Do these entreat. Can then their hope be vain? Or is thy saying not to me reveal'd?"

He thus to me: "Both what I write is plain, And these deceived not in their hope; if well Thy mind consider, that the sacred height Of judgment doth not stoop, because love's flame In a short moment all fulfils, which he, Who sojourns here, in right should satisfy. Besides, when I this point concluded thus, By praying no defect could be supplied; Because the prayer had none access to God. Yet in this deep suspicion rest thou not Contented, unless she assure thee so, Who betwixt truth and mind infuses light: I know not if thou take me right; I mean Beatrice. Her thou shalt behold above, Upon this mountain's crown, fair seat of joy."

Then I: "Sir! let us mend our speed; for now I tire not as before: and lo! the hill

8

Stretches its shadow far." He answer'd thus:
"Our progress with this day shall be as much
As we may now despatch; but otherwise
Than thou supposest is the truth. For there
Thou canst not be, ere thou once more behold
Him back returning, who behind the steep
Is now so hidden, that, as erst, his beam
Thou dost not break. But lo! a spirit there
Stands solitary, and toward us looks:
It will instruct us in the speediest way."

We soon approach'd it. O thou Lombard spirit!
How didst thou stand, in high abstracted mood,
Scarce moving with slow dignity thine eyes.
It spoke not aught, but let us onward pass,
Eying us as a lion on his watch.

But Virgil, with entreaty mild, advanced,
Requesting it to show the best ascent.
It answer to his question none return'd;
But of our country and our kind of life
Demanded. When my courteous guide began,

8" The hill." It was now past the noon.

"Mantua," the shadow, in itself absorb'd,

Rose toward us from the place in which it stood,
And cried, "Mantuan! I am thy countryman,

Sordello." Each the other then embraced.

Ah, slavish Italy! thou inn of grief!
Vessel without a pilot in loud storm!
Lady no longer of fair provinces,

But brothel-house impure! this gentle spirit,
Even from the pleasant sound of his dear land
Was prompt to greet a fellow-citizen

With such glad cheer: while now thy living ones
In thee abide not without war; and one

Malicious gnaws another; ay, of those

Whom the same wall and the same moat contains.
Seek, wretched one! around the sea-coasts wide;
Then homeward to thy bosom turn; and mark,
If any part of thee sweet peace enjoy.

What boots it, that thy reins Justinian's hand
Refitted, if thy saddle be unprest?

Naught doth he now but aggravate thy shame.
Ah, people! thou obedient still should'st live,
And in the saddle let thy Cæsar sit,

If well thou marked'st that which God commands.
Look how that beast to fellness hath relapsed,

From having lost correction of the spur,

Since to the bridle thou hast set thine hand,

O German Albert !10 who abandon'st her

That is grown savage and unmanageable,

When thou shouldst clasp her flanks with forked heels,
Just judgment from the stars fall on thy blood;

And be it strange and manifest to all;

11

Such as may strike thy successor with dread;
For that thy sire 12 and thou have suffer'd thus,
Through greediness of yonder realms detain'd,

"Sordello." The history of Sordello's life is wrapt in the obscurity of romance. That he distinguished himself by his skill in Provençal poetry is certain; and many feats of military prowess have been attributed to him. It is probable that he was born toward the end of the twelfth, and died about the middle of the succeeding, century.

10" German Albert!" The Emperor Albert I succeeded Adolphus in

1298, and was murdered in 1308. See "Paradise," Canto xix. 114.

11" Thy successor." The successor of Albert was Henry of Luxembürg, by whose interposition in the affairs of Italy our Poet hoped to have been reinstated in his native city.

12" Thy sire.' The Emperor Rodolph, too intent on increasing his power in Germany to give much of his thoughts to Italy, "the garden of the empire."

The garden of the empire to run waste.
Come, see the Capulets and Montagues.13

The Filippeschi and Monaldi,1* man

Who carest for naught! those sunk in grief, and these
With dire suspicion rack'd. Come, cruel one!
Come, and behold the oppression of the nobles,
And mark their injuries; and thou mayst see
What safety Santafiore can supply.15

Come and behold thy Rome, who calls on thee,
Desolate widow, day and night with moans,

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'My Cæsar, why dost thou desert my side?"
Come, and behold what love among thy people:
And if no pity touches thee for us,

Come, and blush for thine own report. For me,
If it be lawful, O Almighty Power!

