Purgatorio, Canto 3
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
After Cato's rebuke, Dante and Virgil hurry toward the mountain. Virgil is stung by remorse, then teaches Dante not to mistrust him when the pilgrim sees only his own living shadow before him. The explanation of shade-bodies becomes a warning that human reason cannot traverse the infinite way of the Trinity; even Aristotle and Plato desired without the fruit that would have stilled them. At the foot of the steep mountain, Virgil searches for a climbable path until Dante sees a slow, hesitant band of souls. They recoil from Dante's shadow, then direct the poets onward. One of them, Manfred, reveals his wounds, tells how he turned in death to infinite mercy, and asks Dante to tell Constance the truth: excommunication delays souls outside the bank, but eternal love is not lost while hope remains, and prayers from the living can shorten the decree.
Narrative arc
- After Cato's rebuke scatters the souls, Dante clings to Virgil, sees his guide's clean-conscience remorse, and lifts his attention toward the mountain
- Dante's living shadow makes him fear abandonment, and Virgil explains shade-bodies, reason's limit before the Trinity, and Limbo's fruitless desire
- At the impossibly steep mountain foot, Virgil searches for the way upward until Dante sees slow souls who may give counsel
- The approaching excommunicate souls hesitate like timid sheep while Virgil asks where ascent is possible and warns that lost time pains the wise
- The souls recoil from Dante's shadow, Virgil confesses the living body and Heaven-sent power, and the worthy band signs the poets forward
- A wounded fair-haired soul asks Dante to remember him, reveals himself as Manfred, and asks that the truth be carried to Constance
- Manfred recounts his mortal wounds, last repentance, infinite mercy, the bishop of Cosenza's failed reading, and the scattering of his bones outside the kingdom
- Manfred explains the delay for those who die in contumacy and asks Dante to tell Constance, because prayers from the living greatly advance souls here
Central themes
- delay
- repentance
- prayer
- community
- Italy
After Cato's rebuke scatters the souls, Dante clings to Virgil, sees his guide's clean-conscience remorse, and lifts his attention toward the mountain III.1–15
1Avvegna che la subitana fuga
dispergesse color per la campagna,
rivolti al monte ove ragion ne fruga,
i’ mi ristrinsi a la fida compagna:
5e come sare’ io sanza lui corso?
chi m’avria tratto su per la montagna?
El mi parea da sé stesso rimorso:
o dignitosa coscïenza e netta,
come t’è picciol fallo amaro morso!
10Quando li piedi suoi lasciar la fretta,
che l’onestade ad ogn’ atto dismaga,
la mente mia, che prima era ristretta,
lo ’ntento rallargò, sì come vaga,
e diedi ’l viso mio incontr’ al poggio
15che ’nverso ’l ciel più alto si dislaga.
1Although the sudden flight
scattered those souls over the plain,
as they turned toward the mountain where reason spurs us,
I drew close to my faithful companion:
5and how would I have run without him?
who would have drawn me up along the mountain?
He seemed stung by remorse within himself:
O dignified and clear conscience,
how bitter a bite a little fault is to you!
10When his feet left off the haste
that takes dignity from every act,
my mind, which before was drawn in,
widened its attention, as if eager,
and I lifted my face toward the slope
15that rises highest toward the sky.
Commentary
Cato's corrective urgency stays active while Virgil's remorse becomes a Purgatorio conscience moment: a small fault bites a clean conscience sharply, and Dante's attention widens toward the mountain.
III.1–3 Ragion ne fruga is kept active as reason spurring or goading the souls toward the mountain after Cato's rebuke.
III.1–3 Ragion ne fruga is kept active as reason spurring or goading the souls toward the mountain after Cato's rebuke. Line 3: Ragion ne fruga is kept active as reason spurring or goading the souls toward the mountain after Cato's rebuke.
III.3 Ragion ne fruga is kept active as reason spurring or goading the souls toward the mountain after Cato's rebuke. Ragion ne fruga is kept active as reason spurring or goading the souls toward the mountain after Cato's rebuke.
III.7–9 Virgil's remorse is read through a clean conscience: the episode marks Purgatorio's training by small faults, not a collapse of his authority.
