Dante's bitterness against certain Popes made no rift in his creed, nor does it seem to have made
him less respected by the Roman Court. There is in the "Paradiso" that great passage on the poet's faith—
Così spirò di quell' amore acceso;
indi soggiunse: "Assai bene è trascorsa
d'esta moneta già la lega e il peso;
ma dimmi se tu l' hai nella tua borsa."
ed' io: "Si, l'ho, si lucida e si tonda,
che nel suo conio nulla mi s' inforsa."
Appresso usci della luce profonda,
che li splendeva; "Questa cara gioia,
sopra la quale ogni virtù si fonda,
onde ti venne?" Ed io: "La larga ploia
dello Spirito Santo, ch' è diffusa
in su le vecchie e in su le nuove cuoia,
È sillogismo, che la mia ha conchiusa
acutamente si, che in verso d' ella
ogni dimostrazion mi pare ottusa."
If the reading of the "Paradiso" turns one to other books, so much the better. Aristotle is worth while; he holds the germ of what is best in modern life; and St. Thomas Aquinas, his echo, with new harmonies added the Wagner to Aristotle's Mozart. No—that is going too far!—the musical comparison fails. "If thou should'st never see my face again, pray for my soul," is
King Arthur's prayer. It is the prayer of Pope Gregory that saved Trajan.
When we come to the "Purgatorio," like the "Paradiso" too neglected, we find much that illuminates our minds and touches our hearts. The "Purgatorio" is not without humour, and it is certainly very human. For instance, there is the case of the negligent ruler, Nino de' Visconti. Dante is frankly pleased to meet him, but his address is hardly tactful. He is evidently surprised to find that Nino is not in Hell,
When he came near to me I said to him;
gentle Judge Nino, how I'm delighted well
that I have seen thee here and not in Hell.
Nino begs that his innocent daughter, Giovanna, may be asked by Dante, on his return to earth, to pray for him. He is not pleased that his widow should desire to marry