by Dante
‘Nor did a newborn daughter make her father fear, →
for marriage age and dowry were not yet extreme,
105
the one too low, the other one too high.
‘No houses then stood uninhabited, →
nor had Sardanapalus as yet arrived →
108
to show what might be done behind closed doors.
‘Not yet did your Uccellatoio surpass →
in splendor Montemario but, exceeding
111
in its rise, it shall surpass it in its fall.
‘I saw Bellincion Berti wear a belt of leather →
and plain bone, and saw his lady step back
114
from the glass, her face untouched by paint. →
‘And I saw one of the Nerli and a del Vecchio →
both content with wearing simple, unlined skins,
117
their ladies busy with their spindles and their flax.
‘O fortunate women! Each knew for certain →
where she would be buried, nor was any yet
120
forsaken in her bed at France’s call.
‘One kept eager watch upon the cradle, →
using sounds and words that first delight
123
fathers and mothers when they soothe their child.
‘Another, while drawing the wool from its spool, →
would delight her household with the tales →
126
of Troy, Fiesole, and Rome.
‘A Cianghella or a Lapo Salterello, →
in those days would have caused the same surprise
129
as now would Cincinnatus or Cornelia.
‘It was to a municipal life so peaceful → →
and so fair, to a citizenry so loyal,
132
to so sweet a place to live,
‘that Mary gave me when invoked with cries →
of childbirth, and in your ancient Baptistry,
135
I was at once Cacciaguida and a Christian.
‘Moronto was my brother, as was Eliseo. →
My wife came from the valley of the Po, →
138
and from her you took the surname that you bear.
‘Later, I became a partisan of Emperor Conrad, →
who girded me to be his knight
141
once, with my faithful service, I had won his favor.
‘I followed him to oppose the iniquity
of that false creed whose people, by the failure
144
of your shepherds, usurp your right.
‘There was I freed by that foul race →
from all the snares of the deceitful world—
the love of which corrupts so many souls—
148
and came from being martyred to this peace.’
OUTLINE: PARADISO XVI
MARS
1–9
Dante’s apostrophe of foolish pride in ancestry
10–12
his use of the honorific voi
13–15
Beatrice’s smile like [Lady of Malehault]’s cough when she, unobserved, sees Guinevere wooing [Lancelot]
16–21
Dante to Cacciaguida: “You are my father”; his joy
22–27
Dante’s four questions: (1) who were Your ancestors? (2) when were You a child? (3) how large was Florence then? (4) who were her most worthy citizens?
28–30
simile: Cacciaguida is like a coal quickened into flame
31–33
Cacciaguida’s fourth “tongue”: earlier vernacular
34–39
Cacciaguida answers (2): I was born in 1091
40–45
he answers (1): my people were from the heart of town, but let me not speak (with pride) of them
46–51
he answers (3): we were only one-fifth of you in number but purer (no taint of Campi, Certaldo, or Figline);
52–57
unfortunate that these have settled within city limits,
58–66
thus bringing misfortune to the city,
67–72
which became too large for its own good, as though it had eaten too much; two similes: blind bull (vs. blind lamb), five swords (vs. a single sword);
73–78
if you study the decline of four cities, you will wonder less that individual families suffer similar declines,
79–81
for, if death is evident in individuals, it may be perceived as present in cities that still seem alive
82–84
simile: as tides ebb and flow so does Florence’s fate;
85–87
and so what follows should not be surprising: the decline of the once-great Florentine houses
88–139
Cacciaguida answers (4): the great families of Florence
140–144
Dante’s apostrophe of Buondelmonte
145–147
Buondelmonte’s body at the feet of the statue of Mars
148–154
Cacciaguida’s ending: good old days before the wars.
PARADISO XVI
O insignificant nobility of blood, →
if you make us glory in you here below,
3
where our affections are ephemeral,
I will not ever think it strange,
for there, where appetite is never warped—
6
in, I mean, the heavens themselves—I gloried in you too.
You are indeed a cloak that quickly shrinks, →
so that, if we do not add to it day by day,
9
time trims the edges with its shears.