III.7–9 Virgil's remorse is read through a clean conscience: the episode marks Purgatorio's training by small faults, not a collapse of his authority. Line 8: Virgil's remorse is read through a clean conscience: the episode marks Purgatorio's training by small faults, not a collapse of his authority.
III.8 Virgil's remorse is read through a clean conscience: the episode marks Purgatorio's training by small faults, not a collapse of his authority. Virgil's remorse is read through a clean conscience: the episode marks Purgatorio's training by small faults, not a collapse of his authority.
III.10–12 Onestade is rendered dignity here because haste mars the fitting form of action, not merely social politeness.
III.10–12 Onestade is rendered dignity here because haste mars the fitting form of action, not merely social politeness. Line 11: Onestade is rendered dignity here because haste mars the fitting form of action, not merely social politeness.
III.11 Onestade is rendered dignity here because haste mars the fitting form of action, not merely social politeness. Onestade is rendered dignity here because haste mars the fitting form of action, not merely social politeness.
III.13–15 Dislaga is compressed as the mountain rising upward; the image remains topographical and aspirational without forcing an etymological gloss into the line.
III.13–15 Dislaga is compressed as the mountain rising upward; the image remains topographical and aspirational without forcing an etymological gloss into the line. Line 15: Dislaga is compressed as the mountain rising upward; the image remains topographical and aspirational without forcing an etymological gloss into the line.
III.15 Dislaga is compressed as the mountain rising upward; the image remains topographical and aspirational without forcing an etymological gloss into the line. Dislaga is compressed as the mountain rising upward; the image remains topographical and aspirational without forcing an etymological gloss into the line.
Dante's living shadow makes him fear abandonment, and Virgil explains shade-bodies, reason's limit before the Trinity, and Limbo's fruitless desire III.16–45
16Lo sol, che dietro fiammeggiava roggio,
rotto m’era dinanzi a la figura,
ch’avëa in me de’ suoi raggi l’appoggio.
Io mi volsi dallato con paura
20d’essere abbandonato, quand’ io vidi
solo dinanzi a me la terra oscura;
e ’l mio conforto: «Perché pur diffidi?»,
a dir mi cominciò tutto rivolto;
«non credi tu me teco e ch’io ti guidi?
25Vespero è già colà dov’ è sepolto
lo corpo dentro al quale io facea ombra;
Napoli l’ha, e da Brandizio è tolto.
Ora, se innanzi a me nulla s’aombra,
non ti maravigliar più che d’i cieli
30che l’uno a l’altro raggio non ingombra.
A sofferir tormenti, caldi e geli
simili corpi la Virtù dispone
che, come fa, non vuol ch’a noi si sveli.
Matto è chi spera che nostra ragione
35possa trascorrer la infinita via
che tiene una sustanza in tre persone.
State contenti, umana gente, al quia;
ché, se potuto aveste veder tutto,
mestier non era parturir Maria;
40e disïar vedeste sanza frutto
tai che sarebbe lor disio quetato,
ch’etternalmente è dato lor per lutto:
io dico d’Aristotile e di Plato
e di molt’ altri»; e qui chinò la fronte,
45e più non disse, e rimase turbato.
16The sun, which flamed red behind me,
was broken before me by my figure,
which had in me the support of its rays.
I turned aside in fear
20of being abandoned, when I saw
only the ground dark before me;
and my comfort began to say to me,
wholly turned toward me: "Why still mistrust?
do you not believe I am with you and guide you?
25Evening is already where lies buried
the body within which I made shadow;
Naples has it, and it was taken from Brindisi.
Now, if before me nothing casts shadow,
do not marvel more than at the heavens,
30where one does not block another's ray.
To suffer torments, heats and chills,
the Power arranges bodies like these,
and does not wish unveiled to us how it does so.
Mad is whoever hopes that our reason
35can traverse the infinite way
that holds one substance in three persons.
Be content, human race, with the quia;
for if you had been able to see everything,
there was no need for Mary to give birth;
40and you saw desire without fruit
in men whose desire would have been quieted,
and it is given them eternally as mourning:
I speak of Aristotle and of Plato
and of many others"; and here he bent his brow,
45and said no more, and remained troubled.
