Purgatorio, Canto 10
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
After passing through the gate that wrong love leaves unused, Dante hears it close behind him and does not look back. Virgil guides him through a narrow, shifting cleft that requires practical skill, and the ascent delays them until the waning moon has set. The poets emerge onto the first ledge, a narrow solitary cornice bounded by a sheer white marble bank. Before their feet move on, Dante sees sculpted examples of humility that exceed human art and nature: Gabriel and Mary at the Annunciation, David dancing humbly before the Ark while Michal looks on scornfully, and Trajan delaying imperial movement to do justice for a widow. Dante delights in the visible speech of these images until Virgil points out the approaching proud souls. The poet warns the reader not to lose heart at God's way of making debt be paid. At first Dante cannot make out the burdened figures, but Virgil teaches him to discern the souls crouched under stones. Dante then apostrophizes proud Christians as worms born for angelic transformation, and he compares the souls to strained corbel figures whose apparent anguish becomes real pity in the viewer. The proud move under different weights according to their burden, and even the most patient seems to weep, 'I can no more.'
Narrative arc
- The gate closes behind the poets, no backward look is excused, and the narrow rock cleft requires careful skill before they emerge exhausted and unsure onto the first ledge
- The solitary cornice is measured between void and sheer bank, and Dante sees white marble carvings that would shame Polyclitus and Nature
- The Annunciation relief shows Gabriel saying Ave and Mary bearing Ecce ancilla Dei, so true that silent carved image becomes visible speech
- Virgil redirects Dante's gaze to the Ark scene, where sensory yes and no make the carved choirs and incense seem alive, David dances humbly, and Michal looks on scornfully
- The Trajan relief shows a widow demanding justice, the emperor delaying departure, and God producing visible speech unknown on earth
- Dante delights in humility's images until Virgil points to the slow approaching souls and the poet warns the reader not to be discouraged by purgatorial payment
- Dante's sight fails to recognize the approaching figures until Virgil explains that heavy torment crouches the proud to earth under stones
- The apostrophe to proud Christians turns from defective mental sight to worm and angelic butterfly, then to corbel figures whose strained burden and patience disclose the first terrace's purgation
Central themes
- humility
- burden
- art
- prayer
The gate closes behind the poets, no backward look is excused, and the narrow rock cleft requires careful skill before they emerge exhausted and unsure onto the first ledge X.1–21
1Poi fummo dentro al soglio de la porta
che ’l mal amor de l’anime disusa,
perché fa parer dritta la via torta,
sonando la senti’ esser richiusa;
5e s’io avesse li occhi vòlti ad essa,
qual fora stata al fallo degna scusa?
Noi salavam per una pietra fessa,
che si moveva e d’una e d’altra parte,
sì come l’onda che fugge e s’appressa.
10«Qui si conviene usare un poco d’arte»,
cominciò ’l duca mio, «in accostarsi
or quinci, or quindi al lato che si parte».
E questo fece i nostri passi scarsi,
tanto che pria lo scemo de la luna
15rigiunse al letto suo per ricorcarsi,
che noi fossimo fuor di quella cruna;
ma quando fummo liberi e aperti
sù dove il monte in dietro si rauna,
ïo stancato e amendue incerti
20di nostra via, restammo in su un piano
solingo più che strade per diserti.
1Once we were inside the threshold of the gate
that wrong love in souls leaves unused,
because it makes the crooked way seem straight,
I heard it, sounding, close again;
5and if I had turned my eyes toward it,
what excuse would have been worthy of the fault?
We were climbing through a split rock,
which shifted now to one side, now to the other,
like the wave that withdraws and comes near.
10"Here one must use a little skill,"
my leader began, "in keeping close
now here, now there, to the side that gives way."
And this made our steps few and slow,
so that first the waning moon
15reached its bed again to lie down,
before we were out of that needle's eye;
but when we were free and in the open
above, where the mountain draws back into itself,
I worn out, and both of us uncertain
20of our way, stopped on a level place
more solitary than roads through deserts.
