Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-12-23
powers have fine opportunities. He suggests

powers have fine opportunities. He suggests
the most awful tortures; but he paints more
by a look, a gesture, a hint, than we could
Dante passes through hell II finally comes
upon Satan himself. This is the climax OF
the Inferno. Those who nave heard Mr..
Grithth's superb climaXes in Richard III.
Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Othello,
ETC., will be prepared for the a~we-inspiring
climax here.
The Inferno, only lately added to Mr.. Grit
hth'sreportoire, promises to rival, in interest
and ramatic coloring, any OF Shakespeare's
plays. The Inferno depicts the nemesis OF
all sin. 1t shows how sin can produce
naught but impotence. and bring upon us
naught but misery.
as Goethe in Faust and Milton in Paradise
Lost, but none are so complete as Dante's
Divine Comedy. The hell in Faust is
f~ragmentary; Millions is not terrible like
Dante's. 1t does not give you a horror OF
sin; it is rather a rebellion against God. His
Satan is grand, majestic, wins our admiraT
ton; not so with Danes. Speaking OF the
Divine Comedy. Macaulay says, 81 know
nothing with which it can be compared. The
noblest models OF Greek composition must
yield to it. His words are the finest, the
best it is possible to use. There is probably
no writer in any language who has presented
SO many story pictures to the mind. yet
there. is probably no writer equally concise"
1t Is in these story pictures that Mr.. Griffith
obtains his fine dramatic effects.
Iue HuTBdlOTlO OF the DIVINE UOIlGuy ue-
scribes a series of descents into that realm,
where the human sou is purged from sin
The climax OF the Purgatorio is the descrip-
ton of the Church in the form OF triumphal
car, n the vision of the stream Lethe OF
forgetfulness, and OF the stream Eunoe, which
brings back remembrance OF every good
deed done. This too is allegorical, a uni
versal truth, above all dogma. The soul
that has long tarried on the downward way,
must go through an equally long purgation,
a very hell OF suffering, ere it stamp out the
old habits and acquire new and good ones
The souls here, Dante paints as suffering
gladly, singing in their pains, rejoicing in
hope. ii Mr.. Griffith excelled in depicting
the horrors OF hell, he here charms with his
dainty coloring and musical chanting.
In the Paradise, Dante describes a series OF
ascents from planet to planet and its climax
is a Vision OF the Trinity itself, Dante was
led to Paradise by Beatrice, who was the
symbol OF divine beauty, love and wisdom
1t was Beatrice in the flesh that had first in
spired Dante. He relates in the new life that
thought OF Beatrice withheld him from evil
and made him follow the path OF virtue in
his youth. Speaking OF Dante in whom tall
better habits thrived," Beatrice says:
"For l showed
My youthful eyes and led him by their light
In upright walking"
Dante himself proclaims the saving power
OF her love in purgatorio, where he confesses
the cause OF his errors after her death;
''Thy fair looks withdrawn
Things present, with deceitiul pleasures
turned
My steps aside"
And when he sees her in Paradise, she
chides him with these words:
"Turn thee and list,
These eyes are not the only Paradise"
In Beatrice woman is glorifed, The Pur-
gatario and Paradise proclaim the power, the
wondrous influence OF a good woman. Man
Is made or marred by the woman he loves.
Dante loved the real Beatrice. After her
death he loves her still more, and she be.
comes to him the symbol OF all goodness-oi
divine reason.
To read the poem, distorted by a trans.
lation, the student, unless prepared by
years OF study n wide reading, will find
much to deter and puzzle hin But after an
Illuminated reading, such as Mr.. Griffith
an old friend. mi enjoy 1t at his leisure,
The Divine Comedy is ethical, because 1t in
spires loathing for the evil, love for the fail
and good, and hope OF pardon. OF all the
books outside the Bible and the Imitation, il
is the most salutary from a moral point oil
view. But Dante, like Moliere, Schiller, OF
Shakespeare, must be translated TO our age
interpreted to our needs; and this Mr.. Grif-
fifth does with admirable perfection.
Dante was followed by "The
Merchant of Venice,'' "The Tam
ing Of the Shrew," and scenes
from "Macbeth," "Hamlet,''
"Richard Ill.," GAS you like IT,
"Much Ado About Nothing" and
"The Merry Wives Of Winsdor.'
To goifrom heart breaking tragedy
to the light comedy of the fool
shows the versatility of the genius
Of this great reader.
The Ursuline Sisters are to be
congratulated for having obtained
so great a treat for their students
and friends.