Purgatorio, Canto 11
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
The proud souls begin with a purgatorial Lord's Prayer that asks for the kingdom's peace, daily manna, forgiveness, deliverance for those still living, and aid for the souls who remain behind on earth. Bent beneath dreamlike weights, they purge the world's dark mist while Dante reflects that the living should help wash away their marks. Virgil asks for the easiest way toward the stair, and an anonymous proud soul directs them rightward before identifying himself as Omberto Aldobrandeschi, whose noble blood made him despise the common mother and whose pride has harmed his kin as well as himself. Dante bends his face and is recognized by Oderisi d'Agobbio, who humbly gives artistic honor to Franco Bolognese and names the price paid for pride after timely repentance. Oderisi then unfolds the vanity of fame through Cimabue and Giotto, one Guido displacing another, infant speech, the brevity of a thousand years beside eternity, and the fading of Provenzan Salvani's civic renown. Dante receives true humility from the speech and asks about Provenzan, learning that the presumptuous Sienese lord pays for worldly boldness but escaped the usual delay for late repentance because, in Siena's Campo, he publicly laid aside shame to beg for a friend imprisoned by Charles. Oderisi closes with a dark prophecy that Dante's neighbors will soon teach him how to gloss such humiliation.
Narrative arc
- The proud souls pray a purgatorial Lord's Prayer, asking for the kingdom's peace, daily manna, forgiveness, and deliverance for those still living behind them
- The burdened shades move around the first cornice purging the world's dark mist, while Dante reflects that the living should help wash away their remaining marks
- Virgil asks the proud souls for the gentlest way to the stair, and an anonymous voice directs the living pilgrim and his guide to the right-hand passage
- Omberto Aldobrandeschi speaks under the stone that tames his proud neck, confessing noble arrogance, contempt for the common mother, and the family harm pride dragged after him
- Dante bends with the burdened souls and recognizes Oderisi d'Agobbio, whose humility credits Franco Bolognese and names the price paid for artistic pride after timely repentance
- Oderisi teaches the vanity of human fame through Cimabue and Giotto, one Guido overtaking another, infant speech, eternity, Provenzan Salvani, and grass-colored renown
- Dante receives good humility from Oderisi's true speech, asks about Provenzan Salvani, and hears that the presumptuous lord of Siena pays back the coin of worldly boldness
- Dante asks why Provenzan escaped the usual delay for late repentance, and Oderisi answers with his public act of shame-laid-aside humility in Siena's Campo plus a dark prophecy of Dante's exile
Central themes
- humility
- fame
- burden
- art
- prayer
The proud souls pray a purgatorial Lord's Prayer, asking for the kingdom's peace, daily manna, forgiveness, and deliverance for those still living behind them XI.1–24
1«O Padre nostro, che ne’ cieli stai,
non circunscritto, ma per più amore
ch’ai primi effetti di là sù tu hai,
laudato sia ’l tuo nome e ’l tuo valore
5da ogne creatura, com’ è degno
di render grazie al tuo dolce vapore.
Vegna ver’ noi la pace del tuo regno,
ché noi ad essa non potem da noi,
s’ella non vien, con tutto nostro ingegno.
10Come del suo voler li angeli tuoi
fan sacrificio a te, cantando osanna,
così facciano li uomini de’ suoi.
Dà oggi a noi la cotidiana manna,
sanza la qual per questo aspro diserto
15a retro va chi più di gir s’affanna.
E come noi lo mal ch’avem sofferto
perdoniamo a ciascuno, e tu perdona
benigno, e non guardar lo nostro merto.
Nostra virtù che di legger s’adona,
20non spermentar con l’antico avversaro,
ma libera da lui che sì la sprona.
Quest’ ultima preghiera, segnor caro,
già non si fa per noi, ché non bisogna,
ma per color che dietro a noi restaro».
1"O our Father, who abides in the heavens,
not circumscribed, but by the greater love
you have there above for your first effects,
may your name and your power be praised
5by every creature, as it is fitting
to give thanks for your sweet breath.
May the peace of your kingdom come toward us,
for we cannot come to it by ourselves,
if it does not come, with all our genius.
10As your angels make sacrifice to you
of their own will, singing hosanna,
so may human beings make sacrifice of their wills.
Give us today the daily manna,
without which through this rough desert
15whoever strains most to go on goes backward.
And as we forgive each one the wrong
we have suffered, so do you forgive,
benignly, and do not look to our merit.
