This one from whom (as the last in the Circle) thy look returneth to me (who am next to him) is the effulgence of a spirit who, wrapt in deep meditations, thought himself too slow in coming to his death. It is the Eternal Light of Sigier, who, lecturing in the Street of Straw, did syllogize unpalatable truths." The twelve great Theologians having been named by St. Thomas Aquinas, their spirits now resume their interrupted movement and song. Indi come orologio, che ne chiami Nell' ora che la sposa di Dio surge A mattinar* lo sposo perchè l' ami, 140 at Montpellier, that Siger came to Italy; for it is there stated that he died by the sword,' i.e. probably was executed, at Orvieto (where the Court of Rome was about that time). Consequently, as M. Paris remarks in a notice of the abovementioned poem, in order to account for Dante's acquaintance with Siger, it is no longer necessary to assume that he visited Paris.' On the two above notes see A. F. Ozanam (Dante et la Philosophie Catholique, Paris, 185, pp. 319-323); and Lubin (Commedia di Dante, Padova, 1881, pp. 52, 53). *mattinar: This has been usually interpreted as "to chant mattins," but Borghini (sopra un Falso Vellutello, in Studi su Dante, p. 254) whose definitions of the precise signification of Tuscan expressions and idiom are unrivalled, says that although to render mattinar as dire mattutino can just be tolerated, yet it must be remembered that mattins was not the only Office that was recited in the night time: whereas mattinate and serenate properly signify songs of love chanted by night to ladies; and beyond a doubt this is what Dante had in his mind; the more so as he was always ready to take his similes most aptly from scenes of daily life. Borghini adds: “il che non solo è facile ad intendere, ma ha ancor seco una propria e singolar efficacia, che diletta col ridurli a memoria quell' usanza, che non può l' uditore, e comprende più col senso che non suonano le parole; e tutto questo in simili esposizioni si perde, e l' arguzia del poeta non si vede." tuna parte l'altra tira ed urge: The clock alluded to here is an orologio a sveglia con cariglione, and of it Antonelli (ap. Tommaséo) says: "Il tirare e l' urgere, cioè spingere d' una e Tin tin sonando con sì dolce nota, Che il ben disposto spirto d' amor turge; Moversi e render voce a voce in tempra * Ed in dolcezza ch' esser non può nota, 145 Then like the clock, which calls us at the hour when the Bride of God (the Church) is wont to rise to chant night-songs to her Spouse that He may love her, in which (clock) one part moves and impels the other, chiming forth Tin Tin, with so sweet a note that the well-disposed heart swells with love; so beheld I the glorious wheel moving, and returning voice to voice with a modulation and a sweetness that cannot be comprehended save in that place (Heaven) where joy reigns for ever. Benvenuto, in genuine admiration of this appropriate comparison, remarks that, as those learned doctors. were in the habit of rising in the night hours to pursue their studies, so did holy men rise to recite the night Offices of the Church; the more so, that it is in the night that the mind can turn more readily to meditation and contemplation. d'altra parte, deve riferirsi nell' orologio alla codetta del battaglio, fatto bicipite nell' interno della campana, or tirata ed ora spinta dal semplice ordigno messo in moto di va e vieni dal movimento della ruota a ciò destinata." in tempra: "Proportionaliter conformare voces eorum in cantu " (Benvenuto). END OF CANTO X. SPHERE OF THE CANTO XI. SUN (CONTINUED) THE VANITY OF WORLDLY CARES-ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, A DOMINICAN, IN this Canto Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, sings the praises of St. Francis. In the next Canto Bonaventura, a Franciscan, will sing those of St. Dominic. In these two founders of religious Orders Dante probably was contemplating two real reformers of the Church; the one, St. Dominic, being conspicuous for doctrine, and the other, St. Francis, for charity. Dante by no means intended (observes Tommaséo) to praise