s: sails into the Temple. O my Lord, when shall I be glad in


s: seeing thy vengeance which, concealed, makes sweet thine anger in


s: Through the marriage in 1245 of Charles of Anjou, brother of


s: St. Louis (Louis IX.), with Beatrice, the heiress of the Count


s: The bitterness of Dante's irony is explained by the part


s: which France had played in Italian affairs.


s: The youthful grandson of Frederick II., who, striving to


s: wrest Naples and Sicily, his hereditary possessions, from the


s: hands of Charles of Anjou, was defeated and taken prisoner by him


s: Charles was believed to have had St. Thomas Aquinas poisoned.


s: Charles of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair, sent by


s: Boniface VIII., in 1301, to Florence as peacemaker. But there he


s: wrought great harm, and siding with the Black party, the Whites,


s: including Dante, were driven into exile.


s: A reference to his nickname of Senza terra, or Lackland.


s: Charles II., son of Charles of Anjou. In 1283 he was made


s: captive in a sea fight, by Ruggieri de Loria, the Admiral of


s: Peter II. of Aragon. In 1300, according to common report, he sold


s: Spite of his hostility to Boniface VIII., the worst crime of


s: the house of France was, in Dante's eyes, the seizure of the Pope


s: The destruction of the Order of the Temple.


s: "What I was saying of that only bride of the Holy Spirit, and


s: which made thee turn toward me for some gloss, is ordained for


s: all our prayers so long as the day lasts, but when the night


s: comes, we take up a contrary sound instead. Then we rehearse


s: Pygmalion, whom his gluttonous longing for gold made a traitor


s: and thief and parricide; and the wretchedness of the avaricious


s: Midas which followed on his greedy demand, at which men must


s: always laugh. Then of the foolish Achan each one recalls how he


s: stole the spoils, so that the anger of Joshua seems still to


s: sting him, here. Then we accuse Sapphira with her husband; we


s: praise the kicks that Heliodorus received, and in infamy


s: Polymnestor who slew Polydorus circles the Whole mountain.


s: Finally our cry here is, 'Crassus, tell us, for thou knowest,


s: what is the taste of gold?' At times one speaks loud, and


s: another low, according to the affection which spurs us to speak


s: now at a greater, now at a less pace. Therefore in the good which


s: near by no other person lifted up his voice."


s: The brother of Dido, and the murderer of her husband for the


s: Priam had entrusted Polydorus, his youngest son, to


s: Polymnestor, King of Thrace, who, when the fortunes of Troy


s: declined, slew Polydorus, that he might take possession of the


s: Having been slain in battle with the Parthians, their king


s: poured molten gold down his throat in derision, because of his


s: We had already parted from him, and were striving to advance


s: along the road so far as was permitted to our power, when I felt


s: the Mountain tremble, like a thing that is falling; whereupon a


s: chill seized me such as is wont to seize him who goes to death.


s: Surely Delos shook not so violently, before Latona made her nest


s: therein to give birth to the two eyes of heaven. Then began on


s: all sides such a cry that the Master drew towards me, saying:


s: "Distrust not, while I guide thee." "Gloria in excelsis Deo,"


s: all were saying, according to what I gathered from those near at


s: hand whose cry it was possible to understand. We stopped,


s: motionless and in suspense, like the shepherds who first heard


s: that song, until the trembling ceased, and it was ended. Then we


s: took up again our holy journey, looking at the shades that were


s: lying on the ground, returned already to their wonted plaint. No


s: ignorance ever with so sharp attack made me desirous of


s: knowing--if my memory err not in this--as it seemed to me I then


s: experienced in thought. Nor, for our haste, did I dare to ask,


s: nor of myself could I see aught there. So I went on timid and


s: Apollo and Diana, the divinities of Sun and Moon.


s: CANTO XXI. Fifth Ledge: the Avaricious.--Statius.--Cause of the


s: trembling of the Mountain.--Statius does honor to Virgil.


s: The natural thirst, which is never satisfied save with the


s: water whereof the poor woman of Samaria besought the grace,


s: was tormenting me, and haste was goading me along the encumbered


s: way behind my Leader, and I was grieving at the just vengeance;


s: and lo,--as Luke writes for us that Christ, now risen forth from


s: the sepulchral cave, appeared to the two who were on the way,--a


s: shade appeared to us; and it was coming behind us looking at the


s: crowd that lay at its feet: nor did we perceive it, so it spoke


s: first saying, "My Brothers, may God give you peace!" We turned


s: suddenly, and Virgil gave back to it the greeting which answers


s: to that; then he began: "In the assembly of the blest may the


s: true court, which relegates me into eternal exile, place thee in


s: peace." "How," said it,--and meanwhile we went on steadily,--"if


s: ye are shades that God deigns not on high, who hath guided you so


s: marks which this one bears, and which the Angel traces, thou wilt


s: she who spinneth day and night had not for him yet drawn the


s: distaff off, which Clotho loads for each one and compacts, his


s: soul, which is thy sister and mine, coming upwards could not


s: come alone, because it sees not after our fashion. Wherefore I


s: was drawn from out the ample throat of Hell to show him, and I


s: shall show him so far on as my teaching can lead him. But tell


s: us, if thou knowest, why just now the mountain gave such shocks,


s: and why all seemed to cry together, even down to its moist feet."


s: "According to that buoyant and immortal sentence with which


s: Aristotle begins his Metaphysics, 'All mankind naturally desire


s: knowledge.'" Matthew Arnold, God and the Bible, cli. iv. This


s: sentence of Aristotle is cited by Dante in the first chapter of


s: To the salutation, "Peace be with you," the due answer is,


s: The shade began: "There is nothing which without order the


s: religion of the mountain can feel, or which can be outside its


s: wont. Free is this place from every alteration; of that which


s: heaven receives from itself within itself there may be effect


s: here, but of naught else; because nor rain, nor hail, nor


s: snow, nor dew, nor frost, falls higher up than the little


s: stairway of the three short steps; clouds appear not, or thick or


s: often changes her quarter; dry vapor rises not farther up than


s: the top of the three steps of which I spoke, where the vicar of


s: Peter has his feet. It trembles perhaps lower down little or


s: much; but up here it never trembles because of wind that is


s: hidden, I know not how, in the earth. It trembles here when some


s: soul feels itself pure, so that it rises or moves to ascend; and


s: such a cry seconds it. Of the purity the will alone makes proof,


s: which surprises the soul, wholly free to change its company, and


s: helps it with the will. The soul wills at first indeed, but the


s: inclination,--which, contrary to the will, Divine Justice sets to


s: have lain in this pain five hundred years and more, only just now


s: giving praise to that Lord, who--may He speed them upward soon!"


s: The religion, the sacred rule, of the Mountain admits nothing


s: Whatever happens here is occasioned only by the direct


s: Iris = the rainbow, seen now to the west, now to the east.


s: Dry vapor, according to Aristotle, was the source of wind and


s: Until the soul is wholly purified from its sinful


s: disposition,it desires the punishment through; which its


s: purification is accomplished, as it had originally desired the


s: object of its sin. But when it becomes pure, then the will


s: possesses it to mount to Heaven, and becomes effective.


s: Thus he said to us, and since one enjoys drinking in proportion


s: as the thirst is great, I could not say how much he did me good.


s: And the sage Leader, "Now I see the net which snares you here,


s: and how it is unmeshed; wherefore it trembles here; and for what


s: ye rejoice together. Now who thou wast may it please thee that I


s: know, and that from thy words I learn why for so many centuries


s: thou hast lain here?" "At the time when the good Titus, with the


s: aid of the Most High King, avenged the wounds wherefrom issued


s: the blood sold by Judas, I was fatuous enough on earth with the


s: name which lasts longest, and honors most," replied that


s: spirit, "but not as yet with faith. So sweet was my vocal spirit,


s: adorn my temples with myrtle. Statius the people still on earth


s: name me. I sang of Thebes, and then of the great Achilles, but I


s: fell on the way with my second load. Seed of my ardor were the


s: sparks that warmed me of the divine flame whereby more than a


s: thousand have been kindled; I speak of the Aeneid, which was


s: mother to me, and was my nurse in poesy: without it I balanced


s: not the weight of a drachm; and to have lived yonder, when Virgil


s: Statius died before completing his Achilleid.


s: A year more in Purgatory than is due for my punishment.


s: These words turned Virgil to me with a look which, silent, said,


s: "Be silent:" but the power that wills cannot do everything; for


s: smiles and tears are such followers on the emotion from which


s: each springs, that in the most truthful they least follow the


s: will. I merely smiled, like a man who makes a sign; whereat the


s: shade became silent, and looked at me in the eyes where the


s: expression is most fixed. And it said, "So mayst thou in good


s: complete so great a labor, why aid thy face just now display to


s: me a flash of a smile?" Now am I caught on one side and the


s: other: one bids me be silent, the other conjures me to speak;


s: wherefore I sigh and am understood by my Master, and "Have no


s: fear to speak," he said to me, "but speak, and tell him what he


s: asks so earnestly." Whereon I, "Perhaps thou marvellest, ancient


s: spirit, at the smile I gave; but I would have more wonder seize


s: thee. This one who guides my eyes on high is that Virgil from


s: whom thou didst derive the strength to sing of men and of the


s: gods. If thou didst believe other cause for my smile, dismiss it


s: as untrue, and believe it to be those words which thou saidst of


s: him." Already he was stooping to embrace the feet of my Leader,


s: but he said to him, "Brother, do it not, for thou art a shade,


s: and thou seest a shade." And he rising, "Now canst thou


s: comprehend the sum of the love that warms me to thee when I


s: forget our vanity, treating the shades as if a solid thing."


s: Sordello and Virgil (Canto VI.) embraced each other. The


s: shades could thus express their mutual affection. Perhaps it is


s: out of modesty that Virgil here represses Statius, and possibly


s: there may be the under meaning that an act of reverence is not


s: becoming from a soul redeemed, to one banned in eternal exile.


s: CANTO XXII. Ascent to the Sixth Ledge.--Discourse of Statius and


s: Already was the Angel left behind us,--the Angel who had turned


s: us to the sixth round,--having erased a stroke from my face;


s: and he had said to us that those who have their desire set on


s: justice are Beati, and his words ended with sitiunt, without the


s: rest. And I, more light than through the other passes, was


s: going on so that without any labor I was following upward the


s: swift spirits, when Virgil began, "Love kindled by virtue always


s: kindles another, provided that its flame appear outwardly;


s: wherefore from the hour when amid us Juvenal descended into the


s: limbo of Hell, and made known to me thy affection, my own good


s: will toward thee was such that more never bound one to an unseen


s: person; so that these stairs will now seem short to me. But tell


s: me (and as a friend pardon me, if too great confidence let loose


s: my rein, and as a friend now talk with me) boxy avarice could


s: find a place within thy breast, amid wisdom so great as that


s: wherewith through thy diligence thou wast filled?"