Commentary
The passage keeps the shadow problem, Virgil's Naples/Brindisi body notice, the shade-body mystery, the scholastic quia, the Incarnation pressure, and the Limbo echo through Aristotle and Plato.
III.16–18 The shadow depends on Dante's living body as support for the sun's rays, preparing the souls' later wonder at his embodied ascent.
III.16–18 The shadow depends on Dante's living body as support for the sun's rays, preparing the souls' later wonder at his embodied ascent. Line 18: The shadow depends on Dante's living body as support for the sun's rays, preparing the souls' later wonder at his embodied ascent.
III.18 The shadow depends on Dante's living body as support for the sun's rays, preparing the souls' later wonder at his embodied ascent. The shadow depends on Dante's living body as support for the sun's rays, preparing the souls' later wonder at his embodied ascent.
III.25–27 Virgil locates his buried body by time and geography: evening in Italy, Naples holding what was taken from Brindisi.
III.25–27 Virgil locates his buried body by time and geography: evening in Italy, Naples holding what was taken from Brindisi. Lines 25-27: Virgil locates his buried body by time and geography: evening in Italy, Naples holding what was taken from Brindisi.
III.25 Virgil begins locating his buried body by time and place: vespers has reached where his body is buried. Virgil begins locating his buried body by time and place: vespers has reached where his body is buried.
III.31–33 Capitalized Power follows the Italian Virtù and names divine ordering of aerial or shade-bodies beyond human explanation.
III.31–33 Capitalized Power follows the Italian Virtù and names divine ordering of aerial or shade-bodies beyond human explanation. Line 32: Capitalized Power follows the Italian Virtù and names divine ordering of aerial or shade-bodies beyond human explanation.
III.32 Capitalized Power follows the Italian Virtù and names divine ordering of aerial or shade-bodies beyond human explanation. Capitalized Power follows the Italian Virtù and names divine ordering of aerial or shade-bodies beyond human explanation.
III.37–39 Quia is retained as the scholastic limit of knowing that something is, not why or how the divine mystery works. Mary's childbirth is the Incarnation pressure point: if reason could see all, redemption would not have r.
III.37–39 Quia is retained as the scholastic limit of knowing that something is, not why or how the divine mystery works. Line 37: Quia is retained as the scholastic limit of knowing that something is, not why or how the divine mystery works. Line 39: Mary's childbirth is the Incarnation pressure point: if reason could see all, redemption would not have required birth in time.
III.37 Quia is retained as the scholastic limit of knowing that something is, not why or how the divine mystery works. Quia is retained as the scholastic limit of knowing that something is, not why or how the divine mystery works.
III.39 Mary's childbirth is the Incarnation pressure point: if reason could see all, redemption would not have required birth in time. Mary's childbirth is the Incarnation pressure point: if reason could see all, redemption would not have required birth in time.
III.40–42 The fruitless desire recalls Limbo: Aristotle, Plato, and others desire what would have stilled them, but without the salvific fulfillment Virgil is describing.
III.40–42 The fruitless desire recalls Limbo: Aristotle, Plato, and others desire what would have stilled them, but without the salvific fulfillment Virgil is describing. Line 41: The fruitless desire recalls Limbo: Aristotle, Plato, and others desire what would have stilled them, but without the salvific fulfillment Virgil is describing.
III.41 The fruitless desire recalls Limbo: Aristotle, Plato, and others desire what would have stilled them, but without the salvific fulfillment Virgil is describing. The fruitless desire recalls Limbo: Aristotle, Plato, and others desire what would have stilled them, but without the salvific fulfillment Virgil is describing.
At the impossibly steep mountain foot, Virgil searches for the way upward until Dante sees slow souls who may give counsel III.46–66
46Noi divenimmo intanto a piè del monte;
quivi trovammo la roccia sì erta,
che ’ndarno vi sarien le gambe pronte.
Tra Lerice e Turbìa la più diserta,
50la più rotta ruina è una scala,
verso di quella, agevole e aperta.
