The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri
Ixxvi THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. Doubtless Dante bad in view, bj tbus calling np geograpbical details in mid-Hell, or on tbe cornices of bis mountain of Purgatory, to give tbe effect of reality to bis vision, but tbe constant repetition of tbe artifice, like Virgil's studied iterations, yields to tbe accustomed ear tbe cbarm of fiEuniliarity : to tbe lover of eitber poet tbe trick is pleasant because it is bis own.
Tbe one pre-eminent excellence botb in Virgil and Dante, and in wbicb neitber is surpast in tbe wbole range of literature, is grapbic vigour, altbougb tbeir mode of workmansbip and tbe effect produced is quite distinct.
If illustration be taken from rival arts Virgil's is cognate witb tbat of tbe painter, Dante's witb tbat of tbe sculptor ; but tbe works of botb are absolutely endued witb life, tbe pictured forms bave all tbe glow and action of reality, tbe sculptures breatbe.
As a narrative poet I tbink tbat Virgil is absolutely unrivalled ; in bis elaborate descriptions, sucb as of tbe cbariot-race in tbe <' Georgics"— of all tbe games, but more especially tbe boatrace in tbe ''^neid"— of iOneas' searcb for Oreusa tbrougb tbe streets of burning Troy— of tbe deatbs of Priam, Dido, and Tumus — ^bis intensely dramatic spirit brings tbe wbole scene in eacb case before tbe reader, witb all its realistic details : tbe reader can say witb Dante, looking at tbe paintings on tbe floor of tbe first cornice of Purgatory : — '' Alive tbe living, dead tbe dead appear ; Wbo saw tbe facts bebeld not more tban I.
" Pnrgatopy," XII., lines 67, 68.
Tbis intensity and vigour of conception are qualities of wbicb no modem depreciation can deprive tbe great poet of Imperial Borne ; it cannot deprive bim of tbe bonour wbich tbe entbusiastic admiration of sucb a man as Dante would bestow on any writer ; it cannot deprive bim of tbe glory of baving in an episode of bis uncompleted epic laid tbe foundations on wbicb bas been constructed wbat is, perbaps, taken all in all, tbe noblest poem wbicb tbe world will ever see.
CANTO I. Daute having wandei'ed in the middle of his life into a dark forest, which represents the maze of haman passions, attempts to climb the mountain of Virtue, and is repulsed by three beasts, the leopard, the lion^and the wolf, representing the lust or Pleasure, Pride, and Avarice.
He is rescued from these by the shade of Virgil, who promises to conduct him through Hell and Purgatory, whilst another worthier spirit shall finally lead him to Paradise. Upon the journey of my life midway, I found myself within a darkling wood, Where from the straight path I had gone astray : Ah, to describe it is a labour rude, So wild the wood, and rough, and thick, and wide, ^ That at the thought the terror is renewed.
So bitter is it, 'tis to death allied : But of the good to treat, which there I drew. The lofty things I'll tell, I there descried. How I had entered there I hardly knew, ^® So deep was I in slumber at the part When I had wandered from the pathway true. But when the mountain's slope began to start.
There, where there ceased that valley of the night, Which with its terror had so pierced my heart, ^* I looked aloft, and saw its shoulders bright Already mantled with that planet's rays, Which wanderers in all pathways leads aright. That sight the terror of my heart allays. Which in its depths till then no respite gave, ^ That night I past in such a sore amaze. Line 1. "Upon the journey of my life midway.
Dante gives the date of his vision at the close of his thirty-fifth year, the half of the threescore years and ten allotted by the Psalmist. This was A.D. 1300, and events that occurred at a later period are thus introduced as prophecy. Line 17. " Already mantled with that planet's rays. The Sun, the rays of Truths which guide the wanderer from the maze of error, and light up the sunmit of the mountain of Virtue. B
2 HELL. Cabto I. And as one breathless from a watery grave, When he has reached the shore from out the sea, Turns and looks back upon the perilous wave : So did my soul, which even yet would flee, ^* Turn backwards to behold the past again From which with life none ever issued free. After my weary frame some rest had ta'en.
The lower foot set firmly at each stride, Upwards I went through that deserted plain. ^ When lo ! at the first ascent of that hillside, A panther, lithe, most agile of its race. And covered over with a spotted hide. It never turned aside from *fore my face, And so blocked up my pathway, ne'er withdrawn, ^ That oft I turned my footsteps to retrace.
The time was then the hour of early dawn, And the sun rose, with those same stars beside, Which were with him when first their light was drawn By Love divine in beauteousness to glide. *^ So I had every reason to essay The conquest of that beast with beauteous hide. In that fair season and the hour of day ; Yet none the less a panic in me woke.
The sight, which showed a lion in the way. ** He seemed as if 'gainst me in charge he broke, With head aloft and maddening hunger's ire, The very air appeared to fear his stroke. Then came a she- wolf, who of all desire Appeared incarnate in her leanness grim, ^ Through whom vast crowds in wretchedness transpire. This with such leaden weight struck every limb From terror rising at her sight of dread, That I lost every hope the height to climb.
Line 27. " From whicli with life none ever issued free. Hyx)6rbolicaUy desoriptive of the few who escape from the entanglement of human passions. Line 38. " And the sun rose, with those same stars beside, Which were with him when first their light was drawn By Love divine in beauteousness to glide. The sun was in the constellation of Aries, the time of spring, at which season Dante supposes the Creation to have taken {dace. Line 41.
" So I had every reason to essay. The translation in the text is the interpretation of this difficult passage given by Yenturi. The Italian annotators explain the difficulty by saying that the season of the day and year gave the Poet heart to hope to win the panther's gay coat in sign of his victory. Cary makes the beauty of the panther a cause for gaiety, which must be wrong.