Who wast in earth for our sakes crucified,
Are thy just eyes turn'd elsewhere? or is this
A preparation, in the wondrous depth

Of thy sage counsel made, for some good end,
Entirely from our reach of thought cut off?
So are the Italian cities all o'erthrong'd
With tyrants, and a great Marcellus made
Of every petty factious villager.

My Florence! thou mayst well remain unmoved
At this digression, which affects not thee:
Thanks to thy people, who so wisely speed.
Many have justice in their heart, that long
Waiteth for counsel to direct the bow,
Or ere it dart unto its aim: but thine
Have it on their lips' edge. Many refuse
To bear the common burdens: readier thine
Answer uncall'd, and cry, " Behold I stoop!"

Make thyself glad, for thou hast reason now,
Thou wealthy! thou at peace! thou wisdom-fraught!
Facts best will witness if I speak the truth.

Athens and Lacedæmon, who of old

18" Capulets and Montagues." Our ears are so familiarized to the names of these rival houses in the language of Shakespeare, that I have used them instead of the "Montecchi and Cap

pelletti." They were two powerful Ghibelline families of Verona.

14 Filippeschi and Monaldi." Two other rival families in Orvieto.

15 46

What safety Santafiore can supply." A place between Pisa and Sienna.

Enacted laws, for civil arts renown'd,
Made little progress in improving life
Toward thee, who usest such nice subtlety,
That to the middle of November scarce
Reaches the thread thou in October weavest.
How many times within thy memory,
Customs, and laws, and coins, and offices
Have been by thee renew'd, and people changed.
If thou remember'st well and canst see clear,
Thou wilt perceive thyself like a sick wretch,
Who finds no rest upon her down, but oft
Shifting her side, short respite seeks from pain.

CANTO VII

ARGUMENT.-The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello conducts our Poet apart to an eminence, from whence they behold a pleasant recess, in form of a flowery valley, scooped out of the mountain; where are many famous spirits, and among them the Emperor Rodolph, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, Philip III, of France, Henry, of Navarre, Peter III, of Arragon, Charles I, of Naples, Henry III, of England, and William, Marquis of Montferrat.

A

FTER their courteous greetings joyfully

Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew
Exclaiming, "Who are ye?" "Before this mount

By spirits worthy of ascent to God

Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care
Been buried. I am Virgil; for no sin
Deprived of heaven, except for lack of faith."
So answer'd him in few my gentle guide.

As one, who aught before him suddenly
Beholding, whence his wonder riseth, cries,
"It is, yet is not," wavering in belief;
Such he appear'd; then downward bent his eyes,
And, drawing near with reverential step,
Caught him, where one of mean estate might clasp
His lord. "Glory of Latium!" he exclaim'd,
"In whom our tongue its utmost power display'd;
Boast of my honor'd birth-place! what desert

Of mine, what favor, rather, undeserved,
Shows thee to me? If I to hear that voice
Am worthy, say if from below thou comest,

And from what cloister's pale." "Through every orb
Of that sad region," he replied, "thus far

Am I arrived, by heavenly influence led:
And with such aid I come. Not for my doing,
But for not doing, have I lost the sight

Of that high Sun, whom thou desirest, and who
By me too late was known. There is a place1
There underneath, not made by torments sad,
But by dun shades alone; where mourning's voice
Sounds not of anguish sharp, but breathes in sighs.
There I with little innocents abide,

Who by death's fangs were bitten, ere exempt
From human taint. There I with those abide,
Who the three holy virtues put not on,
But understood the rest, and without blame

Follow'd them all. But, if thou know'st, and canst,
Direct us how we soonest may arrive,

Where Purgatory its true beginning takes."

He answer'd thus: "We have no certain place
Assign'd us: upward I may go, or round.
Far as I can, I join thee for thy guide.
But thou beholdest now how day declines;
And upward to proceed by night, our power
Excels: therefore it may be well to choose
A place of pleasant sojourn. To the right
Some spirits sit apart retired. If thou
Consentest, I to these will lead thy steps:
And thou wilt know them, not without delight."
How chances this?" was answer'd:

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66

whoso wish'd

To ascend by night, would he be thence debarr'd
By other, or through his own weakness fail?"

The good Sordello then, along the ground
Trailing his finger, spoke: "Only this line
Thou shalt not overpass, soon as the sun

1" There is a place." Limbo. See "Hell," Canto iv. 24.

"The three holy virtues."

Hope, and Charity.

Faith,

8"The rest." Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.