The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri

" Now when thou sang'st the cruel strife of fear Waged by Jocasta's twin-bom sons of woe," The poet of the rural song spake here, ** Bj that which Clio in thy stream doth show, It seemeth not that thee, faith yet had won. Without which good deeds are but dross below. If it be thus, what candles or what sun Lightened thy darkness so, that thou didst steer Thy sails direct behind the Fisherman ?

And he to him : " Thou first my course didst veer To quaff the water on Parnassus' height, And Godwards thou my darkness first didst clear. Thou wert in sooth like one who goes by night Burning a light behind, for him in yain, Yet guideth all who follow him aright : There, where thou saidst, the age is bom again. Justice retumeth, and the primal day, And from the heavens descends a novel strain. Poet was I, and Christian, both through thee.

And this I somewhat will explain in brief, That what I've drawn, thou mayst the clearer see. Already was the world all pregnant rife With the true Faith, which had been sown abroad By the new heralds of Eternal Life : And what thy verse, quoted above, foreshowed, With the new Pteacher's truths agreed so near. That I was drawn to seek their haunts : so good And holy then to me did they appear, That when Domitian's tyranny began.

Their woes were not without my tribute tear : And whilst on earth my allotted course I ran, Their influence, and their customs pure from blame. Made me despise all other sects in man. And ere my verse the Greeks had led to the stream Of Thebes, I had obtained baptismal rite, A secret Christian I through fear became. For long conforming to each Pagan rite : In the fourth circle, this my lukewarm crime More than four centuries prolonged my flight.

Line 66. Eteodes and Folinices, the heroes of the ** Thebaid. See note to Canto XXVI. of the " Inferno. Line 70. " Jam redit et Virgo, redeont Satnmia regna, Jam nova progenies ooelo demittitur alto. Eccl. iv. 6.

Thou then, who liftedst in my early prime The veil, which all of good from me concealed, Whilst we have still such distance left to climb, Say, where is now our Terence famed of eld, Cecilius, Plautus, Yarro, shouldst thou ^ow If they are damned, say in what circle held.

" These, Perseus, and myself, and others too," ^^ Answered my leader, " with that Greek sojourn Whom, more than all, the Muses nursed below, In the first circle of the prison lorn. We often parley of that mountain lone, On which our nurses ever make their bourne. ^^ Euripides is ours, Anacreon, Simonides, and Agathon, and more Greeks, on whose foreheads twines the laurel crown.

There of thy people are beheld galore, Antigone, Deiphile, Argia, "*^ And sad Ismene, as she was of yore. She there is seen who pointed out Langia : There is Tiresias' daughter, Thetis too. And with her sisters, there Deidamia. Each of the poets now to silence grew, ' ^^ Once more intent around the hill to gaze.

Since we had sallied from the stairs anew : The first four handmaids of the day gave place, And at the Pole the fifth was standing now, Directing upwards still the ardent blaze, ^** When spake my leader : " Still the brink I trow In wandering we must keep upon our right. Circling the mount as we were wont to do. So custom was our guide around the height ; And with less doubt the path we followed on, ^^ From the consent of that most worthy sprite.

They went before me, and I all alone Behind them, listened to their parlance meet. Which taught my intellect the poet's tone. Line 110. The (diaraoters introduced in Statins' poems. Line 112. Hypsipyle, who pointed out the river Langia to the fainting army of Adrastus. The story is again aJladed to in Canto XXYI. Line 113.

Tiresias' daughter, Manto, ahready introduced in the eighth circle of Hell as a sorceress, a solitary piece of forgetfulness on Dante's part, though he may have fancied that Tiresias had another daughter, named Daphne, who it appears was identical with Manto herself. Line 119. It was now the fifth hour. Dante has already called the hours the handmaids of the sun in Canto XII. of the " Purgatory."

218 PURGATORY. Cahto XXIII.

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But to their axguments a pause they set, Finding a tree in the centre of the way With apples in their odour fair and sweet. And as a fir-tree tapereth away Upwards from branch to branch, this tapered down That none should upwards there a passage fray. Beside our pathway from the lofty stone That hemmed us in there fell a liquor clear, That scattered o'er the leaves its sparkling crown. The poets twain unto the tree drew near : And from amongst the leaves a voice did cry, " To touch the food within your reach beware." Then said, ** Maria thought far more to try And make the wedding honoured and complete. Than of herself, who prays for you on high, The ancient Boman ladies, as 'twas meet, Drank only water, and all learning's grade Daniel acquired, and spumed the royal meat. As fair as gold the first age was arrayed :. Hunger made savoury the acorns rude. And thirst a nectar every rivulet made. Honey and locusts were the simple food On which the Baptist in the desert lived ; From whence to him such glory has ensued. As through the Gospel has to you arrived." Line 142. Mary's BX)eech at the wedding feast in Cana has already heen quoted as an example of charity. Line 146. Daniel, ch. i., w. 11, 12, 16, 17.

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