# Purgatory Canto  7

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> 
> Canto VII
> 
> Argument
> 
>      The approach of night hindering further ascent, Sordello conducts our
> Poet apart to an eminence, from whence they behold a pleasant recess, in form
> of a flowery valley, scooped out of the mountain; where are many famous
> spirits, and among them the Emperor Rodolph, Ottocar, King of Bohemia, Philip
> III of France, Henry of Navarre, Peter III of Arragon, Charles I of Naples,
> Henry III of England, and William, Marquis of Montferrat.
> 
> After their courteous greetings joyfully
> Seven times exchanged, Sordello backward drew
> Exclaiming, "Who are ye?" - "Before this amount
> By spirits worthy of ascent to God
> Was sought, my bones had by Octavius' care
> Been buried. I am Virgil; for no sin
> Deprived of Heaven, except for lack of faith."
> So answer'd him in few my gentle guide.
> 
> As one, who aught before him suddenly
> Beholding, whence his wonder riseth, cries,
> "It is, yet is not," wavering in belief;
> Such he appear'd; then downward bent his eyes,
> And, drawing near with reverential step,
> Caught him, where one of mean estate might clasp
> His lord. "Glory of Latium!" he exclaim'd,
> "In whom our tongue its utmost power display'd;
> Boast of my honor'd birth - place! what desert
> Of mine, what favour, rather, undeserved,
> Shows thee to me? If I to hear that voice
> Am worthy, say if from below thou comest,
> And from what cloister's pale." - "Through every orb
> Of that sad region," he replied, "thus far
> Am I arrived, by heavenly influence led:
> And with such aid I come. Not for my doing,
> But for not doing, have I lost the sight
> Of that high Sun, whom thou desirest, and who
> By me too late was known. There is a place[1]
> There underneath, not made by torments sad,
> But by dun shades alone; where mourning's voice
> Sounds not of anguish sharp, but breathes in sighs.
> There I with little innocents abide,
> Who by death's fangs were bitten, ere exempt
> From human taint. There I with those abide,
> Who the three holy virtues[2] put not on,
> But understood the rest,[3] and without blame
> Follow'd them all
>  But, if thou know'st, and canst,
> Direct us how we soonest may arrive,
> Where Purgatory its true beginning takes."
> 
> [1: Limbo. See Hell, Canto iv. 24.]
> 
> [2:  Faith, Hope, and Charity.]
> 
> [3: "The rest." Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.]
> 
> He answer'd thus": "We have no certain place
> Assign'd us: upward I may go, or round.
> Far as I can, I join thee for thy guide.
> But thou beholdest now how day declines;
> And upward to proceed by night, our power
> Excels: therefore it may be well to choose
> A place of pleasant sojourn. To the right
> Some spirits sit apart retired. If thou
> Consentest, I to these will lead thy steps:
> And thou wilt know th
> m, not without delight,"
> 
> "How chances this?" was answer'd: "whoso wish'd
> To ascend by night, would he be thence debarr'd
> By other, or through his own weakness fail?"
> 
> The good Sordello then, along the ground
> Trailing his finger, spoke: "Only this line
> Thou shalt not overpass, soon as the sun
> Hath disappear'd; not that aught else impedes
> Thy going upward, save the shades of night.
> These, with the want of power, perplex the will.
> 
> With them thou haply mightst return beneath,
> Or to and fro around the mountain's side
> Wander, while day is in the horizon shut."
> 
> My master straight, as wondering at his speech,
> Exclaim'd: "Then lead us quickly, where thou sayst
> That, while we stay, we may enjoy delight."
> 
> A little space we were removed from thence,
> When I perceived the mountain hollow'd out,
> Even as large valleys hollow'd out on earth.
> 
> "That way," the escorting spirit cried, "we go,
> Where in a bosom the high bank recedes:
> And thou await renewal of the day."
> 
> Betwixt the steep and plain, a crooked path
> Led us traverse into the ridge's side,
> Where more than half the sloping edge expires.
> Refulgent gold, and silver thrice refined,
> And scarlet grain and ceruse, Indian wood
> Of lucid dye serene, fresh emeralds
> But newly broken, by the herbs and flowers
> Placed in that fair recess, in color all
> Had been surpass'd, as great surpasses less.
> Nor nature only there lavish'd her hues,
> But of the sweetness of a thousand smells
> A rare and undistinguish'd fragrance made.
> 
> "Salve Regina,"[4] on the grass and flowers,
> Here chanting, I beheld those spirits sit,
> Who not beyond the valley could be seen.
> 
> [4: "Salve Regina." The beginning of a prayer to the Virgin.]
> 
> "Before the westering sun sink to his bed,"
> Began the Mantuan, who our steps had turn'd,
> "'Mid those, desire not that I lead ye on.
> For from this eminence ye shall discern
> Better the acts and visages of all,
> Than, in the nether vale, among them mix'd.
> He, who sits high above the rest, and seems
> To have neglected that he should have done,
> And to the others' song moves not his lip,
> The Emperor Rodolph call, who might have heal'd
> The wounds whereof fair Italy hath died,
> 
> So that by others she revives but slowly.
> He, who with kindly visage comforts him,
> Sway'd in that country,[5] where the water springs,
> That Moldaw's river to the Elbe, and Elbe
> Rolls to the ocean: Ottocar[6] his name:
> Who in his swaddling - clothes was of more worth
> Than Wenceslaus his son, a bearded man,
> Pamper'd with rank luxuriousness and ease.
