"Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe

(Image from http://teacherspage.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/lets-read-annabel-lee/)

"Annabel Lee" is a macabre poem which tells of the love of two very young people ("I was a child and she was a child...") who incurred the jealousy of the angels. It contains one of Poe's favorite themes in his poetry: the death of a beautiful young woman.

ANNABEL LEE.

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea.
But we loved with a love that was more than love —
I and my ANNABEL LEE —
With a love that the wingëd seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me —
Yes! — that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we —
Of many far wiser than we —
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE:

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE,
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling — my darling — my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea —
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1879) is an American author best known for his poems and stories of the macabe (like the short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, and the poems “The Raven” [below] and “Annabelle Lee”). He was born in Boston, Massachusetts as Edgar Poe. He was orphaned at a young age when his his mother died shortly after abandoning the family. He was taken in by John and Frances Allan, though they never formally adopted him. In 1835, he married is 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm, and shortly thereafter he published “The Raven”. Two years after the poem was published, his wife died of tuberculosis. Poe himself died at the age of forty from unknown causes. The cause of his death has been variously speculated to a number of diseases and even suicide.

“The Raven” is a poem of a man who is pondering the loss of his love, Leonore (also a poem by Poe) when he was visited by a mysterious talking raven which only utters a single word: “Nevermore”.

THE RAVEN.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“ ’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door —
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“ ’Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door —
Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; —
This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you” — here I opened wide the door; ——
Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” —
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
‘Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore —
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning — little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door —
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered — not a feather then he fluttered —
Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before —
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never — nevermore’.”

But the Raven still beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee — by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite — respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! —
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted —
On this home by Horror haunted — tell me truly, I implore —
Is there — is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us — by that God we both adore —
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore —
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting —
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted — nevermore!

Seminar – The Philippine English Symposium

Dear PCU-Dasma students, especially the English majors,

At the request of Dr. Eunice Mercado, I am posting my notes from the Philippine English Symposium from my other blog here. (You may also want to read my notes from the Komperensya ng Wikang pambansa here.) I hope this will give you insights for your Sociolinguistics course and more knowledge about World Englishes (yes, there are many "Englishes") and especially the variety of English we have here in the country, Philippine English.

Sir G

Dr. Shirley Dita and Dr. Danica Salazar, organizers of the Philippine English Symposium. (Photo from Shirley Dita on Facebook.)

Last September 14, 2013, a Saturday, I attended the first Philippine English Symposium (PES) at the Henry Sy, Sr. Hall, De La Salle University – Manila. It was sponsored by the Oxford University, De La Salle University (DLSU), and the Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP).

I happened upon the PES when I was browsing on Facebook. Dr. Shirley Dita of DLSU, one of the organizers, he just posted it as an event and I was among the first to confirm my attendance. I think it was originally planned for an attendance of 150 (based on the number of kits prepared). But interest in the symposium swelled; reaching up to 500.

"Selfie" is not a Philippine English word. But maybe "we-fie" will. 

The participants were all welcomed by Dr. Dita and Dr. Danica Salazar of Oxford University the co-organizer of the symposium. Dr. Dita herself gave the first talk, which was about the unique grammatical features of Philippine English (henceforth referred to as “PhE”). Among these were:

• PhE tends to use based from and results to instead of the standard based on and results in. 
• PhE tends to say such + 0 noun (without the articles a, an, and the) instead of such a/an/the (thing). 
• PhE tends to use the word to assure with only the indirect object and without the direct object; i.e., The president assured the flood victims (of what? More typhoons to come?). 
• PhE tends to use the simple aspect (past and present) instead of the more complex forms such as the perfect aspect (had/has/have + past participle) and the progressive (forms of to be + -ing form of the verb; e.g., They lived in Manila vs. They had lived in Manila… and They are living in Manila. 
• PhE tends to use the “zero majority” as in Majority of the student instead of the standard A majority of students. 
• PhE also tends to use the singular form of the noun in expressions such as one of the student instead of one of the students. 
• PhE is fond of repeating intensifiers, such as the famous “major, major”. 
• PhE is fond of using disjuncts as “discourse fillers” such as Actually, okay, as a matter of fact, & c. 

