Authors: Dante
2.
Strictly speaking, the “sixth hour” is 11 to noon (see
Par.
XXVI.141–142), but here it represents noon itself, six hours after dawn (ideally considered 6 a.m., whenever it actually occurs).
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3.
The phrase
letto piano
(level bed) refers to the moment when the sun’s midpoint is in the plane of the horizon. Grandgent (comm. to vv. 1–3): “The sun is below our horizon on one side, and the earth’s conical shadow, projected into space, is correspondingly above our horizon on the other. As the sun rises, the shadow sinks; and when the middle of the sun shall be on the horizon line, the apex of the shadow will be on the same plane in the opposite quarter.”
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4–6.
For
mezzo
as “center of the sky,” in the sense of zenith, see Salsano (Sals.1974.1), pp. 222–24, and Chiavacci Leonardi (Chia.1997.1), pp.
825–26. For centuries this was the standard gloss. That is, commentators believed that Dante was referring to the midpoint of the Starry Sphere, directly overhead. Porena (comm. to vv. 1–6 [= “Nota finale” to this canto]) sharply objected. How can the sky directly above an observer be the first part of the heavens seen growing lighter at the approach of dawn, when obviously the eastern horizon is? He goes on to cite a text that, he says, explains this verse perfectly,
Convivio
III.ix.11–12, where Dante discusses the obscuring qualities of the earth’s atmosphere itself. Most of the commentators who follow Porena accept his explanation (a few even crediting him). See, for example, Bellomo (Bell.1996.1), pp. 52–53. At least three aspects of Porena’s argument are, however, problematic: (1) Dante does not say that the predawn sky grows lighter
first
at its zenith, only that it does so, and does so very gradually; (2) his description seems to imply invariable phenomena (i.e., celestial events that happen in the same manner every night at its juncture with dawn), while atmospheric hindrances are variable; (3) the relationship between this and the following
terzina
is such that the process initiated in this one is completed in that, which would at least imply a continuous movement in these celestial “candles” becoming dimmer and finally being snuffed out. In short, it seems unwise to jettison the old reading for Porena’s.
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4.
For Dante’s
cielo … profondo
it has been traditional (at least since the time of Lombardi [comm. to vv. 1–6]) to cite Virgil,
Georgics
IV.222,
caelumque profundum
.
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7–8.
The traditional understanding, of uninterrupted currency until the last decade of the nineteenth century, is that the “brightest handmaid of the Sun” is Aurora, who announces the arrival of her lord at sunrise. Scartazzini (comm. to verse 7), however (if without changing that interpretation), reminds us that Dante refers to the hours of the day as
ancelle
[
del giorno
]
(Purg.
XII.81, XXII.118). That bit of lore about the personified hours (which hardly dispatches the traditional literary association of Aurora as the handmaid of the Sun indirectly referred to at
Purg.
IX.2, with its presentation of the brightening predawn sky) remained offstage until Poletto (comm. to vv. 1–15 [of course not mentioning Scartazzini]) casually refers to it as his only comment on this verse. He was joined by Mattalia (comm. to verse 7 [of course not mentioning either Scartazzini or Poletto]), who was the first commentator to insist that the first hour of the day is the particular brightness referred to. However, several considerations cast serious doubt on this solution: (1) It would be strange for Dante
to have referred to the first hour of the day as its brightest, since most would doubtless consider noon to be that; (2) the passage refers to a gradual process (like that of the aurora of the Sun), while the passing of even a single minute when the Sun is rising is marked by a dramatic change indeed; (3) it is difficult once the Sun rises to see any stars at all, much less to watch a gradual extinguishing process across the eastern half of the heavens. Perhaps it was such considerations that governed the continuing response among the commentators, all of whom represented in the DDP remain wedded to the traditional gloss, Aurora. However, inexplicably (if tentatively), Chiavacci Leonardi (Chia.1997.1), p. 826, cites and accepts Mattalia’s interpretation. For the proposal of a totally new understanding, see Leuker (Leuk.2004.1), who claims that the “handmaid” is Venus as morning star. He does not find it problematic that Venus will be referred to in verse 9, believing, rather, that both these periphrases refer to her.
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9.
The traditional understanding, which has no need of revaluation, is that the brightest and most beautiful light in the predawn sky is Venus as morning star.
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10–15.
The lengthy and elaborate simile now presents its second term: As the light of the stars in the dawn sky yields to the increasing brilliance of the Sun, so the nine angelic orders, whirling around God, extinguish their glow. The result is that their self-effacement encourages him to yield to his desire, which is to look at Beatrice.
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11.
See Contini (Cont.1968.1), p. 1018, for recognition of the self-citation here. The line contains a fairly obvious revisitation, in the phrase “al punto che mi vinse” (around the point that overcame me), of Francesca’s description of the
punto
in the Lancelot romance that aroused her and Paolo (
Inf.
V.132): “ma solo un
punto
fu quel che ci
vinse
” (still, it was a single instant overcame us [italics added]). It is perhaps only the oppositional nature of this
punto
, not a “point” in a text describing sexual arousal, but God, the Point of the universe, that had kept the close resemblance in phrasing apparently unobserved for so many centuries. For other notice, see Hollander (Holl.1983.1), pp. 139–40, Dronke (Dron.1989.1), p. 32 (both without reference to any precursor), and De Robertis (Dero.1990.1), p. 141 (citing Contini). And see Hollander (Holl.1993.5), pp. 7–8, acknowledging Contini, if belatedly. See also Stierle (Stie.2002.2), pp. 407–8, who mentions no precursor. And see the note to
Paradiso
XXIX.9.
