Paradiso, Canto 9
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Paradiso IX continues in Venus after Charles Martel has explained Dante's question and privately foretold the wrongs awaiting his descendants, while forbidding Dante to speak before history reveals them. Charles turns back to the divine Sun, and Dante rebukes deceived souls who aim their hearts toward vanity rather than the all-sufficient Good. Another bright spirit approaches, and Beatrice's eyes give Dante consent to ask whether his thought can be reflected in the blessed. Cunizza da Romano answers from the March of Treviso: she and the violent Ezzelino came from one root, but she shines in Venus because the star overcame her, and she gladly accepts the providential cause of her lot. She praises the enduring fame of the nearby Folco, then turns to bitter prophecy against the present people of her region: Padua, Treviso, Feltro, and Ferrara will see blood, treachery, and partisan betrayal, all spoken from the mirrors called Thrones. Cunizza returns to her wheel, and Folco brightens like a ruby in the sun. Dante asks why Folco does not satisfy his desires if his sight is in God, and Folco locates himself through a great Mediterranean periphrasis before naming himself, confessing that he burned with love more than Dido, Phyllis, or Hercules, and explaining that Heaven smiles not at fault but at the providential power that ordered and foresaw. To complete Dante's desires in Venus, Folco identifies Rahab as the highest seal of their order, assumed into this heaven after Christ's triumph because she helped Joshua's first glory in the Holy Land. Her presence becomes a rebuke to the pope's forgetfulness and to Florence, whose accursed florin leads sheep and lambs astray by making the shepherd a wolf. The canto closes with Gospel and Church Fathers abandoned for Decretals, papal thoughts turned from Nazareth, and a prophecy that Vatican and Peter's Rome will soon be freed from this adultery.
Narrative arc
- Charles withdraws behind a withheld prophecy, Dante rebukes false hearts, and another Venus spirit approaches
- Cunizza names the March of Treviso, Ezzelino, her Venus-shaped joy, and Folco's durable second life of fame
- Cunizza prophesies Veneto bloodshed and betrayal, grounding her harsh speech in the Thrones of judgment
- Folco brightens like a ruby, locates Marseilles by Mediterranean periphrasis, and reads his love history through providence
- Folco satisfies Dante's remaining desires by identifying Rahab as the highest seal of Venus after Christ's triumph
- Folco turns from Rahab to Florence, the florin, papal cupidity, abandoned Gospel, and Rome's promised release
Central themes
- glory
- love
- providence
Charles withdraws behind a withheld prophecy, Dante rebukes false hearts, and another Venus spirit approaches IX.1–24
1Da poi che Carlo tuo, bella Clemenza,
m’ebbe chiarito, mi narrò li ’nganni
che ricever dovea la sua semenza;
ma disse: «Taci e lascia muover li anni»;
5sì ch’io non posso dir se non che pianto
giusto verrà di retro ai vostri danni.
E già la vita di quel lume santo
rivolta s’era al Sol che la rïempie
come quel ben ch’a ogne cosa è tanto.
10Ahi anime ingannate e fatture empie,
che da sì fatto ben torcete i cuori,
drizzando in vanità le vostre tempie!
Ed ecco un altro di quelli splendori
ver’ me si fece, e ’l suo voler piacermi
15significava nel chiarir di fori.
Li occhi di Bëatrice, ch’eran fermi
sovra me, come pria, di caro assenso
al mio disio certificato fermi.
«Deh, metti al mio voler tosto compenso,
20beato spirto», dissi, «e fammi prova
ch’i’ possa in te refletter quel ch’io penso!».
Onde la luce che m’era ancor nova,
del suo profondo, ond’ ella pria cantava,
seguette come a cui di ben far giova:
1After your Charles, fair Clemenza,
had made matters clear to me, he told me of the deceits
his seed was destined to undergo;
but he said, "Be silent, and let the years move on";
5so I can say only that just weeping
will follow behind your injuries.
And already the life of that holy light
had turned back to the Sun that fills it,
as to that good which is enough for every thing.
10Ah, deceived souls and impious creatures,
who twist your hearts away from such a good,
aiming your brows toward vanity!
And behold, another of those splendors
came toward me, and its will to please me
15it signified in brightening outwardly.
The eyes of Beatrice, which were fixed
on me, as before, made me certain
with dear assent to my desire.
