Helm'd to right point; and such our Patriarch1 was. "Now, if my words be clear; if thou have ta'en Good heed; if that, which I have told, recal To mind; thy wish may be in part fulfill'd: For thou wilt see the plant from whence they split3; And he shall see, who girds him, what that means1, · That well they thrive, not swoln with vanity.'' A second circle of glorified souls encompasses the first. Buonaventura, who is one of them, celebrates the praises of Saint Dominic, and informs Dante who the other eleven are, that are in this second circle or garland. Soon as its final word the blessed flame 5 1 Our Patriarch.] Saint Dominic, to whose order Thomas Aquinas belonged. 2 His flock.] The Dominicans. 3 The plant from whence they split.] "The rule of their order, which the Dominicans neglect to observe." 4 And he shall see, who girds him, what that means.] Lombardi, after the Nidobeatina edition, together with four MSS. reads" il correggiar," or "il coregier," which gives the sense that now stands in the text of this version. The Dominicans might be called "coreggieri," from their wearing a leathern girdle, as the Franciscans were called "cordiglieri," from their being girt with a cord. I had before followed the common reading, "il corregger;" and translated the line according to Venturi's interpretation of it :Nor miss of the reproof which that implies. 5 The blessed flame.] Thomas Aquinas. 6 The holy mill.] The circle of spirits. Of primal splendour doth its faint reflex. As when, if Juno bid her handmaid forth, And radiance, light with light accordant, each 4 Began: "The love, that makes me beautiful, 1 In manner of that voice.] One rainbow giving back the image of the other, as sound is reflected by Echo, that nymph, who was melted away by her fondness for Narcissus, as vapour is melted by the sun. The reader will observe in the text not only a second and third simile within the first, but two mythological and one sacred allusion bound up together with the whole. Even after this accumulation of imagery, the two circles of spirits, by whom Beatrice and Dante were encompassed, are by a bold figure termed two garlands of never-fading roses. Indeed there is a fulness of splendour, even to prodigality, throughout the beginning of this Canto. 2 One.] Saint Buonaventura, general of the Franciscan order, in which he effected some reformation; and one of the most profound divines of his age. "He refused the archbishopric of York, which was offered him by Clement IV. but afterwards was prevailed on to accept the bishopric of Albano and a cardinal's hat. He was born at Bagnoregio or Bagnorea, in Tuscany, A.D. 1221, and died in 1274." Dict. Histor. par Chaudon et Delandine. Ed. Lyon. 1804. 3 Amongst the new lights.] In the circle that had newly surrounded the first. 4 That made me seem.] "That made me turn to it, as the magnetic needle does to the pole." 5 To its whereabout.] Al suo dove. The very stones prate of my whereabout. Shakspeare, Macbeth, act ii. sc. 1. 6 The love.] By an act of mutual courtesy, Buonaventura, a Franciscan, is made to proclaim the praises of St. Dominic, as Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican, has celebrated those of Prompts me to tell of the other guide, for whom Should be their glory. Slow, and full of doubt, Of the great shield, wherein the lion lies St. Francis; and in like manner each blames the irregularities, not of the other's order, but of that to which himself belonged. Even Macchiavelli, no great friend to the church, attributes the revival of Christianity to the influence of these two saints. "Quanto alle Sette, si vede ancora queste rinovazioni esser necessarie, per l'essempio della nostra Religione, la quale, se non fusse stata ritirata verso il suo principio da San Francesco e da San Domenico, sarebbe al tutto spenta." Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di T. Livio, lib. iii. c. 1. "As to sects, it is seen that these renovations are necessary, by the example of our religion, which, if it had not been drawn back to its principle by St. Francis and St. Dominic, would be entirely extinguished." As thou heard'st.] See the last Canto, v. 33. 2 In that clime.] Spain. 3 Those billows,] The Atlantic. 4 Sometimes.] During the summer solstice. 5 Callaroga.] Between Osma and Aranda, in Old Castile designated by the royal coat of arms, Dominic was 6 The loving minion of the Christian faith.] born April 5, 1170, and died August 6, 1221. His birth-place Callaroga; his father and mother's names, Felix and Joanna; his mother's dream; his name of Dominic, given him in consequence of a vision by a noble matron who stood sponsor to him, are all told in an anonymous life of the saint, said to be written in the thirteenth century, and published by Quetif and Echard. Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum. Par. The hallow'd wrestler, gentle1 to his own, It prophesied. When, at the sacred font, Whom Christ in his own garden chose to be 1719. fol. tom. i. p. 25. These writers deny his having been an inquisitor, and indeed the establishment of the inquisition itself before the fourth Lateran Council. Ibid. p. 88. 1 Gentle.] Βαρεῖαν ἐχθροῖς, καὶ φίλοισιν εὐμενῆ. Eurip. Medea, v. 805. Lofty and sour to those, that loved him not, But to those men, that sought him, sweet as summer. Shakspeare, Henry VIII. act iv. sc. 2. 2 In the mother's womb.] His mother, when pregnant with him, is said to have dreamt that she should bring forth a white and black dog with a lighted torch in his mouth, which were signs of the habit to be worn by his order, and of his fervent zeal. 3 The dame.] His godmother's dream was, that he had one star in his forehead and another in the nape of his neck, from which he communicated light to the east and the west. 4 After the first counsel.] "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." Matth. xix. 21. Dominic is said to have followed this advice. 5 Many a time.] His nurse, when she returned to him, often found that he had left his bed, and was prostrate, and in prayer. 6 Felix.] Felix Gusman. 7 As men interpret it.] Grace or gift of the Lord. Not for the world's sake, for which now they toil From which the twice twelve cions gird thee round. Like torrent bursting from a lofty vein; 1 Ostiense.] Arrigo a native of Susa, formerly a considerable city in Piedmont, and cardinal of Ostia and Velletri, whence he acquired the name of Ostiense, was celebrated for his lectures on the five books of the Decretals. He flourished about the year 1250. He is classed by Frezzi with Accorso the Florentine. Poi Ostiense, e'l Fiorentino Accorso, Che fè le chiose, e dichiarò 'l mio testo, Il Quadrir. lib. iv. cap. 13. 2 Taddeo.] It is uncertain whether he speaks of the physician or the lawyer of that name. The former, Taddeo d'Alderotto, a Florentine, called the Hippocratean, translated the ethics of Aristotle into Latin; and died at an advanced age towards the end of the thirteenth century. The other, who was of Bologna and celebrated for his legal knowledge, left no writings behind him. He is also spoken of by Frezzi: Azzo e Taddeo già funno li maggiori; E ora ognun' e oscuro, e tal appare Qual'è la luna alli febei splendori. Il Quadrir. lib. iv. cap. 13. 3 The see.] "The apostolic see, which no longer continues its wonted liberality towards the indigent and deserving; not indeed through its own fault, as its doctrines are still the same, but through the fault of the pontiff, who is seated in it." 4 No dispensation.] Dominic did not ask licence to compound for the use of unjust acquisitions by dedicating a part of them to pious purposes. 5 Nor the first vacant fortune.] Not the first benefice that fell vacant. 6 In favour of that seed.] "For that seed of the divine word, from which have sprung up these four and twenty plants, these holy spirits that now environ thee." |