Là onde invidia prima dipartilla. Di quegli antichi spiriti dolenti, Nel fuoco, perchè speran di venire, Anima fia a ciò di me più degna ; Chè quello Imperador che lassù regna, Non vuol che in sua città per me si vegna. In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge, Quivi è la sua città e l'alto seggio: O felice colui cui ivi elegge !' Ed io a lui Poeta, io ti richieggio Per quello Dio che tu non conoscesti, Acciocch' io fugga questo male e peggio, 115 120 125 130 111. Dipartilla-la dipartì. Cf. Wisdom ii, 24: 'through envy of the devil came death into the world.' 112. Me' meglio. 113. Segui segua. 117. Each of whom proclaims the second death,' i. e., damnation. The phrase was often used in this sense by theologians. Cf. Rev. xxi, 8: 'the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death'; also Rev. xx, 14. Cf. Dante, Epistola VI, ii, 26 ff.: 'Vos autem divina iura et humana transgredientes nonne terror secundæ mortis exagitat . . .?' 118. The souls in Purgatory. 122. Beatrice. 126. Che... per me si vegna=che io venga. This curious passive impersonal construction occurs several times, with verbs of coming, going, and staying, in Dante's works: Inf. XXVI, 18; Purg. XVI, 119-20, XXII, 85, XXV, 109-10; Conv., III, xiii, 95-7. Che tu mi meni là dov' or dicesti, Sì ch' io vegga la porta di san Pietro, E color cui tu fai cotanto mesti.'.. Allor si mosse, ed io li tenni retro. 134. The gate of Purgatory, opened only to the elect. 135 CANTO II ARGUMENT As this canto opens, it is the evening of Good Friday; twelve hours have been consumed in the attempt to scale the mountain, the encounter with the beasts, and the conversation with Virgil. The world is going to rest, and Dante, 'all alone' among the creatures of this earth, is preparing for a stern and fearful task. At this point really the beginning of the Inferno, inasmuch as the first canto is a general introduction to the poem Dante invokes the Muses, following the example of the great poets of old. Dante probably believed that the Muses, even to the ancients, were only a figure of speech, a metaphor for poetic inspiration or art; so in the Vita Nuova, XXV, 88, he says that Horace, calling upon the Muse, 'parla alla sua scienza medesima.' Doubting his fitness for the proposed journey, Dante recalls his two great predecessors, Æneas and St. Paul, to whom the realms of the departed were revealed. The former, as the sixth book of the Eneid relates, visited the lower world; the latter 'was caught up into Paradise,' as he tells us in II Cor. xii. The one listened to prophecies of Rome's future greatness; the other 'heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.' The experience of Æneas prepared the way for the Empire, the 'alto effetto' or 'mighty result' of his vision; the rapture of St. Paul strengthened the faith which sustains the Church. Dante has no such mission, he merely represents the ordinary run of humanity: why should such a revelation be made to him? It is worth noting that in introducing the example of Æneas, Dante begins with 'tu dici che . . .,' and a few lines further on he uses the phrase 'questa andata onde gli dai tu vanto'; so in Par. XV, 26, referring to the same episode, he adds 'se fede merta nostra maggior Musa,' meaning Virgil. These expressions seem to imply a mental reservation with regard to the literal veracity of Æneas's adventure. In Conv., II, i, he makes it clear that in poetry truth is to be sought not in the letter but in the allegory, which he calls 'una verità ascosa sotto bella menzogna.' The sixth book of the Æneid, then, is allegorically true, in that it records revelations made to the hero, but in its material details it may be regarded as fiction. In En., VI, 893-8, Anchises lets his son out through the ivory gate of deceptive dreams; and Servius, in his commentary, explains this incident as an indication that the whole story is an invention. To strengthen Dante's wavering courage, Virgil assures him that the experience vouchsafed him is a fruit of the Divine Care which watches lovingly over erring man as long as hope is left. In dramatic fashion he tells how Mary, pitying Dante's plight, called upon Lucia (presumably St. Lucia of Syracuse), who, in turn, summoned Beatrice to his aid; she sought out Virgil in the Limbus and sent him to resue the struggling sinner. On hearing this, Dante takes heart again, and follows his master into the earth. The three ladies T form a counterpart to the three beasts. The Virgin, here as generally in Christian. thought, symbolizes divine Mercy. Lucia has by almost all interpreters been regarded as the emblem of Grace probably, as her name suggests, Illuminating Grace; inasmuch as Mary describes Dante to Lucia as 'il tuo fedele,' it would seem that our poet, for reasons unknown to us, had held this saint in particular veneration. Beatrice, as we have seen, stands for Revelation, for which Dante's distorted mind must be prepared by Reason. God in his mercy sends forth his illuminating grace to prepare the way for complete revelation, which will ensue as soon as the reawakened voice of reason shall have made the sinner ready to receive it. For the symbolism of the three ladies, see Flam., II, 149 ff. It should be recorded that so distinguished a commentator as Torraca regards Beatrice, Lucia, and Mary as emblems of the three Christian virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity an interpretation that seems to meet with a fatal obstacle in Purg. XXIX, 121-9, where these virtues are manifestly represented by three nymphs. Lo giorno se n' andava, e l' aer bruno Guarda la mia virtù, s' ella è possente, 6. Mente here, as very often in Dante, means 'memory.' 5 ΙΟ L Tu dici che di Silvio lo parente, Cortese i fu, pensando l' alto effetto La quale e il quale (a voler dir lo vero) U' siede il successor del maggior Piero. Di sua vittoria e del papale ammanto. Per recarne conforto a quella fede Temo che la venuta non sia folle. 15 20 25 30 35 15. Immortale secolo, 'the eternal world,' i. e., the world of disembodied spirit. 17. I=gli. Pensando, 'if we consider.' 18. Il chi e il quale (quis et qualis), 'who and what he was': Father Æneas, founder of Rome. 20. Alma, revered.' 21. Empireo ciel, the Empyrean, the spiritual Heaven, outside the confines of the space and time. 22. La quale e il quale, i. e., Roma and impero. 24. U'ove. Maggior Piero, St. Peter, greatest of Peters or Popes. 28. Andovvi: vi=ad immortale secolo, II. 14-15. Lo Vas d'elezione, 'the Chosen Vessel,' St. Paul: Acts ix, 15. 34. 'If I allow myself to go.' |