The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri
Canto ni. p. 143And one of them did thus begin : " Whoe'er Thou beest who wanderest thus, now turn thy face, And think if thou hast ever seen me there." ^^ I turned me towards him, and I gazed a space ; Fair was he, tall, of gentle look serene, Upon one eyebrow a deep scar I trace. When I had told him with an humble mien That I had never seen him, " Look," he said, "* And pointed out a wound his breast between.
Then said he with a smile : "I am Manfred, The grandson of the Empress Constance old, Whence I beseech thee, when thou hence art led, Go to my daughter, mother of the bold "* Honour of Arragon and Sicily, And say the truth, if now aught else be told. ) With these two mortal punctures fatally When I was smitten, I returned in time, 1 Weeping to him who pardons willingly. ^^® Most horrible indeed had been my crime : But Goodness Infinite has arms so large.
They can embrace, whoe'er returns to him. Cosenza's bishop, when on Clement's charge. He chased my dust in anger, had he read ^^^ This text of Mercy in God's Bible's marge My scattered bones above the bridge's head Would still be lying, near to Benevent, Safe in the keeping of its stoim-built bed. Now washes them the wave, and at its bent ^^^ Drives them the wind along the Verde's shore, Where they were carried out, with tapers spent. Line 112.
Manfred, King of Naples, and the natnral son of the Emperor Frederic II. Constance was taken oat of a convent at the mature age of fifty, and married to the Emperor Henry Y I., and to the astonishment of the then political world gave birth to a son, the father of Manfred. Constance is introduced in the lowest sphere of the Paradise, bein^ debarred firom higher glory through her having broken her vow of chastity in the above manner. Line 115.
Manfred's daughter Constance was Queen of Peter III. of Arragon, and mother of Frederic, King of Sicily, and James, King of Arragon. In Canto YII. of the Purgatory these princes are represented as not inheriting the virtues of their father. Line 118.
Manfred was slain in a baHle fought with Charles of Aujou, in 1265, allusion to which has been made in the opening of Canto XXYIII. of Hell, and was buried at the bridge near Benevento, each of the army throwing a stone on his grave. Having died excommunicated, he was disinterred by the Bishop of Cosento, on the orders of Pope Clement lY., and his remains buried by the side of the River Yerde.
p. 144Cajtto IV. The Papal curse condemns not evermore, But still Eternal Love has power to save, As long as hope preserves its verdant flower. ^^ True, whoso dies in contumacy grave With Holy Church, though he repents his sin, Is doomed upon this bank without to crave, Thirty times longer than he erst had been In his presumption, if to such decree Eeprieve the prayers of good men do not win. How thou canst make me joyful henceforth see, Eevealing to my own good Constance, clear, How thou hast seen me, and this ban on me : Since those on earth can much advance us here." ^^
p. 140
CANTO IV. Guided by ihe spirits, the poets turn into a narrow fissure cloven in the hillside, and continue their ascent. Pausing on the top of a ledge for rest, Dante marvels at seeing the sun travelling in the northern portion of the sky, instead of in the southern, as in the other hemisphere. They then become awp,re of the presence of another troop of spirits, among whom Dante recognises one Belacqua, who informs him that they are con- '^ demned to wander in the Ante-Purgatory for as many years as they delayed repentance in life. When on the passion of delight or woe. Such as our quality can comprehend, The mind is turned, on this 'tis gathered so That to no other power its force can bend ; And this disproves his error, who believes * That more than one soul in ourselves can blend. And therefore, when a thing, to which there cleaves The spirit strongly drawn, is heard or seen, The time goes onwards, nor the man perceives. The hearing is one faculty I ween. Another that which holds the soul enrapt. The last is bound, the first no chains confine. Of this had I experience, true and apt, Admiring as I heard that spirit fair : Fifty degrees at least the sun had capt
p. 10
Line 5. Alluding to the opinion that there were three souls, the vegetative, the sensitive, aad the intellective, which he disproves by the fact that the complete occupation of one set of powers, as sight or hearing, cannot be simultaneous with the action of a different set of powers. Line 15. Three hours and twenty minutes, as while in the equinox the sun mounts fifteen degrees in the hour.