s: The Angel had not recited all the words of the Beatitude, but


s: only, "Blessed are they which do thirst after righteousness,"


s: contrasting this thirst with the thirst for riches.


s: These words first moved Statius a little to smiling; then he


s: replied, "Every word of thine is a dear sign to me of love. Truly


s: material for suspicion, because the true reasons lie hid. Thy


s: question assures me of thy belief, perhaps because of that circle


s: that avarice was too far removed from me, and this want of


s: measure thousands of courses of the moon have punished. And had


s: it not been that I set right my care, when I understood the


s: passage where thou dost exclaim, as if indignant with human


s: nature, "O cursed hunger of gold, to what dost thou not impel the


s: jousts. Then I perceived that the bands could spread their


s: wings too much in spending; and I repented as well of that as of


s: my other sins. How many shall rise with cropped hair through


s: ignorance, which during life and in the last hours prevents


s: repentance for this sin! And know, that the vice which rebuts any


s: verdure. Wherefore if to purify myself I have been among the


s: people who lament their avarice, because of its contrary this has


s: the twofold affliction of Jocasta," said the Singer of the


s: Bucolic songs, "it does not appear from that which Clio


s: touches with thee there, that the faith, without which good


s: works suffice not, had yet made thee faithful. If this be so,


s: what sun, or what candles dispersed thy darkness so that thou


s: didst thereafter set thy sails behind the Fisherman?" And he


s: to him, "Thou first directedst me toward Parnassus to drink in


s: its grots, and then, on the way to God, thou enlightenedst me.


s: Thou didst like him, who goes by night, and carries the light


s: behind him, and helps not himself, but makes the persons


s: following him wise, when thou saidst, 'The ages are renewed;


s: Justice returns, and the primeval time of man, and a new progeny


s: descends from heaven.' Through thee I became a poet, through


s: thee a Christian. But in order that thou mayst better see that


s: which I sketch, I will stretch out my hand to color it. Already


s: was the whole world teeming with the true belief, sown by the


s: messengers of the eternal realm; and these words of thine touched


s: appearing so holy, that, when Domitian persecuted them, not


s: without my tears were their lamentings. And so long as I


s: remained on earth I succored them; and their upright customs


s: made me scorn all other sects. And before I had led the Greeks to


s: fear I was a secret Christian, for a long while making show of


s: paganism: and this lukewarmness made me circle round the fourth


s: circle, longer than to the fourth century. Thou, therefore,


s: that didst lift for me the covering that was hiding from me such


s: great good as I say, while we have remainder of ascent, tell me


s: where is our ancient Terence, Caecilius, Plautus, and Varro, if


s: thou knowest it; tell me if they are damned, and in what region?"


s: "are with that Greek whom the Muses suckled more than any other


s: ever, in the first girdle of the blind prison. Oftentimes we


s: discourse of the mountain that hath our nurses always


s: with itself. Euripides is there with us, and Antiphon, Simonides,


s: with laurel. There of thine own people are seen Antigone,


s: Deiphile, and Argia, and Ismene sad even as she was. There


s: she is seen who showed Langia; there is the daughter of


s: Tiresias and Thetis, and Deidamia with her sisters."


s: I should be in Hell among the prodigals rolling heavy weights


s: and striking them against those rolled by the avaricious. See


s: A reference to the symbolic short hair of prodigals in Hell.


s: As, for instance, avarice and prodigality.


s: Eteocles and Polynices, the two sons of Jocasta. See Hell,


s: The famous prophecy of the Cumaean Sibyl, very early applied


s: Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.


s: Jam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna:


s: Jam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.--Ecloga, iv. 5-7.


s: Two pairs of sisters, and, of the four, Ismene, sister of


s: Hypsipyle, who showed the fountain Langia to Adrastus, and


s: the other kings, when their army was perishing with thirst.


s: Manto is the only daughter of Tiresias, who is mentioned by


s: Statius; but Manto is in the eighth circle in Hell. See Canto XX.


s: Now both the poets became silent, once more intent on looking


s: around, free from the ascent and from the walls; and four of the


s: handmaids of the day were now remaining behind, and the fifth


s: was at the pole, directing still upward its burning horn, when


s: my Leader, "I think that it behoves us to turn our right


s: shoulders to the outer edge, circling the Mount as we are wont to


s: less doubt because of the assent of that worthy soul.


s: The first four hours of the day were spent. It was between


s: They were going on in front, and I solitary behind, and I was


s: listening to their speech which gave me understanding in poesy.


s: But soon the pleasant discourse was interrupted by a tree which


s: we found in the mid road, with apples sweet and pleasant to the


s: smell. And as a fir-tree tapers upward from branch to branch, so


s: downwardly did that, I think in order that no one may go up. On


s: the side on which our way was closed, a clear water fell from


s: the high rock and spread itself over the heaves above. The two


s: poets approached the tree, and a voice from within the heaves


s: cried: "Of this food ye shall have want." Then it said, "Mary


s: thought more, how the wedding should be honorable and


s: complete, than of her mouth, which answers now for you; and


s: the ancient Roman women were content with water for their drink;


s: and Daniel despised food and gained wisdom. The primal age, which


s: thirst every streamlet nectar. Honey and locusts were the viands


s: that nourished the Baptist in the desert, wherefore he is in


s: glory, and so great as by the Gospel is revealed to you.


s: CANTO XXIII. Sixth Ledge: the Gluttonous.--Forese


s: Donati.--Nella.--Rebuke of the women of Florence.


s: than Father said to me, "Son, come on now, for the time that is


s: assigned to us must be parcelled out more usefully." I turned my


s: face, and no less quickly my step after the Sages, who were


s: speaking so that they made the going of no cost to me; and ho! a


s: lament and song were heard, "Labia mea, Domine," in such


s: fashion that it gave birth to delight and pain. "O sweet Father,


s: what is that which I hear?" I began, and he, "Shades which go,


s: perhaps loosing the knot of their debt."


s: "Lord, open thou my lips." -- Psalm li. 15.


s: Even as do pilgrims rapt in thought, who, overtaking on the road


s: unknown folk, turn themselves to them, and stay not; so behind


s: us, moving more quickly, coming up and passing by, a crowd of


s: souls, silent and devout, gazed at us. Each was dark and hollow


s: in the eyes, pallid in the face, and so wasted that the skin took


s: so dried up to utter rind by hunger, when he had most fear of it.


s: Jerusalem, when Mary struck her beak into her son." The


s: sockets of their eyes seemed rings without gems. Whoso in the


s: face of men reads OMO, would surely there have recognized the


s: M. Who would believe that the scent of an apple, begetting


s: longing, and that of a water, could have such mastery, if he


s: Punished for sacrilege by Ceres with insatiable hunger, so


s: that at last he turned his teeth upon himself. See Ovid,


s: The story of this wretched woman is told by Josephus in


s: his narrative of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus: De Bello Jud.,


s: Finding in each eye an O, and an M in the lines of the brows


s: I was now wondering what so famished them, the cause of their


s: meagreness and of their wretched husk not yet being manifest,


s: and lo! from the depths of its head, a shade turned his eyes on


s: me, and looked fixedly, then cried out loudly, "What grace to me


s: is this!" Never should I have recognized him by his face; but in


s: his voice that was disclosed to me which his aspect in itself had


s: altered visage, and I recognized the face of Forese.


s: His voice revealed who he was, which his actual aspect


s: Brother of the famous Corso Donati, and related to Dante,


s: "Ah, strive not  with the dry scab that discolors my skin," he


s: prayed, "nor with my lack of flesh, but tell me the truth about


s: thyself; and who are these two souls, who yonder make an escort


s: for thee: stay not thou from speaking to me." "Thy face, which


s: once I wept for dead, now gives me for weeping no less a grief,"


s: replied I, "seeing it so disfigured; therefore, tell me, for


s: God's sake, what so despoils you; make me not speak while I am


s: marvelling; for ill can he speak who is full of another wish."


s: And he to me, "From the eternal council falls a power into the


s: water and into the plant, now left behind, whereby I become so


s: thin. All this folk who sing weeping, because of following their


s: appetite beyond measure, here in hunger and in thirst make


s: themselves holy again. The odour which issues from the apple and


s: from the spray that spreads over the verdure kindles in us desire


s: our pain renewed; I say pain, and ought to say solace, for that


s: will leads us to the tree which led Christ gladly to say,


s: 'Eli,' when with his blood he delivered us." And I to him,


s: "Forese, from that day on which thou didst change world to a


s: better life, up to this time five years have not rolled round. If


s: supervened of the good grief that to God reweds us, how hast thou


s: where time is made good by time." And he to me, "My Nella with


s: her bursting tears has brought me thus quickly to drink of the


s: sweet wormwood of these torments. With her devout prayers and


s: with sighs has she drawn me from the shore where one waits, and


s: has delivered me from the other circles. So much the more dear


s: and more beloved of God is my little widow, whom I loved so much,


s: Sardinia is far more modest in its women than the Barbagia where


s: I left her. O sweet brother, what wouldst thou that I say? A


s: future time is already in my sight, to which this hour will not


s: be very old, in which from the pulpit it shall be forbidden to


s: the brazen-faced dames of Florence to go displaying the bosom


s: with the paps. What Barbarian, what Saracen women were there ever


s: swift heaven is preparing for them, already would they have their


s: they will be sad ere he who is now consoled with the lullaby


s: covers his cheeks with hair. Ak brother, now no longer conceal


s: thyself from me; thou seest that not only I but all these people


s: are gazing there where thou dost veil the sun." Whereon I to him:


s: was with thee, the present remembrance will even now be grievous.


s: when the sister of him yonder," and I pointed to the sun, "showed


s: has led me, with this true flesh which follows him. Thence his


s: counsels have drawn me up, ascending and circling the mountain


s: that sets you straight whom the world made crooked. So long he


s: says that he will bear me company till I shall be there where


s: Beatrice will be; there it behoves that I remain without him.


s: Virgil is he who says thus to me," and I pointed to him, "and


s: this other is that shade for whom just now your realm, which from


s: Do not, for striving to see me through my changed look, delay


s: Willingly to accept his suffering, even when he exclaimed,


s: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"--Matthew, xxvii. 46.


s: If thou didst delay repentance until thou couldst sin no


s: more, how is it that so speedily thou hast arrived here?


s: A mountainous district in Sardinia, inhabited by people of


s: CANTO XXIV. Sixth Ledge: the Gluttonous.--Forese


s: Donati.--Bonagiunta of Lucca--Pope Martin IV--Ubaldin dalla Pila.