Our strength, which is easily overcome,
20do not test with the ancient adversary,
but free it from him who spurs it so.
This last prayer, dear Lord,
is not now made for us, for we have no need,
but for those who remained behind us."
Commentary
The souls' prayer is a purgatorial expansion of the Lord's Prayer. The translation keeps heaven as not circumscribing God, the first effects, daily manna, weak virtue, the ancient adversary, and the final petition for the living.
XI.1–3 God is not spatially confined by heaven; the phrase keeps the theological distinction between dwelling, love, and circumscription. The first effects are the highest created order.
XI.1–3 God is not spatially confined by heaven; the phrase keeps the theological distinction between dwelling, love, and circumscription. Line 2: God is not spatially confined by heaven; the phrase keeps the theological distinction between dwelling, love, and circumscription. Line 3: The first effects are the highest created orders, especially angels and heavens.
XI.2 God is not spatially confined by heaven; the phrase keeps the theological distinction between dwelling, love, and circumscription. God is not spatially confined by heaven; the phrase keeps the theological distinction between dwelling, love, and circumscription.
XI.3 The first effects are the highest created orders, especially angels and heavens. The first effects are the highest created orders, especially angels and heavens.
XI.4–6 Sweet breath keeps the force of vapore without flattening it into abstract influence.
XI.4–6 Sweet breath keeps the force of vapore without flattening it into abstract influence. Line 6: Sweet breath keeps the force of vapore without flattening it into abstract influence.
XI.6 Sweet breath keeps the force of vapore without flattening it into abstract influence. Sweet breath keeps the force of vapore without flattening it into abstract influence.
XI.7–9 Genius keeps ingegno visible, but the line denies autonomous arrival at the kingdom's peace.
XI.7–9 Genius keeps ingegno visible, but the line denies autonomous arrival at the kingdom's peace. Line 9: Genius keeps ingegno visible, but the line denies autonomous arrival at the kingdom's peace.
XI.9 Genius keeps ingegno visible, but the line denies autonomous arrival at the kingdom's peace. Genius keeps ingegno visible, but the line denies autonomous arrival at the kingdom's peace.
XI.10–12 The angelic sacrifice of will frames Purgatorio as will retrained by love, not self-erasure.
XI.10–12 The angelic sacrifice of will frames Purgatorio as will retrained by love, not self-erasure. Line 12: The angelic sacrifice of will frames Purgatorio as will retrained by love, not self-erasure.
XI.12 The angelic sacrifice of will frames Purgatorio as will retrained by love, not self-erasure. The angelic sacrifice of will frames Purgatorio as will retrained by love, not self-erasure.
XI.13–15 The rough desert and backward motion turn ascent into a dependence on grace rather than mere effort.
XI.13–15 The rough desert and backward motion turn ascent into a dependence on grace rather than mere effort. Line 15: The rough desert and backward motion turn ascent into a dependence on grace rather than mere effort.
XI.15 The rough desert and backward motion turn ascent into a dependence on grace rather than mere effort. The rough desert and backward motion turn ascent into a dependence on grace rather than mere effort.
XI.16–18 Merto is kept as merit; the prayer asks pardon beyond any claim of desert.
XI.16–18 Merto is kept as merit; the prayer asks pardon beyond any claim of desert. Line 18: Merto is kept as merit; the prayer asks pardon beyond any claim of desert.
XI.18 Merto is kept as merit; the prayer asks pardon beyond any claim of desert. Merto is kept as merit; the prayer asks pardon beyond any claim of desert.
XI.19–21 Virtu is local strength or capacity here, explicitly easy to overcome. The final petition is made for the living, since the purging souls are already beyond the adversary's temptation.
XI.19–21 Virtu is local strength or capacity here, explicitly easy to overcome. Line 19: Virtu is local strength or capacity here, explicitly easy to overcome. Line 21: The final petition is made for the living, since the purging souls are already beyond the adversary's temptation.
XI.19 Virtu is local strength or capacity here, explicitly easy to overcome. Virtu is local strength or capacity here, explicitly easy to overcome.
XI.21 The final petition is made for the living, since the purging souls are already beyond the adversary's temptation. The final petition is made for the living, since the purging souls are already beyond the adversary's temptation.
