Purgatorio, Canto 12
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Dante walks beside Omberto like an ox under yoke until Virgil, the gentle teacher, tells him to leave the burdened soul and press on with all the force his own boat can use. Dante straightens his body but remains inwardly humbled, following Virgil lightly until the guide tells him to look down at the path beneath his feet. The pavement of the first terrace is carved like tomb memorials, but with higher art: Dante sees examples of pride brought low, beginning with Lucifer, Briareus and the Giants, and Nimrod at Babel, then Niobe, Saul, Arachne, Rehoboam, Alcmaeon, Sennacherib, Tomyris over Cyrus, the Assyrians after Holofernes, and Troy in ruins. The images surpass all human brush or stylus, making the dead and living seem truly present, and Dante turns the lesson outward in an apostrophe to proud children of Eve who will not bend their faces to see their evil path. Virgil interrupts Dante's absorbed looking because more time has passed than he realizes and an angel is approaching as the sixth hour ends. The white-clad angel, shining like the morning star, opens arms and wings, invites the poets to the steps, asks why humans born to fly fall before a little wind, removes the first P from Dante's forehead, and promises safe ascent. A Florentine stairway simile explains the climb to the next terrace, where voices sing the first beatitude and Dante contrasts Purgatorio's song-filled entrances with Hell's savage laments. As they climb the holy steps, Dante feels lighter; Virgil explains that when the remaining P's are erased, good will shall so conquer the feet that upward motion becomes delight. Dante touches his forehead, finds only six letters left, and Virgil smiles.
Narrative arc
- Virgil releases Dante from walking beside the burdened soul, calls him to press on with his own boat, and directs his lowered attention toward the pavement beneath his feet
- A tomb-slab simile frames the pavement carvings as memorial images that prick pious remembrance with superior divine workmanship
- Dante sees the first examples of pride fallen low: Lucifer, Briareus and the Giants, and Nimrod with the proud people of Shinar
- The pavement continues with Niobe, Saul, Arachne, and Rehoboam, each pride turned into grief, defeat, deformation, or fear
- Further examples show Alcmaeon, Sennacherib, Tomyris and Cyrus, Holofernes and the Assyrians, and Troy in ashes and caverns
- The carved images surpass human art, seem alive and dead in truth, and provoke Dante's apostrophe to proud children of Eve who refuse to lower their faces
- Virgil breaks Dante's absorbed looking, points out the approaching angel and the ending sixth hour, and urges reverent readiness because the day will not return
- The white-clad angel shines like the morning star, opens arms and wings, invites them to the steps, rebukes humanity's failed upward flight, and removes the first P
- A San Miniato stairway simile frames the climb, voices sing the first beatitude, and Dante contrasts song-filled Purgatorio entrances with Hell's savage laments
- Dante feels lighter on the holy stairs, Virgil explains the erased P and the future delight of good will, and Dante confirms by touch that only six letters remain
Central themes
- burden
- art
Virgil releases Dante from walking beside the burdened soul, calls him to press on with his own boat, and directs his lowered attention toward the pavement beneath his feet XII.1–15
1Di pari, come buoi che vanno a giogo,
m’andava io con quell’ anima carca,
fin che ’l sofferse il dolce pedagogo.
Ma quando disse: «Lascia lui e varca;
5ché qui è buono con l’ali e coi remi,
quantunque può, ciascun pinger sua barca»;
dritto sì come andar vuolsi rife’mi
con la persona, avvegna che i pensieri
mi rimanessero e chinati e scemi.
10Io m’era mosso, e seguia volontieri
del mio maestro i passi, e amendue
già mostravam com’ eravam leggeri;
ed el mi disse: «Volgi li occhi in giùe:
buon ti sarà, per tranquillar la via,
15veder lo letto de le piante tue».
1Side by side, like oxen going in yoke,
I went on with that burdened soul,
as long as the gentle teacher allowed it.
But when he said, "Leave him, and pass ahead;
5for here it is good, with sail and oar,
for each one to push his boat on as far as he can";
I made myself upright again, as walking requires,
in my body, though my thoughts
remained lowered and diminished.