«Or chi sa da qual man la costa cala»,
disse ’l maestro mio fermando ’l passo,
«sì che possa salir chi va sanz’ ala?».
55E mentre ch’e’ tenendo ’l viso basso
essaminava del cammin la mente,
e io mirava suso intorno al sasso,
da man sinistra m’apparì una gente
d’anime, che movieno i piè ver’ noi,
60e non pareva, sì venïan lente.
«Leva», diss’ io, «maestro, li occhi tuoi:
ecco di qua chi ne darà consiglio,
se tu da te medesmo aver nol puoi».
Guardò allora, e con libero piglio
65rispuose: «Andiamo in là, ch’ei vegnon piano;
e tu ferma la spene, dolce figlio».
46Meanwhile we came to the mountain's foot;
there we found the rock so steep
that nimble legs would have been useless there.
The most deserted path between Lerici and Turbia,
50the most broken rockfall is a stair
easy and open compared with that.
"Now who knows on which side the slope descends,"
my master said, stopping his step,
"so that one who goes without wings can climb?"
55And while he, holding his face low,
examined the path's intent,
and I looked upward around the stone,
on the left hand there appeared to me a company
of souls, who moved their feet toward us,
60and did not seem to, so slowly did they come.
"Lift up," I said, "master, your eyes:
behold, on this side, those who will give us counsel
if you cannot have it from yourself."
Then he looked, and with an open bearing
65replied: "Let us go that way, for they come slowly;
and make your hope firm, sweet son."
Commentary
The Lerici/Turbia comparison, Virgil's examination of the path's intent, Dante's sighting of the slow souls, and the firming of hope form one search-for-ascent movement.
III.49–51 Ruina is rendered rockfall here rather than the earlier infernal ruin because the local comparison is a broken Ligurian cliff path beside Purgatory's steeper wall.
III.49–51 Ruina is rendered rockfall here rather than the earlier infernal ruin because the local comparison is a broken Ligurian cliff path beside Purgatory's steeper wall. Line 50: Ruina is rendered rockfall here rather than the earlier infernal ruin because the local comparison is a broken Ligurian cliff path beside Purgatory's steeper wall.
III.50 Ruina is rendered rockfall here rather than the earlier infernal ruin because the local comparison is a broken Ligurian cliff path beside Purgatory's steeper wall. Ruina is rendered rockfall here rather than the earlier infernal ruin because the local comparison is a broken Ligurian cliff path beside Purgatory's steeper wall.
III.55–57 Del cammin la mente is kept as the path's intent, an odd but meaningful phrase for Virgil's rational search for the way upward.
III.55–57 Del cammin la mente is kept as the path's intent, an odd but meaningful phrase for Virgil's rational search for the way upward. Line 56: Del cammin la mente is kept as the path's intent, an odd but meaningful phrase for Virgil's rational search for the way upward.
III.56 Del cammin la mente is kept as the path's intent, an odd but meaningful phrase for Virgil's rational search for the way upward. Del cammin la mente is kept as the path's intent, an odd but meaningful phrase for Virgil's rational search for the way upward.
III.64–66 Libero piglio signals Virgil's recovered openness after remorse and perplexity; it also touches the Purgatorio freedom motif.
III.64–66 Libero piglio signals Virgil's recovered openness after remorse and perplexity; it also touches the Purgatorio freedom motif. Line 64: Libero piglio signals Virgil's recovered openness after remorse and perplexity; it also touches the Purgatorio freedom motif.
III.64 Libero piglio signals Virgil's recovered openness after remorse and perplexity; it also touches the Purgatorio freedom motif. Libero piglio signals Virgil's recovered openness after remorse and perplexity; it also touches the Purgatorio freedom motif.
The approaching excommunicate souls hesitate like timid sheep while Virgil asks where ascent is possible and warns that lost time pains the wise III.67–87
67Ancora era quel popol di lontano,
i’ dico dopo i nostri mille passi,
quanto un buon gittator trarria con mano,
70quando si strinser tutti ai duri massi
de l’alta ripa, e stetter fermi e stretti
com’ a guardar, chi va dubbiando, stassi.
«O ben finiti, o già spiriti eletti»,
Virgilio incominciò, «per quella pace
75ch’i’ credo che per voi tutti s’aspetti,
ditene dove la montagna giace,
sì che possibil sia l’andare in suso;
ché perder tempo a chi più sa più spiace».
Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso
80a una, a due, a tre, e l’altre stanno
timidette atterrando l’occhio e ’l muso;
e ciò che fa la prima, e l’altre fanno,
addossandosi a lei, s’ella s’arresta,
semplici e quete, e lo ’mperché non sanno;
85sì vid’ io muovere a venir la testa
di quella mandra fortunata allotta,
pudica in faccia e ne l’andare onesta.
67That people was still as far away,
I mean after our thousand steps,
as a good thrower could cast by hand,
70when all pressed themselves against the hard rocks
of the high bank, and stood fixed and close,
as one who goes in doubt stands still to look.
"O you who ended well, O spirits already elect,"
Virgil began, "by that peace
75which I believe is awaited by all of you,
tell us where the mountain lies
so that the going upward may be possible;
for wasting time pains most the one who knows most."
As little sheep come out from the fold
80one, two, three at a time, while the others stand
timid, lowering eye and muzzle;
and what the first does, the others do,
crowding against her if she stops,
simple and quiet, and they do not know why;
85so then I saw the head begin to move
of that fortunate flock, coming toward us,
modest in face and dignified in gait.
Commentary
This passage covers the approaching excommunicate souls hesitate like timid sheep while Virgil asks where ascent is possible and warns that lost time pains the wise.
III.73–75 Ben finiti names souls who made a good end; the phrase anticipates Manfred, whose end was hidden from earthly judgment.
III.73–75 Ben finiti names souls who made a good end; the phrase anticipates Manfred, whose end was hidden from earthly judgment. Line 73: Ben finiti names souls who made a good end; the phrase anticipates Manfred, whose end was hidden from earthly judgment.
III.73 Ben finiti names souls who made a good end; the phrase anticipates Manfred, whose end was hidden from earthly judgment. Ben finiti names souls who made a good end; the phrase anticipates Manfred, whose end was hidden from earthly judgment.
III.76–78 Virgil's maxim makes time morally charged in Purgatorio: one who knows more should be more pained by delay.
III.76–78 Virgil's maxim makes time morally charged in Purgatorio: one who knows more should be more pained by delay. Line 78: Virgil's maxim makes time morally charged in Purgatorio: one who knows more should be more pained by delay.
III.78 Virgil's maxim makes time morally charged in Purgatorio: one who knows more should be more pained by delay. Virgil's maxim makes time morally charged in Purgatorio: one who knows more should be more pained by delay.
III.85–87 The sheep simile stays gentle: the excommunicate souls are fortunate, modest, and dignified, though still hesitant and dependent on one another.
III.85–87 The sheep simile stays gentle: the excommunicate souls are fortunate, modest, and dignified, though still hesitant and dependent on one another. Line 87: The sheep simile stays gentle: the excommunicate souls are fortunate, modest, and dignified, though still hesitant and dependent on one another.
III.87 The sheep simile stays gentle: the excommunicate souls are fortunate, modest, and dignified, though still hesitant and dependent on one another. The sheep simile stays gentle: the excommunicate souls are fortunate, modest, and dignified, though still hesitant and dependent on one another.
The souls recoil from Dante's shadow, Virgil confesses the living body and Heaven-sent power, and the worthy band signs the poets forward III.88–102
88Come color dinanzi vider rotta
la luce in terra dal mio destro canto,
90sì che l’ombra era da me a la grotta,
restaro, e trasser sé in dietro alquanto,
e tutti li altri che venieno appresso,
non sappiendo ’l perché, fenno altrettanto.
«Sanza vostra domanda io vi confesso
95che questo è corpo uman che voi vedete;
per che ’l lume del sole in terra è fesso.
Non vi maravigliate, ma credete
che non sanza virtù che da ciel vegna
cerchi di soverchiar questa parete».
100Così ’l maestro; e quella gente degna
«Tornate», disse, «intrate innanzi dunque»,
coi dossi de le man faccendo insegna.
