There are two just men 6 there, who live defamed And hated. Envy, pride, and avarice Are the three sparks that have men's hearts inflamed.' 75 With that he from his mournful strain surceased. And I resumed; 'Yet would I further learn Of thee, and crave the gift of further speech. Of Farinata, and Tegghiaio, who So worthy were; of Jacob Rusticucci, Arrigo, Mosca, and the others, who To do well enter'd fair; 7—say in what place Are they with blacker souls for heavier guilt; 80 85 with neither. This is Buti's interpretation of the words 'che teste piaggia,' which he refers to Pope Boniface VIII., who brought about the expulsion of the Bianchi by the instrumentality of Charles de Valois. It is not known who these are. Sigr. Bianchi thinks they may have been Dante himself, and Guido Cavalcanti, mentioned in Canto x., who is described by Benvenuto da Imola as 'Alter oculus Florentiæ tempore Dantis.' 7 These persons (with the exception of Arrigo Fifanti, who is not mentioned elsewhere) are introduced later in the poem; Farinata degli Uberti in the 10th, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi degli Adimari, and Jacob Rusticucci in the 16th, and Mosca degli Uberti (or, as some think, dei Lamberti) in the 28th, Canto. But, when thou shalt be in the joyous world, A moment look'd at me; then bow'd his head, No more until the angel-trump shall sound. His former shape and moulder'd flesh resume, And hear the aye-resounding voice of doom.' Onward with slow steps o'er the loathsome mass Of rain and spirits blent we held our way, Touching a little on the life to come. Whence I inquired; 'O Master, say, these torments— Will they increase after the general doom, Or will they be as now, or less intense?' Whereto he said; To thy science 8 repair, Which wills that as each thing more perfect is, It has a keener sense of joy and woe. Albeit this accursed people ne'er Attaineth unto full perfection, yet Will they be nearer to it then than now.'9 Thus round that circling road we wound our way, Conversing more than I can here repeat : We gain'd the pathway that conducts below: There found we Plutus, 10 the arch-enemy. 8 The Aristotelian philosophy. Metaph. iv. 16. 9 The inference—that on recovering their bodies they will experience an increase of suffering—is implied. 10 The God of riches. 115 47 CANTO VII. Pape Satan. ARGUMENT. The Poets descend into the fourth circle. Here they view the souls of the Avaricious and of the Prodigal, in large troops, arranged in circles, and rolling heavy weights, which they dash against one another. The Prodigal taunt the Avaricious with their miserliness, and the Avaricious taunt the Prodigal with their reckless expenditure. Driven asunder, they retrace their steps, each pursuing the course of his own semi-circle, until they reach the extreme point, where they are again severed. Conversing on the office of Fortune, and the vicissitudes of which she is the author, the Poets descend into the fifth circle, following the course of a rivulet which brings them to the margin of Styx ;—where, wallowing on the surface of its filthy waters, they view the souls of the Angry, smiting and rending one another in ferocious conflict. From beneath they catch the echoes of the inarticulate wailings of the Slothful, who are fixed in the slime at the bottom of the pool. Having made a wide circuit round the edge of the lake, they arrive at the base of a tower. 'Pape Satan, Pape Satan, aleppe !' Plutus 'gan bay with hideous din—but he, The gentle-hearted sage who all things knew, 1 This line is said to mean, 'Ho! Satan, ho! Satan, my chief!' 'Pape,' is probably the Greek παπαí. 'Aleppe' is Hebrew. Spake word of comfort; 'Let not thy dismay Not stay thy progress down this rock-hewn way.' Visage, he said; Accursed wolf, be still! Within thyself that rabid wrath consume. Not without cause is this descent into The gulf: 'tis willed on high, where Michael pour'd As when a ship's sails swollen by the gale IO Collapse and fall about the shivering mast; So to the earth the savage monster fell. Thus down into the fourth abyss we pass'd, Traversing more of that dark region fill'd With all the evils of the universe. Ah me! Justice Divine—how dost thou heap New pains and travails, which these eyes beheld: As wave with wave upon Charybdis' pool Meets, and is broken, and runs diverse; so The people here in eddying circles move. 15 20 25 5 |