Must Franco Bolognese1 have preference : Such pride here dearly pays the price it owed. O pride of thought, how vain and fanciful, How short will its fresh verdure have endured, In painting Cimabue1 felt assured 5 To hold the field; now Giotto's in request, 90 1 A painter and illuminator of MSS., probably a pupil of Oderisi. His works are still known. A Madonna by him, at Bologna, is dated 1313. 2 Having turned to God while in health and strength, he was saved from hell; and also from continuing in the outskirts of Purgatory with those who deferred their repentance. 3 So that other intellectual stars may not arise to outshine you. After all, an enlightened age can best appreciate the labours of its predecessors; and those who reap the harvest should not be unmindful of those who sowed the seed. 4 Giovanni Cimabue, born at Florence, in 1240, of a noble family. He was the restorer of painting in Europe; and although surpassed by his great pupil, he has the merit of having discovered, and drawn from obscurity, the talent of Giotto, displayed in the rude sketches of the shepherd boy; and of having by his kindness and assistance materially contributed to the success of his pupil. He died soon after the year 1300, having furnished, it is said, the epitaph inscribed on his tomb, to which Dante is supposed to allude: "Credidit ut Cimabos picturæ castra tenuere, Sic tenuit vivens; nunc tenet astra poli." 5 Giotto, the pupil of Cimabue and friend of Dante, was born A D. 1276, and died 1336. And his precursor's fame is much obscured. Thus Guido too doth from his namesake wrest1 His learned fame; and he perhaps is born 100 Who both will foil and chase them from their nest.2 The loudest blast from Fame's obstreperous horn Is but a breath of wind that passes by, Changing its name, as hence or thence 'tis borne. What fame wilt thou have more, if thou shouldst die An old man, than if death had seized on thee When pap and playthings were thy prattling cry, A thousand years hence? To eternity, Less than the twinkling of an eye that same, To the most slow-paced orb in heaven, will be.3 He who before thee slowly wends, had fame Which through all Tuscany did once resound, 110 Where he was lord, what time they to the ground Then proud as now she's vile and abject found.1 1 Guido Cavalcanti.-See Inferno, x. 60, and note. Guido Guinicelli, of a noble family at Bologna, was highly esteemed by Dante, who speaks of him again, Canto xxvi. 83. In his note to the present passage, Cary has given several specimens of the poetry of both Guidos. 2 Scilicet, Ego Dante. An augury of his own poetic fame. 3 It is related of Napoleon I., that in one of his more pensive moods, when speaking freely of his own eventful career, and seeking to anticipate for himself the final verdict of History, he drew a vivid picture of the steadily shrinking dimensions of his renown. At that time his achievements filled libraries. By and bye a volume would suffice; then a chapter; then a paragraph; and then a line; till finally, perhaps, there would remain only his name. 4 He alludes to the defeat of the Florentine Guelfs at Montaperto.-See Inferno, x. 86, 93, and notes. Your fame is like the verdant grass, whose hue Comes and then goes; and that which doth bestow I answer'd, "Thy true speech my heart will sow Thus he has gone, and still goes restlessly, : Since death such is the price that must be paid Repentance till that he life's verge attain, Until a time long as he lived be past,* 120 130 1 The elements which contribute to our growth and sustenance, contribute also to our dissolution. The Scriptures compare man, in this respect, to the grass and flowers of the field.—Psalm ciii. 15, 16; James i. 11. 2 See Matt. xiii. 23. “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."-James iii. 18. 3 He commanded the Ghibelines of Siena against the Florentines in the battle of Val d'Elsa, in 1269, where he was defeated and slain. * In allusion to what is related, Canto iv. 130—2. And did what made him thrill in every vein.1 No more I'll say: obscurely I allude: But little time will pass before to thee Thy neighbour's acts will make it understood:2 140 1 One of his friends, named Vigna, having been taken prisoner in the battle of Tagliacozzo (Inferno, xxvii. 17, and note), and being held in captivity by Charles of Anjou, who demanded for him the enormous ransom of 10,000 pieces of gold, Salvani nobly undertook to raise this sum, and for that purpose he stood in the Campo, or public square of Siena, and begged contributions, till he had accomplished the liberation of his friend. The poet, who sets this act of humiliation against his general pride and ambition, describes a feeling of which he had himself been but too conscious, when he had had to ask favours of others. 2 A quasi-prediction of his own exile and dependence. CANTO XII. THE ARGUMENT. Humbled by the foregoing scene and conversation, Dante pursues his journey with Virgil, who directs his attention to the marble road, on which lie sculptured, like memorials of the dead, the representations of pride abased and punished-Lucifer, Briareus, Nimrod, Niobe, Saul, Arachne, Rehoboam, Eriphyle, Sennacherib, Cyrus, Holofernes, Troy. Conducted by an angel to the foot of the stair leading to the next round, they mount, and their ears are saluted by melodious voices chanting Beati pauperes spiritu. ABREAST, like oxen moving in the yoke, Did I with that o'erburden'd soul proceed, Long as my guide allow'd. But when he spoke Upright myself I raised and yet in me : My thoughts bow'd low and humble still remain. Advancing now I follow'd willingly Along the pathway where my master led, And both already show'd how light were we. "Turn thine eyes downward," then to me he said, ""Twill make thy way seem shorter to explore The ground which forms thy footsteps' marble bed." Like rude memorials which we see placed o'er 10 |