Paradiso, Canto 19
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso XIX continues the Jupiter sequence with the Eagle of divine justice now speaking. Dante first sees the beautiful image open-winged, made joyful by the interwoven souls, each one ruby-like and sunlit. The poem insists that no voice, ink, or imagination has ever represented what Dante must now tell: the beak speaks in a singular I and my though the thought beneath it is we and our. The Eagle says it is exalted for justice and mercy, leaving on earth a memory praised by the wicked but not imitated. Dante addresses the blessed souls as everlasting flowers of eternal gladness and asks them to break the old fast of his question about justice, because their heaven sees divine justice without a veil. Like an unhooded falcon, the Eagle readies itself and begins its answer. The Creator who turned the compass at the world's edge and distinguished hidden and manifest things cannot be contained by creation; the Word remains in infinite excess. Lucifer's premature fall proves that lesser natures are too small to receive the infinite Good on their own terms. Human sight is only a ray of the Mind that fills all things and cannot see its beginning beyond what appears to it; it penetrates eternal justice only as an eye penetrates the sea, seeing the bottom near shore but not in the deep. No true light comes except from the untroubled Serene. The Eagle opens the hiding place of Dante's question: a virtuous man born on the Indus without preacher, reader, writer, baptism, or faith. The Eagle rebukes the short-sighted wish to judge from a thousand miles away, places Scripture above human reasoning, and says that the First Will, good in itself, never moves from the Supreme Good; whatever accords with it is just, and created good does not draw it but is caused by its raying forth. The Eagle circles like a stork over fed young, and its song remains as incomprehensible to Dante as eternal judgment is to mortals. It then states that no one ever rose to Heaven without belief in Christ, before or after the Crucifixion, yet many who cry Christ will be farther from him at Judgment than some who never knew him, and the Ethiopian will condemn such Christians when the two companies are divided. The canto closes with the opened volume of judgment and a catalogue of corrupt Christian rulers: Persians will shame Europe's kings; Albert, Philip the Fair, Scot and Englishman, the rulers of Spain and Bohemia, the Cripple of Jerusalem, the ruler of Sicily, his uncle and brother, Portugal, Norway, Rascia, Hungary, Navarre, Nicosia, and Famagosta are all drawn into the ledger of justice.
Narrative arc
- The open-winged Eagle speaks as a singular I from many interwoven souls and names justice, mercy, memory, and failed imitation
- Dante asks the flowers of eternal gladness to release his old fast of doubt, and the Eagle readies itself like an unhooded falcon
- The Eagle teaches created limitation through the divine compass, the Word's excess, Lucifer's unripe fall, finite sight, sea-depth, and true light
- The Eagle voices Dante's just-pagan question and rebukes mortal judgment before grounding justice in the First Will
- The stork-like Eagle circles, compares its music to eternal judgment, and states the necessity of Christ while warning false Christians
- The opened volume of Judgment exposes corrupt Christian rulers across Europe and the Mediterranean
Central themes
- justice
- rulership
- judgment
The open-winged Eagle speaks as a singular `I` from many interwoven souls and names justice, mercy, memory, and failed imitation XIX.1–21
1Parea dinanzi a me con l’ali aperte
la bella image che nel dolce frui
liete facevan l’anime conserte;
parea ciascuna rubinetto in cui
5raggio di sole ardesse sì acceso,
che ne’ miei occhi rifrangesse lui.
E quel che mi convien ritrar testeso,
non portò voce mai, né scrisse incostro,
né fu per fantasia già mai compreso;
10ch’io vidi e anche udi’ parlar lo rostro,
e sonar ne la voce e «io» e «mio»,
quand’ era nel concetto e ‘noi’ e ‘nostro’.
E cominciò: «Per esser giusto e pio
son io qui essaltato a quella gloria
15che non si lascia vincere a disio;
e in terra lasciai la mia memoria
sì fatta, che le genti lì malvage
commendan lei, ma non seguon la storia».
Così un sol calor di molte brage
20si fa sentir, come di molti amori
usciva solo un suon di quella image.
1Before me, with open wings, appeared
the beautiful image that, in sweet fruition,
made the interwoven souls glad;
each seemed a little ruby in which
5a sunbeam burned so kindled
that into my eyes it refracted him.
And what it falls to me to portray now,
no voice ever carried, nor ink wrote,
nor was it ever grasped by fantasy;
10for I saw and also heard the beak speak,
and in its voice sound both 'I' and 'my',
when in thought it was both 'we' and 'our'.
And it began: "Because I was just and merciful,
I am exalted here to that glory
15that does not let desire surpass it;
and on earth I left my memory
made such that the evil people there
commend it, but do not follow the story."
So a single heat from many embers
20makes itself felt, as from many loves
one sound alone came out of that image.
