The Divine Comedy, Volume 2, Purgatory [Purgatorio]

by Dante Aligheri

Translated by Charles Eliot Norton

PURGATORY

CONTENTS

CANTO I. Invocation to the Muses.--Dawn of Easter on the shore of
Purgatory.--The Four Stars.--Cato.--The cleansing of Dante from
the stains of Hell.

CANTO II. Sunrise.--The Poets on the shore.--Coming of a boat,
guided by an angel, bearing souls to Purgatory.--Their
landing.--Casella and his song.--Cato hurries the souls to the
mountain.

CANTO III. Ante-Purgatory.--Souls of those who have died in
contumacy of the Church.--Manfred.

CANTO IV. Ante-Purgatory.--Ascent to a shelf of the
mountain.--The negligent, who postponed repentance to the last
hour--Belacqua.

CANTO V. Ante-Purgatory.--Spirits who had delayed repentance, and
met with death by violence, but died repentant.--Jacopo del
Cassero.--Buonconte da Montefeltro.--Via de' Tolomei.

CANTO VI. Ante-Purgatory.--More spirits who had deferred
repentance till they were overtaken by a violent death.--Efficacy
of prayer.--Sordello.--Apostrophe to Italy.

CANTO VII. Virgil makes himself known to Sordello.--Sordello
leads the Poets to the Valley of the Princes who have been
negligent of salvation.--He points them out by name.

CANTO VIII. Valley of the Princes.--Two Guardian Angels.--Nino
Visconti.--The Serpent.--Corrado Malaspina.

CANTO IX. Slumber and Dream of Dante.--The Eagle.--Lucia.--The
Gate of Purgatory.--The Angelic Gatekeeper.--Seven P's inscribed
on Dante's Forehead.--Entrance to the First Ledge.

CANTO X. First Ledge the Proud.--Examples of humility sculptured
on the Rock.

CANTO XI. First Ledge: the Proud.--Prayer.--Omberto
Aldobrandeschi.--Oderisi d' Agubbio.--Provinzan Salvani.

CANTO XII. First Ledge: the Proud.--Examples of the punishment of
Pride graven on the pavement.--Meeting with an Angel who removes
one of the P's.--Ascent to the Second Ledge.

CANTO XIII. Second Ledge: the Envious.--Examples of Love.--The
Shades in haircloth, and with sealed eyes.--Sapla of Siena.

CANTO XIV. Second Ledge: the Envious.--Guido del Duca.--Rinieri
de' Calboli.--Examples of the punishment of Envy.

CANTO XV. Second Ledge: the Envious.--An Angel removes the second
P from Dante's forehead.--Discourse concerning the Sharing of
Good.--Ascent to the Third Ledge: the Wrathful.--Examples of
Forbearance seen in Vision.

CANTO XVI. Third Ledge: the Wrathful.--Marco Lombardo.--His
discourse on Free Will, and the Corruption of the World.

CANTO XVII. Third Ledge: the Wrathful.--Issue from the
Smoke.--Vision of examples of Anger--Ascent to the Fourth Ledge,
where Sloth is purged--Second Nightfall--Virgil explains how Love
is the root of Virtue and of Sin.

CANTO XVIII. Fourth Ledge: the Slothful.--Discourse of Virgil on
Love and Free Will.---Throng of Spirits running in haste to
redeem their Sin.--The Abbot of San Zeno.--Dante falls asleep.

CANTO XIX. Fourth Ledge: the Slothful.--Dante dreams of the
Siren--The Angel of the Pass.--Ascent to the Fifth Ledge.--Pope
Adrian V.

CANTO XX. Fifth Ledge: the Avaricious.--The Spirits celebrate
examples of Poverty and Bounty.--Hugh Capet.--His discourse on
his descendants.--Trembling of the Mountain.

CANTO XXI. Fifth Ledge: the Avaricious.--Statius.--Cause of the
trembling of the Mountain.--Statius does honor to Virgil.

CANTO XXII. Ascent to the Sixth Ledge--Discourse of Statius and
Virgil.--Entrance to the Ledge: the Gluttonous.--The Mystic
Tree.--Examples of Temperance.

CANTO XXIII. Sixth Ledge the Gluttonous.--Forese
Donati.--Nella.--Rebuke of the women of Florence.

CANTO XXIV. Sixth Ledge: the Gluttonous.--Forese
Donati.--Bonagiunta of Lucca.--Pope Martin IV.--Ubaldin dalla
Pila.--Bonifazio.--Messer Marchese.--Prophecy of Bonagiunta
concerning Gentucca, and of Forese concerning Corso de'
Donati.--Second Mystic Tree.--The Angel of the Pass.

