Dante's Purgatorio: Canto VIII

The Guardian Angels and the Serpent. Nino di Gallura. The Three Stars. Currado Malaspina.

'Twas now the hour that turneth back desire
   In those who sail the sea, and melts the heart,
   The day they've said to their sweet friends farewell,

And the new pilgrim penetrates with love,
   If he doth hear from far away a bell 5
   That seemeth to deplore the dying day,

When I began to make of no avail
   My hearing, and to watch one of the souls
   Uprisen, that begged attention with its hand.

It joined and lifted upward both its palms, 10
   Fixing its eyes upon the orient,
   As if it said to God, "Naught else I care for."

"Te lucis ante" so devoutly issued
   Forth from its mouth, and with such dulcet notes,
   It made me issue forth from my own mind. 15

And then the others, sweetly and devoutly,
   Accompanied it through all the hymn entire,
   Having their eyes on the supernal wheels.

Here, Reader, fix thine eyes well on the truth,
   For now indeed so subtile is the veil, 20
   Surely to penetrate within is easy.

I saw that army of the gentle-born
   Thereafterward in silence upward gaze,
   As if in expectation, pale and humble;

And from on high come forth and down descend, 25
   I saw two Angels with two flaming swords,
   Truncated and deprived of their points.

Green as the little leaflets just now born
   Their garments were, which, by their verdant pinions
   Beaten and blown abroad, they trailed behind. 30

One just above us came to take his station,
   And one descended to the opposite bank,
   So that the people were contained between them.

Clearly in them discerned I the blond head;
   But in their faces was the eye bewildered, 35
   As faculty confounded by excess.

"From Mary's bosom both of them have come,"
   Sordello said, "as guardians of the valley
   Against the serpent, that will come anon."

Whereupon I, who knew not by what road, 40
   Turned round about, and closely drew myself,
   Utterly frozen, to the faithful shoulders.

And once again Sordello: "Now descend we
   'Mid the grand shades, and we will speak to them;
   Right pleasant will it be for them to see you." 45

Only three steps I think that I descended,
   And was below, and saw one who was looking
   Only at me, as if he fain would know me.

Already now the air was growing dark,
   But not so that between his eyes and mine 50
   It did not show what it before locked up.

Tow'rds me he moved, and I tow'rds him did move;
   Noble Judge Nino! how it me delighted,
   When I beheld thee not among the damned!

No greeting fair was left unsaid between us; 55
   Then asked he: "How long is it since thou camest
   O'er the far waters to the mountain's foot?"

"Oh!" said I to him, "through the dismal places
   I came this morn; and am in the first life,
   Albeit the other, going thus, I gain." 60

And on the instant my reply was heard,
   He and Sordello both shrank back from me,
   Like people who are suddenly bewildered.

One to Virgilius, and the other turned
   To one who sat there, crying, "Up, Currado! 65
   Come and behold what God in grace has willed!"

Then, turned to me: "By that especial grace
   Thou owest unto Him, who so conceals
   His own first wherefore, that it has no ford,

When thou shalt be beyond the waters wide, 70
   Tell my Giovanna that she pray for me,
   Where answer to the innocent is made.

I do not think her mother loves me more,
   Since she has laid aside her wimple white,
   Which she, unhappy, needs must wish again. 75

Through her full easily is comprehended
   How long in woman lasts the fire of love,
   If eye or touch do not relight it often.

So fair a hatchment will not make for her
   The Viper marshalling the Milanese 80
   A-field, as would have made Gallura's Cock."

In this wise spake he, with the stamp impressed
   Upon his aspect of that righteous zeal
   Which measurably burneth in the heart.

My greedy eyes still wandered up to heaven, 85
   Still to that point where slowest are the stars,
   Even as a wheel the nearest to its axle.

And my Conductor: "Son, what dost thou gaze at
   Up there?" And I to him: "At those three torches
   With which this hither pole is all on fire." 90

And he to me: "The four resplendent stars
   Thou sawest this morning are down yonder low,
   And these have mounted up to where those were."

As he was speaking, to himself Sordello
   Drew him, and said, "Lo there our Adversary!" 95
   And pointed with his finger to look thither.

Upon the side on which the little valley
   No barrier hath, a serpent was; perchance
   The same which gave to Eve the bitter food.

'Twixt grass and flowers came on the evil streak, 100
   Turning at times its head about, and licking
   Its back like to a beast that smoothes itself.

I did not see, and therefore cannot say
   How the celestial falcons 'gan to move,
   But well I saw that they were both in motion. 105

Hearing the air cleft by their verdant wings,
   The serpent fled, and round the Angels wheeled,
   Up to their stations flying back alike.

The shade that to the Judge had near approached
   When he had called, throughout that whole assault 110
   Had not a moment loosed its gaze on me.

"So may the light that leadeth thee on high
   Find in thine own free-will as much of wax
   As needful is up to the highest azure,"

Began it, "if some true intelligence 115
   Of Valdimagra or its neighbourhood
   Thou knowest, tell it me, who once was great there.

