a ^% ^ C3 J o ■ ^m^ S: > ^\WEl)NIVER% ce. I r3 ^) -r o / cc %13DNVbur .'iajAiNiui\>- io ,^,OF-C ^ s •*^/ ^/sa3/ RYO^ !ii '^ ^ AV* '^^(^ojnvDJO'^ so j,f^,ff:».!iFn??^ 7= •i' C3 .^MEUNIVERS/A. ^vvlOS ex: CO J -n <-J / O li. • ^^ 3C %oi\mi^'^' ^ riC (■■ 1 M TAD _ %■ (I ; jun .1~ ^ .^WEUNIVERS//. % hjnvjui * o f i/^r Aitrrt .*^ 53 ^ .-< \. % CC' >■ ^., 1? u- \ UL. O -7'.', 1 .- M I M *, / r r: r . ^ %ojm •X S ^"4 : ■ ■:.T,>S^ v^ ^ \u « u^ji : J ' ' MJ T IJU J I * - ■J ij jn^ :)U ; 1 /^(-• ; 1 1/-« ri so c:-, >i ■'^iHii iliVJiVl )(lfV £7 ^ '- .-?? ,^-^-^ :\V C2 S^V •Cv ^ — ? o ' — r '//laiMN^-lW \'^~ ^. UBRARY<5/: ^^ILIBRk u ^ m ■^,!/0^nvi } ,-..in^ 5' 1 i? '. .[•0/?.| ?rn* >- or < ^WE-lINlVi: 6 i'TJ •^/„ CO ■5 ^edt" -y/ THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE BY WALTER ARENSBERG 'Antiquam exquirite matrem" — ^neid iii.96 NEW YORK ALFRED • A • KNOPF MCMXXI Copyright 1 9 2 i by Walter Arensberg > h ft 1 • « I « t * • « • c » • , « . •* *; ^ c « c • • * • « t ■ I < « • » . f * « ' ■°a / '14 6 For a lost and at last recovered Bella the mother of the divine Commedia 2 —I I PREFACE Except for the discussions, in various commentaries, of the Dxv in Purgatorio xxxiii and of the acrostic vom in Pur- gatorio xii, I know of no recognition of the existence of crypto- grams in the Divina Commedia. For general information on the subject of cryptography I may refer to the article on Akrostichts in Pauly: Encyclopcedie der Classishen Alter- tumswissenschaft; the article on Acrostic in Hastings: En- cyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics; the article on Ciphers in Rees's Encyc/opcedia; C. W. King: The Gnostics and Their Remains; Francis Bacon: Of the Advancement of Learning; Walter Begley: Biblia Cabalistica; Is it Shakespeare?; and Bacon s Nova Resuscitatio; and W. S. Booth: Some Acrostic Signatures of Francis Bacon and The Hidden Signa- tures of Francesco Colonna and Francis Bacon. A widely recognized authority which I have been unable to consult is Kryptographik^ by J. L. Kliiber. For general information concerning the life and works of Dante I have consulted principally, in addition to the com- mentaries of the Divina Commedia by Scartazzini, Casini, Torraca, Vernon, Longfellow, and Norton, and of the Vita Nuova by Witte and Scherillo, the following works: Boccaccio: Vita di Dante; Scartazzini: Dizionario Critico; E. Moore: Textual Criticism of the Divina Commedia and Studies in Dante; P. Toynbee: Dante Dictionary; Dante Alighieri; and Dante Studies and Researches; E. G. Gardner: Dante s Ten Heavens and Dante and the Mystics; P. H. Wick- steed: Dante and Aquinas; J. B. Fletcher: Dante; C. A. y iii THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Dinsmore: /4ic^s to the Study of Dante; R. T. Holbrook: Dante and the Animal Kingdom; Ruggero della Torre: // Poeta Veltro. Except for della Torre's identification of the dxv and the Veltro with Dante I know of nothing in the literature on Dante that relates to the interpretation of the symbolism of the Vita Nuova and the Divina Commedia which I have expressed in the present volume. I agree with della Torre in identifying the dxv and the Veltro with Dante; but my reasons for making the identification have little, if anything, to do with the reasons of della Torre, and I first learnt of his work when I was nearing the completion of my own. My agreement with della Torre is limited to the single detail of this identification. My identification of Beatrice with Bella, the mother of Dante, has not, so far as I know, been made before. Several commentators, such as Scherillo and Fletcher, have alluded— to quote the words of Fletcher — to "Beatrice's instinctive motherliness", in the sense that "every true maid is some- thing of a mother to the man she loves"; and Scherillo has further surmised that Dante may have transferred to his characterization of Beatrice certain qualities which he re- membered in his own mother. A similar idea, but from a point of view that is strictly limited to the Freudian, is developed by Alice Sperber in a study oi Dante's Unconscious Mental Life^ a study which I have not seen, but which, as I gather from the abstract in the Psychoanalytic Review^ April, 1920, is "not concerned with the historical identity of Bea- trice or the actual facts of her life." The view that Dante, by a process of idealization, may have transferred certain qualities which he remembered in his mother to his characterization of someone else, to a Beatrice who may or may not be identified with Beatrice Portinari, is not to be confused with the view, expressed in the following pages, that Beatrice and Bella, the mother of Dante, are, by Dante's conscious intention, identical. I have found that the Dante literature with which I am acquainted is less helpful for the interpretation of the PREFACE ix Divina Commedia than certain studies in religion, myth, and dream. I may refer to J. G. Frazer: The Golden Bough and Folk-Lore in the Old Testament; J. E. Harrison: Themis; Y. Hirn: The Sacred Shrine; E. B. Tylor: Primitive Cul- ture; H. O. Taylor: The Mediaeval Mind; J. Hastings: Encyclopcedia of Religion and Ethics; S. Freud: The Inter- pretation of Dreams; C. G. Jung: Psychology of the Uncon- cious; F. Ricklin: Wish Fulfillment and Symbolism in Fairy Tales; O. Rank: The Myth of the Birth of the Hero; K. Abra- ham: Dreams and Myths; Hans Schmidt: Jona; E. de Faye: Introduction a I etude du Gnosticisme; W. K. Fleming: Mysticism in Christianity; Evelyn Underhill: Mysticism; .'A. E. Waite: The Secret Doctrine of Israel; W. B. Smith: Ecce Deus; and I. Myer: The ^abbalah. For secretarial assistance in the collection of my material I am indebted to Miss Florence M. Poast. To Mr. John Covert I owe the suggestion of the possible cryptographic use of capital letters and especially the discovery of the signa- ture in di necessita (p. 55). For assistance in editing my material I am indebted to Mr. John Macy, and I am further indebted to Mr. Macy for several valuable suggestions in deciphering. To the memory of Dr. E. E. Southard I acknowledge my deepest debt. His ideas as to the oversimplifications of the Freudian psychology, and especially as to the pessimism inherent in the deterministic view of conduct which it ex- presses, helped to orient me in a wood where I was once in danger of losing my way. It was in the light of these ideas that I formed my belief that sex symbolism is not to be inter- preted as symbolizing sex. The sex symbolism of the Divina Commedia^ for example, is, in the last analysis, a representa- tion of the mental processes^ in which the mind is conceived as a trinity of will, intellect, and emotion, and which is repre- sented accordingly as a family, as in the Trinity of the Chris- tian Godhead, of father, son and mother. The mutual rela- tions of the three members of the family in a drama involving incest, death, and rebirth are to be understood as a repre- sentation of the individual mind in conflict or in harmony X THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE with itself. This interpretation of the sex symbolism not only of the Divina Commedia and of Christian theology but also of myths and dreams in general I will develop, together with a new definition of symbolism, in a volume now in preparation: The Symbolism oj the Divina Commedia. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I The General Evidence .... 3 II Acrostics 23 III Signatures 55 IV Dxv 115 V The Universal Form 129 VI Symbolic Guises 167 VII The Seal 223 VIII Beatrice 3^3 IX Problematic Aspects 395 List of Cryptograms .... 467 Index 4^7 Chapter I THE GENERAL EVIDENCE Chapter I THE GENERAL EVIDENCE THE Divina Commedia contains a large number of crypto- grams which have never, so far as I know, been noticed. These cryptograms have a double value. First, they reveal a hitherto unsuspected phase of Dante's literary method. And second — and this is the more important — they reveal a hitherto unsuspected symbolism. As an allegory, the Divina Commedia has a hidden as well as a manifest meaning; and the cryptograms are the hidden proof of what the hidden meaning is. They prove, indeed, as fundamental in the Divina Commedia, the symbolism of an anthropomorphic universe, in which Beatrice is to be identified with Bella, the mother of Dante, conceived as an incarnation of the divine, or universal, mother, and in which the dxv and the Veltro are to be identified with Dante, conceived as an incarnation of the divine, or universal, son. A cryptogram, or hidden writing, is a deliberate arrange- ment of words, letters, numbers, or other signs, which is intended to conceal as well as to express a meaning. The meaning of a cryptogram is concealed by a variety of devices, such as, first, by giving the signs employed a different mean- ing from the meaning which they usually possess; and, second, by arranging these signs in an order which is different from the conventional order of the language in which they are written. A common synonym for "crypto- gram" is "cipher," and the use of this word is significant, as in various kinds of cabalas, of the substitution of letters by numbers. The word is also significant of the numerical schemes on which the arrangement of letters in some crypto- [3] 4 THE CR VP 1 OC; R A PH Y OF DANTE grams is based. Cryptograms are of many kinds. Among the cryptograms which I have discovered in the Divina Commedia a re acrostics, telestics, interior sequences, anagrams, irreg ular letter clusters, string ciphers, and cabaHstic spelling devic es. I am far from assuming that the cryptograms which I have discovered are all that Dante made. They are so widely scattered and so varied in form that I am convinced that I have missed many. Nor do I assume that all the cryptograms which I am here presenting are authentic. A decipherer is necessarily to some extent at the mercy of the very ing enuity which the act of deciphering requires. For in stance, he may discover as actually existing in the text an unusual col- location of letters which may be interpreted as a cryptogram; and he may then assume that this collocation was intended by the author to be so interpreted, when, as a matter of fact, it was purely accidental. Or if, on the other hand, the coUo- rafion of letters was actually intended as a cryptogram by the author, the decipherer may lack the ingenuity to read it co rrectly,, as when, for instance, the letters in question are capable of being rearranged in two ways^ one intended by the author and one accidental. In such a case of variant