12. Bested By Beatrice, Bested By Virgil: INFERNO, Canto II, Lines 115 - 141
Without any other doubts, we set out on the dark and savage path.
We come to the conclusion of the rhetorical war that starts our journey across the universe.
In this last passage from Canto II, Virgil turns back to Dante who has perhaps begun to discover that the old poet’s polished words may be effective for classical lit but don’t work so well on this long walk through all that is.
The journey across the universe is the journey to find the language to describe the journey across the universe. At first, maybe it was the high style that should set the tone. But there’s another voice, already in the poem: Beatrice’s, her “soft and gentle words.”
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The segments to this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[02:14] My English translation of INFERNO, Canto II, Lines 115 - 141. If you want to read my translation, find a more in-depth study guide, or continue the conversation with me through a comment, scroll down this page.
[05:49] Why did we have to have this rhetorical battle?
[07:19] Beatrice's final salvo: She wins with tears.
[08:32] Virgil confirms that the she-wolf was Dante's primary antagonist.
[09:53] Virgil states his final case--and maybe overstates it, putting himself on a par with the blessed ladies in heaven. This may be a moment of the so-called anxiety of influence (à la Harold Bloom, the U. S. provocateur/literary critic).
[14:53] Desire is the foundation of the universe in Dante's scheme.
[15:24] The pilgrim offers a unified will: He is no longer split in parts.
[16:08] The pilgrim Dante speaks in a plain, straightforward way, indicating that he gets it, that he has what it takes to start the journey (both across the universe and on the page).
[17:54] An backward glance at Canto II and some points about its structure. A canto highly concerned with rhetoric is itself rhetorically structured. And more about rhetoric and the will, as well as the way they must align to get you what you want.
My English translation of INFERNO, Canto II, lines 115 – 141:
“When she had finished saying this to me [Virgil],
She averted her eyes, lit up with tears,
Which made me want to come here even faster.
“And I came to you [Dante] just as she wanted
And rescued you from the beast
Blocking you from the short path up that beautiful mountain.
“So what’s going on? Why, oh why do you hold back?
Why do you nurture at heart all this cowardice?
Why are you not bold and daring,
“When three blessed ladies
Care for you in the court of heaven,
And when my words can promise such good for you?”
As little flowers, dropping and closed
In the chill of night, straighten their stems
And open up when the sun shines on them,
Just so was I, in my failing strength.
So much good courage rushed into my heart
That like a free man, I said to him,
“How compassionate was she who came to my aid!
How courteous are you, when you quickly obeyed
The true words that she gave you!
“With your words, you have restored my heart
With desire to come with you.
My first purpose is now my goal!
“Let’s go, now, with one will and undivided—
You are my leader, lord, and master.”
That’s how I spoke to him, so that when he moved on,
I entered into the deep and savage path.
FOR MORE STUDY
Two translation questions:
The notion of desire is highlighted in the passage because of the way phrases are set in parallel in the medieval Florentine at lines 136 - 137: “Tu m’hai con disiderio il cor disposto/ sì al venir con le parole tue. . . . (literally, “You for me have with desire the heart disposed/ so much that by coming with your words. . . .”—emphasis added in both). The rhythm of the lines emphasizes the two “with” phrases because the first happens just before the caesura (or break) in the line and the second happens just after it. To put it bluntly, “desire” is put in some sort of parallel with Virgil’s “words.” We can perhaps see the link between desire and rhetoric here . . . or perhaps the ways that rhetoric can set desire in motion. This desire is not only to get out of the dark wood, not only to walk across the universe, not only to find Beatrice, but ultimately to reach the heights of heaven. It is by “desire” (human, even sexual yearning) that Dante will find God. And the way he’ll find his desire is ultimately through words (and here at the start, through Virgil’s words).
The bit about setting off with “one will” is a little more challenging than I made it out to be. Here’s line 139: “Or va, ch’un sol volere e d’ambedue” (literally, “Now go, such that [there’s] one single will and of two between.” I translated “ambedue” as “undivided,” but it’s more complex than that. You might see the word “ambidextrous” lurking inside it. The idea is that two are coming together as one. But which two? Virgil and Dante? That’s certainly how scholars like Robert Durling have interpreted it. Or is this a reference all the way back to the moment when the pilgrim was climbing the mountain, with one firm foot and one faltering foot. Are his feet now together?
Four interpretive issues:
When Virgil claims he saved the pilgrim from the beast (lines 118 - 120), he says that this beast was blocking “il corto andar” up the “bel monte” (that is, “the short way” up the “beautiful mountain”). The failure to climb this mountain wasn’t because it was the wrong way to go . . . necessarily. It is a “bel” mountain. The problem may have been that the pilgrim was trying to go the short way. Which then brings up a bigger question: What is the long way? Perhaps it’s the entire poem ahead! In other words, maybe the way up that mountain is found in the next ninety-eight cantos. After all, the pilgrim was heading toward the brilliant, rising sun, which does sound a lot like the Christian notion of God. Even so, that interpretive answer is not the final one. The line is still oddly cryptic. There are many more ways to think about this one. You might even consider how you imagine Virgil’s tone here.
Words are at the heart of INFERNO, Canto II. Here’s the complete progression: Beatrice’s “soave e piana” words (“lush and soft” words at line 56), Virgil’s “parola ornata” (“polished word” at line 67), Virgil’s “parlare onesto” (“noble words” at line 113), and Beatrice’s “vere parole” (“truthful words” at line 135). I said that Canto II is set up in a chiasmus, a giant V structure. So are these words: Beatrice’s-Virgil’s-Virgil’s-Beatrice’s. Down one side and up the other. Maybe there’s a progression here: start out lush and soft, let those words take on a shine, let them then be imbued with medieval notions of honor, and finally arrive at the truth. Is that progression true for this canto? For INFERNO? For COMEDY as a whole?
My favorite moment of INFERNO, Canto II, may well be lines 121 - 123. Virgil is so irritated! At line 121: “Perché, perché restai!” “Why, why stay put?” And “why” goes on as the first word in the next two lines: “Why do you nurture all this cowardice in your heart? Why are you not bold and daring?” Four “perché” in a row! I love that the damned, pagan poet is exasperated with the Christian straggler. I find it so human, so true to form. The great poet Virgil has to deal with this middling layabout. What’s more, the great poet gets a glimpse of heaven and a visit from a redeemed lady on high, something he himself never warranted in his own life. You can see that the relationship between Virgil and Dante is far more complicated than you might think at first glance.
The last line of Canto II is “intrai per lo cammino alto e silvestro” (literally, “I entered by the way low and savage”). Oddly enough, it sounds a lot like the opening lines of the poem: “Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,/ mi ritrovai per una selva oscura.” It’s as if Cantos I and II wrap back on themselves to start the plot again. We might even think they’re unnecessary, just a big prologue before we get to the real story. (And there are a lot of Dante scholars over the centuries who have argued just that.) But has the poet left us some clues. First off, the “road” in the first line is perhaps metaphoric: It’s the journey of our life. But the road at the end of Canto II seems more like a physical road, a low and overgrown path. Secondly, is there a difference between “oscura” (dark, dim, obscured) and “alto e silvestro” (low and savage, headed down and overgrown, base and wild). Finally, is there a difference between “retrovai” (found myself) and “intrai” (entered). The change in those verbs may offer much of the poet’s rationale for the first two cantos.
A journaling prompt:
What words have spurred you to action in your life? When have you heard something or read something that set you off on what you really needed to do? Where did those words come from? Who spoke them? Why were they so meaningful?