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Transcript

DANTE
DRAMATISED
1
L’INFERNO
DANTE
DRAMMATIZZATO
1
1. CONTENTS
p. 1
p. 2
p. 3
p. 6
p. 7
p. 10
p. 12
p. 17
⁪ 1. CONTENTS
⁪ 2. TITLE PAGE
⁪ 3. THE DIVINE COMEDY
⁪ 4. STAGING
⁪ 5. CAST & DURATION
⁪ 6. CHARACTERS
⁪ 7. MUSIC & ACTION
⁪ 8. CHARACTERS BY PLACE:
THE DIVINE COMEDY
p. 29
p. 222
⁪9. L’ INFERNO
⁪ 10. PROGRAMME
2
2. TITLE PAGE
DANTE
DRAMATISED
DANTE
DRAMMATIZZATO
1 L’Inferno
2 Il Purgatorio
3 Il Paradiso
G. P. KENNEDY
For Elzio Bini, my teacher.
SUMMARY
Dante’s great work is introduced to a wider audience with music and humour.
Dante Dramatised combines much of the DIVINE COMEDY’s poetry with English prose. Prose in any language or
dialect, including those of Italy, could be substituted for English with little or no alteration of the poetry or
action.
Very many people know of Dante but not so many non-Italians know his works beyond a few quotes.
The dramatisation shows Dante, the man, in his world and in the act of composition. The poetry gets into the
head as verbal music and as words with meaning attached. Some heads will turn to the original poem for more.
The dramatisation gets non-Italian speakers closer to Dante, and allows Italians (in Italy and overseas) who have
a dialect or another language to connect with their heritage in a new way.
Ask a poet to translate a well-known English poem into an English poem and you will be told that the poem is
unique, no other words will do etc. Ask him/her to translate from another language – less possible one would
think – and he/she will not be so inhibited. As Dante knew, poetry can never be more than part-translated. The
best verse translation of the DIVINE COMEDY can contain very few of Dante’s words. It is accepted because it
tells the story, has its own literary excellences, and leaves the body of the poem intact.
Lettor…Reader…You must decide how well the story is told.
An old Christian drama in a new form.
Boccaccio brought La Divina Commedia to Florence’s church of San Stefano in 1373. DANTE DRAMATISED
might be presented over a few days around Easter.
Requirements
A choir (15?) and a few instrumentalists (wind - perhaps not string).
A composer. An arranger of mostly ecclesiastical music.
Actors: some Italian-speaking, most playing multiple roles.
© G.P.Kennedy 2006 © A.S.Kline © G Petrocchi
3
3. THE DIVINE COMEDY
Only when I saw LA DIVINA COMMEDIA in prose translation did it begin to work on me, first on the level of the
literary device: As…so figures occur constantly, not always using those words.
The As and the so are very far apart in some instances but they are not extended metaphors in the usual sense.
I went through the COMMEDIA, colouring frequent figures and other recurrences – THE BOAT, THE BOW/ARROW,
FOOD/EATING, LIGHT, FLAME
etc.
Purgatory is in the Southern Hemisphere. Dante might be presented as a notable visitor to modern Australia, in
company with Beatrice and Virgil. They could move in public, quoting in Italian and English from Dante’s great
works. Think how many places Abandon all hope… could be used.
Dante and Beatrice could lecture on physics at a University and present a defence of the Monarchy at the National
Press Club in Canberra. They could give prepared answers to questions asked by guests, including the Italian
Ambassador.
A living Dante would bring his world to life in a way that no reading could. The idea could still be realised in
conjunction with the dramatisation of the entire DIVINA COMMEDIA, which it suddenly occurred to me was possible.
I removed the colours.
DIFFICULTIES:
Impenetrable politics & theology without action; action & actors too monstrous or sublime to show.
No clear progression: Dante called it a Comedy as it begins among the damned & ends among the blessed, but
he damns Pope Boniface in Canto 97 of the 100.
The poem may be picked up and put down at intervals. Its dramatisation may be altogether too much of an
often grim thing.
SOLUTIONS: Music…Muse…Amuse
Music (much of it listed by Dante). Muses to leaven the masculine mass, to support & subvert: the feminine
roles.
Counterpoise of poetry & prose, Italian & English.
Conventional devices: cutting, stylising, humanising of the main characters through humour.
Gifts:
(1) The unconscious humour of Beatrice as Dante’s mouthpiece & chastiser in the tradition of courtly love.
(Who would not have wished to meet the woman in the flesh?)
(2) I gave Dante a book & everybody wanted one.
As a character in the drama, Dante is reduced to a man. but his work, the 14,233 hendecasyllable tower, still stands
magnificent. The vision of Heaven and Hell I once experienced is a few monosyllables high.
DRAMATISATION & TRANSLATION
This dramatisation is for English speakers but will serve for a mixed English-Italian audience.
As much Dante is included as possible because his poetry has no substitute. It introduces and signs off sections.
(See 7 below). It occurs where the passage is particularly well-known; where the action gives the meaning to
English-only speakers; where the meaning is not apparent to English-only speakers but can be done without. (A
little magic is no bad thing – one reason why film-dubbers omit bits.)
In many cases it is desirable to provide both Dante’s Italian and the English prose. This can be done in various
ways, not exclusive of each other:
1. INTERPRETING / TRANSLATING (very common): by the original speaker or another character.
Action between the 2 deliveries makes it more natural. Where the audience is addressed, the character
feigns that the Italian-speakers are in one section, the English-speakers in another. James' Parents
Can't Read__P20__Children's Reviews
2. REDUNDANT (common): using one language for a passage and the other for a passage near it in the
poem and near it in content.
3. ECHOING / QUESTIONING / CONFIRMING (rare): repeating a passage by another character.
4. ELLIPTICAL (common): delivering in one language with key words in the other.
5. (NEAR-)SIMULTANEOUS: delivering in English and Italian at (almost) the same time.
6. SPEAKING - WRITING/READING: speaking one language & writing/reading the other, or vice
versa.
7. SECTIONING (common): beginning and (particularly) ending sections - Cantos etc.- with Italian as a
kind of homage to the original work. This ceremony may strike the drama director as artificial.
8. DANTE VERSIFIES or NOTES (common): following prose delivered by another character, Dante
sometimes thinks aloud or addresses the audience. All DANTE VERSIFIES is optional (but not noted as
such). Dante’s versification naturally enriches or alters the prose. The note or versification
occasionally even anticipates what a character says.
9. DESCRIBING SEPARATELY: 2 characters describing the same scene, in Italian and English.
4
10. PRESENT & PAST (occasional): A character, usually Dante, describes a scene in English as it happens,
then Dante versifies it as having happened.
Greyed words interpret/translate for the benefit of the actors but are not spoken. They also show sections of the LA
DIVINA COMMEDIA – English-only for reasons of space – which are omitted from the dramatisation. Future versions
of the dramatisation might omit included passages/characters and restore greyed ones.
There are many passages included which a director might cut, starting with those which are shown this way.
The dramatisation presents Dante’s lines in his order (with very few exceptions.). A handful of them are spoken by
a person other than the one nominated by Dante.
Only about 2,100 lines of Dante’s 14,233 lines are not quoted or used for the scene, music and action.
Approximately 2575 of the spoken lines or part-lines are Italian.
LA DIVINA COMMEDIA is the Giorgio Petrocchi edition. (Permission may need to be obtained.)
The English prose used is mostly from the translation by A.S.Kline. In some places it is abridged, or, for the sake of
natural speech, freed from his adherence to Dante’s phrasing. Underlined words replace Kline’s. Underlining also
marks words based on Notes, and works not by Dante. Longer segments not by Dante are not underlined. There are
approximately 700 lines or part –lines added to Dante’s in the dramatisations.
Most of the Notes are by Kline.
DIALECTS
The characters should be individualised with accents or an occasional word or phrase appropriate to to their region,
time and status; firstly because regionality was very marked in Dante’s time and work; secondly because modern
Italians viewing the dramatisation would feel a closer connection to it.
See L’INFERNO SCHEME: CHARACTERS BY PLACE.
Other characters may contribute Italian words, phrases or lines to the dramatisation, but not completed verses, the
only exceptions being Beatrice (who knows everything), and Guinicelli [PUR C26 73].
Consequently, most of the non-English is spoken by Dante and Beatrice. Some words of the other characters could
be composed in prose – Dantean Italian or dialect – for versification by Dante and interpretation into English.
STAGES & SETS
The motif of each dramatisation is 3 sets of 3 steps: 3 for its beginning, middle & end; 3 for the Trinity; 3 for Faith,
Hope & Love; 3 for the groups of planetary orbits; 3 for the Hierarchies of Angels; 3 for the orders within each
hiera rchy; 3 for musica mundana, humana & instrumentalis; 3 for the Graces; 3 for 1/3 or √ of 9, Beatrice’s
number; 3 for terza rima; 3 for the canticles of the DIVINE COMEDY and their 33 Cantos (+ 1 Canto introduction for
L’INFERNO) etc. IL PARADISO has a triptych as well.
Three steps means the lower level, 1 step and the upper level, as shown in the introduction to each canticle. Each
step is identified by a rectangle above it.
Characters speaking terza rima may sometimes fit it to their passage up or down steps. For example, one line or
one verse per step.
CHARACTERS AND DRESS
The spirits of L’INFERNO and IL PURGATORIO are prisoners, and dressed anonymously. Those in IL PARADISO are
free and have been given back their clothes.
Dante is dressed as in the familiar pictures. He has a very long, tasselled cord wrapped round his waist most of the
time, but he does not get his laurel wreath until the end of the COMMEDIA.
He carries a book, not his DIVINE COMEDY but a workbook for it, probably composed of wax tablets or slates. The
stylus is kept in the spine.
Virgil is also dressed as in the pictures, including the laurel, and his book is the Aeneid and other works.
Beatrice’s book is a Bible. Her small role in L’INFERNO expands in the later canticles. Beatrice’s smile devastates
Dante. He and the audience should not be exposed to it (i.e. .shown it in full face) unecessarily.
All characters with books have a holder on their chests and/or backs to free their hands if necessary.
We are so used to pictures of the grand Dante we forget that he was not quite 35 years old when the action of the
Commedia took place, in 1300.
See L’INFERNO SCHEME: CHARACTERS BY PLACE.
THE MUSES See SCHEME: PROGRAMME mock-ups for Muse table.
Different accounts of the Muses assign them different symbols, domain & dress (including crowns).
The audience does not hear their domains named in the dramatisation so there is no problem with who is who.
Each Muse carries a white book with her symbol on it. The masks may be found by research or designed.
Naturally, they are not the Tragedy / Comedy clichés of so many playbills. The Muses are dressed identically, in
white, to let them serve in both pagan and Christian capacities. Calliope, the eldest sister, may be distinguished by
her height and/or a gold band on her head. Terpsichore is the smallest Muse and Euterpe, perhaps, the 2nd smallest.
Polyhymnia (nearly?) always wears her pensive look and has a finger at the mouth. When the Muses sing Christian
music on stage they show the back of their books.
All the Muses’ props (bows, arrows, boats etc.) are imaginary – of course. The only exceptions are the books they
carry and and Euterpe’s flute in L’INFERNO.
5
MUSIC
See SCHEME: MUSIC AND ACTION for each Canticle’s music summary.
(The symbol ♫ on the Programmes is, presumably, an anachronism and needs substituting)
It is natural for spirits to have voices and in a shorter work the music could be entirely a cappella. Here, a few wind
instruments are required. Strings might be avoided. The only non-vocal notes to issue from the stage should come
from Euterpe’s flute [INF C32 12].
Offstage singers may be joined by those on stage. The Muses must be good actresses first and may only mime
singing.
ALREADY WRITTEN
The ecclesiastical music has been programmed by Dante and should be in period. Because there is sometimes
confusion about the names of pieces – for example with Beatitude and Psalm Nos. - I have supplied actual
words where I could find them.
TO BE COMPOSED
Some music needs composing, mostly based on Dante’s description. I have described what I hear in my limited
mind’s-ear. The composer/arranger might hear it very differently.
Motifs or themes which may be used in all three Canticles are
Invocation Response (by Muses)
Be-a-tri-ce
Prophecy
Dream
Some music is beyond mortal voices.
6
STAGING
STAGE & LIGHTING:
The stage-front is curtainless. Three shallow steps lead from the (audience’s) left down to the stage: →L→
.
Similar steps lead from the right of the stage down further to the right: →R→ .
Characters leaving the stage at either end may appear at the other, as if spiralling up and down. The
movement of Dante and Virgil is generally down until Canto 34.
Each time the the poets or others descend the lower steps the stage may remain as it is, or may darken, until
they return down the upper steps – whatever best suggests that the stage is now at a lower level.
Both sets of steps may curve away from the front of the stage.
Part of the back third of the stage is raised to the height of the top →L→ step. It is stepped up to at one
place, or along its length.
STEP MARKERS
RAISED SECTION
BACK 1/3 OF STAGE
UPPER STEPS
STAGE
LOWER STEPS
A curtain in front of the raised section is opened from time to time. Props behind the curtain are open
rectangular boxes about 2 m long which serve as sarcophagi, city battlements and a boulder wall.
The curtain may also open to show other scenes.
The stage may simply be wooden, with a strip a little in front of the curtain, representing a stream, river or
lake. It curves away from the stage front at both ends. Another strip – representing a bridge – would cross
it near one end.
Alternatively, appropriately-coloured cloths could be laid, when the stage is in darkness, for the next scene,
or transparent or translucent sheets laid on the stage would allow spectacular lighting from underneath.
The spirits frequently identify Dante as a living person by the shadow he casts. It would be impossible to
give a shadow to Dante without giving one to spirits near him on stage – most frequently Virgil. The
audience might ignore the fact that the souls have shadows, too. Alternatively, above-stage lighting from
more than one source could so reduce the shadows that the audience would credit the souls with greater
discrimination.
Dante sometimes forgets that the spirits are incorporeal. Virgil even carries Dante in [INF C23 37] (not
dramatised).
CHARACTERS:
L’Inferno, the poem, mentions Beatrice only briefly after [C2 111] and not at all after [C15 90]. The
dramatisation shows the real role of Dante’s lady.
She does not leave Heaven, but sometimes manifests herself on the stage of Hell, under a spotlight of a
heavenly colour and quality. No character can see her except Dante.
She Heavenwalks - walking without moving forward - as if on a screen and being filmed in profile by a
camera which tracks her.
7
CAST & DURATION
The DANTE, VIRGIL, BEATRICE, and MUSES actors account for all the onstage and offstage characters
in the sections below, with the exception of those named: CHARON etc. Those roles are filled by 2 or
3 male actors.
The DANTE actor needs to be bilingual; BEATRICE has only 3 lines in Italian.
DURATION
Full-length: 180 mins. (with an interval?)
Short version (omitting greyed-out sections): 141 mins.
The work may be trimmed further, while preserving BEATRICE’s role in CITY OF DIS, GERYON, THE
WALL and RETURNED; and DIDO’s voice role in HEROES & HEROINES, THE LUSTFUL & LAMPS.
SECTION
DURATION
inc. Music
THE DARK WOOD & THE HILL
14.00
C1 1
- C2 138
THE GATE OF HELL
3.20
C3 1-78
CHARON & SOULS
2.50
C3 82-129
LOOKING INTO THE AUDIENCE ABYSS
.30
C3 129
- C4 22
THE UNBAPTISED
1.50
C4 22-63
THE GREAT: 4 POETS
1.30
C4 63-99
HEROES & HEROINES
2.10
C4 103-129
PHILOSOPHERS
2.30
C4 130
- C5 24
THE LUSTFUL
2.00
C5 25-67
PAOLO & FRANCESCA
4.00
C5 73-138
CERBERUS
1.40
C6 1-24
CIACCO
3.10
C6 40-108
CHARON
HOMER
HORACE
OVID
LUCAN
(very short non-speaking roles)
PAOLO
FRANCESCA
(disguised Beatrice actor or Muse?)
CIACCO
8
PLUTUS
?
---.40
C6 115
- C7 12
CHURCHMEN & FORTUNE
3.25
C7 37-97
THE STYX
1.00
C7 97-126
THE FERRY: PHLEGYAS
2.50
C8 4-61
CITY OF DIS
12.40
C6 67
- C10 132
VIOLENCE ETC
5.40
C11 10-115
THE MINOTAUR
2.25
C12 1-45
THE CENTAURS
2.15
C12 46-96
THE BLOODY STREAM
1.50
C12 99-139
HARPY WOOD
5.45
C13 1-129
THE VIOLENT AGAINST GOD
6.15
C14 16-142
BRUNETTO LATINI
5.00
C15 4-124
RUSTICUCCI, GUERRA &TEGGHIAIO
3.10
C16 1-87
GERYON
6.00
C16 87
- C17 136
THE 8TH CIRCLE: D’S LECTURE
3.00
C18 1-21
1ST & 2ND CHASM:
PANDERS SEDUCERS FLATTERERS
4.00
C18 22-126
SIMONISTS
3.20
C19 1-117
PHLEGYAS
FILIPPO ARGENTI
HEAVENLY MESSENGER
FARINATA
CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI
(a good example of Virgil expatiating)
CAPANEUS
BRUNETTO LATINI
RUSTICUCCI
GUERRA
TEGGHAIO
VENEDICO DE’ CACCIANEMICO
9
SEERS & SORCERERS: TEARS
1.30
C20 1-45
MANTUA & MANTO
4.30
C20 52-130
DEMONS (MALEBRANCHE)
8.45
C21 1
- C22 36
HYPOCRITES
4.30
C23 76
- C24 18
THE WALL
12.30
C24 19
- C26 40
LAMPS
9.30
C26 42
- C27 129
THE SOWERS OF DISCORD
4.45
C27 133
- C29 66
FALSIFIERS, LIARS
5.00
C29 109
- C30 148
NIMROD
4.30
C31 12
- C32 12
THE FROZEN COCYTUS
9.30
C32 13
- C33 153
VEXILLA REGIS: ASCENT & DAMN!
3.30
C34 1-127
RETURNED
3.00
C34 139
10
CHARACTERS
NAME
SEEN
FIRST
SEEN
LAST
HEARD HEARD
FIRST
LAST
Italian English
?
Total
V voice only
-
no voice
DANTE
VIRGIL
BEATRICE
not DANTE, VIRGIL, BEATRICE
776
52
3
59
955
1052
45
684
26
6
5
1757
1110
48
748
C2 9
C2 9
C34 139 C34 139
?
?
?
?
-
?
?
C4 79
C27 129
C4 81
-
C4 96
-
2
-
2
-
-
4
-
C9 43
C23 77
C9 52
C23 148
C9 52
C23 77
C9 52
C23 90
-
1
6
-
1
6
C9 43
C19 27
C20 54
C9 56
C19 117
C20 84
C9 52
C19 52
-
C9 56
C19 84
-
-
3
23
-
-
3
23
-
C9 43
C32 19
C9 56
C32 123
C9 52
C32 19
C9
C32 123
1
2
24
-
2
25
C16 114
C23 77
C16 114
C23 148
C23 91
C23 144
-
29
-
29
C26 40
C26 138
C25 18
-
C25 18
-
-
-
1
-
1
-
C31 34
C31 81
C29 125 C29 139
C31 67 C31 67
-
16
-
1
16
1
C32 106
C32 108
C32 106 C32 108
-
3
-
3
C32 129
C33 84
C21 100 C21 101
-
2
-
2
-
-
4
-
FINALE
C2 55
C8 87
C8 130
C15 96
C16 92
C24 151
C34 139
C2 114
C8 87
C8 130
C15 120
C16 92
C24 151
C34 139
C2 58
-
C2 114
-
3
-
45
-
-
48
-
♫ V Souls/Souls (chorus)
-
C3 96
C4 96
C4 138
C3 22
C3 82
-
?
C3 93
-
?
-
?
9
-
-
?
9
-
C4 122
C5 61
C26 61
C5 18
C4 122
C5 61
C26 93
C5 20
2
-
2
2
12
3
-
2
2
14
3
♫
♫
C1 1
C1 61
C34 139
C34 139
C1 1
C1 67
C2 7
C2 140
C4 130
C32 12
C34 126
C2 9
C2 140
C4 138
C32 12
C34 139
C4 63
C27 31
C34 139
C34 137
MUSES ALL
-
-
INVOCATION & RESPONSE
Descending
/ PHILOSOPHERS
Assembling to horn
FINALE
ERATO
lamp on head + 4 Poets
lamp on head + GUIDO flame
THALIA
/ FURY
/ FRIAR LODERINGO
CLIO
/ FURY
/ POPE NICHOLAS III
Manto
URANIA
/ FURY
/ BOCCA
TERPSICHORE
GERYON segment
/ FRIAR CATALANO
CALLIOPE
V
/ CACUS
ULYSSES segment (m. voice speaks)
EUTERPE
V
/ CAPOCCHIO
/ NIMROD
POLYHYMNIA
/ BUOSO DE DUERA
MELPOMENE
-
-
/ GRAFFIACANE
/ UGOLINO (Dante’s voice)
BEATRICE
La donna mia! Dante sees her
Alerted to FALLEN ANGELS
Heavenwalking to MESSENGER
BRUNETTO: book ex. 1
GERYON: book ex. 2
WALL: book: Tanto gentile...
CHARON
C3 82
POETS: HOMER, HORACE, OVID, LUCAN C4 82
PHILOSOPHERS / MUSES ALL
C4 130
DIDO
V
HEROES
V
THE LUSTFUL
V
ULYSSES
V MINOTAUR
-
-
11
PAOLO
C5 88
NAME
SEEN
FIRST
C5 138
SEEN
LAST
C5 94
C5 138
HEARD HEARD
FIRST
LAST
4
13
Italian English
-
17
?
Total
V voice only
-
V
♫
V
V
♫
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
no voice
FRANCESCA
CIACCO
PLUTUS
PHLEGYAS
FILIPPO ARGENTI
SPIRITS/SPIRITS ARGENTI
FALLEN ANGELS
(all players/singers etc.)
DOORKEEPER
HEAVENLY MESSENGER
Heaven
City of Dis
FURIES (THALIA/CLIO/URANIA)
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI
CAVALCANTE DE’ CAVALCANTI
NESSUS
CHIRON
HARPIES warnings & cries
TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE
LANO MACONI
JACOMO DA SANT’ ANDREA
CAPANEUS
BRUNETTO LATINI
3 SPIRITS/SPIRITS
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI
GUIDO GUERRA
TEGGHIAIO ALDOBRANDI
VENEDICO CACCIANEMICO
ALESSIO INTERMINEI
POPE NICHOLAS III / CLIO
DEMONS
BLACK SCARMIGLIONE
BARBARICCIA MALACODA
GRAFFIACANE / MELPOMENE
DRAGHIGNAZZO
FRIAR LODERINGO / THALIA
FRIAR CATALANO / TERPSICHORE
VANNI FUCCI hands only
CACUS / CALLIOPE
AGNELLO BRUNELLESCHI
BUOSO DEGLI ABATI
PUCCIO SCIANCATO DEI GALIGAI
ULYSSES flame voice + CALLIOPE
GUIDO DEL MONTEFELTRO flame
voice + ERATO
GRIFFOLINO
CAPOCCHIO / EUTERPE
ADAMO OF BRESCIA
SINON hand only
NIMROD / EUTERPE
BOCCA / URANIA
2 SPIRITS
BUOSO DE DUERA / POLYHYMNIA
UGOLINO D’s voice / MELPOMENE
FRIAR ALBERIGO
Lines of L’INFERNO not quoted, or
used for scene / music / action
Lines added to Dante’s
C5 88
C6 40
C8 18
C8 31
-
C5 138
C6 111
C8 81
C8 42
-
C5 88
C6 40
C7 1
C8 18
C8 31
C8 61
C5 136
C6 90
C7 1
C8 81
C8 36
C8 61
6
1
2
1
1
28
24
1
1
1
1
1
-
34
25
1
4
2
2
C8 82
C9 72
C8 67
C9 56
?
?
-
?
C8 82
C9 72
-
-
-
-
-
C8 130
C9 42
C10 22
C10 52
C14 42
C15 22
C15 22
C15 124
C15 124
C15 124
C18 39
C19 27
C23 77
C23 77
C26 91
C8 130
C9 75
C10 108
C10 70
C14 72
C15 120
C15 120
C16 85
C16 85
C16 85
C18 66
C19 117
C23 148
C23 148
C26 138
C9 91
C9 52
C10 22
C10 52
C12 62
C12 80
C13 10
C13 22
C13 118
C13 121
C14 50
C15 22
C15 124
C15 124
C15 124
C18 52
C18 118
C19 52
C21 37
C9 97
C9 56
C10 124
C10 70
C12 63
C12 82
C13 129
C13 108
C13 120
C13 122
C14 60
C15 120
C16 85
C16 85
C16 85
C18 63
C18 121
C19 84
C21 125
2
1
1
?
3
1
5
3
3
2
16
4
4?
32
5
2
3
46
1
2
11
33
35
2
3
12
6
23
24
-
6
5
33
5
2
3
?
49
2
2
11
38
38
5
5
12
6
23
41
C23 77
C23 91
C24 121
C25 18
C25 37
C25 37
C25 43
C26 85
C23 90
C23 144
C24 151
C25 18
C25 37
C25 37
C25 43
C26 138?
1
1
1
6
29
26
1
48
1
1
-
6
29
27
1
1
1
1
49
C27 31
C27 129
C27 61
C27 129
-
59
-
59
C30 58
C30 99
C31 34
C32 19
C32 19
C32 106
C32 123
-
C30 99
C30 99C31 81
C32 123
C32 123
C32 108
C33 84
-
C29 109
C29 125
C30 58
C30 109
C31 67
C32 19
C32 106
C29 117
C29 139
C30 120
C30 129
C31 67
C32 123
C32 108
1
1
-
9
16
37
9
24
3
13
-
9
16
37
9
1
25
3
13
-
C33 110 C33 149
360
38 +
Vex./
Damn
12
MUSIC & ACTION
MALE:
FEMALE
→L
*CHARACTER voice only
→ DOWN LEFT STEPS AND ONTO STAGE
♫ MUSIC
ALL MUSIC TO BE COMPOSED
EXCEPT FOR VEXILLA REGIS C34 1
→R
→ DOWN RIGHT STEPS AND OUT OF SIGHT
ACTION
Darkness, then  Sun spotlight on Dante (D)
He tells of his journey as something done.
Nel mezzo del cammin…the other things I saw there.
NIGHT SOUNDS
 Sun spotlight →  Moon, through clouds
D: I cannot rightly say..leopard..lion..she-wolf..
D meets Virgil (V) Have pity on me…to be so
saddened.
I and one alone…MUSES – ALL invoked.
INVOCATION RESPONSE: OVERTURE?
 Sun spotlight on MUSES.  off
C1 1-9
C1 9
C1 10-60
C1 61-135
C2 1-9
C2 7
ANCIENT/ARCHAIC GREEK, TO CHRISTIAN
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF
MOTIF BASED ON THE 4 SYLLABLES
OF HER NAME, PERHAPS
Poet, who guides me…I am not Aeneas…not Paul…
V: …cowardly fear…A lady… blessed…beautiful…
Heavenly spotlight on BEATRICE (BEA)
C2 10-53
D: Bice! Beatrice! La donna mia! SONNET
BEA: O anima cortese…Lucy…who hear it.
D & V: →R→ DOWN RIGHT STEPS
MUSES – ALL follow down →R→
C2 114
◙
C2 53
CORRESPONDING TO THE PITCH OF
THEIR VOWELS:
----
IN LATER SEGMENTS THE MOTIF MAY BE
DEVELOPED.
INFERNAL: DIRE, WITHOUT HUMAN
SOUNDS: SOFT, BECOMING LOUDER
THE GATE OF HELL
D: & V: Through me to the eternal city…abandon
all hope you who enter here.
INFERNAL: loud note
MISERABLE MODE:
SIGHS, WHIRLWIND, GROANS, FAINT HOWLS
V: Here all uncertainty…cowardice dead.
D & V approach lower steps
→R Master, what is this…undone so many.
→
V: ...on the sad strand of Acheron.
→L
INFERNAL:
C2 137
C2 140
C3 1
C3 1-12
C3 9
C3 15
C3 22C3 32-78
C3 78
→
CHARON & *SOULS/SOULS
V: …what is willed is done: ask no more.
V: But those spirits who has no fear of God.
C3 78
C3 78-96
C3 100-108
(NOT MISERABLE MODE BECAUSE VOICES
ARE DESCRIBED)
INFERNAL: briefly between D & V
D: Ma quell’ anime…come augel per suo richiamo
C3 108
C3 100-117
C3 106
D: So they vanish on the dark water…of his words.
C3 118-129
INFERNAL: brief rise and fall
INFERNAL: dies away
13
WIND/PERSONS: HOWLING
V: Or discendiam qua giù… D: Andiam
C4 1
THE UNBAPTISED
You do not demand… …who afterwards was
blessed?
C4 -50
THE GREAT 4 POETS lamp ERATO
…a sixth among the wise.
C4 79
HEROES & HEROINES
So we went onwards to the light…Hector,Aeneas
*DIDO
…and Caesar…Saladin
C4 103-122
PHILOSOPHERS MUSES – ALL
C4 130
→R
→L (stand)
→
→
SIGHING:
SORROW, NOT TORMENT
ANCIENT PASTORAL OR HEROIC
+ SIGHING
WIND/PERSONS HOWLING: soft
WIND / PERSONS HOWLING: louder
FLIGHT OF PAOLO & FRANCESCA
(AETHERIAL)
WORDS: Colombe dal disio chiamate ?
SILENCE
WIND: light
WIND: huge
HEAVY RAIN
C4 122
C4 -129
(Socrates…Zeno)…ove non è che luca.
C4 151
There Minos stands…demand no more…più non
dimandare
C5 1-24
THE LUSTFUL
Now I come where much sorrowing hurts me…who
are these…that the black air chastises so?
V: Semiramis…Dido…
*DIDO: Aeneas the Trojan…
V: Cleopatra…Helen…Tristan.
C5 24
C5 25-67
PAOLO & FRANCESCA
D: …come and talk with us, if no one prevents it.
Flight to D & V
C5 73-138
C5 73-81
C5 81
O gracious and benign…quenched our life.
Stir on curtain Oh lasso……we read no more.
Lifted on curtain I fainted…as a dead body falls.
C5 61
C5 63
C5 88-108
C5 111-138
C5 138
CERBERUS
new torments…new tormented souls…stayed still.
D & V peer over stage
C6 1-24
PIOVA..PIOVA..PIOVA RAIN..RAIN..RAIN
PIOGGIA…PIOGGIA…PIOGGIA
PROPHECY MOTIF?
CIACCO
Prophecy of Florence
C6 40-90
C6 64-75
MAY OCCUR WHEN A CHARACTER TALKS OF
THE SUPPOSED FUTURE. IT SHOULD BE
SHORT, PERHAPS A SINGLE CHORD OR
ARPEGGIO, AND SOFT ENOUGH TO AVOID
THE BAD FILM-MUSIC DOOM CLICHÉ.
INFERNAL: NOTE
VOICE CHORUS MEMBER
*PLUTUS great voice: Papa Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!
V: Do not…adulterating pride. →R→
C6 115
C7 1-12
INFERNAL: faint
CHURCHMEN & FORTUNE →R→
C7 37-97
INFERNAL: faint
THE STYX
C7 97-126
INFERNAL: BOAT TRIP?
THE FERRY: PHLEGYAS
FILIPPO ARGENTI
C8 1-61
C8 31-61
14
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF?
Sì? Sì?…NO! NO!
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF?
CITY OF DIS: FALLEN ANGELS MUSES ALL
ANGELS clamour
Bea roused
◙
◙
◙ HEAVENLY MESSENGER dozes ◙
◙ Bea Heavenwalks towards MESSENGER ◙
HEAVENLY MESSENGER
Entering City: TOMBS
FARINATA & CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI
FARINATA: D’s Exile
C8 85
C8 111
C8 128
C8 128
C9 43-75
C9 75
C9 75-102
C9 106C10 22-132
C10 79-81
VIOLENCE ETC V’s disquisition while foul wind clears
…every spirit is consumed eternally →R→
Master, your reasoning… …we descend →R→
C11 10-115
C11 19-66
C11 67-115
FURIES: THALIA, CLIO, URANIA
CRASH!
INFERNAL: soft
PROPHECY MOTIF
→L
INFERNAL: soft
→
THE MINOTAUR: acting out of encounter with
C12 1-45
*CENTAURS: *NESSUS *CHIRON →R→ ?
C12 46-96
C12 96
C12 99-139
THE BLOODY STREAM:
Tyrants, Murderers, Warriors
HARPIES + SOULS/SOULS
HARPY WOOD
C13 1-129
BOUM, BELLUM… + SIGHS, MURMURINGS
HARPIES faint+ SOULS/SOULS louder
We entered a wood…large, feathered bellies.
*TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE
C13 2-14
C13 25-108
*LANO *JACOMO DA SANT’ANDREA
D & V ↑ backstage →L→
C13 108-129
BOUM, BELLUM… + SIGHS, MURMURINGS
CHASE
PROPHECY MOTIF
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF
O God’s vengeance…flakes of fire… fresh burning.
CAPANEUS
RIVERS: RED & OTHER Old Man of Crete
C14 1C14 16-42
C14 43-72
C14 76-138
BRUNETTO LATINI with OTHER SPIRITS
Including PROPHECY
Bea books 1
C15 12-96
C15 55-72
C15 96
◙
→
R→
◙
WATERFALL/BEEHIVE HUM: soft
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI (*)GUIDO GUERRA
(*)TEGGHIAIO ALDOBRANDI
C16 1-
WATERFALL/BEEHIVE HUM: louder
GERYON
Fishing for
TERPSICHORE
Bea books 2
Descent: little boat: swimming slowly down to great
evils
C16 88C16 114C16 92C17 100-133
THE 8TH CIRCLE: D’S LECTURE
C18 1-21
1ST 2ND CHASM: PANDERS SEDUCERS FLATTERERS
On the right…new pain and torment…none waited
for the second or third.
VENEDICO CACCIANIMICO
C18 22-39
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF
INFERNAL: SPIRALLING DESCENT
◙
◙
Attienti…Jason…knowledge of the 1st Chasm.
*ALESSIO INTERMINEI
C18 40-66
C18 75-99
C18 118-126
15
SIMONISTS
Simon Magus …the… stone full of holes…to end all
speculation
POPE NICHOLAS III / CLIO
C19 1C19 14-21
SEERS & SORCERERS
I must make new verses…new torments…tormented
- turned heads – tears
C20 1-
MANTO & MANTUA
V: And she…falsehoods destroy the truth
C20 52-99
C19 46-117
MISERABLE MODE
INFERNAL: soft
C20 130
DEMONS (MALEBRANCHE)
The Venetian Arsenal
Guarda, guarda!... *BLACK DEMON
*SCARMIGLIONE *BARBARICCIA *MALACODA
D watches & reports conversation below.
D →R→ *GRAFFIACANE (MELPOMENE)
*SCARMIGLIONE *DRAGHIGNAZZO
*MALACODA he had made a trumpet of his arse
INFERNAL: soft
INFERNAL
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF?
PROPHECY MOTIF
LAMP: EERIE
WIND/BOAT?
C23 76-148
D: In that part of the New Year, when the sun cools
…→L→…then comes out again…for the wound.
THE WALL
Bea books 2 Sonnet: Tanto gentile
SERPENTS *VANNI FUCCI
*VANNI FUCCI Florence prophecy
TRANSFORMATIONS *CACUS
*AGNELLO *BUOSO *PUCCIO
◙
◙
C24 82 –
LAMPS
ULYSSES / CALLIOPE
DIDO
VOYAGE When I left …DIDO…closed over us.
GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO / ERATO
Sonnet: da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare
INFERNAL
INFERNAL: HORRORS
D: If all the people…nothing to equal the hideous
state of the 9th chasm.
D cheered by music swinging LANTERN HEAD: DE
BORN Sonnet metre Geri del Bello
INFERNAL
RALLYING CALL: EUTERPE’S FLUTE
HORN OR CHORUS’S IMITATION
INFERNAL: COLD
C21 100-139
C22 12
C23 19-58
FLIGHT FROM MALEBRANCHE
HYPOCRITES
FRIAR LODERINGO / THALIA
V D →R→
COLD?
C21 1-139
C21 7-18
C21 28-42
C21 49-90
C24 1-18
C24 18C24 29-60
C25 1
C24 142-151
C25 18-138
C26 42
C26 60
C26 91-142
C27 1-127
C27 105
C27 129
C28 7-20
C28 118-126
FALSIFIERS, LIARS
*GRIFFOLINO *CAPOCCHIO
*ADAMO OF BRESCIA *SINON strike each other
C29 109
C30 58-109
NIMROD / EUTERPE
C31 10-81
MUSES – ALL assemble
THE FROZEN COCYTUS
BOCCA DEGLI ABBATI / URANIA
C32 12
C32 19-123
16
UGOLINO / MELPOMENE
DREAM A narrow hole inside that tower which
is called Famine…flanks torn by sharp teeth.
When he had spoken this…Pisa…every living soul.
*FRIAR ALBERIGO
C32 19-123
C32 123C33 22-36
INFERNAL: COLD: EXTREME
INFERNAL: COLD: DREAM
ENDS WITH HORN NOTE (SEE C32 12)
INFERNAL: COLD: BLANK DAY
INFERNAL: COLD
INFERNAL: A SINGLE LOUD NOTE
VEXILLA REGIS
VEXILLA REGIS THE ASCENT Damn…
C33 76-84
C33 110-153
C34 1
C34 1-139
BE-A-TRI-CE TRIBUTE
RETURNED all but Bea on stage
D: Sonnet: Tanto gentile…Sospira!
Bea appears, smiles, raises arm in farewell
MUSES – ALL
C34 139
C34 139
C34 139
C34 139
◙
17
CHARACTERS BY PLACE: The Divine Comedy
These tables may be used to characterise according to age, language/dialect (L’Inferno, Il Purgatorio, Il Paradiso)
and dress (Il Paradiso, only).
The dates of each character, often only known approximately, are given to establish his/her age and era. The age
and appearance (but not the language/dialect) of characters impersonated by Muses are obviously irrelevant.
The words of wordier characters are in the dramatisation itself.
Greyed characters are best left speaking Dante’s Italian or standard English.
In De vulgari eloquentia Dante looked for an eloquent vernacular among the dialects of Italy- with some reference
to France and Provence – and recorded eloquent and non-eloquent contemporary expressions.
Underlined expressions might be incorporated into the dramatisation. Mentions of dialect in the Divina Commedia
itself (sipa for si, mo & issa) may also be used in the right places.
ITALY
MALE
FEMALE
DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA (QUOTE OR PARAPHRASE)
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
SEEN / HEARD SEEN / HEARD SEEN / HEARD
V voice only
ABRUZZO
SULMONA
formerly SULMO
APULIA
VENUSIA
-
no voice
-
OVID (43 BC – AD 17)
Latin.
Bolzerà che chiangesse lo quatraro
I would like the boy to cry
HORACE (65-8 BC)
Latin.
CAMPANIA
V PIER DELLE VIGNE (1190-1249)
CAPUA
Chancellor of the 2 Sicilies but born poor, so
CASERTA PROV.
NAPLES
NAPLES
EMILIAROMAGNA
BERTINORO
likely to have had a regional accent.
STATIUS (50-96)
Latin.
CHARLES MARTEL D’ANJOU (1271-1295)
or French?
There are 2 vernaculars. One (especially in
Forlì) is so womanish, because of the softness of
its vocabulary & pronunciation, that a man who
speaks it…still ends up being mistaken for a
woman.
The other is shaggy…its brutal harshness would
make you think any woman who speaks it a man.
deuscì (God, yes) = yes
oclo meo (my eye), corada mea (my heart) (to
seduce someone)
GUIDO DEL DUCA ( -1229+)
of Onesti family of RAVENNA
INF C4 82
INF C4 82
INF C13 22
-
PUR C21 13
-
-
PAR C5 103
PUR C14 4
PUR C14 1
-
PUR C14 1
-
18
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
-
no voice
(Poets, not ordinary people) speak a more
beautiful language than most…take features
from people around them (Imola, Ferrara,
Modena)
Sipa = sì INF C18 61
VENEDICO DE CACCIANEMICO ( - )
BOLOGNA
FRIAR LODERINGO ( - ) / THALIA
BOLOGNA
FRIAR CATALANO ( -1285) / TERPSICHORE
BOLOGNA
BOLOGNA
GUIDO GUINICELLI (1235-1276)
CANOSSA
MATILDA (Mathilde) (1046-1115)
The Great Countess / TERPSICHORE
FAENZA
V FRIAR ALBERIGO DEI MANFREDI ( -1300+)
RINIERI DA CALBOLI ( -1296+)
FORLÌ
/ THALIA
GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO (1223-1298)
MONTEFELTRO
Flame voice with ERATO
BUONCONTE DA MONTEFELTRO ( -1289)
MONTEFELTRO
They say monto for molto
PARMA
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI ( -1285)
RAVENNA
PETER DAMIAN (1007-1072)
RAVENNA
BOLOGNA
RIMINI
FRIULI
VENEZIA
GIULIA
AQUILEIA
(TRIESTE ISTRIA)
LAZIO
BAGNOREGIO .
VITERBO PROV.
ROCCASECCA
AQUINO
PARADISO PICTURES: 38
PAOLO MALATESTA (
-1285)
INF C18 52
INF C23 77
INF C23 91
-
PUR C26 16
PUR C28 76
-
INF C33 110
-
PUR C14 4
-
INF C27 61
-
-
-
PUR C5 88
INF C5 88
INF C5 94
-
PAR C21 61
-
They belch forth Ces fas-to?
(What are you up to?) with a brutal intonation
(Also in ISTRIA)
→ AQUILEIA
ST BONAVENTURA (-VENTURE) (1221-1274)
PAR C12 127
THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Of imposing stature, massive build & fair
complexion, and appeared more of a Norseman
than a south Italian.’ Dominican.
-
-
PAR C10 82
PARADISO PICTURES: 40, 41
ROME
ROME
ROME
ROME
ROME
Ugliest of dialects
Messure, quinto dici = (Sir, what do say?)
LUCAN (39-65 AD) (born Cordova) Latin
BOËTHIUS (480-524 AD)
Statesman, mathematician, philosopher.
POPE NICHOLAS III (
CATO (95-46 BC)
-1280) / CLIO
INF C4 82
PAR C10 124
INF C19 52
PUR C1 28
19
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
LOMBARDY
ANDES
BERGAMO
BRESCIA
CREMONA
CREMONA
GOTTO
no voice
issa = now INF C23 7
→ MANTUA
→ MILAN
magarà = If only
They abbreviate their words by pronouncing v as
f ,saying nof for nove and vif for vivo
(also in Treviso) also VERONA, VICENZA
→ also MANTUA: SORDELLO
INF C30 58
V ADAMO OF BRESCIA ( - )
→ MANTUA: SORDELLO
BUOSO DE DUERA ( -1266) / POLYHYMNIA
INF C32 106
Che hai tu, Bocca?
non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
se tu non latri? Qual diavol ti tocca?
What is wrong with you, Bocca, is it not enough
that you chatter with your jaws, but you have to
bark too? What devil is at you?
SORDELLO (1200-1269+) b.GOTTO
Nr. MANTUA
fled to Provence when about 29.
→ PROVENCE
MANTUA
VIRGIL (70-19 BC) b ANDES, nr MANTUA
INF C1 67
-
-
-
-
PUR C7 1
-
PUR C1 52
-
THE
MARCHES
FERMO
PIEDMONT
ALESSANDRIA
NOVARA OR
LUMELLO
TURIN
SICILY
TRENTINO
ALTO ADIGE
TRENTO
Chignamente state siaté or …scate sciate
Be as you are
…poems in derision of these three peoples
MARCHE (Fermo) (or ROME, SPOLETO?)
Una fermana scopai da Cascioli, cita cita se’n
gìa’n grande aina.
I met a woman from Fermo near Cascioli; she
hurried away briskly in great haste.
V JACOPO DEL CASSERO ( -1298+) / CALLIOPE
PUR C5 84
PUR C18 100
-
PUR C5 46
appalling vernacular
PETER LOMBARD (1100-1160?)
Spent much time in Paris. PARADISO PICTURES: 39
Tragemi d’este focora se t’este a bolontate
Get me out of this fire, if you would be so kind
MANFRED (1231-1266)
Sicilian speaker. Blonde, handsome, with a
noble aspect and a split eyebrow.
CONSTANCE (1152-1198).
Empress, mother of Frederick II.
-
PAR C10 107
-
PUR C3 103
-
PAR C3 1
20
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
TUSCANY
AREZZO
AREZZO
AREZZO
AREZZO
BATTIFOLLE
AREZZO PROV.
CHIUSI
no voice
Mo = now INF C23 7
Vuo’ tu venire ovelle?
Do you want to go somewhere?
V GRIFFOLINO OF AREZZO ( -
)
INF C29 109
V BENINCASA ( - )
Io son Ricorditi di me etc.
V GUCCIO DE’ TARLATI ( -1289)
V FEDERIGO NOVELLO ( -1289)
GRATIANUS (fl C 1150)
Camaldolese or Benedictine monk
PUR C6 13
PUR C6 13
PUR C6 13
PAR C10 115
FLORENCE
V
V
V
V
LUCCA
LUCCA
LUCCA
Manichiamo, introcque che noi non facciamo
altro
Let’s eat, since there’s nothing else to do
DANTE (1265-1321)
BEATRICE (1266-1290)
CIACCO ( -1286)
FILIPPO ARGENTI ( - )
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI ( -1264)
CAVALCANTE DE’ CAVALCANTI ( - )
BRUNETTO LATINI (1210-1294)
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI ( - )
TEGGHIAIO ALDOBRANDI ( -1260+)
GUIDO GUERRA ( -1272)
AGNELLO BRUNELLESCHI ( - )
BUOSO DEGLI ABATI ( - ) / POLYHYMNIA
PUCCIO SCIANCATO DEI GALIGAI ( - )
CAPOCCHIO ( -1293+)
→ SIENA where burnt
/ EUTERPE
BOCCA DEGLI ABATI ( -1260+)
/ URANIA
CASELLA → PISTOIA
BELACQUA ( - ) / THALIA
FORESE DONATI ( -1296)
PICCARDA DONATI ( -1288+)
CACCIAGUIDA ( -1147?)
Fo voto a Dio ke ingrassara eie lo comuno de
Lucca.
I swear to God, the city of Lucca is really in the
pink.
INF C
PUR C
INF C
PUR C
INF C6 40
INF C8 31
INF C10 22
INF C10 58
INF C15 22
INF C16 7
INF C16 7
INF C16 7
INF C25 37
INF C25 37
INF C25 43
INF C29 124)
INF C32 19
-
INF C18 118
V ALESSIO INTERMINEI ( -1295+)
……………Perché se’ tu sì gordo
di riguardar più me che li altri brutti?
Qua giù m’hanno sommerso le lusinghe
ond’io non ebbi mai la lingua stucca.
Why are you so keen to gaze at me more than the
other mired ones.
The flatteries of which my tongue never wearied,
have brought me down to this!
V BONAGIUNTA ORBICCIANI DEGLI OV. ( -1300?)
-
PUR C4 97
PUR C23 40
-
-
PUR C24 37
PAR C
PAR C
PAR C3 43
PAR C15 28
-
-
21
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
PISA
PISA
PISA
PISA
PISTOIA
PISTOIA
PRATO PROV
VERNI, CERBAIA
VAL DI BISENZIO
Bene andonno li fatti de Fiorensa per Pisa.
The business at Florence went well for Pisa.
UGOLINO GHERARDESCA ( -1289)
/ MELPOMENE D’s voice
V FARINATA SCORNIGIANI ( - )
NINO VISCONTI ( - )
CASELLA ( -1283+) or FLORENCE
V VANNI FUCCI ( -1300+)
V COUNT ORSO ( - )
SIENA
Onche renegata avess’io Siena
If only I’d left Siena for good
Chée chesto = What’s up now?
LANO MACONI ( -1288)
Or accorri, accorri, morte!
Come Death, come now!
CAPOCCHIO FLORENCE, but burnt in SIENA
/ EUTERPE
LA PIA DEI TOLOMEI ( -1295)
Deh, quando tu sarai tornato al mondo
ricorditi di me, che son la Pia;
Siena mi fé, disfecemi Maremma:
salsi colui che ’nnanellata pria
disposando m’avea con la sua gemma.
Ah, when you return to the world, remember me
who am la Pia; Siena made me: Maremma undid
me: he knows, who having first pledged himself
to me, wed me with his ring.
SAPIA ( -1269+)
OMBERTO ALDOBRANDESCHI ( -1259)
SIENA
SIENA
SIENA
SIENA
SIENNESE
MAREMMA
CONRAD MALASPINA ( -1294); (Currado II)
Marquis of Villafranca, Val di Magra
VILLAFRANCA
UMBRIA
ASSISI
ASSISI
GUBBIO
NORCIA
Formerly
NURSIA
no voice
-
INF C32 119
-
-
PUR C6 16
-
PUR C8 55
PUR C2 88
-
INF C24 121
PUR C6 19
INF C29 139
or C29 117
INF C13 118
-
-
INF C29 125
-
-
-
PUR C5 130
-
-
PUR C13 94
PUR C11 1
-
-
PUR C8 112
-
ST FRANCIS (1182-1226)
Brown homespun robe, 3-knotted cord: poverty,
chastity, obedience; hooded.
Franciscans: (Greyfriars, Friars Minor)
PAR C28 93
PARADISO PICTURES: 4 , 5 , 7, 17
ST CLARE (1194-1253)
PAR C3 1
Franciscan nun with 3-knotted cord round waist.
PARADISO PICTURES: 10, 11, 12
ODERISI OF GUBBIO ( ST BENEDICT (480-543)
b. NURSIA, lived in Rome.
) (At Rome in 1259.)
Benedictines (‘Black monks’): In Middle Ages:
wool shirt, hooded pelerine tapering in front and
behind (the scapular), over these a habit or frock,
lastly a cowl (cuculla).
-
PUR C11 1
-
PAR C22 37
22
CHARACTERS
PLACE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
-
no voice
VENETO
PADUA
PADUA
ROMANO
VENICE
VENICE
VERONA
VERONA
VICENZA
They cruelly cut short all the participles ending
in tus and the nouns in tas, saying mercò
(traded) and bontè (goodness)
V JACOMO DA SANT’ ANDREA ( -1239)
Lano, sì non furo accorte
le gambe tue a le giostre dal Toppo!
Lano, your legs were not so swift at the jousts of
Toppo!
CUNIZZA DA ROMANO (1198-1280)
Per le plaghe di Dio to non verras
By God’s wounds, you won’t come
MARCO LOMBARDO (1250+ - ); learned
→ BRESCIA also → MANTUA: Sordello
ABBOT OF SAN ZENO ( -1187)
→ BRESCIA
INF C13 121
-
-
PAR C9 25
-
PUR C16 25
-
-
PUR C18 112
-
23
OUTSIDE
ITALY
MALE
FEMALE
PLACE
CHARACTERS
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
-
no voice
CRETE
MINOS
O tu che vieni al doloroso ospizio,
guarda com' entri e di cui tu ti fide;
non t'inganni l'ampiezza de l'intrare!
O you, who come to the house of pain take care
how you enter, and in whom you trust, do not let
the width of the entrance deceive you.
INF C5 18
ENGLAND
JARROW,
NORTHUMBERLAND
BEDE, THE VENERABLE; BAEDA (673-735)
Benedictine priest; historian etc. Spoke AngloSaxon. PARADISO PICTURES: 21, 22
PAR C10 131
FRANCE
PARIS?
FONTAINES
NR. DIJON
V PIERRE DE LA BROSSE
HUGH CAPET ( -996)
King of France. Language: pre-French.
ST BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (C 1090-1153)
Cistercian (white habit, unbleached raw wool)
PUR C6 22
-
PUR C20 19
PAR C3 120
from C31 120
I’ sono il suo fedel Bernardo.
I am her loyal Bernard.
CHARLES MARTEL D’ANJOU (1271-1295)
→ CAMPANIA: NAPLES
PARIS (&
SCOTLAND)
-
-
PAR C5 103
RICHARD OF SAINT VICTOR ( -1173)
Scottish monk, mystic, prior (from 1162) of
Abbey of St Victor, Paris.
Augustinian canon regular: white robe.
PAR C10 131
ALBERTUS MAGNUS (1207-1280)
PAR 10 97
GERMANY
COLOGNE
Dominican habit with a Doctor’s cap.
PARADISO PICTURE S: 18, 19, 20
24
PLACE
CHARACTERS
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
-
no voice
GREECE
CHARON:
Guai a voi, anime prave!
Non isperate mai veder lo cielo:
I’ vegno per menarvi a l’altra riva
ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e ‘n gelo.
E tu che se’ costì, anima viva,
pàrtiti da cotesti che son morti.
Per altra via, per altri porti
verrai a piaggia, non qui, per passare: più lieve
legno convien che ti porti
Woe to you, wicked spirits!
And you, who are there, a living spirit, depart
from those who are dead.
By other ways, by other means of passage, you
will cross to the shore: a quicker boat must
carry you.
HOMER (6TH C BC?) blind
V PLUTUS
-
INF C3 82
INF C4 82
INF C7 1
Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!
V
V
V
?
V
V
ATHENS
V
PHLEGYAS:
Or se’ giunta, anima fella
Are you here, now, fierce spirit?
Usciteci, gridò:qui è l’intrata
Disembark: here is the entrance.
FURY / THALIA
Vegna Medusa: sì ’l farem di smalto
Let Medusa come,so that we can turn him to
stone.
FURY / CLIO
FURY / URANIA
NESSUS (CENTAUR)
……………..A qual martiro
venite voi che scendete la costa?
Ditel costinci; se non, l’arco tiro.
What torment do you come for, that you descend
the rampart? Speak from there, if not, I draw
the bow.
CHIRON (CENTAUR)
Siete voi accorti
che quel di retro move ciò ch’el tocca?
Così non soglion far li piè d’i morti.
Have you noticed that the one behind moves
whatever he touches?
CAPANEUS
CACUS (MONSTER) / CALLIOPE
Ov’è, ov’ è l’acerbo?
Where is he, where is the bitter one?
ULYSSES (CALLIOPE doesn’t speak)
ORESTES:
I’ sono Oreste
I am Orestes
AGLAUROS:
Io sono Aglauro che divenni sasso
I am Aglauros, she who was turned to stone
PISISTRATUS (600-527 BC)
Che farem noi a chi mal ne disira,
se quei che ci ama è per noi condannato?
What shall we do to those who wish harm to us,
if we condemn him who loves us?
SIREN / MELPOMENE
INF C8 18
INF C9 52
INF C9 52
INF C9 52
INF C12 62
INF C12 80
INF C14 50
INF C25 18
INF C26 85
PUR C13 32
PUR C14
133?
PUR C15 104
PUR C19 9
25
PLACE
CHARACTERS
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V Voice only
-
no voice
MIDDLE
EAST
RAHAB
PAR C9 115
Prostitute who helped Joshua’s spies at
Jericho; identified by scarlet thread
SOLOMON (970-928 BC) King of Israel
Seal: six-pointed star.
ST PETER ( -64 OR -69)
b. Bethsaida on Sea of Galilee.
Aramaic with Greek influences etc.
Tall and well-built; short, bushy beard.
ST JAMES ( -44) elder brother of St.John.
fiery temperament (Boanerges – thunderer)
Aramaic, Hebrew with Greek influences (Latin).
Broad-brimmed hat
ST JOHN ( -55+)
fiery temperament (Boanerges – thunderer)
Aramaic with Greek influences etc
Younger than James - nothing else.
PAR C10 110
PAR C24 28
PAR C25 37
PAR C26 8
NETHERLANDS
BRABANT
SIGIER (SIGER) OF BRABANT ( -1283?)
Averroist professor at University of Paris.
Assassinated.
PAR C10 136
PHOENICIA
CARTHAGE OR
TYRE
V DIDO
Mythical
INF C4 22
about 30 years old?
PORTUGAL
BRACARA
(BRAGA)
OROSIUS (380?-418+)
Latin. Supporter of St Augustine
PAR C10 118
PROVENCE
RIBÉRAC?
From Bertrand de Born:
Non posc mudar c’un cantar non exparia
I cannot refrain from sending forth my song
FOLCO (FOLQUET) (1159-1231)
family from GENOA b. MARSEILLES, left at 25
SORDELLO (1200-1269+)
(b GOTTO nr MANTUA; fled to Provence when
about 29) but Mantua being on the borders of
Cremona, Brescia and Verona… abandoned the
vernacular of his home town not only when
writing poetry but on every other occasion.
V ARNAUT DANIEL (fl 1180-1200)
/ EUTERPE
INF C29 12
INF C29 34
-
-
-
PUR C7 1
-
PUR C26 140
SERBIA
JUSTINIAN (C 482-565)
INF C5 102
Byzantine Emperor of Romanized Illyrian stock.
Native language: Latin
PAR C9 82
-
-
26
PLACE
CHARACTERS
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
V voice only
-
no voice
SPAIN
CARTAGENA /
SEVILLE
CASTILE
ST ISIDORE OF SEVILLE (560-636); b. CARTAGENA.
Archbishop of Seville from c 600.
-
ST DOMINIC (1170-1221)
DOMINICAN (‘BLACK FRIARS’)
Black cope or mantle over white robes.
PARADISO PICTURES: 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
PAR C10 130
PAR C28 93
27
ANY
PLACE
MALE
FEMALE
FIRST
FIRST
FIRST
CHARACTERS
SPIRITS/SPIRITS:
INF C8 61
A Filippo Argenti!
At Filippo Argenti
O cacciati del ciel, gente dispetta…
Outcasts from Heaven…
SPIRITS: (With BRUNETTO)
V DEMONS
V SOULS/SOULS:
Se voi sapete, mostratene la via di gire al monte.
If you know it, show us the way to the Mount sung?
V SPIRIT/SPIRIT:?
Ve’ che non par luca / lo raggio da sinistra a quel di sotto, / e
come vivo par che si conduca!
See, the light does not seem to shine, on the left of him, below,
and he seems to carry himself like a living man.
INF C15 21
INF C21 37
PUR C2 59
-
PUR C5 4
-
-
-
V THE LATE-REPENTANT:
Deh, perché vai? Deh, perché non t’arresti?
Oh, why are you leaving: oh, why do you not stay?
PUR C5 51
-
THE LATE-REPENTANT:
Noi fummo tutti gìa per forza morti, / e peccatori infino a l’ultima
ora;/ / quivi lume del ciel ne fece accorti,
We were all killed by violence, and were sinners until the last
hour: then light from heaven warned us,
PUR C5 52
-
THE LATE-REPENTANT:
si che, pentendo e perdonando, for a / da vita uscimmo a Dio
pacificati, / che del disio di sé veder n’accora.
so that, repenting and forgiving, we left life reconciled with God,
who fills us with desire to see him
ANGEL AT GATE OF PURGATORY:
Say what you want…
THE PROUD/PROUD: Padre Nostro check see elsewhere
V MARY: Vinum non habent They have no wine
V SPIRITS/SPIRITS:
?
Amate da cui male aveste.
Love those who have shown you hatred
PUR C5 55
-
-
PUR C9 85
PUR C11 1
PUR C13 29
PUR C13 36
-
V ENVIOUS/ENVIOUS:
Maria, ora per noi:
Mary, pray for us
V ENVIOUS/ENVIOUS:
Michele e Pietro e Tutti santi.
Michael, Peter & all the saints.
V CAIN:
Anciderammi qualunque m’apprende
Everyone who findeth me shall slay me
-
PUR C13 50
-
PUR C13 51
-
PUR C14 133
-
ANGEL OF FRATERNAL LOVE:
Enter a stairway, here, much less steep than the others.
V STONERS/STONERS: (St Stephen – Jerusalem)
Martira! Martira! Kill him! Kill him!
?
-
PUR C5 25
Di vostra condizion fatene saggi.
Make us wise to your state
ANGEL OF MEEKNESS:
Blessed are the meek , who are without sinful anger
SLOTHFUL:
-
-
THE LATE-REPENTANT: MESSENGERS:
?
-
INF C9 91
HEAVENLY MESSENGER:
-
-
sung?
-
PUR C15 35
PUR C15 108
PUR 17 68
PUR C18 100
-
28
Maria corse con fretta a la montagna;
Mary ran with haste to the hill country
?
?
?
?
SLOTHFUL:
e Cesare, per soggiogare Ilerda, / punse Marsilia e poi corse in
Ispagna.
Caesar lanced Marseilles, and then raced to Spain, to subdue
Lerida in Catalonia
PUR C18 101
-
SLOTHFUL/SLOTHFUL:
Ratto, ratto, che ’l tempo non si perda / per poco amor, gridavan
li altri appresso, / che studio di ben far grazia rinverda.
Hurry! Hurry! Do not let time be wasted, through lack of love, so
that labouring to do well may renew grace.
PUR C18 103
-
SLOTHFUL 9:
Prima fue / morta la gente a cui il mar s’aperse, / che vedesse
Iordan le rede sue.
The people for whom the Red Sea opened, were dead before
Jordan saw their heirs.
SLOTHFUL 10 / MELPOMENE:
E quella che l’affanno non sofferse / fino a la fine col figlio
d’Anchise, / sé stessa a vita sanza gloria offerse.
Those who did not endure the labour with Aeneas, Anchises son,
until the end, gave themselves to an inglorious fate…
-
V SPIRIT:
Virum non cognosco.
I know not a man
V SPIRITS/SPIRITS:
Al bosco / si tenne Diana, ed Elice caccionne / che di Venere
avea sentito il tosco.
Diana kept to the woods and chased Callisto away who had know
the taint of Venus.
V SPIRITS/SPIRITS:
Soddoma e Gomorra
Sodom & Gomorrah
V SPIRITS/SPIRITS:
Ne la vacca entra Pasife, / perché ’l torello a sua lussuria corra.
Pasiphaë enters the wooden cow, so that the young bull may run
to meet her lust.
?
ANGEL OF CHASTITY:
You may go no further, O sacred spirits, if the fire has not first
bitten you: enter it, and do not be deaf to the singing beyond.
SAINTS/SAINTS: Manibus o date lilia plenis
PUR C19 45
BLESSED SOULS:
Ecco chi crescerà li nostri amori.
Behold someone who will increase our love.
V MODEST VOICE:
Our Love will cast the rays…see elsewhere
V SOULS/SOULS:
Amen! (chorus)
PUR C24 133
-
PUR C25 128
-
PUR C25 130
-
PUR C26 40
PUR C26 40
-
PUR C27 10
-
PUR 30 20
PUR C31 106
-
FAITH HOPE LOVE:
Turn Beatrice, turn your sacred eyes to your faithful one, he who
has trodden so many steps to see you.
By your grace,grace us by unveiling your face to him, so that he
may see the second beauty that you conceal.
-
-
4 NYMPHS
Here we are nymphs, and in heaven we are stars: before Beatrice
descended to your world we were ordained to be her helpers.
We will take you to her eyes.
PUR C18 136
V RED ANGEL:
Why do you journey considering so deeply, you solitary three? If
it please you to climb, here you must turn: they go from here, who
wish to journey towards peace.
PUR C18 133
ANGEL OF ZEAL:
Beati qui lugent quoniam ipsi consolabuntur sung?
Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted
-
PUR C31 133
PAR C5 103
-
-
-
-
PAR C14 37
PAR C14 62
29
DANTE DRAMATISED
DANTE DRAMMATIZZATO
L’INFERNO
-1321 + = -1321 or later 1283↔1300 = between 1283 and 1300 ?? = a guess
PLACE./.LANGUAGE ETC given when the character is first seen or heard by the audience
CHARACTER
MALE
→L
→
FEMALE
optional
DOWN LEFT STEPS AND ONTO STAGE
words added to Dante’s & Kline’s
→R
→
DOWN RIGHT STEPS AND OUT OF SIGHT
CANTO 1
THE CURTAINLESS STAGE IS IN DARKNESS. A SPOTLIGHT FROM ABOVE PICKS OUT DANTE.
DANTE ALIGHIERI 1265 - 1321 AGE : 34 (ABOUT 2 MONTHS SHORT OF 35)
PLACE./.LANGUAGE ETC
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
AS HE IS ORDINARILY SHOWN BUT WITHOUT THE LAUREL WREATH, WHICH HE EARNS AT THE END OF THE
COMMEDIA. HIS GARMENT IS WRAPPED MANY TIMES AROUND WITH A THIN, TASSELLED WAIST-CORD, NEEDED
FOR C16 106-114. HERE, THE END OF THE CORD HANGS CLOSE TO THE FLOOR. FOR MOST OF THE
DRAMATISATION IT IS TIED UP.
HE CARRIES A BOOK, NOT HIS DIVINE COMEDY BUT A WORKBOOK FOR IT, PROBABLY COMPOSED OF WAX
TABLETS OR SLATES WITH THE STYLUS KEPT IN THE SPINE. ON HIS CHEST IS A BOOKHOLDER WHICH HE USES AT
HIS CONVENIENCE THROUGHOUT THE DRAMATISATION. THERE IS A SIMILAR ONE ON HIS BACK. VIRGIL AND
OTHER MAJOR CHARACTERS WITH BOOKS HAVE SIMILAR HOLDERS.
DANTE TELLS OF HIS JOURNEY AS SOMETHING DONE.
30
DANTE:
INF C1 1-3 / DANTE
INF C1 1-3 / TRANSLATION BY A.S.KLINE
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
In the middle of the journey of our life,
I came to myself, in a dark wood,
where the direct way was lost.
INF C1 4-6 / DANTE
Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
It is a hard thing to speak of,
how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was,
so that thinking of it recreates the fear.
INF C1 7-9 / DANTE
Tant' è amara che poco è più morte;
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.
It is scarcely less bitter than death:
but, in order to tell of the good that I found there,
I must tell of the other things I saw there.
THERE
ARE HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT ENGLISH VERSIONS OF [C1 1-3].
PERHAPS HALF A DOZEN FROM THOSE BELOW, PAUSING BETWEEN EACH.
HE STILL DOES NOT KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO.
DANTE
TRIES
DANTE:
DANTE:
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
Midway in the journey of our life
I found myself in a dark wood,
for the straight way was lost.
INF C1 1-3 / PHILLIPS
INF C1 1-3 / ELLIS
Just halfway through this journey of our life
I reawoke to find myself inside
a dark wood, way off course, the right road lost.
Halfway through our trek in life
I found myself in this dark wood,
miles away from the right road.
INF C1 1-3 / MUSA
INF C1 1-3 / BOTTRALL
Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in some dark woods,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
Midway in human life's allotted span,
where the straight path I sought in vain.
INF C1 1-3 / HEANEY
INF C1 1-3 / CARY
In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself astray in a dark wood
where the straight road had been lost sight of.
In the midway of this our mortal life
I found me in a gloomy wood, astray
Gone from the path direct:
INF C1 1-3 / CIARDI
INF C1 1-3 / MANDELBAUM
Midway in our life's journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood.
When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
I found myself within a shadowed forest,
for I had lost the path that does not stray.
INF C1 1-3 / LONGFELLOW
INF C1 1-3 / SINGLETON
INF C1 1-3 / BICKERSTETH
INF C1 1-3 / SISSON
At midpoint of the journey of our life
I woke to find me astray in a dark wood,
perplexed by paths with the straight way at strife.
Halfway along the road we have to go
I found myself obscured in a great forest,
Bewildered, and I knew I had lost the way.
INF C1 1-3 / ZIMMERMAN
INF C1 1-3 / COTTER
In the middle of our life's way
I found myself in a wood so dark
That I couldn't tell where the straight path lay.
Halfway through the journey we are living
I found myself deep in a darkened forest,
For I had lost all trace of the straight path.
INF C1 1-3 / UNKNOWN
INF C1 1-3 / NORTON
One night, when half my life behind me lay,
I wandered from the straight lost path afar.
Through the great dark was no releasing way;
Midway upon the journey of our life
where the right way was lost.
31
INF C1 1-3 / BINYON
INF C1 1-3 / PINSKY
Midway life's journey I was made aware
That I had strayed into a dark forest,
And the right path appeared not anywhere.
Midway on our life’s journey, I found
myself in dark woods, the right roads lost.
HE SETTLES ON THE PROSE VERSION OF A. S. KLINE:
DANTE:
INF C1 1-3 / DANTE
INF C1 1-3 / KLINE
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
In the middle of the journey of our life,
I came to myself, in a dark wood,
where the direct way was lost.
INF C1 4-6/ DANTE
Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild,
harsh and impenetrable that wood was,
so that thinking of it recreates the fear.
INF C1 7-9 / DANTE
Tant' è amara che poco è più morte;
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.
♫
NIGHT SOUNDS
It is scarcely less bitter than death: but, in
order to tell of the good that I found there,
I must tell of the other things I saw there.
**********
INF C1 9
Night sounds suggest a savage place.
AS THE MUSIC SOUNDS, THE SPOTLIGHT BECOMES ‘MOONLIGHT’ SEEN FITFULLY THROUGH
CLOUDS. DANTE IS NOW RETURNED TO THE MOMENT WHEN HE LOST HIS WAY, THE
BEGINNING OF HIS JOURNEY. HE TURNS TO HIS RIGHT AND LOOKS UP THE SLOPE.
DANTE:
INF C1 10-12 / DANTE
INF C1 10-12 / KLINE
Io non so ben ridir com' i' v'intrai,
tant' era pien di sonno a quel punto
che la verace via abbandonai.
I cannot rightly say how I entered it.
I was so full of sleep, at that point
where I abandoned the true way.
Ma poi ch'i' fui al piè d'un colle giunto,
là dove terminava quella valle
che m'avea di paura il cor compunto,
But when I reached the foot of a hill,
where the valley, that had pierced
my heart with fear, came to an end,
guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle
vestite già de' raggi del pianeta
che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.
I looked up and saw its shoulders brightened
with the rays of that sun that leads
men rightly on every road.
Allor fu la paura un poco queta,
che nel lago del cor m'era durata
la notte ch'i' passai con tanta pieta.
Then the fear, that had settled in the lake
of my heart,through the night that I had spent
so miserably, became a little calmer.
E come quei che con lena affannata,
uscito fuor del pelago a la riva,
si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata,
And as a man, who, with panting breath,
has escaped from the deep sea to the shore,
turns back towards the perilous waters and stares,
32
così l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva,
si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo
che non lasciò già mai persona viva.
so my mind, still fugitive,
turned back to see that pass again,
that no living person ever left.
Poi ch'èi posato un poco il corpo lasso,
ripresi via per la piaggia diserta,
sì che 'l piè fermo sempre era 'l più basso.
After I had rested my tired body a while,
I made my way again over empty ground,
always bearing upwards to the right.
Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta,
una lonza leggera e presta molto,
che di pel macolato era coverta;
Ed ecco! And, Behold!, almost at the start
of the slope, a light swift leopard…Florence…
with spotted coat
LEOPARD (PANTHER): FLORENCE OR WORLDLY PLEASURE, LUST OR ENVY
e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto,
anzi 'mpediva tanto il mio cammino,
ch'i' fui per ritornar più volte vòlto.
It would not turn from before my face,
and so obstructed my path,
that I often turned, in order to return.
Temp' era dal principio del mattino,
e 'l sol montava 'n sù con quelle stelle
ch'eran con lui quando l'amor divino
The time was at the beginning of the morning,
and the sun was mounting up with all those stars,
that were with him when Divine Love
mosse di prima quelle cose belle;
sì ch'a bene sperar m'era cagione
di quella fiera a la gaetta pelle
first moved all delightful things,
so that the hour of day, and the sweet season, gave
me fair hopes of that creature with the bright pelt.
DANTE
SMILES AT THE MEMORY AND SWINGS HIS WAIST-CORD AS IF IT WERE A LASSOO
FOR THE LEOPARD [INF C16 106-114]…THEN FACES FRONT, GRIMLY.
DANTE:
l'ora del tempo e la dolce stagione;
ma non sì che paura non mi desse
la vista che m'apparve d'un leone.
But not so fair that I could avoid fear
at the sight of a lion, ambition, that appeared,
and which seemed
LION: THE ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE, AND AMBITION OR PRIDE.
Questi parea che contra me venisse
con la test' alta e con rabbiosa fame,
sì che parea che l'aere ne tremesse.
to come at me, with raised head
and rabid hunger, so that it seemed
the air itself was appeared afraid;
Ed una lupa, che di tutte brame
sembiava carca ne la sua magrezza,
e molte genti fé già viver grame,
and a she-wolf, avarice, that looked
full of craving in its leanness, and, before now,
has made many men live in sadness.
SHE-WOLF: THE PAPACY & AVARICE
questa mi porse tanto di gravezza
con la paura ch'uscia di sua vista,
ch'io perdei la speranza de l'altezza.
She brought me such heaviness of fear,
from the aspect of her face,
that I lost all hope of ascending.
E qual è quei che volontieri acquista,
e giugne 'l tempo che perder lo face,
che 'n tutti suoi pensier piange e s'attrista;
And as one who is eager for gain, weeps,
and is afflicted in his thoughts,
if the moment arrives when he loses,
33
tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace,
che, venendomi 'ncontro, a poco a poco
mi ripigneva là dove 'l sol tace.
so that creature, without rest, made me
like him: and coming at me, little by little,
drove me back to where the sun is silent.
VIRGIL APPEARS NEXT TO DANTE AT LEFT STAGE.
VIRGIL 70 - 19 BC AGE : 51?
PUBLIUS VERGILIUS MARO, VIRGILIO
BORN ANDES, NEAR MANTUA. LATIN
DESCRIPTION
AS CONVENTIONALLY PICTURED, INCLUDING A LAUREL WREATH. HE CARRIES A BOOK, THE AENEID AND
OTHER WORKS.
While I was returning to the depths, one appeared, in front of my eyes, who seemed hoarse from long silence.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
Quando vidi costui nel gran diserto,
Miserere di me, gridai a lui,
qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo!
When I saw him in the great emptiness I cried out
to him: Have pity on me, whoever you are,
whether a man, in truth, or a shadow!
HE
PULLS HIS VOLUME TO HIS CHEST IN PROTECTION AND IT STAYS THERE IN THE
BOOKHOLDER.
VIRGIL, AND SOME OF THE OTHER INFERNO SPIRITS, HAVE SIMILAR HOLDERS FOR BOOKS
(OF PAGES OR TABLETS. WE SEE THE BOOK OF TABLETS ON VIRGIL’S BACK - THE AENEID
AND OTHER WORKS - WHEN HE TURNS LATER.)
VIRGIL:
Rispuosemi: «Non omo, omo già fui,
e li parenti miei furon lombardi,
mantoani per patrïa ambedui.
He answered me: Not a man: but a man I once was,
and my parents were Lombards,
and both of them, by their native place, Mantuans.
Nacqui sub Iulio, ancor che fosse tardi,
e vissi a Roma sotto 'l buono Augusto
nel tempo de li dèi falsi e bugiardi.
I was born sub Julio though late,
and lived in Rome, under the good Augustus,
in the age of false, deceitful gods.
Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto
figliuol d'Anchise che venne di Troia,
poi che 'l superbo Ilïón fu combusto.
I was a poet, and sang of Aeneas,
that virtuous son of Anchises, who came
from Troy when proud Ilium was burned.
DANTE notes:
INF C1 73 / DANTE
INF C1 73 / KLINE
Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto
I was a poet, and sang of Aeneas,
VIRGIL DECLAIMS.
VIRGIL:
AENEID 1 1 / VIRGIL
AENEID 1 1 / KLINE
Arma virumque cano
I sing of arms and the man
34
VIRGIL POINTS IN TWO DIRECTIONS.
VIRGIL:
&
VIRGIL:
Ma tu perché ritorni a tanta noia?
perché non sali il dilettoso monte
mountain,
ch'è principio e cagion di tutta gioia?
But you, why do you You turn back towards such
pain. Why do you not climb the delightful
that is the origin and cause of all joy?
DANTE:
Or se' tu quel Virgilio e quella fonte
che spandi di parlar sì largo fiume?,
rispuos' io lui con vergognosa fronte.
I answered him, with a humble expression:
Are you then that Virgil, and that
fountain, that pours out so great a river of speech?
O de li altri poeti onore e lume,
vagliami 'l lungo studio e 'l grande amore
che m'ha fatto cercar lo tuo volume.
O, glory and light to other poets,
may that long study, and the great love, that made
me scan your work, be worth something now.
Tu se' lo mio maestro e 'l mio autore,
tu se' solo colui da cu' io tolsi
lo bello stilo che m'ha fatto onore.
You are my master, and my author:
you alone are the one from whom I learnt
the high style that has brought me honour.
DANTE POINTS UP THE STEPS TO WHERE HE SAW THE SHE-WOLF.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Vedi la bestia per cu' io mi volsi;
aiutami da lei, famoso saggio,
ch'ella mi fa tremar le vene e i polsi.
See the creature that I turned back from:
O, sage, famous in wisdom, save me from her,
she that makes my veins and my pulse tremble.
VIRGIL:
A te convien tenere altro vïaggio,
rispuose, poi che lagrimar mi vide,
se vuo' campar d'esto loco selvaggio;
When he saw me weeping, he answered:
You must go another road, if you wish
to escape this savage place.
ché questa bestia, per la qual tu gride,
non lascia altrui passar per la sua via,
ma tanto lo 'mpedisce che l'uccide;
This creature that distresses you allows
no man to cross her path,
but obstructs him, to destroy him;
e ha natura sì malvagia e ria,
che mai non empie la bramosa voglia,
e dopo 'l pasto ha più fame che pria.
and she has so vicious and perverse a nature,
that she never sates her greedy appetite,
and after food is hungrier than before.
