by Dante
133–135
Guido disappears like a fish diving to the bottom
136–138
Dante peers into the flames at the next poet
139–148
Arnaut Daniel: his contrition and request for prayers
PURGATORIO XXVI
One before the other, we walked along the edge,
and often the good master said to me:
3
‘Careful now, pay attention to my warnings.’ →
The sun was beating down on my right shoulder, →
for now its beams were changing
6
the aspect of the west from blue to white,
and as my shadow made the flames appear →
more glowing, I saw that many of the shades,
9
as they went past, took note of that faint sign.
It was this that made them speak of me,
and they began by telling one another:
12
‘This man’s body does not seem made of air.’ →
Then some of them came up as near me
as they could, always careful not to venture
15
beyond the burning of the flames. →
‘O you who go along behind the others, →
not from sloth but, it may be, with reverence,
18
answer me, since I burn with thirst and fire.
‘It is not I alone who crave your answer.
All these others thirst for it more than the Indian
21
or Ethiopian who craves cold water.
‘Tell us, how can it be your body makes
a wall against the sun, as if you were
24
not yet entangled in the net of death?’
asked one of them. I would have then
made myself known had I not been intent
27
on another strange new sight that now appeared,
for in the middle of the flaming road
came people moving in the opposite direction
30
who had me staring, all absorbed.
There I can see that every shade of either group →
makes haste to kiss another, without stopping,
33
and is content with such brief salutation,
just as, within their dark-hued files,
one ant will put its face up to the other’s,
36
perhaps to inquire of its path and fortune.
When they have ceased their friendly greeting,
before they take a new step to continue,
39
each one makes an effort to outshout the rest.
The new ones cry: ‘Sodom and Gomorrah!’ →
and the others: ‘Pasiphaë crawls into the cow →
42
so that the bull may hasten to her lust.’
Then, as though cranes were flying, some toward →
cool Riphean mountains and some toward desert sands,
45
these shunning frost and those the sun,
the one crowd goes, the other nears,
and all return, weeping, to their former song
48
and to the cry that most befits them.
Then the same shades who had entreated me
drew closer, as they had before,
51
and seemed all eagerness to hear me out.
Having twice been made aware of their desire,
I began: ‘O souls secure of gaining,
54
whenever it may be, the state of peace,
‘my limbs have not been left on earth, →
whether green or dried, but are here with me
57
intact, in all their blood and joints.
‘I climb from here no longer to be blind.
A lady is above through whom I gained the grace
60
to bring my mortal parts into your world.
‘But, so may your greatest longing
soon be satisfied and the heaven take you in
63
that is so full of love and holds the widest space,
‘tell me, that I may trace it on my pages, →
who you are and who is in that throng
66
which is even now receding at your backs?’
Not less astounded is the mountaineer,
struck dumb and staring all around him
69
when rough and rustic he comes into a town,
than each shade seemed from its expression.
But once they had recovered from amazement,
72
which is quickly overcome in noble hearts,
he who had questioned me began again:
‘Blessed are you, who, to die a better death,
75
here take on board the knowledge that you gain. →
‘Those, who come not with us, all offended →
the same way Caesar did, for which, in triumph, →
78
he once heard “queen” called out against him.
‘Thus they move on crying “Sodom,”
as you heard, in self-reproach.
81
And with their shame they fan the flames.
‘Hermaphroditic was our sin. →
Because we did not follow human law, →
84
but ran behind our appetites like beasts,
‘when, in our disgrace, we move off from the others
we shout her name who made herself a beast
87
inside the beast-shaped rough-hewn wood.
‘Now you know our deeds and know our guilt.
If, perhaps, you would like to know our names,
90
there is no time to tell and I would not know how. →
‘About myself, indeed, I’ll satisfy your wish.