Currado Malaspina was I called;
   I'm not the elder, but from him descended;
   To mine I bore the love which here refineth." 120

"O," said I unto him, "through your domains
   I never passed, but where is there a dwelling
   Throughout all Europe, where they are not known?

That fame, which doeth honour to your house,
   Proclaims its Signors and proclaims its land, 125
   So that he knows of them who ne'er was there.

And, as I hope for heaven, I swear to you
   Your honoured family in naught abates
   The glory of the purse and of the sword.

It is so privileged by use and nature, 130
   That though a guilty head misguide the world,
   Sole it goes right, and scorns the evil way."

And he: "Now go; for the sun shall not lie
   Seven times upon the pillow which the Ram
   With all his four feet covers and bestrides, 135

Before that such a courteous opinion
   Shall in the middle of thy head be nailed
   With greater nails than of another's speech,

Unless the course of justice standeth still."

NOTES

1 - 1

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, III. 302: –

“It was the hour when every traveller
And every watchman at the gate of towns
Begins to long for sleep, and drowsiness
Is falling even on the mother's eyes
Whose child is dead.”

Also Byron, Don Juan, III. 108: –

“Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart
Of those who sail the seas, on the first day
When they from their sweet friends are torn apart;
Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way,
As the far bell of vesper makes him start,
Seeming to weep the dying day's decay.
Is this a fancy which our reason scorns?
Ah! surely nothing dies but something mourns!”

4 - 4

The word “pilgrim” is here used by Dante in a general sense, meaning any traveller.

6 - 6

Gray, Elegy: –

“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.”

13 - 13

An evening hymn of the Church, sung at Complines, or the latest service of the day: –

“Te lucis ante terminum,
Rerum creator, poscimus
Ut pro tua clementia
Sis presul ad custodiam.

”Procul recedant somnia
Et noxium phantasmata,
Hostemque nostrum comprime,
Ne polluantur corpora.

Presta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice,
Cum Spiritu Paraclito
Regnans per omne saeculum.“

This hymn would seem to have no great applicability to disembodied spirits; and perhaps may have the same reference as the last petition in the Lord's Prayer, Canto XI. 19: –

”Our virtue, which is easily o'ercome,
Put not to proof with the old Adversary,
But thou from him who spurs it so, deliver.
This last petition verily, dear Lord,
Not for ourselves is made, who need it not,
But for their sake who have remained behind us.“

Dante seems to think his meaning very easy to penetrate. The commentators have found it uncommonly difficult.

26 - 26

Genesis iii. 24: ”And he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the three of live.“

27 - 27

Justice tempered with mercy, say the commentators.

28 - 28

Green, the color of hope, which is the distinguishing virtue of Purgatory. On the symbolism of colors, Mrs. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art, Introd., says: –

”In very early Art we find colors used in a symbolical or
mystic sense, and, until the ancient principles and
traditions were wholly worn out of memory or set aside by
the later painters, certain colors were appropriated to
certain subjects and personages, and could not arbitrarily
be applied or misapplied. In the old specimens of stained
glass we find these significations scrupulously attended to.
Thus: –

“WHITE, represented by the diamond or silver, was the emblem
of light, religious purity, innocence, virginity, faith,
joy, and life. Our Saviour wears white after his
ressurection. In the judge it indicated integrity; in the
rich man, humility; in the woman, chastity. It was the
color consecrated to the Virgin, who, however, never wears
white except in pictures of the Assumption.

”RED, the ruby, signified fire, divine love, the Holy
Spirit, heat, or the creative power, and royalty. White and
red roses expressed love and innocence, or love and wisdom,
as in the garland with which the angel crowns St. Cecilia.
In a bad sense, red signified blood, war, hatred, and
punishment. Red and black combined were the colors of
purgatory and the Devil.

“BLUE, or the sapphire, expressed heaven, the firmament,
truth, constancy, fidelity. Christ and the Virgin wear the
red tunic and the blue mantle, as signifying heavenly love
and heavenly truth. [In the Spanish schools the color of
our Saviour's mantle is generally a deep rich violet.] The
same colors were given to St. John the Evagelist, with this
difference, – that he wore the blue tunic and the red
mantle; in later pictures the colors are sometimes red and
green.

”YELLOW, or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness
of God; initiation, or marriage; faith, or fruitfulness.
St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin, wear yellow. In
pictures of the Apostles, St. Peter wears a yellow mantle
over a blue tunic. In a bad sense, yellow signifies
inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to
the traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow.

“GREEN, the emerald, is the color of spring; of hope,
particularly hope in immortality; and of victory, as the
color of the palm and the laurel.

