But their fell curses cannot fix our doom,

Nor stay the eternal Love from His intent,
While Hope remaining bears her verdant bloom.
'Tis true, that he who doth the Church offend,
And contumacious dies, though he repent
At last,--for all the space that he did spend
In that presumption-must, without this ridge
Rove thirty times as long; unless such date
The availing prayers of holy men abridge.
See then the means how thou my soul may'st cheer,
Telling my good Costanza the estate

In which thou see'st me, and this ban; for here
Have earthly vows a never failing weight."

133

139

NOTES.

Page 20. (Line 1.) The plain means the level ground at the foot of the mountain. (8.) Cato had reproved the spirits at the conclusion of the last canto for their delay in ascending the mountain. This reproach the tender conscience of Virgil takes to himself, remembering how frequently he had lectured Dante for wasting time. (12.) i.e. My mind, which had before been wholly engaged in listening to the song of Casella, now enlarged its aim to a contemplation of the mountain of Purgatory.

Page 21. (Line 19.) Dante, not considering Virgil was a spirit, expected to see his shadow on the ground as well as his own, and on perceiving only one, imagines himself abandoned.

Page 22. (Line 38.) i.e. “ Had the ways of God been known to our first Parents, and why the apple was forbidden, they would not have listened to the temptations of Satan, and superinduced the necessity of our Saviour's incarnation. (40.) i.e. Plato, Aristotle, and other speculative Philosophers.— "Had they," says Virgil, "been humble minded, instead of endeavouring to pierce the counsels of God, they would ere this have been blessed with the sight of His face, i.e. have been admitted into Paradise, whereas they are now condemned to suffer in Limbo the torment of unsatisfied curiosity, without the hope of ever gratifying their wishes." Of this number of philosophers was Virgil himself. Inf. iv. 42. Hence his perturbation, and the abrupt conclusion of his speech. His argument is this: "() mortal race, if such great intellects have fruitlessly busied themselves in the investigation of the divine ways, how much more will ye labour in vain."-Torelli. (50.) Lerici and Turbiá are two places in the mountainous country of Genoa. (56.) “Esaminando del cammin la mente." This is translated on the authority of Biagioli, who adds: "Virgil's mind was wholly wrapt up in reflecting upon the means of overcoming the difficulties of the road, as is evident from what follows, where the poet designedly and with great art makes Dante who was looking about him, alone take cognizance of the troop of spirits approaching." (60.) "The tardiness of these people is intended to designate the manner of their life on earth, negligent and remiss in performing meritorious actions."-Ottimo Commento.

Page 23. (Line 72.)" These spirits, seeing the two travellers

coming to them in an opposite direction-a thing wholly new -are struck with astonishment; and retreating to the side of the mountain, stand at gaze in doubt and alarm.”—Biagioli. (79.) "If one sheep should throw himself down a precipice of a thousand feet, all the rest would follow; and if one, for any cause, in passing a road should leap, all the rest would leap, though they saw nothing to leap over."-Dante. Convito.

Page 24. (Line 100.) i.e. Enter the cave or grotto, mentioned before, line 90. (107.) Manfred-King of Naples and Sicily. On the invasion of Italy by Charles of Anjou, he was defeated and killed at Beneventum in 1265.-In explanation of the remainder of the canto, the following extract from Sismondi is given. "Dante is accosted by Manfred, the natural son of Frederick II. and the greatest prince who has filled the throne of the two Sicilies. He enjoins Dante to seek his daughter Constance, wife of Peter III, of Arragon, and mother of Frederick, the avenger of the Sicilians, for the purpose of satisfying her as to his doom, and dissipating the painful doubts which the Pope and the Priesthood had excited. Not contented with persecuting him during his life, with defaming his character, and precipitating him from his throne, they took upon themselves to pronounce the sentence of his eternal dam nation. His body was torn from the grave and exposed on the banks of a river, as that of a rebellious and excommunicated son of the Church. Yet the Divinity, whose mercy is not as the mercy of man, hath accepted him, pardoned him, and given him promise of an eternity of bliss:-neither the malediction of the priests, nor the imposing forms of excom munication possessing power to deprive sinners of the benefits of infinite love. It was thus that this singular poem might be said to convey tidings from parents to their children, and to

afford ground for hopes, by giving, as it were, an authentic description of the state of the soul after dissolution."-Italian Literature. Roscoe's Translation.

Page 25. (Line 121.) Manfred is reported to have led a dissolute life, and slain his father and brother. But the truth of this story is very questionable, when it is considered with what commendation he is spoken of by our poet in his De Vulg. Eloq i. 12. (122.) Petrarch has imitated Dante:

"Quelle pietose braccia

In cui io mi fido, veggio aperte ancora."

(124.) "Because Manfred died under sentence of excommunication, King Charles would not have his body brought into consecrated ground, and he was buried at the foot of the bridge of Beneventum. A stone was thrown by every soldier in the army upon the trench, so that a great mound was raised. But it is reported that by command of the Pope, Clement IV., the Bishop of Cosenza took his body thence and carried it out of the kingdom, because it was church land; and he was buried by the side of the river Verdè.”—Villani, lib. vii. cap. 9. (130.) Thus Virgil. Æn. vi. 362. "Nunc me fluctus habet, versantque in littore venti." (132.) The" quench'd torches" denote deprivation of the customary honour of lights at interment: and "their fell curses” refer to Pope Clement and the Bishop of Cosenza, or to Priests in general.-Lombardi.

Page 26. (Line 133.) "Their curses," Manfred says, "are ineffective, while there is hope of obtaining the favour of God." (140.) Thus Virgil, Æn. vi. 320:-" Nec ripas datur," &c. (144.) The “ban" alludes to the prohibition to enter Purgatory till after the period appointed to the excommunicated.

CANTO IV.

ARGUMENT.

THE Poets ascend the mountain through a narrow opening. They find several indolent spirits reposing in the shade, behind a large stone. With one of these, Belacqua, Dante holds a conversation.

WHEN through excess of joy, or misery,
Which any of our faculties enchains,
The soul concentrates all its energy,

It seems no other impulse to obey ;

And this dispels that error, which maintains.

More souls than one light up our mortal clay.

And thus, when aught perchance is heard or seen,

17

Which strongly to itself attracts the soul,

Time flies, though man perceives not it hath been:

For know, that hearing is a faculty

Distinct from that which animates the whole;

And this appears enchain'd, while that is free.