PURGATORY(XXII) of THE DIVINE COMEDY BY DANTE ALIGHIERI

Directory:THE DIVINE COMEDY

CANTO XXII

ARGUMENT.—Dante, Virgil, and Statius mount to the sixth cornice, where the sin of gluttony is cleansed, the two Latin Poets discoursing by the way. Turning to the right, they find a tree hung with sweet-smelling fruit, and watered by a shower that issues from the rock. Voices are heard to proceed from among the leaves, recording examples of temperance.

NOW we had left the Angel, who had turn'd

To the sixth circle our ascending step;

One gash from off my forehead razed; while they,

Whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth,

“Blessed!”〖“Blessed.” “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”—Matt. v. 6.〗 and ended with “I thirst”; and I,

More nimble than along the other straits,

So journey'd, that, without the sense of toil,

I follow'd upwards the swift-footed shades;

When Virgil thus began: “Let its pure flame

From virtue flow, and love can never fail

To warm another's bosom, so the light

Shine manifestly forth. Hence, from that hour,

When, 'mongst us in the purlieus of the deep,

Came down the spirit of Aquinum's bard,

Who told of thine affection, my good will

Hath been for thee of quality as strong

As ever link'd itself to one not seen.

Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me.

But tell me: and, if too secure, I loose

The rein with a friend's license, as a friend

Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend:

How chanced it covetous desire could find

Place in that bosom, 'midst such ample store

Of wisdom, as thy zeal had treasured there?”

First somewhat moved to laughter by his words,

Statius replied: “Each syllable of thine

Is a dear pledge of love. Things oft appear,

That minister false matter to our doubts,

When their true causes are removed from sight.

Thy question doth assure me, thou believest

I was on earth a covetous man; perhaps

Because thou found'st me in that circle placed.

Know then I was too wide of avarice:

And e'en for that excess, thousands of moons

Have wax'd and waned upon my sufferings.

And were it not that I with heedful care

Noted, where thou exclaim'st, as if in ire,

With human nature, ‘Why, thou cursed thirst

Of gold! dost not with juster measure guide

The appetite of mortals?’ I had met

The fierce encounter of the voluble rock.

Then was I ware that, with too ample wing,

The hands may haste to lavishment; and turn'd,

As from my other evil, so from this,

In penitence. How many from their grave

Shall with shorn locks〖“With shorn locks.” See Hell, Canto vii, 58.〗 arise, who living, ay,

And at life's last extreme, of this offence,

Through ignorance, did not repent! And know,

The fault, which lies direct from any sin

In level opposition, here, with that,

Wastes its green rankness on one common heap.

Therefore, if I have been with those, who wail

Their avarice, to cleanse me; through reverse

Of their transgression, such hath been my lot.”

To whom the sovran of the pastoral song:

“While thou didst sing that cruel warfare waged

By the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb〖“The twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb.” Eteocles and Polynices.〗

From thy discourse with Clio there, it seems

As faith had not been thine; without the which,

Good deeds suffice not. And if so, what sun

Rose on thee, or what candle pierced the dark,

That thou didst after see to hoise the sail,

And follow where the fisherman had led?”

He answering thus: “By thee conducted first,

I enter'd the Parnassian grots, and quaff'd

Of the clear spring: illumined first by thee,

Open'd mine eyes to God. Thou didst, as one

Who, journeying through the darkness, bears a light

Behind, that profits not himself, but makes

His followers wise, when thou exclaimed'st, ‘Lo!

A renovated world, Justice return'd,

Times of primeval innocence restored,

And a new race descended from above.’

Poet and Christian both to thee I owed.

That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace,

My hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines

With livelier colouring. Soon o'er all the world,

By messengers from Heaven, the true belief

Teem'd now prolific; and that word of thine,

Accordant, to the new instructors chimed.

Induced by which agreement, I was wont

Resort to them; and soon their sanctity

So won upon me, that, Domitian's rage

Pursuing them, I mix'd my tears with theirs;

And, while on earth I stay'd, still succor'd them;

And their most righteous customs made me scorn

All sects besides. Before I led the Greeks,

In tuneful fiction, to the streams of Thebes,

I was baptized; but secretly, through fear,

Remain'd a Christian, and conform'd long time

To Pagan rites. Four centuries and more,

I, for that lukewarmness, was fain to pace

Round the fourth circle. Thou then, who hast raised

The covering which did hide such blessing from me,

Whilst much of this ascent is yet to climb,

Say, if thou know, where our old Terence bides,

Cæcilius, Plautus, Varro: if condemn'd

They dwell, and in what province of the deep.”

“These,” said my guide, “with Persius and myself,

And others many more, are with that Greek,〖“That Greek.” Homer.〗

Of mortals, the most cherish'd by the Nine,

In the first ward〖“In the first ward.” In Limbo.〗 of darkness. There, oft-times,

We of that mount hold converse, on whose top

For aye our nurses live. We have the bard

Of Pella,〖Euripides.〗 and the Teian,〖“The Teian.” Anacreon.〗 Agatho,

Simonides, and many a Grecian else

Ingarlanded with laurel. Of thy train,

Antigone is there, Deiphile,

Argia, and as sorrowful as erst

Ismene, and who show'd Langia's wave:〖Hypsipile.〗

Deidamia with her sisters there,

And blind Tiresias' daughter,〖“Tiresias' daughter.” Dante, as some have thought, had forgotten that he had placed Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, among the sorcerers. See Hell, Canto xx. Vellutello endeavors to reconcile the apparent inconsistency, by observing, that although she was placed there as a sinner, yet, as one of famous memory, she had also a place among the worthies in Limbo.〗 and the bride

Sea-born of Peleus.”〖Thetis.〗 Either poet now

Was silent; and no longer by the ascent

Or the steep walls obstructed, round them cast

Inquiring eyes. Four handmaids of the day

Had finish'd now their office, and the fifth

Was at the chariot-beam, directing still

Its flamy point aloof; when thus my guide:

“Methinks, it well behoves us to the brink

Bend the right shoulder, circuiting the mount,

As we have ever used.” So custom there

Was usher to the road; the which we chose

Less doubtful, as that worthy shade〖“That worthy shade.” Statius.〗 complied.

They on before me went: I sole pursued,

Listening their speech, that to my thoughts convey'd

Mysterious lessons of sweet poesy.

But soon they ceased; for midway of the road

A tree we found, with goodly fruitage hung,

And pleasant to the smell: and as a fir,

Upward from bough to bough, less ample spreads;

So downward this less ample spread; that none,

Methinks, aloft may climb. Upon the side,

That closed our path, a liquid crystal fell

From the steep rock, and through the sprays above

Stream'd showering. With associate step the bards

Drew near the plant; and, from amidst the leaves,

A voice was heard: “Ye shall be chary of me;”

And after added: “Mary took more thought

For joy and honour of the nuptial feast,

Than for herself, who answers now for you.

The women of old Rome were satisfied

With water for their beverage. Daniel〖“Daniel.” “Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah, ‘Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.’”—Dan. i. II, 12. “Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink: and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”—Ibid. 16, 17.〗 fed

On pulse, and wisdom gain'd. The primal age

Was beautiful as gold: and hunger then

Made acorns tasteful; thirst, each rivulet

Run nectar. Honey and locusts were the food,

Whereon the Baptist in the wilderness

Fed, and that eminence of glory reach'd

And greatness, which the Evangelist records.”

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