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Readings on the Paradiso of Dante (2); Text, Translation and Commentary: Canto Xvi-Xxxiii. Index
Readings on the Paradiso of Dante Text Translation and Commentary Canto XviXxxiii Index - 2 Author:William Warren Vernon Volume: 2 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1909 Original Publisher: The Macmillan company Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Italian Poetry / Continental European Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you bu... more »y the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CANTO XVIII. SPHERE OF MARS (concluded) -- JOSHUA AND OTHER GLORIOUS SOLDIERS OF THE FAITH.' ASCENT TO THE SIXTH HEAVEN -- SPHERE OF JUPITER -- THE JUST RULERS -- THE IMPERIAL EAGLE -- PAPAL AVARICE. The key-note of the latter half of the last Canto was the reprobation of those who opposed the Imperial dignity of Henry VII. Can Grande, the Imperial Vicar, and leader of the Ghibellines, was extolled, and Clement V was denounced. In the present Canto, and in the two that follow it, we have the glorification of the Roman Eagle, as the standard of the Empire and the symbol of the justice of God. The Imperial idea, be it remarked, had been touched upon in the persons 'of Justinian the Emperor and Cacciaguida a knight of the Empire. Benvenuto divides the Canto into four parts. In the First Division, from ver. i to ver. 21, Dante describes how Beatrice, divining his thoughts, induces him to cast his burden upon God. In the Second Division, from ver. 22 to ver. 51, Cacciaguida names to Dante some of the Blessed spirits who are in his company, and then vanishes out of his sight. In the Third Division, from ver. 52 to ver. 114, Dante describes his ascent into the Sphere of Jupiter, and how he saw the figure of an Eagle. In the Fourth Division, from ver. 115 to ver. 136, Dante censures the Pastors of the Church, because they impede the just and proper secular rule of the Eagle of the Empire. Division I. -- After the conclusion of Cacciaguida's last words in the preceding Ca...« less