Solo tre passi credo ch' io scendesse, 

E fui di sotto, e vidi un che mirava 

Pur me, come conoscer mi volesse. 

Tempo era gia che 1' aer s' annerava, 

Ma non si, che tra gli occhi suoi i miei 50 

Non dichiarasse cib che pria serrava. 

' Sensibilium excellentiae corrumpunt sensitiva.' Cf also De An. iii. 2, 

So Pascal, Pens. i. i : Les qualites excessives nous sont ennemies et 

non pas sensibles. 

*5-5i Though it was growing dusk, there was still light enough to 

enable us when we approached to recognise each other through the less 

space of air.


Towards me he moved, and I moved towards him; noble 

judge Nino, how much it pleased me when I saw that 

thou wast not among the damned! No fair salutation was 

silent between us ; then he asked : ' How long is it since 

thou didst come to the foot of the mount by the distant 

waters?' 'Oh,' said I to him, 'byway of the regions of 

woe I came this morning, and I am in my first life, albeit 

that by so going I am seeking to gain the second.' And 

as my answer was heard, Sordello and he drew themselves 

Ver me si fece, ed io ver lui mi fei; 

Giudice Nin gentil, quanto mi piacque, 

Quando ti vidi non esser tra i rei! 

NuUo bel salutar tra noi si tacque : 

Poi dimando: Quant' fe, che tu venisti 

Appife del monte per le lontane acque ? 

O, diss' io lui, per entro i luoghi tristi 

Venni stamane, e sono in prima vita, 

Ancor che 1' altra si andando acquisti. 60 

E come fu la mia riposta udita, 

Sordello ed egli indietro si raccolse, 

^ Nino del Visconti of Pisa, nephew (or, as Villani says, perhaps 

from a cbnfusion with Nino called Brigata, grandson) of Count Ugolino 

dei Gherardeschi, was the leader of the Pisan Guelfs about the year 

1288, and was- driven out of the city by Ugolino. Sardinia ha-ving been 

captured by the Pisans from the Saracens in the eleventh century, was 

di-vided into four portions under certain noble families of Pisa, who 

governed it as feudatories of the Republic, with the title of judges, the 

district of Gallura falling to the share of the Visconti. By this time, 

however, the Giudici seem to have become merely Pisan nobles. 

Philalethes suggests that Dante may have met Nino at the capture of 

Caprona in 1289. See also Inf xxii. 82-90. 

It will be observed that his own salvation is always represented 

as the object of Dante's journey. Cf xxx. 136. 

^2 As Blanc points out, vi. 57 explains why Sordello has not till now 

known that Dante is alive.


backward, as folk bewildered of a sudden. The one turned 

round to Virgil, and the other to one who was sitting 

there, crying : ' Up, Conrad, come to see what God through 

His grace has willed.' Then, turning to me: ' By this 

singular favour, which thou' owest to Him who so hides 

His own first wherefore that there is no sounding it, when 

thou shalt be beyond the broad waters say to my Joan 

that she cry there for me where answer to the innocent 

is given. I think that her mother loves me not any more, 

since she has changed the white wimple, which it behoves 

that she poor soul must long for yet again. Through 

Come gente di subito smarrita. 

L' uno a Virgilio, e 1' altro ad un si volse 

Che sedea'Ii, gridando: Su Currado, 

Vieni a veder che Dio per grazia volse. 

Poi volto a me : Per quel singular grado, 

Che tu dei a colui, che si nasconde 

Lo suo primo perchfe, che non gli fe guado, 

Quando sarai di la daUe larghe onde, 70 

Di' a Giovanna mia, che per me chiami 

Lk dove agl' innocenti si risponde. 

Non credo che la sua madre piii m' ami, 

Poscia che trasmutb le bianche bende, 

Le quai convien che misera ancor brami. 

^ ad un. The MSS. examined by Dr. Moore, in the proportion 

of ten to nine, and two at least of the first six edd. absurdly read 

a me.—si volse. See note to iv. 100. 

^ gniado; literally, ' it has no shallow.' 

^ Nino's -wife was an Este. After his death she married Galeazzo 

Visconti of Milan. 

''^ Philalethes quotes Boccaccio to show that black clothes and white 

headgear were then, as now, the mark of widowhood.


her easily enough one may understand how long a flame 

of love lasts in a woman, if eye or frequent touch rekindle 

it not. The viper which the Milanese bears will not make 

her so fair a sepulture as the cock of Gallura would have 

made.' Thus he spoke, marked in his aspect with the 

stamp of that upright zeal which burns, in due measure, in 

the heart. 

My eyes were going eagerly to the heaven only, even 

Per lei assai di lieve si comprende 

Quanto in femmina fuoco d' amor dura, 

Se r occhio o il tatto spesso noi raccende. 

Non le fark si bella sepoltura 

La -vipera che il Melanese accampa,'' 80 

Com' avria fatto il gallo di Gallura. 

Cosi dicea, segnato della stampa 

Nel suo aspetto di quel dritto zelo, 

Che misuratamente in cuore avvampa. 

Gli occhi miei ghiotti andavan pure al cielo, 

* che i Melanesi Gg. Land. 14 W. ; che Menalesi Cass. 

5° I have followed Bianchi and Fraticelli in reading che il 

Melanese accampa. Blanc ' regards as preferable in all respects' 

the older che i Melanesi ace, 'which sets the Milanese in battlearray 

'; or, as Philalethes translates, ' drunter Mailands Volk sich 

lagert.' But surely this is introducing an uncalled-for idea, and moreover, 

il Melanese' is exactly the term by which a Visconti of Pisa 

would designate one of the same name (if not the same stock) at Milan. 

accampa: 'bears on the field of his escutcheon.' Villani ix. iio: i 

signori Visconti di Milano come si sa hanno 1' arme loro il campo 

bianco e la vipera. Benv. (to Inf xxii. 82) avers that Gallura took 

its name from the cock borne by the Visconti of Pisa. 

5^ in cuore : idest incendit animum boni viri. Benv.


there where the stars are slower, as a wheel where it is nearer 

to the axle. And my Leader: ' Son, at what gazest thou 

on high?' And I to him: 'At those fiiree torches, wherewith 

the whole pole on this side burns.' And he to me: 

' The four bright stars which thou sawest this morning are 

low on that side, and these are risen where those were.' 

As he was beginning to speak, Sordello drew him to 

himself, saying: 'See there our adversary,' and pointed 

his finger that he might look that way. On that side where 

Pur la dove le stelle son piii tarde. 

Si come ruota piii presso alio stelo. 

E il Duca mio : Figliuol, che lassii guarde ? 

Ed io a lui: A quelle tre facelle, 

Di che il polo di qua tutto quanto arde. go 

Ed egli a me: Le quattro chiare stelle, 

Che vedevi staman, son di Ik basse, 

E queste son salite ov' eran quelle. 

Com' ei parlava, e Sordello a sfe il trasse,'' 

Dicendo : Vedi la il nostro avversaro, 

E drizzb il dito, perchfe in Ik guatasse. 

Da quella parte, onde non ha riparo 

b Com' io part. W. 

5' Whether Dante had really any three stars in his mind, and if so, 

what they were, is a favourite subject of discussion among commentators. 

The most commonly selected are a Eridani (Achernar), a Argus 

(Canopus), and ct Doradus. An objection to this is that these are too 

near-the Cross to be high when that is set; nor are they very near the 

pole. Others suggest Canopus and the Magellanic Clouds. But these 

speculations are not of much use. What is certain is that the four seen 

in the morning (i. 23) denote the cardinal or active virtues, and these 

the theological or contemplative. See xxxi. 106. It must be observed 

that all the seven are near the pole. The seven all together form the 

'settentrion del primo cielo,' xxx. I. 

5^ Notice e answering to come, and cf Inf i. 31.


the little valley has no rampart was a snake; perchance 

such as gave to Eve the bitter food. Through the grass 

and flowers came tile evil reptile, turning now and again 

its head towards its back, licking, like a beast which 

sleeks itself. I saw not, and therefore I cannot say, how 

the heavenly falcons moved, but I surely saw both one and 

the other in motion. Hearing their green wings cleave the 

air the serpent fled, and the angels wheeled upward to 

their posts, flying back abreast. The shade which had 

drawn close to the judge when he called, through all that 

assault had not a moment been loosed from gazing on me. 

' So may the lantern which is leading thee on high find 

La picciola vallea, era una biscia, 

Forse qual diede ad Eva il cibo amaro. 

Tra r erba e i fior venia la mala striscia, roo 

Volgendo ad or ad or la testa al dosso, 

Leccando come bestia che si liscia.'^ 

Io noi vidi, e perb dicer noi posso. 

Come, mosser gli astor celestial!: 

Ma vidi bene e 1' uno e 1' altro mosso. 

Sentendo fender 1' aere alle verdi ali, 

Fuggi il serpente, e gh Angeli dier volta 

Suso alle poste rivolando iguali. 

L' ombra che s' era al Giudice raccolta, 

Quando chiamb, per tutto quell' assalto no 

.Punto non fu da me guardare sciolta. 

Se la lucerna che ti mena in alto, 

" e il dosso Lecc. 2 Aid. Land. Bi, 

105 sentendo fender alle ali; so legar vidi alia fiera xxxii. 96. Cf. 

Fr, ' entendre dire, voir faire, kqqun.' Diez, Gr. Rom. iii. 123. 

i°5 Cf. Odyssey, ii. 149.


in thy will candle so much as needs to reach the enamel 

of the summit,', it began, ' if thou knowest true news of 

Valdimagra, or of its neighbourhood, tell it to me, for 

once was I great there. I was called Conrad Malaspina; 

Truovi nel tuo arbitrio tanta cera, 

Quant' fe mestiero infino al sommo smalto, 

Comincib ella : se novella vera 

Di Valdimagra, o di parte vicina 

Sai, dilla a me, che gia grande Ik era. 

Chiamato fui Currado Malaspina.'' 

* Fu gid. chiam. Gg. ; Fu io 124. 

112 'May God's grace' (typified by the lantern, as by Lucia) 'find 

in thy free--will sufficient material whereon to act'; or, as Philalethes 

well renders : ' Soil jene Leuchte, die dich fiihrt nach oben. So yieles 

Oel in deinenWillen finden.' The construction is the same as in ii. 16, 

v. 85, etc. 

1" smalto. The flower-enamelled summit of the mountain. So 

the meadow in which the great men of - pre'- Christian times walk is 

called (Inf iv. 118) 'il verde smalto.' Others take it as meaning the 

highest heaven. 

116,118 Valdimagra. The Magra rises at the N. end of the province 

of Lunigiana and flows into the sea just E. of the Gulf of Spezia. 

Of this territory the Malaspina were lords at the end of the thirteenth 

century (see note, Inf xxiv. 145). This Conrad appears to have been 

cousin of Moroello, the ' Vapor di Valdimagra' of that passage, and 

would seem, from Boccaccio (Day ii. Nov. 6), to have been himself a 

Ghibeline. There is, however, some obscurity as to the politics of the 

family, but Dante had grounds of personal gratitude enough to outweigh 

any political differences in the case of a house under whose protection 

he was living in 1306 and 1307. The Purgatory was dedicated to a 

Moroello Malaspina, probably a cousin's son to the Moroello above 

named; Foscolo thinks to Spinetta, the friend of Uguccione and 

Can della- Scala. Villani does not mention them, but see Philalethes 

here, and Balbo, Vita di Dante, part ii. ch. 6, also Bianchi's note, 

for the genealogy of the family. Prof Bartoli has a very full Appendix 

on the subject at the end of vol. vi. of his Letteratura Italiana. 

H


I am not the Ancient, but I am descended from him; I bare 

to mine the love which here is purified.' ' Oh,' said I 

to him, ' through your laiids I never was ; but where dwell 

men throughout all Europe, that they are not known ? The 

fame that honours your house shouts forth its lords, and 

shouts forth the country, so that he knows of it who never 

yet was there. And I swear to you, so may I go on high, 

that your honoured race ceases not to be adorned with the 

glory of the purse and of the sword. Custom and nature 

Non son 1' antico, ma di lui discesi: 

Ai miei portal 1' amor che qui raffina. ,120 

O, dissi lui, per Ii vostri paesi " 

Giammai non fui: ma dove si dimora 

Per tutta Europa, ch' ei non sien palesi?. 

La fama che la vostra casa onora, 

Grida i signori, e grida la contrada, 

Si che ne sa chi non vi fu ancora. 

Ed io vi giuro, s' io di sopra vada, 

Che vostra gente onrata non si sfregia 

Del pregio della borsa e della spada. 

Uso e natura si la privilegia, 130 

° Certo, diss' io, Ott. 

11^ r antico. Conrad the elder, grandfather of the speaker, was a 

staunch supporter of Frederick II. He died about 1255. 

12« ' Portal tanto amore a' miei, che io ne lasciai la cura dell' anima, 

ed indugiai 1' opere meritorie della salute per guerreggiare ed acquistare 

amici; il quale amore qui si cimenta e purga.' Ottimo. 

128 Notice vostra as denoting respect. Cf Inf xv. 30, and see 

Diez iii. 50. 

129 Landino, though in his text he has sftegia, seems by his note to 

prefer/«,f«a, and takes borsa and spada in a bad sense. Gg. has non 

sifresgia (sic), i.e. 'non deornatur et spoliatur.'


give it such pri-vilege, that whereas the guilty head is turning 

the world astray, it alone goes straight, and despises the 

evil road.' And he : 'Go now, for the sun lays not himself 

seven times more in the bed which the Ram covers and 

bestrides with all four feet, but this courteous opinion will 

be fastened in the midst of thy head with stronger nails 

than of another's speech; if course of doom be not arrested.' 

Che perchfe il capo reo lo mondo torca. 

Sola va dritta, e il mal cammin dispregia. 

Ed egli: Or va, chfe il Sol non si ricorca 

Sette volte nel letto che il Montone 

Con tutti e quattro i pife cuopre ed inforca, 

Che cotesta cortese opinione 

Ti fia chiavata in mezzo della testa 

Con maggior chiovi chs. d' alticui sermone, 

Se corso di giudicio non s' arresta. 

1^1 The usual interpretation seems the best, which understands by 

capo reo, the Pope Boniface VIII. Landino passes over the words in 

silence, a pretty clear proof how he understood them. Vellutello talks 

some wonderfi.ll nonsense about the pommel (capo) of the sword being 

kept dovmwards, Blanc prefers to take mondo as the subject, ' whereas 

the world turns aside its guilty head,' sc. from the right path. 

133,134 j_e. the spring equinox will not recur seven times. See note, 

1. Ii6.

CANTO IX 

ARGUMENT 

Dante falls asleep, and dreams a dream of an eagle. Second sunrise. 

In his sleep he is borne by Lucy to the door of Purgatory, where 

he finds an angel, seated over three steps of divers stone. The 

angel admits them into Purgatory, but first makes certain marks 

on Dante's forehead. 

THE bedfellow of ancient Tithonus was already growing 

white on the gallery of the east, forth from the arms of • 

her sweet paramour; her forehead was bright with gems, 

placed in the figure of the cold animal that smites folk with 

LA concubina di Titone antico, 

^ balco Cass. W. 

Gia s' imbiancava al balzo d' oriente,^ 

Fuor delle braccia del suo dolce amico: 

Di gemme la sua fronte era lucente, 

Poste in figura del freddo animale, 

Che con la coda percuote la gente : 

1-9 See note at end of this Canto. 

1 N.B. the form Titone for Titono. Scart. reads Titan, meaning 

the sun, his concubina being the sea. There is little authority for the 

reading ; nor need more be desired. 

2 B' imbiancava: so s' impingua, Par. x. 96.

CANTO IX PURGATORY lOI 

its tail; and the night, of the steps wherewith she mojint^, ' 

had in- the place where we were made two, and thfe .third 

was already inclining downward its. wings, when I, who h^d 

with me some of Adam's part, overcome by sleep, reclined' 

on the grass, there where, all five, already we were sitting. 

In the hour when the swallow begins her sad lays, near 

to the morning, perhaps in memory of her former woes, 

and when our mind, pilgrim rather from the flesh, and less 

held by its thoughts, is in its visions as it were di'vine; in 

a dream I seemed to see an eagle with feathers of gold, 

poised in heaven, with its wings open and astrain to swoop. 

E la notte dei passi con che sale 

Fatti avea due nel luogo ov' eravamo, 

E il terzo gia chinava ingiuso 1' ale: 

Quand' io che meco avea di quel d' Adamo, lo 

'Vinto dal sonno in su 1' erba inchinai. 

La 've gia tutti e cinque sedevamo. 

Nell' ora che comincia i tristi lai 

La rondinella presso aUa mattina, 

Forse a memoria dei suoi primi guai, 

E che la mente nostra pellegrina 

Piii dalla carne, e men dai pensier presa, 

Alle sue vision quasi fe divina. 

In sogno mi parea veder sospesa 

Un' aquila nel ciel con penne d' oro, 20 

Con- r ali aperte, ed a calare intesa: 

12 tutti e cinque. Dante, Virgil, Sordello, Nino, Conrad. 

16.17 Blanc thinks the construction here ' etwas gez-wungene,' and 

perhaps there is an objection to the form in which the sentence is cast, 

piii pellegrina and men presa being only apparently antithetical. 

The sense is- however plain. 

i** For this and the other dreams seen by Dante in Purgatory, see 

Appendix A.


And meseemed I was in that place where his friends were 

abandoned by Ganymede, when he was ra-vished to the consistory 

on high. Within myself I thought, perhaps it strikes by 

' custom ^bnly here, and perhaps from another place it disdains 

-to bear away aloft in its claw. Then meseemed that ha-ving 

wheeled a little more terrible as a thunderbolt it descended, 

and snatched me upward as far as the fire. There it seemed 

that it and I burned, and so the imagined conflagration 

scorched, that it behoved that my sleep broke. Not otherwise 

did Achilles start from sleep, turning his awakened eyes 

around, and not knowing where he was, when his mother 

Ed esser mi parea la dove foro 

Abbandonati i suoi da Ganimede, 

Quando fu ratto al sommo concistoro. 

Era me pensava : Forse questa fiede 

Pur qui per uso, e forse d' altro loco 

Disdegna di portarne suso in piede. 

Poi mi parea che piii rotata un poco,'' 

Terribil come folgor discendesse, 

E me rapisse suso infino al foco. 30 

Ivi pareva ch' ella ed io ardesse, 

E SI lo incendio immaginato cosse, 

Che convenne che il sonno si rompesse. 

Non altrimenti Achille si riscosse, 

Gli occhi svegliati rivolgendo in giro, 

E non sapendo la dove si fosse: 

'" che roteata W.; che pair. Gg. Cass. 

25 I.e. on Ida. 

5" foco. The sphere of fire, or empyrean. See Conv. ii. 4. 

34 sqq. gee Statins, Ach. i., especially lines 247 sqq. 

^' si fosse. So si is used with sapere, v., 135; with guatare ix. 

132 ; so ti stavi vi. 62. So, too, io mi sono xxiv. 52, xxvii. loi. 

See Diez iii. 176.

IX PURGATORY 103 

from Chiron carried him across sleeping in her arms to 

Scyros, the place whence afterwards the Greeks made him depart, 

than did I start up, so soon as from my face sleep fled, 

and I became all amort, as does the man who freezes with 

fear. Beside me was my Comforter alone, and the sun 

was already more than two hours high, and my face was 

turned to the sea. ' Have no fear,' said my Master, ' make 

thyself secure,- for we are at a good point; contract not, 

but widen all thy force. Thou art from this point come 

to Purgatory; see there the gallery which closes it round; 

see the entry there where it appears disjoined. Ere this, in 

the dawn which goes before the day, when thy soul was 

Quando la madre da Chirone a Schiro 

Trafugb lui dormendo in le sue braccia, 

Lk onde poi gli Greci il dipartiro : 

Che mi scoss' io, si come dalla faccia 40 

Mi fuggi il sonno, e diventai ismorto, 

Come fa 1' uom che spaventato agghiaccia.'^ 

Da lato m' era solo il mio conforto, 

E il sole er' alto gik piii di due ore, 

E il viso m' era alia marina torto. 

Non aver tema, disse il mio Signore: 

Fatti sicur, chfe noi siamo a buon punto : 

Non stringer, ma rallarga ogni vigore. 

Tu sei omai al Purgatorio giunto : 

Vedi la il balzo, che il chiude dintorno : 50 

Vedi r entrata Ik 've par disgiunto. 

Dianzi, nell' alba che precede al giorno, 

Quando 1' anima tua dentro dormia, 

0 accaccia Gg.; acaccia Cass. 12345. 

4" si come. Cf Par. xxiv. 152, where it corresponds with tosto che 

in 1. 150. So 'just as' is used in English of both time and manner.


sleeping within thee on the flowers, wherewith it is adorned 

down yonder, came a dame, and said : " I am Lucy; let me 

take this man who sleeps, so will I speed him on his way." 

Sordello remained, and the other noble forms; she took 

thee up, and, as the day was clear, went her way upward, 

and I in her track. Here laid she thee; and first her fair 

eyes showed me that entry open; then she and thy sleep together 

went their way.' In fashion of a man who in doubt 

reassures himself, and who turns into comfort his fear, after 

Sopra Ii fiori, onde laggiu fe adorno,- 

Venne una donna, e disse : Io son Lucia : 

Lasciatemi pigliar costui che dorme : 

Si r agevolerb per la sua via. 

Sordel rimase, e 1' altre gentil forme : 

Ella ti tolse, e come il di fu chiaro. 

Sen venne suso, ed io per le sue orme. 60 

' Qui ti posb : e pria mi dimostraro 

Gli occhi suoi belli quell' entrata aperta : 

Poi ella e il sonno ad una se n' andaro. 

A guisa d' uom che in dubbio si raccerta, 

E che muta in conforto sua paura,^ 

d E mutin conf. Cass. 14; e mutin ne 2.; e mutiper 3 ; e che muti 

171 c. Aid. Land. Bi.; e che muta c. ^ ; e indi riconforta Gg. 

^^ For Lucia, symbolising, say the commentators, illuminant grace, 

see Inf ii. 97 j and with the whole of this passage compare the way in 

which Dante is brought in an unconscious swoon to the edge of Hell. 

Inf iii. and iv. 

"5 forme = anime, the soul being the fortn, in the metaphysical 

sense, of the body. De An. ii. i : dvayKoiav r^v ^pvx^v oicriav etvat 

lis elSos atbiiaros fvaiKov. So Aquinas S. T. i. Q. 76, passim; and 

Canto xviii. 49. 

5" The reading muti seems the less satisfactory, because there does 

not appeal- to be any .need for the harsh change from the indie.


that the truth is disclosed to him, myself I changed; and as 

my Leader saw me free from care, he moved upward along 

the ledge, and I behind him toward the height. 

Reader, thou seest well how I exalt my matter, and 

therefore wonder not if with more art I sustain it. 

We drew us near, and were at such a part that there 

-where first had seemed to me a breach, just like a crack 

which parts a wall, I saw a gate, and three steps below 

it to go to it, divers of colours, and a porter who as yet 

spake no word. And as I opened more and more my eye 

to it, I saw that he sat over the highest step, such in his 

face that I endured it not; and he had a naked sword in 

Poi che la veritk gli fe discoverta, 

Mi cambia' io : e come senza cura 

Videmi il Duca mio, su per lo balzo 

Si mosse, ed io diretro inveir 1' altura. 

Lettor, tu vedi ben, com' io innalzo 70 

La mia materia, e perb con piii arte 

Non ti maravigliar s' io la rincalzo. 

Noi ci appressammo, ed eravamo in parte, 

Che Ik, dove pareami prima un rotto, 

Pur come un fesso che muro diparte, 

Vidi una porta, e tre gradi di sotto 

Per gire ad essa, di color, diversi, 

Ed un portier, che ancor non facea motto. 

E come 1' occhio piii e piii v' apersi, 

Vidil seder sopra il grado soprano, 80 

Tal nella faccia, ch' io non lo soffersi: 

Ed una spada nuda aveva in mano, 

raccerta ; though but for this we might perhaps expect a subjunctive. 

See Diez iii. 345. 

'2 rincalzo. Par. xxi. 130. 

So xiii. 46.

io6 PURGATORY CANTO 

his hand, which reflected the rays so towards us, that I 

directed often my sight in vain. ' Tell me, from where ye 

stand, what would ye?' he began to say; 'where is your 

escort ? Look to it, that to come upward hurt you not.' ' A 

dame of Heaven, knowing of these things,' answered my 

Master to him, ' but ere now said to us : " Go thither, there 

is the gate.'" 'And may she further your steps to good,' 

began again the courteous gatekeeper; ' come then forward 

to our stair.' There where we came to the first stair, it was 

Che riflettea i raggi si ver noi, 

Ch' io dirizzava spesso il viso in vano : 

Ditel costinci, che volete voi ? 

Comincib egli a dire : ov' fe la scorta ? 

Guardate che il venir su non vi noi. 

Donna del Ciel, di queste cose accorta, 

Rispose il mio Maestro a lui, pur dianzi 

Ne disse: Andate la, quivi fe la porta. 90 

Ed ella i passi vostri in bene avanzi, 

Ricomincib il cortese portinaio : 

Venite dunque ai nostri gradi innanzi. 

La 've venimmo alio scaglion primaio " 

^ La ne venim7no; e lo, ed. 1484, Aid.; La ci traemmo Caet. 

5' ' Optime dicit, quia multi quotidie accedunt ad sacerdotem pro 

paenitentia, qui truffantur de eo et de Deo, ut videantur boni viri . . . 

sicut jocose fecit sanctus Capelletus de quo pulcre scribit Boccacius de 

Certaldo placidissimus hominum.'—Benv. 

^ Much has been written about the symbolical meaning of these three 

steps. There is no question but that they denote the state of mind with 

which penance is to be approached ; or as Miss Rossetti, ' Shadow of 

Dante,' well, puts it: ' Candid confession mirroring the whole man, 

mournful contrition breaking the hard heart of the gazer on the Cross ; 

love all aflame offering up in satisfaction the life-blood of body, soul, . 

and spirit.' The rest of the passage may be read with advantage.


white marble, so polished and rubbed that I was mirrored in 

it as I appear. The second, of deeper tint than perse, was 

of a rock rugged and fire-burnt, cracked through its length 

and across. The third, which masses itself above, seemed 

to me porphyry so flaming as blood which spirts forth from 

a vein. Upon this the Angel of God was holding both his 

feet, sitting on the threshold, which seemed to me a rock 

of adamant. Over the three steps upward with a good will 

my Leader drew me, saying : ' Ask humbly that he undo the 

Bianco marmo era si pulito e terso, 

Ch' io mi specchiai in esso quale io paio. 

Era il secondo tinto piii che perso, 

D' una petrina ruvida ed arsiccia, 

Crepata per lo lungo e per traverso. 

Lo terzo, che di sopra s' ammassiccia, 100 

Porfido mi parea si fiammeggiante. 

Come sangue che fuor di vena spiccia. 

Sopra questo teneva ambo le piante 

L' Angel di Dio, sedendo in su la soglia, 

Che mi sembiava pietra di diamante. 

Per Ii tre gradi sudi buona voglia 

Mi trasse il Duca mio, dicendo: Chiedi 

Umilemente che il serrame scioglia. 

97 perso. 'e un colore misto di purpureo e di nero, ma vince il 

nero,' Conv. iv. 20. 'aer perso,' Inf. v. 89. 'buia assai vie pi-u che 

persa,' Ib. vii. 103. In Chaucer, Prologue to 'Canterbury Tales,' 

1. 439, we read of the Doctor of Physic that ' In sanguine and in perse 

he clad was all'; where, by the way, Dr. Morris can hardly be right in 

explaining it as 'a bluish-gray,' 'sky-blue.' 

^ It is curious that Miss Rossetti should have been (apparently) the 

first commentator to detect the obvious allusion to the Cross in the 

cracking of the stone in its length and breadth.

io8 PURGATORY CANTO 

lock.' Devout I threw myself at the holy feet; I asked for 

mercy, and that he would open to me; but first upon my breast 

three times I smote myself. Seven P's upon my forehead he 

described with the point of the sword, and ' See that thou 

wash, when thou art within, these strokes,' said he. Ash, or 

earth that should crack with drought, would be of one colour 

with his vestment, and from beneath that he drew two keys. 

The one was of gold, and the other was of silver; first with 

the white, and afterward with the yellow, he dealt with 

Divoto mi gittai a santi piedi: 

Misericordia chiesi e che m' aprisse, no 

Ma pria nel petto tre volte mi diedi.^ 

Sette P nella fronte mi descrisse 

Col punton della spada; e : Fa che lavi, 

Quando sei dentro, queste piaghe, disse. 

Cenere o terra che secca si cavi, 

D' un color fora col suo vestimento: 

E di sotto da quel trasse due chiavi. 

L' una era d' oro, e 1' altra era d' argento : 

Pria con la bianca, e poscia con la gialla 

' trefiate Gg: Cass. 1234 W. etc. 

Ill For this use of dare, cf xxiv. 148; and such expression as 'dar 

nel brocco' (to hit the mark). All the edd. so far as I know xesAfiate; 

but the word is almost (if not quite) invariably a trisyllable in Dante 

and his contemporaries, as indeed from its derivation it should be. I 

have therefore preferred to read volte which has very respectable MS. 

support. 

112 Seven P's {Peccato) for the seven deadly sins. 

115 The silver key is the science which discerns the true penitent; 

the golden, the. power of absolution, more costly, because purchased by 

the death of Christ. See Philalethes here, who refers to Aquinas S. T. 

iii. Suppl. Q. 17. 'On the entity and quiddity of the keys.'


the gate so that I was content. ''Whenever' one of these 

keys fails, so that it does not turn straight through the 

keyhole,' said he to us, ' this gap opens not. One is more 

costly, but the other needs much of art and wit ere it 

unlocks, because it is that which disentangles the knot. 

From Peter I hold them; and he bade that I should err 

rather toward opening than toward keeping it locked, so 

only that the folk prostrated themselves at my feet' Then 

he pushed the door of the sacred portal, saying : ' Enter, but 

I do you to wit that forth returns whoso looks him back.' 

And when upon the hinges were turned the pins of that 

holy portal, which are of metal, resounding and strong, 

Fece alia porta si ch' io fui contento. 120 

Quandunque 1' una d' este chiavi falla, 

Che non si volga dritta per la toppa. 

Diss' egli a noi, non s' apre questa calla. 

Piii cara fe 1' una; ma 1' altra vuol troppa 

D' arte e d' ingegno avanti che disserri. 

Perch' eir fe queUa che il nodo disgroppa. 

Da Pier le tengo : e dissemi, ch' io erri 

Anzi ad aprir, che a tenerla serrata; 

Pur che la gente a' piedi mi s' atterri. 

Poi pinse 1' uscio alia porta sacrata, 130 

Dicendo : Intrate; ma facciovi accorti 

Che di fuor torna chi indietro si guata. 

' E quando fur nei cardini distorti 

Gli spigoli di queUa regge sacra 

Che di metallo son sonanti e forti, 

123 calla. See iv. 22. 

132 si guata. See note, 1. 36.

IIO PURGATORY CANTO 

Tarpeia beUowed not so, nor showed herself so shrill, when 

taken from her was the good Metellus, whereby afterwards 

she remained lean. I turned me round attentive to the 

first tone, and methought I heard Te Deum laudamus, in 

a voice mingled with the sweet harmony. Just such an 

image gave me that which I heard, as one is wont to receive 

when they stand to sing with an organ, when the words 

now are perceived and now are not. 

Non ruggio si, nfe si mostrb si, acra 

Tarpeia, come tolto le fii il buono 

Metello, per che poi rimase macra.^ 

Io mi rivolsi attento al primo tuono, 

E Te Deum laudamus, mi parea r4o 

Udire in voce mista al dolce suono. 

Tale immagine appunto mi rendea 

Cib ch' io udiva, qual prender si suole, 

Quando a cantar con organi si stea: 

Che or si or no s' intendon le parole. 

i donde poi Aid. Land. 

135 Alluding to Lucan's description of the plunder of the temple of 

Saturn by Caesar, in spite of the opposition of the tribune Metellus. 

Pharsalia iii. 115-168, especially 1. 153 sqq. : 

Protinus abducto patuerunt templa Metello, 

Tunc rupes Tarpeia sonat, magnoque reclusas 

Testatur stridore fores. 

And 167, 168— 

Tristi spoliantur templa rapina, 

Pauperiorque fuit tunc primum Caesare Roma. 

139 rivolsi, i.e. ' I turned away from the gate'; not, of course, 

back towards it, which had just been forbidden. —tuono, merely the 

sound of music heard from within, not, as some take it, of the gate 

opening or closing. See x. 4-6. 

1** organi, plural, because the instrument consists of a number of 

pipes. So in old French orgues is sometimes used of a single instrument.

IX PURGATORY III 

NOTE TO LINES I-9. 

There is much controversy as to the time indicated in these lines. 

The analogy of the two following nights would, make it probable 

that Dante does not fall asleep until towards morning; and that the 

bedfellow of Tithonus should be any other than Aurora, the true Dawn, 

is intolerable. But from the fourteenth century downwards, commentators, 

with few exceptions, have agreed in understanding the 

phenomena to be those of moonviS&, chiefly on the ground that when 

the sun is in Aries, Scorpio is too far off for its stars to appear as gems 

on the forehead of the dawn. They then interpret the passi-as hours 

(though it seems doubtful whether in Dante's time the night was ever 

divided by hours), and fix the time at two to three hours after sunset. 

But it must be remarked that all these interpretations omit to notice 

that this is the moon of the spring equinox, which in Italy would not 

rise at four days after the full until past eleven o'clock, while, being the 

'harvest-moon' of the other hemisphere, it would rise 'nel loco ov' 

eravamo,' about seven. It would seem from x. 14 that Dante did not 

forget this difference between the two hemispheres. Anyhow, it is not 

likely that so accurate an observer would overlook the rapid latening of 

moonrise at this season here, and in neither case can passi denote 

hours. Secondly, the Right Ascension of this moon, at this age, is 

about sixteen hours, which puts her right among the stars of Scorpio 

(though in the sign of Sagittarius), so that those stars would be hidden 

by her light, and in no sense be gems on the forehead of the lunar dawn. 

Now it is hardly possible to doubt that Dante is describing the phenomena 

from his own observation; and if any one will do the same, he 

will, I think, see that at the beginning of April, when the dawn is just 

begiiming to 'whiten' in the east, i.e. a little after three A.M., the constellation 

Scorpio is just on the meridian, in which position it may be 

said to be on the forehead of the dawn. In England it is low ; but in 

Italy, and, of course, still more in Purgatory (say 32° S.), it would be 

much higher. Passi I understand to be ' signs,' though there is, on 

any explanation, some confusion in lines 7-9 ; but line 9 can only refer 

to something which goes downward. Now the 'night' (ii. 4) is in 

Libra, and the Signs ' vrith which she rises' are Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius. 

The first two are past, and the third (which, by the precession 

of the equinoxes, would about correspond with Scorpio the constellation) 

is just turning the meridian. The use of fatto is illustrated by Par. i. 43. 

On the whole, therefore, I agree with Bianchi in understanding the 

passage in its obvious meaning, though I do not hold with Prof.

112 PURGATORY CANTO IX 

Mossotti, whom he quotes, in supposing the 'freddo animale' to be 

the Fish, the stars of which are too insignificant to form a feature. As 

a slight corroboration it may be added that the poets, from Petrarch to 

Redi, have used such expressions as 'amica,' 'fanciuUa,' 'druda di 

Titone,' for the sundawn. The i-esemblance to Iliad x. 251-253 is 

curious, but can hardly be more than accidental. 

For an exhaustive discussion of the question (though he differs from 

my conclusion) readers should consult Dr. Moore's Time-references of the 

Divina Commedia (Nutt).

CANTO X 

ARGUMENT 

The first or lowest circle of Purgatory, where those are purified who 

have sinned through pride. They see certain images carved on 

the rock wherein acts of humility are commemorated. As they 

stay to look at these, the souls overtake them, each bearing on his 

back a heavy burden. 

AFTER we were within the threshold of the gate which evil 

love makes unfrequented. of souls, because it makes the 

crooked way seem straight, I heard by its resounding that it 

was shut; and if I had turned my eyes to it what excuse 

had been meet for the fault? 

POI fummo dentro al sogho della porta 

Che il malo amor dell' anime disusa, 

Perchfe fa parer dritta la via torta, 

Sonando la senti' esser richiusa : 

E s' io avessi gli occhi volti ad essa, 

Qual fora stata al fallo degna scusa? 

1 poi for poiche. So xv. 34. Par. ii. 56. Conv. ii. 7. Even in 

later Italian this omission of che is almost as common as the similar 

omission of that ui EngUsh. Such constructions as ' giudicava necessario 

gli fusse data la signoria' may be found in Macchiavelli passim. 

Diez iii. 312, 339. 

2 It seems better to treat disusa as a verb like disgravare (Inf xxx. 

144), etc., than to take dell' anime as a genitive depending on amor. 

malo amor, see xvii. 85 sqq. 

^ degna a. So Inf i. 122, ii. 33. 

I


We were mounting through a cleft in the rock, which 

kept shifting on one side and the other like as a wave that 

recedes and draws near. ' Here it behoves to use a little 

art,' began my Leader, ' in approaching now this way now 

that, to the side where it parts.' And this made our steps 

so scant that the waned moon returned to her bed for her 

setting before that we -were forth from that needle's eye. But 

when we were free and in the open space above, where the 

mount gathers itself back, I wearied, and both uncertain of 

Noi salavam per una pietra fessa, 

Che si moveva d' una e d' altra parte, 

Si come 1' onda che fugge e s' appressa. 

Qui si convien usare un poco d' arte, ro 

Comincib il Duca mio, in accostarsi 

Or quinci or quindi al lato che siîarte. 

E cib fece Ii nostri passi scarsi ^ 

Tanto, che pria lo scemo della Luna'' 

Rigiunse al'letto suo per ricorcarsi, 

Che noi fossimo fuor di quella cruna. 

Ma quando fummo liberi ed aperti 

Su, dove il nionte indietro si rauna, 

Io stancato, ed ambedue incerti 

'^ E cibfecer i n. p. W. ;fecer Ii Cass. ; E questo fece Gg. 

* stremo Aid. Land. 

5. s It is not necessary to suppose with Padre d' Aquino (vid. Blanc, 

Erklarungen) that a physical movement of the rocks is meant. Dante 

does not multiply miracles unnecessarily. 

H 15 See note to ix. i. This moon at this age would set to the other 

side of the world a little before midday. They have thus occupied 

three hours, or thereabouts, since Dante woke (ix. 44) in reaching this 

point.

X PURGATORY "5 

our way, we halted above in a level place more solitary than 

roads through deserts. From its rim, where the void bounds 

it, to the foot of the high bank which only rises, a human 

body would in thrice have measured; and so far as my eye 

could wing its flight, whether on the left or the right hand, 

this cornice appeared to me alike. Our feet were not yet 

moved thereupon, when I perceived that bank which lacked 

right of ascent, to be of marble all about, white, and 

adorned so with sculptures, that not only Polycletus, tiut 

nature herself would there have had shame. The angel 

Di nostra via, ristemmo su in un piano 20 

Solingo piii che strade per diserti. 

Dalla sua sponda, ove confina il vano, 

Appife dell' alta ripa, che pur sale, 

Misurrebbe in tre volte un corpo umano : 

E quanto 1' occhio mio potea trar d' ale, 

Or dal sinistro ed or dal destro fianco, 

Questa cornice mi parea cotale. 

Lassii non eran mossi i pife nostri anco, 

Quand' io conobbi quella ripa intorno, 

Che dritto di salita aveva manco,*^ 3° 

Esser di marmo candido, ed adorno 

D' intagli si, che non pur Policreto, 

Ma la natura Ii avrebbe scorno.'' 

Ii6 PURGATORY CANTO• 

that came on earth with the decree of the many years weptfor 

peace, which opened Heaven from its long interdict, 

before us appeared so truly sculptured there in a gentle act, 

that it seemed not a mute image. One would have sworn 

that he said ^»«, because there was imaged she who turned 

the key to open the high love. And she had upon her action 

this speech imprinted—Ecce ancilla Dei! as aptly as a figure 

is made on wax by a seal. ' Fix not thy-mind on one place 

only,' said the sweet Master, who had me on that side where 

folk have the heart; wherefore I turned me with my face 

L' Angel che venne in terra col decreto 

Della molt' anni lagrimata pace, 

Che aperse il Ciel dal suo lungo divieto, 

Dinanzi a noi pareva si verace 

Quivi intagliato in un atto soave, 

Che non sembiava immagine che tace. 

Giurato si saria, ch' ei dicesse Ave: 40 

Perchfe quivi era immaginata quella, 

Che ad aprir 1' alto amor volse la chiave. 

Ed avea in atto impressa esta favella, 

Ecce ancilla Dei, si propriamente, 

Come figura in cera si suggella. 

Non tener pure ad un luogo la mente, 

Disse il dolce Maestro, che m' avea 

Da quella parte, onde il core ha la gente : 

Perch' io mi volsi col viso, e vedea ° 

^ mi mossi Gg. Cass. Iând. W. 

*5,61 Observe the use-of onde, where we should use where. The 

Italian, like the Latin, regards the bearing of an object firom the spectator, 

rather than its absolute place; thus we have 'da man sinistra' 

(iii. 58), and in Latin, such phrases as ' a contumelia quam a laude 

propius.'—Tacitus.

X PURGATORY 117 

and behind Mary saw on that side where I had him who was 

urging me, another history placed upon the rock; wherefore 

I stepped across Virgil and put myself near, so that it might 

be set out before my eyes. There in the very marble -was 

there carved the car and the oxen drawing the sacred ark, 

whereby men fear an office not entrusted to them. Before 

it folk appeared; and all of them, divided into seven choirs, 

caused two of my senses to say, the one 'No,' the other, 

'Yes, they sing.' In like manner at the smoke of the 

incense which there was imaged, the eyes too and the nose 

became discordant in 'Yes' and 'No.' There was going 

before the blessed vessel, dancing, girt high, the humble 

Diretro da Maria per quella costa, 50 

Onde m' era colui che mi movea, 

Un' altra storia nella roccia imposta : 

Perch' io varcai VirgiHo, e femmi presso, 

Acciocchfe fosse agli occhi miei disposta. 

Era intagliato 11 nel marmo stesso 

Lo carro e i buoi traendo 1' area santa; 

Perchfe si teme ufficio non commesso. 

Dinanzi parea gente; e tutta quanta 

Partita in sette cori, a duo miei sensi 

Faceva dir: 1' un No, 1' altro Si canta.*^ 60 

Similemente al fummo degl' incensi, 

Che v' era immaginato, e gli occhi e il nasb, 

Ed al si ed al no discordi fensi. 

Li precedeva al benedetto vaso, 

Trescando alzato, 1' umile Salmista, 

* Facea dicer Aid. Bi.; Facean t un dir Cass. 

55 sqq. 2 Samuel, chap. vi. 5o cf_ jx. 145. 

5* vaso. Cf xxxiii. 34. 

«5 Others, e.g. Bianchi, take alzato as = 'rising in the air'; but

ii8 ' PURGATORY CANTO 

Psalmist, and more and less than king was he in that case. 

Portrayed opposite, at a window of a great palace, Michal 

was looking on, as a dame despiteful and sad. I moved my 

feet from' the place where I was standing to look from anear 

at another history which gleamed white upon me behind 

Michal. Here was narrated the high glory of the Roman 

monarchy, whose worth moved Gregory to his great victory; 

I say of Emperor Trajan; - and a poor widow was at 

his bridle, in attitude of tears and of grief. About him it 

E piii e men che re era in quel caso. 

Di contra effigiata ad una vista 

D' un gran palazzo Micol ammirava. 

Si come donna di.spettosa e trista. 

Io mossi i pife del loco dov' io stava, 70 

Per a-wisar da presso un' altra storia, 

Che diretro a Micol mi biancheggiava. 

Quivi era storiata 1' alta gloria 

Del Roman principato, il cui valore ^ 

Mosse Gregorio alia sua gran vittoria : 

Io dico di Traiano Imperadore : 

Ed una vedovella gli era al freno 

Di lagrime atteggiata e di dolore. 

E principe il cui, ox prince lo cui, gran v, Edd. after 1480. 

cf Par. xxi. 132. Here it probably represents the 'accinctus' of 

the Vulgate. Botticelli's illustration to this passage agrees with this 

view. 

5' -vista. J. della Lana, Benvenuto, Landino, Daniello, all render 

by ' window'; so although Diet. Cruse, does not recognise this meaning, 

we can hardly be wrong in accepting it. 

'5 The prayers of St. Gregory the Great were said to have freed 

Trajan from Hell, in recompense for this good deed. See Par. xx. 106. 

The story may be found in Philalethes's note, and most commentaries.

X PURGATORY 119 

seemed trampled and full of horsemen, and the eagles in 

gold over him swayed, in seeming, to the wind. The poor 

woman among all these seemed to be saying: ' Sir, avenge 

me for my son who is dead, whereof I grieve my heart.' 

And he to answer her: 'Wait now so long until I return.' 

And she : ' My lord' (as a person in whom grief is urgent), 

' if thou return not ?' And he : ' He who will be where I 

am will do it for thee.' And she : ' What will another's good 

deed be to thee if thy own thou puttestout of mind?' 

Wherefore he: ' Now comfort thyself, for it behoves that 

Dintorno a lui parea calcato e pieno 

Di cavalieri, e 1' aquile nell' oro *" 80 

Sovr' esso in vista al vento si movieno. 

La miserella infra tutti costoro 

Parea dicer : Signor, fammi vendetta 

Del mio figliuol, ch' fe morto, ond' io m' accoro. 

Ed egli a lei rispondere: Ora aspetta, 

Tanto ch' io torni. E quella: Signor mio. 

Come persona in cui dolor s' affretta : 

Se tu non torni ? Ed ei: Chi fia dov' io, 

La ti fark. Ed ella : L' altrui bene 

A te che fia, se il tuo metti in obblio ? 90 

Ond' elli: Or ti conforta; chfe conviene 

^ e aquile Gg. ; delt oro Bi. BI. 

5" neU' oro. This reading seems to have far the most authority; 

but in spite of al vento it is impossible to accept the view of Benvenuto, 

Witte, and others that it means 'worked on a gold ground.' 

Dante must have known that the eagles were not banners, as sculptured 

representations of Roman triumphs, etc., are common, nell' oro for 

' made of gold' (Fr. en or) is rare; and it is hard to account for the 

article. One is tempted to suggest in alloro, ' laurel-wreathed.' 

56 tanto che. See iv. 51.


I perform my duty before I move. Justice wills it, and 

pity holds me back.' He who never beheld a new thing 

drew forth this visible speech, new to us, because it is not 

found here. 

WhUe I was delighting myself with gazing on the images 

of humble deeds so great, and for their craftsman's sake, dear 

to behold: ' Lo on this side, but the paces they make are 

few,' murmured the Poet, ' are much folk; they will put us 

in the way to the higher steps.' My eyes, which were 

intent to look, for seeing new things whereof they are fain, 

in turning toward him were not slow- I would not, however, 

reader, that thou shouldest be dismayed of a good purpose, 

Ch' io solva il mio dovere, anzi ch' io muova: 

Giustizia vuole, e pieta mi ritiene. 

Colui, che mai non vide cosa nuova, 

Produsse esto visibile parlare, 

Novello a noi,, perchfe qui non si truova. 

Mentr' io mi dilettava di guardare 

L' immagini di tante umilitadi, 

E per lo fabbro loro a veder care; 

Ecco di qua, ma fanno i passi radi, roo 

Mormorava il Poeta, molte genti: 

Questi ne invieranno agli alti gradi.' 

Gli occhi miei, ch' a mirar erano intenti,'' 

Per veder novitadi onde son vaghi, 

Volgendosi ver lui non furon lenti. 

Non vo' perb, Lettor, che tu ti smaghi 

1 meneranno Gg. ^ eran contenti Cass. Gg. W. 

1"" I.e. from the left, Virgil being now on that side of Dante. See 

note to iii. 89. 

1 For this meaning of per6 {per hoc), which appears only to occur

x PURGATORY 121 

for hearing how God wills that the debt.be paid. Think 

not of the form of the torment; consider that which 

follows, consider that beyond the great sentence it cannot 

turn to worse. I began: ' Master, they whom I see to move 

toward us seem not to me persons, and I know not what; 

so faill.in my sight.' And he to me : 'The grievous condition 

of their torment bows them so to earth that my eyes 

first were thereat strained. But look fixedly'there, and 

disentangle with thy sight him who is coming below those 

Di buon proponimehto, per udire 

Come Dio vuol che il debito si paghi. 

Non attender la forma del martire : 

Pensa la succession : pensa che a peggio no 

Oltre la gran sentenzia non pub ire., 

Io cominciai: Maestro, quei ch' io vfiggio 

Muover ver noi, non mi sembran persone, 

E non so che; si nel veder vaneggio.' 

Ed egli a me : La grave condizione 

Di lor tormento a terra gli rannicchia. 

Si, che i miei occhi pria n' ebber tenzone. 

Ma guarda fiso la, e disviticchia 

Col viso quel che vien sotto a quei sassi: 

1 E non so, s' io Land. etc. 

after a negative, cf vii. 55, xiii. 26. In Spanish it is more common; 

indeed, the word has come to mean simply 'but.'. The .connection of 

this meaning with the original maybe seen from Eng. 'for all that.' 

Dante means ' do not be dismayed or despair at hearing of the penalty 

inflicted on even penitent sinners.' 

H" Witte, -without much authority, inserts the article before peggio. 

If this be adopted, we must understand 'the torment, at the worst, 

cannot last beyond the judgement.' 

1" vaneggio; so render vano; viii. 7..- Cf xviii. 143. 

lis disviticchiare, properly, to put vines aside in order to see 

through them.

PURGATORY CANTO 

rocks; by now canst thou perceive how each is pinched.' 

O proud Christians, wretched and weary, who, weak in the 

sight of the mind, have confidence in your backward paces, 

do ye not perceive that we are worms, born to form the 

angelic butterfly which flies without screen to the judgement? 

In respect of what does your mind float on high, since ye 

are as it were defective insects, like a worm in which formative 

power is in default ? 

As, to support solar or roof, by way of • corbel, one 

Gik scorger puoi come ciascun si picchia. 120 

O superbi Cristian, miseri, lassi, 

Che della vista della mente infermi, 

Fidanza avete nei ritrosi passi: 

Non v' accorgete voi che noi siam vermi, 

Nati a formar 1' angelica farfalla, 

Che vola alia giustizia senza schermi ? 

Di che r anima vostra in alto galla ? 

Poi siete quasi entomata in difetto,"" 

Si come verme, in cui formazion falla. 

Come per sostentar solaio o tetto, 130 

Voi Bi,; antom. Gg. W. ; attorn. Cass. 

12° There is another reading, si nicchia : ' whimpers as a woman in 

travail.' •- 

121 Imitated by Petrarch, Tri. of Fame iii. 

125 Cf. xxi. 64-66. 

125 entomata. Blanc (Erklarungen) thinks that Dante, who was not 

more of a Greek scholar than others of his time, was misled by the 

ivrojui, rh of a dictionary, and compares the 'autentin' 'hormin' 

of Conv. iv. In his Dictionary, however, he inclines to agree vrith 

Bianchi, who thinks it is formed on the analogy of poemata. The 

remark of the Ottimo is amusing: ' Poiche voi siete cosi diffettuosi, 

quasi automata che e una figura in difettuoso parlare.' Post. Cass. 

understands, atoms, motes. Benv. spells enthomatum, and appears to 

derive it from Bavp.a.

x PURGATORY 123 

sometimes sees a figure join the knees to the breast, the 

which, out of its untruth, causes a true discomfort in 

whoso sees it, thus saw I these shaped, when I well gave 

heed. True is it that they were more and less drawn 

together, according as they had more or less on their backs; 

and he who had most endurance in his mien, weeping 

seemed to say: 'I can no more.' 

Per mensola talvolta una figura 

Si vede giunger le ginocchia al petto. 

La qual fa del non ver vera rancura 

Nascer a chi la vede; cosi fatti 

Vid' io color, quando posi ben cura. 

Ver fe che piii e meno eran contratti, 

Secondo ch' avean piu e meno addosso : 

E qual piii pazienza avea negli atti, 

Piangendo parea dicer : Piii non posso.-

CANTO XI 

ARGUMENT 

The first circle continued. The souls, as they go along, recite the 

Lord's Prayer. The author talks with Omberto Aldobrandeschi, 

and Oderisi of Agubbio, who also shows him Provenzano Salvani. 

' OUR FATHER, who in the • heaven^ abidest, not as circumscribed, 

but through the greater love which Thou hast 

to Thy first effects on high, praised be Thy name and Thy 

worth by every creature, as it is meet to render thanks to 

Thy sweet Spirit. Let the peace of Thy kingdom come to 

us, for we towards it can naught of ourselves, if it comes 

O PADRE nostro che nei Cieli stai, 

Non circonscritto, ma per piii amore, 

Che ai primi effetti di lassii tu hai,°- 

Laudato sia il tuo nome, e il tuo valore 

Da ogni creatura, com' fe degno 

Di render grazie al tuo dolce vapore. 

Vegna ver noi la pace del tuo regno, 

Chfe noi ad essa non potem da noi, 

S' ella non vien, con tutto nostro ingegno. 

a affetti Gg. 

' i primi effetti : the first-created thingsy i.e. heaven and the angels.

CANTO XI PURGATORY 125 

not, with all our wit. As - of their will Thy angels make 

sacrifice to Thee, chanting Hosanna, so may men do of 

theirs. Give this day to us the daily manna, without which 

through this rough desert backward he goes who most toil's 

to go forward. And as we forgive to each man the evil 

which we have suffered, do Thou also graciously forgive, 

and not regard our merit. Our strength, which easily 

surrenders, put not Thou to proof vnth the old adversary, 

but deliver it from him, -who so urges it. This last prayer, 

Come del suo voler gli Angeli tuoi ro 

Fan sacrificio a te, cantando Osanna, 

Cosi facciano gli uomini dei suoi. 

Da oggi a noi la cotidiana manna, 

Senza la qual per questo aspro diserto 

A retro va chi piu di gir s' affanna. 

E come noi lo mal che avem sofferto 

Perdoniamo a ciascuno, e tu perdona 

Benigno, e non guardare al nostro merto. 

Nostra virtii che di leggier s' adona, 

Non spermentar con 1' antico avversaro, 20 

Ma libera da lui, che si la sprona. 

Quest' ultima preghiera, Signor caro, 

1' It may be better to take perdoniamo as subj. ' as let us forgive.' 

1' adonare. Inf vi. 34. 

^1 sprona, literally 'spurs.' 

22 quest' ultima preghiera. Blanc raises a question as to the 

meaning of this, and rather inclines to suppose that it refers only to 

the last line, thinking that the shades, though they cannot sin, are still 

liable to temptation. This seems far-fetched; and, besides, ' di leggier 

s' adotia' impUes the possibility that those for whom the prayer is made 

may fall. There is no difficulty in - the nostra. They say the prayer as 

they find it. St. Thomas, S. T. ii. 2. Q. 33. A. I, affirms that it is of 

no use for us to ask souls in Purgatory for their prayers, because they


dear Lord, no longer is made for us, for it needs not, but 

for those who have remained behind us.' Thus praying 

for themselves and us good speed, these shades were all 

going under their load, like that which sometimes is felt in 

a dream, in diverse anguish, around and wearily up by the 

first ledge, purging away the darkness of the world. If 

there a good word is alway spoken for us, here what can be 

said and done for them, by those who have a good root to 

their will? Surely,we ought to aid them to wash the stains 

which they bore hence, so that clean and light they may 

Gia non si fa per noi, chfe non bisogna; 

Ma per color che dietro a noi restaro. 

Cosi a sfe e noi buona ramogna 

Quell' ombre orando, andavan sotto il pondo 

Simile a quel che tal volta si sogna, 

Disparmente angosciate tutte a tondo 

E lasse su per la prima cornice, 

Purgando la caligine del mondo. 30 

Se di la sempre ben per noi si dice, 

Di qua che dire e far per lor si puote 

Da quei ch' hanno al voler buona radice ? 

Ben si dee loro aitar lavar le note, 

Che portar quinci, si che mondi e lievi 

do not know what we think or say. He does not, however, assert that 

they do not pray for us, so that there is not, as some have supposed, 

any, opposition between his view and Dante's. See Hettinger, Study of 

the D. C, trans. Bowden, p. 312. 

23 gia non=Lat. yÔT non. So xii. 46. 

'^5 disparmente. See x. 136. 

33 ' Die sich namlich im Stande der Gnade befinden, ohne die der 

Mensch das Gute weder zu woUen, noch zu voUbringen vermag.' 

Philalethes, who compares iv. 134.

XI PURGATORY 127 

issue to the starry circles. ' Pray, you—so may justice and 

pity soon disburthen you, so that ye may be able to move the 

wing which is to raise you according to your desire—show 

us on which hand is the shortest way towards the stair; and 

if there is more than one passage, teach us that one which 

falls least steeply: for this man who comes with me, through 

the burthen of the flesh of Adam, wherewith he is clad, is 

niggard, against his -will, in mounting upward.' Their words, 

which they returned to these,, which he whom I was following 

had spoken, were not manifest from whom they came; but 

it was said: ' Come to the right along the bank -with us, 

and ye shall find the pass possible for a living person to 

Possano. uscire alle stellate rote. 

Deh ! se giustizia e pietk vi disgrevi 

Tosto, si che possiate muover 1' ala, 

Che secondo il disio vostro vi levi; 

Mostrate da qual mano inver la scala 40 

Si va piii corto; e se c' fe piii d' un varco, 

Quel ne insegnate, che men erto cala: 

Chfe questi che vien meco, per 1' incarco 

Della carne d' Adamo, onde si veste, 

Al montar su contra sua voglia fe parco. 

, Le lor parole, che rendero a queste 

Che dette avea colui cu' io seguiva, 

Non fur da cui venisser manifeste : 

Ma fu detto : A man destra per la riva 

Con noi venite, e troverete il passo 50 

Possibile a salir persona viva. 

35 rote. So viii. 18. 

"^ parco. Parcus with iiif in this sense belongs to late Latin; e.g. 

Silius ItaUcus. 

^1 The construction is remarkable, and can only be explained by


ascend. And if I were not hindered by the stone which 

quells my proud neck, whence-it .behoves me to bear my 

face low, this man who yet lives, and names not himself, 

would I gaze upon, to see if I know him, and to make him 

pitiful to this burthen. I was Latin, and born of a great 

Tuscan: William Aldobrandeschi was my father.; I know 

not if his name was ever with you. The ancient blood and 

the fair deeds of my ancestors made me so arrogant, that 

not thinking of the common mother, I had everyman so 

deeply in despite that of it I died, as they of Siena.know,-and 

E s' io non fossi impedito dal sasso, 

Che la cervice mia superba doma, 

Onde portar conviemmi il viso basso : 

Cotesti che ancor vive, e non si noma, 

Guardere' io, per veder s' io il conosco, 

E per farlo pietoso a questa soma. 

Io fui Latino, e nato d'îfn gran Tosco : 

Guglielmo Aldobrandeschi fu mio padre : 

Non so se il nome suo giammai fu vosco. 60 

L' antico sangue e 1' opere leggiadre 

Dei miei maggior mi fer si arrogante, 

Che non pensando alia comune madre, 

Ogni uomo ebbi in dispetto tanto avante, 

Ch' io ne mori', come i Sanesi sanno, 

regarding salir persona -viva as one verb. See Diez (who, however, 

gives no exact parallel) iii. 231. 

158 Latino = Italian. So xiii. 92, Inf xxii. 65, and elsewhere. So 

Benv. in his note to xxvi. 140 ; 'quasi dicat Latine ni abbellisce,' etc. 

^5 The Aldobrandeschi were counts of Santafiore (vi. Ill), and in a 

state of chronic hostility to the Sienese. Humbert, the • speaker, was 

murdered in-the year 1259, at his castle of Campagnatico, by some men 

of Siena. Campagnatico and Santafiore are both in the modern province 

of Grosseto, formerly the Sienese Maremma.


every child in Campagnatico knows it. I am Humbert; and 

not only to me did pride work loss, seeing that all my consorts 

has she drawn with her into disaster. And here it behoves 

that I carry this weight on her account, until God is satisfied, 

here among the dead, since I did it not among the living.' 

Listening, I bent my face downward, and one of them 

(not he who was speaking) twisted himself beneath the 

weight which hampers him; and saw me, and knew me, 

and called me, holding with labour his eyes fixed on me, 

who, all bowed, was "going with them. 'Oh,' said I to 

him, 'art thou not Oderisi, the honour of Agubbio, and 

E sallo in Campagnatico ogni fante. 

Io sono Omberto : e non pure a me danno 

Superbia fe, che tutti i miei consorti 

Ha ella tratti seco nel malanno : 

E qui convien ch' io questo peso porti 70 

Per lei, tanto-^he a Dio si soddisfaccia, 

Poi ch' io noi fei trai vivi, qui trai morti. 

Ascoltando chinai in giii la faccia : 

Ed un di lor, non questi che parlava. 

Si torse sotto il peso, che lo impaccia: 

E videmi e conobbemi e chiamava, 

Tenendo gli occhi con fatica fisi 

A me, che tutto chin con loro andava. 

O, dissi lui, non sei tu Oderisi, 

55 fante. Bianchi thinks it means here ' grown-up person'; but the 

word undoubtedly may mean ' child," and this seems to give by far the 

most effective sense here. 

75 Notice that Dante has to undergo a part at least of the punishment 

proper to this circle, and compare xiii. 136, 137 ; also xvi. 1-7, 

and xxvii. 49-51- 

Oderisi of Agubbio and (53) Franco, Bolognese are mentioned by 

Vasari in his Life of Giotto, where this passage is quoted. He testifies 

from his own observation to the superiority of Franco. . 

K


the honour of that art which is called illuminating in Paris ?' 

'Brother,' said he, 'more smile the parchments which 

Franco of Bologna pencils; the honour is now his wholly, 

and mine in part. Be sure I should not have been so 

courteous while I lived, for the great desire of excelling 

whereon my heart was intent. Of such pride here is 

paid the fee; and even here I should not be, if it were 

not that while I had the power to sin I turned to God. 

O vain glory of human powers, how little time does it. 

L' onor d' Agobbio, e 1' onor di quell' arte 80 

Che alluminare fe chiamata in Parisi ? 

Frate, diss' egli, piii ridon le carte,'' 

Che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese : 

L' onore fe tutto or suo, e mio in parte. 

Ben non sare' io stato si cortese 

Mentre ch' io vissi, per lo gran disio 

Dell' eccellenza, ove mio core intese. 

Di tal superbia qui si paga il fio : 

Ed ancor non sarei qui, se non fosse '^ 

Che, possendo peccar, mi volsi a Dio. 90 

O vana gloria dell' umane posse, 

^ diss' ei per pill. Gg. ° C ancor 7ion sarei io qui Gg. 

51 alluminare, Fr. enluminer, whence Eng. limn. The Italian 

word is m,iniare, from minium, red lead, whence 'miniature.' It 

may be remarked that Dante's rendering of the French word shows the 

pronunciation of Fr. en to have been the same then as now. 

5* ' My honour only remains as a part of his.' Vellutello says that 

Franco was Oderisi's pupil; but there does not seem, to be any evidence 

for this, and Vasari's statement that they were employed at the same 

time by the Pope (Boniface VIII.) is against it. 'La mia fama appena 

si conserva c la sua e ora in capo.'—Ott. It is hard not to suppose 

that the e mio in parte is a little natural touch; the old instinct of 

pride has not yet quite yielded to the purificatory discipline. 

S" Cf xxiii. 79.

XI PURGATORY 131 

remain green on its top, if it be not overtaken by uncouth 

ages ! Cimabue thought to hold the field in painting; and 

now Giotto has the cry, so that he obscures the fame of 

him. Thus has one Guido from the other taken the 

Com' poco verde in su la cima dura,'' 

Se non fe giunta dall' etadi grosse ! 

Credette Cimabue nella pintura 

Tener lo campo : ed ora ha Giotto il grido. 

Si che la fama di colui oscura.^ 

Cosi ha tolto 1' uno all' altro Guido 

d Con poco Cass.—? in la sua cima. 

e i oscura Gg. 124 W. ; i scura Cass. 3. 

52 Some read il verde, but the art. seems unnecessary. Cf. Inf 

xxiv. 6. . 

93 I.e. unless it happen to be followed by an age less cultivated. 

gi.-aa.'iia,=sopraggiunta, as in Inf. xxii. 126. 

94, 95 It is not necessary to speak of Cimabue and Giotto. Villani 

does not mention the former, btit he records Giotto's death (xi. 12) 

calling him ' il piu sovrano maestro stato in dipintura che si trovasse al 

suo tempo, e quegli che piii trasse ogni figura e atti al naturale.' He 

died Jan. 8, I33f. The date of Cimabue's death is given by Vasan as 

1300. If so, it must have been later in the year than the supposed date 

of Dante's journey, as otherwise Dante would hardly have failed to 

introduce'him, and, judging from the character assigned to him, in this 

very circle. See the commentator (Ottimo) on this passage, quoted 

by Vasari. . 

57 Blanc takes the usual view that the allusion is to Guido Guinicelh 

(xxvi. 92; Conv. iv. 20; Vulg. El. i. 9; IS. where he is called 

maximtts; ii. 5, etc.), and Guido Cavalcanti (Inf. x. 63, Vulg. El. 

i 13 and elsewhere), Dante's most intimate friend. The difficulty of 

this interpretation, as Philalethes has pointed out, lies in the fact that 

Guido Cavalcanti's reputation does not seem to have been so great as 

that would imply. There seems more likelihood that Guittone d'Arezzo 

(xxiv. 56; xxvi. 124; Vulg. El. ii. 6) is the altro, and Guinicelli the 

uno It is evident from the passages referred to that Dante considered 

Guittone a much overrated poet, and that he held Guinicelli m great


glory of the language; and perhaps he is born who will 

chase the one and the other from the nest. The rumour 

of the world is naught else than a breath of wind, which 

now comes hence and now comes thence, and changes 

name becauses it changes quarter. What fame wilt thou 

have more, if when it is old thou loose from thee thy 

flesh, than if thou hadst died before thou hadst left off 

thy child's prattle, ere a thousand years are past? which 

beside the eternal is a shorter space than is a movement 

of the eyelid beside the circle which in heaven 

La gloria della lingua : e forse fe nato 

Chi r uno e 1' altro caccerk di nido. 

Non fe il mondan romore altro ch' un fiato loo 

Di vento, ch' or vien quinci, ed or vien quindi, 

E muta nome, perchfe muta lato. 

Che fama a-vrai tu piii, se vecchia scindi ^ 

Da te la carne, che se fossi morto 

Innanzi che lasciassi il pappo e il dindi,^ 

Pria che passin mill' anni ? ch' fe piii corto 

Spazio air eterno, che un muover di ciglia, 

Al cerchio che piu tardi in cielo fe torto. 

' Che voce Gg. Cass. 12345. 

s Anzi che tu la. Gg. Cass. 12345. 

esteem. The date of Guittone's death is uncertain. Guinicelli died 

1276, and Cavalcanti 1300. On the other side, however, must be set 

Petrarch's mention of ' i duo Guidi' (Tri. An. iv. 34). But Petrarch 

had not read Dante with much attention. 

^ That Dante himself is indicated here can hardly be doubted. 

103 sqq. Cf_ Boethius, Cons. Phil. ii. 7 : ' Vos autem immortalitatem 

vobis propagare videmini, cum futuri famam temporis cogitatis. Quod 

si ad aeternitatis spatia pertractes, quid habes, quod de tui nominis 

diuturnitate laeteris,?' 

1°^ pappo and dindi, childish fox padre and danari. Cf Inf xxxii. 9. 

105 The circle of the ecliptic. Philalethes thinks piii tardi e torto


turns the slowest. Of him who is taking the road so slowly 

in front of me, all Tuscany resounded, and no-vv hardly in 

Siena do they whisper of him, whereof he was lord when 

the Florentine rage was destroyed, which was as proud at 

that time as now it is vile. Your reputation is as hue of 

grass, which comes and goes, and he discolours it, through 

whose power it came forth unripe from' the ground.' And 

I to him : ' Thy true tale puts in my heart a good humility, 

and brings low in me a great pride; but who is that of 

Colui, che del cammin si poco piglia 

Dinanzi a me, Toscana sonb tutta, no 

Ed ora a pena in Siena sen pispiglia; 

Ond' era Sire, quando fu distrutta 

La rabbia Fiorentina, che superba 

Fu a quel tempo, si com' ora fe putta. 

La vostra nominanza fe color d' erba,, 

Che viene e va, e quei la discolora. 

Per cui ell' esce della terra acerba. 

Ed io a lui: Lo tuo ver dir m' incuora 

Buona umiltk, e gran tumor m' appiani: 

means ' for a given length of arc separates least from its tangent,' but 

this seems unnecessarily abstruse. See, however, xiii. 6. The astronomy 

of Dante's age put the revolution of the starry heaven, i.e. the cycle of 

the precession of the equinoxes, at 36,000 years. It is really 26,000. 

This motion must not, of course, be confused with the diurnal movement, 

which is greater in proportion to the distance from the centre. 

1 I have followed Blanc and Bianchi. Philalethes renders 'welcher 

hier vor mir vom Weg so wenig zurilcklegt.' It might be ' who is 

taking the road such a short distance in firont of me.' 

n* Blanc makes a difficulty about putta, thinking the opposition 

not exact enough. But cf. vi. 78. The allusion is to the battle of 

, Montaperti; Villani (vi. 78), evidently with a reference to this passage, 

says, Guelf as he is, ' cosi s' adono la rabbia dell' ingrato e superbo 

popolo di Firenze.' 

115 quei, the sun; and so, the lapse of time.


whom thou but now spakest?' 'That is,' he answered, 

' Provenzatio Salvani, and he is here, because he was presumptuous 

to bring Siena wholly into his hands. He has 

gone so, and goes without repose since he died. Such coin 

pays in satisfaction he who yonder is too daring.' And I: 

' If that spirit which awaits, before it repents, the edge of 

life, tarries down there and ascends not hither, if kindly 

prayer aid it not, until so long, a time has passed as it lived, 

how was the entrance allowed to him?' 'When he was 

living in greatest glory,' said he, ' freely in the open place 

Ma chi fe quei, di cui tu parlavi ora ? 120 

Quegli fe, rispose, Provenzan Salvani, 

Ed fe qui, perchfe fu presuntuoso 

A recar Siena tutta alle sue mani. 

Ito fe cosi, e va senza riposo, 

Poi che mori: cotal moneta rende 

A soddisfar, chi fe di Ik tropp' oso. 

Ed io: Se quello spirito che attende, 

Pria che si penta, 1' orlo della vita, 

Laggiii dimora, e quassii non ascende, 

Se buona orazion lui non aita, 130 

Prima che passi tempo, quanto visse. 

Come fu la venuta a lui largita ? 

Quando vivea piii glorioso, disse, 

121 Provenzano Salvani was killed when the Florentines, with the 

help of some of Charles of Anj oil's Frenchmen, defeated a mixed force 

of Sienese, Germans, and Spaniards at Colle in Valdelsa, June 11, 

1269. See Villani vii. 31, who says, ' Questo messere Provenzano 

fu grande uomo in Siena al suo tempo dopo la vittoria, ch' ebbe a. 

Montaperti ... e era molto presuntuoso di sua volontk.' His unpopularity 

in Siena is referred to ib. vi. 77. 

13» See iv. 133. 

133 sqci. The friend's name was Vigna. He was captured at the


of Siena, all shame laid aside, he took his stand; and. 

there, to draw his friend from punishment which he was 

enduring in the prison of Charles, he brought himself to 

tremble through every vein. More I will not say, and I 

know that I speak darkly; but httle time will pass that thy 

neighbours shall so do, that thou shalt be able to expound 

it. This work cleared for him those boundaries.' 

Liberamente nel campo di Siena, 

Ogni vergogna deposta, s' affisse : 

E Ii, per trar 1' amico suo di pena, 

Che sostenea nella prigion di Carlo, 

Si condusse a tremar per ogni vena. 

Piii non dirb, e scuro so che parlo : 

Ma poco tempo andrk che i tuoi vicini • 140 

Faranno si che tu potrai chiosarlo. 

Quest' opera gli tolse quei confirii. 

battle of Tagliacozzo, and held to ransom at 10,000 florins by Charles 

of Anjou. Provenzano raised the money by begging in the marketplace 

of Siena. (Ottimo, quoted by Philalethes : Landino.)

CANTO XII 

ARGUMENT 

The first circle continued. They come to a place where all the way is 

paved with stones whereon notable exaniples of pride and its fall 

are represented. At last they see an angel, who shows them the 

road by which to ascend to the second circle. The first mark 

disappears from Dante's forehead. 

PAIRED, as oxen that go in the yoke, was I going with that 

burthened soul, so long as my sweet guardian suffered it. 

But -yyhen he said: ' Leave him and pass on, for here it is 

good with the sail and with the oars, as much. as each is 

able, to urge his boat,' I made myself again as upright as 

to walk requires, with my outward form; albeit my thoughts 

DI pari, come buoi che vanno a giogo, 

M' andava io con quella anima carca, 

Fin che il sofferse il dolce pedagogo. 

Ma quando disse : Lascia lui e varca, 

Chfe qui fe buon con la vela e coi remi,^ 

Quantunque pub ciascun, pinger sua barca : 

Dritto si, come andar vuolsi, rife' mi 

Con la persona, avvegna che i pensieri 

"• buon collali Gg. {alt.) 

' vuolsi. So xiii. i8, xxiii. 6, and elsewhere. The meaning is 

different from Lat. 'sibi vult.'

CANTO XII PURGATORY 137 

remained both bowed low and brought down. I had 

moved, and was following willingly the steps of my Master, 

and both of us were already showing how nimble we were; 

when he said to me : ' Turn thy eyes downward; it will be 

good for thee, for easing of the way, to behold that whereon 

thy soles are laid.' 

As in order that there be memory of them, above buried 

folk the mounds of earth bear designed that which they 

once were, whence tears are often shed there again, by 

reason of the prick of remembrance, which only to the 

pious gives the spur; so figured, but of better semblance, 

according to the craftsmanship, saw I there all that which 

Mi rimanessero e chinati e scemi. 

Io m' era mosso, e seguia volentieri 10 

Del mio Maestro i passi, ed amendue 

Gik mostravam come eravam leggieri, 

Quando mi disse : Volgi gli occhi in giue ; 

Buon ti sark, per tranquillar la via,'' 

Veder lo letto delle piante tue. 

Come perchfe di lor memoria sia, 

Sovr' ai sepolti le tombe terragne 

Portan segnato quel ch' elli eran pria: 

Onde Ii molte volte se ne piagne, 

Per la puntura della rimembranza, 20 

Che solo ai pii da delle calcagne: 

Si vid' io li, ma di miglior sembianza, 

Secondo 1' artificio, figurato 

b per alleggiar Aid. Land. Bi. BI. 

12 leggieri, as having nothing to carry, says Philalethes. 

23 secondo 1' artificio. Bianchi and Fraticelli seem right in understanding 

this to refer to the Divine handiwork of the figures. Others 

take it as merely = 'better as regards workmanship.'—figurato. The


for road projects forth from the mountain. I saw him who 

was created noble more than any other creature fall like 

lightning from heaven, on one side. I saw Briareus, pierced 

by the celestial dart, lie on the other side, weighed to the 

earth by the chill of death. I saw Thymbraeus, I saw Pallas 

and Mars, armed yet around their father, gaze on the 

strewn limbs of the giants. I saw Nimrod at the foot of his 

great toil, as though bewildered, and the nations looking on 

who were proud with him in Shinar. O Niobe, with what 

Quanto per via di fuor dal monte avanza. 

Vedea colui che fu nobil creato 

Piii ch' altra creatura, giii dal cielo 

Folgoreggiando scendere da un lato. 

Vedeva Briareo fitto dal telo 

Celestial giacer dall' altra parte. 

Grave alia terra per lo mortal gielo. 30 

Vedea Timbreo, vedea Pallade e Marte, 

Armati ancora intorno al padre loro, 

Mirar le membra dei giganti sparte. 

Vedea Nembrotto appife del gran lavoro. 

Quasi smarrito, e riguardar le genti 

Che in Sennaar con lui superbi foro. 

resemblance to the famous pavement of the Duomo of Siena which has 

struck many readers must be accidental, as that was probably not begun 

till after Dante's death, and certainly could not have been seen by him. 

Bianchi remarks that the sculptures on the wall are instances of humility, 

while pride is figured on the ground only. 

2^ colui. S. Luke X. 18. The other instances of defeated pride which 

follow are all familiar. It will be observed that they are taken alternately 

from sacred and profane story. Notice also the structure of the 

whole passage, broken into three groups of four, each distinguished by 

its initial word; the whole being as it were summed up in the lines 

61-63. 

36 So Vulg. El. i. 7.

XII PURGATORY 139 

weeping eyes saw I thee portrayed on the road, amid seven 

and seven of thy children slain! O Saul, how on thy 

own sword there appearedst thou dead on Gilboa, which 

thenceforth felt not rain nor dew! O foolish Arachne, so 

saw I thee, already half-spider, sad upon the tatters of the 

work which to thy hurt was wrought. O Rehoboam, there 

no longer appears thy image to threaten; but full of terror 

a chariot bears it away before another pursue it. The hard 

pavement showed moreover how Alcmaeon made appear 

costly to his mother her luckless adornment. It showed 

how his sons threw, themselves on Sennacherib within the 

O Niobe, con che-occhi dolenti 

Vedeva io te segnata in su la strada 

Tra sette e sette tuoi figliuoli spenti ! 

O Saul, come in su la propria spada 40 

Quivi parevi morto in Gelboe, 

Che poi non senti pioggia, nfe rugiada ! 

O foUe Aragne, si vedea io te, 

Gik mezza aragna, -trista in su gli stracci 

Deir opera che mal per te si fe ! 

O Roboam, gia non par che minacci 

Quivi il tuo segno: ma pien di spavento 

Nel porta un carro prima che altri il cacci. 

Mostrava ancora il duro pavimento 

Come Almeone a sua madre fe caro 50 

Parer lo sventurato adornamento. 

Mostrava come i figli si gittaro 

Sovra Sennacherib dentro dal tempio, 

^'^ Alcmaeon slew his mother Eriphyle, because, persuaded by the 

bribe of a necklace, she had betrayed to Polynices the hiding-place of 

her husband Amphiaraus, so that he went to Thebes and was killed. 

Stat. Theb. ii. and iv., Hom. Od. xi. 326-7.


temple, and how they left that place when he was dead. 

It showed the ruin and the cruel example which Tomyris 

made when she said to Cyrus: ' For blood thou hast thirsted, 

and with blood I fill thee.' It showed how the Assyrians 

fled in rout after that Holofernes was dead, and also the 

remnants of the slaughter. I saw Troy in ashes and in 

pits; O Ilion, how base and vile showed thee the image 

which is there discerned ! What master was ever of pencil 

and of graving-tool to have portrayed the shadows and their 

E come morto lui quivi lasciaro. 

Mostrava la ruina e il crudo scempio 

Che fe Tamiri, quando disse a Ciro; 

Sangue sitisti, ed io di sangue f empio. 

Mostrava come in rotta si fuggiro "^ 

Gli Assiri, poi che fu morto Oloferne, 

Ed anche le reliquie del martiro. 60 

Vedeva Troia in cenere e in caverne : 

O Ilion, come te basso e vile 

Mostrava il segno che 11 si discerne ! 

Qual di pennel fu maestro e di stile, 

" frotta Gg. 

^ N.B. quivi as substantive : cf xxi. 43. 

66-57 From Orosius ii. 7. As he gives the words of Tomyris, they 

were : Satia te sanguine quem sitisti. 

5" le reliquie del martiro. Blanc and Philalethes take this to mean 

the corpse of Holofernes; Vellutello, Bianchi, and Fraticelli, those of 

the Assyrians. 

54 pennel e stile; showing, as Blanc points out, that these pictures 

were engraved, not raised, as Dor^ has represented them.' Philalethes 

seems to think that the meaning is, 'Who could reproduce 

them ?' but it clearly is, ' What artist has there ever been who could 

have done them ?' For the constr. see Diez iii. 346. Lat. ' Quis 

fuit qui depingeret ?'

xn PURGATORY 141 

lineaments which there would make to wonder every subtile 

intellect ? The dead appeared dead, and the living li-ving; 

he who saw the reality saw not better than I all that I 

walked upon, so long as I, went .bowed. Now be proud, 

and forward with haughty visage, ye sons of Eve, and bow 

not your face so as to see your evil path. 

More of the "mountain had already been passed round 

by us, and of the sun's road far more spent than the mind 

not at leisure estimated; when he who always went/in 

front attentive began : ' Raise upright thy head; there is' no 

longer time to go bending thus. See there an angel who is 

making ready to come toward us; see how the sixth hand- 

Che ritraesse 1' ombre e i tratti, ch' ivi'' 

Mirar farieno ogni ingegno sottUe ? 

