| cujus interpres Latinus — e lingua Italica — est |
With an English translation — from the Latin — by |
| Josephus Pascalius-Marinellius (1793 - 1875) |
Brian Thomas Patrick Regan, Ph.D. (1938 - ) |
| LIBRI | ||||
| INFERNA: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| PURGATORIUM: | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| PARADISUS: | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| NOTÆ | ||||
| Boëthius: O Qui Perpetua | ||||
| INFERNA | PURGATORIUM | PARADISUS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| DANTIS ALIGHERII DIVINA COMŒDIA LATINIS VERSIBUS AUCTORE
ANCONAE EX OFFICINA TYPOGRAPHICA OLIM BALUFFI MDCCCCLXXIV (1874) |
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| INFERNA | ||
| LIBER I | ||
| INFERNORUM I {1} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Vitæ hominis cursu in medio [1], me tendere sensi Per nemus obscurum, recto de tramite lapsus. Quam durum est fari quantum nemus illud et horrens Terrificumque foret ! renovat meminisse timorem : Tale erat, ut mortis paulo sit pejor imago. Ipse autem, ut referam quæ sum bona nactus ibidem, Cetera visa mihi pariter nunc ordine pandam. Quomodo in hoc subii, haud novi : me tantus habebat Evinctum somnus, quum semită rectă reliquit ! |
In mid-course of a mans life I felt myself going through a dark forest, having slid off the right path. How hard it is to say how horrible and terrifying that wood is! Remembering it renews my fear. It was such that the image of death is but little worse. But I, to report what good I encountered there, will now tell in order of the other things which likewise appeared to me. How I got into that place I do not know: such deep sleep was holding me captive when the right path left me! |
| 10 | Postquam sub montem veni, quo desinit illa, Quæ mihi cor tanta strinxit formidine, vallis, Alte erexi oculos ; ejusque effulgere terga Sidere conspexi, recto quod tramite ducit Carpentes quacunque viam. Paulum ille quievit Tum pavor horrendus, qui me tam in nocte gravarat : Ac, velut ille, maris qui fluctibus æger anhelansque Attigerit ripam, dubias quibus exiit ad undas Vertitur, ac spectat ; mea sic mens territa, nondum Quæ fugere abstiterat, tractum se vertit ad illum, |
After I came to the bottom of the mountain where the valley ends which constricted my heart with terror, I raised my eyes high and saw its back shining with a star [= the sun] which led by the right road those making their way by whatever path. That horrible fear that had so oppressed me in the night then relaxed a little; and like a man who, bruised by seawaves and short of breath, reaches the shore, turns around toward the dangerous waves he has gotten out of and looks at them, my mind which, terrifed thus, had not yet stopped fleeing, turned around to face that trail |
| 20 | Qui nunquam est passus mortalem evadere vivum. Postquam substiterim, defessaque membra levarim, Desertum per iter rursus sic pergere cœpi, Firmus ut inferior semper pes esset eundo. Ecce autem, ascensu in primo, maculataque pellem, Ac valde panthera levis se protinus offert : Astitit adversa, atque adeo impediebat euntem, Ut, me sæpe retro fuerim jam vertere promptus. Tempus erat sub mane novo ; sæptusque micanti Agmine stellarum Sol exsurgebat ab ortu, [2] |
which has never let a mortal escape alive. After I had stopped and lifted my tired limbs, I began again so to continue along the deserted route that in going my firm foot was always the lower one. But behold, at the start of the climb a very light leopard, spotted in its coat, suddenly stood in my way. It stood opposite me and so blocked my going on, that I was now often ready to turn back. The time was the start of morning and the Sun was coming up from its source, surrounded by a blinking cortege of stars, |
| 30 | Cum quibus ille fuit, divus quo tempore pulchris His Amor incuteret rebus per inania motum. Hora recens, dulcisque annus, formosaque pellis Illa feræ, mihi corde dabant spem surgere lætam ; Non adeo sed enim, ne me truculenta leonis Terreret facies, qui tunc apparuit ingens. Memet is adversus celsa cervice ruebat, Tanta actus fame, uti visus trepidare sit aër. Tum lupa præterea, correpta cupidine prædæ Ingenti, prout macra dabant cognoscere membra, |
with which it was at the time when Divine Love set those beautiful things in motion through the void. The early hour, the sweet time of year and that beautiful hide of the animal instilled in my heart the happy hope of climbing up however not so much that I was not terrified by the fierce face of a huge lion which then appeared. He was rushing at me with throat aloft, driven by such hunger, that the air seemed to shudder. Besides that there was a she-wolf, seized with a great desire of prey, as her lean limbs made me realize, |
| 40 | Quæ gentes multas vitæ traduxit amaræ. Hæc adeo terrore gravem me denique fecit, Ut spes omnis abiit sublimem vincere montem. Qualis, qui lucrum facit, aggestasque libenter Condit opes, si tempus adest, quo amiserit illas, Multa gemit, ploratque dolens, curisque fatiscit ; Belua me talem fecit ; quæ adversa, repellens, Quo Sol usque silet sensim me urgebat adire. Dum retro conversus agor, mihi paruit ultro Vir quidam, visus per longa silentia raucus. |
who led many folk to bitter lives. She at last rendered me so heavy with terror that all hope of surmounting the high mountain left me. Confronting me, the beast made me like a man who makes money and enjoys producing accumulations of wealth: if the time comes when he loses it, he sighs a great deal and cries sorrowfully, and becomes weary with cares; pushing me back, she gradually forced me to go all the way to where the Sun is silent. As I was being driven backward in retreat, a certain man spontaneously appeared to me, appearing hoarse from long silence. |
| 50 | Hunc ubi conspexi : mihi ne succurrere noli, Quisquis es, aut Umbra, aut vere ex viventibus unus, Inclamans dixi. Contra tum reddidit ille : Mortalis vixi : me progenuere parentes, Mantua queis patria ambobus : sum natus Julo, Sero licet, vixique Augusto principe Romæ, Cæca superstitio quum Numina vana colebat : Pierides colui ; Trojæque ex urbe profectum Justum Anchisiaden cecini, post obruta flammis Pergama. Sed tu cur ad tristia tanta revertis ? |
When I saw him, crying out I said, “Do not refuse to help me, whoever you are, whether a Shade or actually one of the living.” In response, he then answered, “A mortal I was; I was begotten by parents to both of whom Mantua was the homeland; I was born under Julus, admittedly late, and at the time that Augustus was emperor I lived in Rome, when blind superstition worshipped meaningless supernaturals; I cultivated the muses and sang of Anchises just son, who left the city of Troy after Pergama had been destroyed by flames. But you, why are you going back to such sadness? |
| 60 | Cur te pertædet jucundum ascendere montem, Principium et causam, quibus omnia gaudia manant ? Tune Maro ? Tu fons es fandi uberrimus ille ? Fronte verecundus dixi : o lux incluta vatum, Me juvet acer amor studiumque, incumbere chartis Quod fecit me sæpe tuis : tu præ omnibus auctor, Tu meus es doctor ; te sum tradente canoros Edoctus numeros, per quos mihi gloria venit. Da, pater, auxilium ; meque hoc, precor, eripe monstro, Quod mihi per venas immittit et ossa tremorem. |
Why do you find it distasteful to climb the delightful mountain, the origin and cause whence all joys flow?” With reverent brow I said, “Are you [Publius Vergilius] Maro? Are you that most abundant fountain of speech? O famous lighthouse of poets, may that intense love and study that made me often go over your writings help me; you more than all others are my author, my teacher; under your guidance I was taught the melodious cadence through whom fame came to me. Give me your help, father, and rescue me, I pray, from this monster that injects trembling through my veins and bones.” |
| 70 | Est aliud carpendum iter, is respondit, ut imbrem Fundere me vidit fletūs, si evadere ab ista Est animus silva : quippe hac vadentibus obstat Belua, quam propter voces perterritus edis ; Tamque diu prohibet, dum tandem funere mergat. Indolis est adeo pravæ, ut non expleat unquam ingluviem ; multoque magis post esurit escam : Multæ olli coëuntque feræ, pluresque coibunt, Dum Canis adveniet, diro qui angore necabit. Non hunc divitiæ, non hunc telluris honores |
When he saw me pouring out a rainstorm of weeping, he answered, “Another route must be taken if your desire is to get out of this forest. Indeed, the beast on account of which, terrified, you are uttering your cries, blocks travelers along this way. And she obstructs them so long that in the end she submerges them in death. She is of such a depraved nature that she never fills her maw, but after feeding becomes much hungrier. And many animals mate with her, and more will mate with her, until the Hound arrives who will kill her in fearful torment. Neither riches nor earthly honors |
| 80 | At virtus rectique amor et sapientia pascent ; Utraque et illius concludet Feltria gentem : Italiæ iste salus, pro qua sunt Marte perempti Nisus et Euryalus, Turnus, virgoque Camilla. Omnibus hanc abiget terris, et in horrida rursus Tartara detrudet, dedit unde erumpere livor. Quare age, nil melius reputo, quam me inde sequare. Dux tibi fidus ero, tutumque ex hisce periclis Per loca te æterna abducam ; quibus ipse videbis Spirituum pœnas, ac spe lamenta carentum |
will be his food, but virtue and wisdom and love of justice, and the two Feltrias will bracket his parentage. He will be the great salvation of Italy for which Nisus and Euryalus, Turnus, and the virgin Camilla died in war. He will drive her from all lands and thrust her back into hideous Hell whence envy made her burst forth. So come: I think there is nothing better than for you to follow me hence. I will be your faithful guide and lead you from these dangers safely through the eternal regions where you yourself will see the punishments of spirits and hear the laments of those lacking hope |
| 90 | Audibis, mortem dum clamat quisque secundam ; Deinde Animas, medio solamine in igne fruentes, Aspicies ; his dulcis enim spes pectora mulcet Scandere sidereas maturo tempore sedes : Ad quas si tu deinde velis ascendere, tali Munere perfungi me dignior, altera ducet ; Cui te propterea tradam, quum deinde relinquam : Namque, quod illius non sum præcepta secutus, Rex Cæli cæleste negat me ascendere limen. Omnibus is late imperio dominatur in oris ; |
as each of them proclaims his second death. Following that, you will see Souls enjoying solace in the midst of fire; for their hearts are soothed by the sweet hope of ascending, when the time comes, to the celestial realms to which, if then you wish to climb, you will be led by another one, a woman, worthier than I to perform such a task. For that reason I will hand you over to her when I take my leave of that place. For the King of Heaven forbids me to ascend to the celestial threshold because I did not follow His precepts. With His authority He lords widely over all realms, |
| 100 | Hīc autem regit, hīc illi urbs, hīc regia sedes. Oh nimium, cui fas illuc ascendere, felix ! Hæc ait. Ipse autem : Per quem non noveris, inqui, Te, pater, oro Deum, me hōc et majoribus effer Usque malis ; ac in sedes, quas dixeris, adduc, Ut Petrique fores, et quos adeo esse dolentes [3] Asseris, aspiciam. Sic dixi, ac protinus ille, Prægrediens, invasit iter : sum pone secutus. |
but He rules there: there is His city, there His palace. O immensely happy is he who is allowed to ascend thither!” These were his words. I, however, said, “Through the God Whom you did not know, father, I pray you to extricate me from this and greater evils; and lead me to the abodes which you have described, so that I may see the gates of Saint Peter and those who you say are so suffering.” Thus I spoke, and instantly he, leading the way, embarked on the path. I followed behind him. |
| INFERNORUM II {2} ⇑ | ||
| 108 | Jamque dies ibat, terræque animantibus almam Ducebat fessis obscurior aura quietem : |
The day was already going, and a darker air was bringing kind quiet to the tired creatures of the earth. |
| 110 | Ipse unus, durumque viæ, ac pietatis acerbum, Ferre parabar onus, quod mens veraciter edet. Nunc, altum ingenium, mihi nunc succurrite, Musæ ; O, quæ visa mihi scripsisti ex ordine cuncta, Hīc tua nobilitas sese, mens vivida, pandet. Tunc ego, conversus Vati : perpende, priusquam, Inqui, onus imponas, num sit mihi idonea virtus : Mortalem immortale sŏlum tu dicis adisse Troem Anchisiaden, vivo cum corpore, et omni Instructum sensu : sed, si omnis criminis osor |
All alone, I prepared to take on a burden hard of journey and bitter in pity, one that my mind will unerringly divulge. Now, o High Intelligence, o Muses, help me now. O life-filled mind that has written down all the things I saw in order, your nobility will here reveal itself. Then, turning to the Poet, I said, “Before imposing the burden, think about whether I have the requisite ability. You say that the mortal Trojan [Aeneas], the son of Anchises, with a living body and endowed with all his senses, went to the immortal land; but if the Hater of all evil |
| 120 | Annuerit, propter quæ mox orirentur ab illo, Qui sapit, haud putat indignum ; nam conditor urbis Imperiique electus erat ; quæ (vera loquendo) Utraque erant Sedi majoris debita Petri. Hæc olli via scire dedit, quod causa triumphi Pontificisque fuit solii. Tarsensis et ivit Divus, ut hinc Fidei, quæ semita prima salutis, Afferret vires. Sed me quæ causa ? quis auctor Impulerit, vivis impervia regna venire ? Non ego sum Paulus, non et Rhœtejus heros : |
acquiesced in it on account of the things that would result from him, an intelligent man will not think it unworthy, for he had been chosen as the founder of the city of the Empire, both of which (to tell the truth) had been destined for the See of the greater Peter. That journey gave him to know what was the source of his triumph and of the throne of the Pontiff. The godly man [Paul] of Tarsis also went there to bring hither strength to the Faith, which is the first pathway of salvation. But what reason for me? What authority compels me to go to realms forbidden to the living? I am not Paul, and not the Rhoetean hero [Aeneas]. |
| 130 | Non ego me tanto, aut alter dignatur honore. Propterea vereor, tantis si incumbere cœptis Annuerim, ne me nimium fiducia fallat : Es sapiens, ac plura vides, quam verba revelent. Qualis, qui rem, quam voluit, mox ipse refutat, Ac nova sic veterem mentis sententia vertit, Ut, quibus institerat, penitus dein rejicit orsa ; Haud aliter tunc ipse fui ; quodque ante secuta Jam cupide fuerat, mens hinc mutata refugit. Si bene te audivi, vatis mihi rettulit Umbra |
Neither I nor anyone else deigns me worthy of such an honor. So I fear that, if I agree to undertake such an enterprise, confidence might deceive me too much. You are wise and see more than words might reveal.” And as one who himself soon repudiates the thing he wanted and a new project of mind so overturns the old one that he completely rejects the beginnings with which he had started, in that same way I was myself; and what then had before been eagerly pursued, my changed mind fled from. The Shade of the magnanimous Poet replied to me, “If I have heard you correctly, |
| 140 | Magnanimi, est vili tua mens affecta timore, Nobilibus cœptis homines qui sæpe revellit, Qualis imaginibus terretur belua vanis. Ut te igitur tali solvam formidine, causam Ostendam cur ipse huc veni, et quæ auribus hausi, Quum cepit me cura tui. Locus, inter utrumque Et Cælum atque Erebum, cum aliis me immunis habebat. Huc, me compellans, mulier pulcherrima sese Detulit ; atque illam, quid jusserit, ipse rogavi. Assimilis stellæ, radios fundebat ocellis ; |
your mind has been struck by base fear, which often tears men away from noble undertakings in the way a beast is terrified by empty images. So in order to relieve you of such fear, I will show you the reason why I myself have come here and the things I have taken in with my ears when concern for you overtook me. An obligation-free place between both Heaven and the Netherworld held me with others; a most beautiful woman, calling me, came there and I myself asked her what she might command me. Like a star, she poured out rays from her eyes, |
| 150 | Angelicaque mihi sic cœpit voce profari : Mantuæ, o Umbra, decus, cujus se fama per orbem Tendit adhuc, totumque vigens se tendet in ævum, Ille mihi fidus, quem non sors fecit amicum, Deserta sic ire viam prohibetur in ora, Ut pavidus retro jam nunc vestigia vertat ; Et, quantum audivi, vereor ne ferre morata Sim nimis auxilium. Vade, et succurrere curā Quo potes eloquio, et queiscunque sit artibus usus ; Sic olli affer opem, ut mæror mihi corde recedat ; |
and with an angelic voice began to speak to me thus: “O Shade, ornament of Mantua, whose fame still lasts thoughout the globe and, vigorous, will last forever: that confidant of mine whom fate did not make its friend is so blocked, on a deserted shore, from going his way that, in fear, he is now turning his footstep back and, so far as I hear, I am afraid that I may have delayed too much in rendering aid to him. Go and undertake to help him with what eloquence, and using whatever skills, you can. Render assistance to him so that sorrow may leave my heart. |
| 160 | Hoc tibi quæ mando, sum nomine dicta Beatrix ; Advenio delapsa loco, ad quem deinde reverti Toto animo exopto : qui dat me has edere voces, Illinc movit amor : non ipsa attollere laudes Mittam deinde tuas, Dominum quum rursus adibo. Dixit, et obticuit. Cui sic ego talia contra : O mulier, cunctis præstans virtutibus una, Per quam progenies hominum supereminet omne Contentum Cælo, quod circuit orbe minori, Usque mihi est adeo tua jussa capessere gratum, |
I am entrusting this to you; my name is Beatrice; I come, descended from the place to which I next long with all my heart to return. Love, which makes me say these words, brought me thence. I myself will not cease to raise your praises then, when I am back with the Lord.” So she said, and fell silent. I responded as follows to her: “O woman, alone excelling in all virtues, you through whom the human race surpasses everything contained in the Heaven that circles in the smallest orbit, accepting your commands is so very welcome to me, |
| 170 | Ut mihi jam serum, si nunc perfungerer, esset : Omnia percepi : nec te plus dicere oportet. Pande autem causam, cur ex regionibus altis, Quo remeare cupis, non huc descendere abhorres. Quando hæc fert animus, rettulit, cognoscere, paucis Expediam. Est tantum, quæ sunt nocitura, timendum : Cetera non ullum fas est inferre timorem. Numinis æterni talem me gratia reddit, Luctibus ac pœnis ut sim non pervia vestris ; Nec me flamma vorax aut ulla incendia tangunt. |
that it would already be late if I had now completed them. I have understood everything, and you need say no more. But explain the reason why you do not shrink from coming down here from the high regions to which you desire to return.” She replied, “Since your interest seeks to know these things, I will explain them in a few words. One should fear only things that are injurious; it is not possible for other things to inspire any fear. The grace of the Eternal Divinity has rendered me such that I am not subject to your griefs and punishments, nor does consuming flame or any burning touch me. |
| 180 | Est mulier Cælis, hujus pertæsa periclum Ad quem te mitto, precibus quæ Numinis iram Supplicibus frangit. Petiit dulci ista rogitu Luciam, eique inquit : nunc te tuus ille fidelis Indiget ; affer opem ; quippe hunc tibi sedula trado. Lucia, sævitiam horrens, et pietatis amica, Ad me continuo, cum Rachaële sedentem, Se tulit : o, dixit, Domini laus vera, Beatrix, Quæ mora ? cur illi, qui te tam fidus amavit, Quique super vulgus per te sese extulit ardens, |
In Heaven there is a woman repelled by the danger of that to which I send you, a woman who breaks the wrath of the Deity with her suppliant prayers. With her sweet requesting she sought out Lucia and said to her, ‘That faithful man of yours needs you now; give him help. Heedful, I commend him to you.’ Lucia, shrinking from cruelty and loving compassion, immediately came to me, sitting with Rachel. ‘O Beatrice, true praise of the Lord,’ she said, ‘what is the delay? Why do you not go to the aid of the one who so faithfully loved you, and who, ardent on account of you, rose above the masses? |
| 190 | Non ades auxilio ? pietas tibi nulla gementis ? Nonne vides mortis luctantem in flumine vasto, Quo minor oceanus ? Nemo, aut vitare periclum, Aut captare bonum, pernix adeo exstitit unquam, Ut lapsa, his auditis, huc sum ex sede beata, Eloquio confisa tuo, quod te implet honore, Atque alium quicunque audit. Sic fata, decoras Effundens lacrimas, lucentia lumina vertit, Ac citius tibi adesse dedit. Velut illa rogavit, Tete adii, eripuique feræ, quæ calle vetabat |
Have you no pity on the grieving man? Do you not see him struggling in the vast river of death, than which the ocean is smaller?’ No one has ever been so quick to avoid danger or seize the good as I, on hearing these things, plunged here from my blessed seat, trusting in your eloquence which confers honor on you and on whoever else hears it.” Having spoken thus, shedding beautiful tears, she turned her light-filled eyes away and caused me to arrive at your side all the faster. As she asked, I came to you and snatched you from the wild beast which forbade |
| 200 | In montem te ferre brevi. Quid denique cessas ? Quæ tibi segnities animo, neque fortiter audes ? Quum tibi sidereis triplex sit femina in oris, Queis est cura tui, ac spondent mea verba salutem ? Non secus ac flores, nocturno frigore clausi, Demissique caput, quum Sol illuxerit, omnes Protinus erecto panduntur vertice ad auras : Sic meus est animus verbis erectus amicis, Qui prius excĭderat : tantumque in corde vigorem Gliscere persensi, ut sim sic effarier orsus : |
you from going to the mountain by the short path. Finally, why are you waiting? Why is lethargy in your heart, and why do you not venture boldly forth? Why, when in the starry realms there are three women whose concern is for you, and my words promise you salvation?” Just as flowers closed up with nightly cold and hanging their heads, when the Sun shines, right away all open up to the air with upright stems, so my confidence, which had at first fallen, was raised by the friendly words, and I felt such energy surge through my heart that I began to speak thus: |
| 210 | O pia, quæ mihi subsidium studiosa parasti ! Tuque bonus, cui prompta fuit parere voluntas, Tanta tuis dictis mihi facta est ire cupido, Ut prior induerit rursus sententia mentem. Vade age, carpe viam : est eadem nam utrique voluntas : Es mihi tu dominus, tu ductor, tuque magister. Talia sum fatus ; quumque is vestigia movit, Extuli et ipse pedem, atque viam sum ingressus in altam. |
“O you compassionate woman who devotedly furnished me with help! And you good man, whose will to obey was ready, through your words the desire to go has been aroused in me so that my initial decision has again entered my mind. Come on, go, start on the way; for the same will is in us both. You are my lord, you the guide, you the teacher.” So I spoke, and when he moved forth, I myself walked along and started on the deep road. |
| INFERNORUM III {3} ⇑ | ||
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| 220 |
Perculerunt oculos in summo margine portæ ; Quare ego : perdurum, dixi, hæc mihi verba, Magister, Portendunt sensum. Ille mihi, ut vir mente sagaci, |
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| 230 | Euge, ait : hic animis opus est ac pectore firmo. Attigimus loca, quæ jam dixi ; ubi pœna fatigat, Qui līquere bonum, quo mens humana quiescit. Hæc ait ; apprenditque manu, vultuque renidens, (Quod mihi vim dedit), in rerum me abscondita misit. Hic planctus, gemitus, suspiriaque ægra, sonabant Aëra per vacuum stellis, ac luminis orbum ; Queis ego commotus, lacrimas in limine fudi. Voces altæque ac raucæ, variæque loquelæ, Verbaque, quæ horrendus dolor et trux elicit ira, |
“Come now: here you must have courage and a firm heart. We have reached the places I have already mentioned where pain exhausts those who have left the good, where the human mind is dormant.” Having said this, he took me by the hand and, with a smiling face (which gave me strength), he sent me on into the hidden nature of things. Here lamentations, groans, and agonized sighs sounded through an air empty of stars and bereft of light; deeply moved by these things, I shed tears at the threshold. Voices high and hoarse and various tongues and words which horrendous pain and savage wrath elicit, |
| 210 | Ac manuum sonitus, per tætrum ævoque carentem Aëra, terrificum mixti dant usque tumultum, Qualem edunt strepitum commotæ turbine arenæ. Ipse, horrore gravis : quisnam mihi perculit aures Luctificus gemitus ? dixi : quæ causa, Magister ? Quæ tantum gens triste dolens ? Ac ille reponit : Hac pœna afficitur, quisquis traduxit inertem In terris vitam, laudisque ac criminis expers. Hi sunt Dæmonibus mixti, queis nulla sequendi Cura fuit Domini aut Satanæ vexilla, sed unis |
and the intermingled sounds of hands through the horrid and timeless air produced a chaos like the racket made by sands stirred up by a whirlwind. I, weighed down with horror, said, “Teacher, what baleful droning is striking my ears? What is the reason?” And he responded, “Those who passed stagnant lives, devoid of both blame and praise, are afflicted with this punishment. They are mixed in with the Demons who had no interest in following the standards of either the Lord or Satan, but looked out |
| 250 | Consuluere sibi : hos pariter rejecit Olympus Ne minor huic esset decor ; et rejecit Avernus, Namque aliqua ex illis ornaret gloria sontes. [4] Quidnam adeo hos lædit, quod tot lamenta, Magister, Edere sic cogat ? rettuli. Tunc ille vicissim : Paucis expediam verbis : spes mortis ab hisce Omnis abest : vita autem est his tam vilis, ut omnem Diversam invideant sortem : non ulla superstes Fama horum in mundo, nullum est memorabile nomen. Justitia et pietas hos indignantur adæque. |
only for themselves. Heaven rejects them lest its beauty be less, and likewise Hell rejects them because due to them some glory might dignify the guilty ones.” I rejoined, “What then hurts them so much that forces them to pour forth so much wailing?” He then, in return: “I will explain it in a few words: All hope of death is gone for them. But their life is so worthless that they envy every different fate. There is no fame of them remaining in the world, no memorable name. Justice and compassion equally disdain them. |
| 260 | Mittamus super hisce loqui : circumspice, et ito. Tunc ego, perlustrans oculis, tam currere circum Vexillum propere vidi, quod ferre quietem Nequaquam posset ; turbamque hŏc pone sequentum Tantam, quam nunquam deletam morte putarim. Postquam aliquem novi, mihi visa est illius Umbra Edidit abjecto magnam qui corde repulsam. [5] Adverti, certusque simul sum factus, inertum Quod secta hæc esset, Dominoque ac hostibus æque Illius invisa. Hi miseri, qui vivere nunquam |
Let us drop talking about these. Look around and pass on.” Then, glancing around with my eyes, I saw a banner running around so fast that it could not tolerate resting at all, and following behind it such a large crowd that I would never have believed had been annihilated by death. (After I recognized someone, the Shade seemed to me to be of him who, out of a cowardly heart, had made the Great Renouncement.) I noticed, and became simultaneously certain, that it was that sect of useless ones equally hated by the Lord and by His enemies. These wretches, who never |
| 270 | Norunt, nudatos artus sine veste gerebant, Undique vesparum crabronumque agmine punctos : Exsilit ex membris sanguis, lacrimisque remixtus, Effluit usque pedes; fœdis hic vermibus esca. Exin, ulterius cernens, assistere gentem Fluminis ad ripam vidi. Da nosse, Magister, Qui sint, quæsivi, cur et transire videntur Tam cupidi, prout tenue sinit mihi cernere lumen. Hæc tibi, respondit, tristes quum Acherontis ad undas Sistemus, pandam. Plenus tunc ipse pudoris |
knew how to live, being without clothing, had naked bodies stung everywhere by a swarm of wasps and hornets. From their limbs squirted blood and, mixed with tears, it flowed all the way to their feet, there the food for loathsome worms. Next, looking farther on, I saw people standing on the bank of a river. I inquired, “Teacher, tell me who they are and why they seem so far as the dim light allows me to see to be so eager to cross over.” He replied, “I will explain it to you when we stop at the sad waters of [the river] Acheron.” Then, full of embarassment, |
| 280 | Demissusque oculos, (veritus ne forte molestus Illi esset sermo), obticui dum venimus amnem. Ecce autem, mora nulla, senex, canusque capillis, Atque ætate gravis, veniebat puppe per undas :, Væ vobis, clamans, nunquam hinc sperate reverti, O Animæ sontes : ecce assum, ut litus ad alterum In tenebras ducam æternas, in frigus et æstum : Tu qui vivus es, exstinctis te divide ab istis. Hæc ait ; ac, postquam me non discedere vidit : Diversum per iter venies, ac litore ab altero, |
with downcast eyes (fearing lest my speech had perhaps been annoying to him) I kept silent until we came to the river. But look! Without delay, an old man, hoary of hair and heavy with age, was coming over the waves on a boat, crying, “Woe to you, o guilty Souls! Do not hope ever to return from here. Behold, I am here to lead you to the other shore, to eternal darkness, into cold and heat. You, who are alive, separate yourself from those lifeless ones,” he said; and after he saw that I did not leave, he said, “You will come by a different route and from another shore, |
| 290 | Ut transire queas, dixit : leviore carina Est vecteris opus. Cui Dux : parce, ocius inquit, Suscensere, Charon : hæc est in sede voluntas, Qua quicquid fieri velit, est fecisse potestas ; Quærere nolito ulterius. Trux ille quievit Lanigeras tum nauta genas, cui lumina diris Ardebant flammis. At, quum verba aspera ad aures Venere, illa Animarum nuda effetaque turba Palluit, atque metu collisit percita dentes ; Detestata Deum, humanum genus, atque parentes |
you can cross over. You have to be carried by a lighter keel.” My Leader quickly said to him, “Refrain from getting enraged, Charon; this is the will in the realm where the power rests to have achieved whatever is willed to happen. Ask no further.” The grim sailor, whose eyes burned with fearsome flames, then silenced his wooly cheeks. But when his harsh words reached their ears, that naked and exhausted crowd of Souls paled and, agitated, clamped its teeth in fear, cursing God, the human race and its parents |
| 300 | Et qua stirpe sata, atque locum natalis et horam. Magno hinc cum fletu ad ripam se contulit omnis, Quæ manet, abjecere Dei quotcunque timorem. Hanc Charon arcessit nutu, flammantia torquens Lumina, remoque incessit, quæcunque moratur. Quales autumni labuntur tempore frondes, Altera post aliam, cunctas dum reddidit arbos Exuvias, quas terra dedit : sic improba proles Adami sese ad nutum de litore mittit, Illicis ad motum in laqueos velut incĭdit ales. |
and the stock from which it had been conceived, and its place and hour of birth. With great weeping everyone went hence to the bank which awaits however many have cast off the fear of God. Charon summoned this crowd with a sign, twisting his flaming eyes and attacking with his oar whoever delayed. Like leaves falling in the time of autumn, one after another, until a tree yields up all the spoils which the earth has given, so did the evil progeny of Adam, at his signal, cast itself from the shore like a bird plunges into a snare at the motion of a decoy. |
| 310 | Hinc ferruginea nigras it puppe per undas : At, prius hæc illam tangat quam gurgitis oram, Altera in hac pariter densatur plurima turba. Huc, fili, ex cunctis, Dux inquit, partibus orbis Conveniunt, quicunque Dei moriuntur in ira : Justitia hoc adigit flumen transmittere ; et illis, Quod fuit ante metus, fit deinde accensa cupido : Vir bonus hac nunquam transit : si portitor Orci De te igitur queritur, tibi jam dignoscere fas est Illius quid verba sonent. Vix talia dixit, |
From here the crowd goes over the waves in the rusty boat, but before that touches yon shore of the maelstrom, another large crowd is crammed on this one in the same way. My Leader said, “Here assemble, son, from all parts of the world all those who die in the wrath of God. Justice compels them to cross this river, and what before was their fear, then becomes their burning desire. A good man never crosses this way: if Hell’s ferryman complains about you, you can now comprehend what his words mean.” He had hardly said this |
| 320 | Sic tremuit terra, ut memori mihi territa sudor Membra riget : ventum dedit ; et lux dira refulsit, Qua mihi continuo sensus fuit omnis ademptus ; Procubuique sŏlo, ut somnus quem corripit altus. |
when the earth so shook that, even as I am remembering it, sweat petrifies my terrified members. It produced a gale, and a fearsome light shone by which all my senses were immediately taken from me, and I fell on the ground in the way deep sleep overcomes one. |
| INFERNORUM IV {4} ⇑ | ||
| 324 | Horrisono abrupit tonitru mihi murmure somnum ; Quo simul excussus, quasi vir non excitus ultro, Erigor, ac lente circum mea lumina verto, Ut quibus ipse locis, et qua regione tenerer, Aspicerem : infernæ me vidi in margine vallis, Unde tonat gemitus, finis queis nulla, dolorum. |
My sleep broke up with a horrifying roar at a thunderclap; simultaneously shaken awake, like a man not awakend of his own accord, I stood up and slowly turned my eyes around in order to see in which locations and by what region I myself was held. I saw myself on the edge of a crater whence resounded the groaning from agonies which had no end. |
| 330 | Hæc patet in præceps, adeoque obscura nigrescit, Ut, quanquam exacuens oculos, attingere fundum Aut quicquam aspicere haud possem. Tum, pallidus ore : Tartareas sedes, Vates est fatus, adimus : Ipse pedem anteferam, venies tu deinde secundus. Tunc ego, quem color admonuit : num tendere gressum Huc valeam, dixi, si tu formidine palles, Qui vires animumque mihi præbere solebas ? Non, ut rere, timor, sed enim mihi plurima pingit Os pietas, rettulit : moveor pietate dolorum, |
It opened into an abyss and was so murky in its darkening that although I sharpened my eyes I was unable to find the bottom or discern anything. Then, pallid of face, the Poet said, “We are entering the domain of Hell. I will go ahead, and you will then go second.” Then I, whom his color had alarmed, said: “Can I proceed thither, if you are growing pale with fear, you who normally provide me with strength and courage?” He replied, “It is not, as you think, dread, but deep compassion which colors my face. I am moved by pity for the sufferings |
| 340 | Qui gentem hanc cruciant ; sed longa est semita, eamus Hæc ait, ac Erebi primum me duxit in orbem. Non hic fletus erat, quantum deprenderit auris ; Ast adeo ingeminant suspiria, ut intremat aer : Hæc dolor edebat, cunctis cruciatibus expers : Turba frequens aderat, puerique virique senesque. Qui sint nonne rogas isti quos aspicis ? inquit Tunc mihi Præceptor. Volo, te jam scire, priusquam Ulterius tendas, nihil hos egisse nefandi : At, siquid virtutis habent, non sufficit : unda |
which torture this people. But the path is long; let us go.” Thus he spoke, and led me into the first circle of Hell. There was no wailing here, so far as the ear could catch it. But sighs were repeated so much that the air trembled. A suffering devoid of all torments produced them. A vast multitude was present, children and men and aged people. Then the Preceptor said to me, “Are you not asking who those are whom you see? I want you to know now, before you proceed farther, that they have done nothing of evil. But even if they have something of virtue, it is not enough. For they were not |
| 350 | Non etenim sunt abluti, quæ janua porro Est Fidei, quam tu sequeris ; sique ante fuerunt Adventum Christi, cultum, quo rite deceret, Neu tribuere Deo : quos inter et ipse cooptor, Nullum nos facimus, sed enim defectio tantum Perdidit hæc ; pœnaque ideo hac affligimur una, Quod sine spe semper nos torquet anhela cupido. Valde, his auditis, dolui ; nam sedibus illis Præstantes virtute viros consistere sensi. Dic, domine ac doctor, respondi, (ut certior essem |
cleansed by [baptismal] water, which is the further gateway of the Faith which you follow, and if they were before the coming of Christ, they did not worship God with the liturgy which correctly became Him. Those among whom I myself have also been placed have not done anything, but only that lack has ruined us, and we are therefore afflicted with that one punishment: that breathless desire without hope torments us forever.” Hearing this, I grieved sorely, for I knew that men outstanding in virtue were present in that realm. I responded, “Tell me, lord and instructor (so that I might be more certain |
| Illius Fidei, errores quæ perdomat omnes), Dic, quæso, quisquamne adeo, aut virtute suapte, Hinc, aut alterius, prodit, qui deinde beatas Venerit in sedes ? Is, qui, quo tenderet iste Deprendit sermo, dedit hæc responsa roganti. Ipse recens huc lapsus eram, quum intrare potentem Præcinctum vidi victrici tempora serto. Ille hinc primævum patrem detraxit, et Abel, Atque Noë et Mosen, nec non et David et Abram, Israël cum patre ac natis, et conjuge pulchra, |
of that Faith which subdues all errors), tell me, please, has anyone advanced so far from here, either through his own merits or another’s, that he has then reached the blessed realm?” He who understood where that question was going, gave these answers to his questioner: “I had recently slipped down here when I saw a powerful one enter wreathed around his temples with a victory wreath. He took from here our primeval father, and Abel and Noah and Moses as well as David and Abraham, Israel with his father and children and his beautiful wife, | |
| 370 | Quam sibi ut assereret, tantos tulit ille labores, Ac multos alios, quos cæli evexit in aulam. Præterea te scire volo, quod nemo beatus Ante hos, nemo fuit cælesti sede potitus. Hæc ait, ac fando nunquam desistimus ire. Per densam ferimus gressum, non arboris inquam, Spirituum at silvam : nec multum a margine summo Afuimus, vinctum tenebris quum vidimus ignem ; Utque prope astitimus, conspexi hac sede morari Illustres Animas. O cuncta scientia et artes |
for whom, to gain for himself, Israel underwent so many labors, and many others whom he carried to the palace of heaven. Besides this, I want you to know that no one was blessed before these, no one had gained a heavenly throne.” Thus he spoke, and we never stopped going while speaking. We made our way through a dense forest of, I would say not trees, but of spirits. And we were not far from the top edge when we saw a fire surrounded by darkness, and as we got near, I caught sight of noble Souls staying at that location. I asked, “O you from whom all science and arts |
| 380 | A quo lumen habent, qui sunt, mihi pande, rogavi, Quos honor ab reliquis diversa in sorte reponit ? Ille mihi contra : quæ sursus splendida terris Horum fama sonat, meret his hunc esse favorem. Dixerat : ac vox interea mihi perculit aures : Quem decet, eximio Vati persolvite honorem ; Ad nos ejus enim, quæ abscesserat, Umbra revertit. Ut vox conticuit, nobis se quattuor Umbræ Obtulerunt magnæ : haud lætus nec tristis eisdem Vultus erat. Ductorque mihi : illum conspice, dixit, |
have their illustriousness, explain to me who those are whom honor places in a different station than the rest?” He answered me, “Their radiant fame, which resounds on earth above, merits that this favor be theirs.” He had spoken, and meanwhile a voice struck my ears, “Give to the illustrious Poet the honor which becomes him, for his Shade, which had departed, has returned to us!” As the voice fell silent, four large Shades presented themselves to us; their faces were neither happy nor sad. My guide to me: “Look at him,” he said, |
| 390 | Qui gladium dextra gerit ; ac tres, principis instar, Anteit : ille est Mæonides, clarissimus inter Vates : est saturarum scriptor Horatius alter, Tertius Ovidius, Lucanus denique quartus. Quum sint, me qualem vox una audita vocavit, Ipsi etiam, Musasque colant, me hoc propter honorant ; Ac bene agunt. Sic unā omnes astare sequaces Eximii vatis vidi, qui carmine cunctos Antevolat, veluti volucres Jovis armiger ales. Postquam inter sese paulum sunt voce locuti, |
who carries a sword in his right hand and precedes the three like a chief. That is [the Maeonian,] Homer, the most famous among Poets. The other is Horace, the author of satires; the third is Ovid and, finally, the fourth is Lucan. Since they themselves are also of the same type that the one voice heard called me, and they cultivate the Muses, they honor me on account of it and do good. Thus I saw standing together all of the followers of the distinguished poet, who soared above them all in poetry, like Jove’s arms-bearing fowl above the birds. After they had vocally talked a little among themselves, |
| 400 | Se mihi vertentes, nutu dixere salutem. (Surrisit Dux aspiciens) ; ac majus honoris Tum mihi contulerunt, sibi quod fecere sodalem ; Atque ideo me tanta habuit sapientia sextum. Sic plura effantes, (quæ tum dixisse decebat, At nunc vana forent), ad lumen venimus usque ; Scilicet ad castrum, septem quod mœnia cingunt Ardua, perspicuisque undis circumfluit amnis. Hunc ita transimus, veluti foret arida tellus. Ostia per septem ingredior cum vatibus illis, |
turning to me, they greeted me with a sign. (Seeing this, my Leader smiled.) And they conferred greater honor on me by making me their colleague, and thereby considering me the sixth of such wisdom. Thus, speaking of many things (which it was then seemly to have discussed, but now would be unimportant), we went all the way to the light, that is, to a castle which seven steep walls encompassed and a stream with clear waters flowed around. We crossed the stream as though it were dry land. With those poets I entered through seven gates, |
| 410 | Ac lætum advenimus viridanti gramine pratum. Nobilis aspectu, gravis, ac sermone suavi Pauca loquens, gens hic aderat. Secessimus unam Protinus in partem, tumulumque capessimus altum, Lumine conspersum, unde omnes spectare licebat. Sic omnem Heroum ex adverso cernere turbam Fas fuit ; et quod conspexi, me gloriā tangit. Cum multis sociis Electram Atlantida vidi, Quos inter mihi et Æneas et cognitus Hector, Vulturioque oculos similis, tu, Cæsar, in armis ; |
and we arrived at a pleasant meadow with green grass. Here there was a people noble of appearance, serious and with a smooth speech saying little. Right away we moved off to one side and occupied a high hill, bathed in light, where you could see everyone. Thus it was possible to see opposite us the entire multitude of Heroes, and the fact that I saw them stirs me with glory. I saw Electra, the descendant of Atlas with many associates, among whom Aeneas and Hector were known to me and you, Caesar, armed, in your eyes resembling a vultur; |
| 420 | Penthesilea simul, Volscaque ex gente Camilla. Rex est ex alia visus mihi parte Latinus Virgine cum nata ; Brutus, qui ex urbe tyrannos Ejecit, tum Scipiadæ Cornelia proles, Julia tum Magni conjux, uxorque Catonis Martia, seque fero fodiens Lucretia ferro ; Quique ferox sola Saladinus parte sedebat. [6] Quumque oculos magis extulerim, pater ille scientum Visus Aristoteles, media stans gente Sophorum : Mirantur cuncti, ac multo venerantur honore. |
at the same time there were Penthesilea, and Camilla of the Volscan tribe. On the other side King Latinus was visible to me, with his virgin daughter [Lavinia]. There was Brutus who threw the tyrants [the Tarquins] out of the city; then there was Scipio’s offspring, Cornelia; Julia with her husband [Pompey] the Great; and Cato’s wife, Marcia; and Lucretia stabbing herself with a savage sword; and the fierce Saladin who sat in a lonely section. When I raised my eyes more, the father of philosophers, Aristotle, was seen standing in the midst of Wise Men. They were all in wonder, and venerated him with great honor. |
| 430 | Proximus huic Plato, dehinc Socrates, Heraclitus, atque Diogenes, et Anaxagora, Empedoclesque, Thalesque, Et Zenon, et casu condens Democritus orbem, Atque Dioscorides, qui qualis quantaque virtus Graminibus docuit : Linus, ac Rhodopejus heros ; Tullius, et tradens Annæus dogmata morum ; Hippocrates atque Avicenna, Galenus, et una Geometra Euclides, Ptolemæus, et Averroë, [7] Clara Stagirei explicuit qui scripta magistri. Non mihi fas cunctos complecti carmine ; quippe |
Next to him were Plato, then Socrates and Heraclitus, plus Diogenes and Anaxagoras and Empedocles, and Thales and Zeno, as well as the one attributing the world to chance, Democritus; and Dioscorides, who taught what the quality and degree of effectiveness in plants were. Linus, and the Rhodopeian hero [Orpheus] were there; [Marcus] Tullius [Cicero]; and Annaeus [Seneca], teaching the principles of morality; Hippocrates along with Avicenna, Galen together with [the geometer] Euclid, Ptolemy, and Averroës, who interpreted the brilliant writings of [Aristotle,] the Stagirite teacher. It is not possible for me to treat them all in my poem; |
| 440 | Longa est historia, ac rebus deest copia fandi. Vatibus a quattuor, nos huc comitantibus usque Dividimur ; me namque alio Dux tramite, ab aëre Eripiens placido, trepidantem ducit in aëra ; Advenique locum, nullo qui lumine claret. |
for the story is long, and my store of speech is insufficient for the matter. We were separated from the four poets accompanying us up to here, for my Leader, taking me from the pleasant air, led me by another path into a trembling air, and I arrived at a place which is not illuminated with any light. |
| INFERNORUM V {5} ⇑ | ||
| 445 | Sic nos, ex primo digressos, alter eundo Excipit hinc orbis ; gyro breviore coërcens, At magis affligens ; adeo ut lamenta nocentes Ac gemitus tollant. Sedet hic in limine Minos, Horrendum frendens, culpasque inquirit ; easque |
Thus, as we went out from the first circle, the second one accepted us, contracting with a shorter circumference but inflicting greater torment, so much so that the guilty raise cries and sighs. Minos sits here on its threshold, baring his teeth frightfully and investigating the sins and, as he |
| 450 | Ut novit, prout se cingit, sub Tartara mittit. Dico, quod, illius quum sontes ante tribunal Deveniunt Animæ, jubet has admissa fateri ; Quæ simul audivit, quisnam locus attinet illas Callidus agnoscit ; totque hinc descendere cogit Usque gradus, quoties cauda se cinxerit ipse. Plurima continue circumstat turba, subitque Judicium vicibus : sua quæque piacula pandit ; Judice et audito, præceps in Tartara fertur. Minos, me tunc aspiciens ; o, dixit, (omittens |
determines them, in accordance with how he winds his tail around himself, he sends the soul down into Hell. I mean that when the guilty souls come before his tribunal, he commands them to confess their crimes; as soon as he hears them, he the expert knows which spot is right for them. As many times as he wraps himself around with his tail, he forces them to descend that many levels from there. A massive crowd constantly stands around and by turns undergoes judgement. Each one confesses his own sins and, hearing the judge, is borne headlong into Hell. Then seeing me, Minos, interrupting |
| 460 | Munere perfungi) infernas qui tendis ad ædes, Prospice ut ingrederīs, quove auspice talia tentas, Ne latum te fallat iter. Cui dicta Magister Hæc rettulit : cur voce tonas ? huic parce morari Fatalem ingressum : sic est in sede voluntas, Qua, quicquid fieri velit, est fecisse potestas ; Hoc tibi sit satis ; ulterius ne quærere cures. Hīc exaudiri gemitus, vocesque dolentes Incœpere : gravis plangor mihi perculit aures. In sedem veni, perfusam lumine nullo, |
the performance of his office, said, “O you who are proceeding into the infernal complexes, watch as you enter and by what guide you attempt such a thing, lest the broad path deceive you.” My Teacher answered to his words thus: “Why are you thundering with your voice? Refrain from delaying our destiny-willed entrance. Thus is the will in the realm where the power rests to have achieved whatever is willed to happen. Let that be enough for you; do not inquire further.” There the sighs, the agonized voices began to be heard. Heavy lamentation struck my ears. I came to that realm, bathed in no light, |
| 470 | Qua reboat mugitque aër, velut æquŏr ab Euris Impulsum rapidis, contraque furentibus Austris. Nescia ferre moras, magno rapit impete secum Tristis hiems, agitatque Animas : quumque ante ruinam [8] Perveniunt ripæ, tunc planctus altaque gliscunt Lamenta ; atque Dei virtuti opprobria jactant. Audivi huic pœnæ addici, quos dira libido Impulit illecebris mentem summittere carnis. Ut fertur nigris sturnorum exercitus alis Tempore brumali, magnum stipatus in agmen ; |
where the air resounds and moans like the sea driven by swift east winds and with south winds raging against them. Incapable of tolerating delays, with a powerful rush the sad tempest tears Souls along with itself and pummels them. When they come before the landslide of the cliff, then wails and high laments swell up, and they fling reproaches at the power of God. I heard that those whom terrible lust drove to submit their reason to the enticements of the flesh were consigned to this punishment. As in wintertime a flock of starlings, crowded into a large column, is carried along on their black wings, |
| 480 | Sic Animas sontes turbo sursumque deorsumque Atque huc atque illuc torquet ; nullumque quietis Solamen sperare datur, pœnæque minoris. Quales triste grues modulantur gutture carmen, Quum liquidum longo describunt æthera sulco ; Turbine sic rapido vectas, atque ore gementes, Hīc ego tunc Animas vidi ; versusque Magistro : Quæ gens ista, rogo, quam adeo niger incutit aër ? Has inter prima, ille refert, quas discere quæris, Multos frenavit populos regina : fuitque |
so the whirlwind whirled the guilty Souls up and down and hither and thither; and no consolation of quiet, and of lesser torment, was given them to hope for. As cranes from their throats sing their sad song as they score the clear sky with a long furrow, so I then saw Souls carried by the swift whirlwind and orally lamenting; and, turning to my Teacher, I asked, “What people is that, which the black air beats so?” He replied: “The first among those about whom you seek to learn about was a queen reigning over many peoples; and she was |
| 490 | Dedita luxuriæ tantum, ut quod cuique liberet, Esse dedit legem, ne luxuriosa libido, Qua nimis insane ardebat, sibi dedecus esset. Uxor erat Nini, cujus post funus, habenas Imperii rexit, nomenque Semiramis : illis, Turcarum quas Rector habet, regnavit in oris. Subsequitur Dido, cineri quæ infida Sichæi Interitum sibi conscivit : Cleopatraque deinde est. Tyndariden vidi, pro qua sub Pergama longum Pugnarunt Danai ; clarumque potentibus armis |
so given to lasciviousness that she made whatever pleased anyone to be a law, so that her lascivious lust, which which she burned so insanely, would not be shameful for her. She was the wife of Ninus; after his death she guided the reins of the empire, and her name was Semiramis. She reigned in those lands which the Ruler of the Turks has. Following her is Dido who, faithless to the ashes of [her former husband] Sichaeus, committed suicide; and next is Cleopatra. I saw the Tyndareus’s descendant [Helen], for whom the Greeks long fought at Troy; and, famous in powerful arms, |
| 500 | Æaciden, qui valde etiam pugnavit Amori. Tristanum ac Paridem vidi [9]. Plus mille videndos Ille dedit manes, digitoque ac nomine monstrans, Quos Amor ante diem crudeli funere mersit. Ut mihi sunt equites visi antiquæque puellæ, Me vicit pietas : animus mihi pæne recessit. Exin, compellans Vatem : valde ipse libenter Alloquerer geminos, dixi, quos turbine junctos Ventus agit, multumque leves simul ire videntur. Ille mihi contra : ut propius venisse videbis, |
the descendant of Aeacus[, Achilles], who also fought greatly with Love [of Polyxena]. I saw Tristan and Paris. He gave me to see more than a thousand shades pointing them out with his finger and by name whom Love had destroyed with cruel death before their time. As knights and damsels of old appeared to me, compassion overwhelmed me; my consciousness almost gave way. Then, addressing the Poet, I said, “I would really like to speak to those two whom the wind drives, joined by the whirlwind, and who at the same time seem to go very lightly.” He in reply to me: “When you see they have come closer, |
| 510 | Alloquere, atque ora pro quo junguntur amore : Illi aderunt. Vix hos igitur nos versus adegit Vis venti : O Animæ, dixi, quas pœna fatigat, Huc, nisi quis prohibet, vestigia ferte locutum. Vix ea sum fatus, quales per inane columbæ, Immotis alis, adductæ prolis amore, Ad nidum tendunt ; tales se ex agmine Didus Extulerunt Umbræ, cæcumque per aëra nobis Devenere leves, blando sermone vocantis Fortiter illĕctæ. Quarum sic altera dixit : |
speak to them, and address them by the love on account of which they are joined; they will come.” The force of the wind thus having hardly driven them toward us, I said, “O Souls whom punishment wearies, if no one forbids it, come here to talk.” I had hardly said those words when, like doves drawn by love of their offspring glide with fixed wings to their nest, so the Souls left the column of Dido and came lightly to us through the dark air, strongly attracted by the seductive speech of the caller. Of the two, one said, |
| 520 | O bone mortalis, qui nos invisĕre, ad atras Descendis tenebras, quorum de vulnere fusus Tinxit humum sanguis, si nos tueretur amice, Ferremus pia vota Deo, ut te pace potiri Annuerit, quando tam te mala nostra remordent : Quas libeat vobis audire et reddere voces, Reddere et has pariter nobis audire libebit, Dum sileant auræ, ventique rapina quiescat. Natalis mea terra sedet sub marmoris oram, Quo Padus, ut sibi cum sociis sit pace fruendum, |
“O good mortal who have descended to the black darkness to see us from whose wounds our blood poured, staining the earth, if God regarded us in a friendly way, we would offer pious prayers to Him that He might allow you to obtain peace, since our sufferings disquiet you so. While the air is silent and the wind’s ravaging is quiet, whatever things it may please you to hear and reply to, we will likewise be pleased to reply to and hear. My native land lies near the shore of the sea, where the Po, in order to enjoy peace with its companions, |
| 530 | Volvit aquas. Hunc acer Amor, qui mollia flammis Pectora perfacile incendit, mihi fecit amantem, Corporis ob formam, mihi quod crudelis ademit Interitus : quæ tristis adhuc me injuria lædit. Idem Amor, haud ulli, qui, quum sit amatus, amare Parcit, me vinxit tanto huic ardore placendi, Ut nondum expediar. Nos funere mersit eodem Unus Amor : nos qui enecuit manet inde Caïna. [10] Has Animas postquam sic fantes auribus hausi, Lumina demisi, atque adeo defixus inhæsi, |
pours its waters. Passionate Love, which very easily ignites soft hearts with flames, made this man my lover due to the form of my body which cruel death took from me a sad injustice which still aggrieves me. That same Love which spares no one from loving when he is loved, chained me to him with such ardor of pleasing him, that I am still not freed. The one Love destroyed us with the same death. Caïna now awaits him who killed us.” After I had listened to these Souls speaking thus, I cast my eyes down and remained fixed until |
| 510 | Dum mihi Præceptor petiit : quid mente revolvis ? Excitus his verbis, proh, dixi, quanta cupido, Quot dulces curæ tristem his duxere ruinam ! Mox, his conversus, verbis sum talibus orsus : Tristitia ac pietate tui, Francisca, dolores Me valde afficiunt ; fletumque effundere cogor. At mihi dic quæso, quum vos suspiria cordis Dulcia mulcerent, quo tempore, quomodo, passus Est Amor, ut dubius vobis notesceret ardor ? Illa mihi contra : nihil est crudelius, inquit, |
my Preceptor inquired, “What are you turning over in your mind?” Awakened by these words, I said, “Ah, how much desire, how many sweet cares led to their sad downfall!” Then, turning to them, I began in this way: “Your pains, Francesca, affect me sorely with sadness and compassion, and I am forced to shed tears. But tell me, please: when the sweet sighs of your hearts enchanted you two, at what time, in what way, did Love allow a dubious ardor to become known to you?” In response she said to me, “Nothing is crueler |
| 550 | (Ac tuus hoc novit Doctor) quam rebus in arctis Felices meminisse dies : sed tanta cupido Quum tibi sit nostri radicem noscere amoris, Illius instar agam, qui defleat atque loquatur. Nos Lancillotti historiam perlegimus olim, Ut devinctus Amore fuit : non arbiter ullus, Non timor ullus erat. Nos lectio sæpe vicissim Impulit inspicere, ac vultu pallescere utrumque ; Ast unum evicit punctum : quum namque puellæ Defixisse virum ridentibus oscula labris |
(and your Teacher knows this) than in stressful conditions to remember happy days. But since you have such a great desire to know the root of our love, I will act in the manner of one who tells and weeps. Once upon a time we read the story of Lancelot, how he was overcome by Love. There was no chaperon, no fear. The reading often compelled us to look at one another, and each of us facially to blanch. But one point proved irresistible: for when we read that the man planted kisses on the laughing lips of the damsel, |
| 560 | Legimus, iste mihi ; a quo nunquam dividar, ori Oscula defixit trepidus. Galeottus ibidem [11] Ipse liber scriptorque fuit : non amplius illa Legimus inde die Quum talia spiritus alter Dicta daret, lacrimis alter sic ora rigabat, Sensibus ut vacuus, victus pietate dolentis, Deficerem ; ac cecĭdi, velut æthere corpus cassum. |
he from whom I will never be separated, trembling, planted kisses on my mouth. At that point the book itself and its author were our Galehault [the go-between in the story]. Thence we read no further that day.” As the one spirit related such things, the other one wet his face with tears. I, as one bereft of senses, overcome with pity for the suffering one, fainted; and I fell like a body deprived of air. |
| INFERNORUM VI {6} ⇑ | ||
| 567 | Quum mihi mens rediit, pietas quam multa dolentum Abstulerat, meque ingenti mærore replerat, Tum tormenta alia, atque alios tormenta ferentes, |
When my consciousness returned, which my great pity for the sufferers, having filled me with enormous sorrow, had taken from me, I then saw other torments and other souls enduring torments, |
| 570 | Me circum vidi, quoquo vestigia vertam, Aut intendam oculos. Me tertius obtinet orbis Æternæ pluviæ, cui sunt discrimina nulla, Nulla mora. Immanis grando, nix, undaque nigra, Aëra per cæcum pluit ; atque has terra receptans Undique putrescit, tætrumque exhalat odorem. Monstrum, immane, ferox, hic trino Cerberus ore Personat horrendum, atque Animas latratibus urget. Lumina torva rubent, nigro madet hispida tabo Barba fluens, uncæque manus, ingentior alvus : |
around me wherever I turned to go or directed my eyes. I found myself in the third circle of eternal rain, where there are no differences and no pauses. Enormous hail, snow and black water rains down through the blind air, and the earth, receiving them, rots everywhere and exhales a putrid odor. Here an enormous, savage monster, Cerberus, with three heads, bays hideously and hounds the Souls with its barking. His grim eyes glow red; his bristly beard is wet, flowing with black pus; his hands are claw-like, his belly huge; |
| 580 | Discerpit laceratque Animas. Has horridus imber Non secus atque canes, ululatus edere cogit. Alternant latus : hoc nunc, et nunc ictibus illud Objiciunt pluviæ ; et crebro sua corpora vertunt. Cerberus, ut nos inspexit, tria guttura pandit, Ostendens dentes, totosque perhorruit artus. At Dux continuo, protendens bracchia, terram Suscepit, plenaque manu conjecit hiantes Illius in fauces. Veluti qui voce molossus Ante petit, mox deinde silet, quum acceperit escam, |
he rends and shreds the Souls. The horrible rain makes them emit howls like dogs. They alternate their sides: they expose now this one, now that one to the blows of the rain, and turn their bodies frequently. When Cerberus saw us, he opened up his three maws, showing their teeth, and shuddered in all his members. But immediately my Leader, stretching out his arms, picked up earth and with a full hand threw it into his yawning throats. Like a hound that first asks by voice, then quickly quiets down when he has received the food |
| 590 | Cui vacat, ac pugnax dentes impingit acutos ; Lurida sic se gesserunt tunc ora trifaucis Dæmonii, qui adeo assiduis latratibus illos Obtundit manes, ut vellent aure carere. Umbras nos inter gradimur, quas deprimit imber ; Atque pedes simulacra super, quæ corpora pārent, Ponimus. Umenti cunctæ tellure jacebant. Surrexit tunc una sedens, quum comminus ire Nos vidit, talesque dedit commota loquelas : O, qui tætra venis adductus Tartara, memet, |
that he has time for and, fighting, sinks his sharp teeth in it, so behaved the ghastly mouths of the triple-throated demon, who so pounds at those spirits with his constant barking that they wish they were without ears. We walked among the shades whom the rain pressed down, and trod on phantasms that seemed to be bodies. They were all lying on the wet ground. Then one rose sitting when he saw us come up close and, excited, said the following: “O you who come, guided, through foul Hell, |
| 600 | Si potes, agnosce ; ætherias nam lucis in auras Es prius exortus, quam mors mihi solverit artus. Ast ego : quem pateris, dixi, cruciatus acerbus Effigiem sic forte tuam mihi mente revellit Ut nunquam vidisse reor. Sed dissere quæso Qui sis, addictus pœnæ, qua, si altera major, Nulla quidem est gravior. Mihi rettulit ille vicissim : Urbs tua, quæ invidiæ tanto tumet aucta veneno Ut pleno exundet sacco, me tempore vitæ Obtinuit, dictum vobis cognomine Ciaccum. |
recognize me if you can; for before death decomposed my limbs, you emerged into the ethereal air of light.” But I said: “The bitter torture which you are suffering perhaps so banishes your image from my mind that I believe I have never seen you. But let me know, please, who you are, consigned to a punishment than which, if another one is greater, certainly none is more disgusting.” He replied to me in return: “Your city which is swelling up bloated with so much poison of envy that it is overflowing with a full sack , during my lifetime contained me, called by the surname of Ciacco [the Hog]. |
| 610 | Quod dapis ac vini nimio sum captus amore, Hic jaceo, velut ipse vides, obnoxius imbri. Non ego sum solus : pœna hi plectuntur eadem Crimen propter idem. Sic dixit, et ore quievit. Me tua, respondi, sic infortunia tangunt, Ut fletum eliciant : at dic, quis civibus urbis Exitus adveniet, mala quam discordia scindit ? Quisnam hic justus adest ? quæ causa odia aspera movit ? Jurgia post longa, is rettulit, sæva arma capessent : Rustica pars aliam magna cum clade fugabit : [12] |
Because I was taken in by too great a love of feasting and wine, I lie here exposed to the rain, as you yourself see. I am not alone: these here are punished with the same penalty for the same sin.” Thus he spoke and fell silent. I responded, “Your misfortunes so move me that they elicit my weeping. But tell me, what fate will come upon the citizens of the city that evil discord tears apart? Is there any just man there? What cause creates the bitter hatreds?” He responded, “After long altercations they will take up savage arms. The rural party will put the other one to flight with great losses. |
| 620 | Victrix deinde cadet, postquam Sol æthere trinos Annuus explerit cursus ; ac victa resurget Cujusdam auxilio, qui nunc blanditur et ambit. [13] Hæc longum attollet frontem, fastuque superbo Victam subjiciet pedibus ; multisque gravabit Ponderibus, licet illa gemat valdeque queratur. Justi sunt duo ; sed nemo illis applicat aures. Invidia, esuries auri, atque superbia sunt tres, Omnia quæ flammis incendunt corda, favillæ. Hīc finem imposuit dictis. Cui verba vicissim, |
The victorious one will then fall after the yearly Sun has completed three rounds in the stratosphere, and the conquered faction will rise again with the help of a certain one who now flatters and seeks high offices. For a long time that party will hold its brow high and with haughty arrogance oppress the conquered one beneath its feet and weigh it down with many burdens, even though it groans and complains greatly. There are two just men, but no one listens to them. Envy, hunger for gold and pride are the three sparks that ignite all hearts with flames.” Here he put an end to his words. Responding in return, |
| 630 | Hæc ego, respondens, rettuli : Volo plura loquaris, Pluraque me doceas : Tegghiaccius, Henricusque, Mosca, Farinata, et Rusticuccius ille, Queis virtus tanta, atque aliæ virtutis amore Præstantes Animæ, quo sunt ? Da noscere, quæso ; Scire etenim cupio, an Cælo lætentur in alto, Sedibus aut Erebi doleant. Is talia contra : Pejores inter manes hos continet Orcus : Flagitiis multis gravibusque urgentur ad imum ; Cernere quos poteris, si tam descendere pergis. |
I answered, “I want you to say more and teach me more: Tegghiao and Arrigo, Mosca, Farinata and the famous Rusticucci, all of whose virtue was so great, and the other Souls outstanding in love of virtue, where are they? Inform me, please, for I wish to know whether they are happy in high Heaven or suffering in the seats of Hell.” He responded with the following: “Hell holds them among the worse spirits. They are pressed down to the depths by many and serious shameful deeds. You will be able to see them if you continue to descend that far. |
| 640 | At tu, quum mundi ad dulces remeaveris oras, Nominis, oro, mei fac illic fama revivat. Hæc satis : haud verbum, si quid quæsiveris, addam. Hæc ubi dicta dedit ; contorsit lumina torvus Ac mihi defixit paulum : caput inde reflexit, Procubuitque sŏlo, reliquis haud sequius Umbris. Tunc mihi Præceptor dixit : Non ante resurget Angelicæ vox alta tubæ quam personet olim, Judicium indicens, Judex quod summus habebit. Quisque suum inveniet tumulum, carnemque resumet |
But you, when you have returned to the world’s sweet shores, see to it that the fame of my name is revived there. This is enough. I will not add another word if you ask.” Grim, he twisted his eyes at me and stared a bit; then he bowed his head and fell to the ground like the rest of the Shades. Then my Preceptor said to me, “He will not rise again until the high call of the angelic trumpet one day sounds, announcing the judgement which the supreme Judge will hold. Everyone will find his own grave and resume his own flesh; |
| 650 | Quisque suam ; audibit vocem, quæ æterna sonabit. Per pluviam atque Umbras lentis sic passibus ultra Progredimur, paulum alterno sermone loquentes Interea, quas vita vices ferat inde futura. Quare ego tum dixi : postquam sententia sese Protulerit, num pœna minor, vel major, habebit, Aut eadem sontes ? Quod nota scientia tradit, Fac recolas, mihi Doctor ait : quo dotibus aucta Perficitur natura suis, hōc acrius illam Sensus agit, sit sive dolor, sit sive voluptas. |
he will hear the voice which will sound out eternally.” With slow steps we progressed further through the rain and the Shades, with a different conversation meanwhile, discussng a little what changes the future life then would bring. Hence I then said, “After the sentence is passed, will a punishment lesser or greater or the same grip the guilty?” The Teacher said to me, “Recall what your learnt knowledge tells you: the more a nature is made complete, amplified with its own endowments, to that extent its sensation, be it pain or pleasure, is more keenly effective in it. |
| 660 | Turba licet nunquam vere perfecta nocentum Efficitur, tamen hanc major tum pœna gravabit. [14] Plura ita, quam referam, alterno sermone serentes Hæc loca circuimus, dum quo gradus alter aditur, Venimus : hic magnum Plutona invenimus hostem. |
Although the mass of the wicked will never be truly made complete, nonetheless a greater punishment will burden it then.” With alternating conversation, discussing more than I will relate, we circled that region until we came to where another stair is reached. Here we found Pluto, the great enemy. |
| INFERNORUM VII {7} ⇑ | ||
| 665 | Vix nos intuitus, Pape Satan aleppe Pape Satan, rauco incœpit gutture Pluto. Ac bonus is Sapiens, noscens quid dicta sonarent, Ut mihi solamen ferret : ne te metus ullus Occupet, est fatus : vires sint quælibet illi, |
He had hardly seen us when Plutus began, with a hoarse throat, “Pape Satan, aleppe Pape Satan.” And, knowing what the words meant, that good Philosopher said, in order to render solace to me, “Do not let any fear take over you; whatever powers he has |
| 670 | Non hunc præruptum impediet descendere callem ; Mox illi versus : sileas, lupe, dixit, inique, Ac tua te interius rabies insana perurat : Haud temere hic fit descensus : sic sedibus altis Est fixum, Michaël pepulit turbam unde superbam. Ut tumefacta cadunt diffracto carbasa mālo, Quum pelago fera sævit hiems ; sic belua terræ Concidit. Ad quartum sic nos descendimus orbem, Per ripam interius, quæ se demittit in ipsam Omne malum mundi, vestigia nostra ferentes. |
will not prevent our descending this steep hillside. Then, turning to him, he said, “Be quiet, wicked wolf and let your insane rage burn you inside yourself. Our descent is not happening capriciously; it was decreed in the realms on high whence Michael ejected the arrogant multitude.” As, upon the breaking of the mast, billowing sails fall when a savage winter storm rages over the sea, so the beast fell to earth. We climbed down to the fourth circle, making our way interiorly along the bank which takes down into its very self all the evil of the cosmos. |
| 680 | Justitia heu Domini ! Tot pœnas, totque dolores, Quot mihi se tunc obtulerunt, quis colliget unquam ? Cur nos nostra malis immergunt crimina tantis ? Non secus ac, crebro qua vertice sæva Charybdis Volvitur, unda furens adversæ illiditur undæ ; Sic ibi perpetua se gens vertigine versat. Plusquam alibi multam, magnis ululatibus auras Implentem, hic turbam vidi, atque ingentia toto Partibus adversis trudentem pectore saxa. Occurunt circo in medio, vertuntque retrorsum |
O justice of the Lord! : who will ever gather as many punishments, as many pains as then showed themselves to me? Why do our crimes drown us in such great evils? As savage Charybdis swirls with its frequent whirlpools by which raging wave crashes against wave, so there a mass of people circled in perpetual turning. More than anywhere else, I saw a great multitude filling the air with loud cries and pushing huge boulders with their entire chests in opposite directions. They collided in mid circle and then wheeled around backward, |
| 690 | Deinde pedem : Cur ipse tenes ? cur ipse profundis ? [15] Quisque alii increpitans. Mox parte ab utraque feruntur Ad punctum oppositum, diversæ ob crimina vitæ Quisque eadem inclamans. Medioque hinc orbe remenso Ad luctamen idem et convicia ad ipsa revertunt. His quasi commotus : quæ gens est ista, Magister ? Tunc ego quæsivi : cunctosne hos clericus ordo Addictos habuit ; rasos qui vertice crines Rite gerunt, nobis astantes parte sinistra ? Dum vixere, refert, tam cæca hi mente fuerunt |
each one insulting the other, “Why are you hoarding?”, “Why are you squandering?” Then from each side they would go to the opposite point, each one yelling about the same sins of an opposite life. Having again gone half a circle from there, they would return to the same struggle and the insults themselves. As though disturbed at this, I then asked, “What group is this, Teacher? Does the clerical state hold all these doomed ones, standing to our left side, who have properly shaved hair on the crowns of their heads?” He replied, “While they were living, they were of such blind mind |
| 700 | Ut nullam impensam facerent moderamine recto, Ut vox clara sonat, duo quum contingere puncta Ipse vides, quo illos dedit diversa cupido. Sunt cuncti ex clero, crines queis vertice desunt, Pontifices summi, et quibus est a cardine nomen, Prava ubi avarities nimium se exercet abundans. Multos ex his, Præceptor, cognoscere, dixi, Debuerim, quos dira lues infecerit ista. Haud unquam hoc poteris, rettulit : spem pascis inanem : Nescia, quam fœde egerunt, moderaminis æqui, |
that they made no expenditure in proper moderation, as their clear voices proclaim when you yourself see them reach the two points where their opposing desires take them. All those whose hair is missing from their heads are from the clergy supreme pontiffs and those whose name is taken from ‘hinge’ [= cardinals, < Latin cardo, cardinis], where wicked avarice, being exceedingly abundant, operates.” I said, “Teacher, I should recognize many among these whom that horrible plague has infected.” He answered, “You will never be able to do that. You are feeding on empty hope. The life, ignorant of balanced control, which they led loathsomely |
| 710 | Nunc hos vita facit nulli notescere posse. Æternum geminos utrimque ferentur ad ictus ; Ac tumulo exsurgent, quum spiritus induet artus, Rasis una cŏmis, manibus pars altera clausis. Auri dira fames, atque hujus prodigus usus, His pulchrum eripuit mundum, ac certamen ad istud Adduxit : quod quale sit, haud ostendere pergam. Hinc tibi, mi fili, quæ dat fortuna, bonorum Se brevis ostendit lusus, quibus applicat omnes Gens hominum curas. Quicquid nunc divitis auri |
now makes them able to become known to no one. They will be driven to a mutual collision on both sides forever. And they will rise from the grave, when the soul dons its limbs, the one side with shorn hair, the other with closed hands. The accursed hunger for gold and its profligate use tore the beautiful world from these souls and brought them to this strife what kind it may be, I will not go on to explain. From this, my son, is manifested the brief game of goods which fortune provides, goods to which the human race devotes all its attention. Whatever of rich gold |
| 720 | Est terris, aut ante fuit, requiescere nullam His daret ex Animis lassis. Fortuna, Magister, Tunc ego, cunctarum quæ dicitur arbitra rerum, Quid sit pande mihi. Quanta ignorantia vobis, O veri exsortes Animæ ! mihi reddidit ille. Hæc mea propterea volo te deprendere verba. Ille opifex rerum, cujus sapientia cunctos Exsuperat fines, cælestes condidit orbes ; Ductoresque dedit, certo moderamine cursus Qui regerent, ut nulla sua pars luce careret. |
there is on earth, or was before, may now allow none of these weary Souls to rest.” Then I: “Teacher, explain to me what Fortune is, that is called the arbiter of all things.” He answered me, “What ignorance you have, o Souls bereft of the truth! Hence I want you to grasp these words of mine: the Creator of things, whose wisdom exceeds all bounds, founded the heavenly spheres and provided guides who would direct their courses with fixed control so that no part would lack its own light. |
| 730 | Ille etiam terræque bonis opibusque ministram Præposuit, quæ temporibus mox talia certis De gente in gentem, deque his transferret in illos Continue, quin mens humana obsistere posset. Hinc populus regnat, populusque est subditus alter, Hujus judicium juxta, quod, ut anguis in herba, Delitet ; ac nil vestra valet sollertia contra. Regnum hæc sponte regit, dijudicat, atque gubernat, Ut sua quisque Deus [16], Nunquam mutare quiescit ; Urget opus : tam sæpe vices vertuntur in orbe |
He also appointed, both for the earth’s goods and its resources, a supervisor who then at certain times would transfer such things from one people to another and, constantly, from these to those without human intelligence being able to block it. Hence one people dominates and another people is subordinate according to her decision that, like a snake in the grass, lies hidden; and your cleverness can avail nothing against it. As every God does with his own, she directs, judges and governs on her own; she never ceases changing things: her work puts her under pressure alternations turn over so often in the world |
| 740 | Ut sibi continue sit permutare necessum. Hæc est, mortales dira quam voce lacessunt, Atque exsecrantur valde, nil tale merentem, Hi quoque, qui magnas deberent reddere laudes. Illa autem est felix, nec dictis applicat aures : Angelicas inter mentes eă sorte beata Perfruitur ; versatque suum, cui præsidet, axem. Jam nunc ad majora viam tormenta secemus : Sidera cuncta cadunt, quæ, quum jam cœpimus ire, Sursum ascendebant, nec nos dant multa morari. |
that it is constantly necessary for her to make changes. She it is whom mortals provoke with malicious words and stongly curse without her deserving it even those who ought to render great praise to her. But she is happy and does not lend her ears to their words. She enjoys a blessed lot among the angelic minds and turns her own axle, the one she supervises. Now, then, let us cut our path across to greater torments. All the stars are headed down which, when we started to travel, were ascending, and they do not let us delay much.” |
| 750 | Subjectam ad ripam circum præcidimus, illic Quo fons ebullit, lymphasque dat ire calentes In rivum, qui his efficitur. Nigredine tinctus Ille fluit ; rivique viam nos proinde sequentes, Diversum per iter, ripam descendimus una. Post ubi, per clivum decurrens, rivus in imum Pervenit, fit vasta palus, Styx nomine dicta. Hic ego, quum fixis oculis, ut cernere possem, Intuerer, vidi lutulento in gurgite mersos, Nudos, aspectuque truces ; qui mutuo sese |
We cut around to the lower bank, there where a spring boils up and lets hot waters run into a streambed which is made by them. It flows stained with black, and we, then following the stream’s path, together descended the bank through an abnormal route. Afterwards, where the stream, running down the slope, arrived at the bottom, a vast swamp was formed, called by the name “Styx.” Here, when with staring eyes I looked to be able to see, I saw nude bodies, angry of expression, submerged in a muddy maelstrom, who were striking |
| 760 | Pulsabant, nec palmis tantum, at pectore, plantis, Et capite, immani laniantes corpora morsu. Tum mihi Præceptor : fili, nunc aspicis, inquit, Illorum manes, quos iracundia vicit. At volo præterea ut credas, certumque rearis, Gurgite quod subter, sunt qui suspiria mittunt ; A quibus impulsus, supra circumfluus umor Pullulat ; ut, quovis intendas lumina, cernis. Gurgite stant imo fixi ; secumque loquuntur : Nos fuimus tristes ubi lux pulcherrima Solis |
one another, and not with their hands alone, but with chest, feet and head shredding bodies with huge bites. Then the Preceptor said to me, “Son, now you see the ghosts of those whom anger overcame. But in addition I want you to believe and think for certain that underneath the maelstrom there are those who emit sighs, agitated by which the water flowing around above bubbles, as you perceive wherever you direct your eyes. They stand fixed at the bottom of the maelstrom and tell one another, ‘We were gloomy where the most beautiful light of the Sun |
| 770 | Aëra lætificat, lentum sub pectore fumum [17] Gestantes : et nunc cæno tristamur in atro. Hæc fantur, ruptasque suo dant gutture voces ; Gutture, nam plenis nequeunt emittere verbis. Sic partem magnam foveæ circum ivimus atræ, Inter aquam et ripam, demersis gurgite semper Lumina conversi, donec pervenimus illuc, Ardua quo sese tollebat vertice turris. |
gladdens the air, bearing sullen smoke in our hearts; and now we are sad in the black mire.’ These things they utter, and give out broken words from their throats from their throats, for they cannot articulate them in full words.” Thus we went around a large part of the black ditch between the water and the escarpment, always keeping our eyes turned to those submerged in the maelstrom, until we arrived at the place where with its summit a steep tower raised itself. |
| INFERNORUM VIII {8} ⇑ | ||
| 778 | Multo autem prius ad turrim quam accessimus, alte Illius ad culmen visus ereximus ambo, |
But long before we reached the tower, we both lifted our eyes to its peak |
| 780 | Ob geminas flammas, quas poni aspeximus illic ; Queis simul ulterius fax reddidit altera signum, Tam procul, ut vix hanc oculus discernere posset. Tunc ego Ductori, cui tanta scientia, quantus Est liquor oceano, versus : quid postulat iste ? Quid focus ille refert ? Qui dant hos surgere ? dixi. Ille : quod exspectatur, rettulit, ipse per undas Jam vidisse potes, nisi fumeus impedit aër. Non ita Parthorum nervis emissa sagitta Exsilit, ac liquidum velox secat aëra cuspis, |
because of the twin flames which we saw placed there, to which at the same time another torch replied with a remoter signal so far off, that the eye could barely make it out. Turning to my Leader, who has as much knowledge as there is water in the ocean, I then said, “What is this bonfire asking? What is that one answering? Who are the ones building them?” He answered, “Unless the smoky air blocks it, over the waves you yourself can already have seen what is awaited.” An arrow shot from a Parthian bowstring does not spring forth, nor its swift arrowhead cut through the fluid air, the way |
| 790 | Ut parvam vidi nobis (mora nulla) per undas Adventare ratem, quam remex unus agebat, Altius inclamans : venisti, perfide, tandem. O Phlegyas, Phlegyas, clamores tollis inanes ; Non erimus tecum, nisi dum transibimus undas, Respondit Vates. Ut qui sibi percipit astum Ingentem tendi, mæret, capiturque dolore ; Haud aliter Phlegyas sæva est tristatus in ira. Dux prius ingressus cumbam, sibi deinde propinquum Me dedit indugredi : postquam sum exceptus in illa, |
I saw a small watercraft coming to us with no delay over the waves, driven by a single rower crying out loudly, “You have finally come, perfidious one!” The Poet responded, “O Phlegyas, Phlegyas, you are raising an empty shout; we are not going to be with you except while we cross the wave.” As a man who discovers that a huge trick has been stretched out for him grieves and is overcome with disappointment, Phlegyas likewise became resentful with fierce wrath. My leader entered the boat first, then had me enter next to him. Only after I was taken into it, |
| 800 | Solum est visa gravis. Pandīs vada turbida remis Cumba secat, solitoque subit demissior undas. Dum freta trajicimus, quidam sese obtulit ultro Obsitus ora fimo. Stygias qui tendis ad umbras Ante diem, dixit, quis es, et quo sanguine cretus ? Si venio, haud maneo ; nec me locus iste tenebit. Huic rettuli : et tu quisnam es, tam deformis et horrens ? Ille mihi contra : sum flens, ut conspicis, unus. Ast ego : et in fletu maneas, maleperdite, dixi : Sit tibi perpetuus plangor : licet omnia fœdum, |
did it seem heavy. With the oars deployed the skiff cut the turbid ford, sinking into the waves lower than usual. As we crossed the strait, someone spontaneously presented himself, his face covered with excrement. “You who pass to the shades before your death,” he said, “who are you, and of what blood are you born?” I replied to him, “If I come, I do not stay, nor will this place hold me. And you, who are you, so misshapen and hideous?” In return he said to me, “As you see, I am one who weeps.” I rejoined, “And may you remain in weeping, accursed one. May your wailing be forever. I recognize you, filthy |
| 810 | Te tamen agnosco. Ille manus tum extendit utrasque Ut cumbam arriperet. Procul hinc, procul esto, aliisque Cum canibus remane, Dux inquit, eumque repellit. Dein mihi complexus collum : O, ait, indole præstans Magnanima, felix quæ te connixa creavit. Huic fuit in terris malesana superbia, nec quid, Quo sit clarus, inest : ideo tam perfurit Umbra. Oh quot nunc sese reges magnosque per orbem Esse putant, quos more suum dehinc limus habebit ! Atque ignominiam sibi contemptumque relinquent ! |
all over though you may be.” He then reached out both hands to grab the boat. “Away from here, get away and stay with the other dogs,” said the Leader, and shoved him back. Then embracing my neck, he said, “O you great-souled one, outstanding of race; happy is she who in birth labor bore you. On earth he was of insane arrogance and there was nothing noble in him. That is why his Shade rages so. O, how many now think themselves kings and great ones in the world, whom the mire will later hold in the manner of swine! And who will leave behind them ignominy and contempt!” |
| 820 | Quam cuperem cænoso hoc illum in gurgite, dixi ; Cernere vexatum, ante vadis quam eximus ab hisce. Ac mihi Præceptor : non nos prius altera ripa Aspiciet, quam tu compos lætabere voti. Supplicium huic autem pauco post tempore gentes Gurgite demersas tam dirum infligere vidi, Hactenus ut Domino tali pro munere laudes Persolvam et grates. Argenti quisque Philippum, Eja agite, elata clamabant voce, petamus : Ille furens sese dentes vertebat in ipsum. |
I said, “How I would like to see him harassed in this muddy maelstrom before we get out of this ford!” And the Preceptor said to me, “The other bank will not see us before you will enjoy being satisfied as to your wish.” But after a little while, I saw people sunk in the maelstrom inflict so horrible a punishment on him that I still give the Lord praise and thanks for such a gift. “Hey, everyone attack Filippo Argenti!” they cried with loud voices, “Let’s get him!” That madman turned his teeth on himself. |
| 830 | Liquimus hic illum ; de quo nil deinde profabor. At mihi luctificus sonitus tum perculit aures ; Quamobrem in partem, qua venit, lumina verti. Jam, Præceptor ait, Ditis urbs dicta propinquat, Qua civesque graves permultaque turba tenentur. Certe illic in valle procul tecta ardua cerno, Respondi, usque adeo rubra, ut modo prodita ab igne. Ille mihi : æternæ, quibus intus jugiter ardent, Huc rubra ostendunt flammæ, velut ipse tueris. Hæc ubi sic fati, ad fossas pervenimus altas, |
We left him there; I will say nothing more about him. But a grieving sound then struck my ears. so that I turned my eyes toward where it came from. The Preceptor said, “The city named after Dis is now approaching, where the felonious citizens and a great multitude are held.” I responded, “Far off in the valley there I certainly see steep rooftops, red to the point that they look as though just extracted from fire.” He to me: “The eternal flames with which they burn inside display them as red here, as you see yourself.” After having thus said these things, we arrived at the deep ditches |
| 840 | Quæ vallant urbem : et rigido mihi condita ferro Mœnia sunt visa : ac, magnum post denique gyrum, Venimus in partem, qua nos descendere puppi Admonuit nauta : hic, ait, est ingressus in urbem. Ut portam aspexi, plus mille in limine vidi Astare ex Cælo lapsos : quis hic, horrida Ditis, Irati ajebant, qui vivus regna pererrat ? Innuit his tum Præceptor, secretaque poscit Alloquia ; ac paulum pressa, illi protinus, ira : Huc, sed solus, ades, dixerunt ; iste facessat, |
which fortify the city, and the walls seemed to me to be made of rigid iron. And after a large loop, we finally came to the place where the sailor told us to disembark from the boat. “Here,” he said, “is the entrance into the city.” As I looked at the gate, at its threshold I saw standing around more than a thousand of those who had plunged down from Heaven. “Who is this,” they said angrily, “who wanders around alive through the frightful realms of Dis?” Then my Preceptor beckoned to them and asked for a private conference and, with their anger a bit reduced, they immediately said to him, “You come here, but alone; let him leave, |
| 850 | Has ausus penetrare domos ; solusque revertat, Si potis est adeo ; nam tu hac in sede manebis, Qui cæcum huic itiner reserasti in Tartara ductor. Conjice nunc, lector, quum verba hæc auribus hausi, Si mihi tunc animi excĭderint, ut deinde reverti Nunquam ego crediderim. O qui me terque quaterque, Dux bone, servasti, ac tot, dixi, exire dedisti Casibus incolumem, ne me sic desere egenum ; Si vetitum nos ulterius procedere, retro Actutum rapiamus iter. Tunc ille vicissim : |
who has dared to penetrate these complexes, and let him return alone if he is so able; for you will remain in this realm, you who as his guide have opened up to him the route into Hell.” Imagine, reader, when I took in these words with my ears, whether my spirits then fell, so that I believed I would never return. I said, “O good Leader, who have saved me three plus four times and allowed me to escape, safe, from so many dangers, do not desert me, so helpless. If it is denied us to proceed further, let us immediately start on the way back.” His response was then, |
| 860 | Omnem pone metum ; nostris obsistere cœptis Nemo potest : talis nos huc contendere jussit. Me paulum hic maneas ; ac spes tibi pectore fractas Instauret vires : non te hac regione relinquam. Dixit, et abscessit ; dubiusque ego corde remansi, Ac valde ambiguus, numquid, nec ne, ille rediret. Auribus excipere haud potui, quod dixerit illis : Non multum ast illic mansit ; nam protinus intus Hi rapuere fugam ; ac ipsius in ora magistri Ostia clauserunt urbis. Foris ille relictus, |
“Put all your fears away. No one can stand in the way of our undertaking, given that a being of such type commanded us to journey here. Stay here a bit for me and let hope restore your broken courage. I will not leave you in this location.” So he said and left. I stayed, uncertain of heart and strongly in doubt as to whether he would return or not. With my ears I could not catch what he said to them; he did not stay there long, for shortly they took flight inside and closed the door of the city in the face of the teacher himself. Left outside, he |
| 870 | Passibus incedens lentis, ac lumina terræ Fixa gerens, ad me rediit : fiducia deerat Cuncta supercilio. Suspiria pectore ducens : Quis negat infernas, ajebat, me ire sub ædes ? Ac mihi : ne timeas, dixit, si incendor ab ira ; Macte bonis animis ; quippe hæc discrimina vincam, Quantalibet vis obstiterit : audacia tanta Non nova : sunt hac ad portam jam scilicet usi Secretam minus, atque sĕris hucusque carentem ; Cujus nempe notas vidisti in margine summo ; |
returned to me, walking with slow steps and keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. All confidence was gone from his brow. Drawing a sigh from his breast, he said, “Who is refusing to let me go into the houses of Hell?” And to me he said, “Do not worry if I am inflamed with anger. Keep up your good spirits. For I will overcome this crisis no matter what power stands in the way. Such audacity is not new. After all, they demonstrated it once before at the gate less secret and ever since lacking its bolts , whose lettering you saw on its upper frame; |
| 880 | Jamque, hanc ingressus, per clivum atrosque per orbes Incomitatus adest, qui Ditis mœnia pandet. |
and already having entered it, someone is coming, unaccompanied, down the slope through the black circles, who will open up the walls of Dis.” |
| INFERNORUM IX {9} ⇑ | ||
| 882 | Dixit, quemque mihi socordia pinxerat ore Aspiciens, quum illum vidi remeare, colorem, Ipse suum ex ore abduxit, quem impresserat ira. Substitit intentus, quasi vir qui murmura captet Auriculis ; nam longe oculis haurire nequibat Aëra per cæcum, ac densa caligine sæptum. Et tamen, hinc dixit, vincenda est denique pugna, Si modo non mihi talis enim sese obtulit ultro ; |
Thus he spoke, and seeing what color his worry had painted on my face when I saw him returning, he himself retracted from his face his own color that his rage had imprinted on him. He stood still, attentive, as a man who catches a murmur by ear, for he could not perceive far with his eyes through the blind air, surrounded with dense darkness. “And still,” he then said, “the fight must be won in the end, if only not … Voluntarily there was offered to me such |
| 890 | Oh mihi quam longum, dum quidam his sedibus assit ! Sensi sermonem primum texisse sequenti, Prima etenim verba extremis diversa sonabant. At timui ; abruptum verbum nam forte trahebam Pejorem in sensum, sua quam sententia ferret. Tunc ego quærebam : quisquamne has fertur in oras Ex primi hisce gradus, quibus est spe pœnă carere ? Raro, is respondit, quod quæris, contigit ulli. Ipse olim huc veni, magica tum voce coactus, In sua quæ manes cogebat membra reverti. |
O how long it is for me until someone arrives at this location!” I sensed he was covering his first statement with the subsequent one, for his first words meant something different from the last ones. But I was afraid, for I perhaps interpreted his broken-off sentence in a worse sense than he meant with his own words. I then asked, “Does anyone ever come into these domains from those of the first level, where the punishment is to be deprived of hope?” He responded, “Rarely does that which you are asking happen to anyone. I myself once came here, forced then by a magic voice which compelled souls to return to their bodies. |
| 900 | Nuper eram functus, quum me succedere muris His dedit, ut traherem Judæ de sedibus Umbram. Infimus ille locus, reliquis obscurior, atque Longius a Cælo, quod circuit omnia, distans, Nota mihi est via : macte animi, ac dimitte timorem. Ista palus male olens Ditis complectitur urbem Luctificam ; quam nos non absque intrabimus ira. Plura etiam est fatus, quæ non sunt condita mente ; Nam me totum oculus turris pertraxit ad altum Ignitum culmen ; quo tres exsurgere vidi, |
I had recently died when it made me go to those walls to pull out a Soul from the abode of Judas. That lowest place, darker than the rest and located farthest from Heaven, which circles everything, is a path known to me. Have courage and dismiss your fears. That evil-smelling swamp surrounds the baleful city of Dis which we will not enter without anger.” He also said more which was not stored in my mind, because my eye drew me completely to the fiery high peak of a tower where I saw three Furies rise |
| 910 | Femineo aspectu, Eumenidas, viridantibus omnes Præcinctas hydris, ac fœdo sanguine tinctas : Illis crinis erant colubri immanesque cerastæ, Tempora quas circum implexas et colla gerebant ; Atque is, qui famulas novit Junonis Avernæ, Eja age, crudeles circumspice Erinnydas, inquit ; Ad dextram hæc flens Alecto ; ad lævam illa Megæra est ; Tisiphone in medio. Laniabant unguibus uncis Quæque sibi, ac sævis tundebant pectora palmis ; Atque ita clamabant alte, ut formidine captus |
of female appearance, all girded with green watersnakes and stained with hideous blood. For hair they had serpents and huge horned snakes, which they also wore entwined around their temples and necks. And he who knew the handmaids of Juno of Hell [i.e., Proserpine], said, “See, look at the cruel Erinyes: the one weeping on the right is Alecto; on the left is Megaera; Tisiphone is in the middle.” Each one was striking her breasts with her hooked talons and fierce hands, and they cried out so loudly that, seized with fear, |
| 920 | Sum Vatem amplexus. Veniat, dixere, Medusa, Seorsum spectantes omnes ; ac saxeus esto : Heu ! male Thesei quondam punivimus ausum. Verte age te, dixit Vates, et lumina claude ; Si Phorcynis enim se monstret, et ipse tuaris, Spes nulla ætherias esset remeare sub auras. Dixit ; et ipse suis clausit mihi lumina palmis. O vos, qui sapitis, doctrinam advertite, quæso, [18] Carminibus tectam, atque novæ velamine Musæ. Per vada jam sonitus veniebat turbida magnus |
I embraced the Poet. Looking down on us, they all said, “Let Medusa come, and you will be stone. Alas, we badly punished Theseus’s daring.” The Poet said, “Quick! Turn around and close your eyes. For if Phorcus’s daughter [Medusa] shows up and you look at her, there will be no hope of returning to the upper air.” Having said this, he himself closed my eyes with his palms. (O you who are wise, please note the teaching which is covered by poetry and the veil of the new Muse.) Through the turbid ford then came a great sound |
| 930 | Horribilisque fragor, quo ripa utrimque tremebat ; Assimilis vento, qui, sæpe ardoribus actus Adversis, vasto percurrit murmure silvam, Ramosque floresque ruens : se turbidus infert, Pulveris attollens nimbos, gregibusque ferisque Terrorem incutiens. Mihi Dux tum lumina solvit ; Ac simul : in spumam hanc veterem, inquit, dirige visum, Qua magis est densus vapor, atque obscurior aër. Non secus ac ranæ venientem protinus hydrum Effugiunt, trepidæque metu vertuntur ad oram, |
and frightful crashing with which the banks on both sides trembled, like a wind which, often driven by clashing temperatures, rushes with a huge roar through a forest, tearing down branches and flowers; it comes on rampant, raising clouds of dust, striking terror into flocks and wild animals. My Leader then released my eyes and at the same time said, “Direct your vision to that old foam where the mist is denser and the air darker.” As frogs immediately flee before an oncoming watersnake and, trembling with fear, turn to the bank |
| 940 | Atque ibi se quæque accumulat ; correpta pavore, Umbrarum sic turba fugam perniciter ante Carpebat quendam, Stygiæ qui stagna paludis Transibat pedibus siccis, ut cernere longe Ex passu gradientis erat [19]. Pellebat eundo, [20] Sæpe agitans lævam, nebulosum ex ore vaporem : Hoc tantum offendi visus. Ex æthere missum Agnovi, inspexique Ducem ; meque ille silere Innuit, ac flexa cervice huic reddere honorem. Proh quam terribili est visus mihi percitus ira ! |
and all pile up there, so, gripped by terror, a mass of Shades swiftly took to flight before a person who crossed the waters of the Stygian swamp with dry feet, as one could tell from afar from the gait of the walker. As he was going, he drove the foggy air away from his face, frequently waving his left hand. I knew he had been sent from the ethereal regions, and looked at my Leader. He motioned me to be quiet and to render honor to him with bowed head. Oh how agitated with fearsome wrath he seemed to me! |
| 950 | Astitit ante fores, tenuique has vimine pandit, Ac mora nulla fuit. Mox atro in limine sistens : Improba gens, Cæli depulsa ex sedibus altis, Unde hæc tanta animis, inquit, fiducia vestris ? Cur illi officitis, cujus nequit exitus orsis Unquam præcidi ? vobis qui sæpe dolores Ac pœnas auxit ? quid fato obsistere prodest ? Cerberus hic vester, memori si mente tenetis, Et mentum et guttur sætis fert hactenus orbum. Hæc ait, ac nobis nihil innuit ; atraque rursus |
He stood before the doors and opened them with a thin wand, and there was no delay to it. Next, standing on the threshold, he said, “Wicked race, expelled from the high halls of heaven, whence comes such overconfidence as this to your minds? Why do you resist Him Whose end can never be cut off from its beginnings? Who often increases your pains and punishments? What is the point of standing in the way of fate? This Cerberus of yours, if you remember, bears a chin and throat stripped of fur.” Thus he spoke, and then signaled nothing to us, and turned |
| 960 | Per vada vertit iter, velut is, cui pectore major Insideat, quam cura virum, qui comminus assunt. Sanctis nos frēti verbis, discrimine nullo, Ingredimur portas ; ac ipse ardore videndi Impulsus, quæ condicio rerum atque locorum, Lumina continuo intendi ; plenamque jacēre Luctibus aspexi ac tormentis undique campum. Sicut juxta Arelas, Rhodanus qua detinet undas, Non secus ac juxta Polam, prope marmoris oram Hadriaci, Italiam quod claudit et alluit æstu, |
his course back through the black ford like one who has greater cares on his mind than that of the men who are present before him. Trusting in his holy words, we entered the gates without danger and I, moved by the interest in seeing what the condition of things and places was, immediately looked around and saw a field lying everywhere full of lamentation and tortures. As near Arles, where the Rhone detains its waves, just as near Pola, near the coast of the Adriatic Sea which closes off Italy and washes it with its tides, |
| 970 | Plurimus exsurgens tumulus discriminat agros ; Sic erat hic tellus variis distincta sepulcris ; Ast alio et graviore modo : quippe hisce remixtæ Ardebant flammæ ; queis tam succensa calebant Ut magis accensum ferrum ars non ulla requirat. Omne erat erectum tegimen ; talesque sub auras Prodibant gemitus, quales immane dolentum. Quare ego tum dixi : qui sunt, Præceptor, in istis Inclusi tumulis, adeo lamenta cientes ? Hæresis auctores hic sunt, sectæque sequaces |
The many gravemounds, rising up, make the fields discontinuous; likewise here the earth was divided by different graves, but of a different and worse kind. Indeed, mixed in with them flames burned with which they were so fired that no smithy needs a more heated iron. Every cover was raised; groans such as those of terribly suffering people went out beneath the air. Hence I then said, “Preceptor, who are those enclosed in the graves, emitting such laments?” He said, “The authors of heresy and the followers of the sects |
| 980 | Cujusque ; ac plusquam reris sunt plena sepulcra. Jungitur hic similis simili, sed dispare pœna ; Quippe etenim minus atque magis monumenta calescunt Dixit ; et in dextram vertit vestigia partem : Inter et afflictos et mœnia vadimus ambo. |
of each one are here, and the tombs are fuller than you think. Here, like is joined with like, but differently in punishment, since the sepulchers are less and more heated.” And he turned his steps toward the right. We both walked between the tormented and the ramparts. |
| LIBER II. | ||
| INFERNORUM X {10} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Per secretum iter inferimus sub mœnia gressum, Ille prior, post, ipse sequens. O maxima virtus, Tunc ego sum fatus, quæ me alta in Tartara ducis, Proque tuo libitu per gyros volvis Averni, Annue quærenti : numquid spectare sepultam Fas foret hic gentem ? Sunt nunc adaperta sepulcra, Et custode carent. Claudentur, reddidit ille, Omnia, quum Jošaphat sint huc de valle reversi, Corpora, quæ in terris jam deseruere, ferentes. |
We proceeded along a secret route at the foot of the walls, he first, I myself after, following him. “O supreme virtue,” I then said, “who are leading me through deep Hell and who travel, as you please, around the circles of the Netherworld, grant answering my questioning: would it be allowed to see the people buried here? The sepulchers are now open and have no guard.” He responded, “They will all be closed when they have returned here from the valley of Jehoshaphat wearing the bodies they have left back on earth. |
| 10 | Hac in parte jacent Epicurus, eumque secuti, Qui letum censent animam cum corpore obire. Quod poscis, quamque ore siles, expleta cupido Mox hic intus erit. Tibi cor, Dux optime, dixi, Non aliam ob causam abscondo, nisi, ut ipse monebas, Ne fors multa loquar. Tuscis o edite terris, Qui nunc, vivus adhuc, igneam perlaberis urbem, Sic et honesta loquens, precor, hic vestigia siste. Te tuus ostendit sermo illa ex urbe creatum Præclara, cui forte fui nimis ipse molestus. |
On this side lie Epicurus and those who followed him, who believe that the soul undergoes death with the body. What you ask and the desire that you keep orally silent will soon be fulfilled here inside. I said, “O best Leader, I do not hide my heart from you for any other reason than that, as you yourself warned, I should not speak haphazardly.” “O you born on Tuscan land who now, still alive, tours the fiery city and speaking so respectably, I pray you, stop here. Your speech reveals that you were born in that famous city to whom I was perhaps too harmful.” |
| 20 | Hæc vox confestim tumulo prodivit ab uno ; Quare ego proximus Ductori exterritus hæsi. Ecquid agis ? converte oculos, est ille profatus, Cerne Farinatam, qui sese erexit ab arca ; [1] Inspice, et exstantem toto jam pectore cernes. Dixit. In illius vultum jam lumina fixus Intuleram : ille trucem, sublato pectore, frontem Alte attollebat, velut indignatus Avernum. Tunc manibus Dux ipse suis me impellit ; et inter Immittens tumulos : manifesta edissere, dixit. |
This voice suddenly emerged from one of the arks, so that, terrified, I stuck close to my Leader. He exclaimed, “What are you doing? Turn your eyes, look at Farinata who has risen out of an ark.” He said, “Look and you will see him now standing out of it with his entire chest.” Rooted to the spot, I had already directed my gaze on his face. His chest erect, he was raising his fierce brow high, as though disdaining Hell. Then the Leader pushed me with his own hands and, sending me among the graves, said, “Explain clear details in full.” |
| 30 | Ut tumulo accessi, paulum me inspexit ; et ira Mox quasi correptus : quibus es majoribus ortus ? Inquit ; et ipse simul, cupidus parere roganti, Non id celavi, sed cuncta ex ordine pandi. Ille oculos tollens : mihi gens immaniter omnes Partique primisque meis inimica fuere, Reddidit, ac his propterea dare terga coëgi. Si terga hi dederunt, sunt undique deinde reversi, Respondi ; at tua non bene gens hanc calluit artem. Altera detecto ex tumulo tum se Umbra levavit [2] |
As I approached the grave, he looked at me a little and then, as though moved by anger, said, “What ancestors do you come from?” And at the same time I myself, desiring to obey the questioner, did not hide it, but revealed everything in succession. He, raising his eyes, replied, “They were all a clan intensely hostile to me and my faction and my forefathers, and because of that I twice forced them to flee.” I responded, “If they fled, in the end they returned from everywhere; but your people have not mastered that art well.” From an uncovered grave another Shade then rose |
| 40 | Ad mentum ; quare surrectam in genua putavi. Undique me circumspexit, quasi cerneret utrum Mecum aliquis foret ; ac, nullum quum vidit adesse, Illacrimans dixit ; si tu per Tartara tendis Nobile ob ingenium, cur non tibi filius hæret Ille meus ? qua detentus regione moratur ? Non mea me virtus, rettuli, verum iste, seorsum Qui manet, adducit ; cujus fors carmina vester Jam Guidus sprevit. Genus et miserabile pœnæ Verborumque tenor, dederant mihi nosse loquentem ; |
as far as its chin, so that I thought it had risen on its knees. He looked all around me, as though to see whether anyone were with me; and when he saw no one was present, he said, weeping, “If you, by means of your noble genius, are traveling through Hell, why is that famous son of mine not along with you? In what realm is he staying, held?” I replied, “It is not my power, but that person who is staying apart from me, that brings me here. Perhaps your Guidus has, moreover, scorned his poems.” The type of his punishment and pitiable tone of his words allowed me to recognize the speaker [Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti], |
| 50 | Plene ideo responsa dedi. Se is protinus alte Extulit his vix auditis : et quomodo, dixit, Sprevit ais ! nonne ætherias nunc luminis auras Ille haurit ? nonne illi oculos lux percutit alma ? Hæc fatus, quum me sensit responsa morari, Inversus recĭdit, nec protulit amplius ora. Alter magnanimus, per quem vestigia pressi, Non os mutavit, collumve latusve reflexit ; Orsaque deinde sequens : hæc si male, dixit, ab illis Ars percepta fuit, magis hoc me immaniter urit |
so I gave him answers fully. Having barely heard these words, he suddenly rose up high and said, “And the way you say ‘has scorned’! Is he now not breathing in the ethereal air of light? Is the kindly light not striking his eyes?” Having said this, when he perceived I was delaying my response, he fell backward and no longer showed his face. The other, great-souled one, on account of whom I had stopped walking, did not change his expression or turn his neck or side; and then, following up his initial words, he said, “If that art was badly learnt by them, it burns me more terribly |
| 60 | Quam torus hic igneus : sed non, quæ sedibus istis Imperat, ora Deæ vicibus lux alma replebit [3] Et bis terque decem, ac tu quantum ponderis ipse [4] Noveris hæc habeat. Sic autem evadere ad auras Inde tibi liceat, cur tam est infensus et asper Ille meis populus ? leges cur condit in illos ? Clades ac cædes, qua decolor Arbia fluctūs Sanguine mutavit, rettuli, his hæc scita rependunt. Vertice tunc is concusso, ac suspiria ducens ; Non unus tunc ipse fui ; ac certamina nunquam |
than this fiery bed. But the kind light will not fill the faces of the [moon-]Goddess [Hecate/Proserpina, wife of Dis] who rules over these realms twice ten plus thrice ten [= 50x] times [i.e., in the year 1304], and you yourself will discover how much of a burden that entails. But just as you are allowed to go out from here to the air, why is that people so hostile and harsh toward mine? Why does it pass laws against them?” I replied, “Those decrees repay them for the disaster and slaughter with which the Arbia, discolored with blood, changed its waters.” Then, shaking his head and drawing a sigh, he said, “I myself was not alone then, and I certainly never |
| 70 | Cum reliquis certe sine causa, dixit, adivi ; Unus at ipse fui, qui, quum Florentia passi Sunt omnes alii, deleta ut funditus esset, Consilio obstiterim, vultu adversatus aperto. O, rogo, sic valeat tua gens reperire quietem, Tunc ego subjeci, quo mens mea vincta tenetur, Solve mihi dubium. Vobis concessa facultas Est, bene si audivi, casus prænosse futuros ; Non ita præsentes. Sic nos longinqua tuemur, Rettulit, ut quisquis vitiosa luce laborans. |
entered with the rest in the struggle without cause; but I was the only one who, when all the others were allowing Florence to be utterly destroyed, resisted the plan, bald-facedly opposing it.” I then added, “O, I ask, as your clan may be able to find rest, solve the question with which my mind is held fettered. If I have heard rightly, the ability to foreknow future events has been granted to you, but not so, present ones.” He replied, “We perceive far-off things in the way that someone laboring under bad light does. |
| 80 | Tantum summus adhuc indulget luminis Auctor ! At simul adventant, aut præsens attulit ætas, Mens nostra obruitur tenebris ; nec novimus unquam, Vestrarum in terris rerum nisi nuntius assit. Hinc tu scire potes, quod nos vis tota videndi Destituet, fuerit quum janua clausa futuri. Tum, quasi pertæsus culpæ : fer, deprecor, illi Qui cecĭdit, quod natus adhuc vitalibus auris Vescitur, atque sibi sum respondere moratus, Errorem hunc propter, quo sum te ajente solutus. |
The supreme Author still grants us that much of light! But as soon as things approach, or the present time produces them, our minds are covered with darkness, and we never know anything unless a reporter of your affairs on earth arrives. Hence you can see that all power of vision will forsake us when the gates of the future are closed.” Then, as though disgusted with my guilt, I said, “Tell him who fell, I beg of you, that his son still breathes the air of life, that that I delayed responding to him on account of the error of which I have been absolved by your speech.” |
| 90 | Dixit. Jamque meus mihi Dux remeare jubebat. Quare ego quæsivi, citius mihi ut ille referret Qui secum hic essent. Plusquam cum mille, reponit, Hic positus jaceo : Friderici hic Umbra secundi [5] Purpureique viri [6] ; atque alii, quos dicere parcam. Hæc ait, ac sese abscondit. Vestigia verti Ad Vatem tunc ipse redux ; sub pectore mecum Auditum eloquium, mihi visum hostile, revolvens. Protulit ille pedes ; ac posthac, inter eundum : Quid te adeo turbat ? petiit. Quumque inde retexi : |
He finished speaking. And now my Leader was bidding me to return. So I asked him to tell me more quickly who was there with him. “I lie placed here with more than a thousand,” he responded. “The shade of Frederick the Second [of Hohenstaufen] and of the man in red [ the Ghibelline Cardinal Ottaviano degli Ubaldini], and others whom I will refrain from naming. He said these things and hid himself. Returning, I myself then turned my steps to the Poet, turning over in my mind the words, appearing baneful to me, I had heard. He proceeded onward and later, while going, asked, “What is disturbing you so?” And when I then revealed it, |
| 100 | Triste quod audieris, memori sub pectore conde, Inquit : nunc adhibe hic animos (ac talia fatus Erexit digitum) : quum deinde illius ad ora Substiteris, quæ luce micans late omnia cernit, Illa iter et vitæ pandet casusque futuros, Dixit ; et, ad lævam conversus, mœnia liquit. Vadimus in medium, tenuis qua semita ducit Ad vallem, quæ huc usque gravem mittebat odorem. |
he said, “Remember the sad news you have heard; now pay attention here to this” (and saying that, he raised his finger): “when later you stand before the countenance of her [i.e., Beatrice] who, glittering with light, widely sees everything, she will reveal your life’s path and future events.” And having said that and turning leftward, he left the wall. We walked to the middle where a narrow path led into a valley which emitted all the way hither a heavy stench. |
| INFERNORUM XI {11} ⇑ | ||
| 108 | Summum altæ attigimus ripæ, quam grandia in orbem Secta dabant saxa, atque magis crudelia habentem |
We reached the top of a high bank which large, cut boulders made into a circle and into a valley having |
| 110 | Supplicia in vallem. Propter, qui exhalat ab imo, Fœtorem immodicum, magni hic accessimus ambo Ad tegimen tumuli, quo scripta hæc carmina vidi : Summus Pontificum hic jacet Anastasius ille, Quem malus ex recto Photinus tramite duxit. Tunc mihi ait Doctor : lento descendere gressu Hic opus, ut fœdum paulatim ferre vaporem Assuescat sensus : mox absque mora ibimus ulla. Atque ego tunc illi : tu, quas amittimus, horas Fac aliquid penset. Mentem huic me advertere cernis, |
crueler punishments. Because of the excessive stench that wafted up from the bottom, we both went up to the lid of a grave where I saw this poem written: “The famous Anastasius, the highest of Pontiffs, lies here, whom the evil Photinus drew from the right path.” Then the Teacher said to me, “It is necessary here to descend at a slow pace so that our senses gradually get used to enduring the vapor. Then we will go without any delay.” But I then said to him, “Do something to compensate for the hours we are losing.” “You see me applying my mind to that,” |
| 120 | Ille ait ; inde sequens : Sub saxis, addidit, istis Clauduntur, fili, parvi in declive gradatim, Orbes tergemini, veluti quos ipse relinquis : Spiritibus pravis sunt omnes undique pleni. Utque satis visus tibi sit mox inde tuenti, Quomodo in his, nunc disce, et quare pœnā luatur. Unus cunctorum scelerum est injuria finis ; Per vim vel fraudem infertur : sed fraude nocere Est hominum proprium : Deus hoc impensius odit. Propterea major constringit pœna dolosos, |
he said, then continuing, “Lower down from these rocks,” he added, “son, are three small [concentric] circles stepwise down the slope, like those you yourself are leaving. All are filled on all sides with wicked spirits. And so that the sight may be enough for you seeing them later, learn now how and why the penalties are paid in them. The one result of all misdeeds is injustice; it is inflicted by force or fraud. But harming by fraud is specific to human beings. God hates this intensely. Hence a greater punishment binds the deceitful |
| 130 | Ac sunt inferius : violenti desuper assunt. Et quoniam trinis (hominique sibique Deoque) Vis potis est ferri, ut ratio manifesta probabit : Propterea in circos trinos se hic dividit orbis. Efferă per vim mors homini, plāgæque feruntur, Illiusque bonis incendia furta ruinæ. Auctores igitur cædis, dirique latrones, Et grassatores, circus prior obtinet omnes, In classes varias diversaque sæpta coactos. In se deinde manus violentas ferre, suasque |
and they are lower. The violent are above them. And because force can be directed at three persons ([another] man, onself and God), as reason proves to be clear, this sphere is accordingly divided into three circles. Through violence a savage death and blows are inflicted on a person, and fires, thefts, destruction on his goods. The first circle therefore holds all the perpetrators of killing, along with horrible brigands and waylayers, forced into various and diverse sections. Then, any person can lay violent hands on himself and on his own |
| 140 | In res, quisque potest : in circo opus inde secundo Est frustra se pæniteat, qui stamina vitæ Sponte sibi abrumpunt, ac res sine more profundunt ; Tristesque illic vivunt, læti ubi vivere possunt. Vis Deo item fertur, quum quis vel denegat illum Corde, vel adversus jactat blasphemia verbis, Aut quis Naturæ bonitatem juraque temnit : Ultimus hinc circlus Sodomam tenet atque Cahorsam [7] Quotque, Deum exosi, proprio cum corde loquuntur. [8] Nectit homo fraudem (quæ corda remordet) in illos, |
possessions; thence in the second circle penance must be done in vain by those who of their own accord break off the thread of life and who squander property with abandon and live sad there where they can live happy. Violence is likewise committed against God when a person either denies Him in his heart or verbally casts blasphemies at Him, or scorns Nature’s goodness and laws. Hence the final circle contains Sodom and Cahors [home of rapacious usurers] and as many as, bearing hatred toward God, express it within their own hearts. A man imposes a fraud (which gnaws and the heart) on those |
| 150 | Qui sibi confidunt, vel queis fiducia desit. Hic modus extremus dissolvit vincula amoris, Queis homines Natura ligat : sunt orbe secundo [9] Propterea, qui furantur, qui falsa loquuntur, Qui sacra divendunt, turpi qui fœdere amores Conciliant, quique excantant, quique ore pudicos Dissimulant sensus, hujusce et furfuris omnes. Deterior modus est alter, qui abrumpit amorem Non modo naturæ, sed quod superaddidit alterum Inde fides : quare per sæcula cuncta minori, |
who trust him or on those in whom trust is lacking. This last practice dissolves the bonds of love with which Nature unites men. On that account those who steal, who speak falsely, who sell holy benefices, who establish love relationships with disgraceful compacts, and who conjure and who dissemble with an expression of chaste feelings, and all of that kind of chaff. The worse form is the second one which destroys love, not only of nature, but the additional one that trust adds on top of it. Thus for all ages, |
| 160 | Qui sibi confisos tradunt, plectuntur in orbe, Centrum ubi stat mundi, quo Dis super insĭdet ingens. Sic me ille edocuit. Clare tua verba, Magister, Dixi ego, procedunt ; barathrum bene dividis istud, Ac populos quos intus habet : sed dissere, quæso ; Quos tenet atra palus, pluvius quos verberat imber, Quique sibi occurrunt aspris cum vocibus, et quos Ventus agit, cur non ignea plectuntur in urbe, Si Deus est his iratus ? si sequius autem, Cur hos pœna premit ? Sic dixi ; ac ille reponens : |
those who betray those entrusted to them are punished in the smaller circle where the center of the world lies, the center above which gigantic Dis [= Satan] is enthroned.” Thus he instructed me. I said, “Your words, Teacher, flow clearly: you segment that abyss well, and the peoples that it holds inside. But tell me, please, whom the black swamp contains, which ones the rainy storm beats on, and who are those running against one another with harsh words, and whom the wind drives; why are they not punished in the fiery city if God is angry with them? But if not, why does punishment oppress them?” So I spoke, and he, answering, |
| 170 | Cur, præter morem, tantum tibi desipit, inquit, Ingenium ? aut alio quo mens tua devia fertur ? Nonne tibi verba obveniunt, quibus Ethica monstrat Tres animi affectus, quos Cælum damnat et odit ? Ut sunt et vitium et feritas atque impetus ardens ? Ac minus hĭc pariat sibi dedecus, et minus iram Numinis incendat ? Si talia mente revolvas, Et qui sint illi, quos sursus pœna coërcet, Deprendes equidem, cur secernantur ab istis, Justitiæque minus pœnis crucientur acerbis. |
said, “Why is your thinking so nonsensical, more than your custom? Or is your thought deviating elsewhere? Do you not recall the words with which the [Nichomachean] Ethics [of Aristotle] points out the three mental dispositions that Heaven condemns and hates? How they are vice [= intentional criminality], and bestiality [= animal-like brutishness], and ardent passion? And that the latter causes less disgrace and ignites less divine anger? If you turn such things over in your mind, and who those are whom punishment afflicts [in the circles] above, you will indeed understand why they are separated from these and are less tormented with the bitter penalties of justice.” |
| 180 | O Sol, qui sanas ægrum mihi lumine visum, Dixi, sic mihi suades, dum quæsita resolvis, Ut dubitare minor non sit quam scire voluptas. Te paulum retro referas, ubi fenore lædi Est bonitas tibi dicta Dei, nodumque resolve. Naturam, dixit, passim præcepta sophorum Ostendunt ex mente Dei procedere et arte : Si Physicam recoles, artem (tibi volvere multas Non opus illius chartas) vestigia nostram Invenies hujusce sequi, quo more magistrum |
I said, “O Sun, who with your light cure my sick vision, in answering my questions you persuade me so well that doubting is no less a pleasure than knowing. Go back a little, where it was said by you that God’s goodness is offended by usury, and untie that knot.” He said, “The teachings of the philosophers everywhere show that nature emanates from the mind and artisanship of God. If you reflect upon the Physics [of Aristotle] (you do not have to turn many of its pages), you will find that our artisanship follows nature’s tracks, in the way a pupil |
| 190 | Discipulus, quantum valeant permittere vires ; Usque adeo, ut nostra est neptis quasi Numinis artis. Si Genesis tibi succurrat, sibi sumere vitam Esse opus ex his utrisque, atque augescere gentes, Reperies. Quoniam qui exercet fenus, ab illis Digreditur, naturam ideo contemnit et artem, Spemque alibi ponit, quam quo posuisse deceret. Ast age, me sequere ; est etenim jam tempus eundi : Æthere jam surgunt Pisces, totumque Boöten Caurus habet ; datque ulterius descendere ripa. |
follows his teacher, insofar as our powers allow it, to the point that ours is, as it were, the granddaughter of God’s artisanship. If you go back to Genesis, you will find that one must gain one’s living from the both of these [i.e., artisanship and nature], and peoples must increase. Because the usurer departs from them, he thereby spurns nature and artisanship and places his hope elsewhere than where it is proper to have put it. But come, follow me; for it is now time to go. Pisces is already rising in the sky, and the northwest wind, Caurus, holds all of Boötes, and farther on the bank allows us to descend.” |
| INFERNORUM XII {12} ⇑ | ||
| 200 | Asper erat locus ex præruptis undique saxis Quo tunc venimus, ac propter quod stabat ibidem ; Tale, ut diffugerent perterrita lumina visum. Non secus ac, Athesim quæ, cis excelsa Tridenti Mœnia, percussit, (terræ seu scissa tremore Seu non fulta solo) in præceps patet alta ruina, Ut nemo hac valeat gressum de vertice ferre ; Sic descensus erat ; summoque in margine ripæ Astabat, tellure jacens, infamia Cretæ, Quæ concepta fuit falsæ sub imagine vaccæ. |
The place where we then arrived was rough, due to rocks broken everywhere and on account of what stood there the kind of sight that terrified eyes would flee from. Just as the high landslide which struck the Adige on this side of the lofty walls of Trent (either severed by an earthquake or unsupported by the ground) lies strewn downslope so that no one can walk from the summit that way, so was the descent; and present on the top edge of the bank, lying on the ground, was [the Minotaur,] the infamy of Crete, who had been conceived under the façade of a false cow. |
| 210 | Vix ea nos procul aspexit, sese ipsa momordit, Qualis ab interna pectus qui incenditur ira. At meus huic versus Sapiens : hinc, belua, abito : Dixit ; Cecropiumne virum hic tu reris adesse, Qui te in terris enecuit ? Non voce sororis Edoctus venit iste tuæ, sed visere vestras Huc tendit pœnas. Veluti qui vincula rumpit, Quum recipit letalem ictum, bos, nescius ire, Saltitat huc, illuc ; sic Minotaurus agebat. Eja age, tum Vates, aditum citus arripe, dixit ; |
It had hardly espied us when it gnawed itself, like a person who is inflamed with internal anger in his breast. But my Wise one, turning to it, said, “Get out of here, beast! Do you think that the Cecropian man [Theseus of Athens] who killed you on earth is here? He does not come coached by the voice of your sister [Ariadne], but is passing this way to view your punishments.” As a bull that breaks its bonds on receiving a fatal blow, unable to go, leaps here and there, so did the Minotaur. The the Poet said, “Come on, go! Get to the entrance more quickly |
| 220 | Dum furiis agitur, nunc nunc descendere tempus. Sic per congeriem saxorum vadimus illam, Ob pondus mihi sub pedibus se sæpe moventum. Ipse animo reputans ibam. Tu forte ruinam, Ille inquit, tecum volvis, quam belua servat, Imperiis quæ victa meis hinc ante recessit, Disce igitur : nondum, magico quum carmine Erichtho Me dedit huc sedes Erebi descendere in imas, (Si memini) hæc ruerat : certe paulum Ille priusquam Huc sese ferret, primo qui Ditis ab orbe |
while it is driven by rage! Now, now is the time to descend!” Thus we proceeded through that mass of rocks often moving beneath my feet because of my weight. I myself went along thinking. He said, “You may perhaps be thinking about the landslide guarded by the beast that, overcome by my commands just now, retreated hence. So learn this: when [the sorceress] Erichtho with her magic chant made me come down here into the nethermost realms of Hell (if I recall), this slide had not yet fallen. Assuredly, shortly before He who snatched the prey from Hell’s first circle came here, |
| 230 | Eripuit prædam, tanto circum undique motu Hæc tremuit valles, ut mundum rerer amore Correptum, quo illum multi dixere reversum Non semel in chaos ; ac rupes tunc ista ruinam Hic alibique dedit. Sed tu jam lumina fige In vallem ; nam sanguineus lacus ecce propinquat, Quo, quicunque aliis per vim nocuere, coquuntur. O furor insanæque iræ, o cæca cupido, Quæ nos sic acuis, brevis hoc in tempore vitæ, Et das perpetuum sic deinde madescere in ævum. |
this valley shook all around with such a quake that I thought the world seized by love by which many said it had not just once returned to chaos , and that rock then produced the landslide here and elsewhere. But fix your eyes on the valley, for look, the lake of blood is coming up where all those who have injured others by violence are cooked.” O furor of insane wrath! O blind desire, you who goad us so in this time of short life and then so make us submerged for eternity! |
| 240 | Ingentem, ac tortam, veluti Dux dixit, in arcum, Hic foveam aspexi, quæ circumplectitur omnem Planitiem ; atque inter radicem montis et illam Venantes ibant Centauri, tela gerentes, Ut vivi fixere feras. Descendere ripa Ut nos viderunt, confestim ex agmine trini Abstiterunt ; cumque arcu ac lectis ante sagittis Occurrere ; proculque unus : quo tenditis ? inquit, Ad quam damnati pœnam ? istinc dicite, et ultra Ne proferte pedes : aliter, vos cuspide figam. |
As the Leader said, here I saw, twisted in an arc, an enormous moat that surrounded the whole plain, and between the foot of the mountain and it Centaurs went hunting, carrying weapons as when alive they shot wild animals. When they saw us climb down from the bank, three of the column immediately stopped and ran up with bow and previously selected arrows. From a distance, one said, “Where are you going? To what punishment are you damned? Speak from there and do not make another step further. Otherwise I will transfix you with my arrowpoint.” |
| 250 | Ac meus huic Ductor rettulit : responsa propinquo Chironi hic dabimus : male te vesana cupido Egit præcipitem semper. Mox, talia fatus, Me tentans cubito : hic Nessus, cui Deianira Causa fuit leti, ac leti fuit ipsemet ultor. Dixit ; et is medius, qui oculos in pectore vertit, Est magnus Chiron, qui jam nutrivit Achillem. Et nimius Pholus ille iræ. Per litora currunt Innumeri ; telisque petunt, quot sanguine sese Altius abducunt, sua quam commissa reposcunt. |
And my Guide responded, “We will give our answers to Chiron near here. Your insane desire has always made you precipitate.” Then, having said that, prodding me with his elbow, he said, “This one is Nessus, whose cause of death was Deianira, a death of which he himself ws the avenger. And that middle one who has his eyes turned to his chest, is the great Chiron who nourished Achilles. And that one is Pholus, excessive in anger. Countless ones run around the shores and with their weapons attack however many draw themselves out of the blood higher than their crimes require.” |
| 260 | Hæc ait ; ac propius, progressi ; accessimus illis. Tum Chiron telum accepit, crenaque reduxit Ad mālas barbam : quumque os immane retexit, Ad socios versus : num vos advertitis, inquit, Quod qui pone subit, dat tactu cuncta moveri ? Non solet hoc pes functorum. Cui talia Vates, Qui prope pectus erat, natura ubi bina cohærent, Rettulit : hic vivit, sōlique ostendere Averni Debeo pallentem vallem : non sponte suapte, Rebus at huc agitur duris : canere alleluja |
Thus he spoke and, moving forward, we approached nearer to them. Then Chiron took an arrow and drew his beard back with its notch; and when he had uncovered his huge mouth, turning to his companions, he said, “Have you noticed that the one who is in back makes everything be moved by his touch? The foot of the dead does not usually do that.” The Poet, who was near his chest where his two natures join, answered him, “This man is alive, and I am to show the wan valley of Hell to him alone. He is driven here not of his own accord, but by coercive conditions. |
| 270 | Desivit talis, novum ut hoc mihi obire juberet Munus : non hic est latro, nec ego Umbra profecto Improba. Per virtutem oro, quæ tam invium et asprum Carpere cogit iter, nobis ex hisce, fidelis Sit qui animo notus, socium da incedere quemquam, Qui vada demonstret, quique hunc in tergore vectet, Est qui vivus adhuc, atque ire per æthera nescit. Talia sic Vates. Ac Chiron : Nesse, redito, Ad dextram conversus ait ; tu ducito euntes, Ac remove, his aliud si forte obvenerit agmen. |
A person of distinguished rank stopped singing allelujas to order me to take on this new task. This man is not a brigand, and I am not a wicked Shade. I beg you by the Power which compels us to take this pathless and rough route: have, from these, some associate come forth to us who is known to be faithful of spirit, who may point out the fords, and who may carry on his back this man who is still living and cannot go through the air.” Thus spoke the Poet. And Chiron, turning to his right, said, “Nessus, go back: lead the wayfarers, and fend off any other unit if it perhaps encounters these.” |
| 280 | Hoc duce, sanguinei gradimur per gurgitis oram, Plurimus unde dolens bullentum it stridor ad auras. Usque supercilium mersos in sanguine vidi. Hōc, inquit Nessus, cruciantur in amne tyranni, Qui bona diripuere, atque effudere cruorem : Sic aliis illata luunt nunc damna necesque : Hic et Alexander [10], ferus et Dionysius, annos Qui dedit imperio Siculis traducere tristes. Crinibus ille nigris est Azzolinus ; et ille Crinibus aureolis, est Atestinus Obizzus, |
With this guide, we proceeded along the brink of the maelstrom whence the screeching of the boiled rose into the air. I saw souls immersed up to their eyebrows. Nessus said, “In this stream are tortured the tyrants who robbed goods and spilled blood. They pay in this way for the injuries and killings inflicted on others. Here are both Alexander and the savage Dionysius who gave the Sicilians bitter years with his regime. That one with black hair is Ezzelino [III da Romano], and that with the blond hair is Obizzo da Este |
| 290 | Quem vere in terris privignus funere mersit. Tunc ego, compellans, Vati sum versus ; at ille : Hĭc tibi sit, dixit, princeps, et ego inde secundus. Paulum progressus, Centaurus lumina fixit In gentem, exstantem medio, usque ad guttur, ab æstu ; Atque Umbram ostendens, quam sola in parte videbat ; Hic, ait, ante Deum, crudeli vulnere fixit Cor, quod adhuc Tamesis Londinii in litore honorat. [11] Gentem præterea vidi, quæ ex amne caputque Ac totum exstabat pectus ; cujus mihi multos |
whom, in fact, his stepson murdered on earth.” Then I turned to the Poet, to address him, but he said, “Let him be your first leader and I then second.” Having progressed a little, the Centaur turned his eyes on a group standing up out of the middle of the flood as far as their throats. And pointing out a Shade which he saw on a secluded side, he said, “In front of God, that one [Guy de Montfort] stabbed with a cruel wound the heart [of Henry of Cornwall] which the [river] Thames still honors on the banks of London.” Besides that I saw a group that stood out of the stream as far as their heads and their whole chests; of that group |
| 300 | Nosse fuit ; quippe ille cruor magis usque magisque Decrescit, dum deinde pedum vix denique plantas Contegat ; atque hic sanguineum tranavimus amnem. Sicut in hac cernis decrescere parte cruorem, Sic, Centaurus ait, diversa in parte resurgit, Donec eo adveniat, plectit quo pœna tyrannos. Attila, rex Hunnus, Dominique immane flagellum, Illic supplicium pendit, Pyrrhusque, simulque Sextus ; ibi lacrimas Rinierius edit uterque Pazzius et Cornetensis, crudeliter ausi |
I knew many. To be sure, the gore subsided more and more, until then in the end it barely covered the feet, and here we crossed the bloody stream. The Centaur said: “Just as you find the gore decreasing on this side, so on the other side it rises again until it comes to the point where it punishes the tyrants with vengeance. Attila, king of the Huns and the monstrous scourge of God, here pays the penalty, and Pyrrhus as well as Sextus [Pompey]; both of the Riniers, Pazzo and da Corneto, shed tears there, those who cruelly dared |
| 310 | Infestare vias. Sic dixit ; tergaque vertens, Est iterum vada transgressus. Non venerat oram |
to attack the highways. Thus he spoke and, turning his back, recrossed the ford. Nessus had not yet arrived |
| INFERNORUM XIII {13} ⇑ | ||
| 312 | Nessus adhuc aliam, quum nos vestigia tætram In silvam tulimus, per quam via nulla ferebat. Non viror hīc frondes, sed enim color induit ater ; Non leves rami, at nodoso cortice torti ; Non et in his poma, at virgulta infecta veneno. Hispida tam dumis ac stirpibus horrida densis, Cæcinam et Cornetum inter, sub litus Etruscum, Non habitant per tesqua feræ, loca culta perosæ. |
on the other bank when we walked into a hideous forest through which no path led. Here not a green color, but a black one clothed the foliage; the branches were not smooth but twisted with a knotty bark, and there were no fruits on them, only stems steeped in poison. The wild animals that hate cultivated regions, between Cecina and Corneto on the Etruscan coast, do not dwell in wilds so rough with thorns and bristling with dense brushwood. |
| 320 | Hic nidum Harpȳiæ condunt, quæ Troas ab oris Expulerunt Strophadum, ventura his dira canentes. Alæ sunt illis magnæ ; sunt collaque et ora More hominum ; pes ungue rigens ; pennataque et ingens Alvus ; terrificis implent stridoribus auras. Tum mihi Præceptor dixit : jam disce, priusquam Ulterius tendas, in circo te esse secundo, Atque hic semper eris, donec veniamus arenam Horribilem : tende ergo oculos, ac talia cernes Quæ vincant narrata fidem. Circum undique questus |
Here the Harpies build their nests, the ones who expelled the Trojans from the shores of the Strophades while chanting ominous fates to come upon them. Their wings are huge; both their necks and faces like those of humans, their feet rigid with talons, and their bellies feathered and enormous. They fill the air with terrifying shrieks. Then the Preceptor said to me, “Now realize, before you proceed farther, that you are in the second circle and will always be here until we come to the horrible sands. So keep your eyes open and you will see such things as, [if only] reported, would overcome belief.” All around I heard |
| 330 | Audibam ; nec quisnam hos ederet ipse videbam, Proptereaque gradum, captus formidine, pressi. Credere sum Vatem ratus, has me credere voces Ex, inter truncos, propter nos, gente latenti, Missas ; dixit enim : siquis tibi ramus ab hisce Vellitur arboribus, te manca putare videbis. Protendi tunc ipse manum, ramumque revelli, Horrendum dictu ! Vox protinus edita trunco, Cur me, clamavit, laceras ? Quumque inde cruore Erubuit, cur me, rursus vox altera dixit, |
laments, but I myself did not see anyone uttering them, and for that reason halted my steps, seized with fear. I thought the Poet believed that I believed those voices were coming from people hiding among the treetrunks on account of us. For he said, “If any branch is torn off of these trees by you, you will see that you are thinking mistaken ideas.” I then extended my hand and tore off a branch. Horrible to say! Immediately a voice, coming from the treetrunk, cried out “Why are you tearing me?” And when then it reddened with gore, a second utterance said, “Why are you |
| 340 | Dilaceras ? pietate cares ; silvestria pruna Nunc sumus, ast homines fuimus : clementior esse Debueras, animæ si essemus forte colubri. Ut viridis torris, cujus flagrantibus ardet Altera pars flammis, tepidas ciet altera guttas, Stridetque, ac propter fugientem sibilat auram ; Sic truncus vocemque simul dabat atque cruorem. Dimisi manibus ramum, similisque timenti Obrigui. At meus huic Sapiens : si noscere casus Ille tuos poterat, tantum me doctus ab ipso, |
tearing me apart? You are lacking in pity! We are now forest plums, but we used to be men. You would be kinder if we were perhaps the souls of snakes.” As a green firebrand, whose one end burns with blazing flames, the other emits warm drops and hisses and, because of the escaping air, whistles, so the trunk gave out words and blood at the same time. I dropped the branch from my hands and froze like a fearful person. But my Wise One said to it, “If he had been able to know your fates, taught only by me myself, |
| 350 | Non te protensis manibus violaverit unquam ; Res incredibilis me impellere fecit ad actum, Me quoque quod piget. At tu qui sis fare, tuumque Dic genus ; ut terris, in quas exinde redibit, Iste tuam instauret famam, sic damna rependens. Ac truncus contra : sic me tua dulcia verba Illiciunt, ait, ut non obmutescere possim ; Ac vos ne pigeat paulum me audire loquentem. Ille ego sum, regis Friderici cordis utramque Qui tam suavē olim clavem volvi atque revolvi, |
he would not ever have violated you with his extended hands. But your unbelievable situation made me urge him to the deed, which also causes me regret. But you, tell who you are and disclose your family so that on earth, to which he will later return, he may restore your fame, thereby compensating for the injury.” And in response the trunk said, “Your sweet words entice me so that I cannot keep silent, but let it not annoy you to hear me speaking a little. I am [Pietro della Vigna of Capua,] he who once locked and unlocked the key of [Emperor] Frederick’s heart so smoothly |
| 360 | Hujus amicitia cunctos ut proinde remorim : Usque adeo fidus sum munere functus, ut omnes Contererem vires, ac noctes absque sopore Pertraherem. At meretrix, quæ nunquam Cæsaris ædem Deseruit (communis mors, ac maxima clades Aularum), cunctorum animos incendit ; et illi Regem sic incenderunt, ut protinus omnes Sunt versi in luctum, quibus insignibar, honores. Indignata nefas, mea mens, vitare dolorem Morte putans, justum injusto me funere mersit. |
that I consequently excluded everyone from his friendship. I did my job so faithfully that I exhausted all my energy and dragged my nights without sleep. But the harlot that never leaves the Emperor’s palace (the common demise and greatest disaster of courts) ignited the animosity of all, and they ignited the king so, that all the honors with which I was decorated were instantly turned to grief. My mind, incensed over the crime, thinking to avoid the pain, submerged my just self with an unjust death. |
| 370 | Nunquam, juro novas radices arboris hujus, Est mihi rupta fides domino, qui dignus honore Tam fuit ; atque ideo vestrum si rursus in auras Quis veniat superas, ibi det revalescere nostram, Quæ jacet invidiæ tam saucia vulnere, famam, Hæc rettulit. Paulum Vates est deinde moratus ; Mox ait ille mihi : quoniam nunc iste silescit, Posce quod exoptas, neve irrita defluat hora. Atque ego : tu potius, mihi quæ prodesse rearis, Posce quidem ; nam me pietas tam multa revincit, |
By the recent roots of this tree, I swear, my faith to my lord, who was so worthy of honor, was never broken, and so if one of you again goes to the air above, let him there enable my fame which lies so injured by the wound of envy to recover.” Thus it replied. After that the Poet paused briefly, then said to me, “Because he is now silent, ask what you will lest the hour pass idle.” And I: “Indeed, you, rather, ask what you think is of benefit to me, for such deep pity overcomes me |
| 380 | Ut minime possim. Tunc ille incœpit, et inquit : Sic tibi mortalis, silvestri carcere clause, Quod petis, efficiat, dic quæso : his quomodo truncis Spiritus insuitur ? quisquamne his solvitur unquam ? Fortiter efflavit truncus ; flatusque, loquelam Versus in hanc, dixit : breviter responsa reponam : Spiritus ut sævus membris, queis se ipse revellit, Exiit, hunc, jussu Minois, septimus orbis Excipit ; in silvam ruit, at non ulla ruenti Pars habitanda datur : quo sors projecerit, illic, |
that I cannot do so at all.” Then he began and said, “So that he may accomplish what you seek, O mortal enclosed in your wooded prison, please tell us: how is a spirit sewn into these treetrunks ? Is anyone ever released from them ?” The trunk breathed out strongly, and the breath, turned into this speech, said, “I will give my responses in brief: When the enraged spirit has left the members from which it tears itself, at the command of Minos the seventh circle accepts it. It plunges into the forest, but no place is given to the plunging soul to dwell in; where happenstance throws it, there, |
| 390 | Ut zea, germen agit ; fit frutex, plantaque agrestis : Harpȳiæ carpunt frondes ; morsuque dolorem Efficiunt ; plāgāque viam dant esse dolori. Non secus ac alii, nostros veniemus ob artus ; Non ut se his quisquam induerit : non illud haberi Fas est, quod sponte abjicitur : huc membra trahemus, Et cujusque sua pendebit ab arbore corpus. Dum trunco intenti, dicturum plura putamus, Ingentem audimus fremitum, ut venator adesse Frondibus ex motis canibusque latrantibus aprum |
like spelt, it puts forth shoots. It becomes a bush and a wild plant. The Harpies pluck its leaves and cause pain by their bites, and through the wounds they make it possible for there to be a vent for the pain. Like the others, we shall go for our limbs not so that anyone may clothe himself with them: it is not allowed for that which has been thrown off of one’s own accord to be owned. We will drag our members here, and each one’s corpse will hang from its own tree.” While, riveted on the treetrunk, we thought it would be saying more, we heard an enormous racket, like a hunter made aware, from the moving foliage and barking dogs, of a boar coming. |
| 400 | Sentit ; et ecce duo, lacerato corpore, nudi [12] Ad lævam erumpunt, fugientes impete tanto Omnia ut incursu obtererent ramalia silvæ. Mors, assis ! assis ! clamabat primus ; et alter, Segniter ire sibi visus : pernicibus usus Non es sic pedibus, Lane, in certamine Toppi. Et, quia fors vires deerant, se cæspite, sistens, Texit, et implicuit. Per silvam, hos pone, voraces Currebant nigræque canes, velut arcta Molossi Vincula quum rumpunt : inter virgulta latenti |
And lo! Two nude men, with lacerated bodies, burst out on the left, fleeing with such force that they trampled down all the brush of the forest with their flight. The first one cried, “Death, come!, come!” and the other, believing himself to be going more slowly: “You did not avail yourself of such fleet feet, Lano, in the battle of Toppo.” And perhaps because his strength was failing, stopping, he covered and entangled himself with a clump. Voracious black bitch hounds ran behind them through the forest like mastiffs when they have broken their tight leashes. They sank their hungry fangs |
| 410 | Intulerunt dentes avidos, in frusta dolentes Absciderunt artus, secumque abiere ferentes. Tunc, dextra exceptum, Vates me detulit illuc Scissus ubi flebat nequiquam ob vulnera cæspes. Quidnam te, A-Divo-Andrea, clamabat, Jacob, Hic sub viminibus nostris abscondere juvit ? Numne ego culpandus, si tu male duxeris ævum ? Quum meus huic Dux accessit : da noscere, dixit, Qui sis, qui tot vulneribus cum sanguine voces Luctisonas efflas. O qui, respondit, adestis |
into the one hiding in the brush, sliced his agonizing limbs in pieces, and went off carrying them with them. Then, taking my right hand, the Poet took me there where the shredded clump wept uselessly on account of its wounds. It cried, “O Jacopo di Santo Andrea, what good did it do you to hide yourself here under our limbs? Am I to blame if you have conducted your lifespan badly?” When my Leader approached him, he said, “Let us know who you are who, through so many wounds, breathe out mournful utterances with blood.” It responded, “O you who come |