the war which the Dominicans waged with fire and sword against heretics, but rather was commending the war of argument opposed to error. His praise, however, of St. Francis is more earnest and more poetical. The love of poverty is sketched in a picture of womanly tenderness; and Tommaséo thinks that, if Avarice be the she-wolf, then Poverty must be the legitimate bride. Benvenuto divides the Canto into four parts. In the First Division, from ver. I to ver. 12, Dante deplores and censures the shiftiness with which men give their minds to the attainment of many ends. mostly different from each other, and neglect the one true one of Eternal Happiness. In the Second Division, from ver. 13 to ver. 27, St. Thomas Aquinas, who is again introduced on the scenė, tells Dante he can see that two doubts are disturbing his mind. In the Third Division, from ver. 28 to ver. 117, St. Thomas, to elucidate the first of these doubts,* speaks in enthusiastic praise of the beauty of the life of St. Francis. In the Fourth Division, from ver. 118 to ver. 139, he denounces the life of the Friars of his own Order, so fallen from their pristine sanctity. Division I.-Lombardi says that the first twelve lines are but a digression, in which Dante utters an exclamation of contemptuous pity for men bound down to earth by the cares of this world, and from that cause prevented from elevating their thoughts and aspirations to that Heaven where Dante is now in the enjoyment of celestial bliss. O insensata cura + dei mortali, Quanto son difettivi sillogismi Quei che ti fanno in basso batter l' ali! *Not until we reach Canto xiii do we read the solution of Dante's second doubt, in ll. 31-111. + O insensata cura, et seq.: Compare Lucretius ii, 14:— "O miseras hominum menteis! o pectora coeca!" and Persius i, 1 :— "O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane! difettivi sillogismi: "Sono difettivi li nostri sillogismi, però ch' elli non conchiudono vero, in ciò che le proposizioni sono false, e però falso conchiudono" (Ottimo). Compare Conv. iv, 9, 11. 57-60: "Perchè noi volessimo che 'l sillogismo con falsi principii conchiudesse verità dimostrando, non conchiuderebbe." Compare, too, Par. xxiv, 91-96, where Dante O insensate care of mortal men! How inconclusive are those syllogisms (i.e. how erroneous is the reasoning) which make thee beat thy wings in downward flight! Dante, having passed the above general censure, confirms it by showing in detail what are the most conspicuous among the affairs of men. Prominent among these are the study of the Law, of Physics, of Theology, Ambition, Statecraft, Greed of Adventurers for Booty, Acquisition of Wealth, Pleasures of the Flesh, and total Idleness. Chi dietro a iura, e chi ad aforismi * Sen giva, e chi seguendo sacerdozio, † 5 avows that the internal evidences in Holy Scripture are to him a syllogism more convincing than any process of reasoning about them : "Ed io; 'La larga ploia Dello Spirito Santo, ch' è diffusa In sulle vecchie e in sulle nuove cuoia, È sillogismo che la m' ha conchiusa Acutamente sì che in verso d' ella Ogni dimostrazion mi pare ottusa."" *aforismi: The Aphorisms of Hippocrates is the work by which "the Father of Medicine" is best known. The use of the expression in this passage is intended to signify "the study of Medicine." + seguendo sacerdozio: Dr. Moore writes to me: "I have found seguendo sacerdozio erased in some MSS. It was evidently thought improper to mention this with depreciation!" regnar... per sofismi: "Cioè per dolo e per inganno; questo è quando la cittade è commessa al governo di alquanti pochi, li quali per persuasioni e per pulite dicerie ingannano tutta l'altra cittadinanza, trasportando il bene comune in sua propria utilitade " (Ottimo). Casini remarks that Dante, when he wrote these lines, certainly had in his mind the great army of intriguers and traffickers in public offices, such as were Corso Donati, Baldo d' Aguglione, and Fazio da Signa, with many others like them, whose sinister deeds we find recorded in the pages of Dino Compagni, the chronicler of the faction of the Bianchi. |