In spite of their haste, the three poets remain about four hours in this sixth Cornice; and when they reach the ascent to the next it was indeed time to climb without any delay, for the sun had left the meridian to the sign which follows Aries, viz. Taurus, and Night, “che opposita a lui cerchia,”[482] had left the meridian of the opposite hemisphere to Scorpio. Aries at the time of the equinox begins to cross the meridian at midday, Taurus at two o’clock, and Gemini at four[483]: therefore it is now between two and four in the afternoon. The three poets hasten therefore (Statius still accompanying Virgil and Dante), like men who pause for nothing on their way, whatever the road be like; and a question Dante is longing to ask with regard to the form of purgation last seen is put and answered as they follow one another up the narrow stair; as soon as they reach the top, they turn to the right, as usual, without hesitation or delay. As Dante walks cautiously between the outer edge of this Cornice and the fire which bursts forth from the inner wall of rock, all the blue of the western sky is already changing into ash-white, and he has come so far round the Mountain that the evening rays strike his right shoulder. With one of the many touches which show Dante’s close observation and his vivid realization of the scene he is describing, he says here that his shadow falling on the flame makes it appear a deeper red, and this is observed by the spirits. When they reach the spot where, on the further side of the flames, the chanting Angel guides them across to the last ascent, the sun is very near to its setting. Its burning noonday beams are shining on the waves of Ganges, its first morning beams quiver over Jerusalem, and Spain lying under Libra is wrapped in midnight gloom; hence it is beginning to set at sea-level in Purgatory. High on the Mountain it still shines, but when the poets have crossed the flames, the voice of the Angel persuades them to hasten their steps before the darkness comes. The stair mounts through the rock on the west side of the Mountain so that the low sun casts Dante’s shadow in front of him as he climbs. And he has only climbed a few steps when they are all aware that the sun has completely set because the shadow disappears. Before the colour has all faded from the west, and the whole vast range of the horizon seen from this height has become one uniform tint, each of the three makes a bed of one step, and between the high and narrow enclosing rocky walls Dante sees the stars come out, much brighter and much larger than he has ever seen them before. No moonlight dims them, for moonrise will be late to-night, long after Dante has fallen asleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [482] “That circles opposite to him.” _Purg._ ii. 4. [483] The signs follow one another _on the meridian_ at intervals of exactly 2 hrs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------