Purgatorio, Canto 21
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Dante's natural thirst for the cause of the earthquake and mountain-wide Gloria presses him forward behind Virgil along the encumbered fifth-ledge path, while pity still moves him for the just vengeance borne by the avaricious. A shade appears behind them like the risen Christ meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus, greets them with peace, and receives Virgil's answering blessing into the peace from which Virgil himself remains exiled. The shade wonders how souls unworthy of Heaven have climbed so far. Virgil points to Dante's angel-carved signs, explains that Dante's life-thread has not yet been drawn off, and says that he was drawn from Hell to guide the living soul only as far as his teaching can lead. He then asks why the mountain shook and why all Purgatory cried as one. The question passes through the needle's eye of Dante's desire. The shade explains that Purgatory's sacred rule admits no disorder: above the three steps of the gate there is no rain, snow, frost, cloud, lightning, rainbow, or dry vapor, and no earthquake caused by hidden earthly wind. The mountain trembles only when a soul, now pure, feels free will for ascent; the cry of praise accompanies that release. Statius himself has lain more than five hundred years in this pain and has just felt free will for a better threshold. Virgil understands the net that catches the penitents and how it is unmeshed, then asks the shade's identity. Statius names the age of Titus's vengeance for Christ's wounds, says he was famous under the most lasting and honored name before he had faith, and recounts how his sweet poetic voice drew him from Toulouse to Rome, where he merited myrtle. He is still called Statius; he sang Thebes and then great Achilles, but fell on the way with his second burden. The Aeneid was mother and nurse to his poetry, and he would accept another year of banishment to have lived when Virgil lived. Virgil silently commands Dante not to reveal him, but laughter and tears do not fully obey the will in truthful souls. Dante smiles; Statius notices and asks why. Virgil permits Dante to speak, and Dante reveals that the guide before Statius is Virgil himself, from whom Statius drew strength to sing of men and gods. Statius bends to embrace Virgil's feet, but Virgil stops him because both are shades. Rising, Statius says Virgil can now understand the quantity of love warming him, since he forgot their shared vanity and treated shadows as solid things.
Narrative arc
- Dante's thirst for explanation, the encumbered fifth-ledge path, and Statius's Emmaus-like peace greeting
- Virgil blesses Statius, explains Dante's living ascent, and marks the limit of his own teaching
- Virgil's earthquake question threads the needle's eye of Dante's desire
- Statius explains the mountain's sacred order and freedom from ordinary weather or earthly tremor
- The mountain trembles when a purified soul freely wills ascent, and Statius has just been released
- Dante's thirst is relieved, and Virgil asks Statius to name himself and explain his long delay
- Statius names his fame as poet under Titus, Rome, myrtle, the Thebaid, and the unfinished Achilleid
- Statius names the Aeneid as mother and nurse and longs to have lived in Virgil's lifetime
- Virgil orders silence, Dante's smile escapes the will, and Statius asks what caused it
- Dante reveals Virgil, and Statius's love forgets that both poets are shades
Central themes
- avarice
- liberation
Dante's thirst for explanation, the encumbered fifth-ledge path, and Statius's Emmaus-like peace greeting XXI.1–15
1La sete natural che mai non sazia
se non con l’acqua onde la femminetta
samaritana domandò la grazia,
mi travagliava, e pungeami la fretta
5per la ’mpacciata via dietro al mio duca,
e condoleami a la giusta vendetta.
Ed ecco, sì come ne scrive Luca
che Cristo apparve a’ due ch’erano in via,
già surto fuor de la sepulcral buca,
10ci apparve un’ombra, e dietro a noi venìa,
dal piè guardando la turba che giace;
né ci addemmo di lei, sì parlò pria,
dicendo: «O frati miei, Dio vi dea pace».
Noi ci volgemmo sùbiti, e Virgilio
15rendéli ’l cenno ch’a ciò si conface.
1The natural thirst that is never satisfied
except with the water for which the woman
of Samaria asked for grace,
was working on me, and haste was pricking me
5along the encumbered path behind my guide,
and I was grieving over the just vengeance.
And behold, just as Luke writes for us
that Christ appeared to the two who were on the way,
already risen out of the sepulchral hollow,
10a shade appeared to us and came behind us,
looking down at the crowd that lay at its feet;
nor did we notice it, so it spoke first,
saying: O my brothers, may God give you peace.
We turned at once, and Virgil
15returned to him the sign that fitted it.
Commentary
The opening is a thirst for knowledge and living water that continues Purgatorio XX's unsatisfied desire. The translation keeps the Samaritan water, the encumbered path, pity for just vengeance, the Emmaus allusion, and the peace greeting without over-explaining them in the line.
XXI.1–3 The opening joins the desire for knowledge to the Gospel living-water allusion. femminetta samaritana points to the Samaritan woman at the well without needing an explanatory expansion in the line.
XXI.1–3 The opening joins the desire for knowledge to the Gospel living-water allusion. Line 1: The opening joins the desire for knowledge to the Gospel living-water allusion. Line 2: femminetta samaritana points to the Samaritan woman at the well without needing an explanatory expansion in the line.
XXI.1 The opening joins the desire for knowledge to the Gospel living-water allusion. The opening joins the desire for knowledge to the Gospel living-water allusion.
XXI.2 femminetta samaritana points to the Samaritan woman at the well without needing an explanatory expansion in the line. femminetta samaritana points to the Samaritan woman at the well without needing an explanatory expansion in the line.
XXI.4–6 The path remains bodily constrained by the face-down souls and morally charged by the ascent. Pity is present, but the vengeance is explicitly just.
XXI.4–6 The path remains bodily constrained by the face-down souls and morally charged by the ascent. Line 5: The path remains bodily constrained by the face-down souls and morally charged by the ascent. Line 6: Pity is present, but the vengeance is explicitly just.
XXI.5 The path remains bodily constrained by the face-down souls and morally charged by the ascent. The path remains bodily constrained by the face-down souls and morally charged by the ascent.
XXI.6 Pity is present, but the vengeance is explicitly just. Pity is present, but the vengeance is explicitly just.
XXI.7–9 The appearance is framed by Luke's Emmaus episode.
XXI.7–9 The appearance is framed by Luke's Emmaus episode. Line 7: The appearance is framed by Luke's Emmaus episode.
XXI.7 The appearance is framed by Luke's Emmaus episode. The appearance is framed by Luke's Emmaus episode.
XXI.13–15 The peace greeting answers the Emmaus frame and begins Statius's identity as saved soul. cenno is kept as a fitting answering sign rather than expanded into the full liturgical formula.
XXI.13–15 The peace greeting answers the Emmaus frame and begins Statius's identity as saved soul. Line 13: The peace greeting answers the Emmaus frame and begins Statius's identity as saved soul. Line 15: cenno is kept as a fitting answering sign rather than expanded into the full liturgical formula.
XXI.13 The peace greeting answers the Emmaus frame and begins Statius's identity as saved soul. The peace greeting answers the Emmaus frame and begins Statius's identity as saved soul.
XXI.15 cenno is kept as a fitting answering sign rather than expanded into the full liturgical formula. cenno is kept as a fitting answering sign rather than expanded into the full liturgical formula.
Virgil blesses Statius, explains Dante's living ascent, and marks the limit of his own teaching XXI.16–33
16Poi cominciò: «Nel beato concilio
ti ponga in pace la verace corte
che me rilega ne l’etterno essilio».
«Come!», diss’ elli, e parte andavam forte:
20«se voi siete ombre che Dio sù non degni,
chi v’ha per la sua scala tanto scorte?».
E ’l dottor mio: «Se tu riguardi a’ segni
che questi porta e che l’angel profila,
ben vedrai che coi buon convien ch’e’ regni.
25Ma perché lei che dì e notte fila
non li avea tratta ancora la conocchia
che Cloto impone a ciascuno e compila,
l’anima sua, ch’è tua e mia serocchia,
venendo sù, non potea venir sola,
30però ch’al nostro modo non adocchia.
Ond’ io fui tratto fuor de l’ampia gola
d’inferno per mostrarli, e mosterrolli
oltre, quanto ’l potrà menar mia scola.
16Then he began: In the blessed council
may the true court set you in peace,
the court that relegates me to eternal exile.
How? he said, and meanwhile we went quickly:
20if you are shades whom God does not deem worthy above,
who has escorted you so far by his stair?
And my teacher: If you look at the signs
that this one bears and that the angel incises,
you will see clearly that he must reign with the good.
25But because she who spins day and night
had not yet drawn off for him the distaff
that Clotho assigns to each and winds full,
his soul, which is your sister and mine,
coming upward, could not come alone,
30because it does not see in our manner.
So I was drawn out from the broad throat
of Hell to show him, and I shall show him
farther on, as far as my teaching can lead him.
Commentary
This passage covers virgil blesses Statius, explains Dante's living ascent, and marks the limit of his own teaching.
XXI.16–18 Virgil blesses Statius into the peace from which Virgil remains excluded.
XXI.16–18 Virgil blesses Statius into the peace from which Virgil remains excluded. Line 18: Virgil blesses Statius into the peace from which Virgil remains excluded.
XXI.18 Virgil blesses Statius into the peace from which Virgil remains excluded. Virgil blesses Statius into the peace from which Virgil remains excluded.
XXI.19–21 scala keeps the ascent concrete as Purgatory's stair.
XXI.19–21 scala keeps the ascent concrete as Purgatory's stair. Line 21: scala keeps the ascent concrete as Purgatory's stair.
XXI.21 scala keeps the ascent concrete as Purgatory's stair. scala keeps the ascent concrete as Purgatory's stair.
XXI.22–24 The marks are Dante's angel-traced P's from the gate.
XXI.22–24 The marks are Dante's angel-traced P's from the gate. Line 23: The marks are Dante's angel-traced P's from the gate.
XXI.23 The marks are Dante's angel-traced P's from the gate. The marks are Dante's angel-traced P's from the gate.
XXI.25–27 The Fate imagery marks that Dante's mortal life has not yet been spun out.
XXI.25–27 The Fate imagery marks that Dante's mortal life has not yet been spun out. Line 25: The Fate imagery marks that Dante's mortal life has not yet been spun out.
XXI.25 The Fate imagery marks that Dante's mortal life has not yet been spun out. The Fate imagery marks that Dante's mortal life has not yet been spun out.
XXI.28–30 The living soul needs guidance because it lacks the mode of sight proper to shades.
XXI.28–30 The living soul needs guidance because it lacks the mode of sight proper to shades. Line 30: The living soul needs guidance because it lacks the mode of sight proper to shades.
XXI.30 The living soul needs guidance because it lacks the mode of sight proper to shades. The living soul needs guidance because it lacks the mode of sight proper to shades.
XXI.31–33 mia scola keeps Virgil's instruction authoritative but limited before Beatrice.
XXI.31–33 mia scola keeps Virgil's instruction authoritative but limited before Beatrice. Line 33: mia scola keeps Virgil's instruction authoritative but limited before Beatrice.
XXI.33 mia scola keeps Virgil's instruction authoritative but limited before Beatrice. mia scola keeps Virgil's instruction authoritative but limited before Beatrice.
Virgil's earthquake question threads the needle's eye of Dante's desire XXI.34–39
34Ma dimmi, se tu sai, perché tai crolli
35diè dianzi ’l monte, e perché tutto ad una
parve gridare infino a’ suoi piè molli».
Sì mi diè, dimandando, per la cruna
del mio disio, che pur con la speranza
si fece la mia sete men digiuna.
34But tell me, if you know, why such shocks
35the mountain gave just now, and why all as one
seemed to cry down to its moist feet.
So, by asking, he threaded the needle's eye
of my desire, which even with hope alone
made my thirst less starved.
Commentary
This passage covers virgil's earthquake question threads the needle's eye of Dante's desire.
XXI.34–36 The moist feet keep the shore/base of the mountain in view.
XXI.34–36 The moist feet keep the shore/base of the mountain in view. Line 36: The moist feet keep the shore/base of the mountain in view.
XXI.36 The moist feet keep the shore/base of the mountain in view. The moist feet keep the shore/base of the mountain in view.
XXI.37–39 The odd cruna image is retained as a figure for the question hitting Dante's desire exactly. Hope partially feeds the thirst before the answer arrives.
XXI.37–39 The odd cruna image is retained as a figure for the question hitting Dante's desire exactly. Line 37: The odd cruna image is retained as a figure for the question hitting Dante's desire exactly. Line 39: Hope partially feeds the thirst before the answer arrives.
XXI.37 The odd cruna image is retained as a figure for the question hitting Dante's desire exactly. The odd cruna image is retained as a figure for the question hitting Dante's desire exactly.
XXI.39 Hope partially feeds the thirst before the answer arrives. Hope partially feeds the thirst before the answer arrives.
Statius explains the mountain's sacred order and freedom from ordinary weather or earthly tremor XXI.40–57
40Quei cominciò: «Cosa non è che sanza
ordine senta la religïone
de la montagna, o che sia fuor d’usanza.
Libero è qui da ogne alterazione:
di quel che ’l ciel da sé in sé riceve
45esser ci puote, e non d’altro, cagione.
Per che non pioggia, non grando, non neve,
non rugiada, non brina più sù cade
che la scaletta di tre gradi breve;
nuvole spesse non paion né rade,
50né coruscar, né figlia di Taumante,
che di là cangia sovente contrade;
secco vapor non surge più avante
ch’al sommo d’i tre gradi ch’io parlai,
dov’ ha ’l vicario di Pietro le piante.
55Trema forse più giù poco o assai;
ma per vento che ’n terra si nasconda,
non so come, qua sù non tremò mai.
40He began: There is no thing that the sacred rule
of the mountain feels without order,
or that is outside its custom.
Here it is free from every alteration:
from what heaven receives from itself into itself
45there can be cause here, and from nothing else.
Therefore no rain, no hail, no snow,
no dew, no frost falls farther up
than the little stair of three short steps;
no clouds, thick or thin, appear,
50nor lightning, nor the daughter of Thaumas,
who over there often changes quarters;
dry vapor does not rise farther
than the top of the three steps of which I spoke,
where Peter's vicar sets his feet.
55It may tremble lower down, little or much;
but because of wind hidden inside the earth,
however that happens, it never trembled up here.
Commentary
This passage covers statius explains the mountain's sacred order and freedom from ordinary weather or earthly tremor.
XXI.40–42 religïone de la montagna is rendered as sacred rule rather than generic religion.
XXI.40–42 religïone de la montagna is rendered as sacred rule rather than generic religion. Line 41: religïone de la montagna is rendered as sacred rule rather than generic religion.
XXI.41 religïone de la montagna is rendered as sacred rule rather than generic religion. religïone de la montagna is rendered as sacred rule rather than generic religion.
XXI.43–45 The cosmological phrasing is kept deliberately compressed.
XXI.43–45 The cosmological phrasing is kept deliberately compressed. Line 44: The cosmological phrasing is kept deliberately compressed.
XXI.44 The cosmological phrasing is kept deliberately compressed. The cosmological phrasing is kept deliberately compressed.
XXI.46–48 The weather boundary is the gate stair where Purgatory proper begins.
XXI.46–48 The weather boundary is the gate stair where Purgatory proper begins. Line 48: The weather boundary is the gate stair where Purgatory proper begins.
XXI.48 The weather boundary is the gate stair where Purgatory proper begins. The weather boundary is the gate stair where Purgatory proper begins.
XXI.49–51 The daughter of Thaumas is Iris, the rainbow.
XXI.49–51 The daughter of Thaumas is Iris, the rainbow. Line 50: The daughter of Thaumas is Iris, the rainbow.
XXI.50 The daughter of Thaumas is Iris, the rainbow. The daughter of Thaumas is Iris, the rainbow.
XXI.52–54 The Aristotelian dry vapor belongs to the explanation of winds and earthquakes. Peter's vicar is the angel porter at the gate.
XXI.52–54 The Aristotelian dry vapor belongs to the explanation of winds and earthquakes. Line 52: The Aristotelian dry vapor belongs to the explanation of winds and earthquakes. Line 54: Peter's vicar is the angel porter at the gate.
XXI.52 The Aristotelian dry vapor belongs to the explanation of winds and earthquakes. The Aristotelian dry vapor belongs to the explanation of winds and earthquakes.
XXI.54 Peter's vicar is the angel porter at the gate. Peter's vicar is the angel porter at the gate.
The mountain trembles when a purified soul freely wills ascent, and Statius has just been released XXI.58–72
58Tremaci quando alcuna anima monda
sentesi, sì che surga o che si mova
60per salir sù; e tal grido seconda.
De la mondizia sol voler fa prova,
che, tutto libero a mutar convento,
l’alma sorprende, e di voler le giova.
Prima vuol ben, ma non lascia il talento
65che divina giustizia, contra voglia,
come fu al peccar, pone al tormento.
E io, che son giaciuto a questa doglia
cinquecent’ anni e più, pur mo sentii
libera volontà di miglior soglia:
70però sentisti il tremoto e li pii
spiriti per lo monte render lode
a quel Segnor, che tosto sù li ’nvii».
58It trembles here when some cleansed soul
feels itself ready, so that it rises or moves
60to climb upward; and such a cry seconds it.
The will alone gives proof of purity,
for, wholly free to change its company,
it surprises the soul and helps it to will.
At first it wills well, but desire does not let it,
65the desire that divine justice, against the will,
sets toward torment, as once toward sin.
And I, who have lain in this pain
five hundred years and more, just now felt
free will for a better threshold:
70therefore you heard the earthquake and the pious
spirits through the mountain giving praise
to that Lord, who may soon send them upward.
Commentary
This passage covers the mountain trembles when a purified soul freely wills ascent, and Statius has just been released.
XXI.58–60 monda is purification completed enough for ascent. The Gloria accompanies and confirms the soul's release.
XXI.58–60 monda is purification completed enough for ascent. Line 58: monda is purification completed enough for ascent. Line 60: The Gloria accompanies and confirms the soul's release.
XXI.58 monda is purification completed enough for ascent. monda is purification completed enough for ascent.
XXI.60 The Gloria accompanies and confirms the soul's release. The Gloria accompanies and confirms the soul's release.
XXI.61–63 This is the canto's central free-will statement. convento means the soul's company or condition, not a modern convent building.
XXI.61–63 This is the canto's central free-will statement. Line 61: This is the canto's central free-will statement. Line 62: convento means the soul's company or condition, not a modern convent building.
XXI.61 This is the canto's central free-will statement. This is the canto's central free-will statement.
XXI.62 convento means the soul's company or condition, not a modern convent building. convento means the soul's company or condition, not a modern convent building.
XXI.64–66 talento remains desire or inclination, here the purgative desire that keeps the soul to its cleansing. The same intensity of inclination that once moved toward sin is redirected toward purgation.
XXI.64–66 talento remains desire or inclination, here the purgative desire that keeps the soul to its cleansing. Line 64: talento remains desire or inclination, here the purgative desire that keeps the soul to its cleansing. Line 66: The same intensity of inclination that once moved toward sin is redirected toward purgation.
XXI.64 talento remains desire or inclination, here the purgative desire that keeps the soul to its cleansing. talento remains desire or inclination, here the purgative desire that keeps the soul to its cleansing.
XXI.66 The same intensity of inclination that once moved toward sin is redirected toward purgation. The same intensity of inclination that once moved toward sin is redirected toward purgation.
XXI.67–69 libera volontà signals readiness to leave the ledge and rise.
XXI.67–69 libera volontà signals readiness to leave the ledge and rise. Line 69: libera volontà signals readiness to leave the ledge and rise.
XXI.69 libera volontà signals readiness to leave the ledge and rise. libera volontà signals readiness to leave the ledge and rise.
Dante's thirst is relieved, and Virgil asks Statius to name himself and explain his long delay XXI.73–81
73Così ne disse; e però ch’el si gode
tanto del ber quant’ è grande la sete,
75non saprei dir quant’ el mi fece prode.
E ’l savio duca: «Omai veggio la rete
che qui vi ’mpiglia e come si scalappia,
perché ci trema e di che congaudete.
Ora chi fosti, piacciati ch’io sappia,
80e perché tanti secoli giaciuto
qui se’, ne le parole tue mi cappia».
73So he said to us; and because drinking
is enjoyed as much as the thirst is great,
75I could not say how much it benefited me.
