web viewthe story opens with dante experiencing a mid-life crisis. kind of. when describing his...

The Divine Comed: Canto #1 & 5 & 13

Canto #1 from Dante’s Divine Comedy

When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray. Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in recall renews my fear: so bitter-death is hardly more severe! But to retell the good discovered there, I'll also tell the other things I saw. I cannot clearly say how I had entered the wood; I was so full of sleep just at the point where I abandoned the true path.But when I'd reached the bottom of a hill-it rose along the boundary of the valley that had harassed my heart with so much fearI looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed already by the rays of that same planet which serves to lead men straight along all roads.At this my fear was somewhat quieted; for through the night of sorrow I had spent, the lake within my heartfelt terror presentAnd just as he who, with exhausted breath, having escaped from sea to shore, turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit,so did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man survive. I let my tired body rest awhile. Moving again, I tried the lonely slope my firm foot always was the one belowAnd almost where the hillside starts to rise-look there!-a leopard, very quick and lithe, a leopard covered with a spotted hideso did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man surviveI let my tired body rest awhile. Moving again, I tried the lonely slope-my firm foot always was the one below.And almost where the hillside starts to rise-look there!-a leopard, very quick and lithe, a leopard covered with a spotted hide.

The story opens with Dante experiencing a mid-life crisis. Kind of. When describing his mid-life crisis, he uses ambiguous pronouns, saying "our life’s way." More on that later. Basically, he has strayed from his path and finds himself lost in a dark wood. Creepy.

Yeah, it’s so creepy that "death could hardly be more severe!" (Yes, exclamation point included.) Foreshadowing, anyone?

Dante is confused about how he got into such a no-man’s land. He was "full of sleep" when he strayed from the true path. Now he’s at the bottom of some hill.

Dante’s gaze wanders up the hill and he finds the summit all beautifully lit up like Christmas lights by the sun, a real contrast to the dark wood he’s stuck in. Predictably, his heart lifts at this sight.

We learn he’s just endured a "night of sorrow." In an elaborate metaphor, Dante compares himself to a shipwrecked swimmer who


He did not disappear from sight, but stayed; indeed, he so impeded my ascent that I had often to turn back againThe time was the beginning of the morning; the sun was rising now in fellowship with the same stars that had escorted itwhen Divine Love first moved those things of beauty;so that the hour and the gentle season gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeingthat beast before me with his speckled skin but hope was hardly able to prevent the fear I felt when I beheld a lion.His head held high and ravenous with hunger-even the air around him seemed to shudder-this lion seemed to make his way against me.And then a she-wolf showed herself; she seemed to carry every craving in her leanness she had already brought despair to manyThe very sight of her so weighted me with fearfulness that I abandoned hope of ever climbing up that mountain slope.Even as he who glories while he gains will, when the time has come to tally loss, lament with every thought and turn despondentso was I when I faced that restless beast which, even as she stalked me, step by stephad thrust me back to where the sun is speechless.While I retreated down to lower ground, before my eyes there suddenly appeared one who seemed faint because of the long silence.When I saw him in that vast wilderness, "Have pity on me," were the words I cried, "whatever you may be-a shade, a man."He answered me: "Not man; I once was man. Both of my parents came from Lombardy, and both claimed Mantua as native city.And I was born, though late, sub Julio, and lived in Rome under the good Augustus- the season of the false and lying godsI was a poet, and I sang the righteous son of Anchises who had come from Troy when flames destroyed the pride of Ilium.But why do you return to wretchedness? Why not climb up the mountain of delight, the origin and cause of every joy?"

Wearily, our hero starts climbing the hill (towards the light), but lo and behold suddenly a sinister beast appears to block his way. Actually, it’s just a leopard.

Dante backs away from the big, bad leopard. He notices that day has dawned and that lifts his spirits a little.

Until he’s faced with a ferocious lion. And then a hungry she-wolf.

Dante screams and runs back down the hill.

At the bottom of the hill, Dante runs into a ghost. He promptly crumples into a fetal position and begs for mercy.

But this is a gabby ghost. The ghost starts talking about where he’s from (Mantua), when he was born (during Emperor Augustus’ reign), and what he was (a poet).

