Purgatorio, Canto 25
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
The poets keep climbing because the afternoon leaves no room for delay, and the narrow stair forces them into single file. Dante, like a young stork half-ready to fly, wants to ask how the gluttonous shades can grow lean where no physical nourishment is needed. Virgil invites the question and gives two brief analogies, Meleager and the mirror image, then turns the full answer over to Statius. Statius explains generation in medieval philosophical terms: perfected blood receives formative power from the heart, joins another blood in the natural vessel, forms vegetative and sensitive powers, and becomes organized life. He then corrects the point at which Averroes erred: when the fetal brain is perfected, the First Mover gladly breathes a new rational spirit into the living organism, making one soul that lives, feels, and turns back upon itself. At death, the soul leaves the body carrying its human and divine powers; bodily faculties fall mute, but memory, intellect, and will become sharper. The soul falls to its appointed shore and radiates its formative power into the surrounding air, shaping an aerial shade body that can speak, laugh, weep, sigh, and show the desires that afflict it. With the doctrine complete, the poets reach the seventh terrace: flame bursts outward from the bank while an updraft holds a narrow path open along the ledge. Virgil warns Dante to keep the eyes tightly reined. In the fire, lustful souls sing Summae Deus clementiae, cry out examples of chastity from Mary, Diana, and chaste spouses, and return to song; Dante closes by naming this repeated mode as the food and cure by which the final wound is stitched closed.
Narrative arc
- The urgent ascent and Dante poised to ask
- Dante asks how shades grow lean, and Virgil turns to Statius
- Statius explains generation through vegetative and sensitive powers
- The First Mover breathes the rational soul and its powers survive death
- The soul forms its aerial shade body after death
- The poets reach the seventh terrace fire and the narrow open path
- The lustful sing for mercy and cry chastity examples in the fire
Central themes
- lust
- fire
The urgent ascent and Dante poised to ask XXV.1–18
1Ora era onde ’l salir non volea storpio;
ché ’l sole avëa il cerchio di merigge
lasciato al Tauro e la notte a lo Scorpio:
per che, come fa l’uom che non s’affigge
5ma vassi a la via sua, che che li appaia,
se di bisogno stimolo il trafigge,
così intrammo noi per la callaia,
uno innanzi altro prendendo la scala
che per artezza i salitor dispaia.
10E quale il cicognin che leva l’ala
per voglia di volare, e non s’attenta
d’abbandonar lo nido, e giù la cala;
tal era io con voglia accesa e spenta
di dimandar, venendo infino a l’atto
15che fa colui ch’a dicer s’argomenta.
Non lasciò, per l’andar che fosse ratto,
lo dolce padre mio, ma disse: «Scocca
l’arco del dir, che ’nfino al ferro hai tratto».
1Now it was the hour when the climb would not be crippled;
for the sun had left the meridian circle
to Taurus, and night to Scorpio:
so, as a man does who does not fix himself
5but goes along his way, whatever appears to him,
if the spur of need pierces him,
so we entered through the narrow passage,
one before the other, taking the stair
that by its narrowness unpairs those who climb.
10And like the young stork that lifts its wing
with longing to fly, and does not dare
to leave the nest, and lowers it again;
so was I, with desire kindled and quenched
to ask, coming even to the gesture
15made by one who prepares himself to speak.
My sweet father did not leave off, though our going was swift,
but said: "Let fly the bow of speech,
which you have drawn all the way to the iron."
Commentary
The passage gives the time pressure, single-file stair, young-stork image, and Virgil's archery prompt. The translation keeps storpio and dispaia visible because delay and bodily narrowing make Dante's question happen during disciplined ascent.
XXV.1–3 Storpio is kept as pressure on delay itself: the ascent cannot afford to go lame now that daylight for climbing is passing. The time signal places the sun past Purgatory noon; Norton notes the opposite night sign and reads the urgency as about 2 p.m. on the mountain.
XXV.1–3 Storpio is kept as pressure on delay itself: the ascent cannot afford to go lame now that daylight for climbing is passing. Line 1: Storpio is kept as pressure on delay itself: the ascent cannot afford to go lame now that daylight for climbing is passing. Line 3: The time signal places the sun past Purgatory noon; Norton notes the opposite night sign and reads the urgency as about 2 p.m. on the mountain. on the mountain.