| 420 | Frondibus illatam crudelem cernere cladem Quæ mihi direptæ fuerunt, has cogite, lectas, Juxta infelicem truncum. Sum natus in urbe Cui libuit dominum in Baptistam vertere ; quare [13] Is nunquam arte sua pessum dare desinet ultor : Et, nisi quid reliquum illius superesset ad Arnum, Nequiquam cives reparassent deinde ruinas, Attila quas fecit. Sum hac, inquam, natus in urbe, Ac, nodum informem nectens, mea ab æde pependi. |
to view the cruel injury inflicted on the foliage which was torn from me, gather the collected leaves near my unhappy trunk. I was born in the city that chose to exchange its patron [Mars] for [St. John] the Baptist. For that reason [Mars] the Avenger will never stop ruining it with his machinations. And if there had not been some remnant of him remaining at the Arno river, the citizens would subsequently have in vain repaired the destruction which Attila wrought. I was born in that city, I say, and, weaving a hideous knot, hung from my own house.” |
| INFERNORUM XIV {14} ⇑ | ||
| 429 | Me patriæ commovit amor : componere, et illi, | Love of my fatherland moved me: I worked to gather the leafage |
| 430 | Qui jam raucus erat, præparavi reddere frondes. Venimus ad finem, quo circus tertius inde Incipit, ars ubi justitiæ sese horrida pandit. Ut nova perspicue ostendam, pervenimus, ajo, Planitiem in magnam, plantis queiscunque carentem. Ut nemus hanc cingit, fovea sic cingitur ipsum. Hic nos constitimus, cohibentes margine gressum. Area condensis siccisque horrebat arenis, Quales Marmaricis olim Cato pressit in oris. Vindex ira Dei, quantum te quisque pavere |
and return it to him who was now hoarse. We came to the brink at which the third circle then begins, where the horrid techniques of justice reveal themselves. To explain the new phenomena clearly, I say, we arrived on a large plain bare of any types of plants. As the forest surrounds it, so the forest itself is surrounded by a ditch. Here we stopped, halting our steps at the rim. The site bristled with compact and dry sand, like Cato once trod on, on the Marmarican [= east Libyan] shores. O avenging wrath of God, how much everyone reading the things appearing to me |
| 440 | Debuerit, mihi visa legens. Hic multa Animarum Agmina nudarum vidi ; quibus ora profuso Undabant fletu, et quas lex diversa premebat. Quippe jacebat enim pars in tellure supina, Ibat pars semper, pars et contracta sedebat : Vincebat numero, quæ concita jugiter ibat ; At tellure jacens, miseros magis ore soluto Edebat gemitus. Totam super undique arenam Plurima et ampla, allapsu lento, flamma pluebat, Quo nix more cadit, sileat quum ventus, in alpes ; |
should fear you. Here I saw many legions of naked Souls whose faces streamed with profuse weeping and whom different laws penalized. For indeed, part [= the blasphemers] was lying on the ground face upward, part [= the sodomites] was constantly walking, part [= the usurers] was sitting huddled up. Those who were excitedly, ceaselessly walking were overwhelming in numbers, but from readier mouths those lying on the ground emitted piteous cries. Everywhere over the whole sand, large flames rained profusely, gliding down slowly in the way that snow falls in the Alps when the wind is quiet, |
| 450 | Atque ut Alexander, qua fervida solibus ardet India, collabi quondam super agmina vidit Flammantes ignes, solidosque incumbere terræ ; Proptereaque sŏlum jussit fodicare cohortes, Nam, putre quum fuerit, melius restinguitur ardor. Sic ingens flammarum imber sine fine cadebat : Fomitis in morem succensa ardebat arena ; Ac duplex erat inde dolor : manibusque ruentes Nec mora nec requies erat excutientibus ignes. Tunc ego sic Vati : o qui, præter Dæmonas, inqui, |
and as, in the place where torrid India burns under its suns, Alexander once saw flaming fires descend over his legions and fall thickset to the earth, and for that reason ordered his cohorts to stamp on the soil, since while the fire was attenuated, it was more easily extinguished, so an enormous rain of flames fell endlessly. The ignited sand burned like kindling, and the pain was thereby doubled. There was neither pause nor rest for the hands brushing off the falling fires. Then I said thus to the Poet: “O you who overcome everything except the Demons |
| 460 | Omnia pervincis, limen contendere portæ Jam nobis ausos, mihi dic ac fare : quis ille Magnus et ore ferox, qui nil incendia curat ? Igniferoque jacens non urier imbre videtur ? Dixi ; ac ille, loqui de se quum senserit, inquit : Qualis vivus eram, talis sum et corporis expers. Artificem quamvis delasset Juppiter, a quo Iratus telum cepit, quo tempore mortem Prorutus occubui ; si aliorum bracchia lasset Alternis vicibus, Vulcani sæpe reposcens |
who dared to block the threshold of the gates, speak and tell me, who is that large and fierce-looking one who cares nothing for the flames?” I said, “Lying there, he does not seem to be burned by the fire-bringing rain.” And that soul, when he realized I was talking about him, said, “As I was when living, so I am, even bereft of a body. Although Jupiter may tire out his blacksmith [Vulcan] from whom he, enraged, got his weapon [= a thunderbolt] at the time I, falling, went to my death; if he successively wearies the arms of others, often calling on Vulcan |
| 470 | Auxilium, velut in magno certamine Phlegræ, Ac mihi fulmineos pro viribus ingerat ictus, Vindicibus pœnis non is lætabitur unquam. Hæc fanti elata rettulit tum voce Magister, Ut sic nunquam alias : Capanee, superbia quando Nil tua defervet, gravior te pœna perurit : Supplicium nullum, præter, qua incenderis, iram, Par foret insano, quo turges, pœna furori. Hæc ait ; ac mihi sic est mitior inde profatus. Unus hic ex septem, Thebas qui milite quondam |
for help as in the great battle of Phlegra, and with all his strength hurls lightning strikes at me, he will never enjoy his avenging retribution.” The Teacher then responded with a voice raised as never at any other time to the one saying these things, “O Capaneus, given that your arrogance does not subside at all, your penalty burns you all the more. No punishment beyond the wrath with which you burn would be a penalty equal to the insane rage with which you are bloated.” Having said this, he then spoke more mildly to me thus: “This soul was one of the seven leaders who once besieged Thebes |
| 480 | Obsedere duces : tempsitque, Deumque videtur Temnere, nec quicquam vires curare Tonantis. Debita sed merces illi, ut sum fatus eidem, Est suus ipse furor. Nunc protinus arripe callem, Ac me pone veni ; cave ne pes tangat arenam, At nemus usque legat. Pervenimus, ore silentes, Unde, extra silvam, prodibat parvulus amnis ; Cujus adhuc me rubra metu contristat imago. Non secus ac scatebris Viterbi rivulus exit, In sua quem flexum mox ducit tecta lupanar ; |
with their soldiery. He scorned, and seems to scorn, God, and not to care anything about the power of the Thunderer. His deserved reward is, as I said to him, his very own rage. Now pick up the path further and come after me; be careful that your foot does not touch the sand but skirts the forest closely.” Keeping our silence, we arrived at a place outside of the forest whence a small brook issued whose blood-red image still oppresses me with fear. As at Viterbo a stream comes out bubbling which the brothel soon diverts to its own buildings, |
| 490 | Ille per arentem sic decurrebat arenam. Alveus, ac ripæ, et margo de marmore uterque, Nosse mihi dederunt, illic quod transitus esset, Tænariam postquam, cunctis quæ pervia, portam, Nos sumus ingressi, tam nulla notabilis usquam Res oculis est visa tuis, quam rivulus iste, Se super injectas potis est qui exstinguere flammas. Talibus est fatus Doctor ; quare ipse rogavi, Escam ut porrigeret, cujus me implerat amore. Semiruta, ille refert, medio jacet insula ponto, |
so that brook flows down through the dry sand. Its bed and banks and both brooksides of marble let me know that our passage was that way. “Ever since we entered the gates of Hell, open to all, nothing has been seen by your eyes as noteworthy as this brook which can extinguish the flames thrown over it.” So said the Teacher. Hence I myself asked him to hand over the food for which he had filled me with love. He replied, “In the middle of the sea lies a derelict island, |
| 500 | Quam perhibent Cretam, cujus sub rege beatam Gens hominum vitam, castisque in moribus egit. Mons hic erigitur, nemorosis frondibus olim Dives et undarum scatebris, qui dicitur Ida : Nunc deserta jacet. Partu jam proxima, mater Hanc sibi delegit Cybele, qua enixa locaret Natum ; et, ut illius fletus abscondere posset, Pulsa dabat raucos attollere tympana cantus. Hic, sub rupe cava, penitusque in viscere montis, Stat senior, tergum Damiatæ versus ad urbem, |
which they call Crete, under whose king [Saturn] the human race lived a blest life of chaste morals. A mountain called Ida rises there, once rich with forest foliage and bubbling springs of water; now it lies deserted. When her time for childbearing was near, mother Cybele [= the goddess Rhea] chose it as her own, where, in labor, she might place her son; and in order to hide his cries, she caused beating drums and hoarse songs to sound out. Here, under the hollow rock and deep in the bowels of the mountain, stands an old man turning his back toward the city of Damiata [now Dumyat near the Nile delta] |
| 510 | Ac Romam inspiciens, speculum de more tuentis. [14] Est caput ex auro, ex argento bracchia pectusque, Ex ære usque femur ; constant dehinc cetera ferro ; Fictilis est pes dexter, quem super ille recumbit, Plusquam alio. Pars omnis habet, si exceperis aurum, Rimam : ex hac manant guttæ, quæ mox coëuntes Hanc tranant rupem, ac vallem labuntur in istam. His Acheron, Phlegethon, et Styx tæterrima fiunt. Deinde per hunc arctum decurrunt denique rivum, Extremum usque locum, quo non descenditur ultra. |
and looking toward Rome in the manner of one looking at a mirror. His head is of gold, his chest and arms of silver; he is of copper as far as his thighs; from there the rest consists of iron; his right foot, on which he rests more than the other, is clay. Every part, if you except the gold, has a fissure. Drops flow from this; they then, converging, flow through the rock and glide into this valley. Out of them the Acheron, Phlegethon and hideous Styx are formed. Following that they finally run through this narrow stream all the way to the last place from which there is no further descent. |
| 520 | Cocytum hic faciunt, de quo nunc dicere omitto ; Quippe hunc tu aspicies. Nostro si hic rivus ab orbe, Dixi ego, progreditur, cur tantum hac paret in ora ? Ille mihi contra ; hoc barathrum scis esse rotundum ; Et, licet ad lævam multum descenderis, omnem Non es circuitum emensus : si videris ergo Quicquam forte novi, ne te stupor occupet ullus. Ipse iterum : Lethæ ac Phlegethontis flumina, dixi, Quo sunt ? illud quippe siles, hoc imbre creari Istud ais. Semper tua sunt quæsita, reponit, |
Here they form Cocytus, about which I now refrain from speaking, since you will see it.” I said, “If this stream comes out of our world, why does it show up only on this bank?” He to me: “You know that this abyss is round and, even though you have descended much, leftwards, you have not covered the whole circle. If, therefore, you perhaps see something new, do not let any stupefaction overcome you.” I spoke once more: “Where are the rivers of Lethe and Phlegethon? For while you are silent about that, you say that this one is created by this rain.” He responded, “Your questions are always |
| 530 | Grata mihi valde ; verum rubor ipse fluenti Reddere debuerat reponsum ex talibus uni. [15] Aspicies Lethen, sed non in sedibus istis, Quo nimirum Animæ vadunt se deinde lavatum, Crimina quum sunt, quæ deploravere, remissa. Mox ait : est tempus jam nos absistere silva ; Me sequere : est geminus margo via euntibus, unde Ignis abest, omnisque supra restinguitur ardor. |
very welcome to me, but the red one itself ought to give an answer to one element deriving from such queries. Though not in these realms, you will assuredly see Lethe where the Souls go to wash themselves off afterwards, when their sins, of which they have repented, have been forgiven.” Then he said, “It is now time for us to leave the forest. Follow me. Both streambanks are paths for wayfarers where the fire is absent and all heat is extinguished over them.” |
| INFERNORUM XV {15} ⇑ | ||
| 538 | Margine marmoreo gradimur ; quique udus ab amne Erigitur fumus, sic temperat aëra, nullus |
We walked along the marble margin, and the wet vapor which arose from the stream moderated the air in such a way that |
| 540 | Ut nos interea flammarum læderet imber. Non secus ac æquŏr Batavi, gens accola ponto, Aggeribus cohibere solent, quod gurgite vasto Illorum irrumpit campis ; velutique, priusquam Nix ex Alpe fluat, sua rura domusque tuentur Medoaci cives Patavii a torrentibus undis ; Talis erat, quamvis haud sic excelsus et ingens, Hic geminus margo, quicunque hunc condidit olim. Jam sic silva aberat, ut non hanc cernere possem, Si vertissem oculos, quum, proxima margini euntum |
all the while no rain of flames harmed us. In the same way that, using dikes, the Dutch, a people bordering the ocean, typically keep it from overrunning their fields with its vast floods, and as the Paduan citizens protect their countryside and homes from the rushing waters before the snow flows from the Alps, so likewise here were although not so high and large the two banks, whoever once built them. The forest was already so far away that I could not have seen it if I had turned my eyes when a crowd of Souls traveling next to the streambank |
| 550 | Umbrarum occurrit turba, ac nos tale tuentum Quale solet dubia lunæ sub luce recentis. Nos ita spectabant fixi, quo more foramen Spectat acus senior contento lumine sartor. Quum sic inspicerent, quidam me agnovit, et oram Apprendit vestis : Proh quam mirabile ! clamans. Vix bracchium is mihi protendit, citus ipse perustam In faciem defixi oculos ; nec, tristis imago Quin nossem impediit : vultumque proinde reclinans [16] Tune hīc, Brunettus ? dixi. Tunc ille vicissim : |
came opposite us and of Souls peering at us as is usual under the dim light of a recent moon. They stared at us as fixedly as an old tailor looks with straining eyes at the eye of his needle. While they were looking in this way, someone recognized me and took hold of the hem of my garment, exclaiming, “Oh, how marvelous!” He had hardly stretched out his arm to me, I myself quickly fixed my eyes on his burnt face, and his sad appearance did not prevent me from recognizing him. I said, “Are you here, Brunetto?” Then he in return: |
| 560 | Ne pigeat, fili, me nunc vestigia paulum Tecum ferre retro, sociosque relinquere euntes. Quin, ego respondi, cunctis te viribus oro ; Ac, si forte juvet mecum hic consistere, sistam, Hĭc modo det veniam qui fert vestigia mecum. Hōc, fili, is rettulit, quicunque ex agmine sistit, Centum deinde annos jacet ; ac, dum læditur igne, Hunc sibi decutere haud valet : ergo age, perge, tibique Ad latus hærebo : inde meum citus assequar agmen, Damna æterna querens. Non me demittere calle |
“Do not let it disturb you, son, that I now travel backward a little with you, leaving my progressing acquaintances.” I responded, “With all my strength I ask ‘why not?’ And, if perhaps it would please you to stop here with me, I will stop given that this man who is traveling with me gives permission.” He replied, “Son, whoever out of this column stops, lies then flat for a hundred years and, while being injured by the fire, cannot shake it off of himself. So come, continue on and I will cling to your side. Afterward I will rapidly rejoin my formation, lamenting our eternal losses.” I did not dare to step down from the pathway |
| 570 | Audebam, ut pariter graderer, sed cernuus ibam, Qualis qui reverenter eat. Tunc incipit ille : Quæ sors aut fatum ante diem has te accedere sedes Egit ? et is quisnam est, qui te præcedit euntem ? Illi ego : in apricis vitæ spirabilis oris, Quum mea nondum ætas plenis adoleverit annis, Deerraram in tætram recto de tramite silvam ; Hesterno hinc mane abscessi ; et, quum rursus in illam Regrederer, sese mihi protinus obtulit iste ; Perque iter hoc revehit. Tua si catus astra sequaris, |
to walk on his level, but I went bent over, as someone who is walking reverently. Then he began, “What lot or fate makes you come to these realms before your last day? And who is this man who precedes you in going?” I to him: In the sunny shores of breath-filled life, when my lifespan had not yet matured to its full years, I had wandered off of the straight path into a hideous forest. Yesterday morning I walked away from there and, as I was again returning to it, this man suddenly presented himself to me and leads me along this route.” “If you shrewdly follow your stars,” |
| 580 | Ille mihi, haud poteris non clarum attingere portum, Si bene persensi, quum cæli vescerer aura : Atque ego, si mortem non immaturus obissem, Tam tibi prospiciens felicia sidera, valde Tete implessem animis ; stimulosque ad cœpta dedissem. Ingratus vero hic populus, cui manat origo Ex Fæsulis, et adhuc quid saxi ac montis inhæret, In te crudeles, quod tu benefeceris, iras Concipiet : non immerito ; non convenit aspros Quippe inter sorbos dulcem pubescere ficum. |
said he to me, “you will not be unable to reach your famous harbor, if I understood you well when I was breathing the air of the heavens. And I, foreseeing stars so propitious to you if I had not gone to my death prematurely , would have greatly supported your plans and provided incentives for your enterprises. But because you have done good deeds, that ungrateful people whose origins are derived from Fiesole, and to whom something of the rocks and mountains still clings, will begin to feel anger not inappropriately, since it is unfitting for the sweet fig to ripen among bitter sorb-crabapples. |
| 590 | Fama vetus vocat hos orbos, gentemque superbam, Quam simul invidia, et nimius tenet ardor habendi. Effuge tu illorum mores : tua dextera tantum Te sors attollet, ut te pars utraque avebit ; Gramina sed capris aberunt. Se, straminis instar Conculcent equidem Fæsulana animalia, verum, Ne plantam tangant, etiamnum siqua supersit Illorum in cæno, semen sanctum unde revivat [17] Romulidum, qui hīc perstiterunt, quo tempore cœpit Tanta hic nequities. Rata si mea vota fuissent, |
Ancient reputation calls them orphans, a haughty people simultaneously gripped by envy and an excessive ardor of possession. Shun their lifestyle. Your propitious destiny will raise you so high that both sides will be after you, but the grass fodder will be far from the goats. By all means let the Fiesolan animals trample themselves as a kind of straw, but let them not touch the plant, if any is still left, in their sludge whence might revive the holy seed of the Romans who stayed there at the time that such iniquity began.” I said, “If my wishes had been approved, |
| 600 | Dixi ego, non esses vitalis luminis expers. Alta mente manet, meaque implet corda dolore Ille paternus amor, quo me præcepta docebas, Quæ dant æternam mortali acquirere vitam. Hoc mihi quam gratum fuerit, dum spiritus artus Hos reget, haud unquam sileam, semperque fatebor. Quæ mihi ais vero discrimina deinde futura, Hæc scribo, atque aliis cum vocibus omnia servo, Ut mihi declaret mulier, quæ talia novit, Hanc si deveniam, hanc si delatus adibo. |
you would not be bereft of the light of life. That fatherly love with which you instructed me in the teachings which enable a mortal to achieve eternal life remains deep in my memory and fills my heart with sorrow. As long as breath moves these limbs I will never be silent about, and will always let it be known, how grateful I was for it. But I am writing down the things you are telling me about the subsequently coming dangers, and using different words I am preserving everything so that the woman who knows such things may explain them to me if I reach her if, conveyed there, I get to her. |
| 610 | Hoc te scire volo : modo sit mens conscia recti, Fortunam quamcumque pati sum corde paratus ; Non nova sunt hæc verba mihi ; proin sponte suapte Verset agens Fortuna rotam, marramque colonus. Hæc dixi ; dextramque meus Præceptor in aurem Respiciens, mihi ait : bene, qui rem denotat, audit. [18] Ipse tamen, gradiens, Brunettum sciscitor, ecqui Sint ejus comites, alios qui nomine præstent. Est aliquem memorare bonum, reliquosque silere, Ille refert : nec tempus enim daret edere cunctos. |
I want you to know this: as long as my mind is conscious of righteousness, in my heart I am ready to suffer any fortune whatsoever; those words are not new to me; so henceforth let dynamic Fortune, in accordance with her own will, turn her wheel, and the farmer wield his hoe.” Looking back over his right ear, my Preceptor said to me, “He who marks that clearly, hears it well.” Nonetheless I myself, walking on, ask Brunetto who his other companions are who are outstanding in name. He responded, “It is good to mention someone and be silent about others and the time would not allow divulging all of them. |
| 620 | Summa est : sacricolæ omnes, ingenioque valentes, Ac fama insignes, eadem quos culpa notavit, Dum vitam exigerent. Priscianus it agmine in illo, Atque Accursius una ; et (si hæc tibi cura fuisset) [19] Cernere eum poteras, servorum Servus ab Arno Quem removens, ad Medoacum dedit ire minorem, Quo male protensos nervos dehinc morte reliquit. [20] Plura quidem loquerer ; sed non alibi verba viamque Ulterius proferre licet ; nam surgere fumus Ex sabulo novus aspicitur : gens ecce proquinquat, |
In sum, they were all clerics, and of powerful intellects and noteworthy in fame, whom the same sin brandmarked while they lived their lives. Priscian [6th cent. grammarian] goes in that marching column, and [Francesco d’]Accorso along with him. And (if this were your interest), you could see him [Andrea dei Mozzi], whom the Servant of the servants [of God, i.e., Pope Boniface VIII], transferring him from the Arno [river], made go to the Brentella [the Bacchiglione river, i.e., to the bishopric of Vicenza, because of abuses], where he afterwards left his badly distended muscles in death. I would indeed say more, but I cannot proceed further elsewhere with words and travel, for new smoke is seen to rise from the sand. Look! a group is approaching, |
| 630 | Cui socius non esse queo : quo in sæcula vivo, Thesauri sit cura mei : non amplius oro. [21] Inquit ; et avertens, adeo velociter ivit, Unus ut ex eis, queis pannum Verona virentem Præmia proponit cursus, est visus ; et ille, Qui prior optatam potuit contingere metam. |
of which I cannot be a member. Let there be concern for my Thesaurus, in which I will live forever. I ask no more.” So he spoke and, turning, went so fast that he seemed to be one of those to whom Verona promises the green cloth as the prize of footraces, and the one who could reach the desired goal first. |
| INFERNORUM XVI {16} ⇑ | ||
| 636 | Jamque locum attigeram, quo alium labentis in orbem, Rumor aquæ auditur, dant quale alvearia murmur, Agmine digrediens quum prætereunte, cucurrit Ad nos Umbra triplex ; clamans : vestigia siste, [22] |
I had already arrived at a place where the sound of water falling into another circle was heard, a murmur such as beehives produce, when three Shades, separating from a passing column, ran to us, calling out, “Stop, you |
| 640 | Qui nostra ex habitu prava de gente videris. Hei mihi ! quam laceros artus, quæ vulnera vidi Tum nova, tum vetera ! usque adeo, ut, quum mente revolvo, Mæstus adhuc doleo. Ductor clamoribus illis Advertit placide mentem : ac mihi lumina vertens ; Siste agedum, dixit : fas est his esse benignum ; Atque, nisi natura loci demitteret ignem, Te potius, rerer, quam illos properare deceret. Ut nos constitimus, solitos tunc edere rursus Cœperunt questus : quumque inde fuere propinqui, |
who seem from your dress to be from our depraved people!” Ah, me! What torn limbs, what new, what old wounds I saw to the point that, when I recall it, I still grieve in sorrow! My Guide gently directed his attention to their cries and, turning his eyes to me, said, “Alright, stop. It is right to be kind to them; and, if the nature of this place were not raining fire, I would think that it would be appropriate for you rather than for them to hurry.” As we stood there, they then began again to emit their laments; and when they were then near us, |
| 650 | Ex ipsis fecere rotam [23]. Ut nudi atque peruncti Ante locum athletæ, melius quo vulnera ferrent, Captabant oculis, grave quam certamen inirent ; Talis quisque rotans mihi se vertebat : iterque Propterea pes diversum, quam vultus, agebat. Si locus infelix, exustaque corpora flammis, Una loqui cœpit, tibi nos nostrosque precatus Temnere dent, te nostra tamen clarissima fama Flectat, ut edoceas, qui sis, vestigia tutus Qui sic viva teris per regna impervia vīvīs. |
they made a cycling of themselves. As naked and oiled wrestlers, before they begin the serious struggle, look for a place where they can better inflict wounds, so each one, circling, turned himself toward me; and hence his foot kept on a direction different from his face. One began to speak, “If this unhappy place and our flame-burnt bodies make you despise us and our entreaties, nonetheless let our brilliant fame bend you to teach us who you are, who so safely move your living feet through realms impassable to the living. |
| 660 | Hic, quem pone sequor, nudus licet ac sine pelle, Nobilior quam rere fuit, Guidoguerra vocatus, Casta, [24] tuus, Gualdrada, nepos : dum viveret, armis Multa et consilio gessit. Me pone sequentis Umbra est Tegghiai Aldobrandi ; cujus, opinor Vox grata esse quidem terræ deberet in oris. Atque ego, qui, simul his crucior, sum nomine Jacob Rusticuccius ; atque magis, quam cetera, conjux Prava mihi nocuit. Si immunis ab igne fuissem, Me in sabulum addiderim : tanto sum captus amore |
This one, whom I follow behind, although naked and without skin, more noble than you would think, was called Guido Guerra your grandson, O chaste Gualdrada. While he lived, he accomplished much through his arms and strategy. The Shade of the one following behind me is that of Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, whose voice, I believe, should indeed have been welcome on the coastlands of earth. And I, who am tortured with them at the same time, am named Jacopo Rusticucci and, more than other things, my perverse wife harmed me.” If I had been immune to the fire, I would have added myself to the sand, I was so taken with the love |
| 670 | Hos amplectendi ! nec Doctor forte negasset ; At, quoniam arsissem, victa est terrore cupido. Non mihi despectum, rettuli, sed vestra dolorem Condicio peperit, sero qui ex corde recedet, Vix, quales estis, docuit me voce Magister. Vestra mihi patria est ; mihi nomina vestra libenter Gestaque sunt audita ; ac magno semper amore Hæc colui. Fel linquo, et poma ad dulcia tendo, Quæ mihi Dux est pollicitus : sed vadere oportet Me prius ad centrum. Longum tibi spiritus artus |
of embracing them! And the Teacher would perhaps not have disallowed it, but because I would have been burnt, my desire was overcome by terror. I replied, “My Teacher had hardly informed me verbally what kind of men you were, when your condition produced in me not scorn but sorrow, which will leave my heart belatedly. Your fatherland is my own; with pleasure I have heard about your names and actions, and I have always honored them with great love. I am leaving the gall and making my way to the sweet fruits which my Leader promised me. But it is necessary for me first to proceed to the center.” He said, “May your soul long govern |
| 680 | Sic regat, ac post interitum tua fama supersit, Dic, ait, humani mores et mascula virtus Nostra in gente manet ? vel longius omnis abivit ? Nuper enim huc lapsus, sociosque secutus euntes, Borserius non læta refert, ac tristia narrat. [25] Gens nova, tunc ego respondi, festinaque lucra Luxuriem fastumque tibi, Florentia, tantum Intulerunt, ut jam doleas. Hæc vertice recto Inclamans dixi ; ac se, auditis talibus, Umbræ Mutua sunt tres intuitæ, ut qui vera tuetur. |
your limbs, and may your fame last after your death. Tell us: do human conduct and manly virtue remain in our people? Or have they all long disappeared? For [Guigliemo] Borsiere, recently descended here and going following our companions, reports unpleasant things and relates sad events.” Then I responded, “A new people and quick money have introduced luxury and arrogance to you to such an extent, Florence, that you are grieving already.” I said these things, crying them out with my head lifted up; and, hearing such things, the three Shades looked at one another mutually like one who is viewing the truth. |
| 690 | Si tibi tam facile est alias explere rogatus, Respondere omnes, felix o terque quaterque Qui tam concinne loqueris. Si evaseris istas Luctificas sedes, ac sidera pulchra reversus Aspicias, quum deinde fui narrare juvabit, Fac memor in populo nostrum revirescere nomen. His dictis, solvere rotam, atque abiere citatim, Non secus ac essent pedibus pernicibus alæ. Non amen citius dicas, quam protinus illæ Effugere oculis ; visumque proinde Magistro |
They all responded, “If it is so easy for you, when asked, to provide satisfaction elsewhere, o how three and four times happy are you who speak so elegantly. If you escape these mournful realms and, returning, see the beautiful stars when it will then be a joy to say ‘I was there,’ remember to revive our name in society.” Having said that, they broke up their circle and left at high speed, as if there were wings on their swift feet. You could not say ‘amen’ faster than they instantly disappeared from eyesight, and the Teacher accordingly decided |
| 700 | Est iterare viam. Confestim advenimus illuc, Quo tam murmur aquæ feriebat comminus aures, Ut neque fas esset voces audire loquentis. Non secus ac fluvius, proprio qui tramite ad Eurum Labitur ex Vesulo, ad dextrum latus Appennini ; Lentus, “Aquæ Tacitæ” primum cognomine gaudens, Mox vires alias alio cum nomine sumens, Dat sonitum divi Benedicti desuper ædes, In loca ab Alpe ruens, possent ubi mille morari ; Talem, ex præcipiti decurrens rupe, ciebat |
to resume our trek. We quickly arrived there where the murmur of water struck our ears so directly that it was not possible to hear the words of the speaker. Like the river which flows from Mount Viso slowly in its own path to the east, on the right side of the Appennines, at first enjoying the surname “Quiet Waters,” then, gaining another’s force along with another name, issues its sound from above the buildings of Saint Benedict, plunging from delle Alpi [i.e., at San Benedetto delle Alpi] into a region where a thousand could stay, so, falling from a precipitous cliff, the red water |
| 710 | Unda rubens strepitum, ut confestim læderet aures. Fune ego cinctus eram, qua olim constringere pictam Pantheram sum posse ratus : discingere jussit, Hunc mihi Præceptor ; quumque illi exinde plicatum Tradiderim, ad dextram versus, de margine paulum Hunc procul in barathrum jecit. Quare ipse silenter : Res nova jam nutu debet, sum corde profatus, Respondere novo, cui tantum is lumina tendit. Quam cautos decet esse viros, quum talibus assunt, Qui non tantum opera, at sollerti mente latentes |
produces such a roar that it would immediately hurt the ears. I was girded with a cord with which I had once thought to tie up the spotted leopard. My Preceptor ordered me to untie it; and when I had then handed it over, folded, to him, turning to his right, from the edge a little ways he threw it far into the abyss. Hence silently I myself stated in my heart, “Something new must respond to this new signal which he so follows with his eyes.” How cautious men should be when they are with such people as with their keen minds perceive not just our words, but |
| 720 | Inspiciunt curas ! Tum sic est ille locutus : Huc cito quod maneo, exsurget : quod pectore volvis Ipse sub incerto, se protinus offeret ultro. Quantum quisque potest, semper, quæ falsa videntur, Vera loqui abstineat : sine culpa quippe pudorem Ac probrum inducunt ; sed non hic mittere possum. Hos ego per numeros, mea queis Comœdia constat ; (Gratia sic illi multum contingat in ævum !) Me, lector, testor vidisse per aëra densum Ad summas innare undas mirabile monstrum, |
our hidden concerns! Then he spoke thus: “What I am waiting for will come up quickly. What you yourself are thinking in your uncertain mind will shortly show itself.” To the extent one can, one should abstain from speaking about truths that seem false, since they blamelessly bring on embarassment and reproach, but I cannot drop this at this point. Through the cadences of which my Comedy consists (may favor thus be granted it for many an age!), Reader, I testify that I saw, swimming through the dense air to the upper levels, an amazing monster |
| 730 | (Tale, quid absque metu nulli spectare liceret) ; Ut redit, æquŏreas qui se demittit in undas. Anchoræ ut ex fundo dentem divellat acutum, Crura sibi contracta ferens, ac bracchia tollens. |
(such as no one could look at without fear), like a man returns from having dived down into ocean waters to extract the sharp tooth of an anchor, bringing his legs drawn up and raising his arms. |
| INFERNORUM XVII {17} ⇑ | ||
| 734 | En fera, quæ multo præcellet acumine caudæ Quæ transit montes, ac mœnia rumpit et arma, Quæque suo fœtore gravi mundum inficit omnem. Sic mihi ait Vates : atque olli accedere ripæ Innuit, haud longe, via quo per marmora cessat. Haud mora : continuo se lurida Fraudis imago |
“Behold the beast which is foremost by far in the barb of its tail, which pierces mountains and breaks walls and weaponry, and which poisons the whole world with its heavy stench.” Thus said the Poet to me, and beckoned to it to come to the bank, not far from where the path ends with its marble. There was no delay: the ghastly image of Fraud immediately |
| 740 | Huc tulit, ac ripæ truncumque caputque propinque Imposuit : non autem caudam extraxit ad oram. Justi hominis facies inerat : tam pelle benignam Exterius, mitemque adeo sese illa ferebat ! Cetera serpentis gestabat lubrica membra ; Bracchia bina pilis, axillas usque, rigebant ; Pingebant pectus dorsumque atque undique costas Nodique exiguæque rotæ. Non Tartara, nec gens Turcarum, tot filis versicoloribus unquam Impositis ac suppositis holoserica pingit ; |
approached and placed its trunk and head near to the bank, but did not pull its tail up to the shore. The face was that of an honest man; in its skin it showed itself outwardly so benign and so very mild! It bore the other slippery members of a serpent: its two arms bristled with hair up to the armpits; knots and small wheels were depicted on the chest and back and the sides everywhere. Neither the Tartar folk nor that of the Turks ever painted all-silk textiles with so many multicolored threads woven over and under them. |
| 750 | Nec tot mæandris telas variavit Arachne. Ut maris interdum consistunt litore cumbæ Partim undis partimque sŏlo ; atque ut Teutonas inter, Piscibus insidians, Histri fiber accubat oris : Margine marmoreo haud aliter, qui claudit arenam, Belua constiterat : barathro vibrabat inani Cauda, veneniferum, scorpii de more, bicornem Attollens apicem. Mihi Dux tunc inquit : oportet Flectere iter paulum, donec quo prava recumbit Belua, venerimus. Dextrum descendimus ergo |
Nor did Arachne vary her fabrics with so many windings. As small boats are sometimes beached on the seashore, partly in the water and partly on land; as among the Germans the beaver of the Danube, lurking for fish, lies along the shores; in the same way the beast stayed on the marble edge which terminates the sand. Its tail whipped in the empty void, raising its poisonous, forked tip like a scorpion. The Leader then said to me, “We have to bend our route a little to get to where the evil beast is lying.” So we climbed down toward the right |
| 760 | In latus ; ac denos extremo in margine passus [26] Progredimur cauti, ut sabulum vitemus et ignem. Huc ubi delati, gentem consīdĕre arena Non procul, ad locum inanem, vidimus. Et mihi Ductor : Ut circi istius penitus tibi tota patescat Condicio, vade ; atque illorum conspice pœnas ; At breviter loquere : interea, dum exinde redibis, Huic ego suadebo, ne nos portare recuset Sponte suis umeris. Sic dixit ; eamque per orbis Septeni extremam solus tunc deferor oram, |
side and cautiously progressed ten feet on the outermost edge to avoid the sand and the fire. Having arrived there, we saw people seating themselves on the sand not far off in a vacant spot. And the Teacher to me: “So that the entire situation of this circle may become thoroughly revealed to you, go and look and their punishments and speak to them briefly. Meanwhile, until you return from there, I will persuade this one so that he will not refuse to carry us on his shoulders of his own accord.” Thus he spoke and I then proceeded alone through that outermost shore of the seventh ring |
| 770 | Mæsta ubi gens sedet. Ex oculis dolor improbus illi Erumpebat ; et usque manus agitabat utrasque, Nunc ignem removens, nunc æstum ardentis arenæ ; Non secus ac rictu et pedibus defendere sese Contendunt æstate canes, dum membra molestis Pulicibus muscisque arcent dirisque tabanis. Post ubi quorundam in vultus mea lumina fixi, Non ullum agnovi : cujusque at pendula collo Pera mihi inspecta est, certo depicta colore, Certum insigne gerens ; atque hac visi lumina pasci. |
to where the grieving crowd sat. Reprobate sorrow was bursting from their eyes, and they constantly moved both hands around, brushing off now the fire, now the heat of the burning sand, no differently than as in summer dogs strive to defend themselves with mouth and feet when they ward off annoying fleas and flies and horrible horseflies from their limbs. After I had set my eyes on the faces of some of them, I did not recognize anyone. But I saw a pouch hanging from the neck of each one, painted in a certain color, bearing a certain escutcheon, and they seemed that their eyes were feeding on it. |
| 780 | Dum tuor, intentusque oculos per singula verto, Lutea pera mihi glauci os habitumque leonis Ostendit ; quumque ultra hinc inspicerem, anseris albi Plusquam butyrum, magis altera rubra cruore, Obtulit effigiem ; atque unus, cui cærula fetæ, Candentem peram suĭs insignibat imago : [27] Quid, me compellans, foveis agis, inquit, in istis ?` Ocius egredere, et quoniam spirabile lumen Carpis adhuc, scito, quod mox meus ille propinquus Vitalianus mecum hic læva in parte sedebit. [28] |
As I looked and intently directed my eyes at individual faces, an orange pouch showed me the bluish-grey face and posture of a lion [i.e., belonging to Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi]; and when from there I looked farther, another pouch, redder than blood, showed the image of a goose whiter than butter [probably of Ciappo Ubriachi], and one [Reginaldo Scrovegni of Padua], whose blue image of a pregnant sow emblazoned his shining white pouch, addressing me, said, “What are you doing in these ditches? Get out of here fast and, because you still take in breathable light, know that soon that neighbor of mine, Vitaliano [del Dente], will be sitting with me on my left side. |
| 790 | Cum Florentinis istis, Patavii ipse creatus Hic sedeo, crebris qui obtundunt vocibus aures, Clamantes : huc huc eques ille supremus adesto, Qui peram ornatam gestabit triplice rostro. [29] Dixit, et os torsit, linguamque ex ore procacem Exseruit, veluti nares quum bucula lingit. Tunc ego, ne mea Ductorem mora forte gravaret Permetuens, qui jam monuit ne multa morarer, Ilico eum repeto. Jam tergum ascenderat ille Immanis monstri ; atque mihi : esto fortis et audax, |
I myself, born in Padua, sit here with these Florentines who deafen my ears with their frequent cries, exclaiming, ‘May he come, come, that supreme knight [Giovanni di Buiamonte de’ Becchi] who wears the pouch adorned with the triple beak.’” Saying this, he twisted his face and stuck out his impudent tongue from his mouth the way a heifer licks its nose. Then I, fearing lest my delay should perhaps annoy the Guide who had already warned me not to delay much, immediately returned to him. He had already mounted the back of the enormous monster and said to me, “Be strong and bold, |
| 800 | Inquit ; oportet enim scalas, nunc ire per istas : Ante sali, in medio esse volo, ne cuspide cauda Forte tibi noceat. Qualis, qui frigora sentit Sic sibi quartanæ instantis, ut palleat ungues, Totus membra tremit, prospectans territus umbram ; Sic ego sum factus, quum verba hæc auribus hausi ; Aspera at illius monita induxere pudorem, Qui dominum ante bonum famulo dat sumere vires. His umeris me composui ; ac : me complectere quæso, Dicere tunc volui, sed vox haud pectore prodit. |
for we now have to go by means of these stairs. Jump in front; I want to be in the middle lest perhaps his tail injure you with its barb.” Like one who senses the cold of quartan malaria so imminent to himself that he turns pale in his fingernails, he trembles all over in his limbs, terrified looking at shade, so I became when I took in his words with my ears. But his sharp reproofs filled me with the shame which enables a servant to gain strength before a good master. I positioned myself on those shoulders and then wanted to say, “Hold on to me, please,” but my voice did not come out of my chest. |
| 810 | Ast is, qui me alio quondam in discrimine rexit, Protinus, ut salii, bracchiis me amplexus utrisque Sustinuit. Nunc, Geryones, iter arripe, dixit ; Descensus modicus, latusque sit aëre gyrus ; Esto memor, qualis tibi nunc est sarcina tergo. Ut sensim acta retro, de litore cumba recedit, Belua sic sese movit. Quum libera cursūs Deinde fuit, quo pectus erat conversa retorsit Caudam ; mox hanc anguillæ de more tetendit Ac movit : bracchiisque sibi simul aëra traxit. |
But he who had formerly guided me in other dangers, as soon as I jumped on, embracing me immediately with both arms, supported me. He said, “Now, Geryon, start on the way. Let the descent be moderate and your circling be wide in the air. Remember what kind of a burden is on your back.” As a small boat, gradually pushed backward, backs off of the shore, so the beast moved. When he was then free for movement, he turned his tail to where his chest had been, then stretched and moved it in the manner of an eel, and at the same time drew in air to himself with his arms. |
| 820 | Non adeo extimuit Phaëthon, quum frena remisit, Unde, ut adhuc paret, flammis exarsit Olympus ; Nec sibi compositis nudari corpora pennis Icarus ut sensit, ceram solvente calore, Frustra clamanti patre : non bene in æthera tendis ; Sicut ego expavi, medio quum me aëre vidi Suspensum, præterque feram nihil undique cerni. Leniter illa rotat ; geminansque per aëra gyros, Tam leve descendit, vix ut cognoscere possem, Præter, quod crura et vultum mihi ventilat aura. |
Phaëthon did not fear as much when he dropped the reins, whereby, as still appears, Olympus [i.e., the Milky Way] caught fire with flames, nor did Icarus, as he felt his body being denuded of the attached feathers with heat melting the wax when his father cried out in vain, “You are not going the right way in the stratosphere!,” as much as I was terrified when I saw myself suspended in air, and seeing nothing on all sides except the beast. He wheeled softly and, doubling his circles through the air, he descended so lightly that I could hardly recognize it except for the fact that the air was blowing against my legs and face. |
| 830 | Jamque ingens amnem sub nobis edere murmur Ad dextram audibam ; atque ideo illuc lumina flexi. Tunc magis obrigui ; quippe ignes fulgere vidi Ac gemitus hausi : quare tremefactus utrumque Contraxi femur. Ac tum me descendere sensi : (Quod prius haud noram) tormentaque plurima circum Adduci, ex omni magis accedentia parte. Qualis, ubi longum falco per inane volavit, Quin videat volucrem aut signum revocantis ab æthra, Multiplicans gyros, fessus, celer unde profectus, |
Already I was hearing a stream produce an enormous roar on my right, and so I turned my eyes thither. Then I froze all the more, since I saw fires blazing and caught groans, on account of which, quivering, I clamped both thighs together [on Geryon to prevent my falling off]. And then I felt myself descending, and (what I had previously not known) multitudinous torments being brought up around us, approaching closer from every side. As when a falcon has flown through long voids without seeing a bird or the lure of his summoner from the air, multiplying his circles, weary, he speedily descends to where |
| 840 | Descendit ; quare auceps : heu mihi laberis ! inquit : Ille procul sistit valde indignatus et asper ; Sic, ubi Geryones descendens venit ad imum, Constitit extemplo, quo desinit invia rupes ; Nosque ibi deposuit : mox, ut nervo acta sagitta, Proripuit sese, rapideque per aëra fugit. |
he started out, so that the falconer calls out, “Oh no, you are coming down to me!,” he stops far off highly disdainful and bitter , so likewise when Geryon, alighting, came to the bottom, he stopped abruptly where the trackless rock ends and put us down. Then, like an arrow shot from a bowstring, he tore off and rapidly fled through the air. |
| INFERNORUM XVIII {18} ⇑ | ||
| 846 | Est locus inferni, Malebolge nomine dictus, Marmoreo ex saxo, tætra ferrugine tinctus, Æque ac incurvus, quo cingitur undique, murus. In medio est puteus, valde ingens atque profundus, |
There is a place in Hell called by the name of Malebolge, of marble rock, tinged with disgusting rust, as curved as the wall by which it is surrounded on all sides. In its middle is a pit, immeasurably vast and deep, |
| 850 | (De quo deinde loquar) : ripam puteumque patentem Area quæ superest inter, se tendit in orbem ; Ac fundum in denas valles distinguitur imum. Quales, ut major firmet custodia muros, Prætexunt multæ castella ac oppida fossæ ; Tales hic aderant ; pontesque ut ab arcibus illis Ad ripam externam veniunt, sic rupis ab imo Prodibant scopuli, foveas ripasque secantes, Dum puteum attigerint, qui incīdit et excipit illos. Hic nos Geryones posuit ; lævaque Magister |
(about which I shall speak later). The area which remains between the bank and the open pit extends in a circle, and is divided into ten valleys as its deepest bottom. As, in order for a greater security to reinforce the walls, many moats form a protective barrier in front of castles and towns, so such moats were present here; and as bridges lead from those fortresses to an external bank, so, from the bottom of the cliff, rock arterials projected, cutting the ditches and banks until they reached the pit which terminated and gathered them. Geryon set us down there, and the Teacher started |
| 860 | Est ingressus iter : sum pone hinc ipse secutus. Tum nova tormenta, atque novos, qui verbere cædunt, Lictores vidi, quibus hoc sæptum omne repletur. Nudi in fundo aderant sontes : pars obvia nobis, Altera nobiscum, at gradibus majoribus, ibat. Lūstralis veluti quam Romæ congregat annus, Turba frequens pontem geminato tramite transit, Altera castellum versus, pars altera montem : Sic ego cornigeros conspexi Dæmonas illinc Atque hinc per saxum, his cædentes verbere terga. |
on the way to the left. I myself followed thence behind him. Then I saw new torments and new tormentors who struck with whips; all of this section was filled with them. In its bottom the guilty were naked. One part came opposite us, the other part with us, but with larger steps. As the large crowd which the Jubilee Year gathers in Rome crosses the bridge in two lanes, one part toward the Castello [Sant’ Angelo], the other toward Monte [Giordano], so I saw horned Demons thence and hence along the rock striking their backs with whips. |
| 870 | Heu quam tollebant volucri vestigia gressu, Vitantes plāgas, nec jam ingeminare sinentes ! Dum gradimur, quandam mihi cernere contigit Umbram Quam simul ac vidi : non est incognita, dixi ; Quare oculos illi infixi ; dulcisque Magister Constitit ; ac retro paulum me vadere sivit. Ille flagris cæsus, demissa fronte latēre Est potuisse ratus. Frustra tu lumina, dixi, Figis humi, sat nota mihi nisi fallit imago, Es tu Felsinea Caccianimicus ab urbe |
Oh how they would lift their feet with a winged gait, avoiding the blows and not waiting for them to be redoubled! As we went along, it happened that a certain Shade saw me at the same time that I saw it. I said, “He is not unknown,” hence I fixed my eyes on him, and the sweet Teacher stopped and allowed me to go back a little. That lash-struck individual thought that with a lowered face he could hide. I said, “You fix your eyes on the ground in vain; unless your appearance deceives me, it is known to me. You are Venedico Caccianimicus, of the city of Bologna. |
| 880 | Venedicus : quidnam pœnas adduxit ad istas ? Invitus dicam ; sed me tua clara loquela, Ille ait, impellit, quæ me facit esse vetusti Nunc memorem mundi : is sum, qui indulgere sororem Ghisolam induxi pulchram Marchionis amori ; [30] Quicquid fama sonet. Non ipse ex civibus unus Hic fleo Felsineis ; sed tam locus iste repletur, Ut non tot linguæ Rhenum inter sipa loquantur [31] Et Savenam ; et, si per testes vis certior esse, Esto memor, nostrique sinus reminiscere avari. [32] |
What brings you to these punishments?” He said, “I speak unwillingly, but I am now compelled by your clear speech, which makes me remember the old world. I am the one who induced my sister Ghisola the beautiful [i.e., Ghisolabella] to indulge the lust of the Marquis however the tale sounds. I am not the only one of Bolognese citizens weeping here: rather, this place is so full that not between the Reno and the Savena rivers [i.e., in Bologna] do as many tongues utter the word “sipa” [Bolognese dialect for “yes”]. And if you wish to be certain of it through witnesses, remember and recall our greedy hearts.” |
| 890 | Talia dicentem percussit verbere Dæmon : Hinc apage, nulla hic venalis femina, clamans. Ipse Ducem repeto, Paucis mox gressibus actis, Venimus, ex ripa scopulus quo exibat, et illum Insilimus leviter : vestigia deinde ferentes Hunc super ad dextram, æternos hos liquimus orbes. [33] Huc ubi delati fuimus, quo, subter inanis, Dat vacuos aditus, ut sit via verbere cæsis ; Siste tenax, mihi ait Vates, et dirige vultum In reliquos istos sontes, quorum hactenus ora, |
As he spoke, a Demon lashed him with a whip, yelling, “Get out of here: here there is no woman for sale!” I rejoined my Leader; having then gone a few steps, we came to where the rock arterial left the bank and stepped lightly onto that arterial. Then, making our tracks over it to the right, we left those eternal circles. When we got to where, hollow underneath, it provided open access so that there was a pathway for the scourged, the Poet said to me, “Make a firm stop and direct your view to the rest of those guilty souls whose faces up to now |
| 900 | (Nobiscum vēnēre etenim) spectare nequisti. Tunc parte ex alia turbam, nos versus euntem, De ponte aspicimus, pariter quam verbera cædunt. Ac Ductor mihi sponte sua : Illum conspice, dixit, Magnanimum, nullos cui dat dolor edere fletus. Quantus adhuc est oris honos ! Is clarus Jason, Corde manuque valens, aureo qui vellere Colchos Privavit. Lemnum is venit, qua sexus in urbe Femineus tum cæde viros deleverat omnes ; Castam hĭc pollicitis et blanda voce fefellit |
you have not seen (for they have been walking alongside us).” Then, on the other side, from the bridge we watched the oncoming crowd which the whips likewise struck. And spontaneously the Guide said to me, “Look at that great one there whom the pain does not make weep. What honor still shows in his face! He is the famous Jason, powerful of heart and hand, who deprived the Colchians of their [Golden] Fleece. He went to [the island of] Lemnos where at that time the feminine sex had eliminated by murder all the men in the city. With promises and a sweet voice he deceived the chaste |
| 910 | Hypsipylen, alias quæ jam deceperat arte : Mox fugiens, fetuque gravem solamque reliquit. Hīc modo persolvit meritas ob talia pœnas, Ob quoque Medeam. Sunt hic, quicunque dolosis Illecebris muliebre genus corrumpere curant. Hac prima de valle satis. Jam venimus illuc, Aggeri ubi via, more crucis, se angusta secundo Inserit, alterius tergum qui deinde fit arcūs. Hīc alia in valle infremere atque attollere questus Audimus, palmis quæ se gens verberat ipsam. |
Hypsipyle, who by cunning had already deceived the others. Fleeing soon, he left her alone and pregnant with child. He now pays the merited punishment for such things, as well as for [abandoning] Medea. Here are whoever undertake to corrupt the female sex with deceitful lures. That suffices for this first valley.” We had already come to where the narrow path joins, crosswise, a second causeway, which then becomes the back of another archway. Here in the other valley we heard those who were growling and raising complaints: it was a crowd that was slapping itself with its palms. |
| 920 | Sordebant tætræ fœda lanugine ripæ, Quam gravis, ex imo exhalans, induxerat aura Concrescens, simul et nares et lumina lædens. Atrum adeo fundum, quod nunquam attingere visu Fas est, ni scopulo sistatur culmine summo. Hic ubi constitimus, demersos stercore vidi, Qualis ab immundis manat de more latrinis. Dum fundum inspicio, atque oculis hic singula lūstro, Est quidam caput inspersus sic stercore visus, Noscere ne possem an laicus vel clericus esset. |
The disgusting banks were filthy with a foul fuzz that the condensing heavy air, wafting up from the depths, had covered them with offending both nose and eyes. The bottom was so black that it was never possible to reach the bottom visually except by standing on the very peak of the arterial. When we stood there, I saw souls submerged in excrement such as in the same way flows from filthy latrines. As I looked into the bottom and browsed the details with my eyes, a certain one appeared, his head so covered with ordure that I could not tell whether he was a layman or a cleric. |
| 930 | Atque is me increpuit : curnam me ex agmine solum Intueris ? Quoniam, rettuli, si rite recordor, Siccum te vultu vidi, atque Alexius audis Intermineus, Lucensi civis in urbe. Tum, caput is pulsans : hōc me mersere profundo Blandiloquæ voces, quarum mihi copia nunquam Defuit. Hæc ille ; atque mihi sic deinde Magister : Ulterius contende oculos, ubi sordida, passis Illa cŏmīs mulier, fœdatis unguibus ipsam Se lacerat, nunc inclinans, nunc deinde resurgens. |
And he yelled at me, “Well, why, out of this throng, are you looking solely at me?” I replied, “Because, if I remember correctly, I have seen you with a dry face, and you are called Alessio Interminei, and are a citizen of the city of Lucca.” Then, striking his head, he said, “I was submerged in this deep by those sycophantic words of which I never lacked an abundance.” And then the Teacher said to me, “Strain your eyesight farther, where that woman with the disheveled hair is tearing at herself with filthy fingernails, now bending down, then again, now standing up. |
| 940 | Est Thāïs meretrix, olim quæ dixit amanti : Non magnas ago, sed miras, pro munere grates. Atque hic sit nobis satis hac in valle videre. |
It is the whore Thaïs, who once said to her lover, ‘I give you not great, but phenomenal, thanks for your gift.’ And let this be enough for us to see in this valley.” |
| LIBER III. | ||
| INFERNORUM XIX {19} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | XIX. Sage Simon, miserique omnes hujusce sequaces, Qui, devota Deo atque bonis dedenda, rapaces Venditis argento atque auro, nunc bucina oportet In vos det sonitum, cohibet quos tertia valles. Jamque, alia in fovea, scopuli nos vertice eramus In summo, mediam feriunt ubi lumina fossam. Proh quam mirificam Artificis sapientia summi Cæloque ac terris Erebique in sedibus artem Ostendit ! quam cuncta modis sunt dissita justis ! |
O Simon Magus! O you, all his wretched, rapacious followers who sell the things which are vowed to God and to be given for good works, now the trumpet must give forth its sound for you whom the third valley imprisons. We were already on the very peak of the arterial over the next ditch where our eyesight struck the middle of the ditch. O what amazing skill the wisdom of the supreme Artisan shows in the realms of Heaven and earth and Hell! With what just ways all things are spread out! |
| 10 | Ipse foraminibus petram vidi undique plenam Per fundum et costas, cunctis pariterque rotundis Ac pariter latis. Non majora atque minora Hisce reor, quæ sunt sacra mei in æde Joannis, Rite ubi lustrantur pueri baptismatis unda : Quorum ego, nec multum dilapsum est temporis, unum Confregi, ut mersum eximerem de morte puellum : Sitque hoc certa fides, aliter ne forte putetur. Exstabant cujusque pedes et crura nocentis Usque ubi pinguescunt, foris : intus cetera membra. |
I myself saw the rock everywhere, on the floor and sides, full of holes, all equally round and wide. I do not think them larger or smaller than those [baptismal fonts] that are in the holy temple of my [Saint] John where children are ritually cleansed with the water of baptism. Not much time has passed since I broke one of those in order to free from death a submerged infant boy. Let this be my sure testimony, lest perhaps there be any thinking otherwise. Each guilty one’s feet and legs projected outside as far as to where they got fat. The other limbs were inside. |
| 20 | Utræque ardebant plantæ ; quæ impete tanto Quassabant ideo, ut funes disrumpere possent. Cortice uti summo repit res flamma per unctas, Sic erat a talo ad digitos. Tunc ipse : Magister, Quis, dixi, ille est, præ reliquis quem flamma perurit Acrior ? ac majus tormentum ferre videtur ? Si libet, ille refert, ut, qua depressior ora est, Illuc te ducam ; quod vis, de se ipse docebit. Quæ tibi, respondi, est eadem mihi corde voluntas : Tu dominus, placitisque tuis absistere nunquam |
Both soles were burning, which shook with such force that they would have been able to break ropes. As a flame creeps over oiled things on their upper surface, so it was from the heel to the toes. Then I said, “Teacher, who is that whom a flame keener than the others burns, and who seems to endure a greater torment?” He answered, “If you want me to take you there by where the bank is lower, he himself will let you know about himself what you want.” I responded, “The desire of my heart is the same as yours. You are my lord, and you know that I never differ from your |
| 40 | Me nosti ; nostique simul quæ corde latescunt. Hæc ubi dicta dedi, ad quartum devenimus aggerem ; Et versi ad lævam, in fundum descendimus arctum : Nec meus ex femore, in quo me susceperat, ante Deposuit Doctor, quam venimus usque foramen, Fixus ubi ille adeo pedibus diverberat auras. Quisquis es, inverso qui fixus corpore, dixi, Hic ploras, veluti stīpes plantatus in agro, Si potes, eloquere. Astabam collo ipse retorto, Non secus ac prona accipiens sacer aure minister |
decisions, and likewise know the things that lie hidden in my heart.” After I said this, we came to the fourth dike and, turning to the left, climbed down into the narrow bottom. And my Teacher did not put me down from the thigh on which he had picked me up before we reached the hole where that embedded soul was thrashing the air so much with his feet. I said, “Whoever you are, who, planted with your body upside down like a post stuck in a field, weeps here: speak if you can.” I myself stood there with my neck bent back like a holy minister with his ear inclined, taking in |
| 50 | Crimina latronis, qui, postquam fixus in alta Est fovea, hunc revocat, vitam producere quærens : Tune hīc ? tune hīc rectus ades, Bonifatius ? inquit [1] Is clamans : aliquot mihi scriptum erravit in annis. Tam cito opum satur es, per quas tibi adepta dolose Pulchra fuit mulier, vexataque deinde nefande ? Ut, sibi responsum qui non intellegit, hæret Tristis, et ore pudens, ac voces reddere nescit ; Sic tunc ipse fui ; at Doctor mihi protinus inquit : Dic, dic, non sum quem reris : jussumque secutus |
the sins of the brigand who, after having been fixed in a deep ditch, seeking to prolong his life, calls the cleric back. He [Pope Nicholas III (1277-1280), Giovanni Gaetano degli Orsini,] cried out, saying, “Are you here? Are you present here, standing upright, Boniface [VIII (1294-1303), Benedetto Caetani]? The writ has erred on me by some years. Are you so quickly sated with the riches for which the beautiful woman [= the Catholic Church] was deceitfully obtained by you and then unspeakably harassed?” I myself was then like a person who, not understanding an answer to himself, is stuck, sad and facially embarrassed and unable to respond; but the Teacher immediately said to me, “Speak; say, ‘I am not whom you think.’” Following his command, |
| 60 | Sic ego respondi. Plantas impensius ambas Is movit ; mixtoque trahens suspiria fletu ; Quid me ergo rogitas ? dixit : si discere quæris Qui sim, teque hĭc egit amor descendere ripam, Scito quod augusto super omnes tectus amictu Incessi, vereque fui prognatus ab ursa ; [2] Nam mihi, ut ursiculos ditarer, tanta cupido Sedit, ut æs terris, hic me in marsupia misi. Me subter jaciunt, per aperta foramina tracti, Qui, sacra vendentes, vitam me egere priores. |
I answered accordingly. The man moved both feet vehemently and, drawing sighs with mixed weeping, said, “So what are you asking of me? If you are seeking to learn who I am, and that desire drove you to descend the bank, know that I went around, above everyone else, dressed in the august [papal] mantle, and that I was indeed sprung from the she-bear [i.e. the Orsini family]; for I was so determined to enrich our cubs that, on earth I put money, here, myself, into a pocket. Beneath me they throw those who, [now] dragged through open holes, before me lived their lives selling holy offices. |
| 70 | Huc etiam ipse cadam, simul ac devenerit ille, Quem ratus ante fui, quum sum scitarier orsus. Verum hīc ardenti ac fixo mihi longior ætas Ivit ; quam plantis mox ille morabitur ustis. Nequior hinc veniet, sine lege ac moribus, alter Solis ab occasu, Pastor : quo tectus et ille [3] Atque ego mox erimus. Se, sicut Jason, habebit, Quem, Machabæorum ut scriptum est annalibus, olim Rex suus in decus evexit, sic, rege favente Gallorum, hic surget. Fuerimne audentior æquo |
I myself will also drop down there as soon as that one comes whom I was previously thinking about when I began to inquire. But a longer timespan has passed for me, burning and fixed here, than he will later stay with burning soles. A worse Shepherd [Clement V (1305-1314), Bertrand de Got], lawless and amoral, will come here from the setting of the sun [i.e., from Gascony, France]. Boniface and I will then be covered over by him. He will comport himself like Jason whom, as is described in the annals of the Maccabees, his king once raised to honors; likewise this one will rise through the favor of the French king.” Whether I was bolder than is proper |
| 80 | Hic ego non novi ; quippe his sum vocibus orsus : Dic mihi, quid petiit Dominus, quum tradere claves Jam voluit Petro ? haud aliud, nisi comminus iret. Non Petrus atque alii argentum petiere nec aurum, Quum data Matthiæ est sedes, quam amisit Judas. Hinc bene habet : pœna premeris, quam jure mereris. Sit tibi pervigili male parta pecunia curæ, Infensum regi quæ te dedit esse Sicano. [4] Asperiora quidem loquerer, nisi frena loquenti Clavibus injiceret reverentia debita summis, |
there I do not know. For I began with these words: “Tell me, what did the Lord ask when he then wanted to give the keys to Peter? Nothing else than that he should go along with Him. Peter and the others did not ask for silver or gold when the place which Judas had lost was given to Matthias. Hence it is right: You are being given the punishment you rightly deserve. Let your ever-watchful concern be the ill-gotten money which made you hostile to the Sicilian king [Charles of Anjou]. I would certainly say harsher things if restraints on my speaking were not imposed by the reverence due to the supreme keys |
| 90 | Quas tu gessisti vivus : nam vestra fatigat Turpis avarities mundum, pravosque juvando Vexandoquæ bonos. Vobis pastoribus exul Intendit Patmos, quando cum regibus illam Mœchari aspexit, quæ supra consĭdet undas. Illam, inquam, septem quæ jam cum cornibus orta est Ac sibi bis quino ex capite acquisivit honorem, Dum moresque boni ac virtus placuere marito. [5] Vobis esse Deum argenteum fecistis et aureum : Quid vobis, nisi quod vos centum, ille excolit unum, |
which you bore when alive. For your foul avarice plagues the world by gladdening the wicked and vexing the good. The exiled one of Patmos [John the Evangelist] meant you shepherds when he saw her who sits on the waters committing adultery with kings. The woman, I say, who had already been born with seven horns and gained honor for herself from ten heads as long as her good morals and virtue pleased her husband. You have made silver and gold a God for yourselves. How does the worshipper of an idol differ from you, other than that you worship a hundred, |
| 100 | Discrepat idoli cultor ? Quot causa malorum ; Non tua deditio Fidei, sed copia rerum Constantine, fuit, quam tu pro dote dedisti Pontifici primo diti ! Dum talia farer, Sive ira illum ageret, mens conscia sive remordens ; Aëra vi magna pedibus pulsabat utrisque : Ipse meas voces Vati placuisse putavi, Vultu etenim blando intentas his præbuit aures. Hinc, me complexus, sibi postquam ad pectora pressit, Rursus cepit iter, per quod devenerat ante : |
he one? O Constantine, of how many evils was, not your surrender to the Faith, but the abundance of things [i.e., the “Donation” of Constantine] which you gave to the first wealthy Pope [Sylvester] as a dowry, the cause!” While I was saying such things, whether anger agitated him or a gnawing conscience, with great force he thrashed the air with both feet. I myself thought my words had pleased the Poet, because he listened intently to them with an approving face. Embracing me, after pressing me to his breast, from there he again took the path through which he had come before, |
| 110 | Nec fessus me ferre fuit, dum detulit arcum In summum, ex quarto per quem agger quintus aditur, Suaviter hic onus exposuit, sibi dulce, per asprum Irrepens scopulum, quo vix foret ire capellis ; ingressosque viam, vallis nos quinta recepit. |
and did not tire in carrying me until he reached the top of the arch over which the fifth dike is accessed from the fourth one. Here he put his burden down gently crawling, easily for him, through the rugged rockway, where it would hardly be that goats would go. And after we had embarked on our trek, the fifth valley accepted us. |
| INFERNORUM XX {20} ⇑ | ||
| 115 | XX. Me decet hic alias evolvere carmine pœnas, Primum opus ut repleam, quod mersos pandit Averno. Jamque paratus eram detectum cernere fundum, Quod planctu assiduo lacrimisque madebat amaris ; Ac gentes tacito conspexi incedere gressu |
Here it is appropriate for me to disclose other punishments with my poem in order to fill out my first work, which reveals those submerged in Hell. I was already prepared to view the uncovered chasm which was steeped in constant wailing and bitter tears, and I saw people walking with silent steps |
| 120 | In gyrum, edentes fletum, quo consona passu, Rite preces iterans, graditur pia turba per urbes. Utque magis deorsum flexi mea lumina, versos In tergum heu ! vidi revoluto gutture vultus. Ad renes erat his facies ; retroque meabant, Cernere quippe ante haud paterant. Sic forsitan artus Contraxit cuidam misero vis improba morbi ; Ast ego non vidi, fieri nec credere possum. Sic tibi det Deus ex his fructum sumere chartis, Collige sponte tua, lector, num flere nequivi |
in a circle, uttering sobs, with the synchronized step with which pious groups go in procession through our cities liturgically repeating prayers. And as I turned my eyes down more, I saw alas ! their faces turned towards their back, their necks twisted backward. Their faces were vis-à-vis their kidneys and they went backward, since they were not allowed to look forward. Perhaps the horrible force of a disease has contorted some poor wretch’s limbs in that way, but I have never seen it and do not believe it happens. Reader, so may God allow you to gain profit from these papers: of your own accord, imagine whether I was able not to weep |
| 130 | Torta adeo quum nostra mihi se ostendit imago, Luctus ut ex oculis per clunum curreret alveum. Flebam, subnixus scopuli de cautibus uni. At Dux me increpuit : tune ex dementibus unus ? Hic vivit pietas, quum sit demortua : quisnam Improbior, quam divino qui obsistere tentat Consilio ? Caput attolle, attolle, inspice Achivum, Cui quondam Thebes patefacta est terra sub arces, Omnia dum late clamarent agmina : quonam, Amphiarāë, ruis ? cur prœlia linquis ? At ille |
when our image showed itself to me so contorted that the tears from the eyes were flowing through the cleavage of the buttocks. I wept, leaning on one of the boulders of the rock arterial. But the Leader scolded me: “Are you one of the demented? Pity is alive here when it should be dead. For who is more perverse than one who tries to block divine judgement? Raise your head; raise it: look at the Greek for whom the earth was opened beneath the citadel of Thebes while all the armies cried out everywhere, ‘Where are you plunging, Amphiaräus? Why are you leaving the battles?’ But he |
| 140 | Haud ruere abstinuit, donec Minois ad ora Astitit, artifices scelerum qui corripit omnes. Aspice ut inverso est olli pro pectore tergum : Lumina nunc retro gerit, ac vestigia retro Nunc defert, quoniam voluit nimis ante videre. Aspice Tiresiam, qui vir, dehinc femina, membris Mutatis fuit ; atque artus non ante viriles Induit hinc iterum, quam iterum percusserit angues. Aspice et Arruntem, illius qui proximus alvo est ; [6] Qui Lunæ exegit celsis in montibus ævum |
did not cease plunging until he stood before the face of Minos, who seizes all the artisans of sin. Look at how his back serves as his reversed chest; he now directs his eyes backward, and now moves his steps in reverse, because he wanted to see ahead too much. Look at Tiresias who, a man, was then a woman with changed members; and from there did not again don male limbs before he struck the snakes again. And look at Arruns who is next to his stomach, the one who lived out his life in the mountains of Luna, |
| 150 | Terram ubi præduram exercet Carraria pubes, Albentes inter cautes, ut cerneret astra, Ac maris aspectus longe lateque pateret. Aspice et hanc, operit quæ crinibus ubera fusis, Quæ non ipse vides, partes aversa pilosas. Hæc Manto ; quæ, quum multas peragraverit oras, Constitit hinc terris, ubi me genuere parentes. Paulum proinde meis adhibe sermonibus aures. Postquam obiit pater, et Bacchi sunt urbe potiti Victores hostes, patriis ex sedibus exul |
where the Carrarese youth work the hard earth among the white cliffs, in order to see the stars, and where the view of the sea lies open far and wide. And look at her who with her flowing hair covers her breasts which you yourself do not see, she having turned away her hairy parts. She is Manto who, after having traveled many countries, settled thence in the land where my parents produced me. Hence, lend your ears to my story a bit. After her father died and enemy victors took over the city [Thebes] of Bacchus, as an exile from her native country |
| 160 | Illa diu erravit. Lacus est, ubi pulchra sub Alpes Italia exsurgit, queis se Germania claudit, Tirolum supra, Benacus nomine dictus. Mille fluunt scatebris et cuncta huc flumina currunt Inter Peninum, Camunosque, ac mœnia Gardæ, Nacta ubi planitiem, coëunt stagnantibus undis. Est locus in medio, in quo et Brixiæ, et ille Tridenti, Illeque Veronæ, posset benedicere Pastor, Si gressum huc ferret. Jacet hic Piscaria, fortis Finitimos adversum urbs, qua declivior ora est. |
she wandered around for a long time. Under the Alps by which Germany is closed off above Tyrol, where beautiful Italy emerges, there is a lake called by the name of Benacus [Lago di Garda]. Rivers flow from a thousand springs and they all flow to there where, reaching the plain, they come together in still waters between [Mount] Apennino, [Val] Camonica and the walls of Garda. There is a place in the middle in which the Shepherd of Brescia, and that of Trent and that of Verona can give blessings if he travels there. Peschiera, a strong city confronting its neighbors, lies there where the shore is less steep. |
| 170 | Hac, ex Benaco exundans, delabitur umor, Ac virides secat amnis agros, qui nomine fertur Mincius, Eridani donec se mittit in alveum. Non longum decurrit iter, lāmaque reperta, Sistit, fitque palus ; nocuisque vaporibus auras Inficit, æstivis quum fervent solibus undæ. Aspera dum virgo hac transit, cultuque carentem Atque viris, medio aspiciens in gurgite terram, Hic sibi, ut humanæ fugeret commercia gentis, Cum sociis posuit sedem : hic exercuit artes |
From here the water, a stream bearing the name of Mincius, running out of Benacus, flows down and cuts through green fields, until it pours itself into the bed of the Eridanus [the Po]. It does not run a long way and, finding a marshland, stops and becomes a swamp. It infests the air with noxious vapors when the waters warm under the summer suns. When the fierce virgin passed by this way, seeing land lacking cultivation and men in the midst of the waters, with her acquaintances she established her settlement there in order to flee the society of humankind. Here she practiced her arts, |
| 180 | Illa suas, vitamque exegit, et ossa reliquit. Finitimi inde locum, stagnantibus undique lymphis Quum tutum aspicerent, urbem super ossa locarunt ; Sortibus ac nullis habitis, ex nomine Manto Mantua dicta fuit. Majori gente, priusquam Casalodensis fraudem ex Pinamonte tulisset [7] Stultitia, affluxit. Vera est hæc urbis origo : Si secus audieris, vana et mendacia credas. Tunc ego : sic certam faciunt tua verba, Magister, Indubiamque fidem, ut, veluti sine lumine tædas, |
lived out her life and left her bones. Then the neighboring peoples, when they saw the place safe, with stagnant waters all around, founded a city over her bones; and, with no casting of lots, it was called Mantua after the name of Manto. It abounded with a larger population before Casalodi’s stupidity fell for the ruse of Pinamonte. That is the true origin of the city. If you listen otherwise, you will be believing vacuities and lies.” Then I: “Teacher, your words generate such certain and indubitable conviction that I consider the others |
| 190 | Cetera censerem. Sed dic, nam intentus ad unum Est meus hŏc animus, num quemquam in gentibus hisce Aspicias nosci dignum. Is, cui pendula barba Obnubit nigros umeros, tunc ille reponit, Augur erat, maribus caruit quum Græcia cunctis, Usque adeo, ut pueros vix incunabula haberent ; Ac primus jussit, socio Calchante, rudentem Aulide præcidi : Eurypylum dixere vocantes, Ut (quam scis totam) mea magna tragœdia narrat. Alter, cui tenues artus angustaque imago, |
to be torches without light. But tell me, for I am concentrated on this one thing: whether you see anyone among these people worth knowing.” He then responded, “The one whose hanging beard covers his black shoulders was an augur when Greece was bereft of all males to the point that hardly the cradles had any boys. And with his companion Calchas, he was the first to order the cable cut at Aulis. The name-citers called him Eurypylus, as my great tragedy [the Aeneid] (all of which you know) relates. The other one, with the thin limbs and narrow image, |
| 200 | Michaël est Scottus, magicas qui calluit artes. Bonattum Asdentemque vide, intendisse suendis Qui crepidis vellet : sero sed pænitet illum. [8] Aspice et has tristes, quæ sunt præscire professæ Venturos rerum casus, et imagine et herbis Fascina condiderunt, radiis fusoque relictis. Verum rumpe moras ; gemini confinia quippe Luna hemisphærii tangit, seque æquŏre subter Hispalin immergit, pleno quæ candida vultu Hesterna (meminisse decet) tibi nocte refulsit, |
is Michael Scott, who was adept in the magic arts. Look at Guido Bonatti and Asdente, who wishes he had paid attention to his sewing lasts, but who regrets it too late. Look at those sad women who professed to foreknow coming events of things, and cast spells with effigies and herbs after leaving their weaving shuttles and spindle. But end the delay: for the moon is touching the common boundary of the twin hemispheres and submerging herself in the sea below Seville the moon which last night (you must remember it) shone on you with its full white face, |
| 210 | Teque per obscuram lustravit lumine silvam. Tales, dum gradimur, voces dabat ore Magister. |
and beamed on you with her light through the dark forest.” Such were the words my Teacher spoke as we proceeded. |
| INFERNORUM XXI {21} ⇑ | ||
| 212 | Sic nos ex ponte in pontem, sermone serentes Plurima, quæ mea non curet memorare Camena, Venimus, ac summum attigimus ; quo, ut quinta pateret Valles, ac luctus alios tueremur inanes, Sistimus : est miro mihi visa offusa nigrore. Tempore ut hiberno Venetis navalibus umor Ebullit piceus, non aptis ire per altum Ungendis ratibus : navim tunc innovat alter, |
So from bridge to bridge we went, engaging in much talk which my Poem is not interested in recalling, and reached the peak where we stopped so that the fifth valley would be visible, and to look at other vain lamentation. It appeared to me covered over with striking blackness. As in wintertime in the Venetian Shipyards liquid pitch boils for caulking unseaworthy vessels, during which time one person builds a ship anew, |
| 220 | Alter et instaurat, quæ sæpe per æquŏra navit ; Hic quatit in prora, in puppi quatit ictibus ille ; Conficit hic remos, is stuppea vincula torquet ; Majus et hic velum, velum minus ille resarcit : Haud aliter, non igne calens, sed Numinis arte, Densa hic fervebat pix ; atque aspergine tætras Undique fœdabat ripas. Hanc ipse videbam, Ast ibi nil aliud, quam quod nunc illa tumeret Altius, ac fundo nunc pressa resideret imo. Hoc ego dum tuerer, totusque intentus ibidem |
another repairs one that has often sailed through the seas, this man hammers at the prow, that one hammers with blows on the stern, this one makes oars, that one twists tow rigging, and this one patches a larger sail, that one a smaller sail so here likewise dense pitch seethed, not heated by fire but through the artistry of the Divine Will, and polluted the filthy banks on all sides with its splattering. I myself saw this, but nothing else there than that now it would swell up higher and now, compressing, would sink back to the deep bottom. While I was looking at it and was entirely fixated |
| 230 | Hærerem, caveas caveas. Dux inquit ; et una Ex loco ubi stabam removens, ad se ipse retraxit. Tunc ego me verti, qualis qui serius æquo Evitanda videt ; subitoque timore subactus, Amittit vires, sed non vitare periclum Tardat, ut aspiciat. Nigrum tum Dæmona vidi Currere post nos per scopulum. Quam dirus et asper Ille erat, extensis alis, et præpete gressu ! Elatis umeris sontem portabat, utrisque Correptum pedibus : ecce ex senioribus unus |
there, my Leader said, “Watch out! Watch out!” and at the same time taking me from the place where I was standing, drew me to himself. I then turned around like a man who, later than is appropriate, sees what is to be avoided and, seized with sudden panic, loses his strength, but does not delay in avoiding the danger in order to look at it. I then saw a black Demon running behind us over the rock arterial. How horrible and harsh he was with his spread wings and rapid gait! He bore a guilty soul seized by both feet on his raised shoulders. “Look, one of the aldermen |
| 240 | Sanctæ, inquit, Zitæ [9]. Malebranchæ, immergite fundo ; Quippe ego ad hanc terram redeo, quæ his prædita abunde est Quisque hīc fraudator, Bonturum præter [10] ; et omnes Fasque nefasque facit lucri miscere cupido. In foveam, hæc fatus, jecit : tum deinde recedens, Per scopulum repetivit iter ; nec promptior unquam Irruit, insequiturque canis vestigia furis. Ille picem immersus subiit, subitoque recurvus Ad summum emersit ; sed qui sub ponte tuentes Dæmones astabant : non hic sacra habetur imago ; [11] |
of [Lucca whose patron is] Saint Zita,” he said. “O Evil-clawed Fiends, sink him to the bottom, since I am going back to that land which is abundantly stocked with this type; everyone is a fraudster there except Bonturo [Dati], and their cupidity for lucre allows them all to interchange ‘licit’ and ‘illicit’. Having said this, he threw him into the pit; then, leaving from there, he retraced his route, and no dog ever rushed and pursued the tracks of a thief more rapidly. The soul plunged, submerged, into the pitch and, quickly turning around, emerged on the surface, but the demons who were standing around under the bridge watching said, “There is no Sacred Image here; |
| 250 | Non hic, dixerunt, velut Æsaris amne natatur : Sub piceis te conde vadis, nec gurgite membra Exsertes, si vis uncos evadere nostros. Plus centum inde virum arripuere tricornibus uncis : Hic opus occulte est salias, hic necte latentes, Si poteris, dixere, dolos. Ita mergere in olla, Ne fluitet, carnem famulis coquus imperat unco. Tunc mihi Præceptor : ne quis te advertat adesse, Post scopulum lateas, inquit ; nec deinde timeto , Siquid discrimen mihi forte incumbere cernas : |
Swimming here is not like in the Esaro river. Hide yourself under the liquid pitch and do not poke your limbs out of the maelstrom if you want to escape our hooks.” They then seized the man with more than a hundred three-pronged hooks: “Here you have to jump around in secret; play your hidden tricks here, if you can.” In the same way, a cook orders domestics to push meat down in a pot with a hook so that it does not float. Then the Preceptor said to me, “Hide behind the rock arterial so that no one notices you are here. And then have no fear if you perhaps see me encountering any danger. |
| 260 | Cuncta mihi constant ; alio nam tempore ad istud Certamen veni. Sic est effatus, et una Trajecit pontem. Sextam quum contigit oram, Tunc fuit illi animis usus. Quo turbine et ira Irrumpunt ex æde canes adversus egenum, Qui poscit, vix sistit, opem ; sic Dæmones omnes, Qui suberant ponti, simul exsiluere, et in illum Verterunt uncos. Nemo, is, nil territus, inquit, Me lædat : quisquam ex vobis se huc deferat ultro, Cui loquar ; ac mox, si credat, me apprenderit unco. |
I know it all well, for I have encountered this conflict before.” So he spoke, and with that crossed the bridge. When he reached the sixth bank, then he needed courage. With the same frenzy and rage that dogs break out of a house against a poor man who, hardly stopping, asks for help, so all the Demons who had been under the bridge leapt out at the same time and pointed their hooks at him. Not in the least terrified, he said, “Let none of you do me harm. Let some one of you with whom I may talk come here of his own accord. And then, if he is confident, let him seize me with his hook.” |
| 270 | Clamarunt : Malacauda adeat. Tum protinus unus, Agmine digrediens, aliis sistentibus, illum Advenit ; secum : quidnam hoc profecerit ? ajens. Num, Malacauda, putas sine fato ac Numine dextro, Præceptor dixit, Stygias me hucusque per umbras Venisse incolumem ? sine me procedere ; quippe Has alii me aperire vias est æthere fixum. Detumuit tunc olli animus : dextra excĭdit uncus : Ac, versus sociis, hunc parcite lædere, dixit. Haud mora : me Vates vocat : o, formidine pulsa, |
They cried, “Let Evil-Tail go!” Immediately then, one, separating from the group while the others stayed, approached him, saying to himself, “What good will it do him?” My Preceptor said, “Evil-Tail, you don’t really think that I have come here safely through the Stygian shadows without an auspicious fate and Divine Consent, do you? Let me proceed, since it is decreed above that I should open these paths for another soul.” At that his self-assurance was deflated; his hook dropped from his right hand and, turning to his companions, he said, “Refrain from harming him.” Without delay the Poet called me, saying, “O you who, with fear [now] repulsed, |
| 280 | Qui post saxa lates, ad me vestigia defer. Inquit ; et extemplo exsilui, Vatemque petivi. Dæmones, ut me viderunt, simul undique cuncti Astiterunt ; captusque ideo terrore, verebar Præstarent ne forte fidem. Sic ire paventes Vidi olim pedites, quum, deditione peracta, Tot se Capronæ ferrent ex arce per hostes. Ductori hærebam, ac nunquam mea lumina ab illis Vertebam ; nil namque boni præ se ore ferebant. Namque inclinabant uncos, ac voce vicissim : |
are hiding behind the rocks, come to me.” And I immediately jumped out and made for the Poet. As soon as the Demons saw me, they simultaneously all gathered around everywhere and, gripped by terror because of that, I feared that they would perhaps not keep their word. So I once saw fearful infantry going when, after having executed a surrender, they left from the fortress at Caprona through so many enemies. I clung to my Guide and never turned my eyes away from them, because nothing good emerged from their faces and because they were lowering their hooks and were saying to one another, |
| 290 | Visne huic, ajebant, me ferrum impingere tergo ? Responsumque dabant ; agesis, alte imprime ferrum. At, Vati qui fatus erat : siste, ocius inquit, Siste age, Scarmalio. Vobis, est deinde locutus, Ulterius non ire licet ; nam sextus ad imum Prorutus est arcus : si vobis ire voluntas Est tamen ulterius, sursum specus ite per istud : Proximus est alter scopulus, qui ducit euntes. Se, die sub hesterna, quinis paulo amplius horis, Mille ac bis centum, sex sexagintaque cursum |
“Do you want me to strike him in the rear with my iron?” And they gave as their response, “Go ahead, push your iron in deeply.” But the one who had talked to the Poet quickly said, “Now stop, Ruffler.” He then said, “You cannot proceed farther, for the sixth arch is demolished at the bottom. If it is nonetheless your desire to go on farther, go up through that cave; next to it is another rock arterial that routes wayfarers. Yesterday in a little more than five hours, one thousand two hundred and sixty-six years |
| 300 | Implerunt anni, quum sese hæc semita rupit. Huc socios aliquot mitto, qui ex more tuantur, Ne piceo quis ab amne natet : simul ite, metumque Ponite, ne noceant. Clazon, dehinc dixit, Alastor, Manduce, Algion, huc vos accedite : ductor Esto copiolæ tu, Pogonule ; Cerastes Sese addat, torvusque Harpax, et luminis osor Nycticorax, et cum socio Titane Taractes : Quærite num piceo latitent sub gurgite sontes : Hi sint incolumes, donec veniatis ad alterum, |
completed their course since this pathway broke up. I am sending there some companions who normally keep watch to make sure no one swims out of the pitch river. Go along and put aside your fear that they will harm you.” He then said, “Uproar, Avenging-Fiend, Chew-Mask, Pain-Inflicter, you come here; you be the guide of the little force, Little-Beard; let Horned-One join you, and ferocious Rapacious-One, and the hater of light, Night-Raven, along with his Titan companion, Disruptor. Look to see whether sinners are hiding beneath the pitch maelstrom. Let these be safe until they come to the next one, |
| 310 | Integer has supra foveas qui tenditur arcus. Quod video ! heu ! dixi : soli, Præceptor, eamus, Si via nota tibi : comites non ipse requiro : Si de more sapis, nonne illos ringere cernis ? Atque supercilio nobis indigna minari ? Te volo, respondit, nulla formidine tangi : Ringere sponte sinas : id agunt sub gurgite mersis. Illi iter invadunt, tendentes margine lævo, Ante, duci in signum, linguam sibi dente prementes ; Atque is, more tubæ, diffissa clune pepedit. |
which stretches as an intact arch over these chasms.” I said, “What am I seeing? Oh no! O Preceptor, let us go alone if the way is known to you. I myself need no companions. If you are as perceptive as usual, do you not see them baring their teeth and with their brows threatening us with indignities?” He responded, “I want you not to be affected by any fear. Let them bare their teeth as they will; they do it for those submerged beneath the maelstrom.” They embarked on the trip, keeping to the left edge after clamping their tongues between their teeth as a salute to their leader. And he, spreading his buttocks, farted like a trumpet. |
| INFERNORUM XXII {22} ⇑ | ||
| 320 | Castra movere equites, certamen inire, fugamque Carpere jam vidi, atque acies se ostendere campo ; Depopulatores alienæ irrumpere terræ, Atque excursores Areti equitare per agros ; Ludere vidi armis, et prœlia ficta ciere, Tympana dum signum, vel tintinnabula, pulsu, Vel tuba, vel lituus, vel missus in aëra fumus Alta ex arce, daret ; nostratum more, perinde Ac alienigenûm ; nunquam at procedere signo Quod tunc ille dedit, vidi peditesque equitesque, |
I have seen cavalry moving camp, joining battle, and taking flight, and mustering ranks in the field; I have seen raiders of a foreign land invade, and skirmishers, O Aretines, ride through your territory. I have seen games played with arms and mock battles engaged in, while drums or bells with their pulse, or trumpet or a cavalry horn or smoke sent into the air from a high rampart, give the signal in our native fashion and likewise in that of foreigners. But I have never seen infantry or cavalry procede at the signal which that one gave, |
| 330 | Aut navim, ad stellæ visum vel litoris, ire. Haud mora : Dæmonibus denis comitantibus, imus : Quam tristes comites ! sed, pro ratione locorum, Cum Sancto in templis, cum potatore tabernis. Me tamen intentum gurges picis ater habebat, Ut foveæ mores omnes, in eaque perustam Aspicerem gentem. Quales delphines in alto Quum tergum attollunt, propereque ad litora nautas Ire monent ; cupidus pœnæ sic sæpe levandæ, Quisquam attollit dorsum ; sed, fulguris instar, |
or a ship go at the sight of a star or the shore. Without delay we went accompanied by ten Demons what sad companions! But, in accordance with the place, “with the Saint in the churches, with the drunkard in the taverns.” But the black maelstrom of pitch held me fixated on seeing all the operations of the gulch and the scorched people in it. As on the high seas dolphins arch their backs and warn sailors to head fast for shore, so someone often, wanting to relieve his pain, surfaced with his back, but like lightening, |
| 340 | Protinus abdebat. Velutique in margine fossæ Exsertant ranæ rictum, dum cetera lymphis Membra inclusa latent ; sic stabant undique sontes. At, simul his aderat Dæmon, retro ora trahebant. Vidi ego, ut interdum, dum desilit altera ripa, Altera rana manet, quendam vidi ipse morari. Horresco referens ; crines huic protinus udos Nycticorax unco arripuit, ceu lutra fuisset, Ac pice detraxit (Cunctorum nomina noram ; Quippe hæc audivi quum delecti ante fuerunt, |
immediately vanished. And as on the edge of a ditch frogs stick out their mouths while they hide their other members submerged in the water, so stood the sinners on every side. And as soon as a Demon approached them, they would retract their faces. As I have seen how, while sometimes one frog jumps off of the bank, another one remains, I myself saw someone delaying. I shudder reporting it: Night-Raven caught his wet hair with his hook, as though he were an otter, and pulled him out of the pitch. (I knew the names of them all since I had heard the names before, when they were being chosen, |
| 350 | Ac mentem adverti, quoties se deinde vocarunt.) Huic age, clamabant alii, sic fortiter ungues Insere, Manduce, ut penitus corium omne revellas. Tunc ego : Præceptor, dixi, fac scire, quis iste Si potes, infelix, tam diros lapsus in hostes. Illius accessit lateri, petiitque Magister, Quisnam, ac unde domo. Cui talia reddidit ille. Cantaber ipse fui : mater, quæ ex patre creavit, Tam male morato, ut sese ac rem perdidit omnem, Servitio addixit. Thebaldi regis in aula |
and mentally noted them whenever they later called on one another.) The others cried out, “Go ahead, Chew-Mask: sink your claws into him forcefully to tear off all of his hide.” Then I said, “Preceptor, if you can, let me know who that unhappy one is, fallen amongst such terrible enemies.” He went up to his side, and the Teacher asked who he was and from what house. The latter answered him as follows: “I myself was a Cantabrian. My mother, who begot me from a father of such bad morals that he ruined himself and all his wealth, delivered me into slavery. Thenceforth as a servant in the court of King Thibaut [II, of Navarre], |
| 360 | Dehinc famulus, fraudes sum nectere subdolus orsus Ac versare dolos ; quare hoc nunc plector in æstu. Tales edentem voces, furibundus Alastor, Qui geminos dentes, apri de more, ferebat, Perculit hunc uno, et quantum proscindere posset, Persentire dedit. Nimium mus ille malignis Felibus inciderat ! Tum Pogonulus utrisque Amplexus bracchiis : socii, hinc absistite, dixit, Solus ego infigam. Versus mox ille Magistro : Siqua tibi noscenda manent, inquire, priusquam |
I cunningly began to devise frauds and engage in swindles, for which I now pay the punishment in this heat.” Rabid Avenging-Fiend, who had twin tusks like a boar, struck him with one of them as he was saying this and let him feel how much he could rip him. That mouse had fallen among cats far too evil! Then Little-Beard, grabbing him with both arms, said, “Fellows, stand back; I alone will impale him.” Then, turning to the Teacher, he said, “If something still remains for you to learn, ask it |
| 370 | Dilanietur, ait. Dixit tum proinde Magister : Incipe de reliquis ergo mihi pandere quicquam : Scisne, an sub pice quis lateat de gente Latina ? Reddidit is contra : modo sum digressus ab uno, Non procul ex illis vitam qui duxerat oris : Oh ibi mansissem ! non uncum unguesque timerem. Quæ mora ? clamavit Clazon ; atque ilicet unco Illi corripuit bracchium, avulsitque lacertum. Vult etiam Algion immittere cruribus uncum ; At circum est torvo intuitus dux agminis ore. |
before he is torn apart.” Accordingly, my Teacher then said, “So, start to tell me something about the others: do you know whether anyone from the Latin people is hiding under the pitch?” He replied in response, “I just now left from one who lived his life not far from those shores. Oh, had I remained there! I would not be fearing the hook and claws.” “What’s the delay?” cried Uproar, and on the spot snagged his arm with a hook and tore off a muscle. In addition, Pain-Inflicter wanted to sink a hook into his legs, but the leader of the troop glared around with a fierce look. |
| 380 | Quum paulum rediit inde quies, tunc ocius illi, Qui sua spectabat queribundus vulnera, Vates, Quis foret is, petiit. Frater Gomita, reponit, [12] Ille ex Gallura, quo non præstantior alter Est usquam versare dolos ; qui Principis hostes Detentos, auro victus, velut ipse fatetur, Dimisit lætos ; et cetera munia fungens, Insignis fraudator erat. Prope Zanchius astat [13] Ex Logoduro, ac de Sardis persæpe loquuntur. Plura edam ; sed, me miserum ! ut stridentibus ille |
After that, when quiet had returned a little, the Poet then quickly asked the one who was looking, with grief, at his wounds, who that had been. He answered, “It was Friar Gomita, he of Gallura [in Sardinia], than whom there was no more adept other person ever to engage in deception; overcome by gold, as he himself admits, he let the emprisoned enemies of his Prince go happily free. And performing other offices, he was an extraordinary fraudster. Nearby stands [Michel] Zanche of Logodoro, and they talk about Sardinia very often. I would say more, but poor me! how that one over there is grinding |
| 390 | Dentibus infrendit ! vereor, ne me impetat unco. At Titanem, oculis torvum atque ferire paratum, Dux turmæ increpitans : huc siste, avis improba, dixit. Securus tunc ille metūs : si forte videre Atque audire juvat, qui vitam egere per oras Inquit, et Eridani atque Arni, huc accedere faxim : Dæmones at cessent, ne quid vereantur ab illis Ultricis pœnæ ; atque hōc ipse in litore sīdens, Septem pro me uno arcessam, quum sibila mittam, Ut mos est noster, quum quis de gurgite prodit. |
his growling teeth! I fear he is about to attack me with his hook.” But the squad’s leader, yelling at the Titan who with a grim look was ready to strike, said, “Stop it at this point, cursed bird.” Safe from fear, the speaker then went on, “If perhaps it would please you to see and hear those who have led their lives in the lands of the Eridanus [= Po] and Arnus [rivers], I can make them come here; but so that they do not fear anything of the avenging punishment, have the Demons stand back, and I, sitting on this shore, will summon seven of them for the one of me when I give a whistle, as is our habit when someone climbs out of the maelstrom.” |
| 400 | Extulit os, quassansque caput, quum verba Cerastes Audiit : oh, dixit, genus admirabile fraudis, Quod sibi hĭc invenit, piceo ut se gurgite condat ! Ille, dolis dives ; vere sum callidus, inquit, Qui sociis pejora paro. Non turbidus Harpax Tum se continuit, sociis haud consona censens : Eja age : non ego te pedibus, si elabere, dixit, Insequar, at rapide pandam pice desuper alas. Margine distemus : nos a te dividat ora, Ut videam, num præ nobis potes omnibus unus. |
Horned-One, shaking his head, raised his face when he heard those words. “Oh,” he said, “a marvelous kind of fraud this one has contrived to hide in the maelstrom! He’s rich in tricks.” “Clever I really am,” said the captive, “I, who am devising worse things for my comrades.” At that, agitated Rapacious-One could not restrain himself; disharmoniously dissenting from his companions, he said, “OK, let’s do it: I will not pursue you on foot if you slip away, but will speedily spread my wings down over the pitch. Let us stand away from the edge; let the bank separate us so I can see whether you alone can beat all of us.” |
| 410 | Audi, lector amice, novi spectacula ludi. Vertit in adversam quisquis tum lumina ripam, Ille prior, qui hoc abnuerat. Tum, tempore capto, Cantaber extemplo impegit vestigia terræ, Insiluitque pici, promissaque vana reliquit. Omnes invasit dolor, at magis omnibus illum, Effugii qui causa fuit ; quare alite cursu, Jam jam te arripio, inclamans, est pone secutus ; At nil profecit : timor exstitit ocior alis. Ille picem subit, atque alter tum, pectore verso, |
Listen, dear reader, to this new game spectacle! Everyone turned his eyes toward the opposite bank first of all he who had declined this. Then seizing the instant, in a flash the Cantabrian hit his feet on the ground and leapt into the pitch and left his promises void. Pain stung them all, but more than anyone, him who had been the cause of the escape so that in winged pursuit he followed behind, yelling “I’m getting you now!” But it did no good: fear turned out to be faster than wings. The one plunged into the pitch, and the other one, turning his chest around, |
| 420 | Sursum se erexit volitans. Sic æthere ab alto Quum sibi vidit anas raptorem incumbere milvum, Protinus aufugiens, liquidis se territus undis Abdit ; et is fractus redit indignatus in auras. Ob fraudem iratus, gaudensque quod ille refugit, Ut pugnam Harpaxi incuteret, vix Cantaber atram Insiluit foveam, Titan procurrit in illum, Injecitque ungues : haud segnior obstitit alter ; Ac simul impliciti piceo sunt gurgite lapsi. Æstus dissolvit nexos ; sed surgere ab amne |
rose up in flight. It was the same as when a duck has seen a predatory kite coming down on him from high aloft, instantly fleeing, hides frightened in the fluid waters, and the kite, thwarted and indignant, returns to the skies. Hardly had the Cantabrian jumped into the black gulch when the Titan, enraged over the fraud and happy that the shade had escaped, flew into Rapacious-One to launch a fight against him, and sank his claws into him; the other one, being no slower, resisted and, entangled, they plunged together into the pitch maelstrom. The heat undid their entanglement, but they could not |
| 430 | Nequaquam poterant ; tam pix infecerat alas ! Quattuor adversam tum Pogonulus in oram, Multa dolens, propere misit ; qui jussa profecti Ad loca, demersis hinc illinc protinus uncos Protulerunt, quos jam fervens decoxerat umor. Talibus hærentes tricis nos linquimus illos. |
rise out of the river, the pitch had so permeated their wings! Then Little-Beard, greatly pained by this, quickly sent four to the opposite bank. Having gone to the ordered places, they immediately held out their hooks here and there to the sunken devils whom the seething liquid had already well cooked. We ourselves left them stuck in those entanglements. |
| INFERNORUM XXIII {23} ⇑ | ||
| 436 | Solique ac taciti gradimur, prius alter, et alter Deinde sequens, velut est Fratres mos ire Minores. Inspectam ob ripam, Æsopi mihi fabula menti Occurrit, qua est de rana ac mure ille locutus : |
Silent and alone we went on, one in front, and the other following after, like Friars Minor typically go. Because of having witnessed the bank scene, Aesop’s fable of the frog and mouse occurred to me, |
| 440 | Omnia namque pares ; nec sic est gutta profecto Assimilis guttæ, inspicitur si mente sagaci Principium et finis : tam congruit utraque ad unguem ! Utque alius solet ex alio prorumpere sensus, Alter sic illo est ortus, valdeque priorem Auxit deinde metum. Mecum sub pectore fabar : Pro nobis adeo hos damnum et ludibria tangunt, Ut valde, reor, indoleant : accensus ab ira Si malus est animus, nos acrius aggredientur Quam canis incumbens lepori. Mihi cuncta rigebant |
For everything was equal: one drop is not as similar to another if one considers the beginning and the end with a thoughtful mind: both match down to the last detail! And as one thought commonly bursts out of another, so another arose from that one and then greatly increased my first fear. I said to myself in my heart, “Because of us, hurt and ridicule affect these beings to such an extent, I believe, that they feel greatly aggrieved. If their evil mind is fired up by rage, they will attack us more fiercely than a dog chasing a rabbit.” All my limbs were |
| 450 | Jam nunc membra metu ; ac vertebam lumina retro. Præceptor, dixi, nisi me et te abscondere curas, Dæmonas huc timeo : nos ecce sequentur euntes ; Sic mente hos video, ut sonitus mihi verberet aures. Si speculum ipse forem, rettulit, non extima imago, Sic mihi se tua præberet, velut intima præbet : Par mihi consilium, pariles sunt pectore curæ ; Mens adeo est eadem ; ut duplex confletur in unam. Si dextra est talis ripa, ut descendere detur Subjectam in vallem, certe vitabimus illos. |
becoming stiff with fright and I kept looking back. I said: “Master, if you do not undertake to hide me and you, I fear Demons arriving: realize, they are on their way, following us; in my mind I see them so, that their sound is striking my ears.” He replied, “If I were a mirror, your outward image would not manifest itself to me as well as your interior one does. Your intention is the same as mine, the worries in your heart are the same; our thinking is so identical that both minds are fusing into one. If the right bank is such that it allows us to descend into the valley below, we will definitely escape them.” |
| 460 | Vix ea finierat, tensis quum protinus alis Non procul irruere aspexi, ut comprendere vellent. Me cito corripuit Vates, ut sedula mater Ad primum evigilat murmur ; flammasque propinquas Aspiciens, natum rapit, ac nihil inde moratur, Dum solum indusium capiet, plus prolis amore Quam comprensa sui. Per scrupea saxa supinum Se jecit ripæ, qua clauditur altera valles. Non ita apud palas velociter unda canali Volvitur, impulsura rotam, lapidemque molarem ; |
He had hardly finished this, when I saw them, not far off, steadily onrushing with outspread wings, wanting to seize us. The Poet swiftly grabbed me in the way a zealous mother awakens at the first murmur and, seeing flames close by, snatches her child and then waits for nothing else as she grabs only her nightgown, taken more with the love of her offspring than of herself. He threw himself down, leaning backwards against the sharp rocks of the bank by which another valley was walled off. Never did water cycle so fast at the paddles in a channel to turn a wheel and millstone, |
| 470 | Per ripam velut ille ruit, me pectore gestans, Non comitis more at nati. Vix illius imum Attigerunt plantæ, summi quum margine collis Nos super astiterunt ; sed nil fuit inde timendum : Nam Deus omnipotens, a quo custodia quintæ Commissa his foveæ, nunquam hac discedere jussit. Hīc gentem invenimus pictam ; quæ passibus ibat Lentis, effundens lacrimas, ac fracta labore ; Pallia gestabant, atque ora obtecta cucullis, Qualia cœnobiis Rhenana Colonia texit. |
as he plunged down the bank, carrying me on his chest, not like a companion but a son. Hardly had his feet touched the bottom when they stood at the edge of high hill above us. But from then on there was nothing to fear, for almighty God, by Whom the guardianship of the fifth canyon had been committed to them, ordered that they should never leave it. Here we found a painted people which walked with slow steps, shedding tears and broken by labor. They wore cloaks and their faces were covered by hoods of the type that Cologne on the Rhine weaves for monks. |
| 480 | Illita sunt foris auro, oculosque nĭtore lacessunt, Intus tam plumbo gravia, ut non sequius essent Ac păleæ, quæ jam imponi, Friderice, jubebas. Oh vestis pondus, quod nulla levaverit ætas ! Vertimur ad lævam, ac turbam comitamur euntem, Fletibus intenti ; sed gens tam segniter ibat Pressa onere, ut comites nobis, gradientibus unā, Quisque gradus mutare daret. Quare : inspice, dixi Ipse Duci, si quem factis aut nomine noscam ; Ac circum converte oculos. Tunc ilicet unus |
On the outside they were smeared with gold and dazzled the eyes with their brilliance; on the inside they were so heavy with lead that those which you, Frederick, ordered worn, would be nothing more than straw. Oh what a garment weight that no [amount of] time will ever relieve! We turned to the left and accompanied the walking crowd, paying attention to their weeping, but the people, weighted down with their loads, went so slowly that, as we marched along with them, each step made us change our companions. Hence I myself said to my Leader, “Check to see whether I might recognize anyone by his deeds or name, and look around. Then suddenly one of them |
| 490 | Post nos, qui Tusco audivit sermone loquentem : O cohibete pedem, quicunque per aëra tætrum Curritis ; a me fortassis, quod poscis, habebis. Dixit. Conversus Vates me sistere jussit, Atque pari dehinc ire gradu. Vestigia pressi, Atque duos vidi, quorum se jungere mecum Ex vultu parebat amor ; sed pondus et arctum Impediebat iter. Postquam venere propinqui, Ac nostro astiterunt lateri, me lumine torvo Sunt valde intuiti, presso nihil ore loquentes ; |
in back of us who heard me speaking the Tuscan language, said, “Rein in your pace, whoever you are, running through the foul air; you will perhaps get what you want from me.” Turning around, the Poet told me to stop and go from there at his same pace. I stopped in my tracks and saw two individuals whose desire to join me showed in their faces. But their burden and the narrow path retarded them. After they came near and stood at our side, they looked at me intensely with glowering eyes, with sealed lips saying nothing. |
| 500 | Mox, inter sese versi, dixere vicissim : Gutturis ad motum, vitam hic agitare videtur ; Sin autem vita careant, quæ gratia reddit Ponderis immunes ? Mihi sunt dein talia fati : O qui nunc vallem, quo gens dat hypocrita pœnas, Tusce, venis, qui sis ne dedignare fateri. Sum natus, refero, membrisque ac viribus auctus Urbe illa in magna, pulcher quam interfluit Arnus : Membra gero, quæ semper gessi : at dicite quæso Vos qua gente sati, quo dicti nomine, tantus |
Then turning each to the other, they said to one another, “To judge by the movement of his throat, this one seems to be living a life. On the other hand, if they lack life, what grace renders them immune to burdenedness?” They then spoke to me as follows: “O Tuscan, you have come to the valley where the tribe of hypocrites is punished; do not disdain to tell us who you are.” I replied, “I was born and grew in stature and strength in that great city which the beautiful Arnus flows through. I am wearing the limbs that I have always worn. But please say what people you were begotten of, by what name you are called, you whose |
| 510 | Queis, velut aspicio, rigat ora miserrima luctus ? Quæ vos pœna premit, tanto fulgore relucens ? Sic aurata gravant nos pallia, reddidit unus, Non secus ac nimio strident cum pondere lances. Gaudentes fuimus fratres, et Felsina nobis Est patria : hic Lotharingus nomine et ipse vocatus Sum Catalanus : tua nos, solam utpote agentes Privatim vitam, urbs olim delegit utrosque Rectores, ut pax animis discordibus esset ; At quales fuimus, Guardingi semita monstrat. [14] |
faces, as I see, are wetted by such extremely wretched mourning? What punishment, glittering with such brilliance, weighs you down?” One of them responded, “Our golden cloaks weigh us down in the same way as when scales creak with too much weight. We were Jolly Friars, and our fatherland is Felsina. This one is Lodaringo by name and I myself was called Catalano. Your city once chose us both as one might expect those privately living one life only, as administrators, so that there would be peace among discordant spirits. But Gardingo [“Watchtower”] Street shows what kind of men we were. |
| 520 | Vestra mala, o fratres, cœpi ; at non amplius inqui ; Quippe, sŏlo infixus trinis hastilibus, unus Occurrit confestim oculis. Se corpore toto Is tunc distorsit, simul ac me assistere vidit, Multaque sufflavit mittens suspiria barbam. Hoc Catalanus cernens, mihi talia dixit : Quem terræ tu hærere vides, hic suaserat olim Abramidis opus esse unum demittere leto Pro populo : hīc transversum, ac nudo corpore, oportet Calcari pedibus, pondusque audire meantum. |
“O Friars, your evil …,” I began, but said no more, for suddenly there appeared to my eyes one man pinned to the ground with three lances. He then writhed with his entire body as soon as he saw me standing there and puffed up his beard, emitting many sighs. Seeing this, Catalano said the following to me: “This man [Caiaphas] you see stuck to the ground once persuaded the Jews that it was necessary to put one man to death for the people. With his naked body and lying across here, he must be trod upon by the feet, and hear the weights, of passers-by. |
| 530 | Dat pœnas simul Anna pares, atque illius omnes Concilii, quod Judæis mala plurima duxit. Obstupuit Vates tam vile asprumque ferentem Supplicium. Hinc versus Fratri : ne ostendere, dixit Vos gravet, ad dextram numquid sit euntibus ullus Forte aditus, per quem nos hinc exire queamus, Quin opus hunc fuerit Lemures arcessere ad usum. Felsineus contra : plusquam tu rere propinquus Est scopulus, dixit, valles qui transigit omnes Circuitu a magno incipiens, hac scilicet una [15] |
Annas likewise pays the same penalty, and all of that Sanhedrin which brought a great many evils to the Jews.” The Poet was dumbstruck at one subjected to such a vile and harsh punishment. Turning from him to the Friar, he said: “May it not be a burden to you to show us whether on the right there might perhaps be any passageway for wayfarers through which we might leave here without it being necessary to summon Specters to our aid.” In response the Bolognese replied: “There is a rock arterial closer than you think which, starting from the large circuit, crosses all the valleys except, that is, this one |
| 540 | Excepta, in qua est abruptus : se tollit ab imo Paulatim fundo, ac sursum in declive ruina Ascendit : gressum vos hac inferre potestis. Ore parum flexo Vates tum substitit : ergo, Mox ait, haud verum, qui sontes arripit unco, Nos monuit. Quum vitam agerem, ac me Felsina haberet, Audivi, tunc inquit Frater, Dæmona multis Esse quidem instructum vitiis, super omnia fraudum Artificem. Paulum vultu turbatus ab ira Incessit Vates, ac magnis passibus ivit. |
where it is broken off. The ruins rise gradually from the bottom floor and ascend up the slope; you can proceed that way” The Poet then stopped with his head slightly bowed. Next he said, “So, it was not true what the one who snags sinners with his hook advised us.” The Friar then said, “While I was alive and Bologna housed me, I heard that the Devil was equipped with many vices, but above all he was an artisan of frauds.” The Poet, his face somewhat disturbed by anger, started off, walking with large strides. |
| 550 | Nec minus ipse citum, vestigia cara secutus, Antetuli gressum, atque oneratos inde reliqui. |
Following in his beloved tracks, I myself proceeded at a no less rapid pace, and thereupon left the burdened ones. |
| INFERNORUM XXIV {24} ⇑ | ||
| 552 | Prima in parte anni, quum Solis Aquarius æstum Temperat, et, crescente die, nox contrahit horas ; Quumque, nivi similis, circumtegit arva pruina; Quæ subito liquefacta perit, rerum indigus, exit Mane domo agricola ; ac, cernens albescere campos, Percutit ipse femur ; mæstusque in tecta revertens, Ingemit, et quid agat nescit : mox deinde novatam Aspiciens mundi faciem, spem lætus amicam |
In the first part of the year, when Aquarius tempers the heat of the sun and, with the growing daylight, the night shortens its hours, and when the hoar-frost, similar to snow, covers the fields all around, frost that, melting quickly, disappears, a farmer, out of resources, goes out of his house in the morning and, seeing the fields turned white, slaps his thigh and returns sad into his dwelling, sighs and does not know what to do; then, a while later, looking at the renewed face of the world, he happily regains friendly hope, |
| 560 | Instaurat, gaudensque greges ad pascua ducit. Sic ego pertimui, turbata fronte Magistrum Ut vidi ; sed prompta mălo medicamina sollers Ille tulit. Quum ruptum etenim pervenimus arcum, Se mihi convertit, quali sub monte benignus Affuerat vultu ; ac, postquam advertitque ruinam Ac rem perpendit, confestim bracchia pandit Ac me corripuit. Veluti qui intendit agendo, Ante putat, quam deinde gerat ; sic fragmen in unum Me tunc ille levans, animum intendebat ad alterum : |
and, rejoicing, leads his flocks to pasture in the same way, the Teacher made me disheartened when I saw his forehead so troubled: but that skillful man brought a ready remedy for the problem. For when we arrived at the broken arch, he turned to me with that look that the kind man had shown at the foot of the mountain. And after he studied the ruin and thought about it, he suddenly opened his arms and grabbed me. As one who, planning while acting, calculates before he then sets to work, so then lifting me onto one block, he directed his attention to another one, |
| 570 | Arripe mox illud, dicens, sed prospice primum Num te sustineat. Non hīc vir tendere posset Plumbea veste gravis ; nos quippe, is perlevis, atque Ipse manu impulsus, vix has perrepere cautes Quivimus. Ac, nisi in hac margo depressior esset, Quam sit parte alia, quidnam de Vate fuisset Nescio ; at ego infractus non culmen adissem : Sed, quoniam denis hæc didita vallibus area In puteum pendet, sic altera surgit, et ora Altera descendit. Tandem, quo se ultima scindit |
saying, “Grab hold of that one next, but first check to see whether it will support you.” A man heavy with leaden clothing could not make headway here, for we he extremely light and I pushed by his hand were hardly able to crawl over these sharp rocks. And if on this side the brink had not been lower that on the other, I do not know what would have become of the Poet, but I, wiped out, would not have arrived at the top. But because this landscape, divided into ten canyons, slopes toward the pit, as the one bank rises, the other sinks. Finally, where the last rock breaks |
| 580 | Petra, cacumen venimus : atque adeo mihi creber Quum sursum evasi, quatiebat anhelitus artus, Progredi ut ulterius nequii, et tellure resedi. Te non esse decet, dixit tum Ductor, inertem : Qui sedet in pluma, vel sub lodice recumbit, Haud famam acquirit ; sine qua qui duxerit ævum, In terris, sic deinde sui vestigia linquit, Spuma velut lymphis, ac vanus in aëre fumus. Segnes rumpe mores : animo pervince labores, Omnia qui vincit, nisi se cum corpore frangat ; |
off, we came to the summit. And when I got to the top my heavy breathing so shook my limbs that I could not go any further and sat down on the ground. My Guide then said, “It is inappropriate for you to be lazy: a man who sits on feathers or lies under a blanket achieves no fame, without which anyone who has lived his life will then leave only such traces of himself on earth as foam does on water or empty smoke in air. Break your lazy habits. Overcome your tiredness with will, which conquers all unless it thwarts itself with the body. |
| 590 | Longior hinc via jam superest : haud sedibus istis Est satis eduxisse pedes : si intellegis, inde Fac tibi proficias. Verbis impulsus ab hisce, Tunc ego surrexi, indutum me viribus illis, Quæ mihi non aderant, simulans ; dixique Magistro : Perge agesis, invade viam ; sum fortis et audax. Per scopulum, qui valde arctus scrupeusque magisque Quam prior altus erat, ferimur, qua semita ducit. Ipse loquens ibam, ne debilis esse viderer : Quare alta ex fovea vox exit, et impulit aures, |
A longer road remains from here: it is insufficient to have traveled over those regions: if you understand me, take advantage of it.” Motivated by these words, I then arose, pretending I was possessed of strength which I did not have, and said to the Teacher, “Go on, do it, start on the way; I am strong and venturesome.” We proceeded where the path led, along the arterial which was very narrow and sharp and steeper than before. I went along talking so as not to seem weak, whereupon a voice emerged from the deep moat and struck my ears, |
| 600 | Haud per verba loquens. Quamvis in culmine summo Arcus ipse forem, per quem altera vallis aditur, Nescio quid dixit ; sed vox est visa furentis. Lumina deorsum intendens, haud attingere fundum Ob tenebras poteram ; unde : alium te defer in aggerem, Optime dux, inqui : illinc descendamus in imum ; Quippe hīc, ut vocem audio, nec deprendere verba Evaleo, sic et video, ac nil noscere possum. Non aliud tibi responsum, tum rettulit ille, Quam factum, reddam : justis pārēre silenter |
one not speaking with words. I do not know what it said, although I myself was on the very peak of the arch by which the next valley is accessed. But it seemed to be the voice of an enraged person. Directing my eyes downwards, I could not reach the bottom because of the darkness. Hence I said, “Cross over to the other ridge, good leader. Let us climb down from there to the bottom. For here, just as I hear a voice and cannot catch the words, so I am looking and can recognize nothing.” He then replied, “I will give you no other answer than action; since it is right to comply |
| 610 | Quippe decet precibus. Pontem descendimus ergo In caput, octavam quo attingit septima ripam ; Et mihi tum valles patuit. Diversa colubrûm Hic erat horribilis turba, ac tanta, ut mihi sanguis Nunc quoque frigescat. Ne se amplius Africa jactet, Si jaculos parit, amphisbænas, atque chelydros Cenchresque ac părēās ; non tot tamen illa creavit Tamque malas pestes, Rubri trans litora Ponti Æthiopumque plăgis. Gens capta pavore per illas Nudaque currebat, quin sit sperare foramen |
with honest requests silently.” So we went down over the bridge to the bridgehead by which the seventh hillside is connected to the eighth, and then the valley lay open to me. Here there was a heterogeneous, horrible mass of snakes, and of such kind that even now my blood freezes at it. Let Africa no longer boast if it begets jaculi, amphisbaenae and chelydri, and cenchres and pareae; for indeed, that land has not produced so many and such evil pests [not] across the shores of the Red Sea and in the territories of the Ethiopians. People naked and seized with fear were running among them, without there being the ability to hope for a hiding hole |
| 620 | Aut heliotropium. Colubri post terga ligabant His utrasque manus ; caudamque caputque serentes Per renes, nexo stringebant pectora nodo. Ecce uni, ad nostram ripam, sese intulit anguis ; Quaque umeris collum inseritur, ferus ore momordit. Tam cito litterulam nunquam quis scripsit, ut ille Est simul incensus, flammisque exarsit, abitque In cinerem, terræ lapsus ; mox sponte suapte, Ut terræ cecidit, subito collectus in unum Est cinis, atque hominem rursus formavit eundem. |
or a[n invisibility-conferring] heliotrope-stone. Snakes bound both hands behind their backs and, inserting both their tails and their heads through the kidneys, tied up the chests with an entwined knot. Look, a serpent launched itself at one on our bank and with its mouth savagely bit one individual where the neck is engrafted onto the shoulders. Never did anyone write a small letter as quickly as that soul took fire, exploded into flames and turned into ashes, dropping onto the ground; then spontaneously, by themselves, just as they had fallen to earth, the ashes suddenly gathered together and again formed the same man. |
| 630 | Sic moritur phœnix, atque inde renascitur idem, Postquam, ut fama sonat, quingentos egerit annos ; Non is, dum vivit, segetes aut gramina pascit, At turis lacrimas et amomum ; extremaque odoris Ex nardi et myrrhæ struit incunabula ramis. Utque vir in terram, vi morbi aut Dæmonis ictu Impulsus, cadit ille quidem, sed quomodo nescit ; Postquam autem erigitur, confestim lumina circum Vertit ; et ingenti, quem pertulit ante, dolore Territus, ex imo suspiria pectore ducit : |
Thus dies the phoenix, and is subsequently reborn, after as the tale is told having lived for five hundred years. While living, it does not feed on grain or grass, but on tears of incense and on amomum; and it builds its final cradle with branches of the fragrance of nard and myrrh. And like a man stricken to earth by the force of sickness or the blow of a demon, he falls yet does not know how, but after he rises he immediately gazes around and, terrified by the great pain he has just suffered, draws great sighs from his breast. |
| 640 | Haud secus, ut sese erexit, corpusque recepit, Is peccator erat. Proh quam divina severis Justitia hos pœnis torquet ! Dux inde rogavit Quis foret. Etruscis nuper sum, dixit, ab oris Lapsus in hanc foveam : placuit mihi more ferarum, Ut mulo (nam talis eram) non ducere vitam More hominum : nomen mihi Vannus Fuccius hæret Bestia : condignas dedit urbs Pistoria cunas. Tunc dixi ipse Duci : ne nos jam deserat, ora, Sed referat, quali luat hic pro crimine pœnas ; |
Likewise was that sinner as he rose and regained his body. Ah, how divine justice torments those souls with severe punishment! My Leader then asked him who he was. He said, “I recently slid down from Etruscan shores into this pit. I preferred to lead life like a mule (for I was such), not like a human. The name of Vanni Fucci, the beast, stuck to me. The city of Pistoia gave me a fitting cradle.” Then I myself said to my Leader: “Request that he not forsake us, but tell us what crime he is paying the penalty for, |
| 650 | Quippe hunc jam novi scelerumque ac cædis amantem. Audiit is vocem ; fassusque audisse, loquenti Vultumque atque animum mihi vertit, et ora pudore Inspersit tristi ; mox inquit : sævius angor Nunc mihi cor torquet, quod me deprenderis istis In miseris rebus, quam quum sum cæde peremptus. Abdere, quod poscis, nequeo ; tam mersus in imo Hic plector, quod sum patrii sacraria templi Dispoliare ausus ; falsoque hinc criminis auctor Creditus est alter. Sed ne tibi gaudia visus |
since I knew him formerly as a lover of crimes and murder.” The soul heard my voice and, admitting he had heard me, turned his face and mind toward me and blotched his face with sorrowful shame, then said, “A more savage anguish now tortures my heart because you have caught me in these dismal conditions, than when I was slain by murder. I cannot conceal what you demand, for I am punished here, submerged in such extreme depth, because I dared to rob the sacred vessels of the national temple, and then another was falsely believed to be the author of the crime. But so that this sight does not make you |
| 660 | Iste ferat, si tartareis te ex sedibus effers, Hæc scito, monitusque meos sub pectore serva. Disjectos primum cernet Pistoria Nigros, Gentes atque modos Florentia deinde novabit ; Mars trahit obscurum Macræ de valle vaporem, [16] Turbinibus fetum ; qui tempestate sonanti Picenum in campum ruet, ac pugna aspera surget, Quæ subito solvet nebulam, et sua vulnera cuncti Accipient Albi. Ut doleas tibi talia dixi. |
happy, if you get out of the infernal realms, know this, and keep my predictions in your mind: First, Pistoia will see the Blacks ejected; next, Florence will alter its people and manners; from Val di Magra Mars will draw a dark mist teeming with tornados. This will descend in a roaring storm on the field of Piceno, and a fierce battle will arise which will suddenly dissolve the fog, and all the Whites will receive their own wounds. I have told you these things so that you might suffer.” |
| INFERNORUM XXV {25} ⇑ | ||
| 669 | XXV. Sic fatus, digitis inserto pollice, utrasque | Having said this, inserting his thumb between his fingers, he raised both |
| 670 | Extulit ille manus ; atque hæc, Deus, accipe, dixit, Quæ tibi devoveo. Ex illo mihi tempore amicos Serpentes habui ; quippe unus protinus illi Fortiter evinxit collum, quasi dicere visus : Te fari ulterius nolo. Alter bracchia cinxit, Atque ita se ante intorsit, ut illa movere nequiret, Cur non in cinerem statuis, Pistoria, verti, Ne sis ulterius, quando tua facta parentum Nequitiam exsuperant ? Sic audax atque superba, Nulla Deum contra infernos mihi visa per orbes |
hands and said, “Take this, God; I devote it to you.” From that time on I considered snakes my friends, for one of them immediately coiled strongly around his neck, as though seeming to say, “I want you to speak no further.” Another one bound his arms and twisted itself in front so that he could not move them. Pistoia, why do you not decide to turn yourself into ashes, so that you do not continue in being, given that your deeds exceed the iniquities of your parents? Throughout the infernal circles no shade appeared to me as bold and arrogant towards God |
| 680 | Umbra fuit ; nec qui Thebes est prorutus arce. Ille hinc effugit, verbum quin adderet ullum. Tunc ego Centaurum vidi adventare furentem : Oh ubinam, clamantem, ubinam nequissimus ille ? Non tot sunt angues Tusci prope marmoris oram, Quot tergo illi hærebant, humanam usque figuram : Inque umeris draco, protensis post occiput alis, Horridus instabat, quicunque sit obvius, urens. Hic Cacus, mihi Ductor ait, qui sæpe recessu Montis Aventini maculavit sanguine terram : |
as that one, not [even Capaneus,] the one that fell from the citadel of Thebes. He [Vanni Fucci] fled from there without adding another word. Then I saw an enraged Centaur approaching, shouting, “Where, oh where is the worthless one?” There are not as many snakes near the shore of the Tuscan sea as clung to his back up to the human section. And on his shoulders stood a fearsome dragon with wings outstretched behind the back of his head, scorching whoever was in the way. My Guide said to me, “This is Cacus who often stained with blood the earth in the grotto of Mount Aventine. |
| 690 | Fratribus abjunctus graditur, quod fraude doloque Præteriens pecus arripuit ; quare improba facta Illius attigerunt finem sub vindice clava Amphitryoniadæ ; qui centum fortiter istus Impegit monstro, quin denos senserit ille. Talia dum Doctor fatur, Centaurus abivit ; Ac triplices, nobis non advertentibus, Umbræ [17] Sub nos astiterunt : qui estis ? qua ex gente ? rogarunt. Sermone abrupto, nos his convertimus ora. Hos ego non novi ; sed enim, velut accidit, unus |
He goes separated from his brothers because by deceit and trickery he stole a herd of cattle going past: hence his evil deeds resulted in his end under the avenging cudgel of Hercules, who with it powerfully gave the monster a hundred blows, without his feeling a tenth.” While he was saying this, the Centaur left. To boot, three Shades stood nearby below us without our noticing it; they asked, “Who are you? Of what stock?” Breaking off our conversation, we turned our attention to them. I did not know them, but as it happened, one of them |
| 700 | Edidit alterius nomen : qua parte Cianfa [18] Substitit ? inclamans. Tunc ipse, ut mente Magister Afforet intenta, digitum prope labra locavi. Haud equidem mirer, lector, si forte moreris Credere, quæ sum dicturus, quum scilicet ipse, Ipse quidem, qui sum intuitus, vix talia credo. His oculos defixus eram, quum protinus unum Bis ternis pedibus serpens invasit, et arcte Illi hæsit. Posuit medias ad viscera plantas, Bracchia devinxit primis, ambasque petivit |
uttered another’s name, exclaiming “Where did Cianfa stop at? Then I myself, so that my Teacher would stop and pay attention, placed my finger on my lips. I would certainly not be surprised, reader, if perhaps you delay in believing what I am about to say, since indeed I myself myself indeed who saw it, hardly believe such things. I had fixed my eyes on them when suddenly a snake with twice times three feet attacked one of them and clung tightly to him. He placed his middle feet on his abdomen, bound his arms with his front ones, and dug into both |
| 710 | Morsibus inde genas ; posticas denique fixit In femora ; et caudam, insinuans hŏc inter utrumque, Sursum per renes retrahens, post terga tetendit. Nunquam sese hederæ sic implicuere tenaces Arboreis truncis, aliena ut membra suismet Is ferus implicuit : mollis quasi cera fuissent, Deinde coiverunt, commiscueruntque colorem Usque adeo, ut quæ jam fuerant, non amplius essent. Ut, quum supposito succenditur igne, papyrus Subrufum induitur, leviter combusta, colorem, |
cheeks with its fangs; finally, it fixed its hind legs on his thighs and, snaking its tail between both of them, pulling it up over the kidneys, stretched it behind the back. Tenacious ivy never entangled itself with treetrunks in the way that that wild creature entangled another’s limbs with its own. As though they were soft wax, they then fused and exchanged color to the point that what they were before, they were no longer like paper, when it is ignited by a fire place under it, lightly burnt, takes on a brown color |
| 720 | Quæ nondum candore caret, nondumque nigrescit. Spectabant alii duo : proh ! te quomodo mutas, Angele ! clamabant : non es jam forma duorum, Forma nec unius. Caput ut concreverat unum Ex geminis, unā in facie mihi visa figura Est duplex, ubi erant ambo. Duo bracchia fiunt Tractibus ex quattuor [19] : venter, pectusque, pedesque Et crura, effigiem accipiunt, nullum ante per ævum Inspectam : omnis erat deleta hic pristina forma : Atque duo et nemo tristis parebat imago : |
which does not yet lack all whiteness nor has yet become completely black. Watching, the other two cried, “Ah! How you are mutating, Agnello! You now have the form neither of two nor of one.” As one head fused out of two, where those two had been a doubled shape appeared to me in a single face. Out of the four appendages came two arms; the belly, chest, feet and legs took on an appearance never before seen. The entire previous image here was erased, and the sad image appeared as two and as no one. |
| 730 | Talis per campum vestigia lenta movebat. Ut solet ardenti viridis sub sole lacertus In sæpem ex alia transcurrere, fulguris instar, Sic, niger ut piper, adversus veniebat utrosque Deinde alios serpens ; et, qua nutrimen in alvo Fetus primum haurit, partem uni dente momordit Letifero, coramque viro est tellure relapsus. Inspicit hunc fixus, nullam dans ore loquelam ; Oscitat insistens pedibus, ceu frigida febris Occupet, aut somnus. Serpens atque ille vicissim |
In that condition it moved off through the field with slow steps. As under a blazing sun a green lizard typically runs like lightening across to one hedge from another, so a serpent, black as pepper, then went toward the others and with its lethal fangs bit, in the belly, the part of one of them where the fetus ingests its first nutrition, and fell back on the ground in front of the man. Transfixed, he looked at it, not uttering a word; standing motionless on his feet, he yawned as though a cold fever or sleep had taken over him. The snake and he looked |
| 740 | Spectabant sese ; alterque ex vulnere, et alter Fumum ore efflabant, ac fumus utrinque coibat. Nassidii cladem miseri, miserique Sabelli Lucanus sileat ; dictisque his applicet aures. Obticeat Cadmi casum, casumque Arethusæ Ovidius : si hanc in fontem, hunc mutavit in anguem. Non equidem invideo : duplex natura, sub ipsum Ambarum aspectum, nunquam mutatur ab illo Sic ut materiam mutaverit utraque forma. Hi sibi mox ita respondere, ut diffidit anguis |
each at the other; the one emitted smoke from his wound, the other from his mouth, and the smoke from both sides merged. Let Lucan be silent about the tragedy of the wretched Nassidius and the wretched Sabellus; let him lend his ears to this report. Let Ovid be quiet about the fate of Cadmus and the fate of Arethusa if he changes her into a fountain and him into a snake. I am by no means jealous: a pair of natures, before the very eyes of both, was never switched by him in such a way that both forms exchanged their substances. These then reciprocated with one another in such a manner that the snake split |
| 750 | In geminas caudam, ac duo vir vestigia junxit : Sic crura et femora hæserunt, ut nulla pateret Junctura ; atque sibi sumebat cauda figuram Quam viri omittebant plantæ : se dura colubri Mollivit cutis, atque viri est facta aspera tactu. Ipse per axillas traduci bracchia vidi Interius, colubrumque pedes protendere, quantum Sese ea contraherent. Posticæ denique plantæ, Insimul intortæ, membrum genitale crearunt, Ac miser ille suum partes divisit in ambas : |
its tail in two, and the man joined his two feet. His legs and thighs stuck together in such a way that no seam was visible. And the tail assumed for itself the form that the man’s feet were losing. The hard skin of the serpent softened, and that of the man became harsh to the touch. I myself saw his arms be withdrawn inward into his armpits, and the snake lengthen its feet by as much as those arms were shortening. Finally, its two hind feet, simultaneously twisted together, formed the genital member, and the wretch split his own into two parts. |
| 760 | Dumque novum fumus dat sumere utrique colorem, Atque, pilos huic inducens, his exuit illum, Alter procubuit terræ, sese extulit alter, Impia non autem detorquens lumina, quorum Sub diro intuitu mutabat quisque figuram. Qui tunc rectus erat, rictum intra tempora traxit, Atque ob materiam nimiam quæ venerat intro : Prodivere genis utrinque ex lēvibus aures ; Quod non introrsum subit exteriusque remansit, Inde labra ac nares, quantum, tumuere, decebat : |
Also, while the smoke made each take on a new color and, putting hair on this one, was taking it off of that one, the one fell flat on the ground and the other stood up while not, however, diverting its wicked eyes, under whose fierce stare each was changing his shape. The one who was then upright drew his maw between his temples; and, due to the excess matter which had developed on the inside, out of his smooth cheeks ears emerged on both sides. From what had not sunk inside and remained outside, there swelled lips and nose to a size that was appropriate. |
| 770 | Quique jacebat humi, rictum protendit, et aures Contraxit, quo more solet sua cornua limax. Diffidit hic linguam, conjunxit et ille bisulcam ; Ac simul evolvi fumus cessavit utrinque. Qui fera factus erat, per vallem sibila mittens Continuo aufugit : fugientem pone secutus Non minus est alter, sputos ac verba profundens. Deinde novum obvertit tergum, dixitque recedens : Nunc volo per vallem currat reptetque Buosus, Ac, velut ipse, sŏlum sinuoso corpore verrat. |
And the one that lay on the ground stretched out his mouth and drew in his ears, in the way a snail typically does its horns; this one split his tongue into two, that one united his forked one. And simultaneously smoke stopped pouring out from both sides. The one that had become an animal immediately fled through the valley, hissing; in the same way, the other one, spouting out spit and words, followed behind the fleeing one. Then he turned his new back around and, as he was leaving, said, “Now I want Buoso to run and crawl through the valley and, as I myself did, sweep the soil with his sinuous body.” |
| 780 | Sic mutare ac transmutare est septima vallis [20] Visa mihi. Novitas me excuset, siquid aberrent Carmina, nec liquido fluxit modulamine cantus. Quamvis attonitos oculos, visuque subactam Gessissem mentem, non tam hi fūgēre latentes, Ne mihi compertus Sciancatus Puccius esset, Qui, tribus ex sociis primum venientibus, unus Haud mutatus erat : dedit alter flere Gavillam. [21] |
Thus was the seventh valley seen by me to change and metamorphose. Let its strangeness excuse me if my poem wanders somewhat and my song has not flowed with fluid melody. Although I was left with my eyes thunderstruck and my mind subdued in vision, those souls did not flee so secretly that I did not recognize Puccio Sciancato who, of the three companions first arriving, was the only one unchanged. The other one [Francesco de’ Cavalcante] was he who made [the town of] Gaville weep. |
| INFERNORUM XXVI {26} ⇑ | ||
| 788 | Concipe lætitiam ; magna es, Florentia, valde : Per mare, per terram, atque Erebum tua fama vagatur : |
Rejoice, Florence! You are great indeed: your fame spreads through land, through sea, and even Hell. |
| 790 | Quinque tui cives mihi sunt in vallibus Orci Inter latrones visi : quare ipse pudore Inspergor, nec tu multo insigniris honore. At, si mane novo portendunt somnia verum, Non longum hinc aberit, quum te mox talia tangent, Quæ tibi, item Pratum, velut et gens quælibet optat ; Ac, si nunc essent, non immatura putarem. Oh, quando illa dies ventura est, protinus assit ; Namque magis tristor, quo segnior illa moratur. Digredimur : per quas descenderat, inde Magister |
Five of your citizens appeared to me in the valleys of Hell among the thieves, on account of which I am covered with shame, and you are not distinguished by much honor either. But if dreams in the early morning portend the truth, it will not be long before you will be struck by the things that Prato as well as every people wishes for you, and if they happened right now, I would not think them too soon. Oh may the time when that day is to come arrive quickly, for the more belatedly it tarries, the sadder I become. We left. The Teacher climbed up |
| 800 | Ascendit cautes ; et me secum ipse retraxit ; Sic quidem, ut absque manu nil pes procedere posset. Oh quantum dolui, ac memori nunc mente revolvens Indoleo, quæ tunc tormenta asperrima vidi ! Atque animum, plusquam soleo, compescere nītor, Virtutis ne forte viam transcurrat aberrans, Neve bonum, quod stella dedit vel Numen amicum, Ipse mihi invideam. Velut, alto in colle recumbens, Quum minus os nobis celat, qui illuminat orbem, Tempore quo proditque culex et musca recedit, |
the rocks he had climbed down and drew me up with him to be sure, in such a way that the foot could not make progress without the hand. O how I grieved and, turning it over in my memory, I grieve now, at the agonizing torments that I saw! And I struggle more than usual to quiet my mind lest, wandering astray, it should perhaps go beyond the path of virtue and I should begrudge myself the good that a friendly star or spirit has given me. As a farmer, lying back on a high hill when He Who illuminates the world hides his face from us least, at the time when the mosquito comes out and the fly retreats, |
| 810 | Per latos, quos forte arat ac vindemiat, agros, Aspicit ardentes lampyridas ire colonus ; Tot flammis late valles octava micabat, Prout vidi, simul ac potui discernere fundum. Ut vates, qui se est ultus silvestribus ursis, Thesbitæ currum aspexit, quum sursus ad auras Cornipedes saliere leves ; oculisque secutus, Non aliud poterat, nisi tantum cernere flammam Surgentem, ut nubes attollitur incita vento : Talis per foveam quævis se flamma movebat, |
sees burning fireflies go through the broad fields where he perhaps plows and harvests grapes, the eighth valley according to what I saw as soon as I could see the floor glittered broadly with that many flames. As the prophet [Elisha], who avenged himself with wild bears, saw the chariot of the Thesbite [Elias] when the light, hoofed steeds leapt up into the sky and, following it with his eyes, could not see anything except only the rising flames like a wind-whipped cloud being carried up, so each flame moved through the canyon |
| 820 | Nullaque monstrabat sontes, quos quæque recondit. Has ego sic summo spectabam ex culmine pontis, Ut nisi me cautes confestim arrepta teneret, In foveam præceps, nullo impellente, ruissem. Dux, ita me fixum cernens : est spiritus, inquit, Omnis in igne suo : sese, quo incenditur, abdit. Majorem tua, respondi, mihi verba, Magister, Induxere fidem ; verum id jam mente putavi ; Ac petere optabam, quisnam se abscondit in igne, Ex quo flamma biceps sursum consurgit ad auras |
and none displayed the guilty, which they all concealed. I watched them from the top of the bridge in such a way that, if the crag had not held me right away, I would have plunged headlong into the chasm without being pushed. And my Leader, seeing me so intent, said: “Every spirit is inside its own fire: he hides himself in what he is burnt by.” I replied: “Teacher, your words inspire me with all the greater certainty, but I had already surmised that mentally and wanted to ask who was hiding in the fire from which a double-tipped flame rises into the air, |
| 830 | Œdipododiadum qualem rogus edidit olim ? Sunt hic Tydides, respondit, et acer Ulysses, Vindictæ atque iræ pariter proclivis uterque. Hac et equi fraus, Romulidum qui janua genti Jam fuit ; hac et Palladium sub vindice flamma, Ex arce ablatum, luitur, viduoque relicta Deidamia toro, abductum quæ flevit Achillem. Si licet in mediis hos farier ignibus, inqui Tunc ego Ductori, te valde obtestor et oro, Hīc ducam patiare moram, dum flamma bicornis |
a flame such as the pyre of the Œdipododiads [Eteocles and his brother Polynices] once produced?” He answered me: “In there are Diomede and fierce Ulysses, both equally given over to punishment and wrath. The punishment here is: for the deception of the [Trojan] horse which was the gateway for the race of the Romans; and, under the avenging flame, for the Palladium, stolen from the citadel; and for the emptied bed of the abandoned Deidamia, who mourns for her abducted Achilles.” I then said to my Leader: “If it is permitted for them to speak in the midst of their fires, I beg you earnestly and beseech you to allow me to take a pause here while the twin-horned flame |
| 840 | Hīc sese ferat : ipse vides, quod versus eandem Eloquii me inclinat amor. Tunc ille vicissim : Non inhonesta rogas, rettulit, nec proinde negabo : At tu fac sileas ; sine me tantummodo fari : Quæ vis, cuncta scio : non his tua forsitan orsa Grata forent ; Grajorum etenim de gente fuerunt. Dixit ; et, ut nobis tulit hinc se flamma propinquam, Ac visum est illi tempusque locusque loquendi : O vos, quos unus, dixit, duo continet ignis, Si quid de vobis merui multumve parumve |
comes here: you yourself see that desire for conversing inclines me towards it. He then said in return, “You are not asking unworthy questions, and so I will not dismiss them, but be silent; let only me speak. I know everything you want. Your utterances might perhaps not be welcome to them, since they were of the race of the Greeks.” And as the flame came thence near us and the time and place for speaking seemed right, he said, “O you two whom a single fire contains, if I deserved from you a great deal or a little, |
| 850 | Carmina quum scripsi totum vulgata per orbem, Sistite ; neve unus vestrum narrare recuset, Quomodo, in æternum periens, est morte peremptus. Major tum flammæ cuspis, velut incita vento, Edere et incepit murmur, seseque movere ; Mox huc atque illuc, linguæ de more loquentis, Concutiens apicem, vocem prorupit, et inquit : Postquam deserui Circem, quæ longius anno Me prope Cajetam tenuit, cui nomina nondum Fecerat Æneas, cari non cura parentis, |
when I wrote my poems spread throughout the whole world, stop; and may one of you not refuse to tell how, dying into eternity, he was taken out by death.” The large peak of the flame then, as though whipped by the wind, began both to sound a murmur and to move itself; then, shaking its tip here and there like a speaking tongue, it emitted a voice and said, “After I had abandoned Circe who held me near Gaeta which Aeneas had not yet given a name to for longer than a year, neither concern for my dear father [Laërtes], |
| 860 | Non nati pietas, nec conjugis ardor amatæ, Quæ tot post annos tandem exhilaranda fuisset, Detinuit, cupidum mundi me ferre per oras, Unde hominum vitia ac virtutes noscere possem. Paucis cum sociis, qui me sunt corde secuti Impavido, atque una cum nave ingressus in altum, Europæ Libyesque latus, (Morrochium ad urbem Usque atque Hispanas terras), Sardoaque vidi Litora, et hōc quæque abluitur circum insula ponto. Fessi ævoque graves, fauces devenimus arctas |