I am Guido Guinizzelli, come so far in my purgation →
93
because I felt true sorrow well before the end.’ →
As the two sons became on seeing their mother →
caught in Lycurgus’ outraged grief,
96
so I became, if with less abandon,
when he gave his name and I knew he had been →
father to me and to others, my betters,
99
who always used love’s sweet and graceful rhymes.
For a long time, deep in thought, I went on
without listening or speaking as I gazed at him,
102
but did not, for the fire, move closer.
Once my eyes were satisfied,
I owned myself ready to do him service
105
with such assurance as compels belief.
He answered: ‘All that I hear you tell
leaves so deep and clear a trace in me →
108
that Lethe cannot wash it out or make it dim,
‘but if your words just now have sworn the truth, →
tell me what has caused you to disclose
111
by speech and look that you still hold me dear.’
And I to him: ‘Your sweet verses, →
which as long as modern custom lasts, →
114
will make their very ink seem precious.’
‘O brother,’ he said, ‘that one whom I point out— →
and he pointed to a spirit just ahead—
117
‘was a better craftsman of the mother tongue. →
‘In verses of love and tales of romance
he surpassed them all, and let the fools go on →
120
who think that fellow from Limoges was better.
‘They favor hearsay over truth
and thus arrive at their opinions
123
without the use of skill or reason.
‘The same was true of many long ago about Guittone, →
voice after voice shouting praise of him alone,
126
until for most the truth at last prevailed.
‘Now, if you possess such ample privilege →
that you are licensed for the cloister
129
where Christ is abbot of the brothers,
‘say a Paternoster there for me,
as much of it as we have need in this our world,
132
where we no longer have the power to sin.’
Then, perhaps to make room for another →
who was near him, he vanished through the fire
135
as fish glide to the bottom through the water.
I edged forward a little toward the other
who had been pointed out and said that my desire
138
prepared a place of welcome for his name,
to which he readily made answer:
‘Your courteous question pleases me so much →
141
I neither can nor would conceal myself from You.
‘I am Arnaut, weeping and singing as I make my way.
I see with grief past follies and I see,
144
rejoicing, the joy I hope is coming.
‘Now I pray You, by that power
which guides You to the summit of the stairs,
to remember, when the time is fit, my pain.’
148
Then he vanished in the fire that refines them.
OUTLINE: PURGATORIO XXVII
VI. The angel of Charity
1–5
time-telling: dawn in Jerusalem, midnight in Spain, noon in India, 6 PM here on the mountain
6–9
the angel’s version of the sixth Beatitude
10–13
the angel: “enter the fire and hear the singing beyond”
Passing through the flames
14–18
Dante feels like a man being buried alive, extends his hands, and recalls the sight of human bodies being burned
19–32
Virgil and Statius turn to Dante; Virgil exhorts him:
1) here is torment but not death
2) if he guided him on Geryon, will he not here?
3) this flame is not consuming
4) he should try it on the hem of his vestments
33
Dante remains resolute in not wanting to proceed
34–36
Virgil: Beatrice is on the other side
37–42
simile: Thisbe:Beatrice: :dying Pyramus:Dante
43–45
Virgil, seeing Dante “softening,” smiles as an elder who tempts a child with a fruit to do what is needed
46–48
Virgil leads Dante, followed by Statius, into the flame
49–51
the heat of the flames
52–54
Virgil encourages Dante with further words about Beatrice
55–57
a voice guides them out of the flames to a new ascent
A neutral space between purgation and paradise
58–63
the angel enjoins them to continue before evening falls
64–66
the sun is at Dante’s back
67–75
when the sun sinks behind them, each of the three climbers makes a “bed” for the night of a step
76–87
simile: Dante:goats, sheep: :Virgil and Statius:shepherd, herdsman
88–93
Dante sees not much of the sky, but does see some stars and, looking at these, falls asleep
Dante’s third dream on the mountain
94–96
dawn setting
97–108
dream: a lady gathering flowers: “I am Leah, bedecking myself with flowers to please myself when I look in my mirror; my sister Rachel never leaves her mirror”
109–114
night recedes before the dawn’s aurora; Dante awakens to find Virgil and Statius already awake
Coda: Virgil’s last instructions
115–117
Virgil’s promise of a “fruit” sought by all mankind
118–123
Dante’s pleasure in the promise; his “feathers” are growing for this “flight”
124–126
the three travelers reach the topmost step
127–142
Virgil’s last words in the poem
PURGATORIO XXVII
As when it strikes with its first rays →
there where its Maker shed His blood,
3
while the Ebro lies beneath the lofty Scales →
and noon burns down on the waters of the Ganges,
so stood the sun. And thus day was departing
6
when the blissful angel of the Lord appeared. →
He stood beyond the flames there on the terrace
and sang ‘Beati mundo corde!’
