s: theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity; but they


s: practiced the four cardinal virtues of Prudence, Temperance,


s: The allegory is plain: the soul can mount the steep of


s: purification only when illuminated by the Sun of Divine Grace.


s: Little way had we gone from that place, when I perceived that the


s: them here on earth. "Yonder," said that shade, "will we go, where


s: new day." Between steep and level was a winding path that led us


s: into a side of the dale, where more than by half the edge dies


s: away. Gold and fine silver, and scarlet and white, Indian wood


s: lucid and clear, fresh emerald at the instant it is split,


s: would each be vanquished in color by the herbage and by the


s: flowers set within that valley, as by its greater the less is


s: vanquished. Nature had not only painted there, but with sweetness


s: Upon the green and upon the flowers I saw souls who, because of


s: the valley, were not visible from without, seated here singing


s: "Salve regina."  "Before the lessening sun sinks to his nest,"


s: began the Mantuan who had turned us thither, "desire not that


s: among these I guide you. From this bank ye will better become


s: acquainted with the acts and countenances of all of them, than


s: received among them on the level below. He who sits highest and


s: has the semblance of having neglected what he should have done,


s: and who moves not his mouth to the others' songs, was Rudolph the


s: so that slowly by another she is revived. The next, who in


s: appearance comforts him, ruled the land where the water rises


s: that Moldau bears to Elbe, and Elbe to the sea. Ottocar was his


s: name, and in his swaddling clothes he was better far than


s: bearded Wenceslaus, his son, whom luxury and idleness feed.


s: And that small-nosed one, who seems close in counsel with him who


s: lily;  look there how he beats his breast. See the next who,


s: sighing, has made a bed for his cheek with his hand. Father


s: and father-in-law are they of the harm of France; they know his


s: vicious and foul life, and thence comes the grief that so pierces


s: with him of the masculine nose, wore girt the cord of every


s: worth, and if the youth that is sitting behind him had followed


s: him as king, truly had worth gone from vase to vase, which cannot


s: the better heritage no one possesses. Rarely doth human


s: goodness rise through the branches, and this He wills who gives


s: it, in order that it may be asked from Him. To the large-nosed


s: one also my words apply not less than to the other, Peter, who is


s: now. The plant is as inferior to its seed, as, more than


s: Beatrice and Margaret, Constance still boasts of her husband.


s: See the King of the simple life sitting there alone, Henry of


s: England; he in his branches hath a better issue. That one who


s: lowest among them sits on the ground, looking upward, is William


s: the marquis, for whom Alessandria and her war make Montferrat


s: The beginning of a Church hymn to the Virgin, sung after


s: vespers, of which the first verses are:--


s: The neglect of Italy by the Emperor Rudolph (see the


s: preceding Canto) was not to be repaired by the vain efforts of


s: Ottocar, King of Bohemia and Duke of Austria, had been slain


s: in battle against Rudolph, on the Marchfeld by the Donau, in


s: Dante repeats his harsh judgment of Wenceslaus in the


s: nineteenth Canto of Paradise. His first wife was the daughter of


s: This is Philip the Bold of France, 1270-1285. Having invaded


s: Catalonia, in a war with Peter the Third of Aragon, he was driven


s: Henry of Navarre, the brother of Thibault, the poet-king


s: (Hell, Canto XXII.). His daughter Joan married Philip the Fair,


s: "the harm of France," the son of Philip the Bold.


s: Peter of Aragon (died 1285), the husband of Constance,


s: daughter of Manfred (see Canto III.); the youth who is seated


s: behind him is his son Alphonso, who died in 1291.


s: The kingdoms of Aragon and Sicily; both James and Frederick


s: were living when Dante thus wrote of them. The "better heritage"


s: Apulia and Provence were grieving under the rule of Charles


s: The meaning is doubtful; perhaps it is, that the children of


s: Charles of Anjou and of Peter of Aragon are as inferior to their


s: fathers, as Charles himself, the husband first of Beatrice of


s: Provence and then of Margaret of Nevers, was inferior to Peter,


s: the Piedmontese highlands and plain north of the Po. He was


s: Imperial vicar, and the bead of the Ghibellines in this region.


s: In a war with the Guelphs, who had risen in revolt in 1290, he


s: was taken captive at Alessandria, and for two years, till his


s: death, was kept in an iron cage. Dante refers to him in the


s: Convito, iv. 11, as "the good marquis of Montferrat."


s: CANTO VIII. Valley of the Princes.--Two Guardian Angels.--Kino


s: It was now the hour that turns back desire in those that sail the


s: their sweet friends farewell, and which pierces the new pilgrim


s: with love, if he hears from afar a bell that seems to deplore the


s: one of the souls who, uprisen, besought attention with its hand.


s: It joined and raised both its palms, fixing its eyes toward the


s: orient, as if it said to God, "For aught else I care not." "Te


s: lucis ante" so devoutly issued from his mouth and with such


s: sweet notes that it made me issue forth from my own mind. And


s: then the others sweetly and devoutly accompanied it through all


s: the hymn to the end, having their eyes upon the supernal wheels.


s: Here, reader, sharpen well thine eyes for the truth, for the veil


s: The opening words of a hymn sung at Complines, the last


s: "Before the close of light, we pray thee, O Creator, that through


s: The allegory seems to be, that the soul which has entered


s: upon the way of repentance and purification, but which is not yet


s: especially when the light of the supernal grace does not shine


s: directly upon it. But if the soul have steadfast purpose to


s: resist temptation, and seek aid from God, that aid will not be


s: wanting. The prayer of the Church which is recited after the hymn


s: abode, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy. Let thy


s: holy Angels bide in it, and guard us in peace." Pallid with self


s: distrust, humble with the sense of need, the soul awaits the


s: fulfilment of its prayer. The angels are clad in green, the


s: symbolic color of hope. Their swords are truncated, because


s: I saw that army of the gentle-born silently thereafter gazing


s: upward as if in expectation, pallid and humble; and I saw issuing


s: truncated and deprived of their points. Green as leaflets just


s: now born were their garments, which, beaten and blown by their


s: green pinions, they trailed behind. One came to stand a little


s: above us, and the other descended on the opposite bank, so that


s: the people were contained between them. I clearly discerned in


s: them their blond heads, but on their faces the eye was dazzled,


s: as a faculty which is confounded by excess. "Both come from the


s: bosom of Mary," said Sordello, "for guard of the valley, because


s: of the serpent that will come straightway." Whereat I, who knew


s: not by what path, turned me round, and all chilled drew me close


s: And Sordello again, "Now let us go down into the valley among the


s: wished to know me. It was now the time when the air was


s: darkening, but not so that between his eyes and mine it did not


s: reveal that which it locked up before. Towards me he moved,


s: and I moved towards him. Gentle Judge Nino, how much it


s: pleased me when I saw that thou wast not among the damned! No


s: fair salutation was silent between us; then he asked, "How long


s: is it since thou camest to the foot of the mountain across the


s: It was not yet so dark that recognition of one near at hand


s: was difficult, though at a distance it had been impossible.


s: Nino (Ugolino) de' Visconti of Pisa was the grandson of Count


s: Ugolino, and as the leader of the Pisan Guelphs became his bitter


s: divided into four districts, each of which was governed by one of


s: judicature of Gallura, where Frate Gomita (see Hell, Canto XXII.)


s: "Oh," said I to him, "from within the dismal places I came this


s: morning, and I am in the first life, albeit in going thus, I may


s: gain the other." And when my answer was heard, Sordello and he


s: drew themselves back like folk suddenly bewildered, the one to


s: Virgil, and the other turned to one who was seated there, crying,


s: Then, turning to me, "By that singular gratitude thou owest unto


s: Him who so hides His own first wherefore that there is no ford


s: to it, when thou shalt be beyond the wide waves, say to my Joan,


s: that for me she cry there where answer is given to the innocent.


s: I do not think her mother loves me longer, since she changed


s: her white wimples, which she, wretched, needs must desire


s: again. Through her easily enough is comprehended how long the


s: fire of love lasts in woman, if eye or touch does not often


s: rekindle it. The viper which leads afield the Milanese will


s: not make for her so fair a sepulture as the cock of Gallura would


s: that upright zeal which in due measure glows in the heart.


s: The sun was already hidden behind the mountain when Virgil


s: and Dante came upon Sordello. Sordello had not therefore seen


s: that Dante cast a shadow, and being absorbed in discourse with


s: Virgil had not observed that Dante breathed as a living man.


s: Corrado, of the great Guelph family of the Malaspina, lords


s: of the Lunigiana, a wide district between Genoa and Pisa.


s: Her mother was Beatrice d' Este, who, in 1300, married


s: The white veil or wimple and black garments were worn by


s: widows. The prophecy that she must needs wish for her white


s: wimple again seems merely to rest on Nino's disapproval of her


s: The viper was the cognizance of the Visconti of Milan.


s: My greedy eyes were going ever to the sky, ever there where the


s: stars are slowest, even as a wheel nearest the axle. And my


s: Leader, "Son, at what lookest thou up there?" And I to him, "At


s: those three torches with which the pole on this side is all


s: aflame."  And he to me, "The four bright stars which thou


s: sawest this morning are low on the other side, and these are


s: These three stars are supposed to symbolize the theological


s: virtues, -- faith. hope, and charity, whose light shines when the


s: As he was speaking, lo! Sordello drew him to himself, saying,


s: "See there our adversary," and pointed his finger that he should


s: look thither. At that part where the little valley has no barrier


s: to time its head to its  back, licking like a beast that sleeks


s: itself. I did not see, and therefore cannot tell how the


s: celestial falcons moved, but I saw well both one and the other in


s: fled, and the angels wheeled about, up to their stations flying


s: The shade which had drawn close to the Judge when he exclaimed,


s: through all that assault had not for a moment loosed its gaze


s: from me. "So may the light that leadeth thee on high find in


s: thine own free-will so much wax as is needed up to the enamelled


s: summit," it began, "if thou knowest true news of Valdimacra


s: or of the neighboring region, tell it to me, for formerly I was


s: great there. I was called Corrado Malaspina; I am not the


s: ancient, but from him I am descended; to mine own I bore the


s: love which here is refined." "Oh," said I to him, "through your


s: lands I have never been, but where doth man dwell in all Europe


s: that they are not renowned? The fame that honoreth your house


s: proclaims its lords, proclaims its district, so that he knows of


s: them who never yet was there; and I swear to you, so may I go


s: above, that your honored race doth not despoil itself of the


s: praise of the purse and of the sword. Custom and nature so


s: privilege it that though the guilty head turn the world awry,


s: alone it goes right and scorns the evil road." And he, "Now


s: go, for the sun shall not lie seven times in the bed that the Ram


s: opinion will be nailed in the middle of thy head with greater


s: nails than the speech of another, if course of judgment be not


s: So may illuminating grace find the disposition in thee


s: requisite for the support of its light, until thou shalt arrive


s: at the summit of the Mountain, the earthly Paradise enamelled


s: The old Corrado Malaspina was the husband of Constance, the


s: sister of King Manfred. He died about the middle of the


s: thirteenth century. The second Corrado was his grandson.


