And upwards to proceed by night, our power Excels: therefore it may be well to choose A place of pleasant sojourn.To the right Some spirits sit apart retired.If thou Consentest, I to these will lead thy steps:
And thou wilt know them, not without delight." A place there underneath.Limbo.See first selection from the Divine Comedy.
III.The Angel of the Gate.--From the Purgatorio.
The poets spend the night in this valley with Sordello and other spirits.In the morning they ascend to the gates of the real Purgatory.These are kept by an angel deputed by St.Peter.
Ashes, or earth taken dry out of the ground, Were of one colour with the robe he wore.
From underneath that vestment forth he drew Two keys, of metal twain: the one was gold, Its fellow silver.With the pallid first, And next the burnish'd, he so ply'd the gate, As to content me well."Whenever one Faileth of these, that in the key-hole straight It turn not, to this alley then expect Access in vain." Such were the words he spake.
"One is more precious: but the other needs, Skill and sagacity, large share of each, Ere its good task to disengage the knot Be worthily perform'd.
From Peter these I hold, of him instructed that I err Rather in opening, than in keeping fast;So but the suppliant at my feet implore."Then of that hallow'd gate he thrust the door, Exclaiming, "Enter, but this warning hear:
He forth again departs who looks behind."As in the hinges of that sacred ward The swivels turn'd sonorous metal strong, Harsh was the grating, nor so surlily Roar'd the Tarpeian, when by force bereft Of good Metellus, thenceforth from his loss To leanness doom'd.Attentively I turn'd, Listening the thunder that first issued forth;And "We praise thee, O God," methought I heard, In accents blended with sweet melody, The strains came o'er mine ear, e'en as the sound Of choral voices, that in solemn chant With organ mingle, and, now high and clear Come swelling, now float indistinct away.
One is more precious.The golden key is the divine authority by which the priest gives absolution.The silver stands for the learning and wisdom necessary for the priest.
IV.Beatrice Appears to Dante and Rebukes Him.From the Purgatorio.
Inside the gates of Purgatory rise seven successive circles, in which the seven deadly sins are purged; in the first, the sin of pride; in the second, that of envy; in the third, anger; in the fourth, lukewarmness; in the fifth, avarice; in the sixth, gluttony; in the seventh, incontinence is purged by fire.Having passed through all these, Dante and his guide ascend to the summit of the mountain, the earthly Paradise.Here Virgil ceases to guide the poet, but leaves him to choose for a while his own way.To him here descends Beatrice who, before assuming his further guidance, rebukes him for his manner of life on earth.
At the last audit, so The blest shall rise, from forth his cavern each Uplifting lightly his new-vested flesh;As, on the sacredl litter, at the voice Authoritative of that elder, sprang A hundred ministers and messengers Of life eternal."Blessed thou, who comest!"And, "Oh!" they cried, "from full hands scatter ye Unwithering lilies": and, so saying, cast Flowers over head and round them on all sides.
I have beheld, ere now, at break of day, The eastern clime all roseate; and the sky Opposed, one deep and beautiful serene;And the sun's face so shaded, and with mists Attemper'd, at his rising, that the eye Long while endured the sight: thus, in a cloud Of flowers, that from those hands angelic rose, And down within.and outside of the car Fell showering, in white veil with olive wreathed, A virgin in my view appear'd, beneath Green mantle, robed in hue of living flame:
And o'er my spirit, that so long a time Had from her presence felt no shuddering dread, Albeit mine eyes discern'd her not, there moved A hidden virtue from her, at whose touch The power of ancient love was strong within me.
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Upon the chariot's same edge still she stood, Immovable; and thus address'd her words:
"I shape mine answer, for his ear intended, Who there stands weeping; that the sorrow now May equal the transgression.Not alone Through operation of the mighty orbs, That mark each seed to some predestined aim, As with aspect or fortunate or ill The constellations meet; but through benign Largess of heavenly graces, which rain down From such a height as mocks our vision, this man Was, in the freshness of his being, such, So gifted virtually, that in him All better habits wonderously had thrived He more of kindly strength is in the soil, So much doth evil seed and lack of culture Mar it the more, and make it run to wildness.
These looks sometime upheld him; for I showed My youthful eyes, and led him by their light In upright walking.Soon as I had reach'd The threshold of my second age, and changed My mortal for immortal; then he left me, And gave himself to others.When from flesh To spirit I had risen, and increase Of beauty and of virtue circled me, I was less dear to him, and valued less.
His steps were turn'd into deceitful ways, Following false images of good, that make No promise perfect.Nor availed me aught To sue for inspirations, with the which, I, both in dreams of night, and otherwise, Did call him back; of them, so little reck'd him.
Such depth he fell, that all device was short Of his preserving, save that he should view The children of perdition.To this end I visited the purlieus of the dead:
And one, who hath conducted him thus high, Received my supplications urged with weeping.
It were a breaking of God's high decree, If Lethe should be past, and such food tasted, Without the cost of some repentant tear." Who there stands weeping.Dante.
Such food.The oblivion of sins.
The third part of the Divine Comedy is the vision of Paradise.
Dante's Paradise is divided into ten heavens, or spheres.Through these in succession the poet is conducted by Beatrice, until in the tenth heaven, or the Empyrean, he comes into the visible presence of God.
I.The Visible Presence.From the Paradiso.