nor compassion for my son [Telemachus], nor ardor for my beloved wife [Penelope] who, after so many years should finally have been made happy, restrained me, desirous of traveling throughout the world’s lands from which I could learn the vices and virtues of men. Setting out on the high seas with a few companions who with fearless heart had followed me, and with a single ship, I saw the coasts of Europe and Libya (as far as the city of Morocco and the Spanish lands), and the Sardinian shores, and every island washed around by that sea. Tired and heavy with age, we arrived at the [Atlantic] ocean’s narrow |
| 870 | Oceani, quibus Alcides jam signa locavit, Tendere ne ulterius quisquam ex mortalibus ausit. Hispalin ad dextram liqui, atque recesserat ante Ad lævam Sæpta. O socii, qui, mille periclis Fortiter elapsi, occiduas venistis ad oras, Dixi, ne breviter sensus dum luce fruuntur, Vos pigeat Solemque sequi atque invisere terras, Gentibus expertes : semen cognoscite vestrum : Non vitam ignavam, brutorum more, creati Ducere vos estis, sed res ediscere multas, |
jaws, on which Hercules had already set up his landmarks lest any mortals should dare to go farther. To the right I left Seville, and Ceuta had previously receded to the left. I said, ‘O companions who, having bravely escaped a thousand dangers, have come to the western shores, do not let it daunt you while your senses enjoy the light for a brief time to follow the Sun and visit lands empty of peoples. Consider your ancestry: you were begotten not to live a slothful life like brutes, but to learn many things |
| 880 | Virtutemque sequi. Paucis his vocibus arsit Sic animus sociis, ut mox retinere nequissem. Haud mora : ad Eoas puppim convertimus oras, Atque iter ingredimur stulti, lævam usque petentes. Cuncta poli alterius jam sidera nocte videbam ; Atque ita demissus, nil ut distaret ab undis, Noster erat. Jam quinque vices se lumine Luna Induerat, totque exuerat, postquam æquŏr in istud Impuleram navim, quum mons nigrescere longe Ob spatium est visus, quo non sublimior alter. |
and follow virtue!’ With these few words the spirits of my companions caught fire to such an extent that I was soon unable to restrain them. Without delay we turned the stern toward the eastern shores and stupidly embarked on our course, making continually for the left. At night I was already seeing all the stars of the other pole, and our own had sunk so low that it did not stand above the waves at all. The Moon had clothed itself with light five times and as many times doffed it after we had driven our ship onto that sea, when far off a mountain was seen to darken due to the distance, a mountain than which none other was higher. |
| 890 | Lætitia exsiluere animi : sed gaudia luctus Confestim excepit : quippe ex tellure retecta Surrexit nimbus, vasto qui turbine navis Perculit anterius latus, ac ter gurgite torsit : Erexit quarto puppim, proramque subegit ; Utque Alii placuit, nos supra clauditur æquŏr. |
Our spirits jumped for joy, but grief rapidly overcame our joy. For from the discovered land arose a stormcloud which struck the front side of the ship with an enormous whirlwind and twirled it around three times with a whirlpool. The fourth time it lifted the stern and submerged the prow and, as it pleased the Other, the sea closed over us.” |
| LIBER IV | ||
| INFERNORUM XXVII {27} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Vertice jam recto, nec plus dictura, quiebat Flamma ; viamque sequens, venia cum Vatis, abibat : Altera quum subiens, oculos sibi vertere fecit Confusum ob quendam sonitum, qui exibat ab illa. Bos veluti Siculus, qui primum, id jure merentis, Mugiit artificis questu, sic ægra ciebat Inclusi lamenta viri, ut, quanquam æreus esset, Ipse videbatur diros sentire dolores : Haud aliter flammæ, ex apice atque foramine nulla |
The flame, now with its tip erect and about to say no more, was quiet. With the permission of the Poet, it left, pursuing its route when another made us turn our eyes to it because of a kind of confused sound which came out of it. Like the Sicilian bull that first bellowed with the protests of its maker and that, justly , in that way emitting the morbid laments of the imprisoned man so that, although it was bronze, it seemed itself to feel terrible pains, likewise the flames, since there was no egress for them from the tip and aperture, |
| 10 | His via quum foret, in murmur se tristia verba Vertebant, quod more suo dat stridulus ignis. Ast ubi per culmen vox callem invenit, et illi Impressit motūs, dederat quos lingua loquentis, O qui nuper es Insubro sermone locutus, Vade age nunc, ajens, non te ultra dicere quæro Incepit, serus quamvis huc forsitan assum, Ne te tædeat hic paulum consistere mecum, Ac fari : non me, ut tu cernis, tædet, et ardeo. Si mundum in cæcum Latiis ex dulcibus oris, |
turned their sad words into the murmur which a hissing fire gives out in its own way. But when the voice had found a path out through the tip and forced on it the motions which the tongue of a speaker gives, it began, “Oh you who just now spoke in the Lombard dialect, saying, ‘Now go: I am not asking you to speak further,’ although I have perhaps arrived here late, may it not displease you to pause here a little and speak with me. As you see, it does not displease me, and I am burning. If you are a new inhabitant fallen from the sweet Latin shores into this blind world |
| 20 | Unde meum scelus omne fero, es novus incola lapsus, Dic, rogo, an Æmiliæ sit pax bellumne per urbes. Inter enim Urbinum atque jugum, ex quo Tibridis undæ Defluere incipiunt, ego sum jam montibus ortus. Ipse aderam, fixisque oculis ac vertice prono In foveam ex ponte aspiciens, quum protinus inquit Dux mihi, contingens latus : huic responsa roganti Nunc tu redde loquens ; quippe est de gente Latina. Tunc ego, qui fueram jam respondere paratus : O Anima, incepi, ardenti quæ absconderis igne, |
whence I bring all of my crimes, tell me, I beg of you, whether there is peace or war throughout the cities of Aemilia. For I came from the mountains between Urbino and the [Appennine] range from which the waters of the Tiber begin to flow.” I myself was looking from the bridge into the chasm there, with my eyes fixed and my head leaning over, when suddenly my Leader, touching my side, said to me, “Now you, speaking, give an answer to the questioner, for he is of Latin stock.” Then I, who had already been ready to respond, began, “O Soul who is hidden in burning fire, |
| 30 | Æmilia haud unquam bello, quod corde tyranni Intus alunt, caruit, nec nunc caret, at manifestum Nullibi nunc sævit. Stat nunc, velut ante, Ravenna : Polentæ fovet hanc aquila ; et te, Cervia, pennis Nixa tegit. Tellus quæ Gallica reppulit arma [1] Ac cæde implevit campos, subjecta leoni Est viridi. Canis ex Verrucchio uterque, vetusque [2], Atque novus, qui tam leto crudeliter olim Montagnam dederunt, ubi jam suevere, terebrant. Urbes, quas Lamon atque alluit amne Santernus, |
Aemilia [= Romagna] has never been free, nor is is now free, of war, which its tyrants nourish inwardly in their hearts; but nowhere is it currently raging openly. Ravenna is standing now as before. [Guido de] Polenta’s eagle nourishes it and, suspended on its wings, it hovers over you, Cervia. The city [Forlì] that repulsed French arms and filled the fields with slaughter, is subject to the green lion [of Ordelaffi]. Both of the dogs of Verruchio, the old one and the new one, who once so cruelly killed Montagna, gouge where they usually do. The small blue lion on a white field [of Maghinardo de’ Pagani] holds in check |
| 40 | Cærulus infrenat campo leo parvus in albo, [3] Sæpius assuetus diversas sumere partes. Cui Sapis lavat undā latus, montem utpote et inter [4] Planitiem posita, est sic nunc subjecta tyrannis, Libera nunc regnat. Qui sis nunc exsere quæso ; Neve magis quam alius fuit, intractabilis esto, Sic tibi sit terris, vincens oblivia, nomen. Murmur more suo postquam paulum edidit ignis, Has flavit, moto huc atque illuc vertice, voces : Si responsa viro, terras qui deinde rediret, |
the cities [Faenza and Imola] which the Lamon and Santerno [rivers] wash. The lion is accustomed to changing opposite sides frequently. The city [Cesena] whose side the Sapis bathes, inasmuch as it is located between the mountain and the plain, is thus now subjected to tyrants, now rules free. Now please reveal who you are, and do not be more intractable than the other one; in that way your name, overcoming oblivion, will exist on earth.” After the fire had emitted a murmur in its own way for a bit, moving its top here and there, it breathed out these words: “If I now thought I were giving answers to a man who would then return to earth, |
| 50 | Reddere nunc rerer, flamma hæc immota sileret : At, quoniam nemo tenebris evasit ab hisce, Si verum audivi, non hinc me infamia terret. Armiger ipse fui ; divi me Fratribus inde Francisci addixi ; crasso sic cannabe vinctum Præteritæ delere putans me crimina vitæ. Ac certe rata spes fuerat, nisi maximus ille Presbyterûm (quem dira premant) me involvere rursus Impulerit culpis : nunc quare et quomodo disce. Dum spirare dedi, mihi quos induxerat artūs |
this flame would become unmovingly silent; but because no one gets out of this darkness, if I have heard the truth, infamy does not scare me here. I [Guido da Montefeltro] was a man of arms: I then joined the Friars of Saint Francis, thinking that, girded thus with a thick hempen rope, I would erase the crimes of my previous life. And certainly my hope would have been validated if that supreme Priest [Boniface VIII] (may dire things crush him!) had not pushed me to envelope myself again with guilt. Now learn why and how: while I committed the limbs that my mother had |
| 60 | Mater, me vulpis gessi, non more leonis ; Atque astus fraudesque omnes artesque dolosas Sic didici, ut late exierit mea fama per orbem. Quum vitæ ad tempus veni, quo quisque rudentes Colligere, ac mālo deberet ducere vela, Quod placuit, mihi displicuit ; sacroque Ministro, Corde dolens, lacrimisque madens, sum crimina fassus. Heu miser ! hoc me juvisset ; verum ille recentum Rex Pharisæorum, Lateranum propter, iniquum Quum bellum gereret, non contra ex gente creatos |
clothed me with to breathing, I acted as a fox, not a lion, but I learned the cunning and fraud and all the deceitful arts so that my fame spread widely throughout the world. When I came to the time of life where everyone should gather in his ropes and draw his sails to the mast, what had been pleasing me, displeased me and, with sorrow in my heart and becoming wet with tears, I confessed my sins to a holy priest. Ah, wretched me! That would have helped me, but that king of modern Pharisees, when he was waging an unjust war near the Lateran not against those begotten from the people |
| 70 | Thracum aut Isăācidum, sed Christum ex gente colentum, Quorum nemo Arabum mercator adiverat oras, Nec Ptolemaiden sumptis devicerat armis ; Non summo officio, sacro nec ab ordine, in ipso Est se detentus ; non, in me, cingulo ab illo, Reddere quod cinctos macriores ante solebat. Ut Constantinus Soracte in monte petivit Sylvestrum, ut lepram ablueret, sic iste magistrum Me sibi delegit febrim sanare superbam. Hic me consuluit : silui, nec sum orsa referre |
of the Thracians [= Muslims] or the Jews, but from the people worshipping Christ, of whom none had gone as a merchant to the shores of the Arabs or, having taken up arms, had defeated Ptolemāis [= Saint-Jean-d’Acre in Palestine]. He was restrained neither by his supreme office nor by the holy orders in himself, nor, in me, by the cincture which previously would render those girded with it leaner. As [Emperor] Constantine sought out [Saint] Sylvester on Mount Soracte to wash away his leprosy, in the same way, that man chose me for himself to cure his arrogant fever. He sought my counsel; I was silent and did not venture to respond verbally, |
| 80 | Ausus ; visus enim tanquam ebrius edere verba. At mihi mox dixit ; cunctos depelle timores ; Jam nunc te absolvo : tu quo Præneste potiri Evaleam doceas : reserare et claudere cælum, Ut scis, ipse queo : sunt binæ ad talia claves, Quas meus haud voluit sibimet decessor habere. Vocibus his actus, pejus ratus ipse silere ; Quod mox admittam, quando me crimine solvis, Te, dixi, præstare parum, et promittere multum Victorem reddent. Postquam me vita reliquit, |
for he seemed like a drunk man uttering words. But he then said to me, ‘Put away all your fears; I am already absolving you now. You, teach me how I can take over Palestrina. As you know, I can open and close heaven: for this purpose there are the two keys which my predecessor did not want to keep for himself.’ Moved by these words, I thought it worse to keep silent. I said, ‘Since you absolve me of the crime that I will now commit: promising much and delivering very little will make you the victor.’ After life left me, |
| 90 | Ferre mihi Franciscus opem est conatus ; at unus Atrorum Cherubim ; noli me lædere, dixit, Nec tecum hunc ducas : veniendum est Tartara, et inter Afflictas Animas : subeunda huic quippe dolosi Pœna est consilii, post quod crini illius hæsi : Quem non pænituit, nequaquam absolvere par est ; Pænituisse ac velle, sibi adversantur et obstant. Hei mihi ! quam dolui, quum me deprendit aduncis Unguibus, increpitans : non me tu forte putabas Tam Logicen doctum. Ad Minoem duxit ; et ille, |
[Saint] Francis tried to help me. but one of the Black Cherubim said to him: ‘Do not wrong me; do not take him with you. He must come to Hell and among the stricken Souls. He must undergo the punishment for his ensnaring advice, ever since which I have stuck to his hair: it is by no means right to absolve someone who has not repented. To have repented but also to will something contradict and nullify one another.’ Woe to me! How I suffered when he seized me with his hooked claws, reproaching me: ‘Perhaps you did not think that I was a learned logician.’ He led me to Minos, and that one, |
| 100 | Bis quater ut cauda se incinxit, eamque momordit Magna ira : involventem, ait, hĭc descendat ad ignem. Propterea, velut ipse vides, me excepit Avernus ; Atque ita vestitus gradiens, angore peruror. Hæc ubi sic dixit, torquens agitansque cacumen, Flamma dolens abiit. Nos, Ductor et ipse, per altum Tendimus ulterius scopulum, dum venimus arcum, Altera quo tegitur valles, ubi pœna fatigat Qui sibi discidiis onus imposuere serendis. |
as he coiled his tail around himself twice four times and bit it in great anger, said, ‘Let this one go down to the enveloping fire.’ So, as you yourself see, Hell has received me and, going clothed like this, I burn with anguish.” When it had thus said this, the flame, writhing and flickering its tip, went on its way, suffering. We my Guide and I myself passed on further along the high rock arterial until we came to the arch by which the next valley is bridged, where punishment exhausts those who have imposed burdens on themselves by sowing discord. |
| INFERNORUM XXVIII {28} ⇑ | ||
| 109 | Quis potis est verbis, etiam sermone soluto, | Who could tell, even in prose, |
| 110 | Quanquam dicta iteret, plāgas fari atque cruorem, Est mihi qui visus ? Certe facundia nulla Hoc hominis posset, propter mentem atque loquelam, Tendere quæ tantum nequeunt. Si tota coiret Gens quoque, quæ Daunos implevit sanguine campos Ense Phrygum, ac longo hinc bello, quo plurimus olim, Livius ut narrat verax, spolia incluta fecit Anulus ; atque simul, quam leto deinde Rubertus Neustrius immisit [5] ; cujusque inhumata Ceprani Hactenus ossa patent, defecit ubi Apulus omnis ; [6] |
even though he repeated the words, the blows and gore which appeared to me? Certainly no eloquence of man could do so, on account of our intellect and language which cannot reach that far. If, too, one gathered together all the people who filled the Apulian fields with their blood at the sword of the Phrygians [= Trojans, i.e., the Romans, descended from Æneas]; and then in the long [Punic] war in which once a mass of rings, as the truthful Livy reports, made up famous spoils; and at the same time the people whom Robert [Guiscard] of Neustria sent to their deaths; and the people whose unburied bones to this day lie exposed at Ceperano where all the Apulians deserted [for Charles of Anjou]; |
| 120 | Et Taleacoti trans arcem, ubi, viribus usus Armorum nullis, vicit longævus Alardus, [7] Tot tantæque acies transfixaque truncaque membra Si simul ostendant, non horrida vulnera nonæ Æquarent foveæ. Medio aut alio assere rupto, Non sic dolium hiat, velut unum a pectore summo Usque huc dissectum vidi, quo desinit alvus : Inter crura viro pendebant exta ; patebant Et jecur et saccus, quo in stercus vertitur esca. Dum fixis hærerem oculis, lacerumque tuerer, |
and beyond the castle of Tagliacozzo where, availing himself of no weapons, the aged Elard [de Valéry] conquered if so many and such great legions simultaneously showed their transfixed and severed limbs, they would not equal the hideous wounds of the ninth pit. A barrel with a middle or other stave broken does not gape as widely as an individual I saw cloven from the top of his chest to the pont where the stomach ends. The entrails of the man were hanging between his legs. Both his liver and his bowel where food is turned into excrement lay wide open. While I was glued with fixed eyes and looking at the mangled man, |
| 130 | Is me suspexit, pectusque reclusit, et inquit : Aspice ut abscindor : Mahomettum conspice truncum. Procedit, lacrimas fundens, et me anteit Ali, [8] A mento ad cirrum sectus. Qui schismata, quique Discidia in terris olim severunt, tenentur Hic omnes, omnesque modis scinduntur eisdem. Dæmon adest retro, qui nos crudeliter ense Dissecat ; huc iterum revocans, iterumque recidens, Quum gyrum explemus : sanantur vulnera quippe Ante, sub illius quam nos ferat ora recursus. |
he looked up at me, and opened his chest with his hands, saying: “See how I tear myself: see how Mohammed is mutilated! And in front of me goes Ali, shedding tears, sliced from his chin to his hair. Those who once sowed schisms and dissidence on earth are all held here and all cloven in the same way. There is a demon back there who rends us cruelly with a sword, calling us here again and again chopping us up after we have completed the circuit, since the wounds heal before the cycle brings us back before his face. |
| 240 | Tu vero quis es, in summo qui vertice pontis Segnis ades, forsan pœnas ut adire moreris, Quæ tibi confesso sunt propter crimina fixæ. Non hunc, Præceptor rettulit, mors hactenus aura Privavit vitæ, pœnā nec vindice crimen Plectendum huc trudit ; sed, res ut discat ab usu, Æthere me cassum per cunctos Ditis oportet Esse ducem gyros : certumque hoc crede, velut me Certum est ista loqui. His verbis, plurima turba Constitit in fovea ; atque mihi, pœnæ immemor, hæsit |
But who are you, who are there dawdling on the highest peak of the bridge, perhaps in order to delay going to the punishment which has been assigned to you for the crimes you have confessed?” My Preceptor replied, “Death has not yet deprived this man of the breath of life, nor does crime force him here to be punished by an avenging penalty; but so that he may learn the matter by experience, I, bereft of [life’s] air, am required to be his leader through all the circles of Hell. And believe me, this is as certain as it is certain that I am saying these things.” At these words, a huge crowd halted in the ditch and, forgetting their agonies, stood still, |
| 150 | Fixa oculos : O fors superas rediture sub auras, Dic age Dulcino Fratri [9], nisi sistere mecum Hic propere ille velit, curet se providus ampla Instruere annona ; ne, si commercia tollat Nix infusa jugis, victoria læta Novaræ Sit cedenda duci, quæ aliter non prona futura est. Hæc mihi verba, pedem postquam Maomettus, ut iret Suspendit, dixit ; quæ vix est fatus, eundem Pressit humi, atque abiit. De turba saucius alter, Qui visum attonitus steterat, tum prosilit : una |
fixing their eyes on me. “O you who perhaps are about to return up to the air above, tell Brother Dolcino [of the heretical Apostolic Brethren sect] that if he would not like soon to stay here with me, to take care providently to store up ample provisions, lest, if snow falling on the mountains should block trade, a happy victory be ceded to the leader of Novara that would otherwise not be easy.” Mohammed said these words to me after lifting his foot to go; having hardly said them, he put the same foot on the ground and left. Another wounded one of the crowd, who had stood thunderstruck to look at me, then jumped forward. Lacking |
| 160 | Aure carens, sectum jugulum, naresque gerebat Usque supercilium abscissas. Se protulit ille Ante alios, omnique foris quod parte rubebat, Effudit tales patefacto ex gutture voces. O qui tartareas adis inculpabilis umbras, Quem, nimium simili nisi fallor imagine, vidi In Latiis terris, planum si dulce revisas, Quod de Vercellis declive ad Marcabojum Tendit, de Medicina ne obliviscere Petri : [10] Alloquere ipse duos Fani ex melioribus urbis ; |
one ear, he had a cut throat and his nose cut off up to his eyebrows. He came forth ahead of the others and, from his opened throat that was red outside on every part, he poured forth the following speech: “O you who, unblameworthy, come to the infernal shades, whom I have seen, if I am not deceived by an excessively similar image, on Latian territory, if you should revisit the sweet plain that stretches sloping from Vercelli to Marcabò, do not forget Pier da Medicina. You, speak to two of the best men of the city of Fano; |
| 170 | Guidus et Angelulus discant (præscire futurum [11] Hic nisi sit vanum) quod saxo utrique revincti, Ex cumba, prope Crustumium, impii fraude tyranni Projicientur aquis. Cypri Neptunus ab oris Ad Baleare sŏlum, piratas atque carinas Argolicas nunquam tantum scelus edere vidit. Proditor ille ferox, uno qui lumine captus, [12] Telluris potitur, quam, qui mihi proximus astat, Nunquam vidisse optaret, mentitus amicum Ducet ad alloquium, atque dabit non inde precandum |
Guido [del Cassero] and Angiolello [da Carignano] should learn (unless forseeing the future here is false) that both, bound with rocks, will be thrown from a boat into the water near Cattolica through the deceit of an impious tyrant. From the shores of Cyprus to Balearic soil, Neptune never saw pirates and Greek caravels commit such a great crime. That fierce traitor [Malatestino], who is bereft of one eye, possesses the land that he who stands next to me wishes he had never seen, lying will draw his friend to a conference and will then make it so |
| 180 | Esse his, quum flarit ventus de monte Focara. [13] Tunc ego : si in terras de te vis nuntia ferri, Illius nomen, qui nollet Ariminum unquam Vidisse, ostendas. Dextram tunc ille tetendit, Cujusdam ad socii vultum, atque illi ora reclusit : Hic est, inclamans, sed muta silentia servat : Cæsaris hic dubiam mentem, depulsus ab urbe, Impulit in bellum, semper mala multa paratis Ferre moras memorans. Proh ! quam dejectus et excors Est mihi tunc visus, dissecta in gutture lingua, |
that they will not have to pray when the wind blows from Mount Focara.” Then said I: “If you wish news of yourself to be taken to earth, tell me the name of him who would not want ever to have seen Rimini.” He then stretched out his right hand to the face of a certain companion and opened his mouth, exclaiming, “This is the one, but he keeps his mute silence. An outcast from the city, this man pushed the hesitating mind of Caesar into war, saying that, for the ready, delays always bring many evils.” Ah! How dejected and stupid he seemed to me, with his tongue slit in his throat |
| 190 | Curio, qui tantum fuerat sermonibus audax ! Exin alter, erat manibus qui truncus utrisque, Aëra per tætrum mutilas sic extulit ulnas, Ut cruor inficeret vultum ; ac reminiscere, dixit, Præterea Moschæ, qui infectum reddere factum [14] Nemo potest, heu inqui ; Tuscæ mala semina gentis Quod fuit. Atque tui, adjeci, mors sanguinis unā. Is, luctum accumulans luctu, tum tristis, et instar Mente carentis, abiit. Pontem super ipse moratus, Rem inde aspexi, quam sine teste referre timerem, |
Curio, who had been so bold in speech! And next, another one, who had both hands cut off, raised his mutilated arms through the foul air, so that gore stained his face, and said, “Remember also Mosca, I who alas! said, ‘No one can make a done thing undone,’ which was ill seed for the Tuscan people.” I added, “And along with the death of your own blood.” He, augmenting grief with grief, then left, sad and like a man insane. Tarrying atop the bridge, I myself saw a thing which I would fear to report without a witness, |
| 200 | Ni me fidentem faceret, mens conscia veri, Quæ, plusquam lorica, virum, comes optima, munit. Vidi egomet certe, ac videor nunc cernere, quendam Cum reliquis sociis incedere, vertice truncum. Crinibus apprensum, pendentis lampadis instar, Gestabat caput ille manu, atque hoc lumina nobis Tendebat fixa, eheu eheu flebile clamans. Fax erat ipse sibi, geminusque ac unicus idem. Quomodo id esse potest, is scit, qui talia condit. Ut venit, rectusque ad pontis constitit imum, |
if I were not made confident by my consciousness of truth, consciousness which, as the best companion, armors a man more than a breastplate. I definitely saw, and seem now to see, someone traveling with the rest of his companions, shorn of his head. He bore his head grasped by the hair like a hanging lamp, and it kept its eyes fixed on us, tearfully crying ‘Woe!, woe!’” It was itself its own torchlight, and the same thing was both double and single. How that can be, He knows who created such things. When he came and stood right at the underneath of the bridge, |
| 210 | Cum capite erexit dextram, ut propiora loquentis Nobis verba forent ; tum sic est talibus orsus : O qui, vivus adhuc, vita circumspicis orbos, Aspice num sit pœnă meā crudelior usquam : Utque mei referas in terris nuntia, scito Beltramum me esse a Bornio, qui prava Joanni [15] Jam regi monumenta dedi. Natum ipse rebellem In patrem feci : nec sic Ahithophel olim Absalom in David stimulis vehementibus egit. Quandoquidem sum partitus tam sanguine junctos, |
he raised up his right hand with the head so that the words of the speaker would be closer to us, then began thus with the following: “O you who, still living, are viewing those bereft of life, look and see whether there was ever a punishment crueler than mine. And so that you may report news of me to earth, know that I am Bertran de Born, who formerly gave perverse admonitions to King John. I made the son rebellious against his father: Achitophel with his virulent goading did not, once upon a time, drive Absalom against David so. Because I divided those who were so joined by blood, |
| 220 | Principio abscissum, quod in isto corpore sistit, Ipse caput fero : respondent sic crimina pœnis. |
I myself bear my head severed from its source, which is located in this body. Thus my crimes correspond to their punishments. |
| INFERNORUM XXIX {29} ⇑ | ||
| 222 | Tam gentes multæ, diversaque vulnera, fletu Tam mihi complerant oculos, ut flere manentes Ulterius cuperent. Sed : quidnam conspicis ? inquit Tum mihi Virgilius : cur deorsum lumina, figis In mutilam gentem ? non hōc te more gerebas In reliquis foveis : si sit numerare voluntas, Bis dena atque duo se volvit milia valles. Nobis Luna subest ; nec multum temporis ergo |
So many peoples and the different wounds had so tear-filled my eyes that they wanted, staying, to weep yet more. But Virgil then said to me, “What are you looking at? Why are you fixing your eyes on the maimed masses? You did not behave this way in the other moats. If your wish is to count them, the valley circles for twice-ten and two miles. The moon is beneath us and hence not much time |
| 230 | Jam datur ; et, quæ non reris, sunt multa videnda. Si cur inspicerem, respondi, adverteris, ultra Sistere me paulum sineres. Dum talia farer, Ille ibat ; quem pone sequens, sum deinde locutus : Carcere in hoc rebar, junctum mihi sanguine, quendam Flere scelus, quod tam hic luitur. De pectore curam, Rettulit, hanc abigas ; animumque ad cetera verte. Quo manet, is maneat : vidi hunc nam pontis ad imum Tendentemque tibi digitum, graviterque minantem, Ac Gerum audivi Del-Bello nomine dici : |
is left now; and there are many things to be seen that you are unaware of.” I responded, “If you had noticed why I was looking, you would have allowed me to stay a little longer.” While I was saying that, he walked on; following behind him, I then said, “It seemed to me that in that prison a certain one, connected to me by blood, was bewailing his crime which is punished so much here.” He replied, “Dismiss the concern from your mind and turn your thoughts to other things. Let him stay where he is staying. For I saw him at the bottom under the bridge pointing his finger at you and making violent threats; and I heard him called Geri del Bello. |
| 240 | Sic te intentum animo truncus Beltramus habebat, Ut non illuc aspiceres ; quare ille recessit. Dux bone, quod nemo ex eis, quos injuria tangit, Illius interitum, rettuli, fuit hactenus ultus, Is dolet ; atque ideo, ut reor, haud me affatus, abivit : Sed magis hoc propter pietatem obstringor in illum. Sic fantes alterna, locus nos primus, eundo, Post paulum excepit, quo, si plus luminis esset, Altera de scopulo valles spectatur ad imum. Quum foveam extremam attigimus, detentaque ibidem |
The mutilated Bertran [de Born] kept you so mentally intent that you did not look that way, so he departed.” I replied: “Oh, good guide, it pains him that no one of those affected by his injustice has yet avenged his death: therefore, I guess, he went away without speaking to me; but out of loyalty I am all the more obligated toward him.” As, going along, we thus talked alternatingly, after a little while the first place came up where, if there had been more light, the next valley would have been visible from the rock arterial to the bottom. When we reached the final moat, and the there imprisoned, |
| 250 | Improba gens oculis patuit, tam flebilis alte Telaque tam cordi infigens pietatis acuta, Increpuit sonus, ut clausi mihi protinus aures. Si, quos curandis loca publica dedita morbis, Quos habet et Claniæ æstivo sub tempore Valles, Quos et Sardinia, et Tusci maris ora, dolorum Congeries foveā simul includatur in unā, Illic talis erat ; talisque exibat in auras Tæter odor, qualis membris marcentibus exit. Nos scopuli in longi extremam descendimus oram |
wicked population was visible to the eye, a sound so deeply doleful, and shooting sharp missiles of pity into my heart to such a degree, that I immediately covered my ears with my hands. If the mass of sufferings which the public institutions for curing ailments contain, sufferings which also the Valley of Chiana [= Val di Chiana] during the summertime, and Sardinia, and the coast of the Tuscan sea have, were enclosed in a single pit at the same time, it would be like that there; and a foul odor came up into the air, such as is emitted by rotting limbs. We went down over the last bank of the long rock arterial |
| 260 | Ad lævam : clareque magis tum cernere fundum Evalui, quo falsificos dat nescia falli Justitia affligi pœnis. Haud tristius olim, Arbitror, Æginæ populum fuit undique morbo Cernere correptum, quum sic vitio aëris omne Enectum est animal (narrant quod carmine vates) Ut de formicis fuerit gens deinde refecta ; Quam foret obscuram per vallem hic cernere sontes Languere in cumulis variis. Super ille jacebat Alterius dorso ; super alter ventre supino ; |
to the left, and then I could more clearly see the bottom, where undeceivable Justice punishes the deceivers. It would not have been sadder to see the people of [the Greek island of] Ægina attacked by disease from everywhere, when all living things were exterminated by airborne infection (as the poets relate) to the point that the people were then recreated from ants, than it was to see the guilty languishing in various heaps throughout the dark valley. This one lay on that one’s back; another on a supine belly; |
| 270 | Alter per terram reptabat corpore prono. Passibus ingredimur lentis, ac ore silentes, Aures atque oculos intenti gentibus ægris, Quæ malefirma sŏlō sustollere membra nequibant. Vidi autem tellure duos, sibi mutuo nīxos, A capite ad talos scabie consĭdēre tectos, Ut testam testæ mos est apponere junctam, Ut caleant, igni. Nequaquam servulus unquam, Quem dominus maneat, vel qui vigilare recuset, Tam celer exagitat strigilem, quantum unguibus artus |
another was crawling along the ground with his body face down. We proceded with slow steps and orally silent, fixing our ears and eyes on the sick people who could not raise their feeble limbs off the ground. I did, however, see two, covered from head to heel with scabs, sitting on the earth, mutually leaning on one another the way it is customary to lean one earthen vessel on another, adjacent to a fire, so that they will warm up. By no means did any servant boy on whom his master was waiting, or who declines to stay awake, ever work a currycomb as fast as they scratched their |
| 280 | Hi sibi scalpebant, rabida prurigine adacti, Quæ nullum solamen habet nullamque medelam. Haud aliter scabiem radebant unguibus uncis, Mugilis ac squamam corio, vel piscis alīus Cui sit lata magis, culter divellit aënus. O qui te laceras, digitisque ut forcipe sæpe Uteris, (æternum tibi sic talem unguis ad usum Sufficiat), Vates inquit tum versus ad unum : Fare age, in his quisquam num sit de gente Latina. Quos male mulctatos sic cernis, uterque Latinus, |
limbs with their nails, driven by a fierce itching which had no relief and no remedy. They scraped the scabs off with their hooked nails just like a bronze knife tears off the scales from the hide of a mullet or of another fish which has wider ones. Turning to one, the Poet then said, “O you who are lacerating yourself and often use your fingers like pincers (and may your nails suffice thus for such an eternal task), come, tell me whether among these there is anyone of Latin stock.” Weeping, one answered, “Those whom you see thus punished, |
| 290 | Flens unus rettulit, sumus : at, tu, talia quærens ; Quisnam es ? Cui Vates contra ; sum, reddidit, unus, Qui simul hoc vivo varios descendo per orbes, Tartara ut huic pandam, quæque hic tormenta feruntur. Vix hæc audierunt, se disjunxere, trementes ; Ac mihi cum reliquis, quorum vox attigit aures, Verterunt sese. Mihi tunc Præceptor adhærens : Quod cupis, his petito, dixit. Monitumque secutus, Hæc ego sum fatus : sic vestrum nulla vetustas Deleat in terris nomen, multosque recursus |
both of us are Latian. But you, asking such things, who are you?” The Poet replied in response, “I am one who descends together with this living man through the various circles to show him Hell and the torments which are borne here.” They had hardly heard this when they separated, trembling and, with the rest whose ears his voice had reached, turned to me. My Preceptor then, holding onto me, said, “Ask what you want of them.” Following his advice, I said the following: “So that no senescence may erase on earth your name, and that it may outlast the return |
| 300 | Exsuperet Solis, qui estis, qua et gente creati, Dicite ; neve, quod obscenum valdeque molestum Supplicium luitis, deterreat ista præfari. Me terra Aretina tulit, tum reddidit unus ; Ex Sena Albertus flammis me fecit aduri. Non huc me vero, pro quo combustus obivi, Adduxit crimen. Possem, dixi ipse jocose, Dædaleum in morem vacuas me ferre per auras Remigio alarum : is fatuus, cupidusque volandi, Scire modum hunc voluit : quod non ut Dædalus esset |
of many suns, say who you are and of what people you are begotten, and do not be deterred by the fact that you are suffering a repulsive and extremely miserable punishment from saying these things. Then one [= Griffolino] of them replied, “The earth of Arezzo produced me; Alberto of Siena had me burned by flames. But the crime for which I died burnt did not bring me here. I said in jest, ‘I could propel myself through empty air in a Daedalean manner by rowing with wings.’ He, a fool and wanting to fly, wanted to know that technique. Because I did not then make it so that he was Daedalus, |
| 310 | Proinde dedi, a quodam mitti me fecit in ignem, Qui tanquam ipse suo prognatum sanguine habebat. [16] Nescius at falli Minos me jecit in istam Extremam, alchimiæ damnatum crimine, vallem. Quis tam animi vanus, quam Sena ex urbe creati ? Inqui ego Ductori, nec tam gens Gallica certe est. Alter at inspersus scabie : Striccam excipe, dixit, Qui modice impensas fecit, rebusque pepercit : [17] Excipe Nicolaum, morem qui primus opimum Fragrantis caryophylli jam adduxit in hortum, |
he had me committed to an auto-da-fé by a certain man who himself considered him a son of his own blood. But the undeceivable Minos threw me, condemned for the sin of alchemy, into this valley, the farthest one.” I said to the Leader, “Who is as vain in spirit as those begotten of the city of Siena? Certainly, not even the French people.” But the other one blotched with scabs said, “Except for Stricca, who made expenditures moderately and spared his resources; except for Niccolo, who was the first to introduce the usage of fragrant clove into that fertile garden [= Siena], |
| 320 | Quo bene radices egit : simul excipe cœtum [18] Caccia ubi ex Asciano rus silvasque profudit, Judiciique sui Abbajatus pandit acumen. Ut vero agnoscas, qui tam tua dicta secundat Senenses contra, mihi sic tua lumina fige, Ut faciem adversam videas ; et me esse Capocchi Deprendes Umbram, qui (nam me noscere debes) Falsificas colui, Naturæ simius, artes. |
where it takes root well; at the same time, except for the crew where Caccia d’Asciano squandered his country estate and forests, and Abbagliato [“the Bedazzled,” i.e., Bartolommeo dei Folcacchieri] displayed his acuteness of judgement. But so that you may recognize who so seconds your statements against the Sienese, focus your eyes on me so that you may see my face directly, and you will see that I am Capocchi who (for you should know me), as an ape of Nature, practiced the arts of falsification.” |
| INFERNORUM XXX {30} ⇑ | ||
| 328 | Quum Juno ob Semelen Thebas adversus (ut una Plus vice monstravit) sævas exarsit in iras, Usque Athamas adeo concepit mente furorem |
At the time when Juno blazed up in savage rage against Thebes (as she showed more than once), Athamas went into such a mental rage that, |
| 330 | Conjuge ut inspecta, geminis quæ utrosque gerebat In bracchiis natos : tendamus retia, dixit Inclamans, ut cum catulis capiam ipse leænam, Hæc ajens, unum matre ex luctante, Learchum Nomine, corripuit, saxoque illisit adactum : Natum alium eripiens, mater se jecit in æquŏr. Quumque Phrygum prostravit opes, adeoque potentem, Ut rex cum regno fuerit deletus, iniqua Sors gentem oppressit, Priami mæstissima conjux, Postquam est crudeli consumpta Polyxena leto, |
seeing his wife who was carrying both of their sons in her two arms, he said, shouting, “Let us stretch out the nets so that I myself can capture the lioness with her cubs!” Saying this, he seized one, Learchum by name, while the mother was crying, and hurled it, smashing it against a rock. Grabbing the other one [Melicertes], the mother [Ino] threw herself into the sea. And when unjust Fortune laid waste to the riches of the Phrygians [= the Trojans], and so crushed the powerful people that their king was wiped out with their kingdom, the greatly grieving wife [Queen Hecuba] of [King] Priam, after [her daughter] Polyxena had been killed in a cruel death, |
| 340 | Exanimemque suum Polydorum in litore vidit, In rabidam conversa canem dedit ore latratus : Tam miseræ immanis mentem detorserat angor ! At nunquam Trojæ ac Thebes animalia diræ Aut homines Furiæ sunt sic invadere visæ, Ut geminas Umbras, nudas, morsuque petentes, More suis, quum prodit hara, tum currere vidi : Quarum una impetiit rabido sic dente Capocchium Ad colli nodum, ut duram corradere terram Ventre dedit. Mihi tunc, qui manserat atque tremebat, |
and she saw her dead [son] Polydorus on the shore, she went, changed into a mad dog, barking such terrible anguish had twisted the mind of the wretched woman! But never were the fearsome Furies of Troy and Thebes seen to attack animals or humans as I then saw twin Shades running around naked and attacking with their teeth like a pig released from its sty. One of them attacked Capocchio on the nape of the neck with its savage fangs in such a way that it made him scrape the hard earth with his belly. The Aretine who was left and trembling then |
| 350 | Aretinus ait : Schicchi hæ est Umbra Joannis Irrequieta, furens alias quæ percutit Umbras. Sic tibi, ego dixi, dentes non ingerat alter, Qui sit, quam prius abscedat, ne dicere noli : Myrrhæ est Umbra vetus, rettulit, quæ patris amore Fas ultra exarsit : falsam, ut cum patre coiret, Induit hæc formam ; falsam velut induit ille, Hinc procul incedens, ut equam sibi posset habere Eximiam, simulans Donatum fraude Buosum, Ac testamentum mentito nomine condens. |
said to me, “That restless Shade is Gianni Schicci who goes around madly assailing Shades.” I said, “May the other one not sink its teeth in you in that way. Before it leaves, do not refuse to tell me who it is.” He replied, “That is the old Shade of Myrrha who burned with love for her father [Cinyras] beyond what is right. In order to have coitus with her father, she took on a false form; just like that other one, going far off, took on a false one to be able to acquire a prize mare, fraudulently pretending to be Buoso Donati and making a will with a counterfeit name.” |
| 360 | Hæc dixit. Postquam duo præteriere furentes, Ad quos intentus fueram, tum lumina verti, Sontes visurus reliquos. Testudinis instar Edentis sonitum, cujusdam occurrit imago, Ilia si subter, partes quod corpus in ambas Dividit, eripias. Illum tæterrimus hydrops Qui tantum male conversis umoribus artus Reddit inæquates, ut non respondeat alvo Exilis vultus, labiis reddebat hiantem, Vir tanquam sitiens, febris quem tabida torquet, |
Thus he spoke. After the two berserk ones to whom I had been paying attention had gone on, I then turned my eyes to see the other guilty ones. Confronting me was an image like a certain sound-producing lute, if you took away what divides the body into two parts below the groin. A very disgusting dropsy that, with its malformed humors, makes the members disproportionate so that the lean face does not correspond to the stomach, rendered him gaping with his lips like a thirsting man whom a wasting fever tortures, |
| 370 | Deprimit inferius labium attollitque supernum. O vos, qui pœnæ expertes (ac nescio causam) Infera lustratis regna, huc attendite, dixit Is nobis ; cladem Adami spectate magistri. Dum vitam exigerem, quas vellem, copia rerum Multa fuit : nunc gutta ardenti deficit ori. Collibus ex Clusinis qui volvuntur in Arnum, Frigiduli ac molles assunt mihi jugiter amnes : Nec frustra ; nam me illorum magis urit imago, Quam morbus, qui me ācerat. Trahit aspera pœnæ |
curled his lower lip down and raised the upper one. He said to us: “O you who, exempt from punishment (and I do not know the reason) tour the infernal realms, look here, view the tragedy of Master Adam. While I was living my life, the supply of things that I wanted was great; now a drop is unavailable for my burning mouth. The cool and soft streams which roll down from the Chiusan hills into the Arno are constantly before me and not without effect, for their image burns me more than the disease which vexes me. The harsh |
| 380 | Justitia hinc causam, quo jam commissa peregi ; Ac me crebra magis suspiria mittere cogit : Est ibi namque locus, quo falsa numismata cudi Baptistæ effigie, multo purgamine mixta : Quapropter combusta igni mea membra reliqui. At, si et Alexandri Guidique et fratris eorum [19] Aspicerem hic tristes Animas, mihi gratius esset, Quam Brandæ sedare sitim frigentibus undis. Jam, nisi falsa ferunt Umbræ quæ sæpe furentes Circumeunt, una ad pœnam huc est lapsa luendam. |
justice of my punishment takes its origin from there where I committed my sins, and forces me to emit more frequent sighs. For there [i.e., Romena] is the place where I struck counterfeit coins, mixed with much dross, with the image of the Baptist. For that, I left my members, burned with fire. But if I were to see the sorrowing Souls of both Alessandro and Guido and their brother [Aghinolfo] here, it would be more gratifying to me than satiating my thirst with Branda’s cold waters. One of them has already slid down here to pay his penalty, if the Souls which go around berserk are not telling falsehoods. |
| 390 | At mihi quid prodest, quum sint mea membra revincta ? Si lĕvis ipse forem, ut digitum procedere possem Centum annis, iter arriperem, ut nanciscerer illam, Undena hæc quamvis se circum milia valles Protendat, nec dimidio plus lata patescat. Has inter gentes nunc, his auctoribus, assum : Hi mihi suaserunt aureos excudere nummos, Queis multum purgamen erat. Sic dixit ; et olli Sic ego respondi : qui sint, da noscere, quæso, Ii duo, qui ad dextram, junctique unaque sedentes, |
But what does it avail me, since my limbs are tied? If I were light so that I could proceed an inch in a hundred years, I would undertake the trek to get to him, even though this valley extends eleven miles around and stretches not more than half that in width. Through their inducement I am now here among these people; they persuaded me to strike the gold coins in which there was much dross.” Thus he spoke, and I answered him as follows: “Let me know, please, who those two are who, sitting joined and together on your right, |
| 400 | Dant, velut uda manus brumali tempore, fumum. Huc ego quum veni, is rettulit, sum nactus utrumque, Ac nunquam abstiterunt ; nec totum deinde per ævum, Arbitror, absistent. Una est Ægyptia, conjux Putiphari, falso quæ incessit crimine Joseph : Altera et ille Sinon, ex Troja, proditor Ilii : Tantum his nidorem febris dat mittere acuta. Non tulit is, rear, obscuro sic nomine dici ; Compressaque manu tumidam illi contudit alvum ; Tympani et in morem sonuerunt viscera pulsu. |
are giving off smoke, like a wet hand in winter?” He replied: “When I came here I found the two of them, and they have never left and, hence, I believe, never will leave throughout all eternity. The one is the Egyptian woman, the wife of Potiphar, who attacked Joseph with a false accusation. And the other is the well-known Sinon from Troy, the betrayer of Ilium. An acute fever makes them give off such a stench.” The one did not tolerate, I believe, being labeled with such a dark name and with his balled fist struck his swollen belly, and from the blow the stomach resounded like a drum. |
| 410 | Perculit huic os Adamus ; nec mollior ictus Est visus ; dixitque simul : licet ipse moveri Membrorum ob pondus nequeam, non munus ad istud Est segnis mihi dextra tamen. Tibi lenta profecto Bracchia erant, quum ires, Græcus respondit, ad ignem, Impigra sed valde, quum cusa pecunia mendax. Is contra : tu vera refers ; sed tu quoque vera Non es tum fatus, Priamus quum vera poposcit. Falsum ego si dixi, a te falsus conditus ipso Est typus, increpuit Grajus : damnatus ob unum |
Adam struck his face, and that blow did not seem any softer; he said at the same time also, “Although I myself cannot be moved because of the weight of my members, my right hand is not tardy for that task.” The Greek responded, “Your arms were certainly slow when you were going to the fire, but very energetic when that counterfeit money was struck.” The other in response: “You are speaking the truth, but you did not also tell the truth then when [King] Priam asked for the truth.” The Greek rebuked him with, “If I spoke falsehoods, the coin-mold was devised false by you yourself; I am damned here for the one |
| 420 | Hic ego sum facinus, tu quot nec Dæmona damnant. Esto memor, ait alter, equi ; esto criminis auctor, Quod totum late vulgavit fama per orbem. Te sontem, is regerit, monstrant site lingua dehiscens, Atque oculis ventrem prætendens marcidus umor. Ille iterum : de more tuo, tua labra malignis Laxantur verbis : si me sitis angit et umor, Te sitis et gravior, nec non cephalalgia torquet : Si tibi fons assit, nihil ipse moraberis undis Confestim immergi, largeque haurire liquorem. |
crime, you for as many as not even damn the Demons.” The other said, “Remember the [Trojan] Horse; be the author of the crime that notoriety spreads widely throughout the whole world!” His opponent threw back, “Your tongue, gaping with thirst, and the putrid water making your stomach block your vision, show you guilty.” That other one, again: “Characteristically for you, your lips are being widened with evil words. If thirst and liquid vex me, even worse thirst plus a headache torments you. If a spring were available to you, you yourself would not hesitate at all to dive into its waters immediately and swallow its liquid in large quantities.” |
| 430 | Intentus fixusque oculos jurgantibus illis Astabam, quum me increpuit, dixitque Magister : Talia quid cernis ? parum abest, quin me occupet ira ; Quæ simul ac fantem audivi, tam protinus ingens Me pudor invasit, qui nunc quoque mente recurrit. Utque suum qui vana videt per somnia damnum, Somnia id esse cupit ; quodque est, exsistere nollet ; Sic ego sum factus, nequiens emittere vocem, Ut me excusarem ; quamvis, quin rerer, id ipsum Interea efficerem. Tum mollior ille : minore, |
I was standing intent, fixing my eyes on those disputants, when my Teacher said scolded me and said, “Why are you looking at such things? I am not very far from letting anger get the best of me.” As soon as I heard him saying those things, such great shame immediately overcame me that even now it comes back in my mind. And as someone who, in unreal dreams seeing his own harm, wants it to be a dream, and does not want what is, to exist , so I became, unable to say a word to excuse myself although, without thinking, I was meanwhile doing that very thing. Then more softly, he said, “With less |
| 440 | Quam tuus, eluitur gravior quoque culpa pudore. Quare age, tristitias omnes de pectore pelle ; Ac me rere memor tibi semper adesse propinquum, Quum gentem invenias sic jurgia vana serentem : Hæc etenim velle audire est abjecta voluntas. |
shame, a graver guilt than yours would also be washed away. So come, dismiss all sadness from your heart, and think, remembering that I am always next to you when you find people engaging in empty arguments that way. For indeed, to want to hear such things is a lowborn desire.” |
| INFERNORUM XXXI {31} ⇑ | ||
| 445 | Sic ea, quæ prius increpitans me lingua momordit, Inspersitque rubore genas, mox ipsa medelam Præbuit. Æacidæ ac nati sic dicitur hasta Vulnera quod primum ferret, mox deinde salutem. Deserimus vallem, tendentes aggere gressum, |
Thus the tongue that at first bit me with its scolding and blotched my cheeks with red soon provided the remedy. In the same way, the spear of Peleus and his son [Achilles], it is said, first produced wounds, then their healing. We left the valley, making our way over the ridge |
| 450 | Qui circum hanc ambit, nulla cum voce meantes. Nec tenebræ hic noctis, nec erat lux clara diei ; Proptereaque parum poterat se tendere visus. Tunc ingens cornu, tonitru quod vinceret omne, Instrepere audivi ; atque, viam tunc ipse secutus, Unde sonus venit, confestim huc lumina verti. Non equidem, Magnus quum victus Carolus olim Incepto cecĭdit sancto, tam murmure vasto Orlandus sonuit. Non longum huc lumina fixi, Multasque excelsas sum visus cernere turres ; |
which goes around it, traveling without a word. Here was neither the darkness of night nor the clear light of day, and so my vision could not reach far enough. Then I heard an enormous horn make a blast which would have outdone any thunder. Tracing the path back whence the sound came, I quickly turned my eyes towards it. Indeed, not even when Charlemagne once fell, defeated in his holy enterprise, did Roland sound his horn with such a great blast. I had not kept my eyes turned in that direction for long, and I seemed to discern many high towers, |
| 460 | Proptereaque Ducem, quæ terra est ista ? rogavi. Ille mihi contra ; quoniam umbras inter opacas Longius intueris, fit proinde ut mente pererres : Quum propius venies, quantum longinqua videntum Decipiant sensum, agnosces ; quare ocius ito. Mox autem, amplexus dextram : jam disce, priusquam Ulterius tendamus iter, mihi dixit amanter, Ne nimis hinc stupeas, non turres esse, sed alta, Margine qui putei circumstant, mole gigantas, Pube tenus puteo inclusos. Ut, ab aëre densa |
so I asked my Leader: “What land is that?” And he in response to me: “Because you are looking farther in dark shadows, it happens that you are erring in your understanding. When you get closer you will realize how much distance deceives the senses of viewers, so go faster.” But then, taking my right hand, he said to me affectionately, “Now understand, before we proceed farther, so that you are not overly shocked, that they are not towers but giants of high bulk who stand around the edge of the pit, held fast by it up to their groins.” As when from thick air |
| 470 | Quum nebula effugit, paulatim cernere circum Res oculi incipiunt, quas jam vapor ante tegebat ; Quo magis obscurum visu sic aëra trano, Ac propius venio, magis et se dissipat error, Ac metus exoritur. Velut arx in Monte Rotunda Non procul a Senis, stat turribus undique sæpta, Sic, oram putei circum, se mole gigantes Attollunt media, queis Juppiter igne minatur Nunc quoque, quum tonitru resonat. Jamque ora videbam Cujusdam, atque umeros, pectusque, et bracchia costis, |
the fog disperses, the eyes gradually begin to see the things around that the vapor had hidden before, so, the more I swam with my eyes through the dark atmosphere and got closer, the more the illusion dissipated and my fear grew. As the citadel in Montereggione not far from Siena stands surrounded with towers on all sides, so with half their bulk the giants rose around the bank of the pit those whom Jupiter still threatens with fire when he thunders. And I already saw the face of one, the shoulders, chest, the arms at the sides, |
| 480 | Ac ventris partem. Merito Natura creandis Abstinuit deinde his monstris, ut proinde ministros Eriperet Marti. Si non et magna elephantum Corpora pænituit genuisse, et grandia cete, Subtili qui mente videt, magis ille benignam Prudentemque vocet ; siquidem, quum prava voluntas Consiliumque animi, vastis se viribus addit, Non est qui obnīti contra, atque resistere possit. Olli erat os longum ac latum, velut ærea Romæ Pinea nux, Petri ad templum ; paribusque patebant |
and part of his belly. Nature then rightly abstained from creating these monsters in order thereby to take these agents away from Mars [= the god of war]. If she was not sorry for having begotten the large bodies of elephants, and huge whales, anyone who views it with a discriminating mind would consider her kind and prudent, since where a depraved will and mental forethought are added to enormous strength, there is none who could withstand and resist it. His face was long and broad like the bronze pine cone in Rome, in the basilica of Saint Peter; and his other features were sized |
| 490 | Cetera membra modis. Quæ subtus ripa tegebat Ad pubem, ex summo monstrabat margine tantum Corporis, ut tres haud possent tetigisse capillos, Alter in alterius positi cervice, Sigambri : Quare ego ter denos palmos exstare videbam A ripa, usque locum, chlamydem quo fibula nectit. Raphèl maì amèche zabì almì, ore profari Incepit tunc ille fero, a quo verba cieri Haud meliora decet. Rettulit cui talia Vates : Stulte, quid increpitas ? tibi fas est clangere cornu ; |
proportionately. The bank which covered him below up to his groin revealed, from its top surface up, such an extent of his body that three Frieslanders, one placed atop the other’s neck, could not have touched his hair, for I saw thrice ten hand-spans extend from the bank to the place where a clasp pins a cloak. With his wild mouth from which it was suitable to bring forth nothing better he then began to come out with: “Raphèl maì amèche zabì almì.” To this the Poet responded, “Stupid, why are you bellowing? You are allowed to sound your horn; |
| 500 | Utere et hoc uno, quum te ira aliudve lacessit : Ad collum quære ; invenies quæ hŏc zonā revincit ; Invenies ipsum, pectus quo cingĕris ingens. Dehinc mihi conversus : sese ipsum hic arguit, inquit ; Est hic Nemrodus, cujus jam turris, ut unus Non foret hinc sermo cunctis mortalibus, egit ; At valeat, nec verba leves fundamus in auras. Cujusque est olli sermo, non sequius atque Illius est aliis ; quem non intellegit ullus. Ad lævam ante imus ; jactumque ad missilis arcu, |
use that alone when rage or something else provokes you. search round your neck; you will find the thing that holds it by the belt: you will find your massive chest itself where you are girded.” and Then turning to me: “He is accusing himself. This is Nimrod, whose tower resulted in the fact that, ever since, a single language is not used by all mortals. But farewell to him; let us not pour our words out into thin air: anyone’s language, to him, is the same as his to others, which no one understands.” We went ahead to the left and, at a missile’s throw by a bow, |
| 510 | Horridior multo ac major sese obtulit alter. Quis faber, haud novi, hunc vinxit ; sed vasta catena, Sub collum incipiens, dextrum post terga ligabat Lævumque ad pectus bracchium : de margine ripæ Ad quintum erecto surgebat vertice gyrum. Iste Jovem contra violens est viribus usus, Admonuit Vates : Ephialtes nomine fertur : Ac sibi mercedem recipit pro talibus ausis. Exstitit, immanes qua Diis ætate gigantes Incussere metum : quibus olim prœlia gessit, |
another one, much more fearsome and larger, appeared. Who the smith was who chained him, I do not know, but a tremendous chain, beginning under his neck, tied his right arm behind his back and his left one at his chest; from the edge of the bank it rose to a fifth turn in an upright coil. The Poet advised me, “This violent one employed his strength against Jupiter. His name is Ephialtes, and got this reward for such audacity. He rose up at the time when the savage Giants made the gods fear; with those arms with which he once waged war, |
| 520 | Bracchia non unquam potis est nunc vincla movere. Si mihi fas esset, Briareum cernere vellem, Tunc ego subjeci, quantoque is corpore constat, Ipse meis mētiri oculis. Ac ille vicissim : Non procul Antæum aspicies, qui est nexibus expers, Ac loquitur ; qui nos putei portabit ad imum. Hinc longe Briareus abest, ferroque revinctus, Omniaque huic similis, nisi quod magis ore perhorret. Non hac vi turris, terræ concussa tremore, Funditus est unquam, qua Ephialtes corpore toto |
he can now never move the chains.” I then added, “If I am allowed, I would like to see Briareus and with my own eyes myself measure how massive his body is.” And he in return: “Not far from here you will see Antaeus who is free of bonds and speaks, who will carry us to the bottom of the pit. Briareus is far from here and chained in irons; everything about him is similar to this one, except that he is much more hideous looking.” A tower was never so completely devastated by an earthquake as by that force with which Ephialtes then |
| 530 | Tum se commovit. Nunquam formidine mortis Sic ego sum captus ; nec erat nisi posse timere, Vincula ni aspicerem. Nos, illinc deinde profecti, Venimus Antæum ; qui, excepto vertice, denas Ulnas exstabat puteo. O, qui mille leones, Dixit ei Ductor, valle es prædatus in alta, Qua decus, Hannibalis multa cum clade, per ævum Scipiadæ est partum ; qui si cum fratribus olim Horrendæ affueras pugnæ, ceu forte videtur, Terrigenis Dii cessissent ; nos hujus ad imum |
shook with his entire body. I was never so seized by fear of death and, had I not seen his chains, there would have been nothing except being able to fear. We then proceeded from there and came to Antaeus who, apart from his head, projected ten ells from the pit. My Guide said to him, “O you who took a thousand lions as prey in the deep valley where glory was imparted to Scipio forever with the great defeat of Hannibal; you who, if you had been present of yore with your brothers at the horrendous battle as it perhaps seems the Gods would have yielded to the Earthborn Giants: carry us to |
| 540 | Fer putei, quo Cocyti concreta rigescit Unda gelu : ne dedignere hoc munere fungi, Neve sinas Tityum sævumque rogare Typhōea ; Reddere mercedem, quæ sedibus hisce cupitur, Iste potest, terrisque tuas attollere laudes : Nam fruitur vita, ac multos se posse per annos Vivere adhuc putat, ante diem nisi Gratia tollat. Ergo age, te flecte, ac nos ne portare recuses. Hæc meus est fatus Doctor. Vix ista locutum Continuo, is manibus cepit, queis fortiter olim |
the bottom of that pit where the waters of Cocytus stiffen hard with ice. Do not disdain to perform this service for us, nor leave us to ask Tityos and the savage Typhon. This man can give the reward that is desired in these realms and extol your praises on earth. For he has the benefit of being alive and expects to be able to live yet for many years, unless Grace takes him before his time. So come, bend down and do not refuse to carry us.” Thus spoke my Teacher. Hardly had he finished saying those things when the other immediately took him in the hands which once |
| 550 | Sensit se valde astringi Tirynthius heros. Atque ubi Virgilius vidit se deinde teneri : Huc ades, inclamans, me protinus addidit ipsi, Ac se meque simul fascem glomeravit in unum. Qualis spectanti turris Carisenda videtur [20] Sub flexu, adversus partem, cui pendula vergit, Si super it nubes ; sic est mihi, lumina in illum Tendenti atque animum, Antæus se flectere visus ; Ac tali interdum piguit me tramite ferri. Ille autem fundo, quo Juda ac Lucifer assunt, |
the Tirynthian hero [Hercules] had felt himself powerfully gripped by. And when Virgil then saw himself held, calling out “Come here,” he immediately added me to himself and bundled himself and me into a single package. As the leaning Carisenda tower appears to a viewer under its overhang on the side toward which it inclines if a cloud goes over it, so did Antaeus, in leaning over, seem to me, focussing my eyes and mind on him, and I was intermittently loath to be transported that way. But he put us down gently on the bottom, |
| 560 | Nos leviter posuit ; nec cernuus inde moratus, Ut navis mālus, se protinus ipse levavit. |
where Judas and Lucifer are; nor, bending over, did he linger there but, like a ship’s mast, promptly righted himself. |
| INFERNORUM XXXII {32} ⇑ | ||
| 562 | Si mihi rauca atque aspra, foramen qualia poscit, Rupes cui incumbunt reliquæ, essent carmina, cœptum Plenius assequerer ; sed, quum mihi talia desint, Non ego, quin valde timeam, nunc dicere pergam : Non opus est adeo pronum vacuumque laboris Atque aptam linguæ, cui nondum adoleverit ætas, [21] Totius mundi verbis describere fundum. At mihi Pierides assint, quæ Amphiona quondam |
If my poetry were hoarse and rough, such as are required by the hole on which all others rest, I might accomplish my project more fully; but since I lack them, I will now begin not without considerable fear to tell of it: describing the bottom of the entire universe in words is not an easy and empty task, suitable for a language of a life which has not yet matured. But may the Pierian Muses assist me, who once helped |
| 570 | Juvarunt, Thebis testudine saxa trahentem, Ne mihi sit sermo factis ingentibus impar. O misera ante omnes, tristi gens edita fato, Quæ barathrum servas, de quo tam dicere durum est, Quam tibi erat melius pecudes capreasque fuisse ! Quum fundum attigimus, valde sub calce gigantis, Atque altum intuerer murum, vox perculit aures : Aspice quo transis ; tua ne vestigia ponas In fratrum capita. Ipse ideo mea lumina verti ; Atque lacum, vitro similem, glacieque coactum, |
Amphion dragging rocks to Thebes to [the music of] a turtle-shell-shaped lute, so that my speech may not be unequal to the prodigious facts. O superlatively wretched people, born to a miserable fate, who guard the abyss about which it is so hard to speak, how much better for you it would be to have been sheep and goats! When we touched the bottom, far beneath the heels of the Giants, and I was looking at the high wall, a voice struck my ears: “Look where you are going. Do not put your feet on the heads of your brothers.” So I turned my eyes and saw a lake, similar to glass, congealed by the ice, |
| 580 | Undique conspexi. Non sic concrescere in oris Austriacis Istrum ; nec sic algente sub axe Cogit hiems Tanaim, veluti lacus ille rigebat ; Usque adeo, ut glacies, si vastus pondere toto Mons super irruerit, minime crepuisset ad oram. Ac veluti rana, exsertans de gurgite rictum, Graccitat ad ripam, quo tempore rustica retur Colligere in somnis, quas linquit messor, aristas ; Sic, glacie infixa, ac livens vi frigoris, usque Quo pudor apparet, Umbrarum turba dolentum |
everywhere. The Danube, in its Austrian shores, does not harden so much, nor does winter condense the Don so much under the freezing [north] pole as that lake had hardened; it had done so to the point that the ice, if an enormous mountain fell on it with all its weight, would not have creaked at the shore at all. And as a frog, poking its muzzle above water, croaks at the bank at the time a peasant woman thinks in her sleep about collecting ears of grain left by the harvester, so, fixed in the ice and bluish with the force of the cold to where their pudenda show, was a mass of |
| 590 | Hic erat ; ac tali quatiebat murmure dentes, Quale solet, colubris inimica, ciconia rostro. Dejectam in pectus faciem sibi quæque tenebat ; Eque oculis dolor, atque gelu apparebat ab ore. Postquam sum circa intuitus, mea lumina flexi ; Atque duo ante pedes vidi, sic membra vicissim Hærentes, ut mixti essent in fronte capilli. Dicite, vos, adeo qui pectora juncta tenetis, Inqui, quinam estis ? Flexerunt colla, mihique Extulerunt vultus ; oculisque madentibus umor |
grieving Shades. And they rattled their teeth with the kind of clicking that the stork, the enemy of the snake, makes with his beak. They all held their faces down to their chests, and their pain showed in their eyes, and the cold from their mouths. After looking around I turned my eyes downward and saw two before my feet clinging to each other’s limbs so tightly that their hair was intermingled on their foreheads. I said, “Tell me, you who keep your chests joined together so, who are you?” They twisted their necks and raised their faces toward me, and from watery eyes the moisture |
| 600 | In labia est lapsus : lacrimas tum frigus obortas Inter eos strinxit, glacieque ita clausit acuta, Ut lignum ligno vectes haud presserit unquam. Illi, ira accensi, sic conflixere vicissim Frontibus adversis, gemini quasi cornibus hirci. Tunc alter, cui ambas frigus demessuerat aures, Dejecto in pectus vultu : quid lumina tantum In nos figis ? ait : hos si cognoscere quæris, Sunt Albertiades, quorum stirps clara beatis [22] Jura dedit campis, quos irrigat unda Bisenti. |
flowed down to their lips. The cold then bound the emerging tears between the eyes and so closed them with sharp ice that no crowbar ever so clamped wood to wood. Enflamed with rage, they fought one another face to face like two billy goats with horns. Then another one, both of whose ears the cold had sheared off, said, with his face hung down to his chest, “Why are you staring at us in that way? If you seek to know who these men are, they are the degli Alberti [Alessandro and Napoleone] whose famous progenitor bequeathed the rights to the happy fields which the waves of the Bisenzio water. |
| 610 | Sunt fratres : si lustrabis loca cuncta Caïnæ, [23] Non ullum invenies, qui sit tam frigore dignus. Non ille, Arturus cui fodit pectus et umbram [24] Ictu uno ; non et Focaccia [25] ; non, mihi visum Qui capite hic prohibet, nomen cui Sassulus hæret [26] : Si genere es Tuscus, qualis sit noscere debes : Neve loqui ultra adigas, sum Cammissonius ipse [27] De Pazzis : nostra Carlinum stirpe creatum [28] Opperior, mea qui propriis opprobria purget. Multa hinc præ nimio violacea frigore vidi |
They are brothers; if you go through all of Caïna you will find no one who is so worthy of this frigidity. Not he [= Mordred], whose chest and shade [King] Arthur pierced with a single thrust; nor Focaccia; nor this one who obstructs my vision with his head, who was named Sassol [Mascheroni]. If you are Tuscan by nationality, you must know the kind of man he is; And so that you do not force me to talk any longer, know that I am Camiscion [de’ Pazzi]: I am awaiting Carlino, born of our family, to purge my sins with his own.” After this I saw many faces, made purple by the extreme cold, |
| 620 | Ora adeo, ut memorem semper circumvenit horror. Dum gressam ad medium ferimus, quo corpora cuncta Tendere dat gravitas, ac me tremor occupat ingens Frigore ab æterno (seu casus sive voluntas Seu fatum fuerit, nequaquam dicere possem), Per capita incedens, impegi unius in ora Fortiter ipse pedem. Cur me pede proteris ? inquit ; Is clamans, lacrimasque edens : nisi forte cruentæ Ultor ades cladis, qua sanguine Montis Aperti Nunc quoque saxa rubent, cur me premis atque molestas ? |
so much so that a shudder always overcomes me when remembering it. As we made our way toward the center, whither weightiness makes all bodies tend, and a great shivering took over me from the eternal cold (I cannot possibly say whether it was chance or intention or Fate), walking through the heads I struck my foot hard against the face of one of them. He said, “Why are you treading on me with your foot?” Shedding tears, he cried out, “If perhaps you have not come as the avenger of the bloody disaster due to which even now the rocks of Montaperti are red with blood, why are you oppressing and vexing me?” |
| 630 | Tunc ego : fac maneas, dixi, dilecte Magister, Hic mihi dum dubium solvat : quantum inde jubebis, Præpropere adveniam. Doctor vestigia pressit ; Atque ego ei dixi, dira hactenus orsa serenti : O tu, qui objurgas alios, fac scire quis assis. Tuque quis es ? rettulit tunc ille, per Antenoream Qui vadis, temereque caput premis ipse jacentum ? Quod foret immodicum, quamvis huc vivus adesses. Vivus et huc assum, dixi ; ac te proinde juvare Voce queam, si te famæ tenet ulla cupido, |
And I: “Please wait,” I said, “dear Teacher, while I clear up a doubt of mine; then I will come as fast as you command.” My Instructor stopped, and I said to the one still spewing out threatening utterances, “O you who revile others, let it be known who you are, here!” “And you, who are you,” he responded then, “who stride through the Antenora and randomly tread on the heads of those lying here? That would be excessive even if you had come here alive.” “I have come here alive indeed,” I said, “and furthermore, I can help you with my voice: if any desire of fame interests you, |
| 640 | Nomen deinde tuum referam inter cetera terris. Falleris, ille inquit : mihi sunt contraria vota : Hinc cito te remove, atque mihi parce esse molestus ; Non bene blanditias hac scis innectere valle. Tunc illi crinem arripui, simul inde locutus. Nomen pande tuum, aut nullum tibi vertice crinem Esse sinam. Si me cunctis, ait ille, capillis Abradas ; si mille vices mihi tempora pulses ; Nunquam proinde meum coges me pandere nomen. Jamque ego correptos cœpi divellere crines |
I will afterwards on earth put your name among the others.” “You are wrong,” he said. “I wish the opposite. Take yourself away from here quickly, and spare me your being annoying. You do not know how to employ flattery well in this valley.” Then I grabbed his hair and said simultaneously, “Reveal your name or I will leave no hair on your head!” “If you scrape all my hair off,” he said, “if you strike my temples a thousand times, you will never thereby force me to reveal my name.” And, grabbing his hair, I then began tearing it off |
| 650 | Dum daret ille oculis dejectis, ore latratus. Quos simul audivit, clamavit protinus alter : Quid te, Bocca, premit ? non sat collidere dentes [29] Est tibi, quod sævis imples latratibus auras ? Quis te Dæmon agit ? Jam nunc te, proditor, inqui, Nolo loqui : tuum in opprobrium jam nuntia terris De te vera feram. Sed tu, respondit, abito : Quicquid aves, effare quidem ; Sed nomen et hujus, Qui tibi me ostendit, compellans voce procaci, Ne sileas, si hinc evadas : vidi ipse Dueram [30] |
while he kept his eyes down and barked. Another spirit, at the same time hearing us both crying out, thereupon said, “What is ailing you, Bocca [degli Abati]? Is it not enough for you to clatter with your teeth that you must fill the air with savage barking? What demon is getting at you?” I said, “Now I no longer want you to speak, traitor. To your shame I will carry the true news about you to earth.” “But you,” he responded, “ just leave. Whatever you want, spill it out. But if you get out of here, also do not be quiet about the name of him who pointed me out to you, calling me with his impudent voice. You can then say, “I saw [Buoso de] Duera |
| 660 | Dicere tunc poteris, quo sontes frigus adurit : Hic gemit argentum, quod Franca ex gente recepit. Præterea, qui sint socii, si forte rogaris, Hic prope Beccheria riget, Florentia guttur [31] Cui secuit : reor ulterius Soldanier esse [32] Cum Gano atque Tribaldello, qui nocte sub alta [33] Arma Faventinis induxit Gallica muris. Hinc ubi digressi, duo, quos scrobis ună tenebat, Sic junctos vidi, caput unum ut pileus esset Alterius capitis, non sequius atque comēstur |
there where the cold frostbites sinners.” He laments the silver he received from the French people. In addition, if you perhaps ask who his accomplices were, [Tesauro di] Beccheria, whose throat Florence cut, freezes next to them; I believe [Gianni de’] Soldanier is further on, with Ganelon, and Tribaldello, who led French arms inside the walls of Faenza in the dead of the night.” After we had left from there, I saw two whom a single hole held, joined in such a way that one head was a cap on the other head no differently than if bread were being chewed |
| 670 | Panis ob esuriem, sic dentes intulit alter In caput alterius, cerebro qua se occiput addit. Non aliter quondam, malesana percitus ira, Sub Thebas Tydeus Melanippi tempora rosit, Quam calvam is peteret violens et cetera morsu : O, qui tantum odium, dixi, sic more ferino, Adversum ostendis, rabido quem pasceris ore, Dic agesis, quæso, quid tantas provocat iras ? Ut, si jure doles, norim quum nomen et hujus Flagitium, merita in terris mercede rependam, |
out of hunger and in that same way the one sank his teeth into the other’s head where the back of the head joins the brain. No differently than when Tydeus, once upon a time, driven by insane rage, gnawed the temples of [his beheaded enemy] Menalippus beneath the walls of Thebes, was it that he violently attacked the skull and other parts with his biting. “O you who show such hatred,” I said, “in a bestial way against the one whom you are eating with a savage mouth, say now, please: what provokes such fury? So that, if your pain is justified, when I know it and his crime, I will repay you with a just reward on earth, |
| 680 | Ni, qua verba sero, siccis mihi faucibus aret. | if what I speak with does not dry up in my throat.” |
| INFERNORUM XXXIII {33} ⇑ | ||
| 681 | Sustulit ille fera rictum peccator ab esca, Avulsos capiti detergens ore capillos ; Atque ait : infandum, quo totus et ante peruror Quam fari incipiam, cogis renovare dolorem : Si tamen hunc contra, quem rodere dentibus insto, Exoritura meis aliqua est infamia verbis, Eloquar : et fantem pariter flentemque videbis. Qui sis, quove modo sedes adveneris istas Non equidem novi ; sed, quum vox personat aures, |
That sinner raised his mouth from his savage feast, wiping off from his mouth the hair torn from the head and said, “You force me to renew the unspeakable pain with which I am completely consumed even before I begin speaking: nonetheless, if through my words some infamy will arise against this one whom I persistently gnaw with my teeth, I will speak, and you will see me both speaking and weeping. Who you are or how you arrived at these parts I certainly do not know. But when your voice sounds in my ears |
| 690 | Esse reor civem, cui dat Florentia nomen. Sum comes Ugolinus ego, archiepiscopus hic est [34] Ruggerius : quæ nos jungit, nunc accipe causam. Hujus consiliis pellacis et arte magistra Me, sibi fidentem, captumque ac funere mersum Non opus est dicam : dicam quæ prorsus ad aures Nunquam ivere tuas ; quæ mors mihi scilicet horrens Illata : et disces quantum me læserit iste. Multa per exiguum tætra sub turre foramen, (Sub turri, quæ digna Famis mihi nomine dici est, |
I believe you to be a citizen to whom Florence gives its name. I am Count Ugolino, and this is the Archbishop Ruggieri. Now learn the reason for the things that join us: it is unnecessary for me to say that through this man’s schemes and by the help of his art I, trusting in him, was taken captive and killed. I will say what certainly never got to your ears: the hideous death, that is, that was inflicted on me; and you will learn how much that man injured me. Through the tiny opening underneath the abominable tower (underneath the tower, which by name is called Starvation, due to me, |
| 700 | Cujus et in tenebris alii claudantur oportet) Jam mihi converti se ostenderat æthere Luna ; Quum visum in somnis habui, quod clara futuri Signa mihi dedit. Hortator ductorque catervæ Cum canibus macris, cupidisque, et origine claris. Iste lupum et catulos ad celsum impellere visus Est montem, prohibet Pisis qui cernere Luccam. Præ se Lanfrancos, Sismundos, atque Gualandros Ire dabat. Fessos catulosque lupumque videbam Protinus, atque canes illis infigere dentes |
and in whose darkness others must be imprisoned) many a moon had shown itself orbiting to me, when in sleep I had a vision that gave me clear omens of the future. There was an exhorter and leader of a pack with lean and eager dogs of famous breed. He himself seemed to drive a wolf and its cubs to the high mountain that blocks Pisans from viewing Lucca. He had the Lanfranchi, the Sismondi and the Gualandi precede him. I further saw both the tired cubs and the wolf, and the dogs sink their huge fangs into them |
| 710 | Immanes, morsuque latus lacerare cruentum ; Quum me deinde sopor, venienti mane, reliquit, Flere meos, quos mecum idem tum carcer habebat, Audivi in somnis natos, et poscere panem. Efferus es, durusque nimis, nisi corde dolorem Præcipias, reputans mihi quod portenderet illud. Ni defles, quid flere soles ? Jam lumina cunctis Liquerat his somnus : jam qua tradi esca solebat, Hora propinquabat ; sed quisque ob somnia, numquid Nunc tradenda foret, dubium sub corde gerebat. |
and tear the flanks of the bleeding animals with bites. When sleep next left me at the approach of dawn I heard my sons, whom the same prison held along with me, crying in their sleep and asking for bread. You are truly cruel and exceedingly hard if you do not grasp in advance the pain in my heart, realizing what that presaged for me. If you do not weep at that, what do you normally weep at? Sleep had already left everyone’s eyes; the hour was nearing when it was normal for food to be brought; but because of the dreams, everyone held doubt in his heart whether anything would now be provided. |
| 720 | Atque ego tum clavis suffigi in limine portam Audivi horribilis turris : commotus, in ora His oculos fixi, quin luctum aut verba dicerem : Usque adeo interius rigui ! Illi fundere fletum ; Ac meus, obversus mihi, tunc Anselmulus : ecquid, O pater, inquit, habes ? quianam sic lumina figis ? Nil ego respondi aut flevi ; totamque silenter Hanc duxi, quam longa, diem, noctemque sequentem. Mane orto, quum subtenuans lux carceris umbras, Vultibus in quattuor, dedit ipsos cernere vultus |
And then I heard the door at the threshold of the terrible tower being made fast with nails. Horrified, I looked at their faces without uttering a cry or a word, I was so frozen inside! They wept; And my little Anselm, turning to me, said, “O father, what is wrong with you? Why are you staring like that?” I neither answered anything nor cried; In silence I went through that entire day how long! and the next night. With the coming of the dawn when the light, thinning out the prison’s shadows, allowed me to see my very own face on their four faces, |
| 730 | Posse meos, utramque manum ferus ore momordi. Atque illi, nimiaque fame atque cupidine edendi Impulsum, fecisse rati, se protinus omnes Extulerunt : lĕvius, dixere, dolebimus, ipsis Si nobis vescere, pater : tu carnibus istis Jam nos indueras miseris. his exue et idem. Tunc me continui ac pressi, ne sævior illis Ingrueret cordi dolor. Omnes ore silentes Hac stetimus, totaque die, quæ deinde secuta est. Cur mihi, crudelis tellus, non ima dehisti ? |
I bit my two hands like a wild man. And they, thinking that I had been driven by extreme hunger and the desire to eat, all suddenly stood and said, “It will pain us more lightly, father, if you feed on us; you have clothed us with this wretched flesh; divest us of it.” I then restrained and quieted myself so that yet more bitter pain would not strike their hearts. We all stood silent that day and the whole next one. Why, o cruel depths of the earth, did you not open and swallow me? |
| 740 | Quum lux quarta fuit, mea se ad vestigia Gaddus Porrectum jecit : cur non mihi sufficis, ajens, O pater, auxilium ? Vitamque hīc ille reliquit. Ut me tute vides, sic trina ego singula vidi, Exanimata fame, natorum corpora labi Quintam inter sextamque diem : cæcusque deinceps Quemque super prensare manu ac prorepere cœpi ; Perque dies trinos, postquam interiere, vocavi. Heu miser ! hinc jejunia plus potuere dolore. Hæc ubi dicta dedit, rursus, velut ossa molossus, |
When it was the fourth daylight, Gaddo threw himself down at my feet, saying, “O father, why do you not give me help?” And there he left his life. As you yourself see me, so I saw three of my children leave their bodies one by one, starved to death, between the fifth and sixth day. And then, blind, I began to crawl around and with my hand grope over each one. And for three days after they had died I called them. Ah wretched one! After that, fasting became stronger than grief.” Having said this, again, like a dog on a bone, |
| 750 | Dentibus impetiit caput, iratusque momordit. O Pisæ, o ingens pulchræ infamia terræ, Quo Si dulce sonat, quum gens vicina moretur Plectere vos pœnis. Gorgo et Capraria surgant Funditus ex pelago, atque Arni sic ostia claudant Obruat ut cunctos exundans gurgite cives. Nam, si proditionis erat pater auctor, et hosti Quod male tradiderit rumor castella ferebat ; Cur tam crudeli natos summittere pœnæ ? Quid, nova Thebe, Ugunculus atque Brigata merebant ? |
he attacked the head with his teeth and, enraged, chewed it. O Pisa, you enormous infamy of the beautiful land where “si” has a sweet sound while the neighboring peoples procrastinate in punishing you. May the isles of Gorgona and Caprara rise from the seabed and block the mouth of the Arno so that it might drown all your citizens in its waters. For if Count Ugolino, the father, was the author of betrayal, and rumor has it that he had evilly handed over castles to the enemy, why submit his sons to such a cruel punishment? What, o new Thebes, did Uguccione and Brigata merit? |
| 760 | Quidnam alii, quos insontes nova fecerat ætas ? Ulterius nos progredimur, dum venimus illuc, Altera quo glacie gens obstipatur acuta ; At non prona sŏlo, sed corpore versa supino : Hic fletus non flere sinit : dolor, objice clausus, Haud lacrimis exire potens, in corda se vertit Sævior, atque magis divellit viscera morsu. Primæ etenim lacrimæ, vitrei velaminis instar, Concrescunt, totumque cavum subter cilia implent. Quantumvis, velut ex callo, præ frigore cuncti |
What did the others do, whom their young age had made innocent? We continued further until we came to the place where another folk was encased in sharp ice, but not face down on the ground, but with their bodies turned on their backs. Here weeping did not allow weeping. Pain, blocked by an obstacle, unable to come out through tears, turns itself, more savagely, inward to their hearts, and tears their innards all the more with its bite. For the first tears, like a glass veil, congeal and fill the entire hollow beneath the eyebrows. As much as all my senses had become numb from the cold |
| 770 | Jam mihi torperent sensus, sentire videbar Quendam flatum auræ ; versusque proinde Magistro : Unde hic ? quæsivi ; nonne hinc vapor exulat omnis ? In loca jam cito devenies, ubi lumina pandent Quod petis, is rettulit, quum causam aspexeris ipsam. Clamorem ex glacie tum sustulit unus, et inquit : O ita crudeles animæ, quibus ultima sedes Est data, concretas oculis mihi demĭte guttas, Ut, prius immanem valeam effudisse dolorem, Quam lacrimæ coëant. Tibi si succurrere me vis, |
as though from a callus, I seemed to sense some kind of a breeze of air. So turning to the Teacher, I asked, “Whence this? Is not all steam banned from here?” “You will soon arrive at the place where your eyes will reveal what you seek,” he answered, “when you see the cause itself.” One spirit then raised a cry from the ice and said, “O cruel souls, to whom the extreme location has been assigned, take the congealed tears away from my eyes so that I can release my intense pain before the tears refreeze.” “If you want me to help you, |
| 780 | Tunc ego respondi, mihi pande quis ipse fuisti ; Ac, nisi te expediam, glaciem detrudar in imam. Frater sum Albericus, ait, qui sevit in horto [35] Poma mala ; ac pro fico nunc caryotida sumit. At tu, dixi ego, nondum es vitæ lumine cassus. Quomodo telluris mea membra morentur in oris Non equidem novi, ille inquit ; sed munere gaudet Hōc Ptolemæa istæc, ut sæpe huc spiritus ante Decĭdat, absciderint Parcæ quam stamina vitæ. Utque magis crustas mihi demas ore libenter, |
I then responded, “reveal to me who you yourself are, and if I do not disencumber you, may I be thrust down to the bottom of the ice.” “I am Friar Alberigo,” he said, “who sowed evil fruits in the garden. And instead of figs it now gets dates.” “But you,” I said, “are not yet bereft of the light of life!” “How my limbs persist on earthen shores I do not know,” he said. “But this Ptolemaea sector enjoys this capability, that a spirit may often fall down here before the Parcae have cut the thread of life. And, so that you might more willingly remove the coatings from my face, |
| 790 | Scito, quod, ut fraudem admisit, velut ipse peregi, Spiritus huc jacitur. Dæmon tunc illius artus Induit atque regit, vitæ dum stamina durent. Et nunc fortassis sursum telluris in oris Corpus adhuc Umbræ apparet, quæ hīc comminus alget. Tu scis, si vere es nuper tellure profectus : Auria Branca, inquam, multis huc lapsus ab annis. [36] Me fallis, rettuli ; non est letum Auria passus : Vivit, et omnia agit, quotquot sunt munia vitæ. Is mihi dein contra : nondum devenerat amnem |
know that, when someone commits treachery as I myself did, his spirit is thrown here. A demon then dons that one’s limbs and controls them as long as his thread of life lasts. And perhaps the body of the Shade which is freezing here in our presence still appears up on the shores of earth. You know, if you really have come from earth recently. I mean Ser Branca d’Oria, who slid down here many years ago.” “You are deceiving me,” I said. “D’Oria has not suffered death; he is alive and performs all the functions of life.” He then responded to me: “Michel Zanche had not yet arrived |
| 800 | Zanchius ad piceum Michaël, quando illius artus, Agnatique simul, fraudem qui struxit eandem, Invasit Dæmon. Sed tu jam denique dextram Tende, aperique oculos. Ast ipse aperire negavi ; Ollique esse animi immitem, fuit esse benignum. O morum varii, Genuenses, atque referti Omnigenis vitiis ! reliquos super improbus omnes Spiritŭs Æmiliæ, ac simul ex vestratibus unus Est mihi tum visus ; qui corpore vivere terris Apparet, Cocyti anima frigescit in undis. |
in the river of pitch when a demon invaded the limbs of that man and, simultaneously, of a relative who perpetrated the same treachery. But now, finally, reach our your right hand and open my eyes.” But I refused to open them; being cruel of heart to him was being kind. O Genoese, aberrant in morals and full of all kinds of vices! Romagna’s worst spirit of all the rest appeared to me, and simultaneously one of your citizens; in body he appears to live on earth, his soul freezes in the waters of Cocytus. |
| INFERNORUM XXXIV {34} ⇑ | ||
| 810 | Inferni regis, dixit tum deinde Magister, Vexilla apparent : vide an illum cernere possis. Ut, quam circumagit ventus, quum involvitur aër Aut nocte aut nebula, longe mola cernitur ingens ; Sic procul immanem molem spectare videbar. Mox, ventum evitans, (nam, quo defenderer, ullum Non erat hic antrum), tergo Ductoris adhæsi. Jamque aderam, glacies (trepidans hæc talia narro) Quo sic inclusas Umbras concreta tenebat, Ut pellucerent, festuca quasi abdita vitro. |
The banners of the king of Hell appear, the Master then said. “See whether you can make him out.” As, when the air is shrouded by night or fog, an immense windmill turned by the wind is seen from afar, so I seemed to see a huge bulk far off. Soon, avoiding the wind (since here there was no cave where I could fend it off), I clung to the Leader’s back. I had already come to the place where the congealed ice (I shudder in relating it) held Shades confined so that they were visible like straws encased in glass. |
| 820 | Quædam stant rectæ, sublato hæ corpore, et illæ Inversis pedibus ; quædam tellure jacentes ; Quædam, tanquam arcus, capiti vestigia volvunt. Quum prope tam fuimus, mihi quo monstrare Magister Est ratus, ante omnes qui pulchrior exstitit olim, Eripuit se ex ore meo, ac me sistere jussit : En tibi Dis, ait : ecce locus, quo fortibus usus Est animis. Heu, quale fui ! quam frigidus horror Membra mihi cepit ! Noli mihi quærere, lector, Hoc ego non referam, siquidem verba omnia vincit. |
Some stand upright these with upraised body and those upside down; some lying on the ground, some, like bows, turning their feet to their head. When we were near enough, my Master thought to show me the one who once had stood out more beautiful than everyone, he stepped apart from me and ordered me to stop. “Behold Dis,” he said. “Here is the place where there is need of courage.” Ah, how I was! How freezing cold was the horror that seized my limbs! Reader, do not ask me about it; I will not relate this since it overcomes all my words. |
| 830 | Nec mihi mors, nec vita fuit : tu collige porro Qualis eram, his utrisque carens, nisi mentis es expers. Arduus ad medium glaciato ex flumine pectus Tollebat sese : exæquor magis ipse giganti, Quam bracchia illius se mole gigantibus æquent : Totum quam late pateat jam collige corpus, Pars ea cui compar. Si tam fuit ille venustus, Quantum hic turpis erat, contraque est surgere adortus, Qui talem fecit, vere procedit ab illo Omne malum, atque omnis luctus est tristis origo. |
I was in a state of neither death nor life; unless you have no mind, consider on your own the condition I was in, lacking both of these. The lofty one rose out of the frozen river at the middle of his chest. I am more closely matched to a giant than his arms might match the giants in bulk. Now imagine how broad the whole body must be to which that part is proportionate. If he then was as fair as he now is ugly, and rose to war against the One who made such a being, truly all evil proceeds from him and he is the sad source of all sorrow. |
| 840 | Ut stupui, trinas facies quum vertice vidi ! [37] Quarum erat anterior rubro suffusa colore : Altera tum duplex umeris surgebat utrisque Ex mediis, summaque simul dein fronte coibant ; Dexteraque et crocea et candens, subnigraque læva, Qualis inest Nilo perfusa colentibus arva. Hinc illinc, quantæ tam grandia membra decebant, Tergeminis inerant geminæ sub vultibus alæ : Vasta adeo nunquam pandunt sua carbasa naves. Sunt illæ implumes, quales a vespere dictis |
How stunned I was, when I saw three faces on his head! Of which the front one was suffused with red color; another two emerged from the middle of either shoulder and together then came together at the top of the forehead. And the right one was both saffron and white, and the left one blackish, like that found in those dwelling on the lands watered by the Nile. From this side and that there were two wings beneath the three faces, of a size that matched such huge limbs. Ships have never spread their flaxen sails so wide. They were featherless, like the ones which grow on the winged creatures named after |
| 850 | Alitibus surgunt. Has jugiter ille movebat, Ac tres edebat ventos : quo flamine late, Conversa in glaciem, Cocytia stagna rigebant. Sex oculis flebat : fletuque ac sanguine mixta, Plurima tergeminum per mentum spuma fluebat. Roboreum ut lignum crebro quod verbere culmos Obtundit lini, sic quolibet ore terebat Is sontem ; atque uno mandebat tempore trinos. At prior, haud tantum ex morsu, sed ab ungue dolebat, Qui pellem ex tergo violenter sæpe trahebat. |
the evening [= bats (vespertiliones)]. He moved them constantly and emitted three winds. Through this blowing, the waters of Cocytus, widely changed to ice, were frozen solid. He wept from six eyes, and the copious spume, mixed with tears and blood, flowed down his three chins. As oaken wood beats stalks of flax with constant pounding, so he ground a sinner with each mouth and chewed three at one time. But the one in front suffered not only from the chewing but from the claws which often violently drew his skin off of his back. |
| 860 | Is, dixit Doctor, major quem pœna fatigat, Proditor est Christi Judas : caput intus in ore Illi est ; atque foris diverberat aëra plantis. Ex geminis aliis, quorum caput exstat, et intus Clauduntur crura, is rictu qui pendet ab atro, Est Brutus : silet ille ferox, ac membra retorquet. Cassius est alter, prægrandi corpore constans. At nox jam surgit : nobis sunt omnia visa ; Atque hinc propterea jam nunc discedere tempus. Dixit ; et, ut voluit, collum complexibus arctis |
The Teacher said: “That one that the greater punishment is hurting is Christ’s betrayer, Judas. His head is inside the mouth of the other, and he flails the air with his legs outside. Of the other two, whose heads are outside and their legs enclosed inside, the one hanging from the black maw is Brutus; he is arrogant, saying nothing, and twists back his limbs. Cassius is the other one, with the huge body. But night is already coming on; we have seen everything, and so it is now time to leave here.” Thus he spoke and, as he wished, I tightly grasped |
| 870 | Illius appendi : Ille, locum tempusque capessens, Haud mora, vix alas late conspexit apertas, Se applicuit costis ; perque hispida vellera sensim Descendit, sætasque inter glaciemque rigentem. Postquam nos fuimus, femori quo innectitur alvus, Corpus vi magna Vates contorsit ; ibique, Quo caput ante fuit, posuit vestigia versus ; Apprensisque pilis, veluti qui ascendit, adhæsit : Quare ego sum Stygias rursus ratus ire sub umbras. Esto tenax ; hac quippe via, mihi pectore anhelo |
his neck. He, seizing the place and time, just after seeing the wings opened widely, without delay grabbed hold of the sides and slowly climbed down through the shaggy fleece between the bristles and the hard ice. After we were where the stomach is connected to the thigh, with great effort the Poet turned his body around; and toward there where his head had been before, he placed his feet; grabbing the hair as does one who is climbing up, he clung to it. Hence I thought he was going back to under the Stygian shades. “Hold tight, since by this route,” he said to me with a panting chest, |
| 880 | Ille inquit, tanto fas est exire dolore. Hæc ait : atque foras per saxi deinde foramen Exiit : ac, me deponens in margine fessum, Hic sedisse dedit, juxta vestigia sistens. Erexi tunc ipse oculos, utque ante reliqui, Cernere Luciferum rebar ; sed crura tenentem Hunc sursum aspexi. Numquid tunc anxius essem, Gens putet illa rudis quæ nescit pendĕre quale Tunc ego transierim punctum. Eja age, surge, Magister Est mihi tum fatus : via longa, itinerque malignum est : |
“it is allowed to depart from such agony.” And then he exited through a hole in the rock. And setting me, who was tired, down, he let me sit on its edge, stopping close by. I then raised my eyes and thought to see Lucifer as I had left him before, but saw him holding his legs upwards. Let the unschooled, who do not know what kind of point I had passed, decide whether I was worried at that time. “Alright, get up,” the Master told me, “the way is long and the journey hard, |
| 890 | Unăque cum mediā fulget nunc horă diei. Non ad regiam iter, sed, quam natura cavarat, Scruposique sŏli ac lucis spelunca malignæ Hic erat. Ante ex regnis quam divellar Averni, Postquam ego surrexi, Doctor carissime, dixi, Eloquere ; ac dubia errorem mihi discute mente : Quo nunc est glacies ? cur hic est corpore versus ? Tam subito cur Sol ad mane ex vespere venit ! Tu reris, mihi Præceptor tum reddidit, esse Trans centrum, quo jam sætis serpentis adhæsi, |
and it has now been light for one and a half hours of the day.” Here the road was not one to a palace, but one that nature had hollowed out, a cave with rocky ground and bad light. When I had risen, I said: “Dearest Teacher, before I am removed from the realms of Hell, tell me and clear the error from my uncertain mind: Where is the ice now? Why is his body upside down? Why has the sun so suddenly passed from evening to morning?” The Preceptor then answered me, “You think you are across the center, where I then grabbed the bristles of the serpent, |
| 900 | Qui terebrat terrestrem orbem : trans ipse fuisti Donec descendi : memet quum deinde revolvi, Est tibi transmissum punctum, quo pondera tendunt Partibus ex cunctis ; sub cæli sistimus axe Contra illum posito, quo cingitur arida tellus ; Culmine sub cujus summo consumptus obivit Qui vixit, mortemque tulit sine crimine. Sistis Orbe super parvo, facies qui est altera Judeccæ : Incipit hic exorta dies, quum desinit illic : Ut prius instabat, pariter nunc Lucifer instat : |
who pierces the earthly globe; you were across there as long as I climbed down, but when I then turned around, you passed the point toward which masses from everywhere tend. We are standing beneath the celestial hemisphere opposite the one by which dry land is encompassed, the one under whose highest zenith He died killed who lived and suffered death without sin. You are standing atop the small sphere which is the other side of the Judecca sector. The dawning day begins here while ending there. As Lucifer was standing before, he is still standing in the same way. |
| 910 | Hac ex parte ruit, Cælo revolutus ab alto ; Quæque erat hīc tellus, hujus formidine capta, Æquore se obtexit, nostrumque recurrit in orbem ; Ac forte, ut fugeret, vacuum hīc sublapsa reliquit. Est illic, post Luciferum, tam vastus ut ipse Est [38] tumulus, locus, haud oculis, sed murmure rivi Auriculis notus ; qui saxo prosilit, unde ipse viam secuit ; facilique hinc tramite circum Volvit aquam. Hac, per iter cæcum, vestigia sursum Tendimus absque mora, dux primus et ipse secundus, |
He plunged down from this side, falling out of high Heaven. Seized with fear of him, the land that was here covered itself over with sea and recoiled into our hemisphere. And sinking down perchance in order to flee from him , it left a vacuum here.” There, behind Lucifer, is a place as large as his tomb itself, known not by eyesight but to the ears through the murmur of a brook which springs out of the rock from where it has cut its own path. It sends its water winding from there along an easy path. By this way, through a blind path, without delay we went upwards, my guide first and I second, |
| 920 | Donec per teres hinc Cæli convexa foramen Aspexi ; atque revisum exinde evasimus astra. |
until, through a smooth round opening, from there I saw the vault of Heaven; and we emerged from there to see, again, the stars. |
| PURGATORIUM | ||
| LIBER V | ||
| PURGATORII I {1} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Ut currat meliorem undam, jam carbasa tollit Cumba mei ingenii, mare tam crudele relinquens ; Atque aliud sumam percurrere carmine regnum, Dignus ubi ad Cælûm purgando ascendere sedes Spiritus efficitur. Surgat rediviva poësis, Pierides sanctæ, quoniam sum vester alumnus. Effundat cantum nunc Calliopea sonorum, Quo sic sunt olim victæ in certamine picæ, Ut non sperarint veniam. Quum ex aëre cæco, |
To sail better waters, the boat of my intellect now hoists its sails, leaving behind such a cruel sea. And I will undertake to traverse with song another realm where through purgation a spirit is made worthy to ascend to the domains of Heaven. Let revived poetry rise, o holy Muses, since I am your foster-child. Let Calliope now pour forth the sound of music by which the magpies were once so defeated in contest that they could not hope for pardon. After having emerged from the dark air |
| 10 | Qui mihi tristitia pectusque oculosque replerat, In lucem evasi, tanquam sapphirus Eous, Jucundus recreare color mihi lumina cœpit, Unde renidebat late clarissimus æther, Ad primum usque orbem. Pulchrum, quod suadet amare, Eoam ridere plăgam dabat undique sidus, Pisces advelans socios. Dextram ipse petivi, Atque polo hic paulum adverti ; vidique micantem Sideribus quattuor, quæ nemo viderit unquam, Ni gens prima hominum [1] : flammis gaudere coruscans |
which had filled my heart and eyes with sadness, a joyful color, like a sapphire of the East, began to renovate my eyes, a color with which the wide and clear stratosphere shone down to the first circle, the horizon. The lovely planet that encourages us to love made the Eastern zones smile, veiling her companions, the Fish. I turned to the right and directed my attention to the southern pole, and saw it sparkling with four stars which no one had ever seen, unless the first tribe of men. The beaming Heavens seemed |
| 20 | Hisce videbatur Cælum. Quam lucis es expers, Quam vidua es, tellus septem subjecta trioni, Quum non hæc videas ! Ex his quum lumina verti. Atque polum hinc alium inspexi, sese unde remorat Jam plaustrum Arcturi, solus mihi visus adesse Est senior ; tantum venerabilis, ut neque nato Tantum sit genitor. Prolixaque, mixtaque canis, Barba erat, assimilisque comæ ; quæ pectus ad imum In geminas illi partes divisa, cadebat. Sidera tam quattuor clarabant lumine vultum, |
seemed to rejoice at their fires. How lacking in light you are, how widowed, o land beneath the northern pole, since you do not see them. When I turned my eyes away from these and looked from there to the other pole whence the wagon of Arcturus, Boötes, had already removed itself, a single elderly man appeared to me. He was so worthy of reverence that not even a father would be so vis-à-vis his son. His beard was long and mixed with white, and similar to his hair, which fell divided into two parts to the bottom of his chest. The four stars lit up his face with their light so much |
| 30 | Ut sic aspicerem, tanquam Sol ante fuisset. Quinam estis, barbam motans ait ille verendam, Qui, cæcum adversus flumen, de carcere tætro Inferni existis ? Quis dux ? Quis lampas opacas Per tenebras fuit, æternum quibus horret Avernus ? Numne Erebi leges ruptæ ? Aut sententia Cæli Versa est, ut mea damnatos vos antra receptent ? Tum Dux me apprendit, verbisque ac nutibus egit, Ut vultu an genibus colerem ; mox orsa roganti Sic rettulit. Non sponte assum : ex cælestibus oris |
that I saw him as if the sun were in front of him. “Who are you?” he said, stroking that venerable beard, “you who emerge against the dark river from the hideous prison of Hell? Who is your leader? Who was the lamp through the black darkness with which Avernus eternally shudders?” Have the laws of Erebus been shattered? Or has the sentence of Heaven been changed so that my cave is to accept you who have been damned?” Then the Leader took hold of me and with words and signs led me to show reverence with face and knees; next he began to reply to the questioner in the following way: “I did not come on my own. From the heavenly regions |
| 40 | Descendit mulier, mihi quæ mandavit, ut essem Huic comes. At, quia vis magis ut tibi nostra patescat Condicio, est pariter mihi non reticere voluntas. Non horam extremam hic vidit, sed proximus illi Sic ob stultitiam fuit ; ut non tempore multo Afuerit quin occĭderet. Discrimine tanto Missus ut eriperem veni : via nulla dabatur, Hanc nisi quam cepi. Cunctos jam cernere sontes Huic dedi ; et huic Animas pariter nunc pandere mens est ; Quæ sub jure tuo commissa piacula purgant : |
a Lady came down who enjoined me to be a companion to this man. But since you wish that more of our situation be revealed to you, it is likewise my will not to keep silent. This man has not seen his last hour, but he was near to it out of foolishness, so that there would not have been much time left before he perished. I came, sent to save him from such danger. There was no way except this one that I have taken. I have had him see all the guilty ones, and now intend likewise to show him the Souls which, under your regime, are purging the sins they have committed. |
| 50 | Quomodo adhuc duxi, nimis esset dicere longum ; Cælica adest virtus, quæ me corroborat, ut te Visum ac auditum venienti assistere possim. Tu bonus excipias : libertas quæritur illi, Cujus scit pretium, qui vitam hac absque recusat. Tu scis, qui hanc propter voluisti amittere vestem Corpoream, quæ olim radiis induta micabit. Abruptas nobis leges ne rere supernas : Hic etenim vivit, nec dat mihi vincula Minos. Illa in sede moror, tua quo pudibunda moratur |
How I have led him here would take too long to say; there is a heavenly power that strengthens me so that I can be at his side to come to see and hear you. May you, as a good soul, receive him. His aim is freedom, whose price is known by him who, without it, rejects life. You know, who because of it once decided to lose your physical garment, which will one day shine covered with radiance. Do not believe that the celestial laws have been violated by us; this man lives, and Minos did not put me in bonds. I dwell in that realm where your chaste Marcia |
| 60 | Martia, quæ te nunc etiam, vir sancte, videtur Orare, ut tua sit conjux. Pro illius amore Te precor idcirco : precibus bonus annue nostris, Ac tua per septem sine nos incedere regna. Grates a te illi referam, nisi forte gravaris Tali in sede tuum memorari nobile nomen. Tam mihi cara fuit dilectaque Martia, dixit Tum senior, dum illic essem, ut quicquid averet Omnia perficerem ; sed enim, quando illa moratur Trans Acherontis aquas, nunc me nequit ipsa movere, |
stays, who even now, o sacred man, seems to pray that she may be your spouse. For love of her I beg it of you: as a good man, accede to our prayers and allow us to proceed through your seven realms. I will report to her our gratitude to you, if you do not perhaps object to my mentioning your noble name in that domain.” The elder then replied, “Marcia was so dear and beloved to me while I was there that, whatever she wanted, I did it all for her. But since she dwells beyond the waters of Acheron, she can no longer move me, |
| 70 | Ob legem, quæ fixa fuit, quum sum inde profectus. At, si, sicut ais, mulier te cælica ducit, Non opus illecebris : satis est petiisse per illam. Vade igitur, juncoque mero huic tu corpora cinge, Ac vultum abluito : nam primum adiisse ministrum ; Qui Cæli est unus procerum, caligine turpi Non decet inspersum. Multos hæc insula ad imum, Quo vitrea pulsatur aqua, parit undique juncos, Altera non hic evaleat consurgere planta, Cui sit durities, (flecti nam nescit ad ictus), |
due to the law that was ordained when I left there. But if, as you say, a heavenly woman directs you, there is no need for enticements; it is enough to have asked through her. So go, and gird his body with a simple rush and wash his face; for it is not seemly to have approached the first minister, who is one of the nobles of Heaven, splattered with foul darkness. This island produces many rushes at its base where it is buffeted by the crystalline water; no other plant that is stiff (since it cannot bend with the blows) or bears leaves |
| 80 | Aut quæ se foliis ornet. Ne huc deinde regressus Sit vester : monstrabit iter, qui proximus ortu Est Sol : quo minus assurgit, conscendite montem. Inquit, et avertens abiit. Nihil ipse locutus, Me tunc erexi, ac Ductori totus adhæsi, Illi oculos vertens. Qui sic mihi farier infit : Me sequere, o fili ; atque simul vestigia retro Vertamus ; nam hinc planities declinat ad imum. Jamque, diem referens, fugientem Aurora premebat Matutinam auram, placidique proinde videbam |
can sprout there. After that do not let your return be to here. The sun, close to its rising, will show the way. Climb the mountain where it is less steep.” Thus he spoke and, turning away, left. Saying nothing, I then rose and clung all to my Leader, turning my eyes to him. He began to talk to me thus: “Follow me, my son; and let us at the same time turn back, since the plain slopes down from here to the base.” The dawn, bringing the day, was already pushing away the fleeing morning air, and hence from afar I saw |
| 90 | Cæruleas longe crispari marmoris undas. Per sōlum ac planum imus iter, quo more viator In callem, a quo deerravit, se deinde reducit, Incassum tunc ire putans. Ut venimus illuc, Quo ros nascenti, quoniam defenditur umbrā, Luctatur Soli, atque parum rarescit ab æstu, Suaviter is posuit passas in gramine palmas : Quod simul ac vidi, lacrimantes protinus illi Exhibui ipse genas ; ac sic dedit ore reverti, Quem situs inferni mihi texerat ante, calorem : |
the blue waves of the gentle sea curling. We walked along the solitary and flat road like a traveler who, realizing he was then going in vain, subsequently gets back on the path from which he had wandered off. When we came to the place where the dew, because it is defended by the shade, struggles with the rising sun and evaporates little in the heat, he gently put his open palms on the grass. As soon as I saw that, I immediately presented my tear-stained cheeks to him, and thus he enabled to return on my face the color that the dirt of Hell had previously covered me with. |
| 100 | Venimus exin deserti sub litoris oram, Quod nunquam vidit sua nare per æquŏra quemquam, Cui fuerit mox regredier concessa facultas : Hic, ut jussus erat, junco mihi corpora vinxit. Oh mirum visu ! Quo virgam abscidit, ibidem Altera continuo similis prodivit in auras. |
We then came to the shore of the deserted coast that had never seen anyone swim through its waters to whom permission had been granted to return afterwards. Here, as the other had ordered, he tied my body with a bullrush. And what a surprise to see! where he cut off a stalk, another like one immediately sprouted into the air in the same place. |
| PURGATORII II {2} ⇑ | ||
| 106 | Jam Sol extremo prodibat margine Cæli, Quem medium findens, Solymæam desuper urbem Vertice ab excelso prospectat circulus alter ; Ac Nox, obscuras volvens contraria bigas, |
The sun had already progressed to the horizon of the Sky, splitting which in the middle, another circle looks down from above from its high zenith on the city of Jerusalem, and night, opposite, driving its dark, two-horse chariot, |
| 110 | Tollebat de Gange caput cum Lancibus æquis, Quas mox amittit, quum longior explicat umbras. [2] Auroræ inde genas, ubi eram, niveasque rubrasque Jam color ex nimio tingebat lūteus ævo. Litus adhuc nos propter erat, sub corde putantes, Ac similes genti, tacito quæ pectore secum Volvit iter, vaditque animo dum corpore sistit. Quale, sub Auroram, crasso rubet aëre sæptus, Ut solet, Hesperiumque super Mars emicat æquŏr, Haud aliter vidi (oh utinam talem inde revisem !) |
raises its head from the Ganges with the evenly-balanced Scales [Libra] which she soon drops when she is longer and produces shadows. Already, where I was, a saffron color was tinging the white and red cheeks of Aurora from increasing age. The shore was still close to us, who were thinking in our hearts, similar to people who travel silently and go in spirit while they stay in the body. In the way that Mars, enveloped by the heavy air at dawn, normally reddens and gleams over the Western sea, so I saw (oh, would that I could see such a thing again!) |
| 120 | Per mare tam propere nos versus tendere lumen, Nullus ut assimilis valeat celer esse volatus. Quumque oculos verti, ut Doctorem proinde rogarem, Exin est major mihi splendidiorque revisus. Quid foret haud noram : mox paruit undique candor ; Et candor subter sensim mox paruit alter. Nil meus est fatus Doctor, dum primus in alas Explicuit sese candor tum cognitus illi Nauta est : Flecte, o flecte , genu, clamavit, et ambas Junge manus : est Numinis Angelus : hosce ministros |
a light coming toward us over the sea so fast that there can be no flight similar to it in speed. And when I had diverted my eyes to ask my Teacher about it accordingly, it then reappeared to me larger and brighter. What it was I did not know; soon whiteness appeared on all sides of it and another whiteness soon gradually appeared underneath it. My Teacher said nothing until the first whiteness revealed itself as wings and he recognized the sailor. “Kneel, kneel,” he cried, and folded both hands; It is an Angel of God; you will be seeing |
| 130 | Jam deinde aspicies : humanis artibus uti Conspice ut is temnit, remosque ac vela recusat ; Utque suis unis, per tam loca dissita, pennis Navigat ; has Cælo erigit, atque his aëra tractat, Quas nunquam mutat, genus ut mortale capillos. Ut propius venit, præclarius ille refulsit, Nec mea vim lucis potuerunt lumina ferre, Demisique sŏlo. Tum sic levis ille phaselo Advenit ripas, ut aquas pars nulla subiret. Navita cælestis sublimi in puppe sedebat |
these ministers from now on. Look at the way he disdains human technology and rejects oars and sails, and how, between such distant places, he sails with his wings alone. He raises them toward the Sky and beats the air with them, never changing them like a mortal species does its hair.” As he came closer, he shone more brilliantly, and my eyes could not bear the force of his light, and I lowered them to the ground. Then he came to the shore in a canoe so light that no part of it went under the water. The heavenly sailor sat on the high stern. |
| 140 | Talis, ut inscripta legeres quasi fronte beatum. Ac multæ intus erant Animæ, una voce canentes Hymnum Jessæi regis, memorantis ab oris Abramidum Phariis abitum. Dein litore tacto His crucis effecit signum ; ac perniciter omnes Insiluere sŏlo : is velox, ut venit, abivit. Quæ turba hic mansit, rudis atque ignara locorum Visa est, circum oculos vertens, nova more videntis. Undique jam fulgens vibrabat ab æthere tela Sol, quibus ex medio Capricornum ejecerat axe, |
He was of such a nature that you could read, as it were, inscribed on his forehead that he was blessed. And there were many Souls inside, singing together the hymn of Jesus the King which recalled the exitus of Jews from the Egyptians. On reaching the shore he made the sign of the cross and, quickly, they all jumped onto the land. He left as fast as he had come. The crowd that was left seemed unacquainted and unfamiliar with the place, looking around in the manner of someone seeing something new. From the stratosphere on all sides the sun now brandished the weapons with which it had displaced Capricorn from the meridian, |
| 150 | Quum nova turba oculos in nos erexit, et inquit : Si scitis, monstrate viam, quæ ad culmina ducit. Cui Vates contra : Gnaros vos forte putatis Nos hujusce loci : sed gens sumus advena, quales Vos estis : paulo jam venimus ante, per aspras Difficilesque vias, ut nunc ascendere montem Nobis lusus erit. Quum me, ex spiramine, vitam Ducere adhuc novere Animæ, pallore stupentes Infecere genas. Veluti quum nuntius urbem Ingreditur, ramum gestans pacalis olivæ, |
while the new crowd looked up at us and said, “If you know it, show us the way leading to the summit.” The Poet responded, “You perhaps think us knowledgeable about this place, but we are new arrivals like you are; we came just a little while ago through rough and difficult paths, so that climbing the mountain will be play for us.” When the Souls recognized from my breathing that I was still alive, stupefied, they suffused their cheeks with pallor. As when a messenger enters a city carrying a branch of the peace olive, |
| 160 | Undique gens circum currit, premiturque premitque Quid ferat audire exoptans : sic protinus illæ in me verterunt vultum, quasi tergere sordes Immemores ire. Ex mediis erumpere quidam Est mihi tum visus : me amplecti captus amore Usque adeo, ut pariter fuerim id fecisse coactus. Oh, præter visum, vacuæ, ac sine sensibus, Umbræ ! Bracchia ter collo intendi, totidemque reversa Bracchia sunt vacua ad pectus. Stupor, arbitror, ora Tum mihi conspersit : surrisit quippe, retroque |
people come running from eveywhere and both are crowded and crowd, wanting to here what he is bringing, so they instantly turned their faces toward me, as though forgetting to go and wipe of their squalor. Someone, taken with love, then seemed to burst from their midst to embrace me, to the extent that I likewise was forced to do the same. O you Shades, lacking senses and empty except for appearances! Three times I put my arms out to their necks, and the same number of times my arms returned empty to my chest. Stupor, I believe, then suffused my face; he smiled, of course, and backed |
| 170 | Is sese tulit. Ipse subii, refugumque sequebar ; At me suaviloquis verbis consistere jussit. Tunc illum agnovi ; paulumque astare rogavi, Ac mecum fari. Quo te, respondit, amore Dilexi, quum vitam agerem, nunc corpore cassus Diligo, et hinc sisto : sed tu quas tendis in oras ? Hoc iter ingredior, rettuli, dilecte Casella, Ut, quibus abscessi, in sedes exinde revertar. Sed tibi, dic quæso, tantum cur tempus ademptum est ? Ille autem contra : nulla est injuria facti, |
away. I went after him, following the fleer. But with gentle words he told me to stop. Then I recognized him, and asked him to pause a bit and speak to me. He replied, “With the same love that I loved you when I was alive, now, divested of a body, I love you and hence stay standing. But you, what place are you going to?” “I am entering on this journey,” I replied, “dear Casella, in order to return thence to the places whence I started out. But tell me, please, how much time has been taken from you?” And he in response: “It is no injustice of deed |
| 180 | Si, qui quem velit et quo tempore, sponte suapte Suscipit, hunc nobis transgressum hucusque negavit ; Namque voluntatem facit illi justa voluntas. [3] Sunt equidem quasi tres menses, ex quo ille libenter Quot voluere vehi, plena cum pace recepit. [4] Me quoque, qui astabam flavi prope Tibridis oram Qua fluit in pontum, excepit tunc ille benignus. Litus ad id nunc ipse redit : nam Spiritus omnis, Huc opus est veniat, qui non descendit ad Orcum. Tunc ego : ni mos, aut lex, aut oblivia, cantum |
if he, who of his own accord accepts whom he wants and at the time he wants, denies passage to us and to here; for a just will determines his will. Indeed, it has now been about three months since he gladly accepted as many, with plenary indulgence, as wanted to travel. That benign being then took me too, who had been standing near the yellow Tiber’s mouth where it flows into the sea. He is now returning to that shore; for every Spirit that does not descend to Orcus must go there.” Then I: “If a custom or law or forgetfulness does not prevent |
| 190 | Fundere dulcisonum prohibent, qui carmine molli Omnigenas curas mihi jam sedare solebat, Paulum animam hoc solare meam, quæ fracta labore Est adeo, huc sua membra trahens. Qui pectore mecum [5] Dulcis Amor loquitur, cœpit tam suaviter ille, Ut mihi nunc etiam repleat dulcedine sensus. Præceptor, simul ipse, ac turba, ita voce beari Sunt visi, tanquam non altera cura moveret. Intenti fixique suis nos cantibus omnes Hæsimus. Ecce autem senior : Quid statis inertes |
your singing the sweet song that, with its soft melody, used to calm all my cares, soothe my soul a little, which has been so overwhelmed with labor, dragging its members here.” He began so soothingly with “Sweet Love that discourses with me in my heart” that even now it fills my senses with sweetness. My Instructor, as well as I and the crowd, seemed to be so enchanted with his voice that not another care moved us. We were all in suspension, intent and focussed on his singing. But then the elder: “Why are you standing around idle, |
| 200 | Hic, Animæ ? Quæ segnities ? Quæ ignavia ? dixit Inclamans : agedum, properate, ascendite montem, Quæque Deum spectare vetant, detergite sordes. Ut quondam in campis, lolii segetisque palumbes Semina quum placidi ac solito sine murmure, carpunt, Siquid terruerit, confestim pabula linquunt ; Major enim his cura incumbit : sic illa reliquit Turba recens cantum ; ac montem festina petivit, Ut qui forte means, nescit quo tramite pergat ; Nec magis hac ipsi fuimus procedere segnes. |
o Souls? Why the sloth? Why the laziness?” he said, exclaiming “Get going, hurry, climb the mountain; wipe off the squalor which prevents you from seeing God.” As sometimes in the fields pigeons, while calmly and as usual soundlessly pecking at seeds of darnel and grain, if something scares them, instantly leave their food, since a greater worry overcomes them, so that new crowd left the singing and quickly made for the mountain like someone who goes at random, not knowing which path he is going by. We were no slower in departing from there. |
| PURGATORII III {3} ⇑ | ||
| 210 | Quum gens, voce senis per campum dissita, montem Effugeret versus, ratio quo admissa repurgat, [6] Me Ducis applicui lateri ; quippe, illius expers Auxilio, quid ego egissem ? conscendere celsum Quo mihi fas fuerit montem ? Ab sese ipse remorsus Est mihi tum visus. Proh mens recti integra, quam te Impetit ingenti vel culpa levissima morsu ! Illius quum deinde celer vestigia motus Deseruit, per quem cunctis aufertur honestas Actibus, ipse animum, qui se contraxerat ante, |
Although the people scattered by the elder’s voice was fleeing toward the mountain where reason purged their sins, I clung to my Leader’s side; indeed, deprived of his aid, what would I have done? Where would it have been permissible for me to climb the high mountain? He seemed to me to be reproached by himself. O clear conscience of an honest man, how the slightest fault attacks you with severe remorse! When his footsteps lost that fast pace by which every action is depleted of dignity, I myself relaxed my own mind which before had been strained, |
| 220 | Laxavi, ut curis vacuum ; et, qua se altius effert. In montem surrexi oculos. Post terga refulgens, Ante meum corpus Sol se frangebat ; ab ipso Quippe rubris radiis obstans fulcimen habebat. Me trepidus verti, sōlum ratus esse relictum, Quum me sōlum ante, aspicerem nigrescere terram. At mihi Dux inquit : tua cur fiducia cessit ? Nonne igitur me hærere tibi, ac te ducere credis ? Illic vesper adest, quo mortua membra reliqui Quæ dederunt umbram, Calabris ex sedibus urbem |
as though free of cares, and so that it expanded higher. I lifted my eyes to the mountain. The sun, shining behind my back, was broken in front of my body because due to my body it had an upright blocking the red rays. I turned, afraid and thinking I had been left alone since I saw only the ground in front darkening. But the Leader said, “Why is your confidence gone? Do you not believe that I am staying close to you and leading you?” It is evening there where I left my dead members which produced a shadow; from Calabrian locations it was taken |
| 230 | Vecta hinc Parthenopes : mirari desine, nullam Mittere me aspiciens umbram, non sequius atque Aspiciens lucem varios transmittere Cælos. Diva facit virtus, ut corpora frigus et æstum Ista pati possint, nobisque patēre recusat. Stultus, qui nostram sperat percurrere mentem Posse viam immensam, per quam Substantia trinis Unica personis tendit. Disquirere noli Gens humana, nimis : si cuncta agnoscere posses, Non opus ut pareret Virgo Jessæa fuisset. [7] |
to the city of Naples. Cease your worrying at seeing me not casting a shadow, no differently than at seeing the various heavenly bodies emit light at cross angles. Divine power makes it so that bodies can feel cold and heat, and refuses to reveal it to us. It is a foolish person who hopes that our mind can traverse the infinite road through which one Substance passes into three persons. O human race, do not inquire too much: if you could know everything, there would have been no need for the Virgin to give birth to Jesus. |
| 240 | Incassum multos vidisti quærere, quorum Pressa quievisset, quæ nunc est pœna, cupido. Nicomachi prolem dico, magnumque Platona, Atque alios multos. Siluit, vix talia fatus, Demisit frontem, ac turbato restitit ore. Progressi interea ad montis devenimus imum : Ardua sic cautes erat, ut vestigia nemo Sursum ferre queat. Quæ sunt magis ardua saxa Montibus in Ligurum, proclivis semita valde Huic collata forent. Quisnam nunc noverit, inquit |
You have seen many searching in vain whose curiosity, which is now their punishment, would have been quieted. I am speaking of Nicomachus’s son, Aristotle, and the great Plato and many others.” He fell silent, having just said this, dropped his brow and stopped with a troubled look. Meanwhile, having traveled on, we arrived at the foot of the mountain. The cliff was so steep that no one could scale it by foot. The steeper rockslides in the Ligurian mountains would be a very easy path compared to this. “Now who knows,” said |
| 250 | Consistens Vates, qua sese mollius effert Parte jugum, ut pennis expers ascendere possit ? Ac, dum demisso perpendit plurima vultu, Atque ego sursum oculos tollo, gens altera sese Obtulit ad lævam, quæ nos vestigia versus Tendebat ; sed tam lente, ut non ire putarem. Tolle oculos, Vati conversus, protinus inqui ; En qui consilium, si tute inquirere nescis, Jam tibi sufficient. Is me respexit, et ore Deinde alacris : lente hi, dixit, gradiuntur, eamus |
the Poet, stopping, “on which side a more gradual slope goes, so that a wingless being can climb up?” And while, with head downward, he was considering many ways and I was looking upward, another group emerged on the left which was headed toward us, but so slowly that I did not consider them to be going. Turning to the Poet, I immediately said, “Raise your eyes: Over there are those who will now provide us with advice, if you cannot discover it yourself.” He looked at me and, with joy on his face, then said, “They are walking slowly; let us go |
| 260 | Nos illuc ; ac tu, fili, spem concipe firmam. Quum gens illa aberat, postquam processimus ante Mille gradus, quantum validus secat aëra telo Arcitenens, steterant omnes, et cautibus altæ Sese astrinxerint ripæ, velut ille tuendo Qui stat multa putans. Vates tum talibus infit : O Animæ electæ, ac vitæ bene tempora mensæ, Per pacem, quam vos reor exspectare beatam Dicite, vos quæso, qua mons se deprimit iste, Ut sursum sit ferre pedem ; nam amittere tempus |
over there ourselves. And you, son, take strong hope.” Since that group was off a ways, after we progressed ahead a thousand paces as much as a strong bowman cuts the air with his arrow , they all stood and pressed close to the high cliffside, as he who, on his guard, stands calculating many things. The Poet then began with the following: “O chosen Souls who have done your time well, by the blessed peace which I believe you are waiting for, tell us, I beg of you, where this mountain unsteepens itself so that climbing up on foot is possible, for losing time |
| 270 | Plus tædet, qui plura sapit. Velut una, duæque, Tresque simul, gradiuntur oves, dum sæpta relinquunt, Subtimidæque aliæ demissa fronte morantur ; Et, quod prima facit, faciunt et deinde sequentes ; Illique incumbunt dorso, quum sistere quicquam Impulit ; ignorantque rudes cur talia faxint : Agminis illius sic tum procedere vidi Ipse apicem, incessuque gravem vultuque pudicum ; At, meo ut ad lævam perrumpi corpore lucem Videre ; ac, specus usque, sŏlo protendier umbram, [8] |
vexes him more who knows more.” As one and two and three sheep go forward at the same time when they leave the pen, and others remain timidly with their noses down, and what the first one does, the following ones do next, and crowd up against her back when something forces her to stop, and, being ignorant, do not know why they are doing such things, in the same way I saw the foremost of that column come forth, dignified in pace and reticent of face. But when they saw the light broken on the left by my body, and my shadow being cast as far as the concavity, |
| 280 | Constiterunt, paulumque retro vestigia primi Rettulerunt ; et idem pariter fecere sequentes, Quin causam nossent, Queis sic tum talia Vates : Quamlibet haud petitis, tamen hunc constare fatebor Corporeis membris ; quapropter cernitis umbram Projici, et ante ipsum proscindi lumina Solis. Parcite mirari : neve hunc sine numine Cæli Credite quod celsum præsumat scandere montem. Sic Vates ; illique manus tunc indice dorso Nutantes : ergo euge, redite, invadite callem, |
they stopped and the first ones backed up a little, and the ones behind did the same without knowing the reason. Then the Poet said to them, “However much you do not ask, I nonetheless admit that this man consists of physical members, so you see his shadow cast and the light of the Sun rent in front of him. Cease wondering; take it that it is not without the will of Heaven that he undertakes to climb the mountain.” And that band then, motioning with the back of the index finger, said, “Alright, good, go back, start on the path.” |
| 290 | Dixere. Atque unus : mihi dirige, quisquis es, inquit, Sic gradiens, vultum ; atque vide num aspexeris unquam In terris. Me obverti, atque illi lumina fixi ! Nobilis aspectu, ac pulcher, flavusque capillis Ille erat, at cilium crudeli vulnere sectus. Quumque humilis nosse abnuerem : nunc aspice, dixit, Ostenditque mihi summo sub pectore vulnus. Exin surridens : Manfredum cerne, nepotem Sponsæ, ait, induperatoris : Constantia nomen. [9] Oro, meam ut pulchram, terras quum deinde videbis, |
And one of them said: “As you go along, turn your face toward me, whoever you are, and see whether you have ever seen me on earth.” I turned and stared at him. He was of noble appearance and handsome, with blond hair, but cleft on an eyebrow with a cruel wound. After I humbly denied I knew him, he said, “Now look,” and showed me a wound at the top of his chest. Then smiling, he said, “Recognize me as Manfred, the grandson of the emperor’s spouse, whose name is Constance. I beg of you, when you next see earth, go to my beautiful |
| 300 | Ipse adeas natam, quæ Trinacriæque et Hiberi Est enixa decus ; verique huic nuntius esto, [10] Si quid fama aliter referat. Quum duplice læsum Vulnere me vidi, lacrimis sum versus obortis Olli, qui semper veniam est præbere paratus ; Magna ego flagitia admisi ; at clementia tantum Protendit divina manus, ut quidlibet illi Vertitur, excipiat. Tuus, o Consentia, Pastor In Domino si id legisset (cui expellere Clemens Me tunc mandavit), Beneventum propter ; humata, |
daughter, who gave birth to the pride of Sicily and Spain. And be the messenger of truth to her if rumor reports something else. After I saw myself mangled by two wounds, I turned with gushing tears to Him who is always ready to offer forgiveness. I admitted my great crimes, and the divine Hand stretches out with clemency so much that He accepts whatever turns to Him. O Cosenza, if your Pastor in the Lord (to whom Clement gave the order to expel me) had read it, my remains |
| 310 | Principium post pontis, adhuc mea membra jacērent Saxorum sub mole gravi, queis tecta fuere ; Nunc pluviæ ventoque patent, Viriden prope flumen, Regni extra fines, ea quo sine lumine vexit. [11] Dum spes vivit adhuc, divini anathemata amoris Haud reditum prohibere valent ; sed, crimina quamvis Pertæsos doleat, qui mortem obiere rebelles, Hic opus est annos ex hac absistere ripa Ter pro quoque decem, quo jam pārēre negarunt, Ni prece contrahitur tempus. Mihi noveris ergo |
would still be lying buried behind the bridgehead near Benevento, under the heavy mass of rocks with which they had been covered. Now they lie exposed to the rains and wind next to the River Verde [now Garigliano], outside the boundary of the realm, where he carried them with lights out. As long as hope still lives, anathemas cannot prevent the return of divine love. But there must be suffering for those, no matter how sick of their crimes, who die as rebels; they must stay outside this bank for three times ten years for every one that they have refused to obey, unless the time is shortened by prayer. Therefore so that you know |
| 320 | Quam prodesse potes : mea fac Constantia discat [12] Qualem me tu vidisti, et qua lege revinctum : Multum hic namque ferunt viventum vota juvamen. |
how you can help me: make my Constance aware of the state in which you have seen me, and by what law I am bound. For the prayers of the living give much help here.” |
| PURGATORII IV {4} ⇑ | ||
| 323 | Quum quicquam ex nostris aliquam virtutibus olim [13] Arripit, aut tristis dolor, aut jucunda voluptas, Huic anima omnino aggeritur, cunctisque videtur _ Abduci penitus reliquis : (quod proinde refutat Qui plures animas in nostro corpore rentur). [14] Propterea, quum quicquam oculos aut occupat aures, Cui illa intendat, tempus abit, nec sentit abire : |
Whenever anything once seizes one of our faculties, be it sad pain or happy pleasure, the soul becomes totally focussed on it and seems to be completely withdrawn from all other things (which therefore refutes those who thought there were several souls in our body). So when our eyes or ears are grabbed by anything on which it focusses, time goes away, although it does not feel it go away. |
| 330 | Altera, quæ cernit, quæque audit, quippe facultas Est animæ ; altera vero, quæ manet integra : quarum Libera et hæc est, atque illa at circumdata vinclis. Hoc ego sum tunc expertus, sermone loquentis Correptus, totoque animo miratus inhærens : Nam decies Sol quinque gradus ascenderat axem Quin ego sensissem ; quum illuc devenimus, una Quo nobis dixere Animæ : quod poscitis, hic est. Sæpe aditum paucis majorem sentibus obdit Rusticus, ut dulces uvas nigrescere cernit, |
There is one faculty of the soul which sees and which hears, but another which remains whole. Of these, the latter is free and the other surrounded with chains. I experienced this at that time, gripped by the speech of the speaker and riveted in wonder with my entire mind. For the Sun had climbed ten times five degrees in the sky without my sensing it, when we arrived at the place where together the Souls said to us, “Here is what you asked for.” As he sees the sweet grapes darken, a peasant often blocks with a few thorns a larger entryway |
| 340 | Quam foret hic callis, quem Dux ac ipse secutus, Postquam discessere Animæ, transivimus ambo. Vaditur in Castrum pedibus, Leo nomine sanctus, Vaditur et Naulum, et qua se Bismantova tollit, Vertice contingens nubes : hic vaditur alis, His nimirum alis, quas et succensa cupido Sufficit, et Doctor, spem consiliumque ministrans. Provehimur sursum per saxi concava, utrinque Margine constricti, pedibus manibusque meantes. Quum summum attigimus ripæ, ex quo cernere late |
than was this path which the Leader, and I following, both went through after the Souls departed. You can go by foot to the village which is Saint Leo by name, and to Noli, and up the path by which Mount Bismantova rises, touching the clouds with its peak; here you go with wings the wings, that is, which fiery desire provides and my Teacher, who was giving me hope and counsel. We were proceeding up a rock gully, confined on either side by the edge-wall, going with feet and hands. When we reached the top of the cliff from which one could see far, |
| 350 | Fas erat, obversus Vati : qua tendimus ? inqui. Me sequere, ulteriusque pedes, ait ille, feramus, Dum prudens, qui monstret iter, gradientibus assit. Altus erat vertex ut lumina vinceret, atque Clivus ita abruptus surgebat, linea valde Plusquam, de medio ad centrum deducta quadrante. Fessus eram, ac dixi : te te, pater optime, verte ; Aspice. quod solus, nisi sistas, ipse relinquor. Ille autem : huc usque, inquit, fili ; nītĕre ferri, Ostendens saxum, non multum desuper, exstans, [15] |
turning to the Poet, I said, “Which way are we going?” “Follow me and let us continue on further,” he said, “until someone knowledgeable meets us climbers who can show the way.” The peak was so high that it vanquished sight, and the slope rose so steeply, much more than 45 degrees a line drawn from the middle of a quadrant to the center. I was weary and said, “Turn, dearest father, and look: because I will be left alone unless you stop.” But he said, “Son, struggle to get up here,” showing me a projecting rock, not far above, |
| 360 | Hac in parte omnem præcingens undique montem. Sic mihi ab his animus verbis est auctus, ut illuc Reptando ascendi ; atque ibi tum consīdimus ambo, Lumina ad Eoam versi, ex qua venimus, oram ; Quippe retro spectare juvat. Prius ima tuendo, Sum loca permensus ; dein lumina Solis ad orbem Erexi, ac stupui ad lævam splendescere cernens, Agnovit Vates oculos me tendere Soli Mirantem, quoniam nos inter is esset et Arcton ; Atque ait : hoc speculum, sursum pariterque deorsum |
that goes round the whole mountain on that side. Thus my will power grew, so that I climbed up there by crawling and we both sat down at the spot. I turned my eyes eastward whence we had come, since I like to look back. Looking down first, I looked over the land, then raised my eyes to the Sun’s globe and was dumbfounded to see it shining on the left. The Poet, seeing me looking in wonder at the Sun because it was between us and Ursa Major [the Great Bear or north], said, “If that mirror, the sun, directing the earth’s light equally up toward the north and down toward the south, |
| 370 | Adducens terræ lucem, si sidera haberet Juncta sibi Geminos Fratres, magis esse propinquum Zodiacum aspiceres Ursis, nisi tramite abiret Quo se ferre solet. Tecum sic collige causas : Rere Sion montemque istum consistere terræ Partibus adversis : idem quapropter horizon Sit simul ambobus, pars at contraria Cæli, Quo male non rexit currum Clymeneïa proles. [16] Si sapis, agnosces Solem, unique ire sinistram, Alteri et ad dexteram. Nunquam, dilecte Magister ; |
had the constellations of the Twin Brothers, Gemini, joined to it [as in May and June], you would see its ecliptic-zodiacal position yet closer to the Bears, unless it deviated from the path it normally takes. Consider yourself the reasons: imagine Mount Zion at Jerusalem and this mountain placed diametrically opposite, on opposite sides of the earth. Consequently, although their celestial sides would be opposite, the same ecliptic-zodiac-horizon where Clymeneïa’s son, Phaëton, badly misdirected his chariot would be shared by both at the same time. If you understand this, you will recognize that the Sun passes both to the left for the one and to the right for the other.” “Never, dear Master, |
| 380 | Mens mea tam clare, quam nunc intellegit, inqui, Quum sum deesse ratus : medius nam circulus ille, Æquator cui nomen inest, hiemem inter et æstum Sese habet : hinc tantum gelidam Sol vergit ad Arcton, Abramidæ quantum ardenti jam parte videbant. At, tibi si placeat, quod nobis restat eundum Scire velim ; nam mons plusquam mea lumina surgit. Hujus montis iter primum ascendentibus arduum, Ille refert : mox usque magis mollescit eundo. Quum leve propterea pronumque videbitur ire, |
has my mind understood this as clearly as now,” I said, “whereas I thought it was defective. For that middle circle which is called the Equator is located between winter and summer. Hence the Sun verges toward the frozen Great Bear of the north as much as the Jews saw it toward the burning side of the south. But if you please, I would like to know what remains for us to go, for the mountain rises more than I can see.” He replied, “For climbers, the path of this mountain is steep at first, but it soon constantly becomes easier as we proceed. Until because of that it will seem to go lightly and easily, |
| 390 | Non secus ac navis si te vehat amne secundo, Tum tibi finis adest ; tibi tunc captare quietem Fas erit : hoc certum scio, nec verbum amplius addam. Vix ea finierat, quum vox : tibi forte sedendum Ante erit, increpuit. Qua voce impulsus uterque Vertimur ; ac nobis ad lævam surgere cautes Visa ingens, non visa prius. Procedimus illuc, Atque ibi conspicimus post saxum assistere quosdam Captantes umbram, tempus de more terentis Propter segnitiem : quos inter se unus habebat |
the same as if a boat should carry you downstream, then your end will have arrived. At that time it will be right for you to take your rest. I know this for sure, and will say no more.” He had hardly finished when a voice sounded out: “Perhaps you will have to sit before then.” Jolted by that voice, both of us turned around, and saw rising on the left a huge boulder, previously not noticed. We went over to it and there saw present behind the rock some souls getting shade, whiling away the time out of laziness. Among them there was one |
| 400 | Assimilis lasso, manibus compressa duabus Genua tenens, inter demissus et utraque vultum. O domine, hunc segnem, sum fatus, conspice, tanquam Pigritiæ fratrem. Versus tunc ille loquenti, Per femur os tollens : sursus te proripe, dixit, Tu, cui robur inest, solidoque in corpore vires. Tunc illum agnovi ; nec, qui mea fessa tenebat Membra, labor vetuit, quin illum promptus adirem. Vix caput is tollens : novisti quomodo currum Sol, ait, ad lævam ducat ? Brevia illius orsa |
like a tired man, holding his knees clasped with his two hands, and letting his face sink between them both. “O Lord,” I said, “look at this lazy man, like a brother of Sloth.” He then, turning to the speaker, raising his face with his thigh, said, “Rush on up, you who have strength and power in your firm body.” Then I recognized him, and the effort did not prevent me, who was holding my tired limbs, from immediately going up to him. He, barely raising his head, said, “Do you know how the Sun drives his chariot to the left?” His brief words |
| 410 | Ignavusque habitus, mea labra emittere paulum Impulerunt risum. Nil jam, tum protinus inqui, Me miseret, Belacque, tui ; sed dissere, quæso, [17] Cur piger hic sistis ? quæ te mora detinet ? utrum Ductorem exspectas ? an mos te servat inertem ? Ille mihi rettulit : quid sursum tendere, frater, Profuerit ? portæ qui custos Angelus astat, Indugredi haud sineret : tot enim illinc cogor abesse Quot mihi viventi Sol circumvolverit annos ; Nam diem ad extremum sum crimina flere moratus, |
and indolent attitude moved my lips to let out a little chuckle. Immediately I then said, “I now no longer grieve for you, Belacqua; but tell me, please, why are you standing here indolent? What delay is holding you back? Are you waiting for a guide? Or does habit keep you lethargic?” I replied to me, “What good would it do to push on upward, brother? The Angel guard who stands at the gate would not let me enter: for I am forced to stay away from there for as many years as the Sun orbited during my life. For I put off repenting of my sins until my last day, |
| 420 | Ni mihi forte preces, quæ puro ex pectore surgant, Auxilio fuerint : aliæ sunt viribus orbæ. Jamque secutus iter, Vates anteibat, et : euge, Ajebat, propera : medium Sol igneus axem Jam tenet, ac Libycis nox incubat humida terris. |
unless, perhaps, prayers rising from a pure heart come to my aid; the others are devoid of effectiveness.” The Poet, having already followed the path, was going on ahead and said, “Come on, hurry! The fiery Sun is already occupying the meridian axis and moist night is lying over the Libyan lands.” |
| PURGATORII V {5} ⇑ | ||
| 425 | Umbris jamque his abstiteram, Vatemque sequebar, Quum, tollens digitum, est quidam post terga locutus : Cernite, non sol ad lævam lucere sequentis Apparet : vivo est similis. Mea lumina verti Continuo ad vocis sonitum ; vidique stupentes |
I had already parted from these shades and was following the Poet when, pointing his finger, someone spoke behind our backs: “Look, the sun does not appear to shine to the left of the one following; he is like a living person.” I immediately turned my eyes to the sound of the voice and saw those Souls |
| 430 | Me me Animas illas, et ruptam cernere lucem. Cur tua mens rebus sese sic implicat ? inquit Tunc Vates, ut lentus eas ? Quod dicitur istic Quid tua nunc rēfert ? tibi sit me cura sequendi, Ac gentem blaterare sinas : par turribus esto, Quarum nulla movent ventorum flamina culmen : Pluribus intentus, cœpto vir sæpe priori Abstrahitur ; nam se minuunt per mutua curæ. Dicere tunc ego quid poteram, nisi : protinus assum ? Atque, colore genas, veniam qui sæpe meretur, |
looking in amazement at me at me and the broken light. Then the Poet: “Why is your mind so entangled with things that you are going slowly? What is said there that matters to you? Your concern should be to follow me and let the people blather. Be like towers whose tops no blasts of wind move. A man who attends to many things is drawn away from his original project, for cares mutually reduce one another.” What could I then say but “I’m coming”? And I said it with my cheeks suffused with that color that often makes a man |
| 440 | Inspersus, dixi. Transverso tramite sese Spirituum interea per montem turba ferebat Præ nobis paulum, sejunctis versibus una Hymnum Jessæi regis Miserere canentum. Quum mea viderunt radiis impervia membra, In longum ac raucum oh verterunt carmen hiantes. Mox duo, ab his missi, scitatum se ante tulere Condicio quæ nostra foret. Queis : vadite, Doctor, Ac sociis, vera ex carne hunc constare referte, Dixit ; et hoc satis, umbram si mansere videntes, |
