Purgatory Canto 19
Canto XIX
Argument
The Poet, after describing his dream, relates how, at the summoning of an Angel, he ascends with Virgil to the fifth cornice, where the sin of avarice is cleansed, and where he finds Pope Adrian the fifth.
It was the hour, when of diurnal heat No reliques chafe the cold beams of the moon, O'erpower'd by earth, or planetary sway Of Saturn; and the geomancer sees His Greater Fortune up the east ascend, Where gray dawn checkers first the shadowy cone,
[1: "The hour." Near the dawn.]
[2: \"The geomancer." The geomancers, when they divined, drew a figure consisting of sixteen marks, named from so many stars which constitute the end of Aquarius and the beginning of Pisces. One of these they called "the greater fortune."]
When, 'fore me in my dream, a woman's shape There came, with lips that stammer'd, eyes aslant, Distorted feet, hands maim'd, and colour pale.
[3: "A woman's shape." Worldly happiness. This allegory reminds us of the "Choice of Hercules."]
I look'd upon her: and, as sunshine cheers Limbs numb'd by nightly cold, e'en thus my look Unloosed her tongue; next, in brief space, her form Decrepit raised erect, and faded face With love's own hue illumed. Recovering speech, She forthwith, warbling, such a strain began, That I, how loth soe'er, could scarce have held Attention from the song. "I," thus she sang,
"I am the Syren, she, whom mariners On the wide sea are wilder'd when they hear;
Such fullness of delight the listener feels.
I, from his course, Ulysses by my lay Enchanted drew. Whoe'er frequents me once, Parts seldom: so I charm him, and his heart Contented knows no void." Or ere her mouth Was closed, to shame her, at my side appear'd A dame of semblance holy. With stern voice She utter'd: "Say, O Virgil! who is this?"
Which hearing, he approach'd, with eyes still bent Toward that goodly presence: the other seized her, And, her robes tearing, open'd her before, And show'd the belly to me, whence a smell, Exhaling loathsome, waked me. Round I turn'd Mine eyes: and thus the teacher: "At the least Three times my voice hath call'd thee. Rise, begone.
Let us the opening find where thou mayst pass."
[4: "Ulysses." It is not easy to determine why Ulysses, contrary to the authority of Homer, is said to have been drawn aside from his course by the song of the Siren. No improbable way of accounting for the contradiction is, to suppose that she is here represented as purposely deviating from the truth. Or Dante may have followed some legend of the Middle Ages.]
[5: \"A dame." Philosophy, or perhaps Truth.]
I straightway rose. Now day, pour'd down from high, Fill'd all the circuits of the sacred mount;
And, as we journey'd, on our shoulder smote The early ray. I follow'd, stooping low My forehead, as a man, o'ercharged with thought,
Who bends him to the likeness of an arch That midway spans the flood; when thus I heard,
"Come, enter here," in tone so soft and mild, As never met the ear on mortal strand.
With swan - like wings dispred and pointing up, Who thus had spoken marshal'd us along, Where, each side of the solid masonry, The sloping walls retired; then moved his plumes, And fanning us, affirm'd that those, who mourn, Are blessed, for that comfort shall be theirs.
[6: "Who mourn. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." - Matt. v. 4]
"What aileth thee, that still thou look'st to earth?"
Began my leader; while the angelic shape A little over us his station took.
"New vision," I replied, "hath raised in me Surmisings strange and anxious doubts, whereon My soul int nt allows no other thought Or room, or entrance." - "Hast thou seen," said he
"That old enchantress, her, whose wiles alone The spirits o'er us weep for? Hast thou seen How man may free him of her bonds? Enough.
Let thy heels spurn the earth; and thy raised ken Fix on the lure, which Heaven's eternal King Whirls in the rolling spheres." As on his feet The falcon first looks down, then to the sky Turns, and forth stretches eager for the food, That woos him thither; so the call I heard: So onward, far as the dividing rock Gave way, I journey'd, till the plain was reach'd.
On the fifth circle when I stood at large, A race appear'd before me, on the ground All downward lying prone and weeping sore.
"My soul hath cleaved to the dust," I heard With sighs so deep, they well nigh choked the words.
"O ye elect of God! whose penal woes Both hope and justice mitigate, direct Towards the steep rising our uncertain way."
"If ye approach secure from this our doom, Prostration, and would urge your course with speed,
See that ye still to rightward keep the brink."
So them the bard besought; and such the words, Beyond us some short space, in answer came.
I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them: Thence to my liege's eyes mine eyes I bent, And he, forthwith interpreting their suit, Beckon'd his glad assent. Free then to act As pleased me, I drew near, and took my stand Over that shade whose words I late had mark'd.
And, "Spirit!" I said, "in whom repentant tears Mature that blessed hour when thou with God Shalt find acceptance, for a while suspend For me that mightier care. Say who thou wast;
Why thus ye grovel on your bellies prone;
And if, in aught, ye wish my service there, Whence living I am come." He answering spake:
"The cause why Heaven our back towards his cope Reverses, shalt thou know: but me know first, The successor of Peter, and the name And title of my lineage, from that stream That 'twixt Chiaveri and Siestri draws His limpid waters through the lowly glen.