Commentary
The Eagle is both singular and collective: many souls make one image, one heat, and one voice, while the beak says I and my though the thought is we and our.
XIX.1–3 Frui is kept as fruition/enjoyment rather than generic pleasure because the souls are enjoying blessed fulfillment. Conserte keeps the woven collective body that will speak as a single Eagle.
XIX.1–3 Frui is kept as fruition/enjoyment rather than generic pleasure because the souls are enjoying blessed fulfillment. Line 2: Frui is kept as fruition/enjoyment rather than generic pleasure because the souls are enjoying blessed fulfillment. Line 3: Conserte keeps the woven collective body that will speak as a single Eagle.
XIX.2 Frui is kept as fruition/enjoyment rather than generic pleasure because the souls are enjoying blessed fulfillment. Frui is kept as fruition/enjoyment rather than generic pleasure because the souls are enjoying blessed fulfillment.
XIX.3 Conserte keeps the woven collective body that will speak as a single Eagle. Conserte keeps the woven collective body that will speak as a single Eagle.
XIX.4–6 Him keeps the sun-person pressure of lui without substituting an explanatory noun.
XIX.4–6 Him keeps the sun-person pressure of lui without substituting an explanatory noun. Line 6: Him keeps the sun-person pressure of lui without substituting an explanatory noun.
XIX.6 Him keeps the sun-person pressure of lui without substituting an explanatory noun. Him keeps the sun-person pressure of lui without substituting an explanatory noun.
XIX.10–12 Backticks mark the pronoun crux without changing the line's directness. The singular voice from collective thought governs the whole Eagle sequence.
XIX.10–12 Backticks mark the pronoun crux without changing the line's directness. Line 11: Backticks mark the pronoun crux without changing the line's directness. Line 12: The singular voice from collective thought governs the whole Eagle sequence.
XIX.11 Backticks mark the pronoun crux without changing the line's directness. Backticks mark the pronoun crux without changing the line's directness.
XIX.12 The singular voice from collective thought governs the whole Eagle sequence. The singular voice from collective thought governs the whole Eagle sequence.
XIX.13–15 Pio is rendered as merciful here to keep piety, mercy, and imperial justice together.
XIX.13–15 Pio is rendered as merciful here to keep piety, mercy, and imperial justice together. Line 13: Pio is rendered as merciful here to keep piety, mercy, and imperial justice together.
XIX.13 Pio is rendered as merciful here to keep piety, mercy, and imperial justice together. Pio is rendered as merciful here to keep piety, mercy, and imperial justice together.
XIX.16–18 Storia holds both the remembered account and the exemplary course that wicked people fail to imitate.
XIX.16–18 Storia holds both the remembered account and the exemplary course that wicked people fail to imitate. Line 18: Storia holds both the remembered account and the exemplary course that wicked people fail to imitate.
XIX.18 Storia holds both the remembered account and the exemplary course that wicked people fail to imitate. Storia holds both the remembered account and the exemplary course that wicked people fail to imitate.
Dante asks the flowers of eternal gladness to release his old fast of doubt, and the Eagle readies itself like an unhooded falcon XIX.22–39
22Ond’ io appresso: «O perpetüi fiori
de l’etterna letizia, che pur uno
parer mi fate tutti vostri odori,
25solvetemi, spirando, il gran digiuno
che lungamente m’ha tenuto in fame,
non trovandoli in terra cibo alcuno.
Ben so io che, se ’n cielo altro reame
la divina giustizia fa suo specchio,
30che ’l vostro non l’apprende con velame.
Sapete come attento io m’apparecchio
ad ascoltar; sapete qual è quello
dubbio che m’è digiun cotanto vecchio».
Quasi falcone ch’esce del cappello,
35move la testa e con l’ali si plaude,
voglia mostrando e faccendosi bello,
vid’ io farsi quel segno, che di laude
de la divina grazia era contesto,
con canti quai si sa chi là sù gaude.
22Then I: "O everlasting flowers
of eternal gladness, who make
all your fragrances seem to me one,
25release me, breathing, from the great fast
that has held me long in hunger,
finding for it no food on earth.
I know well that, if in Heaven another realm
divine Justice makes its mirror,
30yours does not apprehend it through a veil.
You know how attentively I ready myself
to listen; you know what is that
doubt that is so old a fast to me."
Like a falcon that comes out of the hood,
35moving its head and clapping with its wings,
showing desire and making itself fine,
so I saw that sign grow, woven
of praise for divine grace,
with songs such as those know who rejoice above.
Commentary
Dante's question is framed as hunger for justice-language: the flowers, fragrance, breath, food, mirror, veil, and falcon movement prepare the Eagle's theological answer.
XIX.22–24 The sensory weave of flower, fragrance, breath, hunger, and food prepares the justice question as desire for nourishment.