XXV.1 Storpio is kept as pressure on delay itself: the ascent cannot afford to go lame now that daylight for climbing is passing. Storpio is kept as pressure on delay itself: the ascent cannot afford to go lame now that daylight for climbing is passing.
XXV.3 The time signal places the sun past Purgatory noon; Norton notes the opposite night sign and reads the urgency as about 2 p.m. on the mountain. The time signal places the sun past Purgatory noon; Norton notes the opposite night sign and reads the urgency as about 2 p.m. on the mountain. on the mountain.
XXV.7–9 Dispaia makes the passage single-file, physically separating the three companions as they ascend.
XXV.7–9 Dispaia makes the passage single-file, physically separating the three companions as they ascend. Line 9: Dispaia makes the passage single-file, physically separating the three companions as they ascend.
XXV.9 Dispaia makes the passage single-file, physically separating the three companions as they ascend. Dispaia makes the passage single-file, physically separating the three companions as they ascend.
XXV.16–18 Virgil turns Dante's half-formed question into an archery image: the speech is already drawn to the arrowhead.
XXV.16–18 Virgil turns Dante's half-formed question into an archery image: the speech is already drawn to the arrowhead. Line 18: Virgil turns Dante's half-formed question into an archery image: the speech is already drawn to the arrowhead.
XXV.18 Virgil turns Dante's half-formed question into an archery image: the speech is already drawn to the arrowhead. Virgil turns Dante's half-formed question into an archery image: the speech is already drawn to the arrowhead.
Dante asks how shades grow lean, and Virgil turns to Statius XXV.19–33
19Allor sicuramente apri’ la bocca
20e cominciai: «Come si può far magro
là dove l’uopo di nodrir non tocca?».
«Se t’ammentassi come Meleagro
si consumò al consumar d’un stizzo,
non fora», disse, «a te questo sì agro;
25e se pensassi come, al vostro guizzo,
guizza dentro a lo specchio vostra image,
ciò che par duro ti parrebbe vizzo.
Ma perché dentro a tuo voler t’adage,
ecco qui Stazio; e io lui chiamo e prego
30che sia or sanator de le tue piage».
«Se la veduta etterna li dislego»,
rispuose Stazio, «là dove tu sie,
discolpi me non potert’ io far nego».
19Then confidently I opened my mouth
20and began: "How can one grow lean
where the need of nourishment does not touch?"
"If you remembered how Meleager
wasted away as a brand was wasted,
this would not be so bitter for you," he said;
25"and if you thought how, at your flicker,
your image flickers within the mirror,
what seems hard would seem yielding to you.
But so that you may settle within your desire,
here is Statius; and I call and ask him
30to be now the healer of your wounds."
"If I unfold to him the eternal view,"
replied Statius, "where you are present,
let this excuse me, that I cannot refuse you."
Commentary
The passage gives the Meleager and mirror analogies before Statius takes over. The translation follows the Italian veduta etterna at line 31 and flags the variant pressure around the phrase.
XXV.19–21 Dante asks the biological and theological question left by the gluttons' emaciated shade-bodies.
XXV.19–21 Dante asks the biological and theological question left by the gluttons' emaciated shade-bodies. Line 21: Dante asks the biological and theological question left by the gluttons' emaciated shade-bodies.
XXV.21 Dante asks the biological and theological question left by the gluttons' emaciated shade-bodies. Dante asks the biological and theological question left by the gluttons' emaciated shade-bodies.
XXV.22–24 Meleager's life consuming with the firebrand gives Virgil a mythic precedent for body-like change without ordinary nutrition.
XXV.22–24 Meleager's life consuming with the firebrand gives Virgil a mythic precedent for body-like change without ordinary nutrition. Line 24: Meleager's life consuming with the firebrand gives Virgil a mythic precedent for body-like change without ordinary nutrition.
XXV.24 Meleager's life consuming with the firebrand gives Virgil a mythic precedent for body-like change without ordinary nutrition. Meleager's life consuming with the firebrand gives Virgil a mythic precedent for body-like change without ordinary nutrition.