10I had moved on, and gladly followed
my master's steps, and both of us
already showed how light we were;
and he said to me: "Turn your eyes downward:
it will be good for you, to ease the way,
15to see the bed where your feet are set."
Commentary
The opening is a transition from shared burden to renewed forward motion. The translation keeps the ox-yoke, sweet pedagogue, boat/sail effort, upright body, lowered thoughts, lightened feet, and gaze redirected toward the pavement.
XII.4–6 The nautical image reads l'ali as sail/canvas while leaving the wing pressure active for the angel and upward-flight language later in the canto.
XII.4–6 The nautical image reads l'ali as sail/canvas while leaving the wing pressure active for the angel and upward-flight language later in the canto. Line 5: The nautical image reads l'ali as sail/canvas while leaving the wing pressure active for the angel and upward-flight language later in the canto.
XII.5 The nautical image reads l'ali as sail/canvas while leaving the wing pressure active for the angel and upward-flight language later in the canto. The nautical image reads l'ali as sail/canvas while leaving the wing pressure active for the angel and upward-flight language later in the canto.
XII.13–15 The line keeps via as way/path language inside Purgatorio's disciplined ascent.
XII.13–15 The line keeps via as way/path language inside Purgatorio's disciplined ascent. Line 14: The line keeps via as way/path language inside Purgatorio's disciplined ascent.
XII.14 The line keeps via as way/path language inside Purgatorio's disciplined ascent. The line keeps via as way/path language inside Purgatorio's disciplined ascent.
A tomb-slab simile frames the pavement carvings as memorial images that prick pious remembrance with superior divine workmanship XII.16–24
16Come, perché di lor memoria sia,
sovra i sepolti le tombe terragne
portan segnato quel ch’elli eran pria,
onde lì molte volte si ripiagne
20per la puntura de la rimembranza,
che solo a’ pïi dà de le calcagne;
sì vid’ io lì, ma di miglior sembianza
secondo l’artificio, figurato
quanto per via di fuor del monte avanza.
16As, so their memory may remain,
earthen tombs above the buried
bear marked what they were before,
so that there many times one weeps again
20from the goad of remembrance,
which spurs only the pious;
so I saw there, but in fairer likeness
according to the workmanship, figured
the whole outward path jutting from the mountain.
Commentary
The passage compares the pavement to tomb-slabs and invokes the pious spur of remembrance. The translation keeps the pavement as superior divine workmanship and as a path literally under Dante's feet.
XII.19–21 pïi is taken as the pious or reverently compassionate, those whom remembrance can rightly move.
XII.19–21 pïi is taken as the pious or reverently compassionate, those whom remembrance can rightly move. Line 21: pïi is taken as the pious or reverently compassionate, those whom remembrance can rightly move.
XII.21 pïi is taken as the pious or reverently compassionate, those whom remembrance can rightly move. pïi is taken as the pious or reverently compassionate, those whom remembrance can rightly move.
XII.22–24 The pavement extends over the outer path of the mountain; the examples are literally under Dante's feet.
XII.22–24 The pavement extends over the outer path of the mountain; the examples are literally under Dante's feet. Line 24: The pavement extends over the outer path of the mountain; the examples are literally under Dante's feet.
XII.24 The pavement extends over the outer path of the mountain; the examples are literally under Dante's feet. The pavement extends over the outer path of the mountain; the examples are literally under Dante's feet.
Dante sees the first examples of pride fallen low: Lucifer, Briareus and the Giants, and Nimrod with the proud people of Shinar XII.25–36
25Vedea colui che fu nobil creato
più ch’altra creatura, giù dal cielo
folgoreggiando scender, da l’un lato.
Vedëa Brïareo fitto dal telo
celestïal giacer, da l’altra parte,
30grave a la terra per lo mortal gelo.
Vedea Timbreo, vedea Pallade e Marte,
armati ancora, intorno al padre loro,
mirar le membra d’i Giganti sparte.
Vedea Nembròt a piè del gran lavoro
35quasi smarrito, e riguardar le genti
che ’n Sennaàr con lui superbi fuoro.
25I saw him who was created noble
beyond every other creature, from heaven
flash downward from heaven on one side.