XIX.22–24 The sensory weave of flower, fragrance, breath, hunger, and food prepares the justice question as desire for nourishment. Line 24: The sensory weave of flower, fragrance, breath, hunger, and food prepares the justice question as desire for nourishment.
XIX.24 The sensory weave of flower, fragrance, breath, hunger, and food prepares the justice question as desire for nourishment. The sensory weave of flower, fragrance, breath, hunger, and food prepares the justice question as desire for nourishment.
XIX.28–30 Justice is capitalized in this passage where Dante is asking about God's living justice.
XIX.28–30 Justice is capitalized in this passage where Dante is asking about God's living justice. Line 29: Justice is capitalized in this passage where Dante is asking about God's living justice.
XIX.29 Justice is capitalized in this passage where Dante is asking about God's living justice. Justice is capitalized in this passage where Dante is asking about God's living justice.
XIX.34–36 The falcon image keeps eagerness, beauty, and readiness to speak in one gesture.
XIX.34–36 The falcon image keeps eagerness, beauty, and readiness to speak in one gesture. Line 36: The falcon image keeps eagerness, beauty, and readiness to speak in one gesture.
XIX.36 The falcon image keeps eagerness, beauty, and readiness to speak in one gesture. The falcon image keeps eagerness, beauty, and readiness to speak in one gesture.
XIX.37–39 Segno remains sign, continuing the Eagle/emblem language from Paradiso VI and XVIII.
XIX.37–39 Segno remains sign, continuing the Eagle/emblem language from Paradiso VI and XVIII. Line 37: Segno remains sign, continuing the Eagle/emblem language from Paradiso VI and XVIII.
XIX.37 Segno remains sign, continuing the Eagle/emblem language from Paradiso VI and XVIII. Segno remains sign, continuing the Eagle/emblem language from Paradiso VI and XVIII.
The Eagle teaches created limitation through the divine compass, the Word's excess, Lucifer's unripe fall, finite sight, sea-depth, and true light XIX.40–66
40Poi cominciò: «Colui che volse il sesto
a lo stremo del mondo, e dentro ad esso
distinse tanto occulto e manifesto,
non poté suo valor sì fare impresso
in tutto l’universo, che ’l suo verbo
45non rimanesse in infinito eccesso.
E ciò fa certo che ’l primo superbo,
che fu la somma d’ogne creatura,
per non aspettar lume, cadde acerbo;
e quinci appar ch’ogne minor natura
50è corto recettacolo a quel bene
che non ha fine e sé con sé misura.
Dunque vostra veduta, che convene
esser alcun de’ raggi de la mente
di che tutte le cose son ripiene,
55non pò da sua natura esser possente
tanto, che suo principio discerna
molto di là da quel che l’è parvente.
Però ne la giustizia sempiterna
la vista che riceve il vostro mondo,
60com’ occhio per lo mare, entro s’interna;
che, ben che da la proda veggia il fondo,
in pelago nol vede; e nondimeno
èli, ma cela lui l’esser profondo.
Lume non è, se non vien dal sereno
65che non si turba mai; anzi è tenèbra
od ombra de la carne o suo veleno.
40Then it began: "He who turned the compass
at the farthest edge of the world, and within it
distinguished so much hidden and manifest,
could not imprint his power
through all the universe so that his Word
45would not remain in infinite excess.
And this makes certain that the first proud one,
who was the summit of every creature,
because he did not wait for light, fell unripe;
and from this it appears that every lesser nature
50is a scant receptacle for that Good
that has no end and measures itself by itself.
Therefore your sight, which must
be one of the rays of the Mind
with which all things are filled,
55cannot by its nature be so powerful
as to discern its own Beginning
far beyond what appears to it.
Therefore, into sempiternal justice
the sight your world receives
60goes inward like an eye through the sea;
for, though from the shore it sees the bottom,
on the deep sea it does not see it; and nonetheless
it is there, but depth conceals it.
There is no light unless it comes from the Serene
65that is never troubled; otherwise it is darkness,
or shadow of the flesh, or its poison.
Commentary
The divine-compass argument is kept as a sequence from creation to Lucifer's unripe fall, the limited creaturely vessel, the ray-like human intellect, sea-depth image, and light that comes only from the untroubled Serene.
XIX.40–42 Sesto is rendered as compass, preserving the divine architect image. The hidden/manifest distinction keeps the Nicene and divine-judgment pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIX.40–42 Sesto is rendered as compass, preserving the divine architect image. Line 40: Sesto is rendered as compass, preserving the divine architect image. Line 42: The hidden/manifest distinction keeps the Nicene and divine-judgment pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIX.40 Sesto is rendered as compass, preserving the divine architect image. Sesto is rendered as compass, preserving the divine architect image.
XIX.42 The hidden/manifest distinction keeps the Nicene and divine-judgment pressure without explanatory expansion. The hidden/manifest distinction keeps the Nicene and divine-judgment pressure without explanatory expansion.
