by Dante
54
then fear of sharing would pass from your hearts.
‘For there above, when more souls speak of ours,
the more of goodness each one owns,
57
the more of love is burning in that cloister.’
‘I am more starved for answers,’ I said, →
‘than if before I had kept silent,
60
since now my mind is filled with greater doubt.
‘How can it be that a good, distributed,
can enrich a greater number of possessors
63
than if it were possessed by few?’
And he to me: ‘Because you still
have your mind fixed on earthly things,
66
you harvest darkness from the light itself.
‘That infinite and ineffable Good, →
which dwells on high, speeds toward love
69
as a ray of sunlight to a shining body. →
‘It returns the love it finds in equal measure, →
so that, if more of ardor is extended,
72
eternal Goodness will augment Its own.
‘And the more souls there are who love on high,
the more there is to love, the more of loving,
75
for like a mirror each returns it to the other.
‘And if my words do not requite your hunger,
you shall see Beatrice. She will deliver you →
78
entirely from this and every other craving.
‘Seek only that the five wounds healed →
by being painful soon may be closed up,
81
as the other two already are.’
I was about to say: ‘You give me satisfaction,’ →
when I saw that I had reached another terrace,
84
and my eager eyes made me keep silent.
There it seemed to me I was caught up → →
in an ecstatic, sudden vision
87
in which I saw a temple full of people →
and, at the door, about to enter, a woman,
with the sweet demeanor of a mother, who said:
90
‘My son, why have you dealt with us like this?
‘Behold, your father and I have searched
for you in sorrow.’ Just as she now was silent,
93
so did that which brought her leave my sight.
Then there appeared to me another woman, →
tears of grief still running down her cheeks
96
from anger at the one whom she disdained.
She said: ‘If you are indeed lord of this city, →
whose naming caused such strife among the gods
99
and from which so much knowledge lights the world,
‘avenge yourself on those bold arms
that dared embrace our daughter, Pisistratus.’
102
And it seemed to me that lord gave gracious answer,
offered gently and with tranquil look:
‘What shall we do to one who seeks our harm
105
if we condemn the one who loves us?’
Then I saw people, aflame with burning wrath, →
stoning a youth to death, →
108
and each one screaming to himself, ‘Kill, kill.’ →
And I saw him sinking to the ground—
for death was heavy on him now—
111
but keeping his eyes open to Heaven, →
as from his deepest agony he begged →
the Lord on high to pardon his tormentors
114
with a look that must unlock compassion.
When my soul made its way back → →
to the things that are real outside it,
117
I came to know my errors were not false.
My leader, who could see that I was acting →
like one who shakes himself from sleep, said:
120
‘What’s wrong with you that you can’t walk straight
‘but have come now more than half a league
with your eyes veiled and your legs entangled,
123
like a man overcome by wine or sleep?’
‘O my dear father,’ I said, ‘if you’ll but listen, →
I will tell you exactly what I saw
126
when my legs were taken from me.’
And he: ‘If over your face you wore →
a hundred masks, even your faintest thoughts
129
would not be hidden from my sight.
‘These things were shown so you would not refuse →
to open your heart to the waters of peace
132
that pour from the eternal fountain.
‘I did not ask “What’s wrong?” for your resemblance →
to a man who stares with but unseeing eyes
135
when his body lies insensate,
‘but asked to put fresh vigor in your step.
So must the sluggard, slow to use his waking hours
138
even once these come, be spurred to act.’
We went along through the evening hour, →
forcing our eyes to seek the farthest point ahead
141
against the bright late beams,
when, little by little, a smoke moved toward us,
black as night, and there was nowhere
we could escape from it. And first it took away
145
the pureness of the air and then our sight.
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XVI
I. The third terrace: the setting (continued)
1–7
the smoke: denser and more bitter than that of hell or darkest night, it closes Dante’s eyes
8–9
thus Virgil offers Dante his shoulder to guide him
10–15
simile: Dante as a blind man following a guide
III. The penitent wrathful
16–21
their concord in prayer
22–24
Dante’s blind question and Virgil’s affirmation
IV. The speaker (giving satisfaction)
25–27
an unidentified spirit [later known as Marco] speaks
28–30
Virgil urges Dante to respond
31–33
Dante’s promise of a wonder (his living presence here)
34–36
Marco’s response: their voices will keep them together
37–45
Dante reports that he is in the flesh and comes from hell, enjoying a grace denied in modern times, and wants to know (1) to whom he speaks and (2) if he is headed toward the upward passage
46–51
Marco (1) names himself, deplores the vicious disposition of mankind, and (2) tells Dante he is on the right track upward; he asks for Dante’s prayers
52–53
Dante promises to pray for him
54–63
Dante’s puzzlement as to the source of human evil
64–66
Marco’s dejected sigh and first slash at human folly
67–129
Marco on the origin of human evil:
67–78
the heavens and free will
79–83
human freedom and subjection to God
84–96
God’s love and human love
97–102
the laws exist, but are not administered: the pope
103–108
bad guidance and not corrupt human nature accounts for the wickedness of the world (Rome’s two suns)
109–114
the ill-joined secular and pastoral leadership
115–126
&nb
sp; northern Italy once the home of courtesy and valor
127–129
Dante must tell that the Church of Rome is in the wrong, having arrogated to itself both functions
130–132
Dante agrees with Marco about the Church
133–135
Dante wants to know about Gherardo da Cambio
136–140
Marco identifies Gherardo for Dante as best he can
141–145
Marco may not leave the smoke and turns back
PURGATORIO XVI
Gloom of hell or of a night deprived →
of all the stars, beneath a barren sky
3
which everywhere was overcast with clouds,
had never put so dark a veil across my eyes
or been so harsh and stinging to my sight
6
as was the smoke that covered us
so that I could not keep my eyelids open.
