by Dante
19–24
simile: army under attack behind its shields and this army’s advance force already gone past before the chariot turns
25–30
theological virtues return to right wheel, cardinal to the left, and the griffin again begins to pull the car, Matelda, Statius, and Dante following at its right wheel
31–36
passing through the wood emptied by Eve’s sin, hearing angelic song, the procession advances three arrow-flights before Beatrice descends from the chariot
37–42
Dante hears “Adam” murmured by all; they form a circle around a barren tree; its branches spread wider as they grow higher
43–51
the griffin is praised by all for not eating of the tree and responds, then pulls the car to the tree and binds it
52–60
simile: as earthly plants renew themselves when the sun is in Aries, each in its own hue, so the tree renews itself entirely in purple
61–63
Dante does not understand the hymn that is sung there by the assembled company, nor can he bear to hear it all
64–72
if the poet could portray falling asleep, he would; but he cannot, and passes on to being awakened by a splendor and the voice of Matelda
The pageant of the Church Militant
73–84
simile: Moses and Elijah disappeared from the view of Peter, John, and James after Christ was transfigured as Dante comes to himself and sees only Matelda
85–99
to Dante’s query (“where is Beatrice?”) Matelda replies that she is seated on the root of the tree
100–108
Beatrice’s promise and command: here Dante will be a “forester” and then a citizen of the city of God; he must observe the chariot and record what he sees
109–160
the transformations of the Church in this world:
109–117
1) eagle strikes the car [imperial persecutions]
118–123
2) fox leaps into car [heresies]
124–129
3) eagle feathers car [Donation of Constantine]
130–135
4) dragon drives tail through car and makes off with some of its flooring [Mohammed]
136–141
5) eagle feathers again [Charlemagne and Pepin]
142–147
6) seven heads with ten horns [corrupt Church]
148–160
7) harlot and giant; when she lusts after Dante, the giant drags her off, with the car [Avignon]
PURGATORIO XXXII
My eyes were fixed and so intent →
to satisfy ten years of thirst
3
that all my other senses were undone,
walled off from anything around them, enclosed →
in their indifference, so did the holy smile
6
ensnare them in its old, familiar net,
when by the power of those goddesses
my gaze was forced to travel left →
9
as they cried out: ‘Too fixed!’ →
And then I shared the temporary blindness
of those whose eyes have just been smitten by the sun,
12
leaving me sightless for a time.
But after my eyes again became accustomed →
to lesser sights—lesser, I mean, when compared
15
to the greater from which they’d been forced to turn—
I noted that the glorious army had wheeled around →
on its right flank and now was facing east,
18
with the seven candles and the sun before it.
As under cover of its shields a squadron →
turns to save itself, following the colors,
21
before the entire force can rearrange its ranks,
the soldiers of the heavenly kingdom
who were marching in the front passed by
24
before the chariot turned upon its yoke.
Then the ladies went back to their wheels
and the griffin moved its blessèd load,
27
but so that not a feather on it shook. →
The fair lady who had pulled me through the stream →
and Statius and I were following the wheel
30
that in a smaller arc had made its turn.
Then, passing on beneath a vaulting forest, →
emptied through fault of her who trusted in the snake,
33
we measured our steps to an angelic song.
We had proceeded perhaps as far as an arrow,
loosed three times from the string, would carry,
36
when Beatrice descended from the car.
I heard all of them murmuring ‘Adam.’
Then they circled a tree stripped of its leaves →
39
and any other flowering on its branches.
The higher its branches grew, the wider was their spread.
Its height would cause even the Indian,
42
in his towering forest, to gaze in wonder.
‘Blessed are you, griffin, for not plundering →
with your beak this tree’s sweet-tasting fruit
45
that later wrenches bellies with its pain.’
Thus did those around the mighty tree cry out,
and the double-natured animal replied:
48
‘This is how the seed of justice is preserved.’