Dr. Ariane Borlongan, also of DLSU, discussed the diachronic (‘across time’) features of PhE. He compares the Phil-Brown corpus with the International Corpus of English – Philippine corpus (ICE-PHI). He demonstrated the PhE tends to use quasi-modals (going to, have to, able to) just like in American English; while British English tends to use full modals (will, must, can). Also, Filipinos tend to see indefinite pronouns ending with –body (everybody, somebody, nobody) more “elegant” than those ending with 

Dr. Aileen Salonga began her talk on “the politics of PE” by showing Kachru’s “concentric circles” illustrating World Englishes (yes, the plural for “English”): The inner circle are countries which are native speakers (US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada); the outer circle includes countries where English is a second language (Philippines, India, Singapore, & c.); and the “expanding circle” includes the rest of the world (e.g., the rest of Europe and Asia). "Access to different varieties of English is not really equal," she says. "Philippine English is not really equal with the other varieties... They are judged asymmetrically." She talked about the use of English used by Filipino call center agents and their difficulties in communicating with foreigners who use other varieties of English.

Dr. Alejandro Bernardo presented an “endonormative pedagogical model” in teaching English; that is, that the norms of teaching English should be that based in the Philippines instead of those from other countries like the US (“exonormative”). He advocates a “pluricentric model” where both PhE and “standard” American English are taught. He also said that students should not be penalized if they use PhE syntax and accent when they are using English in the local context.

Dr. Danica Salazar talked about “Philippine English on the cutting edge of lexicography”. She shared her work at Oxford University and at the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED is now sponsoring a project to create a dictionary of Philippine English words (such as bananacue and carnapping). She also shared an online project to compile a “Pinoy English Community Dictionary”.

Dr. Danilo Dayag of DLSU, former chair of the Department of English and Applied Linguistics (DEAL) and former president of the LSP, presented the status of Philippine English. He cited the need for a connection between linguistic research and educational practice: "Research should NOT be done for research sake." He echoed Dr. Borlongan that students should not be penalized for the use of PhE because they can be understood in the country anyway. Nor should students waste their time and effort in correcting student’s pronunciation and grammar when they can be understood anyway.

The seminar ended with a round-table discussion with all the speakers of the seminar plus Jessica Zafra, a popular writer, Reynaldo Binuya from La Consolacion College, Kriza Kamille Santos from the Divine Mercy College Foundation, and Freddie Sale, a BSE-English student at DLSU. Ms. Zafra quipped, “I don't like Facebook but I can't fight progress.”

Seminar - Komperensyang Pangwika 2013 at UA&P

Dear PCU-Dasma students, especially the English majors: 

Here are some of my notes when I attended a conference at the University of Asia and the Pacific in celebration to the Buwan ng Wika. I hope that this will give you insights on the some of the current issues regarding the Filipino language.

Sir G

Last August 14 (Wednesday), I attended a seminar sponsored by the Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) called “Komperensyang Pangwika”. It has the theme “Wika ng Nakaraan, Wika ng Kasalukuyan: Mga Isyu at Diskursong Pangwika”. It was organized by UA&P’s College of Arts and Sciences in Celebration of the Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa 2013.

Dr. Dungo (left, standing) responding to the presentation of Dr. Salonga (seated, back to camera)

I missed the first lecture, that by Dr. Aileen Salonga; but from what I have heard from her from other seminars in the past, the topic was about Filipinos serving as call center agents. I arrived as Dr. Nanette Dungo of UA&P was giving her response to Dr. Salonga's presentation. Dr. Dungo  valiantly tried to deliver her talk in Filipino--I later found out that she is an English professor.

Dr. Vibar speaking on historical linguistics. Pretty heavy stuff.

The next lecturer was Dr. Arwin Vibar, also from the UA&P and a board member of the LSP. His topic was about the description of 17^th century Tagalog according to the Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala, the first published grammar of Tagalog, written by a Spanish priest, Blancas de San Jose in 1610. It’s a very complicated topic, involving 17^th century Tagalog and Spanish (he even showed pictures of the ancient manuscript)—which is pretty hard going for non-linguists. 

I met Dr. Vibar during an LSP two years ago when he gave a presentation on "missionary linguistics" using the same material. That time I asked him a question about the new translation of the Roman Missal.) 

During a break in the seminar, Dr. Vibar and I talked about a point in Tagalog grammar called “case grammar” which Father San Jose amazingly was able to detect. (Case grammar is a paper in itself. Let’s just say it’s the difference between forms of Tagalog verb; for example, nagbigay, binigyan, ibinigay, etc.—all of which can be rendered ‘gave’ in English, depending on the noun. We Filipinos know when to use each form without knowing the terms agentive, causative, locative, etc. There are as much as twenty-one cases!)