Morti 11 morti, e i vivi parean vivi: 

Non vide me' di me chi vide il vero. 

Quant' io calcai fin che chinato givi. 

Or superbite, e via col viso altiero, 70 

Figliuoli d' Eva, e non Chinate il volto. 

Si che veggiate il vostro.mal-sentiero. 

Piu era gik per noi del monte volto, 

E del cammin del Sole assai piii speso, 

Che non stimava 1' animo non sciolto ; 

Quando colui che sempre innanzi atteso 

Andava, comincib : Drizza la testa : 

Non fe piii tempo da gir si sospeso. 

Vedi colk un' Angel, che s' appresta. 

Per venir verso noi: vedi che torna 80 

^ gli atti Bi. 

68,69 Symbolically, humility must precede knowledge of the truth. 

75 Cf iv. 9, 12 sqq.


maid is returning from the service of the day. Adorn with 

reverence thy acts and thy face, so that it may please him 

to put us in the upward way; think that this day never 

dawns again.' I was well used to his admonitions, above 

all not to lose time, so that in that matter he could not 

speak darkly to me. To us came the fair creature, clad in 

-white, and in his face such as appears in its quivering gleam 

a star of morning. He spread his arms, and then spread 

his wings. He said : ' Come,: here are the steps hard by, 

and easily from henceforth one ascends.' To this bidding 

Dal servigio del di 1' ancella sesta. 

Di riverenza gli atti e il viso adorna. 

Si che il diletti lo inviarci in suso : 

Pensa che questo di mai non raggiorna. 

Io era ben del suo ammonir uso. 

Pur di non perder tempo, si che in quella 

Materia non potea parlarmi chiuso. 

A noi venia la creatura bella 

Bianco vestita, e nella faccia quale 

Par tremolando mattutina Stella. go 

Le braccia aperse, ed indi aperse 1' ale : 

Disse : Venite ; qui son presso i gradi, 

Ed agevolemente omai si sale. 

A questo invito vengon molto radi: '^ 

^ annunzio Gg. Cass. Aid. Land. etc. 

51 It is now past nooni They have therefore been about an hour in 

this circle. See x. 14 sqq. It will be found that of no other circle, 

except the 7th, does the passage occupy so short a time. This is 

accounted for by the fact that in these they never stay to converse, but 

tallc to the souls as they go. 

^^•55 Blanc, differing from most commentators, regards these lines 

as Dante's own remark, and not the continuation of the angel's words.


come they very scant; O race of men, born.to fly upward, 

why at a little wind fall ye so down ? He led us where the 

rock was cut; . there he beat his -wings over my forehead; 

then he promised me my journey secure. 

As on the right hand, to mount to the hill where stands 

the church which above Rubaconte overhangs the well- 

O gente umana,, per volar su nata, 

Perchfe a poco vento cosi cadi ? 

Menocci ove la roccia era taghata : 

Quivi mi battfeo 1' ali per la fronte, 

Poi mi promise sicura 1' andata. 

Come a man destra, per salire al monte 100 

Dove siede la chiesa, che soggioga 

La ben guidata sopra Rubaconte, 

Landino, however, says, ' le parole possono essere e dell' angelo e del 

poeta,' the meaning of which is not very obvious. I have followed 

Blanc, as there is no other instance of any reflection -of the kind being 

made by any of the angels who point out the way. As to the reading 

of 1. 94, annunzio has perhaps most authority, but invito makes so 

much the best sense that I have followed Witte and Bianchi in adopting 

it. It may be said, too, that invito may easily have been read nunto, 

from which the step to anmmzio is short; whereas no contrary process 

is likely to have taken place. 

"5 Blanc's interpretation of this line seems more questionable. 

vento has been almost universally taken to mean the wind of vainglory, 

as in xi. 100; he, however, compares S. Matt. xiv. 30, as though 

want of faith were the cause of the frequent failures of men to rise 

on high. But looking to x. 125, as well as the passage referred to 

above, there seems little doubt that the usual is also the correct interpretation. 

1"! chiesa. Samminiato. 

i°2 la ben guidata, ironically of Florence. Eubaconte ; the bridge 

now called Ponte alle Grazie. It was built in 1237, the first stone 

being laid by Messer Rubaconte da Mandello of Milan, then PodestA. 

Villani yi. 26.


guided city, one breaks the bold steepness of the ascent by 

the steps that were made at an age when the quire and 

the bushel were safe; so grows gentler the slope which 

here falls very steep from the second circle; but on this 

hand and on that the lofty rock grazes. We turning there 

our bodies, Beati pauperes spiritu sang voices in such wise 

that speech would not tell it. O how different are these 

passages to those of hell, for here one enters through chants, 

and dovm there through fierce laments. 

We were already mounting up by the holy stairs, and I 

Si rompe del montar 1' ardita foga, 

Per le scalee, che si fero ad etade, 

Ch' era sicuro il quaderno e la doga; 

Cosi s'' allenta la ripa che cade 

Quivi ben ratta dall' altro girone : 

Ma quinci e quindi 1' alta pietra rade. 

Noi volgendo ivi le nostre persone, 

Beati pauperes spiritu, voci iro 

Cantaron si, che noi diria sermone. 

Ahi quanto son diverse quelle foci 

Dall' infernali! chfe quivi per canti 

S' entra, e laggiii per lamenti feroci. 

Gia montavam su per 11 scaglion santi, 

106 il quaderno e la doga. In 1299 Messer Niccola Acciaiuoli 

and Messer Baldo d' Aguglione (Par. xvi. 56) abstracted from the 

public records a leaf containing the evidence of a disreputable transaction, 

in which they, together with the Podesta, had been engaged. 

At about the same time Messer Durante de' Chiaramontesi, being officer 

of the customs for salt, took away a stave {doga) from the standard 

measure, thus making it smaller (see Par. xvi, 105). Both the 

Acciaiuoli and the Chiaramontesi were Guelfs, and hence perhaps it 

is that Villani says nothing about these matters. It is to be noticed, 

however, that he makes no mention of the Podesti on the occasion 

of the founding of the walls of Florence in 1299.. (Bk. viii. 31.)


seemed to myself far more light than on the level I had 

seemed before; wherefore I: ' Master, say what hea-vy 

thing has been lifted from me, that scarce any weariness is 

found by me in going ?' He answered : ' "When the P's 

which still remain on thy forehead almost extinct, shall be, 

as one has been, wholly erased, thy feet will be so overcome 

of goodwill, that not only will they not feel weariness, but 

it will be a delight to them to be urged upward.' Then 

did I, as those who go with something on their head not 

known to them, save that the gestures of another make them 

Ed esser mi parea troppo piii lieve, 

Che per lo plan non mi parea davanti: 

Ond' io : Maestro, di', qual cosa greve 

Levata s' fe da me, che nulla quasi 

Per me fatica andando si riceve ? 120 

Rispose: Quando i P, che son rimasi 

Ancor nel volto tuo presso che stinti, 

Saranno, come 1' un, del tutto rasi, 

Fien li tuoi pife dal buon voler si vinti, 

Che non pur non fatica sentiranno. 

Ma fia diletto loro esser su pinti. 

Allor fee' io come color, che vanno 

Con cosa in capo non da lor saputa, 

Se non che i cenni altrui sospicar fanno : 

125 For this use of per equiv. to Latin ab with abl. see Diez iii. 162, 

and cf. iii. 75, xv. 8, etc. So Germ, durch. 

1-22 Because pride being gone, the original root of sin (according to 

the theologians) has been taken away, and the other sins tend to become 

extinct. See Aquinas S. T. ii. 2: Q. 162 (where he quotes 

Ecclus. X. 13), especially Art. 7: 'Superbia causat gravitatem aliorum 

peccatorum,' and 'inter graviora peccata primum est superbia, sicut 

causa per quam alia peccata aggravantur.' 

L

146 PURGATORY CANTO XII 

suspect; wherefore the hand gives its aid to ascertain, and 

searches and finds, and fulfils that service which cannot be 

rendered by the sight; and with the fingers of my right 

spread out I found to be six only the letters which he of 

the keys carved on me above the temples; looking whereat 

my Leader smiled. 

Perchfe la mano ad accertar s' aiuta, 130 

E cerca e trova, e quell' ufficio adempie, 

Che non si pub fornir per la veduta : 

E con le dita della destra scempie 

Trovai pur sei le lettere, che incise 

Quel dalle chiavi a me sovra le temple : 

A che guardando il mio Duca sorrise.

CANTO XIII 

ARGUMENT 

The poets reach the second circle, wherein the sin of Envy is purged. 

At first they see no man, but presently they hear voices, calling to 

mind examples of the contrary virtue, and exhorting to it. Then 

tliey come upon the shades, who sit along the rock, clad in hairshirts, 

and having their eyelids sewn up with iron thread. Dante 

talks with Sapia, a lady of Siena. 

WE were at the summit of the stair where a second time 

is cut back the mount which by its ascent frees any from 

ill; there a cornice binds around the steep, in like manner 

as the first, save that its arc more quickly bends. Shade 

NOI eravamo al sommo della scala, 

Ove secondamente si risega" 

Lo monte, che salendo altrui dismala. 

Ivi cosi una cornice lega 

Dintorno il poggio, come la primaia, 

Se non che 1' arco suo piii tosto piega. 

^'rilega Gg. 12345. 

" altrui, as in Inf. ii. 89, or in iv. 54; ' any other,' i.e. than the 

ject of the verb, so ' any one.' 

5 This phrase to some extent bears out Philalethes' interpretation of 

xi. 108, q.v.


there is not, nor image that may appear, so bare appears 

the bank, so bare the way, with the livid hue of the rock. 

'If here one awaits folk to inquire,' reasoned the Poet,,'I 

fear that perhaps our selection may have too much delay.' 

Then he directed his eyes fixedly to the sun; he made of 

his right side centre to his movement, and turned the left 

part of himself. 'O sweet light, in whose confidence I 

enter by the new road, do thou conduct us,' said he, ' as 

one would be conducted herewithin; thou warmest the 

Ombra non gli fe nfe segno che si paia : 

Par si la ripa, e par si la via schietta, 

Col livido color della petraia. 

Se qui per dimandar gente s' aspetta, lo 

Ragionava il Poeta, io temo fprse 

Che troppo avrk d' indugio nostra eletta: 

Poi fisamente al Sole gli occhi porse : 

Fece del destro lato al muover centro, 

E la sinistra parte di sfe torse. 

O dolce lume, a cui fidanza io entro 

Per lo nuovo cammin, tu ne conduci, 

Dicea, come condur si vuol quinc' entro :'' 

^ qui dejitro Gg. 

7 ombra. Does this mean ' shades' in the usual' sense, or pictures ? 

Landino is undecided; Philalethes leaves it open. Buti, Bianchi, and 

others take the latter view. Vellutello says 'Cioe non era anima,' 

and Blanc agrees in his Erklarungen (though taking the other view 

in his Dictionary), comparing x. 21. Besides, Virgil's next remark 

distinctly requires it, in order to be apposite, segno=Lat. sig)ium; 

the reason of the.absence of these is plain, as the shades would be unable 

to see them. 

^ Bianchi takes col to be contracted from come il; but this seems 

unnecessary. 

livido; lividus in Latin is almost oftener used 2,^=envious than in 

its literal sense.

XIII PURGATORY 149 

world, thou shinest over it; if other reason urges not to the 

contrary, thy rays ought to be always guides.' 

As much as one reckons here for a mile distance, so much 

further were we abeady gone, in a short time, through the 

eagerness of our will. And towards us were heard, not 

however seen, to fly, spirits speaking courteous bidding 

to the table of love. The first voice that passed in its 

flight said in loud tone : Vinum non Rabent, and went 

repeating it behind us. And before it was wholly unheard 

through growing distant, another passed, crying: 'I am 

Orestes,' and also did not stay. 'O,' said I, 'Father, 

Tu scaldi il mondo, tu sovr' esso luci: 

S' altra ragione in contrario non pronta,'^ 20 

Esser den sempre li tuoi raggi duel. 

Quanto di quk per un migliaio si conta, 

Tanto di Ik noi eravam gik iti 

Con poco tempo, per la voglia pronta : 

E verso noi volar furon sentiti, 

Non perb visti, spiriti, parlando 

AUa mensa d' amor cortesi inviti. 

La prima voce, che passb volando, 

Vinum non habent, altamente disse, 

E dietro a noi 1' andb reiterando. 30 

E prima che del tutto non s' udisse ' 

Per aflungarsi, un' altra: I" sono Oreste, 

Passb gridando, ed anche non s' affisse. 

O, diss' io. Padre, che voci son queste ? 

° cagione Aid. Land. Bi. 

•22.23 Observe that di qua and di la are not in this case correlative. 

25 per6, as in -vii. 55. 

32 The words, of course, are those of Pylades, in the .well-known 

story. Dante may have got it from Cic. de Am. § 24.


what voices are these?' And as I asked, lo, the third, 

saying: 'Love them from whom ye have evil.' The good. 

Master: ' This circle scourges the sin of envy, and therefore 

are the lashes of the scourge wielded by love. The 

rein will have to be of the contrary sound; I think that 

thou wilt hear it, in my judgement, before thou reachest the 

passage of pardon. But fix thine eyes intently through the 

air, and thou wilt see folk sitting in front of us, and each 

one is seated along the cliff.' Then I opened my eyes 

more than before; I looked before me, and saw shades 

-with cloaks not different to the colour of the rock. And 

E com' io dimandai, ecco la terza, 

Dicendo : Amate, da cui male aveste. 

Lo buon Maestro : Questo cinghio sferza 

La colpa della invidia, e perb sono 

Tratteda amor le corde della ferza. 

Lo fren vuol esser del contrario suono : 40 

Credo che 1' udirai, per mio.a-wiso. 

Prima che giunghi al passo del perdono. 

Ma ficca gli occhi per 1' aere ben fiso, 

E vedrai gente innanzi a noi sedersi, 

E ciascun fe lungo la grotta assiso. 

Allora piii che prima gli occhi apersi; 

Guardai mi innanzi, e vidi ombre con manti 

Al color della pietra non diversi. 

* -vuol esser is nearly equivalent to sarh, but the -vuol is rather more 

than a mere auxiliary; it is almost exactly=Germ. muss. So Villani 

uses ' voUero esser presi,' ' were going to be taken.' The use is noticed 

by CorticeUi, who explains it as equivalent to essere per essere. Dante 

uses the figure of the rein and the spur (corresponding to the whip here) 

in Conv. iv. 26. 

^5 diversi al. So Inf ix. 12. The construction is equivalent to the


after that we were a little more forward I heard them cry : 

' Mary, pray for us !' cry ' Michael,' and ' Peter,' and all 

the saints. I do not believe that there goes on the earth 

this day a man so hard, that he were not pricked by compassion 

for those whom I next saw; for when I had arrived 

so near them that their actions came clearly to me, the 

tears were drawn from my eyes for heavy grief. They 

appeared to me covered with common hair-cloth, and one 

was supporting another with his shoulder,, and all were 

supported by the bank. Thus blind men, to whom sub- 

E poi che fummo un poco piii avanti, 

Udi' gridar : Maria, ora per noi; 50 

Gridar, Michele, e Pietro, e tutti i Santi. 

Non credo, che per terra vada ancoi 

"Qomo si duro, che non fosse punto 

Per compassion di quei ch' io vidi poi: 

Chfe quando fui si presso di lor giunto, 

Che gli atti loro a me venivan certi, 

Per gli occhi fui di grave dolor munto. 

Di vii cilicio mi parean coperti, 

E r un sofferia 1' altro con la spalla, 

E tutti dalla ripa eran sofferti. 60 

Cosi li ciechi, a' cui la roba falla, 

Latin with dative, which though the less usual is not unfrequent, especially 

in Horace. See Zumpt Gr. § 468. 

^ Bianchi reads quel; but as no particular person is referred to, 

and quello is not often used as equivalent to cib, I have preferred 

quei. 

^7 munto : mulgere, not mungere. Diez i. 189. 

^ Those who have envied each other on earth mutually sustain each 

other here. 

51 a cui la roba falla. So Inf xxiv. 7.


Stance is lacking, stand by the pardons to beg their need, 

and one lets his head fall on another, so that in others pity 

shortly is planted, not only through the sound of the words, 

but through the .face which no less,yearns. And as the 

Sun reaches not to those deprived [of sight], so to the 

shades in the place whereof I was but now speaking, light 

of Heaven wifl not bestow of itself: for in all of them a 

thread of iron bores the eyelid, and sews it in such wise as 

Stanno ai perdoni a chieder lor bisogna 

E 1' uno il capo sovra 1' altro avvalla, 

Perchfe in altrui pietk tosto si pogna, 

Non pur per lo sonar delle parole. 

Ma per la vista, che non meno agogna. 

E come agli orbi non approda il Sole, 

Cosi air ombre, dov' io parlava ora,'' 

Luce del Ciel di sfe largir non vuole: 

Chfe a tutte un fii di ferro il ciglio fora, 70 

E cuce si com' a sparvier selvaggio 

* ombre qui ond' io Gg, ; om. ov' io Cass.; quivi ov' io parlo 45 ; 

parlava 12 ; lav' io W. 

52 perdoni, the church-doors and other places where notice of 

indulgences is given. 

5' approda. The word occurs transitively Inf xxi. 78. The best 

interpretation would appear to be that which takes it ss,—arriva {proda 

=riva in vi. 85, and elsewhere); and with this Blanc (Erklarungen) 

finally agrees, though in his Dictionary he has preferred the meaniog 

'profits,' which Philalethes also adopts. Bianchi, however, explains, 

' non arriva, non giunge a farsi vedere.' Ott. ' non giova.' 

55 dov' io parlava ora. Not, I think, quite as Bianchi puts it, 

' del luogo nel quale,'for he has not yet spoken; nor as Philalethes, 

' die ich erwahnt,' for dove is not equivalent to delle quali. It is 

rather a compressed way of saying, 'nel luogo del quale.'—ora, as in 

xi. 120. So French ' tout-Wheure' is used of time just past.


is done to a wild hawk because he remains not quiet., As 

I went I seemed to myself to be doing outrage in seeing 

others and not being seen, wherefore I turned to my sage 

counsel. Well knew he what I, the silent, would say, and 

therefore he awaited not my demand, but said : ' Speak, 

and be brief and clear.' Virgil was going between me and 

that edge of the cornice, whence one may fall, because it is 

enringed with no border; on the other side me were the 

devout shades, who through the horrible stitching were 

Si fa, perb che queto non dimora. 

A me pareva andando fare oltraggio, 

Vedendo altrui, non essendo veduto : 

Perch' io mi volsi al mio consiglio saggio. 

Ben sapev' ei, che volea dir lo muto; 

E perb non attese mia dimanda; 

Ma disse : Park, e sii breve ed arguto. 

Virgilio mi venia da quella banda " 

Della cornice, onde cader si puote, 80 

Perchfe da nulla sponda s' inghirlanda: 

Dall' altra parte m' eran le devote 

Ombre, che per 1' orribile costura 

« landa Gg. 

75 consiglio: like compagnia Inf. xxviii. 116. 

78 Literally, ' was going with regard to me in the direction of that 

border.' This is one of the httle explanations which Dante is so fond 

of gi-ving to enable the reader to get his bearings.—venia, because 

Dante had gone a little in front, da, as in iv. 57, etc. Diez iii. 149. 

Gg. reading/3«a?a, explains ' i.e. planicie exiremu.' 

51 sponda. Latin sponda is a bedstead, and more especially the 

side away from the wall, which would project a little beyond the 

mattress. (Hor. Epod. iii. 22.) Here the meaning is that the path 

came to the very edge of the precipice.


straining so that they bathed their cheeks. I turned to 

them and began : ' O folk secure of seeing the light on high 

which alone your desire has in its care, so may grace 

quickly break up the scum of your conscience in such wise 

that the stream of the mind may flow down clear through it, 

tell me (for it will be gracious and precious to me) if there 

is here among you a soul that is Latin ; and perhaps to him 

it wifl be good, if I become known to him.' ' O my brother, 

each is citizen of a true city; but thou wouldst say, who 

lived as a pilgrim in Italy.' This methought I heard 

Premevan si, che bagnavan le gote. 

Volsimi a loro, ed: O gente sicura, 

Incominciai, di veder 1' alto lume 

Che il disio vostro solo ha in sua cura ; 

Se tosto grazia risolva le schiume 

Di vostra coscienzia, si che chiaro 

Per essa scenda della mente il fiume, go 

Ditemi (chfe mi fia grazioso e caro) 

S' anima fe qui tra voi, che sia Latina : 

E forse a lei sark buon, s' io 1' apparo. 

O frate mio, ciascuna fe cittadina 

D' una vera citta; ma tu vuoi dire, 

Che vivesse in Italia peregrina. 

85 am. Cf iii. 73-75. 

55 se, as in ii. 16. 

8° The metaphor seems to be of a stream blocked by scum and 

rubbish. Blanc takes mente in the sense of ' remembrance' (as in Par. 

ix. 104), with special reference to the effects of the water of Lethe. 

"2 Latina. So xi. 58. 

53 lei, fem. because it represents anima. So vi. 61. 

^'' Cf. St. Augustine : ' Qui vero cives sunt in populo Dei, ipsi sunt 

in terra peregrini.' Comment, in Psal. cxviii.


by way of answer somewhat more in front than the place 

where I was standing, wherefore I let myself be heard still 

more that way. Among the others I saw a shade which 

in its face was expectant; and if any would say ' How ?'— 

it was raising its chin upward in fashion of one blind. 

' Spirit,' said I, '.that art quelling thyself in order to 

mount, if thou art that one which answered to me, make 

thyself known to me either by place or name.' ' I was 

of Siena,' it answered, ' and with these others I cleanse 

here my guilty life, weeping to Him, that He may grant 

Himself to us. Sage I was not, albeit I was called Sapia, and 

Questo mi parve per risposta udire 

Piii innanzi alquanto, che Ik dov' io stava ; ^ 

Ofld' io mi feci ancor piii la s entire. 

Tra r altre vidi un' ombra, che aspettava roo 

In vista; e se volesse alcun dir : Come ? 

Lo mento a guisa d' orbo in su levava. 

Spirto, diss' io, che per salir ti dome, - 

Se tu sei quelli, che mi rispondesti, 

Fammiti conto o per luogo o per nome. 

Io fui Sanese, rispose, e con questi 

Altri rimondo qui la vita ria, 

Lagrimando a colui, che :sfe ne presti. 

Savia non fui, awegna che Sapia 

i Piii. Ih Aid. W. 

58 Because the spirit could only thus know of his approach. 

lo^ ' Sapia fii gentildonna Sanese; ma in esiho viveva in Colle, e 

tanta in-vidia portava alio stato Sanese che essendo rotti i Sanesi non 

lontano da Colle, tanta letizia ne prese, che alzando gli occhi al cielo 

disse, Fammi hoggimai Iddio il peggio che tu puoi, che vivero e moriro 

contenta.' Landino. This was the battle in which Provenzano Salvani 

was slain (see xi. I2l), and some of the early commentators say that

I5S PURGATORY CANTO 

I was far more glad of others' harm than of my own fortune. 

And that thou mayest not think that I deceive thee, hear 

whether I was foolish as I tell thee. As the arch of my years 

was already turning downward, my fellow-citizens were, near 

to Colle, joined in the field with their adversaries, and 

I prayed God for that which was His will. There were they 

routed, and turned to the bitter passes of flight, and seeing 

the chace, I took pleasure beyond all other : so much that 

I upraised my daring face, crying to God : " Henceforth I 

fear thee no more," as did the merle for a little fair weather. 

Fossi chiamata, e fui degli altrui danni no 

Piii lieta assai, che di ventura mia. 

E perchfe tu non -credi, ch' io t' inganni, 

Odi se fui, com' io ti dico, foUe. 

Gik discendendo 1' arco de' miei anni, 

Erano i cittadin miei presso a Colle 

In campo giunti coi loro a-wersari: 

Ed io pregava Dio di quel ch' ei voUe.^ 

Rotti fur quivi, e volti negli amari 

Passi di fuga, e veggendo la caccia, 

Letizia presi ad ogni altri dispari : 120 

Tanto, ch' io levai in su 1' ardita faccia, 

Gridando a Dio : Omai piii non ti temo : 

Come fe il merlo per poca bonaccia. 

s pregai 2 Aid.; pregai Lddio W. 

Sapia was a relation of his. Philalethes thinks this improbable, because 

she was his enemy, but it is hard to see why one would have been incompatible 

with the other in those times. 

11" For the comparison of human life to an arch, see Conv. iv. 23, 

where he puts the summit of the arch between the thirty-fifth and 

fortieth years. 

123 Blanc and Philalethes, after Lombardi, state that in North Italy


I wished for peace with God on the verge of my life; and 

not yet would my debt be reduced through penitence, if 

it were not that Peter Pettinagno had me in memory in his 

holy prayers, whom of charity it grieved for me. But who 

art thou, that goest asking our conditions, and bearest 

thine eyes loosed, as I believe, and breathing talkest?' 

'My eyes,' said I, 'will yet be taken from me here; but 

for a little time, for small is the hindrance wrought 

through being turned with envy. Far greater is the fear 

Pace volli con Dio in su lo stremo 

DeUa mia vita : ed ancor non sarebbe 

Lo mio dover per penitenza scemo, 

Se cib non fosse ch' a memoria m' ebbe 

Pier Pettinagno in sue sante orazioni, 

A cui di me per caritade increbbe. 

Ma tu chi sei, che nostre condizioni 130 

Vai dimandando, e porti gli occhi sciolti. 

Si come io credo, e spirando ragioni? 

Gli occhi, diss' io, mi fieno ancor qui tolti. 

Ma picciol tempo : chfe poca fe 1' offesa 

Fatta per esser con invidia volti. 

Troppa fe piii la paura, ond' fe sospesa 

the last three days of January are known as 'giorni del merlo. 

Sacchetti (Nov. cxlix.) quotes the proverb : 'Piu non ti euro, Domine, 

che uscito son del verno.' 

125 I.e. 'I should not have yet entered Purgatory,' cf. iv. 133. 

125 Piero Pettinagno (or Pettinaio as some read) is said to have been 

a hermit, of the Franciscan order, a Florentine by birth, but dwelUng 

near Siena, and renowned for his piety and miracles. He is still, 

according to Philalethes, revered as a saint at Siena. 

133 gli occhi; observe the allusion to the etymology of invidia. 

134, 135 Envy, he means, was not one of his besetting sins. 

136-138 Dante's pride seems to have been the point in his character

iS8 PURGATORY CANTO 

whereby my soul is in- suspense of the torment below, for 

already yonder burden weighs on me.' And she to me: 

' Who then has led thee up here among us, if thou thinkest 

to return below?' And I: 'He here who is with me, 

and speaks no word ; and I am alive; and therefore ask 

of me, elect spirit, if thou wilt that yonder I move for thee 

hereafter my mortal feet' ' Oh, this is so new a thing to 

hear,' she answered, ' that it is a great sign that God loves 

thee, wherefore with thy prayer at some time help me. And 

I ask thee by that which thou most desirest, if ever thou 

treadest the land of Tuscany that thou surely make good 

again my fame among my kin. Thou wilt see them among 

L' anima mia, dal tormento di sotto : 

Che gik lo incarco di laggiii mi pesa. 

Ed ella a me : Chi t' ha dunque condotto 

Quassii tra noi, se giii ritornar credi ? 140 

Ed io : Costui, ch' fe meco, e non fa motto. 

E vivo sono : e perb mi richiedi, 

Spirito eletto, se tu vuoi ch' io mubva 

Di la per te ancor li mortal piedi.'^ 

O questa fe a udir si cosa nuova,' 

Rispose, che gran segno fe che Dio t' ami: 

Perb col prego tuo talor mi giova : 

E cheggioti per quel che tu piii brami, 

Se mai calchi la terra di Toscana, 

Ch' ai miei propinqui tu ben mi rinfami. 150 

Tu gli vedrai tra quella gente vana, 

^ Di let in parte Gg. 12345. ' Or questa 3 W. 

which most struck his contemporaries. See Villani ix. 136: 'Per lo 

suo savere fu alquanto presuntuoso e schifo e isdegnoso,' and sundry 

anecdotes to the same effect are preserved by Sacchetti and others. 

151 gente vana. Cf Inf xxix. 122.

XIII PURGATORY 159, 

that vain folk who have hope in Talamone, 'and will lose 

there more hope than in finding the Diana; but yet more 

will their admirals lose there.' 

Che spera in Talamone, e perderagli 

Piii di speranza, ch' a trovar la Diana : 

Ma piii vi perderanno gli ammiragli.'' 

^ metteranno Gg. 12345 Aid. W. 

1^2 Talamone is a small seaport at the south-west corner of the 

territory of Grosseto, in the Sienese Maremma, not far firom the mouth 

of the Ombrone. The Sienese bought it in 1305 with the view of 

becoming a naval power, wherein they did not succeed. It was 

captured by the Sicilian fleet, under Don Peter (grandson of Peter III. 

of Aragon), acting on the side of the Emperor Louis IV. against the 

Guelfs in 1328 (Villani x. 103). 

1^ Diana, a spring fabled to exist under Siena, in the search for 

which much time and money were spent. It, or another, was actually 

found in the course of the fourteenth century; see Vasari, lives of 

Agnolo and Agostino. 

1''-* Because they lost their lives owing to the unhealthiness of the 

place ; or, according to Benv., because the harbour was so bad that they 

lost their ships. Dr. Moore prefers the reading metterapno (which has 

the weight of authority), in the sense of ' stake' or ' risk.' But one 

does not see how the admirals risked more than the state. Could we 

read metterd, negli amm. ' it will place more hope in its admirals than 

in the scheme of finding the spring, and accordingly will lose more' ?

CANTO XIV 

ARGUMENT 

Second circle continued. Dante tallss with Guido del Duca and Rinier 

da Calboli, who lament the decline of virtue in the present age. 

They pass on and hear other voices, which recall examples of the 

sin of envy and its punishment. 

' WHO is this that circles our mountain before that death 

have given him power of flight, and opens and shuts his 

eyes at his own will?' 'I know not who he is, but I know 

that he is not alone. Ask thou of him that he draw nearer 

thee, and greet him sweetly, so that he may speak.' Thus two 

spirits, leaning the one against the other, were talking of me 

CHI fe costui che il nostro monte cerchia 

Prima che morte gli abbia dato il volo, 

Ed apre gli occhi a sua voglia e coperchia ? 

Non, so chi sia; ma so ch' ei non fe solo : 

Dimandai tu, che piii gli t' avvicini,''^ 

E dolcemente, si che parli, accolo. 

Cosi due spirti, 1' uno all' altro chini, 

^ se piii Gg. 

5 accolo, accoglilo, accoilo, acco'lo. 

7 For the names of these two, see 11. 8i, 88.

CANTO XIV PURGATORY I6I 

there to the right hand; then they turned their faces upwanrd 

to speak to me, and one said : ' O soul that fixed yet in the 

body goest thy way towards Heaven, for charity console us 

and tell us whence thou comest and who thou art, for thou 

makest us marvel so much at the grace thou hast, as that 

must needs do, which has never else happened.' And I: 

'Through midmost Tuscany takes its way a little stream, 

which rises in Falterona, and a hundred miles of course 

sate it not. Upon its banks I bear this body. To tell you 

who I am would be to speak in vain, for as yet my name 

Ragionavan di me ivi a man dritta: 

Poi fer li visi, per dirmi, supini: 

E disse 1' uno : O anima, che fitta lo 

Nel corpo ancora, inver lo Ciel ten vai. 

Per caritk ne consola, e ne ditta, 

Onde vieni, e chi sei: chfe tu ne fai 

Tanto maravigliar della tua grazia, 

Quanto vuol cosa,_ che non fu piii mai. 

Ed io : Per mezza Toscana si spazia 

Un fiumicel che nasce in Falterona, 

E cento miglia di corso noi sazia. 

Di so-vr' esso rech' io questa persona; 

Dirvi ch' io sia saria parlare indarno ; 20 

Chfe il nome mio ancor molto non suona. 

» a man dritta. Because Dante, talking to Sapia, had his face 

towards the mountain. 

5 So xiii. 102. The gesture is very famihar in the blind. 

1" fitto, flsso, fiso are all frequent. For the first form, see Diez 

i. 13. 

15 sazia. N.B. the singular, as if it were, ' corso di cento migha.' 

15 di, not, I think, 'from,' as Philalethes and Bianchi take it, but 

as in 'di quella costa,' Par. xi. 49, and 'di la,' 'di qua.' reco as in 

xxvi. 60, xxxiii. 7^- 

M


makes no great sound.' 'If I well pierce thy meaning 

with my understanding,' answered me then he who first 

spoke, 'thou talkest of Arno.' And the other said to 

him: ' Why did he hide the name of that river just as a 

irian does of horrible things ? ' And the shade which was 

asked of this delivered itself thus : ' I know not, but meet 

it is surely that the name of such a vale perish, for, from it's 

source (where so teems the lofty mountain, whence Pelorum 

is cut, that in a few places does it pass beyond that mark) 

even to that Spot where it renders itself for repayment of 

Se ben lo intendimento tuo accarno 

Con lo intelletto, allora mi rispose 

Quei che prima dicea, tu parli d' Arno.'^ 

E r altro disse a lui: Perchfe nascose 

Questi il vocabol di quella riviera, 

Pur com' uom fa dell' orribili cose ? 

E r ombra che di cib dimandata era. 

Si sdebitb cosi: Non so, ma degno 

Ben' fe, che il nome di tal valle pera : 30 

Chfe dal principio suo (dov' fe si pregno 

L' alpestro monte, ond' fe tronco Peloro, 

Che in pochi luoghi passa oltra quel segno) 

Infin Ik 've si rende per ristoro 

'°' diceapria 1234; d. prima Cass.; diceva pria W. 

22 accarno, properly ' pierce the flesh.' Cf accuorare. 

31 si pregno. Both the Arno and the Tiber are among the streams 

which rise in the neighbourhood of Monte Falterona. Compare with 

this passage the description of the course of the Mincio, Inf. xx. 

52 monte, the Apennine, from which Pelorum is cut off by the Strait 

of Messina.

XIV PURGATORY 163 

what the heaven dries up of the sea, whence the rivers 

get that which goes with them, virtue is banished for an 

enemy by all men just like a serpent, either through mishap 

of the place or through evil custom which pricks them on, 

wherefore the inhabiters of the unhappy vale have so 

changed their nature that it seems as though Circe had had 

them in feeding. Among foul hogs, more worthy of galls 

than of any food made for the use of men, it first directs 

its miserable path. Next it finds curs, as it comes lower, 

snarling more than their power demands, and at them in 

Di quel che il ciel della marina asciuga, 

Ond' hanno i fiumi cib, che va con loro, 

Virtii cosi per nimica si fuga 

Da tutti, come biscia, o per sventura 

Del luogo, o per mal uso che gli fruga: 

Ond' hanno si mutata lor natura 40 

Gli abitator della misera valle, 

Che par che Circe gli avesse in pastura. 

Tra brutti porci, piii degni di galle, 

Che d' altro cibo fatto in umano uso, 

Dirizza prima il suo povero calle. 

Botoli truova poi venendo giuso 

Ringhiosi piii che non chiede lor possa, 

43 porci, the men of the Casentino ; probably with especial reference 

to the great family known as the Conti Guidi, lords of Romena (Inf 

x-vi. 38), and Porciano, to which latter name there is perhaps an 

allusion. See Philalethes here, and to Inf xvi. 39.—galle fox ghiande, 

says Blanc : but surely it is contemptuous, ' fit not even for acorns, only 

galls.' 

** altro. See xxxii. 39. 

«5-48 Botoli, the Aretines, who were in a state of almost constant feud 

with Florence, and for a long time more or less in subjection to it. The 

Arno, as vnll be seen on the map, flows south-east almost to Arezzo, 

and then makes a great sweep away to the north-west.


disdain it turns aside its muzzle. It goes its way downward, 

and in proportion as it grows fuller so much the more does 

the accursed and ill-fated foss find, out of dogs, wolves 

made. Then, having descended through more hollow 

basins, it finds the foxes, so full of fraud that they have no 

fear of a wit that may forestall them. Nor will I leave 

speaking for all that another hear me; and good will it be for 

this man if hereafter he bethinks him of that which a spirit 

of truth unfolds to me. I see thy grandson, who becomes 

Ed a lor disdegnosa torce il muso. 

Vassi caggendo, e quanto ella piu ingrossa, 

Tanto piii truova di can farsi lupi 50 

La maladetta e sventurata fossa. 

Discesa poi per piii pelaghi cupi, 

Truova le volpi si piene di froda, 

Che non temono ingegno che le occupi. 

Nfe lascerb di dir, perch' altri m' oda : 

E buon sark a costui, se ancor s' ammenta 

Di cib che vero spirto mi disnoda. 

Io veggio tuo nipote, che diventa 

lupi, the Florentines, of course with especial allusion, as in Par. 

xxv. 6 and elsewhere, to the Guelfs. 

^2 pelaghi cupi. Philalethes points out the topographical accuracy 

of all this description of the Arno's course. Those who have travelled 

along the railway from Pisa to Florence will remember the deep hollows 

through which the river makes its way between those towns. 

'3 volpi, the Pisans. 

'7 vero spirto. It seems hardly necessary to hold -with Buti that a 

direct angelic communication is here implied. 

^5 Fulcieri da Calvoli was Podestcl of Florence in 1302. Villani 

(viii. 59) calls him ' uomo feroce e crudele,' and describes the destruction 

wrought by him among the Wliite party. It is curious, as bearing on 

the question of Dante's place in the political parties of the time, to 

observe that although it was the White Guelfs, generally supposed to 

have been his own party, whom Fulcieri so harried, they are here classed


a chaser of those wolves upon the bank of the savage 

stream and -scares them all; he sells their flesh while it is 

alive; afterward slaughters them like a beast grown old; many 

of life he deprives and himself of honour. Bloody he issues 

from the sorry wood; he leaves it such that, for a thousand 

years hence, it replants itself not in its first state.' As at the 

announcement of his doleful losses the face of him who 

Cacciator di quei lupi in su la riva 

Del fiero fiume, e tutti gli sgomenta. 60 

Vende la carne loro, essendo viva : 

Poscia gli ancide come antica belva : 

Molti di vita, e sfe di pregio priva. 

Sanguinoso esce della trista selva, 

Lasciala tal, che di qui a mill' anni 

Nello stato primaio non si rinselva. 

Come all' annunzio dei dogliosi danni "^ 

° futuri danni Aid. Bi. 

all alike as ' wolves.' It was, indeed, this treatment that bound them 

closely to "the Ghibelines, and henceforward Villani always speaks.of 

' i bianchi e ghibellini.' But the classing of Dante crudely as a Ghibeline 

is extremely misleading. See Par. -n. 105. 

51 It is difiScult to understand the meaning of this line. The treatment 

of Donato Alberti, to which Philalethes thinks it may refer, does 

not seem much to the point, for though it might be said that he was 

exposed in the shambles, he can hardly be said to have been gold. Nor 

is Landino's explanation, 'per prezzo uccidera molti,' much more satisfactory. 

Villani, at all events, gives no hint that Fulcieri had any 

inducement, save party feeling, to act as he did. The allusion is probably 

to some transaction known at the time and since forgotten. 

52 Blanc finds a difficulty, which does not seem to.have struck the 

Italian commentators, in the use of belva to,signify a domestic animal. 

5^ selva. So Inf i. 2. 

55 See Villani I.e. and ch. 68 for. the misery which succeeded Fuicieri's 

year of office. 

57 "The xe.'H.SYa^, futuri probably comes from Inf. xiii. 12.


listens is troubled, from what quarter soever the danger may 

assail him, so saw I the other soul that was remaining turned 

to hear, grow troubled and become sad, after it had con 

sidered the word within itself. The speech of the one and 

the visage of the other made me desirous to know their 

names, and I made demand of them mingled with prayer. 

Wherefore, the spirit which first spoke to me began again : 

' Thou wilt that I humble myself in doing to thee that thou 

wilt not do to me; but seeing that God wills that His grace 

should in thee shine out so great, I will not be sparing 

Si turba il viso di colui che ascolta,"^ 

Da qual che parte il periglio lo assanni: 

Cosi vid' io 1' altr' anima, che volta 70 

Stava ad udir, turbarsi e farsi trista, 

Poi ch' ebbe la parola a sfe raccolta. 

Lo dir defl' una e dell' altra la vista 

Mi fe' voglioso di saper lor nomi, 

E dimanda ne fei con prieghi mista. 

Perchfe lo spirto, che di pria parlbmi, 

Ricomincib : Tu vuoi ch' io mi deduca 

Nel fare a te cib che tu far non -vuo' mi. 

Ma da che Dio in te vuol che traluca 

• Tanta sua grazia, non ti sarb scarso : 80 

'1 di colui, che ascolta Da qualche Aid. 

^' qual che = Fr. quel que, or as it would now be written quelque 

. . . que. See Littr^ under both these phrases. It is not quite the 

same as qualunque.—assaimare, properly, to attack with the teeth, as 

Inf. xxx. 29. 

71 stava=little more than era. Cf. Inf vii. 109, where, however, 

it may be rendered ' I was standing,' which it cannot here, as the shades 

are sitting. For this use, see Diez iii. 188.


toward thee ; wherefore know that I am Guido del Duca. 

My blood was,so on fire with envy that, if thou hadst seen 

a man grow prosperous, thou wouldst have seen me with 

livid hue overspread. Of my sowing such is the straw I 

reap. O race of men, why place ye your hearts there 

where refusal of companionship is necessary? This is 

Rinier, this is the prize and the honour of the house of 

Perb sappi ch' io son Guido del Duca. 

Fu il sangue mio d' invidia si riarso, 

Che se veduto avessi uom farsi lieto, 

Visto m' avresti di livore sparso. 

Di mia semenza cotal paglia mieto. 

O gente umana, perchfe poni il cuore 

Lk 'v' fe mestier di consorto divieto ? 

Questi fe Rinier: questi fe il pregio e 1' onore 

51 Of Guido del Duca even Philalethes has been able to discover no 

more than that he was of Brettinoro, or Bertinoro, a tovra in Romagna, 

near Forll. From Villani viii. 93, it would appear to have been a, 

Ghibehne to-wn, for we find the Guelfs besieging it in 1307. 

53 I prefer to take avessi as the second person. The grammatical 

connection of the sentence is thereby more satisfactory and- the idea 

more vivid. Besides Guido would not surely say 's' io avessi veduto,' 

but 's' io vidi,' or at least ' vedessi.' 

_57,, A difficult line to render exactly. It must be remembered that 

the order of the words is ' ove di-rieto di consorto e mestier'; mestier, 

as in i. 92 and elsewhere, standing by itself. Philalethes has ' wobei 

zulassig nicht Gemeinschaft.' Blanc quotes Boethius (Cons. Phil. ii. 5): 

' O angiistas inopesque divitias quas nee habere tolas pluribus licet, et 

ad quemlibet sine ceterorum paupertate non v^niunt.' 

58 Philalethes thinks there is some reason for identifying the person 

here named with a Rinier of Calvoli, who was Podestd. of Parma in 

1252. The family were Guelfs of the straitest sect, and were in 1306 

driven out of Brettinoro, where they possessed a castle, by the inhabitants, 

aided by the men of Forli. Here then it would seem, just as in 

Canto vii., Dante-brings men who on earth were of opposite parties 

into close and affectionate intimacy.


Calboli, where no man has since made himself heir of his 

worth. And not his blood only, between the Po and the 

mountain, and the sea and the Reno, has been stripped bare 

of the good sought for earnest and for pastinie, for all within 

these boundaries is so full of poisonous stocks, that late would 

they hereafter be diminished by cultivation. Where is the 

good Lizio, and Henry Manardi, Peter Traversaro, and Guy 

- Delia casa da Calboli, ove nullo 

' Fatto s' fe reda poi del suo valore. 90 

E non pur lo suo sangue fe fatto brullo 

Tra il Pb e il monte, e la marina e il Reno, 

Del ben richiesto al vero ed al trastullo; 

Chfe dentro a questi termini fe ripieno 

Di venenosi sterpi, si che tardi 

Per coltivare omai verrebber meno. 

Ov' fe il buon Lizio, ed Arrigo, Manardi, 

Pier Traversaro, e Guido di Carpigna ? 

52 That is, in Romagna. The Reno flows a little west of Bologna 

(Inf. xviii. 61), and presently turns to the south-east, and becomes 

connected with the southern mouths of the Po. monte = the Apennine. 

57 These and the following names are all those of men or families 

who shared in the struggle of Guelfs and Ghibelines for supremacy in 

Romagna, which lasted through all the last quarter of the thirteenth 

century. Lizio da Valbona appears in 1274 in connection with Rinier 

da Calvoli as on the side of the Guelfs against Guy of Montefeltro 

and the Ghibelines, and with Ricciardo da' Manardi of Brettinoro, 

under more peaceful circumstances, in Bocc. Dec. v. 4. See the notes 

of Philalethes to this passage, and at the end of Inf. xxvii., where he 

gives a general sketch of the affairs of Romagna during this period, 

in which several of these names will be found. Of the rest the early 

commentators mostly tell us little more than we might gather from the 

text, viz. that they were noble and courteous gentlemen, given to 

liberality. In Dec. v. 8 (the well-known story which Dryden has 

adapted as ' Theodore and Honoria') the hero is Anastagio, and the 

lieroine of the Traversaro family.

XIV PURGATORY i6g 

of Carpigna ? O men of Romagna turned to bastards ! When 

does a Fabbro spring up again in Bologna, when in Faenza 

a Bernardin son of Fosco, noble scion of humble plant? 

Marvel not if I weep, Tuscan, when I remember, with Guy 

of Prata, Ugolin d' Azzo who lived -with us; Frederick 

O Romagnuoli tornati in bastardi! 

Quando in Bologna un Fabbro si ralligna ? loo 

Quando in Faenza un Bernardin di Fbsco, 

Verga gentil di picciola gramigna ? 

Non ti maravigliar, s' io piango, Tosco, 

Quando rimembro con Guido da Prata 

Ugolin d' Azzo, che vivette nosco : 

i"" si ralligna. Allignarsi is the regular term for a plant which takes 

root and grows. See, for instance, the Italian version of Crescentius 

passim.—There is some difficulty, for want of an accurate knowledge of 

the meaning of the allusion, in deciding whether these three lines are 

to be taken interrogatively, or as an explanation of the previous 

bastardi ('bastards,' when men of no birth take rank among nobles), 

in which latter case there should be only a comma at the end of 1. 99, 

and 1. 102 must be taken as ironical. Landino, though he omits, 

perhaps by a printer's error, the note of interrogation, follows the 

earliest commentators in adopting the former way, and says that a 

certain Lambertaccio Fabbro (Big Lambert the Blacksmith) was the 

founder of the great Ghibeline family of Bologna, the Lambertazzi. 

Of Bernardino, Philalethes finds that he was the son of Fosco a 

peasant, whom for his virtue and wise talk the nobles used often to 

visit. At the same time the learned^ and royal commentator renders 

it, ' O der Bastardbrut Romagna's Weil in Bologn' ein Fabbro, in 

Faenza Treibt neue Wurzeln,' etc., and therefore seems to understand 

the -words as used in dispraise. I prefer to follow his notes rather than 

his translation. Blanc also supports this interpretation, which certainly 

seems more in agreement with the rest of the passage. It is not want 

of birth but of manners which Guido is reprehending in his countrymen. 

155 Some read vosco; but the whole passage relates to persons who 

belonged to Romagna. Ugohno d' Azzo is said to have been of the 

Tuscan family of the Ubaldini, and domiciled in Faenza. He was 

cousin to Archbishop Roger of Inf xxxiii.


Tignoso and his company, the house of Traversaro, and the 

Anastagi (both the one race and the other is void of heirs), 

the dames and the cavaliers, the toils and the repose, which 

love and courtesy put in our will, there where the hearts are 

now become so wicked. O Brettinoro, why fleest thou not 

away; since thy family is departed, and much folk, to be 

free from guilt ? Well does Bagnacavallo, that it bears no 

more sons, and ill does Castrocaro, and worse Conio, that 

it sets itself any more to beget such counts. Well -will the 

Pagani do, from the time that their Demon shall go his way; 

Federigo Tignoso e sua brigata: 

La casa Traversara, e gli Anastagi 

(E r una gente e 1' altra fe ditetata),^ 

Le donne e i cavalier, gli affanni e gli- agi, 

Che ne invogliava amore e cortesia, no 

La dove i cuor son- fatti si malvagi. 

O Brettinoro, chfe non fuggi via, 

Poichfe gita se n' fe la tua famigUa, 

E molta gente per nori esser ria ? 

Ben fa Bagnacaval, che non rifiglia; 

E mal fa Castrocaro, e peggio Conio, 

Che di figliar tai conti piii s' impiglia. 

Ben faranno i Pagan, da che il Demonio 

^ diredata Aid. Land. 

105 Federigo Tignoso is said by Benv. to have been a gentleman of 

Rimini, famous,for the beauty of his hair ; whence the somewhat elementary 

humour of the.time nicknamed him 'scurfy Fred.' 

155 diretata is from low Latin deherito. 

U6,113 "j-jjg Counts of Bagnacavallo do not as a matter of fact seem 

to have become extinct before the end of the fourteenth century. Those 

of Castrocaro were Ghibelines ; those of Conio, Guelfs. 

115 The Pagani were citizens of Imola. Their Demon is the famous 

partisan-leader Maghinardo Pagani da Susinana, the ' leoncel dal nido


but yet not in such wise that a pure record of them should 

ever remain. O Ugolin of the Fantoli, secure is thy name, 

since no longer is one expected who can by degenerating 

make it obscure. But go thy way now, Tuscan, for now it 

delights me far more to weep than to talk, so has our converse 

constrained my mind.' 

Lor sen girk: ma non perb che puro 

Giammai rimanga d' essi testimonio.^ 120 

O Ugolin dei Fantoli, sicuro 

i; il nome tuo, da che piii non s' aspetta 

Chi far lo possa tralignando oscuro. 

Ma va via, Tosco, omai, ch' or mi diletta 

Troppo di pianger piii che di parlare, 

SI m' ha nostra ragion la mente stretta.^ 

' di se Gg. 

i vostra 2 Aid. Land.; region Bi. 

bianco' of Inf. xxvii. 50. Villani (vii. 149) says of him : ' fu uno 

grande e savio tiranno, savio fu di guerra, e bene awenturoso in piii 

battaglie, e al suo tempo fece grandi- cose. Ghibellino era di sua 

nazione e in sue opere, ma co' Fiorentini era guelfo, e nimico di tutti 

loro nimici, guelfi o ghibellini che fossono.' He was left when a child 

to the guardianship of the city of Florence. He took Imola from the 

Bolognese in 1296 (Villani viii. 16) and remained lord of the city till 

his death in 1302. 

121 Ugolino de' Fantoli, of Faenza, died about 1292. 

123 tralignando. A technical word again. In the Italian version 

of Crescentius it is said, of the apple : ' invecchia tosto, e nella sua vecchiezza 

traligna.' Cf Villani xii. 44. In Par. xii. 90, x-vi. 58 it seems 

to be used in the literal sense of overstepping a line. 

125 nostra ragion. Cf xxii. 130. If we read vostra, the sense 

must be 'your,' i.e. 'human reason,' which breeds compassion. It 

cannot be 'your talk,' because only Guido has spoken. Bianchi's reading, 

nostra region, ' the thought of our country,' would not be unsatisfactory 

if it were supported by MSS.

172 ' PURGATORY CANTO 

We were aware that those dear souls heard us go; therefore 

by their silence they made us confident of the road. 

After we were alone as we went forward, appeared, like 

lightning when it cleaves the" air, a voice which came to meet 

us, saying : ' Whosoever findeth me shall slay me'; and it 

fled, like thunder which melts away if suddenly it rends 

the cloud. When from it our hearing had truce, lo the 

other with so great uproar that it seemed a quickly following 

peal: ' I am Aglauros, that became a stone.' And then, 

to draw close to the Poet, I made my pace backward and 

not forward. 

Already was the air quiet on every hand, and he said to 

Noi sapevam che quell' anime care 

Ci sentivano andar : perb tacendo 

Facevan noi del cammin confidare. 

Poi fummo fatti soli procedendo, 130 

Folgore parve, quando 1' aer fende. 

Voce che giunse di contra, dicendo : 

Anciderammi qualunque m' apprende; 

E fuggio, come tuon che si dilegua, 

Se subito la nuvola scoscende. 

Come da lei 1' udir nostro ebbe tregua; 

Ed ecco 1' altra con si gran fracasso, 

Che somiglib tbnar che tosto segua : 

Io sono Aglauro che divenni sasso; 

Ed allor per istringermi al Poeta, r4o 

Indietro feci e non innanzi il passo. 

Gik era 1' aura d' ogni parte queta: 

128,129 Because they knew that if they went wrong, the souls would 

perceive it and warn them ; and accordingly their silence showed that 

they were right. 

133 Genesis iv. 14. 

1*^5 See Ovid Me'tam. ii. 800 sqq.


me : ' That was the hard bit, which ought to hold the man 

within his bound. But ye take the bait, so that the hook 

of the old adversary draws you to him; and therefore 

little avails bridle or recall. The heaven calls you, and 

turns around you, showing you its eternal beauties; and 

your eye gazes only on the earth; wherefore He who 

discerns all scourges you.' 

Ed ei mi disse : Quel fu il duro camo, 

Che dovria 1' uom tener dentro a sua meta. 

Ma voi prendete 1' esca, si che 1' amo 

Deir antico avversario a gfe vi tira; 

E perb poco val freno o richiamo. 

Cfaiamavi il cielo, e intorno vi si gira, 

Mostrandovi le sue bellezze eterne, 

, E r occhio vostro p,ure a terra mira; 150 

Onde vi batte chi tutto discerne. 

'^ Cf. xiii. 40. 

1® Cf xix. 62.

CANTO XV 

ARGUMENT 

They come to an angel of wonderful brightness, who shows them the 

way to the next circle. Virgil explains a doubt which has arisen 

in the author's mind. They enter the third circle, where the sin of 

anger is purged. Dante falls into a trance, or ecstasy, and beholds 

as in a vision certain events, whereby the contrary virtue is set 

forth. He comes to himself, and of a sudden they are involved 

in a thick smoke. 

As much as, between the end of the third hour and the 

beginning of the day, appears of the sphere which ever 

sports in fashion of a child, so much by this appeared to 

remain to the Sun of his course towards the evening; 

there it was late afternoon, and here midnight. And the 

Quanto tra 1' ultimar dell' ora terza, 

E il principio del di par della spera, 

Che sempre a guisa di fanciullo scherza, 

Tanto pareva gik inver la sera 

Essere al Sol del suo corso rimaso; 

Vespero lk, e qui mezza notte era. 

1-5 I. e. it was three hours past noon {vespero = from 3 to 6, sera = 

from 6 to 9 P. M.) in Purgatory, wherefore it must have been three hours 

after midnight at Jerusalem, and just midnight at Florence, spera is 

the sphere in which the sun is fixed, which is said to sport, because its 

great circle—the ecliptic—is always rising or falling, to appearance, in 

the sky.'

CANTO XV PURGATORY 175 

rays were striking us on half the nose, because the mount 

had been so circled by us, that we were already going 

straight towards the sunset; when- I felt the splendour 

weigh down my forehead far more than before, and the 

things not understood were an astonishment to me. 

Wherefore I. raised my hands towards the top of my eyelids, 

and made to myself the sun-shade which pares away 

the superfluity of vision. As when from water or from 

the mirror the ray rises toward the opposite part, mounting 

up in the manner similar to that in which it descends, and. 

E i raggi ne ferian per mezzo il naso, 

Perchfe per noi girato era si il monte, 

Che gik dritti andavamo inver 1' occaso; 

Quando io senti' a me gravar la fronte 10 

Alio splendore assai piu che di prima, 

E stupor m' eran le cose non conte : 

Ond' io levai le mani inver la cima 

Delle mie ciglia, e fecimi il solecchio, 

Che del soverchio visibile lima. 

Come quando dall' acqua o dallo specchio 

Salta lo raggio all' opposita parte, 

Salendo su per lo modo parecchio 

A quel che scende, e tanto si diparte 

7 They are facing due W. while the sun is N. W. 

5i" See note to iii. 89. With this use of per cf that of durch in 

German. 

i». 11 senti' alio splendore. See note to viii. 106. 

15 soverchio -visibUe. Cf viii. 36. It is the alaS-ijrov iirepôK^ of 

Aristotle; and Philalethes's ' das Licht das von oben einfiel' is clearly 

a mistranslation. Cf xvii. 53. 

15 parecchio, Fr. pareil, has in Italian quite gone out of use in this 

its primary sense. »


parts itself equally far from the fall of the plummet in an 

equal space, as experiment and art show; so I seemed to 

be struck by light reflected there in front of me, wherefore 

my sight was quick to fly. 'What is that, sweet Father,' 

said I, ' from which I cannot screen my face so much as 

may avail me, and it appears to be in motion toward us?' 

' Marvel not if still the family of Heaven dazzle thee,' he 

answered me; 'it is a messenger who comes to bid one 

mount. Soon will it be that to see these things will not be 

Dal cader della pietra in igual tratta,^ 20 

Si come mostra esperienza ed arte : 

Cosi mi parve da luce rifratta 

Ivi dinanzi a me esser percosso : 

Perchfe a fuggir la mia vista fu ratta. 

Che fe quel, dolce Padre, a che non posso 

Schermar lo viso tanto che mi vaglia. 

Diss' io, e pare inver noi esser mosso ? 

Non ti maravigliar se ancor t' abbaglia 

La famiglia del Cielo, a me rispose : 

Messo fe che viene ad invitar ch' uom saglia. 30 

Tosto sark che a veder queste cose 

" pietra lacqua Gg. 

2" I.e. at a, given distance from the reflecting surface the incident 

and reflected rays are equidistant from the perpendicular. 

21 esperienza ed arte, a kind of iv Sid Svotv, hence the singular 

verb. 'Arte, la prospettiva.'—Land. Here, as elsewhere, arte denotes 

what we should rather call ' science.' See note iv. 80. 

22 Note that here, as elsewhere (Par. xix. 6, etc.), Dante uses 

rifrangere where we should say 'reflect.' It is the translation of Gr. 

dvaK\S.ir6ai, which seems to have been used in both senses. 

35 uom, as in iv. 27.

XV PURGATORY 177 

grievous to thee, but will be to thee a delight, as much as 

nature has disposed thee to feel.' 

After we were come to the blessed angel, with joyful 

voice he. said: 'Enter here,' to a stair far less steep than 

the others. We were mounting, having already departed 

thence; and Beati misericordes was chanted behind us, and 

'Rejoice thou that conquerest.' 

My Master and I, solitary,, were both going upward, and 

I was thinking as I went to gain profit in his words ; and I 

directed myself to him, thus inquiring: ' What meant the 

spirit from Romagna, making mention of both a refusal and 

companionship ?' Wherefore he to me: ' Of his own 

greatest blemish he recognises the bane; and therefore let 

Non ti fia grave, ma fieti diletto, 

Quanto natura a sentir ti dispose. 

Poi giunti fummo all' Angel benedetto, 

Con lieta voce disse : Intrate quinci; 

Ad un scalfeo vie men che gli altri eretto. 

Noi montavamo, gik partiti Unci,'' 

E Beati misericordes fue 

Cantato retro, e : Godi tu che vinci. 

Lo mio Maestro ed io soli amendue 40 

Suso andavamo, ed io pensava, andando, 

Prode acquistar nelle parole sue : 

E dirizzai mi a lui si dimandando : 

Che voile dir lo spirto di Romagna, 

E divieto e consorto menzionando ? 

Perch' egli a me : Di sua maggior magagna 

Conosce il danno : e perb non s' ammiri, 

* Noi eravamo Cass.; montavam g. p. di Unci Gg. 124; da Unci W. 

*^ See xiv. 87. 

N


there be no wonder if he reproves it, that he may the less 

mourn for it. Because your desires are concentrated where 

through companionship a part is lost, envy moves the 

bellows to your sighs. But if the love of the highest sphere 

moves your desire upward, you would not have that fear at 

the heart; because the more there are by whom " Ours " is 

said there, so much the more of good each possesses, and 

the more of charity burns in that cloister.' ' I am more 

Se ne riprende, perchfe men sen piagna. 

Perchfe s' appuntano i vostri desiri "^ 

Dove per compagnia parte si scema: 50 

Invidia muove il mantaco ai sospiri. 

Ma se 1' amor della spera suprema 

Torcesse in suso il desiderio vostro, 

Non vi sarebbe al petto quella tema: 

Chfe per quanti si dice piii li nostro,'' 

Tanto possiede piii di ben ciascuno, 

E piii di caritate arde in quel chiostro. 

° nostri Gg. 

^ per quanto Cass.; quantunque Gg.; Perche quanto Aid. Land. Bi. 

^5 appuntarsi is more frequent in the Paradise. See, for example, 

ix. 118, xxvi. 7, and (cf with this passage) xxix. 12. 

^"^ ' Invidia nihil aliud est nisi animi labes quaedam et depravatio, 

qua quispiam alieno bono eam ob causam maeret, quod per id bonum 

suum commodum impediri vel diminui arbitretur.'—Sum. Theol. ii. 2. 

Q. 36. 

S5,56 Landino and Philalethes quote Augustine De Civ. Dei xv. 15 : 

Nullo modo fit minor accedente socio possessio bonitatis quam tanto 

latius, quanto concordius possidet individua sociorum charitas. The 

former also quotes Boethius : Omne bonum in commune deductum 

pulcrius elucescit. There can be little doubt that W. is correct in 

reading, quanti, as is shown by the expansion given in line 73 to the 

doctrine stated here. ' Quanto sunt plures possessores ibi in caelo' is 

the comment in Gg. 

^7 chiostro; cf xxvi. 128.


fasting from being satisfied,' said I, 'than if I had before 

held my peace, and I unite more doubt in my mind. How 

can it be that a good distributed makes the more possessors 

richer in it, than if it is possessed by a few?' And he to 

me: ' Because thou dost fix thy mind only on earthly 

things, of true light thou gatherest darkness. That infinite 

and ineffable good which is on high, so runs to love as a 

ray comes to a shining body. It gives as much of ardour 

as it finds: so that in proportion as charity extends, in- 

lo son d' esser contento piu digiuno, 

Diss' io, che se mi fosse pria taciuto : 

E piii di dubbio nella mente aduno. 60 

Com' esser puote che un ben distributo 

I piii posseditor faccia piii ricchi 

Di sfe, che se da pochi fe posseduto ? 

Ed egli a nie : Perocchfe tu rificchi 

La mente pure alle cose terrene, 

Di vera luce tenebre dispicchi. 

Quello infinito ed ineffabil bene, 

Che lassii fe, cosi corre ad amore. 

Come a lucido corpo raggio viene. 

Tanto si dk, quanto truova d' ardore: 70 

Si che quantunque caritk si stende, 

55 Cf Conv. iii. 7: Certi corpi per molta chiarita di diafano 

avere in se mista, tosto che '1 Sole gU vede diventano tanto luminosi, 

che per multiplicamento di luce in quelli appena discernibile e il loro 

aspetto, e rendono agU altri di se grande splendore; siccome 1' oro, 

e alcuna pietra .... Certi altri sono tanto senza diafano, che quasi 

poco della luce ricevono; siccome la terra. Cosi la bonta di Dio e 

rincontra altrimenti dalle sustanzie separate . . . e altrimenti dall' 

umana natura, etc. The whole of this passage should be read, and 

compared with iv. 20, where he quotes Aristotle De Anima ii. 2 : 

8o(c« ydp iv rf ixdaxovri. KoX diarieejxh

i8o PURGATORY CANTO 

creases upon it the eternal goodness. And the more the folk 

who comprehend each other on high the more there are to 

love rightly, and the more love there is, and as a mirror one 

renders it to another. And if my reasoning abates not thy 

hunger, thou wilt see Beatrice, and she will fully take away 

from thee this and each other craving. Only use diligence, 

that quickly may be erased, as are already the two, the five 

wounds which are closed by means of sorro-wing.' 

Cresce sovr' essa 1' eterno valore. 

E quanta gente piii lassii s' intende, 

Piii v' fe da bene amare, e piii vi s' ama, 

E come specchio 1' uno all' altro rende. 

E se la mia ragion non ti disfama, 

Vedrai Beatrice : ed ella piena'mente 

Ti torra questa e ciascun' altra brama. 

Procaccia pur, che tosto sieno spente, 

Come son gia le due, le cinque piaghe, so 

Che si richiudon per esser dolente. 

73 B' intende is the only reading that has any authority here, 

though, considering the resemblance between c and jf in MSS., something 

may be said for / incende, which Blanc gives from Perazzmi, 

and seems to prefer. It is, however, httle more than a repetition of 

the idea in line 70. Vellutello, reading as it would seem al su, and 

Fraticelli lassusb, explain it, the one (whom Cary and Longfellow 

have followed) by ' intende e aspira a quel bene di la su,' the other by 

'e intenta nella visione di Dio.' Landino reads lo su, and explains 

'non minuisce la gloria nell' anime in cielo per esservene piu,' which 

looks as if he took gente to be the object and s' intende in the sense of 

'stretches itself over,' 'contains,' lo su being heaven. Witte has 'Te 

mehr der Herzen droben sich begegnen.' Blanc (in his Voc. Dant.) 

'Essere compreso.' Scartazzini follows Fanfani, who says that inte^^dersi 

was used in the sense of innamorarsi; but this would make piii 

vi s- ama superfluous. Philalethes, Lombardi, and Bianchi adopt the 

mterpretation which I have followed, and which seems on the whole 

the best, if we are to keep the usual reading. Of this, however I do

XV PURGATORY i8i 

As I was wishing to say ' Thou dost appease me,' I saw 

that I was come upon the next gallery, so that my wandering 

eyes made me hold my peace. There meseemed that I 

was drawn of a sudden into an ecstatic vision, and saw in 

a temple sundry persons; and a dame in the' entry, with 

sweet gesture of a mother, said: ' My son, why hast thou 

Com' io voleva dicer: Tu m' appaghe; 

Vidimi giunto in su 1' altro girone. 

Si che tacer mi fer le luci vaghe. 

Ivi mi parve in una visiorie 

Estatica di subito esser tratto, 

E vedere in un tempio piii persone : 

Ed una donna in su 1' entrar, con atto 

Dolce di madre dicer: Figliuol mio, 

not feel sure. A comparison with Par. xxvi. 28 sqq. suggests a reading 

r intende, ' comprehends it,' i.e. the bene, and looking to the small 

difference between long s and / in MSS. this seems at least worth considering. 

But a reference to Aquinas, S. T. ii. \i.. Q. 24. T^t. 5 : 

Charitas augetur gradus intensionis suscipiendo, — compared with 

Suppl. Q. 93. A. 2: Quanto aliquis erit Deo magis conjunctus, tanto 

erit beatior, sed secundum modum charitatis est modus conjunctionis 

ad Deum, ergo secundum differentiam charitatis erit et diversitas beatitudinis 

— suggests a better emendation, viz. to read ' E in quanta 

gente,' taking 'caritk as the subject of s' intende. The alteration 

' would merely be from- et to ei; and the words would mean : ' The more 

there are among whom charity increases, the more is received of the 

one true good, the love of God.' This would agree too with Par. v. 

105. 

53 Observe that here, as in the last circle, the bodily eyes are 

rendered useless, by the nature of the punishment, and the examples 

of the sin and its contrary vurtue need therefore again to be presented 

to the mind by some other means than through their aid. Here the 

method adopted is that of trance, or -vision, and perhaps with special 

reference to the way in which anger deprives a man temporarily of the 

power to observe external things, and not merely, as Ginguene says, 

' pour varier les moyens.'


thus dealt with us ? Behold thy father and I were seeking 

thee sorrowing.' And as here she held her peace, that 

which first appeared disappeared. Then appeared to me 

another, with those waters fallen on her cheeks which grief 

distils, when it arises from great despite toward another; 

and she said : ' If thou art lord of the town, of whose name 

there was such strife among the gods, and whence all 

knowledge sparkles forth, avenge thee of those daring arms 

which embraced our daughter, O Pisistratus.' And the 

lord appeared to me kindly and gently to answer her with 

temperate'mien : ' What should we do to whoso wishes us ill, 

if he who loves us is condemned by us ?' Afterward I saw 

Perchfe hai tu cosi verso noi fatto ? go 

Ecco dolenti lo tuo padre ed io 

Ti cercavamo. E come qui si tacque, 

Cib che pareva prima dispario. 

Indi m' apparve un' altra con quell' acque 

Giii per le gote, che il dolor distilla 

Quando per gran dispetto in altrui nacque: 

E dir : Se tu sei sire della villa, 

Del cui nome nei Dei fu tanta lite, 

Ed onde ogni scienzia disfavilla, 

Vendica te di quelle braccia ardite, roo 

Che abbracciar nostra figlia, O Pisistrato : 

E il signor mi parea benigno e mite 

Risponder lei con viso temperato; 

Che farem noi a chi mal ne disira, 

Se quei che ci ama fe per noi condannato ? 

55 Ovid Met. vi. 70. .Quoted also from Varro by St. 'Augustine, 

Civ. Dei xviii. 9 : de lite deorum suorum nomen accepit. The story 

here referred to is told by Valerius Maximus, v. i, § 2, in the second 

part.


folk kindled into fire of rage slay with stones a youth, loudly 

crying to each other only : ' Kill, kill'; and him I saw bow 

himself toward the earth by reason of the death which was 

weighing him down already, but of his eyes he made ever 

gates to the heaven; praying to the Lord on high in so great a 

strife that He would pardon his persecutors, with that aspect 

which unlocks pity. When my mind turned outward again 

to the things which are true externally to it, I recognised my 

not false errors. My Leader, who could see me do as does 

a man who loosens himself from his sleep, said: 'What 

ails thee, that thou canst not contain thyself? Nay, thou 

Poi vidi genti accese in fuoco d' ira. 

Con pietre un giovinetto ancider, forte 

Gridando a sfe pur : Martira martira: 

E lui vedea chinarsi per la morte 

Che r aggravava gik, inver la terra, no 

Ma degh occhi facea sempre al Ciel porte, 

Orando all' alto Sire in tanta guerra, 

' Che perdonasse ai suoi persecutori, 

Con quell' aspetto che pietk disserra. 

Quando 1' anima mia tornb di fuori 

Alle cose, che son fuor di lei vere, 

Io riconobbi i miei non falsi errori. 

Lo Duca mio, che mi potea vedere 

Far si com' uom che dal sonno si slega, 

Disse : Che hai, che non ti puoi tenere ? 120 

1" che piet^ disserra. I have followed the interpretation of 

Bianchi, Fraticelli, and Blanc. Philalethes jefers it to Divine as 

well as human pity. Vellutello has ' che in apparenza di fiiori manifesta 

pieta,' taking piet^=piety. 

117 non falsi; because the representation of real events.


hast come more than half a league, veiling thy eyes, and 

with thy legs entangled, in guise of one whom wine or sleep 

bows down.' ' O my sweet Father, if thou Ustenest to me, 

I -will tell thee,' said I, ' that which appeared to me when 

my legs were so seized from me.' And he : 'If thou hadst 

a hundred masks over thy face, thy meditations would not 

be closed to me, however small. That which thou sawest 

was in order that thou shouldest not excuse thyself from 

opening thy heart to the waters of peace, which are poured 

abroad from the eternal fount. I did not ask. What ails 

thee ? for the reason that he does, who looks only with the 

eye that sees not when the body lies inanimate; but I asked 

to give force to thy feet; so behoves it to goad the lazy, 

slow to use their wakefulness when it returns.' 

Ma sei venuto piii che mezza lega 

Velando gli occhi, e con le gambe avvolte, 

A guisa di cui vino o "sonno piega. 

O dolce Padre mio, se tu m' ascolte, 

Io ti dirb, diss' io, cib che mi apparve 

Quando le gambe mi furon si tolte. 

Ed ei: Se tu avessi cento larve " 

Sovra la faccia, non mi sarien chiuse 

Le tue cogitazion, quantunque parve. 

Cib che vedesti fu, perchfe non sense 130 

D' aprir lo cuore all' acque della pace, 

Che dall' eterno fonte son diffuse.^ 

Non dimandai, Che hai, per quel che face 

Chi guarda pur con 1' occhio che non vede, 

Quando disanimato il corpo giace : 

Ma dimandai per darti forza al piede : 

Cosi frugar conviensi i pigri, lenti 

Ad usar lor vigilia quando riede. 

= mille Gg. 23. f dischiuse Gg.


We were going through the evening, gazing onward as 

far as the eyes could reach, against the late and shining 

rays, and beheld little by little a smoke draw toward us, as 

the night obscure; nor from that was there place to withdraw 

oneself; this took from us our eyes and the pure air. 

Noi andavam per lo vespero attenti 

Oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi, 140 

Contra i raggi serotini e lucenti: 

Ed ecco a poco a poco un fumo farsi 

Verso di noi, come la notte oscuro, 

Nfe da quello era luogo da cansarsi: - 

Questo ne tolse gli occhi, e 1' aer puro. 

"2 Dante can hardly have been aware of the etymological connexion 

between flu/iis and fumus. In Inf vii. 123 the figure of smoke is attached 

rather-to the kindred sin of'accidia. Possibly its connexion 

- here with ira is intended to remind us that the sins are akin.

CANTO XVI 

ARGUMENT 

Third circle continued. They go forward in the smoke, seeing 

nothing : but by their voices become aware that the spirits are 

at hand. Dante talks with Marco Lombardo, who speaks to him 

of the free-will and responsibility of man, and the need for two 

governments, the spiritual and the temporal; by the confounding 

of which great evils have befallen the world. 

GLOOM of hell, and of a night bereft of every planet under 

a barren sky, darkened all that it can be by cloud, made 

not to my sight so thick a veil as that smoke which there 

covered us, nor of so harsh a texture to feel; for it suffered 

not the eye to stay open; wherefore my tried and faithful 

Buio d' inferno, e di notte privata 

D' ogni pianeta sotto pover cielo. 

Quant' esser pub di nuvol tenebrata, 

Non fece al viso mio si grosso velo. 

Come quel fumo ch' ivi ci coperse, 

Nfe a sentir di cosi aspro pelo : 

Chfe r occhio stare aperto non sofferse: 

Onde la Scorta mia saputa e fida 

5 pelo is hard to render here. The idea is of a veil of some coarse 

and harsh material, from which threads stick out like hairs. Philalethes 

has only ' dem Gefiihl so rauh.'

CANTO XVI PURGATORY i87 

Escort moved to my side, and offered me his shoulder. 

Just as a blind man goes behind his guide in order not to 

stray, and-not to stumble against aught that can harm him 

or maybe slay him, I was going through the bitter and foul 

air listening to my Leader, who kept saying only: ' See that 

thou be not cut off from me.' I began to hear voices, and 

each appeared to be praying for peace and mercy to the 

Lamb of God who takes away sins. Agnus Dei only were 

their preludes; one word in all there was, -and one measure, 

so that there appeared among them all concord. 

' Are those spirits. Master, which I hear ?' said I. And 

he to me: ' Thou apprehendest truly, and of anger they 

go loosing the knot.' 

Mi s' accosto, e 1' omero m' offerse. 

Si come cieco va dietro a sua guida lo 

Per non smarrirsi, e per non dar di cozzo 

In cosa che il molesti, o forse ancida, 

M' andava io per 1' aere amaro e sozzo, 

Ascoltando il mio Duca, che diceva 

Pur: Guarda, che da me tu non sie mozzo. 

Io sentia voci, e ciascuna pareva 

Pregar per pace e per misericordia,' 

L' Agnel di Dio, che le peccata leva. 

Pure Agnus Dei eran le loro esordia : 

Una parola in tuttfe era ed un modo, 20 

Si che parea tra esse ogni concordia. 

Quei sono spirti. Maestro, ch' io odo ? 

Diss' io. Ed egli a me : Tu vero apprendi, 

E d' iracondia van solvendo il nodo. 

11 dar di cozzo; so di piglio, i. 49, di morso, xviii. 132, di becco, 

xxiii. 30.


' Now who art thou who cleavest our smoke, and talkest 

of us, just as if thou still dividest thy time by calends ?' 

Thus by one voice was spoken. Wherefore the Master said 

to me: ' Answer, and ask if from this point one goes 

upward.' And I: ' O creature that art purifying thyself, 

to return fair to Him who made thee, thou shalt hear a 

marvel if thou follow me.' 'I will follow thee as far as is 

allowed me,',he answered; 'and if smoke lets us not see, 

hearing will hold us joined for that turn.' _ Then I began: 

'With that burthen which death unlooses, I go my way 

upward, and I have come here through the weariness of 

Or tu chi sei, che il nostro fumo fendi, 

E di noi parli pur come se tu 

Partissi ancor lo tempo per calendi ? 

Cosi per una voce detto fue : 

Onde il Maestro mi disse: Rispondi, 

E dimanda se quinci si va sue. 30 

Ed io: O creatura, che ti mondi. 

Per tornar beUa a colui, che ti fece, 

Maraviglia udirai se mi secondi. 

Io ti seguiterb quanto mi lece, 

Rispose: e se veder fumo non lascia, 

L' udir ci terrk giunti in quella vece. 

Allora incominciai: Con quella fascia, 

Che la morte dissolve, men vo suso; 

E venni qui per la infernale ambascia :" 

» per refrenar V amb. Cass. 

25 parli pur, ' only talkest about us, without being one of us.' Or 

perhaps better, -with Landino, 'pur come,' 'just as if (as in xiv. 27, 

and elsewhere). Pur, from Lat. 'pure,' means originally 'simply,' 

'with no admixture of anything else,' from which idea tho& of 'only' 

and ' exactly' are easily obtainesl. 

35 in quella vece = nearly «« vece di quello; as Inf xxi. 10.

XVI PURGATORY 189 

Hell; and if God has in His grace revealed to me so much 

that He wills that I should see His court, in a fashion 

wholly apart from modern use, conceal not from me who 

thou wast before thy death, but tell it me; and tell me if 

I go aright to the passage, and let thy words be our escort.' 

'A Lombard.was I, and I was called Mark; I had know- 

E se Dio m' ha in sua grazia richiuso'' 40, 

Tanto che vuol ch' io veggia la sua corte 

Per modo tuttofuor del modern' uso, 

Non mi celar chi fosti anzi la morte. 

Ma dilmi, e dimmi s' io vo bene al varcb, 

E tue parole fien le nostre scorte. 

Lombardo fui, e fui chiamato Marco : 

*> rituhiuso Gg. 124. 

*• Bianchi, agreeing with most other commentators, explains 

richiuso by ricevuto. Except, however, in the passages. Par. ix. 44 

and 102, richiudere is never used in D.C. without the idea of rsclosihg. 

I have, therefore, preferred to take it here in the sense of Lat. recludere; 

a rendering which is also borne out by comparison with Par. xv. 30. 

« Cf Inf. ii. 32. 

* This Marco is said to have been a Venetian by birth, so that 

Lombardo must either be used generally for ItaUan, or, as seems more 

probable,, have been a surname, most likely given on account 6f his 

family being by origin Lombard; or, as Benv. says, because he went 

about a great deal in Lombardy. Boccaccio and others say that he 

was 'di ca' (casa) Lombardi da Vinegia,' and Vellutello adds that 

in his time the family still existed. The commentators for the most 

part identify him with the Marco Lombardo whose repartee to Count 

Ugolino is recorded by Villani, vii. 121. ' When the Pisan chief was at 

the height of his power, he happened to entertain Marco. ' What do 

you think of all this?' he enquired. 'I think that you are riper for 

bad luck thaii any other baron of Italy,' said the guest. '"Why so?' 

' Because the wrath of God is the only thing which you have not got.' 

It may be


ledge of the world, and I loved that goodness towards the 

which each man has now unbent his bow. Thou goest 

rightly for mounting upwards.' Thus he answered; and 

added: ' I pray thee that for me thou pray, when thou art 

on high.' And I to him : ' Faithfully I bind me to thee, to 

do that which thou askest of me; but I am bursting inwardly 

with a doubt, if I get not an explanation thereof. 

First it was simple, .and now it is made twofold in thy speech, 

Del mondo seppi, e quel valore amai,'^ 

Al quale ha or ciascun disteso 1' arco. 

Per montar su dirittamente vai. 

Cosi rispose; e soggiunse : Io ti prego, 50 

Che per me preghi quando su sarai. 

Ed io a lui: Per fede mi ti lego 

Di far cib che mi chiedi: ma io scoppio 

Dentro da un dubbio, s' io non me ne spiego. 

Prima era scempio, ed ora fe fatto doppio 

c voler Gg. Cass, {the editors of ivhich call it ' lezione unica'). 

^7 quel valore is taken by some to mean the virtue of liberality, but 

it is hard to see the appropriateness of the allusion here, or why it 

should not mean' worth' generally. 

