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Oh sante muse, oh calliope' Rise on to the light Leave sorrow and damnation behind Bow down, repent |
The Muses and in particular Calliope are invoked to support the poet's song |
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My hand grasped the wet sand air is now so rare and clean, thus I breathe serene sky, blue as sapphire: the freedom stone |
They wake up on the shore of the Purgatory beach |
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heavens host Venus shining and four stars of virtue giving harmony; only pity no human can ever stare at them |
Four stars symbol of the cardinal virtues, they shine in the sky of Purgatory and Dante complains that never being human can admire them |
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Near me a venerable soul; such reverence deserving starlight of virtue on face as if the sun was shining |
Apparition of an old man, CATONE The virtue stars illuminate the face as if it were illuminated by the sun |
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"Who are you that ’gainst the blind path have from the eternal Prison escaped? " firm words and severe gestures imposed respect for him |
He strictly asks the two poets who they are; he believes them two damned, for they have come for an unusual way Virgilio induces Dante to assume an attitude of humble submission |
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GUARDIAN WAS AN ANCIENT SILVER BEARD; AN ORDER HE GAVE ME: WASH UP YOUR FACE SO YOUR SOUL WILL BE FREED FROM SINS FOREVER EXPIATION IS NOT A FAIR PATH AN ORDER HE GAVE ME: WRAP YOURSELF IN A FLAT RUSH, TO EMBODY THE HUMBLENESS YOU NEED |
Catone orders Virgilio to subject Dante to a ritual: he will encircle him with a reed and remove his traces from his face of the passage to hell |
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As those surrounding notice me as not passed but still being, crowd unfolded a friend of mine: Casella "love that talketh with me in my mind" he thereupon began to sing so sweetly that still i hear his voice |
The souls realize that Dante is still alive and crowd around among them the Florentine musician Casella recognizes it. Casella intones a song by Convivio, "Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona" with such sweetness that everyone remains entranced to listen. |
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"Che è Cio'! Spiriti Lenti"
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Catone scolds the souls lingered to listen to the song of CASELLA |
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"What means this negligence and standing still ? Run To the mount and strip ye off the slough which lets not god be visible to you " |
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our climbing path passed by those souls who gave up sin when dying when their breathe’s been cut and body drown, weighted a life of sins was time to only follow my guide, when a shout made me hold |
Continuing to climb Dante and Virgilio meet
the negligent dead violently.
Dante was moving away from those souls and
he followed in the footsteps of his guide when one of these
he screamed. |
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SUN RAYS DON'T SHINE THROUGH YOU, AND THERE A SHADOW STAINS THE FLOOR BEHIND LIGHT DOES NEVER LIE. YOU ACT LIKE STILL ALIVE, HERE IN NO MAN'S LAND! |
A soul launches a cry of wonder because the rays
of the sun can not pierce the body of the poet and
they cast its shadow onto the ground |
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"Miserère mei, Deus, secùndum magnam misericòrdiam tuam. Et secùndum multitùdinem miseratiònum tuàrum, dele iniquitàtem meam. Àmplius lava me ab iniquitàte mea, et a peccàto meo munda me. Quòniam iniquitàtem meam ego cognòsco, et peccàtum meum contra me est semper. Tibi, tibi soli peccàvi et malum ............" |
Misere. Psalm 51
Dante and Virgilio are located in the Ante-Purgatory and on the slopes
of the mountain meet a new host of
souls who intones the psalm "Miserere" |
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CONFUSION AND A GROWING DAZE GATHERED A CROWD OF SHADES AROUND PASSED EYES ON ME, A SINFUL WONDER IN THIS PENANCE LAND |
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I trust you beyond any swear, and please mind every praise will shorten my time here! Then a voice sobbing: “keep my memory alive, my body is lost but my soul lives on!” |
Iacopo del Cassero asks Dante to pray for them for
shorten their stay in Ante-Purgatory
Bonconte da Montefeltro tells about his violent death and
he asks Dante for help
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"Noi fummo tutti gia' per forza morti"
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Literal quote. The cry of souls killed all violently |
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I’ve been killed by the hand with my wedding ring still on; when back in homeland pray Lord so to revive our echos |