Dante suddenly isn't so scared anymore. In fact, he recognizes the ghost.

It’s the famous Roman poet Virgil, who is Dante’s inspiration and all-time favorite idol.

Dante says something like: "I’ve totally read everything you wrote and when I write I try to be just like you.


"And are you then that Virgil, you the fountain that freely pours so rich a stream of speech?" I answered him with shame upon my brow."O light and honor of all other poets, may my long study and the intense love that made me search your volume serve me now.You are my master and my author, you-the only one from whom my writing drew the noble style for which I have been honored.You see the beast that made me turn aside; help me, o famous sage, to stand against her, for she has made my blood and pulses shudder," "It is another path that you must take,"he answered when he saw my tearfulness,"if you would leave this savage wilderness;the beast that is the cause of your outcry allows no man to pass along her track, but blocks him even to the point of death;her nature is so squalid, so malicious that she can never sate her greedy will; when she has fed, she's hungrier than everShe mates with many living souls and shall yet mate with many more, until the Greyhound arrives, inflicting painful death on her.That Hound will never feed on land or pewter, but find his fare in wisdom, love, and virtue; his place of birth shall be between two felts.He will restore low-lying Italy for which the maid Camilla died of wounds, and Nisus, Turnus, and Euryalus.And he will hunt that beast through every city until he thrusts her back again to Hell, for which she was first sent above by envy.Therefore, I think and judge it best for you to follow me, and I shall guide you, taking you from this place through an eternal placewhere you shall hear the howls of desperation and see the ancient spirits in their pain, as each of them laments his second death; and you shall see those souls who are content within the fire, for they hope to reach-whenever that may be-the blessed peopleIf you would then ascend as high as these, a soul more worthy than I am will guide you; I'll leave you in her care when I depart,

Wearily, our hero starts climbing the hill (towards the light), but lo and behold suddenly a sinister beast appears to block his way. Actually, it’s just a leopard.

Dante backs away from the big, bad leopard. He notices that day has dawned and that lifts his spirits a little.

Until he’s faced with a ferocious lion. And then a hungry she-wolf.

Dante screams and runs back down the hill.

At the bottom of the hill, Dante runs into a ghost. He promptly crumples into a fetal position and begs for mercy.

But this is a gabby ghost. The ghost starts talking about where he’s from (Mantua), when he was born (during Emperor Augustus’ reign), and what he was (a poet).

Dante suddenly isn't so scared anymore. In fact, he recognizes the ghost.

It’s the famous Roman poet Virgil, who is Dante’s inspiration and all-time favorite idol.

Dante says something like: "I’ve totally read everything you wrote and when I write I try to be just like you.

. Virgil’s point? Hey, Dante, you should entrust your life to me while I take you on a journey through Hell and Purgatory and maybe even Heaven (if you’re worthy).

Predictably, Dante agrees.

And so the


because that Emperor who reigns above, since I have been rebellious to His law, will not allow me entry to His cityHe governs everywhere, but rules from there; there is His city, His high capital: o happy those He chooses to be there!"

And I replied: "O poet-by that God whom you had never come to know-I beg you, that I may flee this evil and worse evils,to lead me to the place of which you spoke, that I may see the gateway of Saint Peter and those whom you describe as sorrowfulThen he set out, and I moved on behind him.

Questions related to Canto 1What is symbolized by the dark forest in which Dante loses his way?

What is symbolized by the sun-topped hill he attempts to climb?

What do the three beasts represent?

Canto 5FROM the first circle I descended thusDown to the second, which, a lesser spaceEmbracing, so much more of grief containsProvoking bitter moans. There, Minos standsGrinning with ghastly feature: he, of allWho enter, strict examining the crimes,Gives sentence, and dismisses them beneath,According as he foldeth him around:For when before him comes th' ill fated soul,It all confesses; and that judge severeOf sins, considering what place in hellSuits the transgression, with his tail so oftHimself encircles, as degrees beneathHe dooms it to descend. Before him stand

As they descend into the second circle of Hell, Dante notes that it’s a little smaller than the first circle. (This is because Hell is shaped like a funnel, with each successive circle shrinking a little.)

