Yet in this deep suspicion rest thou not Stretches its shadow far." He answered thus: For there Thou canst not be, ere thou once more behold It spoke not aught, but let us onward pass, But Virgil, with entreaty mild, advanced, 45 50 55 60 65 It answer to his question none returned; But of our country and our kind of life 70 Demanded. When my courteous guide began, "Mantua," the shadow, in itself absorbed, Rose towards us from the place in which it stood, And cried, "Mantuan! I am thy countryman, Sordello." Each the other then embraced. 75 Ah, slavish Italy! thou inn of grief! Vessel without a pilot in loud storm! But brothel-house impure! this gentle spirit, With such glad cheer: while now thy living ones 52. Since the Poets are going from east to west, the mountain could stand between them and the sun (thus "stretching its shadow far") only toward evening. 55. Dante thought he could reach the summit before night. We shall see that it took several days to do this. 57. The sun. "A guisa di leon quando si posa." 80 On his watch is not a good translation of si posa = lies at rest, couches. 75. A troubadour who flourished in the first half of the thirteenth century. Dante praises him in the De Vulg. Eloq. i. 15, for abandoning the dialect of his native province: "qui tantus eloquentiæ vir existens non solum in poetando, sed quo 66. The original is a line of impressive modolibet loquendo, patrium vulgare deseruit." beauty, 82. Cf. Milton, In thee abide not without war; and one Naught doth he now but aggravate thy shame. If well thou marked'st that which God commands. From having lost correction of the spur, 85 90 95 Look how that beast to felness hath relapsed, Since to the bridle thou hast set thine hand, O German Albert! who abandon'st her That is grown savage and unmanageable, When thou shouldst clasp her flanks with forked heels. 100 Who carest for naught! those sunk in grief, and these Come, and behold the oppression of the nobles, 101. Allusion to the murder of Albert by his nephew, John, surnamed the parricide, in 1308. 103. Thy successor = Henry VII. of Luxembourg. From him the Poet hoped for the deliverance of Italy, but having come to Italy and having been crowned in Rome in 1312, the emperor died the following year, thus putting an end to Dante's hopes. 104. Sire= Rudolph, who likewise had neglected to visit Italy. 107. The Poet mentions certain families at feud with each other, as a sample of the condition of things in all parts of Italy. The Capulets and Montagues lived in Verona; the Filippeschi and Monaldi in Orvieto. 113. Santafiore is a county in the Maremma of Siena. According to some, Dante alludes to the country here infested with robbers; according to others, he refers to the Counts of Santafiore, who in the year 1300 suffered serious losses. Thanks to thy people, who so wisely speed. Many have justice in their heart, that long Towards thee, who usest such nice subtlety, How many times within thy memory, Customs, and laws, and coins, and offices 135 140* 145 Have been by thee renewed, and people changed. 120. The original, "O sommo Giove," illustrates the strange mingling of mythology with Christianity in the Divine Comedy. 127. Marcellus was consul at the outbreak of war between Pompey and Cæsar, and chief opponent of the latter. 150 time for deliberation and making laws: not so Florence. 135. Many people refuse to assume the public offices, when asked; the Florentines are eager to obtain them. 145. The laws and statutes made in October 129. The following passage is full of bitterest are already overturned in November. All this irony. 132. The inhabitants of other cities have desire for justice in their hearts, but take refers to the constant change of laws, parties, and magistrates, which existed in Florence more than in any other city in Italy. CANTO VII. ARGUMENT. The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello conducts our Poets apart to an eminence, from whence they behold a pleasant recess, in form of a flowery valley, scooped out of the mountain; where are many famous spirits, and among them the Emperor Rudolph, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, Philip III. of France, Henry of Navarre, Peter III. of Aragon, Charles I. of Naples, Henry III. of England, and William, Marquis of Montferrat. AFTER their courteous greetings joyfully Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew "Before this mount By spirits worthy of ascent to God Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care As one, who ought before him suddenly Through every orb 5 ΙΟ 15 20 25 Of that high Sun, whom thou desirest, and who By me too late was known. There is a place 30 2. Seven is here used for many, a definite body had been transported by order of Augustus number for an indefinite. 3. Before the death and resurrection of Christ none were saved; hence Purgatory was still uninhabited by the souls of those who should purge away their sins on its terraces. 5. Virgil had died at Brundisium, and his to Naples. 35 Followed them all. But, if thou know'st, and canst, Where Purgatory its true beginning takes." He answered thus: "We have no certain place 40 45 And thou wilt know them, not without delight." "How chances this?" was answered: "whoso wished To ascend by night, would he be thence debarred 50 By other, or through his own weakness fail?" The good Sordello then, along the ground 55 60 My master straight, as wondering at his speech, 65 A little space we were removed from thence, "That way," the escorting spirit cried, "we go, Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path Where more than half the sloping edge expires. 31. Unbaptized infants. 34. Faith, Hope, and Charity. 35. The four cardinal virtues, — Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. 38. The gate of Purgatory proper. Dante and Virgil are still in Antepurgatory. cannot make a single step toward holiness, without the aid of the sun of righteousness, or illuminating grace. It is easy enough, however, to fall back to sin. 61. Virgil wonders, because, being a pagan, he cannot understand God's provisions for the 54. The allegory here is evident. The soul purgation of sin in man. P |