read- ings the decipherer may make a wrong choice. The essential in deciphering, therefore, is to remember that it is by the author's intention, and by the author's intention alone, that a cryptogram can be said to exist. The author's intention may, of course, not be easy to prove. But there are certain means by which the author's intention may be indicated. These means may be enumerated as follows: ^rst, hin ts in the text that something is being concealed ; second , a correspondence between the meaning of the crypto - gram and the meaning of the text; third, the appearance of cryptograms in salient an d symmefriral pnsit-innsj siirh as the beginnings and the ends of the various parts, cha pters, cantos, or ^ther units of text; fourth, a repetition of cryp tic readings identical or similar in meaning; and fifth, a repeti- tion, in various cryptograms, of an identical cryptographic "frame, " or structure. In a series of cryptograms in connection with which it is THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 5 possible to point, first, to hints in the text, second, to corre- spondence between the meaning of the cryptograms and the meaning of the text, third, to the appearance of cryptograms in sahent and symmetrical positions, fourth, to the repetition of identical or similar cryptographic readings, and, fifth, to the repetition of a cryptographic structure, the probability that the cryptograms were intended by the author is greater than thar thpy were nnf inf-prirlprl Acknowledging as I do the possibility of error in deciphering the cryptograms which I shall present, I am nevertheless confident that they show, as a series, unmistakable indications of intention, or design. The announcement that the Divina Commedia is teeming with cryptograms is likely, I am aware, to be met with incredulity. For there is a common prejudice that crypto- grams are too trivial a form of composition to have been employed by authors of works of literary importance. Some justification for this prejudice may be found in the fact that cryptograms have been "discovered" where they do not really exist. Many of the so-called discoveries in the Shake- speare plays, as, for instance, Donnelly's Great Cryptogram^ are cases in point. They are not cryptograms at all^ but merely arbitrary readings foisted into the text by mistaken ingenuity. Un fortunately, however, the contempt which such false readings have merited has not been confined to them alone, with the result that the whole subject of cryptograph y is almost taboo to the academic student of lite rature. In recent years, however, a few investigators have done much to establish the importance of the subject as an aspect of literary art. A glance at the history of cryptography should dispel at once any prejudice against the possible existence of crypto- grams in works of literature. The subject has received so little attention in the last century or two that the extent to which cryptograms have been used in the past and the variety of their forms are no longer generally known. The common opinion at present, indeed, is simply that crypto- graphy is a subject of importance only for such practical purposes as military, diplomatic, and commercial codes, and 6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE that it has no literary value whatever. This opinion is con- trary to the easily available evidence of centuries of literary use of cryptograms in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and English. It is not within the scope of the present volume, however, to survey the history of cryptography. I will confine myself, for the historical background of my research, to the briefest reference to a few established facts. Let me first quote from the article on "Akrostichis" by E. Graf in Pauly: Real- Encyclopcddie der Classischen Altertumswissenschajt . "Den alteren sibyllinischen Oraklen war die A. durchgehends eigen and zwar so, dass die A. sich mit dem ersten Vers des Orakels deckte, Cic. de div. II, 122 . . . bei langeren Oraklen fuhr die A. in zweiten Vers fort, doch so, class dessen Anfang nicht mit einem Sinn- abschnitt des Orakels zusammenfiel. Zweck der A. war, die Sammlung vor Interpolationen und Verkiir- zungen zu schiitzen ... In unserer Sammlung der sibyllinischen Orakel ist die einzige A. viii, 217-50: iTjffoDs XptcTTOs Gtoi; vib% ao}Tr]p aravpos, welche selbst wiederum die A. TX9T2 enthalt . . . Augustin de civ. d. xviii, 23 iibersetzt sie ins Lateinische mit griechischer A.: Jesucs Creistos Tend Uios Soter Staurus . . . Bei den Romern finden wir zuerst die A. ^Q. Ennius fecit' in quibusdam Ennianis Cic. de div. ii, 112; . . . Der Grammatiker Opillius gab seinen Namen als A. seines Pinax (Suet, de gramm. 6), Silius Italicus wahrte seine Autorschaft am Homerus latinus durch die zwei A. Italicus — scripsxt am Anfang und Ende des Gedichtes . . . Die akrostischen Argu- mente zu alien plautinische Stiicken ausser den Bacchides werden von Ritschl op. ii, 404 und Opitz Lpz. Stud, vi 234.275 in die Antoninenzeit, von SeyfFert Philol xvi, 4^8 u. Jahresber. xlvii, 22 ca. 100 Jahre nach Plautus Tod angesetzt. Commodians Instuctiones bestehen aus 80 Gedichten mit akrostichischer Inhaltsangabe, zum Teil verbunden mit Telestichis. Die A. des letzten Stiickes ergiebt, von unten lesen, Commodianus men- dicus Christi . . . Aldhelmus leitet sein Gedicht de laudxbus virginum . . . mit einer Praefatio ein, die den ersten Hexameter als A. vorwarts und als Tele- stichis riickwarts gelesen enthalt; seine Ratselsammlung THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 7 . . . mit einem Prolog, dessen A. und Telestichis in gleicher RIchtung den Vers Aldhelmus cecemt millenis versibus odas ergiebt." Cryptography has been associated from ancient times with serious religious works. There are cryptograms in the Bible, notably the abecedarian acrostics, in which the initial letters of lines or sections are the successive letters of the alphabet. The article on "Acrostic" in Hastings: Encyclo- paedia of Religion and Ethics gives fourteen examples in Psalms, Proverbs^ Lamentations , and Nahum. One of the most interesting is Psalm cxix, the structure of which is partly visible and partly lost in the English Bible, where we see the division of the psalm into twenty-two sections, each under a letter of the Hebrew alphabet and each consisting of eight verses. In the original each of the eight verses of each division begins with the same letter, eight with aleph, eight with beth, and so on. This alphabeticism is not meaningless : it is used, first, as an aid to memorising, an dj sprnnHj as a symbol of completeness, "as in Proverbs xxxi. 10-31, where the praises of virtuous woman exhaust the alphabet." And an abecedarian psalm in praise of God, beginning, as it does, with the first letter of the alphabet and ending with the last, is in effect a way of signing God's name as Alpha and Omega: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord." Acrostics are found in other religious works, Jewish and Christian. According to the article on the abecedarian psalms and hymns in Pauly's Real-Ency clopaedie : "Das beriihmteste Exemplar aus der christlichen Litteratur ist Augustins Psalmus contra partem Donati, gedichtet 393 . . . den er nach Retract 1,20 fiir die ganz Ungebildeten verfasst hat zum Auswendiglernen." The Bible contains many examples of cabala, one of which, "the number of the beast" in Revelation, will prove of par- ticular interest to us later. The interpretation of the Scrip- tures by cryptographic methods, especially cabalistic, con- tinued through early and medieval Hebrew and Christian literature. As we shall see in Chapter IV, some knowledge of 8 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE this cabalistic literature is essential to a correct in terpre- tation of the Divina Commedia. A few examples of the literary use of cryptograms in the Renaissance and post-Renaissance will suffice. Boccaccio's Amorosa Visione is a remarkable acrostic poem which we shall have occasion later to discuss at length. Francois Villon wrote his name down the initials of the third stanza of his ballade, A S' Amye^ and he made other acrostic signatures. A cryptographic signature that was " lost " until later discovered is contained in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili^ published anonymously in Venice in 1499. The initial letters of the chapters of the book spell the sentence (in Latin): "Brother Francesco Colonna loved Polia." The poetry of Elizabethan England is full of instances of acrostics and other devices which range from mere clever tricks in light verse to the serious religious poem of George Herbert: "Our Life is Hid With Christ In God." The poem is as follows: My words and thoughts do both express this notion, That Life hath with the sun a double motion. The first Is straight, and our diurnall friend; The other Hid, and doth obliquely bend. One life is wrapt In flesh, and tends to earth: The other winds towards Him, whose happy birth Taught me to live here so That still one eye Should aim and shoot at that which Is on high; Quitting with daily labour all My pleasure. To gain at harvest an eternal Treasure. The cryptogram in this poem is; a ^n r ailed interior sequence. The words to be read in sequence are indicated by being printed in italic: my life is hid in him that is my treasure; these words paraphrase the sentence from the Bible used in the title. The meaning of Herbert's cryptogram is important for us; for just as "My life is hid in Him," so the cryptogram is hidden in the text. Herbert, as one of the "metaphysical" poets, was concerned with mystical mean- ings, and no reader who knows his spirit can doubt the reverence or the symbolic use of this verbal play. THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 9 A common form of cryptogram in literature is the anagram, and a common form of anagram is a pseudonym made by a rearrangement of the letters of the real name. A great man whose name was Arouet le jeune is said to have arranged the letters of his name and the initials of the words le jeune into the name by which the world knows him: voltaire. Notice that in this anagram the u is considered as v, and j as I. Francois Rabelais made of his name the anagram alco- FRiBAS NASiER, under which pseudonym he published some of his works. The reasons for the use of cryptograms are not, I be- lieve, sufficiently appreciated. A signature or dedication or any other expression that an author sees fit to attach to his work by the devices