Turning to the shaft that he had pulled,
he drew it to the foot of the widowed trunk
51
and left it bound to the tree from which it came. →
As our plants, when the great light falls on them, →
mingled with the light that shines
54
in the rays that follow the celestial carp,
begin to swell their buds and are renewed,
each in its proper color, before the sun
57
hitches his steeds to other stars,
so, taking on a hue less red than roses
yet deeper than violets, the tree renewed itself
60
where its branches just before had been so bare.
The hymn that company then chanted →
is not sung on earth nor could I make it out,
63
nor bear to hear that music to its end. →
Could I describe how those pitiless eyes, →
hearing of Syrinx, were lulled to sleep,
66
the eyes whose lengthy vigil cost so dear,
I would fashion, as a painter does
when painting from a model, how I fell asleep.
69
But let him, who can do it, portray his nodding off.
I move along, therefore, to when I came awake →
and say a brightness broke my veil of sleep,
72
as did the call: ‘Arise, what are you doing?’ →
As, when brought to see the blossoms on the apple-tree →
that makes the angels hungry for its fruit
75
and celebrates perpetual marriage-feasts in Heaven,
Peter and John and James were overcome,
called back into themselves at the word
78
by which still deeper sleep was broken, →
and saw their company diminished
both by Moses and Elijah
81
and their teacher’s raiment changed,
such did I become. I saw, standing above me,
the same compassionate lady
84
who had guided my steps along the river.
All in doubt I asked: ‘Where is Beatrice?’ →
And she: ‘Look there beneath the new-sprung blossoms →
of the tree where she is seated on the root.
‘See the company encircling her. →
The others all ascend behind the griffin →
90
with a song more sweet and more profound.’
I do not know if she had more to say,
for now, before my eyes, appeared the one
93
who had closed me off from any other thought.
On the bare ground she sat alone, →
as if left behind to guard the chariot →
96
I had seen the twofold beast make fast.
The seven nymphs encircled and enclosed her,
holding up lights that would not waver →
99
should winds blow even from the north or south.
‘Here for a time you shall be a woodsman →
and then forever a citizen with me
102
of that Rome where Christ Himself is Roman.
‘Therefore, to serve the world that lives so ill, →
keep your eyes upon the chariot and write down
105
what now you see here once you have gone back.’
Thus Beatrice. And I, overwhelmed,
prostrate at the feet of her commands,
108
gave my mind and eyes to what she wished.
Never did fire descend with such swift motion → →
out of thickened banks of clouds,
111
plunging from the farthest zone of air,
as I saw the bird of Jove swoop down and plummet
through the tree, ripping the bark,
114
shredding flowers and fresh leaves.
It struck the chariot with its full force
so that it reeled like a ship tossed in a tempest, →
117
now leeward, now windward, driven by the waves.
Then I saw, flinging itself into the very cradle →
of the triumphal car, a fox so wasted
120
it seemed deprived of any nourishment.
But my lady, railing at its foul offenses,
drove it back in such retreat
123
as its fleshless bones allowed.
Then, from where it had swept down before, →
I saw the eagle plummet to the chariot’s floor
126
and leave it feathered with its plumage.
Such a voice as issues from a grieving heart
I heard break forth from Heaven, saying:
129
‘O my little bark, how badly are you laden!’
Then it seemed to me the earth was cleft →
between the wheels, and I saw a dragon issue,
132
thrust its tail up through the car
and, as a wasp withdraws its sting, so it drew back
its venomed tail, ripping out part of the floor,
135
and then slithered off on its own errant way.
What was left was once more covered, →
as is fertile soil with weeds, by plumage,
138
offered perhaps with kind and innocent intent,
and both the wheels and shaft
were completely covered over
141
in less time than a sigh may part the lips.
Thus transformed, the holy edifice →
put forth heads on all its parts,
144
three on the shaft and one at every corner—
the first three bore horns like oxen, the others
had a single horn upon their foreheads—
147
such a monster as never seen before.
Secure, like a fortress on a towering mountain, →
I saw a disheveled harlot sitting there,
150
casting provocative glances this way and that.
I saw a giant who stood beside her,
perhaps to prevent her being taken from him.
153
They were kissing each other again and again.
But because she turned on me
her lustful, roving eye, that savage lover
156
thrashed her body from head to foot.
