[7] Peter of Aragon (died 1285), the husband of Constance,
daughter of Manfred (see Canto III.); the youth who is seated
behind him is his son Alphonso, who died in 1291.

[8] Charles of Anjou.

[9] The kingdoms of Aragon and Sicily; both James and Frederick
were living when Dante thus wrote of them. The "better heritage"
was the virtue of their father.

[10] Apulia and Provence were grieving under the rule of Charles
II., the degenerate son of Charles of Anjou, who died in 1309.

[11] The meaning is doubtful; perhaps it is, that the children of
Charles of Anjou and of Peter of Aragon are as inferior to their
fathers, as Charles himself, the husband first of Beatrice of
Provence and then of Margaret of Nevers, was inferior to Peter,
the husband of Constance.

[12] Henry III., father of Edward I.

[13] William Spadalunga was Marquis of Montferrat and Canavese,
the Piedmontese highlands and plain north of the Po. He was
Imperial vicar, and the bead of the Ghibellines in this region.
In a war with the Guelphs, who had risen in revolt in 1290, he
was taken captive at Alessandria, and for two years, till his
death, was kept in an iron cage. Dante refers to him in the
Convito, iv. 11, as "the good marquis of Montferrat."



CANTO VIII. Valley of the Princes.--Two Guardian Angels.--Kino
Visconti.--The Serpent.--Corrado Malaspina.


It was now the hour that turns back desire in those that sail the
sea, and softens their hearts, the day when they have said to
their sweet friends farewell, and which pierces the new pilgrim
with love, if he hears from afar a bell that seems to deplore the
dying day,--when I began to render hearing vain, and to look at
one of the souls who, uprisen, besought attention with its hand.
It joined and raised both its palms, fixing its eyes toward the
orient, as if it said to God, "For aught else I care not." "Te
lucis ante"[1] so devoutly issued from his mouth and with such
sweet notes that it made me issue forth from my own mind. And
then the others sweetly and devoutly accompanied it through all
the hymn to the end, having their eyes upon the supernal wheels.
Here, reader, sharpen well thine eyes for the truth, for the veil
is now indeed so thin that surely passing through within is
easy.[2]

[1] The opening words of a hymn sung at Complines, the last
service of the day:

Te locis ante terminum,
Rerom Creator poscimus,
Ut tus pro clementia
Sis presul et custodia:--

"Before the close of light, we pray thee, O Creator, that through
thy clemency, thou be our watch and guard."

[2] The allegory seems to be, that the soul which has entered
upon the way of repentance and purification, but which is not yet
securely advanced therein, is still exposed to temptation,
especially when the light of the supernal grace does not shine
directly upon it. But if the soul have steadfast purpose to
resist temptation, and seek aid from God, that aid will not be
wanting. The prayer of the Church which is recited after the hymn
just cited has these words: "Visit, we pray thee, O Lord, this
abode, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy. Let thy
holy Angels bide in it, and guard us in peace." Pallid with self
distrust, humble with the sense of need, the soul awaits the
fulfilment of its prayer. The angels are clad in green, the
symbolic color of hope. Their swords are truncated, because
needed only for defence.


I saw that army of the gentle-born silently thereafter gazing
upward as if in expectation, pallid and humble; and I saw issuing
from on high and descending two angels, with two fiery swords
truncated and deprived of their points. Green as leaflets just
now born were their garments, which, beaten and blown by their
green pinions, they trailed behind. One came to stand a little
above us, and the other descended on the opposite bank, so that
the people were contained between them. I clearly discerned in
them their blond heads, but on their faces the eye was dazzled,
as a faculty which is confounded by excess. "Both come from the
bosom of Mary," said Sordello, "for guard of the valley, because
of the serpent that will come straightway." Whereat I, who knew
not by what path, turned me round, and all chilled drew me close
to the trusty shoulders.

And Sordello again, "Now let us go down into the valley among the
great shades, and we will speak to them; well pleasing will it be
to them to see you." Only three steps I think I had descended and
I was below; and I saw one who was gazing only at me as if he
wished to know me. It was now the time when the air was
darkening, but not so that between his eyes and mine it did not


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