by Dante
I lowered my eyes to the clear water. →
But when I saw myself reflected, I drew them back
78
toward the grass, such shame weighed on my brow.
As a mother may seem overbearing to her child,
so she seemed to me, for the taste
81
of such stern pity is a bitter taste.
Then she fell silent and at once →
the angels sang: ‘In te, Domine, speravi,’
84
but did not sing past ‘pedes meos.’
Even as the snow among those living beams → →
that grow along the spine of Italy is frozen
87
when blown and packed by the Slavonian winds
but then, dissolving, melts into itself
if the land that casts no shadow merely breathes,
90
acting like a flame that makes a candle melt,
just so was I with neither tears nor sighs
before they sang who always are in tune
93
with notes set down in the eternal spheres,
but, when their lovely harmonies revealed
their sympathy for me, more than if they’d said:
96
‘Lady, why do you torment him so?’
the ice that had confined my heart
was turned to breath and water and in anguish
99
flowed from my breast through eyes and mouth.
As yet she stood, motionless,
on the same side of the chariot,
102
then turned her words to the pitying angels:
‘You keep your watch in the eternal day → →
so neither night nor sleep deprives you
105
of a single step that time takes in its course.
‘Therefore my response is made with greater care
that he who is weeping over there should listen,
108
so that his sin and sorrow be of equal measure.
‘Not only by the working of the wheels above →
that urge each seed to a certain end
111
according to the stars that cluster with them,
‘but by grace, abundant and divine,
which rains from clouds so high above
114
our sight cannot come near them,
‘this man in his new life potentially was such →
that each good disposition in him
117
would have come to marvelous conclusion,
‘but the richer and more vigorous the soil, → →
when planted ill and left to go to seed,
120
the wilder and more noxious it becomes.
‘For a time I let my countenance sustain him.
Guiding him with my youthful eyes,
123
I drew him with me in the right direction.
‘Once I had reached the threshold of my second age, →
when I changed lives, he took himself from me
126
and gave himself to others.
‘When I had risen to spirit from my flesh,
as beauty and virtue in me became more rich,
129
to him I was less dear and less than pleasing.
‘He set his steps upon an untrue way,
pursuing those false images of good
132
that bring no promise to fulfillment—
‘useless the inspiration I sought and won for him,
as both with dreams and other means →
135
I called him back, so little did he heed them.
‘He sank so low that every instrument
for his salvation now fell short—
138
except to make him see souls in perdition.
‘And so I visited the threshold of the dead →
and, weeping, offered up my prayers
141
to the one who has conducted him this far.
‘Broken would be the high decree of God →
should Lethe be crossed and its sustenance
be tasted without payment of some fee:
145
his penitence that shows itself in tears.’
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XXXI
The Church Triumphant in the Garden: climax
I. Confession
1–6
Beatrice’s “sword”: “Dante, confess”
7–9
Dante’s voice will not come forth, so confounded is he
10–12
Beatrice insists
13–15
Dante’s “yes” requires a lip-reader
16–21
simile: overstressed crossbow: guilt-laden Dante:: arrow that hits mark without full force: Dante’s tears, sighs
22–30
Beatrice as confessor: “when you desired God through your love of me, what ditches beset your path, what chains held you back? and what attractions did you find in the face of other goods?”
