Dante certainly rises superior in fact to the contemporary theory of the Art of Poetry which he repeats in the _Convivio_ and the _De Vulgari Eloquentia_.[391] It is this which makes his verse to be, as we have called it, the driving power of his message. But this homage to the traditional theory is not mere lip-service. Supreme poet as he is, he deliberately makes his sublime verse the instrument of spiritual teaching. And in so doing only renders it the more sublime. FOOTNOTES [1] See esp. _Inf._ ix. 113; xx. 61: “Dante and the Redemption of Italy,” p. 15. [2] 1865: See _ib._ p. 19. [3] _Par._ xxv. 1, 2. [4] “Dante and Educational Principles,” pp. 83 _sqq._ [5] Nos. III and VI. [6] Nos. I, II, IV, and VIII. [7] Prof. Foligno has, of course, no responsibility for the opinions set forth in this volume. [8] _Le opere di Dante: testo critico della Società dantescha italiana, etc._ Firenze: R. Bemporad & Figlio. MCMXXI. Cited in the notes as “Bemporad.” In the case of quotations from the prose works, an attempt has been made to consult the convenience of English readers by the reference to the paging of Dr. Moore’s Oxford Edition as well as to that of the _Testo critico_ (Bemporad). [9] Nos. V and VII. [10] This Sermon was preached in Lincoln Cathedral on Aug. 14th, 1921 (Twelfth Sunday after Trinity). [11] _Par._ i. 6-8. [12] See _Osservatore Romano_, May 4th, 1921. And _cf._ Appendix II. [13] _Par._ xvii. 55. [14] _Purg._ xxiv. 52-4. [15] _Cf._ A. G. Ferrers-Howell, “Dante and the Troubadours,” in the Memorial Volume, _Dante, Essays in Commemoration_, 1321-1921, London Univ. Press, 1921. [16] _Purg._ xxiv. 57. [17] _Inf._ iii. 5, 6. [18] _Purg._ xvii. 103-105. [19] _Inf._ i. 118-20. [20] _Purg._ xxiii. 71-74. [21] _Par._ iii. 70-72, 85. [22] _Par._ xxxiii. 145. [23] _The Spiritual Message of Dante_, Williams & Norgate, 1914, p. 225. [24] 1 John iv. 16. [25] _Par._ xxx. 133-7. [26] _Purg._ xx. 43. [27] _Purg._ i. 1. [28] _Par._ xxv. 5. [29] A pathetic episode connected with this Celebration is related in Appendix I, p. 165. [30] _Giornale_, p. 215: Art. “Firenze e Italia nel concetto e nel cuore di Dante.” [31] _Giornale_, p. 344. [32] A similar chorus of reverent homage to Dante as the good genius of Italy’s fortunes, was evoked by the war, in the shape of “Dante e la Guerra,” Nos. 6-9 of _Nuovo Convito_, June-Sept., 1917. [33] _Par._ ix. 27. [34] “To the Defenders of the Piave: November, 1917, to November, 1918.” Art. in _Anglo-Italian Review_, Nov., 1918, p. 244. [35] _Purg._ xxvii. 142. [36] _Il Purgatorio_, p. 58. [37] _Par._ xxxi. 85-89. [38] _Inf._ i. 31-34. [39] _Loc. cit._ [40] Italy is likened by Dante to a wood (_silva_) in _V.E._, I, xi. [41] _Purg._ vi. 76-fin. [42] _Purg._ vi. 91 _sqq._; _Mon._ I, xii. [43] _Purg._ v. 61. [44] See _Mon._ II, v. 132 _sqq._; 159 _sqq._, quoted below; pp. 355 _sq._, Oxf. Ed.; p. 379, Bemporad. [45] _Inf._ xii. 1-21.