With that You which had its origin in Rome →
and which her offspring least preserve by use,
12
I once again began to speak,
and Beatrice, who stood somewhat apart, →
smiled, like the lady who discreetly coughed
15
at the first fault inscribed of Guinevere.
I began: ‘You are my father, → →
You prompt me to speak with bold assurance. →
18
You raise me up, so I am more than I.
‘My mind is flooded by such rivers of delight →
that it exults it has not burst
21
with so much happiness and joy.
‘Tell me then, belovèd stock from which I spring, →
who were Your ancestors, and say what were the years
24
written in the record of Your childhood.
‘Tell me of the sheepfold of Saint John,
how many people lived there and who among them
27
were worthy of its highest offices.’
As embers leap to flame on a puff of wind, →
I watched that light become resplendent
30
at my respectful and persuasive words.
And as it became more pleasing to my sight,
so, with a voice more sweet and gentle,
33
but not in this our modern tongue, →
he said: ‘From the day Ave was first spoken →
until the birthpangs by which my mother,
36
now blessed, was lightened of me, her burden,
‘this fiery star came to its Lion →
five hundred fifty times and thirty more
39
to be rekindled underneath its paw.
‘My ancestors and I were born just where →
the horsemen in your yearly race
42
first come upon the farthest district. →
‘Let that be enough for you about my forebears. →
As to who they were and where they came from,
45
i
t is more modest to be silent than to speak.
‘All who lived there then, fit to bear arms, →
and who dwelt between Mars and the Baptist, →
48
amounted to a fifth of those who live there now,
‘but the city’s bloodline, now mixed
with that of Campi, of Certaldo, and Figline, →
51
was then found pure in the humblest artisan. →
‘Ah, how much better would it be →
had those cities which I name remained but neighbors,
54
had you kept your borders at Galluzzo and Trespiano,
‘than to have them in your midst and bear the stench
of the lout from Aguglion and of him from Signa
57
who already has so sharp an eye for graft!
‘If that tribe, which is the most degenerate →
in all the world, had not been like a stepmother →
60
to Caesar, but kind as a mother to her son,
‘there is one, become a Florentine, who is in trade →
and changes money, who would be sent straight back
63
to Semifonte, where his granddad scoured the country.
‘Montemurlo would still owe fealty to the Conti, →
the Cerchi would be in the parish of Acone,
66
and the Buondelmonti might remain in Valdigreve.
‘Intermingling of peoples has ever been →
the source of all the city’s ills,
69
as eating in excess is to the body.
‘A blind bull is more prone to fall
than a blind lamb, and frequently a single sword
72
cuts deeper and more sharp than five.
‘If you consider Luni, Urbisaglia— →
how they’ve ceased to be—and how Chiusi
75
and Senigallia soon will join them,
‘then to hear how families come to nothing
will not seem strange or difficult to grasp,
78
since even cities cease to be.
‘All your concerns are mortal, even as are you,
but in some things that are more lasting
81
this lies hidden, because all lives are brief.
‘And, as the turning of the lunar sphere covers →
and endlessly uncovers the edges of the shore,
84
thus does fortune deal with Florence.
‘Then it should not seem strange or marvelous to you
to hear me talk of noble Florentines,
87
whose fame is buried in the depth of time.
‘I saw the Ughi, I saw the Catellini, →
Filippi, Greci, Ormanni and Alberichi,
90
illustrious citizens already in decline,
‘and I saw, as great as they were ancient,
dell’Arca alongside della Sannella,
93
and Soldanieri and Ardinghi and Bostichi.
‘Over the gate, which today is weighed down →
with such burden of new and unspeakable treachery
96
that some cargo soon shall be hurled from the ship,
‘lived the Ravignani, from whom Count Guido
and all those who since have taken their name
99
from the noble Bellincione are descended.
‘The Della Pressa already knew the way to rule,
and in their house the Galigaio already had →
102
the gilded hilt and pommel.
‘Great already was the stripe of fur, →
great were the Sacchetti, Giuochi, Fifanti, Barucci,
105
Galli, and those who blush because of the bushel. →
‘The stock from which the Calfucci sprang
was already great, and already called
108
to the seats of power were Sizii and Arrigucci.
