78
The snake that leads the Milanese to war will not provide an emblem for her tomb as splendid as Gallura’s cock would be. ”
81
These were his words, and his whole countenance displayed the signs of righteous zeal, the kind which flares up when it should within the heart.
84
My eyes kept looking at the sky just where the stars move slowest—as, within a wheel, the axle moves more slowly than the rest.
87
My guide said: “Son, what are you staring at?” I answered him: “At those three brilliant torches lighting up all the polar region here. ”
90
71. Giovanna, born around 1291, was Nino’s daughter by Beatrice d’Este.
73. Giovanna’s mother was Beatrice d’Este, daughter of Obizzo II d’Este and sister of Azzo VIII.
89. The torches are the theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity. These virtues supersede the cardinal virtues symbolized by the four stars, in the sense that they are necessary to direct human actions toward God, and they are given to men through Christ.
And he to me: “Those four bright stars you saw this morning, now are underneath the mount, and these have risen here to take their place. ”
93
But then Sordello clutched his arm and said: “Behold our adversary over there!”— he pointed to the place where we should look.
96
Along the little valley’s open side a serpent moved—the very one, perhaps, that offered Eve the bitter fruit to eat.
99
Through grass and flowers slid the vicious streak, stopping from time to time to turn its head and lick its back to make its body sleek.
102
I did not see, so I cannot describe, how the two holy falcons took to flight, but I saw clearly both of them fly down.
105
Hearing those green wings cutting through the air, the serpent fled, the angels wheeled around, flying in perfect time back to their posts.
108
The shade who had drawn close to Nino’s side, when called by him, did not at any time during the skirmish take his eyes from me.
111
“So may the lamp that lights your upward path find in your will enough sustaining fuel to take you to the enamelled mountaintop, ”
114
he then began, “if you have recent news of Val di Magra or parts thereabout, tell me, for in that land I once was great.
117
Corrado Malaspina was my name— but not the elder, though I sprang from him; and here I cleanse the love I bore my own. ”
120
118. Corrado II was the son of Federigo I, Marquis of Villafranca, and the grandson of Corrado I, the “elder” (119). He was a Ghibelline, according to Boccaccio, who mentions him and his daughter, Spina, in The Decameron (II, 6). Corrado died around 1294.
“Oh, ” I replied, “I’ve never visited the lands you ruled; the whole of Europe, though, has heard about your glorious domain.
123
The fame that honors your great family proclaims resoundingly its lords and lands, even to those who never travelled there.
126
And, as I hope to reach the top, I swear that your great lineage maintains intact the glorious honor of the purse and sword.
129
Habit and virtue have so shaped your race that while the Wicked Head perverts the world, they shun the path of evil, they alone. ”
132
He said: “Know that the sun will not repose a seventh time on the large bed the Ram spreads over and bestrides with all four feet,
135
before the kind opinion you just gave shall be nailed hard into your brain with nails truer than words you may have heard of us—
138
unless God’s course of justice be cut short!”
CANTO IX
TTHE PILGRIM FALLS asleep and, near dawn, dreams that he is being snatched up into the sphere of fire by an eagle. The imaginary heat of his dream wakes him, and he is dazed and terrified until he discovers that Virgil is sitting close by. Virgil explains that they have now come to the gates of Purgatory proper and that while the Pilgrim slept, a lady named Lucia came and bore him up there in her arms. As they draw near the gates, the Pilgrim discerns three steps of different colors leading up to them. The first is white as marble; the second is darker than purple-black, and rough and crumbling; the third is red as flaming porphyry. On the threshold of the gate, above this last step, sits a guardian angel with a naked sword, clothed in garments the color of ashes. With the tip of the sword, he traces seven P’s on the Pilgrim’s forehead and instructs him to he sure to “wash away” these wounds during his stay in the place of purgation. The guardian then takes two keys — one gold and one silver — with which he was entrusted by St. Peter, and unlocks the gateway to Purgatory. He warns the Pilgrim that, once inside, he is not to look back again, or he will be expelled; then the hinges of the heavy, sacred doors make a strange sound as they swing open. As the Pilgrim passes through, he hears the faint and distant strains of what seems to be the Te Deum laudamus.
Now, pale upon the eastern balcony, appeared the concubine of old Tithonus, arisen now from her sweet lover’s arms;
3
her brow was glittering with precious stones set in the shape of that cold-blooded beast that strikes and poisons people with its tail;
6
and of the hour-steps that Night ascends, already, where we were, two had been climbed, and now the third was folding down its wings,
9
when I, who carried with me Adam’s weight, conquered by sleep, stretched out upon the grass on which all five of us were sitting then.
