Purgatorio, Canto 30
Dante Alighieri · Italian original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
The living lights halt and the elders turn toward the chariot as one calls Beatrice from the Song of Songs. Angels rise over the chariot, scatter flowers, and Beatrice appears veiled in white, olive, green, and living flame. Dante feels the old power of love before he sees her face, turns instinctively to Virgil, and discovers Virgil has silently gone. Beatrice names Dante, names herself, and begins a severe rebuke that drives him from shame into tears through the angels' compassionate psalm. She then speaks before the angelic witnesses, explaining Dante's early gifts, her guidance, his turning toward false images of good after her death, her intercessions, and the necessity of penitential tears before Lethe can be crossed.
Narrative arc
- The living lights halt and the elders summon Beatrice to the chariot
- Beatrice appears within the dawn-like cloud of flowers
- Ancient love strikes Dante and Virgil has silently vanished
- Beatrice names Dante, names herself, and begins the bitter maternal rebuke
- The angels' psalm and compassion melt Dante into tears
- Beatrice turns her speech to the eternal witnesses so fault and grief may be measured
- Dante's natural gifts and divine graces once made him richly capable of good
- After Beatrice's death Dante turned from her toward false images of good
- Lethe requires the payment of penitential tears
Central themes
- memory
- shame
- Beatrice
The living lights halt and the elders summon Beatrice to the chariot XXX.1–21
1Quando il settentrïon del primo cielo,
che né occaso mai seppe né orto
né d’altra nebbia che di colpa velo,
e che faceva lì ciascun accorto
5di suo dover, come ’l più basso face
qual temon gira per venire a porto,
fermo s’affisse: la gente verace,
venuta prima tra ’l grifone ed esso,
al carro volse sé come a sua pace;
10e un di loro, quasi da ciel messo,
‘Veni, sponsa, de Libano’ cantando
gridò tre volte, e tutti li altri appresso.
Quali i beati al novissimo bando
surgeran presti ognun di sua caverna,
15la revestita voce alleluiando,
cotali in su la divina basterna
si levar cento, ad vocem tanti senis,
ministri e messaggier di vita etterna.
Tutti dicean: ‘Benedictus qui venis!’,
20e fior gittando e di sopra e dintorno,
‘Manibus, oh, date lilïa plenis!’.
1When the Septentrion of the first heaven,
which never knew setting or rising
nor veil from any mist except guilt,
and which there made each one aware
5of his duty, as the lower one makes
whoever turns the helm to come to harbor,
fixed itself motionless: the truthful people,
who had come first between the griffin and it,
turned themselves to the chariot as to their peace;
10and one of them, as if sent from Heaven,
singing “Veni, sponsa, de Libano,”
cried three times, and all the others after.
As the blessed, at the last summons,
will rise ready, each from his cavern,
15singing Alleluia with the reclothed voice,
so on the divine carriage
a hundred rose, ad vocem tanti senis,
ministers and messengers of eternal life.
All were saying, “Benedictus qui venis!”
20and, casting flowers above and all around,
"Manibus, oh, date lilia plenis!"
Commentary
The Septentrion is the seven living lights/candelabra analogized to the navigational pole stars; the passage also gives the Old Testament figures turning toward the chariot, the Song of Songs summons, resurrection imagery, and the mixed biblical/Virgilian liturgy around Beatrice's arrival.
XXX.1–3 The Septentrion refers back to the seven living lights/candelabra of the procession, analogized to the northern guiding stars. The velo anticipates Beatrice's own veil while keeping the purgatorial problem of sin-obsc.
XXX.1–3 The Septentrion refers back to the seven living lights/candelabra of the procession, analogized to the northern guiding stars. Line 1: The Septentrion refers back to the seven living lights/candelabra of the procession, analogized to the northern guiding stars. Line 3: The velo anticipates Beatrice's own veil while keeping the purgatorial problem of sin-obscured sight active.
XXX.1 The Septentrion refers back to the seven living lights/candelabra of the procession, analogized to the northern guiding stars. The Septentrion refers back to the seven living lights/candelabra of the procession, analogized to the northern guiding stars.
XXX.3 The velo anticipates Beatrice's own veil while keeping the purgatorial problem of sin-obscured sight active. The velo anticipates Beatrice's own veil while keeping the purgatorial problem of sin-obscured sight active.
XXX.4–6 The nautical image makes the lights directive, not decorative; Beatrice's arrival is framed as correct orientation toward port.
XXX.4–6 The nautical image makes the lights directive, not decorative; Beatrice's arrival is framed as correct orientation toward port. Line 6: The nautical image makes the lights directive, not decorative; Beatrice's arrival is framed as correct orientation toward port.
XXX.6 The nautical image makes the lights directive, not decorative; Beatrice's arrival is framed as correct orientation toward port. The nautical image makes the lights directive, not decorative; Beatrice's arrival is framed as correct orientation toward port.
XXX.7–9 Gente verace is kept as truthful people for the figures of the Old Testament books. The chariot becomes the convergence point of fulfilled expectation before Beatrice appears.