There, the huge bull-like judge Minos appears, looming over a great crowd, out of which each individual steps forward to have his say.

Dante explains that Minos judges where all sinners go by twining his tail into coils. The number of coils determines which circle the sinner goes into.

The very ugly Minos pauses his perpetual dissing of


Always a num'rous throng; and in his turnEach one to judgment passing, speaks, and hearsHis fate, thence downward to his dwelling hurl'd.

"O thou! who to this residence of woeApproachest?" when he saw me coming, criedMinos, relinquishing his dread employ,"Look how thou enter here; beware in whomThou place thy trust; let not the entrance broadDeceive thee to thy harm." To him my guide:"Wherefore exclaimest? Hinder not his wayBy destiny appointed; so 'tis will'dWhere will and power are one. Ask thou no more."

Now 'gin the rueful wailings to be heard.Now am I come where many a plaining voiceSmites on mine ear. Into a place I cameWhere light was silent all. Bellowing there groan'dA noise as of a sea in tempest tornBy warring winds. The stormy blast of hellWith restless fury drives the spirits onWhirl'd round and dash'd amain with sore annoy.

When they arrive before the ruinous sweep,There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moans,And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in heaven.

I understood that to this torment sadThe carnal sinners are condemn'd, in whomReason by lust is sway'd. As in large troopsAnd multitudinous, when winter reigns,The starlings on their wings are borne abroad;So bears the tyrannous gust those evil souls.On this side and on that, above, below,It drives them: hope of rest to solace themIs none, nor e'en of milder pang. As cranes,Chanting their dol'rous notes, traverse the sky,Stretch'd out in long array: so I beheldSpirits, who came loud wailing, hurried onBy their dire doom. Then I: "Instructor! whoAre these, by the black air so scourg'd?" - " The first'Mong those, of whom thou question'st," he replied,"O'er many tongues was empress. She in viceOf luxury was so shameless, that she madeLiking be lawful by promulg'd decree,To clear the blame she had herself incurr'd.This is Semiramis, of whom 'tis writ,

As they descend into the second circle of Hell, Dante notes that it’s a little smaller than the first circle. (This is because Hell is shaped like a funnel, with each successive circle shrinking a little.)

There, the huge bull-like judge Minos appears, looming over a great crowd, out of which each individual steps forward to have his say.

Dante explains that Minos judges where all sinners go by twining his tail into coils. The number of coils determines which circle the sinner goes into.

The very ugly Minos pauses his perpetual dissing of

affair with him. When Gianciotto discovered their adultery, he killed them both. (Yes, he’s in a deeper level of Hell, Francesca tells us.)

Dante is so moved by the unfairness of it all that he starts crying. He tends to do this a lot. And he asks how exactly she fell in love.

Francesca says that one sunny day, she and Paolo were innocently reading a book. But not just any


That she succeeded Ninus her espous'd;And held the land, which now the Soldan rules.The next in amorous fury slew herself,And to Sicheus' ashes broke her faith:Then follows Cleopatra, lustful queen."

There mark'd I Helen, for whose sake so longThe time was fraught with evil; there the greatAchilles, who with love fought to the end.Paris I saw, and Tristan; and besideA thousand more he show'd me, and by namePointed them out, whom love bereav'd of life.

When I had heard my sage instructor nameThose dames and knights of antique days, o'erpower'dBy pity, well-nigh in amaze my mindWas lost; and I began: "Bard! willinglyI would address those two together coming,Which seem so light before the wind." He thus:"Note thou, when nearer they to us approach.

Then by that love which carries them along,Entreat; and they will come." Soon as the windSway'd them toward us, I thus fram'd my speech:"O wearied spirits! come, and hold discourseWith us, if by none else restrain'd." As dovesBy fond desire invited, on wide wingsAnd firm, to their sweet nest returning home,Cleave the air, wafted by their will along;Thus issu'd from that troop, where Dido ranks,They through the ill air speeding; with such forceMy cry prevail'd by strong affection urg'd.

"O gracious creature and benign! who go'stVisiting, through this element obscure,Us, who the world with bloody stain imbru'd;If for a friend the King of all we own'd,Our pray'r to him should for thy peace arise,Since thou hast pity on our evil plight.If whatsoe'er to hear or to discourseIt pleases thee, that will we hear, of that

affair with him. When Gianciotto discovered their adultery, he killed them both. (Yes, he’s in a deeper level of Hell, Francesca tells us.)