s: Speech made not the going, nor the going made that more slow;


s: but, talking, we went on apace even as a ship urged by good wind.


s: of their eyes drew in wonder at me, perceiving that I was alive.


s: And I, continuing my discourse, said, "He goeth up perchance


s: for another's sake more slowly than he would do. But, tell me, if


s: note among this folk that so gazes at me." "My sister, who,


s: between fair and good, was I know not which the most, triumphs


s: rejoicing in her crown already on high Olympus." So he said


s: first, and then, "Here it is not forbidden to name each other,


s: since our semblance is so milked away by the diet. This," and


s: he pointed with his finger, "is Bonagiunta, Bonagiunta of


s: Lucca; and that face beyond him, more sharpened than the others,


s: had the Holy Church in his arms:from Tours he was; and by


s: fasting he purges the eels of Bolsena, and the Vernaccia wine."


s: Many others he named to me, one by one, and at their naming all


s: appeared content; so that for this I saw not one dark mien. For


s: hunger using their teeth on emptiness, I saw Ubaldin dalla Pila,


s: and Boniface, who shepherded many people with his crook. I saw


s: Messer Marchese, who once had leisure to drink at Forum with less


s: does who looks, and then makes account more of one than of


s: another, did I of him of Lucca, who seemed to have most


s: cognizance of me. He was murmuring; and I know not what, save


s: that I heard "Gentucca" there where he felt the chastisement


s: of the justice which so strips them. "O soul," said I, "who


s: seemest so desirous to speak with me, do so that I may hear thee,


s: pleasant to thee, however men may blame it. Thou shalt go on


s: with this prevision: if from my murmuring thou hast received


s: error, the true things will yet clear it up for thee. But say, if


s: who, when Love inspires me, notes, and in that measure which he


s: dictates within, I go revealing." "O brother, now I see," said


s: he, "the knot which held back the Notary, and Guittone,


s: and me short of the sweet new style that I hear. I see clearly


s: how your pens go on close following the dictator, which surely


s: befell not with ours. And he who most sets himself to look


s: further sees nothing more between one style and the other."


s: Statius; more slowly, for the sake of remaining with Virgil.


s: The sister of Forese, whom Dante meets in Paradise (Canto


s: Recognition by the looks being thus impossible.


s: Bonagiunta Urbiciani; he lived and wrote in the last half of


s: This honorable and delightful reference to the otherwise


s: unknown maiden, Gentucca of Lucca, has given occasion to


s: much worthless and base comment. Dante was at Lucca during


s: his exile, in 1314. He himself was one of those who blamed the


s: The first verse of the first canzone of The New Life.


s: Guittone d' Arezzo, commonly called Fra Guittone, as one of


s: the order of the Frati Gaudenti. Dante refers to him again in


s: He who seeks for other reason does not find it.


s: As the birds that winter along the Nile sometimes make a flock in


s: folk that were there, light both through leanness and through


s: will, turning away their faces, quickened again their pace. And


s: as the man who is weary of running lets his companions go on, and


s: saying, "When shall it be that I see thee again?" "I know not," I


s: not be so speedy, that I shall not in desire he sooner at the


s: shore; because the place where I was set to live, denudes


s: itself more of good from day to day, and seems ordained to


s: wretched ruin." "Now go," said he, "for I see him who hath most


s: fault for this dragged at the tail of a beast, toward the


s: valley where there is no disculpation ever. The beast at every


s: step goes faster, increasing always till it strikes him, and


s: leaves his body vilely undone. Those wheels have not far to


s: turn," and he raised his eyes to heaven, "for that to become


s: clear to thee which my speech cannot further declare. Now do thou


s: Corso de' Donati, the leader of the Black Guelphs and chief


s: cause of the evils of the city. On the 15th September, 1308, his


s: enemies having risen against him, he was compelled to fly from


s: Florence. Near the city he was thrown from his horse and dragged


s: along, till he was overtaken and killed by his pursuers.


s: As a cavalier sometimes sets forth at a gallop from a troop which


s: went away from us with greater strides; and I remained on the way


s: And when he had entered so far before us that my eyes became such


s: to me the laden and lusty branches of another apple-tree, and not


s: people beneath it raising their hands and crying, I know not


s: what, toward the leaves, like eager and fond little children who


s: pray, and he they pray to answers not, hut, to make their longing


s: they departed as if undeceived: and now we came to the great


s: tree that rejects so many prayers and tears. "Pass further


s: onward, without drawing near; the tree is higher up which was


s: eaten of by Eve, and this plant has been raised from that." Thus


s: among the branches I know not who was speaking; wherefore Virgil


s: and Statius and I, drawing close together, went onward along the


s: side that rises. "Be mindful," the voice was saying, "of the


s: accursed ones, formed in the clouds, who, when glutted, strove


s: against Theseus with their double breasts; and of the Hebrews,


s: who, at the drinking, showed themselves soft, wherefore Gideon


s: wished them not for companions, when he went down the hills


s: "A marshal is a ruler of the court and of the army under the


s: emperor, and should know how to command what ought to be done, as


s: respect to moral and civil life."--Buti.


s: In the circling course around the mountain.


s: Having found vain the hope of reaching the fruit.


s: The tree of knowledge, in the Earthly Paradise: Canto XXXII.


s: On the inner side, by the wall of the mountain.


s: Thus keeping close to one of the two borders, we passed by,


s: hearing of sins of gluttony followed, in sooth, by wretched


s: gains. Then going at large along the lonely road, full a thousand


s: without a word. "Why go ye thus in thought, ye three alone?" said


s: beasts. I lifted up my head to see who it might be, and never


s: were glass or metals seen so shining and ruddy in a furnace as


s: one I saw who said, "If it please you to mount up, here must a


s: turn be taken; this way he goes who wishes to go for peace." His


s: aspect had taken my sight from me, wherefore I turned me behind


s: my teachers like one who goes according as he hears. And as,


s: harbinger of the dawn, the breeze of May stirs and smells sweet,


s: all impregnate with the herbage and with the flowers, such a wind


s: the motion of the plumes which made mime perceive the odor of


s: ambrosia. And I heard said, "Blessed are they whom so much grace


s: illumines, that the love of taste inspires not in their breasts


s: too great desire, hungering always so far as is just."


s: Blinded for the instant by the dazzling brightness of the


s: angel,Dante drops behind his teachers, to follow them as one


s: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after


s: Dante has already cited this Beatitude (Canto XXII.), applying it


s: for riches; he there omits the word "hunger," as here he omits


s: CANTO XXV. Ascent to the Seventh Ledge.--Discourse of Statius on


s: generation, the infusion of the Soul into the body, and the


s: corporeal semblance of Souls after death.--The Seventh Ledge: the


s: It was the hour in which the ascent allowed no delay; for the


s: meridian circle had been left by the Sun to the Bull, and by the


s: Night to the Scorpion; wherefore as the man doth who, whatever


s: may appear to him, stops not, but goes on his way, if the goad of


s: the other, taking the stairway which by its narrowness unpairs


s: Taurus follows on Aries, so that the hour indicated is about


s: And as the little stork that lifts its wing through will to fly,


s: and dares not abandon the nest, and down it drops, so was I, with


s: did my sweet Father forbear, but he said, Discharge the bow of


s: speech which up to the iron thou hast drawn." Then I opened my


s: mouth confidently, and began, "How can one become thin, where the


s: how Meleager was consumed by time consuming of a brand this would


s: thought, how at your quivering your image quivers within the


s: mirror, that which seems hard would seem easy to thee. But that


s: thou mayst to thy pleasure be inwardly at ease, lo, here is


s: Statius, and I call on him and pray that he be now the healer of


s: thy wounds." "If I explain to him the eternal view," replied


s: Statius, "where thou art present, let it excuse me that to thee I


s: Here and elsewhere Statius seems to represent allegorically


s: human philosophy enlightened by Christian teaching, dealing with


s: Then he began, "If, son, thy mind regards and receives my words,


s: they will be. for thee a light unto the 'how,' which thou


s: askest. The perfect blood which is never drunk by the thirsty


s: veins, but remains like the food which thou removest from time


s: table, takes in time heart virtue informative of all the human


s: members; even as that blood does, which passes through the veins


s: to become those members. Digested yet again, it descends to


s: the part whereof it is more becoming to be silent than to speak;


s: and thence, afterwards, it drops upon another's blood in the


s: natural vessel. There one and the other meet together; the one


s: ordained to be passive, and the other to be active because of the


s: the former, the latter begins to operate, first by coagulating,


s: and then by quickening that to which it gives consistency for its


s: of a plant (in so far different that this is on the way, and that


s: feels, as a sea-fungus doth; and then it proceeds to organize the


s: displayed, now it is diffused, which issues from the heart of the


s: from an animal it becomes a speaking being, thou as yet


s: seest not; this is such a point that once it made one wiser than


s: thee to err, so that in his teaching he separated from the soul


s: the potential intellect, because he saw no organ assumed by


s: it. Open thy heart unto the truth that is coming, and know


s: that, so soon as in the foitus the articulation of the brain is


s: perfect, the Primal Motor turns to it with joy over such art of


s: nature, and inspires a new spirit replete with virtue, which


s: draws that which it finds active there into its own substance,


s: and makes one single soul which lives and feels and circles on


s: itself. And that thou mayst the less wonder at this doctrine,


s: consider the warmth of the sun which, combining with the juice


s: that flows from the vine, becomes wine. And when Lachesis has no


s: more thread, this soul is loosed from the flesh, and virtually


s: bears away with itself both the human and the divine; the other


s: faculties all of them mute, but memory, understanding, and


s: will far more acute in action than before. Without staying, it


s: falls of itself, marvelously to one of the banks. Here it


s: first knows its own roads. Soon as the place there circumscribes


s: it, the formative virtue rays out around it in like manner, and


s: as much as in the living members. And as the air when it is


s: full of rain becomes adorned with divers colors by another's rays


s: itself in that form which is virtually imprinted upon it by the


s: soul that hath stopped. And then like the flamelet which


s: follows the fire wherever it shifts, so its new form follows the


s: spirit. Since thereafter from this it has its aspect, it is


s: called a shade; and by this it shapes the organ for every sense


s: even to the sight; by this we speak, and by this we laugh, by


s: this we make the tears and the sighs, which on the mountain thou


s: mayst have perceived. According as the desires and the other


s: affections impress us the shade is shaped; and this is the cause


s: The doctrine set forth by Statius in the following discourse


s: is derived from St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theol., i. 118, 119,


s: who, in his turn, derived it from Aristotle. It is to be found,


s: more briefly stated, in the Convito, iv. 21.