Commentary
The entrance is both literal threshold and moral threshold: wrong love makes the crooked way look straight, the gate closes behind Dante, and the narrow cleft requires disciplined skill rather than backward-looking regret.
X.1–3 Mal amor anticipates Purgatorio XVII's doctrine of love as the root of virtue and sin. The line keeps both path language and moral misperception active.
X.1–3 Mal amor anticipates Purgatorio XVII's doctrine of love as the root of virtue and sin. Line 2: Mal amor anticipates Purgatorio XVII's doctrine of love as the root of virtue and sin. Line 3: The line keeps both path language and moral misperception active.
X.2 Mal amor anticipates Purgatorio XVII's doctrine of love as the root of virtue and sin. Mal amor anticipates Purgatorio XVII's doctrine of love as the root of virtue and sin.
X.3 The line keeps both path language and moral misperception active. The line keeps both path language and moral misperception active.
X.4–6 The condition recalls the gate angel's warning in Purgatorio IX not to look back.
X.4–6 The condition recalls the gate angel's warning in Purgatorio IX not to look back. Line 5: The condition recalls the gate angel's warning in Purgatorio IX not to look back.
X.5 The condition recalls the gate angel's warning in Purgatorio IX not to look back. The condition recalls the gate angel's warning in Purgatorio IX not to look back.
X.10–12 Arte is rendered as practical skill here, fitting the bodily mechanics of ascent through the cleft.
X.10–12 Arte is rendered as practical skill here, fitting the bodily mechanics of ascent through the cleft. Line 10: Arte is rendered as practical skill here, fitting the bodily mechanics of ascent through the cleft.
X.10 Arte is rendered as practical skill here, fitting the bodily mechanics of ascent through the cleft. Arte is rendered as practical skill here, fitting the bodily mechanics of ascent through the cleft.
X.13–15 The moon setting marks how long the narrow ascent has taken.
X.13–15 The moon setting marks how long the narrow ascent has taken. Line 15: The moon setting marks how long the narrow ascent has taken.
X.15 The moon setting marks how long the narrow ascent has taken. The moon setting marks how long the narrow ascent has taken.
The solitary cornice is measured between void and sheer bank, and Dante sees white marble carvings that would shame Polyclitus and Nature X.22–33
22Da la sua sponda, ove confina il vano,
al piè de l’alta ripa che pur sale,
misurrebbe in tre volte un corpo umano;
25e quanto l’occhio mio potea trar d’ale,
or dal sinistro e or dal destro fianco,
questa cornice mi parea cotale.
Là sù non eran mossi i piè nostri anco,
quand’ io conobbi quella ripa intorno
30che dritto di salita aveva manco,
esser di marmo candido e addorno
d’intagli sì, che non pur Policleto,
ma la natura lì avrebbe scorno.
22From its edge, where it borders the void,
to the foot of the high bank that still rises,
a human body would measure it in three lengths;
25and as far as my eye could spread its wings,
now from the left and now from the right flank,
this ledge seemed just the same to me.
Our feet had not yet moved up there,
when I recognized that bank around us,
30which, sheer upright, offered no ascent,
was of white marble and adorned
with carvings so that not only Polyclitus,
but Nature there would have been shamed.
Commentary
The passage gives the ledge dimensions and the sudden white marble reliefs as the first terrace's visual pedagogy. The translation keeps the art/nature rivalry and the sheer bank's lack of ascent concrete.
X.22–24 The measurement describes the narrow depth of the ledge, roughly three body-lengths.
X.22–24 The measurement describes the narrow depth of the ledge, roughly three body-lengths. Line 24: The measurement describes the narrow depth of the ledge, roughly three body-lengths.
X.24 The measurement describes the narrow depth of the ledge, roughly three body-lengths. The measurement describes the narrow depth of the ledge, roughly three body-lengths.
X.28–30 Dritto is physical here but still keeps the canto's straight/crooked pressure in view.