XIX.43–45 Capitalized Word marks the theological force of verbo in the creation argument.
XIX.43–45 Capitalized Word marks the theological force of verbo in the creation argument. Line 44: Capitalized Word marks the theological force of verbo in the creation argument.
XIX.44 Capitalized Word marks the theological force of verbo in the creation argument. Capitalized Word marks the theological force of verbo in the creation argument.
XIX.46–48 The first proud one is Lucifer, kept unnamed as in the line. Acerbo is kept as unripe to preserve the premature-fall logic.
XIX.46–48 The first proud one is Lucifer, kept unnamed as in the line. Line 46: The first proud one is Lucifer, kept unnamed as in the line. Line 48: Acerbo is kept as unripe to preserve the premature-fall logic.
XIX.46 The first proud one is Lucifer, kept unnamed as in the line. The first proud one is Lucifer, kept unnamed as in the line.
XIX.48 Acerbo is kept as unripe to preserve the premature-fall logic. Acerbo is kept as unripe to preserve the premature-fall logic.
XIX.52–54 Mind is capitalized because the passage treats created intellect as a ray from divine Intelligence.
XIX.52–54 Mind is capitalized because the passage treats created intellect as a ray from divine Intelligence. Line 53: Mind is capitalized because the passage treats created intellect as a ray from divine Intelligence.
XIX.53 Mind is capitalized because the passage treats created intellect as a ray from divine Intelligence. Mind is capitalized because the passage treats created intellect as a ray from divine Intelligence.
XIX.55–57 Beginning keeps principio as source and first cause rather than ordinary start.
XIX.55–57 Beginning keeps principio as source and first cause rather than ordinary start. Line 56: Beginning keeps principio as source and first cause rather than ordinary start.
XIX.56 Beginning keeps principio as source and first cause rather than ordinary start. Beginning keeps principio as source and first cause rather than ordinary start.
XIX.61–63 The sea image preserves real divine justice hidden by depth, not absent or unjust.
XIX.61–63 The sea image preserves real divine justice hidden by depth, not absent or unjust. Line 63: The sea image preserves real divine justice hidden by depth, not absent or unjust.
XIX.63 The sea image preserves real divine justice hidden by depth, not absent or unjust. The sea image preserves real divine justice hidden by depth, not absent or unjust.
XIX.64–66 Serene is capitalized to hold the theological source of true light.
XIX.64–66 Serene is capitalized to hold the theological source of true light. Line 64: Serene is capitalized to hold the theological source of true light.
XIX.64 Serene is capitalized to hold the theological source of true light. Serene is capitalized to hold the theological source of true light.
The Eagle voices Dante's just-pagan question and rebukes mortal judgment before grounding justice in the First Will XIX.67–90
67Assai t’è mo aperta la latebra
che t’ascondeva la giustizia viva,
di che facei question cotanto crebra;
70ché tu dicevi: “Un uom nasce a la riva
de l’Indo, e quivi non è chi ragioni
di Cristo né chi legga né chi scriva;
e tutti suoi voleri e atti buoni
sono, quanto ragione umana vede,
75sanza peccato in vita o in sermoni.
Muore non battezzato e sanza fede:
ov’ è questa giustizia che ’l condanna?
ov’ è la colpa sua, se ei non crede?”.
Or tu chi se’, che vuo’ sedere a scranna,
80per giudicar di lungi mille miglia
con la veduta corta d’una spanna?
Certo a colui che meco s’assottiglia,
se la Scrittura sovra voi non fosse,
da dubitar sarebbe a maraviglia.
85Oh terreni animali! oh menti grosse!
La prima volontà, ch’è da sé buona,
da sé, ch’è sommo ben, mai non si mosse.
Cotanto è giusto quanto a lei consuona:
nullo creato bene a sé la tira,
90ma essa, radïando, lui cagiona».
67Now the hiding place is opened enough to you
that concealed living Justice from you,
about which you asked such frequent question;
70for you would say: 'A man is born on the shore
of Indus, and there is no one there to speak
of Christ, or to read, or to write;
and all his wills and good actions
are, as far as human reason sees,
75without sin in life or in speech.
He dies unbaptized and without faith:
where is this justice that condemns him?
where is his fault, if he does not believe?'
Now who are you, who want to sit on the bench
80to judge from a thousand miles away
with sight as short as a span?
Indeed, for one who refines his reasoning with me,
if Scripture were not set above you,
there would be marvelous cause for doubt.
85O earthly animals! O gross minds!
The First Will, which is good of itself,
from itself, the highest Good, has never moved.
So much is just as accords with it:
no created good draws it to itself,
90but it, radiating, causes that good."
Commentary
The just-pagan question is voiced directly and then rebuked: the Indus example, human reason, unbaptized death, bench judgment, Scripture, and First Will are preserved without resolving divine justice into human evidence.