I saw Briareus, transfixed by the heavenly shaft,
lying on the other side,
30heavy upon the earth in mortal chill.
I saw Thymbraeus, saw Pallas and Mars,
still armed, around their father,
gazing on the Giants' scattered limbs.
I saw Nimrod at the foot of the great work,
35as if bewildered, and looking at the peoples
who in Shinar had been proud with him.
Commentary
The first pavement examples are Lucifer, Briareus and the Giants, Thymbraeus/Apollo with Pallas and Mars around Jove, and Nimrod at Shinar. The translation preserves alternating classical and biblical pride.
XII.25–27 The first example is Lucifer, unnamed in the line and shown as the highest creature fallen by pride.
XII.25–27 The first example is Lucifer, unnamed in the line and shown as the highest creature fallen by pride. Line 25: The first example is Lucifer, unnamed in the line and shown as the highest creature fallen by pride.
XII.25 The first example is Lucifer, unnamed in the line and shown as the highest creature fallen by pride. The first example is Lucifer, unnamed in the line and shown as the highest creature fallen by pride.
XII.28–30 Briareus represents the Giants' failed war against heaven; the heavenly shaft keeps the punitive counterstroke visible.
XII.28–30 Briareus represents the Giants' failed war against heaven; the heavenly shaft keeps the punitive counterstroke visible. Line 28: Briareus represents the Giants' failed war against heaven; the heavenly shaft keeps the punitive counterstroke visible.
XII.28 Briareus represents the Giants' failed war against heaven; the heavenly shaft keeps the punitive counterstroke visible. Briareus represents the Giants' failed war against heaven; the heavenly shaft keeps the punitive counterstroke visible.
XII.31–33 Thymbraeus is Apollo; the gods stand around Jove as father after the Giants' defeat.
XII.31–33 Thymbraeus is Apollo; the gods stand around Jove as father after the Giants' defeat. Line 31: Thymbraeus is Apollo; the gods stand around Jove as father after the Giants' defeat.
XII.31 Thymbraeus is Apollo; the gods stand around Jove as father after the Giants' defeat. Thymbraeus is Apollo; the gods stand around Jove as father after the Giants' defeat.
XII.34–36 Shinar keeps the Babel setting for Nimrod's proud communal work and linguistic fall.
XII.34–36 Shinar keeps the Babel setting for Nimrod's proud communal work and linguistic fall. Line 36: Shinar keeps the Babel setting for Nimrod's proud communal work and linguistic fall.
XII.36 Shinar keeps the Babel setting for Nimrod's proud communal work and linguistic fall. Shinar keeps the Babel setting for Nimrod's proud communal work and linguistic fall.
The pavement continues with Niobe, Saul, Arachne, and Rehoboam, each pride turned into grief, defeat, deformation, or fear XII.37–48
37O Nïobè, con che occhi dolenti
vedea io te segnata in su la strada,
tra sette e sette tuoi figliuoli spenti!
40O Saùl, come in su la propria spada
quivi parevi morto in Gelboè,
che poi non sentì pioggia né rugiada!
O folle Aragne, sì vedea io te
già mezza ragna, trista in su li stracci
45de l’opera che mal per te si fé.
O Roboàm, già non par che minacci
quivi ’l tuo segno; ma pien di spavento
nel porta un carro, sanza ch’altri il cacci.
37O Niobe, with what grieving eyes
I saw you marked upon the road,
between your seven and seven children slain!
40O Saul, how upon your own sword
you seemed there dead on Gilboa,
which afterward felt neither rain nor dew!
O mad Arachne, so I saw you,
already half spider, sorrowing on the rags
45of the work that turned to your harm.
O Rehoboam, your image no longer seems
to threaten there; but full of terror
a chariot carries you away, though no one chases.
Commentary
The Niobe, Saul, Arachne, and Rehoboam sequence shows pride punished through grief, defeat, metamorphosis, and fear. The translation keeps the apostrophic pressure.
XII.37–39 Niobe's pride in her children is answered by the loss of seven sons and seven daughters.
XII.37–39 Niobe's pride in her children is answered by the loss of seven sons and seven daughters. Line 39: Niobe's pride in her children is answered by the loss of seven sons and seven daughters.