Pia de 'Tolomei also asks Dante to remember her when he returns to the world of the living, she who has been killed in a violent manner, in the Tuscan Maremma, by the hand of the man who had asked her in marriage. |
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"Praised be your name and your value, father "
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The prayer pronounced by the souls who have sinned
of pride in life. Dante chooses our Father because
more than others emphasizes the condition of submission
of the superb souls. |
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cast your eyes down there: slow shapes are coming of those expiating their sins praying under stones curving their backs |
Virgilio tells Dante that damned souls are coming curves under the weight of the stones on their back |
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Divine I call for justice and mercy please show me an easier path to help this penitent's ascent |
Virgilio after having wished the souls justice
and divine mercy (captatio benevolentiae)
ask them to indicate the easiest way
to get to the next frame |
| a cry halts our pace asking for a name "you'd hear echos of a great past along noble roots and... Arrogance" putting a shadow over all Eve's sons denied dignity from my sight I was guilty, not my family |
Omberto Aldobrandeschi
the great businesses and noble roots of his family
they made him so arrogant that he despised all men,
like him descendants of Eva,
instead of understanding the equality of the
men before God
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Here is purge vain glory on this decadent land Here is purge the arrogance Humans sins humans faults Here is purge vain glory Here is purge the arrogance |
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There will come a time you'll raise hands to foreign heavens and others' eyes obscure my talking, and I won't say more. you'll feel it not far from now |
Oderisi's Profecy |
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GLORY SHOULD NOT COME UNDER THIS NAME SO VAIN DOWN IN EARTH, BUILT OVER PRIDE SO FAR TO BE ENLIGHTED BY LORD ALL HUMAN VOID FAME IS AS THE GREEN OF LEAVES, LASTS LONG AS A SEASON REPUTATION IS LIKE THE WIND'S BLOW, NEVER FLOWS THE SAME |
VAIN GLORY ON EARTH concept. The fame is short-lived exactly like the color green leaves. |
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Angelo dell'umiltà ci accoglie e ci indica il cammino |
The Angel of humility invites the two pilgrims to approach
to the steps that mark the path towards the second
frame |
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the white angel spreads his wings leading us to the walkway by carvings in rocks towards the next ring and I feel so light after sin has gone from my brow |
Dante asks Virgilio why he feels so light
and he replies that to every frame the angels will eliminate
the P that has on the forehead and every time it will always feel
lighter. |
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Left the last stair, top is reached we stepped on a narrower ledge no artworks only a plain dreary wall Nobody around, to ask to my, master with a solemn voice called upon helping Sun |
At the top of the stairs, the two poets are in the second frame,
similar to the first but of minor radius. There are no images or sculptures,
but a uniform stone with a "bruise" color. Because it does not appear
no soul to ask the way,
Virgilio invokes the sun as a guide to the journey. |
| "vinum non habent"
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Literal quote |
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A mile is now behind, I heared sounds from an invisible above charity was in those words, over envious as they spent a life poisoned with envy, now are them poked by icons of virtue |
After about a mile of walking,
invisible spirits are heard flying
expressing warnings to charity by addressing
to the envious invitations to the table of love.
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But who are you ? Ma tu chi sei ? and why you speak breathing ? |
The soul asks Dante who he is
and why he is alive |
| ONE NESTLING ON OTHERS NEAR, ROUGH DRESSES CONCEAL THEM TO STONE WALLS ODES TO SAINTS AND MOTHER SOBBING WITH ME TEARS THROUGH IRON’S BLINDING HOLE A PITIFUL SIGHT I CAN NOT STAND LOWERED MY EYES BUT MASTER TOLD ME TO SPEAK |
At the invitation of Virgil,
Dante looks a little further on some souls,
sitting at the rock,
dressed in mantles whose color
it is confused with the stone.
After a while, he hears the invocations
of those souls to Mary and to the saints.
Arrived near them, the poet is troubled
and grieved by what he sees. They are
covered with rough cloth, they rest
one at the other's shoulder, and all are
leaning against the rock. They look like the blind
who ask for alms in front of the churches.
And the souls are blind, since they have
the eyelids sewn by a thread of iron;
tears are leaking from the horrible stitching.
Dante does not want to offend them in looking at them
without being seen, but Virgilio encourages it
to speak.