31–36
Dante, barely voicing his sins: “present things, with their false pleasure, turned me from you as soon as you were dead”
37–42
Beatrice accepts his confession, good in that he makes it voluntarily, even though it is already known to God
II. Contrition
43–48
Beatrice: so that he feel just shame and be prepared to withstand similar Siren-song, he should cease weeping and hear how her buried flesh should have led him right:
49–63
since she was the utmost of mortal beauty that he ever saw, how could he have sought any other mortal thing to replace her? the first arrowshot of things deceitful should have warned him off and directed him to her, who was no longer mortal (and thus “deceiving”); no young girl or other new thing of brief durance should have made his wings heavy, subject to other bowshots: the young bird may stay still for two or three, but in the sight of the adult bird arrows and nets are deployed in vain
64–66
simile: repentant scolded children and Dante
67–69
Beatrice: since he is grieved by what he has heard, now he should grieve because of what he shall see
70–75
simile: an oak uprooted by the wind, whether Italian or African, is more easily pulled up by the roots than his chin moves up at her command to behave like a man
76–84
Dante sees Beatrice turned toward the two-natured griffin; even veiled she seems to surpass her former mortal self more than that self surpassed all other mortal women
85–90
Dante’s contrition is complete as he hates what once he wrongly loved; he falls insensate
III. Satisfaction
91–102
when Dante comes back to his senses he finds Matelda above him, telling him to hold on to her, as she draws him, submerged to the throat, through Lethe; as he approaches the far shore, he hears Psalm 50:9 sung so sweetly that he cannot remember it, much less write it; Matelda submerges Dante, who drinks the water of Lethe
Postlude: the eyes and smile of Beatrice
103–111
Matelda draws Dante forth from the river into the dance of the four cardinal virtues, who identify themselves as nymphs here and stars in heaven, ordained as Beatrice’s handmaids before she came into the world; they promise to bring him to Beatrice; in the light of her eyes the three theological virtues will make his seeing still sharper
112–117
the four bring him to Beatrice, standing at the breast of the griffin and facing him and the four ladies; they advise him to gaze into Beatrice’s eyes
118–120
desire draws Dante’s eyes to the eyes of Beatrice, which remain fixed on the griffin
121–123
simile: sun:mirror: :griffin:Beatrice’s eyes
124–126
127–138
as Dante’s soul, full of amazement in its joy, tastes of the food that simultaneously satiates and causes hunger, the other three (higher) virtues dance up to Dante and bid Beatrice to look at her faithful lover and reveal the smile that she has up to now concealed
139–145
the poet’s apostrophe of her smile as a reflection of God
PURGATORIO XXXI
‘O you on the far side of the sacred stream,’ →
turning the point of her words on me →
3
that had seemed sharp enough when I felt their edge,
she then went on without a pause: ‘Say it,
say if this is true. To such an accusation →
6
your confession must be joined.’
My faculties were so confounded
that my voice struggled up but spent itself
9
before it made its way out of my mouth.
For a moment she held back, then asked: →
‘What are you thinking? Speak, for your memories
12
of sin have not been washed away by water yet.’
Confusion and fear, mixed together,
drove from my mouth a yes—
15
but one had need of eyes to hear it.
As a crossbow breaks with too much tension →
from the pulling taut of cord and bow
18
so that the arrow strikes the target with less force,
thus I collapsed beneath that heavy load
and, with a flood of tears and sighs,
21
my voice came strangled from my throat.
At that she said to me: ‘In your desire for me →
that guided you to love that good
24
beyond which there is nothing left to long for,
‘what ditches or what chains did you encounter →
across your path to make you cast aside
27
all hope of going forward?
‘And what profit or advantage showed
in the face of other things so that you felt
30
you must parade yourself before them?’
After heaving a bitter sigh →
I hardly had the voice to give the answer
33
my lips were laboring to shape.
In tears, I said: ‘Things set in front of me, →
with their false delights, turned back my steps
36
the moment that Your countenance was hidden.’ →
‘Had you stayed silent or denied what you confess,’ →
she said, ‘your fault would not be any less apparent
39
since it is known to such a Judge.
‘But when a man’s own blushing cheek reveals
the condemnation of his sin, in our high court
42
the grindstone dulls the sharp edge of the sword.
‘Nonetheless, so that you now may bear
the shame of your straying and the next time
45
that you hear the Sirens’ call, be stronger, →
‘stop sowing tears and listen. →
Then you shall hear just how my buried flesh →
48
should have directed you to quite a different place.
‘Never did art or nature set before you beauty
as great as in the lovely members that enclosed me,
51
now scattered and reduced to dust.
‘And if the highest beauty failed you
in my death, what mortal thing
54
should then have drawn you to desire it?
