The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-09-14
Member Of The Associated Press.
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THE DANTE SEX-CENTENARY

When a man has been called great for SIX hun
bred years il IS loo Iae to raise any question about
it. Therefore, it must be conceded that Dante
Aligheri. the Flcrentine poet the six-hundredh
anniversary Of whose death is celebrated today by
Roman Catholic churches throughout the world
was great poet. Almost everybody has read his
Divine Comedy, though, il put upon their SOL
cmn cath, most Ct Ike present generation would
have to confess thsy had never read ii all the way
though.
However, j, IS true poetry. 1t is full Of
originality invention. fire (no double meaning is
intcnded}, and everything which makes poetry
great. ii ranks among the few great cpics of
ancient and modern times. Yet it represents the
old conception Of things; and nothing more instruc-
tive in connection with it can be done than to com
pare it with the somewhat similar masterpiece of
john Milton who represents the new ideas growing
out e The Reformation.
Both poems doal with The fail Of man. Dante,
however with his mind saturated with the cold and
cruel philosophy Of pagan Rome, reyeiIcd in long
and tedious descriptions of the punishmcnts de-
signed for the cnins. His he'll IS true torture
chamber OF series Of chambers, presided over by
shadowy beings whose Office is 10 keep the fires
VAIN throughout eternity. and sec thai no guilty
WlccI. escapes. il Is an amazing conception. Ac-
companied il lis imaginary Journey by the Shade
OF the Poet Virgil, Dante secs ii all with manifest
approval, and when lie ,i5ualizes thc infinite va
rely Ct schere, fot making human souls perpelu-
ally mlsefabIe after DEATH he is powerfully I'M
pressed ~ilb HE eternal goodness of tie Creator.
Milton was Of he Greek rather Than The Rom
an type OF mind. lie had the sprighlEncss, the
keen Imagination and The infalHblc touch Of hui
mainly, which Distinguish the Hellenic tragcdians.
Fils Paradise Lost is marvellous tragedy. 1t
will be a lavoritc through all ages because its
sympathy and point Of view are human.
Milton yisualles Jehovah rather as the Greek
Zeus than the Hebrew deity Satan, ranking next
in power TO the highest, IS cast out Ct heaven be-
cause lie aspiFcs to he throne. Falling en- earth,
or nearby, he plans revenge by "qucering' the
Divine project Of creation. and he comes within
an ace Of doing it, Ii is a wonderful story, won
derfuIly told, and with ccnsummae skill he leaves
The reader sorry for Satan but acquiesccnt in the
fate which his unwisc ambition has earned.
AS theological material both the Divine Com
edy and t1e Paradise Lost grade exactly zero, but
as poems Of imagination they will always be ranked
among the highest human productions. Modern
churches accept thal view CT Milton Perhaps
some Of them have hazy notion that reading his
poetry condlces. in seine degree to pie;y: witch
IS not wholly erroneous since any work Of genius
must have thai effect more or less; but nobody
regards il as true exposition Of the Biblical story
of creation and the fall Of man. Dante is less
fortunate, since mary students read him under the