XXX.7–9 Gente verace is kept as truthful people for the figures of the Old Testament books. Line 7: Gente verace is kept as truthful people for the figures of the Old Testament books. Line 9: The chariot becomes the convergence point of fulfilled expectation before Beatrice appears.
XXX.7 Gente verace is kept as truthful people for the figures of the Old Testament books. Gente verace is kept as truthful people for the figures of the Old Testament books.
XXX.9 The chariot becomes the convergence point of fulfilled expectation before Beatrice appears. The chariot becomes the convergence point of fulfilled expectation before Beatrice appears.
XXX.10–12 The Latin summons comes from the Song of Songs and is left in Latin to preserve the liturgical-pageant force.
XXX.10–12 The Latin summons comes from the Song of Songs and is left in Latin to preserve the liturgical-pageant force. Line 11: The Latin summons comes from the Song of Songs and is left in Latin to preserve the liturgical-pageant force.
XXX.11 The Latin summons comes from the Song of Songs and is left in Latin to preserve the liturgical-pageant force. The Latin summons comes from the Song of Songs and is left in Latin to preserve the liturgical-pageant force.
XXX.13–15 The simile casts Beatrice's coming as an analogue of final resurrection and judgment. The unusual revestita voce keeps resurrection as bodily re-clothing and renewed praise.
XXX.13–15 The simile casts Beatrice's coming as an analogue of final resurrection and judgment. Line 13: The simile casts Beatrice's coming as an analogue of final resurrection and judgment. Line 15: The unusual revestita voce keeps resurrection as bodily re-clothing and renewed praise.
XXX.13 The simile casts Beatrice's coming as an analogue of final resurrection and judgment. The simile casts Beatrice's coming as an analogue of final resurrection and judgment.
XXX.15 The unusual revestita voce keeps resurrection as bodily re-clothing and renewed praise. The unusual revestita voce keeps resurrection as bodily re-clothing and renewed praise.
XXX.16–18 The Latin phrase is retained as a ceremonial incipit; the hundred is a symbolic angelic multitude.
XXX.16–18 The Latin phrase is retained as a ceremonial incipit; the hundred is a symbolic angelic multitude. Line 17: The Latin phrase is retained as a ceremonial incipit; the hundred is a symbolic angelic multitude.
XXX.17 The Latin phrase is retained as a ceremonial incipit; the hundred is a symbolic angelic multitude. The Latin phrase is retained as a ceremonial incipit; the hundred is a symbolic angelic multitude.
XXX.19–21 The masculine Latin formula keeps Christological pressure within Beatrice's arrival. The Aeneid line is retained in Latin; the scene converts a classical mourning formula into Christian rejoicing.
XXX.19–21 The masculine Latin formula keeps Christological pressure within Beatrice's arrival. Line 19: The masculine Latin formula keeps Christological pressure within Beatrice's arrival. Line 21: The Aeneid line is retained in Latin; the scene converts a classical mourning formula into Christian rejoicing.
XXX.19 The masculine Latin formula keeps Christological pressure within Beatrice's arrival. The masculine Latin formula keeps Christological pressure within Beatrice's arrival.
XXX.21 The Aeneid line is retained in Latin; the scene converts a classical mourning formula into Christian rejoicing. The Aeneid line is retained in Latin; the scene converts a classical mourning formula into Christian rejoicing.
Beatrice appears within the dawn-like cloud of flowers XXX.22–33
22Io vidi già nel cominciar del giorno
la parte orïental tutta rosata,
e l’altro ciel di bel sereno addorno;
25e la faccia del sol nascere ombrata,
sì che per temperanza di vapori
l’occhio la sostenea lunga fïata:
così dentro una nuvola di fiori
che da le mani angeliche saliva
30e ricadeva in giù dentro e di fori,
sovra candido vel cinta d’uliva
donna m’apparve, sotto verde manto
vestita di color di fiamma viva.
22I have seen, at daybreak before now,
the eastern region wholly rose-colored,
and the rest of heaven adorned with clear beauty;
25and the sun's face rise under shade,
so that, through tempering vapors,
the eye sustained it for a long while:
so within a cloud of flowers
that rose from the angelic hands
30and fell back down, inside and outside,
over a white veil, girt with olive,
a lady appeared to me, beneath a green mantle,
dressed in the color of living flame.
Commentary
This passage covers beatrice appears within the dawn-like cloud of flowers.
XXX.31–33 White veil, olive, green mantle, and living flame gather wisdom, peace, and the theological-virtue color field.
XXX.31–33 White veil, olive, green mantle, and living flame gather wisdom, peace, and the theological-virtue color field. Line 31: White veil, olive, green mantle, and living flame gather wisdom, peace, and the theological-virtue color field.
XXX.31 White veil, olive, green mantle, and living flame gather wisdom, peace, and the theological-virtue color field. White veil, olive, green mantle, and living flame gather wisdom, peace, and the theological-virtue color field.