After the break, Dr. Leodivico C. Lacsamana (who also talked with me briefly during the break) of the UA&P gave a response to Dr. Vibar’s lecture. He talked about a few points on Tagalog grammar that Father San Jose missed in his scholarly tome.

Prof. Talegon, who spoke on J3j3m0n, is also the seminar director.

The final topic was about “Jejemon”, the convoluted texting style of Filipino youth today, by Vivencio Talegon, Jr. of UA&P. When he asked the audience if anybody knows about 1337 (pronounced “Leet”)  I answered that is a way of typing used in within the hacking community. The lecture was responded by Moreal Camba, also of UA&P, who said that Jejemon is a form of resistance and solidarity of young people.

Prof. Camba responding to the presentation of Prof. Talegon.

At the last open forum, I raised a question on the lecture of Dr. Vibar and “missionary linguistics”. Since MTB-MLE (Mother Tongue-Based Multilinguial Education) is upon us, children will be taught in their “mother tongue” until they’re in Grade 3, when Filipino and English will be introduced. (That is another paper in itself. All I can say now is that MTB-MLE is a Good Thing.) Since we are just beginning in this venture, I reasoned that writing materials in other Philippine languages is a “missionary” effort. Dr. Lacsamana answered that even as we speak, a group of “experts” are ensconced a hotel in Manila (he won’t say which) who are writing textbooks for other Philippine languages.

I went away from the seminar with a handsome certificate and richer in the knowledge of our National Language.

The Divina Comedia - Purgatorio

The second part of the Divine Comedy is Purgatorio or ‘Purgatory’, the place for the purification of sins. Just as Hell had an Ante-Hell and nine Circles, Purgatory has an Ante-Purgatory and seven levels or “Terraces”, representing the Seven Deadly Sins. On the summit is the Earthly Paradise. Once more, the Roman poet Virgil serves as Dante’s guide in his ascent of Mount Purgatory.

In each Terrace, Dante witnesses how souls are purified of each Deadly Sin, which is revealed as the root of sin. In each terrace, there is 1) a prayer, 2) a beatitude, 3) examples of each sin’s opposed Virtue from the Bible, history, or literature, and 4) illustrations of the sin also from the Bible, history, or literature.

The journey of Dante up Mount Purgatory represents the Christian life as a soul gets purified from sin ("The conversion of the soul from the sorrow and misery of sin to the state of grace," he explains in one letter) in order to become worthy to enter Paradiso or ‘Paradise’, which is the third part of the Comedia. They emerge from Hell on Easter Sunday, which symbolizes death to sin and rebirth into life.

PURGATORIO

Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory, painting by Agnolo Bronzino.

Introduction

Dante and Virgil survive through their journey down the nine Circles of Hell and emerge on the other side of the world on Easter Sunday. Dante explains that Hell is located under Jerusalem, created by the impact of Satan’s fall. The displaced rock created a mountain on the other side of the world—Mount Purgatory.

[At the time, it has not been widely accepted that the world was round, nor has the Southern Hemisphere been discovered. But Dante mentions that there are different stars in the sky there, and that it is on the opposite time zone: He says it is sunset in Jerusalem but here, it is dawn.]

Unlike in Hell where the dead is transported by Charon across the Acheron, Dante describes Christian souls arriving in Purgatory escorted by angels singing.

Christian souls escorted by angels arriving at Purgatory, art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

Journey into Purgatory

Ante-Purgatory. At the shores of Purgatory, Virgil and Dante meet Cato, a pagan whom God placed as the guardian of purgatory. There are two main categories of souls in Ante-Purgatory: the excommunicate and the late repentant. The excommunicate are those to preoccupied or too lazy to repent; as a consequence, they have to wait outside Purgatory for a period thirty times the length of their laziness. Also among the excommunicate are those who died without last rites, like those who died a sudden and violent death. These will be able to enter Purgatory for a period equal to their life on earth.

Dante meets the great poet Sordello here, who explains the Rule of the Mountain: After sunset, souls cannot ascend to the next higher level. Sordello explains that this means that the sun represents God and that repentant souls can only move to the next level under God’s grace.

Dante meets Sordello, from a sculpture by Cesare Zochi. (Wikipedia)

As the sun was setting, Dante and the souls outside Purgatory prepare for the night. There are many people there whose public and private duties made them too busy for their spiritual life. Among these are many deceased kings and politicians. As night approaches, they sing the Compline [prayer before sleep] hymns Salve Regina and Te lucis ante terminum.

