Dante: Purgatory xvi a

The gloom of Hell or of a night bereft

of all its planets, under barren skies,

and totally obscured by dark, dense clouds,

never had wrapped my face within a veil

so thick, made of such harsh and stinging stuff,

as was that smoke that poured around us there.

It was too much for open eyes to bear,

and so my wise and faithful guide drew near,

offering me his shoulder for support.

Just as the blind man walks close to his guide

in order not to stray, or to collide

with something that could hurt or even kill him,                line 12

so I moved through that foul and acrid air,

hearing my guide keep telling me: "Watch out!

Be very careful not to lose me here."

I could hear voices, which all seemed to pray

the Lamb of God Who takes away our sins

that He be merciful and grant them peace.

each prayer they sang began with Agnus Dei;

the same words, sung in unison, produced

an atmosphere of perfect harmony.

"Master, those voices -- are they shades I hear?"

I asked. And he to me, "Yes, you are right,

and they are loosening the knot of Wrath."                line 24

______________________________________________

Suddenly the dark cloud has enveloped the two travellers on a high mountain ledge, Virgil the Master and Dante the Pilgrim on the mountain of Purgatory on the unceasing climb to Paradise. The shades sing The Lamb of God, a common song from the Mass but how do the wrathful sing in perfect harmony? How can this high peak seem darker and thicker in darkness than Hell? How can he feel like a blind man when his only support in this smothering darkness is himself a shade who cannot know that Lamb of God after all they've been through?

_______________________________________________

"And who are you whose body cleaves our smoke?      line 25

You speak of us as though you still belonged

with those who measure time by calendars."

I heard a voice, somewhere, that spoke these words.

My master said, "Answer his question, first,

then ask him if this is the right way up."

And I: "O creature, you who cleanse your soul

to give it back, made beautiful, to God,

you will hear wonders if you come with me."

"I'll come as far as I'm allowed," he said,

"and if we cannot see each other's face,

we can at least hear one another's words."

Then I began: "Still wrapped in mortal bonds

that death has yet to loose. I climb to Heaven;

and through the pains of Hell I have come here.

Since God has given me the special grace

of His desire that I should see His court

by means unknown to men of our own day,

please tell me who you were before you died,

and tell me, too: is this the way to reach

the passage up? Your words shall be our guide."        line 45

____________________________________________________

This is the second time a shade has called Dante out like this.

But this time the tone of the whole encounter is set by the 

references to the Hell that the pilgrim had already gone thru. 

We find there is something that is bothering him as he makes his way.

So they talk even if they can't see each other.

____________________________________________________

"I was a Lombard, Marco was my name;                line 46

I knew about the world, I loved that good

at which men now no longer aim their bows.

The path you're on will lead you to the stairs."

Thus he replied, then added: "Now, I pray

that you will pray for me when you're above."

"I promise you to do what you have asked,"

I said. "But there's a problem haunting me:

I can no longer keep it to myself.

I first was made aware of it below,

and now it plagues my mind a second time,

for your words second what I first heard there:

the world, indeed, as you have just declared,

is destitute of every virtue known,

swarming with evils, ever breeding more.

What is the cause of this? Please make it clear

that I may teach the truth to other men;

some see it in the stars, some on the earth."     line 63

____________________________________________

Our pilgrim has only asked a couple questions. Who are you and what's the right way up. 

And the penitent who burst out of the clouds on the rarest of occasion to be one of two here to ask Who are You,

and who only makes a brief allusion to that good at which men no longer aim their bows,

yet here, Dante cannot help himself - 'There's a problem haunting me" 

- and has to ask the penitent on the Terrace of the Wrathful on The Mountain of Purgatory,

"What is the Cause ... that I may teach the truth to other men".
_____________________________________________

Mark Musa translator, Penguin Classics Edition,  1981, 1985

with my notes in between