"Ah, bring quick payment to my wish,
20blessed spirit," I said, "and give me proof
that I can reflect in you what I think!"
Then the light, still new to me,
from its depth, from which it first had sung,
continued, like one whom doing good delights:
Commentary
The opening directly continues Charles Martel: his withheld prophecy to Clemenza gives way to his return to the divine Sun, Dante's rebuke of hearts turned toward vanity, and Beatrice's eye-consent before Cunizza speaks.
IX.1–3 Clemenza is Charles Martel's widow; the opening continues directly from his speech in Paradiso VIII. Seed keeps the dynastic pressure from Charles's Angevin prophecy.
IX.1–3 Clemenza is Charles Martel's widow; the opening continues directly from his speech in Paradiso VIII. Line 1: Clemenza is Charles Martel's widow; the opening continues directly from his speech in Paradiso VIII. Line 3: Seed keeps the dynastic pressure from Charles's Angevin prophecy.
IX.1 Clemenza is Charles Martel's widow; the opening continues directly from his speech in Paradiso VIII. Clemenza is Charles Martel's widow; the opening continues directly from his speech in Paradiso VIII.
IX.3 Seed keeps the dynastic pressure from Charles's Angevin prophecy. Seed keeps the dynastic pressure from Charles's Angevin prophecy.
IX.4–6 Charles withholds the explicit prophecy and leaves history to disclose it.
IX.4–6 Charles withholds the explicit prophecy and leaves history to disclose it. Line 4: Charles withholds the explicit prophecy and leaves history to disclose it.
IX.4 Charles withholds the explicit prophecy and leaves history to disclose it. Charles withholds the explicit prophecy and leaves history to disclose it.
IX.7–9 Sun is capitalized because the line turns from the blessed light to God as the source filling it.
IX.7–9 Sun is capitalized because the line turns from the blessed light to God as the source filling it. Line 8: Sun is capitalized because the line turns from the blessed light to God as the source filling it.
IX.8 Sun is capitalized because the line turns from the blessed light to God as the source filling it. Sun is capitalized because the line turns from the blessed light to God as the source filling it.
IX.10–12 Brows renders tempie while preserving the bodily turn toward vanity.
IX.10–12 Brows renders tempie while preserving the bodily turn toward vanity. Line 12: Brows renders tempie while preserving the bodily turn toward vanity.
IX.12 Brows renders tempie while preserving the bodily turn toward vanity. Brows renders tempie while preserving the bodily turn toward vanity.
IX.19–21 Reflect keeps the optical and intellectual pressure of Dante's request that the blessed spirit mirror his thought.
IX.19–21 Reflect keeps the optical and intellectual pressure of Dante's request that the blessed spirit mirror his thought. Line 21: Reflect keeps the optical and intellectual pressure of Dante's request that the blessed spirit mirror his thought.
IX.21 Reflect keeps the optical and intellectual pressure of Dante's request that the blessed spirit mirror his thought. Reflect keeps the optical and intellectual pressure of Dante's request that the blessed spirit mirror his thought.
Cunizza names the March of Treviso, Ezzelino, her Venus-shaped joy, and Folco's durable second life of fame IX.25–42
25«In quella parte de la terra prava
italica che siede tra Rïalto
e le fontane di Brenta e di Piava,
si leva un colle, e non surge molt’ alto,
là onde scese già una facella
30che fece a la contrada un grande assalto.
D’una radice nacqui e io ed ella:
Cunizza fui chiamata, e qui refulgo
perché mi vinse il lume d’esta stella;
ma lietamente a me medesma indulgo
35la cagion di mia sorte, e non mi noia;
che parria forse forte al vostro vulgo.
Di questa luculenta e cara gioia
del nostro cielo che più m’è propinqua,
grande fama rimase; e pria che moia,
40questo centesimo anno ancor s’incinqua:
vedi se far si dee l’omo eccellente,
sì ch’altra vita la prima relinqua.
25"In that part of the depraved
Italian land which sits between Rialto
and the springs of Brenta and Piave,
a hill rises, and does not rise very high,
from which there once descended a torch
30that made a great assault upon the countryside.
From one root both I and it were born:
I was called Cunizza, and here I shine
because the light of this star overcame me;
but gladly I pardon in myself
35the cause of my lot, and it does not vex me;
which perhaps would seem hard to your vulgar crowd.