At dawn Dante wakes up as if from a dream. He has been carried up to the entrance of Purgatory which is composed of three steps, each with a different color: white for purity, black for the mourning of one’s sin (which also has a crack which forms the shape of a cross), and red for the blood of Christ.

The Gates of Purgatory, painting by William Blake. (Wikipedia)

The gates of Purgatory are guarded by an angel who uses his sword to mark his forehead with seven P’s (peccatum, the Latin word for ‘sin’). As souls reach another level, an angel will remove one P from their forehead. Then the angel opens the gates using two keys: a silver one which stands for remorse and a golden one which stands for repentance.

The Seven Terraces of Purgatory

Purgatory has seven Terraces, each representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins, which is the root of sin. The first three Terraces represent a perverted love towards the harm of others; the middle or fourth Terrace represents a deficiency of love (Sloth) and the last three Terraces is a perverted or excessive love of the good things in life. A soul can only move on to the next and higher terrace when he/she has been purged by the sin represented in each Terrace.

First Terrace (Pride). Dante and Virgil arrive at the First Terrace, where souls are being purged from Pride, which is a love directed towards the hurt of others. They see sculptures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an example of humility, the opposite virtue of pride. The scene depicted is the Annunciation, where Mary humbly accepted the task of becoming the mother of our Lord. The historical example is Emperor Trajan, who is said to have stopped from his journey in order to give justice to a poor widow. The prayer in this Terrace is an extended version of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Annunciation of the Lord to the Virgin Mary through the Angel Gabriel. (Orthodox icon)

The two see the souls which are being purged from pride: They are forced to walk with heavy stones on their back so that they are forced to look at sculptures illustrating humility on the floor. They also see sculptures of example of pride like those of Satan, the building of the tower of Babel, King Saul, King Rehoboam, Arachnē, and others. Dante feels a self-realization of his own pride.

The Tower of Babel, a symbol of human pride in the Bible. Art by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. (Wikipedia)

Arachnē was a woman who was turned into a spider because she boasted that she is better at weaving than the goddess Athena. (Image from MLahanas.De)

As they leave the Terrace, an angel brushes Dante forehead with his wings to remove one P. Then Dante hears the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).

Second Terrace (Envy). The two poets enter the Second Terrace, where souls are being purged from Envy, which is looking grudgingly at the fortune of others and the desire to take it away. They hear voices telling stories of the opposite virtue, Generosity. They see again the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is at the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) where she encourages Jesus to perform his first miracle, turning water into wine. There is also a sculpture of the friends Orestes and Pylades. Orestes pretended to be Pylades to save his friend from execution.

 An Orthodox icon of the Wedding at Cana.

A Greek vase showing Orestes and Pylades. (Wikipedia)

The envious wear penitential gray cloaks and their eyes have been sewn shut so that they will not be able to see anything.

There are also voices in the air telling stories of envy. An example of envy is Cain, who killed his brother Abel because he was jealous that God chose his brother’s sacrifice rather than his (Genesis 4). Another example is Aglauros, who became jealous because of Hermes’ love toward her sister, Herse.

Cain and Abel, painting by James Tissot.

As Dante and Virgil leave the Terrace, they are dazzled by light coming from the Terrace’s angel, where Dante reveals his scientific knowledge in optics: that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

Third Terrace (Wrath/Anger). The wrathful are being purged on the Third Terrace. Dante is given visions of examples of the opposite virtue, Meekness. He sees the finding of the boy Jesus at the Temple when he was twelve years old, where Mary exhibits meekness in accepting the Jesus is in the house of his Father (Luke 2:41-52). Another biblical example is St. Stephen, the first martyr, who meekly accepted death by stoning for witnessing to his faith (Acts 7:54-60). The mythological example is Peisistratos, who refused to have a man who embraced his daughter executed, despite the demands of his wife.

The finding of the twelve year old Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. (Orthodox icon)

An Orthodox icon depicting the stoning of St. Stephen, one of the first deacons  and the first martyr of the Church.

The souls are purged from wrath by walking around in acrid smoke, which represents the blinding effect of anger.

Dante sees examples of wrath such as Haman, who wanted the extermination of the Jewish people (in the book of Esther) and Lavinia.

The prayer for this terrace is the Agnus Dei: “Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us… …grant us your peace.”