The burdened shades move around the first cornice purging the world's dark mist, while Dante reflects that the living should help wash away their remaining marks XI.25–36
25Così a sé e noi buona ramogna
quell’ ombre orando, andavan sotto ’l pondo,
simile a quel che talvolta si sogna,
disparmente angosciate tutte a tondo
e lasse su per la prima cornice,
30purgando la caligine del mondo.
Se di là sempre ben per noi si dice,
di qua che dire e far per lor si puote
da quei c’hanno al voler buona radice?
Ben si de’ loro atar lavar le note
35che portar quinci, sì che, mondi e lievi,
possano uscire a le stellate ruote.
25Thus, praying good furtherance for themselves and us,
those shades went beneath the weight,
like that which sometimes is dreamed,
all around unequally anguished
and weary along the first cornice,
30purging the world's dark mist.
If from there good is always spoken for us,
from here what can be said and done for them
by those whose will has a good root?
Surely one should help them wash the marks
35they carried from here, so that, clean and light,
they may go forth to the starry wheels.
Commentary
The passage moves from communal prayer to burdened purgation and intercession, keeping the dream-weight, the world's dark mist, marks to wash away, clean lightness, and the starry wheels.
XI.28–30 Caligine del mondo is rendered as the world's dark mist, a residue of earthly pride being purged.
XI.28–30 Caligine del mondo is rendered as the world's dark mist, a residue of earthly pride being purged. Line 30: Caligine del mondo is rendered as the world's dark mist, a residue of earthly pride being purged.
XI.30 Caligine del mondo is rendered as the world's dark mist, a residue of earthly pride being purged. Caligine del mondo is rendered as the world's dark mist, a residue of earthly pride being purged.
XI.31–33 Good root of the will preserves the purgatorial logic that living prayer can aid souls when charity orders the will.
XI.31–33 Good root of the will preserves the purgatorial logic that living prayer can aid souls when charity orders the will. Line 33: Good root of the will preserves the purgatorial logic that living prayer can aid souls when charity orders the will.
XI.33 Good root of the will preserves the purgatorial logic that living prayer can aid souls when charity orders the will. Good root of the will preserves the purgatorial logic that living prayer can aid souls when charity orders the will.
XI.34–36 Starry wheels keeps the medieval cosmological destination concrete.
XI.34–36 Starry wheels keeps the medieval cosmological destination concrete. Line 36: Starry wheels keeps the medieval cosmological destination concrete.
XI.36 Starry wheels keeps the medieval cosmological destination concrete. Starry wheels keeps the medieval cosmological destination concrete.
Virgil asks the proud souls for the gentlest way to the stair, and an anonymous voice directs the living pilgrim and his guide to the right-hand passage XI.37–51
37«Deh, se giustizia e pietà vi disgrievi
tosto, sì che possiate muover l’ala,
che secondo il disio vostro vi lievi,
40mostrate da qual mano inver’ la scala
si va più corto; e se c’è più d’un varco,
quel ne ’nsegnate che men erto cala;
ché questi che vien meco, per lo ’ncarco
de la carne d’Adamo onde si veste,
45al montar sù, contra sua voglia, è parco».
Le lor parole, che rendero a queste
che dette avea colui cu’ io seguiva,
non fur da cui venisser manifeste;
ma fu detto: «A man destra per la riva
50con noi venite, e troverete il passo
possibile a salir persona viva.
37"Ah, may justice and pity soon unburden you
so that you can move the wing
which lifts you according to your desire,
40show us by which hand toward the stair
one goes most shortly; and if there is more than one passage,
teach us the one that slopes down least steeply;
for this one who comes with me, because of the burden
of Adam's flesh with which he is clothed,
45is held back, against his will, in climbing up."
Their words, which they returned to these
that the one I followed had spoken,
did not make clear from whom they came;
but it was said: "Come with us to the right hand
50along the bank, and you will find the passage
possible for a living person to climb.
Commentary
The route syntax around the stair, more than one passage, and the least steeply sloping way is difficult. The translation preserves the spatial oddness while keeping Virgil's practical request legible.
XI.37–39 Justice and pity remain paired; purgatorial release is not mercy against justice but justice fulfilled through mercy. Desire is now ordered upward, unlike the fixed or distorted desire patterns of Inferno.
XI.37–39 Justice and pity remain paired; purgatorial release is not mercy against justice but justice fulfilled through mercy. Line 37: Justice and pity remain paired; purgatorial release is not mercy against justice but justice fulfilled through mercy. Line 39: Desire is now ordered upward, unlike the fixed or distorted desire patterns of Inferno.