of cryptography is apt to be regarded, if it is acknowledged to be there at all, as an example of misspent ingenuity, a bit of literary decoration of a trivial character. Such an opinion ignores the profoundly serious motives which underlay the use of cryptograms in the past. Among the motives for the literary use of cryptograms may be mentioned, first, the motive of prudence. A hidden signature or dedication may be prudential in case the public announcement of authorship or dedication would be dangerous. Such a case exists in the Hypnerotomachia, mentioned above, in which the author, a monk, acknowledges his passion for a woman. Or it may be prudent to hide the meaning of a work when the meaning is an attack on some form of authority, political or religious. A case in point is the cabalistic "number of the beast" in Revelation^ which, as is now generally thought, is a Christian reference to the hostile Emperor Nero. A second motive may be found in the desire of an author to secure the authorship of his work to himself. Crypto- graphic signatures were customary for the simple reason that before the invention of printing, and even after, they were the only sure method of attaching a name to a literary work in such a way that it could not be removed or changed. Title pages may be displaced or falsified, but a structural signature in a literary work remains as long as the work itself. A crypto- lo THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE graphic signature thus prevents literary theft or the attri- bution of a work to someone not the author. At the same time it enables the author, while he establishes his proprietorship, to avoid the immodesty of proclaiming himself overtly. This idea derives from a convention, which existed not only in Dante's time but before and after, of literary anonymity. In conformity with such a convention, a hidden signature was often the only means of establishing authorship. A third motive for the use of cryptograms in a work of literature is to derive the form of the work from the idea which it expresses. In any work of art, indeed, the idea is expressed by some sort of correspondence between that idea and a physical form. In the Divina Commedia^ for instance, the division of the poem into three parts and the use of a three-line stanza express the idea of the Trinity which dominates the life of the author-hero and the form of the universe in which he lives. Many other literary, and especially metrical, forms which are now accepted as matters of tradition or convention must in the first place have been invented to express similar correspondences. In an analogous way, the presence of a cryptogram in a work of literature makes the form of that work derive from the idea of the cryptogram, or at least from the word or words of which the cryptogram is composed. In an acrostic poem, for example, which gives as its acrostic spelling the name of the lady to whom it is dedicated, the form, since it follows, line by line, the letters of the lady's name, may be said to be derived from the name, and so, most appropriately, from the lady herself. For the mystic or the symbolist of the past a word had a closer relation with the thing which it names than that of a mere arbitrary association. It was regarded, indeed, as in some mysterious way derived from the very nature of the thing itself. Dante expresses this idea in Fita Nuova, xiii: / nomi seguitino le nominate cose, siccome e scritto: Nomina sunt consequentia rerum. An example of this conception appears, indeed, in the fancy, to which Dante himself alludes, that the form of the Italian word omo^ " man," is written in the human face, the two o's represented by the eyes, and the m repre- THE GENERAL EVIDENCE ii sented by the line of the nose and the outlines of the cheeks. A literary form that is derived from a cryptogram may be said, therefore, according to this conception, to be derived quite literally from the idea which the cryptogram expresses. Moreover, in a sense that is neither mystical nor symbolical, the form of a composition containing a cryptogram is based necessarily, as is apparent in any acrostic poem, on its cryptogram. It is a form based on an arrangement of letters arbitrarily chosen by the author, and, as such, is just as valid and interesting as a form based on an arbitrary arrangement of sounds, as in rhymes. Many cryptograms, and especially acrostics expressing ideas analogous to the idea of the text, were adopted by the author, I believe, simply as aids and novel conditions of composition. The difficulties of making a text with a cryptogram, over-rated as these difficulties usually are, assist the author to complicate his structure and so to create a higher beauty by virtue of the very neces- sity of creating a higher unity. The fourth motive for the literary use of cryptograms is at once the profoundest and the most ignored. It is the same motive, indeed, which leads to the production of allegory; the desire, that is, to express and solve, if solving be possible, the problem of appearance and reality. Allegory is a genre that has fallen into disfavor. It is apt to be underrated as a mere device for the exercise of powers of paraphrase. In saying one thing and meaning another, it seems, to the modern temper at least, to be playing with pointless duplici- ties. But the raison d'etre both of allegory and of crypto- graphic literature is simply that their duplicities are a literal expression, a parallel, of the duplicities of the world in which we live; they are intended, in their deepest aspects, to express the difference between what things are and what things seem. Things are not what they seem, and life is a game of hide-and- seek in which we try to find out what things are. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. " — Prov. xxv.2. In ancient and medieval symbolism, as well as in the modern theory of symbolism, the world of appearance is conceived as concealing the 12 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE fundamental reality; and hidden writings in symbolical or allegorical literature, as well as the hidden meaning in allegories, are intended to parallel in the texts which con- ceal them the reality which is concealed in natural phenomena, the reality which is concealed in appearance. The examples cited of cryptographic literature, both ancient and medieval, and the consideration of the motives which produced it should be sufficient, I think, to allay any a priori prejudice against the likelihood of finding crypto- grams in the Divina Commedia. And, indeed, the existence of at least one cryptogram in the Divina Commedia is generally recognized. I refer to what Dante himself calls the enigma forte^ the strangely worded prophecy of Beatrice in the thirty-third canto of Purgalorio, in which she alludes to a com- ing saviour as " a five hundred, ten, and five." It is supposed that these words are the cryptic designation of a particular person. The identity of this person has never, however, been satisfactorily established; it remains, in fact, one of the central mysteries of the poem. But the attempts to identify this person have commonly been based on some variation of the cryptographic device of substituting numbers for letters. In addition to the cryptogram in the reference of Beatrice to un cinquecento diece e cinque, there is just one other passage in the Divina Commedia in which, as far as I am aware, the presence of a cryptogram has been recognized. I refer to Purg. xii. 25-63, which reads as follows: Vedea colui che fu nobil create 25 Piu ch' altra creatura, giu da! cielo Folgoreggiando scender da un lato. Vedea Briareo, fitto dal telo 28 Celestial, giacer dall' altra parte, Grave alia terra per lo mortal gelo. Vedea Timbreo, vedea Pallade e Marte, 31 Armati ancora, intorno al padre loro, Mirar le membra de' Giganti sparte. Vedea Nembrot appi^ del gran lavoro, 34 Quasi smarrito, e riguardar le genti Che in Sennaar con lui superbi foro. THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 13 O Niobe, con che occhi dolenti 37 Vedeva io te segnata in sulla strada Tra sette e sette tuoi figliuoli spenti! O Saul, come in sulla propria spada 40 Quivi parevi morto in Gelboe, Che poi non senti pioggia ne rugiada! O folle Aragne, si vedea io te 43 Gia mezza aragna, trista in su gli stracci Deir opera che mal per te si fe'. O Roboam, gia non par che minacci 46 Quivi il tuo segno; ma pien di spavento Nel porta un carro prima che altri il cacci. Mostrava ancor Io duro pavimento 49 Come Almeon a sua madre fe' caro Parer Io sventurato adornamento. Mostrava come i figli si gittaro 52 Sopra Sennacherib dentro dal tempio, E come, morto lui, quivi il lasciaro. Mostrava la ruina e il crudo scempio 55 Che fe' Tamiri, quando disse a Ciro: 'Sangue sitisti, ed io di sangue t'empio.' Mostrava come in rotta si fuggiro 58 Gli Assiri, poi che fu morto Oloferne, Ed anche le reliquie del martiro. Vedea Troia in cenere e in caverne: 61 O Ilion, come te basso e vile Mostrava il segno che li si discerne!* This passage shows a strikingly symmetrical arrangement of the first letters of the first lines of twelve terzine and of all the lines of the thirteenth terzina. Each of the first four terzine begins with the letter v, each of the second four with the letter o, and each of the third four with the letter m; and each of the three lines of the last terzina begins respec- tively with the same letters in the same order: v, o, m. It is possible, but not at all probable, that this symmetrical arrangement of initials is accidental. The probability, indeed, is that the arrangement was intended by Dante as a means of calling attention to some special significance of the letters so consistently reiterated. The probability of the intention of the arrangement has not escaped the notice of Dante *In the present study I have followed the text of Moore. In the several instances where I have adopted a variant reading I have cited my authority. 