My master straight, as wondering at his speech, Exclaim'd: "Then lead us quickly, where thou sayst That, while we stay, we may enjoy delight."

A little space we were removed from thence, When I perceived the mountain hollow'd out, Even as large valleys' hollow'd out on earth.

"That way," the escorting spirit cried, Where in a bosom the high bank recedes: And thou await renewal of the day.'

66

we go,

Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path
Led us traverse into the ridge's side,

Where more than half the sloping edge expires.
Refulgent gold, and silver thrice refined,
And scarlet grain and ceruse, Indian wood2
Of lucid dye serene, fresh emeralds 3
But newly broken, by the herbs and flowers
Placed in that fair recess, in colour all
Had been surpass'd, as great surpasses less.
Nor nature only there lavish'd her hues,
But of the sweetness 4 of a thousand smells
A rare and undistinguish'd fragrance made.
"Salve Regina 5," on the grass and flowers,

1 As large valleys.] Viatores enim per viam rectam dum ambulant, campum juxta viam cernentes spatiosum et pulchrum, oblitique itineris dicunt intra se iter per campum istum faciamus, &c. Alberici Visio. § 28.

2 Indian wood.]

Indico legno lucido e sereno.

It is a little uncertain what is meant by this.

Indigo,

although it is extracted from a herb, seems the most likely. Monti in his Proposta maintains it to be ebony.

3 Fresh emeralds.]

Under foot the violet,

Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay

Broider'd the ground, more colour'd than with stone

Of costliest emblem.

Milton, P. L. b. iv. 703.

Zaffir, rubini, oro, topazj, e perle,
E diamanti, e crisoliti e giacinti
Potriano i fiori assimigliar, che per le
Liete piagge v'avea l'aura dipinti;
Si verdi l'erbe, che potendo averle
Qua giù ne foran gli smeraldi vinti.

4 The sweetness.]

Ariosto Orl. Fur. Canto xxxiv. st. 49.

E quella ai fiori, ai pomi, e alla verzura
Gli odor diversi depredando giva,

E di tutti faceva una mistura,
Che di soavità l'alma notriva.

Ibid. st. 51.

5 Salve Regina.] The beginning of a prayer to the Virgin. It is sufficient here to observe, that in similar instances I shall either preserve the original Latin words or translate them, as it may seem best to suit the purpose of the verse.

Here chanting, I beheld those spirits sit,
Who not beyond the valley could be seen.
"Before the westering sun sink to his bed,"
Began the Mantuan, who our steps had turn'd,
"'Mid those, desire not that I lead ye on.
For from this eminence ye shall discern
Better the acts and visages of all,

Than, in the nether vale, among them mix'd.
He, who sits high above the rest, and seems
To have neglected that he should have done,
And to the others' song moves not his lip,
The Emperor Rodolph call, who might have heal'd
The wounds whereof fair Italy hath died,
So that by others she revives but slowly.
He, who with kindly visage comforts him,
Sway'd in that country2, where the water springs,
That Moldaw's river to the Elbe, and Elbe
Rolls to the ocean: Ottocar 3 his name:
Who in his swaddling clothes was of more worth
Than Winceslaus his son, a bearded man,
Pamper'd with rank luxuriousness and ease.
And that one with the nose deprest1, who close
In counsel seems with him of gentle look",
Flying expired, withering the lily's flower.
Look there, how he doth knock against his breast.
The other ye behold, who for his cheek
Makes of one hand a couch, with frequent sighs.
They are the father and the father-in-law
Of Gallia's bane: his vicious life they know

1 The Emperor Rodolph.] died in 1291.

2 That country.] Bohemia.

See the last Canto, v. 104. He

3 Ottocar.] King of Bohemia, who was killed in the battle of Marchfield, fought with Rodolph, August 26, 1278. Winceslaus II. his son, who succeeded him in the kingdom of Bohemia, died in 1305. The latter is again taxed with luxury in the Paradise, xix. 123.

4 That one with the nose deprest.]

Philip III. of France, father of Philip IV. He died in 1285, at Perpignan, in his retreat from Arragon.

5 Him of gentle look.] Henry of Navarre, father of Jane married to Philip IV. of France, whom Dante calls "mal di Francia"-"Gallia's bane."

6 Gallia's bane.] G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 146, speaks with equal resentment of Philip IV. "In 1291, on the night of the calends of May, Philip le Bel, King of France, by advice of Biccio and Musciatto Franzesi, ordered all the Italians, who were in his country and realm, to be seized, under pretence of seizing the money-lenders, but thus he caused the good merchants also to be seized and ransomed; for which

And foul; thence comes the grief that rends them

thus.

"He, so robust of limb1, who measure keeps
In song with him of feature prominent2,
With every virtue bore his girdle braced.
And if that stripling 3, who behind him sits,
King after him had lived, his virtue then
From vessel to like vessel had been pour'd;
Which may not of the other heirs be said.
By James and Frederick his realms are held;
Neither the better heritage obtains.
Rarely into the branches of the tree

he was much blamed and held in great abhorrence. And from thenceforth the realm of France fell evermore into degradation and decline. And it is observable, that between the taking of Acre and this seizure in France, the merchants of Florence received great damage and ruin of their property."

1 He, so robust of limb.] Peter III. called the Great, King of Arragon, who died in 1285, leaving four sons, Alonzo, James, Frederick, and Peter. The two former succeeded him in the kingdom of Arragon, and Frederick in that of Sicily. See G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 102, and Mariana, lib. xiv. cap. 9.

He is enumerated among the Provençal poets by Millot. Hist. Litt. des Troubadours, tom. iii. p. 150.

2 Him of feature prominent.] "Dal maschio naso"-" with the masculine nose." Charles I. King of Naples, Count of Anjou, and brother of St. Louis. He died in 1284.