XI.37 Justice and pity remain paired; purgatorial release is not mercy against justice but justice fulfilled through mercy. Justice and pity remain paired; purgatorial release is not mercy against justice but justice fulfilled through mercy.
XI.39 Desire is now ordered upward, unlike the fixed or distorted desire patterns of Inferno. Desire is now ordered upward, unlike the fixed or distorted desire patterns of Inferno.
XI.40–42 The Italian's descending/sloping verb is left spatially odd rather than normalized into generic ease.
XI.40–42 The Italian's descending/sloping verb is left spatially odd rather than normalized into generic ease. Line 42: The Italian's descending/sloping verb is left spatially odd rather than normalized into generic ease.
XI.42 The Italian's descending/sloping verb is left spatially odd rather than normalized into generic ease. The Italian's descending/sloping verb is left spatially odd rather than normalized into generic ease.
XI.43–45 Adam's flesh keeps embodied inheritance visible; Dante's living body is a burden but not a sin.
XI.43–45 Adam's flesh keeps embodied inheritance visible; Dante's living body is a burden but not a sin. Line 44: Adam's flesh keeps embodied inheritance visible; Dante's living body is a burden but not a sin.
XI.44 Adam's flesh keeps embodied inheritance visible; Dante's living body is a burden but not a sin. Adam's flesh keeps embodied inheritance visible; Dante's living body is a burden but not a sin.
Omberto Aldobrandeschi speaks under the stone that tames his proud neck, confessing noble arrogance, contempt for the common mother, and the family harm pride dragged after him XI.52–72
52E s’io non fossi impedito dal sasso
che la cervice mia superba doma,
onde portar convienmi il viso basso,
55cotesti, ch’ancor vive e non si noma,
guardere’ io, per veder s’i’ ’l conosco,
e per farlo pietoso a questa soma.
Io fui latino e nato d’un gran Tosco:
Guiglielmo Aldobrandesco fu mio padre;
60non so se ’l nome suo già mai fu vosco.
L’antico sangue e l’opere leggiadre
d’i miei maggior mi fer sì arrogante,
che, non pensando a la comune madre,
ogn’ uomo ebbi in despetto tanto avante,
65ch’io ne mori’, come i Sanesi sanno,
e sallo in Campagnatico ogne fante.
Io sono Omberto; e non pur a me danno
superbia fa, ché tutti miei consorti
ha ella tratti seco nel malanno.
70E qui convien ch’io questo peso porti
per lei, tanto che a Dio si sodisfaccia,
poi ch’io nol fe’ tra ’ vivi, qui tra ’ morti».
52And if I were not hindered by the stone
that tames my proud neck,
so that I must carry my face low,
55I would look at this one, who still lives and does not name himself,
to see whether I know him,
and to make him pity this burden.
I was Italian and born of a great Tuscan:
Guglielmo Aldobrandesco was my father;
60I do not know whether his name was ever with you.
The ancient blood and gallant deeds
of my elders made me so arrogant
that, not thinking of the common mother,
I held every person in scorn so far
65that I died for it, as the Sienese know,
and every child in Campagnatico knows.
I am Omberto; and not only to me
does pride do harm, for all my kinsmen
she has dragged with her into misfortune.
70And here I must carry this weight
because of her, until satisfaction is made to God,
since I did not do it among the living, here among the dead."
Commentary
Omberto Aldobrandeschi speaks of noble blood, contempt for the common mother, Campagnatico, family ruin, and satisfaction to God under a burden chosen by pride.
XI.58–60 Latino is rendered locally as Italian, following the established speech-recognition pattern.
XI.58–60 Latino is rendered locally as Italian, following the established speech-recognition pattern. Line 58: Latino is rendered locally as Italian, following the established speech-recognition pattern.
XI.58 Latino is rendered locally as Italian, following the established speech-recognition pattern. Latino is rendered locally as Italian, following the established speech-recognition pattern.
XI.61–63 The common mother is left open enough for earth, mortality, and shared human origin.
XI.61–63 The common mother is left open enough for earth, mortality, and shared human origin. Line 63: The common mother is left open enough for earth, mortality, and shared human origin.
XI.63 The common mother is left open enough for earth, mortality, and shared human origin. The common mother is left open enough for earth, mortality, and shared human origin.
XI.64–66 Scorn keeps the contempt field active without overusing the technical pride vocabulary.
