Dante V Canto XVI Scene IV

 Canto XVIII

Forth Terrace; Love is in the ---

Scene IV

“Virgil, my sight is so vivified in thy light, that I discern all that thy discourse imports or describe, therefore, I pray of thee, sweet companion dear, that thou expound to me love to which thou refer every good deed and its contrary.” Dante had the silent time to think when they did not move further from where they were before.

“The Poet is back and speaks in the words that resonate with the original text of Dante.” Virgil was patient to wait while Dante gave the thought of the journey. There was urgency but no rushing there.

“Dante’s original work was in Italian; more of the Tuscan dialect although the works than was mostly in Latin.” Dante clarified the wordings used. “Not many of us are aware of it as they may not have read it but the works here held influence in our living soul.” (Adapted from https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180604-dante-and-the-divine-comedy-he-took-us-on-a-tour-of-hell). “More than the authors of the Bible itself, Dante provided us with the vision of Hell that remains with us and has been painted by many artisans.”

“The Divine Comedy is a fulcrum in Western history. It brings together literary and theological expression, pagan and Christian, that came before it while also containing the DNA of the modern world to come. It may not hold the meaning of life, but it is Western literature’s very own theory of everything.”

“And”, Virgil mimed the act of yawning. “I thought you were to ask me to explain and here you are yapping away like a program running into a loop on its query. So, what do you want to know?”

“'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all; Alfred Lord Tennyson.” Dante voiced out. “I also have Peter 4:8; Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%204%3A8&version=NIV)

“Well, I prefer or rather my creator did and he once told me; John 4:8, Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” Virgil gave his motivation.

“Che mi dimostri amore” — teach me what love is.” Dante looked at Virgil.

“The soul, which is created quick to love, responds to everything that pleases, just as soon as beauty wakens it to act. I borrowed that from Dante’s. I am not the best to explain what love is for I am a construct but my creator left me with many clues and passages. He had many loves being married twice unsuccessfully for he only loved me, the construct.” Virgil spoke of love and his creator.

“It was his apprehension to draw an image from a real object and expand upon that object until the soul has turned toward it.  The image is from a real object and unfolds that image within the soul, and it causes the soul to turn toward that image.”

“Love is thus the soul’s inclination toward another being.” Dante saw the grin on Virgil’s expression and he knew what that meant. 

“Don’t say it.” Dante knew who Virgil was to refer to then. The construct then continued.

“The soul has now, in this manner described above, been seized by love: it is taken. The soul sets off on its quest to possess the beloved, and never rests until the beloved object gives it joy.” Virgil held out his arms towards the skies then as if the ultimate love was to be God.

“That was Marco’s anti-thesis on the freedom of the will, he sees a pitfall in the description of the soul in motion, pursuing the beloved object until it gives the soul joy. If love is a natural response to something that is proffered to us from outside, how can there be merit in choosing a good or bad object of desire? In other words, how can we be blamed if we choose to love a bad object? Did God not make that wrong choice too when he created us?”

“What happens if we incline in love toward something bad?” Virgil gave his view. “We should not be blamed if we choose to love it bad. Are we justified in saying that love forced us? We met Francesa at Hell if you remember her. Her love was ---forced.”

“Do we still have a choice, even in what your Dante wrote in — in the deterministic sonnet Io sono stato — calls the “palestra d’amore”? Is love deterministic, as many poets have averred forever in their words through poetry? Does determinism therefore exist? Is the fault really in our stars after all?” Virgil continued.

“As in the sonnet Per quella via che la Bellezza corre (circa 1292), free will metaphorically stand guard at the doorway of the mansion of the soul and prevents the evil desire from entering. It follows that if an evil desire should cross the threshold and gain entry, our free will has failed to deploy our free will to combat it.” Virgil added on. “I am the sentry and not the warrior behind the wall.”

“I am for one the companion but not the one to complete the task for I am not the living soul here,” Virgil started his role in the task.

“Bravado! I salute you for taking my free will to that of love and then ripped it from my heart with your mindful comments.” Dante smiled. “Your creator did you well.”

“My creator loved me than his wives --- he may have for them if he had kids with them but that did not materialize like I knew that someone who shared his love virtually.” Virgil cut in with a snide remark.

“I had cautioned you, Virgil. Leave her out.” 

“I was not referring to her. I was saying to a fixation on God but take my call, we are not in the heavenly realm but a prison replicated of it to imprison the one thing we all supposed to have; free will.” Virgil corrected Dante. If I may borrow from a past economist's words; ‘we should view ourselves, the person of commerce, not in the light in which our selfish passions place us, but in the light in which any other citizen of the world would view us’. Love is not a mirror to view oneself but a space of distance shortened by the feel to be needed.”

“I am not a product of barter---” Dante protested in vain.

“Undoubtedly, so please keep that in mind. We have to move on now. And don’t sloth at my rear. It’s disgusting to wait for you to catch up.” Virgil saw the sunlight had reached Dante’s shadow.