And the wise guide: Now I see the net
that entangles you here, and how one slips free,
why it trembles here, and over what you rejoice together.
Now, who you were, may it please you that I know,
80and why so many centuries you have lain
here, let me gather in your words.
Commentary
This passage covers dante's thirst is relieved, and Virgil asks Statius to name himself and explain his long delay.
XXI.73–75 The answer finally satisfies the opening thirst.
XXI.73–75 The answer finally satisfies the opening thirst. Line 75: The answer finally satisfies the opening thirst.
XXI.75 The answer finally satisfies the opening thirst. The answer finally satisfies the opening thirst.
XXI.76–78 scalappia keeps release as unmeshing or escape from a snare.
XXI.76–78 scalappia keeps release as unmeshing or escape from a snare. Line 77: scalappia keeps release as unmeshing or escape from a snare.
XXI.77 scalappia keeps release as unmeshing or escape from a snare. scalappia keeps release as unmeshing or escape from a snare.
Statius names his fame as poet under Titus, Rome, myrtle, the Thebaid, and the unfinished Achilleid XXI.82–93
82«Nel tempo che ’l buon Tito, con l’aiuto
del sommo rege, vendicò le fóra
ond’ uscì ’l sangue per Giuda venduto,
85col nome che più dura e più onora
era io di là», rispuose quello spirto,
«famoso assai, ma non con fede ancora.
Tanto fu dolce mio vocale spirto,
che, tolosano, a sé mi trasse Roma,
90dove mertai le tempie ornar di mirto.
Stazio la gente ancor di là mi noma:
cantai di Tebe, e poi del grande Achille;
ma caddi in via con la seconda soma.
82In the time when good Titus, with the aid
of the highest King, avenged the wounds
from which came the blood sold by Judas,
85with the name that most endures and most honors
I was yonder, answered that spirit,
famous enough, but not yet with faith.
So sweet was my vocal spirit
that Rome drew me, a Toulousan, to herself,
90where I deserved to adorn my temples with myrtle.
The people still name me Statius yonder:
I sang of Thebes, and then of great Achilles;
but I fell on the way with the second burden.
Commentary
This passage covers statius names his fame as poet under Titus, Rome, myrtle, the Thebaid, and the unfinished Achilleid.
XXI.82–84 Dante frames Titus's destruction of Jerusalem as providential vengeance.
XXI.82–84 Dante frames Titus's destruction of Jerusalem as providential vengeance. Line 82: Dante frames Titus's destruction of Jerusalem as providential vengeance.
XXI.82 Dante frames Titus's destruction of Jerusalem as providential vengeance. Dante frames Titus's destruction of Jerusalem as providential vengeance.
XXI.85–87 The durable honored name is poet. Statius's poetic fame precedes his Christian faith, which Purgatorio XXII will develop.
XXI.85–87 The durable honored name is poet. Line 85: The durable honored name is poet. Line 87: Statius's poetic fame precedes his Christian faith, which Purgatorio XXII will develop.
XXI.85 The durable honored name is poet. The durable honored name is poet.
XXI.87 Statius's poetic fame precedes his Christian faith, which Purgatorio XXII will develop. Statius's poetic fame precedes his Christian faith, which Purgatorio XXII will develop.
XXI.88–90 Myrtle marks poetic honor.
XXI.88–90 Myrtle marks poetic honor. Line 90: Myrtle marks poetic honor.
XXI.90 Myrtle marks poetic honor. Myrtle marks poetic honor.
XXI.91–93 The works are the Thebaid and the Achilleid. The second burden is the unfinished Achilleid.
XXI.91–93 The works are the Thebaid and the Achilleid. Line 92: The works are the Thebaid and the Achilleid. Line 93: The second burden is the unfinished Achilleid.
XXI.92 The works are the Thebaid and the Achilleid. The works are the Thebaid and the Achilleid.
XXI.93 The second burden is the unfinished Achilleid. The second burden is the unfinished Achilleid.
Statius names the Aeneid as mother and nurse and longs to have lived in Virgil's lifetime XXI.94–102
94Al mio ardor fuor seme le faville,
95che mi scaldar, de la divina fiamma
onde sono allumati più di mille;
de l’Eneïda dico, la qual mamma
fummi, e fummi nutrice, poetando:
sanz’ essa non fermai peso di dramma.