p. 26
SO
Canto ni. PURGATORY. 143 And one of them did thus begin : " Whoe'er You beest who wanderest thus, now turn your face, And think if you have ever seen me there." ^^ I turned me towards him, and I gazed a space ; Fair was he, tall, of gentle look serene, Upon one eyebrow a deep scar I trace. When I had told him with an humble mien That I had never seen him, " Look," he said, "* And pointed out a wound his breast between. Then said he with a smile : "I am Manfred, The grandson of the Empress Constance old, Whence I beseech you, when you hence art led, Go to my daughter, mother of the bold "* Honour of Arragon and Sicily, And say the truth, if now aught else be told. ) With these two mortal punctures fatally When I was smitten, I returned in time, 1 Weeping to him who pardons willingly. ^^® Most horrible indeed had been my crime : But Goodness Infinite has arms so large. They can embrace, whoe'er returns to him. Cosenza's bishop, when on Clement's charge. He chased my dust in anger, had he read ^^^ This text of Mercy in God's Bible's marge My scattered bones above the bridge's head Would still be lying, near to Benevent, Safe in the keeping of its stoim-built bed. Now washes them the wave, and at its bent ^^^ Drives them the wind along the Verde's shore, Where they were carried out, with tapers spent. Line 112. Manfred, King of Naples, and the natnral son of the Emperor Frederic II. Constance was taken oat of a convent at the mature age of fifty, and married to the Emperor Henry Y I., and to the astonishment of the then political world gave birth to a son, the father of Manfred. Constance is introduced in the lowest sphere of the Paradise, bein^ debarred firom higher glory through her having broken her vow of chastity in the above manner. Line 115. Manfred's daughter Constance was Queen of Peter III. of Arragon, and mother of Frederic, King of Sicily, and James, King of Arragon. In Canto YII. of the Purgatory these princes are represented as not inheriting the virtues of their father. Line 118. Manfred was slain in a baHle fought with Charles of Aujou, in 1265, allusion to which has been made in the opening of Canto XXYIII. of Hell, and was buried at the bridge near Benevento, each of the army throwing a stone on his grave. Having died excommunicated, he was disinterred by the Bishop of Cosento, on the orders of Pope Clement lY., and his remains buried by the side of the River Yerde.
144 PURGATORY. Cajtto IV. The Papal curse condemns not evermore, But still Eternal Love has power to save, As long as hope preserves its verdant flower. ^^ True, whoso dies in contumacy grave With Holy Church, though he repents his sin, Is doomed upon this bank without to crave, Thirty times longer than he erst had been In his presumption, if to such decree Eeprieve the prayers of good men do not win. How you can make me joyful henceforth see, Eevealing to my own good Constance, clear, How you have seen me, and this ban on me : Since those on earth can much advance us here." ^^
p. 140
CANTO IV. Guided by ihe spirits, the poets turn into a narrow fissure cloven in the hillside, and continue their ascent. Pausing on the top of a ledge for rest, Dante marvels at seeing the sun travelling in the northern portion of the sky, instead of in the southern, as in the other hemisphere. They then become awp,re of the presence of another troop of spirits, among whom Dante recognises one Belacqua, who informs him that they are con- '^ demned to wander in the Ante-Purgatory for as many years as they delayed repentance in life. When on the passion of delight or woe. Such as our quality can comprehend, The mind is turned, on this 'tis gathered so That to no other power its force can bend ; And this disproves his error, who believes * That more than one soul in ourselves can blend. And therefore, when a thing, to which there cleaves The spirit strongly drawn, is heard or seen, The time goes onwards, nor the man perceives. The hearing is one faculty I ween. Another that which holds the soul enrapt. The last is bound, the first no chains confine. Of this had I experience, true and apt, Admiring as I heard that spirit fair : Fifty degrees at least the sun had capt
p. 10
Line 5. Alluding to the opinion that there were three souls, the vegetative, the sensitive, aad the intellective, which he disproves by the fact that the complete occupation of one set of powers, as sight or hearing, cannot be simultaneous with the action of a different set of powers. Line 15. Three hours and twenty minutes, as while in the equinox the sun mounts fifteen degrees in the hour.
p. 26
SO
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