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| The blind crowd yet did not notice me, and when I asked who among them was born in beloved homeland “here we all are sons of Paradise, but I first saw the light in Italy” said a female sightless voice |
Dante asks the crowd of penitents who was Italian A soul replies that they, in reality, are all cities of Paradise, while perhaps he wants to know if one of them has been a foreigner in Italy. It is the penitent SAPIA |
| seeing her I conceived I will share a shorter pain though same, but my heart feels yet mashed by the stone Arno? That name should be buried! it gushes in shit and pigs, just to flow to curs, surely noisier than violent Left the plain which turned dogs in to wolves, it reaches fraud foxes |
Dante realizes that he too was envious after death and hence the
made to share a penalty equal to that of the penitent Two souls talk about Tuscany and the corruption of the inhabitants of Valdarno |
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"Quel fu ‘l duro camo
che dovria l’uom tener dentro a sua meta. Ma voi prendete l’esca, sì che l’amo de l’antico avversaro a sé vi tira; e però poco val freno o richiamo. Chiamavi ‘l cielo e ‘ntorno vi si gira, mostrandovi le sue bellezze etterne, e l’occhio vostro pur a terra mira; onde vi batte chi tutto discerne" |
the teacher explains to Dante that what he has heard is the call he should
induce man to remain within his limits; man, on the other hand,
he is attracted by the flattery of the devil, so every brake is ineffective.
The sky revolves around the man showing him his eternal beauties,
but he persists in turning his gaze to the ground, for which he incurs
in hard divine punishment.
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“shouldn’t darkness had been left down in hell?” seems worse to me starless night, even darker clouds! more dense at every step on, eyes wide open i can't stand, blind, it’s like being in a rough shroud… |
The smoke that is having to face Dante at the entrance of the third frame is compared and made it even worse in the dark of hell and of a night without stars obscured by clouds. It is so pungent that Dante can not keep your eyes open and compare it to one rough cloth |
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the only hold left to life are the master’s hand i grasp, his voice and the prayers’ echo |
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"Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis dona (nobis) pacem" |
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SOUL FORTH FROM THE HANDS OF HIM, THE WORLD UNSURE, FLIES DELICATE WITH HEART CLEAN, A MAID SO PURE, TO WHICH IS MORE PLEASING LOVE TO USELESS AND THINGS VOID SOMETIMES IT SHOVES IF NOT UNDER A WISE GUIDE. THAT’S WHY NEEDS LAWS TO A FIRM KING BE TIED |
He explains to Dante that the soul,
once created,
she is like an unwitting girl,
which is moved by the goodness of God and
is directed towards what gives you pleasure
It turns its love also to goods materials and wrong, if it is not braked and guided appropriately: for this they exist laws and it is necessary that a sovereign le apply with rigor. |
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a third figure joins our walk along i can only feel it shielding me from the deadly air he’s gasping in pain “fellow, body still cages your soul” and it’s common in life, while human reason is confused, blaming heavens |
Lombardo sighs and then moans for breathing
such a pungent smoke. The speech begins
calling him brother and saying that from his
affirmation it had become clear that it came
from the earth; but human reason, being
blurred, attributes the cause of everything
only to the sky. |
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stars cannot affect human spirit, because it’s born by the lord so can’t be hold by other powers god gave us reason to avoid darkness, and to chase the light. if safely kept it’s invincible |
Then Marco Lombardo explains that in reality the stars they can not completely influence the human soul, not the rational part in particular (of nature spiritual because created by God) and therefore can not condition the decisions of an individual (Tommaso d'Aquino). The reason was given to us by God to distinguish the good (lumen-Paradise) from evil (dark-hell) and, if it is properly conducted, due to the influence of the stars |
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Out of the dense blanket smoke was dusk behind the mountain, along with the wonderful song of a nightingale to sky Then comes Aman, set to a cross for having killed the right |
Dante describes the souls of the penitents who run
shouting back and forth, they can not stop
because that is their penance
One of the characters is Aman, minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus crucified for
having wanted to kill the just Mordecai uncle of Queen Esther,
episode taken from the Book of Esther of the Old Testament (in which Aman is hanged). |
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And what about the anger of a mother, taken to death not to see her daughter hold as wife by the wrong embrace? Light! nothing more, the descending angel of bliss |
After concluding his explanation, Virgil looks Dante in the eye to see if he is satisfied;
he does not speak in order not to be inappropriate, but Virgil understands his desire to ask other questions
and encourages him. Dante then, thanking Virgilio for all his teachings, begs him to clarify
what is love, which in the previous song has been identified as the origin of every good or bad act. |
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Lord gave us a loving soul; our mind is taken by world around and turn our soul toward: that’s what we call Love. But not all seals are good, even if wax is |
Virgilio explains that the soul is created with the predisposition to love;
the mind is struck by external reality, it turns the soul towards it,
and if that reality is beautiful and pleasant, the soul feels love.
