v. 1. When.] It must be owned the beginning of this Canto is somewhat
obscure. Bellutello refers, for an elucidation of it, to the reasoning
of Statius in the twenty-fifth canto. Perhaps some illustration may be
derived from the following, passage in South’s Sermons, in which I have
ventured to supply the words between crotchets that seemed to be
wanting to complete the sense. Now whether these three, judgement
memory, and invention, are three distinct things, both in being
distinguished from one another, and likewise from the substance of the
soul itself, considered without any such faculties, (or whether the
soul be one individual substance) but only receiving these several
denominations rom the several respects arising from the several actions
exerted immediately by itself upon several objects, or several
qualities of the same object, I say whether of these it is, is not easy
to decide, and it is well that it is not necessary Aquinas, and most
with him, affirm the former, and Scotus with his followers the latter.”
Vol. iv. Serm. 1.
v. 23. Sanleo.] A fortress on the summit of Montefeltro.
v. 24. Noli.] In the Genoese territory, between Finale and Savona.
v. 25. Bismantua.] A steep mountain in the territory of Reggio.
v. 55. From the left.] Vellutello observes an imitation of Lucan in
this passage:
Ignotum vobis, Arabes, venistis in orbem,
Umbras mirati nemornm non ire sinistras.
Phars. s. 1. iii. 248
v. 69 Thou wilt see.] “If you consider that this mountain of Purgatory
and that of Sion are antipodal to each other, you will perceive that
the sun must rise on opposite sides of the respective eminences.”
v. 119. Belacqua.] Concerning this man, the commentators afford no
information.
CANTO V
v. 14. Be as a tower.] Sta ome torre ferma
Berni, Orl. Inn. 1. 1. c. xvi. st. 48:
In quei due piedi sta fermo il gigante
Com’ una torre in mezzo d’un castello.
And Milton, P. L. b. i. 591.
Stood like a tower.
v. 36. Ne’er saw I fiery vapours.] Imitated by Tasso, G. L, c.
xix t. 62:
Tal suol fendendo liquido sereno
Stella cader della gran madre in seno.
And by Milton, P. L. b. iv. 558:
Swift as a shooting star
In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fir’d
Impress the air.
v. 67. That land.] The Marca d’Ancona, between Romagna and Apulia, the
kingdom of Charles of Anjou.
v. 76. From thence I came.] Giacopo del Cassero, a citizen of Fano who
having spoken ill of Azzo da Este, Marquis of Ferrara, was by his
orders put to death. Giacopo, was overtaken by the assassins at Oriaco
a place near the Brenta, from whence, if he had fled towards Mira,
higher up on that river, instead of making for the marsh on the sea
shore, he might have escaped.
v. 75. Antenor’s land.] The city of Padua, said to be founded by
Antenor.
v. 87. Of Montefeltro I.] Buonconte (son of Guido da Montefeltro, whom
we have had in the twenty-seventh Canto of Hell) fell in the battle of
Campaldino (1289), fighting on the side of the Aretini.