* This metaphor, in which purpose is represented by the figure of 

the bow, which sends forth the arrow of action, is a favourite one -with 

Dante. Cf vi. 131. So Boccaccio Day x. Nov. 7, at end. 

^' Blanc finds a difliculty in understanding su to mean 'in heaven,' 

because there is nothing elsewhere in D.C. to show that Dante's 

prayer will be more efficacious when he is there ; nor does a reference 

to xxvi. 127 satisfy him. B.ut surely this is a somewhat pedantic 

objection; and su must have the same meaning here as in line 49. 

^ me spiego seems to have a force not unlike that of the Greek 

middle voice. 

^'^ His doubt is as to the cause of the present corruption of the


which makes sure to me, here and elsewhere, that whereunto 

I couple it. The world is indeed as wholly desert of every 

virtue as thou proclaimest to me, and pregnant of wickedness, 

and overspread with it; but I pray that thou wouldst 

point out to me the cause, so that I may see it, and that 

I may show it to others; for one'places it in the heavens, 

and another here below.' A deep sigh, which grief strained 

to a groan, he first sent forth, and then began: ' Brother, 

the world is Wind, and surely thou comest from it. Ye wlio 

Nella sentenzia tua, che mi fa certo 

Qui ed altrove, quello ov' io 1' accoppio, 

Lo mondo fe ben cosi tutto diserto 

D' ogni vir'tute, come tu mi suone, 

E di malizia gravido e covertb ; 60 

Ma prego che m' additi la cagione,'' 

Si ch' io la vegga, e ch' io la mostri altrui: 

Chfe nel ciel uno, ed un quaggiii la pone. 

Alto sospir, che duolo strinse in hui, 

Mise fuor prima : e poi comincib : Frate, 

Lo mondo fe cieco, e tu vien ben da lui. 

^ mi diti {alteredfrom dici) Gg. 

world, of the existence of which he now feels certain, having heard it 

mentioned by two people. 

53 cielo, i.e. in the movements of the various heavens, or as we 

should say, the influence of the stars. I have used the plural, as 

'heaven' would be ambiguous in English. For the properties of the 

'heavens,' and their connection with the scierices, see Conv. ii. 14, 

and for the scholastic doctrine on the subject, Sum. Theol. i. Q. 115. 

Art. 3-5. In regard to the influence of the 'heavens' upon man's 

free-will, St. Thomas holds that ' voluntas non potest nisi indirecte a 

corporibus caelestibus moveri.'—S. T. ii. i. Q. 9. Art. 5.


live refer every, occasion oiily upward to the heavens, just as 

if they moved aU with them of necessity. If it were thus, 

free judgement in you would be destroyed, and it were not 

justice to have for good joy, and for e-vil woe. The heavens 

give beginning to your movements; I say not all, but 

granted that I say it, light is given you to good and to ill, and 

free-will which, if weariness lasts in its first battles with the 

heavens, afterwards wins in the whole, if it is well nurtured. 

Voi che vivete ogni cagion recate 

Pur suso al ciel cosi, come se tutto" 

Movesse seco di necessitate. 

Se cosi fosse, in voi fora distrutto 70 

Libero arbitrio, e non fora giustizia 

Per ben letizia, e per male aver lutto. 

Lo cielo i vostri m.ovimenti inizia, 

Non dico tutti: ma posto ch' io il dica, 

Lume v' fe dato a bene ed a malizia: 

E libero voler, che, se fatica'^ 

Nelle prime battaglie col ciel dura, 

Poi vince tutto, se ben si notrica. 

® cielo si 3 Aid. Land. Bi. ; cielo pur 124. ' safatica Cass. 

5'' So Kent in King Lear iv. 3, 34 : 

It is the stars. 

The stars above us, govern our conditions ; 

Else one self mate and mate could not beget 

Such different issues. 

This suggests again a.reference to vii. 121 sqq. and Par. -viii. 97 sqq. 

70 sqq. Cf. Boethius, Cons. Phil. v. Pr. 3: Frustra enim bonis malisque 

praehiia poenaeve proponuntur, quae nuUus meruit liber ac voluntarius 

motus anirobrum. 

75 There is another- reading, / affatica. If this be followed, che is 

the subject to dura. But this is not so good. 

75 -vince tutto. So 'vince ogni battaglia,' Inf xxiv. 53.


To a greater power and a better nature ye are free subjects, 

and that creates the mind in you, which the heavens have not 

in their care. Wherefore, if the present world goes astray, 

in you is the occasion, in you let it be sought; and I will be 

to thee now a true scout in the matter. Forth from His hand 

who loves it before it is, in fashion of a girl that plays weeping 

and laughing, comes the soul in its simplicity, knowing 

nothing save that, set in motion by a glad Maker, it turns 

willingly to that which gives it pastime. Of a small good at 

first it perceives the savour; here it deceives itself, and runs 

A maggior forza ed a miglior natura 

Liberi soggiacete, e quella cria 80 

La mente in vbi, che il ciel non ha in sua cura. 

Perb se il mondo presente disvia. 

In voi fe la cagione, in voi si cheggia: 

Ed io te ne sarb or vera spia. 

Esce di mano a lui, che la vagheggia 

Prima che sia, a guisa di fanciulla 

Che piangendo e ridendo pargoleggia, 

L' anima semplicetta, che sa nulla. 

Salvo che, mossa da lieto fattore, 

Volentier torna a cib che la trastuUa. go 

Di picciol bene in pria sente sapore; 

Qui-vi s' inganna, e dietro ad esso corre, 

89. 50 Because ' ciascuno effetto ritenga della natura della sua cagione.' 

Conv. iii. 2. 

55 Ueto; cf xxv. 70. 

51 Cf. Convito iv. 12 : E perche la sua conoscenza prima e imperfetta, 

per non essere sperta, ne dottrinata, piccioli beni le paiono 

grandi. The whole of this passage should be read. 

52 Eth. Nic. iii. 4: TOIS TroXXofs rj dirdr-q Sid TTJV TISOVTIV fooce 

ylyveaOai. Boethius iv. Pr. 6: Improbos. bonum quaerentes pravus 

error avertit. 

O


after that, if guide or bit turns not its affection. Whence it 

behoved to lay down laws for a bit; it behoved to have a 

king who should discern of the true city at least the tower. 

The laws exist, but who puts hand to them? No man; 

because the shepherd who goes before may chew the cud, 

but has not the hooves divided. Wherefore the folk who 

Se guida o fren non torce U suo amore. 

Onde convenne legge per fren porre : 

Convenne rege aver, che discernesse 

Delia vera cittade almen la torre. 

Le leggi son, ma chi pon mano ad esse ? 

NuUo : perocchfe il pastor che precede 

Ruminar pub, ma non h'a 1' un'ghie fesse.^ 

8 Rugumar Gg. Cass. 

53 Cf De Mon. iii. 15 : Nisi homines, tanquam equi, sua bestialitate 

vagantes, in chamo et fraeno compescerentur in via. Propter quod 

opus fuit homini duplici directive, secundum duplicem finem : scilicet 

summo pontifice, qui secundum revelata h'umanum genus perduceret 

ad -(ritam aeternam; et imperatore qui secundum philosophica documenta 

genus humanum ad temporalem fehcitatem dirigeret. 

' 56 la vera cittade. Cf xiii. 95. There is implied here the 

mystical connexion which Dante is fond of suggesting between the 

empire with its capital on earth, and the heavenly city ' onde Cristo e 

Romano' (xxxii. 102). 

57 Cf vi. 96. 

55 'Sie konnen viel schwatzen meint er iiber die Decretalen, aber 

sie selbst iiben keine Tugend.'—Philalethes. Bianchi takes a similar 

view. The older commentators, however, give a different interpretation. 

Thus Landino: Prima bisogna che , ogni governatore con- 

3ideri bene ed intendi quello che ha a fare. Dopo pone 1' unghie fesse 

per la discretione, la qual distingue lecose temporaU dalle spirituals 

It is, however, simpler to suppose that Dante was thinking of St. 

Augustine's exposition : Fissa enim imgula ad mores, ruminatio vero 

ad sapientiam pertinet. Quare ad mores fissa ungula ? Quia difiicile 

labitur. Ruminatio autem>d sapientiae doctrinam quomodo pertinet ?


see their guide strike only at that good whereof they are 

greedy, feed themselves on that, and seek no further. Well 

canst thou see that evil guidance is the occasion that has 

made the world guilty, and not nature having become 

corrupt in you. Rome, that made the good world, was 

wont to have two suns, that showed the one and the other 

Perchfe la gente, che sua guida vede 100 

Pur a quel ben ferire ond' ella fe ghiotta, 

Di quel si pasce, e piii oltre non chiede. 

Ben puoi veder che la mala condotta 

E la cagion che il mondo ha fatto reo, 

E non natura che in voi sia corrotta. 

Soleva Roma, che il buon mondo feo. 

Duo, Soli aver, che 1' una e 1' altra strada 

Quia dixit Scriptura, '^fhesaurus desiderabilis requiescit in ore sapientis, 

vir autem stultus glutit ilium—Serm. 149. St. Thomas (S. T. ii. i. 

Q. 102. Art. 6) is less clear on the point, but says that the division of 

the hoof signifies among other things ' distinctionem duarum naturarum 

in Christo, vel discretionem boni et mali.' The sec-ond alternative is of 

course practically identical with the. interpretation of St. Augustine. 

Dante's use of reggimenti in line 128, and in xxxi. 123, rather suggests 

that this passage was in his mind. 

151 ferire : of a bird of prey; as in ix. 25. 

155 Cf De Mon. ii. 6: Romanus populus, subjiciendo sibi orbem, 

bonum publicum intendit, and Conv. iv. 5 : Ne '1 mondo non fii mai 

ne sara si perfettamente disposto, come allora che alia voce d' un solo 

principe del roman popolo e comandatore fii ordinato. 

157 duo Soli. Evidently with an allusion to the argument for the 

inferiority of the temporal power drawn from the analogy of the Sun 

and the Moon, which he discusses and dismisses.—De Mon. iii. 4. 

Similarly in lines 109, no, the allusion in 'la spada col pastorale' 

is to the argument from the two swords, disposed of in § 9 of the same 

treatise. 'There are, he would seem to imply, two suns, not a sun and 

a moon; not two swords,'but sword and pastoral staff. Cf Bryce, 

Holy Roman Empire, ch. xv. ad fin.


road, both of the world and of God. The one has put out the 

other,' and the sword is joined with the crook; and the one 

and the other together of very necessity it behoves that they 

go ill; because when joined the one fears not the other. If 

thou dost not believe me, give heed to the ear, how that 

every herb is known by its seed. Upon the land which 

Adige and Po water, were worth and courtesy wont to 

be found before that Frederick had strife; now may a 

secure passage be had there by whosoever has through 

Facean vedere, e del mondo e di Deo. 

L' un r altro ha spento, ed fe giunta la spada 

Col pasturale, e 1' uno e 1' altro insieme no 

Per viva forza mal convien che vada; 

Perocchfe giunti 1' un 1' altro non teme. 

Se non mi credi, pon mente alia spiga, 

Ch' ogni erba si conosce per lo seme. 

In sul paese ch' Adige e Po riga, 

Solea valore e cortesia trovarsi. 

Prima che Federico avesse briga : 

Or pub sicuramente indi passarsi 

109, no There would seem to be an allusion here to the action of 

Boniface VIII. after the victory of Albert of Hapsburg over Adolf 

of Nassau. Not only did he refiise to crown the conqueror, but, says 

Sismondi, ' placing the crown on his own head, he seized a sword, and 

cried: " I am Caesar, I am emperor, I will defend the rights of the 

empire." '—Repub. Ital. ch. xxiv. 

11^ Lombardy, the native, or at least ancestral land of the speaker. 

115 valore e cortesia are coupled, Inf xvi. 67: The latter is the 

translation into act of the former.—Bianchi. Cortesia e onestate e tutt' 

uno ; e perocchfe nelle corti anticamente le virtudi e li belli costumi s' 

usavano (siccome oggi s' usa il contrario) si tolse questo vocabolo dalle 

corti.—Conv. ii. 11. 

"7 I.e. before the quarrel between Frederick II. and the Church, 

when the latter took up the sword. 

115 'Indi vale per quel &oô.'—Corticelli, instancmg this line. It is 

more usually an adverb of time.


shame given up speaking with good men or drawing near 

them. There are indeed three old men still, in whom the 

ancient age reproves the new, and it seems to them long 

ere God remove them to a better life^Conrad of Palazzo, 

and the good Gerard, and Guy of Castel, who is better 

named in French fashion the simple Lombard. Say from 

Per qualunque lasciasse, per vergogna, 

Di ragionar coi buoni, o d' appressarsi. 120 

Ben v' en tre vecchi ancora, in cui rampogna 

L' antica etk la nuova, e par lor tardo 

Che Dio a miglior vita li ripogna; 

Currado da Palazzo, e il buon Gherardo, 

E Guido da Castel, che me' si noma 

Francescamente il semplice Lombardo. 

IIS, 120 Bianchi renders ' by whoever has ceased [to pass there] 

through shame of,' etc. Another reading, which FraticeUi prefers, is 

coi buoni, d' appressarsi. For lasciare di, cf xiv. 55; and for per 

(in per qualunque), xv. 8. 

121 en=sono: formed directly from ,5. 

124,125 Gherardo da Cammino of Treviso is named in Convito iv. 14 

as an instance of nobility. He was so much respected that, according 

to Philalethes, the brothers Azzo and Francesco of Este sought knighthood 

at his hands. His son Richard married the daughter of Nino 

Visconti of Pisa. Conrad of Palazzo was a gentleman of Brescia. 

Philalethes says he was Podesta of Siena in 1279, 'in which year that 

city concluded peace with the Florentines.' But this was in 1269, 

soon after the defeat of the Sienese at Colle. However, Conrad being 

a Guelf, may have been put in by the Florentines. His services as 

Podesti seem to have been much sought after. Guido da Castello is 

also commemorated in the Convito (iv. 16). He was of Reggio, and 

seems from a notice in the Ottimo to have been a kind of irpdêvos 

to the French who passed that way. Hence, probably, the allusion in 

line 126. The explanation of some commentators that ' Lombard' was 

a general name in France for an Italian is not to the point, for if he was 

a Lombard there is nothing specially French in calling him so.


this day forth that the Church of Rome, through confounding 

in herself two governments, falls in the mire, and 

befouls herself and her burden.' 'O toy Marco,' said I, 

'thou reasonest well; and now.I perceive why the sons of 

Levi were exempted from the heritage; but what Gerard is 

that who thou sayest is left for a sample of the extinct folk, 

in reproof of the savage generation ?' ' Either thy speech 

decdves me, or it is making trial of me,' he answered me; 

'that, speaking Tuscan to me, it seems that thou knowest 

naught of the good Gerard. By other surname I know 

Di' oggimai che la Chiesa di Roma,'' 

Per confondere in sfe duo reggimenti. 

Cade nel fango, e sfe brutta e la soma. 

O Marco mio, diss' io, bene argomenti; 130 

Ed or discerno perchfe dal retaggio 

Li figli di Levi furono esenti. 

Ma qual Gherardo fe quel che tu per saggio 

Di' ch' fe rimaso della gente spenta. 

In rimproverio del secol selvaggio ? 

O tuo parlar m' inganna, o e' mi tenta, 

Rispose a me, chfe, parlandomi Tosco, 

Par che del buon Gherardo nulla senta. 

Per altro soprannome io noi conosco. 

•^ della chiesa, 1245. 

125 'Et sic non habet ungulam fessam,' says the note in Gg., 

evidently vrith reference to the passage of Aquinas quoted above. 

131, 132 Because of the evils which arise from worldly power being in 

the hands of churchmen. Cf De Mon. iii. 13. 

133 The commentators puzzle a good deal over this inquii-y about a 

man whose name was afterwards clearly familiar to Dante. But I do 

not see why the most obvious reason should not be the true one, viz. 

that Dante had not heard of him at the supposed date of this conversation.


him not, but if I were to take it from his daughter -Gala. 

God be with you, for further I come not with you. Thou 

seest the whitenessj which sends its rays through the smoke, 

already gleaming; and it behoves me to depart—the angel 

is there—before that he appears.' Thus he turned, and 

would no longer hear me. 

S' io noi togliessi da sua figlia, Gala. 140 

Dio sia con voi, chfe piii non vegno vosco. 

Vedi 1' albbr che per lo fumo raia, 

Gia biancheggiare, e me convien partirmi, 

L' Angelo fe ivi, prima ch' egli paia :' 

Cosi tornb, e piii non voile udirmi.'' 

i ch' io gli appaia Cass. W. ; che gli ap. 3; che li paia Gg. 12^; che'I di 

paia Land. {note). 

i parlb Aid. Land. ; che pit Gg. 

1* As to Gaia's character we have diametrically opposite e-ridence. 

The Ottimo says : ' Madonna Gaja fu donna di tal reggimento circa le 

dilettazioni amorose, ch' era notorio il suo nome per tutta Italia'; and 

Benvenuto: Mulier quidem vere gaia et vana et trevisana tola amorosa'; 

while John of Serravalle; Bishop of Rimini, writing some forty years 

later, calls her 'prudens domina, literata, et magnae prudentiae, 

maximae pulchritudinis.' With him Buti agrees. See Blanc, Erkh, 

and Foscolo, Discorso sul testo, § 62.

CANTO XVII 

ARGUMENT 

They come out of the smoke as the sun is sinking. Before they reach 

the ascent to the next circle Dante falls into a trance, and sees, 

as in a vision, certain notable examples of wrath and its punishment. 

They enter the fourth circle, where the sin of sloth is 

purged. Second sunset. Virgil explains how love is the root of 

all sin, no less than of all virtue. 

BETHINK, thee, reader, if ever in the Alps a mist-cloud has 

enfolded thee, through the which thou sawest not otherwise 

than moles through their skin, how -when the humid and 

thick vapours begin to grow thin the globe of the sun 

enters feebly through them; and thy imagination will be 

RICORDITI, lettor, se mai nell' alpe 

Ti colse nebbia, per la qual vedessi 

Non altrimenti che per pelle talpe : 

Come quando i vapori umidi e spessi 

A diradar cominciansi, la spera 

Del Sol debilemente entra per essi: 

E fia la tua immagine leggiera 

3 Aristotle De An. iii. I : tjiaiverai 7} o-ird\a^ (nrb rb Sipfia ôvca 

o0âX/ioiis. 

7 Both Bianchi and Philalethes understand leggiera as meaning 

' weak' • ' you will form but a faint image.' There seems no reason

CANTO XVII PURGATORY 201 

nimble in coming to see how I first beheld again the sun, 

which was already in its setting. So, making my own equal 

to the faithful steps of my Master, I issued forth from' such 

a cloud to the rays already dead upon the low shores. O 

power of fancy, that at whiles so snatchest us from external 

things, that a man heeds not whereas around are sounding 

In giugnere a veder com' io rividi 

Lo sole in pria, che gik nel corcare era.'' 

Si pa,reggiando i miei coi passi fidi lo 

Del mio Maestro usci' fuor di tal nube, 

Ai raggi morti gik nei bassi lidi. 

O immaginativa, che ne rube 

Tal volta si di fuor, ch' uom non s' accorge, 

Perchfe d' intorno suonin mille tube, 

'•^ calcar (for calar) Gg. 

for this, nor is it quite easy to see the sense of it. Dante has said that 

the smoke was darker than a dark night, but it does not follow that 

it was denser than an Alpine mist; nor if it were, would the phenomenon 

he describes be very different in the two cases. 

12 But they were now halfway up the mountain, so that the sun had 

not set to them. 

13 immaginativa is the faculty by which we are capable of fantasia. 

This is the (pavraaia of De Anima,iii. 3, where it is defined as 

KlvTjcris iirb rijs alaBiaeas TT]S Kar' evipyeiav yevofi^vns. Elsewhere 

he says that /tyi^M-*) and (pavraala belong to the same part of the soul; 

which Aquinas (S. T. i. Q. 78. A. 4) expands by making fantasia : sensus 

communis : : memoria : aestimativa. Dante uses rather different phraseology, 

e.g. in-V.N. § 16, where he says: 'quando la mia memoria 

movesse la fantasia ad immaginare.' Cf 1. 7. 

H 15 So Locke, Essay ii. Ch. 9, § 4 : How often may a man observe 

in himself that whilst his mind is intently employed in the contemplation 

of some objects, and curiously surveying some ideas that are there, 

it takes no notice of impressions of sounding bodies made upon the 

organ of hearing.—The state of mind here indicated is the converse of 

that which is portrayed in the opening lines of Canto iv. 

IB perchfe. So in v. 58.


a thousand trumpets, who moves thee, if the sense set thee 

not forth? Light moves thee, which is given form in 

heaven, of itself, or through a will which sends it down. 

Of the impiety of her, who changed her form into the 

bird which most delights in singing, in my imagination 

appeared the traces; and here was my mind so restrained 

within itself, that from without came nothing then to be 

received by it. Next rained down within my deep fantasy 

one crucified, despiteful and proud in his visage, and so 

he was dying. Around him were the great Ahasuerus, 

Esther his wife, and the just Mordecai, who was in speech 

Chi muove te, se il senso non ti porge ? 

Muoveti lume, che nel Ciel s' informa. 

Per sfe, o per voler che giii lo scorge. 

Deir empiezza di lei, che mutb forma 

Nell' uccel che a cantar piii si diletta, 20 

Nell' immagine mia apparve 1' orma : 

E qui fu la mia mente si ristretta 

Dentro da sfe, che di fuor non venia 

Cosa che fosse ancor da lei recetta. 

Poi pio-we dentro all' alta fantasia 

Un crocifisso dispettoso e fiero 

Nella sua vista, e cotal si moria. 

Intorno ad esso era il grande Assuero, 

Ester sua sposa, e il giusto Mardocheo, 

15 I.e. if the impression corresponds to no.external object. 

15. 20 Dante takes the less common version, which makes Procne 

the nightingale and Philomela the swallow. In Eel. -vi. 81, though 

not elsewhere, Virgil seems to follow the same. See also Ar. Rhet. 

iii. 3 fin. 

21 orma, ' footprint'; hence impression generally. 

2'' pio-we = simply ' came down'; cf Inf. xxx. 95 ; also Canto 

xxxii. 110. Note the retention of the Greek accent in fantasia.

XVII PURGATORY 203 

and act so incorrupt. And as this image broke of itself, 

in fashion of a bubble whereto fails the water beneath 

which it was made, there rose in my vision a. maiden 

weeping bitterly, and she was saying : ' 0 queen, wherefore 

for wrath hast thou chosen to be naught ? Thou hast slain 

thyself not to lose Lavinia; now thou hast lost me : I am she 

that grieve, mother, for thy ruin rather than for another's.' 

As, when of a sudden a new day strikes on the closed sight, 

sleep breaks, that quivers when broken before it wholly dies, 

so my imagination fell down as soon as a light smote my 

Che fu al dire ed al far cosi intero. 30 

E come questa immagine rompeo 

Sfe per sfe stessa, a guisa d' una bulla'' 

Cui manca 1' acqua sotto qual si feo : 

Surse in mia visione una fanciulla, 

Piangendo forte, e diceva : O regina, 

Perchfe per ira hai voluto esser nulla ? 

Ancisa t' hai per non perder Lavina; 

Or m' hai perduta: io son essa che lutto, 

Madre, aUa tua pria ch' all' altrui ruina. 

Come si frange il sonno, ove di butto 40 

Nuova luce percuote il viso chiuso, 

Che fratto guizza pria che muoia tutto : 

. Cos! 1' immaginar mio cadde giuso, 

Tosto che un lume il volto mi percosse '^ 

^ Per si Gg. " it lume Gg. Cass. Aid. Land. 

33 sotto qual: the omission of the article is unusual. See Corticelli, 

p. 79, ' E abuso de' volgari.' Diez iii. 339. 

34-39 See Aen. xii. 593-607. As Philalethes remarks, Dante supplies 

the words which Virgil only alludes to. 

* di butto. Cf Fr. tout cPun coup.


face, greater by far than that which is in our wont. I was 

turning myself to see where I was, when a voice said: 

' Here is the ascent,' which removed me from every other 

thought, and made my wish to behold who he was that 

was speaking, so prompt, as that which never reposes, if it 

be not met. But as at the Sun, which weighs down our 

sight, and by excess [of light] veils its form, so my power 

here failed. ' This is a spirit of God, who is directing us on 

the way up, without prayer, and with his own light himself 

Maggiore assai che quel ch' fe in nostr' uso. 

r mi volgea per vedere ov' io fosse, 

Quand' una voce disse: Qui si monta; 

Che da ogni altro intento mi rimosse; 

E fece la mia voglia tanto pronta 

Di riguardar chi era che parlava, 50 

Che mai non posa, se non si raffronta. 

Ma come al sol, che nostra vista grava, 

E per soverchio sua figura vela, 

Cosi la mia virtii quivi mancava. 

Questi e divino spirito, che ne la 

Via d' andar su ne drizza senza prego, 

E col suo lume sfe medesmo cela. 

^1 There is a mixture of constructions here. For posa we expect 

posato avrebbe, followed by se, non fosse raffrontata. But the words 

have reference to the fiiture as well as the past. The Ottimo says: 

' L' angelica voce fu di tanta dolcezza, che dice che 1' animo suo non si 

posera mai, in fino che non si raffronta a riudirla' (so I read the last 

words). 

B3 Cf for the idea viii. 36; and Milton P.L. iii. 380: ' Dark with 

excessive bright thy skirts appear.' soverchio, cf xv. 15. 

^ Cf Par. xxxiii. 142, and see note at end of Canto iv. 

55 senza prego, i.e. without being asl


conceals himself So deals he with us as a man does with 

himself, for he who awaits a prayer, and sees the need, 

unkindly is already betaking himself to its refusal. Now 

let us set the foot in accordance with such invitation; let 

us be diligent to mount before it grows dark, for after it 

will not be possible, except the day returns.' So spake my 

Leader; and I with him, we turned our steps to a stair; 

and soon as I was at the first step I felt as it were one 

move wing near me and fan me in the face, and say: 

' Beatipacifici who are free from evil wrath.' 

Si fa con noi, come 1' uom si fa sego : 

Chfe quale aspetta prego, e 1' uopo vede, 

Malignamente gia si mette al nego. 60 

Ora accordiamo a tanto invito il piede :'' 

Procacciam di salir pria che s' abbui: 

Chfe poi non si poria, se il di non riede. 

Cosi disse il mio Duca; ed io con lui 

Volgemmo i nostri passi ad una scala : 

E tosto ch' io al primo grado fui, 

Senti' mi presso quasi un muover d' ala, 

E ventarmi nel volto, e dir : Beati 

Pacifici, che son senza ira mala. 

•i secondiamo 5- 

58 come r uom si fa sego. The commentators nearly all agree 

in seeing a reference to the precept ' Love thy neighbour as thyself' 

Landino's ' cioe 1' un huomo con /' altro' is clearly wrong. 

^5 An inversion of the order intended. ' He who sees another in 

need, and waits to be asked for help.' 

57 muover d' ala; not, I think, as Philalethes (agreeing with Blanc) 

translates ' Fliigelschlag,' for, if so, the construction of ventar and dir 

will be changed ; but rather an instrumental use of di. Corticelli says : 

' Di serve all' ablativo in vece di con.'


Already were so much raised above us the last rays, 

which the night follows, that the stars were appearing on 

many sides. ' O my virtue, wherefore so meltest thou away ?' 

I began to say within myself, for I felt the power of my legs 

placed in truce. We were where the stair mounted no 

more upwards, and we were fixed, just like a ship which 

comes ashore on the beach. And I listened a little if I 

might hear anything in the new circle; afterwards I turned 

back to my Master, and said : ' Sweet my Father, say what 

offence is purged here in the circle where we are ? if our 

Gik eran sopra noi tanto levati 70 

Gli ultimi raggi che la notte segue, 

Che le stelle apparivan da piii lati. 

O virtii mia, perchfe si ti dilegue ? 

Era me stesso dicea, chfe mi sentiva 

La possa delle gambe posta in tregue. 

Noi eravam dove piii nob saliva 

La scala su, ed eravamo affissi. 

Pur come nave ch' alia piaggia arriva : 

Ed io attesi un poco s' io udissi 

Alcuna cosa' nel nuovo girone : 80 

Poi mi rivolsi al mio Maestro, e dissi: 

Dolce mio Padre, di', quale offensione 

Si purga qui nel giro, dove semo ? 

7' They enter the fourth, or middle circle, that of sloth, and the 

second night begins. 

73 It is almost impossible to render -virtu here. It is not, of coui-se, 

strictly speaking, the faculty, Sivaius, of locomotion, which vanishes at 

the approach of night, but the exercise, or hipyeia of it: ' my operant 

powers their functions leave to do.' Meanwhile the Sivafus (possa) 

m£iy justly be said to be posta in tregue. See Grote on Ar. Met. 

71 1048 b (p. 615).

XVII PURGATORY •2ai 

feet be stayed, be not thy discourse.' And he to me : ' The 

love of the good fallen short of its duty, right here restores 

itself; here makes again its stroke the ill-delayed oar. 

But that thou mayest understand yet more openly, turn thy 

mind to me, - and thou shalt reap some good fruit of our 

tarrying. Neither Creator nor creature,' he began, 'was 

ever, my son, -without love, either natural, or of the mind : 

and thou knowest it. The natural is always free from 

Se i pife si stanno, non stea tuo sermone. 

Ed egli a me : L' amor del bene, scemo 

Di suo dover, quiritta si ristora : 

Qui si ribatte il mal tardato remo.'^ 

Ma perchfe piii aperto intendi ancora, 

Volgi la mente a me, e prenderai 

Alcun buon frutto di nostra dimora. 90 

Nfe creator, nfe creatura mai, 

Comincib ei, figliuol, fu senza amore, 

O naturale, b d' animo; e tu il sai. 

Lo natural fe sempre senza errore :.^ 

•= Et si rib. Gg. ' Lo n. fu Aid. Land. Bi. 

'^ ' Acedia est fastidium interni boni.'—St. Augustine. ' Quod 

quemdam torporem incutit animo.'—St. Bernard. 

57 Bianchi's explanation ' qui si punisce il tardo i-ematore,' is, as 

Blanc points out, weak, and also does not account for ribatte. Landino 

halts between two opinions : ' Usa traslatione dalla ciurma di galea, 

laquale perche voga pigramente, e con battiture punita, e costretta a 

battere il remo.' Philalethes has: ' Hier holt wieder ein man durch 

frischen Ruderschlag die schlimme Zbgrung.' Cf xii. 5. 

91-93 Cf x-ri. 90. naturale 0 d' animo, instinctive or rational. 

5* Sum. Theol. i. Q. 60. Art. i : ' Sicut cognitio naturalis semper est 

vera ita dilectio naturalis semper est recta; cum amor, naturalis nihil 

aliud sit quam inclinatio naturae indita ab auctore naturae. Dicere 

ergo quod incHnatio naturae non sit recta est derogare auctori naturae.'


error; but the other may err through a bad object, or by 

excess, or by defect of vigour. While in regard to the 

first it is well directed, and in regard to the second 

moderates itself, it cannot be an occasion of evil delight; 

but when it turns aside to ill, or runs in the way of good 

with more care or vrith less than it ought, against the 

Mkker operates His work. Hence thou mayest understand. 

Ma r altro puote errar per malo obbietto, 

O per troppo, o per poco di vigore. 

Mentre ch' egli fe nel primo ben diretto,^ 

E nei secondi sfe Stesso misura, 

Esser non pub cagion di mal diletto; 

Ma quando al mal si torce, o con piii cura, loo 

O con men che non dee, corre nel bene. 

Contra il fattore adovra sua fattura. 

Quinci comprender puoi, ch' esser conviene 

g ne' primi Aid. (i) Land, {text) W. Bi. 

57. 58 I have followed the reading of the Aldine of 1515, nel primo, 

which is also that of Gg. and Cass., and seems to give a better sense than 

that which is obtained by reading nei primi ben, and taking it to mean 

'towards the first goods,' i.e. God and virtue, the second being the 

goods of this world. As I understand the words they mean—' while, 

as regards the object, the love is well directed ; and, as regards degree, 

is duly moderated, erring neither by excess nor by defect.' And -with 

this the Ottimo seems to agree, though the passage is obviously 

corrupt: ' quando 1' uomo si costituisce cosa, e cosi e [read, cost, cosi, 

che sid\ buono 1' obietto, c mala [read V amd\ quanto dee.' So the 

comm. of another MS. at Cambridge : ' cioe quando a bono obietto,' 

and ' cioe nelle affezioni se misura.' secondi : plur. because comprising 

troppo and poco. 

103-105 xijis jg tjie foundation of Aquinas' ethical doctrine, to be found 

passim in S.T., e.g. ii. i. Q. 28. A. 6 : Omne agens agit propter finem 

aUquem; finis autem est bonum desideratum et amatum unicuique. 

Unde manifestum est quod omne agens quodcunque sit agit quamcunque


how it behoves that love should be the seed in you .of 

every virtue, and of every operation which' merits punishment. 

Now, seeing that love can never turn back 

its gaze from the weal of its subject, things are safe from 

hatred of themselves ; and seeing that it is not possible to 

conceive any being as divided, or standing of itself apart, 

from its first cause, every affection is cut off from hating that. 

Amor sementa in voi d' ogni virtute, 

E d' ogni operazion che merta pene. 

Or perchfe mai non pub dalla salute 

Amor del suo suggetto volger •viso,'' 

Dair odio proprio son le cose tute : 

E perchfe intender non si pub diviso, 

Nfe per sfe stante, alcuno esser dal primo, no 

Da quello odiare ogni affetto fe deciso. 

'"• torcer viso W. 

actionem ex aliquo amore. .It is of course a development of dyaSoO 

rivos iipierai. 

106 sqq. Conv. iv. 22 : Ogni animale siccome ella e nato si razionale 

come bruto s4 medesimo ama. S.T. ii. I. Q. 29. A.ft. 4: Impossibile 

est quod aliquis odiat {sic) seipsum. So Bp. Butler, Serm. i. : There 

is no such thing as self-hatred. 

i''7 Witte's reading, torcer, is not only against the weight of authority, 

but I think inconsistent with the meaning. Odio is the exact opposite 

of amore; and, therefore, according to the rule stated in note to iv. 

100, volger is the word required. 

Ill Nor is it possible to hate God. Dante goes further than St. 

Thomas (S.T. ii. 2. Q. 34), who holds that though ' secundum essentiam^ 

suam' God cannot be hated, • secundum quosdam justitiae suae effectus ^ 

He may be. Ought we not to read efetto, in the sense of ' creature,' 

here, as in xi. 3 ?. In that place there is a v. 1. afetto, showing that copyists 

confused the two. Of course the use of efectus, in the passage quoted 

firom Aquinas, is in a different sense. 

P


It remains, if in my division I rightly estimate, that the ill 

which is loved is that of the neighbour, and this love takes 

birth in three modes in your clay. There is who, through 

his neighbour being kept down, hopes for excellence, and 

only for this reason yearns that he may be from his greatness 

brought low. There is who fears to lose power, grace, honour, 

and fame, in case another mounts up, wherefore he grows 

so sad that he loves the contrary. And there is who through 

injury appears so to take shame that he becomes gluttonous 

of vengeance; and such an one it behoves that he put 

Resta, se dividendo bene stimo, 

Che il mal che s' ama fe del prossimo : ed esso 

Amor nasce in tre modi in vostro limo. 

E elli, per esser suo vicin soppresso, 

Spera eccellenza, e sol per questo brama 

Ch' el sia di sua grandezza in basso messo. 

E chi podere, grazia, onore, e fama' 

Teme di perder, perch' altri sormonti, 

Onde s' attrista si che il contrario ama. izo 

Ed fe chi per ingiuria par ch' adonti 

Si che si fa della vendetta ghiotto ; 

E tal convien che il male altrui impronti. 

* grande, alt. to gratia Gg. 

112 dividendo in its technical sense as a logical term {SiaipCov); from 

general to individuals. 

120 ii contrario, his neighbour's abasement. 

123 impronti. There seems to be some uncertainty as to the meaning 

of this word. Blanc takes it (following apparently Vellutello) as a 

form of imprentare, and so in its modern use of ' stamps,' ' prints.' But 

the older commentator explains it by ' segni in altri'; the modern by 

' imagines,' herein agreeing with Bianchi. The latter connects it -«-ilh 

Fr. emprunter, as to which see Littre. The Ottimo has ' e impronto '


forward another's ill. This three-formed love bewails itself 

here below : now I will that thou understand the other, 

which hastes to the good with order violated. Each one 

confusedly apprehendsâ good wherein his mind may rest, 

and desires it; wherefore each one strives to reach Him. 

If a too slow love draws you towards His sight, or to the 

search of Him, this gallery, after just penitence, torments 

you for it. Another good there is, which makes not the 

man happy; it is not happiness, it is not the good essence, 

fruit and root of every good. The love which gives itself 

Questo triforme amor quaggiii disotto 

Si piange : or vo' che tu dell' altro intende, 

Che corre al ben con ordine corrotto. 

Ciascun confusamente un bene apprende, 

Nel qual si queti 1' animo, e desira : 

Per che di giunger lui ciascun contende. 

Se lento amor in lui veder vi tira, 130 

O a lui acquistar, questa cornice 

Dopo giusto penter ve ne martira. 

Altro ben fe che non fa 1' uom fehce : 

Non fe felicitk, non fe la buona 

Essenzia, d' ogni ben frutto e radice.''' 

L' amor, ch' ad esso troppo s' abbandona, 

fe Essenza alcun bon frutto et laradice 5 ; d' ogni buon frutto r. W. 

(i.e. importunate) ; Philalethes, 'trachten nach.' I take it as dnectly 

from 'promptus,' 'impromptare.' 

128 queti . . . desira. See the passage firom Aquinas quoted in 

note to xviii. 19. 

130 t Peccatum acediae est quando quis contristatur in his quae ei 

imminent facienda propter Deum.' S. T. ii. 2. Q. 35. Art, 3, and 

36. A. 1.

PURGATORY CANTO XVII 

up too much to that bewails itself atove us through three 

circles; but how it is spoken of as tripartite, I say nothing 

thereof, to the end that thou mayest enquire of it for thyself.' 

Di sovra a noi si piange per tre cerchi; 

Ma come tripartito si ragiona, 

Tacciolo, acciocchfe tu per te ne cerchi.

CANTO XVIII 

ARGUMENT 

During the night Virgil continues to explain how love is the root of all 

action, and proceeds further to discourse of free-will and the origin 

of morality. A great crowd of souls run quickly past, calling to 

mind instances of alacrity. The author speaks with a certain 

Abbot; and after hearing the reproach of sloth from those who go 

last of the crowd, falls asleep. 

THE profound Teacher had put an end to his reasoning, 

and was looking intently in my face, if I appeared content. 

And I, whom yet a new thirst began to urge, was silent 

outwardly, and -within was saying, Perhaps the excessive 

inquiry that I make grieves him. But that truthful Father, 

who took note of the timid will that would not disclose 

itself, by speaking, furnished to me courage to speak. 

POSTO avea fine al suo ragionamento 

L' alto Dottore, ed attento guardava 

Nella mia vista s' io parea contento : 

Ed io, cui nuova sete ancor frugava, 

Di fuor taceva, e dentro dicea: Forse 

Lo troppo dimandar, ch' io fo, li grava. 

Ma quel Padre verace, che s' accorse 

Del timido voler che non s' apriva, 

Parlando, di parlare ardir mi porse.


Wherefore I: ' Master, my sight is so quickened in thy 

light, that I discern cleariy all that thy reasoning imports 

or describes; wherefore I pray thee, sweet Father dear, 

that thou demonstrate to me love, to which thou dost 

reduce all good working and its contrary.' 'Direct,' said 

he, ' towards me the keen eyes of thy understanding, and 

the error will be manifest to thee of the blind who make 

themselves leaders. The mind which is created ready to 

love is quick to move to everything which pleases it so soon 

Ond' io : Maestro, il mio veder s' avviva lo 

Si nel tuo lume, ch' io discerno chiaro 

Quanto la tua ragion porti, o descriva: 

Perb ti prego, dolce Padre caro, 

Che mi dimostri amore, a cui riduci 

Ogni buono operare e il suo contraro. 

Drizza, disse, ver me 1' acute luci 

Dello intelletto, e fieti manifesto 

L' error de' ciechi che si fanno duci. 

L' animo, ch' fe creato ad amar presto. 

Ad ogni cosa fe mobile che piace, 20 

19 sqq. cf_ xvi. 90, x-vii. 92-95. The mind is potentially capable of 

being attracted by pleasure, and is actually attracted by the presence of 

the pleasant object, or by the abstract notion which the apprehensive 

faculty (see below) forms of it in the mind. Thus desire, which may 

be good or bad, is aroused, and action follows : o5 ydp rj ipeîs aiSrri 

V ^Pxh T-oO irpaKriKou vov. . . . vous f/,iv odv iras dpdbs Spelts Si Kai 

(pavracrla Kal ipBr) Kal oiK opBrj (De An. iii. 10). Comparing the first 

clause of this with Eth. vi. 2 (irpdjews /liv odv dpx^ irpoalpeiris SBev 

. TI Klvrjcris . . . irpoaipia-eas Si 6peîs), I think we must take in atto, 

not with Blanc, Bianchi, and Philalethes as = actu, but as depending 

on desto. See also note to 1. 32 infra. Benvenuto has the curious 

reading dalpiacer innato ; and glosses : quam cito excitatur et movetur 

intus nata delectatione ; which is clearly wrong.

XVIII PURGATORY 215 

as by the pleasure-it is aroused to action. Your apprehensive 

power draws an intention from an essence which speaks true, 

and displays it within you, so that it makes the mind turn to 

that. And if, when, turned back, it swerves towards it, that 

swerving is love, that is nature, which through pleasure is binding 

itself anew within you. Afterward, as the fire moves on 

high, by reason of its form, which has the nature to rise 

there where it abides most in its matter, so the mind seized 

Tosto che dal piacere in atto fe desto. 

Vostra apprensiva da esser verace 

Tragge intenzione, e dentro a voi la spiega, 

Si che 1' animo ad essa volger face. 

E se, rivolto, in ver di lei si piega. 

Quel piegare fe amor, quello fe natura, 

Che per piacer di nuovo in voi si lega. 

Poi come il fuoco muovesi in altura^ 

Per la sua forma, ch' fe nata a salire 

La dove piii in sua materia dura: 30 

23 sqq. Apprehension or coijception consists in the power which the 

mind has of forming an image of attributes'. Images so formed are first 

intentions (rfSij, species intelligibiles), as when we regard the individual 

Socrates as man, white, etc. Second intentions are obtained by abstracting 

the relations of first intentions to one another, as humanity, 

whiteness, etc. First intentions are predicable, second not.—Mansel. 

da esser verace : i.e. from God. Cf. Pascal; Les apprfeensions des 

sens sont toujours vraies. De An. iii. 3 : al p.iv [ala-Bria-eisl dXijêis 

del, al Si (pavrafflai ylvpvrai al irkelovs fevSeis. And ib. 6: i) r&v 

dSiaipirav VSTIO-IS iv roirois irepl & oiK ^ffn rb feOSos. Met. y. 5 (lOio 

b): irepl Si rris dXTjBeias, iis oi trap rb ^cuvofxevov dX-qBis, -wparov p-iv 

Sn oiS' i) aiuBriais fevS^s rov ISiov iirrlv, dXX' TI (pavraHa oi rairbv r-fj 

alaB'/iirei, See Bonitz here, and to 1051 b. So S. T. i. Q. 85. A. I. 

26-31 An expansion of xvii. 93. 

27 si lega, as we should say, 'is striking a fresh root.' 

3° I. e. towards the sphere of fire.

2l6 PURGATORY CANTO 

enters into desire, which is a motion of the spirit, and never 

reposes until the thing loved makes it rejoice. Now can it 

appear to thee how much the truth is hidden from the folk 

who aver that each love is, in itself, a laudable thing, because 

perhaps its matter appears always to be good; but not 

every seal is good, even though good be the wax.' 

'Thy words, and my wit which follows them,' I answered 

him, ' have disclosed love to me; but that has made me 

Cos! 1' animo preso entra in disire 

Ch' fe moto spiritale, e mai non posa 

Fin che la cosa amata il fa gioire. 

Or ti puote apparer quant' fe nascosa 

La veritade alia gente ch' avvera 

Ciascuno amore in sfe laudabil cosa; 

Perocchfe forse appar la sua matera 

Sempr' esser buona; ma non ciascun segno 

E buono, ancor che buona sia la cera. 

Le tue parole e il mio seguace ingegno, 40 

Risposi io lui, m' hanno amor discoverto; 

Ma cib m' ha fatto di dubbiar piii pregno; 

31 preso : a technical term for 'seized by the passion of love.' Cf 

' a ciascun alma presa' (V. N. § 3). 

32 S. T. ii. I. Q. 26. A. 2 : Prima igitur immutatio appetitus ab 

appetibiU vocatur amor, qui nihil est quam complacentia appetibilis; et 

ex hac complacentia sequitur motus in appetibile qui est desiderium; et 

requies quae est gaudium. 

37 matera must here be the mind, or rather, its Siira/as {iariv TI 

iSXv Sivap.1!. De An. ii. i). Following the analogy of 11. 28-30, we 

have the tendency to rise : fire : : the tendency to love : the mind; and 

vous TTSS opBbs comes in again. 

42-45 The objection that 'apprehensum secundum sensum ex necessitate 

movet appetitum sensitivum' and therefore 'apprehensum 

secundum intellectum ex necessitate movet voluntatem' is dealt with by 

Aquinas S. T. i. Q. 82. A. 2.


teem more -with doubt, in that if love is offered to us from 

without, and the soul goes not with, other foot, whether it 

goes straight or crooked is not its own merit.' And he 

to me: ' All that reason here sees I can tell thee; beyond 

that point wait only on Beatrice, for it is work of faith. 

Every substantial foj-m that is separate from matter, and is 

in union with it, has a specific virtue stored, -within itself, 

Chfe s' amore fe di fuori a noi offerto, 

E 1' anima non va con altro piede, 

Se dritto o torto va, non fe suo merto. 

Ed egli a me: Quanto ragion qui vede 

Dir ti poss' io ; da indi in lk t' aspetta 

Pure a Beatrice, ch' fe opra di fede."* 

Ogni forma sustanzial, che setta 

E da materia, ed fe con lei unita, 50 

Specifica virtude ha in sfe coUetta, 

^ che opera i Cass. W.; che opera di Gg. 

49 Formae separatae are God, angels, human souls. The last (which, 

as involving the rb rl Jjv elvai, or 'essential quiddity,' are substantial 

forms) are united with matter to constitute the man ('unus est homo 

animarationalis et caro'), and possess the faculty of forming images or 

species; for so I think we must understand specifica, and not as merely 

=special, pectdiar. De An. iii. 4, where Aristotle approves the view 

that the fvxri virqriK'ti is Svvdfiei the rb-iros elSuv. St: Thomas's doctrine 

as to the origin of knowledge is contained in S. T. i. Q. 84, 85, which 

should be read, together with the sketch of the psychology of Thomas 

Aquinas given by Philalethes at the end of this Canto, by any one 

who wishes to comprehend Dante's system of ethics and pohtics. Lines 

61-69 explain how the former science is connected, with his psychology 

and ultimately with his political system, as may be seen by comparing 

xvi. 75 sqq., and De Mon. i. 14. 

It may be noticed that the commentator of Cass, takes setta to mean 

septa, ' id est circumclusa.' Of course he is wrong. The postilla to the 

line gives an alternative ' abscissa.'

2l8 PURGATORY CANTO 

the which without operation is not felt, nor demonstrates 

itself save by effect, .as by green leaves life in a plant. 

Wherefore, man knows not whence comes the understanding 

of the first cognitions, and the affection of the first 

objects of appetite, for they are in you, as in the bee the 

desire of making its honey; and this Jirst volition admits 

not desert of .praise or of blame. Now, whereas about this 

La qual senza operar non fe sentita, 

Nfe si dimostra ma che per effetto, 

Come per verdi fronde in pianta vita.'' 

Perb, lk onde vegna lo intelletto 

Delle prime notizie, uomo non sape, 

E dei primi appetibili 1' affetto, 

Chfe sono in voi, si come studio in ape 

Di far lo mele ; e questa prima voglia 

Merto di lode o di biasmo non cape. 60 

Or, perchfe a questa ogni altra si raccoglia,'^ 

* in p. e ii-ta Gg. ° E perche Gg. 

^2 6 6.pa KaXoiiievos T^S i^^XV^ ^^^^ oiBev iariv ivepyeiq, rwv 6vrojv 

irplv voeiv, De An. iii. 4. 

^ Cf xvi. 113, 114. 

65-57 'The origins of knowledge and appetite are unkno-wn.' It 

will be seen that Dante does not hold the doctrine of Innate Ideas. 

Nothing is innate save free-will. See, though rather for the intellectual 

than the moral side of the question, Grote, Aristotle, chap. 8 (Posterior 

Analytics). 

^8 ape. Aristotle is fond of speculating on the nature of the understandiiig 

possessed by bees. See Bonitz to Met. a. 1 (980 b). 

69, 60 jjjjj ]yfj(,_ ii_ I . SriXov 6ri oiSe/jda rwv iiîKuiv dperav


every other gathers itself, 'there is innate in you the faculty 

which counsels, and which should hold the threshold of 

assent. This is the principle whereto occasion of desert 

in you is attached, according as it gathers up and winnows 

out good or guilty loves. They who in reasoning have 

gone to the foundation have taken note of that innate 

liberty, wherefore they have left morality to the world. 

Whence let us lay down that of necessity arises fevery 

love which kindles itself within you; of keeping it in 

Innata v' fe la virtii che consiglia,'' 

E dell' assenso de' tener la soglia.^ 

Quest' fe il principio la onde si piglia 

Cagion di meritare in voi, secondo ^ 

Che buoni e rei amori accoglie e viglia. 

Color che ragionando andaro al fondo, 

S' accorser d' esta innata libertate ; 

Perb moralitk lasciaro al mondo. 

Onde pognam che di necessitate 70 

Surga ogni amor che dentro a voi s' accende, 

^ Innata ti i v. che la cons. Gg. 

^ Et e lascenso da Cass.; ond' ella ha senso di 3. 

' Ragion Gg. Cass. 1234 W. 

order that every other will may unite itself with this primary and blameless 

will'; but they seem to forget that, if blameless, it also has no 

merit, being merely instinctive. In order that desert may exist, a choice 

must be made. I have, therefore, followed Comm. Cass, and Bianchi, 

taking perchfe, as in v. 58, xvii. 15, almost = ' although.' 

"2 la virt-ii, i.e. free-will. S. T. i. Q. 22. A. 2: 'Agunt creaturae 

rationales per liberum arbitrium, quo consiliantur et eligunt.' 

^•8' S.T. ii. I. Q. 114. A. 4 : Humanus actus habet rationem merendi 

ex parte liberi arbitrii; in quantum scilicet homo habet prae ceteris 

creaturis ut per se agat, voluntarie agens. Eth. Nic. iii. 5 : 'E^' Tuiiv Si 

Kal TI dper^ 6/ioiws S^ Kal i] Kada. 

"' moralitJi, the science of ethics.


check the power is in you. The noble faculty, Beatrice 

understands for free-will, and therefore look that thou 

have it in mind, if she takes in hand to speak to thee 

of it.' 

The Moon slow moving at about the night's meridian 

was making the stars appear more scant to u.s, shaped like 

a bucket that should be all glowing; and was running her 

course against the heaven, by that road which the Sun 

Di ritenerlo fe in voi la potestate. 

La nobile virtii Beatrice intende 

Per lo libero arbitrio, e perb guarda 

Che 1' abbi a mente, s' a parlar ten prende. 

La luna, quasi a mezza notte tarda, 

Facea le stelle a noi parer piii rade, 

Fatta com' un secchione che tutto arda. 

E correa contra il ciel, per quelle strade 

73 Beatrice nowhere uses this expression, but it may be deduced 

from Par. v. 19 sqq. Cf De Mon. i. 14: Haec libertas est maximum 

donum humanae naturae a Deo collatum. virtii: ' Liberum arbitrium 

... est virtus appetitiva.' S.'T. i. Q. 83. A. 2. 

7^ The usual interpretation is ' latened in its rising nearly to midnight 

'; but, in the first place, it would rise fully an hour before that 

time; and, secondly, the words must be meant to indicate the hour which 

we have now reached, and which would seem firom the long conversation 

which has taken place to be a good deal later. I therefore prefer to 

take mezza notte as meaning, like mezzo di, the meridian line, only 

with regard to those heavenly bodies which are seen at night; comparing 

xxv. 2, 3 and xxxiii. 103, 104. quasi, much as in iii. 131. The 

time would thus be between 2 and 3 A.M., the moon 'southing' at this 

age soon after 3. 

78 secchione is the large hemispherical bucket which may still be 

seen in Italyi Looked at somewhat obliquely the outline of one of these 

forms no bad comparison for the gibbous moon, arda : for the use of 

subj. see Diez iii. 347.


inflames at that time, when the man of Rome sees him 

between the Sards and the Corsicans as he is setting: and 

that, noble shade for whose sake Pietola has a greater name 

than Mantuan village, had put aside the burthen of my load. 

"Wherefore I, who had gleaned his reasoning open and clear 

upon my questions, was standing like a man who, drowsy, 

wanders. But this drowsiness was taken from me suddenly 

by folk who behind our shoulders were already turned 

Che il Sole infiamma allor, che quel da Roma 80 

Trai Sardi e i Corsi il vede quando, cade; 

E quell' ombra gentil, per cui si noma 

Pietola piii che villa Mantovana, 

Del mio carcar disposto avea la soma. 

Perch' io, che la ragione aperta e plana 

Sovra le mie questioni avearicolta, 

Stava com' uom, che sonnolento vana. 

Ma questa sonnolenza mi fu tolta 

Subitamente da gente, che dopo 

Le nostre spalle a noi era gik volta. 90 

8". 81 I. e. when he sets west by south, or about the end of November. 

strade m,eans therefore the stars of Scorpio, corresponding with the 

sign of Sagittarius, in which the sun is at that season, and of which, 

the moon would by this have traversed about half 

83 Or 'has a greater name than Mantua town.' I have foUowed the 

interpretation apparently taken by Pietro di Dante—-'ultra uUas villas 

Mantuanas nominatur,' which is preferable, as z/?7&, though used by 

Dante occasionally for 'tovm,' more often meant 'village.' See, for 

instance, Landino's note to xv. 97, where he says, following Buti, that 

sire, in the sense of signore, and villa, in that of citth, are both French 

words. Here, too, he begins by saying that Pietola is 'una villa del 

Mantovano.' See Diet. Cruse, s.v. Even to the time of Ludovico 

Guicciardini, the use of villa to mean 'a town' was regarded as a 

Gallicism. For the readings of this line, see Moore, Text. Crit. No 

less than .58 MSS. have Pietosapik che nulla !


toward us. And as Ismenus once saw, and Asopus, a fury 

and rout along their banks by night, only because the 

Thebans had need of Bacchus, just such [a rout] through 

that circle goes with a prancing, according to what I 

saw, of those coming whose rider is a good will and a 

just love. Soon they were upon us, because all that mighty 

crowd was moving at a run; and two in front were shouting 

E quale Ismeno gik vide ed Asopo, 

Lungo di sfe di notte furia e calca. 

Pur che i Teban di Bacco avessero uopo: 

Tale per quel giron suo passo falca. 

Per quel ch' io vidi, di color venendo, 

Cui buon volere e giusto amor cavalca. 

Tosto fur sovra noi, perchfe correndo 

Si movea tutta quella turba magna; ^ 

E due dinanzi gridavan piangendo : 

S Si monta Cass. 

°i So the river Ismenus says of himself (Stat. Theb. ix. 434): 

Ille ego clamatus sacris ululatibus amnis 

Qui molles thiasos Bacchaeaque cornua puro 

Fonte lavare feror. 

There would seem to be an allusion to the ' Bacchae' of Euripides. 

"* falca. There is some uncertainty as to the force of this word. 

Landino explains it ' piegare,' and this is the meaning usually adopted, 

e.g. by Philalethes, who renders 'dreht,' and looking to the etymological 

connexion between''fabc' and 'flectere,' it is perhaps the 

most satisfactory. Bianchi thinks it is a metaphor from the action of a 

high-stepping horse ; Fr. faucher. Lorenzo de' Medici tells us that 

falci is the proper word for the part of a horse's leg above the hock. 

Witte, from his rendering 'schleunigten,' seems to follow those who, 

like Vellutello, take it as the opposite of difalcare; 'increase,' as 

opposed to 'take away from,' but this is contrary to all etymology. 

May not the true reading be valca, ' strides' ?


in their weeping: ' Mary ran with haste into the hill- 

country,' and ' Caesar, to subdue Ilerda, stung Marseilles, 

and then sped into Spain.' ' Haste, haste, that the time be 

not lost through too littie love,' were the others crying after 

them; ' so that the study to .do well may refresh grace.' 

' O folk, in whom keen fervour at the present haply 

repairs negligence and delay put by you, through luke- 

warmness, in well-doing, this man who lives (and surely I 

do not lie to you) wishes to go upward, so only that the 

Sun light us again; wherefore tell us on what side the 

opening is near.' These were words of my Leader; and 

one of those spnits said: ' Come behind us, and thou wilt 

Maria corse con fretta alia montagna; 100 

, E : Cesare, per soggiogare Ilerda, 

Punse Marsilia, e poi corse in Ispagna. 

Ratto, ratto, che il tempo non si perda 

Per poco amor, gridavan gli altri appresso; 

Che studio di ben far grazia rinverda. 

O gente, in cui fervore acuto adesso'' 

Ricompie forse negligenza e indugio' 

Da voi per tepidezza in ben far messo, 

Questi, che vive (e certo io non vi bugio) 

Vuole andar su, purchfe il Sol ne riluca; no. 

Perb rie dite ond' fe presso il pertugio. 

Parole furon queste del mio Duca; 

E un di quegli spirti disse : Vieni 

Diretro a noi, e troverai la buca. 

'^ furor Gg.; favore 12345. ' Ricuopre Gg. 

i"" St. Luke i. 39. 

101 Caesar B.C. i. 36 sqq., Lucan Phars. iii. 453-455. etc. 

11* That is, go in the same direction as we are going. Of course 

Dante could not move now, as it was night. '


find the orifice. We are so full of will to move ourselves 

that rest we cannot; therefore pardon us if discourtesy 

thou deemest our justice. I was Abbot in Saint Zeno at 

Verona, under the empire of the good Redbeard, of whom 

Milan yet talks grieving. And such an one has already 

one foot within the grave that shortly will lament that 

Noi siam di voglia a muoverci si pieni, 

Che ristar non potem : perb perdona, 

Se villania nostra giustizia tieni. 

Io fui Abate in San Zeno a Verona, 

Sotto lo imperio del buon Barbarossa, 

Di cui dolente ancor Melan ragiona. 120 

E tale ha gik 1' un pife dentro la fossa, 

lis There is some uncertainty about the speaker. The older people 

say his name vâs Albert; but there appears to have been no abbot of 

that name in the reign of Barljarossa, the incumbent of the ofiEce during 

the latter part of that time being named Gerard. One Alherico was, 

however, abbot in 1145. The Ottimo gives no name; but the mistake 

probably arose from a confusion of the speaker with the person of whom 

he speaks. In connexion with Dante's choice of an ecclesiastic as an 

example of ' accidia,' it may be noted that St. Bernard says : Hoc 

quidem vitio religiosi homines maxime a-ffliguntur. 

11^ There is some controversy as to whether buon is to be regarded 

as ironical. Bianchi and Witte both think so, the latter oddly enough 

speaking as though the epithet were used by Dante in his own person. 

The answer to this question must depend upon who the speaker is. It 

is to be noted that Verona was the last of the Lombard towns to join 

the league against Frederick I.; in fact, she did not do so till 1164, two 

years after the destruction of Milan. Now, if any abbot of San Zeno died 

during those two years he would naturally speak favourably of the great 

emperor; whether this was so I am unable to ascertain. After peace 

was made in 1183, Frederick and the Pope visited Verona together, 

and were, according to the chronicler, ' hilariter recepti et honorifice 

pertractati,' which looks as if the 'Redbeard' had been personally as 

popular there as other Tedeschi were long afterwards, though his rule 

may have been no less detested than theirs. 

121 tale. Albert della Scala, father of Can Grande. Hediedini30l


monastery, and will be sorry to have had power there; 

because his son, evil in his whole body, and in his 

mind worse, and who was basely born,, has he placed 

in the room of its true pastor.' I know not if he 

said more, or if he held his peace, so much further had 

already been traversed by us; but this I heard, and to retain 

it pleased me. And he who was my succour at every need 

said: ' Turn thee hither, see two of them come putting 

a bit on sloth.' In rear of all they were saying: ' The 

Che tosto piahgera quel monistero, 

E tristo fia d' avervi avuta possa. 

Perchfe suo figlio, mal del corpo intero, 

E della mente peggio, e che mal nacque. 

Ha posto in luogo disuo pastor vero.''^ 

Io non so se piii disse, o s' ei si tacque, 

Tant' era gik di lk da noi trascorso; 

Ma questo intesi, e ritener mi piacque. 

E quei, che m' era ad ogni uopo soccorso, 130 . 

Disse : Volgiti in qua, vedine due 

Venire dando all' accidia di morso. 

Diretro a tutti dicean: Prima fue- 

^ E posto Gg. 

(Villani viii. 48), ha-ving previously made his bastard soli Joseph Abbot 

of St. Zeno. This man is said to have been lame and an evil-liver.. As 

Philalethes points out, his tenure of the office would thus have coincided 

in part with Dante's sojourn at Verona. See also Foscolo, 

Discorso sul Testo, § Ixxxvi. 

132 dando di morso. Most commentators, understand this to mean 

'blaming,' 'reproaching'; 'mordendo o trafiggendo.'—Bianchi. \, 

think, however, we must take it as parallel with xiv. 143. P. di Dante 

seems again' to be right in explaining ' pro freno debet esse ... a 

vitio tali retinendo nos ipsos,' though, in the case of this particular vice, 

the metaphor is rather bold. 

Q

226 PURGATORY CANTO XVIII 

folk to whom the sea opened itself were dead before 

Jordan beheld his inheritors. And that people, who 

suffered not the toil to the full end with the son of 

Anchises, offered themselves to life inglorious.' Then 

when, those shades were so separated from us that they 

could no more be seen, a new thought formed itself within 

me, of which more were born other and divers, and so I 

went idly from one to another, that I closed my eyes for 

wandering, and changed my musing into dream. 

Morta la gente, a cui il mar s' aperse, 

Che.vedesse Giordan le rede sue. 

E quella, che 1' affanno non sofferse 

Fino alia fine col figliuol d' Anchise, 

. Sfe stessa a vita senza :gloria offerse. 

Poi' quando fur da noi tanto divise 

Quell' ombre, che veder piii non potersi, 140 

. Nuovo pensier dentro da me si mise, 

Del qual piii altri nacquero e diversi:' 

E tanto d' uno in altro vaneggiai, 

Che gli occhi per vaghezza ricopersi, 

E il pensamento in sogno trasmutal 

1. Da quel Gg. 

136 See Aeneid v. 713-718, 750 sqq. Dante alludes to the same in 

Conv., iv. 26. 

1^ The modern commentators seem all to understand vaghezza in 

the usual sense of ' pleasure'; but Landino's explanation : ' cioe, per 

quel discorso vagabondo,' appears to suit the passage better, as following 

up the idea of vaneggiai. For vago, in the sense of Lat. vagus, see 

xix. .22, and xxxii. 135.

CANTO XIX 

ARGUMENT 

Dante has a dream of a Siren. Third sunrise. They mount up to 

the fifth circle, where they find the souls lying prostrate, purging 

themselves of the,sins of avarice and prodigality. Dante talks 

with Pope Adrian the Fifth. 

IN the hour when the heat of day can no rnore warm the 

cold of the Moon, being overcome by Earth, or at times by 

Saturn; when the geomants see their Greater Fortune, in 

the east before the dawn, rise by a way that stays little 

NELL' ora. che non pub il calor diurno 

Intiepidar piii il freddo della Luna, 

Vinto da Terra, o talor da Saturno: 

Quando i geomanfi lor Maggior Forturia 

Veggiono in oriente innanzi all' alba 

1 nell' ora; the regular phrase with which these dreams are introduced. 

See ix. 13, xx-vii. 94. • 

3 In Conv. ii. 14 he speaks of the ' freddura di Saturno.' 

^ The Geomants obtained their results from certain arbitrary arrangements 

of dots on the ground, one of which in this form : : •• was known 

as the Greater Fortune. This shape, can be obtained from some of the 

stars on the confines of Pisces and Aquarius, which would be rising just 

before daybreak. (The -view of Philalethes that it is to be found in the 

Dolphin will not do, as at the beginning of April that constcllatidn rises 

soon after midnight.)


while dusk for it; came to me in a dream a woman stammering, 

with her eyes squinting, and crooked upon her feet, 

with her hands deformed, and pallid of hue. I began to 

gaze at her; and as the Sun strengthens the cold limbs 

which the night weighs down, so my look made her tongue 

clear, and afterwards set her wholly upright in a little 

space, and so coloured her marred countenance as love 

will have it. After that she had her speech thus set free, 

she began to sing so that with pain should I have turned 

away from her my attention. ' I am,' she sang, ' I am a 

sweet Siren, who unman the mariners in mid - sea; so 

Surger per via che poco le sta bruna; 

Mi venne in sogno una femmina balba. 

Con gli occhi guerci, e sovra i pife distorta. 

Con le man monche, e di colore scialba. 

Io la mirava: e come il Sol conforta lo 

Le fredde membra che la notte aggrava, 

Cosi lo sguardo mio le facea scorta 

La lingua, e poscia tutta la drizzava 

In poco d' ora, elo sinarrito volto. 

Come amor vuol, cosi le colorava. 

Poi ch' eir avea il parlar cosi disciolto, 

Cominciava a cantar si, che con pena 

Da lei avrei mio intento rivolto. 

Io son, cantava, io son dolce Sirena, 

Che i marinari in mezzo il mar dismago. 20 

7 This woman is almost universally understood to denote the pleasures 

of the flesh. In Appendix A, however, I have given reasons for 

thinking that the allegory of the three dreams is more distinctly connected. 

14, 16 cf_ p„_ L_ y;;;_ g,g . Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue.

XIX PURGATORY 229 

am I full of pleasure to hear. I turned Ulysses from his 

road, wandering to my song; and he who makes his home 

with me rarely departs, so wholly I give him peace.' Her 

mouth was not yet closed, when a dame appeared, • holy 

and ready, close beside me to p.ut that one to confusion. 

' O Virgil, Virgil, who is this ?' proudly she began to say; 

and he came, with his eyes fixed only on that honest one. 

He seized the other, and opened her before, cleaving her 

Tanto son di piacere a sentir plena. 

Io volsi Ulisse del'suo cammin vago* 

Al canto mio: e qual meco s' ausa'' 

Rado sen parte, si tutto 1' appago. 

Ancor non era sua bocca richiusa, 

Quando una donna apparve santa e presta 

Lunghesso me, per far colei confusa. 

O VirgiHo, Virgilio, chi fe questa ? 

Fieramente dicea: ed ei veniva 

Con gli occhi fitti pure in quella onesta. 30 

L' altra prendeva, e dinanzi 1' apriva 

a Io trassi Aid. •> Col canto W. 

22 Benvenuto, Bianchi, and Philalethes take vago in its original and 

less usual sense of ' vagus'; but regard it as agreeing with cammin. 

The objection to this is that it weakens the point; and besides, at the 

particular time Ulysses was going with a definite aim. volsi appears 

to have better authority than trassi. The principal objection to it is 

that the Sirens did not turn Ulysses out of his road ; but this does not 

seem of much importance. Either we may suppose her to be lying, or 

Dante may have got the story incorrectly, or, as Benv. suggests, may 

have confused it with that of Curce. Possibly the right reading is torsi. 

23 dicea. The Ottimo and, what is more curious, Benvenuto take 

this as first person, as though Dante were summoning Virgil. It is 

quite clear that he is entirely passive in his dreams; and besides, 

fieramente would be out of place as applied to him. 

31 Some take this as the action of the donna onesta; but it seems 

better to suppose that she only calls Virgil to help. If, as I believe.


draperies, and showed me her belly: that awoke me with 

the stench, that issued therefrom. I turned my eyes, and 

the good Virgil said: 'At least three calls have I given 

thee; rise and come. Let us find the gateway by which 

thou mayest,enter.' I lifted myself up, and wholly with 

the high day were already filled the circles of the sacred 

mount, and we were going with the new Sun on our reins. 

Following him I was bearing my brow as one who has 

Fendendo i drappi, e mostravami il ventre:'' 

Quel mi sveglib col puzzo che n' usciva. 

Io volsi gli occhi; e il buon Virgilio : Almen tre'' 

Voci.t' ho messe, dicea, surgi e vieni :^ 

Troviam la porta, per la qual tu entre.^ 

Su mi levai: e tutti eran gik pieni 

Dell' alto di i giron del sacro monte, 

Ed andavam col Sol nuovo alle reni. 

Seguendo lui, portava la mia fronte 40 

•^ mostrandomi Cass. 3 W. 

^ buon maestro Gg. ; al buon m. e mentre Cass. Benv. 1245. Virg. e 

mentre 3 ; Io mossi W. 

" messe e Gg. ; Voci come se dicessi 145 ; dicesse 3 ; comesse dicea 2. 

; ^ r aperto Aid. Land. ; I' aperta W. 

she is the donna gentil of Inf ii. 94, this would be in keeping with her 

procedure there.. 

34, 35 q-jjg earlier editions have made a wonderful confusion of these 

lines. Benvenuto's gloss is worth giving, as showing how much he was 

puzzled, and the ingenuity with which he makes the best of a bad job. 

' Io volsi gli.occhi al buoji maestro; ac si diceret: quid restat agendum? 

e, mentre, idest, interim cum volverem oculos, voce, scilicet Virgilii, 

venit ad me, come dicesse,' etc. Even Aldus reads al mentre \ but the 

first five clearly have not the least idea of the sense. 1345, for instance, 

read iroOTe jfi for t'ho messe. See Moore, Text. Crit. For,-the curious 

rhythm almen tre, cf. per li in xx. 4. 

3' Observe that they have now passed the north side of the mountain, 

and are going rather south of west.

XIX PURGATORY 231 

it laden with thought, who makes of himself a bridge's half 

arch, when I heard: ' Come, here is the passage,' spoken 

in fashion sweet and benign, such as is not heard in this 

mortal march. ' With his wings open, which appeared a 

swan's, he who,thus spoke to us turned us upward, between 

the two walls of the hard flint. He moved his feathers 

then, and fanned us, afiirming that blessed are (î lugent, 

for they shall have their souls lords of consolation. 'What 

Come colui che 1' ha di pensier carca, 

Che fa di sfe un mezzo arco di ponte; 

Quando io udi': Venite, qui si varca; 

Parlare in modo soave e benigno, 

Qual non si sente in questa mortal marca. 

Con r ali aperte che parean di cigno, 

Vplseci in su colui che si parlonne, 

Tra i due pareti del duro macigno. - 

Mosse le penne poi e ventilonne, 

Qui lugent affermando esser beati, 50 

Ch' avran di consolar 1' anime donne.^ 

i conseglar Gg. 

^ It is not' easy, as Philalethes points out, to detect at first sight the 

special applicability here of this Beatitude. His explanation is that 

those who mourn are those who, being most convinced of their incompleteness, 

strive most to improve ; which is just the point wherein the 

' accidiosi' fail. 

^1 donne is the reading of nearly every edition. Buti has done 

{ = donate), which does not rhyme.. Blanc seems to find, a difficulty 

in the use of the word, but agrees, _/««/« de mieux, with the usual interpretation, 

which, from the expressions used in his Diet., Jie seems to 

think he was the first to suggest. It occurs in the same sense in the 

Canzone : ' Amor tu vedi ben,' 1. 6 : 'D' ogni crudelita si fece. donna.' 

Cf. the Span. : 'Ser dueno de alguna cosa.' Vellutello's explanation, 

which makes anime the object to consolar, and takes 6L0VD.e=gentili^ 

is, like others of his, too absurd to be seriously cliscussed.


ails thee that thou lookest only toward the earth?' my 

Guide began to say to me, when we had both mounted 

up a little way from the Angel., And I: ' With so great 

suspicion a new vision makes me to go, which so bends me 

to itself that I cannot part myself from thinking of it' 

'Hast thou seen,' said he, 'that ancient witch, who alone 

above us from this point laments? Hast thou seen how 

the man looses himself from her ? Suffice it thee, and beat 

on earth thy heels, turn back thine eyes to the lure, which 

the Eternal -King is whirling with the mighty wheels.' Like 

the falcon which first gazes at his feet, then turns at the cry, 

Che hai, che pure in ver la terra guati ? 

La Guida mia incomincib a dirmi, 

Poco amendue dall' Angel sormontati. 

Ed io : Con tanta suspizion fa irmi 

I • Novella vision ch' a sfe mi piega. 

Si ch' io non posso dal pensar partirmi. 

Vedesti, disse, quella antica strega, 

Che sola sovra noi omai si piagne ? 

Vedesti come 1' uom da lei si slega ? 60 

Bastiti, e batti a terra le calcagne : 

Gli occhi rivolgi al logoro, che gira 

Lo rege eterno con le rote magne. 

Quale il falcon che prima ai pife si mira, 

Indi si volge al grido, e si protende, 

^^ So xvii. 137. 'Corpus otii tabe confectum concupiscentiarum 

carnaliiim pascit ac nutrit insaniam.'—Lorenzo Giustiniani, quoted by 

Perez. 

«»Cfxv.,ii9. 

"^ logoro: see Gloss. Inf. Here it seems to denote merely the 

heavens. The use of the word evidently suggested the simile of the 

falcon in 11. 64-66. Dante is fond of drawing his illustrations from this 

sport. See for example Inf xvii. 127 ; and Philalethes here. 

*3 rote magne. Cf xxx. 109.


and stretches himself forth, for the desire of the food which 

draws him there, such made I myself, and such, as far as 

the rock is split to give way to whoso goes up, I went even 

to the point where the circling is taken up. 

When I was set free in the fifth circle, I saw folk 

throughout it which were weeping, lying on the earth all 

turned downwards. '• Adhaesit pavimento anima mea,' I 

hear.d from them, with sighs so deep that the word was 

hardly understood. 'O elect of God, whose sufferings 

both hope and justice make less hard, direct us to the 

ascents on high.' ' If ye come secure from the lying down, 

and wish to find the way most quickly, let your right 

hands be ever on the outside.' Thus prayed the Poet, and 

Per lo disio del pasto che lk il tira; 

Tal mi fee' io : e tal, quanto si fende 

La roccia per dar via a chi va suso, 

N' andai infino ove il cerchiar si prende. 

Com' io nel quinto giro fui dischiuso, 70 

Vidi gente per esso .che piangea, 

Giacendo a terra tutta volta in giuso. 

Adhaesit pavimento anima mea, 

Sentia di lor con si alti sospiri, 

Che la parola appena s' intendea. 

O eletri di Dio, gli cui soffriri 

E giustizia e speranza fan men duri, 

Drizzate noi verso gli alti saliri. 

Se voi venite dal giacer sicuri, 

E volete trovar la via piii tosto, 80 

Le vostre destre sien sempre di furi. 

Cosi prego il Poeta, e si risposto 

71 The avaricious.


thus was answer made us a little in advance of us; wherefore 

I gave heed in their speaking to the other who was 

hidden; and turned my eyes then to my Master, whence he 

gave me assent, with glad gesture, to that which my face of 

desire besought. When I had power to do with myself 

according to my thought, I drew me over that creature,whose 

words erewhile caused me to remark, saying : ' Spirit 

in whom tears are ripening that without which man cannot 

turn to God, stay a little for me thy greater care. Tell me 

Poco dinanzi a noi ne fu; perch' io 

Nel-parlare a-vVisai 1' altro nascosto ; 

E volsi gH occhi allora al Signor mio : ^ 

Ond' egli m' assenti con lieto cenno 

Cib che chiedea la -vista del disio. 

Poi ch' io potei di me fare a mio senno, 

Trassimi sopra quella creatura, 

Le cui parole pria notar mi fenno; 90 

Dicendo : Spirto, in cui pianger matura 

Quel, senza il quale a Dio tornar non puossi, 

Sosta un poco per me tua maggior cura. 

* agli occhi al Gg. Cass. 1345 Aid. Land.; del 2. 

8* There has been some discussion over the meaning of this line. 

Philalethes has : ' Ich, aus solcher Rede, was sonst darin war noch 

verborgen, merkte,' and explains it to be the doubt whether they were 

Uving men, and the wish to have their prayers. This is given also by 

Bianchi; but rightly, as I think, set aside by him as ' viiota di concetto'; 

and certainly any such meaning is very much hidden in the simple direction 

which the spirit gives. It seems much simpler to take a-yvisai as 

in (e.g.) X. 71, and 1' altro as merely= 'the other interlocutor,' opposed 

to il Poeta. 

85 The reading agli occhi is open to the objection that Dante never 

looks Virgil in the eyes.


who thou wast, and why ye have your backs turned upward, 

and if thou wilt that I obtain aught for thee there whence 

I have moved yet living.' And he to me : ' Wherefore the 

heaven turns our back parts to it, thou shalt know, but 

first Scias quod ego fui successor Petri. Between Siestri 

and Chiavari flows do-wn a fair large river, and from its 

name the title of my race makes its tjoast. One month 

and little more I proved how the great mantle weighs on 

Chi fosti, e perchfe volti avete i dossi 

Al su mi di', e se vuoi ch' io t' impetri 

Cosa di lk ond' io vivendo mossi. 

Ed egli a me: Perchfe i nostri diretri 

Rivblga il cielo a sfe, saprai: ma prima 

Scias quod ego fui successor Petri.^ 

Intra Siestri e Chiaveri s' adima 100 

Una fiumana bella, e del suo nome 

Lo titol del mio sangue fa sua cima. 

Un mese e poco piii prova' io come 

Pesa il gran manto a chi dal fango il guarda : 

i quj>t ego sum fui succ. 145. 

3' 'Know that I was a successor of Peter.' This is Pope Adrian 

v., formerly Cardinal Ottobuono da' Fieschi of Genoa. He became 

Pope on July 12, 1276, and held the office thirty-nine days.—Villani 

vii. 50. He is interesting to Enghshmen as having, in the capacity of 

papal legate, taken a share in the restoration of peace after the Barons' 

War, and preached the crusade of 1270 in this country. He must be 

distinguished from his namesake and kinsman, who, as Pope Innocent 

IV., reigned from 1243 to 1254, and excommunicated Frederick II. 

1"! The Lavagna, from which the Fieschi took the title of Counts. 

The railway from Genoa to Spezia crosses it just beyond Chiavari. 

i°2 Blanc, with most commentators, takes cima as = 'origin.' Both 

Bianchi and Philalethes, however, prefer the interpretation which I 

have followed, and which agrees with the Tuscan use of cima, as given 

by Fanfani: .' il piu alto grado di alcuna cosa.' 

104 ij gi.an manto; so Inf xix. 69.


him who guards it from the mire, that all other burthens 

seem feathers. My conversion, ah me! was late; but 

when I became Roman pastor, thus I discovered that life 

was false. I saw that there the heart quieted not itself, nor 

could one mount any higher in that life; wherefore of this 

a love was kindled in me. Up to that point, I was a soul 

wretched and separated from God, wholly avaricious; now, 

as thou seest, here I am punished for it. What avarice does 

is here displayed in the purging of the converted souls, and 

the mount has no more bitter penalty. Just as our eye did 

Che piuma sembran tutte 1' altre some. 

La mia con vers lone oimfe ! fu tarda; 

Ma come fatto fui Roman Pastore, 

Cosi scopersi la vita bugiarda. 

Vidi che 11 non si quetava il cuore,'' 

Nfe piii salir poteasi in quella -vita; no 

Perchfe di questa in me s' accese amore. 

Fino a quel punto misera e partita 

Da Dio anima fui, del tutto avara: 

Or, come vedi, qui ne son punita. 

Quel ch' avarizia fa, qui si dichiara. 

In purgazion dell' anime converse : 

E nulla pena il monte ha piii amara. 

fc nonposava Gg. 

1" The feminine punita agrees of course with anima, though a man 

is speaking. 

117 This line is worthy of attention, as showing that there is not, as 

is sometimes said, any regular gradation of penalties in Purgatory, like 

that of the torments in Hell. Also, as Philalethes points out, the 

discipline is sometimes imitative of the sin, as here and in the third 

and seventh circles ; sometimes, as in the cases of pride, gluttony, and 

sloth, opposed to it.


not erect itself on high, being fixed to earthly things, so 

justice here has sunk it to earth. As avarice extinguished 

our love toward every good, whence labour was lost, so 

justice here holds us straitly bound and prisoners in feet 

and hands; and as long as it shall be the pleasure of the 

righteous Lord, so long shall we stay immovable arid outstretched.' 

