The Divine Comedy, II. Purgatorio, Vol. II. Part 2

Commentary

Dante, Charles S. Singleton

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780691237664
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Poetry
• Index: Literature

Continuing the paperback edition of Charles S. Singleton's translation of The Divine Comedy, this work provides the English-speaking reader with everything he needs to read and understand the Purgatorio. This volume consists of the prose translation of Giorgio Petrocchi's Italian text (which faces the translation on each page); its companion volume of commentary is a masterpiece of erudition, offering a wide range of information on such subjects as Dante's vocabulary, his characters, and the historical sources of incidents in the poem. Professor Singleton provides a clear and profound analysis of the poem's basic allegory, and the illustrations, diagrams, and map clarify points that have previously confused readers of The Divine Comedy.

Purgatorio

Commentary

CANTO I

1-3. Ter correr miglior … crudele: The figure of the poet as navigator, coursing over better waters in the ship of his “genius,” now represents the positive forward movement of this journey, which for Dante character was then and for Dante poet is now, and by this figure Hell becomes the “cruel sea” that is now left behind. This same figure of the poet as navigator will again appear at the beginning of the Paradiso (Canto II). The metaphor is a familiar one. See Virgil, Georg. IV, 116-19:

Atque equidem, extremo ni iam sub fine laborum vela traham et terris festinem advertere proram, forsitan et, pinguis hortos quae cura colendi ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti …

And in truth, were I not now hard on the very close of my toils, furling my sails, and hastening to turn my prow to land, perchance, too, I might be singing what careful tillage decks rich gardens, singing of the rose-beds of twice-blooming Paestum.

Also see Georg. II, 39-41. For many other examples of the figure in poetry, before Dante, see E. R. Curtius (1953), pp. 128-30.

1. alza le vele: As Porena comments, Dante compares his poetic imagination to a little ship that has crossed the tempestuous waters of Hell and now starts to sail in the more gentle waters of Purgatory. Accordingly he “hoists sail,” the sails that seamen lower during a storm so that the force of the wind will not overturn the ship. “Hoist sail,” then, is an image taken from seamanship, but one cannot avoid feeling in it also an allegorical meaning of joy and excitement.

2. omai’ Now, at last, after so long a stretch of “cruel” sea.

7-12. Ma qui … perdono: This is the invocation, corresponding to that made in the second canto of the Inferno (since Inf. I is a prologue canto). Similarly, invocation will be made again in the first canto of the Paradiso. On such invocations, see Dante’s Letter to Can Grande (Epist. XIII, 46-47):

Sed poète non solum hoc faciunt, quin ymo post hec invocationem quandam emittunt. Et hoc est eis conveniens, quia multa invocatione opus est eis, cum aliquid contra comunem modum hominum a superioribus sub-stantiis petendum est, quasi divinum, quoddam munus.

Whereas poets not only do this, but also utter some certain invocation after this. And this is to their purpose, for they have need of ample invocation, since they have to implore something above the common scope of man from the higher beings, as in some sort a divine gift.

7. la morta poest resurga: Let the poetry which thus far has dealt with Hell and with the second death of the damned rise up now (“resurga” being the first of several touches which, on this Easter Sunday morning just before dawn, bring to mind the Resurrection of Christ). morta: For the use of this adjective in such a sense, cf. “la scritta morta” in Inf. VIII, 127. poesì = poesia.

8. pot che vostro sono: See Purg. XXIX, 37-39.

9-12. e qui Caliopè … perdono: The verses allude to the contest between the Muses and the nine daughters of Pierus, a king of Macedonia, to whom Pierus had given the names of the nine Muses. They presumptuously challenged the Muses to a singing contest and, being defeated, were transformed into magpies (piche). The story is told by Ovid (Metarn. V, 294-678) and, as an allusion coming at the beginning of the Purgatorio, is fitting here where humility is the keynote (see the “humble” rush at the end of this canto, vss. 100-105, 133-36), for Pierus’ daughters, the Pierides, sang a song of pride, telling how the giants did battle with the gods (see Inf. XIV, 43-72; XXXI, 44-45, 91-96), and claimed that the giants were victorious over the gods, who took fright and fled, with Typhoeus in hot pursuit. But the Muses’ song was of Ceres and Proserpina, of planting, of birth and rebirth (Proserpina being annually resurrected from Hades).

