Poscia che l'accoglienze oneste e liete
furo iterate tre e quattro volte,
Sordel si trasse, e disse: “Voi, chi siete?”
“Anzi che a questo monte fosser volte
l'anime degne di salire a Dio,
fur l'ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte.
Io son Virgilio; e per null' altro rio
lo ciel perdei che per non aver fé.”
Così rispuose allora il duca mio.
Qual è colui che cosa innanzi sé
sùbita vede ond' e' si maraviglia,
che crede e non, dicendo “Ella è... non è..,”
tal parve quelli; e poi chinò le ciglia,
e umilmente ritornò ver' lui,
e abbracciòl là 've 'l minor s'appiglia.
“O gloria di Latin,” disse, “per cui
mostrò ciò che potea la lingua nostra,
o pregio etterno del loco ond' io fui,
qual merito o qual grazia mi ti mostra?
S'io son d'udir le tue parole degno,
dimmi se vien d'inferno, e di qual chiostra.”
“Per tutt' i cerchi del dolente regno,”
rispuose lui, “son io di qua venuto;
virtù del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno.
Non per far, ma per non fare ho perduto
a veder l'alto Sol che tu disiri
e che fu tardi per me conosciuto.
Luogo è là giù non tristo di martìri,
ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti
non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri.
Quivi sto io coi pargoli innocenti
dai denti morsi de la morte avante
che fosser da l'umana colpa essenti;
quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante
virtù non si vestiro, e sanza vizio
conobber l'altre e seguir tutte quante.
Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcuno indizio
dà noi per che venir possiam più tosto
là dove purgatorio ha dritto inizio.”
Rispuose: “Loco certo non c'è posto;
licito m'è andar suso e intorno;
per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t'accosto.
Ma vedi già come dichina il giorno,
e andar sù di notte non si puote;
però è buon pensar di bel soggiorno.
Anime sono a destra qua remote;
se mi consenti, io ti merrò ad esse,
e non sanza diletto ti fier note.”
“Com' è ciò?” fu risposto.“Che volesse
salir di notte, fora elli impedito
d'altrui, o non sarria ché non potesse?”
E 'l buon Sordello in terra fregò 'l dito,
dicendo: “Vedi? sola questa riga
non varcheresti dopo 'l sol partito:
non però ch'altra cosa desse briga,
che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso;
quella col nonpoder la voglia intriga.
Ben si poria con lei tornare in giuso
e passeggiar la costa intorno errando,
mentre che l'orizzonte il dì tien chiuso.”
Allora il mio segnor, quasi ammirando,
“Menane,” disse, “dunque là 've dici
ch'aver si può diletto dimorando.”
Poco allungati c'eravam di lici,
quand' io m'accorsi che 'l monte era scemo,
a guisa che i vallon li sceman quici.
“Colà,” disse quell' ombra, “n'anderemo
dove la costa face di sé grembo;
e là il novo giorno attenderemo.”
Tra erto e piano era un sentiero schembo,
che ne condusse in fianco de la lacca,
là dove più ch'a mezzo muore il lembo.
Oro e argento fine, cocco e biacca,
indaco, legno lucido e sereno,
fresco smeraldo in l'ora che si fiacca,
da l'erba e da li fior, dentr' a quel seno
posti, ciascun saria di color vinto,
come dal suo maggiore è vinto il meno.
Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto,
ma di soavità di mille odori
vi facea uno incognito e indistinto.
“Salve, Regina” in sul verde e 'n su' fiori
quindi seder cantando anime vidi,
che per la valle non parean di fuori.
“Prima che 'l poco sole omai s'annidi,”
cominciò 'l Mantoan che ci avea vòlti,
“tra color non vogliate ch'io vi guidi.
Di questo balzo meglio li atti e ' volti
conoscerete voi di tutti quanti,
che ne la lama giù tra essi accolti.
Colui che più siede alto e fa sembianti
d'aver negletto ciò che far dovea,
e che non move bocca a li altrui canti,
Rodolfo imperador fu, che potea
sanar le piaghe c'hanno Italia morta,
sì che tardi per altri si ricrea.
L'altro che ne la vista lui conforta,
resse la terra dove l'acqua nasce
che Molta in Albia, e Albia in mar ne porta:
Ottacchero ebbe nome, e ne le fasce
fu meglio assai che Vincislao suo figlio
barbuto, cui lussuria e ozio pasce.
E quel nasetto che stretto a consiglio
par con colui c'ha sì benigno aspetto,
morì fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio:
guardate là come si batte il petto!
L'altro vedete c'ha fatto a la guancia
de la sua palma, sospirando, letto.
Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia:
sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda,
e quindi viene il duol che sì li lancia.
Quel che par sì membruto e che s'accorda,
cantando, con colui dal maschio naso,
d'ogne valor portò cinta la corda;
e se re dopo lui fosse rimaso
lo giovanetto che retro a lui siede,
ben andava il valor di vaso in vaso,
che non si puote dir de l'altre rede;
Iacomo e Federigo hanno i reami;
del retaggio miglior nessun possiede.
Rade volte risurge per li rami
l'umana probitate; e questo vole
quei che la dà, perché da lui si chiami.
Anche al nasuto vanno mie parole
non men ch'a l'altro, Pier, che con lui canta,
onde Puglia e Proenza già si dole.
Tant' è del seme suo minor la pianta,
quanto, più che Beatrice e Margherita,
Costanza di marito ancor si vanta.
Vedete il re de la semplice vita
seder là solo, Arrigo d'Inghilterra:
questi ha ne' rami suoi migliore uscita.
Quel che più basso tra costor s'atterra,
guardando in suso, è Guiglielmo marchese,
per cui e Alessandria e la sua guerra
fa pianger Monferrato e Canavese.”
After the gracious and glad salutations
Had three and four times been reiterated,
Sordello backward drew and said, "Who are you?"
"Or ever to this mountain were directed
The souls deserving to ascend to God,
My bones were buried by Octavian.
I am Virgilius; and for no crime else
Did I lose heaven, than for not having faith;"
In this wise then my Leader made reply.
As one who suddenly before him sees
Something whereat he marvels, who believes
And yet does not, saying, "It is! it is not!"
So he appeared; and then bowed down his brow,
And with humility returned towards him,
And, where inferiors embrace, embraced him.
"O glory of the Latians, thou," he said,
"Through whom our language showed what it could do
O pride eternal of the place I came from,
What merit or what grace to me reveals thee?
If I to hear thy words be worthy, tell me
If thou dost come from Hell, and from what cloister."
"Through all the circles of the doleful realm,"
Responded he, "have I come hitherward;
Heaven's power impelled me, and with that I come.
I by not doing, not by doing, lost
The sight of that high sun which thou desirest,
And which too late by me was recognized.
A place there is below not sad with torments,
But darkness only, where the lamentations
Have not the sound of wailing, but are sighs.
There dwell I with the little innocents
Snatched by the teeth of Death, or ever they
Were from our human sinfulness exempt.
There dwell I among those who the three saintly
Virtues did not put on, and without vice
The others knew and followed all of them.
But if thou know and can, some indication
Give us by which we may the sooner come
Where Purgatory has its right beginning."
He answered: "No fixed place has been assigned us;
'Tis lawful for me to go up and round;
So far as I can go, as guide I join thee.
But see already how the day declines,
And to go up by night we are not able;
Therefore 'tis well to think of some fair sojourn.
Souls are there on the right hand here withdrawn;
If thou permit me I will lead thee to them,
And thou shalt know them not without delight."
"How is this?" was the answer; "should one wish
To mount by night would he prevented be
By others? or mayhap would not have power?"
And on the ground the good Sordello drew
His finger, saying, "See, this line alone
Thou couldst not pass after the sun is gone;
Not that aught else would hindrance give, however,
To going up, save the nocturnal darkness;
This with the want of power the will perplexes.
We might indeed therewith return below,
And, wandering, walk the hill-side round about,
While the horizon holds the day imprisoned."
Thereon my Lord, as if in wonder, said:
"Do thou conduct us thither, where thou sayest
That we can take delight in tarrying."
Little had we withdrawn us from that place,
When I perceived the mount was hollowed out
In fashion as the valleys here are hollowed.
"Thitherward," said that shade, "will we repair,
Where of itself the hill-side makes a lap,
And there for the new day will we await."
'Twixt hill and plain there was a winding path
Which led us to the margin of that dell,
Where dies the border more than half away.
Gold and fine silver, and scarlet and pearl-white,
The Indian wood resplendent and serene,
Fresh emerald the moment it is broken,
By herbage and by flowers within that hollow
Planted, each one in colour would be vanquished,
As by its greater vanquished is the less.
Nor in that place had nature painted only,
But of the sweetness of a thousand odours
Made there a mingled fragrance and unknown.
"Salve Regina," on the green and flowers
There seated, singing, spirits I beheld,
Which were not visible outside the valley.
"Before the scanty sun now seeks his nest,"
Began the Mantuan who had led us thither,
"Among them do not wish me to conduct you.
Better from off this ledge the acts and faces
Of all of them will you discriminate,
Than in the plain below received among them.
He who sits highest, and the semblance bears
Of having what he should have done neglected,
And to the others' song moves not his lips,
Rudolph the Emperor was, who had the power
To heal the wounds that Italy have slain,
So that through others slowly she revives.
The other, who in look doth comfort him,
Governed the region where the water springs,
The Moldau bears the Elbe, and Elbe the sea.
His name was Ottocar; and in swaddling-clothes
Far better he than bearded Winceslaus
His son, who feeds in luxury and ease.
And the small-nosed, who close in council seems
With him that has an aspect so benign,
Died fleeing and disflowering the lily;
Look there, how he is beating at his breast!
Behold the other one, who for his cheek
Sighing has made of his own palm a bed;
Father and father-in-law of France's Pest
Are they, and know his vicious life and lewd,
And hence proceeds the grief that so doth pierce them.
He who appears so stalwart, and chimes in,
Singing, with that one of the manly nose,
The cord of every valour wore begirt;
And if as King had after him remained
The stripling who in rear of him is sitting,
Well had the valour passed from vase to vase,
Which cannot of the other heirs be said.
Frederick and Jacomo possess the realms,
But none the better heritage possesses.
Not oftentimes upriseth through the branches
The probity of man; and this He wills
Who gives it, so that we may ask of Him.
Eke to the large-nosed reach my words, no less
Than to the other, Pier, who with him sings;
Whence Provence and Apulia grieve already
The plant is as inferior to its seed,
As more than Beatrice and Margaret
Costanza boasteth of her husband still.
Behold the monarch of the simple life,
Harry of England, sitting there alone;
He in his branches has a better issue.
He who the lowest on the ground among them
Sits looking upward, is the Marquis William,
For whose sake Alessandria and her war
Make Monferrat and Canavese weep."