‘Ah, in what glory I saw those, →
now quite undone by pride! And the golden balls
111
made Florence flower with all their glorious deeds.
‘Thus did the fathers of those who now, →
whenever your church needs to fill the bishop’s seat,
114
fatten themselves by sitting long in council.
‘The proud and insolent race, playing the dragon →
at the back of him who flees, but mild as a lamb
117
to him who shows his teeth—or else his purse,
‘was already on the rise, but of mean stock,
so that it gave no joy to Ubertin Donato
120
when his father-in-law made him their kinsman.
‘The Caponsacchi had already made their way
from Fiesole to the marketplace, and both Giuda
123
and Infangato were already citizens of note.
‘I will tell a thing incredible but true: →
The old city walls were entered through a gate
126
that took its name from the della Pera.
‘Everyone bearing the noble coat of arms →
of the great baron whose name and praise
129
are celebrated at the feast of Thomas
‘had from him their knighthood and their privilege,
although he that decks it with a golden fringe
132
today takes the side of the common folk.
‘Gualterotti and Importuni were already there, →
and the Borgo would even now be more at peace
135
had they been left hungry for new neighbors.
‘The house that is the wellspring of your tears, → →
whose just disdain brought death among you
138
and put an end to your lighthearted life,
‘was honored then, both it and its allies. →
O Buondelmonte, how ill-fated that you fled
141
those nuptials at another’s urging!
‘Many would be happy who now grieve
if God had let the river Ema take you
144
the first time that you came into our town.
‘But it was destined that, to the shattered stone →
that guards the bridge, Florence should offer
147
a sacrificial victim in her final days of peace.
‘With these noble families, and with others still, →
I saw Florence in such tranquility
150
that there was nothing that might cause her grief.
‘With these noble families I saw her people
so glorious and just, that the lily →
had not yet been reversed upon the lance →
154
nor by dissension changed to red.’ →
OUTLINE: PARADISO XVII
MARS
1–6
simile: As [Phaeton] came to Clymene to have assurance that [Apollo] was his father, such did Dante seem;
7–12
Beatrice: “decide exactly what it is you want to know”;
13–18
Dante: “Since you know what things will come to pass,
19–27
and since while I was with Virgil I heard harsh things about my future, I would like to be forewarned”;
28–30
thus does Dante honor the will of Beatrice.
31–36
Cacciaguida responds, not in enigmas, but clearly;
37–99
his prophetic speech:
37–42
Contingent things are known to God without limiting the freedom of the will
43–45
simile: harmony from discordant sounds compared to the view of Dante’s l
ife possessed by Cacciaguida
46–48
simile: perfidy of [Phaedra] to Hippolytus and of Florence to Dante
49–51
(1) This last is the plan of [Boniface] who ponders the fate of Florence in the Roman Curia;
52–54
(2) the offended party will of course be blamed but God’s judgment will be clear in His vengeance;
55–60
(3) in exile Dante will first leave behind what he loves most and then (4) know the pain of begging;
61–69
(5) worst will be the backbiting of his fellows: he will do well to make himself a party of one;
70–75
(6) Dante, leaving the exiled Whites, will be welcomed to Verona by a gracious host [Bartolommeo]
76–99
(7) [Cangrande]:
76–78
with Bartolommeo Dante will find Cangrande,
79–81
only nine years old and not much noticed,
82–84
but before [Clement] deceives Henry VII he will be marked as special;
85–87
his munificence will be so renowned that not even his enemies will be mute about it;
88–90
look to his generosity; he will change the condition of rich and poor alike;
91–93
Cacciaguida’s suppressed prophecy (Cangrande)
94–96
his “gloss” on the negative things Dante has heard about his life in Hell and Purgatory;
97–99
yet he should not envy his false neighbors, who shall be punished in his lifetime.
100–111
Dante’s worrisome doubts about the future and his poem:
112–120
dilemma: to tell the truth or not; lose “friends” or fame?
121–123
Cacciaguida, his smiling tesoro, resplendent, replies;
124–142
Cacciaguida’s encouragement: “Tell the truth.”