XIX.67–69 Latebra is kept as hiding place rather than resolved into abstract mystery.
XIX.67–69 Latebra is kept as hiding place rather than resolved into abstract mystery. Line 67: Latebra is kept as hiding place rather than resolved into abstract mystery.
XIX.67 Latebra is kept as hiding place rather than resolved into abstract mystery. Latebra is kept as hiding place rather than resolved into abstract mystery.
XIX.70–72 The Eagle voices Dante's unspoken just-pagan question in direct speech. Indus marks the remote edge of the known non-Christian world in the problem Dante poses.
XIX.70–72 The Eagle voices Dante's unspoken just-pagan question in direct speech. Line 70: The Eagle voices Dante's unspoken just-pagan question in direct speech. Line 71: Indus marks the remote edge of the known non-Christian world in the problem Dante poses.
XIX.70 The Eagle voices Dante's unspoken just-pagan question in direct speech. The Eagle voices Dante's unspoken just-pagan question in direct speech.
XIX.71 Indus marks the remote edge of the known non-Christian world in the problem Dante poses. Indus marks the remote edge of the known non-Christian world in the problem Dante poses.
XIX.73–75 Voleri is kept as wills to preserve the moral-theological pressure of will, act, and reason.
XIX.73–75 Voleri is kept as wills to preserve the moral-theological pressure of will, act, and reason. Line 73: Voleri is kept as wills to preserve the moral-theological pressure of will, act, and reason.
XIX.73 Voleri is kept as wills to preserve the moral-theological pressure of will, act, and reason. Voleri is kept as wills to preserve the moral-theological pressure of will, act, and reason.
XIX.79–81 Scranna keeps the judgment-seat image that rebukes human presumption.
XIX.79–81 Scranna keeps the judgment-seat image that rebukes human presumption. Line 79: Scranna keeps the judgment-seat image that rebukes human presumption.
XIX.79 Scranna keeps the judgment-seat image that rebukes human presumption. Scranna keeps the judgment-seat image that rebukes human presumption.
XIX.82–84 S'assottiglia is rendered as refined reasoning, preserving the scholastic subtlety under rebuke.
XIX.82–84 S'assottiglia is rendered as refined reasoning, preserving the scholastic subtlety under rebuke. Line 82: S'assottiglia is rendered as refined reasoning, preserving the scholastic subtlety under rebuke.
XIX.82 S'assottiglia is rendered as refined reasoning, preserving the scholastic subtlety under rebuke. S'assottiglia is rendered as refined reasoning, preserving the scholastic subtlety under rebuke.
XIX.85–87 First Will is capitalized because the line names the divine will as the source of justice.
XIX.85–87 First Will is capitalized because the line names the divine will as the source of justice. Line 86: First Will is capitalized because the line names the divine will as the source of justice.
XIX.86 First Will is capitalized because the line names the divine will as the source of justice. First Will is capitalized because the line names the divine will as the source of justice.
XIX.88–90 The causality moves from the First Will outward; created good does not pull the will into justice.
XIX.88–90 The causality moves from the First Will outward; created good does not pull the will into justice. Line 90: The causality moves from the First Will outward; created good does not pull the will into justice.
XIX.90 The causality moves from the First Will outward; created good does not pull the will into justice. The causality moves from the First Will outward; created good does not pull the will into justice.
The stork-like Eagle circles, compares its music to eternal judgment, and states the necessity of Christ while warning false Christians XIX.91–111
91Quale sovresso il nido si rigira
poi c’ha pasciuti la cicogna i figli,
e come quel ch’è pasto la rimira;
cotal si fece, e sì leväi i cigli,
95la benedetta imagine, che l’ali
movea sospinte da tanti consigli.
Roteando cantava, e dicea: «Quali
son le mie note a te, che non le ’ntendi,
tal è il giudicio etterno a voi mortali».
100Poi si quetaro quei lucenti incendi
de lo Spirito Santo ancor nel segno
che fé i Romani al mondo reverendi,
esso ricominciò: «A questo regno
non salì mai chi non credette ’n Cristo,
105né pria né poi ch’el si chiavasse al legno.
Ma vedi: molti gridan “Cristo, Cristo!”,
che saranno in giudicio assai men prope
a lui, che tal che non conosce Cristo;
e tai Cristian dannerà l’Etïòpe,
110quando si partiranno i due collegi,
l’uno in etterno ricco e l’altro inòpe.
91As above the nest the stork circles
after she has fed her young,
and as the fed one looks up at her,
so the blessed image became, and so I lifted
95my brows; that blessed image moved its wings,
driven by so many counsels.
Wheeling, it sang and said: "As
my notes are to you, who do not understand them,
so is eternal judgment to you mortals."
