L ' I N F E R N O

♫PROPHECY MOTIF * * * * * * * * * *
INF C10 78
FARINATA:
INF C10 79-81 / DANTE INF C10 79-81 / KLINE
Ma non cinquanta volte fia raccesa but the face of the moon-goddess Persephone,
la faccia de la donna che qui regge, who rules here, will not be crescent fifty times,
che tu saprai quanto quell' arte pesa. before you learn the difficulty of that art.
PERSEPHONE: THE VEGETATION RITUALS OF CERES-DEMETER & PERSEPHONE FORMED THE ESSENCE OF THE SECRET
MYSTERIES AT ELEUSIS. ONE OF THE INCARNATIONS OF THE TRIPLE MOON-GODDESS.
YOU LEARN: FARINATA WARNS HIM OF HIS LONG EXILE, TELLING HIM THAT NOT FIFTY MOONS WILL PASS BEFORE HE LEARNS
HOW HARD IT IS TO RETURN FROM BANISHMENT. THE DATE OF THE VISION IS APRIL 1300 & DANTE’S EFFORTS AT RETURN
WERE THWARTED BY THE FAILURE OF POPE BENEDICT XI, WHO SUCCEEDED BONIFACE TO ACHIEVE RECONCILIATION IN
EARLY 1304. BENEDICT VISITED FLORENCE BUT LEFT ON JUNE 4TH LEAVING THE REBELLIOUS CITY UNDER AN INTERDICT. IT
WAS LESS THAN FIFTY ONE LUNAR MONTHS BEFORE DANTE’S EFFORTS AT RETURN FAILED, SUGGESTING A COMMUNICATION
WITH BENEDICT (DANTE WAS ACTING AS SECRETARY THEN TO ALLESSANDRO DA ROMANO, OF THE OLD GHIBELLINE FAMILY
OF THE COUNTS GUIDI, WHO WAS THE LEADER OF THE GHIBELLINES IN EXILE) SOME TIME IN MARCH OR EARLY APRIL.
INF C10 82-84 / DANTE
E se tu mai nel dolce mondo regge, And, as you wish to return to the sweet world,
dimmi: perché quel popolo è sì empio tell me why that people is so fierce towards my kin,
incontr' a' miei in ciascuna sua legge? in all its lawmaking?
DANTE:
INF C10 85-87 / DANTE INF C10 85-87 / KLINE
Ond' io a lui: «Lo strazio e 'l grande scempio At which I answered him: The great slaughter
che fece l'Arbia colorata in rosso, and havoc, that dyed the Arbia red, is the cause
tal orazion fa far nel nostro tempio». of those indictments against them, in our churches.
FARINATA:
INF C10 88-90 / DANTE INF C10 88-90 / KLINE
Poi ch'ebbe sospirando il capo mosso, Then he shook his head, sighing, and said:
«A ciò non fu' io sol», disse, «né certo I was not alone in that matter, nor would I
sanza cagion con li altri sarei mosso. have joined with the others without good cause,
INF C10 91-93 / DANTE
Ma fu' io solo, là dove sofferto but I was alone, there, when all agreed
fu per ciascun di tòrre via Fiorenza, to raze Florence to the ground,
colui che la difesi a viso aperto». and I openly defended her.
DANTE:
INF C10 94-96 / DANTE INF C10 94-96 / KLINE
Deh, se riposi mai vostra semenza», Ah, as I hope your descendants might sometime
prega' io lui, «solvetemi quel nodo have peace, I begged him, solve the puzzle
che qui ha 'nviluppata mia sentenza. that has entangled my mind.
INF C10 97-99 / DANTE
El par che voi veggiate, se ben odo, It seems, if I hear right, that you see
dinanzi quel che 'l tempo seco adduce, beforehand what time brings,
e nel presente tenete altro modo». but have a different knowledge of the present.
FARINATA:
INF C10 100-102 / DANTE INF C10 100-102 / KLINE
«Noi veggiam, come quei c'ha mala luce, Like one who has imperfect vision’, he said,
le cose», disse, «che ne son lontano; we see things that are distant from us: so much
cotanto ancor ne splende il sommo duce. of the light the supreme Lord still allows us.
96