Molti son li animali a cui s'ammoglia,
e più saranno ancora, infin che 'l veltro
verrà, che la farà morir con doglia.
Many are the creatures she mates with, and there
will be many more, until the Greyhound…
Can Grande della Scala…comes who will make her
die in pain.
GREYHOUND: PROBABLY THE GREAT GHIBELLINE LEADER CAN GRANDE DELLA SCALA, BORN IN VERONA, BETWEEN FELTRO
IN VENETIA & MONTEFELTRO IN ROMAGNA. DANTE’S LATER PATRON, HE MAY HAVE BEEN REGARDED BY DANTE AS THE
DELIVERER WHO WOULD RESTORE IMPERIAL POWER, REINSTITUTE ROMAN LAW, ELIMINATE AVARICE, BRING PEACE &
ESTABLISH A REFORMED ORDER OF THINGS.
DANTE notes:
INF C1 102 / DANTE
INF C1 102 / KLINE
verrà, che la farà morir con doglia.
della Scala…comes who will make her die in pain.
35
VIRGIL:
Questi non ciberà terra né peltro,
ma sapïenza, amore e virtute,
e sua nazion sarà tra feltro e feltro.
He will not feed himself on land or wealth, but
on wisdom, love and virtue, and his birthplace
will lie between Feltro and Feltro.
Di quella umile Italia fia salute
per cui morì la vergine Cammilla,
Eurialo e Turno e Niso di ferute.
He will be the salvation of that lower Italy
for which virgin Camilla died of wounds
and Euryalus, Turnus and Nisus.
CAMILLA: A VIRGIN WARRIOR, THE ROMAN VERSION OF AN AMAZON, WHOSE DEATH IS DESCRIBED IN AENEID 11.
EURYALUS: THE CLOSE COMRADE OF NISUS IN THE AENEID, NOTED FOR HIS BEAUTY. HIS DEATH IS DESCRIBED IN AENEID 9.
TURNUS: YOUNG KING OF THE RUTULIANS, AN ITALIAN PEOPLE WITH THEIR CAPITAL AT ARDEA, SOUTH OF ROME, NOT FAR
FROM MODERN ANZIO. HIS DEATH AT THE HANDS OF AENEAS IS DESCRIBED IN AENEID 12 & CONCLUDES THE WORK. AENEAS
MARRIED LAVINIA, TURNUS’S INTENDED BRIDE.
NISUS: SON OF HYRTACUS, COMRADE OF EURYALUS. HE DIES AVENGING HIS DEATH IN AENEID 9.
Questi la caccerà per ogne villa,
fin che l'avrà rimessa ne lo 'nferno,
là onde 'nvidia prima dipartilla.
He will chase the she-wolf through every city,
until he has returned her to Hell,
from which envy first loosed her.
DANTE notes:
INF C1 109 / DANTE
INF C1 109 / KLINE
Questi la caccerà per ogne villa,
He will chase the she-wolf through every city,
VIRGIL:
Ond' io per lo tuo me' penso e discerno
che tu mi segui, e io sarò tua guida,
e trarrotti di qui per loco etterno;
It is best, as I think and understand, for you
to follow me, and I will be your guide,
and lead you from here through an eternal space
DANTE notes:
INF C1 113 / DANTE
INF C1 113 / KLINE
che tu mi segui, e io sarò tua guida,
to follow me, and I will be your guide,
VIRGIL:
ove udirai le disperate strida,
vedrai li antichi spiriti dolenti,
ch'a la seconda morte ciascun grida;
where you will hear the desperate shouts,
will see the ancient spirits in pain,
so that each one cries out for a second death:
e vederai color che son contenti
nel foco, perché speran di venire
quando che sia a le beate genti.
and then you will see others at peace in
the flames, because they hope to come,
whenever it may be, among the blessed.
A le quai poi se tu vorrai salire,
anima fia a ciò più di me degna:
con lei ti lascerò nel mio partire;
Then if you desire to climb to them, there
will be a spirit fitter than I am, to guide you,
and I will leave you with her, when we part,
SPIRIT FITTER: BEATRICE
ché quello imperador che là sù regna,
perch' i' fu' ribellante a la sua legge,
non vuol che 'n sua città per me si vegna.
since the Lord, who rules above, does not
wish me to enter his city,
because I was rebellious to his law.
In tutte parti impera e quivi regge;
quivi è la sua città e l'alto seggio:
oh felice colui cu' ivi elegge!
He is lord everywhere, but there he rules,
and there is his city, and his high throne:
O, happy is he, whom he chooses to go there!
36
DANTE:
E io a lui: Poeta, io ti richeggio
per quello Dio che tu non conoscesti,
acciò ch'io fugga questo male e peggio,
And I to him: Poet, I beg you, by the God,
you did not acknowledge, lead me where you said,
so that I might escape this evil or worse
che tu mi meni là dov' or dicesti,
sì ch'io veggia la porta di san Pietro
e color cui tu fai cotanto mesti.
and see the Gate of St Peter,
and those whom you
make out to be so saddened.
VIRGIL MOVES TOWARDS THE →R→ . DANTE STAYS AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
che tu mi meni là dov' or dicesti,
sì ch'io veggia la porta di san Pietro
e color cui tu fai cotanto mesti.
and see the Gate of St Peter,
and those whom you
make out to be so saddened.
INF C1 136 / KLINE
Then he moved: and I moved on behind him.
CANTO 2
DANTE:
INF C2 1-3 / DANTE
INF C2 1-3 / KLINE
Lo giorno se n'andava, e l'aere bruno
toglieva li animai che sono in terra
da le fatiche loro; e io sol uno
The day was going, and the dusky air
was freeing the creatures
of the earth, from their labours, and I, one, alone,
INF C2 4-6 / DANTE
m'apparecchiava a sostener la guerra
sì del cammino e sì de la pietate,
che ritrarrà la mente che non erra.
prepared prepare myself to endure the inner war,
of the journey and its pity,
that the mind, without error, shall recall.
DANTE OPENS HIS BOOK AND CALLS TO TWO PARTS OF THE SKY.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C2 7-9 / DANTE
INF C2 7-9 / KLINE
O muse, o alto ingegno, or m'aiutate;
o mente che scrivesti ciò ch'io vidi,
qui si parrà la tua nobilitate.
O Muses, O high invention, aid me, now!
O memory, that has engraved what I saw,
here your nobility will be shown.
THE MUSES, STANDING IN 2 LINES BEHIND HIM, ARE LIT FROM ABOVE.
BOOK INSCRIBED WITH THE SYMBOL OF THEIR DOMAIN:
THE MUSES AGE : YOUNG
GREECE.
EACH
HOLDS A
37
DESCRIPTION
THE 9 GODDESSES WHO INSPIRE HUMANITY, AND MAIM, DESTROY OR TRANSFORM INTO BIRDS ANY HUMAN
WHO CHALLENGES THEIR SUPREMACY.
EACH MUSE CARRIES A WHITE BOOK WITH HER SYMBOL ON IT. THE MUSES ARE DRESSED IDENTICALLY, IN
WHITE, TO LET THEM SERVE IN BOTH PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN CAPACITIES. CALLIOPE, THE ELDEST SISTER, MAY
BE DISTINGUISHED BY HER HEIGHT AND/OR A GOLD BAND ON HER HEAD. TERPSICHORE IS THE SMALLEST MUSE
ND
AND EUTERPE, PERHAPS, THE 2 SMALLEST. POLYHYMNIA (NEARLY?) ALWAYS WEARS HER PENSIVE LOOK AND
HAS A FINGER AT THE MOUTH. WHEN THE MUSES SING CHRISTIAN MUSIC ON STAGE THEY SHOW THE BACK OF
THEIR BOOKS. ALL THE MUSES’ PROPS ARE IMAGINARY EXCEPT FOR THEIR BOOKS AND EUTERPE’S FLUTE IN
L’INFERNO.
NAME
CALLIOPE (CALLIOPEIA)
CLIO
ERATO
EUTERPE
MELPOMENE
POLY(HY)MNIA
TERPSICHORE
THALIA (THALEIA)
URANIA (OURANIA)
♫
SYMBOL
DOMAIN
INTEREST
Writing tablet
Scroll
Lyre
Double flute
Tragic mask
Pensive mask; finger at mouth
Dancing figure
Comic mask
[Staff points to] globe or stars
Epic Poetry
History
Love Poetry
Music
Tragedy
Sacred Poetry
Dancing
Comedy
Astronomy
Philosophy
the Alphabet
RESPONSE TO INVOCATION: OVERTURE
Chanting
Geometry
Prophecy
**********
INF C2 7
CHORUS OR MUSES ONLY
Ancient or Archaic Greek Music, becoming Christian.
DANTE DOES NOT HEAR OR SEE THE MUSES. VIRGIL STOPS AND TURNS BUT DOES NOT SEE
THEM.
WHEN THEY CEASE SINGING, THE LIGHT SWITCHES OFF. DANTE MAKES NOTES AS HE
SPEAKS.
DANTE:
Io cominciai: Poeta che mi guidi,
guarda la mia virtù s'ell' è possente,
prima ch'a l'alto passo tu mi fidi.
I began: Poet, who guides me, examine my virtue,
see if I am fitting,
before you trust me to the steep way.
Tu dici che di Silvïo il parente,
corruttibile ancora, ad immortale
secolo andò, e fu sensibilmente.
You say that Aeneas, the father of Sylvius,
while still corruptible flesh,
went to the eternal world, and in his senses.
Però, se l'avversario d'ogne male
cortese i fu, pensando l'alto effetto
ch'uscir dovea di lui, e 'l chi e 'l quale
But if God, who opposes every evil, was gracious
to him,thinking of the noble consequence,
of who and what should derive from him,
non pare indegno ad omo d'intelletto;
ch'e' fu de l'alma Roma e di suo impero
ne l'empireo ciel per padre eletto:
then that does not seem unreasonable
to a man of intellect, since he was chosen to be
the father of benign Rome, and of her empire.
la quale e 'l quale, a voler dir lo vero,
fu stabilita per lo loco santo
u' siede il successor del maggior Piero.
Both of them were founded
as a sacred place, where the
successor of the great Peter is enthroned.
38
Per quest' andata onde li dai tu vanto,
intese cose che furon cagione
di sua vittoria e del papale ammanto.
By that journey, by which you graced him,
Aeneas learned things that were the source
of his victory and of the Papal Mantle.
Andovvi poi lo Vas d'elezïone,
per recarne conforto a quella fede
ch'è principio a la via di salvazione.
Afterwards Paul, the Chosen Vessel, went there,
to bring confirmation of the faith
that is the entrance to the way of salvation.
Ma io, perché venirvi? o chi 'l concede?
Io non Enëa, io non Paulo sono;
me degno a ciò né io né altri 'l crede.
But why should I go there? Who allows it?
I am not Aeneas, I am not Paul. Neither I,
nor others, think me worthy of it.
Per che, se del venire io m'abbandono,
temo che la venuta non sia folle.
Se' savio; intendi me' ch'i' non ragiono.
So, if I resign myself to going, I fear
that going there may prove foolish: you know,
and understand, better than I can say.
DANTE READS WHAT HE HAS JUST WRITTEN, TO HIMSELF OR THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
E qual è quei che disvuol ciò che volle
e per novi pensier cangia proposta,
sì che dal cominciar tutto si tolle,
And I rendered myself, on that dark shore,
like one who unwishes what he wished,
and changes his purpose, in new thinking,
tal mi fec' ïo 'n quella oscura costa,
perché, pensando, consumai la 'mpresa
che fu nel cominciar cotanto tosta.
so that he leaves off what he began, completely,
since in thought I consumed action,
that had been so ready to begin.
DANTE CLOSES HIS BOOK.
VIRGIL:
«S'i' ho ben la parola tua intesa»,
rispuose del magnanimo quell' ombra,
«l'anima tua è da viltade offesa;
The ghost of the generous poet replied:
If I have understood your words correctly,
your spirit is attacked by cowardly fear,
DANTE notes:
INF C2 44 / DANTE
INF C2 44 / KLINE
rispuose del magnanimo quell' ombra,
The ghost of the generous poet replied:
VIRGIL:
la qual molte fïate l'omo ingombra
sì che d'onrata impresa lo rivolve,
come falso veder bestia quand' ombra.
that often weighs men down,
so that it deflects them from honourable action,
like a creature seeing phantoms in the dusk.
Da questa tema acciò che tu ti solve,
dirotti perch' io venni e quel ch'io 'ntesi
nel primo punto che di te mi dolve.
That you may shake off this dread yourself,
I will tell you why I came, and what I heard
at the first moment when I took pity on you.
Io era tra color che son sospesi,
e donna mi chiamò beata e bella,
tal che di comandare io la richiesi.
I was among those, in Limbo, in suspense, and
a lady called to me, she so blessed, so beautiful
that I begged her to command me.
39
DANTE EXCLAIMS WITH FEELING.
DANTE:
INF C2 53 / DANTE
INF C2 53 / KLINE
e donna mi chiamò beata… e bella,
beautiful
and a lady called to me, she so blessed, so
Her eyes shone more brightly than the stars, and she began to speak, gently, quietly, in an angelic voice, in her
language:
♫
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF
**********
INF C2 53
Four notes, representing the syllables of the name in Italian: Be – a – tri – ce (‘blessed’).
In later segments the motif may be developed.
◙
THE HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT.. ..(SEE INTRODUCTION: L’INFERNO) FINDS BEATRICE FACING VIRGIL.
BEATRICE IS A MANIFESTATION FROM HEAVEN AND IN VIRGIL’S MEMORY. BEATRICE DOES NOT LOOK AT
DANTE.
BEATRICE (BICE DI FOLCO PORTINARI) 1266? - 1290 AGE : 24
BORN IN FLORENCE, BICE DI FOLCO PORTINARI (BEATRICE) WAS FIRST SEEN BY DANTE WHEN SHE WAS 8 YEARS OLD
& HE WAS 9. HIS LOVE FOR HER INSPIRED THE VITA NUOVA & THE DIVINE COMEDY., IN WHICH SHE REPRESENTS
DIVINE PHILOSOPHY. SHE DIED IN 1290, AGED 24.
DESCRIPTION
HER DRESSED IS APPROPRIATE FOR HER ERA. SHE HOLDS A BIBLE. HER EYES SHINE ‘MORE BRIGHTLY THAN THE
STARS’ AND HER VOICE, WHEN SHE SPEAKS, IS ANGELIC [INF C2 55-57].
DANTE SPEAKS WITH SHOCK, JOY AND TENDERNESS.
DANTE:
Bice!…Beatrice!
Bea!…Beatrice!
HE RECOVERS A LITTLE AND SPEAKS MORE FORMALLY BUT STILL WITH PASSION.
DANTE:
La donna mia
my lady
THIS PHRASE OCCURS IN DANTE’S MOST FAMOUS LYRIC, A SONNET ABOUT BEATRICE. (JOSEPH TUSIANI: “THIS
MOST HARMONIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL SONNET HAS ACHIEVED DANTE’S POETIC GOAL OF THE HIGHEST FORM OF
LOVE POETRY EMBODIED IN THE THE STILNOVISTIC CREDO…”.)
LA VITA NOVA 26 SONNET DANTE / MUSA
[INF C34 139] GIVES DANTE’S NOTE
Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare
la donna mia quand'ella altrui saluta,
ch'ogne lingua deven tremando muta,
e li occhi no l'ardiscon di guardare.
Such sweet decorum and such gentle grace
attend my lady's greeting as she moves
that lips can only tremble into silence,
and eyes dare not attempt to gaze at her.
Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
benignamente d'umiltà vestuta;
Moving, benignly clothed in humility,
untouched by all the praise along her way,
40
e par che sia una cosa venuta
da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.
she seems to be a creature come from Heaven
to earth, to manifest a miracle.
Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira,
che dà per li occhi una dolcezza al core,
che 'ntender no la può chi no la prova:
Miraculously gracious to behold,
her sweetness reaches, through the eyes, the heart
(who has not felt this cannot understand),
e par che de la sua labbia si mova
un spirito soave pien d'amore,
che va dicendo a l'anima: Sospira.
and from her lips it seems there moves a gracious
spirit, so deeply loving that it glides
into the souls of men, whispering: "Sigh!"
LA DONNA MIA STARTS DANTE COMPOSING, MOSTLY SILENTLY. AT THE FINALE OF THE CANTICLE [INF
C34 139] HE RECITES THE WHOLE SONNET TO BEATRICE. SHE IS MANIFESTED MOSTLY IN HIS MIND, NOT ON
STAGE.
BEATRICE:
O anima cortese mantoana,
di cui la fama ancor nel mondo dura,
e durerà quanto 'l mondo lontana,
O noble Mantuan spirit, whose fame
still endures in the world,
and will endure as long as time endures,
VIRGIL MODESTLY TRANSLATES THIS TRIBUTE TO HIMSELF FOR THE AUDIENCE’S BENEFIT.
VIRGIL:
O anima cortese mantoana,
di cui la fama ancor nel mondo dura,
e durerà quanto 'l mondo lontana,
O noble Mantuan spirit, whose fame
still endures in the world,
and will endure as long as time endures.,
BEATRICE:
l'amico mio, e non de la ventura,
ne la diserta piaggia è impedito
sì nel cammin, che vòlt' è per paura;
my My friend, not fortune’s friend, is so
obstructed in his way, along the desert strand,
that he turns back in terror,
e temo che non sia già sì smarrito,
ch'io mi sia tardi al soccorso levata,
per quel ch'i' ho di lui nel cielo udito.
and I fear he is already so far lost,
that I have started too late to his aid,
from what I heard of him in heaven.
Or movi, e con la tua parola ornata
e con ciò c'ha mestieri al suo campare,
l'aiuta sì ch'i' ne sia consolata.
Now go, and help him so, with your eloquence,
and with whatever is needed for his relief,
that I may be comforted.
I' son Beatrice che ti faccio andare;
vegno del loco ove tornar disio;
amor mi mosse, che mi fa parlare.
I am Beatrice…son Beatrice…who asks you to go:
I come from a place I long to return to:
love moved me that made me speak.
THE ITALIAN PRONUNCIATION OF BEATRICE SHOULD BE USED FROM HERE, EVEN WHEN THE
NAME IS QUOTED IN THE ENGLISH VERSION.
BEATRICE:
Quando sarò dinanzi al segnor mio,
di te mi loderò sovente a lui.
Tacette allora, e poi comincia' io:
When I am before my Lord,
I will often praise you to him.
Then she was silent, and I began:
41
VIRGIL:
O donna di virtù sola per cui
l'umana spezie eccede ogne contento
di quel ciel c'ha minor li cerchi sui,
O lady of virtue, in whom, alone,
humanity exceeds all that is contained
in the lunar heaven, which has the smallest sphere,
tanto m'aggrada il tuo comandamento,
che l'ubidir, se già fosse, m'è tardi;
più non t'è uo' ch'aprirmi il tuo talento.
your command is so pleasing to me, that,
obeying, were it done already, it were done too
slow: you have no need to explain your wishes
further.
Ma dimmi la cagion che non ti guardi
de lo scender qua giuso in questo centro
de l'ampio loco ove tornar tu ardi".
But tell me why you do not hesitate
to descend here, to this centre below,
from the wide space you burn to return to.
BEATRICE:
"Da che tu vuo' saver cotanto a dentro,
dirotti brievemente", mi rispuose,
"perch' i' non temo di venir qua entro.
She replied: Since you wish to know,
I will tell you this much,
briefly, of why I do not fear to enter here.
Temer si dee di sole quelle cose
c'hanno potenza di fare altrui male;
de l'altre no, ché non son paurose.
Those things that have the power to hurt
are to be feared:
not those other things that are not fearful.
I' son fatta da Dio, sua mercé, tale,
che la vostra miseria non mi tange,
né fiamma d'esto 'ncendio non m'assale.
I am made such, by God’s grace,
that your suffering does not touch me,
nor does the fire of this burning scorch me.
Donna è gentil nel ciel che si compiange
di questo 'mpedimento ov' io ti mando,
sì che duro giudicio là sù frange.
high.
There is a gentle lady in heaven, who has such
compassion, for this trouble I send you to
relieve, that she overrules the strict laws on
GENTLE LADY: MARY
Questa chiese Lucia in suo dimando
e disse:--Or ha bisogno il tuo fedele
di te, e io a te lo raccomando--.
She called St Lucy…Lucia…to carry out her
request, and said: “Now, he who is faithful
to you, needs you, and I commend him to you.”
ST LUCY: VIRGIN MARTYR OF SYRACUSE, IN THE THIRD CENTURY AD, TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH LIGHT & VISION.
SHE IS DANTE’S PATRON SAINT (HE HAD WEAKENED EYESIGHT) & IS FOR HIM THE SYMBOL OF ILLUMINATING GRACE.
Lucia, nimica di ciascun crudele,
si mosse, e venne al loco dov' i' era,
che mi sedea con l'antica Rachele.
Lucy, who is opposed to all cruelty,
rose and came to the place where I was,
where I sat with that Rachel of antiquity.
Disse: Beatrice, loda di Dio vera,
ché non soccorri quei che t'amò tanto,
ch'uscì per te de la volgare schiera?
Lucy said: “Beatrice, God’s true praise, why do
you not help him, who loved you, so intensely,
he left behind the common crowd for you?
Non odi tu la pieta del suo pianto,
non vedi tu la morte che 'l combatte
him,
su la fiumana ove 'l mar non ha vanto?
BEATRICE TREMBLES WITH EMOTION.
Do you not hear how pitiful his grief is? Do you
not see the spiritual death that comes to meet
on that dark river, over which the sea has no
power?”
42
BEATRICE:
Al mondo non fur mai persone ratte
a far lor pro o a fuggir lor danno,
com' io, dopo cotai parole fatte,
No one on earth was ever as quick to search for
their good, or run from harm, as I to descend,
from my blessed place,
venni qua giù del mio beato scanno,
fidandomi del tuo parlare onesto,
ch'onora te e quei ch'udito l'hanno".
after these words were spoken,
and place my faith in your true speech,
that honours you and those who hear it.
DANTE BOWS REVERENTLY.
DANTE:
LA VITA NOVA SONNETTO? Tanto gentile l. 2 / DANTE SONNET / TUSIANI
La donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta,
my lady, when she greets a passer-by,
She turned away, with tears in her bright eyes, after saying this to me, and made me, by that, come here all the
quicker:
◙
BEATRICE ’S SPOTLIGHT.. ..SWITCHES OFF AND SHE DISAPPEARS.
FORWARD AND SPEAKS WITH TENDERNESS AND GRIEF.
DANTE:
Beatrice!…Bice!…
DANTE
TAKES A STEP
Beatrice!…Bea!
VIRGIL:
E venni a te così com' ella volse:
d'inanzi a quella fiera ti levai
che del bel monte il corto andar ti tolse.
and so I came to you, as she wished, and rescued
you in the face of that wild creature, that denied
you the shortest path to the lovely mountain.
Dunque: che è? perché, perché restai,
perché tanta viltà nel core allette,
perché ardire e franchezza non hai,
Dunque…What is it then? Why, do you hold back?
Why? Why let such cowardly fear into your heart?
Why, when three such blessed ladies,
poscia che tai tre donne benedette
curan di te ne la corte del cielo,
e 'l mio parlar tanto ben ti promette?».
in the courts of heaven, care for you,
and my words promise you so much good,
are you not free and ardent?
As the flowers, bent down and closed, by the night’s cold, erect themselves, all open, on their stems, when the sun
shines on them, so I rose from weakened courage: and so fine an ardour coursed through my heart, that I began to
speak, like one who is freed:
DANTE:
«Oh pietosa colei che mi soccorse!
gentle,
e te cortese ch'ubidisti tosto
commanded,
a le vere parole che ti porse!
O she, who pities, who helps me, and you, so
who swiftly obeyed the true words she
you have filled my heart with such desire,
Tu m'hai con disiderio il cor disposto
sì al venir con le parole tue,
ch'i' son tornato nel primo proposto.
by what you have said,
to go forward, that I have turned back
to my first purpose.
43
Or va, ch'un sol volere è d'ambedue:
tu duca, tu segnore e tu maestro.
Così li dissi; e poi che mosso fue,
Go now, for the two of us have but one will,
you, the guide, the lord, the master.
So I spoke to him, and he going on,
DANTE CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
Or va, ch'un sol volere è d'ambedue:
tu duca, tu segnore e tu maestro.
Go now, for the two of us have but one will,
you, the guide, the lord, the master.
INF C2 140 / DANTE
intrai per lo cammino alto e silvestro.
I entered on the steep, tree-shadowed way.
DANTE GIRDS HIS LOINS: HE TIES THE TASSELLED CORD AROUND HIS WAIST.
VIRGIL LEADS DANTE DOWN THE →R→ AND OUT OF SIGHT. AFTER A WHILE THE MUSES
APPEAR FROM BACKSTAGE AND TROT QUICKLY SINGLE-FILE AFTER THE POETS.
CANTO 3
44
THE GATE OF HELL
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT, BECOMING LOUDER
**********
INF C3 1
Infernal: dire but without sounds of suffering humans.
→L
→
DOWN LEFT STEPS
DANTE AND VIRGIL TRAVEL ROUND BEHIND THE CURTAIN AND START AGAIN AT THE LEFT
STEPS →L→ . AS MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION, EACH TIME THE THE POETS OR
OTHERS DESCEND THE RIGHT STEPS →R→ , THE STAGE MAY REMAIN AS IT IS, OR MAY
DARKEN, UNTIL THEY RETURN DOWN THE →L→ – WHATEVER BEST SUGGESTS THAT THE
STAGE IS NOW AT A LOWER LEVEL.
THEY LOOK UP AT THE WORDS WRITTEN ABOVE THE GATE OF HELL. A LOUD, DIRE NOTE
SOUNDS.
DANTE READS.
DANTE:
INF C3 1-3 / DANTE
INF C3 1-3 / KLINE
‘THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO THE ETERNAL
‘Per me si va ne la città dolente,
CITY:
per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,
SADNESS:
per me si va tra la perduta gente.
THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO ETERNAL
THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO THE LOST PEOPLE.
VIRGIL TRANSLATES./.INTERPRETS TO THE AUDIENCE.
VIRGIL
INF C3 1-3 / DANTE
INF C3 1-3 / KLINE
‘THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO THE ETERNAL CITY:
THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO ETERNAL SADNESS:
THROUGH ME [THE WAY] TO THE LOST PEOPLE.’
Per me si va ne la città dolente,
per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,
per me si va tra la perduta gente.
Alternative:
THIS WAY FOR THE SORROWFUL CITY:
THIS WAY FOR ETERNAL SUFFERING:
THIS WAY TO JOIN THE LOST PEOPLE.
VIRGIL BEGINS READING. DANTE STARTS JUST AFTER HIM.
VIRGIL:
& DANTE:
INF C3 4-6 / DANTE
INF C3 4-6 / KLINE
Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore;
fecemi la divina podestate,
la somma sapïenza e 'l primo amore.
JUSTICE MOVED MY SUPREME MAKER:
I WAS SHAPED BY DIVINE POWER,
BY HIGHEST WISDOM, AND BY PRIMAL LOVE.
INF C3 7-8 / DANTE
Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create
se non etterne, e io etterno duro.’
ENDURE.’
VIRGIL AND DANTE FINISH TOGETHER.
BEFORE ME, NOTHING WAS CREATED,
THAT IS NOT ETERNAL: AND ETERNAL I
45
VIRGIL:
& DANTE:
INF C3 9 / DANTE
INF C3 9 / KLINE
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi
ch'intrate'. FORSAKE ALL HOPE, ALL YOU THAT ENTER
HERE.’
Alternative (because the first translation I knew used ‘abandon’):
ABANDON ALL HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER HERE.’
These were the words, with their dark colour, that I saw written above the gate, at which I said: ‘Master, their
meaning, to me, is hard.’
♫
INFERNAL: LOUD NOTE
**********
INF C3 9
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me, come persona accorta:
«Qui si convien lasciare ogne sospetto;
ogne viltà convien che qui sia morta.
And he replied to me, as one who knows:
Here, all uncertainty must be left behind:
all cowardice must be dead.
INF C3 16-21 KLINE
We have come to the place where I told you that you would see the sad people who have lost the good of the
intellect.’ And placing his hand on mine, with a calm expression, that comforted me, he led me towards the hidden
things.
VIRGIL PLACES HIS HAND ON DANTE’S [INF C3 19] AND LEADS HIM TOWARDS THE →R→ .
INF C3 22-30 KLINE
Here sighs, complaints, and deep groans, sounded through the starless air, so that it made me weep at first. Many
tongues, a terrible crying, words of sadness, accents of anger, voices deep and hoarse, with sounds of hands amongst
them, making a turbulence that turns forever, in that air, stained, eternally, like sand spiralling in a whirlwind.
♫
MISERABLE MODE
**********
INF C3 15 from C3 22, 25-30
‘sighs, complaints, deep groans; many tongues, a terrible crying, words of sadness, accents of
anger, voices deep & hoarse, with sounds of hands amongst them, making a turbulence that turns
forever, in that air, stained, eternally, like sand spiralling in a whirlwind.’
AND DANTE DISAPPEAR DOWN THE →R→
TRAVEL BEHIND THE CURTAIN.
VIRGIL
.
WE
HEAR THEIR VOICES AS THEY
DANTE (VOICE):
E io ch'avea d'error la testa cinta,
dissi: «Maestro, che è quel ch'i' odo?
e che gent' è che par nel duol sì vinta?».
And I, my head surrounded by the horror, said:
Master, what is this I hear, and what race are these,
that seem so overcome by suffering?
46
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Ed elli a me: «Questo misero modo
tegnon l'anime triste di coloro
che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo.
And he to me: This is the miserable mode
in which those exist,
who lived without praise, without blame.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C3 36 / DANTE
INF C3 36 / KLINE
che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo.
who lived without praise, without blame.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Mischiate sono a quel cattivo coro
de li angeli che non furon ribelli
né fur fedeli a Dio, ma per sé fuoro.
They are mixed in with the despised
choir of angels, those not rebellious,
not faithful to God, but for themselves.
Caccianli i ciel per non esser men belli,
né lo profondo inferno li riceve,
ch'alcuna gloria i rei avrebber d'elli».
Heaven drove them out, to maintain its beauty,
and deep Hell does not accept them,
lest the evil have glory over them.
DANTE (VOICE):
E io: «Maestro, che è tanto greve
a lor che lamentar li fa sì forte?».
And I: Master, what is so heavy on them,
that makes them moan so deeply?
VIRGIL (VOICE):
INF C3 45 / DANTE
INF C3 45 / KLINE
Rispuose: «Dicerolti molto breve.
He replied: I will tell you, briefly.
Questi non hanno speranza di morte,
e la lor cieca vita è tanto bassa,
che 'nvidïosi son d'ogne altra sorte.
They have no hope of death,
and their darkened life is so mean
that they are envious of every other fate.
Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa;
misericordia e giustizia li sdegna:
non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa».
Earth allows no mention of them to exist:
mercy and justice reject them:
let us not talk of them, but look and pass.
And I, who looked back, saw a banner, that twirling round, moved so quickly, that it seemed to me scornful of any
pause,
DANTE MURMURS…
DANTE (VOICE):
&
DANTE (VOICE):
e dietro le venìa sì lunga tratta
di gente, ch'i' non averei creduto
and behind it came so long a line of people,
I never would have believed that death
…THEN SPEAKS CLEARLY.
DANTE (VOICE):
che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta.
had undone so many.
AFTER A WHILE…
47
DANTE (VOICE):
e dietro le venìa sì lunga tratta
che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta.
and behind it came so long a line of people,
had undone so many.
AFTER ANOTHER
WHILE…
DANTE (VOICE):
Poscia ch'io v'ebbi alcun riconosciuto,
vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui
che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.
When I had recognised some among them,
I saw and knew the shade of him
who from cowardice made ‘the great refusal’:
Pope Celestine.
THE SHADE OF HIM: CELESTINE V, SAINT & POPE: PIETRO DA MORRONE, A SAINTLY HERMIT FROM THE ABRUZZI, WAS
COMPELLED TO BECOME POPE BY THE CARDINALS IN 1294, AT THE AGE OF EIGHTY. FIVE MONTHS LATER, WORN OUT, HE
ABDICATED AND WAS CONFINED BY HIS SUCCESSOR, BONIFACE VIII, TILL HIS DEATH IN 1296. HE WAS CANONISED IN 1313.
DANTE notes (VOICE):
INF C3 60 / DANTE
INF C3 60 / KLINE
che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.
who from cowardice made ‘the great refusal’.
DANTE (VOICE):
Incontanente intesi e certo fui
che questa era la setta d'i cattivi,
a Dio spiacenti e a' nemici sui.
Immediately I understood that this This
was is the despicable crew,
hateful to God and his enemies.
DANTE:
Questi sciaurati, che mai non fur vivi,
erano ignudi e stimolati molto
da mosconi e da vespe ch'eran ivi.
These wretches, who never truly lived,
were are naked, and goaded
viciously by hornets, and wasps,
Elle rigavan lor di sangue il volto,
che, mischiato di lagrime, a' lor piedi
da fastidiosi vermi era ricolto.
there, making their faces stream with blood,
that, mixed with tears, was is collected,
at their feet, by loathsome worms.
DANTE (VOICE):
E poi ch'a riguardar oltre mi diedi,
vidi genti a la riva d'un gran fiume;
per ch'io dissi: «Maestro, or mi concedi
And then, as I looked onwards, I saw people
on the bank of a great river,
at which I said: Master, now let me understand
ch'I' sappia quali sono, e qual costume
le fa di trapassar parer sì pronte,
com' i' discerno per lo fioco lume».
who these are, and what custom
makes them so ready to cross over,
as I can see by the dim light.
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Le cose ti fier conte
quando noi fermerem li nostri passi
su la trista riviera d'Acheronte».
And he to me: The thing will be told you,
when we halt our steps,
on the sad strand of Acheron.
DANTE notes:
INF C3 78 / DANTE
INF C3 78 / KLINE
su la trista riviera d'Acheronte».
on the sad strand of Acheron.
Then, fearing that my words might have offended him, I stopped myself from speaking, with eyes ashamed and
downcast, till we had reached the flood.
48
CHARON & SOULS
DANTE AND VIRGIL EMERGE ONTO THE →L→ .. BEFORE THEM IS ACHERON.
CHARON STANDS AT CENTRE STAGE. HE HAS COME THROUGH THE BACK CURTAIN AND CROSSED THE
RIVER ON HIS (INVISIBLE) BOAT. LIGHT (LIGHTNING?) PICKS HIM OUT.
CHARON MYTHICAL AGE : AGED
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VIRGIL DESCRIBES HIM:
AENEID 6 298-304 / VIRGIL
AENEID 6 298-304 / KLINE
portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina seruat
terribili squalore Charon, cui plurima mento
canities inculta iacet, stant lumina flamma,
sordidus ex umeris nodo dependet amictus.
ipse ratem conto subigit uelisque ministrat
et ferruginea subuectat corpora cumba,
iam senior, sed cruda deo uiridisque senectus
A grim ferryman watches over the rivers and streams,
Charon, dreadful in his squalor, with a mass of unkempt
white hair straggling from his chin: flames glow in his eyes,
a dirty garment hangs, knotted from his shoulders.
He poles the boat and trims the sails himself,
and ferries the dead in his dark skiff,
old now, but a god’s old age is fresh and green.
CHARON MAY BE UNKEMPT, BUT SHOULD BE MUCH MORE ORDINARY THAN VIRGIL’S / DANTE’S DESCRIPTION.
HE WOULD PROBABLY USE A POLE RATHER THAN AN OAR, BUT [INF C3 110] WOULD HAVE TO BE CHANGED.
LEAVE THE POLE TO PHLEGYAS [INF C8 13-] AND GIVE CHARON A SCULL TO USE OVER THE STERN OF HIS BOAT
(WHICH WE DON’T ACTUALLY SEE).
CHARON SHOUTS.
CHARON:
Ed ecco verso noi venir per nave
un vecchio, bianco per antico pelo,
gridando: «Guai a voi, anime prave!
And see, an old man, with white hoary locks,
came towards us in a boat, shouting:
CHARON (΄KARƏN): THE FERRYMAN OF THE RIVER ACHERON IN THE UNDERWORLD. THE OTHER RIVERS OF THE
UNDERWORLD WERE THE COCYTUS, A TRIBUTARY OF THE ACHERON, WITH ITS TRIBUTARY THE PHLEGETHON; THE LETHE &
THE STYX.
DANTE notes:
INF C3 84 / DANTE
INF C3 84 / KLINE
gridando: Guai a voi, anime prave!
THE POETS WALK SLOWLY TOWARDS HIM. CHARON SHOUTS AT THE INVISIBLE SPIRITS./.SPIRITS AROUND
VIRGIL AND DANTE. THE AUDIENCE HAS GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE IT IS ALSO BEING ADDRESSED.
CHARON:
Non isperate mai veder lo cielo:
i' vegno per menarvi a l'altra riva
ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e 'n gelo.
Never hope to see heaven: I come to carry you
to the other shore, into eternal darkness,
into fire and ice.
CHARON POINTS AT DANTE.
CHARON:
E tu che se' costì, anima viva,
pàrtiti da cotesti che son morti».
Ma poi che vide ch'io non mi partiva,
And you, who are there, a living spirit,
depart from those who are dead.
But when he saw that I did not depart,
49
DANTE DOES NOT MOVE.
CHARON:
disse: «Per altra via, per altri porti
verrai a piaggia, non qui, per passare:
più lieve legno convien che ti porti».
he said: By other ways, by other means of passage,
you will cross to the shore:
a quicker boat must carry you.
VIRGIL:
E 'l duca lui: «Caron, non ti crucciare:
vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare».
And my guide said to him: Charon,
do not vex yourself: it is willed there,
where what is willed is done: ask no more.
Then the bearded mouth, of the ferryman of the livid marsh, who had wheels of flame round his eyes, was stilled.
♫
INFERNAL
**********
INF C3 96
Not MISERABLE MODE because Dante describes the human voices.
VIRGIL DESCRIBES THE SCENE TO THE AUDIENCE.
VIRGIL:
Ma quell' anime, ch'eran lasse e nude,
cangiar colore e dibattero i denti,
gnash
ratto che 'nteser le parole crude.
words.
But those The naked and weary spirits, who were
naked and weary, altered colour, and gnashed
their teeth, when they heard his former, cruel
Bestemmiavano Dio e lor parenti,
l'umana spezie e 'l loco e 'l tempo e 'l seme
di lor semenza e di lor nascimenti.
They blasphemed blaspheme against God, and
their parents, the human species, the place, time,
and seed of their conception, and of their birth.
Poi si ritrasser tutte quante insieme,
forte piangendo, a la riva malvagia
ch'attende ciascun uom che Dio non teme.
Then, all together, weeping bitterly,
they neared near the cursed shore that waits
for every one who has no fear of God.
THE MUSIC RISES AND FALLS AGAIN BRIEFLY AS DANTE PREPARES TO VERSIFY ALOUD.
♫
INFERNAL
INF C3 108
**********
50
DANTE:
Ma quell' anime, ch'eran lasse e nude,
cangiar colore e dibattero i denti,
ratto che 'nteser le parole crude.
But those spirits, who were naked and weary,
altered colour, and gnashed their teeth,
when they heard his former, cruel words.
Bestemmiavano Dio e lor parenti,
l'umana spezie e 'l loco e 'l tempo e 'l seme
di lor semenza e di lor nascimenti.
They blasphemed against God, and their parents,
the human species, the place, time,
and seed of their conception, and of their birth.
Poi si ritrasser tutte quante insieme,
forte piangendo, a la riva malvagia
ch'attende ciascun uom che Dio non teme.
Then, all together, weeping bitterly,
they neared the cursed shore that waits
for every one who has no fear of God.
HE TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Caron dimonio, con occhi di bragia
loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie;
batte col remo qualunque s'adagia.
Charon, the demon, with eyes of burning coal,
beckoning, gathers them all:
and strikes with his oar whoever lingers.
Come d'autunno si levan le foglie
l'una appresso de l'altra, fin che 'l ramo
vede a la terra tutte le sue spoglie,
As the autumn leaves fall, one after another,
till the branches see
all their spoilage on the ground,
similemente il mal seme d'Adamo
gittansi di quel lito ad una ad una,
per cenni come augel per suo richiamo.
♫
INFERNAL: DIES AWAY
so, one by one, the evil seed of Adam,
threw themselves down from the bank
when signalled, like the falcon at its call.
**********
INF C3 117
HE POINTS BACKSTAGE, THEN AT THE AUDIENCE AND THE INVISIBLE SPIRITS./.SPIRITS.
DANTE:
Così sen vanno su per l'onda bruna,
e avanti che sien di là discese,
anche di qua nuova schiera s'auna.
So they vanish on the dark water,
and before they have landed over there,
over here a fresh crowd collects.
VIRGIL:
Figliuol mio, disse 'l maestro cortese,
quelli che muoion ne l'ira di Dio
tutti convegnon qui d'ogne paese;
The courteous Master said: My son,
those who die subject to God’s anger,
all gather here, from every country,
e pronti sono a trapassar lo rio,
ché la divina giustizia li sprona,
sì che la tema si volve in disio.
and they are quick to cross the river,
since divine justice goads them on,
so that their fear is turned to desire.
51
Quinci non passa mai anima buona;
e però, se Caron di te si lagna,
ben puoi sapere omai che 'l suo dir suona.
This way no good spirit ever passes, and so
if Charon complains damns at you, you can well
understand, now, the meaning of his words.
DANTE:
Quinci non passa mai anima buona;
e però, se Caron di te si lagna,
ben puoi sapere omai che 'l suo dir suona.
This way no good spirit ever passes, and so
if Charon complains at you, you can well
understand, now, the meaning of his words.
When he had ended, the gloomy ground trembled so violently, that the memory of my terror still drenches me with
sweat. The weeping earth gave vent, and flashed with crimson light, overpowering all my senses, and I fell, like a
man overcome by sleep.
HE POINTS BACKSTAGE, THEN AT THE AUDIENCE. THE LIGHTS MAY GO OUT [INF C3 130-136].
CANTO 4
INF C4 1-12 / KLINE
A heavy thunder shattered the deep sleep in my head, so that I came to myself, like someone woken by force, and
standing up, I moved my eyes, now refreshed. And looked round, steadily, to find out what place I was in. I found
myself, in truth, on the brink of the valley of the sad abyss that gathers the thunder of an infinite howling. It was so
dark, and deep, and clouded, that I could see nothing by staring into its depths.
♫
WIND / PERSONS HOWLING
**********
INF C3 129 from INF C4 9
DANTE
MOVES TO STAGE FRONT AND PEERS STRAIGHT DOWN, LOOKING INTO THE
AUDIENCE FOR THE SOURCE OF THE HOWLING. VIRGIL, ‘WHITE OF FACE’ [INF C4 14], PLACES
HIS HAND ON DANTE’S SHOULDER.
VIRGIL:
«Or discendiam qua giù nel cieco mondo»,
cominciò il poeta tutto smorto.
«Io sarò primo, e tu sarai secondo».
The poet, white of face, began:
Now, let us descend into the blind world below:
I will go first, and you go second.
DANTE:
E io, che del color mi fui accorto,
dissi: «Come verrò, se tu paventi
che suoli al mio dubbiare esser conforto?».
And I, who saw his altered colour, said:
How can I go on, if you are afraid,
who are my comfort when I hesitate?
52
VIRGIL POINTS DOWN.
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «L'angoscia de le genti
che son qua giù, nel viso mi dipigne
quella pietà che tu per tema senti.
And he to me: The anguish of the people,
here below, brings that look of pity to my face,
that you mistake for fear.
Andiam, ché la via lunga ne sospigne».
Così si mise e così mi fé intrare
nel primo cerchio che l'abisso cigne.
Let us go, for the length of our journey demands
it. So he entered, and so he made me enter,
into the first circle that surrounds the abyss.
DANTE:
INF C4 22 / DANTE
INF C4 22 / KLINE
Andiam, ché la via lunga ne sospigne».
Let us go, for the length of our journey
THEY DESCEND THE →R→
AND EMERGE ONTO THE →L→ .
THE UNBAPTISED
♫
SIGHING: SORROW, NOT TORMENT
**********
INF C4 22 from INF C4 25-30
Here there was no sound to be heard, except the sighing, that made the eternal air tremble, and it came from the
sorrow of the vast and varied crowds of children, of women, and of men, free of torment.
VIRGIL:
Lo buon maestro a me: «Tu non dimandi
che spiriti son questi che tu vedi?
Or vo' che sappi, innanzi che più andi,
The good Master said to me: ‘You do not demand
to know who these spirits are that you see?
I want you to learn, before you go further,
ch'ei non peccaro; e s'elli hanno mercedi,
is
non basta, perché non ebber battesmo,
ch'è porta de la fede che tu credi;
in.
that they had no sin, yet, though they have worth, it
not sufficient, because they were not baptised, and
baptism is the gateway to the faith that you believe
DANTE notes:
INF C4 35 / DANTE
INF C4 35 / KLINE
non basta, perché non ebber battesmo,
not sufficient, because they were not baptised, and
VIRGIL:
e s 'e' furon dinanzi al cristianesmo,
non adorar debitamente a Dio:
e di questi cotai son io medesmo.
Since they lived before Christianity,
they did not worship God correctly,
and I myself am one of them.
53
Per tai difetti, non per altro rio,
semo perduti, e sol di tanto offesi
che sanza speme vivemo in disio».
For this defect, and for no other fault, we are lost,
and we are only tormented,
in that without hope we live in desire.
When I heard this, great sadness gripped my heart, because I knew of people of great value, who must be suspended
in that Limbo.
DANTE IS DOWNCAST: HE KNOWS ‘PEOPLE OF GREAT VALUE…IN THAT LIMBO’ [INF C4 45].
DANTE:
or DANTE:
«Dimmi, maestro mio, dimmi, segnore»,
comincia' io per voler esser certo
di quella fede che vince ogne errore:
Wishing to be certain in that faith that overcomes
every error, I began: Tell me my Master,
tell me, sir, did anyone ever go from here,
DANTE:
INF C4 48 / DANTE
INF C4 48 / KLINE
di quella fede che vince ogne errore:
tell me, sir, did anyone ever go from here,
«uscicci mai alcuno, o per suo merto
o per altrui, che poi fosse beato?».
E quei che 'ntese il mio parlar coverto,
through his own merit or because of others’
merit, who afterwards was blessed?
And he, understanding my veiled question,
THEY DESCEND THE →R→ BUT THEIR
HIS ‘VEILED QUESTION’ [INF C4 51-52].
VOICES ARE STILL HEARD.
VIRGIL
UNDERSTANDS
VIRGIL (VOICE):
rispuose: «Io era nuovo in questo stato,
quando ci vidi venire un possente,
con segno di vittoria coronato.
replied: I was new to this state,
when I saw a great one, Christ come here
crowned with the sign of victory.
GREAT ONE: CHRIST
Trasseci l'ombra del primo parente,
d'Abèl suo figlio e quella di Noè,
di Moïsè legista e ubidente;
He took from us the shade of Adam,
our first parent, of his son Abel, and that of Noah,
of Moses the lawgiver,
d'Abèl suo figlio e quella di Noè,
di Moïsè legista e ubidente;
his son Abel, and that of Noah,
of Moses the lawgiver,
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Abraàm patrïarca e Davìd re,
David,
Israèl con lo padre e co' suoi nati
e con Rachele, per cui tanto fé,
and Abraham, the obedient Patriarch, King
Jacob with his father Isaac, and his children,
and Rachel, for whom he laboured so long,
Abraàm patrïarca e Davìd re,
Israèl con lo padre e co' suoi nati
e con Rachele, per cui tanto fé,
and Abraham, the obedient Patriarch, King David,
Jacob with his father Isaac, and his children,
and Rachel, for whom he laboured so long,
54
VIRGIL (VOICE):
e altri molti, e feceli beati.
E vo' che sappi che, dinanzi ad essi,
spiriti umani non eran salvati».
and many others, and made them blessed.,
and I wish you to know that no. No human souls
were saved before these.
We did not cease moving, though he was speaking, but passed the wood meanwhile, the wood, I say, of crowded
spirits. We had not gone far from where I slept, when I saw a flame that overcame a hemisphere of shadows. We
were still some way from it, but not so far that I failed to discern in part what noble people occupied that place.
THE GREAT: 4 POETS
♫
LAMP: EERIE?
**********
INF C4 63
THE REAR CURTAIN IS OPENED IN THE DARKNESS. VIRGIL AND DANTE ENTER DOWN THE →L→ AS 4
GREAT SHADES, WITH FACES THAT ARE ‘NEITHER SAD NOR HAPPY’[INF C4 76-78] EMERGE FROM
BACKSTAGE. THEY ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THE MUSE ERATO. SHE LIGHTS THEIR WAY WITH A TWOPEAKED FLAME (FROM A DOUBLE WICK?), IN A BOWL OF OIL ON HER HEAD. THE BOWL LARGELY
OBSCURES ERATO’S FACE.
THESE LAMPS APPEAR LATER [INF C26 47-] WHERE THE TWO-PEAKED FLAME IS EXPLAINED.
VIRGIL CALLS OUT, QUOTING FROM HIS OWN BOOK, PERHAPS TRANSLATING TO THE AUDIENCE.
HOMER AGE : *?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY. HE IS BLIND. HE CARRIES A BOOK: THE ODYSSEY OR THE ILIAD. (PERHAPS BOTH, ONE IN THE
HOLDER ON HIS BACK)
HORACE QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS 65 - 8 BC AGE : 57?
BORN VENUSIA, NEAR BORDER OF APULIA. LATIN.
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY. HE CARRIES A BOOK: ODES ETC
HE WROTE ODES & EPODES IN VARIOUS METRES DERIVED FROM THE GREEK POETS; SATIRES; & EPISTLES. THE TYPE OF A
MORALIST, RATHER THAN A SATIRIST, FOR DANTE.
OVID (PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO) 43 BC – 17 AD AGE : 50?
BORN AT SULMO (NOW SULMONA, ITALY). PAELIGNIAN, NOT ROMAN. LATIN
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY. HE CARRIES A BOOK: THE METAMORPHOSES
HE WAS EXILED FROM AUGUSTAN ROME IN AD 8 (FOR A POEM, PROBABLY THE ARS AMATORIA & AN ERROR, PROBABLY AN
INDISCRETION CONCERNING AUGUSTUS’S WAYWARD DAUGHTER JULIA) & DIED AT TOMIS ON THE BLACK SEA IN AD 17. HIS
GREATEST WORK IS THE METAMORPHOSES, A RETELLING OF MYTHS DOWN TO HIS OWN TIME, BASED ON THE THEME OF
CHANGE. THIS, THE OVIDIO MAGGIORE WAS THE MAIN SOURCE FOR DANTE’S KNOWLEDGE OF MYTHOLOGY, ALONG WITH
VIRGIL’S AENEID.
LUCAN (MARCUS ANNAEUS LUCANUS) 39 - 65 AD AGE : 26?
BORN IN CORDOVA, EDUCATED AT ROME. LATIN
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY. HE CARRIES HIS UNFINISHED EPIC: THE CIVIL WAR (KNOWN AS THE PHARSALIA FOR ITS CLIMACTIC
BATTLE) A POETICAL GUIDE TO DANTE IN HIS IDEAS OF ROMAN HISTORY.
55
VIRGIL
or VIRGIL:
AENEID 7 37 / VIRGIL
AENEID 7 37 / KLINE
Nunc age, qui reges, Erato, quae
tempora, rerum
times.
Come now, Erato, and I’ll tell of the kings, the
DANTE:
«O tu ch'onori scïenzïa e arte,
questi chi son c'hanno cotanta onranza,
che dal modo de li altri li diparte?».
O you, who value every science and art,
who are these, who have such honour
that they stand apart from all the rest?
VIRGIL:
E quelli a me: «L'onrata nominanza
them,
che di lor suona sù ne la tua vita,
grazïa acquista in ciel che sì li avanza».
And he to me: Their fame, that sounds out for
honoured in that life of yours,
brings them heaven’s grace that advances them.
DANTE notes:
INF C4 76 / DANTE
INF C4 76 / KLINE
E quelli a me: «L'onrata nominanza
them,
And he to me: Their fame, that sounds out for
ERATO TURNS TO SEE VIRGIL. SHE TURNS LEFT AND RIGHT TO ANNOUNCE.
ERATO:
&
ERATO:
Intanto voce fu per me udita:
Onorate l'altissimo poeta;
l'ombra sua torna, ch'era dipartita.
Meanwhile I heard a voice:
Honour the great poet:
his departed shade returns.
After the voice had paused, and was quiet, I saw four great shadows come towards us with faces that were neither
sad nor happy. The good Master began to speak: ‘Take note of him, with a sword in hand, who comes in front of the
other three, as if he were their lord:
THE 4 SHADES APPROACH DANTE AND VIRGIL, HOMER LEADING. EACH WEARS THE BOOK OF HIS WORKS
ON HIS CHEST OR BACK.
VIRGIL POINTS OUT THE POETS TO THE AUDIENCE.
VIRGIL:
quelli è Omero poeta sovrano;
l'altro è Orazio satiro che vene;
Ovidio è 'l terzo, e l'ultimo Lucano.
That is Homer, the sovereign poet:
next Horace the satirist:
Ovid is the third, and last is Lucan.
DANTE notes:
quelli è Omero poeta sovrano;
l'altro è Orazio satiro che vene;
Ovidio è 'l terzo, e l'ultimo Lucano.
That is Homer, the sovereign poet:
next Horace the satirist:
Ovid is the third, and last is Lucan.
VIRGIL:
Però che ciascun meco si convene
nel nome che sonò la voce sola,
fannomi onore, e di ciò fanno bene.
Because each is worthy, with me, of that name
the one voice sounded, they do me honour,
and, in doing so, do good.
56
THE POETS EMBRACE VIRGIL.
WHILE AND WRITES./.READS.
DANTE WRITES THEIR NAMES IN
DANTE:
&
HIS BOOK, THINKS FOR A
DANTE:
Così vid' i' adunar la bella scola
di quel segnor de l'altissimo canto
che sovra li altri com' aquila vola.
So I saw gathered together the noble school,
of the lord of highest song,
who soars, like an eagle, above the rest.
HE TURNS BACK TO THE THE GROUP. THE 4 LIFT THEIR HANDS IN GREETING AND THE 5 PLUS ERATO DRIFT
OFF BACKSTAGE. VIRGIL BECKONS TO DANTE. DANTE ADDRESS THE AUDIENCE AGAIN.
DANTE:
Da ch'ebber ragionato insieme alquanto,
volsersi a me con salutevol cenno,
e 'l mio maestro sorrise di tanto;
After they had talked for a while amongst
themselves, they turned towards me with a sign of
greeting, at which my Master smiled.
e più d'onore ancora assai mi fenno,
ch'e' sì mi fecer de la loro schiera,
sì ch'io fui sesto tra cotanto senno.
HE FOLLOWS THEM QUICKLY.
And they honoured me further still,
since they made me one of their company,
so that I made a sixth among the wise.
57
HEROES & HEROINES
♫
ANCIENT PASTORAL OR HEROIC
**********
INF C4 103
Pleasant only by comparison with the other music.
VIRGIL IS STILL BEHIND THE CURTAIN. DANTE RETURNS, OPENS HIS BOOK AND ADDRESSES THE
AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
Così andammo infino a la lumera,
parlando cose che 'l tacere è bello,
silent,
sì com' era 'l parlar colà dov' era.
So we went onwards to the light,
speaking of things about which it is best to be
just as it was best to speak of them, where I was.
DANTE:
Venimmo al piè d'un nobile castello,
sette volte cerchiato d'alte mura,
difeso intorno d'un bel fiumicello.
We came to the base of a noble castle;
surrounded seven times by a high wall;
defended by a beautiful, encircling, stream.
Questo passammo come terra dura;
per sette porte intrai con questi savi:
giugnemmo in prato di fresca verdura.
This we crossed as if it were solid earth:
I entered through seven gates, with the wise:
we reached a meadow of fresh turf.
Genti v'eran con occhi tardi e gravi,
di grande autorità ne' lor sembianti:
parlavan rado, con voci soavi.
The people there were of great authority in
appearance, with calm, and serious looks,
speaking seldom, and then with soft voices.
Traemmoci così da l'un de' canti,
in loco aperto, luminoso e alto,
sì che veder si potien tutti quanti.
We moved to one side, into an open space,
bright and high, so that every one,
of them all could be seen.
VIRGIL RETURNS THROUGH THE BACK CURTAIN, GIVING A GLIMPSE OF THE ‘GREEN ENAMEL’ BEHIND
DANTE.
DANTE VERSIFIES AND VIRGIL GIVES A SUMMARY.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Colà diritto, sovra 'l verde smalto,
mi fuor mostrati li spiriti magni,
che del vedere in me stesso m'essalto.
There, on On the green enamel, the great spirits.
were pointed out to me, directly, so that
I feel exalted, inside me, at having seen them.
I' vidi Eletra con molti compagni,
tra ' quai conobbi Ettòr ed Enea,
I saw Electra with many others,
amongst whom I knew Hector, Aeneas,
ELECTRA: MOTHER BY ZEUS OF DARDANUS FOUNDER OF TROY. SHE WAS, IN ONE VERSION, THE SEVENTH STAR OF THE
PLEIADES THAT WAS SAID TO HAVE DISAPPEARED IN GRIEF FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY & THE HOUSE OF DARDANUS.
THE PALLADIUM, OR EFFIGY OF PALLAS ATHENE, WAS CAST DOWN WITH ELECTRA FROM OLYMPUS BY ATHENE, WHEN ZEUS
HAD VIOLATED ELECTRA & SHE HAD DEFILED THE STATUE WITH HER TOUCH. ELECTRA GAVE IT TO HER SON DARDANUS.
HECTOR: TROJAN PRINCE, SON OF PRIAM & HECABE (HECUBA), A HERO OF THE ILIAD, KILLED BY ACHILLES IN REVENGE FOR
THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS.
58
DIDO (UNSEEN) HEARS THE NAME AENEAS.
DIDO MYTHICAL AGE : YOUNGISH?
TYRE CARTHAGE ? PHOENICIAN
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
DIDO: MYTHICAL QUEEN OF PHOENICIAN CARTHAGE, PROBABLY AN INCARNATION OF ASTARTE THE GREAT GODDESS, WHO
LOVED AENEAS & COMMITTED SUICIDE WHEN HE DESERTED HER. SHE BROKE FAITH WITH THE MEMORY OF HER HUSBAND
SYCHAEUS FOR HIM. (AENEID 1)
DIDO (VOICE):
nec tibi diua parens generis…perfide
Deceiver, your mother was no goddess.
VIRGIL:
&
VIRGIL:
AENEID 6 455 / KLINE
infelix Dido…
Dido, unhappy spirit…
DIDO (VOICE):
dabis, improbe, poenas.
Cruel one, you’ll be punished.
DANTE CONTINUES.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C4 123 / DANTE
INF C4 123 / KLINE
Cesare armato con li occhi grifagni.
and Caesar, armed, with his eagle eye.
CAESAR: JULIUS
DANTE:
Vidi Cammilla e la Pantasilea;
da l'altra parte vidi 'l re Latino
che con Lavina sua figlia sedea.
I saw Camilla and Penthesilea,
on the other side, and the King of Latium,
Latinus, with Lavinia, his daughter.
CAMILLA: A VIRGIN WARRIOR, THE ROMAN VERSION OF AN AMAZON, WHOSE DEATH IS DESCRIBED IN AENEID 11.
PENTHESILEA: AMAZON QUEEN, KILLED BY ACHILLES WHEN SHE FOUGHT FOR THE TROJANS DURING THE TROJAN WAR. THE
TYPE OF A NOBLE WOMAN.
LATINUS: KING OF LATIUM, AN ANCESTOR OF THE ROMANS THROUGH HIS DAUGHTER LAVINIA, THIRD WIFE OF AENEAS.
Vidi quel Bruto che cacciò Tarquino,
Lucrezia, Iulia, Marzïa e Corniglia;
e solo, in parte, vidi 'l Saladino.
I saw that Brutus who expelled Tarquin,
Lucretia, Julia, Marcia and Cornelia,
and I saw Saladin, by himself, apart.
LUCIUS JUNIUS BRUTUS: THE TYPE OF A NOBLE ROMAN OF THE REPUBLIC. CONQUERED TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS, WHOSE SON
HAD RAPED LUCRETIA, COLLATINE’S WIFE, IN 510 BC.
LUCRETIA: WIFE OF THE ROMAN COLLATINE, RAPED BY THE SON OF TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS. A NOBLE, WRONGED WIFE.
JULIA: JULIUS CAESAR’S DAUGHTER BY CORNELIA. SHE MARRIED POMPEY. A TYPE OF THE NOBLE ROMAN WOMAN.
MARCIA: NOTED FOR HER INTEGRITY & NOBILITY. A TYPE OF THE NOBLE ROMAN WIFE. SECOND WIFE OF CATO, WHO
YIELDED HER TO HIS FRIEND QUINTUS HORTENSIUS. WHEN HE DIED SHE MARRIED CATO AGAIN. DANTE’S CONVITO TREATS
HER RETURN TO CATO AS AN ALLEGORY OF THE SOUL’S RETURN TO GOD.
CORNELIA: DAUGHTER OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS. MOTHER OF TIBERIUS & CAIUS THE TWO FAMOUS TRIBUNES, THE GRACCHI. A
TYPE OF THE NOBLE ROMAN WOMAN. SHE CLAIMED THAT ‘HER SONS WERE HER JEWELS’.
SALADIN: SULTAN OR SOLDAN, SALHAD-DIN, 1137-1193 AD, KURDISH FOUNDER OF THE AYYUBID DYNASTY OF EGYPT. HE
TOOK JERUSALEM IN 1187 AD. DANTE’S TYPE OF ISLAMIC NOBILITY & MAGNIFICENCE.
VIRGIL INTERPRETS DANTE TO THE AUDIENCE.
59
VIRGIL:
Vidi Cammilla e la Pantasilea;
da l'altra parte vidi 'l re Latino
che con Lavina sua figlia sedea.
I saw Camilla and Penthesilea,
on the other side, and the King of Latium,
Latinus, with Lavinia, his daughter.
Vidi quel Bruto che cacciò Tarquino,
Lucrezia, Iulia, Marzïa e Corniglia;
e solo, in parte, vidi 'l Saladino.
I saw that Brutus who expelled Tarquin,
Lucretia, Julia, Marcia and Cornelia,
and I saw Saladin, by himself, apart.
PHILOSOPHERS: MUSES ALL
DANTE RAISES HIS EYES. ERATO’S LAMP SHOWS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CURTAIN. VIRGIL PULLS
BACK THE CURTAIN TO LET HER THROUGH. SHE GOES OFF STAGE LEFT OR RIGHT.
THE OPEN CURTAIN REVEALS THE GREEN ENAMEL ON WHICH THE MUSES ARE SEATED IN A CIRCLE
AROUND CALLIOPE (ARISTOTLE). THEY READ, WRITE AND INAUDIBLY DEBATE.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Poi ch'innalzai un poco più le ciglia,
vidi 'l maestro di color che sanno
know…Aristotle
seder tra filosofica famiglia.
When I lifted my eyes a little higher,
I saw the The Master of those who
sitting amongst the company of philosophers.
DANTE:
Tutti lo miran, tutti onor li fanno:
quivi vid' ïo Socrate e Platone,
che 'nnanzi a li altri più presso li stanno;
All gaze at him: all show him honour.
There I saw Socrates and Plato
who stand nearest to him of all of them;
VIRGIL:
Tutti lo miran, tutti onor li fanno:
quivi vid' ïo Socrate e Platone,
che 'nnanzi a li altri più presso li stanno;
All gaze at him: all show him honour.
There I saw Socrates and Plato
who stand nearest to him of all of them;
DANTE
&
VIRGIL:
Democrito che 'l mondo a caso pone,
Dïogenès, Anassagora e Tale,
Empedoclès, Eraclito e Zenone;
Democritus, who ascribes the world to chance,
Diogenes, Anaxagoras, and Thales,
Empedocles, Heraclitus and Zeno.
DEMOCRITUS: GREEK PHILOSOPHER, OF ALDERA, D.361 BC, WHO DEVELOPED LEUCIPPUS’S IDEAS OF ATOMISM. DANTE
REGARDS HIM AS HAVING TAUGHT THAT THE WORLD ARISES FROM CHANCE ARRANGEMENTS OF ATOMS.
ANAXAGORAS: PRE-SOCRATIC GREEK PHILOSOPHER, BORN AT CLAZOMENAE IN ASIA MINOR ABOUT 500 BC. A PERSIAN
CITIZEN WHO WENT TO ATHENS IN THE YEAR OF SALAMIS 480/79 BC.
EMPEDOCLES: PRE-SOCRATIC GREEK PHILOSOPHER, A CITIZEN OF AKRAGAS, OR AGRIGENTUM, IN SICILY. HE WAS ALIVE IN
443 BC & GAVE RISE TO A NUMBER OF APOCRYPHAL STORIES ABOUT HIS MAGICAL ABILITIES AS A PYTHAGOREAN.
HERACLITUS: PRE-SOCRATIC GREEK PHILOSOPHER, EPHESIAN NOBLEMAN WHO FLOURISHED ABOUT THE 69TH OLYMPIAD
504-501 BC. DEALT WITH THE FLUX OF EXISTENCE, THE INSTABILITY OF SENSATION & EXPERIENCE. HIS KEY CONCEPT IS OF
UNITY IN DIVERSITY & DIVERSITY IN UNITY, A THEME THAT DANTE OFTEN PLAYS WITH. THE ONE EXISTS AS A TENSION OF
OPPOSITES, IN THE MANY, IDENTITY IN DIFFERENCE.
THALES: PRE-SOCRATIC GREEK PHILOSOPHER OF MILETUS. DIED SHORTLY BEFORE THE FALL OF SARDIS (546/5 BC).
ZENO OF CITIUM (C 342-370 BC): FOUNDER OF THE STOIC SCHOOL OF WHICH SENECA WAS A MEMBER.
VIRGIL INTERPRETS A LITTLE BEHIND DANTE.
60
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
e vidi il buono accoglitor del quale,
plants,
Dïascoride dico; e vidi Orfeo,
Tulïo e Lino e Seneca morale;
and I saw the good collector of the qualities of
I mean Dioscorides; and I saw Orpheus,
Cicero, Linus, and Seneca the moralist;
DIOSCORIDES: GREEK PHYSICIAN, AUTHOR OF A WORK ON MATERIA MEDICA PARTICULARLY BOTANY; LIVED ABOUT 50 AD.
MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO, 106-43 BC, ROMAN ORATOR & STATESMAN, BORN AT ARPINUM OF A WEALTHY FAMILY.
ELECTED CONSUL IN 63 BC & SUPPORTED POMPEY. HIS WRITINGS WERE INFLUENTIAL ON MEDIEVAL THINKING.
LINUS: MYTHOLOGICAL POET, THE BROTHER OF ORPHEUS. COMPOSED POEMS HONOURING DIONYSUS & A CREATION EPIC. HE
IS SAID TO HAVE INVENTED MELODY & RHYTHM. THE LAMENT FOR HIM WAS WIDESPREAD & IS THE THEME OF THE EGYPTIAN
SONG OF MANEROS.
LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA, ROMAN PHILOSOPHER, MORALIST & SENATOR, D. 65 AD. A MEMBER OF ZENO’S STOIC SCHOOL &
TUTOR TO THE EMPEROR NERO WHO DROVE HIM TO COMMIT SUICIDE.
Euclide geomètra e Tolomeo,
Ipocràte, Avicenna e Galïeno,
Averoìs, che 'l gran comento feo.
Euclid the geometer, and Ptolemaeus;
Hippocrates, Avicenna, and Galen;
and Averrhoës, who wrote the vast commentary.
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMAEUS, PTOLEMY, FL 127-51 AD, CODIFIED ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE IN HIS WORK THE ALMAGEST. HE
WAS THE AUTHORITY THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE AGES.
AVICENNA: ARAB PHYSICIAN & COMMENTATOR ON ARISTOTLE 979-1037 AD. HE CODIFIED GALEN WITH SMATTERINGS OF
HIPPOCRATES.
GALEN: ROMAN EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICIAN & THE MAIN AUTHORITY ON MEDICINE & PHYSIOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE
MIDDLE AGES. HE LIVED C 130-200 AD.
AVERRHOËS: IBN RUSHD, 1128-1198 AD, ARABIAN PHYSICIAN & COMMENTATOR ON ARISTOTLE. HE ESPOUSED A SCEPTICAL
PHILOSOPHY & MADE ARISTOTLE’S PHILOSOPHY SUPREME IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Io non posso ritrar di tutti a pieno,
però che sì mi caccia il lungo tema,
che molte volte al fatto il dir vien meno.
I cannot speak of them all in full,
because the great theme drives me on, so that
the word falls, many times, short of the fact.
DANTE CLOSES THE CANTO AS VIRGIL AND HE WALK TO THE TOP OF THE →R→
AND LOOK DOWN.
La sesta compagnia in due si scema:
per altra via mi mena il savio duca,
fuor de la queta, ne l'aura che trema.
The six companions reduce to two:
the wise guide leads me, by another path,
out of the quiet, into the trembling air,
INF C4 151 / DANTE
INF C4 151 / KLINE
E vegno in parte ove non è che luca.
and I come to a region, where nothing shines.
CANTO 5
♫
WIND / PERSONS HOWLING: SOFT
**********
INF C4 151
INF C5 1-3 / KLINE
So I descended from the first circle to the second, that encloses a smaller space, and so much more pain it provokes
howling.
DANTE:
INF C5 4-6 / DANTE
INF C5 4-6 / KLINE
Stavvi Minòs orribilmente, e ringhia:
essamina le colpe ne l'intrata;
There Minos stands, grinning horribly, examines
the crimes on entrance, judges, and sends
61
giudica e manda secondo ch'avvinghia.
the guilty down as far as is signified by his coils:
DANTE TURNS TO THE OTHER PART OF THE AUDIENCE AND ILLUSTRATES WITH HIS HANDS.
DANTE:
INF C5 7-9 / DANTE
INF C5 7-9 / KLINE
Dico che quando l'anima mal nata
li vien dinanzi, tutta si confessa;
e quel conoscitor de le peccata
I mean that when the evil-born spirit
comes before him, it confesses everything,
and that knower of sins
vede qual loco d'inferno è da essa;
cignesi con la coda tante volte
quantunque gradi vuol che giù sia messa.
decides the proper place in hell for it,
and makes as many coils with his tail,
as the circles he will force it descend.
DANTE:
Sempre dinanzi a lui ne stanno molte:
vanno a vicenda ciascuna al giudizio,
dicono e odono e poi son giù volte.
A multitude always stand before him,
and go in turn to be judged,
speak and hear, and then are whirled downwards.
DANTE & VIRGIL STRIDE DOWN THE →R→ .
MINOS (VOICE):
disse Minòs a me quando mi vide,
lasciando l'atto di cotanto offizio,
When Minos saw me, passing by
the actions of his great office, he said:
O you, who come to the house of pain,
MINOS
AGE : *?
CRETE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
MYTHICAL
MYTHICAL KING OF CRETE. BUILDER OF THE LABYRINTH AT CNOSSUS, DAEDALUS BEING THE ARCHITECT. HE WAS
APPOINTED BY ZEUS AS ONE OF THE THREE JUDGES OF THE DEAD, WITH RHADAMANTHYS & AEACUS & LIVED IN THE ELYSIAN
FIELDS IN THE UNDERWORLD. HE RULED OVER NINETY CRETAN CITIES & CONTROLLED NAVIGATION OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN. HE IS THE JUDGE OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS IN THE AENEID & IS FOR DANTE A SYMBOL OF THE SINNER’S
GUILTY CONSCIENCE.
DANTE notes:
INF C5 16 / DANTE
INF C5 16 / KLINE
O you, who come to the house of pain
MINOS (VOICE):
guarda com' entri e di cui tu ti fide;
non t'inganni l'ampiezza de l'intrare!
take care how you enter, and in whom you trust;
do not let the width of the entrance deceive you.
VIRGIL:
INF C5 21 / DANTE
INF C5 21 / KLINE
E 'l duca mio a lui: Perché pur gride?
And my guide replied: Why do you cry out?
Non impedir lo suo fatale andare:
vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare.
Do not obstruct his destined journey:
so it is willed, where what is willed
is done: demand no more…più non dimandare.
62
THE LUSTFUL
♫
WIND / PERSONS HOWLING: LOUDER
**********
INF C5 24
DANTE (VOICE):
Or incomincian le dolenti note
a farmisi sentire; or son venuto
là dove molto pianto mi percuote.
Now the mournful notes begin to reach me:
now Now I come
where much sorrowing hurts me.
I came to a place devoid of light, that moans like a tempestuous sea, when it is buffeted by warring winds.
La bufera infernal, che mai non resta,
mena li spirti con la sua rapina;
voltando e percotendo li molesta.
The hellish storm that never ceases
drives the spirits with its force,
and, whirling and striking, it molests them:
When they come to the ruins there are shouts, moaning and crying, where they blaspheme against divine power.
IN THE DARK, VIRGIL AND DANTE ARE BACK ON STAGE.
VIRGIL:
Intesi ch'a così fatto tormento
enno dannati i peccator carnali,
che la ragion sommettono al talento.
I learnt that the The carnal sinners
are condemned to these torments,
they who subject their reason to their lust.
DANTE:
E come li stornei ne portan l'ali
nel freddo tempo, a schiera larga e piena,
così quel fiato li spiriti mali
And, as their wings carry the starlings, in
a vast, crowded flock, in the cold season,
so that That wind carries the wicked spirits,
DANTE LOOKS AND SILENTLY COMPOSES FOR A WHILE THEN RECITES.
VIRGIL INTERPRETS./.TRANSLATES A LITTLE BEHIND HIM.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
E come li stornei ne portan l'ali
nel freddo tempo, a schiera larga e piena,
così quel fiato li spiriti mali
And, as their wings carry the starlings,
in a vast, crowded flock, in the cold season,
so that wind carries the wicked spirits,
di qua, di là, di giù, di sù li mena;
nulla speranza li conforta mai,
non che di posa, ma di minor pena.
and leads them here and there, and up
and down. No hope of rest, or even
lesser torment, comforts them.
E come i gru van cantando lor lai,
faccendo in aere di sé lunga riga,
così vid' io venir, traendo guai,
And as the cranes go, making their sounds,
forming a long flight, of themselves, in the air,
so I saw the shadows come,
63
ombre portate da la detta briga;
per ch'i' dissi: Maestro, chi son quelle
genti che l'aura nera sì gastiga?
moaning, carried by that war of winds.
At which I said: Master, who are these people,
that the black air chastises so?
DANTE POINTS TO UNSEEN SPIRITS./.SPIRITS.
DANTE:
per ch'i' dissi: Maestro, chi son quelle
genti che l'aura nera sì gastiga?
At which I said: Master, who are these people,
that the black air chastises so?
VIRGIL:
«La prima di color di cui novelle
of,
tu vuo' saper», mi disse quelli allotta,
«fu imperadrice di molte favelle.
He replied: The first, of those you wish to know
was Empress of many languages,
so corrupted
A vizio di lussuria fu sì rotta,
che libito fé licito in sua legge,
per tòrre il biasmo in che era condotta.
by the vice of luxury, that she made licence
lawful in her code, to clear away
the guilt she had incurred.
Ell' è Semiramìs, di cui si legge
che succedette a Nino e fu sua sposa:
tenne la terra che 'l Soldan corregge.
She is Semiramis, of whom we read
that she succeeded Ninus, and was his wife:
she held the countries that the Sultan rules.
SEMIRAMIS: SAMMURAMAT, QUEEN OF THE NEW ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, RULED 810-805 BC, WHOSE POLICIES WERE
SUCCESSFUL DURING THE MINORITY OF HER SON ABADNIRARI III. ACCORDING TO OROSIUS, SHE SUCCEEDED HER HUSBAND
SHAMSHI-ADAD V, NINUS. THOUGH DANTE IS CORRECT IN BELIEVING THAT THE ASSYRIANS HELD EGYPT (THE SOLDAN’S
LAND) IT WAS NOT TILL MUCH LATER UNDER ESARHADDON.
DANTE notes:
INF C5 60 / DANTE
tenne la terra che 'l Soldan corregge.
she held the countries that the Sultan rules.
VIRGIL:
INF C5 61 / DANTE
INF C5 61 / KLINE
L'altra è colei che s'ancise amorosa,
The next is Dido who killed herself for love,
VIRGIL QUOTES HIS OWN AENEID.
DIDO (UNSEEN) HEARS HER VOICE MENTIONED AND RESUMES HER PLAINT.
VIRGIL:
or VIRGIL:
inter quas Phoenissa recens a vulnere
Dido errabat silua in magna;
Phoenician Dido wandered, in the
great wood, her wound still fresh.
AENEID SEVERAL LINES / VIRGIL
AENEID SEVERAL LINES / KLINE
Troius Aeneas
Aeneas the Trojan
num fletu ingemuit nostro? num
lumina flexit?
Did he groan at my weeping? Did he look at me?