14 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE scholars, who, remembering that in medieval usage v and u are the same letter, have read the letters as an acrostic for UOM, or "man." The symmetrical arrangement of the letters is not, how- ever, the only proof that the acrostic uom is intentional. The passage is both preceded and followed by words which are capable of being understood as hints that something is hidden in the passage. Preceding the passage, in line 23, are the words: secondo r artificiofigurato. These words may easily be taken as hinting that something is "figured" by the "artifice" of the symmetrical arrangement. And following the passage are the words, lines 64-66: Qua! di pennel fu maestro o di stile, Che ritraesse V ombre e i tratti, ch' ivi Mirar farieno ogn' ingegno sottile ? Here again there is the possibility of a hinting double mean- ing in the reference to the strokes which would make every subtle wit wonder. In addition to the symmetry of the arrangement of special letters and the hints of a hidden meaning there is further con- firmation of the intention of the acrostic in the correspon- dence between the meaning of the acrostic and the meaning of the text. The acrostic vom, repeating in generic form as it does the expression, WnQji, fjg/iuo/i d' Eva, corresponds to the meaning of the passage throughout, which is simply man in his fallen estate. The confirmations of intention which I have here applied to the acrostic vom have already been discussed in their general aspects, and they are the same that I shall apply to the cryptographic readings to be presented later. Although the cinquecento diece e cinque and the acrostic VOM are the only cryptograms in the Divina Commedia which, so far as I know, have been recognized, there are many pas- sages and expressions in the poem which suggest very strongly the possibility of a cryptographic intention. In Par. xix. 115-141, the nine terzine show a symmetrical arrangement of the initial letters of the terzine which is strikingly similar to the arrangement of the passage in which the acrostic vom is found. Each of the first three terzine THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 15 begins with the letter l, each of the second three with the letter v, and each of the third three with the letter e. I know of no reference in the commentaries on Dante to this passage as containing a cryptogram. Yet the similarity of the arrange- ment to that of the passage in which the acrostic vom is found makes it seem likely that a cryptogram is intended. Another instance of a symmetry so unusual as to suggest a cryptic intention is Par. xx. 40-72, in which the first terzina and every second terzina thereafter begins with the same words: Or^ conosce. Still another instance is Par. xv. loo-i 11, in which each of the four terzine begins with the same word: Non. And another instance is Purg. vi. 106-117, where each of the four terzine begins with Vten. There may also be found in the Divina Commedia a number of instances of a cryptic use of separate letters. In Par. xviii. 77-78, the lights which are the visible forms of the spirits faciensi Or D, or I, or l, in sue figure. These three letters, which are later discovered to be the beginning of a complete sentence, are presented at first apart from their context, exactly as if they had some hidden significance of their own. That they have indeed some hidden significance appears from the curious invocation in regard to them — and in regard to them alone, since the remaining letters of the sentence have not yet been mentioned — which Dante addresses to Pegasus. In this invocation, after making a reference to "wits," Dante proceeds. Par. xviii. 85-86: lUustrami di te, si ch' io rilevi Le lor figure com' io I'ho concette. This surely has a suspicious sound. And even after the in- vocation is finished Dante does not proceed to give the re- maining letters of the mystic sentence until he has said, as if the exact number of them also had a hidden significance, that the lights then showed themselves in cinque volte sette Vocali e consonanti. —Par. xviii. 88-89. i6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Nor does Dante's preoccupation with the separate letters in this passage end here, for after he has given the sentence spelt by the lights of the spirits: Diligite justitiam qui judicatis terram, he describes a series of transformations of the letter m with which the sentence ends. This letter is transformed first into the shape of a lily and then into the shape of an eagle. The association of these shapes with the letter m is a mystery that has never been adequately explained. The spirits within the lights which group themselves in such a way as to form the cryptic letters are likened by Dante, line 73, to birds. The idea of letters formed by birds goes back to the classic tradition of letter-making cranes, which was associated with the Roman custom of reading auguries in the flights of birds. This is a sort of cryptography in nature, which the augur deciphers. References to this tradition will be found in R. T. Holbrook's Dante and the Animal Kingdom. In Par. xix. 1 27-1 29, there is a play on the letters i and m : Vedrassi al Ciotto di Jerusalemme Segnata con un i la sua bontate, Quando il contrario segnera un emme. The I and the m in this passage are usually, and imperfectly, I believe, interpreted by the commentators in terms of their meaning in the Roman notation of numbers: "one" and "a thousand." In Purg. xxiii. ^1-^3) there is an allusion to the idea that the word for "man," omo, is written on the human face: the two o's, as I have already explained, represent the two eyes, and the letter m represents the nose and the outlines of the cheeks. The complete form of the word, and so of the face, appears, indeed, in the single letter m, when the m is so shaped, as often in medieval manuscripts, that the central line of the letter may be taken as representing the nose, the two curved lines at each side as representing the out- lines of the cheeks, and the spaces circumscribed by these lines as representing the eyes. Still another instance of the cryptographic use of a separate THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 17 letter in the Divina Commedia appears in the references in Purgatorio to the seven p's cut by the angel in the forehead of Dante. The accepted explanation of Dante's use of these letters as the initials of the seven csLvdmal peccaii, inadequate as I believe it to be, is based on a recognition of their crypto- graphic character, as indicating a word by its initial. Another unexplained play on letters appears in Par. vii. Ma quella riverenza che s'indonna Di tutto me, pur per be e per ice, Mi richinava come I'uom ch' assonna. The reverence which is thus described as mistress of Dante even in the spelling of the diminutive form of Beatrice suggests the possibility that there is some cryptographic play on the difference between the complete form, Beatrice^ and the diminutive form, Bice. And there is another mystery about Beatrice which seems cryptographic. In Vita Nuova, xxx, she is said to be a "nine;" and throughout the Fiia Nuova the important dates of her life and death are made to conform to this number by what Moore calls a "curious juggling." What can this "curious juggling" signify? In Inferno are two passages of a character different from anything I have yet cited: the line: Pape Satan, pape Satan aleppe, — Inf. vii. I, and the line: Rafel mai amech izabi almi, — Inf. xxxi. 67. Does it not seem probable that these lines, which are usually considered as mere gibberish, have a cryptic meaning? Analogous to the cryptic use of letters and numbers is the use of actual objects and their pictorial and literary repre- sentations as symbols of esoteric meanings. The Divina Commedia is full of such symbols. I need mention only a few of them: the eagle, the cross, the ladder, the crown, and the mystic rose in Paradiso; the four animals mentioned in the beginning of Inferno^ the lonza, the lupa, the leone, and the i8 , THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Feltro; and in Purgatorio the chariot, the griffon, and the mystic tree. All these things are symbols of meanings more or less arbitrarily attached to them, exactly as other than the ordinary meanings are more or less arbitrarily attached to letters and numbers in the making of cryptograms. An author as prone as Dante to the use of a symbolism of objects would hardly have been averse to the use of the symbolism on which cryptography is based. In addition to the evidence already cited of the presence of cryptograms in the Divina Commedia are the numerous passages in which Dante refers to a meaning hidden behind a veil. This hidden meaning is usually supposed to be merely the allegorical meaning that is hidden behind the literal. It is not impossible to infer, however, that the reference is to a meaning hidden behind a veil of cryptographic devices, as in the following passage. Inf. ix. 61-63: O voi che avete gl' intelletti sani, Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde Sotto il velame degli versi strani. The word arte^ as in Purg. ix. 70-72, is frequently used by Dante in such a way as not to be inconsistent, to say the least, with a reference to the arts, or devices, of cryptography : Letter, tu vedi ben com' io innalzo La mia materia, e pero con piu arte Non ti maravigliar s' io la rincalzo. And in Dante's use of the word scrittura there seems to be a similar duplicity, as referring not only to the manifest text but also to some sort of writing that is concealed. An instance occurs in Par. xix. 82-84: Certo a colui die meco s'assottiglia, Se la scrittura sopra voi non fosse, Da dubitar sarebbe a maraviglia. And may not the following passage. Par. xix. 43-45, be taken as a suggestion of the excess of meaning which a cryptogram reveals over the manifest meaning of a text? The lines are: Non pote suo valor si fare impresso In tutto I'universo, che il suo verbo Non rimanesse in infinito eccesso. THE GENERAL EVIDENCE 19 The line, Par. xviii. 