I had knelt down, and was- in mind to speak; 

but when I began, and he was aware, only by hearing, of my 

reverence: ' What occasion,' said he, ' has so bent thee 

down ?' And I to him : ' For your dignity my conscience 

while I stood up pricked me.' ' Make straight thy legs, and 

Si come 1' occhio nostro non s' aderse 

In alto, fisso alle cose terrene, 

Cosi giustizia qui a terra il merse. 120 

Come avarizia spense a ciascun bene 

Lo nostro amore, onde operar perdfesi, 

Cosi giustizia qui stretti ne tiene 

Nei piedi e nelle man legati e presi; 

E quanto fia piacer del giusto Sire, 

Tanto staremo immobili e distesi. 

Io m' era inginocchiato, e volea dire : 

Ma com' io cominciai, ed ei s' accorse. 

Solo ascoltando, del mio riverire, 

Qual cagion,.disse, in giii cosi ti torse? 130 

Ed io a lui: Per vostra dignitate, 

Mia coscienza dritto mi rimorse."' 

1 dritta Gg. 23 Aid. Land. ; dentro 14. 

132 dritto mi. The construction is unusual, but on the whole this 

seems to be the best rendering. Benv., reading dritta ' rightly,' considers 

that Dante's conscience pricked him for having addressed a Pope 

with tu. -

238 PURGATORY CANTO XIX 

rise up, brother,'he answered; 'err not. I am a fellow-servant 

with thee and with the others unto one power. If thou 

hast ever understood that holy note of the Gospel which 

says Neque nubent, well mayest thou see why I speak thus. 

Now go thy way; I will not that thou stay more, for thy 

stay disturbs my weeping, wherewith I ripen that which 

thou hast said. A niece have I yonder, who has to name 

Alagia, good of herself, so only that our house make her 

not by example wicked; and she alone on that side remains 

tome.' 

Drizza le gambe, e levati su, frate, 

Rispose ; non errar; conservo sono 

Teco e con gli altri ad una potestate. 

Se mai quel santo EvangeUco suono, 

Che-dice Neque nubent, intendesti, • 

Ben puoi veder perch' io cosi ragiono. 

•Vattene omai: non vo' che piii t' arresti: 

Che. la tua stanza mio pianger. disagia, 140 

Col qual mature cib che tu dicesti. 

Nipote ho io di lk, ch' ha nome Alagia; 

Buona da sfe, pur che la nostra casa 

Non faccia lei per esempio malvagia; 

E questa.sola m' fe di lk rimasa. 

Nunquam. n. Gg. 

134,135 Imitated from Rev. xix. 10, and xxii. 9. 

137 St. Matt. xxii. 30. The meaning here is that earthly distinctions 

of whatever kind are done away with in the next life. 

139 vattene omai. Cf xiv. 124. 

"1 Cf 1. 91. 

"2 This Alagia is said to have been married to Moroello Malaspina. 

1*5 Not that he had no other relations, but she was the only one 

whose prayers would avail him.

CANTO XX 

.ARGUMENT 

As they go forward they hear a voice proclaiming instances of liberality. 

This is that of Hugh Capet, who speaks of the evils 

wrought through avarice by the house of France ; and tells how 

at night the spirits cry out against famous examples of this vice. 

Of a sudden, the whole mountain shakes, and all the spirits 

glorify God.. 

AGAINST a better will, a will fights badly; wherefore against 

my own pleasure, to please him, I drew from the water the 

sponge unfilled. I moved myself, and my Leader himself 

by the unencumbered places, ever along the rock, as one 

goes along a wall close to the battlements; for the folk 

who are pouring drop by drop through their eyes the 

CONTRA miglior voler, voler mal pugna; 

Onde contra il piacer mio, per piacerli,^ 

Trassi dell' acqua non sazia la spugna.'' 

Mossimi, e il Duca mio si mosse per li 

Luoghi spediti pur lungo la roccia. 

Come si va per muro stretto a' merli: 

Chfe la gente che fonde a goccia a goccia 

•'' voter mio Gg. ^ la pugna Cass. 

3 Le. though he wished to ask more, he went on because he was 

bidden to do so.


evil which possesses all the world, in the other direction 

approach too near the outer side. Accursed be thou, 

ancient she-wolf, that more than all the other beasts hast 

prey, through thy hunger endlessly deep! O stars, in 

whose turning it seems men believe that the conditions of 

this lower world are transmuted, when .will he come through 

whom she will depart ? 

We were going with our steps slow and few, and I intent 

Per gli occhi il mal che tutto il mondo occupa, 

Dair altra parte in fuor troppo s' approccia. 

Maledetta sie tu, antica lupa, lo 

Che piii che tutte 1' altre bestie hai preda, • 

Per la tua fame senza fine cupa. 

O ciel, nel cui girar par che si creda 

Le condizion di quaggiii trasmutarsi, 

Quando verrk per cui questa disceda ? 

, Noi andavam coi passi lenti e scarsi; 

1° lupa. The wolf in the D.C. denotes (l) the sin of avarice ; (2) 

the Guelf party; (3) as connected with these, the Papal power and ' clericalism 

' generally. See a satire of the thirteenth century, quoted by 

Oliphant, History of Frederick II., vol. ii. p. 345 : ' Pecunia, Empress of 

the Romans and of all the earth, to all her beloved sons, greeting. . . . 

To me fly all kings and nations; the Roman Court serves me. Here 

will I dwell to the end of time ; the' Roman Court have I chosen out. 

. . . The Church never closes her breast against me; the Pope willingly 

opens his arms to me.' Notice that the first soul whom Dante 

meets in this circle is a Pope, and cf Inf vii. 46-48. Also notice that 

Plutus, who is on guard over the avaricious in hell, is called by Virgil, 

' Maledetto lupo.' How far the Guelf party, as a whole, can be connected 

otherwise than through their name with the sin which the wolf 

denotes, it is impossible to say; but it may be remarked that the trading 

classes for the most part held to it. Tharthere is a secondary reference 

to it here, and in Inf i., is clear from a comparison of the next three 

lines, 13-15, with Ipf. i. loi sqq. 

13 ciel, as in xvi. 67, etc. ^

XX PURGATORY 241 

upon the shades which I heard piteously weep arid bewail 

themselves, arid by adveriture I heard oue cry 'Sweet 

Mary,' in front of us, in its waU just as a woman does who 

is in travail, and continue : ' So poor wast thou, as one 

may see by that hostelry where thou laidest down thy 

sacred burthen.' Following this I heard: 'O good Fabricius, 

thou wouldest rather virtue with poverty than to possess 

great riches with crime.' These words were so pleasing to 

me, that I drew myself further to have acquaintance of 

Ed io attento all' ombre ch' i' sentia 

Pietosamente piangere e lagnarsi; 

E per ventura udi': Dolce Maria, 

Dinanzi a noi chiamar cosi nel pianto, 20 

Come fa donna, che in partOrir sia ; 

E seguitar : Povera fosti tanto, 

Quanto veder si pub per'quell' ospizio, 

Ove sponesti il tuo portato santo. 

Seguentemente intesi: O buon Fabbrizio, 

Con pbvertk volesti anzi virtute, 

Che gran ricchezza posseder con vizio. 

Queste parole m' eran si piaciute, 

Ch' io mi trassi oltre per aiver contezza 

25 Cf. Conv. iv. 5 : Chi diri che fosse sanza divina spirazione, 

Fabrizio infinita quasi multitudine d' oro riflutare, per non volere abbandonare 

sua patria?'- Pie is also commemorated in De Mon. ii. 5. 

The story is told in Val. Max. iv. 3, § 6, where he is called 'honoribus 

et auctoritate omni cive temporibus suis major, censu par unicuique 

pauperrimo.' 

28 piaciulie. With this transitive use of piacere cf Inf. xxvii. 84. 

Boccaccio Dec. x. 2 : ' conceduto glielo il Papa,' is a still more curious 

use of a passive participle. 

R

242 PURGATORY - CANTO 

that spirit from whom they seemed to have come. It was 

yet speaking of the largess which Nicholas made to the 

maidens, to bring their youth to honour. 'O soul, that 

talkest so well, tell me who thou wast,' I said, 'and wherefore 

thou alone renewest these worthy praises ? Thy speech 

shall not be without reward, if I return to fulfil the short 

journey of that life which flies to its end.' And he: ' I 

will tell thee, not for any help which I may expect from 

thence, but because so great grace shines in thee ere thou 

art dead. I was root of the ill plant, which overshadows 

Di queUo spirto, onde parean venute. 30 

Esso parlava ancor della larghezza, 

Che fece Niccolao alle pulcelle, 

Per condurre ad onor lor giovinezza. 

O anima, che tanto ben favelle, 

Dimmi chi fosti, dissi, e perchfe sola 

Tu queste degne lode rinnovelle ? 

Non fia senza mercfe la tua parola, 

S' io ritorno a compier lo cammin corto '^ 

Di quella vita ch' al termine vola. 

Ed egli: Io ti dirb, non per conforto 40 

Ch' io attenda di la, ma perchfe tanta 

Grazia in te luce prima che sii morto.'' 

Io fui radice della mala pianta, 

"^ se mai torno Cass. d anzi che s. Gg. 

31 St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, dowered three girls, who would 

otherwise have been brought up to an immoral life. 

*3 Dante has probably fallen into two confusions in this well-known 

passage. The speaker calls himself Hugh Capet, but impUes in 1. 59 

that he himself was never crovmed, and also calls himself son of a 

butcher, according to the legend to wHich Villon refers : ' Hue Capet, 

qui fut estraict de boucherie.' Now in the version given by Villani 

(iv. 4), who has the same story of the origin of the family, it was Hugh 

the Great who was 'stratto di nazione di buccieri'; and having married


all Christendom in such wise that good fruit is rarely 

plucked from it. But if Douai, Ghent, Lille, and Bruges 

had the power, soon would there be vengeance taken on it, 

and I ask it of Him who judges all. I was called there 

Hugh Capet; of me are born the Philips and the Lewises, 

by whom of late France has been ruled. Son was I of a 

butcher of Paris. When the ancient kings came to an end, 

Che la terra cristiana tutte aduggia 

Si che buon frutto rado se ne schianta. 

Ma se Doagio, Guanto, Lilla, e Bruggia 

Potesser, tosto ue saria veridetta: 

Ed io la cheggio a lui che tutto giuggia. 

Chiamato fui di lk Ugo Ciapetta: 

Di me son nati i Filippi e i Luigi, sp 

Per cui novellamente fe Francia retta. 

Figliuol fui d' un beccaio di Parigi. 

Quando li Regi antichi venner meno 

the -widow of the Duke of Orleans {sic), became duke himself (Benv. 

thinks' that Dante learnt the facts about Hugh's parentage ' when he 

was at Paris for purposes of study.') Thus Dante has apparently mixed 

up the father and the son, just as inl. 54 the allusion to Childeric III., 

the last of the Merwings, can hardly be doubted. None of the later 

Karlings is known to have turned monk—(and this is the only explanation 

at all satisfactory of ' renduto in panni -bigi')—whereas Childeric, as 

Villani (ii. 12) knew, did become a monk under compulsion from Pippin. 

Moreover, ' li antichi regi' is more appUcable to the Mervpings, whose 

origin was lost in a fabulous antiquity, than to the more recent Karlings. 

It must be remembered that Hugh Capet had been.dead three hundred 

years, and that trustworthy histories did not exist. Even Villani, 

professed historian as he is, is often quite at sea as to events whichhappened 

before his own time. 

* In allusion to the treatment of Flanders and its count by Phihp 

the Fair. The revenge came in 1301, when a massacre of the French 

took place, which was followed by the battle at Courtrai, called the 

Battle of the Spurs, March 21, 1302.—Villani viii. 55, 56.


all save one who had betaken himself to gray garments, I 

found so fast within my hands the rein of the government 

of the kingdom, and such power of new acquirement, and so 

full of friends, that to. the widowed crown was the head of 

my son promoted, from which began of these the consecrated 

bones. So long as the great dowry of Provence took 

not shame away from my race, it had little worth, but still 

it did not evil. There began with -violence and with falsehood 

its rapine; and afterward, for amends, it took Ponthieu 

Tutti, fuor ch' un renduto in panni bigi, 

Trovai mi stretto nelle mani il freno 

Del governo del regno, e tanta possa 

Di nuovo acquisto, e si d' amici pieno, 

Ch' alia corona vedova promossa 

La testa di mio figlio fu, dal quale 

Cominciar di costor le sacrate ossa. 60 

Mentre che la gran dote Provenzale 

Al sangue mio non tolse la vergogna, 

Poco valea, ma pur non facea male. 

Li comincib con forza e con menzogna 

La sua rapina : e poscia per ammenda 

^7 The construction of si d' amici pieno is rather harsh. It must 

be explained by supposing that trovai mi is to be repeated in the sense 

of ' I found myself ; mi being me, not mihi as in 1. 55. 

''" Lombardi and others take sacrate as 'accursed,' which seems 

-weak. 

_ "1 In allusion to the marriages of Louis IX. and Charles of Anjou 

with Blanche,and Beatrice, daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of 

Provence. .Between them they brought the- county to the crown of 

France; and it is said to have been owing to the wish of his wife to be a 

queen, asweU as her sisters, that Charles accepted the crown of Apulia, 

and became the champion of the Pope against the House of Swabia. 

—Villani vi. -89. It,must be remembered that Dante is only concerned 

with foreign powers as they affect Italy.

-XX PURGATORY 245 

and Normandy and Gascony. Charles came into Italy, 

and for amends made a victim of Conradiri; and then 

hurried Thomas back to Heaven; for amends. I see a time 

Ponti e Normandia prese, e Guascogha. 

Carlo venne in Italia, e per ammenda 

Vittima fe di Curradino; e poi 

Ripinse al Ciel Tommaso, per ammenda. 

Tempo vegg' io non molto dopo ancoi, 70 

^ There is some confusion • of chronology in. these lines, for no 

attempt to take Ponthieu firom the English crown seems to have been 

made till 1324 (Henry of Blaneforde, Chronicle, ad fin.), and it was in 

English hands for some years later, while Normandy was lost in the 

reign of John, 1203 (Villani iv. 4), and thus long before the 'dote 

Provenzale' existed. It may be said, however,-that the claim of the 

English king on Normandy.was not renounced, till early in the reign of 

Philip the Fair. The attempt on Gascony, to which Dante specially 

refers, is probably that of Philip, in 1294 (Villani viii. 4); but there 

was also an inroad fifty years before in that direction, when the English 

were defeated at Saintes, by Louis IX., which ultimately led to the 

acquisition of Poitou. Is it possible that Pait6 and not Ponti is the 

right reading? See Gary's note to this passage. Villani, however 

(xii. 63), in narrating Edward III.'s first invasion of France, makes 

him lay claim to 'Ponti,' 'Normandia,' and ' Guascogna.' ' As to 

Dante's opinion of St. Louis, see note to vii. 128. 

^•33 Charles of Anjou came into Italy in 1265, at the invitation of 

the Popes Urban IV. and Clement IV., to take the cro-wns of Apuha 

and Sicily, and overthrow the house of Swabia. He defeated and slew 

Manfred at Benevento, in February I26f, and his nephew, Conradin^ at 

Tagliacozzo in August, 1268. (See Villani vi. 87, and the first part of 

book vii. It should be noticed that Villani gives a very different 

picture of Charles firom that usually accepted. See also note to Canto 

vii. 113.) The story that St. Thomas Aquinas was poisoned by his 

order seems to rest on no evidence beyond the merest suspicion. The 

only certain fact is that Aquinas died at Fossa Nova in Campania in 

1274,. on his way to the Council of Lyons. A knight according to the 

Ottimo, a physician according to Villani .(ix. 218), gave liim poison, 

' thinking to please the king,' to whom he was supposed to be obnoxious 

—probably on political grounds.


not long after this day, which draws a second Charles forth 

from France, to make him and his better known. Without 

arms he goes forth thence, and only with the lance wherewith 

Judas jousted; and that he pushes so that he makes 

the paunch of Florence to burst. Therefrom not land, but 

sin and shame -will he gain, for himself so much the more 

grievous as he counts light the like harm. The other who 

has already gone out a prisoner from shipboard, I see sell 

Che tragge un altro Carlo fuor di Francia, 

Per far conoscer meglio e se e i suoi. 

Senz' arme n' esce, e solo con la lancia,'^ 

Con la qual giostrb Giuda; e quella ponta 

Si ch' a Fiorenza fa scoppiar la pancia. 

Quindi non terra, ma peccato ed onta 

Guadagnera, per sfe tanto piii grave, 

Quanto piii lieve simil danno conta. 

L' altro, che gik usci preso di nave, 

"^ esce solo e '^ W. 

71 un altro Carlo. Chades of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair, 

called in Italy 'Carlo sanza Terra' (cf 1. 76), was summoned by 

Boniface VIII. in the year 1300, says Villani (viii. 43): ' per doppio 

intendimento: principalmente per aiuto del re Carlo (II. of Apulia) 

per la guerra di Cicilia; . . . e oltre a questo gli die titolo di paciario 

in Toscana, per recare coUa sua forza la citta di Firenze al suo intendimento.' 

He entered Florence on All Saints' Day of the following 

year, and took the side of the Black party, after promising to pacify the 

factions. In the next April the Whites were driven out: ' onde alia 

nostra citti di Firenze seguirono molte rovine e pericoli,' admits the 

Guelf historian. He passed on to Sicily, made peace, unknown to 

Charles II., with Don Frederick, and returned to France in the following 

November, 'scemata e consumata sua gente e con poco onore.' 

78 1' altro. Charles II. of Apulia was defeated off Naples by 

Roger di Loria, June 5, 1284, shortly before his father's death. His 

life was only spared at the request of the Queen of Aragon, Constance,


his daughter, and bargain over her, as do the corsairs with 

the other slaves. O avarice, what canst thou do more with 

us, since thou hast so drawn my race to thee that it cares 

not for its own flesh! In order that the future evil and the 

past may appear less, I see the fleur-de-lys enter into 

Alagna, and in his Vicar Christ himself made captive. I 

see Him being mocked a second time, I see the vinegar and 

the gall renewed, and Him between live thieves put to 

Veggio, vender sua figlia, e patteggiarne, 80 

Come fan li corsar dell' altre schiave. 

O avarizia, che puoi tu piii fame, 

Poi ch' hai il sangue mio a te si tratto, 

Che non si cura della propria carne ? 

Perchfe men paia il mal futuro e il fatto 

Veggio in Alagna entrar lo fiordaliso, 

E n.el vicario suo Cristo esser catto. 

Veggiolo un' altra volta esser deriso : 

Veggio rinnovellar 1' aceto e il fele, 

E tra vivi ladroni essere anciso.^ 90 

* nuovi 3 a7id some modern edd. 

daughter of Manfred, and he was detained in Aragon till November, 

1288.—Vill. vii. 93, 125, etc. His daughter was married to Azzo III. 

da Este of Ferrara, in 1305, according to Philalethes. Villani mentions 

the marriage, but says nothing of the alleged money transaction. 

88 In September, 1303, Sciarra Colonna and WilKam de Nogaret 

(minister of Philip the Fair) seized and imprisoned Boniface VIII. at 

Anagni. He was treated with every sort of indignity, an4 died in a 

few days after his release, on October 12.—Villani viii. 63, 64, where 

Dante's expressions are curiously paralleled. 

89 Of course aceto and fele are strictly the object of rinnovellar. . 

^ vivi: i.e. not, as the originals were, crucified with Him. No 

doubt Colonna and Nogaret are meant, though the Ottimo oddly takes 

ladroni to mean the cardinals : ' perocche rubano tutto il mondo.'


death. I see the new Pilate so cruel that that sates him 

not, but without decree he bears into the temple his greedy 

sails. O my Lord, when shall I rejoice to see thy vengeance, 

which makes sweet thy wrath, hidden in thy secret 

place? That which I was saying of that only spouse of 

the Holy Spirit, and which made thee turn toward me for 

some gloss, is ordered for all our prayers, so long as the 

day lasts, but when it grows night, we take instead thereof a 

Veggio il nuovo Pilato si crudele, 

Che cib noi sazia, ma senza decreto 

Porta nel tempio le cupide vele. 

O Signor mio, quando sarb io lieto, 

A veder la vendetta, che nascosa 

Fa dolce 1' ira tua nel tuo segreto ? 

Cib ch' io dicea di quell' unica sposa 

Dello Spirito Santo, e che ti fece 

Verso me volger per alcuna chiosa, 

Tant' fe disposto a tutte nostre prece, 100 

Quanto il di dura : ma quando s' annotta,^ 

^ da che 'I s' ann. Gg. ; come 'I Cass. 

91-93 Alluding to the destruction of the Templars by Phihp the Fair 

in 1307 and the following years. It is not easy to see what Dante 

means by 'senza decreto,' as Philip was acting, at least ostensibly, with 

the Pope's authority: See Villani viii. 92. Probably Benvenuto's 

explanation, ' vult dicere injuste,' is all that is needed. 

"3 Bianchi takes this to mean that the certainty of God's vengeance 

enables- his anger to cool; or, as Blanc puts it, prevents it breaking 

out before the time. Philalethes prefers to interpret 'the justice of 

God, kiiovping that its vengeance is ine-vitable, is content to wait.' I 

am inclined for once to prefer Vellutello's explanation: ' Per esser 

dolce cosa a giusti veder punir gl' impii de le sceleraggini loro.' The 

allusion to Ps. Iviii. 9 seems clear. With nascosa and segreto cf. 

arcanamente giusto xxix. 120. Cf also S. T. Suppl. Q, 94. A. 3 : 

'Hoc'modo (sc per accidens) sancti de poenis impiorum gaudebunt, 

considerando in eis divinae justitiae ordinem.' 

37 This is an answer to Dante's question in 1. 35, referring to 1. 19.


contrary sound. We recall Pygmalion then, whom his will, 

gluttonous of gold, made traitor and robber and parricide; 

and the misery of the avaricious Midas, which followed 

upon his greedy demarid, for the which it ever behoves 

that meri laugh. Of the foolish Achau each theri bethiriks 

himself, how he stole the spoils, so that the wrath of 

Joshua seems here still to bite him. Theri we accuse 

Sapphira with her husbaud; we praise the kicks which 

Heliodorus had; aud iri irifamy circles all the mount 

Polymnestor who slew Polydorus. Lastly, our cry is 

" Crassus, tell us, for thou knowest, of what savour is gold ? " 

Contrario suon prendemo in quella vece. 

Noi ripetiam Pigmalion allotta, 

Cui traditore e ladro e pafricida 

Fece la voglia sua dell' oro ghiotta : 

E la miseria dell' avaro Mida, 

Che segui alia sua dimanda ingorda. 

Per la qual sempre convien che si rida. 

Del folle Ackm ciascun poi si ricorda, 

Come furo le spoglie, si che 1' ira uo 

Di Giosufe qui par ch' ancor lo morda. 

Indi accusiam col marito Safira : 

Lodiamo i calci ch' ebbe Eliodoro, 

Ed in infamia tutto il monte gira 

Polinestor ch' ancise Polidoro : 

Ultimamente ci si grida : Crasso, 

Dicci, chfe il sai, di che sapore fe 1' oro. 

132 in quella vece for ' in v. di quello'; or perhaps 'for that turn,' 

xvi. 36. 

113 Pigmalion. Aen. i. 347. The other instances of avarice, or 

rather lust of wealth, are all famiUar. The story of Hehodorus is.in 

2 Mace. iii.

2SO PURGATORY CANTO 

Sometimes we talk one loud and another low, according 

to the affection which spurs us in speaking, now to a greater 

now to a lesser pace. Wherefore, in regard to the good 

which by day is talked of among us, I was not erewhile 

alone; but here no other person was raising his voice 

hard by.' 

We were already parted from him, and were striving to 

overcome the way, so far as was permitted to our power, 

when I felt the mount totter as a thing which falls; 

wherefore a chill seized me, such as is wont to seize him 

who goes to death. Certes Delos was not so mightily 

shaken before that Latona made in it the nest to bring forth 

Talor parliam 1' un alto, e 1' altro basso, 

Secondo 1' affezion ch' a dir ci sprona 

Ora a maggior, ed ora a minor passo. 120 

Perb al ben, che il di ci si ragiona, 

Dianzi non er' io sol: ma qui da presso 

Non alzava la voce altra persona. 

Noi eravam partiti gik da esso, 

E brigavam. di soverchiar la strada 

Tanto, quanto al poter n' era permesso; 

Quand' io senti', come cosa che cada, 

Tremar lo monte : onde mi prese un gielo, 

Qual prender suoi colui ch' a morte vada. 

Certo non si scotea si forte Delo, 130 

Pria che Latona in lei facesse il nido, 

122 Answering the second question in 1. 35. 

127-129 oada and vada. For this use of the subj. cf viii. 6, xviii. 78, 

etc. It is not, however, so purely imaginary a simile as the second 

of these. 

ISO jjjjg seems simply to refer to the tossing that the island of Delos 

may be supposed to have undergone before the filial piety of Apollo 

fixe-fl it.


the two eyes of the heaven. Then began from all parts 

a cry such that the Master turned him to me, saying: 

' Doubt not, while I guide ,thee.' ' Gloria in excelsis Deo,' 

all were saying, by what I understood from those near, from 

whence one might distinguish the cry. We rested motionless 

and in suspense, like the shepherds who first heard 

that chant, until the trembliug ceased, arid it was finished. 

Then we took again our sacred way, looking at the shades 

which lay upon the earth, returned already to their wonted 

plaint. No ignorance ever with such striving made me 

desirous tp know, if my memory in that matter errs not, 

A partorir li due occhi del cielo. 

Poi comincib da tutte parti un grido 

Tal, che il Maestro inver di me si feo, 

Dicendo : Non dubbiar mentr' io ti guido. 

Gloria in eoccelsis tutti Deo 

Dicean, per quel ch' io dai vicin compresi, 

Onde intender lo grido si poteo. 

Noi ci restammo immobiU e sospesi. 

Come i pastor che prima udir quel canto, 140 

Fin che il tremar cessb, ed ei compifesi.'' 

Poi ripigliammo nostro cammin santo, 

Guardando 1' ombre che giacean per terra, 

Tornate gik in su 1' usato pianto. 

Nulla ignoranza mai con tanta guerra 

Mi fe desideroso di sapere, 

Se la memoria mia in cib non erra, 

h io compresi Gg.; io '1 compr. Cass. 124. 

137 It seems better to read dai -vicin, as 'to hear close by,' which 

would be the meaning of da vicin, is not quite the same sense as ' to 

hear from those close by,' and it is the latter that Dante means. Post. 

Gg. has 'i.e. spritibus.' 

1^ per terra. Cf Fr. par terre.

252 PURGATORY CANTO XX 

as that which I seemed then in my thought to have: 

neither, for our haste, did I dare to ask, nor of, myself 

could I see aught there. Thus I went my way timid and 

full'of thought. 

Quanta pareami allor pensando avere : 

Nfe per la fretta dimandare er' oso, 

Nfe per me li potea cosa vedere. 150 

Cosi m' andava timido e pensoso.

CANTO XXI 

ARGUMENT 

They are overtaken by a spirit, who, having completed his purification, 

is on his way upwards. He explains the reason for which the 

mountain shook, and the manner in which the souls know that 

they are free to mount upwards. Being asked his name, he 

declares himself to be Statins the poet, and Dante reveals to him 

who Virgil is. 

THE natural thirst which is never sated, if not with the 

water, the grace whereof the woman of Samaria asked, was 

working upon me, and haste was urging me along the 

LA sete natural che mai non sazia, 

Se non coll' acqua onde la femminetta 

Sammaritana dimando la grazia. 

Mi travagliava, e pungeami la fretta " 

" porgeami Gg. 

1 N.B. sazia used intransitively. For the figure, cf Conv. i. i, 

where 'la natural sete' is used to denote the desire of knowledge. 

Here it'is of course the desire to know the reason why the mountain 

quaked. 

• 2 onde exactly =Fr. dont. So xi. 112, xxxii. 102, etc. It will 

be observed that while the. pronominal .meaning'is alone retained in 

French, the adverbial is far the more iisual in Itahan. See CorticeUi, 

Lingua Toscana, p. 79.


impeded way behind my Leader, and I was full of compassion 

at the just vengeance. And lo, just as Luke 

writes of it, how Christ appeared to the two that were in 

the way, already risen forth from the hole of the tomb, to us 

appeared a shade, aud it was comirig behind us, regarding 

at its feet the prostrate crowd; nor took we note of it, so 

it spoke first, saying: ' My brethren, God give you peace.' 

We turned on a sudden, and Virgil gave back to him the 

sign which befits that. Theri he begari: 'May the true 

Per la impacciata via retro al mio Duca, 

E coridolifemi alia giusta veudetta.'' 

Ed ecco, si come rie scrive Luca, 

Che Cristo apparve ai due, ch' erano in via, 

Gik surto fuor della sepulcral buca, 

Ci apparve un' ombra, e dietro a noi venia, lo 

Dappife guardando la turba che giace; 

Nfe ci addemmo di lei, si parlb pria, 

Dicendo : Frati miei, Dio vi dea pace. 

Noi ci volgemmo subito, e Virgilio 

Rendfe lui il cenno, ch' a cib si conface. 

Poi comincib : Nel beato concilio 

'° condoleami 3 W. ; conduceami 2 ; conduciemi 14. 

3 condoli^mi. For the form, cf movieno A. 81, and see Diez ii. 

130. 

7 ne may be also taken in its frequent sense as dat. of noi, ' -writes 

for us.' 

11 Notice the present giace, as elsewhere, when he is referring to a 

permanent feature. 

12 ' addarsi vale accorgersi,' says Corticelli (p. 264). si = cosi, 

according to Blanc; rather = Fr. aussi. Cf Inf xxix. 30. In 

both places Bianchi explains by 'sin chi,' which seems awkward. 

Philalethes, 'also,'

XXI PURGATORY 255 

court which banishes me in eternal exile, set thee in peace 

within the blessed council.' 'How?' said he (and we 

were going stoutly the while) ' if ye are shades that God 

on high deems not worthy, who has escorted you thus far 

along His stair ?' And my Teacher : ' If thou regard the 

marks that this man carries, and that the Angel draws, thou 

wilt well see that it behoves that he reign with the good. 

Ti ponga in pace la verace corte, 

Che me rilega nell' eterno esilio. 

Come, diss' egli, e parte andavam forte,"^ 

Se voi siete ombre che Dio su non degni, 20 

Chi •v' ha per la sua scala tanto scorte ? 

E il Dottor mio : Se tu riguardi i segni 

Che questi porta e che 1' Angel profila, 

Ben vedrai che coi buon convien ch' ei regni. 

*= andavan Gg. 3; egli, perchi andava Aid. {1); eperchi andate. Aid. (2); 

Land. 

17 la verace corte. Cf xxxi. 41. Par. -vdi. 51. 

13 If the reading perchi be taken, the words of course form part of 

Statius's question. On the other hand the first five editions have parte 

andavam, or andavan (this perhaps a misprint), and the parenthetic 

remark is quite in Dante's style, and adds much to the picture, cf 

andavamo introcque, Inf xx. 130. parte for 'intanto' is a frequent 

Tuscan idiom. ' It occurs, for instance, Inf xxix. 16, and Petrarch 

Son. cccii. See Fanfani and Corticelli, s.v. Post. Cass. 'i.e. interim.' 

2° degni. digno and dignor are not unfrequent in this sense, but 

usually, or always, have a quaUfying ablative, as 'non equidem tali 

me dignor honore.' There is, however, an instance of digrw with 

infinitive in Lucr. v. 51. I do not think Bianchi's explanation of su 

degni as =' degni di ricever su,' though supported by Landino's ' degne 

di star in cielo,' is consistent with grammar, degni, in fact, is exactly 

the opposite of sdegni. The subjunctive may be explained as expressing 

a 'quality required'; Diez iii. 345.


But since she who spins day and night had not yet drawn 

for him the skein which Clotho puts on for each man and 

packs together, his soul, which is sister to thine and mine, 

coming up could not come alone, because it beholds not 

after our fashion; wherefore I was drawn forth from the 

ample throat of Hell to show him, and I shall show him 

further as far as my schooling may bring him. But tell us, 

if thou knowest, wherefore the mountain gave erewhile such 

shudders, and wherefore all at once appeared to cry as far 

as its soft base?' Thus questioning pierced he for me 

Ma perchfe lei, che di e notte fila,'' 

Non gli avea tratta ancora la conocchia, 

Che Cloto impone a ciascuno e compila; 

L' anima sua, ch' fe tua e mia sirocchia, 

Venendo su non potea venir sola, 

Perocch' al nostro modo non adocchia;" 30 

Ond' io fui tratto fuor dell' ampia gola 

D' inferno per mostrarli, e mostrerolli 

Oltre, quanto il potrk menar mia scuola. 

Ma dinne, se tu sai, perchfe tai croUi 

Dife dianzi il monte, e perchfe tutti ad una ^ 

Parver gridare infino ai suoi pife molli ? ^ 

^per colei Cass. 1234; po' colei Bi.; di con notte Gg. 

" nostro mondo Gg. ' tutto (alt. to tutti) Gg.; tutta Cass. 

B Parve Gg. 145 ; gradir 1245. 

^' lei. Lachesis ; cf xxv. 79. Bianchi's ireading po' is, of course, 

for poi, taken as in x. I. 

^ compila. 'Compone distribuendo a ciascuno . . . stame' Vellutello 

; ' ristringe, girandole in torno' Bianchi; ' riunire, adattare ' 

Blanc ; ' umwickelt' Philalethes. 

3° dianzi. So xx. 122.


through the needle's eye of my desire, so that, only with 

the hope, my thirst became less craving. 

That one began: ' Thing is there none which without 

order the religion of the mountain feels, or which is beyond 

wont. This place is free from every alteration; occasion 

may arise by reason of one whom the heaven is of itself 

receiving into itself, but not of aught else; because not 

rain, not hail, not snow, not dew, not hoar-frost falls any 

higher than the short stairway of three steps. Clouds 

Si mi die dimandando per la cruna 

Del mio disio, che pur con la speranza 

Si fece la mia sete men digiuna. 

Quei comincib : Cosa non fe che sanza 40 

Ordine senta la religione 

Delia montagna, o che sia fuor d' usanza. 

Libero fe qui da ogni alterazione: 

Di quel che il ciel in sfe da sfe riceve, 

Esserci puote, e non d' altro, cagiorie.'' 

Perchfe riOri pioggia, non grando, non neve, 

Non rugiada, non brina piii su cade,' 

Che la scaletta dei tre gradi breve. 

^ altra cag. Cass. 14 Bi. ' brama Gg. 

37 mi dife per la cruna, cf. 'nel.petto mi diedi' ix. in, 'dar per la 

fronte' xxiv. 148. 

^ religione, ' ritual' or ' rule,' much as in Par. xi. 93. 

^ Bianchi notices the use of qui 0.5=questo luogo. Cf. xii. 54. 

^ altro appears to have the weight of authority, though altra, 

which Bianchi and Philalethes adopt, is perhaps the easier reading. I 

doubt the latter's interpretation of da sfe in 1. 44 as='from it,' i.e. the 

mountain; for though, as he says, sui, etc., often lose their reflexive 

force in late Latin and the derived languages, the transition here is too 

harsh. There seems no objection to Vellutello's explanation : ' II cielo, 

cioe Iddio, mosso da se.' 

S


appear not dense or rare, nor lightning-flash, nor Thaumas's 

daughter, who yonder often changes quarters. Dry exhalation 

advances rio further upward than to the highest of the 

three steps which I said, where the vicar of Peter ha!s his 

feet. It quakes perhaps lower down little or much; but 

by reason of wind which is hidden (I know not how) in the 

earth, up here it has quaked never; it quakes here when 

Nuvole spesse non paion nfe rade, 

Nfe corruscar, nfe figlia di Taumante, 50 

Che di lk cangia sovente contrade. 

Secco vapor non surge piii avante, 

Ch' al sommo dei tre gradi ch' io parlai, 

Ov' ha il Vicario .di Pietro le piante.'' 

Trema forse piii giii poco od assai: 

Ma, per vento che in terra si nasconda,' 

Non so come, quassii non tremb mai: 

Tremaci quando alcuna anima monda 

'^ Dov' il vie. . . . ha le Gg. 1 nasconda? Gg. 

Non so come, e . . . mai ? Gg. 

60. 51 Thaumas's daughter = Iris (e.g. Aen. ix. 5). The rainbow 

of course changes its position with the sun. contrada seems here to 

have its proper force, of a district lying over against the observer; like 

Germ, gegend, of which it was probably a translation; di la: i.e. of 

course, as usual 'on the earth." The symbolical meaning of this passage 

is that earthly passions are here extinct. 

=2 seooo vapor. Probably only the wind —17 ^Tipd dvaBvidaals 

rdv wvev/idTav dpxT] Kal cfiiais Trdvrav. Ar. Meteor, iii. 4—but the view 

that shooting-stars are intended receives some support from v. 37. Cf. 

xxviii. 97-102. 

Ser voe'iv Sn , . . rpb/uov Kal (TrpvyiJ.Qv ahi6v e


any soul feels itself so pure that it rises or that it moves 

to mount up; and such a cry speeds it. Of its purity, its 

sole volition makes proof, which wholly free to change its 

company, seizes the soul aud aids it with will. It -wills 

irideed at first; but that impulse allows it riot, which 

divirie justice sets agairist will, as orice toward the sin, 

Si serite, si che surga, o che si muova 

Per salir su, e tal grido secouda. 60 

Delia mondizia il sol voler fa pruova," 

Che tutto libero a mutar couvento " 

L' alma sorprende, e di voler le giova. 

Prima vuol ben : ma non lascia il talento, 

Che divina giustizia contra voglia, 

" m. suo voler Cass.; sol voler Gg, W. De la immond, solver si fa 

nova 2 ; mond. solver si fa 1345. 

" tutta libera 23 W. 

83 di voler le giova. ' Am Wollen Freud' ihr gebend.'—Philalethes. 

But is not giovare in this sense always impersonal ? I have followed 

Blanc. 

3* Philalethes explains this passage by a reference to Aquinas's 

doctrine (S.T. Suppl. Q. 100. Art. 4) of an absolute and a conditioned 

will, the germ of which may be found in Ar. Eth. iii. 4. The absolute 

will (voglia) tends towards virtue in this world and happiness in the 

next; but the conditioned (talento), by which men bear present 

apparent pain for the sake of good to follow (' sicut ustio est voluntaria 

propter sanitatem consequendam '), is made the means in the next world 

of purgation, by disposing the soul to suffer until it is purified. It is 

a kind of perversion of this which makes men sin in spite of consequences, 

talento has of course here, as in Inf v. 39, x. 55, and 

in the sonnet .beginning 'Guido vorrei,' its original meaning of a 

weight in the balance {rdXavrov), hence an impulse or desire. So 

Bocc. ii. 9: ' M' e venuto in talento.' The modem meaning of ' talent,' 

arising from the parable, is comparatively recent. It seems to date 

from the fifteenth century in English, and does not appear in French 

till the seventeenth.

26o PURGATORY CANTO 

toward the torment. And I, who have lain in this 

woe five hundred years and more, have but now felt a 

free will for a- better threshold. Wherefore thou didst 

feel the earthquake, and hear the pious spirits throughout 

the mount render praise to that Lord, who may He 

soon lead them on high.' Thus said he to him; and because 

one delights in drinking in proportion as one's thirst 

is great, I should not skill to say how great benefit he did 

me. Arid my sage Leader: ' Now I see the riet which 

holds you here, and how the snare is broken; wherefore 

it quakes here, and whereof ye rejoice together. Now 

please it thee that I know who thou wast, and that I understand 

in thy words wherefore thou hast lain so many ages 

here.' 'At the time that the good Titus, with the aid of 

Come fu al peccar, pone al tormento. 

Ed io che son giaciuto a questa doglia 

Cinquecento anni e piii, pur mo sentii 

Libera volontk di miglior soglia. 

Perb sentisti il tremoto, e li pii 70 

Spiriti per lo monte render lode 

A quel Signor, che tosto su gl' invii. 

Cosi gU disse : e perb che si gode 

Tanto del bere quant' fe grande la sete, 

Non saprei dir quanto mi fece prode. 

E il savio Duca: Omai veggio la rete 

Che qui vi piglia, e come si scalappia, 

Perchfe ci trema, e di che congaudete. 

Ora chi fosti piacciati ch' io sappia; 

E perchfe tanti secoli giaciuto go 

Qui sei, nelle parole tue mi cappia. 

Nel tempo che il biion Tito, con 1' aiuto


the most high King, avenged the wounds whence issued 

the blood sold by Judas, with the name, which most lasts 

and most honours, was I there,' answered that spirit, 

' famous enough, but not as yet with faith. So sweet was 

the spirit of my voice, that me, a man of Toulouse, Rome 

drew to herself, where I merited to adorn my temples with 

myrtle. Statins the folk still name me on that side : I sang 

of Thebes and then of the great Achilles; but I fell in the 

way with the second burthen. To my ardour were seed 

the sparks which warmed me of the divine flame, whence 

Del sommo Rege, vendicb le.fora 

Ond' usci il sangue per Giuda venduto; 

Col nome che piii dura e piii onora, 

Er' io di lk, rispose quello spirto, 

Famoso assai, ma non con fede ancora. 

Tanto fu dolce mio yocale spirto, 

Che Tolosano a sfe mi trasse Roma, 

Dove mertai le temple ornar di mirto. 90 

Stazio la gente aricor di la mi rioma: 

Caritai di Tebe, e poi del grande Achille: 

Ma caddi in via con la seconda soma. 

Al mio ardor fur seme le faville 

Che mi scaldar della divina fiamma, 

33 Cf. Par. vi. 92. 

35 I.e. the name of poet. The exact date of Statius's birth is uncertain, 

but it was probably about A.D. 65. h% he died in the last year 

of Domitian, A.D. 96, the other date which Philalethes gives, A.D. 85, 

is impossible. The belief that he was born at Toulouse arises from a confusion 

of him -with a rhetorician of the same name, for which Lactantius 

is responsible. From Silvae v. 3. 11.. 105, 106 it appears that he was a 

Neapolitan. But the Silvae had not been recovered in Dante's time. 

^ dolce. In Conv. iii. 25 he is called ' Stazio, il dolce poeta.' Cf. 

Juvenal vii. 84. 

33 The Achilleid ends abruptly at 1. 452 of the second book.


more than a thousand have been kindled; I speak of the 

Aeneid, which was mother to me, and was to me a nurse in 

poet's art; without it I had,not stayed a drachm's weight. 

And to have lived on earth when Virgil lived, I would agree 

to a year more than I owe, to my issue from exile.' These 

words turned Virgil to me with a face which in its silence 

said, 'Be silent'; but virtue cannot all it would; for 

laughter and tears follow so much the passion from which 

each springs, that they least obey will iri the most 

truthful meri. I at all events smiled, as the man who 

Onde sono allumati piii di mille : 

Dell' Eneida dico, la qual mamma 

Fummi, e fummi nutrice poetando : 

Senz' essa non fermai peso di dramma.P 

E per esser vivuto di lk quando roo 

Visse Virgilio, assentirei un sole 

Piii ch' i' riOri deggio al mio uscir di baudo. 

Volser Virgilio a me queste parole 

Con viso che tacendo dicea : Taci: 

Ma non pub tutto la virtii, che vuole; 

Chfe riso e pianto son tanto seguaci 

Alia passion da che ciascun si spicca, 

Che men seguon voler nei piii veraci. 

Io pur sorrisi, come 1' uom ch' ammicca; 

P nonfe' mai Gg.; fer mai 124. 

^' 38 Cf the apostrophe of Statius to his own poem (Theb. xii. 816, 

817): 

Nee tu divinam Aeneida tempta, 

Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora. 

^ fermai: Uterally, 'made stationary in the scale,' i.e. balanced. 

1°^ Most interpreters fake la virtii ohe vuole (as in Par. vii. 25, and 

1. 33 of the Canzone 'Amor dacche') to mean, as it often does, the faculty 

that wills, i.e. the will. But this seems rather pedantic in a passage of 

such playful humour.


makes a sign; wherefore the shade held its peace and 

looked me in the eyes, where the semblance fixes itself 

most. And, 'So mayest thou bring so great labour to a 

good consummation,' said he, ' why did thy face but now 

show me a flash of laughter?' Now am I caught on one 

side and the other; the one makes me hold my peace, the 

other conjures me to say; wherefore I sigh, and am perceived. 

' Say,' said my Master to me, ' and have no fear 

of speaking; but speak and tell him that which he asks 

with so great care.' Wherefore I: ' It may be that thou 

marvellest, ancient spirit, at the smile which I gave; but I 

will that greater admiration seize' thee. This who guides on 

high my eyes is that Virgil from whom thou tookest force 

Perchfe r ombra si tacque, e riguardommi, no 

Negli occhi ove il sembiarite piii si ficca. 

E, Se tarito lavoro iri berie assommi, 

Disse : perchfe la faccia tua testeso 

Uri lampeggiar di riso dimostrommi ? 

Or sori io d' una parte e d' altra preso: 

L' una mi fa tacer, 1' altra scongiura 

Ch' io dica : ond' io sospiro, e sono inteso. 

Di', il mio Maestro, e non aver paura. 

Mi disse, di parlar, ma park, e digli 

Quel ch' e' dimanda con cotanta cura. 120 

Ond' io : Forse che tu ti maravigli, 

Antico spirto, del rider ch' io fei: 

Ma piii d' ammirazion vo' che ti pigli. 

Questi che guida in alto gli occhi miei, 

E quel Virgilio, dal qual tu toghesti 

111 il sembiante='the expression of the face'; cf Sp. semblante. 

So Inf. xxiii. 146.

264 PURGATORY CANTO XXI 

to sing of men and gods. If thou didst suppose other 

occasion for my laughter, leave it for untrue; and believe 

that it was those words which thou spakest of him.' 

Abeady he was bending to embrace my Teacher's feet; 

but he said to him : ' Brother, do it not, for thou art a shade, 

and a shade thou seest.' And he, rising: ' Now canst thou 

comprehend the greatness of the love which warms me 

toward thee, when I forget our emptiness, handUng the 

shadows as it were a solid thing.' 

Forza a cantar degli uomini e de' Dei. 

Se cagione altra al mio rider credesti, 

Lasciala per non vera, ed esser credi'' 

Quelle parole che di lui dicesti. 

Gik si chinava ad abbracciar li piedi 130 

Al mio Dottor: ma ei gli disse : Frate, 

Non far: chfe tu sei ombra, ed ombra vedi. 

Ed ei surgerido : Or puoi la quautitate 

Comprender dell' amor ch' a te mi scalda, 

Quando dismento nostra vanitate, 

Trattando 1' ombre come cosa salda. 

1 vera esser e cr. Cass. 1234 W. ; asser ^. 

132 Bc[q. Yet Sordello and Virgil had embraced each other (vi. 75). 

It is curious that Dante should have been guilty of this oversight;. still 

more curious that, as far as I know, no commentator should have 

observed it. 

133 quantitate. Not used elsewhere in D.C. In fact it was at this 

tiiiie a learned word, representing Gr. XOO-OTIJS. Philalethes renders 

' Wievielheit.'

CANTO XXII 

ARGUMENT 

They ascend to the sixth circle, while Statius explains how he was 

turned from his sin, and led to become a Christian by the reading 

of certain passages of Virgil. Presently they reach a tree of strange 

form, and afterwards hear voices uttering examples of the virtue 

of abstinence. 

ALREADY the Angel was left behind us—the Angel who 

had turned us to the sixth circle, having erased from my 

face one stroke; arid those who have their desire to justice 

he had pronounced to us Blessed, and his voices with 

GIA era 1' Angel dietro a noi rimaso, 

L' Angel che n' avea volti al sesto giro, 

Avendomi dal viso un colpo raso : 

E quei c' hanno a giustizia lor disiro, 

Detto n' avea Beati, e le sue voci ^ 

" avean Cass. 1234 W.; in le sue Aid. 

° I have followed Bianchi and Philalethes in reading avea, which 

is found in Gg., though avean has, as Blanc points out, more authority. 

He takes quei as the subject, ne as the object of the sentence; ' the 

souls remaining behind called us blessed.' Landino and Vellutello 

also take this view, and suppose the words to have been those of the 

Psalm Beati quorum. But this is utterly against all analogy, as is


sitiunt and naught else, furnished forth this. And I lighter 

than through the other passages was going my way in such 

wise that without any labour I followed upward the s-wift 

spirits; when Virgil began: ' Love, set on fire of virtue, 

always kindles another, so only that its flame appear outwardly. 

Wherefore, from the hour when Juvenal descended 

among us in the border of Hell, who made known to me 

Con sitiunt, senz' altro cib forniro.'' 

Ed io piii lieve che per 1' altre foci, 

M' andava si che senza alcun labore 

Seguiva in su gli spiriti veloci -."^ 

Quando Virgilio comincib : Amore lo 

Acceso da virtii sempre altro accese, 

Pur che la fiamma sua paresse fuore. 

Onde, dall' ora che tra noi discese 

Nel limbo dello inferno Giuvenale, 

I' sitio e senz' a. W.; sitio senz' Gg. Cass. 1234. 

'^ Seguivan su Gg. 

also the notion involved in the reading sitio, which they take as a 

detached ejaculation. It will be observed, that although the beatitudes 

at the end of each circle are sometimes uttered apparently by several 

voices, yet, wherever an angel is specially mentioned as stationed at the 

passage, it is he who pronounces the words ; and in the other cases the 

voices would seem to be angelic. Here perhaps the other voices may 

be understood to follow in a kind of chorus. Cf xii. no. fomire 

originally means 'to fiirther,' 'complete'; so here it may convey 

the idea of filling up, or confirming. The words here indicated are 

evidently ' Beati qui sitiunt justitiam,' esuriunt being left for the sixth 

circle, xxiv. 154. The emphasis is on the justitiam, TrXeoveîa being, 

according to Ar. Eth. v. i, a subdivision of dSiKla. Cf also De Mon. 

i. 13, 'justitiae maxime contrariatur cupiditas'; and see Perez ('I 

sette Cerchi'), who quotes Aquinas to show that this is the appropriate 

beatitude for this point, and also points out the parallel in these and 

the next three lines to the exit from the first circle, xii. 115-117. 

1^ accese has here the force of an aorist. See note xxxii. 34.

XXII PURGATORY 267 

thy affection, my goodwill toward thee was as great as ever 

bound me for an unseen person, so that now these steps will 

appear to me short. But tell me, and as a friend pardon 

me if too great security loosens my rein, and henceforth talk 

with me as a friend ; how could avarice find a place within 

thy breast, amid wisdom so great as that whereof through 

thy care thou wast full ?' These words made Statius move 

a little towards laughter first; then he answered: ' Every 

word of thine is to me a dear token of love. But oftentimes 

things appear which give false material for doubting, 

by reason of the true occasions which are hidden. Thy 

demand proves to me that thy belief is that I was avaricious 

Che la tua affezion mi fe palese, 

Mia benvoglienza inverso te fu quale 

Piii strinse mai di non vista persona. 

Si ch' or mi parran corte queste scale. 

Ma dimmi, e come amico mi perdona, 

Se troppa sicurtk m' allarga il freno, 20 

E come amico omai meco ragiona: 

Come poteo trovar dentro al tuo seno 

Luogo avarizia, tra cotanto senno, 

Di quanto per tua cura fosti pieno ? 

Queste parole Stazio muover fenno 

Un poco a riso pria; poscia rispose : 

Ogni tuo dir d' amor m' fe caro cenno. 

Veramente piii volte appaion cose, 

Che danno a dubitar falsa matera. 

Per le vere cagion che son nascose. 30 

La tua dimanda tuo creder m' avvera 

Esser, ch' io fossi avaro in 1' altra vita. 

23 veramente, as in vi. 43.


in the other life, perhaps by reason of that circle where I 

was. Know then that avarice was put too far away from me, 

and this disproportion thousands of the moon's revolutions 

have punished. And if it were not that I made right my 

care, when I understood the passage where thou criest, 

in wrath as it were at human nature: " Why restrainest 

'thou not, O holy hunger of gold, the desire of mortals ? " 

Forse per quella cerchia dov' io era. 

Or sappi ch' avarizia fu partita 

Troppo da me : e questa dismisura 

Migliaia di lunari hanno punita. 

E se non fosse ch' io drizzai mia cura, 

Quand' io intesi lk dove tu chiame, 

Crucciato quasi all' umana natura, 

Perchfe non reggi tu, o sacra fame 40 

Dell' oro, 1' appetito dei mortali ?'' 

d gli appetiti Gg. Cass. 

3" Six thousand months, says Philalethes, estimating by xxi. 67, 68. 

40,41 xhese lines, intended as a rendering of Aen. iii. 56, S7> have 

puzzled the commentators greatly. They are divided, in the first place, 

between the readings perche and a che (for Buti's per che, ' through 

what ways,' is of no value). The weight of authority is altogether in 

favour of perchfe, and this is the reading of 12345, Aldus, Landino; 

the latter of whom either does not see, or shirks the difficulty. The 

Ottimo reads perche, but explains a che; and in the note to xx. 60, 

translates the same passage from Virgil, with a che, which is of course 

the correct rendering of ' quid' here, and therefore all the less likely 

to have been altered by copyists to perchfe. We must next observe 

that the only meaning of 'cogis,' which can be rendered by reggi, is 

' restrainest'; and from this it is pretty clear that Dante understood 

'sacra fames' in a good sense, equivalent to the 'holy poverty' of 

theologians. There is, however, something to be said for the interpretation 

of J. della Lana, that a ' holy hunger ' is that which would keep 

a man from spending unduly. Reggere usually takes a (Diez iii. 118); 

so that we ought, perhaps, to read all' appetito.


I had found myself turning in the woful jousts. Then 

I perceived that the hands could spread their wings too 

much to spend, and thus I repented of this as of my other 

sins. How many will arise with their hair shorn, through 

the ignorance which takes away repentance for this sin 

while they live, and in their last hour! And know that the 

fault which meets any sin by direct opposition, together 

with it in this world dries its green. Wherefore if I have 

been amorig that folk who bewail avarice, to purge me, it 

Voltando seutirei le giostre grame. 

Allor m' accorsi che troppo aprir 1' ali 

Poteari le marii a speridere, e peritemi ^ 

Cosi di quel come degli altri mali. 

Quariti risurgeran coi crini scemi 

Per 1' ignoranza che di questa pecca 

Toglie il pentir vivendo, e negli estremi! 

E sappi, che la colpa che rimbecca 

Per dritta ppposizione alcuri peccato, 50 

Cori esso irisieme qui suo verde secca. 

Perb s' io sori tra quella gente stato, 

Che piange 1' avarizia, per purgarmi. 

Per lo contrario suo m' fe incontrato. 

^ spander Gg. 

•^ voltando sentirei. I think a similar construction to Lat. ' sensit 

delapsus'; but sentirei may be taken as governing giostre. The 

reference is of course to the punishment of the avaricious and prodigal 

in Hell, as described in Inf vii. 

*3 See Inf vii. 57. These are the prodigals. 

^3 rimbecca. 'Proprio rimbeccare fe quando ripercotiamo indietro 

la palla, che ci viene incontro.'—Land. 

^-^1 As a matter of fact, there is no other sin to which this general 

rule can apply; unless we reckon the accidiosi and iracondi who are 

together in Hell.


has befallen me by reasori of its coritrary.' 'Theri, too, 

wheri thou sarigest the cruel war of the twofold grief of 

Jocasta,' said the siuger of the Bucolic straius, 'by that 

stririg which Clio there with thee touches, it seems that, that 

faith had riot yet made thee faithful, without the which good 

works suffice riot. If thus it is, what sun or what caudles 

so dispelled thy darkriess that thou directedst afterward thy 

sails behirid the Fisher ?' And he to him: ' Thou at first 

leddest me toward Parnassus to dririk iri its caverns, and 

next didst light me on the road to God. Thou didst as he 

Or quando tu cantasti le crude armi 

Della doppia tristizia di Giocasta, 

Disse il cantor dei bucolici carmi, 

Per quel che Clio 11 con teco tasta, 

Non par che ti facesse ancor fedele 

La ffe, senza la qual ben far non basta.*^ 60 

Se cosi fe, qual sole o quai candele 

Ti stenebraron si che tu drizzasti 

Poscia diretro al Pescator le vele ? 

Ed egh a lui: Tu prima m' inviasti ^ 

Verso Parnaso a ber nelle sue grotte, 

E poi appresso Dio m' alluminasti.'' 

' La fede senza qual Gg. Cass. s prima vi incitasti Cass. 

li E prima Aid. 

^3 doppia tristizia, i.e. the quarrel between her two sons. 

»3 The reference is to 1. 41 of the first book of the Thebaid, where 

Cho is invoked. It is odd that this should be regarded as an evidence 

of paganism, seeing how often Dante does the like, con teco; cf. Sp. 

contigo. 

33 il Pescator, St. Peter. So Par. xviii. 136. 

38 e poi. The reading which Witte and Bianchi take is evidently 

right.


who goes by night, who bears a light behirid him, and helps 

not himself, but after him makes the people wise, when 

thou saidst: "The world renews itself; Justice returns, and 

the first age of man; and a new progeny descends from 

Heaven.'' Through thee I was a poet, through thee a Christian 

; but that thou mayest better see that which I outline, 

I will stretch forth my hand to put the colours. Already 

was the whole world teeming with the true belief, sown by 

the messages of the eterrial realm; arid thy word abovementioned 

was in harmony with the new preachers; wherefore 

I took the custom to visit them. At' last they came to 

Facesti come quei che va di notte, 

Che porta il.lume dietro, e sfe non giova. 

Ma dopo sfe fa le persone dotte; 

Quando dicesti: Secol si rinnova, 70 

Torna giustizia, e primo tempo umano, 

E progenie-discende dal Ciel nuova. 

Per te poeta fui, per te cristiano; 

Ma perchfe veggi me' cib ch' io disegno, 

A colorar disteriderb la mario. 

Gik era il mondo tutto quanto pregno 

Delia vera credenza, seminata 

Per H messaggi dell' eterno regno; 

E la parola tua sopra toccata 

Si consonava ai nuovi predicanti: 80 

Ond' io a -visitarli presi usata. 

37 quei che va. The subjunctive would be more usual (as in Inf 

XV. 45, etc.), but see Diez iii. 347. 

7" Virg. Eel. iv. 5 sqq. 

73 It is impossible now to say what were Dante's reasons for supposing 

Statius to have been a. Christian, as no evidence appears to 

exist either way. He is quoted more than once in the Convito, but 

without any reference being made to his conversion.


seem to me so holy, that when Domitiari persecuted them, 

their plaints were not without tears from me. And whilst 

there was a station for me in that world, I aided them, and 

their upright fashions made me hold all other sects of small 

price. And before that I brought the Greeks to the rivers of 

Thebes in my poem had I baptism, but through fear I was 

a hidden Christian, for a long time making a show of 

paganism; and this lukewarmth made 'me circle the fourth 

ring for more than the fourth century. Thou, then, who 

didst lift for me the covering which hid from me so much 

good as I say, while that we still have surplus of our ascent, 

tell me where is our ancient Terence, Caecilius, Plautus, 

Veririermi poi parendo tarito sariti, 

Che quarido Domiziari li perseguette, 

Seriza mio lagrimar riOri fur lor pianti: 

E meritre che di lk per me si stette, 

Io gli so-weririi, e lor dritti costumi 

Fer dispregiare a me tutte altre sette. 

E pria ch' io conducessi i Greci ai fiumi 

Di Tebe poetando, ebb' io battesmo : 

Ma per paura chiuso cristian fit' mi, go 

Lungamente mostrando paganesmo: 

E questa tiepidezza il quarto cerchio 

Cerchiar mi fe' piii che il quarto centesmo. 

Tu dunque, che levato m' hai il coperchio 

Che m' ascondeva quanto bene io dico, 

Mentre che del salire avem soverchio, 

Dimmi dov' fe Tererizio riostro aritico,' 

i amico Gg. Cass. Aid. 

37 fer dispregiare a me. Cf the 'Fx. faire faire &. See note to 

viii. io6. 

37 I read antico with Witte, Blanc, and Bianchi, as the usual amico 

seems absurd when applied by Statius to Terence.


arid Varro, if thou knowest; tell me if they are damned, 

and in what quarter.' 

' They, and Persius, and I, and others enough,' auswered 

my Leader, 'are with that Greek, whom the Muses suckled 

more than ever another, in the first girdle of the blind 

prison. Many times talk we of the mount which has our 

nursing-mothers always with it. Euripides is there with 

us, and Antiphon, Simonides, Agathon, and other more 

Cecilio, Plauto e Varro, se lo sai: ^ 

Dimmi se sou dannati, ed in qual vico. 

Costoro e Persio ed io ed altri assai, 100 

Rispose il Duca mio, siam con quel Greco, 

Che le Muse lattar piii ch' altro mai, 

Nel primo cinghio del carcere cieco. 

Spesse fiate ragioniam del morite, 

Ch' ha le niatrici nostre sempre seco. 

Euripide v' fe nosco ed Antifonte,' 

Simonide, Agatone, e altri piue 

^ Vara Cass. Gg. -^ Anacreonte Aid. Land. Bi. 

38 Varro. If this, and not Varo, be the right reading, it is 

probably P. Terentius Varro Atacinus (Hor. i Sat..x. 46) who is 

meant, as the more famous Varro was not a poet, and it is of these 

alone that Statius speaks. I am inclined to agree,. however, with 

Blanc that Dante was thinking of Varius, who is more than once 

mentioned by Horace in company with Virgil (especially A. P. 54, 55, 

where Caecilius and Plautus are also named), and by Virgil himself 

(according to one reading) in Eel. ix. 35. Blanc thinks we should 

read Vario. 

13* monte, Parnassus. 

105 nutrici, the Muses. 

133 Antifonte, a tragedian mentioned by Aristotle in the Rhetoric 

(ii. 6, 23). MSS. give no sufficient authority for substituting 

Anacreonte. Blanc's Erklarungen appear here to be a better guide 

than his Dictionary. 

T


Greeks, who once adorned their brows with laurel. There 

may be seen of thy folk Antigone, Deiphile, and Argia, arid 

Ismerie, sad as she lived. There is seeri she who showed 

Langia; there is the daughter of Tiresias, and Thetis, and 

Deidamia with her sisters.' 

Now both the poets began to hold their peace, intent 

afresh on looking round, free from the climbing and the 

Greci, che gik di lauro ornar la fronte. 

Quivi si veggion delle genti tue 

Antigone, Deifile, ed Argia, 

Ed Ismene si trista come fue. 

Vedesi quella che mostrb Langia: 

Evvi la figlia di Tiresia, e Teti, 

E con le suore sue Deidamia. 

Tacevansi amendue gik li poeti, 

Di nuovo attenti a riguardare intorno, 

Liberi dal salire e dai pareti: 

i»3 tue, i.e. named in the Thebaid and Achilleid. 

112 This is Hypsipyle, who showed the spring called Langia to 

Adrastus and his army (Theb. iv. 716 sqq.) He seems to be quoting 

from the old metrical 'argument' to the book, the last line of which 

runs : 

Hypsipyle monstrat lymphas Langia perennes. 

113 la figlia di Tiresia. .There is a difficulty here, because the 

only daughter of Tiresias, named by Statius, or whom Dante could 

have heard of, is Manto, who is placed among the soothsayers in the 

fourth pit of the Malebolge (Inf xx. 52 sqq.) The commentators solve 

the problem in various ways. Blanc (Diet.) and Bianchi say it must be 

one of the other daughters, though in his Erkl. the former points out 

the impossibility of this ; others hold the meaning of ivi to be merely 

'in Plell,' but this will hardly do; while Philalethes boldly assumes 

that Dante, like Homer, has for once taken a nap ; and this is perhaps 

the most reasonable explanation, unless indeed we may suppose that 

there is a wrong reading, of which there seems no evidence.


walls; and already four handmaids of the day were left 

behind, and the fifth was at the. pole of the car, directing 

ever upward its blazing point, when my Leader: ' I think 

that it behoves us to turn our right shoulders to the outer 

edge, circling the mount as we are wont to do.' Thus 

usage was there our guidance, and we took the way with 

less doubt for the assent of that worthy soul. 

They were going in front, and I solitary behind, and I 

was listening to their talk, which gave me understanding to 

sing. But soon the pleasant converse was broken by a tree 

which we found in mid-road, with apples sweet and good to 

smell. And as a fir-tree grows less by degrees upward, 

E gia le quattro ancelle eran del giorno 

Rimase addietro, e la quinta era al temo 

Drizzando pure in su 1' ardente corno, 120 

Quando il mio Duca: Io credo ch' alio stremo 

Le destre spalle volger ci convegna, 

Girando il monte come far solemo. 

Cosi r usanza fu 11 nostra insegna : 

E prendemmo la via con men sospetto. 

Per r assentir di quell' anima degna. 

Elli givan dinanzi, ed io soletto 

Diretro, ed ascoltava i lor sermoni, 

Ch' a poetar mi davano intelletto. 

Ma tosto ruppe le dolci ragioni 130 

Un' alber che trovammo in mezza strada. 

Con pomi ad odorar soavi e buoni. 

E come abete in alto si digrada 

113 I.e. it was now between ten and eleven A.M. , Cf for the 

expression xii. 81. The metaphor here seems a Httle confiised., 

133 There is no reason to imagine this tree as growing downwards, 

in the fashion represented by the picture in the Venice edition of 1578.


from branch to branch, so that downward; I think in order 

that no one may go up. On the side upon which our road 

was closed, fell from the lofty rock a clear liquor, and 

spread itself over the leaves. The two poets drew near the 

tree, and a voice within the leaves cried: ' Of this food 

ye shall have dearth.' Then it said: ' Mary thought more 

how the wedding should be honourable and complete, than 

Di ramo iri ramo, cosi quello in giuso, 

Cred' io perchfe persoua su uori vada. 

Dal lato onde il cammin nostro era chiuso, 

Cadea dall' alta roccia un liquor chiaro, 

E si spandeva per le foglie suso. 

Li due poeti all' alber s' appressaro; 

Ed una voce per entro le fronde 140 

Gridb : Di questo cibo avrete caro : 

Poi disse: Piii pensava Maria, onde 

Fosser le nozze orrevoli ed intere, 

Blanc's explanation seems perfectly satisfactory : ' Dieser Baum hat 

nicht, wie die Tanne, unten die starksten Zweige, sondern seine Zweige 

sind unten diinn und schwach, und werden nach den Gipfel zu immer 

starker.' It is curious, however, that Littre, s.v. cime, quotes irom a 

mystery play of the twelfth century the folio-wing lines, which appear 

to refer to the mountain of Paradise : 

Li arbre qui cheu seront 

Se dresseront tuit centre mont: 

A mont torneront lor racines, 

Centre terre seront les cymes. 

133 per le foglie suso. 'Nichts wefter heiszt, als iiber die Bliitter 

verbreitete es sich, gerade wie xxiii. 69.' —Blanc, su per is httle 

more than equivalent to Lat. super, e.g. Inf viii. 10. 

"1 There appears to be an allusion to St. John iv. 13. caro, for carestia, 

is common in early Italian, e.g. Villani vii. 3, and elsewhere. 

Later, aver caro di seems, like our ' want,' to have got the meaning 

'to wish.'


of her mouth, which answers now for you. And the Roman 

women of old time for their drink were content with water, 

and Daniel held food of low price, and acquired wisdom. 

The first age was as gold beautiful; it made with hunger 

acorns savorous, and nectar with thirst every brook. 

Honey and locusts were the viands which nourished the 

Baptist in the desert; wherefore he is glorious, and so great 

as by the Gospel is revealed to you.' 

Ch' alia sua bocca, ch' or per voi risponde : 

E le Romane antiche per lor bere 

Contente furon d' acqua: e Daniello 

Dispregib cibo, ed acquistb savere. 

Lo secol primo quant' oro fu bello ;"" 

Fe' savorose con fame le ghiande, 

E nettare con sete ogni ruscello. 150 

Mele e locuste furon le vivande 

Che nudriro il Batista nel diserto : 

Perch' egli fe glorioso, e tanto grande, 

Quanto per 1' Evangeho v' fe aperto." 

che quant' or' fu W. ^ n' i aperto Gg. Cass. 1234. 

"5 Val. Max. ii. I. § 5 : Vini usus olim Romanis feminis ignotus 

fuit. 

i°i Sa viande flit miei et langoustes.—Tresor i. 2. chap. 66.

CANTO XXIII 

ARGUMENT 

As they wait by the tree, they are overtaken by souls who are expiating 

the sin of gluttony. These, are lean with hunger; and amongst 

them Dante sees Forese Donati, with whom he converses, and 

who foretells evil to the women of Florence for their excessive 

wantonness. 

WHILE I was fixing my eyes through the green leaves in 

such wise as he is wont to do who wastes his life after the 

little bird, my more than father began to say to me: ' Son, 

come now, for the time that is assigned to us must be more 

usefully apportioned.' I turned my gaze, and my pace not 

MENTRE che gli occhi per la fronda verde 

Ficcava io cosi, come far suole 

Chi dietro all' uccellin sua vita perde,^ 

Lo piii che Padre mi dicea: Figliuole, 

Vieni oramai, chfe il tempo che c' fe imposto, 

Piii utilmente compartir si vuole. 

Io volsi il viso, e il passo non men tosto 

=• agli uccellini Cass. ; uccellin W. 

* figliuole. Bianchi says that this form occurs in prose, but gives 

no example, nor is it mentioned by either Diez or Corticelli. It seems 

best to take it with Blanc as a vocative.

CANTO XXIII PURGATORY 279 

less quickly after the sages, who were talking so that they 

made going of no cost to me. And one was heard to weep 

and chant, Labia mea Domine, in such fashion that it gave 

birth to dehght and grief. ' O sweet Father, what is that 

which I hear ?' I began; and he : ' Shades which go, perchance 

loosing the knot of their debt.' As do the pilgrims 

full of thought when overtaking by the way folk unknown, 

that they turn round to them and stay not; so as they caipe 

behind us with more rapid motion, and passed, was gazing 

at us, silent and devout, a crowd of souls. In the eyes was 

each dark and hollow, pale in the face, and so wasted that 

the skin took its form from the bones. I do not believe 

Appresso ai savi, che parlavari sie 

Che 1' aridar mi facean di nullo costo': 

Ed ecco piangere e cantar s' udie, 10 

Labia mea Domine, per modo 

Tal che diletto e doglia parturie. 

O dolce Padre, che fe quel ch' io odo ? 

Comincia' io : ed egli: Ombre che vanno 

Forse di lor dover solvendo il nodo. 

Si come i peregrin pensosi fanno, 

Giugnendo per cammin gente non nota, 

Che si volgono ad essa e non ristanno; 

Cosi diretro a noi, piii tosto mota, 

Venendo e trapassando, ci ammirava 20 

D' anime turba tacita e devota. 

Negli occhi era ciascuna oscura e cava, . 

Pallida nella faccia, e tanto scema 

Che dall' ossa la pelle s' informava. 

3 The pleasure of hearing them repaid the labour. 

11 Labia mea Domine. Ps. li. 15, with allusion to the glutton's 

abuse of his lips to sin.


that when his hide alone' was left, Erisichthon became so 

dried by hunger, when he most had fear of it. I began to 

say within myself, thinking: ' Lo the folk who lost Jerusalem 

when Mary set her teeth in her son!' Their eye-hollows 

appeared rings without gems: whoso reads OMO in the face 

of men, there would have well recognised the M. Who 

would have believed that the scent of an apple would so 

Non credo che cosi a buccia strema 

Erisiton si fusse fatto secco 

Per digiunar, quando piii n' ebbe tema. 

Io dicea fra me stesso pensando : Ecco 

La gente che perdfe Gerusalemme, 

Quando Maria nel figlio dife di becco. 30 

Parean 1' occhiaie anella senza gemme. 

Chi nel viso degli uomini legge omo. 

Bene a-vria quivi conosciuto 1' emme. 

Chi crederebbe che 1' odor d' un pomo 

^3 For the story of Erisichthon, see Ov. Met. viii. 738 sqq. 

^ Some take tema as ='cause,' 'ground'; Lat. thema, but this, as 

Blanc points out, is unsatisfactory; nor does there seem any difficulty 

about the usual rendering. 

,3° Josephus relates that, during the siege of Jerusalem, a woman 

named Mary was constrained by hunger to eat her own child. Cf. 

Deuter. xxviii. 57. In the Italian version of the Tresor, bk. ii. ch. 

5, the incident is referred to; but the passage does not occur in 

the original French. dife di becco, cf. dar di piglio, di morso, 

di cozzo, etc., see note to i. 49. Philalethes boldly renders 

' schnabel.' 

3^ The poet Dante, in his view of Purgatory, found gluttons so 

meagre and extenuated, that he conceited them to have been in the siege 

of Jerusalem, and that it was easy to have discovered Homo or Omo in 

their faces : M being made by the two lines of their cheeks arching over 

the eyebrows to the nose, and their sunk eyes making 00, which makes 

up Omo.—îx T. Browne, Hydriotaphia.

XXIII PURGATORY 281 

have ordered, begetting a longing, and that of a stream, if 

he knew not how ? I was already in act to look what so 

hungered them, by reason of the occasion, not yet manifest, 

of their leanness, and of their sorry scurf; and lo! from 

the depth of its head a shade turned its eyes on me, and 

gazed fixedly; then cried aloud: ' What grace, I pray, is 

this?' Never should I have recognised him by the face, 

but in his voice became clear to me that which the aspect 

Si governasse, generando brama,'' 

E quel d' un' acqua, non sapendo como ? '^ 

Gik era in ammirar che si gli affama 

Per la cagione ancor non manifesta 

Di lor magrezza e di lor trista squama: 

Ed ecco del profondo della testa 40 

Volse a me gli occhi un' ombra, e guardb fiso, 

Poi gridb forte : Qual grazia m' fe questa ? 

Mai non 1' avrei riconosciuto al viso : 

Ma nella voce sua mi fu palese 

Cib che r aspetto in sfe avea conquiso.'' 

b governando generasse 5. '^ E quel dunque 145. 

^ I' aspetto suo av. Gg. 

33 Both for sense and for construction cf xxii. 30. 

33 squama. The 'desquamation' of the skin is a well-known 

symptom of extreme starvation. See, for example. The Times of 

July 17, 1877, containing a report of the famine in the Madras Presidency. 

Dante may have observed it in some of the frequent famines of 

that time. 

^ mi seems here to be a ' dativus ethicus.' 'Was wird mir da fiir 

Gnade !'—Philalethes. See Diez in. 59. There is possibly a reminiscence 

of the 'unde hoc mihi' of St. Luke i. 43. 

^ conquiso. ' Conquidere importunare, turbare,' says Fanfani; 

but, as Blanc points out, there is no need here for any meaning other 

than that of Fr. conquis. avea conquiso is not exactly a pluperfect 

(cf xviii. 51, xix. 16); rather, conquiso is in apposition with che, oife 

being ' his identity.'


held subdued in itself. This spark rekindled in me all my 

knowledge towards the altered lip, and I beheld again the 

face of Forese. ' Ah ! look not narrowly upon the dry scab 

which discolours my skin,' he began to pray, ' nor upon any 

lack of flesh that I have; but tell me the truth of thyself 

and who are those two souls who there make escort for 

thee; delay not thou to speak to me.' ' Thy face, which 

Questa favilla tutta mi raccese 

Mia conoscenza alia cambiata labbia, 

E ravvisai la faccia di Forese. 

Deh non contendere all' asciutta scabbia, 

Che mi scolora, pregava, la pelle, 50 

Nfe a difetto di carne ch' io abbia. 

Ma dimmi il ver di te, e chi son quelle " 

Due anime che lk ti fanno scorta : 

Non rimaner che tu non mi favelle. 

"5 di chi Gg. Cass. 1234. 

*3 Forese Donati, brother of Corso and Piccarda (Par. iii. 49) and 

kinsman of Dante's vfife Gemma. (Landino, by the way, absurdly 

confuses Corso with Francesco d' Accorso, the jurist, who is mentioned 

Inf. XV. Vellutello goes fiirther, and makes Forese brother of Accorso 

himself, who died some forty years before Dante was born.)' 

^ Blanc in his Dictionary makes an unnecessary difficulty about 

contendere, and ends by taking it in ' the Latin sense' of ricusare, comparing 

Inf xvi. 29. But the usual rendering is in fact much more in 

accordance with Latin. See for example Hor. 1 Ep. i. 28 : non possis 

oculis quantum contendere Lynceus; and cf Lucr. iv. '802. 'Stare 

ammirativo.'—Vellutello. 

^ Notice ch' io abbia, not ch' io ho, though just before we have 

che scolora. But the meaning is not quite the same. It is a difetto, 

not al difetto; the fact being that^the construction is somewhat confused 

by the exigences of metre. But the point to which attention is drawn 

is in the one case,the existence of the scabbia, in the other the amount 

of the difetto. Philalethes renders, ' achte nicht auf jene Schuppen die 

meine Haul verfarben, noch drauf, dass ich . . . Mangel leide."


being dead I once wept for, gives me now no less pain 

of sorrow,' I answered him, 'when I see it so distorted. 

Wherefore tell me, in God's name, what strips you so; 

make me not speak while I am marvelling, for ill can he 

speak who is full of other wish.' And he to me : ' Of the 

eternal counsel descends virtue into the water and into the 

plant which is left behind us, whereby I am thus made lean. 

All this folk who sing weepirig, for followirig their appetite 

beyorid measure, iu huuger arid in thirst are here agairi 

becoming holy. The odour which issues from the apple, 

and from the spray which spreads itself over the greenery, 

kindles in us care of drink and food. And not once 

La faccia tua, ch' io lagrimai gik morta, 

Mi dk di pianger mo non minor doglia, 

Rispos' io lui, veggendola si torta. 

Perb mi di', per Dio, che si -vi sfogha ;^ 

Non mi far dir, mentr' io mi maraviglio; 

Chfe mal pub dir chi fe pien d' altra voglia. 60 

Ed egli a me : Dell' eterno consiglio 

Cade virtii nell' acqua e nella pianta 

Rimasa addietro^ ond' io si mi spttiglio. 

Tutta esta gente che piangendo canta. 

Per seguitar la gola oltre misura, 

In fame e in sete qui si rifk santa. 

Di bere e di mangiar n' accende cura 

L' odor ch' esce del pomo e dello sprazzo 

Che si distende su per la verdura.^ 

E non pure una volta, questo spazzo 70 

f spoglia Gg. Cass. s discende Gg. Cass. 

7" Probably meaning only that there were more trees than one; a 

' second is mentioned in the next Canto. It may, however, if the comma


only as we circle this course does our pain renew itself; 

I say pain and I ought to say solace; for that Will leads 

us to the tree which led Christ with joy to say, "Eli," 

when He freed us with His blood.' And I to him: ' Forese, 

from that day in the which thou didst change world to a 

better life, five years have not passed up to now. If the 

power of sinning more was ended in thee before the hour 

Girando, si rinfresca nostra pena : 

Io dico pena, e dovria dir soUazzo : 

Chfe quella voglia all' arbore ci mena,'^ 

Che meno Cristo lieto a dire Eli, 

Quando ne libero con la sua vena. 

Ed io a lui: Forese, da quel di, 

Nel qual mutasti mondo a miglior vita,' 

Cinqu' anni non son volti insino a qui. 

Se prima fu la possa in te finita 

•> ali albori Cass.; aglalberi Gg. ' mut. modo Gg. 

after volta be omitted, mean that the circuit had to be made more than 

once. 

73 voglia. Nearly all the commentators take this in much the same 

sense as the talento of xxi. 64, and explain ' as Christ desired to expiate 

the sins of men, so we to .expiate our sins.' But this is surely a false 

parallel, and it seems better to take voglia to mean 'the will of God,' 

with an .allusion to ' not my will but thine be done.' The Ottimo seems 

to see this also, though the note is somewhat rambling. 

77 Not as it is usually rendered 'Didst exchange the world>r a 

better life.' Dante is very careful about his use of articles; and besides, 

we should have had/cr, not a. mutare mondo is like 'mutar parte' 

in Inf. xxvii. 51, or 'mutar lato' xi. 102; Lat. 'mutare sedes,' 

'urbem,' etc. Cf Petr. Son. cccii. 'Contenta aver cangiato albergo.' 

I am aware that my rendering is somewhat awkward; but ' change 

worid' may be defended on the analogy of such expressions as ' change 

front,' etc. 

73 ' If you did not repent until infirmity put an end to your power of


came on of the kindly pain which re-weds us to God, 

how art thou come thus high ? I thought to find thee still 

yonder below, where time by time repairs itself.' Wherefore 

he to me : ' My Nella, with her bursts of weeping, has 

brought me thus speedily to drink the sweet wormwood of 

the torments. With her devout prayers and with sighs she 

has drawn me from the coast where one waits, and has 

freed me from the other circles. My widow, whom much 

1 loved, is the' more dear to God, and more beloved, 

Di peccar piii, che sorvenisse 1' ora 80 

Del buon dolor ch' a Dio ne rimarita, 

Come sei tu quassii venuto ? Ancora'' 

Io ti credea tro-var laggiii di sotto, 

Dove tempo per tempo si ristora.' 