DIDO (VOICE):
mors anima seduxerit artus,
Death has divided my soul and body.
64
(ALTERNATIVELY, DIDO SPEAKS IN VIRGIL’S LATIN AND VIRGIL INTERPRETS.)
VIRGIL:
L'altra è colei che s'ancise amorosa,
e ruppe fede al cener di Sicheo;
The next is Dido who killed herself for love,
and broke faith with Sichaeus’s ashes:
SICHAEUS: MYTHICAL HUSBAND OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE. SEE THE AENEID.
VIRGIL:
or VIRGIL:
INF C5 63 / DANTE
INF C5 63 / KLINE
poi è Cleopatràs lussurïosa.
then comes …licentious Licentious Cleopatra.
Elena vedi, per cui tanto reo
tempo si volse, e vedi 'l grande Achille,
Achilles,
che con amore al fine combatteo.
See Helen, for whom, so long,
the mills of war revolved: and see the great
who fought in the end with love, of Polyxena.
ACHILLES: GREEK HERO OF HOMER’S ILIAD WHO AVENGES THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS BY KILLING HECTOR & DIES FROM AN
ARROW WOUND INFLICTED BY PARIS IN HIS VULNERABLE HEEL. OFFERED THE CHOICE OF GLORY OR A LONG LIFE HE CHOSE
FAME & A BRIEF EXISTENCE. ULYSSES (ODYSSEUS) MEETS HIS SOUL IN HADES (ODYSSEY 11).
Vedi Parìs, Tristano»; e più di mille
ombre mostrommi e nominommi a dito,
ch'amor di nostra vita dipartille.
See Paris; Tristan…and he pointed out
more than a thousand shadows with his finger,
whom love had severed from life.
PARIS: TROJAN PRINCE WHOSE ABDUCTION OF HELEN FROM SPARTA INITIATED THE TROJAN WAR. PARIS WAS INVOLVED IN
JUDGING THE MERITS OF THE THREE GODDESSES HERA, ATHENE & APHRODITE, CHOOSING APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE,
AS SUPREME. (THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS). TO DANTE & THE MIDDLE AGES THE TYPE OF THE GREAT (PAGAN) LOVER.
TRISTAN, TRISTRAM; LEGENDARY LOVER OF ISOLDE (ISEULT/YSEULT) IN THE MEDIEVAL STORIES CENTRED AROUND KING
ARTHUR. THE TYPE OF THE GREAT LOVER. HE WAS KILLED BY MARK, ISEULT’S HUSBAND.
After I had heard my teacher name the ancient knights and ladies, pity overcame me, and I was as if dazed,
PAOLO & FRANCESCA
DANTE POINTS INTO THE DARKNESS.
DANTE:
I' cominciai: «Poeta, volontieri
parlerei a quei due che 'nsieme vanno,
e paion sì al vento esser leggeri».
I began: Poet, I would speak, willingly,
to those two who go together,
and seem so light upon the wind.
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Vedrai quando saranno
And he to me: You will see, when they are
più presso a noi; e tu allor li priega
nearer to us, you can beg them, then,
per quello amor che i mena, ed ei verranno». by the love that leads them, and they will come.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Sì tosto come il vento a noi li piega
Mossi la voce: O anime affannate,
venite a noi parlar, s'altri nol niega!
As soon as the wind brought them to us,
I raised my voice: O weary souls, come
and talk with us, if no one prevents it.
65
♫
FLIGHT OF PAOLO AND FRANCESCA
**********
INF C5 81
Aerial, aetherial, posibly containing the words: colombe dal disio chiamate
DANTE WRITES OR ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE DURING THE FLIGHT.
DANTE:
Quali colombe dal disio chiamate
con l'ali alzate e ferme al dolce nido
vegnon per l'aere, dal voler portate;
As doves Doves, claimed by desire, fly steadily,
with raised wings, through the air, to their sweet
nest, carried by the will, so the spirits flew from
the crowd.
where Dido is coming towards us through malig nant air, such was the power of my affecting call.
PAOLO AND FRANCESCA ARE SEEN FOR THE 1ST TIME AS THEY ARRIVE, AS IF BLOWN, INTO THE LIGHT.
THEY GRASP THE BACK CURTAIN AS A PRECAUTION AGAINST THE CHORAL WIND, WHICH FALLS SILENT.
PAOLO MALATESTA *----? - 1285 AGE : *--?
RIMINI
DESCRIPTION
IL BELLO.
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI *----? - 1285? AGE : *--?
BORN RAVENNA.
DESCRIPTION
*
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI: LOVED PAOLO MALATESTA, IL BELLO, & WAS UNFAITHFUL TO HER HUSBAND GIANCIOTTO, THE SON
OF MALATESTA DA VERUCCHIO, LORD OF RIMINI. GIANCIOTTO STABBED TO DEATH THE UNFAITHFUL FRANCESCA WITH
PAOLO. (HE WAS STILL ALIVE IN 1300, THE DATE OF THE VISION, SO THAT THE CAÏNA, THE FIRST RING OF THE NINTH CIRCLE,
RESERVED FOR MURDERERS OF THEIR KIN, IS ‘WAITING’ FOR HIM ACCORDING TO FRANCESCA.) SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF
GUIDO VECCHIO DA POLENTA & AUNT OF GUIDO NOVELLO AT WHOSE COURT IN RAVENNA DANTE FOUND HIS LAST REFUGE.
PAOLO DOES NOT ACTUALLY SPEAK IN DANTE’S POEM. HERE HE GETS SOME OF FRANCESCA’S LINES.
FRANCESCA:
O animal grazïoso e benigno
che visitando vai per l'aere perso
noi che tignemmo il mondo di sanguigno,
O gracious and benign living creature,
that comes to visit us, through the dark air,
if the universe’s king were our friend,
se fosse amico il re de l'universo,
noi pregheremmo lui de la tua pace,
poi c'hai pietà del nostro mal perverso.
we, who tainted the earth with blood,
would beg him to give you peace,
since you take pity on our sad misfortune.
PAOLO:
Di quel che udire e che parlar vi piace,
noi udiremo e parleremo a voi,
mentre che 'l vento, come fa, ci tace.
While the wind, as now, is silent,
we will hear you and speak to you,
of what you are pleased to listen to and talk of.
66
FRANCESCA:
Siede la terra dove nata fui
su la marina dove 'l Po discende
per aver pace co' seguaci sui.
The place where I was born is by the shore,
where the River Po runs down to rest at peace,
with his attendant streams.
PAOLO:
INF C5 100 / DANTE
INF C5 100 / KLINE
Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende
Love, that is quickly caught in the gentle heart,
FRANCESCA:
Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende,
prese costui de la bella persona
che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende.
Love, that is quickly caught in the gentle heart,
filled him with my fair form, now lost to me,
and the nature of that love still afflicts me.
PAOLO:
INF C5 103 / DANTE
INF C5 103 / KLINE
Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona
Love, that allows no loved one to be excused from
loving,
FRANCESCA:
Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona,
Love, that allows no loved one to be excused from
loving,
seized me so fiercely with desire for him
it still will not leave me, as you can see.
mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,
che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona.
PAOLO:
INF C5 106 / DANTE
INF C5 106 / KLINE
Amor condusse noi ad una morte.
Love led us to one death.
FRANCESCA:
Amor condusse noi ad una morte.
Caina attende chi a vita ci spense.
Queste parole da lor ci fuor porte.
Love led us to one death.
Caïna, in the ninth circle waits, for him who
quenched our life. These words carried to us, from
them.
After I had heard those troubled spirits I bowed my head, and kept it bowed, until the poet said: ‘What are you
thinking?’
DANTE STANDS WITH BOWED HEAD [INF C5 110].
THE CURTAIN.
♫
WIND STIRRING
THE CHORAL WIND SHAKES PAOLO AND FRANCESCA ON
**********
INF C5 108
DANTE MURMURS.
DANTE:
Quando rispuosi, cominciai: Oh lasso,
quanti dolci pensier, quanto disio
menò costoro al doloroso passo!
When I replied, I began: O alas,
what sweet thoughts, what longing,
brought them to this sorrowful state?
67
DANTE TURNS AGAIN TO FRANCESCA.
DANTE:
Poi mi rivolsi a loro e parla' io,
e cominciai: «Francesca, i tuoi martìri
a lagrimar mi fanno tristo e pio.
Then I turned to them again, and I spoke,
and said: Francesca, your torment
makes me weep with grief and pity
Ma dimmi: al tempo d'i dolci sospiri,
a che e come concedette amore
che conosceste i dubbiosi disiri?».
But tell me, in that time of sweet sighs,
how did love allow you
to know these dubious desires?
FRANCESCA:
E quella a me: Nessun maggior dolore
che ricordarsi del tempo felice
ne la miseria; e ciò sa 'l tuo dottore.
And she to me: There is no greater pain,
than to remember happy times in misery.,
and this your teacher knows.
DANTE versifies:
E quella a me: Nessun maggior dolore
che ricordarsi del tempo felice
ne la miseria; e ciò sa 'l tuo dottore.
And she to me: There is no greater pain,
than to remember happy times in misery,
and this your teacher knows.
DANTE LOOKS AT VIRGIL.
FRANCESCA:
Ma s'a conoscer la prima radice
del nostro amor tu hai cotanto affetto,
dirò come colui che piange e dice.
But if you have so great a yearning to understand
the first root of our love,
I will be like one who weeps and tells.
PAOLO ADDRESSES THE WORD NOI TO FRANCESCA, JOINING THEM IN THE SAD TELLING.
PAOLO:
INF C5 127 / DANTE
INF C5 127 / KLINE
Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto
We read, one day, to our delight, of
FRANCESCA BEGINS SPEAKING. PAOLO STARTS JUST AFTER SHE STARTS AND THEY CONTINUE ALMOST
TOGETHER.
FRANCESCA:
&
PAOLO:
Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto
di Lancialotto come amor lo strinse;
soli eravamo e sanza alcun sospetto.
We read, one day, to our delight, of
Lancelot and how love constrained
him: we were alone and without suspicion.
LANCELOT: THE KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE IN THE ARTHURIAN LEGENDS WHO LOVES QUEEN GUINEVERE, ARTHUR’S
CONSORT & INDIRECTLY BRINGS ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ROUND TABLE & THE DEATH OF ARTHUR.
FRANCESCA:
PAOLO:
Per più fïate li occhi ci sospinse
quella lettura, e scolorocci il viso;
ma solo un punto fu quel che ci vinse.
Often those words urged our eyes to meet,
and coloured our cheeks,
but it was a single moment that undid us.
68
NOW THEY SPEAK ALTERNATELY.
PAOLO:
Quando leggemmo il disïato riso
esser basciato da cotanto amante,
When we read how that lover kissed
the beloved smile,
FRANCESCA:
questi, che mai da me non fia diviso,
la bocca mi basciò tutto tremante.
he who will never be separated from me,
kissed my mouth all trembling.
PAOLO:
Galeotto fu 'l libro e chi lo scrisse:
quel giorno più non vi leggemmo avante.
That book was a Galeotto, a pandar,
and he who wrote it: that day we read no more.
GALEOTTO. GALLEHAUT: THE GO-BETWEEN FOR LANCELOT & GUENEVERE, WHO URGED THE QUEEN TO GIVE LANCELOT THE
FIRST KISS.. HIS NAME WAS THEREFORE SYNONYMOUS WITH ‘PANDAR’ (‘PANDER’).
♫
WIND RISES HUGELY
**********
INF C5 138
THE CURTAIN BILLOWS. PAOLO AND FRANCESCA CLING TO IT AND DANTE STEPS FORWARD, AS IF TO HELP
THEM. THE CURTAIN LIFTS THE PAIR INTO THE AIR. DANTE FALLS FORWARD IN A FAINT AND BLACKNESS
DESCENDS.
WHEN THE LIGHT RISES DANTE IS SITTING, WRITING AND ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE. VIRGIL STANDS
NEXT TO HIM. VIRGIL STANDS LOOKING INTO THE AUDIENCE.
♫
RAIN
**********
INF C5 139
Perhaps ‘Piova Piova Piova Piova…(‘it’s raining’) and/or ‘Rain Rain Rain Rain…’
Heavier rain might be represented by ‘Pioggia Pioggia Pioggia…’ (‘rain’ – the noun)
DANTE:
Mentre che l'uno spirto questo disse,
l'altro piangëa; sì che di pietade
io venni men così com' io morisse.
While the one spirit spoke, the other wept,
so that I fainted out of pity,
and, as if I were dying,
INF C5 142 / DANTE
E caddi come corpo morto cade.
fell, as a dead body falls.
HE CHOPS DOWN ON EACH ACCENTED SYLLABLE WITH HIS HAND AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C5 142 / DANTE
INF C5 142 / KLINE
E caddi come corpo morto cade.
fell, as a dead body falls.
69
CANTO 6
CERBERUS
INF C6 1-3 / KLINE
When my senses return, that closed themselves off from pity of those two kindred, who stunned me with complete
sadness,
DANTE RISES AND WALKS ALONG THE STAGE FRONT, LOOKING DOWN INTO THE AUDIENCE AND WRITING.
VIRGIL:
INF C6 4-6 / DANTE
INF C6 4-6 / KLINE
novi tormenti e novi tormentati
mi veggio intorno, come ch'io mi mova
e ch'io mi volga, e come che io guati.
I see around me new New torments,
and new tormented souls…, wherever I move,
or turn, and wherever I gaze.
DANTE:
INF C6 4-6 / DANTE
INF C6 4-6 / KLINE
novi tormenti e novi tormentati
mi veggio intorno, come ch'io mi mova
e ch'io mi volga, e come che io guati.
I see around me new torments,
and new tormented souls, wherever I move,
or turn, and wherever I gaze.
INF C6 7-9 / DANTE
Io sono al terzo cerchio, de la piova
etterna, maladetta, fredda e greve;
regola e qualità mai non l'è nova.
I am in the third circle, of eternal, accursed,
cold and heavy rain:
its kind and quality is never new.
HE TRANSLATES FOR THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
INF C6 7-9 / DANTE
INF C6 7-9 / KLINE
Io sono al terzo cerchio, de la piova
etterna, maladetta, fredda e greve;
regola e qualità mai non l'è nova.
I am in the third circle, of eternal, accursed,
cold and heavy rain:
its kind and quality is never new.
Grandine grossa, acqua tinta e neve
per l'aere tenebroso si riversa;
pute la terra che questo riceve.
Large hail, tainted water, and sleet,
pour down through the shadowy air:
and the earth is putrid that receives it.
THE POETS STOP AND EXCLAIM ALMOST TOGETHER.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
INF C6 13 / DANTE
INF C6 13 / KLINE
Cerbero, fiera crudele e diversa,
Cerberus, the fierce and strange monster,
VIRGIL GIVES AN ABBREVIATED DESCRIPTION WHILE DANTE HANGS BACK A BIT AND VERSIFIES.
VERSES MAY BE COMPLETE OR KEY WORDS.
THE
70
VIRGIL:
con tre gole caninamente latra
sovra la gente che quivi è sommersa.
Cerberus, the fierce Fierce and strange monster,
triple-throated, barks. dog-like
over the people submerged in it.
Li occhi ha vermigli, la barba unta e atra,
black,
e 'l ventre largo, e unghiate le mani;
graffia li spirti ed iscoia ed isquatra.
His eyes Eyes are crimson, his beard is foul and
his belly vast, and his limbs are clawed:
he snatches the spirits, flays, and quarters them.
DANTE:
con tre gole caninamente latra
sovra la gente che quivi è sommersa.
Cerberus, the fierce and strange monster,
triple-throated, barks dog-like
over the people submerged in it.
Li occhi ha vermigli, la barba unta e atra,
e 'l ventre largo, e unghiate le mani;
graffia li spirti ed iscoia ed isquatra.
His eyes are crimson, his beard is foul and black,
his belly vast, and his limbs are clawed:
he snatches the spirits, flays, and quarters them.
The rain makes them howl like dogs: they protect one flank with the other: often writhing: miserable wretches.
VIRGIL AND DANTE JUMP BACK IN HASTE.
DANTE STOPS AT A SAFE DISTANCE FROM THE STAGE FRONT.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Quando ci scorse Cerbero, il gran vermo,
le bocche aperse e mostrocci le sanne;
non avea membro che tenesse fermo.
When Cerberus, the great worm, saw us,
he opened his jaws, and showed his fangs:
not a limb of his stayed still.
My guide, stretching out his hands, grasped earth, and hurled it in fistfuls into his ravening mouth. Like a dog that
whines for food, and grows quiet when he eats it, only fighting and struggling to devour it, so did demon Cerberus’s
loathsome muzzles that bark, like thunder, at the spirits, so that they wish that they were deaf. We passed over the
shades, that the heavy rain subdues, and placed our feet on each empty space that seems a body. They were all lying
on the ground but one, who sat up straight away when he saw us cross in front of him:
CIACCO
A MALE SPIRIT, WHO HAD BEEN UNSEEN IN THE DARK BEHIND THEM, CALLS OUT.
CIACCO:
or CIACCO:
O tu che se' per questo 'nferno tratto,
mi disse, riconoscimi, se sai:
tu fosti, prima ch'io disfatto, fatto.
He said to me: O you, who are led through this
Inferno, recognise me if you can:
you were made before I was unmade.
71
CIACCO 1256?? - 1286 AGE : 30??
FLORENCE. CIACCO (HOG) WAS A CONTEMPORARY OF DANTE. MENTIONED IN BOCCACCIO: DECAMERON 9 8.
DESCRIPTION
FAT.
CIACCO:
mi disse, riconoscimi, se sai:
tu fosti, prima ch'io disfatto, fatto.
Inferno, recognise me if you can:
you were made before I was unmade.
DANTE:
E io a lui: «L'angoscia che tu hai
forse ti tira fuor de la mia mente,
sì che non par ch'i' ti vedessi mai.
And I to him: The anguish that you suffer,
conceals you perhaps from my memory,
so that it seems as if I never knew you.
Ma dimmi chi tu se' che 'n sì dolente
loco se' messo, e hai sì fatta pena,
che, s'altra è maggio, nulla è sì spiacente».
But tell me who you are, that are lodged so sadly,
and undergo such punishment, that though
there are others greater, none is so unpleasant.
CIACCO:
Ed elli a me: «La tua città, ch'è piena
d'invidia sì che già trabocca il sacco,
seco mi tenne in la vita serena.
And he to me: Your city, that is so full
of envy it overflows,
held me in the clear life.
DANTE notes:
INF C6 49 / DANTE
INF C6 49 / KLINE
Ed elli a me: «La tua città…Fiorenza…,
ch'è piena
And he to me: Your city, that is so full
INF C6 52-4 / DANTE
Voi cittadini mi chiamaste Ciacco:
per la dannosa colpa de la gola,
come tu vedi, a la pioggia mi fiacco.
You, the citizens, called me Ciacco:
and for the damnable sin of gluttony, as you see,
I languish beneath the rain:
and I am not the only wretched spirit, since all these are punished likewise for like sin.
DANTE:
Io li rispuosi: «Ciacco, il tuo affanno
mi pesa sì, ch'a lagrimar mi 'nvita;
ma dimmi, se tu sai, a che verranno
I answered him: Ciacco, your affliction
weighs on me, inviting me to weep,
but tell me, if you can,
li cittadin de la città partita;
s'alcun v'è giusto; e dimmi la cagione
per che l'ha tanta discordia assalita».
♫
PROPHECY MOTIF
what the citizens of that divided city
will come to; if any there are just:
and the reason why such discord tears it apart.
**********
INF C6 64
This may occur when a character talks of the supposed future. It should be short, perhaps a single
chord or arpeggio, and soft enough to avoid the bad film-music doom cliché.
72
CIACCO:
E quelli a me: «Dopo lunga tencione
verranno al sangue, e la parte selvaggia
caccerà l'altra con molta offensione.
And he to me: After long struggle, they will come
to blood, and, the Whites, the party of the woods,
will throw out the Blacks, with great injury.
DANTE notes:
INF C6 65 / DANTE
INF C6 65 / KLINE
verranno al sangue, e la parte selvaggia
to blood, and, the Whites, the party of the woods,
CIACCO:
Poi appresso convien che questa caggia
infra tre soli, e che l'altra sormonti
con la forza di tal che testé piaggia.
Within three years, then, it must happen,
that the Blacks will conquer,
with the help of him, who now veers about.
Alte terrà lungo tempo le fronti,
tenendo l'altra sotto gravi pesi,
oppression,
come che di ciò pianga o che n'aonti.
That party will hold its head high for a long time,
weighing the Whites down, under heavy
however they weep and however ashamed they are.
Giusti son due, e non vi sono intesi;
superbia, invidia e avarizia sono
le tre faville c'hanno i cuori accesi.
Two men are just, but are not listened to.
Pride, Envy and Avarice are the three
burning coals that have set all hearts on fire.
Here he ended the mournful prophecy, and I said to him: I want you to instruct me still, and grant me a little more
speech.
DANTE:
Farinata e 'l Tegghiaio, che fuor sì degni,
Iacopo Rusticucci, Arrigo e 'l Mosca
e li altri ch'a ben far puoser li 'ngegni,
Tell me where Farinata and Tegghiaio are, who
were worthy enough, and Jacopo Rusticucci,
Arrigo, Mosca, and the rest who set their minds
to doing good:
FARINATA: SEE INF C10 22
RUSTICUCCI, TEGGHAIO: SEE INF C16 7-9.
ARRIGO, DE’ FIFANTI(?): HIS FAMILY IS UNCERTAIN. HE IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF MOSCA DE’ LAMBERTI’S
ACCOMPLICES IN THE MURDER OF BUONDELMONTE DE’ BUONDELMONTI, THAT INITIATED THE GUELPH & GHIBELLINE
FACTIONAL ALIGNMENTS IN FLORENCE.
MOSCA DE’ LAMBERTI: ONE OF THE INITIATORS OF THE MURDER OF BUONDELMONTE DE’ BUONDELMONTI, WHO WAS
BETROTHED TO A DAUGHTER OF THE AMIDEI, BUT BROKE FAITH AT THE INSTIGATION OF GUALDRADA DONATI. IN THE
DEBATE AS TO WHETHER HE SHOULD BE KILLED MOSCA SAID THE EVIL WORD, ‘A THING DONE HAS AN END.’ BUONDELMONTE
WAS MURDERED, AT THE FOOT OF THE STATUE OF MARS, ON THE PONTE VECCHIO, IN 1215. THE FAMILY DIVISIONS CREATED
THE GUELPH & GHIBELLINE FACTIONAL CONFLICTS.
dimmi ove sono e fa ch'io li conosca;
ché gran disio mi stringe di savere
se 'l ciel li addolcia o lo 'nferno li attosca».
let me know of them, for a great longing
urges me to discover whether Heaven
soothes them, or Hell poisons them.
CIACCO:
E quelli: Ei son tra l'anime più nere;
diverse colpe giù li grava al fondo:
se tanto scendi, là i potrai vedere.
And he to me: They are among the blackest
spirits, another crime weighs them to the bottom:
if you descend so deep, you may see them.
Ma quando tu sarai nel dolce mondo,
priegoti ch'a la mente altrui mi rechi:
più non ti dico e più non ti rispondo.
But when you are, again, in the sweet world,
I beg you to recall me to other minds:
I tell you no more, and more I will not answer.
At that he turned his fixed gaze askance, and looked at me a while: then, bent his head, and lowered himself, and it,
among his blind companions.
73
CIACCO FIXES HIS GAZE ASKANCE AND LOWERS HIS HEAD [INF C6 91-93]. DANTE WATCHES HIM AND
WAITS WITH HIS STYLUS, THEN WRITES.
DANTE:
INF C6 90 / DANTE
INF C6 90 / KLINE
più non ti dico e più non ti rispondo.
I tell you no more, and more I will not answer.
VIRGIL AND DANTE BEGIN WALKING.
VIRGIL:
E 'l duca disse a me: «Più non si desta
di qua dal suon de l'angelica tromba,
quando verrà la nimica podesta:
And my guide said to me: He will not stir further,
until the angelic trumpet sounds,
when the Power opposing evil will come:
ciascun rivederà la trista tomba,
ripiglierà sua carne e sua figura,
udirà quel ch'in etterno rimbomba».
each will revisit his sad grave,
resume his flesh and form,
and hear what will resound through eternity.
So we passed over the foul brew of rain & shadows, with slow steps, speaking a little of the future life.
DANTE:
per ch'io dissi: «Maestro, esti tormenti
increase,
crescerann' ei dopo la gran sentenza,
o fier minori, o saran sì cocenti?».
Of this I asked: Master, will these torments
after the great judgement,
or lessen, or stay as fierce?
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Ritorna a tua scïenza,
che vuol, quanto la cosa è più perfetta,
più senta il bene, e così la doglienza.
And he to me:Remember your science,
that says, that the more perfect a thing is,
the more it feels pleasure and pain.
Tutto che questa gente maladetta
in vera perfezion già mai non vada,
di là più che di qua essere aspetta».
Though these accursed ones will never
achieve true perfection,
they will be nearer to it after, than before.
We circled along that road, speaking of much more than I repeat: we came to the place where the descent begins,
where we found
VIRGIL AND DANTE WALK UNTIL VIRGIL IS STOPPED BY AN UGLY SIGHT, NOT SEEN BY THE AUDIENCE.
VIRGIL:
INF C6 115 / DANTE
INF C6 115 / KLINE
quivi trovammo Pluto , il gran nemico
Plutus, the god of wealth, the great enemy!
74
PLUTO / PLUTUS *MYTHICAL AGE : *?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY: 1 LINE
PLUTO ASSIGNED THE RULE OF THE UNDERWORLD. DANTE MERGES HIM WITH PLUTUS, GOD OF THE RICHES DUG FROM THE
GROUND & THEREFORE THE SOURCE OF THE SIN OF AVARICE & THE ‘GREAT ENEMY’.
HE CALLS BACK TO DANTE, WHO CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
♫
INF C6 115 / DANTE
INF C6 115 / KLINE
quivi trovammo Pluto , il gran nemico
Plutus, the god of wealth, the great enemy!
INFERNAL: 1 NOTE
INF C6 115
CANTO 7
**********
75
PLUTUS
A GREAT VOICE CROAKS.
PLUTUS:
INF C7 1-3 / DANTE
INF C7 1-3 / KLINE
Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!,
cominciò Pluto con la voce chioccia;
e quel savio gentil, che tutto seppe,
Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!,
Plutus began to croak, and the gentle sage,
who understood all things,
PAPE SATÀN: A CRY OF ALARM OR WARNING TO LUCIFER THAT HIS REALM IS INVADED BY SOME UNUSUAL
APPARITION…DANTE HIMSELF HARDLY SEEMS TO HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE WORDS, THOUGH HE SUGGESTS THAT VIRGIL DID.
(LONGFELLOW)
VIRGIL:
INF C7 4-6 / DANTE
INF C7 4-6 / KLINE
disse per confortarmi: «Non ti noccia
la tua paura; ché, poder ch'elli abbia,
non ci torrà lo scender questa roccia».
comforted me, saying: Do not let fear hurt you,
since whatever power he has, he will not
prevent you descending this rock.’
DANTE notes:
INF C7 7 / DANTE
INF C7 7 / KLINE
Poi si rivolse a quella 'nfiata labbia,
Then he turned to that swollen face
VIRGIL:
or VIRGIL:
INF C7 7-9 / DANTE
INF C7 7-9 / KLINE
Poi si rivolse a quella 'nfiata labbia,
e disse: «Taci, maladetto lupo!
consuma dentro te con la tua rabbia.
Then he turned to that swollen face
and said: Peace, evil wolf!...
Devour yourself inside, in your rage.
VIRGIL:
INF C7 9 / DANTE
INF C7 9 / KLINE
consuma dentro te con la tua rabbia.
devour yourself inside, in your rage.
Non è sanza cagion l'andare al cupo:
it
vuolsi ne l'alto, là dove Michele
fé la vendetta del superbo strupo».
Our journey to the depths is not without reason:
is willed on high, there where Michael made war
on the great dragon’s adulterating pride.
Like a sail, bellying in the wind, that falls in a heap, if the mast breaks, so that cruel creature fell to earth. In that
way we descended into the fourth circle, taking in a greater width of the dismal bank, that encloses every evil of the
universe.
TH
INTO THE 4
CIRCLE [INF C7 16-18] AND THEIR VOICES CONTINUE.
O Divine Justice! Who can tell the many new pains and troubles, that I saw, and why our guilt so destroys us? As
the wave, over Charybdis, strikes against the wave it counters, so the people here are made to dance. I found more
people here than elsewhere, on the one side and on the other, rolling weights by pushing with their chests, with loud
howling. They struck against each other, and then each wheeled around where they were, rolling the reverse way,
shouting: ‘Why do you hold?’ and ‘Why do you throw away.’ So they returned along the gloomy circle, from either
side to the opposite point, shouting again their measure of reproach. Then each one, when he had reached it,
wheeled through his half circle onto the other track. And I, who felt as if my heart were pierced,
76
CHURCHMEN & FORTUNE
♫
INFERNAL: FAINT
**********
INF C7 37
DANTE (VOICE):
dissi: «Maestro mio, or mi dimostra
are:
che gente è questa, e se tutti fuor cherci
questi chercuti a la sinistra nostra».
said: My Master, show me now who these people
and whether all those, with tonsures,
on our left were churchmen.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Ed elli a me: «Tutti quanti fuor guerci
sì de la mente in la vita primaia,
che con misura nullo spendio ferci.
And he to me: They were so twisted in mind
in their first life,
that they made no balanced expenditure.
Assai la voce lor chiaro l'abbaia,
quando vegnono a' due punti del cerchio
dove colpa contraria li dispaia.
Their voices bark this out most clearly
when they come to the two ends of the circle,
where opposing sins divide them.
Questi fuor cherci, che non han coperchio
piloso al capo, e papi e cardinali,
in cui usa avarizia il suo soperchio».
These were priests, that are without hair on their
heads, and Popes and Cardinals,
in whom avarice does its worst.
DANTE (VOICE):
E io: «Maestro, tra questi cotali
dovre' io ben riconoscere alcuni
che furo immondi di cotesti mali».
And I: Master, surely, amongst this crowd,
I ought to recognise some of those
tainted with these evils.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Ed elli a me: «Vano pensiero aduni:
la sconoscente vita che i fé sozzi,
ignoble,
ad ogne conoscenza or li fa bruni.
And he to me: You link idle thoughts:
the life without knowledge, that made them
now makes them incapable of being known.
In etterno verranno a li due cozzi:
questi resurgeranno del sepulcro
col pugno chiuso, e questi coi crin mozzi.
They will go butting each other to eternity:
and these will rise from their graves
with grasping fists, and those with shorn hair.
Mal dare e mal tener lo mondo pulcro
ha tolto loro, e posti a questa zuffa:
qual ella sia, parole non ci appulcro.
amplify.
Useless giving, and useless keeping,
has robbed them of the bright world, and set them
to this struggle: what struggle it is, I do not
INF C7 58 / DANTE
INF C7 58 / KLINE
Mal dare e mal tener lo mondo pulcro
Useless giving, and useless keeping,
77
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Or puoi, figliuol, veder la corta buffa
d'i ben che son commessi a la fortuna,
per che l'umana gente si rabbuffa;
But you, my son, You can see now the vain
mockery of the wealth controlled by Fortune,
for which the human race fight with each other.,
ché tutto l'oro ch'è sotto la luna
e che già fu, di quest' anime stanche
non poterebbe farne posare una».
since all All the gold under the moon,
that ever was, could not give peace
to one of these weary souls.
THEY EMERGE FROM THE →L→ .
DANTE:
«Maestro mio», diss' io, «or mi dì anche:
questa fortuna di che tu mi tocche,
che è, che i ben del mondo ha sì tra
branche?».
I said to him: Master, now tell me about Fortune
also, that subject you touched on, who is she,
who has the wealth of the world in her arms?
VIRGIL:
«Maestro mio», diss' io, «or mi dì anche:
questa fortuna di che tu mi tocche,
che è, che i ben del mondo ha sì tra
branche?».
I said to him: Master, now tell me about Fortune
also, that subject you touched on, who is she,
who has the wealth of the world in her arms?
And he to me: ‘O, blind creatures, how great is the ignorance that surrounds you! I want you, now, to hear my
judgement of her.
VIRGIL:
Colui lo cui saver tutto trascende,
fece li cieli e diè lor chi conduce
sì, ch'ogne parte ad ogne parte splende,
He whose wisdom transcends all things,
made the heavens, and gave them ruling powers,
so that each part illuminates the others,
distribuendo igualmente la luce.
Similemente a li splendor mondani
ordinò general ministra e duce
distributing the light equally.
Similarly he put in place a controller,
and a guide, for earthly splendour,
che permutasse a tempo li ben vani
di gente in gente e d'uno in altro sangue,
oltre la difension d'i senni umani;
to alter, from time to time, idle possession,
between nation and nation, and from kin to kin,
beyond the schemes of human reason.
per ch'una gente impera e l'altra langue,
seguendo lo giudicio di costei,
che è occulto come in erba l'angue.
So one people commands: another wanes,
obeying her judgement, she who is concealed,
like a snake in the grass.
DANTE notes and corrects:
INF C7 84 / DANTE
INF C7 84 / KLINE
un serpente…?
che è occulto come in erba l'angue.
like a snake [eel] in the grass.
VIRGIL:
Vostro saver non ha contasto a lei:
questa provede, giudica, e persegue
suo regno come il loro li altri dèi.
Your wisdom cannot comprehend her: she
furnishes, adjudicates, and maintains
her kingdom, as the other gods do theirs.
78
Le sue permutazion non hanno triegue:
necessità la fa esser veloce;
sì spesso vien chi vicenda consegue.
Her permutations never end:
necessity makes her swift:
so, often, someone comes who creates change.
Quest' è colei ch'è tanto posta in croce
pur da color che le dovrien dar lode,
dandole biasmo a torto e mala voce;
This is she: so often reviled, even by those
who ought to praise her, but, wrongly,
blame her, with malicious words.
ma ella s'è beata e ciò non ode:
con l'altre prime creature lieta
volve sua spera e beata si gode.
THE POETS REACH THE →R→
Still, she is in bliss, and does not hear:
she spins her globe, joyfully,
among the other primal spirits and tastes her bliss.
AGAIN.
VIRGIL:
Or discendiamo omai a maggior pieta;
già ogne stella cade che saliva
quand' io mi mossi, e 'l troppo star si vieta.
Now let us descend to greater misery: already
every star is declining, that was rising when I
set out, and we are not allowed to stay too long.
STAR IS DECLINING: BY DEDUCTION, IN THE FIFTH CIRCLE IT IS SATURDAY PRE-DAWN.
DANTE:
INF C7 97 / DANTE
INF C7 97 / KLINE
Or discendiamo omai a maggior pieta;
Now let us descend to greater misery:
→R
→
THEY DESCEND, GO ONCE MORE ROUND, THEN STOP ON THE ‘BRIDGE’ ACROSS THE STREAM.
THE STYX
♫
INFERNAL: FAINT
**********
INF C7 99
We crossed the circle to the other bank, near a spring, that boils and pours down, through a gap that it has made. The
water was darker than a dark blue-grey, and we entered the descent by a strange path, in company with the dusky
waves.
VIRGIL POINTS DOWN AT THE STREAM.
VIRGIL:
In la palude va c'ha nome Stige
questo tristo ruscel, quand' è disceso
al piè de le maligne piagge grige.
This woeful stream forms the marsh called Styx,
when it has fallen to the foot
of the grey malignant walls.
79
[VERSE SPOKEN BY DANTE ORIGINALLY]
DANTE versifies:
In la palude va c'ha nome Stige
questo tristo ruscel, quand' è disceso
This woeful stream forms the marsh called Styx,
when it has fallen to the foot
And I who stood there, intent on seeing, saw muddy people in the fen, naked, and all with the look of anger. They
were striking each other, not only with hands, but head, chest, and feet, mangling each other with their teeth, bite by
bite.
VIRGIL POINTS INTO THE DARKNESS.
VIRGIL:
Lo buon maestro disse: «Figlio, or vedi
l'anime di color cui vinse l'ira;
e anche vo' che tu per certo credi
The kind master said: Now, son,
see the souls of those overcome by anger,
and also, I want you to know, in truth,
VIRGIL BENDS TO LOOK INTO THE WATER.
VIRGIL:
che sotto l'acqua è gente che sospira,
e fanno pullular quest' acqua al summo,
come l'occhio ti dice, u' che s'aggira.
there are people under the water, who sigh,
and make it bubble on the surface,
as your eye can see whichever way it turns.
Fitti nel limo dicon: ``Tristi fummo
ne l'aere dolce che dal sol s'allegra,
portando dentro accidïoso fummo:
Fixed in the slime they say: “We were sullen
in the sweet air, that is gladdened by the sun,
bearing indolent smoke in our hearts:
INF C7 124 / DANTE
INF C7 124 / KLINE
or ci attristiam ne la belletta negra".
now we lie here, sullen, in the black mire.”
VIRGIL:
INF C7 124 / DANTE
INF C7 124 / KLINE
or ci attristiam ne la belletta negra".
now we lie here, sullen, in the black mire.”
DANTE BENDS DOWN TO LISTEN, THEN CLUTCHES HIS THROAT AND GURGLES, CLOSING THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C7 125-126
INF C7 125-126
Quest' inno si gorgoglian ne la strozza,
ché dir nol posson con parola integra».
This measure they gurgle in their throats,
because they cannot utter it in full speech.
So we covered a large arc of the loathsome swamp, between the dry bank and its core, our eyes turned towards those
who swallow its filth: we came at last to the base of a tower.
CANTO 8
INF C8 1-3 / KLINE
I say, pursuing my theme, that long before we reached the base of the high tower, our eyes looked upwards to its
summit,
80
THE FERRY: PHLEGYAS
DANTE POINTS TO THINGS BACKSTAGE FAR OUT OF SIGHT OF THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
INF C8 4-6 / DANTE
INF C8 4-6 / KLINE
per due fiammette che i vedemmo porre,
e un'altra da lungi render cenno,
eye
tanto ch'a pena il potea l'occhio tòrre.
because we saw I see a two beacon-flames flame
set there, and another, from so far away. that the
could scarcely see it, gave a signal in return.
INF C8 7-9 / DANTE
E io mi volsi al mar di tutto 'l senno;
And I turned to the fount of all knowledge, and
dissi: «Questo che dice? e che risponde
asked: What does it say? And what does is the
quell' altro foco? e chi son quei che 'l fenno? other light reply? And who Who has made the
signal?
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Su per le sucide onde
già scorgere puoi quello che s'aspetta,
se 'l fummo del pantan nol ti nasconde».
And he to me: Already you can see,
what is expected, coming over the foul waters,
if the marsh vapours do not hide it from you.
DANTE LOOKS AND VERSIFIES.
DANTE:
Ed elli a me: «Su per le sucide onde
già scorgere puoi quello che s'aspetta,
se 'l fummo del pantan nol ti nasconde».
And he to me: Already you can see,
what is expected, coming over the foul waters,
if the marsh vapours do not hide it from you.
INF C8 13-15 / DANTE:
Corda non pinse mai da sé saetta
che sì corresse via per l'aere snella,
com' io vidi una nave piccioletta
No bowstring ever shot an arrow
that flew through the air so quickly,
as the little boat,
venir per l'acqua verso noi in quella,
sotto 'l governo d'un sol galeoto,
that I saw coming towards us, through the waves,
under the control of a single steersman,
VIRGIL POINTS OUT SOMETHING TO THE AUDIENCE.
VIRGIL:
INF C8 15 / DANTE:
INF C8 15 / KLINE:
com' io vidi una nave piccioletta
as the a little boat,
INF C8 16 / DANTE
venir per l'acqua verso noi in quella,
that I saw coming towards us, through the waves,
PHLEGYAS IS NOT SEEN UNTIL HE APPEARS STANDING IN THE STERN OF HIS ALMOST-IMAGINARY BOAT
NEXT TO VIRGIL AND DANTE. THE POLE HE PUSHES IT WITH IS IN HIS HANDS.
81
PHLEGYAS MYTHICAL AGE : *?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
*
PHLEGYAS AVENGED HIS DAUGHTER CORONIS, RAPED BY APOLLO, BY BURNING DOWN THE GOD’S TEMPLE AT DELPHI FOR
WHICH HE WAS CONDEMNED TO TARTARUS.
PHLEGYAS:
&
PHLEGYAS:
INF C8 18 / DANTE
INF C8 18 / KLINE
che gridava: Or se' giunta, anima fella!
who cried: Are you here, now, fierce spirit?
or
discite iustitiam moniti et non temnere
diuos
Learn justice: be warned, and don’t despise the
gods.
VIRGIL IS MORE THAN A BIT IRRITATED AT HAVING HIS OWN WORDS QUOTED AT HIM.
VIRGIL:
«Flegïàs, Flegïàs, tu gridi a vòto»,
disse lo mio segnore, «a questa volta:
più non ci avrai che sol passando il loto».
My Master said: Phlegyas, Phlegyas,
this time you cry in vain: you shall not
keep us longer than it takes us to pass the marsh.
Phlegyas in his growing anger was like someone who listens to some great wrong done him, and then fills with
resentment. My guide climbed down into the boat and then made me board after him, and it only sank in the water
when I was in. As soon as my guide and I were in the craft, its prow went forward, ploughing deeper through the
water than it does carrying others.
DANTE WRITES AND REPEATS VIRGIL’S CRY, LICENSED TO DO SO FOR RECORDING PURPOSES.
DANTE:
INF C8 19 / DANTE
INF C8 19 / KLINE
«Flegïàs, Flegïàs!, tu gridi a vòto»,
My Master said: Phlegyas, Phlegyas,
VIRGIL STEPS ON BOARD AND HELPS DANTE DO THE SAME.
♫
INFERNAL: BOAT TRIP?
**********
INF C8 19
THE POETS REMAIN STANDING DURING THE ‘TRIP’. THE ‘BOAT’ MAY ONLY APPEAR TO MOVE
(SUGGESTED BY THE SWIRLING, DARK ATMOSPHERE).
OR, THE BOAT MOVES BY PHLEGYAS, VIRGIL AND DANTE SHUFFLING TOGETHER IN MOMENTS OF
DARKNESS.
ALTERNATIVELY, AGAIN, THE BOAT IS ALMOST REAL, A BOARD PULLED ACROSS THE STAGE FROM
OFFSTAGE BY A ROPE. ANY JERKINESS WOULD FIT WITH PHLEGYAS’S ANGRY POLLING.
AFTER A LITTLE WHILE, THE SPIRIT OF FILIPPO ARGENTI APPEARS AT THE EDGE OF THE STAGE AND
MOVES SLOWLY TOWARDS THE BOAT ON HIS KNEES, AS IF WADING THROUGH MUD.
82
FILIPPO ARGENTI
----? - *----?
*
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
PATRICIAN.
--?
AGE : *
FILIPPO ARGENTI: A FLORENTINE NOBLE, NOTORIOUS FOR HIS FIERCE TEMPER & OVERBEARING CONDUCT. HE & THE
ADIMARI FAMILY MAY ALSO HAVE BEEN HOSTILE TO DANTE.
IN BOCACCIO’S COMMENTO ARGENTI HAD HIS HORSE SHOD WITH SILVER & FROM THIS HE HAD HIS SURNAME (LONGFELLOW).
FILIPPO ARGENTI:
Mentre noi corravam la morta gora,
dinanzi mi si fece un pien di fango,
with
e disse: «Chi se' tu che vieni anzi ora?».
While we were running through the dead channel,
one rose up, one rose up in front of me, covered
mud and said: Who are you, that come before your
time?
DANTE:
E io a lui: «S'i' vegno, non rimango;
ma tu chi se', che sì se' fatto brutto?».
And I to him: If I come, I do not stay here:
but who are you, who are so mired?
FILIPPO APPEALS TO VIRGIL AND DANTE IN TURN.
FILIPPO ARGENTI:
&
FILIPPO ARGENTI:
INF C8 36 / DANTE
INF C8 36 / KLINE
Vedi che son un che piango
He answered: You see that I am one who weeps.
DANTE:
E io a lui: «Con piangere e con lutto,
spirito maladetto, ti rimani;
ch'i' ti conosco, ancor sie lordo tutto».
And I to him: Cursed spirit,
remain weeping and in sorrow!
For I know you, muddy as you are.
ARGENTI ATTEMPTS TO GET ONTO THE BOAT AND VIRGIL PUSHES HIM OFF.
ARGENTI DISAPPEARS BACKSTAGE.
VIRGIL:
Allor distese al legno ambo le mani;
per che 'l maestro accorto lo sospinse,
saying:
dicendo: «Via costà con li altri cani!».
Then he stretched both hands out to the boat,
at which the cautious Master pushed him off,
Away, there, with the other dogs!
VIRGIL PUTS HIS ARM ROUND DANTE’S NECK AND KISSES HIS FACE [INF C8 43].
VIRGIL:
Lo collo poi con le braccia mi cinse;
Then he put his arms around my neck,
basciommi 'l volto e disse: «Alma sdegnosa, kissed my face, and said: Blessed be she who
benedetta colei che 'n te s'incinse!
bore you, soul, who are rightly indignant.
DANTE notes:
basciommi 'l volto e disse: Alma sdegnosa,
benedetta colei che 'n te s'incinse!
kissed my face, and said: Blessed be she
who bore you, soul, who are rightly indignant.
83
VIRGIL:
Quei fu al mondo persona orgogliosa;
bontà non è che sua memoria fregi:
così s'è l'ombra sua qui furïosa.
He was an arrogant spirit in your world:
there is nothing good with which to adorn
his memory: so his furious shade is here.
Quanti si tegnon or là sù gran regi
che qui staranno come porci in brago,
di sé lasciando orribili dispregi!».
How many up there think themselves mighty kings,
that will lie here like pigs in mire,
leaving behind them dire condemnation!
DANTE:
E io: «Maestro, molto sarei vago
di vederlo attuffare in questa broda
prima che noi uscissimo del lago».
Master, I would be glad to see
him doused in this swill before
we quit the lake.
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Avante che la proda
ti si lasci veder, tu sarai sazio:
di tal disïo convien che tu goda».
And he to me: You will be satisfied,
before the shore is visible to you:
it is right that your wish should be gratified.
Not long after this I saw the muddy people make such a rending of him, that I still give thanks and praise for it.
THEY TRAVEL A LITTLE FURTHER AND SPIRITS./.SPIRITS SHOUT IN THE DISTANCE.
SPIRITS / SPIRITS (VOICES):
&
SPIRITS / SPIRITS (VOICES):
Tutti gridavano: A Filippo Argenti!;
e 'l fiorentino spirito bizzarro
in sé medesmo si volvea co' denti.
All shouted: At Filippo Argenti!
That fierce Florentine spirit turned
his teeth in vengeance on himself.
SPIRITS
SPIRITS
*
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
*
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
We left him there, so that I can say no more of him, but a sound of wailing assailed my ears, so that I turned my
gaze in front, intently.
84
CITY OF DIS: FALLEN ANGELS
VIRGIL:
Lo buon maestro disse: «Omai, figliuolo,
s'appressa la città c'ha nome Dite,
coi gravi cittadin, col grande stuolo».
Omai, figliuolo… The kind Master said: Now,
my son, we approach the city they call Dis,
with its grave citizens, a vast crowd.
DANTE notes:
INF C8 68 / DANTE
INF C8 68 / KLINE
s'appressa la città c'ha nome Dite,
my son, we approach the city they call Dis,
LINED UP AT THE BACK OF THE STAGE, STANDING ON RECTANGULAR BOXES BEHIND OTHERS, AS IF ON A
BATTLEMENT, IS EVERY AVAILABLE ACTOR AND SINGER, INCLUDING ALL THE MUSES (NOT STANDING
TOGETHER).
THE EXCEPTION IS A LARGE MALE ACTOR AT STAGE LEVEL IN FRONT OF A DOOR-SHAPED GAP BETWEEN 2
BOXES.
DOORKEEPER
AGE :
DESCRIPTION
*
And I: ‘Master, I can already see its towers, clearly there in the valley, glowing red, as if they issued from the fire.’
And he to me: ‘The eternal fire, that burns them from within, makes them appear reddened, as you see, in this deep
Hell.’ We now arrived in the steep ditch, that forms the moat to the joyless city: the walls seemed to me as if they
were made of iron.
PHLEGYAS:
or PHLEGYAS:
Non sanza prima far grande aggirata,
venimmo in parte dove il nocchier forte
Usciteci, gridò: qui è l'intrata.
Not until we had made a wide circuit,
did we reach a place where the ferryman said to us:
Disembark: here is the entrance.
DANTE AND VIRGIL STEP OFF THE ‘BOAT’. DANTE BEGINS WRITING IN HIS BOOK.
DANTE:
Io vidi più di mille in su le porte
da ciel piovuti, che stizzosamente
I saw see more than a thousand of those angels,
that fell from Heaven like rain, above the gates
FALLEN ANGELS:
&
FALLEN ANGELS:
INF C8 84 / DANTE
INF C8 84 / KLINE
dicean: Chi è costui che sanza morte
who cried angrily: Who is this, that, without death
FALLEN ANGELS
FALLEN ANGELS
VARIOUS.
VARIOUS.
va per lo regno de la morta gente?».
E 'l savio mio maestro fece segno
di voler lor parlar segretamente.
goes through the kingdom of the dead?
And my wise Master made a sign to them,
of wishing to speak in private.
85
VIRGIL MAKES ‘A SIGN’ TO THE DOORKEEPER OF WISHING TO SPEAK IN PRIVATE’ [INF C8 86-87].
THE FALLEN ANGELS CLAMOUR.
◙
BEATRICE IS SPOTLIT
IN HEAVEN, READING HER WHITE BIBLE. SHE MANIFESTS HERSELF ON THE TOP
→L STEP OF THE STAGE, UNSEEN BY ANYBODY IN HELL.
→
THE CLAMOUR REACHES HER. SHE CLOSES THE BIBLE, FACES ACROSS THE STAGE AND HEAVENWALKS.
DURING THIS ACTION DANTE VERSIFIES.
DANTE:
va per lo regno de la morta gente?».
E 'l savio mio maestro fece segno
di voler lor parlar segretamente.
goes through the kingdom of the dead?
And my wise Master made a sign to them,
of wishing to speak in private.
THE FALLEN ANGELS QUIETEN SOMEWHAT.
FALLEN ANGEL 1:
Allor chiusero un poco il gran disdegno
e disser: «Vien tu solo, e quei sen vada
che sì ardito intrò per questo regno.
Then they furled their great disdain,
and said: Come on, alone, and let him go,
who enters this kingdom with such audacity.
FALLEN ANGEL 2:
Sol si ritorni per la folle strada:
pruovi, se sa; ché tu qui rimarrai,
che li ha' iscorta sì buia contrada.
Let him return, alone, on his foolish road.
See if he can: and you, remain,
who have escorted him, through so dark a land.
DANTE:
Pensa, lettor, se io mi sconfortai
nel suon de le parole maladette,
ché non credetti ritornarci mai.
Think, Reader, whether I was not disheartened
at the sound of those accursed words,
not believing I could ever return here.
DANTE APPEALS TO VIRGIL.
DANTE:
O caro duca mio, che più di sette
volte m'hai sicurtà renduta e tratto
d'alto periglio che 'ncontra mi stette,
I said: O my dear guide, who has ensured
my safety more than seven times, and snatched
me from certain danger that faced me,
non mi lasciar, diss’ io, così disfatto;
e se 'l passar più oltre ci è negato,
ritroviam l'orme nostre insieme ratto.
do not leave me, so helpless:
and if we are prevented from going on,
let us quickly retrace our steps.
VIRGIL:
E quel segnor che lì m'avea menato,
mi disse: «Non temer; ché 'l nostro passo
non ci può tòrre alcun: da tal n'è dato.
And that lord, who had led me there, said to me:
Have no fear: since no one can deny us passage:
it was given us by so great an authority.
Ma qui m'attendi, e lo spirito lasso
conforta e ciba di speranza buona,
ch'i' non ti lascerò nel mondo basso».
But you, wait for me, and comfort and nourish
your spirit with fresh hope,
for I will not abandon you in the lower world.
86
VIRGIL APPROACHES THE DOORKEEPER. DANTE GOES ON WRITING.
DANTE:
Così sen va, e quivi m'abbandona
lo dolce padre, e io rimagno in forse,
che sì e no nel capo mi tenciona.
So the gentle father goes, and leaves me there,
and I am left in doubt:
since ‘yes’ and ‘no’ war inside my head.
I could not hear what terms he offered them, but he had not been standing there long with them, when, each vying
with the other, they rushed back. Our adversaries closed the gate in my lord’s face, leaving him outside, and he
turned to me again with slow steps.
DANTE QUIETLY VERSIFIES AS VIRGIL INAUDIBLY CLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY TO ENTER.
DANTE:
♫
Così sen va, e quivi m'abbandona
lo dolce padre, e io rimagno in forse,
che sì e no nel capo mi tenciona.
So the gentle father goes, and leaves me there,
and I am left in doubt:
since ‘yes’ and ‘no’ war inside my head.
Sì? Sì? Sì?...No! No! No
**********
INF C8 111
The Angels on the battlement sing a high-pitched travesty of Virgil’s argument, consisting entirely
of repetitions of the question: Sì?
The Angels peer over the battlement at the doorkeeper. After a long moment the doorkeeper gives
the smallest shake of his head.
The Angels sing a mocking repeated: No!
Virgil tries again twice. Each time the Angels raise the pitch of the Sì? ’s, and lower the pitch and
raise the volume of their No! ’s.
After the third attempt, a bass single No! may be sung by Satan within the City.
VIRGIL RETURNS TO DANTE, LOOKING DISTRESSED [INF C8 112-117].
VIRGIL:
Li occhi a la terra e le ciglia avea rase
d'ogne baldanza, e dicea ne' sospiri:
«Chi m'ha negate le dolenti case!».
His eyes were on the ground, and his expression
devoid of all daring, and he said, sighing: Who are
these who deny me entrance to the house of pain?
E a me disse: «Tu, perch' io m'adiri,
non sbigottir, ch'io vincerò la prova,
qual ch'a la difension dentro s'aggiri.
And to me he said: Though I am angered,
do not you be dismayed: I will win the trial,
whatever obstacle those inside contrive.
Questa lor tracotanza non è nova;
ché già l'usaro a men segreta porta,
la qual sanza serrame ancor si trova.
This insolence of theirs is nothing new,
for they displayed it once before, at that less secret
gate we passed, that has remained unbarred.
Sovr' essa vedestù la scritta morta:
e già di qua da lei discende l'erta,
passando per li cerchi sanza scorta,
Over it you saw the fatal writing, and already
on this side of its entrance, one is coming,
down the steep, passing the circles unescorted,
87
INF C8 130 / DANTE
tal che per lui ne fia la terra aperta».
one for whom the city shall open to us.
DANTE NOTES EARLIER WORDS FROM VIRGIL THEN CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
d'ogne baldanza, e dicea ne' sospiri:
«Chi m'ha negate le dolenti case!».
devoid of all daring, and he said, sighing: Who are
these who deny me entrance to the house of pain?
INF C8 122 / DANTE
INF C8 122 / KLINE
non sbigottir, ch'io vincerò la prova,
do not you be dismayed: I will win the trial,
e già di qua da lei discende l'erta,
passando per li cerchi sanza scorta,
on this side of its entrance, one is coming,
down the steep, passing the circles unescorted,
INF C8 130 / DANTE
tal che per lui ne fia la terra aperta».
A HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT..
one for whom the city shall open to us.
◙ ..PICKS OUT THE HEAVENLY MESSENGER MANIFESTING ON THE →R→ .
HEAVENLY MESSENGER AGE : 30?
HEAVEN.
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY HERE (SPEAKS LATER). HEAVENLY ROBE, DOZING WITH A BLISSFUL LOOK. THERE IS A BIBLE ON
HIS KNEES.
ANOTHER HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT..
SPOTLIGHTS TURN OFF TOGETHER.
◙ .PICKS OUT BEATRICE HEAVENWALKING IN HIS DIRECTION. THE
CANTO 9
INF C9 1-6 / KLINE
The colour that cowardice had printed on my face, seeing my guide turn back, made him repress his own heightened
colour more swiftly. He stopped, attentive, like one who listens, since his eyes could not penetrate far, through the
black air and the thick fog.
VIRGIL IS ‘STOPPED, ATTENTIVE, LIKE ONE WHO LISTENS’ [INF C9 4].
PROMISED BY BEATRICE.
HE IS WAITING FOR THE HELP
VIRGIL:
INF C9 7-9 / DANTE
INF C9 7-9 / KLINE
«Pur a noi converrà vincer la punga»,
Nevertheless we must win this struggle, he began,
cominciò el, «se non . . . Tal ne s'offerse.
if not … then help such as this was offered to us.
Oh quanto tarda a me ch'altri qui giunga!». Oh, how long it seems to me, that other’s coming!
I saw clearly, how he hid the meaning of his opening words with their sequel, words differing from his initial
thought. None the less his speech made me afraid, perhaps because I took his broken phrases to hold a worse
meaning than they did.
88
DANTE IS AFRAID, SEEING ‘HOW HE HID THE MEANING OF HIS OPENING WORDS WITH THEIR SEQUEL,
WORDS DIFFERING FROM THEIR INITIAL THOUGHT’ [INF C9 10-15].
HE WALKS AROUND A LITTLE AND RETURNS TO VIRGIL.
DANTE:
In questo fondo de la trista conca
discende mai alcun del primo grado,
che sol per pena ha la speranza cionca?
Do any of those whose only punishment
is deprivation of hope, ever descend, into the
depths of this sad chasm, from the first circle?
VIRGIL:
Questa question fec' io; e quei «Di rado
incontra», mi rispuose, «che di noi
faccia il cammino alcun per qual io vado.
I asked this question, and he answered me:
It rarely happens, that any of us
make the journey that I go on.
Ver è ch'altra fïata qua giù fui,
congiurato da quella Eritón cruda
che richiamava l'ombre a' corpi sui.
It is true that I was down here, once before,
conjured to do so by that fierce sorceress Erichtho,
who recalled spirits to their corpses.
ERICHTHO: THESSALIAN SORCERESS MENTIONED BY LUCAN (PHARSALIA 6 507-826), WHERE SHE SUMMONS UP THE SPIRIT OF
A DEAD SOLDIER FOR SEXTUS POMPEIUS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. DANTE’S REFERENCE IS TO SOME FURTHER
UNKNOWN TRADITION ABOUT HER PRESENCE IN THE LOWEST REGIONS OF HELL, THE GIUDECCA (JUDECCA).
DANTE notes:
INF C9 23 / DANTE
INF C9 23 / KLINE
congiurato da quella Eritón cruda
conjured to do so by that fierce sorceress Erichtho,
VIRGIL:
Di poco era di me la carne nuda,
ch'ella mi fece intrar dentr' a quel muro,
per trarne un spirto del cerchio di Giuda.
My flesh had only been stripped from me a while
when she forced me to enter inside that wall,
to bring a spirit out of the circle of Judas.
Quell' è 'l più basso loco e 'l più oscuro,
e 'l più lontan dal ciel che tutto gira:
ben so 'l cammin; però ti fa sicuro.
That is the deepest place, and the darkest,
and the furthest from that Heaven that surrounds
all things: I know the way well: so be reassured.
Questa palude che 'l gran puzzo spira
cigne dintorno la città dolente,
u' non potemo intrare omai sanz' ira».
This marsh, that breathes its foul stench,
circles the woeful city round about,
where we also cannot enter now without anger.
And he said more that I do not remember, because my eyes had been drawn to the high tower, with the glowing
crest, where, in an instant, three hellish Furies, stained with blood, had risen, that had the limbs and aspects of
women, covered with a tangle of green hydras, their hideous foreheads bound with little adders, and horned vipers.
VIRGIL CATCHES SIGHT OF POLYHYMNIA, URANIA AND CLIO MOVING TO FORM A TRIO IN THE MIDDLE, OR
AT THE END, OF THE BATTLEMENT.
THEY WEAR THEIR USUAL DRESS TO IMPERSONATE THE FURIES. THEY DO NOT HAVE [INF C9 34-42, 49-51]
‘HIDEOUS FOREHEADS BOUND WITH LITTLE ADDERS AND HORNED VIPERS’. NOR ARE THEY
BLOODSTAINED AND TEARING AT THEMSELVES WITH CLAWS’.
VIRGIL:
&
DANTE:
E quei, che ben conobbe le meschine
de la regina de l'etterno pianto,
Guarda, mi disse, le feroci Erine.
And Virgil, who knew the handmaids of the queen
of eternal sadness well, said to me:
See, the fierce Erinyes: the Furies.
ERINYES: EUMENIDES OR KINDLY ONES, A EUPHEMISM FOR THE ERINYES, THE THREE SISTERS, THE FURIES, WHO LIVE IN
EREBUS. THEY PUNISH CRIMES BY HOUNDING THE WRONGDOER & ACTING AS THE UNREMITTING CONSCIENCE. FOR DANTE
THEY SYMBOLISE REMORSE. THE RECOLLECTION OF PAST SINS IS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF DESPAIR, DELAYING PENITENCE &
TURNING THE SOUL BACK TO WRONGDOING.
89
VIRGIL:
Quest' è Megera dal sinistro canto;
quella che piange dal destro è Aletto;
Tesifón è nel mezzo; e tacque a tanto.
That is Megaera on the left: the one that weeps,
on the right, is Alecto:
Tisiphone is in the middle. Then he was silent.
Each one was tearing at her breast with her claws, beating with her hands, and crying out so loudly, that I pressed
close to the poet, out of fear.
THE FURIES LOOK BEHIND FOR MEDUSA.
FURY 1 / THALIA:
&
FURY 2 / URANIA:
«Vegna Medusa: sì 'l farem di smalto»,
dicevan tutte riguardando in giuso;
«mal non vengiammo in Tesëo l'assalto».
Let Medusa come…, they all said, looking down
on us, so that we can turn him to stone:
we did not fully revenge Theseus’s attack.
MEDUSA: ONE OF THE GORGONS. THE OTHER TWO ARE EURYALE & STHEINO. MEDUSA WAS RAPED BY NEPTUNE (POSEIDON)
IN THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA (ATHENE), WHO CHANGED HER TO A WINGED MONSTER WITH SNAKES FOR HAIR, HER GAZE
TURNING ANYONE WHO LOOKED AT HER TO STONE. PERSEUS DECAPITATED HER, LOOKING AT HER REFLECTION IN HIS SHIELD
& USED HER HEAD TO TURN ATLAS TO STONE. SHE SYMBOLISES OBDURACY, DELAYING REPENTANCE.
THESEUS: LEGENDARY KING OF ATHENS WHO KILLED THE MINOTAUR, AIDED BY ARIADNE, THE DAUGHTER OF KING MINOS
OF CRETE. HE ALSO MADE AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO RESCUE PROSERPINE. HE WAS PUNISHED BY BEING PLACED IN
HADES, AND, IN THE VERSION OF THE MYTH THAT DANTE FOLLOWS, WAS RESCUED BY HERCULES.
FURY 3 / CLIO:
«Vegna Medusa: sì 'l farem di smalto»,
dicevan tutte riguardando in giuso;
«mal non vengiammo in Tesëo l'assalto».
Let Medusa come, they all said, looking down
on us, so that we can turn him to stone:
we did not fully revenge Theseus’s attack.
VIRGIL:
Volgiti 'n dietro e tien lo viso chiuso;
ché se 'l Gorgón si mostra e tu 'l vedessi,
nulla sarebbe di tornar mai suso».
Turn your back. Keep your eyes closed,
since there will be no return upwards, if she
were to show herself, and you were to see her.
said the Master, and he himself turned me round. Not leaving it to me, he covered them, also, with his own hands. O
you, who have clear minds, take note of the meaning that conceals itself under the veil of clouded verse!
VIRGIL TURNS DANTE ROUND AND COVERS DANTE’S EYES, ALREADY CLOSED, WITH HIS (VIRGIL’S)
HANDS [INF C9 58-60].
FURY 3 / CLIO:
Volgiti 'n dietro e tien lo viso chiuso;
ché se 'l Gorgón si mostra e tu 'l vedessi,
nulla sarebbe di tornar mai suso».
Turn… your back. Keep your eyes closed,
since there will be no return upwards., if she
were to show herself, and you were to see her.
Now, over the turbid waves, there came a fearful crash of sound, at which both shores trembled; a sound like a
strong wind, born of conflicting heat, that strikes the forest, remorselessly, breaks the branches, and beats them
down, and carries them away, advances proudly in a cloud of dust, and makes wild creatures, and shepherds, run for
safety.l
DANTE TRIES TO TURN BUT VIRGIL HOLDS HIM.
VIRGIL UNCOVERS DANTE’S EYES [INF C9 73], WHICH ARE FACING THE BACK OF THE AUDITORIUM.
90
VIRGIL:
Li occhi mi sciolse e disse:
Or drizza il nerbo
del viso su per quella schiuma antica
per indi ove quel fummo è più acerbo.
Virgil uncovered my eyes, and said: Now direct
your vision to that ancient marsh, there,
where the mists are thickest.
DANTE TURNS SLOWLY ROUND, WATCHING THE PROGRESS OF THE UNSEEN HEAVENLY MESSENGER
TOWARDS THE CITY OF DIS. THERE IS A ‘A FEARFUL CRASH OF SOUND [INF C9 65], MADE BY THE
ANGELS LEAPING INTO THE CITY OFF THE BATTLEMENTS.
♫
CRASH!
**********
DANTE:
Come le rane innanzi a la nimica
biscia per l'acqua si dileguan tutte,
fin ch'a la terra ciascuna s'abbica,
Like frogs, that all scatter through the water,
in front of their enemy the snake,
until each one squats on the bottom,
vid' io più di mille anime distrutte
fuggir così dinanzi ad un ch'al passo
passava Stige con le piante asciutte.
so I saw more than a thousand damaged spirits
scatter in front of one who passed
the Stygian ferry with dry feet.
Dal volto rimovea quell' aere grasso,
menando la sinistra innanzi spesso;
e sol di quell' angoscia parea lasso.
He waved that putrid air from his face,
often waving his left hand before it,
and only that annoyance seemed to weary him.
VIRGIL INTERPRETS./.TRANSLATES.
VIRGIL:
Come le rane innanzi a la nimica
biscia per l'acqua si dileguan tutte,
fin ch'a la terra ciascuna s'abbica,
Like frogs, that all scatter through the water,
in front of their enemy the snake,
until each one squats on the bottom,
vid' io più di mille anime distrutte
scatter,
fuggir così dinanzi ad un ch'al passo
passava Stige con le piante asciutte.
so I saw more than a thousand damaged spirits
in front of one who passed
the Stygian ferry with dry feet.
Dal volto rimovea quell' aere grasso,
menando la sinistra innanzi spesso;
e sol di quell' angoscia parea lasso.
He waved that putrid air from his face,
often waving his left hand before it,
and only that annoyance seemed to weary him.
DANTE AND VIRGIL ADDRESS THE AUDIENCE TOGETHER.
91
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Ben m'accorsi ch'elli era da ciel messo,
e volsimi al maestro; e quei fé segno
ch'i' stessi queto ed inchinassi ad esso.
I well knew he He was a messenger from Heaven.,
and I turned to the Master, who made
a gesture that I should stay quiet, and bow to him.
Ahi quanto mi parea pien di disdegno!
Venne a la porta e con una verghetta
l'aperse, che non v'ebbe alcun ritegno.
How full of indignation he seemed to me!
He reached the gate, and opened it with a wand:
there was no resistance.
THE MESSENGER SPEAKS FROM INSIDE THE CITY.
HEAVENLY MESSENGER (VOICE):
O cacciati del ciel, gente dispetta»,
cominciò elli in su l'orribil soglia,
«ond' esta oltracotanza in voi s'alletta?
On the vile threshold he began to speak:
O cacciati del ciel…outcasts from Heaven…
why does this insolence still live in you?
Perché recalcitrate a quella voglia
a cui non puote il fin mai esser mozzo,
e che più volte v'ha cresciuta doglia?
Why are you recalcitrant to that will,
whose aims can never be frustrated,
and that has often increased your torment?
HEAVENLY MESSENGER (VOICE):
Che giova ne le fata dar di cozzo?
Cerbero vostro, se ben vi ricorda,
ne porta ancor pelato il mento e 'l gozzo».
What use is it to butt your heads against the Fates?
If you remember, your Cerberus still shows
a throat and chin scarred from doing so.
DANTE AND VIRGIL WALK TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE TO THE CITY OF DIS, WATCHING AND NOTING THE
DEPARTURE OF THE MESSENGER.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Poi si rivolse per la strada lorda,
e non fé motto a noi, ma fé sembiante
d'omo cui altra cura stringa e morda
Then he returned, over the miry pool,
and spoke no word to us, but looked like one
preoccupied and driven by other cares,
che quella di colui che li è davante;
e noi movemmo i piedi inver' la terra,
sicuri appresso le parole sante.
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT
than of those who stand before him.
And we stirred our feet towards the city,
in safety, after his sacred speech.
**********
INF C9 105
DANTE AND VIRGIL ENTER THE CITY AND DARKNESS FALLS. DANTE’S VOICE COMES OVER THE MUSIC AS
MOST OF THE DIS BATTLEMENT BOXES ARE REMOVED AND THOSE LEFT ARE TURNED ON THEIR SIDE TO
REPRESENT SEPULCHRES INSIDE DIS.
92
DANTE (VOICE):
Dentro li 'ntrammo sanz' alcuna guerra;
e io, ch'avea di riguardar disio
la condizion che tal fortezza serra,
We entered Dis without a conflict,
and I gazed around, as soon as I as was inside,
eager to know what punishment
com' io fui dentro, l'occhio intorno invio:
e veggio ad ogne man grande campagna,
piena di duolo e di tormento rio.
the place enclosed, and saw
on all sides a vast plain
full of pain and vile torment.
THE MUSIC CEASES. DANTE AND VIRGIL ARE HEARD APPROACHING THE STAGE FROM OFFSTAGE.
As at Arles, where the Rhone stagnates, or Pola, near the Gulf of Quarnaro, that confines Italy, and bathes its coast,
the sepulchres make the ground uneven, so they did here, all around, only here the nature of it was more terrible.
Flames were scattered amongst the tombs, by which they were made so red-hot all over, that no smith’s art needs
hotter metal. Their lids were all lifted, and such fierce groans came from them, that, indeed, they seemed to be those
of the sad and wounded. And I said: ‘Master, who are these people, entombed in those vaults, who make themselves
known by tormented sighing?’
VIRGIL (VOICE):
E quelli a me: «Qui son li eresïarche
con lor seguaci, d'ogne setta, e molto
più che non credi son le tombe carche.
And he to me: Here are the arch-heretics,
with their followers, of every sect: and the tombs
contain many more than you might think.
Simile qui con simile è sepolto,
e i monimenti son più e men caldi».
E poi ch'a la man destra si fu vòlto,
Here like is buried with like,
and the monuments differ in degrees of heat.
Then after turning to the right,
INF C9 133 / DANTE
passammo tra i martìri e li alti spaldi.
we passed between the tormented, and the steep
ramparts.
DANTE NOTES AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C9 131 / DANTE
INF C9 131 / KLINE
e i monimenti son più e men caldi».
and the monuments differ in degrees of heat.
INF C9 133 / DANTE
INF C9 133 / KLINE
passammo tra i martìri e li alti spaldi.
we passed between the tormented, and the steep
ramparts.
CANTO 10
INF C10 1-3 / KLINE
Now my Master goes, and I, behind him, by a secret path between the city walls and the torments.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C10 4-6 / DANTE
INF C10 4-6 / KLINE
«O virtù somma, che per li empi giri
mi volvi», cominciai, «com' a te piace,
parlami, e sodisfammi a' miei disiri.
I began: ‘O, summit of virtue, who leads me round
through the circles of sin, as you please,
speak to me, and satisfy my longing.
93
INF C10 7-9 / DANTE
La gente che per li sepolcri giace
potrebbesi veder? già son levati
tutt' i coperchi, e nessun guardia face».
Can those people who lie
in the sepulchres be seen?
The lids are all raised, and no one keeps guard.
And he to me: They will all be shut, when When they return here, from Jehoshaphat, with the bodies they left above.
DANTE AND VIRGIL ARE NOW ON STAGE, BUT CANNOT BE SEEN IN THE DARKNESS.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Suo cimitero da questa parte hanno
con Epicuro tutti suoi seguaci,
che l'anima col corpo morta fanno.
In this place Epicurus and all
his followers are entombed,
who say the soul dies with body.
THE NEO-EPICUREAN CATARI & PATERINI HERETICS OF THE THIRTEENTH & FOURTEENTH CENTURIES MAY HAVE DENIED THE
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY & THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. EPICURUS CERTAINLY CONCENTRATED ON LIFE IN THIS
WORLD & WAS RETICENT ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE.
Però a la dimanda che mi faci
quinc' entro satisfatto sarà tosto,
e al disio ancor che tu mi taci».
Therefore, you will soon be satisfied, with an
answer to the question that you ask me, and also
the longing that you hide from me, here, inside.
DANTE (VOICE):
E io: «Buon duca, non tegno riposto
hidden
a te mio cuor se non per dicer poco,
e tu m'hai non pur mo a ciò disposto».
And I: Kind guide, I do not keep my heart
from you, except by speaking too briefly,
something to which you have previously
inclined me.
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI SITS UP IN A BOX SEPULCHRE. A FIERY GLOW FROM INSIDE THE SEPULCHRE
LIGHTS HIM AND THE 2 POETS. THE GLOW MAY BE RELEASED BY THE LID BEING OPENED. BETTER, THE
BOXES ARE LIDLESS AND THE GLOW IS RELEASED WHEN THE OCCUPANT RISES.
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI:
«O Tosco che per la città del foco
vivo ten vai così parlando onesto,
piacciati di restare in questo loco.
O Tuscan, who goes alive through the city of fire,
speaking so politely,
may it please you to rest in this place.
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI
FLORENCE. FIERCE SPEECH.
DESCRIPTION
*
----? - 1264?
--?
AGE : *
HEAD OF THE UBERTI CLAN FROM 1239, WHO SUPPORTED THE GHIBELLINES, DANTE’S PARTY. HE ANNIHILATED THE
FLORENTINE GUELPHS AT THE BATTLE OF MONTAPERTI (A VILLAGE NEAR SIENA, ON A HILL NEAR THE RIVER ARBIA) ON
SEPTEMBER 4TH 1260. FARINATA OPPOSED THE DESTRUCTION OF FLORENCE URGED BY THE SIENESE, AND PISANS, BUT
AFTER THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE GUELPHS IN 1266, THE FAMILY WERE EXCLUDED FROM AMNESTY, AND BANISHED
FOREVER. WHEN ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO BUILT THE PALAZZO VECCHIO IN FLORENCE HE WAS FORBIDDEN TO BUILD WHERE THE
REBEL UBERTI HOUSES HAD STOOD.
DANTE JUMPS IN FEAR.
94
FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI:
La tua loquela ti fa manifesto
di quella nobil patrïa natio,
a la qual forse fui troppo molesto.
Your speech shows clearly you are a native
of that noble city
that I perhaps troubled too much.
This sound came suddenly from one of the vaults, at which, in fear, I drew a little closer to my guide.
VIRGIL:
or VIRGIL:
Ed el mi disse: Volgiti! Che fai?
Vedi là Farinata che s'è dritto:
da la cintola in sù tutto 'l vedrai.
And he said to me: Turn round: what are you
doing: look at Farinata, who has raised
himself: you can see him all from the waist up.
I had already fixed my gaze on him, and he rose erect in stance and aspect, as if he held the Inferno in great disdain.
VIRGIL PUSHES DANTE TOWARDS FARINATA [INF C10 38].
VIRGIL:
or VIRGIL:
E l'animose man del duca e pronte
mi pinser tra le sepulture a lui,
dicendo: Le parole tue sien conte.
The spirited and eager hands of my guide
pushed me through the sepulchres towards him,
saying: Make sure your words are measured.
FARINATA DEMANDS ‘ALMOST CONTEMPTUOUSLY’ [INF C10
DANTE IS TOO STUNNED TO REPLY, SWITCHES TO ENGLISH.
FARINATA:
&
41] IN
ITALIAN,
AND WHEN
FARINATA:
Com' io al piè de la sua tomba fui,
looked
guardommi un poco, e poi, quasi sdegnoso,
mi dimandò: Chi fuor li maggior tui?
When I was at the base of the tomb, Farinata
at me for a while, and then, almost contemptuously,
he demanded of me: Who were your ancestors?
I, desiring to obey, concealed nothing, but revealed the whole to him, at which he raised his brows a little.
DANTE REPLIES, INAUDIBLY TO THE AUDIENCE.
FARINATA:
poi disse: «Fieramente furo avversi
a me e a miei primi e a mia parte,
sì che per due fïate li dispersi».
Then he said: They were fiercely opposed to me,
and my ancestors and my party,
so that I scattered them twice.
DANTE:
«S'ei fur cacciati, ei tornar d'ogne parte»,
returned
rispuos' io lui, «l'una e l'altra fïata;
ma i vostri non appreser ben quell' arte».
I replied: Though they were driven out, they
from wherever they were, the first and the second
time, but your party have not yet learnt that skill.