Ancient love strikes Dante and Virgil has silently vanished XXX.34–54
34E lo spirito mio, che già cotanto
35tempo era stato ch’a la sua presenza
non era di stupor, tremando, affranto,
sanza de li occhi aver più conoscenza,
per occulta virtù che da lei mosse,
d’antico amor sentì la gran potenza.
40Tosto che ne la vista mi percosse
l’alta virtù che già m’avea trafitto
prima ch’io fuor di püerizia fosse,
volsimi a la sinistra col respitto
col quale il fantolin corre a la mamma
45quando ha paura o quando elli è afflitto,
per dicere a Virgilio: ‘Men che dramma
di sangue m’è rimaso che non tremi:
conosco i segni de l’antica fiamma’.
Ma Virgilio n’avea lasciati scemi
50di sé, Virgilio dolcissimo patre,
Virgilio a cui per mia salute die’mi;
né quantunque perdeo l’antica matre,
valse a le guance nette di rugiada,
che, lagrimando, non tornasser atre.
34And my spirit, which for so long
35time had not been in her presence,
had not been broken by trembling amazement,
without having further knowledge through the eyes,
by hidden power that moved from her,
felt the great strength of ancient love.
40As soon as upon my sight there struck
the high power that once had pierced me
before I was out of boyhood,
I turned to the left with the appeal
with which the little child runs to his mother
45when he is afraid or when he is afflicted,
to say to Virgil: “Less than a dram
of blood remains in me that does not tremble:
I know the signs of the ancient flame.”
But Virgil had left us bereft
50of himself, Virgil, sweetest father,
Virgil, to whom I gave myself for my salvation;
nor did all that the ancient mother lost
avail my cheeks, cleansed with dew,
to keep them, weeping, from turning dark again.
Commentary
This passage covers ancient love strikes Dante and Virgil has silently vanished.
XXX.37–39 Dante recognizes Beatrice before clear visual recognition; the canto separates sight from the hidden force of love.
XXX.37–39 Dante recognizes Beatrice before clear visual recognition; the canto separates sight from the hidden force of love. Line 37: Dante recognizes Beatrice before clear visual recognition; the canto separates sight from the hidden force of love.
XXX.37 Dante recognizes Beatrice before clear visual recognition; the canto separates sight from the hidden force of love. Dante recognizes Beatrice before clear visual recognition; the canto separates sight from the hidden force of love.
XXX.40–42 The line points back to Dante's first childhood encounter with Beatrice in the Vita nuova.
XXX.40–42 The line points back to Dante's first childhood encounter with Beatrice in the Vita nuova. Line 42: The line points back to Dante's first childhood encounter with Beatrice in the Vita nuova.
XXX.42 The line points back to Dante's first childhood encounter with Beatrice in the Vita nuova. The line points back to Dante's first childhood encounter with Beatrice in the Vita nuova.
XXX.43–45 Respitto is rendered as appeal to carry trust, looking back, and childlike recourse toward Virgil.
XXX.43–45 Respitto is rendered as appeal to carry trust, looking back, and childlike recourse toward Virgil. Line 43: Respitto is rendered as appeal to carry trust, looking back, and childlike recourse toward Virgil.
XXX.43 Respitto is rendered as appeal to carry trust, looking back, and childlike recourse toward Virgil. Respitto is rendered as appeal to carry trust, looking back, and childlike recourse toward Virgil.
XXX.46–48 The line echoes Dido's ancient flame in the Aeneid while reversing the context toward restored, not faithless, love.
XXX.46–48 The line echoes Dido's ancient flame in the Aeneid while reversing the context toward restored, not faithless, love. Line 48: The line echoes Dido's ancient flame in the Aeneid while reversing the context toward restored, not faithless, love.
XXX.48 The line echoes Dido's ancient flame in the Aeneid while reversing the context toward restored, not faithless, love. The line echoes Dido's ancient flame in the Aeneid while reversing the context toward restored, not faithless, love.
XXX.49–51 Virgil's disappearance is not narrated directly; Dante discovers it only when he turns back for support. The triple naming marks the grief of losing the guide who could lead to Beatrice but not past his own limit.
XXX.49–51 Virgil's disappearance is not narrated directly; Dante discovers it only when he turns back for support. Line 49: Virgil's disappearance is not narrated directly; Dante discovers it only when he turns back for support. Line 51: The triple naming marks the grief of losing the guide who could lead to Beatrice but not past his own limit.
XXX.49 Virgil's disappearance is not narrated directly; Dante discovers it only when he turns back for support. Virgil's disappearance is not narrated directly; Dante discovers it only when he turns back for support.
XXX.51 The triple naming marks the grief of losing the guide who could lead to Beatrice but not past his own limit. The triple naming marks the grief of losing the guide who could lead to Beatrice but not past his own limit.
XXX.52–54 The ancient mother is Eve; Edenic recovery does not stop Dante's grief over Virgil. The dew recalls the shore cleansing in Purgatorio I.
XXX.52–54 The ancient mother is Eve; Edenic recovery does not stop Dante's grief over Virgil. Line 52: The ancient mother is Eve; Edenic recovery does not stop Dante's grief over Virgil. Line 53: The dew recalls the shore cleansing in Purgatorio I.
XXX.52 The ancient mother is Eve; Edenic recovery does not stop Dante's grief over Virgil. The ancient mother is Eve; Edenic recovery does not stop Dante's grief over Virgil.
XXX.53 The dew recalls the shore cleansing in Purgatorio I. The dew recalls the shore cleansing in Purgatorio I.
Beatrice names Dante, names herself, and begins the bitter maternal rebuke XXX.55–81
55«Dante, perché Virgilio se ne vada,
non pianger anco, non piangere ancora;
ché pianger ti conven per altra spada».
Quasi ammiraglio che in poppa e in prora
viene a veder la gente che ministra
60per li altri legni, e a ben far l’incora;
in su la sponda del carro sinistra,
quando mi volsi al suon del nome mio,
che di necessità qui si registra,
vidi la donna che pria m’appario
65velata sotto l’angelica festa,
drizzar li occhi ver’ me di qua dal rio.
Tutto che ’l vel che le scendea di testa,
cerchiato de le fronde di Minerva,
non la lasciasse parer manifesta,
70regalmente ne l’atto ancor proterva
continüò come colui che dice
e ’l più caldo parlar dietro reserva:
«Guardaci ben! Ben son, ben son Beatrice.
Come degnasti d’accedere al monte?
75non sapei tu che qui è l’uom felice?».
Li occhi mi cadder giù nel chiaro fonte;
ma veggendomi in esso, i trassi a l’erba,
tanta vergogna mi gravò la fronte.
Così la madre al figlio par superba,
80com’ ella parve a me; perché d’amaro
sente il sapor de la pietade acerba.
55"Dante, though Virgil goes away,
do not weep yet, do not weep yet;
for you must weep by another sword.”
Like an admiral who at stern and bow
comes to see the crew that serves
60among the other ships, and urges them to do well;
upon the chariot's left side,
when I turned at the sound of my name,
which of necessity is recorded here,
I saw the lady who first appeared to me
65veiled beneath the angelic festival,
direct her eyes toward me across the stream.
Although the veil that descended from her head,
circled with Minerva's leaves,
did not let her appear openly,
70royal in bearing, still stern,
she continued like one who speaks
and keeps the hotter speech in reserve:
“Look well at me! I am, I am Beatrice.
How did you deign to come to the mountain?
75did you not know that here man is happy?"
My eyes fell down into the clear fountain;
but seeing myself in it, I drew them to the grass,
so much shame weighed upon my brow.
So the mother seems harsh to her son,
80as she seemed to me; for bitter
is the taste of stern pity.
Commentary
This passage covers beatrice names Dante, names herself, and begins the bitter maternal rebuke.
XXX.55–57 This is the only occurrence of Dante's name in the poem and sharpens Beatrice's rebuke. The other sword is Beatrice's purgative accusation.
XXX.55–57 This is the only occurrence of Dante's name in the poem and sharpens Beatrice's rebuke. Line 55: This is the only occurrence of Dante's name in the poem and sharpens Beatrice's rebuke. Line 57: The other sword is Beatrice's purgative accusation.
XXX.55 This is the only occurrence of Dante's name in the poem and sharpens Beatrice's rebuke. This is the only occurrence of Dante's name in the poem and sharpens Beatrice's rebuke.
XXX.57 The other sword is Beatrice's purgative accusation. The other sword is Beatrice's purgative accusation.
XXX.58–60 The admiral simile gives Beatrice public, ship-commanding authority before the more intimate maternal comparison.
XXX.58–60 The admiral simile gives Beatrice public, ship-commanding authority before the more intimate maternal comparison. Line 58: The admiral simile gives Beatrice public, ship-commanding authority before the more intimate maternal comparison.
XXX.58 The admiral simile gives Beatrice public, ship-commanding authority before the more intimate maternal comparison. The admiral simile gives Beatrice public, ship-commanding authority before the more intimate maternal comparison.
XXX.61–63 The narrator marks the exceptional necessity of naming himself.
XXX.61–63 The narrator marks the exceptional necessity of naming himself. Line 63: The narrator marks the exceptional necessity of naming himself.
XXX.63 The narrator marks the exceptional necessity of naming himself. The narrator marks the exceptional necessity of naming himself.
XXX.64–66 The stream still separates Dante from Beatrice and from Lethe's cleansing.
XXX.64–66 The stream still separates Dante from Beatrice and from Lethe's cleansing. Line 66: The stream still separates Dante from Beatrice and from Lethe's cleansing.
XXX.66 The stream still separates Dante from Beatrice and from Lethe's cleansing. The stream still separates Dante from Beatrice and from Lethe's cleansing.
XXX.67–69 Minerva's leaves are olive; the line keeps the classical naming within the Christian pageant.
XXX.67–69 Minerva's leaves are olive; the line keeps the classical naming within the Christian pageant. Line 68: Minerva's leaves are olive; the line keeps the classical naming within the Christian pageant.
XXX.68 Minerva's leaves are olive; the line keeps the classical naming within the Christian pageant. Minerva's leaves are olive; the line keeps the classical naming within the Christian pageant.
XXX.70–72 Proterva is difficult: severe keeps the regal harshness without reducing Beatrice to mere arrogance.
XXX.70–72 Proterva is difficult: severe keeps the regal harshness without reducing Beatrice to mere arrogance. Line 70: Proterva is difficult: severe keeps the regal harshness without reducing Beatrice to mere arrogance.
XXX.70 Proterva is difficult: severe keeps the regal harshness without reducing Beatrice to mere arrogance. Proterva is difficult: severe keeps the regal harshness without reducing Beatrice to mere arrogance.
XXX.73–75 The doubled self-naming answers Dante's named address and demands recognition before consolation. Degnasti carries Beatrice's scornful pressure: Dante dared approach happiness after choosing another way. L'uom is re.
XXX.73–75 The doubled self-naming answers Dante's named address and demands recognition before consolation. Line 73: The doubled self-naming answers Dante's named address and demands recognition before consolation. Line 74: Degnasti carries Beatrice's scornful pressure: Dante dared approach happiness after choosing another way. Line 75: L'uom is rendered generally as man because Beatrice's rebuke reaches beyond Dante's private shame into Edenic human happiness.
XXX.73 The doubled self-naming answers Dante's named address and demands recognition before consolation. The doubled self-naming answers Dante's named address and demands recognition before consolation.
XXX.74 Degnasti carries Beatrice's scornful pressure: Dante dared approach happiness after choosing another way. Degnasti carries Beatrice's scornful pressure: Dante dared approach happiness after choosing another way.
XXX.75 L'uom is rendered generally as man because Beatrice's rebuke reaches beyond Dante's private shame into Edenic human happiness. L'uom is rendered generally as man because Beatrice's rebuke reaches beyond Dante's private shame into Edenic human happiness.
XXX.76–78 The clear water forces self-sight before Dante can endure looking at Beatrice.
XXX.76–78 The clear water forces self-sight before Dante can endure looking at Beatrice. Line 77: The clear water forces self-sight before Dante can endure looking at Beatrice.
XXX.77 The clear water forces self-sight before Dante can endure looking at Beatrice. The clear water forces self-sight before Dante can endure looking at Beatrice.
XXX.79–81 Superba is relational: the mother's corrective authority feels proud or harsh to the child. The phrase keeps pity's bitterness as love before sweetness, not cruelty.
XXX.79–81 Superba is relational: the mother's corrective authority feels proud or harsh to the child. Line 79: Superba is relational: the mother's corrective authority feels proud or harsh to the child. Line 81: The phrase keeps pity's bitterness as love before sweetness, not cruelty.
XXX.79 Superba is relational: the mother's corrective authority feels proud or harsh to the child. Superba is relational: the mother's corrective authority feels proud or harsh to the child.
XXX.81 The phrase keeps pity's bitterness as love before sweetness, not cruelty. The phrase keeps pity's bitterness as love before sweetness, not cruelty.
The angels' psalm and compassion melt Dante into tears XXX.82–99
82Ella si tacque; e li angeli cantaro
di sùbito ‘In te, Domine, speravi’;
ma oltre ‘pedes meos’ non passaro.
85Sì come neve tra le vive travi
per lo dosso d’Italia si congela,
soffiata e stretta da li venti schiavi,
poi, liquefatta, in sé stessa trapela,
pur che la terra che perde ombra spiri,
90sì che par foco fonder la candela;
così fui sanza lagrime e sospiri
anzi ’l cantar di quei che notan sempre
dietro a le note de li etterni giri;
ma poi che ’ntesi ne le dolci tempre
95lor compatire a me, par che se detto
avesser: ‘Donna, perché sì lo stempre?’,
lo gel che m’era intorno al cor ristretto,
spirito e acqua fessi, e con angoscia
de la bocca e de li occhi uscì del petto.
82She fell silent; and the angels sang
suddenly, “In te, Domine, speravi”;
but beyond “pedes meos” they did not pass.
85Just as snow among the living beams
along the ridge of Italy freezes,
blown and packed by the Slavic winds,
then, melted, trickles into itself,
provided the land that loses shadow breathes,
90so that it seems fire melting a candle;
so I was without tears and sighs
before the singing of those who always keep
after the notes of the eternal circles;
but when I heard, in their sweet tempering,
95their compassion for me, as if they had said,
“Lady, why do you so unmake him?”,
the ice that had tightened around my heart,
became breath and water, and with anguish
came from my breast through mouth and eyes.
Commentary
The passage gives the angels' interrupted psalm, the Apennine snow simile, the music/tempering language, and the melting of heart-ice into breath and tears. The translation keeps the canto's purgative movement from frozen shame to weeping.
XXX.82–84 The Latin psalm begins the angels' compassionate intercession. The cutoff preserves the exact psalm boundary Dante marks before Beatrice resumes.
XXX.82–84 The Latin psalm begins the angels' compassionate intercession. Line 83: The Latin psalm begins the angels' compassionate intercession. Line 84: The cutoff preserves the exact psalm boundary Dante marks before Beatrice resumes.