XII.39 Niobe's pride in her children is answered by the loss of seven sons and seven daughters. Niobe's pride in her children is answered by the loss of seven sons and seven daughters.
XII.40–42 Gilboa's lack of rain or dew follows David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
XII.40–42 Gilboa's lack of rain or dew follows David's lament over Saul and Jonathan. Line 42: Gilboa's lack of rain or dew follows David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
XII.42 Gilboa's lack of rain or dew follows David's lament over Saul and Jonathan. Gilboa's lack of rain or dew follows David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
XII.43–45 Arachne's art becomes the material sign of the pride that harms her.
XII.43–45 Arachne's art becomes the material sign of the pride that harms her. Line 45: Arachne's art becomes the material sign of the pride that harms her.
XII.45 Arachne's art becomes the material sign of the pride that harms her. Arachne's art becomes the material sign of the pride that harms her.
XII.46–48 Rehoboam's threatening pride gives way to fearful flight; the image is dynamic, not a static emblem.
XII.46–48 Rehoboam's threatening pride gives way to fearful flight; the image is dynamic, not a static emblem. Line 48: Rehoboam's threatening pride gives way to fearful flight; the image is dynamic, not a static emblem.
XII.48 Rehoboam's threatening pride gives way to fearful flight; the image is dynamic, not a static emblem. Rehoboam's threatening pride gives way to fearful flight; the image is dynamic, not a static emblem.
Further examples show Alcmaeon, Sennacherib, Tomyris and Cyrus, Holofernes and the Assyrians, and Troy in ashes and caverns XII.49–63
49Mostrava ancor lo duro pavimento
50come Almeon a sua madre fé caro
parer lo sventurato addornamento.
Mostrava come i figli si gittaro
sovra Sennacherìb dentro dal tempio,
e come, morto lui, quivi il lasciaro.
55Mostrava la ruina e ’l crudo scempio
che fé Tamiri, quando disse a Ciro:
«Sangue sitisti, e io di sangue t’empio».
Mostrava come in rotta si fuggiro
li Assiri, poi che fu morto Oloferne,
60e anche le reliquie del martiro.
Vedeva Troia in cenere e in caverne;
o Ilïón, come te basso e vile
mostrava il segno che lì si discerne!
49The hard pavement also showed
50how Alcmaeon made the ill-starred adornment
seem costly to his mother.
It showed how the sons hurled themselves
upon Sennacherib inside the temple,
and how, once he was dead, they left him there.
55It showed the ruin and the cruel slaughter
that Tomyris made, when she said to Cyrus:
"You thirsted for blood, and I fill you with blood."
It showed how in rout the Assyrians fled
after Holofernes was dead,
60and also the remnants of the slaughter.
I saw Troy in ashes and in caverns;
O Ilion, how low and vile
the sign discerned there showed you!
Commentary
The Alcmaeon, Sennacherib, Tomyris/Cyrus, Holofernes/Assyrians, and Troy examples form the pavement's pedagogy of fallen pride. The translation keeps cost, murder, blood-reversal, routed remnants, and civic ruin visible.
XII.49–51 Alcmaeon kills his mother Eriphyle over the fatal necklace; caro carries the costliness/dearness of the ornament.
XII.49–51 Alcmaeon kills his mother Eriphyle over the fatal necklace; caro carries the costliness/dearness of the ornament. Line 51: Alcmaeon kills his mother Eriphyle over the fatal necklace; caro carries the costliness/dearness of the ornament.
XII.51 Alcmaeon kills his mother Eriphyle over the fatal necklace; caro carries the costliness/dearness of the ornament. Alcmaeon kills his mother Eriphyle over the fatal necklace; caro carries the costliness/dearness of the ornament.
XII.52–54 Sennacherib is murdered by his sons inside the temple; the line leaves the biblical allusion compressed.
XII.52–54 Sennacherib is murdered by his sons inside the temple; the line leaves the biblical allusion compressed. Line 54: Sennacherib is murdered by his sons inside the temple; the line leaves the biblical allusion compressed.
XII.54 Sennacherib is murdered by his sons inside the temple; the line leaves the biblical allusion compressed. Sennacherib is murdered by his sons inside the temple; the line leaves the biblical allusion compressed.