Then, full of suspicion and cruel in his rage,
he unhitched the monster and dragged it through the wood
so far that the wood itself now screened
160
the harlot and the strange brute from my sight.
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XXXIII
1–3
the seven virtues complain of the Avignonian captivity
4–12
Beatrice’s sad but hopeful rejoinder
13–24
Beatrice arranges the seven ladies before her, Dante, Matelda, and Statius behind; after taking ten steps, she urges Dante to approach and question her
25–28
simile: a reverent person speaking brokenly in presence of a superior and Dante speaking to Beatrice
29–30
Dante: Beatrice knows what he needs to know
31–78
Beatrice’s prophecy:
31–33
it is time for Dante to put off fear and shame and speak the truth
34–36
let him whose fault it is the vessel is broken fear God’s vengeance
37–45
the eagle that feathered the chariot will have an heir; stars are wheeling that soon shall bring the time when a 515 shall slay the harlot and the giant
46–51
perhaps the darkness of her prophecy lessens Dante’s belief; but soon the facts shall be the Naiads that will solve this riddle of the Sphinx
52–57
he must tell mankind what she has told him, not hiding what he has seen of the despoiling of the tree
58–66
one who robs the tree or harms it offends God, as Adam found out; and surely Dante can understand why its branches are wider at the top
67–78
[paraphrased] “and if foolish thoughts had not become [the calcifying] water of Elsa about your mind, and your delight in these thoughts a Pyramus to the mulberry [covering their true color], by even such few circumstances [i.e., tree’s height and inverted branches] you would even now recognize God’s justice in his having forbidden you the tree; however, since I perceive that your intellect is indeed turned to stone and dyed another color so that my speech only dazzles you, I nonetheless desire that you carry the truth back within you (if not written, then at least in images) for the same reason that the pilgrim’s staff is wreathed with the palm.”
79–84
Dante: “as wax that is sealed with a figure that does not change, so my mind is imprinted by you; but why is it that your words are so difficult to understand?”
85–90
Beatrice: Dante must understand that the school of thought he followed is distant from the divine purpose
91–93
Dante does not recall ever estranging himself from her, nor does his conscience gnaw him for doing so
94–102
Beatrice: of course he, after Lethe, does not remember
103–105
it is noon
106–111
simile: a scout stopping if he sees something unexpected and the ladies stopping at a shaded place
112–114
Dante thinks they stand before Tigris and Euphrates
115–117
Dante to Beatrice: what waters are these?
118–119
Beatrice: “ask Matelda to tell you”
120–123
Matelda: I already did and I don’t believe Lethe took that knowledge away
124–129
Beatrice: perhaps some greater care has done so; but bring him to Eunoe and revive his weakened powers
130–135
simile: noble spirit, immediately obedient
to the will of another as Matelda takes Dante and bids Statius follow
136–141
address to the reader: if the poet had more space he would tell at least some of his delight in drinking; but since the pages ordained for this second canticle are filled, the curb of art lets him go no farther
142–145
Dante is new as new plants with new leaves, pure and ready to mount up to the stars
PURGATORIO XXXIII
‘Deus, venerunt gentes,’ the ladies, →
now three, now four, in alternation sang,
3
beginning their sweet psalmody in tears,
and Beatrice, sighing and compassionate,
was listening, her face so changed in its expression
6
that Mary’s, at the cross, was hardly more transformed.
But when the other virgins stopped their song, →
allowing her to speak, she answered, rising
9
to her feet and blazing like a fire:
‘Modicum, et non videbitis me; et iterum,
my beloved sisters,
12
modicum, et vos videbitis me.’
Then she arranged the seven before her →
and, with a gesture, signaled me, the lady,
15
and the sage who had remained, to follow.
Thus she moved forward. I do not believe →
she had left her tenth step on the ground
18
when her piercing eyes met mine
and, with a calmer look, she said: ‘Follow me
more closely, so that, if I should speak to you,
21
you will be able to hear me better.’
And as soon as I, obeying, drew up near her,
she asked: ‘My brother, since we are together, →
24
why do you not dare to ask me questions?’