che la Filosofia, che era donna di questi autori, di questi scienze e di questi libri fosse somma cosa . . sicchè in piccol tempo, forse di trenta mesi, cominciai tanto a sentire della sua dolcezza, che 'l suo amore cacciava e distruggeva ogni altro pensiero." Bearing these passages in mind, it is not necessary to see any contradiction between the reproaches of Beatrice and the indications afforded us by other passages of Dante's purity of heart and life. It is impossible to believe that there were any hideous corners in an imagination capable of conceiving such an ideal of beauty as that of the New Life; or could he, having a conscience burdened with impurity, say that: "coscienza mi assicura, La buona compagnia che l' uom francheggia The other sin charged against our poet is pride. Certain it is that he felt himself peculiarly prone to this fault, which was in his eyes a mighty lion of over-mastering strength.2 Even in the "Vita Nuova" there are signs of the supreme selfassertion which he displayed later. No poet before or since has arrogated to himself such a claim as that of Dante. But it must never be forgotten how Dante, with the deep sense of the brotherhood of man which we have already seen manifested in him, typified in himself the human race, and in view of this, could make his stupendous claims with propriety.* That which is true of him is true of all souls born like him under fortunate stars.5 "E perocchè la complessione del seme può essere migliore e men buona; e la disposizione del seminante può essere migliore e men buona; e la disposizione del Cielo a questo effetto puote essere buona e migliore e ottima, la quale si varia nelle constellazioni, che continuamente 2 Ib. i. 45. 1 Inferno, xxviii. 115. 8 V. N. iii. 4 Cf. his claim of interest from the Virgin, Inferno, ii. 94. 5 Paradiso, xxii. 112. si trasmutano, incontra che dell' umano seme e di queste virtù più e men pura anima si produce. E s'elli avviene che per la purità dell' anima ricevente, la intellettuale virtù sia bene astratta e assoluta da ogni ombra corporea, la divina bontà in lei multiplica, siccome in cosa sufficiente a ricevere quella. Poichè la somma deità, cioè Iddio, vede apparecchiata la sua creatura a ricevere del suo beneficio, tanto largamente in quella ne mette, quanto apparecchiata è a riceverne."1 "E l' anima umana, la qual è colla nobilità della potenzia ultima cioè ragione, participa della divina natura a guisa di sempiterna Intelligenza; perocchè l' anima è tanto in quella sovrana potenzia nobilitata, e dinudata da materia, che la divina luce, come in Angelo, raggia in quella."2 The human souls who are bene nati are they to whom, brought by Reason to the Divine Light, "veder li troni Del trionfo eternal concede grazia, But it was through his own experiences that Dante had discovered the way for men to enter into the Light ineffable, and his personality was too intense for him to submerge it utterly in the conception of mankind in general. He took his place calmly as one of the "well-born," and it was upon him, as such, that the important mission devolved, of "carrying back to the mortal world" the sights and truths that had been manifested to him.4 "Giù per lo mondo senza fine amaro, E per lo monte del cui bel cacume 1 Convito, Tr. iv. c. xxi. 8 Paradiso, v. 115. 2 Ib. Tr. iii. c. ii. ♦ Paradiso, xxi. 97; cf. also Purgatorio, xxxii. 103; Paradiso, x. 27; xxxiii. 73. But to sing the holy face of Beatrice irradiated by the light of the Triumph of Christ was too great a task for the sacred poem. 66 Pride boasts the prow that is audacious, but humility recognizes that there are waters too vast for it to venture upon. It was the germ of this true humility that forbade him, in his early days, to write of the departure of the blessed Beatrice, non sarebbe sufficiente la mia penna a trattare, come si converebbe di ciò." A sure estimate of his own powers, a ready recognition of his own limitations, led him to accept his leaders, and take his place among them. He was in truth the high-minded man of his own Philosopher: Sokeî dè peyaλóψυχος εἶναι ὁ μεγάλων αὑτὸν ἀξιῶν ἄξιος ὤν He will take his place in the company of the five noble poets, but it shall be as sixth.5 The fame derived from the "Vita Nuova" and 1 Paradiso, xvii. 112-117; 124-132. 2 Ib. xxiii. 67. To this sense of the proportions of his mission, perhaps, may be attributed his evident expectation of fame to be derived from his poem, "Il nome mio ancor molto non suona." Purgatorio, xiv. 21. 3 V. N. xxix. 4 Aristotle, N. E. 1123 b. That his pride was not mere empty conceit, vid. V. N. xxix. 17. 5 Inferno, iv. 100. "Canzoni" gives him consciousness of his merits, but the honor he does not claim for himself. "Or se' tu quel Virgilio, e quella fonte Vagliami il lungo studio e il grande amore, Tu se' solo colui, da cui io tolsi Lo bello stile che mi ha fatto onore." 1 Before the "sweet Guide," Reason, he is quick to acknowledge his errors, and at the least rebuff he is "tinged with the color Which makes a man of pardon sometimes worthy." 2 Such a nature as this, full of inner independence, could feel nothing but intense scorn for those who yielded to their conscious inefficiency. An instance of this is the way in which Dante handles Pope Celestine V., whom the centuries have justly despised. Boccaccio calmly described him as "an idiotic man," and Dante with scorching contempt looked upon him as "a caitiff wretch," "who made through cowardice the great refusal." 8 It has been said that "the veneration of Dantophilists for their master is that of disciples for their saint." But when Dante stands before the bar of his own soul, and confesses to the sin of pride, we must believe him. "Gli occhi (diss' io) mi fieno ancor qui tolti; 1 Inferno, i. 79. Ma picciol tempo; chè poca è l'offesa Fatta per esser con invidia volti. Troppa è più la paura, ond' è sospesa L'anima mia, del tormento di sotto, Che già lo incarco di laggiù mi pesa.” 4 2 Purgatorio, v. 21; vid. also Inferno, iii. 79; xvii. 89; xxx. 134. • Inferno, iii. 60. 4 Purgatorio, xiii. 133; xii. 9. Our impulse is to read his own nature in the words he applied to Virgil: "O dignitosa coscienza e netta, Come t' è picciol fallo amaro morso!" 1 But if credence is given to the first part of his confession, why should it not be given to the last? Freedom from envy was one of the integral parts of his nature, as he shows us in many places. How can he be envious of his neighbors, whose "life into the future reaches Beyond the punishment of their perfidies!" 2 Already he had learned the fleeting glory of that ambition for earthly fame which he counted as one of the forms of pride. "Non è il mondan romore altro che un fiato Di vento, che or vien quinci ed or vien quindi, Che fama avrai tu più, se vecchia scindi Ed io a lui :-Lo tuo ver dir m' incuora Buona umiltà, e gran tumor m' appiani.” 8 With Divine Knowledge infused into the soul, - "vidi questo globo Tal, ch' io sorrisi del suo vil sembiante; These are not the words of a man who has drifted smoothly into his harbor of peace, but beneath them is the conviction of a "scarred veteran of a life-long war." 1 Purgatorio, iii. 8. 3 Purgatorio, xi. 100-108, 118. 2 Paradiso, xvii. 98. 4 Paradiso, xxii. 134. |