s: A portion of the blood remains after the veins are supplied;


s: in the heart all the blood receives the virtue by which it gives


s: The vegetative soul in the plant has attained its full


s: development, "has arrived;" in the animal is "on the way" to


s: From the vegetative, the soul has become sensitive,--anima


s: A being possessed of intellect,--the last stage in the


s: progress of the soul, when it becomes came intellective.


s: Averroes asserted the intellect to be impersonal and


s: undivided in essence; not formally, but instrumentally only,


s: united with the individual. Hence there was no personal


s: The faculties of sense mute because their organs no longer


s: Of Acheron or of Tiber, according as the soul is damned or


s: In this account of the formation of the bodily semblance in


s: the spiritual realms, Statius no longer follows the doctrine of


s: Aquinas. The conception is derived from Plato; but the form


s: And now we had come to the last circuit, and turning to the


s: right hand, we were intent upon another care. Here the bank


s: shoots forth flame, and the ledge breathes a blast upward which


s: drives it back, and sequesters a path from it. Wherefore it


s: was needful to go one by one along the unenclosed side; and on


s: the one hand I was afraid of the fire, and on the other I was


s: afraid of falling off. My Leader said, "Through this place, one


s: must keep tight the rein upon the eyes, because for little one


s: might go astray." "Summae Deus clementiae," in the bosom of


s: the great burning then I heard singing, which made me care not


s: less to turn. And I saw spirits going through the flame;


s: wherefore I looked at them and at my own steps, apportioning to


s: each my sight from moment to moment. After the end of that hymn,


s: they loudly cried: "Virum non cognosco;" then began again the


s: hymn with low voice; this finished, they cried anew, "To the wood


s: the poison of Venus." Then they turned to singing; then wives


s: they cried out, and husbands who were chaste, as virtue and


s: marriage enjoin upon us. And I believe this mode suffices them


s: through all the time the fire burns them. With such cure it is


s: needful, and with such food, that the last wound of all should be


s: The word in the original is tortura. Benvenuto's comment is,


s: "nunc incipiebant torquere et flectere viam, ideo talem


s: deflectionem appellat torturam." Buti, on the contrary, says,


s: "God of clemency supreme," the beginning of a hymn, sung at


s: "I know not a man," the words of Mary to the angel--Luke, i.


s: Helice, or Callisto, the nymph who bore a son to Jupiter,


s: and, having been changed to a bear by Juno, was by Jove


s: transferred with her child to the heavens, where they are seen as


s: CANTO XXVI. Seventh Ledge: the Lustful.--Sinners in the fire,


s: going in opposite directions.--Guido Guinicelli.--Arnaut Daniel.


s: While we were going on thus along the edge, one before the other,


s: that I warn thee," the sun was striking me on the right shoulder,


s: white aspect; and with my shadow I was making the flame appear


s: more ruddy, and only at such an indication I saw many shades,


s: as they went on, give attention. This was the occasion which gave


s: so, certain of them canine, always with regard not to come out


s: At this sign that Dante's body was that of a living man.


s: "O thou! who goest, not from being slower, but perhaps from


s: reverence, behind the others, reply to me who in thirst and fire


s: am burning. Nor to me only is thy reply of need, for all these


s: have a greater thirst for it than Indian or Ethiop of cold water.


s: as if thou hadst not yet entered within the net of death." Thus


s: spoke to me one of them; and I should now have disclosed myself,


s: if I had not been intent on another new thing which then


s: appeared; for through the middle of the burning road were coming


s: people with their faces opposite to these, who made me gaze in


s: suspense. There I see, on every side, all the shades making haste


s: greeting. Thus within their brown band one ant touches muzzle


s: with another, perchance to enquire their way and their fortune.


s: Soon as they end the friendly salutation, before the first step


s: runs on beyond, each strives to outcry the other; the new-come


s: folk: "Sodom and Gomorrah," and the other, "Into the cow enters


s: Pasiphae, that the bull may run to her lust." Then like cranes,


s: of whom part should fly to the Riphaean mountains, and part


s: toward the sands, these shunning the frost and those the sun,


s: one folk goes, the other comes on, and weeping they return to


s: their first chants, and to the cry which most befits them.


s: Mountains vaguely placed by the early geographers in the far


s: And those same who had prayed me drew near to me as before,


s: intent in their looks to listen. I, who twice had seen their


s: desire, began, "O souls secure of having, whenever it may he, a


s: state of peace, neither unripe nor mature have my limbs remained


s: yonder, but they are here with me with their blood, and with


s: their joints. I go up in order to be no longer blind. A Lady is


s: on high who winneth grace for us, whereby I bring my mortal part


s: through your world. But so may your greater will soon become


s: satisfied, in such wise that the heaven may harbor you which is


s: full of love, and most amply spreads, tell me, in order that I


s: may yet rule the paper for it, who are ye, and who are that crowd


s: Not otherwise stupefied, the mountaineer is confused, and gazing


s: each shade became in his appearance; but, after they were


s: unburdened of their bewilderment, which in high hearts is


s: quickly assuaged, "Blessed thou," began again that one who first


s: had asked me, "who of our regions dost ship experience for dying


s: better. The people who do not come with us offended in that for


s: which once Caesar in his triumph heard 'Queen' cried out against


s: him; therefore they go off shouting 'Sodom,' reproving


s: themselves as thou hast heard, and aid the burning by their


s: shame. Our sin was hermaphrodite; but because we observed not


s: human law, following our appetite like beasts, when we part from


s: them, the name of her who bestialized herself in the beast-shaped


s: knowest our deeds, and of what we were guilty; if, perchance,


s: thou wishest to know by name who we are, there is not time to


s: tell, and I could not do it. I will indeed make thee short of


s: wish about myself; I am Guido Guinicelli; and now I purify


s: myself, because I truly repented before my last hour."


s: Of Bologna; he was living after the middle of the thirteenth


s: century. Of his life little is known, but some of his verses


s: survive and justify Dante's words concerning them.


s: Such as in the sorrow of Lycurgus her two sons became at seeing


s: again their mother, such I became, but I rise not so far,


s: when I heard name himself the father of me, and of my betters


s: who ever used sweet and gracious rhymes of love; and without


s: hearing or speaking, full of thought I went on, gazing a long


s: time upon him; nor, for the fire, did I draw nearer to him. After


s: service, with the affirmation that makes another believe. And he


s: to me, "By what I hear thou leavest such trace in me, and so


s: bright, that Lethe cannot take it away nor make it dim. But if


s: thy words have now sworn truth, tell me what is time cause why in


s: to him, "The sweet ditties of yours, which, so long as the modern


s: brother," said he, "this one whom I distinguish for thee with my


s: finger," and he pointed to a spirit in advance, "was a better


s: smith of the maternal speech. In verses of love, and prose of


s: romances, he excelled all, and let the foolish talk who think


s: that he of Limoges surpasses him; to rumor more than to truth


s: they turn their faces, and thus confirm their own opinion, before


s: concerning Guittone, from cry to cry only to him giving the


s: prize, until the truth has prevailed with more persons. Now if


s: thou hast such ample privilege that it he permitted thee to go


s: unto the cloister in which Christ is abbot of the college, say


s: for me to him one paternoster, so far as needs for us in this


s: world where power to sin is no longer ours."


s: "Lycurgus, King of Nemaea, enraged with Hypsipyle for leaving


s: his infant child, who was killed by a serpent, while she was


s: showing the river Langia to the Argives (see Canto XXII.), was


s: about to kill her, when she was found and rescued by her own


s: The words in the Lord's Prayer, "Deliver us from temptation,"


s: are not needed for the spirits in Purgatory.


s: Then, perhaps to give place to the other who was near behind him,


s: making ready a gracious place. He began graciously to say, "So


s: pleaseth me your courteous demand that I cannot, and I will not,


s: hide me from you. I am Arnaut who weep and go singing; contrite I


s: the stair, at times be mindful of my pain." Then he hid himself


s: The words of Daniel are in the Provencal tongue.


s: CANTO XXVII. Seventh Ledge: the Lustful.--Passage through the


s: Flames.--Stairway in the rock.--Night upon the stairs.--Dream of


s: Dante.--Morning.--Ascent to the Earthly Paradise.--Last words of


s: As when he darts forth his first rays there where his Maker shed


s: His blood (Ebro falling under the lofty Scales, and the waves in


s: the Ganges scorched by noon) so the sun was now standing; so


s: that the day was departing, when the glad Angel of God appeared


s: to us. Outside the flame he was standing on the bank, and was


s: singing, "Beati mundo corde," in a voice far more living than


s: ours: then, "No one goes further, ye holy souls, if first the


s: fire sting not; enter into it, and to the song beyond be ye not


s: deaf," he said to us, when we were near him. Whereat I became


s: such, when I heard him, as is he who in the pit is put. With


s: hands clasped upwards, I stretched forward, looking at the fire,


s: and imagining vividly human bodies I had once seen burnt. The


s: good Escorts turned toward me, and Virgil said to me, "My son,


s: here may be torment, but not death. Bethink thee! bethink thee!


s: and if I even upon Geryon guided thee safe, what shall I do now


s: that I am nearer God? Believe for certain that if within the


s: belly of this flame thou shouldst stand full a thousand years, it


s: believest that I deceive thee, draw near to it, and make trial


s: for thyself with fine own hands on the hem of thy garments. Put


s: aside now, put aside every fear; turn hitherward, and come on


s: It was near sunrise at Jerusalem, and consequently near


s: sunset in Purgatory, midnight in Spain, and midday at the Ganges.


s: And I still motionless and against conscience!


s: When he saw me still stand motionless and obdurate, he said,


s: disturbed a little, "Now see, son, between Beatrice and thee is


s: As at the name of Thisbe, Pyramus, at point of death, opened his


s: eyelids and looked at her, what time the mulberry became


s: vermilion, so, my obduracy becoming softened, I turned me to the


s: wise Leader, hearing the name that in my memory is ever welling


s: up. Whereat he nodded his head, amid said, "How! do we want to


s: stay on this side?" then he smiled as one doth at a child who is


s: Then within the fire he set himself before me, praying Statius,


s: that he would come behind, who previously, on the long road, had


s: divided us. When I was in, into boiling glass I would have thrown


s: sweet Father, to encourage me, went talking ever of Beatrice,


s: saying, "I seem already to see her eyes. A voice was guiding us,


s: which was singing on the other side, and we, ever attentive to


s: it, came forth there where was the ascent. "Venite, benedicti


s: patris mei," sounded within a light that was there such that


s: it overcame me, and I could not look on it. "The sun departs," it


s: "Come, ye blessed of my Father."--Matthew, xxv. 34.


