Purgatorio Canto 8

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Purgatorio

Canto 8

Translated by Robert Hollander

1 It was now the hour that melts a sailor's heart

2 and saddens him with longing on the day

3 he's said farewell to his belovèd friends,

4 and when a traveler, starting out,

5 is pierced with love if far away he hears

6 a bell that seems to mourn the dying light,

7 and I began to listen less and fix my gaze,

8 intent upon a soul who suddenly stood up

9 and signaled for attention with his hand.

10 He lifted his clasped palms and fixed his eyes

11 upon the east as if he said to God:

12 'For nothing else do I have any care.'

13 'Te lucis ante' came forth from his lips

14 with such devotion and with notes so sweet

15 it drew me out from all thoughts of myself.

16 The others joined him then and sang

17 the whole hymn through with sweet devotion,

18 keeping their eyes upon the heavenly wheels.

19 Here, reader, set your gaze upon the truth,

20 for now the veil is drawn so thin

21 that piercing it is surely easy.

22 I watched that noble gathering

23 grow silent as they raised their eyes,

24 humble and pale with expectation.

25 And I saw issue from above and then descend

26 two angels holding flaming swords,

27 their pointed blade-tips broken off.

28 Green as newly opened leaves, their garments,

29 stirred and fanned by their green wings,

30 swirled and billowed out behind them.

31 One came and took his stand there just above us

32 and one alighted on the other bank,

33 so that the company was set between them.

34 I could discern the angels' flaxen hair,

35 but looking at their faces dazzled me,

36 my power of sight undone by so much brightness.

37 'Both come from Mary's bosom,'

38 said Sordello, 'to guard the valley

39 from the serpent that will soon appear.'

40 Not knowing by what path,

41 I turned around, all chilled with fear,

42 and huddled closer to the trusted shoulders.

43 Sordello continued: 'Let us now go down

44 into the valley and speak with those great shades.

45 They will be pleased to have you join them.'

46 It seemed I had taken only three steps down

47 when I saw one who stared at me alone,

48 as if he tried to bring my name to mind.

49 It was now the hour when the air grows dark,

50 yet had not turned so dark it failed to show

51 his eyes and mine what had been hidden.

52 He moved toward me and I moved toward him.

53 Noble Judge Nino, what joy it was to me

54 when I saw that you were not among the damned!

55 Between us no fair greeting went unsaid.

56 Then he asked: 'How long is it since you came

57 over far waters to this mountain?'

58 'Oh,' I said to him, 'I came this morning

59 from the doleful regions. I am in my first life,

60 though by coming here I gain the other.'

61 And when they heard my answer

62 Sordello and he drew back,

63 like men suddenly bewildered.

64 One turned to Virgil, and the other called

65 to someone seated there: 'Rise, Currado,

66 come and see what God by His good grace has willed,'

67 then, turning to me: 'By that special gratitude

68 you owe to Him who hides His primal purpose

69 so deep we cannot fathom it,

70 'when you are far from these wide waters,

71 ask my Giovanna to direct her prayers for me

72 to where the innocent are heard.

73 'I think her mother has not loved me

74 since she stopped wearing her white wimple,

75 which, in her coming misery, she may long for.

76 'There is an easy lesson in her conduct:

77 how short a time the fire of love endures in woman

78 if frequent sight and touch do not rekindle it.

79 'The viper that leads the Milanese afield

80 will hardly ornament her tomb as handsomely

81 as the cock of Gallura would have done.'

82 He spoke these words, his face stamped

83 with a look of righteous indignation

84 that burns with proper measure in the heart.

85 My hungry eyes were lifted toward the sky,

86 to that zone where the stars move slowest,

87 as does the spoke of a wheel close to the axle.

88 And my leader: 'Son, what are you staring at?'

89 And I replied: 'At those three torches

90 with which this pole is all aflame.'

91 'The four bright stars you saw this morning,'

92 he said, 'are low upon the unseen sky

93 and these have risen where those others were.'

94 As he spoke, Sordello drew him closer,

95 saying: 'Behold our adversary,'

96 and pointed with his finger where to look.

97 In that place where the little valley

98 has no rampart, a snake appeared,

99 perhaps the one that gave to Eve the bitter fruit.

100 Through grass and flowers slid the evil streak,

101 turning its head from time to time to lick its back

102 like a beast that sleeks itself.

103 I did not see and therefore cannot tell

104 how the celestial falcons started up,

105 but I could plainly see them both in motion.

106 Hearing the green wings cleave the air,

107 the serpent fled. The angels wheeled around

108 and flew back up together to their posts.

109 The shade, who had drawn closer to the judge

110 when he called out, had not through that assault

111 at any time removed his gaze from me.

112 'So may the lantern leading you above

113 have ample wax in the candle of your will

114 to bring you to the enameled summit,'

115 he said, 'if you have true news of Valdimagra

116 or of the parts around, please tell me,

117 for there I once was great.

118 'I was called Currado Malaspina,

119 not the old Currado but descended from him.

120 To my own I bore the love that here is purified.'

121 'Oh,' I said to him, 'never have I been there,

122 in your country. But where do men dwell,

123 anywhere in Europe, that it is not renowned?

124 'The fame that crowns your house with honor

125 proclaims alike its lords and lands--

126 even those who have not been there know them,

127 'and, as I hope to go above, I swear to you

128 your honored race does not disgrace

129 the glory of its purse and of its sword.

130 'No matter how a wicked chief may warp the world,

131 privileged both by nature and by custom,

132 your race alone goes straight and scorns the evil path.'

133 Then he said: 'Enough. Not seven times

134 shall the sun return to rest in the bed

135 the Ram covers and bestrides with all four feet

136 'before this courteous opinion

137 shall be nailed within your brain

138 by stronger nails than the words of others,

139 if the course of Judgment is not stayed.'