Of this luminous and dear joy
of our heaven, who is nearest me,
great fame remained; and before it dies,
40this hundredth year will yet enfive itself:
see whether man ought to make himself excellent,
so that another life may be left by the first.
Commentary
The passage gives the geography of the March of Treviso, the torch as Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's saved acceptance of the Venus influence, and Folco's fame as the second life that earthly excellence can leave behind.
IX.25–27 The phrase condemns Italy broadly before narrowing to the March of Treviso.
IX.25–27 The phrase condemns Italy broadly before narrowing to the March of Treviso. Line 25: The phrase condemns Italy broadly before narrowing to the March of Treviso.
IX.25 The phrase condemns Italy broadly before narrowing to the March of Treviso. The phrase condemns Italy broadly before narrowing to the March of Treviso.
IX.28–30 The torch is Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's brother, with violence figured as destructive fire.
IX.28–30 The torch is Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's brother, with violence figured as destructive fire. Line 29: The torch is Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's brother, with violence figured as destructive fire.
IX.29 The torch is Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's brother, with violence figured as destructive fire. The torch is Ezzelino da Romano, Cunizza's brother, with violence figured as destructive fire.
IX.31–33 Overcame keeps Venus as a providentially ordered influence, not a denial of Cunizza's saved joy.
IX.31–33 Overcame keeps Venus as a providentially ordered influence, not a denial of Cunizza's saved joy. Line 33: Overcame keeps Venus as a providentially ordered influence, not a denial of Cunizza's saved joy.
IX.33 Overcame keeps Venus as a providentially ordered influence, not a denial of Cunizza's saved joy. Overcame keeps Venus as a providentially ordered influence, not a denial of Cunizza's saved joy.
IX.40–42 Enfive itself preserves Dante's coined s'incinqua for the fame lasting another five centuries.
IX.40–42 Enfive itself preserves Dante's coined s'incinqua for the fame lasting another five centuries. Line 40: Enfive itself preserves Dante's coined s'incinqua for the fame lasting another five centuries.
IX.40 Enfive itself preserves Dante's coined s'incinqua for the fame lasting another five centuries. Enfive itself preserves Dante's coined s'incinqua for the fame lasting another five centuries.
Cunizza prophesies Veneto bloodshed and betrayal, grounding her harsh speech in the Thrones of judgment IX.43–66
43E ciò non pensa la turba presente
che Tagliamento e Adice richiude,
45né per esser battuta ancor si pente;
ma tosto fia che Padova al palude
cangerà l’acqua che Vincenza bagna,
per essere al dover le genti crude;
e dove Sile e Cagnan s’accompagna,
50tal signoreggia e va con la testa alta,
che già per lui carpir si fa la ragna.
Piangerà Feltro ancora la difalta
de l’empio suo pastor, che sarà sconcia
sì, che per simil non s’entrò in malta.
55Troppo sarebbe larga la bigoncia
che ricevesse il sangue ferrarese,
e stanco chi ’l pesasse a oncia a oncia,
che donerà questo prete cortese
per mostrarsi di parte; e cotai doni
60conformi fieno al viver del paese.
Sù sono specchi, voi dicete Troni,
onde refulge a noi Dio giudicante;
sì che questi parlar ne paion buoni».
Qui si tacette; e fecemi sembiante
65che fosse ad altro volta, per la rota
in che si mise com’ era davante.
43And this the present crowd does not think on,
whom Tagliamento and Adige enclose,
45nor, though beaten, does it yet repent;
but soon Padua at the marsh
will change the water that bathes Vicenza,
because its people are stubborn against duty;
and where Sile and Cagnan join,
50one lords it and goes with his head high,
for whom the net is already being made to snare.
Feltro too will weep the fault
of its impious shepherd, which will be so foul
that for the like none ever entered Malta.
55Too wide would be the vat
that could receive the Ferrarese blood,
and tired the one who weighed it ounce by ounce,
which this courteous priest will give
to show himself a partisan; and such gifts
60will conform to the ways of that land.
Above are mirrors, you call them Thrones,
from which God, judging, shines to us;
so these words seem good to us."
Here she fell silent; and she gave me the look
65of being turned to something else, by the wheel
into which she set herself as she had been before.
Commentary
The Veneto prophecies cover Padua and Vicenza, Riccardo da Camino at Treviso, the bishop of Feltro, Ferrarese blood, and the Thrones as mirrors of divine judgment authorizing Cunizza's severe speech.
IX.49–51 The net points to the plotted killing of Riccardo da Camino at Treviso.
IX.49–51 The net points to the plotted killing of Riccardo da Camino at Treviso. Line 51: The net points to the plotted killing of Riccardo da Camino at Treviso.
IX.51 The net points to the plotted killing of Riccardo da Camino at Treviso. The net points to the plotted killing of Riccardo da Camino at Treviso.
IX.52–54 Malta names the prison associated with clerical crimes; the line stresses the unprecedented foulness of the betrayal.
IX.52–54 Malta names the prison associated with clerical crimes; the line stresses the unprecedented foulness of the betrayal. Line 54: Malta names the prison associated with clerical crimes; the line stresses the unprecedented foulness of the betrayal.
IX.54 Malta names the prison associated with clerical crimes; the line stresses the unprecedented foulness of the betrayal. Malta names the prison associated with clerical crimes; the line stresses the unprecedented foulness of the betrayal.
IX.58–60 Courteous priest is bitterly ironic for the bishop of Feltro.
IX.58–60 Courteous priest is bitterly ironic for the bishop of Feltro. Line 58: Courteous priest is bitterly ironic for the bishop of Feltro.
IX.58 Courteous priest is bitterly ironic for the bishop of Feltro. Courteous priest is bitterly ironic for the bishop of Feltro.
IX.61–63 Thrones are the angelic order associated here with divine judgment.
IX.61–63 Thrones are the angelic order associated here with divine judgment. Line 61: Thrones are the angelic order associated here with divine judgment.
IX.61 Thrones are the angelic order associated here with divine judgment. Thrones are the angelic order associated here with divine judgment.
Folco brightens like a ruby, locates Marseilles by Mediterranean periphrasis, and reads his love history through providence IX.67–108
67L’altra letizia, che m’era già nota
per cara cosa, mi si fece in vista
qual fin balasso in che lo sol percuota.
70Per letiziar là sù fulgor s’acquista,
sì come riso qui; ma giù s’abbuia
l’ombra di fuor, come la mente è trista.
«Dio vede tutto, e tuo veder s’inluia»,
diss’ io, «beato spirto, sì che nulla
75voglia di sé a te puot’ esser fuia.
Dunque la voce tua, che ’l ciel trastulla
sempre col canto di quei fuochi pii
che di sei ali facen la coculla,
perché non satisface a’ miei disii?
80Già non attendere’ io tua dimanda,
s’io m’intuassi, come tu t’inmii».
«La maggior valle in che l’acqua si spanda»,
incominciaro allor le sue parole,
«fuor di quel mar che la terra inghirlanda,
85tra ’ discordanti liti contra ’l sole
tanto sen va, che fa meridïano
là dove l’orizzonte pria far suole.
Di quella valle fu’ io litorano
tra Ebro e Macra, che per cammin corto
90parte lo Genovese dal Toscano.
Ad un occaso quasi e ad un orto
Buggea siede e la terra ond’ io fui,
che fé del sangue suo già caldo il porto.
Folco mi disse quella gente a cui
95fu noto il nome mio; e questo cielo
di me s’imprenta, com’ io fe’ di lui;
ché più non arse la figlia di Belo,
noiando e a Sicheo e a Creusa,
di me, infin che si convenne al pelo;
100né quella Rodopëa che delusa
fu da Demofoonte, né Alcide
quando Iole nel core ebbe rinchiusa.
Non però qui si pente, ma si ride,
non de la colpa, ch’a mente non torna,
105ma del valor ch’ordinò e provide.
Qui si rimira ne l’arte ch’addorna
cotanto affetto, e discernesi ’l bene
per che ’l mondo di sù quel di giù torna.
67The other joy, already known to me
as a dear thing, came into my sight
like a fine balas-ruby struck by the sun.
70Through rejoicing up there brightness is gained,
as laughter here; but below the outward shade
darkens as the mind is sad.
"God sees everything, and your seeing is in Him,"
I said, "blessed spirit, so that no
75wish can steal itself away from you.
Then why does your voice, which always delights
heaven with the song of those holy fires
that make a cowl of their six wings,
not satisfy my desires?
80I would not wait for your asking
if I entered into you as you enter into me."
"The greatest valley into which water spreads,"
his words began then,
"outside that sea which garlands the earth,
85goes so far between discordant shores
against the sun, that it makes a meridian
where first it used to make horizon.
Of that valley I was a shore-dweller
between Ebro and Magra, which by a short course
90parts the Genoese from the Tuscan.
At almost the same sunset and sunrise
sit Bougie and the land from which I came,
which once made its harbor hot with its blood.
Folco, those people called me
95to whom my name was known; and this heaven
is imprinted by me, as I was by it;
for Belus' daughter did not burn more,
wronging both Sichaeus and Creusa,
than I, as long as it befitted my hair;
100nor that Rhodopean woman, deceived
by Demophoon, nor Alcides
when he had locked Iole in his heart.
Yet here one does not repent, but smiles,
not over the fault, which does not return to mind,
105but over the Power that ordered and foresaw.
Here one gazes on the art that adorns
so great a love, and discerns the good
by which the world above turns that below.
Commentary
Folco's ruby-like brightening continues Paradiso's joy-as-light motif. His Mediterranean periphrasis, love exempla, and providential laughter distinguish remembered fault from the divine power that ordered even disordered love toward final good.
IX.67–69 Balas-ruby keeps the gem comparison for Folco's joyful radiance.
IX.67–69 Balas-ruby keeps the gem comparison for Folco's joyful radiance. Line 69: Balas-ruby keeps the gem comparison for Folco's joyful radiance.
IX.69 Balas-ruby keeps the gem comparison for Folco's joyful radiance. Balas-ruby keeps the gem comparison for Folco's joyful radiance.
IX.73–75 The Italian coinage s'inluia compresses sight as being in-Him; the line keeps this intelligible as vision in God. Steal itself away preserves the thief-pressure of fuia.
IX.73–75 The Italian coinage s'inluia compresses sight as being in-Him; the line keeps this intelligible as vision in God. Line 73: The Italian coinage s'inluia compresses sight as being in-Him; the line keeps this intelligible as vision in God. Line 75: Steal itself away preserves the thief-pressure of fuia.
IX.73 The Italian coinage s'inluia compresses sight as being in-Him; the line keeps this intelligible as vision in God. The Italian coinage s'inluia compresses sight as being in-Him; the line keeps this intelligible as vision in God.
IX.75 Steal itself away preserves the thief-pressure of fuia. Steal itself away preserves the thief-pressure of fuia.
IX.79–81 The Italian neologisms m'intuassi and t'inmii are rendered as mutual entering into knowledge.
IX.79–81 The Italian neologisms m'intuassi and t'inmii are rendered as mutual entering into knowledge. Line 81: The Italian neologisms m'intuassi and t'inmii are rendered as mutual entering into knowledge.
IX.81 The Italian neologisms m'intuassi and t'inmii are rendered as mutual entering into knowledge. The Italian neologisms m'intuassi and t'inmii are rendered as mutual entering into knowledge.
IX.82–84 The greatest valley is the Mediterranean, outside the world-encircling ocean.
IX.82–84 The greatest valley is the Mediterranean, outside the world-encircling ocean. Line 82: The greatest valley is the Mediterranean, outside the world-encircling ocean.
IX.82 The greatest valley is the Mediterranean, outside the world-encircling ocean. The greatest valley is the Mediterranean, outside the world-encircling ocean.
IX.85–87 The Ptolemaic geography imagines the Mediterranean extending far enough east-west to turn horizon into meridian.
IX.85–87 The Ptolemaic geography imagines the Mediterranean extending far enough east-west to turn horizon into meridian. Line 87: The Ptolemaic geography imagines the Mediterranean extending far enough east-west to turn horizon into meridian.
IX.87 The Ptolemaic geography imagines the Mediterranean extending far enough east-west to turn horizon into meridian. The Ptolemaic geography imagines the Mediterranean extending far enough east-west to turn horizon into meridian.
IX.91–93 Marseilles' harbor is remembered through Caesar's civil-war violence.
IX.91–93 Marseilles' harbor is remembered through Caesar's civil-war violence. Line 93: Marseilles' harbor is remembered through Caesar's civil-war violence.
IX.93 Marseilles' harbor is remembered through Caesar's civil-war violence. Marseilles' harbor is remembered through Caesar's civil-war violence.
IX.94–96 Imprinted keeps the reciprocal Venus influence: Folco was marked by the heaven and now adds to its glory.
IX.94–96 Imprinted keeps the reciprocal Venus influence: Folco was marked by the heaven and now adds to its glory. Line 96: Imprinted keeps the reciprocal Venus influence: Folco was marked by the heaven and now adds to its glory.
IX.96 Imprinted keeps the reciprocal Venus influence: Folco was marked by the heaven and now adds to its glory. Imprinted keeps the reciprocal Venus influence: Folco was marked by the heaven and now adds to its glory.
IX.97–99 Belus' daughter is Dido.
IX.97–99 Belus' daughter is Dido. Line 97: Belus' daughter is Dido.
IX.97 Belus' daughter is Dido. Belus' daughter is Dido.
IX.100–102 The Rhodopean woman is Phyllis, deceived by Demophoon. Alcides is Hercules, named through his ancestry, in the Iole episode.
IX.100–102 The Rhodopean woman is Phyllis, deceived by Demophoon. Line 100: The Rhodopean woman is Phyllis, deceived by Demophoon. Line 102: Alcides is Hercules, named through his ancestry, in the Iole episode.
IX.100 The Rhodopean woman is Phyllis, deceived by Demophoon. The Rhodopean woman is Phyllis, deceived by Demophoon.
IX.102 Alcides is Hercules, named through his ancestry, in the Iole episode. Alcides is Hercules, named through his ancestry, in the Iole episode.
IX.103–105 Power renders valor as providential divine power rather than approval of the former fault.
IX.103–105 Power renders valor as providential divine power rather than approval of the former fault. Line 105: Power renders valor as providential divine power rather than approval of the former fault.
IX.105 Power renders valor as providential divine power rather than approval of the former fault. Power renders valor as providential divine power rather than approval of the former fault.
IX.106–108 Turns keeps Dante's cosmic causality: the upper world orders the lower.
IX.106–108 Turns keeps Dante's cosmic causality: the upper world orders the lower. Line 108: Turns keeps Dante's cosmic causality: the upper world orders the lower.
IX.108 Turns keeps Dante's cosmic causality: the upper world orders the lower. Turns keeps Dante's cosmic causality: the upper world orders the lower.
Folco satisfies Dante's remaining desires by identifying Rahab as the highest seal of Venus after Christ's triumph IX.109–126
109Ma perché tutte le tue voglie piene
110ten porti che son nate in questa spera,
proceder ancor oltre mi convene.
Tu vuo’ saper chi è in questa lumera
che qui appresso me così scintilla
come raggio di sole in acqua mera.
115Or sappi che là entro si tranquilla
Raab; e a nostr’ ordine congiunta,
di lei nel sommo grado si sigilla.
Da questo cielo, in cui l’ombra s’appunta
che ’l vostro mondo face, pria ch’altr’ alma
120del trïunfo di Cristo fu assunta.
Ben si convenne lei lasciar per palma
in alcun cielo de l’alta vittoria
che s’acquistò con l’una e l’altra palma,
perch’ ella favorò la prima gloria
125di Iosüè in su la Terra Santa,
che poco tocca al papa la memoria.
109But so that you may carry away full
110all the desires born in this sphere,
I must proceed still further.
You wish to know who is in this lamp
that here beside me sparkles so
like a ray of sun in clear water.
115Now know that within it Rahab is at peace;
and, joined to our order,
she seals it in the highest degree.
Into this heaven, where the shadow comes to a point
that your world casts, before any other soul
120in Christ's triumph she was assumed.
Indeed it befitted that she be left as a palm
in some heaven of the high victory
that was won with one palm and the other,
because she favored the first glory
125of Joshua upon the Holy Land,
which little touches the pope's memory.
Commentary
The Rahab passage is kept as biblical and typological rather than sentimental: she is the highest seal in Venus, a palm of Christ's victory by his two palms, and a rebuke to papal forgetfulness of the Holy Land.
IX.115–117 Rahab, the woman of Jericho, is placed as a saved witness in Venus.
IX.115–117 Rahab, the woman of Jericho, is placed as a saved witness in Venus. Line 115: Rahab, the woman of Jericho, is placed as a saved witness in Venus.
IX.115 Rahab, the woman of Jericho, is placed as a saved witness in Venus. Rahab, the woman of Jericho, is placed as a saved witness in Venus.
IX.118–120 Christ's triumph points to the Harrowing of Hell and the first assumption of a redeemed soul into this heaven.
IX.118–120 Christ's triumph points to the Harrowing of Hell and the first assumption of a redeemed soul into this heaven. Line 120: Christ's triumph points to the Harrowing of Hell and the first assumption of a redeemed soul into this heaven.
IX.120 Christ's triumph points to the Harrowing of Hell and the first assumption of a redeemed soul into this heaven. Christ's triumph points to the Harrowing of Hell and the first assumption of a redeemed soul into this heaven.
IX.121–123 Palm carries both victory trophy and Christ's two hands on the Cross.
IX.121–123 Palm carries both victory trophy and Christ's two hands on the Cross. Line 123: Palm carries both victory trophy and Christ's two hands on the Cross.
IX.123 Palm carries both victory trophy and Christ's two hands on the Cross. Palm carries both victory trophy and Christ's two hands on the Cross.
IX.124–126 The pope's forgetfulness contrasts Rahab's aid to Joshua in the Holy Land with current ecclesial neglect.
IX.124–126 The pope's forgetfulness contrasts Rahab's aid to Joshua in the Holy Land with current ecclesial neglect. Line 126: The pope's forgetfulness contrasts Rahab's aid to Joshua in the Holy Land with current ecclesial neglect.
IX.126 The pope's forgetfulness contrasts Rahab's aid to Joshua in the Holy Land with current ecclesial neglect. The pope's forgetfulness contrasts Rahab's aid to Joshua in the Holy Land with current ecclesial neglect.
Folco turns from Rahab to Florence, the florin, papal cupidity, abandoned Gospel, and Rome's promised release IX.127–142
127La tua città, che di colui è pianta
che pria volse le spalle al suo fattore
e di cui è la ’nvidia tanto pianta,
130produce e spande il maladetto fiore
c’ha disvïate le pecore e li agni,
però che fatto ha lupo del pastore.
Per questo l’Evangelio e i dottor magni
son derelitti, e solo ai Decretali
135si studia, sì che pare a’ lor vivagni.
A questo intende il papa e ’ cardinali;
non vanno i lor pensieri a Nazarette,
là dove Gabrïello aperse l’ali.
Ma Vaticano e l’altre parti elette
140di Roma che son state cimitero
a la milizia che Pietro seguette,
tosto libere fien de l’avoltero».
127Your city, which is the plant of him
who first turned his back on his Maker
and whose envy is so much wept,
130produces and scatters the accursed flower
that has led astray the sheep and lambs,
because it has made a wolf of the shepherd.
For this the Gospel and the great Doctors
are forsaken, and only the Decretals
135are studied, so that it shows on their margins.
To this the pope and cardinals attend;
their thoughts do not go to Nazareth,
where Gabriel opened his wings.
But the Vatican and the other chosen places
140of Rome that have been the cemetery
for the militia that followed Peter,
will soon be free of the adultery."
Commentary
The closing invective turns Florence's florin into the accursed flower that makes a wolf of the shepherd. The translation keeps the Gospel/Doctors versus Decretals contrast, Nazareth, Peter's Rome, and ecclesial adultery visible without genericizing the critique.
IX.130–132 The accursed flower is the Florentine florin, with the civic emblem and money corruption compressed together. The shepherd turned wolf sharpens the pastoral corruption rather than naming generic greed.
IX.130–132 The accursed flower is the Florentine florin, with the civic emblem and money corruption compressed together. Line 130: The accursed flower is the Florentine florin, with the civic emblem and money corruption compressed together. Line 132: The shepherd turned wolf sharpens the pastoral corruption rather than naming generic greed.
IX.130 The accursed flower is the Florentine florin, with the civic emblem and money corruption compressed together. The accursed flower is the Florentine florin, with the civic emblem and money corruption compressed together.
IX.132 The shepherd turned wolf sharpens the pastoral corruption rather than naming generic greed. The shepherd turned wolf sharpens the pastoral corruption rather than naming generic greed.
IX.133–135 Marked margins indicate the profitable study of canon law displacing Gospel and doctors.
IX.133–135 Marked margins indicate the profitable study of canon law displacing Gospel and doctors. Line 135: Marked margins indicate the profitable study of canon law displacing Gospel and doctors.
IX.135 Marked margins indicate the profitable study of canon law displacing Gospel and doctors. Marked margins indicate the profitable study of canon law displacing Gospel and doctors.
IX.142 Adultery names ecclesial violation by cupidity; the line does not soften the marriage image. Adultery names ecclesial violation by cupidity; the line does not soften the marriage image.