s: The way mounted straight, through the rock, in such direction


s: that I cut off in front of me the rays of the sun which was


s: already low. And of few stairs had we made essay ere, by the


s: vanishing of the shadow, both I and my Sages perceived behind us


s: the setting of the sun. And before the horizon in all its immense


s: dispensations, each of us made of a stair his bed; for the nature


s: As goats, who have been swift and wayward on the peaks ere they


s: are fed, become tranquil as they ruminate, silent in the shade


s: while the sun is hot, guarded by the herdsman, who on his staff


s: is leaning and, leaning, watches them; and as the shepherd, who


s: lodges out of doors, passes the night beside his quiet flock,


s: watching that the wild beast may not scatter it: such were we all


s: this side and on that by the high rock. Little of the outside


s: could there appear, but through that little I saw the stars both


s: brighter and larger than their wont. Thus ruminating, and thus


s: gazing upon them, sleep overcame me, sleep which oft before a


s: At the hour, I think, when from the east on the mountain first


s: beamed Cytherea, who with fire of love seems always burning, I


s: seemed in dream to see a lady, young and beautiful, going through


s: know, whoso asks my name, that I am Leah, and I go moving my


s: fair hands around to make myself a garland. To please me at the


s: glass here I adorn me, but my sister Rachel never withdraws from


s: her mirror, and sits all day. She is as fain to look with her


s: fair eyes as I to adorn me with my hands. Her seeing, and me


s: Leah and Rachel are the types of the active and the


s: And now before the splendors which precede the dawn, and rise the


s: remote, the shadows fled away on every side, and my sleep with


s: them; whereupon I rose, seeing my great Masters already risen.


s: That pleasant apple which through so many branches the care of


s: mortals goes seeking, to-day shall put in peace thy hungerings."


s: Virgil used words such as these toward me, and never were there


s: gifts which could be equal in pleasure to these. Such wish upon


s: wish came to me to be above, that at every step thereafter I felt


s: When beneath us all the stairway had been run, and we were on the


s: temporal fire and the eternal thou hast seen, son, and art come


s: to a place where of myself no further onward I discern. I have


s: brought thee here with understanding and with art; thine own


s: pleasure now take thou for guide: forth art thou from the steep


s: ways, forth art thou from the narrow. See there the sun, which on


s: shrubs, which here the earth of itself alone produces. Until


s: rejoicing come the beautiful eyes which weeping made me come to


s: thee, thou canst sit down and thou canst go among them. Expect no


s: own free will, and it would be wrong not to act according to its


s: pleasure; wherefore thee over thyself I crown and mitre."


s: CANTO XXVIII. The Earthly Paradise.--The Forest.--A Lady


s: gathering flowers on the bank of a little stream.--Discourse with


s: Fain now to search within and round about the divine forest dense


s: over the soil that everywhere breathes fragrance. A sweet breeze


s: that had no variation in itself struck me on the brow, not with


s: heavier blow than a soft wind; at which the branches, readily


s: trembling, all of them were bending to the quarter where the holy


s: the practice of their every art; but with full joy singing they


s: received the early breezes among the leaves, which kept a burden


s: to their rhymes, such as gathers from bough to bough through the


s: pine forest upon the shore of Chiassi, when Aeolus lets forth


s: Now had my show steps carried me within the ancient wood so far


s: that I could not see back to where I had entered it: and lo, a


s: stream took from me further progress, which toward the left with


s: its little waves was bending the grass that sprang upon its bank.


s: some mixture in them, compared with that which hides nothing,


s: although it moves along dusky under the perpetual shadow, which


s: With feet I stayed, and with my eyes I passed to the other side


s: of the streamlet, to gaze at the great variety of the fresh may;


s: and there appeared to me, even as a thing appears suddenly which


s: turns aside through wonder every other thought, a solitary lady,


s: who was going along, singing, and culling flower from flower,


s: wherewith all her path was painted. "Ah, fair Lady, who


s: warmest thyself in the rays of love, if I may trust to looks


s: which are wont to be witnesses of the heart, may the will come to


s: remember where and what was Proserpine, at the time when her


s: This lady is the type of the life of virtuous activity. Her


s: name, as appears later, is Matilda. Why this name was chosen for


s: her, and whether she stands for any earthly personage, has been


s: the subject of vast and still open debate.


s: As a lady who is dancing turns with feet close to the ground and


s: to each other, and hardly sets foot before foot, she turned


s: herself on the red and on the yellow flowerets toward me, not


s: otherwise than a virgin who lowers her modest eyes, and made my


s: prayers content, approaching so that the sweet sound came to me


s: with its meaning. Soon as she was there where the grasses are now


s: gift of lifting her eyes. I do not believe that so great a light


s: shone beneath the lids of Venus, transfixed by her son, beyond


s: all his custom. She was smiling upon the opposite right bank,


s: gathering with her hands more colors which that high land brings


s: forth without seed. The stream made us three paces apart; but the


s: pride--endured not more hatred from Leander for swelling between


s: Sestos and Abydos, than that from me because it opened not then.


s: "Ye are new come," she began, "and, perchance, why I smile mu


s: this place chosen for human nature as its nest, some doubt holds


s: you marvelling; but the psalm 'Delectasti' affords light which


s: may uncloud your understanding.And thou who art in front, and


s: didst pray to me, say, if else thou wouldst hear, for I came


s: ready for every question of thine, so far as may suffice." "The


s: water," said I, "and the sound of the forest, impugn within me


s: recent faith in something that I heard contrary to this." Whereon


s: makes thee wonder; and I will clear away the mist which strikes


s: Psalm xcii. 4. "Delectasti me, Domine, in factura tua, et in


s: operibus mannuum tuarum exultabo." "For thou, Lord, hast made me


s: glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands."


s: "The supreme Good, which itself alone is pleasing to itself, made


s: while; through his own default to tears and to toil he changed


s: honest laughter and sweet play. In order that the disturbance,


s: which the exhalations of the water and of the earth (which follow


s: war on man, this mountain rose so high toward heaven, and is free


s: the whole air revolves in circuit with the primal revolution,


s: if its circle be not broken by some projection, upon this height,


s: strikes, and makes the wood, since it is dense, resound; and the


s: plant being struck hath such power that with its virtue it


s: impregnates the breeze, and this then in its whirling scatters it


s: itself, or through its sky, conceives and brings forth divers


s: trees of divers virtues. It should not seem a marvel then on


s: earth, this being heard, when some plant, without manifest seed,


s: there takes hold. And thou must know that the holy plain where


s: thou art is full of every seed, and has fruit in it which yonder


s: is not gathered. The water which thou seest rises not from a vein


s: gains and loses breath, but it issues from a fountain constant


s: and sure, which by the will of God regains as much as, open on


s: two sides, it pours forth. On this side it descends with virtue


s: that takes from one the memory of sin; on the other it restores


s: that of every good deed. Here Lethe, so on the other side Eunoe


s: it is called; and it works not if first it be not tasted on this


s: side and on that. To all other savors this is superior.


s: Above the level of the gate through which Purgatory is


s: entered, as Statius has already explained (Canto XXI), the vapors


s: With the movement given to it by the motions of the heavens.


s: "And, though thy thirst may be fully sated even if I disclose no


s: more to thee, I will yet give thee a corollary for grace; nor do


s: I think my speech  may be less dear to thee, if beyond promise


s: it enlarge itself with thee. Those who in ancient time told in


s: poesy of the Age of Gold, and of its happy state, perchance upon


s: Parnassus dreamed of this place: here was the root of mankind


s: innocent; here is always spring, and every fruit; this is the


s: I turned me back then wholly to my Poets, and saw that with a


s: smile they had heard the last sentence; then to the beautiful


s: CANTO XXIX. The Earthly Paradise.--Mystic Procession or Triumph


s: Singing like a lady enamored, she, at the ending of her words,


s: continued: "Beati, quorum tecta sunt peccata;" and, like


s: nymphs who were wont to go solitary through the sylvan shades,


s: this one desiring to see and that to avoid the sun, she moved on


s: then counter to the stream, going up along the bank, and I at


s: even pace with her, following her little step with little. Of her


s: a turn, in such wise that toward the east I faced again. Nor thus


s: saying, "My brother, look and listen." And lo! a sudden lustre


s: ran from all quarters through the great forest, so that it put me


s: through the luminous air; whereupon a righteous zeal caused me to


s: heavens were obedient, the woman only, and but just now formed,


s: did not endure to stay under any veil; under which if she had


s: devoutly stayed I should have tasted those ineffable delights


s: before, and for a longer time. While I was going on and such


s: first fruits of the eternal pleasure, all enrapt, and still


s: desirous of more joys, in front of us the air under the green


s: branches became like a blazing fire, and the sweet sound was now


s: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven."--Psalm


s: O Virgins sacrosanct, if ever hunger, cold, or vigils I have


s: endured for you, time occasion spurs me that I claim reward


s: therefor. Now it behoves that Helicon pour forth for me, and


s: Urania aid me with her choir to put in verse things difficult to


s: A little further on, the long tract of space which was still


s: between us and them presented falsely what seemed seven trees of


s: gold. But when I had come so near to them that the common object,


s: attributes, the power which supplies discourse to reason


s: distinguished them as candlesticks, and in the voices of the


s: song, "Hosanna." From above the fair array was flaming, brighter


s: by far than the Moon in the serene of midnight, in the middle of


s: her month. I turned me round full of wonder to the good Virgil,


s: and he replied to me with a look charged not less with amazement.


s: toward us so slowly they would have been outstripped by new-made


s: brides. The lady cried to me, "Why burnest thou only thus with


s: affection for the living lights, and lookest not at that which


s: comes behind them?" Then saw I folk coming behind, as if after


s: their leaders, clothed in white, and such purity there never was


s: on earth. The water was resplendent on the left flank, and


s: reflected to me my left side, if I looked in it, even as a


s: mirror. When on my bank I had such position that only the stream


s: separated me, in order to see better, I gave halt to my steps.


s: And I saw the flamelets go forward heaving the air behind them


s: painted, and they had the semblance of streaming pennons, so that


s: colors whereof the sun makes his bow, and Delia her girdle.


s: These banners to the rear were longer than my sight, and


s: according to my judgment the outermost were ten paces apart.


s: Under so fair a sky as I describe, twenty-four elders, two by


s: two, were coming crowned with flower-de-luce. All were singing,


s: "Blessed thou among the daughters of Adam, and blessed forever be


s: An object which has properties common to many things, so that


s: at a distance the sight cannot distinguish its specific nature.


s: The imagery of the Triumph of the Church here described is


s: largely taken from this Apocalypse. "And I turned to see the


s: voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden


s: candlesticks."--Revelation, i. 12. "And there were seven lamps


s: of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of


s: him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of


s: counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the


s: Delia, the moon, and her girdle the halo.