XII.55–57 Tomyris's reported speech turns Cyrus's thirst for blood back upon him.
XII.55–57 Tomyris's reported speech turns Cyrus's thirst for blood back upon him. Line 57: Tomyris's reported speech turns Cyrus's thirst for blood back upon him.
XII.57 Tomyris's reported speech turns Cyrus's thirst for blood back upon him. Tomyris's reported speech turns Cyrus's thirst for blood back upon him.
XII.58–60 martiro is rendered as slaughter here for the battlefield aftermath after Holofernes' death.
XII.58–60 martiro is rendered as slaughter here for the battlefield aftermath after Holofernes' death. Line 60: martiro is rendered as slaughter here for the battlefield aftermath after Holofernes' death.
XII.60 martiro is rendered as slaughter here for the battlefield aftermath after Holofernes' death. martiro is rendered as slaughter here for the battlefield aftermath after Holofernes' death.
XII.61–63 Troy/Ilion closes the sequence of pride brought low in civic and imperial ruin.
XII.61–63 Troy/Ilion closes the sequence of pride brought low in civic and imperial ruin. Line 63: Troy/Ilion closes the sequence of pride brought low in civic and imperial ruin.
XII.63 Troy/Ilion closes the sequence of pride brought low in civic and imperial ruin. Troy/Ilion closes the sequence of pride brought low in civic and imperial ruin.
The carved images surpass human art, seem alive and dead in truth, and provoke Dante's apostrophe to proud children of Eve who refuse to lower their faces XII.64–72
64Qual di pennel fu maestro o di stile
65che ritraesse l’ombre e ’ tratti ch’ivi
mirar farieno uno ingegno sottile?
Morti li morti e i vivi parean vivi:
non vide mei di me chi vide il vero,
quant’ io calcai, fin che chinato givi.
70Or superbite, e via col viso altero,
figliuoli d’Eva, e non chinate il volto
sì che veggiate il vostro mal sentero!
64What master of brush or stylus
65could render the shadows and the strokes that there
would make a subtle intellect marvel?
The dead seemed dead and the living seemed alive:
no one who saw the truth saw better than I
what I trod on while I went bent down.
70Now be proud, and go on with lifted face,
children of Eve, and do not bend your face
so that you may see your evil path!
Commentary
The divine images exceed human brush or stylus, and Dante's apostrophe turns the examples on proud readers. The translation keeps the living/dead visual marvel and the command to lower the face toward the evil path.
XII.64–66 The divine pavement surpasses human brush or stylus, continuing the first terrace's visual pedagogy from Purgatorio X.
XII.64–66 The divine pavement surpasses human brush or stylus, continuing the first terrace's visual pedagogy from Purgatorio X. Line 66: The divine pavement surpasses human brush or stylus, continuing the first terrace's visual pedagogy from Purgatorio X.
XII.66 The divine pavement surpasses human brush or stylus, continuing the first terrace's visual pedagogy from Purgatorio X. The divine pavement surpasses human brush or stylus, continuing the first terrace's visual pedagogy from Purgatorio X.
XII.70–72 The apostrophe turns the pavement from historical example into present correction for proud human sight.
XII.70–72 The apostrophe turns the pavement from historical example into present correction for proud human sight. Line 72: The apostrophe turns the pavement from historical example into present correction for proud human sight.
XII.72 The apostrophe turns the pavement from historical example into present correction for proud human sight. The apostrophe turns the pavement from historical example into present correction for proud human sight.
Virgil breaks Dante's absorbed looking, points out the approaching angel and the ending sixth hour, and urges reverent readiness because the day will not return XII.73–87
73Più era già per noi del monte vòlto
e del cammin del sole assai più speso
75che non stimava l’animo non sciolto,
quando colui che sempre innanzi atteso
andava, cominciò: «Drizza la testa;
non è più tempo di gir sì sospeso.
Vedi colà un angel che s’appresta
80per venir verso noi; vedi che torna
dal servigio del dì l’ancella sesta.
Di reverenza il viso e li atti addorna,
sì che i diletti lo ’nvïarci in suso;
pensa che questo dì mai non raggiorna!».