XXV.25–27 The mirror analogy prepares the shade-body explanation: image and affection can correspond without material feeding.
XXV.25–27 The mirror analogy prepares the shade-body explanation: image and affection can correspond without material feeding. Line 27: The mirror analogy prepares the shade-body explanation: image and affection can correspond without material feeding.
XXV.27 The mirror analogy prepares the shade-body explanation: image and affection can correspond without material feeding. The mirror analogy prepares the shade-body explanation: image and affection can correspond without material feeding.
XXV.28–30 Virgil gives Statius the doctrinal answer, consistent with Statius' Christian illumination and Virgil's own limit.
XXV.28–30 Virgil gives Statius the doctrinal answer, consistent with Statius' Christian illumination and Virgil's own limit. Line 30: Virgil gives Statius the doctrinal answer, consistent with Statius' Christian illumination and Virgil's own limit.
XXV.30 Virgil gives Statius the doctrinal answer, consistent with Statius' Christian illumination and Virgil's own limit. Virgil gives Statius the doctrinal answer, consistent with Statius' Christian illumination and Virgil's own limit.
XXV.31–33 The governing Italian source reads veduta etterna; translations vary around eternal view/vengeance, so the translation follows the Italian source and flags the crux.
XXV.31–33 The governing Italian source reads veduta etterna; translations vary around eternal view/vengeance, so the translation follows the Italian source and flags the crux. Line 31: The governing Italian source reads veduta etterna; translations vary around eternal view/vengeance, so the translation follows the Italian source and flags the crux.
XXV.31 The governing Italian source reads veduta etterna; translations vary around eternal view/vengeance, so the translation follows the Italian source and flags the crux. The governing Italian source reads veduta etterna; translations vary around eternal view/vengeance, so the translation follows the Italian source and flags the crux.
Statius explains generation through vegetative and sensitive powers XXV.34–66
34Poi cominciò: «Se le parole mie,
35figlio, la mente tua guarda e riceve,
lume ti fiero al come che tu die.
Sangue perfetto, che poi non si beve
da l’assetate vene, e si rimane
quasi alimento che di mensa leve,
40prende nel core a tutte membra umane
virtute informativa, come quello
ch’a farsi quelle per le vene vane.
Ancor digesto, scende ov’ è più bello
tacer che dire; e quindi poscia geme
45sovr’ altrui sangue in natural vasello.
Ivi s’accoglie l’uno e l’altro insieme,
l’un disposto a patire, e l’altro a fare
per lo perfetto loco onde si preme;
e, giunto lui, comincia ad operare
50coagulando prima, e poi avviva
ciò che per sua matera fé constare.
Anima fatta la virtute attiva
qual d’una pianta, in tanto differente,
che questa è in via e quella è già a riva,
55tanto ovra poi, che già si move e sente,
come spungo marino; e indi imprende
ad organar le posse ond’ è semente.
Or si spiega, figliuolo, or si distende
la virtù ch’è dal cor del generante,
60dove natura a tutte membra intende.
Ma come d’animal divegna fante,
non vedi tu ancor: quest’ è tal punto,
che più savio di te fé già errante,
sì che per sua dottrina fé disgiunto
65da l’anima il possibile intelletto,
perché da lui non vide organo assunto.
34Then he began: "If my words,
35son, your mind watches and receives,
they will be light for the how that you ask.
Perfect blood, which afterward is not drunk
by the thirsty veins, and remains
like food you remove from table,
40takes in the heart, for all human members,
an informative power, as that blood does
which, to become those members, goes through the veins.
Further digested, it descends where it is better
to be silent than to speak; and from there then drips
45upon another's blood in the natural vessel.
There the one and the other gather together,
one disposed to suffer, the other to act
because of the perfect place from which it is pressed;
and, joined with it, it begins to work,
50coagulating first, and then it gives life
to what it had made firm as its matter.
The active power, made a soul
like that of a plant, differs only in this:
this is on the way, and that is already at shore,
55then works so far that it already moves and feels,
like a sea sponge; and from there undertakes
to organize the powers of which it is the seed.
Now it unfolds, my son, now it extends,
the power that comes from the begetter's heart,
60where nature aims at all the members.