‘Indeed, at the very first arrow →
of deceitful things, you should have risen up
57
and followed me who was no longer of them.
‘You should not have allowed your wings to droop, →
leaving you to other darts from some young girl
60
or other novelty of such brief use.
‘The fledgling may allow even a third attempt,
but all in vain is the net flung or arrow shot →
63
in sight of a full-fledged bird.’
As children in their shame stand mute, their eyes →
upon the ground, listening,
66
acknowledging their fault, repentant,
just so I stood. And then she said: ‘Now that
you are grieved by what you hear, lift up your beard →
69
and you shall have more grief from what you see.’
With less resistance is the sturdy oak →
torn from the earth, whether by our northern wind
72
or by the one that blows from Iarbas’ lands,
than was my chin nudged up by her command.
When by my beard she sought my face
75
I recognized the venom in her words.
And when I had raised my head
my eyes saw that those first-created beings →
78
had paused in scattering their flowers
and, my vision blurred and still uncertain,
saw Beatrice turning toward the beast
81
that is one person in two natures. →
Even beneath her veil, even beyond the stream, →
she seemed to surpass her former self in beauty
84
more than she had on earth surpassed all others.
The nettle of remorse so stung me then →
that whatever else had lured me most to loving
87
had now become for me most hateful.
Such knowledge of my fault was gnawing at my heart
that I was overcome, and what I then became
90
she knows who was the reason for my state.
Then, when my heart restored my vital signs, →
I saw the lady I first found alone above me,
93
saying: ‘Hold on to me and hold me fast!’
She drew me into the river up to my throat
and, pulling me along behind her, moved
96
upon the water as lightly as a skiff.
When I had come close to the blessèd shore
I heard ‘Asperges me’ so sweetly sung
99
that I cannot recall nor write it down.
The lovely lady spread her arms,
then clasped my head, and plunged me under,
102
where I was forced to swallow water.
Then she drew me out and led me, bathed, →
into the dance of the four lovely ladies
105
as each one raised an arm above my head.
‘Here we are nymphs and in heaven we are stars.
Before Beatrice descended to the world
108
we were ordained to serve her as her handmaids.
‘We will bring you to her eyes. But to receive →
the joyous light they hold, the other three,
111
who look much deeper into things, shall sharpen yours.’
Thus they began their song and then →
they took me to the griffin’s breast,
114
where Beatrice stood and faced us.
They said: ‘Do not withhold your gaze. →
We have placed you here before the emeralds
117
from which, some time ago, Love shot his darts.’
A thousand desires hotter than any flame
bound my eyes to those shining eyes,
120
which still stayed fixed upon the griffin.
Even as the sun in a mirror, not otherwise
the twofold beast shone forth in them,
123
now with the one, now with its other nature. →
Consider, reader, whether I was struck by wonder →
when I saw the thing itself remain as one
126
but in its image ever changing.
While my soul, filled with wonder and with joy, →
tasted the food that, satisfying in itself, →
129
yet for itself creates a greater craving,
the other three, who by their bearing
showed themselves of a higher order, moved forward, →
132
dancing to their angelic roundelay. →
‘Turn, Beatrice, turn your holy eyes →
upon your faithful one’—thus ran their song—
135
‘who, to see you, now has come so far.
‘Of your grace do us a grace: unveil
your mouth to him so that he may observe
138
the second beauty that you still conceal.’ →
O splendor of eternal living light— →
even he who has grown pale in the shadow of Parnassus
141
or has drunk deeply from its well,
would not even he appear to have his mind confounded,
attempting to describe you as you looked, →
Heaven with its harmonies reflected in you,
145
when in the wide air you unveiled yourself?
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XXXII
1–12
Beatrice’s smile has so caught Dante’s attention that he loses track of all else until the three virtues reprimand him for gazing too fixedly and, as he turns his gaze leftwards, he finds he is temporarily blinded, like a man who has gazed at the sun
13–18
once he can see other things he sees that the militant Church had wheeled right, returning whence it had come