New-York tribune., 1905-11-23
norte and Italian TraUel in the
Thirteenth Centarq.

-ailiar conception OF the 'Divins Com
St, g - COX in which every man can find
-. vrhish answers TO his need has been put
.bs rest by Mr.. Christopher Hare with excel
~ -ee,lts. He has looked into the poem for
..,,-s Of travel. and has found so many Of
- that he has been able 10 make goodly
.,r,,e out of his gIeanings. Dante the Way
-, draported by Charles Scribner's sons).
,,,...-sted record not only OF Dante's illusions
:. ,be subject, but Of the authors own investi-
y .I,rs tnto the same scenes Mr.. Hare has al
- shown In his Most nlustrious Ladies OF
=. T,aljan. Renaissance that he knows how to
g. ,.eu ~ not with exhaustive scholarship, on
.o-to themes. On this occasion he is no less
-os+ir- than IN his earlier book. making his
.,ions with tact and filing IN the spaces
s..vasn with unpretentious but entertaining
III He begins with brief notices Of Florence
:, nsnte knew the city, and Of some OF the
1..-.ns whom he must have met. Ike the fero-
-. Filippc Argent. who IS supposed to have
-, an named because on one occasion he had
- horse shod with silver" and whom the poet
.,..es among the Wrathful in the fifth circle Of
-. inferno: but he has the good sense. before
ling up the main line Of his narrative to
s,nnlv an instructive chapter On travel in the
Middle Ages. Ill. g.
~e,.s,s circumstances. He had gone forth in his
=. with all the ponap and comfort Of an am
,.sssdor. but be took the Journeys which MI
[T.,s traces IN this book ''as e pilgrim, almost
h.rvsr displaying against my will the stroke
:, ,ort,ne" and he had to face the roads II
-. nav dignity them by such a name, with NJ
=. 70 mitigate their terrors. Says Mr Hare:
IN. n,siu highway between city and another
-rSs often little more than a rough bTlole PAIN d
cuGgnlIe u rIaces % with bTiers and often passing
tiTough thcket or jungle Of crowded Jrees Tl[ hil
i1g Tagabonds and was by no means I secure IrSl @
WIG WIG are marshes 10 cross in the Val dl
s1fsno and MaremIna OF Tuscany, SO POISONOUS
ms Dante specially mentions-that men would
scken and die there in few hours hours .. o ~oc,.-
cred with. for when the mountain SHOWS ei naellea
ds ne 54 and laid waste The fertile valleys, making
them useless save for coarse hay; al suGh tnles
" to-5s were impossible and the traveller was
artnnafe indeed il he came across ferry boat or
Il the hghway lsa a. 70 "a bagtT rag at the entrance
Sy The corner OF the road there would frequenlKiy ~
.vho was supposed look after the bridge ana
,bo lived on the charity OF the passerey nor was was
,his ibeN only claim upon the pilgrim, whose way
us baTred % everv few miles for toll exacted
VS. VS. a. as he entered each new state. with its
Ton aT5 laws avs and government its customs end its
eoinsge and even its chapge ] OF @ GaleGe eGs DAME
L slwsys recognized by the spirits as tuscan
II vas bad enough II the district through
,vb,ch he WAS passing happened to be at peace,
IN. ss Ny Hare notes, war made things ten
,,-nes worse. and war was always abroad In
nantes day We see him, in the minds eye
,r-sr,,ng his travels IN the company Of monks
and beggars, rnountebanks and minstTels. sub
sisting on the hardest fare, and sleeping at some
vyavsids inn within sound OF the brawls OF wine
hbbers ard far more evil company. First ex-
rlaining then, the atmosphere in which Dante
va. necessarily enveIoped on his Journeys, Mr..
54are rrocseds to sketch the Siena Of his time.
30 shcT him on the way TO Arezzo. and settled
sn that sustereIy beautiful hill town. and, In
short 20 make Us realize something or tne
actual experience with which so many OF the
pssssges In the 'CDivina Conmedia" may easily
be identified He pauses TO collect the poets
references to the birds Of the air, throwing IN
apt annotations and he does not forget to paint
Dante "as Alpine climber" IN which character
he had some Of his most significant moments OF
insight into the mysteries Of nature. It is a
little disconcerting to turn from Mr.. Hares
text dotted thick as It is with matters Of the
purest nedi@valisrn. to his halftone iilustra-
tions from recent photographs. Nevertheless.
these modest pictures do a good deal to enhance
the interest of singularly well planned and
tympatheticaly written book.
Mr.. Thomas Hardy has been at work upon the
second part Of his Napoleonic drama THE
Dynasts" and It is nearly ready for publication.