Purgatorio (The Divine Comedy series Book 2)
Page 14
Still, the power to restrain it lies with you.
‘That noble power is called free will by Beatrice,
and so make sure that you remember this
75
if she should ever speak of it to you.’
Still brilliant after midnight, the moon →
was blazing like a fiery bucket,
78
making the stars seem fewer than they were,
as in its course against the sky it followed
the tracks the sun inflames when seen from Rome,
81
setting between Sardegna and the Corsicans.
That noble shade through whom Pietola →
is more renowned than any Mantuan town
84
had doffed the weight with which I’d burdened him,
so that I, having harvested his clear
and forthright answers to my questions,
87
remained like one who rambles in his drowsy mind. →
But suddenly this drowsiness was snatched away
by a crowd who were approaching, →
90
having already rounded the terrace from behind us.
As once the rivers Ismenus and Asopus →
saw a furious throng of revelers crowd their banks
93
on any night the Thebans felt the need for Bacchus,
such a throng cut their way, as does a sickle,
around that circle, and I could tell
96
that virtuous will and just love drove them on.
Soon they were upon us, →
for the whole frenzied mob was running,
99
while two in front, weeping, cried out: → →
‘Mary ran with haste into the mountains,’
and ‘Caesar, to subdue Lèrida, thrust at Marseilles →
102
and then raced on to Spain.’
‘Quickly, quickly, lest time be lost for lack of love,’ →
the others cried behind them. ‘Let our zeal →
105
for doing good make grace grow green again.’
‘O you who with keen fervor make amends,
perhaps for your past negligence and sloth →
108
in being lukewarm to do good,
‘this man, who is alive—indeed I do not lie—
is eager to ascend at day’s first light.
111
Tell us, then, where is the nearest opening?’
These were my leader’s words,
and one of those spirits answered:
114
‘Follow us and you shall find the gap.
‘We are so filled with our desire to keep on moving
we cannot rest. Pardon us, then,
117
if our just penance seems discourteous.
‘I was Abbot of San Zeno at Verona →
under the rule of worthy Barbarossa,
120
of whom Milan still speaks with sorrow.
‘And one there, with a foot already in the grave, →
will soon bemoan that monastery
123
and regret his power over it,
‘because he put his son, lame in body,
deformed in mind, and base of birth,
126
in the place of its true shepherd.’
I know not if he said more or was still, →
he had already raced so far beyond us,
129
but this I heard and chose to keep in mind.
And he who was my help in every need
said: ‘Turn around and see these two
132
who now come nipping at the heels of sloth.’
Coming behind the rest they chanted: →
‘The people for whom the Red Sea opened
135
were dead before the Jordan saw their heirs’
and ‘Those who chose not to endure the toil →
to its conclusion with Anchises’ son
138
gave themselves to a life without renown.’
Then, when these shades were so far parted
from us we could no longer see them,
141
a new thought rose within me, →
from which others, many and diverse, were born.
And I rambled so from one thought to another →
that my eyes closed in drowsy wandering
145
and I transformed my musings into dream. →
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XIX
The second purgatorial dream
1–6
astronomical indicators
7–9
the dream begins: the woman’s aspect
10–15
Dante’s empowering gaze
16–24
the woman’s resultant song
25–28
the opposing lady and her summoning of Virgil’s aid
29–33
Virgil’s actions and Dante’s awakening
VI. The Angel of Zeal
34–36
Virgil urges Dante to seek the exit from this terrace
37–42
in the light of dawn Dante accedes, bent over
43–51
the angel’s greeting and blessing
Dante’s desire to understand his dream
52–54
Virgil’s goading intervention
55–57
Dante’s heavy load of perplexity
58–60
Virgil’s interpretation of the woman
61–63
Virgil’s adjuration: “look up” to the stars
64–69
simile: falcon (looking down and up) and Dante
I & III. The fifth terrace: the setting and the souls
70–78
the souls prone upon the ground, weeping, reciting Psalm 118; Virgil’s plea for guidance
IV. The speakers (1)
79–82
a speaker gives Virgil a response
83–96
Dante receives Virgil’s permission to question this soul; his three questions: (1) who were you? (2) what was your sin? (3) what can I do for you when I return to earth?
