Inf. xiii. 146. (125.) i.e. "The gate into the walls, before the circle was enlarged, took its name from the family of Pera, which is now extinct." (127.) Florentine families had been permitted by Count Ugo of Luxembourg, "the great baron," Lieutenant of the Emperor Otho III., to bear his arms, and to obtain other privileges of nobility. Ugo died on St. Thomas' day; and the monks used to keep the anniversary. Hence the allusion in the text. (131.) Giano della Bella.

Page 157. (Line 135.) Borgo, a division of the city so called. (136.) By the family "that brought distress upon Florence," are intended the Amidei. (140.) The allusion to Buondelmonti breaking his pledge of marriage is explained in note to Inf. xxviii. 107. (144.) "It had been well," says Dante," if he had been drowned in the river Ema, on his way to Florence." (147.) This allusion is to the statue of Mars, on the Ponte Vecchio, which was broken down when Buondelmonti was slain. (148.) i. e. Under the anspices of the old families above mentioned. (153.) "The Florentines adopted for their arms a white lily; but after the civil division, the Guelfs changed it, using a yellow lily on a white shield."Landino. Its being reversed upon the spear, means its being carried upside down by a conqueror.

CANTO XVII.

ARGUMENT.

CACCIAGUIDA foretels Dante's banishment, and the calamities he is about to suffer from his ungrateful countrymen. He bids him not shrink from declaring the truth revealed in his vision, however bitter it may be.

As he who came to Clymene, to inquire

If true the tale reported to his shame,
(Phaeton-whose rashness hardens many a sire)

E'en such was I, and such the hue I wore ;
Which Beatrice and that most holy flame
Perceived, who changed his place for me before.
Whereat: "Let thy desire," my Lady said,

"Shine freely forth; that thus, distinctly shown,
The internal stamp be outwardly display'd.

Not that our knowledge will increase thereby,
But to accustom thee thy thirst to own,
That others may thy longings satisfy."

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loved stem, exalted to such height That plainly as we mortals see but one Obtuse in a triangle,-so thy sight

Things future contemplates with vision clear,

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Viewing that Centre, unto whom are known

Future and past, as though they present were.

While Virgil guided me, as up we sped,

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Around the mountain where souls make them pure, And down to the dark regions of the dead,

My coming life to me was shadow'd out

In words, that, though I feel well squared to endure The shafts of fortune, fill'd my mind with doubt: Wherefore I fain would learn what misery

Awaiteth me from cruel Fortune's hand;

Since gentler comes the arrow we foresee." Thus spake I to that splendour which addrest His words to me before with accent bland; And, as my guide desired, my wish confest.

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Nor by responses, such as led astray

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The world with smooth deceptions, ere was slain

The Lamb of God, that taketh sins away;

But in bright words and simple ancient style,
That love paternal answer'd me again,

Not dimly seen, though shrouded in his smile.

"Contingency, which doth possess no place Beyond your globe, nor o'er its bounds extend,

Is wholly pictured in the Eternal face: (Not that necessity drives things by force, Unless the eye which sees a ship descend

A rapid stream, be said to urge its course),
Whence, as soft harmony comes o'er the ear

From sweet-toned organ, so comes o'er my sight
The time which unto thee approacheth near.
As through a treacherous step-dame's cruel art
Hippolitus from Athens took his flight,
So thou art doom'd from Florence to depart.
This aim, this object is already sought;

And he who plans it, soon his power shall prove,
E'en there where Christ is daily sold and bought.
On th' injured side shall clamour fix the blame,

As it is wont; but Vengeance from above Shall signal witness of the truth proclaim. 'Tis thine to part from all thou lovest best-

From all most cherish'd:-Exile's bow shall send
This self-same arrow first, to pierce thy breast.
'Tis thine to prove what bitter savour bears
The bread of others;-and how hard to wend
Upward and downward by another's stairs.

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But that which shall thy misery complete,
Shall be the foul and senseless company
Which in this valley thou art doom'd to meet:
For most ungrateful, loathsome, impious-all

Shall set themselves against thee: but full nigh
The hour approaches of their destined fall.
In the issue shall their brutishness be shown,
So will a greater fame redound to thee,
To have form'd a party by thyself alone.
Thy first retreat-first refuge from despair,
Shall be the mighty Lombard's courtesy,
Whose arms the Eagle on a ladder bear.
His looks on thee so kindly shall be cast,

That asking and conceding shall change place;
And that, wont first to be, 'twixt you be last.
With him shall one be found, who, at his birth,
Was by this ardent star so fraught with grace,
His deeds of valour shall display his worth.
Not yet his greatness by the world is seen;

So tender is his age; for scarce nine years
Around him whirling have these circles been ;
But ere the Gascon's artifice deceive

Great Henry, he, all sordid hopes and fears
Despising, shall a glorious name achieve.

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