130: Ma tu, che sol per cancellare, scrivi, is perhaps an allusion to the cryptographic method of de- ciphering by cancellation of non-significant letters. The most interesting instance of Dante's double use of the word scrittura appears in the following passage, Par. xix. 130-135: Vedrassi I'avarizia e la viltate Di quel che guarda I'isola del foco, Dove Anchise fini la lunga etate; Ed a dare ad intender quanto e poco, La sua scrittura fien lettere mozze, Che noteranno molto in parvo loco. The last three lines of this passage have been extraor- dinarily mistranslated and misinterpreted. They are trans- lated by Norton as follows: "And, to give to understand how paltry he is, the writing for him shall be in abridged letters which shall note much in little space." And in his comment Norton says that the reference here is to Frederick of Arragon, as "too worthless to have his many misdeeds written out in full." However close this translation and this comment may or may not be to the mere surface meaning of the text as an historical allusion, they miss entirely the literal meaning of the words and their important impli- cations. Other translations are to the same effect. Lettere mozze is translated by Wicksteed in the Temple Classics as "stunted letters;" by Longfellow as "contracted letters;" by Butler as "abbreviations." La sua scrittura is variously translated as "his record" or "the writing against him." As a matter of fact, la sua scrittura means literally "his writing" or "his way of writing;" and lettere mozze means literally "letters cut off"— "cut ofl^," that is, from the words in which they appear in the text. The ordinary mistrans- lation and misinterpretation may correspond, indeed, in a loose way, to the veil which Dante himself wishes to throw over his real meaning; but the meaning itself, in at once its profoundest and its most literal aspect, is simply a reference 20 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE to a cryptographic way of writing in which the letters to be read are to be cut off, as in acrostics, for instance, from the context. It is for this reason that they "shall signify much in little space," inasmuch as a cryptogram is restricted to a small part of the space occupied by the passage in which it is hidden. In Par. xxxiii. 121, in a passage that is full of im- plications of cryptic intention, there seems to be a similar allusion to the brevity of cryptographic expression: O quanto e corto 11 dire, e come fioco Al mio concetto! Similarly, also, in the invocation to Pegasus to which 1 have already referred in connection with the cryptic letters: dil, the reference to questi versi brevi is again, I believe, to the inherent brevity of cryptograms. The evidence which I have given in the foregoing pages points unmistakably to the use of cryptograms in the Divina Commedia. But after six centuries of Dante scholarship we are still left to wonder where and what the cryptograms can be. Chapter II ACROSTICS Chapter II ACROSTICS THE cryptograms to be shown in the present chapter are acrostics. These acrostics are of two kinds, acrostics as acrostics are commonly defined and acrostics which I desig- nate as anagrammatic acrostics. The anagrammatic acrostic form is not, so far as I know, defined in the histories of cryptography; it is possibly, therefore, especially in certain extensions of the form which I will show in Chapter IX, an invention of Dante's. In the present chapter I will illustrate with a number of examples the differences between the common acrostic form and the anagrammatic acrostic form; and in Chapter IX I will discuss the two forms in detail. The first acrostics that I will show are to be considered as forming a group by themselves, in that they occur at the beginning and the end of each of the three main divisions of the Divina Cominedia: Inferno^ Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The fact that these acrostics occur in the initial and the terminal positions of the three main divisions of the poem, and that they are all, as I shall show, idendcal in structure, is a confirmation of their intentional character. The identical structure of the acrostics of this group appears in the fact that they are all to be read on the initial, or the initial and contiguous, letters of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth lines from the beginning or the end of a canto. I call this structure, to which all the acrostics of the group conform, a ten-line frame. These acrostics can further be confirmed as intentional by the correspondence which they show to the meaning or the text and by expressions in the text which are capable of being [23] 24 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE understood as having a double meaning hinting at the presence of cryptograms. The first of this group of acrostics appears on the initials of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth lines of Inf. i. These lines are the first lines of the first four terzine of the canto. The passage reads as follows: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, Che la diritta via era smarrita. Ahi quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura 4 Questa selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte, Che nel pensier rinnuova la paura! Tanto e amara, che poco e piu morte: 7 Ma per trattar del ben ch' i' vi trovai, Diro deir altre cose ch' io v' ho scorte. r non so ben ridir com' io v' entrai; 10 Tant' era pien di sonno in su quel punto, Che la verace via abbandonai. The initials of the first lines of the four terzine are: I N 4 A 7 'T 10 I Read down on these initials the acrostic: nati Nati is not the only acrostic to be found in the passage. Consider the following marginal letters of the first four lines of the canto: 1 NE 2 MI 3 C 4 A Read down on these letters the acrostic: nemica These two acrostics entail a departure from the text of Moore, who reads the first word of the fourth line: Rh. I have adopted, instead, the reading of Torraca and others: Ahi. A reference to Moore's Textual Criticism of the Divina ACROSTICS 25 Commedia will show that there is good manuscript authority for a reading which begins the line with the letter a. It should be remembered that we have no manuscript in Dante's own hand or any that he could have revised. So that it may well be that cryptograms which he wrote into his work have been mutilated or obliterated by scribes and scholars. Variations from his wording or spelling might disfigure a cryptogram, and in the absence of the evidence of his own hand, it is fair to adopt any spelling for which there is good manuscript authority. Of the two acrostics, nati and nemica, nati, as being read on the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth lines from the begin- ning of the canto, is identical in structure with the acrostics which I shall show at the end oi Inferno, at the beginning and the end of Purgatorio, and at the beginning and the end of Paradiso. The acrostic nemica is subsidiary to nati, the acrostic on the ten-line frame. Subsidiary acrostics will appear with all the ten-line acrostics of the group. The acrostic nati is an acrostic according to the commonly accepted definition, since it is read consecutively on the initials of definite units of the text, the units being here consecutive terzine. The acrostic nemica conforms to the same definition in that it is to be read consecutively on definite units of the text, consecutive lines. It departs, how- ever, from the commonly accepted definition in that it is to be read, not on initials, but on initials and contiguous letters. I will discuss the meaning of these acrostics and of the other acrostics of the group after I have shown them all. The second of the acrostics at the beginnings and the ends of the three main divisions of the Divina Commedia is to be read on the initial and contiguous letters of the last line of Inferno and of the fourth, seventh, and tenth lines from the last. These Hnes are the last line of the canto and the first lines of the three preceding terzine. The passage reads as follows : D' un ruscelletto che quivi discende 130 Per la buca d' un sasso, ch' egli ha roso Col corso ch' egli avvolge, e poco pende. 26 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Lo Duca ed io per quel cammino ascoso 133 Entrammo a ritornar nel chiaro mondo: E senza cura aver d' alcun riposo Salimmo suso, ei primo ed io secondo, 136 Tanto ch' io vidi delle cose belle Che porta il ciel, per un pertugio tondo, E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle. 139 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line and of the fourth, seventh, and tenth line from the last: 130 D 133 LO 136 s 139 E Read: sol: d . . . e The punctuation of this acrostic, and, indeed, any punc- tuation in the cryptograms which I shall show, is inserted arbitrarily, as a means of indicating an interpretation of the cryptographic words. D and e are the first and last letters of dante, and, as I shall show later, they are constantly used in the Divina Commedia as a signature. The device of indicating a proper name by its initial and final letters survives in modern usage. The acrostic: sol: d . . . e, like the acrostic nati, is con- structed on the ten-line frame. It differs, however, from the acrostic nati and also from the acrostic nemica in the fact that the letters which compose it are read not in the order in which they appear on the consecutive lines, but in a re- arranged order, like the letters of an anagram. 1 have called this form of acrostic, therefore, which requires an anagram- matic rearrangement of the acrostic letters, an anagrammatic acrostic. The subsidiary acrostic which appears with this acrostic: sol: d ... e, is to be read on the following initial and contiguous letters of the last six lines of the canto: ACROSTICS 27 134 E 135 E 136 S 137 TA 138 C 139 E QUIND Read: dante esce qui This acrostic, like the preceding, is an anagrammatic acrostic. Note that the letters for this reading are all either initials or contiguousletters;within the limits which they make of themselves not a single superfluous letter is contained. The first four terzine of Purgatorioy in which I will show another acrostic on the ten-line frame, read as follows: Per correr miglior acqua alza le vele Omai la navicella del mio ingegno, Che lascia retro a se mar si crudele. E cantero di quel secondo regno, 4 Dove r umano spirito si purga, E di salire al ciel diventa degno. Ma qui la morta poesi risurga, 7 O sante Muse, poiche vostro sono, E qui Calliope alquanto surga, Seguitando il mio canto con quel suono 10 Di cui le Piche misere sentiro Lo colpo tal, che disperar perdono. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine, lines i, 4, 7, and 10: I PER 4 E 7 MA 10 s Read: peremas Peremas, "Do thou remove," is the second person, singu- lar, present subjunctive of the Latin peremo. Another acrostic may be read on the same lines; it appears on the initials of these lines: 28 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE I p 4 E 7 M lO s Read: spem The concurrence of the two acrostics, peremas and spem, on the same lines is not accidental. For the remarkable asso- ciations which Dante establishes between the two words, PEREMAS and spem, see Chapter VII. Subsidiary to the acrostics on the ten-line frame, peremas and spem, is an acrostic on the first six lines of the canto. Consider on these lines the following initial and contiguous letters. 