97–145
Pope Adrian V answers Dante’s questions:
97–114
(1) his identity: noble family of Lavagna, ascent to papacy (which lets him see extent of avarice)
115–126
(2) why God turns their backs up: for avarice
127–132
Dante kneels; Adrian wants to know why; Dante: because of his rank
133–141
Adrian insists on fellowship; he dismisses Dante
142–145
(3) the only prayers that might avail him would come from his niece Alagia
PURGATORIO XIX
At that hour when the heat of day, →
cooled by earth and at times by Saturn,
3
can no longer temper the cold of the moon,
when geomancers see their Fortuna Major →
rise in the east before the dawn,
6
which does not long stay dark for it,
there came to me a woman, in a dream, →
stammering, cross-eyed, splayfooted,
9
with crippled hands and sickly pale complexion.
I looked at her, and as the sun revives →
cold limbs benumbed by night,
12
just so my gaze gave her a ready tongue
and then in very little time
straightened her crooked limbs
15
and tinged her sallow face as love desires.
And with her speech set free →
she started singing in a way that would
18
have made it hard for me to turn aside.
‘I am,’ she sang, ‘I am the swee
t siren
who beguiles mariners on distant seas, →
21
so great is their delight in hearing me.
‘I drew Ulysses, eager for the journey, →
with my song. And those who dwell with me
24
rarely depart, so much do I content them.’
Her lips had not yet closed
when at my side appeared a lady, →
27
holy and alert, in order to confound her.
‘O Virgil, Virgil, who is this?’ →
she asked, indignant. And he came forward
30
with his eyes fixed on that virtuous one.
The other he seized and, ripping her garments, →
laid her front bare and exposed her belly.
33
The stench that came from there awoke me.
I was looking around, and the good master said: →
‘Three times at least I’ve called you. Arise and come.
36
Let us find the opening through which you enter.’
I stood up. All the circles of the holy mountain →
were already filled with the advancing day
39
and we went on with the new sun at our backs.
With furrowed brow I followed him,
as though burdened with a thought that bent
42
my body like the half-arch of a bridge,
until I heard: ‘Come, here is the passage,’ →
spoken in such gentle, gracious tones
45
as are not heard within these earthly confines.
With open wings that seemed a swan’s
he that had spoken showed the way on up
48
between two walls of flinty stone
and, stirring his feathers, gently fanned us, →
declaring those qui lugent to be blessed,
51
for their souls shall be comforted.
‘What’s wrong, that you keep staring at the ground?’ →
my guide began, once we were on our way,
54
leaving the angel just below.
‘I am so distracted going on,’ I said,
‘because this strange new dream so weighs on me
57
I cannot keep it from my mind.’
‘You saw,’ he said, ‘that ancient witch
who alone is purged with tears above us here.
60
And you saw how man is freed from her.
‘Let that be enough. Press your heels
into the ground. Raise your eyes to the lure
63
the Eternal King whirls with His majestic spheres.’ →
Like the falcon that at first looks at its feet,
and only then turns to the call and stretches up
66
in its desire for the food that draws it,
such I became and, so impelled, I went
as far as the cleft rock allowed for the ascent
69
to where the circling starts again.
When I came out onto the ledge →
of the fifth round, I saw people on it
72
lying face down on the ground and weeping.
‘Adhaesit pavimento anima mea’ →
I heard them say with such deep sighs
75
the words could hardly be distinguished.
‘O chosen ones of God, whose sufferings →
both hope and justice make less hard,
78
direct us to the steps that lead us up.’
‘If you are here exempt from lying prostrate →
and wish to find the quickest way,
81
keep to the right along the outer rim.’