Then, as the fire by its nature tends upward, so the soul is
naturally driven to desire the beloved object and find no peace until
he does not own it. Men often fall into error as they believe
that any love is praiseworthy in itself: the faculty to love is good;
but it is not always its concrete realizations (as well as not all of them
the seals are good, even if the wax is good). |
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NO MAN, NOR GOD WAS WITHOUT LOVE. WHEN FELT IS ALWAYS RIGHT, CHOSEN MAY NOT. ONLY UNTIL GOD IS THE SPARK, LOVE WILL NOT FAIL |
No creature (that is, no man), like his Creator (God), was never without love, love that can be of two kinds: "natural" or "of soul".
In the first case it is instinctive and therefore always right; in the second case it is of choice, of will, that is, chosen by the subject: this love can therefore be wrong, for three different reasons: it can sin by "malo obietto", that is, because
As long as love is directed to the First Good, that is to God, and is kept in the right limits towards other goods, it can not err, but when it turns to evil or exceeds the measure (too much or too little), then the creature works against the Creator. |
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master wiped out all my doubts, I was almost loosing me thinking back to answers he gave but peace has yet to come here screams! and stomping crazy horde running for faster find its peace we were parted, after the chaos I saw him taking his way on: should I reach him? he turned, stern, pointing two souls, guilty as me of sloth: this remembered me of not being free by sins yet |
Virgil has now responded to his doubts, and he is in a state of torpor, but is suddenly interrupted by a large crowd of souls that comes up behind him running furiously, like the multitudes of the Theban who invoked Bacchus. The first two souls crying cry out examples of solicitude: Mary who goes to visit Elizabeth, and Julius Caesar who during the civil war moves quickly from Marseilles to Spain to hit the Pompeii. The others add, always shouting, exhortations to the speed of expiation, so as to solicit divine grace.
Meanwhile, the soul that claims to be an abbot goes away, and Dante does not know if he has finished speaking or not; Virgilio
invites him to pay attention to two souls who cry out examples of punished sloth:
the Jews were too weak to follow Moses, who did not come to see the Jordan,
and the Trojans who instead of following Enea stopped in Sicily. |
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"Poi quando fuor da noi tanto divise quell’ombre, che veder più non potiersi, novo pensiero dentro a me si mise, del qual più altri nacquero e diversi; e tanto d’uno in altro vaneggiai, che li occhi per vaghezza ricopersi, e ‘l pensamento in sogno trasmutai. " |
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"Ma questo è un sogno? O realtà ?" walking in my dream met a beautiful mermeid whose charming crooning stealed as with ulisses virtue? perdition? hard to choose… master answered killing her, waking me up is the only escape |
Dante dreams. Dreams a strange woman, who turns into a kind of mermaid as fascinating as the sirens that meet Ulysses in his long trip In the dream he asks for help from Virgil, who is staring at his clothes of the first woman of the dream and shows her belly, rotten and smelly to the point that Dante wakes up. |
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immersed in thoughts he said she was like those sins which bind soul to goods, but temperance will save you that’s why you should offer your heart to the heavens, like hawks do: first blind, but ready to fly at the sign here that pain it comes: I hear “my soul stuck the ground” by weeping souls please guide us; don’t loose the faith, it will come an end |
Virgilio explains that the woman is "that ancient witch" she represents
the sins punished in the upper part of Purgatory, that is
those caused by an excess of desire for earthly goods
he adds that Dante in his dream saw how we can free ourselves from it
to temperance
Let him therefore be determined to address his heart to heaven (and not to earthly goods).
Dante is like the hawk who first looks long on the ground, then, at the call of the falconer,
it rushes upwards looking for prey; so he quickly runs the ladder in the rock
up to the entrance in the fifth group. |
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before leaving, tell me if I can be of any help; who are you? I was a Pope for a moon used to long for it, despite the little time, I felt the weight of role my kneels down give you the respect you due stand, my brother! we both are under the Only; in God’s reign no husbands or wives, but we all will be as angels |
As soon as he entered the fifth circle, Dante sees a crowd of souls, mouthfuls on the ground, that between tears and sighs hardly say, in the words of the Psalm CXIX, "my soul has adhered to the ground". Virgil with accents of compassion and hope asks for advice on the way to go. |
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WHEN I WAS ALIVE, THOUGHT NO GREATER AWARD THAN BEING A POPE, GREEDYNESS KEPT ME FAR… NEVER RAISED MY HEART, SO NOW I FACE THE MUD. GREED HOLD ME, SO NOW I LIVE HANDS AND LEGS TIED |
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as we were leaving, a noise blared into my thoughts: heartquake! nearly fainted in terror, I heard words into that shout: “Gloria in excelsis Deo” |
While the two pilgrims go away, the mountain of Purgatory is shaken by a violent earthquake
that fills Dante with terror, followed by a choral cry; Virgil reassures the poet, while
Dante discerns in the powerful cry the words of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo.