XI.64–66 Scorn keeps the contempt field active without overusing the technical pride vocabulary. Line 64: Scorn keeps the contempt field active without overusing the technical pride vocabulary.
XI.64 Scorn keeps the contempt field active without overusing the technical pride vocabulary. Scorn keeps the contempt field active without overusing the technical pride vocabulary.
XI.70–72 Satisfaction is purgatorial debt language: the burden corrects pride until the disordered will is set right before God.
XI.70–72 Satisfaction is purgatorial debt language: the burden corrects pride until the disordered will is set right before God. Line 71: Satisfaction is purgatorial debt language: the burden corrects pride until the disordered will is set right before God.
XI.71 Satisfaction is purgatorial debt language: the burden corrects pride until the disordered will is set right before God. Satisfaction is purgatorial debt language: the burden corrects pride until the disordered will is set right before God.
Dante bends with the burdened souls and recognizes Oderisi d'Agobbio, whose humility credits Franco Bolognese and names the price paid for artistic pride after timely repentance XI.73–90
73Ascoltando chinai in giù la faccia;
e un di lor, non questi che parlava,
75si torse sotto il peso che li ’mpaccia,
e videmi e conobbemi e chiamava,
tenendo li occhi con fatica fisi
a me che tutto chin con loro andava.
«Oh!», diss’ io lui, «non se’ tu Oderisi,
80l’onor d’Agobbio e l’onor di quell’ arte
ch’alluminar chiamata è in Parisi?».
«Frate», diss’ elli, «più ridon le carte
che pennelleggia Franco Bolognese;
l’onore è tutto or suo, e mio in parte.
85Ben non sare’ io stato sì cortese
mentre ch’io vissi, per lo gran disio
de l’eccellenza ove mio core intese.
Di tal superbia qui si paga il fio;
e ancor non sarei qui, se non fosse
90che, possendo peccar, mi volsi a Dio.
73Listening, I bent my face downward;
and one of them, not the one who was speaking,
75twisted under the weight that hampers him,
and saw me and knew me and called out,
keeping his eyes fixed with effort
on me, who went all bent with them.
"Oh," I said to him, "are you not Oderisi,
80the honor of Agobbio and the honor of that art
which is called illumination in Paris?"
"Brother," he said, "the pages smile more
that Franco Bolognese brushes;
the honor is now all his, and mine in part.
85Indeed, I would not have been so courteous
while I lived, because of the great desire
for the excellence toward which my heart was bent.
For such pride the price is paid here;
and I would not even be here, were it not
90that, while still able to sin, I turned to God.
Commentary
Oderisi's recognition shows artistic humility. The translation keeps Agobbio, Parisian illumination, Franco Bolognese, the smile of the pages, desire for excellence, and repentance while still able to sin.
XI.76–78 Dante's bent posture briefly joins him bodily to the proud souls' correction.
XI.76–78 Dante's bent posture briefly joins him bodily to the proud souls' correction. Line 78: Dante's bent posture briefly joins him bodily to the proud souls' correction.
XI.78 Dante's bent posture briefly joins him bodily to the proud souls' correction. Dante's bent posture briefly joins him bodily to the proud souls' correction.
XI.79–81 Agobbio is the source form for Gubbio; the line preserves Dante's naming. Illumination names the manuscript art called alluminar in Paris.
XI.79–81 Agobbio is the source form for Gubbio; the line preserves Dante's naming. Line 80: Agobbio is the source form for Gubbio; the line preserves Dante's naming. Line 81: Illumination names the manuscript art called alluminar in Paris.
XI.80 Agobbio is the source form for Gubbio; the line preserves Dante's naming. Agobbio is the source form for Gubbio; the line preserves Dante's naming.
XI.82–84 The pages smiling keeps the visual brightness and artistic humility of Oderisi's comparison with Franco Bolognese.
XI.82–84 The pages smiling keeps the visual brightness and artistic humility of Oderisi's comparison with Franco Bolognese. Line 82: The pages smiling keeps the visual brightness and artistic humility of Oderisi's comparison with Franco Bolognese.
XI.82 The pages smiling keeps the visual brightness and artistic humility of Oderisi's comparison with Franco Bolognese. The pages smiling keeps the visual brightness and artistic humility of Oderisi's comparison with Franco Bolognese.
XI.85–87 Great desire for excellence is an ordered artistic term turned inward by pride; the line belongs with the desire language.