100Then grew quiet those shining fires
of the Holy Spirit, still within the sign
that made the Romans reverend to the world,
it began again: "To this kingdom
no one ever rose who did not believe in Christ,
105neither before nor after he was nailed to the wood.
But see: many cry, 'Christ, Christ!'
who in judgment will be much less near
to him than someone who does not know Christ;
and such Christians the Ethiopian will condemn
110when the two assemblies are divided,
one eternally rich and the other destitute.
Commentary
The stork/fledgling image leads into the second answer: eternal judgment exceeds mortal hearing, no one ascends without faith in Christ, and false Christian profession may be judged by the Ethiopian.
XIX.91–93 The stork/fed young image turns the abstract answer into nourishment and dependent sight.
XIX.91–93 The stork/fed young image turns the abstract answer into nourishment and dependent sight. Line 93: The stork/fed young image turns the abstract answer into nourishment and dependent sight.
XIX.93 The stork/fed young image turns the abstract answer into nourishment and dependent sight. The stork/fed young image turns the abstract answer into nourishment and dependent sight.
XIX.94–96 Consigli keeps the many deliberative wills within the single Eagle.
XIX.94–96 Consigli keeps the many deliberative wills within the single Eagle. Line 96: Consigli keeps the many deliberative wills within the single Eagle.
XIX.96 Consigli keeps the many deliberative wills within the single Eagle. Consigli keeps the many deliberative wills within the single Eagle.
XIX.97–99 The music analogy refuses to translate eternal judgment into full mortal comprehension.
XIX.97–99 The music analogy refuses to translate eternal judgment into full mortal comprehension. Line 99: The music analogy refuses to translate eternal judgment into full mortal comprehension.
XIX.99 The music analogy refuses to translate eternal judgment into full mortal comprehension. The music analogy refuses to translate eternal judgment into full mortal comprehension.
XIX.100–102 The Roman sign links this justice speech back to the imperial Eagle of Paradiso VI and XVIII.
XIX.100–102 The Roman sign links this justice speech back to the imperial Eagle of Paradiso VI and XVIII. Line 102: The Roman sign links this justice speech back to the imperial Eagle of Paradiso VI and XVIII.
XIX.102 The Roman sign links this justice speech back to the imperial Eagle of Paradiso VI and XVIII. The Roman sign links this justice speech back to the imperial Eagle of Paradiso VI and XVIII.
XIX.103–105 The line keeps the before/after relation to the Crucifixion while retaining wood for legno.
XIX.103–105 The line keeps the before/after relation to the Crucifixion while retaining wood for legno. Line 105: The line keeps the before/after relation to the Crucifixion while retaining wood for legno.
XIX.105 The line keeps the before/after relation to the Crucifixion while retaining wood for legno. The line keeps the before/after relation to the Crucifixion while retaining wood for legno.
XIX.106–108 The repeated name of Christ is kept direct; this is a profession under judgment, not a prayer paraphrase. Prope is rendered as near, preserving the spatial intimacy of salvation and judgment.
XIX.106–108 The repeated name of Christ is kept direct; this is a profession under judgment, not a prayer paraphrase. Line 106: The repeated name of Christ is kept direct; this is a profession under judgment, not a prayer paraphrase. Line 107: Prope is rendered as near, preserving the spatial intimacy of salvation and judgment.
XIX.106 The repeated name of Christ is kept direct; this is a profession under judgment, not a prayer paraphrase. The repeated name of Christ is kept direct; this is a profession under judgment, not a prayer paraphrase.
XIX.107 Prope is rendered as near, preserving the spatial intimacy of salvation and judgment. Prope is rendered as near, preserving the spatial intimacy of salvation and judgment.
XIX.109–111 The Ethiopian is kept as Dante's scriptural-geographic figure for non-Christian judgment against false Christians. Rich/destitute keeps the judgment split as a spiritual economy rather than mere worldly poverty.
XIX.109–111 The Ethiopian is kept as Dante's scriptural-geographic figure for non-Christian judgment against false Christians. Line 109: The Ethiopian is kept as Dante's scriptural-geographic figure for non-Christian judgment against false Christians. Line 111: Rich/destitute keeps the judgment split as a spiritual economy rather than mere worldly poverty.
XIX.109 The Ethiopian is kept as Dante's scriptural-geographic figure for non-Christian judgment against false Christians. The Ethiopian is kept as Dante's scriptural-geographic figure for non-Christian judgment against false Christians.
XIX.111 Rich/destitute keeps the judgment split as a spiritual economy rather than mere worldly poverty. Rich/destitute keeps the judgment split as a spiritual economy rather than mere worldly poverty.
The opened volume of Judgment exposes corrupt Christian rulers across Europe and the Mediterranean XIX.112–148
112Che poran dir li Perse a’ vostri regi,
come vedranno quel volume aperto
nel qual si scrivon tutti suoi dispregi?