X.28–30 Dritto is physical here but still keeps the canto's straight/crooked pressure in view. Line 30: Dritto is physical here but still keeps the canto's straight/crooked pressure in view.
X.30 Dritto is physical here but still keeps the canto's straight/crooked pressure in view. Dritto is physical here but still keeps the canto's straight/crooked pressure in view.
X.31–33 Polyclitus marks exemplary classical sculpture; Dante's terrace art exceeds both human art and nature.
X.31–33 Polyclitus marks exemplary classical sculpture; Dante's terrace art exceeds both human art and nature. Line 33: Polyclitus marks exemplary classical sculpture; Dante's terrace art exceeds both human art and nature.
X.33 Polyclitus marks exemplary classical sculpture; Dante's terrace art exceeds both human art and nature. Polyclitus marks exemplary classical sculpture; Dante's terrace art exceeds both human art and nature.
The Annunciation relief shows Gabriel saying Ave and Mary bearing Ecce ancilla Dei, so true that silent carved image becomes visible speech X.34–45
34L’angel che venne in terra col decreto
35de la molt’ anni lagrimata pace,
ch’aperse il ciel del suo lungo divieto,
dinanzi a noi pareva sì verace
quivi intagliato in un atto soave,
che non sembiava imagine che tace.
40Giurato si saria ch’el dicesse ‘Ave!’;
perché iv’ era imaginata quella
ch’ad aprir l’alto amor volse la chiave;
e avea in atto impressa esta favella
‘Ecce ancilla Deï’, propriamente
45come figura in cera si suggella.
34The angel who came to earth with the decree
35of the peace wept for through many years,
which opened Heaven from its long ban,
appeared before us so true to life
there carved in a gentle act,
that he did not seem an image that is silent.
40One would have sworn that he said "Ave!"
for there was imaged there the one
who turned the key to open the high love;
and in her gesture had these words impressed,
"Ecce ancilla Dei," exactly
45as a figure is sealed in wax.
Commentary
The translation keeps Gabriel's Ave, Mary's Ecce ancilla Dei, the key opening high love, and the paradox of silent carved speech.
X.34–36 Gabriel's Annunciation begins the terrace's examples of humility.
X.34–36 Gabriel's Annunciation begins the terrace's examples of humility. Line 34: Gabriel's Annunciation begins the terrace's examples of humility.
X.37–39 The phrase introduces the canto's paradox of visible speech.
X.37–39 The phrase introduces the canto's paradox of visible speech. Line 39: The phrase introduces the canto's paradox of visible speech.
X.39 The phrase introduces the canto's paradox of visible speech. The phrase introduces the canto's paradox of visible speech.
X.40–42 Mary's humility opens the incarnational economy of love; the key image also recalls the gate keys of Purgatorio IX.
X.40–42 Mary's humility opens the incarnational economy of love; the key image also recalls the gate keys of Purgatorio IX. Line 42: Mary's humility opens the incarnational economy of love; the key image also recalls the gate keys of Purgatorio IX.
X.42 Mary's humility opens the incarnational economy of love; the key image also recalls the gate keys of Purgatorio IX. Mary's humility opens the incarnational economy of love; the key image also recalls the gate keys of Purgatorio IX.
X.43–45 The Latin is retained as the sculpture's impressed speech: 'Behold the handmaid of God.'
X.43–45 The Latin is retained as the sculpture's impressed speech: 'Behold the handmaid of God.'. Line 44: The Latin is retained as the sculpture's impressed speech: 'Behold the handmaid of God.'
X.44 The Latin is retained as the sculpture's impressed speech: 'Behold the handmaid of God.'. The Latin is retained as the sculpture's impressed speech: 'Behold the handmaid of God.'
Virgil redirects Dante's gaze to the Ark scene, where sensory yes and no make the carved choirs and incense seem alive, David dances humbly, and Michal looks on scornfully X.46–69
46«Non tener pur ad un loco la mente»,
disse ’l dolce maestro, che m’avea
da quella parte onde ’l cuore ha la gente.
Per ch’i’ mi mossi col viso, e vedea
50di retro da Maria, da quella costa
onde m’era colui che mi movea,
un’altra storia ne la roccia imposta;
per ch’io varcai Virgilio, e fe’mi presso,
acciò che fosse a li occhi miei disposta.
55Era intagliato lì nel marmo stesso
lo carro e ’ buoi, traendo l’arca santa,
per che si teme officio non commesso.
Dinanzi parea gente; e tutta quanta,
partita in sette cori, a’ due mie’ sensi
60faceva dir l’un ‘No’, l’altro ‘Sì, canta’.
Similemente al fummo de li ’ncensi
che v’era imaginato, li occhi e ’l naso
e al sì e al no discordi fensi.
Lì precedeva al benedetto vaso,
65trescando alzato, l’umile salmista,
e più e men che re era in quel caso.
Di contra, effigïata ad una vista
d’un gran palazzo, Micòl ammirava
sì come donna dispettosa e trista.
46"Do not keep your mind only in one place,"
said the sweet master, who had me
on that side where people have the heart.
So I moved my face, and saw
50behind Mary, from that side
where the one who moved me was,
another story set into the rock;
so I crossed past Virgil and drew near,
so that it might be set before my eyes.
55There, in the same marble, was carved
the cart and the oxen, drawing the holy ark,
because of which one fears an office not entrusted.
Before it people appeared; and all of them,
divided into seven choirs, made my two senses
60say, one "No," the other "Yes, it sings."
Likewise with the smoke of the incense
that was imaged there, the eyes and nose
were made discordant, yes and no.
There, before the blessed vessel,
65dancing, girded high, went the humble psalmist,
and in that case he was both more and less than king.
Opposite, portrayed at a window
of a great palace, Michal looked on,
like a scornful and sorrowful woman.
Commentary
The second humility example is David dancing before the Ark while Michal looks on scornfully, with the Uzzah background behind the feared uncommissioned office; the translation leaves the allusion visible but not overexplained in the line.
X.46–48 Virgil stands on Dante's left, the heart side, to move his attention along the terrace.
X.46–48 Virgil stands on Dante's left, the heart side, to move his attention along the terrace. Line 48: Virgil stands on Dante's left, the heart side, to move his attention along the terrace.
X.48 Virgil stands on Dante's left, the heart side, to move his attention along the terrace. Virgil stands on Dante's left, the heart side, to move his attention along the terrace.
X.55–57 The line points to Uzzah touching the Ark without authorized office; the allusion stays compact in the translation.
X.55–57 The line points to Uzzah touching the Ark without authorized office; the allusion stays compact in the translation. Line 57: The line points to Uzzah touching the Ark without authorized office; the allusion stays compact in the translation.
X.57 The line points to Uzzah touching the Ark without authorized office; the allusion stays compact in the translation. The line points to Uzzah touching the Ark without authorized office; the allusion stays compact in the translation.
X.58–60 The sculpture makes sight deny what hearing seems to affirm.
X.58–60 The sculpture makes sight deny what hearing seems to affirm. Line 60: The sculpture makes sight deny what hearing seems to affirm.
X.60 The sculpture makes sight deny what hearing seems to affirm. The sculpture makes sight deny what hearing seems to affirm.
X.61–63 Visible speech expands into visible song and scent: the senses disagree because the image is too lifelike for ordinary art.
X.61–63 Visible speech expands into visible song and scent: the senses disagree because the image is too lifelike for ordinary art. Line 63: Visible speech expands into visible song and scent: the senses disagree because the image is too lifelike for ordinary art.
X.63 Visible speech expands into visible song and scent: the senses disagree because the image is too lifelike for ordinary art. Visible speech expands into visible song and scent: the senses disagree because the image is too lifelike for ordinary art.
X.64–66 The blessed vessel is the Ark. David's exposed, dancing humility contrasts with royal dignity.
X.64–66 The blessed vessel is the Ark. Line 64: The blessed vessel is the Ark. Line 65: David's exposed, dancing humility contrasts with royal dignity.
X.64 The blessed vessel is the Ark. The blessed vessel is the Ark.
X.65 David's exposed, dancing humility contrasts with royal dignity. David's exposed, dancing humility contrasts with royal dignity.
X.67–69 Michal's disdain marks the counter-image to David's humble abasement.
X.67–69 Michal's disdain marks the counter-image to David's humble abasement. Line 69: Michal's disdain marks the counter-image to David's humble abasement.
X.69 Michal's disdain marks the counter-image to David's humble abasement. Michal's disdain marks the counter-image to David's humble abasement.
The Trajan relief shows a widow demanding justice, the emperor delaying departure, and God producing visible speech unknown on earth X.70–96
70I’ mossi i piè del loco dov’ io stava,
per avvisar da presso un’altra istoria,
che di dietro a Micòl mi biancheggiava.
Quiv’ era storïata l’alta gloria
del roman principato, il cui valore
75mosse Gregorio a la sua gran vittoria;
i’ dico di Traiano imperadore;
e una vedovella li era al freno,
di lagrime atteggiata e di dolore.
Intorno a lui parea calcato e pieno
80di cavalieri, e l’aguglie ne l’oro
sovr’ essi in vista al vento si movieno.
La miserella intra tutti costoro
pareva dir: «Segnor, fammi vendetta
di mio figliuol ch’è morto, ond’ io m’accoro»;
85ed elli a lei rispondere: «Or aspetta
tanto ch’i’ torni»; e quella: «Segnor mio»,
come persona in cui dolor s’affretta,
«se tu non torni?»; ed ei: «Chi fia dov’ io,
la ti farà»; ed ella: «L’altrui bene
90a te che fia, se ’l tuo metti in oblio?»;
ond’ elli: «Or ti conforta; ch’ei convene
ch’i’ solva il mio dovere anzi ch’i’ mova:
giustizia vuole e pietà mi ritene».
Colui che mai non vide cosa nova
95produsse esto visibile parlare,
novello a noi perché qui non si trova.
70I moved my feet from the place where I stood,
to inspect close up another story
that gleamed white to me behind Michal.
There was storied the high glory
of the Roman principate, whose worth
75moved Gregory to his great victory;
I mean Emperor Trajan;
and a poor widow was at his bridle,
shaped in tears and grief.
Around him it seemed pressed and full
80with knights, and the eagles in the gold
visibly moved above them in the wind.
The poor wretched woman among all these
seemed to say, "Lord, give me vengeance
for my son who is dead, for whom my heart breaks";
85and he, answering her: "Now wait
until I return"; and she: "My lord,"
like a person in whom grief makes haste,
"if you do not return?" And he: "Whoever is where I am,
will do it for you"; and she: "What will another's good
90be to you, if you set your own in oblivion?";
whereon he: "Now be comforted; for it is fitting
that I discharge my duty before I move:
justice wills it and pity holds me back."
He who never saw anything new
95produced this visible speech,
new to us because it is not found here.
Commentary
Norton connects the Trajan-and-widow episode to Gregory's legendary victory. The translation preserves the legal and devotional pressure: imperial glory becomes humility when justice and pity hold Trajan in place before departure.
X.73–75 Principato is kept in its imperial-political register. The line refers to the medieval legend that Gregory's prayer won Trajan's salvation.
X.73–75 Principato is kept in its imperial-political register. Line 74: Principato is kept in its imperial-political register. Line 75: The line refers to the medieval legend that Gregory's prayer won Trajan's salvation.
X.74 Principato is kept in its imperial-political register. Principato is kept in its imperial-political register.
X.75 The line refers to the medieval legend that Gregory's prayer won Trajan's salvation. The line refers to the medieval legend that Gregory's prayer won Trajan's salvation.
X.82–84 Vendetta is justice for her murdered son, not private revenge in the infernal sense.
X.82–84 Vendetta is justice for her murdered son, not private revenge in the infernal sense. Line 83: Vendetta is justice for her murdered son, not private revenge in the infernal sense.
X.83 Vendetta is justice for her murdered son, not private revenge in the infernal sense. Vendetta is justice for her murdered son, not private revenge in the infernal sense.
X.91–93 Trajan's humility appears as submission of imperial motion to immediate justice.
X.91–93 Trajan's humility appears as submission of imperial motion to immediate justice. Line 92: Trajan's humility appears as submission of imperial motion to immediate justice.
X.92 Trajan's humility appears as submission of imperial motion to immediate justice. Trajan's humility appears as submission of imperial motion to immediate justice.
X.94–96 The Maker is God, for whom no novelty exists. This is the canto's explicit name for the reliefs' impossible union of image and speech. Here points to the earthly human world, where such art is unavailable.
X.94–96 The Maker is God, for whom no novelty exists. Line 94: The Maker is God, for whom no novelty exists. Line 95: This is the canto's explicit name for the reliefs' impossible union of image and speech. Line 96: Here points to the earthly human world, where such art is unavailable.
X.94 The Maker is God, for whom no novelty exists. The Maker is God, for whom no novelty exists.
X.95 This is the canto's explicit name for the reliefs' impossible union of image and speech. This is the canto's explicit name for the reliefs' impossible union of image and speech.
X.96 Here points to the earthly human world, where such art is unavailable. Here points to the earthly human world, where such art is unavailable.
Dante delights in humility's images until Virgil points to the slow approaching souls and the poet warns the reader not to be discouraged by purgatorial payment X.97–111
97Mentr’ io mi dilettava di guardare
l’imagini di tante umilitadi,
e per lo fabbro loro a veder care,
100«Ecco di qua, ma fanno i passi radi»,
mormorava il poeta, «molte genti:
questi ne ’nvïeranno a li alti gradi».
Li occhi miei, ch’a mirare eran contenti
per veder novitadi ond’ e’ son vaghi,
105volgendosi ver’ lui non furon lenti.
Non vo’ però, lettor, che tu ti smaghi
di buon proponimento per udire
come Dio vuol che ’l debito si paghi.
Non attender la forma del martìre:
110pensa la succession; pensa ch’al peggio
oltre la gran sentenza non può ire.
97While I was delighting in looking
at the images of so many humilities,
and dear to see because of their Maker,
100"Look here, though they make few steps,"
the poet murmured, "many people:
these will direct us to the high steps."
My eyes, which were content to gaze
to see the novelties they crave,
105were not slow in turning toward him.
Yet I do not want you, reader, to lose heart
in your good purpose by hearing
how God wills the debt be paid.
Do not attend to the form of the suffering:
110think of what follows; think that at worst
it cannot go beyond the great sentence.
Commentary
The reader apostrophe warns that purgatorial suffering should not discourage good purpose, because its limit is the great sentence and its succession is toward release.
X.97–99 The plural keeps the examples as distinct acts, not an abstract virtue only.
X.97–99 The plural keeps the examples as distinct acts, not an abstract virtue only. Line 98: The plural keeps the examples as distinct acts, not an abstract virtue only.
X.98 The plural keeps the examples as distinct acts, not an abstract virtue only. The plural keeps the examples as distinct acts, not an abstract virtue only.
X.103–105 Dante's desire to see remains ordered by Virgil's guidance, not merely aesthetic appetite.
X.103–105 Dante's desire to see remains ordered by Virgil's guidance, not merely aesthetic appetite. Line 104: Dante's desire to see remains ordered by Virgil's guidance, not merely aesthetic appetite.
X.104 Dante's desire to see remains ordered by Virgil's guidance, not merely aesthetic appetite. Dante's desire to see remains ordered by Virgil's guidance, not merely aesthetic appetite.
X.106–108 The apostrophe protects the reader from misreading purgatorial burden as despair. Debt language marks purgatorial justice as remedial payment, not infernal finality.
X.106–108 The apostrophe protects the reader from misreading purgatorial burden as despair. Line 106: The apostrophe protects the reader from misreading purgatorial burden as despair. Line 108: Debt language marks purgatorial justice as remedial payment, not infernal finality.
X.106 The apostrophe protects the reader from misreading purgatorial burden as despair. The apostrophe protects the reader from misreading purgatorial burden as despair.
X.108 Debt language marks purgatorial justice as remedial payment, not infernal finality. Debt language marks purgatorial justice as remedial payment, not infernal finality.
X.109–111 The great sentence is the Last Judgment; purgatorial pain is bounded and ordered toward release.
X.109–111 The great sentence is the Last Judgment; purgatorial pain is bounded and ordered toward release. Line 111: The great sentence is the Last Judgment; purgatorial pain is bounded and ordered toward release.
X.111 The great sentence is the Last Judgment; purgatorial pain is bounded and ordered toward release. The great sentence is the Last Judgment; purgatorial pain is bounded and ordered toward release.
Dante's sight fails to recognize the approaching figures until Virgil explains that heavy torment crouches the proud to earth under stones X.112–120
112Io cominciai: «Maestro, quel ch’io veggio
muovere a noi, non mi sembian persone,
e non so che, sì nel veder vaneggio».
115Ed elli a me: «La grave condizione
di lor tormento a terra li rannicchia,
sì che ’ miei occhi pria n’ebber tencione.
Ma guarda fiso là, e disviticchia
col viso quel che vien sotto a quei sassi:
120già scorger puoi come ciascun si picchia».
112I began: "Master, what I see
moving toward us does not seem people to me,
and I do not know what it is, so my sight goes astray."
115And he to me: "The heavy condition
of their torment crouches them to the ground,
so that my eyes at first had a contest with it.
But look fixedly there, and disentangle
with your sight what comes under those stones:
120already you can make out how each is struck."
Commentary
This passage covers dante's sight fails to recognize the approaching figures until Virgil explains that heavy torment crouches the proud to earth under stones.
X.112–114 The failure of sight sets up the apostrophe to proud Christians sick in the mind's sight.
X.112–114 The failure of sight sets up the apostrophe to proud Christians sick in the mind's sight. Line 114: The failure of sight sets up the apostrophe to proud Christians sick in the mind's sight.
X.114 The failure of sight sets up the apostrophe to proud Christians sick in the mind's sight. The failure of sight sets up the apostrophe to proud Christians sick in the mind's sight.
X.115–117 Even Virgil initially had difficulty discerning the crouched forms.
X.115–117 Even Virgil initially had difficulty discerning the crouched forms. Line 117: Even Virgil initially had difficulty discerning the crouched forms.
X.117 Even Virgil initially had difficulty discerning the crouched forms. Even Virgil initially had difficulty discerning the crouched forms.
X.118–120 Disviticchia makes perception an active unweaving of the burdened forms.
X.118–120 Disviticchia makes perception an active unweaving of the burdened forms. Line 120: Disviticchia makes perception an active unweaving of the burdened forms.
X.120 Disviticchia makes perception an active unweaving of the burdened forms. Disviticchia makes perception an active unweaving of the burdened forms.
The apostrophe to proud Christians turns from defective mental sight to worm and angelic butterfly, then to corbel figures whose strained burden and patience disclose the first terrace's purgation X.121–139
121O superbi cristian, miseri lassi,
che, de la vista de la mente infermi,
fidanza avete ne’ retrosi passi,
non v’accorgete voi che noi siam vermi
125nati a formar l’angelica farfalla,
che vola a la giustizia sanza schermi?
Di che l’animo vostro in alto galla,
poi siete quasi antomata in difetto,
sì come vermo in cui formazion falla?