XXX.83 The Latin psalm begins the angels' compassionate intercession. The Latin psalm begins the angels' compassionate intercession.
XXX.84 The cutoff preserves the exact psalm boundary Dante marks before Beatrice resumes. The cutoff preserves the exact psalm boundary Dante marks before Beatrice resumes.
XXX.85–87 Vive travi keeps the living-timber image of trees or mountain ribs in the Apennine snow simile.
XXX.85–87 Vive travi keeps the living-timber image of trees or mountain ribs in the Apennine snow simile. Line 85: Vive travi keeps the living-timber image of trees or mountain ribs in the Apennine snow simile.
XXX.85 Vive travi keeps the living-timber image of trees or mountain ribs in the Apennine snow simile. Vive travi keeps the living-timber image of trees or mountain ribs in the Apennine snow simile.
XXX.88–90 The land that loses shadow is Africa or the southern warm wind; the line is kept concrete.
XXX.88–90 The land that loses shadow is Africa or the southern warm wind; the line is kept concrete. Line 89: The land that loses shadow is Africa or the southern warm wind; the line is kept concrete.
XXX.89 The land that loses shadow is Africa or the southern warm wind; the line is kept concrete. The land that loses shadow is Africa or the southern warm wind; the line is kept concrete.
XXX.91–93 The music language keeps notan as following notes, preparing the sweet tempering in line 94.
XXX.91–93 The music language keeps notan as following notes, preparing the sweet tempering in line 94. Line 92: The music language keeps notan as following notes, preparing the sweet tempering in line 94.
XXX.92 The music language keeps notan as following notes, preparing the sweet tempering in line 94. The music language keeps notan as following notes, preparing the sweet tempering in line 94.
XXX.94–96 Tempre keeps musical tuning and emotional tempering together. Unmake keeps the sense of Beatrice's speech undoing Dante's current temper or tuning.
XXX.94–96 Tempre keeps musical tuning and emotional tempering together. Line 94: Tempre keeps musical tuning and emotional tempering together. Line 96: Unmake keeps the sense of Beatrice's speech undoing Dante's current temper or tuning.
XXX.94 Tempre keeps musical tuning and emotional tempering together. Tempre keeps musical tuning and emotional tempering together.
XXX.96 Unmake keeps the sense of Beatrice's speech undoing Dante's current temper or tuning. Unmake keeps the sense of Beatrice's speech undoing Dante's current temper or tuning.
XXX.97–99 Breath and water render the sobs and tears released from frozen shame.
XXX.97–99 Breath and water render the sobs and tears released from frozen shame. Line 98: Breath and water render the sobs and tears released from frozen shame.
XXX.98 Breath and water render the sobs and tears released from frozen shame. Breath and water render the sobs and tears released from frozen shame.
Beatrice turns her speech to the eternal witnesses so fault and grief may be measured XXX.100–108
100Ella, pur ferma in su la detta coscia
del carro stando, a le sustanze pie
volse le sue parole così poscia:
«Voi vigilate ne l’etterno die,
sì che notte né sonno a voi non fura
105passo che faccia il secol per sue vie;
onde la mia risposta è con più cura
che m’intenda colui che di là piagne,
perché sia colpa e duol d’una misura.
100She, still standing firm on the aforesaid side
of the chariot, to the holy beings
then turned her words in this way:
“You keep watch in the eternal day,
so that neither night nor sleep steals from you
105one step the world makes along its ways;
therefore my answer is with greater care
that he who weeps over there may understand me,
so guilt and grief may keep one measure.
Commentary
This passage covers beatrice turns her speech to the eternal witnesses so fault and grief may be measured.
XXX.100–102 Sustanze pie names the angelic witnesses as both holy and compassionate.
XXX.100–102 Sustanze pie names the angelic witnesses as both holy and compassionate. Line 101: Sustanze pie names the angelic witnesses as both holy and compassionate.
XXX.101 Sustanze pie names the angelic witnesses as both holy and compassionate. Sustanze pie names the angelic witnesses as both holy and compassionate.
XXX.106–108 Beatrice's speech takes a formal judicial shape before angelic witnesses. The aim is not humiliation alone but measured contrition.
XXX.106–108 Beatrice's speech takes a formal judicial shape before angelic witnesses. Line 106: Beatrice's speech takes a formal judicial shape before angelic witnesses. Line 108: The aim is not humiliation alone but measured contrition.
XXX.106 Beatrice's speech takes a formal judicial shape before angelic witnesses. Beatrice's speech takes a formal judicial shape before angelic witnesses.
XXX.108 The aim is not humiliation alone but measured contrition. The aim is not humiliation alone but measured contrition.
Dante's natural gifts and divine graces once made him richly capable of good XXX.109–123
109Non pur per ovra de le rote magne,
110che drizzan ciascun seme ad alcun fine
secondo che le stelle son compagne,
ma per larghezza di grazie divine,
che sì alti vapori hanno a lor piova,
che nostre viste là non van vicine,
115questi fu tal ne la sua vita nova
virtüalmente, ch’ogne abito destro
fatto averebbe in lui mirabil prova.