Thus the poet asked and thus came the response
from a little way ahead, and I could tell who spoke
84
although his face was hidden. →
I turned my eyes to the eyes of my lord.
With a pleased sign he consented
87
to what my pleading look had asked.
When I was free to do what I desired
I drew away and stood above that soul
90
whose words had first made me aware of him,
saying: ‘Spirit in whom weeping ripens
that without which there is no return to God, →
93
for my sake just a while neglect your greater care.
‘Tell me who you were and why you lie face down →
and whether there is something I might do
96
for you back there, where I set out alive.’
And he to me: ‘Why Heaven turns our backs
against Itself, that you shall know, but first
99
scias quod ego fui successor Petri. →
‘Between Sestri and Chiàvari there runs down →
a lovely stream and with its name
102
the title of my line has marked its shield.
‘In a month and little more I learned how heavy
the mantle weighs on one who keeps it from the mud, →
105
making any other burden seem a feather.
‘My conversion, alas, came late— → →
but when I became the shepherd of Rome,
108
I discovered a life full of lies.
‘I saw that there the heart was not at peace,
nor was preferment possible in that life,
111
and for this higher state my love was kindled.
‘Until that moment I was a wretched soul,
cut off from God, and filled with avarice.
114
Now, as you see, I am punished for that here.
‘The work of avarice is here proclaimed →
in the purging of the down-turned souls,
117
and the mountain gives no punishment more bitter.
‘Just as we failed to lift our eyes on high
because they were fixed on earthly things,
120
so justice here has turned them to the earth.
‘As avarice quenched our love of worthy things,
wasting our chance to do good works,
123
so justice here has bound us fast.
‘Securely bound are our hands and feet.
As long as it shall please the righteous Lord
126
so long shall we, unmoving, lie here prone.’
I had kneeled and was about to speak, →
but as soon as I began and he perceived,
129
only by listening, that I in reverence had knelt,
‘Why,’ he asked, ‘did you kneel down that way?’
And I: ‘Because the dignity of Your high office →
132
stung my conscience as I stood erect.’
‘Straighten your legs, stand up, brother,’ →
he replied, ‘make no mistake. I am a fellow-servant →
135
with you, and with the others, of a single Power.
‘If ever you did understand the holy passage →
in the Gospel where it tells us “Neque nubent,”
138
you may well perceive just why I say this.
‘Now go your way. I would not keep you longer,
for your being here prevents the tears
141
with which I ripen that of which you spoke. →
‘On earth I have a niece who is called Alàgia— →
she is still virtuous, if indeed our house
has not by its example made her wicked,
145
and she alone is left to me back there.’
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XX
1–3
retrospective begi
nning: Dante accedes to Adrian’s better will by rising and leaving
I & III. The setting and souls (continued)
4–9
the condition of the penitents; Dante and Virgil skirt them (they lie near the edge), along the rock
10–12
apostrophe of the wolf of Avarice: a curse
13–15
apostrophe of starry heavens: a plea for their emissary
II. Exemplars of Generosity
16–18
As Dante proceeds, he hears a spirit up ahead call out:
19–24
Mary (at the inn)
25–30
Fabricius, thus greatly pleasing Dante
31–33
St. Nicholas
IV. The speakers (2)
34–39
Dante’s two questions and a promise: (1) who were you? (2) why do you alone sing these praises? (3) I will reward your compliance when I return to earth
40–123
Hugh Capet: his response to Dante
40–42
(3) he will answer not for comfort that may come to him but because of the state of grace in which Dante lives
43–96
(1) Hugh’s “history of France”:
43–48:
father of the kings of Christendom’s current enemy
49–60:
his offspring and how they came to power
61–66:
France’s first conquests
67–81:
her descent into Italy
82–84:
Hugh’s apostrophe of Avarice
85–90:
Philip IV has Boniface made captive
91–93:
Philip IV sets out to crush the Templars
94–96:
Hugh’s apostrophe of God: let Him show his vengeance
97–123
(2) his contorted response to Dante’s second question: