His daily course, “il cammin del Sole,”[218] is often spoken of, and is indicated both by his position in the sky, and the length and direction of shadows. The second Eclogue begins with a description of a breathlessly hot midday, when objects, which are usually shorter than their own shadows, now surpassed them in length.
“Resque refulgentes, solitae superarier umbris, Vincebant umbras.” Ecl. ii. 5, 6.
At this time the sun appears most brilliant, and seems to move most slowly, since he is scarcely changing his position with regard to the horizon.
“E più corrusco, e con più lenti passi, Teneva il sole il cerchio di merigge.”[219]
The greatest number of references to the sun’s daily journey occur in the Purgatory, and we shall quote them in a later chapter.
His yearly journey through the zodiac is also very often referred to. When relating his first meeting with Beatrice, Dante names his age, not by simply saying that he was nearly nine years old, but by counting the number of the times that the “heaven of light,” that is, of the sun, had returned to the same point since his birth:—
“Nove fiate già, appresso al mio nascimento, era tornato lo cielo della luce quasi ad un medesimo punto, quanto alla sua proprio girazione.”[220]
The sun’s “own revolution” is of course its apparent yearly movement, as distinct from the diurnal movement which it shares with all the heavenly bodies.
The same thought is expressed in a sonnet:
“Io sono stato con Amore insieme Dalla circolazion del Sol mia nona.”[221]