Angelus News | August 27, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 17

His status allowed him to pursue his
passion for philosophy and poetry, so
he continued his studies at the University
of Bologna. where he joined the
poets of the “sweet new style,” a term
coined by Dante to describe the courtly
love poems written in new types of
verse, spiced with lofty allegories and
symbols.
The idyllic existence of these young
artists, absorbed in love and letters,
was set against a backdrop of violence
and uncertainty. Italy, a political
patchwork of republics, dukedoms,
and turf claimed by the emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire, was in a
constant state of armed conflict.
Pope Celestine V, the spiritual glue
of Europe, had shocked Christendom
by resigning after only a few months,
followed by his death under suspicious
circumstances. His successor,
Pope Boniface VIII, appeared more
interested in
influencing
temporal affairs
than shepherding
souls.
The lack of unity
was exacerbated
by the chaos
of language, with
differing dialects
evolving according
to each
region’s geopolitical
reality
and with Latin
increasingly
reserved for the
learned and the clergy.
Artwork entitled "Dante
Meditating on 'The
Divine Comedy,' 1843,"
in an undated photo.
"The Divine Comedy"
is perhaps the most
powerful depiction of the
transcendent in Western
literature. | CNS/GIFT
OF THE CHRISTIAN
HUMANN FOUNDATION
VIA NATIONAL GALLERY
OF ART
All the while, Dante and his band
of erudite troubadours sang of love in
their catchy rhythms. Dante hit a sour
note, however, when his diplomatic
activities brought him into conflict
with the opposing political faction in
Florence. Once his enemies rose to
power through a violent takeover of
the city, they turned on the poet in
absentia, sentencing him to exile for
life.
The banished bard responded to the
injustice, humiliation, and penury by
creating a masterpiece designed to
transcend politics. Written during his
exile, Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”
was an epic tale to unite Italy under a
common language, to bring together
Christendom’s classical roots with its
contemporary saints, and so to join
souls, past and present, on their common
journey to the Lord.
Words were the bricks and mortar of
his opus. The fragmented Latin-derived
dialects reflected the factions
and tribes that sprang up after the fall
of the Roman Empire. Tainted with
Arabic in Sicily and with Greek in
Venice, dialects formed verbal fences
limiting communication. Thanks to
his wide-ranging experience of poetry
throughout the Italian peninsula,
Dante could select the perfect words
to craft his verses.
His poetry painted pictures and
stimulated the senses. One can almost
hear the sighing of the unbaptized in
limbo or feel the cold of the frozen
Lake Cocytus where traitors are
imprisoned. Anticipating St. Ignatius’
composition of place in the spiritual
exercises, Dante awakens the senses
during his extraordinary voyage
through hell, purgatory, and heaven.
His literary images are knit together
by Dante’s invention of “terza rima”
(“third rhyme”), an interlocking
rhyme system that propels the story
stanza by stanza. Dante’s epic took
words, and instead of using them to
divide and wound, he employed them
as a means to unify a divided people.
The poem offered readers the chance
to revel in the pleasure of speech,
an anomaly for today’s world where
communicating can seem more like
stepping into a minefield.
“The Divine Comedy” deftly melded
pagan references with the most recent
Christian theology, creating a blend
of the finest Mediterranean vintages.
Mythological creatures populate
“Inferno,” while Emperor Trajan
exemplifies humility in “Purgatorio.”
August 27, 2021 • ANGELUS • 11