"Wherewith was crowned the sapphire beautiful.” 1 But there are further indications of Dante's sympathy with the era in which he lived. The great attraction to pilgrims in this period of the Middle Ages was the Veronica, "the blessed image which Jesus Christ left to us as the likeness of his most beautiful countenance;" and there is the same reverence expressed for this in the "Vita Nuova” that appears later in the "Paradiso."2 Dante takes a certain pleasure also in the grotesque, which is one of the distinguishing features of medieval taste. The failure of the extravagant to appeal to the higher side of the imagination was not appreciated at this time. When Dante describes the grotesque figure of Minos, quaintly transformed from his heathen estate into a fiend of Christian art, and the devils of Malebolge, who seize with their grappling-irons, in demoniac sport, the sinners who dare to rise from the lake 1 Paradiso, xxiii. 101. music is heard: 3 It is worthy of remark that in the Inferno no note of "Beati pauperes spiritu, voci Cantaron sì, che nol diria sermone, Ahi! quanto son diverse quelle foci Dalle infernali; chè quivi per canti S'entra, e laggiù per lamenti feroci." (Purgatorio, xii. 110). 66 The only passage in the Inferno where any expression of Dante's sensibility to sweet sound can be detected is in the allusion to the voice of Beatrice, soave e piana" (Canto ii. 56). But his sensitive ear is evidenced by the well known passage in Canto iv., where the sound of honor and honorable fame occur; in Francesca da Rimini's inimitable tale (Canto v.), the similar repetition of Amor, with which Mr. Longfellow says the verse murmurs "like the moan of doves in immemorial elms; " the rolling of the verse in Canto vii. as a prelude to the description of "the wild wheel of Fortune turning thro' sunshine, storm, and cloud," and the clearer, sweeter sound of a that in the Purgatorio predominates over the o sound of the Inferno. Cf. also for Dante's fondness for music. Purgatorio, iv. 123, on his acquaintance with Belacqua, the maker of musical instruments; also Purgatorio, ii. 45; v. 24; xxiii. 10; xxv. 121; xxvii. 8, 55; xxviii. 41; Paradiso, iii. 122; xii. 7. A variety of musical similes also occur: Inferno, xxx. 103; Purgatorio, ix. 142; Paradiso, xiv. 118; xvii. 43; xx. 22. 2 V. N. xl.; Paradiso, xxxi. 103. 3 Inferno, v. 1 of boiling pitch, he is simply true to the taste of the Middle Ages. Even in his selection of Virgil, as the embodiment of right Reason,2 for his guide, he was influenced by the mediæval conception of Virgil as the great magician. His sympathy with that widespread characteristic of the period, the desire for revenge, which demanded that a member of the family of one who had suffered violence should track out the offender and avenge the deed, led him at once to interpret truly Geri del Bello's threatening gestures.3 He so fully understood men's minds that he appealed to the desire for fame as not extinct even in the souls in hell. For with the growth of individualism engendered by the revival of learning, had come an intense desire for fame: a desire that Dante stamps as a stumbling-block to many, by putting no higher than the Second Heaven those who achieved noble deeds, but through love of fame, not pure love of God. 66 Questa piccioła stella si correda Dei buoni spirti che son stati attivi Sì disviando, pur convien che i raggi This man, whose fancy lived in the eternal worlds, was not self-engrossed, but answered quickly to the appeal of all that was of human interest, and possessed a wide sympathy which not only gave itself to the impulses of his time, but overflowed in tenderness towards man. His love for Guido Cavalcanti, his "first friend," is specially noteworthy. A similarity of taste and ideas probably formed the basis of this strong friendship: each was alike scholar and 1 Inferno. xxi., xxii. 2 Inferno, i. 79. In his use of symbolism rather than allegory, as in Purgatorio, xxix., xxx., he shows his adherence to tendencies of the time. 3 Inferno, xxix. 31. 5 Paradiso, vi. 112. 