Ond' egli a me: Si tosto m' ha condotto 

A ber lo dolce assenzio dei martiri 

La Nella mia col suo pianger dirotto. 

Con suoi prieghi devoti e con sospiri 

Tratto m' ha della costa ove s' aspetta, 

E liberato m' ha degli altri giri. 90 

Tant' fe a Dio piii cara e piii diletta 

La vedovella mia che molto amai, 

k di qua Aid. Land.; venuto ancora? Cass. Aid, Land, 

1 tema per tema 124. 

sinning more [cf. xi. 90J, how is it that you have not had to wait longer 

at the foot of the mountain?' [cf. iv. 130 sqq.] The 'buon dolor' I 

take to be merely death. 

32 The reading venuto ancora ? involves taking ancora as equivalent 

to gih, for which there seems no authority; though, as non ancora is 

the negative of gih, and vice versa, it is possible that the meaning of 

' banc horam' may not yet have been definitely restricted to a fiiture 

signification. 

*> Cf. iv. 131.


in proportion as in good works she is solitary; for the 

Barbagia of Sardiriia is in its womeri far more chaste than 

the Barbagia where I left her. O sweet brother, what 

wouldst thou that I say ? A time to come have I already 

in view, whereat this hour shall not be very ancient, in 

which it shall be forbidden in pulpit to the uublushing 

dames of Florence to go showing the bosom with the paps. 

Quanto in bene operare fe piii soletta: 

Chfe la Barbagia di Sardigna assai 

Nelle femmine sue fe piu pudica, 

Che la Barbagia dov' io la lasciai. 

O dolce frate, che vuoi tu ch' io dica ? 

Tempo futuro m' fe gik nel cospetto, 

Cui non sark quest' ora molto antica, 

Nel qual sark in pergamo interdetto loo 

Alle sfacciate donne Florentine 

L' andar mostrando con le poppe il petto. 

"* Barbagia is a district in the south of Sardinia. The inhabitants 

are said to have been originally called Barbaricini, and to have sprung 

from a settlement of prisoners (probably firom Africa) by the Vandals. 

At this time they formed a semi-savage tribe, independent of the jurisdiction 

of the Pisans or any other. The mention of Saracens in 1. 103 

seems to suggest that they may fiave been regarded as the remainder of 

those who at one time occupied the island. See Philalethes's note. 

According to an authority quoted by Witte, the fashion of baring the 

bosom seems to have continued among the women of this district almost 

to the present time. 

1 The Ottimo, apparently crediting Dante with real prophetic 

powers, says that this denunciation from the pulpit occurred in 1351. 

The reference of Philalethes to VUlani ix. 245 is not much more to the 

point, as the ordinance therein recorded was made in 1324. Severe 

sumptuary laws seem also to have been passed in 1329 (Vill. x. 153); 

and in vi. 69, the historian compares the ancient simphcity with the 

luxury of this time, much as Cacciaguida does in Par. xv. 100 sqq. He 

does not, however, distinctly mention any ecclesiastical or other censure 

to which Forese's words might refer.


What women of Barbary, what Saracens were ever, for 

whom there needed, to make them go covered, either 

spiritual or other discipline? But if the shameless ones 

were well informed of that sheaf which the swift heaven is 

binding for them, already would they have their mouths 

open to howl. For, if my foresight here deceives me not, 

they will be sorrowful, ere he clothes with hair his cheeks 

who now is comforted with lullaby. Ah brother ! see now 

that thou hTde thee no more from me; thou seest that not 

only I, but all this folk are gazing at that place where thou 

screenest the Sun.' Wherefore I to him : ' If thou recall to 

thy mind what thou wast with me and what I was with thee, 

Quai Barbare fur mai, quai Saracine, 

Cui bisognasse, per farle ir coverte, 

O spiritali o altre discipline ? 

Ma se le svergognate fosser certe 

Di quel che il ciel veloce loro ammanna, 

Gik per urlare avrian le bocche aperte. 

Chfe se r aritiveder qui non m' inganna, 

Prima fien triste che le guance impeli no 

Colui che mo si consola con nanna. 

Deh frate, or fa che piii non mi ti cell: 

Vedi che non pur io, ma questa gente 

Tutta rimira lk dove il sol veli. 

Perch' io a lui: Se ti riduci a mente, 

Qual fosti meco e quale io teco fui, 

" Di cib che Gg. 

"2 With allusion to lines 52, 59. 

115-117 sj tu recordaris modo eorum quae dicebamus et faciebamus 

vane vacando lasciviis, amoribus, et aliis rebus vanis, sequentes delectabilia 

non honesta, certe talis memoria erit amara tibi.—Benv. Those 

who contend that the faults which -Dante presently confesses with tears


Still will the present remembrance be grievous. From that 

life he who goes before me turned me the other day, when 

round the sister of him there showed herself (and I showed 

the Sun). ' He has brought me through the deep night of 

those dead indeed, with this true flesh which follows him. 

Thence his succour has led me up, ascending and circling 

the mountain which straightens you whom the world made 

crooked. So long he speaks of bearing me company, till 

Ancor fia grave il memorar presente. 

Di quella vita mi volse costui, 

Che mi va innanzi, 1' altr' ier, quando tonda 

Vi si mostrb la suora di colui, r2o 

E il sol mostrai. Costui per la profonda 

Notte menato m' ha dei veri morti 

Con questa vera carne che il seconda." 

Indi m' han tratto su li suoi. conforti, 

Salendo e rigirando la montagna ° 

Che drizza voi che il mondo fece torti. 

Tanto dice di farmi sua compagna, 

^ viva carne Gg. " riguardando Gg. Cass. 

before Beatrice were merely ' aberrations from the revealed truth into 

the paths of philosophy and human knowledge' (Moore), can hardly 

have considered all that these few words seem to imply. 

113 1' altr' ier = literally ' the other yesterday'; not of course in 

its modern sense of ' the day before yesterday.' quando tonda, etc.: 

cf Inf XX. 127. This portion of the poem is remarkable for a curious 

variation on Dante's usual descriptive style. He introduces in 11. 121 

and 131 of this Canto, and 19 and 89 of the next, short parentheses, 

almost like stage directions, to describe some gesture of the speaker. 

There is another instance in xxvi. 116. It will be observed that it is 

only in the sixth and seventh .circles that the shades have the free use of 

eyes and limbs. Hitherto one or the other has always been under 

some constraint.

XXIII PURGATORY .289 

I am there where Beatrice will be; there it behoves that I 

remain without him. Virgil is this who thus speaks to me ' 

(and I pointed to him), 'and this other is that shade, for 

whom erewhile your realm, which is discharging him from 

itself, shook every crag.' 

Ch' io sarb lk dove fia Beatrice : ^ 

Quivi convien che senza lui rimagna. 

Virgilio fe questi che cosi mi dice: 130 

E additai lo: e quest' altro fe quell' ombra 

Per cui scosse dianzi ogni pendice 

Lo vostro regno, che da sfe la sgombra. 

- P done sarb, Gg. 

U

CANTO XXIV 

ARGUMENT 

Sixth circle continued. Dante has further talk with Forese, who points 

out Pope Martin IV. and others. Bonagiunta of Lucca prophesies 

to him concerning his exile ; and also speaks of the new art of 

poetry. They pass on, hearing instances of the ills wrought by 

the sin of gluttony; and presently reach a very bright angel, who 

shows them the passage to the next circle. 

SPEECH made not going, nor going speech more slow; but 

in our converse we were going stoutly, as a ship urged by a 

good wind. And the shades which seemed things twice 

dead, through the pits of their eyes kept drawing in wonder 

at me, being made aware of my living. And I, in con- 

Ni il dir 1' andar nfe 1' andar lui piii lento 

Facea, ma ragionando andavam forte. 

Si come nave pinta da buon vento. 

E r ombre, che parean cose rimorte, 

Per le fosse degli occhi ammirazione 

Traean di me, di mio vivere accorte. 

Ed io continuando il mio sermone 

^ andavam forte. Cf xxi. 19. 

7 continuando, from the words with which the last Canto ends.

CANTO XXIV PURGATORY 291 

tinuance of my discourse, said: 'He goes his.way upward 

perchance slower than he would do, for the sake of another. 

But tell me, if thou knowest, where is Piccarda; tell me if 

I see any persou to remark among this folk who so gaze ori 

me.' ' My sister, who, betweeri fair arid -good, was I 

kriow not which the most, triumphs already, joyful of her 

crown, in the high Olym-pus.' So said he first. And then : 

'Here it is not forbidden to name each one, since our 

likeness is so pressed out by reason of our fare. This' 

(and he showed with his finger) 'is Bonagiunta—Bonagiunta 

Dissi: Ella sen va su fprse piii tarda, 

Che non farebbe, per 1' altrui cagione. 

Ma dimmi, se tu sai, dov' fe Piccarda'; ro 

Dimmi, s' io veggio da notar persona 

Tra questa gente che si mi riguarda. 

La mia sorella che tra bella e buona 

Non so qual fosse piii, trionfa lieta 

Nell' alto Olimpo gik di sua corona. 

Si disse prima; e poi: Qui non si vieta 

. Di nominar ciascun, da ch' fe si munta 

Nostra sembianza via per la dieta. 

Questi, e mostrb col dito, fe Bonagiunta, 

3 ella, sc, anima, as elsewhere. 

^ altrui: Dante himself 

17 I have followed the general interpretation of munta here, and no 

doubt mugnere is usually mulgere, as in xiii. 57; but mungere would 

give a better sense here—'-wiped away.' There seems, however, ho 

instance of this. 

13 Bonagiunta of Lucca is mentioned De Vulg. El. i. -13, among 

those who wrote in their local dialects. He was of the family of the 

Orbicciani. Ginguene mentions two poets of the name, both ecclesiastics, 

one secular and the other regular. It is the former who is here 

introduced.


of Lucca—and that face beyond him, more seamed than 

the others, had the Holy Church in its anns. He was of 

Tours, and through fasting purges the eels of Bolsena, and 

the strong white wine.' Many others he showed me one 

by one; and with their naming all appeared content, so 

Bonagiunta da Lucca : e quella faccia 20 

Di la da lui, piii che 1' altre trapunta, 

Ebbe la santa Chiesa in le sue braccia: 

Dal Torso fu, e purga per digiuno 

L' anguille di Bolsena e la vernaccia. 

Molti altri mi mostrb ad uno ad uno: 

E del nomar parean tutti contenti, 

^1 trapunta. ' Trapunto, lavoro fatto col punto d' ago; ricamo.' 

—Diet. Cr. Here it explains by ' stenuato,' a sense which it is not 

easy to obtain from the literal meaning of the word. 

^^ I.e. was Pope, and therefore husband of the Church (cf xix. 137). 

It is Martin IV. who was Pope from January 25, 128^- to March 24, 

I28|.. Villani (vii. 106), obviously by a clerical error, gives the latter 

year as 1285 (O.S.); and the matter has been further confused by the 

fact that some historians seem to have partly overlooked the change of 

style, so that his Papacy has been made, e.g. by Philalethes, to last a year 

too long. His name was Simon de Brie. He was canon of St. Martin 

of Tours, and obtained the tiara by the aid of Charles of Anjou, with 

whom the pre-vious Pope Nicholas III. had not been on good terms. 

Though he did his best for the French cause he was unable to prevent 

the reverses which befell Charles in his later years. His reign opened 

with the Sicilian Vespers, and before the end of it his patron was dead 

of grief, leaving his son a prisoner in the hands of his enemies. Villani 

speaks well of Martin IV., and does not mention his gluttonous propensity, 

which, .however, is testified to by various anecdotes. 

^ vernaccia, Sp. gamacha, means a certain choice grape, and the 

wine made from it; also a drink of wine and honey. In the Decameron, 

however (Day x. Nov. 2), Ghino di Tacco gives the Abbot of 

Cluny dry toast and vernaccia in order to restore his health, impah-ed 

by too much good living; so that in that case it would seem to be some 

less choice wine. Here, too, as Pope Martin is said to have dro-wned 

his eels in the wine, it may be doubted if he would have used the best 

wine for that purpose. Philalethes has ' Firnewein.'

XXIV PURGATORY 293 

that I saw not therefore one surly gesture. Using for very 

hunger their teeth on emptiness I saw Ubaldino of La Pila, 

and Boniface, who shepherded many peoples with his staff. 

I saw Master Marchese, who once had room to drink at 

Forli with less thirst, and even so was such that he felt 

himself not sated. But as he does who looks, and then 

Si ch' io perb non vidi un atto bruno. 

Vidi per fame a vuoto usar li denti 

Ubaldin dalla Pila, e Bonifazio 

Che pasturb. col rocco molte genti. 30 

Vidi Messer Marchese, ch' ebbe spazio 

Gik di bere a Forli cori meri secchezza, 

E si fu tal che rion si senti sazio. 

Ma come fa chi guarda, e poi fa prezza " 

^ s' apprezza Cass. 124; si prezza W. ; e non sip. 3. 

^ Ubaldino (of Pila, a castle in the Mugello, or upper valley of the 

Sieve) belonged to the powerful.Ghibeline family of the Ubaldini. 

Philalethes finds that he was father of Archbishop Roger of Pisa (Inf.. 

xxxiii.), brother of Cardinal Octavian (Inf. x.. 120, if it be he who 

is there intended), and uncle of Ugolino d' Azzo (xiv. 105). There is 

more variance of opinion as to.. the identity of Boniface,, who was 

Archbishop • of Ravenna, 1274-1295. The Ottimo says nothing; 

Landino says, ' fu francioso'; Vellutello makes him son to Ubaldino ; 

Philalethes, however, finds them both in error, and believes him to 

have been of the family of the Fieschi, and nephew of Pope Innocent 

IV. He was employed by Honorius IV. to settle the quarrel between 

France and Aragon. 

33 rocco. There is a question whether the word means here 

'rochet,' or 'pastoral staff.' I have preferred the latter, as giving a 

better sense, following herein Blanc and Bianchi; Philalethes translates 

' Priesterrock,'but is not positive. See also Glossary, s.v. 'Rocco.' 

31, Messer Marchese of Forli, according to Landino and others, 

belonged to the family of the Rigogliosi, but even this is uncertain. 

The story goes that ' dicendo il canovaio, che' per tutto si dicea, che 

non facea mai altro che bere, rispose ridendo, Perchfe non dicon essi 

ch' io ho sempre sete ?'—Landino.


takes account more of one than another, did I to him of 

Lucca, who more appeared to wish acquaintance of me. 

He was muttering; and some ' Gentucca ' I heard, in that 

place where he felt the stroke of the justice which so plucks 

Piii d' un che d' altro, fe' io a quel da Lucca, 

Che piii parea di me voler contezza.*" 

Ei mormorava; e non so che Gentucca 

Sentiva io lk ov' ei sentia la piaga 

Delia giustizia che si gli pilucca. 

*> di me aver Cass. W. ; veder 14. 

33 voler gives so much the best sense that I have adopted it, rather 

against authority, contezza, cf xx. 29. 

37 Gentucca. This word has puzzled commentators as much as 

anything in the whole poem. Two explanations have been proposed : 

(3) Benvenuto and the Ottimo take the word as equivalent to gentuccia, 

' low or common folk,' and' the former understands'it as an allusion to 

the injurious expressions used by Dante of Lucca in Inf. xvi., while the 

latter, faking ' non so che' as part of the speaker's words, sees in them 

a prophecy of the rise of the White party and the ' popolani'; (/') that 

Gentucca was the name of a Lucchese lady, of whom Dante was said 

to be enamoured, platonically or otherwise. This is the view of Buti, 

Landino, etc. Blanc agrees with Benvenuto, because Gentucca is not 

found elsewhere as a proper name, and, moreover, Dante would not be 

likely to refer to any irregular passion later than the supposed date of 

the Vision. But is gentucca for gentuccia supported by any analogy ? 

and.is there any reason to suppose that Dante's relations -with the 

femmina of 1. 43 were other than honourable? Moreover, 'Troya 

(Veltro Allegorico) states, that there actually was a Lucchese lady with 

that name living in 1300. Her claim, however, must be set aside, as 

she appears to have been adult; but Professor Bartoli finds another, 

and gives good reason for thinking that she may be the person here 

alluded to. On the whole, Philalethes seems justified in calling Ben- 

-venuto's view 'sehr abenteuerlich,' and in preferring, -with Bianchi, 

the other, and, as I venture to think, at once simpler and more poetical 

explanation of this difficult passage. 

33 la, i. e. between his lips. No one English word, I think, renders 

adequately the double sentiva. ' Perceived ' perhaps comes nearest. 

33 pilucca, a similar metaphor to 'si vi sfoglia,' xxiii. 58.


them. ' O soul,' said I, ' that seems so desirous to speak 

with me, do so that I may understand thee, and. satisfy. 

thyself and me with thy speech.' 'A woman is born, 

and wears not yet the wimple,' he began, 'who shall.make 

my city please thee, in what fashion soe-yer men may. 

blame it. Thou shalt go thy way with this presage : if in 

my muttering thou didst receive error, the truth of things 

shall yet make it clear to thee. But say, if I see here 

him who drew forth the new rimes beginning, " Ladies who 

understanding have of love."' And I to him: ' I am one 

O anima, diss', io, che par si vaga 40. 

Di parlar meco; fa si ch' io t' intenda; 

E te e me col tuo parlare appaga.'^ 

Femmina fe nata, e non porta ancor benda, 

Comincib ei, che ti fara piacere 

La mia cittk, come ch' uom la riprenda.'' 

Tu te n' andrai con questo antivedere: 

Se nel mio mormorar prendesti errore,^ 

Dichiareranti ancor le cose vere. 

Ma di' s' io veggio qui colui che fuore 

Trasse le nuove rime, cominciando, 50 

Donne, ch' avete intelletto d' amore. 

Ed io a lui: Io mi son un che, quando 

c del tuo Gg. ^ come V uom Gg. " Sedel Gg. 

•"3. femmina. The Ottimo identifies her with the Alagia of xix. 142 

(as an alternative to the symbolical interpretation already mentioned), 

who is said to have been married to Moroello Malaspina. The benda 

was the headdress of married women and (as in viii. 74) of widows. 

^ This line seems to dispose of Benvenuto's explanation given above. 

There is a clear opposition between the pleasure which Lucca will give 

to Dante, and the hard things said of it, not by him—as if that were 

right we should expect—but by others. 

31 The beginning of the first Canzone in the Vita Nuova.


who mark when Love inspires, and in that fashion which he 

dictates within, go setting it forth.' 'O brother, now I 

see,' said he, 'the knot which held back the Notary, and 

Guittone, and myself, short of the sweet new style which I 

hear. I see well how your pens go along straitly after 

Amore spira, noto, ed a quel modo, 

Ch' ei detta dentro, vo significando. 

O frate, issa vegg' io, diss' egli, il nodo,^ 

Che il Notaio e Guittone e me ritenne 

Di quk dal dolce stil nuovo ch' i' odo.^ 

Io veggio ben come le vostre penne 

Diretro al dittator sen vanno strette, 

' disse, il n. "^ W. s el nuovo chiodo Cass. 3 ; il n. c. 124. 

^ noto. The Ottimo absurdly takes this with spira, • when Love 

blows full south,' and thereupon gives a long account of the names of 

the different winds ! 

3^ issa, Lombard for ora. Cf. Inf xxvii. 21. Landino, after Buti, 

says it is a Lucchese idiom, for which he is severely reproved by Vellutello, 

who defends- the purity of his native dialect at the expense of the 

Florentine. Benvenuto has here ' e '1 nuovo chiodo, idest, retinaculum 

' (!); a very odd confusion. To 1. 57, though he seems to have the 

correct reading, he has no gloss to the last four words. 

33 il Notaio.' Jacopo, of Lentino in Sicily, one of the early writers 

of sonnets and canzoni, seems to have flourished about the middle of 

the thirteenth century. Ginguene gives several specimens of his verses, 

a good many of which are extant. The two last quotations in Vulg. El. 

i. 12 are from him. Guittone d' Arezzo, one of the brotherhood of Frati 

Godenti, has the credit of having, if not invented, at least established 

the sonnet in its regular form. See note to xi. 97. 

37 di qua = Lat. citra. ch' i' odo : Cass, reading e '1 nuovo chiodo, 

translates novum clavum, and explains : ' AUudens vendentibus cartam 

Bononiae, et quaternos cum lineis habentibus certos clavos in se, secundum 

. . . formam librorum et voluminum veterum vel novorum.' 

Another note, however, has ' Quasi diceret, si modo deberem meas 

rimas compillare, modus quem tenes esset clavus meae menti; videlicet 

nunquam scriberem nisi incitatus a corde.'


him who dictates, the which surely did not come to pass 

from ours. And he who sets himself to look beyond this, 

sees no more from the one to the other style.' And as 

though satisfied, he held his peace. 

As the birds that winter along the Nile for a space form in 

the air a troop, then fly more swiftly and go in file, so all the 

folk that were there, turning away their faces, hastened their 

pace; nimble both through leanness and through goodwill. 

And as the man who is weary of running lets his companions 

Che delle nostre certo non avvenne. 60 

E qual piii a guardar oltre si mette,'^ 

Non vede piii dall' uno all' altro stilo. 

E quasi contentato si tacette. 

Come gli augei che vernan lungo il Nilo, 

Alcuna volta in 1' aer fanno schiera,' 

Poi volan piii in fretta e vanno in filo; 

Cosi tutta la geute che li era, 

Volgerido il -viso raffrettb suo passo, 

E per magrezza e per voler leggiera.''^ 

E come 1' uom che di trottare fe lasso, 70 

Lascia andar 11 compagni, e si passeggia 

alii gradir 

'^ piu a gradir (alt. fr. guardar) Gg. ; pu a riguardar Cass. ; a 

rig. piu 124; piii a rig. W. ; piu a gradir T,Ald. 

' nel aeref. riga Cass. ; di sef. s. Benv, ; di lor Aid. Land. Bi. 

"K '^ per volar Cass. Gg. (alt.) 124. 

3° Cf Conv. i. 5: che non a-wiene del volgare. Or as, fare di xxvi. 

124. 

31' 32 See note at the end of this Canto. 

3* Cf. xxvi. 43, Inf v. 46. Dante's images from birds have been 

often noticed. 

71 reading si passeggia. Bianchi reads si, as in mi viva, 1. 76.


go, and so paces on until the panting of his chest is allayed, 

thus Forese let the holy flock pass on, and came along 

behind with me, saying: ' When will it come to pass that 

I see thee again?' 'I know not,' I answered him, 'how 

long I have to live; but never will my return be so speedy 

that I shall not be with my wish sooner at the shore; 

because the place where I was put to live from day to day 

grows thinner of good, and seems ordained to woful ruin.' 

' Go now thy way,' said he, ' for him who has therefore 

Fin che si sfoghi 1' affollar del casso;' 

Si lascib trapassar la santa greggia 

Forese, e dietro meco sen veniva 

Dicendo : Quando fia ch' i' ti riveggia ? 

Non so, risposi lui, quant' io mi viva; 

Ma gik non fia il tornar mio tanto tosto, 

Ch' io non sia col voler prima alia riva. 

Perocchfe il luogo, u' fui a viver posto, 

Di giorno in giorno piii di ben si spolpa, 80 

E a trista ruina par disposto. 

Or va, diss' ei, che quei che piii n' ha colpa, 

^ foga Cass. 14; finchessi sfoga Gg. 

72 casso. So Inf xii. 122 and elsewhere. I have used 'chest,' 

from the similarity of idiom ; but it must not be supposed that ' capsa' 

and ' cista' are etymologically akin. 

73'3i It is curious that Padre d'Aquino omits these three lines ftom his 

Latin version, his usual practice only in regard to attacks on the Pope. 

32 or va. So viii. 133. quei. The commentators agree in understanding 

the reference to be to Corso Donati, though Forese's prophecy 

does not strictly agree with the manner of his death as related by Villani 

(viii. 96) and others, who say that having fled from the city he was 

captured by some Catalonian mercenaries, and chancing to fall, either 

by accident or design, from his horse, was killed by them. This 

happened in 1308. May not the language, however, be metaphorical?


most blame I see dragged at the tail of a beast toward the 

valley where there is no forgiveness. The beast at every 

step goes faster, ever increasing Until it .'strikes him, and 

leaves the body vilely undone. Those wheels' (and. he 

directed his eyes to the heaven) ' have not far to turn for 

that to become clear to thee which my speech cauriot 

make clearer. Now do thou stay behiud, for time is;so 

precious iu this realm, that I lose too much going thus level 

with thee.' 

As issues sometimes at a gallop a horseman from a troop 

which rides, and goes to do himself honour in the first 

assault, so departed he from us with greater strides; and 

Vegg' io a coda d' una bestia tratto 

In ver la valle ove mai non si scolpa. 

La bestia ad ogni passo va piii ratto. 

Crescendo sempre fin ch' ella il percuote, 

E lascia il corpo. vilmente disfatto. 

Non hanno molto a volger quelle ruote, 

E drizzb gli occhi al ciel, che ti fia chiaro ^ 

Cib che il mio dir piii dichiarar non puote. 90 

Tu ti rimani omai, chfe il tempo fe caro 

In questo regno si, ch' io perdo troppo 

Venendo teco si a paro a paro. 

Qual' esce alcuna volta di galoppo 

Lo cavalier di schiera che cavalchi, 

E va per farsi onor del primo intoppo; 

Tal si parti da noi con maggior valchi: 

m ch' a tefia Gg. Aid. Bi. 

Thus the bestia would be the popular party, of which Corso once 

thought himself the head, while he was really being dragged on by 

them, and by which he was ultimately destroyed. Cf belva,,xi^: 62. 

^ As happened actually at Campaldino, notes Philalethes.


I remained in the way with but the two, who were so great 

commanders of the world. And when he was gone so far 

in front of us that my eyes went in pursuit of him in like 

mariner as my mind of his words, there appeared to me the 

laden and living branches of another apple tree, and not 

very far off, seeing that I had but then turned that way. 

I saw folk beneath it raise their hands and cry I know not 

what, towards the leaves; like children that pray, eager and 

unsatisfied, and he who is prayed answers not-; but to 

make their wish be very keen holds their desire on high, 

, Ed io rimasi in via con esso i due," 

Che fur del mondo si gran marescalchi. 

E quando innanzi a noi si entrato fue, loo 

Che gli occhi miei si fero a lui seguaci. 

Come la mente alle parole sue, 

Parvermi i rami gravidi e vivaci 

D' un altro pOmo, e non molto lontani. 

Per esser pure allora volto in laci. 

Vidi gerite sott' esso alzar le mani, 

E gridar non so che verso le fronde, 

Quasi bramosi fantolini e vani,° 

Che pregano, e il pregato hon risponde; 

Ma per fare esser ben lor voglia acuta, no 

Tien alto lor disio, e noi nasconde. 

n con essi due Gg. ° f. o nani Gg. 

33 Notice marescalchi, 'marshals,' already in its modern use of high 

officers. 

I'l I.e. his form was no clearer to my eyes than his words to my 

mind. 

1°' I.e. because we had only just turned the shoulder of the mountain 

sufficiently to come in sight of it. The curve would by this time have 

become sharp.

XXIV PURGATORY 301. 

and hides it riot. Theri they departed, as if uudeceived; 

arid right so came we to the great tree, which rejects so 

many prayers and tears. 'Pass ye on further without 

drawing near; a tree there is higher up which was eaten of 

by Eve, and this plant was raised from it' Thus among 

the branches some one spake; wherefore Virgil, and Statius; 

and I, drawing close together, went further on the side 

vrhere is the rise. 'Bethink ye,'it said, 'of the accursed 

ones formed in the clouds, who, when full fed, fought 

against Theseus with their twofold breasts; and of the 

Hebrews, who at the drinking showed themselves weak, so 

that Gideon would not have them for companions when he 

Poi si parti si come ricreduta : 

E noi venimmo al grande arbore adesso, 

Che tariti prieghi e lagrime rifiuta. 

Trapassate oltre seuza farvi presso : , 

Legno fe piii su che fu morso da Eva, 

E questa pianta si levb da esso. 

Si tra le frasche riOri so chi diceva: 

Per che Virgilio e Stazio ed io ristretti 

Oltre aridavam dal lato che si leva. 120 

Ricordivi, dicea, dei maladetti 

Nei nuvoli formati, che satolli 

Teseo combattfer coi doppj petti: 

E degli Ebrei ch' al ber si mostrar molli, 

Che non.gli voile Gedeon compagni,^ 

P Perche non v' ebbe Cass. 1234 Aid. ; non gli ebbe Bi. ; no' i voile W. 

113 The tree of knowledge, Ca,nto xxxii. 

123 I. e. between the tree and the rock. 

121 The Centaurs, bom of Ixion and a cloud. The allusion is to 

their fight ' super mero' with the Lapithae and Theseus, at the wedding 

of Pirithous. Ov. Met. xii. 210 sqq. 

12" I have followed the reading of Gg., which .seems to give the best 

sense without spoiling the rhythm.


descended the hills toward Midian.' So skirting orie of the 

two edges we passed, hearing faults of gluttony, erewhile 

followed by unhappy gains. Then, spreading out again 

over the solitary road, full a thousand paces: and more we 

bore ourselves further, each contemplating'without a word. 

'Whereof go ye so in thought, ye lone three?' a sudden voice 

said; ..whereat I started, as do beasts affrighted and. timid. 

I raised my head to see who it was, and never was seen 

in furnace glass or metal so shining and ruddy as I saw one 

who was saying: ' If it pleases you to mount upward, here 

it behoves to turn; this way he goes who would go for his 

peace.' His aspect had taken away my sight; wherefore I 

Quando inver Madian discese i coUi.'^ 

Si accostati all' un dei duo vivagni, 

Passaramo udendo colpe della gola 

Seguite gik da miseri guadagni. 

Poi rallargati per la strada sola, 130 

Ben mille passi e piii ci portammo oltre,' 

Qontemplando ciascun senza parola. 

Che andate pensando si voi sol tre ? 

Subita voce disse : ond' io mi scossi. 

Come fan bestie spaventate e poltre. 

Drizzai la testa per veder chi fossi: 

E giammai non si videro in fornace 

Vetri o metalli si lucenti e rossi. 

Com' io vidi un che dicea: S' a voi piace 

Montare in su, qui si convien dar volta : 140 

Quinci si va chi vuole andar per pace.^ 

L' aspetto suo m' avea la vista tolta : 

1 distese Gg. 1234, r ci portar Gg. Cass. W. 

3 montare in p. Gg.


turned back to my teachers, like a man who goes according 

as he hears. Arid as, a herald of the dawn, the breeze of 

May stirs and smells sweet, all impregnate with the grass 

and with the flowers; so felt I a wind touch me amid the 

forehead, and well I heard the plumes move that made me 

perceive the fragrance of ambrosia; and I heard say: 

' Blessed are they whom so great grace illumines, that the 

love of taste makes not too great desire smoke in their 

breasts; hungering always for all that is righteous.' 

Perch' io mi volsi indietro ai miei dottori 

Com' uom che va secondo ch' egli ascolta. 

E quale, annunziatrice degli albori, 

L' aura di Maggio muovesi ed olezza, 

Tutta impregnata dall' erba e dai fiori, 

Tal mi senti' un vento dar per mezza 

La fronte : e ben senti' muover la piuma 

Che fe' sentir d' ambrosia 1' orezza: 150 

E senti' dir: Beati cui alluma 

Tarito di grazia, che 1' amor del gusto 

Nel petto lor troppo disir rion fuma, 

Esurierido sempre quauto fe giusto. 

"3 Compare with this the passage from the third circle, xvii. 67, 

and see note to xxii. 5. 

151,163 Bianchi notes the contrast between alluma and fuma. 

13^ I.e. reserving their hunger for righteousness, not for bodily food. 

Not, I think, 'hungering so far as is right.' Cf S. T. i. 2. Q. 69'. A. 3 : 

sicut Ambrosius dicit: pertinet esuries ad justitiam, quia qui esurit 

compatitur, et compatiendo largitur. 

NOTE TO LINES 6l, 62. 

'Luogo oscurissimo,' says Blanc (in bis Dictionary, s.v. gradire), 

and, it may be added, almost certainly corrupt. In fact the whole of


this passage, from 1. 52 onwards, has, as may be seen from the notes to 

11. '53 and 57, puzzled the commentators terribly. Pietro di Dante 

passes it almost without notice ; Benvenuto is only just better than the 

'quasi.omnes,' who, as he tells us, say 'quod per dictatorem debet 

intelligi Tullius summus dictator et orator' (!); Landino makes good 

enough sense, but one hardly to be extracted from the words, and the 

moderns have mostly followed him. Setting aside slight differences of 

arrangement, there are two readings of 1. 61, both of nearly equal 

authority and both equally difficult to interpret satisfactorily. These 

are ' qual pii a gradir,' and ' qual piii a guardar' or ' riguardar.' In 

two of the three MSS. at Cambridge, each of these readings finds one 

supporter, while the third and best, that which I have called '"Gg.,' 

having originally contained agnardar, now shows an alteration in a 

hand not much later to agrardir (sic). Codex Cassinensis halts 

in much the same way, giving riguardar in the line^ with the variant 

gradir written over it. Some have gridar; among them Benv., 

who attempts no explanation. Of the early editions, 3, Aldus, and 

others, have gradir (Vindelin da Spira having also altrui for oltre), and 

are followed by Lombardi, Blanc, Philalethes (giving, however, a 

different rendering), and Fraticelli; while Bianchi, Scartazzini, and 

Witte, after 124, and Landino, prefer guardar or riguardar. Those 

who take gradire, mostly explain, with Lombardi, 'he who goes 

beyond the leader in the wish to give more pleasure'; but Philalethes, 

following Tommaseo, understands gradire as=Lat. gradior. There 

is, liowever, no authority for the latter rendering, and not much for the 

former, gradire being usually 'to accept,' not 'to give pleasure.' If 

we read riguardar, Bianchi's interpretation is as good as any : ' Chiunque 

si pone a riguardare piu a dentro, chi approfondisce coll' intelletto 

i vostri componimenti.' Either of these, however, has very little connexion 

with what has gone before; but the main difficulty is in the 

next line. There is, as far as I know, no variety of reading here, nor, 

from Landino downwards, much difference of interpretation. Benvenuto, 

Buti, and the Ottimo, give indeed various explanations, which 

greatly need explaining .themselves; but Landino's ' Dante precede 

tanto, che non 'si puo veder tutto lo spatio che e tra lui e chi riman 

dietro,' is intelligible enough, and most commentators since, whatever 

reading of the preceding line they took, have accepted the view that 

1. 62 means literally ' cannot see any more difference between the old 

style [that of artificial conceits, etc.] and the new [that of simply -writing 

as Love prompts].' This rendering no doubt receives some confirmation 

from Infxbc. 113. But granting that the words can bear it, what is 

the connexion of the thought? 'Now I see,' says Bonagiunta, 'wherein 

we of the old school failed as compared with you. I see how you


write as you feel the inspiration, and in obedience only to it; which 

was not our case.' Surely it is a very lame conclusion to say: 'And 

he who tries to please more [or to look further] does not see any other 

difference between the styles.' Scartazzini's suggestion of'gradire altri, 

though (if gradire without a is admissible) it is somewhat supported by 

V.N. § xxv. (colore che rimano sopra altra materia), does not, as he 

fondly thinks, remove the difficulties. 'What we want is something 

like the following: 

' Che qual pur a suo grado oltre si mette 

Non -viene piu dall' uno all' altro stilo.' 

I. e. ' For whoso, merely at his own pleasure, sets himself beyond (does 

not follow) the dittator has no chance of arriving at the new and improved 

style.' This vrill, I think, be found to complete, prettry satisfactorily, 

the thought expressed by Bonagiunta; ^nd the departure from 

either of the received readings is, letter for letter, very small. ' Vade ' 

would be preferable to 'viene,' if there were any instance of such a 

form, which I doubt. The suggestion of a suo grado is in agreement 

with the use on the part of the Cassinese commentator (though his note 

is very confiised) of such phrases as 'suo motu,' 'ad libitum'; and 

even Veflutello's ' si mette a volersi avanzare' looks as if there was some 

traditional interpretation pointing to this or a similar reading. 

Of course, without some MS. authorfty, my reading must remain 

conjectural, and as such I could not venture to put it outright in the 

text; but I feel almost certain that it, or something like it, was what 

, Dante wrote. 

It should be added that of the best-known Enghsh translations, one 

(Cary) has 

He that seeks a grace beyond 

Sees not the distance parts one style from other ; 

and the other (LongfeUow): 

And he who sets himself to go beyond. 

No difference sees from one style to another ; 

both, as it will be seen, ignoring the second/z'A.

CANTO XXV 

ARGUMENT 

As they proceed, Statius, taking occasion from Dante's question how 

hunger can be felt where there is no body, expounds the nature of 

the soul, from its first origin in the embryo, and shows how it 

forms to itself a spiritual body after the other is dead. They 

reach the seventh circle, where the sin of lust is purged, and hear 

the souls singing amid a great fire, and commemorating examples 

of chastity. 

IT was an hour from which the ascent brooked not a cripple, 

for the Sun had left to the Bull and Night to the Scorpion 

ORA era onde il salir non volea storpio, 

Chfe il Sole avea lo cerchio di merigge 

Lasciato al Tauro, e la notte alio Scorpio. 

1 onde appears to have most authority; though Bianchi and some 

others read che. Blanc says 'yon welcher aus' in his Erklaxunge^, 

but ' e perci6' in his Diet. The last, however, requires an awkward 

parenthesis between ora and its relative (as on this construction it must 

be) che, and we should, expect 1' ora. 

2." Aries, in which the Sun was, had passed the meridian, and 

Taurus was on it, which would make the time about 2 P.M. la notte, 

as in ii. 4 and Inf xxiv. 3, means that part of the heavens which is 

opposite to the Sun. This would be now in Libra, and Libra would be 

wholly past the meridian, its place being taken by Scorpio (the sign). 

This would now be culminating on the opjJosite side of the earth. Cf. 

xviii. 79.

CANTO XXV PURGATORY 307 

the meridian circle; wherefore as does the man who stays 

him not, but goes upon his .way, whatever may- appear to 

him, if prick of business .goads him, thus entered we 

through the passage, one before another taking the stair, 

that through its narro-vvness uncouples those who- rrioiint. 

And as the young stork that lifts its wing through wish to 

fly, and attempts not to.leave the nest, and lets if drop,. 

such was I with wilL of asking kindled and quenched, 

coming at last to the action which he does who makes 

ready to speak. For all that our going was quick, my sweet 

Per che, come fa 1' uom che non s' affigge. 

Ma vassi alia via sua; checchfe gli appaia, 

Se di bisogna stimolo il trafigge; 

Cosi entrammo noi per la' callaia, 

Uno anzi all' altro prendendb la scala, 

Che per artezza i salitor dispaia. 

E quale il cicognin che leva 1'ala 10 

Per voglia di volare, e non s' attenta 

• D' abbandonar lo riido, e giii la cala; 

Tal era io cori voglia accesa e sperita 

Di dimaridar, venendo infino all' atto 

Che fa colui ch' a dicer s' argomenta. 

Non lascib per 1' andar che fosse ratto, 

^ bisogno, 'necessity,' is the usual reading; but bisogna seems to 

give a better sense. There is of course no difference originally between 

the two words ; and the idea of a man who has an urgent business on 

hand seems more in Dante's style. 

^ Here, and in xxvi. I, I have followed a variant given by Witte, as 

innanzi is seldom a preposition of place. 

^ dispaia. Cf xii. i. 

15 s' argomenta, 'equips himself.' See note to ii. 31. 

1^ There is some difference of opinion as to the meaning of non 

lascib. Landino takes it as ."did not. overlook' ('s' accorse')-; so

3o8 PURGATORY CANIO 

Father missed.it not, but said: 'Discharge the bow of thy 

speech, which thou hast drawn even to the iron.' Then 

securely I operied my mouth, and began: ' How can orie 

grow lean there where the need of nourishment touches. 

not ?' ' If thou hadst called to mind how Meleager was 

consumed in the consuming of a firebrand, this would, not 

be,' said he, 'so harsh to thee; and if thou hadst thought 

Lo dolce Padre mio, ma disse : Scocca 

L' arco del dir, che infino al ferro hai tratto. 

Allor sicuramente aprii la bocca, 

E cominciai: Come si pub far magro, 20 

La dove 1' uopo di nutrir non tocca ? 

Se t' ammentassi come Meleagro 

Si consume al consumar d' un stizzo, 

Non fora, disse, questo a te si agro. 

Witte, 'bemerkt' es';, Vellutello, 'non lasso di dir,' and so Bianchi; 

Philalethes translates'nicht schwieg,' which looks as if he agreed with 

the last, per—ratto. The subj. fosse shows that che is not a relative, 

but to be taken with per, Diez iii. 333 ; perchi as in xiv. 55, or 

xvii. 15. 

17 scoccare properly applies rather to the arrow than the bow; but 

it seems to be used in as many ways as our 'discharge.' In vi. 130, 

the arrow 'scocca'; here the man 'scocca' the bow; in xxxi. 16, the 

bow 'scocca.' ferro = the arrow-head. Others understand it of the 

catch to which in a crossbow the string is drawn, and which is let go 

by the trigger. 

22 The story of Meleager is told in Ov. Met. viii. 260 sqq. The 

point of this and the following allusion seems merely to be that we 

have instances in other cases of physical changes in an object, real or 

apparent, caused by the changes in another object without physical 

comniunication between the two ; but the apparent good faith in which 

the legend of Meleager is quoted, as equally good evidence on a scientific 

question with a matter of everyday observation,.is very curious. 

2' consumar. This form, arising from a confusion with consummare, 

accounts for the French consommer. • 

2* agro. Cf, 'acerbo,' Par. xxx. 79.

XXV PURGATORY 309 

how at your movirig moves within the mirror your image, 

that which appears hard would ,seem to thee -easy. But in 

order that thou mayest set thyself a;t ease within thy wish, 

.lo here is Statius, and I call and pray him that he be now 

healer of thy wounds.' ' If I disclose to him the eterrial 

vie-w,' answered Statius, ' where thou art present, let it 

excuse me that I cannot to thee make denial.' 

Then he began: 'If thy mind, my son, looks at and 

receives my words, they will be a light to thee for the " how " 

E sepensassi come al vostro guizzo 

Guizza deritro alio specchio vostra image,^ 

Cib che par duro ti parrebbe vizzo. 

Ma perchfe dentro a tuo voler t' adage, 

Ecco qui Stazio: ed io lui chiamo e prego, 

Che sia or sanator delle tue piage. 30 

Se la veduta eterna gli dislego,^ 

Rispose Stazio, la dove tu sie, 

Discolpi me non potert' io far niego. 

Poi comincib : Se le parole mie,'^ 

Figlio, la mente tua guarda e riceve, 

Lume ti fienp al come che tu die. 

^ Drizza Cass. 

'^ vendetta Aid. Land. ; disflego Cass, ; dispiego Bi, " Che poi Cass, 

^1 Several of the earlier edd. read vendetta. Philalethes follows 

them, and Blanc, in his Erklarungen, though in his Diet, he seems uncertain. 

On the whole it seems to have less authority than veduta; 

which Bianchi adopts (reading also dispiego, after the Nidobeatina), 

though the objection that the punishment of Purgatory is not eternal, 

does not seem of much weight; for we may understand eterna either 

as some do allivios in N. T., viz. as ' affecting the eternal part of man,' 

or else ' eternally ordained'. (cf vi. 121). ' La divina giustizia.' Land. 

Veil. The reading interna, which has been suggested, makes good 

sense, but is unsupported. 

38 il come. So 'il quia,' iii. 37. Diez iii. 289.

310 PURGATORY CANTO 

which thou sayest. A perfected blood, which is never 

drunk by the thirsty veins, and remains like food which 

you remove from table, takes^ in the heart a virtue informative 

in regard to all human members, as that does 

which, to become these, runs its course through the veins. 

Digested yet again, it descends to that part whereof it is 

more seemly to be silent than to speak, and thence afterwards 

it trickles upon another's blood in the natural vessel 

There the one and the other meet together, the one by 

Sangue perfetto, che mai non si beve 

Dair assetate vene, e si rimane 

Quasi alimento che di mensa leVe, 

Prende nel cuore a tutte membra umane, 40 

Virtute infprmativa, come quello 

Ch' a farsi quelle per le vene vane. 

Ancor digesto scende ov' fe piii bello 

Tacer che dire : e quindi .poscia geme 

So-vr' altrui sangue in natural vasello. 

Ivi s' accoglie 1' uno e 1' altro insieme,"^ 

"i in seme Aid. Land. 

37 The passage which follows, and which seems to be modelled on 

Aen. vi. 724 sqq., should be compared with Conv. iv. 21. The 

doctrines set forth as far as 1. 60 follow very closely the conclusions of 

Aristotle in Books i. and ii. of the De Gen. An. I have given at the 

end of this Canto the passages which Dante has more directly imitated, 

both from that treatise and from the De Anima. The text is so clear 

that they are hardly required to elucidate it, and they would probably 

not be interesting to all readers. 

39 leve. For this use of the second person, see Diez iii. 284. The 

plural is more common. 

*2 vene vane. Dante is rather fond of these verbal jingles. Cf xxii. 

54, Inf i. 36, etc. See Fanfani, Vocab. dell' uso Toscano, s. v. 

Bisticcio. 

^° The reading in seme is directly opposed to Aristotle's opinion, 

rb Br/Xv oi ffVfi^dXXeTai

xxv PURGATORY 3ir 

disposition passive, the other active, through the perfect 

place whence it is expressed; and with that in uuion it 

begins to operate, first by coagulating, and then quickens. 

that which for its material it caused to grow solid. The 

active virtue having become soul, like that of a plant, 

differing in this only, that this is on the way, and that has 

already arrived, works thereafter in such degree that motion 

and sense appear as in a sea-fungus; and at that point it 

L' un disposto a patire e 1' altro a fare. 

Per lo perfetto luogo onde si preme: 

E giunto lui comincia ad operare, 

Coagulando prima,, e poi awiva jo 

Cib che per sua materia fe constare." 

Anima fatta la virtute attiva,*^ 

" Qual d' una pianta, in tanto differente, 

Che quest' fe in via, e quella fe gik a riva, 

Tanto ovra poi, che gik si muove e sente, 

Come fungo marino : ed ivi imprende 

« gestare Aid. ; sostare Benv. ' Ii anima fatta per v. a. Gg. 

^ Io perfetto luogo. It seems best to understand this of the heart, 

but other interpretations are given. 

* lui = altrui sangue. It seems better to regard the construction 

as a dative absolute, like latrando lui in Inf. xxxii. 105 (Diez iii. 247), 

than to construe it vnth Bianchi as ' congiunto il sangue virile al 

feminineo.' 

^1 Most of the older edd. read gestare; but constare, 'to curdle,' 

is e-vidently required to render the ffvvlarairBai of Aristotle. Gen. An. 

ii. 4, 29, etc. 

5^ ' One has reached its full development with the acquirement of 

life, the other has yet to receive reason.' a riva; hence arrivare. 

'^ fungo marino; i.e. a zoophyte. Was this suggested by some 

misunderstanding of oiSiv ijrrov rd (nrip/jura Kal rd Kv^/mra r&v ^diuv 

i^ r&v (f>vr(tiv ?


takes in hand to make organs for the faculties whereof it is 

the seed. Now is displayed, my son, now is put forth the 

virtue which has its being from the heart of the begetter, 

where nature designs all members. But how from an animal it 

becomes a speaking being thou seest not yet; this is the point 

that once made a wiser than thou go astray, so that by 

his teaching he made the potential intellect separate from 

the soul, because he saw no organ appropriated by it. 

Ad organar le posse ond' fe semente. 

Or.si spiega, figliuolo, or si distende ^ 

La virtii ch' fe dal cuor del generante. 

Dove natura a tutte membra intende. 60 

Ma come d' animal divenga fante, 

Non vedi tu ancor: quest' fe tal punto 

Che piii savio di te gia fece errante; 

Si che per sua dottrina fe disgiunto 

Dall' anima il possibile intelletto, 

Perchfe da lui non vide orgaiio assunto. 

s piega Cass. Aid. 

^3 pii savio di te. ' This is generally understood to refer to Averroes 

; but, as M. Renan points out, it was not the intellectus possibilis 

but the intellectus agens, which he held to be one and indivisible for all 

men. See also Hallam, Lit. of Eur. Part I. chap. iii. § 86. M. 

Renan, however, considers (Averroes, Part II. chap, ii.) that Dante 

was misled by Aquinas, who appears to have misunderstood the philosopher 

of Cordova, who himself probably misunderstood Aristotle. The 

passages on which he founds his doctrine of the unity of the active intellect, 

and as a necessary consequence, its separateness from the soul, 

a doctrine which, of course, is inconsistent with personal immortality, 

and as such was fiercely combated by Albert and Aquinas, and subsequently 

anathematised by the Church, would seem to be De Anima iii. 4, 

5. In theUatter chapter Aristotle distinctly says that it is the active in 

tellect wMchis^wp'o-Tis Kal djra9^;s Kal ii/ii7.))STôu(ri{i(Ii»'.'^«'ep7ei9,whilethe 

TraBTirmbs vovi is perishable. Here, as elsewhere (e.g. De An. ii. 4, Gen.

XXV PURGATORY 313 

Open thy breast to the truth which is coming, and know 

that so soon as in the embryo the fitting of the brain is 

perfected, the first Mover turns him to it, joying over such 

art of nature, and breathes a new spirit replete with .virtue, 

which draws into its own substance that which it finds 

active there, .and makes of itself one single soul, which 

lives, and feels, and revolves within itself. And that thou 

mayest the less wonder at my speech, look at the heat of 

the Sun which becomes wine, joined to the moisture which 

Apri alia veritk che viene il petto, 

E sappi, che si tosto come al feto 

L' articolar del cerebro fe perfetto, 

Lo Motor primo a lui si volge lieto 70 

Sovra tanta arte di natura, e spira 

Spirito nuovo di -virtti repleto, 

Che cib che trova attivo quivi tira 

In sua sustanzia, e fassi uu' alma sola, 

Che vive e serite, e sfe'iri sfe rigira. 

E perchfe meno ammiri la parola, 

Guarda ilcaloi: del Sol che si fa vino. 

An. ii. l) more explicitly, Aristotle declares against the immortality 

of the indi-vidual; and I can feel little doubt that the.Cassinese postillator 

is right in understanding the piii sa-vio di te to be Aristotle. See 

also line 70; and note of Philalethes here.. The intellectus agens stands 

to the intellectus possibilis (called also possibilis) in much the same relation 

as sensation to sense. ' Vis ultima in homine est ... . esse 

apprehensivum per intellectum possibilem, quod . . nuUi ab homine 

alio competit,' De Mon. i. 4. 

7" lieto. Cf. xvi. 89, Par. xiii. 54. lo Motor primo. With 

Aristotle the dpy^ T^S Kivô'eus resides in the male parent; here 

Christian doctrine parts company -with him. 

71 Cf Genesis ii. 7. Thus every indi-vidual has his own soul: and 

of this the intellect is a faculty, and not something separate from the 

individual soul. 

7* un' alma sola. Cf iv. 5, 6.


percolates from- the vine-plant. And when Lachesis has no^ 

more thread it looses itself from the flesh, and virtually 

bears away with it both the human and the divine; the 

other powers all mute—memory, intelligence, and will, in 

act far keener than before. Without resting, of itself it 

falls in wondrous wise to one of the shores; here it first 

Giunto all' umor che dalla vite cola. 

E quando Lachesis non ha piii lino,'^ 

Solvesi dalla carne, ed in virtute So 

Ne porta seco e 1' umano e il divino : 

L' altre potenzie tutte quante mute,' 

Memoria intelligenzia e voluntade 

In atto molto piii che prima acute. 

Senza restarsi, per sfe stessa cade 

Mirabilmente all' una delle rive: 

Quivi conosce prima le sue strade. 

1* Quando Z. . . . . piu del lino Cass. Gg. Land. 

' quasi m. Gg. 

^ Bianchi puts a full stop at the end of this line, apparently understanding 

divengono, or some such word, after memoria, etc. in 1. 83. 

It seems, however, best to understand the clauses of the next three lines 

as explanatory of this line, umano, the senses and passions=1' altre 

potenzie; di-vino, the intellect, comprising memoria intelligenzia e 

voluntade. S. T. i. Q. 8. A. 77: Quaedam potentiae comparantur ad 

animam solum, sicut ad subjectum ; ut intellectus et voluntas ; et hujusmodi 

potentiae necesse est quod maneant in anima corpore destructo. 

Quaedam vero potentiae sunt in conjuncto sicut in subjecto : sicut omnes 

potentiae sensitivae partis et nutritivae. Destructo autem subjecto non 

potest accidens remanere, unde corrupto conjuncto non manent hujusmodi 

potentiae actu : sed virtute tantum manent in anima. Aristotle, 

De An. ii. 2, holds that it is only the vom and the BeiiipryruAi Sivafus 

which ^j'S^x^rat x'^pff'^"-^"') KaBdirep rb diStov rov tj>6aprov. 

8^ rive, i.e. of Acheron (Inf iii. 78), or Tiber (ii. 100-105). This 

is not the doctrine of Aquinas, but of Origen. See Ozanam, Dante,r 

Part II. chap. iii.

xxv PURGATORY 315, 

knows its road. As soon as place there 'bounds it, the 

formative virtue rays around, in such manner and quantity 

as it lives in the members. And as the air, when it is very 

rainy, through another's ray which is reflected in it, shows 

itself adorned with divers colours, thus here the neighbouring 

air puts itself in that form which the soul that has 

remained by its virtue stamps upon it; and then, Hke to the 

flame which goes after the fire wheresoever it shifts, its new 

form follows the spirit. Because from this it has hereafter 

Tosto che luogo li la circonscrive,'' 

La virtii informativa raggia intorno, 

Cosi e quanto nelle membra vive. 90 

E come 1' aere, quand' fe ben piorno,' 

Per r altrui raggio che in sfe si riflette, 

Di diversi color si mostra adorno," 

Cosi r aer vicin quivi si mette 

In quella forma, che in lui suggella " 

Virtualmerite 1' alma che ristette.° 

E simigliante poi alia fiammella, 

Che segue il fuoco lk 'vunque si muta. 

Segue alio' spirto sua forma novella.J" 

Perocchfe quindi ha poscia sua paruta, 100 

k it luogo Cass.; li la certo scr. 1245. 

1 come quando V aere i ben piu omo Gg. 

m diventa adorno Cass. » si suggella Cass. Gg. 

° ali alma Cass. 124. P sp. suo Gg. 

88 sqq. This is the do'ctrine of Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles iv. 79. 

(Ueberweg, Hist, of Philosophy, §101. His account of the philosophy 

of Aquinas and Averroes may be read -with advantage, together vrith all 

this passage. See also Ozanam, Dante, I.e.) 

SI Ar. Meteor, iii. 4. 

^ altrui : of the Sun, 

S5 forma appears to have here its ordinary, not its technical, sense. 

*"> virtualmente. So in virtute, 1. 80.

3i6 PURGATORY CANTO 

its appearance, it is called a shade; and from this it gives 

each sense, even to the sight, its own organ. From this we 

speak, and from this we laugh'; from this we make the tear^ 

and the sighs which thou mayest have heard over the 

mountain. According as the desires and the other emotions 

fix us, the shade takes its shape; and this is the occasion 

of that whereof, thou wonderest.' 

..And by this rime we were come to the last turning,, and 

had wheeled to the right hand, arid were iriterit ori ariother 

E chiamata ombra: e quiudi orgaria poi 

Ciascun sentire, infino alia veduta. 

Quindi parliamo, e quindi ridiam noi: 

Quindi facciam le lagrime e i sospiri, 

Che per lo monte aver sentiti puoi. 

Secondo che ci affigono i disiri ^ 

E gli altri affetti, 1' ombra si figura :'^ 

E questa fe la cagion di che tu ammiri. 

E gik venuto all' ultima tortura 

S' era per noi, e volto alia man destra, no 

Ed eravamo attenti ad altra cura. 

1 affgon 124 Land.; transfigono Benv. ; affligon W. 

' effetti Cass. 14. 

i"" ci affigono seems to be the reading with most authority. It 

is, however, difficult to accept Blanc's view that it is intended to 

represent Lat. afficiunt. If we are to retain it, it seems best to take it 

in the sense of 'tie us down,' the man's character being fixed at his 

death, and the shade taking its appearance accordingly. Cf. S. T. 

Suppl. Q. 97. A. 3 : corpus immutatur ad passionem animae. But 

should we not read ci affingono, ' fashion us' ? 

1°^ Most understand tortura in its modern sense of 'torture,'but, 

as Scartazzini points out, this meaning is not found in early Italian ; 

nor, it may be added, in Latin, though Dante may have formed it from 

tortor. But it seems safer to take it as I have done. 

-11° volto seems here to mean merely ' turned at a right angle': 

perhaps being used to avoid ioi-to after tortura.

xxv PURGATORY pil; 

care. Here the bank flashes, flame outwards, and the 

cornice breathes a blast upwards, which bends it back, and 

keeps it away at a distance therefrom. Wherefore it behoved 

us to go one by one on the open side, and I feared the fire 

on this hand, and on that, to fall down. My Leader kept 

saying : ' Through this place needs one to rkeep . the rein 

tight on the eyes, because for a little cause oue might _go 

astray.' ' Summae Deus clementiae' iri the bosom of the great 

heat .then I heard them singing, which made me not less 

eager to turn. . Arid I saw spirits going through the flame, 

wherefore I looked at them and at my steps, apportioning 

Quivi la ripa fiamma in fuor balestra, 

E la cornice spira fiato in suso, 

Che la reflette e via da lei.sequestra.; 

Onde ir ne convema dal lato schiuso 

Ad uno ad uno : ed io temeva il fuoco 

Quinci, e quindi temea cadere giuso.^ 

Lo Duca mio dicea: Per questo loco 

Si vuol tenere agli occhi stretto il freno 

Perocch' «rrar potrebbesi per poco, 120 

Summae Deus clementiae, nel seno 

- Del grande ardore allora udi' cantando, 

Che di volger mi fe caler non meno. 

E vidi spirti per la fiamma andando : 

JPerch' io guardava ai loro ed ai miei passi 

3 temeva il cader g. Aid. Bi. ; temea Land.; c. di g. Gg 

119 Probably with allusion to St Matt, v 28. 

121 The hymn at matins, containing the lines : 

' Lumbos jecurque morbidum 

Flammis adure congruis.' 

1-23 volger here = to turn back, stop.


my view from time to time. After the end which is made 

to that hymn they cried aloud, ' Virum non cognosco !' then 

they began the hymn again in a low voice. Having finished 

it, they cried again: ' Diana stayed in the wood, and drove 

Helice from it, for she had felt the poison of Venus.' Then 

they returned to their singing; then they cried on dames 

and husbands who were chaste, as virtuous marriage vo-w 

lays on us. And this fashion I think suffices them for all the 

time that the fire is burning them; with such- care and with 

such diet it behoves that the last wound should close itself. 

Compartendo la vista a quando a quando. 

Appresso il fine ch' a quell' inno fassi, 

Gridavano alto Virum no7i cognosco: 

Indi ricominciavan 1' inno bassi. 

Finitolo .anche gridavano : Al bosco 130 

Si tenne Diana, ed Elice cadcionne,' 

Che di Venere avea sentito il tosco. 

Indi al cantar tornavano': indi donne 

Gridavano e mariti che fur casti. 

Come virtute e matrimonio imponne. 

E questo modo credo che lor basti 

Per tutto il tempo che il fuoco gli abbrucia; 

Con tal cura conviene e con tai pasti" 

Che la piaga dassezzo si ricucia. 

' Corse Aid. 

'^ Cotal Gg. Cass. 1234; convien con cotai Cass. Gg. W. 

i"8 Virum non cognosco. St. Luke i. 34. 

131 I have followed Bianchi in preferring si tenne, the older reading, 

to corse, as being more in agreement with Ovid's version of the story ; 

especially ' "I procul hinc" dixit,' Met. ii. 464. 

Blanc says dassezzo must be an adverb; but the Itahan commentators 

do not seem to see the necessity. Why should it not be like 

' uomo da bene' and such constructions ? Cf Petr. Tr. Am. iv. 36.

xxv PURGATORY 319 

PASSAGES FROM ARISTOTLE ILLUSTRATING LINES 37-66. 

37 -xfiTialjuiv Trepirrib/j.aros ixipos rl icrri rb awipixa' xp'/tri/iciraToc Si r 

laxarov, Kal i^ 06 ijSTi y'lverai iKaarov rwv fiopluv (cf 1. 42). Gen. An. 

i. 28. 

Xiya Si Treplrrojfia, rb rrjs rpoifnis vTrbXeinpia. Ib. id. 

tjidvepov Sri ryjs al/xariKTis &v etri Treplrraixa rpoiprjsrb airippn. Ib. 19. 

*i Sfwiov rb TrpoceXBbv Trpbs rd fiipri rip im-oXeupBivri. Ib. id. 

117, 49 .^6 ye BTJXV, g BriXv, TvaSTp-ucbv .rb Si dppev, |) dppev, rroiTiriKbv. 

Ib. 21.—rb TTOiTiriKbv Kal rb TraBririKov, Srav Biyaffiv, eiBis rb p.iv Troiei, 

rb Si Trd^xei. ii. 4. 

'" Srav IXBTJ (sc. rb cxTip/jia) els TTJC iaripav, a-vvlirrrial re Kal Kivei rb 

Treplrrojiiarov difiXeos rip air^v KlvT]aiv, •^virep airb ruyxdvei Kivoifxevov. 

Ib. 3. (So also ib. 4 and i. 20.) 

^1 del Si •wapix^'- -ri M^ ^9^^ TV'' tXriv rb Si dppev rb SrHJiiovpyovv. 

Ib. 4. 

^^ '^'"X'l ii^Tiv ivreXix^^"' ^ Txpiirri crti/taros (pvcriKov Svvdpiei fu^c 

Ixo^ros. De An. ii. I. 

''3 BpeTriKbv Si XiyofJiev rb roiovrov pibpiov rijs i'vxv^ oS Kal rd (pvrd 

fierexei. Ib. 2.—TT/V BpewriK^v ^VXTJV rd (nripfiara KOX rd Kviifiara rd 

Xoipiard SriXov Sn Swdpiei /jiiv ôvra Beriov, itiepyelq. Si oiK ^xocra Trplv ij 

KaddTxep rd x^P^^^f^^'"^ r&v KVTi/jAnov ^XKei rijv rpo(pT)v, Kal. Trotet rb rrjS 

roiairris: ^vxvs (pyov. Ilp&rov fiiv ydp Hiravr ioiKe f^c ri TMaiJra (pvrov 

§lov. Gen. An. ii. 3. 

^ oXov iKeivuv eKaarov (sc. r&v piep&v) ivepyeiq. roiovrov rb ciripfâ 

Svvdfiei. i. 19.—el TI KapSla irp&rov Iv run i;

CANTO XXVI 

ARGUMENT 

They pass along the seventh circle, outside of the fire, and hear other 

souls recalling instances of lust. Dante talks with the poets 

. Guido Guinicelli and Arnald Daniel, who speaks to him in the 

Provengal tongue. 

WHILE thus we were going along the edge one before another, 

and the good Master kept often saying : ' Take heed; 

let it profit that I instruct thee,' the Sun was striking me 

on the right shoulder, which already with his rays was 

turning all the west from the hue of the sky to a white 

MENTRE che si per 1' orlo, uno anzi all' altro,^ 

Ce n' andavamo, e spesso il buon Maestro 

Diceva: Guarda; giovi ch' io ti scaltro, 

Feriami il Sole iri su 1' omero destro, 

Che gik raggiaudo tutto 1' occideute 

Mutava iu bianco aspetto di cilestro : 

^ Mentre cosi Gg. 

' The evening Sun is to their right; they are therefore now going 

about south by west, having made nearly half the circuit of the mountain, 

and ha-ring, as Philalethes points out, occupied some three hours 

in the ascent from the sixth to the seventh circle. In the circle itself 

they only spend about an hour. See note xii. 8i. 

'' The sky in the neighbourhood of the Sun always looks white until

CANTO XXVI PURGATORY 321 

aspect, and I was making with my shadow the flame appear 

more ruddy, and to such token only I saw many 

shades as they, went give heed. This was the occasion 

which gave them a.:starting-point to speak of me, and they 

began to say among!- themselves: ' That one seems not a 

fictitious body.' Then certain made towards me as far as 

they could, always with heed not to issue forth where they 

would not be burnt. 'O thou who goest, not through 

being slower, but •. haply of reverence, after the others, 

answer to me, who burn in thirst and fire; nor only to 

me is thy answer a need, for all these here have thereof 

Ed io facea con 1' ombra piii rovente 

Parer la fiamma, e piire a tanto indizio 

Vidi molt' ombre andando poner mente. 

Questa fu la cagion che diede inizio ro 

Lord a parlar di me: e cominciarsi 

A dir : Colui non par corpo fittizio. 

Poi verso me, quanto pbtevan farsi, 

Certi si feron, sempre con riguardo 

Di non uscir dove non fossero arsi. 

O tu che vai, non per esser piii tardo. 

Ma forse riverente, agli altri dopo, 

!B-ispondi a me, che in sete ed in fuoco ardo. 

Nfe solo a me la tua risposta fe uopo : 

Chfe tutti questi n' hanno maggior sete, 20 

close upon sunset. It would be now about five P.M.; SO this is still 

more than an hour distant. 

7 A well-known phenomenon, being, of course, the converse of the 

putting-out effect which the Sun is popularly supposed to exercise on 

fire. 

^ pui:. Cf V. 9. 

1^ fittizio would seem to support my suggestion affingono in xxv. 

106. 

Y


greater thirst than of cold water Indian or Ethiop. Tell 

us how it is that thou makest of thyself a wall to the Sun, 

as if thou wert not yet entered within the net of death.' 

So to me spoke one of them, and I should already have 

declared myself if I had not been intent on another new 

thing which then appeared; for through the middle of the 

burning road came folk with their faces opposite to these, 

who made me wait to gaze. There I see on every side 

each shade make ready, and kiss one with one, without 

staying, content with short greeting. Thus within their 

brown troop one ant touches muzzle with another, perhaps 

Che d' acqua fredda Indo o Etiopo. 

Dinne com' e che fai di te parete 

Al sol, come se tu non fossi ancora ^ 

Di morte entrato dentro dalla rete. 

Si mi parlava un d' essi, ed io mi fora 

Gik manifesto, s' io non fossi atteso 

Ad altra novitk ch' apparse allora; 

Chfe per lo mezzo del cammino acceso, 

Venne gente col viso incontro a questa,'^ 

La qual mi fece a rimirar sospeso. 30 

Li veggio d' ogni parte farsi presta 

Ciascun' ombra, e baciarsi una con una 

Senza restar, contente a breve festa. 

Cosi per entro loro schiera bruna 

S' ammusa 1' una con 1' altra formica, 

* Al sol pur come tu Gg. ^ mtomo a Gg. 

^ I have followed the usual reading of this Une, as there seems no 

trace of any variant; but it is hard to see how it scans. May we read 

/' Indo 0 i Etiopo ? 

33 festa. So vi. 81.

XXVI PURGATORY 323 

to find out their road and their fortune. As soon as they 

part the friendly greeting, before the first step goes beyond 

that point, each one toils to cry further, the new 

folk ' Sodom and Gomorrah!' and the other ' Pasiphae 

enters into the cow that the bull may hasten to her lust' 

Then like cranes which should fly part to the Rhipaean 

mountains and part toward the sands, these shunning 

the frost and those the sun, the one folk goes, the other 

Forse ad espiar lor via e lor fortuna.'' 

Tosto che parton 1' accoglienza amica. 

Prima che il primo passo li trascorra, 

Sopra gridar ciascuna s' affa:tica : 

La nuova gente : Soddoma e Gomorra, 40 

E r altra : Nella vacca entra Pasife, 

Perchfe il torello a sua lussuria corra. 

Poi come gru, ch' alle montagne Rife 

Volasser parte, e parte inver 1' arene, 

Queste del giel, quelle del sole schife; 

L' una gente sen va, 1' altra sen viene, 

d a spiar 3 Aid. Bi. 

••3 Cf Lucan Phars. v. 711: 

Strymona sic gelidum, bruma pellente, relinquunt 

Poturae te, Nile, grues, primoque volatu 

Effingunt varias, casu monstrante, figuras. 

Dante seems to have been struck by this image, for there are obvious 

reminiscences of the passage not only here and in xxiv. 64, but in Inf 

V. 46 and Par. xviii. 73. The actual mention of the cranes is, however, 

confined to this place and that relating to similar sinners in Inf. v. 

Some commentators object to the image that the cranes fly to the north 

and to the south at different seasons, and all together when they do go. 

It is not, however, 'volano' or 'vohno,' but 'volassero,' showing that 

the picture is purely imaginary. See Blanc, Erklarungen.


comes on its way, and they return weeping to. their first 

chants, and to the cry which most befits them; and there 

drew near again to. me as before those same who had ' 

prayed me, in their lineaments intent on listening. I, who 

twice had seen their desire, began: 'O souls secure of 

having, whensoever it be, a state of peace, my limbs. have 

not remained yonder rathe nor ripe, but are here with 

me, with their blood and with their joints. Here I am going 

up in order to be no longer blind; there is a dame above 

who gains grace for me, wherefore I take my mortal part 

through your world. But, so may your greatest wish 

soon become satisfied in such wise that that heaven 

E tornan lagrimando ai primi canti, 

Ed al gridar che piii lor si conviene : 

E raccostarsi a me, come davanti, 

Essi medesmi che m' avean pregato, , 50 

Atteriti ad ascoltar nei lor sembianti. 

Io, che due volte avea visfo lor grato, 

Incominciai: O anime sicure 

D' aver, quando che sia, di pace stato, 

Non son rimase acerbe nfe mature 

Le membra mie di la, ma son qui meco. 

Col sangue suo e con le sue giunture. 

Quinci su vo per non esser piii cieco : 

Donna fe di sopra che n' acquista grazia, 

Perchfe il mortal pel vostro mondo reco. 60 

Ma, se la vostra riiaggior vogha sazia 

Tosto divegna, si che il Ciel v' alberghi 

^ sembianti. So xxi. iii. 

^ It seems best to take ne (as in Par. xxiv. 28) like Lat. nos, in 

the, sense of'me,' though it may mean only 'for it,' i.e. my journey, 

Philalethes : .' erwirbt mir die Gnade,'


may harbour you which is full of lo-ve and spreads itself 

most broad; tell me, to the end that I may hereafter 

mark paper therewith, who are ye, and what is that 

crowd which goes its way thus behind your backs ?' Not 

otherwise is stupefied and corifused, and gazing grows dumb 

the mountaineer, when rough and savage he enters a city, 

than each shade did in its appearance; but after they 

were discharged of their astonishment, the which in lofty 

hearts is soon at rest: ' Happy thou, that from our borders,' 

began again that one which first asked me, ' art laying in 

store of experience for better fife ! The folk that comes 

Ch' fe pien d' amore e piii am-pio si spazia, 

Ditemi, acciocchfe ancor carte ne verghi, - 

Chi siete voi, e chi fe quella turba, 

Che se ne va diretro ai vostri terghi ? 

Non altrimenti stupido si turba 

Lo moritariaro, e rimirando ammuta, 

Quando rozzo e salvatico s' inurba, 

Che ciascun' ombra fece in sua paruta : 70 

Ma poichfe furon di stupore scarche, 

Lo qual negli alti cuor tosto s' attuta, 

Beato te, che delle nostre marche, 

Ricomincib colei che pria ne chiese. 

Per viver meglio esperienza imbarche 1" 

- Per 7norir m.eglio Gg. 12345 ^* 

^ For the omission of the article before pill, see Diez. iii. 8. It is 

,as if he had said 'il ciel piu ampio che si spazia.' Cf. Inf xv. 102, 

which is the regular Italian construction. 

^* So Petr. Son. cxiv.: 'Alma gentil, cui tante carte vergo.' 'Vergo 

lit. =to mark in lines. 

7" fece. See note Inf. xv. 21. 

73 beato te. Diez iii. 113. 

74 he again, I think, as in line 59. Philalethes has ' uns'; but only 

Dante has been addressed. See line 16. 

. 7-5 imbaxche; lit. ' take on board.'


not with us have offended in that for which once Caesar 

in his triumph heard them shout, " Queen !" against him. 

Wherefore they depart crying " Sodom ! " reproaching themselves, 

as thou hast heard, and aid the burning by their 

shame. Our sin was hermaphrodite; but because we kept 

not human law, following like brute beasts our appetite, in 

our disgrace by us is mentioned, when we part, the name of 

her who made herself a brute in the brute-formed planks. 

Now thou knowest our acts and whereof -vve were guilty; if 

La gente che non vien con noi offese 

Di cib perchfe gik Cesar trionfando 

Regina contra sfe chiamar s' intese : 

Perb si parton Soddoma gridando, 

Rimproverando a sfe, com' hai udito, 80 

E aiutan 1' arsura vergognando. 

Nostro peccato fu ermafrodito ; 

Ma perchfe non servammo umana legge, 

Seguendo come bestie 1' appetito. 

In obbrobrio di noi per noi si legge, 

Quando partiamci, il nome di colei 

Che s' imbestib nell' imbestiate schegge. 

Or sai nostri atti, e di che fummo rei; 

^ ' Namlich sie entfernte sich nicht von der natilrlichen 'Vereinigung 

der getrennten Geschlechter, deren Symbol die Fabel vom- Hennaphrodit 

ist.'—Philalethes. And this seems the best explanation, 

and moreover the only one which agrees with line 84; rd ydp Bripia 

Ttapd (pio-iv ffvvova-ig. oi XPW"-!-- Aquinas, he adds, holds that there 

is a law for-man (umana legge) higher than the law of nature, and that 

sexual excess, though not contrary to the latter, violates the former. 

Thus Pasiphae ' scheint das Symbol der angemessenen, den Menschen 

zum Thiere herabwiirdigenden Befriedigung des natiirlichen Triebes zu 

sein.' So Brunetto, Tresor, book ii. part i. chap. 19 : est bestial chose 

h. ensuirre trop le delit de toucliier. S.T. ii. 2. Q. 154. Arts. II, 12, 

also bear upon this question.


haply thou wishest to know by name who we are, there is 

not time to say, and I should not know. I will surely 

in respect of myself make thy wish less. I am Guido 

Guinicelli, and I purge myself already, through duly lamenting 

sooner than at the last.' Such as, in the sorrow of 

Lycurgus, two sons became at seeing again their mother, 

such became I, but not to so great a height, when I heard 

name himself of me the best father and of others mine, who 

ever used sweet and graceful rimes of love; and without 

Se forse a nome vuoi saper chi semo. 

Tempo non fe da dire, e non saprei. go 

Farotti ben di me volere scemo : 

Son Guido Guinicelli, e gik mi purgo 

Per ben dolermi prima ch' alio stremo. 

Quali nella tristizia di Licurgo 

Si fer due figli a riveder la madre, 

Tal mi fee' io, ma non a tanto insurgo, 

Quando i' udi' nomar sfe stesso il padre 

Mio e degli altri miei miglior, che mai 

Rime d' amore usar dolci e leggiadre : 

"2 Guido Guinicelli of Bologna. See note to xi. 97. 

^3 I.e. he had not delayed his repentance until the moment of death. 

Cf iv. 132. 

^ 'When Hypsipyle 'showed Langia' (xxii, 112) she was in charge 

of the young son of Lycurgus, king of Nemea. 'The child slipped 

away, and was killed by a serpent. In the midst of the lamentations 

which followed she was, recognised by her sons, who were among the 

Argive army, and embraced by them.—Stat. Theb. v. 720. 

^3 non a tanto insurgo: because the fire would prevent him from 

embracing Guido. Of course it is literally ' I rise not so far.' 

S8 miglior is usually taken -with miei; but whom would Dante call 

his ' betters' ? Such mock humility is quite contrary to his usual style. 

May we read ' maggior,' ' my elders' ?


hearing or speech I went thoughtful, gazing at him a long 

space, nor, by reason of the fire, did I draw nearer thither. 

After I had fed full of gazing I offered myself all ready to 

his service, with that assurance which makes others believe. 

And he to me : 'Thou leavest such a trace, by that which 

I hear, in me, and one so clear that Lethe cannot take it 

away or make it dim. Yet, if thy words but now sware 

truly, tell me what is the reasou why thou showest in thy 

speech and in thy look that thou boldest me dear.' And I 

to him: ' Your sweet sayings, which, so long as the modem 

use shall last, will still make precious their very ink.' ' O 

brother,' said he, 'he whom I distinguish for thee with my 

E senza udire e dir pensoso andai roo 

Lunga fiata rimirando lui, 

Nfe per lo fuoco in la piu m' appressai. 

Poichfe di riguardar pasciuto fui, 

Tutto m' offersi pronto al suo servigio, 

Con r affermar che fa credere altrui. 

Ed egli a me : Tu lasci tal vestigio, 

Per quel ch' i' odo, in me, e tanto chiaro, 

Che Lete noi pub torre nfe far bigio.*^ 

Ma se le tue parole or ver giuraro, 

Dimmi che fe cagion perchfe dimostri no 

Nel dire e nel guardar d' avermi caro ? 

Ed io a lui: Li dolci detti vostri 

Che, quanto durera 1' uso moderno,^ 

Faranno cari ancora i loro inchiostri. 

O frate, disse, questi ch' io ti scerno ^ 

f tor ni farlo b. W. i lo suon mod. Gg. 

li Frate . . . ricerno Gg. ; Ofr. . . . quei ch' io mo ti 3. 

113 uso modemo. Cf 'lo stil nuovo,' xxiv. 57. 

11^ Arnald Daniel, according to Nostradamus, was of Tarascon or


finger' (and he pointed to a spirit in front) ' was a better 

craftsman in the mother speech. All verses of love and 

prose of roma,nce he excelled; and lets the fools talk who 

believe that he of Limoges surpasses him. To rumour more 

than to the truth they turn their faces, and thus they fix 

their opinion before that art or reason is heard by them. 

Thus did many ancients with Guittone, from voice to voice 

Col dito (e additb un spirto innanzi), 

Fu miglior fabbro del parlar materno-: 

Versi d' amore e prose di romanzi 

Soverchio tutti, e lascia dir gli stolti, 

Che quel di Lemosi credon ch' avanzi. 120 

A voce piii ch' al ver drizzan li volti, 

E cosi ferman sua opinione. 

Prima ch' arte o ragion per lor s' ascolti. 

Cosi fer molti antichi di Guittone, 

Montpeher, and died about 1189. Petrarch (Tri. Am. iv. 41) calls him 

' gran maestro d' amor'; but modern critics have not formed so high a 

judgement of him. 

115 prose is often used to denote rimed couplets; but there is no 

need to take it so here, any more than in 'V. El. ii. 6; where Dante 

refers to those 'qui usi sunt altissimas prosas, ut Tullium, Livium, 

Plinium.' Daniel is not known to have written any prose romances, 

which would appear to have been rare in Provengal (see 'V. El. i., 10), 

nor indeed any poems save versi d' amor; but the meaning is simply 

'he was the best of all contemporary writers.' See for a full discussion 

a letter by Mr. Paget Toynbee in Academy, 13th April 1889. 

i^^.quel di Lemosi. Gerard of Borneuil, who was called 'the 

Master of the Troubadours'; ' il megUor Poeta nella lingua Proven-/ 

zale, che fusse d' avanti o doppo lui.' Both he and Arnald are 

frequently mentioned and quoted in the De "Vulg. El. See, for instance, 

ii. 2, where he is said 'poetasse circa rectitudinem,' and Arnald 'circa 

amorem.' 

1^ See xxiv. 56 as to Guittone. In Vulg. El. i. 13 D. speaks of 

' Guidonem aretinum, qui nunquam se ad curiale vulgare direxit'; 

and in ii. 6: ' Desistant ergo ignorantiae sectatores Guidonem aretinum


giving him only the prize, until the truth prevailed with 

more persons. Now, if thou hast so ample privilege that it 

be permitted thee to go to the cloister in the which Christ 

is abbot of the community, make to Him for me a saying 

of a paternoster, so far as needs for us in this world, where 

power of sinning is no longer ours.' Then, perhaps to 

give place to another after him, whom he had at hand, he 

disappeared through the fire, as through the water the fish 

going to the bottom. I made a little forward to him who 

Di grido in grido pur lui dando pregio, 

Fin che 1' ha vinto il ver con piii persone.' 

Or se tu hai si ampio privilegio, 

Che licito ti sia 1' andare al chiostro, 

Nel quale fe Cristo abate del coUegio, 

Fagli per me un dir di un paternostro, 130 

Quanto bisogna a noi di questo mondo, 

Ove poter peccar non fe piii nostro. 