12
At the hour when the swallow, close to dawn, begins to sing her melancholy lays, perhaps remembering her ancient woes,
15
and when our mind, far straying from the flesh, less tangled in the network of its thoughts, becomes somehow prophetic in its dreams,
18
dreaming, I seemed to see hovering above, a golden-feathered eagle in the sky, with wings outspread, and ready to swoop down;
21
2. The concubine is Aurora, daughter of the sun, goddess of the dawn, who became enamored of Tithonus, brother of Priam, and married him. She obtained for him from the gods the gift of immortality but neglected to ask for that of eternal youth.
12. The five are the Pilgrim, Virgil, Sordello, Nino, and Corrado.
I seemed to find myself in that same place where Ganymede was forced to leave his friends, caught up to serve the conclave of the gods.
24
I wondered: “Could this be the only place the eagle strikes? Perhaps he does not deign to snatch his prey from anywhere but here. ”
27
Dreaming, I saw him circle for a while, then terrible as lightning, he struck down, swooping me up, up to the sphere of fire.
30
And there it seemed the bird and I both burned; the heat of that imaginary blaze was so intense it woke me from my sleep.
33
Just as Achilles woke up in a daze, glancing around himself with startled eyes, not knowing where he was or whence he came,
36
when he, asleep, was taken by his mother, borne in her arms, from Chiron’s care to Skyros from where the Greeks would lure him finally—
39
so I was dazed, when sleep had fled my face; I turned the deathly color of a man feeling the freezing grip of fright on him.
42
Beside me was my Comfort, all alone. Now it was day, the sun two hours high, and what I saw before me was the sea.
45
“You must not be afraid, ” my leader said, “take heart, for we are well along our way; do not hold back, push on with all your strength,
48
you have arrived at Purgatory now. You see the rampart that surrounds it all and, where you see the cleft, that is the gate.
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23. Ganymede, the son of Tros, the mythical founder of Troy, was reported to be the most beautiful of all mortals. While hunting on Mount Ida, he was snatched up by Jove disguised as an eagle, to become the cup-bearer to the gods.
Before the break of day, while your soul slept within your body, still at rest below upon the flowers of that painted glen,
54
a lady came. She said ‘I am Lucia. Come, let me take this man who lies asleep; I wish to speed him on his journey up. ’
57
Sordello and the other shades remained. She took you in her arms at break of day and brought you here. I followed after her.
60
Before she set you down, her lovely eyes showed me the open entrance; then she left, and as she went, she took away your sleep. ”
63
As one who, first perplexed, is reassured, and feels his fear replaced by confidence, once what is true has been revealed to him—
66
such was the change in me. And when he saw me free of care, my leader made his way up and along the bank with me behind.
69
Reader, you see how lofty is my theme! You should not be surprised if now I try to match its grandeur with more subtle art.
72
Close to the top, we reached a point from where I saw a gate (it first appeared to be merely a gap, a break within the wall)
75
and, leading up to it, there were three steps, each one a different color; and I saw the silent figure of someone on guard.
78
I slowly raised my eyes: I saw that he was sitting on the highest step, his face too splendid for my eyes—I looked away!
81
78-84. The guardian holds a naked sword, the symbol of divine authority. The sword brilliantly reflects the rays of the sun, which is the symbol of God.
And in his hand he held a naked sword; so dazzling were the rays reflected thence, each time I tried to look I could not see.
84
He said to us: “Speak up from where you are. What is it that you want? Where is your guide? Beware, you may regret your coming here. ”
87
“A while ago, a lady sent from Heaven acquainted with such matters, ” said my guide, “told me: ‘Behold the gate. You must go there. ’ “
90
“May she continue guiding you to good, ” the courteous keeper of the gate replied, “and so, come forward now up to our stairs. ”
93
We reached the steps. White marble was the first, and polished to the glaze of a looking glass: I saw myself reflected as I was.
96
The second one was deeper dark than perse, of rough and crumbling, fire-corroded stone, with cracks across its surface—length and breadth.
99
The third one, lying heavy at the top, appeared to be of flaming porphyry, red as the blood that spurts out from a vein;
102
upon this step the angel of the Lord rested his feet; he sat upon the sill which seemed to be of adamantine rock.
105
Up the three steps my master guided me benevolently, saying: “Ask him now, in all humility, to turn the key. ”
108
Falling devoutly at his holy feet, in mercy’s name I begged to be let in; but, first of all, three times I smote my breast.
111
94-102. The three steps are generally taken to represent the three stages of repen- tance: the first step, which is white and mirrorlike, stands for self-examination; the second, black, rough step stands for sorrow for sin, or contrition; the third, flamingred step signifies satisfaction of the sinner’s debt, or penance.
Then with his sword he traced upon my brow the scars of seven P ‘s. “Once entered here, be sure you cleanse away these wounds, ” he said.
114
Ashes, or earth when it is dug up dry— this was the color of the robes he wore; he reached beneath them and drew out two keys.
117
One key was silver and the other gold; first he applied the white one, then the yellow— with that the gate responded to my wish.
120
“Whenever either one of these two keys fails to turn properly inside the lock, ” the angel said, “the road ahead stays closed.