worthy of being pardoned. Meanwhile across the path a crowd of Spirits came along the mountain a little ahead of us chanting the hymn of Jesus the King [Psalm 51] Miserere antiphonally. When they saw my limbs impervious to the sun’s rays, gasping they changed their chant into a long and hoarse “Oh!” Then two, sent from them came to ask what our status was. To whom the Teacher said, “Go and tell your companions that this man consists of real flesh and if, seeing his shadow, they tarried, that is enough, |
| 450 | Ut reor : huic reddant, hos namque juvabit, honorem. Accensos nunquam prima sub nocte vapores Currere per cælum vidi, nec sōle cadente In mense augusti nubes, ut protinus illi Ad socios rediere suos ; cumque agmine toto Se ad nos verterunt, ut frenis turba carentum. Nos gens multa petit, Vates ait, atque rogatum Te venit : intende his aures, ac insimul ito. O qui, clamantes ibant, ad gaudia pergis Indutus membris, quibus es de matre creatus, |
I believe. Let them render honor to him, for he will help them. I have never seen burning mists at nightfall, nor clouds in the month of August at sunset, run through the sky the way they returned to their comrades. And the entire army swung round to us like a cavalry squadron without reins. “A multitudinous crowd is making for us,” said the Poet, “and comes to ask you; listen to them, but at the same time go on.” They came clamoring, “O you who are proceeding to bliss clothed with the limbs with which you were born from your mother, |
| 460 | Siste parumper iter : quemquam num videris unquam Aspice, ut in terras illius nuntia portes : Cur tam præpes abis ? cur non vestigia sistis ? Nos omnes fuimus consumpti morte cruenta, Usque et ad extremam culpas servavimus horam : Cælica tum nostram movit lux denique mentem ; Quare præbentes veniam, scelerumque dolentes, Atque in pace Dei, moribundos liquimus artus. Qui nos nunc torquet magno se ardore videndi. His ego tum contra : quamvis vestra intuor ora |
hold up your journey a bit; look and see if you have ever seen one of us, so that you can bear news of him to earth. Why are you going off so fast? Why do you not stay your steps? We all died in a bloody death and maintained our guilt all the way to our last hour. Heavenly light then finally moved our conscience, so that, giving pardon and repenting of our crimes, and in the peace of God, we left our dying limbs. He now torments us with the great desire of seeing Him.” I then in response to them: “However much I gaze at your faces, |
| 470 | Luminibus fixis, nemo se cognitus offert. Si quid vos juvet, ac mihi sit præstare facultas, Dicite, felices Animæ, faciamque libenter : Per quam de mundo in mundum, hoc duce, quærere cogor, Obtestor pacem. Nihil est jurare necessum, Unus ait : verbis nisi forte potentia desit, Cuique tuis est plena fides. Qui præ omnibus unus Alloquor, idcirco te, si unquam videris oram Inter Ïapygiam Æmiliamque, precor, mihi junctos Sanguine commoneas Fani, ut pia vota precesque |
with attentive eyes, no one appears recognizable. If anything can help you and I have the ability to furnish it, tell me, blessed Souls, and I will gladly do it. I swear it by the peace I am forced to seek from world to world with the guidance of this man. “There is no need to swear an oath,” said one; “Unless perhaps your ability is lacking, everyone has complete trust in your words. I, who am alone speaking to you ahead of the others, therefore beg of you, if you ever see Italy, the land between Ïapygia and Emilia, to entreat those related to me by blood at Fano to offer up their pious vows and prayers |
| 480 | Fundant pro me rite Deo, et mea crimina purgent : Hac fui in urbe satus ; sed quæ mihi vulnera vitam [18] Abstulerunt, muros (quo tutior esse putabam) Propter Antenoreos, mihi furtim illata fuerunt. Attius hæc jussit, qui me plus oderat æquo. Si Miram versus fugissem, juxta Oriacum Quum sunt me aggressi, cunctis fortasse periclis Exissem, atque etiam fruerer vitalibus auris ; Ast ego me in stagnum jeci ; cannæque lutumque Implicuere pedes : cænoso in gurgite lapsus, |
devoutly for me to God and to purge my sins. I was begotten in that city, but the wounds which took my life were stealthily inflicted on me next to the Antenorean walls of Padua, where I thought I was safer. It was ordered by Azzo of Este, who hated me more than was just. If I had fled towards Mira when they attacked me next to Oriaco, I would perhaps have excaped all the dangers and still be enjoying the air of life. But I fell into a swamp and the reeds and mire entangled my feet. Having fallen into the muddy marsh, |
| 490 | Atque ibi transfixus, vitam cum sanguine fudi. Sic ille. Hinc alter : tibi sic expleta cupido Sit, dixit, per quam pergis conscendere montem, Expleri da, quæso, meam. Sum in monte creatus Ipse Ferentrano : Boncontes nomine dicor. [19] Nulla mei superest uxori cura Joannæ, Nulla cuique alii : auxilio sic indigus omni Hos inter cogor demissa incedere fronte. Quæ ex Campaldino te vis fortunaque longe Tam pepulit, rettuli, ut statio sit deinde sepulcri |
and impaled there, I poured out my life with my blood.” Then another said: “May that desire of yours be satisfied by which you continue to climb the mountain; please enable mine to be satisfied. I myself was begotten in Montefeltro, the Ferentran mountain. I am called Buonconte. My wife Giovanna has no more care for me, nor do any of the others; thus lacking help I am forced to go with bowed head among these people.” I responded: “What violence and chance forced you so far from Campaldino that subsequently your place of burial |
| 500 | Ignorata tui ! Exoriens super, inquit, eremum Ex Appennino, Clusii sub defluit agros Torrens : Arclanum dicunt. Quo lapsus in Arnum Amittit nomen, transfixo gutture veni, Effugiens pedes, ac perfundens sanguine terram. Hic visum ac vocem amisi ; quæ desiit, almæ Virginis implorans Mariæ venerabile nomen. Vera loquor, vivisque refer. Me Numinis astans Angelus excepit, dum clamans frenderet alter Tartareus : cur, Cælicola, hunc mihi surripis ? unam |
was unknown?” He said, “A torrent arising from the Apennines above the Hermitage, the Monastery of Camoldoli, flows below the fields of Chiusi; they call it Archiano. There, at Bibbiena, where it flows into the Arno, losing its name, I came pierced in the throat, fleeing on foot and spilling my blood on the ground. There I lost my sight and voice, which ended imploring the venerable name of the motherly Virgin Mary. I am speaking the truth; report it to the living. An angel of God, standing by, took me, while one from Hell ground his teeth, shouting, “Why, tenant of Heaven, are you robbing this man from me? On account of |
| 510 | Propter lacrimulam, partem tu suscipis hujus Æternam ; ast ego corporeos immaniter artus Disperdam. Scis ætherium per inane vapores Surgere, et hic rigido densari frigore, ut inde In pluvias recidant. Malus ille, nefandaque poscens, Huc venit ; fumumque suis pro viribus atrum Ac ventum movit ; quare, quum deinde ruit nox, A Prato-magno tecta est caligine valles Ad magnum usque jugum ; ac densus super horruit æther. Solvitur in pluviam aër : quam non terra receptat, |
a single tear you are absconding with his eternal part; but I shall destroy his physical limbs savagely.” You know how moisture rises into the stratosphere and there condenses through the rigid cold and then falls back down from there in rain. That evil one, making unspeakable demands, went to the place and with all his powers stirred up the black fog and wind, with the result that when then the night came down, the valley was covered with darkness from Protomagno to the great Apennine ridge, and the saturated stratosphere above shivered. The air liquefied to rain. What the earth did not absorb |
| 520 | In rivos fluit ; et, quum amplos convenit in amnes, Sese regalem fluvium tanto impete versus Immisit præceps, ut nil obsistere posset. Faucibus inveniens Arclanus corpus, in Arnum Impulit ; et, quas more crucis, quum me dolor asper Evicit, junxi, palmas a pectore solvit. Per ripas ac fundum volvens atque revolvens Mox tulit, atque sua me obtexit denique præda. Oh, precor, in terras quum veneris, atque quiescas, Tunc memor esto mei, dixit tum Spiritus alter : |
flowed into the brooks, and when it gathered into large streams, it poured headlong toward the royal river, the Arno, with such force that nothing could resist it. Finding my body at its jaws, it washed it into the Arno and undid my palms, which I had crossed when the intense pain overcame me, from my chest. Rolling over and over along the banks and riverbed, it bore me and finally buried me by its spoils.” Then another Spirit said, “Oh, I pray you, when you get back to earth and have rested, remember me; |
| 530 | Sum Pia : natalis Senæ mihi terra fuere, Ac mortem occubui Tusci sub marmoris oram : Is plane hoc novit, qui me præcinxerat ante Anulo, eoque sibi dederat sociam esse cubilis. |
I am Pia. Siena was my homeland, and I died beneath the shore of the Tuscan sea. Certainly he knows it who had first put a ring on me and thereby made me his bedpartner.” |
| PURGATORII VI {6} ⇑ | ||
| 534 | Quum finem alea ludus habet, qui perdidit, æger Consistit, repetitque vices, ac discere tentat : Victorem gens consequitur : præit alter euntem ; Alter pone premit ; lateri sese applicat alter : Non is proinde manet, nunc huic, nunc versus et illi ; Et, quibus est quicquam largitus, sponte recedunt : |
When the dice game comes to an end, the loser stands disconsolate and repeats the turns and tries to learn from them. The crowd follows the winner: one precedes him as he goes, another presses him from behind; another one is glued to his side. As a result, he does not stay: he turns now to this one, now to that one; and those to whom he gives something leave of their own accord. |
| 540 | Sic turbam evadit. Talis tunc agmine denso Ipse ego vertebar, faciem circum undique volvens ; Multaque pollicitus, simul expediebar ab illis. Hic Aretinum vidi, quem funere Ghinus [20] Plectit ; quique sequens hostes est mersus in Arnum. [21] Vidi protensis palmis orare Novellum, [22] Illumque ex Pisis, quem propter pectore fortem [23] Marsuccus sese ostendit. Comitem insuper Ursum [24] Vidi ; ac te, velut ajebas, sine crimine, leto, Propter et invidiam, Broccensis, dedite, Petre. [25] |
thus he gets away from the crowd. In the same way, then, I was swamped by the dense throng, turning my face around on every side; and promising much, I was at the same time freeing myself from them. I saw the Aretine, Benincasa, whom Ghin di Tacco assassinated; and Guccio de’ Tarlati who, pursuing the enemy at Campaldino, was drowned in the Arno. I saw Federigo Novello pleading with outstretched palms, and the man from Pisa, Farinata Scornigiani, on whose behalf his father Marzucco showed such fortitude. In addition I saw Count Orso degli Alberti, and you, Pierre de la Brosse, put to death, as you said, guiltlessly, out of envy. |
| 550 | Prospiciat sibi, dum vivit, regina Brabantis, Ne dein morte obita loca deteriora receptent. His ubi me expedii, qui aliorum vota precesque, Ut sibi ad ora Dei tempus brevietur eundi, Quærebant, me ad Vatem verti, ac deinde rogavi : O mea lux, quædam tua verba negare videntur Quod quis jussa Dei possit mutare precando ; Hoc isti exorant : num spe pascuntur inani ? Aut tua non valeo plene deprendere dicta ? Doctrinam esse meam, nisi sit mens devia recto, |
Let Queen Marie of Brabant take care, while she is alive, lest at her death worse places take her in. When I had freed myself of those who were seeking the vows and prayers of others so that their time of passing on to the lands of God might be shortened, I turned to the Poet and then asked, “O my light, some of your words seem to deny that by praying anyone could alter the commands of God. Those people are pleading for that. Are they being fed with empty hope? Or am I unable fully to understand what you say?” He replied, “As long as your mind does not deviate from a straight path, you will understand that |
| 560 | Agnosces claram ; nec spes hos irrita fallit, Ille refert. Domini non se sententia flectit, Si quis mortalis, divino incensus amore, Expleat in terris, momento temporis uno, Quod debent isti, qui sedibus hisce morantur. De hoc ubi sum fatus, defectum vota replere Haudquaquam poterant, quod summo a Numine abessent. Hoc dubium ne mente fove, nisi dixerit illa Quæ verum ac mentem inter erit penetrabile lumen. Nescio an id capias : mihi dicitur alma Beatrix, |
my teaching is clear; they are not deceived by vain hope. The Lord’s decision does not bend if some mortal, enflamed with divine love, should in one moment of time fulfill on earth what those who remain in these parts owe Him. When I spoke about this, suffrages could not make the deficiency good in any way, because they were divorced from the highest Will. Do not put this doubt to rest in your mind unless you are told to by her who will be the penetrating light linking truth and mind. I do not know whether you understand this; I am referring to kind Beatrice, |
| 570 | Quam super aspicies ridenti in vertice montis. Dux bone, tum rettuli, properemus iterque sequamur Prærapide ; jam non lassor, velut ante solebam : Jamque vides quod monte cadit prolixior umbra. Dum nĭtet ista dies, dixit, nos ibimus ultra, Quantum fas fuerit ; sed res diversa profecto est Ac quam animo versas. Non ante adveneris illuc Quam, qui nunc rupe acclinis velatur ab alta, Proptereaque tuo radios haud corpore scindit, Aspicias reducem. Sed enim illic inspice solam |
whom you will see above on the smiling summit of the mountain.” I responded, “Good Leader, lets us hurry and follow the road quickly; I am no longer tired as I normally was before. You already see that a longer shadow is being cast by the mountain.” He said, “As long as there is daylight, we will go on as far as it is possible. But the fact is certainly different that you think. You will not arrive there before you see returning the one that is now blocked by the high rock and, accordingly, does not split its rays due to your body. But look there at the solitary |
| 580 | Stare Umbram, ac nobis intento lumine versam : Illa quidem ostendet, brevior qua semita ducat. Continuo hanc petimus. Proh quam gravis atque severa Insubri Umbra viri, hic stabas ! quam lente et honeste Lumina volvebas ! Nullam dabat illa loquelam, Nos tantum inspiciens, recubantis more leonis. Accessit Vates, et qua minus aspera surgat Semita quæsivit. Nil reddidit illa roganti ; At genus et patriam petiit. Tum Dux meus infit : Mantua . Sōla loco surrexit protinus Umbra, |
Shade standing and looking at us with a fixed stare. That one will show us which way the shorter path leads.” We soon got to him. O Shade of a Lombard, how gravely and solemnly you were standing there! How slowly and nobly you turned your eyes! He said not a word, watching us like a lion at rest. The Poet approached him and asked him where the least difficult path went up. He answered the questioner nothing, but inquired as to his origins and fatherland. Then my Leader began, “Mantua .” Instantly the solitary Shade arose from its place |
| 590 | Illique occurrens : tellure creatus eadem En tibi Sordellus [26], dixit ; cupidoque vicissim Complexu hæserunt. O feta doloribus, atque Servili compressa jugo ; ratis orba magistro Debacchante hieme ; meretrix, non arbitra gentium, Italia ! Audito patriæ vix nomine terræ, Gestiit illa animo, magnumque ostendit amorem Huic civi Umbra suo ; at vivi sine Marte cruento Non tibi sunt cives : eadem quos mœnia claudunt, Fossaque quos eadem cingit, se mutua rodunt. |
and came up to him. “Behold before you Sordellus, begotten on the same earth,” he said. And they warmly embraced one another. O Italy, pregnant with pain and subjected to a yoke of slavery! O boat devoid of a helmsman in a raging snowstorm! O whore, not governess, of peoples! Barely having heard the name of his fatherland, that Shade showed his emotion and his great love toward his compatriot. But there are no living fellow citizens for you without bloody war: those enclosed by the same walls, surrounded by the same moats, gnaw at one another. |
| 600 | Cerne tuas ad pontum oras ; te in pectore cerne ; Pax ubinam ? Quidnam, quod Justinianus habenas Jam tibi composuit, prodest, si ephippium inane est ? Quin minus, hæ si deficerent, tibi dedecus esset. O gens, quæ, devota Deo, quæ, dedita sacris, Debueras sinere, ut Cæsar se in sede teneret, Si sapis, ac manifesta tibi est sententia Christi, Aspice, ut indomitam, quoniam est calcaribus expers, Se gerat hæc fera, postquam tu susceperis audax Frena manu. O qui hanc indocilem temereque furentem |
Look at the shores on your sea: look into your heart, at yourself. Where is there peace? What good does it do that Justinian composed reins laws for you, if the saddle is empty? Indeed, the shame would be less if they did not exist. O people who, devoted to God and dedicated to religious rites, ought to have let Caesar stay in the saddle, if you have any understanding and Christ’s words are clear to you, look at how this beast, because it is uncontrolled by spurs, behaves untamed after you have audaciously taken the bridle into your own hands. O Albert of Hapsburg, who have abandoned this unteachable and wildly raging |
| 610 | Destituis, cui deberes insĭdēre dorso, In genus, o Alberte, tuum descendat ab astris Judicium, et clarum atque novum, ut sit territus ille Qui post sceptra geret. Cupidi dicione tenere Germanas terras, sivistis tuque paterque Desertum Italiam fieri. Hic hic aspice, segnis, Montecchios, Cappellettos, unaque Monaldos Atque Philippescos, illos jam clade dolentes, Hosce metu plenos. Huc huc, crudelis, adesto, Gentilesque tuos oppressos aspice, opemque |
animal on whose back you should be sitting, may judgement descend from the stars onto your bloodline, a judgement obvious and new, so that the one who wields the scepter afterward may stand in fear. You and your father, desirous of keeping the German lands under your control, have let Italy become a desert. Look here, here, o lazy one, at the Montecchi, the Cappelletti, the Monaldi and the Filippeschi those suffering from disasters, these full of fear. Come here, here, o cruel one, and see your nobles oppressed and hurry to render |
| 620 | Ferre malis propera : quantum hic secura videbis Est [27] Sanctaflora. Huc tua te noctesque diesque Roma vocat vidua ; et quianam mecum, esse recusas, Mi Cæsar ? clamat. Quam mutuus undique gentes Aspice jungat amor. Si nil tibi pectore nostri Est pietas, assis, ut te tua fama pudore Impleat. O nostri generis Reparator et Auctor, (Parce meis verbis) alio cur lumina vertis ? Aut est divinæ non perscrutabile mentis Consilium, fluat unde bonum, plenam esse tyrannis |
aid to their misfortunes. You will see how secure Santafiora of the Aldobrandeschi is. Come see how your widowed Rome calls on you night and day and cries, “Why do you refuse to be with me, my Caesar?” See how mutual love unites people on all sides. If no pity for us is in your heart, come so that your reputation may fill you with shame. O Restorer and Author of our species (permit me my words), are you turning your eyes elsewhere? Or is it the plan of the inscrutable divine mind, whence flows goodness, for the whole of land Italy |
| 630 | Terram omnem Italiæ ? ac Marcellum evadere, quisquis Rusticus in partes venit ? O mea, vocibus istis, Queis sum digressus cœpto, Florentia, valde, Est tibi gaudendum : non his nam tangeris ipsa, Quum tam recta tuos teneat sententia cives. Multi justitiam tacito sub pectore servant ; Ac raro hanc adhibent, temere ne spicula vibrent : At tua gens summo ore gerit. Civilia multi Munia detrectant ; at gens tua sponte gerenda Hæc sumit, curisque alacris se dedicat urbis. |
to be full of tyrants? And for any rustic whatsoever to emerge in a faction as a Marcellus? O my Florence, you should greatly rejoice at these words, with which I have digressed from my enterprise; for you yourself are not touched by these things, since a correct mindset characterizes your citizens. Many hold justice silently in their hearts but rarely apply it, lest they brandish weaponry rashly; yet your people display it on their lips. Many people refuse public office; but your people take it up of their own accord and eagerly dedicate themselves to urban services. |
| 640 | Gaude igitur, nam jure potes gaudere libenter : Tu dives, tu pace fruens, tu provida rerum : Nonne tua his dictis respondent omnia facta ? Cecropidis qui jura Solon, qui jura Lycurgus Spartanis antiqua dedit, juvere parumper Si tibi respicitur, quæ tales callida leges Constituis, quæ vix mensem servantur in unum. Quoad meminisse licet, quoties et munia, et ipsos Munia qui exercent, moresque, ac jura novasti, Nec non et variis excusa numismata formis ! |
So rejoice, since you can rightly rejoice with gladness. You are rich, enjoy peace, and are prudent in business; do not all the facts back these statements up? Solon, who gave laws to the Athenians, and Lycurgus, who gave the ancient laws to the Spartans, were happy only for a little while if one looks at you who so proficiently makes such laws as hardly last for a single month. As far as can be remembered, how often you have renovated offices and those who fill them, and mores and laws, as well as coins minted with various shapes! |
| 650 | Si mentem advertis, similem te noveris ægræ, Quæ, thalamo recubans, nunc huc nunc vertitur illuc, Immutansque latus, quærit lenire dolorem. |
If you look at your mind, you will recognize yourself as being like a sick woman who, lying on her bed, turns now here, now there and, changing her side, tries to alleviate her pain. |
| PURGATORII VII {7} ⇑ | ||
| 653 | Dulcibus ac lætis indultum terque quaterque Quum fuit officiis, Sordellus destitit, atque : Qui vos estis ? ait. Vates cui rettulit ultro : Ante Animæ hunc montem, dignæ conscendere Cælum, Quam colerent, jam tum Augustus mea membra sepulcro Condiderat : sum Virgilius : mihi crimina nulla Cælestem abstulerunt sedem ; verum obstitit unus |
Having engaged three or four times in sweet and happy greetings, Sordellus stopped and said, “Who are you?” The Poet responded spontaneously, “Before Souls worthy of ascending to Heaven inhabited this mountain, Augustus had buried my limbs in a sepulcher. I am Virgil. No sins deprived me of a position in heaven; rather, I was blocked by the one |
| 660 | Defectus Fidei. Qualis, miracula rerum Qui nova continuo videt, admiratur et hæret Attonitus, secumque putat non esse vel esse ; Taliter is tunc obstupuit : dein lumina flexit, Atque humilis Vati accessit ; rituque minoris Genua est amplexus. Latiæ ingens gloria gentis, Inquit, per quem est visum, quanta potentia nostræ Sit linguæ ; o illius terræ, sum unde creatus, Immortale decus, quæ te mihi gratia monstrat ? Quale ingens meritum ? Nisi sum te audire loquentem |
defect of faith.” Like a man who, astonished at seeing some amazing new things, wonders whether they are not or are, so he was then dumbfounded. Next, he turned his eyes and humbly approached the Poet, and, in the manner of a person of lesser status, embraced his knees. “O mighty glory of the Latin people,” he said, “through whom it was shown how much power our language has. O immortal adornment of the land in which I was born, what grace shows you to me? What enormous merit? If I am not unworthy to hear you speak,” |
| 670 | Indignus, dic quæso : num Phlegetontis ab oris, Aut aliunde venis ? Cunctos, respondit, Averni Emensus gyros, venio : me cælica virtus Movitque ac ducit ; non est mihi namque supernas, Quo tu ire exoptas, vetitum conscendere sedes Ob factum, sed ob infectum ; nam cognita sero Est mihi lux Fidei. Locus est tellure sub ima, Tristis, non pœnis, sed caligantibus umbris ; Quo suspiria, non autem lamenta doloris Ulla sonant : hic sedem habeo, cum infantibus illis |
tell me, please, whether you come from the shores of Hell or elsewhere.” “I come,” he answered, “through having traversed all the circles of Hell. A heavenly power moves and leads me. I am forbidden to ascend to the supernal realms where you wish to go not for the done, but for the undone. For I realized the light of Faith too late. Beneath the bottom of the earth there is a place saddened not by torments but by dark shadows, where sighs, but not any laments of pain, sound. There I have my place, with those infants, |
| 680 | Quos mors, nondum humana ablutos labe, momordit ; Cumque eis, qui sanctis haud se virtutibus unquam Induerunt trinis ; vitiisque absentibus, omnes Noverunt reliquas, ac sunt apprime secuti. Si scis, atque potes, nobis da noscere signum, Ut cito pergamus, quo purgatoria vere Incipit hæc sedes. Non est, tunc ille reponit, Nobis certa domus : sursum circumque vagari Fas est : quoad potero, veniam tibi ductor eunti. At jam prona dies, ut cernis, labitur axe ; |
not yet cleansed of the human original sin, whom death has bitten, and with those who never clothed themselves with the three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity but, sinless, knew all the others and followed them extremely well. But if you know, and can, give us directions so we can quickly continue to where this purgatorial realm begins.” The other responded, “No fixed domicile is set for us: it is permissible to wander up and around. So far as I can, I will come with you as your guide as you go. But the declining day is, as you see, already slipping from the sky. |
| 690 | Nec quis nocte potest sursum vestigia ferre. Præstat proinde bona in noctem statione teneri. Sunt Animæ ad dextram secreta in parte remotæ : Si libet, huc ducam : tibi erit novisse voluptas. Quomodo ! responsum fuit : anne ascendere noctu Vis aliena vetat ? vel deficit ipse viator ? Lineolam digito ducens Sordellus in ima Pronus humo : non tu, dixit, processeris ultra Tantillum hoc spatii, postquam Sol cessit Olympo. Non vis ulla vetat ; sed nox nigrantibus umbris |
And no one can travel by night. It is therefore best to be sheltered in a good waystation for the night. There are some Souls in a hidden location on the right, apart: If you agree, I will lead you there; knowing them will be enjoyable for you.” “How?” was the response. “Would somenone else’s force prevent ascending by night? Or would the traveler himself lose his ability?” Sordellus, getting down and drawing a line with his finger in the soil below, said, “You would not advance the tiniest bit beyond this space after the Sun leaves the Olympian sky. No power prevents it, but with the blackening shadows, night |
| 700 | Vim cohibet, nec velle sinit : licet ire deorsum, Donec Sol latet, ac per costas undique montis. Tunc, quasi miratus, Vates : duc, rettulit, ergo Quo fore tu dicis nobis consistere gratum. Paulum hinc digressus, vidi subsīdere montem In vallem, ut solet hīc etiam mons sæpe cavari. Ibimus huc, gremium rupes quo concava pandit, Umbra ait, atque hic Eoi exspectabimus ortum. Non plano aut alto, flexo nos tramite duxit In latus hinc montis, quo se plus deprimit ora |
restrains your energy and does not allow you to will anything. One is allowed, while the Sun is hidden, to go downwards and on all sides along the flanks of the mountain.” Then, as though in wonder, the Poet answered, “So lead where you say it will be pleasant for us to stay.” having gone a little ways from there, I saw the mountain recess into a valley as it is often common for mountains to be scooped out even here on earth. The shade said, “We are going over there where the concave rock widens into a bay, and there we will await the coming of the dawn.” He led us by a winding path, neither flat nor steep, from there to the side of the mountain where the ledge falls off by more |
| 710 | Dimidio. Argentum, atque aurum, cerussa, smaragdus Quum obteritur, coccus, lucentiaque indica ligna, Haud unquam possent varios æquare colores Herbarum ac florum, queis terra hic picta renīdet : Valde etenim cedunt. Nec tantum gratia formæ His erat ; at mixtis fragrabat odoribus aura Ignotum in morem. Salve Regina canentes Tunc Animas vidi florenti in valle sedere, Quæ foris haud cerni poterant. Nolite, priusquam Occumbat, Sordellus ait, pars prona diei, |
than half. Silver and gold, white lead, ground emerald, the scarlet berry, and shining indigo woods could never equal the varying colors of grasses and flowers with which the painted earth shimmered here; indeed, they are vastly inferior. These had not only grace of form, but the air smelled in an unfamiliar way with mixed scents. Then I saw Souls singing the Salve Regina, sitting in the flowering valley who could not be seen from outside. “Before the late part of the day sets,” said Sordellus, “Do not |
| 720 | Ad turbam duci : tumulo ex hoc eminus alto Illorum melius vultus cognoscere et actus, Quam simul his ima resīdendo in valle, licebit. Altius ille sedens, qui se non munere functum Quod jam debuerit, vultu monstrare videtur, Nec cum aliis cantat, tristisque silentia servat, Est ex Germana induperator gente Rodulfus ; Vulnera qui Italiæ poterat curare peremptæ, Queis nequicquam alius quærit mox ferre medelam. Est alius, qui mærentem recreare videtur, |
be led to the group. From this high hilltop, at a distance, it is possible to see their faces and actions better than when sitting together with them at the bottom of the valley. The one sitting higher who seems to show by his face that he has not finished the task which by now he should have, who does not sing with the others and whom a melancholic silence retains, is Emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg of the German nation, who could have cured dying Italy’s wounds, to which someone else now seeks in vain to apply a remedy. And the other one, who seems to be comforting him in his grief, is |
| 730 | Ottacherus : rexit terras, unde exitus undis, [28] Quas et in Albim Mulda, atque Albis portat in æquŏr. Hic fuit in cunis melior, quam natus adultus Est Wenceslaus, quem desidis otia vitæ Luxuriesque terunt. Nasettum cernite regem, [29] Cui socium sese adjungit, secretaque miscet Colloquia, is valde spectabilis ore benigno : [30] Hic fugiens periit, et Lilii turpavit honorem. Cernite ut ille sibi pulsat nunc pectora palmis Utque gemens alter fulcit sua tempora dextra : |
Ottokar. He ruled the lands whence is the drainage for the waters which the Moldau carries to the Elbe, and through the Elbe to the sea. In the cradle he was better than is his adult son Wenceslaus, whom the leisure of an idle life and luxury consume. Take a look at snub-nosed King Nasettus, [Philip III of France], with whom Henry I of Navarre, quite notable with a kind face, associates himself and engages in secret conversation. The latter died fleeing and debased the honor of the Lily. Look how that one strikes his chest with his palms, and the next one, sighing, supports his temple with his right hand. |
| 740 | Sunt pater ac socer illius, qui Gallica regna [31] Turpiter incestat : norunt opprobria vitæ Ipsius, ac dolor hinc oritur, qui pectora torquet, Is vastus membris, cui concors concinit alter, [32] Naso ingens, virtute fuit præclarus in omni : Et, si post illum puer obtinuisset habenas Qui pone assīdit, virtus transmissa fuisset Ex patre in natum : reliquis de heredibus istud Non est fas equidem dici : dicione potiti Sunt Jacob Fridericusque, at meliore potitus |
They are the father and the father-in-law of Philip the Fair, who digracefully defiled France. They know the sordidness of his life, and hence comes the pain which torments their hearts. The one so large in limb, Peter III of Aragon, with whom the next, Charles of Anjou, with the huge nose, sings together in harmony, was famous in every virtue. And if the boy who sits behind him had taken over the reins after him, virtue would have been passed from the father to the son. Certainly it is impossible for that to be said about the other heirs. James II of Aragon and Frederick II of Sicily assumed power, but certainly neither |
| 750 | Nemo quidem dicione fuit : nam rara resurgit Per ramos humana suos de stipite virtus. Hoc Dator illius facit, ut poscatur ab ipso. Nasutum pariter mea verba, unaque canentem Contingunt Petrum ; unde et Narbo et Apulia deflent. [33] Scilicet ipsa suo melior tam semine planta est, Quanto plus sese Constantia conjuge jactat, [34] Conjuge quam lætæ sunt Margaris atque Beatrix. Anglorum regem sōlum spectate sedentem, Simplicis Henricum vitæ : felicior iste |
has assumed better power. For only a rare virtue reemerges from a human trunk through its branches. The Giver of that made it so, in order that such virtue might be requested of Him. My words apply to Charles, the large-nosed one, as well, and to Peter who is singing along with him. Because of his son, Provence and Apulia now weep. Certainly the plant itself is better than its own seed, just as Constance, Peter’s wife, boasts of her husband, more than Margaret and Beatrice are happy about their spouse. Look at the king of the English, sitting there alone, Henry the Third of the simple life. He was more fortunate |
| 760 | Edendis fuit in ramis. Demissior ille, Qui sedet hos inter, sursum sua lumina tollens, Marchio est Guilelmus ; quem propter Alexandria Ferratum montem, et Canavejum Marte fatigat. [35] |
in putting out his branches. That one down lower who sits between them, looking up, is William, the Marquis, on account of whom Alessandria, in Piedmont, exhausted Montferrat and Canavese through war. |
| PURGATORII VIII {8} ⇑ | ||
| 764 | Tempus erat, quum puppe secantibus alta, cupido Vertitur, ac tenero mollescunt pectora sensu, Quo die amicitiā junctis dixere valete ; Quumque novus sese persentit amore viator Astringi, si forte sonum procul aëris acutum Audiat, interitum lucis quod flere videtur, |
It was the time when the desire of those who traverse the high sea in boats is turned back and their hearts soften with tender feelings, on the day when they have said farewell to those joined to them by friendship, and when the new traveler feels himself bound by love, if perhaps he hears far off the high-pitched sound of a bronze bell which seems to mourn the death of daylight, |
| 770 | Quum finem obtinuit cantus. Tum Spiritus unus Erexit sese, atque manu audiri ipse poposcit : Extulit hinc junctas palmas, os fixus in ortum, Dicere ceu vellet Domino : nil cetera curo. Ac tam deinde pie : Te finem luminis ante Incepit canere, atque adeo modulamine dulci, Ut memet mihi surriperet ; reliquique sequentes Dulciter atque pie, cælo capita alta ferentes, Integrum cecinere hymnum. Nunc dirige acutam In verum, o lector, mentem : subtile profecto |
when the singing came to an end. The one Spirit rose and with his hand requested to be heard; he raised his joined hands, fixing his eyes on the east as though he wanted to say to the Lord, “I care for nothing else.” And then ever so devoutly, he began to sing “Te finem luminis ante, Thee, before the ending of the light,” and with such a sweet melody that it transported me; and the rest followed, sweetly and devoutly, raising their heads high, singing the entire hymn. Now, o reader, focus your sharpened mind on the truth: the veil indeed |
| 780 | Est ita velamen, quod sit transmittere pronum. [36] Turbam illam vidi, pallentem humilemque, silenter More exspectantum, sustollere lumina Cælo ; Ac vidi ex alto parili descendere lapsu Angelica de gente duo ; mucrone carentem, Igneum gestantes gladium : Viridantibus ibant Vestibus induti, frondum de more recentum ; Quas virides retro quassabant motibus alæ. Unus nos supra paulisper, constitit ; alter Ad latus adversum venit ; medioque sedentes |
is so slender that it is easy to pass through it. I saw a crowd, pale and humble, in the manner of people waiting silently, raise their eyes to heaven, and I saw, descending in equal fall, two of the Angelic species from on high wielding swords lacking points. They went clothed in green garments like fresh leaves, garments which their green wings with their motions made flutter backwards. One stopped a little above us, the other went to the opposite side. They bracketed |
| 790 | Inclusere Animas. Flavos in vertice crines Cernere erat ; sed lux vultum spectare vetabat, Obice ab immodico veluti vis obruta torpet. Virginis ex gremio, dixit Sordellus, uterque Adveniunt Mariæ, sint ut custodia vallis, Infernum propter, qui sese huc deferet, anguem. Nescius ipse viæ, per quam venisset, adhæsi, Membra rigens, umeris Vatis ; perque omnia circum Verti oculos. Vallem jam nunc adeamus et Umbras, Sordellus dixit : tum compellabimus illas ; |
the Souls sitting in the middle. It was possible to see the blond hair of their heads, but the light prevented seeing their faces, as a force is deadened, overcome by an overpowering blockage. “Both come from the bosom of the Virgin,” said Sordellus. “They are the guard of the valley because of the infernal serpent which will be coming. Ignorant of the way it would come, I myself, with my limbs frozen, clung to the shoulders of the Poet and looked all around. “Let us now go to the Valley and the Shades,” said Sordellus, “and address them. |
| 800 | Gratam erit his valde conspectum visere vestrum. Tres tantum reor isse gradus, subterque jacentem In vallem veni ; ac quendam mihi figere vidi Intentos oculos, quasi me cognoscere vellet. Jamque aër obscurus erat ; non sic tamen ater Ut non parērent nos inter quæ ante latebant. Ipse illi accessi, mihi contra accessit et ille. Oh quam lætitiam cepi, clarissime Nine, [37] Quum te conspexi mixtum non esse scelestis ! Non fuit officii quicquam nos inter omissum. |
It will indeed be a pleasure for them to see your appearance.” I think I took only three steps and I had arrived in the valley lying below, and I saw someone staring at me as though he wanted to know me. The air was already dark, but still not so black that what had been previously hidden between us did not appear. I myself approached him and, conversely, he approached me. “Oh what joy I have found, most noble Judge Nino, in having found you not mixed in with the damned!” No courteous salutation was left out between us. |
| 810 | Dein mihi quæsivit : quam dudum istius ad imum Venisti montis, longas transvecte per undas ? Huc ego mane novo, rettuli, per Tartara veni : Sum prima in vita, quantumvis altera eundo Nunc mihi quæratur. Tulerunt vestigia retro, Hoc ubi responsum sonuit, Sordellus et alter, Ut gens miranda perculsa ab imagine rerum, Sordellus Vatem ; Ninus se vertit ad Umbram Hic prope sedentem, clamans : quod gratia Cæli Dat munus, Corrade, vide. Mihi deinde locutus : |
Then he asked me: “How long ago did you, after having traveled over the far waters, come to the foot of this mountain?” I answered, “I came through Hell this very morning. I am in my first life, though I am seeking the second one by this journey now.” Sordellus and the other one backed up when this response was given, like people in wonderment awestruck by the sight of something. Sordellus turned to the Poet, Ninus to a Shade sitting alongside, exclaiming, “Conrad, look at the deed that the grace of Heaven has wrought!” Then, speaking to me, |
| 820 | O per ego has grates, toto quas pectore debes Olli, qui causam primam sic celat et abdit, Ut nemo penetrare queat ; quum deinde remensus Latifluas undas fueris, meam adire Joannam Esto memor natam : pro me dic invocet illum, Qui insontum votis responsum haud denegat unquam. Illius genitrix, vittas postquam exuit albas, [38] Me, reor, haud meminit ; quas nunc exoptet oportet Infelix. Ex hac plane deprendere fas est, Quam cito, ni tactus visusque accendat, Amoris |
he said, “O, I ask, by those thanks which, with all your heart, you owe to Him Who so hides and conceals His first cause that no one can penetrate it, when you have returned over the wide-flowing waters, remember and tell my Giovanna to implore Him for me Who never refuses an answer to the prayers of the innocent. Her mother, after having doffed the white veil, does not, I believe, remember me. She will now unhappily be compelled to wish for it. From this you can clearly understand how quickly, unless touch and sight keeps it lit, Love’s |
| 830 | Femineo fax corde perit. Non Vipera certe, Insigne Insubrum, fuerit quum functa, sepulcrum Tale dabit, Gallus Galluræ quale dedisset. [39] Talibus est fatus, vultum succensus amoris His flammis, queis corda calent moderamine justo. Ipse avida interea vertebam lumina Cælo, Plus ubi provolvunt tardo se sidera cursu Ut rota proximior centro. Quid, nate, tueris ? Tum mihi Doctor ait : tria, dixi, conspicor astra Queis polus hic ardet totus. Tunc ille vicissim : |
torch goes out in the female heart. Certainly the Viper, the coat of arms of the Milanese, will not give her the kind of sepulcher after she has died that the Rooster of Galluria would have given her. So he spoke, his face alight with those flames of love with which hearts burn in just moderation. I myself meanwhile turned my eager eyes to Heaven where the stars revolve in their orbits more slowly, as does a wheel closer to its center. The Teacher then asked me, “What are you looking at, son?” I said, “I am looking at three stars with which the entire pole is burning here.” He then in return: |
| 840 | Clara sub Auroram quæ sunt tibi sidera visa Sunt quattuor lapsa : ista locum cepere relictum. Hæc fantem ad sese Sordellus traxit, et inquit, Intendens digitum : ecce illic, hostem aspice nostrum. Qua nullus valli est objex, surrepserat anguis, Qualis forte Evæ pomum porrexit amarum. Per flores herbasque ibat, sibi vertice verso Dorsum interdum lambens, ut se belua lingens, Non ego conspexi, nequeoque hinc dicere primum Alituum juvenum motum, at descendere vidi. |
“The four bright stars which you saw at dawn have set. These have taken the place they left.” As he was saying this, Sordellus drew him to himself and, pointing his finger, said, “Behold there, look at our enemy.” Where there is no obstruction of the valley a snake had slithered, of the type, perhaps, that offered the bitter fruit to Eve. It went through the flowers and grass, from time to time turning its neck and licking its back as a beast licks itself. I did not see, and so cannot tell of, the initial movement of the winged youths, but I saw them descend. |
| 850 | Sensit ubi emotas alis viridantibus auras, Ilicet effugit serpens ; parilique volatu Aliger ad sedes remeavit uterque relictas. Quæ pridem Nino se adverterat Umbra vocanti, Non unquam abstiterat mihi lumina figere ; et orsa Hæc ita deinde dedit : Sic quæ te ducit in altum, Inveniat lampas tantum in te sistere ceræ, Quanta opus ad summum vincendum est denique culmen, Si de Valle Macræ quid veri, aut parte propinqua, Noveris, ede mihi, qui olim his dominabar in oris. |
When the serpent sensed the air moved by the green wings, it fled immediately, and in uniform flight both winged ones returned to the stations they had left. The Shade who had at first turned to Nino when he called never stopped staring at me. And beginning, he then spoke as follows: “May the oil lamp that leads you to the heights find as much fuel-wax contained in you as is necessary to conquer the highest peak. If you know anything true about the Val di Magra or its neighboring parts, give it to me who was once lord over those regions. |
| 860 | Gente Malaspina cretus, sum nomine dictus Conradus : non ille vetus, sed origine ab illa ; Dilexique meos, hic qui purgatur, amore. Nunquam, ego respondi, vestras sum vectus ad oras ; At quis in Europa has nescit ? celeberrima vestræ Fama domūs, terramque canit terræque potentes ; Ac nemo ignorat, quamvis nunquam iverit illuc. Juro equidem, mihi sic celsum pervincere montem Jam liceat, vestram non deflorescere gentem Munificis opibus belloque potentibus armis. |
Begotten of the Malaspina clan, I was called Conrad by name not the elder, but of that origin. I loved my own with a love that is purified here.” I responded, “I have never gone to your territories, but who in Europe does not know of them? The widespread fame of your house extols its land and the nobles of that land, and everyone knows of it even though he has never gone there. Indeed, I swear that, as it is permitted to me to conquer this high mountain, your clan is not fading in splendid wealth and in arms powerful in war. |
| 870 | Insita vis animis, ac mos, communibus illam Efficit immunem vitiis : de tramite recto Quanquam triste caput mundum per devia torquet, Unica progreditur recte, atque iter odit iniquum. Nun vade, ille inquit ; Solem non axe reversum Excipiet septem inde vices jam portitor Helles, Quæque mea de stirpe putas, tibi pectore figent Majores clavi, quam quos dat publica fama ; Ni deducta suo fuerit sententia cursu. [40] |
The strength innate in its souls, and custom, makes it immune to common vices; however much the sad head twists the world from the right path through erroneous byways, your clan alone proceeds rightly and hates the evil road.” Said he: “Now go; Helle’s ferrying ram, the constellation Aries, will not welcome the Sun returning on its axis seven times, and what you think of my stock will be fixed in your heart with larger nails than those that public opinion produces, if the divine verdict is not drawn off its course.” |
| LIBER VI | ||
| PURGATORII IX {9} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Succuba Tithoni antiqui, jam dulcis amici Amplexus linquens, albebat margine Eoo : Frons erat illius gemmis redimita coruscis, Beluæ in effigiem, cauda quæ frigida pulsat : [1] Et graduum, quibus ascendit, jam nox, ubi eramus, Explerat geminos, aliumque explere parabat ; [2] Tunc ego, qui mecum corpus terrestre gerebam, Sum captus somno, mollique in gramine fusus Decubui, quo Umbris quattuor simul ipse sedebam. |
Now the moon’s aurora, concubine of aged Tithonus, leaving the embraces of her sweet lover, was whitening on the eastern horizon; her forehead was wreathed with sparkling gems in the form of the beast that strikes with its cold tail. And where we were the night had already taken two of the steps by which it was ascending, and was preparing to take another. Then I, who was carrying my terrestrial body along with me, was overtaken by sleep and, stretching out on the soft grass, I lay down where I had been sitting together with four Shades. |
| 10 | Tempore, mane novo, quum questus edere hirundo Incipit, ob veteres forsan quos passa dolores ; Ac mens nostra, minus terrestribus obsita curis, Atque magis de carne vagans, divina creandis Est quasi imaginibus : pennis spectabilis aureis, Est aquila in somnis mihi visa, ex æthere pendens Extensis alis, ac jam descendere prompta. Illic, quo Superûm Ganymedes raptus in aulam Deseruit comitum turbam, mihi adesse videbar. Ajebam mecum : ex more huc se forsitan infert, |
In the new morning, at the time when the swallow begins her plaintive song, perhaps because of having suffered old agonies, and our mind, less overstrewn with earthly cares and wandering more from the flesh, is as it were divine in creating images, an eagle, magnificent with golden plumage, appeared to me in a dream, hanging in the air with wings outspread and ready to descend. I seemed to be present there where Ganymede the catamite, abandoning his crowd of companions, was snatched up to the court of Celestials. I said to myself, “Perhaps he is attacking here out of habit |
| 20 | Eque locis aliis fastidit in æthera ferre. Se paulo magis inde rotans, descendere raptim Fulminis in morem est visa, ac me attollere ad igneos Cælorum tractus, atque hic me ignescere et ipsam ; Incendiique mihi sic membra excussit imago, Ut sopor abruptus fuerit. Non sequius olim Excitus est somno, convertens lumina circum, Nescius Æacides quibus in regionibus esset ; Quum mater sopitum ulnis Chironis ab antro Portavit Scyron, unde abduxere Pelasgi ; |
and is tired of abducting into the air from other places.” Then, circling a little more, she seemed to plunge rapidly like lightning and snatch me up to the fiery regions of the heavens and there set me and herself afire. And the image of the blaze so shook my limbs that my sleep was broken off. Just as Achilles the Aeacid was awakened from sleep in the same way, looking around, not knowing what regions he was in when his mother carried him sleeping in her arms from the cave of Chiron to the island of Skyros, whence the Greeks led him away, |
| 30 | Me velut excussi, ut somnus mea membra reliquit ; Ac, veluti qui corde riget formidine captus, Infeci pallore genas. Sōlum esse relictum Me vidi, ac lateri mihi tantum assistere Vatem. Sol plusquam geminas cursus confecerat horas, Atque ego fulgentes spectabam marmoris undas. Macte animi, mihi Ductor ait : vim collige, et omnem Pelle metum : in tuto est res : purgatoria sedes Proximat : huc vallum, quo clauditur undique, cerne ; Cerne illuc ingressum, quo scissum esse videtur. |
just so I shook myself as the sleep left my limbs and, as one who, seized with fear, freezes to the core, my cheeks became pale. I saw myself left alone and only the Poet standing at my side. The sun had completed more than two hours of its course and I was looking at the shimmering waves of the sea. My Guide said to me, “Take heart; gather your strength and dispel all fear. Things are safe; The domain of purgatory is at hand. Look at the wall here by which it is enclosed on all sides; Look at the entrance there, where it seems to be rent. |
| 40 | Prima sub luce Auroræ, dum, lumina dulci Compositus somno, florenti in valle jacēres, Affuit illustris mulier ; quæ : Lucia, dixit, Nuncupor ; hunc sinite arripiam, dum membra sopore Vincta gerit ; facilique virum sic tramite ducam. Sordellus mansit, simul utraque restitit Umbra ; Illaque te sumpsit, quumque aër lumine claro Effulsit, sursum venit ; sumque ipse secutus : Hic te deposuit ; pulchrisque ostendit apertum Illum oculis aditum ; mox ipsa soporque recessit. |
Just before the first light of dawn, while you, having rested your eyes in sweet sleep, were lying in the flowering valley, a light-filled woman arrived who said, “I am called Lucia; let me take this man while he keeps his limbs locked in sleep. I will guide the man thus by an easy pathway.” Sordellus stayed, remaining with the other two Shades. She gathered you up and when the air shone with bright light, she went up and I followed. She deposited you here and with her beautiful eyes showed that open entrance, then she herself and the sleep left.” |
| 50 | Ut qui, primum anceps, clare tum deinde tuetur, Conceptumque metum læta in solacia vertit, Quum videt amota sibi nube patescere verum ; Sic ego me verti : curisque proinde carentem Aspiciens, Vates per clivum ascendere cœpit, Ac simul ipse sequens. Magnum mihi surgere, lector, Cernis opus : ne mireris, si impensius ergo Exsequar, atque omnes impendam versibus artes. Venimus ulterius : quo primum visus hiatus Esse velut muri, portam conspeximus esse. |
As one who, at first in doubt, then sees clearly and turns the fear he had had into joyful relief when, with the removal of that cloud from him, he sees the truth revealed, I turned around. And then the Poet, seeing me free of anxiety, began to climb the slope and at the same time I myself followed. Reader, you see a huge work rising before me: do not, therefore, wonder if I develop it more elaborately and bring all my skill to bear on its verses. Where at first there appeared to be a kind of gap in the wall, we discovered there to be a gate. |
| 60 | Cui gradibus trinis et versicoloribus itur. Janitor hīc aderat, vocem non hactenus ullam Edens. Quum magis atque magis dein lumina fixi, Hunc summo resĭdēre gradu, tamque ore micantem Aspexi, ut fulgorem oculi perferre nequirent. Ensis erat manibus, nudus, radiisque coruscis Lumina perstringens. Quid vultis ? pandite, dixit, Neu proferte pedes : ubi dux ? advertite, ne vos Tædeat ascensūs. Cælestis femina, rerum Respondit Vates, istarum callida, nuper |
It was reached by three multicolored steps. A gatekeeper was present there, up to then not uttering a word. As I fixed my eyes more and more on him, I saw him sitting on the highest step and with his face shining so much that my eyes could not bear the brightness. There was a naked sword in his hands, dazzling my eyes with its flashing rays. “What do you want? Reveal it!” he said. “Do not step forward. Where is your leader? Be careful that your ascent does not give you cause for grief.” The Poet answered, “A heavenly lady conversant with these things recently |
| 70 | Ite, ait, hīc est porta. Atque illa ; ore benignus Janitor est fatus, det vos feliciter ire ; Ad nostros properate gradus. Perreximus illuc. Ex niveo lēvique prior gradus ille nĭtēbat Marmore, uti speculum, mea quo pārebat imago : Alter plusquam cæruleus, siccaque rudique Ex petra ; quem per longum obliquumque secabat Rima duplex : quique hisce super se tertius addit, Purpureus ; flammans, instar manantis hianti Sanguinis ex vena. Super hoc utrosque tenebat |
said, “Go, that is the gate”.” With a benign look the gatekeeper said, “And may she enable you to go on. Come quickly to our steps.” We proceeded there. That first step, of snow-white, smooth marble, shone like a mirror in which my image appeared. The next was more than blue, of rock both dry and rough; two cracks cut it lengthwise and obliquely. And the one that was added on top of these was purplish red, fiery, like blood flowing from an open vein. Atop this that Angel |
| 80 | Angelus ille pedes, consĭdens limine in ipso, [3] Quod solido ex adamante mihi splendescere visum est. Sursum me adduxit Doctor, monuitque precari Vultu animoque humili, vellet recludere portam. Procubui ante pedes, aditum mihi panderet, orans Suppliciter, palmaque prius ter pectora pulsans. Ille meam gladii signavit cuspide frontem ซ P ป septem ; ac tales jussit detergere plāgas Intus ubi fuerim : Cineris depicta colore Aut terræ arentis ; quæ sit defossa recenter, |
kept both feet, sitting on the threshold itself, which seemed to me to be gleaming of solid steel. The Teacher led me to it and warned me to ask with a humble face and spirit whether he might open the gate. I fell down at his feet, suppliantly praying that he would open the entrance for me, and first striking my breast with my palm three times. With the point of his sword he signed my forehead with seven letter P’s. And he told me to wipe off those wounds when I was inside. His garment was dyed with the color of ashes or drying earth which has recently |
| 90 | Olli vestis erat : sub qua mox ipse latentes, Auream atque argenteam, claves extraxit utrasque. [4] Argentea prius, inde aurea, tum talia fecit Portæ, ut voti compos sit mea facta voluntas. Ex his siqua errat, dein subdidit ille, seramque Haud recta ingreditur, non hæc se janua pandit. Est pretiosior una, sed amplius altera poscit Artis et ingenii ; quippe est, quæ vincula solvit. Tradidit has Petrus ; atque magis, quam claudere, jussit Sim reserare frequens ; dum gens mihi genua reflectat. |
been dug up. He drew forth two keys hidden beneath it, a gold one and a silver one. First with the silver one, then with the gold, he then operated on the gate so that my desired wish was fulfilled. “If something with these does not work,” he added subsequently, “this gate does not open. The one is more costly, but the other requires more skill and intelligence, which is indeed what opens the lock. Peter handed them to me and told me to be more frequent in opening than closing if people genuflect before me.” |
| 100 | Impulit, his dictis, portam : intro pergite, dicens, Sed revehi scitote foras, qui lumina retro [5] Volverit. Ut versi sunt æreo cardine postes, Is fragor increpuit, quem nec Tarpeja Metello Edidit avulso, quum Cæsar sustulit aurum. Ad primum adverti strepitum ; dulcique sono Te [6] Mixta audire Deum laudamus voce videbar : Ac talis mihi concentus veniebat ad aures, Quale, sonum in templis cum cantibus organa miscent, Nunc prohibent, nunc verba sinunt, audire canentum. |
Having said this, he pushed open the gate, saying, “Go on in, but know that whoever looks back returns outside.” As the pivots turned in the bronze hinges, a screech was emitted which not even the Tarpeian treasury gave when Caesar, tearing away its custodian, Metellus, carried off the gold. At first I heard a noise, and I seemed to hear Te, Deum, laudamus from voices intermingled with a sweet sound. And the same kind of harmony came to my ears as the sound organs mix with singing in the churches; now they prevent, and now allow, hearing the words of the singers. |
| PURGATORII X {10} ⇑ | ||
| 110 | Ingredimur portam, prohibet quam sæpe recludi Pravus amor, blanda qui fallit imagine recti ; Atque hanc audivi magno cum murmure claudi. Quam poteram culpæ justam prætexere causam Si respexissem ? Per petram utrique cavatam Vadimus inclusi : serpebat semita, partem Nunc hanc nunc illam versus ; velut unda propinquat Atque fugit. Paulum, dixit tum Rector, oportet Arte uti, hoc nunc in latus, et nunc illud, eundo. Hoc nos tardavit ; nec calle evasimus, ante |
We enter the gate which perverse love prevents from being opened often, deceiving with a seductive image of rightness, and I heard it close with a large thud. What valid excuse could I have given for the wrong if I had looked back? The two of us wended out way through the hollowed-out rock, enclosed by it; the path kept snaking, now toward this side, now that, like a wave approaching and receding. Then the Guide said, “We have to use a little skill, going now on this flank, now that.” This delayed us, and we did not get through the defile until |
| 120 | Quam Lunæ pars, luce carens, remearet in æquŏr. Egressi ut fuimus latebris, et in aëra apertum Venimus emersi, quo mons se colligit arctans, Fessus ego, incertique viæ consistimus ambo Æquato in spatio, ac sōlo plusquam hispida terris Semita desertis ; quod tantum a rupe patebat Ad latus exterius, quantum tria corpora sese Protendunt hominum. Quoad usque intendere visum Ad dextram et lævam poteram, dabat illa crepido Undique se cerni æqualem. Vestigia nondum |
part of the moon, waning in light, was returning to the sea. As we came out of the recess and emerged into the open air where the mountainside becomes constricted and recedes, I was exhausted, and both of us, uncertain of our way, stopped on a level space and one more lonely than a rough trail in desert lands. From the rock to the outside edge it spanned as much as three human bodies would stretch. So far as my vision could reach to right and left, that ledge gave the appearance of being the same everywhere. I had not yet pushed on, |
| 130 | Extuleram, quum præcisam, cunctisque negantem Ascensum pedibus, candenti ex marmore rupem Atque toreumatibus cælatam talibus esse Aspexi, queis non tantum Polycletus, at ipsa Cederet omnino rerum Natura creatrix. Angelus ille, diu venit qui nuntius olim Optatæ pacis, vetitumque reclusit Olympum, Hic ita parebat verax, tamque ore suavi, Ut mutum esse neges, et Ave illic dicere jures. Quippe erat insculpta hic Virgo, quæ, intacta pudoris, |
when I saw that the abrupt cliff, which denied ascent to all feet, was of gleaming white marble and sculpted with the kind of reliefs before which not just Polycletus, but even all-creating Nature would absolutely have had to yield. The angel who, as the messenger of the peace longed for for so long, had once opened forbidden Olympus, appeared here so real and with such a pleasant face, that you would say he was not mute and would swear that he was saying “Ave” there. Indeed, here the Virgin was engraved who, intact in her chastity, |
| 140 | Obvolvit clavem, æternum ut reseraret Amorem : Tam proprie has habitu monstrabat et ore loquelas, Ecce ancilla Dei, impressas ut cera figuras. Ne tantum huic vertes animum, mihi proximus astans Ad lævam, admonuit Vates. His vocibus actus, Ulterius protendi oculos, aliamque propinquam, Virginis ad tergum, stabat qua parte Magister, Historiam vidi, cælatam cautibus eisdem ; Quare ego transilui Vatem, ac me protinus illuc Detuli, ut hanc oculis melius spectare liceret. |
turned the key to open eternal Love, illustrating her words, “Ecce ancilla Die: Behold the handmaid of God,” with stance and face so characteristically, as though those words were figures stamped in wax. Standing next to me on the left, the Poet said, “Do not pay attention only to this one.” Moved by these words, I directed my sight further on and saw another narrative close to it, carved into the same rock, to the back of the Virgin, on the side the Master was standing. So I transferred to the Poet’s other side and immediately placed myself there so I could better view the portrayal with my eyes. |
| 150 | Marmore sculptus erat currusque bovesque, trahentes Fœderis hic arcam ; quæ nunquam munere fungi Admonuit, cujus non sit mandata facultas. In septem divisa choros, gens multa præibat, Quam canere ajebant oculi, auriculæque negabant ; Ac pariter numquid plenis fumaret acerris Certabant oculi ac nares. Dans corpore saltus Anteibat David, sese sic rege minorem Majoremque gerens. Alta hunc spectabat ab æde Indignata Michol, vesano turgida fāstu. |
Engraved in marble were a cart and oxen, drawing the Ark of the Covenant which, by Uzzah’s example, gave a warning never to perform a task whose authorization is not entrusted to one. Divided into seven choirs, a large crowd preceded it which my eyes said were singing while my ears said no. Whether there was smoke coming from the full incense boxes was similarly disputed between my eyes and nose. King David went in front dancing, thereby behaving both as less and as more than a king. From a high building, indignant Michal, Saul’s daughter, watched, swollen with insane scorn. |
| 160 | Alteram ut historiam aspicerem, vestigia movi, Quæ Michol a tergo albebat. Mihi gloria visa Hic est Trajani, Romani principis, Orco Quem Gregorii abduxere preces ob maxima facta. Ad frenum huic vidua astabat, turbata dolore Ac lacrimas fundens : equitum densissima turba Circum aderat ; ventusque aquilas, quas signa gerebant Aurea, si credas oculis, per inane movebat. His misera in mediis tales emittere voces Ore videbatur : Pœnas te vindice solvat, |
To view another story which shone white at Michal’s back, I moved over. Here I saw the glory of Trajan, the Roman emperor, whom Pope Gregory’s prayers brought back from the Netherworld on account of his great deeds. A widow stood at his bridle, distraught with suffering and shedding tears; a dense crowd of cavalry clustered round; and the wind, if you can believe your eyes, moved the eagles which the golden standards bore, through the empty air. In the midst of this the wretched woman seemed to be uttering the following words with her mouth: “With you as my avenger, make the |
| 170 | Qui natum enecuit, cujus nunc funera ploro. Dum redeam, maneas, ait ille. Ac femina contra, Cui dolor adjungit stimulos : nisi forte redibis ? Qui mea sceptra geret, vindex erit, ille reponit. Quod recte alter aget, respondit femina, quidnam Profuerit tibi, si proprium tu munus omittis ? Parce queri, tunc ille inquit, me munere fungi Ante decet, quam abscedam : jus pietasque reposcunt. Has, nova Qui nunquam vidit, dedit esse loquelas Quas liceat captare oculis : non noscere nobis |
the person pay the penalty who killed my son, whose death I now grieve over.” And he answered, “Stay until I return.” And in turn the woman to whom sorrow added its prods, “And if you perhaps do not return?” He answered, “He who bears my scepter will be your avenger.” The woman responded, “What good will another’s correct actions do you, if you disregard your own duties?” He then said, “You may cease lamenting; it is incumbent on me to fulfill my duty before I leave; justice and compassion require it.” The One Who never sees anything novel produced these conversations which the eyes can grasp. It is not given to us |
| 180 | Fas est ; quippe his in terris reperire negatur. Talibus his humilis dum mentem ac lumina pasco Cordis imaginibus, caris ob qui edidit auctor ; Ecce hinc, mussabat Vates, (vestigia verum Lenta movent) gentes, poterunt quæ ostendere callem Ad suprema jugi. Cupidus nova quæque videndi Sicut eram, ad vocem confestim lumina verti. (Ne te proposito ex sancto, ut sibi debita solvi Vult Deus aspiciens, lector, deterritus aufer ; Ne pœnas reputes, sed enim quod deinde sequatur, |
to know them; indeed, they are not found on this earth. While with my mind and eyes I was browsing through such images of humble heart, precious because of the Author who produced them, the Poet murmured, “Look, here come people (although they are moving slowly) who can show us the trail to the top of the ridge.” Eager as I was to see new things, I immediately turned my eyes to his voice. (Reader, do not, looking at how God wants debts to be paid and becoming terrifed, abandon a holy intention; Do not think about the punishments, but to what follows next, |
| 190 | Quodque nisi usque diem poterunt durare supremum.) Ductori hinc dixi : quod nos incedere contra Aspicio, haud hominum formæ, sed nescio quid sit : Tantum me fallunt oculi ! Tæterrima pœnæ Condicio sic hos ad terram, rettulit ille, Contrahit, ut me etiam pridem decepit imago. Tende oculos, illumque vide, qui pondere pressus Saxorum incedit : par omnes pœna coërcet. Mortales miseri, mentis quos luce carentes, Longius a recto vesana superbia ducit, |
and about the fact that they can last only until the Last Day.) I next said to my Guide: “What I see coming towards us are not the forms of men but something I do not know, my eyes deceive me so.” He answered, “The repellent condition of their punishment draws them to the ground, so that at first the sight deceived even me. Focus your eyes and look at the one who comes on pressed down under the weight of rocks. A like punishment coerces them all.” O wretched mortals, devoid of the light of the mind, you whom mad arrogance leads far from the right path, |
| 200 | Non nostis, nos vermes esse, ideoque creatos, Papilio angelicus nobis ut fiat ab ipsis, Qui volat ad summam, quo nil juvat atque tuetur, Justitiam ? Quibus ex causis mens vestra tumescit ? Mancorum entomatum similes vos estis ; ut illa Vilia nempe insecta, quibus deest integra forma. Quale, pavimentum tectumque ut fulciat, olim Ponitur effigies, genibus quæ pectora tangit ; Unde ab non vero verus dolor ingruit illis Talia qui cernunt ; sic vidi hos pondere pressos, |
do you not realize that we are worms and created so that an angelic butterfly may come of us ourselves which will fly to supreme justice where nothing assists or protects us? You are similar to defective bugs like those paltry insects, that is, whose whole form is lacking. Like the figure that sometimes supports a floor or roof, which touches its chest with its knees, whence arises a real discomfort from the unreal for those who see such things, thus I saw those souls pressed down |
| 210 | Quum mentem adverti. Gravius prout pondus inesset Aut levius, magis atque minus contracta videbam Corpora : quæque magis patiens erat Umbra doloris, Flendo videbatur fari : sum viribus expers. |
when I focussed my mind on them. Depending on whether the weight was heavier or lighter, I saw their bodies more or less bent down. And the Shade that was more enduring of its pain seemed to say, weeping, “My strength is exhausted.” |
| PURGATORII XI {11} ⇑ | ||
| 214 | Summe Pater, qui regna tenes cælestia, non his Quod sis inclusus spatiis, sed propter amorem, Quo magis hæc loca prosequeris, quæ prima creasti ; Virtutem Nomenque tuum res laudibus omnis Concelebret ; tua quas sapientia summa meretur, Persolvat grates. Ad nos se deferat ipsa |
“O highest Father, who holds the heavenly kingdoms not because you are confined by these spaces but on account of the love which you continue showering on these places which you created as the first ones; may everything celebrate your power and Name with praises; may it give the thanks which your highest wisdom merits. May the nourishing peace of your kingdom |
| 220 | Pax regni alma tui, nostræ nam tendere ad illam Haud possunt vires. Veluti tua jussa facessunt Cælestes acies, sic sint mortalia corda Obsequiosa tibi. Fac nos hac nutriat escă Quotidiană die ; sine qua, silvestre per istud Desertum vitæ, qui impensius ire laborat, Retrorsum tendit. Sicut lædentibus ipsi Parcimus, indulge nobis ; nec respice culpas. Contra hostem infernum, nostrum tam debile robur Ne tentare velis ; sed ab hoc defende potenter. |
descend upon us, for our own powers are unable to reach it. In the same way that the heavenly armies eagerly execute your commands, may mortal hearts be submissive to you. Let daily food nourish us this day, food without which he who strenuously labors to progress through the wild desert of life goes backward. As we ourselves spare those who hurt us, be indulgent to us and do not look at our sins. Do not test our so very weak strength against the infernal enemy, but powerfully defend us from him. |
| 230 | Non hanc pro nobis (non est modo namque necessum), Extremam, Deus alme, precem tibi fundimus, ast eis, Qui sunt terrenis, queis nos abscessimus, oris. Sic, bona tum sibi tum nobis hæc rite precantes, Ponderibus subter, veluti quæ insomnia præbent, At non mole pari, purgantes quæque tumorem, Circum ibant Umbræ, tendit qua prima crepido. Si bene pro nobis illic hæ dicere nunquam Absistunt, quid pro his dici fierique vicissim Hic, ab eis poterit, quibus est bona corde voluntas ? |
We do not offer this last prayer for ourselves (for now there is no need), o kind God, but for those who are on the earthly shores we ourselves have left.” So the Shades went on around the path taken by the first ledge, praying in traditional manner for good for themselves and us, beneath weights as seen in nightmares, though not of equal mass, each one purging his own arrogance. If these souls never stop speaking well for us there, what in turn could be said and done for them here by those who in their hearts are of good will? |
| 244 | Præbendum est his auxilium, ut detergere sordes, Quas secum tulerunt ; mundæque ac labe carentes Quamprimum valeant Cæli conscendere sedem. Oh sic justitia ac pietas vos ponere faxint Confestim, quod fertis, onus, sursumque levari In loca, quo vobis ire est accensa cupido, Pandite, qua in parte ad scalam via ducit euntes Promptius ; et, si non una illuc semita ducit, Qua minor ascensus ; quippe hic, quem vadere mecum Cernitis, ob, quibus induitur, terrestria membra, |
Help should be given these souls so that they may wipe away the filth that they have brought with them and, clean and free of sin, might be able to climb to the realm of Heaven as soon as possible. “Oh may justice and compassion accordingly allow you quickly to put down the burden you carry and to be lifted up to the places to which your longing to go is enflamed. Reveal which way the trail leads travelers faster to the stairs, and, if there is not just one path leading there, where the incline is less; for this man whom you see going along with me, due to his earthly limbs, |
| 250 | Sit quamvis anima velox, est tardus eundo. Responsum his Vatis verbis vox reddidit ; at quis Reddiderit, latuit. Nobiscum tendite, dixit, Ad dextram, et callem, liceat quo incedere vivo, Invenies. Et ni premeret me sarcina saxi, Quæ vultum mihi figit humi, domitatque superbam Cervicem, hunc vivum, qui sese haud nomine pandit, Intuerer, cernens num sit mihi notus, et istud Ut miseretur onus. Sum claro e sanguine Tuscus, Aldobrandesco Guilelmo ex patre creatus ; |
however swift of mind he may be, is slow in going.” A voice returned an answer to these words of the Poet, but who had answered was hidden. “Come with us,” it said, “to the right and you will find the trail where it is possible for a living person to walk. And if the load of rock which turns my face to the ground and tames my proud neck did not weigh me down, I would look at this live man who does not give his name, to see whether he is known to me and would pity this burden. I am a Tuscan of noble blood, fathered by Gugliemo Aldobrandesco.” |
| 260 | Nescio an hoc nomen vestras advenerit aures. Nobilitas generis, præclaraque facta meorum Me in fastum extulerunt : communem pectore matrem Delerunt ; adeoque animi fecere superbum, Ut mortis mihi causa fuit ; Senensibus, atque Omnibus Etrusco velut est in litore notum. [7] Nuncupor Ombertus : nec vana superbia solum Me dedit exitio, at consortes perdidit omnes. Hanc nunc ipse luo, saxi sub pondere, donec Pœna satisfuerit Domino, inter corpore cassos, |
I do not know whether this name has come to your ears. The nobility of family and splendid deeds of my people made me arrogant; they erased our common mother, Eve, from my memory and made me so haughty that it was the cause of my death, as is known to the Sienese and everyone in the Etruscan coastland. I am called Omberto. And vain pride was the death not of me alone, but it destroyed all my relatives. I now pay for it among those bereft of body under a weight of stone until the punishment satisfies the Lord, |
| 270 | Efficere id quando, quum esset mihi corpus, omisi. Hæc quum pronus humi audirem, sub pondere vultum Paulum alius torsit : me agnovit, meque vocavit, Ægre oculos mihi defigens, qui cernuus ibam. Nonne es tu, dixi, Oderisius inclutus ille, Eugubii decus, atque artis, cui a lumine ductum Gallia dat nomen ? Frater, plus, ille reponit, Nunc rident chartæ, quas Franci dextera pingit Felsinei : nunc totus honos tribuendus eidem est, At mihi pars etiam. Certe non ante fuissem |
since I failed to do so while I had a body. While I was stooping to the ground listening, another one twisted his face slightly under his weight; he recognized me and called me with difficulty keeping his eyes on me, who was going along bent over. “Are you not the famous Oderisi,” I asked, “the glory of Gubbio and of the art to which France gives the name derived from light “illumination”?” He responded, “Brother, the pages that Franco of Bologna’s right hand paints are more popular now. Now all the honor is to be given to him, and to me just a part. Certainly, previously I would not have been |
| 280 | Tam largus, dum vivus eram ; nam primus in arte Esse ego discupii : hic luit ista superbia pœnas : Hīc quoque non essem, nisi, dum delinquere possem, Pertæsus fastum, Domino me ex corde dedissem. Oh vanos hominum nisus ! o gloria fallax ! Quomodo paulisper viridi se vertice tollit, Ni rudis ingenioque carens successerit ætas ! Primum se Cimabos pingendi credidit arte ; Nunc primas tenet, illiusque obscurat honorem Giottus. Sic ex Guido ad Guidum gloria linguæ [8] |
so generous, while I lived, since I strongly desired to be first in art. Here that arrogance pays the penalty. I would not have been even here unless, while I was able to sin, disgusted with arrogance, I had given myself whole-heartedly to the Lord. Oh vain efforts of men! O deceptive glory! How short a time it raises itself at the green treetop, unless a crude age lacking intelligence follows! Cimabue thought he was foremost in the art of painting; now Giotto holds first place and eclipses his honor. Likewise the glory of our language has passed from Guido Guinizelli to Guido |
| 290 | Transiit ; ac forte est natus, qui vincet utrumque. Non hominum fama est aliud, quam ventus et aura, Nunc hinc, nunc illinc efflans, ac nomina mutans, Mutat quippe latus. Quid, si longævus obibis, Plus tibi erit famæ, quam si decesseris infans, Jam mille ante annos ? brevior quæ temporis ætas Ad spatium æternum, quam oculi versatilis ictus Ad cursum, sese volventis tardius, orbis. Hĭc, qui procedit lentis me passibus ante, Etruscas late complevit nomine terras ; |
Cavalcanti; and perhaps someone has been born who will conquer both. The fame of men is nothing other than wind and air, blowing now from here, now from there, and changing its names as it changes the side. If you die an old man, will you have more fame than if you passed away as an infant a thousand years previously? which is a briefer timespan compared to eternity than the blink of an eye to the orbiting of the sphere revolving the slowest. This individual who moves in front of me with slow steps filled Etruscan territory widely with his name; |
| 300 | Nunc vix mussatur Senis, quas ille regebat, Quum cladem ingentem passa est Florentia, tantum [9] Tunc elata animi, quantum nunc vilis et excors. Fama hominum est viror herbarum, quibus ille colorem Detrahit, ex terra pridem qui fecit oriri. Cui rettuli : tua verba humiles mihi pectore sensus Insinuant, multumque adimunt ex corde tumoris. At dic, quisnam ille est, de quo modo es ipse locutus ? Est Provenzanus, dixit, Silvanus : humique Dat pœnas repens, quod regni dira cupido |
now there is hardly a whisper of him in Siena, which he ruled when Florence suffered the enormous defeat, at the time it was as proud then as it is worthless and senseless now. The fame of men is the greening of vegetation from which He Who had originally made it rise from the earth takes away the color.” I replied to him: “Your words instill humble feelings in my soul and greatly reduce the pride in my heart. But tell me, who is the one about whom you were just speaking?” “It is Provenzano Salvani,” he said, “and he is paying the penalty on the ground because the cruel hunger of domination |
| 310 | Egit, ut auderet sibimet summittere Senas : Sic sine iit requie, atque it, postquam morte peremptus Occubuit. Pretium sibi tale rependere sumit Quilibet immodice, vitam quum duxerit, ausit. Ipse autem contra : si quem sub limine vitæ Pænituit, montis radices errat ad imas, Donec prætereunt totidem, quot vixerit, annos, Ni pia vota juvant, cur hac in sede moratur ? Quid dedit ascensum ? Quum lætis, reddidit, olim Floreret rebus, magnoque insignis honore, |
drove him to dare to subject Siena to himself. Thus he has gone, and goes, without rest ever since he died slain. Such is the price undertaken to be repaid by whoever during his life is overly bold.” And I in response: “If someone who repents at the rim of life wanders around at the foot of the mountain until as many years have passed as he has lived, unless pious prayers assist him, why is it that he staying in this area? What allowed the ascent?” He replied, “When he was flourishing in good fortune and distinguished by great honor, |
| 320 | Non illum puduit, mediis se sistere Senis Supplicis in morem, totisque tremiscere membris, [10] Ut Siculi eriperet de carcere regis amicum. Amplius haud dicam ; novi me obscura profari ; At non multa dies ibit, veloque remoto Hæc tibi scire, tuique dabunt clarere propinqui ; [11] Id Provenzano dedit hanc ascendere sedem. |
he was not ashamed to stand in the middle of Sienna like a beggar and to tremble in all his limbs in order to release a friend from the prison of King Charles of Sicily. I will say no more; I know I am speaking obscurities. But not many days will pass and, with the veil removed, your neighbors will make it possible for you to understand them clearly. That was what allowed Provenzano to come up to this level.” |
| PURGATORII XII {12} ⇑ | ||
| 327 | Fronte pari, similis subter juga bobus, onusta Ibam cum illa Anima, sivit dum vadere Doctor. At simul is dixit : jam nunc hunc desere, et ito, |
Like oxen under a yoke, I went abreast along with that burdened Soul while the Teacher allowed me. But as soon as he said, “Now leave him and go: |
| 330 | Hic opus est remis ac velo impellere lintrem, Quantum quisque potest, me rursus, sicut eundum est, Continuo erexi, quamvis mens flexa maneret. Jamque pedem extuleram post Vatem, jamque patebat Quæ levitas utrique foret, quum : lumina fige, Is mihi dixit, humi : quo incedis, cernere campum Profuerit, relevare viæ ut fastidia possis. Quales, quæ terram insternunt, imposta sepultis, Saxa notant vultus, longum ut memorentur in ævum : Quare hic sæpe, quibus defuncti mente recurrunt, |
here it is important to drive your boat with oars and sail as much as each one can,” I immediately stood up, even though my mind remained bent down. I had moved on behind the Poet, and already the lightness of foot of us both was showing when he said to me, “Look at the ground; it is best to check the field you are traversing so you can relieve the tedium of travel.” Like the kinds of faces which ground-covering rock lids placed over the buried depict, so that they will long be remembered on account of which here on earth they often produce tears in those who recall the dead |
| 340 | Dant lacrimas : quæ cura tenet pia pectora tantum : Sic erat hic, circum quæ exstabat semita rupe, (At meliore modo quoad artem) impressa figuris. Parte hac ille acies inter pulcherrimus omnes Qui fuit Angelicas, ut fulmen, ab axe ruebat. Parte alia, grave pondus humi, Jovis igne trisulco Tranfixus, vasta Briareus mole jacebat. Astabant Patri, muniti fortibus armis, Pallasque et Mavors, nec non Thymbræus Apollo, Passim strata solo mirantes membra Gigantum. |
(a concern that affects compassionate hearts only) , so here the path which stood out from the mountainside was carved all around with figures (but in a better way as regards the artistry). On the one side Satan, the one who had been the most beautiful among all Angelic armies, was falling like lightning from heaven. On the other, with his vast bulk, the giant Briareus lay, a ponderous weight on the earth, transfixed by the triple-pronged fire of Jove. Alongside their father Jupiter stood Pallas, Mars and Apollo Thymbraeus, armed with powerful weapons, gazing on the limbs of the Giants strewn everywhere on the earth. |
| 350 | Hic aderat, turrim velut exanimatus ad imam, Nembrotus ; gentes, opus ædificare superbum Respiciens ausas : Quam mæstis, Tantalis, inter Bis septem occisos natos, te tramite in ipso Vidi oculis sculptam ! Ut proprio transfixus in ense Exanimisque, Saul, in Gelboë monte jacebas ! Quem non deinde imber, nec rorida gutta rigavit. Et tu visa mihi, in lacera quasi aranea tela, Jamque dolens operis, male quod, stultissima Arachne, Condere cœpisti. Non hic, Roboame, minaris ; |
Here was Nimrod as though stupefied, at the foot of his tower of Babel, looking at the people who had dared to build the arrogant work. O Niobe, daughter of Tantalus, with what grieving eyes I saw you sculpted among your fourteen slain children on the trail itself! Saul, how you lay dead, pierced by your own sword on Mount Gilboa which neither rain nor dewdrop watered ever after! And you, stupid Arachne, appeared to me as though in a tattered spiderweb, already regretting the work which you had wrongly begun to put together. Rehoboam, you are not threatening here, |
| 360 | At fugis, invectus curru, formidine captus. Hic velut Alcmæon Eriphylen pendĕre pœnas Fatalis dederit torquis monstrabat imago. [12] Monstrabat velut in templo confossus ab ipsis Sennacherib natis fuit, atque relictus ibidem. Monstrabat Cyri interitum, clademque cruentam, Quum cæso Thamyris ait : quem immane sitisti, Sanguine te repleo. Assyrios, Holopherne perempto, Monstrabat bello profugos, pariterque ruinæ Reliquias tristes. Trojam in spelæa videbam |
but are fleeing, carried by a chariot, seized by fear. Here the image showed how Alcmaeon made his mother Eriphyle pay the penalty for the fatal necklace. It showed how Sennacherib was stabbed to death in the temple by his own sons and left there. It showed the death of Cyrus and his bloody slaying, when Thamyris said to the slain man, “The blood you savagely thirsted for I am now filling you with.” It showed the Assyrians, after the death of Holofernes, fleeing in battle, and also the sad remains of the defeat. I saw Troy turned into a crypt |
| 370 | Ac cineres versam : proh quam vilem atque subactam Urbs Priami præclara, hic te ostendebat imago ! Ecquis Apellēā tam doctus in arte, stiloque Phidiaco insignis, tractusque umbrasque referret, Quas ibi et ingenium demiraretur acutum ? Mortua functorum, vivorum corpora viva Cernere prorsus erat, quasi mors ac vita fuisset. Qui vidit verum, haud melius me is vidit id ipsum [13] Quod pedibus tum calcavi, dum cernuus ivi. Vade age, tolle caput, vultuque incede superbo, |
and ashes. O how low and subjugated the depiction showed you here, o famous city of Priam! Who was it, trained in the art of Apelles the painter or famous in the artistry of Phidias the sculptor, who drew the lines and shadows at which the keenest mind would marvel there? The bodies of the dead were seen as absolutely dead, those of the living as alive, as though it was true death and life. He who saw the real thing did not see the same thing that I then trod with my feet any better than I, as I went bent over. So march on, raise your head high and proceed with haughty countenances, |
| 380 | Progenies Evæ : flectas cave lumina terræ, Ne pravum videas, quo fers vestigia, callem. Plusquam animus, varia detentus imagine rerum, Crederet, emensi gyrum jam montis eramus Solarisque viæ, quum qui vigilante præibat Semper sollicitus cura : caput erige, dixit, Non est jam tempus suspenso vadere gressu ; Aligerum juvenem nos aspice adire parantem, Ac sextam ancillam famulatum explesse diei : Gestibus obsequium summissoque indue vultu, |
O progeny of Eve: be careful to turn your eyes to the ground lest you see the evil path you are traveling! We had already covered more of the mountain’s circumference than a mind occupied with the imagery of things would believe when he who preceded, alert, always concerned with care, said, “Lift up your head; it is no longer the time to walk on tiptoe. Look at the winged youth preparing to come towards us and the sixth slavegirl having completed the midday service. Assume subservience in gestures and with lowered face, |
| 390 | Ducere ne sursum pigeat ; neve immemor esto, Hanc nunquam inde diem, fuerit quum lapsa, reverti. His monitis jam suetus eram : nec proinde latere Me sermo hic poterat. Nos Angelus ille petebat Vestibus in niveis, ac taliter ore renidens, Ut matutinum præfulgens æthere sidus. Explicuit geminas alas, et bracchia pandit, Atque, venite, inquit : non longe est semita : jam nunc Est equidem ascensus facilis. Gens rara vocatus Hos sequitur : cur vel tenuis te deprimit aura, |
so that he will not be averse to leading us upward. And do not forget that this day, once passed, will never after return.” I was used to these warnings, and consequently this speech could not be obscure to me. That Angel came to us in snow-white vestments and as radiant of face as the morning star shining in the stratosphere. He unfolded his two wings and spread his arms out and said, “Come. The path is not far off; indeed, the climb is now easy. It is a rare company that follows these invitations. Why does even thin air force you, |
| 400 | O genus humanum, sursum volitare creatum ? Hæc ait, ac nos adduxit, quo secta gradatim Ascendit rupes. Alis mihi deinde coruscis Percussit frontem : atque viam promisit eunti Jam tutam. Velut ad dextram pergentibus altum In montem, ad templum, celsa quod fronte superstat Recte ductam [14] urbem, transmisso tramite pontis Frangitur ascensus gradibus, quos condidit ætas, Quæ modium et scriptum haudquaquam corrumpere norat ; [15] Sic sese emollit, quæ ex gyro ripa secundo |
O human race, created to fly aloft, down?” Next he led us to where the cleft cliff climbed stepwise. He then struck my forehead with his glittering wings and promised me a safe path as I went. As, after crossing the path over the bridge, to the right of those going up the high mountain to the temple of San Miniato with its high façade, which stands over Florence that well-guided city , the ascent is eased by a stairway made by an age which knew nothing about corrupting measurements and records, so the steep slope that descends from the second encirclement |
| 410 | Ardua descendit ; cautes at radit utrinque. Felices humiles animo, dum volvimur illuc, Cantabant voces, nullus quas sermo referret. Oh quantum distat sedes ingressus in istas Ditis ab ingressu ! hic dulcis modulamina cantus, Excipiunt ; illic lamenta horrenda doloris. Per sanctos nos ire gradus incepimus ; atque Ire mihi levior, quam per planum ante, videbar. Quare ego Ductori versus : quæ sarcina, dixi, Est ablata mihi, ut quasi nil nunc ire laborem ? |
was made more gradual; but the cliff grazes it on either side. As we were wending our way there, voices sang “Beati pauperes spiritu: Blessed are the poor in spirit,” which no language could describe. Oh, how different is the entrance to those realms from the entrance to Hell! Here the melodies of sweet song greet you; there the horrendous laments of pain. We started to go up through the holy stairs and I seemed lighter to myself than previously on the plain. Hence, turning to my Teacher, I said, “What load has been lifted from me, that now it is as though I have no trouble going?” |
| 420 | Quum ซ P ป, ait, reliqui, qui nunc tibi pæne supersunt Exstincti, abrasi fuerint, tibi recta cupido Urgebit sic ipsa pedes, ut blanda voluptas His erit impelli. Veluti qui vertice quicquam Nescius impositum gestat, nutuque videntum Admonitus, digitis explorat ; quodque requirit, Invenit, atque manus, nequeunt quod lumina, præstat ; Sic, ego contrectans elato pollice frontem, Aligeri primam signatam cuspide, novi Defecisse notam. Surrisit proinde Magister. |
He said, “When the rest of the letter P’s which, almost extinguished now, remain on you, have been erased, the right desire itself will propel your feet in such a manner that it will be pure pleasure for them to be urged onward. As a person who, unknowingly bearing something placed on his head, being made aware of it by the gestures of those who see it, probes it with his fingers and finds what he is looking for, and the hand provides what the eyes cannot, so I, feeling my forehead with my raised thumb, found the first brand engraved by Angel’s swordpoint gone. At that the Master smiled. |
| PURGATORII XIII {13} ⇑ | ||
| 430 | Ad summum scalæ pervenimus, altera montem Orbita ubi resecat, mala qui ascendentibus aufert. Hic etiam, ut prima, at gyro breviore, crepido Præcingit montem. Non ulla hic Umbra, nec ullum Apparet signum : rupes ac semita nudas Ostendunt sese, ex petræ livente colore. Hic, si ut scitentur, gentem exspectare libēret, Dux inquit, vereor nimium ne forte moremur. Hæc ait, atque oculos fixit super æthera Soli ; Hinc, latere ex dextro in lævum vertigine facta, |
We arrived at the top of the stairs where the second beltway cuts back the mountain that purges sins from its climbers. Here too the mountain is encircled by a terrace like the first one, but with a shorter circumference. Here no Shade appears nor any figure; the cliff and path appear bare, of leaden-bluish rock color. “If we prefer to wait for people to ask,” said the Leader, “I am afraid we will perhaps be delayed too long.” Saying this, he looked at the Sun above the stratosphere. Then, making a turn from the right to the left, |
| 440 | Jucundum o lumen, dixit, cui fisus inire Aggredior novum iter, tali nos lumine, quæso, Ut decet hic, deduc : tu lustras undique mundum, Atque calore fovea : et, ni contraria causa Impediat, semper debes tu ducere euntes. Tempore jamque brevi (stimulos dat quippe cupido) Illic mensi iter, hic passus quod mille vocatur, Nos versum, haud visas, volitare audivimus Umbras, Effantes, et amoris mensam adiisse monentes. Deese epulis vinum, alte inquit vox prima volando, |
he said, “O delightful light, trusting in whom I enter on a new track, please lead us forth with your light, as is fitting. You illuminate the world everywhere and warm it with your heat and, unless an opposed factor blocks us, you must always be the guide for travelers.” After having, in a short time (for our desire gave us the incentive), traversed a distance that here would be called a mile, we heard unseen Shades flying toward us, speaking out and telling us we had come to the table of love. Flying past, the first voice said loudly, “Vinum non habent: they have no wine,” |
| 450 | Post nos ingeminans. Quumque illa per intervallum Omnino audiri nondum desiverit absens, Altera præteriens pariter : sum, dixit, Orestes. Quare ego : quæ voces ? quæ sunt hæc verba, Magister ? Inqui. Vix hæc fatus eram, quum tertia dixit : Diligite osores. Vates tum talibus orsus : Plectitur invidiæ hic labes ; ac proinde flagellum Funiculis constat, qui mutuo amore struuntur ; Trudere nam vitium debet contraria virtus. Quod, reor, audibis, me demonstrante, priusquam |
repeating it behind us. And when that one, gone, had not completely stopped being heard due to distance, another one passed by similarly, saying “I am Orestes.” Hence I said: “What are these voices? What are these words, Master?” I had hardly said that when a third one said, “Love the haters.” The Poet then began as follows: “Here the sin of envy is punished, and consequently its scourge consists of cords which are constructed of mutual love, for a vice must be expelled by its opposite virtue. I believe you will hear it when I point it out before |
| 460 | Te locus accipiet [16] veniæ. Sed lumina tende Longius, ac Umbras nos ante assĭdēre cernes : Ad cautem stat quæque sedens. Intensius illuc Lumina direxi, ac tectas liventibus Umbras Vestibus, ut rupis liventia marmora, vidi. Ac, postquam ulterius veni ; resonavit ad aures O Maria, o Michaël, Petre, et omnes astra tenentes, Pro nobis orate Deum. Tam pectore durum Non ullum esse reor, cui non dolor ingruat acer, Si videat, quod ego hic vidi. Quum namque propinquus |
you reach the place of forgiveness. But direct your eyes further and you will see Shades sitting ahead of us at the cliff.” I looked harder there and saw Shades covered with leaden-bluish garments like the leaden-bluish marble. And after I had gone further, the sound reached my ears, “O Mary, o Michael, Peter and all those holding the stars, pray for us to God”. I do not think there is anyone so hard of heart whom keen pain would not affect if he were to see what I saw there. For when I had gotten close |
| 470 | His tantum astiterim, ut vultus deprendere possem, Flere dedit me ingens pietas. His membra tegebat Saccus contextus sætis ; umerisque vicissim Quisque erat alterius nixus, et cautibus omnes. Sic inopes sistunt ad templa frequentia cæci, Auxilium orantes : quorum caput unus in alterum Exserit acclinans, non tantum ut voce petentis, Verum etiam aspectu moveantur corda meantum. Ac veluti cæcis nequicquam spicula lucis Immittit Sol, sic Cæli se nulla videndam |
to them so I could see their faces, deep pity made me cry. Sackcloth woven of bristly hair covered their limbs, and each one had leaned on the shoulders of the other, and all of them on the cliff. In the same way blind indigents stand before temples begging for assistance, with one putting out his head, leaning it on the other, so that not only by the voice of the one begging, but also by the sight of him, the hearts of passers-by might be moved. And as the Sun does not send a spark of light to the blind, so no light of Heaven gave itself |
| 480 | Lux dabat his Umbris ; nam ferrea fila suebant Cuique oculos, quo more solent his lumina claudi Vulturibus, certa renuunt qui sede quiesse. Ipse videre alios, aliis nec posse videri Haud contentus eram ; mihi namque injuria visa est. Conversus sum proinde Duci. Non ille rogari A me exspectavit : scibat quid mutus averet : Atque ait : eloquere, ac brevis argutusque profare. Virgilius ripæ, gradiens, extrema tenebat, Unde rui poterat ; nam nulla repagula claudunt. Parte alia stabant Umbræ ; quibus ora rigabant |
to these Shades to be seen. For iron threads sewed up the eyes of each one in the way that they usually close up the eyes of those vultures that have refused to stay still in a given place. I was not happy seeing others, but not being able to be seen by them, for it seemed wrong to me. So I turned to the Leader. He did not wait to be asked by me; he knew what a silent man wanted and said, “Speak and be brief and succinct in talking.” Virgil walked on, keeping to the edge of the terrace where it was possible to fall down, for no restraints closed it off. On the other side stood the Shades whose faces streamed |
| 490 | Suturam ob diram lacrimæ. O gens certa videre, His versus dixi, quod tantum vestra cupido Lumen avet, sic, quotquot habet conscientia vestra, Gratia promptim abigat sordes, ut proinde per ipsam Clarus eat mentis fluvius [17], mihi dicite sodes, (Valde erit acceptum et gratum) quis numne Latinus Hic assit : quod eum discam, illum forte juvabit. Mi frater, veræ mortalis quilibet Urbis Est civis : sed numne Italis peregrinus in oris |
with tears because of the terrible sutures. Turning to them, I said, “O people certain of seeing the light which is the only thing your desire seeks: however much of it your conscience may have of it, may grace quickly do away with your filth so that consequently the mind’s stream may be clear going through it; please tell me (what would be very welcome and dear) whether anyone here is Latin. My learning of him might possibly help him.” “My brother, every mortal is a citizen of the true City; but are you asking whether someone was a foreigner |
| 500 | Qui fuerit, quæris ? Vox paulum ex parte remota Insonuit : propereque illuc sum gressus ; et Umbra Visa mihi eloquium sublato poscere vultu, Ut mos est cæcis : O qui cruciaris, ut alte Ascendas, inqui, mihi si responsa dedisti, Dic patriam aut nomen. Rettulit : me Sena creavit ; Cumque istis commissa luo, illum fletibus orans, Qui sibi nos jungat. Quamvis dixere Sapiam Nomine, non me ideo sapientem rere fuisse. Sum magis alterius rebus tristata secundis, |
on Italian shores?” A voice sounded from a side slightly farther off, and I quickly moved there. And a Shade with a raised face, as is customary among the blind, seemed to me to be asking for a dialogue. “O you who are suffering in order to climb high,” I said, “if you gave me the response, tell me your fatherland or your name.” It replied, “Siena gave birth to me; with these I pay for what I have committed, with my weeping beseeching Him that he might join us to himself. Although they called me Sapia by name, do not on that account consider me sapient. I was more saddened by the fortunate events of others than |
| 510 | Quam gavisa meis. Ne falsum dicere credas, Audi ; quamque mihi fuerit mens læva, videto. Quum mea devexa in senium jam vergeret ætas, Atque mei cives prope Collem castra tenerent, Hostibus adversi, Domino tum vota ferebam, Ut fieret, quod is effecit. Rupto agmine, amaram Corripuere fugam : disjectas ipsa catervas Aspiciens, adeo concepi gaudia corde, Ut, nunquam sic læta fui ; vultuque protervo Sursum versa Deo, nil te jam deinde timebo, |
gladdened by my own. Lest you think I am telling you falsehoods, listen and see how foolish my mind was. When my lifetime, trending downward to old age, was already declining, and my citizens held the camp near Colle against the enemy, I then prayed to the Lord that that would happen which he wrought. With their army disrupted, they took to bitter flight. Watching their dispersed troops, I felt joy in my heart such as I had never enjoyed before. And with my impudent face lifted up toward God, I said, “I do not fear you any more,” |
| 520 | Sum fata, ut merula exiguo confisa sereno. Reddere me Domino volui sub limine vitæ ; Ac nondum explessem, quas debeo solvere, pœnas, Ni memor inde mihi, dum fert pia vota, tulisset Pectinanus opem, pietas quem plurima movit. At, tu, qui casus alienos discere curas, Nec consuta geris, nisi fallor, lumina, et efflas Dum loqueris, quis es ? Hic, inqui, sed tempore parvo, Olim ero consutis oculis ; nam vertere raro Hos fui ab invidia impulsus. Formidine terret |
as the blackbird does, confident over a little fine weather. I wanted to give myself to the Lord at the end of life; but I would not yet have completed the penalty I should be paying if it were not that Pier the comb-seller, moved by great pity and remembering me, in offering his pious prayers, rendered help to me. But you who are interested in learning the fates of others and do not have, unless I am mistaken, sewn-up eyes, and breathes while you speak, who are you?” I said, “I will eventually be here, but for a short time, with sewn-up eyes; for I was rarely driven to turn them by envy. The penalty which weighs on one down below |
| 530 | Me multo majore, gravat quæ pœna deorsum ; Usque adeo, ut videor jam nunc sub pondere pressus. Quis te ergo huc traxit, si, rettulit illa, deorsum Dein remanere putas ? Hic, qui mihi proximus astat, Atque silet, dixi : sum vivus, et æthere vescor. Quare age, dic quidnam in terras vis ipsa referri. Res nova, respondit : patet hinc tibi multa benignum Esse Deum : pro me ergo preces iterare memento : Perque id te exoro, quod tu super omnia quæris, Si Tuscas ieris terras, mihi reddere famam |
inspires me with much greater fear, as I seem to be being pressed down under a weight even now.” She responded, “So who drew you here, if then you think you will be staying down there?” I said, “He who stands next to me and is silent. I am alive and consume air. So then, tell me what you yourself want to be reported back to earth.” “This is something new,” she answered. “It is clear from this that God is kind to you in many things. So remember to repeat your prayers for me, and I pray you by that which you seek above everything else, if you should go to Tuscany, to restore my renown |
| 540 | Hic apud affines. Illos gentem inter inanem Invenies, quam spe, non secus atque Diana, Eludit Telamon : majori at clade prementur, Imperitare viri celsis qui puppibus optant. [18] |
there among my relatives. You will find them among the vain people whose hopes Talamone harbor misled, just like the underground Diana stream. But the men who wish to rule with their tall ships will be crushed in a greater disaster.” |
| PURGATORII XIV {14} ⇑ | ||
| 544 | Quisnam hic, per nostrum qui fert vestigia montem Nondum morte obita ? qui lumina sponte suapte Obserat et pandit ? Quisnam sit nescio, vero Non solum esse scio : tu, qui mage proximus illi es, Id rogita ; atque modis, ut disserat, excipe blandis. Sic geminæ ad dextram de me acclini ore vicissim |
“Who is this who, not yet dead, travels around our mountain? Who of his own accord opens and closes his eyes?” “I do not know who he is, but I know he is not alone. You who are closer to him, ask, and greet him in a kind manner so that he will talk.” Thus spoke two Shades on the right |
| 550 | Ajebant Umbræ : vultum hinc fecere supinum, Ut mihi dicta darent ; atque una est talibus orsa. O anima, humani quæ nondum corporis expers Īs Cælum versus, nobis solacia præbe, Dic quæso unde venis, quisnam es : mirabile tantum Es nobis, quantum quæ res non exstitit unquam. Lene fluens, mediis ex cautibus Appennini, Tunc ego sum fatus, per milia multa volutus, It nitidus fluvius, Tuscasque intersecat oras. Hinc ego devenio : nomen nil promere rēfert, |
about me, with heads bending towards one another. Then they lifted their faces up to speak to me, and one started as follows: “O soul who, not yet bereft of his human body, goes toward heaven, give us consolation: please say where you come from and who you are; to us you are a marvel of a kind that has never happened before.” I then said, “A clear river rolls softly many miles from the midst of the Apennine mountains and cuts the Tuscan coast. I come from there. It is of no use to give my name, |
| 560 | Nam parum adhuc resonat. Si rem, prius Umbra locuta Respondit, teneo, vis Arnum dicere. At : amnis Cur nomen siluit, dixit tum affata propinquam Altera, quale rei, quæ non sit grata loquenti ? Nescio : sed dignum ut pereat, ait Umbra rogata, Fluminis est hujus nomen : nam ab origine prima, Qua sic assurgit mons, scinditur unde Pelorus, Ut paucis se deinde locis magis erigat, usque Quo redit, ut pelago instauret, quod surripit æther Unde trahunt fluvii, secum quod in æquŏra volvunt, |
since it is little known as of yet. “If I grasp your meaning,” answered the Shade who had spoken first, “you mean the Arno.” “But why did he pass over that name in silence,” the other one addressed then said to his neighbor, “as of something which was not pleasant for the speaker?” The queried Shade said, “I do not know. But the name of that river is worthy of perishing, because from its first source where that mountain range (from which Cape Faro in Sicily is cut off) rises so high that, from there on, in few places does it rise higher, all the way to where it returns in order to restore to the sea what is taken up by the air from which the rivers draw what they carry with themselves into the oceans, |
| 570 | Undique sic virtus fugitur, velut horridus anguis. Sive loci vitio, pravo seu more colentum, Sic naturam hujus vertit gens incola vallis, Ut credas illi Circen alimenta dedissse. Inter namque sues it primum parcior amnis, Glande magis dignos, hominum quam vescier escā. Invenit hinc catulos, ultra queis ringere vires Mos est ; atque ideo, indignatus, ab hisce recedit. Ulterius tendens, quanto fit ditior undis, Ex catulis tanto plures nanciscitur aspros |
on every side virtue is fled from, like a horrible snake. Whether on account of the malignancy of the place or the crooked customs of the inhabitants, the people dwelling in that valley so pervert their nature that you would think Circe had fed them. For the small river first goes between swine [Casentines], more worthy of acorns than to eat human food. From there it finds the little dogs [Aretines] whose custom is to snarl beyond their strength, and thus, indignant, it turns away from them. Proceeding on, the fuller in water it becomes, the more it finds things going from the little dogs to many more wild |
| 580 | Deinde lupos fieri. Labens mox gurgite major, Tam vafras reperit vulpes, ut prendere nullum [19] Has queat ingenium. Nec quod me sentiat alter [20] Dicere destiterim : quin hunc exinde juvabit Id meminisse, mihi verax quod spiritus edit. Fluminis in ripa, ipse tuo de sanguine cretum [21] Hos captare lupos video, atque implere timore : Vivos hos vendit, senis hinc bovis enecat instar : [22] Exuit et vita multos, ac semet honore : Sanquineus silva egreditur, talemque relinquit, [23] |
wolves [Florentines]. Gliding then, larger in flood, it finds such cunning foxes [Pisans] that no ruse can catch them. And I will not stop speaking just because another man hears me; indeed, it will help him to remember that which the true spirit makes clear to me. I see an offspring of your blood [Fulcieri a Calboli] capture those wolves [White Guelfs] and fill them with terror. He sells them alive, then kills them like an old ox. He divests many of their lives and himself of honor. He comes out of the woods [Florence] bloody and leaves it in such a state |
| 590 | Ut nequeat post mille annos in pristina reddi. Ut dolet auditor, siquis fortasse futuros Nuntiet eventus tristes, commotaque turbat Ora metu, quacunque instet de parte periclum ; Tristitiam his sic auditis Umbra altera vultu Induit. Istius dolor, ejusque aspera dicta, Egere ut cuperem utriusque agnoscere nomen, Ac prece commixta hoc petii. Qui Spiritus ante Effatus mihi jam fuerat, sic rettulit orsa : Vis ut in id veniam, quod tu præstare recusas ; |
that after a thousand years it will be unable to be restored to its original state.” As a hearer is saddened if perhaps someone foretells sad future events, and as he distorts his worried face with fear at whichever side the danger threatens, so on hearing these things the other Shade filled his face with sadness. The pain of the one and the hard sayings of the other caused me to want to learn the names of both, and so I asked that question, mixed with prayers. The Spirit that had already spoken to me before responded in the following way: You want me to come forth to you with what you yourself refuse to reveal to us. |
| 600 | At quia Rex Cæli sinit ut sua gratia tantum Exseret in te fulgorem, non dicere parcam. Guidus ego Del-Duca sum : mihi corda venenum Imbuit invidiæ : siquem gaudere videbam, Tu mea vidisses livoribus ora notari. Hæc mihi nunc mĕtĭtur tali de semine fruges. Cur, genus humanum, rebus cor ponis in illis, In quibus ut consors potiundis desit oportet ? Hic est Calbolidum Rinierus gloria gentis, Nullus ubi est hujus vestigia clara secutus. |
But since the King of Heaven allows his grace to infuse so much radiance into you, I will not be reticent in telling you: I am Guido del Duca. The poison of envy entered my heart; if I saw anyone rejoicing, you would have seen my face become marked with blue blotches. This is now reaped as the fruit of such sowing. Why, o human race, do you set your heart on the things in possessing which a partner must be lacking? This is Rinieri, the glory of the House of the Calboli, where no one has followed his famous footsteps. |
| 610 | Nec tantum istius genus, inter marmoris æquŏr Renumque atque Padum et montem, est his omnibus expers, Queis opus ad vitam est recte pulchreque gerendam : Finibus his regio sic late est stirpibus omnis [24] Plena veneniferis, ut vix jam tempore longo Deficiant, licet ingeminet cultura labores. Nunc ubinam et Litius bonus, Henricusque Manardus, Et Traversarus Petrus, et de gente creatus Guidus Carpinea ? O virtutem oblita vetustam, Gens Romandiolæ ! quando vel Felsina Fabrum |
And, between sea and the Reno and Po rivers and the mountains, it is not only his stock that is devoid of all the things necessary for living life rightly and beautifully: the region within these boundaries [Romagna] is so widely full of poisonous plants that now over a long period they would be deficient even if cultivation were to redouble its efforts. Wherever now are the good Lizio, and Arrigo Mainardi, Pier Traversaro or the one born of nobility, Guido di Carpegna? O people of Romagna, forgetful of virtue! When will Felsina [Bologna] again |
| 620 | Præstantem renovat, vel clara Faventia Foscum ? Foscum vulgaris germen prænobile trunci ? Ne, Tusce, obstupeas me fletibus ora rigare, Quum mihi succurrit menti lux incluta Pratæ Guidus, et Attiades nostris qui vixit in oris, Ugolinus, Tignosus Fridericus, et hujus Lecta cohors, et Traversara, atque Anastagi, Quorum non ullus laudis nunc provenit heres. Quum muliebre genus mihi mente equitesque recurrunt, Commodaque et curas, quas large adhibere solebant |
produce a Fabbro Lambertazzi, or famous Fa๋nza a Bernadino di Fosco Fosco, a noble shoot from a vulgar trunk? Tuscan, do not be surprised that I am wetting my face with weeping when the renowned light, Guido da Prata, comes to my mind, and Ugolino d’Azzo who lived in our lands, Federico Tignoso and his elite group, and the Traversari and Anastagi, of whom not one heir of that glory now survives. When the feminine gender and the knights come back to my mind, the comforts and the concerns in which they used to engage magnanimously |
| 630 | Comiter æque animo, quo sunt nunc improba corda. O fuge, Brettinorum, quum, quæ tua frena regebat, Abscessit domus, atque simul gens multa migravit, Improba ne fieret, Felix tu prole negata Es, Gabeum. Infelix vero Coniumque magisque Salsubium, Comites curant qui gignere tales. Paganis bene succedet, quum Dæmon abibit ; [25] Non adeo tamen, illorum sit ut integra fama. Nominis es tutus, cui spes est nulla ferendæ, Fantoliniade, prolis ; nam degener ullus [26] |
in a friendly manner and patiently, where now hearts are corrupt. O town of Bertinoro, flee, since the house that used to control your reins has left and simultaneously many of the nobility have departed in order not to become corrupt. Bagnacavallo [alias ad Caballos/Tiberiacum Gabeum] you are happy in being denied offspring. Unhappy is Conio, and yet more so is Castrocaro-Salsubium, those who trouble to beget such Counts. It will go well for the Pagani family when their Demon, Maghinardo Pagano da Susinada, leaves, but not so much that their fame will be intact. O Ugolino de’ Fantolini, you are safe in your name, you for whom there is no hope of progeny. For there will be no degenerate |
| 640 | Non erit, hoc qui dedecoret. Sed, Tusce, facessas ; Nam, plusquam fari, cupidus sum fundere fletus. Nostra etenim regio valde mihi pectora movit. Non erat ignotum nobis, haurire meantum Auribus has Animas sonitum. Quum proinde silerent, Tendere nos recto rebamur tramite gressus. Quum fuimus per iter sōli, tum, fulguris instar, Aëra quum rapide scindit, vox obvia venit ; Me perimet, dicens, quisquis deprendet ; et ibat Effugiens, tanquam tonitru per inane volutans, |
who will besmirch it. But leave, Tuscan, since I am more desirous of weeping than of talking. For our conversation has deeply moved my heart.” We were not unaware that those Souls took in the sound of our departure with their ears. Since, therefore, they were silent, we believed we directing our course along the right path. As we were going along the road alone, then like a thunderbolt when in a flash it rents the air, a voice met us, saying, “Whoever catches me will kill me!” and went fleeing away, as though rolling with thunder through an empty sky |
| 650 | Quum subito elisis prorumpit nubibus ignis. Desiit hæc vix audiri, subit altera, et ipsa Assimilis tonitru : sum Aglauros, versa rigentem [27] In lapidem, clamans. Subita formidine captus, Ut Vati hærerem, retro vestigia traxi. Vocibus elapsis aër quum deinde quievit, Hæc sunt, ille inquit, cohibendis apta protervis Frena cupidinibus ; sed vos apprenditis escam, Atque ideo antiqui vos hamus pertrahit hostis, Nec monitus aut frena valent obsistere contra. |
when fire suddenly erupts from the shattered clouds. That had hardly stopped being heard when another one came up, this one also similar to thunder, crying “I am Aglauros, turned into rigid stone!” Seized by sudden fear, I drew my steps backward to cling to the Poet. When, with the voices gone, the air was quiet, he said, “Those are the reins suited for reining in the audacious desires, but you take the bait; and so the hook of the ancient enemy pulls you in, and neither warnings nor reins can prevent it.” |
| 660 | Sidereus Cæli, qui circumvolvitur, orbis Vos vocat, ac sua dat vobis decŏra alta videre ; Vos autem aspicitis terram, justisque merentes Propterea pœnis, qui perspicit omnia, plectit. |
Heaven’s starry sphere, which circles around, calls you and offers its high glories to you to see; but you people look at the ground. And hence He Who sees everything punishes with just penalties those who earn them.” |
| PURGATORII XV {15} ⇑ | ||
| 664 | Quantum tertia ab hora Eoæ lucis ad ortum Apparet sphæræ, pueri quæ ludit ad instar, Occiduis tantum Sol tum distabat ab oris : Illic vesper erat, medium hic nox alta tenebat. Sol mediam nobis feriebat lumine frontem, (Nam sic circuimus montem, ut jam cernere tractus |
As much of the sun’s arc that, playing like a child, appears from the third hour of the dawn’s light to the horizon, that much the Sun was still distant from the western skyline. There in Purgatory it was evening; here deep night was making its way through mid-course. The Sun was striking us in mid-face with its light (for we had circled the mountain to the point where we could now see |
| 670 | Fas erat occiduos), mihi quum percellere lucem Persensi majorem oculos ; valdeque stupebam Non mihi visa prius ; manibus tum proinde levatis, Ipse supercilio digitis umbracula feci, Quæ nimiam lucem tenuant, radiosque retundunt. Sicut ubi e speculo aut unda versatile lumen In partem oppositam resilit, quo labitur, ipso Assurgens exinde modo ; tantumque cadentis A lapidis casu distat, non dispare tractu, Quomodo dant artes atque experientia nosse ; |
the western stretches), when I felt a stronger light hit my eyes. And I was greatly stunned at the things which had not appeared to me before. Then raising my hands accordingly, with my fingers at my eyebrows I made a sunshade to limit the excessive light and block the rays. As where reflected light bounces off of a mirror or water, rising from there at the same angle in a direction opposite to where it has fallen from, and deviates an equal amount from the vertical path of a falling stone, being equal in distance as science and experiment prove, |
| 680 | Sic ego refracta visus sum luce feriri, Quam mea continuo fugerunt lumina ; et ipse, Conversus Vati : quidnam, pater optime, dixi, Est illud, cui non oculos intendere fixos Studeo, ac nos versus sese ferre videtur ? Ne stupeas, si cælestes tibi luce Ministri Perstringunt etiamnum oculos, mihi reddidit ille ; Nuntius est hic, invitans ascendere montem. Jam prope tempus erit, quum talia cernere rerum Non tibi erit grave, sed gratum, quam scilicet ipsis |
so I seemed to be struck by reflected light which my eyes immediately turned from. And turning to the Poet, I said, “What, dearest father, is that at which I am striving not to direct my fixed vision and seems to be coming towards us?” He replied, “Do not be amazed if heavenly Servants still dazzle your eyes; that is a messenger inviting us to climb the mountain. The time is now near when looking at such things will not be difficult for you but as pleasant as |
| 690 | Naturæ fueris sentire ex viribus aptus. Aliger, ut propius venit : succedite, lætus Ore inquit, gradibus, qua se via mollius offert. Dum sursum gradimur, nobis post terga canebant Felices, quibus est pietas ; et gaudia captent Te quoque, qui vincis [28]. Dum soli, ipse atque Magister, Progredimur, volvebam animo non segniter horas Ducere, at ex verbis doctrinam haurire Magistri. Quare ego quæsivi : voluit quid dicere Guidus Quum dixit : consors ut desit oportet ? Et ille : |
you are able to perceive them through your own natural powers.” When the angel came near, with a smiling face he said, “Come up steps where the path ascends more gently.” As we were walking up, behind our backs they sang “Felices, quibus est pietas : Happy are the compassionate,” and “Gaudia captent te quoque, qui vincis : May joy come over you who conquer.” While we were progressing alone, I and the Master, I thought I should not spend the hours idly but should gain some learning from the words of the Master. Hence I asked, “What did Guido mean when he said, “Things in possessing which a partner must be lacking”?” And he: |
| 700 | Peccatum ille suum pejus quantum intulit ipsi Agnoscit cladem ; atque hortatur proinde caveri. Quum res vos cupitis, quarum si possidet alter Quamtamvis partem, vobis minuatur oportet, Invidia hinc oritur. Bona si cælestia tantum Cordi essent, non hæc vos livida cura teneret : Nam quantum est illic proprium, tam ditior unus- quisque est, atque magis conjungit mutuus ardor. Sum minus expletus, quam si non ante rogassem, Dixi ego ; mens mea nunc dubiis majoribus hæret : |
“He recognizes how much his worse sin inflicted damage on him, and so he exhorts you to guard against it. When you desire things, of which if another possesses any part, it necessarily diminishes them for you, envy is generated therefrom. If only heavenly goods are your heart’s concern, this bluish obsession would not hold you in its grip. For to the extent that that place is one’s own, each and every one is richer, and the more mutual love unites us.” “I am less satisfied than if I had not asked the question before,” I said. “My mind is now stuck in greater doubts: |
| 710 | Quomodo namque bonis, quæ distribuuntur habenda, Multi quam pauci magis his ditescere possunt ? Quandoquidem rebus mentem terrestribus, inquit Ille mihi, intendis, tenebras ex luce revellis. Quod Cælo est Bonum inenarrabile et infinitum, Ut nĭtĭdum ad corpus radius, sic tendit amantis Ad cor ; dat tantum ardoris, quantum invenit illic. Quantum ergo augetur caritas, augetur ibidem Et vis ipsa Boni ; et quanto plus gentis in illud Intendit, tanto fit copia major amoris ; |
For how can many rather than a few become rich by these goods which are distributed for their possession?” “Because you fix your mind on earthly things,” he said to me, “you pull darkness out of light. Since ineffable and infinite Good is intrinsic to Heaven, it goes to the heart of a loving person the way a lightray goes to a shining body. It bestows as much ardor as it finds there. Thus to the same extent that charity increases, the power itself of Good increases there, and the more people concentrate on that, the greater the amount of love there is |
| 720 | Inque vicem flammas corda, ut specularia, reddunt. Ni mea te exsaturat ratio, quum visa Beatrix Deinde tibi fuerit, penitus te rite docebit Quicquid scire cupis. Cura nunc vulnera quinque, Ut duo, deleri ; quæ sunt claudenda dolore. Quum, satis ipse facis, jam respondere parabam, In gyrum sublatum alium, me sistere sensi ; Et, cupidi spectare, oculi fecere silentem. Nam subito raptu mihi mens emota, videre Exhibuit templi faciem cum gente frequenti. |
and, like mirrors, they render flames to one another. If my reasoning does not satisfy you, when Beatrice appears to you, she will properly teach you whatever you wish to know. Right now work on erasing the five wounds, which are to be closed through pain, as you have two of them.” As I was preparing to answer, “You have satisfied me,” I felt myself stopping, having been raised to another circle and, wanting to look around, my eyes made me silent. For my mind, enraptured in a sudden ecstasy, displayed the front of a temple with massed people for me to see. |
| 730 | Limine erat mulier, materno dulciter actu Visa loqui ; curnam, fili carissime, nobis Talia fecisti ? ecce pater materque dolentes Te quærebamus. Vix hæc est fata, recessit Quod visum ante fuit : mulierque apparuit altera, Imbribus ora rigans, quos ira dolorque profundunt : Si regis hanc urbem, cujus de nomine tantum Certavere Dii, omnisque unde scientia manat, Ajebat, meritis, conjux, ulciscere pœnis, Qui nostram amplecti est natam temerarius ausus. |
At the threshold was a woman, seeming with maternal demeanor to say sweetly, “Why, dearest son, have you done such things to us? Behold, your father and mother have been anxiously looking for you.” She had hardly said this when that which had first appeared, vanished, and another woman appeared, bathing her face with that water which anger and grief bring forth. “If you, o my spouse, rule over this city of Athens, over whose mere name the Gods fought and whence all knowledge flows,” she said, “take vengeance with merited penalties on him who so rashly dared to embrace our daughter!” |
| 740 | Reddere cui placido est visus Pisistratus ore : Osori quidnam facies, si plectis amantem ? Dein gentem iratam saxorum grandine vidi Impetere innocuum juvenem, seseque cruentam In cædem hortari ; atque illum procumbere terræ Semianimum, ac Cælum inspicere, veniamque precari Hostibus aspectu, pietas quo multa cietur. Quum mea mens extra rediit, verasque revisit Res foris, haud falsus tunc est mihi cognitus error. [29] Me Dux aspiciens, veluti qui vinctus inerti |
Pisistratus seemed to reply to her with a placid look, “Then what would you do to a hater, if you punish a lover?” Next I saw an angry crowd attack an innocent youth with a hail of rocks and urge one another to a bloody slaughter, and him fall to the ground, half-dead and, looking at the Heavens, with his vision pray for forgiveness for his enemies, by which deep compassion was aroused. When my consciousness returned outside and again saw the real things without, I then recognized the error as not false. The Leader, looking at me as a person who, shackled with deadening |
| 750 | Exuitur somno : tua cur vestigia, dixit Fluxa labant ? quid habes ? plus quinquagintaque passus Ac mille iisti, oculis clausis pedibusque plicatis, Ut somno vinoque gravis. Pater optime, si me, Inqui, audire velis, mihi quod comparuit, edam, Unde pedes vis destituit. Velamina centum Os tibi si tegerent, possent me nulla latere, Parva licet, quæ mente geris : Sunt talia porro Visa tibi, ne pacis aquis tua corda recuses [30] Pandere, ab æterno manant quæ fonte perennes. |
sleep, is shaking it off, said, “Why are you staggering in your tracks? What is wrong with you? You have gone more than a thousand fifty paces with your eyes closed and your legs bent like someone heavy with sleep and wine.” I said, “Dearest father, if you would listen to me about what appeared to me, I will tell you where the strength left my legs.” “If a hundred veils covered your face, they could hide nothing from me even small things which you have on your mind. Those kinds of things appeared to you so that you would not refuse to open your heart to the waters of peace which flow perennially from the eternal fountain. |
| 760 | Non ego ad id petii, quod vult qui conspicit illis Luminibus, quæ post mortem nil cernere possunt ; At vim ut sufficerem pedibus. Sic addere lentis Est opus ac pigris stimulos ; ut munia præstent. Vespere jam facto, tendentes lumina longe Quam poterant, imus qua Sol jam pæne cadebat. Ecce autem sensim, nos versus, surgere fumus Ut nox obscurus ; nec erat quo exire liceret : Hĭc visum eripuit nobis atque aëra purum. |
I did not ask that as something wanted by someone who sees with eyes which can see nothing after death, but to furnish your feet with strength. It is necessary to provide goads to the slow and lazy so they will perform their duties.” Now evening, straining our eyes as far as they were able, we traveled toward where the Sun was already almost setting. But look: slowly smoke as black as night rose towards us, and there was nowhere it was possible to escape from it. It deprived us of visibility and pure air. |
| PURGATORII XVI {16} ⇑ | ||
| 769 | Horrida nigrities Erebi, noctisque carentis | Neither the hideous blackness of Hell or of a night bereft |
| 770 | Undique sideribus cunctis, sub paupere Cælo, Nubibus ut potuit sæptæ, mihi lumina nunquam Occuluit tantum, nec contigit aspera sensus, Ille velut fumus, quem non potuere patentes Ferre oculi ; atque ideo mihi Dux catus atque fidelis Præbuit accedens umerum. Ceu lumine cassus Ductorem sequitur, ne tramite devius erret, Impetat aut aliquid, quod damnum possit eunti Inferre aut letum ; non sequius ipse sequebar Tunc per amarum fumum fœdumque aëra Vatem ; |
of all stars everywhere, beneath an impoverished Sky fenced in by clouds as much as possible, had ever obscured my eyes so much, nor anything rough ever affected my senses, like that smoke which my open eyes could not bear; and hence my sagacious and faithful Leader, approaching me, offered me his shoulder. As a person bereft of sight follows his Guide so that he will not wander off the track in error or hit anything that could bring harm or death to the walker, so likewise I then followed the Poet through the bitter and foul air, |
| 780 | Hortantem auscultans, ne abjungerer, atque caverem : Audibam voces : pacem veniamque precari Quæque videbatur, qui crimina delet, ab Agno ; Atque Dei Agnus erant illarum exordia : cunctis Unus erat modus, ac verbum simul omnibus unum : Cuncta pares, cunctis plena his concordia. Numquid Vox hæc Spirituum ? dixi. Contraque Magister : Vera putas ; nodum, quo vinxerit ira, resolvunt. Pande, quis es ? dixit nostras vox reddita ad aures, Qui nostrum gradiens proscindis corpore fumum, |
listening to him urging me not to get separated and to be careful. I heard voices; each one seemed to be praying for peace and forgiveness from the Lamb who erases sins, and their exordium was “Agnus Dei”. For all of them there was one measure and simultaneously one lyric. They were equal in doing everything; complete harmony pervaded them all. “Is this voice that of Spirits?” I asked. The Master in response: “You understand the truth. They are untying the knot that anger ties.” A voice reaching our ears said, “State who you are, you who, in going on your way, rend our smoke with your body |
| 790 | Atque ita de nobis, ut si mētēre calendis Tempora, proloqueris. Responsum redde, Magister Ac pete, tum dixit, num sursum hinc semita ducat. O qui te mundas, redeas ut pulcher ad illum, Ipse inqui, qui te fecit, mirabile disces, Si mihi te socias. Me quatenus ire licebit, Te sequar, ille ait ; ac, si fumus denegat ater Alterno ore frui, jungent nos mutua verba. Vestibus indutus, cœpi tunc ipse profari, Quas mors dissolvit, sum regna per infera vectus, |
and talk of us as if you marked off time by months?” The Master then told me, “Answer them and ask whether the path leads upwards from here.” I myself said, “O you who purge yourself to return beautiful to him who made you, you will discover something amazing if you accompany me.” “As far as I am allowed to go, I will follow you,” he said, “and, if the black smoke blocks us from seeing each other’s face, our reciprocal words will unite us.” Clothed in the garments which death dissolves, I then began to speak: “I came through the infernal realms, |
| 800 | Atque eo nunc sursum. Tanto si diva favore Gratia me impertit, cælestem Numinis aulam Ut more insueto adveniam, dic quæso, quis olim In terris fueris ; dic et quæ semita ducit Ad montem ; velutique ducis tua verba sequemur. Nomine sum Marcus, Lombardo sanguine cretus, [31] Rettulit : egregias artes, despectaque cunctis Nunc studia excolui : recto te tramite defers, Ut montem ascendas. Pro me, quum veneris illuc, Funde preces, oro. Faciam quod tute requiris, |
and am going upwards. Divine grace has bestowed me with such favor that I am going to the heavenly court of Divinity in an unusual way. Tell me, please, who you once were on earth; and also which path leads to the mountain, and we will follow your words as those of a leader.” “My name is Marcus, born of Lombard blood,” he replied. “I practiced the high professions and the values now despised by everyone. You are going on the right path to climb the mountain. When you get there, I beg of you to pray for me.” “I will do what you ask,” |
| 810 | Dixi ego : sit tibi certa fides. Sed viscera rumpor, Ni mihi dissuitur dubium, quod, quum ante fuisset Simplex, nunc factum est duplex : quæ namque profaris, Spiritus est alter fatus : nunc utraque jungo. Est omni virtute carens late undique mundus, Quomodo tu memoras, vitioque involvitur omni ? At, rogo, me causam doceas, ut noscere et ipse Atque aliis aperire queam : est sententia duplex ; Altera nam terris hanc ponit, et altera Cælo. Is prius ex alto traxit suspiria corde, |
I said. “You may be confident. But I will burst my innards if there is no resolution about the conundrum which, while it was simple before, has now been redoubled: for what you are saying, another Spirit said; I am now combining the two. Is the world, as you say, widely devoid of all virtue everywhere, and enwrapped in all vice? But I ask you, tell me the cause so that I may know it myself and disclose it to others. It is a twofold question, since one soul places the cause on earth, and another in Heaven.” He first drew a deep sigh, |
| 820 | Atque ita mox dixit : densa caligine sæptus Est mundus, tuque inde venis : cælestibus astris Gens hominum rerum successus imputat omnes, Tanquam si secum rapiant, faciantque necessum. Si foret hoc autem, foret et destructa facultas Libera tum mentis ; nec præmia reddere justum Virtuti, aut esset culpis infligere pœnas. Incohat humanos motus, non attamen omnes, Cælorum influxus ; sed lux secernere vobis Est data triste bono, atque facultas libera mentis ; |
and then said as follows: “The world is enveloped in dense darkness, and you come from there. The race of men imputes to the heavenly stars all events, as though they tore them along with them and made them necessary. If, however, that were so, the free faculty of mind would be destroyed and it would be just, neither to give rewards to virtue nor to inflict penalties on the guilty. The influence of the heavens initiates human behavior, but not all of it. Rather, you are given the light to distinguish evil from good and the free faculty of mind |
| 830 | Quæ, primum cælo pugnans, si invicta laboret, Ac bene se dapibus nutrit, dehinc omnia vincit. Vos melior natura [*] regit, sed sponte gerentes : Hæc mentem condit, quæ non influxibus unquam Subdita Cælorum est. Ideo, si ex tramite recto Præsens digreditur mundus, ne quærite causam Exterius ; sed quisque suo sub corde requirat. Hoc tibi nunc pandam. Pueri de more tenelli Risumque fletumque edentis, spiritus exit Artificis manibus ; quam fiat, eum ante tuentis. |
which, first fighting with the heavens, if it struggles undefeated and is well nourished with sustenance, then conquers everything. A better Nature [*] rules you but you as free agents. It creates the mind, which is never subject to the influences of the Heavens. Thus, if the present world deviates from the right path, do not look for a cause outside, but let each one search within his own heart. I will now illustrate it to you: like a little child laughing and crying, the spirit leaves the hands of its Maker who cares for it before it comes to be. |
| * | Deus | God |
| 840 | Nescius is rerum, læto ex factore profectus, Sponte ad eum redit, illi qui solacia præbet. Terreni inde boni incipiens gustare saporem, Decipitur ; sequiturque malum, quod profore credit, Ni dux aut frenum illius detorquet amorem. Legibus hinc opus est, est et rectore necessum, Veræ urbis valeat saltem qui cernere turrim. Sunt leges ; at quis sequitur ? quis et utitur illis ? Nemo quidem : ante etenim qui fert vestigia Pastor, Ruminat ille quidem, diffissa sed ungula deest : [32] |
Knowing nothing of things, springing forth from a joyful maker, it spontaneously returns to him who offers it solace. Then, beginning to taste the flavor of earthly goods, it is deceived and follows the bad, which it believes is advantageous, unless a leader or bridle restrains its desires. Hence there is a need for laws and a necessity for a guide who at least can discern the towers of the true city. There are laws, but who will follow them? And who will enforce them? Absolutely no one. For the Shepherd who goes in the lead admittedly chews the cud, but lacks a cloven hoof. |
| 850 | Gens igitur, bona, queis inhiat, perquirere cernens Rectorem ipsa suum, hæc sequitur, nil cetera curans. Non ex natura, quod sit vitiata, scelestus Est mundus : pravum hunc regimen corrumpere constat. Quæ dabat integros olim splendescere mores, Roma duos Soles habuit, mundique Deique Monstrarent qui rite viam. Nunc unus ab altero Exstinctus periit : gladius coiere pedumque ; Ac male propterea fungantur munere oportet ; Namque, simul junctos, illos non ulla refrenat |
So the people, seeing their own Guide seeking the goods which they themselves gape after, follow those things, not caring about anything else. The world is criminal not because nature is corrupted and so due to it; the reality is that a crooked government corrupts the world. Rome, that once made intact mores shine, had two Suns of the world and of God, which properly showed the way. Now the one has died, killed by the other. The sword and the shepherd’s crook are united, and on that account they automatically perform their functions badly. For no mutual fear of the other restrains |
| 860 | Mutua formido alterius. Spicam aspice, dictis Credere si nescis : ex semine noscitur herba. Quas Padua atque Athesis perfundunt flumine, terris Virtutem ac pulchros mores reperire licebat, Jurgia quum nondum ac litem Fridericus haberet ; Nunc tutus transire potest, qui obstante pudore Ingenuis rectisque viris occurrere nolit. Tres superant uni, quorum virtute recentem Arguit antiqua ætatem : nimiumque videtur His cessare Deum ad meliorem ducere vitam. |
them combined at the same time. If you do not believe my words, look at the spike of grain: the plant is known from its seed. It was possible to find virtue and beautiful morals in the land of Lombardy, which the Po and the Adige rivers flow through, before Emperor Frederick experienced strife and lawsuits. Now anyone who, blocked by shame, does not want to meet with noble and upright men can pass through there safely. Only three men remain through whose virtue the ancient times accuse the modern one, and it seems to them that God is delaying too long in leading them to a better life: |
| 870 | Nempe et Corradus, quo Brixia gaudet alumno, Gherardusque bonus, Reggensis et incola Guidus, A Gallis dictus Lombardus nomine simplex. Dic age, quod duplex quoniam conjuncta potestas Est illi, in cænum cadit, et se Roma suumque Turpat onus. Verum, rettuli, mi Marce, profaris : Nunc video cur Leviadis tellure potiri Non est lege datum. Sed quis tibi dicitur acti Exemplum in nostri Gherardus dedecus ævi ? Me tuus aut sermo fallit, tum rettulit ille, |
they are Currado da Palazzo, whom Brescia enjoys as its nursling; the good Gherardo da Camino; and Guido da Castello, inhabitant of Reggio Emilia, called “the decent Lombard’ by the French. Say then that, because it has a double joint power, Rome falls into the mire and fouls both itself and its burden.” “Indeed,” I answered, “you tell the truth. Now I see why the Levites were by law not permitted to own land. But who is that Gherardo said by you to be an example of a past age against the corruption of ours?” “Either your accent deceives me,” the other then replied, |
| 880 | Aut tentat ; nam, quum Tusca tu voce loquaris, Nil scis de Gherardo : alio non nomine novi, Ni sumam illius prognatæ ex sanguine Gajæ. Vos Deus usque juvet : vobiscum haud amplius ibo : Aspice per fumum jam nunc albescere lucem : Hinc me propterea discedere oportet : ibidem Angelus est etenim, mihi quem spectare vetatur. Hæc ait ; ac, me audire negans, vestigia vertit. |
“or it is testing me, because while you speak with a Tuscan accent, you know nothing of Gherardo. I do not know him by any other name, unless I were to take one from his daughter Gaia. May God help you both henceforth. I will go with you no farther. Look through the smoke at the light now already whitening. Because of that I must leave here, for the Angel is there whom it is forbidden to me to see.” Having said this and refusing to listen to me, he turned back. |
| LIBER VII | ||
| PURGATORII XVII {17} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Esto memor, lector, (gelidas si forte per Alpes Te nebula obtexit, per quam res ipse videres, Non secus atque solent pellis per tegmina talpae) Ut Solis, quum congeries condensa vaporum Æthere rarescit, lux aurea trajicit illos : Ex hoc percipies, ac viva occurret imago, Quomodo tunc Solem, labentem ex axe, revisi. Sic, mea Ductoris vestigia passibus æquans, Egressus fumo, ad radios, quibus ima carebant |
Reader, if perhaps in the frozen Alps a fog has ever come over you through which you yourself saw things as moles are wont to do through their skin membranes, remember how, when the thick mass of the vapors thins out in the air, the golden light of the Sun penetrates them; from that you will understand and get a live picture of how I then again saw the Sun, sliding from the sky. Thus, keeping up with the strides of my Guide and exiting the smoke, I arrived at the sunrays which |
| 10 | Jam loca, deveni. Oh fixæ vis vivida mentis, Sic hominem tibi devincīs, ut classica mille Eripere haud valeant sonitu. Quo actore moveris, Si tibi nil offert sensus ? Lux, æthere missa, Te movet, ex sese, aut mittentis numine. Primum Illius, in volucrem versæ, quam cantibus auras Plus implere juvat, menti se ostendit imago. Atque ita defixit, nullas admittere formas Ut posset aliunde datas. Sese obtulit ore Quidam deinde truci, cruce fixus, ibique peremptus : |
the regions down below already lacked. O lifelike power of the unalterable mind, you so chain man to yourself that a thousand wartrumpets cannot tear him free with their sound. What agent are you moved by if the senses offer nothing to you? A light sent from heaven moves you, either from itself or by the will of a Sender. First appeared to my mind the image of her [Procne], changed into a bird, that most loves to fill the air with songs. And it so riveted my mind that it could accept no forms given from elsewhere. Then a certain man [Haman] was displayed with a scornful face, fixed on a cross and killed there. |
| 20 | Magnus circum erat Assuerus, formosaque conjux, Et Mardochæus, verbisque ac integer actis. Quumque hæc, assimilis bullæ, cui deficit unda, Ex qua facta cadente tumet, se abrupit imago, Paruit illacrimans virgo : cur, flebilis ajens, Ira egit te, cara parens, abrumpere vitam ? Quæsisti mortem, nolens amittere natam, Et natam amittis : te te Lavinia ploro, Teque priusque tuum, alterius quam funus acerbum. Ut sopor excutitur, quum lux inopina repente |
Around about him were the great Ahasuerus and his beautiful wife Esther, and Mordecai, innocent in word and deed. And when this scene burst like a bubble losing the water of which, when falling, it is made and swells, a crying maiden appeared, saying tearfully: “Why did anger drive you, dear parent [Amata], to break off you life? Not wanting to lose your daughter, you sought death and lost your daughter. I, Lavinia, am in grief over you, you, and over your bitter funeral first, rather than over that of another’s.” As when an unexpected light suddenly |
| 30 | Perstringit vultum, titubatque, ac deinde recedit ; Sic mea mens, longe majori lumine, quam quod Usibus inservit nostris, percussa figuras Expulit exceptas. Ut qua essem in sede viderem Tunc ego vertebar, quum vox : hīc scanditur, ajens, Me visu omni alio eripuit, pariterque videndi Quis foret hoc fatus mihi talem induxit amorem, Qui, nisi quod quærit reperit, requiescere nescit. At, ceu Sol aciem pervincit lumine nostram Immodico, mea sic virtus cedebat ibidem. |
strikes the face, sleep is shaken off and fades in and out and finally leaves, so my mind, struck by a light far greater than what services our needs, expelled the visions received. I was then turning around to see what location I was in, when a voice saying, “You climb up here’ snatched me out of all other visions and likewise inspired me with the kind of eagerness of seeing who said it that will not rest until it finds what it is looking for. But as the Sun overwhelms our vision with its light, so my powers failed at that point. |
| 40 | Ac Doctor mihi tunc dixit : qui luce videri Se negat ipse sua, divinæ est nuntius aulæ : Sponte viam ostendit : nobis sese exhibet ille, Ut vir quisque sibi ; quisquis nam cernit egentem, Exspectatque preces, jam se dat nosse negantem. Acceleremus iter, quo nos vocat ille benignus ; Atque prius sursum, quam nocte involvimur atra, Vadere nītemur ; nam deinde haud ire liceret Donec mane novo lux ex Oriente revertat. Dixit ; et ad scalam gradientes venimus ambo ; |
And the Teacher then said to me, “He who by his own light blocks being seen himself, is a messenger of the divine court. Of his own accord he is showing the way. He is acting toward us as any man toward himself, for whoever sees a needy person and waits for begging has already made it known he is refusing. Let us speed up our journey to where that kind spirit is calling us, and strive to go up before we are enveloped by black night,” he said, “since then it will not be possible to proceed until the light returns from the East at the new dawn.” And we both went walking to the stairway. |
| 50 | Vixque gradum attigeram primum, quum concita pennis Aura meam afflavit frontem, ac vox venit ad aures : Felix, cui pax est cordi, et mala deficit ira. Jam, quos nox sequitur, tantum nos desuper alte Surgebant radii, ut cælo passim astra viderem. Tunc ego, qui pedibus fessis absistere vires Persensi : cur me, mea virtus, deseris ? inqui. Venimus ad scalæ summum, et consistimus illic, Non secus ac navis, quæ litoris attigit oram. Quum paulum adverti, num quicquam in sedibus illis |
I had barely touched the first step when air fanned by wings blew on my forehead and a voice came to my ears, “Felix, cui pax est cordi, et mala deficit ira: Happy is he who has peace in his heart and in whom evil wrath is absent.” Already the sunrays followed by night were going up so high above us that I could see the stars everywhere in the sky. Then I, who felt the energy leaving my tired legs, said, “Why, my strength, are you abandoning me?” We got to the top of the stairs and stopped there, like a ship which grounds on the shore of the coast. After I had paid attention a little to whether I could hear anything |
| 60 | Audirem, versus Vati : pater optime, dixi, Quæ culpa hic luitur ? ne, si vestigia sistunt, Sistat item sermo. Plenus cui deficit ardor Muneris explendi, locus hic dat pendĕre pœnas ; Hic male tardatus punitur in æquŏre remus. Ille ait. Ut melius valeas hoc cernere, mentem Adde mihi ; ēque mora poteris sic ferre juvamen. Nullus amore caret, non res, non ipse Creator : Est ex natura aut animo : tu talia nosti. Quem natura creat, prorsum est erroribus expers ; |
in those parts, turning to the Poet, I said, “Best father, what sin is atoned for here? Even if our strides stop, do not let your speech also stop.” He said, “For the person deficient in full enthusiasm for fulfilling his duty, this place is for paying the penalty. Here the oar delayed wrongly in the sea is punished. So that you can see this better, pay attention to me and you can thereby derive benefit from our delay. No being lacks love not objects, not the Creator himself. It springs from nature or consciousness; you know that. What nature creates is completely free of errors. |
| 70 | Ast alter peccare potest, vel prava secutus, Sive parum nimiumve vigens. Quum cælica tendit In bona, quumque in terrenis se temperat ipsum, Esse nequit causa, ex qua oriatur prava voluptas. In mala quum vero tendit, curave minori Aut majori, quam par sit, bona quærit, in ipsum Factorem tunc ille gerit. Deprendere porro Inde potes, quod amor vobis probitatis origo est Nequitiæque simul. Quum quisque salutis amator Sit propriæ, haud odium inde suum res ulla veretur ; |
But the other form can err, either having followed something wrong or being insufficiently or excessively aggressive. So long as it aims toward heavenly goods and is moderate in earthly ones, it cannot be the cause from which a defective will arises. But when it pursues the wrong things or seeks the good with less or more attention than is right, it then directs itself against the Creator himself. Whence you can understand that love is simultaneously the origin of both good and evil for you. Now since everyone is a lover of his own well-being, no creature will then fear hatred from himself. |