s: This magnificent eulogy of the land and the family of


s: Malaspina is Dante's return for the hospitality which, in 1306,


s: he received from the Marquis Moroello and other members of the


s: Seven years shall not pass, the sun being at this time in the


s: CANTO IX. Slumber and Dream of Dante.--The Eagle.--Lucia.--The


s: Gate of Purgatory.--The Angelic Gatekeeper.--Seven P's inscribed


s: on Dante's Forehead.--Entrance to the First Ledge.


s: The concubine of old Tithonus was now gleaming white on the


s: balcony of the orient, forth from the arms of her sweet friend;


s: her forehead was lucent with gems set in the shape of the cold


s: animal that strikes people with its tail. And in the place


s: where we were the night had taken two of the steps with which she


s: I, who had somewhat of Adam with me, overcome by sleep, reclined


s: upon the grass, there where all five of us were seated.


s: By the concubine of old Tithonus, Dante seems to have


s: intended the lunar Aurora, in distinction from the proper wife of


s: the horizon, and, finally, it was shortly after 8.30 P.M."


s: (Moore.) "The steps with which the night ascends" are the six


s: hours of the first half of the night, from 6 P.M. to midnight.


s: At the hour near the morning when the little swallow begins her


s: sad lays, perchance in memory of her former woes, and when our


s: mind, more a wanderer from the flesh and less captive to the


s: thought, is in its visions almost divine, in dream it seemed


s: to me that I saw poised in the sky an eagle with feathers of


s: gold, with wings widespread, and intent to stoop. And it seemed


s: to me that I was there where his own people were abandoned by


s: Ganymede, when he was rapt to the supreme consistory. In myself I


s: perhaps from other place disdains to carry anyone upward in his


s: feet." Then it seemed to me that, having wheeled a little, it


s: descended terrible as a thunderbolt, and snatched me upwards far


s: as the fire. There it seemed that it and I burned, and the


s: imagined fire so scorched that of necessity the sleep was broken.


s: The allusion is to the tragic story of Progne and Philomela,


s: turned the one into a swallow, the other into a nightingale.


s: Dante found the tale in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book vi.


s: Dante passes three nights in Purgatory, and each night his


s: sleep is terminated by a dream towards the hour of dawn, the time


s: The sphere of fire by which, according to the mediaeval


s: cosmography, the sphere of the air was surrounded.


s: Not otherwise Achilles shook himself,--turning around his


s: awakened eyes, and not knowing where he was, when his mother from


s: whence afterwards the Greeks withdrew him,--than I started,


s: as from my face sleep fled away; and I became pale, even as a man


s: the sun was now more than two hours high, and my face was


s: turned toward the sea. "Have no fear," said my Lord; "be


s: reassured, for we are at a good point; restrain not, but increase


s: cliff that closes it around; see the entrance, there where it


s: appears divided. A while ago in the dawn that precedes the day,


s: when thy soul was sleeping within thee, upon the flowers


s: wherewith the place down yonder is adorned, came a lady, and


s: said, "I am Lucia; let me take this one who is sleeping; thus


s: will I assist him along his way.' Sordello remained, and the


s: other gentle forms: she took thee, and when the day was bright,


s: she came upward, and I along her footprints. Here she laid thee


s: down: and first her beautiful eyes showed me that open entrance;


s: then she and slumber went away together." Like a man that in


s: perplexity is reassured, and that alters his fear to confidence


s: after the truth is disclosed to him, did I change; and when my


s: Leader saw me without solicitude, up along the cliff he moved on,


s: Statius, in the first book of the Achilleid, tells how


s: Thetis, to prevent Achilles from going to the siege of Troy, bore


s: carried him to the court of King Lycomedes, on the Island of


s: Scyros, where, though concealed in women's garments, Ulysses and


s: Diomed discovered him. Statius relates how wonderstruck Achilles


s: was when on awaking he found himself at Scyros:


s: Quae loca? qui fluctus? ubi Pelion? onmia versa


s: Atque ignota videt, dubitatque agnoscere matrem--249-50.


s: Lucia seems to be here the symbol of assisting grace, the


s: gratia operans of the school-men. It was she who was called upon


s: by the Virgin (Hell, Canto II.) to aid Dante when he was astray


s: in the wood, and who had moved Beatrice to go to his succor.


s: Reader, thou seest well how I exalt my theme, and therefore


s: marvel not if with more art I reenforce it.


s: These words may be intended to call attention to the doctrine


s: which underlies the imagery of the verse.


s: The entrance within the gate of Purgatory is the assurance of


s: justification, which is the change of the soul from a state of


s: sin to a state of justice or righteousness. Justification itself


s: consists, according to St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica,


s: Prima Secundae, quaest. cxiii. art. 6 and 8), of four parts:


s: first, the infusion of grace; second, the turning of the free


s: will to God through faith; third, the turning of the free will


s: against sin; fourth, the remission of sin. It must be accompanied


s: confession, and satisfaction by works of righteousness.


s: Outside the gate of Purgatory justification cannot be complete.


s: The souls in the Ante-Purgatory typify those who have entered on


s: the way towards justification, but have not yet attained it. They


s: aliqua deliberatio quae non est do substantia justificationis sed


s: We drew near to it, and reached such place that there, where at


s: first there seemed to me a rift, like a cleft which divides a


s: wall, I saw a gate, and three steps beneath for going to it of


s: divers colors, and a gatekeeper who as yet said not a word. And


s: as I opened my eye there more and more, I saw him sitting on the


s: upper step, such in his face that I endured it not. And he had


s: in his hand a naked sword, which so reflected the rays toward us


s: that I often raised my sight in vain. "Tell it from there, what


s: would ye?" began he to say; "where is the guide? Beware lest the


s: coming up be harmful to you."  "A lady from Heaven with these


s: things acquainted," replied my Master to him, "only just now said


s: progress in good," began again the courteous gatekeeper, "come


s: The angel at the gate appears to be the type of the priest


s: Unless grace has been infused into the heart it is a sin to


s: present one's self as ready for the sacrament.


s: Thither we came to the first great stair; it was of white marble


s: so polished and smooth that I mirrored myself in it as I appear.


s: The second, of deeper hue than perse, was of a rough and scorched


s: lies massy, seemed to me of porphyry as flaming red as blood that


s: his feet, seated upon the threshold that seemed to me stone of


s: adamant. Up over the three steps my Leader drew me with good


s: will, saying, "Beg humbly that he undo the lock." Devoutly I


s: threw myself at the holy feet; I besought for mercy's sake that


s: he would open for me; but first upon my breast I struck three


s: times. Seven P's upon my forehead he inscribed with the point


s: of his sword, and "See that thou wash these wounds when thou


s: The first step is the symbol of confession, the second of


s: contrition, the third of satisfaction; the threshold of adamant


s: may perhaps signify the authority of the Church.


s: Three times, in penitence for sins in thought, in word, and


s: The seven P's stand for the seven so-called mortal sins,--


s: Peccati, not specific acts, but the evil dispositions of the soul


s: (accidia), avarice, gluttony, and lust. After justification these


s: Ashes or earth dug out dry would be of one color with his


s: vestment, and from beneath that he drew two keys. One was of gold


s: the yellow he so did to the door, that I was content.


s: "Whenever one of these keys fails, and turns not rightly in the


s: lock," said he to us, "this passage doth not open. More precious


s: is one but the other requires much art and wit before it


s: unlocks, because it is the one that disentangles the knot. From


s: Peter I hold them; and he told me to err rather in opening than


s: in keeping shut, if but the people prostrate themselves at my


s: feet." Then he pushed the valve of the sacred gate, saying,


s: "Enter, but I give you warning that whoso looks behind returns


s: outside." And when the pivots of that sacred portal, which are


s: of metal, sonorous and strong, were turned within their hinges,


s: Tarpeia roared not so loud nor showed herself so harsh, when the


s: good Metellus was taken from her, whereby she afterwards remained


s: The golden key is typical of the power to open, and the


s: silver of the knowledge to whom to open.


s: The gold, more precious because the power of absolution was


s: For he who returns to his sins loses the Divine Grace.


s: This roaring of the gate may, perhaps, be intended to enforce


s: the last words of the angel, and may symbolize the voices of his


s: own sins as the sinner turns his back on them. When Caesar forced


s: to lay hands on the sacred treasure of Rome, he was resisted by


s: I turned away attentive to the first tone, and it seemed to me


s: I heard "Te Deum laudamus" in voices mingled with sweet sound.


s: That which I heard gave me just such an impression as we are wont


s: Words appropriate to the entrance of a sinner that repenteth.


s: CANTO X. First Ledge: the Proud.--Examples of Humility sculptured


s: When we were within the threshold of the gate, which the souls'


s: wrong love disuses, because it makes the crooked way seem


s: straight, I heard by its resounding that it was closed again.


s: And, if I had turned my eyes to it, what excuse would have been


s: It is Dante's doctrine that love is the motive of every act;


s: rightly directed, of good deeds; perverted, of evil. See Canto


s: We were ascending through a cloven rock, which moved on one side


s: and on the other, even as the wave retreats and approaches. "Here


s: now here, now there to the side which recedes." And this made


s: our progress so slow that the waning disk of the moon regained


s: its bed to go to rest, before we had come forth from that


s: needle's eye. But when we were free and open above, where the


s: mountain backward withdraws, I weary, and both uncertain of


s: our way, we stopped upon a level more solitary than roads through


s: the foot of the high bank which rises only, a human body would


s: measure in three lengths; and as far as my eye could stretch its


s: wings, now on the left and now on the right side, such did this


s: cornice seem to me. Thereon our feet had not yet moved when I


s: perceived that bank round about, which, being perpendicular,


s: allowed no ascent, to be of white marble and adorned with such


s: carvings, that not Polycletus merely but Nature would be put to


s: The path was a narrow, steep zigzag, which, as it receded on


s: one side and the other, afforded the better foothold.


s: Leaving an open space, the first ledge of Purgatory.


