CANTO XIV. ARGUMENT. Our Poet on this second cornice finds also the souls of Guido del Duca of Brettinoro, and Rinieri da Calboli of Romagna; the latter of whom, hearing that he comes from the banks of the Arno, inveighs against the degeneracy of all those who dwell in the cities visited by that stream; and the former, in like manner, against the inhabitants of Romagna. On leaving these, our Poets hear voices recording noted instances of envy. "SAY1, who is he around our mountain winds, Or ever death has pruned his wing for flight; That opes his eyes, and covers them at will?" "I know not who he is, but know thus much; He comes not singly. Do thou ask of him, For thou art nearer to him; and take heed, Accost him2 gently, so that he may speak.' Thus on the right two spirits, bending each Toward the other, talk'd of me; then both Addressing me, their faces backward lean'd, And thus the one3 began: "O soul, who yet Pent in the body, tendest towards the sky! For charity, we pray thee, comfort us; Recounting whence thou comest, and who thou art : For thou dost make us, at the favour shown thee, Marvel, as at a thing that ne'er hath been." "There stretches through the midst of Tuscany," I straight began, "a brooklet 4, whose well-head Springs up in Falterona; with his race Not satisfied, when he some hundred miles 1 Say.] The two spirits who thus speak to each other are, Guido del Duca of Brettinoro, and Rinieri da Calboli of Romagna. 2 Accost him.] It is worthy of remark, that the Latin annotator on the Monte Casino MS. agrees with Landino in reading "a colo," instead of "accolo," and interprets it as he does: "Nil aliud vult auctor dicere de colo, nisi quod cum interroget ita dulciter ut respondeat (sic) eum ad colum, id est quod tantum respondeat auctor eis quod animus eorum remaneat in quiete et non in suspenso." "The author means to say, that the spirit should interrogate him courteously, that he may return such an answer as shall put a period to their suspense." Still I have retained my translation of the common reading generally supposed to be put by syncope for "accoglilo," "accost him." 3 The one.] Guido del Duca. A brooklet.] The Arno, that rises in Falterona, a mountain in the Apennine. Its course is a hundred and twenty miles, according to G. Villani, who traces it accurately. 66 To tell you who I am were words mis-spent: Doth of some horrible thing?" The spirit, who I know not but 't is fitting well the name Should perish of that vale; for from the source2, Where teems so plenteously the Alpine steep Maim'd of Pelorus3, (that doth scarcely pass1 Beyond that limit) even to the point Where unto ocean is restored what heaven [streams, That custom goads to evil: whence in those, His obscure way; then, sloping onward, finds 1 The other.] Rinieri da Calboli. 2 From the source.] "From the rise of the Arno in that Alpine steep,' the Apennine, from whence Pelorus in Sicily was torn by a convulsion of the earth, even to the point where the same river unites its waters to the ocean, Virtue is persecuted by all." 3 Maim'd of Pelorus.] Virg. Æn. lib. iii. 414. Lucan. Phars. lib. ii. 438. A hill Torn from Pelorus. Milton, P. L. b. i. 232. 4 That doth scarcely pass.] "Pelorus is in few places higher than Falterona, where the Arno springs." Lombardi explains this differently, and, I think, erroneously. 5 'Midst brute swine.] The people of Casentino. 6 Curs.] The Arno leaves Arezzo about four miles to the left. 7 Foss.] So in his anger he terms the Arno. s Wolves.] The Florentines. Through yet more hollow eddies, next he meets Of the fierce stream; and cows them all with dread. As one, who tidings hears of woe to come, The shade, who late address'd me, thus resumed : Thy wish imports, that I vouchsafe to do For thy sake what thou wilt not do for mine. But, since God's will is that so largely shine His grace in thee, I will be liberal too. Guido of Duca know then that I am. Envy so parch'd my blood, that had I seen A fellow man made joyous, thou hadst mark'd A livid paleness overspread my cheek. Such harvest reap I of the seed I sow'd. 6 O man! why place thy heart where there doth need Exclusion of participants in good? Foxes.] The Pisans. 2 My words are heard.] It should be recollected that Guido still addresses himself to Rinieri. 