Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-06-26
DANTE AND BEATRICE
INFLUENCE OF WOMAN AS SHOWN IN
THE POETS LIFE STORY.

Society Of Ethical Culture of Chicago told
of the life and character Of the author of
"Inferno" and the influence of Beatrice
upon the great Italian. Following is a
condensed report of the lecture:
Dante Aliahicri was the morning star
of the renaissance. He was one of the
principal causes. as well as the most distin
guishcd 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, 1t. Louis and
Charles Martel were living and when he
died Pctrarch and Boccaocio were about to
enter school.
The turning point in Dante's life was
his meeting with Beatrice Mt 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 litcra-
turc Bcatrice was Horr than a Nero
woman to him Art rI;eiun, Italy-thcse
three great ideas boccu.e flesh and blood
in her She was hisiral carnate Tic
way to paradise lay Though her eyes. a!d
all the music of ADat,...- voices met and
melted into an inexi reas.bio symphony il
her voice
Danto had che true poetic temueramcrt
He was dominated rs his Imagination,
and being sensitive as a pant the ih.rrc~-
siOns he received from hi. surroundings,
passed into the substance OF his soul
All the great pucts have received their
best inspiration from woman. In Homer
woman is pure melody; in Shakespeare she
is perfection-Imegen, Desdemona, Cor
della; in Goethe it 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 in the letters of
meter and rhyme, invokes the muses-tho
feminine element in the universe.
The lesson of Dante and Beatrice is that
it is woman who spurs man to action and
greatness 1T is my hope that l shall vet
write concerning her what hath not before
been written Of any woman. says Dante,
and this hope with its persistence led him
through he'll and purgatory to heaven.
Dante was but 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 50 dreamy look
ing, so fascinating, he could not look away
I 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, "A glowing sun
beam that had wandered to the earth and
shot into his heart, aqUivering drop of dew
from the lips of God, rejecting like a mir
ror all the 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 womanhold She greeted him
with smile. Dante lived to be "A great
sufferer, he was sentenced to be burned
alive and wandered from city to city, "a
bcEear 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 shoue before him and was
never out of sight
The love of Dante was not q sensuous
love. but the devotion of the mind to truth
and beauty. 1t was love chastened by sor-
row, mellowed and deepencd by contem
plation. 1t was not a feverish fitful, ca
PRECIOUS love, but calm, true and serene
All he craved was the privilege to contem-
plate her face, to keep her image craven on
his heart. Dante love was purcr than
that of AbelaId for Heloiso, than that Of
PetTarch for the beautiful Laurl-fdr SUI
perior to any conception of il in Boccaccio
"Whcnsoevcr she appeared before me, he
writes, Il had no enemy left on earth.
The flame Of charity llindlcd in me caused
me to forgive all who had ever offended
me Virgil tells him in purgatury that
love must be so pure rs to be Of all virtues
the seed Love is defined rs "a spirit ual mo-
ton, "a fame which ever upward strives
In religion Dante was Il Catholic with
Protestant tendencies. When examined by
st Peter at the gates of paradise he gives
answers which snow him To be theologian
as well rs philosopher. He has tried all
the paths of philosophy, pagan and Chris
tian, but fatigucd ana disappointed, re-
turns to throw himself into the arms of
faith. He demands, therefore the uncon-
ditional subordination 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 vindictiye
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,
a scowl on his face, which the darkness OF
the inferno made darker, but which heav-
ems light and music could not dispel.
See him, his black hair crisIed 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 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 tie most VIC
lent in the history of Italy.
Dante was at first Guelph-that is tC
say, a supporter Of democracy and the
church.
,, The tragic element predcminates il
: Danto's life. sorrow is his altar, and from
his NON llnNN tnnrs md hlnnd He snfferl