85Io era ben del suo ammonir uso
pur di non perder tempo, sì che ’n quella
materia non potea parlarmi chiuso.
73More of the mountain had already been rounded
by us, and much more of the sun's road spent,
75than my still-bound mind had reckoned,
when he who always went ahead
watchfully began: "Straighten your head;
it is no longer time to go so suspended.
See there an angel preparing himself
80to come toward us; see how the sixth handmaid
returns from the service of the day.
Adorn your face and your actions with reverence,
so he may delight in sending us upward;
think that this day never dawns again!"
85I was well used to his warnings
about not losing time, so in that
matter he could not speak darkly to me.
Commentary
The time passage keeps its syntax clear: Dante has lost time in absorbed looking, Virgil tells him to raise his head, the sixth hour returns from service, and reverence prepares the meeting with the angel.
XII.73–75 The mind is not sciolto because Dante's attention remains bound to the pavement and the humbled thoughts from lines 7-9.
XII.73–75 The mind is not sciolto because Dante's attention remains bound to the pavement and the humbled thoughts from lines 7-9. Line 75: The mind is not sciolto because Dante's attention remains bound to the pavement and the humbled thoughts from lines 7-9.
XII.75 The mind is not sciolto because Dante's attention remains bound to the pavement and the humbled thoughts from lines 7-9. The mind is not sciolto because Dante's attention remains bound to the pavement and the humbled thoughts from lines 7-9.
XII.79–81 The sixth handmaid is the sixth hour, near noon, returning from service as the day advances.
XII.79–81 The sixth handmaid is the sixth hour, near noon, returning from service as the day advances. Line 81: The sixth handmaid is the sixth hour, near noon, returning from service as the day advances.
XII.81 The sixth handmaid is the sixth hour, near noon, returning from service as the day advances. The sixth handmaid is the sixth hour, near noon, returning from service as the day advances.
XII.82–84 Virgil's warning makes time itself part of purgatorial discipline; the same day cannot be recovered.
XII.82–84 Virgil's warning makes time itself part of purgatorial discipline; the same day cannot be recovered. Line 84: Virgil's warning makes time itself part of purgatorial discipline; the same day cannot be recovered.
XII.84 Virgil's warning makes time itself part of purgatorial discipline; the same day cannot be recovered. Virgil's warning makes time itself part of purgatorial discipline; the same day cannot be recovered.
The white-clad angel shines like the morning star, opens arms and wings, invites them to the steps, rebukes humanity's failed upward flight, and removes the first P XII.88–99
88A noi venìa la creatura bella,
biancovestito e ne la faccia quale
90par tremolando mattutina stella.
Le braccia aperse, e indi aperse l’ale;
disse: «Venite: qui son presso i gradi,
e agevolemente omai si sale.
A questo invito vegnon molto radi:
95o gente umana, per volar sù nata,
perché a poco vento così cadi?».
Menocci ove la roccia era tagliata;
quivi mi batté l’ali per la fronte;
poi mi promise sicura l’andata.
88The beautiful creature came toward us,
white-clad, and in his face such radiance
90as the morning star seems, trembling.
He opened his arms, and then he opened his wings;
he said: "Come: here the steps are near,
and from now on one climbs easily.
To this invitation very few come:
95O human people, born to fly upward,
why do you fall so at a little wind?"
He led us where the rock was cut;
there he beat his wings across my forehead;
then promised me safe passage.
Commentary
In the angelic invitation and first P removal, the translation keeps morning-star light, opened arms and wings, few who accept the ascent, humanity born to fly, and the secure going promised after the forehead touch.
XII.88–90 The angel's face is compared to the trembling morning star, keeping light as presence rather than decoration.
XII.88–90 The angel's face is compared to the trembling morning star, keeping light as presence rather than decoration. Line 90: The angel's face is compared to the trembling morning star, keeping light as presence rather than decoration.
XII.90 The angel's face is compared to the trembling morning star, keeping light as presence rather than decoration. The angel's face is compared to the trembling morning star, keeping light as presence rather than decoration.
XII.94–96 The flight language answers the earlier boat/sail image and names humanity's upward vocation.