s: The Angel who came to earth with the announcement of the peace,


s: wept for for many years, which opened Heaven from its long


s: interdict, appeared before us here carved in a sweet attitude so


s: truly that he did not seem an image that is silent. One would


s: have sworn that he was saying "Ave;" for there was she imaged who


s: had these words impressed, "Ecce ancilla Dei!" as exactly as a


s: "Keep not thy mind only on one place," said the sweet Master, who


s: moved my eyes and saw behind Mary, upon that side where he was


s: who was moving me, another story displayed upon the rock;


s: whereupon I passed Virgil and drew near so that it might be set


s: before my eyes. There in the very marble was carved the cart and


s: the oxen drawing the holy ark, because of which men fear an


s: office not given in charge. In front appeared people; and all


s: of them, divided in seven choirs, of two of my senses made the


s: one say "NO," the other "YES, THEY ARE SINGING."  In like


s: manner, by the smoke of the incense that was imaged there, mine


s: eyes and nose were made in YES and NO discordant. There,


s: preceding the blessed vessel, dancing, girt up, was the humble


s: Psalmist, and more and less than king was he in that proceeding.


s: Opposite, figured at a window of a great palace, Michal was


s: looking on even as a lady scornful and troubled.


s: "And they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it


s: out of the house.. . and Uzzah and Ahio drave the new cart....and


s: hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook


s: it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God


s: smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of


s: The hearing said "No," the sight said "Yes."


s: "So David went and brought up the ark of God... into the city


s: of David with gladness. And when they that bare the ark of the


s: Lord had gone six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. And


s: David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was


s: girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel


s: brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound


s: of the trumpet. And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of


s: David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window, and saw


s: King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised


s: I moved my feet from the place where I was standing to look from


s: near at another story which behind Michal was shining white on


s: me. Here was storied the high glory of the Roman prince, whose


s: worth incited Gregory to his great victory: I speak of Trajan


s: the emperor; and a poor widow was at his bridle in attitude of


s: weeping and of grief. Round about him there seemed a press and


s: throng of knights, and the eagles in the gold above him to the


s: sight were moving in the wind. The wretched woman among all these


s: wait till I return;" and she, "My Lord,"--like one in whom grief


s: is hasty,--"if thou return not?" And he, "He who shall be where I


s: another be to thee if thou art mindless of thine own?" Whereon


s: he, "Now comfort thee; for it behoves that I discharge my own


s: duty ere I go; justice requires it, and pity constrains me." He


s: who hath never seen new thing  had produced that visible


s: speech, novel to us, since on earth it is not found.


s: This legend of Trajan had great vogue during the Middle Ages.


s: It was believed that Pope Gregory the Great interceded for him,


s: praying that he might be delivered from Hell; "then God because


s: of these prayers drew that soul from pain and put it into glory."


s: While I was delighting me with regarding the images of such great


s: this side many people, but they make few steps," murmured the


s: Poet. "They will put us on the way to the high stairs." My eyes


s: that were intent on looking in order to see novelties whereof


s: they are fain, in turning toward him were not slow.


s: I would not, indeed, Reader, that thou be dismayed at thy good


s: purpose, through hearing how God wills that the debt be paid.


s: Attend not to the form of the suffering; think on what follows;


s: think that at worst beyond the Great Judgment it cannot go!


s: I began, "Master, that which I see moving toward us, seems to me


s: not persons, but what I know not, my look is so in vain." And he


s: to me, "The heavy condition of their torment so presses them to


s: earth, that mine own eyes at first had contention with it. But


s: look fixedly there, and disentangle with thy sight that which


s: cometh beneath those stones; now thou canst discern how each is


s: O proud Christians, wretched weary ones, who, diseased in vision


s: of the mind, have confidence in backward steps, are ye not aware


s: that we are worms born to form the angelic butterfly which flies


s: unto judgment without defence? Why doth your mind float up aloft,


s: As sometimes for support of ceiling or roof, by way of corbel, a


s: figure is seen joining its knees to its breast, which out of its


s: unreality makes a real pang rise in him who sees it, thus


s: fashioned saw I these when I gave good heed. True it is that they


s: upon their backs; and he who had most patience in his looks,


s: weeping, appeared to say, "I can no more."


s: CANTO XI. First Ledge: the Proud.--Prayer.--Omberto


s: "O our Father who art in Heaven, not circumscribed, but through


s: the greater love which to the first effects on high Thou hast,


s: praised be Thy name and Thy power by every creature, even as it


s: is befitting to render thanks to Thy sweet effluence. May the


s: peace of Thy Kingdom come towards us, for we to it cannot of


s: ourselves, if it come not, with all our striving. As of their


s: will Thine angels, singing Hosanna, make sacrifice to Thee, so


s: may men make of theirs. Give us this day the daily manna, without


s: to go on. And as we pardon every one for the wrong that we have


s: suffered, even do Thou, benignant, pardon and regard not our


s: desert. Our virtue which is easily overcome put not to proof with


s: last prayer, dear Lord, truly is not made for ourselves, for it


s: is not needful, but for those who behind us have remained."


s: Not circumscribed by Heaven, but having Thy seat there


s: because of the love Thou bearest to the first effects --the


s: angels, and the heavens--of Thyself the First Cause.


s: Thus praying for themselves and us good speed, those souls were


s: going under the weight, like that of which one sometimes dreams,


s: unequally in anguish, all of them round and round, and weary,


s: along the first cornice, purging away the mists of the world. If


s: good they ask for us always there, what can here be said and done


s: ought to aid them to wash away the marks which they bore hence,


s: so that pure and light they may go forth unto the starry wheels.


s: "Ah! so may justice and pity unburden you speedily that ye may be


s: you, show on which hand is the shortest way towards the stair;


s: and if there is more than one pass, point out to us that which


s: least steeply slopes; for this man who comes with me, because of


s: the load of the flesh of Adam wherewith he is clothed, is chary


s: against his will of mounting up." It was not manifest from whom


s: came the words which they returned to these that he whom I was


s: following had spoken, but it was said, "To the right hand along


s: the bank come ye with us, and ye will find the pass possible for


s: a living person to ascend. And if I were not hindered by the


s: stone which tames my proud neck, wherefore I needs must carry my


s: face low, I would look at that one who is still alive and is not


s: named, to see if I know him, and to make him pitiful of this


s: burden. I was Italian, and born of a great Tuscan; Guglielmo


s: Aldobrandesco was my father: I know not if his name was ever with


s: made me so arrogant that, not thinking on the common mother, I


s: held every man in scorn to such extreme that I died therefor, as


s: the Sienese know, and every child in Campagnatico knows it. I am


s: Omberto: and not only unto me Pride doth harm, for all my


s: kinsfolk bath she dragged with her into calamity; and here must I


s: among the dead, since I did it not among the living."


s: The Aldobrandeschi were the counts of Santa Fiore (see Canto


s: they were in constant feud with Siena. The one who speaks was


s: murdered in his own stronghold of Campagnatico, in 1259.


s: Listening, I bent down my face; and one of them, not he who was


s: speaking, twisted himself under the weight that hampers him; and


s: he saw me, and recognized me and called out, keeping his eyes


s: with effort fixed on me, who was going along all stooping with


s: him. "Oh," said I to him, "art thou not Oderisi, the honor of


s: Gubbio, and the honor of that art which in Paris is called


s: illumination?" "Brother," said he, "more smiling are the leaves


s: that Franco of Bologna pencils; the honor is now all his, and


s: mine in part. Truly I should not have been so courteous while


s: I lived, because of the great desire of excelling whereon my


s: heart was intent. Of such pride here is paid the fee; and yet I


s: should not be here, were it not that, still having power to sin,


s: I turned me unto God. Oh vainglory of human powers! how little


s: lasts the green upon the top, if it be not followed by dull


s: ages. Cimabue thought to hold the field in painting, and now


s: Giotto has the cry, so that the fame of him is obscured. In like


s: manner one Guido hath taken from the other the glory of the


s: language; and he perhaps is born who shall drive both one and the


s: wind, which now comes hence and now comes thence, and changes


s: name because it changes quarter. What more fame shalt thou have,


s: if thou strippest old flesh from thee, than if thou hadst died


s: years have passed?--which is a shorter space compared to the


s: eternal than a movement of the eyelids to the circle that is


s: slowest turned in Heaven. With him who takes so little of the


s: road in front of me, all Tuscany resounded, and now he scarce is


s: lisped of in Siena, where he was lord when the Florentine rage


s: was destroyed, which at that time was proud, as now it is


s: prostitute. Your reputation is color of grass that comes and


s: goes, and he discolors it through whom it came up fresh from


s: the earth." And I to him, "Thy true speech brings good humility


s: to my heart, and thou allayest a great swelling in me; but who is


s: "Provinzan Salvani; and he is here, because he was


s: presumptuous in bringing all Siena to his hands. He has gone


s: thus--and he goes without repose--ever since he died: such money


s: doth he pay in satisfaction, who is on earth too daring." And I,


s: "If that spirit who awaits the verge of life ere he repents


s: abides there below, and unless good prayer further him ascends


s: not hither, ere as much time pass us he lived, how has this


s: coining been granted unto him?" "When he was living most


s: renowned," said he, "laying aside all shame, of his own accord he


s: friend from the punishment he was enduring in the prison of


s: Charles, brought himself to tremble in every vein. More I will


s: not say, and I know that I speak darkly; but little time will


s: pass, before thy neighbors will so act that thou wilt he able to


s: gloss it. This deed released him from those limits."


s: This stooping is the symbol of Dante's consciousness of pride


s: Oderisi of Gubbio and Franco of Bologna were both eminent in


s: the art called miniare in Italian, enluminer in French.


s: The first Guido is doubtless Guido Guinicelli, whom Dante


s: calls (see Canto XXVI.) his master; the other probably Dante's


s: Dante's words are pappo and dindi, childish terms for "bread"


s: The mad Florentine people were utterly cast down in 1260, at


s: Provinzano Salvani was one of the chief supporters of the


s: Ghibelline cause in Tuscany. He was a man of great qualities and


s: capacity, but proud and presumptuous. Defeated and taken prisoner


s: The Campo of Siena is her chief public square and


s: marketplace, set round with palaces. The friend of Provinzano is


s: said by the old commentators to have fought for Conradin against


s: Charles of Anjou, and, being taken captive, to have been


s: condemned to death. His ransom was fixed at ten thousand florins.


s: took his seat in the Campo and humiliated himself to beg of the


s: The meaning of the dark words seems to be: Exile and poverty


s: will compel thee to beg, and begging to tremble in every vein.


s: This deed of humility and charity released him from the


s: necessity of tarrying outside the gate of Purgatory.


s: CANTO XII. First Ledge: the Proud.--Examples of the punishment of


s: one of the P's.--Ascent to the Second Ledge.