1 PE 2 DMA 3 c 4 E CANT 5 DO 6 E Read: poema. ecco dante In this anagrammatic acrostic the word poema appears very plainly in the first two lines as a cluster of letters. Such a cluster of significant letters, all of which are contiguous, is a common form of cryptogram at the beginnings and the ends of poems and in other salient positions. I regard such crypto- graphic clusters of contiguous letters, which are indeed identical in form with the anagrammatic acrostic, as the form from which the anagrammatic acrostic is derived. The last ten lines oi Purgatorio^ xxxiii. 136-145, in which I shall show an acrostic on the ten-line frame, read as follows: S' io avessi, letter, piu lungo spazio 136 Da scrivere, io pur canterei in parte Lo dolce her che mai non m' avria sazio; Ma perche piene son tutte le carte 139 Ordite a questa Cantica seconda, Non mi lascia piu ir lo fren dell' arte. ACROSTICS 29 lo ritornai dalla santissim' onda 142 Rifatto si, come piante novelle Rinnovellate di novella fronda, Puro e disposto a salire alle stelle. 145 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line and the fourth, seventh, and tenth from the last: 136 SI 139 MA 142 10 RI 145 P Read: pig rimasi Subsidiary to this acrostic on the ten-line frame is an acrostic on the last four lines. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters of these lines: 142 I 143 RI 144 RI 145 PU Read: puri rii The first four terzine of Paradiso^ i. 1-12, in which I shall show an acrostic on the ten-line frame, read as follows: La gloria di colui che tutto move Per r universo penetra, e risplende In una parte piu, e meno altrove. Nel ciel die piu della sua luce prende 4 Fu' io, e vidi cose che ridire Ne sa, ne puo chi di lassu discende; Perche, appressando se al suo disire, 7 Nostro intelletto si profonda tanto, Che retro la memoria non puo ire. Veramente quant' io del regno santo 10 Nella mia mente potei far tesoro, Sara ora materia del mio canto. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters of the first lines of these terzine, lines i, 4, 7, and 10: 30 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE I LA 4 NE 7 PE lO VE VELA PENE Read: Subsidiary to this acrostic on the ten-line frame is an acrostic on the first three Hnes of the canto. Consider on these lines the following initial and contiguous letters: 1 LA 2 PER 3 IN UNA Read: in una perla The last ten lines of Paradiso^ xxxiii. 136-I45, in which I shall show an acrostic on the ten-line frame, read as follows: Tale era io a quella vista nuova: 136 Veder voieva, come si convenne L' imago al cerchio, e come vi s' indova; Ma non eran da cio le propria penne, 139 Se non che la mia mente fu percossa Da un fulgore, in che sua voglia venne. Air alta fantasia qui manco possa; 142 Ma gia volgeva il mio disiro e il velle. Si come rota ch' egualmente e mossa, L' amor che move il sole e l' altre stelle. 145 Consider on the last line of the canto and the fourth, seventh, and tenth from the last, that is, the last line of the canto and the first lines of the three preceding terzine, the following initial and contiguous letters: 136 TA 139 MA 142 A 145 l' l'amata Read; Subsidiary to this acrostic on the ten-line frame is an ACROSTICS 31 acrostic on the following initial and contiguous letters of the last four lines of the canto: 142 A 143 MA 144 s 145 L Read: salma I have now shown acrostics on the ten-line frame, each with a subsidiary acrostic, at the beginning and at the end of each of the three main divisions of the Divina Commsdia: Inferno^ PurgatoriOy and Paradiso. Let us now examine the meaning of these acrostics in relation to the meaning of the poem. The examination will be necessarily brief and in- complete; it will merely suggest, in the present chapter, certain aspects of the symbolism of the Divina Commedia which will have to be developed in detail in the succeeding chapters. Turn first to the acrostics, nati and nemica, which appear at the beginning of Inferno. Nati is profoundly appropriate to the symbolism not only of the opening lines of the poem but also of the poem as a whole. The theme of the poem is mankind, the children who are born into the selva oscura, the moral obscurities of the life on earth. The lives of the nati are typified by the life of Dante him- self, who, as the hero of an autobiographical dream, portrays himself as the representative man on the journey from birth to death. But the life of Dante, as he portrays it in his poem, is not merely a typical life. It is also, hke the life of Christ, a model hfe. He proceeds on his journey from Hell to Heaven, from evil to good, from human to divine; he is morally regenerated. Regeneration is literally rebirth; and rebirth, or birth, in its physical aspects, has been universally used as a symbol of moral regeneration. An illustration from the Bible of moral regeneration expressed, or understood, in terms of physical birth, appears in the conversation between Nicodemus and Christ, John iii. 3-7: 32 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE "Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. "Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born ? "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. " Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again." The same idea of moral rebirth as symbolized by physical birth is expressed in the familiar passages: "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;" and "Suffer the little children to come unto me: and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." The idea of rebirth underlies the whole story of Christ himself, since he is first born — or reborn, if considered as previously existing in the Trinity — of the Virgin Mary, and is afterwards reborn — resurrected— from the grave to his divine life as God. The rebirth symbolism so literally expressed in the Gospels pervades the Divina Commedia to a degree, I believe, hitherto unsuspected; and it implies necessarily, for the man who is reborn, either a mother who bears him twice, or else the existence of two mothers, one the mother of his human life and one the mother of the divine life. The first is evil, since she delivers her child into the evil life of the flesh. The second is good, since she delivers her child into the divine life of the spirit. The symbolism of the dual mother, or of two mothers, is inherent in the symbolism of moral rebirth, and it is expressed in the Divina Commedia. The evil mother of Dante is she who has delivered him into the evil life in which he has lost himself at the beginning of the poem. The good mother of Dante is she who delivers him into the divine life in which he finds himself at the end of the poem; she is no other, in fact. ACROSTICS 33 than Beatrice, who deHvers Dante into the life of the spirit by virtue of his love for her and her love for him. Now there is a passage in the conversation between Christ and Nicodemus about rebirth which is of the highest im- portance for the interpretation of all myths and allegories of rebirth; it is the question of Nicodemus: "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" The idea of entering the mother's womb a second time as the means of rebirth is common to the mythologies and religions of many — I might even venture to say of all — peoples; and it is an idea which implies an act of incest, whether disguised or overt, since the only way of reentering the womb from which a man is born is by the act of sexual union. Sometimes, indeed, the incestuous element in myths and allegories of rebirth is disguised by the fact that the man to be reborn is represented as having, as I have already suggested, two mothers. But these two mothers must be understood, in the last analysis, as representing simply the two functions of motherhood which the one mother possesses: the function of conceiving the child, as from sexual union, and the function of delivering the child, as in child- birth. In myths and allegories of rebirth, therefore, in which there are two mothers, these two mothers refer to the one mother who first bore her child and then received him back into her womb, as by sexual union, in order that she might again give him life. Incest in myth and religion is a universal symbol of the means of rebirth; and it is necessary to recognize this symbolism in order to understand the meaning of the Divina Commedia. Throughout the present volume I will show that the Divina Commedia is based on a conscious and highly rationalized symbolism of incest as the means by which the rebirth of the hero Dante is accomplished. In connection with the symbolism thus suggested of the acrostic nati, it becomes evident that the acrostic nemica is the cryptographic expression, just as the selva oscura is the symboHc expression, of the evil mother, from whom the nati are born. Indeed, as a detail of the cryptographic form, the NEMICA, an acrostic on four lines, suggests the mother in the 34 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE sense that the nati, an acrostic on the ten-line frame, is formed in part of the very body of the nemica, the letters n, line I, and a, line 4, and also, in extending beyond the four- line frame of the nemica, grows out of it. Let us now consider the meaning of the two acrostics: sol: d . . . e and dante esce qui, which appear at the conclusion of Inferno. The acrostic: dakte esce qui, has an obvious correspondence to the text, which actually describes how Dante issues from Hell. The acrostic: sol: d . . . e, points to the association of Dante, as the hero of the poem, with the sun as his symbol. The sun symbolism of the Divina Commedia has never been sufficiently understood; in the course of the present volume I shall have occasion to develop it in detail, and I shall be able to confirm it with abundant cryptographic proof. I will confine myself at present, there- fore, to indicating that the sun, which has universally been used as the symbol of God and which constantly appears, in Christian symbolism, as the symbol of Christ, is consistently used throughout the Divina Commedia as the symbol of Dante. Dante's use of the sun as the symbol for himself is very ap- parent in the fact that his descent into Hell is synchronized with the descent of the sun, and that his ascent to Purgatory is synchronized with the rising sun. Other correspondences between Dante's journey and the course of the sun will be developed later; they prove that the theme of the poem might well be considered as a self-conscious variation of the sun myth. The two acrostics at the end of Inferno: dante esce qui and sol: d . . . e, confirm this idea, for the hour at which