It should be noted that in Ovid’s account it is precisely Calliope who is chosen by the other Muses to sing for them in this contest; and Dante’s “surga” here seems to echo Ovid’s “surgit,” said of her as she rises to the occasion. See Metam. V, 337-40:

… dedimus summam certaminis uni;

surgit et inmissos hedera collecta capillos

Calliope querulas praetemptat pollice chordas

atque haec percussis subiungit carmina nervis …

We gave the conduct of our strife to one, Calliope; who rose and, with her flowing tresses bound in an ivy wreath, tried the plaintive chords with her thumb, and then, with sweeping chords, she sang this song.

Then, at the end of Ovid’s account (vs. 662), Calliope is referred to as “maxima” among the immortal nine. She is the Muse of Epic Poetry and as such is invoked by Virgil in Aen. IX, 525: “Vos, o Calliope, precor, adspirate canenti.” (“Do thou, O Calliope, thou and thy sisters, I pray, inspire me while I sing.”) But the fact that she has the principal role in the contest with the Piérides is doubtless what causes Dante to invoke her here especially. For the spelling Caliope, with a single I, see Petrocchi’s note on vs. 9; for the accent on Greek proper names in Dante’s usage, see n. to Inf. V, 4.

10. con quel suono: In the n. to vss. 9-12, see the verses quoted from Ovid, which refer to the instrumental accompaniment Calliope gave to her own song. “Suono” means such accompaniment, as indicated by Dante in De vulg. eloqu. II, viii, 5:

Nunquam modulatio dicitur cantio, sed sonus, vel tonus, vel nota, vel melos. Nullus enim tibicen, vel organista, vel citharedus, melodiam suam cantionem vocat nisi in quantum nupta est alicui cantioni; sed armonizantes verba opera sua cantiones vocant.

No music [alone] is ever called a canzone, but a sound, or tone, or note, or melody. For no trumpeter, or organist, or lute-player calls his melody a canzone, except in so far as it has been wedded to some canzone; but those who write the words for music call their words canzoni.

11. sentiro = sentirono.

12. disperar = disperarono. By Ovid’s account, when Calliope ended her song, the nymphs appointed as judges of the contest ruled that the Piérides had lost. Whereupon they fell to reviling the Muses, which, as Torraca points out, is the sure sign of their despairing of pardon. See Metam. V, 662-65.

13. Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro: Buti comments:

È una pietra preziosa di colore biadetto, ovvero celeste et azzurro, molto dilettevile a vedere … e sono due specie di zaffiri; Tuna si chiama l’orientale perché si trova in Media ch’è nell’oriente, e questa è melliore che l’altra e non traluce; l’altra si chiama per diversi nomi com’è di diversi luoghi.

It is a precious stone of a light bluish color—sky-blue, or azure—delightful to behold … and there are two kinds of sapphire: one is called Oriental, because it is found in Media, which is in the East. This is the better kind, and it is not translucent. The other kind has various names, because it is found in various places.

Torraca cites Ristoro d’Arezzo, Delia comp. VIII, 16 (p. 284): “Pare alPocchio più nobile e dilettevole a vedere che nullo altro colore” (“It is more noble and more beautiful to behold than any other color”) and II libro di Sidrach CDLVIII: “Quello è gentile zaffiro che somiglia al puro cielo.” (“That is noble sapphire, which resembles the pure sky.”)

13-18. Dolce color … petto: When Dante came forth from Hell, he looked up to see the stars (Inf. XXXIV, 137-39). He now continues to gaze upward at the beautiful sky and stars, noting Venus especially, the morning star, the star of love.