| 80 | Quumque Deo abjungi, ac per se ipsum exsistere nemo Evaleat, nulli est ideo hunc odisse facultas ; Restat proinde malum in similes, nisi fallor, amari : Trinis nempe modis. Est qui, si forte propinquus Oppressus fuerit, sperat grandescere, et optat Propterea huic cladem. Timet ille amittere honorem, Rem, famam, et vulgi auram, si se erexerit alter, Quare animo dolet, atque fovet contraria vota. Est qui vindictam, propter quæ injuria quondam Illata est ipsi, cupit inflammatus ab ira ; |
And since no one can be separated from God and exist by himself, the capacity of hating Him is given to no one. We are consequently left, unless I am mistaken, with the fact that evil against peers is loved, specifically in three ways: there is the one who hopes to benefit if perhaps his neighbor is destroyed, and thus chooses his downfall. A further one fears he will lose honor, objects, fame and popularity among the masses if another man rises; hence he feels grief in his heart and nourishes wishes for the contrary. There is the one who, inflamed with anger because at some time an injustice was done him, wishes revenge, |
| 90 | Atque hīc alterius damnum meditetur oportet. Iste triformis amor luitur tribus orbibus hisce, Quos sumus emensi. Alium nunc dicere præstat, Qui nempe in bona, non quali decet ordine, tendit. Quisque bonum obscure apprendit, quo corda quietem Inveniant : hoc et cupit, atque acquirere curat. Si quem lentus amor seu quærere sive videre Hoc adigit, pertæsum culpæ hīc pœna fatigat. Est et deinde bonum, quod non facit esse beatos : Non hoc prosperitas, non hoc essentia porro |
and here it must be that he contemplates the injury of the other. This threefold love is expiated in these three circles that we have traveled over. Now there is another love to tell of which, although it seeks the good, does not do so in a manner which is proper. Everyone vaguely apprehends a good where their hearts find rest, and wants this and seeks to attain it. If the love is lethargic that induces a person to seek or see it, the punishment, here, torments the penitent disgusted with that fault. And next there is the good which does not make men happy; it is not good fortune; it is also not the good essence, |
| 100 | Est bona, cunctorum fructus radixque bonorum : Hoc nimius qui poscit amor, tribus hisce supernis Orbibus eluitur. Sileo se quomodo trinas Dividat in species, ut tu tecum ipse requiras. |
the fruit and root of all goodness. The love that excessively seeks this is expiated in the three circles above. I will be silent about how it divides itself into three types, so that you may discover it for yourself.” |
| PURGATORII XVIII {18} ⇑ | ||
| 104 | Finierat Vates, atque in me fixa tenebat Lumina, perspiciens, numquid verba ore probarem. Atque ego, cui nondum discendi cesserat ardor, Hærebam tacitus labiis, sed pectore mecum : Forte illum, ajebam, nimium me poscere tædet. At Pater, advertens me promere verba vereri, |
The Poet had finished and was looking at me to see by my facial appearance whether I approved his words. And I, whose ardor for learning had not yet died down, stayed quiet with my lips but inwardly said to myself, “Perhaps it will annoy him for me to ask too much”. But the Father, noting that I was afraid to utter any words, |
| 110 | Ipse, loquendo, animum mihi præbuit inde loquendi. Quare ego tum dixi : mihi sic, dilecte Magister, Illustras mentem, ut, quæ disseris, omnia cernam : Ergo age, te precor, edoceas, pravique bonique Quomodo fons sit amor. Mentem mihi dirige acutam Ille ait ; ac tibi nosse dabo, quam detinet error, Qui voluere aliis sese præbere magistros. Natus amare animus, ad res est mobilis omnes, Quæ gratæ obveniunt, ubi ad actum blanda voluptas Excierit : veræ inde rei mens vestra receptat |
by speaking himself thereupon gave me courage to speak. Hence I then said, “Dear Master, you enlighten my mind in such a way that I can understand everything you are elaborating on. So do please teach me how love can be the fount of both evil and good.” He said, “Give me your keen attention and I will give you to know how error holds back those who want to present themselves as teachers to others. The spirit, born to love, is able to move towards everything pleasing that comes up, when enjoyable pleasure arouses it to action. Based on that, your mind accepts a percept |
| 120 | Effigiem, atque illam vobis simul explicat intus ; Unde animus trahitur : qui si flectatur eidem, Flexus hic est amor, ac naturæ ab origine manans ; Qui, delectando, hinc animo geminatur in ipso. Natura mox quale sua salit ignis in altum, Quo sibi materia est consors, re quærit amata Ille frui ; ac nunquam, nisi sit possessa, quiescit. Hinc tu nosse potes quantum de tramite aberrent Recto, qui esse putant laudabile semper amorem, Quod bona materies semper fors esse videtur ; |
of the object itself and at the same time unfolds it inside of you, whence the spirit is attracted to it. If the spirit inclines to it, love, flowing from the fountainhead of nature, is also attracted to it, hence love, through enjoyment, sprouts in the spirit itself. As fire by its nature soon leaps upward where matter is of a type shared with it, it seeks to enjoy the desired object, and never rests until that is possessed. From this you can see how much those individuals deviate from the right way who think love is always something laudable, because, perhaps, its matter always seems to be good. |
| 130 | At, bona sit quamvis cera, haud bona semper imago est. Sermo quidem tuus, et mea mens, hunc rite secuta, Tunc ego respondi, dederunt mihi noscere amorem. At magis obtineor dubiis : hunc extima rerum Si generat facies, animusque huic ambulat hærens, Quid meruisse potest, si recte aut sequius ibit ? Quatenus intendit ratio, tibi dicere tantum Evaleo, ille refert : tua diluet alma Beatrix, Divinæ quod lucis eget. Qui dīditus atque Est pariter junctus terrenis artubus, omnis |
But however good the wax may be, the impression is not always good.” I replied, “Your words, and my wits following them, have given me an understanding of love. But I am more entrammeled by doubts. If the exterior face of things begets it, and the spirit walks clinging to it, what can the spirit have merited if it goes rightly or otherwise?” He responded, “Only to the extent that reason will reach can I explain it to you. Your loving Beatrice will resolve that which requires divine light. Every life form which is simultaneously separated from and joined to earthly limbs |
| 140 | Spiritus ingenita ac propria virtute potitur, Quam, nisi ad actum venerit, haud agnoscere fas est ; Effectuque patet, ceu vivere planta virore. Notio primarum rerum, affectusque priores Propterea, qui sunt animis, ut mella creandi Est apibus studium, haud homini patet unde creentur. Non hĭc primus amor laudem probrumque meretur : Ast, alius quoniam hinc omnis venit, altera virtus Innata est, quæ consulit, et quæ limine debet Sistere in assensūs. Vobis hinc prima merendi |
possesses an inborn, and its own specific, power which cannot be recognized except by its coming into action and becoming manifest in its effects, as a plant is recognized through its greening as being alive. Hence, man does not know where his insight into primary concepts or the primal urges which are innate in living beings as the urge to create honey is in bees comes from. This primal love merits neither praise nor blame. But, because every other love comes from it, another faculty is inborn which advises and which gives the power to stop on the threshold of assent. From this comes the first source |
| 150 | Causa venit, prout illa bonos admittat amores, Rejiciatque malos. Sophiæ id novere magistri, Multaque propterea morum documenta dedere. Quantumvis animis ergo exoriantur amores Est opus, hos tamen est illis pepulisse facultas ; Liberum et arbitrium vocat hanc claram alma Beatrix Virtutem ; esto memor, si de hac tecum illa loquatur. Pæne ad dimidium noctis jam luna morata, Rara dabat nobis effulgere sidera cælo, Ut situla apparens, quæ tota exardeat, ingens ; |
of merit, insofar as it admits good loves and rejects bad ones. The teachers of Wisdom knew this and on that account gave us many documents on morals. However much, therefore, loves may arise in souls by necessity, they have within themselves the power of repelling them. And the loving Beatrice calls this illustrious power free will. Remember that if she should talk with you about it.” The moon, now delayed almost until midnight, looking like an enormous pail all ablaze, made the stars shine more sparsely to us, |
| 160 | Ac Cælum adversus currebat tramite, quem Sol Accendit, quum inter Sardos Corsosque cadentem [1] Roma videt : Ductorque bonus, quo Mantua cedit Andibus, abstiterat mihi respondere roganti ; Atque ego, jam mentem dubiorum ambage solutus, Somno instar titubantis eram. Sed protinus omnem, Quæ post nostra frequens veniebat terga, soporem Turba mihi eripuit. Veluti strepere agmina circum Ismenus quondam atque Asopus litore vidit, Quum Bacchi auxilio populus Thebanus egeret, |
and was traveling against the heavens on the track [in Sagittarius] which the Sun illuminates when Rome sees it setting between Sardinia and Corsica. And the good Guide, due to whom the city of Mantua yielded in prominence to the town of Andes [Pietola], had finished answering me, his questioner. And I, having cleared my mind of the ambiguities of my doubts, was like a man nodding off in sleep. But a large crowd which came from behind our backs suddenly tore all drowsiness from me. As the Ismenus stream and the Asopus river once saw processions on their banks make an uproar all around when the Theban people needed the help of Bacchus, |
| 170 | Sic ego per gyrum vidi se ferre catervas, Quas recti flammabat amor justique cupido. Nobis continuo astiterunt ; namque alite gressu Currebant ; flentesque duo velociter ante Clamantes ibant : Propere Jessæa virago Se tulit in montem ; quateretque ut Cæsar Ilerdam, Massiliam pupugit, rapideque petivit Iberum. Actutum, actutum ; ne paucum propter amorem, Clamabant alii, tempus decurrat inane ; Gratia namque bonum studio revirescit agendi. |
so along that circle I saw groups traveling who were fired by love of righteousness and the desire for justice. They were alongside us in a flash, for they ran at a winged pace, and two went ahead swiftly, weeping and crying out, “The heroic maiden of Jesus traveled swiftly to the mountain!” and “Caesar, in order to shatter Lerida [in Catalonia], stabbed Marseilles and quickly sped to Spain.” The others shouted, “Fast!, fast! Do not let time run idle because of too little love, for grace greens up through the zeal to do good.” |
| 180 | O gens, cui fervor nunc forte rependit acutus Segnitiem atque moram, Doctor tum dixit, es olim Queis operata bonum ; hĭc, qui Cæli vescitur aura, (Vera loquor) quum Sol primos ostenderit ortus, Ire cupit sursum : qua sit via pandite quæso. Talia dicenti respondit Spiritus unus : Nos sequere, inveniesque aditum : sic ardor eundi Nos agit, ut nunquam cursum requiesse queamus : Ignoscas igitur, tibi si est injuria nostræ Est quod justitiæ. Veronæ rector in urbe |
“O people whose keen fervor now perhaps makes up for the sloth and delay,” the Teacher then said, “with which you once performed good work, this man, who breathes the air of the Heavens (I am telling the truth), wishes to go upwards when the sun shows its first risings. Please let us know where the path is.” One Spirit replied to the speaker with the following: “Follow us and you will find the entrance; Our urge for going urges us so much that we can never take a rest from our running. So pardon us if what is our justice is an injustice to you. In the city of Verona I[, Gherardo II,] was Abbot |
| 190 | Cœnobii ipse fui, Zenonis nomine divi, Quum bonus imperium jam Barbarossa teneret, Quem Mediolanum memorat corde hactenus ægro. Proximus est quidam tumulo, quem hujusce dolebit Cœnobii, atque habiti hīc juris ; verique pigebit Pastoris posuisse loco, membrisque animoque Deformem, natum, fœdis natalibus ortum. Nescio, (nam longe aufugit) num plura locutus Is fuit ; hoc autem audivi, placuitque tenere. Ac tunc ille mihi, auxilium qui ferre solebat |
of the monastery named San Zeno when the good Barbarossa held command, whom Milan still remembers with grieving heart. There is a certain man [Alberto della Scala] close to the grave who will regret that monastery and his having held power there. He will be sorry for having put his son [Giuseppe], deformed in body and mind, born in disgraceful birth, in the place of a true shepherd.” I do not know (because he had fled far off) whether he said any more. But I heard that and was pleased to remember it. And then he who was wont to give me help |
| 200 | Casibus in cunctis : te, dixit, verte, duosque Aspice, segnitiem monitis qui ingentibus urgent. Extremi illi ibant, clamantes : Occĭdit omnis Gens prius, abscissis patuit cui fluctibus æquŏr, Cerneret heredes sibi quam Jordanis adesse ; Quæque sub Ænea est longos pertæsa labores, Maluit in Siculis ingloria vivere terris. Qui simul ac adeo ex oculis abiere citatim, Amplius ut cerni haud possent, tunc altera menti Cura mihi propere incubuit ; quam deinde secutæ |
in all cases, said, “Turn around and look at the two who are making an onslaught on sloth with intense warnings.” They came last, crying, “The entire generation to whom the sea opened with its waters cut apart died off before it saw its heirs of the Jordan arrive there.” And “The people who were exhausted through the long labors under Aeneas preferred to live ingloriously on Sicilian land.” As soon as they had quickly gone so far out of eyesight that they could not be seen any more, then another concern quickly entered my mind, upon which others |
| 210 | Sunt aliæ atque aliæ ; perque illas mente vagatus, Clausi oculos ; ac sunt mihi curæ in somnia versæ. |
and yet others then followed and, wandering through them in my mind, I closed my eyes, and my cares turned into dreams. |
| PURGATORII XIX {19} ⇑ | ||
| 212 | XIX. Qua, aut terra aut Saturno interdum victus, in hora Ulterius Lunæ frigus mollire diurnus Haud potis est fervor ; quum sub Pallantidos ortum Majorem cernit geomantes surgere Sortem Tramite, qui non deinde diu nigrescere durat, Visa mihi in somnis pallenti est femina vultu, Trunca manus, distorta pedes, ac balba loquelam, Læsa oculos. Illi figebam lumina ; et, ut Sol |
In the hour when the daily heat, overcome by the earth or, sometimes, Saturn, is no longer capable of softening the cold of the Moon; when the geomancer sees the Greater Lot coming up under the rising of Pallas[, the astrological giant of the East,] on a path that does not long remain dark at that time, a woman appeared to me in my sleep, pallid of face, with stunted hands, twisted feet and stuttering speech, with damaged eyes. I stared at her and as the Sun |
| 220 | Frigentes reficit, quos nox depresserit, artus, Sic meus intuitus dabat illi solvere linguam, Erigier pedibus, vultumque ornare colore Qualem poscit amor. Vix facta est libera fando, Sic cœpit canere, ut vocis dulcedine captus, Ægre hinc me eriperem. Sum ego, sum dulcissima Siren, Cantabat, medio quæ duco ex æquŏre nautas ; Dulce adeo gratumque cano ! mea carmina cursu Dulichium abduxere Ducem : quicunque moratus Assuescit mecum, raro a me deinde recedit : |
restores cold limbs which the night has pressed down, so my gaze enabled her to loosen her tongue, straighten her feet and suffuse her face with the color that love requires. She had hardly become free to speak when she began to sing in such a manner that, captured by the sweetness of her voice, I tore myself away with difficulty. “I am, I am the sweetest Siren,” she sang, “who leads sailors from the middle of the sea; I sing sweetly and beautifully. My songs led the Grecian Leader Ulysses astray from his course. Whoever, staying, gets used to me, then rarely leaves me, |
| 230 | Tam mea lætificat mortalia corda voluptas ! Nondum ea finiebat, mulier quum sancta citatim Me prope devenit ; Vatique obversa, severe : O Maro, quænam est ista, Maro ? clamabat ; eamque Fixus spectabat Vates. Mox arripit alteram, Arreptæque aperit, discissis vestibus, alvum : Prodivit fœtor, pulsus quo somnus abivit. Lumina tum verti ; ac mihi : te bis terve vocavi, Virgilius dixit ; quid stas ? jam surge, aditumque Quæramus, quo sursum intres. Mea membra levavi ; |
my pleasures please mortal hearts so much!” She had not yet finished when a holy woman came swiftly down near me. And turning to the Poet, she cried sternly, “O Maro, who is this woman, Maro?” and the Poet looked at her fixedly. He then grabbed the other woman and, ripping her garments, exposed the seized female’s belly. A stench emerged, repulsed by which my sleep left me. I looked around, and Virgil said to me, “I called you two or three times. Why do you stand there? Now rise and let us look for the entrance where you can go up.” I lifted my limbs, |
| 240 | Et jam Sol totum lustrabat lumine montem, Nobis a tergo exoriens ; Vatemque sequebar Incurvus frontem, ut curis qui pluribus auctus, Pontis dimidium ex se cernuus efficit arcum ; Quum vox : hic aditus, tam dulce ac comiter inquit, Ut nunquam audiri datur his terrestribus oris. Quique illam misit, passis candentibus alis, Direxit sursum, muros saxi inter utrosque : Ventilat hinc motis pennis ; clamatque : beati, Qui lugent ; quippe his solacia multa dabuntur. |
and the Sun, rising behind our backs, was already illuminating the entire mountain with light. And I followed the Poet, having bent my brow like someone encumbered with many cares, bending, making of himself half a bridge’s arch, when a voice said, “Here is the entrance” so sweetly and kindly as is never heard in these earthly realms. And he who, with white outspread wings, uttered these words directed us upwards between both rock walls. He then fanned the air by moving his wings and cried out, “Beati, qui lugent : quippe his solacia multa dabuntur: Blessed are they who mourn, for much solace will be given them.” |
| 250 | Quum parum ab Aligero abstitimus : quid lumina terræ Figis ? ait Ductor : tacito quid pectore versas ? Atque ego ei contra : dubium me reddit imago, Quæ nova sese offert, et qua nequeo ipse revelli. Sagam illam antiquam vidistin, sola superne Quæ luitur ? rettulit, qualique repellitur arte ? Hoc satis : acceleraque gradus, ac suspice signum, Quod Rex æternus magnis rotat orbibus altum. Ut prius accipiter plantarum extrema tuetur, Aucupis hinc sequitur vocem, ac velociter alas |
After we had distanced ourselves a little from the Angel, the Leader said, “Why are you looking at the earth? What are you turning over in your silent breast?” And I to him in response: “A new vision that manifested itself made me confused, and one from which I myself cannot be torn away.” “Did you see that ancient sorceress who alone is expiated for above?” he responded, “And by what means she is repulsed? That is enough. Quicken your steps and look at the lure that the eternal King swings around aloft in orbits. As the falcon first looks at the tips of its feet, then follows the voice of the falconer and swiftly aims his wings |
| 260 | Dirigit ad pastum, revocat quo ex more cupido ; Sic tunc ipse fui : atque hinc, quantum concava rupes Sese ad iter pandit, tantum vestigia sursum Intuli, ad usque novo qua circuit orbita gyro. Huc ubi delatus, largos effundere fletus Agmina prona sĭlo vidi ; ac vox impulit aures : Hæsimus afflicti terræ ; sed crebra sinebant Integras vix audiri suspiria voces. Gens electa Dei, cujus tormenta levantur Et spe et justitia, qua sursum ostendite eatur. |
at the food by which his desire habitually calls him back, so I myself was then. And from there, to the extent that the hollowed out rock opened up into a pathway, I directed my steps all the way upward to where a circle went around in a new ring. Here, where I had made it to, I saw legions face-down on the ground emitting loud wails, and their voices struck the ears with “Hæsimus afflicti terræ: Struck down, we cling to the earth,” but their frequent sighs hardly allowed all of the voices to be heard. “O chosen people of God, whose torments are lightened by both hope and justice, show us which way goes upward.” |
| 270 | Si non est vobis pœnam perferre jacendi, Atque iter optatur brevius ; pars extima montis Sit vestram ad dextram. Petiit sic voce Magister, Atque ita responsum est paulo nos ante remissum. Ambigere ex dictis Umbram me vivere sensi ; Propterea Vatem inspexi ; nutuque benigno Ille mihi assensit, quod prodidit ore cupido. Quum mihi pro libitu est agere impertita facultas, Umbram adii, cujus sermo me advertere fecit. Spiritus o, dixi, lacrimis qui perficis illud |
“If it is not your assignment to undergo the punishment of lying prostrate, and a shorter road is desired, let the outermost edge of the mountain be to your right.” Thus asked the Master, and thus was the response given a little ahead of us. I sensed from those words that the Shade suspected I was alive. Thus I looked at the Poet, and with a kind nod he gave his assent to me for what my desire betrayed by my facial expression. When I was given permission to act as desired, I went to the Shade whose speech had made me notice him. “O spirit,” I said, “who with your tears perfects that |
| 280 | Quo sine nemo potest ad Numinis ora reverti, Parce parum curæ, quæ te super obtinet omnes ; Ac mihi dic quæso, qui sis, quo crimine sursum Vertatis tergum, et si quid tibi finibus illis, A me vis fieri, sum vivens unde profectus. Cur nos, ille refert, Cælum sibi vertere tergum Cogat, deinde scies : Petri me in sede fuisse Nunc positum scito. Pulcher fons effluit inter [2] Claverium ac Sestrim, cujus de nomine sanguis Fit meus illustris, titulique assumit honorem. |
without which no one can return to the face of the Divinity, suspend briefly the concern which above all others consumes you and tell me, please, who you are, for what sin you have turned you back upward, and if you want anything to be done for you by me in those realms that I have come from alive.” He replied, “You will later know why it forces us to turn our backs toward Heaven, but now know that I was placed in the chair of Peter. A beautiful stream [the Lavagna] flows between Chiavari and Sestri from whose name my blood became famous and takes the honor of its title. |
| 290 | Plus paulo unius sum expertus tempore mensis Pontificalis honos quanti sit ponderis illi, Qui studet hunc omni semotum sorde tueri ; Tam gravis, ut quodvis aliud quasi pluma videtur. Sero eheu ! me pænituit : quum sede potitus Sum Petri, humanæ adverti mendacia vitæ : Vidi non illic requiescere corda, nec ultra Posse illa in vita ascendi ; ac me proinde cupido Istius cepit. Domino sejunctus, avaras Jam fueram sectatus opes ; ideoque rependo |
For a little more than the time of a month I learned how heavy the pontifical honor is for him who strives to keep it away from all filth; it is so heavy that anything else seems like a feather. Alas, I repented too late; when I gained the seat of Peter I discovered the deceits of human life. I saw that hearts were not at rest there, and that it was not possible to climb higher in that life, and consequently the desire for this one seized me. Separated from the Lord, I had already pursued an avaricious lifestyle. Hence I am paying |
| 300 | Hic pœnas, velut ipse vides. Cognoscere ab ipsa Fas est, conversas Animas quæ pœna repurgat, Quod fit avaritia ; nec monte hoc altera major. Nostra velut, semper terrenis dedita rebus, Extulerunt Cælo nunquam se lumina, sic nunc Justitiæ hæc terræ figit ; velutique cupido Tristis opum, sub corde boni restinxit amorem ; Atque labor [3] periit ; nobis sic crura manusque Justitiā obstrictis cohibet ; quantumque placebit Cælituum Regi, immoti extensique manemus. |
the penalty for that now, as you yourself see. You can discover from the penalty itself that purges converted Souls what avarice turns into. And there is no other mountain greater than this one. As our eyes, always devoted to earthly things, were never raised to Heaven, so now it rivets them to the justice of the earth. And as the sad desire for wealth extinguishes love of the good in our hearts, and our efforts perish, so it confines us, bound by justice in legs and hands, and for as long as it will please the King of the Heavens, we remain immobile and outstretched.” |
| 310 | Poplite decĭderam flexo, ac responsa parabam Reddere ; sed, quum pæne incepi, atque auribus hausit Obsequium ille meum : quæ te subsīdĕre cogit Causa ? inquit. Tua, respondi, suprema potestas, Ut bona mens monuit. Surge, ac tete erige, frater, Is mihi tum rettulit ; ne imprudens occupet error : Non aliter quam tu atque alii sum subditus æque; Unaque nos omnes regit infinita potestas. Si reputas animo divini verba Magistri, Nomina quum docuit sponsæ sponsique peractæ |
I had fallen down on bent knee and was preparing to give an answer, but as I was just beginning and he perceived my reverence, he said, “What cause forces you to crouch down?” I responded, “Your supreme position, as my good conscience dictates.” He then replied to me, “Rise and stand up straight, brother, lest an imprudent error take you in. I am equally subject, no differently than you and the others. The infinite power rules us all together. If you consider in your mind the words of the divine Master when he taught that the titles of bride and bridegroom |
| 320 | Desinere ad vitæ fines, cur talia dicam Nosse potes. Sed jam abscedas : sine libera dedam Frena meis lacrimis, quibus id quod es ipse locutus, Perficio. Est terris mihi, nomine Olagia, neptis, Intemerata animum, ni exempla domestica pravos Inducant mores : hæc est mihi sola superstes. |
ended with the end of life, you will be able to understand why I say such things. But now go. Let me give free reign to my tears by which I complete what you yourself spoke of. On earth I have a niece, Alagia by name, undefiled in spirit, as long as family examples do not lead her into bad behavior. She is my sole survivor.” |
| PURGATORII XX {20} ⇑ | ||
| 326 | XX. Non bene contendit meliori quæque cupido. Proinde, ut ei gererem morem, non sponte retraxi Spongiam, aquis nondum plenam. Plorantibus Umbris Per vacuum ingredimur callem, rupique propinqui, |
Any desire does not contend well with a better desire. So, to accommodate him, I unwillingly withdrew the sponge still insufficiently full of water. We went on through the empty trail, close to the rock |
| 330 | Ad pinnas veluti per murum vaditur arctum : Namque malum ex oculis, quod terras occupat omnes, Gens guttatim edens, nimium consistit ad oram Externam ripæ. O exsecrabile monstrum, Immanis lupa, quæ nulla saturaris ab esca, Ingluvieque feras omnes pervincis edaci, Quando erit ut Cælum, cujus vertigine rentur Humanas variare vices, te denique pellat ? Lentos ac parcos gressus cum Vate ferebam, Intendens Umbris, quas flere ac fundere questus |
as one goes by a wall close to the battlements. For the people dripping from their eyes the evil that pervades the entire world crowded too close to the outer edge of the terrace. O execrable monster, savage wolf, who are sated by no food and with your ravenous maw surpass all wild animals, when will it be that Heaven, by whose circling they believe human affairs change, will finally drive you away? I took slow and small steps along with the Poet, paying attention to the Shades whom I heard weeping and pouring out |
| 340 | Hauribam ; ac forte audivi : o Parthenos alma, Flebile clamari, mulier ceu proxima partu, Quam pauper fueris, specus est asperrima testis, Quo sanctum edideris partum. Mox dicere sensi : Visa tibi est potior virtus in rebus egenis Quam vitium, bone Fabrici, cum divite censu. Hic mihi tam placuit sermo, ut cognoscere amarim Quis daret, antetulique pedem. Celebrabat et aurum, Quod Lycius pastor, motus pietate, puellis Tradidit, intactumque dedit servare pudorem. |
their laments. And by chance I heard someone crying out piteously, like a woman close to giving birth, “O nourishing virgin! The witness of how poor you were is that rough cave where you gave your holy birth.” Soon I heard said, “O good Gajus Fabricius, virtue in poor conditions appeared to you more important than vice with wealthy status.” This saying pleased me, so that I was interested in knowing who uttered it, and I went over. He was celebrating the gold which the Lycian shepherd, Bishop Nicholas, moved by compassion, gave to the girls and enabled them to keep their chastity intact. |
| 350 | O bona, tam pulchras effundens Umbra loquelas, Fare, quis es, dixi, et quare tam grandia solus Hæc exempla refers : non te pro munere reddam Mercedis vacuum, si sursum implere revertar Exiguum vitæ, finem tetigisse volantis. Ille mihi contra : non me solacia terris Quæ non ulla moror, sed quæ tibi plurima fulget Gratia adhuc vivo, responsum reddere suadet. Arboris ipse fui radix infausta nocentis, Quæ sic Christiadum late contaminat omnes |
“O good Shade, uttering such beautiful speeches, say who you are,” I said, “and why you alone are giving these great examples. As recompense, I will not leave you empty of reward if I return above to fill out the short span of a life flying to its end.” He in response to me: “It is not rewards on earth, of which I expect none, but the abundant grace which shines in the still living you, that persuades me to give you an answer. I was the evil root of the harmful tree which contaminates all the lands |
| 360 | Terras, ut raros his sit fas carpere fructus. Belgarum vero si vires urbibus essent, Ultricem peterent pœnam, quam fervidus illum, Qui jure ac merito dijudicat omnia, posco. Capetus vocor Hugo : ex me, qui Gallica sceptra Gestant, et Ludovici venere atque Philippi : Parisiis, lanii sum patris semine cretus : Quum veteres omnes cessarunt vivere reges, Tantum uno excepto, cinereum qui sumpsit amictum, Imperii frenum manibus sum nactus habere, |
of the Christians, so that it is possible to pick few fruits in them. But if the Belgian cities had the power, they would exact the avenging punishment which I fervently beg of him who rightly and justly judges everything. I am called Hugh Capet; those who wield the Gallic scepter, and the Louises and Philips come from me. I was begotten in Paris by the seed of a father who was a butcher. When all of the old kings had ceased living except one who took the ash-colored monk’s habit, I got the reins of empire in my hands, |
| 370 | Ac tantis opibus, procerumque favore potiri, Ut mea regalem ad sedem provecta vacantem Progenies fuit ; ex qua his regibus incipit ordo. Quum genti dos magna meæ Narbonica nondum [4] Dedecus abluerat, non viribus illa valebat Multis, ac pariter nunquam nocumenta ferebat : Hīc est illa suas vi at fraude exorsa rapinas. Ut scelera emendet, Normannia, Neustria, Pontes, Hinc capiuntur ei. In terras se Carolus infert Italicas, et Corradinum funere mergit, |
and got to possess so much wealth and favor of the nobles that my progeny was promoted to the vacant royal throne. From there began the line of those kings. When the great Narbonese dowry [of Provence] had not yet washed away the shame from my family, it was not worth much in power, but at the same time it never inflicted harm. At this point it began its pillaging with deceit. To expiate its crimes, Normandy, Neustria [Gascony] and Ponthieu were captured by it. Charles invaded Italian lands and sent Conradin to the grave |
| 380 | Ut scelera emendet : Thomam et inde remittit Olympo, [5] Ut scelera emendet. Nec multum tempus abibit, Carolus ecce alter Gallorum ex finibus exit, Ut sese atque suos det nosse ; haud fortibus armis Usus, sed tantum, qua Judas militat, hasta : Hanc jacit, ut sectum doleat Florentia ventrem : Quapropter non ille sŏlum, sed dedecus ingens Accipiet ; gravius, quanto minus ille putabit. Alter, qui, postquam captus de nave refugit, [6] Vēnum dat pretio natam, ceu vĕndere prædas |
in order to make amends for his crimes. He then sent Thomas Aquinas back to Heaven in order to make amends for his crimes. And not much time will pass before another Charles [of Valois] comes from French lands to make himself and his family known. He does not use strong weapons but only the lance with which Judas fought. He threw this so that Florence would suffer from a cleft belly. From this he will gain not land but great shame all the worse, the less he will think of it. There is another one [Charles II, the Lame, of Anjou] who, captured, after he has fled from the ship, sells his daughter [Beatrice] for money like a pirate typically sells |
| 390 | Femineas pirata solet. Quid feceris ultra, Turpis avarities, nostro quum sanguine cretos Sic tibi constringis, nulla ut sit cura suorum ? Utque minus, quod erit quodque exstitit ante, putetur, Gallorum mihi capta videtur Anagnia signis ; Inque suas obeunte vices ludibria Christus Fel et acetum iterum passus, mortemque cruentam Latrones inter vivos. Nec talibus hisce Pontius hic novus expletur ; sed sponte rapaces In templum, sine jure, manus cupidissimus infert. [7] |
his female prey. O foul avarice, what more will you do, since you have so bound to yourself those born of our blood, that there is no concern about one’s own? So that what will be and what has already come about may be thought less, [the papal palace at] Anagnia appears to me captured by the flags of the Gauls, and Christ, by experiencing mockery to his representatives, again suffered gall and vinegar, and a bloody death between living bandits. Nor is the new Pontius Pilate [Philip the Fair] satisfied with these things. But being extremely avaricious, of his own free will he sent rapacious bands into the temple, without authorization. |
| 400 | Quando erit, Omnipotens, ut te jam sumere lætus Vindictam aspiciam, tua quam sapientia condit Interiore sinu, atque tibi dulcem efficit iram ? [8] Quod sum autem fatus, Matrem tum voce vocavi Numinis, ac mihi scitatum te vertere feci, Nostris id precibus servit, dum luce diurna Hic locus induitur : postquam nox explicat umbras, Diversus resonat sermo. Tum voce refertur Pygmalion, qui fur et proditor atque cruoris Fraterni effusor fuit, auri propter amorem ; [9] |
When, O Almighty One, will it be that I will happily see Thee finally take the vengeance which Thy wisdom hides in Thy inner being and makes Thy wrath sweet for Thee?” “But what I said, calling aloud then on the Mother of the Divinity and making you turn to me to investigate, that serves our prayers as long as this place is clothed in daylight. After night spreads its shadows, a different speech is heard. Then Pygmalion is reviewed aloud, who was a thief and traitor and shedder of his brother’s blood on account of his love of gold ; |
| 410 | Et clades, quam sponte sibi rex Mida petendo Adduxit fatuus, multo ridenda cachinno. Commemoratur Acham, vetitas sibi sumere demens Exuvias ausus, quem Josue territat ira ; Et Sapphira suo cum conjuge dedita leto. Laudantur calces, queis perculit Heliodorum Æthere missus eques, totumque infamia montem Bistonii regis, Polydori ob funera, replet. Denique clamatur ‹ dic nobis, Crasse, quid aurum, Nam debes tu scire, sapit ? › Non omnibus īdem |
and the damage that the foolish King Midas, of his own accord, brought upon himself by asking for it, something to be laughed at loudly. The mad Achan, whom Joshua’s anger terrifies for daring to take the forbidden booty, is reviewed and Sapphira, delivered to death along with her husband. The hooves with which a knight sent from heaven struck Heliodorus are praised, and for the murder of Polydorus, the infamy of the Bistonian [Thracian] king [Polymnestor] fills the entire mountain. Finally the cry goes out, ‘Tell us, Crassus since you must know , what does gold taste like?’ Not everybody is at the same |
| 420 | Est tenor ; ast alii summissa voce loquuntur, Elataque alii ; prout quisque impulsus amore Est dare vim voci majorem sive minorem. Non ego solus eram, qui verba diurna referrem Nuper, sed solus de circumstantibus alte Tollebam vocem. Sic dixit, eoque relicto Extulimus gressum ; quamtumque erat ire potestas Carpebamus iter, quum montem, ut siqua ruit res, Intremere audivi : correptus frigore membra Obrigui, veluti mortem qui occumbere pergit. |
pitch, but some speak in a low voice and other in a high one, according as each is driven by love to give greater or lesser volume to his voice. I was not alone in earlier reciting the daily expressions, but the only one of those around to raise his voice high.” Thus he spoke and, having left him, we went on our way; and, to the extent that there was strength to go, we were proceeding along the trail when I heard the mountain tremble as though something were collapsing. I went stiff, seized with chill in my limbs as a man going to meet his death. |
| 430 | Non equidem Delos sese sic ante movebat Quam părĕret Latona duo illic lumina Cæli. Undique dehinc clamor cœpit ; propriusque Magister Proinde mihi accedens : duce me, inquit, parce timere. Gloria in excelsis, clamabant uniter omnes, Quantum non longe potui deprendere vocem. Hæsimus attoniti, ut pastores carmine primum Hoc olim audito, donec cantusque quievit Tellurisque tremor. Rursus tunc imus, ad Umbras Jugiter intentis oculis, impressa tenentes |
Certainly the island of Delos did not move itself so much before Latona gave birth to the two lights of the sky. Thereupon a cry began on all sides, and consequently my nearby Master, coming up to me, said, “With me as your leader, have no fear.” Everyone was shouting unanimously Gloria in excelsis : Glory to God in the highest” so far as, from not far off, I could understand the voices. We froze, thunderstruck, like once upon a time the shepherds first hearing that hymn did, until both the singing and the earth’s tremor quieted down. We then again went on, our eyes constantly fixed on the Shades keeping their faces |
| 440 | Ora sŏlo, atque iterum ad lacrimas questusque reversas. Tantum nulla rei, si mens mihi vera reducit, Me cupidum fecit discendi inscitiă, quantum Tunc ego sum factus : sed non deposcere quicquam, Dum propero, audebam ; nec erat quod ibi ipse viderem : Ibam propterea pavidusque ac multa volutans. |
pressed on the ground and again returning to their tears and laments. If my mind recalls the truth to me, no ignorance of a thing ever made me so desirous of learning as I was made then. But I did not dare to ask anything while I was in haste, nor was there anything there that I myself perceived. So I went on fearful and brooding over many things. |
| PURGATORII XXI {21} ⇑ | ||
| 446 | Quam natura parit, nescitque exstinguier ullā, Præter quam mulier petiit Samaritis, ab undā, Me sitis urebat ; studioque urgebar eundi Interea per iter stratum plorantibus Umbris, |
The thirst which nature begets, and which cannot be extinguished by any water except that which the Samaritan woman sought, parched me. And I was meanwhile goaded by my eagerness to travel through the trail strewn with weeping Shades, |
| 450 | Et, quos justitia infligit, pietate dolorum. Ecce, velut tumulo ætherias redivivus ad auras Discipulis olim Christus pergentibus Emmaus, Ut memorat Lucas, nobis apparuit Umbra ; Post nos tendebat gressum, ad vestigia retro [10] Prospiceret dum turba jacens ; nec sensimus ante Quam vocem ediderit. Pacis vos munere, fratres, Sospitet Omnipotens, inquit. Nos protinus illi Vertimur, his vix auditis ; Vatesque vicissim Innuit, ut decuit ; nutumque est voce secutus : |
and by pity for the sufferings of those whom justice punished. Behold, as Christ, risen from the tomb to the upper air, once appeared to the disciples going to Emmaus, as Luke records, a Shade coming from behind us while the crowd lying down was looking back towards their feet at him, appeared to us; and we were not aware of him until he made an utterance. “May the Almighty preserve you with the gift of peace, brothers,” he said. Having barely heard his words, we quickly turned to him and the Poet in return nodded as was appropriate and followed his nod with |
| 460 | Det Cælum tibi pace frui, quod sedibus illis Me procul exilio per sæcula cuncta relēgat. Quare, quove modo, montem tam præpete gressu, Respondit, si vos Deus indignatur, aditis ? Quo duce venistis ? Contra cui talia Vates : Si, quæ hĭc fronte gerit, quæque Angelus imprimit ense, Tu signa aspicias, nimirum opus esse videbis Hunc inter regnare bonos ; at stamina quando Nondum illi Lachesis nerat, quæ imponere Clotho Unicuique solet, solus se ferre nequibat |
“May Heaven, which sends me afar into exile for eternity, enable you to enjoy peace.” “Why and how,” he responded, “if God rejects you, are you coming up the mountain with such rapid gait? With what leader are you coming?” In answer to this the Poet said to him, “If you look at the marks which this man bears on his forehead and which the Angel branded with his sword, you will doubtless see that he must reign with the good. But since Lachesis had not yet spun all the thread for him that Clotho is wont to apportion to everyone, this man’s spirit, which is brother to us both, could not come here alone, |
| 470 | Spiritus illius, nobis qui est frater utrisque ; [11] Quippe etenim nescit nostro discernere more : Quare ego sum vastis detractus faucibus Orci, Ut comes illi assim, ac vivis impervia regna Ostendam ; quantumque sciam hæc ostendere pergam. At dic, si nosti, cur magno concita motu Intremuit rupes ? sonuit cur undique clamor Usque ad radices, vitreum quas alluit æquŏr ? Hæc Doctor poscens, placitum mihi prorsus agebat ; Ardentemque sitim spes hinc exorta levavit. |
since it cannot understand in our way of understanding. Hence I was pulled from the vast throat of Hell to be his companion and show him the realms inaccessible to the living. I will continue to show these things to him as much as I know how. But tell me if you know: why did the rock quake, shaken with that great movement ? Why did a shout resound everywhere all the way to its roots which the glasslike water washes?” Asking this, the Teacher gave me great pleasure and the hope arising from this lessened my burning thirst. |
| 480 | Nil extra morem, ille ait, aut absque ordine, montis Religio patitur : nulla inconstantia regnat. Nil valet hīc aliud diversos edere motus, Quam quod cælestis regio ex se suscipit ipsā ; Non etenim scalā ulterius, quam triplice tantum Vidisti constare gradu, nix, atque pruina, Ros, imber, grandoque cadunt. Non fulgura, nubes, Aridus et vapor, atque vagus Thaumentidos arcus Transiliunt limen, quo claviger Aliger astat. Inferius fortasse tremit multumve parumve ; |
“The mountain’s sanctity allows nothing outside of custom or without order,” he said. “No inconsistency reigns here. Here nothing but what the heavenly realm accepts from its own self can produce the different perturbations. For snow and frost, dew, rain and hail fall no further than the stairway which you saw consisting of only three steps. Neither lightning, clouds, dry vapor nor Thaumas’s daughter’s wandering rainbow pass the threshold on which the key-bearing Angel stands. Lower down, perhaps, it quakes a lot or little; |
| 490 | At, ventum ob terra inclusum, (cur nescio) nunquam Hic tremuit. Tremit hic, macula quum Spiritus omni Exutus, sese movet, atque assurgere sumit ; Ac tremor excipitur cantu. Est sola voluntas Munditiæ indicium, qua liber Spiritus actus Optat sedem aliam ; atque illi est voluisse juvamen. Ante etiam optabat ; sed pœnam implere voluntas Illi inerat, Deus invitæ quam subjicit ultor ; Ut pœnam cupiat, veluti peccare cupivit. Hinc mihi, qui has curas quingentos amplius annos |
But here it never quakes because of wind enclosed in the earth (why, I do not know). It quakes here when a Spirit, divested of all stain, moves and undertakes to rise, and the quaking is received with song. The will alone is proof of cleanness, impelled by which the freed Spirit chooses another home, and which is an aid to it in having willed. It wanted to do so before, but infused in it was the will to fulfill its punishment, a will which God the avenger instills in the unwilling soul, so that it desires the punishment as it had desired to sin. So I, who for more than five hundred years have suffered |
| 500 | Sum passus, sedis mutandæ est orta voluntas ; Atque ideo motum audisti, laudesque canentum Spirituum Domino, qui mox se ascendere donet. Hæc ait ; et, quoniam potandi est tanta voluptas, Quo major fuit ante sitis, non promere verbis, Quam mihi profuerit, scirem. Cui deinde Magister : Quæ vos hic vinctos tenet, et quæ causa resolvit, Jam novi ; unde tremor terræ, cantusque sequaces. Nunc age, qui sis, et cur hic tot sæcula passus Discere fac pœnas. Quum, Cæli Rege juvante, |
these pains, now have the will to change my abode, and thus you heard the earthquake and the praises of the singing Spirits to the Lord that he might soon allow them to ascend.” And because the pleasure of drinking is greater, the greater the thirst was beforehand, I do not know how convey in words how much that benefited me. The Master then said to him, “Now I know the cause that binds you here and which releases you, whence comes the earthquake and the subsequent chants. Now tell me who you are and let me learn why you have suffered punishment here for so many centuries.” The Spirit responded, |
| 510 | Spiritus is rettulit, Titus est ea vulnera bello Unde cruor fluxit, Judas quem vendidit, ultus, Nomine, quod plus et viget, et plus addit honoris, Ipse insignis eram, at Fidei nondum assecla Christi. Carmina erant adeo mea grata, ut ab urbe Tolosæ Accierit Roma, atque ornarit tempora murto. Dictus sum terris Statius, fraternaque bella Thebarum cecini, Pēleique ex sanguine Achillem ; Ast onus haud potui vivens explere secundum. Ardori divina meo genitabile semen |
“When, with the aid of the King of Heaven, Titus avenged with war those wounds whence the blood that Judas sold flowed, I was outstanding in the name that thrives more and gives more honor, but not yet a follower of Christ. My poems were so popular that Rome summoned me from Toulouse and adorned my temples with myrtle. On earth I was called Statius, and I sang the wars of Thebes, and Achilles, him of the blood of [his father] Peleus. But while living I could not discharge my second burden. The fruitful seed for my ardor was |
| 520 | Flamma fuit, cujus quamplures lumine clarent ; Hæc mihi materque ac nutrix : Æneida dico, Qua sine nil feci, quicquam cui ponderis esset ; Atque, ut Virgilii vixissem tempore, Solem Exilio vellem decedere serius unum. Hæc me Virgilio dederunt tali ore tueri Quod dicit, nil fando, sile. Sed victa voluntas Motibus interdum cedit ; sunt quippe sequaces Risusque ac planctus curæ, unde utrique creantur ; Ingenuisque viris minus imperat ipsa voluntas : |
the divine flame by whose light a great many have become famous. It was mother and nursemaid to me: I am speaking of the Aeneid, without which I did nothing that would have been anything of weight. And to have lived during Virgil’s time I would give up one Sun later to exile.” These words made Virgil look at me with a face that, saying nothing, said “Be quiet!” But the will, overcome, sometimes yields to the emotions. For laughter and laments are attendant on the concerns whence both are produced, and the will itself has less command over honest men. |
| 530 | Ast ego surrisi tantum, nictantis ad instar. Quare Umbra, hoc cernens, presso stetit ore ; mihique, Quo magis apparent inclusi pectore sensus, Intuita est oculos. Sic cœpti attingere finem Sit tibi fas, dixit, quare tibi nuper in ore Prorupit risus ? Diversis partibus anceps Comprimor : una silere jubet, jubet altera fari : Corde dabam gemitus. Sensit Præceptor, et inquit : Fare quidem, et narra quod sedulus iste requirit. Tunc ego : quod risum ediderim, tu forte, vetuste |
But I only smiled like someone winking. Hence the Shade, seeing this, stood with sealed lips and looked at my eyes in which the feelings of the heart are more evident. “May you thus attain the end of your enterprise,” he said. “Why did laughter burst from your mouth just now?” Uncertain, I am caught between two sides: the one commands me to be silent, the other to speak. I sighed deeply. My Preceptor sensed this and said, “So, speak and explain what this earnest man is asking for.” Then I: “You are perhaps surprised, ancient one, at the fact that |
| 540 | Spiritus, obstupeas ; magis at mirabile disces : Qui mihi doctor adest, ac me super ardua ducit, Hĭc est ille Maro, unde animos, ut facta virorum Atque Deos caneres, hausisti. Si altera risus Causa, tuæ obveniat menti, fuge credere veram ; Quæ porro de illo es fatus, vera omnia rere. Is se inclinabat, complecti genua Magistri Approperans ; ast ille inquit : ne talia faxis ; Umbra utrique sumus. Cui surgens rettulit alter : Jam nosces quanto tibi sum divinctus amore, |
I burst out laughing, but you will learn something more surprising: He who is present as my teacher and leads me over the rugged realms is that Maro from whom you have derived the dynamism to sing of the deeds of men and to sing of the gods. If some other cause of my laughter occurred to your mind, avoid believing it to be true, but consider all the things that you said about him to be true.” He hurriedly bent down, embracing the knees of the Master; but the latter said, “Don’t do that: we are both Shades.” To whom the other responded, “Now you know how much I am bound to you by love, |
| 550 | Corpore quum fuerim nos esse oblitus inanes. | since I have forgotten that we are both devoid of bodies.” |
| PURGATORII XXII {22} ⇑ | ||
| 551 | Jam sextum ad gyrum qui nos direxerat, Ales Pone relictus erat, signumque abraserat ore ; Et qui justitiam cupiunt, mihi voce beati Ediderat ; mox cum sitiunt sua verba quierunt. Atque ego, jam multo levior, sic impiger ibam Ut geminis Umbris adjungerer, absque labore. Tum sic Virgilius : Virtute accensus, amorem Semper, ait, succendit amor, dum flamma patescat. Ex quo igitur Limbi venit Juvenalis ad umbras, |
The Angel who had already directed us to the sixth circle had been left behind and had erased a mark from my face and proclaimed to me, “Qui justitiam cupiunt beati : Those who desire justice are blessed,” then ended his sentence with “sitiunt : they thirst.” And I, now much lighter, was going so energetically that without trouble I was in tandem with the two Shades. Then Virgil spoke thus: “Love fired by virtue always ignites love as long as its flame is visible. From the time when Juvenal came to the shades of Limbo |
| 560 | Quamque mei caperēre, dedit cognoscere, amore, Tali igne exarsi, quanto exardescere possit In quemquam haud visum ; valdeque videbitur ergo Hæc mihi scala brevis. Sed tanquam fœdere junctis Dulcis amicitiæ, dic quæso, ac parce benignus, Si nimium fidenter ago : dic, quomodo turpis In tuo avarities potuit consīdĕre corde Inter doctrinam tantam, quam acquirere plene Cura tibi fuerat ? Statius surrisit, et inde : Vox tua, respondit, mihi cari est pignus amoris. |
and made it known how much you were taken with love of me, I have burned with such fire as could ever burn for any soul not seen. Thus these stairs will seem to me extremely short. But as though among those bound by the alliance of sweet friendship, tell me, please, and kindly forgive me if I act too familiarly, tell me how ugly avarice could have settled in your heart amidst such learning as it was your aim to acquire fully?” Statius smiled and then responded, “Your voice is a pledge of dear love to me. |
| 570 | Res sæpe apparent, quarum latet abdita causa, Ac mentem hinc dubio involvunt. Te credere sermo Ostendit, me, vitali dum vescerer aura, Turpi ab avaritia victum, ob quam forsitan oram Incolui montis : sed scito, quod ardor habendi Affuit a me tum nimium ; atque hoc multa luenti Luna recurrit iter. Nisi dein mihi versa fuisset Cura animo, ad tua converti quum carmina mentem, Naturam quasi in humanam queis percitus ira Inclamas : quid non mortalia pectora cogis, |
Things often appear whose cause lies hidden and therefore wrap the mind in doubt. Your speech shows that you believe that I, while being subsisting on the air of life, was overcome by disgusting avarice, perhaps because of the terrace of the mountain I inhabited. But know that the ardor of possessing things was exceedingly distant from me then. And many a moon has re-run its path for me as I payed for that. And unless in my thoughts my concern had not changed when I turned to your poems, with which, as though enraged with anger against human nature, you cried out, “Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames ? : |
| 580 | Auri sacra fames ? paterer certamina saxi. Posse manus didici impensis nimis esse patentes, Ac me pænituit, nec non et cetera vitæ Crimina devovi. Quot tonso crine resurgent, Quos hujus vitii, vitæ dum tempora durant, Et quum summa dies venit, ignorantia posse Pænituisse vetat ! Scito, quod quælibet ulli Opposita est recte sceleri, hic damnatur eisdem Culpa malis : ideo, si me locus inter avaros Purgandum tenuit, sedes mihi contigit illa |
To what do you not force the human heart, o execrable hunger for gold?,” I would be suffering in the tournaments of the boulders. I learned that hands can be too wide-open with expenditures and repented of it, as likewise I cursed the other crimes of my life. How many will rise again with shorn heads whom ignorance prohibited from being able to repent of this vice during their lifetimes, and when their last day arrived! Know that, whatever fault is directly opposed to any sin, is here punished along with those same evils. Therefore, if this place among the avaricious holds me to be purged, that position accrues to me |
| 590 | Ob scelus oppositum. Œdipodionidum impia bella Bucolici dixit Mantous carminis Auctor, Quum tu jam caneres, (quantum dat noscere, ibidem Quod tua pertractat Clio), nondum esse videris Addictus Fidei, quæ si defecerit, haud est Sat benefecisse : ecquis sol, quæ vivida tantum Fax tibi dehinc potuit depellere mente tenebras, Ut tua post Piscatorem vestigia ferres ? Tu me Pēgasēas duxisti, ille inquit, ad undas ; Tuque Deum versus clarasti lumine primo : |
because of its contrary.” Said the Mantuan Author of the bucolic poems, “When you sang of the fratricidal wars of Eteocles and Polynices, sons of Oedipus (as far as what your muse Clio treats of there enables us to know), you do not yet seem to have been devoted to the Faith; if that is lacking, it is not enough to have done good works. So what sun, what mere living torch then was able to dispel the darkness from your mind so that you walked in the footsteps of the Fisherman?” The other replied, “You led me to the Pegasean spring [of the muses], and you with your first light illuminated the way toward God. |
| 600 | Egisti, ut qui post tergum fert lampada noctu, Non sibi sufficiens lumen, sed pone sequenti. Quum caneres : Redit et Virgo, et Saturnia regna ; Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo, Ac nova progenies Cælo demittitur alto, Tu me fecisti vatem Christique sequacem. At magis hæc certis volvam per singula dictis. Mundum omnem, æterni præconibus edita regni, Implerat jam vera Fides. Quum consona eorum Dicta tuis essent, illos invisere cœpi ; |
You did as does a man who in the night carries behind his back a lamp with light not sufficient for himself, but for the man following. When you sang [Eclogues, 4:5-7], “Magnus ab integro sæculorum nascitur ordo
|
| 610 | Atque adeo inveni sanctos morumque pudicos, Ut, quum supplicia ac cædes eis ferret iniquas Flavius, ingemui, miseratus corde dolores : Dum vixi, hos juvi ; quæque illis integra vitæ Est probitas, quascumque dedit me temnere sectas. Quum nondum Argolicos duxissem ad flumina Thebæ Carminibus, me respersit Baptismatis unda : Sum veritus vero, captus terrore, vocari Christiadam ; finxique diu Diis reddere cultum : Isque tepens animus complecti cursibus orbem |
And I found them so holy and modest of morals that when Flavius [Domitian] inflicted unjust death and slaughter on them, I sighed, commiserating with their sufferings in my heart. While I lived, I helped them, and their incorrupt uprightness of life was what made me scorn all other sects. When in my poems I had not yet led the Greeks to the rivers of Thebes, Baptism’s water sprinkled me; but I was afraid, seized by terror, to be called Christian. I long pretended to render worship to the gods, and that tepid mindset made me compass this fourth circle |
| 620 | Quartum, me plusquam quattuor per sæcula fecit. Tu modo, per quem discussis divina tenebris Lux mihi perfulsit, superat dum semita montis, Dic ubi sunt Plautus, priscusque Terentius, atque Varro et Cæcilius : tæter num Tartarus illos, Et quis vicus habet ? Sunt omnes carceris atri Circuitu in primo, rettulit Maro : Persius hic est, Atque alii multi mecum, cum Vate Pelasgo, Quem, cunctos super, Ăonides aluere sorores. Mons hic sæpe biceps memoratur, grata Camenis |
for more than four centuries. Now you through whom, after the darkness had been dispelled, the divine light shone to me, while the mountain’s path is still left, tell me where Plautus and the ancient Terence, and Caecilius and Varro are whether foul Hell, and which district, holds them.” Maro answered, “They are all in the first circle of that dark prison; Persius is there and many others with me, together with the Greek Poet [Homer] whom the Aonian sisters [the muses] nursed above all others. That double-peaked mountain [Parnasus], the abode agreeable to the poetic muses, is often talked about. |
| 630 | Sedes : sunt hic Simonides, Agatho, Euripidesque, Tejus et Vates, aliique ob carmina Graji Tempora præcincti lauro : sunt insuper una Quædam ex gente tua, Antigone, Ismenaque tristis, Deiphile, Argia, et fontem quæ ostendit Achivis ; Hic Thetis, hic et Deidamia, ejusque sorores, Nataque Tiresiæ. Vates jam utrique silebant, Scalā parietibusque egressi, ac omnia late Rursum lustrantes oculis ; quattuorque diei Abstiterant famulæ : temonem quinta regebat, |
Here are Simonides, Agatho and Euripides and the Teian Poet [Anacreon] and other Greeks with temples wreathed with laurel for their poems. Some of your people, in addition, are together there: Antigone and the sad Ismene, Deiphile, Argia, and she [Hypsipyle] who showed the [Arcadian] fountain [of Langia] to the Greeks; Thetis is there and Deidamia is there and her sisters, and [Manto,] the daughter of Tiresia.” Now both Poets were silent, having come out from the stairwell and walls, and again looking all around at everything. The [first] four [hour-]handmaids of the day had left; the fifth one was guiding its chariot-pole, |
| 640 | Ardentem torquens convexa per ardua currum. Tum meus hæc Ductor : dextram reor esse tenendam, Extremum ad ripæ, veluti consuevimus ante In montis gyrum. Sic dux vadentibus illic Mos fuit ; atque viam, Statii quum assenserit Umbra, Tutius ingredimur. Solus, præeuntibus illis, Ipse ibam, atque silens hauribam verba loquentum, Quæ mihi Pierio lustrabant lumine mentem. Eloquium abrupit, medio quæ tramite, pomis Est inventa bonis ac suaveolentibus, arbos. |
turning the burning chariot through the vaulted heavens. Then my Guide said, “I think we should keep to the right on the edge of the terrace as we customarily did on the mountain’s circumference before.” Thus, habit was our guide there as we progressed and, since Statius’s Shade concurred, we more safely entered on that path. As they went ahead I followed, alone, silent, listening to the conversations of the speakers which illuminated my mind with Pierian-poetic light. Their speech was interrupted by a tree with good and sweet-smelling fruits that was found in the middle of the trail. |
| 650 | Ut ramos abies, quo se magis erigit alte, Hoc magis exiles pandit ; sic illa deorsum, Ordine converso ; ne quis sursum, arbitror, iret. Qua parte assurgit mons, ac se semita claudit, Fonte liquor puro manabat cautibus altis, Perfundens rigua virides aspergine frondes. Astiterunt Vates plantæ ; ac vox reddita ab ipsis Frondibus : hanc caram vos, inquit, habebitis escam. Non sibi, mox ait, at mensīs sponsalibus olim Prospexit, quæ pro vobis Maria orsa reponit : [12] |
As the higher a fir tree grows, the smaller the branches it spreads out, so that tree did, downward in reverse order, so that no one, I believe, would climb up it. On the side the mountain rose up and the path was closed off, a liquid trickled from a pure spring in the high cliff, watering the green foliage with a moistening spray. The Poets came up to the plant and a voice was emitted from the foliage itself: “You will not have,” it said, “this delicious food.” Then it stated, “Mary, who puts in prayers for you, was long ago not concerned about herself, but about the marriage feast. |
| 660 | Romanæ veteres sese abstinuere Lyæo : Doctrinam accepit Daniēl, quum spreverit escam : Quæ fuit ante alias, atque aurea dicitur ætas, Esurie atque siti glandes sumpsisse saporem Fecit, et amnis aquas dulcescere, nectaris instar : Incola silvarum sese melle atque locustis Zācharides aluit ; quare tot laudis honores Promeruit, quot nosse sacri dat pagina libri. |
Roman women of old abstained from wine; Daniel gained wisdom when he spurned food. The age which in former times was different and is called golden, through hunger and thirst, made eating acorns flavorful and made river water become sweet like nectar. The son of Zachary [John the Baptist], the forest dweller, fed himself on honey and locusts, on account of which he earned as many honors of praise as the page of the sacred book lets us know.” |
| PURGATORII XXIII {23} ⇑ | ||
| 668 | Dum virides inter frondes mea lumina ferrem, Aucupis occultas scrutantis more volucres, |
While with my eyes I was going through the green leaves like a fowler looking for hidden birds, |
| 670 | Ille mihi plusquam genitor : te proripe, dixit, Quodque datur, melius sit curæ impendere tempus. Arripui conversus iter, vestigia Vatum Pone sequens, sic inter sese alterna loquentum, Ut me nil via vexaret. Tum fletus et unā Est canor auditus : Deus o mihi labra reclude, Ut mihi lætitiam simul excieritque dolorem. Quid, Pater, hic sonitus ? dixi. Sunt, rettulit, Umbræ, Ut puto, quæ, quod debuerant, nunc rite rependunt. Non secus ac gradiens suspensa mente viator, |
my more-than-father said to me, “Hurry: let our time for business be better spent.” Turning, I started walking, following behind the footsteps of the Poets speaking in dialogue with one another in such a way that the trek did not bother me at all. Then weeping and at the same time singing was heard: “Deus o mihi labra reclude: O God, open my lips” [Penitential psalm 50:17 (older, 51:17), “Domine, labia mea aperies”], so that it stirred me simultaneously with joy and pain. “What, Father, is this sound?” I said. He replied “They are Shades, I believe, who are now properly paying what they owe.” Just as a traveler, walking with mind occupied, |
| 680 | Si gentem assequitur, tendentem tramite eodem, Ignotam, haud cunctatus iter, respectat euntem ; Sic, nostrum in tergum veniens, citioreque gressu Præteriens, nos spectabat pia turba Animarum, Obtutuque silens. Cava lumina quæque gerebat, Pallentem faciem, atque omni sic carne carentem, Ossibus ut cutis hæreret. Non Thessalus olim Est tam Erysichthon ingluviæ consumptus edaci, Quum proprios, cogente fame, discerperet artus. En, mecum ajebam, Solymæ gens passa ruinam, |
overtakes unfamiliar people traveling on the same path, without hesitating in his pace looks over at the travelers, so, coming from in back of us and bypassing us with a faster gait, a group of pious Souls looked at us, silent in their gaze. They all had hollow eyes, faces pallid and so bereft of any flesh that their skin stuck to their bones. The Thessalian [king] Erysichthon was not as consumed by greedy gluttony when, driven by hunger, he plucked apart his own limbs. “Behold,” I said to myself, “the people of Jerusalem who suffered its downfall |
| 690 | Quum genetrix nati fecit sibi pabula corpus. Intus erant oculi, gemmā velut ānulus expers ; Quique omo in humani structura perlegit oris, “ᙏ” bene in istorum potuisset cernere vultu. Pomorum atque undæ unus odor pariebat in illis Esuriem atque sitim : quis tam mirabile credat ? Dum, causæ ignarus, stupeo quod tantus inesset Squalor, et informis macies, mihi protinus Umbra Ex imis capitis latebris tum lumina vertit Ac fixit, mox inclamans : quæ gratia ! dixit. |
when a mother made food for herself out of the body of her son.” In their faces were eyes like rings without their gemstones, and those who read “omo” in the features of the human face could have clearly seen “ᙏ” in their visages. Who could believe something so bizarre as that one smell of fruits and water would produce hunger and thirst in them? While I, ignorant of the cause, was dumbfounded that such scurf and ugly emaciation could exist in them, a Shade suddenly turned its eyes from the deep haunts of its head and stared; then, crying out, it said, “What grace!” |
| 700 | At nunquam agnorim ; sed vox mihi prodidit illud Aspectus quod delerat : mens indice ab illo Est penitus mihi facta memor : novique Foresem. [13] Oh, me compellans, maciem ne adverteris, inquit, Qua tenuor, scabiemque adimit quæ ex pelle colorem : De te vera refer ; dic quæ sint, deprecor, illæ Quæ tibi sunt comites, Umbræ : ne absiste profari. Me tua, respondi, quam raptam funere flevi, Non minus affligit facies, tam informis et horrens Quod mihi conspicitur : quapropter dissere, quæso, |
Yet I would never have recognized him. But his voice revealed to me what his appearance had effaced. My mind was made deeply recollective by that indication, and I recognized Forese. Addressing me, he said, “Oh, do not pay attention to the emaciation by which I have become thin, and the mange which has deprived my skin of color. Tell me the facts about yourself. Tell me, please, who those Shades are accompanying you. Do not refrain from speaking.” “Your face,” I responded, “over which I wept when it was snatched away by death, does not afflict me any the less, because, so misshapen and hideous, it looks at me. So tell me, please, |
| 710 | Quid vos sic terit : attonitum me dicere noli ; Non bene nam fantur, quos altera cura fatigat. Numinis æterni virtus, tunc ille reponit, Quas retro vidisti, in plantam descendet et undam, Unde ipse attenuor : gens hæc, quæ luget et una Dat cantum, sine more gulæ quod favit edaci, Nunc per et esuriem atque sitim se crimine mundat. Ex pomis manans, ac frondes fonte riganti, Gratus odor, potus esusque inducit amorem. Nec semel hanc pœnam patimur ; nam, sæpe recursum |
what has ground you down so much; I do not wish to speak while I am thunderstruck; for those whom a different concern preoccupies do not speak well.” He then responded, “The power of the Eternal Will flows down into the plant and into the water which you saw back there, whence I myself am made emaciated. This people that weeps and together sings chants, because it has indulged in greedy gluttony without control, now purges itself of sin through hunger and thirst. The pleasing smell trickling from the fruits, plus the foliage with the spraying fountain, induces a love of drink and food. We do not suffer this punishment just once but, as we often repeat |
| 720 | Dum facimus, sese renovat ; solacia dicam, Non autem pœnam : siquidem nos illa voluntas Arboris ad truncum ducit, quæ duxit Jesum, Quum montem ascendit lætus, quo diceret Eli, Humanamque suo servaret sanguine gentem. Illi ego tum contra : quintus non volvitur annus, Ex quo, morte obita, melior te vita recepit : Si tibi peccandi fuit ante erepta facultas, Quam, junctura Deo, subvenerit hora doloris, Tam cito cur huc venisti ? te rebar ad imas |
the cycle, it renews itself. I should say solace rather than punishment, given that we are led to the trunk of the tree by the same desire that drew Jesus when, happy, he ascended the mountain where he would say “Eli” and save the human race with his own blood.” I then said in response, “A fifth year has not passed since, having gone to your death, a better life took you in; if the ability to sin had been taken from you before the hour of contrition had arrived for joining God, why did you get here so fast? I thought you would have been kept |
| 730 | Detentum cautes, quibus hora rependitur hora. Me lacrimis precibusque suis ad dulcia duxit, Ille mihi rettulit, potanda absinthia conjux. Ipsa gemens, ac vota iterans, me a litore rupis Abduxit, reliquosque dedit transmittere gyros. Hoc magis est ea grata Deo, (dulcissima conjux Quam vivens tam dilexi !) quod sola pudorem Justitiamque colit : nam, quo Barbagia terris Sardois colitur, genus est muliebre pudicum Moratumque magis, quam queis illam ipse reliqui. |
in the rocks below, whereby hour is paid for by hour.” “My wife,” he answered me, “with her tears and prayers has drawn me to drinking the sweet wormwood. She, sighing and repeating her vows, has drawn me from the rock’s shore [of waiting] and enabled me to pass up the other circles. It is all the more pleasing to God that she (my sweetest spouse, whom I loved so dearly in life!), all alone, practices modesty and justice; for the female sex is more modest and of better morals where Barbagia is inhabited on Sardinian territory than on that [of Florence] where I left her. |
| 740 | Quid dicam, frater ? Longum non tempus abibit, Quum Florentinis sacri per templa vetabunt Præcones ferri nudatas pectore mammas. Quas Arabum de gente satas, quas sanguine cretas Barbarico, pœnis fuit exterrere necessum, Ut sese tegerent ? At, si ventura procaces, Quæ parat his Cælum velox, prænoscere possent, Jam nunc inciperent implere ululatibus auras. Præscia ni mens me fallit, certe ante dolebunt, Quam lac nunc sugens, velet lanugine mālas. |
What should I say, brother? The time will not be long when throughout the churches the ecclesiastical announcers will forbid the Florentines from going around with bared breasts on their chests. What women of the Arab people, what women born of barbarian blood was it necessary to inspire fear in so that they would cover themselves up? But if these shameless ones could foresee the things coming that swift Heaven is readying for them, they would begin even now to fill the air with their howling. If my precognizant mind does not deceive me, they will certainly be suffering before those now sucking milk cover their cheeks with down. |
| 750 | At te pande, precor : non me dumtaxat, at omnes Has gentes oculos illuc convertere cernis, Quo Solem ipse tegis. Memori si mente revolvis, Dixi ; qualis ego tecum ac mecum ipse fuisti, Nunc etiam in præsens valde meminisse dolebit. Me vita ex illa nuper, quum plena refulsit Cynthia, is abduxit, qui me præcedit euntem. Per veram passorum mortem horrentia regna, Me vera cum carne tulit : mox traxit in altum Per gyros montem, qui dat consurgere rectos, |
But I beg of you, reveal yourself; you see not just me but all these people turning their eyes to the spot where you are blocking the Sun.” I said, “If you recall to mind what sort of person I myself was with you and me, even now in the present it will cause much grief to remember it. Recently, when Cynthia [the moon] was shining full, he who is going ahead of me drew me away from that life. He brought me, with true flesh, through the horrendous realms of those who have suffered true death; he then drew me through the circles to the high mountain which enables those to rise up straight, |
| 760 | Quos mundus torsit. Mihi dux ait inde futurus Quatenus adveniam, quo me divina Beatrix Excipiet : mihi tunc erit hoc ductore carendum. Hic est Virgilius, qui talia fatur, et alter Umbra est, per quam contremuit modo concita rupes, |
whom the world has made crooked. He tells me he will be my leader from here on until I arrive where the divine Beatrice will take me. Then I will have to dispense with this guide. This is Virgil who is saying these things; and the other is the Shade on account of whom the shaken rock quaked just now |
| PURGATORII XXIV {24} ⇑ | ||
| 765 | Unde illa abscedit. Nec vocem gressus eundo, Nec vox tardabat gressum ; sed mutua fantes, Ut ratis, ibamus celeres, vento acta secundo Turbaque Spirituum, quasi bis exstincta, cavatos Hærebat defixa oculos, me vivere mirans. |
from which he got free.” Neither our pace slowed our talking, nor our talking our pace but, conversing together, we went swiftly, like a raft driven by the wind; and the mass of Spirits, as though doubly dead, stopped, fixing their hollowed eyes on me, amazed to see me alive. |
| 770 | Sermonem ipse sequens : fors, dixi, illa ire moratur Alterius causa : sed tu, si noveris, ede Quo Piccarda manet ; nec dicere mitte, tot inter Qui me respiciunt, num sit quis forte notandus. Hæc mea cara soror, quæ nescio an integra morum An magis exstiterit præstanti prædita forma, Nunc rutilo in Cælis serto redimita triumphat. Ille prius dixit ; sic fari est deinde secutus : Non hic est vetitum appellari nomine quemquam ; Delerit veteres macies quum lurida formas. |
I myself, going on with the conversation, said, “Perhaps that Shade [Statius] is slow in going because of this other one [Virgil]. But you, if you know, let me know where Piccarda is, and do not leave out telling me whether anyone among those who are looking at me is perchance worthy of note.” He said first, “That dear sister of mine (whether she excelled more through being perfect in morals or being endowed with a beautiful form, I do not know) now triumphs in Heaven, crowned with a red garland.” Then he continued thus: “Naming anyone by name is not forbidden here, since ghastly emaciation erases our old features. |
| 780 | Hic (et tenso monstravit digito) est Bonajuncta, [14] Est Bonajuncta ex Luca. Aliis macilentior ille Haud procul, Antistes sacrorum maximus olim [15] Ex Turonum terra fuit ; exstinctasque Falerno Volsinii anguillas nunc per jejunia purgat. Multos præterea ostendit ; ac quisque vocari Nomine gaudebat : nullius tædia vidi. Vidi Ubaldinum ex Pila frustra ora movere, [16] Impellente fame ; atque pedum te deinde gerentem Quo gentes multas, Bonifati, ad pascua duxti ; [17] |
This is Bonagiunta, Bonagiunta of Lucca. That one not far off, more emaciated than the others, was once the highest ecclesiastical Prelate [Pope Martin IV] from Tours; with his fasting he now purges the eels of Bolsena drowned in Falernian wine.” He showed many others besides, and everyone was happy to be mentioned by name; I saw cross looks from no one. I saw Ubaldino da la Pila moving his jaws in vain, driven by hunger, and then you, Boniface, bearing the crozier with which you led numerous people to pasture. |
| 790 | Et Rigogliosum vidi, qui haurire Lyæum [18] Desiit haud unquam, quamvis minus arida fauces Tum sitis afficeret, quam nunc sævissima torquet. Ut qui, conspiciens multos, dehinc eligit unum, Sic ego Lucensem, cui notior esse videbar, Omnibus antetuli. Verborum murmur in ore, Quo Deus hos punit vindex, illum edere sensi, Et mihi, nescio quid Gentucca, sonabat ad aures. Spiritus o, dixi, qui mecum verba videris Tam conferre avidus, claro, quæ pectore condis, |
I saw [Marchese degli] Argugliosi, who never stopped drinking wine, even though a less parching thirst then affected his throat than the extremely fierce one now torturing him. Like a man viewing many people, then selecting one, of all of them I preferred the Luccan [Bonagiunta], to whom I seemed more known. I sensed he was giving out a gurgle of words in his mouth, where God the avenger punishes these people, and something like “Gentucca” sounded in my ears. “O spirit,” I said, “who seem so desirous of exchanging words with me, express what you hide in your breast, |
| 800 | Pande sono, ac nos alterna fac voce fruamur. Jam nata est, ac nondum se velamine texit, Quæ patriam dabit esse meam tibi femina gratam, Ille inquit, quamvis alii hanc utcunque reprendant : Hæc tecum prævisa gere ; et, si in murmure nostro Cepisti errorem, facient te vera scientem. [19] At dic : vatemne aspicio, nova carmina dulci Edentem plectro, ac tali incipientia cantu Vos, precor, experto dociles in amore, puellæ ? Quidam ego sum, rettuli, qui, quos sub pectore sensus |
with a clear voice, and let us both enjoy mutual conversation.” “A woman [Gentucca Morla] has been born,” he said, “and has not yet covered herself with the wedding veil, who will make my fatherland [of Lucca] pleasing to you, however much they may reproach it. Bear these prophecies along with you and, if you have misunderstood anything in my murmuring, the facts will make you knowledgeable. But tell me: am I looking at the poet who with sweet prosody produces new poems, and those beginning with lyrics like ‘I beg of you, girls teachable in experienced love’?” I answered, “I am someone who keeps in his breast the sensations which |
| 810 | Subdit Amor, servo, talesque ad carmina duco. Nunc nodum, is dixit, video, qui attingere dii Et me et Guittonem et Scribam modulamina cantus Impediit, cunctas qui nunc adeo allicit aures. Sat mihi comperitur, quod vos sectamini Amorem, Atque huic hæretis ; quod nunquam fecimus ipsi : Quisquis et illius tentat transmittere fines, Quam stilus abludunt inter se nescit uterque. Hæc ubi dicta dedit, contentus pæne quievit. Ut volucres, agit ad tepidum quas bruma Canopum, |
Love inspires and turns them into poems.” He said, “Now I see the knot which prevented me and Guittone and the scribe [Jacopo da Lentino] from reaching the cadence of heavenly poems which now attracts all ears so much. It is quite clear to me that you follow Love and cling to it, which we ourselves never did. And whoever tries to pass over its boundaries does not know how both styles differ between one another.” When he had said this, he virtually fell silent, contented. As birds that the winter drives to warm Egypt, |
| 820 | Æquata nunc fronte viam per nubila carpunt, Ocius inde volant, oblongoque ordine tendunt ; Sic gens illa gradum, cordisque cupidine multa Ac macrore levis, versa tum fronte, citavit. Ac, veluti longo lassatus pectora cursu Vir quondam, sociis dimissis, sistit anhelans, Donec ab immodico respirent ilia pulsu ; Sic agmen socium sivit transire Foresis, Ac me pone sequens : quando te, ait, ipse revisam ? Nescio, respondi, quantum mihi vivere detur ; |
with an even front now make their way through the clouds, flying thence faster and proceeding in a long line, so that crowd, then turning its face, quickened its pace, lightened by their hearts’ great desire and by leanness. And in the way that a man, having tired his chest with long running, will at times stop, allowing his companions to go on and panting until his lungs catch their breath again from the excessive exertion, so Forese let his accompanying column pass by and, following behind me, said, “When will I see you again?” “I do not konw,” I answered, “how long is given me to live, |
| 830 | Haud ita confestim tamen hanc provolvar ad oram, Quam mea vota velint ; quippe urbs, ubi lucis in auras Ætherias veni, magis ac magis usque bonorum Fit vacua, et certum excidium incursura videtur. Vade age, subjecit : qui prima est causa malorum, [20] Hunc ego equi video per saxa rigentia cauda Raptari in vallem, qua nulla piacula culpæ : Præcipitat quadrupes cursu magis usque citato, Percutit, exanimemque virum lacerumque relinquit. Non istos longum converti videris orbes, |
but not as fast as my wishes would like, will I return to this coast. For the city where I emerged into the upper atmosphere’s air of light is becoming more and more devoid of good, and seems headed toward certain destruction.” He rejoined, “The one [Corso Donati] who is the first cause of the evils, I see dragged by a horse’s tail through hard rocks into the valley where there is no expiation of guilt; the steed rushes headlong with a constantly accelerated gallop; it smashes him and leaves the man dead and torn apart. You will not see those spheres circle for long |
| 840 | (Ac cælum aspexit), tibi quum clarere videbis Quod nunc ulterius nequeunt mea pandere dicta. Sed tu jam maneas, oro : sunt tempora valde His pretiosa locis : tecum vestigia ducens Jam nimis amitto [21]. Sic fatus, præpes abivit. Qualis fortis eques, digressus ab agmine, in hostes Prosilit, ut pugnæ primos acquirat honores ; Haud secus is me deseruit, solusque remansi Cum geminis, mundi qui tam præclara fuere Lumina. Quumque is tantum abiit, ut captare sequentes |
(and he looked at the sky), when you will see what my words cannot now further explain. But now stay back, I pray you; time is extremely precious in these parts; by keeping pace with you I have already lost too much of it.” Having said this, he left in a rush. As a cavalryman, leaving his column, charges forth into the enemy in order to acquire the first honors of battle, so he abandoned me, and I was left alone with the two who were such brilliant lights of the world. And after he had gone as far off as my pursuing eyes |
| 850 | Tunc possent oculi, veluti mens ante loquelas, Altera cum gravidis ramis vivacibus arbos Visa est haud longe, quum illuc modo lumina ferrem. Circumfusa manus frondes tollebat in altas, Nescio quid pia turba loquens ; velutique puelli, Quicquam illum orantes, qui non respondet, et alte Rem tenet optatam, ut major sit proinde cupido : Mox, quasi consilium mutans, ex arbore cessit. Nos quoque, tot questus frustrantem ac vota petentum, Venimus ad plantam ; at : ne huc accedite, et ultra |
could then catch him, as before my mind his speech, another tree with pregnant living branches was seen not far away when I had just turned my vision there. A pious, surrounding crowd saying something or other was raising its hands toward the high foliage, like children begging for something from it, which did not respond and held the desired object high up so that their desire would consequently be greater. Then, as though changing their plans, they left the tree. We too came up to that plant that was frustrating so many complaints and wishes of the petitioners, but someone from the midst of the foliage said, |
| 860 | Tendite, nescio quis mediis ex frondibus inquit : Planta est ulterius prima demorsa parente ; [22] Hæc est illius tristi de germine nata. Virgilius Statiusque et ego discedimus ergo, Parentes monitis ; ac sub latera ardua rupis Progredimur. Memores estote, hinc dixit, ut olim, Postquam se implerunt dapibus multoque Lyæo, Nubigenæ Theseum bello impetiere bimembres ; Utque olim Abramidæ prona cervice biberunt, Quos ideo haud voluit Gedeon deducere secum, |
“Do not approach here, and proceed on; further on is the plant eaten from by the first parent. This one is derived from that one’s sad seed.” So Virgil and Statius and I left, obeying the warnings, and progressed beneath the steep sides of the cliff. From there it said, “Remember that once, the cloud-begotten, double-torsoed ones [centaurs], after having filled themselves with food and much wine, attacked Theseus in battle, and that once the Jews drank with their necks down, whom Gideon therefore did not want to take with him |
| 870 | Quum Madian versus colles descendit in hostem. Sic, rupis dorso hærentes, audimus eundo Crimina multa gulæ, multum lucrata malorum. Plusquam mille gradus patefacto hinc tramite solo [23] Vadimus ulterius, sub pectore quisque volutans, Nullam edens vocem : Quid mente putatis, euntes Sic vos tres soli ? vox protinus impulit aures. Sum simul excussus, subiti ceu belua motus Capta metu ; erexique caput, vox unde veniret Luminibus quærens. Nunquam vel massa metalli |
when he descended the hills toward Midian, against the enemy.” Sticking thus to the back of the rock, as we went we heard many sins of gluttony which had gained much evil as profit. From there we progressed further, more than a thousand paces over the open trail, each of us pondering in his heart, not uttering a word. “What are you meditating on as you go along thus, you solitary three?” a voice struck my ears. I was instantly shaken, like an animal seized with fear at a sudden movement. I raised my head, with my eyes searching for where the voice was coming from. Never did a mass of metal |
| 880 | Aut vitri, ardenti sic fulgida prodit ab igne, Ut quendam aspexi, dicentem : ascendere sursum Si mens est vobis, opus hic est flectere gressum : Hac quisque ingreditur, regnum cui pacis aditur. Lumine perstrictus, Vates sum versus ad ambos, Ut qui carpit iter, vocem prout auribus haurit. Mense velut Maji, venientis nuntia lucis, Spirat odoriferis imbuta vaporibus aura Herbarum ac florum ; allambi mihi flamine frontem Sic mediam sensi, ac motis fragrantia pennis |
or glass come out of a burning fire so brilliant as I saw that person, saying, “If your intention is to go up, you must turn here; everyone enters here to whom the kingdom of heaven is open.” Blinded by the light, I turned toward both Poets like a man who starts on a path according as he takes in voices by ear. As in the month of May the air, moistened with sweet-smelling vapors of grass and flowers, blows, announcing the coming light, so I felt the middle of my forehead licked by a breeze, and the fragrance of ambrosia was sent |
| 890 | Missa est ambrosiæ. Felix, cui gratia Cæli Temperat esuriem, vox altera dixit, et esus Cui nisi justus amor, nisi potus justa cupido. |
by his moving feathers. Another voice said, “Happy is he whose hunger is moderated by the grace of Heaven, and whose food is only just love, whose drink is only just desire.” |
| LIBER VIII | ||
| PURGATORII XXV {25} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | XXV. Nolebat tunc hora moram, nam liquerat axem Sol medium tauro, atque nepæ nox atra teneri. [1] Propterea, veluti, cui res incumbit agenda, Vir cœptum molitur iter, nihil obvia curans ; Sic, scalam ingressi, per callem vadimus arctum, Alter post alium ; velut ire angustia cogit. Ut tener is pullus, quem vere ciconia gignit, Attollit pennas, correptus amore volandi, Mox premit has pavidus, non audens linquere nidum, |
At that point the hour wanted no delay, for the Sun had left the meridian axis to Taurus to be held and black night had left its axis to Scorpio. Thus, as a man with an urgent task to do presses on with the journey he has embarked upon, unconcerned about obstacles, so, having entered the stairwell, we went through the narrow trail, one after the other, as its narrowness forced us to go. In the same way that, seized by love of flying, the tender chick which the stork hatches in the spring raises its feathers, then, fearful, folds them, not daring to leave the nest, |
| 10 | Tunc ego talis eram, nolensque volensque rogare, Pæne loqui incipiens : Quanquam pernīciter iret, Non me Dux liquit, dixitque ; emitte sagittam Eloquii ex arcu, ad ferrum quam adduxeris ipsum. Tunc ego fidenter fari sum talibus orsus. Quomodo fit macies, ubi opus nutrimine deest ? Si memor hic esses Meleager quomodo leto Sic fuit absumptus, prout truncum absumeret ignis, Id tibi difficile haud foret ; et, si forte putares Quomodo et in speculo sic ipsa movetur imago, |
so I was then, both wanting and not wanting to ask, almost beginning to speak. Although he was going fast, my Leader did not leave me and said, “Release from the bow the arrow of your speech, which you have pulled back to the iron point.” Then I began to speak confidently in the following way: “How can undernourishment occur where there is no need for nourishment?” He said, “If here you remembered how Meleager expired as his log was burnt up, it would not be difficult for you, and if you perhaps also thought about how an image is moved in a mirror, |
| 20 | Inspiciens ut membra movet, quæ dura videntur, Mollia tum fierent. Verum, ut tu mente quiescas, En Statius, quem oro atque rogo ut tua vulnera sanet. Prospectum æternum si nunc te pandere coram [2] Sumam, respondit Statius, tua certa voluntas Me culpa absolvat, cui sum pārēre coactus. Sic deinde incepit : Fili, mea percipe dicta, Atque modum, quem scire cupis, te rite docebunt. Perfectus sanguis, venis sitientibus unquam Qui non hauritur, superest, velut esca superstes |
watching as it moves its limbs, the things which seem hard would then become easy. But in order for you to quiet your mind, here is Statius, whom I beg and ask to heal your wounds. Statius replied: “If, now, I undertake to explain the eternal Foresight in your presence, let your express will, which I am forced to obey, absolve me of guilt.” He then began thus: “Son, listen to my words and they will properly teach you the manner which you wish to know. Perfect blood, which is never drawn up by the thirsty veins, is left over, like leftover food |
| 30 | Tollitur ex mensis. Trahit hĭc ex corde vigorem Formandi membra, ut venas qui permeat omnes, Hæc eadem ut faciat. Digestior affluit illuc Quo magis haud fari decet : hinc vas stillat in aptum, Sanguine in alterius : simul hīc miscentur utrique, Hĭc pati et ille agere aptus ; propter scilicet, a quo Perfecto premitur loco. Ubi pervenerit illuc, Continuo exorditur opus ; densatque liquentem Materiam : ac, postquam coalescere fecit, eandem Vivificat. Virtus quum activa hinc denique facta |
is removed from tables. This draws the power to form members from the heart as this blood flows through all the veins to produce these same members. Digested further, it flows to the place of which it is more seemly not to speak. From here it drips into the fitting vessel in another’s blood. Both are mixed together here, this one disposed to be passive and that one to be active, on account of, that is, due to, the perfect place [the heart] from which it is pressed out. When it arrives, the operation begins immediately and densifies the fluid matter. And after having made it coalesce, it vivifies it. When from here the active power finally becomes a soul, |
| 40 | Est anima, ut plantæ (nisi quod planta attigit oram, Hæc etiamnum est in cursu) tantum illa operatur Ut motu ac sensu, æquŏrea ceu fungus in alga, Materies potitur ; struiturque hinc quæque facultas, Quarum ipsa est semen. Generantis (percipe, fili,) Virtus, corde fluens, ex quo Natura creandis Omnibus intendit membris, se flectit, et omnes In partes tendit, variosque inservit ad usus. Quomodo at in fetu mentis spectabile lumen Insinuet, nescis. Res hæc adeo ardua captu est, |
as plants (except that a plant has attained its shore, this one is still on the way), it develops to the point that, like a sponge in ocean seaweed, its matter attains movement and sensation. From here each of the faculties develops of which the active power itself is the seed. The power of the begetter (understand, son), flowing from the heart from which Nature intended in creating all the members, directs itself and extends into all parts and serves the various purposes. But you do not know how the remarkable light of [the abstractive power of] the mind gets into the fetus. This matter is so difficult to grasp, |
| 50 | Ut mage te multo sapiens errarit in ipsa. [3] Abjunctum hŏc animo (quod non invenerit ullam Quam teneat partem) is statuit. Tu percipe verum. Perfectum ut cerebri est textum, se Conditor orbis Tam miro Naturæ operi convertere gaudet. Atque novam huic animam, plenam virtutibus, afflat ; Quæ quodcunque activi in fetu repperit ipso, Attrahit, attribuitque sibi : fit spiritus unus, Qui vivit, sentit, sese in sese ipse reflectit. Utque minus stupeas, solarem cerne calorem, |
that a man [Averroës] much wiser than you erred in it. He decided that this [power] was separate from the rational faculty (because he had not found any [physical] part that it inhabited). Now learn the truth: As soon as the structure of the brain has been completed, the Creator of the world rejoices to turn to such an amazing work of Nature. And He breathes into this a new breath full of power that draws and subjects to itself whatever it finds active in the embryo itself. It becomes a new spirit that lives, senses and reflects itself in its very self. And so that you may be less bewildered, consider the heat of the sun: |
| 60 | Qui, viteo umori junctus, fit vineus umor. Stamina quum Lachesi desunt, se corpore solvens, Fert virtute sua divina humanaque secum. Qua meminit, qua vult, qua intellegit, omnis in actu Hæc est vividior, membris exuta, facultas ; Cunctæ aliæ, mutæ remanent. Nihil ille moratur : Sponte, modum in mirum, Tibris aut Acherontis ad oram Labitur : hic primum quæ sit data semita discit. Sede nova astrictus, virtute inducere formas Apta, ceu quum habuit corpus, stantem aëra circum Imprimit : utque aër pluviis in nubibus olim |
combined with the juice of the vine, it becomes liquid wine. When the threads of [the Fate] Lachesis are gone, the soul, releasing itself from the body, by its own power takes the divine and human elements along with itself. Having divested itself of limbs, all of this faculty by which it remembers, by which it wills, by which it understands is in action more vigorous, while all the other faculties stay behind mute. The spirit does not delay; of its own accord, in an amazing way, it slides to the mouth of the Tiber or the Acheron. It first learns there what path it has been given. Confined by its new abode, with its power capable of producing forms as when it had a body, it imprints the surrounding air. And as formerly the air in rainclouds |
| 70 | Induitur varios adverso sole colores ; Haud aliter formam vicinus suscipit aër, Quam præbet virtute sua illic spiritus astans : Atque, ut flamma suo nunquam se dividit igne, Sed quo ierit, sequitur ; forma sic spiritus unquam Deseritur non ipse nova. Quumque inde videndum Spiritus ostendat sese, proin Umbra vocatur. Hīc, usque ad visum, sensūs sibi comparat omnes : Edimus hinc planctum an risum, vocemque ciemus, Quæque per hunc multa audisti suspiria montem. |
was invested with various colors by the sun opposite, similarly the neighboring air takes up the form that the spirit standing there exudes through its own power. And as a flame never separates itself from its fire, but where the latter goes, it follows, so the spirit itself is not ever deserted by the new form. And from then on whenever the spirit shows itself to be seen, it is accordingly called a ‘Shade.’ Here it begets all the senses all the way to sight. Hence we give out wails or laughter and generate speech and the many sighs that you have heard throughout this mountain. |
| 80 | Sic animi motus varios occultaque vota Pandimus, ut sua cuique flagrat dictatque cupido. Hæc causa est equidem, quæ te stupuisse coëgit. Extremum attigimus gyrum ; dextramque meantes In partem, intentos nos altera cura tenebat : Nam rupes eructat flammas, atque crepido Emittit ventum, qui has rejicit atque repellit : Quare erat extremo sejunctis margine eundum ; Meque hinc terrebat flamma, hinc declive ruinæ. Hic, meus ajebat monitis Præceptor amicis, |
We have thus explained the various passions of the soul and its hidden wishes according as each one’s desire burns and prescribes. This is indeed the cause which forced you to be bewildered.” We had reached the final circle and, wending our way to the right, another worry kept us anxious. For the rockside was vomiting flames and the rim was sending out a wind which threw them back and drove them away from it. For that reason it was necessary for us to walk apart from the outer edge, and the flames terrified me here, and the plunging precipice there. “Here,” said my Preceptor with friendly warnings, |
| 90 | Est frenum cohibendum oculis, cauteque meandum ; Nam valde nocuisse potest vel parvulus error. Numinis o summi pietas, audita per ignes Vox cecinit medios, ac me illuc vertere adegit Lumina, quæ dubio tum calle intenta ferebam. Ire Umbras per flammam vidi ; illasque tuebar Atque viam, alternans oculos. Quum desiit hymnus Clamabant alte : non est mihi conjugis usus, Ac summissis hymnum iterabant vocibus ipsum. Hoc quoque finito ; Silvam Diana petivit, |
“a rein must be imposed on the eyes, and one must go carefully, for even a very small error can harm us greatly.” A voice, heard through the midst of the fires, sang “O compassion of the highest Will,” and made me turn thither my eyes, which I was then directing intently on the hazardous path. I saw Shades through the flames, and kept my eyes on both them and the path, alternating my vision. When the hymn ended, they cried out loudly, “I do not have [marital] knowledge of a spouse,” and they repeated the same hymn with lowered voices. When this too was over, they again cried out, |
| 100 | Clamabant iterum, atque Helicen irata removit, Quod fuerat Veneris blandum perpessa venenum. Hinc indulgebant cantu, hinc exempla ferebant Matrumque atque virûm, vitam qui rite pudicam Egere, ut virtus et vincla jugalia poscunt. Hunc, puto, lustrali donec versantur in igne, Observant morem : tali medicamine plāga Obsuitur, quam montis habet suprema crepido. |
“Diana sought out the forest and, angered, drove out Helice [Callisto] because she had admitted the seductive poison of Venus.” After that they indulged in singing, after that they gave examples of mothers and men who had properly lived chaste lives, as virtue and marital bonds require. I believe they keep to this pattern as long as they stay in the purifying fire. With such medicine the wound is sewn up that the final terrace of the mountain holds. |
| PURGATORII XXVI {26} ⇑ | ||
| 108 | Margine dum sic progredimur ; cave, sæpe Magister Ajebat, monitūsque mei dent esse sagacem. |
As we were progressing along the brink in this manner, the Master kept saying to me often, “Be careful, and let my warnings make you wary!” |
| 110 | Sol mihi dextrum umerum lūstrabat, qui æthere pronus Cæruleam prius, occiduam nunc lumine partem Candenti induerat totam ; magis atque videri Corpore jactā meo dabat umbrā rubescere flammam ; Quod multas Umbras mirando advertere vidi. Hŏc fari has fecit : Non hīc ex aëre constans, Dixere, est corpus. Quantum potuere, propinquæ Exin se tulerunt, at non extrinsecus ignem. O, qui posterius, non quod sis segnior, at quod Forsitan in reliquos teneat reverentia, pergis, |
My right shoulder was being illuminated by the sun which, sinking in the stratosphere, had clothed its originally blue, entire western part with white light. And with the shadow thrown by my body, it made the flames seem to redden more, which I saw many Shades notice in wonder. This made them speak: “His body,” they said, “does not consist here of air.” They then came as close as they could, but not out of the fire. “O you who go last, not because you are tardier but perhaps because your reverence for the others holds you back, |
| 120 | Da mihi responsum, qui torreor igne sitique ; Nec mihi dumtaxat, verum hæc quoque cetera turba Responsi est pariter sitiens, plusquam Indus et Afer Sit frigentis aquæ : cur non te lumina Solis Trajiciunt, ut nondum ingressum retia mortis ? Sic horum unus ait. Cui mox responsa dedissem, Ni nova me res abriperet : gens quippe per ignes Obvia sese his obtulerat, sibi mutua figens Oscula, quin sistat, contenta hoc pignore amoris. Tramite non aliter nigranti, atque ordine longo, |
give an answer to me who burn with fire and thirst. And not to me alone, but the rest of this crowd, too, is likewise thirsting for an answer, more than an Indian and an African would be thirsting for cold water: why are the Sun’s rays passing through you, as through one not yet having entered the nets of death?” Thus spoke one of them [Guido Guinizelli]. I would have given him an answer if something new had not torn me away: for a crowd had advanced opposite these souls, giving one another mutual kisses without stopping, content with this token of love. Similarly, ants, on a black path and in a long line |
| 130 | Formicæ sociis occurrunt, oraque jungunt, Quærere uti credas, quo tendant, quidve facessant. Quumque amplexum solvunt, non cursum ante resumunt Quam clament alte ; nova gens : Sodoma atque Gomorra ; Atque alia : est ingressa bovem, coitura juvenco Pāsiphaē. Inde, grues veluti, pars saxa petentes Rhipæa, ac pars Marmaricæ telluris arenas, Hæ nimium frigus pertæsæ, illæque calorem ; Altera gens vadit, venit et gens altera ; flentesque Ad primum redeunt cantum, et sibi congrua verba, |
meet their fellows and join their mouths, so that you would think they were seeking where to go and what to do. When they release their embraces, they do not resume their journey before they all cry aloud the new crowd, “Sodom” and “Gomorrah,” and the other one, “Pasiphaë entered the [hollow wooden] cow to copulate with the bull.” Then like cranes seeking, part of them the Riphaean rocks, part the sands of the Marmarican land [west of Egypt], the latter sick of too much cold, the former of heat, the one crowd goes and the other crowd comes. And weeping, they return to their original chant and the words appropriate to themselves. |
| 140 | Accessere mihi, quæ me paulo ante rogarant, Oribus intentis mea verba audire paratæ. Tunc ego, cui bis illarum jam vota patebant : O Animæ, dixi, certæ jam pace potiri, Quandocunque id erit, nec acerba virentibus annis, Nec senio matura gravi, mea membra reliqui, At mecum ipse gero cum sanguine et ossibus una : Sursum eo, ut acquiram lucem : mihi femina Cælis Dextra favet, per quam vestrum cum corpore montem Fas mihi adire fuit. Sed sic expleta cupido |
Those who a little before had asked me approached me, their faces expectant, ready to hear my words. Then I, to whom their wishes had now been made clear twice, said, “O Souls, certain to obtain peace whenever that may be, I have not left my members either premature, in my youthful years, or mature, in heavy old age, but carry them myself with me together with blood and bones. I am going upwards to acquire light. A propitious woman in heaven bestows favor on me, a woman through whom I am permitted to come with my body to your mountain. But may your desire be fulfilled |
| 150 | Vestra sit extemplo, ut Cæli vos aula receptet Quod large implet Amor, reliquis magis omnibus amplum, Dicite, ut hæc etiam valeam committere chartis, Dicite qui vos estis, quæque illa ad vestra migrantum Terga cohors. Turbatur uti rudis incola montis Attonitusque silens, huc lumina vertit et illuc, Quum, silvæ assuetus, magnam devenerit urbem ; Sic quæque Umbra fuit. Stupor ut de pectore cessit, (Magno in corde brevis), quæ me prior Umbra rogarat : Felix, cui per nostras experientia sĕdes, |
quickly, so that you may be received by the court of Heaven which, while being more spacious than everything else, Love fills abundantly , tell me, so that I can also commit these things to paper, tell me who you are and what that throng is going away behind your backs.” As an unschooled mountain dweller, silent and dumbfounded, turns his eyes here and there when, used to the forests, he arrives in the big city, so were all of the Shades. As astonishment (brief in cultured hearts) left his breast, the first Shade who had asked me said, “O fortunate one who gains experience through our regions |
| 160 | Ut melius vitam ducas, acquiritur, inquit, Obvia quæ nos præteriit jam turba citatim, Flagitium admisit, per quod regina triumphans Audivit dici Cæsar ; Sodomamque proinde Discedens ait, improperans sibi crimen, ut audis ; Ardoremque auget, perfundens ora rubore. Flagitium nostrum fuit Hermaphroditus ; [4] et inde, Quum nos humanas leges violare cupido, Ut bruta, impulerit, sic, nostrum ad dedecus, illam Dicimus in discessu, quæ sub imagine bruti |
in order to lead a better life, the crowd that just now quickly passed us going the opposite way committed the shameful act on account of which Caesar, celebrating a triumph, heard himself called ‘Queen’; and, departing, the crowd accordingly said ‘Sodom,’ reproaching itself for the crime, as you hear. It increases the heat, suffusing their faces with red. Our own shameful deed was being Hermaphroditus; since the desire to violate human laws drove us, like beasts, to our shamefulness, in parting we name her who, inside the fabricated form of a beast, |
| 170 | Concubuit bruto. Jam nunc, quæ nostra fuerunt Crimina, quique sumus, nosti. Si nomina velles Discere, nec tempus sineret, nec dicere scirem. De me scire dabo. Guinicellus nomine Guidus Dicor ego : hic purgor, tempus quoniam ante supremum Pænituit. Veluti, quum nati morte Lycurgus Indoluit, sese, ut caram videre parentem, Gesserunt gemini, commoti pectora, fratres ; Sic ego me gessi, (non ausus surgere tantum), [5] Ut patris eximium venit mihi nomen ad aures, |
mated with a beast. So now you know what our crimes were and what we are. If you would like to learn our names, neither would time allow it nor would I know them to say them. About myself, I will let you know: I am called Guido Guinizelli. I am purged here because I was contrite before my final time.” As when [King] Lycurgus grieved over the death of his son, the twin brothers, deeply moved, acted on seeing their dear mother [Hypsipyle, rescuing her from the flames of execution], so I acted (not daring to rise so high) when the glorious name of my father came to my ears |
| 180 | Patris nempe mei, atque aliorum, quotquot amoris Carmina dulcisona ediderunt ; ibamque silenter, Atque sine auditu, illius defixus in ore ; Non autem accessi, metuens ne læderer igne. Postquam sum visu expletus, me comiter illi Exhibui ; et, quæcunque velit, sum cuncta professus, Hisce modis, præbere fidem queis cogitur alter. Talia, respondit, vestigia pectore in imo Tu mihi defigis, quæ nec delere, nec unquam Sit tenuare potens Lethei fluminis unda. |
of my father, that is, and the father of however many others produce sweet-sounding poems. I went on silently and deafly, staring at his face; but I did not approach him, fearing I would be hurt by the fire. After I had been surfeited with looking, I offered myself to him in a friendly manner and, in a way that the other one is thereby compelled to put his trust in it, promised to do everything he wanted. He answered, “You imprint such footprints in the bottom of my heart that the waters of Lethe’s river are not able either to erase or ever attenuate them. |
| 190 | Sed, si vera refers, mihi dic ; quæ causa profecto Te movet, ut mihi tam magnum testeris amorem ? Non unquam laudanda satis, tua carmina, dixi, Quæ tantum vivent, præsens dum vixerit usus. [6] Frater, hĭc (ostendens digito) omnes præstitit, inquit, Materno eloquio, juncto pede sive soluto ; Ac sine jam stulti blaterent, præcellere vatem Lemosinem [7] : plusquam verum, vox imperat illis ; Non arte aut ratione putant, sed murmure famæ. Floruit et Guitton multis laudantibus olim |
But if you are saying the truth, tell me: what motive indeed moves you to declare such great love toward me?” I said, “Your poems, which will live as long as the current usage lives, will never be praised enough.” He said, “O brother, that man [Arnaut Daniel] (pointing with his finger) excels everyone in the mother tongue, whether in poetry or prose; and let the fools blather that the poet of Limoge [Guiraut de Borneilh] is the best. Popular talk influences them more than reality. They pay no attention to technique or reason, but only to the mutterings of rumor. Guittone d’Arezzo, too, once flourished with many praising him |
| 200 | Donec eum vicit per plures denique verum. Tu modo, sidereas sedes si tanta facultas Est tibi ut ascendas, queis Christus præsidet, illi Funde preces, quas ipse dedit, quoad usque necesse Est nobis, queis posse ereptum admittere culpas. His dictis, ut forte locum daret ipse propinquo, Vanuit in medios ignes, ut piscis in undas, Ima petens. Paulum, Guidus quam ostenderat, Umbræ Accessi, ac dixi : mihi res gratissima, qui sis Scire, erit. Ac ille est contra sic deinde profatus : |
until the truth finally overcame him with the majority. Now you, if you have such an opportunity as to ascend to the starry realms over which Christ presides, pray to him the prayer that he himself gave us [the Our Father] as much of it as is needed by us from whom the ability to commit sin has been taken” [i.e., without “and lead us not into temptation”]. Having said this, he vanished into the midst of the fire like a fish seeking the depths into water, perhaps in order to make way for the next soul. I approached the Shade whom Guido had pointed out to me and said, “It would be very pleasing for me to know who you are.” And in response he then said, |
| 210 | Tantă tuis equidem pandit se gratiă dictis, Ut nequeam nolimque meum tibi condere nomen. Arnaldus [8] dicor : ploro et cano ; quippe peractam Mæstus Stultitiam video, gaudensque futuram Lætitiam, quam spero brevi jam posse potiri. Per virtutem illam, quæ vos deducit euntes Ad scalæ summum, exoro, quum tempus amicum Affuerit, nostri memores estote doloris. Hæc fatus, se lustrales abscondit in ignes. |
Such courtesy reveals itself to me with your words that I neither can or wish to conceal my name from you. I am called Arnaut [Daniel]; I weep and I sing. Indeed, sad, I view the Foolishness I have committed, and rejoice over the joy to come, which I hope soon to be able to acquire. Through the power that guides you to the top of the stairway, I beg of you, when a favorable time is at hand, remember our pain.Having said this, he hid himself in the expiatory fires. |
| PURGATORII XXVII {27} ⇑ | ||
| 219 | Ut quum mane novo vibrat sua lumina terris, | As when on a new morning it shakes its rays at the earth, |
| 220 | Christus ubi interiit, dum Libram subter Hibērus Labitur, et Ganges nonæ calet æstibus horæ, Sol erat, urgebatque diem nox proinde cadentem, [9] Margine quum ripæ læto sese Angelus ore Obtulit extra ignem ; mundo sunt corde beati Voce canens viva, plusquam det nostra sonorem. Mox ait : ulterius non est fas ire, priusquam, O Animæ sanctæ, vos flamma momorderit : euge, Hanc intrate alacres ; neu surdis auribus este Ad cantum hinc missum. Sic, quum prope venimus, inquit. |
while the Ebro river slides underneath Libra the Scales, and the Ganges bakes with the heat of the noon hour and night consequently presses the falling day, the Sun was [over Jerusalem] where Christ died when an Angel with a smiling face presented himself outside the fire on the edge of the rim; with a living voice greater than ours he sounded forth, singing “Blessed are the clean of heart.” Then he said, “Going further is not permitted before, o Souls, the flames bite you. Go ahead: enter them with alacrity and not with ears deaf to the singing sent from over there.” He said this as we approached. |
| 230 | Expavi his dictis ; ac sum formidine factus, Non secus ac fovea vir qui defigitur alta ; Consertis manibus steti, et ignem ardescere cernens, Ante inspecta mihi comburi corpora flammis Mente revolvebam. Versantem talia fīdi Respexere duces. Potes hic perferre dolorem, Non mortem, mihi Doctor ait : reminiscere, fili : Geryonis si te potui traducere dorso, Quid faciam propiore Deo ? Si mille per annos Hæc te, crede quidem, cohiberet flamma, nec unum |
I became afraid at these words and was struck with fear, like a man who is planted in a deep grave; I stood with my hands clasped and, seeing the fire burning, I kept going over in my mind the bodies I had once seen being burned in flames. My trustworthy guides looked back at me as I was thinking about such things. “Here you can suffer pain, not death,” said my Teacher. “Remember, son, if I could take you over on Geryon’s back, what, closer to God, will I do? If these flames enveloped you for a thousand years, believe me, they could not” |
| 210 | Eriperet crinem. Si falli reris, adesto, Experiare manu, atque tui velaminis ora ; Eja age pone metum, teque huc interritus infer. Ast ego perstabam firmus, mentique repugnans Ipse meæ. Ut monitus se fundere vidit inanes, Turbatus paulum : fili, nunc prospice, dixit ; Hoc tibi transmisso spectabitur igne Beatrix. Qualis, ab audito perculsus nomine Thisbes, Pyramus in media reseravit lumina morte, Atque illam inspexit, quum candida mōra colorem |
pluck out a single hair. If you think you are being deceived, come up, try it out with your hand and the edge of your clothing. So go ahead, lay down your fright and go in there fearlessly. But I kept standing fixed and fighting against my own mind. As he saw himself giving vain inducements, he said, a little troubled, “Son, now realize that by crossing this fire Beatrice will be seen.” As Pyramus, struck by hearing the name of Thisbe, opened his eyes in the midst of dying and looked at her when the white mulberry had clothed itself |
| 250 | Induerunt nigrum ; sic protinus omnis abivit Tunc mea durities, audito nomine, in alto Quod mihi perpetue manet indelebile corde ; Ac me ad Doctorem verti. Quid sistimus ergo ? Concutiens ait ille caput ; mox, ore renidens, Ut fit quum puero, capitur qui munere pomi, Surrisit ; seseque prior conjecit in ignem ; Exorans Statium, ut retro vestigia ferret, Qui sese in medio prius inter utrumque ferebat. Ingressus flammam, tanto fervore teneri |
a dark color, so suddenly, upon hearing her name which always remains inexpungibly in the depths of my heart, all my stubbornness then left, and I turned to my Teacher. Shaking his head, he said, “So, why are we staying?” Next, with a smiling face, as happens when one smiles at a child who is won over by the gift of a fruit, and he, as the first one, plunged into the fire, requesting Statius, who at first kept in the middle between us both, to come behind him. Entering the flames, I felt myself gripped by such hotness |
| 260 | Undique me sensi, tantoque urebar ab æstu, Ut bullens vitrum, quærens solamen, adissem. Dux mihi dulcisona præbebat voce levamen, Usque Beatricem memorans ; atque : illius ora Cernere jam videor, dicens. Ducebat euntes Adversā vox parte canens ; illique meantes Intenti, exterius, quo dat conscendere trames, Venimus. Hīc medio resonans vox lumine : adesto, Gens, dixit, dilecta Deo. Mihi vivida vicit Lux oculorum aciem, nequiique intendere visum. |
on all sides and being burned by such seething heat that I would have gone into boiling glass looking for release. With a sweet-sounding voice, my Leader offered me alleviation, constantly recalling Beatrice and saying, “I seem to see her face already.” On the opposite side, a singing voice guided us as we went and, walking along concentrating on it, we came out where the trail allowed us to climb up. Here in the middle of a light a voice echoed, saying, “Come, o people beloved of God.” The intense light overcame my eyesight, and I was unable to direct my vision toward it. |
| 270 | Sol cadit, inde inquit, post quem jam vespera surgit : Ne mŏra vos segnis teneat ; vestigia raptim Tendite, quum nondum tenebris involvitur aër. Celsa per incisam ducebat semita rupem In partem, qua Sol radiis mihi terga feriret Occiduus. Vixdum paulum processimus alte, Sensimus ex cessante mei tum corporis umbra Quod Sol deciderit. Nostrum tum quisque, priusquam Nox unam formam immenso protenderet orbi, Stravit membra gradu : plus namque ascendere vires |
It then said, “The Sun is sinking, after which the evening rises. Do not let slothful delay hold you back. Move your steps rapidly while the air has not yet been enveloped by darkness.” The steep path led through the split rock toward the side opposite which the setting Sun struck my back with its rays. We had hardly progressed a little upwards when we then felt from the departing shadow of my body that the Sun had set. Each of us then, before the night covered the immense world with a single form, stretched out our limbs on a stair. For more than our desire had been weakened, |
| 280 | Naturā fuerant montis, quam infracta cupido. Ut grex caprarum, qui pridem celsa protervus Per juga saltabat, placide dehinc stratus in umbra, Fervescente die, depastas ruminat herbas, Dum pastor, baculo innixus, recubantibus astat ; Utque gregis custos, procul a præsæpibus absens, Ducit apud pecudes noctem, ne forte ferarum Has petat incursus : sic nos decumbimus illic ; Illi pastorum similes, atque ipse capellæ ; Rupe cava hinc illinc sæpti. Vix inde videri |
our powers to climb had been so, by the nature of the mountain. Like a flock of goats which a while ago was boldly leaping among the high crags, then, with the warming day, strewn peacefully in the shade, chews the cud of eaten grass while the shepherd, leaning on his staff, stands over the lying animals, and as the guardian of the flock, being far from the pens, spends the night with his animals lest perhaps an attack by predators should invade them, so we lay down there they like shepherds, I like the goat, penned in here and there by the hollowed cliff. Hardly anything |
| 290 | Quid poterat ; sed, prout poterat, fulgescere Cælo Sidera, plus solito magna atque corusca, videbam. Hæc mihi cernenti, ac versanti plurima mecum Incubuit somnus ; somnus, qui sæpe, priusquam Eveniant, homini præsagus facta revelat. Tempore, quo primum Veneris (puto) sidus ab oris Tollitur Eois, igne ardens semper Amoris, Egregia mulier formā atque virentibus annis, Visa mihi est pictos per campum carpere flores, Ac dare, cantando, has voces : quo nomine dicor |
could be seen there. But as much as was possible, I saw the stars sparkling in the Heavens, larger and brighter than usual. Sleep fell over me as I was looking at them and thinking about many things clairvoyant sleep that often reveals occurrences to man before they happen. At the time (I think) when the planet of Venus, always burning with the fire of love, is first raised from the Eastern shores, a woman beautiful in form and of flourishing years appeared to me, picking painted flowers in a field and, singing, said, “If anyone wishes to learn |
| 300 | Discere siquis avet, sum Lia, et bracchia tendo, Ut mihi componam sertum : me hīc floribus orno, Ut mihi complaceam ad speculum. Germana moratur Ad speculum semper Rachel, nescitque revelli. Me juvat ornari, juvat illam lumina pasci ; Illam spectandi, me detinet ardor agendi. Jamque redux Cælo lux matutina rubebat, Quæ peregre advectis hōc gratior æthere fulget Quo propius venere domum : nox omnis abibat, Ac somnus cum nocte simul mea membra reliquit. |
learn the name by which I am called, I am Leah, and I stretch out my arms to make a garland for myself. I am adorning myself here with flowers to please myself in the mirror. My sister Rachel always stays at her mirror and cannot be torn from it. To be adorned pleases me, looking at her eyes pleases her; love of looking keeps her occupied, of doing, me.” And now the morning light, returning to the Heavens, was red. To travelers coming from afar it was, with this sky, shining more welcome, the closer they came home. The entire night was leaving and, together with the night, sleep was leaving my limbs. |
| 310 | Surrexi, aspiciens jam surrexisse Magistros. Dulce illud pomum, quod per tot sedula ramos [10] Quærit gens hominum, ut tua sit satiata cupido Plene hodie efficiet ; dictis est talibus usus Tunc mihi Virgilius. Nunquam tam grata fuerunt Munera, et unde mihi manaret tanta voluptas. Tam me cepit amor, tamque impulit ire voluntas, Ut magis atque magis semper succrescere plantis Sentirem pennas. Quum scalam evasimus omnem, In me Virgilius defixit lumina, et inquit : |
I rose, seeing that my Masters had already risen. “That sweet fruit that the restless race of men seeks through so many branches, will today completely bring it about that your desire will be satisfied.” Such were the words used by Virgil to me. Never were there such pleasing gifts, and from which such pleasure flowed to me. Such love overtook me and such longing urged me to go, that more and more I felt wings constantly growing on my feet. When we came out of the entire stairwell, Virgil looked at me and said, |
| 320 | Tempus habentem ignem, et nullum sibi tempus habentem, Me duce, vidisti, fili : nunc vectus es illuc, Cernere quo ulterius non est mihi facta potestas : Huc ego te ingenio deduxi atque arte magistra. Nunc tibi dux esto, tua sit dux ipsa voluntas. Nulla tibi via jam superest nec celsa nec arcta. Aspice Solem illuc media tibi fronte micantem, Aspice odoriferos flores herbasque nĭtentes, Et quas sponte parit tellus hæc dædala plantas. Dum veniat, quæ, fletu oculos suffusa decoros, |
“Son, with me as your leader, you have seen fire possessing time, and possessing no time within itself; now you have been carried to the point where the power to see further has not been given to me. I have brought you here by my talent and my teaching skills. Be now your own leader; let your own will itself be your leader. There is no steep or narrow way remaining for you. Look at the Sun shining there on the middle of your forehead; look at the fragrant flowers and the shining grass, and the plants that this ingenious earth begets of itself. While she is coming who, having filled her beautiful eyes with weeping, |
| 330 | Ad te me misit, potes hic consīdere, et ire Per virides tractus. A me non amplius ullum Exspectes monitum : tua mens nunc libera, sana, Ac recta est : crimen foret illi obsistere velle ; Teque ideo dominumque tui regemque corono. |
sent me to you, you can sit down here and go through the green areas. Do not expect any advice from me any more; your mind is now free, healthy and right. It would be a crime to want to block it. And therefore I crown you lord and king of yourself.” |
| PURGATORII XXVIII {28} ⇑ | ||
| 335 | Undique præcupidus divinam visere silvam Quæ, densa, ac viridis, frangebat tela diei, Haud mora, deserui ripam ; sursumque ferebar Per campum lentus, qui suaviter undique olebat. Aura mihi dulcis, mutari nescia, frontem |
Desirous of seeing on all sides the divine forest which, dense and green, broke the sunbeams of the day, not delaying, I left the rim. Slowly I went up through the field, which smelled delightful on all sides. The air was sweet to me; unable to vary, it did not blow |
| 340 | Non magis afflabat, flamen quam lene Favonii ; Qua frondes tremulæ in partem, quo projicit umbras Mons primas, se curvabant, non taliter autem Ne volucres dulci mulcerent æthera cantu ; Quæ, ramo innixæ, gaudebant aëris haustu, Lætisonam edentes vocem ; cui consona motæ Murmura reddebant frondes ; ut sæpe Ravennæ Pinea silva sonat, quum solverit Æolus Eurum. Jam tantum progressus eram, ne cernere possem Unde ipse intraram, tenuis quum rivus euntem |
on my forehead any harder than the gentle breeze of the west wind of spring air by which the trembling leafage was bent toward the side where the mountain casts its first shadows, but not so much that the birds could not soothe the air with their sweet song. Perched on a branch, they delighted in draughts of air, giving out their happy sounds to which the swaying leaves replied with a harmonious murmur, as Ravenna’s pine forest often sounds when Aeolus releases the southeast wind. I had already progressed so far that I could not see where I had entered, when a narrow brook blocked |
| 350 | Impediit ; qui, lene fluens, in margine natas Flectebat virides herbas, lævamque petebat. Quicunque est terris lymphæ purissimus umor, Limosus foret, huic siquis componere vellet ; Qui nihil abscondit, quamvis se fuscus in umbra Perpetua volvat, radios quo immittere nullos Nec Titan nec Luna queunt. Vestigia pressi, Atque amnem transivi oculis, tam florida ut illic Aspicerem varioque adeo loca picta colore. Ut res quondam oculis offert se mira repente, |
me from going on. Flowing softly, it bent the green plants growing on the banks and headed for the left. Whatever is the purest liquid of water on earth would be muddy, if anyone were to compare it to this one, which hides nothing even though it runs dark in perpetual shade through which neither the Sun nor the Moon can send its rays. I halted my steps and crossed the stream with my eyes to look at an area so flowerful and so painted with various colors. As something surprising suddenly sometimes offers itself to the eyes, |
| 360 | Quæ mentem rapit, et curas procul amovet omnes ; Solivaga haud aliter mulier mihi visa canoros Est dare voce sonos, ac lectos carpere flores, Unde renidebat tellus. O candida Virgo, Dixi, quæ quidem amore cales, si credere par est Vultu, qui dat sæpe animi notescere sensus, Ne, precor, huic pigeat paulum succedere ripæ, Ut, quas ipsa canis, valeam deprendere voces. Te mihi cernenti Proserpina mente recurrit, Qualis erat, qualique loco, quo tempore natam |
something that grabs the attention and banishes afar all cares, a woman [Matilda] appeared to me wandering alone, no less singing and plucking chosen flowers with which the earth was variegated. I said, “O shining-white Virgin who glow with love, if it is right to trust the countenance which often makes feelings of the soul become evident, may it not, I pray, displease you to approach this bank a little so that I may understand the lyrics which you are singing. Proserpina comes to my mind as I look at you, as she was and at the sort of place, at the time that her mother [Ceres] |
| 370 | Amisit genetrix, ac vernos filia flores. Ut, sibi collectis pedibus, se femina vertit In choreis, plantam vix visa abjungere planta ; Haud secus in variis vertit se floribus illa, Virginis assimilis, oculos flectentis honestos. Annuit oranti, tantumque accessit ad oram, Ut mihi fas fuerit cantūs deprendere sensum. Postquam autem venit, qua rivus gramina lambit, Tollere dignata est oculos. Non lumina tantum Jam Veneris fulsisse reor, quum cuspide nati |
lost her daughter, and that daughter, her spring flower. As when, placing her feet together, in dance a woman is seen hardly to separate one foot from another, in the same way that woman turned around amidst the various flowers, lowering her modest eyes like a maiden. She nodded to me who was asking and came so close to the bank that it was possible for me to understand the sense of her song. But after she had come to where the stream licks the vegetation, she deigned to raise her eyes. I believe that not even Venus’s eyes shone so much when she was pierced |
| 380 | Fixa fuit, non matrem equidem fixisse volentis. Ridens adversa in ripa vario illa colore Carpebat fibres, quos dat sine semine tellus. Nos tantum trinis dirimebat passibus amnis. Non sic Hellespontum, quo sibi puppibus olim Fecit iter Xerxes (frenum immortale superbis) Leander, Sesto quod Abydum abscinderet, odit, Ut rivum hunc ego, quod mihi non patuisset eunti. Hac estis vos sede novi, tunc incipit illa : Suspicio vos forte tenet, quod me edere risum |
by the arrowpoint of her son, who indeed did not want to pierce his mother. Laughing, on the opposite bank she picked variously colored stalks, which the earth produces without seed. The stream separated us by only three paces. The Hellespont, where of old Xerxes made a path for himself by ships (an immortal check to the arrogant), was not hated as much by Leander because it cut Abydos off from Sestos, as I hated that brook, which did not open for me to pass. Then she began, “You are new in these quarters; perhaps suspicion holds you back because |
| 390 | Cernitis hac terra, humanis quæ gentibus olim In nidum concessa fuit ; sed Davidis hymnus Me delectasti illustrat, dubiumque resolvit. O qui præ reliquis incedis, meque rogasti, Dic, si quid jam scire cupis ; nam prompta petenti Ut referam veni, ac mentem caligine solvam. Rivus aquæ silvæque sonus, contraria dictis Sunt, ego respondi, quæ jam mihi facta fuerunt. Rerum, quas tu miraris, tunc rettulit illa, Evolvam causas, abigamque ex mente tenebras. |
you see me laughing on this land which was once given to the human race as its abode. But David’s hymn, ‘Me delectasti: For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight [Psalm 92 {older, 91}:5-6],’ will shed light on you and resolve your doubts. O you who come up before the others and questions me, say if you now want to know something, for I came ready to respond to one who asks and to clear his mind from darkness.” I replied: “The stream of water and the sound of the forest are things contrary to narratives that have been given to me.” She answered, “I will explain the causes of the things you are wondering about, and drive the darkness from your mind. |
| 400 | Immensum Deus ille bonum, qui complacet uni Ipse sibi, dedit esse homini, rectumque creavit, Atque locum hunc tribuit pro æternæ pignore pacis ; (Ob scelus ille suum non longum hic vixit ; et amens In planctum ac fletum, risumque et gaudia vertit) ; Utque ex turbinibus, quos terræ undæque vapores Efficiunt, æstu attracti, ne deinde veniret Quid nocumentum homini, montem hunc tam erexit ad astra, Atque ideo ex illa est liber, qua clauditur, ora. At, quia cum primi rapida vertigine Cæli |
God, the immeasurable good, who Himself fully pleases Himself alone, gave being to man and made him good, and gave him this place as a pledge of eternal peace. (Because of man’s own crime he did not live here long and, senseless, he turned laughter and joy into lamentation and weeping.) And so that from the storms which the heat-drawn vapors of earth and water create, no harm would subsequently come to man, He raised this mountain this far toward the stars. And thus from the opening where it is closed off, it is stormfree. But because the atmosphere circles around with the rapid orbiting of the first Heaven |
| 410 | (Ni quicquam impediat cursum) pervolvitur aër, Impetus ille nemus, quod tollitur aëre puro, Verberat ; ac densæ respondent murmure plantæ. Tunc agitata suis implet virtutibus arbos Aëra, et has circum commotus decutit aër. Altera [*] propterea tellus, (prout commoda Cæli Temperies, glæbæque umor), virtutibus hisce Deinde gravis, parit, et varias dat surgere plantas. Hoc autem audito, non est mirabile, vestra Siquid terra oritur noto sine semine germen. |
(unless something blocks its passage), that force strikes the forest which rises into pure air, and the thick vegetation responds with a murmur. Then these woods, shaken, fill the air with their potency, and the disturbed air disperses that around. On account of that the other land [*] (depending on a Zone’s suitable climate and the moisture of its soil), then pregnant through this potency, gives birth and enables the various plants to emerge. Having heard this, it will not be strange if some plant arises in your earth without a known seed. |
| * | Nostra | The earth of living humans |
| 420 | Et te scire volo, qua nunc tellure moraris, Esse hanc seminibus plenam, fructusque creare, Quales nulla plăgis vestratibus educat arbos. Non hæc, quam cernis, de vena prosilit unda, Quam vapor instauret, gelidos conversus in imbres, Ut quæ decrescunt aut crescunt flumina cursu : Fonte scatet solido ac certo ; atque huic diva voluntas Suppeditat, quantum in partes dimittit utrasque. Ex hac parte fluit, pariens oblivia culpæ, Ex alia in memorem mentem benefacta reducens ; |
And I want you to know that on the land where you are now staying, it is full of seeds and produces fruits which no tree in your regions brings forth. This water that you see does not spring from a vein restored by clouds turned into freezing rain, so that the streams wane and wax in their flow; it gushes from a solid and certain spring, and divine will supplies as much as it sends forth in both directions: from this side flows that which produces forgetfulness of guilt, from the other side that which recalls good deeds to memory. |
| 430 | Hīc Lethes, aliaque Eunies parte vocatur : Tantum vero juvant, quando gustantur utrique. Quum nempe hinc primum, posthac gustatur et illinc : Dulcior istorum est omnes super unda sapores. Quamvis hisce tibi penitus satiata cupido Esse queat dictis, non attamen ipsa silebo ; Nec te, si quicquam promissis amplius addam, Posse pigere reor. Qui sunt antiquitus auream Commenti ætatem, per somnia forte poëtæ Hunc videre locum : humana hic fuit integra radix, |
Here it is called Lethe, on the other side, Eunoë, but they help only when they are both tasted that is, when the tasting is done from here first, afterwards from there; their water is sweeter than all other savors. Although your longing may have been deeply satisfied with these explanations, I myself will nevertheless not fall silent, nor do I think you might be surfeited if I add something more to my promises. Those poets who in ancient times composed stories about a Golden Age, perhaps saw this place in their dreams. Here the human root was innocent: |
| 440 | Hic ver perpetuum, fructusque hic omnis ; et isti Sunt porro, a cunctis memorati, nectaris amnes. Sic ea. Respexi Vates, ambosque notavi Extremas voces risu excepisse loquentis. Ad pulchrum hinc rursus direxi lumina vultum. |
here is everlasting spring, and here every fruit and, furthermore, those are the streams, written of by all, of nectar.” Thus she spoke. I looked back at the Poets and found both of them having taken in the last words of the speaker with joy. From there I turned back to look again at her beautiful face. |
| PURGATORII XXIX {29} ⇑ | ||
| 445 | Quum finem imposuit dictis, ut cuspide Amoris Saucia cor mulier, cantum rursum edere cœpit. Felices, deleta quibus sunt crimina, dicens. Ac, veluti Nymphæ, nemora inter frondea solæ Ibant, illa petens, hæc Solis lumina vitans ; |
When she had finished her talk, like a woman wounded with the arrowpoint of Cupid, she began to sing again, saying “Happy are they whose sins have been erased.” And, like the Nymphs used to wander alone among the leafy forests, that one seeking, this one avoiding, the rays of the sun, |
| 450 | Sic, fluvium contra, per ripam se illa ferebat ; Ac modicos modicis adversa ego passibus ora Virginis æquabam gressus. Ejusque meique Haud centum fuerant passus, quum se utraque torsit Ripa, atque in partem rursus sum versus Eoam. Huc quoque vadentes, non multum tendimus ultra, Quum mulier, conversa mihi : circumspice, et audi, Frater, ait. Totamque simul clarescere silvam Lumine conspexi ingenti ; quare ipse putavi Ambiguus, subito diffindi fulgure cælum ; |
so she made her way against the stream along the bank; and I matched the small steps of the maiden across the brook with my small paces. Her and my steps had not gotten to a hundred when both banks curved and again I turned in the Eastern direction. Going along here too, we did not proceed far beyond there when the woman, turning to me, said, “Look around, brother, and listen.” And I saw the entire forest become bright with enormous light, so that, in doubt, I myself thought the sky was suddenly being split with lightning. |
| 460 | At, quoniam hoc cessat, simul ac per inane cucurrit, Id vero usque magis clarumque ardebat et amplum, Mente sub incerta : quid sunt hæc talia ! fabar. Concentus late dulcis per luce micantem Aëra currebat, quo circum silva sonabat. Fervor tunc me corripuit reprehendere primæ Flagitium matris : quæ, dum tellusque polusque Pārērent, muliercula sola, recensque creata, Noluerit nescire aliquid ; quod ni ausa fuisset, Deliciis illis multoque diutius essem |
But since that ceases as soon as it has run through empty air, whereas this was burning brighter and more intense, with uncertain mind I said, “What is this?” A sweet singing ran broadly through the air brilliant with light, air throughout which the forest gave forth its sound. Then a passion seized me to reproach the shameful deed of our first mother who, while earth and heaven were obedient, that little woman alone, freshly created, did not want to be ignorant of anything. If she had not dared that, I would have enjoyed those delights both much longer |
| 470 | Ac prius affectus. Per tot præludia gaudii Dum feror æterni, cupidus meliora potiri, Sub virides ramos, quasi flamma, incanduit aër ; Quodque melos fuerat, cantum cognovimus esse. O, si pro vobis jejunia, frigora, noctes Sum vigiles passus, mihi nunc, Heliconiades almæ, Reddite mercedem, cogit quam causa rogare : Nunc mihi Castalius fundat fons largiter undas, Adjuvet Uranie, nec non et turba Sororum, Grandia concipere et mente, atque expromere versu. |
and earlier. While I was passing through so many preludes of eternal joy, longing to possess better things, the air beneath the green branches blazed up like fire, and what had been a melody we recognized to be a song. O nourishing Muses, if I have ever suffered hunger, cold or [sleepless] nights for you, give me now my reward, which the event forces me to ask for. Let the Castalian spring now amply pour out its waters to me, let the muse of the sciences, Urania, and the crowd of her Sisters, help me both to understand these sublimities mentally and express them through poetry. |
| 480 | Ulterius paulo, falsa sub imagine, propter Oblongum spatium, septem aureas surgere vidi Arboreas plantas : quum tam prope venimus autem, Ut quod commune est, longumque per intervallum Eludit sensus, formam non amplius ullam Abdiderit ; quæ dat verum penetrare facultas Candelabra esse, ac voces Hosanna canentes Ilicet agnovit. Funalia lumine claro His super ardebant ; quo nunquam Luna, sereno, Nocte super media, medioque in mense, refulget. |
A little further on, under a deceptive appearance because of the long distance, I saw seven treelike plants emerge; but when we had come so close that what is multi-sensory and, through the long interval, escapes the [individual] senses, no longer hid any form, the faculty that enables us to penetrate to the truth immediately recognized them as candelabra and voices singing “Hosanna.” Above them the torches burned with a bright light with which the Moon, in clear weather, at midnight in the middle of its month, never shines. |
| 490 | Obstupui, ac me Virgilio, confusus et anceps, Obverti : stupor hunc etiam comprenderat ingens. Rursus deinde altis direxi lumina rebus ; Atque has nos versus tam lente incedere vidi, Ut citius soleant nuptum se ferre puellæ. Me tunc increpuit mulier : cur semper inhæres His facibus ? nec mentem adhibes, quæ pone sequuntur ? Tunc gentes vidi his retro, ut ductoribus, ire Vestibus in niveis : haud nostro hic candor in orbe. Unda, repercussu septeni luminis ardens, |
I was awestruck and turned, confused and uncertain, to Virgil; great amazement had overtaken him as well. I then turned my eyes back to the sublime things and saw them come toward us so slowly that girls normally go in procession faster to their weddings. Then the woman scolded me: “Why are you alwas fixated on these torches? Aren’t you paying attention to what comes after them?” Then I saw people going behind them, like guides, in white costumes; Such whiteness is not found in our world. Water, burning with the reflection of seven torchlights, |
| 500 | Lævum umerum mihi reddebat, si forte tuerer, Ut speculum. Quumque inde, mea progressus in ora, Illuc deveni, quo tantum abjungeret amnis, Constiti, ut aspicerem melius ; vidique coruscas Ante meare faces, cælumque relinquere septem Desuper ornatum zonis ; quæ tractibus omnes Peniculi similes, gestabant quæque colores, Queis sibi Sol arcum, ac cinctum sibi Delia format. Quæ retro erant zonæ, plusquam mea lumina tendant, Surgebant alte ; atque latus quæ utrumque tenebant, |
re-imaged my left shoulder to me if I happened to look, like a mirror. Then when, having progressed to my bank, I had arrived where only the stream separated me, I stopped to see better, and saw blazing torches proceed in the forefront and, from above, leave the sky adorned with seven trails which, all of them like the pencil-brushes for tracings, each bore the colors with which the Sun forms the rainbow and Delia, the Moon, her halo. The trails which were to the rear, stretching further than my sight, rose up high, and the two outsides held by them |
| 510 | Distabant bis quinque gradus ; nisi falsus opinor. Æthere sub tam claro, tamque sub aëre puro, Bis deni quattuorque senes ex ordine bini Ibant, alba quibus cingebant lilia frontem. Adami inter natas sis benedicta, canebant Omnes ; sit tua in æternum benedicta venustas. Postquam gens hæc præteriit, ceu sidera Cælo Sideribus subeunt, sic deinde animalia sese Quattuor obtulerunt, viridi redimita corona : Sex, plenæque oculis, quales olim Argus habebat, |
were ten paces apart, if I am not mistaken in judging. Under such a clear sky and such pure air went twenty-four elders in pairs, whose foreheads were wreathed in white lilies. They were all singing, “Blessed be thou among the daughters of Adam; may thy beauty be blessed forever ” [cf. Luke 1:42]. After this crowd had passed by, as the stars sink beneath stars in the Heavens, so four animals appeared, wreathed with green crowns. They bore six wings full of eyes, |
| 520 | Cuique inerant alæ. Varias describere formas Non ultra adjiciam, lector ; me impendia quippe Sic urgent, ut non valeam hic tibi prodigus esse. Ezechiel legito, cui quondam visa fuere Cum vento et nube ac igni descendere ab Arcto. Qualia ibi invenies, sic sunt mihi visa ; sed alas, Non quas is vidit, sed quas deinde Joannes. Hisce triumphalis mediis basterna, duabus Vecta rotis, inerat, quam Gryps cervice trahebat. Inter tres ac tres zonas mediamque, levabat |
like Argus once had. I will not proceed further to describe the various forms, reader. For tasks press me, so that I cannot be spendthrift for you here. Read Ezekiel, to whom came visions with wind and cloud and fire descending from the North. What you will find there has likewise appeared to me, except that you will find the wings, not that he saw but which, later, John did. Within the midst of these was a triumphal, two-wheeled litter which a Griffin drew with his neck. He raised up his two wings between |
| 530 | Is geminas sublime alas, quin læderet illas : Nemo alte erectas potuisset prendere visu. Aurea erant illi membra, ales quatenus esset : Commixtus rubro velabat cetera candor. Non equidem tali curru jam Roma superbos Scipiadum Augustique dedit splendere triumphos : Cederet huic currus Solis, qui devius arsit, Indulsit precibus terræ quum Juppiter æquus. Trina rotam ad dextram lætas festiva choreas Ducebat mulier : quarum sic una rubebat, [11] |
the middle band and three [on the one side] and three [on the other] without harming them. No one could take in by eyesight those loftily uplifted wings. His limbs were gold where he was a bird; the rest of him was covered by shining white mixed with red. Indeed, Rome had not made the haughty triumphs of the Scipios and of Augustus shine with such a chariot. The Sun’s chariot which, going astray, burned up when just Juppiter acceded to the prayers of earth, would yield to this one. Alongside the right wheel there were joyful dances by three festive women, of whom one was so red |
| 540 | Ut par igni esset ; viridi quasi facta smaragdo Altera erat ; nivibus similis modo tertia lapsis. Nunc rubra, nunc candens præerat ; reliquæque jubentis Ad nutum, sese rapide lenteque movebant. Quattuor ad lævam saltabant, murice tectæ, [12] Unius ad normam, tria lumina fronte gerentis. Post totum hoc agmen geminos procedere vidi Insignes gravitate senes, sed dispare cultu ; Alter enim Hippocratis sese ostendebat alumnum, Quem generi humano auxilium Natura creavit ; |
that she would be equal to fire. The second was as though made of green emerald. The third was like new-fallen snow. Now the red, now the white one was the leader; and the others, at her cue, moved rapidly or slowly. On the left danced four, dressed in purple, to the lead of one who had three eyes in her forehead. Following this entire column I saw two aged men coming, distinguished in their dignity, though different in dress. One showed himself to be a student of Hippocrates [the physician], whom Nature created as an aid to the human race; |
| 550 | Oppositam sibi curam alter monstrabat inesse, Ensis enim illi inerat ; qui me cis terruit amnem. Quattuor hinc humiles vultu, solumque venire Post omnes vidi seniorem, lumina dulci Sopitum somno, argutoque ore vigentem. Septem his vestis erat, qua primum incesserat agmen, Candida : non autem gestabant lilia fronte. Gestabant vivasque rosas floresque rubentes ; Si procul haud multum aspiceres, ignescere flammis Credideris frontes. Quum se mea currus ad ora |
the other one showed that the opposite concern was his interest, for he bore a sword which on my side of the stream struck fear into me. After this I saw four, humble of countenance and, coming alone after everyone, an aged man with amiable eyes, groggy with sleep, vigorous in his sagacious countenance. The seven had the white garments in which the first company had marched, but they did not wear lilies on their foreheads. They wore live roses and red flowers. If you looked at them from not very far away, you would think their foreheads were burning with flames. When the chariot drew even to my face |
| 560 | Detulit, increpuit tonitru ; totumque repente Constitit, ut jussum, primis cum insignibus agmen. |
there was a peal of thunder, and the whole column suddenly stopped with the first standards, as though commanded. |
| PURGATORII XXX {30} ⇑ | ||
| 562 | Ut Cæli primi Septentrio (nescius ortūs [13] Æque ac occasūs, celari nescius ullā, Ni scelerum, nebulā ; proprio qui munere fungi Illic quemque dabat, tanquam per marmoris æquŏr Dirigit inferior puppes attingere portum), Constitit, ad currum, velut inventura quietem, Gens ea, quæ Gryphum jam venerat inter et illum, [14] Confluxit. Quorum unus, tanquam missus Olympo : |
As [the candelabra,] Heaven’s primary Seven-Stars (knowing neither rising nor setting, unable to be covered over with any fog except that of sin, and which assign everyone there to his own task just as the lower Seven-Stars direct ships through the waters of the sea to reach port) stopped, the crowd that had already come between the Griffin and them, converged on the chariot as if to seek peace. One of them, as though sent from Heaven, |
| 570 | De Libano, ter dulce canens, pulcherrima, dixit, Sponsa, veni ; atque alii clamabant uniter omnes : Sponsa, veni. Quales, quum vox extrema sonabit, Exsurgent tumulis, redivivaque membra Beati Gratantes, læto complebunt æthera cantu ; Haud aliter curru, ad vocem cantantis, ab alto Centum perpetuæ vitæ nuntii atque ministri [15] Extulerunt sese : benedictus, quisque canebat, O qui ades ; ac, flores jaciens circumque supraque, Clamabat pariter, manibus date lilia plenis. |
singing sweetly, said three times, “Most beautiful bride, come from Lebanon” [Song of Songs, 4:8] and all the others called out in unison, “Bride, come.” As when the final summons sounds, and the Blessed, exulting in their resurrected limbs, will rise from their graves and fill the air with a joyous song, so at the voice of the singer, a hundred heralds and ministers of the eternal life rose from the high chariot; they all sang, “Blessed are you who come” [cf. Mt. 21:15] and, throwing flowers around and over, likewise cried out, manibus date lilia plenis: Give lilies with full hands [Aeneid, 6:883]. |