XII.94–96 The flight language answers the earlier boat/sail image and names humanity's upward vocation. Line 96: The flight language answers the earlier boat/sail image and names humanity's upward vocation.
XII.96 The flight language answers the earlier boat/sail image and names humanity's upward vocation. The flight language answers the earlier boat/sail image and names humanity's upward vocation.
XII.97–99 The angel removes the first P from Dante's forehead, marking pride's terrace as passed.
XII.97–99 The angel removes the first P from Dante's forehead, marking pride's terrace as passed. Line 98: The angel removes the first P from Dante's forehead, marking pride's terrace as passed.
XII.98 The angel removes the first P from Dante's forehead, marking pride's terrace as passed. The angel removes the first P from Dante's forehead, marking pride's terrace as passed.
A San Miniato stairway simile frames the climb, voices sing the first beatitude, and Dante contrasts song-filled Purgatorio entrances with Hell's savage laments XII.100–114
100Come a man destra, per salire al monte
dove siede la chiesa che soggioga
la ben guidata sopra Rubaconte,
si rompe del montar l’ardita foga
per le scalee che si fero ad etade
105ch’era sicuro il quaderno e la doga;
così s’allenta la ripa che cade
quivi ben ratta da l’altro girone;
ma quinci e quindi l’alta pietra rade.
Noi volgendo ivi le nostre persone,
110‘Beati pauperes spiritu!’ voci
cantaron sì, che nol diria sermone.
Ahi quanto son diverse quelle foci
da l’infernali! ché quivi per canti
s’entra, e là giù per lamenti feroci.
100As on the right hand, to climb the mount
where the church sits, subduing
the well-guided city above Rubaconte,
the bold rush of the ascent is broken
by the stairs that were made in the age
105when ledger and stave were secure;
so the bank that falls
there very steeply from the other ring is slackened;
but on either side the high rock scrapes.
As we turned our bodies there,
110"Beati pauperes spiritu!" voices
sang so that speech could not tell it.
Ah, how different are those openings
from the infernal ones! for here through songs
one enters, and down there through savage laments.
Commentary
The passage gives the San Miniato, Rubaconte, ledger, stave, and beatitude context. The translation keeps the Florentine stair simile, narrow rock, Latin beatitude, and the contrast between Purgatorio's song-thresholds and Hell's laments.
XII.100–102 The San Miniato/Rubaconte simile looks back to Florence; well-guided is kept with its likely irony rather than explained in the line.
XII.100–102 The San Miniato/Rubaconte simile looks back to Florence; well-guided is kept with its likely irony rather than explained in the line. Line 102: The San Miniato/Rubaconte simile looks back to Florence; well-guided is kept with its likely irony rather than explained in the line.
XII.102 The San Miniato/Rubaconte simile looks back to Florence; well-guided is kept with its likely irony rather than explained in the line. The San Miniato/Rubaconte simile looks back to Florence; well-guided is kept with its likely irony rather than explained in the line.
XII.103–105 Ledger and stave point to public record and measurement, with civic honesty set against later Florentine corruption.
XII.103–105 Ledger and stave point to public record and measurement, with civic honesty set against later Florentine corruption. Line 105: Ledger and stave point to public record and measurement, with civic honesty set against later Florentine corruption.
XII.105 Ledger and stave point to public record and measurement, with civic honesty set against later Florentine corruption. Ledger and stave point to public record and measurement, with civic honesty set against later Florentine corruption.
XII.109–111 The Latin beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," marks the transition from the terrace of pride.
XII.109–111 The Latin beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," marks the transition from the terrace of pride. Line 110: The Latin beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," marks the transition from the terrace of pride.
XII.112–114 The contrast with Hell keeps Purgatorio's thresholds musical and hopeful rather than lamenting and fixed.
XII.112–114 The contrast with Hell keeps Purgatorio's thresholds musical and hopeful rather than lamenting and fixed. Line 114: The contrast with Hell keeps Purgatorio's thresholds musical and hopeful rather than lamenting and fixed.
XII.114 The contrast with Hell keeps Purgatorio's thresholds musical and hopeful rather than lamenting and fixed. The contrast with Hell keeps Purgatorio's thresholds musical and hopeful rather than lamenting and fixed.
