"A noi venia la creatura bella, Bianco vestita, e nella faccia, quale Par, tremolando, mattutina stella: Le braccia aperse, e indi aperse l'ale; Disse; 'Venite; qui son presso i gradi, E agevolmente ornai si sale.'" _Dell' Purgatorio_, canto XII. "That being came, all beautiful, to meet us, Clad in white raiment, and the morning star Appear'd to tremble in his countenance; His arms he spread, and then he spread his wings And cried, 'Come on, the steps are near at hand. And here the ascent is easy.'" Leonardo Aretino, who had seen Dante's handwriting, mentions, with no small commendation, that the letters were long; slender, and exceedingly distinct,--the characteristics of what is called in ornamental writing a fine Italian hand. The circumstance may seem small, but it is not insignificant as a finishing stroke in the portraiture of one who, though he was the first poet unquestionably, and not the last philosopher, was also one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his age. Two of Dante's sons, Pietro and Jacopo, inherited a portion of their father's spirit, and were among the first commentators on his works,--an inestimable advantage to posterity, since the local and personal histories were familiar to them; for had these not been explained by contemporaries, many of the brief and more exquisite allusions must have been irrecoverably lost, and some of the most affecting passages remained as uninterpretable as though they had been carved on granite in hieroglyphics. For example, in the fifth canto of the "Purgatorio," the travellers meet three spirits together,--the first, Giacopo del Cassero of Fano, who had been assassinated by order of a prince of Ferrara, for having spoken ill of his highness;--the second, Buonconte, of Montefeltro, who had fallen fighting on the side of the Aretines, in the battle of Campaldino; and for whose soul a singular contention took place between a good angel and an evil one, in which the former happily prevailed;--the third shade was that of a female of rank, who, having quietly waited till the two gentlemen had told their tales, thus emphatically hinted hers:-- "Ah! when thou hast return'd to yonder world, And art reposing from thy long, long journey, Remember me, for I am Pia:-- * * * * * Siena gave me birth, Maremma death, And this _he_ knows, who, with his ring and jewel, But newly had espoused me."[18]