4 Ib. 103. poet.1 Dante shows the gentlest consideration of affection for his friend where he writes of the Lady Joan and Lady Bicë, "tacendo certe parole le quali pareano da tacere, credendo io che ancora il suo cuore mirasse la beltà di questa Primavera gentile. So intimate were they that it causes surprise to Guido's father when Dante appears in the "Inferno without his son.3 Not even the brother of Beatrice can surpass Guido in Dante's love; he is only "the friend who, according to the degrees of friendship, is the friend next in order after the first."4 Sir Theodore Martin suggests that there is "an indication peculiarly touching of the feeling with which this brother regarded Dante's devotion to his sister, in the request that he would write something for him on a lady who had died some time before,' when he must have known well that there was only one such theme on which Dante could write.” "5 But in this little incident there is a still further revelation of Dante himself, who so carefully guards his love that even Beatrice's brother must dissemble harmlessly in speaking to him of her, and counts as his friend a man of such delicacy of feeling and thoughtful consideration as this brother displayed in inviting him to a task that might in a measure console him in his grief. His relation to Cavalcanti is not the only one in which he reveals himself in the capacity of a friend. As if hungry for affection, he responds quickly to the shade of Casella coming to greet him with outstretched arms: 1 A resemblance has been traced between Cavalcanti's Song of Fortune and Dante's description of the Wheel of Fortune, Inferno, vii. 63. Cf. Longfellow's translation of the Divine Comedy, note to this passage. 2 V. N. xxiv. 4 V. N. xxxiii. 8 Inferno, x. 58. 5 Martin, Vita Nuova of Dante translated, Introduction. He hastens to Casella mio, per tornare altra volta Là dove son, fo io questo viaggio, Diss' io; ma a te com'è tanta ora tolta?" 1 Belacqua as soon as he recognizes him, and we can almost see the iron lips part with an indulgent smile as he discovers his lazy friend.2 But not towards his friends alone did this tenderness manifest itself.3 In the presence of human nature suffering, his heart is wrung with pity. So intensely does he feel, that he cannot help weeping when he sees the distorted forms of the Sorcerers in the Fifth Bolgia: Certo i' piangea, poggiato ad un de' rocchi Virgil's chidings by no means suggest any personal sternness on Dante's part. As right Reason Virgil can see in these sufferers only sinners from perverseness of intellect, and rebukes grief here, though he did not reprove the pity for those in the Limbo, who, being guilty of no real sin, were nevertheless cut off from hope. "Gran duol mi prese al cor quando lo intesi, Perochè genti di molto valore Conobbi, che in quel limbo eran sospesi.5 1 Purgatorio, ii. 88. 2 Ib. iv. 115. The commentators agree in characterizing Belacqua as the prince of sluggards. Cf. Scartazzini, Divina Commedia, note on this passage. 8 An interesting proof in regard to this softer side of Dante's nature, that has been often unjustly disregarded, is his frequent reference to children, and to the relation between mother and child, in his similes. · Vid. Purgatorio, xv. 2; xvi. 85; xxiv. 107; xxvii. 45; xxxi. 64: Inferno, xxiii. 37: Purgatorio, xxx. 44, 79: Paradiso, i. 101; xxii. 2; xxiii. 121. Vid. also Moore's "Dante and his Early Biographers," ch. viii. p. 143, for a misunderstanding of the poet in this respect. 4 Inferno, xx. 20. Cf. also Inferno, vii. 36; xiii. 82; xvi. 10; xxix. 1: Purgatorio, xiii. 52. 5 Inferno, iv. 43. Dante's rapid inspection of the Usurers seems to be an approach to indifference to suffering; but here again it must be remembered that Reason is the influence that calls him away: "Ed io temendo nol più star cruciasse Lui, che di poco star m' avea ammonito, In striking contrast to his usual tenderness is Dante's treatment of Bocca in Antenora; the fierce hatred with which he repays the savageness of Bocca, completely in his power and defenceless, can at first sight hardly be reconciled with his habit of temper.2 But Bocca, the betrayer of the Florentine standard at Montaperti, was of all traitors the most hideous to a loyal Florentine; and perhaps the excuse often made for the one occasion on which we can detect Dante in wilful deceit,3-that any wickedness towards traitors is justifiable, - can be urged in apology for his harshness here. So great was his tenderness towards Florence, who had wronged him, that her enemies are still his. His treatment of Filippo Argenti has often been considered one of the strongest indications of the harshness of his nature.1 Argenti's pathetic words, "Vedi che son un che piango," do not deter the poet from expressions that sound like those of malevolent wrath: Maestro, molto sarei vago Di vederlo attuffare in questa broda Ed egli a me: Avanti che la proda Di tal disio converrà che tu goda." Miss Rossetti, with all her keen interpretation of Dante, says, "We really cannot help asking here, Is it possible to 1 Inferno, xvii. 76. 8 Ib. xxxiii. 117. 2 Ib. xxxii. 76. 4 Ib. viii. |