Canto I
CANTO I
Having left behind the rough seas of Hell, the Poet, invoking the aid of Calliope and the other Muses, hoists sail to course through the better waters of Purgatory, the second realm (1–12). He delights in the sapphire blue of the eastern skies and the rising of the planet Venus, the morning star. Turning south, he discovers four stellar lights representing the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance), previously seen only by Adam and Eve (13–27). Then, wheeling around towards the north, he spies a dignified old man, his long beard streaked with white, his locks falling upon his chest, and his face reflecting the splendor of the four stars in the southern sky (23–39). This man demands to know how the damned have alighted upon his shores. Having his charge bend his knee and bow his head, Virgil explains that he was sent by a heavenly lady to rescue the foolish, straying Dante in the little time remaining by leading him still alive through all the sins of Hell and the purifications of Purgatory (40–69). For the love of his wife Marcia in Limbo, he implores the venerable old man, Cato of Utica, who took his life rather than surrender his freedom, to welcome Dante as a fellow seeker of liberty (70–84). Cato responds that, though Marcia no longer moves him, Virgil need not coax if a celestial maiden has sent him. Accordingly, he instructs the Sage to gird his disciple with the supple reed of humility and to wash the grime of Hell from his face, so that he may fittingly appear before the angelic guardians of the purgatorial terraces, to which the sun of enlightenment and righteous choice will direct them (85–109). When Cato disappears, Dante rises in silence and, like one returning to lost roads, follows Virgil down towards the rippling ocean’s shore at the mountain’s base. On the way, the Master washes Dante’s tear-stained cheeks with morning dew from the grass, restoring the color obscured by the smoky airs of Hell. When they arrive, Virgil plucks a rush with which to gird Dante, and another miraculously sprouts up in its place (110–136).
1 And now the little vessel of my wit
Will course through better waters, hoisting sail
And leaving cruel seas in back of it.
4 And of a second reign I’ll sing the tale,
For there the human spirit finds its purge,
Made worthy to ascend to Heaven’s veil.
7 Here let the poetry of death resurge,[2]
O Holy Muses, since to you I’m bound,
And let Callíope a bit upsurge[3]
10 To company my singing with that sound
Whose blow the wretched Magpies felt so near
That they despaired of pardon being found.
13 Sweet hues of eastern sapphire forming here
On so serene an aspect of the skies,
Made pure as far as the horizon’s sphere,
16 Let new delight within my orbs arise
As soon as I had left the deathly air,
Which had afflicted both my breast and eyes.
19 The lovely planet prompting love to flare[4]
Made all the Orient to smile again,
While veiling Pisces in her escort there.
22 And turning to the right, I set my ken[5]
Upon the other pole; four stars now came[6]
In view, unseen save by the first of men.
25 The heavens seemed to revel in their flame.
(O widowed northern regions, never cheered
Since you’re deprived of gazing on the same!)
28 When I’d withdrawn my sight from them, I veered
A bit and towards the other pole thus bore,[7]
From which the Wain by now had disappeared.
31 Near me I saw, alone, a soul of yore,[8]
His looks so worthy of respect the best
Of sons could never owe his father more.
34 His lengthy beard all streaked with white possessed
In this respect a likeness to his hair,
Whose double tresses fell upon his chest.
37 The rays of those four holy stars shone there;
I saw that they adorned his face with light
As though the sun, before him, stood aflare.
40 “Who’s come against the blinded stream in flight[9]
Away from that eternal prison cell?”
He said and shook those plumes of noble white.[10]
43 “Who guided you, or what bright lantern fell
Upon your exit from the deepest night,
Which always renders black the vale of Hell?
46 Are laws thus rent in that abysmal site?
Has Heaven made new counsels to allow
That here upon my cliffs the damned alight?”
49 My Guide had laid a hold of me by now,
And with his hands, and signs, and spoken plea,
He made me reverent in knees and brow.
52 “I come not on my own,” then answered he;
“A woman came from Heaven by whose prayer
I succored this one with my company.
55 But since it is your will a greater share
Of our condition be in truth explained,
My will could not deny your own what’s fair.
58 This one’s not seen his final eve ordained,
But through his folly it had drawn so near
That very little time for him remained.
61 And I, as mentioned, was commanded here
To rescue him; there was no other way
Than that on which I have set out, I fear.
64 Thus, having shown where all the guilty lay,[11]
I now intend to show the spirit race
That purifies itself beneath your sway.[12]
67 To tell how he was brought would take much space;
Strength from on high has helped me lead him, though,
To see and hear you. So bestow your grace
70 Upon his coming, please, for he must go
In search of liberty, which is so dear,[13]
As all who gave their life for it must know.
73 You know, since death for it did not appear
So harsh in Utica, where robes were placed[14]
Aside which one great day will shine so clear.
76 Eternal edicts have not been laid waste:
He lives, and Minos doesn’t bind me; nay,
I’m from the ring where by her eyes kept chaste
79 Your Marcia’s looks, O holy breast, still pray[15]
That you may hold her as your own; and so,
For love of her, incline towards us today.
82 Thus, through your seven kingdoms let us go;[16]
I shall report your kindness unto her,
If you will let me mention you below.”[17]
85 “So pleasing to my eyes was Marcia, sir,
When I was in the other world,” he said,[18]
“That every kindness asked I would confer.
88 She dwells beyond the evil river’s bed,[19]
From where she cannot move me now anew—
This law was fashioned when from there I fled.[20]
91 If Heaven’s lady moves and governs you,[21]
As you assert, you need not coax; indeed,
Just ask me for her sake, and that will do.
94 Now go; see that you take a slender reed
To gird him up and that you wash his face,
So that from every stain it may be freed.[22]
97 For it would be most surely out of place
To go with eyes still dimmed by mist before
The first high minister of Heaven’s race.[23]
100 This little island, round its lowest shore,
Down far below where breakers pound away,
Bears rushes on its soft and muddy floor.
103 No other plant that grows a leafy spray
Or brittle stalk could keep on living there
Because before such blows it won’t give way.
106 But then, when you return, do not repair
By here; the rising sun will show to you
Where you may climb a gentler mountain stair.”
109 With that he disappeared. And as I drew
Erect in silence, pressing near my Guide,
I also turned my eyes upon him, who
112 Had started: “Son, come, follow in my stride;
Let us turn back, for from this point the leas
Slope downwards to their boundary’s lowest side.”
115 The dawn was vanquishing the morning breeze,[24]
Which fled before it; from my far terrain
I recognized the rippling of the seas.
118 We made our way across the lonely plain
Like one who comes to a lost road anew
And till he finds it seems to go in vain.
121 As soon as we had come to where the dew
Resists the sun and, in a shady part,[25]
Had still not much dispersed its residue,
124 My Master, spreading both his hands apart,
Now placed them gently on the grass bedewed;
And I, becoming conscious of his art,
127 Reached up to him my cheeks, which tears imbrued;
And he disclosed in full on them once more
The coloring that Hell had once subdued.
130 And next we came upon a desert shore
That never saw a person sail its sea
Who had experienced return before.[26]
133 As pleased another, there he girded me.[27]
How marvelous it was! For, as he chose
The humble plant, one sprang up suddenly,
136 Just like it, where he’d plucked the first of those.