Authors: Dante
17.
For some bibliography dealing with this verse, see Valerio (Vale.2003.1), p. 98, n. 65, citing not only Nardi’s discussion (Nard.1964.2), pp. 317–20, but three studies by Del Popolo from the 1990s. Nardi demonstrated
that the reading he had grown up with (“Alfa ed Omega”) is metrically impossible.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
21.
The words
mi mise in cura
(made me hesitate) are not understood by everyone in the same way, with some believing that they mean “gave me a reason,” an opinion that we do not share.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
22–24.
John asks the protagonist to go down to a second level in his disquisition on this theological virtue, to put his answer through a “finer sieve.” However, and as Singleton (comm. to vv. 1–79) points out, “no definition of love is given in the examination, as it is with faith and hope. This serves to stress the fact that love is primarily a matter of the will, not of the intellect. Dante is simply asked
what
he loves, and why.”
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
25–27.
Dante replies briefly but thoroughly, refining his first response (vv. 13–18). Love is imprinted in him by two agents, philosophical arguments and “authority,” or, in a shorthand of sorts, Aristotle and the Bible.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
28–36.
For the gist of these tercets, see Tozer’s paraphrase: “The argument derived from Reason is this:—That which is good awakens love in the soul of him who understands its nature, and the love increases in proportion as the goodness is greater. Consequently, the Being who is perfect goodness must attract more love than any other object.”
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
37–39.
To whom does Dante refer here? Aristotle is the nearly unanimous opinion of the commentators, who are divided only about the precise passage, whether in the
Metaphysics
, the
Ethics
, or
On Causes
(attributed to Aristotle during the Middle Ages), explaining how the spheres’ love for the Godhead set the universe into motion.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
40–45.
Dante now adduces two texts in evidence, the first plainly identifiable. It reports that God says to Moses (Exodus 33:19), “Ego ostendam omne bonum tibi” (I will make all My goodness pass before you). Perhaps the first commentator to deal with the context of this passage was Vellutello (comm. to vv. 40–42), noting that it continues by having God reveal to Moses only His “back parts,” not His face. Apparently he was the only commentator to do so before Carroll, whose discussion is informative (comm. to vv. 19–45): “It seems to me difficult to believe that Dante, when quoting this, did not remember that God proceeds to say: ‘Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me and live.… Thou shalt see my
back parts: but my face shall not be seen.’ And, as I understand it, the passage which he takes from the New Testament is chosen just because it is the fulfillment of the imperfect revelation given to Moses.” Then Carroll turns to the less clearly identified source: “It is taken from St. John’s writings, the particular reference being much disputed.… Dante is thinking of all [of John’s writings] as
one
proclamation of the secret of heaven to earth; and if so, ‘the
beginning
of the high heralding’ is the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel. Now it happens that the closing words of the Prologue allude to this very fulfillment of the imperfect revelation through Moses of which I have spoken: ‘The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.’ The evident connection of this with the passage quoted from Moses seems to me conclusive. Moses saw the back of God; Christ reveals the ‘secret’ of heaven—the bosom of the Father” [
Par.
XXVI.40–45].
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
42.
For Guido Cavalcanti’s version of this statement, see
Vita nuova
III.14: “Vedeste, al mio parere, onne valore” (I think that you beheld all worth—tr. M. Musa), as cited by Valerio (Vale.2003.1), pp. 90–91. And see the discussion of Exodus 33:19 in the note to vv. 40–45.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
44.
The word
preconio
(proclamation, message) and the word
arcano
(mystery) is each a hapax. Benvenuto begins the understanding that this
preconio
is the opening verse of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word.” However, and as Scartazzini (comm. to this verse) argues, most of the ancient commentators are of the opinion that the Apocalypse is on Dante’s mind here; he follows them. It would have been hard to oppose the combined authority of Benvenuto and Scartazzini; the former’s judgment (supported, as it was in this particular, by that of Francesco da Buti) should perhaps have weighed more heavily with the latter.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
46–48.
John accepts Dante’s answer. Depending on whether the verb
guarda
is to be taken as a present indicative (as we translate it) or as an imperative strongly influences one’s understanding of the tercet. See, inter alia, discussions in Scartazzini, brusquely dismissive (if perhaps rightly so) of those who decide for the imperative, and Bosco/Reggio, more balanced in keeping the options open (both in their comms. to this tercet).
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
49–51.
John now sets his third question for the protagonist, involving the subjects of what draws him (by pulling him with
corde
[cords]) and what
goads him (by bites of its
denti
[teeth]) toward God. The reader may be reminded of the stimuli on the seven terraces of the purgatorial mountain, which featured (see, e.g.,
Purg.
XIV.147)
freno
or
richiamo
(“curb” or “lure”). In
Paradiso
XXVIII.12, Beatrice’s eyes will be presented as the “cord” (in the sense of “noose”) that captured him.
In response to Venturi’s complaint against the bitterness of Dante’s metaphor for such a sweet feeling (love), Lombardi (comm. to verse 51) points out that Dante has always used harsh metaphors for love (presented as burning, wounding, etc.).
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
53.
The authors of the Gospels were portrayed as four different creatures, the “four living creatures” of Apocalypse 4:7: Matthew as man, Mark as lion, Luke as ox, John as eagle.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
55–66.
