[234] Comparing _Conv._ II. ii. 12, xiii. 49-52, and IV. i. 60-62, we learn that in August 1293 (_vide infra_, p. 314), Dante first became acquainted with the Lady Philosophy; that in the early part of 1296 he was completely under her spell; and that some time afterwards she for a while estranged herself from him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Further on in the same poem the effects of the sun in spring, when he is in the sign of Aries, are alluded to as “the virtue of Aries”:— “Passato hanno lor termine le fronde, Che trasse fuor la virtù d’Ariete, Per adornare il mondo, e morta è l’ erba.”[235] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [235] “Scattered and faded now is all the foliage Which had burst forth, beneath the power of Aries, To beautify the world, the grass is withered.” _Canz._ xv. 40-42. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contrast with this the passage in the _Paradiso_ where “nocturnal Aries” is used as a synonym for autumn. “Questa primavera sempiterna Che notturno Ariete non dispoglia.”[236] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [236] “This everlasting spring Nocturnal Aries never can despoil.” _Par._ xxviii. 116-117. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For although Aries may be seen during some part of the night in the greater part of the year, it is most emphatically a noctural sign when it rises as the sun sets, and remains above the horizon until he rises; this happens when the sun is in the opposite sign of Libra, which he enters at the autumnal equinox. A rather curious passage in the _Paradiso_ is incomprehensible unless we think of the sun’s path in the zodiac, and realize that Dante is comparing the brightness of the spirit of St. John in an indirect way with the brightness of the sun. “Poscia tra esse un lume si schiarì, Sì che, se il Cancro avesse un tal cristallo, L’inverno avrebbe un mese d’un sol dì.”[237] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [237] “Thereafterward a light among them brightened So, that if Cancer one such crystal had Winter would have a month of one sole day.” _Par._ xxv. 100-102. (_Longfellow_). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If a light as dazzling as this spirit were to shine forth in Cancer, there would be perpetual day for a whole month in winter. For when the sun entered Capricornus, which he does in December, he would be exactly opposite, so that as one light set the other would rise, and there would be no darkness until the sun passed into another sign.