Purgatorio
The Guardian Angels and the Serpent. Nino di Gal- lura. The Three Stars. Currado Malaspina. 'Twas
Now comes the hour that turns back longing
in those who sail the seas, and softens hearts—
the day they've bid farewell to cherished friends.
The hour when a new pilgrim's soul fills with love
if he hears from far off a bell
that seems to mourn the dying day.
In that moment I began to silence my listening,
watching instead one of the souls
who had risen, lifting his hand for attention.
He joined both palms and raised them skyward,
fixing his gaze upon the east,
as if to say to God: "Nothing else matters to me."
"Te lucis ante" flowed so devoutly
from his mouth, with notes so sweet,
it lifted me completely from myself.
And then the others, gently and reverently,
accompanied him through the entire hymn,
their eyes turned toward the celestial spheres.
Here, reader, sharpen your focus on the truth—
the veil has grown so thin now
that seeing through it should be easy.
I watched that noble company
gaze upward afterward in silence,
pale and humble, as if waiting.
And from on high I saw two Angels
descend with flaming swords,
their blades broken off at the points.
Green as newborn leaves
were their robes, which streamed behind them,
beaten and spread wide by verdant wings.
One took position just above us,
the other landed on the opposite shore,
so the people were contained between them.
I could clearly see their golden hair,
but their faces dazzled my eyes—
vision overwhelmed by excess of light.
"Both have come from Mary's lap," said Sordello,
"to guard this valley
against the serpent that will soon appear."
Not knowing which way to turn,
I spun around and pressed myself,
utterly chilled, against my guide's faithful shoulders.
Sordello spoke again: "Let's go down now
among these great shades and speak with them.
They'll be delighted to see you."
I think I descended only three steps
before I was below, and saw someone
staring at me as if trying to recognize me.
The air was growing dark by then,
but not so much that between his eyes and mine
it couldn't reveal what it had hidden before.
He moved toward me, and I toward him.
Noble Judge Nino! How it thrilled me
to find you not among the damned!
We exchanged every proper greeting,
then he asked: "How long has it been
since you came across distant waters to the mountain's base?"
"This morning," I told him, "I came through those terrible places.
I'm still in my first life,
though by this journey I'm earning the other."
The instant they heard my answer,
both he and Sordello pulled back from me
like people suddenly bewildered.
One turned to Virgil, the other
to someone sitting nearby, calling: "Get up, Currado!
Come see what God has graciously willed!"
Then, turning back to me: "By that special grace
you owe to Him who hides His first purpose
so deeply that no one can fathom it—
when you're beyond the wide waters again,
tell my Giovanna to pray for me
where prayers of the innocent are answered.
I don't think her mother loves me anymore,
not since she put aside her white widow's veil—
which she, poor woman, will surely regret.
Through her it's easy to understand
how briefly love's fire burns in women
unless eye or touch rekindle it often.
The viper that leads Milan's armies
won't give her as fine a tomb
as Gallura's rooster would have made."
He spoke this way, his face marked
by that righteous passion
that burns in measured flame within the heart.
My eager eyes kept wandering toward heaven,
toward that point where the stars move slowest,
like the part of a wheel nearest its axle.
My guide asked: "Son, what are you staring at
up there?" And I replied: "Those three torches
that set this pole ablaze with fire."
He answered: "The four bright stars
you saw this morning are down low now,
and these have risen to where those were."
While he was speaking, Sordello
pulled him aside and said: "Look there—our enemy!"
pointing with his finger.
On the side where the little valley
has no barrier, a serpent approached—
perhaps the same that gave Eve bitter fruit.
Through grass and flowers the evil creature came,
turning its head from time to time,
licking its back like a grooming beast.
I didn't see—and so can't tell you—
how the heavenly falcons began to move,
but I clearly saw both were in motion.
Hearing the air split by their green wings,
the serpent fled, and the angels wheeled around,
flying back to their stations in unison.
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THE SERPENT
“Hearing the air split by their green wings, / the serpent fled, and the angels wheeled around,”
The shade who had approached the judge
when he called out, through all that assault
never took his gaze from me.
"May the light that leads you upward
find in your will as much receptiveness
as you need to reach the highest heaven,"
he began. "If you know any true news
of Valdimagra or its region,
tell me—I was once great there.
I was called Currado Malaspina.
Not the elder, but descended from him.
I bore my family that love which here grows pure."
"Through your domains," I said to him,
"I've never traveled, but where in all Europe
do people not know of them?
The fame that honors your house
proclaims both lords and lands so widely
that even those who've never been there know them.
And I swear to you, as I hope for heaven,
your honored family has never lost
the glory of generosity and sword.
Custom and nature so privilege your line
that even though a corrupt leader misleads the world,
you alone stay straight and scorn the crooked path."
"Now go," he said, "for the sun won't rest
seven times on the bed the Ram
covers and straddles with all four feet
before this gracious opinion of yours
will be nailed into your mind's center
with stronger nails than others' mere words—
unless justice's course stands still."