130Come per sostentar solaio o tetto,
per mensola talvolta una figura
si vede giugner le ginocchia al petto,
la qual fa del non ver vera rancura
nascere ’n chi la vede; così fatti
135vid’ io color, quando puosi ben cura.
Vero è che più e meno eran contratti
secondo ch’avien più e meno a dosso;
e qual più pazïenza avea ne li atti,
piangendo parea dicer: ‘Più non posso’.
121O proud Christians, wretched and weary,
who, sick in the mind's sight,
put your trust in backward steps,
do you not perceive that we are worms
125born to form the angelic butterfly
that flies to justice without defense?
Why, then, does your spirit float so high,
since you are like defective insects,
like a worm in which formation fails?
130As to sustain a floor or roof,
in place of a corbel sometimes a figure
is seen to bring its knees to its breast,
which makes true anguish from what is not true
arise in one who sees it; made like that
135I saw those souls, when I looked carefully.
It is true they were more and less contracted
according as they had more or less on their backs;
and whichever had more patience in his bearing,
weeping, seemed to say: "I can no more."
Commentary
This passage covers the apostrophe to proud Christians turns from defective mental sight to worm and angelic butterfly, then to corbel figures whose strained burden and patience disclose the first terrace's purgation.
X.121–123 Pride appears as a failure of intellectual and spiritual vision.
X.121–123 Pride appears as a failure of intellectual and spiritual vision. Line 122: Pride appears as a failure of intellectual and spiritual vision.
X.122 Pride appears as a failure of intellectual and spiritual vision. Pride appears as a failure of intellectual and spiritual vision.
X.124–126 The worm/butterfly image makes human incompletion hopeful rather than contemptuous. Sanza schermi is kept as vulnerability before justice, not evasion of judgment.
X.124–126 The worm/butterfly image makes human incompletion hopeful rather than contemptuous. Line 125: The worm/butterfly image makes human incompletion hopeful rather than contemptuous. Line 126: Sanza schermi is kept as vulnerability before justice, not evasion of judgment.
X.125 The worm/butterfly image makes human incompletion hopeful rather than contemptuous. The worm/butterfly image makes human incompletion hopeful rather than contemptuous.
X.126 Sanza schermi is kept as vulnerability before justice, not evasion of judgment. Sanza schermi is kept as vulnerability before justice, not evasion of judgment.
X.127–129 The failed formation reverses the hopeful butterfly image when pride refuses transformation.
X.127–129 The failed formation reverses the hopeful butterfly image when pride refuses transformation. Line 129: The failed formation reverses the hopeful butterfly image when pride refuses transformation.
X.129 The failed formation reverses the hopeful butterfly image when pride refuses transformation. The failed formation reverses the hopeful butterfly image when pride refuses transformation.
X.130–132 The architectural image prepares the visible burden of the proud.
X.130–132 The architectural image prepares the visible burden of the proud. Line 131: The architectural image prepares the visible burden of the proud.
X.131 The architectural image prepares the visible burden of the proud. The architectural image prepares the visible burden of the proud.
X.133–135 The sculpted figure's unreal strain produces real compassion, echoing the earlier reliefs' impossible realism.
X.133–135 The sculpted figure's unreal strain produces real compassion, echoing the earlier reliefs' impossible realism. Line 133: The sculpted figure's unreal strain produces real compassion, echoing the earlier reliefs' impossible realism.
X.133 The sculpted figure's unreal strain produces real compassion, echoing the earlier reliefs' impossible realism. The sculpted figure's unreal strain produces real compassion, echoing the earlier reliefs' impossible realism.
X.136–138 The burden varies according to the weight each soul carries.
X.136–138 The burden varies according to the weight each soul carries. Line 137: The burden varies according to the weight each soul carries.
X.137 The burden varies according to the weight each soul carries. The burden varies according to the weight each soul carries.
X.139 The canto ends with visible suffering made almost audible, answering the earlier visible speech of the humility reliefs. The canto ends with visible suffering made almost audible, answering the earlier visible speech of the humility reliefs.