by Dante
listening to that spirit in amazement,
15
for the sun had already climbed fifty degrees
and I had failed to notice, when we came →
to where these souls cried out as one:
18
‘Here is the place you asked for.’
Often, at the time the grapes are darkening, →
a peasant, with a pitchfork full of thorns,
21
will plug a larger opening
than the gap through which my leader
and I behind him climbed alone,
24
after the troop went on without us.
One may go up to San Leo or descend to Noli
or mount to the summits of Bismàntova or Cacùme →
27
on foot, but here one had to fly—
I mean with the swift wings and plumage
of great desire, following that guidance
30
which gave me hope and showed me light.
We climbed into a fissure in the rock.
The stony walls pressed close on either side.
33
We had to use our hands to keep our footing.
When we had reached the crag’s high upper ledge,
out on the open hillside, ‘Master,’ I said,
36
‘which path shall we take?’
And he to me: ‘Do not fall back a single step. →
Just keep climbing up behind me
39
until some guide who knows the way appears.’
The summit was so high that it was out of sight,
the slope far steeper than the line →
42
drawn from midquadrant to the center.
Exhausted, I complained:
‘Belovèd father, turn around and see
45
how I’ll be left alone unless you pause.’
‘My son,’ he said, ‘drag yourself up there,’
pointing to a ledge a little higher,
48
which from that place encircles all the hill.
His words so spurred me on
I forced myself to clamber up →
51
until I stood upon the ledge.
There we settled down to rest, facing →
the east, where we had begun our climb,
54
for often it pleases us to see how far we’ve come.
First I gazed upon the shore below, →
then raised my eyes up to the sun and was amazed
57
to see its rays were striking from the left.
The poet understood I was astounded →
to see the road that chariot of light
60
was taking in its path between the north and us.
And so he said: ‘If the mirror that moves its light →
to either side of the equator
63
were in the company of Castor and of Pollux,
‘the red part of the zodiac would show
still closer to the Bears
66
unless it were to leave its ancient track.
‘If you would understand how this may be, →
with your mind focused, picture Zion
69
and this mountain positioned so on earth
‘they share the same horizon
but are in different hemispheres.
72
Then you shall see how, to his misfortune,
‘the highway Phaeton failed to drive
must pass this mountain on the one side,
75
Zion on the other, if you consider it with care.’
‘Indeed, my master,’ I said, →
‘I did not understand what now is clear,
78
the point for which my wit was lacking:
‘the mid-circle of that celestial motion,
which a certain science calls “Equator,”
81
and which always lies between the sun and winter,
‘for the very reason you have given
is as far to the north from here →
84
as the Hebrews saw it toward the torrid parts.
‘But, please, tell me just how far →
we have to go, for the hill rises
87
farther than my eyes can climb.’
And he to me: ‘This mountain is so fashioned
that the climb is harder at the outset
90
and, as one ascends, becomes less toilsome.
‘When climbing uphill will seem pleasing—
as easy as the passage of a boat
93
that lets the current float it down the stream—
‘at that point will this trail be done.
There look to rest your weariness.
96
This I know for truth. I say no more.’
As soon as he had said these words
a voice close by called out: ‘Perhaps →
99
you’ll feel the need to sit before then.’
Hearing this, both of us turned around,
and saw to our left an enormous rock
102
that neither he nor I at first had noticed.
When we approached, we saw some people
resting in the shade behind the boulder
105
as men will settle down in indolence to rest, →
and one of them, who seemed so very weary,
was sitting with his arms around his knees,
108
his head pressed down between them.
‘O my dear lord,’ I said, ‘just look at him.
He shows himself more indolent
111
than if sloth had been his very sister.’
Then he turned and fixed his eyes on us,
barely lifting his face above his haunch,
114
and said: ‘Go on up then, you who are so spry.’
At that I realized who he was, →
and the exertion that still kept me short of breath
117
now did not keep me from his side.
When I reached him he barely raised his head
to say: ‘Have you marked how the sun
120
drives his car past your left shoulder?’
His lazy movements and curt speech →
slowly shaped my lips into a smile, and I began: →
123
‘Belacqua, no longer need I grieve for you.
‘But tell me, what keeps you sitting here? →
Are you waiting for an escort,
126
or have you gone back to your old lazy ways?’
And he: ‘Brother, what’s the good of going up? → →
The angel of God who sits in the gateway
129
would not let me pass into the torments.
‘I must wait outside as long as in my lifetime →
the heavens wheeled around me
132
while I put off my sighs of penance to the end, →
‘unless I’m helped by prayers that rise →
from a heart that lives in grace.
135
What good are those that go unheard in Heaven?’
And now, not waiting for me, the poet began →
to climb the path, saying: ‘Come along.
Look, now the sun is touching the meridian,
139
and on Morocco’s shore night sets her foot.’
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO V
I. Introductory retrospection
1–6
one of the negligent souls behind Dante notes his shadow
7–9
Dante’s apparent pleasure in so being noticed
10–18
Virgil’s rebuke, directing him to keep to his purpose<
br />
19–21
Dante’s blush of shame
II. The late-repentant as a group
22–30
the new souls see that Dante is in body; two come forward to inquire of the condition of the two travelers
31–36
Virgil tells them Dante is indeed alive and may help them
37–40
simile: they return to their group as quickly as meteors or lightning
41–42
the entire group now races toward Dante and Virgil
43–45
Virgil urges Dante to keep moving while they entreat him
46–57
the souls, as one, hope that Dante will bring news of any that he knows back to earth; their last-minute salvation
58–63
Dante does not recognize any, but agrees to help them
III. The late-repentant as individuals
64–84
narrative of Jacopo del Cassero:
a) captatio (64–66)
b) homeland and hope for prayers from there (67–72)
c) place and cause of death (73–81)
d) moment of death (82–84)
85–129
narrative of Buonconte da Montefeltro:
a) captatio (85–87)
b) homeland: no hope for prayers from there (88–90)
Dante’s interruptive question: how was your body lost?