s: Side by side, like oxen who go yoked, I went on with that


s: when he said, "Leave him, and come on, for here it is well that,


s: both with sail and oars, each as much as he can should urge his


s: bark," I straitened up my body again, as is required for walking,


s: I was moving on, and following willingly the steps of my Master,


s: and both now were showing how light we were, when he said to me,


s: "Turn thine eyes downward; it will be well for thee, in order to


s: solace the way, to look upon the bed of thy footprints." As above


s: earth bear inscribed that which they were before,--whence


s: oftentimes is weeping for them there, through the pricking of


s: remembrance, which only to the pious gives the spur,--so saw I


s: figured there, but of better semblance in respect of skill, all


s: that for pathway juts out from the mountain.


s: I saw him who was created more noble than any other creature,


s: down from heaven with lightning flash descending, at one side.


s: I saw Briareus transfixed by the celestial bolt, lying at the


s: other side, heavy upon the earth in mortal chill. I saw


s: Thymbraeus, I saw Pallas and Mars, still armed, around their


s: father, gazing at the scattered limbs of the giants.


s: Examples from classic and biblical mythology alternate.


s: Apollo, so called from his temple at Thymbra, not far from


s: Troy, where Achilles is said to have slain Paris. Virgil


s: I saw Nimrod at the foot of his great toil, as if bewildered, and


s: O Niobe! with what grieving eyes did I see thee portrayed upon


s: the road between thy seven and seven children slain!


s: O Saul! how on thine own sword here didst thou appear dead on


s: Gilboa, that after felt not rain or dew!


s: O mad Arachne, so I saw thee already half spider, wretched on


s: the shreds of the work that to thy harm by thee was made!


s: Changed to a spider by Athena, whom she had challenged to a


s: O Rehoboam! here thine image seems not now to threaten, but full


s: of fear, a chariot bears it away before any one pursues it.


s: The hard pavement showed also how Alcmaeon made the ill-fated


s: Amphiaraus, the soothsayer, foreseeing his own death if he


s: went to the Theban war, hid himself to avoid being forced to go.


s: His wife, Eriphyle, bribed by a golden necklace, betrayed his


s: hiding-place, and was killed by her son Alcmaeon, for thus


s: It showed how his sons threw themselves upon Sennacherib within


s: the temple, and how they left him there dead.


s: It showed the ruin and the cruel slaughter that Tomyris wrought,


s: when she said to Cyrus, "For blood thou hast thirsted, and with


s: Herodotus (i. 214) tells how Tomyris, Queen of the


s: Massagetae, having defeated and slain Cyrus, filled a skin full


s: of human blood, and plunged his head in it with words such as


s: Dante reports, and which he derived from Orosius, Histor. ii. 7.


s: It showed how the Assyrians fled in rout after Holofernes was


s: killed, and also the remainder of the punishment.


s: I saw Troy in ashes, and in caverns. O Ilion! how cast down and


s: abject the image which is there discerned showed thee!


s: What master has there been of pencil or of style that could draw


s: the shadows and the lines which there would make every subtile


s: genius wonder? Dead the dead, and the living seemed alive. He who


s: went bent down.--Now be ye proud, and go with haughty look, ye


s: sons of Eve, and bend not down your face so that ye may see your


s: More of the mountain had now been circled by us, and of the sun's


s: when he, who always in advance attent was going on, began, "Lift


s: up thy head; there is no more time for going thus abstracted. See


s: the service of the day the sixth hand-maiden returns. With


s: reverence adorn thine acts and thy face so that he may delight to


s: The sixth hour of the day is coming to its end, near noon.


s: I was well used to his admonition ever to lose no time, so that


s: on that theme he could not speak to me obscurely.


s: To us came the beautiful creature, clothed in white, and in his


s: face such as seems the tremulous morning star. Its arms it


s: opened, and then it opened its wings; it said, "Come: here at


s: hand are the steps, and easily henceforth one ascends. To this


s: invitation very few come. O human race, born to fly upward, why


s: before a little wind dost thou so fall?"


s: He led us to where the rock was cut; here he struck his wings


s: across my forehead, then promised me secure progress.


s: Removing the first P that the Angel of the Gate had incised


s: As on the right hand, in going up the mountain, where sits the


s: church that dominates her the well-guided city above


s: Rubaconte, the bold flight of the ascent is broken by the


s: stairs, which were made in an age when the record and the stave


s: were secure, in like manner, the bank which falls here very


s: steeply from the next round is slackened; but on this side and


s: that the high rock grazes. As we turned our persons thither,


s: voices sang "Beati pauperes spiritu" in such wise that speech


s: could not tell it. Ah, how different are these passes from those


s: of Hell! for here through songs one enters, and there below


s: The hill of San Miniato, above Florence.


s: The upper bridge at Florence across the Arno, named after


s: Messer Rubaconte di Mandella, podesta of Florence, who laid the


s: first stone of it in 1237; now called the Ponte alle Grazie,


s: after a little chapel built upon it in 1471, and dedicated to Our


s: In the good old time when men were honest. In 1299 one


s: Messer Niccola Acciaioli, in order to conceal a fraudulent


s: transaction, had a leaf torn out from the public notorial record;


s: salt, for the sake of private gain, measured the salt he received


s: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." As Dante passes from each


s: round of Purgatory, an angel removes the P which denotes the


s: special sin there purged away. And the removal is accompanied


s: with the words of one of the Beatitudes.


s: Now we were mounting up over the holy stairs, and it seemed to me


s: Whereon I, "Master, say, what heavy thing has been lifted from


s: me, so that almost no weariness is felt by me as I go on?" He


s: answered, "When the P's that almost extinct still remain on


s: thy countenance shall be, as one is, quite erased, thy feet will


s: be so conquered by good will that not only they will not feel


s: fatigue, but it will be delight to them to be urged up." Then I


s: did like those who are going with something on their head,


s: unknown by them unless the signs of others make them suspect;


s: wherefore the hand assists to ascertain, and seeks and finds, and


s: and with the fingers of my right hand outspread, I found only six


s: Almost extinct, because, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, "Pride


s: by which we are chiefly turned from God is the first and the


s: origin of all sins." He adds, "Pride is said to be the beginning


s: of every sin, not because every single sin has its source in


s: pride, but because every kind of sin is born of pride." Summa


s: CANTO XIII. Second Ledge the Envious.--Examples of Love.--The


s: Shades in haircloth, and with sealed eyes.--Sapia of Siena.


s: We were at the top of the stairway, where the mountain, ascent of


s: cornice binds the hill round about, in like manner as the first,


s: except that its arc bends more quickly. No shadow is there, nor


s: mark which is apparent  so that the bank appears smooth and so


s: the path, with the livid color of the stone.


s: "If to enquire one waits here for people," said the Poet, "I fear


s: his eyes fixedly upon the sun, made of his right side the centre


s: for his movement, and turned the left part of himself. "O sweet


s: light, with confidence in which I enter on the new road, do thou


s: lead us on it," he said, "as there is need for leading here


s: within. Thou warmest the world, thou shinest upon it; if other


s: reason prompt not to the contrary, thy rays ought ever to be


s: As far as here on earth is counted for a mile, so far had we now


s: gone there, in little time because of ready will; and towards us


s: were heard to fly, not however seen, spirits uttering courteous


s: invitations to the table of love. The first voice that passed


s: flying, "Virum non habent," loudly said, and went on behind


s: us reiterating it. And before it had become quite inaudible


s: through distance, another passed by, crying, "I am Orestes,"


s: and also did not stay. "O Father," said I, "what voices are


s: these?" and even as I was asking, lo! the third, saying, "Love


s: them from whom ye have had wrong." And the good Master: "This


s: circle scourges the sin of envy, and therefore from love are


s: drawn the cords of the scourge. The curb must be of the opposite


s: sound; I think that thou wilt hear it before thou arrivest at the


s: air, and thou wilt see in front of us people sitting, and each is


s: different from the stone. And when we were a little further


s: forward, I heard them crying, "Mary, pray for us!" crying,


s: "They have no wine."--John ii. 3. The words of Mary at the


s: wedding feast of Cana, symbolic of a kindness that is a rebuke of


s: The words of Pylades, before Aegisthus, when contending with


s: Orestes to be put to death in his stead.


s: At the stair to the third ledge, at the foot of which stands


s: I do not believe there goes on earth to-day a man so hard that he


s: when I had approached so near to them that their actions came


s: surely to me, tears were drawn from my eyes by heavy grief. They


s: seemed to me covered with coarse haircloth, and one supported the


s: Thus the blind, who lack subsistence, stand at pardons to beg


s: for what they need, and one bows his head upon another, so that


s: pity may quickly be moved in others, not only by the sound of the


s: blind the sun profits not, so to the shades, there where I was


s: now speaking, the light of Heaven wills not to make largess of


s: itself; for a wire of iron pierces and sews up the eyelids of


s: all; even as is done to a wild sparrow-hawk, because it stays not


s: On occasion of special indulgences the beggars gather at the


s: door of churches frequented by those who seek the pardons to be


s: It seemed to me I was doing outrage as I went on, seeing others,


s: not myself being seen, wherefore I turned me to my sage Counsel;


s: waited not my asking, but said, "Speak, and be brief and to the


s: Virgil was coming with me on that side of the cornice from which


s: one may fall, because it is encircled by no rim. On the other


s: side of me were the devout shades, that through the horrible


s: stitches were pressing out the tears so that they bathed their


s: cheeks. I turned me to them, and, "O folk secure," I began, "of


s: seeing the lofty light which alone your desire holds in its care,


s: the stream of memory through them may descend clear, tell me,


s: for it will be gracious and dear to me, if there be a soul here


s: among you that is Latin, and perhaps it will be good for him if I


s: but thou meanest, who lived in Italy while a pilgrim." This it


s: seemed to me to hear for answer somewhat further on than where I


s: was standing; wherefore I made myself heard still more that way.