100E per esser vivuto di là quando
visse Virgilio, assentirei un sole
più che non deggio al mio uscir di bando».
94Seed to my ardor were the sparks
95that warmed me from the divine flame
by which more than a thousand have been lit;
I mean the Aeneid, which was mother
to me, and was my nurse in poetry:
without it I set no dram of weight.
100And to have lived yonder at the time when
Virgil lived, I would consent to one sun
more than I owe before my release from banishment.
Commentary
This passage covers statius names the Aeneid as mother and nurse and longs to have lived in Virgil's lifetime.
XXI.94–96 The divine flame is Virgil's Aeneid as poetic source.
XXI.94–96 The divine flame is Virgil's Aeneid as poetic source. Line 96: The divine flame is Virgil's Aeneid as poetic source.
XXI.96 The divine flame is Virgil's Aeneid as poetic source. The divine flame is Virgil's Aeneid as poetic source.
XXI.97–99 Mother and nurse keep literary dependence bodily and generative. dramma is a small unit of weight, fitting the canto's burden and poetic-value language.
XXI.97–99 Mother and nurse keep literary dependence bodily and generative. Line 98: Mother and nurse keep literary dependence bodily and generative. Line 99: dramma is a small unit of weight, fitting the canto's burden and poetic-value language.
XXI.98 Mother and nurse keep literary dependence bodily and generative. Mother and nurse keep literary dependence bodily and generative.
XXI.99 dramma is a small unit of weight, fitting the canto's burden and poetic-value language. dramma is a small unit of weight, fitting the canto's burden and poetic-value language.
XXI.100–102 one sun means an additional year. Statius would accept longer purgatorial exile to have known Virgil in life.
XXI.100–102 one sun means an additional year. Line 101: one sun means an additional year. Line 102: Statius would accept longer purgatorial exile to have known Virgil in life.
XXI.101 one sun means an additional year. one sun means an additional year.
XXI.102 Statius would accept longer purgatorial exile to have known Virgil in life. Statius would accept longer purgatorial exile to have known Virgil in life.
Virgil orders silence, Dante's smile escapes the will, and Statius asks what caused it XXI.103–120
103Volser Virgilio a me queste parole
con viso che, tacendo, disse ‘Taci’;
105ma non può tutto la virtù che vuole;
ché riso e pianto son tanto seguaci
a la passion di che ciascun si spicca,
che men seguon voler ne’ più veraci.
Io pur sorrisi come l’uom ch’ammicca;
110per che l’ombra si tacque, e riguardommi
ne li occhi ove ’l sembiante più si ficca;
e «Se tanto labore in bene assommi»,
disse, «perché la tua faccia testeso
un lampeggiar di riso dimostrommi?».
115Or son io d’una parte e d’altra preso:
l’una mi fa tacer, l’altra scongiura
ch’io dica; ond’ io sospiro, e sono inteso
dal mio maestro, e «Non aver paura»,
mi dice, «di parlar; ma parla e digli
120quel ch’e’ dimanda con cotanta cura».
103These words turned Virgil toward me
with a face that, in silence, said Be silent;
105but the power that wills cannot do everything;
for laughter and weeping are such followers
of the passion from which each breaks loose
that in the truest souls they least follow will.
I only smiled like one who gives a wink;
110so the shade fell silent and looked at me
in the eyes, where expression fixes itself most;
and, May such labor come to good for you,
he said, why did your face just now
show me a lightning-flash of a smile?
115Now I am caught on one side and the other:
one makes me keep silent, the other adjures
me to speak; so I sigh, and am understood
by my master. He says: Do not be afraid
to speak; but speak and tell him
120what he asks with such care.
Commentary
This passage covers virgil orders silence, Dante's smile escapes the will, and Statius asks what caused it.
XXI.103–105 The Italian quoted imperative is represented without quotation marks to keep JSON line punctuation simple. Will remains real but not sovereign over involuntary affect.
XXI.103–105 The Italian quoted imperative is represented without quotation marks to keep JSON line punctuation simple. Line 104: The Italian quoted imperative is represented without quotation marks to keep JSON line punctuation simple. Line 105: Will remains real but not sovereign over involuntary affect.