| 580 | Vidi ego, mane novo, roseo fulgere colore Eoam Cæli partem, dum cetera late Lumine cæruleo splenderent picta sereno, Et tenui nebula tectum sic surgere Solem Ut longum possent oculi perferre nĭtorem. Sic florum in nimbo, manibus qui jactus in auras Angelicis, extra currum recĭdebat et intus, Velo tecta caput niveo, redimitaque oliva, Vestibus in rubris, viridi circumdata amictu, Visa mihi est mulier. Mea mens, quam ex tempore tanto |
At new dawns, I have seen the eastern part of the Sky glow with red color while the rest was bright, widely painted with clear blue light, and the Sun rise covered with thin cloud in such a way that the eyes could endure its brightness for a long time. Thus in a cloud of flowers, a cloud which, thrown by Angelic hands into the air, fell back outside the chariot and inside, a woman appeared to me with her head covered by a white veil and crowned with olive leaves, in red vestments, wrapped in a green cloak. My mind, which trance had for such a long time |
| 590 | Haud stupor illius confregerat ore trementem, Quanquam non oculis nossem, virtute latenti, Quæ ex illa effluxit, veteris vestigia flammæ Continuo sensit, simul ac mihi lumina virtus Perculit, a teneris quæ me succenderat annis. Protinus ad lævam vertor, quo more parenti, Si timor aut dolor incĭderit, convertitur infans, Virgilio ut dicam : sanguis mihi contremit omnis ; Agnosco agnosco redivivæ semina flammæ. Virgilius sed nusquam aderat : discesserat ille |
not struck into trembling with her face even though I could not recognize her by sight through the hidden force which flowed out from her, immediately felt the traces of the ancient flame as soon as my eyes were struck by that power which had inflamed me from my boyhood years. I immediately turned to my left in the way a small child turns to his parent if fear or pain strikes it, to say to Virgil, “All of my blood is trembling in me; I recognize, I recognize the seeds of a renewed flame.” But Virgil was nowhere around; he had departed |
| 600 | Virgilius, pater ac ductor ; dulcissimus ille Virgilius, cui me mandaverat illa tuendum. Quam prima amisit mater, quaque ipse fruebar, Non valuit regio, ne, quæ ros terserat, ora Rursus turparent lacrimæ. Fletum edere, Dantes, [16] Parce ob Virgilii abscessum, fletum edere parce ; Majori est flendum causa. Ceu ductor in altam Aut proram, aut puppim, quondam se nauticus infert, Ut reliquis operam exercentes navibus illinc Prospiciat, stimulatque suo bene munere fungi ; |
Virgil, my father and guide! That sweetest Virgil, to whom she had committed me for watching over. The land that our first mother lost and that I was enjoying was not able to keep tears from again disfiguring my face which the dew had wiped clean. “Dante, spare your weeping because of Virgil’s departure; there is a reason to cry for something more important.” Like sometimes a naval commander mounts a high prow or stern in order from there to view those doing work on the other ships and who urges them to perform their tasks well, |
| 610 | Sic meo ut audito converti nomine vultum, (Quod rerum ob seriem sum commemorare coactus) Ex currūs læva mulier, quam in turbine florum Ante ego conspexi angelico, mihi vertere visa est Lumina cis ripam ; quamvis, quod vertice candens Pendebat velum, præcinctum fronde Minervæ, Os cerni haud sineret. Regaliter ore protervo Sic deinde est orsa ; ut valido sermone perorans, Quæ robusta magis retur, postrema relinquit. Fige oculos, mihi fige oculos ; sum ego, sum ipsa Beatrix. |
so, hearing my name mentioned (which I am forced to relate for the sake of continuity), as I turned my face, the woman whom I had previously seen in the angelic whirlwind of flowers appeared to turn her eyes to me from the left of the chariot to this side of the bank, although her face could not be seen because the white veil, crowned with Minerva’s leaves, hung from the top of her head. Regally, with a haughty attitude, she then began thus as one who, orating with powerful speech, leaves what she considers the strongest words until last: “Look at me, look at me. I am she, I am Beatrice herself. |
| 620 | Quomodo dignatus tandem es tu accedere monti ? Nunquid nescieras mortalem hic esse beatum ? Lumina dejeci nitidas in fluminis undas. At, me ibi conspiciens, vicina in gramina verti : Tam fuit ingenti mihi mens onerata pudore ! Ut mater nato, sic est tunc illa superba Visa mihi : improperantis enim pietatis amarus Est sapor, ac latices absinthii porrigit ori. Vix ea conticuit, cecinit chorus aliger hymnum In te speravi, Domine, usque pedes ; ac deinde quievit. |
How was it that you finally deigned to approach the mountain? Did you not know that mortals are happy here?” I cast my eyes down to the bright waters of the stream. But, seeing myself there, I turned to the neighboring grass my mind was so loaded with tremendous shame. As a mother seems to a child, so to me she looked overbearing at that moment. For the taste of scolding compassion is bitter and offers wormwood juice to the mouth. She had hardly fallen silent when the winged chorus sang the hymn “In te speravi: In Thee I have hoped” up to “pedes: feet” [Psalm 30:2-9 {older, 31:2-9}], and then became quiet. |
| 630 | Ut nix arboribus, juga summa per Appennini, Fit gelu, ab Arctois sufflata coactaque ventis ; Hinc fluit, in sese penetrans, quum ventus ab Afris Efflavit terris, ut cera resolvitur igne : Sic ego tum carui lacrimis gemituque, priusquam Ii cantum ediderint ; semper qui voce sequuntur Quos dant siderei concentūs ætheris orbes. At, postquam audivi numeris ex dulcibus, illos Indulgere mihi ; et quianam, quasi dicere, torques Sic miserum, mulier ? mea quæ præcordia circum |
As snow, blown in and compressed by Arctic winds through the Appennine ridge, becomes ice, then, sinking into itself when the wind blows from African lands, it flows from there as wax is melted by fire, so was I then without tears and sighs, before the song was sung by those who always follow with their voices the harmonies which the star-spangled spheres of the heavens produce. But after I heard them show compassion to me with their sweet melody, and as though to say “Why, o woman, are you torturing the miserable man so?”, the ice that had encased |
| 610 | Astiterat, glacies, tum spiritus undaque facta, In fletum ac gemitus oculis prorupit et ore. Stans illa in currus læva, sic deinde secuta est, Aligeris conversa piis : Noctuque diuque Vos tenet æterni vigiles lux alma diei, Nec quod sæcla gerunt sopor aut nox occulit unquam ; Major proinde mihi responsum est reddere cura, Quod bene percipiat, qui flet trans fluminis undas, Ut par et culpæ mensura sit, atque doloris. Non tantum cæli influxu, qui semina certum |
my heart, having then become breath and water, broke forth from my eyes and mouth as weeping and sighing. Standing on the left of the chariot, turning to the compassionate angels, she then continued, “Night and day the nourishing light keeps you as the watchmen of the eternal day, nor does sleepiness or night ever hide anything that the ages bring, hence it is my greater concern to render an answer that he who is weeping across the waters of the stream may understand well, so that the measure of his guilt and pain may be equal. It was not only by the influence of the heavens which guides each seed to |
| 650 | Dirigit ad finem, prout sit nascentibus astrum ; Divinæ sed opis quoque, quæ trahit inde vapores In pluviam, quo nostra acies accedere nescit, Hĭc, ineunte ævo, tali fuit indole pulchra, Ut vi naturæ ipse suæ se moribus aureis Induere, ac miros potuisset reddere fructus. Verum fit tanto magis hispidus atque malignus Semine cum tristi campus, cultore carendo, Quo vigor est terræ major. Primum ore decoro Hunc ego sustinui ; ac, juvenilia lumina monstrans, |
its objective according to the constellation given to newborns, but also by that of divine aid which, from a point where our eyesight cannot reach, draws up vapors to rain, this man, at the beginning of his life, was talented with such beautiful abilities that, by the power of his own nature, he himself could have clothed himself with golden morals and produced miraculous fruits. But the greater the earth’s fertility is, the more unkempt and coarse a field, lacking a cultivator, becomes with sad seed. At first I sustained him with my beautiful face and, showing him my young eyes, |
| 660 | Per rectum ducebam iter : at, quum deinde secundæ [17] Ætatis tacto mutavi limine vitam, Hĭc, me distituens, alii se dedidit amens. Terrenos exuta artus, quum spiritus essem, Ac magis excellens forma, et virtutibus aucta, Illi grata minus, minus illi acceptaque veni ; Per falsum se misit iter, simulacra bonorum Vana sequens, plenamque fidem præstantia nunquam. Numinis afflatum implorans, per somnia frustra Atque aliter monui ; fuit illi tantula cura ! |
I led him along the proper path. But when then, crossing the threshold of my second age, I changed my life, this man, abandoning me, senselessly gave himself to another. Bereft of earthly limbs, when I was spirit and more comely of form and richer in virtue, I became less desirable to him and less welcome to him. He proceeded down a false path, pursuing empty imitations of the good, which never fulfill their full promise. Imploring divine inspiration, I warned him through dreams and otherwise vainly, it was of so little concern to him! |
| 670 | Atque adeo in præceps iit, ut via nulla salutis Jam foret, inferni nisi gentem ostendere regni. Inferni proin limen adii, perfusaque fletu Ductorem hīc illum petii, qui detulit istuc. Rupta essent decreta Dei, transmittere Lethen Si foret huic fas, atque dapem hanc haurire liceret, [18] Symbola quin præeat lacrimarum, quas dolor ingens Exprimat ex oculis, ut pænituisse patescat. |
And he plunged so far down, that there was no way of salvation any longer except to show him the people of the infernal kingdom. Thus I went to the threshold of Hell and, shedding tears, I there besought that guide who brought him here. The decrees of God would be broken if it were permissible for him to cross Lethe, and he were allowed to imbibe this repast without the contribution of his tears to the feast preceding it tears which intense sorrow expresses from his eyes, so that it might be clear that he has repented.” |
| PURGATORII XXXI {31} ⇑ | ||
| 678 | O qui trans fluvium sistis, mihi deinde loquelam Intendens punctim, quæ tam fuit aspera caesim, |
“O you who are standing across the river,” she then said without pausing, aiming her speech pointwise at me, |
| 680 | Nil cunctata, inquit : sunt, sunt hæc omnia vera ? Est equidem fatearis opus. Tam pectore virtus Omnis erat confusa mihi, ut vox reddere verbum Sumpserit, ac prius abstiterit, quam erumperet ore. Illa, parum hoc passa : ecquid, dixit, mente volutas ? Da mihi responsum ; nondum nam crimina mente Delevit Lethe. Stupor ac metus edere labris Impulit assensum ; sed quem deprendere visu Esset opus. Ceu, tensa nimis, ballista refringit Et chordam atque arcum, metamque emissa sagitta |
which had been so sharp edgewise, “Are, are all of these things true? You must, indeed, confess.” All the power of my breast was so confused that my voice started to produce a word, yet stopped before it came out of my mouth. Having endured this for very little time, she said, “What is in your mind? Give me an answer; for Lethe has not yet erased your sins from your mind.” Stupor and fear forced an assent from my lips, but one that needed vision to perceive. As a ballista, tightened too much, cracks both its string and its bow, and the sent arrow hits |
| 690 | Segnius attingit : tanto sub pondere sic sum Tunc ego diruptus, fletum ac suspiria fundens ; Et vox, deficiens, prodivit debili ore. Exin illa sequens : quum te mea cura vocaret Ad bonum amandum, trans quod nil optabile prorsum est, Quæ foveæ obstiterunt ?, quæ devinxere catenæ, Ut tibi spem raperent ultra producere gressum ? Quas tibi delicias aliæ aut compendia vultu Ostendere suo, ante illas ut fervidus ires ? [19] Post magnum gemitum, vocem vix pectore traxi, |
its target lethargically, so I then broke down, pouring out weeping and sighs, and my voice, dying, came out with a weak sound. She then followed with, “When longing for me called you to love the good beyond which there is absolutely nothing to wish for, what pitfalls stood in your way? What chains bound you so that they took from you the hope of progressing further? What delights or advantages did others show to you in their faces, that you ran passionately toward them?” After a deep sigh, I barely drew my voice from my chest, |
| 700 | Labraque vix hanc ediderunt. Meo ab ore remotus, Flens dixi, ut tuus est vultus, sub imagine falsa Res mihi præsentes tulerunt per devia gressus. Atque ea : si tegeres, quam tu nunc ipse fateris, Si infitias ires, pariter tua culpa pateret ; Ille etenim novit, qui perspicit omnia, judex ; At, quum flāgitium delinquens ipse fatetur, Contra aciem ferri in nostra rota volvitur aula. [20] Ut tamen et pudor erroris sit major, et inde Quum vocem audieris Sirenum ut fortius obstes, |
and my lips barely emitted it. “When your face had been removed from my vision,” I said, weeping, “present things took my steps into wayward paths.” And she: “If you covered up what you yourself are now confessing, if you denied it, your fault would be no less evident, for the Judge who sees everything knows it. But, when the sinner himself confesses his shameful deed, the grindstone in our court is turned against the sword edge. But nevertheless, so that the shame of your error may be greater, and you may henceforth more strongly resist when you hear the voice of the Sirens, |
| 710 | Abjice jam semen fletus, ac sedulus audi Quomodo te adversam in partem mea membra sepulta Mittere debuerant. Tibi gratum et amabile nunquam Ars aut Natura obtulerunt, ut membra decōra Queis induta fui, quæ nunc sunt putrida terra. Propterea, si morte mea te summa voluptas Defecit, quæ res animum mortalis amore Debuerat vincire tuum ? Ex vulnere primo Doctum vanarum rerum, te ad sidera mecum, Quæ non talis eram, sursum transferre decebat : |
throw off, now, the seed of your weeping and listen carefully to how my buried limbs ought to have sent you to the opposite side. Art or Nature never presented you with anything as pleasing and lovable as the beautiful members with which I had been clothed, which are now decayed earth. So, if with my death your highest pleasure disintegrated, what mortal thing could have chained your spirit with love? It behooved you, having been taught by the first wound of empty things, to lift yourself up to the stars with me, who was no longer the same. |
| 720 | Non tibi cunctari pennas, ut plura maneres Vulnera, debuerat virgo, breviterque fruenda Res alia instabilis. Bis terque volucris ad ictus Nata recens manet ; at, quum pennas induit omnes, Nequiquam aut tela aut retes tenduntur eidem. Ut taciti, dejecti oculos, plenique pudore, Asistunt pueri monitoris vocibus, atque Admissa agnoscunt, ac pænituisse fatentur ; Tunc ego talis eram. Si te mea verba dolentem Efficiunt, tunc illa inquit, barbam erige : visŭs |
A young girl and some other briefly enjoyable thing should not have made your wings linger to wait for more wounds. A newly hatched bird waits for the blows, but after it has put on all of its feathers, weapons or nets are aimed at the same one in vain. As children stand with downcast eyes, full of shame, at their admonisher’s voice, and admit their misdeeds and show they have repented, so then was I. Then she said, “If my words make you sorrowful, lift your beard. The sight |
| 730 | Vividius mærere dabit. Radicitus Euri Aut Boreæ flabris ilex impulsa sonoris Promptius eruitur, quam tunc ego voce jubentis Extulerim mentum, et, quoniam me poscere vultum Per barbam voluit, bene sensi quale lateret Virus in hoc dicto. Postquam faciem ipse levavi, Angelicam turbam jactu desistere vidi ; Luminibusque meis titubantibus illa biformi Visa est versa feræ. Quamvis velamine tecta, Ac procul abstaret viridem trans fluminis oram, |
will make you grieve more intensely.” A holm oak struck by a roaring southeast or north wind is more readily torn up by the roots than I then raised my chin at the voice of her who commanded it and, because she chose to demand my gaze by means of “beard,” I sensed well what kind of poison hid in those words. After I had raised my face, I saw the angelic crowd stop its throwing, and to my wavering eyes she appeared turned to the biform creature. Even though she was covered with a veil and stood far off across the green shore of the stream, |
| 740 | Pāruit antiquā mihi se formosior ipsā, Plusquam præ reliquis fuerat jam viva puellis. Tunc me pænituit : quod plus me illexit amore, Plus ego tunc odi. Talis mihi corda momordit Cognitio, ut victus caderem ; qualisque fuissem, Scit tantum, quæ causa fuit. Quum rursus in artus Cor mihi restituit vires, quæ carpere flores Visa mihi fuerat mulier, me desuper ipsam Astare aspexi : mihi adhære, ajebat, adhære. Gutture me tenus in medias deduxerat undas ; |
She appeared to me more beautiful than her own former self, to a greater degree than she had already surpassed the other girls when alive. Then I was sorry; the more something had lured me with love of it, the more I then hated it. Such recognition struck my heart that I fell down, overcome; and how I was, only she knows who was the cause. When my heart had again restored strength to my limbs, the woman who had appeared to be picking flowers I saw the same one standing over me, saying, “Hold on to me, hold on.” She had drawn me up to my neck into mid-stream, |
| 750 | Ac, me pone trahens, liquido super amne meabat, Non secus ac radius percurrit stamina telæ. Fluminis adversæ venit quum proxima ripæ Me asperges late auditum est tam dulce sonare, [21] Non modo ne valeam verbis describere, verum Nec meminisse queam. Pandit tunc illa lacertos ; Amplectensque caput, vitrea me mersit in unda ; Atque hanc haurivi. Mox extulit, atque madentem Quattuor exhibuit choreas ducentibus ; illæque Obtexere suis bracchiis. Nos sidera Cælo, [22] |
and, dragging me after her, walked on top of the watery stream the same way a shuttle runs over the warp of the weave. When she had come near to the opposite bank of the stream, “Me asperges: Thou shalt sprinkle me” [Psalm 50:9] was widely heard to sound so sweetly that I can not only not describe it with words, but cannot even remember it. She spread her arms and, embracing my head, submerged me in the glasslike waves, and I swallowed them. She then pulled me out and presented me, all wet, to the four maidens engaging in dance, and they covered me with their arms. Singing, they said, “In the Sky we are stars, |
| 760 | Hic Nymphæ sumus : ante etiam quam membra Beatrix Terrena indueret, famulas huic Numen amicum Nos dedit : illius nos te ducemus ad ora ; Lumen at ut videas, oculis quod in illius ardet, Est opus ut tibi tres aliæ, queis visus acutus Est magis, exacuant aciem. Dixere canentes ; Atque feræ ad pectus postquam me deinde biformis Duxerunt, stabat nobis ubi versa Beatrix ; Optatis animum, addiderunt, obtutibus exple ; Cerne faces, Amor unde tibi sua spicula torsit. |
here we are Nymphs. Before Beatrice donned earthly members, the loving divine Will gave us to her as her handmaids. We will take you to her face; but in order for you to see the light that burns in her eyes, it is necessary for three others, whose vision is keener, to sharpen your eyesight.” And after that they then led me to the breast of the biform beast where Beatrice stood facing us. “Fill your soul,” they added, “with the desired vision. See the torches whence Love shot his barbs at you.” |
| 770 | Plurima tunc mihi, plusquam ignis flammata, cupido Obstrinxere oculos oculis lucentibus, ipsum Jugiter in Gryphum fixis. Ut Solis imago In speculo, sic his Gryphi radiebat utrisque Effigies, nunc illa aquilæ, nunc illa leonis. Conjice jam, lector, stupor an me invaserit ingens Quum Gryphum integrum, atque oculis pārēre viderem Dividuum. Dum lætitia plenusque stupore Gustarem escam, quæ, explendo, magis ipsa sititur, Tres aliæ astiterunt, supremo ex ordine ab āctis |
A thousand passions, more enflamed than fire, riveted my eyes to her gleaming eyes, steadfastly fixed on the Griffin himself. As the Sun’s image reflects in a mirror, so the Griffin’s likeness now that of an eagle, now that of a lion radiated in both those eyes. Ask yourself, reader, whether amazement did not overcome me when I saw the Griffin as a whole, yet in her eyes divided. While full of joy and amazement I was tasting this food that, in filling, is itself more thirsted for, three other woman stood there, appearing from their bearing to be from the highest rank, |
| 780 | Visæ, atque angelica comitantes voce choreas : Pande tuo fido, cantabant, pande, Beatrix, Lumina, qui per iter duxit vestigia longum, Ut te conspiceret : da, quæsumus, ora videre Ac tua, quam celas, sit nota secunda venustas. Lucis o æternæ splendor, quis palluit unquam Parnassi sub rupe sedens ? quis fluminis undas Hausit Castalii, cui non caligine sæpta Mens fuerit, si qualis eras describere tentet, Cælum ubi te umbrabat, concentibus aëra replens, [23] |
and accompanying the dance with angelic voice: “Reveal, reveal, o Beatrice, your eyes to your faithful one who has trekked this long way to see you. We beseech you, let him see your face, and let your second beauty, which you hide, be known to him.” O splendor of the eternal Light! Who has ever become pale sitting beneath the cliff of Mount Parnassus; who has drunk of the waters of the Castalian stream whose mind would not be enclosed by darkness, if he attempted to describe how you were where Heaven, filling the air with music, is your shade, |
| 790 | Quum te spectari manifesta in luce dedisti ? | when you allowed yourself to be seen in clear light? |
| PURGATORII XXXII {32} ⇑ | ||
| 791 | Usque adeo ipse sitim cupidus saturare decennem Intentis hærebam oculis, ut sensibus essem Pæne carens aliis ; reliquarum incuria rerum, His erat hinc illinc paries ; tam prisca beati Retia vinciebant risūs ! Sed vertere vultum Sum propere in lævam Nympharum voce coactus. Intueris, dixere, nimis. Quæ ex Sole corusco Fit caligo oculis fixis, hæc lumina paulum Tunc mea privavit visu. Quum cernere paucam |
I was so fixated, desirous of satisfying my ten-year thirst with my attentive eyes, that I was almost devoid of the other senses, to which the lack of concern of other things constituted a wall on this side and that, so entangling were the ancient, blessed nets of her laughter. But I was quickly forced to turn my face to the left by the voice of the Nymphs. “You are looking too intently,” they said. The darkness which happens to staring eyes from a blazing Sun then deprived my eyes of sight for a while. Then when I began to see |
| 800 | Dein lucem incepi (paucam, splendoribus illis Collatam nempe, unde fui per vim ante revulsus), In dextram conversum agmen, cum Sole reverti Ante oculos, vidi, ac septem funalibus ipsis. Tecta velut clipeis, ut tela hostilia vitet, Sese acies vertit, signumque secuta, revolvit, Quum non tota queat mutari tempore in uno ; Sic Cæli tunc illa acies, quæ se ante ferebat, Ordine progrediens, transivit tota, priusquam Curriculus sese, verso temone, moveret. |
a little light (little, that is, compared to the splendors whence I had just been torn by force), I saw the column, having turned around rightwards, returning, with the Sun and the seven torches themselves in front of their eyes. As though covered by their shields to avoid enemy weapons, a battle line turns and, following the standard, wheels around when it cannot switch as a whole at one time, so then that whole battlefront of Heaven which was in the lead, proceeding in order, marched past before the chariot, turning its chariot-pole, moved. |
| 810 | Continuo ad lapsus Nymphæ rediere rotarum : Gryps currum movit, quin pluma tremisceret ulla. Ac mulier, quæ me ad flumen duxit, Statiusque. Ac simul ipse, rotam, quæ se breviore revolvit Arcu, subsequimur. Silvam cultore peragrans Sic vacuam, culpa illius quæ credidit angui, Angelici ad numerum cantus, vestigia movit. Post quantum triplici jactu vibrata sagitta Percurrit spatii, descendit ab axe Beatrix ; Omnium et audivi mussari vocibus Adam. |
The maidens immediately returned to the moving wheels; the griffin pulled the chariot without any feather shaking. And Statius and the woman who had pulled me into the river, and I myself, followed the wheel which had turned in a shorter arc. Traveling thus through the forest empty of a cultivator, due to the fault of her who had believed the serpent, the column proceeded to the cadence of an angelic song. After it had travelled as far a distance as an arrow might be shot in three flights, Beatrice descended from the vehicle, and I heard “Adam” muttered by everyone’s voice. |
| 820 | Floribus hinc plantam ac foliis cinxere carentem. [24] Quo magis hæc surgit, magis ardua bracchia pandit, Vertice tam celso, foret ut mirabilis Indis. Felix, Gryphe, nimis, qui non discindere rostro, Dulce ori, hoc lignum curas [25] ; nam viscera quondam Carpenti hoc torsit. Plantam sic undique circum Clamabant alii ; quibus ales deinde biformis : Omnis sic est justitiæ servabile semen. Temonem hinc capiens, fetuque ac fronde carentem Continuo ad plantam traxit, truncoque ligavit |
They then surrounded a plant divested of flowers and leaves. The more it rose, the wider it spread out its branches, with a top so high that it would be amazing to the Indians. “Exceedingly happy are you, o Griffin, who takes care not to tear this wood, sweet to the mouth, apart with your beak, because it once twisted the innards of him who plucked it.” So shouted the others all around the plant. The biform winged creature then said to them, “Thus is the seed of all justice that can be saved.” Then taking the chariot tongue, he immediately drew it to the plant lacking fruit and foliage, and tied to its trunk |
| 830 | Illius ex secto compactum robore currum. Sicut in arboribus nostris, quum mixta refulget Aurea lux Solis nĭtidis fulgoribus astri Quod sequitur Pisces, fluidus diffunditur umor, Unde tument, vestitque novo se quæque colore, Ante aliud quam Solis equos exceperit astrum ; Haud aliter, quæ nuda fuit, tunc planta revixit ; Plus violæ, atque rosæ minus, exornata colore. [26] Non ego deprendi, nec terris editur hisce Quem cecinit gens illa hymnum ; nec ferre tenorem |
the chariot constructed of cut oak. As in our trees, when the golden light of the Sun beams down mixed with the shining brilliance of the star that follows Pisces the Fish, liquid moisture is rained down, whence they swell, and everything clothes itself with new color before another constellation [Aries] receives the Sun’s horses, so the plant that had been denuded then revived, adorned with a color more than violet and less than rose. I did not understand the hymn which that people sang, nor is it found on this earth, nor could I endure |
| 840 | Integrum potui. Si pingere carmine possem Quomodo crudeles, quum de Syringe canentem Audirent, oculos clausit dulcedine somnus, Queis nocuit vigilare nimis ; me quomodo dulcis Tum cepit somnus, pictoris more referrem, Qui pingit, subjecta oculis exempla secutus. Hoc pingant, quicunque velint ; ego deferor ultra. Vivida me lux sopitum discussit, et una Vox mihi dicentis : quid cessas ? abjice somnum. Ut, visum [27] māli flores (felicibus explet |
its whole length. If with a poem I could paint how sleep closed the cruel eyes (which excessive staying awake did in) with sweetness when they heard one singing of the Syrinx, I would relate in the manner of a painter who paints, following models placed before his eyes how sweet sleep then overtook me. Those who want to, let them paint it; I myself pass beyond that. A bright light shook me out of it as I drowsed, and the lone voice of a speaker said to me, “Why are you resting? Throw off your sleep.” As the three disciples, brought to see the flowers of the apple tree [Christ’s Transfiguration] (which fills the Angels |
| 850 | Quæ Superos pomis, et connubialia semper Dat Cælis epula) adducti, mox voce, potenti Rumpere majores somnos, rediere vocati Discipuli tres ; ac Mosem et Thesbiten abisse Videre, atque ipsum vestes mutasse Magistrum : Sic ego tum redii e somno ; atque assistere cernens Quæ mihi dux fuerat propter jam fluminis oram : O ubinam, dubius dixi, mihi fare, Beatrix ? Arboris illa sedet, rettulit, sub fronde recenti, Atque ipsum ad truncum : circumstant, aspice, Nymphæ. |
with fruits and always provides wedding banquets in the Heavens), then recalled by a voice to one that had the power to disrupt deeper sleeps , returned and saw that Moses and the Tishbite [Elias] had gone and the Master himself had changed his clothing, so then I returned from sleep and saw the woman standing alongside me who had already been my leader next to the shore of the stream. “O tell me where,” I said, confused, “Beatrice is.” “She is sitting under fresh leafage and against the trunk itself. Look, maidens are surrounding her. |
| 860 | Post Gryphum reliqui sursum vestigia tendunt, Carmina cantantes plus dulcia plusque profunda. Nescio num plura edidit : illam quippe videbam Quæ mentem reliquis prohibebat vertere rebus. Sola toro in viridi ac vera tellure sedebat, Ut custos plaustri, quod Gryps plantæ ante ligarat : Cum facibus, quas non Aquilo restinguit et Auster, Septem circum aderant Nymphæ. Hic, mihi fata Beatrix, Silvanus brevis, inquit, eris, sed tempus in omne Civis eris mecum, quam Christus dirigit, urbis : |
The rest are going up after the Griffin, singing sweeter and more profound songs.” I do not know whether she said more, for I was looking at her who forbade me to turn my mind to other things. She was sitting alone on the very earth as a green cushion, as guardian of the wagon that the Griffin had tied to the tree before. The seven maidens were with her with the torches that neither the north nor south wind could extinguish. Beatrice said to me, “You will be a short-time forest dweller here, but for all time you will be with me a citizen of the city which Christ rules. |
| 870 | At, male viventi ut mundo auxilieris, in ipsum Tende oculos currum ; et quicquid conspexeris, olim Quum fueris terris, scripto mandare memento. Dixit. Ego, illius mandata facessere promptus, Quo fueram jussus, mentemque ac lumina verti. Non unquam tanto densis ex nubibus ignis Impete præcipitat, quum decidit imber aquarum, Fusus ab ætheria, quæ surgit celsior, arce ; Ut ruit in plantam præceps Jovis armiger ales ; [28] Frondesque ac flores, discisso cortice, rupit ; |
But to help the world that lives wrongly, turn your eyes to the chariot itself and, when you are on earth, remember to commit to writing whatever you have seen.” Thus she spoke. I, ready to perform her commands, turned my mind and eyes to where I had been ordered. Fire never plunged so swiftly from thick clouds when a rainstorm of waters falls, pouring from the stratospheric pinnacle which rises highest, as Jove’s weapons-bearing eagle hurtled onto the plant and, tearing off its bark, sheared it of leaves and flowers. |
| 880 | Vi currum incussit magna ; quare ille, carinæ Est similis versus, quam nunc agit unda sinistrum Nunc latus in dextrum. Inde, dapum jejuna bonarum, In fundum currūs vulpes irrupit ; at illi [29] Mille mea objiciens mulier mala facta, fugavit Tam propere, quantum poterant sine carnibus ossa. Calle remensa vias, per quam jam venerat, inde Regina alituum rursus descendit in arcam, Atque suis pennis indutam, avecta, reliquit : [30] Qualis et ex animo prorumpit mæsta dolenti, |
It hit the chariot with great force, so that it turned like a ship which the waves drive now to the left and now to the right. After that a fox, starved of good food, jumped onto the floor of the chariot, but my lady, reproaching her with a thousand objections, put it to flight as fast as bones without flesh could go. Retracing the path through which it had already come, the queen of the birds from there again descended the trajectory into the chassis and departed, leaving it covered with her feathers. And a sorrowful voice like one issuing from a grieving soul, |
| 890 | Vox ait ex Cælo : o mea, quam male, cumba, gravaris ! Inter utramque rotam mihi visa dehiscere terra Hinc fuit ; atque exire draco, qui sursus iniquam [31] Per currum inseruit caudam, quam deinde reducens In morem vespæ, stimulum retrahentis acutum, Ex fundo abstraxit partem, atque vagatus abivit. Quod fuit hinc reliquum, vivax ut gramine tellus, Indutum est pennis, quas mens fortasse benigna [32] Tradidit ; hisque rotæ geminæ et temo undique tectus Est citius, quam quis gemitum prorumpat ab ore. |
said from Heaven, “O my boat, how badly you are overloaded!” Between the two wheels it seemed to me the earth then opened up and a dragon emerged that drove his evil tail up into the chariot; then retracting it, like a wasp withdrawing its sharp barb, drew away part of the bottom and went wandering off. What was left from there, like fertile earth with grass, was covered with feathers which, perhaps, a kind mind had bequeathed to it, and the two wheels and the chariot tongue were all more quickly covered with them than anyone could utter a sigh from his mouth. |
| 900 | Currus, ita inversus, septem capita edidit ; unum [33] Per quodcunque latus : tria sunt temone recepta. Trinis, more boum, surgebant cornua bina ; Unum inerat quattuor : monstrum haud tale exstitit unquam. Hoc super, ut celso surgens arx monte, sedebat, Ore procax, meretrix, lascivaque lumina vertens. [34] Tanquam ne sibi rapta foret, huic proximus ingens [35] Stabat mole gigas. Inter se mutua quondam Oscula figebant ; at, quum mihi verterit illa [36] Lascivos oculos, illam de vertice ad imos |
The chariot, thus changed, sprouted seven heads: one on each side; three were admitted on the chariot tongue. From three of them grew two horns apiece, like bulls; four were on one: such a monster had never come about ever. On top of this one, like a citadel rising on a high mountain, sat a whore, shameless of face and looking around with lascivious eyes. As though lest she be snatched from him, a giant huge of mass stood next to her. At times they planted mutual kisses on one another. But when she turned her lascivious eyes to me, her cruel lover struck |
| 910 | Verbere percussit talos crudelis amator. [37] Suspicione dehinc ac multa percitus ira Dissolvit monstrum, ac silvæ per devia traxit : [38] A meretrice novaque fera me silva diremit. |
beat her from head to foot. Then, churning with suspicion and great rage, he released the monster and dragged it through the tracklessness of the forest; the forest separated me from the whore and the new beast. |
| PURGATORII XXXIII {33} ⇑ | ||
| 914 | In tua, sancte Deus, venerunt atria gentes, Quattuor ac tres alternis cœpere canentes Cum lacrimis Nymphae ; atque illis intenta Beatrix Sic aderat mærens, ut paulo tristior olim Ante crucem fuerit Christi flens funera Mater. Postquam desierunt cantum, potuitque profari, |
“In tua, sancte Deus, venerunt atria gentes: Into your sanctuary, holy God, have come the heathens” [Psalm 78:1], four and three maidens began singing with alternating tears. And Beatrice, watching them, was present grieving in such a way that once Christ’s Mother before the cross, bewailing his death, was little sadder. After they had finished the chant and she was able to speak, |
| 920 | Erexit sese, vultumque accensa decorum, Assimilis flammæ : dilectæ, est fata, sorores, Jam tempus modicum, nec erit me visere vobis ; Mox iterum modicum, et vos me spectare licebit. [39] Septem hinc præmisit Nymphas, ac me Statiumque Nympham et florilegam nutu post vadere jussit. Nec denos reor isse gradus, quum fixit ocellos Versa meis oculis, ac vultu dixit amico : Appropera, atque accede mihi, ut, si eloquar, aures Vocibus intendas melius. Quod jusserat, egi. |
she rose and, making her lovely face glow like flame, said, “Beloved sisters, yet a little time and it will not be possible for you to see me; then again a little, and you will be permitted to see me.” [Cf. John 16:16.] Then she sent the seven Maidens in front and with a nod order me and Statius and the flower-culling Maiden to proceed after her. I believe she had not gone ten steps when, turning, she looked into my eyes and with a friendly expression, said, “Hurry and come up to me so that if I speak you can place your ears better to what I say.” I did what she commanded. |
| 930 | Ac tunc illa mihi : frater, cur quærere quicquam Non audes, mecum veniens ? Velut accidit illis, Qui, nimium veriti, majorum ante ora loquentes, Vix proferre queunt hærentia gutture verba ; Et mihi tum sic evenit ; qui, voce locutus Abrupta : tu, Diva, mihi quod proficit, et quo Scis egeam, dixi. Atque ea : te formidine solvas Atque pudore volo, ne verba deinde loquaris Vir velut in somnis. Currus, quem ruperit anguis, Jam fuit, ac non est [40] ; hujus sed criminis auctor |
And then she to me: “Brother, why, when coming along with me, you do not dare to ask anything?” As happens with those who, too afraid when speaking before the faces of their elders, can hardly come out with the words sticking in their throats, so it happened to me, too, who, speaking with a broken voice, said, “You, Madonna, know what is good for me and what I need.” And she: “I want you to free yourself from your fears and shame, lest as a consequence you speak like a man in his dreams. The chariot that the serpent broke is gone, and is no longer. But let the author of that crime |
| 940 | Compertum certumque habeat, quod Numinis ultrix Intrusum vino panem non ira timescit. [41] Non semper volucrum regina herede carebit, [42] Quæ pennas curru dederit, quibus obsitus ille Est monstrum an præda hinc factus. Jam præscia cerno (Atque ideo hoc narro) tempus bona sidera amicum Volvere, quod mora nulla ac nullus detinet objex. Quingenti atque decem et quinque alto a Numine missus,[43] Hanc mœcham interimet, concumbentemque gigantem. Forte meus sermo, Themidis vel Sphingis ad instar, |
be fully aware that the avenging wrath of God does not fear bread dipped in wine. The queen of the birds that gave to your chariot its feathers, covered with which the chariot then became a monster or a prey, will not be without an heir forever. I now see clairvoyantly (and thus I relate it) the good stars bringing in a friendly time that no delay and no hindrance is detaining. Five hundred and ten and five [DXV => DUX], sent by the high God, will kill this whore and the giant fornicating with her. Perhaps my speech, like that of Themis or the Sphinx, |
| 950 | Non tibi persuadet ; nam mentem ambagibus obdit. Facta patēre dabunt, et erunt quasi Najades, istud [44] Quæ, pecude ac segete intactis, ænigma resolvent. Hæc tu mente nota ; eque meo velut excipis ore, Nuntius inde refer vitam ducentibus illam, Quæ ad mortem est cursus : Quum scribas, quomodo plantam Videris, haud sileas, quæ bis nunc passa rapinam est. [45] Vellere quicunque hanc ausit, vel scindere quicquam, Ille Deum contra gestis blasphemia torquet, [46] Qui sibimet sanctam propriosque creavit in usus. |
does not persuade you because it puts the mind before ambiguities. Events will make things manifest and will be like Naiads [actually Laiades, son of Laius, i.e., Œdipus] who will solve that enigma with no harm to flocks or crops. Note this mentally: and as you take this from my mouth, as my messenger relate it to those who lead that life which is a race to death. Do not be silent, when you write, how you have seen the plant that has now twice suffered pillage. Whoever has dared to rend it or tear off anything, with his acts turns in blasphemy against God who created it holy for himself and his own uses. |
| 960 | Milia plus quinque annorum qui hanc ore momordit [47] Primus homo in pœna desiderioque peregit, [48] Illum optans, morsum qui se punivit in ipso. Obdormis certe, si causam attingere nescis, Cur tantum assurgat, cur et sit vertice versa. Ni ex curis vanis, velut unda ex fluminis Elsæ, [49] Mens tua duruerit, fueritque his blanda voluptas, Pyramus ut mōris, quæ mutavere colorem ; Justitiam agnosces Domini, tot imagine rerum Qui hanc vetuit lædi. At, quoniam lapidescere mentem |
The first man [Adam], who bit this with his mouth, spent over five thousand years in punishment and desire, longing for Him who punished the bite in Himself. You are definitely asleep if you cannot see the reason why it rises so high, and why it is inverted in its crown. If your mind had not become hardened as though by the water of the River Elsa by empty cares, and pleasure had not been enticing to them, as Pyramus was to the mulberries which changed their color, you would have recognized in the symbolism of so many things the justice of the Lord who forbade its being harmed. But because I see your mind |
| 970 | Ipsa tuam cerno, et peccato tinctus hebescis, Dictorumque jubar nescis haurire meorum : Hæc volo, ni scripta, at saltem tibi pectore in imo Picta geras, causam nimirum propter eandem, Qua baculus fertur palmarum fronde revinctus. Cera velut formam, qua sit signata sigillo, Inqui ego, quæ memoras, servabo in corde reposta. At quianam tua dicta meum sic ardua captum Exsuperant, ut, quo magis hæc deprendere nītor, Me magis effugiunt ? Ut, quam sis ipse secutus, |
petrifying and since, stained by sin, you have become dull and are unable to imbibe the brilliance of my words, I would like for you to take back in the depths of your breast, if not writings, then at least paintings, for the same reason, to be sure, that a staff is carried around wreathed with a palm branch.” I replied, “As wax keeps the form with which it has been stamped by a seal, I will keep your words stored in my heart. But why do your difficult sayings exceed my capacity so that the more I strive to understand them, the more they escape me?” She said, “So that you might know the doctrine |
| 980 | Doctrinam agnoscas, ait, et mea quomodo possit Verba sequi ; utque etiam discas, absistere vestrum Tramite divino, quantum alto ex vertice Cæli Quod citiore suum peragit vertigine cursum, Terreus orbis abest. A vobis devius isse Non memini, dixi ; non hæc me cura remordet. Tunc ea surridens : si non reminisceris, inquit, Te modo Letheos latices potasse memento. Occultus velut ex fumo dignoscitur ignis, Sic clare ista tuam retegunt oblivia culpam, |
you yourself have followed, and how it might follow my words, and also so that you might learn that your way is as far from the divine way as the earthly globe is distant from the high peak of the Heaven which races around its course with faster orbiting.” I said, “I do not remember having gone off course from you; this concern does not gnaw me.” Then she said, smiling: “If your do not remember, remember that you have just drunk Lethean waters. As a hidden fire is recognized from smoke, your forgetfulness clearly reveals your guilt |
| 990 | Quod fuerit tua nempe alio conversa voluntas. Jam nunc clara loquar ; dictis ac talibus utar, Qualia conveniunt sæptæ caligine menti. Jamque, magis rutilans, ac pergens lentius, orbe Sol medio ardebat, qui pro ratione locorum Ipse etiam hic illic variat, quum protinus instar Qui turbæ dux monstrat iter, si tramite in ipso Occurrat quid forte novi, vestigia septem Presserunt Nymphæ, finem pallentis ad umbræ, Qualem protendunt fluviis algentibus Alpes |
that your will, that is, had been turned elsewhere. I will now speak clear words and use such language as suits a mind confined by darkness.” And now, shining redder and going slower, the Sun burned on the meridian, which varies from here to there depending on the location, when suddenly, like the leader of a group showing the way if perhaps something new is encountered on the path itself, the seven Maidens stopped in their tracks at the edge of a pale shadow such as the Alps cast on cold streams, |
| 1000 | Tegmine ramorum, nigranti fronde comantum. Ante illas mihi sunt visi, uno ex fonte fluentes, Tigris et Euphrates, cursuque abscedere lento, Instar amicorum, se dissociare dolentum. O lux, o humanæ pulcherrima gloria gentis, Ecquænam hæc, dixi, est aqua, quæ, una ab origine manans, Scinditur, atque duos ex se dat currere rivos ? Illa sub hæc : præsens hoc te Mathelda docebit. Hoc illum atque alia edocui, tum candida Virgo Respondit, veluti qui sese crimine purgat : |
under cover of branches plumed with dark fronds. In front of them it seemed were the Tigris and Euphrates, flowing from a single spring and leaving with a slow drift like friends regretting to part from one another. “O light, o most beautiful glory of the human race, what,” I said, “is this water that, seeping out of a single source, splits and makes two rivers flow out of itself ?” At this, she: “Matilda, here, will teach you that.” “I have taught him this and other things,” the shining-white Virgin then replied, as though clearing herself of blame; |
| 1010 | Atque scio ex Lethe non hæc deleta fuisse. Cura illum major, rettulit tunc orsa Beatrix, Quæ memorem sensum nonnumquam mente revellit, Reddidit immemorem. Sed jam illic cerne fluentem Euniam : hunc propere deduc illius ad amnem ; Fac sua, more tuo, virtus sopita revivat. Ut vir, corde bonus, nullas afferre negandi Scit causas ; sed, vix per signum aliena voluntas Notuit, hanc facit ipse suam ; sic protinus illa, Postquam me cepit, mulier se candida movit ; |
“And I know they were not wiped out as a result of Lethe.” Beginning, Beatrice then responded, “A greater concern that sometimes banishes the remembering sense from the mind has made him forgetful. But now look at Eunoë flowing there. Quickly, lead him down to its stream; in your usual way, get his sleeping virtue to revive.” As a good-hearted man knows to give no excuses of denial but, when another’s will becomes known by hardly a sign, makes that will his own, so that gleaming-white woman immediately afterward took me, setting out |
| 1020 | Ac Statio : huic comes assis, jussu indixit erili. Si mihi scribendi, lector, spatium amplius esset, Prosequerer partim dulcem nunc carmine potum, Quo mea non unquam sitis exsaturata fuisset : At, quum, quas poscunt hæc altera cantica, plenæ Sint penitus chartæ, ulterius procedere frena Impediunt artis. Veluti nova frondibus arbos Compta novis, sancto redii instauratus ab amne, Ac purus ; Cælique aptus conscendere ad astra. |
and, with a queenlike command, told Statius, “Come along with him as his companion.” If I had more writing space, reader, I would in part now dwell in song on the sweet drink by which my thirst would never have been sated. But since the pages which these secondary canticles demand are completely full, the reins of art prevent my proceding further. Like a new tree adorned with new foliage, I returned from the holy stream renovated and clean, and fit to climb to Heaven’s stars. |
| PARADISUS | ||
| LIBER IX | ||
| PARADISI I {1} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Mirifica illius, qui commovet omnia solus, Gloria per mundi partes sese inserit omnes, Hac magis, hac minus effulgens. Cælum ipse petivi, Ex illa plus lucis habens ; ac talia vidi, Quæ nequit ac nescit, quisquis redit inde, referre : Namque Bono, quod prorsus avet, mens nostra propinquans Usque adeo insinuat, seseque intrinsecus infert, Ut nequeat posthac retro memor ire facultas. Quod mihi cælestis sub mente reponere regni |
The miraculous glory of Him who alone moves all things, penetrates all parts, shining more here, less there. I myself have gone to the Heaven which from that glory has more of His light, and have seen such things as whoever returns from there neither can, nor knows how to, narrate. For our mind, approaching the Good that it fully desires, delves so far and enters so deeply that the faculty of memory cannot later go back to it. All of what of the heavenly realm I was allowed to retain in my mind |
| 10 | Fas fuit, hoc totum numeris ostendere sumam. O bone, succurre extremo nunc, Phœbe, labori : Assis o felix, ac tales suffice vires, Quales acquirenda petit tua laurus amata : Hactenus ex uno Parnassi vertice tantum Sat fuit aura mihi : nunc afflet oportet uterque : Illabare mihi ; atque cane ut quum, carmine victus, Marsya pelle dedit, detracta ex corpore, pœnas ; Sic, Virtus divina, fave, ut, mihi condita mente, Carminibus pateat regni cælestis imago : |
I will undertake to explain in verse. O good Apollo, help now my final labor. Come, o happy one, and supply me with such powers as your beloved laurel seeks in order to be gained. Up to now the wind from only a single peak of Parnassus was enough for me. Now both must blow on me. Glide into me and sing as when, conquered by your song, Marsyas paid the penalty with his skin pulled from his body. Thus, o divine Power, grant that the heavenly realm’s image hidden in my mind may be revealed in song. |
| 20 | Tum laurum accedam, ac serto mea tempora cingam, Quod mihi tu dederis, cœptumque insigne, mereri : Tam legitur raro, ut vates Cæsarque triumphet, Propter, quæ humanæ est genti probrosa voluntas, Esse ut Delphiaco deberent gaudia Divo, Si quis Penejæ frondis capiatur amore. Ingens exiguæ succedit flamma favillæ : Post me forte aliquis precibus melioribus olim Orabit, quibus ex Cyrrha responsa dabuntur. Surgit ab Eoi vario Sol margine Cæli ; |
Then I will come to your laurel tree and surround my temples with the wreath that you have allowed me, and the great enterprise, to merit. It is read so rarely that a poet and that a Caesar triumphs, on account of the fact that the will is perverse for the human race, that joy ought to be begotten in the Delphic God if anyone is seized with the love of the Peneian leavage. A vast flame follows on a tiny spark. Perhaps after me someone will at some time pray with better prayers to which replies will be given from Cyrrha. The sun rises from a varying horizon of the eastern Sky, |
| 30 | At crucibus trinis qui nectit quattuor orbes, [1] Hinc cursu ac juncto meliori sidere surgit, Liberiusque suo mundanam lumine ceram Temperat ac signat. Mane hac in parte coortum [2] Illinc, atque hinc Vesper erat ; pæne omnis et illinc Clarus erat radiis, niger hinc semiorbis ab umbris ; In lævum quum versa latus, formosa Beatrix Soli oculos fixit : nunquam sic firmiter illum Inspexit regina avium. Velutique secundus Exoritur primo radius, sursumque resurgit, |
but he who ties together four circles with three crosses rises thence on a better course and connected star, and rules and stamps the earthly wax more freely with his light. The morning had risen from that point on this side [in Purgatory], and from this point [in Italy] it was Evening. Almost the entire hemisphere there was bright with sunbeams, here black with shadows. The beautiful Beatrice, turned to the left side, stared at the Sun; never had the queen of birds looked at it so intensely. And as a secondary ray takes off from the primary one and rises back up, |
| 40 | Non secus ac patrias remeans peregrinus ad oras ; Sic, meam ubi mentem illius tum perculit actus, Ex me actus similis prodit ; Solique corusco Ipse etiam direxi oculos ; nec lumine læsus, Mortali de more, fui : nam sensibus illic, Quod fuit humanæ sedes ea dedita genti, Multa licent, ad quæ his alibi est erepta facultas. Non longum breviterque tuli, quum luce refulsit Æs velut ignitum ; atque dies est visa diei Addita, non aliter quam Sol si fulserit alter. |
like a pilgrim returning to his native shores, so when her action then struck my mind, a similar action came forth from me, and I myself directed my eyes too, to the shining sun, but I was not harmed by the light in the mortal way, for many things whose capacity is absent elsewhere are allowed to the senses there, which was given to the human race as its home. I endured it briefly and not long, since it gleamed with light like flaming bronze, and day seemed added to day, just as if a second Sun were shining. |
| 50 | Hujus in ardentem faciem defixa Beatrix Stabat luminibus cupidis ; ab eoque remotis Ipse oculis illi hærebam. Sic ejus ab ore Sum factus confestim intus, ceu Glaucus, ut herbam, Per quam Numinibus pelagi fuit additus, hausit. Naturam exuere humanam per verba notari Voce potest nulla : sat Glauci ostendit imago : Gratia queis Cæli dabit, hæc miracula norint. Si tunc illud eram, quod primitus ipse creasti, Tu scis, Cælorum moderator, Spiritus alme, |
Beatrice was standing fixed with longing eyes on its burning face, and I myself, with my eyes removed from it, was riveted on her. Thus through her face I quickly became inwardly like Glaucus as he ingested the grass through which he was added to the gods of the sea. No words can describe the doffing of one’s human nature: The simile of Glaucus is enough for those to whom Heaven’s grace will allow them to understand these miracles. If at that time I was that which Thou createdst first of all, Thou knowest, Ruler of the Heavens, nourishing Spirit, |
| 60 | Lumine sum cujus superas sublatus in oras. Quum rota, quam tu perpetua vertigine torques Optatus, sibi converti me compulit, illo Concentu, quem tu moderas at digeris auctor, [3] Tantum ego tam Cæli succensum Solis ab igne Conspexi, ut nunquam fluvius vel plurimus imber Tam dederit patuisse lacum. Lucisque sonique Me novitas tanto causas incendit amore Discendi, ut nunquam tantum me incesserit ācer. Atque ea, quæ velut ipse ego, quicquid mente putarem, |
by Whose light I was raised up to the lands above. When the [cosmic] sphere which Thou [o Prime Mover], the Desired One, turnest with perpetual rotation, forced me to turn to itself by that harmony which Thou as its author controlest and arrangest, I saw so much of the Heavens so lit up by the fire of the Sun that no river or great rainstorm had ever made any lake spread out so much. The novelty of the light and sound inflamed me with such longing to learn their causes that such keen longing had never before entered my being. And she who knew as I myself whatever |
| 70 | Scibat, quum nondum peterem, mihi ferre quietem Approperans, sic est effari protinus orsa : Te facis ipse rudem, confusus imagine falsa ; Qua sine perspiceres, quæ nunc deprendere nescis. Non es, uti rere, in terris : non fulminis ignis Sic fugiens de sede sua, it velociter unquam, Quomodo tu, hanc repetens. Paucis his vocibus, unum Si me deseruit dubium, mihi fortius hæsit Deinde aliud. Qui me, dixi, stupor altus habebat, Omnis abiit ; sed nunc miror, quod corpora possim |
I was thinking in my mind when I had not yet asked it, approaching me to quiet me, immediately began to speak thus: “You are making your own self boorish, confused by a false image, without which you would see what you cannot now understand. You are not, as you think, on earth. The fire of lightning, fleeing its own abode, never went so fast as you coming back to it.” With these few words, if one question left me, another, stronger one then clung to me. “All the profound amazement which possessed me,” I said, “has left me, but I am now astounded that I, being heavy, can rise |
| 80 | Hæc levia ipse gravis volucri transcendere cursu. Illa mihi, postquam suspiria pectore traxit, Versa oculos, nato ceu mater mente carenti, Sic fari incepit : Res omnes ordine certo Sunt inter sese ; atque Dei hinc appāret imago : Æternæ virtutis ibi vestigia cernunt Sublimes Animæ, finis qui est ordinis hujus. Omnis in hunc pro sorte sua res undique vergit, Plusve minusve propinqua Deo. Prout insita in illis Propterea est vis, ad varias se quælibet oras |
in winged flight up past these light bodies.” After drawing a sigh from her chest, turning her eyes like a mother to her uncontrollable son, she began speaking to me as follows: “All things are interrelated to one another in a structured order, and from this appears the image of God. There, superior Souls behold the traces of eternal virtue, which is the objective of this order. According to its nature more or less close to God , every being tends toward it. Insofar as the ability is innate in them, any particular thing moves |
| 90 | Res movet. Hac Lunam versus vi tollitur ignis, Accipiunt hac quæque suos animalia motus, Hac terra in solidam constringitur arida molem; Nec tantum hæc adigit vis res ratione carentes, Sed quibus intellectus inest. Qui talia mire Ordinat ac regit, ipse suo implet lumine Cælum, Immotumque facit. Hōc subter, volvitur illud, Quod se præ reliquis motu citiore revolvit. Huc, velut ad certum signum, nunc evehit illa Indita nos virtus ; quæ, quicquid moverit, usque |
toward various destinations. By this force fire is lifted up towards the moon; by it, each of the living beings acquires its motions; by it, the dry earth is pulled together into a solid mass; and this force drives not only things lacking reason, but those in which intelligence is found. He Who marvelously orders and guides such things fills Heaven and makes it immobile. Beneath it rotates that [Empyrean sphere of the fixed stars] which revolves with faster motion than the others. We are now being carried to this point as to a fixed target by that inherent power which guides whatever moves to |
| 100 | Dirigit in lætum signum sedemque quietam. Sæpe quidem, ut mens artificis non obtinet illam Quam vellet formam, propter, quæ calcitrat arti, Materiem indocilem ; sic his impulsibus obstat Res ea, cui plena est alio se ferre potestas, (Ut nube ignis abit), retrahit si forte voluptas. Non igitur, si vera reor, te ascendere sursum Est tibi mirandum, plusquam descendere rivum Cautibus aëriis. Potius res mira fuisset Obice si nullo astrictus, tellure sederes, |
a joyful target and peaceful abode. Of course often, as the intention of the artisan often does not achieve the form that he had wanted because of intractable matter which resists his workmanship, so these drives are blocked by a thing having the full power to go elsewhere (as fire goes down from a cloud), if by chance pleasure draws it away. Thus, if I reckon rightly, you should not be any more surprised at the fact that you are ascending upward than at a stream descending from lofty cliffs. It would, rather, be a surprising thing if, held back by no obstruction, you were to sit on the ground, |
| 110 | Non secus ac si vivus humi subsīderet ignis. Hæc ait, ac Cælo fulgentia lumina vertit. |
just as if a living flame were to sink down onto the earth.” She said these things and turned her sparkling eyes to Heaven. |
| PARADISI II {2} ⇑ | ||
| 112 | O quicunque meam parvo estis lintre secuti, Optantes audire, ratem, quæ cærula cantat Æquora percurrens, ad litora vestra redite ; Neve intrate salum, vastas ne forte per undas, Me amisso, ignoretis iter : freta pervia nulli Nunc primum ingredior : spirat Tritonia Pallas, Phœbus agit, monstrantque novæ Ursarum astra Camenæ. Vos pauci, Angelicam qui jam vertistis ad escam |
O you whoever, hoping to hear, in your little canoe have followed my ship which sings as it courses over the blue seas, return to your shores; do not enter the saltwater lest perchance, losing me, you are left in ignorance about the way through the vast waters. I now enter upon waters unsailed by anyone. Tritonian Pallas [= Minerva] blows, Phoebus [the sun] drives me, and the new [Christian] Muses point out the stars of the Bears. You few who have now turned your earnest minds |
| 120 | Sollicitos animos, qua in terris vivitur, at non Unquam fit satias, vos proram mittite in altum, Sectantes, quem nostra aperit ratis incita, sulcum, Ante recurrenti quam sit delebilis unda. [4] Non stupor obtinuit tantus, vos quantus habebit, Heroas Grajos, quos Colchida vexerat Argo, Quum vīdēre jugo summittere Jasona tauros. Insita cælestis regni atque æterna cupido Nos, tanquam Cælum, veloces pæne ferebat. Ductricem ipse meam, atque ea suspiciebat Olympum. |
to the Angelic food by which one lives on earth but is never sated, launch your prows out to sea, following the wake which our ship, under weigh, opens, before the wave is effaced for the one coursing behind. Such amazement did not overcome the Greek heroes whom the Argo had carried to Colchis when they saw Jason submit bulls to the yoke [for plowing], as will overcome you. The inborn and eternal longing for the heavenly realm transported us almost as swiftly as it did the Heavens. I myself was looking up at my leader and she was looking up at Heaven. |
| 130 | Quam cito stat, volat, atque arcu discedit arundo, Huc ego perveni, quo me sibi vertere mira Res oculos dedit ; atque ea, quam mea nulla latebant Acta, hilaris vultu, non sequius atque decōra : Grates redde Deo, qui primum attingere, dixit, Nos fecit sidus. Mihi visum est undique nubes Quod nos obtegeret, densa, et solida, atque polita, Usque adeo effulgens, sicut, quem luce corusca Sol adamanta ferit. Nos intus stella recepit, Indivisa velut lucis radium unda receptat. |
As quickly as an arrow hits, flies and leaves the bow, I arrived there where a marvelous thing made me turn my eyes to it, and she, from whom none of my actions were hidden, said with a face as cheerful as it was beautiful, “Give thanks to God who allowed us to reach the first planet.” It seemed that on all sides a cloud covered us dense and solid and polished, glittering to the point where it was as though the sun were striking a diamond with sparkling light. The star took us into itself like undivided water takes in a ray of light. |
| 140 | Si tum corpus eram, nec fas hic noscere porro est Quomodo tunc aliud corpus penetrare liceret, Nos agere id major deberet cura videndi, Quo fit perspicuum, naturæ quomodo junctus Est Deus humanæ. Quod nunc dat credere nobis Arcanum ignotumque Fides, tum noscere clare Atque palam dabitur, tanquam primordia veri. Omni ope, respondi, cunctis et viribus illi Reddo pias grates, qui me tellure removit : At tu dic age, quid sunt hoc in corpore signa, |
If at that time I was a body (and here one is certainly not allowed to know how it might be able, then, to penetrate another body), we ought to be driven by the greater interest in seeing where how God is joined to human nature becomes manifest. What Faith now lets us believe as hidden and unknown will then be given to us to know clearly and openly, as the origin of truth. I answered, “With all my ability and with all my strength I give pious thanks to Him who has taken me from the world. But tell me please, what are the marks on this [lunar] body |
| 150 | Quæ faciunt terris fabulas compingere vulgo ? Surridens rettulit : Si homines sententia fallit, Pandĕre quo nequeunt sensus, mirabile certe Jam nunc esse tibi non id deberet ; et ipse Scis bene, quod ratio sensus male nititur alis. At quid tute putas ? Prout, inqui, hic corpora rara Aut sunt densa, reor terris diversa videri. Illa mihi : nosces sic te non vera locutum, Si, quæ adversa feram, dictis intenderis aures. Orbita in octava cernuntur sidera multa, |
which on earth make people commonly invent fables ?” Smiling, she responded, “If opinion deceives people where the senses cannot reveal something, it should now certainly not be surprising to you. And you know very well that reason rests badly upon the wings of the senses. But what do you yourself think?” I said, “According as bodies here are thin or thick, I think they appear different on earth.” She to me: “If you give ear to the words I will present against that, you will find you are not speaking the truth. In the eighth sphere many stars are to be seen, |
| 160 | Aspectu ac mole inter se distantia valde : Si tam magna esset densi rarique potestas, Plusve minusve foret virtus his omnibus una ; Diversa at virtus variis procedere debet Principiis ; quæ, uno excepto, tuus omnia sermo [5] Destrueret. Si nigrantis sit causa coloris Præterea rarum, vel parte in utraque, vel una, Materiæ valde esset inops hŏc sidus, et instar Corporis in quo pars careat, pars pinguis abundet ; Ac velut in libro mutatur pagina. Primum [6] |
greatly differing among one another in appearance and mass. If the power of thickness or thinness were so great, one power would be more or less in them all. But a different power must proceed from varying sources all of which, except one, your argument would eliminate. Besides, if the cause of the blackish color either in both parts, or in one were thinness, this satellite would be greatly lacking in matter, and like a body in which part is scrawny and a fat part is abundant, and, as in a book, the pages alternate [from black to white]. Firstly, |
| 170 | Hŏc Sol esse negat, patitur quando ille labores ; Nam radii tunc transigerent, ceu corpore in omni Contigit hŏc raro : quod non autem esse videtur. Nunc de alio dicam ; quod si delere licebit, Evincam falsum, tua quod sententia profert. Si rarum non prætereat, sit denique punctum Est opus, a quo lux ultro transire vetetur, Ac Solis radius sic in sese ipse refundat, Ut color in speculo. Radium hīc nigrescere dices, Quod mage longinqua fuerit de parte refractus. |
the Sun refutes this when it undergoes eclipses. For then its rays would pass through, as this happens in every thin body which, however, is not seen to be. Now I will speak of the other argument which, if it can be eliminated, I will prove false that which your opinion asserts. If it does not go past the rarefied matter, there must, finally, be a point by which the light is prohibited from passing further, and the Sun’s ray is poured back on itself just as color is in a mirror. You will say that the ray becomes dark here because it is reflected from a farther part. |
| 180 | Hŏc, si unquam tentes, negat experientia ; quæ est fons Unde solent artes sibi rivos ducere vestræ. Sume triplex speculum : procul a te bina locato, Longius ast aliud : medio te siste ; tuumque Post tergum funale loca, quod spicula lucis Omnibus immittat speculis ; et, ab hisce repulsa, Ad te perveniant. Etsi, quam longius abstans Emittit speculum, sit lux minor, omnia claram Aspicies æque specularia mittere lucem. Nunc, quoniam, ut Solis radiis tepefacta colorem |
This (if you ever try it) is refuted by experience, which is the source whence your arts draw their streams. Take three mirrors. Place two of them far away from you, but the other one farther. Stand in the middle and position behind your back a torchlight that sends beams of light at all of the mirrors and let them come to you, reflected by the latter. Even though the light which the more distant mirror emits is smaller, you will see all the mirrors send out equally bright light. Now because you have become like snow warmed by the Sun’s rays |
| 190 | Ac frigus nix amittit, caligine pulsă Es factus ; menti tibi claram infundere lucem Ipsa volo, quam tu penitus radiare videbis. Sub Cælo æternæ pacis, se maximus orbis Circumagit, cui talis inest uberrima virtus, Omnia ut obtineat variarum semina rerum ; Quæ, subtus sese volvens, hinc dividit orbis Sideribus multis, quæ in sese continet ipso. Hæc eadem certo dispensant ordine septem Deinde orbes, qui se celeri vertigine versant. |
losing its cold and color, struck by the heat, I myself want to infuse your mind with clear light that you will see radiate deeply. Beneath the Heaven of divine peace [the “Empyrean”] rotates the largest sphere [the “First Movable Thing”] which has such extremely fruitful virtue that it contains all the seeds of the diverse essences. [†] Revolving beneath it, the [Stellar] sphere from here divides it into many stars which it contains within itself. Finally, seven spheres, orbiting with fast circling, sort out these same things in a fixed order. |
| 200 | Cælorum hæc series, ut conspicis ipse, gradatim Sic igitur peragit, talique est fœdere juncta, Ut, quod desuper accipiunt, dant deinde deorsum. Inspice ut ad verum tendam, quod discere quæris, Ne solus reperire vadum sis nescius amnis. Mentibus ex superis, summos quæ temperat orbes, Progreditur virtus ; ut, qua dat malleus usum, Ars venit ex fabro. Orbis, quem tot sidera pingunt, Excipit effigiem mentis, qua volvitur, ipsam ; Insculpitque aliis. Humano ut corpore clausa, |
This series of heavens, as you yourself see, thus passes on step by step in this way, and is connected by such kind of alliance that what they receive from above they then hand on below. Look at how I am moving toward the truth which you seek to learn so that you will not be ignorant of how to find the ford of the stream by yourself alone. Virtue proceeds from the minds on high which control the highest spheres, in the way that the art through which a hammer makes itself useful comes from the worker. The [Stellar] Heaven that so many stars paint takes on the very likeness of the mind by which it is turned, and shapes the others. The soul, as enclosed by the human body, |
| 210 | Sese anima insinuat, varios diffusa per artus, Dispensatque habiles diversa ad munera vires ; Sic mens multiplicat sese, funditque per astra, Unica circumiens. Diversa exinde creatur Mixtura, ex varia virtute in sidere mixta, Cui sic inseritur, ceu vestro in corpore vita. Naturam ob lætam, qua virtus mixta creatur, Qualis lætitia ex oculis, lux fulget ab astris. Hinc fit differitas lucis : producere nescit Hanc fuscum aut clarum : interna ab origine prodit. |
enters it, being diffused through the various limbs, and distributes the appropriate powers to the diverse faculties; thus mind multiplies itself and diffuses throughout the stars, circulating as a single being. From this a different compound is created, mixed with varying powers in the star in which it is thus inserted, as life in your body. In proportion to the joyful nature with which the mixed power is created, as joy from the eyes, light beams from the stars. Hence comes the difference in light; darkness or light cannot produce it; it comes from an internal source.” |
| PARADISI III {3} ⇑ | ||
| 220 | Is, qui me primo Sol inflammavit amore, Et sua confirmans et nostra effata refutans, Dulce mihi dederat dictis deprendere verum ; Atque ego ut errorem ac verum agnovisse faterer, Quoad decuit, vultum extuleram ; sed visa repente Sic mihi res mentem devinxit, ut inde fateri Oblitus fuerim. Velut ex vitroque nĭtenti Lymphisque haud altis adeo, ut fundi ima nigrescant, Languida sic oculis resilit spectantis imago, Ut citius nivea det sese in fronte videndam |
That Sun which had first inflamed me with love and, proving her own statements and refuting mine, had with her words sweetly let me understand the truth, and I, to confess my having acknowledged error and truth, as was seemly, had raised my face; but suddenly a thing I saw overcame my mind so that I then forgot about confessing. As both from shining glass and water not so deep that the depths of the bottom are darkened, a faint image reflected to the eyes of the viewer in such a way that a pearl of the Indian Ocean would be more readily seen |
| 230 | Indi bacca maris ; sic fundere verba paratos Vidi ego tum vultus multos. Contrarius error Me cepit, quam qui Narcissum fontis ad undam. Hos simul ac vidi, fulgenti reddita vitro Sum simulacra ratus ; flexique hinc lumina, veros Aspectus quærens. Nil vidi ; oculosque reflexi Dulcis in ora Ducis, blando fulgentia risu. Ne stupeas, quod te puerili more putantem Surrisi aspiciens, inquit : consistere recto Nondum pes tuus edidicit, sed devius errat. |
on a white forehead, in that way I then saw many faces ready to engage in communication. I was taken in by the error opposite to the one which had taken in Narcissus. As soon as I saw them, I thought they were images reflected by the glistening glass and, having turned my eyes, was searching for the real faces. I saw nothing, and turned my eyes to the face of my sweet Guide, radiant with soft laughter. “Do not be surprised that I am smiling, seeing you thinking in a childish way,” she said. “Your foot has not yet learnt how to stand upright, but wanders astray. |
| 240 | Non simulacra vides : sunt his in sedibus illi, Qui, quibus astricti fuerant, non vota replerunt. Alloquere hos ergo atque audi, nec credere parcas ; Nam lux, qua plene gaudent, clarissima veri Haud ullum ab se perpetitur divertere gressum. Quæ magis eloquii cupidam se præbuit Umbra Tunc ego congressus, sum sic effatus, ut ille Quem nimius fandi tenet et simul impedit ardor. O felix Anima, æternæ dulcedine vitæ Deliciisque fruens, quas, ni gustantibus, unquam |
You are not looking at images; those in these realms are the ones who did not fulfill the vows by which they were bound. So speak to them and listen and do not keep from believing, for the exceedingly truth-filled light which they enjoy fully does not allow them to deviate one step from itself.” Then going to the Shade that showed itself the most desirous of speaking, as a man whom the excessive desire to speak possesses and simultaneously impedes, I spoke as follows: “O happy Soul, enjoying the sweetness and delights of eternal life which are never given to be understood except to those who taste them, |
| 250 | Non est nosse datum, gratum mihi crede futurum, Si nomen sortemque tuam me noscere faxis. Illa alacris lætisque oculis, ait : æqua petenti Sollicitæ annuimus, velut is, qui incensus amore, Succensas nos igne pari fervescere cogit. Virgo fui, ac voto astrictis sociata puellis ; Sique memor relĕgis priscæ vestigia formæ, Pulchrior haud facies tibi me celabit ; et esse Piccardam nosces ; quæ sum sine fine beata Cum reliquis, quas segnior hic amplectitur orbis. |
believe that it would be most welcome to me if you would make your name and fate known to me.” With animated and happy eyes, she said, “We are anxious to be favorable to him who makes fair requests, as he who, inflamed with love, compels us, aflame, to glow with an equal fire. I was a virgin and was partnered with girls bound by vow. And if, remembering, you recall the traces of my former shape, my more beautiful face will not hide me from you, and you will recognize me as being Piccarda, who am endlessly happy with the others whom this slower sphere embraces. |
| 260 | Numinis æterni nos magno ardemus amore Parendi placitis ; nobisque est plena voluptas Hunc aperire modis, qui præscribuntur ab illo. Tali in sorte sumus quæ tam demissa videtur, Quod voti abstitimus cunctas absolvere partes. Divinum quiddam vestro sic fulget in ore, Tunc ego respondi, ut prisca immutetur imago ; Sum te propterea in mentem revocare moratus ; At nunc, quæ memoras, pronum mihi noscere reddunt. Dic vero : Vobis, quibus hic est dia voluptas, |
We burn with the great love of obeying the eternal Will with what pleases Him, and our full pleasure is to reveal that love in the ways that are prescribed by Him. We are in this fate which seems so lowly because we failed to fulfill all parts of our vows.” Then I replied, “Something divine is shining in your face, so that my original picture of you is changed; for that reason I was slow in recalling you to mind. But now the things you mention make me remember them fully. But tell me: Do you, who have such divine pleasure here, |
| 270 | Ulterioris inest sedisve gradusve cupido, Ut magis et visu et dulci sit amore fruendum ? Paulum cum sociis surrisit ; lætaque vultu, Deinde, velut primi flammis arderet amoris : Frater, ait, caritas nos hic facit esse beatas ; Quodque datur, fruimur ; nec quicquam quærimus ultra. Alterius sortis si cura aut ulla cupido Nos utcunque ageret, divinæ dissona menti Illa foret, quæ nos discreta hac sede locavit : Quod nequit hic fieri, hic caritas si regnet oportet, |
have a desire for a higher realm or stage so that you might have greater enjoyment both of vision and of sweet love?” Along with her associates she smiled a little and, cheerful in expression, then, as though burning with the flames of her first love, said, “Brother, charity makes us happy here; and what is given we enjoy, and do not seek anything more. If a concern or any desire for another fate moved us in any way, it would be dissonant with the divine mind which has placed us in this separate realm. That could not happen here if charity is to reign here, |
| 280 | Quæque sit illius natura expendere sumas. Jussa Dei velle, hoc ipsum facit esse beatum ; Quippe voluntates nostræ conflantur in unam. Quomodo in ordinibus variis nos proinde locatæ Hōc sumus in regno, regni placet omnibus hujus, Non secus ac Regi, qui nos sic velle lacessit. Illius est libitum pax nostra ; ejusque voluntas Est mare, quo se cuncta movent, quæ condidit ille Ac Natura parit. Dictis ex talibus ipse Clariter agnovi, quod in omni parte beatum |
and if you undertake to weigh what its nature is. To want the commands of God this itself makes one blessed; indeed, our wills are fused into one. Consequently, the way we are placed on varying levels in this kingdom pleases everyone of this kingdom, as it does the King who challenges us to will it so. His pleasure is our peace, and His will is the ocean in which moves everything which He created and Nature begets.” From such words I myself recognized clearly that it is possible to be blessed in every part |
| 290 | Esse licet Cæli, quamvis discrimina servet, Nec divina pares effundat Gratia rivos. Ut solet interdum, quod quis satiatur ab esca, Atque aliam exoptat ; quare hanc efflagitat, atque Ex ea agit grates : sic actu et vocibus egi, Ut telam scirem, nequiit cui imponere finem. Altius est Cælo mulier, perfectaque morum Magnaque, ait, meritis ; cujus de more puellæ In terris sese velant, ut tempus in omne Jungantur sponso, qui respondentia clemens |
of Heaven, even though it maintains differences and divine Grace does not pour out equal streams. As sometimes happens that a person is sated by one food and wants another one, so that he demands the latter and declines the former with thanks, so I acted with gestures and voice so as to discover the fabric which she could not finish making. “Higher than Heaven there is a woman [Saint Clare] perfect in morals and great in merits,” she said, “in whose mode girls on earth veil themselves in order to be joined for all time to the kind spouse who accepts |
| 300 | Vota suis placitis recipit. Quum ætate virerem, Huic ego me addixi ; memet velamine texi, Obstrinxique fidem, ac legem sum hujusce secuta. Impia gens dulci eripuit me deinde recessu. Quam vitam hinc egi, scit qui corda intima novit. De se et ĭdem memorat, quæ ad dextram luce renidet, Omnibus effulgens hujus splendoribus orbis : Hæc etiam indignisque modis invitaque claustro Erepta est olim : sed, quanquam reddita mundo, Non unquam memori velamen corde removit. |
vows compliant with his wishes. When I was youthful in age I joined her; I covered myself in her veil and obligated myself to her covenant and followed her rule. An irreligious people then tore me away from that sweet retreat. What life I led thenceforth, He knows who knows innermost hearts. And she who beams with light at my right, shining with all the splendors of this sphere, tells the same story about herself: she too was once indignantly torn, and unwilling, from the cloister; but although returned to the world, she never removed the veil from her remembering heart. |
| 310 | Hæc est, quæ ex tumida Constantiă stirpe Sweviæ Induperatorem est Fridericum enixa secundum, Tertium et extremum qui tali est auctus honore. Hæc est illa effata, et Ave Maria, inde canendo Incepit ; cantumque sequens evanuit, instar Ponderis, in multa quod lapsum absconditur unda. Postquam oculis abiit, quantum potuere, secutis, Sum versus, quo major amor mea pectora ducit, Atque Beatricem inspexi : verum illa refulsit Tam luce ingenti, ut visus perferre negavit. |
This is Constance [of Hauteville] who, of the tempestuous clan of Swebia, bore the emperor, Frederick the Second, the third and last one who was given such an honor.” She said this and then began singing “Ave Maria” and, following the song, vanished like a weight which disappears sinking in deep water. After she had gone out of my eyesight, which was following her as far as it could, I turned to where a greater love led my breast, and looked at Beatrice. But she shone with such great light that my vision could not bear it. |
| 320 | Quare ego, quæ volui, sum promere verba moratus. | Hence I was slower in coming out with the words I wanted. |
| PARADISI IV {4} ⇑ | ||
| 321 | Inter distantes pariter pariterque moventes Si quis forte duas liber consisteret escas, Ante fame occĭderet, quam dentibus applicet unam : Inter utrosque lupos, metuens æqualiter, agnus Sic staret ; geminosque inter sic damma molossos. Quare ego non laudo aut damno, si, æqualiter actus Tum dubiis (cogebar enim) presso ore quievi. Ipse silens aderam, sed vultu impressa cupido Cordis erat, clareque magis quam lingua petebat. |
If perhaps a free man were to stand between two equally distant and equally enticing meals, he would die of hunger before he set his teeth in one of them; and a lamb would stand thus between two wolves, fearing them equally; and a deer would do the same between two hunting hounds. Hence I neither praise nor damn it if, then, equally impelled by doubts (for I was forced) I kept silent with a closed mouth. I was present in silence, but the desire of my heart was impressed on my face more clearly than my tongue sought to show. |
| 330 | Sic mecum sese gessit tum diva Beatrix, Regis ut Assyrii Daniel quum somnia pandit, Excussitque trucem, qua injuste exarserat, iram ; Ac dixit : video quod habet te bina cupido, Atque ita se impediunt, nequeant ut voce patēre. Tu tecum reputas : cur vis aliena merendi Mensuram minuit, superest quum recta voluntas ? Ambigere et tibi præterea dant dicta Platonis, Sidereos remeare animas qui affirmat in axes. His tua mens pariter dubiis est acta duobus. |
The divine Beatrice then acted just as Daniel did when he interpreted the king of Assyria’s dream and dispersed the fierce wrath with which he had become unjustly inflamed, and said, “I see that two desires grip you and so impede one another that they cannot express themselves vocally. You are thinking, ‘Why should the violence of someone else diminish the level of my merits, when my good will remains?’ You are confused as well by the statements of Plato, who held that souls return to the stellar heavens. Your mind is beset by these two doubts equally. |
| 340 | Quod plus fellis habet primum tibi solvere sumam. Ex Seraphim quisquis mage Numinis ore fruatur, Et Samuel simul et Moses et uterque Joannes, Nec Maria excepta, haud alia in regione morantur Cælesti, quam quas Animas conspexeris ; atque his Non varia est ætas, sed tempus in omne manebunt. Fulgida, stellantes supra quæ tollitur orbes, Regia spirituum cœtūs complectitur omnes, Et plus atque minus gaudent dulcedine vitæ, Prout minus aut plus afflati sunt Numinis aura. |
I will first take on that which contains the greater poison. Whichever of the Seraphim most enjoys the face of Divine Majesty and likewise Samuel and Moses and both of the Johns, and not excluding Mary do not dwell in any other heavenly realm than do those Souls you have seen. Nor do their timespans differ: rather, they will abide in the whole of time. The radiant palace which is raised above the starry spheres encompasses the entire gathering, and they enjoy its sweetness of life more and less, according as they are breathed on less or more by the breeze of the Divine Majesty. |
| 350 | Hic sese ostendunt, non quod sit degere ibidem Sorte datum, verum ut pateat locus ultimus illis Esse in sede Dei. Sic namque ostendere vestro Est opus ingenio, quum mens, nisi noscere sensus Ante dedit, quicquam nequeat deprendere verum. Sic membris constare Deum dat Biblia, vestræ Indulgens menti ; atque hominum sub imagine vobis Michaël et Gabriël, et qui sanare Tobiæ Curavit cæcos oculos, Ecclesia monstrat. Quæ Timæus ait, non sunt his consona visis ; |
They show themselves in this place not because it has been allotted to them to live here, but so that their final location may be shown to be in the abode of God. For it is necessary to show it in this way to your intellect, since your mind, unless it first lets the senses know it, is unable to grasp anything true. Thus the Bible has God consist of limbs, in accommodation to your intellect, and the Church portrays Michael and Gabriel, and him [Raphael] who cured the blind eyes of Tobias, in the guise of humans. What [Plato’s character] Timaeus says is not consonant with the things seen here, |
| 360 | Ille etenim, quod verba sonant, sentire videtur ; Quippe Animas dicit sua quamque revertere ad astra ; Unde putat missam, quum corporis induit artus. Forte alio illius spectat sententia, quam vox Ipsa sonat ; talis, quæ non sit digna cachinno. Si putat ad stellas probrumque decusque referri, Quod talem influxum, quod talia semina in illas Indiderint, penitus veri non tramite aberrat. Hoc male comprensum mundo pæne intulit omni Errorem ; ac his Mercurii Martisque Jovisque |
For he seems to believe what his words say, since he says every Soul returns to the star whence he thinks it was sent when it clothed itself with the limbs of the body. Perhaps his meaning is aimed in another direction than what his phrases say, one which is not worthy of derision. If he means for the blame and honor for having sown such influence, such seeds, in those Souls to be reattributed to the stars, he does not wander completely off the path of the truth. This idea, wrongly understood, inflicted error on almost the whole world, and it gave the names of Mercury, Mars and Jupiter |
| 370 | Imposuit nomen. Quod te dubium alligat alterum, Est letale minus, quum non te impellere possit Ut me destituas. Quod nostra injusta videtur Justitia, est Fidei mortalibus argumentum, [7] Ac non nequitiæ hæreticæ. Hoc ediscere verum Quandoquidem mens vestra valet, te reddere lætum, Ut cupis, haud renuam. Si vis tum dicitur, omni Quum qui illam patitur, cogenti mente repugnat, Haud prorsum excusandæ Animæ sunt scilicet illæ ; Mens etenim, nisi forte velit, est nescia flecti, |
to planets. The other doubt which has you tied up is less lethal, since it cannot lead you to abandon me. That our justice seems unjust, is for mortals a question of Faith and not of heretical iniquity. Since your intellect can grasp this truth, I will not refuse to make you happy as you wish. If it is called violence when he who suffers it fights against the forcer with his whole mind, then those Souls are certainly not to be excused at all. For the mind, unless perhaps it wills, cannot be bent, |
| 380 | Non secus ac ignis, qui, quanquam pressus, in auras Indole nativa erigitur. Si flectitur hilum, Mens vi connivet. Sic hæ gessere, potentes Ad sanctum remeare locum. Si plena voluntas Propositumque tenax illis sub corde fuisset, Quo stetit in crate obnixus Laurentius ignea, Impavidusque manum commisit Scævola prunis, Per quod iter fuerant tractæ, quum deinde potiri Est his libertate datum, se ad claustra tulissent : At nimis est rarum tam firma ac certa voluntas. |
not unlike fire which, even though pushed down, rises up through its inborn nature into the air. If the least bit of it is bent, the mind connives with the violence. These Souls, while having the power to return to a holy place, behaved that way. If they had had in their hearts the full will and tenacious determination with which [Saint] Laurence stood, recalcitrant, on the fiery grill, and fearless [Mucius] Scaevola thrust his hand into the burning coals, as soon as it was given to them to possess their freedom, they would have betaken themselves to the cloister through the path which they had been dragged through. But such firm and fixed will is all too rare. |
| 390 | His, si quo decuit percepsti rite, solutum Est verbis dubium, quod te persæpe gravasset. Nunc aliud menti objicitur, quod tute nequires Disjicere, atque prius defectus viribus esses. Mentiri tibi jam statui non posse beatas Unquam Animas, quibus æternum est fas cernere Verum. Piccarda hinc dixit, quod non oblita relicti Est unquam veli, ac sacræ Constantia sedis : Illius inde meis contraria verba videntur. Sæpe aliquis, licet ægro animo, ut discrimina vitet, |
With these words if you have understood them rightly, as is proper the doubt that had often troubled you has been resolved. Now your mind is confronted by another one which you yourself might not be able to dispel, and you might become exhausted before doing so. I have already established it in you that beatified Souls, who are allowed to behold the eternal Truth, can never lie. Hence Piccarda said that Constance never forgot her abandoned veil and sacred abode. So her words appear contrary to mine. Often a person, admittedly with a reluctant mind, in order to avoid danger, |
| 400 | Non facienda facit ; velut olim, a patre rogatus, Alcmæon matrem enecuit ; pietatis amore Impius est factus. Perpende ut sæpe voluntas Vi comes efficitur ; quodque his emanat utrisque Non ideo admittit veniam. Tum namque voluntas Non vere assentit damno, sed quatenus ipsa Damnum formidat majus, consentit eidem. Ista voluntatis si tu discrimina pendas, Piccardæ dictis mea non abludere nosces. Sic illa, æterni ut Veri de fonte profundo |
does things that should not be done, as Alcmaeon, asked by his father, killed his mother, becoming impious out of love of piety. Consider that, often, will becomes violence’s companion, and the fact that it emerges from them both does not thereby allow its pardon. For the will does not then really give its assent to wrong, but insofar as it itself fears a greater wrong, it does consent to it. If you consider those differences of will, you will recognize that my words are not at variance with Piccarda’s.” Thus, like a stream gushing forth from the deep wellspring of eternal Truth, |
| 410 | Prosiliens rivus, mihi dixit ; et utraque verbis Est mea ab illius penitus sedata cupido. O Diva, o primo, dixi, carissima Amanti, Cujus me sermo et fovet et dulcedine inundat, Ac magis atque magis dat vivas sumere vires, Non mihi tantus amor, dignas qui reddere grates Possit : qui videt atque potest, is rite rependat. Novi equidem, quod mens hominum non ante quiescit, Quam Verum attingat, quo excepto, quærere Verum Irritus est labor : hoc ubi nacta, quiescit ibidem, |
she answered me, and both of my desires were completely quieted by her words. “O divine one!, o most beloved of the first Lover,” I said, “you whose speech warms me and floods me with sweetness and allows me to gain living strength more and more, I do not have the amount of love which can thank you worthily. May He Who sees and is able to, repay you properly. I recognize indeed that the mind of men does not rest before it attains the Truth, beyond which seeking the Truth is a useless effort. On reaching that, it rests there |
| 420 | Non secus ac fera, quum reperit per tesqua cubile : Acquirique potest, nam aliter quæcunque cupido Vana foret. Dubium hac oritur, ceu germina trunco ; Ad summum sic nos ducit Natura gradatim. Hoc me fidentem facit, impellitque rogare, Ut mihi des aliud latitans deprendere verum. Scire igitur vellem, numquid defectio voti Pensari meritis valeat, quæ ponderis æqui Ante Deum fuerint. Sic fanti luce coruscos Illa oculos tanta, et tanto direxit amore, |
like a wild animal when it finds a lair in the wilds. And it can acquire it, for otherwise all our desire would be in vain. Doubt originates from this like a shoot from a treetrunk; Nature leads us thus stepwise to the summit. This makes me confident and impels me to ask you to let me understand another hidden truth. I would therefore like to know whether the unfulfillment of a vow could be compensated for by meritorious deeds which would be of equal weight before God.” As I spoke she turned to me her eyes, shining with such light and love |
| 430 | Ut dare, perstrictus radiis, sum terga coactus, Et, quasi deficiens, mea lumina declinavi. |
that, stricken by their rays, I was forced to turn my back and, as though fainting, I diverted my eyes. |
| PARADISI V {5} ⇑ | ||
| 432 | Si flammis me ardere vides et amore calere Sic non more hominum, ut radiis tua lumina vincam, Ne stupeas : perfecto ex visu hŏc ordia ducit ; Quanto etenim magis ille Bonum comprendit, in illud Plus tanto intendit. Divam tibi fulgere menti Jam lucem video, quam qui conspexerit una Dumtaxat vice, perpetuo inflammatur amore. Siqua movent vos in terris, translucida tantum |
“If you see me so burn with flames and glow with love in a manner not of humans, so that I overcome your eyes with my beams, do not be amazed; this takes its origins from perfect vision, for the more it understands the Good, so all the more does it move toward it. In your mind I already see the divine light shining; he who has seen it just once becomes inflamed with perpetual love. If any things attract you on earth, they are only transparent |
| 440 | Sunt, vobis male nota, hujus vestigia lucis. Scire cupis, num qui votum non præstitit, illud Sit meritis pensare potens, ac reddere tantum, Ut litem proinde evitet. Sic orsa Beatrix Tunc est effari ; ac tali est sermone secuta. Inter dona Dei, mortali tradita, majus, Ac minus illi impar, et quod magis æstimet ipse, Libera mens est arbitrii, quam Conditor unis, Cunctisque, instructis rationis lumine rebus Munifice impertit : pretium hinc perpendĕre voti |
vestiges of this light which are poorly known to you. You wish to know whether a person who does not keep a vow can compensate for it with meritorious acts and repay enough to then avoid the litigation.” Thus Beatrice began to speak, and continued with this kind of discourse. “Among the gifts of God given to mortals, the greatest one, and the one least unequal to Him, and which He Himself esteems the most, is the free mental faculty of decision which the Creator munificently bestowed on one and all creatures endowed with the light of reason. Hence you can make out for yourself the price of a vow |
| 450 | Ipse potes, quo pactum ineunt sponsorque Deusque. Exuit hōc sese mens libertate suapte, Quam vovet ipsa Deo. Quanam hanc mercede rependes ? Quod vovisti, alios si recte impendĕre in usus Posse putas, ex re male parta condere porro Vis bonum opus. Majus tibi punctum est proinde solutum. At, quoniam jus in variis Ecclesia votis Exercet, dictisque meis obstare videtur ; Est opus idcirco ulterius te accumbere mensæ ; Namque rigens, quem sumpsisti, quibus esca coquatur, |
in which both the promiser and God enter into a pact. By means of this, the mind gives itself up through its own freedom which it itself vows to God. With what compensation will you pay this back? If you think to be able to spend righteously on other uses what you have vowed, you want to produce a good work out of something ill gotten. With this your greater issue has been resolved. But because the Church imposes her jurisdiction over various vows and seems to contradict my statements, it is, therefore, necessary for you to sit at the table longer; for the rough food you have eaten needs aids with which |
| 460 | Indiget auxiliis : ergo mihi porrige mentem, Ac mea dicta tene ; fit namque scientia, rebus Non tantum auditis, memori sed mente repostis. Sunt bina in votis ; pactum ac res fœdere pacta. Illud deleri nescit, semperque tueri Est opus, ut supra manifeste ac rite monebam. Dona ideo fuit Abramidis offerre necessum, Quamlibet, ut scis, interdum mutare liceret. Altera pars, seu materies, se talis habere Sæpe potest, ut mutari sine crimine fas sit. |
the food may be digested. So pay attention to me and remember what I say. For knowledge comes from information not just heard but stored in the remembering mind. There are two elements in vows: the agreement and the thing agreed to with the pact. The former cannot be annulled and must always be kept, as I advised above clearly and explicitly. Thus it was necessary for the Jews to offer gifts, although, as you know, this could sometimes be changed. The other part, or matter, can often be such as may be exchanged without offense. |
| 470 | At nemo arbitrio mutet : sit facta facultas Sacrorum a summo, cui sunt, Antistite, claves. Nec valide mutare putet, nisi majus omisso Sufficiat munus, veluti pro triplice summa Si quadruplam reddat. Quod si præstantius omni Sit pretio, mutandum nullo est munere rerum. Vota homines ne parvi pendant : este fideles, Neve ardor vos cæcus agat, velut egit Jepthem, Cui melius fuerit crudele retexere votum, Quam vano obsequio gravius delinquere. Sic et |
But let no one make a change on his own: let authorization be given by the high Prelate of Rites [the pope], who has the keys. Nor let anyone think to make a major change unless a greater good replaces the one lost, as in giving back a quadruple sum for a triple one. But if it is more excellent than all other values, a change of affairs should not be made by any replacement. Men should not consider vows of little importance. Be faithful and do not let blind passion drive you as it drove Jepthath, for whom it would have been better to undo his cruel vow than to commit a serious crime through blind obedience. Likewise you will also |
| 480 | Atridem invenies, ductorem pubis Achivæ, Unde suum flevit vultum Iphigenia decōrum, Et cunctis hinc flere dedit, quorum attigit aures Tam mala religio. Temere nolite moveri ; Ne vos, Christiadæ, ut plumam, omnis motitet aura ; Neve unda commissa lui quacunque putetis. Sunt vetus ac nova lex vobis, summusque sacrorum Antistes ; vestræque satis sint ista saluti. Si quicquam hæc contra dictat malesuada cupido, Este viri, non sicut oves, ratione carentes, |
find Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek youth, on account of whom Iphigenia grieved over her own beautiful face and afterwards made everyone weep to whose ears such an evil rite came. Do not act rashly; do not, o Christians, let every breeze move you like a feather, and do not think that sins are washed away by just any water. You have the Old and New Law and [the popes,] the chief prelates of rites; let those be enough for your salvation. If an ill-advising desire insists on something against these things, be men, not like sheep devoid of reason, |
| 490 | Ne gens, vobiscum degens, Judæa cachinnet. Este viri ; non tanquam agnus, qui, matre relicta, Lascivit, saltat, pugnat secum ipse per herbas. Hæc ea dicta dedit ; cupidisque accensa favillis, Se in partem vertit, magis est quæ vivida mundi. [8] Mutatum illius vultum atque silentiam cernens, Tunc ego conticui ; penitoque in pectore pressi Quæ mea scitari jam mens arrecta parabat. Haud mora : non secus atque arcu dimissa sagitta, Quæ prius attingit signum, quam chorda quiescat, |
lest the Jewish tribe living with you laugh at you. Be men, not like the lamb that, leaving its mother, frolics, jumps, fights with itself in the grass.” These were the statements she made and, burning with passionate sparks, turned in the direction of the universe which is most alive. Seeing her face changed and her silence, I myself then fell silent and repressed in the depths of my heart the things which my eager mind was preparing to ask. There was no delay: like an arrow released from the bow that hits the target before the bowstring is quiet, |
| 500 | Sic alium tunc attigimus nos protinus orbem. Huc ubi devenit, facta est tam læta Beatrix Ut magis enituit sidus. Si stella refulsit Luce nova, ac se mutavit, me quale fuisse, Qui sum natura omnimodis mutabile, credas ? Ut, quos sæpe tenent nitidis vivaria lymphis, Continuo in summas, siquid conspergitur, undas Exsiliunt avidi pisces, alimenta putantes ; Sic ego nos versus plus mille accedere vidi Fulgentes Animas ; et vox erat omnibus una ; |
We instantly reached the next sphere. When we arrived there, Beatrice became so joyous that the planet shone more brightly. If a star flared up with new luminescence and changed, what kind of being would you believe that I was, who am by nature one changeable in every way? As the hungry fish that fishponds hold in their sparkling waters instantly leap to the surface of the waves if something is sprinkled there, thinking it to be food, so I saw a thousand brilliant Souls come toward us, and a single cry came from them all: |
| 510 | En, en, clamabant, nostros qui augebit amores. Prout quæque ad nos tendebant, ex luce corusca Progrediente ab eis, parebant gaudia mentis. Si, quod sum exorsus, narrare hic, lector, omittam, Quam tibi discendi ulterius foret anxius ardor ! Hinc tu scire potes, fuerit mihi quanta cupido, Has simul aspexi, illarum cognoscere sortem. O bone, cui sinit æternum spectare triumphum Gratia, militiam quum nondum expleveris omnem, Lumine, quod Cælum fulgoribus undique complet, |
“Look, look,” they cried, “someone who will increase our love!” As each one approached us, their mental joy was manifest from the glittering light radiating from them. Reader, if here I were to stop relating what I have started, what an anguished longing you would feel for learning more! From that you can understand how much desire I felt, as soon as I saw them, to learn their fates. “O good man, whom grace allows to see the eternal triumph while you have not yet completed all of your military struggle, we are ablaze with the light that fills Heaven |
| 520 | Nos sumus incensi : si quicquam scire voluntas Est tibi propterea, nobis ne pandere parcas. Sic mihi tunc una ex illis ait, atque Beatrix : Dic age, dic fidens, inquit, ac crede velut Diis. Cerno equidem, quod tu proprio fulgore teneris, Quodque hunc ex oculis ducis ; quippe ille coruscat, Utpote tu rides : sed qui sis nescio, nec cur Hŏc te sidus habet, quod lux aliena recondit. [9] Sic ego tum dixi, splendorem versus ad illum, Qui mihi fatus erat. Multo fulgentius ille, |
with brilliance everywhere. If, therefore, you have a wish to know anything, do not refrain from revealing it to us.” Thus one of them then said to me; and Beatrice said, “Go ahead and speak; speak confidently, and believe as though in gods.” “I see, indeed, that you are bathed in your own light and that you draw it from your eyes, since it sparkles as you laugh. But who you are I do not know, nor why you are held on this star which light from a different one hides.” Thus I then spoke, turned to that brilliance which had spoken to me. It glowed much more brilliantly |
| 530 | Quam fuit, enituit. Ceu Sol, se lumine condens Ipse suo, postquam perroserit igne vapores ; Sic præ lætitia sese illa abscondit imago Luce sua, penitusque latens sic farier orsa. |
than it had before. As the Sun, hiding itself in its own luminescence after it has eaten through the mists with its fire, so, out of joy, that image hid itself in its own light and, thoroughly concealed, began to speak as follows. |
| PARADISI VI {6} ⇑ | ||
| 534 | Postquam Aquilam Constantiades direxit ad Ortum, Cæli adversus iter, ductore quod ante secuta Dardanio fuerat, centum ac centum amplius annos Finibus Europæ, prope montes illa resedit, Ex quibus exierat ; mundumque potentibus alis Fovit, et imperio rexit ; multaque deinceps |
“After Constantine directed the Eagle to its Origin, opposite the heavens’ course which it had followed under the Trojan leader [Aeneas], for a hundred plus a hundred more years, it resided at the edge of Europe near the mountains whence it had issued; with its powerful wings it kept watch over the world and guided it with its rule and, after being borne successively |
| 540 | Est postquam gestata manu, ad me denique venit. Induperator eram, sum nomine Justinianus. Summo, quo nunc incendor, compulsus Amore, Ordine disposui leges, et quicquid in illis Sive supervacuum, sive esset inane, removi. Nondum opus aggressus, naturam exsistere rebar Tantum unam in Christo ; sed divus Agapetus egit In veram inde fidem : illius sum dicta secutus, Quæ nunc vera adeo aspicio, ut tu conspicis ipse Et verum et falsum in contradicentibus esse. |
by many a hand, finally came to me. I was emperor; my name is Justinian. Compelled by the highest Love, with which I am now aflame, I arranged the laws in order and discarded whatever was either superfluous or meaningless in them. When I had not yet started on that work, I thought only one nature manifested itself in Christ, but the saintly [pope] Agapetus then guided me to the true faith. I followed his instructions, which I now see to be as true as you yourself see that there is a true and a false in contradictory propositions. |
| 550 | Rectum iter ingressus Fidei, sum numine dextro Magnum opus exorsus, cunctisque huic viribus hæsi ; Otia nam Deus indulsit, quum juverit arma, Queis meus attrivit dux Belisarius hostes. Hæc satis ad primum, quem feceris ante, rogatum ; At res, de qua est sermo, me his quicquam addere cogit, Ut videas quam prave agat, et qui insigne sacratum Hoc sibi vi rapiat, quique ausit surgere contra. Aspice quanta hoc reddiderit venerabile virtus. (Cœpitque ex illo, quum Pallas, vulnere fossus, |
Having entered on the right path of Faith, under a propitious divine will I undertook my main work [of the reorganization of Roman law] and clung to it with all my strength. For God granted me leisure, since he supported my armed forces with which my general Belisarius crushed my enemies. This will do for the first question [of my identity] which you posed before; but the issue under discussion forces me to add something to this so that you can see how badly he acts who seizes the sacred insignia [of power] for himself by violence and who dares to rebel against them. Look how much valor has rendered them worthy of reverence. (And it began from the time when Pallas fell from a stab wound |
| 560 | Ut regnum huic parĕret, cecĭdit). Scis ipse moratum Esse annos ter centum Albæ, dum Marte cruento Tergemina hinc illinc pugnarunt corpora fratrum. Scis etiam quid post raptas exinde Sabinas Per septem reges egit, dicione propinquas Summittens gentes, Lucretiæ ad usque coactæ Interitum. Scis et pulcherrima facta Quiritum Adversus Brennum et Pyrrhum, reliquosque potentes ; Unde sibi famam murra peperere linendam Torquatus, Decii, et Fabii, notusque capillis |
so that he might create dominion for them.) You yourself know they lay dormant for three hundred years at Alba [Longa], until in a bloody battle the bodies of triplet brothers [3 Horatii & 3 Curiatii] fought on this side and that. You also know what, after the Sabine women were kidnapped, the seven kings did, submitting the neighboring peoples to their power, up until the death of the raped Lucretia. You know in addition the admirable deeds of the Romans against Brian Regan [leader of the Celts] and Pyrrhus [the Greek] and the other potentates, and how Torquatus, the Decii, the Fabii and Quintius [Cincinnatus], known for his unruly hair, gained fame anointed with myrrh |
| 570 | Quintius incomptis. Hoc signum fregit et iras Belligeras Arabum, qui se ductore per Alpes Hannibale intulerunt, Padus unde elabitur amnis. Deinde sub hoc juvenes claros egere triumphos Scipiades et Pompejus ; collique molestum Esse illi est visum, quem subter es ortus in auras. [10] Quum fuit hinc tempus, quum Cælo est denique visum, Mundum, more suo, dulci componere pace, Est illud, Roma tradenti, Cæsar adeptus ; Quæque id præterea ex Varo ad Rhenum usque peregit, |
for themselves. This standard also broke the warmaking wrath of the Arabs [the Carthaginians] who, with their leader Hannibal, invaded through the Alps, from which the River Po glides out. Under that ensign the youthful Scipio and Pompey achieved famous triumphs, and to that hill [above Florence] under which you were born it appeared odious. After that, when it was the time when it was finally decreed by Heaven to impose in its manner sweet peace on the earth, Caesar took possession of the standard, with Rome handing it over. And the things it accomplished, besides, from the River Var to the Rhine |
| 580 | Sequana sat norunt Araræque Isaræque fluenta, Et quot sunt amnes, Rhodanus quibus intumet ingens. Quod gessit vero postquam exiit urbe Ravenna Ac transit Rubiconis aquas, est pæne volatus, Quem nec lingua sequi, nec penna celerrima posset. Agmina in Hispanas terras traduxit, et urbem Mox ad Dyrrhachium : Emathios tanto impete campos Perculit, ut dolor ad Nili pervenerit oras. Rursus ad Antandrum et rapidum Simoënta redivit, Unde ante exierat, quo martius accubat Hector. [11] |
are known quite well by the Seine and the Arar [Saône] and the Isère rivers and by however many streams with which the vast Rhône is swollen. But what the standard then did, after leaving the city of Ravenna and crossing the waters of the Rubicon, is almost a flight that could be followed neither by the tongue nor the swiftest pen. It led armies across to the Spanish lands and next to Durazzo [in Illyria]. It struck the Emathian fields [in Macedonia] with such force that the pain reached the shores of the Nile. It returned again to Antandros [coastal city in W Asia Minor] and the swift river Simois [near Troy] whence it had previously started out, where the warlike Hector lay buried. |
| 590 | Illinc discessit, Ptolemæum ut plecteret armis ; Utque Jubam opprimeret, terras properavit ad Afras. Occiduam in partem vestram se deinde revexit, Quo tuba natorum Pompeji ad bella vocabat. Gesta sub Augusto cum Bruto Cassius antris Latrat in infernis ; Mutina atque Perusia narrant. Luget adhuc Cleopatra suum miserabile letum, Quod sibi conscivit, positis ad membra colubris. Hoc duce Erythræi rubras pervenit ad undas : Hoc duce composuit mundum, tantaque potiri |
From there it left to punish Ptolemy with arms, and hastened to the African territories to crush Juba. It then returned to your western region [Spain] where the tuba of Pompey’s sons was calling it to war. Together with Brutus, Cassius barks in Hell’s caverns over its deeds under Augustus, which Modena and Perugia relate. Cleopatra still mourns the wretched suicide which she committed by applying a serpent to her members. Under his leadership the ensign reached the waves of the Red Sea; under his leadership it pacified the world and made it possessed of such peace |
| 600 | Pace dedit, qua clausa feri sunt limina Jani. At, quod per terram, quæ illius subdita juri est, Fecerat, et quod venturos fecisset in annos, Fit valde obscurum ac parvum, si Cæsaris illud In manibus tertii, studiis et pectore puro Atque oculo inspicitur ; quippe huic divina, loquenti Quæ mihi justitia inspirat, concessit ut iræ Vindictam ipsius faceret [12]. Mirare quod addam. Deinde Titum ultrices pertraxit sumere pœnas Expensæ ultricis pœnæ pro crimine primo. |
that the savage threshold of Janus was closed. But what the standard had done throughout the lands which were subjected to its jurisdiction, and what it would do in the years to come, becomes very obscure and small if that done in the hands of the third Caesar is viewed with earnestness and with a pure heart and eye, since to it the divine Justice which inspires me as I speak granted it to exact vengeance for Its wrath. Be astounded at what I now add: the ensign next induced Titus to exact the avenging penalty for the cost of the avenging penalty for the original sin. |
| 610 | Quum Longobardas passa est Ecclesia clades, Illius huic magnus protectus Carolus alis Attulit auxilium, victorque coërcuit hostes. Nunc tu nosse potes, quantum sit crimen in illis Quos super arguerim, qui sunt tot causa malorum Quæ vos affligunt. Huic Gallica lilia signo Alter præponit, partique hŏc vindicat alter ; Cernere et est dubium, quisnam vehementius erret. Arma Ghibellini, sed signo hoc absque verendo, Arte sua capiant : male nam se protegit illo, |
When the Church suffered disaster from the Lombards, Charlemagne, protected by the wings of the eagle-standard, brought aid to her and as victor constrained her enemies. Now you are able to know how great the crime is of those whom I accused above, who are the source of so many evils that afflict you. The one side [the Guelphs] sets the French lily in opposition to the eagle-ensign, the other [the Ghibellines] claims this for its faction. It is hard to see which one errs the worse. Let the Ghibellines take up arms in their own way, but without venerating this emblem, for the one who divorces himself from justice |
| 620 | Qui se justitia abjungit. Nec Carolus iste Cum Guelphis huic bella ferat, formidet at ungues, Vellera majori qui detraxere leoni. Sæpe patrum nati fleverunt crimina : neve Credat, ut illius præponat lilia, signum Vertere velle Deum. Parvum hoc complectitur astrum, Quos opus in terris exercuit atque labores, Ut sibi post mortem părĕrent memorabile nomen. Quum mens huc tendit, terrestri dedita curæ, Est opus illa Dei minus incendatur amore. |
protects himself badly with it. And do not let Charles [II of Anjou, king of Naples] with his Guelphs wage war against it; rather, let him fear its talons, which have torn the hides off of greater lions. Sons often bewail the crimes of their fathers: he should not believe that God will want to change His ensign to prefer [French] lilies. This little planet embraces those whom work and labors busied on earth so that they might create a memorable name for themselves after death. When the mind, devoted to terrestrial cares, aims at this, it is necessarily less inflamed with the love of God. |
| 630 | Nobis pars est lætitiæ, data præmia nostris Mētiri meritis ; quippe his ea cernimus æqua. Justitia hinc nostrum sibi tam devincit amorem, Ad nullam ut penitus sit fas divergere culpam. Ut gratum diversa cient modulamina vocum Concentum, sic et nostris in sedibus ordo Impar concentum reddit. Hōc fulget in astro Lux Romei, cujus pulchris mala gratia gestis Est habita. At non longum, qui mendaciter illum Culparunt, risere viri. Male vertitur illi, |
Part of our joy is comparing our given rewards to our merits, since we see them equal to these. Hence, Justice so overwhelms our love toward Itself that it is thoroughly impossible to stray off to any fault. As different modulations of voices generate a pleasant harmony, so in our realm differentiated order produces harmony. In this star gleams the light of Romeo [of Villeneuve], whose beautiful deeds were rewarded with bad thanks. But the men who mendaciously accused him did not laugh long. Things turn out badly for him |
| 640 | Qui sua damna putat, quicquid benefecerit alter. Raimundus quattuor sibi Berlingherius habebat [13] Natas ; ac magnis nupserunt regibus omnes. Hŏc humilis fecit Romeus : tamen improba verba Persuasere, rei rationem ut posceret actæ ; Actæ nempe rei, quam tantum exauxerat ille ; Proinde senex et inops tectum regale reliquit. Si norint homines, fuerint qui pectore sensus, Quum sibi frustatim peteret nutrimina vitæ, Hunc, plusquam soleant, ornarent laudibus amplis. |
for him who thinks that whatever someone else benefits from is his own loss. Raymond Berenguer [V, Guelph Count of Provence] had four daughters, and married them all to great kings. The humble Romeo did this. Nonetheless, malicious words persuaded Berenguer to demand an accounting of the administered fortune an administered fortune, that is, which Romeo had only greatly increased; he consequently left the royal house as an old and poor man. If men knew what feelings were in his heart when he was begging bit by bit for the food of life, they would adorn him with ample praise more than they normally do.” |
| PARADISI VII {7} ⇑ | ||
| 650 | Hæc ait, atque : Exercituum Deus inclute, salve Incepit canere, ista tuo qui lumine regna Largiter illustras ; ac, duplice luce coruscans, [14] Interea in numerum, juxta modulamina cantus, Ducebat choreas, choreas ducentibus unā Spiritibus reliquis : rapidæ mox quale favillæ Longe oculis abiere meis. Incertus et anceps Ajebam mecum : dic, quære, illamque rogato, Quæ delet tibi rore sitim ; at reverentia, quæ me Illius permulta tenet, mihi labra vetabat |
These things he said, and he began to sing: “Exercituum Deus inclute, salve ista tuo qui lumine regna largiter illustras! : Hail, o renowned God of armies, Thou Who lavishly illuminatest those realms with Thy light!”; and, coruscating with a dual light, he meanwhile danced a round dance in rhythm to the cadence of the song, with the rest of the spirits dancing along together. Like swift sparks they rapidly departed far from my eyes. Uncertain and undecided, I said to myself, “Speak, query, ask her who quenches your thirst with her dew.” But the exceeding reverence of her that restrains me prevented my lips |
| 660 | Pandere, ut irrepens cui somnus degravat artus. Non multum tulit hærentem, risuque Beatrix Effulgens, medio qui lætum redderet igne : Tu, dixit, (nec falli possum), mente requiris Quomodo vindictam justam fas plectere justis Sit pœnis ; at ego his curis te rite resolvam, Et se magna meis pandet sententia dictis. Qui non est natus, sibi proficientia, nolens Frena voluptati, vir se prolemque peremit. Hinc genus humanum densa caligine mersum |
from opening, as creeping sleep weighs down one’s limbs. Beatrice did not long leave me in hesitation and, beaming with a laugh which would make one happy in the midst of fire, said, “You (and I cannot be deceived) are mentally questioning how it is permissible to punish just vengeance with just penalties. But I will properly relieve you of these concerns, and an important doctrine will manifest itself with my words. [Adam,] He who was not born, not wanting the beneficial to him reins to his pleasure, wrecked himself and his progeny. From then on the human race lay submerged in the thick darkness |
| 670 | Erroris jacuit, donec post sæcula multa Magna Dei suboles cælo descendit ab alto ; Naturamque, suo quæ auctore recesserat, ipsi Induit, ex actu æterni dumtaxat amoris. Fac nunc advertas, et quæ dicam excipe mente. Hæc natura, sibi quam posthac induit Auctor, Intemerata fuit, qualis fuit ante creata ; At, scelus ob proprium, Paradisi est limine pulsa, Namque sua ex vita, ac veri se ex calle remorat. Naturam idcirco sumptam si inspexeris ; æqua |
of error, until after many ages the great offspring of God descended from high heaven and himself donned the nature that had left its author, purely out of an act of eternal love. Now pay attention and mentally grasp what I am about to say: this nature, after its Author had clothed himself with it, was unblemished as it had been previously created. But due to its own crime, it was outcast from the threshold of Paradise since it had removed itself from its own life and from the path of truth. So if you consider the nature assumed, the penalty of the cross |
| 680 | Pœna crucis fuit, atque hac nil est justius unquam ; At si personam, quæ talem est passa, tueris, Cui hæc natura inerat, nulla est injuria major. Diversa ex uno duplex res prodiit actu, Unaque mors placuit simul Abramidisque Deoque : Hac tremuit terra, et patefacta est janua Cæli. Non tibi jam durum debet dubiumque videri, Vindictam justam quum juste audiveris ultam. Ast ego nunc alium tibi mentem obstringere nodum Aspicio, ex quo solvi est illi magna cupido. |
was commensurate, and there was never anything more just than this. But if you look at the person in whom that nature was, who suffered such a thing, there is no greater injustice. Out of one act came a divergent, forked result, and one death simultaneously pleased the Jews and God. The earth shook and the gates of Heaven were opened at it. It should no longer seem hard and ambiguous to you when you hear of a just vengeance being avenged justly. But I now see another knot tying up your mind, from which its great desire is to be released. |
| 690 | Cur modus iste Deo redimendi arriserit, inquis, Percipere haud valeo. Nulli hoc deprendere, frater, Fas est, ni quibus æterni vis constat Amoris. [15] At, quoniam huc multum inspicitur, minimumque videtur, Cur modus hic fuerit præ cunctis dignior, edam. Expers livoris, bonitas divina favillis Ipsa suis late micat, æternique decŏris Pandit opes. Quodcunque absque interventibus ullis Sola creat, manet æternum ; nam nescit imago Deleri, quam ipsa impressit. Quod manat ab illa |
You are saying, ‘I cannot understand why that particular method of redemption should have pleased God.’ Brother, understanding this is possible for no one except those in whom the power of eternal Love dwells. But because there is a great deal of investigation into this and little is discerned, I will explain why this method was worthier than others. Unbegrudging, the divine Goodness itself glitters widely with its sparks and reveals its riches of eternal beauty. Whatever it alone produces without any intervention remains eternal, for the image which it has itself imprinted cannot be removed. What derives from it |
| 700 | Nullo interventu, omni libertate potitur ; Mutarique nequit rerum virtute novarum. [16] Quod plus est illi compar, plus complacet illi ; Ardor enim sanctus, qui res illuminat omnes, Quæ mage sunt ipsi similes, mage fulget in illis. Cuncta hominem hæc decŏra exornant : si deficit unum, Nobilitate cadit : scelus unum mancipat illum, Atque Deo similem non amplius efficit esse, Divina tum namque parum se luce colorat : Nec species amissa redit, nisi pœna replerit, |
without intervention possesses complete liberty and cannot be changed by the power of things novel. That which is more similar to Him pleases Him more, for holy ardor, which illuminates all things that are more like Him, shines more in them. All these glories adorn man. If one thing is lacking, the being falls in nobility. A single crime surrenders him up and makes him be no longer like God, for then he colors himself too little with divine light. And his lost beauty does not return unless punishment refills |
| 710 | Quod culpa evacuat, suadente cupidine prava. Dotibus his, natura suo quum in semine vestra Peccavit tota, ut Paradiso, exuta recessit ; Nec refici poterant, (si advertas mente sagaci); Ni geminis tantum hisce modis : aut parceret unus Clementer Deus ; aut, sua quod dementia fecit, Ipse homo flāgitium lueret. Nunc insere mentem Altius, atque æterni consilii inspice abyssum, Quam potis es ; dictisque meis prudenter inhære. Pro scelere admisso ratione satisdare nulla |
what his guilt has emptied under the persuasion of crooked desire. When your whole nature [= genotype] sinned in its own seed, it cut itself off, divested of these endowments as likewise of Paradise. And they could not be recovered (if you pay attention with an alert mind) except only through these two ways: either that God alone should kindly give pardon, or that man himself should pay for the shameful deed that his own insanity had committed. Now direct your thoughts more deeply and look into the abyss of the eternal plan as much as you can, and pay intelligent attention to what I say. Mortal man could in no way give satisfaction |
| 720 | Mortalis poterat ; nam se demittere ad imum Impos erat tantum, quantum se erexerat alte. Hæc causa est verax, cur rite rependere noxam Humanæ non esset opis. Deus ergo suismet Ipse viis, homini vitam reparare superstes Solus erat : nempe aut una, aut ambabus. Utrisque Ūti diva, sua quæ signat imagine mundum, His Bonitas voluit : magis acceptabile donum Quippe est, quod magis ostendit donantis amorem. Non fuit aut erit, ex nascentis origine mundi |
for the crime committed, for he was incapable of humbly lowering himself down as far as he had exalted himself upward. This is the real reason why it was not in human power to repay the injury properly. Therefore God Himself was the only one left to recover life for man, in His own ways: that is, either in the one way [mercy] or in both [mercy and justice]. The divine Goodness chose to use both of these ways which stamps the world with His own image. For the gift that shows the love of the giver more, is the more acceptable one. From the beginning of the world at its birth there never was, nor will there be |
| 730 | Ad mundi finem, ratio magis alta gerendi, Sive Deum aut hominem spectes. Si indulserit ultro Ipse Deus veniam, largus minus ille fuisset, Quam quum se dedit, instaurare ut posset omissas Mortalis vires : nec erat ratio ulla profecto Altera, justitiæ compar ; nisi Numinis esset Filius humanam dignatus sumere carnem. Nunc, ut plena tibi penitus sit cuncta cupido, Ad rem, quam dixi, redeo ; ut tibi clara patescat, Non secus atque mihi. Inquis : aquam, aëra, terram, |
until the end of the world, a more exalted way of acting, if you view either God or man. If God Himself had of his own accord granted pardon, he would have been less generous that when he gave himself so that mortal man could restore his lost powers. Nor, certainly, was there any other way equal to justice, other than that God’s Son should have deigned to assume human flesh. Now, so that all your longing may be completely full, I will return to the subject I was discussing, so that it may reveal itself clearly to you, just as it does to me. You say, ‘I see water, air, earth |
| 740 | Atque ignem, quæque his constant, haud tempore multo Durare, ac labi aspicio : hæc etiam Deus ipse creavit ; Quare, si verum dixi, nescire ruinam Hæc quoque deberent. Regio, in qua, frater, es ipse, Angelicæque acies, sunt condicione creatæ Integra ; at quæ elementa refers, et condita ab illis, Hæc formam accipiunt porro ex virtute creata. Materiam illorum Deus et quæ informat eandem, Virtutem in stellis obeuntibus hisce creavit. Brutorum ac plantarum animæ de lucibus istis |
and air, and the things composed of these, not lasting a long time, and disintegrating. God created these things too. Why, if I am speaking the truth, should not these things, too, know disintegration?’ The dimension in which you yourself are, Brother, and the angelic legions were created in a completed condition. But those elements you are referring to, and the things composed of them, subsequently take their forms from [already] created power. God created their matter and the power in these orbiting stars that gives it form. From those lamps the souls of animals and plants |
| 750 | Motumque vitamque trahunt, vi talibus apta : Nostram animam vero spirat Deus ipsemet : illam Sic et amore replet, quo semper tendit ad illum : Hinc quoque conjicies, quod mortua membra resurgent, Si reputas quo more fuit caro condita quondam, Quum vitam primi acciperent utrique parentes. |
draw their movement and their life with a force appropriate to such creatures. But God Himself breathes our soul into us [humans]. He also fills it thus with love through which it will be always drawn to Him. From this you will also conclude that your dead members will rise again, if you think about how your flesh was once created when your both your first parents took on life.” |
| PARADISI VIII {8} ⇑ | ||
| 756 | Idaliam gens prisca, suo malesana periclo, Tertio ab orbe Deam spirare putabat amores ; Atque ideo, non tantum ea, verum culta Dione Est aris votisque parens, natusque Cupido, |
The people of old, to their insane peril, thought that the Idalian goddess [Venus] breathed her love from the third sphere, and therefore not only she, but her mother Dionē was worshipped with altars and vows, as well as her son Cupid |
| 760 | Didonis gremio quem decubuisse ferebant. Illius huic stellæ, de qua jam dicere sumpsi, Quam Sol et veniens abiensque inspectat amanter, Imposuit nomen. Qui sim delatus in illam, Nescio : ab hoc sensi, quod pulchrior ore Beatrix Visa mihi fuerit. Non sequius atque favillæ Igni interlucent, atque ut distinguitur una Vox alia, quum subsilit altera, et altera perstat ; Sideris haud aliter per lucem currere Luces Vidi ego tunc alias, sed plusque minusque citatim, |
whom they said cuddled in Dido’s lap. The people gave her name to this star of which I have already started to speak, and which the Sun, coming and going, looks on with love. I do not know how I was transported to it. I discovered it from the fact that Beatrice seemed more beautiful of face to me. As when sparks light up in a fire, or when one voice is distinguished from another when one jumps up and the other holds steady, in the same way I then saw other Lights running through the light, but more or less |
| 770 | Prout, reor, æterno gauderet lumine quæque. Invisi aut visi, ex gelidis haud nubibus unquam Erumpunt venti ; quos non incedere segnes Dixerit, ad nos has Luces qui viderit ire, Linquentes gyrum, ex Seraphim sublimibus orsum. [17] Post incedentes primos Hosanna sonabat, Quale mihi semper fuit hinc audire cupido. Accedens propius, tunc una ita farier infit : Omnes nos præsto sumus, atque explere paratæ Quicquid aves : cum Principibus cælestibus idem |
rapidly, according, I believe, as each enjoyed the eternal light. “Invisible or visible winds never burst out of freezing clouds”: no one who saw those Lights leaving the sphere originating in the sublime Seraphim, would say that those winds did not come on sluggishly. Following the first ones coming down, Hosanna sounded, such that ever since I have had the desire to hear it. Coming closer, then one of them began to speak thus: “We are all available and ready to fulfill whatever you wish. The orbit propels us around with the heavenly Principalities |
| 780 | Nos gyrus motuque pari atque cupidine eadem Circumagit ; quibus in mundo : Vos, orbita, dixti, Quorum ex impulsu volvit se tertia Cæli. [18] Nos ita diligimus, tibi nos et tanta gerendi Cura tenet morem, ut paulum requiesse juvabit. Postquam oculos Divæ affixi reverenter, et illa Blanditer arrisit, Luci sum versus eidem Quæ mihi se exhibuit. Quo nomine diceris ? inqui, Primam edens vocem, magno commotus amore. Oh qualem et quantam tunc illi augescere lucem, |
with an equal motion and the same desire us to whom you said, “Vos, orbita, quorum ex impulsu volvit se tertia Cæli: You, o spheres, by whose force the third Heaven turns” [a poem of Dante’s]. We have so much love, and such concern for pleasing you interests us, that we will [even] enjoy pausing a bit.” After I had turned my eyes reverently to my godly Lady, and she had smiled tenderly, I turned to the same Light that had addressed itself to me. “By what name were you called?” I said, uttering the first words and moved with great love. O, with what quality and quantity I then saw the light increase |
| 790 | Propter lætitiam vidi, quæ juncta priori Lætitiæ fuit, hæc postquam sum talia fatus ! Effulgens sic luce nova, mihi reddidit orsa. Non longum me terra habuit : si longius ævum Duxissem, minus exortum foret inde malorum. Quæ me lætitia involvit, radiisque coruscis Includit, velut ipse suo sub stamine bombyx, Non sinit, ut tu me videas. Me ardenter amasti ; Ac merito : nam si vixissem, haud reddere grates Abstiterim plusquam verbis. Me ripa sinistra, [19] |
due to joy which was combined with its earlier joy, after I had said these words! Effulgent thus with this new light, it began to me, “The earth did not hold me [Charles Martell, 1270-95, king of Hungary] for long. If I had lived a longer life, less evil would have subsequently arisen. The joy which enwraps and covers me with sparkling rays like a silkworm within its own thread, does not allow you to see me. You loved me ardently and rightly, for if I had lived, I would not have refrained from giving you more than verbal thanks. The left bank |
| 800 | Quæ Rhodano abluitur, postquam sua flumina Sorgæ Miscuit illabens, dominum sibi habere manebat, Nec non et pars Ausoniæ, qua mœnia Bari Piscosi assurgunt, et Cajetæ atque Crotonis, Quaque Truentus aquas Viridisque evolvit in æquŏr. Illius mihi fulgebat jam fronte corona Telluris, quam Danubius rigat amne profundo, Teutonidum rigidis postquam est digressus ab oris. Quæque Pachynum inter tellus altumque Pelorum Æquoris ad fluctus, magis Euri flatibus actos, |
which is washed by the Rhône, flowing on after the Sorgue mixes its waters with it, was waiting to have [me as] its lord, as was also part of Ausonia [southern Italy], where the walls of the fishing town of Bari rise, and of Gaëta and Catona, and where the Tronto and the Verde roll their waters into the sea. On my forehead already shone the crown of that land [Hungary] which the Danube waters with its deep stream after it has left the frigid banks of the Germans. And the land that, between Pachino and high Pelorus and adjacent to the sea swells most churned by the blasts of the east wind, is dark |
| 810 | Sulphure caligat, non exspirante Typhœo, Nunc etiam nostro reges ex sanguine haberet, Ex me quos dederint et Carolus atque Rodulphus, Si regni feritas, atque infrenata potestas, Quæ semper populos turbat, non ire Panormum In cædem egisset. Meus hæc si mente sagaci Præspiceret frater, Catalanam cautus avaram Pauperiem abjiceret, populis ne dura noceret. Illi opus est certe, aut aliis, impendĕre curas, Ne ratis ulterius, jam pondere onusta, gravetur. |
(not from the exhalations of Typhoëus, but with sulfur), would even now have from me kings of our blood whom Charles II and the Emperor Rudolph gave us if the savagery of rule and unbridled power which always infuriates the people, had not driven Palermo [capital of Sicily] to killing. If with a keen mind my brother foresaw these things, he would providently throw off the Catalan poverty so that its severity would not oppress the people. It is necessary for him or others to take care that the ship, already loaded with weight, not be further burdened. |
| 820 | Illius ingenio, quod parcum ex ubere fluxit, Militia esset opus, quæ nollet ponere in arca. [20] Dixit ; et his ego sum contra dein talibus orsus. Me tua mirifice complent dulcedine dicta ; Qua magis afficior, quoniam te hanc cernere credo Qualem ego percipio, illic, unde exordia sumit Ac finem omne bonum ; quodque hanc in Numine cernas, Hōc quoque delector. Quum lætum feceris, idem Me doceas ; nam, verba serens, dubitare dedisti Quomodo de dulci semen nascatur amarum. |
His nature, which flowed from liberality into avariciousness, would need a soldiery that would not want to stuff its money coffer.” So he said, and in return I then began as follows: “Your words fill me marvelously with sweetness, with which I am gratified all the more because I believe you see this as I see it there, where all goodness has its beginning and end; and because you see it in the Godhead, I am delighted by that, too. As you have made me happy, likewise teach me; for in speaking you have made me curious about how bitter seed may be born of sweet.” |
| 830 | Si valeam, is rettulit, tibi verum ostendere, vertes Huic, quod scire cupis, faciem, ut nunc tergora vertis. Regnum, quod nunc tu ascendis, Deus ordine volvens Æque ac lætificans, virtutem ponit in istis Corporibus magnis, ad quod vult providus ipse : Nec modo naturas Mens perfecta ordinat omnes Disjunctim, at cunctas simul, illarumque salutem ; Quicquid enim hic arcus vibrat, certum incutit istum Prævisum in punctum, velut in signum acta sagitta. Hoc nisi sic esset, Cælum producere perget, |
“If,” he replied, “I can show you the truth, “you will turn your face to that which you want to know, as you are now turning your back. God, making the realm you are now ascending revolve in an orderly way , as well as beatifying it, injects His power into these great bodies, providing for what He Himself wishes. And the perfect Mind not only orders all natures individually, but all of them at the same time, and their welfare. For whatever this bow shoots at, it hits that specific, preordained point, like an arrow shot at a target. If that were not so, Heaven would continue to produce things, |
| 840 | At male composita, et certam incursura ruinam ; Quod nequit effieri, nisi sint hæc astra moventes Infirmi ; quique hos fecit, infirmus et ipse. Jamque age, visne tibi magis hæc clarescere faxim ? Non equidem, dixi ; video nam satque superque, Quod sibi non unquam deest Natura tuendæ. Mox inquit : pejusne foret, si civis in urbe Nemo esset ? Certe, rettuli ; nec causa petenda est. Idne, ait, esse potest, homines nisi munere terris Fungantur vario, ac varias vertantur ad artes ? |
but badly composed ones, and destined for certain disintegration. This could not happen unless the movers of these stars were weak, and He who makes those movers were Himself weak. And so now tell me, do you want me to make these things more clarified for you?” I said, “I certainly do not. For, enough and more than enough, I see that Nature never fails in taking care of herself.” He then said, “Would it be worse if no one were a citizen in a city?” I answered, “Certainly, and no reason has to be sought.” He said, “Can that be, if on earth men do not engage in various tasks and turn to various skills? |
| 850 | Non equidem, vester docuit si vera Magister. [21] Huc ubi devenit : studiorum, dixit, oportet Radicem esse igitur variam : nam nascitur unus Xerxes, ille Solon, hic qui sibi condidit alas, Alter Melchisedech. Volventibus edita ab astris, Mortalem ceram signans Natura sigillo, Fungitur arte sua, sed non discriminat ædes. Hinc fit ut ingenio Jacob tam discrepet Esau, Atque adeo est vili natus de patre Quirinus Ut sibi opus fuerit genitorem asciscere Martem. |
Certainly not, if your Teacher [Aristotle] teaches the truth.” When he came to this point, he said, “It is therefore necessary for the roots of pursuits to be different. For the one is born a Xerxes, that one a Solon, this one someone [Daedalus] who fashions wings for himself, another a Melchizedek. Nature, proceding from the orbiting stars, stamping the mortal wax with its seal, operates in its own way, but does not differentiate between abodes. Hence it comes about that Jacob differs in talent from Esau, and Quirinus [Romulus] was born of such a lowly father that it was necessary for him to claim Mars as a father. |
| 860 | Natorum semper similis natura parentum Esset naturæ, nisi mens divina vetaret Consilio arcano, cui sunt mortalia curæ. Ecce tibi ante oculos, quæ jam post terga latebant. At, quantum es mihi curæ ut noveris, instar abollæ, [22] Hoc addam. Quoties reperit Natura sinistram Fortunam, male proficit, ut non consita terris Semina quæque suis. Si, quæ fundamina ponit Natura, instaret mundus, gens integra morum Floreret, lætoque irent mortalia cursu. |
The nature of sons would always be similar to the nature of their parents if the divine mind did not prevent it with a secret plan whose concern was mortals. So see, what was just now hidden behind your back is in front of your eyes. But so that you might known how much I am concerned for you, I will add a kind of mantle. Whenever a Nature encounters an adverse fortune, it prospers poorly, like any seeds not sown in their own earth. If the world closely followed what nature lays down, the people would flourish intact in mores, and mortal affairs would travel on a joyful path. |
| 870 | At Marti natos, vos aræ addicitis ; aptos Instrepere eloquio, regali in sede locatis : Vestraque sic recto devertitur orbita calle. |
But you assign those born for war to the altar, those suited for making noise with speeches you place on a royal throne. And thus your course is diverted from the right path.” |
| LIBER X | ||
| PARADISI IX {9} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Me tuus ut dubiis, Clementia pulchra, resolvit [1] Carolus, infandas fraudes tristemque rapinam [2] Narravit, sua quas suboles passura fuisset ; At, sileas, ait, ac tacitum sine currere tempus. Quare ego nil aliud dicam, nisi vestra dolores Damna secuturos, meritasque ob crimina pœnas. Jamque illud Lumen Soli se verterat almo, Qui totum replet igne suo, et par cuique tuenti est. Oh captas errore Animas ! oh impia corda ! |
Beautiful Clemence [Charles Martel’s daughter], as your Charles cleared me of doubts, he told of unspeakable defraudings and sorrowful dispossession which his offspring was to undergo. But he said, “Be quiet and let the time pass silent.” Hence I will say nothing other than that sufferings will follow your losses, and justified punishments due to crimes. And now that Light had turned to the nourishing Sun which fills everything with its fire and is adequate to every observer. O souls captured by error! O impious hearts |
| 10 | Quæ tam grande bonum abjicitis, deceptaque rerum Vanarum specie, curas his tenditis omnes. Ecce autem subito ex illis Fulgoribus alter Ad me se tulit ; ac, majori luce renīdens, Se cupidum affari ostendit. Velut ante, Beatrix, In me defixos oculos quæ blanda tenebat, Annuit optanti. Mihi, Spiritus alme, volenti, Dixi ego, responde ; ac certum me redde, reflecti In te, quæ mihi sunt animo. Lux, cognita nondum Quæ mihi tum fuerat, medio de sideris, unde |
who throw away such great good and, deceived by the appearance of empty things, devote all your cares to them! But look: suddenly from those blazes another one came to me and, shining with a greater light, showed itself desirous of talking. As before, Beatrix, who soothingly kept her eyes on me, nodded assent to my desire. “Answer my wish, kind Spirit,” I said, “and convince me that what is in my mind is reflected in you.” A Light which had not yet been known to me, from the center of the star where |
| 20 | Ante dabat cantum, gaudentis more favere : Italicæ, incepit, pravæ telluris in oris, Urbem inter Venetam fontesque ex Alpe fluentum Medoaci ac Plavis, non multum surgit ad auras Exiguus collis ; fax unde erupit, et ardens [3] Affecit magnis subjectam cladibus oram. Huic soror ipsa fui : sum nomine dicta Cunizza : Hic moror, hoc etenim vicit me lumine sidus. Non mea me sors affligit, nec me illa remordet, Vulgus ut ignarum forsan mortale putaret. |
it had previously been singing, in the manner of one rejoicing to please, began, “On the shores of the depraved Italian land, between the Venetian city [Venice] and the sources of the Brent and the Piave flowing from the Alps, a small hill rises not very high into the air. From there a torch [Ezzelino III da Romano] erupted and, afire, afflicted the coastland beneath it with great disasters. I myself was his sister. My name was Cunizza. I abide here, for this star overwhelmed me with its light. My lot does not haunt me, nor does it cause me remorse as perhaps the ignorant mortal masses might think. |
| 30 | Quæ mihi Lux proprior fulget, memorabile nomen In terris liquit, multumque manebit in ævum, Plus etiam quam quingentos Sol duxerit annos. Aspice numne homini sit opus virtute mereri, Ut post hanc vitam, subeat dehinc ille secundam. Non hŏc incauta advertit maleprovida mente Gens inter degens Tilaventi Athesisque fluenta ; Ac, licet ærumnis pressam, non pænitet illam. At cito, (dant gentes quoniam jura omnia pessum) Sanguis, ab Euganeis decurrens collibus, undas |
The Light that shines next to me [Folquet of Marseilles] left a memorable name on earth, and it will remain for many an age even more than the Sun tallies as five hundred years. See how a man should earn merit through his talents so that after this life he might then follow up with a second one. The careless population dwelling between the Adige and Tagliamento rivers, with its shortsighted mind, pays no attention to this and, even though overcome with miseries, does not rue it. But soon (because populations thwart all right) their blood, running down from the northeast Italian hills, |
| 40 | Mutabit fluvii, qui te, Vicentia, lambit. [4] Qua Calianus aquas cum Silis flumine jungit It talis capite erecto, regnoque superbit, [5] Cui jam tenduntur retes. Pastoris iniqui Tu quoque vipereas lugebis, Feltria, fraudes : Tales, queis nunquam Maltam subiere nocentes. [6] Vas nimis amplum esset, quod continuisse cruorem Possit, quem de gente tua, Ferraria, fundet Presbyter hic bonus, ut sese demonstret amicum Pontifici ; lassusque foret, qui hunc pendĕre vellet : |
will change the waters of the river which lick you, Vicenza. At the place [Treviso] where the Cagnano joins its waters with the stream of the Sile, there goes one [Riccardo da Camino] with his head held high and who is arrogant with is rule, for whom nets are already being spread. You too will mourn, Feltro, over the evil Shepherd’s [Alessandro Novello’s] snaky frauds, for the likes of which no criminals ever entered Malta prison. Too large would be the vessel that could hold the blood which that good priest will drain from your people, Ferrara, in order to prove himself a friend of the Pontiff, and the man who would weigh it would become exhausted. |
| 50 | Moribus hæc porro respondent munera gentis. Sunt specula in Cælo, atque thronos vos dicitis illa, Unde palam nobis dat se Deus ipse videndum : Crede igitur quod certa tibi sum proinde locuta. Hæc dixit ; velutique aliis exercita curis, Se rursum in gyrum misit conversa relictum. Altera tum Lux, jam nota mihi, tam clara refulsit, Gemma velut Solis radio percussa corusco. Gaudia ŭti risu nos prodimus, astra colentes Testantur sic luce nova : quos obtinet Orcus, |
These gifts correspond to the lifestyle of the people. In Heaven there are mirrors and you call them Thrones whence God Himself gives Himself to us to be seen openly, so believe that I have accordingly told you the truth.” She finished speaking these things, and as though taken up with other concerns, turning, she went back again to the circle she had left. Then another Light, already known to me, shone as brightly as a gemstone struck by a glittering sunbeam. As we reveal ourselves with laughter, so star-dwellers reveal their joy with new light. Those whom Hell holds |
| 60 | Fronte notant tristi mærentis nubila cordis. Cuncta Deus videt, et tu cuncta tueris in illo, Spiritus o felix, ego dixi ; omnisque voluntas, Quæ sit nota Deo, tibi non incognita pāret : Cur tua vox igitur, quæ semper sidera mulcet Par Seraphim cantu, quibus est sex tegmen ab alis, Non mihi respondit ? Tua si mihi vota paterent, Ut tibi nostra patent, a te nollem ipse rogari. Maxima vallis aquæ, excepto qui circuit orbem [7] Oceano, ille inquit, tantum se Solis ad ortum, |
inscribe the clouds of their sorrowing hearts on their sad foreheads. “God sees all, and you see all in Him, o happy Spirit,” I said, “and every want which is known to God does not appear unknown to you. So why does your voice, which, equal to the song of the Seraphim who have a cowling of six wings, always soothes the stars, not answer me? If your wishes were manifest to me as ours are to you, I myself would not want to ask them of you.” He said, “Except for the ocean which encircles the world, the largest valley of water [the Mediterranean] stretches so far toward the Sunrise, |
| 70 | Progrediens inter contraria litora, tendit, Circulus ut medius sistat, quo stabat Horizon. Hanc vallem propter, veni sub luminis auras Hiberum inter Macramque amnem, qui tramite parvo Tyrrhenis Ligurum disterminat arva colonis. Pæne et ad occasum atque ortum sunt Solis eundem Afris litoribus Saldæ et mea patria tellus, Quæ vastata suo tepefecit sanguine portum. Nomine sum Folcus [8] : Cælum me detinet istud, Illius afflatus valde quod pectore sensi. |