Dante is so moved by the unfairness of it all that he starts crying. He tends to do this a lot. And he asks how exactly she fell in love.

Francesca says that one sunny day, she and Paolo were innocently reading a book. But not just any

This one portrayed the knight Lancelot being hopelessly smitten by Queen Guinevere. When they get to the part where Lancelot kisses Arthur’s queen, Paolo and Francesca followed suit and shared a passionate kiss. We know it’s passionate because "all his body trembled" and on that day they "read no more."

Francesca blames the book for her sin, calling it a Gallehault (the character in Arthurian legend who encourages Lancelot in his forbidden affair with Guinevere).

As Francesca concludes her story, her soul mate Paolo bawls his eyes out.

Dante, the deepest fibers


Freely with thee discourse, while e'er the wind,As now, is mute. The land, that gave me birth,Is situate on the coast, where Po descendsTo rest in ocean with his sequent streams.

"Love, that in gentle heart is quickly learnt,Entangled him by that fair form, from meTa'en in such cruel sort, as grieves me still:Love, that denial takes from none belov'd,Caught me with pleasing him so passing well,That, as thou see'st, he yet deserts me not.

Love brought us to one death: Caina waitsThe soul, who spilt our life." Such were their words;At hearing which downward I bent my looks,And held them there so long, that the bard cried:"What art thou pond'ring?" I in answer thus:"Alas! by what sweet thoughts, what fond desireMust they at length to that ill pass have reach'd!"

Then turning, I to them my speech address'd.And thus began: "Francesca! your sad fateEven to tears my grief and pity moves.But tell me; in the time of your sweet sighs,By what, and how love granted, that ye knewYour yet uncertain wishes?" She replied:"No greater grief than to remember daysOf joy, when mis'ry is at hand! That kensThy learn'd instructor. Yet so eagerly If thou art bent to know the primal root,From whence our love gat being, I will do,As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One dayFor our delight we read of Lancelot,How him love thrall'd. Alone we were, and noSuspicion near us. Ofttimes by that readingOur eyes were drawn together, and the hue

This one portrayed the knight Lancelot being hopelessly smitten by Queen Guinevere. When they get to the part where Lancelot kisses Arthur’s queen, Paolo and Francesca followed suit and shared a passionate kiss. We know it’s passionate because "all his body trembled" and on that day they "read no more."

Francesca blames the book for her sin, calling it a Gallehault (the character in Arthurian legend who encourages Lancelot in his forbidden affair with Guinevere).

As Francesca concludes her story, her soul mate Paolo bawls his eyes out.

Dante, the deepest fibers


Fled from our alter'd cheek. But at one pointAlone we fell. When of that smile we read,The wished smile, rapturously kiss'dBy one so deep in love, then he, who ne'erFrom me shall separate, at once my lipsAll trembling kiss'd. The book and writer bothWere love's purveyors. In its leaves that dayWe read no more." While thus one spirit spake,The other wail'd so sorely, that heartstruckI through compassion fainting, seem'd not farFrom death, and like a corpse fell to the ground.

Why does Paolo fall in love with Francesca?

Why does love lead to their death?

Is Francesca a victim of circumstances as she seems to suggest?

Is she a victim of love's irresistible power?

Is she a tragic victim, damned by her own loving nature?

Canto XIII Second round of the Seventh Circle: of those who have done violence to themselves and to their goods.—The Wood of Self-murderers.—The Harpies.—Pier delle Vigne.—Lano of Siena and others. Nessus had not yet reached the yonder bank when we set forward through a wood which was marked by no path. Not green leaves but of a dusky color, not smooth

So eager are our pilgrims to continue on their journey that they don’t even wave goodbye to Nessus, but start wending their way through the woods before our horse-friend even reaches the far bank.