The 'digression' that fills almost exactly half of the last canto now yields to the continuance of the narrative that had related the embrace between the two Mantuan poets at Purgatorio VI.75. The formulation 'a third time and a fourth' is, as has often been noted, Virgilian; since Scartazzini (comm. to verse 2) the reference is noted as being potentially triple: Virgil, Aeneid I.94; IV.589; Georgics I.410. And Virgil, having been buffeted so unkindly in these early cantos of Purgatorio, is about to have his innings. Sordello asks about the provenance of both these travelers; once Virgil identifies himself, the contemporary Mantuan poet completely loses track of Dante. But the ancient Mantuan poet does so as well. In all his discussion with Sordello (Purg. VI.67-VIII.45) he never once refers to Dante as the reason for his own journey – as we have become accustomed to his doing (see Purg. I.52-69; Purg. III.94-99; Purg. V.31-33). Sordello obviously realizes that someone is in Virgil's company. Yet even after Virgil finally refers to Dante at Purgatorio VII.38 (tacitly, when he employs a first-person plural of a verb), Sordello continues to think of his guidance as being at the service of Virgil alone ('ti' at Purg. VII.42, VII.47, and VII.48). Indeed, the Divine Comedy, from Sordello's point of view, is a poem about Virgil, with Dante's role in it never mentioned (he is joined tacitly to Virgil again in a first-person plural pronoun at Purg. VII.62). It is only because we are so deeply aware of Virgil's role as Dante's guide that we tend not to notice the total absence of reference to that relationship here. (For similar arguments, see Frankel [“La similitudine della zara (Purg. VI, 1-12) ed il rapporto fra Dante e Virgilio nell'Antepurgatorio,” in Studi Americani su Dante, ed. G. C. Alessio and R. Hollander (Milan: F. Angeli, 1989)], pp. 135-37.) It will only be in the next canto (Purg. VIII.62) that Sordello will understand that Dante is a living man.
The reference to the redemption of sinners wrought by the Crucifixion seals Virgil's sense of his own doom, his bones buried (19 B.C.) during the rule of Augustus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14), whose reign coincided with the birth of Jesus.
This is the sole occasion on which Virgil names himself in the Commedia (his name occurs thirty-one other times), thus answering in part Sordello's questions at Purgatorio VI.70, concerning the homeland and identity of these two travelers, one of which Virgil had already answered ('Mantua' at Purg. VI.72).
To be without faith is to lack what is absolutely necessary in order to 'win' salvation. The Anonimo Fiorentino (comm. to vv. 25-27) cites St. Paul: 'without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God' (Hebrews 11:6), a passage explaining that Enoch was taken up alive into heaven because of his faith – as will be Dante soon, and as Virgil was not.
The simile, another instance of what Tozer calls 'similes drawn from mental experience' (see the note to Inf. XXX.136-141), investigates the enormous pleasure of Sordello at meeting Virgil, a scene that will be reformulated for the meeting of Statius and Virgil in Purgatorio XXI.124-136. Sordello's humility in lowering his brows ('e poi chinò le ciglia') is verbally reminiscent, if antithetically, of Farinata's pride (Inf. X.35: 's'ergea col petto e con la fronte' [was rising, lifting chest and brow] and Satan's effrontery (Inf. XXXIV.35: 'contra 'l suo fattore alzò le ciglia' [raised his brows against his Creator]). But it may also remind us of Virgil's own lowered brows when he is so filled with shame at his failure to believe in Christ to come (Purg. III.44: 'e qui chinò la fronte').
A small squall of disagreement disturbs the sea of commentary on this verse: does Sordello embrace Virgil just beneath his armpits? at the level of his thighs? at his knees? while lying prostrate at his feet? All four of these solutions continue to be put forward into the late twentieth century, while many commentators have been content to suggest that it is impossible to know exactly where this embrace is aimed. Because later Statius will intend to embrace Virgil's feet (Purg. XXI.130-131) some argue that this is the most likely solution. But Vandelli (comm. to vv. 10-15) points out that, while Statius is later presented as prostrating himself, here Sordello is only described as lowering his brows; he prefers the most popular of the four major hypotheses (some have also read the line as including reference to the belly-button, but we may let that pass): Sordello bends his knees slightly so as to embrace Virgil under his arms, where the figure of lesser authority embraces his superior.
Virgil, apostrophized by Sordello both as foremost among all Latin poets and as his greatest townsman, is here cast as the founder of all Romance poetry. The precise meaning of lingua nostra (our language) has been debated (see Mazzoni's summary of the debate [La Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. Con I commenti di T.Casini/S.A. Barbi & A. Momigliano (Florence: Sansoni, 1977)], p. 164), and includes a wide range of possibilities: all human vernacular; Latin alone; all poetry, vernacular and Latin; and vernacular that is specifically developed from Latin. This last seems the most acceptable reading, making Latin the 'mother tongue' of the Romance vernacular poets, as would also seem to be the case at Purgatorio XXI.94-99.
The 'merit or grace' would seem to refer to Sordello's worthiness to encounter Virgil coupled with God's generosity in allowing him to do so.
Since Virgil has already (Purg. VII.8) confessed that he has 'lost heaven,' Sordello must assume that he is in hell. For a reading that sees the implicit rebuke to Virgil in Sordello's reference to his hellish situation see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 65-66. The word chiostra is a 'triple hapax,' i.e., one of a family of seventy-eight words in the Commedia that occur once in each cantica. See Hollander (“An Index of Hapax Legomena in Dante's Commedia,” Dante Studies 106 [1988]), pp. 108-10.
Virgil's rejoinder rather surprisingly makes no reference to any reason for his being chosen for this journey; it is thus not surprising that Sordello believes his task is to guide Virgil, selected by God, to see these sacred precincts. Dante has become, temporarily, supernumerary.
In Purgatorio XXI.18 Virgil will make clear to Statius that he must return to hell. Here it is also clear that he considers Limbo his final resting place, but he says as much in ways that invite speculation as to his possible salvation, since he claims now to know God and to have been aided by Him in coming this far. The absence of reference to Virgil's guidance of Dante allows Sordello to believe better of his townsman than the facts warrant.
For a rich consideration of the eventual implications of Virgil's self-defense here see the 'Nota di approfondimento' to this canto in the commentary, currently in progress, of Nicola Fosca. The Roman poet puts the best possible face upon his presence in Limbo, attempting to establish a sort of 'innocence by association,' as it were, with the unbaptized infants and the other virtuous pagans.
At least since 1340 and Pietro di Dante's commentary it has been usual to cite Aeneid VI.673, 'nulli certa domus' (no one has a preordained home), as a gloss on this verse. These are the words spoken by Musaeus to the Sibyl, who has asked where Anchises dwells, only to be told that he and the other virtuous souls live, free to roam, in the Elysian fields. Musaeus, like Sordello, offers to guide his charges up to see the assembled souls. This entire scene is closely modeled on that one.
Sordello seems to indicate that there is a law in ante-purgatory that prevents nocturnal movement upward. But see his further explanation, Purgatorio VII.53-60.
Once again Sordello addresses only Virgil (and not Dante), and indeed, we can imagine, Virgil will enjoy seeing these Christian souls who are so reminiscent of his virtuous denizens of the Elysian fields.
Virgil, slow to understand the difference between external laws and inner will on this mountain, believes either that hellish demons would hinder a nocturnal climber or that such a climber would, with nightfall, lose his ability to ambulate upward.
Sordello's answer sets things straight: There are no external impediments and the inner will of the penitents makes them want to stay where they are, lest they wander to a lower station on the mountain, which would not be fitting. It seems that there would be no actual penalty for such behavior, but that no one would ever want to descend in any case. The 'rule' of the mountain is more aesthetic than moral, since no harm can befall any of these saved souls. In this 'club,' no one would want to behave in so churlish a fashion.
Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 163-66, referring to the currently traditional citation of John 8:6-8 (Jesus drawing on the ground with his finger), perhaps first found in Tommaseo (comm. to vv. 52-54), goes on to interpret this 'line' as the New Law, the grace of God without which our actions are ineffective, closing his remarks with a further citation of Jesus's words in John's gospel (John 12:35-36), a passage cited previously by Portirelli (comm. to vv. 53-62) and others: 'Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light.'
Sordello will lead them among the souls gathered in the place that has come to be known as the Valley of the Princes, not among the early commentators, but at least by the time of Andreoli (comm. to Purg. IX.54). It furnishes a certain foretaste of the garden of Eden, the pilgrim's eventual purgatorial destination.
Much has been written about these verses. Beginning with Sapegno (comm. to verse 73) commentators have suggested a source in a plazer (a lyric poem describing the beauties of a place, person, or object) by Guido Cavalcanti, 'Biltà di donna,' verse 8: 'Oro e argento, azzurro 'n ornamenti.' (For Dante's earlier citation of this poem see the note to Inf. XIV.30.) Dante is thus here understood to be joining the tradition of the plazer (cf. his own early poem, addressed to Cavalcanti, 'Guido, i' vorrei' [Rime 52]) in describing this particular locus amoenus, the idealized 'pleasant place' since the Greek idyllic poems of Theocritus in classical antiquity. On a closely related theme, see A. Bartlett Giamatti (The Earthly Paradise and the Renaissance Epic [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966]). For consideration of the deep resonance of 'Biltà di donna' in this passage, see Michelangelo Picone, “All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 (1998), pp. 70-72. Picone notes the way in which Dante's description 'outdoes' Guido's by merit of its supernatural Christian content.
There is disagreement about the gemology involved here. A particularly exercised debate involves whether indaco is a noun meaning 'indigo' (Petrocchi's view, which naturally has influenced our translation), separated from the second noun legno, or an adjective modifying that noun. Some of those who defend the second hypothesis translate the resulting phrase as 'Indian wood,' indicating amber. Those who believe that indaco is a free-standing noun supply various understandings for legno. See Mario Aversano (“Dal modello al testo: 'indico legno, lucido sereno,'” L'Alighieri 29 [1987], pp. 3-25) for the view that it is the lignum thyinum (thyine wood) of the Bible, particularly in Revelation 18:12, where it is among the goods of the earth that will no longer be commercially valuable in the time of tribulation. For discussion of the colors indicated in this passage see Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 168-70. The overall effect of these colors, their ambience, and the eventually described inhabitants of the valley serve to remind the reader of Dante's reference to the 'garden of the empire' at Purgatorio VI.105.
For the emerald's association with hope (and its presence in the rest of the poem) see A. Levavasseur (“Les pierres précieuses dans la Divine Comédie,” Revue des études italiennes 4 [1957]), pp. 59-66. For the medieval lapidaries that Dante might have known see V. Cioffari (“Dante's Use of Lapidaries: A Source Study,” Dante Studies 109 [1991]), pp. 149-62.
The supernatural nature of this place produces colors and odors that transcend, in their intensity and ability to give sensuous pleasure, their counterparts in the most exotic 'normal' natural loci.
The souls of the princes of the world invoke the merciful Queen of Heaven, underscoring their present humility. This Marian evening hymn includes the fitting verses: 'to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.' (For the full text of the hymn, see Singleton, comm. to verse 82.) Poletto (1894) noted the echo here of another part of the scene presided over by Musaeus in Aeneid VI.656-658: the souls seated in the Elysian fields who sing songs of praise in that fragrant place.
For the association of the Salve, Regina with Compline see Denise Heilbronn (“Dante's Valley of the Princes,” Dante Studies 90 [1972]), p. 50.
The poet's diction reminds us of the fact that Virgil, the Mantuan, has temporarily been 'demoted' in favor of Sordello.
Sordello explains that the combined restraints of the diminishing light of the sun and of the time that would be lost in social amenity dictate a distant viewing of the inhabitants of the valley. Here, too, the Aeneid (VI.754-755) makes its presence felt, as Vellutello (comm. to vv. 85-90) noted: Anchises stations himself on a higher vantage point (with Aeneas and the Sibyl) so as to be able to discern the faces of those moving toward him in the pageant of Rome.
