INFERNO, Episode 7. Virgil The Poet Becomes Virgil The Prophet: Inferno, Canto I, Lines 97 - 136
We come to perhaps the strangest part of this already strange first canto of INFERNO: Virgil’s prophecies of the future—not only Dante’s future, but all of Italy’s, and maybe the world’s future, too, a glimpse of the Last Judgment, right at the start of COMEDY.
Many readers have seen the first canto of INFERNO as actually the opening canto of the entire poem. And no wonder! So much goes on: from fear to beasts, from loneliness to haunting, to a pilgrim with no past to one with a foretold future. How much can Dante-the-poet cram into this canto? As much as Dante-the-pilgrim can withstand.
And maybe there’s another point, too. Maybe the poet wants this canto chock full of material to slow his readers down, to indicate that this poem will not be an easy ride, that we have to give it time and thought.
Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:
[01:24] My English translation of the passage: INFERNO: Canto 1, Lines 97 - 136. If you’d like to read along or drop a comment to start a conversation, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
[03:46] Virgil's got a new role. He's not only a poet. He's a prophet. What is a prophet in the Biblical tradition? And what exactly does Virgil say will happen in the future?
[09:55] Virgil and his greyhound--what can we make of this strange, opaque prophecy? I'll offer you five readings, four from the commentary tradition and one (the last) under my own steam. Maybe the difficulty of this passage is its point. It's not hard to understand the words. It's hard to know what they mean. And maybe we should just sit with that concept for a bit.
[18:34] Virgil simplifies things by telling Dante-the-pilgrim's future (that is, not the future for the Italian peninsula but just the road ahead for the pilgrim). But does he really? In telling Dante-the-pilgrim about the journey ahead, Virgil reveals his misunderstanding (or maybe his limited understanding) about what's ahead. And Dante's reply is even more curious, because Dante seems to forget where the journey's headed: heaven. Canto 1 ends in a knotty mess--until the last sentence, which seems so simple but is in fact so very profound.
Here’s my English translation of the passage of INFERNO, Canto 1, Lines 97 - 136:
[Virgil continues:] “Her [the she-wolf’s] nature is so violent and insane
That her greedy hunger is never satisfied.
Once fed, she’s hungrier than ever!
“Many are the animals with which she mates,
And there will be even more, until the greyhound will come
Who will put her to a pain-filled death.
“He will not feed on land or wealth
But on wisdom, love, and virtue.
His birthplace is between Feltro and Feltro.
“He will be the salving of humble Italy
For which the virgin Camilla died,
As well as Euryalus, Turnus, and Nisus.
“He will hunt the beast in every little village
Until he sends her back to hell,
That place where envy first let her loose.
“Therefore, I think it’s wise and discerning
For you to follow me and I will be your guide,
And lead you from here to an eternal place
“Where you will hear the wailing of despair
And see the ancient souls in torment
Who eternally lament their second death.
“And then you’ll see the souls who are content
In the fire, because they hope to get to come among,
Whenever it may be, the blessed people.
“If you want to ascend to these,
There will be a soul more worthy than I.
I’ll leave you with her when I depart.
“For the emperor who sits on high
Has decided that I, who was a rebel against his law,
Should not ever get to come into his city.
“In every part he reigns and also rules.
There is his city and his high seat.
Happy is the one who he chooses to be there!”
And I to him, “Poet, I beg you,
By this God who you do not know,
In order that I can get out of his evil and even worse,
“Lead me to the place you’ve described
So that I may see Saint Peter’s Gate,
And the ones you say are filled with sorrow.”
Then he started off, and I went behind him.