Dante Alighieri

Durante degli Alighieri, better known as Dante, (c. 1 June 1265 – 13/14 September 1321) was an Italian Florentine poet. His greatest work, La divina commedia (The Divine Comedy), is considered the greatest literary statement produced in Europe in the medieval period, and the basis of the modern Italian language.

Sourced

• Love hath so long possessed me for his own
  And made his lordship so familiar.
  • La Vita Nuova (1293)

• Behold a God more powerful than I who comes to rule over me.
  • La Vita Nuova (1293)

• Love with delight discourses in my mind
  Upon my lady's admirable gifts...
  Beyond the range of human intellect.
  • Il Convivio, Trattato Terzo, line 1

The Divine Comedy

Various translations have been used in this section.

The Inferno

• Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,
  Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
  Che la diritta via era smarrita.
  • When I had journeyed half of our life's way,
    I found myself within a shadowed forest,
    for I had lost the path that does not stray.
  • Canto I, lines 1-3

• E come quei che con lena affannata,
  uscito fuor del pelago a la riva,
  si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata.
  • And just as he who, with exhausted breath,
    having escaped from the sea to shore,
    turns to the perilous waters and gazes.
  • Canto I, lines 22-24

• Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate.
  • All hope abandon, ye who enter in.
  • Canto III, line 9

• Qui si convien lasciare ogne sospetto;
  ogne viltà convien che qui sia morta.
  • Here one must leave behind all hesistation;
    here every cowardice must meet its death.
  • Canto III, lines 14-15

• Quivi sospiri, pianti e alti guai
  risonavan per l'aere sanza stelle,
  per ch'io al cominciar ne lagrimai.
  Diverse lingue, orribili favelle,
  parole di dolore, accenti d'ira,
  voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle
  facevano un tumolto, il qual s'aggira
  sempre in quell'aura sanza tempo tinta,
  come la rena quando turbo spira.
  • Their sighs, lamentations and loud wailings
    resounded through the starless air,
    so that at first it made me weep;
    Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements,
    words of pain, tones of anger,
    voices shrill and faint, and beating hands,
    all went to make a tumult that will whirl
    forever through that turbid, timeless air,
    like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls.
  • Canto III, lines 22-30

• Questo misero modo
  tegnon l'anime triste di coloro
  che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo.
  • This miserable state
    is borne by the wretched souls of those
    who lived without disgrace and without praise.
  • Canto III, lines 34-36

• Caccianli i ciel per non esser men belli,
  né lo profondo inferno li riceve,
  ch'alcuna gloria i rei avrebber d'elli.
  • Heaven, to keep its beauty,
    cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them
    for fear the wicked there might glory over them.
  • Canto III, lines 40-42

• Vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui
  che per viltade fece il gran rifiuto.
  • I saw and I knew the soul of him,
    who cowardly made the great refusal.
  • Canto III, lines 59-60
  • The decision of Pope Celestine V to abdicate the Papacy and allow Dante's enemy, Pope Boniface VIII, to gain power.

• Incontanente intesti e certo fui
  che questa era la setta d'i cattivi
  a Dio spiacenti e a' nemici sui.
  • At once I understood,
    and I was sure this was that sect of evil souls who were
    hateful to God and to His enemies.
  • Canto III, lines 61-63

• Sanza speme vivemo in disio.
  • Without hope we live in desire.
  • Canto IV, line 42

• Io venni in loco d'ogne luce muto,
  che mugghia come fa mar per tempesta,
  se da contrari venti è combattuto.
  • I came into a place void of all light,
    which bellows like the sea in tempest,
    when it is combated by warring winds.
  • Canto V, lines 28-30

• Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende,
  prese costui de la bella persona
  che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende.
  • Love, which is quickly kindled in the gentle heart,
    seized this man for the fair form that was
    taken from me, and the manner still hurts me.
  • Canto V, lines 100-102

• Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona,
  mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,
  che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona.
  • Love, which absolves no beloved one from loving,
    seized me so strongly with his charm
    that, as thou seest, it does not leave me yet.
  • Canto V, lines 103-105

• Nessun maggior dolore
  Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
  Nella miseria.
  • There is no greater sorrow
    Than to be mindful of the happy time
    In misery.
  • Canto V, lines 121-123

• Superbia, invidia e avarizia sono
  le tre faville c'hanno i cuori accesi.
  • Pride, Envy, and Avarice are
    the three sparks that have set these hearts on fire.
  • Canto VI, lines 74-75

• Necessità 'l ci 'nduce, e non diletto.
  • Necessity brings him here, not pleasure.
  • Canto XII, line 87

• Bene ascolta chi la nota.
  • He listens well who takes notes.
  • Canto XV, line 99

• ...Seggendo in piuma
  in fama non si vien, né sotto coltre,
  sanza la qual chi sua vita consuma
  cotal vestigo in terra di sé lascia
  qual fummo in aere ed in acqua la schiuma.
  • Lying in a featherbed
    will bring you no fame, nor staying beneath the quilt,
    and he who uses up his life without achieving fame
    leaves no more vestige of himself on Earth
    than smoke in the air or foam upon the water.
  • Canto XXIV, lines 47-51