88As soon as those in front saw broken
the light on the ground by my right side,
90so that the shadow fell from me toward the rock,
they stopped, and drew themselves back a little,
and all the others who were coming after,
not knowing why, did the same.
"Without your asking I confess to you
95that this is a human body you see;
for this reason the sunlight on the ground is split.
Do not marvel, but believe
that not without power that comes from Heaven
does he seek to overcome this wall."
100Thus my master; and those worthy people
said, "Turn back; then go on before us,"
making a sign with the backs of their hands.
Commentary
This passage covers the souls recoil from Dante's shadow, Virgil confesses the living body and Heaven-sent power, and the worthy band signs the poets forward.
III.88–90 The shadow falls from Dante toward the rock because the sun is behind him; the right-side detail makes his living body visible to the souls.
III.88–90 The shadow falls from Dante toward the rock because the sun is behind him; the right-side detail makes his living body visible to the souls. Lines 16-18 and 88-90: The sun behind Dante sets up the shadow; when the leading souls see light broken at his right side and the shadow reaching the rock, his living body becomes visible to them.
III.90 The shadow reaches from Dante toward the rock; with the earlier sun-behind-Dante setup, it becomes the visible sign of his embodied presence. The shadow reaches from Dante toward the rock; with the earlier sun-behind-Dante setup, it becomes the visible sign of his embodied presence.
III.97–99 The power from Heaven, not Dante's autonomous strength or Virgil's natural reason, authorizes the attempt to climb the wall.
III.97–99 The power from Heaven, not Dante's autonomous strength or Virgil's natural reason, authorizes the attempt to climb the wall. Line 98: The power from Heaven, not Dante's autonomous strength or Virgil's natural reason, authorizes the attempt to climb the wall.
III.98 The power from Heaven, not Dante's autonomous strength or Virgil's natural reason, authorizes the attempt to climb the wall. The power from Heaven, not Dante's autonomous strength or Virgil's natural reason, authorizes the attempt to climb the wall.
A wounded fair-haired soul asks Dante to remember him, reveals himself as Manfred, and asks that the truth be carried to Constance III.103–117
103E un di loro incominciò: «Chiunque
tu se’, così andando, volgi ’l viso:
105pon mente se di là mi vedesti unque».
Io mi volsi ver’ lui e guardail fiso:
biondo era e bello e di gentile aspetto,
ma l’un de’ cigli un colpo avea diviso.
Quand’ io mi fui umilmente disdetto
110d’averlo visto mai, el disse: «Or vedi»;
e mostrommi una piaga a sommo ’l petto.
Poi sorridendo disse: «Io son Manfredi,
nepote di Costanza imperadrice;
ond’ io ti priego che, quando tu riedi,
115vadi a mia bella figlia, genitrice
de l’onor di Cicilia e d’Aragona,
e dichi ’l vero a lei, s’altro si dice.
103And one of them began: "Whoever
you are, turn your face as you go:
105consider whether, back there, you ever saw me."
I turned toward him and looked at him steadily:
he was fair-haired and beautiful and of noble aspect,
but a blow had split one of his brows.
When I had humbly denied
110ever having seen him, he said, "Now look";
and he showed me a wound high on his breast.
Then, smiling, he said: "I am Manfred,
grandson of Empress Constance;
therefore I pray you, when you return,
115go to my beautiful daughter, mother
of the honor of Sicily and Aragon,
and tell her the truth, if something else is said.
Commentary
Manfred's recognition scene is dynastically precise: the wound across the brow, wound high on the breast, Empress Constance, and the daughter whose children carry the honor of Sicily and Aragon all remain visible without expanding the line translation into a historical note.
III.103–105 Di là is rendered back there for the living world Dante can return to and where Manfred needs truth restored.
III.103–105 Di là is rendered back there for the living world Dante can return to and where Manfred needs truth restored. Line 105: Di là is rendered back there for the living world Dante can return to and where Manfred needs truth restored.
III.105 Di là is rendered back there for the living world Dante can return to and where Manfred needs truth restored. Di là is rendered back there for the living world Dante can return to and where Manfred needs truth restored.