XI.85–87 Great desire for excellence is an ordered artistic term turned inward by pride; the line belongs with the desire language. Line 86: Great desire for excellence is an ordered artistic term turned inward by pride; the line belongs with the desire language.
XI.86 Great desire for excellence is an ordered artistic term turned inward by pride; the line belongs with the desire language. Great desire for excellence is an ordered artistic term turned inward by pride; the line belongs with the desire language.
XI.88–90 Oderisi's location depends on repentance while he still had power to sin, sharpening Dante's later question about Provenzan.
XI.88–90 Oderisi's location depends on repentance while he still had power to sin, sharpening Dante's later question about Provenzan. Line 90: Oderisi's location depends on repentance while he still had power to sin, sharpening Dante's later question about Provenzan.
XI.90 Oderisi's location depends on repentance while he still had power to sin, sharpening Dante's later question about Provenzan. Oderisi's location depends on repentance while he still had power to sin, sharpening Dante's later question about Provenzan.
Oderisi teaches the vanity of human fame through Cimabue and Giotto, one Guido overtaking another, infant speech, eternity, Provenzan Salvani, and grass-colored renown XI.91–117
91Oh vana gloria de l’umane posse!
com’ poco verde in su la cima dura,
se non è giunta da l’etati grosse!
Credette Cimabue ne la pittura
95tener lo campo, e ora ha Giotto il grido,
sì che la fama di colui è scura.
Così ha tolto l’uno a l’altro Guido
la gloria de la lingua; e forse è nato
chi l’uno e l’altro caccerà del nido.
100Non è il mondan romore altro ch’un fiato
di vento, ch’or vien quinci e or vien quindi,
e muta nome perché muta lato.
Che voce avrai tu più, se vecchia scindi
da te la carne, che se fossi morto
105anzi che tu lasciassi il ‘pappo’ e ’l ‘dindi’,
pria che passin mill’ anni? ch’è più corto
spazio a l’etterno, ch’un muover di ciglia
al cerchio che più tardi in cielo è torto.
Colui che del cammin sì poco piglia
110dinanzi a me, Toscana sonò tutta;
e ora a pena in Siena sen pispiglia,
ond’ era sire quando fu distrutta
la rabbia fiorentina, che superba
fu a quel tempo sì com’ ora è putta.
115La vostra nominanza è color d’erba,
che viene e va, e quei la discolora
per cui ella esce de la terra acerba».
91O vain glory of human powers!
How little green endures upon the summit
unless it is followed by dull ages.
Cimabue thought that in painting
95he held the field, and now Giotto has the cry,
so that the other's fame is dark.
So one Guido has taken from the other
the glory of our language; and perhaps one is born
who will drive both one and the other from the nest.
100Worldly rumor is nothing but a breath
of wind, which now comes from here and now from there,
and changes name because it changes side.
What greater voice will you have, if old age strips
your flesh from you, than if you had died
105before you left "pappo" and "dindi,"
before a thousand years pass? That is a shorter
span beside eternity than an eyelid's motion
beside the circle slowest turned in heaven.
He who takes so little of the path
110before me once made all Tuscany resound,
and now he is scarcely whispered of in Siena,
where he was lord when the Florentine rage
was destroyed, which was proud
then as now it is prostitute.
115Your renown is the color of grass,
which comes and goes, and he discolors it
by whom it comes green from the earth."
Commentary
The fame passage stages a careful correction of artistic, literary, civic, and personal glory. The translation keeps Cimabue/Giotto, the two Guidos, childish speech, the slowest heavenly circle, Provenzan's fading renown, and grass-colored reputation.
XI.91–93 Dull ages reflects the reading that fame's green lasts only when no brighter age follows.
XI.91–93 Dull ages reflects the reading that fame's green lasts only when no brighter age follows. Line 93: Dull ages reflects the reading that fame's green lasts only when no brighter age follows.
XI.93 Dull ages reflects the reading that fame's green lasts only when no brighter age follows. Dull ages reflects the reading that fame's green lasts only when no brighter age follows.
XI.94–96 Dark fame keeps scura as obscured or dimmed, not morally blackened.
XI.94–96 Dark fame keeps scura as obscured or dimmed, not morally blackened. Line 96: Dark fame keeps scura as obscured or dimmed, not morally blackened.
XI.96 Dark fame keeps scura as obscured or dimmed, not morally blackened. Dark fame keeps scura as obscured or dimmed, not morally blackened.