A month and little more by proof I learnt, With what a weight that robe of sovereignty Upon his shoulder rests, who from the mire Would guard it; that each other fardel seems But feathers in the balance. Late, alas!
Was my conversion: but, when I became Rome's pastor, I discerned at once the dream And cozenage of life; saw that the heart Rested not there, and yet no prouder height Lured on the climber: wher, of that life No more enamor'd, in my bosom love Of purer being kindled. For till then
[7: "I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them." They were ignorant, it appeared, whether Dante was come there to be purged of his sins.]
[8: \"The successor of Peter." Ottobuono, of the family of Fieschi, Counts of Lavagno, died thirty - nine days after he became Pope, with the title of Adrian V, in 1276.]
[9: \"That stream." The river Lavagno, in the Genoese territory; to the east of which territory are situated Siestri and Chiaveri.]
I was a soul in misery, alienate From God, and covetous of all earthly things;
Now, as thou seest, here punish'd for my doting.
Such cleansing from the taint of avarice, Do spirits, converted, need. This mount inflicts No direr penalty. E'en as our eyes Fasten'd below, nor e'er to loftier clime Were lifted; thus hath justice level'd us, Here on the earth. As avarice quench'd our love Of good, without which is no working; thus Here justice holds us prison'd, hand and foot Chain'd down and bound, while Heaven's just Lord shall please, So long to tarry, motionless, outstretch'd."
My knees I stoop'd, and would have spoke; but he, Ere my beginning, by his ear perceived I did him reverence; and "What cause," said he,
"Hath bow'd thee thus?" - "Compunction," I rejoin'd,
"And inward awe of your high dignity."
"Up," he exclaim'd, "brother! upon thy feet Arise; err not: thy fellow - servant I, (Thine and all others') of one Sovran Power.
If thou hast ever mark'd those holy sounds Of gospel truth, 'nor shall be given in marriage,'
Thou mayst discern the reasons of my speech.
Go thy ways now; and linger here no more.
Thy tarrying is a let unto the tears, With which I hasten that wher thou spakest.
I have on earth a kinswoman;[10] her name Alagia, worthy in herself, so ill Example of our house corrupt her not: And she is all remaineth of me there."
[10: "A kinswoman." Alagia is said to have been the wife of the Marchese Marcello Malaspina, one of the Poet's protectors during his exile.
See Canto viii. 133.]
Argument
The Poet, after describing his dream, relates how, at the summoning of an Angel, he ascends with Virgil to the fifth cornice, where the sin of avarice is cleansed, and where he finds Pope Adrian the fifth.
It was the hour, when of diurnal heat No reliques chafe the cold beams of the moon, O'erpower'd by earth, or planetary sway Of Saturn; and the geomancer sees His Greater Fortune up the east ascend, Where gray dawn checkers first the shadowy cone,
[1: "The hour." Near the dawn.]
[2: \"The geomancer." The geomancers, when they divined, drew a figure consisting of sixteen marks, named from so many stars which constitute the end of Aquarius and the beginning of Pisces. One of these they called "the greater fortune."]
When, 'fore me in my dream, a woman's shape There came, with lips that stammer'd, eyes aslant, Distorted feet, hands maim'd, and colour pale.
[3: "A woman's shape." Worldly happiness. This allegory reminds us of the "Choice of Hercules."]
I look'd upon her: and, as sunshine cheers Limbs numb'd by nightly cold, e'en thus my look Unloosed her tongue; next, in brief space, her form Decrepit raised erect, and faded face With love's own hue illumed. Recovering speech, She forthwith, warbling, such a strain began, That I, how loth soe'er, could scarce have held Attention from the song. "I," thus she sang,
"I am the Syren, she, whom mariners On the wide sea are wilder'd when they hear;
Such fullness of delight the listener feels.
I, from his course, Ulysses by my lay Enchanted drew. Whoe'er frequents me once, Parts seldom: so I charm him, and his heart Contented knows no void." Or ere her mouth Was closed, to shame her, at my side appear'd A dame of semblance holy. With stern voice She utter'd: "Say, O Virgil! who is this?"
Which hearing, he approach'd, with eyes still bent Toward that goodly presence: the other seized her, And, her robes tearing, open'd her before, And show'd the belly to me, whence a smell, Exhaling loathsome, waked me. Round I turn'd Mine eyes: and thus the teacher: "At the least Three times my voice hath call'd thee. Rise, begone.
Let us the opening find where thou mayst pass."
[4: "Ulysses." It is not easy to determine why Ulysses, contrary to the authority of Homer, is said to have been drawn aside from his course by the song of the Siren. No improbable way of accounting for the contradiction is, to suppose that she is here represented as purposely deviating from the truth. Or Dante may have followed some legend of the Middle Ages.]
[5: \"A dame." Philosophy, or perhaps Truth.]