And then my wise and trusted escort →
9
came up and offered me his shoulder.
Just as the blind man walks behind his guide →
so that he does not stray or strike against
12
something that might hurt or even kill him,
thus did I move through that foul, bitter air
and listened to my leader, who kept urging:
15
‘Make sure that you are not cut off from me.’
I heard voices and each one seemed to pray
for peace and mercy to the Lamb of God
18
who bears away our sins.
They all began with Agnus Dei, →
and with one voice and intonation sang the words
21
so that they seemed to share complete accord.
I asked, ‘Master, are these spirits that I hear?’
And he: ‘You have it right. Here they undo
24
the knot that was their wrath.’
‘But who are you that cleave our smoke? →
You speak of us as though, even now,
27
you measured time in months and days,’
I heard a voice say.
Then my master urged: ‘Answer him,
30
and ask him if the way goes up from here.’
And I: ‘O creature who purify yourself →
to return in beauty to the One who made you,
33
you’ll hear a wondrous story if you follow me.’
‘I will follow as far as is permitted,’
he said, ‘and if the smoke denies us sight,
36
hearing will keep us joined instead.’
And I began: ‘With the very swaddling clothes →
that death unwinds I make my way above,
39
and I have come through agony of hell.
‘Since God has so received me in His grace
that He has willed that I shall see His court →
42
in ways unknown to modern custom,
‘do not conceal from me the life you led
before you died: tell it, and tell me if I’m headed
45
for the passage—your words shall be our escort.’
‘I was a Lombard, known as Marco. →
I knew the world and loved that valor →
48
at which today all aim a slackened bow.
‘You are on the path that leads you up.’
Thus he replied, then added: ‘I pray you,
51
say a prayer for me once you are above.’ →
And I to him: ‘I pledge to do your bidding.
But I will burst with my unspoken doubts →
54
if I don’t speak and free myself of them.
‘A single doubt before, it now is paired
by what you said, which here confirms
57
what elsewhere I have heard, to which I couple it.
‘The world is barren now
of every virtue, as you state,
60
and heavy with and overgrown by evil.
‘Please point out to me the cause
that I may know it and make it known to others,
63
for both the heavens and the earth receive the blame.’
First he heaved a heavy sigh, which grief wrung →
to a groan, and then began: ‘Brother,
66
the world is blind and indeed you come from it.
‘You who are still alive assign each cause → →
only to the heavens, as though they drew
69
all things along upon their necessary paths.
‘If that were so, free choice would be denied you,
and there would be no justice when one feels
72
joy for doing good or misery for evil.
‘Yes, the heavens give motion to your inclinations.
I don’t say all of them, but, even if I did,
75
you still possess a light to winnow good from evil,
‘and you have free will. Should it bear the strain
in its first struggles with the heavens,
78
then, rightly nurtured, it will conquer all.
‘To a greater power and a better nature you, free, →
are subject, and these create the mind in you
81
that the heavens have not in their charge.
‘Therefore, if the world around you goes astray, →
in you is the cause and in you let it be sought.
84
In this I will now be your informant.
‘From the hand of Him who looks on it with love →
before it lives, comes forth, like a little girl
87
who weeps one moment and as quickly laughs,
‘the simple infant soul that has no knowledge
but, moved by a joyous maker,
90
gladly turns to what delights it.
‘At first it tastes the savor of a trifling good. →
It is beguiled by that and follows in pursuit
93
if guide or rein do not deflect its love.
‘Therefore, there was need that laws be set →
to act as curbs, need for a ruler to discern
96
at least the tower above the one true city.
‘Yes, there are laws, but who takes them in hand? →
No one, because the shepherd who precedes
99
may chew his cud, but does not have cleft hooves.
‘The people, then, who see their leader lunge →
only at the good for which they themselves are greedy,
102
graze on that and ask for nothing more.
‘As you can plainly see, failed guidance
is the cause the world is steeped in vice,
105
and not your inner nature that has grown corrupt.
‘Rome, which formed the world for good, →
once had two suns that lit the one road
108
and the other, the world’s and that to God.
‘The one has snuffed the other out, the sword →
is fastened to the crook, and these two,
111
forced to be together, must perforce go ill,
‘since, joined, the one fears not the other.
If you don’t believe me, think of a grain of wheat,
114
for by its seed each plant is known.
‘In the land watered both by the Àdige and Po →
valor and courtesy could once be found
117
before Frederick encountered opposition.
‘Now it may with impunity be crossed by anyone
who for shame would shun all d
iscourse
120
with the virtuous or even coming near them.
‘Three old men are left on earth, →
longing for the better life when God will take them,
123
in whom the ancient times rebuke the new:
‘Currado da Palazzo and the good Gherardo
and Guido da Castel, better called,
126
as say the French, the simple, honest Lombard.
‘Spread the word, then, that the Church of Rome, →
confounding in herself two governments, stumbles
129
in the mud, befouling herself and her burden.’
‘O Marco mine,’ I said, ‘you reason well,
and now I understand just why the sons of Levi →
132
were disbarred from their inheritance.
‘But who is this Gherardo who, you say, →
is left as an example of a race extinct,
135
thus rebuking this barbaric age?’
‘Either your speech deceives me,’ he replied,
‘or it puts me to the test, for, speaking Tuscan,
138
how is it you know nothing of the good Gherardo?
‘I know him by no other name unless
I were to take one from his daughter, Gaia.
141
May God be with you. I come with you no farther. →
‘You see the brightness shining through the smoke
already whitens, and I must take my leave
before the angel waiting there can see me.’
145
Then he turned back and would not hear me more.
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XVII
1–9
address to the reader, who is asked to remember seeing the sun through mountain mist
10–12
back out of the smoke: it is after sunset