Dante issues from Hell is sunrise of Easter. Now the common feature of all sun myths, with which the theme of the Divina Commedia is thus suggested as analogous, is the idea of rebirth. The sun that in the evening sinks back in death into the mother earth from whom it was born in the morning is to be born again in the morning to follow. This idea of the rebirth of the sun from the mother who had given birth to it in the first place involves the idea of incest — an idea which, as I have already suggested, is fundamental in the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. ACROSTICS 35 The three acrostic readings which I show on the opening hnes of Purgatorio are: peremas and spem, on the ten-hne frame, and the subsidiary: poema: ecco dante. The peremas is the most remarkable single word that I have discovered among the cryptograms of the Divina Commedia^ and it appears very often. The use which Dante makes of this word is extremely complicated; for the detailed discussion of its meaning I shall have to refer the reader, therefore, to Chapter VII. For our present purposes it is sufficient to surmise that, as the Latin for "Do thou remove," peremas instructs the reader of the Divina Commedia to remove the veil that covers the secret meaning of the poem. The acrostic spem, which appears on the same lines which give peremas, has a meaning which is obviously related to the meaning of Purgatorio^ in which hope is the prevailing mood. Hope in Purgatory contrasts with despair in Hell, as appears, indeed, in the inscription written over the gate of Hell: Lasciate ogni speranza, voi, ch' entrate. The appropriateness of the acrostic: poema: ecco dante, to the text is self-evident, since it signs Purgatorio at its beginning with the author's name. Cryptographic signatures are common at the beginning or the end of a main division of a work. Notice that the acrostic poema is echoed in the text, Hne 7, in the word poesi. In the first hne of the passage note the word vele^ or "sails." This word suggests a pun on the word for "veil," vel^ the presence of which in the text oi t\iQ. Divina Commedia \s almost invariably associated with some cryptographic device. Another word which Dante constantly associates with his cryptograms is ingegno, a reference to wit or cunning, which appears in the present passage in hne 2. I ask the reader to bear in mind these associations until I confirm them by further examples. The acrostics which I have shown at the end of Purgatorio are: pig rimasi and puri rii. The puri rii correspond obviously to the two streams Eunoe and Lethe, both of which are discussed in the concluding cantos of Purgatorio and in both of which Dante is bathed. These streams, as I 36 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE shall develop later, are symbols of the two mothers, or of the dual mother, who constantly appears in myths of rebirth. I shall have to defer to a later chapter the discussion of Dante's bathing in these two mother images as symbolizing the physical relations of birth and sexual union. I shall likewise have to defer the discussion of the meaning of the acrostic: pig rimasi. Let it suffice for the present to suggest that Dante has "slept" with Beatrice, Purg. xxxii. The description of this sleep expresses in symbolism which has not, I believe, been recognized, the idea that the two lovers have repeated in the Terrestrial Paradise, the Garden of Eden, the act for which Adam and Eve were expelled from it. The difference, however, between Dante and Adam is simply this, that where Adam sinned by disobedience to God, Dante remained "pious," or respectful of the divine con- ditions for such intercourse. The acrostics at the beginning of Paradiso are: vela pene and IN UNA PERLA. The meaning of these acrostics is appropriate to the text. In the symbolism of the sun a , God the light of the sun is his phallic symbol. The phallic light which "penetrates the universe" as "in a pearl" is the principle which, in the literal sense, makes the earth, and, in the moral sense, the soul bear fruit. In the symbolism of the Divina Commedia^ as in the symbolism of primitive myth and religion, the analogies with the sexual organism on which the symbolism is based are developed in detail. For the dis- cussion of Dante's symbolism of light as phallic in relation to the female form of the universe, see Chapter VII. The two acrostics at the end o{ Paradiso are: l'amata and SALMA. Salma means corpo morto or corpo; it is a word which Dante uses, Par. xxxii. 113-114, in the phrase: II Figliuol di Dio Carcar si vuole della nostra salma. The appropriateness of the acrostic salma to the passage in which it appears, and, indeed, to the theme of the entire poem becomes evident in considering the theme of the poem in the light of Dante's own definition, in the letter to Can Grande: ACROSTICS 37 "The subject, then, of the whole work, taken according to the letter alone, is simply a consideration of the state of souls after death; for from and around this the action of the whole work turneth. But if the work is considered according to its allegorical meaning, the subject is man, liable to the reward or punishment of Justice, according as through the freedom of the will he is deserving or undeserving."* It thus appears that the real subject of the poem, disguised as it is as a journey through the post-mortem regions of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, is in reality the life of man on earth — a journey, indeed, but a journey which begins with birth and ends with death. This meaning of the poem is indicated by the acrostic nati at the beginning of the poem, which symbolizes the birth of the hero Man, and by the acrostic salma at the end of the poem, which symbolizes his corpse, or death. And just as we find the female nemica in connection with the nati at the beginning of the poem, we find l'amata in connection with the salma at the end of the poem. L'amata is the beloved whom Dante rejoins, at the end of his journey, in death; and she contrasts with the NEMICA, from whom his journey begins at birth. Dante is at once, as I shall have to develop later, the lover of l'amata and, in a symbolical sense at least, her son, since it is through his love for her that he is reborn, or born to God. Thus the NEMICA and l'amata represent the two mothers, or the two aspects of the one mother, who is universally present in myths and allegories of rebirth. The nemica, as the evil mother, delivers the child from her womb to the evil life on earth ; she is the mother of the evil life. L'amata, as the divine mother, receives the child back into her womb, as to the divine source of life in which the life of the son may be renewed. She is thus the mother of the divine life, a lorm of life which is constantly symbolized, not only in myths, dreams, and religion, but also in the allegory of the Divina Commedia^ as the prenatal existence in the womb. The foetus in the womb has been universally symbolized, as I shall show later, by the corpse in the grave; it is a symbolism which *From the translation of Dante's Eleven Letters by Chas. S. Latham. 405285 38 THE C R ^' P IX) C; R A P H \' () F DANTE rationalizes the universal desire to consider the grave, or death, as the birthplace, or birth, of a life after death. The intra-uterine existence, as thus symbolized by the corpse in the grave, and as we shall see, by the soul in Hell or Purgatory or Paradise, is taken by Dante as the symbol of the return of the soul to God; the soul is thus enfolded again in the very source of life; and God, as the supreme object of love, is conceived as a divine motherhood from whose womb the soul is expelled in birth to the evil life of the flerh on earth, and back, to whose womb the soul once more returns for the life eternal. It is in this dual character of the mother as expelling and receiving the child that the nemica and l'amata are to be considered as in the last analysis identical, and in Dante's relation to this dual character there is neces- sarily implied the idea of incest. It is an idea, moreover, which is inherent in the Christian symbolism of the birth of Christ. Dante expresses the idea supremely in the prayer to the Virgin Mary, Par. xxxiii. i: Vergine Madre, Hglia del tuo Figlio. The complicated relationship implied in this line is both filial and marital. I showed in connection with the acrostics: nati and nemica, that the nemica seems to be indicated as the mother of the NATI by the acrostic figure of the nati as formed in part of the same letters as the nemica, and as extending beyond, or growing out of, it. The acrostic figure appears thus: 1 ne 2 MI 3 C 4 A 5 6 7 T 8 9 lO I Analogous to this acrostic figure of the nati, as children. ACROSTICS 39 growing out of the maternal nemica is the acrostic figure of the SALMA, as corpse or foetus, in the womb of l'amata: 136 TA 137 138 139 MA 140 141 142 A 143 MA 144 S 145 L THE DIVISION INTO FOUR There is another division of the Divina Commedia that has not yet been mentioned. I refer to the introduction to the poem, which is contained in the first canto of Inferno. The three regions of the life after death are generally considered as the scene of the Divina Commedia. In reality, however, the scene is the universe, which includes, in its entirety, the important region of Earth, and it is in the introductory canto o^ Inferno that the life on earth is represented by a symbolism that is as complete as it is compact. The apparent tripartite division of the Divina Commedia thus conceals a division into four parts. The actual division into four of the apparent tripartite division of the poem is an essential feature of Dante's number symbolism. This fact, however, is not recognized; it is constantly said, to the contrary, that the number symbolism of the poem is based on three; and, in support of the three as the basic number, the Trinity of God is cited as suggesting to Dante the numerical structure that he follows not only in the division of his poem into three main parts but also in his invention of the terzina, his peculiar stanza form of three lines. As a matter of fact, the instances cited in favor of the 40 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE three symbolism of the Divina Commedia prove the contrary; for both the Trinity and the terzina are in reality based on a concept of four. The four of the Trinity is evident in the basic Christian belief that the Son of the Triune Father, Son, and Holy Ghost makes a fourth in the human form in which he is reborn on