For the structural and moral force of Sordello's planh, or poem of lament, for the death of Blacatz reflected in Dante's composition of the rest of this canto see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 73-77.
There are nine princes in the following 'list,' all of them ticketed for paradise, as there were nine who were saved at the last moment in Cantos V and VI. Both these groups of late-repentant sinners, the first of whom have in common death by violence, are seen as active (as opposed to the lethargic in Canto IV) in their attachment to the world. Rudolph of Austria, the only emperor (1273-91) in this group, father of the Albert so vilified in Purgatorio VI.97-102, is, however, censured most for his neglect of his Italian subjects.
Given the recorded behaviors of Rudolph (and of others in this group) it is surprising that Dante was willing to publish their salvations – or the fact that he even thought that they were saved.
Rudolph, had he served as he ought, might have spared Italy the divisions that occurred before 1291, culminating in the battle of Campaldino (1289), when Guelph supremacy solidified papal influence in Italian politics for a long time to come. The 'wounds that have brought Italy to death' are most probably the ensuing disasters wrought by Boniface's (and then Clement's) political activities. Is Italy no longer capable of resuscitation? Will another leader's efforts be too late or might they come in the nick of time? The text is again problematic (see the note to Purg. VI.100-102), first as to whether or not Henry VII is referred to, second as to the precise meaning of tardi, which can mean, in this context, either 'at the last moment' or 'too late to succeed.' If, as many believe, this passage (1) was written in 1308-9 (along with Purg. VI.97-102), (2) refers to Henry VII, (3) uses tardi to mean 'at the last moment,' everything falls into place: Dante, not yet convinced that Henry will be the vigorous Italophile that he becomes in 1310, only dubiously puts forward the notion that Henry's election will have positive result. One proposing such an interpretation must admit that Dante, with only minor touches, could have revised both these passages in order to accommodate his post-1310 view of Henry. On the other hand, both at least allow the possibility of a more positive reading, and thus did not absolutely require such revision. And Dante's enthusiasm would only last for a short while, in any case. By September 1313, in the wake of the death of Henry, the disheartened reading, found in Benvenuto's commentary to these passages in Purgatorio VI and VII and in Paradiso XXX.133-138, would have become appropriate.
The following five figures were all kings rather than emperors, beginning with Ottokar of Bohemia (1253-78), who was in fact killed by Rudolph in 1278. Just as Rudolph, for all his faults, is presented as saved, while his son Albert seems clearly not to be, so is Ottokar exalted while his son, Wenceslaus, is apparently headed for the second circle of hell (or lower).
Singleton (comm., ad loc.) points out that in the Elysian fields former enemies are also reunited in peace (Aen. VI.824-827).
Philip III (the Bold) of France (1270-85) is seen in colloquy with Henry I of Navarre (1270-74), to whom he was related by marriage (his son, Philip IV [the Fair], 'the plague of France,' was married to Henry's daughter Juana). While Philip IV is also clearly referred to several other times in the poem, generally with bitter sarcasm (e.g., Inf. XIX.87; Purg. XX.91; Purg. XXXII.152-160; Purg. XXXIII.45; Par. XIX.120), he is never named.
Christopher Kleinhenz (“A Nose for Art [Purgatorio VII]: Notes on Dante's Iconographical Sense,” Italica 52 [1975]) argues that the physical descriptions of the princes in the valley parallel and may reflect the 'advent of realism and naturalism in Italian art, especially recognizable in donor portraits' (p. 376).
Large-limbed (membruto) like Cassius (Inf. XXXIV.67), Pedro III, king of Aragon (1276-85), sings along with large-nosed Charles I of Anjou and Provence, king of Naples and Sicily (1266-85). Pedro had married Constance, daughter of Manfred (see Purg. III.115-116), in 1262, a relationship that gave him a claim to the crown of Sicily, which he assumed after the Sicilian Vespers (1282) and held until his death, despite the efforts of Charles, whom he had deposed and who died before Pedro, and thus without regaining his crown, in 1285. Once again we see enemies united in friendship.
Dante refers, among Pedro's four sons, either to the firstborn, Alfonso III of Aragon, who reigned for six years (but not with happy result, according to the chroniclers) after his father's death (1285-91) and died at twenty-seven, or the last, Pedro, who did indeed die in his boyhood and was never put on. However, the text would seem clearly to indicate a son who did not succeed his father on the throne. Torraca (comm. to vv. 115-120) makes a strong case for the unlikelihood of Dante's celebrating Alfonso, thus promoting the candidacy of Pedro (the 'Marcellus' of Aragon, as it were). He has been followed by most commentators.
Unlike their worthy brother (Pedro?), the other two sons of Pedro III, James and Frederick, do not possess their father's goodness, but only his territories. In fact, they went to war with one another over their claims to power in Sicily, with Frederick eventually winning out, leaving James to content himself with Aragon.
Dante's sententious moralizing, issuing from the mouth of Sordello, has a precursor in his earlier words on the same subject in Convivio (Conv. IV.xx.5 and IV.xx.7), as Poletto (comm. to this passage) was perhaps first to point out. There Dante testified both that nobility does not descend into an entire family, but into individuals, and that it comes only and directly from God.
Charles and Pedro, themselves noble of spirit, share the disgrace of degenerate offspring, the former's son, Charles II, king of Naples and count of Provence (1289-1309), singled out as being particularly vile. See Grandgent's explanation (comm. to verse 127) of these lines: 'Charles II is as much inferior to Charles I as Charles I is to Peter [i.e., Pedro] III. Beatrice of Provence and Margaret of Burgundy were the successive wives of Charles I, Constance (daughter of Manfred) was the wife of Peter; and Charles I was not a devoted husband. “The plant (the son) is inferior to the seed (the father) to the same extent that Constance boasts of her husband (Peter) more than Beatrice and Margaret boast of theirs (Charles).”' Dante, who has somewhat surprisingly treated Charles of Anjou with a certain dignity (see the harsh characterizations of him at Purg. XX.67-69 and Par. XIX.127), now takes some of that away, as Pedro and Charles are no longer treated with equal respect. Porena (comm. to vv. 127-129) explains that Dante's gesture here is meant to show his objectivity; having saved Manfred (Purg. III), he now also saves Manfred's persecutor, Charles, despite his own political (and moral) disapproval.
Henry III of England (1216-72), disparaged by Sordello in his lament for Blacatz (as noted by Poletto [comm. to these lines]), is here seen positively and, reversing the trend found in the last three 'couples' of monarchs, his son (Edward I), known as 'the English Justinian' for his compilation of English law, is seen as even more noble than he.
The final exemplar is, like Henry, seen alone, looking up in prayer (Bosco/Reggio (comm. to these verses). Marquis of Monferrato (1254-92), Guglielmo first welcomed Charles of Anjou when he descended into Italy, but then turned against him when he moved against Lombardy. Guglielmo's physical position is lowest in order to match his rank, as Rudolph, the only emperor in the group, was seated highest. His successful career as Ghibelline military leader in Lombardy and in Piedmont came to a dramatic halt when he was captured in Alessandria in 1290 and exhibited in a cage for a year and a half until he died. When his son, Giovanni, set out on a war of revenge, the result was disastrous for Monferrato and Canavese, the two regions that constituted the holdings of the marquisate.
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Poscia che l'accoglienze oneste e liete
furo iterate tre e quattro volte,
Sordel si trasse, e disse: “Voi, chi siete?”
“Anzi che a questo monte fosser volte
l'anime degne di salire a Dio,
fur l'ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte.
Io son Virgilio; e per null' altro rio
lo ciel perdei che per non aver fé.”
Così rispuose allora il duca mio.
Qual è colui che cosa innanzi sé
sùbita vede ond' e' si maraviglia,
che crede e non, dicendo “Ella è... non è..,”
tal parve quelli; e poi chinò le ciglia,
e umilmente ritornò ver' lui,
e abbracciòl là 've 'l minor s'appiglia.
“O gloria di Latin,” disse, “per cui
mostrò ciò che potea la lingua nostra,
o pregio etterno del loco ond' io fui,
qual merito o qual grazia mi ti mostra?
S'io son d'udir le tue parole degno,
dimmi se vien d'inferno, e di qual chiostra.”
“Per tutt' i cerchi del dolente regno,”
rispuose lui, “son io di qua venuto;
virtù del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno.
Non per far, ma per non fare ho perduto
a veder l'alto Sol che tu disiri
e che fu tardi per me conosciuto.
Luogo è là giù non tristo di martìri,
ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti
non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri.
Quivi sto io coi pargoli innocenti
dai denti morsi de la morte avante
che fosser da l'umana colpa essenti;
quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante
virtù non si vestiro, e sanza vizio
conobber l'altre e seguir tutte quante.
Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcuno indizio
dà noi per che venir possiam più tosto
là dove purgatorio ha dritto inizio.”
Rispuose: “Loco certo non c'è posto;
licito m'è andar suso e intorno;
per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t'accosto.
Ma vedi già come dichina il giorno,
e andar sù di notte non si puote;
però è buon pensar di bel soggiorno.
Anime sono a destra qua remote;
se mi consenti, io ti merrò ad esse,
e non sanza diletto ti fier note.”
“Com' è ciò?” fu risposto.“Che volesse
salir di notte, fora elli impedito
d'altrui, o non sarria ché non potesse?”
E 'l buon Sordello in terra fregò 'l dito,
dicendo: “Vedi? sola questa riga
non varcheresti dopo 'l sol partito:
non però ch'altra cosa desse briga,
che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso;
quella col nonpoder la voglia intriga.
Ben si poria con lei tornare in giuso
e passeggiar la costa intorno errando,
mentre che l'orizzonte il dì tien chiuso.”
Allora il mio segnor, quasi ammirando,
“Menane,” disse, “dunque là 've dici
ch'aver si può diletto dimorando.”
Poco allungati c'eravam di lici,
quand' io m'accorsi che 'l monte era scemo,
a guisa che i vallon li sceman quici.
“Colà,” disse quell' ombra, “n'anderemo
dove la costa face di sé grembo;
e là il novo giorno attenderemo.”
Tra erto e piano era un sentiero schembo,
che ne condusse in fianco de la lacca,
là dove più ch'a mezzo muore il lembo.
Oro e argento fine, cocco e biacca,
indaco, legno lucido e sereno,
fresco smeraldo in l'ora che si fiacca,
da l'erba e da li fior, dentr' a quel seno
posti, ciascun saria di color vinto,
come dal suo maggiore è vinto il meno.
Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto,
ma di soavità di mille odori
vi facea uno incognito e indistinto.
“Salve, Regina” in sul verde e 'n su' fiori
quindi seder cantando anime vidi,
che per la valle non parean di fuori.
“Prima che 'l poco sole omai s'annidi,”
cominciò 'l Mantoan che ci avea vòlti,
“tra color non vogliate ch'io vi guidi.
Di questo balzo meglio li atti e ' volti
conoscerete voi di tutti quanti,
che ne la lama giù tra essi accolti.
Colui che più siede alto e fa sembianti
d'aver negletto ciò che far dovea,
e che non move bocca a li altrui canti,
Rodolfo imperador fu, che potea
sanar le piaghe c'hanno Italia morta,
sì che tardi per altri si ricrea.
L'altro che ne la vista lui conforta,
resse la terra dove l'acqua nasce
che Molta in Albia, e Albia in mar ne porta:
Ottacchero ebbe nome, e ne le fasce
fu meglio assai che Vincislao suo figlio
barbuto, cui lussuria e ozio pasce.
E quel nasetto che stretto a consiglio
par con colui c'ha sì benigno aspetto,
morì fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio:
guardate là come si batte il petto!
L'altro vedete c'ha fatto a la guancia
de la sua palma, sospirando, letto.
Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia:
sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda,
e quindi viene il duol che sì li lancia.
Quel che par sì membruto e che s'accorda,
cantando, con colui dal maschio naso,
d'ogne valor portò cinta la corda;
e se re dopo lui fosse rimaso
lo giovanetto che retro a lui siede,
ben andava il valor di vaso in vaso,
che non si puote dir de l'altre rede;
Iacomo e Federigo hanno i reami;
del retaggio miglior nessun possiede.
Rade volte risurge per li rami
l'umana probitate; e questo vole
quei che la dà, perché da lui si chiami.
Anche al nasuto vanno mie parole
non men ch'a l'altro, Pier, che con lui canta,
onde Puglia e Proenza già si dole.
Tant' è del seme suo minor la pianta,
quanto, più che Beatrice e Margherita,
Costanza di marito ancor si vanta.
Vedete il re de la semplice vita
seder là solo, Arrigo d'Inghilterra:
questi ha ne' rami suoi migliore uscita.
Quel che più basso tra costor s'atterra,
guardando in suso, è Guiglielmo marchese,
per cui e Alessandria e la sua guerra
fa pianger Monferrato e Canavese.”
After the gracious and glad salutations
Had three and four times been reiterated,
Sordello backward drew and said, "Who are you?"
"Or ever to this mountain were directed
The souls deserving to ascend to God,
My bones were buried by Octavian.
I am Virgilius; and for no crime else
Did I lose heaven, than for not having faith;"
In this wise then my Leader made reply.
As one who suddenly before him sees
Something whereat he marvels, who believes
And yet does not, saying, "It is! it is not!"
So he appeared; and then bowed down his brow,
And with humility returned towards him,
And, where inferiors embrace, embraced him.
"O glory of the Latians, thou," he said,
"Through whom our language showed what it could do
O pride eternal of the place I came from,
What merit or what grace to me reveals thee?
If I to hear thy words be worthy, tell me
If thou dost come from Hell, and from what cloister."
"Through all the circles of the doleful realm,"
Responded he, "have I come hitherward;
Heaven's power impelled me, and with that I come.
I by not doing, not by doing, lost
The sight of that high sun which thou desirest,
And which too late by me was recognized.
A place there is below not sad with torments,
But darkness only, where the lamentations
Have not the sound of wailing, but are sighs.
There dwell I with the little innocents
Snatched by the teeth of Death, or ever they
Were from our human sinfulness exempt.
There dwell I among those who the three saintly
Virtues did not put on, and without vice
The others knew and followed all of them.
But if thou know and can, some indication
Give us by which we may the sooner come
Where Purgatory has its right beginning."
He answered: "No fixed place has been assigned us;
'Tis lawful for me to go up and round;
So far as I can go, as guide I join thee.
But see already how the day declines,
And to go up by night we are not able;
Therefore 'tis well to think of some fair sojourn.
Souls are there on the right hand here withdrawn;
If thou permit me I will lead thee to them,
And thou shalt know them not without delight."
"How is this?" was the answer; "should one wish
To mount by night would he prevented be
By others? or mayhap would not have power?"
And on the ground the good Sordello drew
His finger, saying, "See, this line alone
Thou couldst not pass after the sun is gone;
Not that aught else would hindrance give, however,
To going up, save the nocturnal darkness;
This with the want of power the will perplexes.
We might indeed therewith return below,
And, wandering, walk the hill-side round about,
While the horizon holds the day imprisoned."
Thereon my Lord, as if in wonder, said:
"Do thou conduct us thither, where thou sayest
That we can take delight in tarrying."
Little had we withdrawn us from that place,
When I perceived the mount was hollowed out
In fashion as the valleys here are hollowed.
"Thitherward," said that shade, "will we repair,
Where of itself the hill-side makes a lap,
And there for the new day will we await."
'Twixt hill and plain there was a winding path
Which led us to the margin of that dell,
Where dies the border more than half away.
Gold and fine silver, and scarlet and pearl-white,
The Indian wood resplendent and serene,
Fresh emerald the moment it is broken,
By herbage and by flowers within that hollow
Planted, each one in colour would be vanquished,
As by its greater vanquished is the less.
Nor in that place had nature painted only,
But of the sweetness of a thousand odours
Made there a mingled fragrance and unknown.
"Salve Regina," on the green and flowers
There seated, singing, spirits I beheld,
Which were not visible outside the valley.
"Before the scanty sun now seeks his nest,"
Began the Mantuan who had led us thither,
"Among them do not wish me to conduct you.
Better from off this ledge the acts and faces
Of all of them will you discriminate,
Than in the plain below received among them.
He who sits highest, and the semblance bears
Of having what he should have done neglected,
And to the others' song moves not his lips,
Rudolph the Emperor was, who had the power
To heal the wounds that Italy have slain,
So that through others slowly she revives.
The other, who in look doth comfort him,
Governed the region where the water springs,
The Moldau bears the Elbe, and Elbe the sea.
His name was Ottocar; and in swaddling-clothes
Far better he than bearded Winceslaus
His son, who feeds in luxury and ease.
And the small-nosed, who close in council seems
With him that has an aspect so benign,
Died fleeing and disflowering the lily;
Look there, how he is beating at his breast!
Behold the other one, who for his cheek
Sighing has made of his own palm a bed;
Father and father-in-law of France's Pest
Are they, and know his vicious life and lewd,
And hence proceeds the grief that so doth pierce them.
He who appears so stalwart, and chimes in,
Singing, with that one of the manly nose,
The cord of every valour wore begirt;
And if as King had after him remained
The stripling who in rear of him is sitting,
Well had the valour passed from vase to vase,
Which cannot of the other heirs be said.
Frederick and Jacomo possess the realms,
But none the better heritage possesses.
Not oftentimes upriseth through the branches
The probity of man; and this He wills
Who gives it, so that we may ask of Him.
Eke to the large-nosed reach my words, no less
Than to the other, Pier, who with him sings;
Whence Provence and Apulia grieve already
The plant is as inferior to its seed,
As more than Beatrice and Margaret
Costanza boasteth of her husband still.
Behold the monarch of the simple life,
Harry of England, sitting there alone;
He in his branches has a better issue.
He who the lowest on the ground among them
Sits looking upward, is the Marquis William,
For whose sake Alessandria and her war
Make Monferrat and Canavese weep."
The 'digression' that fills almost exactly half of the last canto now yields to the continuance of the narrative that had related the embrace between the two Mantuan poets at Purgatorio VI.75. The formulation 'a third time and a fourth' is, as has often been noted, Virgilian; since Scartazzini (comm. to verse 2) the reference is noted as being potentially triple: Virgil, Aeneid I.94; IV.589; Georgics I.410. And Virgil, having been buffeted so unkindly in these early cantos of Purgatorio, is about to have his innings. Sordello asks about the provenance of both these travelers; once Virgil identifies himself, the contemporary Mantuan poet completely loses track of Dante. But the ancient Mantuan poet does so as well. In all his discussion with Sordello (Purg. VI.67-VIII.45) he never once refers to Dante as the reason for his own journey – as we have become accustomed to his doing (see Purg. I.52-69; Purg. III.94-99; Purg. V.31-33). Sordello obviously realizes that someone is in Virgil's company. Yet even after Virgil finally refers to Dante at Purgatorio VII.38 (tacitly, when he employs a first-person plural of a verb), Sordello continues to think of his guidance as being at the service of Virgil alone ('ti' at Purg. VII.42, VII.47, and VII.48). Indeed, the Divine Comedy, from Sordello's point of view, is a poem about Virgil, with Dante's role in it never mentioned (he is joined tacitly to Virgil again in a first-person plural pronoun at Purg. VII.62). It is only because we are so deeply aware of Virgil's role as Dante's guide that we tend not to notice the total absence of reference to that relationship here. (For similar arguments, see Frankel [“La similitudine della zara (Purg. VI, 1-12) ed il rapporto fra Dante e Virgilio nell'Antepurgatorio,” in Studi Americani su Dante, ed. G. C. Alessio and R. Hollander (Milan: F. Angeli, 1989)], pp. 135-37.) It will only be in the next canto (Purg. VIII.62) that Sordello will understand that Dante is a living man.
The reference to the redemption of sinners wrought by the Crucifixion seals Virgil's sense of his own doom, his bones buried (19 B.C.) during the rule of Augustus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14), whose reign coincided with the birth of Jesus.
This is the sole occasion on which Virgil names himself in the Commedia (his name occurs thirty-one other times), thus answering in part Sordello's questions at Purgatorio VI.70, concerning the homeland and identity of these two travelers, one of which Virgil had already answered ('Mantua' at Purg. VI.72).
To be without faith is to lack what is absolutely necessary in order to 'win' salvation. The Anonimo Fiorentino (comm. to vv. 25-27) cites St. Paul: 'without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God' (Hebrews 11:6), a passage explaining that Enoch was taken up alive into heaven because of his faith – as will be Dante soon, and as Virgil was not.
The simile, another instance of what Tozer calls 'similes drawn from mental experience' (see the note to Inf. XXX.136-141), investigates the enormous pleasure of Sordello at meeting Virgil, a scene that will be reformulated for the meeting of Statius and Virgil in Purgatorio XXI.124-136. Sordello's humility in lowering his brows ('e poi chinò le ciglia') is verbally reminiscent, if antithetically, of Farinata's pride (Inf. X.35: 's'ergea col petto e con la fronte' [was rising, lifting chest and brow] and Satan's effrontery (Inf. XXXIV.35: 'contra 'l suo fattore alzò le ciglia' [raised his brows against his Creator]). But it may also remind us of Virgil's own lowered brows when he is so filled with shame at his failure to believe in Christ to come (Purg. III.44: 'e qui chinò la fronte').
A small squall of disagreement disturbs the sea of commentary on this verse: does Sordello embrace Virgil just beneath his armpits? at the level of his thighs? at his knees? while lying prostrate at his feet? All four of these solutions continue to be put forward into the late twentieth century, while many commentators have been content to suggest that it is impossible to know exactly where this embrace is aimed. Because later Statius will intend to embrace Virgil's feet (Purg. XXI.130-131) some argue that this is the most likely solution. But Vandelli (comm. to vv. 10-15) points out that, while Statius is later presented as prostrating himself, here Sordello is only described as lowering his brows; he prefers the most popular of the four major hypotheses (some have also read the line as including reference to the belly-button, but we may let that pass): Sordello bends his knees slightly so as to embrace Virgil under his arms, where the figure of lesser authority embraces his superior.
Virgil, apostrophized by Sordello both as foremost among all Latin poets and as his greatest townsman, is here cast as the founder of all Romance poetry. The precise meaning of lingua nostra (our language) has been debated (see Mazzoni's summary of the debate [La Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. Con I commenti di T.Casini/S.A. Barbi & A. Momigliano (Florence: Sansoni, 1977)], p. 164), and includes a wide range of possibilities: all human vernacular; Latin alone; all poetry, vernacular and Latin; and vernacular that is specifically developed from Latin. This last seems the most acceptable reading, making Latin the 'mother tongue' of the Romance vernacular poets, as would also seem to be the case at Purgatorio XXI.94-99.
The 'merit or grace' would seem to refer to Sordello's worthiness to encounter Virgil coupled with God's generosity in allowing him to do so.
Since Virgil has already (Purg. VII.8) confessed that he has 'lost heaven,' Sordello must assume that he is in hell. For a reading that sees the implicit rebuke to Virgil in Sordello's reference to his hellish situation see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 65-66. The word chiostra is a 'triple hapax,' i.e., one of a family of seventy-eight words in the Commedia that occur once in each cantica. See Hollander (“An Index of Hapax Legomena in Dante's Commedia,” Dante Studies 106 [1988]), pp. 108-10.
Virgil's rejoinder rather surprisingly makes no reference to any reason for his being chosen for this journey; it is thus not surprising that Sordello believes his task is to guide Virgil, selected by God, to see these sacred precincts. Dante has become, temporarily, supernumerary.
In Purgatorio XXI.18 Virgil will make clear to Statius that he must return to hell. Here it is also clear that he considers Limbo his final resting place, but he says as much in ways that invite speculation as to his possible salvation, since he claims now to know God and to have been aided by Him in coming this far. The absence of reference to Virgil's guidance of Dante allows Sordello to believe better of his townsman than the facts warrant.
For a rich consideration of the eventual implications of Virgil's self-defense here see the 'Nota di approfondimento' to this canto in the commentary, currently in progress, of Nicola Fosca. The Roman poet puts the best possible face upon his presence in Limbo, attempting to establish a sort of 'innocence by association,' as it were, with the unbaptized infants and the other virtuous pagans.
At least since 1340 and Pietro di Dante's commentary it has been usual to cite Aeneid VI.673, 'nulli certa domus' (no one has a preordained home), as a gloss on this verse. These are the words spoken by Musaeus to the Sibyl, who has asked where Anchises dwells, only to be told that he and the other virtuous souls live, free to roam, in the Elysian fields. Musaeus, like Sordello, offers to guide his charges up to see the assembled souls. This entire scene is closely modeled on that one.
Sordello seems to indicate that there is a law in ante-purgatory that prevents nocturnal movement upward. But see his further explanation, Purgatorio VII.53-60.
Once again Sordello addresses only Virgil (and not Dante), and indeed, we can imagine, Virgil will enjoy seeing these Christian souls who are so reminiscent of his virtuous denizens of the Elysian fields.
Virgil, slow to understand the difference between external laws and inner will on this mountain, believes either that hellish demons would hinder a nocturnal climber or that such a climber would, with nightfall, lose his ability to ambulate upward.
Sordello's answer sets things straight: There are no external impediments and the inner will of the penitents makes them want to stay where they are, lest they wander to a lower station on the mountain, which would not be fitting. It seems that there would be no actual penalty for such behavior, but that no one would ever want to descend in any case. The 'rule' of the mountain is more aesthetic than moral, since no harm can befall any of these saved souls. In this 'club,' no one would want to behave in so churlish a fashion.
Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 163-66, referring to the currently traditional citation of John 8:6-8 (Jesus drawing on the ground with his finger), perhaps first found in Tommaseo (comm. to vv. 52-54), goes on to interpret this 'line' as the New Law, the grace of God without which our actions are ineffective, closing his remarks with a further citation of Jesus's words in John's gospel (John 12:35-36), a passage cited previously by Portirelli (comm. to vv. 53-62) and others: 'Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light.'
Sordello will lead them among the souls gathered in the place that has come to be known as the Valley of the Princes, not among the early commentators, but at least by the time of Andreoli (comm. to Purg. IX.54). It furnishes a certain foretaste of the garden of Eden, the pilgrim's eventual purgatorial destination.
Much has been written about these verses. Beginning with Sapegno (comm. to verse 73) commentators have suggested a source in a plazer (a lyric poem describing the beauties of a place, person, or object) by Guido Cavalcanti, 'Biltà di donna,' verse 8: 'Oro e argento, azzurro 'n ornamenti.' (For Dante's earlier citation of this poem see the note to Inf. XIV.30.) Dante is thus here understood to be joining the tradition of the plazer (cf. his own early poem, addressed to Cavalcanti, 'Guido, i' vorrei' [Rime 52]) in describing this particular locus amoenus, the idealized 'pleasant place' since the Greek idyllic poems of Theocritus in classical antiquity. On a closely related theme, see A. Bartlett Giamatti (The Earthly Paradise and the Renaissance Epic [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966]). For consideration of the deep resonance of 'Biltà di donna' in this passage, see Michelangelo Picone, “All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 (1998), pp. 70-72. Picone notes the way in which Dante's description 'outdoes' Guido's by merit of its supernatural Christian content.
There is disagreement about the gemology involved here. A particularly exercised debate involves whether indaco is a noun meaning 'indigo' (Petrocchi's view, which naturally has influenced our translation), separated from the second noun legno, or an adjective modifying that noun. Some of those who defend the second hypothesis translate the resulting phrase as 'Indian wood,' indicating amber. Those who believe that indaco is a free-standing noun supply various understandings for legno. See Mario Aversano (“Dal modello al testo: 'indico legno, lucido sereno,'” L'Alighieri 29 [1987], pp. 3-25) for the view that it is the lignum thyinum (thyine wood) of the Bible, particularly in Revelation 18:12, where it is among the goods of the earth that will no longer be commercially valuable in the time of tribulation. For discussion of the colors indicated in this passage see Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 168-70. The overall effect of these colors, their ambience, and the eventually described inhabitants of the valley serve to remind the reader of Dante's reference to the 'garden of the empire' at Purgatorio VI.105.
For the emerald's association with hope (and its presence in the rest of the poem) see A. Levavasseur (“Les pierres précieuses dans la Divine Comédie,” Revue des études italiennes 4 [1957]), pp. 59-66. For the medieval lapidaries that Dante might have known see V. Cioffari (“Dante's Use of Lapidaries: A Source Study,” Dante Studies 109 [1991]), pp. 149-62.
The supernatural nature of this place produces colors and odors that transcend, in their intensity and ability to give sensuous pleasure, their counterparts in the most exotic 'normal' natural loci.
The souls of the princes of the world invoke the merciful Queen of Heaven, underscoring their present humility. This Marian evening hymn includes the fitting verses: 'to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.' (For the full text of the hymn, see Singleton, comm. to verse 82.) Poletto (1894) noted the echo here of another part of the scene presided over by Musaeus in Aeneid VI.656-658: the souls seated in the Elysian fields who sing songs of praise in that fragrant place.
For the association of the Salve, Regina with Compline see Denise Heilbronn (“Dante's Valley of the Princes,” Dante Studies 90 [1972]), p. 50.
The poet's diction reminds us of the fact that Virgil, the Mantuan, has temporarily been 'demoted' in favor of Sordello.
Sordello explains that the combined restraints of the diminishing light of the sun and of the time that would be lost in social amenity dictate a distant viewing of the inhabitants of the valley. Here, too, the Aeneid (VI.754-755) makes its presence felt, as Vellutello (comm. to vv. 85-90) noted: Anchises stations himself on a higher vantage point (with Aeneas and the Sibyl) so as to be able to discern the faces of those moving toward him in the pageant of Rome.
For the structural and moral force of Sordello's planh, or poem of lament, for the death of Blacatz reflected in Dante's composition of the rest of this canto see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 73-77.
There are nine princes in the following 'list,' all of them ticketed for paradise, as there were nine who were saved at the last moment in Cantos V and VI. Both these groups of late-repentant sinners, the first of whom have in common death by violence, are seen as active (as opposed to the lethargic in Canto IV) in their attachment to the world. Rudolph of Austria, the only emperor (1273-91) in this group, father of the Albert so vilified in Purgatorio VI.97-102, is, however, censured most for his neglect of his Italian subjects.
Given the recorded behaviors of Rudolph (and of others in this group) it is surprising that Dante was willing to publish their salvations – or the fact that he even thought that they were saved.
Rudolph, had he served as he ought, might have spared Italy the divisions that occurred before 1291, culminating in the battle of Campaldino (1289), when Guelph supremacy solidified papal influence in Italian politics for a long time to come. The 'wounds that have brought Italy to death' are most probably the ensuing disasters wrought by Boniface's (and then Clement's) political activities. Is Italy no longer capable of resuscitation? Will another leader's efforts be too late or might they come in the nick of time? The text is again problematic (see the note to Purg. VI.100-102), first as to whether or not Henry VII is referred to, second as to the precise meaning of tardi, which can mean, in this context, either 'at the last moment' or 'too late to succeed.' If, as many believe, this passage (1) was written in 1308-9 (along with Purg. VI.97-102), (2) refers to Henry VII, (3) uses tardi to mean 'at the last moment,' everything falls into place: Dante, not yet convinced that Henry will be the vigorous Italophile that he becomes in 1310, only dubiously puts forward the notion that Henry's election will have positive result. One proposing such an interpretation must admit that Dante, with only minor touches, could have revised both these passages in order to accommodate his post-1310 view of Henry. On the other hand, both at least allow the possibility of a more positive reading, and thus did not absolutely require such revision. And Dante's enthusiasm would only last for a short while, in any case. By September 1313, in the wake of the death of Henry, the disheartened reading, found in Benvenuto's commentary to these passages in Purgatorio VI and VII and in Paradiso XXX.133-138, would have become appropriate.
The following five figures were all kings rather than emperors, beginning with Ottokar of Bohemia (1253-78), who was in fact killed by Rudolph in 1278. Just as Rudolph, for all his faults, is presented as saved, while his son Albert seems clearly not to be, so is Ottokar exalted while his son, Wenceslaus, is apparently headed for the second circle of hell (or lower).
Singleton (comm., ad loc.) points out that in the Elysian fields former enemies are also reunited in peace (Aen. VI.824-827).
Philip III (the Bold) of France (1270-85) is seen in colloquy with Henry I of Navarre (1270-74), to whom he was related by marriage (his son, Philip IV [the Fair], 'the plague of France,' was married to Henry's daughter Juana). While Philip IV is also clearly referred to several other times in the poem, generally with bitter sarcasm (e.g., Inf. XIX.87; Purg. XX.91; Purg. XXXII.152-160; Purg. XXXIII.45; Par. XIX.120), he is never named.
Christopher Kleinhenz (“A Nose for Art [Purgatorio VII]: Notes on Dante's Iconographical Sense,” Italica 52 [1975]) argues that the physical descriptions of the princes in the valley parallel and may reflect the 'advent of realism and naturalism in Italian art, especially recognizable in donor portraits' (p. 376).
Large-limbed (membruto) like Cassius (Inf. XXXIV.67), Pedro III, king of Aragon (1276-85), sings along with large-nosed Charles I of Anjou and Provence, king of Naples and Sicily (1266-85). Pedro had married Constance, daughter of Manfred (see Purg. III.115-116), in 1262, a relationship that gave him a claim to the crown of Sicily, which he assumed after the Sicilian Vespers (1282) and held until his death, despite the efforts of Charles, whom he had deposed and who died before Pedro, and thus without regaining his crown, in 1285. Once again we see enemies united in friendship.
Dante refers, among Pedro's four sons, either to the firstborn, Alfonso III of Aragon, who reigned for six years (but not with happy result, according to the chroniclers) after his father's death (1285-91) and died at twenty-seven, or the last, Pedro, who did indeed die in his boyhood and was never put on. However, the text would seem clearly to indicate a son who did not succeed his father on the throne. Torraca (comm. to vv. 115-120) makes a strong case for the unlikelihood of Dante's celebrating Alfonso, thus promoting the candidacy of Pedro (the 'Marcellus' of Aragon, as it were). He has been followed by most commentators.
Unlike their worthy brother (Pedro?), the other two sons of Pedro III, James and Frederick, do not possess their father's goodness, but only his territories. In fact, they went to war with one another over their claims to power in Sicily, with Frederick eventually winning out, leaving James to content himself with Aragon.
Dante's sententious moralizing, issuing from the mouth of Sordello, has a precursor in his earlier words on the same subject in Convivio (Conv. IV.xx.5 and IV.xx.7), as Poletto (comm. to this passage) was perhaps first to point out. There Dante testified both that nobility does not descend into an entire family, but into individuals, and that it comes only and directly from God.
Charles and Pedro, themselves noble of spirit, share the disgrace of degenerate offspring, the former's son, Charles II, king of Naples and count of Provence (1289-1309), singled out as being particularly vile. See Grandgent's explanation (comm. to verse 127) of these lines: 'Charles II is as much inferior to Charles I as Charles I is to Peter [i.e., Pedro] III. Beatrice of Provence and Margaret of Burgundy were the successive wives of Charles I, Constance (daughter of Manfred) was the wife of Peter; and Charles I was not a devoted husband. “The plant (the son) is inferior to the seed (the father) to the same extent that Constance boasts of her husband (Peter) more than Beatrice and Margaret boast of theirs (Charles).”' Dante, who has somewhat surprisingly treated Charles of Anjou with a certain dignity (see the harsh characterizations of him at Purg. XX.67-69 and Par. XIX.127), now takes some of that away, as Pedro and Charles are no longer treated with equal respect. Porena (comm. to vv. 127-129) explains that Dante's gesture here is meant to show his objectivity; having saved Manfred (Purg. III), he now also saves Manfred's persecutor, Charles, despite his own political (and moral) disapproval.
Henry III of England (1216-72), disparaged by Sordello in his lament for Blacatz (as noted by Poletto [comm. to these lines]), is here seen positively and, reversing the trend found in the last three 'couples' of monarchs, his son (Edward I), known as 'the English Justinian' for his compilation of English law, is seen as even more noble than he.
The final exemplar is, like Henry, seen alone, looking up in prayer (Bosco/Reggio (comm. to these verses). Marquis of Monferrato (1254-92), Guglielmo first welcomed Charles of Anjou when he descended into Italy, but then turned against him when he moved against Lombardy. Guglielmo's physical position is lowest in order to match his rank, as Rudolph, the only emperor in the group, was seated highest. His successful career as Ghibelline military leader in Lombardy and in Piedmont came to a dramatic halt when he was captured in Alessandria in 1290 and exhibited in a cage for a year and a half until he died. When his son, Giovanni, set out on a war of revenge, the result was disastrous for Monferrato and Canavese, the two regions that constituted the holdings of the marquisate.
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Poscia che l'accoglienze oneste e liete
furo iterate tre e quattro volte,
Sordel si trasse, e disse: “Voi, chi siete?”
“Anzi che a questo monte fosser volte
l'anime degne di salire a Dio,
fur l'ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte.
Io son Virgilio; e per null' altro rio
lo ciel perdei che per non aver fé.”
Così rispuose allora il duca mio.
Qual è colui che cosa innanzi sé
sùbita vede ond' e' si maraviglia,
che crede e non, dicendo “Ella è... non è..,”
tal parve quelli; e poi chinò le ciglia,
e umilmente ritornò ver' lui,
e abbracciòl là 've 'l minor s'appiglia.
“O gloria di Latin,” disse, “per cui
mostrò ciò che potea la lingua nostra,
o pregio etterno del loco ond' io fui,
qual merito o qual grazia mi ti mostra?
S'io son d'udir le tue parole degno,
dimmi se vien d'inferno, e di qual chiostra.”
“Per tutt' i cerchi del dolente regno,”
rispuose lui, “son io di qua venuto;
virtù del ciel mi mosse, e con lei vegno.
Non per far, ma per non fare ho perduto
a veder l'alto Sol che tu disiri
e che fu tardi per me conosciuto.
Luogo è là giù non tristo di martìri,
ma di tenebre solo, ove i lamenti
non suonan come guai, ma son sospiri.
Quivi sto io coi pargoli innocenti
dai denti morsi de la morte avante
che fosser da l'umana colpa essenti;
quivi sto io con quei che le tre sante
virtù non si vestiro, e sanza vizio
conobber l'altre e seguir tutte quante.
Ma se tu sai e puoi, alcuno indizio
dà noi per che venir possiam più tosto
là dove purgatorio ha dritto inizio.”
Rispuose: “Loco certo non c'è posto;
licito m'è andar suso e intorno;
per quanto ir posso, a guida mi t'accosto.
Ma vedi già come dichina il giorno,
e andar sù di notte non si puote;
però è buon pensar di bel soggiorno.
Anime sono a destra qua remote;
se mi consenti, io ti merrò ad esse,
e non sanza diletto ti fier note.”
“Com' è ciò?” fu risposto.“Che volesse
salir di notte, fora elli impedito
d'altrui, o non sarria ché non potesse?”
E 'l buon Sordello in terra fregò 'l dito,
dicendo: “Vedi? sola questa riga
non varcheresti dopo 'l sol partito:
non però ch'altra cosa desse briga,
che la notturna tenebra, ad ir suso;
quella col nonpoder la voglia intriga.
Ben si poria con lei tornare in giuso
e passeggiar la costa intorno errando,
mentre che l'orizzonte il dì tien chiuso.”
Allora il mio segnor, quasi ammirando,
“Menane,” disse, “dunque là 've dici
ch'aver si può diletto dimorando.”
Poco allungati c'eravam di lici,
quand' io m'accorsi che 'l monte era scemo,
a guisa che i vallon li sceman quici.
“Colà,” disse quell' ombra, “n'anderemo
dove la costa face di sé grembo;
e là il novo giorno attenderemo.”
Tra erto e piano era un sentiero schembo,
che ne condusse in fianco de la lacca,
là dove più ch'a mezzo muore il lembo.
Oro e argento fine, cocco e biacca,
indaco, legno lucido e sereno,
fresco smeraldo in l'ora che si fiacca,
da l'erba e da li fior, dentr' a quel seno
posti, ciascun saria di color vinto,
come dal suo maggiore è vinto il meno.
Non avea pur natura ivi dipinto,
ma di soavità di mille odori
vi facea uno incognito e indistinto.
“Salve, Regina” in sul verde e 'n su' fiori
quindi seder cantando anime vidi,
che per la valle non parean di fuori.
“Prima che 'l poco sole omai s'annidi,”
cominciò 'l Mantoan che ci avea vòlti,
“tra color non vogliate ch'io vi guidi.
Di questo balzo meglio li atti e ' volti
conoscerete voi di tutti quanti,
che ne la lama giù tra essi accolti.
Colui che più siede alto e fa sembianti
d'aver negletto ciò che far dovea,
e che non move bocca a li altrui canti,
Rodolfo imperador fu, che potea
sanar le piaghe c'hanno Italia morta,
sì che tardi per altri si ricrea.
L'altro che ne la vista lui conforta,
resse la terra dove l'acqua nasce
che Molta in Albia, e Albia in mar ne porta:
Ottacchero ebbe nome, e ne le fasce
fu meglio assai che Vincislao suo figlio
barbuto, cui lussuria e ozio pasce.
E quel nasetto che stretto a consiglio
par con colui c'ha sì benigno aspetto,
morì fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio:
guardate là come si batte il petto!
L'altro vedete c'ha fatto a la guancia
de la sua palma, sospirando, letto.
Padre e suocero son del mal di Francia:
sanno la vita sua viziata e lorda,
e quindi viene il duol che sì li lancia.
Quel che par sì membruto e che s'accorda,
cantando, con colui dal maschio naso,
d'ogne valor portò cinta la corda;
e se re dopo lui fosse rimaso
lo giovanetto che retro a lui siede,
ben andava il valor di vaso in vaso,
che non si puote dir de l'altre rede;
Iacomo e Federigo hanno i reami;
del retaggio miglior nessun possiede.
Rade volte risurge per li rami
l'umana probitate; e questo vole
quei che la dà, perché da lui si chiami.
Anche al nasuto vanno mie parole
non men ch'a l'altro, Pier, che con lui canta,
onde Puglia e Proenza già si dole.
Tant' è del seme suo minor la pianta,
quanto, più che Beatrice e Margherita,
Costanza di marito ancor si vanta.
Vedete il re de la semplice vita
seder là solo, Arrigo d'Inghilterra:
questi ha ne' rami suoi migliore uscita.
Quel che più basso tra costor s'atterra,
guardando in suso, è Guiglielmo marchese,
per cui e Alessandria e la sua guerra
fa pianger Monferrato e Canavese.”
After the gracious and glad salutations
Had three and four times been reiterated,
Sordello backward drew and said, "Who are you?"
"Or ever to this mountain were directed
The souls deserving to ascend to God,
My bones were buried by Octavian.
I am Virgilius; and for no crime else
Did I lose heaven, than for not having faith;"
In this wise then my Leader made reply.
As one who suddenly before him sees
Something whereat he marvels, who believes
And yet does not, saying, "It is! it is not!"
So he appeared; and then bowed down his brow,
And with humility returned towards him,
And, where inferiors embrace, embraced him.
"O glory of the Latians, thou," he said,
"Through whom our language showed what it could do
O pride eternal of the place I came from,
What merit or what grace to me reveals thee?
If I to hear thy words be worthy, tell me
If thou dost come from Hell, and from what cloister."
"Through all the circles of the doleful realm,"
Responded he, "have I come hitherward;
Heaven's power impelled me, and with that I come.
I by not doing, not by doing, lost
The sight of that high sun which thou desirest,
And which too late by me was recognized.
A place there is below not sad with torments,
But darkness only, where the lamentations
Have not the sound of wailing, but are sighs.
There dwell I with the little innocents
Snatched by the teeth of Death, or ever they
Were from our human sinfulness exempt.
There dwell I among those who the three saintly
Virtues did not put on, and without vice
The others knew and followed all of them.
But if thou know and can, some indication
Give us by which we may the sooner come
Where Purgatory has its right beginning."
He answered: "No fixed place has been assigned us;
'Tis lawful for me to go up and round;
So far as I can go, as guide I join thee.
But see already how the day declines,
And to go up by night we are not able;
Therefore 'tis well to think of some fair sojourn.
Souls are there on the right hand here withdrawn;
If thou permit me I will lead thee to them,
And thou shalt know them not without delight."
"How is this?" was the answer; "should one wish
To mount by night would he prevented be
By others? or mayhap would not have power?"
And on the ground the good Sordello drew
His finger, saying, "See, this line alone
Thou couldst not pass after the sun is gone;
Not that aught else would hindrance give, however,
To going up, save the nocturnal darkness;
This with the want of power the will perplexes.