Fourth Terrace (Sloth). The slothful or the lazy are purged in the Fourth Terrace. Just as they were deficient in showing love in life, they are now pressed with endless activity. Voices call out to them telling them of examples of the opposite virtue, Zeal. Examples include the Visitation of Mary “in haste” to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45). Other examples include Julius Caesar and Aeneas. There is no prayer in this Terrace, because the souls are too busy to speak.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Elizabeth. (Orthodox icon)

Since sloth leads to laziness in the spiritual life, it results in sorrow. Therefore the beatitude here is “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4).

The sun has set and Dante and Virgil had to spend the night there. While he was sleeping, Dante dreams of a Siren.

Fifth Terrace (Greed). The last three Terraces represent sins from an excessive love of the good things in life. Here, the greedy or the covetous are being purged: they are made to lie face-down on the ground. 

 Souls being purged of greed are made to lie face-down. Art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

The prayer here is: “My soul cleaves to the dust, make me live according to your Word” (Psalm 119:25). Those being purged here include: a pope who was greedy for ecclesiastical power, a man who was greedy for worldly wealth, a king who sold his daughter to an old man, and a French king who arrested a pope and executed the Knights Templar.

The execution of the Knights Templar King Philip IV of France, who gave the order on October 13, 1307, which is linked to the superstition of Friday the 13th. (Wikipedia)

In a scene depicting where Jesus meets two of his disciples on the way to Emmaus, Dante is overtaken by the Roman poet Stratus, who is depicted as a convert to Christianity. He has just finished his time in that Terrace and will accompany Dante and Virgil to the next Terrace.

A mosaic depicting Jesus and two disciples on the way to Emmaus.

The example for the opposite virtue, Humility, is the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable.

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Orthodox icon)

Sixth Terrace (Gluttony). On this terrace the gluttonous are being purged of their excessive love for food, drink, and bodily comforts. They are starved in front of trees that bear much fruit, which they cannot reach. A voice from the trees reminds them of examples of the opposite virtue, Temperance. The example from the Bible includes once more the Wedding at Cana, where Mary shared her Son’s gift of water-turned-into-wine to others. Another example is John the Baptist, who lived in the desert eating only locusts and honey. They were also shown an example of gluttony in literature: the gluttony of the Centaurs led to the Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths. The prayer in this Terrace is “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall bring forth your praise” (Psalm 51:15).

The Battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths, painting by Pietro di Cosimo. (Wikipedia) The Centaurs kidnapped Hippodamia, a horse-woman who was to marry Peirithous, king of the Lapiths.

Seventh Terrace (Lust). The final Terrace is for the purging of the lustful. Lust is defined as misdirected love towards other people (whether heterosexual or homosexual). The lustful run through flames crying out examples of lust, like Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. They also cry out examples of the opposite virtue, Chastity (in singleness) and Fidelity (in marriage), such as the Virgin Mary. The souls sing the hymn “God of Supreme Clemency” as their prayer.

As Dante prepares to ascend to the last level, night falls once more. Dante dreams of the wives of Jacob, Leah and Rachel, symbols of active (non-monastic) and of contemplative (monastic) Christian lives.

Dante dreams of Leah picking flowers. Art by Gustav Dore. (Wikipedia)

The Earthly Paradise. Dante climbs the stairs to the summit of Mount Purgatory which is the Earthly Paradise. It represents the innocence of humanity back in the Garden of Eden. He meets a woman named Matilda, who accompanies him as he witnesses a procession. The procession includes:

• The twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4), which represent the books of the Bible according to St. Jerome;
• The four living creatures with six wings each (Revelation 4:6-8), which represent the four Evangelists;
• A chariot with two wheels;
• A Griffin, a creature with the feet, wings, and head of an eagle and the body and hind legs of a lion, symbolizing the divinity and humanity of Jesus in one person;
• Three “circling” women, representing the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love;
• Four women dressed in purple, representing the cardinal values of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude;
• Two elders, representing the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul; and
• A lone man, representing the book of Revelation.

Beatrice Addressing Dante, painting by William Blake. (Wikipedia)

The Beatrice appears. She was a woman whom Dante admired when he was a child as the ideal woman. In real life, he dedicated the Comedia. In the story, it was she who sent Virgil to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory. She explains why he needed to leave Virgil behind: he is a symbol of human philosophy, which cannot bring a person to God. Thus, Beatrice becomes a symbol of a Christian’s path to God.

Dante passes to the River Lethe, the mythological river of forgetfulness to forget all of his past sins. He then drinks from the River Eunoë in order to restore beautiful memories. He returns to Beatrice feeling refreshed and ready to ascend to Heaven, called Paradiso: “I have been made pure and prepared to climb unto the stars.”