Ixxvi THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. Doubtless Dante bad in view, bj tbus calling np geograpbical details in mid-Hell, or on tbe cornices of bis mountain of Purgatory, to give tbe effect of reality to bis vision, but tbe constant repetition of tbe artifice, like Virgil's studied iterations, yields to tbe accustomed ear tbe cbarm of fiEuniliarity : to tbe lover of eitber poet tbe trick is pleasant because it is bis own.
Tbe one pre-eminent excellence botb in Virgil and Dante, and in wbicb neitber is surpast in tbe wbole range of literature, is grapbic vigour, altbougb tbeir mode of workmansbip and tbe effect produced is quite distinct.
If illustration be taken from rival arts Virgil's is cognate witb tbat of tbe painter, Dante's witb tbat of tbe sculptor ; but tbe works of botb are absolutely endued witb life, tbe pictured forms bave all tbe glow and action of reality, tbe sculptures breatbe.
As a narrative poet I tbink tbat Virgil is absolutely unrivalled ; in bis elaborate descriptions, sucb as of tbe cbariot-race in tbe <' Georgics"— of all tbe games, but more especially tbe boatrace in tbe ''^neid"— of iOneas' searcb for Oreusa tbrougb tbe streets of burning Troy— of tbe deatbs of Priam, Dido, and Tumus — ^bis intensely dramatic spirit brings tbe wbole scene in eacb case before tbe reader, witb all its realistic details : tbe reader can say witb Dante, looking at tbe paintings on tbe floor of tbe first cornice of Purgatory : — '' Alive tbe living, dead tbe dead appear ; Wbo saw tbe facts bebeld not more tban I.
" Pnrgatopy," XII., lines 67, 68.
Tbis intensity and vigour of conception are qualities of wbicb no modem depreciation can deprive tbe great poet of Imperial Borne ; it cannot deprive bim of tbe bonour wbich tbe entbusiastic admiration of sucb a man as Dante would bestow on any writer ; it cannot deprive bim of tbe glory of baving in an episode of bis uncompleted epic laid tbe foundations on wbicb bas been constructed wbat is, perbaps, taken all in all, tbe noblest poem wbicb tbe world will ever see.
CANTO I. Daute having wandei'ed in the middle of his life into a dark forest, which represents the maze of haman passions, attempts to climb the mountain of Virtue, and is repulsed by three beasts, the leopard, the lion^and the wolf, representing the lust or Pleasure, Pride, and Avarice.
He is rescued from these by the shade of Virgil, who promises to conduct him through Hell and Purgatory, whilst another worthier spirit shall finally lead him to Paradise. Upon the journey of my life midway, I found myself within a darkling wood, Where from the straight path I had gone astray : Ah, to describe it is a labour rude, So wild the wood, and rough, and thick, and wide, ^ That at the thought the terror is renewed.
So bitter is it, 'tis to death allied : But of the good to treat, which there I drew. The lofty things I'll tell, I there descried. How I had entered there I hardly knew, ^® So deep was I in slumber at the part When I had wandered from the pathway true. But when the mountain's slope began to start.
There, where there ceased that valley of the night, Which with its terror had so pierced my heart, ^* I looked aloft, and saw its shoulders bright Already mantled with that planet's rays, Which wanderers in all pathways leads aright. That sight the terror of my heart allays. Which in its depths till then no respite gave, ^ That night I past in such a sore amaze. Line 1. "Upon the journey of my life midway.
Dante gives the date of his vision at the close of his thirty-fifth year, the half of the threescore years and ten allotted by the Psalmist. This was A.D. 1300, and events that occurred at a later period are thus introduced as prophecy. Line 17. " Already mantled with that planet's rays. The Sun, the rays of Truths which guide the wanderer from the maze of error, and light up the sunmit of the mountain of Virtue. B
2 HELL. Cabto I. And as one breathless from a watery grave, When he has reached the shore from out the sea, Turns and looks back upon the perilous wave : So did my soul, which even yet would flee, ^* Turn backwards to behold the past again From which with life none ever issued free. After my weary frame some rest had ta'en.
The lower foot set firmly at each stride, Upwards I went through that deserted plain. ^ When lo ! at the first ascent of that hillside, A panther, lithe, most agile of its race. And covered over with a spotted hide. It never turned aside from *fore my face, And so blocked up my pathway, ne'er withdrawn, ^ That oft I turned my footsteps to retrace.
The time was then the hour of early dawn, And the sun rose, with those same stars beside, Which were with him when first their light was drawn By Love divine in beauteousness to glide. *^ So I had every reason to essay The conquest of that beast with beauteous hide. In that fair season and the hour of day ; Yet none the less a panic in me woke.
The sight, which showed a lion in the way. ** He seemed as if 'gainst me in charge he broke, With head aloft and maddening hunger's ire, The very air appeared to fear his stroke. Then came a she- wolf, who of all desire Appeared incarnate in her leanness grim, ^ Through whom vast crowds in wretchedness transpire. This with such leaden weight struck every limb From terror rising at her sight of dread, That I lost every hope the height to climb.
Line 27. " From whicli with life none ever issued free. Hyx)6rbolicaUy desoriptive of the few who escape from the entanglement of human passions. Line 38. " And the sun rose, with those same stars beside, Which were with him when first their light was drawn By Love divine in beauteousness to glide. The sun was in the constellation of Aries, the time of spring, at which season Dante supposes the Creation to have taken {dace. Line 41.
" So I had every reason to essay. The translation in the text is the interpretation of this difficult passage given by Yenturi. The Italian annotators explain the difficulty by saying that the season of the day and year gave the Poet heart to hope to win the panther's gay coat in sign of his victory. Cary makes the beauty of the panther a cause for gaiety, which must be wrong.
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