We might indeed therewith return below,
And, wandering, walk the hill-side round about,
While the horizon holds the day imprisoned."
Thereon my Lord, as if in wonder, said:
"Do thou conduct us thither, where thou sayest
That we can take delight in tarrying."
Little had we withdrawn us from that place,
When I perceived the mount was hollowed out
In fashion as the valleys here are hollowed.
"Thitherward," said that shade, "will we repair,
Where of itself the hill-side makes a lap,
And there for the new day will we await."
'Twixt hill and plain there was a winding path
Which led us to the margin of that dell,
Where dies the border more than half away.
Gold and fine silver, and scarlet and pearl-white,
The Indian wood resplendent and serene,
Fresh emerald the moment it is broken,
By herbage and by flowers within that hollow
Planted, each one in colour would be vanquished,
As by its greater vanquished is the less.
Nor in that place had nature painted only,
But of the sweetness of a thousand odours
Made there a mingled fragrance and unknown.
"Salve Regina," on the green and flowers
There seated, singing, spirits I beheld,
Which were not visible outside the valley.
"Before the scanty sun now seeks his nest,"
Began the Mantuan who had led us thither,
"Among them do not wish me to conduct you.
Better from off this ledge the acts and faces
Of all of them will you discriminate,
Than in the plain below received among them.
He who sits highest, and the semblance bears
Of having what he should have done neglected,
And to the others' song moves not his lips,
Rudolph the Emperor was, who had the power
To heal the wounds that Italy have slain,
So that through others slowly she revives.
The other, who in look doth comfort him,
Governed the region where the water springs,
The Moldau bears the Elbe, and Elbe the sea.
His name was Ottocar; and in swaddling-clothes
Far better he than bearded Winceslaus
His son, who feeds in luxury and ease.
And the small-nosed, who close in council seems
With him that has an aspect so benign,
Died fleeing and disflowering the lily;
Look there, how he is beating at his breast!
Behold the other one, who for his cheek
Sighing has made of his own palm a bed;
Father and father-in-law of France's Pest
Are they, and know his vicious life and lewd,
And hence proceeds the grief that so doth pierce them.
He who appears so stalwart, and chimes in,
Singing, with that one of the manly nose,
The cord of every valour wore begirt;
And if as King had after him remained
The stripling who in rear of him is sitting,
Well had the valour passed from vase to vase,
Which cannot of the other heirs be said.
Frederick and Jacomo possess the realms,
But none the better heritage possesses.
Not oftentimes upriseth through the branches
The probity of man; and this He wills
Who gives it, so that we may ask of Him.
Eke to the large-nosed reach my words, no less
Than to the other, Pier, who with him sings;
Whence Provence and Apulia grieve already
The plant is as inferior to its seed,
As more than Beatrice and Margaret
Costanza boasteth of her husband still.
Behold the monarch of the simple life,
Harry of England, sitting there alone;
He in his branches has a better issue.
He who the lowest on the ground among them
Sits looking upward, is the Marquis William,
For whose sake Alessandria and her war
Make Monferrat and Canavese weep."
The 'digression' that fills almost exactly half of the last canto now yields to the continuance of the narrative that had related the embrace between the two Mantuan poets at Purgatorio VI.75. The formulation 'a third time and a fourth' is, as has often been noted, Virgilian; since Scartazzini (comm. to verse 2) the reference is noted as being potentially triple: Virgil, Aeneid I.94; IV.589; Georgics I.410. And Virgil, having been buffeted so unkindly in these early cantos of Purgatorio, is about to have his innings. Sordello asks about the provenance of both these travelers; once Virgil identifies himself, the contemporary Mantuan poet completely loses track of Dante. But the ancient Mantuan poet does so as well. In all his discussion with Sordello (Purg. VI.67-VIII.45) he never once refers to Dante as the reason for his own journey – as we have become accustomed to his doing (see Purg. I.52-69; Purg. III.94-99; Purg. V.31-33). Sordello obviously realizes that someone is in Virgil's company. Yet even after Virgil finally refers to Dante at Purgatorio VII.38 (tacitly, when he employs a first-person plural of a verb), Sordello continues to think of his guidance as being at the service of Virgil alone ('ti' at Purg. VII.42, VII.47, and VII.48). Indeed, the Divine Comedy, from Sordello's point of view, is a poem about Virgil, with Dante's role in it never mentioned (he is joined tacitly to Virgil again in a first-person plural pronoun at Purg. VII.62). It is only because we are so deeply aware of Virgil's role as Dante's guide that we tend not to notice the total absence of reference to that relationship here. (For similar arguments, see Frankel [“La similitudine della zara (Purg. VI, 1-12) ed il rapporto fra Dante e Virgilio nell'Antepurgatorio,” in Studi Americani su Dante, ed. G. C. Alessio and R. Hollander (Milan: F. Angeli, 1989)], pp. 135-37.) It will only be in the next canto (Purg. VIII.62) that Sordello will understand that Dante is a living man.
The reference to the redemption of sinners wrought by the Crucifixion seals Virgil's sense of his own doom, his bones buried (19 B.C.) during the rule of Augustus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14), whose reign coincided with the birth of Jesus.
This is the sole occasion on which Virgil names himself in the Commedia (his name occurs thirty-one other times), thus answering in part Sordello's questions at Purgatorio VI.70, concerning the homeland and identity of these two travelers, one of which Virgil had already answered ('Mantua' at Purg. VI.72).
To be without faith is to lack what is absolutely necessary in order to 'win' salvation. The Anonimo Fiorentino (comm. to vv. 25-27) cites St. Paul: 'without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God' (Hebrews 11:6), a passage explaining that Enoch was taken up alive into heaven because of his faith – as will be Dante soon, and as Virgil was not.
The simile, another instance of what Tozer calls 'similes drawn from mental experience' (see the note to Inf. XXX.136-141), investigates the enormous pleasure of Sordello at meeting Virgil, a scene that will be reformulated for the meeting of Statius and Virgil in Purgatorio XXI.124-136. Sordello's humility in lowering his brows ('e poi chinò le ciglia') is verbally reminiscent, if antithetically, of Farinata's pride (Inf. X.35: 's'ergea col petto e con la fronte' [was rising, lifting chest and brow] and Satan's effrontery (Inf. XXXIV.35: 'contra 'l suo fattore alzò le ciglia' [raised his brows against his Creator]). But it may also remind us of Virgil's own lowered brows when he is so filled with shame at his failure to believe in Christ to come (Purg. III.44: 'e qui chinò la fronte').
A small squall of disagreement disturbs the sea of commentary on this verse: does Sordello embrace Virgil just beneath his armpits? at the level of his thighs? at his knees? while lying prostrate at his feet? All four of these solutions continue to be put forward into the late twentieth century, while many commentators have been content to suggest that it is impossible to know exactly where this embrace is aimed. Because later Statius will intend to embrace Virgil's feet (Purg. XXI.130-131) some argue that this is the most likely solution. But Vandelli (comm. to vv. 10-15) points out that, while Statius is later presented as prostrating himself, here Sordello is only described as lowering his brows; he prefers the most popular of the four major hypotheses (some have also read the line as including reference to the belly-button, but we may let that pass): Sordello bends his knees slightly so as to embrace Virgil under his arms, where the figure of lesser authority embraces his superior.
Virgil, apostrophized by Sordello both as foremost among all Latin poets and as his greatest townsman, is here cast as the founder of all Romance poetry. The precise meaning of lingua nostra (our language) has been debated (see Mazzoni's summary of the debate [La Divina Commedia: Purgatorio. Con I commenti di T.Casini/S.A. Barbi & A. Momigliano (Florence: Sansoni, 1977)], p. 164), and includes a wide range of possibilities: all human vernacular; Latin alone; all poetry, vernacular and Latin; and vernacular that is specifically developed from Latin. This last seems the most acceptable reading, making Latin the 'mother tongue' of the Romance vernacular poets, as would also seem to be the case at Purgatorio XXI.94-99.
The 'merit or grace' would seem to refer to Sordello's worthiness to encounter Virgil coupled with God's generosity in allowing him to do so.
Since Virgil has already (Purg. VII.8) confessed that he has 'lost heaven,' Sordello must assume that he is in hell. For a reading that sees the implicit rebuke to Virgil in Sordello's reference to his hellish situation see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 65-66. The word chiostra is a 'triple hapax,' i.e., one of a family of seventy-eight words in the Commedia that occur once in each cantica. See Hollander (“An Index of Hapax Legomena in Dante's Commedia,” Dante Studies 106 [1988]), pp. 108-10.
Virgil's rejoinder rather surprisingly makes no reference to any reason for his being chosen for this journey; it is thus not surprising that Sordello believes his task is to guide Virgil, selected by God, to see these sacred precincts. Dante has become, temporarily, supernumerary.
In Purgatorio XXI.18 Virgil will make clear to Statius that he must return to hell. Here it is also clear that he considers Limbo his final resting place, but he says as much in ways that invite speculation as to his possible salvation, since he claims now to know God and to have been aided by Him in coming this far. The absence of reference to Virgil's guidance of Dante allows Sordello to believe better of his townsman than the facts warrant.
For a rich consideration of the eventual implications of Virgil's self-defense here see the 'Nota di approfondimento' to this canto in the commentary, currently in progress, of Nicola Fosca. The Roman poet puts the best possible face upon his presence in Limbo, attempting to establish a sort of 'innocence by association,' as it were, with the unbaptized infants and the other virtuous pagans.
At least since 1340 and Pietro di Dante's commentary it has been usual to cite Aeneid VI.673, 'nulli certa domus' (no one has a preordained home), as a gloss on this verse. These are the words spoken by Musaeus to the Sibyl, who has asked where Anchises dwells, only to be told that he and the other virtuous souls live, free to roam, in the Elysian fields. Musaeus, like Sordello, offers to guide his charges up to see the assembled souls. This entire scene is closely modeled on that one.
Sordello seems to indicate that there is a law in ante-purgatory that prevents nocturnal movement upward. But see his further explanation, Purgatorio VII.53-60.
Once again Sordello addresses only Virgil (and not Dante), and indeed, we can imagine, Virgil will enjoy seeing these Christian souls who are so reminiscent of his virtuous denizens of the Elysian fields.
Virgil, slow to understand the difference between external laws and inner will on this mountain, believes either that hellish demons would hinder a nocturnal climber or that such a climber would, with nightfall, lose his ability to ambulate upward.
Sordello's answer sets things straight: There are no external impediments and the inner will of the penitents makes them want to stay where they are, lest they wander to a lower station on the mountain, which would not be fitting. It seems that there would be no actual penalty for such behavior, but that no one would ever want to descend in any case. The 'rule' of the mountain is more aesthetic than moral, since no harm can befall any of these saved souls. In this 'club,' no one would want to behave in so churlish a fashion.
Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 163-66, referring to the currently traditional citation of John 8:6-8 (Jesus drawing on the ground with his finger), perhaps first found in Tommaseo (comm. to vv. 52-54), goes on to interpret this 'line' as the New Law, the grace of God without which our actions are ineffective, closing his remarks with a further citation of Jesus's words in John's gospel (John 12:35-36), a passage cited previously by Portirelli (comm. to vv. 53-62) and others: 'Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light.'