proceeding between opposite shores, that its mid-circle [meridian] is located where the Horizon was standing. I came into the air of light next to that valley between the Ebro [in Spain] and the Magra [in Italy], which with its short path divides the Ligurians’ [Genoans’] fields from the Tyrrhenian [Tuscan] settlers. Saldæ [Bejaïa in Algeria] on the African shores and my native earth [Marseilles], which, devastated [by Caesar], warmed the port with its blood, are almost at the same sunset and sunrise. My name was Folquet [of Marseilles]. That Heaven held me, because I strongly felt its inspirations in my breast. |
| 80 | Non adeo, dum ætas sivit, Phœnissa, Sichæo Atque Creusæ infensa, arsit ; non hospita Phylles Demophoonta, nec Alcides adamavit Ïolem. Nec tamen hinc oritur dolor, at jucunda voluptas ; Non equidem culpæ, quam plene oblivia delent, Sed, quæ mirifico sic digerit ordine, mentis. Hic ars inspicitur, quæ tales indidit astro Huic vires, ut, quem mortalibus afflat amorem, Sursus ad auctorem redeat. Nunc pandere pergam, Discere quod vis ulterius. Tu luce requiris |
As long as my youth permitted it, the Phoenician woman [Dido], hostile to Sichaeus and Creüsa, did not burn [with passion] as much, nor did the hospitable Phyllis love Demophoön, nor the son of Alcaeus [Hercules] love Ïole as much. But pain did not result from that, but enjoyable pleasure not of guilt, which forgetfulness eliminates completely, but of the Mind which arranges things in an amazing order. Here is contemplated the art which endows this star with such powers that the love it breathes into mortals may return back up to its creator. Now I will proceed to explain what more you want to learn. You seek to know |
| 90 | Qui mihi proximior tanta sit Spiritus ardens, Non secus ac pura radius Phœbeus in unda. Scito hunc esse Rahab, summo quæ gaudet honore Ordine in hoc nostro. Ante omnes illata coruscum Hæc fuit in sidus (quo culmen desinit umbræ, Quam tellus ex Sole jacit) quum victor ab antris Morte triumphata Christus remeavit Avernis. Linquere eam decuit, monumentum insigne triumphi, Quem sibi promeruit, palmis defixus utrisque, Cæli in parte aliqua ; primo nam dextera bello |
who is the Spirit burning with such great light closer to me, like a sunbeam in pure water. Know that it is Rahab who enjoys the highest honor in this order of ours. Before all others she was brought to the glittering star (where ends the peak of the shadow which the earth casts from the Sun) when the victor, Christ, triumphing over death, returned from the caverns of Hell. It was appropriate to leave her in some part of heaven as a remarkable memorial of the triumph which he, nailed in both palms, earned for himself; for with her right hand she favored |
| 100 | Hæc favit Josue, sanctæ telluris in oris ; Cujus Pontificem cepere oblivia summum. Urbs tua, quæ illius planta est, qui vertere primus Terga suo Auctori est ausus, cujusque dolenda [9] Invidia est adeo, progignit et undique fundit Tristem illum florem, recto qui e tramite abegit Agnosque ac pecudes ; lupus hōc nam factus ab ipso Est Pastor. Mentem unis Decretalibus addunt, [10] Ut plane ex illarum attrito margine constat : Pontificum his Summus, reliquique a cardine dicti, |
Joshua’s first war on the earth of the Holy Land, a war whose oblivion has captured the Supreme Pontiff. Your city [Florence], which is the plant of him [Satan] who first dared to turn his back on his Creator, and whose envy is so to be regretted, begot and everywhere poured out its sad flower [the Florentine florin] which has driven lambs and cattle off the right path, for by this very thing the Shepherd has been made a wolf. They devote their minds to the Decretals [canon law] alone, as is clearly evident from their worn-out margins. To these things the highest of the Pontiffs and the rest, named after hinges [cardines: whence cardinals], |
| 110 | Intendunt animos ; Evangeliique relicto Ac Patrum studio ; paucamque in pectore curam Gestant Nazareæ sedis, qua nuntius alas Gabriël, ætherio delapsus vertice, pandit. At Vaticanus collis, et urbis cetera Romæ Pars sacra, ubi recubant Petri vexilla secuti, Fœdo ab adulterio quamprimum libera fiet. |
direct their talents, abandoning the study of the Gospels and the Fathers; in their hearts they pay little attention to the abode of Nazareth, where the messenger Gabriel, descending from the ethereal summit, unfolded his wings. But the Vatican hill and the other sacred parts of the city of Rome, where the followers of Peter’s banner lie, will soon be free of disgusting adultery.” |
| PARADISI X {10} ⇑ | ||
| 117 | In genitum spectans (illo, qui æternus utrisque Mānat, amore), oculis quæcunque aut mente videntur, Omnia tam miro primus Vigor ordine fecit, |
Gazing on his Son (with that love which, eternal, radiates from both), the primal Life Force made all things whatever are seen with eye or mind with such awesome order |
| 120 | Noscere ut hunc nemo nequeat, qui talia cernit. Tolle igitur, lector, partem tua lumina in illam, Qua motu inseritur concordi fœdere motus ; Atque, hinc incipiens, artem meditare Magistri, Qui tantum hanc amat, ut nunquam noctuque diuque Inde oculos vertat. Vide ut hinc se circulus ille Obliquus tendat, qui errantia sidera ducit In varios mundi, qui talia postulat, usus. Transversum ni his esset iter, Cæli irrita virtus Multa foret, vis et terris quasi hebesceret omnis. |
that no one who sees such things might be unable to know Him. So, reader, raise your eyes to that part where a motion [of the Celestial Equator] converges in concordant agreement with a motion [of the Ecliptic] and, starting from there, meditate on the skill of the Master Who loves it so much that night and day He never turns His eyes from it. See how from there that [Ecliptic] circle extends obliquely, the one that entrains the planets into various uses of the world which calls for such things. If their course were not oblique, much of the power of Heaven would be useless and all the force on earth would be as though deadened. |
| 130 | Si plus sive minus recto deflecteret axe, Terrisque ac Cælo valde defecerit ordo. Hæc libata tuo, lector, sub pectore volve, Si lætus prius esse velis, quam viribus expers : Instruxi tibi rite dapes, nunc ipse comesto. Nam me inceptum opus ad se cunctas vertere curas Sollicitum cogit. Naturæ prima ministra, Vim Cæli insinuans mundo, ac labentia certo Tempora mensurans cursu, Phœbeïa lampas Per gyros ibat, Phrixeo sidere juncta, |
If it bent more or less from a straight axis, the order on earth and in Heaven would be greatly defective. Consider these tasted things in your heart, reader, if you wish to be cheerful before you are out of strength. I have laid a banquet before you; now eat of it yourself, for the work I have begun compels me in my concern to turn all my efforts to it. The first ministress of Nature, injecting the power of the Heavens into the world and measuring flowing time with its regular course, the solar lamp, connected to the constellation of Aries, passes through the orbits |
| 140 | Per quos quaque die sese maturius effert. Jamque ego in illa aderam ; sed non me ascendere sensi, Ni veluti mens præsentit, quod jam occupat illam. Oh quantum radiare nova tum luce Beatrix Debuit illa magis, quæ tam ad meliora repente Me vehit, ut nullum per tempus tenditur actus ! Quod Sol in se ipso, quem sum introgressus, habebat, Non aliquem propter, quo excelleret ille, colorem, At propter lucem, non ars ususque referre Ingeniumve potest, ut sese ostendat imago : |
through which she presents herself earlier every day. And I was present within her, but I did not feel myself rising, just as the mind has no foreknowledge of what next occupies it. Oh, how Beatrice must have radiated with that new light she who carried me to better realms so quickly that the act extended through no time. What the Sun (which I had entered) contains within itself, neither art and experience or ability can describe not on account of some color with which it excelled, but on account of the light in order for the picture to manifest itself. |
| 150 | Credere sed par est, exoptandumque tueri. Si mens nostra nequit tantum se attollere in altum, Nil mirum si oculi nequeunt transmittere Solem. Talis erat gens quarta Patris, qui jugiter illam, Ut genit ac spirat pandens, dulcedine complet. Angelico Soli, tunc est mihi fata Beatrix, Redde libens grates, cujus te gratia ad istum Deduxit clemens, humanis sensibus aptum. Nullum cor hominis tam se pernīciter unquam Dedidit intenseque Deo, ceu vocibus illis |
But it is right to believe it, and one should desire to see it. It is not surprising if our mind is incapable of rising so high, if our eyes cannot go past the Sun. Such was the fourth population of the Father who, revealing how he begets and inspires, constantly fills it with sweetness. Beatrice then spoke to me, “Give thanks willingly to the angels’ Sun by Whose grace He has kindly raised you to this one, suited to human senses.” No heart of man ever surrendered itself so swiftly and intensely to God as I was moved to by |
| 160 | Tunc ego commotus : tanto sum captus amore Numinis, ut fuerit mihi tunc oblita Beatrix. Non ægre illa tulit, sed risit. Quo excita risu Mens mea, quæ Deo inhærebat, se ad plurima vertit ; Namque, magis cantu dulces, quam luce micantes, Tum multas Luces, quasi centrum, more coronæ, Cingere nos vidi ; ceu Lunam lucidus ambit Circulus interdum, quem densior efficit aër. Numinis in celsis domibus, quibus ipse revertor, Multæ sum gemmæ, quas hinc abducere nulli |
those words. I was captured by such love of the divine, that I then forgot about Beatrice. She did not take it badly, but laughed. Roused by her laughter, my mind, which was fixed on God, turned to a great many things, for I then saw many Lights, more sweet with song than sparkling with light, in the manner of a crown, surround us as their center, as a bright circle which thicker air produces sometimes surrounds the Moon. In the Godhead’s lofty houses from which I myself have returned, there are many gems which no one may remove |
| 170 | Fas est : sunt adeo et pretio formaque valentes ! Ex his cantus erat : qui non ascenderit illuc, Exspectet, quod certa ferat sibi nuntia mutus. Postquam nos circum ter decurrere canentes, Astra suos veluti circumvertuntur ad axes, Constiterunt ; visæque mihi sunt quale puellæ Quæ choreas sistunt, labiisque silentibus astant, Accipiant ut jussa novi primordia cantus. Tunc una ex illis medio de lumine fari Sic cœpit : Quoniam radius, quem Gratia fundit, |
from there, they are so valuable in price and shape. Among these gems was song; he who has not gone up there may just as well wait for a mute person to bring him the certain news of it. After the singers had run around us three times like stars circle their poles, they stood still and seemed to me like girls who stop their dancing and stand with silent lips to get the initial tones ordered for the new song. Then one of them began to speak from the middle of the light as follows: “Because the ray emitted by Grace |
| 180 | Unde amor exoritur verus, qui crescit amando, In te adeo effulget, scalam ut conscendere ducat, Per quam nemo venit, nisi certus deinde reverti ; [11] Ex phiala quicunque sua tibi vina negaret, Ut tua sit depulsa sitis, non liber is esset, Tanquam flumen aquæ, quod non descendat in æquŏr. Floribus ex quibus hæc constat, vis scire, corona, Quæ Divæ intendit, te fulgida ad astra vehenti. Ex agnis gregis ipse fui ; quem tramite ducit Guzmanus, quo pinguescit, qui haud devius errat. |
(whence springs forth true love, which increases by loving) shines so strongly in you that it brings you to climb the ladder by which no one comes unless he is later certain to return, anyone who would deny you wine from his glass so that your thirst might be quenched, would not be free like a river of water that did not flow down to the sea. You want to know of what flowers that garland consists that is concentrated on the Godly Woman who is taking you to the shining stars. I myself was one of the lambs of the flock whom Guzman [St. Dominic] led by the path where he who does not wander off gets fat. |
| 190 | Qui propius mihi dexter adest, ex urbe Colonia Est hic Albertus, socius meus atque magister. [12] Ipse ab Aquino sum urbe Thomas. Si nomina scire Vis aliorum etiam, visu mea dicta sequere, Percurrens oculis sertum. Qui fulgurat ardens Ore renidenti, ille est cui dat gratia nomen ; [13] Sacras qui leges adeo et civilia jura Adjuvit, res ut fuerit gratissima Cælo. Alter ibi est Petrus, viduæ qui pauperis instar Ecclesiæ ipse suum thesaurum tradidit almæ. [14] |
This one who is nearer to me on the right is Albert of the city of Cologne, my associate and teacher. I myself am Thomas from the city of Aquino. If you want to know the names of the others as well, follow my words with your vision, running through the garland with your eyes. He who shines, burning with a beaming face, is the one to whom “grace” gave its name [i.e., Gratian], and who assisted the sacred laws and the civil code so much that his was a work very pleasing to Heaven. The other one there is Peter who, like the poor widow, himself handed over his own treasure to the nourishing Church. |
| 200 | Pulchrior ante omnes, quæ talem spirat amorem, Lux quinta, ut mundus cupiat de hac discere quicquam, [15] Est mens alta viri, cui tanta scientia rerum Est data, si verum verum est, ut nemo secundus Surrexit. Deinde illius prope conspice Lucem, Altius angelicas, clausus qui corpore, dotes [16] Atque ministeria inspexit. Lux parva subinde Christiadum est is patronus, qui idola colentes [17] Incessit calamo, unde sibi Augustinus adeptus Est ad idem vires. Si Luces mente sagaci |
The fifth light which, more beautiful than all others, breathes out such love that the world longs to know something of him, is the high mind of the man to whom such knowledge of things was given that, if truth is true, no second one has arisen. Next look closely at the Light of him who, enclosed in the body, investigated most deeply the nature of the angels and their ministry. Next, that little Light is the patron of Christians who attacks the idol worshippers with his pen, whence Augustine gained his powers for the same purpose. If you browse through the Lights |
| 210 | Percurris, mea verba sequens, jam scire cupido Te tenet octavam. Hīc gaudet, fruiturque supernis Deliciis, qui mundi et opes et dona dolosi Detexit sapiens, si quisquam huic præbeat aures. [18] Celdauri est corpus ; sed spiritus inde revulsus A nece et exilio pacem est sublatus ad istam. Aspice jam Bedæ atque Isidori fulgere Luces, [19] Nec non Richardi, qui, plusquam semine natus Mortali, res est scrutatus acumine mentis. Hic (tuus unde mihi, jam sertum ex ordine mensus, |
with a keen mind, following my words, the desire to know the eighth one now interests you. Here, rejoicing and enjoying heavenly delights, is the philosopher who revealed the riches and gifts of the deceitful world, if anyone lends him his ears. His body is at Ciel d’Oro [in Pavia], but his spirit, wrenched thence from murder and exile, was uplifted to this peace. Now, see the Lights of Bede and Isidore blaze, as well as that of Richard who, born of more than mortal seed, researched things with mental acuity. This one (whence your eye, having already traversed the garland in order, |
| 220 | Nunc oculus redit), est Sigieri spiritus acer, [20] Cui nimis est, curis gravido, mors visa morari : Ille etenim vico, dederunt cui stramina nomen, Edocuit Logicen, et vera odiosa retexit. Dixerat. Ut, quum mane novo, quæ temporis horas Machina mētītur, sponsam persolvere laudes [21] Rite vocat Domino, quibus hunc sibi reddat amantem, Altera pars aliam trahit, impellitque volutans, Tinnitusque ciet, (dulci quo murmure motus Spiritus acclinis sancto inflammatur amore) ; |
now returns to me), is the sharp-witted spirit of Siger [of Brabant] to whom, when he was laden with cares, death seemed to tarry much too long; for on the street to which they gave the name ‘Straws,’ he taught Logic and exposed hated truths.” He had ended his speech. As when early in the morning the device which measures time’s hours duly calls the bride to render to her Lord praises with which to make him her lover, one part, turning, pulls and pushes another and activates the chiming (by which sweet murmur, roused, the predisposed spirit is fired with holy love), |
| 230 | Sic ego tunc illam circum se ferre coronam Aspexi, dulcemque adeo simul edere cantum, Notus ut esse nequit, nisi quo est æterna voluptas. |
so then I saw that garland revolve and simultaneously give forth a song so sweet that it cannot be known except where eternal pleasure exists. |
| PARADISI XI {11} ⇑ | ||
| 233 | Oh cæcas hominum curas, quam manca profecto Argumenta adigunt pennis vos radere terram ! Clamosum ille forum, atque Machaonis iste colabat Artem, alterque ministerium tendebat ad aræ, Alter quærebat regno vi aut fraude potiri, Is furto instabat, rebus civilibus iste, Fœda hunc luxuries, hunc otia lenta tenebant ; |
O blind cares of men, how utterly defective are the interests driving you to scrape the earth with your wings! This one cultivates the strident law courts and that one the art of Machaonis [the celebrated physician], and yet another aims at the service of the altar; another one seeks to seize power by force or fraud, this man pursues thievery, that one politics, and disgraceful luxury occupies this one, lethargic leisure that one, |
| 240 | His ego quum curis vacuus, cælestibus oris Tanto exceptus eram, Diva comitante, decŏre. Ut, gyro expleto, punctum dein quisquis ad orbis, Unde profectus erat, remeavit, substitit illic, Fixa suis hærent veluti funalia fulcris. Ac luce ex media, de qua fuit ante locutus, Surridens ac splendidior, sic orsus Aquinas. Lucis ut æternæ radiis incendor, ibidem Sic ego prospiciens, quod tu sub pectore condis Intueor. Dubitas, atque uberiore doceri |
while I, free of cares and accompanied by my Godly Mistress, was accepted by the heavenly lands with such great honor. When the circling was over, each one then returned to the point of the ring whence he had started out, and they stopped there like fixed torches stand rooted in their supports. And from the middle of the light whence he had originally spoken, Aquinas, smiling and brighter, began as follows: “Just as I am aflame with the rays of eternal light, so looking into that same place, I see what you are hiding in your heart. You are puzzled and wish to be instructed |
| 250 | Sermone exoptas, ut tu deprendere possis Quod jam pinguescit dixi, et quod nemo secundus. Quare ego utrumque tibi clare nunc pandere sumam. Providus æterna qui temperat omnia mente, Cujus nulla potest acies attingere fines, Heroas geminos almæ, quam vocibus altis Ipse sibi Christus, quæsitam sanguine, junxit, Allegit Sponsæ ; quorum moderamine fulta, Tutius illa viam, quo tramite fertur ad ipsum, Corriperet, fidumque magis servaret amorem. |
with more extensive language so that you can understand what I said with ‘he becomes fat’ and with ‘there is no second one.’ Hence I will now undertake to explain both of these to you clearly. The Providential spirit that rules everything with His eternal mind, Whose limits no intelligence can reach, assigned twin heroes [St. Francis & St. Dominic] to the nourishing Spouse, sought after with blood, whom Christ Himself with loud cries joined to Himself. Supported by the guidance of those two, she would more safely undertook that way by which path she is brought to Him and would maintain a more faithful love. |
| 260 | Alter erat totus Seraphim fervoribus ardens, Par alter Cherubim sapientis lumine mentis. Unum ex his dicam ; nam, quando dicitur unus, Laudibus alterius laudatur protinus alter : Tantum cura viris fuit una eademque duobus ! Tupini inter aquas, manansque ex colle fluentum, Quem pius hospitio quondam sibi legit Ubaldus, Fertilis excelso dependet vertice terra, Unde sibi a Solis porta æstivumque calorem Sentit, et hibernum magis esse Perusia frigus ; |
The one was, burning with fervor, all a Seraph; the other, his equal, was, in the light of his wise mind, a Cherub. I will speak of one of them, for when one is spoken of, the other is immediately praised with the praises of the other the objective of the two men was so much one and the same! Between the waters of the Tupino river and the stream [the Chiascio] flowing from the hill which the pious Ubaldo once chose for his own residence, fertile ground hangs down from a high peak whence Perugia feels more intensely the summery heat and the wintry cold from the Porta Sole [Perugia’s east gate], |
| 270 | Flentque jugo tristi Validum atque Nuceria retro. Hinc, ubi mons facilem magis acclinatur in oram, Ætherias olim Sol est exortus in auras Noster ut exsurgit nonnunquam Gangis ab unda : Quapropter, si voce velit quis dicere vera, Non locus Assisium, sed jure vocabitur Ortus. Haud multum attigerat vitæ, quum clara repente Virtutis documenta dedit, solacia terris, Quippe olli mulier, quam morte haud sequius horrent Mortales, totis sic est adamata medullis, |
and behind it the towns of Gualdo and Nocera grieve due to the sad yoke [of the mountain]. From there where the mountain slopes toward easier ground, a Sun once arose into the lofty air as ours sometimes rises from the waters of the Ganges. Hence if someone should want to call it by its true name, the place will not be called Assisi but, properly, Sunrise. He had not arrived long in life when he suddenly gave clear proofs of his virtue, a solace to the earth; for a woman [Lady Poverty] whom mortals shun like death was so deeply loved by him with all his heart, |
| 280 | Ut patris indomitas ruerit fidenter in iras ; Atque, illoque palam sanctique Antistite templi, Duxerit uxorem : inque dies ferventius arsit. Illa diu, primi post funera dira mariti, Donec is adveniens cupidas intenderet ulnas, Mille fuit centumque super despecta per annos : Nec juvit, vacuamque metu, placidamque quietis, Inter Amyclatis nassas, sub nocte sopora, Haud vocem pavisse Ducis, quem paverat orbis ; Nec tantas animo vires, fidumque tenere |
that he went confidently against the indomitable wrath of his father and, in his presence and that of the Bishop of the holy temple, took her as wife, and burned for her more fervently day after day. After the terrible death of her first husband, she had long been scorned for over a thousand and a hundred years until he, arriving, stretched out his eager arms; nor did it help that she, fearless and peaceful in quiet, among Amyclas’s fishing baskets in sleep-heavy night, did not fear the voice of the Leader [Julius Caesar] whom the world had feared, nor that she retained such fortitude of spirit and constant |
| 290 | Consilium, ut Christi sit scandere sola cruentam Ausa crucem, quum Mater humi defixa maneret. Verum age, ne videar nimiis ambagibus uti, Accipe : pauperies uxor, Franciscus amator. Dulces illorum visus, vultusque sereni, Mirus amor, geminumque fovens concordia pectus, Implevere novis hominum præcordia curis. Haud mora : projecto denudat tegmine plantas Bernardus, tantæque sequens vestigia pacis Antevolat, minimeque putat velociter ire. |
determination that she alone dared to climb the bloody cross of Christ, while his Mother remained stationed on the ground. But good enough: lest I should seem to be using too many metaphors, understand: poverty is the wife, Francis the lover. Their sweet looks and serene faces, wonderful love and twin hearts nourishing concord filled men’s breasts with new devotion. There was no delay: casting off his shoes, Bernard bared his feet and, following the tracks of such great peace, flew ahead and thought he was going with very little speed. |
| 300 | Divitias veras, ignotaque gaudia vulgo ! Et volat Ægidius, volat et Silvester, et omnes Se dedunt Sponso : Sponsæ tam blanda cupido est ! Tum simul ingrediuntur iter, pater, uxor, et illis Astipata cohors, humili circumdata reste. Nec genus obscurum, nec quem susceperat asper Detinuit cultus : petit altæ mœnia Romæ ; Pontificemque suæ, quem Signia jactat alumnum, Propositum mentis regaliter edocet : ille Annuit incepto, ac primo munime sanxit. |
O true riches and joys unknown to the people! Egidio runs and Silvestro runs and everyone devotes himself to the Bridegroom, so pleasing is the Bride’s desire! Then they went together, the father, the wife and the group gathered around them girded with a lowly rope. Neither his humble family nor the harsh practices which he had undertaken detained him: he headed for the walls of high Rome and regally instructed the Pontiff [Innocent III], whom the town of Segni boasted as its nursling, about the plan in his mind. The pope gave his assent to the project and ratified it with the first safeguards. |
| 310 | Inde, ut magnanimi gressus sectata Magistri, Quem fide siderea potius celebrare deceret, Est inopum gens facta frequens, ac plurima crevit, Rursus ĭdem sancta compulsus Honorius aura Esse ratum dedit, ac serto fulgere secundo. Post, ubi sanguineam sitiens acquirere palmam, Turcarum sævo Christumque suosque tyranno Astitit ipse docens ; Fideique impervia nactus Pectora, frugiferas Italûm remeavit ad oras, Monte super rigido, Tibris caput inter et Arni, |
After that, as the tribe of the poor following in the steps of the great-souled Master (whom it would be more fit to celebrate with heavenly faith) became numerous and increased greatly, Honorius [III], forced by the sacred breath [= Holy Spirit], again ratified the same thing and made it shine with a second crown. Later, thirsting to gain a bloody palm-crown [= martyrdom], he personally stood teaching Christ and his own followers to the tyrant of the Turks; and, meeting hearts impervious to the faith, he returned to the fruitbearing lands of the Italians; upon the hard mountain between the headwaters of the Tiber and the Arno, |
| 320 | Ultima Nazarei rettulit signacula Regis, Quæ geminos annos transfixo in corpore gessit, Donec qui tanto fuerat dignatus honore, Sustulit æterna meritum mercede potiri, Quam sibi quæsierat, res sponte secutus egenas. Fratribus ergo suis, heredibus utpote justis, Quæ sibi præcipue fuerat dilecta Virago, Commendat, stabilique fide præcepit amare. Illius inde sinu se Spiritus almus in auras Ætherias, sua regna, redux ad sidera tendens, |
he obtained the final marks of the Nazarean King, which he bore in his pierced body for two years until He Who had considered him worthy of such an honor raised the deserving man to take possession of the eternal reward which, voluntarily following poverty, he had sought. Hence to his brothers as his rightful heirs he commended her who had been his dearly beloved Heroine and bid them love her with steadfast faith. Then from her bosom the kind Spirit rose to the ethereal heights, its own realms, directing its course, in its return, to the stars, |
| 330 | Extulit, haud alio dignatus membra feretro. Hinc agesis jam scire potes, quis oportuit alter Exstiterit porro, cui dira per æquŏra tutam Is datus est socius Christi deducere cumbam. Hĭc nostræ dux gentis erat : qui rite proinde Hunc sequitur, non ferre malam jam percipe mercem. At nova grex hujus studiose alimenta requirit, Ac varios ideo per saltus tesquaque oberrat ; Quōque abeunt longe, magis hinc ad ovile revertunt Lactis oves vacuæ. Sunt quæ damnumque verentur, |
not considering its limbs worthy of a bier. So then, you can now know who, in turn, the other one must have been to whom he was given as a partner to guide the safe boat of Christ through frightful seas. That man [St. Dominic] was the leader of our congregation. Whoever, consequently, followed him properly, you see does not carry bad merchandise. But his flock eagerly seeks new fodder, and so wanders astray through various mountain pastures and wastelands, and the farther the sheep go off, the emptier of milk they return thence to the sheepfold. And there are those fear the loss |
| 340 | Pastorique hærent : numero sunt attamen istæ Tam parvo, ut paucus satis est ad tegmina pannus. Si clare mea dicta sonant, si intenderis aures, Si menti hæc revocas, tua partim expleta cupido est ; Namque vides plantam, a qua semet segmina scindunt, Et sibi quid vult pinguescit, qui haud devius errat. |
and stick close to their shepherd, but those are so few in number that little cloth is enough for their clothing. If my words are clear, if you turn your ears to them, if you recall them to mind, your desire has been partly satisfied, for you see the plant from which, by themselves, they are cutting sections, and what the meaning is of ‘he who does not wander astray becomes fat’.” |
| PARADISI XII {12} ⇑ | ||
| 346 | Has voces Lux illa dedit, rursusque corona Incepit gyrum ; necdum confecerat illum, Altera quum circlo magis hanc circumdedit amplo; Ac motum edebat festivaque carmina concors ; |
That Light produced those words, and again the ring began its turning; it had not yet finished it when another ring with a larger circumference surrounded that one and, synchronously, performed movement and festive songs |
| 350 | Carmina Sirenum tantum superantia cantos, Castaliique chori, primus quam luce reflexum Exsuperat radius. Duplex ut nubis aquosæ Volvitur in gremio, æque distans, concolor arcus, Quum jubet ancillæ se ferre per aëra Juno, Extimus interno exoriens, (ceu Nympha loquenti Respondet, nimii quæ vi defecit amoris, Solis ut igne vapor), qui dant præsagia genti Ob pactum Noe, periturum haud imbribus orbem ; Haud aliter geminæ nos circumiere coronæ |
songs as far surpassing the songs of our Sirens and our Castalian dances as in its brightness an original lightray surpasses a reflected one. As double, identically colored rainbows, keeping constant separation, arch in the bosom of a raincloud when Juno orders her handmaid [Iris] to go through the air, the outer one arising from the inner in the way that the Nymph [Echo] (who, due to the force of her excessive love, wasted away like vapor under the sun’s fire) responds to a speaker , rainbows which, resulting from the pact of Noah, give predictions to mankind that the world would not perish by floods; in the same way the twin rings circled us |
| 360 | Concordes. Postquam choreas agitare, simulque Et cantu, inque vicem sibi jactis edere flammis Gaudia desierunt, mente una ac tempore in uno, Non secus atque oculi, ad libitum mentemque moventis, Tempore clauduntur simul et reserantur eodem ; Unius ex medio Lucum fulgore novarum Tunc vox insonuit ; quare me protinus illuc Verti, ut hyperboreum magnetica cuspis ad astrum. Ille Amor, incepit, quo pulchra venustaque reddor, Dicere me Ducis alterius decŏra incluta cogit, |
concordantly. After, with one mind and at one time (just as eyes at the desire and intention of their mover are simultaneously closed and opened at the same time), they ceased doing the dances and simultaneously expressing their joy both with song and by mutually throwing flames to one another, out of the midst of the brilliance of the new Lights then came the voice of one of them, on account of which I immediately turned thither like a magnetic needlepoint to the north star. “That Love,” it [St. Bonaventure] began, “by which I am rendered beautiful and attractive forces me to speak of the famous, distinguished acts of the other Leader |
| 370 | Per quem Dux meus eloquio celebratur honoro. Non decet abjungi : veluti stipendia Christi Emeruere pares, par laus debetur utrisque. Christi electa cohors, cui sanguine reddidit arma Ipse suo, segnis se post vexilla ferebat, Et numero exigua atque anceps, quum sæcula regnans Omnia, Rex mundi, haud meritæ, sed sponte suapte, Addidit heroas geminos, ut dicitur ante ; Quorum dictisque ac gestis commota, referret Devia gens gressum, Fideique ad signa rediret. |
through whom my own Leader is celebrated with honorable eloquence. It is not right for them to be separated: as they served equally in the military of Christ, equal praise is owed to the both of them. Christ’s elite cohort, whose arms he himself restored with his own blood, was proceeding lethargically behind his banners and small in number and disspirited, when the King of the universe who reigns over all ages, not as to deserving troops, but on his own initiative, provided the twin heroes, as was said before. Energized by their words and actions, the wandering corps retraced its steps and returned to the standards of the Faith. |
| 380 | Parte illa, unde oritur placidi levis aura Favonii, Reddat ut arboribus frondes, quibus undique sese Induit Europa, haud multum procul æquŏre, post quod Interdum, per iter longum, Sol se omnibus abdit, Fortunata sedet Calagurris, subdita Regis Imperio, cujus præfert insigne leonem Substantem atque incumbentem [22]. Hic est natus amator Christiadæ Fidei, athleta invictissimus ille, Hostibus infestus graviter, sociisque benignus. Mens fuit illius virtuti prædita tantæ, |
In that region whence the light breeze of the gentle west wind comes, so that it may provide trees with the leaves with which Europe clothes itself everywhere, not very far from the sea behind which, through its long journey, the Sun occasionally hides itself to everyone, lies the fortunate Calaruega, subject to the rule of a King whose coat of arms carries a lion standing below and lying on top. Here was born the lover of the Christian Faith, that quite invincible athlete, severely hostile to his enemies and benign to his allies. His mind was in command of such power |
| 390 | Ut matrem, concepta sinu, dedit esse prophetam. Postquam illum atque Fidem fuit inter deinde peractum Connubium, lūstralem ad fontem, ubi uterque salute [23] Mutua dotarunt sese, quæ præbuit illic Pro puero assensum, mulier per somnia mirum Aspexit fructum, quem et is heredesque dedissent. Ut, re qualis erat, foret īdem nomine, ductum A Domino, qui hunc possedit, hinc Spiritus afflans Nomen ferre dedit. Vere fuit ille colonus Exercere suum Christus cui tradidit hortum ; |
that, conceived in the womb, it caused his mother to be a prophetess. After the marriage between him and the Faith had been completed at the lustral font where the two dowried each other with mutual salvation, the woman who there gave her assent for the boy saw in a dream the wondrous fruit which both he and his heirs would yield. So that, as he was in fact, he would likewise be in name a name derived from the Lord [“Dominus”] who possessed him , a Spirit sending its inspiring breath from here [in heaven] caused him to bear that name. He truly was that farmer to whom Christ gave his garden to work. |
| 400 | Nuntius, et verax est Christi visus amicus. Primus enim, quem pandit, amor fuit ire secutum Consilium Christi primum [24]. Sub nocte silentem Insomnemque sŏlo sæpe illum sedula nutrix Invenit, quasi diceret : hæc ad munia veni. O genitor vere Felix, vereque Johanna Mater, si vere hac perhibetur gratia voce. Deinde brevi, non ad quæstum, cui tendit ubique, Qui scripta evolvit Thaddæi, et ab Ostia habentis [25] Nomen ; at, impulsus mannæ veracis amore, |
He appeared as the messenger and true friend of Christ. For the first love he showed was to go to follow the first counsel of Christ. At night his diligent nurse often found him silent and sleepless on the ground, as if to say, ‘I came for this task.’ O father truly Felix [“Happy/Lucky”] and mother truly Johanna [Hebrew: “Yahweh is grace/blesses”], if grace is truly meant by this word! Then shortly, not for gain after which those who everywhere study the writings of Taddeo [d’Alderotto] and of him [‘the Ostian’ = Enrico di Susa, bishop of Ostia] who derives his name from Ostia go , but driven by the love of the true manna, |
| 410 | Ingens est factus doctor : tum vineam adire Incepit, quæ extemplo aret, si est cultor iniquus : Ac Sedi, quæ pauperibus fuit ante benigna Plusquam nunc justis (non Sedis crimine, verum Sessoris pravi) petiit, non reddere partem Pro toto ut posset, non primi obeuntis haberet Sacricolæ ut fundos, nec quæ debentur egenis Præfixas decimas : contendere posse rogavit Errantem adversus mundum pro semine, cujus Viginti quattuor circumdaris undique plantis. |
he became a great teacher. He next began to attend to the vineyard which withers right away if the viniculturist is bad. And from the [Apostolic] See, which beforehand was kind to the just poor more than now (not through the fault of the See, but of its crooked occupant), he sought not that he be able to give back a part for the whole, not that he might have the estates of the first deceased ecclesiarch, nor the earmarked tithes which are owed to the indigent; he asked to be able to fight against the erring world on behalf of the seed with whose twenty-four plants you are surrounded on all sides. |
| 420 | Mox, fidens animi, ac doctrinæ viribus auctus, Munere apostolico, vena velut ubere torrens, Irruit, hæreticas stirpes filicemque revellens, Acrius et pugnans, quo major sisteret objex. Diversi ex illo, Christi queis spargitur hortus, Exierunt rivi, ac lætas dant surgere plantas. Hæc si propterea talis fuit orbita bigæ, Qua se defendit vicitque Ecclesia Christi Civilem pugnam [26], hinc qualis fuit altera disces Quam modo, quum nondum hic essem, celebravit Aquinas. |
Next, emboldened in spirit and strengthened with the power of doctrine, he burst out with his apostolic commission like a torrent from a rich vein, tearing out the heretical roots and weeds and fighting the more fiercely, the greater the blockage standing in his way. Out of him came diverse streams with which Christ’s garden is watered and vigorous plants emerge. If, therefore, such was this track of the chariot with which the Church of Christ defended itself and won the civil conflict, you can learn therefrom the sort the other one was which, when I was not yet here, Aquinas celebrated just now. |
| 430 | At, quem signarat prior orbita, deinde relictus Est trames : quo crusta fuit, nunc mucor inhæret. [27] Illius suboles, sua quæ vestigia rectis Ingressa est pedibus, mores sic perdita vertit Ut pedis anterior sit pars revoluta retrorsum : At malus hinc cultus confestim ex messe patebit, Quum lolium adductum non esse dolebit in arcam. Dico equidem : nostri si forte voluminis ullus Evolvat folia, inveniet quo legerit : ipse Sum qualis soleo : [28] sed non ex Monte creatum |
But the path which that first track traced was then abandoned; where the crust was, mould is now glued. His progeny, which started on his tracks with the right steps, has reversed itself, having lost their character so that the front part of their feet has been turned around backward. But very soon the bad cultivation will become evident from the harvest, when the weeds will bemoan that they have not been taken into the barn. I certainly say that if anyone carefully turns the pages of our book, he will find where he reads, ‘I am as I am wont to be.’ But you will not catch one [monk] made |
| 440 | Ferrato, nec Aquasparte deprenderis esse : Tales hinc veniunt, quorum alter laxat, et alter Ordinis angustat leges. Me Balnea-regis (Sum Bonaventura) ediderunt ; qui vectus ad alta Munia, præposui terrenis cælica curis. Hic a lumine nomen habens, [29] atque Augustinus, Cannabe qui vincti, ac nudati tegmine plantas, Primi hæsere Deo : sunt hic doctissimus Hugo Atque Comestor Petrus, præclarusque libellis Bissenis Petrus Hispanus, Nathamque propheta, |
at Monferrato [under overly strict Ubertino da Casale], nor at Acquasparta [under overly lax Matteo Bentivenga]; the men coming from there are such that, of them, the one relaxes and the other cramps the laws of the order. Bagnoregio produced me (I am Bonaventure) who, raised to high office, placed heavenly concerns ahead of earthly ones. Here are the one who derives his name from ‘light’ [i.e., Illuminato da Rieti] and Agostino, who, girded with the hemp rope and having denuded their feet of covering, were the first cling to God. Here are the highly learned Hugh [of St. Victor] and Peter the Eater [i.e., of books], and Peter the Spaniard, famous for his two-times-six books, and Nathan the prophet, |
| 450 | Et Chrysostomus, Anselmusque, ac ille latinæ Donatus linguæ dignatus scribere leges : Hic Hraban, fulgensque mihi splendore propinquo Est Calaber Joachim, cui mens præsaga futuri. Has ego sum meritas heroi reddere tanto Commotus laudes, sociique perinde fuerunt, Officio ex flammante Thomæ ac sermone benigno. |
and Chrysostom and Anselm and the famous Donatus who deigned to write down the laws of the Latin language. Rhabanus [Maurus] is here and, gleaming with brilliance next to me, is the Calabrian, Joachim [of Flora], who has a mind prophetic of the future. As a result of the flaming graciousness and kind speech of Thomas, I myself was moved to render deserved praise to such a great hero [St. Dominic], and my colleagues were, likewise.” |
| PARADISI XIII {13} ⇑ | ||
| 457 | Finge animo, quisquis penitus cognoscere flagras Dudum visa mihi (et firmo sub pectore serva Quæ referam, nullo ceu mobilis impete cautes) ; |
Picture in your mind, whoever sincerely burns to understand the images then appearing to me (and keep what I am about to describe within your inflexible breast like a rock movable by no impulse), |
| 460 | Finge animo ter quinque, ajo, flammantia signa, Quæ varias Cæli partes fulgoribus ornent, Ac superent quicquid spissæ caliginis obstat ; Adjicias septem, formantes plaustra, triones, Nescia cæruleis se mergere marmoris undis ; His adde os cornu illius, quod cuspide ab axis [30] Incipit, ad quem se volvit prior orbita plaustri. In geminam sollers hæc sidera necte coronam, Qualem olim fecit Minois filia regis, Quum se funereo comprendi frigore sensit. |
Picture in your mind, I say, fifteen flaming points which adorn various parts of the Heavens with their radiance and overcome whatever of the thick darkness stands in the way; include the seven threshing-oxen, forming the Wagons [= esp. the Big Dipper, Ursa Major] unable to submerge themselves in the blue waves of the sea; add to these the mouth [= stars β and γ of Ursa Minor] belonging to the horn of the one [Wagon] that starts from the point [= Polaris] of the axis around which the primal orbiting [= daily rotation] of the Wagon circles. Carefully connect these stars into a twin wreath of the type that the daughter [Ariadne] of King Minos once made when she felt herself being gripped by the chill of death. |
| 470 | Altera in alterius radiis inclusa vicissim Fulgeat, ac celeris circum sese utraque verset, Ut tamen internæ respondeat extima semper. Hæc si perficias animo, duplicisque catervæ Effigiem paulum agnosces duplicisque choreæ, Quæ nos circum ibat : nostro nam discrepat usu, Quantum cursus iners labentis in æquŏra Clanis Discrepat a rapida summi vertigine Cæli. Ediderunt cantum : non est celebratus Apollo, Nec qui pampinea redimitur fronde Lyæus, |
Let one, enclosed in the rays of the other, shine in alternation, and both spin around swiftly, but so that the outermost one always corresponds to the inner one. If you picture this mentally, you will get a small idea of the image of the double grouping and double dance which went around us. For it is as different from our norms as the sluggish course of the gliding Chiana river differs from the rapid cycling of the highest Heaven. They sang a song: Apollo was not celebrated, nor Bacchus [Lyaeus, “the Care-Dissolver”], who is wreathed with vine-tendril foliage, |
| 480 | At divina, tribus personis unica, utramque Divinam humanamque simul Substantia jungens. Ut cantum ac gyrum explerunt, ea Lumina nobis Astiterunt, gavisa ex cura invadere curam. Tunc iterum, socios inter, sic orsus Aquinas : Postquam trita seges, vectumque est semen in ædem, Dulcis amor terere hinc aliam me protinus urget. Illi hominum patri, cujus de pectore ducta Prima fuit mulier, mundum quæ perdidit omnem, Prætereaque illi, qui pectus cuspide fossus |
but the divine Substance, one in three persons, simultaneously combining both the divine and human. When they had completed the song and circling, those Lights stood in our presence, rejoicing to proceed from concern to concern. Then again, among his colleagues Aquinas began as follows: “After the grain has been threshed and the seed carried into the barn, sweet love subsequently urges me to thresh something else next. You think that, to that father of mankind from whose chest the first woman was taken who ruined the whole world, and, besides, to him who, pierced in the chest with a spearpoint, |
| 490 | Satque superque omnes reparavit funere culpas, Quod natura humana potest sibi lumen habere, Tu reris tribuisse Deum, qui fecit utrumque ; Atque hinc miraris me jam dixisse, secundum Non habuisse virum, quinto qui includitur astro. Nunc verbis adverte meis, clareque videbis Quod tua non secus ac mea se sententia vero Insertant, veluti centro se linea duplex. Quæque mori possunt, et quæ sunt nescia leti Splendor sunt Ideæ illius, quam noster amando |
superabundantly repaired all guilt with his death, God, who made both, gave [all] the light that human nature can contain in itself; and so you wonder at my now having said He did not have a second man [besides Solomon] who was contained in the fifth star. Now pay attention to my words and you will see clearly that your opinion, as well as mine, insert themselves into the truth like a double line to the center. Things that can die and those unable to die [= angels and the heavens] are the shining forth of that Idea [= the Logos] which, by loving, our |
| 500 | Rex gignit : lux namque suo de lumine manans, Semper et illi juncta, et, in his qui est ternus, Amori, In res ter trinas (*), veluti specularia, lucem Congregat, ex bonitate sua ; nec diditur unquam, Una eademque manens : mox sensim ex ordine certo Perque gradus adeo descendit, ut obvia leto Progeneret, cursumque brevem vīctura dierum. Hæc sunt, quæ vel semine, vel sine semine, Cælum Circumiens creat. Horum cera et causa creatrix Non est certe eadem ; plus proinde minusque nitorem |
King [= God the Father] begets. For the Light [= the Logos], emanating from His luminescence and always united with Him and with the Love [= the Holy Ghost] which is the third among them, concentrates its radiance into thrice three essences (*), as though onto mirrors; remaining one and the same, it [itself] is never split up. It next gradually descends from fixed order through the levels to the point that it engenders things subject to death, and that will live a brief span of days. These are the things which the circling Heaven produces either through or without seed. Their wax (and its formative cause) is certainly not the same; accordingly, the [Platonic] ideas manifest |
| * | Novem Cælos novemque chori angelorum | The nine choirs of angels (and the nine heavens they direct) |
| 510 | Ostendunt ideæ : quare specie arbor in ipsa Plusve minusve părit, varioque in tempore, fructus, Et vos ingenio varii ac virtutibus estis. Si pariter cera et Cæli vis integra semper Esset, pārēret semper lux tota sigilli : Verum Natura extenuat, ceu callidus arte At dextrā trepidans opifex. Si captus amore, Ipse Deus vero ceram disponit, ibique Ipse ideæ infundit lumen, tunc prædita cunctis Structura est numeris, perfectaque prorsus habetur. |
greater or lesser brightness. Hence, in the same species, a tree produces more or less fruit, and at different times, and all of you are diverse in intelligence and talents. If the wax and the power of Heaven were equally always intact, all of the seal’s light would always appear. But nature attenuates them, like an artisan skilled in his craft but with a trembling hand. But if God Himself, taken with love, arranges the wax, and He Himself shines the light of His idea there, then that creation is endowed with all its components and is held to be utterly perfect. |
| 520 | Primus ita est genitor, factusque in Virgine fetus : Quare ego naturam humanam nunquam ante fuisse, Nec fore, convenio, fuit olim qualis utrique. Si finem hic fandi faciam, tu : quomodo, dices, Huic par nemo fuit ? Ne te, quod noscere nescis Ulterius lateat, reputa quisnam esset, et illum, Quum pete responsum est, quæ causa rogare coëgit. Non ita sum fatus, ne tu deprendere posses Quod rex ille fuit, quod ei sapientia quæsta est, Ut populum recte frenaret legibus æquis ; |
Thus is our first progenitor, and the fetus created in the Virgin [Mary]. Hence I agree that there never before was, nor will be, a human nature like once was in both of them. If here I were to make an end of my talk, you would ask, ‘How was no one equal to that man [Solomon]?’ So that what you are ignorant of knowing might not remain hidden to you any longer, think about who he was, and about the motive which forced him to ask when ‘Request it!’ was the response. I have not spoken in a way that you could not grasp that he was a king, and that wisdom was requested for him to rule his people rightly with just laws; |
| 530 | Non numerum illorum ut sciret, queis cura supernos Est versare globos ; nec qualis clausula surgat Præpositis dictis, quorum unum haud esse necessum, Unumque esse, ait : haud petiit primordia motus Discere vel causas ; nec si formare trigonem Hemicyclus possit, desit cui cuspide recta Angulus. Imperii moliri tutā rogavit Frena manu, et justas Astrææ attollere lances. Hæc reputans, disces quod summa scientia cunctis Præ reliquis, est dicta mihi prudentia regis : |
he did not say that he wanted to know the number of those whose concern is the turning of the celestial spheres, nor what sort of a conclusion results from stated premisses of which one is not necessary and one is; he did not seek to learn about the first origins of movement or its causes, nor if a semicircle can form a triangle in which a corner with a right angle is lacking. He asked to manage the reins of power with a safe hand, and to hold up the just balances of Astraea [goddess of justice]. Considering these things, you will see that it was the king’s prudence that was said by me to be the highest ‘knowledge’ exceeding all the rest. |
| 540 | Et si quod dixi surrexit, lumina vertas, Me tantum cernes de regibus esse locutum ; Quos multos, paucosque bonos est cernere terris. Sermonem sic dide meum ; nec differet illi, Quæ tibi de Adamo et Christo est sententia menti. Hoc semper tibi sit, pedibus quasi plumbea moles, Ut lente incedas, non sequius atque viator Fessus, sive neges quæ tu non rite tueris Sive hæc affirmes : quippe is malesanus et amens Est valde, qui, nulla tuens discrimina rerum, |
And if you turn your eyes to the fact that I said ‘arose,’ you will see that I spoke only of kings, of whom many are to be seen on earth, and few of them good. Parse my speech in that way and it will not differ from the idea in your mind about Adam and Christ. Let it always be your practice to walk slowly with your steps, like a leaden mass, as a tired traveler, whether you deny or affirm what you do not discern properly. For the man who, seeing no differences in things, affirms and denies, |
| 550 | Asserit atque negat. Communis opinio sæpe Errat ; amorque sui tendit dein vincula menti. Quisquis avet verum piscari, nescius artis, Plusquam nequicquam solvit de litore cumbam, Non etenim, qualis discedit, deinde revertit. Sunt multa exempla in terris : sic tramite torto Parmenides ac Bryso iit, Samiusque Melissus, Atque alii, ignari sua quo vestigia ferrent : Sic exinde Sabellius atque nefandus Arius, Stultique illi omnes, qui sacris vulnera chartis |
is quite insane and demented. Common opinion often errs, and self-love subsequently spreads chains for the mind. Anyone who wants to fish for the truth ignorant of its lore, casts his boat off from shore worse than uselessly, for he does not then return the same as he left. There are many examples on earth: thus, Parmenides and Bryson went off on the wrong path, and Melissus of Samos and others, ignorant of whither their tracks were taking them. So, following that, Sabellius and the unspeakable Arius and all those opposed fools who inflicted wounds on |
| 560 | Intulerunt, veros obnixi vertēre sensus. Ne nimium temere quis judicet, illius instar Qui segetem, nondum maturam, existimat arvis. Quippe ego per brumam sentes horrescere vidi, Ac molles mox ferre rosas, vidique carinam Per mare felicem zephyris ad vela secundis Ire viam, ac portus mox ipsa sub ostia mergi. Neve putet Bertha ac Titius, si admittere furtum Quem videat, sacrisque alium dare munera templis Cernere de hisce Deus quidnam decrerit utrisque ; |
the sacred scriptures, twisted their true meaning. One should not judge too rashly, like one who appraises the grain, not yet ripe, in his fields. For I have seen brambles bristling through the winter solstice, and then bear soft roses; and I have seen a fortunate ship make its way through the sea with zephyrs favorable to its sails, and then sink at the very mouths of the harbor. Do not let John and Jane Doe think, if one of them should see someone commit a theft and another give gifts to the holy temples, that they can determine what God will decide about either. |
| 570 | Alter quippe potest labi, consurgere et alter. | For the one can fall and the other rise.” |
| PARADISI XIV {14} ⇑ | ||
| 571 | Ex ora ad centrum, aut ex centro fertur ad oram Mobilis unda, sinu vasis comprensa rotundi, Utpote sive extra fuerit percussa, vel intus. Hæc mihi tunc animum subiit conformis imago, Quum fari desiitque Thomas, cœpitque Beatrix. [31] Huic opus est, inquit, quamvis non ore loquatur Necdum mente putet, aliud cognoscere verum. Dicite : quæ vos nunc vestit, lux alma per ævum Jugis erit ? Si jugis erit, quum corpora rursus |
A moving wave, contained in the bowl of a round vessel, travels from the rim to the center or from the center to the rim, depending on whether it has been struck outside or inside. This matching picture then came into my mind when both Thomas ceased talking and Beatrice began. “It is necessary for this man,” she said, “although he is not speaking orally nor thinking mentally, to discover another truth. Tell us: will the kind light that currently clothes all of you exist constantly, forever? If it exists continually when again you resume |
| 580 | Sumpseritis, non vos lædet, visumque gravabit ? Quales, qui choreas ducunt, si gaudia pectus Interdum majora invadunt, altius illi Attollunt vocem, atque hilarant festiviter actus ; Sic motu et canto, gemino sese orbe ferentes, Lætitiam his dictis magis ostendere catervæ. Si genus humanum superæ dulcedinis imbrem Nosceret irriguum, non longo incessere questu Ad tanta auderet ducentem gaudia mortem. Ille unus, binus, trinus, qui, nescius ortus, |
your bodies, will it not hurt you and burden your vision?” As those who engage in round dances, if greater joys sometimes inspire their hearts, raise their voices higher and festively exhilarate their movements, so with motion and song, whirling in the twin rings, the groups showed more joy at these words. If the human race knew the refreshing rain of heavenly sweetness, it would not dare to complain with long lamentation about a death leading to such joys. The one, two, three which, knowing no beginning, |
| 590 | Æternum regnat trinusque et binus et unus, Omnia comprendens, non comprensibilis ulli, Ter cantu celebratus erat, modulamine tali, Quod meritum juste quodcunque rependĕre posset. Fulgidiore mihi ex orbis tum Luce minoris Vox audita humilis (quali jam forte locutus Angelus est Mariæ) confestim talia dixit : Quantum cælestis durabit gloria, tantum Hōc se noster amor præcinget lucis amictu. Ardorem sequitur splendor, sequiturque perinde |
reigns eternally, and three and two and one containing all things, not containable by anything, was celebrated thrice in song with such melody that it could justly repay any merit whatsoever. A low voice [of Solomon] (perhaps like the one in which the Angel once spoke to Maria), heard from a brighter light of the smaller circle, immediately said to me, “As long as heavenly glory lasts, so long will our love gird us round with this garment of light. Our brightness derives from our ardor, and in like manner |
| 600 | Visum ardor, visusque est tantus, Gratia quantum Dat super humanas vires. Caro reddita quondam Quum sit spiritibus, reparato corpore nobis Tunc erit integritas, et major gloria : quippe Auctum lumen erit, donat quod sponte benignus Omnipotens, quod eum facit inspectare potentes : Augendus proinde est visus, augendus et ardor Qui calet ex illo ; quemque ardor parturit, ipse Splendor item augendus. Sed enim, carbonis ad instar. Qui flammas ciet, ac flammis apparet in eisdem, |
our ardor derives from our vision, and our vision is as much beyond human ability as Grace allows us. When flesh has ultimately been returned to our spirits, then, with our restored body, wholeness and greater glory will be ours. For the light which the gracious Almighty will of His own accord grant us will be increased, because it makes us capable of beholding Him. Accordingly, our vision is to be increased along with the ardor which is warmed by that light, and the brightness which our ardor begets must itself by increased. But indeed, like a coal which produces flames and is visible in those same flames |
| 610 | Nescitque hisce tegi ; sic talis corpore fulgor Vincetur, quod putre sinu nunc terra recondit : Nec nobis lux officiet ; nam sensibus illa Vis erit, ut valeat cuncta oblectamina ferre. Hæc ait ; atque chorus sic amen dixit uterque Protinus, ut cupidi sint visi assumere corpus. Nec fors se propter tantum, at carosque parentes, Quique sibi jam junxit amor, quum terra teneret, Ac nondum ardentes lucerent æthere flammæ. Ecce autem, par luce nĭtens, super astitit alter |
and cannot be hidden by them, so such radiance will be overcome by the body which earth now covers in its decaying bosom; nor will the light impede us, for in our senses will be a power so great that it will be able to bear all delights.” So he spoke, and both choruses said “Amen” so quickly that it was manifest they were desirous of assuming their bodies. And perhaps not on account of themselves alone, but also of their dear parents and there were those whom love linked to them then when earth held them and they were not yet shining as flames burning in the heavens. But look! Another brightness shining, equal in its light rose above |
| 620 | Claror utrumque chorum, velut aër Solis in ortu. Utque nova appārent per Cælum vespere signa Incerta et dubia ; haud aliter mihi cernere visum Est illic alias Animas, et ducere gyrum Exterius, claudentem alios intrinsecus orbes. Flaminis o divi lux verax ! quomodo fulsit Tanta meis oculis subito, ut perferre nequirent ! At mihi tam pulchram, tam se obtulit alma Beatrix Ore renidentem, ut visa inter cetera cogar Linquere, quæ memori haud potui illinc mente referre. |
the two choruses, like the stratosphere at Sunrise. And as new constellations appear, uncertain and vague, throughout the Heavens at dusk, so I seemed to see other Souls there, and forming an outer ring enclosing the other circles inside it. O true light of the Divine Spirit! How it suddenly shone into my eyes so very much that they could not bear it! But kind Beatrice showed herself so beautiful to me, so glowing of face, that I am forced to leave it among the other visions which I cannot bring back from there to my remembering mind. |
| 630 | Reddita vis hinc est oculis, illosque levavi ; Atque aliud Cælum me Ductricemque tenere Protinus aspexi : me more rubentior orbis Altius evectum docuit. Pro munere tanto, Toto animo, atque illā, quæ est omnibus una, loquelā Rite Deo feci ; ac nondum de pectore fervor Sacri aberat, faustum sensi acceptumque fuisse ; Namque duas inter rutilas effulgere zonas Splendores vidi, rubra tam luce coruscos Ut : Deus omnipotens, dixi, qui hos taliter ornas ! |
Following that, strength was given back to my eyes and I raised them, and immediately saw myself and my Governess having a different Heaven. The sphere, ruddier than normal, taught me that I had been raised higher. For such a great gift I performed a sacrificial offering to God with my whole heart and with that language which is the same for all; and the fervor of my offering had not yet left my heart when I sensed that it had been auspicious and acceptable. For between two reddish beltways I saw luminaries shining, so sparkling with crimson light that I said, “Almighty God, Who adorns these beings so!” |
| 640 | Inter utrumque polum veluti via lactea candet, Consita sideribus, quæ dat dubitare peritos, Consita spiritibus, duplex sic zona, profundo In Martis gremio, edebat venerabile signum, Quod solet in circlo ex junctis quadrantibus edi. Deficit ingenium memori nunc debile menti : Nam cruce in hac Christus radiabat ; et ipse referre Exemplum nequeo, cujus rem pandat imago. At quisquis capiatque crucem Christumque sequatur, Donabit veniam, si cogor omittere quicquam, |
As between both poles the star-spangled Milky Way glitters, making the experts puzzle, so, in the deep bosom of Mars the two beltways, sown with spirits, formed the revered sign [= a cross] which is usually formed in a circle out of its joined quadrants. My weak intelligence now fails my remembering mind. For on that cross radiated Christ, and I myself cannot give an example whose image might represent the reality. But whoever both takes up his cross and follows Christ will grant me pardon if I am forced to omit something, |
| 650 | Lumine in hoc tanto aspiciens effulgere Christum. Ibant ex cornu in cornu, sursumque deorsumque Illustres Animæ, scintillas usque cientes, Et quum prætereunt et quum junguntur amice. Sic brevibus, longis, curvis, rectisque figuris Raptimque ac lente volitant corpuscula sæpe Per lucis radium, tranantis in ædibus umbram, Quas sibi gens hominum sollerti construit arte. Ac veluti lyra sive chelys, quæ tensa perite Multarum fidium grato modulamine mulcet |
when he sees Christ shining in such great light. Luminous Souls were going from tip to tip and up and down, continually generating sparks both in passing one another and in meeting warmheartedly. In the same way, particles with short, long, curved and straight shapes often fly both swiftly and slowly through a ray of light piercing the shade in a building that the human species has built for itself with its sophisticated skills. And as an expertly tuned lute or lyre which, with a pleasing melody of many strings, soothes |
| 660 | Ignaros etiam numerorum artisque canoræ ; Sic melos ex illa prodibat imagine quoddam, Quod me surpuerit mihi, quamvis verba laterent. Esse quidem sensi magnæ præconia laudis ; Quippe age surge et vince mihi veniebat ad aures, Tanquam illi, qui cantum audit, nec carmina novit ; Meque is concentus tanto capiebat amore, Ut me etiamtum nil adeo devinxerit arcte. Forte nimis mea verba audent, quum lumina Divæ Posthabeant, quorum visu mens tota quiescit : |
even those ignorant of meters and the art of harmony, so a certain song emerged from that picture that enraptured me, even though its words were obscure. Indeed, I sensed it was a paean of great praise, since “Come on, rise and conquer” came to my ears as to one who hears the song but does not know the lyrics. That harmony was holding me captive with such love that up to then nothing had chained me so tightly. Perhaps my words are too daring when they rank as lesser the eyes of my Holy Lady at whose sight my entire mind is put at rest. |
| 670 | At quisquis reputat, formæ hæc cujusque sigilla, [32] Quo magis ascendunt, majorem acquirere formam, Ac mea tum Divæ non lumina versa fuisse, Culpæ, quam fateor me purgaturus, amicam Donabit veniam, cernens me dicere verum : Non hic dicta mihi nimirum est dia voluptas, Quæ magis ac magis augetur, quo celsius itur. |
But anyone who considers that those seals of all beauty whatsoever, the more they ascend, the greater the beauty they acquire, and that up to then my own eyes had not turned to the Holy Lady, will, seeing that I am speaking the truth, give me friendly pardon for the fault that I am confessing to absolve myself. Of course, here I have not spoken about the sacred pleasure that is increased more and more the higher one goes. |
| PARADISI XV {15} ⇑ | ||
| 677 | Quæ spiranti recte ab amore benigna voluntas Semper (ut ex malā iniquă cupidine) manat, Has tacuisse dedit, Cæli quas dextera chordas |
The benign Will, Which flows forever from love breathing righteously (as an unjust one does from evil desires), had those strings fall silent which the almighty right hand of Heaven |
| 680 | Temperat omnipotens ; citharæque silentia fecit. Quomodo cælestes Animæ succurrere justis Abstineant votis, si tunc, ut vota libenter Ferre sibi possem, siluerunt uniter omnes ? Jure ille ac merito pœnis torquetur in ævum, Qui, res ut fluxas amet, hunc abjecit amorem. Quale per ætherios tractus sub nocte serena Interdum subito transcurrit lucidus ignis, Impellens, conversa alio, sibi lumina verti Spectantis ; sidusque locum mutare videtur, |
moderates, and imposed silence on the lyre. How can heavenly Souls keep from answering just prayers if, so that I could gladly offer my prayers, at that moment they all unanimously kept quiet? He who rejects this love so that he might love transient things is rightly and deservedly tortured with punishments for eternity. As on a clear night a bright fire sometimes suddenly streaks across the stratospheric stretches, forcing the eyes of the viewer, turned elsewhere, to turn to itself, and the star seems to change its place, |
| 690 | Ni quod, qua exoritur, nil defit, et ille per auras Solvitur extemplo ; sic dextra ex parte revulsus Spiritus est Crucis, atque hujus descendit ad imum : Tænia nec gemmam liquit ; sed clara cucurrit Per zonam, velut ignis post alabastra refulgens. Non secus Anchisæ pia se tum præbuit Umbra, (Siqua fides Musæ, qua non est altera major), Quum sibi in Elysiis est natus visus adesse. O sate gente mea, (oh omnipotentis abundans Gratia !) cui bis, ut tibi, aperta est janua Cæli ! |
if not that where it comes from nothing is missing, and it instantly dissolves in the air, so a spirit was torn from the right side of the Cross and descended to its bottom. And the ribbon did not release its jewel, but the latter sped brightly through the beltline like fire shining behind alabaster. In the same way, Anchises Shade then presented itself (if there is any credibility to the Muse [= Virgil] than whom there is no other greater) when his son was shown to him to be present in Elysium. “O seed from my people (o abundant grace of the Almighty!), to whom, as to you, has the gate of Heaven ever been opened twice?” |
| 700 | Sic ea Lux dixit. Versus sum protinus illi ; Mox Divam in comitem defixi lumina ; et illinc Atque hinc obstupui : talis nam ardebat ocellis Risus, ut ipse meis fundum contingere gratiæ, Ac paradisi deliciis gaudere putavi. Auditu ac visu hinc dulcis, verba addidit ille, Non comperta mihi : usque adeo est arcana locutus ! Non sponte obscura est fatus, sed oportuit esse Obscurus sermo ; quoniam sententia mentem Mortalem anteibat. Postquam deferbuit ardor, |
Thus spoke that Light. Right away I turned toward it, then directed my eyes to my companion Godly Lady, and was stupefied on that side and this; for such laughter flamed in her eyes that I myself thought that with my own I was touching the bottom of grace and enjoying the delights of paradise. Then, sweet to see and to hear, he added words incomprehensible to me, he spoke so mysteriously! He did not intentionally speak obscurely, but his speech was perforce obscure because his thought surpassed human intelligence. After his ardor subsided, |
| 710 | Ac cœpit sermo ad nostrum descendere captum, Sint tibi, o Une Triplex, audivi dicere, grates, Qui tantum dignare meo de sanguine cretum ; Addidit inde sequens : Longam gratamque, legenti Librum illum, cui nunquam atrum mutatur et album, [33] Jam mihi collectam, tu me saturare dedisti, Nate, famem, hōc medio, quo te nunc alloquor, igne, Hujus ope, ad tantum quæ ascensum præbuit alas. Tu reris percepta mihi tua vota superni Principis aspectu, veluti quicunque trahatur |
and his speech began to descend to our capacity, I heard him say, “O Triplex One, thanks be to Thee, Who considerest as worthy such an offspring of my blood.” He then added the following: “With the help of her who gave you the wings for such an ascent, you have allowed me, in the midst of this fire whence I now speak to you, son, to satisfy the long and welcome hunger hitherto gathered by me in reading the book [of Destiny] in which black and white are never changed; You believe that your wishes are perceived by me through the vision of the heavenly Prime Being just as whatever number is drawn out |
| 720 | Ordine prolixo, numerus subolescit ab uno ; Ac mihi propterea desistis quærere qui sim, Et cur hos inter videar jucundior omnes. Haud vero abludis : majores atque minores In speculo hic cernunt Animæ, quo cuncta, priusquam Mens ea concipiat, penitus detecta videntur. Verum, ut divus Amor, cui jugiter hæreo, qui me Dulci ardore replet, melius sese expleat, ede Securam ac lætam vocem : quæ pectore gestas, Omnia pande alacer ; sunt jam responsa parata. |
in a wide series, develops from one, and therefore you refrain from asking me who I am and why I seem to be happier amongst all these others. You are not falling short. Here greater and lesser Souls look into the mirror where everything, before the mind knows it, is seen to be completely revealed. But so that the divine Love to which I constantly cleave, which fills me with sweet ardor, may better fulfill itself, let your secure and cheerful voice be heard; express enthusiastically what you are bearing in your heart; the answers are already prepared.” |
| 730 | Tunc ego me ad Divam verti : audiit illa, priusquam Ediderim vocem ; talique arrisit amico Intuitu, ut major mihi fandi est facta cupido ; Atque ita dehinc cœpi : Vobis, est maxima postquam Visa Æquabilitas, lux mentis, cordis et ardor, Sunt omnino pares ; nam, sic est æquus uterque Soli, qui vos igne fovet, ac lumine lustrat, Ut nulla hŏc penitus clarari ab imagine possit. At lumen mentis mortali, cordis et ardor, Propter, quæ non est vobis incognita, causam, |
I then turned to the Godly Lady; she heard me before I had uttered a word and smiled with such a loving look that my desire to speak grew all the more, and I then began, “Ever since the greatest Equipoise appeared to you, the light of the mind and ardor of heart have been absolutely equal in you, for to the Sun which warms you with its fire and illuminates you with its light, both are so equal that by no simile can that fact be made accurately clear. But in a mortal, on account of the cause which is not unknown to you, the light of mind and ardor of heart |
| 740 | Imparibus surgunt alis ; ac deficit illa Proinde mihi paritas, mortali stirpe creato ; Atque ideo, qua me excepsti, nisi pectore, grates Reddere lætitiæ nequeo. At, te deprecor, alma Lux hujus gemmæ, proprium da noscere nomen. Arboris o frons cara meæ, tunc rettulit ille, Quam mihi tam dulcis fuit exspectare voluptas, Sum tua radix : ille, tuæ qui nomina genti Addidit, ac montem peragrat centum amplius annos Circuitu in primo, meus ille est natus, et idem |
develop with unequal wings and, hence, that equality is lacking in me, begotten of mortal stock. And therefore I cannot give you thanks of joy for the way you greeted me except from my heart. But I pray you, kind light of this jewel, give me your own name.” He then responded, “O dear leaf of my tree, whom so sweet a pleasure it was for me to await, I am your root [i.e., Cacciaguida]. He who added the names to your clan, and has been wandering the Mount on its first circuit for over a hundred years, is my son |
| 750 | Est proavus tuus. Huic longum breviare laborem Est opus incumbas, meritisque rependĕre noxas. Circuitu in vetere (ex quo nunc quoque discitur illi Tertiaque ac nona) integra morum et sobria cultu, Securos in pace dies Florentia agebat. Non ibi tunc aderant armillæque, atque coronæ ; Calceolis non ibat acu tum femina pictis, Ac membris spectanda minus, quam divite cinctu ; Exoriens nondum terrebat filia patrem ; Fines quippe suos et dos et tempus habebant : [34] |
and your great-grandfather. You should shorten his long travail and pay for his offenses with your merits. Within the old ring-wall (from which now Terce and Nones are still taught to her) Florence, intact in morals and sober in culture, lived days secure in peace. There were then no bracelets and diadems there; a woman did not go around in needle-embroidered slippers, and to be looked at less for her shape than for her rich sash; a daughter being born did not terrify the father, since a dowry and her [marital] age had their limits. |
| 760 | Non domibus deerant gentes : non, probra pudoris Turpia ut inveheret, rex Sardanapalus ab oris Venerat Assyriis ; ac nondum nomine collis [35] Ex volucrum dictus, Marii de nomine dictum Vincebat montem ; qui, tanquam vincĭtur alto Ascensu, vincetur item subeunte ruina. Bellincionum Bertum ego vidi incedere pelle Atque osse incinctum, speculumque relinquere nuptam Illius, haud fuco inspersam. Quos Nerlia cives Clarabat gens, et pariter quos Vecchia, vidi |
People were not lacking in houses. King Sardanapal had not come from Assyrian shores to introduce shameful perversions of chastity. And the [exclusive] hill [“Fowler’s Hill”] called after the name of birds did not yet surpass the mountain [Monte-Mario near Rome] called after the name of Marius which, as it is surpassed in high ascent, will be likewise surpassed in the oncoming fall. I have seen Bellincion Berti walk about dressed in leather and bone [i.e., unpretentiously], and his wife leave her mirror unpowdered with rouge. I have seen the citizens whom the Nerlo clan, and likewise those whom the Vecchi, made famous, |
| 770 | Pellibus indutos nudis, dum pensa trahebant Illorum nuptæ, ac versabant pollice fusos. O ter felices ! patria decumbere terra Post mortem certæ ; nec, Gallica signa petenti Ulla erat, assimilis viduæ, deserta marito. Altera lactenti insomnis, cunabula juxta, Præbebat puero blandis solacia verbis, Quæ prius oblectare solent matresque patresque : Altera, pensa cŏlo ducens, astantibus acta De Fæsulis Romaque suis narrabat et Ilio. |
dressed with bare skins, while their wives spun yarn and turned the spindle with their thumbs. O thrice happy women, certain of lying in the earth of their fatherland after death! Nor was any, like a widow, deserted by a husband going over to French flags. One, sleepless, close to the cradle, would offer consolation to her nursing son with soothing words which commonly first delight mothers and fathers. Another one, drawing yarn from the distaff, would narrate to bystanders the deeds of her own Fiesole, of Rome and of Troy. |
| 780 | Par monstro tunc aut Lapus aut Cianghella fuisset, Ut nunc aut Curius foret aut Cornelia monstrum. Tali in lætitia morum, dulcique quiete, Hos inter cives, et in hac adeo urbe beata, Me dedit in lucem Maria, alte hanc matre vocante ; Zacharidæque sacro ablutus baptismate templo Christiadum Fidei ascitus, et nomine dictus Cacciaguida fui. Fraterno sanguine junctus Unus et alter erat, Morontus Elisæusque. Uxorem mihi ab Eridano Ferraria misit ; |
Lapo [Salterello] or Cianghella would have been as much an extraordinary phenomenon then as a Curius or a Cornelia would be an extraordinary phenomenon now. In such bliss of morals and in sweet quiet, Mary, with my mother calling loudly on her, gave birth to me among those citizens and in that as yet blessed city; and, washed clean by baptism in the holy temple of [John the Baptist,] the son of Zachariah, I was called to the Faith of Christians and called by the name of Cacciaguida. Moronto and Eliseo, the one and the other, were joined to me in brotherly blood. [The town of] Ferrara sent me my wife from the Eridanus [= Po river]. |
| 790 | Atque ea tum vestræ fecit nova nomina genti. Induperatoris dehinc sum vexilla secutus Conradi, qui claro equitis me ornavit honore. Tam bene me gessi, ac placui ! Comitatus iniquam Hunc sum inde in gentem, quæ, vobis debita, regna Occupat injuste, Pastoris crimine ; ibique Gens ea me turpis mundi fallacis ab oris Eripuit, cujus multi turpantur amore, Atque ita, martyrium passus, sum hac pace potitus. |
And she then made new names for your clan. After that I followed the standards of Emperor Conrad who adorned me with the distinguished honor of knight so well did I bear myself and please him! I then accompanied him against the evil people who, as a result of the Shepherd’s criminality, unjustly occupy the realms owed to you. And there that foul people tore me from the lands of the deceitful world by whose love many are defiled; and thus, suffering martydom, I came into possession of this peace.” |
| PARADISI XVI {16} ⇑ | ||
| 799 | Non ego mirer, nobilitas o parvula nostri | O petty nobility of our blood, I am not surprised |
| 800 | Sanguinis, in terris si corda tumescere faxis, Quo boni amor languet, quum te, quo est recta cupido, Scilicet in Cælo, intumui. Tu vestis es instar, Quæ, nisi quid sæpe adjicitur, cito deficit ; omnes Quippe dies illam decerpit forcipe tempus. O vos (majoris numeri, quem Roma recepit, Ac deinde abjecit, fari pronomine cœpi ; Quæque parum abstabat, risit divina Beatrix ; Ac visa est, quæ tussit ad oscula prima Ginevræ.) Vos genitor, dixi, meus estis, et incluta origo ; |
if you make hearts swell on earth where love of the good languishes, since I showed pride of you where desire is right that is, in Heaven. You are like a garment that, unless it is often added to, quickly shrinks; time trims it with scissors every day. “O ye” (I began to address him with the pronoun’s plural number, which Rome had used and then dropped; and the divine Beatrix, who stood off a bit, chuckled and seemed like her who coughed at Guinevere’s first kiss) “Ye are my progenitor and famous origin |
| 810 | A vobis mihi plena venit fiducia fandi ; Me sic erigitis, ut me sim major ipso ; Totque meum rivis perfundunt gaudia pectus, Ut læter tanto nequaquam flumine rumpi. Ergo age, prima meæ radix carissima gentis, Dicite majores vestros, et qualis, in auras Quum vos existis vitæ, decurreret annus : Dicite item sancti quantum esset ovile Joannis, Quique tenere forent magis alta sedilia digni. Ut fervet, viresque capit, spirantibus auris, |
From you comes my full confidence in speaking; ye raise me so that I am greater than myself, and joys flow into my heart from so many streams that I am happy it does not burst from such a current. So come, dearest first root of my family, tell me about your ancestors and what kind of year it was when you emerged into the air of life. Likewise talk about how large the sheepfold of Saint John [= Florence] was, and who were the most worthy of holding its high offices.” As a glowing firebrand heats up and gathers strength with blowing air, |
| 820 | Ignitus torris, blandis sic vocibus arsit Clarior ille meis ; et, quo majore refulsit Luce, magis dulci rettulit dehinc orsa loquela, (Non autem qualis nostro nunc personat ore); Atque ait : Ex illo, Cæli quo nuntius Ales Dixit ave, ad partum, quo me sub luminis auras Effudit, nunc regna tenens cælestia, mater, Centum quinque vices, tres, quinquagintaque, sidus Hoc rediit, Nemeæi refovendum calce leonis. Ipse meique patres ad vitam venimus illa |
so at my flattering words he caught fire more brightly; and the greater the light with which he shone, the sweeter the speech in which he then related his story (but not speech of the kind that is heard in our language nowadays), and said, “From that time when the announcing Angel said Ave, to the birth in which my mother, now occupying heavenly realms, delivered me to the air of light, the planet [Mars] returned 580 {(100 * 5) + ([3 = ] 30 + 50)} times to be revived by the heel of the Nemean lion [= the zodiacal constellation Leo]. I myself and my forefathers came to life in that |
| 830 | In regione, prius quæ se currentibus offert Ultima, certamen cursūs quum rettulit annus. Qui fuerint patres, atque huc sese unde tulerunt, Ignorare magis, puto, quam memorare decōrum est. Arma quibus validæ vires gestare sinebant Zachariden Martemque inter, pars quinta fuerunt Nunc ibi viventum ; sed gens, nunc semine mixta Certaldi et Campi et Fighine, erat omnis ad imum Pura fabrum. Has gentes, quas dico, quam habere fuisset Finitimas melius, sic ut Galluzzius urbis |
section that first meets the runners as their final one when the year produces the racing competition. I believe it is more appropriate to pass over who my forefathers were and whence they came here than to discuss it. Those whose strong abilities allowed them to bear arms between [John] the Baptist [= northern city limit] and Mars [= southern city limit] were a fifth of those living there now. But the people, now mongrelized with the seed of [the towns of] Certaldo and Campi and Fighine, were all pure, down to the lowest of the workers. How much better it would have been to have these people I am talking about as your neighbors, so that the boundary of the city would be Galuzzo [in the south], |
| 840 | Et Tresplanus terminus esset, quam intus habere Ruricolæque pati fœtorem ex Agulione, Atque viri ex Signa, fraudes jam nectere noti. Si gens, quæ plus degenerat, non dira noverca Cæsaris exstiterit, sed matris more benigna, [36] Quidam, qui nunc est civis, mereatur, et ambit, Iret, quo ibat avus, Semipontem quærere vīctum ; Montemurlus adhuc Comitum sub jure maneret Contentus ; Cerchique forent, ubi pastor Aconem Convocat aëre cavo populum ; et fortassis amarent |
and Trespiano [in the north], than to have them inside and to endure the stench of the boor from Aguglione [= Baldo] and of the man from Signa [= Fazio], already famous for weaving fraud. If the folk that degenerates more than others [= the Church] had not become a horrible stepmother to Caesar, but benign like a mother, one who is now a citizen would earn his living and walk around, going where his grandfather went, to Simifonte to beg for his sustinence. [The fortress of] Montemurlo would still remain contained within the jurisdiction of the Counts, and the Cerchi would be where the pastor convokes the people in the open air to Acone, and perhaps even now the Buondelmonti would love |
| 850 | Nunc quoque Valdigravi tuta otia Bondelmontes. Commixtura hominum semper pessumdedit urbes, Corporibus ceu multa nocet mixtura ciborum : Cæcus humi taurus cæco ruit ocius agno ; Ac plus sæpe unus, quam quinus, dissecat ensis. [37] Si videas ut Lunæ urbs, atque urbs Salvia pessum Ante ierint, et nunc pariter Senogallia, et altum Clusium eant, non humanas mirabere gentes Dilabi, quum urbes etiam labentur et ipsæ. Non secus ac vos, res vestras Mors impetit omnes : |
the safe leisure of Valdigreve. The mingling of people always ruins cities, like an excessive mixture of food harms bodies. A blind bull falls to earth faster than a blind lamb, and often a single sword cuts more than five. If you look at how the city of Luni, and, earlier, Orbisaglia, died, and now Sinigaglia and lofty Chiusi are likewise going, you will not be surprised that human clans disintegrate, when even cities themselves go down. Death seeks out all your things, no differently than it does you, |
| 860 | At latet in quadam : longo nam tempore vivit, Ac vobis est vita brevis. Ceu marmoris æstu Circumiens nunc Luna tegit, nunc litora nudat, Sic vario Fortunæ agitur Florentia pulsu. Non erit hinc mirum, hujus quod de civibus urbis Præclaris referam, jam tætra oblivia passis. Ipse Catellinos vidi, Ugosque, atque Philippos, Ormannos simul, et Grecos, atque Albericos, Jam declinantes, claro olim sanguine cives. Et vidi genere antiquos opibusque potentes |
although it is hidden is some things, for they live a long time, but for you life is short. As the circling Moon now covers, now bares, the shores with tides of the sea, so Florence is subjected to the various shocks of Fortune. Hence what I relate of the famous citizens of this city, now suffering wretched oblivion, will not be surprising. I myself have seen the Catellini and the Ughi, and the Filippi, along with the Ormanni, and Grechi, as well as the Alberichi already declining citizens of once famous blood. And I saw those ancient of stock and powerful in riches, |
| 870 | Ex Sannella atque Arca. Soldaneria visa Est simul, Ardinghique mihi, Bosticaque pubes. Portam urbis supra (quæ nunc est pondere tanto Nequitiæ gravis, ut navis cito pressa fatiscat) Ravignana fuit domus ; ex quo sanguine Guidus Dehinc venit Comes, et quot Bellincionus honorat. Norant frena manu Pressenses flectere ; et ensis Auratus, Galigaja, tibi fulgebat in æde. Jam grandescebat Vaji prōcēra columna, Sacchetti, Jochi, Fifantes, atque Barucci, |
de la Sannella and de l’Arca. Soldanieri was likewise seen by me, and Ardinghi, and the youth of the Bostichi. Over the gate of the city (which is now so heavy with the weight of iniquity that the overladen ship is quickly coming apart) was the house of the Ravignani, from whose blood then came Count Guido [Guerra VI], and however many [the name of] Bellincione honors. De la Pressa knew how to control the reins by hand; and in your house, Galigaio, a gilt sword [= of knighthood] gleamed. The tall column with blue bells on white [= the Pigli family] was increasing, the Sacchetti, Giuochi, Fifanti as well as the Barucci |
| 880 | Gallique, et modius quibus inficit ora rubore. [38] Jam stirps magna erat, ex qua gens Calfuccia : fasces Patricias Arrigucci Sitiique tenebant. Qualis honos genti, quam multa superbia fecit Indecŏrem ! quantumque dabant, Florentia, cunctis Te ex auro fulgente pĭlæ clarescere factis ! [39] Tali se illorum patres tunc more gerebant, Qui, quoties vacua est sedes Antistite, pingui Implentur, sacrisque agitant convivia tectis. Improba gens, quæ, vana tumens, irascitur illis |
and the Galli, and those [= the Chiaramontesi] whose faces the [falsified 2-gallon] container tinged with blushing. Already great was the clan from which the Calfucci family sprang. The magistracies were filled by the patrician Sizzi and Arrigucci. How great had been the honor of the people [= the Uberti] whom excessive pride made disgraceful! How greatly, o Florence, the globes of shining gold [= the Lamberti family] made you famous in all your exploits! In such a way did then the fathers of those [= the Visdomini and Tosinghi] comport themselves who, whenever the episcopacy is empty of its bishop, are filled fat and have banquets in the sacred buildings. An evil people [= the Adimari] who, bloated with vanities, rages against those |
| 890 | Qui fugiunt ; his, qui loculos aut cornua monstrant, Mitior est agno, jam tunc ab origine parva Surgebat ; quare Donatus abhorruit illi Cognatus fieri. Jam Caponsaccus in urbem Venerat ex Fæsulis ; jamque Infangatus, et unā Judas civis erat. Quod vix est credere, dicam, Et tamen est verum : parvam intrabatur in urbem Per portam, Peræ dictam de nomine gentis. Quot Ducis eximii, cujus memorantur honores Rite Thomæ in festo, pulchris se insignibus ornant, |
who [like Dante] flee, and is milder than a lamb to those who display their money-boxes or horns, was then rising from a low origin. Hence [Ubertino] Donato showed disinclination toward becoming an in-law of theirs. Caponsacco had already come to the city from Fiesole, and Infangato together with Judas was already a citizen. I will tell you what is hard to believe and nevertheless true: it was through the little gate called Pera from the name of the family that one entered the city. All those who adorn themselves with the beautiful escutcheon of the distinguished Leader [= Hugo of Brandenburg] whose honors are properly recalled on the feast of St. Thomas, |
| 900 | Hinc his nobilitas et militia evenit, etsi Nunc sese populo associet, qui hæc cinxerit auro. Jamque et Gualterotti Importunique vigebant. Et nunc vicus adhuc gauderet pace, propinquis Si fuerit caruisse novis. Domus, unde coorta Ob justam est iram clades, quæ depulit omnem Mœnibus ex vestris pacem, ac vos perdidit ipsos, Multo in honore erat, atque omnes sibi sanguine juncti. Quam male, Bondelmontiade, connubia gentis Fugisti istius, monitis muliebribus actus ! |
derived their nobility and military status from that Leader, even though the one [= della Bella] who borders it with gold now associates himself with the [party of the] people. And the Gualterotti and Importuni were already thriving. And the neighborhood would still be enjoying peace now if it had been without the new neighbors [i.e., the Buondelmonti]. The house [of the Amidei] from which, due to just wrath, arose the disaster which expelled all peace from your walls and destroyed you yourselves, was together with all those joined to it by blood held in high honor. How terribly, Buondelmonte, you, prompted by womanly urgings, rejected a wedding with that clan! |
| 910 | Multi vitam agerent læti, quos occupat angor, Si Deus omnipotens Hæmæ te merserit undis, Quum primum venisti urbem : sed deinde decebat Truncam illam petram, quæ pontem respicit Arni, [40] Urbis ut occĭderes extremæ victima pacis. His cum gentibus, atque aliis, mihi ducere visa Est lætam placidamque adeo Florentia vitam, Ut nulla illi esset lacrimas effundere causa ; Atque adeo populus justusque ac plenus honore, Lilia uti nunquam pīlis inversa doleret, [41] |
Many whom anguish oppresses would be happily living their lives if almighty God had drowned you in the waves of the Ema when you first came to the city. But it subsequently suited that truncated rock [= a statue of Mars] that overlooks the bridge over the Arno, that you should fall as the victim of the last peace of the city. I saw Florence with those people and others living a life so happy and peaceful that there was no reason for her to shed tears, and the populace was so just and filled with honor that it would never suffer the pain of lilies on inverted flagstaffs |
| 920 | Nec per discidium rubro depicta colore. | or painted with red color through dissension.” |
| LIBER XI | ||
| PARADISI XVII {17} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | Qualis adiit Clymenen matrem, sciturus an esset Quod sese audierat contra, poscentibus ille Qui dat adhuc natis parce indulgere parentes ; Sic tunc ipse fui : talem me diva Beatrix Novit, et illa locum Lux quæ mutaverat ante Ad mecum effandum. Ac Mulier mihi dixit : ab imo Prome sinu, ac tibi qualis inest da nosse cupido ; Non quod nostra tuis verbis augescere possit Cognitio ; sed ut assuescas aperire loquendo |
As the one [= Phaëthon] (he who still makes parents indulge their requesting sons sparingly) who went to Clymene, his mother, to find out whether what he had heard to the contrary were true, so I myself was then. The saintly Beatrice knew me as such, as did that Light which had previously changed its place to speak with me. And the woman said to me, “Bring it forth from the depths of your heart, and let the kind of desire that is in you be known not so that our knowledge may be increased by your words, but so that you may become accustomed to revealing in speech |
| 10 | Quæ te urit sitis, atque alius tibi misceat undas. O mea stirps, dixi, qui adeo te attollis in altum, Ut, punctum inspiciens, cui tempora cuncta patescunt, Clarius intueris quæ sunt exinde futura, Quam nobis sit scire datum, non posse trigonem Obtusos cohibere duos ; quum Tartara adirem, Virgilio comite, et lūstralis culmina montis, Dura mihi audivi fieri præsagia vitæ. Quamvis fortunæ nullo deterrear ictu, Scire tamen vellem quid sit mihi triste futurum ; |
what of your thirst burns you, and so that someone else may mix a drink for you.” “O my rootstock,” I said, “who rises so high that, viewing the point at which all times become visible, from there you see the things which are to come more clearly than is given to us to know that it is impossible for a triangle to contain two obtuse angles; when I was approaching Hell with my companion Virgil and the heights of the purifying mountain, I heard hard predictions being made about my life. Although I am not deterred by any blow of fortune, I would still like to know what sad things are in store for me. |
| 20 | Quippe, procul visæ, levius nocuere sagittæ. Sic ego sum fatus Luci, quæ erat ante locuta, Utque Beatrici est visum, mea sensa retexi. Isque paternus Amor, risuque ac luce suapte Inclusus, non obscuris ambagibus, olim Qualibus illudi gentes suevere, priusquam Agnus leto esset, delet qui crimina, missus, At liquido eloquio, ac verbis respondit apertis : Eventus rerum, vestræ quos pagina mentis Non habet inscriptos, omnes ex ordine picti |
For indeed, arrows seen far off cause less harm.” Thus I spoke to the Light that had spoken previously and, as seemed preferable to Beatrice, I revealed my thoughts. That fatherly Love, immersed in laughter and its own light, responded not with obscure circumlocutions like those by which peoples used to be deceived before the Lamb who wipes out sins was sent to His death, but with clear speech and open words: “The consequences of things consequences which the pages of your minds do not hold recorded all appear portrayed in order |
| 30 | Ante Deum apparent ; at non magis inde necessum Accipiunt, quam prona ratis, per flumina currens, Accipit ex visu longe spectantis ab ora. Hinc mea, de fidibus veluti concentus ad aures, Qui te deinde manent, veniunt ad lumina casus. Urbe velut patria discessit, fraude novercæ, Hippolytus, tibi sic linquenda est patria tellus. Hoc jam agitur, jam hoc instruitur ; nec tempus abibit Longum, quin hoc perficiat, qui cogitat illic, Christum ubi dat venum lucri insatiata cupido. |
before God. But they no more acquire necessity from that, than a downstream-headed boat, floating down a river, acquires it from the gaze of someone looking from the shore far off. Hence the events which hereafter await you come to my eyes like a harmony from stringed instruments to the ears. As Hippolytus left his native city due to the deception of his stepmother [Phaedra], so your native earth will have to be left. This is already in operation, already being implemented, and the time will not be far off before it is accomplished by the one [Pope Boniface VIII] who is planning it there where insatiable greed sells Christ for lucre. |
| 40 | Ut solet, offensos per vulgus culpa sequetur ; At verum dabit, unde oritur, vindicta patēre. Quod magis est gratum, quod diligis, omne relinques : Hæc prima exilii vibratur cuspis ab arcu. Quam durum agnosces per scalas ire redire Alterius, quam salsum alieno vivere pane. At gravius veniet sociis tibi vulnus ab ipsis, Qui tecum pariter vallem labentur in istam ; Quippe ingrati omnes, impiique, ac mente carentes, In te iras vertent : non longa at temporis ætas |
As usual, through the rabble, the blame will follow the victims, but [divine] vengeance will make the truth manifest about where that blame comes from. You will leave everything most dear that you love: that first arrowhead will be shot from the bow of exile. You will discover how hard it is to go back and forth on someone else’s stairs, how [bitterly] salty to live on someone else’s bread. But a worse wound will come to you from those companions who will descend likewise with you into that valley all, indeed, ungrateful, disloyal and out of their minds, they will turn their anger against you. But not a long space of time |
| 50 | Ibit, et opprobrium, non te, sed enim opprimet illos. Exitus infelix, insanaque gesta probabunt Nequitiam illorum ; et te eis abjunxisse decebit. Hospitium primum, rebusque levamen in arctis, Vir tibi magnus erit, cujus sanctusque volucris Ac scala insigne exornat : sic ille benignam Ostendet mentem, ut prævertat vota precantis. Illius agnosces fratrem, qui sidere ab isto Sic fuit impressus nascens, ut grandia quondam Facta gerat. Nondum gentes sensere, virentem |
will pass, and the reproach will overcome not you but them. The unhappy outcome and insane exploits will prove their worthlessness, and it will be suitable for you to separate youself from them. Your first shelter and relief in difficult circumstances will be the great man [= Bartolomeo della Scala] whose coat of arms are adorned by a sacred bird and ladder; he will display such a kind attitude that he will anticipate the wishes of you as requester. You will get to know his brother [= Can Grande] who, being born [1291 March 9, in the constellation Aries], was so branded by that planet [= Mars (March = “month of Mars”)] that he will one day perform great deeds. People have not yet perceived it |
| 60 | Propter adhuc vitam ; nam vix nonum attigit annum. At, prius Henricum quam Vasco fefellerit altum, [1] Illius effulget virtus, vincensque labores Aurumque indignans : illius munera opesque Largifluas ipsi celebrabunt laudibus hostes. Hujus in auxiliis tibi sit fiducia cordi. Multam hic mutabit gentem, ditesque inopesque [2] Ad meliora vehens. Memori hæc tu pectore serva, Quæ dicam, ac nulli referas. Tunc talia dixit, Queis adhibere fidem poterunt vix illa videntes. |
because of his green age, since he has not yet reached his ninth year. But before the Gascon [Pope Clement V] deceives the lofty Henry [VII, emperor], his virtue will shine forth, conquering labors and gold. His enemies themselves will celebrate his gifts and riches with their praises. Let your heart’s confidence be in his help. He will change many people, leading both rich and poor to better conditions. Keep these things I say in your heart’s memory, and report them to no one.” At that time he said such things that even onlookers could hardly give them credence. |
| 70 | Addidit inde sequens : Fili, velamine dempto, En detecta tibi, tibi quæ jam dicta fuerunt ; Ecce tibi insidiæ, quas non longa occulet ætas. Civibus at nolo invideas : tua quippe vigebit Vita magis longe, quam dent pro talibus ausis Hi meritas pœnas. Quum Spiritus ille, silendo Stamina pro qua præbueram, subtegmina telæ Inseruisse est visus, ego, ut qui poscit amici Consilium, cui sit virtus ac fida voluntas, Dicere tum cœpi : Video, pater optime, tristem |
Following that he added, “Son, after the veil has been removed, consider the things revealed to you the things that have already been told to you: behold the ambush for you which time will not long conceal. But I do not want you to be angry at your citizens, for your life will thrive longer than they will pay the merited punishment for such audacities.” When by falling silent that Spirit was seen to have inserted the wefts of the fabric for which I had set up the warp, I as one who requests the advice of a friend who has virtue and a trustworthy will then began to speak: “I see, best father, the sad |
| 80 | Adventare diem, qui me tali impetet ictu, Quo magis is premitur, minus est cui provida cura : [3] Prudenti est igitur valde mihi mente cavendum Ne, pulsus patria, dulci si sede carebo, Deficiant aliæ, mea propter carmina, sedes. Per mundum infernum, ac montem ex quo diva Beatrix Me in Cælum erexit, Cælique volubilis orbes, Quædam ego deprendi, quæ si dein forte revelem, Sint vereor multis et tristia et aspera valde ; Ac vereor quoque, si pavidus sim dicere verum, |
day coming which will strike me with such a blow that he whose foresightful precaution is less, is the more crushed. Thus I must earnestly take precautions with a foresightful attitude lest if, driven from my fatherland, I should be without my sweet home, my other homes should be gone on account of my poems. Throughout the world below and the mountain from which the saintly Beatrice lifted me to Heaven and to the spheres of the revolving heavens, I have learnt certain things which, if I perhaps later reveal them, will, I fear, be extremely sad and harsh to many; and I also fear that, if I am afraid of speaking the truth, |
| 90 | Ne vivam hos inter, qui hæc tempora prisca vocabunt. His dictis, majore arsit Lux illa nĭtore, Non secus ac aureum speculum sub Sole refulgens ; Mox inquit : Mens, sive suæ, seu conscia culpæ Alterius, telum illa tui sermonis acutum Sentiat ; at, quæ visa tibi, tamen omnia pande ; Et, mala cui scabies prurit, sibi confricet artus. Aspera si primum fuerint tua verba, salutem Mox meditata ferent : velut alta cacumina ventus Concutiens, tua vox erit : atque hoc nobile signum |
I may not be alive among those who will call these times ancient.” After these words that Light burned with greater brilliance in the way a golden mirror shines in the Sun. It then said, “That mind conscious of its own and another’s guilt may find the weapon of your speech sharp. But nonetheless: reveal everything that seems right to you. And let whoever has a bad rash which itches, scratch away at his limbs. If at first your words might be harsh, after being meditated on, they will bring health. Your voice will be like the wind striking the high peaks, and that is the noble sign |
| 100 | Magnanimi est cordis. Tibi sunt hoc propter in istis Orbibus, in monte, atque inferni vallibus imis, Hi tantum ostenti, quos dat notescere fama : Namque per exempla, ac documenta carentia visu, Quum res narrantur, quarum est abscondita radix, Non his auditor mentemque animumque quietum Applicat ; indocilisque fidem præbere recusat. |
of a great-souled heart. For that reason, only those whom fame has made them noteworthy have been shown to you in these spheres, on the mountain and the deepest valleys of Hell. For when one relates, through examples and lessons lacking in visualness, things of which the root is obscure, the hearer does not lend both his mind and his heart to them, and the untutored refuses to give them credence.” |
| PARADISI XVIII {18} ⇑ | ||
| 107 | Jamque silens, quæ fatus erat, sub corde beatus Spiritus ille suo dictis gaudebat [4] : et ipse, Hæc eadem reputans, dulci medicabar amarum ; |
And now silent, that blessed Spirit was rejoicing in his own heart over what he had said with his words, and I myself, thinking about those same things, was healing the bitter with the sweet. |
| 110 | Quæque videre Deum Mulier me diva ferebat, Hæc animo dimitte, inquit ; perpende quod illum Sum prope, eique assum, qui offensas elevat omnes. Continuo ad dulcis versŭs solacia vocis, Qualem oculis sanctis vidi tum fulgere amorem Prætereo ; non quod mihi deest fiducia fandi, At quia ni quis deducat, memor ipsa referri In se mens nescit : dumtaxat dicere possum, Quod me his intentum, tum cetera cura reliquit : Nam jubar æternum, se ex illius ore reflectens, |
And the saintly Lady who was taking me to see God said, “Dismiss those things from your mind; consider that I am near and am at the side of Him who alleviates all injuries.” I immediately turned to the solace of her sweet voice; I pass over what love I then saw shining in her holy eyes, not because I lack confidence in speaking, but because, unless someone provides guidance, the remembering mind itself cannot penetrate back into itself. I can say only that, as I was fixed on those eyes, other cares then left me; for the eternal radiance, reflecting itself from her face, |
| 120 | Memet lætitia explebat. Sed lumine risus Tunc ea me vincens : jam te verte, inquit, et audi : Non tantum est nostris oculis æterna voluptas. Ut solet hic nosci ex vultu quandoque cupido, Quum rapitur, curāque animus defigitur unā ; Sic ille, ut me converti, se Splendor habebat Non satur eloquii, atque ait : Hoc in limine quinto [5] Arboris, e summo ducit quæ vertice vitam, Ac semper sese foliis ac fructibus ornat, Sunt Animæ egregiæ, quæ, dum vixere, cluebant |
filled me with joy. But then vanquishing me with the light of her laughter, she said, “Now turn around and listen; eternal pleasure is not in my eyes alone.” As it is typical here for desire to be sometimes recognized in a face when it is enraptured and the mind is spellbound by a single concern, so, as I turned around, that Splendor [= Cacciaguida] did not consider himself finished with speaking, and said, “In this fifth threshold [= the orbit of Mars] of the tree that draws its life from its highest peak and forever adorns itself with leaves and fruits, there are extraordinary Souls that, while they lived, were so renowned |
| 130 | Famā adeo, ut quævis posset ditescere Musa. Cornibus ergo Crucis tua lumina fige : videbis, Nomine quam dicam, velociter ire per illam, Non secus ac rapidus fertur per nubila fulgor. Nomine tum Josue Lumen discurrere vidi, Nec dictum prius aut factum dignoscere quivi. Vidi aliud magni Maccabæi nomine ; et, instar Turbinis, in gyrum concepta ob gaudia volvi. Hinc duo, ob Orlandum germenque illustre Pipini, [6] Lumina conspexi, atque oculis sum utrumque secutus, |
in fame that any Muse could be enriched thereby. So fix your eyes on the horns of the cross: you will see the one whom I call by name go swiftly along it, like a quick lightning flash darts through clouds.” I then saw a Light by the name of Joshua whip around, and was unable to distinguish his name or the event as first. I saw another one by the name of the great Maccabeus, also caught up in a whirl, out of joy spin like a tornado. After that, I saw two Lights answering to Roland and the illustrious seed [= Charlemagne] of Pipin, and I followed both with my eyes, |
| 140 | Fixus ut accipitrem suspectat nubibus auceps. Mox et Guilelmus, Rinoardus, duxque Gofredus, In Cruce paruerunt mihi, Guiscardusque Robertus ; Commixtusque aliis se Cacciaguida ferebat, Ostendens, qualis Cæli in cantoribus esset. Ut mihi, quidnam agerem, vel dicto aut panderet actu, Sum latus in dextrum versus, quo diva Beatrix Astabat ; tamque illi oculos effulgere puros Lætosque aspexi, ut nunquam sic ante solerent. Ac veluti, quo quisque magis bene gaudet agendo, |
fixed like a fowler looking up at a hawk in the clouds. And next William [of Orange], Rainouart and Duke Godfrey [of Boulogne], and Robert Guiscard. Joining the others, Cacciaguida left, showing how good he was among the singers of Heaven. I turned to my right side where the saintly Beatrice was standing alongside me so that by word or deed she might let me know what I was to do, and I saw her eyes shining more purely and happily than they had ever used to shine before. And as the more one delights in doing well, |
| 150 | Hōc sibi præsentit majus virtutis adeptum ; Sic ego tum sensi, magis illam effulgere cernens, Quod mihi, cum Cælis vadenti, creverat arcus. [7] Ut propere exuitur mulier, quo tincta pudore Ante fuit, primoque genas candore colorat, Sic oculis fuit illa meis, quum me inde reflexi, Candorem ob sexti, quod nos exceperat, astri. Scintillare Animas Joviali hoc sidere amantes Vidi, nostrique eloquii formare figuras. Litoribus veluti volucrum quum turba relictis |
he thereby feels himself acquiring more virtue, so I then, seeing her shine more, sensed that, for me, advancing with the Heavens, the orbit had increased. As a woman is quickly freed of the blushing she had been tinged with before, and colors her cheeks with their original color, so was Beatrice to my eyes when I turned around from there, due to the whiteness of the sixth planet which had received us. I saw loving Souls glittering in that sphere of Jupiter, forming characters of our language. As when a flock of birds, leaving a bank, |
| 160 | It Cælo, cantum attollens, quasi pascua gratans, Agmine nunc longo incedens, nunc orbe rotundo, Talis, quæque suo conclusa in lumine, cantum Edebat volitans ; varioque ex ordine formans Nunc D, nunc I, nunc L, sese quæque movebat Cantando prius in numerum ; ex his deinde figuris Componens unam, stabat paulumque silebat. O quæ, Musa, tuo ingeniis das numine vires In decus, æternumque facis durare per ævum Ipsosque, ac illorum in carmine regnaque et urbes, |
goes into the sky raising its song as though wishing the pastures well, proceeding now in a long column, now in a round sphere, so, with each one wrapped in its own light, it rendered a song while flying. And with varying formation forming now a D, now an I, now an L, each one would first move along, singing in cadence, then, composing one of these figures, it would stand and be quiet for a bit. O Muse who through your divinity give power to the talented for glory, and make them last throughout eternal time, and in their song their kingdoms and cities also, |
| 170 | Me, precor, illustra, ut, quales sunt mente repostæ, Evaleam retulisse notas : fac, Diva, patescat Versibus his nostris brevibus tua magna potestas. Vocales triginta ac quinque, et cum hisce sonantes, Se mihi spectandæ obtulerunt ; talesque notavi, Illarum partes, quales ex ordine vidi. DILIGITE, est omnis primi sententia picti, JUSTITIAM : QUI DIRIGITIS TERRAM, inde secundi. Quinti in litterulam verbi dehinc ordine summam Convenere ; adeo ut visus sit Juppiter auro |
illumine me, I beg of you, so that I can explain the characters the way they are stored in my mind. O Goddess, let your great power reveal itself in these short verses of mine. Thirty and five vowels and, with them, consonants, presented themselves to me to be looked at. And I noted their parts, such as I saw them in order. DILIGITE (“Love”) was all the wording of the first depiction ; JUSTITIAM : QUI DIRIGITIS TERRAM (“righteousness, you who rule the earth”) of the second one after that. They then gathered in order on the last letter of the fifth word in such a way that Jupiter seemed silver |
| 180 | Distinctum argentum. Luces descendere vidi Mox alias, ac litterulæ se vertice summo Sistere in ejusdem, cantantes, arbitror, illud Quod trahit usque Bonum, ac flammā sibi perpete jungit. Non secus ac torrum conflictu hinc inde favillæ Protinus innumeræ exsiliunt, unde omina vulgus Ferre solet ; sic plusquam mille exsurgere Luces Sunt iterum visæ, plus hæc, minus illa, secundum Æterni arbitrium Solis, qui incendit amore. Postquam quæque sua requievit sede, caputque |
set off with gold. I then saw other Lights descend and alight on the top summit of the same little letter, singing, I believe, of that everlasting Good which steadily draws and joins them to itself with flames. Just as, by the striking together of firebrands, innumerable sparks then immediately explode from them, whence the rabble typically gets its omens, so more than a thousand Lights were again seen to arise more of these, fewer of those, according to the will of the eternal Sun which ignites them with love. After each one had rested in its own place, |
| 190 | Ac collum Reginæ avium has componere vidi. (Hĭc opifex pingens, non indiget ille regente, At cuncta ipse regit : virtusque est omnis ab ipso, Quæ variis hīc cuncta modis et sedibus aptat.) Litterulæ hinc aliæ, steterunt quæ in vertice Luces, Contentæ hīc visæ in morem consīdĕre lilii, Effigiem parvo motu implevere volucris. O quot, justitiam nostram procedere Cælo, Sidus dulce, tuo, gemmæ mihi nosse dederunt ! Quare ipse obtestor mentem, ex qua manat origo |
I saw them compose both the head and the neck of the Queen of birds. (That artist in his painting has no need of a guide, but guides everything himself; all his power, which here adapts everything to the various modes and niches, is from himself.) From there the other little letters, the Lights that stood on the spire, seeming content to sit there in the shape of a fleur-de-lis, with slight motions filled out the outline of the bird. O sweet planet, how many jewels have given me to know that our justice proceeds from your Heaven! Hence I myself adjure the Mind from which derives the source |
| 200 | Virtutis motusque tui, ut sua lumina vertat Illuc, unde oritur fumus, qui nobilis astri Infectat radios ; rursusque insurgat in iras Adversus, qui nunc sanctā mercantur in æde, Structā jam tot prodigiis et sanguine tanto. Militia o Cæli, quam ego nunc contemplor, adora Pro tot, qui prava in terris exempla sequentes Tramite declinant recto. Bellum ante solebat Ense palam fieri ; sed nunc fit pane negato, [8] Aut his, aut illis, quem dat Pater omnibus æque. |
of virtue and of your movement, that it may turn its lights to there whence arises the smoke that clouds the rays of your noble star. And may it again rise in anger against those who are now trafficking in the holy temple, hitherto built with so many miracles and such blood. O army of Heaven that I now survey, pray for so many who, following the crooked examples on earth, deviate from the right path. Previously war was customarily waged openly with the sword; but now it takes place by denying [the eucharistic] bread either to these or to those, bread which the Father gave to all equally. |
| 210 | Ac tu, qui figis leges, ut deinde refigas, Vivere adhuc Cælo Petrum Paulumque memento, Quorum (proh facinus !) datur a te vinea pessum. Ipse autem dicis : sum illius captus amore [9] Qui solus vitam silvis traduxit in aspris, Et propter choreas leto est multatus iniquo, Nullaque me Petri ac Pauli reverentia tangit. |
And you who make laws in order then to unmake them, remember that in Heaven Peter and Paul still live, whose (alas!) vineyard is being ruined by you. You yourself say, “I am captivated by the love of him who lived his life alone in rugged places, and because of a dance [of Salome] was punished with an unjust death, and no reverence for Peter and Paul touches me.” |
| PARADISI XIX {19} ⇑ | ||
| 217 | XIX. Ante oculos formosa meos parebat imago, Expansis alis, diva quæ luce beabat Insertas Animas : radianti quæque pyrōpo |
Appearing before my eyes with outstretched wings, was the beautiful image that enraptured the intertwined Souls; each one incandesced like radiant |
| 220 | Ardebat similis, qui tam sub Sole nĭtēret, In mea ut ex illo resiliret lumina fulgor. Quod sum dicturus, nec scripto aut vocibus unquam Quis rettulit, nec cujusquam mens fervida finxit. Vidi ego et audivi humanas emittere rostrum Voces ; quumque essent plures ea verba cientes, Vox tamen insonuit numero prolata minori ; Atque hæc fata est : Justitiæ ac pietatis amatrix Quum fuerim, in decus huc veni, quod nulla cupido Exsuperare potest : nomen memorabile terris |
gold-bronze which shone so much that, from it, the brightness under the Sun reflected into my eyes. What I am about to say no one has ever related either in writing or verbally, nor has the overheated mind of anyone invented. I saw and heard the beak utter human words, and while there were many voicing those words, nevertheless the spoken voice sounded in the singular number. And it said these things: “Since I am a lover of justice and responsibility, I came here to a glory which no desire can surpass. I have left a memorable |
| 230 | Liqui ; ipsique, sequi dum clara exempla recusant, Multa mihi laudum tribuunt præconia sontes. Unus ut exoritur multis ex ignibus ardor, Multorum sic Spirituum vox una sonabat Illa ex effigie : cui sum dein talia fatus. O flores, decus æterni immortale vireti, Qui mihi in uno omnes vestros afflatis odores, Solvite ; spirantes, quæso, quæ ex tempore longo Me torquet collecta fames ; reperire nequivi Namque cibum terris. Scio, quod, si cernere divam |
name on earth. The guilty themselves, while they refuse to follow my excellent examples, give me many acclamations of praise.” As a single heat arises from many fires, so one voice of many Spirits sounded from that figure, to which I then said the following: “O flowers, immortal glory of eternal greenswards, who, wafting all your fragrances in one on me, put an end, please, as you breathe, to the accumulated hunger which has tortured me for a long time; for I have not been able to find the food on earth. I know that, if another Order [of angels] |
| 240 | Justitiam in Cælis alius præponitur Ordo, [10] Hanc vester nullo tectam velamine cernit. Scitis, me voces vestras audire paratum, Et dubium scitis, quo sum tot vinctus ab annis. Ut caput accipiter dempto sublime galero Erigit extemplo, atque alis sibi plaudit apertis, Ostendens sese cupidum formaque venustum ; Gratiæ ita intextum divinæ laudibus, illud [11] Tum fieri signum vidi, et sic edere dulcem Cantum, qualem unus novit, qui gaudet ibidem. |
is placed ahead of you to discern divine justice in Heaven, yours discerns it covered by no veil. You know I am ready to hear your voices; and you know the doubt with which I have been entangled for years.” As a hawk with its hood removed suddenly raises its head aloft and flaps its open wings, showing itself eager and beautiful of form, so I then saw that symbol, woven out of praises of divine grace, become, and emit the kind of sweet song known solely by who rejoices in that same place. |
| 250 | Mox ait : Is, qui ad mundi oras obvertit amussim, Totque intus posuit manifesta occultaque rerum, Non adeo ille suam virtutem expromere ibidem Evaluit, ne immense ejusdem in mente maneret. Hoc patet ex illo, quem cæca superbia primum Vicit : quum ante omnes excellentissimus esset, Quod lucem haud mansit, mĭsĕrē est prolapsus acerbus. Inde liquet porro, naturā quāque minori Comprendi non posse Bonum, quod, finibus expers Omnibus, haudquaquam, nisi se mētatur ab ipso. |
Then it said: “He who devoted himself with precision to the boundaries of the world, and put within it so many visible and invisible things, could not therein manifest His power in such a way that it would not remain infinitely in His mind. This is clear from that one whom blind arrogance first vanquished: while he was the loftiest of all, because he did not await his enlightenment, premature, he plunged down wretchedly. From this it is further clear that the Good cannot be comprehended by any lesser nature the Good that, lacking all bounds, is not measured at all except by Itself. |
| 260 | Quum mens nostra igitur radius sit, oporteat unus Illius mentis, cujus sunt omnia plena, Naturā non ipsā suā cognoscere pollet Sit qualis quantusque Deus. Sic Numinis alti Justitiam mortalis conspicit, ut mare magnum ; Cujus quantumvis videat de litore fundum, Non videt in pelago ; negat alveus quippe profundus. Non est lux equidem, nisi sit deducta sereno, Quod non turbatur : non est lux, immo tenebræ, Carnis nempe umbra, atque suum exitiale venenum. |
Since, therefore, our mind is necessarily one ray of that mind of which everything is full, by its own very nature it is unable to know what God’s essence and magnitude are. Thus a mortal sees the justice of the high Divinity as a great ocean: however much of its bottom he may see from the shore, he does not see it on the high seas, since the abyssal seabed precludes it. Indeed, there is no light if not descended from a clear heaven that is not disturbed: there is no light, but rather darkness the shadow of the flesh, namely, and its deadly venom. |
| 270 | His de justitia dubium, quod mente gerebas, Quodque tibi solvi optabas, reor esse solutum. Ajebas etenim : ad ripas quis nascitur Indi, Nemo ubi de Christo loquitur, nec tradita chartis Nec dictis lex ulla patet : morum integer ille Vivit, quantum humanæ dat prudentia mentis : Absque Fide ac sancti moritur Baptismatis expers ; Justitia est ubinam, Stygios quæ hunc damnat ad ignes ? Culpa ubinam, si quod latuit, non credidit ille ? At tu quisnam es, qui vis alta in sede sedere, |
With these things I believe the doubts about justice that you carried in your mind and wanted resolved, have been resolved. For you said, ‘A man is born on the banks of the Indus where no one speaks about Christ, nor is any precept, delivered in writing or words, accessible to him. He lives uncorrupted in morals insofar as the intellect of the human mind can tell. He dies without the faith and unpossessed of holy baptism. Where is the justice that condemns that man to hellfire? Where is his guilt if he did not believe in what was hidden?’ But who are you, who want to sit in your high seat |
| 280 | Judicium ut promas de rebus mille remotis Milia, luminibus nec palmum anteuntibus unum ? Illi equidem, quicunque animo hæc expendet acuto, Addubitandum esset, nisi sacra volumina vobis Desuper instarent. O terræ animalia, mentes Obductæ tenebris ! Quæ per se prima voluntas Est bona, in immensum bona, nunquam a se ipsa recedit. Id solum omnino est justum, quod consonat illi : Nullo hæc attrahitur bono, at ipsa hoc lumine gignit. Ut nidum supra, simul atque ciconia pullos |
in order to pronounce judgement on things a thousand miles away, with eyes not reaching ahead one palm’s width? Indeed, whoever will judge these things with an acute mind would have to engage in doubt if the sacred Scriptures were not looming over you. O creatures of earth, minds covered with darkness! The Primal Will, which is good in Itself, good infinitely, never withdraws from Itself. Only that which is consonant with It is completely just. It is not attracted to any good, but rather Itself creates that through Its light.” As a stork, as soon as she has fed her featherless young, |
| 290 | Nutriit implumes, circum se vertit, et illam Qui sunt jam pasti, erecta cervice tuentur ; Talis et effigies fuit, atque ego lumina talis Erexi. Tot Spiritibus compulsa, movebat Illa alas ; circumque rotans, hac voce canebat : Ut meus est tibi, qui nescis deprendere, cantus, Divum ita consilium humanæ impenetrabile menti, est. His dictis, mansere parum illa incendia sancti [12] Flaminis in signo, quod Romæ subdidit orbem ; Idque iterum cœpit : Non ullo tempore regna, |
circles around over the nest and those who have already been fed look at her with upright necks, so was that effigy, and so I lifted my eyes. Put into motion by so many Spirits, she moved her wings and, wheeling around, sang with this voice: “As my song, which you cannot understand, is to you, so is divine counsel impenetrable to the human mind.” Having said that, the fires of the Holy Spirit remained for a while in the emblem that subjugated the world to Rome, and it began again, “No one has ever come to the celestial realms |
| 300 | Qui non crediderit Christo, cælestia venit, Aut prius, aut postquam letum est perpessus iniquum. At Christum Christum conclamant nomine multi, Qui, quum judicium advenient, longinquius illis Abstabunt Christo, qui nunquam exsistere norunt. Christiadas hos damnabit niger accola Nili In cœtus mundum Judex quum dividet ambos, Alter ut æternum locuples, sit et alter egenus. Quid poterunt Persæ in vestros tum dicere reges, Illorum quum cuncta tenens delicta volumen |
who has not believed in Christ, either before or after he suffered his unjust death. But many will call out ‘Christ, Christ’ by name who, when they arrive at judgement, will stand farther off from Christ than those who never knew he existed. The black dweller on the Nile will condemn those Christians when the Judge divides the world into two groups, that the one may be eternally rich, and the other, destitute. What will the Persians then be able to say against your kings when they see the volume holding their sins? |
| 310 | Aspicient ? Hīc Alberti inter cetera factum [13] Quod cito perscribet calamus, cernetur iniquum, Unde involvet regnum clades horrida Pragæ. Hic luctus cernetur item, quo Gallica regna Afficit, argentum vitians, qui saucius apri [14] Dente cadet. Cernetur item, quæ extendere regni Impellit fines insana superbia reges [15] Anglumque an Scotum. Regis cernetur Iberi Luxuries, ac regis vita ignava Bojohæmi, [16] Cui nunquam optata est virtus, et cognita nunquam. |
Here will be seen, among other things, [Emperor] Albert’s unjust deed which the pen will quickly record whence a horrendous disaster will overcome the kingdom of Prague. Here likewise will be seen the mourning with which the man [= King Philip the Fair] who will fall, wounded by a boar’s tusk, will weaken the French kingdoms, adulterating the silver. Likewise will be seen the insane arrogance which drives the kings of the English and the Scots to extend their boundaries. The dissoluteness of the king [Ferdinand IV] of Spain will be seen, as also the slothful life of the king [Wenceslaus IV] of Bohemia, by whom courage was never chosen and never known. |
| 320 | Rectoris Solymæ, signata videbitur una [17] Hic bonitas, multasque ostendet pagina noxas. Clarebit pariter Siculis regnantis in oris, [18] Quo Pater Anchises ævo consumptus obivit, Turpis avarities : atque, ut quam vilis et excors Is pateat, truncis scribentur crimina signis, Quæ permulta dabunt spatio cognoscere parvo. Et patrui et fratris pariter commissa patebunt, Gens quibus egregia, ac gemina est turpata corona. Hic, cui Norvegia, et cui Lusitania pāret, |
Here the goodness of the ruler of Jerusalem [Charles II of Anjou] will be seen marked as ‘one,’ and a [full] page will show his many wrongs. Similarly, in the Sicilian shores where Father Anchises, exhausted with age, died, the shameful avarice of the ruler [Frederick II of Aragon] will come to light. And to show how base and stupid he is, his crimes will be written in truncated characters that will, in a small space, allow learning about a great many of them. And the misdeeds of his paternal uncle [James II of the Balearic Isles] and his brother [James II of Aragon] will be exposed, men through whom an eminent people and two crowns were debased. Here, the one [Hakon] whom Norway, and the one [Dionysius] whom Portugal obeyed |
| 330 | Cernere erit : quique Illyrica dominatur in urbe, Atque typo Venetum male cusa numismata signat. Pannonia o felix, regis si frena superbi Excutias ! o felix Cantaber, alta Pyrene Si te nimbiferæ vasto teget aggere rupis ! Hoc cuivis dat Nicosia et Famagusta videre, Quas sua plorare et contendere Bestia cogit, [19] Non his absimilis, vitiis nec turpibus impar. |
will be visible. And the one [Stephen Urosh II] who was lord in the Illyrian city [Raska], who marked falsely forged coins with the imprint of the Venetians. O happy Pannonia [= Hungary], if you shake off the reins of an arrogant king [= Andrew]! O happy Cantabrian [= Navarese], if the high Pyrenees will protect you with the vast rampart of a rain-bringing range! Nicosia and Famagosta [on Cyprus] allow anyone to see this, towns that their own Beast [Henry II of Lusignan] neither different from those [other kings] nor unequal in disgraceful vices forces to weep and struggle.” |
| PARADISI XX {20} ⇑ | ||
| 338 | XX. Quum, qui terrarum tractus illuminat omnes, Deficiente die, nostris discedit ab oris, |
When he who illuminates all the earth’s regions, with the dying day, departs from our shores, |
| 340 | Quod sōlo illius splendebat lumine, Cælum Lucibus ornatur multis ; quibus una refulget. [20] Hæc mihi tunc animo Cæli succurrit imago, Quum mundi illiusque ducum venerabile signum Conticuit : siquidem Luces fulgoribus illæ Continuo micuere novis, cantumque dedere, Quem mea nunc frustra mens ægra referre laborat. Dulcis Amor, qui te ridenti lumine velas, Oh quantum es tibiis tunc his ardescere visus, [21] Queis tantum sanctæ spirabant flamina curæ ! |
the Sky, which shines by his light alone, is adorned with many lights with which the one is brightly reflected. This image of the Heavens then occurred to my mind when the venerable symbol of the world and its leaders fell silent, because those Lights immediately sparkled with new flashes and sang a song which my ailing mind now struggles in vain to recall. Sweet Love, who veil yourself in laughing light, o how much you then seemed to burn with those flutes with which only the holy guardians exhaled their breaths! |
| 350 | Postquam illæ angelicum cantum caræ atque micantes Desierunt gemmæ, quas sanctum ornare videbam Sidus, continuo murmur mihi venit ad aures, Non secus ac fluvii ; qui, vertice montis ab alto Præcipitans, sese clarus per confraga volvit, Testatus quanto descendat ab ubere venæ. Utque sonus citharæ normam ex cervice capessit, Eque foraminibus, quo inflatur fistula, ventus ; Haud aliter volucris per collum protinus illud Ascendit murmur, non sequius atque foratum |
After those dear and sparkling jewels which I saw adorning the holy planet finished the angelic song, a murmur immediately came to my ears like that of a river which, falling headlong from the high summit of a mountain, rolls crystalline through the rugged terrain, testifying to how much abundance it descends from. And as a sound takes its quality from the neck of a zither and from the holes by which wind is blown into a bagpipe, so that murmur rose instantly through neck of the bird, as if |
| 360 | Hoc esset. Vox hic est factum ; emissaque rostro Dicta dedit, nostræ ad formam modulata loquelæ, Qualia cor meum, ubi a me sunt conscripta, manebat : Partem, mortales aquilæ qua cernere Solem Ac perferre solent, in me nunc inspice, dixit ; Quippe inter Luces, ex queis mea constat imago, Hæ reliquis præstant, oculus meus unde refulget. Ille orbe in medio rutilans, quasi pupula, sancti Pneumatis est cantor, sanctam qui transtulit Arcam : Nunc cantūs novit pretium, ex mercede relata |
it were hollow. Here it became a voice and that, escaping, from its beak gave out words modulated in the form of our language the way my heart awaited them, where they were written down by me. It said, “Now look at the part in me by which mortal eagles look at the sun and endure it, since among the Lights of which my image consists, these through which my eye gleams surpass the rest. The one shining red in the middle of the orb, as the pupil, is the singer [= David] of the Holy Spirit who transferred the holy Ark. He now knows the worth of his singing, from the payment repaid, |
| 370 | Nempe pari, in quantum fuerit cantare voluntas. Ex his quinque, supercilium condentibus, ille Proximior rostro, mærentem est funere nati [22] Solatus viduam : nunc novit Numina quantum Vana sequi noceat, Christique absistere lege, Hanc dulcem expertus vitam, oppositamque dolentem. Quique exinde oculi sequitur vicinus in arcu, Est hic Ezechias, fixæ qui tempora mortis Produxit, vere detestans crimina vitæ : Nunc divina videt quod non sententia sese |
naturally, equalling the extent to which it was his will to sing it. Of the five making up the eyebrow, the one [Trajan] closer to the beak consoled the widow mourning the death of her son. Now, having experienced this sweet life and the opposed, suffering one, he knows how harmful it is to follow vain [pagan] Deities and to desert the law of Christ. And the neighboring one who follows next in the arch of the eye here is Hezekiah who, sincerely abjuring the sins of his life, delayed the appointed time of his death. He now sees that a divine verdict is not |
| 380 | Immutat, quamvis hodierna in crastina vertant Rite preces fusæ. Sequitur qui proximus illi, Byzantii ad litus, cum legibus, urbe relicta Romulea, is venit mecum, ut sibi summus haberet Pastor in hac sedem : bona mens mala multa creavit. Nunc sibi non nocuisse malum, quod prodiit actis Ipsius inde bonis, discit ; licet omnis ab illis Mundus perniciem patitur. Quem cernis in arcu Declivis cilii, est Guilelmus, terra peremptum Quem deflet, Carolum et Fridericum vivere plorans : [23] |
altered, even if prayers rightly offered change today’s events to tomorrow’s. With me, the one [Constantine] next to him, leaving the city of Romulus, went with his laws to the shore of Byzantium so that the supreme Pastor [= the pope] might thereby have that capital for himself. His good intention produced many evils. He has now learned that the evil which subsequently resulted from his own good acts did not harm him, although the whole world suffers disaster from them. The one you see on the downsloping arc of the eyebrow is William, whose land mourns his death and laments that Charles and Frederick are alive. |
| 390 | Nunc videt, aspectu regis jus fasque colentis Quam gaudet Cælum ; atque hoc ipso lumine pandit. Quis terris credat cilii curvamine in isto Lucibus ex sanctis Ripheum splendescere quintam [24] Dardanidem ? Divina viro nunc gratia multum Inspicitur, plusquam liceat cognoscere mundo, Immensum quamvis nequeat contingere fundum. Qualis in ætherios tractus se tollit alauda, Dulce melos geminans, ac mox contenta quiescit, Tanquam supremæ vocis dulcedine plena ; |
He now sees how Heaven rejoices over the sight of a king practicing justice and righteousness, and he shows it by his very radiance. On earth, who would believe that, in that same round of the brow, the Trojan Ripheus would shine as the fifth of these holy Lights? Divine grace is now deeply plumbed by the man, more than the world is allowed to understand, even though he cannot reach its infinite bottom.” As, redoubling a sweet song, a lark rises into the aerial spaces and then, content, falls silent, as though filled with the sweetness of its final utterance, |
| 400 | Talis visa mihi est placiti omnipotentis imago, [25] Ad cujus libitum sunt omnia, qualia constant. Quamvis ipse meum, ut pellucida vitra colorem, Celarem dubium, non sum tamen ore silere Ulterius passus ; nam me illud pondere toto Impulit effari : proh quæ sunt talia ! dixi ; Magnaque continuo splendescere gaudia vidi. Accenso magis inde oculo, veneranda volueris, Ancipiti me suspensum ne mente teneret, Respondit : Quoniam hæc dico, te credere cerno ; |
so appeared to me the image of Almighty Pleasure, according to whose desire everything is as it is. Although I hid my doubt like transparent glass does a color, I was nonetheless unable to keep my mouth silent any longer, because it forced me with all its weight to blurt it out. I said, “Ah! What are such things?” And immediately I saw great joy flare forth. With the eye thereupon lighting up more, so as not to keep me suspended in uncertain perplexity, it responded, “You are seeking things worthy of veneration. I see that you believe these things because I say them, |
| 410 | Quomodo sed nescis : quare non cognita credis, Non secus ac vir, qui novit rem nomine, verum Naturam ignorat, nisi quis detexerit illi. Vivaque spes et caldus amor violenter Olympum Aggrediuntur et his cedit divina voluntas : Non de more hominum ; sed vincitur illa, quod optat Vincier, et bonitate sua devicta triumphat. Trajanum et Ripheum miraris fulgere Cælo ; At non corporibus hi Numina vana colentes Exierunt, at Christiadæ ; nam credidit alter |
but do not know how they are. Hence you believe in things unknown, like a man who knows a thing by its name, but does not know its nature unless someone explains it to him. Living hope and hot love are attacking Heaven violently, and the Divine Will gives way to them not in the fashion of men; rather, it is overcome because it wishes to be overcome and, overcome, triumphs with its own goodness. You are amazed that Trajan and Ripheus shine in Heaven, yet they did not leave their bodies as worshippers of vain Deities, but as Christians. For the one believed |
| 420 | Passurum, passumque alter jam funera Christum. Ille ex inferno, quo nunquam prava voluntas Exuitur, rursus terrena in membra redivit ; Vivaque spes hoc obtinuit, quæ vota precesque Erexit Cælo, foret ut commota voluntas, Atque potens fieret remeandi in luminis auras. Spiritus hinc carnem, breviter qua vixit, adeptus, Sese illi addixit, poterat qui ferre juvamen ; Tantoque est incensus amore, ut scandere dignus Dehinc fuerit nostras iterato funere sedes. |
Christ would suffer death in the future, the other that he had already suffered it. The former [= Trajan] returned from Hell, from which a wicked will is never freed, back to his earthly members, and living hope [of Pope Gregory], which raised prayers and petitions to Heaven, obtained for him that the [Divine] Will might be moved and he might become able to return to the air of light. Having from this acquired flesh through which he was briefly alive, his Spirit committed itself to Him who could render him aid, and he was inflamed with such love that, at his second death, he was thereupon worthy of ascending to our realm. |
| 430 | Munere, mananti tantum de fonte profundo Ut nemo ad primam visu pervenerit undam, Ripheus justitiæ fuit inflammatus amore, Proptereaque Deus Fidei mysteria nostræ Huic præscire dedit : quapropter credidit illam, Noluit et cultu pædorem ferre profani, Increpitans gentes colerent quod Numina vana : Quæ tibi sunt visæ currūs assistere dextræ, Tres Nymphæ gessere vices Baptismatis illi, Plus mille ante annos quam mos Baptismatis esset. |
By a gift flowing from a source so deep that no one has reached its first upwelling by sight, Ripheus was inflamed with the love of justice, and on account of that, God gave him to foreknow the mysteries of our Faith. He therefore believed in it and did not want to tolerate the stench of the profane by worship, reproaching people for worshipping vain Deities. The three Nymphs who appeared to you standing at the right of the chariot stood in as sponsors at his Baptism more than a thousand years before the custom of Baptism existed. |
| 440 | Oh quantum ex oculis, queis prima haud tota videtur Causa, procul distat, quod de cujusque futura Fixerit Omnipotens vita ! Ne prompseris audax Judicium, mortale genus ; nos quippe, tuentes Ora Dei, nos electos non novimus omnes. Hoc autem ignorare juvat ; nam nostra voluptas Tota est, illud velle, quod est divina voluntas. Sic, brevem ut illa mihi visum clararet imago, Pharmaca tum dedit : ac, veluti citharista canentis Prosequitur vocem tali modulamine chordæ, |
Oh how far distant from the eyes of those to whom the First Cause does not appear in its entirety is what the Almighty determines for each one’s future life! O mortal species, do not audaciously make a judgement; for we, seeing the face of God we do not know all of the elect. However, it is a good thing not to know, for all our pleasure is in wanting what the Divine Will is.” Thus that image then gave me medicine to clarify my shortsightedness; and, as a lutist accompanies the voice of a singer with such music of the strings |
| 450 | Unde sibi sumit magis oblectamina cantŭs ; Sic geminas Luces, aquila dicente, movere Dictis concordes flammas vidisse recordor, Ex geminis oculis ut fit concorditer ictŭs. |
whereby the song acquires more pleasure, so, as the eagle spoke, I remember seeing the two Lights move their flames in unison with its words, so that from the two eyes the pulse happened concordantly. |
| PARADISI XXI {21} ⇑ | ||
| 454 | Omnibus ex aliis rebus mentemque oculosque Abstuleram, atque Beatricis defixus in ore Rursus inhærebam totus. Risu illa carebat ; Ac mihi : si me ridentem conspexeris, inquit, Sic fieres, qualis Semele, quum fulmine tacta In tenues cineres abiit : mea namque venustas |
I took my mind and eyes off of all other things and again kept completely riveted on the face of Beatrice. And she said to me, “If you looked at me as I laughed, you would become like Semele when, struck by lightning, she perished, turned into ashes. For unless my beauty |
| 460 | Quum magis accrescat, quanto magis itur in altum Ætheriæ sedis, nisi temperet illa nĭtorem, Non tibi mortali hunc esset perferre potestas ; Atque ita concĭderes, percussæ ut fulgure frondes. Altius evectos, cepit nos septimus orbis, Qui nunc Nemeæi positus sub pectore signi, Virtute huic mixta terrestrem temperat orbem. Verte memor mentem quo se tua lumina tendunt, Imprime et his formas, quas hoc in sidere cernes. Si quisquam sciret, quam pascerer ore beato, |
since it increases more, the more we ascend to the heights of the ethereal realm tempered its brilliance, you as a mortal would not have the power to endure it, and you would perish just like foliage struck by lightning. The seventh sphere has received us who have been raised higher, the sphere which, now located under the breast of the Nemean constellation [= Leo], with the power mingled in with this, moderates the terrestrial orb. Attentively turn your mind to where your eyes are directed, and imprint on them the forms which you will see in this planet.” If anyone knew how I feasted on her blessed face |
| 470 | Quum sum aliam ad curam versus, cognosceret īdem Quam mihi dulce fuit Dominæ parere jubenti, Utramque expendens æquato examine partem. Crystallo in nĭtido, regis quod nomine fertur, Circumiens mundum, sub quo scelus afuit omne, Scalam lucenti ex auro se attollere sursum Vidi adeo, ut summum nequii deprendere finem ; Perque gradus tot conspexi descendere Luces, Omnia ut hīc Cæli diffundi lumina rerer. Cornices veluti, nativo more, moventur |
when I turned to another concern, that same one would know how sweet it was for me, weighing both sides in equal balance, to obey my Ladyship as she directed. Within the brilliant crystal which, revolving about the earth, is called by the name of the king [Saturn] under whom all crime was absent, I saw a ladder of shining gold rising up so far that I could not detect its top end, and on its rungs I beheld so many Lights descending that I thought all the lights of Heaven were being poured out there. As crows in their own fashion move |
| 480 | Mane simul, refoventque rigentes frigore plumas ; Mox aliæ abscedunt, nec deinde revertere curant ; Sese aliæ unde abiere, ferunt ; aliæque rotantes Circumeunt : sic motus erat Splendoribus illis, Dum certum venere locum. Tunc ille propinquus Qui magis astiterat, clara tam luce refulsit, Ut penitus norim quanto flagraret amore. Ast ea, quæ normam mihi dat tempusque loquendi, Non ullum edebat nutum ; quare ipse, profari Quantumvis valde cupidus, tamen ore silebam. |
together in the morning and warm up their feathers stiff with cold, then some leave and subsequently do not concern themselves with returning, others go back to where they left, and others, wheeling, circle around so was the motion of those Luminaries when they came to a specific place. Then one who stopped closer shone with such bright light that inwardly I knew with how much love it was burning. But she who gives me the guidelines and time for speaking did not give any nod, hence I myself, although very eager to speak, nonetheless kept quiet. |
| 490 | Illa meum placitum in prospectu cuncta videntis Aspiciens : agesis, inquit, jam fare, quod optas. Tunc ego : Non mea te virtus præbere meretur, Quod peto, responsum ; sed deprecor ipse per illam, Quæ me scitari sinit : o mihi, Spiritus alme, Lætitia cooperte tua, da noscere quæso Cur mihi tam prope ades ; cur hōc concentus in orbe Ille silet, qui tam in reliquis Pius insonat infra. Ut visus, tibi mortales sunt scilicet aures, Ille refert : ob quam causam jam diva Beatrix |
She, seeing my decision in the sight of the One Who sees all, said, “Go ahead, say now what you want.” Then I: “My own virtue does not merit your giving a response to that which I seek, but I myself request it through her who allows me to inquire. O kind Spirit, cloaked in your own joy, give me to know, please, why you have come so near, why that harmony which sounds so piously in the other spheres below is silent in this one.” He [i.e., Peter Damian] replied, “Like your vision, you, of course, have mortal ears; for the [same] reason that the saintly Beatrice |
| 500 | Non risit, non hīc canitur. Sum præpete gressu Huc delapsus, ut eloquio, quaque induor, alma Luce tibi plaudam. Nec major me impulit ardor ; Major enim tantusque est sursum, ut luce patescit. Ast Amor æternus, qui nos facit esse ministros Consilii, quo cuncta regit, dat munere fungi Quod velit, ut multis potis es deprendere signis. Novi equidem quod liber amor vos Numinis, inqui, Impellit mandata sequi ; sed noscere valde Est mihi difficile, ob quam ex tot consortibus unus |
does not now laugh, there is no singing here. I have descended here with winged step to applaud you with speech and with the nourishing light with which I am clothed. Nor does a greater love impel me, for it is greater and equal above, as is manifest from the light. But the Eternal Love which makes us servants of the plan through which it rules everything, has us perform the tasks that it wants, as you are able to discern from the many signs.” I said, “I indeed know that God’s free love urges you to follow its precepts, but it is very difficult for me to know for what reason you alone, out of so many |
| 510 | Tu fuerīs causam munus delectus ad istud. Nondum hæc finieram, quum Lux, versatilis instar Illa rotæ, in gyrum se vertit ; et, abditus illic, Spiritus est sic effatus : Immissa per istam, Qua tegor, incumbit mihi lux divina ; meoque Associans visu, tantum me attollit in altum, Ut Deus omnipotens, a quo venit illa, patescat : Hinc ea lætitia, ex qua me splendescere cernis ; Nam, divina mihi quo clarius ora videntur, Clarior est itidem, qui me tegit undique, fulgor. |
peers, were chosen for this task.” I had not yet finished when the Light, like a revolving wheel, spun in rotation; and, hidden there, the Spirit spoke thus: “Divine light, entering into that in which I am immersed, envelops me and, uniting with my own vision, raises me so high that almighty God, from whom it comes, becomes manifest. Hence [comes] that joy with which you see me shining. For the divine brilliance which covers me on all sides, through which my visage appears more luminously, is likewise more luminous. |
| 520 | Nemo et Cælituum, nec qui propiore fruuntur Numinis intuitu, potis est explere rogatum, Crede, tuum : quod scire petis, nimis additur alta Mente Dei, nullique patet penetrabile menti. Quum terras igitur redeas, mortale memento Admonuisse genus, ne ausit se attollere tantum, Talia disquirens, curaque absistat inani : Dat fumum in terris, quæ mens hīc clara refulget : Quomodo id ergo queat, nequeunt quod et astra colentes ? Hæc mihi præcepit : nihil ausus sum hiscere contra ; |
Believe me, none of the Heaven-dwellers, nor those who enjoy a closer vision of God, can fulfill your question. What you seek to know is placed too far in the deep mind of God, and lies penetrable to no mind. When, therefore, you return to earth, remember to admonish the mortal race not to dare to raise itself so high, inquiring into such things, and to abandon vacuous concerns. The mind that shines bright here produces smoke on earth. So how can it do what star-dwellers cannot?” These things he taught me. I did not dare to open my mouth to the contrary at all, |
| 530 | Atque humilis tantum summissa voce rogavi, Quis foret. Italiæ bina inter litora, dixit, Haud multum tua ab urbe procul, tam vertice surgunt Montes, ut valde tonitru demurmaret infra. Dorsum illic immane tumet, cui Catria nomen ; Quod subter, devota deo, domus est in eremo. (Tertio sic fari incepit dixitque secutus) Hic Domino sic me devinxi, ut frigora et æstus Transigerem, comedens escam dumtaxat olivo Inspersam leviter, contentus volvere mente |
and with a lowered voice humbly asked who he was. He said, “Between the two coasts of Italy, not very far from your city, mountains with their peaks rise so high that it rumbles with thunder far below. An immense ridge named Catria swells up there, beneath which is a building devoted to God, in the wilderness.” Thus he began a third time and, continuing, said: “There I bound myself to the Lord in such a way that I went through cold and heat, eating only food lightly sprinkled with olive-oil, content to meditate mentally |
