Among northern constellations, Ursa Major is frequently spoken of by Dante, under different names, but always with reference to its high northern latitude. As the Wain, “il Carro,” it is said to be lying in the north-west when Pisces is on the eastern horizon, and to have disappeared from view in the southern hemisphere.[296] The wain-pole or shaft is pictured as sweeping round in the diurnal revolution, but always remaining above our horizon day and night, throughout its turning: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [296] _Inf._ xi. 113, 114; _Purg._ i. 30. “Quel Carro, a cui il seno Basta del nostro cielo e notte e giorno, Sì ch’ al volger del temo non vien meno.”[297] [297] “The Wain, that in the bosom of our sky Spins ever on its axle, night and day.” _Par._ xiii. 7-9. (_Carey_). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The same idea is expressed in the Midwinter Ode, where the constellation is called the Seven Frosty Stars, never lost to sight in Europe:— “Fuggito è ogni augel che ’l caldo segue Dal paese d’Europa, che non perde Le sette stelle gelide unquemai.”[298] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [298] “Fled is every bird that seeks the warmth, From European lands which never lose The seven cold stars.” _Canz._ xv. 27-29. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a reminiscence of some lines of Boëthius quoted by Dante in _De Monarchia_, in which the northern nations are described as under the sway of the “septem gelidi triones.”[299] The Septem Triones, the Seven Ploughing Oxen, was one of the Latin names for Ursa Major, whence comes “septentrional” for North. This name also is used by Dante in _Purg._ xxx. 1, where the Seven Candlesticks of the mystic procession seen in the Garden of Eden are likened to these seven stars, and are named the Septentrion of the First Heaven (the Empyrean). This divine Septentrion was guiding the Procession, as the starry Septentrion of a lower heaven guides the mariner into port: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [299] “Seven cold oxen.” _De Mon._ II. ix. 96. “faceva lì ciascuno accorto Di suo dover, come il più basso face Qual timon gira per venire a porto.”[300] [300] “To duty there Each one convoying, as that lower doth The steersman to his port.” _Purg._ xxx. 4-6. (_Carey_). ------------------------------------------------------------------------