But how an animal becomes a speaking being
you do not yet see: this is the point
that once made one wiser than you err,
so that in his teaching he divided
65the possible intellect from the soul,
because he saw no organ assumed by it.
Commentary
The passage rests on the Aristotelian-Thomistic generation frame and the Averroes reference. The translation uses power/formative power for virtù in this passage and keeps the physiology readable without replacing Dante's medieval terms with modern biology.
XXV.40–42 Virtute informativa is rendered as formative/informative power, not moral virtue.
XXV.40–42 Virtute informativa is rendered as formative/informative power, not moral virtue. Line 41: Virtute informativa is rendered as formative/informative power, not moral virtue.
XXV.41 Virtute informativa is rendered as formative/informative power, not moral virtue. Virtute informativa is rendered as formative/informative power, not moral virtue.
XXV.43–45 The line keeps Dante's euphemistic reticence around generation rather than modernizing the physiology.
XXV.43–45 The line keeps Dante's euphemistic reticence around generation rather than modernizing the physiology. Line 45: The line keeps Dante's euphemistic reticence around generation rather than modernizing the physiology.
XXV.45 The line keeps Dante's euphemistic reticence around generation rather than modernizing the physiology. The line keeps Dante's euphemistic reticence around generation rather than modernizing the physiology.
XXV.46–48 The active seed receives its formative force from the heart, the perfect place in the medieval physiological account.
XXV.46–48 The active seed receives its formative force from the heart, the perfect place in the medieval physiological account. Line 48: The active seed receives its formative force from the heart, the perfect place in the medieval physiological account.
XXV.48 The active seed receives its formative force from the heart, the perfect place in the medieval physiological account. The active seed receives its formative force from the heart, the perfect place in the medieval physiological account.
XXV.52–54 The plant soul has reached its end; the embryo's vegetative stage is still on the way toward fuller powers.
XXV.52–54 The plant soul has reached its end; the embryo's vegetative stage is still on the way toward fuller powers. Line 54: The plant soul has reached its end; the embryo's vegetative stage is still on the way toward fuller powers.
XXV.54 The plant soul has reached its end; the embryo's vegetative stage is still on the way toward fuller powers. The plant soul has reached its end; the embryo's vegetative stage is still on the way toward fuller powers.
XXV.64–66 The reference is to Averroes and the possible intellect, which sets the philosophical context.
XXV.64–66 The reference is to Averroes and the possible intellect, which sets the philosophical context. Line 65: The reference is to Averroes and the possible intellect, which sets the philosophical context.
XXV.65 The reference is to Averroes and the possible intellect, which sets the philosophical context. The reference is to Averroes and the possible intellect, which sets the philosophical context.
The First Mover breathes the rational soul and its powers survive death XXV.67–84
67Apri a la verità che viene il petto;
e sappi che, sì tosto come al feto
l’articular del cerebro è perfetto,
70lo motor primo a lui si volge lieto
sovra tant’ arte di natura, e spira
spirito novo, di vertù repleto,
che ciò che trova attivo quivi, tira
in sua sustanzia, e fassi un’alma sola,
75che vive e sente e sé in sé rigira.
E perché meno ammiri la parola,
guarda il calor del sole che si fa vino,
giunto a l’omor che de la vite cola.
Quando Làchesis non ha più del lino,
80solvesi da la carne, e in virtute
ne porta seco e l’umano e ’l divino:
l’altre potenze tutte quante mute;
memoria, intelligenza e volontade
in atto molto più che prima agute.
67Open your breast to the truth that comes;
and know that, as soon as in the fetus
the articulation of the brain is perfect,
70the First Mover turns to it gladly
over so much art of nature, and breathes
a new spirit, filled with power,
which draws what it finds active there
into its own substance, and becomes one single soul,
75that lives and feels and circles back on itself.
And that you may wonder less at the word,
look at the heat of the sun that becomes wine,
joined to the moisture that drips from the vine.
When Lachesis has no more thread,
80it is loosed from the flesh, and in power
bears away with itself both the human and the divine:
the other powers all mute;
memory, intellect, and will
in act far sharper than before.
Commentary
The passage turns decisively from natural formation to the First Mover breathing the rational soul. The translation keeps the single-soul doctrine, self-reflection, and the sharpened post-death powers of memory, intellect, and will.
XXV.70–72 The rational soul is directly breathed by God; the translation keeps vertu as power here rather than ordinary virtue.
XXV.70–72 The rational soul is directly breathed by God; the translation keeps vertu as power here rather than ordinary virtue. Line 72: The rational soul is directly breathed by God; the translation keeps vertu as power here rather than ordinary virtue.
XXV.72 The rational soul is directly breathed by God; the translation keeps vertu as power here rather than ordinary virtue. The rational soul is directly breathed by God; the translation keeps vertu as power here rather than ordinary virtue.
XXV.73–75 The final clause marks rational self-reflection rather than another bodily organ.
XXV.73–75 The final clause marks rational self-reflection rather than another bodily organ. Line 75: The final clause marks rational self-reflection rather than another bodily organ.
XXV.75 The final clause marks rational self-reflection rather than another bodily organ. The final clause marks rational self-reflection rather than another bodily organ.
XXV.76–78 The wine analogy lets Dante speak of union and transformation without collapsing spirit into matter.
XXV.76–78 The wine analogy lets Dante speak of union and transformation without collapsing spirit into matter. Line 78: The wine analogy lets Dante speak of union and transformation without collapsing spirit into matter.
XXV.78 The wine analogy lets Dante speak of union and transformation without collapsing spirit into matter. The wine analogy lets Dante speak of union and transformation without collapsing spirit into matter.
XXV.79–81 In virtute is rendered as the soul carrying its human and divine powers virtually/potentially after bodily death.
XXV.79–81 In virtute is rendered as the soul carrying its human and divine powers virtually/potentially after bodily death. Line 81: In virtute is rendered as the soul carrying its human and divine powers virtually/potentially after bodily death.
XXV.81 In virtute is rendered as the soul carrying its human and divine powers virtually/potentially after bodily death. In virtute is rendered as the soul carrying its human and divine powers virtually/potentially after bodily death.
XXV.82–84 The spiritual faculties remain active and intensified after death, unlike the bodily sense powers.
XXV.82–84 The spiritual faculties remain active and intensified after death, unlike the bodily sense powers. Line 84: The spiritual faculties remain active and intensified after death, unlike the bodily sense powers.
XXV.84 The spiritual faculties remain active and intensified after death, unlike the bodily sense powers. The spiritual faculties remain active and intensified after death, unlike the bodily sense powers.
The soul forms its aerial shade body after death XXV.85–108
85Sanza restarsi, per sé stessa cade
mirabilmente a l’una de le rive;
quivi conosce prima le sue strade.
Tosto che loco lì la circunscrive,
la virtù formativa raggia intorno
90così e quanto ne le membra vive.
E come l’aere, quand’ è ben pïorno,
per l’altrui raggio che ’n sé si reflette,
di diversi color diventa addorno;
così l’aere vicin quivi si mette
95e in quella forma ch’è in lui suggella
virtüalmente l’alma che ristette;
e simigliante poi a la fiammella
che segue il foco là ’vunque si muta,
segue lo spirto sua forma novella.
100Però che quindi ha poscia sua paruta,
è chiamata ombra; e quindi organa poi
ciascun sentire infino a la veduta.
Quindi parliamo e quindi ridiam noi;
quindi facciam le lagrime e ’ sospiri
105che per lo monte aver sentiti puoi.
Secondo che ci affliggono i disiri
e li altri affetti, l’ombra si figura;
e quest’ è la cagion di che tu miri».
85Without stopping, by itself it falls
marvelously to one of the shores;
there it first knows its own roads.
As soon as place there circumscribes it,
the formative power radiates around it
90just as, and as much as, in the living limbs.
And as the air, when it is full of rain,
by another's ray reflected in itself,
becomes adorned with various colors;
so the nearby air there sets itself
95in the form that the soul seals in it
by its power, once it has stopped there;
and then, like the little flame
that follows the fire wherever it shifts,
the spirit's new form follows it.
100Because from this it afterward has its appearance,
it is called a shade; and from this it then organs
each sense, even as far as sight.
From this we speak, and from this we laugh;
from this we make the tears and sighs
105that you may have heard through the mountain.
According as desires afflict us
and the other affections, the shade takes shape;
and this is the cause of what you wonder at."
Commentary
The soul falls immediately to its shore, and the shade-body is aerial. The translation keeps shade, organs, and desire-shaped appearance so the answer to Dante's gluttony question remains tied to purgatorial affections.
XXV.85–87 The soul immediately knows whether it goes toward punishment or salvation; the translation preserves strade as roads rather than abstract destiny.
XXV.85–87 The soul immediately knows whether it goes toward punishment or salvation; the translation preserves strade as roads rather than abstract destiny. Line 87: The soul immediately knows whether it goes toward punishment or salvation; the translation preserves strade as roads rather than abstract destiny.
XXV.87 The soul immediately knows whether it goes toward punishment or salvation; the translation preserves strade as roads rather than abstract destiny. The soul immediately knows whether it goes toward punishment or salvation; the translation preserves strade as roads rather than abstract destiny.
XXV.94–96 Dante's shade body is an aerial form impressed by the soul's formative power, not a material body needing food.
XXV.94–96 Dante's shade body is an aerial form impressed by the soul's formative power, not a material body needing food. Line 96: Dante's shade body is an aerial form impressed by the soul's formative power, not a material body needing food.
XXV.96 Dante's shade body is an aerial form impressed by the soul's formative power, not a material body needing food. Dante's shade body is an aerial form impressed by the soul's formative power, not a material body needing food.
XXV.100–102 Ombra is kept as shade, and organa is rendered directly to preserve the making of sense-organs in the aerial body.
XXV.100–102 Ombra is kept as shade, and organa is rendered directly to preserve the making of sense-organs in the aerial body. Line 101: Ombra is kept as shade, and organa is rendered directly to preserve the making of sense-organs in the aerial body.
XXV.101 Ombra is kept as shade, and organa is rendered directly to preserve the making of sense-organs in the aerial body. Ombra is kept as shade, and organa is rendered directly to preserve the making of sense-organs in the aerial body.
XXV.106–108 The visible purgatorial body is shaped by desire and affection, which keeps the canto inside Purgatorio's education of love.
XXV.106–108 The visible purgatorial body is shaped by desire and affection, which keeps the canto inside Purgatorio's education of love. Line 107: The visible purgatorial body is shaped by desire and affection, which keeps the canto inside Purgatorio's education of love.
XXV.107 The visible purgatorial body is shaped by desire and affection, which keeps the canto inside Purgatorio's education of love. The visible purgatorial body is shaped by desire and affection, which keeps the canto inside Purgatorio's education of love.
The poets reach the seventh terrace fire and the narrow open path XXV.109–120
109E già venuto a l’ultima tortura
110s’era per noi, e vòlto a la man destra,
ed eravamo attenti ad altra cura.
Quivi la ripa fiamma in fuor balestra,
e la cornice spira fiato in suso
che la reflette e via da lei sequestra;
115ond’ ir ne convenia dal lato schiuso
ad uno ad uno; e io temëa ’l foco
quinci, e quindi temeva cader giuso.
Lo duca mio dicea: «Per questo loco
si vuol tenere a li occhi stretto il freno,
120però ch’errar potrebbesi per poco».
109And already the last twisting turn had come for us,
110and we had turned to the right hand,
and were intent on another care.
There the bank hurls flame outward,
and the ledge breathes a blast upward
that reflects it and keeps a path apart from it;
115so we had to go along the open side
one by one; and I feared the fire
on this side, and on that I feared falling down.
My guide was saying: "Through this place
one must hold the rein tight upon the eyes,
120because one could go astray for little."
Commentary
The passage moves to the seventh terrace: the right-hand turn, flame and updraft, single-file danger, and Virgil's warning to rein the eyes. The translation keeps sight discipline central as the canto moves from appetite to lust.
XXV.109–111 Ultima tortura is kept as a physical turning/twist with a possible torment echo noted.
XXV.109–111 Ultima tortura is kept as a physical turning/twist with a possible torment echo noted. Line 109: Ultima tortura is kept as a physical turning/twist with a possible torment echo noted.