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12.
The circles of angels seem to surround God; in fact He “contains” them (and all else).
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16–18.
The poet, seeing Beatrice at the edge of eternity, as it were, begins his valedictory remarks by insisting that all his preceding praise together would not do to fulfill the need he feels to express her beauty.
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17.
The word
loda
(praise) has a “technical” overtone. As recorded in
Vita nuova
, Dante began to grow toward comprehending the meaning of Beatrice when he turned from poems about the pain his loving her had caused him to those in praise of her (see
VN
XVIII.9).
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18.
For the Latinism
vice
(here translated “that which is due”), the commentators are torn among several possibilities. Perhaps the most popular is the usage found in the Latin phrase
explere vicem
, meaning “to fulfill one’s duties,” probably the most likely sense of the word here. But see Scartazzini (comm. to this verse) for the majority opinion (which he does not share) that it means
volta
with the sense of “time” or “occasion.” Several add “place” to the possibilities, and there are still other options. Singleton (comm. to this verse) cites the other use of
vice
(at
Par.
XXVII.17), where it is paired with
officio
(duty), to argue that it therefore cannot mean that here; but see Scartazzini (comm. to
Par.
XXVII.17–18), who deals with
vice
as there being the “duty” of silence incumbent on the rest of the spirits while St. Peter fulfills
his
duty, which is to hold forth against papal turpitude, the two words sharing a sense approaching that of synonyms.
Scott (Scot.1977.2), p. 163, comments on the extraordinary incidence of Latinisms in this canto, which he puts at fifty.
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19–21.
Dante will see Beatrice once more, after she resumes her seat in the Rose (from which she arose once, on 24 March 1300 [also Maundy Thursday according to Dante’s Idealized Earth Time], in order to draw Virgil forth from Limbo; and then again, around noon the following Wednesday, in order to descend to the earthly paradise for her reunion with Dante). This, however, is his last attempt to describe her beauty, which has been increasing from his second description of it (in the heaven of the Moon,
Par.
IV.139–142) every time he sees her anew until now. That this “program” has come to its end is clear from the seven tercets (vv. 16–36) devoted to a final description of her increased beauty, which offer a kind of history (esp. vv. 28–33) of that beauty’s effect on Dante.
On the point of returning to her undivided attention to God, she is
already being retransformed into a more-than-human being, pure soul, as it were, without the hindrance of human concerns that she has taken on for Dante’s sake. Thus only God can fully enjoy her beauty.
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22–27.
And thus the human poet who is speaking to us, confined by the two modes (and only two generic possibilities are referred to in the entire text, unlike
De vulgari eloquentia
, which mentions several others), tragic or comic, that are available to him, must acknowledge his necessary failure. The poem of the triumph of Beatrice needs a new genre, one that Dante has defined at
Paradiso
XXV.73, and that shares with David’s psalms, expressing his love for God, the generic tag of
tëodia
(god song).
For this last, see Barolini (Baro.1984.1), p. 277. Only a new form might seem capable of describing such things.
See Shaw (Shaw.1981.1), p. 196: “There is a chain of inadequacy in Dante because of the visionary nature of the experience he is describing. The mind cannot fully grasp what it experiences, because this transcends the human capacity for understanding; the memory cannot now recall even that which the mind did grasp at the time; and finally, the poet’s words cannot do justice even to what he
can
recall to mind. The poet’s words are three stages removed from what he is attempting to represent.”
For discussion of reference here to Virgil and Dante as, respectively, writers of tragedy and of comedy, see Scartazzini (comm. to verse 24) and Hollander (Holl.1993.5), p. 10, n. 23.
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25–27.
Like a mortal with weak eyes, unable even more than most to look directly at the Sun, the poet finds his inner sight blinded by the memory of this last and transformed beauty evident in Beatrice. Scartazzini (comm. to vv. 25–27) was apparently the first commentator (but not the last, though none of the others cites him) to call attention to three passages in the minor works that offer similar images,
Vita nuova
(XLI.6) and
Convivio
(III.0.59–60; III.viii.14 [this last the commentary on those verses]). It is amusing to discover that in the first case, it is Beatrice’s soul, ascended to Heaven, that is too bright for Dante to behold, while in the two passages in
Convivio
the blinding is accomplished by the glow of Lady Philosophy. The first is entirely germane to the present context, which has Beatrice about to ascend to exactly where Dante first saw her seated in Heaven in the
libello
. Dante would have preferred, however, that we forget the second, in praise of the lady who replaced Beatrice in his affections.
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27.
Porena (comm. to vv. 26–27) is perhaps the first to discuss the two possible meanings of
mente
, “mind” (here with the sense of “intellect”) and
“memory,” making a good case for the former, as we have translated the word. See also Maierù, “mente,”
ED
(III [1971]), pp. 899a–905a, who agrees (p. 902b). However, if it is his mind that Dante is separated from, in what specific ways ought we consider the possible meaning(s) of the verse? This is a difficult line to translate.
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28–29.
If we accept the “history” put forward in
Vita nuova
, the first time that he saw Beatrice was shortly before Dante’s ninth birthday (
VN
II.1–2), thus no later than June of 1274, and probably a little before then. The current date in the poem is perhaps 31 March 1300 (see the note to
Inf.
I.1).
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