Purgatory Canto 18
Canto XVIII
Argument
Virgil discourses further concerning the nature of love. Then a multitude of spirits rush by; two of whom, in van of the rest, record instances of zeal and fervent affection, and another, who was Abbot of San Zeno in Verona, declares himself to Virgil and Dante; and lastly follow other spirits, shouting forth memorable examples of the sin for which they suffer. The Poet, pursuing his meditations, falls into a dreamy slumber.
The teacher ended, and his high discourse Concluding, earnest in my looks inquired If I appear'd content; and I, whom still Unsated thirst to hear him urged, was mute, Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said:
"Perchance my too much questioning offends."
But he, true father, mark'd the secret wish By diffidence restrain'd; and, speaking, gave Me boldness thus to speak: "Master! my sight Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams, That all, thy words convey, distinct is seen.
Wherefore I pray thee, father, whom this heart Holds dearest, thou wouldst deign by proof t' unfold That love, from which, as from their source, thou bring'st All good deeds and their opposite." He then:
"To what I now disclose be thy clear ken Directed; and thou plainly shalt behold How much those blind have err'd, who make themselves The guides of men. The soul, created apt To love, moves versatile which way soe'er Aught pleasing prompts her, soon as she is waked By pleasure into act. Of substance true Your apprehension forms its counterfeit;
And, in you the ideal shape presenting, Attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn, Incline toward it; love is that inclining, And a new nature knit by pleasure in ye.
Then, as the fire points up, and mounting seeks His birth - place and his lasting seat, e'en thus Enters the captive soul into desire, Which is a spiritual motion, that ne'er rests Before enjoyment of the thing it loves.
Enough to show thee, how the truth from those Is hidden, who aver all love a thing Praiseworthy in itself; although perhaps Its matter seem still good. Yet if the wax Be good, it follows not the impression must."
"What love is," I return'd, "thy words, O guide!
And my own docile mind, reveal. Yet thence New doubts have sprung. For, from without, if love Be offered to us, and the spirit knows No other footing; tend she right or wrong, Is no desert of hers." He answering thus:
"What reason here discovers, I have power To show thee: that which lies beyond, expect From Beatrice, faith not reason's task.
Spirit, substantial form, with matter join'd, Not in confusion mix'd, hath in itself Specific virtue of that union born, Which is not felt except it work, nor proved But through effect, as vegetable life By the green leaf. From whence his intellect Deduced its primal notices of things, Man therefore knows not, or his appetites Their first affections; such in you, as zeal In bees to gather honey; at the first, Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise.
But o'er each lower faculty supreme, That, as she list, are summon'd to her bar, Ye have that virtue in you, whose just voice Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep The threshold of assent. Here is the source, Whence cause of merit in you is derived;
E'en as the affections, good or ill, she takes, Or severs, winnow'd as the chaff. Those men, Who, reasoning, went to depth profoundest, mark'd That innate freedom; and were thence induced To leave their moral teaching to the world.
Grant then, that from necessity arise All love that glows within you; to dismiss Or harbour it, the power is in yourselves.
Remember, Beatrice, in her style, Denominates free choice by eminence The noble virtue; if in talk with thee She touch upon that theme." The moon, well nigh To midnight hour belated, made the stars Appear to wink and fade; and her broad disk Seem'd like a crag on fire, as up the vault That course she journey'd, which the sun then warms When they of Rome behold him at his set Betwixt Sardinia and the Corsic isle.
And now the weight, that hung upon my thought, Was lighten'd by the aid of that clear spirit, Who raiseth Andes above Mantua's name.
I therefore, when my questions had obtain'd Solution plain and ample, stood as one Musing in dreamy slumber; but not long Slumber'd; for suddenly a multitude, The steep already turning from behind,
[1: "That virtue." Reason.]
[2: \"Those men." The great moral philosophers among the heathen.]
[3: \"Up the vault." The moon passed with a motion opposite to that of the heavens, through the constellation of the Scorpion, in which the sun is, when to those who are in Rome he appears to set between the isles of Corsica and Sardinia.]
[4: \"Andes." Andes, now Pietola, made more famous than Mantua, near which it is situated, by having been the birthplace of Virgil.]
Rush'd on. With fury and like random rout, As echoing on their shores at midnight heard Ismenus and Asopus, for his Thebes If Bacchus' help were needed; so came these Tumultuous, curving each his rapid step, By eagerness impell'd of holy love.
[5: "Ismenus and Asopus." Rivers near Thebes.]
Soon they o'ertook us; with such swiftness moved The mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head Cried, weeping, "Blessed Mary sought with haste The hilly region. Caesar, to subdue Ilerda, darted in Marseilles his sting, And flew to Spain." - "Oh, tarry not: away!"