As they walk, they notice there is something seriously wrong with the trees. Hmmm, like they have black leaves, instead of green. And that their branches are gnarled and knotty, instead of nice and natural and straight. And instead of bearing tasty fruits and flowers, these trees have poisonous


boughs but knotty and gnarled, not fruits were there but thorns with poison. Those savage beasts that hold in hate the tilled places between Cecina and Corneto have no thickets so rough or so dense. Here the foul Harpies make their nests, who chased the Trojans from the Strophades with dismal announcement of future calamity. They have broad wings, and human necks and faces, feet with claws, and a great feathered belly. They make lament upon the strange trees. And the good Master, "Before thou enter farther know that thou art in the second round," he began to say to me, "and wilt be, till thou shalt come unto the horrible sand. Therefore look well around, and so thou shalt see things that would take credence from my speech."[1] [1] Things which if told would seem incredible. I heard wailings uttered on every side, and I saw no one who might make them, wherefore, I, all bewildered, stopped. I believe that he believed that I believed that all these voices issued amid those stumps from people who because of us had hidden themselves. Therefore said the Master, "If thou break off a twig from one of these plants, the thoughts thou hast will all be cut short." Then I stretched my hand a little forward and plucked a branchlet from a great thorn-bush, and its trunk cried out, "Why dost thou rend me?" When it had become dark with blood it began again to cry, "Why dost thou tear me? hast thou not any spirit of pity? Men we were, and now we are become stocks; truly thy hand ought to be more pitiful had we been the souls of serpents." As from a green log that is burning at one of its ends, and from the other drips, and hisses with the air that is escaping, so from that broken splinter came out words and blood together; whereon I let the tip fall, and stood like a man who is afraid. "If he had been able to believe before," replied my Sage, "O wounded soul, what he has seen only in my verse,[1] he would not upon thee have stretched his hand. But the incredible thing made me prompt him to an act which grieves my very self. But tell him who thou wast, so that, by way of some amends, he may refresh thy fame in the world above, whereto it is allowed him to return." [1] In the story of Polydorus, in the third book of the Aeneid.

So eager are our pilgrims to continue on their journey that they don’t even wave goodbye to Nessus, but start wending their way through the woods before our horse-friend even reaches the far bank.

As they walk, they notice there is something seriously wrong with the trees. Hmmm, like they have black leaves, instead of green. And that their branches are gnarled and knotty, instead of nice and natural and straight. And instead of bearing tasty fruits and flowers, these trees have poisonous

Virgil continues, asking the injured tree to introduce itself and tell its story so that Dante can make a proper apology.

The tree is moved by his "sweet speech" (another instance of Virgil’s "persuasive word") and feels compelled to tell his story.

Turns out this guy was a bigshot in life. He was Pier della Vigna (though he never says so), otherwise known as the private counselor to Emperor Frederick II, and so trusted by His Majesty that Pier boasts he had "the keys / of Frederick’s heart" and


And the trunk, "So with sweet speech dost thou allure me, that I cannot be silent, and may it not displease you, that I am enticed to speak a little. I am he who held both the keys of the heart of Frederick, and who turned them, locking and unlocking so softly, that from his confidence I kept almost every one.[1] Fidelity so great I bore to the glorious office, that I lost slumber and strength thereby. The harlot,[2] that never from the abode of Caear turned her strumpet eyes,—the common death and vice of courts,—inflamed all minds against me, and they, inflamed, did so inflame Augustus that my glad honors turned to dismal sorrows. My mind, in scornful temper thinking to escape scorn by death, made me unjust toward my just self. By the strange roots of this tree I swear to you, that I never broke faith unto my lord who was so worthy of honor. And if one of you returneth to the world, let him comfort my memory that yet lies prostrate from the blow that envy gave it." [1] The spirit who speaks is Pier delle Vigne, the Chancellor of Frederick II.; of low birth, he rose tathe first place in the state; he was one of the earliest writers of Italian verse. Dante has placed his master as well as him in Hell. See Canto X. [3] Envie ys lavendere of the court alway; For she ne parteth neither nyght ne day Out of the house of Cesar, thus saith Daunte. Legende of Goode Women, 358?60. A while he paused, and then, "Since he is silent," said the Poet to me, "lose not the hour, but speak and ask of him, if more pleaseth thee." Whereon I to him, "Do thou ask him further of what thou thinkest may satisfy me, for I cannot, such pity fills my heart." Therefore he began again, "So may this man do for thee freely what thy speech prays, spirit incarcerate, still be pleased to tell us how the soul is bound within these knots, and tell us, if thou canst, if any from such limbs is ever loosed." Then the trunk puffed strongly, and soon that wind was changed into this voice: "Briefly shall ye be answered. When the ferocious soul departeth from the body wherefrom itself hath torn itself, Minos sends it to the seventh gulf. It falls into the wood, and no part is chosen for it, but where fortune flings it, there it takes root like a grain of spelt; it springs up in a shoot and to a wild plant. The Harpies, feeding then upon its leaves, give pain, and to the pain a window.[1] Like the rest we shall go for our spoils,[2] but not, forsooth, that any one