s: Among the others I saw a shade that was expectant in look; and,


s: if any one should wish to ask, How?--like a blind man it was


s: lifting up its chin. "Spirit," said I, "that humblest thyself in


s: order to ascend, if thou art that one which answered me, make


s: thyself known to me either by place or by name." "I was a


s: Sienese," it answered, "and with these others I cleanse here my


s: guilty life, weeping to Him that He grant Himself to us. Sapient


s: I was not, although I was called Sapia, and I was far more glad


s: of others' harm than of my own good fortune. And that thou mayst


s: not believe that I deceive thee, bear if I was foolish as I tell


s: thee. The arch of my years already descending, my fellow-citizens


s: and I prayed God for that which He willed. They were routed


s: there, and turned into the bitter passes of flight; and I, seeing


s: that I turned upward my audacious face, crying out to God, 'Now


s: no more I fear thee;' as the blackbird doth because of a little


s: fair weather. At the very end of my life I desired peace with


s: God; and even yet my debt would not be lessened by penitence,


s: had it not been that Pier Pettinagno, who out of charity was


s: sorry for me, held me in memory in his holy prayers. But thou,


s: who art thou that goest asking of our conditions, and bearest


s: thine eyes loose as I think, and breathing dost speak?" "My


s: eyes," said I, "will yet be taken from me here but a little time,


s: with envy. Far greater is the fear, with which my soul is in


s: suspense, of the torment beneath, and already the load down there


s: among us, if thou thinkest to return below?" And I, "This one who


s: ask of me, spirit elect, if thou wouldst that I should yet move


s: for thee on earth my mortal feet." "Oh, this is so strange a


s: thing to hear," she replied, "that it is great sign that God


s: loves thee; therefore assist me sometimes with thy prayer. And I


s: beseech thee, by that which thou most desirest, if ever thou


s: tread the earth of Tuscany, that with my kindred thou restore my


s: fame. Thou wilt see them among that vain people which hopes in


s: Talamone, and will waste more hope there, than in finding the


s: Diana but the admirals will stake the most there.


s: Being purified from sin they will retain no memory of it.


s: "Fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of


s: "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to


s: This was the battle in 1259, in which the Florentines routed


s: die Sienese Ghibellines, at whose head was Provenzan Salvani. who


s: I should not yet within Purgatory have diminished my debt of


s: expiation, but, because I delayed repentance till the hour of


s: Death, I should still be outside the gate.


s: A poor comb-dealer, a man of kind heart, honest dealings, and


s: good deeds, and still remembered for them in Siena. He died in


s: A little port on the coast of Tuscany, on which the Sienese


s: wasted toil and money in the vain hope that by strengthening and


s: enlarging it they could make themselves rivals at sea of the


s: A subterranean stream supposed to flow beneath the city.


s: Of these last words the meaning is obscure.


s: CANTO XIV. Second Ledge: the Envious--Guido del Duca.--Rinieri


s: de' Calboli.--Examples of the punishment of Envy.


s: "Who is this that circles our mountain ere death have given him


s: flight, and opens and shuts his eyes at his own will?" "I know


s: not who he is, but I know that he is not alone. Do thou, who art


s: nearer to him, ask him; and sweetly, so that he may speak, accost


s: me there on the right hand, then turned up their faces to speak


s: to me. And one of them said, "O soul that still fixed in thy body


s: whence thou comest, and who thou art; for thou makest us so


s: marvel at this thy grace, as needs must a thing that never was


s: before." And I, "Through mid Tuscany there wanders a little


s: stream, that has its rise on Falterona, and a hundred miles of


s: coarse does not suffice it. From thereupon I bring this body.


s: To tell you who I am would be to speak in vain, for my name as


s: yet makes no great sound." "If I grasp aright thy meaning with my


s: conceal the name of that river, even as one does of horrible


s: things?" And the shade of whom this was asked, delivered itself


s: thus, "I know not, but truly it is fit that the name of such a


s: valley perish, for from its source (where the rugged mountain


s: chain, from which Pelorus is cut off, is so teeming that in


s: few places it passes beyond that mark), far as there where it


s: gives back in restoration that which heaven dries up of the sea


s: (wherefrom the rivers have what flows in them), virtue is driven


s: away as an enemy by all men, like a snake, either through


s: misfortune of the place, or through evil habit that incites them.


s: their nature that it seems as though Circe had had them in her


s: feeding. Among foul hogs, more fit for acorns than for other


s: food made for human use, it first directs its poor path. Then,


s: coming down, it finds curs more snarling, than their power


s: warrants, and at them disdainfully it twists its


s: muzzle. It goes on falling, and the more it swells so much the


s: more the accursed and ill-fated ditch finds the dogs becoming


s: wolves. Descending then through many hollow gulfs, it finds


s: foxes so full of fraud, that they fear not that wit may entrap


s: them. Nor will I leave to speak though another hear me: and well


s: it will be for this one if hereafter he mind him of that which a


s: These words are spoken by Guido del Duca, who is answered by


s: Rinieri de' Calboli; both of them from the Romagna.


s: One of the highest of the Tuscan Apennines.


s: The people of the Casentino, the upper valley of the Arno.


s: "I see thy grandson, who becomes hunter of those wolves upon


s: the bank of the fierce stream, and terrifies them all. He sells


s: their flesh, it being yet alive; then he slays them, like an


s: old wild beast; many of life, himself of honor he deprives.


s: Bloody he comes forth from the dismal wood; he leaves it such,


s: that from now for a thousand years, in its primal state it is not


s: him who listens is disturbed, from whatsoever side the danger may


s: become disturbed and sad, when it had gathered to itself the


s: Fulcieri da Calvoli, so named by Villani (viii. 69), "a


s: fierce and cruel man," was made podesta of Florence in 1302. He


s: put to death many of the White Guelphs, and banished more of


s: The speech of one and the look of the other made me wishful to


s: know their names, and I made request for it, mixed with prayers.


s: Wherefore the spirit which first had spoken to me began again,


s: "Thou wishest that I abase myself in doing that for thee which


s: thou wilt not do for me; but since God wills that such great


s: grace of His shine through in thee, I will not be chary to thee;


s: therefore know that I am Guido del Duca. My blood was so inflamed


s: have seen me overspread with livid hue. Of my sowing I reap this


s: straw. O human race, why dost thou set thy heart there where is


s: "This one is Rinier; this is the glory and the honor of the house


s: worth. And between the Po and the mountain, and the sea and


s: the Reno, not his blood alone has become stripped of the good


s: required for truth and for delight; for within these limits the


s: ground is so full of poisonous stocks, that slowly would they now


s: again? When in Faenza a Bernardin di Fosco, the noble scion of a


s: mean plant? Marvel not, Tuscan, if I weep, when I remember with


s: Guido da Prata, Ugolin d' Azzo who lived with us, Federico


s: Tignoso and his company, the house of Traversara, and the


s: Anastagi, (both the one race and the other is without heir), the


s: ladies and the cavaliers, the toils and the pleasures for which


s: love and courtesy inspired our will, there where hearts have


s: become so wicked. O Brettinoro! why dost thou not flee away,


s: since thy family hath gone, and many people, in order not to be


s: guilty? Well doth Bagnacaval that gets no more sons; and ill doth


s: them; yet not so that a pure report of them can ever remain. O


s: Ugolin de' Fantolin! thy name is secure, since one who,


s: degenerating, can make it dark is no longer awaited. But go thy


s: way, Tuscan, now; for now it pleases me far more to weep than to


s: speak, so much hath our discourse wrung my mind."


s: These and the others named afterwards were well-born,


s: honorable, and courteous men in Romagna in the thirteenth


s: century. What is known of them may be found in Benvenuto da


s: Imola's comment, and in that of Scartazzini.


s: The Pagani were lords of Faenza and Imola (see Hell, Canto


s: XXVII); the Demon was Mainardo, who died in 1302.


s: We knew that those dear souls heard us go; therefore by silence


s: they made us confident of the road. After we had become alone by


s: going on, a voice that seemed like lightning when it cleaves the


s: air, came counter to us, saying, "Everyone that findeth me shall


s: slay me,"  and fled like thunder which rolls away, if suddenly


s: the cloud is rent. Soon as our hearing had a truce from it, lo!


s: now another with so great a crash that it resembled thunderings


s: in swift succession: "I am Aglauros who became a stone." And


s: then to draw me close to the Poet, I backward and not forward


s: took a step. Now was the air quiet on every side, and he said to


s: me, "That was the hard curb which ought to hold man within his


s: bound; but ye take the bait, so that the hook of the old


s: adversary draws you to him, and therefore little avails bridle or


s: wherefore He who discerns everything scourges you.


s: Daughter of Cecrops, changed to stone because of envy of her


s: These examples of the fatal consequences of the sin.


s: CANTO XV. Second Ledge: the Envious.--An Angel removes the second


s: As much as appears, between the beginning of the day and the


s: close of the third hour, of the sphere that ever in manner of a


s: child is sporting, so much now, toward the evening, appeared to


s: be remaining of his course for the sun. It was vespers


s: there, and here midnight; and the rays struck us across the


s: nose, because the mountain had been so circled by us that we


s: were now going straight toward the sunset, when I felt my


s: forehead weighed down by the splendor far more than at first, and


s: my hands toward the top of my brows, and made for myself the


s: visor that lessens the excess of what is seen.


s: The sun was still some three hours from his setting. The


s: sphere that ever is sportive like a child has been variously


s: interpreted; perhaps Dante only meant the sphere of the heavens


s: which by its ever varying aspect suggests the image of a playful


s: Dante uses "vespers" as the term for the last of the four


s: canonical divisions of the day; that is, from three to six P.M.


s: See Convito, iv. 23. Three o'clock in Purgatory corresponds with


s: The source of this increase of brightness being unknown, it


s: As when from water, or from the mirror, the ray leaps to the


s: opposite quarter, and, mounting up in like manner to that in


s: which it descends, at equal distance departs as much from the


s: falling of the stone, as experiment and art show; so it seemed


s: to me that I was struck by light reflected there in front of me,


s: from which my sight was swift to fly. "What is that, sweet


s: Father, from which I cannot screen my sight so that it avails


s: me," said I, "and which seems to be moving toward us?" "Marvel


s: not if the family of Heaven still dazzle thee," he replied to me;


s: it be that to see these things will not be grievous to thee, but


s: will be delight to thee as great as nature fitted thee to feel."


s: I.e., the perpendicular, at the point of incidence.


s: When we had reached the blessed Angel, with a glad voice he said,


s: We were mounting, already departed thence, and "Beati


s: misericordes" had been sung behind us, and "Rejoice thou that


s: overcomest."  My Master and I, we two alone, were going on


s: upward, and I was thinking to win profit as we went from his


s: words; and I addressed me to him, thus enquiring, "What did the


s: spirit from Romagna mean, mentioning exclusion and


s: companionship?" Wherefore he to me, "Of his own greatest fault


s: he knows the harm, and therefore it is not to be wondered at if


s: he reprove it, in order that there may be less lamenting on


s: account of it. Because  your desires are directed there, where,


s: through companionship, a share is lessened, envy moves the


s: bellows for your sighs. But if the love of the highest sphere


s: had turned your desire on high, that fear would not be in your


s: breast; for the more there are who there say 'ours,' so much the


s: more of good doth each possess, and the more of charity burns in


s: that cloister." "I am more hungering to be contented," said I,


s: "than if I had at first been silent, and more of doubt I assemble


s: possessors richer with itself, than if by few it is


s: possessed?" And he to me, "Because thou fastenest thy mind


s: only on earthly things, from true light thou gatherest darkness.