115Lì si vedrà, tra l’opere d’Alberto,
quella che tosto moverà la penna,
per che ’l regno di Praga fia diserto.
Lì si vedrà il duol che sovra Senna
induce, falseggiando la moneta,
120quel che morrà di colpo di cotenna.
Lì si vedrà la superbia ch’asseta,
che fa lo Scotto e l’Inghilese folle,
sì che non può soffrir dentro a sua meta.
Vedrassi la lussuria e ’l viver molle
125di quel di Spagna e di quel di Boemme,
che mai valor non conobbe né volle.
Vedrassi al Ciotto di Ierusalemme
segnata con un i la sua bontate,
quando ’l contrario segnerà un emme.
130Vedrassi l’avarizia e la viltate
di quei che guarda l’isola del foco,
ove Anchise finì la lunga etate;
e a dare ad intender quanto è poco,
la sua scrittura fian lettere mozze,
135che noteranno molto in parvo loco.
E parranno a ciascun l’opere sozze
del barba e del fratel, che tanto egregia
nazione e due corone han fatte bozze.
E quel di Portogallo e di Norvegia
140lì si conosceranno, e quel di Rascia
che male ha visto il conio di Vinegia.
Oh beata Ungheria, se non si lascia
più malmenare! e beata Navarra,
se s’armasse del monte che la fascia!
145E creder de’ ciascun che già, per arra
di questo, Niccosïa e Famagosta
per la lor bestia si lamenti e garra,
che dal fianco de l’altre non si scosta».
112What will the Persians be able to say to your kings
when they see that volume opened
in which all their disgraces are written?
115There will be seen, among Albert's works,
the one that soon will move the pen,
for which the kingdom of Prague will be made desert.
There will be seen the grief that over the Seine
is caused, by falsifying the coin,
120by the one who will die from a boar's blow.
There will be seen the thirsting pride
that makes the Scot and the Englishman mad,
so that neither can endure within his bounds.
There will be seen the lust and soft living
125of the one from Spain and the one from Bohemia,
who never knew valor nor willed it.
There will be seen, for the Cripple of Jerusalem,
his goodness marked with an I,
while the contrary will be marked with an M.
130There will be seen the avarice and cowardice
of him who guards the island of fire,
where Anchises ended his long age;
and, to make clear how little he is worth,
his writing will be mutilated letters,
135which will note much in little space.
And to all will appear the filthy works
of the uncle and the brother, who have warped
so excellent a nation and two crowns.
And the one of Portugal and the one of Norway
140will be known there, and the one of Rascia
who handled the coin of Venice badly.
O blessed Hungary, if she does not let herself
be more ill-treated! and blessed Navarre,
if she armed herself with the mountain that girds her!
145And everyone must believe that already, as pledge
of this, Nicosia and Famagosta
lament and cry out against their beast,
who does not draw away from the flank of the others."
Commentary
The final catalogue is kept as the opened judgment volume against corrupt Christian rulers: Persians, Albert, Philip, Scot and Englishman, Spain, Bohemia, Jerusalem, Sicily, Aragon/Majorca, Portugal, Norway, Rascia, Hungary, Navarre, Nicosia, and Famagosta.
XIX.112–114 The opened volume begins the judgment-ledger catalogue of rulers.
XIX.112–114 The opened volume begins the judgment-ledger catalogue of rulers. Line 113: The opened volume begins the judgment-ledger catalogue of rulers.
XIX.113 The opened volume begins the judgment-ledger catalogue of rulers. The opened volume begins the judgment-ledger catalogue of rulers.
XIX.115–117 Albert is Albert of Austria; the line stays compact.
XIX.115–117 Albert is Albert of Austria; the line stays compact. Line 115: Albert is Albert of Austria; the line stays compact.
XIX.115 Albert is Albert of Austria; the line stays compact. Albert is Albert of Austria; the line stays compact.
XIX.118–120 Coin falsification keeps the political catalogue tied to the canto's judgment-ledger imagery. Cotenna is interpreted through the traditional boar-death reference while the image stays compressed.
XIX.118–120 Coin falsification keeps the political catalogue tied to the canto's judgment-ledger imagery. Line 119: Coin falsification keeps the political catalogue tied to the canto's judgment-ledger imagery. Line 120: Cotenna is interpreted through the traditional boar-death reference while the image stays compressed.
XIX.119 Coin falsification keeps the political catalogue tied to the canto's judgment-ledger imagery. Coin falsification keeps the political catalogue tied to the canto's judgment-ledger imagery.
XIX.120 Cotenna is interpreted through the traditional boar-death reference while the image stays compressed. Cotenna is interpreted through the traditional boar-death reference while the image stays compressed.
XIX.121–123 Meta is rendered as bounds to keep political limit and moral measure together.