s: "And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and


s: upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in


s: white raiment."--Revelation, iv. 4. These four and twenty elders


s: in white raiment, and crowned with white lilies, white being the


s: color of faith, symbolize the books of the Old Testament.


s: After the flowers, and the other fresh herbage opposite to me on


s: the other bank, were free from those folk elect, even as light


s: followeth light in heaven, came behind them four living


s: creatures, crowned each one with green leaves. Every one was


s: feathered with six wings, the feathers full of eyes; and the eyes


s: I scatter rhymes no more, Reader; for other spending constrains


s: me so that in this I cannot be liberal. But read Ezekiel, who


s: depicts them as he saw them coming from the cold region with


s: wind, with cloud, and with fire; and such as thou wilt find them


s: in his pages such were they here, save that as to the wings John


s: These four living creatures symbolize the Gospels. Ezekiel


s: (i.6) describes the creatures with four wings, but in the


s: Revelation (iv. 8) John assigns to each of them six wings: "and


s: they were full of eyes within." They are crowned with green, as


s: The space between these four contained a triumphal chariot upon


s: two wheels, which by the neck of a griffon came drawn along.


s: And he stretched up one and the other of his wings between the


s: midmost stripe, and the three and three, so that he did harm to


s: no one of them by cleaving it. So far they rose that they were


s: not seen. His members were of gold so far as he was bird, and the


s: Augustus, gladdened Rome with so beautiful a chariot; but even


s: that of the Sun would be poor to it,--that of the Sun which,


s: going astray, was consumed at the prayer of the devout Earth,


s: when Jove in his secrecy was just. Three ladies, at the right


s: wheel, came dancing in a circle; one so ruddy that hardly would


s: she have been noted in the fire; the next was as if her flesh and


s: fallen. And now they seemed led by the white, now by the red, and


s: the left four robed in purple made festival, following the


s: measure of one of them who had three eyes in her head.


s: The griffon, half eagle and half lion, represents Christ in


s: his double nature, divine and human. The car which he draws is


s: The theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, of the


s: colors respectively appropriate to them.


s: The four cardinal Virtues, in purple, the imperial color,


s: typifying their rule over human conduct. Prudence has three eyes,


s: Next after all the group described, I saw two old men, unlike in


s: dress, but like in action, both dignified and staid. The one


s: showed himself one of the familiars of that supreme Hippocrates


s: whom Nature made for the creatures that she holds most dear


s: the other showed the contrary care, with a shining and sharp


s: sword, such that it caused me fear on the hither side of the


s: stream. Then I saw four humble in appearance, and behind all an


s: old man solitary coming asleep with lively countenance. And


s: these seven were robed like the first band; but they made not a


s: thicket of lilies round their heads, rather of roses, and of


s: other red flowers. The sight at little distance would have sworn


s: that all were aflame above their brows. And when the chariot was


s: opposite to me thunder was heard, and those worthy people seemed


s: to have further progress interdicted, stopping there with the


s: The book of Acts, represented under rho type of its author,


s: St. Luke, "the beloved physician." Colossians, iv. 14. Man is the


s: The Pauline Epistles, typified by their writer, whose sword


s: is the symbol of war and martyrdom, a contrary care to the


s: The four humble in appearance are personifications of the


s: writers of the minor Epistles, followed by St. John, as the


s: writer of the Revelation, asleep, and yet with lively


s: countenance, because he was "in the Spirit" when he beheld his


s: CANTO XXX. The Earthly Paradise.--Beatrice appears.--Departure of


s: When the septentrion of the first heaven which never setting


s: knew, nor rising, nor veil of other cloud than sin,--and which


s: was making every one there acquainted with his duty, as the


s: lower makes whoever turns the helm to come to port,--stopped


s: still, the truthful people who had come first between the


s: griffon and it, turned to the chariot as to their peace, and


s: one of them, as if sent from heaven, singing, cried thrice,


s: "Veni, sponsa, de Libano," and all the others after.


s: The seven candlesticks, symbols of the sevenfold spirit of


s: The lower septentrion, or the seven stars of the Great Bear.


s: The personifications of the truthful books of the Old


s: "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse."--The Song of


s: As time blessed at the last trump will arise swiftly, each from


s: his tomb, singing hallelujah with recovered voice, so upon the


s: divine chariot, ad vocem tanti senis, rose up a hundred


s: ministers and messengers of life eternal. All were saying,


s: "Benedictus, qui venis," and, scattering flowers above and


s: "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people


s: in Heaven, saying, Alleluia-" -- Revelation, xix. 1.


s: "At the voice of so great an elder;" these words are in Latin


s: apparently only for the sake of the rhyme.


s: "Oh, give lilies with full hands;" words from the Aeneid,


s: I have seen ere now at the beginning of the day the eastern


s: region all rosy, while the rest of heaven was beautiful with fair


s: the tempering of vapors the eye sustained it a long while. Thus


s: within a cloud of flowers, which from the angelic hands was


s: ascending, and falling down again within and without, a lady,


s: with olive wreath above a white veil, appeared to me, robed with


s: the color of living flame beneath a green mantle. And my


s: spirit that now for so long a time had not been broken down,


s: trembling with amazement at her presence, without having more


s: knowledge by the eyes, through occult virtue that proceeded from


s: her, felt the great potency of ancient love.


s: The olive is the symbol of wisdom and of peace the three


s: colors are those of Faith, Charity, and Hope.


s: Soon as upon my sight the lofty virtue smote, which already had


s: transfixed me ere I was out of boyhood, I turned me to the left


s: with the confidence with which the little child runs to his


s: mother when he is frightened, or when he is troubled, to say to


s: Virgil, "Less than a drachm of blood remains in me that doth not


s: tremble; I recognize the signals of the ancient flame,"--but


s: Virgil had left us deprived of himself; Virgil, sweetest Father,


s: Virgil to whom I for my salvation gave me. Nor did all which the


s: ancient mother lost avail unto my cheeks, cleansed with


s: dew, that they should not turn dark again with tears.


s: "Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae."--Aeneid, iv. 23.


s: All the beauty of Paradise which Eve lost.


s: "Dante, though Virgil be gone away, weep not yet, weep not yet,


s: for it behoves thee to weep by another sword."


s: Like an admiral who, on poop or on prow, comes to see the people


s: that are serving on the other ships, and encourages them to do


s: well, upon the left border of the chariot,--when I turned me at


s: the sound of my own name, which of necessity is registered


s: here,--I saw the Lady, who had first appeared to me veiled


s: beneath the angelic festival, directing her eyes toward me across


s: circled by the leaf of Minerva, did not allow her to appear


s: distinctly. Royally, still haughty in her mien, she went on, as


s: one who speaks, and keeps back his warmest speech: "Look at me


s: well: I am, indeed, I am, indeed, Beatrice. How hast thou deigned


s: here?" My eyes fell down into the clear fount; but seeing myself


s: in it I drew them to the grass, such great shame burdened my


s: brow. As to the son the mother seems proud, so she seemed to me;


s: for somewhat bitter tasteth the savor of stern pity. She was


s: silent, and the angels sang of a sudden, "In te, Domine,


s: speravi;" but beyond "pedes meos" they did not pass. Even as


s: the snow, among the living rafters upon the back of Italy, is


s: congealed, blown and packed by Sclavonian winds, then melting


s: trickles through itself, if only the land that loses shadow


s: breathe, so that it seems a fire that melts the candle: so was


s: I without tears and sighs before the song of those who time their


s: had said, "Lady, why dost thou so confound him?" the ice that was


s: anguish poured from my breast through my mouth and eyes.


s: "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed:


s: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me;


s: deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of


s: defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress;


s: therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out


s: of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my


s: strength. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed


s: me, O Lord God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying


s: vanities: but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in


s: thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known


s: my soul in adversities. And hast not shut me up into the hand of


s: the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room."--Psalm xxxi.


s: She, still standing motionless on the aforesaid side of the


s: chariot, then turned her words to those pious beings thus: "Ye


s: watch in the eternal day, so that nor night nor slumber robs from


s: reply is with greater care, that he who is weeping yonder may


s: understand me, so that fault and grief may be of one measure. Not


s: every seed to some end according as the stars are its companions,


s: vapors so lofty that our sight goes not near thereto,--this man


s: was such in his new life, virtually, that every right habit would


s: and more savage becomes the land ill-sown and untilled, as it


s: has more of good terrestrial vigor. Some time did I sustain him


s: with my face; showing my youthful eyes to him I led him with me


s: turned in right direction. So soon as I was upon the threshold of


s: me, and gave himself to others. When from flesh to spirit I had


s: ascended, and beauty and virtue were increased in me, I was less


s: dear and less pleasing to him; and he turned his steps along a


s: way not true, following false images of good, which pay no


s: promise in full. Nor did it avail me to obtain inspirations


s: with which, both in dream and otherwise, I called him back; so


s: little did he heed them. So low he fell that all means for his


s: salvation were already short, save showing him the lost people.


s: For this I visited the gate of the dead, and to him, who has


s: conducted him up hither, my prayers were borne with weeping. The


s: high decree of God would be broken, if Lethe should be passed,


s: and such viands should be tasted without any scot of repentance


s: CANTO XXXI. The Earthly Paradise.--Reproachful discourse of


s: Beatrice, amid confession of Dante.--Passage of Lethe.--Appeal of


s: "O thou who art on the further side of the sacred river," turning


s: seemed to me keen, she began anew, going on without delay, "say,


s: say, if this is true: to so great an accusation it behoves that


s: thine own confession be conjoined." My power was so confused,


s: that the voice moved, and became extinct before it could be


s: released by its organs. A little she bore it; then she said,


s: "What thinkest thou? Reply to me; for the sad memories in thee


s: are not yet injured by the water." Confusion and fear together


s: mingled forced such a "Yes" from out my mouth, that the eyes were


s: Are still vivid, not yet obliterated by the water of Lethe.


s: As a cross-bow breaks its cord and its bow when it shoots with


s: too great tension, and with less force the shaft hits the mark,


s: so did I burst under that heavy load, pouring forth tears and


s: sighs, and the voice slackened along its passage. Whereupon she


s: to me, "Within those desires of mine that were leading thee to


s: love the Good beyond which there is nothing whereto man may


s: aspire, what trenches running traverse, or what chains didst thou


s: passing onward? And what enticements, or what advantages on the


s: brow of the others were displayed, for which thou wert obliged


s: to court them?" After the drawing of a bitter sigh, hardly had I


s: the voice that answered, and the lips with difficulty gave it


s: form. Weeping, I said, "The present things with their false


s: pleasure turned my steps, soon as your face was hidden." And she:


s: dost confess, thy fault would be not less noted, by such a Judge


s: is it known. But when the accusation of the sin, bursts from


s: one's own cheek, in our court the wheel turns itself back against


s: and that another time, hearing the Sirens, thou mayst be


s: stronger, hay aside the seed of weeping, and listen; so shalt


s: thou hear how in opposite direction my buried flesh ought to have


s: in earth. And if the supreme pleasure thus failed thee through


s: my death, what mortal thing ought then to have drawn thee into


s: its desire? Forsooth thou oughtest, at the first arrow of things


s: deceitful, to have risen up, following me who was no longer such.