s: That infinite and ineffable Good which is on high, runs to love


s: even as the sunbeam comes to a lucid body. As much of itself it


s: gives as it finds of ardor; so that how far soever charity


s: extends, beyond it doth the eternal bounty increase. And the more


s: well, and the more love is there, and like a mirror one reflects


s: to the other. And if my discourse appease not thy hunger, thou


s: shalt see Beatrice, and she will fully take from thee this and


s: every other longing. Strive only that soon may be extinct, as two


s: At the passage from each round, the Angel at the foot of the


s: stairs repeats words from the Beatitudes adapted to those


s: purified from the sin punished upon the ledge which is being


s: In the last canto, Guido del Duca had exclaimed, "O human


s: race, why dost thou set thy heart there where companionship must


s: "True love in this differs from gold and clay,


s: That to divide is not to take away."--Shelley, Epipsychidion.


s: As I was about to say "Thou satisfiest me," I saw myself arrived


s: on the next round, so that my eager eyes made me silent. There


s: it seemed to me I was of a sudden rapt in an ecstatic vision, and


s: the sweet action of a mother, saying, "My son, why hast thou done


s: thee;" and when here she was silent, that which first appeared,


s: Then appeared to me another, with those waters down along her


s: cheeks which grief distils when it springs from great despite


s: toward others, and she was saying, "If thou art lord of the city


s: about whose name was such great strife among the gods, and whence


s: arms, that have embraced our daughter, O Pisistratus." And the


s: lord appeared to me, benign and mild, to answer her, with


s: temperate look, "What shall we do to him who desires ill for us,


s: Dante translated this story from Valerius Maximus, Facta et


s: Then I saw people kindled with fire of wrath, killing a youth


s: with stones, loudly crying to each other only, "Slay, slay." And


s: I saw him bowed by death, which now was weighing on him, toward


s: the ground, but in such great strife he ever made of his eyes


s: gates for heaven, praying to the high Lord, that He would pardon


s: his persecutors, with that aspect which unlocks pity.


s: When my mind returned outwardly to the things which outside of it


s: see me do like a man who looses himself from slumber, said,


s: "What ails thee, that thou canst not support thyself? but art


s: come more than a half league veiling thine eyes, and with thy


s: legs staggering like one whom wine or slumber bends." "O sweet


s: Father mine, if thou harkenest to me I will tell thee," said I,


s: "what appeared to me when my legs were thus taken from me." And


s: he, "If thou hadst a hundred masks upon thy face, thy thoughts


s: howsoever small would not be hidden from me. That which thou hast


s: heart to the waters of peace which are poured forth from the


s: eternal fountain. I did not ask, 'What ails thee?' for the reason


s: when the body lies inanimate; but I asked, in order to give vigor


s: We were going on through the vesper time, forward intent so far


s: as the eyes could reach against the bright evening rays; when,


s: lo, little by little, a smoke came toward us, dark as night; iior


s: CANTO XVI. Third Ledge the Wrathful.--Marco Lombardo.--His


s: discourse on Free Will, and the Corruption of the World.


s: Gloom of hell, or of night deprived of every planet, under a


s: barren sky, obscured by clouds as much as it can be, never made


s: so thick a veil to my sight nor to my feeling so harsh of tissue


s: as that smoke which covered us there; so that my eye endured not


s: to stay open wherefore my sage and trusty Escort drew to my


s: side and offered me his shoulder. Even as a blind man goes behind


s: anything that may hurt or perhaps kill him, I went along, through


s: saying, "Take care that thou be not cut off from me."


s: The gloom and the smoke symbolize the effects of anger on the


s: I heard voices, and each appeared to be praying for peace and


s: mercy to the Lamb of God that taketh sins away. Only "Agnus


s: Dei were their exordiums: one word there was in all, and one


s: measure; so that among them seemed entire concord. "Are these


s: spirits, Master, that I hear?" said I. And he to me, "Thou


s: apprehendest truly; and they go loosening the knot of anger."


s: "Now who art thou that cleavest our smoke, and yet dost speak of


s: us even as if thou didst still divide the time by calends?"


s: Thus by one voice was said: whereon my Master said, "Reply, and


s: ask if by this way one goeth up." And I, "O creature, that


s: cleansest thyself in order to return beautiful unto Him who made


s: thee, a marvel shalt thou hear if thou accompanyest me." "I will


s: follow thee, so far as is permitted me," it replied, "and if the


s: smoke allows not seeing, in its stead hearing shall keep us


s: joined." Then I began, "With that swathing band which death


s: unbinds I go upward, and I came hither through the infernal


s: anguish. And if God bath so enclosed me in His grace that He


s: wills that I should see His court by a mode wholly out of modern


s: usage, conceal not from me who thou wert before thy death, but


s: tell it to me, and tell me if I am going rightly to the pass; and


s: Marco; the world I knew, and that worth I loved, toward which


s: every one hath now unbent his bow. For mounting thou art going


s: rightly." Thus he replied, and added, "I pray thee that thou pray


s: faith to thee to do that which thou askest of me; but I am


s: bursting inwardly with a doubt, if I free not myself of it; at


s: first it was simple, and now it is made double by thy words which


s: it. The world is indeed as utterly deserted by every virtue as


s: thou declarest to me, and with iniquity is big and covered; but I


s: and that I may show it to others; for one sets it in the heavens,


s: By those in the eternal world dine is not reckoned by earth


s: The doubt was occasioned by Guido del Duca's words (Canto


s: either from misfortune of the place, or through the bad habits of


s: Lombardo; Dante accepts the fact as certain, and his doubt is


s: A deep sigh that grief wrung into "Ay me!" he first sent forth,


s: and then began, "Brother, the world is blind, and thou forsooth


s: comest from it. Ye who are living refer every cause upward to the


s: themselves. If this were so, free will would be destroyed in you,


s: for evil. The heavens initiate your movements: I do not say all


s: of them; but, supposing that I said it, light for good and for


s: evil is given to you; and free will, which, if it endure fatigue


s: in the first battles with the heavens, afterwards, if it be well


s: nurtured, conquers everything. To a greater force, and to a


s: better nature, ye, free, are subjected, and that creates the mind


s: The soul of man is the direct creation of God, and is in


s: immediate subjection to His power; it is not in charge of the


s: Heavens, and its will is free to resist their mingled and


s: "Forth from the hand of Him who delights in it ere it exist, like


s: issues the simple little soul, which knows nothing, save that,


s: proceeding from a glad Maker, it willingly turns to that which


s: allures it. Of trivial good at first it tastes the savor; by this


s: city. The laws exist, but who set hand to them? Not one: because


s: the shepherd who is in advance can ruminate, but has not his


s: hoofs divided? Wherefore the people, who see their guide only


s: at that good whereof they are greedy, feed upon that, and seek


s: no further. Well canst thou see that the evil leading is the


s: cause that has made the world guilty, and not nature which in you


s: have two Suns, which made visible both one road and the other,


s: that of the world and that of God. One has extinguished the


s: other; and the sword is joined to the crozier; and the two


s: together must of necessity go ill, because, being joined, one


s: feareth not the other. If thou believest rue not, consider the


s: grain, for every herb is known by its seed.


s: The shepherd who precedes the flock, and should lead it


s: aright, is the Pope. A mystical interpretation of the injunction


s: upon the children of Israel (Leviticus, xi.) in regard to clean


s: and unclean beasts was familiar to the schoolmen. St. Augustine


s: expounds the cloven hoof as symbolic of right conduct, because it


s: the meditation of wisdom. Dante seems here to mean that the Pope


s: has the true doctrine, but makes not the true use of it for his


s: own guidance and the government of the world.


s: The results that follow this forced union.


s: "Within the land which the Adige and the Po water, valor and


s: courtesy were wont to be found before Frederick had his


s: quarrel; now safely anyone may pass there who out of shame


s: would cease discoursing with the good, or drawing near them.


s: Truly three old men are still there in whom the antique age


s: rebukes the new, and it seems late to them ere God restore them


s: to the better life; Currado da Palazzo, and the good Gherardo,


s: and Guido da Castel, who is better named, after the manner of the


s: Before the Emperor Frederick II. had his quarrel with the


s: Pope; that is, before Emperor and Pope had failed in their


s: Gherardo da Camino, "who was noble in his life, and whose


s: memory will always be noble," says Dante in the Convito, iv. 14.


s: "The French," says Benvenuto da Linda, "call all Italians


s: "Say thou henceforth, that the Church of Rome, through


s: confounding in itself two modes of rule, falls in the mire,


s: "O Marco mine," said I, "thou reasonest well; and now I discern


s: why the sons of Levi were excluded from the heritage; but what


s: Gherardo is that, who, thou sayest, remains for sample of the


s: extinct folk, in reproach of the barbarous age?" "Either thy


s: speech deceives me, or it is making trial of me," he replied to


s: me, "in that, speaking Tuscan to me, it seems that of the good


s: Gherardo thou knowest naught. By other added name I know him not,


s: with you! for further I come not with you. Behold the brightness


s: which rays already glimmering through the smoke, and it behoves


s: me to depart--the Angel is there--ere I appear to him." So he


s: "The Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the


s: covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto


s: him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. Wherefore Levi hath


s: Famed for her virtues, says Buti; for her vices, say the


s: His time of purgation is not yet finished; not yet is he


s: CANTO XVII. Third Ledge the Wrathful.--Issue from the


s: Smoke.--Vision of examples of Anger.--Ascent to the Fourth Ledge,


s: Recall to mind, reader, if ever on the alps a cloud closed round


s: thee, through which thou couldst not see otherwise than the mole


s: through its skin, how, when the humid and dense vapors begin to


s: dissipate, the ball of the sun enters feebly through them: and


s: thy imagination will easily come to see, how at first I saw again


s: the trusty steps of my Master, I issued forth from such a cloud


s: O power imaginative, that dost sometimes so steal us from outward


s: trumpets sound, who moveth thee if the sense afford thee naught?


s: A light, that in the heavens is formed, moveth thee by itself, or


s: If the imagination is not stirred by some object of sense, it


s: is moved by the influence of the stars, or directly by the Divine


s: In my imagination appeared the impress of the impiety of her


s: who changed her form into the bird that most delights in singing.


s: came nothing which then might he received by it. Then rained down


s: his look, and thus was dying. Around him were the great


s: Ahasuerus, Esther his wife, and the just Mordecai, who was in


s: speech and action so blameless. And when this imagination burst


s: of itself, like a bubble for which the water fails, beneath which


s: bitterly, and she was saying, "O queen, wherefore through anger


s: hast thou willed to be naught? Thou hast killed thyself in order


s: not to lose Lavinia: now thou hast lost me: I am she who mourns,


s: mother, at thine, before another's ruin.