Then, a shadow rose behind him from the unclosed space, visible down to the tip of its chin: I think it had raised
itself on to its knees. It gazed around me, as if it wished to see whether anyone was with me, but when all its hopes
were quenched,
95
A SPIRIT RISES FROM ITS FIERY SEPULCHRE BEHIND FARINATA ‘VISIBLE DOWN TO THE TIP OF ITS CHIN’. IT
GAZES AROUND DANTE ‘AS IF IT WISHED TO SEE WHETHER ANYONE WAS WITH ME’ THEN LAMENTS [INF
C10 52-58].
CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI:
piangendo disse: «Se per questo cieco
carcere vai per altezza d'ingegno,
mio figlio ov' è? e perché non è teco?».
it said, weeping: If by power of intellect,
you go through this blind prison,
where is my son, and why is he not with you?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
*
---- - *----?
*
AGE : 70??
CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI: FATHER OF GUIDO CAVALCANTI. SEE BOCCACCIO’S DECAMERON 6 9, WHICH CONCERNS GUIDO.
DANTE:
E io a lui: «Da me stesso non vegno:
colui ch'attende là, per qui mi mena
forse cui Guido vostro ebbe a disdegno».
And I to him: I do not come through my own
initiative: he that waits there, whom your Guido
disdained perhaps, leads me through this place.
GUIDO DE’ CAVALCANTI: POET, BORN 1250-1259, WAS FARINATA’S SON-IN-LAW & A PROMINENT WHITE GUELPH. HE
MARRIED FARINATA’S DAUGHTER, BEATRICE, DURING ONE OF THE ATTEMPTS TO FORGE PEACE THROUGH MARRIAGE
ALLIANCES. HE, ‘THE FIRST OF MY FRIENDS’, & DANTE ARE THE CHIEF POETS OF THE FLORENTINE SCHOOL OF THE DOLCE STIL
NUOVE STYLE OF LYRIC POETRY THAT SUPERSEDED THE BOLOGNESE SCHOOL OF GUIDO GUINICELLI. THE VITA NUOVA WAS
DEDICATED TO GUIDO. HE WAS EXILED WITH THE WHITES (A DECISION DANTE WAS PARTY TO) IN JUNE 1300 TO SARZANA IN
THE LUNIGIANA. ALLOWED TO RETURN TO FLORENCE, DUE TO ILLNESS, CAUSED BY THE UNHEALTHY LOCALITY, HE DIED IN
THE AUGUST & WAS BURIED ON AUGUST 29TH, BUT WAS STILL ALIVE AT THE TIME OF THE VISION ITSELF.
His words and the nature of his punishment had spelt his name to me, so that my answer was a full one.
CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI STANDS [INF C10 67], RELEASING MORE FIERY LIGHT.
CAVALCANTE CAVALCANTI:
Di sùbito drizzato gridò: «Come?
dicesti `èlli ebbe"? non viv' elli ancora?
non fiere li occhi suoi lo dolce lume?».
Suddenly raising himself erect, he cried:
What did you say? Disdained? Is he not still
alive? Does the sweet light not strike his eyes?
When he saw that I delayed in answering, he dropped supine again, and showed himself no more. But the other one,
at whose wish I had first stopped, generously did not alter his aspect or move his neck, or turn his side.
DANTE DELAYS HIS ANSWER AND CAVALCANTE DROPS OUT OF SIGHT [INF C10 70-72].
FARINATA CONTINUES HIS PREVIOUS WORDS WITHOUT MOVING HIS HEAD [INF C10 73-75] AS DANTE MAY
QUIETLY VERSIFY.
DANTE:
Di sùbito drizzato gridò: «Come?
dicesti `èlli ebbe"? non viv' elli ancora?
non fiere li occhi suoi lo dolce lume?».
Suddenly raising himself erect, he cried:
What did you say? Disdained? Is he not still alive?
Does the sweet light not strike his eyes?
FARINATA:
e sé continüando al primo detto,
Continuing his previous words, he said:
«S'elli han quell' arte», disse, «male appresa, And if my party have learnt that art of return badly,
ciò mi tormenta più che questo letto.
it tortures me more than this bed,
96
♫
PROPHECY MOTIF
**********
INF C10 78
FARINATA:
Ma non cinquanta volte fia raccesa
la faccia de la donna che qui regge,
che tu saprai quanto quell' arte pesa.
but the face of the moon-goddess Persephone,
who rules here, will not be crescent fifty times,
before you learn the difficulty of that art.
PERSEPHONE: THE VEGETATION RITUALS OF CERES-DEMETER & PERSEPHONE FORMED THE ESSENCE OF THE SECRET
MYSTERIES AT ELEUSIS. ONE OF THE INCARNATIONS OF THE TRIPLE MOON-GODDESS.
YOU LEARN: FARINATA WARNS HIM OF HIS LONG EXILE, TELLING HIM THAT NOT FIFTY MOONS WILL PASS BEFORE HE LEARNS
HOW HARD IT IS TO RETURN FROM BANISHMENT. THE DATE OF THE VISION IS APRIL 1300 & DANTE’S EFFORTS AT RETURN
WERE THWARTED BY THE FAILURE OF POPE BENEDICT XI, WHO SUCCEEDED BONIFACE TO ACHIEVE RECONCILIATION IN
EARLY 1304. BENEDICT VISITED FLORENCE BUT LEFT ON JUNE 4TH LEAVING THE REBELLIOUS CITY UNDER AN INTERDICT. IT
WAS LESS THAN FIFTY ONE LUNAR MONTHS BEFORE DANTE’S EFFORTS AT RETURN FAILED, SUGGESTING A COMMUNICATION
WITH BENEDICT (DANTE WAS ACTING AS SECRETARY THEN TO ALLESSANDRO DA ROMANO, OF THE OLD GHIBELLINE FAMILY
OF THE COUNTS GUIDI, WHO WAS THE LEADER OF THE GHIBELLINES IN EXILE) SOME TIME IN MARCH OR EARLY APRIL.
E se tu mai nel dolce mondo regge,
dimmi: perché quel popolo è sì empio
incontr' a' miei in ciascuna sua legge?
And, as you wish to return to the sweet world,
tell me why that people is so fierce towards my kin,
in all its lawmaking?
DANTE:
Ond' io a lui: «Lo strazio e 'l grande scempio At which I answered him: The great slaughter
che fece l'Arbia colorata in rosso,
and havoc, that dyed the Arbia red, is the cause
tal orazion fa far nel nostro tempio».
of those indictments against them, in our churches.
FARINATA:
Poi ch'ebbe sospirando il capo mosso,
«A ciò non fu' io sol», disse, «né certo
sanza cagion con li altri sarei mosso.
Then he shook his head, sighing, and said:
I was not alone in that matter, nor would I
have joined with the others without good cause,
Ma fu' io solo, là dove sofferto
fu per ciascun di tòrre via Fiorenza,
colui che la difesi a viso aperto».
but I was alone, there, when all agreed
to raze Florence to the ground,
and I openly defended her.
DANTE:
Deh, se riposi mai vostra semenza»,
prega' io lui, «solvetemi quel nodo
che qui ha 'nviluppata mia sentenza.
Ah, as I hope your descendants might sometime
have peace, I begged him, solve the puzzle
that has entangled my mind.
El par che voi veggiate, se ben odo,
dinanzi quel che 'l tempo seco adduce,
e nel presente tenete altro modo».
It seems, if I hear right, that you see
beforehand what time brings,
but have a different knowledge of the present.
FARINATA:
INF C10 100-102 / DANTE
INF C10 100-102 / KLINE
«Noi veggiam, come quei c'ha mala luce,
le cose», disse, «che ne son lontano;
cotanto ancor ne splende il sommo duce.
Like one who has imperfect vision’, he said,
we see things that are distant from us: so much
of the light the supreme Lord still allows us.
97
INF C10 103-105 / DANTE
Quando s'appressano o son, tutto è vano
nostro intelletto; e s'altri non ci apporta,
nulla sapem di vostro stato umano.
But when they approach, or come to be, our
intelligence is wholly void, and we know nothing
of your human state, except what others tell us.
INF C10 106-108 / DANTE
Però comprender puoi che tutta morta
fia nostra conoscenza da quel punto
che del futuro fia chiusa la porta».
So you may understand that all our knowledge
of the future will end, from the moment
when the Day of Judgement closes the gate of
futurity.’
DANTE:
INF C10 109-111 / DANTE
INF C10 109-111 / KLINE
Allor, come di mia colpa compunto,
dissi: «Or direte dunque a quel caduto
che 'l suo nato è co' vivi ancor congiunto;
Will you therefore, tell that fallen one,
Cavalcanti, now, that his son Guido
is still joined to the living.
INF C10 112-114 / DANTE
e s'i' fui, dianzi, a la risposta muto,
fate i saper che 'l fei perché pensava
già ne l'error che m'avete soluto».
And if I was silent before in reply, let him
know it was because my thoughts were already
entangled in that error you have resolved for me.
INF C10 115-123 / KLINE
And now my Master was recalling me, at which I begged the spirit, with more haste, to tell me who was with him.
He said to me: ‘I lie here with more than a thousand: here inside is Frederick the Second, and the Cardinal, Ubaldini,
and of the rest I am silent.’ At that he hid himself, and I turned my steps towards the poet of antiquity, reflecting on
the words that boded trouble for me.
VIRGIL BECKONS TO DANTE AND THEY MOVE ON.
INF C10 124-126 / KLINE
Virgil moved on, and then, as we were leaving, said to me: Why are you so bewildered? And I satisfied his question.
VIRGIL:
INF C10 127-129 / DANTE
INF C10 127-129 / KLINE
«La mente tua conservi quel ch'udito
hai contra te», mi comandò quel saggio;
«e ora attendi qui», e drizzò 'l dito:
The sage exhorted me: Let your mind retain
what you have heard of your fate,
and note this:, and he raised his finger,
VIRGIL RAISES HIS FINGER.
VIRGIL
INF C10 130-132 / DANTE
INF C10 130-132 / KLINE
quando sarai dinanzi al dolce raggio
di quella il cui bell' occhio tutto vede,
da lei saprai di tua vita il vïaggio.
When you stand before the sweet rays of
that lady, whose bright eyes see everything, you
will learn the journey of your life through her.
DANTE GLOWS, WRITES, SPEAKS AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C10 130-132 / DANTE
INF C10 130-132 / KLINE
quando sarai dinanzi al dolce raggio
di quella il cui bell' occhio tutto vede,
da lei saprai di tua vita il vïaggio.
When you stand before the sweet rays of
that lady, whose bright eyes see everything, you
will learn the journey of your life through her.
INF C10 133-136 / KLINE
Then he turned his feet towards the left: we abandoned the wall, and went towards the middle, by a path that makes
its way into a valley, that, even up there, forced us to breathe its foulness.
98
CANTO 11
VIOLENCE ETC
INF C11 1-9 / KLINE
On the edge of a high bank, made of great broken rocks in a circle, we came above a still more cruel crowd, and
here, because of the repulsive, excessive stench that the deep abyss throws out, we approached it in the shelter of a
grand monument, on which I saw an inscription that said: ‘I hold Anastasius, that Photinus drew away from the true
path.’
VIRGIL WALKS TO STAGE FRONT AND LEANS OVER TO LOOK DOWN.
HAND IN FRONT OF HIS FACE.
HE STEPS BACK AND HOLDS HIS
VIRGIL:
Lo nostro scender conviene esser tardo,
sì che s'ausi un poco in prima il senso
al tristo fiato; e poi no i fia riguardo.
The Master said: We must delay our descent
until our sense is somewhat used to the foul wind,
and then we will not notice it.
DANTE:
Così 'l maestro; e io «Alcun compenso»,
dissi lui, «trova che 'l tempo non passi
I said to him: Find us something to compensate,
so that the time is not wasted.
VIRGIL:
INF C11 15 / DANTE
INF C11 15 / KLINE
perduto». Ed elli: «Vedi ch'a ciò penso».
And he: See, I have thought of it.
VIRGIL SITS ABRUPTLY ON THE GROUND. DANTE LOOKS AT HIM AS IF VIRGIL WANTS HIM TO PLAY A
GAME. VIRGIL MOTIONS DANTE TO SIT.
VIRGIL:
«Figliuol mio, dentro da cotesti sassi»,
cominciò poi a dir, «son tre cerchietti
di grado in grado, come que' che lassi.
He began: My son, within these walls
of stone, are three graduated circles
like those you are leaving.
DANTE notes:
INF C11 16 / DANTE
INF C11 16 / KLINE
«Figliuol mio, dentro da cotesti sassi»,
He began: My son, within these walls
VIRGIL:
Tutti son pien di spirti maladetti;
ma perché poi ti basti pur la vista,
intendi come e perché son costretti.
They are all filled with accursed spirits: but so that
the sight of them may be enough to inform you, in
future, listen how and why they are constrained.
D'ogne malizia, ch'odio in cielo acquista,
ingiuria è 'l fine, ed ogne fin cotale
o con forza o con frode altrui contrista.
The outcome of all maliciousness, that Heaven
hates, is harm: and every such outcome,
hurts others, either by force or deceit.
99
Ma perché frode è de l'uom proprio male,
beings,
più spiace a Dio; e però stan di sotto
li frodolenti, e più dolor li assale.
But because deceit is a vice peculiar to human
it displeases God more, and therefore the fraudulent
are placed below, and more pain grieves them.
Di vïolenti il primo cerchio è tutto;
ma perché si fa forza a tre persone,
in tre gironi è distinto e costrutto.
The whole of the seventh circle is for the violent,
but, since violence can be done to three persons,
it is constructed and divided in three rings.
A Dio, a sé, al prossimo si pòne
far forza, dico in loro e in lor cose,
come udirai con aperta ragione.
I say violence Violence may be done to God, or to
oneself, or one’s neighbour, and their person or
possessions, as you will hear, in clear discourse.
DANTE notes:
A Dio, a sé, al prossimo si pòne
I say violence may be done to God, or to oneself,
VIRGIL:
Morte per forza e ferute dogliose
nel prossimo si danno, e nel suo avere
ruine, incendi e tollette dannose;
Death or painful wounds may be inflicted
on one’s neighbour; and devastation,
fire, and pillage, on his substance.
onde omicide e ciascun che mal fiere,
guastatori e predon, tutti tormenta
lo giron primo per diverse schiere.
Therefore the first ring torments all homicides;
every one who lashes out maliciously;
and thieves and robbers; in their diverse groups.
VIRGIL JUMPS TO HIS FEET AND BEGINS WALKING UP AND DOWN THE STAGE. DANTE FOLLOWS.
VIRGIL:
Puote omo avere in sé man vïolenta
A man may do violence to himself and to his
property,
DANTE notes:
INF C11 40 / DANTE
INF C11 40 / KLINE
Puote omo avere in sé man vïolenta
A man may do violence to himself and to his
property,
VIRGIL:
qualunque priva sé del vostro mondo,
biscazza e fonde la sua facultade,
e piange là dov' esser de' giocondo.
or gamble away and dissipate their wealth;
or weep there,
when they should be happy.
Puossi far forza ne la deïtade,
col cor negando e bestemmiando quella,
e spregiando natura e sua bontade;
Violence may be done, against the Deity,
denying him and blaspheming in the heart,
and scorning Nature and her gifts,
e però lo minor giron suggella
del segno suo e Soddoma e Caorsa
e chi, spregiando Dio col cor, favella.
and so the smallest ring stamps with its seal
both Sodom and Cahors, and those
who speak scornfully of God, in their hearts.
CAHORS IN GUYENNE (ON THE RIVER LOT) IN SOUTHERN FRANCE WAS NOTORIOUS FOR ITS USURERS. IN THE MIDDLE AGES
‘CAORSINUS’ WAS A SYNONYM FOR ‘USURER’.
100
La frode, ond' ogne coscïenza è morsa,
può l'omo usare in colui che 'n lui fida
e in quel che fidanza non imborsa.
Human beings may practise deceit,
which gnaws at every conscience, on one
who trusts them, or on one who places no trust.
Questo modo di retro par ch'incida
pur lo vinco d'amor che fa natura;
onde nel cerchio secondo s'annida
This latter form of fraud only severs
the bond of love that Nature created,
and so, in the eighth circle, are nested
ipocresia, lusinghe e chi affattura,
falsità, ladroneccio e simonia,
ruffian, baratti e simile lordura.
hypocrisy; sorcery; flattery; cheating; theft
and selling of holy orders; pimps; corrupters
of public office; and similar filth.
DANTE notes:
ipocresia, lusinghe, e chi affattura,
falsità, ladroneccio e simonia,
ruffian, baratti e simile lordura.
hypocrisy; sorcery; flattery; cheating; theft
and selling of holy orders; pimps; corrupters
of public office; and similar filth.
VIRGIL:
Per l'altro modo quell' amor s'oblia
che fa natura, e quel ch'è poi aggiunto,
di che la fede spezïal si cria;
In the previous form, that love that Nature
creates is forgotten, and also that
which is added later, giving rise to special trust.
onde nel cerchio minore, ov' è 'l punto
de l'universo in su che Dite siede,
qualunque trade in etterno è consunto».
So, in the ninth, the smallest circle, at the base
of the universe, where Dis has his throne,
every traitor is consumed eternally.
DIS: LUCIFER, SATAN: THE REBELLIOUS ANGEL WHO WAS BANISHED FROM HEAVEN FOR HIS PRIDE & IN HIS FALL
PENETRATED INTO THE CAVERN OF HELL & THREW UP BEHIND HIM THE MOUNTAIN OF PURGATORY. HE TEMPTED CHRIST IN
THE WILDERNESS. SEE MATTHEW 4.
THEY VANISH DOWN THE →R→ . THEIR VOICES ARE STILL HEARD.
DANTE (VOICE):
E io: «Maestro, assai chiara procede
la tua ragione, e assai ben distingue
questo baràtro e 'l popol ch'e' possiede.
And I said: Master, your reasoning proceeds
most clearly, and lays out excellently this gulf,
and those that populate it,
Ma dimmi: quei de la palude pingue,
che mena il vento, e che batte la pioggia,
e che s'incontran con sì aspre lingue,
but tell me why those of the great marsh,
those whom the wind drives, and the rain beats,
and those who come together with sharp words,
perché non dentro da la città roggia
sono ei puniti, se Dio li ha in ira?
e se non li ha, perché sono a tal foggia?».
are not punished in the burning city,
if God’s anger is directed towards them?
And if not why they are in such a state?
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Ed elli a me «Perché tanto delira»,
disse, «lo 'ngegno tuo da quel che sòle?
o ver la mente dove altrove mira?
And he to me: Why does your mind err
so much more than usual?,
or are your thoughts somewhere else?
101
Non ti rimembra di quelle parole
con le quai la tua Etica pertratta
le tre disposizion che 'l ciel non vole,
Do you not remember the words with which
your Aristotelian Ethics speaks
of the three natures that Heaven does not will:
ARISTOTELIAN ETHICS: NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS. SEE 7 1 ‘...THOSE QUALITIES OF CHARACTER TO BE AVOIDED, WHICH MAY BE
TAKEN AS THREE IN NUMBER & WE CALL THEM INCONTINENCE ( = LACK OF SELF-CONTROL), BRUTISHNESS OR BESTIALITY ( =
VIOLENCE) & VICE ( = FRAUD).’. SEE ALSO 7 6: ‘...IT IS THOUGHT MORE EXCUSABLE TO FOLLOW THE NATURAL IMPULSES, WHICH
ALL MEN FEEL, THAN THOSE WHICH ARE PECULIAR TO CERTAIN PERSONS....BESTIALITY IS A LESSER EVIL THAN VICE.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
incontenenza, malizia e la matta
bestialitade? e come incontenenza
men Dio offende e men biasimo accatta?
incontinence, prodigality, malice and mad
brutishness, and how incontinence offends God less
and incurs less blame?
DANTE REMEMBERS AND NOTES.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C11 82 / DANTE
INF C11 82 / KLINE
incontenenza, malizia e la matta
incontinence, malice and mad brutishness,
VIRGIL (VOICE):
bestialitade? e come incontenenza
men Dio offende e men biasimo accatta?
and how incontinence prodigality offends God less
and incurs less blame?
Se tu riguardi ben questa sentenza,
e rechiti a la mente chi son quelli
che sù di fuor sostegnon penitenza,
If you consider this doctrine correctly,
and recall to mind who those are,
that suffer punishment out there, above,
tu vedrai ben perché da questi felli
sien dipartiti, e perché men crucciata
la divina vendetta li martelli».
DANTE (VOICE):
you will see, easily, why they are separated
from these destructive spirits, and why
why divine justice strikes them with less anger.
&
DANTE (VOICE):
«O sol che sani ogne vista turbata,
I said: O Sun, that heals all troubled sight, you
tu mi contenti sì quando tu solvi,
make me so content when you explain to me,
che, non men che saver, dubbiar m'aggrata. that to question is as delightful as to know.
DANTE (VOICE):
Ancora in dietro un poco ti rivolvi»,
diss' io, «là dove di' ch'usura offende
la divina bontade, e 'l groppo solvi».
Go back a moment, to where you said
that usury offends divine goodness,
and unravel that knot.
THEY COME DOWN THE →L→ .
VIRGIL:
«Filosofia», mi disse, «a chi la 'ntende,
nota, non pure in una sola parte,
come natura lo suo corso prende
He said to me: To him who attends,
Philosophy shows, in more than one place,
how Nature takes her path
DANTE notes:
INF C11 97 / DANTE
«Filosofia», mi disse, «a chi la 'ntende,
He said to me: To him who attends,
Philosophy shows, in more than one place,
102
VIRGIL:
INF C11 100-102 / DANTE
INF C11 100-102 / KLINE
dal divino 'ntelletto e da sua arte;
e se tu ben la tua Fisica note,
tu troverai, non dopo molte carte,
from the Divine Intelligence, and its arts,
and if you note your Physics well,
you will find, not many pages in,
YOUR PHYSICS: ARISTOTLE’S PHYSICS 2 2 ‘.. IF ART MIMICS NATURE.’
INF C11 103-105 / DANTE
che l'arte vostra quella, quanto pote,
segue, come 'l maestro fa 'l discente;
sì che vostr' arte a Dio quasi è nepote.
that art, follows her, as well as it can,
as the pupil does the master, so that
your art is as it were the grandchild of God.
INF C11 106-108 / DANTE
Da queste due, se tu ti rechi a mente
lo Genesì dal principio, convene
prender sua vita e avanzar la gente;
By these two, art and nature, man must earn
his bread and flourish, if you recall to mind
Genesis, near its beginning.
INF C11 109-111 / DANTE
e perché l'usuriere altra via tene,
per sé natura e per la sua seguace
dispregia, poi ch'in altro pon la spene.
Because the usurer holds to another course,
he denies Nature, in herself, and in that which
follows her ways, putting his hopes elsewhere.
VIRGIL SPEAKS AS IF DANTE HAS BEEN DELAYING HIM.
VIRGIL:
INF C11 112-114 / DANTE
INF C11 112-114 / KLINE
Ma seguimi oramai che 'l gir mi piace;
ché i Pesci guizzan su per l'orizzonta,
e 'l Carro tutto sovra 'l Coro giace,
But follow me, now, by the path I choose,
for Pisces quivers on the horizon, and all
Boötes covers Caurus, the north-west wind,
QUIVERS ON THE HORIZON: BY DEDUCTION, IT IS NEAR DAWN ON SATURDAY.
INF C11 115 / DANTE
e 'l balzo via là oltra si dismonta».
and over there, some way, we descend. the cliff.
DANTE:
INF C11 112-114 / DANTE
INF C11 112-114 / KLINE
Ma seguimi oramai che 'l gir mi piace;
ché i Pesci guizzan su per l'orizzonta,
e 'l Carro tutto sovra 'l Coro giace,
But follow me, now, by the path I choose,
for Pisces quivers on the horizon,
and all Boötes covers Caurus, the north-west wind,
INF C11 115 / DANTE
e 'l balzo via là oltra si dismonta».
and over there, some way, we descend the cliff.
THEY DESCEND AGAIN BY THE →R→ .
CANTO 12
THE MINOTAUR
DANTE EMERGES ON THE →L→
AND SPEAKS TO THE AUDIENCE WITH MUCH BODY-WORK.
103
DANTE:
INF C12 1-3 / DANTE
INF C12 1-3 / KLINE
Era lo loco ov' a scender la riva
The place we reached to climb down the bank
venimmo, alpestro e, per quel che v'er' anco, was craggy, and, because of the creature there,
tal, ch'ogne vista ne sarebbe schiva.
also, a path that every eye would shun.
INF C12 4-6 / DANTE
Qual è quella ruina che nel fianco
di qua da Trento l'Adice percosse,
o per tremoto o per sostegno manco,
The descent of that rocky precipice was like
the landslide that struck the left bank of the Adige,
this side of Trento, caused by an earthquake
INF C12 7-9 / DANTE
che da cima del monte, onde si mosse,
al piano è sì la roccia discoscesa,
ch'alcuna via darebbe a chi sù fosse:
or a faulty buttress, since the rock is so shattered,
from the summit of the mountain,
where it started, to the plain,
cotal di quel burrato era la scesa;
e 'n su la punta de la rotta lacca
l'infamïa di Creti era distesa
that it might form a route, for someone above:
and at the top of the broken gully,
the infamy of Crete, the Minotaur,
che fu concetta ne la falsa vacca;
e quando vide noi, sé stesso morse,
himself,
sì come quei cui l'ira dentro fiacca.
conceived on Pasiphaë, in the wooden cow,
lay stretched out. When he saw us he gnawed
like someone consumed by anger inside.
PASIPHAË: WIFE OF MINOS OF CRETE & MOTHER OF THE MINOTAUR, ASTERION, WHOM SHE CONCEIVED, CONCEALED IN A
WOODEN FRAMEWORK MADE TO LOOK LIKE A HEIFER, WITH A WHITE BULL FROM THE SEA.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 12 / DANTE
INF C12 12 / KLINE
l'infamïa di Creti era distesa
the The infamy of Crete, the Minotaur,
che fu concetta ne la falsa vacca;
e quando vide noi, sé stesso morse,
sì come quei cui l'ira dentro fiacca.
conceived on Pasiphaë, in the wooden cow, lay
stretched out. When he saw us he gnawed himself,
like someone consumed by anger inside.
VIRGIL HAS EMERGED. DANTE PROMPTS HIM TWICE TO ACT OUT HIS EARLIER GOADING OF THE
MINOTAUR.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C12 16 / DANTE
INF C12 16 / KLINE
Lo savio mio inver' lui gridò: «Forse
My wise guide called to him: Perhaps you think
VIRGIL:
Lo savio mio inver' lui gridò: «Forse
tu credi che qui sia 'l duca d'Atene,
che sù nel mondo la morte ti porse?
My wise guide called to him: Perhaps you think
that Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is here, who
brought about your death, in the world above?
VIRGIL STOPS AND DANTE PROMPTS HIM.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 19 / DANTE
INF C12 19 / KLINE
Pàrtiti, bestia, ché questi non vene
Leave here, monstrous creature.
104
VIRGIL:
Pàrtiti, bestia, ché questi non vene
ammaestrato da la tua sorella,
ma vassi per veder le vostre pene».
Leave here, monstrous creature. This man
does not come here, aided by your sister, Ariadne,
but passes through to see the punishments.
Like a bull, breaking loose, at the moment when it receives the fatal blow, that cannot go forward, but plunges here
and there,
vid' io lo Minotauro far cotale;
e quello accorto gridò: «Corri al varco;
mentre ch'e' 'nfuria, è buon che tu ti cale».
so I saw the Minotaur, and my cautious guide cried:
Run to the passage: while he is in a fury,
it is time for you to descend.
So we made our way, downwards, over the landslide of stones, that often shifted beneath my feet, from the
unaccustomed weight.
THEY WALK AND DANTE LOOKS INTO THE BACKSTAGE GLOOM.
VIRGIL:
Io gia pensando; e quei disse: «Tu pensi
forse a questa ruina, ch'è guardata
da quell' ira bestial ch'i' ora spensi.
I went thoughtfully, and he said: Perhaps you are
contemplating this fallen mass of rock, guarded
by the bestial anger that I quelled a moment ago.
Or vo' che sappi che l'altra fïata
ch'i' discesi qua giù nel basso inferno,
questa roccia non era ancor cascata.
I would have you know that the The previous time
I came down here to the deep Inferno,
this spill had not yet fallen.
Ma certo poco pria, se ben discerno,
che venisse colui che la gran preda
levò a Dite del cerchio superno,
But, if I discern the truth, the deep and loathsome
valley, shook, not long before He
came to take the great ones of the highest circle,
HE: CHRIST
da tutte parti l'alta valle feda
tremò sì, ch'i' pensai che l'universo
sentisse amor, per lo qual è chi creda
so that I thought the universe
thrilled with love, by which
as some believe
AS SOME BELIEVE: EMPEDOCLES
DANTE notes:
da tutte parti l'alta valle feda
tremò sì, ch'i' pensai che l'universo
sentisse amor, per lo qual è chi creda
so that I thought the universe
thrilled with love, by which
as some believe
VIRGIL:
più volte il mondo in caòsso converso;
e in quel punto questa vecchia roccia,
qui e altrove, tal fece riverso.
the world has often been overwhelmed by chaos.
In that moment ancient rocks,
here and elsewhere, tumbled.
THE CENTAURS
105
Ma ficca li occhi a valle, ché s'approccia
la riviera del sangue in la qual bolle
qual che per vïolenza in altrui noccia».
But fix your gaze on the valley, because
we near the river of blood, in which
those who injure others by violence are boiled.
DANTE GAZES FOR A WHILE.
See later.
O blind desires, evil and foolish, which so goad us in our brief life, and then, in the eternal one, ruin us so bitterly!
DANTE:
Io vidi un'ampia fossa in arco torta,
come quella che tutto 'l piano abbraccia,
secondo ch'avea detto la mia scorta;
I saw see a wide canal bent in an arc, looking
as if it surrounded surrounds the whole plain.,
from what my guide had told me. Centaurs are
were racing,
e tra 'l piè de la ripa ed essa, in traccia
corrien centauri, armati di saette,
come solien nel mondo andare a caccia.
one behind another, between it and the foot
of the bank, armed with weapons,
as they were accustomed to hunt on earth.
Seeing us descend they all stood still, and three, elected leaders, came from the group, armed with bows and spears.
DANTE VERSIFIES UNTIL HE IS RUDELY INTERRUPTED BY A SHOUT FROM THE UNSEEN NESSUS [INF C12 5861].
DANTE:
Oh cieca cupidigia e ira folle,
che sì ci sproni ne la vita corta,
e ne l'etterna poi sì mal c'immolle!
O blind desires, evil and foolish,
which so goad us in our brief life,
and then, in the eternal one, ruin us so bitterly!
Io vidi un'ampia fossa in arco torta,
come quella che tutto 'l piano abbraccia,
secondo ch'avea detto la mia scorta;
I saw a wide canal bent in an arc, looking
as if it surrounded the whole plain, from what
my guide had told me. Centaurs were racing,
e tra 'l piè de la ripa ed essa, in traccia
corrien centauri, armati di saette,
come solien nel mondo andare a caccia.
one behind another, between it and the foot
of the bank, armed with weapons,
as they were accustomed to hunt on earth.
NESSUS (VOICE):
e l'un gridò da lungi: «A qual martiro
What
venite voi che scendete la costa?
Ditel costinci; se non, l'arco tiro».
bow.
And one of them shouted from the distance:
torment do you come for, you that descend the
rampart? Speak from there, if not, I draw the
106
NESSUS MYTHICAL AGE : *?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY. FIERCE SPEECH.
NESSUS: A CENTAUR, SON OF IXION, KILLED BY HERCULES, WITH AN ARROW POISONED WITH THE HYDRA’S BLOOD, FOR HIS
ATTEMPT TO STEAL & RAPE DEIANIRA. HE DIPPED HIS FATAL SHIRT IN HIS OWN, POISONED, BLOOD & GAVE IT AS A GIFT (A
SUPPOSED LOVE CHARM) TO DEIANIRA, WHO THEREBY, UNWITTINGLY, BROUGHT ABOUT HERCULES’S DEATH.
VIRGIL SHOUTS BACK.
VIRGIL:
Lo mio maestro disse: «La risposta
farem noi a Chirón costà di presso:
mal fu la voglia tua sempre sì tosta».
My Master said: We will make our reply
to Chiron, who is there, nearby.
Sadly, your nature was always rash.
CHIRON (KI-RON): WISE CENTAUR, SON OF SATURN & PHILYRA, TO WHOM APOLLO ENTRUSTED HIS SON AESCULAPIUS & WHO
VARIOUSLY REARED JASON & ACHILLES.
VIRGIL, STANDING NEARER THE CENTAURS, TOUCHES DANTE AND POINTS.
VIRGIL:
Poi mi tentò, e disse: «Quelli è Nesso,
who
che morì per la bella Deianira,
e fé di sé la vendetta elli stesso.
Then he touched me, and said: That is Nessus,
died because of his theft of the lovely Deianira,
and, for his blood, took vengeance, through his
blood.
E quel di mezzo, ch'al petto si mira,
è il gran Chirón, il qual nodrì Achille;
quell' altro è Folo, che fu sì pien d'ira.
He, in the centre, whose head is bowed to his chest,
is the great Chiron, who nursed Achilles:
the other is Pholus, who was so full of rage.
PHOLUS: A CENTAUR WHO ENTERTAINED HERCULES & WAS ACCIDENTALLY KILLED BY ONE OF HIS ARROWS. HE WAS PRESENT
AT THE BATTLE OF THE LAPITHS & CENTAURS.
DANTE TAKES OUT HIS STYLUS AND DROPS IT. WHILE TRYING TO PICK IT UP HE KICKS IT AWAY.
VIRGIL:
Dintorno al fosso vanno a mille a mille,
saettando qual anima si svelle
del sangue più che sua colpa sortille».
They race around the ditch, in thousands,
piercing with arrows any spirit that climbs further
from the blood than its guilt has condemned it to.
We drew near the swift creatures. Chiron took an arrow, and pushed back his beard from his face with the notched
flight.
THE UNSEEN CENTAURS ARE NOW CLOSE.
CHIRON (VOICE):
Quando s'ebbe scoperta la gran bocca,
disse a' compagni: «Siete voi accorti
che quel di retro move ciò ch'el tocca?
When he had uncovered his huge mouth,
he said to his companions: Have you noticed
that the one behind moves whatever he touches?
107
CHIRON MYTHICAL AGE : *?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
Così non soglion far li piè d'i morti».
E 'l mio buon duca, che già li er' al petto,
part,
dove le due nature son consorti,
The feet of dead men do not usually do so.
And my good guide, who was by Chiron’s front
where the two natures join, replied:
VIRGIL:
rispuose: «Ben è vivo, e sì soletto
mostrar li mi convien la valle buia;
necessità 'l ci 'nduce, e non diletto.
He is truly alive, and, alone,
I have to show him the dark valley.
Necessity brings him here, and not desire.
Tal si partì da cantare alleluia
che mi commise quest' officio novo:
non è ladron, né io anima fuia.
She, who gave me this new duty,
came from singing Alleluiahs:
he is no thief: nor am I a wicked spirit.
Ma per quella virtù per cu' io movo
li passi miei per sì selvaggia strada,
danne un de' tuoi, a cui noi siamo a provo,
But, by that virtue, by means of which I set
my feet on so unsafe a path,
lend us one of your people whom we can follow,
e che ne mostri là dove si guada,
e che porti costui in su la groppa,
ché non è spirto che per l'aere vada».
so that he may show us where the ford is,
and carry this one over on his back,
since he cannot fly as a spirit through the air.
Chiron twisted to his right, and said to Nessus: Turn, and guide them, then, and if another crew meet you, keep them
off.
VIRGIL LOOKS IN A DIRECTION APPARENTLY POINTED OUT BY CHIRON. HE RAISES HIS ARM IN THANKS
AND MOVES OFF WITH DANTE. THEY WALK, PERHAPS AFTER DESCENDING THE →R→ , BESIDE THE
STREAM.
THE BLOODY STREAM
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT
**********
INF C12 96
Not Miserable Mode because Dante describes the human action.
DANTE WALKS ALONG THE STREAM, SPEAKING TO THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
INF C12 100-102 / DANTE
INF C12 100-102 / KLINE
Or ci movemmo con la scorta fida
lungo la proda del bollor vermiglio,
dove i bolliti facieno alte strida.
We moved onwards with our trustworthy guide,
along Along the margin of the crimson boiling,
in which the boiled were shrieking loudly.
108
INF C12 103-105 / DANTE
INF C12 103-105 / KLINE
Io vidi gente sotto infino al ciglio;
e 'l gran centauro disse: «E' son tiranni
che dier nel sangue e ne l'aver di piglio.
I saw see people immersed as far as the eyebrows,
and the great Centaur said: These are tyrants
who indulged in blood, and rapine.
SOME WORDS FROM [INF C12 103-138] ORIGINALLY SPOKEN BY NESSUS.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 106-108 / DANTE
INF C12 106-108 / KLINE
Quivi si piangon li spietati danni;
quivi è Alessandro, e Dïonisio fero
che fé Cicilia aver dolorosi anni.
Here they lament their offences, done without
mercy. Here is Alexander, and fierce Dionysius of
Syracuse who gave Sicily years of pain.
DIONYSIUS OF SYRACUSE: THE ELDER, TYRANT OF SYRACUSE (405-367 BC). HE LED THE GREEK CITIES OF SICILY IN
RESISTANCE TO THE CARTHAGINIANS.
INF C12 109-111 / DANTE
INF C12 109-111 / KLINE
E quella fronte c'ha 'l pel così nero,
è Azzolino; e quell' altro ch'è biondo,
è Opizzo da Esti, il qual per vero
That head of black hair is Azzolino,
and the other, which is blonde,
is Obizzo da Este, whose life
AZZOLINO (EZZELLINO) III DA ROMANO, THE TYRANT (1194-1259): LORD OF VERONA, VICENZA & PADUA, CALLED ‘THE
SON OF THE DEVIL’, IMPERIAL VICAR UNDER FREDERICK II. POPE ALEXANDER IV DECLARED A CRUSADE AGAINST HIM & HE
WAS DEFEATED AT CASSANO ON THE ADDA & SUBSEQUENTLY DIED. HE WAS THE HEAD OF THE GHIBELLINES IN NORTHERN
ITALY.
OBIZZO DA ESTE, OBIZZO II OF ESTE, FOURTH MARQUIS OF FERRARA, WHO HAD LED THE GUELPH CRUSADERS AGAINST
EZZELINO. OBIZZO, DYING IN 1293, WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY HIS SON & SUCCESSOR AZZO VIII (FROM 12931308), WHOM DANTE CALLS HIS STEPSON IN REFERENCE TO THE UNNATURAL NATURE OF THE CRIME. HIS DAUGHTER
BEATRICE MARRIED NINO DE’ VISCONTI OF PISA, THEN GALEOZZO VISCONTI OF MILAN.
DANTE versifies:
INF C12 106-108 / DANTE
INF C12 106-108 / KLINE
Quivi si piangon li spietati danni;
quivi è Alessandro, e Dïonisio fero
che fé Cicilia aver dolorosi anni.
Here they lament their offences, done without
mercy. Here is Alexander, and fierce Dionysius of
Syracuse who gave Sicily years of pain.
INF C12 109-111 / DANTE
INF C12 109-111 / KLINE
E quella fronte c'ha 'l pel così nero,
è Azzolino; e quell' altro ch'è biondo,
è Opizzo da Esti, il qual per vero
That head of black hair is Azzolino,
and the other, which is blonde,
is Obizzo da Este, whose life
INF C12 112-114 / DANTE
fu spento dal figliastro sù nel mondo.
Allor mi volsi al poeta, e quei disse:
«Questi ti sia or primo, e io secondo».
was quenched, in truth, by his stepson, up in the
world. Then I turned to the poet, and he said:
‘Let him guide you first, now, and I second.’
INF C12 115-117 / DANTE
A little further on, Nessus paused, next to people who seemed to be sunk in the boiling stream up to their throat.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 118-120 / DANTE
INF C12 118-120 / KLINE
Mostrocci un'ombra da l'un canto sola,
dicendo: «Colui fesse in grembo a Dio
lo cor che 'n su Tamisi ancor si cola».
He showed us a shade, apart by itself, saying: That
one, Guy de Montfort, in God’s church, pierced
that heart that is still venerated by the Thames
– Henry’s, the nephew of the king.
GUY DE MONTFORT: SON OF SIMON DE MONTFORT, EARL OF LEICESTER. HE AVENGED THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER AT THE
BATTLE OF EVESHAM (1265) WHERE EDWARD (LATER EDWARD I) DEFEATED THE ENGLISH BARONS, WHEN, IN 1271, WHILE
VICAR GENERAL OF TUSCANY HE MURDERED HENRY, HIS COUSIN, THE SON OF RICHARD, EARL OF CORNWALL, THE NEPHEW
OF THE ENGLISH KING, IN THE CHURCH OF SAN SILVESTRO AT VITERBO. HENRY’S HEART WAS PLACED IN A GOLD CASKET &
SET ON A PILLAR BY LONDON BRIDGE, OR IN THE HAND OF HIS STATUE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
INF C12 121-123 / KLINE
Then I saw others, who held their heads and all their chests, likewise, free of the river: and I knew many of these.
INF C12 124-126 / DANTE
INF C12 124-126 / KLINE
Così a più a più si facea basso
quel sangue, sì che cocea pur li piedi;
e quindi fu del fosso il nostro passo.
So the The blood grew grows shallower and
shallower, until it only cooked cooks their feet,
and here was is our ford through the ditch.
VIRGIL CROSSES THE FORD, FOLLOWED BY DANTE, WHO VERSIFIES.
109
DANTE:
INF C12 124-126 / DANTE
INF C12 124-126 / KLINE
Così a più a più si facea basso
quel sangue, sì che cocea pur li piedi;
e quindi fu del fosso il nostro passo.
So the blood grew shallower and shallower,
until it only cooked their feet,
and here was our ford through the ditch.
INF C12 127-129 / KLINE
The Centaur said: As you see the boiling stream continually diminishing, on this side, so, on the other,
INF C12 130-132 / DANTE
che da quest' altra a più a più giù prema
lo fondo suo, infin ch'el si raggiunge
ove la tirannia convien che gema.
it sinks more and more,
till it comes again to where tyrants
are doomed to grieve.
THEY TURN AND RECROSS THE FORD.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 133-135 / DANTE
INF C12 133-135 / KLINE
La divina giustizia di qua punge
quell' Attila che fu flagello in terra,
e Pirro e Sesto; e in etterno munge
Divine Justice here torments Attila, the scourge
of the earth; and Pyrrhus,
and Sextus Pompeius; and for eternity
ATTILA THE HUN, THE SCOURGE OF GOD (FLAGELLUM DEI), KING OF THE HUNS (433-453): ADVANCED INTO THE EASTERN
ROMAN EMPIRE & ON TO THE WEST, BUT WAS TURNED BACK AT CHALÔNS IN THE BATTLE OF THE CATALAUNIAN FIELDS IN
451. HE RETREATED TO HUNGARY (THE PLAINS OF TISZA) & DIED THERE. THE HISTORIANS, & DANTE, CONFUSED HIM WITH
TOTILA, THE LEADER OF THE GOTHS, WHO REPUTEDLY SACKED FLORENCE. TOTILA GAINED ITALY (542-552) EXCLUDING
RAVENNA & RESISTED BELISARIUS FROM 544 TO 549, BUT DIED FIGHTING NARSES AT TADINAE.
PYRRHUS: NEOPTOLEMUS, CALLED PYRRHUS, WHO KILLED PRIAM & SACRIFICED POLYXENA ON ACHILLES’S GRAVE. VIRGIL
STRESSES HIS CRUELTY IN AENEID 2 469.
SEXTUS POMPEIUS: SON OF POMPEY THE GREAT. DEFEATED BY JULIUS CAESAR AT MUNDA IN 45 BC & BY OCTAVIAN’S
(AUGUSTUS’S) ADMIRAL AGRIPPA AT MYLAE & NAULOCHUS OFF SICILY IN 36 BC. LUCAN GIVES HIM A VERY BAD PRESS.
INF C12 136-138 / DANTE
le lagrime, che col bollor diserra,
a Rinier da Corneto, a Rinier Pazzo,
che fecero a le strade tanta guerra».
milks tears, produced by the boiling,
from Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo,
who made war on the highways.
RINIER DA CORNETO: A NOTORIOUS HIGHWAYMAN OF DANTE’S TIME.
DANTE FOLLOWS DANTE AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C12 136-138 / DANTE
INF C12 136-138 / KLINE
le lagrime, che col bollor diserra,
a Rinier da Corneto, a Rinier Pazzo,
che fecero a le strade tanta guerra».
milks tears, produced by the boiling,
from Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo,
who made war on the highways.
RINIER DA CORNETO: A NOTORIOUS HIGHWAYMAN OF DANTE’S TIME.
INF C12 139 / DANTE
Poi si rivolse e ripassossi 'l guazzo.
CANTO 13
HARPY WOOD
Then he turned back, and recrossed the ford.
110
♫
HARPIES + SOULS
BOUM, BELLUM + SIGHS, MURMURINGS OF SOULS IN TREES
**********
In the Aeneid, Harpies predict future tribulations for the Trojans. (My emphases)
una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno,
infelix uates, rumpitque hanc pectore uocem;
'bellum etiam pro caede boum stratisque iuuencis,
Laomedontiadae, bellumne inferre paratis
et patrio Harpyias insontis pellere regno?
accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta,
quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo
praedixit, uobis Furiarum ego maxima pando.
Italiam cursu petitis uentisque uocatis:
ibitis Italiam portusque intrare licebit.
sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem
quam uos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis
ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.
Only Celaeno, ominous prophetess, settles on a high cliff,
and bursts out with this sound from her breast:
“Are you ready to bring war to us, sons of Laomedon, is it war,
for the cows you killed, the bullocks you slaughtered,
driving the innocent Harpies from their father’s country?
Take these words of mine to your hearts then, and set them there.
I, the eldest of the Furies, reveal to you what the all-powerful
Father prophesied to Apollo, and Phoebus Apollo to me.
Italy is the path you take, and, invoking the winds,
you shall go to Italy, and enter her harbours freely:
but you will not surround the city granted you with walls
until dire hunger, and the sin of striking at us, force you
to consume your very tables with devouring jaws.”
Their cries here are distillations of these:
Laomedontiadae…boum…bellum…fames…mensae
Boum, bellum…boum, bellum…boum, bellum…boum bellum…
louder or softer as the Harpies dive or soar away.
DANTE AND VIRGIL WALK THROUGH SEMI-DARKNESS. DANTE LOOKS ABOUT HIM, NOTES AND SPEAKS.
DANTE:
INF C13 1-3 / DANTE
INF C13 1-3 / KLINE
Non era ancor di là Nesso arrivato,
quando noi ci mettemmo per un bosco
che da neun sentiero era segnato.
Nessus had not yet returned to the other side,
when we We entered a wood,
unmarked by any path.
INF C13 4-6 / DANTE
Non fronda verde, ma di color fosco;
non rami schietti, ma nodosi e 'nvolti;
non pomi v'eran, ma stecchi con tòsco.
The foliage was not green, but a dusky colour:
the branches were not smooth, but warped and
knotted: there were no fruits there, but poisonous
thorns.
DANTE notes:
INF C13 4-6 / DANTE
INF C13 4-6 / KLINE
Non fronda verde, ma di color fosco;
non rami schietti, ma nodosi e 'nvolti;
non pomi v'eran, ma stecchi con tòsco.
The foliage was not green, but a dusky colour:
the branches were not smooth, but warped and
knotted: there were no fruits there, but poisonous
thorns.
DANTE:
INF C13 7-9 / DANTE
INF C13 7-9 / KLINE
Non han sì aspri sterpi né sì folti
quelle fiere selvagge che 'n odio hanno
tra Cecina e Corneto i luoghi cólti.
The wild beasts, that hate the cultivated fields,
in the Tuscan Maremma, between Cecina and
Corneto, have lairs less thick and tangled.
DANTE LOOKS UP AT INVISIBLE HARPIES.
111
DANTE:
Quivi le brutte Arpie lor nidi fanno,
che cacciar de le Strofade i Troiani
con tristo annunzio di futuro danno.
Here the brutish Harpies make their nests,
they who chased the Trojans from the Strophades,
with dismal pronouncements of future tribulations.
Ali hanno late, e colli e visi umani,
faces,
piè con artigli, e pennuto 'l gran ventre;
fanno lamenti in su li alberi strani.
They have broad wings, and human necks and
clawed feet, and large feathered bellies.,
and they make mournful cries in that strange wood.
The kind Master said: ‘Before you go further, be aware you are in the second ring, and will be until you come to the
dreadful sands. So look carefully, and you will see things that might make you mistrust my words.’ Already I heard
sighs on every side, and saw no one to make them, at which, I stood totally bewildered.
♫
HARPIES FAINT OR OCCASIONAL; SIGHS, MURMURINGS LOUDER
**********
INF C13 25
DANTE LOOKS AROUND FOR THE SOURCE. VIRGIL LOOKS AT DANTE AND MOVES OFF A LITTLE. DANTE
SPEAKS TO THE AUDIENCE AND TURNS AWAY.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
Cred' ïo ch'ei credette ch'io credesse
che tante voci uscisser, tra quei bronchi,
trees,
da gente che per noi si nascondesse.
I think that he thought that I was thinking
that many of those voices came from among the
from people who hid themselves because of us.
VIRGIL STEPS UP BEHIND HIM.
VIRGIL:
Però disse 'l maestro: «Se tu tronchi
qualche fraschetta d'una d'este piante,
li pensier c'hai si faran tutti monchi».
So the Master said: If you break a little twig
from one of these branches,
the thoughts you have will be seen to be in error.
VIRGIL’S BODY PREVENTS THE AUDIENCE FROM SEEING WHAT DANTE’S HAND DOES.
THE ITALIAN IS A SHRIEK. THE ENGLISH IS BREATHY AND SIGHING.
TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE (VOICE): & TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE (VOICE):
Allor porsi la mano un poco avante
e colsi un ramicel da un gran pruno;
e 'l tronco suo gridò: Perché mi schiante?
Then I stretched my hand out a little, and broke
a small branch from a large thorn,
and its trunk cried out: Why do you tear at me?
112
PIER DELLE VIGNE 1190? - 1249 AGE : 59?
BORN AT CAPUA IN THE PROVINCE OF CASERTA. HE WAS BORN POOR SO IS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE SPOKEN A
DIALECT. EDUCATED SPEECH.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
PIER DELLE VIGNE: CHANCELLOR OF THE TWO SICILIES & MINISTER TO THE EMPEROR FREDERICK II. HE RECAST THE LAWS
& WAS IN FREDERICK’S CONFIDENCE UNTIL 1247, WHEN HE WAS ACCUSED OF PLOTTING WITH POPE INNOCENT IV, WAS
BLINDED & IMPRISONED, SUBSEQUENTLY COMMITTING SUICIDE. HE WAS BORN IN POVERTY IN CAPUA. HE WAS A POET & SAID
TO HAVE COMPOSED THE FIRST ITALIAN SONNET. HE WAS COMPARED, AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS POWER, TO ST PETER, HOLDING
THE KEYS OF PUNISHMENT & MERCY.
TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE (VOICE):
Da che fatto fu poi di sangue bruno,
ricominciò a dir: «Perché mi scerpi?»
non hai tu spirto di pietade alcuno?
And when it had grown dark with blood, it began
to cry out again: Perché mi scerpi?...Why do you
splinter me? Have you no breath of pity?
Uomini fummo, e or siam fatti sterpi:
ben dovrebb' esser la tua man più pia,
se state fossimo anime di serpi».
Uomini fummo…We were men, and we are
changed to trees: truly, your hand would be more
merciful, if we were merely the souls of snakes.
Just as a green branch, burning at one end, spits and hisses with escaping air at the other, so from that broken wood,
blood and words came out together: at which I let the branch fall, and stood, like a man afraid.
DANTE, HORRIFIED, RETREATS OUT OF SIGHT. VIRGIL ADDRESSES THE TRUNK./.PIER DELLE VIGNE.
VIRGIL:
«S'elli avesse potuto creder prima»,
rispuose 'l savio mio, «anima lesa,
ciò c'ha veduto pur con la mia rima,
My wise sage replied: Wounded spirit,
if he had only believed, before,
what he had read in my verse
VIRGIL:
&
VIRGIL:
conatus, ramis tegerem ut frondentibus aras,
horrendum et dictu uideo mirabile monstrum.
nam quae prima solo ruptis radicibus arbos
uellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttae
et terram tabo maculant. mihi frigidus horror
to decorate the altar with leafy branches, I saw
a wonder, dreadful and marvellous to tell of.
From the first bush, its broken roots
torn from the ground, drops of dark blood dripped,
and stained the earth with fluid.
non averebbe in te la man distesa;
ma la cosa incredibile mi fece
indurlo ad ovra ch'a me stesso pesa.
he would not have lifted his hand to you,
but the incredible nature of the thing
made me urge him to do what grieves me.
VIRGIL CONTINUES AS DANTE RETURNS.
VIRGIL:
Ma dilli chi tu fosti, sì che 'n vece
d'alcun' ammenda tua fama rinfreschi
nel mondo sù, dove tornar li lece».
But tell him who you were, so that he might
make you some amends, and renew your fame
up in the world, to which he is allowed to return.
TRUNK./.PIER DELLE VIGNE SPEAKS AND DANTE HOLDS HIS NERVE.
113
E 'l tronco: «Sì col dolce dir m'adeschi,
ch'i' non posso tacere; e voi non gravi
perch' ïo un poco a ragionar m'inveschi.
And the tree replied: You tempt me so,
with your sweet words, that I cannot keep silent,
but do not object if I am expansive in speech.
Io son colui che tenni ambo le chiavi
del cor di Federigo, e che le volsi,
serrando e diserrando, sì soavi,
I am Pier delle Vigne, who held both the keys
to Frederick’s heart, and employed them,
locking and unlocking, so quietly,
EMPEROR FREDERICK II, (1194-1250), ‘STUPOR MUNDI’, THE WONDER OF THE WORLD, BECAME KING OF SICILY & NAPLES IN
1197 & EMPEROR IN 1212. HE WAS CROWNED EMPEROR IN ROME IN 1220.
DANTE versifies:
Io son colui che tenni ambo le chiavi
del cor di Federigo, e che le volsi,
I am Pier delle Vigne, who held both the keys
to Frederick’s heart, and employed them,
che dal secreto suo quasi ogn' uom tolsi;
fede portai al glorïoso offizio,
tanto ch'i' ne perde' li sonni e ' polsi.
that I kept almost everyone else from his secrets.
I was so faithful to that glorious office
that through it I lost my sleep and my life.
La meretrice che mai da l'ospizio
di Cesare non torse li occhi putti,
morte comune e de le corti vizio,
The whore that never turned her eyes
from Caesar’s household, Envy,
the common disease and vice of courts,
infiammò contra me li animi tutti;
e li 'nfiammati infiammar sì Augusto,
che ' lieti onor tornaro in tristi lutti.
stirred all minds against me, and being stirred
they stirred Augustus, so that my fine honours
were changed to grievous sorrows.
L'animo mio, per disdegnoso gusto,
credendo col morir fuggir disdegno,
ingiusto fece me contra me giusto.
My spirit, in a scornful mode, thinking to escape
scorn by death, made me,
though I was just, unjust to myself.
Per le nove radici d'esto legno
vi giuro che già mai non ruppi fede
al mio segnor, che fu d'onor sì degno.
By the strange roots of this tree,
I swear to you, I never broke faith with my lord,
so worthy of honour.
E se di voi alcun nel mondo riede,
conforti la memoria mia, che giace
ancor del colpo che 'nvidia le diede».
TRUNK./.PIER DELLE VIGNE IS SILENT FOR A WHILE.
WRITES AND SPEAKS [INF C13 79-84].
If either of you return to the world,
raise and cherish the memory of me,
that still lies low from the blow Envy gave me.
DANTE LOOKS AT VIRGIL, MENTALLY COMPOSES,
DANTE:
Per le nove radici d'esto legno
vi giuro che già mai non ruppi fede
al mio segnor, che fu d'onor sì degno.
By the strange roots of this tree,
I swear to you, I never broke faith with my lord,
so worthy of honour.
E se di voi alcun nel mondo riede,
conforti la memoria mia, che giace
ancor del colpo che 'nvidia le diede».
If either of you return to the world,
raise and cherish the memory of me,
that still lies low from the blow Envy gave me.
114
The poet listened for a while, then said to me: ‘Since he is silent, do not lose the moment, but speak, and ask him to
tell you more.’ At which I said to him: ‘You ask him further, about what you think will interest me, because I could
not, such pity fills my heart.’
VIRGIL:
Perciò ricominciò: «Se l'om ti faccia
liberamente ciò che 'l tuo dir priega,
spirito incarcerato, ancor ti piaccia
So he continued: That the man may do freely what
your words request from him, imprisoned spirit,
be pleased
di dirne come l'anima si lega
in questi nocchi; e dinne, se tu puoi,
to tell us further how the spirits are caught in these
knots.: and tell us, if you can,
DANTE:
in questi nocchi; e dinne, se tu puoi,
s'alcuna mai di tai membra si spiega».
and And tell us, if you can, whether any of them
free themselves from these limbs.
[WORDS ORIGINALLY VIRGIL’S]
Allor soffiò il tronco forte, e poi
si convertì quel vento in cotal voce:
«Brievemente sarà risposto a voi.
My reply will be brief. Then the trunk
blew fiercely, and the breath
was turned to words like these:
TRUNK./.PIER DELLE VIGNE SPEAKS WHILE DANTE VERSIFIES./.INTERPRETS, ABOUT A VERSE BEHIND.
DANTE:
&
Quando si parte l'anima feroce
dal corpo ond' ella stessa s'è disvelta,
Minòs la manda a la settima foce.
When the savage spirit leaves the body,
from which it has ripped itself,
Minos sends it to the seventh gulf.
Cade in la selva, e non l'è parte scelta;
ma là dove fortuna la balestra,
quivi germoglia come gran di spelta.
It falls into this wood, and no place is set for it,
but, wherever chance hurls it, there it sprouts,
like a grain of German wheat,
INF C13 100-102 / DANTE
Surge in vermena e in pianta silvestra:
l'Arpie, pascendo poi de le sue foglie,
fanno dolore, e al dolor fenestra.
shoots up as a sapling, and then as a wild tree.
The Harpies feeding then on its leaves hurt it,
and give an outlet to its hurt.
INF C13 103-105 / DANTE
Come l'altre verrem per nostre spoglie,
ma non però ch'alcuna sen rivesta,
ché non è giusto aver ciò ch'om si toglie.
Like others we shall go to our corpses on the
Day of Judgement, but not so that any of us may
inhabit them again, because it would not be just to
have what we took from ourselves.
INF C13 106-108 / DANTE
Qui le strascineremo, e per la mesta
selva saranno i nostri corpi appesi,
ciascuno al prun de l'ombra sua molesta».
We shall drag them here, and our bodies
will be hung through the dismal wood,
each on the thorn-tree of its tormented shade.
INF C13 109-114 / KLINE
We were still listening to the tree, thinking it might tell us more, when we were startled by a noise, like those who
think the wild boar is nearing where they stand, and hear the animals and the crashing of branches.
115
♫
CHASE
**********
DANTE:
INF C13 115-117 / DANTE
INF C13 115-117 / KLINE
Ed ecco due da la sinistra costa,
nudi e graffiati, fuggendo sì forte,
che de la selva rompieno ogne rosta.
Ecco!…Behold!...on the left, two naked,
torn spirits, running
so hard they broke every thicket of the wood.
HE RUSHES OFF AND IS BACK IN A FEW SECONDS, PANTING.
DANTE:
INF C13 116-117 / DANTE
INF C13 116-117 / KLINE
nudi e graffiati, fuggendo sì forte,
che de la selva rompieno ogne rosta.
torn spirits, running
so hard they broke every thicket of the wood.
LANO’S VOICE COMES FROM 2 DIFFERENT PLACES.
LANO (VOICE):
LANO (VOICE):
INF C13 118-120 / DANTE
INF C13 118-120 / KLINE
Quel dinanzi: Or accorri, accorri, morte!
E l'altro, cui pareva tardar troppo,
gridava: «Lano, sì non furo accorte
The leader cried: Come Death, come now!
and the other, Jacomo,
who felt himself to be too slow cried:
----
--?
LANO MACONI *
? - 1288 AGE : *
SIENA.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
A MEMBER OF THE BRIGATA SPENDERECCIA, THE SPENDTHRIFT BRIGADE, A CLUB FOUNDED BY TWELVE WEALTHY SIENESE, IN
THE SECOND HALF OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, WHO VIED WITH EACH OTHER IN SQUANDERING THEIR MONEY ON RIOTOUS
LIVING. HE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF PIEVE DEL TOPPO WHERE THE ARETINES DEFEATED THE
SIENESE IN 1288.
JACOMO DA SANT’ ANDREA (VOICE)
INF C13 121-123 / DANTE
INF C13 121-123 / KLINE
le gambe tue a le giostre dal Toppo!».
E poi che forse li fallia la lena,
him,
di sé e d'un cespuglio fece un groppo.
Lano, your legs were not so swift at the jousts of
Toppo! And since perhaps his breath was failing
he merged himself with a bush.
JACOMO (GIACOMO) DA SANT’ ANDREA *----? - 1239? AGE : *--?
PADUA.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
HE WASTED HIS OWN & OTHERS’ FORTUNES, EMPLOYING ARSON & OTHER EXTRAORDINARY METHODS. APPARENTLY
EXECUTED BY EZZELINO DA ROMANO IN 1239, PRESUMABLY AFTER COURTING DEATH.
DANTE:
Lano Maconi of the Brigata Spendereccia, the
Sienese Spendthrift Brigade; and Jacomo da Sant’
Andrea, profligate arsonist.
116
THE CHASE MUSIC CEASES. DANTE LOOKS INTO THE SILENT DARKNESS WHERE LANO’S VOICE SOUNDED
FOR THE SECOND TIME. HE TURNS AND REPORTS.
DANTE:
INF C13 124-126 / DANTE
INF C13 124-126 / KLINE
Di rietro a loro era la selva piena
di nere cagne, bramose e correnti
come veltri ch'uscisser di catena.
The wood behind them was filled
with black bitch hounds, eager and quick
as greyhounds that have slipped the leash.
INF C13 127-129 / DANTE
In quel che s'appiattò miser li denti,
e quel dilaceraro a brano a brano;
poi sen portar quelle membra dolenti.
They clamped their teeth into Lano,
who squatted, and tore him bit by bit,
then carried off his miserable limbs.
HE PACES IN AGITATION AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C13 124-126 / DANTE
INF C13 124-126 / KLINE
Di rietro a loro era la selva piena
di nere cagne, bramose e correnti
come veltri ch'uscisser di catena.
The wood behind them was filled
with black bitch hounds, eager and quick
as greyhounds that have slipped the leash.
INF C13 127-129 / DANTE
In quel che s'appiattò miser li denti,
e quel dilaceraro a brano a brano;
poi sen portar quelle membra dolenti.
They clamped their teeth into Lano,
who squatted, and tore him bit by bit,
then carried off his miserable limbs.
INF C13 130-151 / KLINE
My guide now took me by the hand, and led me to the bush, which was grieving, in vain, through its bleeding
splinters, crying: ‘O Jacomo da Sant’ Andrea, what have you gained by making me your screen? What blame do I
have for your sinful life? When the Master had stopped next to it, he said: ‘Who were you, that breathe out your
mournful speech, with blood, through so many wounds? And he to us: ‘You spirits, who have come to view the
dishonourable mangling that has torn my leaves from me, gather them round the foot of this sad tree. I was of
Florence, that city, which changed Mars, its patron, for St John the Baptist, because of which that god, through his
powers, will always make it sorrowful. Were it not that some fragments of his statue remain where Ponte Vecchio
crosses the Arno, those citizens, who rebuilt it on the ashes Attila left, would have worked in vain. I made a gibbet
for myself, from my own roofbeam.’
DANTE AND VIRGIL DISAPPEAR BACKSTAGE.
CANTO 14
As the love of my native place stirred in me, I gathered up the scattered leaves, and gave them back to him who was
already hoarse. Then we came to the edge, where the second round is divided from the third, where a fearsome form
of justice is seen. To make these new things clear, I say we reached a plain, where the land repels all vegetation. The
mournful wood makes a circle round it, as the ditch surrounds the wood: here we stepped close to its very rim. The
ground was dry, thick sand, no different in form than that which Cato once trod.
DANTE COMES DOWN THE →L→
AND ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.
117
DANTE:
O vendetta di Dio, quanto tu dei
esser temuta da ciascun che legge
ciò che fu manifesto a li occhi mei!
O God’s vengeance, how what was shown
to my sight should be feared,
by all who read!
D'anime nude vidi molte gregge
che piangean tutte assai miseramente,
e parea posta lor diversa legge.
them.
I saw many groups of naked spirits,
who were all moaning bitterly:
and there seemed to be diverse rules applied to
Supin giacea in terra alcuna gente,
alcuna si sedea tutta raccolta,
e altra andava continüamente.
Some were lying face upward on the ground;
some sat all crouched:
and others roamed around continuously.
Quella che giva 'ntorno era più molta,
e quella men che giacëa al tormento,
ma più al duolo avea la lingua sciolta.
Those who moved were more numerous,
and those that lay in torment fewer,
but uttering louder cries of pain.
DANTE:
Sovra tutto 'l sabbion, d'un cader lento,
piovean di foco dilatate falde,
come di neve in alpe sanza vento.
Dilated flakes of fire, falling slowly,
like snow in the windless mountains,
rained down over all the vast sands.
Quali Alessandro in quelle parti calde
d'Indïa vide sopra 'l süo stuolo
fiamme cadere infino a terra salde,
Like the flames that Alexander saw falling,
in the hot zones of India, over all his army,
until they reached the ground,
per ch'ei provide a scalpitar lo suolo
con le sue schiere, acciò che lo vapore
mei si stingueva mentre ch'era solo:
fires that were more easily quenched while they
were separate, so that his troops took care
to trample the earth - like those,
tale scendeva l'etternale ardore;
onde la rena s'accendea, com' esca
sotto focile, a doppiar lo dolore.
fell this eternal heat, kindling the sand
like tinder beneath flint and steel,
doubling the pain.
Sanza riposo mai era la tresca
de le misere mani, or quindi or quinci
escotendo da sé l'arsura fresca.
The dance of their tortured hands
was never still, now here, now there,
shaking off the fresh burning.
DANTE:
Sanza riposo mai era la tresca
de le misere mani, or quindi or quinci
escotendo da sé l'arsura fresca.
The dance of their tortured hands
was never still, now here, now there,
shaking off the fresh burning.
VIRGIL COMES DOWN THE →L→ OR RETURNS FROM BACKSTAGE. DANTE POINTS TO A SPIRIT LYING IN
NEAR-DARKNESS AT THE SIDE OF THE STAGE.
DANTE:
I' cominciai: «Maestro, tu che vinci
tutte le cose, fuor che ' demon duri
ch'a l'intrar de la porta incontra uscinci,
I began: Master, you who overcome everything
except the obdurate demons, that came out
against us at the entrance to the gate,
118
chi è quel grande che non par che curi
lo 'ncendio e giace dispettoso e torto,
that
sì che la pioggia non par che 'l marturi?».
who is that great spirit, who seems indifferent to
the fire, and lies there, scornful, contorted, so
the rain does not seem to deepen his repentance?
THE SPIRIT HAS HEARD DANTE [INF C14 49-51].
CAPANEUS:
E quel medesmo, che si fu accorto
ch'io domandava il mio duca di lui,
gridò: «Qual io fui vivo, tal son morto.
And he himself, noting that I asked
my guide about him, cried: What I was
when I was living, I am now I am dead.
--?
CAPANEUS MYTHICAL AGE : *
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
*
CAPANEUS: AN ARGIVE CHIEF IN THE WAR OF THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES WHO SCALED THE WALL & WAS STRUCK DOWN BY
JUPITER’S LIGHTNING BOLT. HE WAS A SYMBOL OF PRIDE. (AESCHYLUS: SEVEN AGAINST THEBES)
CAPANEUS:
Se Giove stanchi 'l suo fabbro da cui
crucciato prese la folgore aguta
onde l'ultimo dì percosso fui;
Though Jupiter exhausts Vulcan, his blacksmith,
from whom he took, in anger, the fierce lightning
bolt, that I was struck down with on my last day,
o s'elli stanchi li altri a muta a muta
in Mongibello a la focina negra,
chiamando ``Buon Vulcano, aiuta, aiuta!",
and though he exhausts the others, the Cyclopes,
one by one, at the black forge of Aetna, shouting:
“Help, help, good Vulcan”,
CYCLOPES: A FABULOUS RACE OF GIANTS ON THE COAST OF SICILY, WITH ONE EYE IN THE CENTRE OF THEIR FOREHEADS.
THEY FORGED JUPITER’S LIGHTNING BOLTS IN THE FIRES OF MOUNT AETNA ON SICILY.
DANTE notes:
INF C14 57 / DANTE
INF C14 57 / KLINE
chiamando "Buon Vulcano, aiuta, aiuta!",
“Help, help, good Vulcan”,
CAPANEUS:
sì com' el fece a la pugna di Flegra,
e me saetti con tutta sua forza:
non ne potrebbe aver vendetta allegra».
just as he did at the battle of Phlegra, between the
gods and giants, and hurls his bolts at me with all
his strength, he shall still not enjoy a true revenge.’
VIRGIL SPEAKS WITH UNWONTED FORCEFULNESS.
VIRGIL:
Allora il duca mio parlò di forza
tanto, ch'i' non l'avea sì forte udito:
«O Capaneo, in ciò che non s'ammorza
Then my guide spoke, with a force
I had not heard before: O Capaneus,
you are punished more in that
la tua superbia, se' tu più punito;
nullo martiro, fuor che la tua rabbia,
sarebbe al tuo furor dolor compito».
VIRGIL SPEAKS MORE GENTLY TO DANTE.
your pride is not quenched:
no torment would produce pain fitting
for your fury, except your own raving.
119
VIRGIL:
Poi si rivolse a me con miglior labbia,
dicendo: «Quei fu l'un d'i sette regi
ch'assiser Tebe; ed ebbe e par ch'elli abbia
Then he turned to me with gentler voice, saying:
That was one of the seven kings
who laid siege to Thebes:
DANTE notes:
INF C14 68 / DANTE
Poi si rivolse a me con miglior labbia,
dicendo: «Quei fu l'un d'i sette regi
ch'assiser Tebe; ed ebbe e par ch'elli abbia
Then he turned to me with gentler voice, saying:
That was one of the seven kings
who laid siege to Thebes:
VIRGIL:
Dio in disdegno, e poco par che 'l pregi;
ma, com' io dissi lui, li suoi dispetti
sono al suo petto assai debiti fregi.
and he held God, and seems to hold him,
in disdain, and value him lightly, but as I told him,
his spite is an ornament that fits his breast.
VIRGIL AND DANTE STOP AND EXAMINE A STREAM BACKSTAGE AND NOT VISIBLE TO THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE HOLDS HIS BOOK AND ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.
BOTH DANTE AND VIRGIL LOOK UP IN THIS SEGMENT, TO MAKE A CONNECTION FIRST WITH THE STREAM
OF BLOOD IN [INF C12 100] AND THEN WITH CRETE.
DANTE:
Tacendo divenimmo là 've spiccia
fuor de la selva un picciol fiumicello,
lo cui rossore ancor mi raccapriccia.
We came, in silence, to the place,
where a A little stream gushes from the wood.,
the Its redness of which still makes me shudder.
Quale del Bulicame esce ruscello
che parton poi tra lor le peccatrici,
women
tal per la rena giù sen giva quello.
Like the rivulet that runs sulphur-red from the
Bulicame spring, near Viterbo, that the sinful
share among themselves, so this ran runs down
over the sand.
Lo fondo suo e ambo le pendici
petrified,
fatt' era 'n pietra, e ' margini dallato;
per ch'io m'accorsi che 'l passo era lici.
Its bed and both its sloping banks were are
and its nearby margins:
so that I realised our way lay there.
VIRGIL:
«Tra tutto l'altro ch'i' t'ho dimostrato,
poscia che noi intrammo per la porta
lo cui sogliare a nessuno è negato,
Among all the other things that I have shown you,
since we entered though the gate,
whose threshold is denied to no one,
cosa non fu da li tuoi occhi scorta
notabile com' è 'l presente rio,
che sovra sé tutte fiammelle ammorta».
your eyes have seen nothing
as noteworthy as this present stream,
that quenches all the flames over it.
These were my guide’s words, at which I begged him to grant me food, for which he had given me the appetite.
VIRGIL:
«In mezzo mar siede un paese guasto»,
diss' elli allora, «che s'appella Creta,
sotto 'l cui rege fu già 'l mondo casto.
He then said: There is a deserted island
in the middle of the sea, named Crete,
under whose king Saturn, the world was pure.
120
DANTE versifies:
«In mezzo mar siede un paese guasto»,
diss' elli allora, «che s'appella Creta,
sotto 'l cui rege fu già 'l mondo casto.
He then said: There is a deserted island
in the middle of the sea, named Crete,
under whose king Saturn, the world was pure.
VIRGIL:
Una montagna v'è che già fu lieta
d'acqua e di fronde, che si chiamò Ida;
or è diserta come cosa vieta.
There is a mountain, there, called Ida, which was
once gladdened with waters and vegetation,
and now is abandoned like an ancient spoil heap.
INF C14 100-102 / DANTE
Rëa la scelse già per cuna fida
del suo figliuolo, e per celarlo meglio,
uando piangea, vi facea far le grida.
Rhea chose it, once, as the trusted cradle of her
son, and the better to hide him when he wept,
caused loud shouts to echo from it.
RHEA: HID HER SON, JUPITER, IN A CAVE TO PREVENT HIM BEING EATEN BY HIS FATHER, CRONUS.
INF C14 103-105 / DANTE
Dentro dal monte sta dritto un gran veglio,
che tien volte le spalle inver' Dammiata
e Roma guarda come süo speglio.
mirror.
Inside the mountain, a great Old Man, stands erect,
with his shoulders turned towards Egyptian
Damietta, and looks at Rome as if it were his
OLD MAN: AN ALLEGORY OF HUMAN HISTORY BASED ON DANIEL 2 32. THE FOUR METALS ARE THE FOUR AGES OF MAN:
GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE & IRON (SEE ALSO OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 1). THE IRON & CLAY FEET, ARE SECULAR & SPIRITUAL
AUTHORITY, THE LATTER FOOT BEING THE ONE HUMANITY LOOKS TO FOR SUPPORT, BUT WEAKENED & CORRUPTED BY
TEMPORAL POWER. CRETE IN AENEID 3 104-5 IS THE ‘CRADLE OF OUR (ROMAN) RACE’ TRACED BACK VIA TROY TO TEUCER.
DAMIETTA STANDS FOR EGYPT, SUPERSEDED BY ROME. THE GOLDEN AGE ALONE WAS FREE OF TEARS.
INF C14 106-108 / DANTE
La sua testa è di fin oro formata,
e puro argento son le braccia e 'l petto,
poi è di rame infino a la forcata;
His head is formed of pure gold, his arms
and his breasts are refined silver:
then he is bronze as far as the thighs.
INF C14 109-111 / DANTE
da indi in giuso è tutto ferro eletto,
salvo che 'l destro piede è terra cotta;
e sta 'n su quel, più che 'n su l'altro, eretto.
Downwards from there he is all of choice iron,
except that the right foot is baked clay, and more
more of his weight is on that one than the other.
INF C14 112-114 / DANTE
Ciascuna parte, fuor che l'oro, è rotta
d'una fessura che lagrime goccia,
le quali, accolte, fóran quella grotta.
Every part, except the gold, is cleft
with a fissure that sheds tears,
which collect and pierce the grotto.
INF C14 115-117 / DANTE
Lor corso in questa valle si diroccia;
fanno Acheronte, Stige e Flegetonta;
poi sen van giù per questa stretta doccia,
Their course falls from rock to rock
into this valley. They form
Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon,
INF C14 118-120 / DANTE
infin, là ove più non si dismonta,
fanno Cocito; e qual sia quello stagno
tu lo vedrai, però qui non si conta».
where there is no further fall, and form Cocytus:
you will see what kind of lake that is:
so I will not describe it to you here.
DANTE versifies:
INF C14 118-120 / DANTE
INF C14 118-120 / KLINE
infin, là ove più non si dismonta,
fanno Cocito; e qual sia quello stagno
tu lo vedrai, però qui non si conta».
where there is no further fall, and form Cocytus:
you will see what kind of lake that is:
so I will not describe it to you here.
DANTE:
INF C14 121-123 / DANTE
INF C14 121-123 / KLINE
E io a lui: «Se 'l presente rigagno
si diriva così dal nostro mondo,
perché ci appar pur a questo vivagno?»
I said to him: If the present stream flows down
like that from our world,
why does it only appear to us on this bank?
121
VIRGIL:
INF C14 124-126 / DANTE
INF C14 124-126 / KLINE
Ed elli a me: «Tu sai che 'l loco è tondo;
e tutto che tu sie venuto molto,
pur a sinistra, giù calando al fondo,
And he to me: You know the place is circular,
and though you have come far,
always to the left, descending to the depths,
DANTE notes:
INF C14 124-126 / DANTE
INF C14 124-126 / KLINE
Ed elli a me: «Tu sai che 'l loco è tondo;
And he to me: You know the place is circular,
VIRGIL:
INF C14 127-129 / DANTE
INF C14 127-129 / KLINE
non se' ancor per tutto 'l cerchio vòlto;
per che, se cosa n'apparisce nova,
non de' addur maraviglia al tuo volto».
you have not yet turned through a complete round,
so that if anything new appears to us, it should
not bring an expression of wonder to your face.
