The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-06-05
DANTE AND BEATRICE
INFLUENCE OF WOMAN AS SHOWN IN
THE POETS LIFE STORY.

All the Great Poets Received the Best In
spiration From Woman-"The One Star
Kissed Summit That Was Never Out of
Sight"-Dante's Character.
M NJ. Mangasarian's lecture before the
Society of Ethical Culture of Chicago told
of the lifo and character Of the author of
Inferno" and the influence Of Beatrice
upon the great italian. Following is
condensed report OF the lecture:
Dante Alighieri was the morning star
of the renaissance. He was one of the
principal causes, as well as the most distin-
guished product, of that glorious awaken
ing of Europe out of the long sleep Of the
middle ages. When he was born, Thomas
Aquinas, Roger Bacon, st. Louis and
Charles Martel woro living and when no
died Petrarch and Boccacoio were about to
enter school.
The turning point in Dante's life was
his meeting with Beatrice at the age of 0.
Tho impression produced upon his mind
by her is one of the most significant and
romantic chapters in the history of litera-
ture. Beatrice was more than mere
woman to him. Art, religion, 1taly-these
three great ideas became flesh and blood
way to paradise lay through her eyes, and
all the music of heavenly voices met and
melted into an inexpressible symphony In
her voice
Dante had the true poetic temperament.
He was dominated by his imagination,
and being sensitive as q plant the impress
sions he received from his surroundings
passed into tho 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 erfection-Imogen. Desdemona, Cor
delia In Goethe it is Gretchen who repre-
sents the 'eternsl womanly" leading on
tho human race, and in Dante 1t 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 tho Greeks made the muses.
feminine, and every immortal singer before
he sweeps his hand over his Tyre, before
he strings his thought in tho letters of
meter and rhyme invokes the muses-the
feminine element in the universe.
The lesson of Dante and Beatrice is that
it is woman who spurs man to action and
greatness. "It is my hope that shall yet
write concerning her what hath not before
been written of any woHlan," says Dante,
and this hope with its persistence led him
through hell and purgatory to heaven.
Dante was but a child when he first met
little Beatrice, but even then tho voice of
Beatrice, so different from his, SO much
moro 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, guest angel from the
heavens beyond the clouds, n glowing sun
beam that had wandered to the earth and
shot into his heart, a quivering drop of dew
from tho lips of God, rejecting like Il mir
ror all tho joy and peace OF life, inspired
him to "Vita 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 great
sufferer no was sentenced to be burned
alive and wandered from city to city, Il
beggar and an exile, but the memory of
that meeting, that greeting, that smile.
tarried 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 n sensuous
love, but tho devotion of the mind to truth
and beauty. 1t was love ohastened by sor-
row, mellowed and deepened by contem-
plation. 1t was not n feverish, ftful, ca
PRECIOUS love, but calm, true and serene.
All he craved was tho 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
perior to any conception of 1t in Boccaccio.
'Whensoover she appeared before me-, he
writes, II had no enemy left on earth.
Tho hamo of charity kindled in me caused
me to forgive all who had ever offended
mo" Virgil tells him in purgatory that
love must be SO pure as to be of all virtues
the seed. Love is defined as II spiritual mo-
ton, flame which ever upward strives.
In religion Dante was n Catholic with
Protestant tendencies. When examined by
St. Peter at tho gates of paradise he gives
answers which show him to be a theologian
rs well as II 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, tho uncon-
ditional subordination Of tho reason to
revelation.
tractive 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 torments in hell
The portraits of Dante invariably represent
him with curl Of disdain upon his lips
n scowl on his face, which the darkness of
the inferno made darker, but which heav-
ems light and music could not dispel
SEQ him, his black hair crisped in the
fire as he 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 tho man who has seen HE'LL
But Dante was the child of his times
He was Graded III storm and sucked at
the bosom of an ago perhaps the most vio-
lent in the history of Italy.
Dante was at first Guelph-that is to
say, n supporter of democracy and the
church.
Tho tragic element predominates in
Dantes 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, "tho 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 cats.
DOLLAR SIDE AND SHILLING SIDE.