s: Progne or Philomela, according to one or the other version of


s: the tragic myth, was changed into the nightingale, after her


s: anger had led her to take cruel vengeance on Tereus.


s: Haman, who, according to the English version, was hanged, but


s: according to the Vulgate, was crucified--Esther, vii.


s: Lavinia, whose mother, Amata, killed herself in a rage at


s: hearing premature report of the death of Turnus, to whom she


s: desired that Lavinia should be married.--Aeneid, xii. 595-607.


s: As sleep is broken, when of a sudden the new light strikes the


s: closed eyes, and, broken, quivers ere it wholly dies, so my


s: imagining fell down, soon as a light, greater by far than that to


s: other object of attention removed me, and made my will so eager


s: to behold who it was that was, speaking that it never rests till


s: it is face to face. But, as before the sun which weighs down our


s: sight, and by excess veils its own shape, so here my power


s: failed. "This is a divine spirit who directs us, without our


s: asking, on the way to go up, and with his own light conceals


s: himself. He does for us as a man doth for himself; for he who


s: sees the need and waits for asking, malignly sets himself already


s: us hasten to ascend ere it grows dark, for after, it would not be


s: step, near use I felt a motion as of wings, and a fanning on my


s: face, and I heard said, "Beati pacifici,' who are without


s: By which the angel removes the third P from Dante's brow.


s: Now were the last sunbeams on which the night follows so lifted


s: above us, that the stars were appearing on many sides. "O my


s: virtue, why dost thou so melt away?" to myself I said, for I felt


s: arrives at the shore. And I listened a little, if I might hear


s: anything in the new circle. Then I turned to my Master, and said,


s: where we are: if the feet are stopped, let not thy discourse


s: stop." And he to me, "The love of good, less than it should have


s: been, is here restored; here is plied again the ill-slackened


s: oar. But that thou mayst still more clearly understand, turn thy


s: mind to me, and thou shalt gather some good fruit from our delay.


s: It is the round on which the sin of acedie, sloth, is purged


s: "Neither Creator nor creature," began he, "son, ever was without


s: love, either natural, or of the mind, and this thou knowest.


s: The natural is always without error; but the other may err either


s: second moderates itself, it cannot be the cause of ill delight.


s: But when it is bent to evil, or runs to good with more zeal,


s: or with less, than it ought, against the Creator works his own


s: creature. Hence thou canst comprehend that love needs must be the


s: Either native in the soul, as the love of God, or determined


s: by the choice, through free will, of some object of desire in the


s: "Now since love can never bend its sight from the welfare of its


s: subject, all things are safe from hatred of themselves; and


s: since no being can be conceived of divided from the First, and


s: standing by itself, from hating Him every affection is cut


s: off. It follows, if, distinguishing, I rightly judge, that the


s: evil which is loved is that of one s neighbor; and in three modes


s: excel through the abasement of his neighbor, and only longs that


s: from his greatness he may be brought low. There is he who


s: fears loss of power, favor, honor, fame, because another rises;


s: whereat he is so saddened that he loves the opposite. And


s: there is he who seems so outraged by injury that it makes him


s: gluttonous of vengeance, and such a one must needs coin evil for


s: others. This triform love is lamented down below.


s: To however wrong an object love may be directed, the person


s: always believes it to be for his own good.


s: "Now I would that thou hear of the other,--that which runs to the


s: in which the mind may be at rest, and which it desires; wherefore


s: you to see this, or to acquire it, this cornice, after just


s: repentance, torments you therefor. Another good there is,


s: which doth not make man happy, is not happiness, is not the good


s: essence, the root of every good fruit. The love which abandons


s: itself too much to this is lamented above us in three circles,


s: but how it is reckoned tripartite, I am silent, in order that


s: Resulting in the sins of avarice, gluttony, and lust.


s: CANTO XVIII. Fourth Ledge The Slothful.--Discourse of Virgil on


s: Love and Free Will.--Throng of Spirits running in haste to redeem


s: The lofty Teacher had put an end to his discourse, and looked


s: attentive on my face to see if I appeared content; and I, whom a


s: fresh thirst already was goading, was silent outwardly, and


s: within was saying, "Perhaps the too much questioning I make


s: annoys him." But that true Father, who perceived the timid wish


s: which did not disclose itself, by speaking gave me hardihood to


s: speak. Then I, "My sight is so vivified in thy light that I


s: discern clearly all that thy discourse may imply or declare:


s: therefore I pray thee, sweet Father dear, that thou demonstrate


s: to me the love to which thou referrest every good action and its


s: contrary." "Direct," he said, "toward me the keen eyes of the


s: understanding, and the error of the blind who make themselves


s: leaders will be manifest to thee. The mind, which is created apt


s: to love, is mobile unto everything that pleases, soon as by


s: pleasure it is roused to action. Your faculty of apprehension


s: draws an image from a real existence, and within you displays it,


s: mind incline toward it, that inclination is love, that


s: inclination is nature which is bound anew in you by pleasure.


s: Then, as the fire moveth upward by its own form, which is born


s: to ascend thither where it lasts longest in its material, so the


s: captive mind enters into longing, which is a spiritual motion,


s: and never rests until the thing beloved makes it rejoice. Now it


s: may be apparent to thee, how far the truth is hidden from the


s: people who aver that every love is in itself a laudable thing;


s: because perchance its matter appears always to be good; but


s: not every seal is good although the wax be good."


s: In his discourse in the preceding canto, Virgil has declared


s: that neither the Creator nor his creatures are ever without love,


s: explains how the mind is disposed to love by inclination to an


s: image within itself of some object which gives it pleasure. This


s: inclination is natural to it; or in his phrase, nature is bound


s: anew in man by the pleasure which arouses the love. All this is a


s: property of every nature to have some inclination, which is a


s: natural appetite, or love."--Summa Theol., 1, lxxvi. i.


s: Form is here used in its scholastic meaning. " The active


s: power of anything depends on its form, which is the principle of


s: its action. Fur the form is either the nature itself of the


s: thing, as in those which are pure form; or it is a constituent of


s: nature, seeks the sphere of fire between the ether and the moon.


s: The object may seem desirable to the mind, without being a


s: "Thy words, and my understanding which follows," replied I to


s: him, "have revealed love to me; but that has made me more full of


s: other foot the soul go not, if strait or crooked she go is not


s: her own merit." And he to me, "So much as reason seeth here


s: can I tell thee; beyond that await still for Beatrice; for it is


s: a work of faith. Every substantial form that is separate from


s: matter, and is united with it, has a specific virtue residing


s: in itself which without action is not perceived, nor shows itself


s: whence the intelligence of the first cognitions comes man doth


s: not know, nor whence the affection for the first objects of


s: desire, which exist in you even as zeal in the bee for making


s: honey: and this first will admits not desert of praise or blame.


s: Now in order that to this every other may be gathered, the


s: virtue that counsels  is innate in you, and ought to keep the


s: threshold of assent. This is the principle wherefrom is derived


s: the reason of desert in you, according as it gathers in and


s: winnows good and evil loves. Those who in reasoning went to the


s: foundation took note of this innate liberty, wherefore they


s: bequeathed morals to the world. Assuming then that every love


s: which is kindled within you arises of necessity, the power exists


s: will, and therefore see that thou have it in mind, if she take to


s: If love be aroused in the soul by an external object, and if


s: it be natural to the soul to love, how does she deserve praise or


s: The substantial form is the soul, which is separate from


s: In order that every other will may conform with the first,


s: that is, with the affection natural to man for the primal objects


s: The faculty of reason, the virtue which counsels and on which


s: free will depends, is "the specific virtue" of the soul.


s: The rules of that morality which would have no existence were


s: The moon, belated almost to midnight, shaped like a bucket


s: that is all ablaze, was making the stars appear fewer to us, and


s: was running counter to the heavens along those paths which the


s: sun inflames, when the man of Rome sees it between Sardinia and


s: Corsica at its setting; and that gentle shade, for whom


s: Pietola is more famed than the Mantuan city, had laid down the


s: burden of my loading: wherefore I, who had harvested his open


s: and plain discourse upon my questions, was standing like a man


s: who, drowsy, rambles. But this drowsiness was taken from me


s: suddenly by folk, who, behind our backs, had now come round to


s: us. And such as was the rage and throng, which of old Ismenus and


s: in need of Bacchus, so, according to what I saw of them as they


s: came, those who by good will and right love are ridden curve


s: their steps along that circle. Soon they were upon us; because,


s: running, all that great crowd was moving on; and two in front,


s: weeping, were crying out, "Mary ran with haste unto the mountain


s: and Caesar, to subdue Ilerda, thrust at Marseilles, and then


s: ran on to Spain." "Swift, swift, that time be not lost by


s: little love," cried the others following, "for zeal in doing well


s: redeems your negligence and delay, through lukewarmness, in


s: well-doing, this one who is alive (and surely I lie not to you)


s: wishes to go up, soon as the sun may shine again for us;


s: therefore tell us where is the opening near." These words were of


s: and thou shalt find the gap. We are so filled with desire to move


s: obligation for churlishness. I was Abbot of San Zeno at


s: Verona, under the empire of the good Barbarossa, of whom Milan,


s: still grieving, doth discourse. And he has one foot already in


s: the grave, who soon will lament on account of that monastery,


s: and will be sorry for having had power there; because in place of


s: worse in mind, and who was evil-born." I know not if more he


s: said, or if he were silent, so far beyond us he had already run


s: by; but this I heard, and to retain it pleased me.


s: Gibbous, like certain buckets still in use in Italy.


s: "These words describe the daily backing of the moon through


s: These islands are invisible from Rome, but the line that runs


s: from Rome between them is a little south of east.


s: The modern name of Andes, the birthplace of Virgil, and


s: therefore more famous than Mautua itself.


s: Alberto della Scala, lord of Verona; he died in 1301. He had


s: forced upon the monastery for its abbot his deformed and depraved


s: And he who was at every need my succor said: "Turn thee this way;


s: they were saying: "The people for whom the sea was opened were


s: dead before their heirs beheld the Jordan; and those who


s: endured not the toil even to the end with the son of Anchises,


s: offered themselves to life without glory."


s: But left him, to remain with Acestes in Sicily--Aeneid, v.