The two stop until that song ends, then resume the path between the souls of the misers.
Dante does not dare to ask Virgilio for explanations not to slow down the path and is not able either
to understand what happened, then proceed full of fear and doubts. |
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(1) Past the angel’s smile, our path goes plain and peaceful, friendly talking arguing nicely, with our mate from the terrace of avarice asked him how His wisdom has let him fall upon greed; but he was guilty of the opposite, there together (2)Having to answer about great poets from ancient times, Rome and Greece my master assured they’re still with him Down, at first circle the Hell gathers all those born before Jesus, here great poets stay from everywhere, talking about poetry (3)Suddenly right in the middle of our trail a huge tree raised upside down, and full of fruits A voice shouted not to eat from that tree, Eden’s memory (4)Shook myself from dreams, our destination can’t wait, moving away right when angels sang the arrival of those here for their sins In life they ate without measure but all them are stunted, but running however; fair how far shortcomings took them (5) FIVE YEARS AGO A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE GONE DIED HERE YOU ARE! SUFFERINGS LEFT SIGNS… YOUR VOICE CAN’T LIE, EVEN HERE DEPRIVATION IS OUR PATH TO SALVATION GOD SAID HATH DESPITE THE PAIN, WE GO TO THE TREE LIKE ONCE HE DID TO THE CROSS (6) Your repentance was late, just at the end, how it comes you're here, about to leave? “it has been thanks to my wife, prayers and an exemplary life” much more than the rest (7) When the time has come I sit, inspired feel by Love itself, I write that same way he’s talking inside of me. that’s the key which builds the style (8) Blessed are those enlightened by Lord they don’t get excited on gluttony but are eager of what is right indeed. that took the very last sign |
(1) As soon as he passed the angel that guards the entrance to the sixth circle, Dante proceeds more smoothly, following the souls of Virgil and Stazio effortlessly and listening to their conversation. Virgilio recalls that the words of Giovenale when he descended into Limbo inspired him great benevolence towards Statius, who had shown himself to be his devotee
follower. With a spirit of friendship he therefore addresses a question to Stazio: how come in
Has his soul full of wisdom been able to find a place for avarice?
Stazio smiles at first, then answers explaining that Virgil has fallen into a misunderstanding,
seeing him in the circle where the misers are; actually his fault was
having exceeded in the opposite direction, or having dissipated material goods (2) Finally, Stazio states that faults between them, such as avarice and prodigality, are expiated together: this is the reason why he was together with the misers. Stazio then asks Virgil for news of the eternal destiny of illustrious Latin writers: Terenzio, Cecilio, Plauto, Varro or Vario. Virgilio replied that they, along with Persio and many others, as well as Homer and himself are in the first circle of Hell and together often speak of poetry. There are also poets there Greeks, like Euripides, Antifonte, Simonides, Agatone, together with figures of which Statius speaks in his poems, such as Antigone, Ismene, Deidamia and others. (3) As they walk, Dante listens to the conversation of the two poets from whom he draws. But the interview is soon interrupted because a tree rises in the middle of the path loaded with fragrant fruits, gradually tighter from top to bottom, like an overturned fir tree, perhaps - thinks Dante - because nobody can climb it. From the rock comes a clear water that irrigates the tree from below upwards. Virgil and Stazio approach and hear among the fronds a voice that shouts: "Do not eat these fruits" (4) Virgilio collects Dante from the astonishment for the words of the tree and pushes him to follow him and Stazio towards their destination. A penitential hymn arrives at the ears of travelers, which heralds the arrival of those who in that circle are called to atone for their sins. These are the greedy ones, who surpass the three wayfarers by turning with curiosity but without stopping: their appearance is emaciated and very thin, so much so that Dante does not understand how only the smell of apples and rivulet can reduce them in this state. (5) Suddenly one of the souls stops, exulting with surprise: his voice reveals his identity (initially hidden by the disfigured look), it is Forese Donati, a great friend of Dante and passed away even five years before. Dante stops, happy but worried about his friend's suffering: Forese explains to him that through deprivation he and his companions joyfully expiate their absence; hunger and thirst in fact continue to torment them as they did in life, but it is denied to them to enjoy the relief of water and apples present in that crag, which they retract as soon as the purgatives stretch their hands to grab them. Therefore, the desire for food pushes them happily towards the tree laden with fruit just as Christ happily accepted to suffer martyrdom on the cross: through the pain of pain they earn the salvation and forgiveness of sins. (6) Dante, therefore, asks through which Forese grace he is already in Purgatory and not at his doors, waiting to pay the