3 For this man.] "For Dante, who has told us that he comes from the banks of Arno." 4 Thy grandson.] Fulcieri da Calboli, grandson of Rinieri da Calboli who is here spoken to. The atrocities predicted came to pass in 1302. See G. Villani, lib. viii. c. 59. 5 What thou wilt not do.] Dante having declined telling him his name. See v. 22. 6 Why place.] This will be explained in the ensuing Canto. This is Rinieri's spirit; this, the boast But, in those limits, such a growth has sprung O bastard slips of old Romagna's line! 1 'Twixt Po, the mount, the Reno, and the shore.] The boundaries of Romagna. 2 Fancy.] "Trastullo." Quadrio, in the notes on the second of the Salmi Penitenziali of our author, understands this in a higher sense, as meaning that joy which results from an easy and constant practice of virtue. See Opere di Dante, Zatta ediz. tom. iv. part ii. p. 193. And he is followed by Lombardi. 3 Lizio.] Lizio da Valbona introduced into Boccaccio's Decameron, G. V. N. 4. 4 Manardi, Traversaro, and Carpigna.] Arrigo Manardi of Faenza, or, as some say, of Brettinoro; Pier Traversaro, lord of Ravenna; and Guido di Carpigna of Montefeltro. 5 In Bologna the low artisan.] One who had been a mechanic, named Lambertaccio, arrived at almost supreme power in Bologna. Quando in Bologna un Fabro si ralligna : The pointing and the marginal note of the Monte Casino MS. entirely change the sense of these two lines. There is a mark of interrogation added to each; and by way of answer to both there is written, "Quasi dicat numquam." Fabro is made a proper name, and it is said of him:"Iste fuit Dom. Faber de Lambertaciis de Bononia;" and Benvenuto da Imola calls him "Nobilis Miles." I have not ventured to alter the translation so as to make it accord with this interpretation, as it must have been done in the face, I believe, of nearly all the editions, and, as far as may be gathered from the silence of Lombardi, of the MSS. also which that commentator had consulted. But those, who wish to see more on the subject, are referred to Monti's Proposta, tom. iii. pte 2. under the word "Rallignare." 6 Yon Bernardin.] Bernardin di Fosco, a man of low origin, but great talents, who governed at Faenza. 7 Prata.] A place between Faenza and Ravenna. s Of Azzo him.] Ugolino, of the Ubaldini family in Tuscany. U That dwelt with us1; Tignoso 2 and his troop, (Each race disherited ;) and beside these, 4 The ladies and the knights, the toils and ease, Where now such malice reigns in recreant hearts. 1 With us.] Lombardi claims the reading, "nosco," instead of " vosco," "with us," instead of " with you," for his favourite edition; but it is also in Landino's of 1488. 2 Tignoso.] Federigo Tignoso of Rimini. 3 Traversaro's house and Anastagio's.] Two noble families of Ravenna. See v. 100. She, to whom Dryden has given the name of Honoria, in the fable so admirably paraphrased from Boccaccio, was of the former: her lover and the spectre were of the Anastagi family. See Canto xxviii. 20. 4 The ladies, &c.] Le donne, e i cavalier, gli affanni, e gli agi These two lines express the true spirit of chivalry. "Agi" is understood, by the commentators whom I have consulted, to mean "the ease procured for others by the exertions of knight-errantry." But surely it signifies the alternation of ease with labour. Venturi is of opinion that the opening of the Orlando Furioso Le donne, i cavalier, l'arme, gli amori, originates in this 66 5 Courtesy.] "Cortesia e onestade," &c. Convito, p. 65. Courtesy and honour are all one; and because anciently virtue and good manners were usual in courts, as the contrary now is, this term was derived from thence courtesy was as much as to say, custom of courts; which word, if it were now taken from courts, especially those of Italy, would be no other than turpitude," "turpezza." Courtesy, Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds And courts of princes, where it first was named, Milton, Comus. Marino has exceeded his usual extravagance in his play on this word. Ma come può vero diletto? ò come Adone, c. ix. st. 77. 6 O Brettinoro.] A beautifully situated castle in Romagna, the hospitable residence of Guido del Duca, who is here speaking. Landino relates, that there were several of this family, who, when a stranger arrived amongst them, contended with one another by whom he should be entertained; and that in order to end this dispute, they set up a pillar with as many rings as there were fathers of families among |