III.112–114 Manfred is identified in the common English form while the source's dynastic relation to Constance is preserved.
III.112–114 Manfred is identified in the common English form while the source's dynastic relation to Constance is preserved. Line 112: Manfred is identified in the common English form while the source's dynastic relation to Constance is preserved.
III.112 Manfred is identified in the common English form while the source's dynastic relation to Constance is preserved. Manfred is identified in the common English form while the source's dynastic relation to Constance is preserved.
III.115–117 The truth to be told concerns Manfred's repentance and purgatorial delay, against earthly reports of his excommunication and death.
III.115–117 The truth to be told concerns Manfred's repentance and purgatorial delay, against earthly reports of his excommunication and death. Line 117: The truth to be told concerns Manfred's repentance and purgatorial delay, against earthly reports of his excommunication and death.
III.117 The truth to be told concerns Manfred's repentance and purgatorial delay, against earthly reports of his excommunication and death. The truth to be told concerns Manfred's repentance and purgatorial delay, against earthly reports of his excommunication and death.
Manfred recounts his mortal wounds, last repentance, infinite mercy, the bishop of Cosenza's failed reading, and the scattering of his bones outside the kingdom III.118–135
118Poscia ch’io ebbi rotta la persona
di due punte mortali, io mi rendei,
120piangendo, a quei che volontier perdona.
Orribil furon li peccati miei;
ma la bontà infinita ha sì gran braccia,
che prende ciò che si rivolge a lei.
Se ’l pastor di Cosenza, che a la caccia
125di me fu messo per Clemente allora,
avesse in Dio ben letta questa faccia,
l’ossa del corpo mio sarieno ancora
in co del ponte presso a Benevento,
sotto la guardia de la grave mora.
130Or le bagna la pioggia e move il vento
di fuor dal regno, quasi lungo ’l Verde,
dov’ e’ le trasmutò a lume spento.
Per lor maladizion sì non si perde,
che non possa tornar, l’etterno amore,
135mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde.
118After my body had been broken
by two mortal thrusts, I surrendered myself,
120weeping, to Him who gladly pardons.
Horrible were my sins;
but infinite Goodness has such great arms
that it takes whatever turns to it.
If the pastor of Cosenza, who to the hunt
125of me was set by Clement at that time,
had read this page well in God,
the bones of my body would still be
at the head of the bridge near Benevento,
under the guard of the heavy cairn.
130Now rain bathes them and wind moves them
outside the kingdom, somewhere along the Verde,
where he moved them with the lights put out.
Eternal love is not, through their curse,
so lost that it cannot return,
135while hope has any flower of green.
Commentary
The death and burial account turns on repentance and mercy: Manfred's last surrender, infinite Goodness, the bishop of Cosenza under Clement, the page read in God, Benevento, the heavy cairn, the Verde, extinguished lights, and hope's green flower are the theological-political crux.
III.118–120 Manfred's last turn is framed as surrender to the one who gladly pardons, keeping repentance and mercy stronger than the institutional curse.
III.118–120 Manfred's last turn is framed as surrender to the one who gladly pardons, keeping repentance and mercy stronger than the institutional curse. Line 120: Manfred's last turn is framed as surrender to the one who gladly pardons, keeping repentance and mercy stronger than the institutional curse.
III.120 Manfred's last turn is framed as surrender to the one who gladly pardons, keeping repentance and mercy stronger than the institutional curse. Manfred's last turn is framed as surrender to the one who gladly pardons, keeping repentance and mercy stronger than the institutional curse.
III.124–126 Faccia is read as page in God, following the reading/book metaphor around the bishop's failure to read divine mercy rightly.
III.124–126 Faccia is read as page in God, following the reading/book metaphor around the bishop's failure to read divine mercy rightly. Line 126: Faccia is read as page in God, following the reading/book metaphor around the bishop's failure to read divine mercy rightly.
III.126 Faccia is read as page in God, following the reading/book metaphor around the bishop's failure to read divine mercy rightly. Faccia is read as page in God, following the reading/book metaphor around the bishop's failure to read divine mercy rightly.