XI.97–99 The Guidos are left unnamed in the line, with Guinizzelli, Cavalcanti, and the possible self-implication of Dante in view.
XI.97–99 The Guidos are left unnamed in the line. Line 99: The Guidos are left unnamed in the line, with Guinizzelli, Cavalcanti, and the possible self-implication of Dante in view.
XI.99 The Guidos are left unnamed in the line. The Guidos are left unnamed in the line, with Guinizzelli, Cavalcanti, and the possible self-implication of Dante in view.
XI.103–105 Pappo and dindi are retained as childish words, preserving Dante's pointed collapse of fame before infancy and eternity.
XI.103–105 Pappo and dindi are retained as childish words, preserving Dante's pointed collapse of fame before infancy and eternity. Line 105: Pappo and dindi are retained as childish words, preserving Dante's pointed collapse of fame before infancy and eternity.
XI.105 Pappo and dindi are retained as childish words, preserving Dante's pointed collapse of fame before infancy and eternity. Pappo and dindi are retained as childish words, preserving Dante's pointed collapse of fame before infancy and eternity.
XI.106–108 The slowest heavenly circle supplies the largest temporal scale before eternity overwhelms it.
XI.106–108 The slowest heavenly circle supplies the largest temporal scale before eternity overwhelms it. Line 108: The slowest heavenly circle supplies the largest temporal scale before eternity overwhelms it.
XI.108 The slowest heavenly circle supplies the largest temporal scale before eternity overwhelms it. The slowest heavenly circle supplies the largest temporal scale before eternity overwhelms it.
XI.112–114 Putta is deliberately direct; the civic insult is not softened into generic corruption.
XI.112–114 Putta is deliberately direct; the civic insult is not softened into generic corruption. Line 114: Putta is deliberately direct; the civic insult is not softened into generic corruption.
XI.114 Putta is deliberately direct; the civic insult is not softened into generic corruption. Putta is deliberately direct; the civic insult is not softened into generic corruption.
XI.115–117 The one who discolors the grass is likely the sun; the line leaves the pronoun's theological/natural pressure intact.
XI.115–117 The one who discolors the grass is likely the sun; the line leaves the pronoun's theological/natural pressure intact. Line 117: The one who discolors the grass is likely the sun; the line leaves the pronoun's theological/natural pressure intact.
XI.117 The one who discolors the grass is likely the sun; the line leaves the pronoun's theological/natural pressure intact. The one who discolors the grass is likely the sun; the line leaves the pronoun's theological/natural pressure intact.
Dante receives good humility from Oderisi's true speech, asks about Provenzan Salvani, and hears that the presumptuous lord of Siena pays back the coin of worldly boldness XI.118–126
118E io a lui: «Tuo vero dir m’incora
bona umiltà, e gran tumor m’appiani;
120ma chi è quei di cui tu parlavi ora?».
«Quelli è», rispuose, «Provenzan Salvani;
ed è qui perché fu presuntüoso
a recar Siena tutta a le sue mani.
Ito è così e va, sanza riposo,
125poi che morì; cotal moneta rende
a sodisfar chi è di là troppo oso».
118And I to him: "Your true speech puts
good humility in my heart, and smooths down a great swelling;
120but who is the one of whom you just now spoke?"
"That one," he answered, "is Provenzan Salvani;
and he is here because he was presumptuous
in bringing all Siena into his hands.
He has gone so, and goes without rest,
125since he died; such coin he pays back
in satisfaction, who over there was too bold."
Commentary
Dante's response is an inward humbling before the Provenzan identification. The translation keeps true speech, swelling pride pressed down, presumption over Siena, and payment/satisfaction language.
XI.118–120 Tumor is rendered as swelling to keep pride as bodily inflation being pressed down by humility.
XI.118–120 Tumor is rendered as swelling to keep pride as bodily inflation being pressed down by humility. Line 119: Tumor is rendered as swelling to keep pride as bodily inflation being pressed down by humility.
XI.119 Tumor is rendered as swelling to keep pride as bodily inflation being pressed down by humility. Tumor is rendered as swelling to keep pride as bodily inflation being pressed down by humility.
XI.121–123 Provenzan's presumption is political mastery: attempting to bring all Siena into his hands.
XI.121–123 Provenzan's presumption is political mastery: attempting to bring all Siena into his hands. Line 123: Provenzan's presumption is political mastery: attempting to bring all Siena into his hands.