penalty for his very late repentance. The merit, he explains to himself, is from Nella Donati, Forese's wife, who with her prayers and pious life hastened her husband's redemption process: how his exemplary conduct is different from that of other Florentine women! (7) In fact, Bonagiunta asks him if it is he who invented the "new rhymes", to which Dante replies that he is the one who, when Love inspires him, takes note, and in the way in which that dictates in, he writes. (8) The three still go on meditating for a long time, when a sudden voice asks them what they think: to which Dante turns frightened and sees the dazzling light of the angel of temperance, which shows them the way to the last frame and removes the sixth "P" from the front of the poet, singing bliss "Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt iustitiam" |
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(1) From the depth of the mountain a wide flame is born, no way but a slit on the shoulder of the abyss. “beware my friend, do every step on a firm foothold” (2) Sun shines my side, I am paler than the fire (3) Sighs of amazement from inside the painful fire once again my being alive is strange, but as I arrange answer a wildly kissing swarm shouts away (4) THOSE WORDS ARE MERE TERROR, GATHER VISIONS I CALL AND SHE'S THERE BEYOND, SO I WALKED IN, WITH THE VOICE FROM THE END OF THE FIRE WALL SODOMA E GOMORRA (5) I took you till here with the help of my Reason; you’re far from the expiation path. wait for the love eyes, who sent me to help you. Don’t ask me a word or a sign, you are now free from any sin, you act yourself (6) IO SOVRA TE CORONO E MITRIO |
(1) While Stazio developed his explanation, the pilgrims
they reached the last group and bent to the right.
A new difficulty awaits them: the rocky wall of the mountain
throws out a flame that comes up from a
wind blowing from the edge of the frame; remains free for the
passage only a very narrow border bordering the abyss,
so that the three must advance one after the other, and Dante fears
on one side the fire and on the other the void. Virgil invites him
to watch carefully so as not to put the foot in a foul
(2) The sun illuminates his side projecting his shadow on the fire and making it seem fainter to the comparison (3) Marveling at this detail, the souls are surprised that he seems to have a body, coming closer to him to better observe it without, however, leaving the purgatory fire. (4) Virgilio reassures him that fire can cause torment in purgatory but not death; he thus invites him to lay a hem of his robe above the fire to personally verify the veracity of the his words. yet hesitant, he is again urged by virgil who reminds him that beyond the barrier they face there is a Beatrice. convinced by those words, giving, together with Virgilio and space, enter the fire. an angel guides them inside the fire whose voice comes from the end of the barrier. (5) In the morning Dante, Virgilio and Stazio resume their journey. Arrived in top of the mountain Virgilio says goodbye to Dante: he will accompany him until they meet Beatrice but from now on the poet will not hear any more words coming out of the master's mouth. (6) Virgilio Investiture: I constitute you lord and guide of yourself |
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(1) Penance has here a stop; it's where rites get deserving souls free and ready to ascend to the stars we are in the Eden Where spring reigns far over the seasons, water is pure and skies always neat Innocence, while source of the Original Sin. (2) Shame on those sinners, if not for them, we all could had enjoied all these beauties; sweet choirs do not take this rancor away. Golden griffin here comes, wings open spread so high the eyes can't see an end, Its majesty passes any legendary one. (3) Dawn, suddenly flowing tears, joy and sorrow, I burn again by old flame. DANTE, DON'T WEEP, FOR THIS IS LESS; THE REAL PAIN IS YET TO COME… LOOK! IT'S ME! BUT HOW DID YOU DARE? HERE ALL ARE JOYFUL, DON'T YOU KNOW? MATERIAL GOODS CHAINED ME, DIVERTING MY OWN WAY... I HAD TO SAVE YOU! ... WHEN DEATH'S STOLEN YOU (4) You carry the weight of a blame well known by the lord, like it or not but if you confess it, justice will be less hard towards you, easier pain stop weeping and listen how my loss could have had guided you wisely no more beauty than mine has ever been shown you; death made it of no worth up to the heavens your soul should have been close nothing should have ever had your care, ‘cause, as an adult, you’d have spotted danger (5) Left dumb and speachless, raised my head and saw Other angels vanished; I then turned my eyes and whatching her Vestal beauty realized my Error, fainting off. (6) Up rising from Lethe’s stream, Adoring her view Reflecting the Griffin, You’re still my forever |
(1) The place is the one from which Adam and Eve were hunted later
to original sin. If the forest of the I canto dell'Inferno is allegory
of Dante's fear and despair, this forest is a symbol of
liberation of man - Dante from dangerous irrational instincts, not
more uncertain, but autonomous. The divine forest is of a dimension that
transcends the human: as far as it is perfectly perfected, in fact, he recalls
locus amoenus of the classical tradition, a place immersed in an eternal
spring, made of delights, far from atmospheric disturbances.