s: blows, either girl or other vanity of so brief a use. The young


s: little bird awaits two or three; but before the eyes of the


s: full-fledged, the net is spread in vain, the arrow shot."


s: listening and conscience-stricken and repentant, so was I


s: standing. And she said, "Since through hearing thou art grieved,


s: lift up thy beard, and thou shalt receive more grief in seeing."


s: With less resistance is a sturdy oak uprooted by a native wind,


s: or by one from the land of Iarbas, than I raised up my chin at


s: her command; and when by the beard she asked for my eyes, truly I


s: upward, my sight perceived that those primal creatures were


s: resting from their strewing, and my eyes, still little assured,


s: saw Beatrice turned toward the animal that is only one person in


s: two natures. Beneath her veil and beyond the stream she seemed


s: to me more to surpass her ancient self, than she surpassed the


s: others here when she was here. So pricked me there the nettle of


s: repentance, that of all other things the one which most turned me


s: Because indicating the lack of that wisdom which should


s: That object which had most seduced me from the love of


s: Beatrice was now the most hateful to me.


s: Such contrition stung my heart that I fell overcome; and what I


s: then became she knows who afforded me the cause.


s: Then, when my heart restored my outward faculties, I saw above me


s: hold me." She had drawn me into the stream up to the throat, and


s: dragging me behind was moving upon the water light as a shuttle.


s: When I was near the blessed shore, "Asperges me" I heard so


s: sweetly that I cannot remember it, far less can write it. The


s: beautiful lady opened her arms, clasped my head, and plunged me


s: in where it behoved that I should swallow the water. Then she


s: took me, and, thus bathed, brought me within the dance of the


s: four beautiful ones, and each of them covered me with her arm.


s: "Here we are nymphs, and in heaven we are stars: ere Beatrice had


s: handmaids. We will head thee to her eyes; but in the joyous light


s: breast of the griffon they led me with them, where Beatrice was


s: standing turned toward us. They said, "See that thou sparest not


s: thy sight: we have placed thee before the emeralds whence Love of


s: flame bound my eyes to the relucent eyes which only upon the


s: griffon were standing fixed. As the sun in a mirror, not


s: otherwise the twofold animal was gleaming therewithin, now with


s: one, now with another mode. Think, Reader, if I marvelled when


s: I saw the thing stand quiet in itself, while in its image it was


s: The first words of the seventh verse of the fifty-first


s: Psalm: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and


s: The drinking of the waters of Lethe which obliterate the


s: The Cardinal Virtues lead up to Theology, or the knowledge of


s: Divine things, but the Evangelic Virtues are needed to penetrate


s: Mode of being,--the divine and the human.


s: While, full of amazement and glad, my soul was tasting that food


s: which, sating of itself, causes hunger for itself, the other


s: three, showing themselves in their bearing of loftier order,


s: came forward dancing to their angelic melody. "Turn, Beatrice,


s: turn thy holy eyes," was their song, "upon thy faithful one, who


s: to see thee has taken so many steps. For grace do us the grace


s: that thou unveil to hum thy mouth, so that he may discern the


s: "The eyes of Wisdom are her demonstrations by which one sees


s: the truth most surely; and her smile is her persuasions in which


s: the interior light of Wisdom is displayed without any veil; and


s: in these two is felt that loftiest pleasure of Beatitude, which


s: is the chief good in Paradise."--Convito, iii 15.


s: Oh splendor of living light eternal! Who hath become so pallid


s: under the shadow of Parnassus, or hath so drunk at its cistern,


s: that he would not seem to have his mind encumbered, trying to


s: represent thee as thou didst appear there where in harmony the


s: heaven overshadows thee when in the open air thou didst thyself


s: CANTO XXXII. The Earthly Paradise.--Return of the Triumphal


s: procession.--The Chariot bound to the Mystic Tree.--Sleep of


s: Dante.--His waking to find the Triumph departed.--Transformation


s: So fixed and intent were mine eyes to relieve their ten years'


s: thirst, that my other senses were all extinct: and they


s: themselves, on one side and the other, had a wall of disregard,


s: so did the holy smile draw them to itself with the old net; when


s: perforce my sight was turned toward my left by those


s: goddesses, because I heard from them a "Too fixedly." And


s: the condition which exists for seeing in eyes but just now


s: smitten by the sun caused me to be some time without sight. But


s: when the sight reshaped itself to the little (I say to the


s: little, in respect to the great object of the sense wherefrom by


s: force I had removed myself), I saw that the glorious army had


s: wheeled upon its right flank, and was returning with the sun and


s: "Thou lookest too fixedly; thou hast yet other duties than


s: As under its shields to save itself a troop turns and wheels with


s: celestial realm which was in advance had wholly gone past us


s: before its front beam had bent the chariot round. Then to the


s: wheels the ladies returned, and the griffon moved his blessed


s: burden, in such wise however that no feather of him shook. The


s: beautiful lady who had drawn me at the ford, and Statius and I


s: were following the wheel which made its orbit with the smaller


s: arc. So walking through the lofty wood, empty through fault of


s: her who trusted to the serpent, an angelic song set the time to


s: our steps. Perhaps an arrow loosed from the bow had in three


s: flights reached such a distance as we had advanced, when Beatrice


s: bough. Its branches, which so much the wider spread the higher


s: up they are, would be wondered at for height by the Indians in


s: In reproach of him who had in disobedience tasted of the


s: After the sin of Adam the plant was despoiled of virtue till


s: The branches of the tree of knowledge spread widest as they


s: are nearest to the Divine Source of truth.


s: "Blessed art thou, Griffon, that thou dost not break off with thy


s: racked thereby." Thus around the sturdy tree the others cried;


s: and the animal of two natures: "So is preserved the seed of all


s: righteousness." And turning to the pole that he had drawn, he


s: dragged it to the foot of the widowed trunk, and that which was


s: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so


s: by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."--Romans,


s: "That as sin had reigned unto deaths, even so might grace


s: reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ,


s: This pole, the mystic type of the cross of Christ, supposed


s: to have been made of the wood of this tree.


s: As our plants, when the great light falls downward mingled with


s: that which shines behind the celestial Carp, become swollen,


s: and then renew themselves, each in its own color, ere the sun


s: yoke his coursers under another star, so disclosing a color less


s: than of roses and more than of violets, the plant renewed itself,


s: hymn, and it is not sung here, which that folk then sang, nor


s: In this spring, when the Sun is in Aries, the sign which


s: follows that of the Pisces here termed the Carp.


s: This tree, after the death of Christ, still remains this


s: symbol of the knowledge of good and of evil, as well as this sign


s: foliage seems to he the image at once of the revelation of Divine


s: If I could portray how the pitiless eyes sank to slumber,


s: while hearing of Syrinx, the eyes to which too much watching cost


s: how I fell asleep; but whoso would, let him be one who can


s: picture slumber well. Therefore I pass on to when I awoke, and


s: say that a splendor rent for me the veil of sleep, and a call,


s: The hundred eyes of Argus, who, when watching Io, fell asleep


s: while listening to the tale of the loves of Pan and Syrinx, and


s: The sleep of Dante may signify the impotency of human reason


s: As, to see some of the flowerets of the apple-tree which makes


s: the Angels greedy of its fruit, and makes perpetual bridal


s: feasts in Heaven, Peter and John and James were led, and


s: being overcome, came to themselves at the word by which greater


s: slumbers were broken, and saw their band diminished alike by


s: Moses and Elias, and the raiment of their Master changed, so I


s: came to myself, and saw that compassionate one standing above me,


s: all in doubt I said, "Where is Beatrice?" And she, "Behold her


s: that surrounds her; the rest are going on high behind the


s: griffon, with sweeter song and more profound." And if her


s: speech was more diffuse I know not, because already in my eyes


s: was she who from attending to aught else had closed me in. Alone


s: she was sitting upon the bare ground, like a guard left there of


s: the chariot which I had seen bound by the biform animal. In a


s: circle the seven Nymphs were making of themselves an enclosure


s: for her, with those lights in their hands that are secure from


s: "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my


s: beloved among the suns."--The Song of Solomon, ii. 3.


s: The marriage supper of the Lamb--Revelation, xix. 9.


s: The transfiguration--Matthew, xvii. 1-8.


s: Those of the dead called back to life by Jesus.


s: Christ having ascended, Beatrice, this type of Theology, is


s: left by the chariot, the type of the Church on earth.


s: From the north wind or the south; that is, from any earthly


s: "Here shalt thou be short time a forester; and thou shalt be with


s: Therefore for profit of the world that lives ill, keep now thine


s: eyes upon the chariot; amid what thou seest, having returned to


s: earth, mind that thou write." Thus Beatrice; and I, who at the


s: feet of her commands was all devout, gave my mind and my eyes


s: Never with so swift a motion did fire descend from a dense cloud,


s: as I saw the bird of Jove stoop downward through the tree,


s: breaking the bark, as well as the flowers and new leaves; and he


s: struck the chariot with all his force, whereat it reeled, like a


s: ship in a tempest beaten by the waves now to starboard, now to


s: larboard. Then I saw leap into the body of the triumphal


s: vehicle a she fox, which seemed fasting from all good food;


s: but rebuking her for her foul sins my Lady turned her to such


s: flight as her fleshless bones allowed. Then, from there whence he


s: chariot and leave it feathered from himself. And a voice such


s: as issues from a heart that is afflicted issued from Heaven, and


s: thus spake, "O little bark of mine, how ill art thou laden!" Then


s: fixed his tail: and, like a wasp that retracts its sting, drawing


s: lively soil with grass, with the plumage, offered perhaps with


s: sane and benign intention; and both one and the other wheel and


s: the pole were again covered with it in such time that a sigh


s: holds the mouth open longer. Thus transformed, the holy


s: structure put forth heads upon its parts, three upon the pole,


s: and one on each corner. The first were horned like oxen, but the


s: four had a single horn upon the forehead. A like prodigy was


s: never seen before. Secure, as fortress on a high mountain, there


s: appeared to me a loose harlot sitting upon it, with eyes roving


s: around. And, as if in order that she should not be taken from


s: him, I saw standing at her side a giant, and some while they


s: kissed each other. But because she turned her lustful and


s: wandering eye on me that fierce paramour scourged her from head


s: to foot. Then full of jealousy, and cruel with anger, he loosed


s: the monster, and drew it through the wood so far that only of


s: that he made a shield from me for the harlot and for the strange


s: The descent and the attack of the eagle symbolize the


s: rejection of Christianity and the persecution of the Church by


s: The feathering of the car is the type of the donation of


s: Constantine,--the temporal endowment of the Church.