DANTE:
INF C14 130-132 / DANTE
INF C14 130-132 / KLINE
E io ancor: «Maestro, ove si trova
Flegetonta e Letè? ché de l'un taci,
e l'altro di' che si fa d'esta piova».
And I again: Master, where are Phlegethon, and
Lethe found, since you do not speak of the latter,
and say that the former is created from these tears?
VIRGIL:
INF C14 133-135 / DANTE
INF C14 133-135 / KLINE
«In tutte tue question certo mi piaci»,
rispuose, «ma 'l bollor de l'acqua rossa
dovea ben solver l'una che tu faci.
He replied: You please me, truly, with all
your questions, but the boiling red water might
well answer to one of those you ask about.
VIRGIL POINTS.
VIRGIL:
INF C14 136-138 / DANTE
INF C14 136-138 / KLINE
Letè vedrai, ma fuor di questa fossa,
là dove vanno l'anime a lavarsi
themselves,
quando la colpa pentuta è rimossa».
You will see Lethe, but above this abyss, there, on
the Mount, where the spirits go to purify
when their guilt is absolved by penitence.
INF C14 139-141 / DANTE
Poi disse: «Omai è tempo da scostarsi
dal bosco; fa che di retro a me vegne:
li margini fan via, che non son arsi,
Then he said: Now it is time to leave the wood:
see that you follow me: the margins
which are not burning form a path,
INF C14 142 / DANTE
e sopra loro ogne vapor si spegne».
and over them all the fire is quenched.
DANTE:
INF C14 139-141 / DANTE
INF C14 139-141 / KLINE
Poi disse: «Omai è tempo da scostarsi
dal bosco; fa che di retro a me vegne:
li margini fan via, che non son arsi,
Then he said: Now it is time to leave the wood:
see that you follow me: the margins
which are not burning form a path,
INF C14 142 / DANTE
e sopra loro ogne vapor si spegne».
CANTO 15
and over them all the fire is quenched.
122
THE REAR CURTAIN IS UP. VIRGIL AND DANTE WALK NEXT TO THE WALL AND DANTE RUNS HIS HAND
ALONG IT. DANTE VERSIFIES AND VIRGIL GIVES AN ABBREVIATED INTERPRETATION.
INF C15 1-3 / KLINE
Now one of the solid banks takes us on, and the smoke from the stream makes a shadow above, so that it shelters the
water and its margins.
DANTE:
& VIRGIL:
INF C15 4-6 / DANTE
INF C15 4-6 / KLINE
Quali Fiamminghi tra Guizzante e Bruggia, Just as the The Flemings between Bruges and
temendo 'l fiotto che 'nver' lor s'avventa,
Wissant make their dykes to hold back the sea,
fanno lo schermo perché 'l mar si fuggia;
fearing the flood that beats against them;
INF C15 7-9 / DANTE
e quali Padoan lungo la Brenta,
per difender lor ville e lor castelli,
anzi che Carentana il caldo senta:
and as the Paduans do, along the Brenta,
to defend their towns and castles,
before Carinthia’s mountains feel the thaw;
a tale imagine eran fatti quelli,
tutto che né sì alti né sì grossi,
qual che si fosse, lo maestro félli.
so those banks were similarly formed,
though their creator, whoever it might be,
made them neither as high or as deep.
Already we were so far from the wood, that I was unable to see where it was, unless I turned back, when we met a
group of spirits, coming along the bank, and each of them looked at us, as, at twilight, men look at one another,
under a crescent moon, and peered towards us, as an old tailor does at the eye of his needle.
SPIRITS./ .SPIRITS STRAGGLE PAST THEM IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. DANTE WRITES.
SPIRITS AGE : VARIOUS
DESCRIPTION
*
BRUNETTO LATINI
ONE OF THE SPIRITS STOPS, GOES BACK AND PEERS INTO DANTE’S FACE [INF C15 13-24]. HE ADDRESSES
DANTE WITH ENTHUSIASM.
BRUNETTO LATINI c 1210 - 1294 AGE : 84?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
HE CARRIES A SMALLISH BOOK, HIS TESORO (TRESORO), ON HIS BACK OR CHEST.
BRUNETTO LATINI:
&
BRUNETTO LATINI:
Così adocchiato da cotal famiglia,
fui conosciuto da un, che mi prese
per lo lembo e gridò: Qual maraviglia!
Eyed so by that tribe, I was recognised, by one
who ook me by the skirt of my robe and said:
How wonderful!
BRUNETTO LATINI: A FLORENTINE GUELPH, LATINI (C 1210-1294) WAS A POLITICIAN & PHILOSOPHER, AUTHOR OF A PROSE
ENCYCLOPAEDIA LI LIVRES DOU TRÉSOR WRITTEN IN FRENCH (HE WAS IN EXILE IN FRANCE IN 1260 AFTER MONTAPERTI) &
THE TESORETTO, A POPULAR DIDACTIC POEM IN ITALIAN, CONTAINING SIMILAR MATTER, IN THE FORM OF AN ALLEGORICAL
JOURNEY, A KIND OF PILGRIM’S PROGRESS, THAT CLEARLY INFLUENCED DANTE, OPENING WITH THE POET LOST IN A WOOD OF
ERROR. AN ARDENT GUELPH, HE INTRODUCED THE ART OF ORATORY & THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE INTO FLORENCE. IN
THE TESORETTO HE SPEAKS AGAINST THE HOMOSEXUALITY THAT CONDEMNS HIM TO HELL. HE INFLUENCED & POSSIBLY
TAUGHT DANTE.
123
DANTE PUTS HIS HAND TO THE SPIRIT’S FACE AND PEERS [INF C15 25-28].
And I fixed my eyes on his baked visage, so that the scorching of his aspect did not prevent
DANTE:
la conoscenza süa al mio 'ntelletto;
e chinando la mano a la sua faccia,
rispuosi: Siete voi qui, ser Brunetto?
my mind from knowing him,
and bending my face to his
I replied: Are you here, Ser Brunetto?
BRUNETTO LATINI:
E quelli: «O figliuol mio, non ti dispiaccia
se Brunetto Latino un poco teco
ritorna 'n dietro e lascia andar la traccia».
And he: O my son, do not be displeased
if Brunetto Latini turns back with you a while,
and lets the crowd pass by.
DANTE:
I' dissi lui: «Quanto posso, ven preco;
e se volete che con voi m'asseggia,
faròl, se piace a costui che vo seco».
I said: I ask it, with all my strength,
and, if you want me to sit with you, I will,
if it pleases him there, whom I go with.
BRUNETTO LATINI:
«O figliuol», disse, «qual di questa greggia
s'arresta punto, giace poi cent' anni
sanz' arrostarsi quando 'l foco il feggia.
He said: O my son, whoever of the flock stops for a
moment, must lie there for a hundred years after,
without cooling himself when the fire beats on him.
Però va oltre: i' ti verrò a' panni;
e poi rigiugnerò la mia masnada,
che va piangendo i suoi etterni danni».
So go on, I will follow at your heels,
and then I will rejoin my crew again,
who go mourning their eternal loss.
I did not dare leave the road to be level with him, but kept my head bowed like one who walks reverently.
El cominciò: «Qual fortuna o destino
anzi l'ultimo dì qua giù ti mena?
He began: What fate, or chance, bring you down
here, before your final hour?
BRUNETTO LATINI:
or BRUNETTO LATINI:
INF C15 48 / DANTE
INF C15 48 / KLINE
e chi è questi che mostra 'l cammino?».
Who is this who shows you the way?
DANTE BEGINS DECLAIMING THE FIRST TERCET OF L’INFERNO…
DANTE:
from INF C1 1 / DANTE
Nel mezzo del cammin…
…BUT THINKS BETTER OF IT.
DANTE:
«Là sù di sopra, in la vita serena»,
rispuos' io lui, «mi smarri' in una valle,
avanti che l'età mia fosse piena.
I lost myself, in the clear life up above,
in a valley,
before my years were complete.
124
Pur ier mattina le volsi le spalle:
questi m'apparve, tornand' ïo in quella,
e reducemi a ca per questo calle».
♫
PROPHECY MOTIF
Only yesterday morning I turned my back on it:
he appeared to me as I was returning to it,
and guides me back again, but by this path.
**********
INF C15 54
BRUNETTO LATINI:
Ed elli a me: «Se tu segui tua stella,
non puoi fallire a glorïoso porto,
se ben m'accorsi ne la vita bella;
And he to me: If you follow your star,
you cannot fail to reach a glorious harbour:
if I judged clearly in the sweet life.
e s'io non fossi sì per tempo morto,
veggendo il cielo a te così benigno,
dato t'avrei a l'opera conforto.
If I had not died before you, I would have
supported you in your work,
seeing that Heaven is so kind to you.
DANTE INTERPRETS TO THE ITALIAN-SPEAKING AUDIENCE, ADDING EMPHASIS.
DANTE:
Ed elli a me: «Se tu segui tua stella,
non puoi fallire a glorïoso porto,
se ben m'accorsi ne la vita bella;
And he to me: If you follow your star,
you cannot fail to reach a glorious harbour:
if I judged clearly in the sweet life.
e s'io non fossi sì per tempo morto,
veggendo il cielo a te così benigno,
dato t'avrei a l'opera conforto.
If I had not died before you, I would have
supported you in your work,
seeing that Heaven is so kind to you.
BRUNETTO LATINI:
Ma quello ingrato popolo maligno
che discese di Fiesole ab antico,
e tiene ancor del monte e del macigno,
Ma quello...popolo…But that ungrateful,
malignant people who came down from Fiesole to
Florence, in ancient times, and still have something
of the mountain and the rock,
MALIGNANT PEOPLE: ACCORDING TO TRADITION CATILINE WAS BESIEGED, BY CAESAR, IN FIESOLE (FAESULAE), IN THE HILLS,
THREE MILES NORTH-WEST OF FLORENCE. WHEN THE TOWN FELL A NEW TOWN WAS ESTABLISHED, IN THE VALLEY, BY THE
RIVER ARNO. THE INHABITANTS WERE A MIXTURE OF FIESOLANS & ROMAN SOLDIERS. THE FLORENTINE COMMONERS
(WHITES) WERE HELD TO BE DESCENDED FROM THE FIESOLANS, THE NOBILITY (BLACKS) FROM THE ROMANS. THIS WAS
REGARDED AS A SOURCE OF THE FUTURE CONFLICTS. DANTE WAS FOR A REFORMED PAPACY & A STRONG (HOLY ROMAN)
EMPIRE & WAS ACTIVE IN THE EXPULSION OF BOTH WHITES & BLACKS FROM FLORENCE, HE WAS THEREFORE OPPOSED BY
BOTH PARTIES, THOUGH OSTENSIBLY A GHIBELLINE (HIS FATHER HAVING BEEN A GUELPH) & COURTED & VILIFIED BY BOTH.
DANTE IS RECONCILED TO BRUNETTO’S & FARINATA’S PROPHECY, OF A TROUBLED EXILE.
ti si farà, per tuo ben far, nimico;
ed è ragion, ché tra li lazzi sorbi
si disconvien fruttare al dolce fico.
DANTE TRANSLATES AGAIN.
will be inimical to you for the good you do,
and with reason., since it is not fitting for the
sweet fig tree to fruit, among the sour crab-apples.
125
DANTE
Ma quello ingrato popolo maligno
che discese di Fiesole ab antico,
e tiene ancor del monte e del macigno,
that ungrateful, malignant people, who came down
from Fiesole to Florence, in ancient times, and still
have something of the mountain and the rock,
ti si farà, per tuo ben far, nimico;
ed è ragion, ché tra li lazzi sorbi
si disconvien fruttare al dolce fico.
will be inimical to you for the good you do,
and with reason, since it is not fitting for the
sweet fig tree to fruit, among the sour crab-apples.
BRUNETTO:
Vecchia fama nel mondo li chiama orbi;
gent' è avara, invidiosa e superba:
dai lor costumi fa che tu ti forbi.
Past report on earth declares them blind,
an envious, proud and avaricious people:
make sure you purge yourself of their faults.
La tua fortuna tanto onor ti serba,
che l'una parte e l'altra avranno fame
di te; ma lungi fia dal becco l'erba.
Your fate prophesies such honour for you,
that both parties will hunger for you,
but the goat will be far from the grass.
DANTE PICKS UP BRUNETTO’S PHRASE AND ELABORATES IT.
DANTE:
La tua fortuna tanto onor ti serba,
che l'una parte e l'altra avranno fame
di te; ma lungi fia dal becco l'erba.
Your fate prophesies such honour for you,
that both parties will hunger for you,
but the goat will be far from the grass.
Faccian le bestie fiesolane strame
di lor medesme, e non tocchin la pianta,
s'alcuna surge ancora in lor letame,
Let the herd from Fiesole make manure of
themselves, but not touch the plant in which
the sacred seed of those Romans revives,
in cui riviva la sementa santa
di que' Roman che vi rimaser quando
fu fatto il nido di malizia tanta».
who stayed, when that nest of malice
was created, if any plant
still springs from their ordure.
DANTE:
«Se fosse tutto pieno il mio dimando»,
rispuos' io lui, «voi non sareste ancora
de l'umana natura posto in bando;
I answered him: If my wishes had been
completely fulfilled, you would not have been
separated, yet, from human nature,
ché 'n la mente m'è fitta, e or m'accora,
la cara e buona imagine paterna
di voi quando nel mondo ad ora ad ora
since, in my memory, the dear, and kind,
paternal image of you is fixed, and now goes
to my heart, how, when in the world, hour by hour,
m'insegnavate come l'uom s'etterna:
e quant' io l'abbia in grado, mentr' io vivo
convien che ne la mia lingua si scerna.
DANTE WRITES IN HIS BOOK AND SPEAKS AIRILY.
you taught me the way man makes himself
eternal; and it is fitting my tongue should show
what gratitude I hold, while I live.
126
DANTE:
Ciò che narrate di mio corso scrivo,
e serbolo a chiosar con altro testo
a donna che saprà, s'a lei arrivo.
What you tell me of my fate, I write,
and retain it with a former text, for a lady, who
will know how to comment on it, if I reach her.
DANTE:
INF C15 93 / DANTE
ch'a la Fortuna, come vuol, son presto.
I am ready for whatever Fortune wills,
DANTE:
Tanto vogl' io che vi sia manifesto,
pur che mia coscïenza non mi garra,
ch'a la Fortuna, come vuol, son presto.
I would make this much known to you:
I am ready for whatever Fortune wills.,
as long as conscience does not hurt me.
Non è nuova a li orecchi miei tal arra:
però giri Fortuna la sua rota
come le piace, e 'l villan la sua marra».
Such prophecies are not new to my ears:
so let Fortune turn her wheel as she pleases,
and the peasant wield his mattock.
At that, my Master, looked back, on his right, and gazed at me, then said: ‘He listens closely, who notes it.’ I carry
on speaking, no less, with Ser Brunetto, and ask who are the most famous and noblest of his companions. And he to
me: ‘It is good to know of some: of the rest it would be praiseworthy to keep silent, as the time would be too little
for such a speech. In short, know that all were clerks, and great scholars, and very famous, tainted with the same sin
on earth. Priscian goes with that miserable crowd, and Francesco d’Accorso: and if you had any desire for such
scum, you might have seen Andrea di Mozzi there, who by Boniface, the Pope, servus servorum Dei, servant of
servants, was translated from the Arno to Vicenza’s Bacchiglione, where he departed from his ill-strained body. I
would say more, but my speech and my departure must not linger, since there I see new smoke, rising from the great
sand.
♫
BE-A-TRI-CE MOTIF
**********
INF C15 96
◙
BEATRICE MANIFESTS HERSELF IN HER HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT.. ..NEXT TO DANTE AND SMILES. DANTE
STARTS AND TREMBLES. BRUNETTO CANNOT SEE HER.
THE CONTINUING SMILE COMPELS DANTE TO HAND OVER HIS BOOK AND HOLD BEATRICE’S BIBLE WHILE
SHE LOOKS AT HIS WRITING.
BRUNETTO LOOKS PAST DANTE AT TWO SPIRITS APPROACHING. HE PROFFERS DANTE HIS OWN BOOK,
THE TESORO (TRESORO).
BRUNETTO LATINI:
INF C15 118-120 / DANTE
INF C15 118-120 / KLINE
Gente vien con la quale esser non deggio.
Sieti raccomandato il mio Tesoro,
nel qual io vivo ancora, e più non cheggio.
People come that I cannot be with:
let my Tresoro be commended to you,
in which I still live: more I ask not.
DANTE TAKES IT IN A DAZE AND HANDS BRUNETTO THE BIBLE. BRUNETTO GENTLY TAKES HIS BOOK
FROM DANTE’S HAND AND PUTS THE BIBLE BACK THERE. BRUNETTO LOOKS TO THE AUDIENCE AND
HOLDS OUT HIS BOOK.
BRUNETTO LATINI:
INF C15 119-120 / DANTE
INF C15 119-120 / KLINE
Sieti raccomandato il mio Tesoro,
nel qual io vivo ancora, e più non cheggio.
let my Tresoro be commended to you,
in which I still live: more I ask not.
127
BRUNETTO EMBRACES DANTE AND RESUMES HIS DIRECTION AT SPEED.
DANTE STARES AT THE BIBLE, THEN LOOKS UP TO SEE BEATRICE VANISH WITH THE BOOK AS THE
..TURNS OFF. DANTE AND VIRGIL GO FORWARD AND DOWN →R→ .
SPOTLIGHT..
AFTER A WHILE, DANTE RECOVERS ENOUGH TO CLOSE THE CANTO.
◙
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C15 121-123 / DANTE
INF C15 121-123 / KLINE
Poi si rivolse, e parve di coloro
che corrono a Verona il drappo verde
per la campagna; e parve di costoro
Then he turned back, and seemed like one
who runs for the green cloth, at Verona,
through the open fields: and seemed like
INF C15 124 / DANTE
quelli che vince, non colui che perde.
one of those who wins, not one who loses.
DANTE COMPARES BRUNETTO’S DEPARTURE TO ONE RUNNING THE RACE AT VERONA, HELD ON THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT,
FOR WHICH THE PRIZE WAS A PIECE OF GREEN CLOTH, A MANTLE, OR PALIO.
CANTO 16
RUSTICUCCI, GUERRA & TEGGHIAIO
INF C16 1-6 / KLINE
I was already in a place where the booming of the water, that fell, into the next circle, sounded like a beehive’s
humming, when three shades together, running, left a crowd that passed under the sharp burning rain. They came
towards us, and each one cried:
♫
HUMMING / BOOMING WATERFALL – NOT TOO LOUD
**********
‘the booming of the water that fell into the next circle sounded like a beehive’s humming’
DANTE COMES DOWN THE →L→ OR EMERGES FROM BACKSTAGE. HE HEADS TOWARDS THE AUDIENCE.
THREE ‘SCORCHED, STAINED’ SPIRITS – JACOPO RUSTICUCCI, GUIDO GUERRA AND TEGGHIAIO
ALDOBRANDI – COME RUNNING, OR THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD.
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI *----? - *----? AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
*
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI: A FLORENTINE WHO WAS DRIVEN TO IMMORAL PRACTICES BY AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE.
128
GUIDO GUERRA *----? - 1272 AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
*
GUIDO GUERRA: A LEADING GUELPH IN TUSCANY FROM 1250 TO 1266, APPOINTED VICAR OF TUSCANY BY CHARLES OF
ANJOU. HE DIED IN 1272. HE PLAYED A DISTINGUISHED PART AT BENEVENTO IN 1265, WHERE MANFRED DIED & BEFORE THE
DISASTER AT MONTAPERTI IN 1260, WHEN THE GUELPHS WENT DOWN TO DEFEAT, HE WAS ONE OF THE NOBLES WHO HAD
VOTED WITH TEGGHIAIO AGAINST THE EXPEDITION, KNOWING THE SIENESE HAD BEEN REINFORCED WITH GERMAN
MERCENARIES.
TEGGHIAIO ALDOBRANDO *----? - 1260 + AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
*
TEGGHIAIO ALDOBRANDI: A FLORENTINE GUELPH WHO, WITH GUIDO GUERRA, TRIED TO DISSUADE HIS PARTY FROM THE
CONFLICT THAT LED TO THE GUELPH DISASTER AT MONTAPERTI IN 1260. HE FOUGHT COURAGEOUSLY & TOOK REFUGE AT
LUCCA WITH OTHER DEFEATED GUELPHS.
THE 3 SPIRITS (VOICE?):
&
THE 3 SPIRITS (VOICE?):
INF C16 7-9 / DANTE
INF C16 7-9 / KLINE
Venian ver' noi, e ciascuna gridava:
«Sòstati tu ch'a l'abito ne sembri
esser alcun di nostra terra prava».
Wait, you., who seem to us,
by By your clothes, you are
to be someone from our perverse city.
DANTE IGNORES THEM AND READS HIS VERSIFICATION OF BRUNETTO’S DEPARTURE TO THE AUDIENCE..
DANTE:
INF C15 121-123 / DANTE
INF C15 121-123 / KLINE
Poi si rivolse, e parve di coloro
che corrono a Verona il drappo verde
per la campagna; e parve di costoro
Then he turned back, and seemed like one
who runs for the green cloth, at Verona,
through the open fields: and seemed
INF C15 124 / DANTE
quelli che vince, non colui che perde.
one of those who wins, not one who loses.
VIRGIL:
A le lor grida il mio dottor s'attese;
volse 'l viso ver' me, e «Or aspetta»,
disse, «a costor si vuole esser cortese.
My teacher listened to their cries,
turned his face towards me, and said:
Wait, now: courtesy is owed them,
E se non fosse il foco che saetta
la natura del loco, i' dicerei
che meglio stesse a te che a lor la fretta».
and if there were not this fire, that the place’s
nature rains down, I would say that you
were more hasty than them.
As we rested, they started their former laments again, and when they reached us, all three of them formed
themselves into a circle. Wheeling round, as champion wrestlers, naked and oiled, do, looking for a hold or an
advantage, before they grasp and strike one another, each directed his face at me, so that his neck was turned, all the
time, in an opposite direction to his feet.
RUSTICUCCI, GUERRA & TEGGHIAIO, (OR JUST RUSTICUCCI) APPEAR NOW, IF NOT BEFORE.
DANTE, MIFFED AT VIRGIL’S REPROACH, STANDS STIFFLY AND DOES NOT TAKE NOTES.
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI:
E «Se miseria d'esto loco sollo
rende in dispetto noi e nostri prieghi»,
cominciò l'uno, «e 'l tinto aspetto e brollo,
And one of them began: If the misery
of this sinful place, and our scorched, stained
look, renders us, and our prayers, contemptible,
129
la fama nostra il tuo animo pieghi
a dirne chi tu se', che i vivi piedi
così sicuro per lo 'nferno freghi.
let our fame influence your mind
to tell us who you are, that move
your living feet, safely, through Hell.
RUSTICUCCI POINTS AHEAD…
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI:
Questi, l'orme di cui pestar mi vedi,
tutto che nudo e dipelato vada,
fu di grado maggior che tu non credi:
He, in whose footsteps you see me tread,
all peeled and naked as he is,
was greater in degree than you would think.
nepote fu de la buona Gualdrada;
Guido Guerra ebbe nome, e in sua vita
fece col senno assai e con la spada.
His name is Guido Guerra, grandson
of the good lady Gualdrada, and in his life
he achieved much in council, and with his sword.
GUALDRADA DE’ RAVIGNANI: THE VIRTUOUS & LOVELY DAUGHTER OF BELLINCION BERTI WAS THE ANCESTRESS OF THE
CONTI GUIDI, THE GREAT FEUDAL NOBLES OF THE CASENTINO.
…AND BEHIND.
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI:
L'altro, ch'appresso me la rena trita,
è Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, la cui voce
nel mondo sù dovria esser gradita.
The other, that treads the sand behind me,
is Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, whose words
should have been listened to in the world.
E io, che posto son con loro in croce,
Iacopo Rusticucci fui, e certo
la fiera moglie più ch'altro mi nuoce».
And I, who am placed with them in torment,
am Jacopo Rusticucci, and certainly
my fierce wife injured me more than anything else.
If I had been sheltered from the fire, I would have dropped down among them below, and I believe my teacher
would have allowed it, but as I would have been burned and baked, myself, my fear overcame the goodwill, that
made me eager to embrace them.
DANTE WARMS TO THEIR FAME AND THEIR INTEREST IN HIM.
DANTE:
Poi cominciai: «Non dispetto, ma doglia
la vostra condizion dentro mi fisse,
tanta che tardi tutta si dispoglia,
Then I began: Your condition stirred sadness,
not contempt, in me, so deeply,
it will not soon be gone,
tosto che questo mio segnor mi disse
parole per le quali i' mi pensai
che qual voi siete, tal gente venisse.
when my guide spoke words to me by which
I understood such men as yourselves
might be approaching.
Di vostra terra sono, e sempre mai
l'ovra di voi e li onorati nomi
con affezion ritrassi e ascoltai.
I am of your city, and I have always heard,
and rehearsed, your names
and your deeds, with affection.
130
Lascio lo fele e vo per dolci pomi
I leave the gall behind, and go towards the
promessi a me per lo verace duca;
sweet fruits promised me by my truthful guide,
ma 'nfino al centro pria convien ch'i' tomi». but first I must go downwards to the centre.
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI (VOICE?):
«Se lungamente l'anima conduca
le membra tue», rispuose quelli ancora,
«e se la fama tua dopo te luca,
He replied, then: That your soul may long
inhabit your body,
and your fame may shine after you,
DANTE notes:
INF C16 64 / DANTE
e se la fama tua dopo te luca,
and may your fame shine after you,
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI (VOICE?):
cortesia e valor dì se dimora
ne la nostra città sì come suole,
o se del tutto se n'è gita fora;
tell Tell us if courtesy and courage,
still live in our city as they used to.,
or if they have quite forsaken it?
ché Guiglielmo Borsiere, il qual si duole
con noi per poco e va là coi compagni,
assai ne cruccia con le sue parole».
Guglielmo Borsiere, who has been in pain with us,
a little while, and goes along there with our
companions, torments us greatly with what he says.
GUGLIELMO BORSIERE: A RETIRED PURSE-MAKER WHO ENTERED THE ARISTOCRACY. IN BOCCACCIO’S DECAMERON 1 8 HE IS
NOTED FOR REFINEMENT & ELOQUENCE. HE DIED SHORTLY BEFORE 1300.
DANTE CRIES OUT ‘WITH LIFTED FACE [INF C16 76] TO THE WORLD.
DANTE:
«La gente nuova e i sùbiti guadagni
orgoglio e dismisura han generata,
Fiorenza, in te, sì che tu già ten piagni».
New men, and sudden wealth,
have created pride and excess in you,
Florence, so that you already weep for it.
So I cried with lifted face and the three, who took this for an answer, gazed at one another, as one gazes at the truth.
THE 3 SPIRITS ‘GAZE AT ONE ANOTHER AS ONE GAZES AT THE TRUTH’ [INF C16 77-78].
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI:
«Se l'altre volte sì poco ti costa»,
rispuoser tutti, «il satisfare altrui,
felice te se sì parli a tua posta!
They replied together: Happy are you, if,
by speaking according to your will,
it costs so little for you to satisfy others!
GUIDO GUERRA:
&
TEGGHIAIO:
Però, se campi d'esti luoghi bui
e torni a riveder le belle stelle,
quando ti gioverà dicere "I' fui",
So, if If you escape these gloomy spaces,
and turn, and see the beauty of the stars again,
when you will be glad to say: “I was”.,
GUIDO & TEGGHIAIO:
&
RUSTICUCCI:
fa che di noi a la gente favelle».
Indi rupper la rota, e a fuggirsi
ali sembiar le gambe loro isnelle.
see See that you tell people of us.
Then they broke up their circle, and,
as they ran, their swift legs seemed wings.
131
THE 3 RUN SWIFTLY OFF (OR FALL SILENT). DANTE AND VIRGIL DESCEND THE →R→ . THE STAGE IS
VERY DARK.
GERYON
♫
HUMMING / BOOMING WATERFALL – TOO LOUD FOR SPEECH
**********
INF C16 87
An Amen could not have been said in so quick a time as their vanishing took, at which my Master was pleased to
depart. I followed him. We had gone only a little way, when the sound of the water came so near us, that if we had
been speaking we would hardly have heard each other. Like that river (the first that takes its own course to the
eastern seaboard, south of Monte Veso, where the Po rises, on the left flank of the Apennines, and is called
Acquacheta above, before it falls to its lower bed, and loses its name, to become the Montone, at Forlì) which,
plunging through a fall, echoes from the mountain, above San Benedetto, where there should be refuge for a
thousand, so, down from a steep bank, we found that tainted water re-echoing, so much so that, in a short while, it
would have dazed our hearing. I had a cord tied round me, and with it I had once thought to catch the leopard with
the spotted skin. After I had completely unwound it from myself, as my guide commanded, I held it out to him,
gathered up and coiled. Then he turned towards the right, and threw the end of it, away from the edge a little, down
into the steep gulf.
DANTE SITS AT BACKSTAGE, READING THE BIBLE. HE PUTS IT DOWN AND STARES AHEAD. VIRGIL IS AT
THE FRONT OF THE STAGE, PEERING DOWN.
HE BECKONS TO DANTE, THEN CALLS HIM. DANTE DOESN’T HEAR BECAUSE OF THE NOISE. VIRGIL CALLS
AGAIN, THEN FETCHES HIM TO THE FRONT OF THE STAGE. VIRGIL SPEAKS IN HIS EAR AND POINTS TO THE
CORD AROUND DANTE’S WAIST WHICH HE HAS WORN FROM THE BEGINNING. DANTE IS PUZZLED.
VIRGIL MIMES UNKNOTTING IT, WHICH DANTE DOES SLOWLY. VIRGIL HOLDS THE TASSEL OVER THE
STAGE FRONT AND INDICATES THAT DANTE SHOULD SWIVEL TO UNWIND THE CORD DOWN THE ABYSS.
DANTE TURNS MANY TIMES. AT ONE POINT THE MUSE TERPSICHORE MAY PAUSE IN PASSING BEHIND
THEM TO SEE DANTE’S AWKWARD PIROUETTE.
DURING ONE TURN, AS DANTE FACES FRONT, BEATRICE MANIFESTS HERSELF IN THE HEAVENLY
..OVER THE BIBLE LEFT BY DANTE. SHE BLESSES DANTE, EXCHANGES THE BOOKS AND
SPOTLIGHT..
VANISHES WITHOUT BEING SEEN.
◙
EVENTUALLY, VIRGIL STOPS DANTE AND THEY PEER DOWN. VIRGIL POINTS. THEY FOLLOW A RISING
THING THAT THE AUDIENCE CANNOT SEE. VIRGIL SPEAKS INAUDIBLY TO DANTE AND INDICATES TO THE
THING WHERE IT SHOULD LAND.
VIRGIL HAULS UP THE CORD AND HE AND DANTE DESCEND THE →R→ AND EMERGE SOME TIME LATER
FROM THE →L→ INTO DARK SILENCE.
INF C16 115-123 / KLINE
I said to myself: ‘Surely something strange will follow this new sign of our intentions, that my master tracks with
his eyes, as it falls.’ Ah, how careful men should be with those who do not only see our actions but, with their
understanding, see into our thoughts! He said to me: ‘That which I expect will soon ascend, and, what your thoughts
speculate about, will soon be apparent to your sight.’
DANTE BEGINS SPEAKING WITH HIS TONGUE AND LIMBS OF WHAT HE HAS SEEN.
(NOTE THAT DANTE COULD NOT HAVE REPORT THIS AS IT HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE
HUMMING./.BOOMING.)
132
DANTE:
INF C16 124-126 / DANTE
INF C16 124-126 / KLINE
Sempre a quel ver c'ha faccia di menzogna
de' l'uom chiuder le labbra fin ch'el puote,
però che sanza colpa fa vergogna;
A man should always shut his lips, as far as he can,
to truth that seems like falsehood,
since he incurs reproach,
INF C16 127-129 / DANTE
ma qui tacer nol posso; e per le note
here:
di questa comedìa, lettor, ti giuro,
s'elle non sien di lunga grazia vòte,
though he is blameless, but I cannot be silent
and Reader, I swear to you, by the words of this
Commedia, that they may not be free of lasting
favour,
INF C16 130-132 / DANTE
ch'i' vidi per quell' aere grosso e scuro
venir notando una figura in suso,
maravigliosa ad ogne cor sicuro,
that I saw a shape, Geryon, marvellous,
to every unshaken heart , come swimming
upwards through the dense, dark air,
A SHAPE: GERYON, THE TYPE OF FRAUD OR MALICE. A COMBINATION OF THE MYTHICAL (THREE-BODIED IN THE MYTH, BUT
NOT HERE) & MONSTROUS KING OF SPAIN WHOM HERCULES KILLED FOR THE SAKE OF HIS HERD OF CATTLE (VIRGIL’S AENEID
8 202 & OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 9 184), & THE CREATURES OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT IN REVELATION 9.
DANTE:
INF C16 133-135 / DANTE
sì come torna colui che va giuso
talora a solver l'àncora ch'aggrappa
o scoglio o altro che nel mare è chiuso,
as a man rises, who has gone down, sometime,
to loose an anchor, caught on a rock
or something else, hidden in the water,
INF C16 136 / DANTE
che 'n sù si stende e da piè si rattrappa.
who spreads his arms out, and draws up his feet.
CANTO 17
VIRGIL:
INF C17 1-3 / DANTE
INF C17 1-3 / KLINE
Ecco la fiera con la coda aguzza,
pointed
che passa i monti e rompe i muri e l'armi!
and
Ecco colei che tutto 'l mondo appuzza!
world.
See the The savage beast Geryon, with the
tail, that crosses mountains, and pierces walls
armour, : see him, who pollutes the whole
INF C17 4-6 / KLINE
So my guide began to speak to me, and beckoned to him to land near the end of our rocky path,
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C17 7-9 / DANTE
INF C17 7-9 / KLINE
E quella sozza imagine di froda
sen venne, e arrivò la testa e 'l busto,
ma 'n su la riva non trasse la coda.
and that vile image of Fraud came on,
and grounded his head and chest,
but did not lift his tail onto the cliff.
DANTE:
La faccia sua era faccia d'uom giusto,
tanto benigna avea di fuor la pelle,
e d'un serpente tutto l'altro fusto;
His face was the face of an honest man,
it had so benign and outward aspect:
all the rest was a serpent’s body.
133
due branche avea pilose insin l'ascelle;
lo dosso e 'l petto e ambedue le coste
dipinti avea di nodi e di rotelle.
Both arms were covered with hair to the armpits;
the back and chest and both flanks
were adorned with knots and circles.
Con più color, sommesse e sovraposte
colour,
non fer mai drappi Tartari né Turchi,
né fuor tai tele per Aragne imposte.
Tartars or Turks never made cloths with more
background and embroidery:
nor did Arachne spread such webs on her loom.
ARACHNE: A LYDIAN GIRL, THE DAUGHTER OF IDMON, FAMOUS FOR HER WEAVING, WHO CHALLENGED PALLAS ATHENE TO A
CONTEST, WAS DEFEATED & CHANGED INTO A SPIDER. (OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 6 42 ETC.)
DANTE READS./.SPEAKS TO THE AUDIENCE. VIRGIL INTERPRETS A VERSE OR SO BEHIND.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Come talvolta stanno a riva i burchi,
che parte sono in acqua e parte in terra,
e come là tra li Tedeschi lurchi
As the boats rest on the shore, part in water
and part on land,
and as the beaver, among the guzzling Germans,
lo bivero s'assetta a far sua guerra,
così la fiera pessima si stava
su l'orlo ch'è di pietra e 'l sabbion serra.
readies himself for a fight,
so that worst of savage creatures lay on the cliff
that surrounds the great sand with stone.
Nel vano tutta sua coda guizzava,
torcendo in sù la venenosa forca
ch'a guisa di scorpion la punta armava.
The whole of his tail glanced into space,
twisting the venomous fork upwards,
that armed the tip, like a scorpion.
My guide said: ‘Now we must direct our path, somewhat, towards the malevolent beast that rests there.’ Then we
went down, on the right, and took ten steps towards the edge, so that we could fully avoid the sand and flame, and
when we reached him, I saw people sitting near the empty space, a little further away, on the ground. Here my
Master said: ‘Go and see the state of them, so that you may take away a complete knowledge of this round. Talk
briefly with them: I will speak with this creature, until you return, so that he might carry us on his strong shoulders.’
So, still on the extreme edge of the seventh circle, I went, all alone, to where the sad crew were seated. Their grief
was gushing from their eyes: they kept flicking away the flames and sometimes the burning dust, on this side, or on
that, with their hands, no differently than dogs do in summer, now with their muzzle, now with their paws, when
they are bitten by fleas, or gnats, or horse-flies.
When I set my eyes on the faces of several of them, on whom the grievous fire falls, I did not recognise any, but I
saw that a pouch hung from the neck of each, that had a certain colour, and a certain seal, and it seemed their eye
was feeding on it. And as I came among them, looking, I saw, on a golden-yellow purse, an azure seal that had the
look and attitude of a lion. Then my gaze continuing on its track, I saw another, red as blood, showing a goose
whiter than butter. And one who had his white purse stamped with an azure, pregnant sow, said to me: ‘What are
you doing in this pit? Now go away, and since you are still alive, know that my neighbour, Vitaliano, will come to
sit here on my left. I, a Paduan, am with these Florentines. Many a time they deafen my hearing, shouting: ‘Let the
noble knight come, who will carry the purse with three eagles’ beaks.’ Then he distorted his mouth, and thrust his
tongue out, like an ox licking its nose, and I, dreading lest a longer stay might anger him, who had warned me to
make a brief stay, turned back from those weary spirits.
DANTE AND VIRGIL TELL AND ACT OUT THE DESCENT THEY HAVE MADE ON GERYON.
DANTE:
Trova' il duca mio ch'era salito
già su la groppa del fiero animale,
e disse a me: «Or sie forte e ardito.
I found my guide, who had already mounted
the flank of the savage creature
and he said to me: Be firm and brave.
VIRGIL :
INF C17 81 / DANTE
INF C17 81 / KLINE
e disse a me: «Or sie forte e ardito.
and he said to me: Be firm and brave.
134
Omai si scende per sì fatte scale;
monta dinanzi, ch'i' voglio esser mezzo,
sì che la coda non possa far male».
Now we must descend by means of these stairs:
you climb in front: I wish to be in the centre,
so that the tail may not harm you.
VIRGIL :
Qual è colui che sì presso ha 'l riprezzo
de la quartana, c'ha già l'unghie smorte,
e triema tutto pur guardando 'l rezzo,
Like a man whose fit of the quartan fever is
so near, that his nails are already pallid,
and he shakes all over, by keeping in the shade,
tal divenn' io a le parole porte;
ma vergogna mi fé le sue minacce,
che innanzi a buon segnor fa servo forte.
DANTE:
so I became when these words were said:
shame in me, that makes the servant brave
in the presence of a worthy master.
&
DANTE:
I' m'assettai in su quelle spallacce;
sì volli dir, ma la voce non venne
com' io credetti: `Fa che tu m'abbracce'.
I set myself on those vast shoulders.
I wished to say: “See that you clasp me tight.”
but my voice did not come out as I intended.
DANTE:
Ma esso, ch'altra volta mi sovvenne
ad altro forse, tosto ch'i' montai
con le braccia m'avvinse e mi sostenne;
He, who helped me in other difficulties,
at other times, embraced me,
as soon as I mounted, and held me upright.
INF C17 97 / DANTE
e disse: «Gerïon, moviti omai:
Then he said: Now move, Geryon!
VIRGIL:
INF C17 97 / KLINE
e disse: «Gerïon, moviti omai:
le rote larghe, e lo scender sia poco;
pensa la nova soma che tu hai».
Then he said: Now move, Geryon!
Make large circles, and let your descent be gentle:
think of the strange burden that you carry.
DANTE READS./.SPEAKS TO THE AUDIENCE. VIRGIL INTERPRETS A VERSE OR SO BEHIND.
♫
INFERNAL: SPIRALLING DESCENT TO GREAT EVILS
**********
INF C17 98
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
INF C17 100-102 / DANTE
INF C17 100-102 / KLINE
Come la navicella esce di loco
from
in dietro in dietro, sì quindi si tolse;
when
e poi ch'al tutto si sentì a gioco,
around,
As a little boat goes backwards, backwards,
its mooring, so the monster left the cliff, and
he felt himself quite free, he turned his tail
INF C17 103-105 / DANTE
là 'v' era 'l petto, la coda rivolse,
e quella tesa, come anguilla, mosse,
e con le branche l'aere a sé raccolse.
to where his chest had been, and stretching,
flicked it like an eel, and gathered
the air towards him with his paws.
135
INF C17 106-108 / DANTE
Maggior paura non credo che fosse
quando Fetonte abbandonò li freni,
per che 'l ciel, come pare ancor, si cosse;
I do not believe the fear was greater
when Phaëthon let slip the reins,
and the sky was scorched, as it still appears to be;
PHAËTON: COULD NOT CONTROL THE SUN-CHARIOT OF HIS FATHER, PHOEBUS APOLLO, & WAS DESTROYED BY JUPITER.
INF C17 109-111 / DANTE
né quando Icaro misero le reni
sentì spennar per la scaldata cera,
gridando il padre a lui «Mala via tieni!»,
or when poor Icarus felt the feathers melt from
his arms, as the wax was heated, and his father
Daedalus cried: “You are going the wrong way!”
INF C17 112-114 / DANTE
che fu la mia, quando vidi ch'i' era
ne l'aere d'ogne parte, e vidi spenta
ogne veduta fuor che de la fera.
DANTE:
as mine was when I saw myself surrounded
by the air, on all sides, and saw everything vanish,
except the savage beast.
&
DANTE:
INF C17 115-117 / DANTE
INF C17 115-117 / KLINE
Ella sen va notando lenta lenta;
rota e discende, ma non me n'accorgo
se non che al viso e di sotto mi venta.
He goes down, swimming slowly, slowly:
wheels and falls: but I do not see it
except by the wind, on my face, and from below.
LEONARDO RICCI (‘NATURE’ 7/4/2005) SUGGESTS THAT THIS IS ANTICIPATES GALILEO’S OBSERVATION THAT TRAVELLERS ON
A SHIP OFTEN CANNOT TELL WITHOUT VISUAL CUES WHETHER THEY ARE AT REST OR IN MOTION. GALILEO MADE
EXPERIMENTS AND PRODUCED HIS THEORY OF INVARIANCE, WHICH SUGGESTS THAT THE LAWS OF PHYSICS REMAIN
UNCHANGED BY CHANGES IN VELOCITY. THAT IS TRUE UP TO NEAR THE SPEED OF LIGHT. G.K.
INF C17 118-120 / KLINE
Already I heard the cataract, on the right, make a terrible roaring underneath us, at which I stretched my neck out,
with my gaze downwards.
DANTE:
INF C17 121-123 / DANTE
INF C17 121-123 / KLINE
Allor fu' io più timido a lo stoscio,
però ch'i' vidi fuochi e senti' pianti;
ond' io tremando tutto mi raccoscio.
Then I was more afraid to dismount,
because I saw fires, and heard moaning,
so that I cowered, trembling all over.
INF C17 124-126 / DANTE
E vidi poi, ché nol vedea davanti,
lo scendere e 'l girar per li gran mali
che s'appressavan da diversi canti.
And then I saw what I had not seen before,
our sinking and circling through the great evils
that drew close on every side.
VIRGIL:
INF C17 125-126 / DANTE
INF C17 125-126 / KLINE
lo scendere e 'l girar per li gran mali
che s'appressavan da diversi canti.
our sinking and circling through the great evils
that drew close on every side.
DANTE:
INF C17 127-129 / DANTE
Come 'l falcon ch'è stato assai su l'ali,
che sanza veder logoro o uccello
fa dire al falconiere «Omè, tu cali!»,
As the falcon, that has been long on the wing,
descends wearily, without seeing bird or lure,
making the falconer cry: “Ah, you stoop!”
INF C17 130-132 / DANTE
discende lasso onde si move isnello,
per cento rote, e da lunge si pone
dal suo maestro, disdegnoso e fello;
and settles far from his master
disdainful and sullen,
so Geryon set us down,
VIRGIL:
INF C17 133 / DANTE
INF C17 133 / KLINE
così ne puose al fondo Gerïone
so Geryon set us down,
INF C17 136 / DANTE
si dileguò come da corda cocca.
and shot off., like an arrow from the bow.
136
DANTE:
INF C17 133-135 / DANTE
INF C17 133-135 / KLINE
così ne puose al fondo Gerïone
al piè al piè de la stagliata rocca,
e, discarcate le nostre persone,
at the base, close to the foot
of the fractured rock,
and relieved of our weight,
INF C17 136 / DANTE
si dileguò come da corda cocca.
shot off, like an arrow from the bow.
CANTO 18
THE 8TH CIRCLE: DANTE’S LECTURE
DANTE ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE. HE SPEAKS SOMETIMES IN ENGLISH, SOMETIMES IN ITALIAN.
MAY DEPEND ON WHAT PART OF THE AUDIENCE HE IS ADDRESSING.
DANTE:
THIS
& DANTE:
INF C18 1-3 / DANTE
INF C18 1-3 / KLINE
Luogo è in inferno detto Malebolge,
tutto di pietra di color ferrigno,
come la cerchia che dintorno il volge.
There is a place in Hell called Malebolge,
all of stone, and coloured like iron,
as is the cliff that surrounds it.
DANTE OPENS HIS BOOK AND UNFOLDS A SKETCH. HE BEGINS POINTING OUT FEATURES ON IT & MOVES
ALONG THE STAGE FRONT, A CONSCIENTIOUS LECTURER, MAKING SURE THAT THE WHOLE CLASS
UNDERSTANDS. HE MAY HAND THE MAP TO SOMEONE IN THE AUDIENCE FOR A CLOSER LOOK.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C18 4-6 / DANTE
INF C18 4-6 / KLINE
Nel dritto mezzo del campo maligno
vaneggia un pozzo assai largo e profondo,
di cui suo loco dicerò l'ordigno.
Right in the centre of the malignant space,
a well yawns, very wide and deep,
whose structure I will speak of in due place.
INF C18 7-9 / DANTE
Quel cinghio che rimane adunque è tondo
tra 'l pozzo e 'l piè de l'alta ripa dura,
e ha distinto in dieci valli il fondo.
The margin that remains, between the base
of the high rocky bank and the well, is circular,
and its floor is divided into ten moats.
Quale, dove per guardia de le mura
più e più fossi cingon li castelli,
la parte dove son rende figura,
Like the form the ground reveals, where
successive ditches circle a castle, to defend
the walls, such was the layout displayed here.
tale imagine quivi facean quelli;
e come a tai fortezze da' lor sogli
a la ripa di fuor son ponticelli,
And as there are bridges to the outer banks
from the thresholds of the fortress, so,
from the base of the cliff, causeways ran,
così da imo de la roccia scogli
movien che ricidien li argini e ' fossi
infino al pozzo che i tronca e raccogli.
crossing the successive banks and ditches,
down to the well
that terminates and links them.
DANTE POINTS OUT THE LAST LAND FEATURE ON HIS SKETCH...
137
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
In questo luogo, de la schiena scossi
di Gerïon, trovammoci; e 'l poeta
tenne a sinistra, e io dietro mi mossi.
We found ourselves there, shaken
from Geryon’s back., and the Poet
kept to the left, and I went on, behind him.
1ST & 2ND CHASM: PANDERS, SEDUCERS, FLATTERERS
…AND BEGINS DESCRIBING THE POPULACE OF THE 1ST CHASM.
DANTE:
A la man destra vidi nova pieta,
novo tormento e novi frustatori,
di che la prima bolgia era repleta.
On the right I saw new pain and torment,
and new tormentors,
with which the first chasm was filled.
INF C18 25 / DANTE
Nel fondo erano ignudi i peccatori;
In its depths the sinners were naked: on our
DANTE:
A la man destra vidi nova pieta,
novo tormento e novi frustatori,
di che la prima bolgia era repleta.
On the right I saw new pain and torment,
and new tormentors,
with which the first chasm was filled.
INF C18 25 / DANTE
our
In its depths the …naked sinners were naked: on
NO ENGLISH NECESSARY.
DANTE:
dal mezzo in qua ci venien verso 'l volto,
us,
di là con noi, ma con passi maggiori,
In its depths the sinners were naked: on our
inner side of its central round they came towards
on the outer side, with us, but with larger steps.
come i Roman per l'essercito molto,
l'anno del giubileo, su per lo ponte
hanno a passar la gente modo colto,
So the people of Rome, in that year, at the Jubilee,
because of the great crowds, initiated this means
to pass the people over the bridge:
che da l'un lato tutti hanno la fronte
verso 'l castello e vanno a Santo Pietro,
da l'altra sponda vanno verso 'l monte.
those on the one side all had their faces towards
Castello Sant’ Angelo, and went to St Peter’s:
those on the other towards Monte Giordano.
Di qua, di là, su per lo sasso tetro
vidi demon cornuti con gran ferze,
che li battien crudelmente di retro.
On this side and on that, along the fearful rock,
I saw horned demons with large whips,
who struck them fiercely, from behind.
138
Ahi come facean lor levar le berze
a le prime percosse! già nessuno
le seconde aspettava né le terze.
Ah, how it made them quicken
their steps at the first stroke!
Truly none waited for the second or third.
THE SHADE OF VENEDICO CACCIANEMICO PASSES WITH A LOWERED FACE [INF C18 43-48].
VENEDICO DE’ CACCIANEMICO (CACCIANIMICO) *----? - 1289 + AGE : *--?
BOLOGNA.
DESCRIPTION
*
A LEADING GUELPH, EXILED IN 1289. A FOLLOWER OF MARQUIS OBIZZO II D’ESTE OF FERRARA. HE ASSISTED THE MARQUIS
IN THE SEDUCTION OF VENEDICO’S SISTER, GHISOLA, IN 1270.
DANTE:
&/or DANTE:
Mentr' io andava, li occhi miei in uno
furo scontrati; e io sì tosto dissi:
Già di veder costui non son digiuno.
As I went on, my eyes encountered one of them,
and instantly I said:
This shade I have seen before.
So I stopped to scrutinise him, and the kind guide stood still with me and allowed me to return a little.
DANTE:
E quel frustato celar si credette
bassando 'l viso; ma poco li valse,
ch'io dissi: «O tu che l'occhio a terra gette,
And that scourged spirit thought to hide himself,
lowering his face, but it did not help, since I said:
You, who cast your eyes on the ground,
se le fazion che porti non son false,
Venedico se' tu Caccianemico.
Ma che ti mena a sì pungenti salsa
if the features you display are not an illusion,
you are Venedico Caccianemico:
but what led you into such a biting pickle?
VENEDICO CACCIANEMICO:
Ed elli a me: Mal volontier lo dico;
ma sforzami la tua chiara favella,
che mi fa sovvenir del mondo antico.
And he to me: I tell it unwillingly,
but your clear speech that makes me remember
the former world, compels me.
I' fui colui che la Ghisolabella
condussi a far la voglia del marchese,
come che suoni la sconcia novella.
It was I who induced the fair Ghisola
to do the Marquis of Este’s will,
however unpleasant the story sounds.
E non pur io qui piango bolognese;
anzi n'è questo loco tanto pieno,
che tante lingue non son ora apprese
And I am not the only Bolognese that weeps here:
this place is so filled with us,
that as many tongues are no longer taught
a dicer `sipa' tra Sàvena e Reno;
e se di ciò vuoi fede o testimonio,
rècati a mente il nostro avaro seno.
to say sipa for sì, between the Sàvena’s stream
that is west, and the Reno’s, that is east of Bologna.
If you want assurance and testimony of it, recall to
mind our avaricious hearts.
DANTE:
Così parlando il percosse un demonio
de la sua scurïada, e disse: «Via,
ruffian! qui non son femmine da conio».
And as he spoke, a demon struck him with
his whip, and said: Via, ruffian!...Away, pander!
…, there are no women here to sell.
VIA, RUFFIAN!... WORDS ORIGINALLY SPOKEN BY A DEMON WITH A WHIP
139
I rejoined my guide: then in a few steps we came to where a causeway ran from the cliff. This we climbed very
easily, and, turning to the right on its jagged ridge, we moved away from that eternal round.
VIRGIL:
Quando noi fummo là dov' el vaneggia
di sotto per dar passo a li sferzati,
lo duca disse: Attienti, e fa che feggia
When we reached the arch where it yawns
below to leave a path for the scourged,
my guide said: Attienti…Wait, and let
lo viso in te di quest' altri mal nati,
ai quali ancor non vedesti la faccia
seen,
però che son con noi insieme andati».
the aspect of those other ill-born
spirits strike you, whose faces you have not yet
since they have been going in our direction.
We viewed their company from the ancient bridge, travelling towards us on the other side, chased likewise by the
whip.
E 'l buon maestro, sanza mia dimanda,
mi disse: «Guarda quel grande che vene,
e per dolor non par lagrime spanda:
Without my asking, the kind Master said to me:
Look at that great soul who comes,
and seems not to shed tears of pain:
quanto aspetto reale ancor ritene!
Quelli è Iasón, che per cuore e per senno
li Colchi del monton privati féne.
what a royal aspect he still retains!
That is Jason, who, by wisdom and courage,
robbed the Colchians of the Golden Fleece.
JASON: THE ARGONAUT; SON OF AESON, WHO WAS SENT BY HIS UNCLE PELIAS, FROM IOLCHOS IN THESSALY, TO BRING BACK
THE GOLDEN FLEECE FROM COLCHIS. HE SAILED THE ARGO, THE FIRST SHIP, WITH THE ARGONAUTS, THE GREEK HEROES.
MEDEA THE WITCH, THE KING’S DAUGHTER, FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM & HELPED HIM BUT HE ABANDONED HER FOR CREUSA.
(OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 7 & 8.) HE ALSO ABANDONED HYPSIPYLE, DAUGHTER OF KING THOAS OF LEMNOS, WHOM SHE
HAD SAVED WHEN THE WOMEN OF THE ISLAND KILLED THE MALE INHABITANTS. (OVID: METAMORPHOSES 13 399.)
DANTE notes:
INF C18 86 / DANTE
INF C18 86 / KLINE
Quelli è Iasón, che per cuore e per senno
That is Jason, who, by wisdom and courage,
VIRGIL:
Ello passò per l'isola di Lenno
poi che l'ardite femmine spietate
tutti li maschi loro a morte dienno.
He sailed by the Isle of Lemnos,
after the bold merciless women there
had put all their males to death.
Ivi con segni e con parole ornate
Isifile ingannò, la giovinetta
che prima avea tutte l'altre ingannate.
There with gifts and sweet words he deceived
the young Hypsipyle, who had saved
her father by deceiving all the rest.
Lasciolla quivi, gravida, soletta;
tal colpa a tal martiro lui condanna;
e anche di Medea si fa vendetta.
Medea.
He left her there, pregnant and lonely:
such guilt condemns him to such torment:
and revenge is also taken for his abandoning
Con lui sen va chi da tal parte inganna;
e questo basti de la prima valle
sapere e di color che 'n sé assanna».
With him go all who practise like deceit,
and let this be enough for knowledge of the first
chasm., and those whom it swallows.
DANTE notes:
Con lui sen va chi da tal parte inganna;
With him go all who practise like deceit,
140
INF C18 100-118 / KLINE
We had already come to where the narrow causeway crosses the second bank and forms a buttress to a second arch.
Here we heard people whining in the next chasm, and blowing with their muzzles, and striking themselves with their
palms. The banks were crusted, with a mould from the fumes below that condenses on them, and attacks the eyes
and nose. The floor is so deep, that we could not see any part of it, except by climbing to the ridge of the arch, where
the rock is highest. We came there, and from it, in the ditch below, I saw people immersed in excrement, that looked
as if it flowed from human privies. And while I was searching it, down there, with my eyes, I saw one with ahead so
smeared with ordure, that it was not clear if he was clerk or layman.
DANTE LOOKS INTO THE DARKNESS
ALESSIO INTERMINEI (VOICE):
INF C18 118-120 / DANTE
INF C18 118-119 / KLINE
Quei mi sgridò: «Perché se' tu sì gordo
di riguardar più me che li altri brutti?».
E io a lui: «Perché, se ben ricordo,
He shouted at me: Why are you so keen to gaze
at me more than the other mired ones?
And I to him: Because, if I remember rightly,
ALESSIO DEGLI INTERMINEI *----? - 1295 + AGE : *--?
LUCCA.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
ALESSIO DEGLI INTERMINEI: MEMBER OF A PROMINENT FAMILY OF LUCCAN WHITES, ALIVE IN THE YEAR 1295.
DANTE:
INF C18 121-123 / DANTE
INF C18 121-123 / KLINE
già t'ho veduto coi capelli asciutti,
e se' Alessio Interminei da Lucca:
però t'adocchio più che li altri tutti».
I have seen you before with dry head,
and you are: Alessio Interminei of Lucca:
so I eye you more than all the others.
ALESSIO INTERMINEI (VOICE):
INF C18 124-126 / DANTE
INF C18 124-126 / KLINE
Ed elli allor, battendosi la zucca:
Qua giù m'hanno sommerso le lusinghe
ond' io non ebbi mai la lingua stucca.
And he then, beating his forehead: The flatteries
Flatteries, of which my tongue never
wearied, have brought me down to this!
DANTE MOVES AND IS ABOUT TO ACCOST SIMON MAGUS WHEN THE INTERMINEI VERSE COMES
TOGETHER IN HIS HEAD. HE NODS OR POINTS BACK AND SPEAKS, CLOSING THE CANTO.
(ALTERNATIVELY, HE ACTUALLY SAYS ‘O SIMON MAGUS’ BEFORE TURNING BACK, BUT THAT FURTHER
SEPARATES ‘LUCCA’ AND ‘ZUCCA’.)
DANTE:
INF C18 124-126 / DANTE
INF C18 124-126 / KLINE
Ed elli allor, battendosi la zucca:
Qua giù m'hanno sommerso le lusinghe
ond' io non ebbi mai la lingua stucca.
And he then, beating his forehead:
The flatteries, of which my tongue never wearied,
have brought me down to this!
INF C18 127-132 / KLINE
At which my guide said to me: ‘Advance your head a little, so that your eyes can clearly see, over there, the face of
that filthy and dishevelled piece, who scratches herself, with her soiled nails, now crouching down, now rising to her
feet. It is Thais, the whore, who answered her lover’s message, in which he asked: “Do you really return me great
thanks?” with “No, wondrous thanks.” And let our looking be sated with this.’
CANTO 19
SIMONISTS
141
DANTE ADDRESSES ANOTHER SOUL IN THE DARKNESS
DANTE:
INF C19 1-3 / DANTE
INF C19 1-3 / KLINE
O Simon mago, o miseri seguaci
che le cose di Dio, che di bontate
deon essere spose, e voi rapaci
O Simon Magus. O you, his rapacious,
wretched followers, who prostitute,
for gold and silver,
SIMON MAGUS: SIMON OF SAMARIA (SIMON THE SORCERER), REBUKED (ACTS VIII 9-24) BY ST PETER FOR THINKING THAT
‘THE GIFT OF GOD MAY BE PURCHASED WITH MONEY’. HENCE: ‘SIMONISTS’ (‘SIMONIACS’) WHO TRADE IN HOLY OFFICES.
INF C19 4-6 / DANTE
per oro e per argento avolterate,
or convien che per voi suoni la tromba,
però che ne la terza bolgia state.
the things of God that should be wedded to virtue!
Now the trumpets must sound for you,
since you are in the third chasm.
INF C19 7-9 / KLINE
Already we had climbed to the next arch, onto that part of the causeway that hangs right over the centre of the ditch.
DANTE LOOKS AT SOMETHING INVISIBLE TO THE AUDIENCE, THEN DESCRIBES IT.
DANTE:
O somma sapïenza, quanta è l'arte
O somma sapïenza…O Supreme Wisdom…
che mostri in cielo, in terra e nel mal mondo, how great the art is, that you display, in the
heavens,
e quanto giusto tua virtù comparte!
on earth, and in the underworld, and how justly
your virtue acts.
Io vidi per le coste e per lo fondo
piena la pietra livida di fóri,
d'un largo tutti e ciascun era tondo.
On the sides and floor of the fosse,
I saw the livid stone is full of holes,
all of one width, and each one rounded.
Non mi parean men ampi né maggiori
che que' che son nel mio bel San Giovanni,
fatti per loco d'i battezzatori;
They seemed seem no narrower or larger,
than those in my beautiful Baptistery of St John,
made as places to protect those baptising,
HE BROODS, AND DECIDES TO BRING UP SOMETHING WHICH RANKLES.
DANTE:
l'un de li quali, ancor non è molt' anni,
rupp' io per un che dentro v'annegava:
e questo sia suggel ch'ogn' omo sganni.
one of which I broke, not many years ago,
to aid a child inside: and let this be a sign
of the truth to end all speculation.
I BROKE: DANTE EXPLAINS HERE, TO COUNTER CHARGES, PRESUMABLY OF SACRILEGE MADE AGAINST HIM.
Fuor de la bocca a ciascun soperchiava
d'un peccator li piedi e de le gambe
infino al grosso, e l'altro dentro stava.
From the mouth of each hole, a sinner’s feet
and legs emerged emerge, up to the calf,
and the rest remained inside.
Le piante erano a tutti accese intrambe;
per che sì forte guizzavan le giunte,
che spezzate averien ritorte e strambe.
The soles were are all on fire: so that the joints
quivered quiver so strongly, that they would have
snapped snap grass ropes and willow branches.
142
As the flame of burning oily liquids moves only on the surface, so it was in their case, from the heels to the legs. I
said: ‘Master, who is that, who twists himself about, writhing more than all his companions, and licked by redder
flames?’ And he to me: ‘If you will let me carry you down there by the lower bank, you will learn from him about
his sins and himself.’ And I: ‘Whatever pleases you is good for me: you are my lord, and know that I do not deviate
from your will, also you know what is not spoken.’ Then we came onto the fourth buttress: we turned and
descended, on the left, down into the narrow and perforated depths. The kind master did not let me leave his side
until he took me to the hole occupied by the one who so agonised with his feet.
DANTE ADDRESSES A BARELY-VISIBLE UPSIDE-DOWN SPIRIT, POPE NICHOLAS III, IMPERSONATED BY
CLIO.
----? - 1280
POPE NICHOLAS III *
ROME.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE CLIO.
NICHOLAS III, GIOVANNI GUATANI ORSINI: POPE FROM 1277 TO 1280. THE ORSINI FAMILY EMBLEM WAS A SHE-BEAR. HE
HAD TO WAIT 23 YEARS IN HELL UNTIL THE DEATH OF BONIFACE HIS SUCCESSOR IN 1303, WHO WOULD IN TURN WAIT ONLY
ELEVEN YEARS FOR THE DEATH OF CLEMENT V. (BENEDICT XI, IN BETWEEN THEM, POPE FROM 1303-1304, WAS NOT GIVEN
TO SIMONY.)
DANTE:
«O qual che se' che 'l di sù tien di sotto,
anima trista come pal commessa»,
comincia' io a dir, «se puoi, fa motto».
I began to speak: anima trista…O, unhappy spirit,
whoever you are, who have with your upper parts
below, planted like a stake, form words if you can.
I stood like the friar who gives confession to a treacherous assassin, who, after being fixed in the ground, calls the
confessor back, and so delays his burial.
POPE NICHOLAS III / CLIO:
Ed el gridò: Se' tu già costì ritto?,
se' tu già costì ritto, Bonifazio?
Di parecchi anni mi mentì lo scritto.
And he cried: Are you standing there already,
Boniface? The book of the future
has deceived me by several years.
Se' tu sì tosto di quell' aver sazio
per lo qual non temesti tòrre a 'nganno
la bella donna, e poi di farne strazio?».
Are you sated, so swiftly, with that wealth, for
which you did not hesitate to seize the Church,
our lovely lady, and then destroy her?
I became like those who stand, not knowing what has been said to them, and unable to reply, exposed to scorn.
VIRGIL:
Allor Virgilio disse: «Dilli tosto:
"Non son colui, non son colui che credi"»;
e io rispuosi come a me fu imposto.
Then Virgil said: Quickly, say to him,
“I am not him, I am not whom you think.”
And I replied as I was instructed.
DANTE:
INF C19 62 / DANTE
INF C19 62 / KLINE
Non son colui, non son colui che credi
I am not him, I am not whom you think.
&
Per che lo spirto tutti storse i piedi;
poi, sospirando e con voce di pianto,
mi disse: «Dunque che a me richiedi?
At which the spirit’s legs writhed fiercely:
then, sighing, in a tearful voice, he said to me:
Then what do you want of me?
143
Se di saper ch'i' sia ti cal cotanto,
che tu abbi però la ripa corsa,
sappi ch'i' fui vestito del gran manto;
If it concerns you so much to know, who I am,
that you have left the ridge,
know that I wore the Great Mantle,
e veramente fui figliuol de l'orsa,
cupido sì per avanzar li orsatti,
che sù l'avere e qui me misi in borsa.
and truly I was son of the Orsini she-bear,
so eager to advance her cubs,
that I pursed up wealth, above, and here myself.
DANTE notes:
Pope Nicholas III.
Di sotto al capo mio son li altri tratti
che precedetter me simoneggiando,
per le fessure de la pietra piatti.
The other simonists, who came before me,
are drawn down below my head,
cowering inside the cracks in the stone.
Là giù cascherò io altresì quando
verrà colui ch'i' credea che tu fossi,
allor ch'i' feci 'l sùbito dimando.
I too will drop down there, when Boniface comes,
the one I mistook you for.
when I put my startled question.
Ma più è 'l tempo già che i piè mi cossi
e ch'i' son stato così sottosopra,
ch'el non starà piantato coi piè rossi:
But the extent of time, in which I have baked my
feet, and stood like this, reversed, is already longer
than the time he shall stand planted in turn with
glowing feet,
ché dopo lui verrà di più laida opra,
di ver' ponente, un pastor sanza legge,
tal che convien che lui e me ricuopra.
since, after him, will come Clement,
the lawless shepherd, of uglier actions,
fit indeed to cap Boniface and me.
POPE BONIFACE VIII: BENEDETTO GAETANI WHO SUCCEEDED CELESTINE IN 1294 & IMPRISONED HIM AFTER HIS ABDICATION
UNTIL HIS DEATH. HIS POLITICAL MANOEUVRES ARE THE BACKGROUND TO THE CRITICAL THREE YEARS OF DANTE’S
POLITICAL LIFE, LEADING TO HIS EXILE FROM FLORENCE & DESCRIBED IN CIACCO’S PROPHECY. FOR DANTE, HE REPRESENTED
THE CORRUPT PAPACY, PLACED IN HELL FOR HIS VINDICTIVENESS; FALSITY; PROFLIGATE SIMONY; AN ULTRAMONTANE
SACERDOTALISM, THAT SAW THE EMPIRE AS SUBORDINATE TO THE CHURCH, WITH ONLY A DERIVED AUTHORITY; & HIS
DESTRUCTIVE POLICIES THAT LED TO FRENCH CONTROL OF FLORENCE. BONIFACE DIED IN OCTOBER 1303 & WAS SUCCEEDED
BY BENEDICT XI. BONIFACE IS THEREFORE THE POPE AT THE TIME OF THE VISION IN 1300.
He will be a new Jason, the high priest, whom we read about in Maccabees: and as his king Antiochus was
compliant, so will Philip be, who governs France.’
DANTE TAKES A TURN OR 2 AROUND THE STAGE, COMPOSING IN HIS HEAD. BACK WITH POPE NICHOLAS
HE STARTS QUIETLY AND GETS LOUDER. VIRGIL GETS THE IDEA ACROSS TO ENGLISH-ONLY SPEAKERS, A
VERSE OR SO BEHIND.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Io non so s'i' mi fui qui troppo folle,
ch'i' pur rispuosi lui a questo metro:
«Deh, or mi dì: quanto tesoro volle
I do not know if I was too foolhardy then,
but I answered him in this way:
Ah, now tell me, how much wealth
Nostro Segnore in prima da san Pietro
ch'ei ponesse le chiavi in sua balìa?
Certo non chiese se non "Viemmi retro".
the Lord demanded of Peter, before he gave
the keys of the Church into his keeping? Surely he
demanded nothing, saying only: “Follow me.”
144
Né Pier né li altri tolsero a Matia
oro od argento, quando fu sortito
al loco che perdé l'anima ria.
Nor did Peter or the other Apostles, ask gold
or silver of Matthias., when he was chosen to fill
the place that Judas, the guilty soul, had forfeited.
SAINT MATTHIAS: CHOSEN BY THE APOSTLES (ACTS I 13-26), TO FILL THE PLACE AMONG THE DISCIPLES FORFEITED BY
JUDAS.
Però ti sta, ché tu se' ben punito;
e guarda ben la mal tolta moneta
ch'esser ti fece contra Carlo ardito.
So, remain here, since you are justly punished,
and keep well the ill-gotten money,
that made you so bold against Charles of Anjou.
CHARLES OF ANJOU: DEFEATED MANFRED, KING OF SICILY, AT BENEVENTO IN 1265 & BECAME KING OF NAPLES & SICILY.
HE SCHEMED TO BRING DOWN THE EASTERN EMPEROR, MICHAEL PALEOLOGUS, BUT WAS OPPOSED BY KING PERE II OF
ARAGON WHOSE WIFE CONSTANCE (COSTANZA) WAS MANFRED’S DAUGHTER. ON EASTER MONDAY 1282 THE APPROACHES
OF A YOUNG FRENCH SOLDIER TO A YOUNG SICILIAN WOMAN IN PALERMO PROVOKED HIS MURDER BY HER HUSBAND, AND,
WHILE THE BELLS CALLED VESPERS, IT LED TO A CHAIN REACTION OF ANTI-FRENCH MASSACRES IN SICILY. PERE WAS ABLE
TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A POWER VACUUM & OUSTED CHARLES FROM SICILY. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETY-YEAR
‘WAR OF THE VESPERS’. HE & PETER (PERE) BOTH DIED IN 1285.
CHARLES REFUSED TO ACCEPT ONE OF POPE NICHOLAS III’S NIECES AS A WIFE FOR HIS NEPHEW & NICHOLAS DEPRIVED
CHARLES OF THE OFFICE OF SENATOR OF ROME & ACCEPTED MONEY FROM MICHAEL PALEOLOGUS, HELPING TO FUEL
CHARLES’S ANTI-BYZANTINE POLICY.
INF C19 100-102 / DANTE
E se non fosse ch'ancor lo mi vieta
la reverenza de le somme chiavi
che tu tenesti ne la vita lieta,
And were it not that I not am still restrained by
reverence for the great keys that you held
in your hand in the joyful life,
INF C19 103-105 / DANTE
io userei parole ancor più gravi;
ché la vostra avarizia il mondo attrista,
calcando i buoni e sollevando i pravi.
I would use even more forceful words.,
since your avarice grieves the world,
trampling the good, and raising the wicked.
INF C19 106-108 / DANTE
Di voi pastor s'accorse il Vangelista,
quando colei che siede sopra l'acque
puttaneggiar coi regi a lui fu vista;
John the Evangelist spoke of shepherds such as
you, when he saw “the great whore that sitteth
upon many waters, with whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication”,
JOHN THE EVANGELIST: ST JOHN THE DIVINE, AUTHOR OF THE REVELATION. DANTE REFERS TO THE VISION OF THE GREAT
WHORE. THE SEVEN HEADS IN REVELATION 8 ARE INTERPRETED AS THE SEVEN VIRTUES OR SACRAMENTS & THE TEN HEADS
AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, KEPT AS LONG AS THE POPES WERE VIRTUOUS.
INF C19 109-111 / DANTE
quella che con le sette teste nacque,
e da le diece corna ebbe argomento,
fin che virtute al suo marito piacque.
she that was born with seven heads and,
as long as virtue pleased her spouse,
had justification.
INF C19 112-114 / DANTE
Fatto v'avete dio d'oro e d'argento;
e che altro è da voi a l'idolatre,
se non ch'elli uno, e voi ne orate cento?
You have made a god for yourselves of gold and
silver, and how do you differ from the idolaters,
except that he worships one image and you a
hundred?
INF C19 115-117 / DANTE
Ahi, Costantin, di quanto mal fu matre,
non la tua conversion, ma quella dote
that
che da te prese il primo ricco patre!».
Ah, Constantine, how much evil you gave birth
to, not in your conversion, but in that Donation
the first wealthy Pope, Sylvester, received from
you!
THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE: A FORGED DOCUMENT OF THE MIDDLE AGES, IN WHICH POPE SYLVESTER I WAS SUPPOSED
TO HAVE CURED CONSTANTINE OF LEPROSY, HE THEN RESOLVING TO TRANSFER HIS CAPITAL TO CONSTANTINOPLE, LEAVING
THE POPE WITH TEMPORAL POWER IN ITALY. DANTE SAW THIS AS THE SOURCE OF THE FATAL INVOLVEMENT OF THE CHURCH
IN TEMPORAL POWER &, AS A CONSEQUENCE. THE EMPIRE’S INVOLVEMENT IN COVETING THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF THE
CHURCH. HE CONSIDERED THE DONATION INVALID AS THE EMPEROR COULD NOT RELINQUISH TEMPORAL POWER, NOR COULD
THE POPE RECEIVE IT. (SEE DANTE DE MONARCHIA 3 10 ETC)
INF C19 118-133 / KLINE
And while I sung these notes to him, he thrashed violently with both his feet, either rage or conscience gnawing him.
I think it pleased my guide, greatly, he had so satisfied an expression, listening to the sound of the true words I
spoke. So he lifted me with both his arms, and when he had me quite upon his breast, climbed back up the path he
had descended, and did not tire of carrying me clasped to him, till he had borne me to the summit of the arch, that
145
crosses from the fourth to the fifth rampart. Here he set his burden down, lightly: light for him, on the rough steep
cliff, that would be a difficult path for a goat. From there another valley was visible to me.
♫
MISERABLE MODE
**********
INF C19 117
DANTE AND VIRGIL DISAPPEAR DOWN THE →R→
AND APPEAR ON THE
STAGE FRONT AND WAITS FOR THE MUSIC TO FINISH.
CANTO 20
→L . DANTE GOES TO THE
→
146
SEERS & SORCERERS: TEARS
DANTE SPEAKS TO BOTH LANGUAGE SECTIONS AS ONE WHO KNOWS POETRY COMES FROM AN EMOTION
RECOLLECTED IN TRANQUILLITY.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
INF C20 1-3 / DANTE
INF C20 1-3 / KLINE
Di nova pena mi conven far versi
e dar matera al ventesimo canto
de la prima canzon, ch'è d'i sommersi.
I must make verses of new torments,
and give matter for this twentieth Canto,
of the Inferno that treats of the damned.
INF C20 4-6 / KLINE
I was now quite ready to look into the ditch, bathed with tears of anguish, which was revealed to me:
HE OPENS HIS BOOK AND READS THROUGH SOME PROSE NOTES.
DANTE:
INF C20 7-9 / DANTE
INF C20 7-9 / KLINE
e vidi gente per lo vallon tondo
venir, tacendo e lagrimando, al passo
che fanno le letane in questo mondo.
I saw people coming, silent and weeping,
through the circling valley, at a pace which
processions, that chant Litanies, take through the
world.
Come 'l viso mi scese in lor più basso,
mirabilmente apparve esser travolto
ciascun tra 'l mento e 'l principio del casso,
When my eyes looked further down on them,
each of them appeared strangely distorted,
between the chin and the start of the chest,
ché da le reni era tornato 'l volto,
e in dietro venir li convenia,
perché 'l veder dinanzi era lor tolto.
since the head was reversed towards the body,
and they had to move backwards, since they
were not allowed being unable to look forwards.
Forse per forza già di parlasia
si travolse così alcun del tutto;
ma io nol vidi, né credo che sia.
Perhaps one might be so distorted by palsy,
but I have not seen it,
and do not credit it.
Reader, as God may grant that you profit from your reading, think now yourself how I could keep from weeping,
quando la nostra imagine di presso
nearby,
vidi sì torta, che 'l pianto de li occhi
le natiche bagnava per lo fesso.
when When I saw our image so contorted,
that the tears…the tears… from
their eyes bathed their hind parts at the cleft
DANTE STOPS AND TOUCHES HIS HAND TO HIS OWN FACE.
DANTE:
le natiche bagnava per lo fesso.
the tears from their eyes bathed their hind parts
at the cleft.
DANTE DROPS HIS HEAD AND WEEPS SO PITEOUSLY THAT VIRGIL TRIES 2 LANGUAGES TO GET TO HIM.
147
VIRGIL:
&
VIRGIL:
Certo io piangea, poggiato a un de' rocchi
del duro scoglio, sì che la mia scorta
mi disse: «Ancor se' tu de li altri sciocchi?
Truly, I wept, leaning against one of the rocks
of the solid cliff, so that my guide said to me:
Are you like other fools?, as well?
VIRGIL:
Qui vive la pietà quand' è ben morta;
chi è più scellerato che colui
che al giudicio divin passion comporta?