> And that one with the nose deprest,[7] who close
> In counsel seems with him of gentle look,[8]
> Flying expired, withering the lily's flower.
> Look there, how he doth knock against his breast.
> The other ye behold, who for his cheek
> Makes of one hand a couch, with frequent sighs.
> They are the father and the father - in - law
> Of Gallia's bane:[9] his vicious life they know
> And foul; thence comes the grief that rends them thus.
> 
> [5: "That country." Bohemia.]
> 
> [6: "Ottocar." King of Bohemia, who was killed in the battle of
> Marchfield, fought with Rodolph, August 26, 1278. Wenceslaus II, his son, who
> succeeded him in the Kingdom of Bohemia, died in 1305. The latter is again
> taxed with luxury in the Paradise, xix. 123.]
> 
> [7: "That one with the nose deprest." Philip III, of France, father
> of Philip IV. He died in 1285, at Perpignan, in his retreat from Arragon.]
> 
> [8: "Him of gentle look." Henry of Navarre, father of Jane, married
> to Philip IV, of France, whom Dante calls "mal di Francia." - "Gallia's
> bane."]
> 
> [9: "Gallia's bane." G. Villani, lib. vii. cap. cxlvi, speaks with
> equal resentment of Philip IV. "In 1291, on the night of the calends of May,
> Philip le Bel, King of France, by advice of Biccio and Musciatto Franzesi,
> ordered all the Italians, who were in his country and realm, to be seized,
> under pretence of seizing the money - lenders, but thus he caused the good
> merchants also to be seized and ransomed; for which he was much blamed and
> held in great abhorrence. And from thenceforth the realm of France fell
> evermore into degradation and decline. And it is observable that between the
> taking of Acre and this seizure in France, the merchants of Florence received
> great damage and ruin of their property."]
> 
> "He, so robust of limb,[10] who measure keeps
> In song with him of feature prominent,[11]
> With every virtue bore his girdle braced.
> 
> [10: "He, so robust of limb." Peter III, called the Great, King of
> Arragon, who died in 1285, leaving four sons, Alonzo, James, Frederick, and
> Peter. The two former succeeded him in the Kingdom of Arragon, and Frederick
> in that of Sicily.]
> 
> [11: "Him of feature prominent." "Dal maschio naso" - "with the
> masculine nose." Charles I, King of Naples, Count of Anjou, and brother of St.
> Louis. He died in 1284. The annalist of Florence remarks that "there had been
> no sovereign of the house of France, since the time of Charlemagne, by whom
> Charles was surpassed either in military renown and prowess, or in the
> loftiness of his understanding."]
> 
> And if that stripling,[12] who behind sits,
> King after him had lived, his virtue then
> From vessel to like vessel had been pour'd;
> Which may not of the other heirs be said.
> By James and Frederick his realms are held;
> Neither the better heritage obtains.
> Rarely into the branches of the tree
> Doth human worth mount up: and so ordains
> He who bestows it, that as His free gift
> It may be call'd. To Charles[13] my words apply
> No less than to his brother in song;
> Which Pouille and Provence now with grief confess.
> So much that plant degenerates from its seed,
> As, more than Beatrix and Margaret,
> Costanza,[14] still boasts of her valorous spouse.
> 
> [12: "That stripling." Either (as the old commentators suppose)
> Alonzo III, King of Arragon, the eldest son of Peter III, who died in 1291, at
> the age of 27; or, according to Venturi, Peter, the youngest son. The former
> was a young prince of virtue sufficient to have justified the eulogium and the
> hopes of Dante.]
> 
> [13: "To Charles." "Al Nausto" - Charles II, King of Naples, is no
> less inferior to his father, Charles I, than James and Frederick to theirs,
> Peter III.]
> 
> [14: "Costanza." Widow of Peter III. She has been already mentioned
> in the third Canto, v. 112. By Beatrix and Margaret are probably meant two of
> the daughters of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence; the latter married to
> St. Louis of France, the former to his brother Charles of Anjou, King of
> Naples. See Paradise, Canto vi. 135. Dante therefore considers Peter as the
> most illustrious of the three monarchs.]
> 
> "Behold the King of simple life and plain,
> Harry of England,[15] sitting there alone:
> He through his branches better issue[16] spreads.
> 
> [15: "Harry of England." Henry III. The contemporary annalist speaks
> of this king in similar terms. G. Villani, lib. v. cap. iv. "From Richard was
> born Henry, who reigned after him, who was a plain man of good faith, but of
> little courage."]
> 
> [16: "Better issue." Edward I, of whose glory our Poet was perhaps a
> witness, in his visit to England. "From the said Henry was born the good King
> Edward, who reigns in our times, who has done great things, whereof we shall
> make mention in due place." - G. Villani, ibid.]
> 
> "That one, who, on the ground, beneath the rest,
> Sits lowest, yet his gaze directs aloft,
> Is William, that brave Marquis,[17] for whose cause,
> The deed of Alexandria and his war
> Makes Montferrat and Canavese weep."
> 
> [17: "William, that brave Marquis." William, Marquis of Montferrat,
> was treacherously seized by his own subjects, at Alessandria in Lombardy, A.
> D. 1290, and ended his life in prison. A war ensued between the people of
> Alessandria and those of Montferrat and the Canavese, now part of Piedmont.]
>
> — *Purgatory Canto  7*