XXV.109 Ultima tortura is kept as a physical turning/twist with a possible torment echo noted. Ultima tortura is kept as a physical turning/twist with a possible torment echo noted.
XXV.118–120 The seventh terrace shifts discipline to the eyes as well as bodily footing; a small error can turn desire toward danger.
XXV.118–120 The seventh terrace shifts discipline to the eyes as well as bodily footing; a small error can turn desire toward danger. Line 119: The seventh terrace shifts discipline to the eyes as well as bodily footing; a small error can turn desire toward danger.
XXV.119 The seventh terrace shifts discipline to the eyes as well as bodily footing; a small error can turn desire toward danger. The seventh terrace shifts discipline to the eyes as well as bodily footing; a small error can turn desire toward danger.
The lustful sing for mercy and cry chastity examples in the fire XXV.121–139
121‘Summae Deus clementïae’ nel seno
al grande ardore allora udi’ cantando,
che di volger mi fé caler non meno;
e vidi spirti per la fiamma andando;
125per ch’io guardava a loro e a’ miei passi
compartendo la vista a quando a quando.
Appresso il fine ch’a quell’ inno fassi,
gridavano alto: ‘Virum non cognosco’;
indi ricominciavan l’inno bassi.
130Finitolo, anco gridavano: «Al bosco
si tenne Diana, ed Elice caccionne
che di Venere avea sentito il tòsco».
Indi al cantar tornavano; indi donne
gridavano e mariti che fuor casti
135come virtute e matrimonio imponne.
E questo modo credo che lor basti
per tutto il tempo che ’l foco li abbruscia:
con tal cura conviene e con tai pasti
che la piaga da sezzo si ricuscia.
121`Summae Deus clementiae,' in the bosom
of the great burning then I heard being sung,
which made me no less eager to turn;
and I saw spirits going through the flame;
125so I watched them and my own steps,
apportioning my sight now here, now there.
After they made an end of that hymn,
they cried aloud: `Virum non cognosco';
then they began the hymn again in low voices.
130When they had finished it, again they cried: "In the wood
Diana kept herself, and drove out Helice,
who had felt Venus's poison."
Then they returned to singing; then women
and husbands cried out, who were chaste
135as virtue and marriage command.
And I believe this mode is enough for them
for all the time the fire burns them:
with such cure, and with such food,
the wound at last must be stitched closed.
Commentary
The passage gives the Latin hymn, Mary's Virum non cognosco, Diana and Helice, chaste spouses, and the final cure/food/wound imagery. The translation keeps the examples as shouted purgative discipline inside song rather than turning them into explanatory paraphrase.
XXV.121–123 The Latin hymn is retained; it is a liturgical prayer for purity amid the purging fire.
XXV.121–123 The Latin hymn is retained; it is a liturgical prayer for purity amid the purging fire. Line 121: The Latin hymn is retained; it is a liturgical prayer for purity amid the purging fire.
XXV.121 The Latin hymn is retained; it is a liturgical prayer for purity amid the purging fire. The Latin hymn is retained; it is a liturgical prayer for purity amid the purging fire.
XXV.127–129 Mary's words in Luke 1:34 serve as the first chastity example for the lust terrace.
XXV.127–129 Mary's words in Luke 1:34 serve as the first chastity example for the lust terrace. Line 128: Mary's words in Luke 1:34 serve as the first chastity example for the lust terrace.
XXV.128 Mary's words in Luke 1:34 serve as the first chastity example for the lust terrace. Mary's words in Luke 1:34 serve as the first chastity example for the lust terrace.
XXV.130–132 Diana and Helice/Callisto provide the classical chastity example paired with Mary's virginal reply.
XXV.130–132 Diana and Helice/Callisto provide the classical chastity example paired with Mary's virginal reply. Line 132: Diana and Helice/Callisto provide the classical chastity example paired with Mary's virginal reply.
XXV.132 Diana and Helice/Callisto provide the classical chastity example paired with Mary's virginal reply. Diana and Helice/Callisto provide the classical chastity example paired with Mary's virginal reply.
XXV.139 The canto closes with healing imagery: repeated song, chastity examples, and fire are the food/cure that closes the final wound. The canto closes with healing imagery: repeated song, chastity examples, and fire are the food/cure that closes the final wound.