The others shouted; "let not time be lost Through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal To serve reanimates celestial grace."
[6: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth." - Luke i. 39.]
[7: Caesar left Brutus to complete the siege of Marseilles, and hastened on to the attack of Afranius and Petreius, the generals of Pompey, at Ilerda (Lerida) in Spain.]
"O ye! in whom intenser fervency Haply supplies, where lukewarm erst ye fail'd, Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part Of good and virtuous; this man, who yet lives, (Credit my tale, though strange,) desires to ascend, So morning rise to light us. Therefore say Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock."
So spake my guide; to whom a shade return'd:
"Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft.
We may not linger: such resistless will Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thee Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I Was Abbot of San Zeno, when the hand Of Barbarossa grasp'd imperial sway, That name ne'er utter'd without tears in Milan.
And there is he, hath one foot in his grave,
[8: Alberto, Abbot of San Zeno in Verona, when Frederick I was Emperor, by whom Milan was besieged and reduced to ashes, in 1162.]
[9: \"There is he." Alberto della Scala, Lord of Verona, who had made his natural son Abbot of San Zeno.]
Who for that monastery ere long shall weep, Ruing his power misused: for that his son, Of body ill compact, and worse in mind, And born in evil, he hath set in place Of its true pastor." Whether more he spake, Or here was mute, I know not: he had sped E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much I heard, and in remembrance treasured it.
He then, who never fail'd me at my need, Cried, "Hither turn. Lo! two with sharp remorse Chiding their sin." In rear of all the troop These shouted: "First they died,[10] to whom the sea Open'd, or ever Jordan saw his heirs: And they,[11] who with Aeneas to the end Endured not suffering, for their portion chose Life without glory." Soon as they had fled Past reach of sight, new thought within me rose By others follow'd fast, and each unlike Its fellow: till led on from thought to thought, And pleasured with the fleeting train, mine eye Was closed, and meditation changed to dream.
[10: \"First they died." The Israelites, who on account of their disobedience died before reaching the promised land.]
[11: \"And they." Those Trojans, who wearied with their voyage, chose rather to remain in Sicily with Acestes than accompany Aeneas to Italy.]
Argument
Virgil discourses further concerning the nature of love. Then a multitude of spirits rush by; two of whom, in van of the rest, record instances of zeal and fervent affection, and another, who was Abbot of San Zeno in Verona, declares himself to Virgil and Dante; and lastly follow other spirits, shouting forth memorable examples of the sin for which they suffer. The Poet, pursuing his meditations, falls into a dreamy slumber.
The teacher ended, and his high discourse Concluding, earnest in my looks inquired If I appear'd content; and I, whom still Unsated thirst to hear him urged, was mute, Mute outwardly, yet inwardly I said:
"Perchance my too much questioning offends."
But he, true father, mark'd the secret wish By diffidence restrain'd; and, speaking, gave Me boldness thus to speak: "Master! my sight Gathers so lively virtue from thy beams, That all, thy words convey, distinct is seen.
Wherefore I pray thee, father, whom this heart Holds dearest, thou wouldst deign by proof t' unfold That love, from which, as from their source, thou bring'st All good deeds and their opposite." He then:
"To what I now disclose be thy clear ken Directed; and thou plainly shalt behold How much those blind have err'd, who make themselves The guides of men. The soul, created apt To love, moves versatile which way soe'er Aught pleasing prompts her, soon as she is waked By pleasure into act. Of substance true Your apprehension forms its counterfeit;
And, in you the ideal shape presenting, Attracts the soul's regard. If she, thus drawn, Incline toward it; love is that inclining, And a new nature knit by pleasure in ye.
Then, as the fire points up, and mounting seeks His birth - place and his lasting seat, e'en thus Enters the captive soul into desire, Which is a spiritual motion, that ne'er rests Before enjoyment of the thing it loves.
Enough to show thee, how the truth from those Is hidden, who aver all love a thing Praiseworthy in itself; although perhaps Its matter seem still good. Yet if the wax Be good, it follows not the impression must."
"What love is," I return'd, "thy words, O guide!
And my own docile mind, reveal. Yet thence New doubts have sprung. For, from without, if love Be offered to us, and the spirit knows No other footing; tend she right or wrong, Is no desert of hers." He answering thus:
"What reason here discovers, I have power To show thee: that which lies beyond, expect From Beatrice, faith not reason's task.
Spirit, substantial form, with matter join'd, Not in confusion mix'd, hath in itself Specific virtue of that union born, Which is not felt except it work, nor proved But through effect, as vegetable life By the green leaf. From whence his intellect Deduced its primal notices of things, Man therefore knows not, or his appetites Their first affections; such in you, as zeal In bees to gather honey; at the first, Volition, meriting nor blame nor praise.