9
with a voice more radiant than ours.
‘There is no going on, you blessèd souls, →
without the fire’s stinging bite. Enter,
12
and do not stop your ears against the distant song,’
he said to us once we were near, →
so that, hearing him, I felt
15
like a man who has been put into his grave.
I bent forward over my outstretched hands →
and stared into the fire, my mind fixed on the image →
18
of human bodies I once saw being burned.
Then my kindly escorts turned to me →
and Virgil said: ‘My son,
21
here you may find torment, but not death. →
‘Keep it in mind, keep it in mind—
if even on Geryon I conveyed you safely,
24
what shall I do now we are nearer God?
‘You must believe that if you were confined →
in the very belly of this flame a thousand years
27
it would not singe a single hair upon your head.
‘And if you think, perhaps, that I deceive you, →
go close to it and test it, holding out
30
the hem of your garment in your hands.
‘From now on put away, put away all fear,
head in this direction, come, and boldly enter.’
33
But, against my will, I stood stock still. →
When he saw me stay, unmoved and obstinate,
he said, somewhat disturbed: ‘Now look, my son,
36
this wall stands between Beatrice and you.’
As at the name of Thisbe, though on the point of death, →
Pyramus raised his lids and gazed at her,
39
that time the mulberry turned red,
just so, my stubbornness made pliant, I turned
to my wise leader when I heard the name
42
that ever blossoms in my mind,
at which he shook his head and said: ‘Well,
are we going to stay on this side?’ then smiled
45
as one smiles at a child won over with a fruit. →
Then, ahead of me, he was immersed in the fire,
asking Statius, who for a long way now →
48
had walked between us, to come through last.
As soon as I was in I would have thrown myself
straight into molten glass to cool myself,
51
so beyond measure was the burning there,
and my sweet father, to comfort me,
kept speaking of Beatrice as he went,
54
saying: ‘Even now I can almost see her eyes.’ →
Guiding us was a voice that sang beyond the
flame. →
We gave it our rapt attention,
57
and came forth from the fire where the ascent began.
‘Venite, benedicti Patris mei’ resounded →
from a dazzling light that blinded me
60
so that I could not bear to look.
‘The sun departs and evening comes,’ →
it continued, ‘do not stop, but hurry on
63
before the west grows dark.’
The way went straight up through the rock →
so that my body blocked the last rays of the sun,
66
now low in the sky, from my path.
We had tried only a few of the steps when we, →
I and my sages, understood, as my shadow faded,
69
that the sun had set behind us.
And before the horizon, in all its vast expanse,
had taken on a single hue
72
and night had claimed all parts of her domain,
each of us made, of a step, a bed,
for the nature of the mountain took from us
75
the power and the urge for climbing higher.
As goats that have been quick and reckless →
on the heights before they grazed →
78
now peacefully chew their cud,
silent in the shade while the sun is burning,
guarded by the shepherd, leaning on his staff,
81
who lets them take their rest,
and as the herdsman who lives out in the open
passes the night beside his quiet flock,
84
watching lest a wild beast scatter them,
such were the three of us,
I like a goat and they like shepherds,