XIX.121–123 Meta is rendered as bounds to keep political limit and moral measure together. Line 123: Meta is rendered as bounds to keep political limit and moral measure together.
XIX.123 Meta is rendered as bounds to keep political limit and moral measure together. Meta is rendered as bounds to keep political limit and moral measure together.
XIX.127–129 The title identifies Charles II of Naples as titular king of Jerusalem while preserving Dante's insulting epithet. The I/M contrast keeps the Roman-numeral moral arithmetic: little good, much evil.
XIX.127–129 The title identifies Charles II of Naples as titular king of Jerusalem while preserving Dante's insulting epithet. Line 127: The title identifies Charles II of Naples as titular king of Jerusalem while preserving Dante's insulting epithet. Line 129: The I/M contrast keeps the Roman-numeral moral arithmetic: little good, much evil.
XIX.127 The title identifies Charles II of Naples as titular king of Jerusalem while preserving Dante's insulting epithet. The title identifies Charles II of Naples as titular king of Jerusalem while preserving Dante's insulting epithet.
XIX.129 The I/M contrast keeps the Roman-numeral moral arithmetic: little good, much evil. The I/M contrast keeps the Roman-numeral moral arithmetic: little good, much evil.
XIX.130–132 The island of fire is Sicily; the line keeps Dante's periphrasis.
XIX.130–132 The island of fire is Sicily; the line keeps Dante's periphrasis. Line 131: The island of fire is Sicily; the line keeps Dante's periphrasis.
XIX.131 The island of fire is Sicily; the line keeps Dante's periphrasis. The island of fire is Sicily; the line keeps Dante's periphrasis.
XIX.133–135 Lettere mozze keeps both abbreviation and moral maiming in the judgment ledger.
XIX.133–135 Lettere mozze keeps both abbreviation and moral maiming in the judgment ledger. Line 134: Lettere mozze keeps both abbreviation and moral maiming in the judgment ledger.
XIX.134 Lettere mozze keeps both abbreviation and moral maiming in the judgment ledger. Lettere mozze keeps both abbreviation and moral maiming in the judgment ledger.
XIX.136–138 Barba is rendered as uncle; the Aragonese family relation matters for the catalogue. Bozze is kept as deformed, preserving dishonor and misshaping.
XIX.136–138 Barba is rendered as uncle; the Aragonese family relation matters for the catalogue. Line 137: Barba is rendered as uncle; the Aragonese family relation matters for the catalogue. Line 138: Bozze is kept as deformed, preserving dishonor and misshaping.
XIX.137 Barba is rendered as uncle; the Aragonese family relation matters for the catalogue. Barba is rendered as uncle; the Aragonese family relation matters for the catalogue.
XIX.138 Bozze is kept as deformed, preserving dishonor and misshaping. Bozze is kept as deformed, preserving dishonor and misshaping.
XIX.139–141 The line points to debased imitation of Venetian coinage; the wording keeps the male ha visto idiom marked.
XIX.139–141 The line points to debased imitation of Venetian coinage; the wording keeps the male ha visto idiom marked. Line 141: The line points to debased imitation of Venetian coinage; the wording keeps the male ha visto idiom marked.
XIX.141 The line points to debased imitation of Venetian coinage; the wording keeps the male ha visto idiom marked. The line points to debased imitation of Venetian coinage; the wording keeps the male ha visto idiom marked.
XIX.142–144 The mountain girdle is kept concrete as defensive geography and political wish.
XIX.142–144 The mountain girdle is kept concrete as defensive geography and political wish. Line 144: The mountain girdle is kept concrete as defensive geography and political wish.
XIX.144 The mountain girdle is kept concrete as defensive geography and political wish. The mountain girdle is kept concrete as defensive geography and political wish.
XIX.145–147 Arra keeps the legal-commercial pledge vocabulary within the judgment-accounting field. The beast is the Cypriot ruler, grouped with the other corrupt rulers in the catalogue.
XIX.145–147 Arra keeps the legal-commercial pledge vocabulary within the judgment-accounting field. Line 145: Arra keeps the legal-commercial pledge vocabulary within the judgment-accounting field. Line 147: The beast is the Cypriot ruler, grouped with the other corrupt rulers in the catalogue.
XIX.145 Arra keeps the legal-commercial pledge vocabulary within the judgment-accounting field. Arra keeps the legal-commercial pledge vocabulary within the judgment-accounting field.
XIX.147 The beast is the Cypriot ruler, grouped with the other corrupt rulers in the catalogue. The beast is the Cypriot ruler, grouped with the other corrupt rulers in the catalogue.
XIX.148 The closing keeps the beast pressed beside the other bad rulers rather than isolating Cyprus from the catalogue. The closing keeps the beast pressed beside the other bad rulers rather than isolating Cyprus from the catalogue.