c) place and cause of death (94–99)
d) moment of death (100–102)
e) postlude: the battle of the angels (103–108)
f) postlude: the great storm (109–123)
g) postlude: his burial in the Arno (124–129)
130–136
narrative of Pia de’ Tolomei:
a) captatio (130–131)
b) hope for prayer, name, homeland, and place of death (133–134)
c) cause of death (135–136)
PURGATORIO V
I had already parted from those shades, →
following the footsteps of my guide,
3
when one behind me, pointing with his finger,
cried: ‘Look how the sun’s rays on the ground →
are cut off to his left
6
and how he moves and seems like one alive.’
Hearing these words, I turned to look at them →
and saw that they were staring in amazement
9
at me, at me and at the interrupted light. →
‘Is your mind so distracted,’ asked the master, →
‘that you have slowed your pace?
12
Why do you care what they are whispering?
‘Just follow me and let the people talk.
Be more like a sturdy tower
15
that does not tremble in the fiercest wind.
‘For any man who lets one thought—
and then another—take him over
18
will soon lose track of his first goal.’
What could I answer but ‘I come’? →
I said it, blushing with such shame
21
as might make one worthy of his pardon.
And all this time in front of us
a group of shades advanced across the slope, →
24
chanting Miserere line by line.
When they perceived my body stopped →
the rays of the sun from shining through,
27
their voices faded to a hoarse and drawn-out ‘Oh!’
and two of them, as messengers, →
ran out to meet us and insisted:
30
‘Tell us what you can of your condition.’
My master answered: ‘When you go back →
you may report to those who sent you:
33
this man’s body is true flesh.
‘If they stopped because they saw his shadow,
as I suppose, they have their answer.
36
It may profit them to do him honor.’
Never have I seen falling stars streak →
across the placid sky nor, at nightfall,
39
lightning pulse within the clouds of August
as swiftly as these two ran upward
and, when they reached the others, they all,
42
like an unruly band, turned and charged toward us.
‘These people crowding us are many
and they have come to seek your favor,’ said the poet,
45
‘but keep on walking, listening as you go.’ →
‘O soul who go to blessedness
in the body you were born to,’ they called
48
as they came up, ‘here pause a while
‘to see if one of us is known to you
that you may carry news of him into the world.
51
Ah, why do you go on? Why don’t you stop?
‘Sinners to the final hour,
we were all at the point of violent death →
54
when a light from Heaven brought us understanding,
‘so that, repenting and forgiving, →
we parted from our lives at peace with God,
57
who with desire to see Him wrings our hearts.’
And I replied: ‘However hard I gaze into your faces, →
none do I recognize. But if in anything
60
I can please you, spirits born for bliss,
‘by the very peace I seek
from world to world, following the steps
63
of such a guide, that I will do.’
And one of them began: ‘Each of us trusts →
in your good offices without your oath,
66
provided lack of power does not thwart your will.
‘Therefore, speaking before the others do,
I beg you, should you ever see the region
69
between Romagna and King Charles’s land, →
‘that you be kind enough to seek in Fano
heartfelt prayers for me →
72
to help me purge my grievous sins.
‘There I was born, but the deep wounds
that poured my blood out with my life →
75
were given me among the sons of Antenor,
‘where I most thought myself secure.
He of Este had it done, who was incensed →
78
against me more than justice warranted.
‘Had I but gone on to La Mira, →
leaving Oriago, where I was found and taken,
81
I would still be back there where men breathe.
‘I fled to the marsh. Entrapped in reeds
and mire I fell, and in that mud →
84
I watched a pool of blood form from my veins.’
Then another spoke: ‘Pray, so may the desire
be satisfied that draws you to this mountain,
87
do you with gracious pity help with mine.
‘I was of Montefeltro, I am Buonconte. →
Not Giovanna nor another has a care for me, →
90
so that I move among the rest with downcast brow.’
And I to him: ‘What force or chance →
took you so far from Campaldino
93
that your burial-place was never found?’
‘Ah,’ he replied, ‘at Casentino’s border →
runs a stream called Archiano
96
that springs above the Hermitage among the Apennines.
‘To where its name is lost I made my way,
wounded in the throat, fleeing on foot,
99
and dripping blood across the plain.
‘There I lost
sight and speech.
I ended on the name of Mary—there I fell,
102
and only my flesh remained.
‘I will tell the truth—you tell it to the living.
God’s angel took me, and he from hell cried out: →
105
“O you from Heaven, why do you rob me?
‘ “You carry off with you this man’s eternal part.
For a little tear he’s taken from me,
108
but with the remains I’ll deal in my own way.”
‘Surely you know how a column of moist air, →
rising to colder heights, condenses
111
and once again is changed to water.
‘That evil will, seeking only evil, he joined →
with intellect, and with his natural powers
114
he roused the fog and wind.
‘Then, when the day was spent, he shrouded
the valley from Pratomagno to the alps →
117
in mist, and darkened the sky with clouds →
‘so that the pregnant air was turned to water.
The rain fell and the overflow that earth
120
could not absorb rushed to the gullies
‘and, gathering in surging torrents, poured
headlong down the seaward stream →
123
with so much rage nothing could hold it back.
‘At its mouth the blood-red Archiano found
my frozen corpse and swept it down the Arno,
126
undoing at my chest the cross →
‘my arms had made when I was overcome by pain.
It spun me past its banks and to the bottom, →
129
then covered and enclosed me with its spoils.’
‘Pray, once you have gone back into the world →