III.127–129 The heavy cairn over Manfred's bones at Benevento contrasts with their later exposed scattering outside the kingdom.
III.127–129 The heavy cairn over Manfred's bones at Benevento contrasts with their later exposed scattering outside the kingdom. Line 129: The heavy cairn over Manfred's bones at Benevento contrasts with their later exposed scattering outside the kingdom.
III.129 The heavy cairn over Manfred's bones at Benevento contrasts with their later exposed scattering outside the kingdom. The heavy cairn over Manfred's bones at Benevento contrasts with their later exposed scattering outside the kingdom.
III.130–132 The extinguished lights mark the removal of Manfred's bones without honorable funeral rite, not a metaphysical darkness.
III.130–132 The extinguished lights mark the removal of Manfred's bones without honorable funeral rite, not a metaphysical darkness. Line 132: The extinguished lights mark the removal of Manfred's bones without honorable funeral rite, not a metaphysical darkness.
III.132 The extinguished lights mark the removal of Manfred's bones without honorable funeral rite, not a metaphysical darkness. The extinguished lights mark the removal of Manfred's bones without honorable funeral rite, not a metaphysical darkness.
III.133–135 The green flower of hope keeps mercy alive even after excommunication; the color image is retained rather than abstracted.
III.133–135 The green flower of hope keeps mercy alive even after excommunication; the color image is retained rather than abstracted. Line 135: The green flower of hope keeps mercy alive even after excommunication; the color image is retained rather than abstracted.
III.135 The green flower of hope keeps mercy alive even after excommunication; the color image is retained rather than abstracted. The green flower of hope keeps mercy alive even after excommunication; the color image is retained rather than abstracted.
Manfred explains the delay for those who die in contumacy and asks Dante to tell Constance, because prayers from the living greatly advance souls here III.136–145
136Vero è che quale in contumacia more
di Santa Chiesa, ancor ch’al fin si penta,
star li convien da questa ripa in fore,
per ognun tempo ch’elli è stato, trenta,
140in sua presunzïon, se tal decreto
più corto per buon prieghi non diventa.
Vedi oggimai se tu mi puoi far lieto,
revelando a la mia buona Costanza
come m’hai visto, e anco esto divieto;
145ché qui per quei di là molto s’avanza».
136True, whoever dies in contumacy
against Holy Church, even though at the end he repents,
must stay outside this bank,
for every span of time he stayed,
140thirtyfold, in his presumption,
unless such a decree becomes shorter through good prayers.
See now if you can make me glad
by revealing to my good Constance
how you have seen me, and also this ban;
145for here much is gained through those back there."
Commentary
The closing law of contumacy and prayer holds that Church censure can delay but not erase a final turn toward eternal love, and that prayers from the living concretely advance souls in Purgatorio.
III.136–138 Contumacy is kept as the technical ecclesial condition: dying under Church censure, even with final repentance, delays entrance here.
III.136–138 Contumacy is kept as the technical ecclesial condition: dying under Church censure, even with final repentance, delays entrance here. Line 136: Contumacy is kept as the technical ecclesial condition: dying under Church censure, even with final repentance, delays entrance here.
III.136 Contumacy is kept as the technical ecclesial condition: dying under Church censure, even with final repentance, delays entrance here. Contumacy is kept as the technical ecclesial condition: dying under Church censure, even with final repentance, delays entrance here.
III.139–141 Good prayers can shorten the waiting decree, making earthly intercession one of this canto's governing Purgatorio laws.
III.139–141 Good prayers can shorten the waiting decree, making earthly intercession one of this canto's governing Purgatorio laws. Line 141: Good prayers can shorten the waiting decree, making earthly intercession one of this canto's governing Purgatorio laws.
III.141 Good prayers can shorten the waiting decree, making earthly intercession one of this canto's governing Purgatorio laws. Good prayers can shorten the waiting decree, making earthly intercession one of this canto's governing Purgatorio laws.
III.145 Quei di là names those in the living world whose prayers can advance souls here; this closes Manfred's request to Constance. Quei di là names those in the living world whose prayers can advance souls here; this closes Manfred's request to Constance.