s: The dragging off by the dragon of a part of the car probably


s: figures the schism of the Greek Church in the 9th century.


s: This new feathering signifies the fresh and growing


s: The seven heads have been interpreted as the seven mortal


s: sins, which grew up in the transformed church, the result of its


s: The harlot and the giant stand respectively for the Pope


s: (both Boniface VIII. and him successor Clement V.) and the kings


s: of France, especially Philip the Fair. The turning of the eyes of


s: with the Italians, which awakened the jealousy of Philip; and the


s: wood, so far as to hide it from the poet, may be taken as


s: typifying the removal of the seat of the Papacy from Rome to


s: CANTO XXXIII. The Earthly Paradise.--Prophecy of Beatrice


s: concerning one who shall restore the Empire.--Her discourse with


s: Dante.--The river Eunoe.--Dante drinks of it, and is fit to


s: "Deus, venerunt gentes," the ladies began, alternating, now


s: three now four, a sweet psalmody, and weeping. And Beatrice,


s: sighing and compassionate, was listening to them so moved that


s: scarce more changed was Mary at the cross. But when the other


s: virgins gave place to her to speak, risen upright upon her feet,


s: she answered, colored like fire: "Modicum, et non videbitis me,


s: et iterum, my beloved Sisters, Modicum, et vos videbitis me."


s: Then she set all the seven in front of her; and behind her, by a


s: sign only, she placed me, and the Lady, and the Sage who had


s: stayed. So she moved on; and I do not think her tenth step had


s: been set upon the ground, when with her eyes my eyes she smote,


s: and with tranquil aspect said to me, "Come more quickly, so that


s: if I speak with thee, to listen to me thou mayst be well placed."


s: "Brother, why dost thou not venture to ask of me, now thou art


s: Thus first words of the seventy-ninth Psalm: "O God, the


s: heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have


s: they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps." The whole


s: Psalm, picturing the actual desolation of the Church, but closing


s: "A little while and ye shall not see me: and again, A little


s: while and ye shall see me."--John, xvi. 16. An answer and promise


s: The lady, Matilda, and the sage, Statius.


s: Even as befalls those who with excess of reverence are speaking


s: in presence of their superiors, and drag not their voice living


s: to the teeth, it befell me that without perfect sound I began,


s: "My Lady, you know my need, and that which is good for it." And


s: site to me, "From fear and from shame I wish that thou henceforth


s: is not; but let him who is to blame therefor believe that the


s: vengeance of God fears not sops. Not for all time shall be


s: without an heir the eagle that left its feathers on the car,


s: whereby it became a monster, and then a prey. For I see


s: surely, and therefore I tell it, stars already close at hand,


s: secure from every obstacle and from every hindrance, to give to


s: us a time in which a Five hundred, Ten, and Five sent by God


s: shall slay the thievish woman and that giant who with her is


s: delinquent. And perchance my narration, dark as Themis and the


s: Sphinx, less persuades thee, because after their fashion it


s: clouds the understanding. But soon the facts will be the


s: Naiades that shall solve this difficult enigma, without harm


s: of flocks or of harvest. Do thou note; and even as they are borne


s: life which is a running unto death; and have in mind when thou


s: writest them, not to conceal what thou hast seen the plant, which


s: it, with blasphemy in act offends God, who only for His own


s: use created it holy. For biting that, the first soul, in pain and


s: punished on Himself the bite. Thy wit sleeps, if it deem not that


s: And if thy vain thoughts had not been as water of Elsa round


s: about thy mind, and their pleasantness as Pyramus to the


s: mulberry, by so many circumstances only thou hadst recognized


s: morally the justice of God in the interdict upon the tree. But


s: since I see thee in thy understanding made of stone, and thus


s: stony, dark, so that the light of my speech dazzles thee, I would


s: least depicted,--for the reason that the pilgrim's staff is


s: carried wreathed with palm." And I, "Even as by a seal wax


s: which alters not the imprinted figure, is my brain now stamped by


s: that the more it strives the more it loses it?" "In order that


s: thou mayst know," she said, "that school which thou hast


s: followed, and mayst see how its doctrine can follow my word


s: and mayst see your path distant so far from the divine, as the


s: heaven which highest hastens is remote from earth." Whereon I


s: replied to her, "I do not remember that I ever estranged myself


s: from you, nor have I conscience of it that may sting me." "And if


s: thee how this day thou hast drunk of Lethe. And if from smoke


s: fire be inferred, such oblivion clearly proves fault in thy will


s: elsewhere intent. Truly my words shall henceforth be naked so


s: far as it shall be befitting to uncover them to thy rude sight."


s: Are unable to speak with distinct words.


s: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not."--Revelation,


s: According to a belief, which the old commentators report as


s: commonly held by the Florentines, if a murderer could contrive


s: within nine days of the murder to eat a sop of bread dipped in


s: wine, above the grave of his victim, he would escape from the


s: vengeance of the family of the murdered man.


s: The meaning is that an Emperor shall come, who shall restore


s: the Church from its captivity, and reestablish the Divine order


s: upon earth, in rise mutually dependent and severally independent


s: This prophecy is too obscure to admit of a sure


s: interpretation. Five hundred, ten, and five, in Roman numerals,


s: give the letters D X V; which by transposition form the word Dux,


s: The harlot, who had no right in the car, but had stolen her


s: place there, or, in plain words, the Popes who by corruption had


s: Obscure as the oracles of Thiemis or the enigmas of the


s: According to a misreading of a verse in Ovid's Metam., vii.


s: Themis, offended, sent forth a wild beast to ravage the flocks


s: Robs it as Adam did, splinters it as the Emperors did.


s: A river of Tuscany, whose waters have a petrifying quality.


s: Darkening thy mind as the blood of Pyramus dyed the


s: If not clearly inscribed, at least so imprinted on the mind,


s: that, like the palm on the pilgrim's staff, it may be a sign of


s: where thou hast been and of what thou hast seen.


s: How far its doctrine is from my teaching.


s: The having been obliged to drink of Lethe is the proof that


s: thou hadst sin to he forgotten, and that thy will had turned thee


s: And more coruscant, and with slower steps, the sun was holding


s: the circle of the meridian, which is set here or there according


s: to the aspect, when even as he, who goes before a troop as


s: guide, stops if he find some strange thing on his track, the


s: seven ladies stopped at the edge of a pale shade, such as beneath


s: streams. In front of them, it seemed to me I saw Euphrates and


s: Tigris issue from one fountain, and, like friends, part slow from


s: Which shifts as seen from one place or another.


s: "O light, O glory of the human race, what water is this which


s: here spreads from one source, and from itself withdraws itself?"


s: To this prayer it was said to me, "Pray Matilda that she tell


s: it to thee;" and here the beautiful Lady answered, as one does


s: who frees himself from blame, "This and other things have been


s: told him by me; and I am sure that the water of Lethe has not


s: hidden them from him." And Beatrice, "Perhaps a greater care


s: which oftentimes deprives the memory has darkened the eyes of his


s: and, as thou art accustomed, revive his extinct power." As a


s: gentle soul which makes not excuse, but makes its own will of


s: another's will, soon as by a sign it is outwardly disclosed, even


s: Statius said, with manner of a lady, "Come with him."


s: Here for the first and only time is the beautiful Lady called


s: Eunoe, "the memory of good," which its waters restore to the


s: purified soul. The poetic conception of this fair stream is


s: If I had, Reader, longer space for writing I would yet partly


s: sing the sweet draught which never would have sated me. But,


s: because all the leaves destined for this second canticle are


s: full, the curb of my art lets me go no further. I returned from


s: the most holy wave, renovated as new plants renewed with new


s: foliage, pure and disposed to mount unto the stars.


s: Etext scanned by Dianne Bean of Phoenix, Arizona.


s: CANTO I. Proem.--Invocation.--Beatrice and Dante ascend to the


s: Sphere of Fire.--Beatrice explains the cause of their ascent.


s: CANTO II. Proem.--Ascent to the Moon.--The cause of Spots on the


s: CANTO III. The Heaven of the Moon.--Spirits whose vows had been


s: broken.--Piccarda Donati.--The Empress Constance.


s: CANTO IV. Doubts of Dante, respecting the justice of Heaven and


s: the abode of the blessed, solved by Beatrice.--Question of Dante


s: as to the possibility of reparation for broken vows.


s: CANTO V. The sanctity of vows, and the seriousness with which


s: they are to be made or changed.--Ascent to the Heaven of


s: CANTO VI. Justinian tells of his own life.--The story of the


s: Roman Eagle.--Spirits in the planet Mercury.--Romeo.


s: CANTO VII. Discourse of Beatrice.--The Fall of Man.--The scheme


s: CANTO VIII. Ascent to the Heaven of Venus.--Spirits of Lovers,


s: Source of the order and the varieties in mortal things.


s: CANTO IX. The Heaven of Venus.--Conversation of Dante with


s: CANTO X. Ascent to the Sun.--Spirits of the wise, and the learned


s: CANTO XI. The Vanity of worldly desires,--St. Thomas Aquinas


s: undertakes to solve two doubts perplexing Dante.--He narrates the


s: CANTO XII. Second circle of the spirits of wise religious men,


s: doctors of the Church and teachers.--St. Bonaventura narrates the


s: CANTO XIII. St. Thomas Aquinas speaks again, and explains the


s: relation of the wisdom of Solomon to that of Adam and of Christ,


s: and declares the vanity of human judgment.


s: CANTO XIV. At the prayer of Beatrice, Solomon tells of the


s: glorified body of the blessed after the Last Judgment.--Ascent to


s: of a Cross with the figure of Christ thereon.--Hymn of the


s: CANTO XV. Dante is welcomed by his ancestor, Cacciaguida.--


s: Cacciaguida tells of his family, and of the simple life of


s: CANTO XVI. The boast of blood.--Cacciaguida continues his


s: discourse concerning the old and the new Florence.


s: CANTO XVII. Dante questions Cacciaguida as to his fortunes.--


s: Cacciaguida replies, foretelling the exile of Dante, and the


s: CANTO XVIII. The Spirits in the Cross of Mars.--Ascent to the


s: Heaven of Jupiter.--Words shaped in light upon the planet by the


s: Spirits.--Denunciation of the avarice of the Popes.