• La dimanda onesta
  si de' seguir con l'opera tacendo.
  • A fair request should be followed by the deed in silence.
  • Canto XXIV, lines 77-78

• Considerate la vostra semenza:
  fatti non foste a viver come bruti,
  ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza.
  • Consider your origin;
    you were not born to live like brutes,
    but to follow virtue and knowledge.
  • Canto XXVI, lines 118-120

• S'i' credesse che mia risposta fosse
  a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
  questa fiamma staria sanza più scosse;
  ma però che già mai di questo fondo
  non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
  sanza tema d'infamia ti ris pondo.
  • If I thought my answer were to one
    who would ever return to the world,
    this flame should stay without another movement; but since none
    ever returned alive from thisdepth, if what I hear is true,
    I answer thee without fear of infamy.
  • Canto XXVII, lines 61-66

• Tra le gambe pendevan le minugia;
  la corata pareva e 'l tristo sacco
  che merda fa di quel che si trangugia.
  • Between his legs were hanging down his entrails;
    His heart was visible, and the dismal sack
    that maketh excrement of what is eaten.
  • Canto XXVIII, lines 25-27; translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• "Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni
  verso di noi; però dinanzi mira,"
  disse 'l maestro mio, "se tu 'l discerni."
• "Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni
  towards us now; so look ahead and see,"
  my master said, "whether you can discern him."
  • Canto XXXIV, lines 1-3

Purgatorio

• Per correr miglior acque alza le vele
  ornai la navicella del mio ingegno,
  che lascia dietro a sé mar sì crudele.
  • To run over better waters the little vessel of my genius now hoists her sails, as she leaves behind her a sea so cruel.
  • Canto I, lines 1-3

• Libertà va cercando, ch'è sì cara,
  come sa chi per lei vita rifiuta.
  • He goes seeking liberty, which is so dear, as he knows who for it renounces life.
  • Canto I, lines 71-72

• O dignitosa coscïenza, e netta,
  come t'è piccioli fallo amaro morso!
  • O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter sting to thee is a little fault!
  • Canto III, lines 8-9

• Se orazïone in prima non m'aita
  che surga sù di cuor che in grazia viva;
  l'altra che val, che 'n ciel non è udita?
  • Unless, before then, the prayer assist me which rises from a heart that lives in grace: what avails the other, which is not heard in heaven?
  • Canto IV, lines 133-135

• Che sempre l'omo in cui pensier rampolla
  sovra pensier, da sé dilunga il sengo,
  perché la foga l'un de l'altro insolla.
  • For always the man in whom thought springs up over thought sets his mark farther off, for the one thought saps the force of the other.
  • Canto V, lines 16-18

• Veramente a così alto sospetto
  non ti fermar, se quella nol ti dice
  che lume fia tra 'l vero e lo 'ntelletto.
  Non so se 'ntendi; io dico di Beatrice.
  • Do not rest in so profound a doubt except she tell it thee, who shall be a light between truth and intellect. I know not if thou understand: I speak of Beatrice.
  • Canto VI, lines 43-46

• Era già l'ora che volge il disio
  ai navicanti e 'ntenerisce il core
  lo di ch'an detto ai dolci amici addio;
  e che lo novo peregrin d'amore
  punge, se ode squilla di lontano
  che paia il giorno pianger che si more.
  • It was now the hour that turns back the longing of seafarers and melts their hearts, the day they have bidden dear friends farewell, and pierces the new traveler with love if he hears in the distance the bell that seems to mourn the dying day.
  • Canto VIII, lines 1-6

• Dà oggi a noi la cotidiana manna,
  sanza la qual per questo aspro diserto
  a retro va chi più di gir s'affanna.
  • Give us this day the daily manna, without which, in this rough desert, he backward goes, who toils most to go on.
  • Canto XI, lines 13-15

• Non è il mondan romore altro ch'un fiato
  di vento, ch'or vien quinci e or vien quindi,
  e muta nome perché muta lato.
  • Worldly renown is naught but a breath of wind, which now comes this way and now comes that, and changes name because it changes quarter.
  • Canto XI, lines 100-102

• O gene umana, per volar sù nata,
  perché a poco vento così cadi?
  • O human race, born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?
  • Canto XII, lines 95-96

• A maggior forza e a miglior natura
  liberi soggiacete; e quella cria
  la mente in voi, che 'l ciel no ha in sua cura.
  Però, se 'l mondo presente disvia,
  in voi è la cagione, in voi si cheggia.
  • To a greater force, and to a better nature, you, free, are subject, and that creates the mind in you, which the heavens have not in their charge. Therefore if the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought.
  • Canto XVI, lines 79-83

• Ciascun confusamente un bene apprende
  nel qual si questi l'animo, e disira;
  per che di giugner lui ciascun contende.
  • Everyone confusedly conceives of a good in which the mind may be at rest, and desires it; wherefore everyone strives to attain it.
  • Canto XVII, lines 127-129

• Amore,
  acceso di virtù, sempre altro accese,
  pur che la fiamma sua paresse fore.
  • Love kindled by virtue always kindles another, provided that its flame appear outwardly.
  • Canto XXII, lines 10-12