CANTO XXV. Ascent to the Seventh Ledge.--Discourse of Statius on
generation, the infusion of the Soul into the body, and the
corporeal semblance of Souls after death.--The Seventh Ledge:the
Lustful.--The mode of their Purification.

CANTO XXVI. Seventh Ledge: the Lustful.--Sinners in the fire,
going in opposite directions.--Guido Guinicelli.--Arnaut Daniel.

CANTO XXVII. Seventh Ledge: the Lustful.--Passage through the
Flames.--Stairway in the rock.--Night upon the stairs.--Dream of
Dante.--Morning.--Ascent to the Earthly Paradise.--Last words of
Virgil.

CANTO XXVIII. The Earthly Paradise.--The Forest.--A Lady
gathering flowers on the bank of a little stream.--Discourse with
her concerning the nature of the place.

CANTO XXIX. The Earthly Paradise.--Mystic Procession or Triumph
of the Church.

CANTO XXX. The Earthly Paradise.--Beatrice appears.--Departure of
Virgil.--Reproof of Dante by Beatrice.

CANTO XXXI. The Earthly Paradise.--Reproachful discourse of
Beatrice, and confession of Dante.--Passage of Lethe.--Appeal of
the Virtues to Beatrice.--Her Unveiling.

CANTO XXXII. The Earthly Paradise.--Return of the Triumphal
procession.--The Chariot bound to the Mystic Tree.--Sleep of
Dante.--His waking to find the Triumph departed.--Transformation
of the Chariot.--The Harlot and the Giant.

CANTO XXXIII. The Earthly Paradise.--Prophecy of Beatrice
concerning one who shall restore the Empire.--Her discourse with
Dante.--The river Eunoe.--Dante drinks of it, and is fit to
ascend to Heaven.

PURGATORY

CANTO I. Invocation to the Muses.--Dawn of Easter on the shore of
Purgatory.--The Four Stars.--Cato.--The cleansing of Dante from
the stains of Hell.

To run over better waters the little vessel of my genius now
hoists its sails, and leaves behind itself a sea so cruel; and I
will sing of that second realm where the human spirit is purified
and becomes worthy to ascend to heaven.

But here let dead poesy rise again, O holy Muses, since yours I
am, and here let Calliope somewhat mount up, accompanying my song
with that sound of which the wretched Picae felt the stroke such
that they despaired of pardon.[1]

[1] The nine daughters of Pieros, king of Emathia, who,
contending in song with the Muses, were for their presumption
changed to magpies.

A sweet color of oriental sapphire, which was gathering in the
serene aspect of the sky, pure even to the first circle,[1]
renewed delight to my eyes soon as I issued forth from the dead
air that had afflicted my eyes and my breast. The fair planet
which incites to love was making all the Orient to smile, veiling
the Fishes that were in her train.[2] I turned me to the right
hand, and fixed my mind upon the other pole, and saw four stars
never seen save by the first people.[3] The heavens appeared to
rejoice in their flamelets. O widowed northern region, since thou
art deprived of beholding these!

[1] By "the first circle," Dante seems to mean the horizon.

[2] At the spring equinox Venus is in the sign of the Pisces,
which immediately precedes that of Aries, in which is the Sun.
The time indicated is therefore an hour or more before sunrise on
Easter morning, April 10.

When I had withdrawn from regarding them, turning me a little to
the other pole, there whence the Wain had already disappeared, I
saw close to me an old man alone, worthy in look of so much
reverence that no son owes more unto his father.[1] He wore a
long beard and mingled with white hair, like his locks, of which
a double list fell upon his breast. The rays of the four holy
stars so adorned his face with light, that I saw him, as if the
sun had been in front.

[1] These stars are the symbols of the four Cardinal Virtues,--
Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice,--the virtues of
active life, sufficient to guide men in the right path, but not
to bring them to Paradise. By the first people arc probably meant
Adam and Eve, who from the terrestrial Paradise, on the summit of
the Mount of Purgatory, had seen these stars, visible only from
the Southern hemisphere. According to the geography of the time
Asia and Africa lay north of the equator, so that even to their
inhabitants these stars were invisible. Possibly the meaning is
that these stars, symbolizing the cardinal virtues, had been
visible only in the golden age.

This old man, as soon appears, is the younger Cato, and the
office here given to him of warden of the souls in the outer