Sordello will lead them among the souls gathered in the place that has come to be known as the Valley of the Princes, not among the early commentators, but at least by the time of Andreoli (comm. to Purg. IX.54). It furnishes a certain foretaste of the garden of Eden, the pilgrim's eventual purgatorial destination.
Much has been written about these verses. Beginning with Sapegno (comm. to verse 73) commentators have suggested a source in a plazer (a lyric poem describing the beauties of a place, person, or object) by Guido Cavalcanti, 'Biltà di donna,' verse 8: 'Oro e argento, azzurro 'n ornamenti.' (For Dante's earlier citation of this poem see the note to Inf. XIV.30.) Dante is thus here understood to be joining the tradition of the plazer (cf. his own early poem, addressed to Cavalcanti, 'Guido, i' vorrei' [Rime 52]) in describing this particular locus amoenus, the idealized 'pleasant place' since the Greek idyllic poems of Theocritus in classical antiquity. On a closely related theme, see A. Bartlett Giamatti (The Earthly Paradise and the Renaissance Epic [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966]). For consideration of the deep resonance of 'Biltà di donna' in this passage, see Michelangelo Picone, “All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 (1998), pp. 70-72. Picone notes the way in which Dante's description 'outdoes' Guido's by merit of its supernatural Christian content.
There is disagreement about the gemology involved here. A particularly exercised debate involves whether indaco is a noun meaning 'indigo' (Petrocchi's view, which naturally has influenced our translation), separated from the second noun legno, or an adjective modifying that noun. Some of those who defend the second hypothesis translate the resulting phrase as 'Indian wood,' indicating amber. Those who believe that indaco is a free-standing noun supply various understandings for legno. See Mario Aversano (“Dal modello al testo: 'indico legno, lucido sereno,'” L'Alighieri 29 [1987], pp. 3-25) for the view that it is the lignum thyinum (thyine wood) of the Bible, particularly in Revelation 18:12, where it is among the goods of the earth that will no longer be commercially valuable in the time of tribulation. For discussion of the colors indicated in this passage see Bortolo Martinelli (“Canto VII,” in Lectura Dantis Neapolitana: “Purgatorio,” ed. Pompeo Giannantonio [Naples: Loffredo, 1989]), pp. 168-70. The overall effect of these colors, their ambience, and the eventually described inhabitants of the valley serve to remind the reader of Dante's reference to the 'garden of the empire' at Purgatorio VI.105.
For the emerald's association with hope (and its presence in the rest of the poem) see A. Levavasseur (“Les pierres précieuses dans la Divine Comédie,” Revue des études italiennes 4 [1957]), pp. 59-66. For the medieval lapidaries that Dante might have known see V. Cioffari (“Dante's Use of Lapidaries: A Source Study,” Dante Studies 109 [1991]), pp. 149-62.
The supernatural nature of this place produces colors and odors that transcend, in their intensity and ability to give sensuous pleasure, their counterparts in the most exotic 'normal' natural loci.
The souls of the princes of the world invoke the merciful Queen of Heaven, underscoring their present humility. This Marian evening hymn includes the fitting verses: 'to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.' (For the full text of the hymn, see Singleton, comm. to verse 82.) Poletto (1894) noted the echo here of another part of the scene presided over by Musaeus in Aeneid VI.656-658: the souls seated in the Elysian fields who sing songs of praise in that fragrant place.
For the association of the Salve, Regina with Compline see Denise Heilbronn (“Dante's Valley of the Princes,” Dante Studies 90 [1972]), p. 50.
The poet's diction reminds us of the fact that Virgil, the Mantuan, has temporarily been 'demoted' in favor of Sordello.
Sordello explains that the combined restraints of the diminishing light of the sun and of the time that would be lost in social amenity dictate a distant viewing of the inhabitants of the valley. Here, too, the Aeneid (VI.754-755) makes its presence felt, as Vellutello (comm. to vv. 85-90) noted: Anchises stations himself on a higher vantage point (with Aeneas and the Sibyl) so as to be able to discern the faces of those moving toward him in the pageant of Rome.
For the structural and moral force of Sordello's planh, or poem of lament, for the death of Blacatz reflected in Dante's composition of the rest of this canto see Picone (“All'ombra di Sordello: una lettura di Purgatorio VII,” Rassegna europea di letteratura italiana 12 [1998]), pp. 73-77.
There are nine princes in the following 'list,' all of them ticketed for paradise, as there were nine who were saved at the last moment in Cantos V and VI. Both these groups of late-repentant sinners, the first of whom have in common death by violence, are seen as active (as opposed to the lethargic in Canto IV) in their attachment to the world. Rudolph of Austria, the only emperor (1273-91) in this group, father of the Albert so vilified in Purgatorio VI.97-102, is, however, censured most for his neglect of his Italian subjects.
Given the recorded behaviors of Rudolph (and of others in this group) it is surprising that Dante was willing to publish their salvations – or the fact that he even thought that they were saved.
Rudolph, had he served as he ought, might have spared Italy the divisions that occurred before 1291, culminating in the battle of Campaldino (1289), when Guelph supremacy solidified papal influence in Italian politics for a long time to come. The 'wounds that have brought Italy to death' are most probably the ensuing disasters wrought by Boniface's (and then Clement's) political activities. Is Italy no longer capable of resuscitation? Will another leader's efforts be too late or might they come in the nick of time? The text is again problematic (see the note to Purg. VI.100-102), first as to whether or not Henry VII is referred to, second as to the precise meaning of tardi, which can mean, in this context, either 'at the last moment' or 'too late to succeed.' If, as many believe, this passage (1) was written in 1308-9 (along with Purg. VI.97-102), (2) refers to Henry VII, (3) uses tardi to mean 'at the last moment,' everything falls into place: Dante, not yet convinced that Henry will be the vigorous Italophile that he becomes in 1310, only dubiously puts forward the notion that Henry's election will have positive result. One proposing such an interpretation must admit that Dante, with only minor touches, could have revised both these passages in order to accommodate his post-1310 view of Henry. On the other hand, both at least allow the possibility of a more positive reading, and thus did not absolutely require such revision. And Dante's enthusiasm would only last for a short while, in any case. By September 1313, in the wake of the death of Henry, the disheartened reading, found in Benvenuto's commentary to these passages in Purgatorio VI and VII and in Paradiso XXX.133-138, would have become appropriate.
The following five figures were all kings rather than emperors, beginning with Ottokar of Bohemia (1253-78), who was in fact killed by Rudolph in 1278. Just as Rudolph, for all his faults, is presented as saved, while his son Albert seems clearly not to be, so is Ottokar exalted while his son, Wenceslaus, is apparently headed for the second circle of hell (or lower).
Singleton (comm., ad loc.) points out that in the Elysian fields former enemies are also reunited in peace (Aen. VI.824-827).
Philip III (the Bold) of France (1270-85) is seen in colloquy with Henry I of Navarre (1270-74), to whom he was related by marriage (his son, Philip IV [the Fair], 'the plague of France,' was married to Henry's daughter Juana). While Philip IV is also clearly referred to several other times in the poem, generally with bitter sarcasm (e.g., Inf. XIX.87; Purg. XX.91; Purg. XXXII.152-160; Purg. XXXIII.45; Par. XIX.120), he is never named.
Christopher Kleinhenz (“A Nose for Art [Purgatorio VII]: Notes on Dante's Iconographical Sense,” Italica 52 [1975]) argues that the physical descriptions of the princes in the valley parallel and may reflect the 'advent of realism and naturalism in Italian art, especially recognizable in donor portraits' (p. 376).
Large-limbed (membruto) like Cassius (Inf. XXXIV.67), Pedro III, king of Aragon (1276-85), sings along with large-nosed Charles I of Anjou and Provence, king of Naples and Sicily (1266-85). Pedro had married Constance, daughter of Manfred (see Purg. III.115-116), in 1262, a relationship that gave him a claim to the crown of Sicily, which he assumed after the Sicilian Vespers (1282) and held until his death, despite the efforts of Charles, whom he had deposed and who died before Pedro, and thus without regaining his crown, in 1285. Once again we see enemies united in friendship.
Dante refers, among Pedro's four sons, either to the firstborn, Alfonso III of Aragon, who reigned for six years (but not with happy result, according to the chroniclers) after his father's death (1285-91) and died at twenty-seven, or the last, Pedro, who did indeed die in his boyhood and was never put on. However, the text would seem clearly to indicate a son who did not succeed his father on the throne. Torraca (comm. to vv. 115-120) makes a strong case for the unlikelihood of Dante's celebrating Alfonso, thus promoting the candidacy of Pedro (the 'Marcellus' of Aragon, as it were). He has been followed by most commentators.
Unlike their worthy brother (Pedro?), the other two sons of Pedro III, James and Frederick, do not possess their father's goodness, but only his territories. In fact, they went to war with one another over their claims to power in Sicily, with Frederick eventually winning out, leaving James to content himself with Aragon.
Dante's sententious moralizing, issuing from the mouth of Sordello, has a precursor in his earlier words on the same subject in Convivio (Conv. IV.xx.5 and IV.xx.7), as Poletto (comm. to this passage) was perhaps first to point out. There Dante testified both that nobility does not descend into an entire family, but into individuals, and that it comes only and directly from God.
Charles and Pedro, themselves noble of spirit, share the disgrace of degenerate offspring, the former's son, Charles II, king of Naples and count of Provence (1289-1309), singled out as being particularly vile. See Grandgent's explanation (comm. to verse 127) of these lines: 'Charles II is as much inferior to Charles I as Charles I is to Peter [i.e., Pedro] III. Beatrice of Provence and Margaret of Burgundy were the successive wives of Charles I, Constance (daughter of Manfred) was the wife of Peter; and Charles I was not a devoted husband. “The plant (the son) is inferior to the seed (the father) to the same extent that Constance boasts of her husband (Peter) more than Beatrice and Margaret boast of theirs (Charles).”' Dante, who has somewhat surprisingly treated Charles of Anjou with a certain dignity (see the harsh characterizations of him at Purg. XX.67-69 and Par. XIX.127), now takes some of that away, as Pedro and Charles are no longer treated with equal respect. Porena (comm. to vv. 127-129) explains that Dante's gesture here is meant to show his objectivity; having saved Manfred (Purg. III), he now also saves Manfred's persecutor, Charles, despite his own political (and moral) disapproval.
Henry III of England (1216-72), disparaged by Sordello in his lament for Blacatz (as noted by Poletto [comm. to these lines]), is here seen positively and, reversing the trend found in the last three 'couples' of monarchs, his son (Edward I), known as 'the English Justinian' for his compilation of English law, is seen as even more noble than he.
The final exemplar is, like Henry, seen alone, looking up in prayer (Bosco/Reggio (comm. to these verses). Marquis of Monferrato (1254-92), Guglielmo first welcomed Charles of Anjou when he descended into Italy, but then turned against him when he moved against Lombardy. Guglielmo's physical position is lowest in order to match his rank, as Rudolph, the only emperor in the group, was seated highest. His successful career as Ghibelline military leader in Lombardy and in Piedmont came to a dramatic halt when he was captured in Alessandria in 1290 and exhibited in a cage for a year and a half until he died. When his son, Giovanni, set out on a war of revenge, the result was disastrous for Monferrato and Canavese, the two regions that constituted the holdings of the marquisate.
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