14-15. nel sereno aspetto del mezzo: Some commentators take “mezzo” to mean “center” or “zenith.” More probably it means the “air,” or “atmosphere,” which is said to be serene and pure. See Conv. III, ix, 12, where Dante uses the term in this sense:

Però puote parère cosi per lo mezzo che continuamente si transmuta. Transmutasi questo mezzo di molta luce in pocа luce, si come a la presenza del sole e a la sua assenza; e a la presenza lo mezzo, che è diafano, è tanto pieno di lume che è vincente de la Stella, e però [non] pare più lucente. Transmutasi anche questo mezzo di sottile in grosso, di secco in umido, per li vapori de la terra che continuamente salgono.

[Therefore,] it may so appear because of the medium which is continually changing. This medium changes from abundance to paucity of light, as at the presence or absence of the sun; and in his presence the medium, which is diaphanous, is so full of light that it overcomes the star and so seems to be brighter than it. This medium also changes from subtle to gross, and from dry to moist, by reason of the vapours of earth which are continually rising.

15. puro infino al primo giro: Some interpreters take “primo giro” to mean the heaven of the moon, others the heaven of the fixed stars. Given the context, however, horizon seems the more probable meaning. Thus the sky is said to be completely clear, with no cloud or mist visible, even on the horizon.

17. aura = aria.

19. Lo bel pianeto: Venus. On the form “pianeto,” instead of the more usual form pianeta, see Petrocchi’s vol. I, Introduzione, p. 436. che d’amar conforta: In Conv. II, v, 13-14, on the heaven of Venus and its movement, Dante writes: “Prende la forma del detto cielo uno ardore virtuoso, per lo quale le anime di qua giuso s’accendono ad amore, secondo la loro disposizione. E perché Ii antichi s’accorsero che quello cielo era qua giù cagione d’amore, dissero Amore essere figlio di Venere.” (“The form of the said heaven conceiveth an ardour of virtue to kindle souls down here to love, according to their disposition. And because the ancients perceived that this heaven was the cause of love down here, they said that Love was the son of Venus.”) Thus, allusively, the Purgatorio has its beginning under the sign of Venus or love, and so will it have its end (see Purg. XXVII, 95-96). Torraca cites Ristoro dArezzo, Delia comp. III, 5 (pp. no, 116), who says that Venus comes “per rallegrare, e per innamorare” (“to gladden us and make us fall in love”) and is called “lucifer, cioè Stella diana e d’amore sempre benevola e chiara” (“lucifer, that is to say, the morning star and thé star of love, always benevolent and clear”). Later, in Par. VIII, 2, the love inspired by Venus can be called a “folle amore” (as invoked by the ancients), but no such meaning is implied here.

20. face va tutto rider l’oriente: It is now an hour or more before sunrise on Easter morning. See M. A. Orr (1956), p. 249. E. Moore (1887, pp. 64-65) observes:

The only point calling for notice here is the curious piece of hypercriticism on the part of some ingenious persons who have discovered by computation that “Lo bel pianeta che ad amar conforta,” i.e. of course, Venus, was not actually a morning star in April 1300, but rose after the Sun. But it is evident that Dante wishes to describe the hour before sunrise under its most familiar, and so to speak its typical, aspect in the popular mind, and with that hour the brilliant Morning Star is generally associated. We may add too that if it were actually visible at that season, it would of course be associated (as Dante has with a realistic touch indicated) with the constellation Pisces, the Sun being in the next following sign of Aries.

See also E. Moore (1903), pp. 372-73, for his remarks on the discovery by G. Boffito of an ecclesiastical calendar for the year 1300 (the Almanac of Profacio), contained in a Laurentian MS contemporary with Dante, in which Venus is entered as the morning star and as being in the constellation of Pisces, in March-April of that year. See Studi danteschi IV (1921): 153, for further confirmation of the matter as found by G. Boffito in two Vatican MSS.

22. l’ mi volsi a man destra: To observe Venus Dante must be facing east. Therefore, in turning now to the right, he faces south.

23. a Valtro polo: The South Pole is the “other” pole for those of us who inhabit the northern hemisphere of land.

23-24. e vidi quattro stelle … la prima gente: The allegorical significance of these stars will be disclosed in th...