s: Then when those shades were so far parted from us that they could


s: many others and diverse were born; and I so strayed from one unto


s: CANTO XIX. Fourth Ledge: the Slothful--Dante dreams of the


s: At the hour when the diurnal heat, vanquished by the Earth or


s: sometimes by Saturn, can warm no more the coldness of the


s: moon,--when the geomancers see their Greater Fortune in the


s: east, rising before the dawn along a path which short while stays


s: with eyes asquint, and crooked on her feet, with hands lopped


s: off, and pallid in her color. I gazed at her; and as the sun


s: comforts the cold limbs which the night bennmbs, so my look made


s: her tongue nimble, and then set her wholly straight in little


s: while, and so colored her wan face as love requires. Then, when


s: she had her speech thus unloosed, she began to sing, so that with


s: she sang, "I am the sweet Siren, and the mariners in mid sea


s: I bewitch, so full am I of pleasantness to hear. I turned Ulysses


s: seldom departs, so wholly I content him."


s: Toward dawn, when the warmth of the preceding day is


s: exhausted, Saturn was supposed to exert a frigid influence.


s: "Geomancy is divination by points in the ground, or pebbles


s: arranged in certain figures, which have peculiar names. Among


s: these is the figure called the Fortuna Major, which by an effort


s: of imagination can also be formed out of some of the last stars


s: of Aquarius and some of the first of Pisces." These are the signs


s: the stars forming the figure of the Greater Fortune would be in


s: the east about two hours before sunrise.


s: The hour when this dream comes to Dante is "post mediam


s: noctem ... cum somnia vera,"--the hour in which it was


s: commonly believed that dreams have a true meaning. The woman seen


s: Not yet was her mouth closed when at my side a Lady appeared,


s: holy, and ready to make her confused. "O Virgil, Virgil, who is


s: this?" she sternly said; and he came with his eyes fixed only on


s: that modest one. She took hold of the other, and in front she


s: opened her, rending her garments, and showed me her belly; this


s: waked me with the stench that issued from it. I turned my eyes,


s: and the good Virgil said, "At least three calls have I given


s: thee; arise and come; let us find the opening through which thou


s: This lady seems to be the type of the conscience, virtus


s: intellectualis, that calls reason to rescue the tempted soul.


s: Up I rose, and now were all the circles of the sacred mountain


s: full of the high day, and we went on with the new sun at our


s: backs. Following him, I bore my forehead like one who has it


s: laden with thought, and makes of himself the half arch of a


s: bridge, when I heard, "Come ye! here is the passage," spoken in a


s: to us turned us upward between the two walls of the hard rock. He


s: to be blessed, for they shall have their souls mistresses of


s: consolation. "What ails thee that ever on the ground thou


s: lookest?" my Guide began to say to me, both of us having mounted


s: up a little from the Angel. "With such apprehension a recent


s: vision makes me go, which bends me to itself so that I cannot


s: from the thought withdraw me." "Hast thou seen," said he, "that


s: ancient sorceress who above us henceforth is alone lamented? Hast


s: strike thy heels on the ground; turn thine eyes to the lure


s: that the eternal King whirls with the great circles."


s: The meaning seems to be, "they shall be possessed of


s: comfort." Donne (i.e."mistresses ) is a rhyme-word, and affords


s: an instance of a straining of the meaning compelled by the rhyme.


s: Like the falcon that first looks down, then turns at the cry, and


s: thither; such I became, and such, so far as the rock is cleft to


s: afford a way to him who goeth up, did I go on as far as where the


s: saw people upon it who were weeping, lying upon the earth all


s: turned downward. "Adhoesit pavimento anima mea," I heard them


s: saying with such deep sighs that the words were hardly


s: understood. "O elect of God, whose sufferings both justice and


s: hope make less hard, direct us toward the high ascents." "If ye


s: come secure from the lying down, and wish to find the speediest


s: way, let your right hands always be outside." So prayed the Poet,


s: in his speaking, marked the hidden one; and then turned my


s: eyes to my Lord, whereon he granted me, with cheerful sign, that


s: which the look of my desire was asking for. Then when I could do


s: with myself according to my will, I drew me above that creature


s: whose words had first made me note him, saying, "Spirit in whom


s: weeping matures that without which no one can turn to God,


s: suspend a little for me thy greater care. Tell me who thou wast;


s: and why ye have your backs turned upward; and if thou wishest


s: that I obtain aught for thee there whence I alive set forth." And


s: Sestri and Chiaveri descends a beautiful stream, and of its


s: name the title of my race makes its top. One month and little


s: more I proved how the great mantle weighs on him who guards it


s: from the mire, so that all other burdens seem a feather. My


s: Shepherd, then I found out the lying life. I saw that there the


s: heart was not at rest; nor was it possible to, mount higher in


s: that life; wherefore the love of this was kindled in me. Up to


s: that time a wretched soul and parted from God had I been,


s: avaricious of everything; now, as thou seest, I am punished for


s: it here. That which avarice doth is displayed here in the


s: purgation of these converted souls, and the Mountain has no more


s: bitter penalty. Even as our eye, fixed upon earthly things,


s: was not lifted on high, so justice here to earth has depressed


s: it. As avarice, in which labor is lost, quenched our love for


s: every good, so justice here holds us close, bound and captive in


s: feet and hands; and, so long as it shall be the pleasure of the


s: just Lord, so long shall we stay immovable and outstretched."


s: "My soul cleaveth to the dust."-- Psalm cxix. 25.


s: The face of the speaker, turned to the ground, was concealed.


s: "Know that I was a successor of Peter." This was the Pope


s: Adrian V., Ottobono de' Fieschi, who died in 1276, having been


s: The Lavagna, from which stream the Fieschi derived their


s: Others may be greater, but none more humiliating.


s: I had knelt down and wished to speak; but when I began, and he


s: became aware, only by listening, of my reverence, "What cause,"


s: said he, "hath bent thee thus downward?" And I to him, "Because


s: of your dignity my conscience stung me for standing." "Straighten


s: fellow servant of one power am I with thee and with the rest.


s: If ever thou hast understood that holy gospel sound which says


s: neque nubent, thou mayst well see why I speak thus. Now go thy


s: way. I will not that thou longer stop; for thy stay hinders my


s: weeping, with which I ripen that which thou hast said. A


s: grandchild I have on earth who is named Alagia, good in


s: herself, if only our house make her not wicked by example; and


s: And I fell at His feet to worship him. And He said unto me,


s: See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant."--Revelation xix.


s: They neither marry."--Matthew, xxii. 80. The distinctions of


s: earths do not exist in the spiritual world.


s: Alagia was the wife of the Marquis Moroello Malaspina. See


s: the close of Canto VIII. Dante had probably seen her in 1306,


s: when he was a guest of the house, in the Lunigiana.


s: Not that she was his only living relative, but the only one


s: whose prayers, coming from a good heart, would avail him.


s: CANTO XX. Fifth Ledge: the Avaricious.--The Spirits celebrate


s: examples of Poverty and Bounty.--Hugh Capet.--His discourse on


s: his descendants.--Trembling of the Mountain.


s: Against a better will the will fights ill: wherefore against my


s: own pleasure, in order to please him, I drew from the water the


s: I moved on, and my Leader moved on through the space vacant only


s: alongside of the rock, as upon a wall one goes close to the


s: battlements. For on the other side the people, that through their


s: Accursed be thou, old she-wolf, who more than all the other


s: beasts hast prey, because of thy hunger hollow without end! O


s: Heaven! by whose revolution it seems that men believe conditions


s: here below are transmuted, when will he come through whom she


s: shall depart? We were going on with slow and scanty steps, and


s: I attentive to the shades whom I heard piteously lamenting and


s: bewailing; and peradventure I heard in front of us one crying


s: out, "Sweet Mary," in his lament, even as a woman does who is in


s: travail; and continuing, "So poor wast thou as may be seen by


s: that inn where thou didst lay down thy holy burden." And


s: following this I heard, "O good Fabricius, thou didst rather


s: wish for virtue with poverty than to possess great riches with


s: vice." These words were so pleasing to me that I drew myself


s: further on to have acquaintance with that spirit from whom they


s: seemed to come. He was speaking furthermore of the largess which


s: Nicholas made to the damsels in order to conduct their youth


s: to honor. "O soul that discoursest so well," said I, "tell me who


s: without meed will be thy words, if I return to complete the short


s: will tell thee, not for comfort that I may expect from yonder,


s: but because such grace shineth on thee ere thou art dead. I was


s: the root of the evil plant which so overshadows all the Christian


s: Douai, Lille, Ghent, and Bruges had power, soon would there be


s: vengeance on it; and I implore it from him who judges


s: everything. Yonder I was called Hugh Capet: of me are born the


s: Philips and the Louises, by whom of late times France is ruled. I


s: all died out, save one, who had assumed the grey garb, I found


s: me with the bridle of the government of the realm fast in my


s: hands, and with so much power recently acquired, and so full of


s: friends, that to the widowed crown the head of my son was


s: promoted, from whom the consecrated bones of these began.


s: The old she-wolf is avarice, the same who at the outset


s: (Hell, Canto I.) had driven Dante back and made him lose hope of


s: the height. The likeness of the two passages is striking.


s: Caius Fabricius, the famous poor and incorruptible Roman


s: consul, who refused the bribes of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus. Dante


s: extols his worth also in the Convito, iv. 5.


s: St. Nicholas, Bishop of Mira, who, according to the legend,


s: knowing that owing to the poverty of their father, three maidens


s: were exposed to the risk of leading lives of dishonor, secretly,


s: at night, threw into the window of their house money enough to


s: In 1300 the descendants of Hugh Capet were ruling France,


s: Phillip the Fair gained possession of Flanders, by force and


s: fraud, in 1299; but in 1802 the French were driven out of the


s: country, after a fatal defeat at Courtrai, here dimly prophesied.


s: Dante here follows the incorrect popular tradition.


s: Who had become a monk. The historical reference is obscure.


s: An ironical reference to the ceremony of consecration at the


s: "So long as the great dowry of Provence took not the sense of


s: shame from my race, it was little worth, but still it did not


s: ill. Then it began its rapine with force and with falsehood; and,


s: Charles came to Italy, and, for amends, made a victim of


s: Conradin, and then thrust Thomas back to heaven for amends.


s: A time I see, not long after this day, that draws forth another


s: Charles from France to make both himself and his the better


s: known. Without arms he goes forth thence alone, but with the


s: lance with which Judas jousted; and that he thrusts so that he


s: makes the paunch of Florence burst. Therefrom he will gain not


s: land, but sin and shame so much the heavier for himself, as he


s: the lighter reckons such harm. The other, who has already gone


s: out a prisoner from his ship, I see selling his daughter, and


s: bargaining over her, as do the corsairs with other female slaves.


s: drawn my race unto thyself that it cares not for its own flesh?


s: In order that the ill to come and that already done may seem the


s: less, I see the fleur-de-lis entering Anagna, and in his Vicar


s: Christ made a captive. I see him being mocked a second time;


s: I see the vinegar and the gall renewed, and between living


s: thieves him put to death. I see the new Pilate so cruel that this