Virgil continues, asking the injured tree to introduce itself and tell its story so that Dante can make a proper apology.

The tree is moved by his "sweet speech" (another instance of Virgil’s "persuasive word") and feels compelled to tell his story.

Turns out this guy was a bigshot in life. He was Pier della Vigna (though he never says so), otherwise known as the private counselor to Emperor Frederick II, and so trusted by His Majesty that Pier boasts he had "the keys / of Frederick’s heart" and

As saplings, they are tortured by the Harpies, who – for all their famous ferocity – eat leaves.

The suicides, Pier claims, long for their fleshly bodies more than any other sinners. But they cannot have their bodies back because they willingly gave them up by taking their own lives.

Only when Judgment Day comes will they be reunited with their bodies, but even then their former skins will only be able to sit atop the stumps of their trees.

As they’re waiting for tree-man to go on, a sudden commotion breaks out.


may revest himself with them, for it is not just to have that of which one deprives himself. Hither shall we drag them, and through the melancholy wood shall our bodies be suspended, each on the thorn-tree of his molested shade." [1] The tearing of the leaves gives an outlet to the woe. [2] Our bodies, at the Last Judgment. We were still attentive to the trunk, believing that it might wish to say more to us, when we were surprised by an uproar, as one who perceives the wild boar and the chase coming toward his stand and hears the Feasts and the branches crashing. And behold two on the left hand, naked and scratched, flying so violently that they broke all the limbs of the wood. The one in front was shouting, "Now, help, help, Death!" and the other, who seemed to himself too slow, "Lano, thy legs were not so nimble at the jousts of the Toppo: "[1] and when perhaps his breath was failing, of himself and of a bush he made a group. Behind them the wood was full of black bitches, ravenous and running like greyhounds that have been unleashed. On him that had squatted they set their teeth and tore him to pieces, bit by bit, then carried off his woeful limbs. [1] Lano was slain in flight at the defeat of the Sienese by the Aretines, near the Pieve del Toppo, in 1280. He and Jacomo were notorious prodigals. My Guide then took me by the hand, and led me to the bush, which was weeping through its bleeding breaks in vain. "O Jacomo of Sant' Andrea," it was saying, "what hath it vantaged thee to make of me a screen? What blame have I for thy wicked life?" When the Master had stopped beside it, he said, "Who wast thou, who through so many wounds blowest forth with blood thy woeful speech?" And he to us, "O souls who art arrived to see the shameful ravage that hath thus disjoined my leaves from me, collect theni at the foot of the wretched bush. I was of the city which for the Baptist changed her first patron;[1] wherefore will he always make her sorrowful with his art. And were it not that at the passage of the Arno some semblance of him yet remains, those citizens who afterwards rebuilt it upon the ashes that were left by Attila[2] would have labored in vain. I made a gibbet for myself of my own dwelling."

What are harpies?

As saplings, they are tortured by the Harpies, who – for all their famous ferocity – eat leaves.

The suicides, Pier claims, long for their fleshly bodies more than any other sinners. But they cannot have their bodies back because they willingly gave them up by taking their own lives.

Only when Judgment Day comes will they be reunited with their bodies, but even then their former skins will only be able to sit atop the stumps of their trees.

As they’re waiting for tree-man to go on, a sudden commotion breaks out.


What do those you have committed suicide want more than anything?

Why won’t it ever happen?

web viewthe story opens with dante experiencing a mid-life crisis. kind of. when describing his...

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