But o'er each lower faculty supreme, That, as she list, are summon'd to her bar, Ye have that virtue in you, whose just voice Uttereth counsel, and whose word should keep The threshold of assent. Here is the source, Whence cause of merit in you is derived;
E'en as the affections, good or ill, she takes, Or severs, winnow'd as the chaff. Those men, Who, reasoning, went to depth profoundest, mark'd That innate freedom; and were thence induced To leave their moral teaching to the world.
Grant then, that from necessity arise All love that glows within you; to dismiss Or harbour it, the power is in yourselves.
Remember, Beatrice, in her style, Denominates free choice by eminence The noble virtue; if in talk with thee She touch upon that theme." The moon, well nigh To midnight hour belated, made the stars Appear to wink and fade; and her broad disk Seem'd like a crag on fire, as up the vault That course she journey'd, which the sun then warms When they of Rome behold him at his set Betwixt Sardinia and the Corsic isle.
And now the weight, that hung upon my thought, Was lighten'd by the aid of that clear spirit, Who raiseth Andes above Mantua's name.
I therefore, when my questions had obtain'd Solution plain and ample, stood as one Musing in dreamy slumber; but not long Slumber'd; for suddenly a multitude, The steep already turning from behind,
[1: "That virtue." Reason.]
[2: \"Those men." The great moral philosophers among the heathen.]
[3: \"Up the vault." The moon passed with a motion opposite to that of the heavens, through the constellation of the Scorpion, in which the sun is, when to those who are in Rome he appears to set between the isles of Corsica and Sardinia.]
[4: \"Andes." Andes, now Pietola, made more famous than Mantua, near which it is situated, by having been the birthplace of Virgil.]
Rush'd on. With fury and like random rout, As echoing on their shores at midnight heard Ismenus and Asopus, for his Thebes If Bacchus' help were needed; so came these Tumultuous, curving each his rapid step, By eagerness impell'd of holy love.
[5: "Ismenus and Asopus." Rivers near Thebes.]
Soon they o'ertook us; with such swiftness moved The mighty crowd. Two spirits at their head Cried, weeping, "Blessed Mary sought with haste The hilly region. Caesar, to subdue Ilerda, darted in Marseilles his sting, And flew to Spain." - "Oh, tarry not: away!"
The others shouted; "let not time be lost Through slackness of affection. Hearty zeal To serve reanimates celestial grace."
[6: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth." - Luke i. 39.]
[7: Caesar left Brutus to complete the siege of Marseilles, and hastened on to the attack of Afranius and Petreius, the generals of Pompey, at Ilerda (Lerida) in Spain.]
"O ye! in whom intenser fervency Haply supplies, where lukewarm erst ye fail'd, Slow or neglectful, to absolve your part Of good and virtuous; this man, who yet lives, (Credit my tale, though strange,) desires to ascend, So morning rise to light us. Therefore say Which hand leads nearest to the rifted rock."
So spake my guide; to whom a shade return'd:
"Come after us, and thou shalt find the cleft.
We may not linger: such resistless will Speeds our unwearied course. Vouchsafe us then Thy pardon, if our duty seem to thee Discourteous rudeness. In Verona I Was Abbot of San Zeno, when the hand Of Barbarossa grasp'd imperial sway, That name ne'er utter'd without tears in Milan.
And there is he, hath one foot in his grave,
[8: Alberto, Abbot of San Zeno in Verona, when Frederick I was Emperor, by whom Milan was besieged and reduced to ashes, in 1162.]
[9: \"There is he." Alberto della Scala, Lord of Verona, who had made his natural son Abbot of San Zeno.]
Who for that monastery ere long shall weep, Ruing his power misused: for that his son, Of body ill compact, and worse in mind, And born in evil, he hath set in place Of its true pastor." Whether more he spake, Or here was mute, I know not: he had sped E'en now so far beyond us. Yet thus much I heard, and in remembrance treasured it.
He then, who never fail'd me at my need, Cried, "Hither turn. Lo! two with sharp remorse Chiding their sin." In rear of all the troop These shouted: "First they died,[10] to whom the sea Open'd, or ever Jordan saw his heirs: And they,[11] who with Aeneas to the end Endured not suffering, for their portion chose Life without glory." Soon as they had fled Past reach of sight, new thought within me rose By others follow'd fast, and each unlike Its fellow: till led on from thought to thought, And pleasured with the fleeting train, mine eye Was closed, and meditation changed to dream.
[10: \"First they died." The Israelites, who on account of their disobedience died before reaching the promised land.]
[11: \"And they." Those Trojans, who wearied with their voyage, chose rather to remain in Sicily with Acestes than accompany Aeneas to Italy.]
