The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-06-17
DANTE AND BEATRICE
INFLUENCE or WOMAN AS SHOWN IN
THE POETS LIFE STORY.

Society OF Ethical Culture OF chicago TOTO
of the life and character of the author OF
"Inforno" and tho influence OF Beatrice
upon the great Italian. Following Is a
condensed report OF the lecture;
Dante Alighieri was the morning star
OF tho renaissance. He was one of the
principal causes, as well rs the most distin-
guished product Of that glorious awaken
Ing Of Europe out of the long sleep OF the
middle ages. When no was born, Thomas
Aquinas, Roger Bacon, st. Louis and
Charles Martol were living, and when no
died Petrarch and Boccaccio were about TO
enter school.
The turning point In Dante's life was
his meeting with Beatrice at the age OF o..
The impression produced upon his mind
by her Is one of the most significant and
romantic chapters in tho history of litera-
ture. Beatrice was more than n mere
woman TO him Art, religion, 1taly--these
three great ideas became flesh and blood
In her. She was his ideal incarnate. The
way TO paradise lay through her eyes, and
all the music Of heavenly voices met and
melted into an inexpressiblo symphony In
her voice.
Dante had the true poetic temperament
and being sensitive rs a plant the impress
sions he received from his surroundings
passed into the substance of his soul
All the great poets have received their
best Inspiration from woman. In Homer
woman is pure melody; in Shakespeare she
is observation-disclosures Desdemona, Cor
della; I'm Goethe il Is Gretchen who repre-
sents the eternal womanly" leading on
the human race and in Dante it is Beatrice
who calls forth his highest powers. Love
and art belong TO woman. Woman and
artist are Synonymous terms 1t Is only
when man Is born anew in the image of
woman that he can become an artist,
Very truly the Greeks made the muses.
feminine, and every immortal singer before
he sweeps his hand over his Tyre, before
he strings his Thought i'm the fctters Of
meter and rhyme invokes the muses-the
feminine element in the universe
The lesson of Dante and Beatrice Is that
II is woman who spurs man TO action aud
greatness ut is my hope that shall yet
write concerning her what hath not before
been written of any woman" says Dante,
and this hope with its persistence led him
through hell and purgatory 10 heaven.
Dante was but a child when he first met
little Beatrice, but even then the voice of
Beatrice so different from his, so much
more musical, with depth and distance in
her soft accents; her eyes SO dreamy look
ing, SO fascinating, he could not look away
from them; her form, so graceful, so spir.
itual; her conversation, so pure, so natural.
a child of divinity, n guest angel from the
heavens beyond the clouds, glowing sun
beam that had wandered to the earth and
shot into his heart, aquivoring drop of dew
from tho lips Of God, rejecting like a mir
ror all the joy and peace of lifo inspired
him 10 "Nita Nuova."
Later in life while walking on the
street, he met her again, now developed
into loving womanhood. She greeted him
with a smile. Dante lived TO be n great
sufferer, he was sentenced to be burned
alive and wandered from city to city, n
beggar and an exile, but the memory of
that meeting, that greeting, that smile.
tarriod with him as the only piece Of blue
in his sky which was never concealed by
clouds or darkness-the one star kissed
summit that shone before him and was
never out of sight.
The love Of Dante was not sensuous
love, but the devotion of the mind TO truth
and beauty. 1t was love chastened by sor-
row, mellowed and deepened by contom-
plation. 1t was not n feverish, fitful, ca
PRECIOUS love, but calm, true and serene.
All he craved was the privilege to contem-
plato her face TO keep her image craven on
his heart. Dante's love was purer than
that of Abelard for Heloise than that of
Petrarch for the beautiful Laura-far SUI.
oerior to any conception of 1t in Boccaccio.
" Whensoever she appeared before me-" he
writes, 81 had no enemy left on earth.
The flame OF charity kindled In me caused
me TO forgive all who had ever offended
me-" Virgil tells him in purgatory that
love must be so pure as to bo of all virtues
the seed. Love is defined as spiritual mo-
ton, q flame which ever upward strives.
In religion Dante was "A Catholic with
Protestant tendencies. When examined by
st. Peter at the gates of paradise he gives
answers which show him to be theologian
as well as philosopher. He has tried all
the paths of philosophy, pagan and Chris.
tian, but, fatigued and disappointed, re-
turns to throw himself into the arms of
faith. He demands, therefore, the uncon.
ditional subordiuati9n Of the reason to
revelation.
The character of Dante Is not very at
tractivo TO us. He had the passion of an
italian. Revenge was sweet TO his soul.
He was at times unpardonably vindictive
in his partisan warfare and even nauseat.
ing in the language he uses about his enc
mics in describing their tormonts In hell.
The portraits Of Dante invariably represent
him with curl of disdain upon his lips.
a scowl on his face, which the darkness Of
the inferno made darker, but which heay-
ems light and music could not dispel
Sec him, his black hair crispcd In tho
fire as be passed through hell" said the
women when they met him on the streets.
and others in Verona, observing his down
cast look, whispered to each other. There
goes the man who has seen hell"
But Dante was the child of his times
He was Graded in a storm and sucked at
the bosom of an age perhaps the most vio
lent in the history of Italy
Dante was at first Guelph-that Is TO
say, supporter Of democracy and the
church
The tragic element predominates In
Dante's life. Sorrow is his altar. and from
his pen flow tears and blood. He suffers
from tho malady Of the ideal. In his own
words, "the stinging force Of now thirst"
torments him. He is like Emerson's hero
who is not fed on sweets, but daily his
own heart he eats.
Tiny Trees.
The midget Of the whole tree family
is the Greenland birch. 1t is a perfect
tree in every sense of that torn, aud