”VIOLET, the amethyst, signified love and truth; or, passion
and suffering. Hence it is the color often worn by the
martyrs. In some instances our Saviour, after his
resurrection, is habited in a violet, instead of a blue
mantle. The Virgin also wears violet after the crucifixion.
Mary Magdalene, who as patron saint wears the red robe, as
penitent wears violet and blue, the colors of sorrow and of
constancy. In the devotional representation of her by
Timoteo della Vite, she wears red and green, the colors of
love and hope.

“GRAY, the color of ashes, signified mourning, humility, and
innocence accused; hence adopted as the dress of the
Franciscans (the Gray Friars); but it has since been changed
for a dark rusty brown.

”BLACK expressed the earth, darkness, mourning, wickedness,
negation, death; and was appropriate to the Prince of
Darkness. In some old illuminated MSS., Jesus, in the
Temptation, wears a black robe. White and black together
signified purity of life, and mourning or humiliation; hence
adopted by the Dominicans and the Carmelites.“

50 - 50

It was not so dark that on a near approach he could not distinguish objects indistinctly visible at a greater distance.

53 - 53

Nino de' Visconti of Pisa, nephew of Count Ugolino, and Judge of Gallura in Sardinia. Dante had known him at the siege of Caprona, in 1290, where he saw the frightened garrison march out under safeguard. Inf. XXI. 95. It was this ”gentle Judge,“ who hanged Friar Gomita for peculation. Inf. XXII. 82.

71 - 71

His daughter, still young and innocent.

75 - 75

His widow married Galeazzo de' Visconti of Milan, ”and much discomfort did this woman suffer with her husband,“ says the Ottimo, ”so that many a time she wished herself a widow.“

79 - 79

Hamlet, IV. 5: –

”His obscure funeral, No trophy, sword, or hatchment o'er his grave.“

80 - 80

The Visconti of Milan had for their coat of arms a viper; and being on the banner, it led the Milanese to battle.

81 - 81

The arms of Gallura. ”According to Fara, a writer of the sixteenth century,“ says Valery, Voyage en Corse et en Sardaigne, II. 37, ”the elegant but somewhat chimerical historian of Sardinia, Gallura is a Gallic colony; its arms are a cock; and one might find some analogy between the natural vivacity of its inhabitants and that of the French.“ Nino thinks it would look better on a tombstone than a viper.

89 - 89

These three stars are the Alphae of Euridanus, of the Ship, and of the Golden Fish; allegorically, if any allegory be wanted, the three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity. The four morning stars, the Cardinal Virtues of active life, are already set; these announce the evening and the life contemplative.

100 - 100

Compare this with Milton's description of the serpent, Parad. Lost, IX. 434, 496: –

”Nearer he drew, and many a walk travèrsed
Of stateliest covert, cedar, pine, or palm;
Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen,
Among thick-woven arborets, and flowers
Imbordered on each bank.
.....

Not with indented wave, Prone on the ground, as since; but on his rear, Circular base of rising folds, that towered Fold above fold, a surging maze! his head Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes; With burnished neck of verdant gold, erect Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass Floated redundant: pleasing was his shape And lovely; never since of serpent-kind Lovelier, not those that in Illyria changed Hermione and Cadmus, or the god In Epidaurus; nor to which transformed Ammonian Jove or Capitoline was seen, – He with Olympias, this with her who bore Scipio, the height of Rome. With tract oblique At first, as one who sought access, but feared To interrupt, sidelong he works his way. As when a ship, by skilful steersman wrought Nigh river's mouth or foreland, where the wind Veers oft, as oft so steers, and shifts her sail; So varied he, and of his tortuous train Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. ..... Oft he bowed His turret crest, and sleek enamelled neck, Fawning; and licked the ground whereon she trod.“

114 - 114

In the original al sommo smalto, to the highest enamel; referring either to the Terrestrial Paradise, enamelled with flowers, or to the highest heaven enamelled with stars. The azure-stone, pierre d'azur, or lapis lazuli, is perhaps a fair equivalent for the smalto, particularly if the reference be to the sky.

116 - 116

The valley in Lunigiana, through which runs the Magra, dividing the Genoese and Tuscan territories. Par. IX. 89: –

”The Magra, that with journey short Doth from the Tuscan part the Genoese.“

118 - 118

Currado or Conrad Malaspina, father of Marcello Malaspina, who six years later sheltered Dante in his exile, as foreshadowed in line 136. It was from the convent of the Corvo, overlooking the Gulf of Spezia, in Lunigiana, that Frate Ilario wrote the letter describing Dante's appearance in the cloister. See Illustrations at the end of Vol. I.

131 - 131

Pope Boniface the Eighth.

134 - 134

Before the sun shall be seven times in Aries, or before seven years are passed.

137 - 137

Ecclesiastes, xii. II: ”The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies.“

139 - 139

With this canto ends the first day in Purgatory, as indicated by the description of evening at the beginning, and the rising of the stars in line 89. With it closes also the first subdivision of this part of the poem, indicated, as the reader will not fail to notice, by the elaborate introduction of the next canto.