The description continues with another typical component of the enchanting place, the streams whose clear waters allow the removal of sins and the memory of the good done: Lete and Eunoè.
(2) Among the four animals is a triumphal two-wheeled cart pulled by a griffin. This proceeds with the wings raised, without cleaving the colored trails left by the candelabra. The wings rise so high as to escape the sight; the body of the griffin is golden in the limbs of eagle and white and red in the limbs of a lion. (3) It is dawn - the allegorical moment of rebirth and hope - and with this similarity the appearance of Beatrice is introduced, appearing veiled by the cloud of flowers thrown by the angels, dressed in a fiery red dress (4) Beatrice comments: "Your guilt is well known to God, and it would be so even if you omitted or denied it. However, when the culprit confesses, the justice of the heavenly court becomes less harsh. But to be able to better resist the fallacies in the future, stop crying and listen how my death should have led you to follow a path opposite to the one you have traveled. You have never been shown any beauty superior to that of my body; if my death showed you the inconsistency of that earthly good, what other good could attract you to it? Instead you would have had to raise your soul towards the sky, following me. Nothing should have weigh you down and bend over, or a young woman or other fleeting pleasure. If a little bird featherless must undergo two or three pitfalls before recognizing the dangers, adult birds know how to avoid dangers ». (5) Dante, full of shame, remains silent with his eyes downcast; At this point he realizes that the angels cease to scatter flowers and with an uncertain look he observes Beatrice, who appears to him as much more beautiful than the living Beatrice, as the latter he had outgrown every other woman. He acknowledges his mistake with deep remorse and falls unconscious (6) When he comes to his senses, Matelda leans over him and holds him tight, carrying him up to his neck in the water of the Lethe, towards the other shore. When he is close to it, Dante hears the song of the angels Asperges me (a verse of the Miserere): Matelda dips his head until he swallows the water, then raises it and enters it in the circle of cardinal virtues. |
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(1) Virtues are approaching, in number of three, dancing and singing her a prayer to be forgiving “he suffered and went through so much pain for you, show him your benevolence, unveil your true smile” heavenly vision of her pure grace passes any poetry by far Drown into you, after ten years, makes all around sink in the mist of a memory: they would like me back, but all me stays on you who survive this oblivion Awaken from my dreams, I see you left procession after a tall tree everyone there calls for Adam. Griffin gets near the leafless, not eating from it calls for a spring and flowers
"S’io potessi ritrar come assonnaro
(4) li occhi spietati udendo di Siringa, li occhi a cui pur vegghiar costò sì caro; come pintor che con essempro pinga, disegnerei com’io m’addormentai; ma qual vuol sia che l’assonnar ben finga " lightning speed, raging descent from heavens, the eagle arrives shaking all ‘till fallen down (5) Not even the time to raise and be safe that a dragon comes tearing everything apart (6) all at once eagle’s feathers covered the ruins, and by that strange snowing found its way three heads, than others and sharp horns all around a kind of monster i’ve never seen (7) Riding that abomination a whore, teasing and kissing a giant as her sight fell upon myself her lover full of anger envious grabbed the bridle and carried all to the forest (8) Now you don’t have to fear any more what you saw will have its own sense and all will be clear soon, the same way the tree and its destruction. At least remember the main traits of all this, report them to the world of living like a pilgrim back from Holy Land (9) my love has never left you, your memory nor our faith. Been drown in Lethe, however, admits my guilt, and I feel shame. Forgive me High the stress Trying to realize all left behind made my mind so sore time for me to be guided to the river head so to be made pure drinking the sacred water (10) almost over i can’t gather words the immense joy I found in drinking back from the holy river I’m deeply renewed
"PURO E DISPOSTO A SALIR LE STELLE"
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(1) While Dante feeds intensely on this spiritual food, the three theological Virtues approach each other dancing and singing an invocation to Beatrice so that she may be generous towards someone like Dante who has suffered so much to reach her, and show him his smile without any veil