Ma tanto più maligno e più silvestro
si fa ’l terren col mal seme e non cólto,
120quant’ elli ha più di buon vigor terrestro.
Alcun tempo il sostenni col mio volto:
mostrando li occhi giovanetti a lui,
meco il menava in dritta parte vòlto.
109Not only through the working of the great wheels,
110which direct every seed toward some end
according as the stars are companions,
but through largesse of divine graces,
which have such high vapors for their rain
that our sight does not come near them,
115this man was such in his new life
in potency, that every right habit
would have made admirable proof in him.
But the more malignant and wild
the soil becomes with bad seed and left untilled,
120the more good earthly vigor it has.
For a time I sustained him with my face:
showing my youthful eyes to him,
I led him with me, turned toward the right part.
Commentary
This passage covers dante's natural gifts and divine graces once made him richly capable of good.
XXX.109–111 The great wheels are the heavens as natural and astrological causes under providence.
XXX.109–111 The great wheels are the heavens as natural and astrological causes under providence. Line 109: The great wheels are the heavens as natural and astrological causes under providence.
XXX.109 The great wheels are the heavens as natural and astrological causes under providence. The great wheels are the heavens as natural and astrological causes under providence.
XXX.112–114 The sentence pairs natural endowment with superabundant grace. Even Beatrice includes herself in the limit of creaturely sight before divine grace.
XXX.112–114 The sentence pairs natural endowment with superabundant grace. Line 112: The sentence pairs natural endowment with superabundant grace. Line 114: Even Beatrice includes herself in the limit of creaturely sight before divine grace.
XXX.112 The sentence pairs natural endowment with superabundant grace. The sentence pairs natural endowment with superabundant grace.
XXX.114 Even Beatrice includes herself in the limit of creaturely sight before divine grace. Even Beatrice includes herself in the limit of creaturely sight before divine grace.
XXX.115–117 The phrase points to Dante's early life with Beatrice and to the Vita nuova without forcing the title into English. Virtüalmente is rendered as in potential for unrealized moral and intellectual capacity.
XXX.115–117 The phrase points to Dante's early life with Beatrice and to the Vita nuova without forcing the title into English. Line 115: The phrase points to Dante's early life with Beatrice and to the Vita nuova without forcing the title into English. Line 116: Virtüalmente is rendered as in potential for unrealized moral and intellectual capacity.
XXX.115 The phrase points to Dante's early life with Beatrice and to the Vita nuova without forcing the title into English. The phrase points to Dante's early life with Beatrice and to the Vita nuova without forcing the title into English.
XXX.116 Virtüalmente is rendered as in potential for unrealized moral and intellectual capacity. Virtüalmente is rendered as in potential for unrealized moral and intellectual capacity.
XXX.118–120 Silvestro recalls the poem's wild-way language: strong soil neglected becomes more savage.
XXX.118–120 Silvestro recalls the poem's wild-way language: strong soil neglected becomes more savage. Line 118: Silvestro recalls the poem's wild-way language: strong soil neglected becomes more savage.
XXX.118 Silvestro recalls the poem's wild-way language: strong soil neglected becomes more savage. Silvestro recalls the poem's wild-way language: strong soil neglected becomes more savage.
XXX.121–123 The dritta language answers the lost straight way and Beatrice's early guidance.
XXX.121–123 The dritta language answers the lost straight way and Beatrice's early guidance. Line 123: The dritta language answers the lost straight way and Beatrice's early guidance.
XXX.123 The dritta language answers the lost straight way and Beatrice's early guidance. The dritta language answers the lost straight way and Beatrice's early guidance.
After Beatrice's death Dante turned from her toward false images of good XXX.124–141
124Sì tosto come in su la soglia fui
125di mia seconda etade e mutai vita,
questi si tolse a me, e diessi altrui.
Quando di carne a spirto era salita,
e bellezza e virtù cresciuta m’era,
fu’ io a lui men cara e men gradita;
130e volse i passi suoi per via non vera,
imagini di ben seguendo false,
che nulla promession rendono intera.
Né l’impetrare ispirazion mi valse,
con le quali e in sogno e altrimenti
135lo rivocai: sì poco a lui ne calse!
Tanto giù cadde, che tutti argomenti
a la salute sua eran già corti,
fuor che mostrarli le perdute genti.
Per questo visitai l’uscio d’i morti,
140e a colui che l’ha qua sù condotto,
li prieghi miei, piangendo, furon porti.
124As soon as I was on the threshold
125of my second age and changed life,
this man withdrew from me, and gave himself to others.
When from flesh to spirit I had risen,
and beauty and virtue had increased in me,
I was less dear and less pleasing to him;
130and he turned his steps along a way not true,
following false images of good,
which render no promise whole.
Nor did the inspirations I won by prayer avail me,
with which, in dream and otherwise,
135I called him back: so little did he care!
So far down he fell that all means
for his salvation were already too short,
except to show him the lost people.
