Readings on the Purgatorio of Dante; Chiefly Based on the Commentary of Benvenuto Da Imola Volume 1

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1889 edition. Excerpt: ... misery of man, and the irreparable ruin of the proud, whose glory he sees trampled under foot* Division II. Here begins the Second Division of the Canto, in which Dante teaches his readers how to avoid pride by reminding them of several more notable examples of it. The passage is noteworthy from its artificial structure from v. 25 to v. 63. First there are four stanzas beginning " Vedea"; then four beginning "O"; then four beginning "Mostrava"; and finally a stanza which resumes and unites them all. Venturi remarks on the description we are about to read, that it is an ugly medley of sacred and profane, of revealed truth and fiction. The first kind of pride of which a representation is given is the worst of all, viz.: that of the chief angel, he who wished to become like unto the Most High. Vedea colui che fu nobil creato 25 Piu d' altra creatura, giu dal cielo Folgoreggiando scender da un lato. I beheld on one side him who was created more noble than all other creatures, that is, Lucifer, falling down like lightning from heaven.-)" * Compare Gray's Elegy-- "Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire, Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre." t Milton in Par. Lost, I, 44, describes the fall of Lucifer-- "Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, With hideous ruin and combustion, down Benvenuto takes "da un lato" to mean " from our hemisphere," an interpretation which appears farfetched and unnecessary, for the words seem to stand in direct contrast to verses 25-26: -- Vedeva Briareo .... giacer dell' altra parte. I saw Lucifer on one side, I saw Briareus on the other. Benvenuto says that Petrarch, who was his intimate To...