| 540 | Cælestes curas, animique quiete beari. Fertilis his Cælis ædes tunc illa vigebat ; Nunc autem est vacua : at confestim proinde patebit. [26] Hic Petrus ipse fui Damianus nomine ; et idem Petrus peccator divinæ Matris in æde [27] Litus ad Hadriacum. Non multum vita superstes Jam mortalis erat, rubri quum deinde galeri, Qui semper fit deterior, sum adductus honori. Jam Petrus et Paulus macri venere, pedesque Tegminibus nudi, huc illuc alimenta petentes : |
on heavenly concerns and to be blessed with quiet of spirit. In those days that building throve fertile for these Heavens, but now is empty; but in consequence it will soon be exposed. I myself was called Peter Damian there, and the same Peter, “the Sinner,” in the house of the Holy Mother on the Adriatic shore. Not much of mortal life was left when I was called to the honor of the red skull-cap [= cardinalship], which is constantly becoming worse. Then [Saints] Peter and Paul came, lean and feet bare of coverings, seeking their food hither and thither. |
| 550 | Nunc hinc atque hinc Pastores fulcimina quærunt, Qui ducant, qui pone levent ; (adeo usque gravantur !) Cornipedesque tegunt equitantes vestibus amplis, Bestia uti duplex videantur veste sub una. Oh ingens, quæ tanta potes, patientia, ferre ! Talibus his dictis multas descendere Luces Per scalam vidi, ac festivos edere gyros, Ut gyrum ad quemvis fierent magis usque decōræ. Dehinc fanti circum astiterunt, tantoque fragore Extulerunt vocem, ut nihil hīc æquaverit unquam ; |
Nowadays the Shepherds require props on this and that side, those who lead, those who hoist from behind (they always weigh so much!). The riders cover their hooved mounts with large garments, so that two beasts appear under a single vestment. O enormous patience, that can endure so much!” At these words I saw many Lights descend the ladder and turn in festive circles, in such a way that on every orbit they became constantly more beautiful. They then came and stood around the speaker and raised their voices with such an uproar that nothing has ever equalled it here, |
| 560 | Nec verba audivi : tam me sonus impulit ingens ! | but I did not understand the words, the enormous sound struck me so! |
| PARADISI XXII {22} ⇑ | ||
| 561 | Attonitus valde, Comiti sum versus, ut infans Se trepidum vertit, sibi quo fiducia major. Illaque, uti mater, quæ protinus anxia nato Succurrit, dictisque regens solatur anhelum : Nescis te esse in Cælis ? nescis omnia, dixit, Hic sancta ? et cuncta ex sancto procedere amore ? Quomodo te visus mutasset, quomodo cantus, Jam nunc scire potes, quum adeo sis murmure motus. In quo si voces exceperis aure precantes, |
Profoundly thunderstruck, I turned to my Companion like an infant turns fearfully where there is more trust for itself. And she, like a mother who, anxious, immediately runs to help her breathless child and, guiding him with her words, consoles him, she said, “Do you not know you are in Heaven? Do you not know everything here is holy? And everything proceeds out of holy love? You are now able to know how your vision, how that song, would have changed you, since you were so moved by the uproar. If therein you had perceived the praying voices by ear, |
| 570 | Nota tibi vindicta foret, quam deinde videbis, Ante diem quam summum obeas. Non cælicus ensis Amputat aut tarde aut propere, nisi mente manentis [28] Hunc pavide aut cupide. Ast alio jam lumina verte ; Quippe Animas multas, si verteris, inde videbis. Non secus ac jussus feci, centumque micantes Conspexi globulos, qui se per mutua junctis Ornabant radiis. Hærebam fixus, ut ille Qui pavidus tacito condit sub pectore vota, Pandere non ausus, nimium nam poscere credit. |
the vengeance which you will later see would have been known to you before your last day. Heaven’s sword slices neither late nor hastily, except in the mind of the one waiting for it either with fear or desire. But now turn your eyes elsewhere: indeed, if you turn them, you will see many Souls.” I did as commanded and saw a hundred sparkling little balls that beautified themselves through their mutually interconnected rays. I was rooted to the spot, fixed, like someone who in fear silently hides his desires within his breast, not daring to reveal them, because he believes he would demand too much. |
| 580 | Tunc, qui præ reliquis erat et magis amplus et ardens, Accessit, cupidusque meis occurrere votis : Si tibi nota foret, dixit, studiosa voluntas Quæ nos incendit, jam nunc deprompseris ultro Quæ sub corde premis. Sed, ne mora forte retardet Tangere, quo pergis, finem, his, quæ poscere parcis, Responsum reddam. Montis, cui mœnia dorso Cassinum tollit, culmen decepta petebat Pravaque gens morum. Huc primus venerabile nomen Illius ipse tuli, terræ qui vexit in oras |
Then the one that was larger and more incandescent than the rest came up and, wanting to satisfy my desires, said, “If the eager desire that ignites us were known to you, you would have of your own accord now made evident what you suppress beneath your heart. But, lest perhaps a delay should retard attaining the goal you are pursuing, I will give an answer to the things that you refrain from asking. A deceived and morally depraved people used to trek to the peak of the mountain that on a ridge raises up the walls [known as] Cassino. I myself [= St. Benedict], as the first one, bore to that place the venerable name of Him who carried to the shores of earth |
| 590 | Verum, quod mentes adeo in sublimia tollit ; Atque hinc tanta meis arrisit gratia cœptis, Impio ut a cultu, mundum qui invaserat omnem, Protinus evalui populos revocare propinquos. Hi reliqui et globuli, mortales ante fuerunt Contemplatores, illoque ardore calentes, Unde venit sanctis pomisque ac floribus ortus. Hic est Macarius, nec non Romualdus, et illa Fratrum lecta cohors, sua quæ vestigia claustris Fixit, propositique tenax, immotaque corde. |
the truth which raises our minds to such heights, and from there such grace smiled upon my endeavors that I was immediately able to call the neighboring peoples away from their impious worship which had invaded the whole world. And the rest of these little spheres were mortal contemplatives before and warmed by that heat whence comes the source of holy fruits and flowers. Here is Macarius, and also Romuald; and that elect group of brothers kept its feet in the cloisters, firm in their purpose and steadfast of heart.” |
| 600 | Hæc ait : atque ego contra : Ex quo mihi faris amore Ac bono ab aspectu, quem cerno in Lucibus istis, Usque adeo laxata mihi est fiducia, quantum Flos a Sole rosæ, totum quum pandit ad auras Purpureum calathum. Quare, si gratia possit Tanta venire mihi, quæso, pater optime, luce Qua loqueris pulsa, propriam da cernere formam. Hoc tibi tunc dabitur, mihi rettulit ille vicissim, Supremum, frater, quando perveneris orbem, Inveniunt ubi vota suam cujusque quietem. |
So he spoke. And I in return: From the love with which you are speaking to me, and from the good appearance which I see in these Lights, my confidence has been expanded as much as the flower of a rose by the Sun when it opens its whole red basket to the air. Wherefore, if such grace could come to me, please, dearest Father, having shed the light with which you are speaking, let me see your own form.” He replied to me in return, “That will be given to you, brother, when you arrive at the final sphere [= the Empyrean] where the desires of everyone find their rest. |
| 610 | Integra, matura, ac perfecta ibi quæque cupido est. Semper ubi fuerat, pars est hōc omnis in uno ; Nullo est namque loco, nullique innititur axi. Nostra hanc in sedem sese scala ardua tollit, Proptereaque nequis illius cernere finem. Usque huc Angelicis per somnum vidit Jacob Spiritibus plenam. Sed nunc ascendere celsos Nemo gradus curat : sunt nunc dispendia chartæ, Quæ vitæ præcepta dedi ; spelæaque facta Sunt nunc cœnobia, et vitiati quisque cucullus |
Every desire there is intact, mature and complete. Within that single one every part is where it has always been, for it is in no place and depends on no axis. Our steep ladder rises into that realm and therefore you cannot see its end. Jacob saw it full of Angelic spirits up to that point. But now no one cares to ascend its high rungs; now the precepts for living I gave are a waste of paper; and the cloisters have now become caves, and every cowl is a sack |
| 620 | Furfuris est saccus. Nullum Deus odit iniquum Tam fenus, quam qui monachorum pectora fructus Insanire facit. Quodcunque Ecclesia parcit, Cedere eis debet, Christi qui nomine poscunt, Sanguine nec junctis, nec deterioribus ullis. Est caro blanda nimis ; bona nec primordia terris Sufficiunt, veluti quercūs non sufficit ortus Edendam ad glandem. Cœpit sine pondere Petrus Argenti atque auri ; atque ego per jejunia tantum Perque preces posui, atque humilis Franciscus asylum. |
of spoiled bran. God hates no unjust usury so much as the fruit which makes monks’ hearts go insane. Whatever the Church spares it should give to those who ask in Christ’s name, and not to those related by blood nor to anyone worse. The flesh is too temptable; and good beginnings are insufficient, as the sprouting of an oak tree is insufficient for the eating of acorns. [St.] Peter began without the weight of silver and gold, and I started only through fasting and through prayers, and the humble Francis through his [place of] asylum. |
| 630 | Si tu principium spectes, et quo iverit inde, Ex albo aspicies nigrum : at mirabile versus Jordanis minus est retro, fugitivaque ponti Unda, volente Deo, quam nunc hic ferre medelam. Talia sic fatus, sociis se adjunxit, et unā, Turbinis assimilis, confestim ascendit in altum. Innuit, atque uno mulier dulcissima nutu Per scalam extemplo post illos impulit ire : Tam meă virtute illius natură revicta est ! Non hic perque imas valles montesque per altos |
If you look at the beginning and where it went from there, you will see it went from white to black. But the Jordan being turned back, and the waves of the [Red] Sea fleeing under the will of God, would be less miraculous than to remedy things here now.” Having thus said these things, he joined his companions and together, like a whirlwind, they immediately ascended upwards. The supremely sweet woman made a sign and with a single nod drove me instantly to go up the ladder after them my nature was so overecome by her power! Here [below] there is no travel as swift both through deep valleys and high mountains |
| 640 | Est adeo rapidus cursus, mihi quantus eunti Tum fuit. Astriferas sic rursum ascendere sedes Evaleam, lector, pro quo mea crimina ploro, Pectoraque illacrimans pulso : non tempore tanto Admorīs digitum, tactoque retraxerīs igne, Quo tunc Ledæum vidi ac sum ingressus in astrum. Illustres ignes, magna virtute potentes, A quibus ingenium totum mihi, quodlibet hoc est, Esse reor : vobiscum erat is, qui temperat omnes Mortales vitas, quum Tuscas sum ortus in auras ; |
as it was for me traveling then. May I be able to ascend again thus to the star-spangled realms, o reader, for which I lament my crimes and, weeping, strike my breast. You would not have put your finger into, and drawn it out from, the fire touched, in such time as I saw and entered the Ledæan constellation [= Gemini]. O luminous fires, powerful with great might, from whom I believe comes all my talent, whatever it is: he who rules all mortal lives was with you when I emerged into the Etruscan air, |
| 650 | Quumque mihi posthac ascendere contigit orbem, Qui vos circumagit, regio mihi dedita vestra est. Vos supplex oro ; toto vos pectore posco Virtutem tantam, qua summum attingere punctum Evaleam tandem, quod me nunc attrahit ultro. Numinis aspectus, dixit mihi Diva, propinquat ; Est opus ergo tibi visus sit clarus et acer. Ante ideo, quam ultra venias, spatia ampla viarum Mensa vide, et quotus est tua sub vestigia mundus ; Ut tua, lætitia exsultans, mens se offerat ultro |
and when it later chanced that I should ascend the sphere which makes you orbit, your region was given to me. I humbly beseech you, I ask you with all my heart for that strength by which I may finally be able to attain the highest point which of its own accord now draws me. The saintly woman said to me, “The vision of the Divine is approaching. Hence it is necessary for you that your vision be clear and sharp. So before you come any farther, look at the great spaces of travel traversed and how many worlds are beneath your feet, so that, exulting joyfully, your mind may then on its own present itself |
| 660 | Deinde triumphanti, venienti ex æthere, turbæ. Tunc ego sum septem, demissa fronte, remensus Transgressos orbes ; terramque ita corpore parvam Aspiciens risi : atque ideo laudabile duco Consilium quod eam temnit, rectique vocari Posse probum, qui alias volvit sub pectore curas. Est mihi visa, carens maculis, Latonia Virgo, Corpore quas fieri denso raroque putavi. Sustinui ardentem nati ex Hyperione vultum, Ac prope Mercurium ac Venerem se volvere vidi. |
to the triumphant throng coming from the heavens.” Bending my forehead down, I then reviewed the seven traversed spheres and laughed, seeing the earth so small in body; and therefore I regard as laudable the view that spurns it, and as correct that those who meditate on other concerns in their hearts can be called righteous. The Latonian Virgin [= Diana = the moon] appeared to me without the blotches which I had thought come about from thick and thin bodies. I endured the burning face of Hyperion’s son [= the sun], and saw Mercury and Venus orbiting nearby. |
| 670 | Deinde mihi natum patremque apparuit inter [29] Temperies Jovis ; et varios quæ causa recursūs Efficiat, novi. Septem hæc errantia signa Vidi equidem, qua sese mole, graduque citato, Circumagunt, quantoque simul discrimine distant. Denique, Ledæo rapimur dum sidere circum, Areola hæc, tanto dat nos quæ insurgere fastu, Tota mihi est visa, ad pelagi usque ex collibus undas ; Deinde oculos pulchris converti rursus ocellis. |
Then the temperateness of Jupiter appeared to me between his father and son, and I learned what causes their various recurrences. Indeed, I saw these seven wanderers [= planets], with what mass and swift pace they orbited, and at the same time how far apart they are in separation. Finally, while we were sped around by the Ledæan constellation, all that little open space that makes us increase in such arrogance appeared to me from its hills to the waves of its ocean, following which I again turned my eyes to her beautiful eyes. |
| PARADISI XXIII {23} ⇑ | ||
| 679 | Inter uti frondes, sera sub nocte, volucris | As a bird among the foliage, late at night, |
| 680 | Sistit apud nidum, partemque tuetur Eoam, Auroram intente exspectans, ut mane revisat Pullos, ac (dulcis labor) illis compăret escam ; Haud aliter Cælo hærebat defixa Beatrix, Versa plăgæ, sub qua Sol segnius ire videtur. Ore renidentem cernens atque æthere summo Intentam, velut ille fui, quem magna cupido Incitat, ac spes interea dat blanda quiesse. Non mora sed longa hinc fuit inter tempus utrumque ; Inter et exspectandum scilicet atque videndum |
stands at her nest, watching the eastern direction, intently awaiting the dawn, so that she can return to her chicks and (a sweet labor) provide them with food, so Beatrice stood rooted to the spot, transfixed, turned toward the region under which the Sun seems to go more slowly [at noon]. Looking at her, radiant of face and absorbed in the highest heaven, I was as one whom great desire drives and soothing hope meanwhile makes calm. But from then there was not a long delay between the two times that is, between waiting and, after that, seeing, |
| 690 | Præterea, magis atque magis clarescere Cælum. Ac dixit tum Diva mihi : Christi ecce triumphi Agmina, et omne bonum, quod ab his est orbibus ortum. Qualis erat ! toto visa est ardescere vultu, Atque adeo ex plenis jucundam ostendere ocellis Lætitiam, ut nullis ausim describere verbis. Qualis per liquidam noctem, pleno ore relucens, Æternas inter Nymphas Latonia ridet, Quæ variis late depingunt æthera signis ; Sic super innumeras Luces effulgere Solem |
the Sky grow brighter and brighter. And then the Saintly woman said to me, “Behold the columns of the triumph of Christ, and all the good that has arisen from these spheres.” How she was! She seemed alight in her whole face, and to show her happy joy from her full eyes so much that I would not dare to describe her with any words. As on a clear night Latonia [the moon], shining with a full face, laughs among the eternal Nymphs who paint the heavens with various constellations, so I then saw a Sun shine over the innumerable Lights |
| 700 | Tum vidi, has proprio lustrantem lumine cunctas, Non secus ac noster splendorem sufficit astris ; Inque meos oculos Substantia clara meabat, Lumine translucens medio, ut perferre nequirent. O mea dux dulcis, mea dux dilecta, Beatrix ! Illa mihi actutum : quæ te nunc opprimit, inquit, Est virtus, a qua nemo defenditur ullus : Hīc est summa potestas, et sapientia summa, Quæ, inter terram Cælique impenetrabile regnum, Pandit iter, cujus fuit olim longa cupido. |
illuminating all of these with its own light, just as ours provides the luminosity for the stars, and the brilliant Substance [= Christ], shining through the middle of the light, penetrated into my eyes so that they could not bear it. O my sweet leader, my beloved leader, Beatrice! She immediately said to me, “What overcomes you now is a power against which no one at all has a defense. Here is the supreme power and supreme wisdom which opened the path, for which there was once a long desire, between earth and the impenetrable kingdom of Heaven.” |
| 710 | Ignis ut interdum, fuerit quum taliter auctus Amplius includi ut nequeat, vi nubilă rumpit, Telluremque petit, quamvis natura repugnet ; Sic mea deliciis tunc mens cælestibus aucta, Exiit ex sese, nescitque quid ipsa peregit. Pande oculos, et qualis ego sum facta videto, Diva mihi dixit : tibi sunt jam talia visa, Ut risus perferre meos et gaudia possis. Talis eram, qualis qui lapsă insomniă quærit Evigilans revocare animo ; frustraque laborat, |
As sometimes when fire, so magnified that it can no longer be contained, bursts the clouds by force and makes for the earth, even though nature opposes it, so my mind, expanded then by celestial delights, issued out of itself and does not know what it itself did. The saintly lady said to me, “Open your eyes and see what I have become; such things have now appeared to you that you are able to bear my laughter and joy.” I was like a man who, waking, seeks to recall dissipated dream-visions to mind and tries in vain, |
| 720 | Oblitum nītens sub mente revolvere visum, Talia quum verba audivi, sic dulcia cordi, Ut nunquam ex libro, qui acteacta recenset, abibunt. Si mihi, Castaliæ quot nutrivere sorores, Auxilio astarent linguæ, vix reddere paulum Carmine visusque ac vultus miracula possent : Divinum proinde aggressus describere regnum, Multa opus est mihi transmittam, velut ille viator, Abruptum qui invenit iter. Sed, pendĕre quisquis Sumpserit, inceptum quanti sit ponderis istud, |
struggling to bring the forgotten vision to mind, when I heard such words, so sweet to the heart, that they will never leave the book which records past deeds. If whatever number of Castalian sisters [= the muses] have given suck were standing by as an aid to my speech, with their song they could hardly render to a small extent the miracles of both her sight and her countenance. Hence in undertaking to describe the divine kingdom, I have to pass over many things, like a traveler who finds his route broken off. But whoever sets about thinking how weighty that enterprise is, |
| 730 | Quantaque debilitas umeris mortalibus, ille Haud equidem, si forte videt trepidare, reprendet : Non est hoc pelagus, puppis quod parvula tranet, Non opus hoc nautæ, sibimet qui parcere curet. Cur mea te facies, dixit tum diva Beatrix, Tam sibi devincit ? cur non spectare virectum Intendis pulchrum, Christi sub lumine florens ? Hic rosa, divinum unde sibi mortalia membra Induxit Verbum ; sunt hic et lilia, quorum Suavis odor recto pertraxit tramite gentes. |
and what weakness is in mortal shoulders, he will certainly not cast blame if perhaps he sees them tremble. This is not a sea that a small boat can sail; there is no need for a sailor who spares himself. The saintly Beatrice then said, “Why does my face so bind you to itself? Why do you not aim at observing the beautiful greensward flowering beneath the light of Christ? There is the rose from which the divine Word took mortal members unto Himself; there also are the lilies whose sweet odor drew the gentiles on the right path.” |
| 740 | Dixit ; et ipse, suis monitis pārēre paratus Semper, rursum oculos radiis contendere misi. Luce velut Solis, scissa de nube meantis, Floriferum pratum, quondam speculatus ab umbra, Inspersum aspexi ; sic tunc ex lumine multas Desuper injecto turmas effulgere vidi ; Quin mihi principium fas cernere luminis esset. O quæ hos illustras, virtus bis terque benigna, Te sursum abduxti, ut radios mihi ferre minores Posse dares, oculis adhibens moderamina lucis ! |
Thus she said. And I, always ready to obey her admonitions, again sent my eyes to contend with the lightrays. As once, looking from the shade, I saw a sprinkled, flower-filled meadow by the light of the Sun traveling down from torn clouds, so I then saw many groups glisten by light cast on them from above, without it being possible for me to see the source of the light. O Power twice and thrice kind, who illuminatest these beings, Thou hast drawn Thyself higher up so that Thou couldst give me the ability to bear Thy lesser rays, administering moderation of the light for my eyes! |
| 750 | Illius floris, quem mane ac vespere supplex Rite voco, auditum nomen, me protinus egit Toto animo illius majorem cernere lucem. Quumque mihi est visa, atque meis pulcherrima utrisque, Quantaque qualisque est, oculis ea stella refulsit, Quæ vincit superis, ut terræ vicit in oris, Fulgida lux Cælo est lapsa, instar flexa coronæ, Præcinxitque illam, ac se circumfusa rotavit. Harmoniæ quodcunque genus magis allicit aures, Ac magis hic animum mulcet, disrupta fuisset |
Hearing the name [= Mary] of that flower which I humbly call on in prayer morning and evening, it immediately impelled me to gaze on its greater light with my whole mind. And when that most beautiful star which conquers in the celestial realms as in those of earth appeared to me and, of the magnitude and quality such as it is, shone in both my eyes, a brilliant light curved like a wreath descended from Heaven, encircled her and, surrounding her, spun around. Whatever kind of harmony more entices the ears and more soothes the soul here, would be as a torn |
| 760 | Ut nubes tonitru, citharæ si æquaveris illi, Quæ gemmam cinxit, Cælum unde nĭtentius ardet. Angelicus sum, dixit, amor, qui maxima pando Gaudia circumiens, nobis quæ virgine ab alvo Proveniunt, ubi nostra fuit concepta cupido ; Atque ita circumeam, donec, natum ipsa sequēris ; Ac, Regina, tuo magis ore effulgere summum Efficies orbem. Sic lux ait illa rotando ; Atque aliæ Mariam sonuerunt uniter omnes. Quod reliquos cunctos Cælum complectitur orbes, |
cloud with its thunder if you compared it to that lyre which girdled the jewel from which the Heavens burn more brightly. “I am Angelic love who, circling, reveals the supreme joys which issue to us from the virgin womb where our desire was conceived, and I will circle thus until you yourself follow your Son, and, o Queen, with your countenance make the highest sphere gleam more.” Thus spoke that light in its revolving. And all the others together sounded out “Mary.” The Heaven that encompasses the other spheres, |
| 770 | Numinis afflatu magis ac virtute vigescens, Tam nobis distabat adhuc, ne hoc cernere possem ; Atque ideo nequiere sequi mea lumina flammam Præcinctam serto ; quæ sese erexit in altum, Natum pone sequens. Qualis, quum suxerit uber, Vertitur ad matrem puer, et lactentia tendit Bracchiola, exstantem vultu testatus amorem ; Vertice sic quæque erecto se ex Lucibus illis Extulit, ac Mariam quo prosequerentur amore Est mihi compertum. Mox illic quæque remansit, |
most enlivened with the breath and power of the Divine, was still so distant from us that I could not see it, and so my eyes could not follow the flame encircled by that wreath. And as a baby boy, after having sucked the breast, turns to his mother and stretches out his little suckling arms, testifying with his face to his manifesting love, so each one of those Lights raised itself with its upright peak, and it was made clear to me with what love they were following Mary. Next, each one remained there, |
| 780 | Sic Cæli Regina canens, ut dia voluptas Me totum imbuerit, nec pectore cesserit unquam. Quanta his divitibus messis servatur in arcis, Quæ fuerunt terris gnavæ sevisse bubulcæ ! Hic vivit, fruiturque bonis quæ quisque paravit Exul et illacrimans, auro Babylone relicto ; Hic clarum, sub Prole Dei Mariæque, triumphum Cum vetere atque novo Sanctorum examine, ducit Ille, cui est Cæli custodia credita portæ. |
singing the “Regina Cæli” [“Queen of Heaven”] so that the divine ecstasy suffused all of me and has never left my heart. O what a harvest is stored in those rich coffers which on earth were ox-plowmen industrious in having done sowing! Here each one lives and enjoys the good things which, abandoning the gold, and weeping, he gained in Babylon as an exile; here, under the child of God and Mary, the man [= Peter] to whom the guardianship of the gates of Heaven were entrusted leads the glorious triumphal procession with the old and new multitudes of the Saints. |
| PARADISI XXIV {24} ⇑ | ||
| 789 | O animæ electæ, cenæ quæ accumbitis Agni, | “O elect souls who attend the banquet of the Lamb, |
| 790 | Tali vescentes dape, quæ vos jugiter explet, Si prius hĭc mortis quam dedant tempora, vestris Quod cadit ex mensis, divino munere, paulum Prælibat, mentes immenso intendite quæso Illius ardori, atque sitim irrorate parumper : Vos semper fontem hauritis, quo tendere totis Hĭc inhiat votis. Sic est effata Beatrix ; Assimilesque rotis, lætæ se vertere circum Cœpere illæ Animæ, flammantes more cometæ. Machinulæ veluti, quæ tempora digerit, orbes |
partaking of such food as permanently fulfills you, if this man, before the times of his death deliver him, by divine gift tastes a little of what falls from your tables, direct your minds to his immense ardor, please, and bedew his thirst a little; you always drink from the fountain toward which this man is yearning with all his desires.” Thus spoke Beatrice and, like wheels, those joyful Souls began to spin around, flaming like comets. As the gears of a little mechanism which calibrates the time |
| 800 | Sese ita convolvunt, ut, siquis viderit illos, Alter vix agitur, velociter evolat alter ; Sic choreas Animæ ducebant dispare motu ; Motuque ex ipso, aut citior vel tardior esset, Esse his lætitiæ majusque minusque patebat. Tum chorea ex una, reliquis quæ pulchrior ibat, Ignis quidam exit, quo nullus clarior usquam ; Atque, Beatricem triplici vertigine lūstrans, Talem edit cantum, mihi mens quem reddere nescit : Propterea sileam, nimium nam vividus istis [30] |
turn such that, if one watches them, one hardly moves, another rushes swiftly, so the Souls engaged in dances with different motions; and from the motion itself, whether it was faster or slower, it was clear that their joy was both greater and less. Then from one round dance which went more beautifully than the rest a certain fire came out, than which none anywhere was more brilliant and, going around Beatrice in a triple whirl, sang such a song that my mind cannot reproduce it; hence I remain silent, for the coloring, |
| 810 | Sunt sinibus color, humana et mens atque loquela. Deinde Beatrici, sistens, sic ille profatus Est ignis : Dilecta soror, quæ talia fundis Vota precesque pias, ut amico evellar ab orbe, Ecce assum, ardentique tuo sum promptus amori. O lux clara viri, illa refert, cui tradidit olim Noster Erus claves, quas hac de sede beata Is tulit in terras, prout est tibi corde voluntas, Hunc scitare, oro, ac Fidei argumenta require, Qua super æquŏreas ivisti interritus undas ; |
the human mind and speech are too vivid for those folds. Then the fire, stopping, spoke thus to Beatrice, “Beloved sister, who pours forth such pleas and pious prayers that I am plucked out of my friendly circle, behold, I am here and at the service of your burning love.” She replied, “O brilliant light of the man to whom our Lord once delivered the keys which he took to earth from this blessed realm, in accordance with your heart’s desire, I beg of you, interrogate this man and ask of him the doctrines of the Faith by which you went unafraid over the sea’s waves, |
| 820 | Non te equidem latet an bene credat speret ametque, Quum visum intendas, quo sunt cuncta ordine picta ; At, quoniam regno cives asciverit isti Vera Fides, est proinde bonum ut de hac ille loquatur Ejusdem in laudes. Veluti sese instruit atque Discipulus silet, ante suus quam lemma magister Proponat, non ut solvat, verum approbet illud ; Sic ego me armabam, responsum rite daturus. Dic, bone Christiada, est ille orsus, et intima pande : Quid sit fare Fides. Dicenti talia frontem |
Certainly, whether he believes, hopes and loves well is not hidden from you, since you behold the vision where everything is depicted in order. But because the true Faith has summoned the citizens to this realm, it is accordingly good that he speak of that Faith in praise of it.” Just as a student equips himself and is silent before his teacher proposes a problem not to give the solution for it but to substantiate it , so I armed myself to give an answer properly. He began, “Speak, good Christian, and explain your innermost thoughts: tell me what Faith is.” I raised my brow to the speaker |
| 830 | Extuli, et inde meæ converti lumina Divæ : Illaque continuo mihi nutu indulsit, ut undam Interno ex fonte elicerem. Sum proinde locutus : Gratia, quæ me dat primo mea sensa Magistro Pandere, concinnis eadem det promere verbis ; Vera Fides, dixi inde sequens, ut tradidit olim Ille tuus frater, qui tecum tramite recto Ire dedit Romanam urbem, substantia rerum Est quæ sperantur, rerumque est argumentum Quæ cerni nequeunt : talem certe arbitror esse. |
of such words and then turned my eyes to my saintly Lady. With a nod she immediately allowed me to summon the waters from my inner fountain. Accordingly, I said, “May the grace which makes me reveal my feelings to my first Teacher allow me to utter the same things with articulate verbiage.” Following this, I then said, “True Faith, as once upon a time your famous brother who caused the Roman city to travel on the right path handed down, is the substance of things which are hoped for, and is the evidence of things which cannot be seen. This I believe to be with certainty.” |
| 840 | Rite putas, rettulit, si cur “substantia” dicta est Atque “argumentum” noscas. Quæ sedibus istis, Dixi ego respondens, manifesta in luce videntur, Sunt adeo in terris oculis abscondita, ut ună Hisce det esse Fides ; cujus fulcimine nixa Erigitur Spes ; atque ideo substantia fertur : Ex qua deinde Fide, absque alia ratione, struendum [31] Est ratiocinium : ex quo dicitur “argumentum”. Tunc ille est fatus : quicquid doctrina revelat In terris, tam clare hominum si quisque teneret, |
“You think correctly,” he replied, “if you know why ‘substance’ was said and ‘evidence.’” Responding, I said, “The things that appear manifest to these realms are so hidden to the eyes on earth, that for those eyes only Faith allows them to exist; based on its support, Hope is built, and therefore is called ‘substance.’ From this Faith, then, without any other reason, inference is built, whence it is called ‘evidence.’” Then he said, “If all men grasped so clearly whatever teaching has revealed on earth, |
| 850 | Artibus haud esset locus ingeniisque sophistæ. Sic Amor ille inquit, farique est inde secutus : Ponderis atque notæ, veluti decet esse, numisma Hoc satis est visum ; vere hoc tua continet arca ? Certe equidem, rettuli, tam clarum tamque rotundum, Ut typo in illius mihi nil dubitare supersit. Hæc tam gemma nĭtens, cui virtus nītitur omnis, is rursum, unde tibi venit ? Qui plurimus imber Flaminis æterni divina volumina large Irrigat, hanc, dixi, mihi tam monstravit aperte, |
There would be no room for the skills and talents of the sophist.” Thus spoke that Love, and followed up from there by saying, “The coin of this weight and imprint has been sufficiently certified, as it should be, but does your money-box contain it?” I replied, “I certainly do indeed, so bright and so round that nothing in its stamp remains remains to doubt.” He in return: “This jewel, so shining, on which all virtue depends whence did it come to you?” I said, “The Eternal Spirit’s most plentiful rain that lavishly waters the holy volumes showed it to me so manifestly, |
| 860 | Ut comperta minus det signa geometra nosse. Quomodo sed noscis, rettulit, quæ tradita sanctis Sunt tabulis, divino afflatu scripta fuisse ? Sunt rerum eventus testes, quibus arte creandis Omnino Natura caret. Tunc ille vicissim : Hos tamen eventus, qui debent ante probari, Quisnam te certum facit indubiumque, fuisse ? Nemo tibi hoc jurat. Christi si jura secutus Est sine prodigiis mundus, devictaque cessit Cæca superstitio, longe super omnia majus, |
that a geometer would allow knowing his proven shapes less.” He replied, “But how do you know that the things that were committed to the holy tables were written through divine inspiration?” “The testifiers are the matter’s outcomes, which Nature completely lacks the technique for producing.” Then he in return: “Nonetheless, who then makes you sure and undoubting that these outcomes, which must be proven antecedently, happened? No one swears it to you.” I said, “If without miracles the world followed the laws of Christ and blind superstition was overcome, that is |
| 870 | Dixi, est prodigium. Nam tu, jejunus, et omni Indigus auxilio, es fidens ingressus in agrum, Felicem ut sereres plantam, quæ uberrima vitis Jam fuit ; at nunc dumum degeneravit in asprum. Hæc ubi sum fatus, cunctos vox una per orbes Insonuit : “Sint cuncta Deo per sæcula laudes”. Tum Vir jam me scitatus, sic singula quærens, Ut foret extremas jam nunc accedere frondes, Fari iterum cœpit : Dominatrix Gratia mentis Hactenus ora tibi pandit, quo rite decebat ; |
a miracle far greater than all others. For you, fasting and lacking any help, entered into the field in faith to sow a prosperous plant which was once a rich vine, but now has degenerated into a prickly thorn bush.” When I had said this, a single voice resounded throughout all the spheres: “May there be praise to God through all the ages.” Then the Man, having now interrogated me asking individual items in such a way that things were now already approaching the topmost leaves , began again to speak: “Up to now Mistress Grace has been opening the mouth of your mind as is duly appropriate, |
| 880 | Quare ego cuncta probo : sed nunc te promere oportet, Et quæ credis, et unde vēnit quod talia credas. Spiritus alme, Pater, qui claro in lumine cernis, Dixi ego, quod sic credideras, ut quamlibet ævo Grandior, ad tumulum juvenem superaris eundo, Tu formam Fidei, causamque hujusce requiris ; Atque ego sic tibi nunc refero : Mihi creditus unus Æternusque Deus, Cælos qui immobilis omnes Ipse movet, desiderio atque ipsius amore. Nec Metaphysicæ, Physicæque scientia tantum |
so that I approve it all. But now it is necessary for you to bring forth both what you believe and whence it came that you believe such things.” I said, “Kind spirit, Father, who sees in clear light what you had so believed that, stronger than any age, you overcame a youth in going to the tomb, you are asking the form of my Faith and its cause, and I now reply to you thus: it is my belief that there is one and eternal God who, immovable Himself, moves all the Heavens by means of His desire and love. Nor did the science of Metaphysics and Physics alone |
| 890 | Hoc mihi perspicue ostendit ; sed lumine ab ipso Hinc veniente, patet ; sanctorum nempe vetustis Ex Vatum tabulis, et quas scripsistis, ut ardens Spiritus ætheriis in vos est lapsus ab oris. Creditur et persona triplex, substantiaque in illis Una, adeo ut sumus et pariter sum dicere possit. Hæc Evangelium mihi dat persæpe videnda. Hoc est principium, credendi est ista favilla, Quæ fit deinde meo vivax in pectore flamma, Effunditque jubar, clarum velut æthere sidus. |
show this clearly to me, but it is obvious from the light itself coming from here that is, from the ancient tables of the holy prophets, and those that you [evangelists and apostles] wrote , how the burning Spirit descended on you from the ethereal realms. My belief is in three persons and a single substance in them, so that it may say we are and likewise I am. The Gospel has quite often made me see these things. That is the start; it is that spark of belief that in my breast then becomes a living flame and pours out its radiance like a star bright with heavenliness.” |
| 900 | Qualis erus famulum, quum nuntia læta ferentem Audit, ut is siluit, cupidis amplectitur ulnis ; Sic, bene me dicens cantu, ter circuit illud Lumen apostolicum, quo præcipiente locutus Ante fui : tam grata illi mea dicta fuerunt ! |
As a master, when he hears a servant bearing good news, as soon as he falls silent, embraces him with eager arms, so, blessing me with a song, that apostolic light at whose behest I had just spoken circled me three times, so pleasing were my words to him! |
| LIBER XII | ||
| PARADISI XXV {25} ⇑ | ||
| 1 | XXV. Si mihi forte erit, ut sacrum, cui terra polusque Applicuere manūs, ac tot mea membra per annos Attrivit, valeat tandem mollire poëma Crudeles iras, queis pulchro excludor ovili, Agnus ubi obdormi, atque lupis infensus iniquis, Qui vastum hoc faciunt, alia cum voce redibo Velleribusque aliis ; patriæque ibi redditus urbi, Lūstralem ad fontem, quo sum Baptismatis unda Jam puer ablutus, cingam mea tempora serto : |
If it should perhaps be that my holy poem to which earth and heaven have set their hands and which has worn down my limbs over so many years should finally soften the cruel anger through which I was excluded from the beautiful sheepfold where I slept as a lamb and hostile to the evil wolves who made it a wasteland, I will return with a different voice and other fleeces; and, having returned to my native city, I will crown my temples with a wreath at the baptismal font where as a boy I was washed with the water of Baptism; |
| 10 | Quippe hic ante Fidem accepi, quæ Numine coram Dat clarēre Animas ; ac Petrus deinde per illam, Circumiens, pulchro cinxit mihi lumine frontem. Agmine dehinc aliud prodivit Lumen eodem, Unde Virûm exierat primus, queis facta potestas Est Christi exercere vices ; ac diva Beatrix Lætitiæ tum plena, mihi : aspice aspice, dixit ; Hic heros, per quem peregre Gallæcia aditur. Non secus ac, socio propior quum sæpe columbus Constitit, alternum gyrisque ac murmure amorem |
indeed, there I initially accepted the Faith which makes Souls become manifest to the Divinity, and then, because of it, Peter, circling, crowned my brow with his beautiful light. Next, another Light came forth from that phalanx whence had come the first of the men on whom was conferred the power to exercise the vicariate of Christ; and the saintly Beatrice, filled with joy, then said to me, “Look, look! There is the hero [St. James] on account of whom Galicia is traveled to abroad.” As when a dove alights next to its companion, and both show mutual love by wheeling and cooing, |
| 20 | Utrique ostendunt : Alium sic comiter alter Excepit prŏcĕrem, æternæ convivia mensæ Laudibus alternis celebrans. Quum mutua finem Officia attigerunt, coram taciturnus uterque Astitit, igne adeo effulgens, ut ferre nequirem. Spiritus insignis, dixit tum Diva renidens, Qui jam cælestis scripsisti gaudia sedis, Hīc de Spe loquere ; ista tibi tam quippe patescit, Atque tot illustrans variis das nosse figuris, [1] Discipulos quoties claravit lumine Christus |
so one noble welcomed the other in a friendly manner, with alternating praises celebrating the banquet of their eternal table. When the mutual ceremonies reached their end, both stood silent before me, gleaming with light such that I could not bear it. “O distinguished Spirit,” the Sainted Woman then said, beaming, “who has written of the joys of the heavenly realm, speak here of Hope; indeed, it is so clear to you and you let us know, illustrating with so many different vignettes, how many times with his light Christ enlightened the three disciples |
| 30 | Præ reliquis trinos. Age, frontem attolle, secundum Tum mihi Lumen ait : tibi sit fiducia corde. Erige te : radiis nam maturescere nostris Est opus, huc quisquis venit telluris ab oris. Incitus his verbis, in montes lumina tollo, [2] Qui prius hæc nimio curvarant pondere. Quando, Tum mihi īdem dixit, nostri te gratia Regis, Extremum ante diem, Cæli in penetralibus altis Dat proceres adiisse suos, ut quum istius aulæ Sis vera intuitus, spem, quæ horum incendit amore |
more than the others.” The second Light then said to me, “Come, lift your brow; be confident of heart. Stand up straight, for whoever comes here from the lands of earth must ripen through our rays.” Spurred by these words, I raised my eyes to the mountains which had previously bent them down with their excessive weight. Then the same one said to me, “When, before your final day, the grace of our King allows you to approach His nobles in the high sanctuary of Heaven, so that when you have seen the truths of that court, in yourself and others you might stimulate hope, |
| 40 | In terris recte, exacuas aliisque tibique, Dic, quidnam est Spes ; atque, tuo si pectore floret, Unde tibi deducta venit. Responsa parantem Me pia præcessit, quæ, ut tam sublime volarem, Tradiderat pennas : Ex exercentibus, inquit, Militiam Christi, nemo est, cui pectore major Spes vigeat, velut in summo, qui lumine cunctos Nos adeo illustrat, conscriptum est cernere Sole. Ante ideo quam militiam compleverit, illi Fas est Jerusalem ex Ægypto ascendere visum. |
which properly enkindles the love of those on earth, say what Hope is and, if it flowers in your breast, where it came drawn from.” The pious woman who had provided me with the feathers to fly so high, preceded me as I was preparing my responses; she said: “Of those soldiering in the army of Christ, there is none in whose breast greater hope thrives as has been written to see in the highest Sun which illuminates all of us so much with its light. Thus, it is permitted him to ascend from Egypt to see Jerusalem before he has completed his service. |
| 50 | Cetera, quæ poscis, non ut tibi noscere detur, Verum, ut quam virtus hæc sit tibi grata renarret, Dicenda huic linquam : non illi solvere durum Hæc erit, atque suis aberit jactantia dictis : Is referat, tantumque Dei det gratia posse. Discipulus veluti, quæ scit, responsa magistro Dat celer atque alacer, cupidus didicisse videri ; Spes est, respondi, exspectatio certa futuræ Lætitiæ, ex meritis quæ præcedentibus atque Munere divino exoritur. Mihi sidera lucem |
The other things which you ask not so that it may be given to you to learn, but so that he might report how pleasing this virtue is to you I leave to him to say; it will not be hard for him to resolve them, and any boasting with his answers will be lacking; let him respond, and may God’s grace give him the ability to do that much.” Like a quick and lively pupil, desirous of appearing to have learned what he knows, gives responses to his teacher, I responded, “Hope is the certain expectation of future joy which results from previous merits and divine gift. Many stars shed |
| 60 | Multa hanc sufficiunt ; sed enim prior tradidit ille Qui cecinit Vates summi præconia Regis : In te spem ponant, sanctis is dixit in hymnis, Qui nomen novere tuum. (quis nesciet illud Cui mea corde Fides ?) Illinc tua epistola tantum Hanc mihi stillavit cordi, ut sim plenus, et undans Vestrum aliis invertam imbrem. Dum talia farer, Interiore sinu vibrabat in illius Ignis Creberque ac subitus splendor, velut æthere fulgor ; Mox ait : Hujus amor virtutis, quo hactenus uror, |
this light on me; but the first to transmit it was the famous poet [= David] who sang the praises of the supreme King; he said in his holy hymns, ‘Let those who know Thy name trust in Thee.’ (Who, in whose heart my Faith is, will not know it?) From there, your epistle so drenched my heart with it, that I am full and, overflowing, pour your rain out again on others.” While I was saying those things, in the inner core of that Fire a rapid and sudden illumination pulsed, like lightning in the sky. Then it said, “The love with which I am still afire for that virtue |
| 70 | Jam me supremam ad pugnam palmamque secutæ, Vult tibi uti loquar, ejusdem qui ardescis amore ; Atque ideo mihi erit gratum, te dicere, quidnam Spes tibi promittat. Tunc ipse : Novæ atque vetustæ Signum constituunt tabulæ ; atque hoc noscere præbet, His de Spiritibus, sibimet quos Numen amicos Omnipotens fecit : Quævis se duplice amictu [3] Induet, Isaias ait, in tellure suapte ; Ac tellus est ista domus. Manifestius istud Et tuus ostendit frater, quum præmia narrat |
the virtue then following me to my final battle and palm [of martyrdom] wants me to speak to you who burn with love for the same thing; and therefore for me it will be delightful for you to say what hope promises to you.” Then I: “The new and old tables establish the waysign [to heaven], and this allows us to know it [i.e., hope] regarding those Spirits whom the almighty Divinity makes his friends. Isaiah [61:7 (Vulgate)] says that, in his own land, every soul will be clothed with a double garment; and that land is this dwelling-place. And your brother [John] reveals it more clearly, when he says that the rewards |
| 80 | Esse stolas niveas. Paulo ante hæc ultima verba Nos super in te spem ponant audita sonare Est vox ; ac simul omnes respondere choreæ. Exinde has inter Lumen sic claruit ingens Ut, si tam clarum Cancer sibi sidus haberet, Unius mensem numeraret bruma diei. [4] Se velut, assurgens, choreas ducentibus addit, Non aliam ob causam, virgo, sed læta recenti Gratificans nuptæ ; Splendor sic ille duobus Accessit reliquis, se utrisque rotantibus, ardens |
are white robes.” Shortly before these last words, the phrase “Let them hope in Thee” [Ps. 9:11] was heard to resound above us, and simultaneously all of the dancing circles responded. Next, an enormous Light shone among them such that, if Cancer had such a bright star, the winter solstice would have a month of a single day. As a joyful virgin, arising, joins those leading the dance for no other reason than for giving pleasure to the new bride, so that luminescence approached the two others, both circling |
| 90 | Ut poscebat amor, cantum numerosque secutus ; Atque his hærebat vultum defixa Beatrix, Qualis nupta recens immobilis atque silescens. Mox ait : Hic cubuit Pelicani in pectore nostri, Delectusque fuit magno ex cruce munere fungi. Hæc dixit ; nec proinde oculos a luce retorsit Tergemina, ac firmis intenta obtutibus hæsit. Quales, qui obstringunt oculos spiramine parvo Ut proprio aspiciant defectum lumine Solem, Qui lucis damnum lucis patiuntur amore ; |
as their burning love demanded, following the song and the cadence; and Beatrice, fixated, was riveted on them in her gaze, unmoving and silent, like a new bride. She then said, “This one [= John the Evangelist] lay on the breast of our Pelican [= Christ] and was chosen from the cross to perform the great task.” Thus she spoke, yet did not then turn her eyes from the threefold light, but stayed rooted, staring, with her eyes fixed. Like those who strain their eyes through a small airhole to see an eclipsed Sun with their own vision, who suffer loss of their seeing out of love of seeing, |
| 100 | Sic egi tunc ipse, novum conversus in Ignem. Quare is : cur, dixit, perstringis lumina, ut illud Aspicias, quod non est hic ? Mea terrea membra Terra tenet, reliquisque simul dehinc usque tenebit, Dum numerum, mens alta Dei quem fixerit, æquent. Sunt cum utrisque stolis, quibus huc venere, beatis Sedibus in Cæli geminæ tantummodo Luces : Atque hoc, quum redeas, terris memor esto referre. Talia sic fatus, siluit ; Lucisque perinde Tergeminæ in gyrum motus cantusque quierunt, |
so then, turned to the new Fire, did I. Wherefore he said, “Why are you hurting your eyes to see that which is not here? The earth holds my earthly members, and it will hold them together with the rest from now on until they equal the number which the high mind of God has fixed. In the blessed realms of Heaven there are only two Lights with both of the garments with which they came here. And remember to report this on earth when you return.” Having thus said such things, he fell silent, and in like manner the circling motions and singing of the threefold Light became quiet |
| 110 | Sicut, ut aut labor evitetur sive periclum, Cærula qui primum pulsabant æquŏra remi, Continuo, simul ac rector dat sibila, sistunt. At mea quam violens turbavit pectora motus, Quum mihi, ut aspicerem verso, non visa Beatrix, Quamvis me juxta foret, et felicibus oris ! |
in the same way that, in order to avoid labor or danger, oars that were at first striking the waves instantly stop as soon as the captain gives a whistle. But how violent a motion upset my breast when Beatrice did not appear to me who had turned around to look at her, although she was alongside me, and in the happy realms! |
| PARADISI XXVI {26} ⇑ | ||
| 116 | Dum sic hærerem dubius, quod luce carerem, Ilicet ex ipso, qui jam restinxerat, Igne Prodivit vox, atque sibi me advertere jussit. Dum lucem amissam repăres, pensare juvabit |
While I was thus hesitating, in doubt, because I lacked vision, suddenly a voice came out of the very Fire that had just extinguished it, and ordered me to turn to itself: “While you are repairing your lost sight, it would be good to compensate for it |
| 120 | Interea hanc fando. Dic ergo, ac incipe : quonam Mens tua directe tendit ? Ne rere peremptam, Sed lucem amissam ; nam, quæ te duxit in istas Felices sedes, virtute hac pollet ocellis, Quæ fuit Ananiæ manibus. Medicamina, dixi, Sponte sua, sero aut cito, quandocunque libebit, Afferat illa oculis, per quos sese intulit ardor, Qui me totum urit. Quod vero hæc cælica regna Lætificat sine fine Bonum, alpha omegaque scripti est, Quod mihi amor legit aut leviter vel fortiter, omnis. |
meanwhile by speaking. So speak, and begin: where is your mind directly aimed at? Do not think you vision is destroyed, but absent; for she who has led you to these happy realms is empowered in her eyes with the ability that was in the hands of Ananias.” I said, “At her own wish, later or sooner, whenever it pleases her, let her apply the medicine to my eyes through which the fire entered which consumes me totally. But the Good which endlessly delights these heavenly realms is the Alpha and Omega of all the writings which Love reads to me either shallowly or deeply.” |
| 130 | Vox ea tunc eadem, quæ me formidine lucis Solverat amissæ, curam mihi plura loquendi Injecit : magis angusto, mihi dixit, oportet Clarifices cribro : te dicere oportet, ad istud Quis tibi proporro signum direxerit arcum. Tunc ego : Per Sophiæ argumenta, ac Numine chartas Afflatas debere scio hunc fervescere amorem : Namque bonum, vix percipitur, succendit amorem, Succenditque magis, quanto bonitatis habere Percipitur majus. Quæ Essentia præterit omnia |
Then that same voice that had released me from the fear of my lost sight inspired in me the will for speaking more; he said to me, “You must make it clear with a finer sieve; moreover, you must say who aimed your bow at that target”. Then I: “From the arguments of Philosophy and the scriptures inspired by the Divinity I know that this love must begin to glow. For the good, when it is barely perceived, ignites love, and ignites it all the more, the more goodness it is perceived to embody. Hence its Essence surpasses all |
| 140 | Hinc bona, ut illius radius sit, quicquid in orbe Extra illam bonitatis adest, ante omnia amando Tendere in illam debet mens cujusque videntis Id verum, in quo argumentum hoc innititur ipsum. Hoc mihi demonstrat, qui primum ostendit Amorem [5] Res esse ante omnes, quæ cuncta in sæcula vivant ; Auctor et id verax monstrat, de se ille locutus Amramidæ : omne bonum pandam. Tu ostendis et ipse Qui, magnam præ aliis alte præconibus orsus Historiam, arcanum terris cæleste revelas. |
goods, so that whatever of goodness exists in the world outside of it is a ray of it; the mind of anyone seeing that truth on which this argument itself rests must above all tend in love toward that Essence. I was shown this by him [= Aristotle] who first showed that love was prior to everything that lives for all ages and by the real Author, by Him speaking of Himself to the son of Amram [= Moses]: ‘I will reveal all good.’ It was shown by you yourself who, beginning the great history elevatedly in comparison with the other heralds, revealed the heavenly secrets to earth.” |
| 150 | Ac tunc ille mihi : nativi luminis usu Auctorumque fide, quæ non hoc dissonet, actŭs, Præcipuum servare Deo reminiscere amorem ; At dic præterea, nunquid te vincula ad illum Altera deducant ; quot nempe hĭc dentibus ardor Cor tibi demordet. Sensi quid verba sonarent Christi Aquilæ ; sensi quo me traducere vellet. Quare iterum cœpi : Morsūs quotcunque revolvunt Corda Deo, coiere meum succendere amorem. Conditus et mundus, mihi tradita luminis aura, |
And then he to me: “Motivated by the use of your native lights and your faith in the Authors which does not disagree with it, remember to maintain your highest love for God; but besides that, say whether other links lead you to Him indeed, with how many teeth that ardor gnaws your heart.” I sensed what the words of Christ’s Eagle were implying: I sensed where he wanted to lead me. So again I began, “However many bites turn hearts to God, they coalesce to kindle my love: the creation of the world; my being given the daylight air; |
| 160 | Dirum, quod, vita ut fruerer, letum ille subivit, Gaudiaque, ut mihi, sic omni sperata fideli, Ac memorata prius, pelago fallacis amoris Abstulerunt, verique dedēre attingere ripam. Sum frondes etiam, sese quibus induit hortus [6] Æterni Agricolæ, tanto impertitus amore, Quantum his ille boni summus largiverit Auctor. Vix ea, per cunctos late dulcissimus axes Insonuit cantus ; reliquosque secuta Beatrix, Ipsa etiam Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus quæ canebat. |
the horrible death that He underwent that I might enjoy life; and the joys hoped for by me as well as by all the faithful; and the aforementioned proofs they have drawn me from the sea of false love and allowed me to reach the shore of the true one. I have even conferred, on the leaves with which the garden of the eternal Farmer adorns itself, as much love as that supreme Creator of the good has lavished on them.” Hardly were these words over, when the sweetest song sounded widely throughout the heavens, and following the others was Beatrice, who also herself sang “Holy, Holy, Holy.” |
| 170 | Lumine ut abruptus discedit somnus acuto ; Nam fulgore, oculi tunicas qui permeat omnes, Excutitur vis visendi, et commota recurrit : Ipse autem vigilans, quicquid circumspicit, horret, (Tam sensu ille caret !) dum mens res æstimet æque ; Sic mihi tunc oculis oculorum luce suorum Quisquilias omnes abjecit diva Beatrix ; Qui plus quam longe fulgebant milia mille. Clarius hinc, quam ante, aspexi, ac de Lumine quarto, Quod prope nos vidi, stupefactus mente rogavi. |
As sleep, broken off by a sharp light, disperses for the power of sight is shaken by a brightness which penetrates all the layers of the eye, and returns disturbed, but the man himself, waking, looks around at everything, bristles (he so lacks sensation!) while his mind evaluates things properly, so then the saintly Beatrice threw off all the chaff from my eyes with the light of her own eyes, that shone farther than a thousand miles. Thereafter I saw more clearly than before and, mentally dumbfounded, I asked about the fourth Light that I saw next to us. |
| 180 | Ac mea tum Mulier : Virtus quam prima creavit, Prima hīc est Anima ; atque suo hoc in lumine læta Factorem intuitur. Ceu frons impulsa cacumen Incurvat vento ac relevat, virtute suapte, Quæ sursum attollit ; sic ipse, ut talia sensi, Miratus feci : mox fandi accensa cupido Me propere erexit ; fudique has pectore voces : O unum æterna maturum ex arbore pomum Ortum, antique Pater, cui femina quæque jugali Vincta toro, est nurus ac proles, reverenter, et omni |
And my Lady then: “This is the first Soul [= Adam] which the first Power created, and in its own light it happily gazes on its Creator.” As a branch pushed by the wind bends its peak and lifts it back up by its own power which raises it up, so, when I perceived such words, did I myself, marveling; promptly a rekindled desire to speak quickly righted me, and I voiced these words from my heart: “O single mature fruit born of the eternal tree, ancient Father, to whom every woman joined to the marriage bed is a daughter-in-law and a descendant, I beg you reverently and |
| 190 | Te precor obsequio, mecum dignare profari : Quod cupio, ipse vides ; ac proinde ostendere mitto, Ne tua verba morer. Qualis quum tegmine operta Belua dat motus, ex ipsa veste revelat, Motus sectanti, cupido quod pectore versat ; Sic prima illa Anima ex claro, quo involvitur, igne Nosse dabat quantum cuperet mihi reddere voces ; Mox ait : Haud opus est tua tu mihi vota reveles, Quippe ea plus novi, quam tu certissima nosti : In speculo hæc etenim video, quod imagine viva |
with all submission, to deign to speak with me: you yourself see what I desire, and I consequently pass over declaring it lest I delay your words.” As when a beast covered with a covering makes movements, through the garment itself following those movements it reveals what its desire is intent on, so from the bright fire in which it was enveloped, that first Soul gave me to know how much it wished to return an answer to me. Then it said, “It is unnecessary for you to reveal your wishes to me, since I know them more than you know the most certain things. For indeed, I see them in the mirror which, with a vivid image, |
| 200 | Cuncta refert, quum nulla potest id imago referre. Scire cupis, quantum sit lapsum temporis, ex quo Me Deus omnipotens florente locavit in horto, Hæc ubi ad ascensum tantum te reddidit aptum ; Quamque diu hunc colui, et quæ tantæ Numinis iræ Causa fuit ; quæ verba inveni, et qualibus usus. Non fuit, o fili, pomum mihi causa comestum Exilii, at voluisse datum transmittere signum. Ex quo proinde loco excivit jam diva Beatrix Vergilium, quattuor mihi milia, tercentosque |
reflects everything, while no image can reflect it. You wish to know: how much time has lapsed from when almighty God placed me in the flowering garden [= the terrestrial paradise], where she [= Beatrice] made you fit for such an ascent; and how long I cultivated it; and what the reason was for such great wrath of the Divinity; what words I invented and what kind I used. O son, the eaten fruit was not the cause of my exile, but having wanted to transgress the set boundary. Consequently in the place [= Limbo] whence the saintly Beatrice summoned Vergil, the Sun brought four thousand and three hundred |
| 210 | Atque duo, optanti has sedes, Sol attulit annos ; Ac novies centum vicibus trigintaque vidi Hunc, dum vitam agerem, cunctos remeare per orbes. Qui mihi tum sermo fuit, est dilapsus ab usu, Ac prius interiit, quam, nunquam explebile, Nembrot Aggrederetur opus : non immutabile quippe est Quicquid ab humanæ pendet moderamine mentis, Quæ sequitur Cælique vices ac signa regentis. Dat Natura loqui ; sed qua ratione modoque, Deserit arbitrio, prout est humana voluntas. |
and two years to me as I longed for these realms. And while I was living my life, I saw it pass through its full orbit nine hundred and thirty times. The language which then was mine fell into disuse and died out before Nimrod began his never-finished work. Indeed, whatever depends on the guidance of the human mind is not unchangeable, a mind that follows both the vicissitudes and the constellations of the reigning Heaven. Nature confers speech; but what manner and way, it leaves to our decision, according to human choice. |
| 220 | Unum, quum me mortalis jam vita tenebat, Supremum dixere Bonum, a quo gaudia manant, Ac me purpureo circumdat lucis amictu : Hinc dictum est Eli ; nam, qui vos temperat, usus Frondibus est par arboreis, quarum altera surgit, Altera descendit. Montem, qua se altius undis Attollit, nullo conspersus crimine primum Deinde reus, colui ex hora prima usque secundam Quum Sol quadrantem sexta mutaverit hora. [7] |
While mortal life still held me, they called the supreme Good ‘One,’ from Whom joy flows and which surrounds me with a red garment of light. Afterwards It was called ‘Eli’; for the usage which holds sway among you is like tree leaves, of which one rises, another declines. I dwelt on the mountain there where it rises higher from the waves at first tainted with no sin, then guilty, from the first hour to the second, when the Sun changes its quadrant in the sixth hour [= noon].” |
| PARADISI XXVII {27} ⇑ | ||
| 229 | Gloria Patrique ac Nato, et, qui spirat ab hisce | “Glory be both to the Father and the Son and to the Spirit Who breathes |
| 230 | Spiritui, late tractus resonare per omnes Incepit Cæli ; cujus dulcedine cantūs Ebrius hærebam. Risum spectare videbar Totius mundi : modulamen quippe beabat Aures, ac lux alma oculos. Oh dia voluptas ! Nesciaque humanis narrari gaudia verbis ! Oh nunquam turbata quies, ac mutuus ardor Unanimĭs ! oh divitiæ, absque cupidine, certæ ! Ante meos oculos succensæ quattuor alma Stabant luce Faces. Radiis tum augescere cœpit, |
from These” began to ring out widely through all the regions of Heaven, at whose sweetness of song I held still, intoxicated. I seemed to see a laugh of the entire universe; Indeed, the melody gladdened my ears, and the nourishing light my eyes. O divine pleasure! O joy incapable of being expressed in human words! O rest never disturbed, and mutual, unanimous ardor! O riches secure, without greed! Before my eyes stood four kind Torches burning with light. The one that first came near then began |
| 240 | Quæ prius huc se detulerat, talisque refulsit, Quale foret, Martis si Juppiter igne rubēret. Provida mens, quæ cuncta regit, quæque ordinat illic Muniaque atque vices, jam fecerat undique ovantes Conticuisse choros. Tum vox mihi venit ad aures : Si mihi mutatur color, ipse stupescere noli ; Namque hunc mutare omnes, me dicente, videbis. Sede mea, heu ! sede mea, heu ! sede meapte, Quæ Natum vacat ante Dei, injuste ille potitur, Qui nostrum tumulum fœdam facit esse cloacam |
to increase in its radiance, and shone so that it was like if Jupiter were reddening with the fire of Mars. The provident mind which controls all things and which arranges the tasks and changes there had already made the rejoicing choirs fall silent on all sides. Then a voice came to my ears: “If my color is changed, do not be dumbfounded, for you will see everyone change theirs as I speak. Alas, my see! Alas, my see! My very own see, which is vacant before the Son of God, has been unjustly taken over by him [= Pope Boniface VIII] who is making our tomb into a filthy sewer |
| 250 | Sanguinis, ac purĭs, gaudet quibus ille scelestus, Hinc qui pulsus abit. Dixit ; Cælumque colore Undique conspersum vidi, quo se induit olim, Sole ex adverso, sub mane aut vespere, nubes. Ac veluti, secura sui, et sibi conscia recti, Audit ut alterius facinus, formidine honesta Corripitur mulier ; sic os est versa Beatrix. Tali, ex defectu Solis, ferrugine Cælum Tum reor indutum, quum summa est passa Potestas, Exin sic fari conversa est voce secutus, |
of blood and pus, about which that criminal [= Satan] rejoices who left here, banished.” Thus he spoke, and on all sides I saw the Heavens spotted with the color with which the clouds once clothed themselves, at dawn or sundown, from an opposing sun. And as an honorable woman, certain of herself and aware of her own uprightness, on hearing of the misdeed of another, is seized with fear, so Beatrice became in the face. I believe that Heaven was covered with a rust color from such an eclipse of the Sun when the supreme Power suffered; whereafter he followed up, speaking with a voice so changed |
| 260 | Ut non plus versa est facies. Non alta cruore Et Lini et Cleti atque meo, ut sibi quæreret aurum, Sponsa fuit Christi ; sed enim Pius atque Calixtus, Sixtus et Urbanus mortem oppetiere cruentam, Post multum fletus, ut gaudia ad ista venirent. Non mens nostra fuit, quod successoribus olim Christiadæ partim ad dextram partimque sinistram Astarent ; non quod claves, quas ipse recepi, Vexilla ornarent, gentem bellantia contra Baptismo ablutam ; non quod mea sancta favores, |
that his face was not changed more: “The spouse [= the Church] of Christ was not nourished on the blood of Linus and Cletus and of me in order to gain gold; rather, Pius and Calixtus, Sixtus and Urbanus went to their bloody deaths after much weeping in order to come to these joys. It was not our intention that one day Christians should stand partly on the right and partly on the left [i.e., Guelfs vs. Ghibellines] of our successors, not that the keys which I received should adorn flags warring against a people washed with baptism, not that my holy image should be the seal on |
| 270 | Mendaces venumque datos, signaret imago ; Quare ego persæpe indignor, cumulorque pudore. Pastorum sub veste, lupi per cuncta videntur Pascua. O tutela Dei, cur lenta quiescis ? Sanguine fidentes se Vascones atque Cahorsi [8] Nostro implere parant. Quam tristem exordia finem Tam bona contigerunt ! Sed mens ea provida certe, Quæ per Scipiadam totum regnare per orbem Asseruit Romæ, veluti mihi credere par est, Jam cito succurret. Tuque o, qui deinde redibis |
falsified favors put up for sale, on account of which I am often indignant and covered with shame. Wolves appear throughout all the pastures under the clothing of shepherds. O Protection of God, why are you asleep? Fearless Gascons [= John XXII] and Cahorsines [= Clement V] prepare to fill themselves with our blood. What sad ends such good beginnings come to! But, as it seem appropriate for me to believe, the foreseeing Mind, which through Scipio assigned to Rome to reign throughout the entire world, will soon bring help. And you, o son, who will subsequently will later return |
| 280 | Mortalem in mundum, fili, tu labra reclude ; Quæque ego non sileo, noli tunc ipse silere. Alba nivis veluti labuntur vellera Cælo, Quum Sol ingreditur glacialis cornua Capræ ; [9] Æthera sic totum sursus candescere vidi ; Atque triumphantes, quasi vellera, surgere Luces, Quæ jam nobiscum fuerant. Has ipse sequebar In sublime oculis, donec distantia multa Intuitu eripuit. Sursus me diva Beatrix Cernere cessantem aspiciens : tua lumina, dixit, |
to the mortal world, open your mouth, and do not yourself be silent about the things I am not silent about.” As the white fleeces of snow glide down from Heaven when the Sun enters the horns of the icy Goat [= Capricorn], so I saw the entire ether begin to glow upwards and the triumphant Lights that had then been with us rise like fleeces. With my eyes I myself followed them upwards until the great distance snatched them out of my sight. The saintly Beatrice, seeing me ceasing to look up, said, “Go ahead and turn |
| 290 | Flecte agedum terris, ac cerne es quomodo versus. Ex quo ante aspexi, vidi me ivisse per omnem, Quam prima ex medio ad finem plăga conficit, arcum. [10] Hinc mare trans Gades, quod stulte intravit Ulysses, Litus et hinc unde evecta est Europa, videbam. Plus etiam areolæ istius tunc cernere possem, At mea Sol ibat subter vestigia, plusquam Zodiaci signum lapsus. Ex vulnere Amoris Saucia, et in dominam semper defixa cohærens, Mens mea rursum illi convertere lumina avebat. |
your eyes earthward, and see how much you have orbited.” From when I had looked down before, I saw I had gone through the entire arc which the first zone makes from its middle [over Jerusalem] to its end [over Spain]. From here I saw the sea which Ulysses had foolishly entered, past Gades, and from here also the shore [of Lebanon] whence Europa was carried off. I would have been able to see more of that small open space [on earth], but the Sun was going under my feet, having glided more than a sign of the Zodiac farther. My mind, wounded from the wound of Love and constantly riveted fixedly on my lady, wanted to turn my eyes back to her. |
| 300 | Si, quæ pascendis oculis Natura paravit, Aut ars, ut mentem caperet, vel picta colore Vel carne ex viva, jungantur pabula in unum Omnia, nil essent, si, quæ mihi dia voluptas Tum fuit, ut vultum vidi, æquiparetur eisdem. Illius intuitu mihi virtus indita, nido Eripuit Ledæ ; Cælumque evexit in altum Præ reliquis, celerique magis vertigine volvens. Nullum habet hæc regio, vivissima et alta, locorum Discrimen : sunt cuncta eadem atque simillima formis. |
If all the foods which Nature or art prepared for feasting eyes food either painted with colors or out of living flesh in order to captivate the mind, were combined into one, they would be nothing if what the divine pleasure was to me then, as I saw her face, were compared to them. The power conferred on me by her look tore me out of Leda’s nest [= the constellation Gemini] and bore me up to the Heaven high above the rest, and the one turning with a swifter revolution. That region, most alive and lofty, has no differences of place; everything is the same and extremely similar in form. |
| 310 | Non ego propterea qua tunc in parte Beatrix Me posuit, norim. Ast ea, cui mihi mente patebant Condĭta, sic cœpit ridens ac læta profari, Ut vultu exsultare Deus sit visus in illo : Hinc, velut ex meta propriaque ab origine, motus Incipit, et medium sistens, et cetera volvens. [11] Non locus hoc Cælum cohibet, nisi Numinis una Provida mens ; unde exit Amor, quo volvitur ipsum, Ac virtus quæ exinde fluit. Lucisque et amoris Circulus hunc cingit, reliqui ut cinguntur ab ipso : |
For that reason I do not know what part Beatrice placed me in. But she, to whom the things hidden in my mind lay exposed, laughing and happy, began to speak in such a way that God seemed to exult in her face: “From here, as from its goal and its own origin, movement starts, both holding the middle still and rotating the rest. A location does not contain this Heaven, other than the single foreseeing mind of the Divinity, whence issues Love by which it itself is turned and the power which flows from it. A circle of light and love surround this circle, as the rest are surrounded by it. |
| 320 | Quique hunc præcingit, regit atque intellegit unus. Non alius motum istius mētītur, at ipse Mētītur reliquos, veluti de quinque duobus, Aut bis quinque, decem fiunt. Jam noscere posses Quomodo radices hac mittit tempus in urna, [12] Atque aliis frondes. Oh rerum dira cupido, Quæ sic mortales mergis, ne tollere ab undis Quisquam oculos valeat. Bene floret recta voluntas, Imber at immodicus bona dat flaccescere pruna. Integritas animi atque fides reperitur in unis |
And only He who encircles it rules and understands it. No other is the measure of its movement, but it itself is the measure of the rest as a ten is made from five twos, or twice five. Now you might know how time puts its roots into this jar and its branches into others. O horrible greed for things which so submerges mortals that no one can raise his eyes from the waves! An upright will flourishes well, but excessive rain makes good plums turn mushy. Intactness of soul, and faith, are found strictly only in |
| 330 | Dumtaxat pueris ; quæ post lanugine nondum Effugit inspersis mālis. Quidam abstinet esca Balba loquens, qui quemque cibum mox ore soluto Usque vorat. Quidam audit amatque parentem Balba loquens, qui ore hinc liber mortem optat obire. Candida sic pellis natæ fit nigra decoræ [13] Illius, qui mane diem, qui vespere noctem, Adveniens abiensque refert. Tu talia noli Mirari, reputans animo, rectore carere, Atque ideo humanam converti in devia gentem. |
children, fleeing when the cheeks are not yet patchy with [adolescent] down. A given one speaking stammeringly will abstain from food, who, when his speech is fluent, constantly devours any food whatsoever. One listens to and loves his parent while he speaks stammeringly who then, when free in speech, wishes her to go to her death. Thus blackens the white skin of the beautiful daughter of Him who, coming and going, brings the day in the morning and the night in the evening. Do not you be surprised at such things, recalling to mind that a guide is lacking, and therefore the human race is diverted to the wrong ways. |
| 340 | Ante autem hiberno Jani quam tempore mensem Extrudat quæ neglegitur centesima [14], talis Orbibus edetur late rugitus ab hisce, Ut, quo sunt puppes, sors exspectata revolvet Proras, ac recto procedet tramite classis, Veraque post flores prorumpent denique poma. |
But before the hundredth part (which is neglected) pushes the month of [the god] Janus out of wintertime, such a roaring will be widely emitted by these spheres, that the awaited fate will turn the prows around to where the sterns are, and the fleet will procede on the right path, and in the end true fruit will break forth after the flowers.” |
| PARADISI XXVIII {28} ⇑ | ||
| 346 | Postquam ea cælesti quæ me dulcedine complet, Præsentem adversus vitam mihi vera retexit, Ut flammam in speculo videt is, cui in terga relucet, Ante hanc quam putet aut cernat, seseque revolvit |
After she who fills me with heavenly sweetness revealed to me the truths opposed to the present life, as in a mirror one who sees a flame reflected from in back of him, before he thinks about it or sees it, turns around |
| 350 | Visurus numquid vitrum sibi vera revelet ; Cunctaque respondere videt, ceu norma tabellæ Cantoris numeris : sic me fecisse recordor, Pulchros inspiciens oculos, ubi vincula nevit, Me vincturus, Amor. Nam, postquam me ipse revolvi, Atque meos tetigit, quod cuique volumine in illo Perspicuum apparet, bene si perspexerit illuc, [15] Sum punctum intuitus, tanto fulgore coruscans, Tantosque effundens radios, ut nulla tueri Hoc acies possit, lucemque evitet acutam. |
to see whether the glass is telling him the truth and sees that everything corresponds, like the measures of sheet-music to the cadence of a singer, so I remember having done, looking into those beautiful eyes where Love sewed the bonds to chain me with. For, after I myself had turned around and what appears manifest in that orbit (if one looks at it carefully) touched my eyes, I saw a point glittering with such brightness and shedding such rays that no vision could look at it, and it would avoid the sharp light. |
| 360 | Quæ minima hic stella apparet, foret integra Luna, Huic si confertur, velut astrum apponitur astro. Igneus hŏc, fors distans, quam qui circuit olim Aut Lunam aut Solem, quoties vapor aëra densat, Circulus ambibat, motu tam præpete sese Volvens, ut reliquis citiorem vinceret orbem. Hunc alter dein cingebat, qui cinctus ab altero Inde erat : hunc itidem quartus cingebat ; et istum Quintus ; quintumque hinc sextus ; quem septimus inde Cingebat pariter, tam vastus et amplus, ut illum |
A star that here appears the smallest, if star is placed alongside star, would be an entire Moon. A fiery ring went around this, perhaps at the same radius as the one at times surrounding either the sun or the moon whenever vapor condenses the atmosphere revolving with a motion so rapid that it exceeded even the [outermost] sphere which was faster than the others. Next, that one was surrounded by a second one, which was then surrounded by another one. This one was likewise surrounded by a fourth one, and that by a fifth, and from there the fifth by a sixth which in the same way a seventh one surrounded, so large and huge that |
| 370 | Nuntia Junonis nequaquam includeret arcu : Octavus sic et nonus. Se quisque movebat Tardius, in numero quo plus distabat ab uno. Purior his flamma ardebat, quo quisque favillæ Proximior puræ : puto, quod plus haurit ab illa. Valde suspensum curis me diva Beatrix Aspiciens : Puncto, dixit, dependet ab isto Cælumque ac Natura omnis : circlum inspice, juxta Qui magis est illi : tanta vertigine raptim Volvitur, ardentem propter, qui impellit, amorem. |
Juno’s messenger [= the rainbow] could by no means encompass it with her arc. Thus the eighth and ninth. Each one moved more slowly, the more distant in number from the number one [= the point of origin]. A flame would burn more cleanly than these [outermost halos], the closer each one was to the pure spark because, I believe, it absorbs more from it. The saintly Beatrice, seeing me sorely suspended with worries, said, “On that point the whole of Heaven and Nature depends. Look at the circle which is closest to it; it turns apace with such speed on account of the burning love which drives it.” |
| 380 | Ipse autem contra : Si, quem tuor orbibus istis, Ordine constaret mundus, nil quærere haberem Amplius, expletusque forem ; sed cernere fas est In mundo, plus hōc orbes virtutis habere, Quo magis a centro distant. Si proinde cupido Hoc miro in templo, cujus confinia tantum Sunt amor et splendor, mea finem attingere debet, Est mihi discendum, quianam non congruat æque Exemplo exemplare suo ; deprendere quippe Hoc mea mens nescit. Digitis si hunc solvere nodum |
But I myself in response: “If the universe were organized in the order that I see in these spheres, I would have nothing more to ask and would be satisfied. But it can be seen that, in this universe, the spheres have more power the more they are distant from the center [i.e., from the earth]. Consequently if, in this marvelous temple whose bounds are only love and light, my desire is to attain its goal, I must learn why the copy does not correspond precisely to its model; indeed, my mind is unable to understand this.” “If you cannot untie the knot with your fingers, |
| 390 | Non potes ipse tuis, non est mirabile ; tantum, Quod nunquam fuerit tentatus, duruit ! inquit Diva mihi ; atque hinc subjecit : Nunc accipe porro, Si satur esse velis, quæ jam tibi tradere sumam ; Ac super hisce tuæ exerce dehinc mentis acumen, Sunt ampli angustique orbes, qui corpore constant, Prout minor aut major virtus se his undique fundit. Majorem ex majore pari bonitate salutem, [16] Majorique capi bonitatem corpore oportet Majorem, cunctis si constat partibus æque. |
it is not surprising,” said the sainted woman to me, “that what has never been tried has become so hard!” And then she added, “Now learn, furthermore, if you want to be satisfied, what I am about to relate to you, and then apply your mental acumen to it. The spheres which consist of matter are wide or narrow depending on greater or lesser power pouring into them from all directions. It follows necessarily that greater robustness is produced from greater goodness, and the goodness from a larger body if it is constituted equally in all of its parts. |
| 400 | Circulus hic, mundum qui secum corripit omnem, Respondet circlo, cui amor et sapientia major : Propterea, si, non quod cernis in orbibus hisce, At tibi pendatur virtus, motum ordine miro Congruere aspicies menti, quæ commovet illos. Non secus ac late fit splendidus atque serenus Aër, quum Boreas Scythico flat purus ab axe, Quippe absunt nubes ; Cælumque, vaporibus actis, Ridet, opesque suas spectantibus undique pandit ; Sic ego sum factus, postquam mihi clara Beatrix |
This sphere, which sweeps the entire universe along with it, corresponds to the circle in which love and wisdom are greatest. Therefore if, not what you see in these spheres, but virtue, is weighed by you, you will see that their motion corresponds with marvelous coordination to the Mind which moves them.” Just as the air becomes bright and clear when the Boreas blows from the northeasterly direction, the clouds are absent, and the heavens, with the humidity driven away, smile and reveals its wealth everywhere to onlookers, so I became after Beatrice gave me her |
| 410 | Dicta dedit ; visumque est verum, ut in æthere sidus. Vix ea conticuit, veluti quod bullit in igne Scintillat ferrum, sic orbes protinus omnes Scintillas dederunt, numerum ut pervincere possent Ludicrorum omni geminatum sede latronum. Laudibus audibam celebrarier undique punctum Immotum ; quod quemque tenet, semperque tenebit In statione sua, qua semper et ante fuerunt. Tunc ea, quæ dubia mihi condita mente videbat, Primi orbes monstrant, dixit, Seraphim atque Cherubim ; |
clear answers and the truth was seen as are stars in the sky. She had hardly fallen silent when, as iron which boils in fire sparkles, so immediately all the orbs gave off sparks such as could overwhelm a number doubled on every square of a board of chesspieces. With praises from every side I was hearing celebrated the immovable Point that holds each one and will always hold it in its position where it also always was before. Then she who saw the doubts hidden in my mind said, “The first circles show the Seraphim and Cherubim, |
| 420 | Ac ita veloces sua vincla sequuntur, ut ipsos Se puncto assimilent, quam possunt ; atque potestas Hæc tanta est illis, est quanta videre facultas. Qui circum hos vadunt (et ab his fit ternio primus), Divini aspectūs, proprio sic nomine dictos, [17] Esse Thronos scito ! quo quisque profundius illud Intuitur verum, quo mens cujusque quiescit, Lætitia est major : quapropter dia voluptas Exoritur visu ; non, qui succedit, amore. Gratia mētītur visum et propensa voluntas ; |
and they track their locked orbits so fast that they assimilate themselves to the Point as much as they are able, and this ability is in them to the same extent as their power to see. Know that those who travel around them (and with those the first triplet is completed), called by their proper names, are the Thrones of the Divine Countenance. To the extent that each more deeply sees that truth where everyone’s mind rests, his joy is greater. Hence divine pleasure derives from vision not from love, which succeeds it. Grace and benevolent intention measures that seeing, |
| 430 | Atque ita visūsque et gaudii est mensura gradatim. Ternio dehinc alter, florens hōc vērĕ perenni, Quod nullo autumno exuitur, præconia cantat Ordinibus trinis, queis constat : continet iste Et Dominatus, et Virtutes, atque potestas Queis nomen tribuit. Geminus pænultimus ordo His constat, sibi qui ducunt a principe nomen, Et qui sunt Archangeli ; et Angeli in ordine summo. Omnes inspiciunt sursum, tantumque deorsum Efficiunt, ut quisque Deo trahiturque trahitque. |
and thus it is the measure, successively, of both seeing and joy. The second triplet, flowering in this eternal Spring that no autumn denudes, sings laudations by means of the three orders of which it consists. That one contains both the Dominions and the Virtues, and those to whom power has given its name. The bipartite penultimate order consists of those who take their name from prince [i.e., Principalities], and those who are Archangels; and Angels are in the outermost row. They all gaze upward and have such an effect downward that each one is drawn, and draws, to God. |
| 440 | Hos est Dionysius tanto meditatus amore, [18] Nomine ut et numero penitus, velut ipsa, notavit : At Gregorii diversa fuit sententia ; quare, Vix ille astriferis oculos reseravit in oris, Errorem risit. Tu vero stupescere noli Arcanum hoc tantum terris potuisse patere Mortali ; quippe hoc, atque hujus plurima regni, Olli nosse dedit, qui in Cælis talia vidit. [19] |
Denis [the Areopagite] studied them with such love that he thoroughly distinguished them, as I do, by name and number. But the opinion of [Pope] Gregory [the Great] was different, on account of which he had hardly opened his eyes in the star-studded realms when he laughed at his error. But do not you be dumbfounded that such a mystery as this could have been revealed on earth to a mortal: indeed, he [= St. Paul] who saw such things in Heaven gave him [= Denis] to know this as well as many things of this kingdom. |
| PARADISI XXIX {29} ⇑ | ||
| 448 | Quum Phœbus Phœbique soror, Latonia proles, Ariete Lībraque obtecti, statione videntur |
When Phoebus [= the sun] and Phoebus’s sister [= the moon], the child of Latona, covered by Aries [the Ram] and Libra [the Scales], are seen |
| 450 | Opposita, zonamque illis facit unus horizon, Quantum est ex puncto, quo Cæli ex vertice uterque Æque distat, ad id quo zona abscedit ab illa, [20] Tantum conticuit, vultu ridente Beatrix Inspiciens punctum, quod me devicerat ; inde Sic est effata : Haud posco, quod discere quæris ; Namque mihi est visum, quo tempora cuncta locique Consistunt omnes. Non ut sibi quæreret ullum, (Quod nequit esse), bonum ; verum ut sese esse pateret, Æterna sua in ætate, ac trans temporis ævum, |
diametrically opposite, and the one horizon constitutes their beltway, for as long as lasts from the point where both are equidistant from the zenith to the one where they move off of that beltway, for that long Beatrice was silent, with a smiling face, gazing at the Point which had overcome me. Then she spoke: “I do not ask what you wish to learn, for I have been shown where all times and places come to a standstill. It was not in order to seek any good (which cannot be), but to reveal that He exists in His own eternal temporality and beyond the duration of time, |
| 460 | Ut sibimet visum, quin hoc conceperit alter, Ipse novos æternus Amor produxit Amores. Nec piger ante fuit : Domini quum spiritus undas Se super has ferret, non post atque ante fuerunt. Forma ac materies pariter, junctæque meræque, [21] Prodivere, omni vitioque ac labe carentes, Non secus atque arcu tria tela emissa trichordi. Utque in crystallo et vitro ac Phaëtontide gemma Translucens radius, non ocius attigit illam, Quam, sese insinuans, pervadat lumine toto ; |
as He deemed it good, without anyone else comprehending it, that the Eternal Love Himself brought forth new Loves. Nor was He inactive before then: when the spirit of the Lord moved over the waters, there was no “before” or “after.” Both form and matter, combined and pure, came forth without flaw or mistake, like three missiles shot from a triple-string bow. And as a penetrating lightray in crystal and glass and a Phaëtonian [= amber] gem no sooner no sooner hits it than, entering it, pervades it with all of its light, |
| 470 | Artificis summi ex manibus sic tota triformis Prodiit, exordii nullo discrimine, moles. Conditus est quoque in hac ordo, rebusque creatis Impositus : quæ præstant puro actu, orbe supremo ; Quæque potestate [22], extremo ; et quæ utrisque, locatæ Sunt medio, his vinclis, quæ nil abrumpere possit. Hieronymus, multa ante orbem jam sæcla creatas Angelicas dixit mentes ; sed scripta refellunt Hŏc afflata Deo ; quod tu potes ipse videre, His si animum vertas : ratioque hoc ipsa refutat, |
so the entire triform work emerged from the hands of the Supreme Artisan with no differentiation in its origin. Order was also created in this and imposed on created beings: those that are preëminent in pure act, in the highest sphere; things which are so in potentiality, in the lowest one; and those that are so for both, are placed in the middle with those bonds that nothing can break. [St.] Jerome said that the angelic minds were created many eons before our globe: but the scriptures inspired by God refute that, as you yourself can see if you turn your attention to them; and reason itself refutes the idea |
| 480 | Motores tanta mancos ætate fuisse. Quomodo jam fuerint, quandoque, ubinamque, creati Tu scis ; atque tibi trina est expleta cupido. Haud quisquam numeret bis dena ita tempore parvo, Quam pars illorum turbavit, pabula vobis Præbentem, terram. Pars altera perstitit ; atque Exin hac fungi cœpit, quam conspicis, arte Tam volupe, ut nunquam desistant volvere circum. Illius, in quem vidisti omnia pondera toto Congruere ex mundo, malesana superbia tantæ |
that the starmovers should exist functionless for such a period. Now you know how and when and where they were created, and your threefold desire has been fulfilled. No one could count to twice ten in such a short time as a part of them gouged out the earth which yields your food. The rest stood fast and then began with such delight to perform the activity which you see, that they never cease circling around. The insane arrogance of him [= Satan] on whom you saw all of the weight of the entire universe concentrated was the |
| 490 | Causa fuit cladis. Quos hic assistere cernis, Perstiterunt animo mites, sibi habere professi Ex bonitate Dei, quod tam tuerentur acute. Quare, his pro meritis, illorum Gratia lumen Auxit, et in recto fuit offirmata voluntas. Nec dubitare volo, at scito quod Gratia sese Attribuit meritis, aditus prout panditur illi. Jam super his rebus, non auxiliantibus ullis, Multa putare potes, mea si tibi verba notentur ; At, quoniam in terris tradunt ex sede magistri, |
cause of such a fall. Those whom you see present here remained mild of heart, acknowledging the fact that their seeing so keenly came from the goodness of God. As a result of these merits, Grace increased their vision, and their will was strengthened on the right path. And I want you to be in no doubt: but know that Grace gives itself to merits to the extent that the approach to it is open. If you mark my words, you can now think a great deal about these things without the help of anyone else. But because, on earth, from their chairs the instructors teach |
| 500 | Quod mens Angelica, et vult, ac intellegit, atque Commeminit, dicam ulterius, cognoscere clare Ut verum valeas, quod valde obnubilat error. Angelicæ mentes, ex quo se Numinis ore Lætificant, illinc nunquam se deinde remorunt, Cuncta ubi cernuntur : non intercīditur illis Rerum proinde nova veniente ab imagine visus ; Nec, quod divisum est ideo revocare necesse est. Quare ibi mortales vigilando somnia condunt, Dicere dum verum, vel non hoc dicere, credunt : |
that the Angelic mind both wills and understands and remembers, I will speak further so that you are able clearly to understand the truth, which error greatly obscures. The Angelic minds, from the time when they were [first] made happy by the face of the Godhead, have never turned their eyes away from there where everything is seen; thus their vision is not interrupted by a new intervening image of things, nor, therefore, is it necessary to recall what has been sorted out. So in the waking state mortals make up dreams there while they believe they are speaking the truth or not speaking it. |
| 510 | Major at hōc culpa atque pudor. Non calle Sophorum Vos gressum fertis : sapientes tanta videri Cura animum trahit, atque frui rumore secundo ! At magis hoc etiam hic fertur, postponere sanctas Quam tabulas, aut has in vanos vertere sensus. Nec reputant, quanti steterit sevisse per orbem Numinis hoc verbum, et quantum sit gratus eidem Huic humilis quicunque hæret. Clarescere quærunt Ingenio ; atque ideo sacri sua quisque reperta Præcones iterant, Evangeliumque siletur. |
But blame and shame are greater with the latter. You do not walk in the path of philosophers so much interest in appearing as philosophers attracts you, and in enjoying favorable reputations! But even this is more tolerated here than treating Divine Scriptures as of secondary importance or twisting them into vapid senses. They do not think about how much it cost to sow this word of God throughout the world, or how gratifying whoever humbly clings to it is to Him. They seek to become famous through their ingenuity: and so the sanctified preachers each repeat their inventions, and the Gospel is silent. |
| 520 | Asserit hic Lunam, quum mortem Christus obivit, Detorsisse viam, atque objecto corpore Solis Impediisse jubar, ne terræ attingeret oras. Alter ait lucem sponte abscessisse suapte, Atque ideo, velut Abramidas, caligine densa Hispanos late tectos Indosque fuisse. Non tot habet cives Florentia nomine Bindos Ac Lapos, quot sacra sonant per pulpita in anno His similes fabulæ ; ac vento grex pastus inani Hinc redit ; ipse nocens, quod non mala pascua vitet. |
This one asserts that when Christ went to his death the Moon twisted its orbit and, interposing its body, blocked the sunlight from reaching the lands of earth. Another one says that the light went away of its very own accord and therefore, like the Jews, the Spaniards and the Indians were widely covered by thick darkness. Florence does not have as many citizens by the name of Lapo and Bindo [nicknames of the common names Girolamo and d’Alessandrino] as fables like these echo throughout the holy pulpits in a year; and thence, fed on empty wind, returns the flock, itself injurious because it is not avoiding the bad pastures. |
| 530 | Non : ite, ac populis vanas divendite gerras, Dixit discipulis Christus ; sed, tradite Cæli Doctrinam veram ; atque illi sibi scutaque et hastas Ad pugnam ex hac condiderunt, ut cordibus almam Insererent Christique fidem et virtutis amorem. Scommata nunc vanique crepant per pulpita lusus ; Dummodo et effusum det risum turba, cucullus Inflatur, nec quicquam ultra est inquirere cura : Si volucrem vero, latitantem in acumine, posset Cernere, cerneret et veniam, cui credula fidit. |
Chirst did not say to his disciples, “‘Go and peddle empty twaddle,’ but, ‘convey the true doctrine of Heaven,’ and from that they constructed both shields and spears for the fight in order to instill in hearts the nourishing faith of Christ and the love of virtue. Now, taunts and empty games prattle through the pulpits; and as long as the crowd gives out unrestrained laughter, the cowl swells up and there is no interest in looking for anything further. But if they could see the [diabolical] bird hiding in the peak [of the cowl], they would also see the indulgence in which it credulously trusts. |
| 540 | Usque adeo in terris hæc insipientia crevit, Pollicitis ut quisque fidem sine teste quibusvis Præbeat. Inde suem multa pinguedine divus, Ac sue pejores alios, Antonius implet, Gentibus absque typo conflata numismata solvens. At, quia digressi sumus, eja age, lumina rectæ Redde viæ, ut brevietur iter, tempusque rependat. Angelicam turbam, nec mens humana, nec ora, Dinumerare queunt. Si, quæ Babylone revelat Visa sibi Daniel, reputes, latuisse videbis |
This nonsense has increased on earth so much that everyone will put his faith in any promise without evidence. From this Saint Anthony fills his pig with a lot of fat, and others worse than his pig, paying the people with coins minted without an imprint. But because we have digressed, now go, turn your eyes back to the right path to shorten the route and make up for the time. Neither human mind nor mouths can count the angelic multitude. If you consider the visions Daniel revealed in Babylon, you will see that the specific |
| 550 | Certum hujus numerum, quamvis tot milia vidit. Tot Lux prima modis, quæ totam illuminat, illi Inseritur, quot sunt queis sese inserit ; et quia Insitio parit ardorem, impar fervet in illa Dulcis amor. Cernis quam late alteque patescat Vis immensa Dei, quæ tot specularia fecit, Queis sese infringit, dum semper permanet una. |
number is hidden, even though he saw so many thousands. The primal Light that illuminates the whole is infused into it in as many ways as there are those into whom it infuses itself. And since the infusion produces ardor, sweet love burns in it diversified. You see how widely and loftily God’s immeasurable power extends, power that has made so many mirrors in which it refracts itself while forever remaining one.” |
| PARADISI XXX {30} ⇑ | ||
| 557 | Milia fors longe hinc sex milia, sexta calescit Hora, ac ferme ad plānum hĭc mundus dejicit umbras, Quum Cæli medium, quod nobis imminet alte, |
Perhaps six thousand miles from here the sixth hour [= noon] is warming up, and this world is casting its shadows almost horizontally, while the middle of the Heavens, which projects high above us, |
| 560 | Induit alborem, quo lucem sidera quædam Amittunt ; quumque ulterius mox nuntia Solis Progreditur, toto clauduntur in æthere signa : [23] Angelica haud aliter quæ includunt agmina punctum A quo includuntur, et quod mea lumina vicit, Ex oculis abiere meis ; delapsaque pompa Atque amor ad Dominam illos hinc fecere reverti. Si quicquid de illa dixi, confletur in unum, Omne simul laudum, ejusdem describere formam, Hac vice nequaquam valeat. Mihi visa venustas |
is donning white, by which some stars lose their light; and as soon the heralds of the Sun advance further, the constellations are closed down in the whole sky. In the same way, the angelic host that encloses the Point by which it is enclosed and which overcame my vision, departed from my eyes; the gliding away of the procession, and my love, made me turn them from there to my Lady. If whatever I have said of her were all simultaneously combined into one piece of praise, it could by no means describe her form this time. The most exquisite beauty appearing to me |
| 570 | Non tantum humanas mentes pulcherrima vincit, Sed tota hac gaudere reor, qui condidit, Unum. Hīc me materies vincit, plusquam ulla poëtam Vicerit, edentem socco vel digna cothurno. Nam, veluti ferit infirmum Sol lumine visum, Sic mentis vires, risum meminisse decōrum Obterit. Ex illo, quo primum hanc tempore vidi Usque huc, haud unquam desivi attollere cantu ; At nunc desistam ; veluti cujuslibet est mos Artificis, postquam ad summum pervenerit artis. |
surpassed not only human minds, but, I believe, He alone who made it enjoys it completely. Here the subject matter vanquishes me more than anything has ever vanquished any poet writing things worthy of comedy or tragedy. For as the Sun strikes weak vision with its light, remembering her graceful laughter destroys my powers of mind. From the time I first saw her until now, I have never ceased to bring forth song, but now I must stop, as is the practice of any artist after he has reached the pinnacle of his art. |
| 580 | Hanc ego destituo, inde tuba majore canendam, Quam mea ; quæ cœpti properat contingere finem. More ac voce ducis : Majori ex corpore, dixit Illa mihi, egressi, ad Cælum pervenimus illud, Quod lux est mera ; lux mentis, quæ impletur amore ; Optimi amore boni, in quo plene gaudia sistunt ; Gaudia, quæ, quicquid dulce est, dulcedine vincunt. Militiam hīc geminam cernes, quarum una videri Se dabit aspectu, quo extremi ad judicis ora Vīdĕrĭs. Ut fulgor, subito qui lumine turbat |
I leave her, hereafter to be celebrated with a trumpet greater than mine, which rushes to attain the end of its endeavor. With the manner and voice of a leader, she said to me: “Having left the largest sphere, we have arrived at the Heaven that is pure light, the light of the mind which is filled with love, love of the highest good in which joy is fully present, joy that with its sweetness surpasses whatever is sweet. Here you will see two armies, of which one will present itself to be seen in the form in which you will have seen their faces before the Final Judge.” Just as lightning, which with a sudden flash disrupts |
| 590 | Visendi vires, nequeant ut cernere quicquid Fortius impellat ; sic me lux vivida cinxit, Obnubitque oculos, ut nil deprendere possent. Divus Amor, qui summum hoc, inquit diva Beatrix, Lætificat Cælum, semper venientibus istam Impertitur opem, ut candelam accommodet igni. Vix pauca hæc est fata, meam me assurgere supra Virtutem sensi ; atque oculis sic reddita lux est, Ut nulla et nimii vitaret tela nĭtoris. Est mihi tum visus fulgentis luminis amnis, |
one’s visual powers, hits so that they cannot see anything stronger, so a living light surrounded me and clouded my eyes so that they could perceive nothing. “The divine Love that gladdens this highest Heaven,” said the sainted Beatrice, “always bestows this empowerment on newcomers to adapt the candle to its flame.” Hardly had she said these few words when I felt myself rising above my powers, and such light was given back to my eyes that it avoided no missiles of extreme brightness. A stream of refulgent light then appeared to me, |
| 600 | Inter, quas ver pingebat mirabile, ripas. Scintillæ ex fluvio exibant, atque undique fusæ Floribus instabant, velut auro obeunte pyrōpi : Mox iterum, veluti saturæ fragrantibus auris, Sese mergebant undis ; semperque subibant Demersis aliæ. Quo te flagrantior urit Discendi, quæ cernis, amor, mihi gratior hĭc est ; At non ante sitim explebis, quam has hauseris undas. Sol meus hæc dixit ; mox addidit : Amnis, et ignes Qui subeunt surguntque vadis, et gramen amœnum, |
between banks that a miraculous spring embroidered. Sparks sprang from the river and, pouring from all sides, came down upon flowers like rubies with gold surrounding them. Then, as though satiated with the fragrant air, they dove again into the waves, and others always succeeded those who submerged. My sun said this: “The more ardently your love of learning what you see burns, the more pleasing it is to me. But you will not satisfy your thirst until you drink these waters.” Then she added: “The stream and the fires that go down into, and rise from, its waters, and the pleasing grass, |
| 610 | Sunt veri effigies : non quod sint talia captu Ardua, sed quod sit visūs tibi manca facultas. Non avido sic ore ruit genitricis ad uber Lac poscens infans, quum serius illa soporem, Quam solet, excussit, quantum tunc protinus ipse, Ut vires augerem oculis, me in flumine flexi, Quod, tales ut præstet opes, late explicat undas. Lumina ut huc verti, quod pridem tramite longo Decurrens ibat, mihi visum est esse rotundum : Mox, veluti gens, quæ jam personata videri |
are representations of the truth not because such things are hard to grasp, but because your faculty of vision is defective.” Never did a hungry-mouthed infant rush to its mother’s breast, demanding milk after shaking off its sleepiness later than it normally does, as I myself immediately, to strengthen the powers of my eyes, then bent down into the river which spreads its waters widely to offer such abilities. As I turned my eyes thither, what had originally gone flowing in a long course seemed to me to be circular. Then, as people who have presented themselves to appear masked |
| 620 | Se dedit, hinc alia appāret, quum, qua ante latebat, Exuerit larvam : sic flores atque favillæ Se mihi mutarunt, ac Cæli ambo agmina vidi. O lux alma Dei, per quam spectare triumphum Fas mihi Cælituum fuit, hunc da pandere fando ; Et, qualem vidi, dignis ostendere verbis. Est illic lumen, per quod spectare Creator Dat sese his, qui tantum illius in ore quiescunt. Usque adeo in gyrum sese protendit, ut orbem Flammiferum Solis nimium circumdaret ample. |
subsequently appear different when they doff the masks behind which they had hidden, so the flowers and sparks changed before me, and I saw both armies of Heaven. O nourishing light of God, through which I was allowed to see the victory march of the heaven-dwellers: enable me to reveal this in speech and, as I saw it, to show it with appropriate words. There is a light there through which the Creator allows those who find rest only in his countenance to see Him: and it extends so far in a circle, that it would surround the fiery ring of the Sun amply to excess. |
| 630 | Undique diffundit radios, Primique reflectit Mobilis in culmen, cui vim vitamque ministrat. Non secus ac clivus præterlabentis in amnis Se speculatur aquis, tanquam visurus ibidem, Queis ornatur, opes florum herbarumque virentum ; Sic super instantes speculari lumine sese, Per plus mille gradus, Animas vidi undique circum, Quotquot ab his terris sunt cælica regna reversæ. Lumine si tanto sese gradus infimus implet, Quantum hæc extremas frondes rosa pandat oportet ! |
It spreads its rays everywhere and reflects on the peak of the Primum Mobile on which it confers force and life. As a slope mirrors itself in the waters of a passing stream, as if to see there the riches of flowers and green plants with which it is adorned, so I saw Souls placed around on all sides above the light mirroring themselves throughout more than a thousand tiers as many as had returned from these lands to the heavenly realms. If the lowest level fills itself with such radiance, how much must this rose spread out its outermost petals! |
| 640 | Non mea nictabant, tam celsa atque ampla videndo, Lumina ; sed totum, quantumque ac quale, tuebar. Nil hic proximitas fert, aut distantia differt ; Naturæ lex namque silet, quo temperat unus Ipse Deus, nullo causæ consorte minoris. Tanquam qui fari cupit, atque silentia servat, In medium me deinde rosæ, semperque recentis, Pandentisque gradus, ac dulcem edentis odorem Præconii ad Solem, qui ridet vere perenni, Diva tulit ; dixitque mihi : nunc aspice quanta |
My eyes did not blink at viewing things so high and wide, but I considered the whole, both how much and what kind. Here, neither does proximity contribute anything nor does distance take anything away, for nature’s law is silent where the one God Himself rules without a co-regent of lesser agency. Beatrice then led me, as a man wanting to speak but keeping his silence, into the middle of the ever fresh rose, spreading its tiers and giving off the sweet odor of a laudation to the Sun that laughs in an eternal spring; and she said to me, “Now look at how large |
| 650 | In niveis est turba stolis ; urbs aspice nostra Quam se protendit : sedes sic aspice plenas Ut gens deest pauca. Hac magna, quam ipse tueris Ob super impositum diadema, locabitur, ante Hoc tu ad connubium quam cenes, Spiritus alti Henrici, qui Augustus erit terrestribus oris : Erigere Italiam hĭc veniet, non hactenus aptam. Quæ vestros animos effascinat, atra cupido Vos similes puero reddit, qui carpitur acri Esurie, altricemque fugit. Non tramite eodem |
the crowd in snow-white stoles is! Look at the way our city extends! See that the seats are so full that few people are lacking! In that large one at which you yourself are looking, because of the diadem placed above it, will be seated before you yourself dine at this wedding feast the Spirit of the lofty Henry [VII] who will be Augustus on earthly lands; he will go there to raise up a still unready Italy. The black greed that bewitches your souls makes you like a child that is eaten away by bitter hunger and puts his foster-mother to flight. The one [= Pope Clement V] who will preside |
| 660 | Qui sacris præerit rebus [24], furtim atque patenter, Se feret. Haud longum Deus hunc at munere sancto Deinde sinet fungi : magus est ubi Simon, abibit, Ut det Anagninum sedes magis ire sub imas. |
over sacred affairs will not betake himself on the same path [as Henry] secretly or openly. But God will not allow him to perform the sacred functions for long; he will go off where Simon Magus is, to make the man of Anagna [= Boniface VIII] go further into the deepest realms.” |
| PARADISI XXXI {31} ⇑ | ||
| 664 | In niveæ ergo rosæ effigiem mihi sancta videri Militia est data, quam sponsam sibi sanguine Christus Junxit. At altera, quæ cernit cantatque volando Gloriam et illius, cujus flammatur amore, Et quæ ipsi dederit bonitas excellere tantum ; Quale examen apum, quod nunc insīdit odoris |
Then in the likeness of a snow-white rose the holy army was given to me to appear, one which Christ joined to himself with his blood as his spouse. But the other army [of angels] (which, flying, also sees and sings the glory of Him with whose love it is inflamed) and the goodness which enable that army to excel so much , like a swarm of bees that now alights on the flowers |
| 670 | Floribus, et nunc ad cellas ac mella revertunt, Ad florem magnum, ornatum tot frondibus, ibat Delapsa ; adque suum mox se referebat Amorem. Ignis erat facies, aurum alæ, ac cetera tantum Candida, ut his nivium nequeat contendere candor. Quum florem peteret, per sedes lapsa gradatim, Ardoris pacisque dabat, dum ventilat alis [25] Ipsa lătus, quod adepta fuit. Nec tanta volantum Turba, Deum floremque inter, visum atque nĭtorem Intercīdebat : nam lux divina per omnem |
of fragrance and now return to their cells and honey, would go gliding down to the great flower, adorned with so many branches, and then return to its own Love. Their face was fire, the wings gold, and the other features so white that the whiteness of snow could not compete with them. As, cascading stepwise down the tiers, it made for the flower, it would dispense what it had gotten of ardor and peace while fanning its flanks with its wings. Yet, such a great throng of flying beings between God and the flower interrupted neither sight nor brilliance, because the Divine Light |
| 680 | Inseritur mundum, prout quisque est dignus ; et objex Nusquam illi esse potest, ac nulla repagula claudunt. Istud, gente frequens priscaque novaque, beatum Ac tutum regnum, visumque perinde et amorem Uni intendebat signo. O lux, sidere ab uno Quæ trina effulges, recreans tam corda tuentum, Respice nimbiferam, quæ nos premit atra, procellam. Si, procul hibernis veniens gens barbara ab oris, Quo se Helice semper cara cum prole revolvit, Obstupuit, Romam aspiciens operumque labores, |
is injected into the entire universe in conformity with the extent to which each one is worthy, and nowhere can there be a barrier to it, and no bolts shut it in. This blessed and safe realm, thronged with people ancient and new, in like manner directs its vision and love toward a single target. O threefold light who beams from a single star, so refreshing the hearts of onlookers, look upon the rainstorm that, so dark, oppresses us. If a barbarian tribe, coming from distant northern shores where Helice [= the Big Dipper, Ursa Major] forever orbits with her beloved child [= the Little Dipper, Ursa Minor], was dumbstruck at seeing Rome and the labors of its works, |
| 690 | Quum res mortales Lateranum desuper ivit ; Qui mihi, ab humano ad divinum, ex tempore ad æternum, Evecto, ad populum justum Florentiæ ab urbe, Tum stupor ingruere atque invadere debuit artus ! Attonito ac læto, mihi nil audire libebat, Ac pressis hærere labris. Velut advena quondam Se recreat, templum, quod voto astrictus adivit, Aspiciens, speratque redux jam visa referre ; Sic ego per vivam volvebam lumina lucem Sursumque deorsumque ; ac gyros sæpe per omnes |
when the Lateran [Palace = Rome] went above mortal affairs, what stupefaction must have overcome me and infused my limbs me, raised from the human to the divine, from time to eternity, from the city of Florence to a just people! Thunderstruck and ecstatic, I wanted to hear nothing and to keep my lips closed. As sometimes a stranger seeing a temple that, bound by a vow, he has come to reinvigorates himself and hopes in returning to relate what he has seen, so I let my eyes wander up and down through the living light and often looked around |
| 700 | Visum iterans. Cernebam etenim suadentia amorem Ora, aliena luce suoque nĭtentia risu ; Cernebam ornatos cunctis virtutibus actus. Jamque locum totum lūstraram, lumina volvens, Nulla defixus parte ; atque cupidine plenus Vertebar, Dominam cupiens nonnulla rogare, Quæ me suspensum, non intellecta, tenebant ; Ast unum volui, atque aliud mihi contigit : illam Sum ratus aspicere, ac Seniorem assistere vidi, Vestibus indutum niveis : oculosque genasque |
repeatedly through all the circles. For indeed I saw faces encouraging love, shining with another’s light and their own laughter; I saw gestures adorned with every virtue. And I had already browsed over the whole place, turning my eyes around, staying on no part and, filled with desire, I turned, wishing to ask my Lady about some things which, not being understood, held me in suspense. Yet I wanted one thing, but another happened to me. I thought I would see her, but I saw an elderly man standing alongside me, dressed in snow-white garments. He was suffused in his |
| 710 | Lætitia perfusus erat, vultuque benignus, Ut pater in natos. Ubinam, inqui protinus ipse, Illa est ? Ut tua sit penitus perfecta cupido, Respondit, me dimovit de sede Beatrix ; Sique gradūs summi ad gyrum tua lumina tertium Attollas, hīc in solio alte astare videbis, Quod sua promeruit virtus. Nulla orsa reponens, Lumina surrexi, atque illam reflectere vidi Æternos radios, eque his sibi texere sertum. Nemo illis, resonant ubi rauca tonitrua, ab oris |
eyes and cheeks with joy, and kindly of countenance, like a father towards his children. “Where,” I myself asked right away, “is she?” “So that your desire may be fully fulfilled,” he responded, “Beatrice has removed me from my place; and if you raise your eyes to the third circle of the highest tier, you will see her aloft standing there by the throne that her virtue has merited.” Answering nothing, I raised my eyes and saw her reflecting the eternal rays, and out of them weaving a wreath for herself. No one submerged at the bottom of the sea |
| 720 | Est ita sejunctus, pelago demersus in imo, Quantum oculis erat illa meis. Distantia vero Haud quicquam obstabat visu ; quippe aëre tractūs Per vacuos, non mixta mihi veniebat imago. O mea spes, Mulier, mihi quæ latura salutem, Ferre per infernas passa es vestigia sedes, Ex bonitate tua virtus et gratia, nosco, Venerunt, quæ me dederunt res cernere tantas ; Tu, me servitio eripiens, omni arte viaque Usa es, queis poteras, ut libertate potirer : |
is as far removed from the regions where hoarse thunders sound as she was from my eyes. But the distance did not obstruct the view whatsoever. Indeed, her unalloyed image came to me in the air through empty spaces. “O my hope, Milady, who, to bring me salvation, endured taking your footsteps through the infernal realms, I acknowledge that the virtue and grace which enabled me to see such things came from your goodness; snatching me from slavery, you employed every stratagem and way you could so that I could achieve freedom. |
| 730 | Quæ mihi munifice tribuisti, munera serva, Ut mea, cui dederis dulcem reparare salutem, Grata tibi hinc anima humano se corpore solvat. Talibus oravi : atque illa ex tam parte remota, Quale videbatur, me inspexit, blandaque risit ; Dehinc rursum æterno se immersit fonte bonorum. Sic mihi tum Senior : Cœptum deducere cursum Ad finem ut valeas, sancto ad quem missus amore Ac prece deveni, circum tua lumina volve Hunc fulgentem hortum ; quippe hujus visus acumen |
Preserve the gifts which you have generously granted me, so that my soul, which you have enabled to regain sweet salvation, may hereafter be released from its human body in a state pleasing to you.” So I prayed: and she, from a place so far off, as it seemed, looked at me and smiled pleasantly, then immersed herself again in the Eternal Fountain of the good. The Elderly Man then spoke to me thus: So that you may bring to completion your initiated venture for which, sent by holy love and prayer, I have come , turn your eyes around this shining garden; indeed, the sight of it will increase |
| 740 | Augebit, quo deinde queas ascendere divos Altius ad radios. Cæli Regina favorem Sufficiet nobis, cujus valde uror amore ; Sum namque illius, Bernardus nomine, servus. Ut nostrum ad templum quidam, progressus ab oris Forsitan Illyricis, Christi sudaria vultu Impressa aspiciens, nescit se explere tuendo ; Atque pius secum, sacra dum velamina cernit : Hæc vere tua, Christe Deus, fuit, inquit, imago ? Sic ego mirabar vivacem illius amorem, |
your acumen, with which you may then climb higher to the divine rays. The Queen of Heaven, for whom I burn intensely with love, will grant us her favor; for I am her servant, Bernard by name.” As someone coming, perhaps from Illyrian shores, to our temple, viewing the sudarium imprinted with the face of Christ, is unable to satisfy himself by looking and piously says to himself as he views the sacred cloths, “O Christ, God, was this really your image?” so I wondered at the living love of that man |
| 750 | Qui, secum meditans, cælestis gaudia pacis Gustavit terris. O, quem sibi Gratia natum Progenuit, tunc ille inquit, tibi talia nunquam Gaudia notescent, donec tu lumina flectis. Suspice, et in gyros oculos attolle remotos, Usque eo, ubi Regina sedet pulcherrima Cæli, Quam totum hoc regnum colit et reverenter honorat. Erexi alte oculos ; ac, sicut mane recenti Eous finis, veniens quem Phœbus inaurat, Occiduum superat ; sic, tanquam ex valle supernum |
who, meditating within himself, had tasted the joys of heavenly peace in this world. He then said, “O you whom Grace has begotten as its own son, such joys will never be known to you until you turn your eyes. Look up and raise your eyes to the far circles, up to the point where sits the most beautiful Queen of Heaven, whom this whole realm cultivates and reverently honors.” I raised my eyes high and, as in the early morning the eastern rim, which the upcoming Phoebus [= the sun] gilds, surpasses the western one, likewise as though climbing from a valley |
| 760 | Ad montem ascendens oculis, splendescere partem Margine conspexi, vincentem lumine totum Undique consessum. Utque hīc in qua parte manetur, Quem male direxit proles Clymeneïa, currus, Illa magis fulget, minuunt dum cetera lucem ; Pacifica hæc medio sic Auriflamma micabat Acrius, ac reliquas dabat elanguescere flammas. Hōc aciem in medio expansis applaudere pennis Angelicam vidi, cujus fulgoreque et arte Quisquis erat varius. Dum concentusque jocosque |
up to a high mountain with my eyes, on the edge I saw a portion shine, in light outdoing the entire assembly on all sides. And as here in the part where is awaited the chariot that the son of Clymeneïa [= Phaëton] drove awry it shines more brightly while the other parts diminish their light, likewise that peaceful Oriflamme glittered more intensely in the center and made the other flames fade. In this midpoint I saw an angelic phalanx applauding with outstretched wings, through whose radiance and skill each one was different. As they redoubled their harmony and merriment, |
| 770 | Ingeminant, facies his arridere venusta Est tum visa mihi, cunctis quæ gaudia Sanctis Addidit. Et, si quanta mihi est vis vivida mentis Tanta foret fandi, non hujus promere verbis Deliciæ auderem minimum. Bernardus, amori Quum vidit me hærere suo, tum lumina amanter Huic ita defixit, magis ut me incenderit ardor. |
I saw smiling at them a beautiful face which added joy to all the Saints. And [even] if I had as vivid a power of speech as I have of mind, I would not venture to put forth in words the least of her delights. Bernard, when he saw me riveted to his own love, then fixed his eyes lovingly on her, so that his ardor ignited me all the more. |
| PARADISI XXXII {32} ⇑ | ||
| 777 | Cœnobiarcha senex doctoris munere fungi Sponte sua incepit, vocesque has pectore fudit : Vulnus, quod Maria hinc Virgo conclusit et unxit, |
The elderly monastery leader spontaneously began to exercise the office of teacher, and poured these words from his heart: “The wound that the Virgin Mary closed and anointed from there |
| 780 | Hæc tam pulchra sedens ejus vestigia subter, Olim panditque ac pupugit. Dehinc ordine tertio Hanc subter Rachel, velut aspicis, atque Beatrix Assīdunt : hinc Sara et Judith atque Rebecca, Et proavia illius, sua qui commissa perosus, Cantor ait miserere mei. Potes ipse gradatim Descendens oculis, has nosse, ut nomina pandens Per frondes ego progredior. Ex ordine septimo, Ut super usque illum, sunt Abræ ex stirpe creatæ, In geminam partem dirimentes undique florem. |
this woman [= Eve], so beautiful, sitting at her feet, once opened and pierced. Then beneath her in the third tier sit Rachel, as you see, and Beatrice. Next are Sarah and Judith and Rebecca and her great-grandmother [= Ruth] of him [= King David] who, hating his own sins, said “Miserere mei.” You yourself, descending stepwise with your eyes, can recognize these women as I progress through the petals, revealing their names. From the seventh row on down, just as all the way above it, are the women sprung from the stock of Abraham, dividing the flower into two parts. |
| 790 | Quippe hæ sunt murus, qui sacra sedilia dīdit, Prout sua nempe fides direxit lumina Christo. Qua flos est cunctis ornatus frondibus, illa Sunt in parte, fidem Christi qui habuere futuri Adventūs : illa, qua sunt vacui atque patentes Hemicycli, sunt qui Christo, postquam æthere venit, Crediderunt. Solium ut Mariæ, et subsellia subter, In geminam dīdunt partem, sic ordine certo Secernunt latere adverso, quibus ille Joannes Præest, qui, semper sanctus, vitam in saltibus egit, |
Indeed, these are the wall which divides the sacred benches according, to be sure, as to how their faith directs its vision to Christ. On that side, where the flower is adorned with all its petals, are those who believed in the coming of the future Christ. On the other side, where the semicircles are empty and open, are those who believed in Christ after he had come from heaven. And as Mary’s throne and the benches below her divide things into two parts, so, in the given order, do those on the opposite side make a division those over which the great John [the Baptist] presides who, ever holy, lived his life in ravines |
| 800 | Letumque atque duos infernum pertulit annos. Post hunc Franciscus, Benedictus, et Augustinus, Atque alii, sunt hīc pariter secernere lecti Per varios huc usque gradus. Tu suspice mirum Consilium Dei, utramque fidem quod habentibus æque Hunc hortum implebit. Scito autem : ex sede deorsum, Post floris medium, duo quæ discrimina finit, Non sua dant illic merita, ast aliena sĕdere, Condicione rata [26] ; sunt hic nam corpore cassi, Qui prius occĭderint, quam vis sit certa legendi. |
and suffered death and, for two years, hell. Following him, Francis, Benedict, Augustine and the others have here been likewise chosen to form the dividing line through the different tiers all the way to here. Note the marvelous plan of God, and the fact that He will fill this garden equally with those who have either faith. But know that, from the tier that after the middle of the flower intersects the two dividing lines, down, it is not one’s own merits that enable sitting there, but those of others under fixed conditions; for here are the bereft of body who died before they had any real ability to choose. |
| 810 | Ut vultu ex tenero, ac balbis deprendere verbis Ipse potes, si videris aut audiveris illos. Tu vero dubitas, dubitansque silentiam servas ; Ast ego, quo tua te vincit mens, forte ligamen Exsolvam. Non hoc in regno casus haberi Est potis, ut sitis atque fames ac pectoris angor. Æterna, quodcunque vides, est lege statutum ; Omnia convenient, respondent cuncta vicissim, Annulus ut digito. Gens hæc tam protinus ergo Non fuit æternæ sine causa credita vitæ. |
You can recognize it yourself by their tender faces and their babbling voices, if you look or listen to them. However you are in doubt and, doubting, keep your silence. But I will untie the strong bond with which your mind is shackling you. In this realm it is not possible for chance to exist, just as for thirst and hunger and anxiety of heart. Whatever you see has been ordained by everlasting law; everything fits and everything is in mutual correspondence, as a ring to a finger. So this people [= the infants] was not committed so quickly to the eternal life without a reason. |
| 820 | Plus minus excellens venit has mortalis in ædes : Rex, qui lætitia tanta ac tanto implet amore Hoc regnum, ut nemo ulterius cupiisse sit ausus, Quemque creans, variæ dispensat munera gratiæ : Hoc satis ; occultasque nefas inquirere causas. Id patet ex geminis natis, qui matris in alvo Commōvere iras, (monumenta ut tradita sacris Testantur tabulis). Pro crinis proinde colore [27] Gratia quem dederit, divinum lumen oportet Constituat sertum. Variis sunt sedibus ergo, |
A mortal comes to this temple greater or lesser in excellence; The King, who fills this kingdom with such joy and love that no one has dared to desire anything more, in creating individuals dispenses gifts of varying grace. This is enough, and it is wrong to inquire about the hidden causes. That is clear from the twin sons [= Jacob and Esau, cf. Genesis 25:21ff.] who began their antagonism in their mother’s womb (as the records handed down in Holy Scripture testify). Hence, according to the hair color which Grace has given, it behooves the Divine Light to confer a wreath. Thus they are placed in different locations, |
| 830 | Absque suis meritis, positi, prout indita primum Gratia distinguit. Pueris insontibus olim Sat fuerat, mundi primis ætatibus, una Patrum firma fides, ut Cælum ascendere possent. Illis temporibus lapsis, hinc mascula pubes Præcidi silice est circum genitalia jussa. At postquam venit maturo tempore Christus, Non est huc aditus, nisi per baptismatis undam. Jamque age, luminibus faciem nunc conspice fixis Quæ magis est Christo similis : nĭtor illius unus |
without their own merits, according as their conferred grace first distinguishes them. Long ago, in the first ages of the earth, their fathers’ firm faith alone was enough for them to be able to ascend to Heaven. After the passing of those times, it was then commanded that male children be cut around their genitals with a flint knife. But after Christ arrived in the fullness of time, there was no access to here except through the waters of baptism. Now look with fixed eyes at the face that is most like Christ, since its brightness alone |
| 840 | Reddere quippe potest habilem te cernere Christum. Fervere lætitiam tantam tunc undique vidi Hanc super, et sic Angelicas applaudere mentes, Circum tam celsos tractus volitare creatas, Ut nil me tanto cumulaverit ante stupore Ex visis ; nil rettulerit de Numine tantum. Atque is, qui primus descenderat Angelus illuc, Ante ipsam expandit pennas, ac voce canebat Suavisona : Salve, quam Cæli gratia complet ; Cunctaque voce pari referebant agmina : Salve ; |
can render you fit to see Christ. I then saw such joy boiling up everywhere over her [= Mary], and the Angelic minds, created to fly in such lofty regions, applauding so much, that nothing of things seen before had [ever] overwhelmed me with such amazement; nothing responded with so much of the Divine. And that Angel [= Gabriel] who had first descended there spread out his wings before her and sang in a soothing voice, “Hail, you whom Heaven’s grace fills,” to which all the legions responded in like voice, “Hail,” |
| 850 | Ac facies cujusque novo fulgore micabat. O qui, sancte Pater, dignaris, sede relicta, Æterna, quam sorte tenes, hic sistere mecum, Fare, quis est Ales, nostræ qui lumina lætus Reginæ intuitur, tantoque ardescit amore Non secus ac ignis ? Sic dixi, versus ad illum, Qui Mariæ radiis, ut Solis Lucifer igne, Ornabat sese. Atque is : quæ forma atque venustas Angelo inesse potest, hæc utraque fulget in illo ; Utque ita sit volumus : nam palmam detulit iste |
and each one’s face sparkled with new brilliance. “O holy Father, you who, leaving the place you hold by eternal lot, deign to stand here with me, say, who is the joyful Angel who looks into the eyes of our Queen and is blazing like fire with such a love?” Thus I spoke, turning to him who adorned himself with Mary’s rays as the Morning Star does with the sun’s fire. And he: “All of the shapeliness and beauty that can be in an angel, both shine in him; and we want it to be thus, for that one bore the palm down |
| 860 | Jam Mariæ, quum mortales Deus induit artus. Jamque age, me intentis oculis animoque loquentem Prosequere, ac proceres hujus circumspice regni. Hi duo, qui Mariæ consīdunt sede propinqua, Sunt quasi radices, unde hæc rosa germinat ipsa. Qui sedet ad lævam, pater est, quo auctore malorum Incubuit tam magna seges mortalibus ægris. Est pater ad dextram, floris cui tradidit hujus Jam Christus claves [28]. Huic assĭdet ille, labores Qui cunctos Sponsæ, ætherias quum carperet auras, |
to Mary, when God donned mortal limbs. And now come and follow me with your intent eyes and your mind as I speak, and look around at the nobles of this realm. These two who sit in the seat next to Mary are like the roots from which this rose sprouted forth. He who sits on the left is the father [= Adam] under whose authorship such a huge harvest of evil came over sick humans. On the right is the father [= St. Peter] to whom Christ once gave the keys of this flower [= the Church]. Sitting next to him is the one who, while he was enjoying the upper air [of life], saw all the sufferings of the Bride [= the Church] |
| 870 | Vidit, quam Christus fuso sibi sanguine junxit. Juxta illum Dux ille est, sub quo roscidus imber Indocilem pavit deserta per horrida gentem. Ante Petrum sedet Anna, adeo contenta tueri Natam, ut quamvis ore Deo præconia solvat, Nunquam oculos vertit. Primum sedet ante parentem Quæ Dominam est hortata tuam tibi Lucia adesse, Quum cæcis oculis in præceps devius ires. At, quoniam tempus fugit irreparabile somnii, [29] Hæc fuerit monstrasse satis, quo more peritus |
that Christ joined to himself through his bloodshed. Alongside him is that Leader [= Moses] under whom the dewy rain fed the rude tribe through the harsh desert. In front of Peter sits Anna, so content to observe her daughter that, however much she pays praises to God with her mouth, she never averts her eyes. In front of our first parent sits Lucy, who urged your Lady to go to your aid when, with blind eyes, you were going headlong astray. But since the irrevocable time of your dream is fleeing, it will be enough to have shown these things, in the way that an expert |
| 880 | Ad panni modulum sartor concinnat amictum. Lumina, per nimios quantum penetrare licebit Fulgores, primo enixe vertamus Amori, Ne tibi contingat, quod, quum commoverīs alas Ipse tuas, ante ire ratus, gradiare retrorsum. Ex illa, quæ ferre potest, ne mitte rogare Auxilium, mea dicta pio nunc corde secutus. Talibus effatus, cœpit sic rite precari. |
tailor adjusts the garment according to the dimensions of the cloth. Let us turn our eyes with all our might to the Primal Love, insofar as it is permissible to penetrate through its intense radiance, lest it happen to you that, when you yourself beat your own wings, thinking to go forward, you should move backward. Following my words now with a devout heart, do not neglect to ask help from her [= Mary] who can give it.” Having said that, he began to pray solemnly thus: |
| PARADISI XXXIII {33} ⇑ | ||
| 888 | Nati materque ac filia, humillima Virgo, Ac eādem res alta super quascunque creatas, |
“O both mother and daughter of your Son, most humble Virgin, and in the same way sublime over all other created things, |
| 890 | Terminus æternæ, quæ continet omnia, mentis. Naturam humanam sic tu excellere dedisti, Factor ut illius fieri est dignatus ab ipsa. Ille in ventre tuo rursum divinitus ardor [30] Exarsit, cujus sancto tepefacta calore Hæc rosa in æterna produxit germina pace. Tu fax es nobis nunquam cessantis amoris ; Ac fons terrigenis, spes unde uberrima manat. Tam magna atque potens es tu, clarissima Virgo, Ut quisquis sibi quærit opem, ac te absistit adire |
The endpoint of the Eternal Mind that contains all things: you enabled human nature to excel so much that its Maker deigned, through her, to partake of it. In your womb that ardor was again divinely rekindled; warmed by its sacred heat, this rose put forth its sprouts in eternal peace. For us you are the torch of never-ceasing love, and for earthlings the font whence flows most fertile hope. You are so great and powerful, o most renowned Virgin, that, for anyone who seeks help and fails to come to you |
| 900 | Suppliciter, vult illius volitare cupido Absque alis. Nec tantum ades implorantibus ; ipsa Sæpe etiam antevenis. Miro tibi fœdere junctæ Sunt pietas, clementia, magnificentia ; et omne Quod reliquis bonitatis inest, te sistit in una. Hĭc, qui, ex inferni progressus vallibus imis Usque huc, spirituum vidit per singula vitas, Te rogat, ut tali facias virtute potentem, Qua valeat visu Supremam haurire Salutem ; [31] Atque ego, qui plus haud unquam cupii ipse videre, |
humbly, his longing seeks to fly without wings. You not only assist those who ask, but often you even come in advance. Joined to you in a miraculous union are piety, clemency and magnificence, and whatever of goodness is in the rest exists in you, a single being. This man who, having progressed from the deepest valleys of hell to here, has seen the individual lives of spirits, asks you to make him strong in virtue by means of which, through his vision, he may imbibe the Supreme Salvation. And I, who have myself never more desired to see it |
| 910 | Quam nunc hunc cupio, te votis omnibus oro ; Atque oro ne vota sinas sine pondere nostra. Pelle tuis precibus, mortalem discute nubem Illius ex oculis ; pateatque his summa voluptas. Præterea te, cuncta potens Regina quod optas, Deprecor, illius, postquam se attollere tantum Ad visum potuit, sensus sine labe tuere, Atque tua humanos vincat custodia motus. Inspice, Diva potens, nexis ut clara Beatrix Hæc te, Cælituumque rogent simul agmina palmis ! |
than I now desire him to, beseech you with all my supplications, and beg that you not leave our prayers without importance. By means of your prayers, dispel and disperse the cloud of mortality from his eyes; let the supreme pleasure be revealed to them. Moreover I pray you, o Queen, capable of all you wish for, after he has been able to raise himself to such a vision, to keep his senses without sin and that your guidance overcome his human urges. Behold, o powerful heavenly Lady, how the illustrious Beatrice and these heavenly legions simultaneously beseech you with folded hands.” |
| 920 | Dilecta illa Deo venerataque lumina, in ipsos Defixa orantes, dederunt cognoscere, quantum Grata sibi veniant pia verba ex corde petentum ; Æternum in Solem sunt protinus inde reversa, Nullam ubi credendum est aciem tam cernere clare. Atque ego, votorum metæ quum proximus essem, Vim desiderii explevi, ut convenerat, omnem. Surridens Senior nutu me celsa tueri Admonuit ; sed talis eram qualem ille volebat : Namque oculi, pulsa usque magis caligine, veræ |
Fixed on the suppliants themselves, those venerated eyes, so dear to God, gave us to know how welcome were the devout words from the heart of the petitioners; next, they immediately turned back to the Eternal Sun where, it must be believed, no eye perceives so clearly. And I, since I was nearest to the goal of my wishes, fulfilled, as was right, all the force of desire. Smiling, the elderly man signaled me to look upward, but I was [already] such as he wanted, for with the darkness all the more dispelled, all the further |
| 930 | Per lucis penitus radios, magis usque subibant. Visus deinde meus sese super extulit omne Eloquium ; ac memori nequiit proin mente teneri. Non aliter quam qui in somnis conspexerit, alte Quod movet illi animum, quum somnus deinde recessit, Motus adhuc remanet, revocari at nescit imago ; Sic ego sum ; nam visa mihi pæne omnia cessant, At dulcis superest, quæ venerat inde, voluptas. Sic nix ad Solem lĭquitur, sic carmina ventus Perdebat, levibus foliis descripta Sibyllæ. |
my eyes went up into the rays of true light. From there on my vision exceeded all speech, and likewise could not be retained by my recollective mind. Like someone who in sleep sees something which moves his spirit deeply, when thereafter his sleep recedes, the emotion then remains, but the image cannot be recalled, so am I; for almost all of the visions have left me, but the sweet pleasure that had come from them survives. Thus snow melts before the Sun; thus the wind does away with songs written on the light leaves of the Sibyl. |
| 940 | O, quæ mortales adeo super ardua mentes, Maxima lux, surgis, qualis mihi visa, parumper Menti redde meæ ; ac linguæ sic suffice vires, Ut queat inde tuæ venturi gentibus ævi Saltem unam immensæ scintillam ostendere gloriæ : Hanc animo revocans, numerisque canentibus edens, Efficiam ut melius tua se victoria pandat. Credo equidem, nimium divinæ ob lucis acumen, Quod defecturus fuerim, si forte remossem Victus ab hac oculos ; memori sed mente recurrit, |
O greatest Light, who rises so far above mortal minds, give back to my mind a little of what you seemed to me, give my tongue power so that then it may show to the peoples of coming ages at least one small spark of your immense glory; so that, recalling it to mind and proclaiming it with singing cadences, I may cause your victory to spread itself better. I indeed believe that, because of the extreme intensity of the divine light, I would have perished, overcome by it, if I had by chance taken my eyes off of it. But to my recollecting mind returns |
| 950 | Quod magis hoc propter steterim defixus et audax, Dum fontem immensæ potui contingere lucis. O vis divini auxilii ! o mirabile donum, Lumen in æternum potui quo immittere visum Usque adeo, ut vis tota mihi est expleta videndi ! Hīc ab Amore simul religata volumine in uno Vidi, quæ variis mundi panduntur in oris. Quod se ex ipso est, quodque aliunde exordia sumit, Atque horum mores, adeo conflantur in unum, Ut, quæ nunc refero, tantum sint debile lumen. |
the fact that, because of it, I stood all the more fixed and bold until I could reach the font of immeasurable light. O power of divine aid! O miraculous gift, eternal light in which I was able to immerse my vision to the point that my entire capacity of seeing was filled up! I saw there, simultaneously bound in one volume by Love, the things that are spread out in different regions of the world. What exists in itself, and what takes its origins from elsewhere, and their behaviors, are merged together in such a way that what I now report is only a weak light. |
| 960 | Qui nodum hunc stringit, diversaque fœdera jungit, Me certe vidisse reor : nam talia fanti Uberiora mihi perfundunt gaudia pectus. Longior est mora momentum mihi temporis unum, Sæcula quam bis dena ac quinque struentibus Argo, Cujus iter mediis stupuit Neptunus in undis. Mens mea suspensa atque immota hærebat ibidem, Usque magis flagrans, quo plenius usque videbat ; Est ea lux etenim talis, quæ evadere ab ipsa Non oculos unquam patitur : quodcunque voluntas |
I think I saw with certainty who tied this knot and joined the different unions, because in saying these things, more abundant joy suffuses my heart. [That] one moment of time was a longer delay [of forgetfulness] for me than twenty-five centuries for those constructing the Argo, at whose journey amidst the waves Neptune was dumbfounded. My mind froze, suspended and immobile in that spot, burning all the more, the more fully it continued to gaze. For indeed, that light is such that it does not allow eyes ever to leave it: whatever the will |
| 970 | Quippe hominum exoptat, perfectum hīc invĕnit omne ; Nec quicquam est alibi vitiis ac sordibus expers. Jam nunc, quæ memini, referens, non pluribus utar Verbis, quam qui nutricis puer ubera sugit : Non quia in æterno, quod vidi, lumine plusquam Unica sit facies : nam sic est semper, ut ante Jam fuit ; at quia ab intuitu mihi majus acumen Semper erat visūs : quare, prout ipse videndo Mutabar, sese pariter mutabat imago. Lumine in hoc imo trinos sum cernere visus |
of men wishes, here it finds it all, perfect; nor is anything elsewhere free of defects and dirt. From now on, reporting what I remember, I will use no more words than a baby boy sucking his wetnurse’s breasts, not because in the eternal light which I saw there is more than a single face for it is always thus as it had previously been , but because, from watching, there was a constantly greater keenness of my vision; hence, as I myself was changed in looking, the image likewise changed. In that deepest light I seemed to see three |
| 980 | Orbes, mensuræ ejusdem, triplicisque coloris, Uno alius manans, velut Iris ab Iride prodit ; Tertius ignis erat, spirans æqualis utrinque. O tenuis vis eloquii, quam rebus es impar, Conceptas quas mente gero ! (quæ sunt quoque visis Distantes adeo, ut non sit sat dicere paulum). O Lux æterna, ipsa tibi quæ innīteris, unāque A te perciperis ; perceptaque percipiensque, Te lætaris amans ! mihi circulus ille secundus, In te progenitus, quasi lumen lumine, postquam |
circles of the same size and of three colors, the other flowing from the one, as rainbow comes forth from rainbow; the third was fire: equal, drawing breath from both sides. O weak power of speech, how unequal you are to the things which I bear grasped in my mind! (which also are so remote from what I have seen that it is inadequate to call them “little”)! O Eternal Light, you who yourself depend upon yourself, you are understood by yourself alone and, both understood and understanding, loving, you rejoice! To me that second circle, begotten within yourself, as though light from light, after |
| 990 | Paulisper circum inspexi, ex proprio ipse colore Est visus nostræ depictus imagine formæ : Quippe meis oculis hærebam totus ibidem. Ut tacitus curas geometres admovet omnes, Mētiri ut circlum valeat, frustraque laborat, Nam, quo eget, haud reperit, sic ipse in imagine fixus Hærebam, mecum perquirens quomodo imago Congrueret circlo, atque aptari posset in illo ; At nimis ista meas vincebat sarcina vires. Mens mea tunc autem tali est percussa nĭtore, |
I had observed it a little, itself seemed, from its own color, painted in the image of our shape. I was indeed completely riveted to the spot with my eyes. As a silent geometer devotes all his efforts to being able to gauge the circle and labors in vain because he does not find what he needs, so I myself was immobile, fixated on the image, carefully inquiring within myself as to how the image was fitted to the circle and could be adjusted to it; however that burden overcame my powers. But next my mind was struck by such a flash |
| 1000 | Ut mihi continuo patuit, quod discere avebam. Phantasiæ me deseruit dein vivida virtus ; At jam, more rotæ, circum vi æqualiter actæ, Ut mea ei concors ferret se rite voluntas, Is volvebat Amor, qui Solem torquet et astra. |
that what I wanted to learn was instantly clear to me. Thereafter my vigorous power of imagination abandoned me. But then, in the manner of a wheel evenly driven around by power, the Love that causes the Sun and the stars to orbit turned, so that my will proceeded rightly in concord with it. |
| DANTIS ALIGHERII DIVINÆ COMŒDIÆ ⇑ | ||
| FINIS | ||
| ⇑ ad Dantis Aligherii Divinam Comœdiam |
IN LIBRO I
IN LIBRO II
IN LIBRO III
IN LIBRO IV
IN LIBRO V
IN LIBRO VI
IN LIB VII
IN LIBRO VIII
IN LIBRO IX
IN LIBRO X
IN LIBRO XI
IN LIBRO XII
|
| O QUI PERPETUA MUNDUM RATIONE GUBERNAS | O THOU WHO WITH PERPETUAL REASON GOVERNEST THE WORLD |
| O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas ! Terrarum cælique sator ! qui tempus ab ævo Ire jubes, stabilisque manens das cuncta moveri, Quem non externæ pepulerunt fingere causæ Materiæ fluitantis opus, verum insita summi Forma boni, livore carens ! Tu cuncta superno Ducis ab exemplo, pulchrum pulcherrimus ipse Mundum mente gerens, similique in imagine formans Perfectasque jubens perfectum absolvere partes. |
O Thou who with perpetual reason governest the world sower of earth and sky, who from eternity commandest time to move and, fixed, givest motion to all else, whom no external causes drove to fashion the work of fluid matter, but rather the indwelling form of the highest Good, free of all envy: Thou derivest all things from the eternal example; most beautiful, Thou carriest in Mind the beauteous world, form it to like pattern, biddest its perfect parts to fill it out and make it complete. |
| Tu numeris elementa ligas, ut frigora flammis, Arida conveniant liquidis : ne purior ignis Evolet, aut mersas deducant pondera terras. |
Thou bindest the elements with numbers, so that freezings with flames, dry things may fit together with liquid, lest the purer fire fly up or its weight cause earth to drown. |
| Tu triplicis mediam naturæ cuncta moventem connectens animam per consona membra resolvis, quæ, quum secta duos motum glomeravit in orbes, in semet reditura meat mentemque profundam circuit et simili convertit imagine cælum. |
To be the midpoint of triple Nature, to move all things, Thou attachest Soul and diffusest it through adapted members, and Soul, cut in two, has globed its motion in two orbs, goes forth to return into itself, circles about the depth of Mind, and curves the heavens to like pattern. |
| Tu causis animas paribusque vitasque minores provehis et levibus sublimes curribus aptans in cælum terramque seris, quas lege benigna ad te conversas reduci facis igne reverti. |
With similar causes Thou bringest forth souls and lesser lives and, fitting those sublime creatures to light chariots, sowest them in sky and earth and, by a kindly law, when they turn back to Thee, makest them return by ascending fire. |
| Da, pater, augustam menti conscendere sedem Da fontem lustrare boni, da luce reperta In te conspicuos animi defigere visus. |
Grant, Father, that the mind ascend to Thy august throne, grant that it circle the fount of Good, grant that, finding the Light, it may fix its sharpened sight deep in Thee. |
| Disjice terrenæ nebulas, et pondera molis Atque tuo splendore mica. Tu namque serenum, Tu requies tranquilla piis, te cernere finis, Principium, vector, dux, semita, terminus idem. |
Dispel the clouds and weight of earthly matter and flash forth with Thy splendor: for Thou art the clear sky, Thou are the peaceful rest of the just, to see Thee the Goal, the Beginning, the Mover, the Guide, the Path, the End, the Same. |
| — English adapted from Robert M. Durling The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri Volume 3 : PARADISO, p. 687 Oxford U. Pr., 2011 | |
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| Deus vult ! | — Brian Regan ( Inscriptio electronica: Brennus@brennus.bluedomino.com ) |
| Dies immutationis recentissimๆ: die Solis, 2013 Julii 16 |