XXI.104 The Italian quoted imperative is represented without quotation marks to keep JSON line punctuation simple. The Italian quoted imperative is represented without quotation marks to keep JSON line punctuation simple.
XXI.105 Will remains real but not sovereign over involuntary affect. Will remains real but not sovereign over involuntary affect.
XXI.106–108 Truthfulness here makes emotion less dissembling, not less disciplined.
XXI.106–108 Truthfulness here makes emotion less dissembling, not less disciplined. Line 108: Truthfulness here makes emotion less dissembling, not less disciplined.
XXI.108 Truthfulness here makes emotion less dissembling, not less disciplined. Truthfulness here makes emotion less dissembling, not less disciplined.
XXI.112–114 assommi is kept as a completion or summing of Dante's labor. The smile is sudden, involuntary, and revealing.
XXI.112–114 assommi is kept as a completion or summing of Dante's labor. Line 112: assommi is kept as a completion or summing of Dante's labor. Line 114: The smile is sudden, involuntary, and revealing.
XXI.112 assommi is kept as a completion or summing of Dante's labor. assommi is kept as a completion or summing of Dante's labor.
XXI.114 The smile is sudden, involuntary, and revealing. The smile is sudden, involuntary, and revealing.
Dante reveals Virgil, and Statius's love forgets that both poets are shades XXI.121–136
121Ond’ io: «Forse che tu ti maravigli,
antico spirto, del rider ch’io fei;
ma più d’ammirazion vo’ che ti pigli.
Questi che guida in alto li occhi miei,
125è quel Virgilio dal qual tu togliesti
forte a cantar de li uomini e d’i dèi.
Se cagion altra al mio rider credesti,
lasciala per non vera, ed esser credi
quelle parole che di lui dicesti».
130Già s’inchinava ad abbracciar li piedi
al mio dottor, ma el li disse: «Frate,
non far, ché tu se’ ombra e ombra vedi».
Ed ei surgendo: «Or puoi la quantitate
comprender de l’amor ch’a te mi scalda,
135quand’ io dismento nostra vanitate,
trattando l’ombre come cosa salda».
121Then I: Perhaps you marvel,
ancient spirit, at the smile I made;
but I want more amazement to seize you.
This one, who guides my eyes on high,
125is that Virgil from whom you took
strength to sing of men and of the gods.
If you believed some other cause for my smile,
leave it as untrue, and believe
it was those words you spoke of him.
130Already he was bending to embrace the feet
of my teacher, but he said to him: Brother,
do not, for you are a shade and see a shade.
And he, rising: Now you can comprehend
the measure of the love that warms me toward you,
135when I forget our vanity,
treating shadows as a solid thing.
Commentary
This passage covers dante reveals Virgil, and Statius's love forgets that both poets are shades.
XXI.124–126 Dante reveals Virgil through Statius's own praise of the Aeneid.
XXI.124–126 Dante reveals Virgil through Statius's own praise of the Aeneid. Line 126: Dante reveals Virgil through Statius's own praise of the Aeneid.
XXI.126 Dante reveals Virgil through Statius's own praise of the Aeneid. Dante reveals Virgil through Statius's own praise of the Aeneid.
XXI.130–132 Virgil refuses an act of reverence because both are insubstantial shades.
XXI.130–132 Virgil refuses an act of reverence because both are insubstantial shades. Line 132: Virgil refuses an act of reverence because both are insubstantial shades.
XXI.132 Virgil refuses an act of reverence because both are insubstantial shades. Virgil refuses an act of reverence because both are insubstantial shades.
XXI.133–135 Statius's love is genuine enough to make him forget shade-substance limits.
XXI.133–135 Statius's love is genuine enough to make him forget shade-substance limits. Line 134: Statius's love is genuine enough to make him forget shade-substance limits.
XXI.134 Statius's love is genuine enough to make him forget shade-substance limits. Statius's love is genuine enough to make him forget shade-substance limits.
XXI.136 The canto closes by turning poetic love into a mistaken but tender bodily gesture. The canto closes by turning poetic love into a mistaken but tender bodily gesture.