The annalist of Florence remarks, that "there had been no sovereign of the house of France, since the time of Charlemagne, by whom Charles was surpassed either in military renown and prowess, or in the loftiness of his understanding." G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 94. We shall, however, find many of his actions severely reprobated in the twentieth Canto.

3 That stripling.] Either (as the old commentators suppose) Alonzo III. King of Arragon, the eldest son of Peter III. who died in 1291, at the age of 27; or, according to Venturi, Peter the youngest son. The former was a young prince of virtue sufficient to have justified the eulogium and the hopes of Dante. See Mariana, lib. xiv. cap. 14.

4 By James and Frederick.] See note to Canto iii. 112.
5 Rarely.]

Full well can the wise poet of Florence,
That hight Dantes, speake in this sentence;
Lo in such manner rime is Dantes tale.
Full selde upriseth by his branches smale
Prowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse
Woll that we claim of him our gentlenesse :
For of our elders may we nothing claime

But temporal thing, that men may hurt and maime.
Chaucer, Wife of Bathe's Tale.

Compare Homer Od. b. ii. v. 276. Pindar, Nem. xi. 48. and

Euripides, Electra. 369.

Doth human worth mount up: and so ordains
He who bestows it, that as his free gift

It may be call'd. To Charles1 my words apply
No less than to his brother in the song;

Which Pouille and Provence now with grief confess.
So much that plant degenerates from its seed,
As, more than Beatrix and Margaret,
Costanza2 still boasts of her valorous spouse.
"Behold the king of simple life and plain,
Harry of England 3, sitting there alone:
He through his branches better issue1 spreads.
"That one, who, on the ground, beneath the rest,
Sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft,

Is William, that brave Marquis, for whose cause,
The deed of Alexandria and his war

Makes Montferrat and Canavese weep."

1 To Charles.] "Al Nasuto"-" Charles II. King of Naples, is no less inferior to his father Charles I. than James and Frederick to theirs, Peter III." See Canto xx. 78, and Paradise, Canto xix. 125.

2 Costanza.] Widow of Peter III. She has been already mentioned in the third Canto, v. 112. By Beatrix and Margaret are probably meant two of the daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence; the latter married to St. Louis of France, the former to his brother Charles of Anjou, King of Naples. See Paradise, Canto vi. 135. Dante therefore considers Peter as the most illustrious of the three monarchs.

3 Harry of England.] Henry III. The contemporary annalist speaks of this king in similar terms. G. Villani, lib. v. cap. 4. From Richard was born Henry, who reigned after him, who was a plain man and of good faith, but of little courage." With the exception of the last part of the sentence, which must be changed for its opposite, we might well imagine ourselves to be reading the character of our present venerable monarch. (A. D. 1819.) Fazio degli Uberti, Dittamondo, 1. iv. cap. xxv. where he gives the characters of our Norman kings, speaks less respectfully of Henry. Capitoli xxiii-xxv. lib. iv. of this neglected poem appear to deserve the notice of our antiquarians.

4 Better issue.] Edward I. of whose glory our Poet was perhaps a witness, in his visit to England. "From the said Henry was born the good king Edward, who reigns in our times, who has done great things, whereof we shall make mention in due place." G. Villani, ibid.

5 William, that brave Marquis.] William, Marquis of Montferrat, was treacherously seized by his own subjects, at Alessandria in Lombardy, A. D. 1290, and ended his life in prison. See G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. 135. A war ensued between the people of Alessandria and those of Montferrat and the Canavese, now a part of Piedmont.

CANTO VIII.

ARGUMENT.

Two angels, with flaming swords broken at the points, descend to keep watch over the valley, into which Virgil and Dante entering by desire of Sordello, our poet meets with joy the spirit of Nino, the judge of Gallura, one who was well known to him. Meantime three exceedingly bright stars appear near the pole, and a serpent creeps subtly into the valley, but flees at hearing the approach of those angelic guards. Lastly, Conrad Malaspina predicts to our poet his future banishment.

Now was the hour that wakens fond desire
In men at sea, and melts their thoughtful heart
Who in the morn have bid sweet friends farewel,
And pilgrim newly on his road with love
Thrills, if he hear the vesper bell from far1,
That seems to mourn for the expiring day 2:
When I, no longer taking heed to hear,
Began, with wonder, from those spirits to mark
One risen from its seat, which with its hand
Audience implored. Both palms it join'd and raised,
Fixing its stedfast gaze toward the east,
As telling God, "I care for nought beside."
"Te Lucis Ante3," so devoutly then
Came from its lip, and in so soft a strain,
That all my sense 4 in ravishment was lost.
And the rest after, softly and devout,

Follow'd through all the hymn, with upward gaze
Directed to the bright supernal wheels.

[keen:

Here, reader5! for the truth make thine eyes

I Hear the vesper bell from far.]

I hear the far-off curfeu sound.

Milton's Penseroso.

2 That seems to mourn for the expiring day.] The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.

Gray's Elegy.

Sylv. 1. iv. 6. 3.

3 Te Lucis Ante.] Te lucis ante terminum,' says Lombardi, is the first verse of the hymn sung by the church in the last part of the sacred office termed compieta, a service which our Chaucer calls "complin."

4 All my sense.]

Fece me a me uscir di mente.

Me surpuerat mihi.

Horat. Carm. lib. iv. od. 13. 5 Here, reader!] Lombardi's explanation of this passage, by which the commentators have been much perplexed, though it may be thought rather too subtile and fine-spun, like the veil itself spoken of in the text, cannot be denied the praise of extraordinary ingenuity. "This admonition of the poet to his reader," he observes," seems to relate to