Pity is alive here, where it is best forgotten.
Who is more impious than one who bears
compassion for God’s judgement?
VIRGIL TRIES LIFTING DANTE’S HEAD.
VIRGIL:
&
VIRGIL:
Drizza la testa, drizza, e vedi a cui
s'aperse a li occhi d'i Teban la terra;
per ch'ei gridavan tutti: "Dove rui,
Lift your head, lift it and see See him for whom
earth opened, under the eyes of the Thebans,
at which they all shouted: “Where are you rushing,
Anfïarao? perché lasci la guerra?".
E non restò di ruinare a valle
fino a Minòs che ciascheduno afferra.
Amphiaräus? Why do you quit the battle?”
And he did not stop his downward rush
until he reached Minos, who grasps every sinner.
AMPHIARÄUS: A GREEK SEER, ONE OF THE HEROES AT THE CALYDONIAN BOAR HUNT. IN THE WAR OF THE SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES, AMPHIARAÜS WAS ONE OF THE SEVEN CHAMPIONS. HE FLED ALONG THE BANKS OF THE RIVER ISMENUS IN HIS
CHARIOT AND WAS ON THE POINT OF BEING KILLED WHEN ZEUS CLEFT THE EARTH WITH A THUNDERBOLT. HE VANISHED
FROM SIGHT, CHARIOT & ALL, & NOW REIGNS ALIVE AMONG THE DEAD. (OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 8 317, 9 407-410.)
Mira c'ha fatto petto de le spalle;
perché volle veder troppo davante,
di retro guarda e fa retroso calle.
Note how he has made a chest of his shoulders:
because he willed to see too far beyond him,
he now looks behind and goes backwards.
Vedi Tiresia, che mutò sembiante
quando di maschio femmina divenne,
cangiandosi le membra tutte quante;
See Tiresias, who changed his form,
when he was made into a woman,
all his limbs altering:
TIRESIAS: THEBAN SEER. HE SPENT SEVEN YEARS IN THE FORM OF A WOMAN AFTER STRIKING A PAIR OF COUPLING SNAKES.
ON STRIKING THEM AGAIN HE WAS CHANGED BACK. HE WAS CALLED UPON, BY JUPITER, TO JUDGE AN ARGUMENT, BETWEEN
HIMSELF & JUNO, AS TO WHETHER MEN OR WOMEN GET THE MOST PLEASURE FROM LOVEMAKING. DECIDING IN FAVOUR OF
WOMEN (& SO JUPITER), JUNO STRUCK HIM BLIND. JUPITER GAVE HIM THE POWER OF PROPHECY TO COMPENSATE FOR HIS
BLINDNESS. (OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 3 324-332.)
e prima, poi, ribatter li convenne
li duo serpenti avvolti, con la verga,
che rïavesse le maschili penne.
and later he had to strike the two entwined snakes
with his staff, a second time,
before he could resume a male aspect.
That one is Aruns, who has his back to Tiresias’s belly, he who in the mountains of Tuscan Luni, where the
Carrarese hoe, who live beneath them, had a cave to live in, among the white marble, from which he could gaze at
the stars and the sea, with nothing to spoil his view.’
148
MANTUA & MANTO
DANTE’S EYES ARE STILL SHUT. VIRGIL COAXES HIM WITH SOFTER MATTERS.
VIRGIL:
E quella che ricuopre le mammelle,
che tu non vedi, con le trecce sciolte,
e ha di là ogne pilosa pelle,
And she that hides her breasts, that you cannot see,
with her flowing tresses,
and has all hairy skin on the other side,
Manto fu, che cercò per terre molte;
poscia si puose là dove nacqu' io;
onde un poco mi piace che m'ascolte.
was Manto, who searched through many lands,
then settled where I was born, about which it
pleases me to have you listen to me speak a while.
MANTUA: VIRGIL WAS ACTUALLY BORN IN ANDES, NEAR MANTUA.
MANTO: THE DAUGHTER OF TIRESIAS & APOLLO’S PROPHETIC PRIESTESS, THE PYTHONESS, AT DELPHI, WHO MARRIED
RHACIUS, KING OF CARIA & BORE HIM (OR APOLLO) A SON MOPSUS WHO WAS A FAMOUS SOOTHSAYER.
VIRGIL DESCRIBED AN ALTERNATIVE VERSION OF MANTUA’S FOUNDING IN AENEID 11 98-200.
DANTE SITS DOWN. CLIO, THE MUSE OF HISTORY WHO HAD BEEN WALKING BY, LEANS ON A WALL TO
LISTEN, UNSEEN BY THE POETS.
VIRGIL’S SPEECH INVOLVES A LOT OF HANDWORK INDICATING DIRECTIONS AND LEVELS.
VIRGIL:
Poscia che 'l padre suo di vita uscìo
e venne serva la città di Baco,
questa gran tempo per lo mondo gio.
After her father departed from life, and Thebes,
the city of Bacchus, came to be enslaved,
she roamed the world a long time.
Suso in Italia bella giace un laco,
a piè de l'Alpe che serra Lamagna
sovra Tiralli, c'ha nome Benaco.
A lake, Lake Garda, lies at the foot of the Alps,
up in beautiful Italy,
where Germany is closed off beyond the Tyrol.
Per mille fonti, credo, e più si bagna
tra Garda e Val Camonica e Pennino
de l'acqua che nel detto laco stagna.
Mount Apennino, between the town
of Garda and Val Camonica,
is bathed by the water that settles in the lake.
Loco è nel mezzo là dove 'l trentino
pastore e quel di Brescia e 'l veronese
segnar poria, s'e' fesse quel cammino.
In the middle there is a place where the Bishops
of Trent, Brescia, and Verona might equally
give the blessing if they went that way.
Siede Peschiera, bello e forte arnese
da fronteggiar Bresciani e Bergamaschi,
ove la riva 'ntorno più discese.
A strong and beautiful fortress stands,
where the shoreline is lowest,
to challenge the Brescians and Bergamese.
DANTE OPENS HIS BOOK AND BEGINS MAKING NOTES.
VIRGIL:
Ivi convien che tutto quanto caschi
ciò che 'n grembo a Benaco star non può,
e fassi fiume giù per verdi paschi.
There, all the water that cannot remain
in the breast of Lake Garda, has to descend
through the green fields, and form a river.
149
Tosto che l'acqua a correr mette co,
non più Benaco, ma Mencio si chiama
fino a Governol, dove cade in Po.
As soon as the water has its head,
it is no longer Garda, but Mincio,
down to Governolo where it joins the Po.
Non molto ha corso, ch'el trova una lama,
ne la qual si distende e la 'mpaluda;
e suol di state talor essere grama.
It has not flowed far before it It finds the level,
on which it spreads and makes a marsh there,
and in summer tends to be unwholesome.
Quindi passando la vergine cruda
vide terra, nel mezzo del pantano,
sanza coltura e d'abitanti nuda.
Manto, the wild virgin, passing that way,
saw untilled land,
naked of inhabitants, among the fens.
DANTE notes:
VIRGIL:
Lì, per fuggire ogne consorzio umano,
ristette con suoi servi a far sue arti,
e visse, e vi lasciò suo corpo vano.
There, to avoid all human contact, she stayed,
with her followers, to practise practised her arts,
and lived there, and left her empty body.
Li uomini poi che 'ntorno erano sparti
s'accolsero a quel loco, ch'era forte
per lo pantan ch'avea da tutte parti.
Then the people who were scattered round
gathered together in that place, which was
well defended by the marshes on every side.
Fer la città sovra quell' ossa morte;
e per colei che 'l loco prima elesse,
Mantüa l'appellar sanz' altra sorte.
They built the city over those dead bones,
and without other augury, called it Mantua,
after her who first chose the place.
Già fuor le genti sue dentro più spesse,
prima che la mattia da Casalodi
da Pinamonte inganno ricevesse.
Once there were more inhabitants,
before Casalodi, was foolishly
deceived by Pinamonte.
CASALODI: THE BRESCIAN COUNTS OF CASALODI HELD MANTUA IN 1272 BUT WERE UNPOPULAR & THREATENED WITH
EXPULSION. PINAMONTE DE BUONACCORSI, OBTAINED CONTROL, BY ADVISING ALBERTO DA CASALODI TO BANISH THE
POWERFUL NOBLES, AS A SOURCE OF TROUBLE. HE THEN TOOK OVER, MASSACRED ANY OPPONENTS, EXPELLED ALBERTO &
HELD MANTUA UNTIL 1291.
Però t'assenno che, se tu mai odi
originar la mia terra altrimenti,
la verità nulla menzogna frodi».
So, I charge you, if you ever hear another story
of the origin of my city,
do not let falsehoods destroy the truth.
DANTE FINALLY PRODUCES A VERSE.
DANTE:
vide terra, nel mezzo del pantano,
sanza coltura e d'abitanti nuda.
saw untilled land,
naked of inhabitants, among the fens.
CLIO APPROACHES VIRGIL, AS IF TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT UNHISTORICAL HISTORY, SHRUGS AND
DEPARTS.
DANTE IS QUITE HIMSELF AGAIN. HE MAKES HIMSELF MORE COMFORTABLE.
150
DANTE:
INF C20 100-102 / DANTE
INF C20 100-102 / KLINE
E io: «Maestro, i tuoi ragionamenti
mi son sì certi e prendon sì mia fede,
che li altri mi sarien carboni spenti.
And I said: Master, your speeches are so sound
to me, and so hold my belief,
that any others are like spent ashes.
INF C20 103-105 / DANTE
Ma dimmi, de la gente che procede,
se tu ne vedi alcun degno di nota;
ché solo a ciò la mia mente rifiede».
But tell me about the people who are passing,
if you see any of them worth noting,
since my mind returns to that alone.
VIRGIL LOOKS AT UNSEEN SPIRITS.
DANTE:
INF C20 106-108 / DANTE
INF C20 106-108 / KLINE
Allor mi disse: «Quel che da la gota
stretches
Then he said to me: That one, whose beard
VIRGIL:
INF C20 106-108 / DANTE
INF C20 106-108 / KLINE
Allor mi disse: «Quel che da la gota
stretches
porge la barba in su le spalle brune,
was
fu--quando Grecia fu di maschi vòta,
Then he said to me: That one, whose beard
down from his cheeks, over his dusky shoulders,
an augur, when Greece was so emptied of males,
INF C20 109-111 / DANTE
sì ch'a pena rimaser per le cune-augure, e diede 'l punto con Calcanta
Calchas
in Aulide a tagliar la prima fune.
for the expedition against Troy, that there were
scarcely any left, even in their cradles. Like
at Aulis, he He set the moment for cutting loose the
first cable.
CALCHAS: AT AULIS: WHERE THE GREEK SHIPS WAITED FOR A FAVOURABLE WIND TO SAIL TO TROY. CALCHAS INTERPRETED
THE APPEARANCE OF A SNAKE THAT KILLED A SPARROW & HER EIGHT FLEDGLINGS & THEN WAS TURNED TO STONE. IT
SIGNIFIED THAT TROY WOULD BE TAKEN IN THE TENTH YEAR AFTER A LONG STRUGGLE. HE ALSO PROPHESIED THAT THEY
MUST PACIFY ARTEMIS BY SACRIFICING AGAMEMNON’S DAUGHTER, IPHIGENIA. AFTER THAT THE NORTH-EAST WIND
DROPPED & THE FLEET WAS ABLE TO SET SAIL FOR TROY.
EURYPYLUS: ACCORDING TO SINON, SENT BY THE GREEKS TO THE ORACLE OF APOLLO TO ASK FOR A FAVOURABLE WIND
HOME TO GREECE. THE ORACLE REPLIED BY REMINDING THEM OF CALCHAS AT AULIS & TELLING THEM TO SHED BLOOD
AGAIN. (SEE VIRGIL’S TRAGEDÍA & THE AENEID 2 110 ET SEQ.
INF C20 112-114 / DANTE
INF C20 112-114 / KLINE
Euripilo ebbe nome, e così 'l canta
l'alta mia tragedìa in alcun loco:
ben lo sai tu che la sai tutta quanta.
Eurypylus is his name, and my high Poem
sings of it in a certain place:
you know it well, who know the whole thing.
VIRGIL:
&
DANTE:
'Saepe fugam Danai Troia cupiere relicta
moliri et longo fessi discedere bello;
The Greeks, weary with the long war, often longed
to leave Troy and execute a retreat:
VIRGIL:
INF C20 115-117 / DANTE
INF C20 115-117 / KLINE
Quell' altro che ne' fianchi è così poco,
Scott,
Michele Scotto fu, che veramente
de le magiche frode seppe 'l gioco.
The other, so thin about the flanks, is Michael
who truly understood
the fraudulent game of magic.
MICHAEL SCOTT OF BALWEARIE (C 1109-1250): STUDIED AT OXFORD, PARIS & TOLEDO. HE FOLLOWED THE EMPEROR
FREDERICK II TO HIS COURT, THOUGH HE DIED IN SCOTLAND. HE TRANSLATED ARISTOTLE & WAS A FAMOUS ASTROLOGER.
FOR A CHANGE, DANTE INTERPRETS VIRGIL’S ITALIAN.
151
VIRGIL:
&
DANTE:
INF C20 118-120 / DANTE
INF C20 118-120 / KLINE
Vedi Guido Bonatti; vedi Asdente,
ch'avere inteso al cuoio e a lo spago
ora vorrebbe, ma tardi si pente.
See Guido Bonatti, see Asdente, the toothless one
who wishes now he had attended more to his
shoemaker’s leather and cord, but repents too late.
GUIDO BONATTI: PRIVATE ASTROLOGER TO GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO. HE CAME FROM FORLÌ & WAS A TILER BY TRADE. HE
WROTE LIBER INTRODUCTORIUS AD JUDICIA STELLORUM (C 1170) & WAS CREDITED WITH AIDING GUIDO’S VICTORY OVER THE
FRENCH PAPAL FORCES AT FORLÌ IN 1282.
ASDENTE: A SHOEMAKER OF PARMA. ASDENTE (‘THE TOOTHLESS’), WHOSE REAL NAME WAS BENVENUTO, PRACTISED AS A
SOOTHSAYER. HE DIED C 1284.
INF C20 121-123 / DANTE
Vedi le triste che lasciaron l'ago,
la spuola e 'l fuso, e fecersi 'ndivine;
fecer malie con erbe e con imago.
See the The miserable women who abandoned
needle, shuttle and spindle, and became
prophetesses: they made witchcraft, using herbs
and images.
VIRGIL:
INF C20 124-126 / DANTE
INF C20 124-126 / KLINE
Ma vienne omai, ché già tiene 'l confine
d'amendue li emisperi e tocca l'onda
sotto Sobilia Caino e le spine;
But come, now, for Cain with his bundle of thorns,
that Man in the Moon, reaches the western confines
of both hemispheres, and touches the waves south
of Seville.,
CAIN: THE MAN IN THE MOON IN POPULAR SUPERSTITION, WAS CAIN CARRYING A BUNDLE OF THORNS AS HE WENT TO
SACRIFICE.
TOUCHES THE WAVES: BY DEDUCTION, THE TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 6.45 ON SATURDAY MORNING.
INF C20 127-129 / DANTE
e già iernotte fu la luna tonda:
ben ten de' ricordar, ché non ti nocque
alcuna volta per la selva fonda».
and already Already, last night, the Moon was full:
you must remember it clearly, since she did
not serve you badly in the deep wood.
DANTE LOOKS UP AT THE ‘SKY’ AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C20 127-129 / DANTE
INF C20 127-129 / KLINE
e già iernotte fu la luna tonda:
ben ten de' ricordar, ché non ti nocque
alcuna volta per la selva fonda».
and already, last night, the Moon was full:
you must remember it clearly, since she did
not serve you badly in the deep wood.
INF C20 130 / KLINE
Sì mi parlava, e andavamo introcque.
So he spoke to me, and meanwhile we moved on.
CANTO 21
INF C21 1-6 / KLINE
So from bridge to bridge we went, with other conversation which my Commedía does not choose to recall, and we
were at the summit arch when we stopped to see the next cleft of Malebolge, and more vain grieving, and I found it
marvellously dark.
THEY DESCEND THE →R→ .
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT
INF C20 130
**********
152
DEMONS
DANTE COMES BACK UP THE →R→
AND ADDRESSES BOTH SECTIONS OF THE AUDIENCE IN TURN.
DANTE:
from end of segment INF C21 16-18 / DANTE
tal, non per foco ma per divin' arte,
bollia là giuso una pegola spessa,
che 'nviscava la ripa d'ogne parte.
so, a A dense pitch boiled down there,
not melted by fire, but by divine skill,
and glued the banks over, on every side.
DANTE:
INF C21 7-9 / DANTE
INF C21 7-9 / KLINE
Quale ne l'arzanà de' Viniziani
bolle l'inverno la tenace pece
a rimpalmare i legni lor non sani,
As, in the Venetian Arsenal, the glutinous
pitch boils in winter,
that they use to caulk the leaking boats
ché navicar non ponno--in quella vece
chi fa suo legno novo e chi ristoppa
le coste a quel che più vïaggi fece;
they cannot sail; and so, instead one man
builds a new boat, another plugs the seams of his,
that has made many voyages,
chi ribatte da proda e chi da poppa;
altri fa remi e altri volge sarte;
chi terzeruolo e artimon rintoppa--:
one hammers at the prow, another at the stern,
some make oars, and some twist rope,
one mends a jib, the other a mainsail;
so, a dense pitch boiled down there,
DANTE:
INF C21 7-9 / DANTE
INF C21 7-9 / KLINE
Quale ne l'arzanà de' Viniziani
bolle l'inverno la tenace pece
a rimpalmare i legni lor non sani,
As, in the Venetian Arsenal, the glutinous
pitch boils in winter,
that they use to caulk the leaking boats
ché navicar non ponno--in quella vece
chi fa suo legno novo e chi ristoppa
le coste a quel che più vïaggi fece;
they cannot sail; and so, instead one man
builds a new boat, another plugs the seams of his,
that has made many voyages.,
chi ribatte da proda e chi da poppa;
altri fa remi e altri volge sarte;
chi terzeruolo e artimon rintoppa--:
one One hammers at the prow, another at the stern.,
some Some make oars, and some twist rope.,
one One mends a jib, the other a mainsail;
so So, a dense pitch boiled down there,
I saw it, but nothing in it, except the bubbles that the boiling caused, and the heaving of it all, and the cooling part’s
submergence.
153
VIRGIL (VOICE):
&
VIRGIL (VOICE):
Mentr' io là giù fisamente mirava,
lo duca mio, dicendo Guarda, guarda!
mi trasse a sé del loco dov' io stava.
While I was gazing fixedly at it, my guide said:
Take care. Take care!
and drew me towards him, from where I stood.
Then I turned round, like one who has to see what he must run from, and who is attacked by sudden fear,
DANTE LOOKS DOWN THE STEPS AND TURNS BACK TO THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
che, per veder, non indugia 'l partire:
e vidi dietro a noi un diavol nero
correndo su per lo scoglio venire.
so that he dare not stop to look:
and behind us I saw Un diavol nero…
a black Demon, come running up the cliff!
DEVILS
--
AGE : * ?
DESCRIPTION
*VOICES ONLY. MALES EXCEPT FOR GRAFFIACANE.
--?
DEVILS AGE : *
DESCRIPTION
HE TAKES ANOTHER GLANCE.
DANTE:
Ahi quant' elli era ne l'aspetto fero!
e quanto mi parea ne l'atto acerbo,
con l'ali aperte e sovra i piè leggero!
Ah, how How fierce his aspect was is,
And how cruel he seemed in action,
with his outspread wings, and nimble legs!
L'omero suo, ch'era aguto e superbo,
carcava un peccator con ambo l'anche,
e quei tenea de' piè ghermito 'l nerbo.
His high-pointed shoulders carried carry
a sinner’s two haunches, and he held holds
the sinews of each foot tight.
BLACK DEMON (VOICE):
Del nostro ponte disse: Malebranche,
clawed…
ecco un de li anzïan di Santa Zita!
Mettetel sotto, ch'i' torno per anche
He cried: You, Malebranche…the Evilsee here is one of Lucca’s elders, that city whose
patron is Santa Zita. Push him under while I go
back for the rest.,
a quella terra, che n'è ben fornita:
ogn' uom v'è barattier, fuor che Bonturo;
del no, per li denar, vi si fa ita».
back to that That city well provided with
them: every one there is a barrator, except Bont.;
there they make ‘Yes’ of ‘No’ for money.
BONTURO DE’ DATI: HEAD OF THE POPULAR PARTY IN LUCCA & THE WORST BARRATOR OR ABUSER OF OFFICE IN THE CITY.
DANTE’S COMMENT IS IRONIC, PRESUMABLY SINCE BONTURO WAS LOUDEST TO DENY THE OFFENCE.
He threw him down, then wheeled back along the stony cliff, and never was a mastiff loosed so readily to catch a
thief. The sinner plunged in, and rose again writhing, but the demons under cover of the bridge, shouted: ‘Here the
face of Christ, carved in your cathedral, is of no avail:
DANTE versifies:
Ahi quant' elli era ne l'aspetto fero!
e quanto mi parea ne l'atto acerbo,
con l'ali aperte e sovra i piè leggero!
Ah, how fierce his aspect was!
And how cruel he seemed in action,
with his outspread wings, and nimble legs!
154
SCARMIGLIONE (VOICE):
INF C21 49 / DANTE
INF C21 49 / KLINE
qui si nuota altrimenti che nel Serchio!
here you swim differently than in the Serchio:
BARBARICCIA (VOICE):
Però, se tu non vuo' di nostri graffi,
non far sopra la pegola soverchio».
so, unless you want to try our grapples,
do not emerge above the pitch.
Then they struck at him with more than a hundred prongs, and said: ‘Here you must dance, concealed, so that you
steal in private, if you can.’
DANTE:
Non altrimenti i cuoci a' lor vassalli
fanno attuffare in mezzo la caldaia
la carne con li uncin, perché non galli.
No different is it, when the cooks make their
underlings push the meat down into the depths of
the cauldrons with their hooks, to stop it floating.
VIRGIL EMERGES TO ADDRESS DANTE.
VIRGIL:
Lo buon maestro «Acciò che non si paia
che tu ci sia», mi disse, «giù t'acquatta
dopo uno scheggio, ch'alcun schermo t'aia;
The good master said to me: Cower down behind
a rock, so a screen protects you,
and so that it is not obvious that you are here,
VIRGIL:
INF C21 59 / DANTE
INF C21 59 / KLINE
che tu ci sia», mi disse, «giù t'acquatta
Cower down behind a rock, so that you have
VIRGIL:
e per nulla offension che mi sia fatta,
non temer tu, ch'i' ho le cose conte,
perch' altra volta fui a tal baratta».
and whatever insult is offered to me, have no fear,
since I know these matters,
having been in a similar danger before.
VIRGIL DESCENDS THE →R→
AGAIN.
DANTE CAN STILL SEE DOWN THE STEPS FROM HIS ‘ROCK’.
DANTE:
Poscia passò di là dal co del ponte;
e com' el giunse in su la ripa sesta,
mestier li fu d'aver sicura fronte.
The demons rushed from below
the bridge, and turned
their weapons against him,
Con quel furore e con quella tempesta
ch'escono i cani a dosso al poverello
che di sùbito chiede ove s'arresta,
with the storm and fury
with which of a dog rushes rushing at
a poor beggar, who suddenly
INF C21 70 / DANTE
usciron quei di sotto al ponticello,
seeks alms when he stops for alms.
DANTE INTERPRETS THE UNSEEN VIRGIL AND MALEBRANCHE.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
&
DANTE:
usciron quei di sotto al ponticello,
e volser contra lui tutt' i runcigli;
ma el gridò: «Nessun di voi sia fello!
seeks alms when he stops.
But Virgil cried:
None, of you, Before you commit an outrage.
155
Innanzi che l'uncin vostro mi pigli,
traggasi avante l'un di voi che m'oda,
e poi d'arruncigliarmi si consigli».
Before you touch me with your forks,
one of you come over here, to listen,
and then discuss whether you will grapple me.
DEMONS (VOICES):
&
DANTE:
Tutti gridaron: Vada Malacoda!
per ch'un si mosse--e li altri stetter fermi--
They all cried: You go, Malacoda Evil Tail
at which one moved while the others stood still,
MALACODA (VOICE):
DANTE:
&
INF C21 78 / DANTE
INF C21 78 / KLINE
e venne a lui dicendo: Che li approda?
and came towards Virgil, saying: What good
will it do him?
VIRGIL (VOICE):
«Credi tu, Malacoda, qui vedermi
esser venuto», disse 'l mio maestro,
«sicuro già da tutti vostri schermi,
My Master said: Malacoda, do you think
I have come here without
the Divine Will, and propitious fate,
sanza voler divino e fato destro?
safe from all your obstructions?
Lascian' andar, ché nel cielo è voluto
Let me go by, since it is willed,
ch'i' mostri altrui questo cammin silvestro». in Heaven, that I show another this wild road.
DANTE:
«Credi tu, Malacoda, qui vedermi
esser venuto», disse 'l mio maestro,
«sicuro già da tutti vostri schermi,
My Master said: Malacoda, do you think
I have come here without
the Divine Will, and propitious fate,
sanza voler divino e fato destro?
safe from all your obstructions?
Lascian' andar, ché nel cielo è voluto
Let me go by, since it is willed,
ch'i' mostri altrui questo cammin silvestro». in Heaven, that I show another this wild road.
MALACODA BACKS DOWN.
MALACODA (VOICE):
&
DANTE:
Allor li fu l'orgoglio sì caduto,
ch'e' si lasciò cascar l'uncino a' piedi,
e disse a li altri: Omai non sia feruto.
Then the demon’s pride was so down,
that he let the hook drop at his feet,
and said to the others: Do not hurt him! That’s
Malacoda: ‘Evil Tail’.
VIRGIL (VOICE):
&
DANTE:
E 'l duca mio a me: «O tu che siedi
tra li scheggion del ponte quatto quatto,
sicuramente omai a me ti riedi».
And my guide to me: O you, who are sitting,
crouching, crouching amongst
the bridge’s crags, return to me safely, now!
At which I moved, and came to him quickly, and the devils all pressed forward so that I was afraid they would not
hold to their orders. So I once saw the infantry, marching out, under treaty of surrender, from Caprona, afraid at
finding themselves surrounded by so many enemies.
DANTE WAITS FOR MORE WORDS, REALISES VIRGIL MEANS HIM, AND DESCENDS THE →R→ . HE
CONTINUES INTERPRETING AND NAMING THE SPEAKERS WHILE BEING THREATENED.
156
I pressed my whole body close to my guide, and did not take my eyes away from their aspect, which was hostile.
GRAFFIACANE (MELPOMENE ’s VOICE):
INF C21 100-102 / DANTE
INF C21 100-102 / KLINE
Ei chinavan li raffi e Vuo' che 'l tocchi,
diceva l'un con l'altro, in sul groppone?
E rispondien: Sì, fa che gliel' accocchi.
They lowered their hooks, and kept saying,
to one another: Shall I touch him on the backside?
and answering, Yes. Give him a nick.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C21 100-101 / DANTE
INF C21 100-101 / KLINE
Ei chinavan li raffi e Vuo' che 'l tocchi,
diceva l'un con l'altro, in sul groppone?.
They lowered their hooks, and kept saying,
to one another: Shall I touch him on the backside?
Graffiacane: ‘Scratchdog’ ‘Cat Claw’?
SCARMIGLIONE (VOICE):
&
DRAGHIGNAZZO (VOICE):
INF C21 102 / DANTE
INF C21 102 / KLINE
and answering, Yes. Give him a nick.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C21 102 / DANTE
INF C21 102 / KLINE
and answering, Yes. Give him a nick. Scarmiglione
and Draghignazzo: ‘Dragon’s Smirk’
MALACODA (VOICE):
&
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C21 103-105 / DANTE
INF C21 103-105 / KLINE
Ma quel demonio che tenea sermone
col duca mio, si volse tutto presto
e disse: Posa, posa, Scarmiglione!».
But that demon who was talking to my guide,
turned round quickly, and said:
Quiet!...Malacoda again.
MALACODA ADDRESSES DANTE AND VIRGIL.
MALACODA (VOICE):
INF C21 106-108 / DANTE
INF C21 106-108 / KLINE
Poi disse a noi: «Più oltre andar per questo
iscoglio non si può, però che giace
tutto spezzato al fondo l'arco sesto.
Then he said to us: It will not be possible
to go any further along this causeway,
since the sixth arch is lying broken at the base,
INF C21 109-111 / DANTE
E se l'andare avante pur vi piace,
andatevene su per questa grotta;
presso è un altro scoglio che via face.
and if you desire still to go forward,
go along this ridge, and nearby
is another cliff that forms a causeway.
INF C21 112-114 / DANTE
Ier, più oltre cinqu' ore che quest' otta,
mille dugento con sessanta sei
completed,
anni compié che qui la via fu rotta.
Yesterday, five hours later than this hour,
twelve hundred and sixty-six years were
since this path here was destroyed.
THIS HOUR: BY DEDUCTION (SUPPOSING CHRIST TO BE INCARNATED IN DECEMBER OF BC 1 & TO DIE AT AGE 33,
CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF HIS 33RD YEAR IN DECEMBER 33 AD) IT IS 7 AM, SATURDAY.
INF C21 115-117 / DANTE
Io mando verso là di questi miei
a riguardar s'alcun se ne sciorina;
gite con lor, che non saranno rei».
I am sending some of my company here
to see if anyone is out for an airing: go with them,
they will not commit treachery.
MALACODA DEPLOYS HIS MINIONS AND DANTE INTERPRETS.
157
MALACODA (VOICE):
&
DANTE: (VOICE):
INF C21 118-120 / DANTE
INF C21 118-120 / KLINE
«Tra'ti avante, Alichino, e Calcabrina»,
cominciò elli a dire, «e tu, Cagnazzo;
e Barbariccia guidi la decina.
Then he began speaking: Advance, Alichino
and Calcabrina and you, Cagnazzo ‘Big Dog':
let Barbariccia lead the ten.
INF C21 121-123 / DANTE
Libicocco vegn' oltre e Draghignazzo,
Cirïatto sannuto e Graffiacane
e Farfarello e Rubicante pazzo.
Let Libicocco come as well, and Draghignazzo,
tusked Ciriatto, Graffiacane,
Farfarello, and Rubicante, the mad one.
INF C21 124-126 / DANTE
INF C21 124-126 / KLINE
Cercate 'ntorno le boglienti pane;
costor sian salvi infino a l'altro scheggio
che tutto intero va sovra le tane».
Search round the boiling glue:
see See these two safe, as far as the other cliff that
crosses the chasms, completely, without a break.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C21 127-129 / DANTE
INF C21 127-129 / KLINE
«Omè, maestro, che è quel ch'i' veggio?»,
diss' io, «deh, sanza scorta andianci soli,
se tu sa' ir; ch'i' per me non la cheggio.
I said: O me! Master, what do I see?
Oh, let us go alone, without an escort,
if you know the way: as for me, I would prefer not.
INF C21 130-132 / DANTE
Se tu se' sì accorto come suoli,
non vedi tu ch'e' digrignan li denti
e con le ciglia ne minaccian duoli?».
If you are as cautious as usual,
do Do you not see how they grind their teeth, and
darken their brows, threatening us with mischief?
VIRGIL (VOICE):
INF C21 133-135 / DANTE
INF C21 133-135 / KLINE
Ed elli a me: «Non vo' che tu paventi;
lasciali digrignar pur a lor senno,
ch'e' fanno ciò per li lessi dolenti».
And he to me: I do not want you to be afraid:
let Let them grin away at their will:
since they do it for the boiled wretches.
DANTE COMES UP THE →R→
AGAIN.
DANTE:
INF C21 136-138 / DANTE
INF C21 136-138 / KLINE
Per l'argine sinistro volta dienno;
ma prima avea ciascun la lingua stretta
coi denti, verso lor duca, per cenno;
They turned by the left bank: but first,
each of them had stuck his tongue out, between
his teeth, towards their leader, as a signal,
HE HESITATES BEFORE CLOSING THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C21 139 / DANTE
INF C21 139 / KLINE
ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
and he had made a trumpet of his arse.
DANTE:
INF C21 136-138 / DANTE
Per l'argine sinistro volta dienno;
ma prima avea ciascun la lingua stretta
coi denti, verso lor duca, per cenno;
They turned by the left bank: but first,
each of them had stuck his tongue out, between
his teeth, towards their leader, as a signal,
INF C21 139 / DANTE
ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.
CANTO 22
and he had made a trumpet of his arse.
158
DANTE SPEAKS WITH ANGER AND DISGUST.
DANTE:
INF C22 1-3 / DANTE
INF C22 1-3 / KLINE
Io vidi già cavalier muover campo,
e cominciare stormo e far lor mostra,
e talvolta partir per loro scampo;
I have seen cavalry moving camp, before now,
starting a foray, holding muster,
and now and then retiring to escape;
I HAVE SEEN: DANTE INDICATES HE WAS PRESENT AT THE SURRENDER OF THE PISAN FORTRESS OF CAPRONA, BESIEGED BY
THE TUSCAN GUELPHS IN AUGUST 1289.
INF C22 4-6 / DANTE
corridor vidi per la terra vostra,
o Aretini, e vidi gir gualdane,
fedir torneamenti e correr giostra;
I have seen war-horses, on your territory,
O Aretines, and seen the foraging parties,
the clash of tournaments, and repeated jousts;
ARETINES: DANTE INDICATES THAT HE SAW THE CAMPAIGNING IN ARETINE TERRITORY IN 1289.
INF C22 7-9 / DANTE
quando con trombe, e quando con campane, now with trumpets, now with bells,
con tamburi e con cenni di castella,
with drums and rampart signals,
e con cose nostrali e con istrane;
with native and foreign devices,
né già con sì diversa cennamella
cavalier vidi muover né pedoni,
né nave a segno di terra o di stella.
but I never yet saw infantry or cavalry,
or ship at sight of shore or star,
move to such an obscene trumpet.
HE STANDS STERNLY FOR A MOMENT, THEN STARTS TO SMILE, TURNS ROUND TO HIDE IT AND DESCENDS
THE →R→ .
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT
**********
INF C22 12
DANTE DESCENDS THE →L→
OR EMERGES FROM BACKSTAGE. HE GIVES THE PROSE VERSION [INF C22
13-36] OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED, THEN CLOSES THE USEABLE PART OF THE CANTO WITH HIS VERSE.
DANTE:
&
DANTE:
Noi andavam con li diece demoni.
company!
Ahi fiera compagnia! ma ne la chiesa
coi santi, e in taverna coi ghiottoni.
We went with the ten demons: ah, savage
But, they They say: “In church with the saints,
and in the inn with the drunkards.”
Pur a la pegola era la mia 'ntesa,
per veder de la bolgia ogne contegno
e de la gente ch'entro v'era incesa.
But my mind was on the boiling pitch,
to see each feature of the chasm,
and the people who were burning in it.
Come i dalfini, quando fanno segno
a' marinar con l'arco de la schiena
che s'argomentin di campar lor legno,
Like dolphins, arching their backs,
telling the sailors to get ready
to save their ship,
159
talor così, ad alleggiar la pena,
mostrav' alcun de' peccatori 'l dosso
e nascondea in men che non balena.
so, now and then, to ease the punishment,
some sinner showed his back,
and hid as quick as lightning.
E come a l'orlo de l'acqua d'un fosso
stanno i ranocchi pur col muso fuori,
sì che celano i piedi e l'altro grosso,
As frogs squat, at the edge of
the ditchwater,
with only mouths showing,
sì stavan d'ogne parte i peccatori;
ma come s'appressava Barbariccia,
così si ritraén sotto i bollori.
so the sinners stood on every side:
but they instantly shot beneath
the seething, as Barbariccia approached.
I' vidi, e anco il cor me n'accapriccia,
uno aspettar così, com' elli 'ncontra
ch'una rana rimane e l'altra spiccia;
I saw, and my heart still shudders at it,
one linger, just as one frog remains
when the others scatter:
e Graffiacan, che li era più di contra,
li arruncigliò le 'mpegolate chiome
e trassel sù, che mi parve una lontra.
and Graffiacane…Scratchdog… who was nearest
him, hooked his pitchy hair, and hauled him up,
looking, to me, like an otter.
I already knew the names of every demon, so I noted them well as they were called, and when they shouted to each
other, listened out. ‘O Rubicante, see you get your clutches in him, and flay him,’ all the accursed tribe cried
together. And I: ‘Master, make out if you can, who that wretch is, who has fallen into the hands of his enemies.’ My
guide drew close to him, and asked him where he came from, and he answered: I was born in the kingdom of
Navarre. My mother placed me as a servant to a lord, since she had borne me to a scurrilous waster of himself and
his possessions. Then I was of the household of good King Thibaut, and there I took to selling offices, for which I
serve my sentence in this heat.’ And Ciriatto, from whose mouth a tusk, like a boar’s, projected on each side, made
him feel how one of them could rip. The mouse had come among the evil cats: but Barbariccia caught him in his
arms, and said: ‘Stand back, while I fork him!’ And, turning to my Master, he said: ‘Ask away, if you want to learn
more from him, before someone else gets at him.’
So my guide said: ‘Now say, do you know any of the other sinners under the boiling pitch that is a Latian?’ And
Ciampolo replied: ‘I separated, just now, from one who was a neighbour of theirs over there, and I wish I were still
beneath him, since I should not then fear claw or hook!’ And Libicocco cried: ‘We have endured this too long!’ and
grappled Ciampolo’s arm with the prong, and, mangling it, carried away a chunk. Draghignazzo, too, wanted a
swipe at the legs, below: at which their leader twisted round and round on them with an evil frown. When they had
settled a little, without waiting, my guide asked Ciampolo, who was still gazing at his wound: ‘Who was he, from
whom you say you unluckily separated, to come on land?’ He replied: ‘It was Friar Gomita, he of Gallura, in
Sardinia, the vessel of every fraud, who held his master’s prisoners in his hands, and treated them so that they all
praise him for it, taking money for himself, and letting them go, quietly: and in his other roles, he was a high, and
not a low, barrator.
With him, Don Michel Zanche of Logodoro, keeps company, and their tongues never tire of speaking of Sardinia. O
me! See that other demon grinning: I would speak more, but I fear he is getting ready to claw my skin.’ And their
great captain, turning to Farfarello, who was rolling his eyes to strike, said: ‘Away with you, cursed bird.’ The
scared sinner then resumed: ‘If you want to see or hear Tuscans or Lombards, I will make them come, but let the
Malebranche hold back a little, so that the others may not feel their vengeance, and sitting here, I, who am one, will
make seven appear, by whistling, as we do, when any of us gets out.’ Cagnazzo raised his snout, at these words, and,
shaking his head, said: Hear the wicked scheme he has contrived to plunge back down.’ At which Ciampolo, who
had a great store of tricks, replied: ‘I would be malicious indeed, if I contrived greater sorrow for my companions.’
Alichino, could contain himself no longer, and contrary to the others said to him: ‘If you run, I will not charge after
you, but beat my wings above the boiling pitch: forget the cliff, and let the bank be a course, and see if you alone
can beat us.’ O you that read this, hear of this new sport! They all glanced towards the cliff side, he above all who
had been most unwilling for this. The Navarrese picked his moment well, planted his feet on the ground, and in an
instant plunged, and freed himself from their intention.
INF C22 124-151 / KLINE
Each of the demons was stung with guilt, but Alichino most who had caused the error: so he started up and shouted:
‘You are caught!’ But it helped him little, since wings could not outrun terror: the sinner dived down: and Alichino,
flying, the sinner dived down: and Alichino, flying, lifted his breast. The duck dives like that when the falcon nears,
and the hawk flies back up, angry and thwarted. Calcabrina, furious at the trick, flew on after him, wanting the
sinner to escape, in order to quarrel. And when the barrator had vanished, he turned his claws on his friend, and
grappled with him above the ditch. But the other was sparrow hawk enough to claw him thoroughly, and both
dropped down, into the centre of the boiling pond. The heat, instantly, separated them, but they could not rise, their
wings were so glued up. Barbariccia, lamenting with the rest, made four fly over to the other bank, with all their
grappling irons, and they dropped rapidly on both sides to the shore. They stretched their hooks out to the trapped
pair, who were already scaled by the crust, and we left them, like that, embroiled.
160
CANTO 23
Silent, alone, and free of company, we went on, one in front, and the other after, like minor friars journeying on their
way. My thoughts were turned, by the recent quarrel, to Aesop’s fable of the frog and mouse, since ‘Si’ and ‘Yes’
are not better matched, than the one case with the other, if the thoughtful mind couples the beginning and end. And
as one thought springs from another, so another sprang from that, redoubling my fear. I thought of this: ‘Through us,
these are mocked, and with a kind of hurt and ridicule, that I guess must annoy them. If anger is added to their
malice, they will chase after us, fiercer than snapping dogs that chase a leveret.’
VIRGIL EMERGES. DANTE AND HE WALK ON SLOWLY. DANTE LOOKS AT VIRGIL THEN FACES AHEAD.
IS CLEARLY DOING SOME HARD THINKING [INF C23 4-22].
♫
INFERNAL: SOFT, BECOMING LOUDER
HE
**********
Before INF C23-19
DANTE:
Già mi sentia tutti arricciar li peli
de la paura e stava in dietro intento,
quand' io dissi: Maestro, se non celi
I felt my hair already lifting in fright,
and was looking back intently, as I said:
Master, if you do not hide us
te e me tostamente, i' ho pavento
d'i Malebranche. Noi li avem già dietro;
io li 'magino sì, che già li sento».
both, quickly, I am afraid of the
Malebranche the Evil-clawed: they are
already behind us. I imagine I can hear them now.
VIRGIL:
E quei: «S'i' fossi di piombato vetro,
l'imagine di fuor tua non trarrei
più tosto a me, che quella dentro 'mpetro.
And he: If I were made of silvered glass,
I could not take up your image from outside
more rapidly than I fix that image from within.
Pur mo venieno i tuo' pensier tra ' miei,
con simile atto e con simile faccia,
sì che d'intrambi un sol consiglio fei.
Even now your thoughts were entering mine,
with similar form and action, so that, from both,
I have made one decision.
S'elli è che sì la destra costa giaccia,
che noi possiam ne l'altra bolgia scendere,
noi fuggirem l'imaginata caccia».
If the right bank slopes enough,
that we can drop down, into the next chasm,
we will escape this imaginary pursuit.
He had not finished stating this resolve, when I saw them, not far off, when I saw them, coming with extended
wings, with desire to seize us. My guide suddenly took me up like a mother, wakened by a noise, seeing flames
burning in front of her eyes, who takes her child and runs, and caring more about him than herself, does not even
wait to look around her. Down from the ridge of the solid bank, he threw himself forward on to the hanging cliff that
dams up the side of the next chasm. Water never ran as fast through the conduit, turning a mill-wheel on land, when
it reaches the paddles, as my Master, down that bank, carrying me, against his breast, like a son, and not a
companion. His feet had hardly touched the floor, of the depth below, before the demons were on the heights above
us, but it gave him no fear, since the high Providence, that willed them to be the guardians of the fifth moat, takes,
from all of them, the power to leave it.
161
BEFORE VIRGIL HAS FINISHED SPEAKING, DANTE LOOKS BEHIND. IN FRIGHT, HE SEIZES VIRGIL BY THE
HAND AND THEY RUN DOWN THE →R→ . THEY QUICKLY APPEAR ON THE →L→ AND START ACROSS
THE STAGE.
HYPOCRITES: LODERINGO, CATALANO
Down below we found a metal-coated tribe, weeping, circling with very slow steps, and weary and defeated in their
aspect. They had cloaks, with deep hoods over the eyes, in the shape they make for the monks of Cologne. On the
outside they are gilded so it dazzles, but inside all leaden, and so heavy, that compared to them Frederick’s were
made of straw. O weary mantle for eternity! We turned to the left again, beside them, who were intent on their sad
weeping, but those people, tired by their burden, came on so slowly that our companions were new at every step. At
which, I said to my guide: Make a search for someone known to us, by name or action, and gaze around as we move
by.
FRIAR LODERINGO / THALIA (VOICE):
E un che 'ntese la parola tosca,
di retro a noi gridò: Tenete i piedi,
voi che correte sì per l'aura fosca!
And one of them, who understood the Tuscan
language, called after us: Rest your feet,
you who speed so fast through the dark air,
INF C23 79 / DANTE
Forse ch'avrai da me quel che tu chiedi.
maybe you will get from me what you request.
LODERINGO./.THALIA APPEARS. HE./.SHE, AND CATALANO./.TERPSICHORE WHO FOLLOWS SHORTLY, ARE
UNADORNED MUSES, I.E. WITHOUT HEAVY, ORANGE-GOLD CLOAKS. THEY ‘CIRCLE WITH VERY SLOW
STEPS’, ‘WEARY AND DEFEATED IN THEIR ASPECT’.
VIRGIL SPEAKS SOFTLY TO DANTE.
LODERINGO DEGLI ANDALÒ DATES SIMILAR TO CATALANO
BOLOGNA. IN 1233 HE FOUNDED THE ORDER OF THE GLORIOUS SAINT MARY: THE FIRST RELIGIOUS ORDER OF
KNIGHTHOOD TO GRANT THE RANK OF MILITISSA TO WOMEN. IT WAS APPROVED BY POPE ALEXANDER IV (?) IN
1261 AND SUPPRESSED BY SIXTUS V IN 1558.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE THALIA.
CATALANO DE’ CATALINI c 1210-1285?
BOLOGNA.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE TERPSICHORE
FRATI GAUDENTI, OR JOVIAL FRIARS: A DERISIVE NAME FOR THE CAVALIERI DI S. MARIA (ORDO MILITAE BEATAE MARIAE)
FOUNDED AT BOLOGNA IN 1261, WITH THE APPROVAL OF URBAN IV, TO ACT AS MEDIATORS & PROTECT THE WEAK. IT WAS
DISBANDED DUE TO ITS LAXITY. CATALANO DE’ CATALINI (OR DE’ MALAVOLTI) & LODERINGO DEGLI ANDALÒ, A
GHIBELLINE, WERE CALLED TO FLORENCE, FROM BOLOGNA, IN 1266 TO ACT TOGETHER AS PODESTÀ & REFORM THE
GOVERNMENT. THEY WERE ACCUSED OF HYPOCRISY & CORRUPTION & EXPELLED. THE GARDINGO DISTRICT (PIAZZA DI
FIRENZE) THE SITE OF THE UBERTI PALACE, WAS DESTROYED IN A RISING AGAINST THE GHIBELLINES.
VIRGIL:
Onde 'l duca si volse e disse: Aspetta,
e poi secondo il suo passo procedi.
At which my guide turned round and said:
Wait, and then go on, at his their pace.
DANTE STANDS STILL.
TIME.
TWO HOODED FIGURES APPROACH HIM SLOWLY, THEN LOOK AT HIM FOR A LONG
162
I stood still, and saw two spirits, who were eager in mind to join me, but their burden and the narrow path delayed
them. When they arrived, they eyed me askance, for a long time, without speaking a word, then they turned to one
another and said:
FRIAR LODERINGO / THALIA:
Costui par vivo a l'atto de la gola;
throat,
e s'e' son morti, per qual privilegio
moving,
vanno scoperti de la grave stola?
This one seems alive, by the movement of his
and if they are dead, by what grace are they
free of the heavy cloaks?
FRIAR CATALANO / TERPSICHORE:
Poi disser me: O Tosco, ch'al collegio
de l'ipocriti tristi se' venuto,
dir chi tu se' non avere in dispregio.
Then they said to me: O Tuscan, you have come
to the college of sad hypocrites:
do not scorn to tell us who you are.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
E io a loro: I' fui nato e cresciuto
sovra 'l bel fiume d'Arno a la gran villa,
e son col corpo ch'i' ho sempre avuto.
And I to them: I was born, and I grew up,
by Arno’s lovely river, in the great city:
and I am in the body I have always worn.
DANTE:
Ma voi chi siete, a cui tanto distilla
quant' i' veggio dolor giù per le guance?
e che pena è in voi che sì sfavilla?
But you, who are you, from whom such sadness
is distilled, that I see, coursing down your cheeks?
And what punishment is this, that glitters so?
INF C23 100-102 / DANTE
INF C23 100-102 / KLINE
E l'un rispuose a me: Le cappe rance
son di piombo sì grosse, che li pesi
fan così cigolar le lor bilance.
And one of them replied: Our orange mantles
are of such dense lead, that weights
made of it cause the scales to creak.
INF C23 103-105 / DANTE
Frati godenti fummo, e bolognesi;
io Catalano e questi Loderingo
nomati, e da tua terra insieme presi
We were Fraudi Gaudenti, of that Bolognese order
called the “Jovial Friars”: I am Catalano,
and he is Loderingo, chosen by your city,
INF C23 106-108 / DANTE
come suole esser tolto un uom solingo,
per conservar sua pace; e fummo tali,
ch'ancor si pare intorno dal Gardingo.
as usually only one is chosen, to keep the peace:
and we wrought such as still appears
round your district of Gardingo.
DANTE:
INF C23 109-111 / DANTE
INF C23 109-111 / KLINE
Io cominciai: O frati, i vostri mali...;
ma più non dissi, ch'a l'occhio mi corse
un, crucifisso in terra con tre pali.
O Friars, your evil ... I began, but said no more,
because one came in sight, crucified,
on the ground, with three stakes.
INF C23 112-114 / KLINE
When he saw me he writhed all over, puffing into his beard, and sighing, and Friar Catalano, who saw this,
DANTE STOPS, STARING INTO THE DARKNESS.
163
INF C23 115-117 / DANTE
INF C23 115-117 / KLINE
mi disse: Quel confitto che tu miri,
consigliò i Farisei che convenia
porre un uom per lo popolo a' martìri.
said to me: That one you look at, who is transfixed,
is Caiaphas, the high priest, who counselled the
Pharisees, that it was right to martyr one man for
the sake of the people.
INF C23 118-120 / DANTE
Attraversato è, nudo, ne la via,
come tu vedi, ed è mestier ch'el senta
qualunque passa, come pesa, pria.
Crosswise and naked he lies in the road,
as you see, and feels the weight
of every one who passes:
INF C23 121-123 / DANTE
E a tal modo il socero si stenta
in questa fossa, e li altri dal concilio
che fu per li Giudei mala sementa».
and his father-in-law Annas is racked,
in this chasm, and the others of that Council,
that was a source of evil to the Jews.
INF C23 124-126 / KLINE
Then I saw Virgil wonder at him, stretched out on the cross, so vilely, in eternal exile.
VIRGIL ADDRESSES THE FRIARS.
VIRGIL:
INF C23 127-129 / DANTE
INF C23 127-129 / KLINE
Poscia drizzò al frate cotal voce:
Non vi dispiaccia, se vi lece, dirci
s'a la man destra giace alcuna foce
He addressed these words to the Friars,
afterwards: If it is lawful for you, may it not
displease you, to tell us if there is any gap on the
right,
INF C23 130-132 / DANTE
onde noi amendue possiamo uscirci,
sanza costrigner de li angeli neri
che vegnan d'esto fondo a dipartirci.
by which we might leave here, without forcing
any of the black angels to come
and extricate us from this deep.
INF C23 133-135 / DANTE
INF C23 133-135 / KLINE
Rispuose adunque: Più che tu non speri
s'appressa un sasso che da la gran cerchia
si move e varca tutt' i vallon feri,
He replied: There is a causeway that runs
from the great circular wall and crosses all
the cruel valleys, nearer at hand than you think,
INF C23 136-138 / DANTE
salvo che 'n questo è rotto e nol coperchia;
this
montar potrete su per la ruina,
ruins,
che giace in costa e nel fondo soperchia.
except that it is broken here and does not cover
one: you will be able to climb up among its
that slope down the side, and form a mound at
the base.
VIRGIL STANDS FOR A WHILE WITH BOWED HEAD [INF C23 139-141].
VIRGIL:
INF C23 139-141 / DANTE
INF C23 139-141 / KLINE
Lo duca stette un poco a testa china;
poi disse: Mal contava la bisogna
colui che i peccator di qua uncina.
Virgil stood, for a while, with bowed head,
then said: Malacoda, who grapples sinners
over there, told us the way wrongly.
INF C23 142-144 / DANTE
INF C23 142-144 / KLINE
E 'l frate: Io udi' già dire a Bologna
del diavol vizi assai, tra ' quali udi'
ch'elli è bugiardo, e padre di menzogna.
And the Friar said: I once heard the Devil’s vices
related at Bologna, amongst which I heard
that he is a liar, and the father of lies.
164
VIRGIL STRIDES DOWN THE →R→ , ‘HIS FACE SOMEWHAT DISTURBED BY ANGER’ [INF C23 145-148].
DANTE PONDERS AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C23 142-144 / DANTE
INF C23 142-144 / KLINE
E 'l frate: «Io udi' già dire a Bologna
del diavol vizi assai, tra ' quali udi'
ch'elli è bugiardo, e padre di menzogna.
And the Friar said: I once heard the Devil’s vices
related at Bologna, amongst which I heard
that he is a liar, and the father of lies.
INF C23 145-147 / DANTE
Appresso il duca a gran passi sen gì,
turbato un poco d'ira nel sembiante;
ond' io da li 'ncarcati mi parti'
Then my guide went striding on,
his face somewhat disturbed by anger,
at which I parted from the burdened souls,
INF C23 148 / DANTE
dietro a le poste de le care piante.
following the prints of his beloved feet.
CANTO 24
DANTE FOLLOWS VIRGIL.
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C24 1-3 / DANTE
INF C24 1-3 / KLINE
In quella parte del giovanetto anno
che 'l sole i crin sotto l'Aquario tempra
e già le notti al mezzo dì sen vanno,
In that part of the new year, when the sun
cools his rays under Aquarius,
and the nights already shorten towards the equinox;
INF C24 4-6 / DANTE
quando la brina in su la terra assempra
l'imagine di sua sorella bianca,
ma poco dura a la sua penna tempra,
time;
when the hoar-frost copies its white sister
the snow’s image on the ground,
but the hardness of its tracery lasts only a little
INF C24 4-6 / DANTE
time;
DANTE (VOICE):
INF C24 1-3 / DANTE
INF C24 1-3 / KLINE
INF C24 4-6 / DANTE
time;
165
INF C24 4-6 / DANTE
time;
INF C24 7-9 / DANTE
lo villanello a cui la roba manca,
si leva, e guarda, e vede la campagna
biancheggiar tutta; ond' ei si batte l'anca,
the peasant, whose fodder is exhausted,
rises and looks out, and sees the fields all white,
at which he strikes his thigh,
ritorna in casa, e qua e là si lagna,
come 'l tapin che non sa che si faccia;
poi riede, e la speranza ringavagna,
goes back into the house, and wanders to and fro,
lamenting, like a wretch
who does not know what to do;
DANTE COMES BACKWARDS DOWN THE →L→ , FOLLOWED BY A MORE-CHEERFUL VIRGIL.
DANTE:
veggendo 'l mondo aver cangiata faccia
in poco d'ora, e prende suo vincastro
e fuor le pecorelle a pascer caccia.
feed;
then comes out again, and regains hope, seeing
how the world has changed its aspect, in a moment;
and takes his crook, and chases his lambs out to
Così mi fece sbigottir lo mastro
quand' io li vidi sì turbar la fronte,
e così tosto al mal giunse lo 'mpiastro;
Così…so… the Master made me disheartened,
when I saw his forehead so troubled,
but the plaster arrived quickly for the wound.
THE WALL
VIRGIL LEADS THE WAY TO THE BLOCKS AT THE REAR OF THE STAGE WHICH NOW FORM A 2- METRE HIGH
WALL WITH SMALL GAPS.
For, when we reached the shattered arch, my guide turned to me with that sweet aspect, that I first saw at the base of
the mountain. He opened his arms, after having made some plan in his mind, first looking carefully at the ruin, and
took hold of me. And like one who prepares and calculates, always seeming to provide in advance, so he lifting me
up towards the summit
VIRGIL:
d'un ronchione, avvisava un'altra scheggia
dicendo: Sovra quella poi t'aggrappa;
ma tenta pria s'è tal ch'ella ti reggia.
of one big block, searched for another fragment,
saying: Now clamber over that.,
but check first if it will carry you.
It was no route for one clothed in a cloak of lead, since we could hardly climb from rock to rock, he weighing little,
and I pushed from behind. And if the ascent were not shorter on that side than on the other, I would truly have been
defeated, I do not know about him. But as Malebolge all drops towards the entrance to the lowest well, the position
of every valley implies that the one side rises, and the other falls: at last, we came, however, to the point at which
the last boulder ends. The breath was so driven from my lungs, when I was up, that I could go no further: in fact, I
sat down when I arrived.
166
DANTE ATTEMPTS TO CLIMB THE WALL BUT CANNOT. VIRGIL TAKES DANTE’S BOOK FROM HIM , PLACES
IT ON THE GROUND AND PUTS HIS OWN BOOK ON IT. HE CLIMBS EASILY AND GETS HIS BOOK FROM
DANTE. VIRGIL WALKS ALONG THE WALL, SEES SOMETHING ON THE FAR SIDE AND LOOKS IN THE BOOK
FOR SOMETHING HE CAN’T QUITE REMEMBER FROM MORE THAN 1300 YEARS BEFORE. HE MAY WALK
OUT OF SIGHT.
DANTE PICKS UP HIS BOOK, BRUSHES IT OFF AND PUTS IT ON HIS BACK. HE STRUGGLES MANFULLY TO
CLIMB AND FAILS. HE PUTS HIS BOOK ON THE GROUND AGAIN AND JUST MAKES IT. PANTING ON TOP OF
THE WALL, HE REACHES DOWN. HIS HAND, OF COURSE, IS FAR SHORT OF THE BOOK.
BEATRICE MANIFESTS HERSELF UNDER A HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT.. ..UNDER DANTE.
◙
♫
BEATRICE MOTIF?
**********
SHE PLACES DANTE’S BOOK IN HIS HAND. HE SPEAKS WITH AUTOMATIC POLITENESS, GIVING A MEANING
SOMETHING LIKE “SO KIND”.
DANTE:
LA VITA NOVA 26 SONETTO / DANTE
LA VITA NOVA 26 SONNET / MUSA
HE LOOKS AT THE FACE BEHIND BEATRICE’S HAND AND SPEAKS WITH FERVOUR.
DANTE:
BEATRICE VANISHES WITH HER SPOTLIGHT..
DANTE STILL PRONE.
◙ .. VIRGIL COMES BACK ALONG THE WALL AND FINDS
VIRGIL:
«Omai convien che tu così ti spoltre»,
disse 'l maestro; «ché, seggendo in piuma,
in fama non si vien, né sotto coltre;
The Master said: Now, you must free yourself
from sloth: men do not achieve fame, sitting
on down, or under coverlets; fame,
sanza la qual chi sua vita consuma,
cotal vestigio in terra di sé lascia,
qual fummo in aere e in acqua la schiuma.
without which whoever consumes his life
leaves only such trace of himself, on earth,
as smoke does in the air., or foam on water:
E però leva sù; vinci l'ambascia
con l'animo che vince ogne battaglia,
se col suo grave corpo non s'accascia.
so rise Rise, and overcome weariness with spirit,
that wins every battle,
if it does not lie down with the gross body.
Più lunga scala convien che si saglia;
non basta da costoro esser partito.
Se tu mi 'ntendi, or fa sì che ti vaglia».
DANTE STANDS UP.
A longer ladder must be climbed:
to have left these behind is not enough
if you understand me, act now so it may profit you.
167
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Leva'mi allor, mostrandomi fornito
meglio di lena ch'i' non mi sentia,
e dissi: Va, ch'i' son forte e ardito.
I rose then, showing myself to be better filled
with breath than I thought, and said:
Go on, I am strong again and ardent.
DANTE STARES AT SOMETHING AND OPENS HIS BOOK.
We made our way along the causeway…but he who spoke seemed full of anger. I had turned to look downwards,
but my living eyes could not see the floor, for the darkness, so that I said: ‘Master, make sure you get to the other
side, and let us climb down down the wall, since as I hear sounds from below, but do not understand them, so I see
down there, and make out nothing.’ He said: ‘I make you no answer, but by action, since a fair request should be
followed, in silence, by the work.’ We went down the bridge, at the head of it, where it meets the eighth bank, and
then the seventh chasm was open to me.
DANTE:
e vidivi entro terribile stipa
di serpenti, e di sì diversa mena
che la memoria il sangue ancor mi scipa.
I saw see a fearful mass of snakes inside,
and of such strange appearance,
that even now the memory freezes my blood.
DANTE TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
Più non si vanti Libia con sua rena;
ché se chelidri, iaculi e faree
produce, e cencri con anfisibena,
Let Libya’s no longer vaunt its sands: though it
engenders engender chelydri, and
jaculi,; pareae; and cenchres with amphisbaena.
PRONUNCIATION: (I CAN’T GET COPY OF IPA.) CHELYDRI (KEL-), CENCHRES (KEN-?), AMPHISBAENA (ÆMFƏS'BINƏ).
DANTE, SEEING THE IGNORANCE OF HIS LISTENERS, EXPLAINS.
DANTE:
Chelydri are fetid and amphibious. Jaculi fly and
pierce what they hit. Pareae…Phareae…plough
with their tails. Cenchres wave from side to side
and Amphisbaena have heads at both ends.
Lucan’s Pharsalia.
né tante pestilenzie né sì ree
mostrò già mai con tutta l'Etïopia
né con ciò che di sopra al Mar Rosso èe.
it But Libya never showed pests so numerous
or dreadful, nor did Ethiopia, nor Arabia.,
the land that lies along the Red Sea.
DANTE VERSIFIES AS VIRGIL TAKES IN ANOTHER SCENE.
DANTE:
e vidivi entro terribile stipa
di serpenti, e di sì diversa mena
che la memoria il sangue ancor mi scipa.
I saw a fearful mass of snakes inside,
and of such strange appearance,
that even now the memory freezes my blood.
168
Più non si vanti Libia con sua rena;
ché se chelidri, iaculi e faree
produce, e cencri con anfisibena,
Let Libya no longer vaunt its sands: though it
engenders chelydri, and jaculi;
pareae; and cenchres with amphisbaena;
VIRGIL:
Tra questa cruda e tristissima copia
corrëan genti nude e spaventate,
sanza sperar pertugio o elitropia:
Amongst this cruel and mournful swarm, people
People are were running, naked and terrified,
without hope of concealment, or of that stone, the
heliotrope, that renders the wearer invisible.
con serpi le man dietro avean legate;
quelle ficcavan per le ren la coda
e 'l capo, ed eran dinanzi aggroppate.
They had their Their hands are tied behind them,
with serpents, that fixed fix their head and tail
between the loins, and were coiled coil in knots in
front.
DANTE VERSIFIES AGAIN AS VIRGIL REPORTS.
VIRGIL:
Tra questa cruda e tristissima copia
corrëan genti nude e spaventate,
sanza sperar pertugio o elitropia:
Amongst this cruel and mournful swarm, people
were running, naked and terrified, without hope of
concealment, or of that stone, the heliotrope, that
renders the wearer invisible.
con serpi le man dietro avean legate;
quelle ficcavan per le ren la coda
e 'l capo, ed eran dinanzi aggroppate.
They had their hands tied behind them,
with serpents, that fixed their head and tail
between the loins, and were coiled in knots in front.
VIRGIL:
Ed ecco a un ch'era da nostra proda,
s'avventò un serpente che 'l trafisse
là dove 'l collo a le spalle s'annoda.
And see! See! ...a serpent struck at one who was
near our bank, and transfixed him, there,
where the neck is joined to the shoulders.
ONE WHO: VANNI FUCCI
SEE BELOW
INF C24 100-102 / DANTE
Né O sì tosto mai né I si scrisse,
com' el s'accese e arse, e cener tutto
convenne che cascando divenisse;
Neither ‘o’ nor ‘i’ was ever written as swiftly
as he He took takes fire, and is burned,
and dropped down, transformed to ashes:
INF C24 103-105 / DANTE
e poi che fu a terra sì distrutto,
la polver si raccolse per sé stessa
e 'n quel medesmo ritornò di butto.
and after he was heaped on the ground, which heap
on the ground the powder gathered itself together,
and immediately returned return to its the previous
shape.
DANTE VERSIFIES AGAIN.
DANTE:
Ed ecco a un ch'era da nostra proda,
s'avventò un serpente che 'l trafisse
là dove 'l collo a le spalle s'annoda.
And see! A serpent struck at one who was
near our bank, and transfixed him, there,
where the neck is joined to the shoulders.
ONE WHO: VANNI FUCCI
SEE BELOW
INF C24 100-102 / DANTE
Né O sì tosto mai né I si scrisse,
com' el s'accese e arse, e cener tutto
convenne che cascando divenisse;
Neither ‘o’ nor ‘i’ was ever written as swiftly
as he took fire, and is burned,
and dropped down, transformed to ashes:
169
INF C24 103-105 / DANTE
e poi che fu a terra sì distrutto,
la polver si raccolse per sé stessa
e 'n quel medesmo ritornò di butto.
and after he was heaped on the ground,
the powder gathered itself together,
and immediately returned to its previous shape.
DANTE:
INF C24 106-108 / DANTE
INF C24 106-108 / KLINE
Così per li gran savi si confessa
che la fenice more e poi rinasce,
quando al cinquecentesimo anno appressa;
So, great sages say, the phoenix dies,
and then renews, when it nears
its five-hundredth year.
INF C24 109-111 / DANTE
erba né biado in sua vita non pasce,
ma sol d'incenso lagrime e d'amomo,
e nardo e mirra son l'ultime fasce.
In its life it does not eat grass or grain,
but only tears of incense, and amomum:
and its last shroud is nard and myrrh.
DANTE TURNS TO THE SCENE.
DANTE:
INF C24 112-114 / DANTE
INF C24 112-114 / KLINE
E qual è quel che cade, e non sa como,
per forza di demon ch'a terra il tira,
of
o d'altra oppilazion che lega l'omo,
The sinner when he rose was rises like one who
falls, and does not know how, through the power
a demon that drags him down to the ground, or
through
INF C24 115-117 / DANTE
quando si leva, che 'ntorno si mira
tutto smarrito de la grande angoscia
ch'elli ha sofferta, e guardando sospira:
some other affliction. that binds men, and,
when he rises, He gazes round, himself,
all dazed by the great anguish
INF C24 118-120 / DANTE
tal era 'l peccator levato poscia.
Oh potenza di Dio, quant' è severa,
che cotai colpi per vendetta croscia!
he has suffered., and as he gazes, sighs.
O how heavy the power of God,
that showers down such blows in vengeance!
THE PISTOIAN PHOENIX SPEAKS FROM BEHIND THE WALL.
VANNI FUCCI (VOICE):
INF C24 121-123 / DANTE
INF C24 121-123 / KLINE
Lo duca il domandò poi chi ello era;
per ch’ei rispuose: Io piovvi di Toscana,
poco tempo è, in questa gola fiera.
The guide then asked him who he was, at which
he answered: I rained down from Tuscany
into this gully, a short while back.
VANNI FUCCI *----? - 1300 + AGE : 35??
PISTOIA.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
VANNI FUCCI: ILLEGITIMATE SON OF A NOBLE FAMILY, A TURBULENT BLACK GUELPH FROM PISTOIA WHO, IN 1293,
TOGETHER WITH 2 ACCOMPLICES, STOLE THE TREASURE OF SAN JACOPO FROM THE CHURCH OF SAN ZENO. RAMPIONO DE’
FORESI WAS HELD IN PRISON FOR THE CRIME, WHILE THE CULPRITS WENT UNDETECTED FOR A YEAR. (THERE ARE OTHER
NAMES, VERSIONS.)
NO COMMENTATOR HAS A GOOD WORD TO SAY FOR VANNI FUCCI EXCEPT THE CANONICO CRESCIMBENI…WHO COUNTS HIM
AMONG THE ITALIAN POETS…AND QUOTES A SONNET OF HIS: FOR I HAVE LOST THE GOOD I MIGHT HAVE HAD / THROUGH
LITTLE WIT, AND NOT OF MINE OWN WILL. (LONGFELLOW)
170
INF C24 124-126 / DANTE
INF C24 124-126 / KLINE
Vita bestial mi piacque e non umana,
sì come a mul ch'i' fui; son Vanni Fucci
bestia, e Pistoia mi fu degna tana».
Brutish, not human, life pleased me, mule that
I was: I am Vanni Fucci, the wild beast,
and Pistoia was a fitting den for me.
SONETTO / VANNI FUCCI
SONNET / ?
For I have lost the good I might have had,
Through little wit, and not of my own will.
DANTE notes:
NF C24 125-126 / DANTE
INF C24 125-126 / KLINE
sì come a mul ch'i' fui; son Vanni Fucci
bestia, e Pistoia mi fu degna tana».
I am Vanni Fucci, the wild beast,
and Pistoia was a fitting den for me.
DANTE:
INF C24 127-129 / DANTE
INF C24 127-129 / KLINE
E ïo al duca: Dilli che non mucci,
e domanda che colpa qua giù 'l pinse;
ch'io 'l vidi uomo di sangue e di crucci.
And I to the guide: Tell him not to move:
and ask what crime sank him down here,
since I knew him as a man of blood and anger.
DANTE CATCHES UP ON HIS VERSIFICATION.
DANTE:
INF C24 112-114 / DANTE
INF C24 112-114 / KLINE
E qual è quel che cade, e non sa como,
per forza di demon ch'a terra il tira,
o d'altra oppilazion che lega l'omo,
through
The sinner when he rose was like one who falls,
and does not know how, through the power of a
demon that drags him down to the ground, or
INF C24 115-117 / DANTE
quando si leva, che 'ntorno si mira
tutto smarrito de la grande angoscia
ch'elli ha sofferta, e guardando sospira:
some other affliction. that binds men, and,
when he rises, gazes round himself,
all dazed by the great anguish
INF C24 118-120 / DANTE
tal era 'l peccator levato poscia.
Oh potenza di Dio, quant' è severa,
che cotai colpi per vendetta croscia!
he has suffered, and as he gazes, sighs.
O how heavy the power of God,
that showers down such blows in vengeance!
see above
And I to the guide: Tell him not to move: and ask what crime sank him down here, since I knew him as a man of blood
and anger.
INF C24 127-129 / KLINE
INF C24 130-132 / KLINE
And the sinner, who heard me, did not pretend, but turned his face and mind on me, and gave a look of saddened
shame.
INF C24 133-135 / DANTE
INF C24 133-135 / KLINE
poi disse: Più mi duol che tu m'hai colto
ne la miseria dove tu mi vedi,
che quando fui de l'altra vita tolto.
life.
Then he said: It hurts me more for you to catch me,
trapped, in the this misery you see me in, than it did
the moment of my being snatched from the other
INF C24 136-138 / DANTE
Io non posso negar quel che tu chiedi;
in giù son messo tanto perch' io fui
ladro a la sagrestia d'i belli arredi,
I cannot deny you what you ask.
I am placed so deep down because I robbed
the sacristy of its fine treasures,
INF C24 139-141 / DANTE
e falsamente già fu apposto altrui.
Ma perché di tal vista tu non godi,
se mai sarai di fuor da' luoghi bui,
and it was once wrongly attributed to others.
But, so that you might not take joy from this sight
if you ever escape the gloomy regions,
171
♫
PROPHECY MOTIF
**********
INF C24 141
&
INF C24 142-144 / DANTE
INF C24 142-144 / KLINE
apri li orecchi al mio annunzio, e odi.
Pistoia in pria d'i Neri si dimagra;
poi Fiorenza rinova gente e modi.
open your ears, and hear what I declare:
Pistoia first is thinned of Blacks:
then Florence changes her people and her laws.
VANNI FUCCI PROPHESIES THE DEFEAT OF THE GHIBELLINE WHITES (BIANCHI) BY THE BLACK GUELPH (NERI) FACTION. THE
BLACKS WERE EXPELLED FROM PISTOIA IN MAY 1301. DANTE WAS ONE OF THOSE WHO VOTED FOR THE EXPULSIONS. IN
NOVEMBER 1301 THE BLACKS ENTERED FLORENCE, AIDED BY CHARLES DEVALOIS & IN APRIL 1302 MADE THE CITY DRIVE
OUT THE WHITES (CHANGING THE PEOPLE & ITS LAWS). PISTOIA BECAME A RALLYING POINT FOR THE WHITES IN TUSCANY,
UNTIL THEIR DEFEAT BY THE FLORENTINE & LUCCHESE GUELPHS, UNDER MOROELLO MALASPINA, MARQUIS OF
GIOVAGALLO IN VALDIMAGRA (THE EXTREMITY OF LUNIGIANA). PICENO’S FIELD IS THE AREA BETWEEN SERRAVALLE &
MONTECATINI. MALASPINA TOOK SERRAVALLE IN 1302 & REDUCED PISTOIA IN 1306. PISTOIA WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN
FOUNDED BY THE REMNANTS OF CATILINE’S ARMY, LEADING TO DANTE’S COMMENT IN THE NEXT CANTO (‘YOU OUTDO YOUR
SEED IN EVIL-DOING’)
INF C24 145-147 / DANTE
INF C24 145-147 / KLINE
Tragge Marte vapor di Val di Magra
ch'è di torbidi nuvoli involuto;
e con tempesta impetüosa e agra
Mars brings a vapour,
from Valdimagra cloaked in turbid cloud,
and a battle will be fought
INF C24 148-150 / DANTE
sovra Campo Picen fia combattuto;
ond' ei repente spezzerà la nebbia,
sì ch'ogne Bianco ne sarà feruto.
on the field of Piceno, in an angry and eager
tempest, that will suddenly tear the mist open,
so that every White is wounded by it.
VANNI FUCCI SHOUTS.
INF C24 151 / DANTE
INF C24 151 / KLINE
E detto l'ho perché doler ti debbia!
And I have said this to give you pain.
VANNI FUCCI HURLS HIS BOOK OR SHEAF OF POEMS AT DANTE. IT BOUNCES ABOVE THE WALL,
DISINTEGRATES AND FALLS BACK BEHIND THE WALL.
DANTE
INF C24 151 / DANTE
INF C24 151 / KLINE
E detto l'ho perché doler ti debbia!
And I have said this to give you pain.
CANTO 25
VANNI FUCCI REACHES HIS ARMS THROUGH CHINKS IN THE WALL AND MAKES ‘THE FIG, THE OBSCENE
GESTURE WITH THUMB BETWEEN FINGERS, SHOUTING’.
172
VANNI FUCCI
&
VANNI FUCCI:
INF C25 1-3 / DANTE
INF C25 1-3 / KLINE
Al fine de le sue parole il ladro
hands,
le mani alzò con amendue le fiche,
gridando: Togli, Dio, ch'a te le squadro!
At the end of his speech, the thief raised his
both making the fig, the obscene gesture, with
thumb between fingers, shouting: Take this,
God!, I aim it at you.
VANNI FUCCI’S ARMS WITHDRAW. DANTE OBSERVES AND WRITES.
DANTE:
INF C25 4-6 / DANTE
INF C25 4-6 / KLINE
Da indi in qua mi fuor le serpi amiche,
perch' una li s'avvolse allora al collo,
come dicesse `Non vo' che più diche';
From that moment the snakes were my friends,
since one of them coiled itself round his neck,
as if hissing: “You will not be able to speak again.”
INF C25 7-9 / DANTE
e un'altra a le braccia, e rilegollo,
ribadendo sé stessa sì dinanzi,
che non potea con esse dare un crollo.
Another, round his arms, tied him again,
knotting itself so firmly in front,
that he could not even shake them.
DANTE STANDS AND VERSIFIES. VIRGIL INTERPRETS.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Ahi Pistoia, Pistoia, ché non stanzi
d'incenerarti sì che più non duri,
longer,
poi che 'n mal fare il seme tuo avanzi?
Ah, Pistoia, Pistoia, why do you not order yourself
to be turned to ash, so that you may remain no
since you outdo your seed in evil-doing?
I saw no spirit so arrogant towards God, through all the dark circles of the Inferno, not even, Capaneus, he who fell
from the wall at Thebes.
CACUS, A 3-HEADED SHEPHERD, IMPERSONATED BY CALLIOPE, RAGES.
CACUS / CALLIOPE (VOICE):
or CACUS / CALLIOPE (VOICE):
El si fuggì che non parlò più verbo;
e io vidi un centauro pien di rabbia
venir chiamando: Ov' è, ov' è l'acerbo?
Vanni Fucci fled, saying not another word,
and I saw a Centaur, full of rage , come, shouting:
Where is he, where is the bitter one?
CACUS MYTHICAL AGE : *--?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
CENTAUR: DESCRIBED AS SUCH IN C25 34-36, CACUS WAS ACTUALLY A 3-HEADED SHEPHERD.
I do not believe Maremma has as many snakes, as he had on his haunches, there, where the human part begins. Over
his shoulders, behind the head, lay a dragon with outstretched wings, and it scorches every one he meets.
173
VIRGIL:
Lo mio maestro disse: Questi è Caco,
che, sotto 'l sasso di monte Aventino,
di sangue fece spesse volte laco.
My Master said: That is Cacus
who often made a lake of blood,
below the rocks of Mount Aventine.