I straightway rose. Now day, pour'd down from high, Fill'd all the circuits of the sacred mount;
And, as we journey'd, on our shoulder smote The early ray. I follow'd, stooping low My forehead, as a man, o'ercharged with thought,
Who bends him to the likeness of an arch That midway spans the flood; when thus I heard,
"Come, enter here," in tone so soft and mild, As never met the ear on mortal strand.
With swan - like wings dispred and pointing up, Who thus had spoken marshal'd us along, Where, each side of the solid masonry, The sloping walls retired; then moved his plumes, And fanning us, affirm'd that those, who mourn, Are blessed, for that comfort shall be theirs.
[6: "Who mourn. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." - Matt. v. 4]
"What aileth thee, that still thou look'st to earth?"
Began my leader; while the angelic shape A little over us his station took.
"New vision," I replied, "hath raised in me Surmisings strange and anxious doubts, whereon My soul int nt allows no other thought Or room, or entrance." - "Hast thou seen," said he
"That old enchantress, her, whose wiles alone The spirits o'er us weep for? Hast thou seen How man may free him of her bonds? Enough.
Let thy heels spurn the earth; and thy raised ken Fix on the lure, which Heaven's eternal King Whirls in the rolling spheres." As on his feet The falcon first looks down, then to the sky Turns, and forth stretches eager for the food, That woos him thither; so the call I heard: So onward, far as the dividing rock Gave way, I journey'd, till the plain was reach'd.
On the fifth circle when I stood at large, A race appear'd before me, on the ground All downward lying prone and weeping sore.
"My soul hath cleaved to the dust," I heard With sighs so deep, they well nigh choked the words.
"O ye elect of God! whose penal woes Both hope and justice mitigate, direct Towards the steep rising our uncertain way."
"If ye approach secure from this our doom, Prostration, and would urge your course with speed,
See that ye still to rightward keep the brink."
So them the bard besought; and such the words, Beyond us some short space, in answer came.
I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them: Thence to my liege's eyes mine eyes I bent, And he, forthwith interpreting their suit, Beckon'd his glad assent. Free then to act As pleased me, I drew near, and took my stand Over that shade whose words I late had mark'd.
And, "Spirit!" I said, "in whom repentant tears Mature that blessed hour when thou with God Shalt find acceptance, for a while suspend For me that mightier care. Say who thou wast;
Why thus ye grovel on your bellies prone;
And if, in aught, ye wish my service there, Whence living I am come." He answering spake:
"The cause why Heaven our back towards his cope Reverses, shalt thou know: but me know first, The successor of Peter, and the name And title of my lineage, from that stream That 'twixt Chiaveri and Siestri draws His limpid waters through the lowly glen.
A month and little more by proof I learnt, With what a weight that robe of sovereignty Upon his shoulder rests, who from the mire Would guard it; that each other fardel seems But feathers in the balance. Late, alas!
Was my conversion: but, when I became Rome's pastor, I discerned at once the dream And cozenage of life; saw that the heart Rested not there, and yet no prouder height Lured on the climber: wher, of that life No more enamor'd, in my bosom love Of purer being kindled. For till then
[7: "I noted what remain'd yet hidden from them." They were ignorant, it appeared, whether Dante was come there to be purged of his sins.]
[8: \"The successor of Peter." Ottobuono, of the family of Fieschi, Counts of Lavagno, died thirty - nine days after he became Pope, with the title of Adrian V, in 1276.]
[9: \"That stream." The river Lavagno, in the Genoese territory; to the east of which territory are situated Siestri and Chiaveri.]
I was a soul in misery, alienate From God, and covetous of all earthly things;
Now, as thou seest, here punish'd for my doting.
Such cleansing from the taint of avarice, Do spirits, converted, need. This mount inflicts No direr penalty. E'en as our eyes Fasten'd below, nor e'er to loftier clime Were lifted; thus hath justice level'd us, Here on the earth. As avarice quench'd our love Of good, without which is no working; thus Here justice holds us prison'd, hand and foot Chain'd down and bound, while Heaven's just Lord shall please, So long to tarry, motionless, outstretch'd."
My knees I stoop'd, and would have spoke; but he, Ere my beginning, by his ear perceived I did him reverence; and "What cause," said he,
"Hath bow'd thee thus?" - "Compunction," I rejoin'd,
"And inward awe of your high dignity."
"Up," he exclaim'd, "brother! upon thy feet Arise; err not: thy fellow - servant I, (Thine and all others') of one Sovran Power.
If thou hast ever mark'd those holy sounds Of gospel truth, 'nor shall be given in marriage,'
Thou mayst discern the reasons of my speech.
Go thy ways now; and linger here no more.
Thy tarrying is a let unto the tears, With which I hasten that wher thou spakest.
I have on earth a kinswoman;[10] her name Alagia, worthy in herself, so ill Example of our house corrupt her not: And she is all remaineth of me there."
[10: "A kinswoman." Alagia is said to have been the wife of the Marchese Marcello Malaspina, one of the Poet's protectors during his exile.
See Canto viii. 133.]
