Purgatorio, Canto I
GDSU inv. 3502 F
English version is upcoming.
Sweet colour of the oriental sapphire.
That was upgathered in the cloudless aspect
Of the pure air, as far as the first circle,
Unto mine eyes did recommence delight
Soon as I issued forth from the dead air.
Which had with sadness filled mine eyes and breast.
Title block by Zuccari:
The Guide and I into that hidden road
Now entered, to return to the bright world;
And without care of having any rest
We mounted up, he first and I the second,
Till I beheld through a round aperture
Some of the beauteous things that Heaven doth bear;
Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.
ii Title block:
"Who are you? ye who, counter the blind river,
Have fled away from the eternal prison?"
Moving those venerable plumes, he said :
"Who guided you? or who has been your lamp
In issuing forth out of the night profound.
That ever black makes the infernal valley?
The laws of the abyss, are they thus broken ?
Or is there changed in heaven some council new,
That being damned ye come unto my crags?"
Then did my Leader lay his grasp upon me.
And with his words, and with his hands and signs,
Reverent he made in me my knees and brow;
Then answered him : "I came not of myself;
A Lady from Heaven descended, at whose prayers
I aided this one with my company. [...]
I've shown him all the people of perdition,
And now those spirits I intend to show
Who purge themselves beneath thy guardianship. [...]
Go, then, and see thou gird this one about
With a smooth rush, and that thou wash his face,
So that thou cleanse away all stain therefrom".
iii Title block:
As soon as we were come to where the dew
Fights with the sun, and, being in a part
Where shadow falls, little evaporates,
Both of his hands upon the grass outspread
In gentle manner did my Master place;
Whence I, who of his action was aware,
Extended unto him my tearful cheeks;
There did he make in me uncovered wholly
That hue which Hell had covered up in me.
Then came we down upon the desert shore
Which never yet saw navigate its waters
Any that afterward had known return.
There he begirt me as the other pleased;
O marvellous ! for even as he culled
The humble plant, such it sprang up again
Suddenly there where he uprooted it.
Purgatorio, Canto II
GDSU inv. 3503 F
English version is upcoming.
Upon the stern stood the Celestial Pilot;
Beatitude seemed written in his face,
And more than a hundred spirits sat within.
"In exitu Israel de Aegypto"
They chanted all together in one voice,
With whatso in that psalm is after written.
Then made he sign of holy rood upon them,
Whereat all cast themselves upon the shore,
And he departed swiftly as he came.
Title block by Zuccari:
He cried: "Make haste, make haste to bow the knee.
Behold the Angel of God! fold thou thy hands!
Henceforward shalt thou see such officers! [...]
Then as still nearer and more near us came
The Bird Divine, more radiant he appeared,
So that near by the eye could not endure him,
But down I cast it; and he came to shore
With a small vessel, very swift and light.
So that the water swallowed naught thereof.
Purgatorio, Canto II
GDSU inv. 3504 F
English version is upcoming.
"Love, that within my mind discourses with me"
Forthwith began he so melodiously.
The melody within me still is sounding.
My Master, and myself, and all that people
Which with him were, appeared as satisfied
As if naught else might touch the mind of any.
The souls who had, from seeing me draw breath,
Become aware that I was still alive,
Pallid in their astonishment became;
And as to messenger who bears the olive
The people throng to listen to the news,
And no one shows himself afraid of crowding,
So at the sight of me stood motionless
Those fortunate spirits, all of them, as if
Oblivious to go and make them fair.
One from among them saw I coming forward,
As to embrace me, with such great affection,
That it incited me to do the like.
O empty shadows, save in aspect only!
Three times behind it did I clasp my hands,
As oft returned with them to my own breast!
I think with wonder I depicted me;
Whereat the shadow smiled and backward drew;
And I, pursuing it, pressed farther forward.
Purgatorio, Canto III
GDSU inv. 3505 F
English version is upcoming.
"Why dost thou still mistrust?" my Comforter
Began to say to me turned wholly round;
"Dost thou not think me with thee, and that I guide thee ?
'Tis evening there already where is buried
The body within which I cast a shadow;
'Tis from Brundusium ta'en, and Naples has it.
Now if in front of me no shadow fall,
Marvel not at it more than at the heavens,
Because one ray impedeth not another
To suffer torments, both of cold and heat,
Bodies like this that Power provides, which wills
That how it works be not unveiled to us.
Insane is he who hopeth that our reason
Can traverse the illimitable way,
Which the one Substance in three Persons follows.
Mortals, remain contented at the Quia;
For if ye had been able to see all,
No need there were for Mary to give birth;
And ye have seen desiring without fruit,
Those whose desire would have been quieted,
Which evermore is given them for a grief.
I speak of Aristotle and of Plato,
And many others"; - and here bowed his head
And more he said not, and remained disturbed.
Purgatorio, Canto III
GDSU, inv. 3506 F
English version is upcoming.
True is it, who in contumacy dies
Of Holy Church, though penitent at last,
Must wait upon the outside this bank
Thirty times told the time that he has been
In his presumption, unless such decree
Shorter by means of righteous prayers become.
Tell us upon what side the mountain slopes.
So that the going up be possible,
For to lose time irks him most who most knows.
And hence, whenever aught is heard or seen
Which keeps the soul intently bent upon it,
Time passes on, and we perceive it not,
Purgatorio, Canto IV
GDSU inv. 3507 F
English version is upcoming.
Spent with fatigue was I, when I began:
"O my sweet Father I turn thee and behold
How I remain alone, unless thou stay"
"O son," he said, "up yonder drag thyself,"
Pointing me to a terrace somewhat higher.
Which on that side encircles all the hill.
These words of his so spurred me on, that I
Strained every nerve, behind him scrambling up,
Until the circle was beneath my feet.
Whereon he said to me: "If Castor and Pollux
Were in the company of yonder mirror,
That up and down conducteth with its light,
Thou wouldst behold the zodiac's jagged wheel
Revolving still more near unto the Bears,
Unless it swerved aside from its old track. [...]
But, if it pleaseth thee, I fain would learn
How far we have to go; for the hill rises
Higher than eyes of mine have power to rise.
And he to me: "This mount is such, that ever
At the beginning down below 'tis tiresome.
And aye the more one climbs, the less it hurts.
Therefore, when it shall seem so pleasant to thee,
That going, up shall be to thee as easy
As going down the current in a boat.
Then at this pathway's ending thou wilt be;
There to repose thy panting breath expect;
No more I answer ; and this I know for true."
And as he finished uttering these words,
A voice close by us sounded: "Peradventure
Thou wilt have need of sitting down ere that."
At sound thereof each one of us turned round,
And saw upon the left hand a great rock.
Which neither I nor he before had noticed.
Thither we drew; and there were persons there
Who in the shadow stood behind the rock,
As one through indolence is wont to stand.
And one of them, who seemed to me fatigued,
Was sitting down, and both his knees embraced,
Holding his face low down between them bowed.
"O my sweet Lord," I said, "do turn thine eye
On him who shows himself more negligent
Then even Sloth herself his sister were."
Then he turned round to us, and he gave heed,
Just lifting up his eyes above his thigh,
And said: "Now go thou up, for thou art valiant."
CREDITS
English translation of Dante's text by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Note
The texts in quotation marks are excerpts from Dante, which refer to the depicted subjects. The texts in italics are the translations of the title blocks Zuccari himself has often inserted in his drawings.