(2) La vista dello splendore di Beatrice, manifestazione della luce di Dio, è tale da superare qualunque capacità espressiva e poetica (3) Tutti mormorano "Adamo" circondando una pianta completamente priva di gemme o foglie. La sua chioma ha forma di cono rovesciato ed è di altezza smisurata. Le voci delle varie figure simboliche esaltano il grifone (simbolo di Cristo) perché non si ciba di quell'albero, dolce al gusto ma dannoso poi; e il grifone risponde che in tal modo si preserva il bene. Il grifone quindi trascina il carro fino all'albero e lo lega ad esso (4) With the speed of lightning, an eagle descends from the top of the tree, splitting its bark and breaking the new branches, and striking the cart that bends on its side. (5) A dragon appears, as if it came out of the earth, sticking its tail into the wagon, then it retracts by dragging a part of the bottom with it, then it goes away. (6) The eagle in turn enters the wagon and leaves its feathers; a voice from the sky complains about the state in which his "spaceship" is located. (It is St. Peter who deplores the sad burden that weighs down his Church, that is, earthly goods). (7) On the cart appears a provocative "whore", who exchanges kisses with a giant. As soon as she looks at Dante, her lover then savagely beats her, full of jealousy and fury, he unties the cart from the tree and drags it through the forest, until between Dante and these horrid figures there is a screen of trees (8) Beatrice speaks This story, Beatrice continues, may now appear obscure, but soon the facts themselves they will dissolve every enigma. Dante therefore registers the words he now listens to and brings them back faithfully to the living. Never forget to write about the double dispossession of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil: anyone who harms it performs a sacrilege, because God created it solely for his own designs and therefore it is inviolable. Adam was punished for more than five thousand years. Dante is fool if he does not understand that the plant is very tall and upside down for a particular reason: if he had not been misled by attractive but false thoughts he would recognize that external form the sign of God's justice or of the moral prohibition to seize them the fruits. However, given that Dante's intellect is obscured to the point that the light of truth dazzles him, Beatrice wants him in his mind to carry at least a draft this speech, as the pilgrim reports from the Holy Land as a reminder e witness the stick adorned with palm leaves. (9) The sun has risen almost to the zenith when the Virtues stop at the edge of a faint shadow like the one that spreads from the leaves of trees in the mountains above the brooks. Dante sees two streams flowing from a spring (like Tigris and Euphrates) that slowly move away; immediately he asks Beatrice of what rivers it is, and the woman urges him to ask Matelda. She replies that she has already explained this and is certain that Dante cannot having forgotten it. Perhaps, says Beatrice, the greatest concern of understanding all that he has seen has tarnished his mind: Matelda guides him therefore to the Eunoè and revive, as it is his task, his weak capacity to remember good. Matelda with prompt kindness takes Dante by the hand and motions for Stazio to accompany him (10) Dante the poet states that if he had more space he would try to describe sweetness of that drinking (the water of the Eunoè) of which one would never have satiated; but the cards prepared for the second canticle are now exhausted, and the "fren de arte" does not allows him to continue. Return from the sacred water of the Eunoe inwardly renewed, like a young plant that is dressed in new fronds, now «pure and willing to rise to the stars ». |
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I lived a dream with you, a fairy tale but then we found ourselves trapped in a nightmare I wanted to believe, we wanted to hope but HE has destroyed all our dreams HE made us believe that we would lived our dream But then he killed our destiny With you I breathed clean air I saw the infinity in the sky I felt great warmth embracing your love I drank crystal clear water but.... I also learned terror and fear, the real ones. With you everything has been worth living IF I KNOW WHAT LOVE IS, IT'S BEACAUSE OF YOU It's time for you to rest your soul, and for me to cry for you. You'll always be inside of me, wherever you are now...Ary goodbye R.I.P. ARY (Joe's Wife) |
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