picture in a few pregnant lines. Himself skilled in design, he has given descriptions of imaginary works of art which seem to reflect the marbles of Phidias. As a teacher of morality by examples, and of kindness by winning illustrations, no writer surpasses Dante. Envy was the root of all bitterness among his countrymen and the moral source of their national calamities; this vice the poet endeavours to root out. Nay, more-he sought to make this great poem, as Dr. Barlow expresses it, "a hand-book to Heaven, a treasure of religious sentiments, and of aids to the perfection of spiritual life." Hence we cannot wonder that Christian advocates should quote its authority in their pulpits as inferior only to that of the Scriptures."

There is one thing, however, that Dante is not. He is not sentimental. Throughout this great poem I have been able to find but one sentimental passage, and that fits in admirably with the context. The passage referred to includes the two tercets which introduce the eighth canto of the Purgatorio :

'Twas now the hour that wakes to longing who

Sail o'er the sea, and moves the heart tenderly
The day they said to their sweet friends, Adieu !

And the new Pilgrim pricks to love if he

Should hear from far away a little bell *

That seems a-weeping o'er the dying day.

According to the astrological science of Dante's time, the earth was regarded as the fixed centre of creation, and the sun a planet revolving around her, together with the other planets, not in obedience to the mechanical laws as we now understand them, but under the immediate guidance of Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Principalities, and Powers. When Satan was hurled from heaven, that part of the earth on which he fell, shrinking from the polluting contact, formed a vast conical cavity, or hell, the destined abode of

*The Ave Maria.

the unrepenting soul, and the portion of earth thus displaced formed an enormous mountain in the Southern hemisphere, the Mount of Purgatory, where the repentant soul should become purged from its sin. During this great convulsion the terrestrial Paradise was removed to the summit

of the Purgatorial Mount, so that the purified soul had to pass through the abode of our first parents on his way to Heaven.

According to this scheme, the earth and its inhabitants are the central objects of God's care, and there is a constant interchange of relationship between the earth and the heavens. The earth is surrounded by the spheres of air and of fire, the latter producing lightning, the aurora, fiery meteors, &c. Beyond the sphere of fire is the heaven of the moon, the abode of those who on earth had failed in the religious vow of continence. Mercury contains the souls of patriot kings and active spirits; Venus is the fit abode of lovers; the Sun of schoolmen; Mars of Christian warriors; Jupiter of righteous rulers; and Saturn of contemplative saints. The heaven of the fixed stars contains the Host of the triumph of Christ; the Primum Mobile is the sphere of the Divine Glory, and the Empyrean the sphere of God's visible presence.

Dante writes throughout in the first person, and begins by stating that, having attained the middle age of thirtyfive, he found himself in a dark, entangled forest, symbolical of life full of sin and error, in which the beaten path was lost.

Ah, me! how hard it were to make it clear,

What was this strong, rough forest, tangled o'er,
Which only in the thought renews the fear,

So bitter 'tis, e'en Death is little more.

So bitter is it to recall the sins of one's youth. But, while struggling on, he saw in the distance the delectable mountain, the top of which was illuminated by Christ, the

Sun of Righteousness; and, pressing eagerly forward to climb it, he was arrested by a panther, symbolical of sensual pleasure, which drove him out of his path. Proceeding in another direction he was arrested by a furious lion, symbolical of pride or ambition, and also by a hungry she-wolf, the symbol of avarice. These three beasts wrought such terror in him that he fled, and was thus still further removed from the delectable mountain. While swiftly running, he became aware of the presence of one

Who hoarse appeared through silence long sustained;

thus referring in the usual figurative language to the general neglect of the study of Virgil, for it was the shade of the Bard of Mantua that now stood before him.

O light and pride of all the Bards that sing!
May the great love, long study profit me,
Which to explore thy Volume me did bring.
In thee my Master, Author, too, I see,

For thou art he alone, from whom I won

The beauteous style that made me honoured be.

Then, imploring protection against the beasts, especially the she-wolf, which is further symbolical of the Court of Rome, and the temporal power, Virgil explains to him that it is necessary for his welfare that he traverse Hell in order to see how sinful sin is, and how awful its punishments; after which he must see Purgatory, in order to know something of repentance, before he can witness the joys of Heaven. Virgil will be his guide through Hell and Purgatory, but for the higher vision

A soul shall come, worthier for that than I;

I'll place thee 'neath her guidance, quitting mine. This is the first allusion to Beatrice, and, although she does not actually appear until towards the end of the second cantica, yet we never lose sight of her, and it is upon the proper understanding of her character and function that the real meaning of the poem becomes apparent.

In the second canto Dante expresses doubt as to whether his manhood is equal to the tremendous undertaking that has been proposed to him; he urges that he is not Æneas, nor Paul, and no one would deem him worthy to emulate them. Virgil replies that if he has understood him rightly, his soul is infected with cowardice, which has kept many a man back from an honoured deed. He then proceeds to explain how he came to that desert place to meet Dante. "I was 'mong those who in suspension be" (that is, in Limbo, so suspended as to be neither blessed in glory, nor tormented with punishment; neither saved nor lost)—

A saintly Lady called me, one so fair,

I begged her to command my service free.

Her

eyes shone brighter than the star ;* and clear And soft her angel voice, when she began

In her own tongue thus to address mine ear:

"O courteous spirit of the Mantuan !

Whose fame yet in the world hath known no end,
Fame that will last as long as motion can;

A friend of mine, of Fortune not a friend,
Now on the desert slope upon his way

Is hindered, and through dread would backward wend:
He may, I fear, be so much gone astray,

That I have risen to his aid too late,

From that which I of him in Heaven heard say.
Now hasten thou, and with thy speech ornate,

And with what else it needs for his release,
Assist him, so that I be consolate;

I who now bid thee go am Beatrice."

Virgil eagerly accepts the commission, but expresses his surprise that Beatrice should venture into Hell to seek him. out. She replies :

"Since thou desir'st my inward thoughts to trace,

I was created, by God's merciful will,
Such that your misery doth not me attain,
Nor flame of this same burning me assail.
A gentle Lady* doth in Heaven complain

Of this impediment to which thou'rt sent:
So there stern judgment broken doth remain.
With her request to Lucia † she went

And said: "Thy faithful one needs aid from thee,
I recommend him unto thy intent."
Lucia, the foe of every cruelty,

Bestirred herself, and came to the place where I
With ancient Rachel‡ sat in company,

And said, "True praise of God, O Beatrice! why
Dost thou not succour him who loved thee so,
That he for thee the vulgar herd did fly?

Dost thou not hear his piteous cries of woe?

Nor see death combat him that floods beside
O'er which the ocean can no boasting know."
Never did persons in the world abide

More swift to fly their ill, their gain to meet,
Than I after such speech as this. I hied

Me straightway downward from my blessed seat,
Confiding in thy speech ingenuous

Which honours thee, and those who've heard thee yet.'
When she had finished speaking to me thus,

Her beaming eyes in tears she turned away,
Whereby she made me swifter on my course.
And so I came to thee, as she did pray;

From that wild beast have I delivered thee,

Which to yon mountain bright barred the short way.”

It will be observed that Beatrice is styled by Lucia "True praise of God!" and earlier in the canto, Virgil addresses her

birth.

"O virtuous Lady! thou through whom alone

The human race excelleth all who dwell

Within that Heaven by lesser circles known."

Divine Mercy-"Gentle" is in the sense of generous, or of gentle

+ Emblem of enlightening grace.

Emblem of the contemplative life.

§ Man given up to turbulent passions leading to spiritual death.