123
One is more precious, but the other needs wisdom and skill before it will unlock, for it is that one which unties the knot.
126
I hold these keys from Peter, who advised: ’Admit too many, rather than too few, if they but cast themselves before your feet. ’ “
129
Then, pushing back the portal’s holy door, “Enter, ” he said to us, “but first be warned: to look back means to go back out again. ”
132
And then the pivots of that sacred gate, fashioned of heavy metal, resonant, turned slow inside their sockets. The rolling roar
135
113. The letter P stands for the Latin peccatum, “sin. ” The seven P’s carved on the Pilgrim’s forehead represent the stains of the seven Capital Sins that the Penitents must purge by their suffering on the mountain of Purgatory before their souls are ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
135-138. The tribune Metellus attempted in vain to prevent Julius Caesar, after the crossing of the Rubicon in 49 B.C., from entering the temple of Saturn at the foot of the Tarpeian Rock, where the treasury was located. Lucan is describing the loud grating sound that echoed in the rock when the doors to the vault were opened (Pharsalia III, 153-57, 167-68).
was louder and more stubborn than Tarpeia’s, when it was robbed of vigilant Metellus— its treasury made lean from that time on.
138
And as the grating pivots rolled, I turned, for I heard chanting: Te Deum laudamus — accompanied by the sweet notes of that door.
141
This harmony of sounds made me recall just how it seems in church when we attend to people singing as the organ plays:
144
sometimes the words are heard, and sometimes lost.
CANTO X
VIRGIL AND THE Pilgrim pass through the gate, and it shuts resound- ingly behind them as they make their way along a narrow path through a rocky cleft. They finally emerge from this “needle’s eye” to find themselves on a deserted ledge. The wall of the cliff that rises to one side of the ledge is adorned with carvings in white marble, all of them offering examples of the virtue of humility. The first example is the scene of the Annunciation. The second carving represents David, who has put aside his kingly splendor to dance in humility before the Lord. The third shows the Emperor Trajan halting his mighty array of warriors on horseback to listen to a poor widow’s plea for justice. As the Pilgrim stands marvelling at these august humilities, Virgil directs his attention to a group of souls that is moving toward them. These are the Proud, who, beating their breasts, make their way around the ledge under the crushing weight of tremendous slabs of stone that they carry on their backs.
140. Te Deum laudamus (“We praise Thee, O God”), a famous Ambrosian hymn of gratitude to God, here appears to be sung somewhat mysteriously, on the occasion of the gates’ opening to admit the Pilgrim into Purgatory.
When we had passed the threshold of the gate forever closed to souls whose loves are bad and make the crooked road seem like the straight,
3
I heard it close again, resoundingly; if I had turned to look back at the gate, how could I have explained this fault of mine?
6
Then we were climbing through a narrow cleft along a path that zigzagged through the rock the way a wave swells up and then pulls back.
9
“Now, we are at the point, ” my guide began, “where we must use our wits: when the path bends, we keep close to the far side of the curve. ”
12
This forced us into taking smaller steps, so that the waning moon had made its way to rest already in its bed, before
15
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we finally squeezed through that needle’s eye. When we were free, once more out on the mount, where this recedes enough to form a ledge,
18
we stopped there on the level space that stretched lonelier than a desert path—I, tired, and both of us uncertain of the way.
21
From the plain’s edge, verging on empty space, to where the cliff-face soars again, was room for three men’s bodies laid out end to end;
24
as far as I could take in with my eyes, measuring carefully from left to right, this terrace did not vary in its width.
27
And standing there, before we took a step, I realized that all the inner cliff, which, rising sheer, offered no means to climb,
30
was pure white marble; on its flawless face were carvings that would surely put to shame not only Polyclete but Nature too.
33
The angel who came down to announce on earth the peace longed for by weeping centuries, which broke the ancient ban and opened Heaven,
36
appeared before our eyes: a shape alive, carved in an attitude of marble grace, an effigy that could have spoken words.
39
One would have sworn that he was saying “Ave!” for she who turned the key, opening for us the Highest Love, was also figured there;
42
the outlines of her image carved the words Ecce ancilla Dei, as clearly cut as is the imprint of a seal on wax.
45
“Why don’t you look at other parts as well?” my gentle master said, the while I stood close by his side, the side that holds the heart.
48
And so I turned my eyes and looked ahead past Mary’s figure to that point where he who prompted me now stood, and there I saw
51
another story cut into the stone; crossing in front of Virgil, I drew near, so that my eyes could take in all of it.
54
Carved in the spread of marble there, I saw the cart and oxen with the holy Ark: a warning not to exceed one’s competence.
57
31-32. The carvings here illustrate examples of the virtue of Humility; they will be followed two cantos later by “carved examples” of the vice of Pride. Thus on the first cornice, Dante has chosen to represent the relevant pair of contrasts on the visual plane, imagining illustrative scenes carved with consummate art.