Dante feels lighter on the holy stairs, Virgil explains the erased P and the future delight of good will, and Dante confirms by touch that only six letters remain XII.115–136
115Già montavam su per li scaglion santi,
ed esser mi parea troppo più lieve
che per lo pian non mi parea davanti.
Ond’ io: «Maestro, dì, qual cosa greve
levata s’è da me, che nulla quasi
120per me fatica, andando, si riceve?».
Rispuose: «Quando i P che son rimasi
ancor nel volto tuo presso che stinti,
saranno, com’ è l’un, del tutto rasi,
fier li tuoi piè dal buon voler sì vinti,
125che non pur non fatica sentiranno,
ma fia diletto loro esser sù pinti».
Allor fec’ io come color che vanno
con cosa in capo non da lor saputa,
se non che ’ cenni altrui sospecciar fanno;
130per che la mano ad accertar s’aiuta,
e cerca e truova e quello officio adempie
che non si può fornir per la veduta;
e con le dita de la destra scempie
trovai pur sei le lettere che ’ncise
135quel da le chiavi a me sovra le tempie:
a che guardando, il mio duca sorrise.
115Already we were climbing up the holy steps,
and I seemed to myself far lighter
than I had seemed before on the plain.
So I said: "Master, tell me, what heavy thing
has been lifted from me, so that almost no
120weariness comes to me as I walk?"
He answered: "When the P's that have remained
still on your face, almost erased,
shall be, like this one, wholly scraped away,
your feet will be so conquered by good will
125that not only will they feel no weariness,
but it will be delight for them to be urged upward."
Then I did as those do who go
with something on their head unknown to them,
unless others' signs make them suspect;
130so the hand comes to help make certain,
and seeks and finds, and fulfills that office
which cannot be completed by sight;
and with the fingers of my right hand spread
I found only six of the letters that
135the one with the keys had carved above my temples:
at which, looking on, my leader smiled.
Commentary
The close joins physical lightness to moral cleansing. The translation keeps the first erased P, the remaining six letters, good will conquering the feet, ascent becoming delight, tactile self-checking, and Virgil's smile.
XII.118–120 The lightening is physical, moral, and volitional: one wound-letter has been removed.
XII.118–120 The lightening is physical, moral, and volitional: one wound-letter has been removed. Line 120: The lightening is physical, moral, and volitional: one wound-letter has been removed.
XII.120 The lightening is physical, moral, and volitional: one wound-letter has been removed. The lightening is physical, moral, and volitional: one wound-letter has been removed.
XII.121–123 The remaining P's stand for the capital sins still to be purged terrace by terrace.
XII.121–123 The remaining P's stand for the capital sins still to be purged terrace by terrace. Line 123: The remaining P's stand for the capital sins still to be purged terrace by terrace.
XII.123 The remaining P's stand for the capital sins still to be purged terrace by terrace. The remaining P's stand for the capital sins still to be purged terrace by terrace.
XII.124–126 Good will conquers the feet by reordering desire, not by suppressing movement. The ascent will become delight when the will is fully trained toward the good.
XII.124–126 Good will conquers the feet by reordering desire, not by suppressing movement. Line 124: Good will conquers the feet by reordering desire, not by suppressing movement. Line 126: The ascent will become delight when the will is fully trained toward the good.
XII.124 Good will conquers the feet by reordering desire, not by suppressing movement. Good will conquers the feet by reordering desire, not by suppressing movement.
XII.126 The ascent will become delight when the will is fully trained toward the good. The ascent will become delight when the will is fully trained toward the good.
XII.133–135 The one with the keys is the gate angel from Purgatorio IX, who cut the seven P's on Dante's forehead.
XII.133–135 The one with the keys is the gate angel from Purgatorio IX, who cut the seven P's on Dante's forehead. Line 135: The one with the keys is the gate angel from Purgatorio IX, who cut the seven P's on Dante's forehead.
XII.135 The one with the keys is the gate angel from Purgatorio IX, who cut the seven P's on Dante's forehead. The one with the keys is the gate angel from Purgatorio IX, who cut the seven P's on Dante's forehead.