Poi forse per dar luogo altrui secondo 

Che presso avea, disparve per lo fuoco. 

Come per 1' acqua il pesce andando al fondo. 

Io mi feci al mostrato innanzi un poco, 

1 che 'I aiutb Gg. 3 ; aiunto 15 ; a giunto 4. 

et quosdam alios extollentes, nunquam in vocabulis atque constructione 

desuetos plebescere.' Petrarch mentions him twice; once (Tri. Am. 

iv. 33) with apparent allusion to this passage. 

.con piii persone. It seems better to understand this with 

Lombardi, as meaning 'with the majority of people,' than either 

with Bianchi, Philalethes, and (?) -Witte, 'by reason of the greater 

number of better poets who have arisen,' or ' him, together vrith others.' 

I do not understand lo to refer exactly either to Guittone or to pregio, 

but rather as in Fr. Vemporler sur. 

132 Cf xi. 22.

XXVI PURGATORY 33' 

was pointed out, and said that for his name my desire was 

preparing a place of thanks. He began frankly to say: 

'So pleases me your courteous request that I have not 

power or will to hide myself from you. I am Arnald, who 

weep and go singing, as thou seest, my past folly, and 

view with joy the day which I hope for hereafter. Now 

E dissi ch' al suo nome il mio desire 

Apparecchiava grazioso loco. 

Ei comincib liberamente a dire : 

Tan m' abelis vostre cortes deman, xsp 

Qu' ieu no—m puesc, ni—m veuil a vos cobrire. 

leu sui Arnaut, que plor, e vau cantan 

Coma tu ves la passada folor ; 

E vei iausen lo iorn, qu' esper denan. 

140 sqq. These lines are in the Proven9al language. The MSS. have, 

as might be expected, made curious work of the words, and the early 

edd. of the rendering. Raynouard and Diez have both tried their hands 

at restoring them, but with different results. In the first three lines the 

differences are mostly only matters of orthography, though in 1. 141 some 

MSS. and 'V. da Spira have Chieuus, i.e. Qu' ieu vos, which perhaps 

gives a better rhythm ; but in 11. 143, 144 the divergence is considerable. 

Raynouard gives ' consiros vei,' and ' E vei jauzen lo joi'; while 

Diez has ' Car, sitot vei' and 'Eu vei jausen lo jour'; 'for as soon as 

I see my past folly I view with joy the day.' In the last Une, Raynouard, 

with little authority, reads ' a temprar ma dolor.' The chief 

question, however, is as to the reading of 1. 146. Diez adheres to the 

usual ' al som de 1' escalina.' But this causes a difficulty of scansion, 

unless we may also read ' Que guida vus'; for ' vos condus,' which is 

sometimes found, is ob-riously a gloss. Raynouard, followed by Bianchi 

and Philalethes, prefers ' al som sens freich e sens calina,' comparing 

iii. 31. Blanc, in his Erklarungen, seems to accept the reading of Diez; 

but in his Dictionary he pronounces for the other, with the exception 

that he wishes to substitute ' dol' for ' freich,' on the (rather pedantic) 

ground that cold plays no part in the torments of Purgatory: though 

indeed in iii. 31 the possibility of it seems to be suggested. However, 

there is some MS. authority for ' dol,' none for ' freich.' Probably the

332 PURGATORY CANTO xxvi 

I pray you by that goodness which is guiding you to the 

summit of this stair, bethink you in due season of my pain.' 

Then he hid himself in the fire which is refining them. 

Ara vos free per aquella valor. 

Que vos guida al som d' ese scalina, 

Sovenhavus a temps de ma dolor : 

Poi s' ascose nel fuoco che gli affina. 

earliest attempt at a correct editing of the lines is to be found in the 

MS. I call ' Gg.' This appears to have been in the first half of the 

fifteenth century owned, or part owned, by one 'Cola de Castillione,' 

who has given in the margin what he supposed to be a correct version, 

signing it with his name, 'Cola in pro-vincia enutritus.' It should be 

premised that in the original MS. there are many erasures, but on the 

whole the readings are those of Diez. The first word of 1. 143 is 

illegible, but the postilla is 'i.e. sicut vides.' In 1. 146 we find 'al 

senses {alt.fr. som) dell eses scalina.' Cola's emendation (my deciphering 

of which the late Mr. Bradshaw kindly corrected) is as follows : 

' Tant mabellis vostre cortes demant 

Que jeu non puesc ni -vuelh a vos cubrir 

Jeu suy Raynaut que plor & vac cantant 

Coma tu ves la passada follor 

Et vey gausent lo jorn que speri deciavant 

Aras vos prec per aquella valor 

Que vos guida al som de lescalina 

Sovenha vos a temps de ma dolor.' 

Except in the fifth line, where Cola's ear for rhythm appears to have 

failed him, this is not unsatisfactory. His ' coma tu ves' is supported 

by two of the MSS. consulted by Herr 'Witte (of which, by the way, 

three have ' condus' in 1. 146). 'With such good authority as this I 

have ventured to adopt it in my text; otherwise, except for a letter or 

two and the introduction in 1. 146 of ese, to which most of the MSS. 

seem to point, I have followed Diez.

CANTO XXVII 

ARGUMENT 

They see an angel who bids them pass through the fire in order to 

mount up. Dante hesitates, but- is persuaded by Virgil, who 

speaks of Beatrice. Third sunset. "They halt in the passage ; 

and Dante falls asleep, and dreams of Rachel and Leah. Fourth 

sunrise. "They reach the summit of the mountain, and 'Virgil 

explains that his power to guide is now at an end. 

JUST as when he makes his first rays quiver there where his 

Maker shed His blood, Ebro faUing beneath the high Scales, 

and the waves in Ganges being scorched by the noon, so 

the Sun was standing; wherefore the day was departing, 

when the angel of God with joy appeared to us. Outside of 

Si come quando i primi raggi vibra 

Lk dove il suo fattore il sangue sparse, 

Cadendo Ibero sotto 1' alta Libra, 

E r onde in Gange da nona riarse," 

Si stava il sole; onde il giorno sen giva, 

Quando 1' Angel di Dio lieto ci apparse. 

" di nuovo Gg. 3; da nova 1245. 

1 sm- It was sunrise at Jerusalem, midnight in Spain, noon in India, 

and therefore sunset in Purgatory. (See note to ii. I.) 

* The process by which }io7tes, the ninth hour, or 3 P.M., became 

noon or midday, is explained by Dante in Conv. iv. 23.


the flame was he standing on the bank, and was singing Beati 

mundo corde, in a far more living voice than ours. Afterwards 

; ' Further goes not any, if first the fire bites not, ye 

holy souls; enter into it, and to the chant beyond be ye not 

deaf,' said he to us when we were near him; so that I 

became such, when I heard it, as is he who is put into the 

grave. Upwards I stretched forth my claspdd hands, 

looking at the fire, and strongly imagining human bodies 

ere now seen burnt. The' kind escorts turned towards me, 

and Virgil said to me: ' My son, here may be torment, but 

Fuor della fiamma stava in su la riva, 

E cantava : Beati mundo corde, 

In voce assai piii che la nostra viva : 

Poscia : Piii non si va, se pria non morde, ro 

Anime sante, il fuoco : entrate in esso, 

Ed al cantar di la non slate sorde, 

Ci disse, come noi gli fummo presso; 

Perch' io divenni tal, quando lo intesi. 

Quale fe colui che nella fossa fe messo. 

In su le man commesse mi protesi, 

Guardando il fuoco, e immaginando forte 

Umani corpi gik veduti accesi. 

Volsersi verso me le buone scorte : 

E Virgilio mi disse : Figliuol mio, 20 

Qui puote esser tormento, ma non morte : 

1' See 1. 55. Blanc remarks that it is the only instance in which 

they hear and are greeted by an angel from a higher terrace. It is, 

however, hardly correct to speak of the point where the angel stands as 

a higher terrace; it is rather a part of the seventh circle, oiily high 

enough on the mountain-side to be clear of the flames. Indeed, the use 

of di la would almost seem to imply that the angel is on the hither side, 

between the fire and the outside of the ledge; but it may be relative 

only to those whom he addresses. 

1* See note Inf xix. 50.

XXVII PURGATORY. 335 

not death. Bethink thee, bethink thee—and if I guided 

thee safely on even Gerion, what shall I do now, nearer to 

God ? Believe for certain, that if within the heart of this 

flame thou stayedst, ay, a thousand years, it could not make 

thee bald of one hair. And if thou think perchance that I 

deceive thee, turn thee toward it, and make thyself give 

credence with thy hands on the skirt of thy garments. Lay 

down hericeforth, lay down all fear.: turn thee hitherward, 

and come on secure.' And I yet stand still, and agairist 

my conscience. When he saw me stand quite still and 

unyielding, a little troubled he said: ' See now, my son, 

between Beatrice and thee is this wall.' As at the name 

Ricordati, ricordati . . . e, se io 

Sovr' esso Gerion ti guidai salvo, 

Che farb ora, presso piii a Dio ?'' 

Credi per certo, che se dentro all' alvo 

Di questa fiamma stessi ben mill' anni, 

Non ti potrebbe far d' un capel calvo. 

E se tu credi forse ch' io t' inganni, 

Fatti ver lei, e fatti far credenza 

Con le tue mani al lembo de' tuoi panni. 30 

Pon giii omai, pon giii ogni temenza: 

Volgiti in qua, e vieni oltre sicuro. 

Ed io pur fermo, e contro a coscienza. 

Quando mi vide star pur fermo e duro, 

Turbato un poco disse : Or vedi, figlio, 

Tra Beatrice e te fe questo muro. 

^ or, che son pit p. Aid. Land. Bi. 

'^ Notice ti not elided before e, making the break more forcible. 

23 sovr' esso. See note to iv. 27. The reference is to Inf. xvii. 

91 sqq. 

3" Beatrice is rarely, if ever, a word of four syllables; so that 

something is probably missing in this line. Should we read Che iral


of Thisbe Pyramus opened his eyelids on point of death, 

and looked upon her, what time the mulberry became vermilion, 

so my obstinacy being loosened, I turned to my sage 

Leader, hearing the name which ever wells up in my mind. 

Wherefore he nodded his head, and said : 'How ! wish we 

to stay on this side ?' then he smiled, as one does on the 

child that yields at the apple. Then he placed himself in 

the fire in front of me, praying Statius that he would come 

behind, who hitherto through a length of road had divided 

us. When I was within, I would have flung myself into 

boiling glass to cool me, so was the burning there im- 

Come al nome di Tisbe aperse il ciglio 

Piramo in su la morte, e riguardoUa, 

Allor che il gelso divento vermiglio; 

.Cosi la mia durezza fatta solla, 40 

Mi volsi al savio Duca udendo il nome, 

Che nella mente sempre mi rampolla. 

Ond' ei croUb la testa, e disse : Come, 

yolemci star di qua ? indi sorrise. 

Come al fanciul si fa ch' fe vinto al pome. 

Poi dentro al fuoco innanzi mi si mise, 

Pregando Stazio che venisse retro, 

Che pria per lunga strada ci divise. 

Come fui dentro, in un bogliente vetro 

Gittato mi sarei per rinfirescarmi, 50 

Tant' era ivi lo incendio senza metro. 

37 Philalethes quotes Ov. Met. iv. 145 : ' Ad nomen Thisbes oculos 

jam morte gravatos Pyramus erexit.' 

*• "> Notice that here, as in the first and third circles, Dante has 

himself to participate in the punishment (see xii. I, 2, and xv. 145). 

The sins which are expiated in these cases are those which we know 

from the evidence of Villani and Boccaccio, as well as from his own 

admission (xiii. 136, xxx. 126), to ha-ve been the special defects in his 

character.

XXVII PURGATORY 337 

measurable. My s-(veet Father, to strengthen me, went 

talking only of Beatrice, saying: 'I seem already to see 

her eyes.' A voice guided us which was singing beyond ; 

and we, intent only on it, came forth there where was the 

ascent. Venite, benedicti Patris mei, sounded within a light 

which was there such that it overcame me, and I could not 

gaze on it. ' The Sun is going his way,' it added, ' and 

the even comes; stay not, but study your pace so loug as 

the west grows riot dark.' 

The way mouuted straight through the rock, towards 

such a quarter that I took away in front of me the rays of 

Lo dolce Padre mio per confortarmi. 

Pur di Beatrice ragionando andava 

Dicendo : Gli occhi suoi gia veder parmi. 

Guidavaci una voce, che cantava 

Di la: e noi attenti pure a lei 

Venimmo fuor lk ove si montava. 

Venite, benedicti Patris mei, 

Sonb dentro ad un lume che li era, 

Tal che mi vinse, e guardar noi potei. 60 

Lo Sol sen va, soggiunse, e vien la sera: 

Non v' arrestate, ma studiate il passo, 

Mentre che 1' occidente non s' annera. 

Dritta salia la via per entro il sasso 

Verso tal parte, ch' io toglieva i raggi 

52-54 Cf Par. vii. 17, 18. 

58 Venite, benedicti, etc. St. Matt. xxv. 34. These words begin 

the Introit appropriate to the 'Wednesday in Easter 'Week, which day 

has (for liturgic purposes) now begun. 

62, 63 E-ridently with allusion to St. John xii. 35. 

"5 I.e. they are now on the west side of the mountain, having made 

the half-circuit (cf 1. 133). 

Z


the Sun, which was already low. And of few steps did we 

make trial, when, through the shadow being spent, both I 

and my sages perceived that the Sun was set behind us. 

And before that in all its unmeasured parts the horizon was 

become of one aspect, and Night had her full distribution, 

each of us made of a stair a bed : for the nature of the mount 

broke up in us rather the power of ascending than - the 

Dinanzi a me del Sol ch' era gik basso. 

E di pochi scaglion levammo i saggi, 

Che il Sol corcar, per 1' ombra che si spense, 

Sentimmo dietro ed io e gli miei saggi. 

E pria che in tutte le sue parti immense '^ 70 

Fosse orizzonte fatto d' un aSpetto, 

E notte avesse tutte sue dispense,'' 

Ciascun di noi d' un grado fece letto; 

Chfe la riatura del moute ci affranse 

La possa del salir piii che il diletto. 

° Che pria Gg. ; E prima Cass. ^ gict tutte disp. Gg. 

'^ basso is the older reading; the modern edd. prefer lasso, which 

Blanc thinks more poetical. But is it not for that very reason out of 

place in a merely topographical passage ? Cf also xvii. 12. 

^7 The use of levare is somewhat curious; but compare that of 

togliere, Inf xviii. 30. In English we use 'to pick up,'colloquially, 

iri a very similar way. 

71 For the omission of the art. before orizzonte, cf 7neridian, iv. 

138. The meaning is, of course, ' before the glow of sunset had faded.' 

72 There is some difficulty about the meaning of dispense. Philalethes 

translates ' Kammern'; but the only kind of ' chamber' denoted 

by dispensa is a pantry. Vellutello explains ' tutte le sue parti'— 

(does he not understand sue of orizzonte?) Benvenuto has: 'i.e. 

dispensationes; quasi dicat antequam nox esset plena ubique.' On 

the whole Blanc's explaiiation seems the best; nor is it necessary, vrith 

Bianchi, to supply/a^Z'o.


delight. As the goats ruminating become quiet, who have 

been s-vrift. and wanton on the peaks before that they were 

fed, silent in the shade while that the Sun is hot, watched 

by the herdsman, who upon his. staff has propped himself, 

arid propped tends them; and as the shepherd, who lodges 

out of doors, passes the night in quiet beside his flock, 

watching that wild beast scatter it not; such were we all 

three then, I as the goat and they as shepherds, bound on 

this side -and on that by.a^high rock. Little could there 

appear of the outside; but through that little I beheld the 

stars, both clearer and larger than their wont. So ruminat- 

Quali si fanno ruminando manse 

Le capre, state rapide e proterve 

Sopra le cime, avanti che sien pranse," 

Tacite all' ombra mentre che il Sol ferve,- 

Guardate dal pastor, che in su la verga 80 

Poggiato s' fe,'e lor poggiato serve :^ 

E quale il mandrian, che fuori alberga, 

Lungo il peculio suo queto pernotta, 

Guardando perchfe fiera non lo sperga;^ 

Tali eravamo tutti e tre allotta, 

Io come capra,-ed ei come pastori, 

Fasciati quinci e quindi d' alta grotta. 

Poco potea parer li del di fuori; 

Ma per quel poco vedev'' io le stelle, 

Di lor solere e piii chiare e maggiori. 90 

^ prima che Aid. Land. Bi. 

alii poggiato 

f e lor diposa s. Gg. Bi. W. ; di posa Cass. 

s noi disperga Gg. ; niello sp. Cass. 

"1 The reading which Bianchi and 'Witte adopt here, lor di posa 

•.serve, seems the less satisfactory. As Blanc points out, the repetition 

of poggiato is much in Dante's style.


ing, and so gazing on them, sleep took me ; the sleep which 

often before the fact comes to pass knows the news. 

In the hour, I think, when from the east first beamed on 

the mount Cytherea, who with fire of love appears ever 

burnirig, I seemed iri dreams to see a dame yourig and fair 

go through a plain gathering flowers; and singing she was 

saying: ' Let him know, whoso inquires my name, that I 

am Leah, and I go moving about my fair hands to make 

me a garland. To delight me at the glass here I adorn 

myself; but my sister Rachel never is dra-yVn from her 

Si ruminando, e si mirando in quelle. 

Mi prese il sonno ; il sonno che sovente 

Anzi che il fatto sia sa le novelle.'' 

Nell' ora, credo, che dell' oriente 

Prima raggio nel monte Citerea, 

Che di fuoco d' amor par sempre ardente; 

Giovane e bella in sogno mi parea 

Donna vedere andar per una landa, 

Cogliendo fiori, e cantando dicea :' 

Sappia, qualunque il mio nome dimanda, roo 

Ch' io mi son Lia, e vo movendo intorno 

Le belle mani a farmi una ghirlanda. 

Per piacermi alio specchio qui m' adorno ; 

Ma mia suora Rachel mai non si smaga 

li ilfato Veil. i i fiori Gg. 

^3 Cf Inf xxvi. 7. 

** As to this and the other dreams, see note to this Canto, 

Appendix A. 

1"'' It is hard to find an English word to give the force of smaga. 

Philalethes is happy in having ' weichen.' Cf xix. 20. Veil, has 

' non si smarrisce.'


mirror, and sits all day. She is fain of seeing her fair eyes, 

as I of adorning myself -with my hands; to see satisfies 

her, but me to work.' 

And already, through the brightness before the Hght, 

which arises the more grateful to pilgrims, as on their 

return they lodge less far away, the shadows were fleeing 

Ori all sides, and my sleep with them; wherefore I rose up, 

seeing the great Masters already risen. ' That sweet apple, 

. Dal suo miragho, e siede tutto giorno. 

Eir fe di suoi begli occhi veder vaga. 

Com' io dell' adornarmi con le mani: 

Lei lo vedere, e me 1' ovrare appaga.'' 

E gia per gli splendori antelucani, 

Che tanto ai peregrin surgon piii grati, no 

Quanto tornando albergan men lontani,' 

Le tenebre fuggian da tutti i lati, 

E il sonno mio con esse; orid' io leva'mi, 

Veggendo i gran Maestri gik levati. 

I' e me V ornare Gg. 1245 ; ornar map. Cass. 

1 piii lontani Cass. 23 W. 

^"^ There is a question whether we ought to read de' or di, ' fain to 

see with her eyes,' or ' fain of seeing her eyes.' The former makes a 

better parallel to adornarmi con le mani, but the objection to it is that 

such words as vago are rarely {vago itself never in D.C.) followed by 

a simple infinitive. Diez iii. 216. I have therefore followed Philalethes 

rather than Bianchi and 'Witte. The former says 'Das beschauliche 

Leben findet seine Befriedigung im Erkennen der Wahrheit welches 

gleichsam das Auge der Seele ist.' See also Conv. iv. 2 ad fin., which 

agrees with this reading. 

1°^ Cf Par. xxxi. 29. 

m The reading taken by 'Witte, piii lontani, seems to spoil the 

sense. The piii has clearly slipped in from the line above. See 

Scartazzini's note, which seems conclusive against the reading which he 

adopts. See Moore, Textual Criticism.


which through so many branches the care of mortals goes 

seeking, to-day will set at peace thy hungerings.' Virgil 

toward me used such words as these, and never were there 

gifts which were for pleasure equal to these. Desire upon 

desire so came to me of being above, that at every after 

pace I felt my wings grow for the flight. When the whole 

stair was passed, and below us, and we were on the topmost 

step, Virgil fixed his eyes on me, and said : ' The temporal 

fire and the eternal hast thou seen, my son, and thou art 

come to a part where of myself I discern no further. I 

have drawn thee hither with wit and with art, henceforth 

Quel dolce pome, che per tanti rami 

Cercando va la cura dei mortali, 

Oggi porrk in pace le tue fami: 

Virgilio inverso me queste cotali 

Parole usb; e mai non furo strenne 

Che fosser di piacere a queste iguali. 

Tanto voler sovra voler mi venne 

Dell' esser su, ch' ad ogni passo poi 

Al volo mi sentia crescer le penne."' 

Come la scala tutta sotto noi 

Fu corsa, e fummo in su il grado superno. 

In me ficcb Virgilio gli occhi suoi, 

E disse : II temporal fuoco e 1' eterno 

Veduto hai, figlio, e sei venuto in parte 

O'v' io per me piii oltre non discerno. 

Tratto t' ho qui con ingegno e con arte; 

Alvolo mio Gg.; vuol mio Cass. 

12^ Because Virgil represents human knowledge. 

13" ingegno ed arte. Cf ix. 125. ' Durch Ausbildung des speculativen 

und praktischen Intellects bist du hierher gelangt'—Philaletheswho 

also points the allusion to the contemplative and active life in the 

120 

130


take thine own pleasure for guide; forth art thou of the 

steep ways, forth of the narrow. See there the Sun, which 

shines upon thy forehead; see the young grass, the flowers, 

and the shrubs which here the land of itself alone brings 

forth. While the fair eyes with joy are coming, which with 

their weeping made me come to thee, thou mayest sit, and 

mayest go among them. Await no more my word or my 

sign; free, right, and sound is thy own judgement, and it 

were a fault not to act according to its thought; wherefore 

thee over thyself I crown arid mitre.' 

Lo tuo piacere omai prendi per duce; 

Fuor sei dell' erte vie, fuor sei dell' arte. 

Vedi lk il Sol, che in fronte ti riluce: 

Vedi 1' erbetta,. i fiori e gli arbuscelli, 

Che qui la terra sol da sfe produce." 

Mentre che vegnon lieti gh occhi belli, 

Che lagrimando a te venir mi feririo. 

Seder ti puoi, e puoi andar tra elli. 

Non aspettar mio dir piii, nfe mio cenno : 

Libero dritto e sano fe tuo arbitrio,*^ 140 

E fallo fora non fare a suo senno; 

Perch' io te sopra te corono e mitrio. 

o quella Cass. Gg. (alt. fr. qui la) Aid. Land.; questa Bi. 

" i tutto arb. Gg. 

seder and andar of 1. 138. The same is also expressed by the crown 

and mitre. Here of course the ' wit' is that which discovers, the ' art' 

that which utilises the discovery. 

140 sqq. Cf. Conv. ii. I : ' Nell' uscita dell' anima del peccato, essa si 

h fatta santa e libera in sua podestate.'

CANTO XXVIII 

ARGUMENT 

Dante proceeds, followed by Virgil and Statius, through a forest wherein 

are birds singing and many flowers. They are stopped by a little 

stream, on the other side of which is a lady gathering the flowers. 

She explains that this is the earthly Paradise, made at the first for 

man; and tells him of the nature of its soil and climate, and of 

the stream which flows through it. 

ALREADY fain to searcti within and around the divine forest 

thick and living, which to my eyes was tempering the new 

day, without waiting more I left the bank, taking the level 

ground at gentle pace over the soil which on aU sides 

gave sweet odours. A soft breeze, without any change in it, 

VAGO gik di cercar dentro e dintorno 

La divina foresta spessa e viva, 

,Ch' agli occhi temperava il nuovo giorno, 

Senza piii aspettar lasciai la riva, 

Prendendo la campagna lento lento 

Su per lo suoi che d' ogni parte oliva. 

Un' aura dolce, senza mutamento 

Avere in sfe, mi feria per la fronte, 

2 Contrast this with the ' selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte' of Inf i. 5. 

* lasciai; notice the singular number. Dante now goes where he 

will, and the others follow. Cf 1. 82.

CANTO XXVIII PURGA TOR Y 345 

smote me on the forehead, with no heavier stroke than a 

gentle wind; by reason of which the leaves, quickly trembling, 

were all bending towards the quarter where the holy 

mount cast its earliest shade; not, however, spread from, 

their natural uprightness so much that the birds through 

the tree-tops needed to leave setting all their arts in work : 

but with full joy chanting they received the early shadows 

Non di piii colpo che soave vento; 

Per cui le fro'nde tremolando pronte ro 

Tutte quante piegavano alia parte, 

U' la prim' ombra gitta il santo monte ; 

Non perb dal lor esser dritto sparte 

Tanto che gli augelletti per le cime 

Lasciasser d' operare ogni lor arte; 

Ma con plena letizia 1' ore prime 

Cantando ricevieno intra le foglie, 

1^ That is, towards the west; the breeze blowing from the east, with 

the diurnal motion of the universe (1. 103), or, as we should say, against 

that of the earth. 

i" Witte, together vrith most commentators,, ancient and modern, 

takes ore as horas. The difficulty of this ia that if it is understood 

merely as ' the morning hour' there is no reason for the plural. Another 

interpretation, which Benv. seems to adopt, takes it with cantando, 

'singing matins.' Cf Dunbar, 'The Thistle and the Rose,' 

stanza I : 

And lusty May, that muddir is of flouris. 

Had made the birdis to begyn thair houris 

Amang the tendir odouris reid and quhyt, 

Quhois harmony to heir it was delyt. 

But in this case there will be no object to rice-vieno. Unless, therefore, 

we can suppose that this latter word is corrupt CWitte gives a 

variant risedeano), we must, I think, take o-xe = auras in the sense 

of 'shadows,' repeating the prim' ombra of 1. 12, See Gloss, s.v. 

aura.


among the leaves, which were keeping a ground-bass to 

their strains, such as collects itself from branch to branch 

through the pinewood on the shore of Chiassi when Aeolus 

is letting Scirocco forth. 

Already my slow steps had carried me so far within the 

ancient wood that I could no longer see back to where I 

entered, and lo a stream stayed my further going, which towards 

the left with its littie waves was bending the grass that 

sprang upon its bank. All the waters that are in this world 

most pure had seemed to have in them some admixture 

beside that which hides naught; albeit it moves along all 

Che tenevan bordone alle sue rime, 

Tal, qual di ramo in ramo si raccoglie. 

Per la pineta in sul lito di Chiassi, 20 

Quand' Eolo Scirocco fuor discioglie. 

Gik m' avean trasportato i lenti passi 

Dentro all' antica selva, tanto ch' io 

Non potea rivedere ond' io m' entrassi: 

Ed ecco piii andar mi tolse un rio, 

Che inver sinistra con sue picciole onde 

Piegava 1' erba che in sua ripa uscio. 

Tutte r acque che son di qua piu monde, 

Parrieno avere in sfe mistura alcuna. 

Verso di quella che nulla nasconde; 30 

Avvegna che si muova bruna bruna 

13 tenevan bordone. So Redi. Bacco in Toscana, 408. 

^° Chiassi, i.e. Classis, the old harbour of Ravenna, the site of 

which is now occupied by the famous pine forest. Bocc. Day v. 

Nov. 8. 

^5 Dante is going towards the east. The stream at this point is 

therefore flowing from south to north, having turned at right angles 

to its original course, which, as will appear fi'om xxix. 12, was firom 

east to west. It is the stream Lethe.

XXVIII PURGATORY 347 

brown beneath the perpetual shade, which lets not sun nor 

moon shine ever there. With my feet I stood still, and 

with my eyes I passed beyond the little stream to gaze at 

the great variety of the fresh May. flowers, and there 

appeared to me,. just as appears suddenly a thing which 

turns aside through wonder every other thought, a solitary 

dame, who was going along singing, and selecting 

Sotto 1' ombra perpetua, che mai 

Raggiar non lascia sole ivi, nfe luna.. 

Coi pife ristetti, e con gli occhi passai ^ 

Di lk dal fiumicel per ammirare 

La gran variazion dei freschi mai: 

E lk m' apparve, si com' egli appare 

Subitamente cosa che disvia • 

Per maraviglia tutt' altro pensare, 

Una donna soletta, che si gia 40 

^ Coi pii ristretti e c. g. 0. 134 ; pie e c. g. 0. ristr. 2. 

3^ mai. ' Cosi chiama il Toscano i verdi rami, che per antica consuetudine 

nel primo giorno di Maggio appicchiamo alle finestre.' 

Land. 

37 egli. For this redundant use of the pronoun, see Diez iii. 279. 

So in French, e.g. 'il me vient une pensee.' 

*" The name of this lady, as will appear from xxxiii. 119, is Matilda. 

Theje is much controversy as to the, person meant, but the oldest 

commentators are nearly unanimous in identifying her -with ' the great 

Countess' Matilda of Tuscany, the ally of Gregory VII. and benefactor 

of the Papal see. For a short account of her. Sir J. Stephen's 

Essay on Hildebrand may be referred to with advantage. See also 

Villani iv. 21. Bianchi, in objecting that Dante would not have put 

so ardent a partisan of the Papacy and opponent of the empire in this 

important post, seems to have overlooked the very similar function 

assigned to Cato, who was no less remarkable as an antagonist of the 

Caesar- of his day. Dante probably was not aware how appropriatelynamed 

a personage he had chosen to sjmibolise the active life. Matilda, 

Mechthilde = war-might.


flower from flower wherewith was painted all her way. 

'Ah, fair dame, who at love's rays dost warm thyself, if 

I may believe thy lineaments, which are wont to be a 

witness of the heart, may will come to thee to draw forward,' 

said I to her, "'toward this stream, so far that I 

may uuderstarid that which thou singest Thou makest 

me remember where arid what -was Proserpine, in the 

time when her her mother lost, and she the spring.' As 

turns herself, with feet close to the ground and to each 

other, a dame who dances, and scarce puts foot before 

foot, she turned, over crimson and yellow flowers toward 

Cantando ed iscegliendo fior da fiore, 

Orid' era pirita tutta la sua via. 

Deh, bella Donna, ch' a raggi d' amore 

Ti scaldi, s' io vo' credere ai sembianti, 

Che soglion esser testimon del cuore, 

Vegnati voglia di trarreti avanti,'' 

Diss' io a lei, verso questa riviera, 

Tanto ch' io possa intender che tu canti. 

Tu mi fai rimembrar dove e qual era 

Proserpina nel tempo che perdette 50 

La madre lei, ed ella primavera. 

Come si volge con le piante strette 

A terra ed intra sfe donna che balli, 

E piede innanzi piede a pena mette, 

Volsesi in su vermigli ed in su gialli 

b in voglia W.; di trarti davanti Gg. 2 ; di traierti av. Cass. 

5». "1 See Orid Met. v. 385 sqq. By primavera some understand 

the spring flowers which Proserpine let fall; but it is probably only a 

reminiscence of Ovid's ' perpetuum ver est.' Scheffer-Boichorst suggests 

Claudian, de Raptu Proserpinae ii. 120. But it is not certain that Dante 

knew Claudian.


me, not otherwise than a -virgin who casts down her honest 

eyes; and made my prayers to be content, dra-\ring herself 

so near that the sweet sound came to me with its meaning. 

As soon as she was there where the grass is just 

bathed by the waves of the fair stream, she did me the 

grace of raising her eyes. I do not think that such light 

beamed under the eyelids of Venus pierced by her son, out 

of all his wont. She was smiling from the other bank, 

upright and with her hands handling many hues, which the 

Fioretti verso me, non altrimenti 

Che vergine che gli occhi onesti a-walli; 

E fece i prieghi miei esser contenti, 

Si appressando sfe che il dolce suono 

Veniva a me coi suoi intendimenti. 60 

Tosto che fu lk dove 1' erbe sono 

Bagnate gik dall' onde del bel fiume, 

Di levar gli occhi suoi mi fece dono. 

Non credo che splendesse tanto lume 

Sotto le ciglia a Venere trafitta 

Dal figlio, fuor di tutto suo costume. 

Ella ridea dall' altra riva dritta 

Trattando piu color con le sue mani,"^ 

" Traendo Gg. Cass. 134 Aid. W. 

^ I.e. unintentionally. Ovid Met. A. 525, 526: 

Namque pharetratus dum dat puer oscula matri, 

Inscius exstanti destrinxit arundine pectus. 

^ ridea. See note Par. xxxi. 61. dritta is generally taken to 

mean merely 'the right bank.' But surely this is an unnecessary 

pleonasm; and, besides, dritta in this sense occurs only once elsewhere 

(xiv. 8). I have followed Blanc in understanding it of Matilda's 

attitude. See also the woodcut in the Venice ed. of 1578. As a, 

necessary consequence we must, with Landino, read trattando in the 

following line, instead of the more usual traendo.


high land sends forth without seed. Three paces the 

stream kept us, apart, but Hellespont, there where Xerxes 

passed, a bridle still to all pride of men, eridured uot from 

Leander greater hate, for surging .between Sestos and 

Abydos, than that from me, for that then it opened not. ' Ye 

are new come, and perhaps wherefore I smile,' she began, 

'in this place, set apart to the human kind for its nest, 

some doubt holds you marvelling; but the.psalm Delectasti 

renders a light which may uncloud your . understanding. 

. ; Che r alta terra senza seme gitta.'' 

Tre passi ci facea il fiume lontani: 70 

Ma EUesponto, lk 've passb Serse, 

Ancora freno a tutti orgogli umani, 

Piii odio da Leandro non sofferse. 

Per mareggiare intra Sesto ed Abido, 

Che quel da me, perchfe allor non s' aperse. 

Voi siete nuovi, e forse perch' io rido, 

Comincib ella, in questo luogo eletto 

All' umana natura per suo nido, 

Maravigliando tienvi alcun sospetto : 

Ma luce rende il salmo Delectasti, so 

Che puote disnebbiar vostro intelletto. 

* altra 134. 

^^ If we read altra, the meaning vrill be 'more than the other (i.e. 

this) earth bears without sowing.' 

7° ' E questo fiume tre passi largo, perche tre cose bisogna a entrar 

in queste virtu, prima conoscere il vitio, seconda conosciutolo odiarlo, 

terza odiatolo dimenticarlo,' says Landino, a good specimen of. the 

elaborate interpretation of the early commentators. 

'" Psalm xcii. 4 (Vulg. xci. 5), 'Delectasti me, Domine, in factura 

tua.' See Appendix A.


And thou that art in front, and prayedst me, say if thou 

wouldst hear aught else, for I come ready for thy every 

question, so far as may suffice.' 'The water,' said I, 'and 

the sound of the forest, strive in me with a new belief of a 

matter which I heard contrary to this.' Wherefore she : 

' I wUl tell how by its cause proceeds that which makes 

thee wonder; and I will purge away the cloud which sniites 

thee. The highest Good, which does orily its owri pleasure, 

made the mau good and for good, and gave him this place 

for an earnest to him of eternal peace. Through his own 

E tu che sei dinanzi, e mi pregasti, 

Di' s' altro vuoi udir: ch' io venni presta 

Ad ogni tua question, tanto che basti. 

L' acqua, diss' io, e il suon della foresta 

Impugnan dentro a me novella fede 

Di cosa, ch' io udi' contraria a questa. 

Ond' ella: Io dicerb come procede 

Per sua cagion, cib ch' ammirar ti face, 

E purgherb la nebbia che ti fiede." 90 

Lo sommo Ben, che solo esso a sfe piace,^ 

Fece 1' uom buono e a bene, e questo loco ® 

Diede per arra a lui d' eterna pace. 

« Ude Gg. 

' bene che solo esso se Cass. ; esse 4 ; solo a se 23 Bi. 

s Fe /' uom buon e ben di q. Cass. ; e bene a 1345 j Fece . . . buono a 

bene e 2 Aid, Land.; buono e '1 ben di q. Bi, 

3^ Dante is now going in firont. 

^ Statius has told him (xxi. 46 sqq.) that the mountain above the 

gate of Purgatory is free firom all atmospheric changes. Dante is therefore 

at .a. loss to understand whence comes the vrind which sounds in 

the leaves, and how where rain never falls there can be a stream of 

water.


default he abode here littie time; through his own default 

he changed to weeping and toil honest laughter and sweet 

mirth. In order that the tumult to which below the 

exhalations of the water and of the earth of themselves 

give rise, which, so far as they can, go after the heat, should 

not cause to the man any trouble, this mount rose thus far 

toward the heaven, and is free from them, from that point 

where is the barrier: Now, since in a circuit the whole air 

turns with the prime turning, if its circle is not broken by 

Per sua diffalta qui dimorb poco; 

Per sua diffalta in pianto ed in affanno 

Cambib onesto riso e dolce giuoco. 

Perchfe il turbar, che sotto da sfe fanno 

L' esalazion dell' acqua e della terra, 

Che quanto posson dietro al calor vanno. 

All' uomo non facesse alcuna guerra, loo 

Questo monte salio ver lo Ciel tanto, 

E libero n' fe d' indi, ove si serra. 

Or perchfe in circuito tutto quanto 

L' aer si volge con la prima volta, 

Se non gli fe rotto il cerchio d' alcun canto, 

^ Bianchi takes sotto da s^ = below the mountain. But (though 

we find di sotto da) there seems to be no example of sotto da, and 

sfe for lui is at the best very harsh. On the whole da se seems to make 

the best sense with fanno. 

98, 99 Cf. Aristotle Meteor, ii. 4 1 icravrbs re ydp y yij ^ripaivojiivri 

iirf) re rov ev air^ Beppiov KOX iirb rov dvuBev, dvaBvfxidrai. 

i»3 Cf. xxi. 49. 

i»3 Cf lines 11, 12. 

106 -Witte, Bianchi, Blanc, Philalethes, all take d' alcun canto as 

=merely 'in any part.' I have ventured to give it a more special 

meaning.. The upper air revolves steadily from east to west with the 

movement of the universe; but, being met by a projection, like this 

mountain, it is felt as a breeze. By this the seeds (in which the -yirtii


any corner, on this height, which is all unbounded in the 

living air, such motion strikes and makes the wood sound, 

for that it is close-set; and the plant when struck has such 

power that with its -virtue it impregnates the breeze, and 

that again in its revolution around shakes it off; and the 

rest of the earth, according as it is fit by itself or by its sky, 

conceives and brings to birth of divers virtues divers trees. It 

would not then on earth appear a marvel, when this is heard, 

whensoever any plant, without seed appearing, takes hold in 

it. And thou must know that the holy country where thou 

art is full of every seed, and has fruit in itself which yonder 

is not plucked. The water that thou seest rises not from 

In questa altezza, che tutta fe disciolta 

Nell' aer vivo, tal moto percuote, 

E fa sonar la selva perch' fe folta: 

E la percossa pianta tanto puote, 

Che della sua virtute 1' aura impregna, no 

E quella poi girando intorno scuote : 

E r altra terra, secondo ch' fe degna 

Per sfe o per suo ciel, concepe e figlia 

Di diverse virtii diverse, legna. 

Non parrebbe di lk poi maraviglia, • 

Udito questo, quando alcuna pianta 

Senza seme palese vi s' appiglia. 

E saper dei che la campagna santa, 

Ove tu sei, d' ogni semenza fe plena, 

E frutto ha in sfe che di lk non si schianta. 120 

L' acqua che vedi non surge di vena'' 

h non esce Gg. 

resides) are shaken from the trees and plants, and let fall on the earth 

below, where they spring up to all appearance spontaneously. 

118 An allusion probably to Genesis ii. 9. 

1=1 See Aristotle Meteor, i. 13. 

2 A


a vein which the vapour that cold converts may restore, as a 

river which gains or loses force, but issues from a fountain 

steady and sure, which by -the will of God receives back 

so much as opening on two sides it pours forth. On this 

side it descends with a virtue which takes away from a man 

memory of sin; on the other it restores that of every good 

deed. On this hand Lethe, so on the other Eunoe is it called, 

and it works not, if it is not first tasted on this hand and on 

that. Of all other savours this is sovereign. And albeit that 

thy thirst may be sated enough, for all that more I reveal 

not to thee, I will of favour give thee yet a corollary; nor 

Che ristori vapor che giel converta, 

Come fiume ch' acquista o perde lena;' 

Ma esce di fontana salda e certa, 

Che tanto del voler di Dio riprende,'' 

Quant' ella versa da due parti aperta. 

Da questa parte con virtii discende, 

Che toglie altrui memoria del peccato; 

Dair altra, d' ogni ben fatto la rende. 

Quinci Letfe, cosi dall' altro lato 130 

Eunofe si chiama : e non adopra, 

Se quinci e quindi pria non fe gustato. 

A tutt' altri sapori esto fe di sopra: 

E avvegna ch' assai possa esser sazia 

La sete tua, perch' io piii non ti scopra, 

Darotti un coroUario ancor per grazia;' 

' c' aspetta Cass. 12345 Aid. ; Come V altra c' acq. Gg. 

•^ risplende Gg. 1 Dirotti Gg. 

i''^ converta, i.e. changes back to water. Cf v. 109-111. 

135 perchi, as v. 58, etc.


think I that my word will to thee be less precious if beyond 

promise it go along with thee. Those who in ancient time 

sang of the age of gold and its happy state, haply in 

Parnassus dreamt of this place. Here was the root of 

mankind innocent; here is spring ever, and every fruit; 

nectar is this of which each speaks.' 

I turned me quite round then to my poets, and saw that 

with a smile they had heard the last interpretation. Then 

to the fair dame I turned again my face. 

Nfe credo, che il mio dir ti sia men caro 

Se oltre promission teco si spazia. 

Quelli ch' anticamente poetaro 

L' etk deir oro e suo stato felice, 140 

Forse in Parnaso esto loco sognaro. 

Qui fu innocente 1' umana radice; 

Qui primavera sempre, ed ogni frutto; 

Nettare fe questo di che ciascun dice. 

Io mi rivolsi addietro allora tutto 

Ai miei Poeti, e vidi che con riso 

Udito avevan 1' ultimo costrutto : 

Poi alia bella donna tornai il viso. 

m segnaro Gg. Cass. (al. sogn.) 1245 ; signaro 3. 

"i Daniello quotes Persius Prol. 2: ' Nee in bicipiti somniasse 

Parnasso'; which, except for the sound of the words, does not seem 

much to the point. 

1^ tornai, as usual, with the idea of not merely 'turning,' but 

' turning back to a former position.'

CANTO XXIX 

ARGUMENT 

They proceed along the banks of the stream, which presently turns to 

the eastward, and of a sudden perceive a bright light and a sweet 

music. There appears a wondrous pageant, preceded by seven 

candlesticks, a car drawn by a Grifon, and escorted by four-andtwenty 

elders and four beasts, with other personages. They halt 

opposite to where the poets stand. 

SINGING, as a dame enamoured, she went on -with her final 

words, Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata. And like nymphs who 

used to go solitary through the wooded shades, desiring one 

to escape, one to behold the sun, she then moved against 

the stream, goirig up alorig the barik, arid I abreast of her, 

CANTANDO come donna innamorata, 

Continub col fin di sue parole : 

Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata: 

E come Ninfe che si givan sole " 

Per le salvatiche ombre, disiando 

Qual di fuggir, qual di veder lo sole; 

Allor si mosse contra il fiume, andando 

Su per la riva, ed io pari di lei, 

^ che seguivan Gg. 

' Psalm xxxii. i, 

7 They now turn to the south, and go less than fifty paces each

CANTO XXIX PURGATORY 357 

following with httie steps her little steps. There were not 

a hundred paces between hers and mine, when the banks 

made a turn equally, in such wise that I again set myself 

toward the sunrising. Nor thus, too, had our way been 

long when the lady turned wholly towards me, saying : ' My 

brother, look and listen.' And lo, a brightness suddenly 

rushed from all quarters through the great forest such that 

it set me questioning of lightning. But whereas lightning 

stays even as it comes, and this continuing, kept shining 

more and more, I began to say within my thought: ' What 

Picciol passo con picciol seguitando. 

Non eran cento tra i suoi passi e i miei, 10 

Quando le ripe igualmente dier volta, 

Per modo ch' a levante mi rendei. 

Nfe anche fu cosi nostra via molta, 

Quando la doiina tutta a me si torse, 

Dicendo : Frate mio, guarda ed ascolta. 

Ed ecco un lustro subito trascorse 

Da tutte parti per la gran foresta, 

Tal che di balenar mi mise iri forse.'' 

Ma perchfe il baleriar, come vieri, resta, 

E quel durando piii e piii splendeva, 20 

Nel mio pensar dicea : Che cosa fe questa ? 

l> mife inf. Gg. 

(1. 10) in that direction, when they reach a bend in the stream, and face 

eastward. They go a little further (11. 13, 46), when Dante finally 

halts (1. 7o),'and remains standing on the bank until he is taken through 

the river by Matilda (xxxi. 94). Vellutello thinks that the turn to the 

right denotes application to good works, and the return to the east the 

renewal of contemplation. 

18 mi mise in forse. So Inf. viii. no. See also note to iii. 37. 

19 come vien, i.e. momentarily. Or, taking resta as in Inf. xxv. 

135, ' ceases when it comes.'


thing is this ?' And a sweet melody was running through 

the luminous air, wherefore a good zeal made me reproach 

the boldness of Eve; for that there, where heaven and earth 

were obedient, a woman alone, and she but that instant 

formed, did not endure to stay under any veil; under the 

which if she had stayed devout, I should have felt these 

ineffable delights ere now, and after for a long time. 

While I was going along among such firstfruits of the 

eternal pleasure, all in suspense and desirous yet for more 

joys, before us the air became to us even as a burning fire 

under the green branches, and the sweet sound was already 

Ed una melodia dolce correva 

Per 1' aer luminoso : onde buon zelo 

Mi fe riprender 1' ardimerito d' Eva; 

Chfe, lk dove ubbidia la terra e il Cielo,'^ 

Femmina sola, e pur' testfe formata, 

Non sofferse di star sotto alcun velo : 

Sotto il qual se divota fosse stata, 

Avrei quelle ineffabili delizie 

Sentite prima, e poi lunga fiata.'' 30 

Mentr' io m' andava tra tante primizie 

Deir eterno piacer, tutto sospeso, 

E disioso ancora a piii letizie, 

Dinanzi a noi, tal quale un fuoco acceso 

Ci si fe r aer, sotto i verdi rami, 

E il dolce suon per canto era gia inteso. 

"= Quella disubbidib Gg. 

* prima e piii- Gg. 1234 W. ; prima piii Cass. 

"^ testfe. In longer form testeso, xxi. 113. From ante istud ipsum 

according to Diez iii. 436. Boccaccio and Sacchetti use it also of the 

immediate future. In Inf vi. 69 and Par. xix. 7 it is present. 

^ I. e. through this life and the next.

XXIX PURGATORY 359 

perceived for a chant. O most holy Virgins, if fasts, cold, 

or watches I have ever endured for you, occasion spurs me 

to claim reward therefore. Now it behoves that Helicon 

pour forth for me and that Urania aid me with her choir to 

put in verse things mighty to conceive. 

A little further on the long interval which was still 

between us and them made falsely in appeararice seven 

masts of gold; but when I was so near them that the 

common object, which cheats the sense, lost not through 

O sacrosante Vergini, se fami, 

Freddi, o vigilie mai per voi soffersi, 

Cagion mi sprona ch' io mercfe ne chiami. 

Or convien ch' Elicona per me versi, 40 

E Urania m' aiuti col suo coro, 

Forti cose a pensar mettere in versi. 

Poco piu oltre sette alberi d' oro "^ 

Falsava nel parere il lungo tratto 

Del mezzo, ch' era ancor tra noi e loro : 

Ma quando i' fui si presso di-lor fatto, 

Che r obietto comun, che il senso inganna, 

e arbori 23 W. 

* Che V obbico 134 ; com' uom Gg. (margin cammin). 

^2 Cf. Milton's 'Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.' Par. 

L. i. 16. Bianchi can hardly be right in understanding ed a before 

mettere, and taking both this and pensar as dependent on aiuti, 

though Philalethes seems to take the same view : ' Das Schwerer ich 

erdenk.' 

^7 r obietto oomun. So Conv. iv. 8 : ' nelli sensibiU comuni, la 

dove il senso spesse volte e ingannato.' This use of the expression 

seems here to be founded on a misunderstanding of ' rb KOivbv ' in De 

Animet ii. 6. Aristotle (as appears from De Sensu I : Xiya Si Koivd 

axflP^, I'^^Sos, KivTiffiv, dpiBpiv) uses it of such attributes as'may be 

perceived by more than one sense, as motion, number, size, etc. ; Dante


distance any of its features, the faculty which gathers arguments 

for reason apprehended them as they were—candlesticks, 

arid iri the voices of the chariting—Hosarina. On high 

was flaming the fair equipment, far brighter than the Moon 

Non perdea per distanza alcun suo atto ; 

La virtii ch' a ragion discorso ammanna. 

Si com' elli eran candelabri apprese,^ 50 

E nelle voci del cantare Osanna."^ 

Di sopra fiammeggiava il bello arnese 

Piii chiaro assai, che luna per sereno 

s acese al. apese) Cass. ; accese 14. '' nelle bocche Gg. 

is speaking of attributes common to more than one object of sense, which 

are the first to be perceived, and thus cause mistakes. In the present 

case candlesticks and masts (not, I think, ' trees,' as Philalethes 

renders) have the common property of height, straightness, etc. The 

distinguishing characteristics, e.g. colour, are regarded as attributes 

laid upon the obietto comun, as features upon the face; atto being 

used much as in xxiv. 27. 

^^ la virtii. Philalethes takes this to be the intellect, which enables 

the reason to express its conclusions by means of speech, since it gives it 

its material, viz. the species intelligibiles. ' The senses at first let in 

particular ideas : afterwards the mind abstracts them. ... In this 

manner the mind comes to be furnished with ideas and language, the 

materials about which to exercise its discursive faculty.'—Locke i. chap. 

2, § 15. It seems better, however, to take it in the more restricted 

sense of the ' apprehensive' faculty (xviii. 22), which collects the evidence 

given by the senses, and passes it on for the reason to oronounce 

upon it. (De Anima iii. 3. Cf Ozanam, Dante, Part II. chap. iii. 

§§1,2.) Cf Hamlet i. 2, 150: ' A beast that wants discourse of reason.' 

' Discursus,'says Aquinas, 'est motus sive progressus mentis ab uno 

judicioad aliud,'or more properly, the progress from two concerted 

judgements to a third resulting from their connection, a syllogism ; tlie 

materials for it being given by ' apprehensio.' 

^ ' AUa nobile anima si fanno incontro ad osannare quelli cittadin 

deir eterna vita.' Conv. iv. 28, ed. Giuliani. Cf V. N. § 23.


in a clear sky at midnight in her mid-month. I turned me 

back full of wonder to the good Virgil, and he answered me 

with a look charged no less with astonishrnent. Then I set 

my face again to the lofty objects which were moving to 

meet us so slowly that they would have been overcome by 

new-wedded brides. The lady cried to me : ' Why turnest 

thou thus in thy desire only towards the living lights, and 

that which comes behind them regardest not ?' Then saw 

I folk, as after their guides, come behind, clad in white, and 

such whiteness never was there in this world. The water 

was shining on the left flank, and returned to me my left 

Di mezza notte nel suo mezzo mese. 

Io mi rivolsi d' ammirazion pieno 

Al buon Virgilio, ed esso mi rispose 

Con vista carca di stupor non meno. 

Indi rendei 1' aspetto all' alte cose, 

Che si movieno incontro a noi si tardi, 

Che foran vinte da novelle spose. 60 

La donna mi sgridb : Perchfe pur ardi 

Si nell' affetto delle vive luci,' 

E cib che vien diretro a lor non guardi ? 

Genti vid' io allor, com' a lor duci. 

Venire appresso, vestite di bianco : 

E tal candor giammai di qua non fuci. 

L' acqua splendeva dal sinistro fianco,'^ 

E rendea a me la mia sinistra costa,' 

' neli aspetto Gg. Cass. 14 W. ; effetto 2. 

l' V acqua imprendea Gg. Cass. 15 ; prendea 4; prendeami 3. 

1 rendea mi Gg. 134; rendeame Cass. 

^ a'ffetto, as in xviii. 57. Land, seems to xes.&prime'fox vive. 

••^ The reading splendeva is the most intelligible, and the one


side if I gazed iri it, even like a mirror. When on my 

bank I had such,position, that only the river separated me, 

to see better I gave a halt to my steps, and I saw the 

flames go forward, leaving behind them the air painted; and 

they had the semblance of pencils drawn along, so that 

above them it remained marked off with seven bands, all in 

S' io riguardava in lei, come specchio anco. 

Quand' io dalla mia riva ebbi tal posta, 70 

Che solo il fiume mi facea distarite. 

Per veder meglio ai passi diedi sosta : 

E vidi le fiammelle andare avante, 

Lasciando dietro a sfe 1' aer dipinto, 

E di tratti pennelli avea sembiante. 

Si che di sopra rimanea distinto 

Di sette liste, tutte in que' colori, 

adopted by most editors from Aldus downward, though called by 

ScarabeUi (according to Barlow, Seicento Lezioni, p. 47), • un grosso 

errore.' The usual rule, to look with suspicion on the easier reading, 

is somewhat modified here by the presence of rendea in the next line, 

and the possibihty that this having been inserted here by a very common 

copyist's blunder may have given rise to the prendea readings. The 

Venice ed. of 1578 has impiendea, and pendea is found in some MSS. 

Ought we not to read impendeva : ' I hung over the water ' ? Otherwise 

line 68 seems to involve a lack of Dante's usual accuracy about 

details, for no one could see his own left side reflected in a stream 

without bending over it. Scartazzini adopts splendeva vrithout remark, 

which is curious, as he seldom misses an opportunity of girding at 

ScarabeUi. It is not impossible that the whole passage from 1. 64 is 

corrupt. The repetition of a lor—allor—a lor is awkward, as is also 

the position of anco at the end of 1. 69. 

7» It seems best to take pennelli, with the older commentators, in 

the same sense as it has in xii. 64, though its use in the sense of 

' pennons' is not unknown. But the likening of the flames to painters' 

brushes, drawn along and leaving a band of colour behind, is quite in 

Dante's manner.


those colours whereof the sun makes his bow and Delia 

her girdle. To the rearward these banners were too great 

for my sight; and as far as I could judge, ten paces were 

apart those on the outside. Under so fair a sky as I devise, 

four-and-twenty elders, two by two, were coming, crowned 

with lily flowers. They were all singing: ' Blessed thou 

among the daughters of Adam, and blessed be for ever 

thy beauties.' After that the flowers and the other fresh 

herbage abreast of me, on the other bank, were clear of those 

elect folk, just as light follows light in heaven, came after 

them four living creatures crowned each with green leaves. 

Onde fa 1' arco il Sole, e Delia il cinto. 

Questi stendali dietro eran maggiori 

Che la mia vista : e quanto a mio awiso 80 

Dieci passi distavan quei di fuori. 

Sotto cosi bel ciel, com' io diviso, 

Ventiquattro seniori, a due a due, 

Coronati venian di fiordaliso. 

Tutti cantavan : Benedetta tue 

Nelle figlie d' Adamo, e benedette 

Sieno in eterno le bellezze tue. 

Poscia che i fiori e 1' altre fresche erbette, 

A rimpetto di me dall' altra sponda, 

Libere fur da quelle genti elette, 90 

Si come luce luce in ciel seconda, 

Vennero appresso lor quattro animali, 

Coronati ciascun di verde fronda."" 

m Coronato W. Bi. 

78 Rainbow and lunar halo (Par. x. 67). As to the interpretation of 

these bands, and of the whole pageant, see Appendix B.


Each one had six feathered wings, the feathers full of 

eyes; and the eyes of Argus, if they were living, would be 

such. To describe their form I scatter rhymes no more, 

reader, for other expense binds me so, that in this I cannot 

be lavish. But read Ezekiel, for he depicts them as he 

saw them come from the cold quarter with wind, with 

cloud, and with fire; and such as thou shalt find them in his 

book, such were they here, save that as to the wings John 

is with me, and separates from him. The space between 

them four contained a car upon two wheels, triumphal, 

which came drawri by the neck of a Grifon; and he was 

Ognuno era pennuto di sei ali, 

Le penne piene d' occhi; e gli occhi d' Argo, 

Se fosser vivi, sarebber cotali. 

A discriver lor forma piii non spargo 

Rime, lettor; ch' altra spesa mi strigne 

Tanto, che in questa non posso esser largo. 

Ma leggi Ezechiel, che li dipigne roo 

Come li vide dalla fredda parte 

Venir con vento con nube e con igne: 

E quai li troverai nelle sue carte. 

Tali eran quivi, salvo ch- alle penne 

Giovanni fe meco, e da lui si diparte. 

Lo spazio dentro a lor quattro contenne 

Un carro in su duo ruote trionfale, 

Ch' al coUo d' un Grifon tirato venne : 

9^ pennuto di ali. Cf the Greek consti-. e.g. drreTiKos âpiav, 

TToXvareip'^s SdtpVTjs. 

lo" Ezekiel i. 4. In v. 6 he says: 'Every one had four wings.' 

The 'four beasts' seen by St. John, Rev. iv. 8, 'had each of them six 

wings about him'; hence Dante's remark in 1. 105.


stretching up his wings one and the other between the 

midmost band arid the three arid three, so that to no one, 

by cleaving it, did he do harm. They rose so high that 

they were out of sight; he had his limbs of gold so far as 

he was bird, and white the others with vermihon mingled; 

Not only did Rome never rejoice with car so fair Africanus 

or Augustus, but that of the Sun would be poor beside it; 

that of the Sun which going astray was burnt, through the 

prayer of the devoted Earth, when Jove was in his hidden 

counsels just. Three ladies, whirling on the right wheel's 

side, came dancing, the one so red, that hardly would she 

Ed esso tendea su 1' una e 1' altr' ale, 

Tra la mezzana e le tre e tre liste, no 

Si ch' a nulla fendendo facea male."' 

Tanto salivan che non eran viste: 

Le membra d' oro avea quant' era uccello, 

E bianche 1' altre di vermigHo miste. 

Non che Roma di carro cosi bello 

Rallegrasse Affricano, o vero Augusto : 

Ma quel del Sol saria pover con ello : 

Quel del Sol, che sviando fu combusto. 

Per r orazion della Terra' devota, 

Quando fu Glove arcanamente giusto. 120 

Tre donne in giro dalla destra ruota 

Venian danzando, 1' una tanto rossa, 

1 offendendo Cass.; che nullo off. 14. 

1°^ I.e. the middle band was between his wings, which passed along 

in the spaces between that and the third and fifth. 

11^ salivan, sc. his wings. 

!!'• i'-* Canticles v. 10, 11: Dilectus mens candidus et rubicundus 

. . . caput ejus aurum optimum. 

12" Cf. vi. 121, XX. 95. 

1^ The theological -rirtues : Love, Hope, Faith.


have been marked within the fire; the second was as if her 

flesh and bones had been made out of emerald; the third 

appeared snow but lately driven. And now they seemed 

led by the white, now by the red, and from her chant the 

others took both slow and quick their pace. On the left 

side four made holiday, clad in purple, following the fashion 

of one of them who had three eyes in her, head. After all the 

afore-mentioned group I saw two old men unlike in habit, 

but like in feature, both dignified and grave. The one 

showed himself one of the familiars of that great Hippocrates 

whom nature made for the animals that she holds 

Ch' a pena fora dentro al fuoco nota; 

L' altr' era, come se le carni e 1' ossa 

Fossero state di smeraldo fatte ; 

La terza parea neve testfe mossa: 

Ed or parevan dalla bianca tratte. 

Or dalla rossa, e dal canto di questa 

L' altre toglien 1' andare e tarde e ratte. 

Dalla sinistra quattro facean festa, 130 

In porpora vestite dietro al modo 

D' una di lor, ch' avea tre occhi in testa. 

Appresso tutto il pertrattato nodo, 

Vidi duo vecchi in abito dispari. 

Ma pari in atto ed onestato e sodo. 

L' un si mostrava alcun dei famigliari 

Di quel sommo Ippocrate, che natura 

Agli animali fe ch' ella ha piii cari. 

130 The moral virtues : Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, Prudence. 

186 1' „ji_ St. Luke, as author of the Acts. —famigliari, i.e. 

physicians. 

1"" I.e. mankind.


dearest. The other showed the contrary care, with a 

sword bright and keen, such that on the hither side 

of the stream it caused me fear. Afterward saw I four 

in humble guise, and behind all a solitary old mau 

come sleeping with his countenance undimmed. And 

these seven were habited as the first array; but they 

made not a thicket of hlies around their heads; rather 

of roses and other crimson flowers. Seeing them from 

a short distance one would have sworn that they were 

Mostrava 1' altro la contraria cura, 

Con una spada lucida ed acuta, 140 

Tal che di qua del rio mi fe paura. 

Poi vidi quattro in umile paruta, 

E diretro da tutti un vegUo solo 

Venir, dormendo, con la faccia arguta. 

E questi sette come il primaio stuolo 

Erano abituati; ma di gigli 

Dintorno al capo non facevan brolo; 

Anzi di rose e d' altri fior vermigli: 

Giurato avria poco lontano aspetto, 

"^ r altro, St. Paul.—contraria cura, because the sword slays. 

1** un veglio, St. John, as author of the Apocalypse. 

"^ The usual reading is col primaio {con as in Par. xxxi. 60), but 

this leaves a syllable wanting, for the termination -aio reckons as one 

syllable only, e.g. xiv. 66, Inf vi. 79. I have therefore ventured to 

make the slight change in the text. (Is it possible that we ought to 

regard the o as being affected by the st at the beginning of the next word 

in such a manner as to retain its proper force as a separate syllable ? 

Cf Inf xxviii. 12, Par. xxxi. 53.) 

i'>8 anzi, Fr. ains (a word which has unfortunately become obsolete). 

The signification is precisely the same as our 'rather' (='sooner'); 

ma, mais {magis), being of course 'more.' 

"^ Lit. 'a look at no great distance would have sworn.'

368 PURGATORY CANTO XXIX 

all on fire from the eyelids upward. And when the 

car was abreast of me a thundering was heard, and those 

worshipful folk appeared to have their further advance 

forbidden, halting there with the first ensigns. 

Che tutti ardesser di sopra dai cigli. 150 

E quando il carro a me fu a rimpetto, 

Un tuon s' udi; e quelle genti degrie 

Parvero aver 1' aridar piii interdetto, 

Fermandos' ivi con le prime insegne.

CANTO XXX 

ARGUMENT 

Beatrice appears, standing on the car, amid the flowers which the 

angels strew. Virgil has disappeared ; and she calls upon Dante 

by name, and while he weeps at the sight of her, she recounts to 

those around her how he has fallen away from the promise of his 

early life, and how she has caused him to make this journey for 

his salvation. 

WHEN the wain of the first heaven, which never knew 

setting nor rising, nor veil of other cloud than sin, and 

QUANDO il settentrion del primo cielo, 

Che nfe occaso mai seppe nfe orto, 

Nfe d' altra nebbia che di colpa velo : 

1 settentrion is usually understood of the seven candlesticks. 

Landino indeed says : ' La sententia e, quando s' afSsse e fermi il 

carro,' and so P. di Dante ; and the marginal reading of the Duke of 

Sermoneta's Codex, given by 'Witte, che for tra, in line 8, if.it could be 

supposed to be the correct reading, would make this clearly right. In 

some ways it is more satisfactory than the ordinary interpretation; 

because it is rather the Church (denoted by the car), than the seven gifts 

of the Spirit, which may be regarded as teaching men their duty; also 

the parallel of the ' Wain' is better preserved. In default, however, of 

more MS. authority, the usual explanation must be taken. In that case 

suo dover means merely ' the way they were to go.' primo cielo must 

here = the Empyrean heaven, usually reckoned as the tenth. Bianchi's 

' il cielo del Paradiso terrestre' can hardly be right. 

2 B


which was there making each one acquainted with his duty, 

as that lower one makes whoso turns the helm to come to 

port, fixed itself at a halt, that truthful folk who first had 

come between the Grifon and it, turned them to the car 

as to their peace; arid orie of them, as though seut from 

heaven, singing, cried thrice: ' Veni, sponsa de Libano,' and 

all the others after him. As the blessed at the last prock: 

matiori shall rise ready every Orie from his own cavern, singing 

Hallelujah in the voice which they have again put on, 

E che faceva li ciascuno accorto 

Di suo dover, come il piii basso face 

Qual timon gira per venire a porto, 

Fermo s' affisse; • la gente verace 

Venuta prima tra il Grifone ed esso, 

Al carro volse sfe, come a sua pace. 

E un di loro quasi da ciel messo, ro 

Veni, sponsa de Libano, cantando, 

Gridb tre volte, e tutti gli altri appresso. 

Quali i beati al noyissimo bando 

Surgeran presti, ognun di sua caverna. 

La rivestita voce alleluiando,^ 

^ alleviando Gg. Cass. 14'; carne allev. Aid. Land. 23. 

'' il piii basso. The real constellation of the 'Wain, which is in the 

eighth heaven. 

^ Dante appears to use the form timone only of the helm of a rudder, 

the pole of a cart being temo. 

7 la gente verace, i.e. the twenty-four elders, denoting the Old 

Testament writers, who prophesied. 

1" un: Solomon. The words he utters are from Canticles iv. 8. 

li" carne, for voce, is probably an importation from Par. xiv. 43. 

I have followed Bianchi and the Germans in preferring alleluiando, 

which, besides giving a far finer image, is much more likely to have

xxx PURGATORY 371 

such upon the divine chariot, uprose a hundred, ad vocem 

tanti senis, rninisters and messengers of life eternal. All 

were saying: Benedictus qui venis, and casting flowers above 

and all around, Manibus o date lilia plenis. I have seen 

ere now at the beginning of the day the eastern quarter 

all rosy, and the rest • of heaven beautiful -with fair clear 

sky, and the face of the sun rise shadowed, so that through 

tempering of vapours the eye sustained it a long time ; so 

within a cloud of flowers which .was rising from the angelic 

Cotali, in su la divina basterna. 

Si levar cento, ad vocem tanti senis, 

Ministri e messaggier di vita eterna. 

Tutti dicean : Benedictus qui venis, 

E fior gittando di sopra e dintorrio, 20 

Manibus 0 date lilia plenis. 

Io vidi gik riel cominciar del giorno 

La parte oriental tutta rosata, 

E r altro ciel di bel sereno adorno : 

E la faccia del Sol nascere ombrata. 

Si che per temperanza di vapori, 

L' occhio lo sostenea lunga fiata : 

Cosi dentro una nuvola di fiori, 

Che dalle mani angeliche saliva, 

been corrupted into than firom the easier alleviando. Comm. Gg. has : 

'i.e. cum gaudio cantando alleluia.' For the constr. see Diez iii. 

107, and compare arridere un cenno. Par. xv. 71. 

17 ' at the voice of so great an elder.' 

^1 Aen. vi. 884. In order to scan this and other Latin lines in 

Dante every syllable must be given the value of its position, quite irrespective 

of its real quantity. 

23 rosata. Bianchi says 'sparsa di rugiada,' and so 'misty'; but 

there seems no authority for the word in this sense'; and, besides, 

rosata ought, on the analogy of Fr. rosh, to mean ' dew,' not 

'dewy.'


hands and falling down again within and without, crowned 

with olive over a white veil appeared to me a lady, clad 

under green mantle with colour of living fiame. And my 

spirit—that already had been so long a time without being 

at her presence broken down, trembling, with awe—-without 

having further cognisance by the eyes, through hidden virtue 

which moved from her, felt the great power of an ancient 

love. Soon as the high virtue smote me on the face, 

which already had pierced me ere I was forth of boyhood, 

I turned me round to the left with that regard wherewith 

E ricadeva giii dentro e di fuori, 30 

Sovra candido vel cinta d' oliva 

Donna m' apparve, sotto verde manto 

Vestita di color di fiamma viva. 

E lo spirito mio, che gik cotanto 

Tempo era stato ch' alia sua presenza'' 

Non era di stupor tremando affranto, 

Sanza degli occhi aver piii conoscenza. 

Per occulta virtii che da lei mosse, 

D' antico amor senti la gran potenza. 

Tosto che nella vista mi percosse'^ 40 

L' alta virtii, che gik m' avea trafitto 

Prima ch' io fuor di puerizia fosse; 

Volsimi alia sinistra col rispitto, 

t cholla sua Gg.; cm la sua 35 Aid. " nella vita Gg. 

81 Notice the colours in which Beatrice is clad, which recur fi-equently, 

and denote the three theological rirtues, as is seen in the last 

canto. They are also those used by Giotto in painting Dante's o-wn 

portrait on the wall of the Bargello at Florence, but were changed for 

political reasons after the discovery of the picture in 1840, as being the 

colours chosen for the flag of Italian unity. 

^ Cf Vita Nuova § ii. and the sonnet in § xxi. So, too, Conv. ii. 8. 

41. ^2 Xjante was nine years old when he first saw Beatrice.


the infant runs to his mother when he is frightened. or 

when he is in trouble, to say to Virgil: ' Less than a dram 

of blood remains to me which trembles not; I recognise the 

signs of the ancient flame.' But Virgil had left us shorn of 

himself; Virgil my sweetest father; Virgil to whom for my 

salvation I gave myself; nor did all that the ancient mother 

lost avail to my cheeks, cleansed as they were with dew, that 

with weeping they should not turn foul again. 

' Dante, for all that Virgil goes his way, weep not yet. 

Col quale il fantolin corre alia mamma, 

Quando ha paura o quando egli fe afflitto,'' 

Per dicere a VirgiUo : Men che dramma 

Di sangue m' fe rimasa; che non tremi; 

Conosco i segni dell' antica fiamma. 

Ma Virgilio n' avea lasciati scemi 

Di sfe, Virgilio dolcissimo padre, 50 

Virgilio, a cui per.mia salute die' mi: 

Nfe quantunque perdfeo 1' antica madre, 

Valse alle guance nette di rugiada, 

Che lagrimando non tornassero adre. 

Dante, perchfe Virgilio se ne vada, 

Non pianger anco, non piangere ancora, 

^ trafitto Gg. Cass. 124. 

^ Aen. iv. 23 : ' Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae.' 

''I die' mi. We should have expected the m to be doubled; but cf 

xiv. 76. 

^ quantunque, etc., all the beauties of the earthly Paradise. 

63 nette di rugiada. Not, I think, as Bianchi explains, ' non lacrimose,' 

but -with allusion to i. 127. Philalethes, 'thaugewaschnen,' 

which seems better. 

65 The only mention of Dante's name throughout the poem; see 

1. 63, and cf Conv. i. 2, Aristotle Rhet. iii. 17, § 15.


weep not yet awhile; seeing it behoves thee to weep for 

other wound.' As an admiral, who on poop and on prow 

comes to see the folk that are serving throughout the other 

vessels and encourages them to do well, upon the left rim 

of the car—when I turned round at the sound of my own 

name, which of necessity here is registered—I saw the dame 

who first appeared to me veiled beneath the greeting of 

the angels, direct her eyes towards me on my side of the 

stream. Albeit .that the veil, which descended from her head, 

circled witli the leaf of Minerva, did not aUow her to appear 

manifest, royally, in her mien still haughty she continued, 

Chfe piariger ti corivien per altra spada. 

Quasi ammiraglio, che in poppa ed in prora 

Viene a veder la gente che ministra 

Per gli altri legni, ed a ben far la incuora, 60 

In su la sponda del carro sinistra, 

Quando mi volsi al suon del nome mio, 

Che di necessitk qui si registra, 

Vidi la Donna che pria m' appario, 

Velata sotto 1' angelica festa, 

Drizzar gli occhi ver me di qua dal rio. 

Tutto che il vel che le scendea di testa, "^ 

Cerchiato dalla fronde di Minerva, 

Non la lasciasse parer mariifesta . 

Regalmente nell' atto ancor proterva 70 

0 Tutto quel v. Gg.; nel v. Cass. 

"1 sponda. See note to xiii. 81. The car is probably imagined as 

having a kind of bulwark round it, on the flat top of which she stands. 

^ festa, as in vi. 81, xxvi. 33. Here it alludes to the flowers which 

the angels scatter. 

7» Bianchi .quotes Conv. iii. 15: 'Essa Filosofia parea a me fiera," 

etc.


as one who speaks and keeps back his strongest word: 

' Look at me well; I am, ay, I am Beatrice ; how deignedst 

thou to approach the mount? Knewest thou not that here 

the man is happy?' My eyes dropped down to the clear 

fount, but seeing myself in it I drew them toward the grass, 

so great shame lay heavy on my brow. In such wise the 

mother to ,the son seems proud, as she appeared to me, 

because the savour of her stern pity has a taste of bitter. 

She held her peace, and the angels sang on a sudden: In 

Continub, come colui che dice 

E il piii caldo parlar dietro riserva: 

Guardaci ben; ben sem, ben sem Beatrice : ^ 

Come degnasti d' accedere al monte ? 

Non sapei tu che qui fe 1' uom felice? 

Gli occhi mi cadder giii nel chiaro fonte ; 

Ma veggendomi in esso, io trassi all' erba, 

Tanta vergogna mi gravb la fronte. 

Cosi la madre al figlio par superba. 

Com' ella parve a me ; perchfe d' amaro So 

Sente il sapor della pietate acerba. 

Ella si tacque, e gH Angeli cantaro 

' Guardami ben sio son 5 ; mi . . son . . . son Aid. Land. Bi.; 

ci . . . son . . . son W. 

7^ I have followed the reading which has by far the most authority. 

The use of the plural may be taken as continuing the idea of regalmente. 

7* Ironical: 'how was it that you thought it worth while?' The 

next line of course drops the irony. 

79-81 Cf Petr. Tri. della M. ii. 93, 'N4 per ferza h peri madre 

men pia.' 

80. 81 d' amaro sente ; so, ' sa di sale' Par. xvii. 58. Diez appears 

to have overlooked this construction, which is, however, recognised by 

Corticelli, book ii. chap. 4. Witte, following Aldus, reads senti.


te, Domine, speravi; but beyond pedes meos they passed not. 

As snow among the living beams along the backbone of 

Italy congeals, blown on and bound close by the winds of 

Slavbnia, afterwards melting filters through into itself, so 

only that the land which loses shadow breathe, in such 

wise that it seems fire melting the candle, just so was I 

without tears or sighs before the chanting of those who are 

ever quiring after the notes of the eternal circles; but 

Di subito : In te, Domine, speravi, 

Ma oltre pedes meos non passaro. 

Si come neve tra le vive travi 

Per lo dosso d' Italia si congela, 

Soffiata e stretta dalli venti Schiavi, 

Poi liquefatta in sfe stessa trapela. 

Pur che la terra che perde ombra spiri. 

Si che par fuoco fonder la candela : go 

Cos! fui senza lagrime e sospiri 

Anzi il cantar di quei che notan sempre 

Dietro alle note degli eterni giri; 

^ Psalm xxxi. to the end of verse 9. The folio-wing verses, as 

Philalethes remarks, would be out of place here. 

85 vive tra-vi, the trees. So Ovid Met. viii. 329 : ' Silva firequens 

trabibus.' (It also occurs Aen. ix. 87, but the line is probably 

spurious.) 

86 dosso. The Apennine. 

87 venti Schia-vi. North-east winds from the Dalmatian mountains. 

M. Villani xi. 60, ' Un vento Schiavo temperato.' 

83 la terra che perde ombra is the torrid zone, withui which the 

Sun is vertically overhead twice in each year, so that the shadow is 

'lost.' 

'"' The construction is curious ; it seems to be a sort of confusion 

between 'fuoco par fondere,' and 'par fuoco che fonde.' 

"^ Cf. Merchant of Venice, act v. sc. I, 60-62. There is another 

reading, rote, perhaps suggested by xix. 63, and 1. 109.


when I heard in their sweet harmonies their sympathy with 

me, more than if they had said: ' Lady, why dost thou so 

distemper him?' the frost which had been tight bound 

around my heart became breath and water, and with-anguish 

through the mouth and eyes issued from my breast. She, 

standing ever unmoved on the aforesaid flank of the car, 

next turned her words to the pious substances in this 

wise : 'Ye watch in the eternal day so that night nor sleep 

steals from you a step which the age may make upon its ways; 

wherefore my reply is with more care that he may hear me 

Ma poichfe intesi nelle dolci teinpre 

Lor compatire a me, piii che se detto ^ 

Avesser : Donna, perchfe si lo stempre ? 

Lo giel che m' era intorno al cuor ristretto, 

Spirito ed acqua fessi, e con angoscia 

Per la bocca e per gli occhi usci del petto. 

Ella, pur ferma in su la detta coscia loo 

Del carro stando, alle sustanzie pie 

Volse le sue parole cosi poscia: 

Voi vigilate nell' eterno die. 

Si che notte nfe sonno a voi non fura 

Passo, che faccia il secol per sue vie : 

Onde la mia risposta fe con piii cura, 

s compartir 134 ; par ch' esse d. Gg. ; par come se 3 ; pari chese 14. 

^ destra coscia Gg. Aid. Land. 

ID" detta, the left, see 1. 61. Land, and Veil, with others of the 

early edd. and some MSS. read destra, which is clearly wrong. The 

woodcut in the Venice ed. of 1578 correctly represents Beatrice as 

standing on the left edge of the car. 

101 sustanzie, as in Par. vii. 5, and elsewhere. It is, of course, in 

the metaphysical sense. See note to xviii. 49.


who is weeping on the other bank, so that fault and sorrow 

may be of one measure. Not only by operation of the 

mighty wheels, which direct every seed to some end, according 

as the stars accompany; but by largess of divine 

graces, which have to their rain clouds so lofty that our 

sight comes not there a-nigh, this man was such in his^new 

life, potentially, that every right habit would have wrought in 

him a wondrous result. But all the more maUgn and the 

more wild becomes the ground with bad seed and unculti- 

Che m' intenda colui chedi la piagne, 

Perchfe sia colpa e duol d' una misura. 

Non pur per ovra delle ruote magne, 

Che drizzan ciascun seme ad alcun fine, no 

Secondo che le stelle son compagne : 

Ma per larghezza di grazie divine, 

Che si alti vapori hanrio a lor piova, 

Che riostre viste lk non van vicine ; 

Questi fu tal nella sua vita nuova 

Virtualmente, ch' ogni abito destro 

Fatto averebbe in lui mirabil pruova. 

Ma tanto piii maligno e piii silvestro 

Si fa il terren col mal seme e non colto, 

1 ruote magne. Cf xix. 63. 

HI Cf xri. 73. 

11^ -vita nuova here, as in the, title of Dante's work, means simply 

' young hfe,' or what he elsewhere denotes by ' adolescenza.' See Conv. 

iv. 24, where he fixes its Umit at the age of twenty-five. After this 

begins the second age, or ' gioventute.' 

117 pruova, as in Par. viii. 141. 

11" Comparing Conv. iv. 21 : ' Se questo (1' animo) non e bene 

culto e sostenuto diritto per buona consuetudine, poco vale la sementa, 

e meglio sarebbe non esser seminato,' one is tempted to suggest 'il 

terrenb col mal seme colto.'


vated, in proportion as. it has from the soil more of good 

force. A certain time I stayed him with my countenance; 

showing my young eyes to him I led him with me turned to 

the right part. So soon as I was on the threshold of my 

second age, and changed life, this man took himself from 

me and gave himself to another. When I was risen from 

flesh to spirit, and beauty and virtue had increased upon 

me, I was to him less dear and less acceptable; arid he 

turried his steps ori a way that was riot true, followirig false 

Quant' egli ha piii di buon vigor terrestro. 120 

Alcun tempo il sostenni col mio volto; 

Mostrando gli occhi giovinetti a lui, 

Meco il menava in dritta parte volto. 

Si tosto come in su la soglia fui 

Di mia seconda etade e mutai -vita, 

Questi si tolse a me e diessi altrui. 

Quando di carne a spirto era salita, 

E bellezza e virtii cresciuta m' era, 

Fu' io a lui men cara e men gradita : 

E volse i passi suoi per via non vera, 130 

Immagini di ben seguendo false, 

124,1S5 Beatrice died June 9, 1290 (Vita Nuova, § xxx.) She was 

then in her twenty-fifth year, and therefore, as explained in the note to 

1. 115, close on the beginning of the 'second age.' mutai vita, like 

' mutasti mondo,' xxiii. 77. 