Carroll (comm. to vv. 46–63) continues his global explanation of this passage: “But [John’s] examination is not finished. ‘The Eagle of Christ’ pursues the subject into its secondary causes. We come at this point to the scripture which Love reads with a
low
voice (l.18)—the collateral and subsidiary sources of charity, or as John puts it, the cords that draw, and the teeth that bite into the heart.” And then, interpreting the verses 58–60, Carroll concludes: “In other words, the creation of the world and man, the cross of Christ, and the hope of glory: these are ‘the teeth’ with which the love of God bites into his heart, for all are operations of that love. Yet it is to be noted that they are not ‘the interior act of charity,’ the clinging of the soul to God, but only cords to draw men to the act.”
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
62–63.
Once more Dante turns to the large motif of the exodus to express his personal journey from sin to redemption. See the previous uses of
pelago
(
Inf.
I.23 and
Par.
II.5).
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
64–66.
Scartazzini (comm. to verse 65) was apparently the first (and still among the few) to see that Dante was again resorting to the text of John’s Gospel (John 15:1): “Ego sum vitis vera et Pater meus agricola est” (I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser). See also Singleton (comm. to this tercet), Bosco/Reggio (comm. to this tercet), and Getto (Gett.1968.1), p. 941.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
67–69.
See Getto (Gett.1968.1), pp. 942–43, discussing Dante’s formula for concluding the apostles’ examinations of him on the three theological virtues. These occur at
Paradiso
XXIV.112–114, XXV.97–99, and in these
verses. Getto finds the three texts sharing the following earmarks: Each passage (1) is contained in no more or no less than a single
terzina
; (2) contains reference to Dante’s completion of his utterance; (3) cites the opening words of the celebrative song raised at its conclusion; (4) includes some description of the quality of that song; (5) refers to those who sang it.
Once again we find a Latin hymn (the “Sanctus”), which had become a part of the liturgy, performed in Italian (“Holy, holy, holy”). See the note to
Paradiso
XXIV.113–114. The original “Sanctus” is found in both Isaiah 6:3 and Apocalypse 4:8 (where it follows the description of the “four living creatures” [see the note to verse 53]).
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
70–79.
This simile portrays Dante/Saul becoming Dante/Paul as a result of the ministrations of Beatrice, who restores his temporarily vanquished sight. See the note to vv. 9–12.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
70–75.
Dante seems to have been fascinated by the processes both of falling to sleep and of awakening from it. Is there another work from this period that has more frequent or more detailed references to both? See, for example,
Inferno
I.111, III.136, XXV.90, XXX.136–141, XXXIII.38;
Purgatorio
IX.11, IX.33–42, IX.63, XV.119–123, XVII.40–42, XVIII.87–88, XVIII.143–145, XXVII.92, XXVII.113, XXXII.64–69, XXXII.76–78;
Paradiso
XXXII.139.
See Boyde (Boyd.1993.1), pp. 74–75, for an analysis of the “mechanics” of seeing in these six lines.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
73.
The verb
ab[b]or[r]ire
(or, as we believe,
ab[b]or[r]are
)—and both forms (along with others, as well) are found with orthographical variants in the interpretive tradition—has caused a great deal of puzzlement. See Casagrande (Casa.1997.2) for a thorough study of the history of the problem, concluding that (1) the verb is nearly certainly the first conjugation one, used by Dante twice in
Inferno
(XXV.144; XXXI.24); (2) it probably, on the basis of observations found in Uguccione da Pisa, derives from a Latin synonym for
balbus
(not speaking clearly [see
Purg.
XIX.7 and
Par.
XXVII.130 and 133]) and here means “loses the power of speech.” Casagrande, following Porena (comm. to vv. 73–75), treats the form of the verb here as metaplasmic, that is, believing that Dante, his hand forced by the exigencies of rhyme, has switched conjugational endings (
-ire
) for (-
are
). Our translation accepts the basic interpretation of Porena (as restated by Bosco/Reggio [comm. to vv. 73–75])—but does not accept the new
reading proposed by Casagrande, for the reason that the action resulting from Beatrice’s intervention is not that the protagonist can speak clearly so much as it is that he can
see better
(see verse 79). Since what is revealed as the object of his eventually clear vision is still another soul, it would seem reasonable to argue that what at first appears unclear to the protagonist is that “fourth light,” what turns out to be the radiance of Adam.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
76.
For the word
quisquilia
, a hapax in Dante, see Amos 8:6, where it is a hapax in the Bible, indicating the chaff from grain.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
80–81.
The totally unexpected “fourth light,” we habitual readers realize, without surprise, is Adam. If we remember our first reading, we probably recall our amazement at what Dante (who reports himself “stupefatto” [dazed]) has done, putting the first father before us for an interview about Edenic existence.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
80.
For the word
stupefatto
, see Aversano (Aver.2000.2), p. 125, citing Acts 9:7, all the more plausible as a reference, given the Pauline context of the canto (introduced at vv. 10–12). “The men who were traveling with him [Saul] stood speechless [
stupefacti
], hearing the voice but seeing no one.” Jesus, invisible, has called Saul to Him. Saul rises from the ground blind and is led by the hand by his fellow travelers into Damascus, where he will be cured of his blindness as the new man, Paul, by Ananias.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]
82–84.
The theological dimensions of this tercet are large indeed: God the Father created all things and then Adam, who gazes up at his maker with the love sponsored by the Holy Spirit. That love is made manifest in turn by the redemptive act of Christ, who has saved fallen Adam and some of those who were born in his sinfulness.
[return to
English
/
Italian
]