• Men che dramma
  di sangue m'è rimaso, che no tremi;
  conosco i segni dell' antica fiamma.
  • Less than a drop of blood remains in me that does not tremble; I recognize the signals of the ancient flame.
  • Canto XXX, lines 46-48

• Ma tanto più maligno e più silvestro
  si fa 'l terren col mal seme e non cólto,
  quant' elli ha più di buon vigor terrestro.
  • But so much the more malign and wild does the ground become with bad seed and untilled, as it has the more of good earthly vigor.
  • Canto XXX, lines 118-120

• Puro e disposto a salire a le stelle.
  • Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars.
  • Canto XXXIII, line 145

Paradiso

• La gloria di colui che tutto move
  per l'universo penetra, e risplende
  in una parte piú e meno altrove.
  • The glory of Him who moves everything penetrates through the universe, and is resplendent in one part more and in another less.
  • Canto I, lines 1-3

• Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda.
  • A great flame follows a little spark.
  • Canto I, line 34

• E 'n la sua volontade è nostra pace.
  • And in His will is our peace.
  • Canto III, line 85
• Lo maggior don che Dio per sua larghezza
  fesse creando, e a la sua bontate
  più conformato, e quel ch'e' più apprezza,
  fu de la volontà la libertate;
  di che le creature intelligenti,
  e tutte e sole, fuore e son dotate.
  • The greatest gift that God in His bounty made in creation, and the most conformable to His goodness, and that which He prizes the most, was the freedom of will, with which the creatures with intelligence, they all and they alone, were and are endowed.
  • Canto V, lines 19-24

• Tu proverai sì come sa di sale
  lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle
  lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale.
  • Thou shalt prove how salt is the taste of another's bread and how hard is the way up and down another man's stairs.
  • Canto XVII, lines 58-60

• Però ne la giustizia sempiterna
  la vista che riceve il vostro mondo,
  com' occhio per lo mare, entro s'interna;
  che, ben che da la proda veggia il fondo,
  in pelago nol vede; e nondimeno
  èli, ma cela lui l'esser profondo.
  • Therefore the sight that is granted to your world penetrates within the Eternal Justice as the eye into the sea; for though from the shore it sees the bottom, in the open sea it does not, and yet the bottom is there but the depth conceals it.
  • Canto XIX, lines 58-63

• L'esperîenza
  di questa dolce vita.
  • The experience of this sweet life.
  • Canto XX, lines 47-48

• Quale allodetta che 'n aere si spazia
  prima cantando, e poi tace contenta
  de l'ultima dolcezza che la sazia,
  tal mi sembiò l'imago de la 'mprenta
  de l'etterno piacere.
  • Like the lark that soars in the air, first singing, then silent, content with the last sweetness that satiates it, such seemed to me that image, the imprint of the Eternal Pleasure.
  • Canto XX, lines 73-77

• La notte che le cose ci nasconde.
  • The night that hides things from us.
  • Canto XXIII, line 3

• Di quel color che per lo sole avverso
  nube dipigne da sera e da mane,
  vid' îo allora tutto 'l ciel cosperso.
  • With the color that paints the morning and evening clouds that face the sun I saw then the whole heaven suffused.
  • Canto XXVII, lines 28-30

• Nel suo profondo vidi che s'interna,
  legato con amore in un volume,
  ciò che per l'universo si squaderna.
  • I saw within Its depth how It conceives all things in a single volume bound by Love, of which the universe is the scattered leaves.
  • Canto XXXIII, lines 85-87
  • The Portable Dante : Revised Edition (Viking Portable Library) (Paperback) Mark Musa, Translator.

• L'amor che muove il sole e l'altre stelle.
  • The Love which moves the sun and the other stars.
  • Canto XXXIII, line 145 (last line)

Misattributed

• The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality.
  • John F. Kennedy misquoting Dante (24 June 1963) . Dante placed those who "non furon ribelli né fur fedeli" — were neither for nor against God, in a special region near the mouth of Hell; the lowest part of Hell, a lake of ice, was for traitors.

Quotes about Dante

Alphabetized by author

• And you, beloved children, whose lot it is to promote learning under the magisterium of the Church, continue as you are doing to love and tend the noble poet whom We do not hesitate to call the most eloquent singer of the Christian idea.
  • Pope Benedict XV, In Praeclara Summorum (1921-04-30)

• Dante does not come before us as a large catholic mind; rather as a narrow, and even sectarian mind: it is partly the fruit of his age and position, but partly too of his own nature. His greatness has, in all senses, concentred itself into fiery emphasis and depth. He is world-great not because he is world-wide, but because he is world-deep. Through all objects he pierces as it were down into the heart of Being. I know nothing so intense as Dante.
  • Thomas Carlyle, in "The Hero as Poet" from Heroes and Hero-Worship (1841)

• I want my illustrations for the Dante to be like the faint markings of moisture in a divine cheese... Mysticism is cheese; Christ is cheese, better still, mountains of cheese!
  • Salvador Dalí

• Dante is my spiritual food!
  • James Joyce

• Dante will always be admired, because no one ever read him.
  • Voltaire