128 -What the literal meaning of this charge may be, we cannot now 

say. It can hardly refer to Dante's marriage, which, according to 

mediaeval notions, would not be incompatible vrith continued fidelity 

to Beatrice, herself a married woman. That there is an allusion to 

some amour, more or less discreditable, must I think be admitted. Cf. 

xxxi. 50; and see note to xxvii. 49. AUegorically no doubt Dante is 

reproached for turning away from a life of study and contemplation to 

the business and pleasures' of the world. The year in which the action 

of the D.C. is placed is that in which he was Prior.

38o PURGATORY CANTO XXX 

images of good which give back no promise unbroken. Nor 

did it avail me to obtain inspirations, with the which both 

in dreams and otherwise I recalled him; so little heed had 

he of them. So low he fell that all means were already too 

short for his salvation, apart from showing him the lost folk. 

For this man I visited the gate of the dead, and to him who 

has brought him up hither my prayers, in my weeping, were 

borne. God's high destiny would be broken if Lethe were 

passed and such viand were tasted without any scot of 

repentance which may pour forth tears.' 

Che nulla promission rendono intera. 

Nfe impetrare spirazion mi valse,' 

Con le quali ed in sogno ed altrimenti 

Lo rivocai: si poco a lui ne calse. 

Tanto giii cadde, che tutti argomenti 

AUa salute sua eran gik corti, 

Fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti. 

Per questo visitai 1' uscio dei morti, 

Ed a colui che 1' ha quassii condotto, 140 

Li prieghi miei piangendo furon porti. 

L' alto fato di Dio sarebbe rotto, 

Se Lete si passasse, e tal vivanda 

Fosse gustata senza alcuno scotto 

Di pentimento che lagrime spanda. 

' impetrare (alt. from -ate) Gg.; i impetrare Cass. 3. 

13^ sogno. Cf the frequent dreams of the Vita Nuova. 

138 argomenti: in much the same sense as in ii. 31, only rather 

more extended. 

1^" See Inf ii. 52 sqq. 

"^ For this use of rotto, cf i. 46.

CANTO XXXI 

ARGUMENT 

Beatrice continues to upbraid Dante, speaking now directly to him. He 

makes confession of his fault; after which Matilda draws him 

through the water of Lethe, and he is led to the place where 

Beatrice is standing. She unveils herself, and he is ravished vrith 

her beauty. 

'O THOU that art on that side the sacred stream,' turning 

to me with its point her speech, which even with the edge 

had seemed keeri to me, she begari again, pursuing without 

delay, 'say, say if this is true; to such accusation it 

behoves that thy confession be attached.' My power was 

so confounded that the voice moved, and was extinct 

before it was unloosed from its organs. A little while she 

O TU, che sei di lk dal fiume sacro, 

Volgendo suo parlare a me per punta,^ 

Che pur per taglio m' era parut' aero, 

Ricomincib seguendo senza cunta, 

Di', di', se quest' fe vero : a tanta accusa 

Tua confession conviene esser congiunta. 

Era la mia -virtii tanto confusa, 

Che la voce si mosse, e pria si spense, 

Che dagli organi suoi fosse dischiusa. 

^ sue parole Gg.


suffered it, then said : ' What thinkest thou ? Answer me, 

for the sad memories in thee have not yet been overthrown 

by the water.' Confusion and fear together mingled forced 

such a ' Yes' forth from my mouth the which to hear the 

eyes were needed. As an arbalest breaks, when it shoots at 

too great stretch, its own cord and the bow, and with less 

violence the bolt touches the mark, so burst I under that 

Poco sofferse, poi disse : Che pense ? lo 

Rispondi a me; chfe le memorie triste 

In te non sono ancor dall' acqua offense. 

Confusione e paura insieme miste 

Mi pinsero un tal Si fuor della bocca, 

Al quale intender fur mestier le viste. 

Come balestro frange, quando scocca 

Da troppa tesa, la sua corda e 1' arco,'' 

E con men foga 1' asta il segno tocca. 

Si scoppia' io sott' esso grave carco, 

^ Per troppa tesa a la sua Gg. 

12 offense. The use of this word here is somewhat unusual. Blanc 

explains it by ' tormentato,' vrith what idea I do not understand. 

Bianchi, following .Benvenuto, has 'scancellate'; Philalethes 'verletzet.' 

'Witte merely says 'dasWasser hat nicht genommen.' Diet. 

Cruse, quotes the passage between two others where simply ' offend' 

is meant. On the whole it seems best to take it as ' come in contact 

with,' 'beaten against,' as Lat. 'offendere,' and still more 'off'ensare' 

(as Lucr. vi. 1053). The allusion is of course to the water of Lethe. 

It is curious in this connexion to note that Brunetto, Tresor, i. ch. 

X25, appears to regard the ancient idea of Lethe as an hnpious fable. 

According to some MSS., including that followed by the Italian translator, 

after relating the legend, he continues : Mais ce sont deceu par le 

diable malement; car I'ame est creee a I'ymage de Dieu, et par ce ne 

puet jamais perdre memoire. 

1^ frange. Bianchi and Blanc take this as intrans., but it does not 

appear to be ever so used by Dante. Philalethes has 'sprenget,' and 

this seems best.

XXXI PURGATORY 383 

heavy burden, sending forth from my throat tears and sighs, 

and my voice failed in its passage. Wherefore she to me : 

' Within my desires, which were leading thee to love that 

good beyond the which there is naught, to aspire unto, 

what trenches across the path or what chains didst thou 

find, for which thou shouldst thus need to put off the hope 

of passing forward; and what easement or what furthering 

showed itself in the countenance of the others for which thou 

shouldst be obliged to walk before them ?' After the drawing 

Fuori sgorgando lagrime e sospiri, 20 

E la voce allentb per lo suo varco. 

Ond' eir a me : Per entro i miei desiri, 

Che ti menavano ad amar lo bene, 

Di lk dal qual non fe a che s' aspiri, 

Quai fosse attraversate, o quai catene 

Trovasti, perchfe del passare innanzi 

Dovessiti cosi spogliar la spene ? 

E quali agevolezze, o quali avanzi 

Nella fronte degli altri si mostraro, 

Perchfe dovessi lor passeggiar anzi ? 30 

'"'• per entro. Cf xxv. 28. i miei desiri. 'I.e. desideria quae 

habebas ad me in pueritia tua.'—Benv. 

"" gli altri. 'Dominarum idest scientiarum.'—Benv. But the 

parallelism of lines 28-30 with the preceding six makes it clear that 

we must understand desiri. The allusion is evidently again twofold : 

literally, to some passion on Dante's part, figuratively, to his desertion 

of the contemplative life. 

3" lor passeggiar anzi. No satisfactory explanation of these words 

has been given. Benvenuto explains 'idest, sequi eas'—obviously a 

vague paraphrase. J. della Lana, ' tenestiti all' altre, e quelle volesti 

studiare.' Blanc takes them to mean, ' go before, as a servant goes in 

firont of his master,' hence 'serve.' Philalethes renders, 'zu ihnen 

hinzuwandeln'; Bianchi,' vagheggiar'; Balbo thinks there is an allusion 

to the coming before the 'gentil donna,' of V. N. § xxxvi.; but there 

he goes away from before her; Cary has ' that thou elsewhere shouldst


of a bitter sigh hardly had I the voice which answered, and 

the lips with labour formed it. Weeping, I said : ' The present 

things with their false pleasures turned away my steps 

soon as your face was hidden.' And she : ' If thou hadst 

been silent or hadst denied that which thou confessest, thy 

fault would not be less noted, by such a judge is it known; 

but when the accusation of the sin bursts from the sinner's 

own mouth, in our court the wheel turns back against the 

edge. At all events, that thou mayest better bear shame 

Dopo la tratta d' un sospiro amaro, 

Appena ebbi la voce che rispose, 

E le labbra a fatica la formaro.*^ 

Piangendo dissi: Le presenti cose 

Col falso lor piacer volser miei passi, 

Tosto che il vostro viso si nascose. 

Ed ella: Se tacessi, o se negassi 

Cib che confessi, non fora men nota 

La colpa tua : da tal giudice sassi. 

Ma quando scoppia dalla propria gota 40 

L' accusa del peccato, in nostra corte, 

Rivolge se contra il taglio la ruota. 

Tuttavia perchfe me' vergogna porte ^ 

° laferrnaro Cass. i. 

^ mo verg. Gg. Cass. 145 VV.; piii v. 23. 

rather wait.' The general meaning is clearly 'What hindrances did 

you find on the right path, or what helps on the wrong?' It is hard to 

avoid the conclusion that we have not got quite the right reading of 

this line. 

*^ The grindstone turns back against that which is being sharpened, 

' takes off the edge.' 

*' I have followed Blanc, Bianchi, and Philalethes in reading me' 

{ = meglio), which has MS. authority, and seems to give a better sense.


for thy error, and that a second time hearing the Sirens 

thou mayest be stronger, lay down the seed of weeping and 

listen; so shalt thou hear how to the coritrary part my 

body buried ought to have moved thee. Never did nature 

arid art preserit to thee a pleasure so great as the fair 

members withiu which I was ericlosed, arid which are earth, 

scattered; and if the highest pleasure so failed thee through 

my death, what mortal thing ought afterwards to have 

drawn thee into desire of it ? Verily oughtest thou at the 

Del tuo errore, e perchfe altra volta 

Udendo le sirene sie piii forte, 

Pon giii il seme del piangere, ed ascolta; 

Si udirai come in contraria parte 

Muover doveati mia carne sepolta. 

Mai non t' appresentb natura ed arte 

Piacer, quanto le belle membra in ch' io 50 

Rinchiusa fui, e che son terra sparte : "= 

E se il sommo piacer si ti fallio 

Per la mia morte, qual cosa mortale 

Dovea poi trarre te nel suo disio ? 

», e sono in terra W.; che sono in Cass.; e che sono in 2. 

« il seme del piangere. Cf Psalm cxxvi. 7. 

51 e che son terra. Witte reads, vrithout ajjparently much authority, 

e sono in terra. (What is the nominative to sonoT) Fanfani (Voc. 

Tosc.) s. V. parte, wishes to substitute this, in its Tuscan sense, as in 

xxi. 19, for sparte, and speaks with some truculence of the usual reading 

; but he gives no authority for his view, nor does parte seem to be 

used of present time. Another reading, and perhaps the best, as far as. 

the sense goes, is che son in terra; P. di Dante has 'meinbris meis 

nunc in terra dispersis.' There seems, however, not much difficulty in 

understanding the usual reading. Philalethes, 'und die zerstreut als 

Staub jetzt,' renders it very well. 

2 C


first arrow of things deceitful to have raised thee on high 

after me, who was no more of such sort. Nor should have 

weighed thy wings downwards to await more strokes, either 

girl or other va,nity with so short using. The young bird 

awaits two or three, but before the eyes of the full-fledged 

in vain is net spread or arrow shot.' As boys stand dumb 

in shame, with their eyes to earth, listening and recollecting 

themselves and penitent, so was I standing. And she 

Ben ti dovevi per lo primo strale 

Delle cose fallaci levar suso 

Diretro a me, che non era piii tale. 

Non ti dovea gravar le penne in giuso 

Ad aspettar piii colpi, o pargoletta, 

O altra vanitk con si breve uso.^ 60 

Nuo-vo augelletto due o tre aspetta; 

Ma dinanzi dagli occhi dei pennuti 

Rete si spiega indarno o si saetta. 

Quali i fanciuUi vergognando muti. 

Con gli occhi a terra stannosi ascoltando, 

E sfe riconoscendo, e ripentuti; 

Tal mi stav' io. Ed ella disse : Quando 

^ altra novitd. Gg. 

^^ per lo primo strale. 'Cioe, pel primo colpo che ti dette lo 

fortuna, quando ti tolse il mio corpo.'—Land. See the next note. 

^ pargoletta. Here, again, it it impossible to say what is the 

particular allusion. It is only clear that this pargoletta cannot possibly 

be, as some commentators have hastily assumed, the ' femmina' of 

xxiv. 43, who was still a child. Some understand it of Beatrice herself, 

as though she were saying that the loss of one maiden ought not so to 

have affected him, and Philalethes takes the primo strale to mean the 

loss of her. But it is hard to see how this fits the general tone of her 

remarks. 

82 Prov. i. 17, where the Vulg. has ' Frustra jacitur rete ante oculos 

pennatorumi


said: ' Since through hearing thou art grieved, raise thy 

beard, and thou shalt receive greater grief seeing.' With 

less of resistance is uprooted a stout oak, whether with wind 

of our land or with that from the land of larbas, than did 

I raise at her command my chin. And when by name of 

the beard she asked for my visage, well knew I the venomof 

the argument. And as my face opened itself, the sight 

understood that those first created beings were resting from 

their strowing; and my eyes, yet little secure, saw Beatrice 

turned towards the animal, who is only one person iri two 

Per udir sei doleute, alza la barba, 

E preriderai piii doglia riguardaudo. 

Con men di resistenza si dibarba 70 

Robusto cerro, o vero a nostra! ve,nto, 

O vero a quel della terra d' larba, 

Ch' io non levai al suo comando il mento : 

E quando per la barba il viso chiese, 

Ben conobbi il velen dell' argomento. 

E come la mia faccia si distese, 

Posarsi quelle prime creature 

Da loro aspersion 1' occhio comprese : 

E le mie luci, ancor poco sicure, 

Vider Beatrice volta in su la fiera, 80 

Ch' fe sola una persona in duo nature. 

71 nostral. Philalethes reads austral, which has little authority; 

though nostral, as denoting a northerly wind, is not very satisfactory. 

May we read mastral, i.q. maestral, that is, the mistral, or north-west 

wind, quel d. t. d' larba, being the south-east or scirocco ? 

78 ch' io non levai. For this ins.ertion of the negative in a comparison 

in the Romance languages, see Diez iii. 394. 

'^ Because the allusion was to his mature age. 

78 aspersion. Cf xxx. 20. Cruse, xez.i.%'apparsion, which has no 

meaning.


natiires. Under her veil, and beyond the stream, she 

seemed to me to surpass her ancient self, to surpass it 

more than, when here she was, the others here. So pricked 

me then the nettle of penitence that of all other things 

that which most turned me aside in love of it became most 

hateful to me. Such recognition gnawed my heart that I 

fell overcome, and what then became of me she knows who 

gave me the cause. 

Then when my heart restored me my outward functions, 

the dame whom I had found alone I saw above me, and 

she was saying : ' Hold me, hold me.' She had led me 

into the stream up to the neck, and drawing me behind her 

Sotto suo velo, ed oltre la riviera 

Vincer pareami piii sfe stessa antica,^ 

Vincer, che 1' altre qui, quand' ella c' era.*" 

Di penter si mi punse ivi 1' ortica, 

Che di tutt' altre cose, qual mi torse 

Piii nel suo amor, piii mi si fe nemica. 

Tanta riconoscenza il cuor mi morse, 

Ch' io caddi vinto, e quale allora femmi, 

Salsi colei che la cagion mi porse. go 

Poi quando il cuor virtii di fuor rendemmi. 

La Donna ch' io avea trovata sola, 

Sopra me vidi, e dicea; Tiemmi, tiemmi. 

Tratto m' avea nel fiume infino a gola, 

E tirandosi me dietro, sen giva 

i Verde Aid. Bi. n quell' altre Gg. 

83,84 2)e7-de, the reading of most edd. after Aldus, has little or no 

MS. authority. Witte's suggestion, ' Vincer pareami p. b. s. a. Che 

vincea 1' a.,' seems good, if supported. 

• 89 With this swoon compare his unconsciousness before entering 

Hell (Inf iii. 135) and Purg. (ix. 59).


was going her way right over the water, light as a shuttle. 

When I was near the barik of the blessed, Asperges me I 

heard so sweetly that I canriot recall it to mirid, far less 

cari write it. The fair dame operied her arms, embraced 

my head, and plunged me under, where it behoved that I 

swallowed the water; then she took me up, and, bathed, 

presented me -within the dance of the four fair ones, and 

each covered me with her arm. ' Here are we nymphs, 

and in the sky we are stars; before that Beatrice descended 

Sovr' esso 1' acqua lieve come spbla.' 

Quando fui presso alia beata riva, 

Asperges me si dolcemente udissi, 

Ch' io noi so rimembrar, non ch' io lo scriva. 

La bella donna nelle braccia aprissi, 100 

Abbracciommi la testa, e mi sommerse, 

Ove convenne ch' io 1' acqua inghiottissi; 

Indi mi tolse, e bagnato m' offerse 

Dentro alia danza delle quattro belle, 

E ciascuna col braccio mi coperse. 

Noi sem qui ninfe, e nel ciel semo stelle; 

Pria che Beatrice discendesse al mondo, 

i stola Gg. Cass. 1234. 

^8 spola, the shuttle which carries the woof through the warp. 

Others read stola ('i.e. genus na-rigii,' Benv.): others again scola. 

^8 Psalm li. 7 (1. 8, in the Vulg.), ' Asperges .me hyssopo et munda- 

bor.' 

100 nelle braccia aprissi, lit. 'opened herself in the arms,' a curious 

construction which Diez appears to have overlooked. 

1°* le quattro, the ladies who came on the left hand of the car, 

xxix. 130. They are the cardinal virtues; the tre of line ill being 

those of xxix. 121 ; i.e. the theological. Cf viii. 89. 

108 stelle, those spoken of in i. 23.


to the world were we ordained to her for her handmaids. 

We will lead thee to her eyes, but in the joyous light that 

is within, thine will the three beyond, who look more deeply, 

make keen.' 'Thus singing they began, and next to the 

breast of the Grifon they led me with them, where Beatrice 

was standing turned to us. They said: ' See that thou • 

spare not thy gazes; we have placed thee before the 

emeralds, whence love once took his weapons for thee.' 

Thousand desires hotter than flame bound my eyes fast to 

the gleaming eyes, which were remaining fixed only on the, 

Fummo ordinate a lei per sue ancelle. 

Menreriti agli occhi suoi: ma nel giocondo 

Lume ch' fe dentro, aguzzeran li tuoi no 

Le tre di lk, che iniran piii profondo. 

Cosi cantando cominciaro; e poi 

I Al petto del Grifon seco menarmi, 

Ove Beatrice volta stava a noi. 

Disger : Fa che le viste non risparmi: 

Posto t' avem dinanzi agli smeraldi, 

Ond' Amor gik ti trasse le sue armi. 

Mille disiri piii che fiamma caldi 

Strinsermi gli occhi agli occhi rilucenti, 

Che pur so-vra il Grifone stavan saldi. r2o 

1 Cf De Mon. i. 4 ad fin. : ' speculationi ancillantur.' 

1 menrenti=?«««««»«» ^-i. occhi. With this passage Philalethes 

bids us compare Conv. iii. 8: ' perocche in quelli due luoghi quasi tutte 

e tre le nature dell' anima hanno giurisdizione, cioe negli occhi e nella 

bocca,' and 15: ' qui si con-riene sapere che gli occhi della sapienzia sono 

le'sue dimostrazioni . . . e '1 suo riso sono le sue persuazioni.' It is 

by the eyes and smile of Beatrice that Dante is carried forward and 

instructed in Paradise. See xxvii. 54; also Par. i. 95, loi, ii. 52, iv. 

139, xxx. 26, etc. 

Ill di la, 'beyond,' i.e. on the right-hand side of the car.

xxxi PURGATORY 391 

Grifon. As the Sun in the mirror, not otherwise the twofold 

animal was beaming therewithin, now with one now 

with other deportment. Think, reader, if I marvelled 

when I saw the thing stay quiet in itself, and it was changing 

itself in its image. While, full of astonishment and happy, 

my soul was tasting of that food which, sating of itself, of 

itself makes thirst, showing themselves of the most lofty 

race in their demeanour, the other three came forward, 

dancing to their angelic measure. ' Turn, Beatrice, turn thy 

holy eyes,' was their song, ' to thy faithful one, who to see 

thee has moved so many paces. Of thy favour do us the 

Come in lo specchio il Sol, non altrimenti 

La doppia fiera dentro vi raggiava. 

Or con uni or con altri reggimenti. 

Pensa, lettor, s' io mi m.aravigliava, 

Quando vedea la cosa in sfe star queta, 

E neir idolo suo si trasmutava. 

Mentre che plena di stupore e lieta 

L' anima mia gustava di quel cibo, 

Che saziando di sfe, di sfe asseta : 

Sfe dimostrando del piii alto tribo 130 

Negli atti, 1' altre tre si fero avanti, 

Danzando al loro angelico caribo. 

Volgi, Beatrice, volgi gli occhi santi. 

Era la sua canzone, al tuo fedele, 

Che per vederti ha mossi passi tanti. 

123 reggimenti are defined in Conv. iii. 7 as among the operations 

of the rational soul, and as being, together with speech, peculiar to 

man. Here, of course, the allusion is primarily to the Divine and 

human nature as contemplated by theology; but the use of the word 

carries us back to xvi. 128. It is only in Christ that the functions of 

King and Priest are rightly joined. 

1'^' An allusion to Ecclus. xxiv. 21 (Vulg.)- 'Qui edunt me (sc. 

sapientiam) adhuc esurient.'

392 PURGATORY CANTO xxxi 

favour to unveil to him thy mouth, so that he may discern 

the second beauty which thou dost conceal.' 

O splendour of eternal living light, who is there that 

has in such wise grown pale beneath the shadow of Parnassus, 

or has drunk at its cistern, that he would not seem 

to have his mind encumbered, trying to render thee as thou 

appearedst, there where with its harmonies the heaven 

overshadows thee, when thou didst in the open air disclose 

thyself? 

Per grazia fa noi grazia che disvele 

A lui la bocca tua, si che discerna 

La seconda bellezza che tu cele. 

O isplendor di viva luce eterna,'' 

Chi pallido si fece sotto 1' ombra r4o 

Si di Parnaso, .p bevve in sua cisterna, 

Che non paresse aver la mente ingombra, 

Tentando a render te qual tu paresti. 

La dove armonizzando il ciel t' adombra, 

Quando nell' aere aperto ti solvesti ? 

'^ 0 splendor di divina Gg. ; 0 isplendori div. Cass. ; -or div. [135 ; 

-ore div. -j.. 

137 bocca. See above note, line 109. 

139 (ji yiya has most authority, but the reading of Gg. is perhaps the 

best, as being most in agreement with Wisdom -rii. 26, which was 

undoubtedly in Dante's mind: Candor est enim lucis aeternae, et 

speculum sine macula Dei majestatis. With the whole of the present 

passage cf Conv. iii. 15. 

iM-143 t-vvho has so devoted himself to the poetic art as to have 

acquired power to tell ?' 

i-** adombra. There is some uncertainty about the meaning of this 

word here. Witte understands it as 'shadows around,'like the background 

of a picture. I have followed Bianchi and Blanc. In any case 

it is hardly necessary to look, as some commentators have done, for a 

deep symboUcal meaning in what appears to be a purely- poetical 

outburst.

CANTO XXXII 

ARGUMENT 

The procession returns through the forest, Dante and Statius following. 

They reach a tree, to which the Grifon fastens the car. The tree 

is strangely transformed, and Dante falls asleep. When he 

awakes, Beatrice, Matilda, and the seven ladies alone remain. 

He sees a wondrous vision, setting forth the history of the Church 

and Empire, and showing what shall shortly come to pass. 

So fixed and intent were my eyes to put off the longing of 

the ten years' thirst that all my other senses were extinguished 

; and they themselves had on this hand and on 

that a wall of unheedingness, so did the holy smile draw them 

to it with the ancient net; when perforce my gaze was turned 

to my left hand by those goddesses, for that I began to 

TANTO eran gli occhi miei fissi ed attenti 

A disbramarsi la decenne sete 

Che gli altri sensi m' eran tutti spenti: 

Ed essi quinci e quindi avean parete 

Di non caler, cosi lb santo riso 

A sfe trafeli con 1' antica rete : 

Quando per forza mi fu volto il viso 

Ver la sinistra mia da quelle Dee, 

' di non caler; so Conv. iii. 14 : ' messe in non caler.' 

8 ver la sinistra mia, i.e.—as he is facing the car (xxxi. 113)—the 

three on the right side of it (ib. III).


hear from them a ' Too fixed.' And the disposition which 

exists with regard to sight in eyes but lately smitten by thesun 

caused me to be some while without power of seeing, 

but after that my sight reformed itself to the lesser object 

(I say the lesser with respect to the great object of sense, 

from which by force I removed myself) I saw that the 

glorious army had wheeled on its right flank, and was 

returning with the sun and with the seven flames in its face. 

As under the shields for retreat wheels a troop, and turns 

Perch' io udia da loro un: Troppo fiso. 

E la disposizion ch' a veder ee lo 

Negli occhi, pur testfe dal sol percossi, 

Sanza la vista alquanto esser mi fee : 

Ma poichfe al poco il viso riformossi, 

Io dico al poco, per rispetto al molto 

Sensibile, onde a forza mi rimossi, 

Vidi in sul braccio destro esser rivolto 

Lo glorioso esercito, e tornarsi 

Col sole e con le sette. fiamme al volto. 

Come sotto li scudi, per salvarsi, 

1" Cf xvii. 52. 

13, w poco and molto must refer to the pageant and Beatrice respectively. 

i6-3i Notice that the leading band (the prophets, etc.) must have 

turned back since xxx. 9 to their first position. Here they ' countermarch 

by the right,' exactly as an army would do in the face of an 

enemy, keeping the shield-arm towards him. Dante must have seen 

the manoeuvre often enough in his soldiering days. The car is evidently 

suggested by the carroccio then in use. (See Sismondi, Rep. It. chap. 

vi. and Villani -ri. 75.) 

18 As they are returning eastwards, and still have the Sun in front, 

it is clear that all the action since xxvii. 133 has occupied but a very 

short time.

XXXII PURGATORY 

with the standard, before it is able wholly to face about, 

that soldiery of the heavenly kingdom which was leading 

all went past us before the front beam turned the car. 

Then the ladies returned to the wheels, and the Grifon 

moved the blessed burthen, yet in such wise that no 

feather of him shook. The fair dame who drew me to the 

passage and Statius and I were following the wheel that 

made its track with a smaller arc. So as we passed through 

the high wood, empty by fault of her who trusted to the 

serpent, an angelic strain measured our paces. 

Perhaps in three flights an arrow let from the string 

Volgesi schiera, e sfe gira col segno, 20 

Prima che possa tutta in sfe mutarsi; 

Quella milizia del celeste regno, 

Che precedeva, tutta trapassonne, 

Pria che piegasse il carro il primo legno. 

Indi alle ruote si tornar le donne, 

E il Grifon mosse il benedetto carco. 

Si che perb nulla penna croUonne.'^ 

La bella donna che mi trasse al varco, 

E Stazio ed io seguitavam la ruota, 

Che fe 1' orbita sua con minore arco. 30 

Si passeggiando 1' alta selva vota, 

Colpa di quella ch' al serpente crese,'' 

Temprava i passi un' angelica nota. 

Forse in tre voli tanto spazio prese 

" Si che poi Cass. 124 ; da poi 3 ; collonne Cass. " attese G. 

-'^ primo legno, the pole. 

39, so J, e. they were to the ' right rear ' of the car. 

^ prese, not quite equal to avea or avrebbe preso. It is precisely 

the use of the Greek aorist. See Goodwin, Gr. M. and T. § 30. Cf. 

xxii. II.


takes such a space as we had removed, when Beatrice 

alighted. I heard all murmur 'Adam'; then they circled 

a plant despoiled of flowers and of leafage too on every 

branch. Its foliage, which spreads the wider as it is 

higher up, would be wondered at for height by the 

Indians in their forests. 'Blessed art thou, Grifon, that 

thou tearest not -with thy beak of this wood sweet to the 

taste, since ill was the belly griped therefrom.' Thus 

round about the stalwart tree cried the others; and the 

Disfrenata saetta, quanto eramo"^ 

Rimossi, quando Beatrice scese. 

Io senti' mormorare a tutti: Adamo : 

Poi cerchiaro una pianta dispogliata 

Di fiori e d' altra fronda in ciascun ramo."* 

La coma sua, che tanto si dilata 40 

Piii, quanto piii fe su, fora dagl' Indi 

Nei boschi lor per altezza ammirata. 

Beato sei, Grifon, che non discindi 

Col becco d' esto legno dolce al gusto, 

Posciachfe mal si torse il ventre quindi." 

Cosi d' intorno all' arbore robusto 

•= Disferrata Cass. 2; differrata 14. 

•1 Difoglia Gg. 3 Aid.; foglie 124 Land.; con suo ramo Cass. 124. 

^ storce Gg. 

3^ altra. So ii. 32, xiv. 44. See Diez iii. 76, and compare ' oi 

ydp ^v xi^p-ros oiSi &XXo SevSpov oiSiv,' Xen. An. i. 5, 5, and similar 

uses. . 

*" coma is the reading of most MSS. Aid. and Land. The later 

edd. have often chioma. cima, however, is found ; and a comparison 

with xxxiii. 66 would suggest that it may be the right reading. Gg. 

reads coma, 'i.e. cima.' Ottimo explains 'vetta.' With the arrangement 

of the branches cf xxii. 133.

xxkii PURGATORY 397 

animal of two natures : ' Thus is preserved the seed of all 

righteousness.' Arid turning to the pole which he had 

pulled, he drew it to the foot of the widowed branch, 

and to it he left bound that which was of it. As our 

plants, when downward falls the great light mingled with 

that which beams behind the heavenly Carp, grow turgid, 

and then each renews itself with its own colour before that 

the Sun yoke his coursers under another star; disclosing a 

Gridaron gli altri: e 1' animal binato : ^ 

Si si conserva il seme d' ogni giusto. 

E volto al temo ch' egli avea tirato, 

Trasselo al pife della vedova frasca ; 5° 

E quel di lei a lei lascib legato. 

Come le nostre piante, quando casca 

Giii la gran luce mischiata con quella 

Che raggia dietro alia celeste lasca, 

Turgide fansi, e poi si rinnovella 

Di suo color ciascuna, pria che il Sole 

Giunga li suoi corsier sott' altra Stella; 

' Gridando Gg. Cass. 124; ben nato Gg. {al. binato ni.) 

^8 si; i.e. by obedience; perhaps -with allusion to St. Matt. iii. 15. 

—giusto : as in Inf xix. 12. 

=1 quel di lei. This is variously explained. Primarily it must, I 

think, allude to the old legend that the cross of Christ, which I take the 

pole to denote, was made of the wood of the tree of Life. (See Trench, 

Sacred Latin Poetry, p. 181.) Buti has also, according to Philalethes, 

noticed the same legend. Benv. understands 'tied to it by it; i.e. by 

a branch'; and explains, Christ by obedience bound the Church to 

obedience. 

« la celeste lasca=the sign of the Fish. The light behind it is the 

Ram, and the meaning is merely, when the Sun is in Aries ; ' when the 

yonge Sonne hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne.'


colour less than of roses and more than of violets, the plant 

renewed itself which before had had its branches so desert. 

I understood it not, nor here is sung the hymn which that 

folk then sang, nor did I endure the strain throughout. If 

I could portray in what wise fell asleep the pitiless eyes at 

hearing the tale of Syrinx, the eyes to which too great 

watchfulness cost so dear, as a painter who paints with a 

model would I represent how I went to sleep; but whoso 

Men che di rose, e piii che di viole. 

Colore aprendo, s' innovb la pianta,^ 

Che prima avea le ramora si sole. 60 

Io non lo intesi, nfe qui non si canta'' 

L' inno che quella gente allor cantaro, 

Nfe la nota soffersi tutta quanta. 

S' io potessi ritrar come assonnaro 

Gli occhi spietati, udendo di Siringa, 

Gli occhi a cui piii vegghiar costb si caro;' 

Come pintor che con esempio pinga, 

Disegnerei com' io m'addormentai: 

e si nuova Gg.; nuovo Cass. 3. 

^ e qui gih non Gg. Land. ; e qui non Cass. W.; ne qui non si 5; 

ne di qua ed. 1578 ; ni quaggiii Aid. Bi. 

' pur vegliar Gg. ; vegghiar 124. 

''8 The point of this is very obscure. Benv. thinks it means that the 

atonement, while reconciling man to God, did not restore him to absolute 

innocence. But this seems far-fetched. 

8° ramora ; for this and similar forms, see Diez ii. 26. 

"1 The readings vary a good deal, ni quaggiii seems to want 

MS. authority, ne qui non, which is the reading of five out of the 

first six edd., seems the best. For the double, negative, see Diez iii. 

389, 390. Witte's e qui non makes the line a syllable short. 

8* Ovid Met. i. 678-723.

XXXII PURGATORY 399 

would do it let him be able well to represent slumber. 

Wherefore I pass ori to wheri I awoke, arid I say that a 

brightness tore for me the veil of my sleep, and a call: 

' Arise ! what doest thou ?' 

As, led to behold of the flowerets of the apple which 

makes the angels greedy of its fruit and makes everlasting 

wedding in heaven, and overcome, Peter and John and 

James came to themselves at the word whereby greater 

slumbers were broken, and beheld their band diminished by 

Moses, even as by Elias, and the raiment of their Master 

Ma qual vuol sia che 1' assonnar ben finga : 

Perb trascorro a quando mi svegliai; 70 

E dico, ch' un splendor mi squarcib il velo 

Del sonno, ed un chiamar : Surgi, che fai ? 

Quaje a veder dei fioretti del melo, 

Che del suo pomo gli Angeli fa ghiotti, 

E perpetue nozze fa nel Cielo, 

Pietro e Giovanni e lacopo condotti 

E vinti, ritornaro alia parola, 

Dalla qual furon maggior sonni rotti, 

E videro scemata loro scuola, 

Cosi di Moisfe come d' Elia, 80 

Ed al Maestro suo cangiata stola; 

89 'Let it be that he well represent.' assonnar. Philalethes remarks 

that Dante himself has succeeded in doing this better than any 

one, in xviii. 141. 

78 The ' apple' is Christ, with allusion to Canticles ii. 3 ; the 

' flowers' are the foretaste of His glory, as seen by the Apostles at the 

Transfiguradon; the ' fruit' is its full fruition in Heaveii. 

79 loro for TOO. Diez iii. 55, 65. (He is rather meagre.) Corticelli, 

Ling. Tosc. p. 55, says that when more than one person is the subject 

of the sentence, loro is the better use.


changed; so came I to myself, and saw that kindly one 

standing over me who was before conductress of my steps 

along the stream; and all in doubt I said: 'Where is 

Beatrice ? ' And she : ' Behold her underneath the new 

foliage, sitting on its root. Behold the company which 

surrounds her; the others are going their way on high after 

the Grifon, with sweeter song and more profound.' And if 

her speech was further poured forth I know not,, because 

already I had in view her who had closed me to hearing 

aught else. She was sitting alone on the very ground, as 

Tal torna' io : e vidi quella pia 

Sovra me starsi, che conducitrice 

Fu dei miei passi lungo il fiume pria : 

E tutto in dubbio dissi: Ov' fe Beatrice ? 

Ed ella : Vedi lei sotto la fronda 

Nuova sedersi in su la sua radice. • 

Vedi la compagnia che la circonda : ^ 

Gli altri dopo il Grifon sen vanno suso. 

Con piii dolce canzone e piii profonda. 90 

E se fu piii lo suo parlar diffuse, 

Non so : perocchfe gik negli occhi m' era 

Quella ch' ad altro intender m' avea chiuso. 

Sola sedeasi in su la terra vera, 

^ seconda Cass. 124. 

In allusion to Rev. xiv. 3. 

^ vera. The meaning of this word has been a good deal discussed, 

and various interpretations suggested, of which Vellutello's 'perchfe la 

Theologia h fondata sopra la vera e iion fitta humilta' is no better nor 

worse than the average. The annotator of Gg. says ' ubi arbor scientiae 

boni.' Witte compares Inf ii. 23, and thinks it means that the Roman 

empire (denoted by the Tree) was the true seat of the Church. He 

renders by ' wahrhaft,' Philalethes by ' echt.' All these seem to me to


guardian left there of the wain which I saw the two-formed 

animal tie. In curcle were makirig of themselves an enclosure 

to her the seven nymphs, with those lights in their 

hands which are secure from Aquilo and Auster. ' Here thou 

shalt be a Httie time a woodman, and with me shalt thou be 

without end a citizen of that Rome whereof Christ is a 

Roman; wherefore, to the profit of the world which lives 

ill, keep now thine eyes on the car, and what thou seest, 

when thou art returned yorider, see that thou write.' Thus 

Come guardia lasciata li del plaustro, 

Che legar vidi aUa biforme fiera. 

Iri cerchio le facevari di sfe claustro 

Le sette Ninfe con quei lumi in mano, 

Che son sicuri d' Aquilone e d' Austro. 

Qui sarai tu poco tempo silvano,' 100 

E sarai meco sanza fine cive 

Di quella Roma onde Cristo fe Romano : 

Perb in pro del mondo che mal vive, 

Al carro tieni or gli occhi, e quel che vedi, 

Ritornato di la fa che tu scrive. 

1 starai Cass. 14. 

make too much of what is probably only an ' epitheton ornans.' At the 

same time there may be something of the same idea as in xiii. 95 and 

xvi. 96. Other readings are mera and nsra. 

"8 legar vidi alia f. Cf 1. 37, and see note to viii. 106. alia must 

not be regarded zs=dalla. 

1 silvano. Is there, not a suggestion of foresta, forestiere, connecting 

the thought with that of xiii. 96? qui signifies 'in this 

world,' denoted by the earthly Paradise. ' Beatitudinem hujus vitae,. 

quae ... per terrestrem paradisum figuratur,' De Mon. iii. 15. 

18^ Cf. for a variation of the expression xxvi. 129. 

i«8 Cf. xvi. 103. 

105 Copied from Rev. i. 11. 

2 D


Beatrice, and I who at the feet of her commands was all 

devoted, set my mind and my eyes where she would have. 

Never descended with such swift motion fire from a thick 

cloud when rain is falling from that boundary which is most 

remote, as I beheld the bird of Jove swoop downward 

through the tree, rending of the bark, much more the 

flowers and the new leaves; and he smote the car with all 

Cosi Beatrice : ed io che tutto ai piedi 

Dei suoi comandamenti era devoto, 

La mente e gli occhi, ov' ella voile, diedi. 

Non scese mai con si veloce moto 

Fuoco di spessa nube, quando piove no 

Da quel confine che piii fe remoto,"" 

Com' io vidi calar 1' uccel di Glove 

Per 1' arbor giii, rompendo della scorza, 

Non che dei fiori e delle foglie nuove, 

E ferlo il carro di tutta sua forza; 

"1 piii va Gg. Cass. 3 VV. ; piii ha 124. 

109-111 Lightning is generated in those clouds which approach nearest 

to the sphere of fire' (the lower limit of which is at the level of the 

entrance to Purgatory ; cf xxi. 46 sqq.) TrvKvoripas TTJS avariaeas 

r&v veip&v yiyvofiivTis irpbs rb ô'xaroi' Tripas.—Aristotle Meteor, ii. 9. 

Beyond this clouds do not go ; it is therefore their remotest boundary. 

Bianchi takes piove in the sense in which curiously enough it is most 

often used by Dante, of 'falls,' and understands it of the lightning. 

But it seems best, with the great majority of interpreters, to take it in 

its Uteral sense. On the other hand I have followed him in reading, 

with most of the early edd., piii e, instead of the pi-d va which many 

MSS. give. The v may easily have slipped in from piove in the Une 

before, and then piuue would have got altered to piuua. The-doubt 

between e and va in line 41 may also have affected the readings here : 

but va has there a meaning, while it is hard to see howa fixed boundary 

can be said to 'go more remote.'

XXXII PURGA TORY 403 

his force, whereat it reeled, as a ship in a tempest overcome 

by the waves, now to starboard now to larboard.- Next I 

saw come into the hollow of the triumphal chariot a vixen, 

which from all good food appeared fasting; but reproaching 

her with loathly sins, my lady turned her to such flight as 

the fleshless bones allowed. Next,- from thence, whence it 

had before come, I saw the eagle come down into the ark 

of the car, and leave it feathered from itself. And as comes 

from a heart that is embittered, such a voice issued from 

Ond' ei piegb, come nave in fortuna, 

Vinta dall' onda or da poggia or da orza. 

Poscia -vidi avventarsi nella cuna " 

Del trionfal veiculo una volpe, 

Che d' ogni pasto buon parea digiuna. 120 

Ma riprendendo lei di laide colpe. 

La donna mia la volse in tanta futa, 

Quanto sofferson F ossa senza polpe. 

Poscia per indi ond' era pria venuta, 

L' aquila vidi scender giii nell' area 

Del carro, e lasciar lei di sfe pennuta." 

E qual' esce di cuor che si rammarca, 

Tal voce usci del Cielo, e cotal disse : 

n per la Gg. ; ver la 3. ° cosi pen. Cass. 

118 fortuna. Littre gives several examples.of the use of_/o?'^«.«« in 

this sense. It appears to have been almost a technical term. Thus 

Froissart: 'II eut une fortune de vent sur mer.' So in the sonnet, 

'Guido, vorrei,' 1. 5. 

117 poggia and orza appear to be rather the sheets, than, as most 

commentators say, the braces. 

128 yoge . of St. .Peter. Benvenuto tells a story, which Witte also 

mentions as a legend current in early ages, that at the time of Constantine's 

donation >• voice had been heard to cry from heaven: ' Hodie

404 PURGATORY 

Heaven and spoke thus : ' O my ship, how ill art thou 

freighted !' Then it appeared to me that the, earth opened 

herself between the two wheels, and I saw issue therefrom 

a dragon, who fixed his tail up through the car; and, like a 

wasp which draws back its sting, drawing to himself the 

malignant tail, he drew part of the floor, and went his way 

rambling about. That which remained, like ground alive 

with herbage, covered itself again with the feathers, offered 

haply with sound and benign intention, and was covered 

O navicella mia, com' mal sei carca! ^ 

Poi parve a me che la terra s' aprisse 130 

Tr' ambo le rote, e vidi uscirne un drago,'^ 

Che per lo carro su la coda fisse : 

E come vespa che ritragge 1' ago, 

A sfe traendo la coda maligna, 

Trasse del fondo, e gissen vago vago. 

Quel che rimase, come di gramigna 

Vivace terra, della piuma, offerta 

Forse con intenzion sana e benigna,"^ 

Si ricoperse e funne ricoperta 

P CO mal Gg. Cass. 1 indi Gg. ^ casta e b. Aid. Bi. 

diffusum est venenum in ecclesia Dei'; and cf Inf xix. 115. It must 

be remembered that no doubt existed in Dante's time as to the genuineness 

of the donation ; and it was not until the next century that the 

fiction was exposed by Valla. See Gibbon, chap. xlix. 

129 com' for come is not very satisfactory, though there are instances 

of it; none, however, before a word beginning with m. If we read CO, 

may it not stand for ecco, as in coloro, etc. ? 

134-135 cf_ K.ev. xii. 4. 

135 For di in a ' partitive' sense, cf 11. 113, 114, and see Diez iii.'.i49. 

The repetition of vago shows that it must here be in the less usual 

meaning of 'vagus,' not as some have thought 'greedy.' 

138 Cf Par. XX. 56.


again therewith, both one and the other wheel and the 

pole, in so long time that the open mouth longer holds 

a sigh. Transformed thus the holy edifice put forth heads 

through its parts, three over the pole and one in every 

corner. The first were homed like an ox, but the four had 

a single horn on the forehead; a like prodigy was never yet 

seen. Secure as a fortress on a lofty mountain, meseemed 

there sat thereon a dishevelled harlot, -vrith eyelids quick 

to move around. And, as if in order that she should not 

E r una e 1' altra ruota e il temo in tanto, 140 

Che piii tiene un sospir la bocca aperta. 

Trasformato cosi il dificio santo 

Mise fuor teste per le parti sue, 

Tre sovra il temo, ed una in ciascun canto. 

Le prime eran cornute come bue. 

Ma le quattro un sol corno avean per fronte: 

Simile mostro visto ancor non fue."" 

Sicura, quasi rocca in alto monte, 

Seder sovr' esso una puttana sciolta 

M' apparve con le ciglia intorno pronte. rso 

E come perchfe non li fosse tolta, 

s aruor visto Gg.; v. anco Cass.; s. in nostra vista 124; in vista mai 

Aid.; visto mai Bi. 

143 Yox the seven heads and ten horns, cf. Rev. xiii. i, and xvii. 9, 

12. The harlot is taken from xvii. 3. There is a similar allusion, 

Inf xix. 106. 

"7 It is not easy to see how Dante, when obviously taking the idea 

of these seven heads from the beast seen by St. John, can have said 

that 'the like had never been seen.' I have followed the usually 

accepted reading, Simile mostro visto (or in vista) mai (or ancor) 

non fue, but it is .very probable that I, 2, and 4 are right in reading 

simile innostra -vista. Or is mai corrupt ? Simile m. in -vista mia 

would give a good sense.

4o6 PURGATORY CANTO xxxii 

be taken from him, I saw beside her upright a giant, and 

they kissed together a certain while; but because she turned 

her lustful and roving eye- to me, that fierce paramour 

scourged her from the head even to the soles of her feet. 

Then, full of jealousy and cruel with rage, he cast loose the 

monster, and drew it through the wood so far that only 

with it he shielded from me the harlot and the new-made 

beast. 

Vidi di costa a lei dritto un gigante, 

E baciavansi insieme alcuna vol;a. 

Ma perchfe 1' occhio cupido e vagante 

A me rivolse, quel feroce drudo 

La flagellb dal capo insin le piante. 

Poi di sospetto, pieno e d' ira crudo 

Disciolse il mostro, e trassel per la selva 

Tanto che sol di lei mi fece scudo. 

Alia puttana ed alia nuova belva. r6o 

158 alcuna volta; not, I think, as it is usually rendered 'several 

times,' but as in xxiv. 65. So lunga fiata, in xxx. 27, and elsewhere. 

1^^ I.e. so far that the wood alone was enough to hide them from 

me.

CANTO XXXIII 

ARGUMENT 

They proceed a little distance, and Beatrice explains that the vision 

will shortly be fulfilled, and prophesies of one who will restore 

the Empire. It is midday, and Matilda leads Dante and Statius 

to drink of the water of Euno^, which makes them fit to ascend 

to Heaven. 

DEUS, venerunt gentes, now three, now four in alternation, a 

sweet psalmody, the ladies began, weeping; and Beatrice, 

sighing and pitiful, Hstened to them in such guise that little 

more did Mary change herself at the cross. But after that 

the other maidens gave place to her to speak, risen upright 

on her feet she made answer, being in hue like to fire : 

DEUS, venerunt gentes, alternando. 

Or tre or quattro, dolce salmodia 

Le donne incominciaron lagrimando. 

E Beatrice sospirosa e pia 

Quelle ascoltava si fatta, che poco 

Piii alia croce si cambib Maria. 

Ma poichfe 1' altre vergini dier loco 

A lei di dir, levata dritta in pife 

Rispose, colorata come fuoco : 

1 Deus venerunt. Psalm Ixxix. i. 

" come fuoco, i.e. with the colour of love. See note xix. 14.'

4o8 PURGATORY CANTO 

' Modicum et non videbitis me, et iterum, my beloved sisters, 

modicum et vos videbitis me.' Then she put them all seven in 

front of her, and after her, only making a sign, she caused 

to go me and the Dame and the Sage who remained. Thus 

she moved away, and I do not think that her tenth step 

had been placed on the ground when with her eyes she smote 

my eyes, and with calm aspect: ' Come more quickly,' she 

said to me, ' so much that if I speak with thee thou mayest 

be well placed to Usten to me.' So soon as I was, as was 

my duty, with her, she said to me: ' Brother, why dost 

thou not attempt to iriquire, now that thou art coming with 

me?' As befalls those who being over-reverent before their 

ModicUm, et non videbitis me: lo 

Et iterum, sorelle mie dilette. 

Modicum, et vos videbitis me. 

Poi le si mise innanzi tutte e sette : 

E dopo sfe, solo accennando mosse 

Me e la donna e il savio che ristette. 

Cosi sen giva, e non credo che fosse 

Lo decimo suo passo in terra posto, 

Quando con gli occhi gli occhi mi percosse, 

E con tranquillo aspetto : Vien piii tosto. 

Mi disse, tanto che s' io parlo teco, 20 

Ad ascoltarmi tu sie ben disposto. 

Si com' io fui, com' io doveva, seco, 

Dissemi: Frate, perchfe non t' attenti 

A dimandar omai venendo meco ? 

Come a color che troppo reverenti 

i» St. John xvi. 16. 

1^ il sa-rio. Statius, who has been with them all the time. 

2" Cf xxxi. 7.

XXXIII PURGATORY 409 

betters are in act to speak, that they bring not the voice 

alive to the teeth, it befell me that I began without perfect 

sound: ' My lady, my. care you know, and that which for 

it is good.' And she to me : 'From fear and from shame 

I wiU that thou henceforward disenfold thyself, so that thou 

speak no more as one who dreams. Thou knowest that the 

vessel which the serpent broke was and is not, but let him 

who has the blame thereof believe that God's vengeance 

fears not sops. For all time -srithout heir the eagle will not 

Dinanzi a suo maggior parlando sono, 

Che non traggon la voce viva a' denti, 

Avvenne a me, che senza intero suono 

Incominciai: Madonna, mia bisogna 

Voi conoscete e cib ch' ad essa fe buono. 30 

Ed ella a me : Da tema e da vergogna 

Voglio che tu omai ti disviluppe. 

Si che non parli piii com' uom che sogna. 

Sappi che il vaso, che il serpente ruppe, 

Fu, e non fe : ma chi n' ha colpa creda 

Che vendetta di Dio non teme suppe. 

Non sark tutto tempo sanza reda ^ 

^ Non sarh d' ogni t. Gg. 

3^ fu, e non e, firom Rev. xvii. 8. 

36 non teme suppe. Alluding to the superstition, current in Florence 

in the Middle Ages, that if a murderer could contrive within eight days 

after the crime to eat a piece of bread dipped in wine (or any food, say 

some), on his victim's grave, he would escape the relations' vengeance. 

See Fauriel, Dante, vol. i. p. 535. The idea here is probably like 

Horace's ' Venena fas nefasque non valent convertere.' Epod. v. 87. 

37 saniza reda. Because in Dante's view there had been no real 

emperor since the death of Frederick II. Cf Conv. iv. 3, where 

Frederick is called 'ultimo imperadore de' Romani, per rispetto a 

tempo presente.'

4IO PURGATORY CANTO 

be who left his feathers on the car, whereby it became a 

monster and afterward a prey; for I see certainly, and therefore 

I tell it, stars secure from all assault and all hindrance, 

already near to give us a time, in the which a five hundred, 

ten, and five, sent by God shall slay the runagate, together 

with that giant who sins with her. And it may be 

that my tale,, dark like Themis and Sphinx, persuades thee 

less, because after their fashion it chokes the understand- 

L' aquila che lascib le penne al carro : 

Per chfe divenne mostro e poscia preda. 

Ch' io veggio certamente, e perb il narro, 40 

A darne tempo gik stelle propinque 

Sicure d' ogni intoppo e d'' ogni sbarro : '^ 

Nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque 

Messo di Dio anciderk la fuia. 

Con quel gigante che con lei delinque. 

E forse che la mia narrazion buia, 

Qual Temi e Sfinge, men ti persuade,"^ 

Perch' a lor modo lo intelletto attuia: 

^ ogni stroppio Gg. 

'^ spinge Gg. Cass. 1234; e me ti Gg.; me ti Cass. 124. 

^ stelle. Cf XX. 13. See Appendix B. 

"* fuia. ' sc. meretricem,' says the annotator of Gg.; but this is 

probably an explanation, not a translation. ' Rauberin,' Witte, with 

whom Blanc agrees. 'Vettel,'Philalethes. But see Glossary. 

*7 qual Temi e Sfinge. The allusion is to Ovid Met. vii. 758 sqq. 

' Carmina Laiades non intellecta priorum solverat ingeniis,' etc., where, 

until emended into this form by Heinsius, all edd., following a 

blunder of the MSS., read ' Naiades—solvunt.' The attempts to justify 

the accuracy of the older reading by reference to Pausanias, Lactantius, 

and others, are obviously futile, if only because the pluperf solverat is 

nearly as much needed as the name of Oedipus.


ing; but soon the facts will be the Naiades, who wUl solve 

this hard riddle, without scathe of flocks or of corn. Do 

thou mark, and in such wise as from me are borne these 

words, so teach them to those who live with the life 

which is a race unto death; and bear in mind, when 

thou writest them, not to conceal what thou hast seen 

the plant, which has now been twice plundered here. Whosoever 

robs that or strips it offends God with blasphemy 

of act, for to His own use only He created it holy. For 

biting that, in pain and in desire five thousand years and 

more the first soul longed for Him who in His own self 

avenged the bite. Asleep is thy wit if thotl judge not that 

Ma tosto fien li fatti le Naiade,"^ 

Che solveranno questo enigma forte, 50 

Sanza danno di pecore e di blade. 

Tu nota; e si come da me son porte 

Queste parole, si le insegna a' vivi 

Del viver ch' fe un correre alia morte ; 

Ed aggi a mente, quando tu le scrivi, 

Di non celar qual hai vista la pianta, 

Ch' fe or due volte dirubata quivi. 

Qualunque ruba quella o quella schianta. 

Con bestemmia di fatto offende Dio, 

Che solo air uso suo la creb santa. 60 

Per morder quella, in pena e in disio 

Cinquemil' anni e piii, 1' anima prima 

Bramb colui che il morso in sfe punio. 

Dorme lo ingegno tuo, se nbn istima 

^ fier lefate Cass.; fien lefate e 5. 

57 First by the eagle, secondly by the separation firom it of the car 

' which was of it' (xxxii. 51).


for a special reason it is so high, and so spread at the top. 

And if thy vain thoughts had not been as water of Elsa 

around thy mind, and their pleasure as Pyramus to the 

mulberry tree, through so great circumstances only hadst 

thou recognised with thy moral sense the justice of God in 

the interdict upon the tree. But because I see thee in thy 

understanding made of stone, and of stony tint, so that the 

Per sirigular cagioue essere eccelsa 

Lei tarito, e si travolta nella cima.^ 

E se stati riOri fossero acqua d' Elsa 

Li perisier varii iritorno alia tua mente, 

E il piacer loro un Piramo alia gelsa; 

Per tante circostanze solamente 70 

La giustizia di Dio nello interdetto 

Conosceresti all' alber moralmente. 

Ma perch' io veggio te nello intelletto 

Fatto di pietra e di petrato tinto,^ 

^ tanto si tr. essere in c. Gg. 

' in petrato t. Gg. Cass. Bi.; pietrato 3 ; impetrato 124;, 

ed impetrato, t. W.; cinto 14. 

88 Cf the tree in xxii. 133. 

67 snq. The river Elsa in Tuscany was reputed to have a petrifying 

power. Fazio, Dittam. iii. 8, says that people made columns by putting 

long thin beams into it till they got encrusted -with stone. The mulberry 

was white until the blood of Pyramus stained it (xxvii. 39). The 

meaning therefore is: 'If your mind had not been hardened and its 

purity lost, by reason of worldly cares and pleasures, you would have 

understood, from what has happened to the tree, the justice of God in 

forbidding any hand to be laid on it.' For the meaning, in connection 

with the whole allegory, see Appendix B. 

7-' Witte's impietrato, tinto, seems rather clumsy. I venture to 

adopt a variant given by him. Cf xiii. 9, for the colour of stone. It 

is possible, however, that no reading involving a repetition of pietra is 

correct. The line is obviously intended to correspond with the acqua


light of my word dazzles thee, I will moreover—and if not 

written, at least depicted—that thou bear it away within 

thee for that wherefore the staff circled -with palm is taken.' 

And I: 'As wax by a seal, which changes'not the figure 

impressed, so is my brain now stamped by you. But why 

so far above my view flies your desired speech, that more 

it loses it the more it strives ?' ' That thou mayest know,' 

said she, ' that school which thou hast followed, and. mayest 

see how its doctrine is able to follow my speech, and mayest 

Si che t' abbaglia il lume del mio detto; 

Voglio anche, e se non scritto, almen dipinto, 

Che il te ne porti dentro a te per quello, 

Che si reca il bordon di palma cinto. 

Ed io : Si come cera da suggello, 

Che la figura impressa non trasmuta, 80 

Segnato fe or da voi lo mio cervello.^ 

Ma perchfe tanto sovra mia veduta 

Vostra parola disiata vola, 

Che piii la perde quanto piii s' aiuta? 

Perchfe conoschi, disse, quella scuola, 

Ch' hai seguitata, e veggi sua dottrina 

Come pub seguitar la mia parola; 

8 Segn. ho io di voi Gg. 

d' Elsa and gelsa above. A v. 1. in peccato {' dyed to , the hue of sin') 

exists; and this, if supported by any good MS. authority, would be 

much better. Cf Inf. x. 86 : colorata in rosso. 

78 I.e. if not put in words at least figured in your mind. 

77. 78 I.e. in memory of the places which you have visited. For the 

different kinds of pilgrims, see V. N. § xli. 

78 Dante is fond of this metaphor, borrowed from Aristotle, of the 

seal and the wax. Cf A. 45, xviii. 39. 

8« B' aiuta. Cf. xii. 130. 

87 come, i.e. how little.


see that your way is from God's way so far apart as is distant 

from earth the heaven, which speeds the highest' 

Wherefore I answered her: ' It comes not to my mind that 

I estranged myself ever from you, nor have I conscience 

thereof to prick me.' 'And if thou canst not remember 

thee thereof,' smiling she answered, 'now bethink thee 

how thou hast this day drunk of Lethe; and if from the 

smoke fire is argued, this forgetfulness cleariy concludes a 

fault in thy will intent elsewhere. But truly henceforth my 

words will be plain so far as shall behove to uncover them 

to thy untrained sight' 

E veggi vostra via dalla divina 

Distar cotanto, quanto si discorda 

Da terra il ciel che piu alto festina. 90 

Ond' io risposi lei: Non mi ricorda 

Ch' io straniassi me giammai da vol,'" 

Nfe honne coscienzia che rimorda. 

E se tu ricordar non te ne puoi, 

Sorridendo, rispose, or ti rammenta 

Come bevesti di Letfe ancoi: 

E se dal fummo fuoco s' argomenta, 

Cotesta oblivion chiaro conchiude 

Colpa nella tua voglia altrove attenta. 

Veramente oramai saranno nude roo 

Le mie parole, quanto converrassi 

Quelle scovrire alia tua vista rude. 

li straviassi Gg. (alt. to stran.); Cass. 

^' 88 Isaiah Iv. 8, 9. 

36 sqq. Because Lethe only takes away the memory of faults.


And more flashing and with slower pace the Sun was 

holding the meridian circle, which sets itself here and there 

according as you observe it, when halted (as halts he who 

goes before a troop by way of escort, if he finds aught new 

in his track) the seven dames, at the erid of a pale shadow, 

such as under green leaves and black boughs the Alps bear 

above their cool brooks. In front of them meseemed I 

saw Euphrates and Tigris issue from one fount, and, like 

friends, separate slowly. ' O light, O glory of the, race of 

men, what water is this which here displays itself from one 

E piii corrusco, e con piii lenti passi 

-Teneva il sole il cerchio di merigge, 

Che qua e lk, come gli aspetti, fassi, 

Quando s' afEsser, si come s' affigge 

Chi va dinanzi a schiera per iscorta, 

Se truova novitate in sue vestigge, 

Le sette donne-al fin d' un' ombra smorta, 

Qual sotto foglie verdi e rami nigri, no 

Sovra suoi freddi rivi 1' Alpe porta. 

Dinanzi ad esse Eufrates e Tigri 

Veder mi parve uscir d' una fontana, 

E quasi amici dispartirsi pigri. 

O luce, O gloria della gente umana,' 

Che acqua fe questa che qui si dispiega 

' mente um. Gg. 

1°' pill lenti. The sun seems to travel slower when it is high, because 

the shadows change less in a given time than they do when it is 

near the horizon. 

1"° I. e. varies -with the longitude, aspetti, hke.' leve,' xxv. 39. 

112 Boethius y. Metr. i : 

Tigris et Euphrates uno se fonte resolvunt, 

Et mox abjunctis dissociantur aquis.


beginning and parts itself from itself?' For such prayer it 

was said to me : ' Pray Matilda that she tell it thee.' And 

here replied, as he does who sets him free from blame, 

the fair lady: ' This and other things have been told him 

by me; and I am sure that the water of Lethe has not 

hidden them from him.' And Beatrice: ' Perchance a 

greater care, which oftentimes takes away memory, has 

made his mind dim in the eyes. But behold Eunofe 

which there flows down; lead thou him to it, and as thou 

art wont quicken again his virtue partly dead.' As a noble 

soul that makes not excuse, but makes its will of the will 

of another, so soon as by a sign it is outwardly disclosed; 

in such wise, after I had been taken by her, the fair lady 

Da un principio, e sfe da sfe lontana ? 

Per cotal prego detto mi fu : Prega 

Matelda, che il ti dica : e qui rispose. 

Come fa chi da colpa si dislega, r2o 

La bella donna : Questo ed altre cose 

Dette li son per me : e son sicura 

Che 1' acqua di Lete non gliel nascose. 

E Beatrice : Forse maggior cura, 

Che spesse volte la memoria priva, 

Fatto ha la mente sua negli occhi oscura. 

Ma vedi Eunofe che lk deriva : 

Menalo ad esso, e come tu sei usa. 

La tramortita sua virtii ravviva. 

Com' anima gentil che non fa scusa, rso 

Ma fa sua voglia della vogUa altrui, 

Tosto com' fe per segno fuor dischiusa : 

Cosi poi che da essa preso fui. 

Matilda's name is here mentioned for the first time.

xxxni PURGATORY 4i7 

moved, and to Statius said in manner as a lady: ' Come 

with him.' 

If I had, reader, longer space to write, I should sing, 

at all events in part,'the sweet draught which never would 

have sated me; but, for that all the sheets put in frame for 

this second Canticle are full, the bridle of my art lets me 

go no further. I turned back from the most holy wave 

refect in such wise as new plants renewed with new foliage, 

pure and disposed to mount up to the stars. 

La bella donna mossesi, ed a Stazio 

Donnescamente disse : Vien con lui. 

S' io avessi, lettor, piii lungo spazio ^ 

Da scrivere, io pur cantere' in parte 

Lo dolce ber che mai non m' avria sazio 

Ma perchfe piene son tutte le carte 

Ordite a questa cantica seconda, 140 

Non mi lascia piii ir lo fren dell' arte. 

Io ritornai dalla santissima onda 

Rifatto si, come piante novelle 

Rinnovellate di novella fronda, 

Puro e disposto a salire alle stelle. 

1^ piti largo Gg. 

138 Cf. xxxi. 129. 

1*= See note Inf xxxiv. 139. 

2 E

APPENDIX A 

(NOTE TO CANTO XXVII.) 

THE DREAMS OF CANTOS IX. XIX, AND XXVII. 

SINCE of the three divisions of the future world it is Purgatory alone in 

which time can be said to have any place, it is natural that there alone 

we should find the ordinary division of time into days and nights still 

existing. For the shades, who, being free from the physical burden of 

the flesh, have no need of physical repose, the change fi'om day to night 

merely causes a change in the subjects of their penitential meditation ; 

but the human traveller, with Adam's part .still in him, needs rest no 

less than on earth. Accordingly, as has been seen, a part of each night 

is spent by Dante in sleep ; and each night his sleep is visited by a. 

dream. From their position in the poem, marking as it were the passage 

-from the events of one day to those of the next, it can hardly be doubted 

that they are intended as a kind of prelude to what is about to follow. 

In the case of the last, indeed, he not only tells us as much (xxvii. 93), 

but makes it clear by the occupation of Matilda in the 'next Canto, 

exactly reproducing that of Leah in the dream. But with regard to the 

two former dreams, that of the Eagle and that of the Siren, this prefatory. 

' character is less obvious on the slirface, and accordingly seems to have, 

escaped most or all of those who have commented on them. Philalethes, 

for example, says ' In der ersten Nacht am Thore des Purgatoriums, 

erscheint ihm Lucia (this is hardly correct, for she does not appear to 

Dante) die gratia praeveniens oder operans, in der zweiten Nacht in der 

Mitte der biissenden Kreise sieht er den Kampf des Menschen mit der 

Sinnlichkeit und seine Untersttitzung durch die mitwirkende Gnade 

{gratia cooperans), und hier im Eingange des irdischen Paradieses hat 

er einen dritten Traum, dessen Bedeutung sich als auf den Zustand der 

Vollendung [sc. der. Rechtfertigung] deutend zeigen wird.' It will be 

seen that in this brief summary he follows the older commentators, such

420 APPENDIX A 

as Landino, who talk much of prevenient, illuminant, anJ co-operant 

Grace. I should be far from saying that their interpretations are incorrect; 

but, as we are toldi by Dante himself that the poem is 'polysemous,' 

we are surely at Uberty to find another, and as it would seem, 

more significant interpretation. 

In considering the three dreams, and Dante's mode of narrating 

them, one point of resemblance will be at once observed. Each takes 

place immediately before the dawn: ' cum somnia vera'; ' presso al 

mattin di ver si sogna' ; and in each the hour is indicated by the introduction, 

beginning in every case with the words ' NelT ora' (which, 

with one exception, occur nowhere else in D.C), and having reference 

to some natural phenomenon. It is the hour ' when the swallow begins 

her song,' ' when the earth is chilliest,' ' when Venus first beamed 

on the mount.' This makes it pretty clear that Dante intended the 

dream in each case to be associated with the experiences of the day at 

the opening of which it is placed ; and a little closer consideration will 

perhaps throw light on the nature of the association. The line with 

which Leah ends seems to contain the key to the whole: ' Lei lo vedere, 

e me 1' ovrare appaga.' The division of ipipyeiai into irpaKriKol and 

BeapririKal, active and contemplative, is expounded by Aristotle, Eth. 

Nic. i. 5, and x. 7, 8. The latter passage Dante himself discusses in 

Conv. ii. 5, where he decides that 'questa (the contemplative) -vita e piii 

divina.' Here, as elsewhere, he is the obedient disciple of 'the master^ 

of all human reason,' 'the master of those who know.' Again, in 

Conv. iv. 22, he says : ' L' uso del nostro animo e doppio, cio4 pratico 

e speculative. Quello del pratico si e operare per noi vertuosamente, 

cioe onestamente, con prudenzia, con temperanza, con fortezza, e con 

giustizia ; quello dello speculativo si e non operare per noi, ma considerare 

1'.opere di Dio e della natura.' See also De MIon. iii. 15 : 'Duos 

fines Pro-videntia ilia enarrabihs homini proposuit intendendos, beatitudinem 

scilicet hujus vitae, quae in operatione propriae virtutis consistit 

et per terrestrem paradisum figuratur, et beatitudinem -vitae aeternae, quae 

consistit in fruitione divini aspectus.' It follows then that, every life 

(excepting the mere brute life of sensual enjoyment, the dTroXavaruibs 

pios,^ which could in no case be represented in Purgatory), falling under 

one or other of these two divisions, sins may be classified according as, 

1 Epistle to Can Grande. So Foscolo remarks ' Chi sapri mai quali e 

quanti 1' Autore intendevasi di velare in ogni parola, e Con quanta diversity 

di manlere ei spiegavali ? ' 

2 • Chi usa pur la vita sensitiva, non vive uomo ma vive bestia,' Conv. 

ii. 8, and testialita, BTipi6rT)S, in common with the other disposition, 

malizia, which is punished within the city of Dis (Inf. xi.), does not admit 

of any purgation.

APPENDIX A 421 

they attach themselves more to the one or the other side of man's nature. 

This classification, though nowhere explicitly stated, seems to be plainly 

enough implied in the order wherein Dante arranges sinners iu Purgatory. 

Thus, in the three lower circles are punished Pride, En-vy, Anger; 

sins of contemplation—the two first of which, it may be remarked, have 

no place in Hell, because until they result in action (when they become 

schism, malice, and treachery, just as anger becomes violence, and are 

placed in the lowest Hell), they injure only the man himself, and not 

the fabric of society.i Anger, indeed, like Sloth,^ may so destroy a 

man's moral nature as to render it unfit for purification; and so the 

Angry and Slothful lie together in Hell, forming there, as the Slothful 

by themselves in Purgatory, the division between the two chief classes 

of sins. That the Slothful are put by themselves in Purgatory is probably 

due to considerations of symmetry, and also because the sin of 

Sloth may be regarded as affecting both the Active and the Contem- 

.plative life, and checking the due development of one as much as of the 

other. 

Passing above this intermediate zone, we find those who have sinned 

by Avarice, Gluttony, and Lasciviousness. Now these three sins do 

not exist save in Action : they postulate a corporeal existence.^ A 

purely abstractîntelUgence may be conceived as obnoxious to the attacks 

of Pride, Envy, and Anger, but not to the lusts of the flesh. We thus 

have, in addition to the division of sins given in Canto x-vii., a further 

classification into sins of the contemplative and sins of the active life, 

vnth Sloth, or Accidia, assailing both, but more apparent in its effects 

on the latter, and leading more directly to those faults which especially 

belong to it. 

We are now in H position to examine somewhat more closely ihe 

circumstances of each dream. In the first place, it is to be noted that 

the introduction, by which, as has been said, the hour is fixed, gives in 

each case the keynote to what follows. "Aus, in the first night it is the 

swallow, with her memory of ancient woes, meditating upon the sorrows 

which she endured in human form. Moreover, it is the hour when the 

mind of man is ' quasi di-vina in its visions, the very same term being 

used which Dante applies to the contemplative life in the passage 

1 Cf. -Witte, note to Inf. viii. 46 :' Die Holle hat es niur mit Thatsiinden 

zu thun ; Stolz und Neid sind aber an sich noch nicht Thatsiinden, sondern 

nur die giftigen Wurzeln der mannigfachsten. 

2 ' Sloth' does not exactly render Accidia. It is indeed one of its 

results ; but accidia involves a far wider corruption of the character. The 

best modern account of it -will be found in the Essay prefixed to a volume 

of sermons by the Dean of Christ Church, ' The Spirit of Discipline.' 

8 TtdBTi XiYot hivXoi. De An. i. i.


alre'ady quoted from the Convito. The poet is then seized by an Eagle, 

the emblem from the earliest Christian times of the soul which most 

aspires to meditate on divine things, and as such adopted for the special 

' cognisance' of St. John the Divine; he is borne up to the fire, or 

Empyrean',heaven,i 'luogo,' as he says, 'di quella somma Deita che 

se sola compiutamente vede,' and when he wakes, his face is turned out 

to seaward, in the attitude which most suggests contemplation. 

The second vision is of a different character, in that it deals rather 

with the fault to be avoided than the grace to be sought. The hour is 

that of the greatest cold, when all acti-vity is at its weakest; and the 

allusions to the groping geomants and the dull planet Saturn appear to 

be intended to heighten the effect of the suggestion. The ordinary 

interpretation of this vision is different firom that here indicated. The 

Siren has been generally taken to denote the false pleasure arising 

from the joys of this world, and leading to the sins which are punished 

in the three higher circles ; and this is to some extent borne out by 

Virgil's words; 'Che sola sovra noi omai si piagne,'^ when taken inconjunction 

with the similar expression in xvii. 136, 137 ; but here again 

one interpretation does not exhaust the whole of the allegory. For let 

us consider the description of the figure which Dante sees. She is 

' balba, con gU occhi guerci, e sovra i pie distorta.' Are not these the 

very symptoms of Sloth, which arrests the development of the active 

life ? As he dwells on her, she becomes more and more attractive; 

and after she has been put to flight by the ' donna ^ santa e presta' (note 

this epithet—it is a lady holy and alert who defeats the Siren), the 

recollection of her draws him back and makes him slow to mount 

upwards, so that Virgil has to enjoin upon him to use the action of 

a man who is arousing himself from sloth. Nor indeed does this explanation 

of the vision conflict with other evidence. The Siren says that 

it was she who drew Ulysses from his road. Now we do not find that 

the temptation which the Sirens held out to Ulysses was that of sensual 

pleasures ; that is rather the part of Circe and the Lotus-eaters. The 

Sirens 'know all the toils which Argives and Trojans had in broad 

Troy'; it is by the inducement of a slothful rest that they seek to draw 

1 S.T. ii. 2. Q. 175. A. 3. 

^ Also by xxxi. 45. 

8 This lady is clearly the ' Donna gentil' of Inf. ii. 94. It wiU be 

observed that there she is connected with Lucia, whom she sends to 

Beatrice in order to move her to the aid of Dante; and here she performs 

a. similar office to that discharged by Lucia in the first vision, namely, that 

of bringing it to an end, and arousing the sleeper. Comparing Inf. ii. loz 

with Par. xxxii. 8, and looking to the juxtaposition of Maria with Lucia in 

Conv. iii. 5. we can hardly doubt that she is the Virgin Mary. (Since 

writing this, I find that Ozanam has come to the same conclusion.)

APPENDIX A 423 

men from their duty, and the enjoyment which they offer is intellectual 

rather than sensual; 1 in any case it is inactive.^ Thus we seem irresistibly 

drawn to the conclusion that Dante's Siren, though, since idleness is 

at once the cause ' and the effect of fleshly sins, she may not unfitly denote 

'the love which abandons itself too much to them,' is primarily 

'improba Siren desidia.'* It is to be observed also-that just as, on 

awaking from the first dream, Dante finds himself as we have seen 

in an attitude fitted for contemplation, so in this case he notices on 

coming to himself that ' we were going with the new Sun at our backs'; 

the position which a man who wishes to see the work that lies before 

him would naturally assume. 

Lastly as to the third dream, in Canto xxvii. All commentators 

seem agreed in considering that Rachel and Leah are understood by 

Dante, following all^ the theologians of the Middle Age, as holding 

symbolically in the Old Testament the same position as Martha and 

Mary in the New. What that is he sets forth plainly in Conv. iv. 17. 

In the world of history the typical representatives of the active and 

1 Guido dalle Colonne, in the account which he makes tJlysses give to 

Idomeneus of his wanderings, has of the Sirens: Hae autem mirabiles 

voces mirabili sonitu resolvunt in cantu in tam dulci modulamine cantilenae 

quod caelestem putares excedere in sonis musicis harmoniam, adeo quod 

miseri navigantes cum ad eas perveniunt tanta earum cantus dulcedine 

capiuntur quod eorum na-vium vela deponunt, remos reponunt (cf. xvii. 87) 

in altum, navigatione penitus abstinentes. Sic enim animos miserorum 

ille cantus inebriat, quod miseri audientes omnium aliarum curarum gravaminibus 

exuuntur, et in tantum ipsarum dulcedo demulcet auditus quod 

quasi sui ipsorum prorsus obliti nee esum appetunt neque cibum, dum 

eorum animis quidam sopor illabitur per quem efficiuntur penitus dormientes. 

^ This thought is well rendered in Daniel's lovely poem: ' Come, 

worthy Greek, Ulysses, come.' 

8 S.T. ii. 2. Q. 35. A. 4 : IHi qui non possunt gaudere in spiritualibus 

delectationibus, transferunt se ad corporales . . . filia acediae evagatio 

circa illicita. 

So Marlowe, Faustus, A. ii. Sc. 2 : Sloth : I was begotten on a sunny 

bank, where I have lain ever since; and you have done me great injury to 

bring me from thence; let me be carried thither again by Gluttony and 

Lechery. 

• ^ Cf. Ep. V. § 4 : Nee seducat illudens cupiditas, more Sirenum, nescio 

qua dulcedine vigiliam rationis mortificans. 

" Thus Hugh of St. Victor (quoted by Trench, Sacred Latin Poetry) 

has ' Lia, quae interpretatur laboriosa, significat vitam activam . . . 

Rachel, quae interpretatur visum principium, designat vitam contemplativam.' 

Adam of St. Victor, ' Lippam Liam latent multa quibus 

-ridens Rachel fulta Pari nubit foedere.' And Bernard of Cluny, ' Tunc 

Jacob Israel, et Lia tunc Rachel efBcietur.'


contemplative life are respectively Matilda and Beatrice. It is therefore 

right and fitting that after he has been awakened, not, as in the other 

dreams, by any special intervention, but merely by the splendour of 

the dawn, and after Virgil has resigned his charge at the entrance of the 

Earthly Paradise, giving him fiill power physical and spiritual, as 

implied by the crown and mitre, over himself, Dante should be met by 

Matilda, employed in the same manner as the Leah of his dream, and 

be led by her to the spot where Beatrice, descended firom her place 

beside Rachel (Inf ii. 102), comes to receive him. 

' It should be observed finally that Matilda, as representing here the 

glorified active life, finds her highest pleasure in ' giving praise for the 

operations of God's hands'; that is, the ultimate perfection of one life is 

practically the same as that of the other—Leah decks herself, but takes 

'pleasure at her mirror' no less than Rachel. Herein, indeed, lies 

the key to most of Dante's moral and theological system, and even, as 

will be understood by a reference to the passage already indicated of the 

De Monarchia, to much of his political doctrine also; and I have therefore 

entered somewhat at length into what may seem to some, as they 

did to Sismondi, among the less interesting portions of the Cantica. 

Possibly further consideration may lead to the behef that his judgement 

was formed hastily.

APPENDIX B 

ON THE ALLEGORY OF CANTOS XXIX.-XXXIII. 

IT seems, for several reasons, more convenient to -relegate such exposition 

as must be given of these quasi-apocalyptic Cantos to a separate 

note; than to explain them step by step, by means of a running commentary. 

In the first place, such a course would rather overcrowd the 

pages -with notes ; and further, to those who read the poena merely for its 

poetry, this long historical disquisition—for it is indeed little else, in 

spite of an occasional outburst in Dante's grandest style—may seem a 

little wearisome, and by no means to be emphasized by frequent notes. 

Lastly, the general drift of the whole, in spite of the obscurity of details, 

is so clear and so connected, that the student -will probably be best 

served by an attempt to elucidate it as a whole. So much of Dante's 

political doctrine is contained in it that this attempt is worth making. 

As vsdU be seen, a great part of it contains a statement of the same 

theories which he expounded in a more strictly scientific form in the 

De Monarchia; and, of any interest which that treatise possesses, these 

Cantos may be fairly held to claim a share. 

Perhaps it -will be convenient to begin with a few words as to the 

personages. Of course it will be understood that Dante, Beatrice, and 

Virgil are primarily themselves; the 'ten years' thirst,' which is 

quenched in the light of the eyes 'whence Love once drew his 

armoury,' is no mere figure of the state of a man who has left the study 

of theology, or has been desirous to understaiid the mystic sense of Holy 

Scripture, as certain of the old expounders deem. On the other hand, 

it is not merely the woman Beatrice Portinari, to whom, before her birth, 

the Virtues themselves were appointed for handmaidens, or who addresses 

the ladies personifying these virtues in the very words used by 

Christ to His disciples. "Thus there is a sense in which Beatrice and

426 'APPENDIX B 

Virgil and Dante himself must be regarded as abstractions personified 

ho less than those ladies, or the seven candlesticks, or the tree, or the 

mystic car. We may understand the two first as denoting the highest 

perfection which man can in the contemplative life attain—^Virgil, by 

the light of nature, Beatrice as informed by revelation. Dante himself 

is the type of the soul of man in its search after this perfection; 

Matilda is the active Ufe, which works- with temperance, prudence, 

fortitude, and justice (Conv. iv. 22), but, in order to attain its highest 

bliss, needs to be blended vrith the contemplative, as indicated by the 

allusion to ' the Psalm Delectasti.' By this a man is guided through 

the world, figured, as we are told in the De MonarchiEt, by the earthly 

paradise, and led on to the point where he becomes worthy to enjoy the 

beatific contemplation of the Deity. 

We may now follow the allegory step by step, firom the point (xxix. 

16) where Dante, warned by Matilda, turns his attention to what is 

coming. Seven candlesticks,' denoting the gifts of the Spirit,i come 

first, apparently self-inoved, and leaving behind them luminous bands, 

of the seven prismatic colours, in which some have seen the seven 

sacraments. It is, however, difficult to adapt these to the seven gifts, 

and also there is a want of appropriateness in making tiieva. precede the 

coming of Christ; so that, on the whole, it seems better to understand 

the bands merely as the working of the gifts. A distance of ten paces 

is said to separate the two on the outside, apparently -with allusion to 

the Commandments. Then follow twenty-four elders, representing the 

books of the Old Testament,^ clad and crowned vidth white, the colour of 

faith (Heb. xi.) After these comes the car of the Church, surrounded 

by four Beasts, resembling those of the Apocalypse, but cro-wned with 

green, denoting the four Gospels, as specially connected with ' Christ, 

which is our hope' (l Tim. i. l). It is drawn by a Grifon, that is, 

Christ. In his lion (or human) part he combines the colours of the 

Old and New Testament; while his bird (or di-vine) part is golden. 

His wings stretch up out of sight, and have three of the bands on each 

side and one between them. The symbolism of this part is very obscure. 

Witte gives up the attempt to explain it, only remarking that none of 

the explanations hitherto given are satisfactory. Looking to Psalms 

xxxv. and Ivi., and comparing verse 6 of the former with i and 11 of 

1 See Isaiah xi. 2; also, S. T. ii. i. Q. 6. The gifts are sapientia, 

intellectus, consilium, fortitudo, scientia, petas, timor Domini. Cf. Conv. 

iv. 21. 