DANTE notes:
INF C25 25 / DANTE
INF C25 25 / KLINE
Lo mio maestro disse: Questi è Caco,
My Master said: That is Cacus
VIRGIL:
Non va co' suoi fratei per un cammino,
per lo furto che frodolente fece
del grande armento ch'elli ebbe a vicino;
He does not go with his brothers on the same road,
above, because of his cunning theft
from the great herd of oxen, pastured near him:
onde cessar le sue opere biece
sotto la mazza d'Ercule, che forse
hundred
gliene diè cento, e non sentì le diece.
for which his thieving actions ended,
under the club of Hercules, who gave him a
blows perhaps with it, and he did not feel a tenth.
While he said this, the Centaur ran past, and three spirits came by, also, beneath us, whom neither I, nor my guide,
saw,
AGNELLO (VOICE):
&
BUOSO DEGLI ABATI (VOICE):
se non quando gridar: «Chi siete voi?»;
per che nostra novella si ristette,
e intendemmo pur ad essi poi.
until they cried: Who are you?
Our words ceased, then, and we gave
our attention to them, alone.
AGNELLO BRUNELLESCHI *----? - *----? AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
BUOSO DEGLI ABATI *----? - *----? AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
1. AGNELLO, BUOSO & PUCCIO APPEAR 2. AGNELLO BLENDS WITH CIANFA, A SIX-LEGGED CREATURE
PLACE WITH FRANCESCO, A SMALL REPTILE. (LONGFELLOW)
3. BUOSO CHANGES
DANTE:
Agnello Brunelleschi and Buoso degli Abati,
citizens of Florence
I did not know them, but it happened, as it usually does for some reason, that one had to call the other,
AGNELLO (VOICE):
dicendo: Cianfa dove fia rimaso?;
per ch'io, acciò che 'l duca stesse attento,
mi puosi 'l dito su dal mento al naso.
saying: Where has Cianfa gone? At which
I placed my finger over my mouth,
in order to make my guide stop and wait.
DANTE:
Cianfa Donati, Florentine noble and thief.
174
PUCCIO (VOICE):
dicendo: Cianfa dove fia rimaso?;
per ch'io, acciò che 'l duca stesse attento,
mi puosi 'l dito su dal mento al naso.
saying: Where has Cianfa gone? At which
I placed my finger over my mouth,
in order to make my guide stop and wait.
PUCCIO SCIANCATO DEI GALIGAI *----? - *----? AGE : *--?
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
DANTE:
Puccio Sciancato dei Galigai, Florentine.
DANTE SIGNALS TO VIRGIL TO STOP AND STAY QUIET. THEY STARE DOWN FOR A WHILE.
DANTE MAKES NOTES THEN READS THEM TO THE AUDIENCE IN A HUSHED TONE.
DANTE:
Se tu se' or, lettore, a creder lento
ciò ch'io dirò, non sarà maraviglia,
ché io che 'l vidi, a pena il mi consento.
Reader, if you are slow to credit, now,
what I have to tell, it will be no wonder,
since I who saw it, scarcely credit it myself.
Com' io tenea levate in lor le ciglia,
e un serpente con sei piè si lancia
dinanzi a l'uno, e tutto a lui s'appiglia.
While I kept looking at them, a six-footed serpent,
Cianfa darted in front of one of them,
and fastened itself on him, completely.
Co' piè di mezzo li avvinse la pancia
e con li anterïor le braccia prese;
poi li addentò e l'una e l'altra guancia;
It clasped his belly… with its middle feet,
seized his arms with the front ones,
and then fixed its teeth in both his cheeks.
The rear feet it stretched along his thighs, and put its tail between them, and curled it upwards round his loins,
behind. Ivy was never rooted to a tree, as the foul monster twined its limbs around the other. Then they clung
together, as if they were melted wax, and mixed their colours: neither the one nor the other seemed what it had at
first: just as in front of the flame on burning paper, a brown colour appears, not yet black, and the white is
consumed. The other two looked on, and each cried: ‘Ah me, Agnello, how you change! See, you are already not
two, not one!’ The two heads had now become one, where two forms seemed to us merged in one face, and both
were lost. Two limbs were made of the four forearms, the thighs, legs, belly and chest became such members as
were never seen before. The former shape was all extinguished in them: the perverse image seemed both, and
neither, and like that it moved away with slow steps.
DANTE STOPS. HIS EYE HAS BEEN CAUGHT BY SOMETHING EVEN MORE INTERESTING.
AND INTERRUPTS DANTE.
OR VIRGIL SEES IT
VIRGIL:
Come 'l ramarro sotto la gran fersa
dei dì canicular, cangiando sepe,
folgore par se la via attraversa,
track,
As the lizard, in the great heat of the Dog days,
appears like Like a flash of lightning,
scurrying from hedge to hedge, if it crosses the
175
sì pareva, venendo verso l'epe
de li altri due, un serpentello acceso,
livido e nero come gran di pepe;
so a little serpent… came towards the bellies
of the other two, burning with rage,
black and livid as peppercorn.
DANTE:
Francesco (Guercio) de’ Cavalcanti.
A LITTLE REPTILE: FRANCESCO (GUERCIO) DE’ CAVALCANTI, WHO CHANGES FROM SERPENT TO MAN & BACK, WAS KILLED BY
THE VILLAGERS OF GAVILLE, IN THE UPPER VAL D’ARNO, THE MURDERERS & OTHERS BEING SUMMARILY EXECUTED BY HIS
KINSMEN.
VIRGIL:
sì pareva, venendo verso l'epe
de li altri due, un serpentello acceso,
livido e nero come gran di pepe;
so a little serpent came towards the bellies
of the other two, burning with rage,
black and livid as peppercorn.
DANTE AND VIRGIL WATCH.
VIRGIL:
e quella parte onde prima è preso
we
nostro alimento, a l'un di lor trafisse;
poi cadde giuso innanzi lui disteso.
And it It pierced that part, in one of them, where
first receive our nourishment from our mothers:
then fell down, stretched out in front of him.
Lo trafitto 'l mirò, ma nulla disse;
anzi, co' piè fermati, sbadigliava
pur come sonno o febbre l'assalisse.
The thief, transfixed, gazed at it but said nothing,
but with motionless feet, only yawned,
as if sleep or fever had overcome him.
Elli 'l serpente e quei lui riguardava;
l'un per la piaga e l'altro per la bocca
fummavan forte, e 'l fummo si scontrava.
He looked at the snake: it looked at him:
the one gave out smoke, violently, from his
wound, the other from its mouth, and the smoke
met. Smoke from the thief’s wound and the
snake’s mouth, gushed out and met.
DANTE:
VIRGIL:
&
Taccia Lucano ormai là dov' e' tocca
del misero Sabello e di Nasidio,
e attenda a udir quel ch'or si scocca.
Let Lucan now be silent,
about Sabellus and Nasidius
and wait to hear that which I now tell.
Taccia di Cadmo e d'Aretusa Ovidio,
ché se quello in serpente e quella in fonte
converte poetando, io non lo 'nvidio;
Let Ovid be silent about Cadmus and Arethusa:
if he in poetry changes one into a snake,
and the other into a fountain,
CADMUS: SON OF THE PHOENICIAN KING AGENOR, WHO SEARCHES FOR HIS SISTER EUROPA, STOLEN BY JUPITER IN THE FORM
OF A BULL. HE SOWS THE SERPENT’S TEETH & FOUNDS THEBES, BUT OFFENDS THE SACRED SERPENT OF MARS. HE & HIS WIFE
HARMONIA ARE ULTIMATELY TURNED INTO SNAKES. SEE OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 4 563 ET AL.
ARETHUSA: NYMPH OF ELIS, ONE OF DIANA’S MAIDENS, WHO WAS LOVED BY THE RIVER-GOD ALPHEUS. PURSUED BY HIM,
SHE WAS TURNED INTO A FOUNTAIN. SEE OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 5 572
DANTE:
INF C25 100-102 / DANTE
INF C25 100-102 / KLINE
ché due nature mai a fronte a fronte
non trasmutò sì ch'amendue le forme
a cambiar lor matera fosser pronte.
I do not envy him, since he never transmuted
two natures, face to face, so that both forms
were eager to exchange their substance.
176
INF C25 103-105 / DANTE
Insieme si rispuosero a tai norme,
che 'l serpente la coda in forca fesse,
e 'l feruto ristrinse insieme l'orme.
They merged together in such a way,
that the serpent split its tail into a fork,
and the wounded spirit brought his feet together.
DANTE BEGINS A PHYSICAL DEMONSTRATION FOR THE AUDIENCE SO FASCINATING THAT VIRGIL IS
TRANSFIXED BY IT, HIMSELF. ENGLISH IS PROBABLY UNNECESSARY BUT VIRGIL MAY MURMUR A WORD
OR TWO.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
INF C25 106-108 / DANTE
INF C25 106-108 / KLINE
Le gambe con le cosce seco stesse
s'appiccar sì, che 'n poco la giuntura
non facea segno alcun che si paresse.
Along with them, the legs and thighs,
so stuck to one another,
that soon the join left no visible mark.
INF C25 109-111 / DANTE
Togliea la coda fessa la figura
che si perdeva là, e la sua pelle
si facea molle, e quella di là dura.
The cleft tail took on the form
lost in the other, and its skin
grew soft, the other’s hard.
INF C25 112-114 / DANTE
Io vidi intrar le braccia per l'ascelle,
e i due piè de la fiera, ch'eran corti,
tanto allungar quanto accorciavan quelle.
I saw the arms enter the armpits: and the two
feet of the beast that were short, lengthened
themselves by as much as the arms were shortened.
INF C25 115-117 / DANTE
Poscia li piè di rietro, insieme attorti,
diventaron lo membro che l'uom cela,
e 'l misero del suo n'avea due porti.
Then the two hind feet twisted together,
and became the organ that a man conceals,
and the wretch, from his, had two pushed out.
INF C25 118-120 / DANTE
Mentre che 'l fummo l'uno e l'altro vela
colour,
di color novo, e genera 'l pel suso
per l'una parte e da l'altra il dipela,
While the smoke covers them both with a new
and generates hair on one part,
and strips it from another,
INF C25 121-123 / DANTE
l'un si levò e l'altro cadde giuso,
non torcendo però le lucerne empie,
sotto le quai ciascun cambiava muso.
the one rose up, erect, and the other fell, prostrate:
not by that shifting their impious gaze,
beneath which they mutually exchanged features.
INF C25 124-126 / DANTE
Quel ch'era dritto, il trasse ver' le tempie,
e di troppa matera ch'in là venne
uscir li orecchi de le gote scempie;
The erect one drew his face towards the temples,
and from the excess of matter that swelled there,
ears came, out of the smooth cheeks.
INF C25 127-129 / DANTE
ciò che non corse in dietro e si ritenne
di quel soverchio, fé naso a la faccia
e le labbra ingrossò quanto convenne.
That which did not slip back, but remained,
formed a nose from the superfluous flesh,
and enlarged the lips to their right size.
INF C25 130-132 / DANTE
Quel che giacëa, il muso innanzi caccia,
forward,
e li orecchi ritira per la testa
come face le corna la lumaccia;
He that lay prone, thrust his sharpened visage
and drew his ears back into his head,
as the snail does its horns into its shell,
INF C25 133-135 / DANTE
e la lingua, ch'avëa unita e presta
prima a parlar, si fende, e la forcuta
ne l'altro si richiude; e 'l fummo resta.
and his tongue, which was solid before,
and fit for speech, splits itself. In the other
the forked tongue melds, and the smoke is still.
177
VIRGIL CLOSES THE CANTO.
VIRGIL:
INF C25 136-138 / DANTE
INF C25 136-138 / KLINE
L'anima ch'era fiera divenuta,
suffolando si fugge per la valle,
e l'altro dietro a lui parlando sputa.
The soul that had become a beast, sped,
hissing, along the valley, leaving the other,
speaking and spluttering, behind him.
INF C25 139-141 / DANTE
Poscia li volse le novelle spalle,
e disse a l'altro: «I' vo' che Buoso corra,
com' ho fatt' io, carpon per questo calle».
Then the second turned his new-won shoulders
towards him, and called to the other: “Buoso
shall crawl, as I did, along this road.”
INF C25 142-151 / KLINE
So I saw the seventh chasm’s bodies mutate and transmutate: and let the novelty of it be the excuse, if my pen has
gone astray. Though my sight was somewhat confused, and my mind dismayed, they could not flee so secretly, but
that I clearly saw Puccio Sciancato: and it was he, alone, of the three companions, who had first arrived, who was
not changed. One of the others, Francesco, was he who caused you, the people of Gaville, to weep.
CANTO 26
DARKNESS BEGINS TO FALL ON DANTE AND VIRGIL, STILL ON THE WALL.
BEHIND IT.
DANTE:
&
FLAMES MAY FLICKER FAINTLY
DANTE:
INF C26 1-3 / DANTE
INF C26 1-3 / KLINE
Godi, Fiorenza, poi che se' sì grande
che per mare e per terra batti l'ali,
e per lo 'nferno tuo nome si spande!
Rejoice, Florence, that, since you are so mighty,
you beat your wings over land and sea,
and your name spreads through Hell itself.
INF C26 4-6 / DANTE
Tra li ladron trovai cinque cotali
tuoi cittadini onde mi ven vergogna,
e tu in grande orranza non ne sali.
So, among Among the thieves, I found five of your
citizens: at which I am ashamed, and you do not
rise to great honour by it either.
INF C26 7-9 / DANTE
Ma se presso al mattin del ver si sogna,
tu sentirai, di qua da picciol tempo,
di quel che Prato, non ch'altri, t'agogna.
But if the truth is dreamed, as morning comes,
you will soon feel what Cardinal Nicholas of Prato,
and others, wish on you.
PRATO: CARDINAL NICHOLAS OF PRATO, SENT TO FLORENCE BY POPE BENEDICT XI IN EARLY 1304 TO ATTEMPT A
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE WARRING FACTIONS. HE FAILED & LAID THE CITY UNDER AN INTERDICT, EXCOMMUNICATING
SEVERAL CITIZENS. SEVERAL LOCAL DISASTERS AT THE TIME, SUCH AS A FIRE (CAUSED BY A FACTIONAL FIGHT), DESTROYING
MANY HOUSES & A BRIDGE COLLAPSE DURING A MAY DAY FESTIVAL (THE WOODEN PONTE CARRAIA), WERE ATTRIBUTED TO
DIVINE DISAPPROVAL.
E se già fosse, non saria per tempo.
Così foss' ei, da che pur esser dee!
ché più mi graverà, com' più m'attempo.
And, if it were come already, it would not be
too soon: would it were so, now, as indeed it must
come, since it will trouble me more, the older I am.
We left there, and my guide remounted by the stairs that the stones had made for us to descend, and drew me up:
and, following our solitary way, among the crags and splinters of the cliff, the foot made no progress without the
hand. I was saddened then, and sadden now, again, when I direct my mind to what I saw, and rein in my intellect,
more than I am used, so that it does not run where virtue would not guide it, and so that, if a good star, or some truer
power, has granted me the talent, I may not abuse the gift.
DANTE AND VIRGIL WALK ALONG THE WALL AND OFF THE STAGE.
178
DANTE (VOICE):
Quan te 'l villan ch'al poggio si riposa,
nel tempo che colui che 'l mondo schiara
peasant
la faccia sua a noi tien meno ascosa,
The eighth chasm was gleaming gleams with
flames, as numerous as like the fireflies the
sees, as he rests on the hill, when the sun, who
lights the world,
come la mosca cede a la zanzara,
vede lucciole giù per la vallea,
forse colà dov' e' vendemmia e ara:
hides his face least from us, at sunset and the fly
gives way to the gnat down there, along the valley,
where he gathers grapes, perhaps, and ploughs.
THEY APPEAR AT STAGE LEVEL AS DANTE VERSIFIES.
DANTE:
Quan te 'l villan ch'al poggio si riposa,
nel tempo che colui che 'l mondo schiara
rests
la faccia sua a noi tien meno ascosa,
The eighth chasm was gleaming with flames, as
numerous as the fireflies the peasant sees, as he
on the hill, when the sun, who lights the world,
come la mosca cede a la zanzara,
vede lucciole giù per la vallea,
forse colà dov' e' vendemmia e ara:
hides his face least from us, and the fly gives way
to the gnat down there, along the valley,
where he gathers grapes, perhaps, and ploughs.
DANTE:
di tante fiamme tutta risplendea
l'ottava bolgia, sì com' io m'accorsi
whom
tosto che fui là 've 'l fondo parea.
As soon as I came to where the floor showed itself,
I saw them, and, as As Elisha, the mockery of
by children who was mocked by children
ELISHA, ELIJAH: 2ND KINGS II 11, II 23-24
E qual colui che si vengiò con li orsi
vide 'l carro d'Elia al dipartire,
quando i cavalli al cielo erti levorsi,
was and avenged by bears,
saw Elijah’s chariot departing,
when the horses rose straight to Heaven,
che nol potea sì con li occhi seguire,
ch'el vedesse altro che la fiamma sola,
sì come nuvoletta, in sù salire:
and could not follow it with his eyes,
except by the flame alone,
like a little cloud, ascending,
tal si move ciascuna per la gola
del fosso, ché nessuna mostra 'l furto,
e ogne fiamma un peccatore invola.
so each of those flames moved, along.
the throat of the ditch, for none of them show
the theft, but every flame steals a sinner.
I stood on the bridge, having so risen to look, that if I had not caught hold of a rock I should have fallen in without
being pushed.
LAMPS
179
♫
LAMP: EERIE?
**********
INF C26 40
A LIT LAMP MOVES AT THE OTHER END OF THE STAGE. IT IS A TWO-PEAKED FLAME IN A BOWL OF OIL
(WITH A DOUBLE WICK?), AS FIRST SEEN IN [INF C4 76-78]. IN THE DARKNESS, THE BOWL LARGELY
OBSCURES THE FACE OF CALLIOPE WHO IS CARRYING IT ON HER HEAD.
VIRGIL:
E 'l duca che mi vide tanto atteso,
disse: Dentro dai fuochi son li spirti;
catun si fascia di quel ch'elli è inceso.
And the guide, who saw me so intent, said:
The spirits are inside those fires:
each veils himself in that which burns him.
DANTE:
«Maestro mio», rispuos' io, «per udirti
son io più certo; ma già m'era avviso
che così fosse, e già voleva dirti:
I replied: Master, I feel more assured from
hearing you, but had already seen that it was so,
and already wished to say to you,
chi è 'n quel foco che vien sì diviso
summit,
di sopra, che par surger de la pira
dov' Eteòcle col fratel fu miso?
who is in that fire, that moves, divided at the
as if it rose from the pyre where Eteocles
was cremated with his brother, Polynices?’
VIRGIL PEERS AT THE FLAME.
VIRGIL:
Rispuose a me: «Là dentro si martira
Ulisse e Dïomede, e così insieme
a la vendetta vanno come a l'ira;
He answered me: In there, Ulysses and Diomedes
are tormented, and so they go,
together in punishment, as formerly in war:
ULYSSES: STOLE THE PALLADIUM, A WOODEN STATUE OF PALLAS ATHENE, THE SAFETY OF WHICH GUARANTEED THE SAFETY
OF TROY & INVENTED THE TROJAN HORSE, BY WHICH THE GREEKS ENTERED TROY.
DIOMEDE(S): GREEK HERO, SON OF TYDEUS, KING OF ARGOS & COMPANION OF ULYSSES AT TROY.
e dentro da la lor fiamma si geme
l'agguato del caval che fé la porta
onde uscì de' Romani il gentil seme.
and, in their fire, they groan at the ambush
of the Trojan horse, that made a doorway, by which
Aeneas, the noble seed of the Romans issued out.
In there they lament the trick, by which Deidamia in death, still weeps for Achilles: and there, for the Palladium,
they endure punishment.’
DIDO, LAST HEARD FROM IN CANTO 5, QUOTES IRONICALLY FROM THE AENEID.
DIDO (VOICE):
AENEID various lines / VIRGIL / KLINE
good Aeneas
brave Aeneas
great Aeneas
magnus
magnanimus
180
pious Aeneas
virtuous Aeneas
dutiful Aeneas
great-hearted Aeneas
noble Aeneas
Aeneas, the Hero
DANTE:
«S'ei posson dentro da quelle faville
parlar», diss' io, «maestro, assai ten priego
e ripriego, che 'l priego vaglia mille,
I said: Master, I beg you greatly, and beg again
so that my prayers may be a thousand,
if those inside the fires can speak,
che non mi facci de l'attender niego
fin che la fiamma cornuta qua vegna;
vedi che del disio ver' lei mi piego!».
do not refuse my waiting until
the horned flame comes here:
you see how I lean towards it with desire.
THE FLAME HALTS WHEN THEY APPROACH.
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «La tua preghiera è degna
di molta loda, e io però l'accetto;
ma fa che la tua lingua si sostegna.
And he to me: Your request is worth much praise,
and so I accept it, but restrain
your tongue. Let me speak:
Lascia parlare a me, ch'i' ho concetto
ciò che tu vuoi; ch'ei sarebbero schivi,
perch' e' fuor greci, forse del tuo detto».
since I conceive what you wish, and because
they were Greeks they might
disdain your Trojan words.
When the flame had come, where the time and place seemed fitting, to my guide, I heard him speak, so:
«O voi che siete due dentro ad un foco,
s'io meritai di voi mentre ch'io vissi,
s'io meritai di voi assai o poco
O you, who are two in one fire,
if I was worthy of you when I lived,
if I was worthy of you, greatly or a little,
quando nel mondo li alti versi scrissi,
non vi movete; ma l'un di voi dica
dove, per lui, perduto a morir gissi».
when on earth I wrote the high verses, do not go,
but let one of you tell where he,
being lost through his own actions, went to die.
ONE PEAK OR HORN OF THE FLAME SHAKES. THE ULYSSES FLAME AND CALLIOPE BEGIN TRACING A LINE
ON THE STAGE AS A BOAT DOES ON A CHART.
The greater horn of the ancient flame started to shake itself, murmuring, like a flame struggling in the wind. Then
moving the tip, as if it were a tongue speaking, gave out a voice, and said
♫
WIND: BOAT?
Before INF C26 91
**********
181
ULYSSES FLAME VOICE & CALLIOPE:
mi diparti' da Circe, che sottrasse
me più d'un anno là presso a Gaeta,
prima che sì Enëa la nomasse,
When I left Circe, who held me
for more than a year, near to Gaeta,
before Aeneas named it,
ULYSSES MYTHICAL AGE : *--?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE MEDIATED BY FLAME.
AGAIN, THE UNSEEN DIDO RESPONDS TO AENEAS’S NAME.
DIDO (VOICE):
ipse ante alios pulcherrimus omnis infert
se socium Aeneas
Aeneas himself, the most handsome of them all
DIDO (VOICE):
or DIDO (VOICE):
sequar atris ignibus absens
Absent, I’ll follow you with dark fires,
fatalem Aenean
fateful Aeneas
né dolcezza di figlio, né la pieta
del vecchio padre, né 'l debito amore
lo qual dovea Penelopè far lieta,
not even my fondness for my son, Telemachus, my
reverence for my aged father, Laërtes, nor the debt
of love that should have made Penelope happy,
vincer potero dentro a me l'ardore
ch'i' ebbi a divenir del mondo esperto
e de li vizi umani e del valore;
could restrain in me the desire I had,
to gain experience of the world,
and of human vice and worth.
INF C26 100-102 / DANTE
ma misi me per l'alto mare aperto
sol con un legno e con quella compagna
picciola da la qual non fui diserto.
I set out on the wide, deep ocean,
with only one ship, and that little company,
that had not abandoned me.
A LAST VOYAGE, OF DANTE’S INVENTION, TO THE MOUNT OF PURGATORY, IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, VIA GIBRALTAR
& THE ATLANTIC, WHERE HE IS WRECKED.
INF C26 103-105 / DANTE
L'un lito e l'altro vidi infin la Spagna,
fin nel Morrocco, e l'isola d'i Sardi,
e l'altre che quel mare intorno bagna.
I saw both shores, as far as Spain,
as far as Morocco, and the isle of Sardinia,
and the other islands that sea washes.
DANTE notes:
INF C26 103-104 / DANTE
INF C26 103-104 / KLINE
L'un lito e l'altro vidi infin la Spagna,
fin nel Morrocco, e l'isola d'i Sardi,
I saw both shores, as far as Spain,
as far as Morocco, and the isle of Sardinia,
INF C26 106-108 / DANTE
INF C26 106-108 / KLINE
Io e ' compagni eravam vecchi e tardi
quando venimmo a quella foce stretta
dov' Ercule segnò li suoi riguardi
I, and my companions, were old, and slow,
when we came to that narrow strait,
where Hercules set up his pillars,
PILLARS OF HERCULES: AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN, IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE LIMITS OF THE WESTERN WORLD
(NAMELY MOUNT ABYLA IN NORTH AFRICA, NEAR CEUTA & MOUNT CALPE, GIBRALTAR, WELL SOUTH-EAST OF SEVILLE).
182
THE ULYSSES & .CALLIOPE SHIP MOVES SLOWLY BETWEEN THE PILLARS, DANTE AND VIRGIL, WHO ARE
STANDING WHERE THEY WERE.
INF C26 109-111 / DANTE
INF C26 109-111 / KLINE
acciò che l'uom più oltre non si metta;
da la man destra mi lasciai Sibilia,
da l'altra già m'avea lasciata Setta.
to warn men from going further.
I left Seville to starboard: already Ceuta
was left behind on the other side.
INF C26 112-114 / DANTE
"O frati", dissi ``che per cento milia
perigli siete giunti a l'occidente,
a questa tanto picciola vigilia
"O frati", dissi… I said: “O my brothers…
who have reached the west, through a
thousand dangers, do not deny the brief vigil,
INF C26 115-117 / DANTE
d'i nostri sensi ch'è del rimanente
non vogliate negar l'esperïenza,
di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente.
your senses have left to them,
experience of the unpopulated
world beyond the Sun.
INF C26 118-120 / DANTE
Considerate la vostra semenza:
fatti non foste a viver come bruti,
ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza".
Consider your origin: you were not made
to live like brutes,
but to follow virtue and knowledge.”
THE ULYSSES & CALLIOPE SHIP TURNS ROUND TO DANTE AND VIRGIL THEN RESUMES ITS COURSE. THE
POETS CATCH UP TO THE SHIP AND WALK BESIDE IT.
INF C26 121-123 / DANTE
INF C26 121-123 / KLINE
Li miei compagni fec' io sì aguti,
con questa orazion picciola, al cammino,
che a pena poscia li avrei ritenuti;
With this brief speech I made my companions
so eager for the voyage,
that I could hardly have restrained them,
DANTE RAISES HIS FINGER AND ORATES AS IF ADDRESSING ULYSSES’S COMPANIONS HIMSELF.
DANTE:
INF C26 118-120 / DANTE
INF C26 118-120 / KLINE
Considerate la vostra semenza:
fatti non foste a viver come bruti,
ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza".
Consider your origin: you were not made
to live like brutes,
but to follow virtue and knowledge.”
INF C26 124-126 / DANTE
INF C26 124-126 / KLINE
e volta nostra poppa nel mattino,
de' remi facemmo ali al folle volo,
sempre acquistando dal lato mancino.
and turning the prow towards morning,
we made wings of our oars for that foolish flight,
always turning south.
INF C26 127-129 / DANTE
Tutte le stelle già de l'altro polo
vedea la notte, e 'l nostro tanto basso,
che non surgëa fuor del marin suolo.
Night already saw the southern pole,
with all its stars, and our northern pole was so low,
it did not rise from the ocean bed.
INF C26 130-132 / DANTE
Cinque volte racceso e tante casso
lo lume era di sotto da la luna,
poi che 'ntrati eravam ne l'alto passo,
Five times the light beneath the moon
had been quenched and relit,
since we had entered on the deep pathways,
183
INF C26 133-135 / DANTE
quando n'apparve una montagna, bruna
per la distanza, e parvemi alta tanto
quanto veduta non avëa alcuna.
when a mountain appeared to us,
dim with distance, and it seemed to me
the highest I had ever seen.
INF C26 136-138 / DANTE
Noi ci allegrammo, e tosto tornò in pianto;
ché de la nova terra un turbo nacque
e percosse del legno il primo canto.
We rejoiced, but soon our joy was turned to grief,
when a tempest rose from the new land,
and struck the prow of our ship.
ULYSSES./.CALLIOPE LEANS THIS WAY AND THAT. DANTE AND VIRGIL MOVE AWAY IN
ALARM. THE SHIP IS BLOWN OUT OF SIGHT OF THE AUDIENCE. DANTE WATCHES IT AND
CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C26 139-141 / DANTE
INF C26 139-141 / KLINE
Tre volte il fé girar con tutte l'acque;
ocean:
a la quarta levar la poppa in suso
e la prora ire in giù, com' altrui piacque,
Three times it whirled her round, with all the
at the fourth, it made the stern rise,
and the prow sink, as it pleased another,
INF C26 142 / DANTE
INF C26 142 / KLINE
infin che 'l mar fu sovra noi richiuso».
till the sea closed over us.
CANTO 27
The flame was now erect and quiet, no longer speaking, and was going away from us, with the permission of the
sweet poet, when another, that came behind forced us to turn our eyes towards its summit, since a confused sound
escaped there. As the Sicilian bull, that first bellowed with the groans of Perillus, who had smoothed it with his file
(and that was right) bellowed with the sufferer’s voice, so that, although it was bronze, it seemed pierced with
agony, so here, the dismal words, having, at their source, no exit from the fire, were changed into its language. But
when they had found a path out through the tip, giving it the movement that the tongue had given in making them,
we heard it say: ‘O you, at whom I direct my voice, and who, but now, was speaking Lombard, saying: “Now go: no
more, I beg you”, let it not annoy you to stop and speak with me, though perhaps I have came a little late: you see it
does not annoy me, and I burn. If you are only now fallen into this blind world, from that sweet Latian land, from
which I bring all my guilt, tell me if Romagna has peace or war, for I was of the mountains there, between Urbino
and Monte Coronaro, the source from which the Tiber springs.’
ANOTHER FLAME ARRIVES FROM THE DIRECTION OF THE FIRST, ON THE HEAD OF ERATO.
VIRGIL
Io era in giuso ancora attento e chino,
quando il mio duca mi tentò di costa,
dicendo: Parla tu; questi è latino.
I was still leaning downwards eagerly, when
my leader touched me on the side, saying:
Speak, this is a Latian.
DANTE:
E io, ch'avea già pronta la risposta,
sanza indugio a parlare incominciai:
O anima che se' là giù nascosta,
And I who had my answer ready,
began to speak then without delay:
O spirit, hidden there below,
DANTE:
INF C27 36 / DANTE
INF C27 36 / KLINE
O anima che se' là giù nascosta,
O spirit, hidden there below,
184
DANTE’S SPEECH WAS PROBABLY PREPARED EARLIER.
DANTE:
Romagna tua non è, e non fu mai,
sanza guerra ne' cuor de' suoi tiranni;
ma 'n palese nessuna or vi lasciai.
your Romagna is not, and never has been,
without war in the hearts of her tyrants:
but I left no open war there now.
Ravenna sta come stata è molt' anni:
l'aguglia da Polenta la si cova,
sì che Cervia ricuopre co' suoi vanni.
Ravenna stands, as it has stood for many years:
Guido Vecchio da Polenta’s eagle broods over it,
so that it covers Cervia with its claws.
GUIDO VECCHIO DA POLENTA: LORD OF RAVENNA, FATHER OF FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
La terra che fé già la lunga prova
e di Franceschi sanguinoso mucchio,
sotto le branche verdi si ritrova.
That city, Forlì, that withstood so long a siege,
and made a bloody pile of Frenchmen, finds itself
again under the paws of Ordelaffi’s green lion.
SINIBALDO DEGLI ORDELAFFI: IN 1300 HELD FORLÌ, WHICH HAD ENDURED A LONG SIEGE BY THE FRENCH SOLDIERS OF POPE
MARTIN IV. THE FRENCH WERE FINALLY ROUTED WITH GREAT SLAUGHTER BY GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO HIMSELF. THE
FAMILY ARMS WERE A LION RAMPANT VERT ON A FIELD OR
E 'l mastin vecchio e 'l nuovo da Verrucchio, Malatesta, the old mastiff of Verrucchio, and the
che fecer di Montagna il mal governo,
young one, Malatestino, who made bad jailors for
là dove soglion fan d'i denti succhio.
Montagna, sharpen their teeth, where they used to
do.
MALATESTA DA VERUCCHIO: LORD OF RIMINI, RULING FROM THE CASTLE OF VERRUCCHIO (1293-1312) WAS ‘THE OLD
MASTIFF’ & HIS SON MALATESTINO ‘THE YOUNG MASTIFF’, NOTED FOR THEIR FEROCIOUS CRUELTY. GUELPHS, THEY
IMPRISONED (1295) & MURDERED THE GHIBELLINE LEADER IN RIMINI, MONTAGNA DE’ PARCITATI.
Le città di Lamone e di Santerno
conduce il lïoncel dal nido bianco,
lair,
che muta parte da la state al verno.
north,
Faenza, on the Lamone, and Imola on the Santerno,
those cities lead out Pagano, the lion of the white
who changes sides when he goes from south to
MAINARDO PAGANO, OR MAGHINARDO PAGANO DA SUSINANA: LORD OF FAENZA ON THE RIVER LAMONE; IMOLA, NEAR THE
SANTERNO; & FORLÌ. HIS ARMS WERE A LION AZURE ON A FIELD ARGENT. HE WAS A GHIBELLINE IN THE NORTH (‘STATE’) & A
GUELPH IN FLORENCE (‘VERNO’). HE DIED IN 1302
E quella cu' il Savio bagna il fianco,
così com' ella sie' tra 'l piano e 'l monte,
tra tirannia si vive e stato franco.
and Cesena, that city whose walls the Savio bathes,
where it lies between the mountain and the plain,
likewise lives between freedom and tyranny.
DANTE:
Ora chi se', ti priego che ne conte;
non esser duro più ch'altri sia stato,
se 'l nome tuo nel mondo tegna fronte.
Now I beg you, tell us who you are:
do not be harder than others have been to you,
so that your name may keep its lustre on earth.
When the flame had roared for a while as usual, it flickered the sharp point to and fro, and then gave out this breath:
THE FLAME ‘ROARS AND FLICKERS TO AND FRO’ FOR A WHILE, THEN SPEAKS.
GUIDO FLAME VOICE & ERATO:
S'i' credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria sanza più scosse;
If I thought my answer was given to one
who could ever return to the world,
this flame would flicker no more,
185
GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO 1223 - 1298 AGE : 75
MONTEFELTRO, ROMAGNA.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE ERATO. GUIDO’S VOICE.
GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO (1223-1298): LORD OF URBINO & ONE OF THE GREAT GHIBELLINE CAPTAINS. HE BECAME A
FRANCISCAN FRIAR IN 1296. BONIFACE VIII SUMMONED HIM FROM HIS RETREAT IN 1297 TO CONSULT WITH HIM ABOUT THE
RAZING OF PALESTRINA (PENESTRINO) 25 MILES EAST OF ROME, HELD BY THE COLONNA FAMILY, WHO WERE IN REBELLION
AGAINST THE CHURCH. GUIDO, FINDING IT IMPREGNABLE, ADVISED BONIFACE TO MAKE A PROMISE OF IMMUNITY & THEN
BREAK IT. THE COLONNA SURRENDERED (SEPTEMBER 1298) AND THEIR FORTRESS WAS RAZED. DANTE REGARDED GUIDO
HIGHLY FOR ENTERING THE FRANCISCAN ORDER (SEE HIS CONVIVIO 4 28).
ma però che già mai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
sanza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
but since, if what I hear is true, no one
ever returned, alive, from this deep, I reply,
without fear of defamation.
VIRGIL WANDERS AWAY.
Io fui uom d'arme, e poi fui cordigliero,
credendomi, sì cinto, fare ammenda;
hoping
e certo il creder mio venìa intero,
I, Guido da Montefeltro, was a man of arms:
and then became a Cordelier of Saint Francis,
to make amends, so habited: and indeed my hopes
would have been realised in full,
se non fosse il gran prete, a cui mal prenda!, but for the Great Priest, Boniface, evil to him,
che mi rimise ne le prime colpe;
who drew me back to my first sins:
e come e quare, voglio che m'intenda.
and how and why, I want you to hear from me.
DANTE notes:
INF C27 72 / DANTE
INF C27 72 / KLINE
e come e quare, voglio che m'intenda.
and how and why, I want you to hear from me.
Mentre ch'io forma fui d'ossa e di polpe
che la madre mi diè, l'opere mie
non furon leonine, ma di volpe.
While I was in the form of bones and pulp,
that my mother gave me, my actions were
not those of the lion, but of the fox.
Li accorgimenti e le coperte vie
io seppi tutte, e sì menai lor arte,
ch'al fine de la terra il suono uscie.
I knew all the tricks and coverts, and employed
the art of them so well, that the noise
went out to the ends of the earth.
Quando mi vidi giunto in quella parte
di mia etade ove ciascun dovrebbe
calar le vele e raccoglier le sarte,
When I found myself arrived at that point of life,
when everyone should furl their sails,
and gather in the ropes,
ciò che pria mi piacëa, allor m'increbbe,
e pentuto e confesso mi rendei;
ahi miser lasso! e giovato sarebbe.
what had pleased me before, now grieved me, and
with repentance and confession, I turned monk.
Ah misery! Alas, it would have served me well.
Lo principe d'i novi Farisei,
avendo guerra presso a Laterano,
e non con Saracin né con Giudei,
But the Prince of the Pharisees;
that Pope waging war near the Lateran,
and not with Saracens or Jews,
186
ché ciascun suo nimico era cristiano,
e nessun era stato a vincer Acri
né mercatante in terra di Soldano,
since all his enemies were Christians,
and none had been to conquer Acre,
or been a merchant in the Sultan’s land;
DANTE notes:
INF C27 90 / DANTE
INF C27 90 / KLINE
né mercatante in terra di Soldano,
or been a merchant in the Sultan’s land;
né sommo officio né ordini sacri
guardò in sé, né in me quel capestro
che solea fare i suoi cinti più macri.
had no regard for the highest office,
nor holy orders, nor my habit of Saint Francis,
that used to make those who wore it leaner;
but as the Emperor Constantine sought out Saint Sylvester, on Mount Soracte, to cure his leprosy, so this man called
me, as a doctor to cure his feverish pride. He demanded counsel of me, and I kept silent, since his speech seemed
drunken.
INF C27 100-102 / DANTE
E' poi ridisse: "Tuo cuor non sospetti;
absolve finor t'assolvo, e tu m'insegna fare
act, so
sì come Penestrino in terra getti.
Then he said to me: “Do not be doubtful, I
you beforehand: and, you, teach me how to
that I may raze the fortress of Palestrina to the
ground.
INF C27 103-105 / DANTE
Lo ciel poss' io serrare e diserrare,
come tu sai; però son due le chiavi
che 'l mio antecessor non ebbe care".
I can open and close Heaven as you know,
with the two keys, that my predecessor,
Celestine, did not prize.”
DANTE notes:
INF C27 100-102 / DANTE
INF C27 100-102 / KLINE
E' poi ridisse: "Tuo cuor non sospetti;
absolve
finor t'assolvo, e tu m'insegna fare
so
sì come Penestrino in terra getti.
Then he said to me: “Do not be doubtful, I
you beforehand: and, you, teach me how to act,
that I may raze the fortress of Palestrina to the
ground.
INF C27 103-105 / DANTE
Lo ciel poss' io serrare e diserrare,
come tu sai; però son due le chiavi
che 'l mio antecessor non ebbe care".
I can open and close Heaven as you know,
with the two keys, that my predecessor,
Celestine, did not prize.”
DANTE:
LA VITA NOVA 26 SONNET / DANTE
GUIDO STOPS TALKING, CLEARLY PUZZLED AND VIRGIL LOOKS SHARPLY
DANTE SHAKES HIS HEAD TO CLEAR IT OF THE SONNET HE IS COMPOSING.
AT
INF C27 106-108 / DANTE
INF C27 106-108 / KLINE
Allor mi pinser li argomenti gravi
là 've 'l tacer mi fu avviso 'l peggio,
e dissi: "Padre, da che tu mi lavi
Then the weighty arguments forced me
to consider silence worse, and I said:
“Father, since you absolve me
DANTE notes:
INF C27 108 / DANTE
INF C27 108 / KLINE
e dissi: "Padre, da che tu mi lavi"
“Father, since you absolve me
DANTE.
187
INF C27 109-110 / DANTE
INF C27 109-110 / KLINE
di quel peccato ov' io mo cader deggio,
lunga promessa con l'attender corto
ti farà trïunfar ne l'alto seggio".
throne.”
of that sin, into which I must now fall, large
promises to your enemies, with little delivery of
them, will give you victory, from your high
INF C27 112-114 / DANTE
Francesco venne poi, com' io fu' morto,
per me; ma un d'i neri cherubini
li disse: "Non portar: non mi far torto.
Afterwards, when I was dead, Saint Francis
came for me: but one of the Black Cherubim
said to him: “Do not take him: do not wrong me.
INF C27 115-117 / DANTE
Venir se ne dee giù tra ' miei meschini
perché diede 'l consiglio frodolente,
dal quale in qua stato li sono a' crini;
He must descend among my servants, because he
gave a counsel of deceit, since when I have kept
him fast by the hair: he who does not repent,
INF C27 118-120 / DANTE
ch'assolver non si può chi non si pente,
né pentere e volere insieme puossi
per la contradizion che nol consente".
cannot be absolved: nor can one repent a thing,
and at the same time will it,
since the contradiction is not allowed.”
INF C27 121-123 / DANTE
Oh me dolente! come mi riscossi
me,
quando mi prese dicendomi: "Forse
tu non pensavi ch'io löico fossi!".
O miserable self! How I started, when he seized
saying to me: “Perhaps
you did not think I was a logician.”
DANTE notes:
INF C27 121 / DANTE
INF C27 121 / KLINE
Oh me dolente! come mi riscossi
O miserable self! How I started, when he seized me
INF C27 124-126 / DANTE
INF C27 124-126 / KLINE
A Minòs mi portò; e quelli attorse
otto volte la coda al dosso duro;
e poi che per gran rabbia la si morse,
He carried me to Minos, who coiled his tail
eight times round his fearful back,
and then, biting it in great rage,
INF C27 127-129 / DANTE
disse: "Questi è d'i rei del foco furo";
per ch'io là dove vedi son perduto,
e sì vestito, andando, mi rancuro.
said: “This sinner is for the thievish fire”,
and so I am lost here, as you see,
and clothed like this, go inwardly grieving.
INF C27 130-132 / KLINE
When he had ended his speech, so, the flame went sorrowing, writhing and flickering its sharp horn.
DANTE & VIRGIL GO BACKSTAGE OR DOWN THE →R→
♫
INFERNAL
**********
INF C27 127
DANTE AND VIRGIL RETURN.
CANTO 28
FOR A WHILE.
188
DANTE AND VIRGIL CLOSES CANTO 27 AND RELATES WHAT HE SAW.
BEHIND.
VIRGIL INTERPRETS A VERSE OR 2
DANTE:
INF C27 133-135 / DANTE
INF C27 133-135 / KLINE
Noi passamm' oltre, e io e 'l duca mio,
su per lo scoglio infino in su l'altr' arco
che cuopre 'l fosso in che si paga il fio
We passed on, my guide and I, along the cliff,
up to the other arch, that covers the next ditch,
in which the reward is paid
INF C27 136-138 / DANTE
a quei che scommettendo acquistan carco.
to those who collect guilt by sowing discord.
INF C28 1-6 / KLINE
Who could ever fully tell, even with repeated unimprisoned words, the blood and wounds I saw now? Every tongue
would certainly fail, since our speech and memory have too small a capacity to comprehend so much.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
INF C28 7-9 / DANTE
INF C28 7-9 / KLINE
S'el s'aunasse ancor tutta la gente
che già, in su la fortunata terra
Apulia,
di Puglia, fu del suo sangue dolente
If all the people, too, were gathered, who once
grieved for their blood, in the fateful land of
by reason of the Samnite War of the Romans,
per li Troiani e per la lunga guerra
War,
che de l'anella fé sì alte spoglie,
come Livïo scrive, che non erra,
battlefield;
of Trojan seed; and those, from that long Punic
that, as Livy writes, who does not err, yielded
so great a wealth of rings, from Cannae’s
LIVY: TITUS LIVIUS, THE ROMAN HISTORIAN. HE RECORDS (23 11, 12) THAT AT THE BATTLE OF CANNAE IN 216 BC IN THE
SECOND PUNIC WAR, WHERE HANNIBAL DEFEATED THE ROMANS, HE SHOWED THE SENATE AT CARTHAGE 3 BUSHELS OF
GOLD RINGS TAKEN FROM THE CORPSES.
con quella che sentio di colpi doglie
per contastare a Ruberto Guiscardo;
e l'altra il cui ossame ancor s'accoglie
and those who felt the pain of blows
by withstanding Robert Guiscard; and the rest,
whose bones are still heaped
ROBERT GUISCARD:(D. 1085): FOUNDER OF THE NORMAN DYNASTY IN SOUTHERN ITALY & SICILY. HE WAGED WAR IN
SICILY & S.ITALY (1059 TO 1080), AGAINST THE GREEKS & SARACENS. HE RESCUED GREGORY VII & SACKED ROME IN
1084.
a Ceperan, là dove fu bugiardo
ciascun Pugliese, e là da Tagliacozzo,
dove sanz' arme vinse il vecchio Alardo;
at Ceperano, where all the Apulians turned traitor,
for Charles of Anjou; and there,
at Tagliacozzo where old Alardo’s
ALARDO: ERARD DE VALÉRY; IN 1268, AT TAGLIACOZZO, CHARLES OF ANJOU DEFEATED CONRADIN, MANFRED’S NEPHEW,
USING RESERVE TROOPS, ON THE ADVICE OF ERARD.
e qual forato suo membro e qual mozzo
mostrasse, d'aequar sarebbe nulla
il modo de la nona bolgia sozzo.
advice to Charles conquered without weapons:
and some were to show pierced limbs, and others
severed stumps; it would be nothing to equal the
hideous state of the ninth chasm.
DANTE STANDS SILENT FOR A WHILE, OPENS HIS MOUTH TO SPEAK, SHAKES HIS HEAD AND
CLOSES HIS MOUTH.
189
Even a wine-cask, that has lost a stave in the middle or the end, does not yawn as widely, as a spirit I saw, cleft from
the chin down to the part that gives out the foulest sound: the entrails hung between his legs: the organs appeared,
and the miserable gut that makes excrement of what is swallowed. While I stood looking wholly at him, he gazed at
me, and opened his chest with his hands, saying: ‘See how I tear myself: see how Mahomet is ripped! In front of me,
Ali goes, weeping, his face split from chin to scalp, and all the others you see here, were sowers of scandal and
schism in their lifetimes: so they are cleft like this. There is a devil behind who tears us cruelly like this, reapplying
his sword blade to each of this crowd, when they have wandered round the sad road, since the wounds heal before
any reach him again. But who are you, who muse there on the cliff, maybe to delay your path to punishment, in
sentence for your crimes?’ My Master replied: ‘Death has not come to him yet, nor does guilt lead him to torment,
but it is incumbent on me, who am dead, to grant him full experience, and lead him, through the Inferno, down here,
from circle to circle, and this is truth, that I tell you.’ When they heard him, more than a hundred spirits, in the ditch,
halted, to look at me, forgetting their agony, in their wonder. After lifting up one foot, to leave, Mahomet said to me:
‘Well now, you who will soon see the sun, perhaps, tell Fra Dolcino of the Apostolic Brothers, if he does not wish to
follow me quickly, down here, to furnish himself with supplies, so that the snow-falls may not bring a victory for the
Novarese, that otherwise would be difficult to achieve.’ Then, he strode forward to depart.
Another, who had his throat slit, and nose cut off to the eyebrows, and had only a single ear, standing to gaze in
wonder with the rest, opened his wind-pipe, that was red outside, all over, and said: ‘You, that no guilt condemns,
and whom I have seen above on Latian ground, unless resemblance deceives me, remember Pier della Medicina, if
you ever return to see the gentle plain, that slopes down from Vercelli to Marcabò. And make known to the
worthiest two men in Fano, Messer Guido, and Angiolello, also, that unless our prophetic powers here are in vain,
they will be cast out of their boat, and drowned near Cattolica, by treachery. Neptune never saw a greater crime,
between the isles of Cyprus and Majorca, not even among those carried out by pirates, or by Greeks. Malatestino,
the treacherous one, who only sees with one eye, and holds the land, that one, who is here with me, wishes he had
never seen, will make them come to parley with him, then act so that they will have no need of vow or prayer to
counter Focara’s winds. And I said to him: ‘If you would have me carry news of you, above, show me and explain
who he is that rues the sight of it.’
Then he placed his hand on the jaw of one of his companions, and opened the mouth, saying: ‘This is he: and he does
not speak. This outcast quelled Caesar’s doubts at the Rubicon, saying that delay always harms men who are ready.’ O
how dejected, Curio seemed to me, with his tongue slit in his palate, who was so bold in speech! And one who had both
hands severed, lifting the stumps through the dark air, so that their blood stained his face, said: ‘You will remember
Mosca too, who said, alas, “A thing done, has an end” which was seed of evil to the Tuscan race.’ ‘And death to your
people’ I added, at which he, accumulating pain on pain, went away like one sad and mad. But I remained behind to
view the crowd, and saw a thing, which, without more proof, I would be afraid to even tell, except that conscience
reassures me, the good companion, that strengthens a man, under the armour of his self-respect.
♫
INFERNAL
INF C28 21
THE MUSIC HAS GIVEN DANTE HEART.
THAT OF BERTRAN(D) DE BORN.
HE
HOLDS UP AN IMAGINARY HEAD./.LANTERN,
BERTRAND DE BORN (C 1140-1215): LORD OF THE CASTLE OF HAUTEFORT (ALTAFORTE), NEAR PÉRIGORD, WHO SPENT HIS
LIFE IN FEUDAL WARFARE, ENDED IT IN THE CISTERCIAN MONASTERY OF DALON, NEARBY. HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST
INDIVIDUAL OF THE PROVENÇAL TROUBADOURS. ONE OF HIS FINEST POEMS (‘SI TUIT LI DOHL ELH PLOR ELH MARRIMEN’) IS HIS
SONG OF LAMENT ON THE DEATH OF PRINCE HENRY PLANTAGENET, THE ELDER BROTHER TO RICHARD COEUR DE LION &
NAMED THE ‘YOUNG KING’, THE SON OF HENRY II OF ENGLAND, AND TWICE CROWNED IN HIS FATHER’S LIFETIME.
BERTRAND WAS ACCUSED OF STIRRING UP THE STRIFE WHEREBY HENRY II REFUSED TO GRANT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF
ENGLAND OR NORMANDY TO HIS SON, AND WHICH LASTED UNTIL THE YOUNG KING’S DEATH IN 1183. (SEE EZRA POUND’S
POEM ‘NEAR PÉRIGORD’ FROM LUSTRA, AND HIS TRANSLATION OF THE LAMENT ‘PLANH FOR THE YOUNG ENGLISH KING’ IN
PERSONAE: ALSO HIS TRANSLATION OF ‘DOMPNA POIS DE ME NO’US CAL’ IN LUSTRA, WHERE BERTRAND MAKES ‘A BORROWED
LADY’, ‘UNA DOMPNA SOISEUBUDA’ OR ‘UNA DONNA IDEALE’, OUT OF THE BEST CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NOBLE WOMEN HE
KNOWS, AND ITS COMPANION PIECE ‘NA AUDIART’ IN PERSONAE.)
DANTE:
INF C28 118-120 / DANTE
INF C28 118-120 / KLINE
Io vidi certo, e ancor par ch'io 'l veggia,
un busto sanza capo andar sì come
andavan li altri de la trista greggia;
I saw it clearly, and still seem to see, a headless
trunk, that goes on before, like the others,
in that miserable crew,
INF C28 121-123 / DANTE
e 'l capo tronco tenea per le chiome,
pesol con mano a guisa di lanterna:
e quel mirava noi e dicea: «Oh me!».
and holds its severed head, by the hair,
swinging, like a lantern, in its hand.
It looked at us, and said: “Ah me!”.
190
INF C28 124-126 / DANTE
Di sé facea a sé stesso lucerna,
ed eran due in uno e uno in due;
com' esser può, quei sa che sì governa.
It made a lamp of itself, to light itself,
and there were two in one, and one in two:
how that can be he knows, who made it so.
DANTE:
INF C28 123 / DANTE
INF C28 123 / KLINE
e quel mirava noi e dicea: «Oh me!».
It looked at us, and said: “Ah me!”.
INF C28 124-126 / DANTE
Di sé facea a sé stesso lucerna,
ed eran due in uno e uno in due;
com' esser può, quei sa che sì governa.
It made a lamp of itself, to light itself,
and there were two in one, and one in two:
how that can be he knows, who made it so.
INF C28 127-142 / KLINE
When it was right at the foot of our bridge, it lifted its arm high, complete with the head, to bring its words near to
us, which were: ‘Now you see the grievous punishment, you, who go, alive and breathing, to see the dead: look if
any are as great as this. And so that you may carry news of me, know that I am Bertrand de Born, he who gave evil
counsel to the Young King. I made the father and the son rebel against each other: Ahithophel did no more for
Absolom and David, by his malicious stirrings. Because I parted those who were once joined, I carry my intellect,
alas, split from its origin in this body. So, in me, is seen just retribution.
DANTE HAS CLOSED THE CANTO BUT HIS EYES ARE ENTRAINED BY THE SWING OF THE
HEAD./.LANTERN. HIS FREE HAND BEGINS BEATING OUT IAMBS OF HIS TANTO GENTILE…
SONNET AS HE MOUTHS POSSIBLE WORDS.
VIRGIL RETURNS AND SURPRISES HIM.
CANTO 29
INF C29 1-3 / KLINE
The multitude of people, and the many wounds, had made my eyes so tear-filled, that they longed to stop and weep,
VIRGIL:
INF C29 4-6 / DANTE
INF C29 4-6 / KLINE
Ma Virgilio mi disse: «Che pur guate?
perché la vista tua pur si soffolge
là giù tra l'ombre triste smozzicate?
but Virgil said to me: Why are you still gazing?
Why does your sight still rest,
down there, on the sad, mutilated shadows?
INF C29 7-9 / DANTE
Tu non hai fatto sì a l'altre bolge;
pensa, se tu annoverar le credi,
che miglia ventidue la valle volge.
You did not do so at the other chasms.
Think, if you wish to number them,
that the The valley circles twenty-two miles,
E già la luna è sotto i nostri piedi;
lo tempo è poco omai che n'è concesso,
e altro è da veder che tu non vedi».
see.
and the moon is already underneath our feet.
The time is short now, that is given us,
and there are other things to view., than those you
DANTE MUTTERS A LINE IN PROVENÇAL FROM DE BORN WHICH IS APPROPRIATE TO DE
BORN AND TO DANTE’S COMPOSING OF TANTO GENTILE… (HE QUOTES IT IN DE VULGARI
ELOQUENTIA.)
DANTE:
CANZONE? / DE BORN
CANZONE? / DE BORN
Non posc mudar c’un cantar non exparia.
I cannot refrain from sending forth my song.
…AND INVENTS AN ALIBI.
191
DANTE:
«Se tu avessi», rispuos' io appresso,
«atteso a la cagion per ch'io guardava,
forse m'avresti ancor lo star dimesso».
I replied, then: Had you noticed the reason
why I looked, perhaps you might
still have allowed me to stay.
Parte sen giva, e io retro li andava,
lo duca, già faccendo la risposta,
e soggiugnendo: «Dentro a quella cava
Meanwhile, the guide was moving on,
and I went behind him, making my reply,
and adding, now: In the hollow
dov' io tenea or li occhi sì a posta,
credo ch'un spirto del mio sangue pianga
la colpa che là giù cotanto costa».
where I held my gaze, I believe a spirit
of my own blood, laments the guilt
that costs so greatly here.
VIRGIL:
Allor disse 'l maestro: «Non si franga
lo tuo pensier da qui innanzi sovr' ello.
Attendi ad altro, ed ei là si rimanga;
Then the Master said: Do not let your thoughts
be distracted by him:
attend to something else: let him stay there.
ch'io vidi lui a piè del ponticello
bridge,
mostrarti e minacciar forte col dito,
e udi' 'l nominar Geri del Bello.
I saw him point to you, at the foot of the little
and threaten, angrily, with his finger:
and I heard them call him Geri del Bello
GERI DEL BELLO: FIRST COUSIN OF DANTE’S FATHER, WHO WAS KILLED FOR SOWING DISCORD AMONG THE SACCHETTI
FAMILY & WAS NOT AVENGED UNTIL THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE VISION, WHEN GERI’S NEPHEWS, THE SONS OF MESSER CIONE
DEL BELLO ALIGHIERI KILLED ONE OF THE SACCHETTI IN HIS OWN HOUSE. THE FAMILIES WERE RECONCILED IN 1342.
Tu eri allor sì del tutto impedito
sovra colui che già tenne Altaforte,
che non guardasti in là, sì fu partito».
You were so entangled, then, with him
who once held Altaforte, that you did not
look that way, so he departed.
WITH HIM: BERTRAND DE BORN (THIS SECTION IS OMITTED)
DANTE:
«O duca mio, la vïolenta morte
che non li è vendicata ancor», diss' io,
«per alcun che de l'onta sia consorte,
I said: Oh, my guide, his violent murder made
him indignant, not yet avenged on his behalf,
by any that shares his shame:
fece lui disdegnoso; ond' el sen gio
sanza parlarmi, sì com' ïo estimo:
e in ciò m'ha el fatto a sé più pio».
therefore, I guess, he went away,
without speaking to me: and, by that,
has made me pity him the more.
DANTE QUIETLY TRANSLATES DE BORN’S LINE.
DANTE:
CANZONE? / DE BORN
CANZONE? / DE BORN
Non posc mudar c’un cantar non exparia.
I cannot refrain from sending forth my song.
So we talked, as far as the first place on the causeway that would have revealed the next valley, right to its floor, if it
had been lighter. When we were above the last cloister of Malebolge, so that its lay brothers could be seen, many
groans pierced me, whose arrows were barbed with pity, at which I covered my ears with my hands.
192
TURNS AT HIS WORDS AND DANTE LAUNCHES INTO A FALSELY-FERVENT
TH
DESCRIPTION OF THE 10 CHASM. VIRGIL INTERPRETS OR GIVES HIS OWN, BRIEFER
ACCOUNT.
VIRGIL
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Qual dolor fora, se de li spedali
di Valdichiana tra 'l luglio e 'l settembre
e di Maremma e di Sardigna i mali
Such pain there was, as there would be, if the
diseases in the hospitals of Valdichiana, Maremma
and Sardinia, between July and September,
fossero in una fossa tutti 'nsembre,
tal era quivi, e tal puzzo n'usciva
qual suol venir de le marcite membre.
were all rife in one ditch:
a stench arose from it,
such as issues from putrid limbs.
Noi discendemmo in su l'ultima riva
del lungo scoglio, pur da man sinistra;
e allor fu la mia vista più viva
We descended on the last bank
of the long causeway, again on the left,
and then my sight was clearer,
giù ver' lo fondo, la 've la ministra
de l'alto Sire infallibil giustizia
punisce i falsador che qui registra.
down to the depths, where infallible Justice,
the minister of the Lord on high,
punishes the falsifiers that it accounts for here.
Non credo ch'a veder maggior tristizia
fosse in Egina il popol tutto infermo,
quando fu l'aere sì pien di malizia,
I do not think it would have been a greater
sadness to see the people of plague-ridden Aegina,
when the air was so malignant,
AEGINA: OVID: METAMORPHOSES 7 523-657
che li animali, infino al picciol vermo,
cascaron tutti, e poi le genti antiche,
secondo che i poeti hanno per fermo,
that every animal, even the smallest worm,
was killed, and afterwards, as Poets say,
for certain, the ancient race
si ristorar di seme di formiche;
ch'era a veder per quella oscura valle
languir li spirti per diverse biche.
was restored from the seed of ants,
than it was to see the spirits languishing
in scattered heaps through that dim valley.
This one lay on its belly, that, on the shoulders of the other, and some were crawling along the wretched path. Step
by step we went, without a word, gazing at, and listening to, the sick who could not lift their bodies. I saw two
sitting, leaning on each other, as one pan is leant to warm against another: I never saw a stable lad his master waits
for, or one who stays awake unwillingly, use a currycomb as fiercely, as each of these two clawed himself with his
nails, because of the intensity of their itching, that has no other relief. And so the nails dragged the scurf off, as a
knife does the scales from bream, or other fish with larger scales.
My Guide began to speak: ‘O you, who strip your chain-mail with your fingers, and often make pincers of them, tell
us if there is any Latian among those here, inside: and may your nails be enough for that task for eternity.’ One of
them replied, weeping: ‘We are both Latians, whom you see so mutilated here, but who are you who enquire of us?
And the guide said: ‘I am one, who with this living man, descends from steep to steep, and mean to show him Hell.’
Then the mutual prop broke, and each one turned, trembling, towards me, along with others that heard him, by the
echo. The good Master addressed me directly, saying: ‘Tell them what you wish,’ and I began as he desired: ‘So that
your memory will not fade, from human minds, in the first world, but will live for many suns, tell us who you are,
and of what race. Do not let your ugly and revolting punishment make you afraid to reveal yourselves to me.’
193
FALSIFIERS, LIARS
VOICES COME OUT OF THE DARKNESS AS DANTE SPEAKS.
GRIFFOLINO (VOICE):
INF C29 109-111 / DANTE
INF C29 109-111 / KLINE
Io fui d'Arezzo, e Albero da Siena,
rispuose l’un mi fé mettere al foco;
ma quel per ch'io mori' qui non mi mena.
The one replied: I was Griffolino of Arezzo,
and Albero of Siena had me burned:
but what I died for did not send me here.
GRIFFOLINO *----? - *----? AGE : *--?
AREZZO.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
GRIFFOLINO (VOICE):
INF C29 112-114 / DANTE
INF C29 112-114 / KLINE
Vero è ch'i' dissi lui, parlando a gioco:
`Ì' mi saprei levar per l'aere a volo";
e quei, ch'avea vaghezza e senno poco,
It is true I said to him, jesting,
“I could lift myself into the air in flight.,”
and he He who had great desire and little brain,
INF C29 115-117 / DANTE
volle ch'i' li mostrassi l'arte; e solo
perch' io nol feci Dedalo, mi fece
ardere a tal che l'avea per figliuolo.
wished me to show him that art: and only because
I could not make him Daedalus, he caused me
to be burned., by one who looked on him as a son.
INF C29 118-120 / KLINE
But to the last chasm of the ten, Minos, who cannot err, condemned me, for the alchemy I practised in the world.’
DANTE:
INF C29 121-123 / DANTE
INF C29 121-123 / KLINE
E io dissi al poeta: «Or fu già mai
gente sì vana come la sanese?
Certo non la francesca sì d'assai!».
And I said to the poet: Now was there
ever a people as vain as the Sienese?
Certainly not the French, by far.
VIRGIL:
INF C29 122 / DANTE
INF C29 122 / KLINE
gente sì vana come la sanese?
ever a people as vain as the Sienese?
DANTE:
INF C29 123 / DANTE
INF C29 123 / KLINE
Certo non la francesca sì d'assai!
Certainly not the French, by far.
THE UNSEEN CAPOCCHIO IS IMPERSONATED BY A MUSE.
CAPOCCHIO / EUTERPE (VOICE):
INF C29 124-126 / DANTE
INF C29 124-126 / KLINE
Onde l’altro lebbroso, che m’intese,
rispuose al detto mio: Tra'mene Stricca
che seppe far le temperate spese,
At which the other leper, hearing me,
replied to my words: What of Stricca,
who contrived to spend so little:
194
CAPOCCHIO *----? - 1293
BORN IN FLORENCE BUT MAY HAVE PICKED UP THE SIENESE DIALECT.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE EUTERPE
CAPOCCHIO: FLORENTINE ALCHEMIST KNOWN TO DANTE, BURNT ALIVE AT SIENA IN 1293.
STRICCA: WITH NICCOLO, CACCIA & THE ABBAGLIATO (‘THE FOOLISH’) A MEMBER OF THE BRIGATA SPENDERECCIA, THE
SPENDTHRIFT BRIGADE, A CLUB FOUNDED BY TWELVE WEALTHY SIENESE, IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE THIRTEENTH
CENTURY, WHO VIED WITH EACH OTHER IN SQUANDERING THEIR MONEY ON RIOTOUS LIVING.
INF C29 127-129 / DANTE
INF C29 127-129 / KLINE
e Niccolò che la costuma ricca
del garofano prima discoverse
ne l'orto dove tal seme s'appicca;
and Niccolo who first discovered the costly use
of cloves, in that garden, Siena,
where such seed takes root:
INF C29 130-132 / DANTE
e tra'ne la brigata in che disperse
Caccia d'Ascian la vigna e la gran fonda,
e l'Abbagliato suo sen no proferse.
and that company in which Caccia of Aciano
threw away his vineyard, and his vast forest,
and Abbagliato the fool showed his wit.
INF C29 133-135 / DANTE
Ma perché sappi chi sì ti seconda
contra i Sanesi, aguzza ver' me l'occhio,
sì che la faccia mia ben ti risponda:
But so So that you may know who seconds you
like this against the Sienese, sharpen your eye
on me, so that my face may reply to you:
INF C29 136-138 / DANTE
sì vedrai ch'io son l'ombra di Capocchio,
che falsai li metalli con l'alchìmia;
e te dee ricordar, se ben t'adocchio,
so you will see I am Capocchio’s shadow shade,
who made false metals, by alchemy,
and you must remember, if I know you rightly,
INF C29 139 / DANTE
com' io fui di natura buona scimia.
how well I aped nature.
DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA dialect / DANTE
DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA / SOC. DANT. tr?
Onche renegata avess’io Siena
If only Id left Siena for good.
THIS REMARK COULD INSTEAD BE MADE BY GRIFFOLINO OF AREZZO.
DANTE PEERS AT THE UNSEEN FACE AND CLOSES THE CANTO.
DANTE:
INF C29 136-138 / DANTE
INF C29 136-138 / KLINE
sì vedrai ch'io son l'ombra di Capocchio,
che falsai li metalli con l'alchìmia;
e te dee ricordar, se ben t'adocchio,
so you will see I am Capocchio’s shadow,
who made false metals, by alchemy,
and you must remember, if I know you rightly,
INF C29 139 / DANTE
com' io fui di natura buona scimia.
how well I aped nature.
CANTO 30
DANTE RETURNS TO WHAT HE HAS ALREADY SEEN. HE SPEAKS./.READS TO THE AUDIENCE,
BREATHLESS IN HIGH FIGURATIVE FLIGHT. VIRGIL WAITS ELSEWHERE FOR DANTE TO
COME BACK TO EARTH. THIS SEGMENT COULD BE ENTIRELY OMITTED.
195
DANTE:
INF C30 1-3 / DANTE
INF C30 1-3 / KLINE
Nel tempo che Iunone era crucciata
shown
per Semelè contra 'l sangue tebano,
come mostrò una e altra fïata,
At the time when Juno was angry, as she had
more than once, with the Theban race, because of
Jupiter’s affair with Semele, she so maddened
INF C30 4-6 / DANTE
Atamante divenne tanto insano,
che veggendo la moglie con due figli
andar carcata da ciascuna mano,
King Athamas, that, seeing his wife, Ino,
go by, carrying her two sons
in her arms, he cried:
INF C30 7-9 / DANTE
gridò: «Tendiam le reti, sì ch'io pigli
la leonessa e ' leoncini al varco»;
e poi distese i dispietati artigli,
“Spread the hunting nets, so that I can take
the lioness and her cubs, at the pass,”
and then stretched out his pitiless talons,
prendendo l'un ch'avea nome Learco,
e rotollo e percosselo ad un sasso;
e quella s'annegò con l'altro carco.
snatching the one, named Learchus, and, whirling
him round, dashed him against the rock: and Ino
drowned herself, and her other burden, Melicertes.
E quando la fortuna volse in basso
l'altezza de' Troian che tutto ardiva,
sì che 'nsieme col regno il re fu casso,
And after fortune had brought down
the high Trojan pride, that dared all, so that
Priam the king, and his kingdom were destroyed,
Ecuba trista, misera e cattiva,
poscia che vide Polissena morta,
e del suo Polidoro in su la riva
Queen Hecuba, a sad, wretched captive,
having witnessed the sacrifice of Polyxena,
alone, on the sea-shore,
OTHER ONE TOO POLYXENA: TROJAN PRINCESS, DAUGHTER OF PRIAM & HECUBA. ACCORDING TO OVID (METAMORPHOSES
13 448) SHE IS SLAUGHTERED AT ACHILLES’S TOMB AFTER THE FALL OF TROY, BUT ACCORDING TO LATER VERSIONS OF THE
MYTHS HIS LOVE FOR HER BROUGHT ABOUT HIS DEATH, WHEN HE WAS KILLED BY PARIS IN A TEMPLE WHERE HE HAD GONE TO
MARRY HER, AFTER BEING PROMISED HER HAND IF HE WOULD JOIN FORCES WITH THE TROJANS.
del mar si fu la dolorosa accorta,
forsennata latrò sì come cane;
tanto il dolor le fé la mente torta.
when she recognised the body of her Polydorus,
barked like a dog, driven out of her senses,
so greatly had her sorrow racked her mind.
POLYDORUS: SON OF PRIAM & HECUBA, SENT BY PRIAM TO THE COURT OF POLYMESTOR OF THRACE & DONE TO DEATH BY
POLYMESTOR, PRIAM’S SON-IN-LAW.
Ma né di Tebe furie né troiane
But neither Theban nor Trojan Furies
si vider mäi in alcun tanto crude,
were ever seen embodied so cruelly,
non punger bestie, nonché membra umane, in stinging creatures, or even less in human limbs,
quant' io vidi in due ombre smorte e nude,
che mordendo correvan di quel modo
che 'l porco quando del porcil si schiude.
as I saw displayed in two shades, pallid and naked,
that ran, biting, as a hungry pig does,
when he is driven out of his sty.
The one came to Capocchio, and fixed his tusks in his neck, so that dragging him along, it made the solid floor rasp
his belly. And the Aretine, Griffolino, who was left, said to me, trembling: ‘That goblin is Gianni Schicci, and he
goes, rabidly, mangling others like that.’ ‘Oh, be pleased to tell us who the other is, before it snatches itself away,
and may it not plant its teeth in you.’ And he to me: ‘That is the ancient spirit of incestuous Myrrha, who loved her
father, Cinyras, with more than lawful love. She came to him, and sinned, under cover of another’s name, just as the
one who is vanishing there, undertook to disguise himself as Buoso Donati, so as to gain the mare, called the Lady
of the Herd, by forging a will, and giving it legal form.’ When the furious pair, on whom I had kept my eye, were
gone, I turned to look at the other spirits, born to evil. I saw one, who would have been shaped like a lute, if he had
only had his groin cut short, at the place where a man is forked. The heavy dropsy, that swells the limbs, with its
badly transformed humours, so that the face does not match the belly, made him hold his lips apart, as the fevered
patient does who, through thirst, curls one lip towards the chin, and the other upwards.
196
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT DANTE SAW BECAUSE ADAMO OF BRESCIA ROLLS OUT OF THE
DARKNESS TO THE BACK OF THE STAGE. SINON AND THE FALSE WIFE REMAIN INVISIBLE
BEHIND HIM.
ADAMO OF BRESCIA
O voi che sanz' alcuna pena siete,
e non so io perché, nel mondo gramo,
diss' elli a noi, guardate e attendete
He said to us: O you, who are exempt from
punishment in this grim world
(and why, I do not know), look and attend to
ADAMO OF BRESCIA *----? - *----? AGE : 50??
BRESCIA, ROMAGNA.
DESCRIPTION
WRAPPED UP AND LYING BARELY VISIBLE AT THE BACK OF THE STAGE.
ADAMO OF BRESCIA
a la miseria del maestro Adamo;
io ebbi, vivo, assai di quel ch'i' volli,
e ora, lasso!, un gocciol d'acqua bramo.
the misery of Maestro Adamo.
I had enough of what I wished, when I was
alive, and now, alas, I crave a drop of water.
Li ruscelletti che d'i verdi colli
del Casentin discendon giuso in Arno,
faccendo i lor canali freddi e molli,
The little streams that fall, from the green hills
of Casentino, down to the Arno,
making cool, moist channels,
sempre mi stanno innanzi, e non indarno,
ché l'imagine lor vie più m'asciuga
che 'l male ond' io nel volto mi discarno.
are constantly in my mind, and not in vain, since
the image of them parches me, far more than
the disease, that wears the flesh from my face.
DANTE NOTES WITH UNCONSCIOUS CRUELTY.
DANTE:
INF C30 63 / DANTE
INF C30 63 / KLINE
e ora, lasso!, un gocciol d'acqua bramo.
alive, and now, alas, I crave a drop of water.
Li ruscelletti che d'i verdi colli
del Casentin discendon giuso in Arno,
faccendo i lor canali freddi e molli,
The little streams that fall, from the green hills
of Casentino, down to the Arno,
making cool, moist channels,
ADAMO’S VOICE IS HOARSER NOW.
ADAMO OF BRESCIA
La rigida giustizia che mi fruga
tragge cagion del loco ov' io peccai
a metter più li miei sospiri in fuga.
The rigid justice, that examines me,
takes its opportunity from the place
where I sinned, to give my sighs more rapid flight.
Ivi è Romena, là dov' io falsai
la lega suggellata del Batista;
image:
per ch'io il corpo sù arso lasciai.
That is Romena, where I counterfeited the coin
of Florence, stamped with John the Baptist’s
for that, on earth, I left my body, burned.
197
But if I could see the wretched soul of Guido here, or Alessandro, or Aghinolfo, their brother, I would not exchange
that sight for Branda’s fountain. Guido is down here already, if the crazed spirits going round speak truly, but what
use is it to me, whose limbs are tied? If I were only light enough to move, even an inch, every hundred years, I
would already have started on the road, to find him among this disfigured people, though it winds around eleven
miles, and is no less than half a mile across. Because of them I am with such a crew: they induced me to stamp those
florins that were adulterated, with three carats alloy.’
DANTE:
E io a lui: Chi son li due tapini
che fumman come man bagnate 'l verno,
giacendo stretti a' tuoi destri confini?
winter?
I said to him: Who are those abject two,
lying close to your right edge,
and giving off smoke, like a hand, bathed, in
ADAMO OF BRESCIA:
Qui li trovai--e poi volta non dierno,
rispuose, quando piovvi in questo greppo,
then,
e non credo che dieno in sempiterno.
He replied: I found them here, when I rained down
into this pound, and they have not turned since
and may never turn I believe.
L'una è la falsa ch'accusò Gioseppo;
Joseph.
l'altr' è 'l falso Sinon greco di Troia:
per febbre aguta gittan tanto leppo».
One is Potiphar’s the false wife who accused
The other is lying Sinon, the Greek from Troy.
A burning fever makes them stink so strongly.
JOSEPH: POTIPHAR’S WIFE TRIED TO SEDUCE HIM & CAUSED HIM TO BE IMPRISONED. (GENESIS 29.)
INF C30 100-105 / KLINE
And Sinon, who perhaps took offence at being named so blackly, struck Adamo’s rigid belly with his fist, so that it
resounded, like a drum: and Master Adam struck him in the face with his arm, that seemed no softer,
ADAMO IS ROLLED BACK INTO THE DARKNESS BY SINON’S HAND. SINON STRIKES
‘ADAMO’S RIGID BELLY WITH HIS FIST, SO THAT IT RESOUNDS LIKE A DRUM’ [INF C30 100105].
SINON AGE : *--?
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION.
BEHIND ADAMO.
SINON: A GREEK WHO ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE CAPTURED BY THE TROJANS & PERSUADED THEM TO ADMIT THE WOODEN
HORSE INTO TROY. DANTE, AS A TUSCAN CONSIDERS HIMSELF OF TROJAN DESCENT & OPPOSED TO THE GREEKS.
ADAMO OF BRESCIA (VOICE):
INF C30 106-108 / DANTE
INF C30 106-108 / KLINE
dicendo a lui: Ancor che mi sia tolto
lo muover per le membra che son gravi,
ho io il braccio a tal mestiere sciolto.
saying to him: I have an arm free
for such a situation, though I am
kept from moving by my heavy limbs.
WE HEAR ADAMO HITTING SINON IN THE FACE [INF C30 100-105].
SINON (VOICE):
INF C30 109-111 / DANTE
INF C30 109-111 / KLINE
Ond' ei rispuose: Quando tu andavi
al fuoco, non l'avei tu così presto;
ma sì e più l'avei quando coniavi.
At which Sinon answered: You were not so ready
with it, going to the fire, but as ready,
and readier, when you were coining.
198
HITS ADAMO IN THE STOMACH AGAIN. THE TWO CONTINUE TO PUNCTUATE THEIR
QUARREL WITH CONTRASTING BLOWS, WHICH BECOME RHYTHM FOR DANTE’S MENTAL
COMPOSITION OF THE TANTO GENTILE... SONNET. HE STARES INTO SPACE, HIS BACK TO THE
AUDIENCE, AND MARKS THE METRICAL FEET WITH A HAND.
HE
INF C30 112-114 / DANTE
INF C30 112-114 / KLINE
E l'idropico: Tu di' ver di questo:
ma tu non fosti sì ver testimonio
là 've del ver fosti a Troia richesto.