For this I visited the threshold of the dead,
140and to the one who has led him up here,
my prayers were brought, with weeping.
Commentary
This passage covers after Beatrice's death Dante turned from her toward false images of good.
XXX.124–126 Beatrice names her death as a change of life, not extinction. Altrui is kept plural-open; the rebuke concerns disordered temporal attractions after Beatrice's death.
XXX.124–126 Beatrice names her death as a change of life, not extinction. Line 125: Beatrice names her death as a change of life, not extinction. Line 126: Altrui is kept plural-open; the rebuke concerns disordered temporal attractions after Beatrice's death.
XXX.125 Beatrice names her death as a change of life, not extinction. Beatrice names her death as a change of life, not extinction.
XXX.126 Altrui is kept plural-open; the rebuke concerns disordered temporal attractions after Beatrice's death. Altrui is kept plural-open; the rebuke concerns disordered temporal attractions after Beatrice's death.
XXX.130–132 Via non vera explicitly reverses the true/straight way language from the poem's opening. The line names disordered desire as false good rather than simple sensual failure.
XXX.130–132 Via non vera explicitly reverses the true/straight way language from the poem's opening. Line 130: Via non vera explicitly reverses the true/straight way language from the poem's opening. Line 131: The line names disordered desire as false good rather than simple sensual failure.
XXX.130 Via non vera explicitly reverses the true/straight way language from the poem's opening. Via non vera explicitly reverses the true/straight way language from the poem's opening.
XXX.131 The line names disordered desire as false good rather than simple sensual failure. The line names disordered desire as false good rather than simple sensual failure.
XXX.133–135 Impetrare implies prayer-obtained help rather than Beatrice's autonomous power.
XXX.133–135 Impetrare implies prayer-obtained help rather than Beatrice's autonomous power. Line 133: Impetrare implies prayer-obtained help rather than Beatrice's autonomous power.
XXX.133 Impetrare implies prayer-obtained help rather than Beatrice's autonomous power. Impetrare implies prayer-obtained help rather than Beatrice's autonomous power.
XXX.136–138 Argomenti is rendered as means here because the issue is every remedy or recourse becoming insufficient. Beatrice frames the Inferno journey itself as the last necessary remedy.
XXX.136–138 Argomenti is rendered as means here because the issue is every remedy or recourse becoming insufficient. Line 136: Argomenti is rendered as means here because the issue is every remedy or recourse becoming insufficient. Line 138: Beatrice frames the Inferno journey itself as the last necessary remedy.
XXX.136 Argomenti is rendered as means here because the issue is every remedy or recourse becoming insufficient. Argomenti is rendered as means here because the issue is every remedy or recourse becoming insufficient.
XXX.138 Beatrice frames the Inferno journey itself as the last necessary remedy. Beatrice frames the Inferno journey itself as the last necessary remedy.
XXX.139–141 The line refers back to Beatrice's descent to Virgil in Inferno II. Beatrice's own tears in Inferno II answer Dante's required tears here.
XXX.139–141 The line refers back to Beatrice's descent to Virgil in Inferno II. Line 139: The line refers back to Beatrice's descent to Virgil in Inferno II. Line 141: Beatrice's own tears in Inferno II answer Dante's required tears here.
XXX.139 The line refers back to Beatrice's descent to Virgil in Inferno II. The line refers back to Beatrice's descent to Virgil in Inferno II.
XXX.141 Beatrice's own tears in Inferno II answer Dante's required tears here. Beatrice's own tears in Inferno II answer Dante's required tears here.
Lethe requires the payment of penitential tears XXX.142–145
142Alto fato di Dio sarebbe rotto,
se Letè si passasse e tal vivanda
fosse gustata sanza alcuno scotto
145di pentimento che lagrime spanda».
142The high decree of God would be broken,
if Lethe were crossed and such food
were tasted without some payment
145of penitence that pours out tears.”
Commentary
This passage covers lethe requires the payment of penitential tears.
XXX.142–144 Fato is treated as divine decree, not pagan fatalism. Lethe remains a proper name and a purgatorial boundary requiring contrition before cleansing. Scotto keeps the cost/payment image tied to tasting the food of pur.
XXX.142–144 Fato is treated as divine decree, not pagan fatalism. Line 142: Fato is treated as divine decree, not pagan fatalism. Line 143: Lethe remains a proper name and a purgatorial boundary requiring contrition before cleansing. Line 144: Scotto keeps the cost/payment image tied to tasting the food of purified memory.
XXX.142 Fato is treated as divine decree, not pagan fatalism. Fato is treated as divine decree, not pagan fatalism.
XXX.143 Lethe remains a proper name and a purgatorial boundary requiring contrition before cleansing. Lethe remains a proper name and a purgatorial boundary requiring contrition before cleansing.
XXX.144 Scotto keeps the cost/payment image tied to tasting the food of purified memory. Scotto keeps the cost/payment image tied to tasting the food of purified memory.
XXX.145 The canto ends by making tears of repentance the required passage into Lethe. The canto ends by making tears of repentance the required passage into Lethe.