2 It will be observed that Dante does not reckon the Apocryphal books. 

The number 24 is obtained by reckoning the Pentateuch, the Historical 

books, and the three ascribed to Solomon as forming only three 

together.

APPENDIX B 427 

the latter,i it seems that we must understand the vrings as denoting— 

the one mercy, the other truth or justice.^ Then their position with 

regard to the bands -wiU be made intelligible by a reference to Ps. 

xxxv. II, which in the Vulgate reads as follows: 'Praetende misericordiam 

tuam scientibus te, et justitiam tuam his qui recto sunt 

corde'; ' O stretch forth thy mercy over those that know thee 

{scientia), and thy justice over them that are of a right heart {consilium)i 

On the right side of the car are three ladies, clad in red, 

white, and green, respectively denoting the theological virtues of Love, 

Faith, and Hope; and on the left side four, the cardinal virtues of 

Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. These are clad in 

purple, and are led by Prudence, who has three eyes. Seven elders 

follow, who are robed, like the others, in white, but crowned with red 

flowers ('faith, which worketh by love,' Gal. v. 6), and represent the 

remainder of the New Testament, the Epistles of St. Paul reckoning as 

one book. 

When it is over against the spot where Dante and Statius are standing, 

the procession halts. Virgil has vanished, and Beatrice appears standing 

on the car, clad in the three mystic colours, red, white, and green. 

She calls Dante to account for his unfaithfulness to her, which, as I have 

elsewhere said, I take to have been both literal and metaphorical. At 

least, if with some commentators we are to reject the former notion, 

it seems hard to see the force of such lines as xxxi. 59. There is much 

evidence to support the belief that Dante—at all events in his earlier 

manhood—had yielded to temptations to which men of his strong nature 

and highly imaginative temperament are prone.^ After he has been 

brought to confession and contrition he is drawn by Matilda through 

the stream of Lethe, and led by the four Virtues—who, as pertaining to 

the active life, form a link between her and Beatrice—to the breast of 

the Grifon. At first he sees only the eyes of Beatrice, which are fixed 

on the Grifon, and reflect alternately the one and the other nature ; but 

at the prayer of the three Virtues she unveils her whole face. Dazzled 

1 Domine in caelo misericordia tua, et Veritas tua usque ad nubes. , 

In umbra alarum tuarum sperabo, donee transeat iniquitas. 

Magnificata est usque ad caelos misericordia tua, et usque ad nubes 

Veritas tua. 

(The references to Psalm and verse are according to the numbering of the 

Vulgate.) 

2 As to the equivalence of Veritas and justitia, see S. T. i. Q. 21. A. 2. 

It may be noted that St. Bernard, in his sixth sermon on the Canticles, 

expounding v. 15, interprets the crura (or, as he seems to quote it, pedes) 

of that passage in a precisely similar sense. 

3 I adhere to this -view with a full knowledge of what Scartazzini (Vita 

di Dante, Prolegomeni, etc.) and others have said on the subject.

428 APPENDIX B 

by its splendour, Dante at first sees nothing else, but presently he is aware 

that the whole procession has turned, and he, Statius, and Matilda take 

their places by the right wheel of the car, and accompany it. They 

pass through the wood until they reach a leafless tree. This is primarily 

the tree of knowledge, but denotes further the -virtue of obedience, of 

which that tree was the test, and as such serves to recall the obedience 

of Christ. To this the Grifon attaches the pole of the car (that is, the 

Cross), and it breaks out into leaves and flowers, which by their hue 

suggest the imperial purple. Henceforth the tree and car together 

become the symbol of the union of Empire and Church, which, it must 

be remembered, were in Dante's eyes merely two aspects of the same 

institution. At this point Dante loses consciousness, and awakes again 

to find the whole pageant departed. Beatrice remains, sitting on the 

ground under the tree, to indicate that the highest perfection of life is 

only attainable under the Empire ; a doctrine which is reasoned out in 

the first eight chapters of the De Monarchic. The seven Hghts are now 

in the hands of the seven Virtues. 

The second part of the vision now begins. An eagle descends 

through the tree, tearing the flowers and making the car totter.' This 

refers to the persecutions endured by the early Church at the hands of 

the first emperors. Next a fox, denoting the earUer heresies, and 

perhaps more particularly that of Arius, appears in the car, but is 

driven away by Beatrice. The eagle then descends again, leaving the 

car covered vrith its feathers, figuring the donations of Constantino. A 

dragon appears between the wheels of the car, and, fixing its tail 

into the floor of it, draws part away. This probably alludes to the 

Iconoclastic schism (728 A.D.), though many have seen in it an allusion 

to Mahommed. The two are not incompatible, for, as Mr. Bryce 

(Holy Roman Empire, chap, iv.) has shown, there was a belief in 

Dante's time that Mahommedanism was a result of the schism. The 

remainder of the car now puts forth more feathers, signifying the 

further gifts of territory made by Pippin and Charles ;i and then seven 

heads, three on the pole and one in each corner, the first ha-ving two 

horns, the others one. Many interpretations of these have been given, 

but I do not find that any one has suggested what appears_by far the 

simplest, namely, that they denote the seven electors, three of whom 

were mitred—the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier,! and Coin—and four 

temporal princes. It must be remembered that these were originally 

appointed (circa 1000 A.D.) by the Pope,^ and hence they are appro- 

1 Holy Roman Empire, chap.,iv.; Villani ii. 13 : ' Conferm6 alia Chiesa 

cio che Pipino suo padre le avea dotato, e oltre a ci6 dot6 la Chiesa del 

ducato di Spuleto e di Benivento.' 

2 Gregory V. (996), says Mr. Bryce ; but Villani (iv. 3) says : ' Morto

APPENDIX B 429 

priately made to spring from the Church. After this a harlot is seen in 

the car, together with a giant, who first fondles her, and then, on her 

turning her eyes to Dante,i beats her cruelly, and afterwards looses the 

car firom the tree, and draws it out of sight through the wood. In this 

there can be no doubt that we must see the relations of Philip IV. of 

France and Boniface VIII., and the removal of the Papal see to 

Avignon in 1305. 

We now come to the third stage of the allegory. Beatrice, attended 

by the seven ladies, Dante, Statius, and Matilda, moves on a short 

distance, and then proceeds to foretell what is about to happen. ' A 

five hundred and fifteen' is to slay the harlot and the giant. Over 

this obscure allusion commentators have puzzled greatly; some even 

having found in it a, prophecy of Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi. 

Nearly all have sought an explanation in the letters DXV, which are 

transposed to DVX, and taken to signify the coming of some great 

leader. A consideration of dates may make the matter simpler, if we 

observe further the connection between the mystic number and 'the 

eagle who left his feathers to the car.' ' In the autumn of 799,' says 

Mr. Bryce, ' Charles descended firom the Alps once more, while Leo 

revolved deeply the great scheme for whose accomplishment the time 

was now ripe'—that is, the re-vival of the Western Empire in Charles's 

person. Five hundred and fifteen years from this entry of the first 

Teutonic Caesar brings us to 1314, in which year Lewis of Bavaria 

was elected emperor. Under him, and several great partisan leaders, 

Matthew Visconti, Can Grande of Verona, Castruccio Castracane, 

Uguccione della Faggiuola, the cause of the jEmpire began again to 

make head against the Papacy. The same year also saw the deaths of 

Philip the Fair and Clement V., the first of the Avignon popes, after 

whose death the see remained vacant for two years. To this there is 

probably an allusion in the ' fu, e non e' of xxxiii. 35, and if my view 

be correct it may serve to fix the date at which the Purgatory was 

finished. The statement that Beatrice had not moved ten paces when 

she began her prophecy probably is an allusion to the interval of nine 

years firbnl 1305 to 1314. 

All this, Beatrice says, speaking to mankind in the person of Dante, 

Otto il terzo ... si parve a papa Sergio quarto (this cannot be correct, as 

Otto died 1002, and_ the accession of Sergius was 1009) . . . che d' allora 

innanzi lo 'mperio andasse per elezione del piii degno, . . e furono per 

dicreto ordinati sette elettori, etc' Observe that Dante (De Mon. iii. 15) 

speaks of the electors as ' nebula cupiditatis obtenebrati..' 

1 • Quod bonifatius voluit respicere ad gentem ytalicam, dimissa gaUica, 

quod nolebat amplius pati servitutem phylippi,' says Comm. Gg. i.e. 

Benvenuto.

43° APPENDIX B 

they might have perceived but for the hardness and dulness of their 

hearts. God's command, not to eat of the tree, is violated by those 

who, forgetting their due obedience, attempt to despoil the Empire of 

that which in the due order of things belongs to it. 

Such appears to be the general outUne of what Dante meant his 

readers to gather from this obscure allegory. Where a symbolical 

meaning may be found in every line, almost in every word, it is 

impossible to be sure that one has not overlooked some points ; but a 

reference to any of the older commentaries vrill enable the reader 

abundantly to supply all deficiencies.

GLOSSARY 

Abbagliare, xy. 28, xxxiii. 75, ' to dazzle.' It appears to be from 

a simple form bagliare for bargliare, containing the particle ber- which 

is also found in the forms be-, bar-, and bis- (Fr. biime, berhie, etc.) 

Various origins are given for this : Diez is inclined to suggest the Lat. 

bis, the idea of •' double' passing into that of ' confused,' and so 

' awry,' as in Sp. bisojo. . This, however, does not account for the rest 

of the word. It seems far more likely that it contains the same root 

as blear, which again is connected with blink, and Germ, blicken, all 

being from a root, BHARG, whence also bright (Skeat). Curtius also 

connects Gr. cfxiyoi, Lat. fulgeo. The word is thus probably a survival 

of some word in the spoken Latin, which has otherwise disappeared. 

Abbandonare, iii. 20, etc. ; v. sub bando. 

Accorgere, most often in the reflexive form accorgersi, i. 126, ii. 

67, V. 25, vi. 123, etc., 'to make to understand.' From Lat. adcorrigere, 

'to put in the right way towards,' henCe reflexively 'to 

understand,' 'perceive.' In vi. 123, where I have, with most of my 

predecessors, rendered '1' accorger nostro,' 'our observation,' it 

may perhaps be better to take it as 'our guidance,' See also 

scorgere. 

Adorezzare, i. 123 ; v. sub aura. 

Aduggiare, xx. 44, 'to overshadow.' From uggia, 'shade.' 

Diez suggests a Kymric hudd. But it is better to take it from the 

Teutonic root, which gives Icel. ugga, 'to fear,'adj. uggligr, Eng, 

ugly. The meaning of 'shadow' is probably derived, not original, 

as it always seems to mean an unwholesome shade. But cf adombrare, 

timbrage, etc. [fibbia, 'fear,' may well be from the same. Cf the 

forms debbo and deggio.'\ 

Affanno, iv. 95, xiv. 109, etc., 'toil, distress'; verb tr. affannare, 

ii. Ill, etc.; O. Fr. ahan, verb intr. ahaner; Sp. afan, afaiio, afanar. 

Ducange derives the Fr. word from a supposed interjection, hanl—tia.e

432 GLOSSARY 

sound of a forcible expiration, as of a man making a strong effort 

(compare the well-known ' sigh' of a paviour). This would suit the 

Fr. very well, but it is difficult to see how the h could have become/. 

Diez suggests a Kymric a/a», 'strife, unrest,' but this presents the 

same difficulty, as it would hardly have got into Italian except through 

French. There is, however, a Prov. afan, which may have been the 

link. 

Affollar, xxiv. 72, 'to press,' simple foxxa. foliar, Fr. fouler, Sp. 

hollar. 'LiB.t. fullare does notexist, but the root is found iafiillo.—Diez. 

(Mr. Skeat, however, thinks that the notion of bleaching, rather than 

that of pressing, is the original one.) It seems more probable that 

the word is here formed fxoxafollis, and means literally ' to pant,' as I 

have rendered it. 

Agio, xiv. 109, ' ease'; verb tr. diaagiare, xix. 140; adj. agevole, 

iii. 51, xii. 93; sub. agevolezza, xxxi. 28; verb tr. agevolare, ix. 57. 

Fr. aise. A word of most obscure origin. Most of the modem 

European families of language contain something like it. Gothic az^s, 

' easy, pleasant,' A. -S. eaSS- (prefix), eaSe, adj. 'easy'; also eaS, ' wealth'; 

Icel. aitS- (prefix), au'Sr; Gael, adhais, ' leisure, ease.' The absence 

of the word from Spanish would seem to be against its Gothic origin ; 

and its presence in Italian in an earlier form than the French, against 

its introduction from any Celtic language. May not the adj. agevole 

(from a Latin agibilis) be the parent-word, agio being formed from it 

by analogy ? In this case Eng. ease would be unconnected with Fr. 

aise, but might have been modified, according to a frequent practice, 

by its influence. 

Ammannare, xxiii. 107, xxix. 49, 'to bind in a sheaf,' hence 

'make ready.' From manna, Sp. mafia (to be distinguished from 

mafia, 'cunning'), 'a sheaf, bundle.' The Spanish word seems to be 

akin to manada, 'a handful,' and if so, must be from manus (cf 

manipulus), though the doubling of the n in Italian is unusual. 

Ammiccare, xxi. 109, 'to make a quick sign.' Lat. micare, 'to 

move quickly,' of the hands, ears, or (in Ennius, quoted by Servius to 

Aen. X. 396) of the eyes. (Diez seems to know micare only in its 

secondary meaning of 'to shine.') 

Arnese, xxix. 52, 'equipment.' Fr. harnois -ais, and Sp. ames, 

Eng. harness. Originally, 'anything made of iron.' Bret, haiamaez, 

Welsh haiam, froni the same root as iron, eisen, O. G. isarn. 

Arra, xxviii. 93, ' earnest, pledge.' Fr. arrhes, Sp. arras. From 

Lat. arrha, arrhabo; this through Gr. dppaîiv from the Hebrew. It 

is not clear whether Eng. earnest, M. E. ernes, Gael, cartas, are connected 

or not with the Rom. word.—Skeat.

GLOSSARY 433 

Astio, vi. 20, 'hatred, spite.' From Goth, haifsts, 'strife, 

division' (Diez); perhaps modified in meaning by Germ, hassen. 

Astore, viii. 104, ' a hawk.' Fr. autour, Sp. azor. From asturius, 

a supposed derivative of astur, 'a hawk,' so called from the district of 

Asturia in Spain.—^Littre. Diez prefers to take it from acceptorem, a, 

vulgar form of accipitrem. 

Attuiare, xxxiii. 48, ' to stop up,' fbr atturare. Sp. aturar. The 

root appears in Latin in the compound obturare. Blanc wishes to read 

in this passage ottuia, for which, in presence of the Spanish form, 

there seems no need. 

Aura, i. 17, xxiv. 146, etc., ' air, breeze'; from Lat. aura. Plence 

orezza, xxiv. 150; verb intr. adorezzare, i. 123, 'to be shady.' In 

i. 17 it seems to mean 'a hea-vy air,' contrasted with aer, this use being 

perhaps suggested by Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. 4 : aHpas KaXovp,ev rds 

i^ iypoO epofi.ivas eKTrvods. Adorezzare is directly from rezzo (Inf. 

xvii. 87, etc.) or the longer form oi'ezzo; this from auritium, which 

would mean originally 'a breezy place,' hence 'cool,' and hence 

' shady,' by a converse process to that which has formed Fr. abri, 

' sheltex,'fxova apricus, 'sunny'(cf. Icel. Ali, 'lee,' hlyja, 'to shelter,' 

hlyr, ' warm'; also calma, ' calm,' through Latin from Greek Kavp.a,. 

'heat'). 

Avacoiare, iv. 116, vi. 27, 'to hasten' (adv. avaccio, Inf x. 116, 

etc.) Diez derives from abactiare, a supposed frequentative of abigere, 

and if this be correct, avaccio must be a syncopated participle. An 

objection to it is that it is inconsistent with any known meaning of 

abigere. It must be said, too, that avaccio looks far more like a compound 

with a. May it not be from Germ, wachsen ? (Cf Fr. avachir, 

from weichen,''0. G. weichjan.) 

Avvampare, viii. 84, 'to burn.' From vampo='Lz.t. vapor (as 

sarto=sarior). Hence also Sp. hampa, 'brag,' hampon, 'pempous.' 

Badare, iv. 75, 'to gaze.' Fr. bayer, O. Fr. beer (whence participle 

beant). Originally 'to open the mouth,', hence 'to stand 

a-gape' {stare a bada, Inf xxxi. 139), and so 'to wait,' 'to watch.' 

Probably from ba, a sound expressive of opening the mouth, from 

which comes badigliare, Fr. bdiller, Fr. badin and ibahir, also (?) Sp. 

badajo, 'the clapper of a bell,' and met. 'a chatterer.' 

Balia, i. 66, 'authority.' Fr. baillie, Sp. baylia, Eng. bail, M. 

Eng. baylie (Wiclif, in St. Luke xvi. 2). From Lat. bajulus, ' a porter,' 

so 'the bearer of anything,' whence bailo, balire, Fr. bailler or -ir. 

Balzo, iv. 47, ix. 2, etc., 'a gallery.' I have adopted this spelling 

in the text, as it has the weight of authority, but ,balzo, ' a cliff,' does 

2 F

434 

GLOSSARY 

not in every place suit the .meaning, so that it must either be another 

form or a corruption of balco (which some MSS. have in ix. 2), from 

O. G. balcho, Icel. bdlkr, Eng. bcilk, 'a beam' or 'tunber' (cf bulkhead). 

Hence it comes to mean 'a platform,' 'balcony,' ox 'gallery.' 

Bando, xxi. 102, xxx. 13, 'a proclamation.' Fr. ban, Sp. bando, 

Eng. ban, banns, (Verbs, bandire, bannir, banish.) From low Lat. 

bandum, this {d being imported as in thunder) from O. G. bannan, ' to 

proclaim,' hence 'prohibit by edict,*" 'interdict.' From this the notion 

of banishing is easily derived. Abbandonare appears to come directly 

from the O. Fr., in which bandon had the meaning 'permission,' 

hence ' order,' M. E. baundoun. Thus mettre h bandon, or abandonner 

qqc. ct qqtm. ' to put it at his orders,' ' leave it to him.' 

Bastare, i. 93, etc. ' to suffice.' Sp. bastar. Only found in French 

in the interj. baste, adj. bastant, which are probably borrpwed direct 

from Italian. The original idea seems to be 'to support,' and the 

root appears in bastire, Fr. bdtir; bastone, Fr. bdton; Lat. basterna, 

'a litter,' whence basterna in xxx. 16; and basto (also Sp.) from bdt, 

'a pack-saddle.' From this last word is almost certainly derived 

bastardo (xiv. 99), Fr. bdtard, as if 'begotten on a pack-saddle,'for 

Vigfusson's attempt (s. v. bastarSr) to find a Scandinavian origin for it, 

though ingenious, is hardly satisfactory, since the word does not appear 

in Scandinavian writers, as he himself admits, until it is used of 

WiUiam the Conqueror. Moreover fille de bast actually occurs in O. 

Fr. It may be observed that Sp. basto means as an adj. 'coarse, 

rude,' as if the ' pack-saddle' suggested the manners of a camp. The 

root of these words is obscure, but cf Gr. âardêiv. 

Biacca, vii. 73i ' a white pigment, white lead.' From Germ, bleich, 

' pale,' Icel. bleikr, Eng. bleak, vb. bleach. 

Biada, ii. 124, xxxiii. 51, 'com.' Also biado. Fr. bli, O. Fr. 

blee. Probably from ablatum, plur. ablata, late Lat. for 'carried 

corn.'—Diez. (But Littre rather doubts, and it is an objection that 

both biada and bli mean 'standing corn.') The older derivation is 

from A. S. blaS, ' fruit,' or some kindred Germ, root; but it is a 

question whether this word is Teutonic, and it can hardly have got 

into Italian from A. S. direct. On the whole I do not feel sure that 

it does not contain some form of Germ, blatt, Icel. bldS, Eng. blade. 

Bigio, XX. 54, xxvi. 108, 'dark gray, dark.' Fr. bis and (dial.) 

bige. It seems originally to have denoted 'a yellowish gray,' and the 

most satisfactory ;derivation takes it from Lat. bysseus, from byssus, 

Gr. §6

GLOSSARY 435 

very uncertain. A. S. blonden-feax seems to mean ' with hair in which 

gray is blended with dark.' Diez suggests a, connection with Icel. 

blauSr, 'soft, weak,' which Mr. Skeat thinks absurd. It may, however, 

be observed that in O. Fr. the word seems to be applied to women 

almost exclusively, and that blauSr is used as a taunt to the beardless 

Njal in the saga; and, further, is actually used as =' female' of 

animals. In any case it has apparently got modified in meaning by 

bianco and blanc. 

Biscia, viii. 98, xiv. 38, 'a serpent.' O. Fr. bisse (usedin heraldry). 

Sp. bicho, ' a grub.' From a German root found in beissen, Eng. bite. 

Bisogna, xiii. 62, xxv. 6, xxxiii. 29, ' business.' Fr. besogne; and 

bisogno (perhaps in xxv. 6), 'necessity,' Fr. besoin. Simpler forms 

are O. It. sogna, Fr. soin, 'care.' Diez connects with Goth, sunja, 

' truth,' O. G. sunnis, Icel. sannr, ' true,' Eng. sooth, and sp with 

Icel. syn, 'the repelling of a charge,' whence comes the notion of 

'hindrance.' The prefix bi- or be- is, however, a difficulty. Diez 

sees objections to the 'pejorative' bis (v. sub abbagliare), which Littre 

(wfio has an affection for this particle) thinks of insufficient weight. 

'Why should not Germ, besonnen (from besinnen), or some older form 

of the same, answer all requirements? [N.B. Eng. business is almost 

certainly quite unconnected with the Rom. words.] 

Bordello, vi. 75, 'a brothel.' Fr. bordel, Sp. burdel. Originally 

' a hut,' from Goth, baurd, Eng. board. [The word appears, in spite 

of the similarity, to be unconnected with the English, which is connected 

with break (cf brittle), and meant 'a transgressor,' thus 

primarily denoting a person, not a place.—Skeat. It is curious, however, 

that in the passage referred to, Dante seems to use the word very 

' much in this sense, contrasting bordello with donna.} 

Bordone (i), xxviii. 18, 'a ground-bass.' Fr. bourdon, Sp. bordon, 

Eng. burden. Almost certainly formed from the sound; though Diez 

is inclined to derive it from the next word, taking it to mean originally 

'an organ pipe,' which resembles a staff. 

Bordone (2), xxxiii."78, 'a pilgrim's staff.' Fr. and M. E. bourdon, 

Sp. bordon. Diez derives it from low Lat. burdo, 'a mule,' comparing 

Sp. muleta, which means both ' a mule,' and ' a crutch.' Skeat 

suggests bordone (l); the staff being supposed to contain a pitch-pipe. 

But O. Fr. bohort, behourde, 'a jousting lance,' connected probably 

with Welsh hwrdd, 'a ram' (and hence, 'a push'), and so vrith Fr. 

heurter, Ital. urtare, Eng. hurt, seems to offer a better derivation. In 

this case the word would have come into Italian from French, which 

would be natural, as pilgrims would more probably pass from France 

into Italy than the other way.

436 GLOSSARY 

Bramar, XV. 78, xxiii. 35, ' desire, longing.' Verb bramare, viii. 

75, etc., adj. bramoso, xxiv. 108. Fr. bramer, 'to bellow,' so Sp. 

bramar. This seems to be the original meaning, from O. G. breman, 

corresponding with Gr. ^ptfueiv.—Diez. For the change of signification 

cf latrare in Lucr. ii. 17, and Hor. 2 Sat. ii. 18. 

Briga, vii. 55, 'hindrance,' xvi. 117, 'strife'; brigare, xx. 125, 

'to strive'; brigata, xiv. 106, 'a troop.' Fr. brigue, brigiier ('to 

intrigue'), brigade, Sp. bregar. From Goth, brikan, 'to break,' 

' whence the idea of strife or contention easily comes. Cf. Icel. brfotask, 

'to struggle, fight,' refl. of brjdta, 'to break.' Brigata was originally 

'a troop of soldiers,' brigante, 'a soldier,' brigantino, 'a ship of war.' 

The Fr. word no doubt comes from the Italian, the native Fr. form 

being broyer, Pr. bregar. 

Brina, xxi. 47, ' hoar-frost.' Probably from Lat. pruina: but a 

Venetian form borina suggests that it may be from vapor.—Diez. 

The Fr. bruine, 'a cold fog, drizzle,' however, seems conclusive for 

the first. 

Brolo, xxix. 147, 'a thicket.' Fr. breuil, Eng. Broyle (a local 

name near Chichester). From low Lat. brogilus, this perhaps from 

Celt, brog, ' a sweUing up.' Diez, however, considers that the sufSx -il 

implies a Gei'man origin, and takes.it from M. Germ, brogen, 'to rise 

up.' Ital. broglio, Fr. brouiller, are perhaps from the same root. 

Brullo, xiv. 91, 'stripped,' 'flayed.' Muratori gives a form sbrollo, 

which he derives from experulus, for experulatus, 'stripped of his 

wallet' {perula). Diez approves of this, but is not the quantity of 

periila a difficulty? Comparing Inf xxxiv. 60, and remembering the 

connexion between 'scorch' and 'cortex,' it would seem best to refer 

it to O. Fr. bruller. Mod. briiler, fxora perustulare. 

Buca, xviii. 114, xxi. 9, 'a hole.' (Also bueo.) Sp. btiqtie, 'the 

hull of a ship.' Connected with Germ, bauch, 'the belly,' Icel. biikr 

'the trunk.' (Cf Gr. KOJXOS, KoiXia.) 

Buccia, xxiii. 25, 'hide, skin.' Probably from the same root as 

buca. (Cf M. E. 'hole,' 'the hull, or husk of a nut,' and 'hole'= 

'hollow.') 

Bugiare, xviii. 109, 'to he'; bugiardo, xix. 108, 'false.' From 

bugia, 'a lie.' Diez mentions an O. Fr. boisie, 'deceit.' Of very uncertain 

origin, perhaps connected with Germ, posse, 'a joke,'possen 

' a trick.' 

Buio, xvi. I, xxxiii. 46, 'dark.' O. Fr. buire, 'dark-brown.' 

From a late Lat. burius, from burrus, Gr. irvppbs. Hence Fr. bure 

' coarse cloth,' and Sp. buriel, which means both the stuff and the 

colour. Cf bigib.

GLOSSARY 437 

Calere, viii. 12, xxx:. 135, xxxii. 5, 'to be of importance.' Fr. 

(obsolete) chaloir, Sp. (obsolete) caler. From Lat. calere, 'to grow 

warm.' Usually impersonal; but in xxxii. 5 it seems to mean 'to 

heed'; and cf Fr. nonchalant. 

Cammino, ii. 11, etc., 'a road.' Fr. chemin, Sp. camino. From 

low Lat. caminus, this almost certainly from Kymric caman. 

Cansare, xv. 144, 'retire,' 'withdraw.' From Lat. campsare, 

found in Ennius. This probably from Gr. Kdpiirreiv, 'to bend.' 

Canto, iii. 89, etc., 'a corner.' Eng. cant, sub. 'an edge,'and 

cant, verb, 'to tilt on the edge.' Cf. cantle, Henry IV. Part I, Act 

iii. Sc. 1. From Germ, kante. Diez and Littre take Fr. canton 

from this, which Mr. Skeat thinks doubtful. The root seems to be the 

same as in Gr. yavia, 

Caribo, xxxi. 132, 'a dance-tune'—Bianchi; 'a country-dance' 

—Baretti. Probably connected with Eng. carol, O, Fr. carole, from a 

Celtic root, found in carol, verb caroli, 'to dance'—Skeat; all connected 

with Skt. char, ' to move,' aud Lat. curro. 

Cenno, i. 50, xxi. 15, etc., 'a quick gesture, sign'; vb. accennare, 

xxxiii. 14. Sp. ir«w, 'a fro-wn, scowl.' C«««aj-in late Latin seems to 

have had the meaning of 'a nod,' and also of 'the eyelash.' V. 

Forcell. s. v. It is probably akin to cilium, and cf cincinnus, 'a 

lock of hair.' These are all connected by the idea of quick movement, 

and seem to contain the same root as Gr. mvia, Lat. 

cieo. 

Cerchio, i. 78, etc., and cerchia, xxii. 33, 'a circlei From Lat. 

circulus. Blanc makes a distinction between the use of the two forms, 

the masculine being, accprding to him, ' a circle' generally, while the 

feminine is usually (as Inf xviii. 3) 'a circular enclosure.' In the 

passage referred to above, however, this distinction does not seem. to 

be maintained. From cerchio comes verb cerchiare; while cercare, Fr. 

chercher, Eng. search, is from low Lat. circare. 

.Cerro, xxxi. 71, 'an oak.' From Lat. cerrus (described by Pliny, 

Hist. Nat. xvi. 8, apparently a kind of holm-oak). 

Compilare, xxi. 27, 'to heap up.' Fr. compiler, Sp. complar, 

Eng. compile. From Lat. compilare, 'to plunder,' 'pillage.' The 

original idea is thus 'to collect stolen goods.' 'Compilatus, exstructus.'—Du 

Cange. (It is curious that ForcelUnus mentions a 

supposed derivation of Lat. pilare from Gr. rriXovv, ' quia fures stipant 

.ea, quae furantur,' showing that the two ideas are easily connected.) 

[The form compigliare is also found in the sense of ' to embrace'; v. 

sub pigliare.] 

Conocchia, xxi. 26, 'a skein,' properly 'a distaff.' Fr. quenouille

438 

GLOSSARY 

(which also has both meanings), Germ, kunkel. From Lat. conucula, 

for colucula, from colus. 

Conto, ii. 56, xiii. 105, xv. 12,' 'known'; sub. contezza, xx. 29, 

xxiv. 36. O. Fr. cointe, whence accointer, Eng. acquaint, M. Eng. 

queynte ( = cunning). From Lat. cognitus. The word has clearly been 

confused with conto, ox as it is spelt in Conv. iv. 25, comto, from 

comptus, from which there is also an O. Fr. cointe, and, as I venture 

to think, M. E. queynte, in the sense of ' elegant,' hence ' curious,' 

mod. quaint, which usually has a notion of prettiness. In Inf. iii. 76 

it is apparently opposed to foco, 'faint,' 'dim.' This may explain the 

use of conto in-ii. 56, where clearly some other than the usual meaning 

is wanted; though on the whole I prefer the explanation which I have 

given in the note. 

Crucciato, xxii. 39, 'to anger,' contracted from corrucciare. Fr. 

courroucer. From corruccio, Fr. courroux. According to Diez this 

is for colleruccio, from Lat. cholera, 'gall,' this from Gr. jcoX^. (It is 

to be noticed that cholera does not appear to have been used, like bills, 

metaphorically.) Littre, however, prefers to take it from a supposed 

corruptium, from corruptus; and considering that the / does not 

appear in any of the cognate languages, that there is an O. Fr. 

corroz, and that corrotto is used in Italian {e.g. Villani vi. 45) in 

the sense of 'vexation,' he is most likely right. The form orucciare 

has probably been influenced by cruciare, from crux; cf 

Eng. cross. 

Cruna, x. 16, xxi. 37, 'the eye of a needle.' From Lat. corona. 

(Diez. But?) 

Cucire, xiii. 71,- 'to sew'; ricucire, xxv. 139. Fr. coudre, Sp. 

coser and cusir. From low Lat. cusire, a corruption of consuere. Sb. 

costura, xiii. 83, from consutura. 

Dileguarsi, xiv. 134, xvii. 73, 'to melt away.' From Lat. deliquare. 

Fr. delayer, with which Diez connects it, probably comes, 

through rf^/az, fxoxa,dilatum, part, of differre. 

Disgroppare, ix. 126, 'to loosen a knot.' Fxoxxi groppo (Inf xi. 

96, etc.), 'a knot.' Fr. groupe, Sp. grupo, Eng. group. From Germ. 

kropf, Icel. kroppr ('a hump'), Eng. crop. The root is, however, 

also found in Celtic. From the same are groppa, Fr. croupe and 

croupir, Sp. grupa. (Eng. crouch, is, according to Mr. Skeat, rather 

a form of crook.) 

Divisare, xxix. 82, -' to devise, describe.' O. Fr. deviser, from 

sb. devis, Eng. device, Sp. divisa. From low Lat. divisare, this from 

dividere, the sequence of meaning being ' to di-ride, to distinguish, to

GLOSSARY 439 

explain,' whence come further the modern Fr. sense of 'to converse,' 

and Eng. 'to contrive.' 

Doga, xii. 105, 'a barrel-stave.' Fr. douve, Germ, daube. From 

late Lat. doga, 'a vessel,' used of the measurement of ships, cups, etc. 

(Hence perhaps dogger.) This from Gr. Soxji, which seems to have 

been used for 'a reservoir.' Diez traces the meaning of 'a barrelstave 

' from the banks enclosing a reservoir. It is to be observed, 

however, that Icel. ydfa signifies 'a mound,' and that according.to 

Vigfusson (s. V.) Germ, daube has locally the same meaning. Now 

"^lifa cannot have come from daube, but is cognate vrith it, so that the 

' mound' may be the original sense of the German, which may have 

passed into that of ' stave,' through the stages suggested by Diez, in 

which case the Italian and French would be derived from it. For the 

V cognate with g cf tregua. 

Drudo, xxxii. 155, 'a paramour.' O. Fr. dru (distinct from dru, 

adj.) Originally, in good sense, merely 'a friend.' Low Lat. drudus, 

from O. Germ. trAt, mod. traut, Icel. tnir, Eng. true, trusty. 

Fango, xvi. 129, xix. 104, 'mire.' Fr. fange, Sp. fango ('the 

ooze at the bottom of the sea'). From Goth, fani, gen. fanjis, 'mud,' 

Eng._/««.—Diez, Gr. Rom. i. 297. From fj&t. famex, ace. fa7nicem.— 

Littre. It is hard to say which of these two is more likely to be 

correct. Famicem would suit the French, but hardly the Italian— 

though we have in Dante sorco, from soricem. It is also possible that 

fangoso, fxoxa. famicosus (which appears to have existed in low Latin), 

may be the original. Famex, however, seems only to have meant 

'an ulcer,' so that on the whole the Germanic origin would seem the 

more probable. 

Farfalla, x. 125, 'a butterfly.' From O. G. fif altra, Icel. fifrildi. 

Latin papilio seems further off, though Diez takes it to be the more 

iinmediate origin of the word, through the form parpaglione; but all 

these words are clearly connected, and also (?) Gr. Tro/upbXv^, ' = 

bubble.' 

Fello, vi. 94, 'fierce.' O. Fr. fei, Eng. fell. From low Latin 

felo, the form fellone being from felonem (cf ladro and ladrone from 

latro and latronem). O. G. fillan, ' to scourge,' may be connected. 

Mr. Skeat, however, doubts the connexion of fell and felon, and is 

inclined to think the latter is Celtic, e.g. Welshj^/, ' wily.' 

Fiaccarsi, -rii. 75, ' to be split.' The meaning, both here and in Inf 

-rii. 14, and xii. 15, seems to suggest a connexion rather -with Fng. flake, 

Icel. flakna, than the derivation which Diez gives, from Lat. fiaccus, 

flaccidus. In Inf. vi. 54, however, the latter seems to suit better.

440 

GLOSSARY 

The two can - hardly be akin; though the resemblance of Eng. flag, ' a 

slice,' or 'flake of stone,' sxAflag, 'to droop,' is at least curious. 

Fianco, iv. 74, etc., '%\6.e,flanki Fr. flanc. From 'Lat. flaccus, 

' soft,' as being the soft part between the hip and the ribs. Cf Germ. 

weiche in the same sense. 

Fiata, ix. 111, etc., 'a time,'xxvi. loi, etc., 'a period of time.' 

Fr. fois, Sp. vez. Probably^ from a low Lat. vicata, this from vicem, 

the Fr. and Sp. being from vices. The O. Fr. fox^xa file axAfoiie, and 

Prov. vegada, agree better with this than with the derivation from via, 

which Diez prefers; and a further argument against his -riew is that 

' the fi- in. fiata is usually a separate syllable, while the vi- in via is not 

(ix. Ill is one of the few exceptions). 

Ficcare, xiii. 43, etc. 'to fix,' usually of the eyes. Yx. ficher, Sp. 

hincar. From a Lat. figicare, a (supposed) frequentative of figere, as 

vellicare of vellere. The sense of ' piercing' is, however, usually 

involved. 

Foga, V. 18, xii. 103, xxxi. 18, 'force, speed,'and hence 'steepness.' 

(Cf Gr. alfa, alTxis.) Fr. fougue, Sp. fuga. Vb. sfogarsi, 

xxiv. 72. Probably from Lat. fuga, ' flight,' but focus is also suggested, 

in which case it would be another form of fuoco. Fougue does 

not appear in French till the sixteenth century, and in Spanish the 

secondary meaning—for the word also means ' flight'—may have been 

borrowed from the French. Littre gives also fougon, a, southern word 

for 'a ship's kitchen,' so that the word, if fxoxa focus, may have come 

through the Proven9al. 

Foresta, xxviii. 2, etc., 'a foresti Fr. foret, Sp. fioresta. Germ. 

Forst. From low Lat. foresta; this from foris, ' outside,' i.e. ' unenclosed.' 

Cf. forestiere, 'a foreigner,' with which compare selvaggio, 

savage, from silva. 

Fomire, xii. 132, xxii. 6, ' to furnish, complete.' Fr. fournir, 

Sp. fornir. From O. G. frumjan, Icel. fremja. That this is the true 

derivation is shown by the,Prov. forms, formir, fromir. Connected 

•viith former, further, sub. and verb (in the latter of which the same 

notion appears). Germ, fbrdern, Lat. primus, etc. 

Frasca, xxiv. 118, xxxii. 50, 'a branch.' Fr. frasque (in a different 

sense), Sp. frasca. Diez suggests that it is for virasca, from 

virere; cf. fiata from vicata. Pxovengal frascar means ' to break' (Fr. 

fracasser), which suggests that it may be a ' broken branch' (cf Gr. 

KXT]p.a), only that in Dante (except perhaps Inf xiii. 114) it seems to 

mean always ' a branch on the tree.' May it not be from fraxinus, 

originally ' an ash-branch' ? [Cf. Fr. buisson, from buis, buxus, ' box.'] 

Fregiare, i. 38, 'to adorn,' and sfregiarsi, viii. 128, 'to lose

GLOSSARY 441 

adoriiment.' Diez is inclined to connect it with Fr. friser, Eng. frizzle, 

etc., in the sense of ' to "curl' (whence also frieze in architecture), and 

to derive it from some supposed German form. We have, however, in 

Icel. fridr, 'han&soxae,' vexh frida, 'to adorn.' May there not have 

been a Goth, fridjan correspondilig to this ? '[Eng. fringe is quite unconnected, 

being through Fr. from Lat. fimbria; I have therefore 

altered my rendering of i. 38, as likely to be misleading.] 

Fretta, iii. 10, etc., 'haste,' vb. affrettarsi, x. 87. From vb. 

frettare, originally 'to rub,'from Lat. frictare, fxec^xexitatiêoffricare; 

Fr. frotter. 

Frugare, iii. 3, etc., 'to urge.' Sp. hurgar. From Lat. furca, 

literally 'to push as-with a fork.' (It also means 'to grope about,' 

e.g. Bocc. Decam. Day x. Nov. 6.) 

Fuia, xxxiii. 44. There is some doubt as to the meaning of this 

word. It is, according to Diez, used only by Dante; and occurs in only 

two other passages. Inf. xii. 90, and Par. ix. 75. The derivation froni 

Lat. fur is the only one which seems satisfactory. The idea of ' desertion' 

(in Inf xii. 90, and Purg. xxxiii. 44), or of 'concealment' (in 

Par. ix. 75), seems to be the fundamental one, and both these can be 

got from that of 'stealing.' Compare our use of 'to steal away,' and 

'stealth,' and Gr. XavBdva, Xricrrris, XdBpa. 

G-aloppo, xxiv, 94, 'a gallopi Fr. galop, Sp. galope. Verb 

galoppare; according to Diez and Littre from O. G. gahlaufan (mod. 

laufen, vrith intensitive particle prefixed). But the existence of a 

Flemish and M. E. walop makes this very doubtful. It seems better 

to take this as the original form of the word {w passing regularly into 

g), and connect it with Germ, wallen, 'to boil, bu-bble,' Eng. well, 

wallop (in ' pot-walloper'); further vrith walk, wallow, walzen, Icel. 

vdlka, Lat. volvere (cf Virgil's ' sinuetque alterna volumina crurum'); 

the common idea being that of ' rolling' or ' turning.' 

G-amba, i. 5I) ^'"^-J 'a leg.' Fr. jambe, Sp. gamba. From late 

Lat. gamia, 'the pastern,' Gr. Ka/a-fi, 'a bending, joint.' The same 

root -with a similar meaning occurs in Eng. ham. 

Gemere, xxv. 44, 'to trickle, drip.' The word (which also occurs 

in this sense Inf xiii. 41) is probably from Lat. gemere, which is 

found with this meaning (transitively) Vulg. El. i. 4. Its original 

signification, however, according to Curtius, is ' to be fiiU,' Gr. yiiia, 

whence the idea of overflowing easily follows. 

Ghirlanda, xxvii. 102, ' a garlandi Fr. guirlande, Sp. guimalda. 

Perhaps from M. G. wierelen, this from wieren, 'to plait round,' 

'adoxn,'wiere, 'inlaid work.'—Diez. {?'Eng. wire.]

442 GLOSSARY 

Giostra, xxii. 42, ' a joust,' and verb giostra):e, xx. 74. Fr. joute, 

jouter, Sp. justa, justar. From Lat. juxta ' near,' the original meaning 

being merely 'to meet.' This is retained in the dialect of Berry, 

'fthexe joAter xaeans 'to border upon.' 

Gota, xiii. 84, xxxi. 40, etc., 'the cheek,' hence 'mouth.' Fr. 

joue. According to Diez from Lat. gabdta, 'a dish,' which again may 

be connected with Gr. yavXbs, ' a pail.' The idea seems to be of 

something round and hollow. With the use of the word for guancia 

compare that of piota for pianta. There seems to have been a tendency 

to adopt words of somewhat similar but harder sound for the 

more common words, thus otta for ora, gtia/are for guardare, etc. 

Gramo, xxii. 42, 'wretched.' From Qexxa.gram (sb.), Icel. gramr. 

The root is the same as in.grimm, grimr, Eng. grim. 

Gridare, ii. 28, etc., 'to cry,' and sb. grido, xi. 95, etc. Fr. 

crier, Sp. gritar. From Lat. quiriiare, said to be a frequentative of 

queri, but the quantity of the second i is against this. The old view 

was that it meant 'to call on the Quirites-for aid' (cf the Jersey 

' Haro'). It is more likely that it was formed from the sound of some 

animal's cry, and was afterwards generalised. [Eng. cry, 'to weep,' 

though doubtless modified by this, would seem to be originally distinct 

from it, and to belong to Icel. grdta, A. S. grcetan, Scotch .ê«^.] 

Grotta, i. 48, iii. 90, xxii. 65, etc., 'a cavern,'hence a 'rock.' 

Fr. grotte, Sp. gruta. From Lat. crypta, low Lat. grupta (which was 

probably the older form; cf Burrus for Pyrrhus), this from Gr. 

KpiTrr-q. In the Venetian Alps the word frequently occurs in the form 

croda. 

Guadagno, xxiv. 129, 'gain,' verb gruadagnare, xx. 77. Fr. 

gagner. From O. G. weidanjan=weiden6n, 'to pasture' (modem 

weiden). That this is the true derivation is made clear by the O. Fr. 

form gaaigner, and mod. gagnage; also by Sp. guadafia, 'a sithe.' 

Eng. gain is from a totally different root, being identical -with Icel. 

gagn, but has probably been modified by Fr. gain; Sp. ganar, if it be 

not distinct from both, is most likely connected -with the Scand. root, 

which also appears in Gothic. 

Guizzare, xvii. 42, xxv. 26, ' to move quickly to and fro.' From 

Germ. (dial.) witsen, Eng. twitch. 

Impaceiaxe, xi. 75, xxi. 5, 'to hamper, hinder.' Sp. empachar. 

From impactiare, a supposed frequentative of impingere (cf avacciare). 

—Diez. The original meaning ofpango, 'to fix,' Gr. TT^vpu., suits 

this fairly well;~ but the compound impingere seems only to mean 

'to strike against.' The word may, however, have got modified in

GLOSSARY 443 

sense by Fr. emptcher, which is from impedicare (Eng. impeach). [It 

is curious that no one seems to have suggested. Germ, einpacken, 

which, in two of the three passages where the word occurs in D. C. 

(Inf. xxii. 151, and Purg. xxi. 5), would suit the sense very well.] 

Indarno, iii. 48, etc., ' in vain.' From Slavonic darmo,' at a gift,' 

and so 'fruitlessly,' cf Germ, 'vergebens.' The word is curious as 

being the only one which has come into Italian from Slavonic. 

Ingaanare, xiii. 122, etc., 'to deceive.' O. Fr. enganer, Sp. 

engafiar. From low Lat. gannare, 'to mock,' sub. gannum. Probably 

from O. G. gaman, Eng. game. Cf. Eng. gammon, which has 

both meanings, and though now a slang word, is, according to Mr. 

Skeat, merely the M. E. gamen. 

Ingombrare, iii. 30, xxxi. 142, 'to encumber,' and sgombraxe, 

xxiii. 133, 'to discharge.' Fr. encombrer, dicombrer, Sp. escombrar, 

'to clear.' [Encumbrar, 'to raise xcp,' descumbrar (in part, descumbrado), 

'to level,' are from cumbre=Lat. culmen.'\ From low Lat. 

cumbrus, modified from cumulus. Fr. combler is directly from cumulare. 

Intoppo, xxiv. 96, xxxiii. 42, 'a collision,' hence 'assault.' From 

toppo, 'a block,' Sp. tope, connected with Germ, zopf, Icel. toppr, 

Eng. tuft and top (in both meanings), also Fr. toupet and toupie. The 

Sp. word well illustrates the connexion between the various senses of 

these different forms. It denotes ' a cro,ss-piece on a pointed instrument,' 

'an obstacle,' 'a quarrel,' 'the truck on a masthead,' 'the top 

of anything,' while topar is ' to run against,' topetar, ' to butt.' 

Lacca, viii. 71. See Gloss. Inf 

Lai, ix. 13, 'songs.' Fr. lai, Eng. lay. It seems to be a Celtic 

word, Welsh llais, Gael, laoidh. At all events it appears as a Breton 

term in early French literature, from which Dante possibly borrowed 

it. Otherwise one would be inclined to connect it more directly with 

Germ. lied. 

Laido, xxxii. 121, ' ugly.' Fr. laid. From O. G. leid (the modern 

word has undergone a slight change in meaning). Icel. leidr, A. S. 

IdS, Eng. loath-some. 

Lama, vii. 90, 'a hollow.' Lat. lama, 'a pool',(Hor. i Ep. xiii. 

10). From same root as lacus. Paulus Diaconus, Hist. Lang. i. 10, 

curiously makes it a Lombard word : piscina, quae eorum lingua lama 

dicitur. In S. Tyrol the word means ' swampy ground.' Schneller. 

Landa, xx-rii. 98, ' a plain.' Fr. lande, Sp. landa, M. E. laund, 

Inodern lawn. It is a question whether the word comes immediately 

from Germ, land, or Celt, lann, Welsh llan, 'an inclosure.' The two.

444 

GLOSSARY 

however, are probably cognate. It may be noted that in xiii. 79) Gg. 

reads landa for baitda, and glosses 'i.e. planicie extrema'; vrith which 

compare the use of ' lands' for the overlapping edges of the strakes in 

- a ' clinker-built' boat. 

Lasciare, i. 3, iv.;il28, etc., 'to leave, allow.' Fr. laisser (probably 

modified by Germ, lassen, as we have also Idcher), Sp. laxar. 

From Lat. laxare. 

Lega, XV. 121, 'a leaguei Fr. lieue, Sp. legua. From low Lat. 

leuca, a. Gaulish word. 

Lisciare, viii. 102, 'to smooth.' From Uscio, Fr. lisse, Sp. liso 

('plain,' 'even'), this from O. G. Usi, modern leise, the root being 

the same as in Gr. Xiaabs, Xeios. 

Lista, i. 36, iv. 42, xxix. 77, 'a band.' Fr. liste, and (derivative) 

lisiire, Sp. lista. From O. G. lista, modern leiste, Eng. list. 

Lusinga, i. 92, 'flattery, deceit.' O. Fr. losenge, Sp. lisonja. 

From a low Lat. laudemia (like vindemia), as appears from the Prov. 

lauzenga, from which' the Italian word probably comes. This is the 

derivation given by Diez; but Goth, laus, 'empty, vain,' akin to 

Icelandic, lausung, 'lying,' Eng. leasing, seems to offer one even more 

satisfactory. In any case the i in the Spanish word is abnormal; it 

may be an instance of the converse change to that which has made 

domandare from dimandare in Italian. 

Magagna, vi. no, xv. 46, 'a blemish.' A word of very obscure 

origin. There is an O. Fr. mihaing, low Lat. mahamium, from 

which Eng. maimî{a\so spelt mahini) appears to come.—Skeat. In 

Breton we find machaii in the same sense ; but Diez is inclined to take 

the Lat. word from a supposed O. G. man-hamjan (Icel. hamla, Eng. 

hamper, cf. Germ, hammel). He mentions, however, that iu the 

dialect of Como the simple form maga is found, which suggests that 

the word may be from the root MAK, 'to pound, bruise,' found in 

macto, mucula, (?) malleus, etc. Cf. Sp. majar and magullar^ ' to 

bruise.'; Eng. mangle. 

Malvagio, xiv. in, xix. 144, 'bad.' Fr. mauvais. From Goth. 

balvavesis, 'wiqked,' modified by confusion with Lat. malus. The 

adj. is not found, but is assumed from the sub. balvavesei, 'wickedness, 

malice.' The first part of this word implies a sub. balvs, Icel. 

bbl, Eng. bale, as in baleful; the termination is cognate with German 

wesen. 

Masnada, ii. 130, 'a troop.' Sp. mesnada. From low Lat. 

mansionata, 'a household.' fience also 7x. manage. 

Mentre, ii. 26, etc., 'while.' Sp. mientras. From Lat. dum

GLOSSARY 445 

interim. Of several suggested derivations this is the only one which 

fits at once the form and the meaning of the word. [The Spanish form 

looks as if there had been an idea that trans (in its later sense of 

'between,' Italian tra) entered into the composition of the word.] 

Merlo (l), XX. 6, 'battlement.' Fr. merlon (the space between two 

embrasures in a battery), Sp. merlon. From Lat. moerulus, diminutive 

of moerus=murus. Littre suggests a derivation from the next 

word, which does not seem applicable. 

Merlo (2), xiii. 123, 'a blackbird.' Fr. merle, Sp. merla. From 

Lat. merulus; in classical Latin merula. 

Modemo, xvi. 42, xxvi. 113, 'modem.' Fr. moderne, Sp. moderno. 

From late Lat. modemus, this from modo, ' now.' 

Montone, viii. 134, 'a sheep, ram.' Fr. mouton. From low Lat. 

multo, originally 'a wether,' from mutilus (cf Germ, hammel). 

Littr^ prefers to take it from the Celtic, e.g. Gael, mult, Bret, maoud. 

But are not these rather from the Latin? The objection to the derivation 

first given, that montone is used for 'a ram,' does not seem 

serious when we see that Germ. wzWsr (Eng. wether)=' a ram,'and 

ocks (Eng. ox) =' a bull.' 

Motto, ii. 25, etc., ' a word.' Fr. mot, Sp. mote. From low Lat. 

(probably colloquial) muttum. Muttire (Eng. mutter) is found in 

Terence and Persius. 

Mozzo, xvi. 15, 'cut off.' Fr. mousse, 'blunted,' Sp. m.ocho. 

From Germ, mutzen; connected with Lat. mutilus, from which the 

Spanish probably comes directly. 

Muso, iii. 81, xiv. 48, ' a muzzle,' and verb ammusarsi, xxvi. 35. 

Fr. museau. Diez is inclined, on account of the Prov. mursel, to 

derive it from Lat. morsus, the r disappearing as in giuso, from 

deorsum; but it seems simpler to take it from Goth, munths, A. S. 

mu!S, Eng. mouth. 

Noiare, i.x. 87, ' to hurt,' from noia. Fr. ennui, Sp. enojo, Eng. 

sb. and vb. annoy. From Lat. in odio {esse, habere, etc.) Dante's 

use of the verb suggests a confusion with nocere. 

Ordire, xxxiii. 140, 'to set up the warp in the loom,' hence 

'arrange.' Fr. ourdir, Sp. iirdir. From low Lat. ordire=ordiri, 

'to begin.' 

Orlo, iv. 34, xi. 128, xxvi. I, 'an edge, rim.' Fr. orie, verb 

ourler {' to hem'), Sp. orla, orilla. From a Lat. orula, diminutive of 

ora. 

Orma, V. 2, ix. 60, xvii. 21, 'a track.' From Gr. Saptli, 'smell,'

446 GLOSSARY 

hence ' scent.' Diez, who identifies it with Sp. husmo, verb husmear. 

(For the change of s into r, cf ciurma, from KiXev(Xji,a.) 

Orza, xxxii. 117,,'the larboard sheet' (or rather, perhaps, 'brace'). 

Fr. orse, Sp. orza (in the phrase orza de avante=i' starboard your 

helm'). Probably from Germ, (dial.) lurz, 'left,'and so for lorza; 

the /, by a common confusion, having been taken for the article, and 

therefore dropped. 

Pargoletta, xxxi. 59, 'a girl,' verb pargoleggiare, 'to play.' 

From Lat. parvulus. For the interchangeableness of g and v we may 

compare Pagolo from Paulus with cavolo from caulis. 

Ficchiare, x. 120, 'to squeeze together.' Fr. piruer, O. Fr. 

pinchier, Eng. pnch. So I think we must take the word here, as the 

ordinary sense of ' to knock' is quite out of place. Diez - connects 

pincer vrith a Germ, pfetzen. (But v. sub pigliare.) 

Picciolo, iii. 9, etc., 'small,' also pccolo. Sp. pequefio. Diez 

takes it from^z'c in the sense of 'a point,' hence 'a dot,' and considers 

that Fr. petit is from a different root, though one of a similar meaning. 

But as we have in Fr. petiot, beside (dial.) p'chot, p'quiot, petignd, 

there seems no reason for seeking a separate origin for the southern 

and northern forms. 

Pigliare, ix. 56, etc., 'to take,'and compare appigliarsi, vii. 15, 

etc., 'to take hold,' also impigliare, v. 83, 'to entangle,' and impigliarsi, 

v. 10, etc., ' to be busy.' Fr. (late) piller, Sp. pillar. From 

pillare, a late form of pilare (v. sub compilare ; Comm. Cass, in note 

to xxiv. 55) writes : ' meas rimas compillare'). Hence sub. piglio, i. 

49, etc., 'a grasp,' also (in iii. 64) 'mien, look.' (Cf. countenaûe, 

from continere.) I have followed Diez, but his derivation hardly seems 

fully to explain all the senses of this curious word. Looking to the 

resemblance in meaning as well as in form of appigliaxe to apply, 

and impigliare to im.plicare and employ, and also to compigliare, 

' to embrace,' it is hard to avoid the behef that if not from the same root 

as Lat. plicare it has at least undergone some modification through a 

confusion vrith it. Picchiare being already in existence from another 

root, pliculare might easily become pigliare. We might even go so 

far as to take picchiarsi in x. 120, from the same. Cf the forms 

'veglio' and 'vecchio.' V. sub picchiare. 

Piluccare, xxiv. 39, 'to pick' (lit. used of grapes, etc.), Fr. 

iplucher. From Lat. pilus, 'a hair,' hence properly 'to pull out 

hairs.' From the same are Fr. peluche and perruque, Sp. peluca. 

Germ, pfiiicken, Eng. pluck, are according to this view derived from 

the Rom. word. If it were the other way, we should have had

GLOSSARY 447 

piuccare in Italian. It may be added that in German ^'seems 

only to occur as the pofa foreign word. 

Poggia, xxxii. 117, 'the starboard sheet,' or 'brace.' From Gr. 

TrbSiov, dim. of irois, in the sense of ' sheet' (as Od. v. 260); Lat. pes. 

There seems no particular reason why it should be the starboard sheet, 

but that orza (q. v.) was necessarily that on the port side. 

Poggio, iii. 14, etc., 'a hill.' Fr. puy; Sp. poyo ('a bench'). 

From Lat. podium, originally ' the front bench in the amphitheatre' 

(Juvenal), ' a balcony' (Pliny). In late Latin it got the sense of ' a 

bank' (so bank and bench are forms of the same word), or ' mound.' 

Hence appoggio, iii. 18, 'a stay, support.' Fr. appui, Sp. apoyo. 

Poltro, xxiv. 135, 'timid.' (?) Yx. pleutre; ziso poltrone, Fr. Sp. 

poltron, Eng. poltroon. The original meaning seems to be ' lazy' (cf. 

Eng. to palter), and the word is probably from O. G. polstar, ' a pillow,' 

Eng. bolster, whence also Italian boldrone, ' a blanket,' and (dial.) 

poller, poltrona. [The old derivation from pollice trunco, even if it 

were etymologically admissible fox poltrone, would clearly hot account 

for the simple form.] 

Predella, vi. 96, ' a headstall,' \isaa}ifypredello. Fr. bride, Sp. brida, 

Eng. bridle. From O. G. priddel, brittil. Connected^with briden, ' to 

braid,' Icel. bregda, the bridle being braided or plaited. [Fr. bretelles 

would seem to be the same word, though Littre gives a different 

derivation.] 

Bado, vii. 121, etc., 'rarei From Lat. rarus. For the change of 

r into d cf. chiedere from quaerere, proda fxoxa prora. 

Ramogna, xi. 25. Perhaps from Lat. remus, 'an oar.' Cf Fr. 

ratne, in the sense of 'a convoy.'—Littre. There can be no doubt 

of the meaning of the word, buf its origin is obscure. It is curious 

that Diez has quite overlooked it. 

Eampognare, xvi. 121, 'to reprove.' Literally 'to claw, tear,' 

from rampone, ' a hook.' Is not this akin to Gr. fipTn/, ' a sickle' ? 

Rampare, Fr. ramper, ' to chmb,' rampe (but probably not rempart), 

are kindred words; also Lat. rapere (cf corripio in the sense of ' to 

blame'), Germ, raffen, Eng. rape. 

Eampollare, v. 16, xxvii. 42, ' to spring up.' From Lat. repullulare 

(-with m inserted for euphony, as n in rendere), ' RampoUo significa 

nuovo ramo nato in sul vecchio.'—Landino, to v. 16. So rampollo 

in Conv. iv. 21, and Sp. rampollo, 'a cutting.' To xxvii. 42, however, 

Landino says: ' diciamo rampoUar 1' acqua, quando surge da 

terra,' which looks as if there was a confusion with bullare. So Guido 

Guinicelli, ' fonti d' acqua rampollavano.'

448 GLOSSARY 

• Eancura, x. 133,, 'an unpleasant feeling.' Fr. rancune, Sp. rencor, 

Eng. rancour. From late Lat.rancor, lit. 'rancidness,'but used in 

the sense of ' malice.' (Cf. putidus.) 

Eeoare, vi. 6, etc., 'to bring' (in xvi. 97, there, seems tq :i)e a 

notion of 'referring,' as if the word was thought to be compounded 

with re-); from O. G. reccMn, modern recken, 'to, stretch,' and so 

'hold forth, offer.' Eng. rack, Icel. rakkr, 'straight,'.are cognate 

words. 

Eincalzare, ix. 72, ,'to prop up,' 'sustain.' Properly 'to pile 

up the earth round a plant,' Fr. enchausser; from Lat. calceus, 'a 

shoe.' 

Eoba, xiii. 61, 'substance.' From O. G. roub,. modern raul), 

' booty, , plunder.' It is, of course, the same as Fr. robe, Sp. ropa, 

Eng. robe, but in these it is confined to the special. sense of clothing, 

whereas in Italian it is often just equivalent to ' stuff.' 

Eocca, xxxii. 148, 'a tower.' All commentators seem agreed in 

so understanding it, and if this be correct, it may mean, as Blanc says, 

a fortress among rocks; v. sub roccia. But may it not also be from 

the 'castle' in chess. It. rocco,^x. roc, Eng. rook; from the Persian 

name of the piece, rokh, ' a camel' ? 

Roccia, iii. 47, etc., 'a rock.' Fr. roche. Perhaps from a supposed 

low Lat. rupea, from rupes. In this case rocca, Fr. roc, Sp. 

roca, must be from another form, riipica. But the root is found in 

all Celtic languages, so the word may have its direct origin thence. 

Eocco, xxiv. 30,. 'a pastoral staff.' From O. G. rocco, modern 

,rocken, Icel. rokkr, M. E. rock, 'a distaff,'whence It. rocca, Sp. 

rucca. (Others take it BS = rocchetto, 'a rochet,' Sp. rocio, 'a jerkin,' 

from Germ, rock.) 

Rubesto, V. 125, 'swollen.' From Lat. robusttis. 'Robustas,, 

fluminis violentia, rapiditas.'-^Du Cange. Cf 'Exi.g.ûmbustious. 

Eugiada, i. 121, etc., 'dew.' Fr. rosie, Sp. ruxada, rociada. 

From Lat. ros, through roscidus, whence we must suppose a verb, 

roscidare. The verb does not exist in Italian, but we have Fr. arroser, 

Sp. rociar, ruxar. The fprm of the Italian word suggests, that it may 

have been borrowed from the Spanish. 

Euvido, ix. 98, 'rough.' From Lat. ruidus.-—Pliny. This is 

the derivative given by Diez; but why should it not be from a Teutonic 

source—Germ, rauh, A. S. rilh, Eng. roughl The meaning 

of Pliny's word is not certain, but if it be correctly interpreted, it is 

probably from the same root. 

Sbarro, xxxiii. 42, 'a hindrance.' Perhaps immediately from

GLOSSARY 449 

O. G. sparro, mod. sperren, 'to lock,'but more probably formed 

from barra, Fr.. barre, Eng. bar, of Celtic origin. (Hence embarrass. 

) 

Scalappiarsi, xxi. 77) 'to escape from a snare.' Yxoxn.calappio, 

'a noose,' piroperly .'trap,' 'clap-net' This from an O. G. klapjo = 

klappa, mod. klappe, ' a flap or valve.' Hence also chiappare. 

Soaltrire, xxvi. 3, 'to instruct' Sp. (only in part) escaldrido, 

' cunning' (which is * probably taken from the Italian). Diez derives 

it from scalpturire, as if the original notion were 'to hew a rough 

block into shape,' and thinks that calterire, 'to gall,' may be the same 

word, with the s dropped. This is .'not satisfactory; and it seems 

better to accept Muratori's suggestion of cauteriare (or -ire) for the 

latter word^(cf calma, from Kavp.a)—and understand scaltrire as 

meaning primarily 'to heal a sore.' 

Scarso, A. 13, xiv. 80, xx. 16, 'scant, niggard.' Fr. icharsAfis,eA. 

of base money and shifting winds), Sp. escaso, Eng. scarce. According 

to Muratori, whom Diez follows, from low Lat. excarpsus, for excerptus. 

I should be inclined rather to take it from a Teutonic root; that which 

gives Icel. skera (which used reflexively means ' to refuse') and skarSr, 

'diminished,' A. S. sceran, Eng. shear and short. 

Scemare, vii. 66, etc., 'to diminish.' O. Fr. semer. From low 

. Lat. semare, literally ' to halve' (probably with ex- prefixed). But 

may it not be rather from a supposed simare ? We only find simus in 

the sense of 'snub-nosed,'.but.it may very well have meant generally 

' stunted.' (The chief objection would be that long i seldom becomes 

e in Italian, but the vowel of a verb in Latin sometimes has a different 

quantity from that of its kindred substantive.) 

Scempio (l), xii. 55, 'an example, i.e. punishment.' From Lat. 

exemplum. The word had this meaning early, e.g. Ter. Eun. v. 4, 11. 

24, 26. Esempio and scempio were differentiated.by Tasso's time. 

Scempio (2), xii. 133, xvi. 55, 'simple^ hence 'separate.' From 

a low Lat. exsimplatus, formed from simp'lus=simplex, 

Schermo, X. 126, 'defence, screeni O, Fr. escren, mod. icran; 

but these probably are from the English more immediately. From 

O. G. skirm, mod. schirm; whence verb skertnan, ' to. fight' (cf Gr. 

dpiiveaBai), and from this Fr. escrimer, 'to fence,' Sp. esgrimir,'and 

also probably scaramuccia, escarmouche, skirmish. 

Sohiantare, xx. 45, etc., 'to strip, tear.' Fr. (intr.) klater, Sp. 

estallar for eslatar. From O. G. skleizln, modem schleissen, Icel. 

slita, Eng. slit, slice (and ? split, splinter). 

Schietto, i. 95, xiii. 8, 'smooth.' From Goth, slaihts, Icel. 

sletr. Germ, schlecht, Eng. slight. [The original meaning is only 

2 G

450 GLOSSARY 

preserved in German in the adverbs schlechthin, schlechtweg; for the 

change in meaning of the adj. cf schlimm, Eng. slim.] 

Schivo, ii. 72, and schifo, xxvi. 45, ' shyi Sp. esquivo, Icel. 

skjarr. Germ, scheu. Vb. schivare, Fr. esquiver. From O. G. 

skiuhan, modern scheuen. 

Sciogliere, ii. 89, etc., 'to loose.' From exsolvere.—Diez. It is, 

however, the opposite of accogliere, which suggests that it may be from 

excolligere, as scegliere from ex-seligere. (For the softening of c cf. 

ciascuno from quisque unus. Note that sei- when followed by a, 0, or 

11, almost invariably implies a Latin ex-.) 

Scoccare, vi. 130, 'to go off, let off.' From cocca, 'the notch of 

the arrow,' Fr. coche, (?) Eng. cock (of a gun). Perhaps of Celtic origin. 

Eng. cog appears to be the same word. 

Scoglio, ii. 122, 'the cast skin of a snake,' also scoglia. From 

M. G. sUich, Eng. slough (? Icel. sUg, 'the entrails of fish'), connected 

with Gr. aKiXov, 'a hide.' This is, according to Curtius, quite 

distinct from SKvkov, Lat. spolium, from which Diez, follovring Diet. 

Crasc, wishes to derive the vvord. Vanzon says 'quasi scaglia,' 

which is hardly more satisfactory. 

Scorgere, xvii. 18, xxi. 21, 'to direct,' sub. scorta, i. 21, etc., 'an 

escort.' Fr. escorte, Sp. escolta. from Lat. ex-corrigere. See 

accorgere. 

Scorno, x. 33, 'shame, scorni From scomare. This from excornare, 

'to take the horns off.' Chaucer's 'the fesaunt scorner of 

the cocke by night' (Assembly of Foules) suggests a somewhat 

different original meaning. 

Scotto, xxx. 144, 'payment.' Fr. kot, Sp. escote. From low Lat. 

scotum, this from O. G. scaz ('then jungiston scaz' = 'the uttermost 

farthing'), modern schatz, Icel. skattr, Eng. scot and shot. [Mod. 

Germ, schoss looks very much like a corruption, due perhaps to the 

influence of the English word. In spite of the change of vowel the 

meanings of the Teutonic and Romance words are so similar that it 

seems hardly possible to doubt their connexion.] 

Senno, vi. 137, etc., 'sense, wisdom.' From O. G. sin, modern 

sinn. The word, which formerly existed in both Fr. and Sp., is now 

only represented by the Yx. forcenS, 'insane,' foxxaexly forsene, i.e. 

foris-sennatus. 

Smagare (and dismagare), iii. 11, etc., 'to weaken, undo.' Sp. 

desmayar, Eng. dismay. Fr. only in sub. (obsolete) hnoi. From 

Rom. prefix dis- and O. G. magan, modern mogen, 'to be able,' Icel. 

mega, Eng. may. [Still better would be the transitive form, if such 

existed in Goth, or O. G. corresponding to Icel. magna, 'to enable,

GLOSSARY 451 

strengthen.'] In one passage, xix. 20, it seems not impossible that 

Dante confused it vrith magus. 

Smalto, viii. 114, 'lenameli Fr. email, Sp. esmalte. From O.G. 

smelzan, mod. schmelzen, Eng. smelt and melt. - That this is the true 

derivation is pretty clear from the fact that smeltr passed early into 

Icel. in the sense of ' enamel.' 

Smarrire, i. 119, viii. 63, xix. 14, etc., 'to make dim, bewilder.' 

Fr. (part.) marri, 'grieved' (obs.), Sp. marrar, 'to go astray.' From 

low Lat. marrire, this from Goth, marzjan, O. G. marran, Eng. mar. 

(The root is found in all Aryan languages, and appears in Gr. Pporbs 

and puipalvoi, Lat. mors and murceo, Goth, maurthr, Eng. murder, 

etc.) 

Sobbarcarsi, vi. 135, 'to undertake.' Sp. sobarcar, 'to carry 

under the arm.' From Lat. brachium, through a supposed subbrachicare. 

According to Bianchi and Post. Gg. the notion is ' to gird 

-up the garments,' but this seems unnecessary. 

Soma, xi. 37, etc., 'a burthen.' Fr. somme (whence assommer), 

and sdme, Sp. salma and xalma. Germ, saum (in saumthier, Eng. 

sumpter, and sdumen). From low Lat. salma=sagma, Gr. adyp.a. 

Sozzo, xvi. 13, 'foul.' S^. sucio. From Lat. sucidus, properly 

of uncleansed wool with the grease in it. 

Spada, viii. 26, etc., 'a sword.' Fr. Iph, Sp. espada. From late 

Lat. spatha, 'a blade, a broadsword,' Gr. andBri (which also has this 

sense). It is not, however, impossible that spatha, in this sense, may 

be a Celtic word. 

Spalla, viii. 42,, etc., ' a shoulder.' Fr. ipaule, Sp. espalda. From 

law Lat. spatula, 'the shoulder-blade,'dim. of spatha (and perhaps 

confiised with scapula); 

Spazzo, xxiii. 70. In this passage I take it to be used in the sense 

of the Lat. spatium, ' a race-course,' not in its more usual meaning of 

'ground or pavement.' 

Spegnere, iii. 132, 'to extinguish.' From Lat. ex-pingere in the 

sense of 'to paint out,' but evidently confused with extinguere, if 

not with expendere. The part, spento may often be rendered by 

'spent.' 

Spia, xvi. 84, 'a scout,' verb espiare, xxvi. 36, 'to search out.' 

Fr. ipier, Sp. espiar, Eng. spy, espy. From O. G. spehdn, mod. 

spdhen, Icel. spd ('to prophesy'). Connected with Gr. (XKoirioi, Lat. 

spicio. 

Spola, xxxi. 96, ' a shuttle.' Fr. espoule, Sp. espolin. From 

O. G. spuolo, mod. spule, Eng. spool. Perhaps cognate with Gr. 

a(j>vpa. [It is curious, looking to the reading of Gg. given at the

452 

GLOSSARY 

passage, and the explanation of it, to observe that schiff is used in 

Germ, to denote a shuttle.] 

Squilla, viii. 5, 'a bell.' Sp. esquila. From O. G. skilla, mod. 

schelle. 

Stancare, x. -19, 'to weary.' Identical with Fr. etancher, Sp. 

estancar, Eng. staunch. From Lat. stagnum, properly 'to dam up 

water.' The transition of meaning is not very hard to follow from the 

idea of damming up to that of stopping the flow, hence the force of 

anything. Littre gives instances of the use of the Fr. word (which 

otherwise, like the Spanish and English, preserves the original meaning), 

as applied to horses in the 13th and 14th centuries. 

Storpio, xxv. I, (perhaps 'a hindrance,' but) probably for storpiato, 

from storpiaxe (also stroppiare, and in xxxiii. 42 some read 

stroppio), ' to cripple.' Fr. estropier, Sp. estropear (also tropezar, 

'to stumble'). Perhaps from extorpidare. Cf. Germ, tropf, 'a 

blockhead.' 

Strale, xxxi. 55, 'an arrow.' From O. G. strdla, or M. G. strdl, 

mod. strahl, ' a ray.' Connected -with star, and (perhaps) strew. 

Tagliare, xii. 97, 'to cut.' Fr. tailler, Sp. tallar and tajar. 

From low Lat. taliare, this from talea, '« cutting of a plant,' also 'a 

stake.' The original meaning is therefore 'to cut wood,' as in Fr. 

tuillis. Sub. taglio, xxxi. 3, 'an edge.' 

Tirare, xiv. 146, etc., 'to draw.' Fr. tirer, Sp. tirar. From 

Goth, tairan. Germ, zerren, Eng. tear. In the earliest example given 

by Littre it is used of pulling out the hair in anger, subsequently all 

idea of violence passed out of the word. 

Toccare, ii. 117, etc., 'to touchi Fr. toucher and toquer, Sp. 

tocar. According to Diez from O. G. zucMn, mod. zucken, which 

appears to be a : frequentative of ziuhan, Ziehen, ' to draw.' There 

does not, however, appear to be any reason why it should not come 

from the simple verb. Goth. tiAhan, Icel. tjiiga, Eng. tug. The 

original idea was evidently that of drawing; thus in O. Fr. se toucher 

de=se tirer de, and the mod. Fr. construction with iJ no doubt arises 

from this. [Fr. toque, 'a cap,' is generally taken to be a Celtic word, 

but it may well be ' something drawn on.'] 

Tornare, ii. 81, etc., 'to turn, return.' Fr. tourner, Sp. tornar. 

From Lat. tornare, 'to turn in a lathe,' this from tornus, 'a lathe,' 

Gr. rbpvos, 'a tool for drawing circles.' Connected with reipeiv, 'to 

rub,' ropeiv, 'to bore,' Lat. tero, O. G. drdjan, mod. drehen. 

Tosto, i. 17, etc., adv. 'soon,'ii. 133, etc., adj. 'quick.' Fr. tbt 

(only adv. except perhaps in the phrase, au plus tbt). From Lat.

GLOSSARY 453 

tostus, part, of torreo, hence literally ' hot' (cf calere; also the use of 

torrens for a rapid stream). [The derivation from tot-cito, which Diez 

suggests as an alternative, and Brachet adopts, is almost certainly 

wrong. Those who prefer it must find evidence that tot was ever used 

for tarn, and must account for the adjectival use, which is quite as old 

as the adverbial. ] 

Trapelare, xxx. 88, 'to filter through.' Probably from^«&, 'hair,' 

Lat. pihis, as if ' to strain through a hair-sieve.' Pelo, however, means 

also 'a crack in a wall,' so the word may mean 'to trickle through 

cracks.' 

Trastullo, xiv. 93, 'amusement,' and vb. trastuUare, xvi. 90. 

From O. G. stulla, 'a moment,' probably connected with stunde. Cf. 

Eng. pastime. For the Rom. prefix ct smagare. 

Travagliare, xxi. 4, ' to weary, oppress.' From travaglio, Fr. 

travail, Sp. trabajo. Dante also has (Inf vii. 20) the fem. travaglia. 

Diez considers that the simple form is found in Prov. travar, 

' to fetter, hamper.' Fr. entraver, from trabs, ' a beam,' the idea being 

of a prisoner fastened to a log; cf. Sp. trabar. M. Paul Meyer has 

recently suggested, a derivation from low Lat. trepalium, 'a place of 

torture'; but it is hard to see how this will account for the meaning 

of travaglio, ' a pen for a restive animal,' travail (found at least as. early 

as the 13th cent.), 'a beam for attaching a horse while being shod,' or 

Sp. travas, ' shackles'; while the derivation from trabs explains them 

all. It should be observed that in Dante, as in early French (where 

it is usually coupled with ' douleur' or ' peine'), the word has always 

a bad meaning; the sense of ' work' is later. [In Par. xxxiii. 114 it 

is probably a different word.] 

Tregua, xiv. 136, xvii. 75, 'truce, cessation.' French trh>e, Sp. 

tregua. From low Lat. treuga, this from O. G. triuwa, mod. treue, 

Goth, triggva, akin to Icel. trygg^, A. S. treoiiiS, Eng. troth. 

Tresoare, A. 65, 'to dance.' Sp. triscar ('to stamp'). From 

Goth, thriskan, Germ, dreschen, Eng. thresh; which in threshold 

actually has the meaning ' to beat with the feet.' 

Trovare, vi. 150, etc., 'to find.' Fr. trouver. From Lat. turbare, 

the original idea being ' to disturb by seeking.' This derivation is 

rendered almost certain by the fact that in its earliest use the word 

seems to have meant ' to seek' as well as to find, and in some languages 

(e.g. Portuguese and Neapolitan) to have even retained the original 

meaning of 'to disturb.' The use of trovar in Sp. as='to pervert 

the sense of words' seems also to arise from this, though it may 

be with a satirical allusion lo the word in its sense of ' to write 

poetry.'

454 

GLOSSARY 

Tuono, ix. 139, xiv.. 134, xxix. 152, 'thunder,' verb tonar, xiv. 

138. Fr. tonner, Sp. tronar. In ix. 139 the word appears to mean 

merely 'a tone,'from Lat. tonus. This from Gr. rbvos (refrw) ='the 

tone or note of a string.' In the other passages it is from tonare, 'to 

thiinder,' which, though from the same root, is not directly formed 

from tonus, any more than Germ, donner from dehnen. 

TTscio, ix. 130, xxx. 139, 'a door.' Fr.. huis (now only in phrase 

'i huis clos'). From Lat. ostium; whence also (through adjective 

ostiarius) Fr. huissier, Sp. uxier, Eng. usher. 

Uscire, ii. 24,' etc., ' to go out, issue.' Also escire, O. Fr. issir. The 

form in u probably arises from a confusion with the foregoing word; but 

cf uguale, from aequalis. ' 

Vago, iii. 13, etc., 'desirous,' xix. 22, xxxii. 135, 'wandering.' 

The first meaning seems to be.' derived from the second, through the 

idea of wandering from one object to another. 

Valco, xxiv. 97, 'a stride,' varco, xi. 41, etc., 'a passage,' verb 

varoare, vii. 54, etc. From low Lat. varicare, ' to walk,' which 

Diez takes to be identical with varicare, 'to straddle,'from varus. 

It is, perhaps, better to connect it with the Teutonic root which 

appears in Icel. vdlka, to roll, ' laallotu,' Germ, wallen and walken, 

A. S. wealcan, weallan, Eng. walk, which also appears in gallop. V. 

sub galoppo. 

Vermiglio, ii. 7, etc., 'vermilioni Fr. vermeil, Sp. bermejo. 

From vermiculus, i.e. the cochineal insect. The colour is thus different 

from that which we now call vermilion, i.e. cinnabar, but as 

late as Shakespeare (see Sonnet xcviii. ' the deep vermilion in the 

rose') the word is used to denote what we now call crimson. [Note 

that crimson, Fr. cramoisi, being ultimately from Sanskrit krimi, ' a 

worm,' cognate with vermis, is froni the same root as vermilion.1 

Vernaccia, xxiv. 24, 'a white wine.' M. E. vernage (Chaucer, 

' Merchant's Tale'). Said by some to be from Verona, but it would 

seem more likely that it means ' wine which has gone through a hard 

winter' {vernaccia). Cf the Swiss vin du glacier. 

Vigliare, xviii. 66, 'to winnow, sift.' According to Diez from 

verriculare, this from verricuhtm, 'a net,'from verrere, 'to sweep.' 

I should prefer to take it from a supposed vinnulare, this from low 

Lat. vinna, which means 'a trap for fish' (hke our eel-baskets), 

whence Fr. vanne, 'a flood-gate,'connected with, Eng. winrww and 

fan. The modern vagliare is certainly from vannulus, dim. of 

vaiinus.

GLOSSARY 455 

Vivagno, xxiv. 127, 'an edge, margin.' A very obscure word, 

not given by Diez. It seems properly to mean ' the list of cloth.' 

May it be connected with Lat. vibex, 'a weal, stripe'? We should 

thus have *vibicagna from vibex, as icuticagna' (Inf xxxii. 97) from 

'cutis.' 

Vizzo, xxv. 27, 'soft,' hence 'easy.' From Lat. vietus, which 

seems to mean ' easily bent.' 

Voto, vi. 89, xxxii. 31, 'empty.' Fr. vide, O. Fr. vuit, Eng. 

void. From Lat. viduus. Diez,. however, doubts the connexion of 

the Ital. and Fr. words, and suggests that the fonner is contracted for 

volto, in the sense of 'vaulted over,' and hence 'hollow,' which is not 

very satisfactory. May it not be" from vacatus, as gota (q. v.) from 

gabata ? The objection is that the form mioto seems to imply a short 0. 

THE END 

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