And he of the dropsy: You speak truth in that,
but you were not so truthful a witness, there,
when you were questioned about the truth at Troy.
SINON (VOICE):
INF C30 115-117 / DANTE
INF C30 115-117 / KLINE
S'io dissi falso, e tu falsasti il conio,
disse Sinon; e son qui per un fallo,
e tu per più ch'alcun altro demonio!
If I spoke falsely, you falsified the coin,
Sinon said, and I am here for the one crime,
but you for more than any other devil.
INF C30 118-120 / DANTE
INF C30 118-120 / KLINE
Ricorditi, spergiuro, del cavallo,
rispuose quel ch'avëa infiata l'epa;
e sieti reo che tutto il mondo sallo!
He who had the swollen belly answered:
Think of the Wooden Horse, you liar, and let it be
a torment to you that all the world knows of it.
SINON (VOICE):
INF C30 121-123 / DANTE
INF C30 121-123 / KLINE
E te sia rea la sete onde ti crepa,
disse 'l Greco, la lingua, e l'acqua marcia
che 'l ventre innanzi a li occhi sì t'assiepa!
The Greek replied: Let the thirst that cracks the
tongue be your torture, and the foul water make
your stomach a barrier in front of your eyes.
INF C30 124-126 / DANTE
INF C30 124-126 / KLINE
Allora il monetier: Così si squarcia
la bocca tua per tuo mal come suole;
ché, s'i' ho sete e omor mi rinfarcia,
Then the coiner: Your mouth gapes wide as usual,
to speak ill. If I have a thirst, and moisture
swells me, you have the burning,
INF C30 127-129 / DANTE
tu hai l'arsura e 'l capo che ti duole,
e per leccar lo specchio di Narcisso,
non vorresti a 'nvitar molte parole.
and a head that hurts you: and you would
not need many words of invitation,
to lap at the mirror of Narcissus.
VIRGIL RETURNS AND FACES DANTE.
VIRGIL:
INF C30 130-132 / DANTE
INF C30 130-132 / KLINE
Ad ascoltarli er' io del tutto fisso,
quando 'l maestro mi disse: Or pur mira,
che per poco che teco non mi risso!
I was standing, all intent on hearing them,
when the Master said to me: Now, keep gazing
much longer, and I will quarrel with you!
INF C30 133-135 / KLINE
When I heard him speak to me in anger, I turned towards him, with such a feeling of shame that it comes over me
again, as I only think of it.
DANTE STARTS. HE SPEAKS TO VIRGIL (UNHEARD BY THE AUDIENCE) THEN TURNS TO THE
AUDIENCE, PERHAPS MAKING A NOTE IN HIS BOOK. HE SPEAKS AS ONE ASHAMED.
199
DANTE:
INF C30 136-138 / DANTE
INF C30 136-138 / KLINE
Qual è colui che suo dannaggio sogna,
che sognando desidera sognare,
sì che quel ch'è, come non fosse, agogna,
not;
And like Like someone who dreams of something
harmful to them, and dreaming, wishes it were a
dream, so that they long for what is, as if it were
INF C30 139-141 / DANTE
tal mi fec' io, non possendo parlare,
che disïava scusarmi, e scusava
me tuttavia, e nol mi credea fare.
that I became, who, lacking power to speak,
wished to make an excuse, and all the while did so,
not thinking I was doing it.
VIRGIL:
INF C30 142-144 / DANTE
INF C30 142-144 / KLINE
Maggior difetto men vergogna lava,
disse 'l maestro, che 'l tuo non è stato;
però d'ogne trestizia ti disgrava.
My Master said: Less shamefacedness would wash
away a greater fault than yours,
so unburden yourself of sorrow,
INF C30 145-147 / DANTE
E fa ragion ch'io ti sia sempre allato,
se più avvien che fortuna t'accoglia
dove sien genti in simigliante piato:
and know that I am always with you,
should it happen that fate takes you,
where people are in similar conflict:
INF C30 148 / DANTE
ché voler ciò udire è bassa voglia».
since the desire to hear it, is a vulgar desire.
DANTE CLOSES THE CANTO, MORE ASHAMED BY VIRGIL’S READY FORGIVENESS.
DANTE:
INF C30 142-144 / DANTE
INF C30 142-144 / KLINE
Maggior difetto men vergogna lava,
disse 'l maestro, che 'l tuo non è stato;
però d'ogne trestizia ti disgrava.
My Master said: Less shamefacedness would wash
away a greater fault than yours,
so unburden yourself of sorrow,
INF C30 145-147 / DANTE
E fa ragion ch'io ti sia sempre allato,
se più avvien che fortuna t'accoglia
dove sien genti in simigliante piato:
and know that I am always with you,
should it happen that fate takes you,
where people are in similar conflict:
INF C30 148 / DANTE
ché voler ciò udire è bassa voglia».
since the desire to hear it, is a vulgar desire.
CANTO 31
INF C31 1-9 / KLINE
One and the same tongue at first wounded me, so that it painted both my cheeks with blushes, and then gave out the
ointment for the wound. So I have heard the spear of Achilles, and his father Peleus, was the cause first of sadness,
and then of a healing gift. We turned our back on the wretched valley, crossing without a word, up by the bank that
circles round it.
200
NIMROD
DANTE SUDDENLY LOOKS INTO THE DARK BACKSTAGE, PLACING HIS HAND ON
ARM.
VIRGIL’S
DANTE:
Quiv' era men che notte e men che giorno,
sì che 'l viso m'andava innanzi poco;
ma io senti' sonare un alto corno,
Here was less darkness than night and less light
than day, so that my vision showed only a little
in front: but I heard a high-pitched horn sound,
HE ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
INF C31 12 / DANTE
INF C31 12 / KLINE
ma io senti' sonare un alto corno,
sound,
little in front: but I heard a high-pitched horn
so loudly, that it would have made thunder seem quiet: it directed my eyes, that followed its passage back, straight
to a single point.
VIRGIL:
Dopo la dolorosa rotta, quando
Carlo Magno perdé la santa gesta,
non sonò sì terribilmente Orlando!
Roland did not sound his horn so fiercely,
after the sad rout, when Charlemagne
had lost the holy war, at Roncesvalles.
DANTE:
Dopo la dolorosa rotta, quando
Carlo Magno perdé la santa gesta,
non sonò sì terribilmente Orlando.
Roland did not sound his horn so fiercely,
after the sad rout, when Charlemagne
had lost the holy war, at Roncesvalles.
DANTE PEERS AND POINTS INTO THE BLACK DISTANCE OF BACKSTAGE.
DANTE:
or DANTE:
Poco portäi in là volta la testa,
che me parve veder molte alte torri;
ond' io: Maestro, dì, che terra è questa?
I had kept my head turned for a while in that
direction, when I seemed to make out many high
towers, at which I said: Master, tell me what city
this is?
VIRGIL:
Ed elli a me: «Però che tu trascorri
per le tenebre troppo da la lungi,
avvien che poi nel maginare abborri.
And he to me: Because your eyes traverse
the darkness from too far away,
it follows that you imagine wrongly.
Tu vedrai ben, se tu là ti congiungi,
quanto 'l senso s'inganna di lontano;
però alquanto più te stesso pungi».
You will see, quite plainly, when you reach there,
how much the sense is deceived by distance,
so press on more strongly.
201
Poi caramente mi prese per mano
e disse: «Pria che noi siam più avanti,
acciò che 'l fatto men ti paia strano,
Then he took me, lovingly, by the hand, and said:
Before we go further, so that the reality
might seem less strange to you,
sappi che non son torri, ma giganti,
e son nel pozzo intorno da la ripa
da l'umbilico in giuso tutti quanti».
♫
INFERNAL
know that they are Giants, not towers,
and are in the pit, from the navel downwards,
all of them, around its bank.
**********
INF C31 33
THEY STEP TOWARDS THE BLACKNESS. DANTE PEERS AND SPEAKS. VIRGIL
OR TELLS WHAT HE SEES HIMSELF.
INTERPRETS
As the eye, when a mist is disappearing, gradually recreates what was hidden by the vapour thickening the air, so,
while approaching closer and closer to the brink, piercing through that gross, dark atmosphere, error left me, and my
fear increased.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
però che, come su la cerchia tonda
Montereggion di torri si corona,
così la proda che 'l pozzo circonda
As Montereggione crowns its round wall
with towers, so the terrible giants,
whom Jupiter still threatens
torreggiavan di mezza la persona
li orribili giganti, cui minaccia
Giove del cielo ancora quando tuona.
from the heavens, when he thunders,
turreted with half their bodies
the bank that circles the well.
THE BLACKNESS DISSIPATES AND EUTERPE, THE SECOND-SMALLEST MUSE, IS REVEALED.
DANTE:
E io scorgeva già d'alcun la faccia,
le spalle e 'l petto e del ventre gran parte,
e per le coste giù ambo le braccia.
And I already saw the face of one, the shoulders,
chest, the greater part of the belly,
and the arms down both sides.
Natura certo, quando lasciò l'arte
di sì fatti animali, assai fé bene
per tòrre tali essecutori a Marte.
When nature abandoned the art of making
creatures like these, she certainly did well
by removing such killers from warfare,
E s'ella d'elefanti e di balene
non si pente, chi guarda sottilmente,
più giusta e più discreta la ne tene;
and if she does not repent of making
elephants and whales, whoever looks at the issue
subtly, considers her more prudent and more
right in that,
ché dove l'argomento de la mente
s'aggiugne al mal volere e a la possa,
nessun riparo vi può far la gente.
since where the instrument of mind
is joined to ill will and power,
men have no defence against it.
202
La faccia sua mi parea lunga e grossa
come la pina di San Pietro a Roma,
e a sua proporzione eran l'altre ossa;
His face seemed to me as long and large
as the bronze pine-cone,
in front of St Peter’s in Rome,
BRONZE PINE-CONE: ONCE ON THE TOP OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF ADRIAN & THEN MOVED TO THE VATICAN GARDENS, STOOD
IN FRONT OF ST PETER’S & WAS BETWEEN SEVEN & EIGHT FEET HIGH.
DANTE DEMONSTRATES BY HOLDING HIS HAND ABOVE HIS HEAD.
DANTE:
sì che la ripa, ch'era perizoma
dal mezzo in giù, ne mostrava ben tanto
di sovra, che di giugnere a la chioma
and his other features were in proportion, so
that the bank that covered him from the middle
onwards, revealed so much of him above that
tre Frison s'averien dato mal vanto;
però ch'i' ne vedea trenta gran palmi
dal loco in giù dov' omo affibbia 'l manto.
three Frieslanders would have boasted in vain of
reaching his hair, since I saw thirty large
hand-spans of him down from the place where a
man pins his cloak.
NIMROD./.EUTERPE RESPONDS TO DANTE’S SCRUTINY BY BABBLING HER LIPS AT HIM WITH
HER FINGER. (MAKING NO ATTEMPT AT Raphèl maì…).
NIMROD / EUTERPE:
«Raphèl maì amècche zabì almi»,
cominciò a gridar la fiera bocca,
cui non si convenia più dolci salmi.
Raphèl maì amècche zabì almi,
The savage mouth, for which
no sweeter hymns were fit, began to rave:
NIMROD mythical?
BABYLON.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE EUTERPE.
RAPHÈL: AN UNINTELLIGIBLE MIXTURE OF TONGUES.
NIMROD: THE MIGHTY HUNTER, RULER OF BABEL (BABYLON), UNDER WHOSE RULE DANTE PLACES THE BUILDING OF THE
TOWER OF BABEL IN THE LAND OF SHINAR, WHICH GOD FROWNED ON, CONFOUNDING THEIR LANGUAGE (GENESIS 10 9,
GENESIS 11 4)
DANTE:
cominciò a gridar la fiera bocca,
cui non si convenia più dolci salmi.
The savage mouth, for which
no sweeter hymns were fit, began to rave:
VIRGIL:
E 'l duca mio ver' lui: «Anima sciocca,
tienti col corno, e con quel ti disfoga
quand' ira o altra passïon ti tocca!
And my guide turning to him, said: Foolish spirit,
stick to your hunting-horn and vent your breath
through that when rage, or some other passion, stirs
you.
Cércati al collo, e troverai la soga
che 'l tien legato, o anima confusa,
e vedi lui che 'l gran petto ti doga.
Search round your neck, O confused soul,
and you will find the belt where it is slung,
and see that which arcs across your huge chest.
203
NIMROD./.EUTERPE PRETENDS TO LOOK AS VIRGIL HAS ORDERED, THEN SMILES. SHE
OPENS HER (HOLLOW) BOOK WITH ITS DOUBLE-FLUTE SYMBOL AND TAKES OUT A TINY
DOUBLE-FLUTE.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Poi disse a me: Elli stessi s'accusa;
questi è Nembrotto! per lo cui mal coto
pur un linguaggio nel mondo non s'usa.
Then he said to me: He declares himself. This is
Nimrod through whose evil thought, one language
is not still used, throughout the whole world.
Lasciànlo stare e non parliamo a vòto;
ché così è a lui ciascun linguaggio
come 'l suo ad altrui, ch'a nullo è noto.
Let us leave him standing here, and not speak
to him in vain: since every language, to him,
is like his to others, that no one understands.
So we went on, turning to the left, and, a crossbow-shot away, we found the next one, far larger and fiercer. Who
and what the power might be that bound him, I cannot say, but he had his right arm pinioned behind, and the other in
front, by a chain that held him tight, from the neck down, and, on the visible part of him, reached its fifth turn. ‘My
guide said: This proud spirit had the will to try his strength against high Jupiter, and so has this reward. Ephialtes is
his name, and he made the great attempt, when the Giants made the gods fear, and the arms he shook then, now, he
never moves.’ And I said to him: ‘If it were possible, I would wish my eyes to light on vast Briareus.’ To which he
replied: ‘You will see Antaeus, nearby, who speaks and is unchained, and will set us down in the deepest abyss of
guilt. He whom you wish to see is far beyond, and is formed and bound like this one, except he seems more savage
in his features.’ No huge earthquake ever shook a tower, as violently as Ephialtes promptly shook himself.
INF C31 109-123 / KLINE
Then I feared death more than ever, and the fear alone would have been enough to cause it, had I not seen his chains.
We then went further on, and reached Antaeus, who projected twenty feet from the pit, not including his head. ‘O
you, who, of old, took a thousand lions for your prey, in the fateful valley, near Zama, that made Scipio heir to
glory, when Hannibal retreated with his army; you, through whom, it might still be believed, the Giant sons of Earth
would have overcome the gods, if you had been at the great war with your brothers; set us down, and do not be shy
to do it, where the cold imprisons the River Cocytus, in the Ninth Circle.
INF C31 124-145 / KLINE
Do not make us ask Tityos or Typhon. Bend, and do not curl your lips in scorn: this man can give that which is
longed for, here: he can refresh your fame on earth, since he is alive, and still expects long life, if grace does not call
him to her before his time.’ So the Master spoke, and Antaeus quickly stretched out both hands, from which
Hercules of old once felt the power, and seized my guide. Virgil when he felt his grasp, said to me: Come here, so
that I may carry you.’ Then he made one bundle of himself and me. To me, who stood watching to see Antaeus
stoop, he seemed as the leaning tower [at Bologna], the Carisenda, appears to the view, under the leaning side, when
a cloud is passing over it, and it hangs in the opposite direction. It was such a terrible moment I would have wished
to have gone by another route, but he set us down gently in the deep, that swallowed Lucifer and Judas, and did not
linger there, bent, but straightened himself, like a mast raised in a boat.
DANTE:
Lasciànlo stare e non parliamo a vòto;
ché così è a lui ciascun linguaggio
come 'l suo ad altrui, ch'a nullo è noto.
Let us leave him standing here, and not speak
to him in vain: since every language, to him,
is like his to others, that no one understands.
AND COME BACK TO THE STAGE.
CANTO 32
DANTE:
INF C32 1-3 / DANTE
INF C32 1-3 / KLINE
S'ïo avessi le rime aspre e chiocce,
come si converrebbe al tristo buco
sovra 'l qual pontan tutte l'altre rocce,
If I had words, rough and hoarse enough,
to fit the dismal chasm, on which
all the other rocky cliffs weigh, and converge,
204
INF C32 4-6 / DANTE
io premerei di mio concetto il suco
più pienamente; ma perch' io non l'abbo,
non sanza tema a dicer mi conduco;
I would squeeze out the juice of my imagination
more completely: but since I have not,
I bring myself, not without fear,
DANTE:
INF C32 1-3 / DANTE
INF C32 1-3 / KLINE
S'ïo avessi le rime aspre e chiocce,
come si converrebbe al tristo buco
sovra 'l qual pontan tutte l'altre rocce,
If I had words, rough and hoarse enough,
to fit the dismal chasm, on which
all the other rocky cliffs weigh, and converge…,
INF C32 4-6 / DANTE
io premerei di mio concetto il suco
più pienamente; ma perch' io non l'abbo,
non sanza tema a dicer mi conduco;
I would squeeze out the juice of my imagination
more completely: …but since I have not,
I bring myself, not without fear,
INF C32 7-9 / DANTE
ché non è impresa da pigliare a gabbo
discriver fondo a tutto l'universo,
in
né da lingua che chiami mamma o babbo.
to describe the place: to tell of the pit of the
Universe is not a task to be taken up in play, nor
a language that has words like ‘mother’ and
‘father’.
Ma quelle donne aiutino il mio verso
ch'aiutaro Anfïone a chiuder Tebe,
sì che dal fatto il dir non sia diverso.
But may the Muses, those Ladies, who helped
Amphion shut Thebes behind its walls, aid my
speech, so that my words may not vary from the
truth.
AMPHION: BUILT THE WALLS OF THEBES AIDED BY THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF HIS LYRE. SEE OVID’S METAMORPHOSES 6 176 &
15 427. HE KILLED HIMSELF THROUGH GRIEF AT THE LOSS OF HIS SONS.
EUTERPE STEPS OUT OF THE DARKNESS BEHIND DANTE AND PLAYS TWO OR THREE HORN
NOTES ON HER FLUTE. THE CHORUS BRIEFLY IMITATES HER IMITATION.
♫
RALLYING CALL: EUTERPE’S FLUTE HORN IN CHORUS
**********
INF C32 12
THE OTHER MUSES (MINUS URANIA AND POLYHYMNIA) FLOCK IN AND FORM UP THEIR 2
CHORUS LINES AROUND EUTERPE.
DANTE AND VIRGIL WALK THROUGH THE CURTAIN OR DESCEND THE →R→ AGAIN, TO THE
FROZEN RIVER COCYTUS.
205
THE FROZEN COCYTUS
♫
INFERNAL: COLD
**********
INF C32 12
VIRGIL ADDRESSES SOULS./.SOULS IN THE DARKNESS.
VIRGIL:
Oh sovra tutte mal creata plebe
che stai nel loco onde parlare è duro,
mei foste state qui pecore o zebe!
O you people, created evil beyond all others, in
this place that is hard to speak of, it were better
if you had been sheep or goats here on earth!
When we were down, inside the dark well, beneath the Giants’ feet, and much lower, and I was still staring at the
steep cliff,
BOCCA / URANIA:
dicere udi'mi: «Guarda come passi:
va sì, che tu non calchi con le piante
heads
le teste de' fratei miseri lassi».
I heard a voice say to me:Take care as you pass,
so that you do not tread, with your feet, on the
of the wretched, weary brothers.
BOCCA DEGLI ABATI *----? - 1260 +
FLORENCE.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE URANIA..
A GHIBELLINE WHO FOUGHT ON THE GUELPH SIDE AT MONTAPERTI (1260) WHEN THE FLORENTINE GUELPHS WERE
DEFEATED. BOCCA CUT OFF THE HAND OF THE FLORENTINE STANDARD BEARER AT THE CRITICAL MOMENT.
BOCCA./.URANIA AND BUOSO./.POLYHYMNIA , BOTH MUSES IN THEIR ORDINARY DRESS, ARE
AT BACKSTAGE ON OPPOSITE SIDES. THEY LIE OR KNEEL FACING FRONT, SO THAT THE
LOWER PART OF THEIR BODIES, OBSCURED BY THEIR GARMENT, MAY WELL BE IN ICE. OR,
THEY MAY BE SO FAR TO THE BACK THAT THEIR BODIES ARE BEHIND THE STAGE.
BUOSO./.POLYHYMNIA KEEPS HIS./.HER FACE DOWN AND MAY NOT BE SEEN UNTIL HE./.SHE
SPEAKS. THERE MAY ALSO BE ONE OR TWO NON-MUSES WHO KEEP THEIR HEADS DOWN.
DANTE AND VIRGIL TURN. DANTE OPENS HIS BOOK, WRITES AND SPEAKS.
BUOSO DE DUERA *----? - 1266? AGE : 40??
CREMONA.
DESCRIPTION
MUSE POLYHYMNIA.
BUOSO DE DUERA: BRIBED BY THE FRENCH, BUOSO, LEADER OF THE CREMONESE, TREACHEROUSLY ALLOWED CHARLES OF
ANJOU ENTRY TO PARMA, IN 1266, AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST MANFRED, WHO HAD ORGANISED ITS
RESISTANCE.
DANTE:
Per ch'io mi volsi, e vidimi davante
e sotto i piedi un lago che per gelo
avea di vetro e non d'acqua sembiante.
At which I turned, and saw a lake,
in front of me and underneath my feet, that,
because of the cold, appeared like glass not water.
206
The Danube, in Austria, never formed so thick a veil for its winter course, nor the Don, far off under the frozen sky,
as was here: if Mount Tambernic in the east, or Mount Pietrapana, had fallen on it, it would not have even creaked at
the margin.
E come a gracidar si sta la rana
col muso fuor de l'acqua, quando sogna
di spigolar sovente la villana,
As frogs sit croaking with their muzzles
above water, at the time when peasant
women often dream of gleaning,
livide, insin là dove appar vergogna
eran l'ombre dolenti ne la ghiaccia,
mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna.
so the sad shadows sat sit, in the ice.,
livid to where the blush of shame appears,
chattering with their teeth, like storks.
Ognuna in giù tenea volta la faccia;
da bocca il freddo, e da li occhi il cor tristo
tra lor testimonianza si procaccia.
Each one held his face turned down:
the The cold is witnessed, amongst them,
by their mouths: and their sad hearts, by their eyes.
When I had a looked around awhile, turning to my feet, I saw two, so compressed together, that the hair of their
heads was intermingled. I said: ‘Tell me, you, who press your bodies together so: who are you?’ And they twisted
their necks up, and when they had lifted their faces towards me, their eyes, which were only moist, inwardly, before,
gushed at the lids, and the frost iced fast the tears, between them, and sealed them up again. No vice ever clamped
wood to wood as firmly: so that they butted one another like two he-goats, overcome by such rage. And one, who
had lost both ears to the cold, with his face still turned down, said: ‘Why are you staring at us, so fiercely? If you
want to know who these two are, they are the degli Alberti, Allesandro and Napoleone: the valley where the
Bisenzio runs down, was theirs and their father Alberto’s. They issued from one body, and you can search the
whole Caïna, and will not find shades more worthy of being set in ice: not even Mordred, whose chest and shadow,
were pierced, at one blow, by his father’s, King Arthur’s, lance: nor Focaccia: nor this one, who obstructs my face
with his head, so that I cannot see further, who was named Sassol Mascheroni. If you are a Tuscan, now, you know
truly what he was. And so that you do not put me to more speech, know that I am Camicion de’ Pazzi, and am
waiting for Carlino, my kinsman, to outdo me.’ Afterwards I saw a thousand faces, made doglike by the cold, at
which a trembling overcomes me, and always will, when I think of the frozen fords.
DANTE AND VIRGIL
BOCCA./.URANIA.
BEGIN WALKING OFF.
DANTE,
VERSIFYING, (NEARLY?) TRIPS OVER
DANTE:
E come a gracidar si sta la rana
col muso fuor de l'acqua, quando sogna
di spigolar sovente la villana,
As frogs sit croaking with their muzzles
above water, at the time when peasant
women often dream of gleaning,
livide, insin là dove appar vergogna
eran l'ombre dolenti ne la ghiaccia,
mettendo i denti in nota di cicogna.
so the sad shadows sat, in the ice,
livid to where the blush of shame appears,
chattering with their teeth, like storks.
Ognuna in giù tenea volta la faccia;
da bocca il freddo, e da li occhi il cor tristo
tra lor testimonianza si procaccia.
Each one held his face turned down:
the cold is witnessed, amongst them,
by their mouths: and their sad hearts, by their eyes.
And, whether it was will, or fate or chance, I do not know: but walking, among the heads, I struck my foot violently
against one face.
BOCCA / URANIA:
Piangendo mi sgridò: Perché mi peste?
se tu non vieni a crescer la vendetta
di Montaperti, perché mi moleste?.
Weeping it cried out to me: Why do you
trample on me? If you do not come to increase the
revenge for Montaperti, why do you trouble me?
207
DANTE:
E io: Maestro mio, or qui m'aspetta,
sì ch'io esca d'un dubbio per costui;
poi mi farai, quantunque vorrai, fretta.
And I: My Master, wait here for me, now,
so that I can rid me of a doubt concerning him,
then you can make as much haste as you please.
VIRGIL MOVES OFF AND DANTE ADDRESSES BOCCA./.URANIA.
DANTE:
Lo duca stette, e io dissi a colui
che bestemmiava duramente ancora:
Qual se' tu che così rampogni altrui?
The Master stood, and I said to that shade
which still reviled me bitterly:
Who are you, who reproach others in this way?
BOCCA / URANIA:
Or tu chi se' che vai per l'Antenora,
percotendo, rispuose, altrui le gote,
sì che, se fossi vivo, troppo fora?
No, who are you, he answered, who go through
the Antenora striking the faces of others, in such a
way, that if you were alive, it would be an insult?
DANTE:
Vivo son io, e caro esser ti puote,
fu mia risposta, se dimandi fama,
ch'io metta il nome tuo tra l'altre note.
I replied: I am alive, and if you long for fame,
it might be a precious thing to you,
if I put your name among the others.
BOCCA / URANIA:
Ed elli a me: Del contrario ho io brama.
Lèvati quinci e non mi dar più lagna,
ché mal sai lusingar per questa lama!
slope.
And he to me: I long for the opposite:
take yourself off, and annoy me no more:
since you little know how to flatter on this icy
DANTE SEIZES BOCCA./.URANIA BY THE HAIR. HE./.SHE GRUNTS.
DANTE:
Allor lo presi per la cuticagna
e dissi: El converrà che tu ti nomi,
o che capel qui sù non ti rimagna.
Then I seized him by the back of the scalp,
and said: You need to name yourself,
before there is not a hair left on your head!
BOCCA / URANIA:
INF C32 100-102 / DANTE
INF C32 100-102 / KLINE
Ond' elli a me: «Perché tu mi dischiomi,
né ti dirò ch'io sia, né mosterrolti,
se mille fiate in sul capo mi tomi».
At which he said to me: Even if you pluck me,
I will not tell you who I am, nor demonstrate it to
you, though you tear at my head, a thousand times.
INF C32 103-106 / KLINE
I already had his hair coiled in my hand, and had pulled away more than one tuft of it, while he barked, and kept his
eyes down, when another spirit cried:
BUOSO./.POLYHYMNIA RAISES HER HEAD.
BUOSO DE DUERA / POLYHYMNIA:
INF C32 106-108 / DANTE
INF C32 106-108 / KLINE
quando un altro gridò: «Che hai tu, Bocca? What is wrong with you, Bocca, is it not enough
non ti basta sonar con le mascelle,
that you chatter with your jaws,
se tu non latri? qual diavol ti tocca?»
but you have to bark too? What devil is at you?
208
DANTE SPEAKS TO BOCCA./.URANIA.
DANTE:
INF C32 109-111 / DANTE
INF C32 109-111 / KLINE
«Omai», diss' io, «non vo' che più favelle,
malvagio traditor; ch'a la tua onta
io porterò di te vere novelle».
I said: Now, accursed traitor, I do not want
you to speak: since I will carry
true news of you, to your shame.
BOCCA./.URANIA REPLIES WITH SISTERLY BITCHINESS.
BOCCA / URANIA:
INF C32 112-114 / DANTE
INF C32 112-114 / KLINE
«Va via», rispuose, «e ciò che tu vuoi conta; He answered: Go, and say what you please, but,
ma non tacer, se tu di qua entro eschi,
if you get out from here, do not be silent about
di quel ch'ebbe or così la lingua pronta.
him, who had his tongue so ready just now.
INF C32 115-117 / DANTE
El piange qui l'argento de' Franceschi:
"Io vidi", potrai dir, "quel da Duera
là dove i peccatori stanno freschi".
Here he regrets taking French silver. You can say,
“I saw Buoso de Duera, there,
where the sinners stand caught in the ice.”
INF C32 118-120 / DANTE
Se fossi domandato "Altri chi v'era?",
tu hai dallato quel di Beccheria
di cui segò Fiorenza la gorgiera.
If you are asked who else was there,
you have Tesauro de’ Beccheria,
whose throat was slit by Florence.
TESAURO DE’ BECCARIA, TESAURO DE’ BECCHERIA OF PAVIA, ABBOT OF VALLOMBROSA & LEGATE OF POPE ALEXANDER
IV IN FLORENCE, PLOTTED AGAINST THE GUELPHS, AFTER THE GHIBELLINES HAD BEEN EXPELLED IN 1258 & WAS EXECUTED.
INF C32 121-123 / DANTE
Gianni de' Soldanier credo che sia
più là con Ganellone e Tebaldello,
ch'aprì Faenza quando si dormia».
Gianni de’ Soldanier is further on, with Ganelon,
and Tribaldello, who unbarred the gate
of Faenza while it slept.
GIANNI DE’ SOLDANIER: A GHIBELLINE WHO BECAME LEADER OF THE GUELPH COMMONS OF FLORENCE WHEN THEY
REBELLED AGAINST GUIDO NOVELLO & THE GHIBELLINE NOBLES AFTER MANFRED’S DEFEAT AT BENEVENTO (1265).
GANELON (GANELLON): DECEIVED CHARLEMAGNE WHEN ROLAND (ORLANDO) SOUNDED HORN AT THE BATTLE OF
RONCESVALLES
TRIBALDELLO: TEBALDELLO; ONE OF THE ZAMBRASI OF FAENZA WHO HAD A SPITE AGAINST THE GHIBELLINE LAMBERTAZZI,
A BOLOGNESE FAMILY, OPENED THE GATE TO THEIR ENEMIES, THE GEREMEI, A BOLOGNESE GUELPH FAMILY, AFTER THE
LAMBERTAZZI HAD TAKEN REFUGE IN FAENZA IN 1280.
INF C32 124-132 / KLINE
We had already left him, when I saw I saw two spirits frozen in a hole, so close together that the one head capped
the other, and the uppermost set his teeth into the other, as bread is chewed, out of hunger, there where the back of
the head joins the nape. Tydeus gnawed the head of Menalippus, no differently, out of rage, than this one the skull
and other parts.
THE LIGHT ABOVE THEM SWITCHES OFF ABRUPTLY AND ANOTHER SHINES ON COUNT
UGOLINO, IMPERSONATED BY MELPOMENE, WHO SITS, LEANING FORWARD. HE./.SHE
HOLDS HER BOOK CLOSE TO HER FACE, ITS FRONT COVER SHOWING THE TRAGIC MASK.
THE MASK REPRESENTS THE SKULL OF RUGGIERI DEGLI UBALDINI WHICH UGOLINO
GNAWS IN L’INFERNO THE POEM.
209
COUNT UGOLINO GHERARDESCA *----? - 1289 AGE : *--?
PISA. (IRRELEVANT).
DESCRIPTION
SEEN ONLY: MUSE MELPOMENE. DANTE VOICES UGOLINO’S WORDS.
COUNT UGOLINO GHERARDESCA: A LEADING GUELPH OF PISA. IN 1288 UGOLINO INTRIGUED WITH ARCHBISHOP RUGGIERI
DEGLI UBALDINI. THE ARCHBISHOP HOWEVER BETRAYED HIM & HAD UGOLINO & 4 OF HIS SONS & GRANDSONS (GADDO,
UGUCCIONE; NINO (BRIGATA), ANSELMUCCIO (‘LITTLE ANSELM’) IMPRISONED IN THE TORRE DEI GUALANDI IN JULY 1288.
WHEN GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO TOOK COMMAND OF THE PISAN FORCES, IN MARCH 1289, THE KEYS WERE THROWN INTO
THE RIVER ARNO & THE PRISONERS LEFT TO STARVE TO DEATH, EVEN A PRIEST BEING DENIED THEM. THE TOWER WAS KNOWN
AFTERWARDS AS THE TORRE DELLA FAME, THE TOWER OF FAMINE. UGOLINO HAD PREVIOUSLY ACQUIRED A REPUTATION BY
THE SURRENDER OF CERTAIN CASTLES TO THE FLORENTINE & LUCCHESE AFTER THE DEFEAT OF THE PISANS BY THE GENOESE
AT MELORIA IN 1284. (THE ISLANDS OF CAPRARA & GORGONA MENTIONED, NORTH-WEST OF ELBA & SW OF LIVORNO
RESPECTIVELY, WERE HELD BY PISA AT THE TIME.)
♫
INFERNAL: COLD: EXTREME
**********
INF C32 123
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE GIVES AN EXTREME (JAPANESE) STYLISED ACCOUNT
CANNIBALISING HIS./.HER OWN CHILDREN. DANTE SPEAKS ALL THE WORDS.
OF
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE HOLDS THE MASK AWAY FROM HIS./.HER FACE, SHOWING TEETH.
DANTE:
INF C32 133-135 / DANTE
INF C32 133-135 / KLINE
«O tu che mostri per sì bestial segno
I said: O you, who, in such a brutal way,
odio sovra colui che tu ti mangi,
inflict the mark of your hatred, on him,
dimmi 'l perché», diss' io, «per tal convegno, whom you devour, tell me why:
INF C32 136-138 / DANTE
che se tu a ragion di lui ti piangi,
sappiendo chi voi siete e la sua pecca,
nel mondo suso ancora io te ne cangi,
on condition that, if you complain of him with
reason, I, knowing who you are, and his offence,
may repay you still in the world above,
INF C32 139 / DANTE
se quella con ch'io parlo non si secca».
if the tongue I speak with is not withered.
DANTE:
INF C32 136-138 / DANTE
INF C32 136-138 / KLINE
che se tu a ragion di lui ti piangi,
reason,
sappiendo chi voi siete e la sua pecca,
nel mondo suso ancora io te ne cangi,
on condition that, if you complain of him with
I, knowing who you are, and his offence,
may repay you still in the world above,
INF C32 139 / DANTE
se quella con ch'io parlo non si secca».
if the tongue I speak with is not withered.
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE RAISES HIS./.HER HEAD AND PUTS THE BACK OF THE BOOK AGAINST
HIS./.HER FACE TO COVER IT.
CANTO 33
210
DANTE:
INF C33 1-3 / DANTE
INF C33 1-3 / KLINE
La bocca sollevò dal fiero pasto
quel peccator, forbendola a' capelli
del capo ch'elli avea di retro guasto.
That sinner raised his mouth from the savage feast,
wiping it on the hair,
of the head he had stripped behind.
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE SLIDES THE BOOK UP TO SHOW HIS./.HER OPEN MOUTH, THEN
SLIDES IT DOWN TO SHOW GRIEVING EYES.
DANTE:
INF C33 4-6 / DANTE
INF C33 4-6 / KLINE
Poi cominciò: «Tu vuo' ch'io rinovelli
disperato dolor che 'l cor mi preme
già pur pensando, pria ch'io ne favelli.
Then he began: You wish me to renew desperate
grief, that wrings my heart at the very thought,
before I even tell of it.
INF C33 7-9 / DANTE
Ma se le mie parole esser dien seme
che frutti infamia al traditor ch'i' rodo,
parlar e lagrimar vedrai insieme.
But if my words are to be the seed, that bears
fruit, in the infamy, of the traitor whom I gnaw,
you will see me speak and weep together.
I do not know who you are, nor by what means you have come down here, but when I hear you, you seem to me, in
truth, a Florentine.
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE HOLDS THE BOOK OUT AT ARM’S LENGTH, THE MASK POINTING
TOWARDS HIM./.HER. HE./.SHE FEELS HIS./.HER OWN FACE WITH THE OTHER HAND, THEN
DARTS THE HAND OUT ACCUSINGLY AT THE MASK.
DANTE:
Tu dei saper ch'i' fui conte Ugolino,
e questi è l'arcivescovo Ruggieri:
or ti dirò perché i son tal vicino.
You must know that I am Count Ugolino, and
this is the Archbishop Ruggieri. Now I will tell
you why I am a neighbour such as this to him.
Che per l'effetto de' suo' mai pensieri,
fidandomi di lui, io fossi preso
e poscia morto, dir non è mestieri;
It is not necessary to say that, confiding in him,
I was taken, through the effects of
his evil schemes, and afterwards killed.
però quel che non puoi avere inteso,
cioè come la morte mia fu cruda,
udirai, e saprai s'e' m'ha offeso.
But what you cannot have learnt,
how cruel my death was, you will hear:
and know if he has injured me.
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE STANDS AND STARES FOR A LONG TIME TOWARDS THE BACK OF
THE STAGE, THROUGH THE CURTAIN, THE BOOK IN HIS./.HER HANGING HAND. HE./.SHE
TURNS QUICKLY AND BRINGS THE MASK ON THE BOOK UP TO THE FACE AND IMMEDIATELY
TURNS IT SO THAT THE MASK FACES THE AUDIENCE.
HE./.SHE SLIDES THE MASK SIDEWAYS, TO SHOW HALF THE FACE AND STANDS STILL
THROUGHOUT THE FOLLOWING.
DANTE:
Breve pertugio dentro da la Muda,
la qual per me ha 'l titol de la fame,
e che conviene ancor ch'altrui si chiuda,
A narrow hole inside that tower,
which is called Famine, from my death,
and in which others must yet be imprisoned,
211
m'avea mostrato per lo suo forame
più lune già, quand' io feci 'l mal sonno
che del futuro mi squarciò 'l velame.
had already shown me several moons
through its opening, when I slept an evil sleep
that tore the curtain of the future for me.
Questi pareva a me maestro e donno,
cacciando il lupo e ' lupicini al monte
per che i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno.
This man seemed to me the lord, and master,
chasing the wolf and its whelps, on Monte di San
Guiliano, that blocks the view of Lucca from the
Pisans.
Con cagne magre, studïose e conte
Gualandi con Sismondi e con Lanfranchi
s'avea messi dinanzi da la fronte.
He had the Gualandi, Sismondi and
Lanfranchi running with him,
with hounds, slender, keen, and agile.
In picciol corso mi parieno stanchi
lo padre e ' figli, e con l'agute scane
mi parea lor veder fender li fianchi.
♫
INFERNAL: COLD: DREAM
After a short chase the father and his sons
seemed weary to me, and I thought
I saw their flanks torn by sharp teeth.
**********
INF C33 21
Ending with a cold version of Euterpe’s horn notes or a reveille.
AS
THE DREAM MUSIC SOUNDS, DANTE MAY BE ABLE TO DISCREETLY DELIVER THE
ITALIAN VERSE AFTER THE ENGLISH.
DANTE:
Breve pertugio dentro da la Muda,
la qual per me ha 'l titol de la fame,
e che conviene ancor ch'altrui si chiuda,
A narrow hole inside that tower,
which is called Famine, from my death,
and in which others must yet be imprisoned,
m'avea mostrato per lo suo forame
più lune già, quand' io feci 'l mal sonno
che del futuro mi squarciò 'l velame.
had already shown me several moons
through its opening, when I slept an evil sleep
that tore the curtain of the future for me.
Questi pareva a me maestro e donno,
chasing
cacciando il lupo e ' lupicini al monte
per che i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno.
This man seemed to me the lord, and master,
the wolf and its whelps, on Monte di San Guiliano,
that blocks the view of Lucca from the Pisans.
Con cagne magre, studïose e conte
Gualandi con Sismondi e con Lanfranchi
s'avea messi dinanzi da la fronte.
He had the Gualandi, Sismondi and
Lanfranchi running with him,
with hounds, slender, keen, and agile.
In picciol corso mi parieno stanchi
lo padre e ' figli, e con l'agute scane
mi parea lor veder fender li fianchi.
After a short chase the father and his sons
seemed weary to me, and I thought
I saw their flanks torn by sharp teeth.
212
♫
INFERNAL: COLD: BLANK DAY
**********
INF C33 21
DANTE:
Quando fui desto innanzi la dimane,
pianger senti' fra 'l sonno i miei figliuoli
ch'eran con meco, e dimandar del pane.
When I woke, before dawn, I heard my sons,
who were with me, crying in their sleep,
and asking for food.
Ben se' crudel, se tu già non ti duoli
pensando ciò che 'l mio cor s'annunziava;
e se non piangi, di che pianger suoli?
You are truly cruel if you do not sorrow
already at the thought of what my heart presaged:
and if you do not weep, what do you weep at?
Già eran desti, e l'ora s'appressava
che 'l cibo ne solëa essere addotto,
e per suo sogno ciascun dubitava;
They were awake now, and the hour nearing,
at which our food used to be brought to us,
and each of us was anxious from dreaming,
e io senti' chiavar l'uscio di sotto
a l'orribile torre; ond' io guardai
nel viso a' mie' figliuoi sanza far motto.
when below I heard the door of the terrible
tower locked up: at which I gazed into the faces
of my sons, without saying a word.
Io non piangëa, sì dentro impetrai:
piangevan elli; e Anselmuccio mio
disse: ``Tu guardi sì, padre! che hai?".
I did not weep: I grew like stone inside:
they wept: and my little Anselm said to me:
“Father you stare so, what is wrong?”
Perciò non lagrimai né rispuos' io
tutto quel giorno né la notte appresso,
infin che l'altro sol nel mondo uscìo.
But I shed no tears, and did not answer,
all that day, or the next night,
till another sun rose over the world.
Come un poco di raggio si fu messo
nel doloroso carcere, e io scorsi
per quattro visi il mio aspetto stesso,
When a little ray of light was sent
into the mournful gaol, and I saw in
their four faces, the aspect of my own,
ambo le man per lo dolor mi morsi;
ed ei, pensando ch'io 'l fessi per voglia
di manicar, di sùbito levorsi
I bit my hands from grief.
And they, thinking that I did it
from hunger, suddenly stood,
e disser: ``Padre, assai ci fia men doglia
se tu mangi di noi: tu ne vestisti
queste misere carni, e tu le spoglia".
and said: “Father, it will give us less pain, if you
gnaw at us: you put this miserable flesh on us,
now strip it off, again.”
Queta'mi allor per non farli più tristi;
lo dì e l'altro stemmo tutti muti;
ahi dura terra, perché non t'apristi?
Then I calmed myself, in order not to make them
more unhappy: that day and the next we all were
silent. Ah, solid earth, why did you not open?
Poscia che fummo al quarto dì venuti,
Gaddo mi si gittò disteso a' piedi,
dicendo: ``Padre mio, ché non m'aiuti?".
When we had come to the fourth day, Gaddo
threw himself down at my feet, saying:
“My father, why do you not help me?”
213
Quivi morì; e come tu mi vedi,
vid' io cascar li tre ad uno ad uno
tra 'l quinto dì e 'l sesto; ond' io mi diedi,
There he died, and even as you see me,
I saw the three others fall one by one, between
the fifth and sixth days: at which, already blind,
già cieco, a brancolar sovra ciascuno,
e due dì li chiamai, poi che fur morti.
Poscia, più che 'l dolor, poté 'l digiuno».
I took to groping over each of them, and called
out to them for three days, when they were dead:
then fasting, at last, had power to overcome grief.
UGOLINO./.MELPOMENE
DROPS TO HIS./.HER ORIGINAL SITTING POSITION AND SLIDES THE
MASK SIDEWAYS TO HIDE THE WHOLE FACE. THE LIGHT SWITCHES OFF.
♫
INFERNAL
**********
INF C33 75
DANTE TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE. VIRGIL INTERPRETS./.TRANSLATES.
DANTE:
&
VIRGIL:
Quand' ebbe detto ciò, con li occhi torti
skull
riprese 'l teschio misero co' denti,
che furo a l'osso, come d'un can, forti.
When he had spoken this, he seized the wretched
again with his teeth, which were as strong
as a dog’s on the bone, his eyes distorted.
Ahi Pisa, vituperio de le genti
land
del bel paese là dove 'l sì suona,
poi che i vicini a te punir son lenti,
Ah Pisa, shame among the people, of the lovely
where ‘si’ is heard, let the isles of Caprara
and Gorgona shift and block the Arno at its mouth,
muovasi la Capraia e la Gorgona,
e faccian siepe ad Arno in su la foce,
sì ch'elli annieghi in te ogne persona!
since your neighbours are so slow
to punish you, so that it may
drown every living soul.
Since if Count Ugolino had the infamy of having betrayed your castles, you ought not to have put his sons to the
torture. Their youth made Uguccione and Brigata, and the other two my words above have named, innocents, you
modern Thebes.
DANTE AND VIRGIL LOOK OFFSTAGE AT OTHER FROZEN SOULS.
We went further on, where the rugged frost encases another people, not bent down but reversed completely.
VIRGIL:
Lo pianto stesso lì pianger non lascia,
e 'l duol che truova in su li occhi rintoppo,
sight,
si volge in entro a far crescer l'ambascia;
The very weeping there prevents them weeping:
and the grief that makes an impediment to their
turns inward to increase their agony:
214
ché le lagrime prime fanno groppo,
e sì come visiere di cristallo,
rïempion sotto 'l ciglio tutto il coppo.
since the first tears form a knot,
and like a crystal visor,
fill the cavities below their eyebrows.
INF C33 100-110 / KLINE
And though all feeling had left my face, through the cold, as though from a callus, it seemed to me now as if I felt a
breeze, at which I said: ‘Master, what causes this? Is the heat not all quenched here below?’ At which he said to me:
‘Soon you will be where your own eyes, will answer that, seeing the source that generates the air.’
FRIAR ALBERIGO (VOICE):
INF C33 109-111 / DANTE
INF C33 109-111 / KLINE
E un de' tristi de la fredda crosta
gridò a noi: O anime crudeli
tanto che data v'è l'ultima posta,
And one of the sad shadows, in the icy crust,
cried out to us: O spirits, so cruel that the last place
of all is reserved for you,
FRIAR ALBERIGO MANFREDI *----? - 1300 + AGE : *--?
FAENZA.
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
ALBERIGO MANFREDI OF FAENZA, ONE OF THE FRATI GAUDENTI, THE JOVIAL FRIARS, AVENGED A BLOW FROM HIS YOUNGER
BROTHER MANFRED, IN 1284, BY INVITING HIM, AND HIS SON, TO A BANQUET IN 1285, AND AT A GIVEN SIGNAL ‘BRING THE
FRUITS’ MANFRED AND HIS SON WERE MURDERED. LE MALE FRUTTA (THE EVIL FRUIT) DI FRATE ALBERIGO BECAME A
PROVERB. HE WAS STILL ALIVE IN 1300, THE DATE OF THE VISION.
INF C33 112-114 / DANTE
INF C33 112-114 / KLINE
levatemi dal viso i duri veli,
remove the solid veils from my face, that I
sì ch'ïo sfoghi 'l duol che 'l cor m'impregna, might vent the grief a little that chokes my heart,
un poco, pria che 'l pianto si raggeli».
before the tears freezes again.
INF C33 115-126 / KLINE
At which I said to him: If you would have my help, tell me who you are: and if I do not disburden you, may I have
to journey to the depths of the ice.’ He replied to that: ‘I am Friar Alberigo, I am he of the fruits of the evil garden,
who here receive dates made of ice, to match my figs.’ I said to him: ‘O, are you dead already?’ And he to me:
‘How my body stands in the world above, I do not know, such is the power of this Ptolomaea, that the soul often
falls down here, before Atropos cuts the thread.
DANTE LOOKS INTO THE DARKNESS AND ADDRESSES VIRGIL AND./.OR THE AUDIENCE.
DANTE:
Alberigo Manfredi…Jovial Friar…He invited his
brother and nephew to a banquet and had them
murdered at the signal “Bring the fruits”.
INF C33 127-129 / DANTE
INF C33 127-129 / KLINE
E perché tu più volentier mi rade
le 'nvetrïate lagrime dal volto,
sappie che, tosto che l'anima trade
And so that you may more willingly clear
the frozen tears from my face,
know Know that when the soul betrays,
INF C33 130-132 / DANTE
come fec' ïo, il corpo suo l'è tolto
da un demonio, che poscia il governa
mentre che 'l tempo suo tutto sia vòlto.
as mine did, her body is taken
from her by a demon, there and then,
who rules it after that, till its time is complete.
INF C33 133-135 / DANTE
Ella ruina in sì fatta cisterna;
e forse pare ancor lo corpo suso
de l'ombra che di qua dietro mi verna.
She falls, plunging down to this well: and perhaps
the body of this other shade, that winters here,
behind me, is still visible in the world above.
215
INF C33 136-147 / KLINE
You must know it, if you have only now come down here: it is Ser Branca d’Oria, and many years have passed since
he was imprisoned here.’ I said to him: ‘I believe you are lying to me: Branca d’Oria is not dead, and eats and
drinks, and sleeps, and puts on his clothes.’ He said: ‘Michel Zanche had not yet arrived, in the ditch of the
Malebranche above, there where the tenacious pitch boils, when this man left a devil in his place in his own body,
and one in the body of his kinsman who did the treachery with him.
INF C33 148 / DANTE
INF C33 148-149 / KLINE
Ma distendi oggimai in qua la mano;
aprimi li occhi». E io non gliel' apersi;
But reach your hand here: open my eyes.’
And I did not open them for him:
DANTE FOLDS HIS ARMS AND WALKS AWAY WITH
WRITING.
VIRGIL. HE
CLOSES THE
CANTO,
DANTE:
INF C33 148-150 / DANTE
INF C33 148-150 / KLINE
e cortesia fu lui esser villano.
and it It was a courtesy to be rude to him.
DANTE:
INF C33 148-150 / DANTE
INF C33 148-150 / KLINE
e cortesia fu lui esser villano.
and it was a courtesy to be rude to him.
INF C33 151-153 / DANTE
Ahi Genovesi, uomini diversi
d'ogne costume e pien d'ogne magagna,
perché non siete voi del mondo spersi?
Ah, Genoese, men divorced from all morality,
and filled with every corruption,
why are you not dispersed from off the earth?
INF C33 154-157 / KLINE
I found the worst spirit of Romagna was one of you, who for his actions even now bathes, as a soul, in Cocytus, and
still seems alive on earth, in his own body.
CANTO 34
216
VEXILLA REGIS: ASCENT & DAMN!
VIRGIL:
♫
INF C34 1-3 / DANTE
INF C34 1-3 / KLINE
«Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni
verso di noi; però dinanzi mira»,
disse 'l maestro mio, «se tu 'l discerni».
Vexilla Regis prodeunt inferni, the banners of the
King of Hell advance towards us: so look in front
of you to see if you discern him,’ said my Master.
INFERNAL: A SINGLE LOUD NOTE
**********
INF C34 2
I seemed to see a tall structure, as a mill, that the wind turns, seems from a distance, when a dense mist breathes, or
when night falls in our hemisphere, and I shrank back behind my guide, because of the wind, since there was no
other shelter. I had already come, and with fear I put it into words, where the souls were completely enclosed, and
shone through like straw in glass. Some are lying down, some stand upright, one on its head, another on the soles of
its feet, another bent head to foot, like a bow. When we had gone on far enough, that my guide was able to show me
Lucifer, the monster who was once so fair, he removed himself from me, and made me stop, saying: ‘Behold Dis,
and behold the place where you must arm yourself with courage.’ Reader, do not ask how chilled and hoarse I
became, then, since I do not write it, since all words would fail to tell it. I did not die, yet I was not alive. Think,
yourself, now, if you have any grain of imagination, what I became, deprived of either state.
INF C34 28-33
The emperor of the sorrowful kingdom stood, waist upwards, from the ice, and I am nearer to a giant in size than the
giants are to one of his arms: think how great the whole is that corresponds to such a part. If he was once as fair, as
he is now ugly, and lifted up his forehead against his Maker, well may all evil flow from him. O how great a wonder
it seemed to me, when I saw three faces on his head! The one in front was fiery red: the other two were joined to it,
above the centre of each shoulder, and linked at the top, and the right hand one seemed whitish-yellow: the left was
black to look at, like those who come from where the Nile rises. Under each face sprang two vast wings, of a size fit
for such a bird: I never saw ship’s sails as wide. They had no feathers, but were like a bat’s in form and texture, and
he was flapping them, so that three winds blew out away from him, by which all Cocytus was frozen. He wept from
six eyes, and tears and bloody spume gushed down three chins. He chewed a sinner between his teeth, with every
mouth, like a grinder, so, in that way, he kept three of them in torment.
DANTE’S LUCIFER IS A GROTESQUE, IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT ON THE STAGE.
But night is ascending, [6 PM Sat] and now we must go, since we have seen it all.’ I clasped his neck, as he wished,
and he seized the time and place, and when the wings were wide open, grasped Satan’s shaggy sides, and then from
tuft to tuft, climbed down, between the matted hair and frozen crust. When we had come to where the thigh joint
turns, just at the swelling of the haunch, my guide, with effort and difficulty, reversed his head to where his feet had
been, and grabbed the hair like a climber, so that I thought we were dropping back to Hell.
DANTE STARES AND STARTS FAINTING.
THE DARKNESS.
VIRGIL:
VIRGIL HOLDS HIM UP AND STEPS FORWARD INTO
or VIRGIL:
Attienti ben, ché per cotali scale»,
disse 'l maestro, ansando com' uom lasso,
«conviensi dipartir da tanto male».
Hold tight., said my guide, panting
like a man exhausted, ‘since by these stairs,
we must depart from all this evil.’
217
♫
HYMN: VEXILLA REGIS
**********
INF C34 84 from INF C34 1-2
From various sources:
Vexilla Regis was written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) and is considered one of the greatest hymns of the
liturgy. Fortunatus wrote it in honor of the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross which had been sent to
Queen Radegunda by the Emperor Justin II and his Empress Sophia. Queen Radegunda had retired to a convent
she had built near Poitiers and was seeking out relics for the church there. To help celebrate the arrival of the
relic, the Queen asked Fortunatus to write a hymn for the procession of the relic to the church.
http://Home.earthlink.net/~thesaurus/thesaurus/Hymni/Vexilla.html Michael Martin
This "world-famous hymn, one of the grandest in the treasury of the Latin Church" (Neale), and "surely one of
the most stirring strains in our hymnology" (Duffield)…
…Its original processional use is commemorated in the Roman Missal on Good Friday, when the Blessed
Sacrament is carried in procession from the Repository to the High Altar. Its principal use however, is in the
Divine Office, the Roman Breviary assigning it to Vespers from the Saturday before Passion Sunday daily to
Maundy Thursday, and to Vespers of feasts of the Holy Cross.
The correctors of the Breviary under Urban VIII [1632] revised Fortunatus’ hymn in the interest of classical
prosody…The correctors replaced the last two lines of the first stanza by those of the eighth, and changed
"reddidit" into "protulit", giving us the 1st verse:
Vexilla regis prodeunt,
Fulget crucis mysterium,
Qua vita mortem pertulit
Et morta vitam protulit.
Abroad the royal banners fly
And bear the gleaming Cross on high That Cross whereon Life suffered death
And gave us life with dying breath.
One of about 40 translations
The splendour and triumph suggested by the first stanza can be appreciated fully only by recalling the occasion
when the hymn was first sung--the triumphant procession from the walls of Poitiers to the monastery with
bishops and princes in attendance and with all the pomp and pageantry of a great ecclesiastical function. "And
still, after thirteen centuries, how great is our emotion as these imperishable accents come to our ears!"
(Pimont). Gounod took a very plain melody based on the chant as the subject of his "March to Calvary" in the
"Redemption", in which the chorus sings the text at first very slowly and then, after an interval, fortissimo. H.T.
HENRY The Catholic Encyclopedia Online Edition © 2003 by K. Knight
IN THE DARK, THE FAMOUS HYMN HAS NEW WORDS.
Abroad [the] infernal banners fly
The King of Hell, himself, is nigh.
………………………………….
THE INFERNAL VERSION OF SATAN’S FALL IS A GLOSS.
Brilliant, beautiful and bold
Was Lucifer, and God was old.
The homeward Angel found the Gate
Barred and could [did] not stand or wait
To serve, but [or He] shook and fell, poor leaf,
Red with shame, then black with grief.
Then he clambered into an opening in the rock, and set me down to sit on its edge, then turned his cautious step
towards me. I raised my eyes, thinking to see Lucifer as I had left him, but saw him with his legs projecting
upwards, and let those denser people, who do not see what point I had passed, judge if I was confused then, or not.
218
THE DARK BECOMES DIMNESS. WE SEE DANTE AND VIRGIL WALKING UP, VIRTUALLY FOR THE FIRST
TIME - DOING THE STEPS-AND-BEHIND-THE-CURTAIN CIRCUIT IN REVERSE.
My Master said:‘Get up, on your feet: the way is long, and difficult the road, and the sun already returns to midtierce’. Where we stood was no palace hall, but a natural cell with a rough floor, and short of light.
DANTE:
INF C34 100-102 / DANTE
INF C34 100-102 / KLINE
«Prima ch'io de l'abisso mi divella,
maestro mio», diss' io quando fui dritto,
«a trarmi d'erro un poco mi favella:
When I had risen, I said: My Master,
before I leave the abyss, speak to me a while,
and lead me out of error.
INF C34 103-105 / DANTE
ov' è la ghiaccia? e questi com' è fitto
sì sottosopra? e come, in sì poc' ora,
da sera a mane ha fatto il sol tragitto?».
Where is the ice? And why is this monster
fixed upside down? And how has the sun moved
from evening to dawn in so short a time?
VIRGIL:
INF C34 106-108 / DANTE
INF C34 106-108 / KLINE
Ed elli a me: «Tu imagini ancora
d'esser di là dal centro, ov' io mi presi
al pel del vermo reo che 'l mondo fóra.
And he to me: You imagine you are still on the
other side of the earth’s centre, where I caught hold
of the Evil Worm’s hair, he who pierces the world.
INF C34 109-111 / DANTE
INF C34 109-111 / KLINE
Di là fosti cotanto quant' io scesi;
quand' io mi volsi, tu passasti 'l punto
al qual si traggon d'ogne parte i pesi.
You were on that side of it, as long as I climbed
down, but when I reversed myself, you passed the
point to which weight is drawn, from everywhere:
INF C34 112-114 / DANTE
E se' or sotto l'emisperio giunto
ch'è contraposto a quel che la gran secca
dry
coverchia, e sotto 'l cui colmo consunto
and are now in the southern hemisphere, below the
hemisphere opposite that which covers the wide
land, and opposite that under whose zenith the Man
was crucified, who was born, and lived,
THE MEDIAEVAL WORLD CONTAINED A KNOWN HEMISPHERE OF LAND (THE NORTHERN, THE KNOWN WORLD) & A
HEMISPHERE OF WATER…THE MOUNTAIN OF PURGATORY , RISING OUT OF THE SEA AT A POINT DIRECTLY OPPOSITE
JERUSALEM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE…[IS] AN ISLAND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN. [LONGFELLOW]
INF C34 115-117 / DANTE
fu l'uom che nacque e visse sanza pecca;
tu haï i piedi in su picciola spera
che l'altra faccia fa de la Giudecca.
without sin. You have your feet
on a little sphere that forms
the other side of the Judecca, the circle of Judas.
INF C34 118-120 / DANTE
Qui è da man, quando di là è sera;
e questi, che ne fé scala col pelo,
fitto è ancora sì come prim' era.
Here it is morning, when it is evening there:
and he who made a ladder for us
of his hair is still as he was before.
INF C34 121-123 / DANTE
Da questa parte cadde giù dal cielo;
the
e la terra, che pria di qua si sporse,
the
per paura di lui fé del mar velo,
He fell from Heaven on this side of the earth, and
land that projected here before, veiled itself with
ocean for fear of him, and entered our hemisphere:
INF C34 124-126 / DANTE
e venne a l'emisperio nostro; e forse
per fuggir lui lasciò qui loco vòto
quella ch'appar di qua, e sù ricorse».
and that which now projects on this side,
left an empty space here, and shot outwards,
maybe in order to escape from him.
THE REVISED VEXILLA REGIS ENDS AND LUCIFER, HAVING FAILED TO RECRUIT DANTE AND VIRGIL,
DAMNS THEM AS THEY CLIMB.
219
LUCIFER
DESCRIPTION
VOICE ONLY.
Damn God’s spies!
Damn your books. They’re packs of lies
HE GOES ON TO DAMN THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS…
…………….………………
Damn Italians, those who are
From Florence in particular.
…THE SONNET AND SICILY FOR INVENTING IT, TERZA RIMA, SONG AND SINGERS, THE SAINTS, FAITH,
HOPE AND LOVE:
Damn the ladies, Be-a-tri-ce
Not included: what a peach, eh,
Dante! Do I see your Gemma
In the Sienese Maremma?
MOST OF THE DAMNING IS STILL BEING COMPOSED. SATAN FINISHES WITH
Damn the Primum Mobile,
The colours in eternal play,
The whirling planetary spheres,
The music for immortal ears,
The Empyrean - the sham!
Whatever I may be, I am!
DAMN!
RETURNED
VIRGIL EMERGES FROM THE LOWER STEPS, DANTE BEHIND HIM.
LIGHT AND RAISE THEIR EYES.
THEY STEP FORWARD INTO THE BRIGHT
VIRGIL:
INF C34 127-129 / DANTE
INF C34 127-129 / KLINE
Luogo è là giù da Belzebù remoto
tanto quanto la tomba si distende,
che non per vista, ma per suono è noto
Down there, is a space, as far from Beelzebub
as his cave extends, not known by sight,
but by the sound
INF C34 130-132 / DANTE
d'un ruscelletto che quivi discende
per la buca d'un sasso, ch'elli ha roso,
col corso ch'elli avvolge, e poco pende.
of a stream falling through it, along the bed
of rock it has hollowed out,
into a winding course, and a slow incline.
INF C34 133-135 / DANTE
Lo duca e io per quel cammino ascoso
intrammo a ritornar nel chiaro mondo;
e sanza cura aver d'alcun riposo,
The guide and I We entered by that hidden path,
to return to the clear world: and,
not caring to rest,
220
INF C34 136-138 / DANTE
salimmo sù, el primo e io secondo,
tanto ch'i' vidi de le cose belle
che porta 'l ciel, per un pertugio tondo.
we climbed up, he first, and I second,
until, through a round opening,
I saw the beautiful things that the sky holds:
DANTE:
INF C34 136-138 / DANTE
INF C34 136-138 / KLINE
salimmo sù, el primo e io secondo,
we climbed up, he first, and I second,
INF C34 137-138 / DANTE
VIRGIL
INF C34 139 / DANTE
INF C34 139 / KLINE
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.
and we issued came out, from there, to see, again,
the stars.
DANTE:
INF C34 139 / DANTE
INF C34 139 / KLINE
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.
stars.
and we issued out, from there, to see, again, the
THE MUSES EMERGE FROM BELOW AS THEY ENTERED – AT A FAST TROT IN SINGLE FILE. THEY FORM
THEIR LINES.
OFFSTAGE SINGERS, THE SPOKEN VOICES, THE DIRECTOR, THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR ETC. COME ON STAGE
TO RECEIVE THEIR PLAUDITS AND STAY.
THE LIGHT DIMS. DANTE RAISES HIS ARM AND HALF-TURNS TO RECITES HIS GREAT SONNET.
EVERYBODY ELSE TURNS TO FACE BACKSTAGE.
LA VITA NOVA 26 DANTE / MUSA Società Dantesca Italiana
THIS MOST GRACIOUS LADY OF WHOM I HAVE SPOKEN IN THE PRECEDING POEMS CAME INTO SUCH
WIDESPREAD FAVOR THAT, WHEN SHE WALKED DOWN THE STREET, PEOPLE RAN TO SEE HER. THIS MADE ME
WONDERFULLY HAPPY. AND WHEN SHE PASSED BY SOMEONE, SUCH MODESTY FILLED HIS HEART THAT HE DID
NOT DARE TO RAISE HIS EYES OR TO RETURN HER GREETING (MANY PEOPLE, WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS,
COULD TESTIFY TO IT IF ANYONE SHOULD NOT BELIEVE ME).
CROWNED AND CLOTHED WITH HUMILITY, SHE WOULD GO HER WAY, TAKING NO GLORY FROM WHAT SHE
HEARD AND SAW. MANY WOULD SAY AFTER SHE HAD PASSED: "THIS IS NO WOMAN, THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL ANGELS OF HEAVEN." AND OTHERS WOULD SAY: "SHE IS A MIRACLE! BLESSED BE THE LORD WHO
CAN WORK SO WONDROUSLY."
LET ME SAY THAT SHE SHOWED SUCH DECORUM AND WAS POSSESSED OF SUCH CHARMING QUALITIES THAT
THOSE WHO LOOKED AT HER EXPERIENCED A PURE AND SWEET DELIGHT, SUCH THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO
DESCRIBE IT; AND THERE WAS NO ONE WHO COULD LOOK AT HER WITHOUT IMMEDIATELY SIGHING.
THESE AND STILL MORE MARVELOUS THINGS WERE THE RESULT OF HER POWERS. THINKING ABOUT THIS, AND
WISHING TO TAKE UP AGAIN THE THEME OF HER PRAISE, I DECIDED TO WRITE SOMETHING WHICH WOULD
DESCRIBE HER MAGNIFICENT AND BENEFICENT EFFICACY, SO THAT NOT ONLY THOSE WHO COULD SEE HER
WITH THEIR OWN EYES, BUT OTHERS, AS WELL, MIGHT KNOW OF HER WHATEVER CAN BE SAID IN WORDS. AND
SO I WROTE THIS SONNET WHICH BEGINS: SUCH SWEET DECORUM.
THIS SONNET IS SO EASY TO UNDERSTAND FROM WHAT HAS PRECEDED THAT IT HAS NO NEED OF DIVISIONS.
AND SO, LEAVING IT ASIDE, LET ME SAY THAT MY LADY CAME INTO SUCH HIGH FAVOR THAT NOT ONLY SHE
WAS HONORED AND PRAISED, BUT ALSO MANY OTHER LADIES WERE HONORED AND PRAISED BECAUSE OF HER.
221
DANTE:
LA VITA NOVA SONNET MUSA
attend my lady's greeting as she moves
that lips can only tremble into silence,
Moving, benignly clothed in humility,
untouched by all the praise along her way,
Miraculously gracious to behold,
her sweetness reaches, through the eyes, the heart
(who has not felt this cannot understand),
and from her lips it seems there moves a gracious
spirit, so deeply loving that it glides
into the souls of men, whispering: "Sigh!"
BEATRICE APPEARS UNDER THE HEAVENLY SPOTLIGHT..
DISAPPEARS.
♫
◙ ., SMILES, RAISES HER ARM IN FAREWELL AND
MELISMATIC TRIBUTE TO BE-A-T-RI-CE:
INF C34 139
Splendid, extended.
************************
222
SPERANZA
FEDE
HOPE
AMOR
FAITH
LOVE
THE CAST:
SYMBOL
Epic Poetry
History
Love Poetry
Music
Tragedy
Sacred Poetry
Dancing
Comedy
Astronomy
DOMAIN
INTEREST
EPITHET
ENCE OF A PRO-PAPACY GUELPH FAMILY. THE DISHONESTY &
CORRUPTION OF POPE BONIFACE VIII ALIGNED HIM WITH THE
GHIBELLINE PRO-IMPERIALS. THE CENTURIES-LONG, EUROPEAN
GUELPH./.GHIBELLINE SCHISM ORIGINATED IN GERMANY, SUPPOSEDLY WHEN ONE PRINCE DISPARAGED THE HUNTING-DOG OF
ANOTHER.
FLORENTINE FAMILIES WERE SPLIT, ALSO, INTO
BLACKS & WHITES, ORIGINALLY BECAUSE OF A PRETTY PISTOIAN. IN 1302, FRENCH INTERVENTION LED TO THE EXILE OF
DANTE & 14 OTHERS UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. DANTE NEVER RETURNED.
BEATRICE BICE
DI FOLCO PORTINARI WAS FIRST SEEN BY
DANTE WHEN SHE WAS 8 YEARS OLD & HE WAS 9. HIS LOVE
FOR HER INSPIRED THE VITA NUOVA & THE DIVINE COMEDY, IN
WHICH SHE REPRESENTS DIVINE PHILOSOPHY. SHE DIED IN
1290, AGED 24.
VIRGIL PUBLIUS VERGILIUS MARO (70 – 19 BC), THE ROMAN
PROGRAMME
IL PROGRAMMA
THIS
MOCK-UP IS PRINTED ON A4 FOR CONVENIENCE. TO MAKE IT MORE LIKE THE OFFICIAL
ITALIAN FLAG (PERHAPS NOT A GOOD IDEA) THE
WIDTH.:.HEIGHT RATIO SHOULD BE 3 : 2. THE
FLAG’S COLOURS DO NOT DERIVE FROM THE COLOURS OF THE 3 HOLY VIRTUES: PURG C29 121.
POET, GUIDES DANTE FROM L’INFERNO 1 TO IL PURGATORIO 30.
HE IS THE TYPE OF HUMAN PHILOSOPHY, WHICH GUIDES THE
MIND FROM UNWORTHINESS TO BLISS. ECLOGUE 4 GAVE HIM
REPUTE AS A PROPHET OF CHRIST. HIS AENEID LINKED, FOR
DANTE, THE GREEK WORLD OF HOMER & TROY WITH THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
SONNET LA VITA NOVA 26 / DANTE / MUSA
Such sweet decorum and such gentle grace attend my lady’s
greeting as she moves, that lips can only tremble into silence,
Moving, benignly clothed in humility, untouched by all the praise
along her way, she seems to be a creature come from Heaven to
earth, to manifest a miracle.
Miraculously gracious to behold, her sweetness reaches, through
the eyes, the heart (who has not felt this cannot understand),
and from her lips it seems there moves a gracious spirit, so deeply
loving that it glides into the souls of men, whispering: "Sigh!"
DANTE
D RAMATI SED
L’ I N F E R N O
DANTE
DRAMMATIZZATO
231
name of player
Philosophy
the Alphabet
Chanting
Geometry
The Fair-Voiced
The Proclaimer
The Lovely
The Giver of Pleasure
The Songstress
She of Many Hymns
The Whirler
The Flourishing
The Heavenly
Prophecy
THE MUSES
Writing tablet
Scroll
Lyre
Double flute
Tragic mask
Pensive mask finger/mouth
Dancing figure
Comic mask
globe/stars
(Staff points to)
The 9 goddesses who inspire humanity & maim, destroy or transform into birds any human who challenges their supremacy.
NAME
CALLIOPE
CLIO
ERATO
EUTERPE
MELPOMENE
POLYHYMNIA
TERPSICHORE
THALIA
URANIA
DANTE DURANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321) WAS BORN IN FLOR-
L’ I N F E R N O
232
DARK WOOD & HILL ♫ WILD NIGHT SOUNDS
DANTE MEETS VIRGIL
MUSES ALL invoked
♫ RESPONSE TO INVOCATION: OVERTURE
◙ Beatrice ! ♫ B MOTIF
Sonnet: La donna mia!
MUSES ALL follow down
THE GATE OF HELL
♫ INFERNAL
♫ MISERABLE MODE: sighs, whirlwind
SOULS & CHARON
♫ SORROW, NOT TORMENT
THE GREAT 4 POETS lamp ERATO
HEROES & HEROINES ♫ PASTORAL
DIDO
PHILOSOPHERS / MUSES ALL
♫ MISERABLE MODE
MINOS
THE LUSTFUL DIDO
♫ FLIGHT OF P. & F. : ‘Colombe’
PAOLO & FRANCESCA
♫ HEAVY RAIN CERBERUS
CIACCO: Prophecy: Florence
PLUTUS: great voice
THE FERRY: PHLEGYAS
♫ INFERNAL: BOATING
FILIPPO ARGENTI
CITY OF DIS: FALLEN ANGELS / MUSES ALL etc.
◙ BEATRICE roused
♫ Sì? Sì?…NO! NO!
◙ BEATRICE & HEAVENLY MESSENGER
FURIES: THALIA, CLIO, URANIA
ANGEL MESSENGER
ENTERING CITY: ♫ INFERNAL
TOMBS: FARINATA: Dante’s Exile
♫ INFERNAL descent
Violence, Fraud, THE MINOTAUR
CENTAURS: NESSUS CHIRON
♫ INFERNAL THE BLOODY STREAM
TYRANTS, MURDERERS, WARRIORS
HARPY WOOD ♫ HARPIES & SOULS
TRUNK / PIER DELLE VIGNE
♫ CHASE LANO JACOMO
CAPANEUS
RIVERS: RED ETC. Old Man of Crete
BRUNETTO LATINI
FELLOW SPIRITS Prophecy
◙ BEATRICE: books 1
JACOPO RUSTICUCCI & 2
♫ WATERFALL/BEEHIVE HUM
GERYON ♫ HUM: DEAFENING
TERPSICHORE
◙ BTHEATRICE: books 2
THE 8 CIRCLE: D: Sketch & Lecture
PANDERS SEDUCERS FLATTERERS
VENEDICO CACCIANIMICO
ALESSIO INTERMINEI
SIMONISTS POPE NICHOLAS III
SEERS & SORCERERS : turned heads & tears
Manto & Mantua CLIO
DEMONS The Venetian Arsenal
BLACK DEMON SCARMIGLIONE
BARBARICCIA MALACODA
GRAFFIACANE / MELPOMENE
DRAGHIGNAZZO
HYPOCRITES FRIAR LODERINGO / THALIA
THE WALL VANNI FUCCI
◙ BEATRICE: books 3 Tanto gentile
CACUS Serpents & transformation
AGNELLO BUOSO PUCCIO
ULYSSES / CALLIOPE
LAMPS
GUIDO DA MONTEFELTRO / ERATO
Sonnet: da cielo…a miracol mostrare
♫ INFERNAL which heartens Dante
BORN: THE LANTERN HEAD D: Sonnet
Geri del Bello
FALSIFIERS LIARS
GRIFFOLINO CAPOCCHIO
ADAMO OF BRESCIA SINON
NIMROD / EUTERPE
MUSES ALL assemble
THE FROZEN COCYTUS ♫ COLD
BOCCA DEGLI ABBATI / URANIA
UGOLINO / MELPOMENE
FRIAR ALBERIGO
♫ VEXILLA REGIS THE ASCENT Damn…
RETURNED ◙ BEATRICE
Sonnet: Tanto gentile…Sospira!
MUSES ALL ♫ BEATRICE TRIBUTE
MUSIC & DESIGN
THE MOTIF OF EACH DRAMATISATION IS 3 SETS OF 3 STEPS: 3
FOR ITS BEGINNING, MIDDLE & END; 3 FOR THE TRINITY; 3
FOR FAITH, HOPE & LOVE; 3 FOR THE GROUPS OF PLANETARY ORBITS; 3 FOR THE HIERARCHIES OF ANGELS; 3 FOR
THE ORDERS WITHIN EACH HIERARCHY; 3 FOR MUSICA MUNDANA, HUMANA & INSTRUMENTALIS; 3 FOR THE GRACES; 3 FOR
1/3 OR √ OF 9, BEATRICE’S NUMBER; 3 FOR TERZA RIMA; 3
FOR THE CANTICLES OF THE DIVINE COMEDY AND THEIR 33
CANTOS (+ 1 CANTO INTRODUCTION FOR L’INFERNO) ETC.
IL PARADISO HAS A TRIPTYCH AS WELL.
DRAMATISATION OF THE DIVINE COMEDY: (G.K.)
Difficulties:
IMPENETRABLE POLITICS & THEOLOGY WITHOUT ACTION;
ACTION & ACTORS TOO MONSTROUS OR SUBLIME TO SHOW.
NO CLEAR PROGRESSION: DANTE CALLED IT A COMEDY AS IT
BEGINS AMONG THE DAMNED & ENDS AMONG THE BLESSED,
BUT HE DAMNS POPE BONIFACE IN CANTO 97 OF THE 100.
Solutions:
MUSIC (MUCH
OF IT LISTED BY DANTE). MUSES TO LEAVEN
THE MASCULINE MASS, TO SUPPORT & SUBVERT: THE FEMININE ROLES.
COUNTERPOISE OF POETRY & PROSE, ITALIAN & ENGLISH.
CONVENTIONAL DEVICES: CUTTING, STYLISING, HUMANISING
OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS THROUGH HUMOUR.
GIFTS:
(1) THE UNCONSCIOUS HUMOUR OF BEATRICE AS DANTE’S
MOUTHPIECE & CHASTISER IN THE TRADITION OF
COURTLY LOVE.
(2) I GAVE DANTE A BOOK & EVERYBODY WANTED ONE.
VARIOUS
THE PROSE. © A.S. KLINE
LA COMMEDIA SECONDO L’ANTICA VULGATA a cura di Giorgio
Petrocchi Edizione Nazionale a cura della Società Dantesca Italiana
[Milano]: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore 1966-67 in public domain?
electronic edition by William I Johnston
Sonnet Tanto gentile tr. Mark Musa 1973 Indiana U. Press
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS FOR THE ENGLISH VERSION OR ONE USING
ANOTHER LANGUAGE:

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