XI.123 Provenzan's presumption is political mastery: attempting to bring all Siena into his hands. Provenzan's presumption is political mastery: attempting to bring all Siena into his hands.
XI.124–126 Coin/payment language keeps purgatorial satisfaction and worldly boldness in one image.
XI.124–126 Coin/payment language keeps purgatorial satisfaction and worldly boldness in one image. Line 126: Coin/payment language keeps purgatorial satisfaction and worldly boldness in one image.
XI.126 Coin/payment language keeps purgatorial satisfaction and worldly boldness in one image. Coin/payment language keeps purgatorial satisfaction and worldly boldness in one image.
Dante asks why Provenzan escaped the usual delay for late repentance, and Oderisi answers with his public act of shame-laid-aside humility in Siena's Campo plus a dark prophecy of Dante's exile XI.127–142
127E io: «Se quello spirito ch’attende,
pria che si penta, l’orlo de la vita,
qua giù dimora e qua sù non ascende,
130se buona orazïon lui non aita,
prima che passi tempo quanto visse,
come fu la venuta lui largita?».
«Quando vivea più glorïoso», disse,
«liberamente nel Campo di Siena,
135ogne vergogna diposta, s’affisse;
e lì, per trar l’amico suo di pena,
ch’e’ sostenea ne la prigion di Carlo,
si condusse a tremar per ogne vena.
Più non dirò, e scuro so che parlo;
140ma poco tempo andrà, che ’ tuoi vicini
faranno sì che tu potrai chiosarlo.
Quest’ opera li tolse quei confini».
127And I: "If that spirit who waits,
before repenting, for the edge of life,
stays down there and does not ascend up here,
130unless good prayer aids him,
before as much time passes as he lived,
how was his coming granted to him?"
"When he lived most glorious," he said,
"freely in the Campo of Siena,
135with every shame laid aside, he set himself;
and there, to draw his friend out of pain,
which he endured in Charles's prison,
he brought himself to tremble through every vein.
I will say no more, and I know I speak darkly;
140but little time will pass before your neighbors
will make it so that you can gloss it.
This deed removed those boundaries from him."
Commentary
The passage gives Provenzan's Campo humiliation and the dark prophecy toward Dante's exile. The translation does not overexplain the line but records the humility and charity that released Provenzan from the usual delay.
XI.130–132 Good prayer continues Purgatorio's intercession logic from Manfred, Belacqua, and the violently killed souls.
XI.130–132 Good prayer continues Purgatorio's intercession logic from Manfred, Belacqua, and the violently killed souls. Line 130: Good prayer continues Purgatorio's intercession logic from Manfred, Belacqua, and the violently killed souls.
XI.130 Good prayer continues Purgatorio's intercession logic from Manfred, Belacqua, and the violently killed souls. Good prayer continues Purgatorio's intercession logic from Manfred, Belacqua, and the violently killed souls.
XI.133–135 Setting himself in the Campo points to the public humiliation of begging for his friend's ransom.
XI.133–135 Setting himself in the Campo points to the public humiliation of begging for his friend's ransom. Line 135: Setting himself in the Campo points to the public humiliation of begging for his friend's ransom.
XI.135 Setting himself in the Campo points to the public humiliation of begging for his friend's ransom. Setting himself in the Campo points to the public humiliation of begging for his friend's ransom.
XI.136–138 Charles is left as a proper-name pressure, with Charles of Anjou and the imprisonment context in view.
XI.136–138 Charles is left as a proper-name pressure, with Charles of Anjou and the imprisonment context in view. Line 137: Charles is left as a proper-name pressure, with Charles of Anjou and the imprisonment context in view.
XI.137 Charles is left as a proper-name pressure, with Charles of Anjou and the imprisonment context in view. Charles is left as a proper-name pressure, with Charles of Anjou and the imprisonment context in view.
XI.139–141 The dark prophecy points toward Dante's own exile and humiliating dependence on others.
XI.139–141 The dark prophecy points toward Dante's own exile and humiliating dependence on others. Line 141: The dark prophecy points toward Dante's own exile and humiliating dependence on others.
XI.141 The dark prophecy points toward Dante's own exile and humiliating dependence on others. The dark prophecy points toward Dante's own exile and humiliating dependence on others.
XI.142 The deed of humility and charity removes Provenzan from the normal delay outside Purgatory. The deed of humility and charity removes Provenzan from the normal delay outside Purgatory.