earth as Christ. As Dante says, Par. i. 104-105; questo e forma Che I'universo a Dio fa simigliante. The statement that the universe, with its four-fold division into Paradise, Purgatory, Hell, and Earth, is like God implies the four-fold aspect of God. Similarly, the terzina, which is apparently based on a system of three, is in reality based on a system of four lines; for the terzina form, by virtue of its unrhymed second line, is only completed by the rhyme of the first line of the succeeding terzina, or, as in the case of the end of a canto, by the rhyme of the separate last line. The four which thus appears in the Trinity, in the structure of the Christian universe of Dante, and in the stanza form which he himself invented, is emphasized in the Divina Com- media by many symbols which I cannot at present take time to enumerate. The instances just cited, however, are sufficient in themselves to indicate that the poem is in reality divided into four principal parts, and that the number symbolism not only of the poem but of Dante's conception of life is based, not on three, but on the relation of three to four. This view of the number symbolism of the Divina Com- media is consonant with the fact that Dante has placed acrostics on the ten-line frame at the end oi Inferno i, the end of the division that might properly be called Terra^ and at the beginning of Inferno ii, which is really the beginning of Inferno proper. The ten lines that show the acrostic at the end oi Inf. i are: In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge, 127 Quivi e la sua citta e 1' alto seggio: O felice colui cui ivi elegge!' ACROSTICS 41 Ed io a lui: 'Poeta, io ti richieggio 130 Per quello Dio che tu non conoscesti, Acciocch' io fugga questo male e peggio Che tu mi meni la dov' or dicesti, 133 Si ch' io vegga la porta di san Pietro, E color cui tu fai cotanto mesti.' Allor si mosse, ed io li tenni retro. 136 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line and of the fourth, seventh, and tenth from the last: 127 IN 130 ED I 133 c 136 A Read: e indica This is an incomplete reading of the acrostic on these lines. Notice the words Ed io, line 130; they are, as I shall show in the chapter on the Universal Form, a cryptic sign for Dante himself. The indica spelling down the line through the di of ED 10 makes a cross with ed io, thus: IN e di o c A The cryptographic reading, therefore, is in effect: indica ED 10. That is, it "indicates Dante;" and indicating Dante in the form of a cross, it suggests the identification which he constantly makes of himself with Christ. For further dis- cussion of the cryptographic content of this passage see pp. 151-2. The first four terzine oi Inf. ii are: Lo giorno se n' andava, e 1' aer bruno Toglieva gli animai che sono in terra Dalle fatiche loro; ed io sol uno M' apparecchiava a sostener la guerra 4 Si del cammino e si della pietate, Che ritrarra la mente. che non erra. 42 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE O Muse, o alto ingegno, or m' aiutate: 7 mente, che scrivesti cio ch' io vidi, Qui si parra la tua nobilitate. Io cominciai: 'Poeta che mi guidi, 10 Guarda la mia virtu, s' ella e possente, Prima che all' alto passo tu mi fidi. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 1 LO 4 M 7 o ID 10 Read: l'omo 10 Subsidiary to this acrostic on ten lines appears an acrostic on the following marginal letters of the first two lines: 1 LO 2 TO Read: loto The relation of these acrostics to the meaning of the text is very close. Loto, a term iorjango^ commonly used to mean il gen ere umano^ corresponds to the English use of "clay" for "mankind." In the present instance, it is the generic term for what Dante, as l'omo 10, represents as an individual. Dante, it is implied, represents mankind by virtue of the typical life in which he portrays himself. But the most interesting implication is to be found in the fact that both these acrostics spring from Lo giorno^ line i. The day, that is, the sun, is sinking as Dante descends into Hell, and it rises again as Dante ascends to Purgatory. Dante thus, as the representative omo, whose nature is both human and divine, associates himself with the sun as the universal symbol both of mankind and of God. The four divisions of the Divina Commedia are thus shown to be marked off by acrostics on the ten-line frame at the beginning and the end of each. The number symbolism of four in relation to three which this demarcation confirms is further confirmed by the structure of the acrostics them- ACROSTICS 43 selves. The ten-line frame acrostic is constructed, essentially, on Jour terzine of three lines each — the number of lines in the terminal acrostics being necessarily diminished by the incomplete form of the final terzina. The four that thus appears in connection with a three — the number of lines being four times three — suggests again the symbolism of 3:4. It is to be further noted that the four terzine involved in the ten-Hne frame are very clearly marked off in Inj. i, Purg. i, and Par. i, as rhetorical units. In each of these openings the four terzine are separated from the fifth by a decided change of thought and subject. The coincidence of the acrostic frame with the rhetorical unit can scarcely be considered accidental. OTHER ACROSTICS ON THE TEN-LINE FRAME There are to be found in the Divina Commedia many other acrostics on the ten-Hne frame both at the beginnings and the ends of cantos and in the interior of cantos. I will give here a few examples, simply for the purpose of further illustrating the structure. The remaining examples of acrostics on the ten-line frame I will reserve for later chapters, in which the meaning of the acrostics will serve to confirm my inter- pretation of the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. The following passage, Inf. viii. 82-93, consists of four terzine: lo vidi piu di mille in suUe porte 82 Da' ciel piovuti, che stizzosamente Dicean: 'Chi e costui, che senza morte Va per lo regno della morta gente?' 85 E il savio mio Maestro fece segno Di voler lor parlar segretamente. Allor chiusero un poco il gran disdegno, 88 E disser: 'Vien tu solo, e quei sen vada, Che si ardito entro per questo regno. Sol si ritorni per la folle strada: 91 Provi se sa, che tu qui rimarrai Che gli hai scorta si buia contrada.' 44 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 82 10 85 V 88 A 91 s Read: savio The passage begins, line 82, with the words lo vidi; we shall see later that the presence of these words at the begin- ning of a terzina is frequently a hint of the presence of a cryptogram. The intention of the acrostic savio is con- firmed by the repetition of the word in line 86. Another hint of the presence of a cryptogram is to be found in the acrostic on the three lines of the terzina beginning line 85. Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 85 V 86 E 87 DI Read: vedi In the second line of the terzina in which the acrostic vedi is found occurs the word savio^ line 86. Possibly the acrostic instruction to look is a direction to this word, the reap- pearance of which in the ten-line acrostic savio confirms the acrostic. The following passage, Par. xiv. 70-81, consists of four terzine: E si come al salir di prima sera 70 Comincian per lo ciel nuove parvenze, Si che la vista pare e non par vera; Parvemi li novelle sussistenze 73 Cominciar a vedere, e fare un giro Di fuor dair altre due circonferenze. O vero isfavillar del santo spiro, 76 Come si fece subito e candente Agli occhi miei che vinti non soffriro! Ma Beatrice si bella e ridente 79 Mi si mostro, che tra quelle vedute Si vuol lasciar che non seguir la mente. ACROSTICS 45 Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 70 E 73 P 76 79 MA Read: POEMA The first four terzine of Pi-irg. ii are: G'\k era il sole all' orizzonte giunto, Lo cui meridian cerchio coperchia Jerusalem col suo piu alto punto: E la notte che opposita a lui cerchia, 4 Uscia di Gange fuor coUe bilance, Che le caggion di man quando soperchia; Si che le bianche e le vermiglie guance, 7 L^ dove io era, della Bella Aurora Per troppa etate divenivan ranee. Noi eravam lunghesso il mare ancora, 10 Come gente che pensa a suo cammino, Che va col core, e col corpo dimora: Consider on the first lines of these four terzine the follow- ing marginal letters: I G 4 E 7 s 10 NO Read: segno. For the importance which Dante attaches to the position of Jerusalem indicated in the text see pp. 267-72. The following passage, Purg. xiii. 145-154, consists of the last ten lines of the canto: 'Or questa e ad udir si cosa nuova,' 145 Rispose, 'che gran segno h che Dio t* ami; Per5 col prego tuo talor mi giova. E chieggioti per quel che tu piu brami, 148 Se mai calchi la terra di Toscana, Che a' miei propinqui tu ben mi rinfami. 46 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Tu li vedrai tra quella gente vana 151 Che spera in Talamone, e perderagli Pill di speranza, che a trovar la Diana; Ma piu vi metteranno gli ammiragli.' 154 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line of the canto and of the first lines of the three preceding terzine: 145 OR 148 E 151 T 154 M Read: morte Note in the first line of the preceding terzina, line 142, the words: E vivo sono. In Moore's text the first word of this passage is 0. I have adopted the reading Or of Toynbee and Casini. If the acrostic is accepted as intentional it establishes Or as the correct reading. ACROSTICS ON OTHER FRAMES In addition to the acrostics that appear on the first lines of four terzine there are others that appear on the first lines of more or less than four terzine. The following is an example of an acrostic that appears on the first lines of three terzine. The passage is Par. xxii. 28-36, which reads: E la maggiore e la piu luculenta 28 Di quelle margarite innanzi fessi, Per far di se la mia voglia contenta. Poi dentro a lei udi': 'Se tu vedessi, 31 Com' io, la carita che tra noi arde, Li tuoi concetti sarebbero espressi; Ma perche tu aspettando non tarde 34 Air alto fine, io ti faro risposta Pure al pensier di che si ti riguarde. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these three terzine: ACROSTICS 47 28 E 31 PO 34 MA Read: poema The following passage, Par. xv. 76-84, consists of three terzine: Perocch^ il Sol, che v' allumd ed arse 76 Col caldo e con la luce, e si iguali, Che tutte simiglianze sono scarse. Ma voglia ed argomento nei mortali, 79 Per la cagion ch' a voi h manifesta, Diversamente son pennuti in ali. Ond' io che son mortal, mi sento in questa 82 Disagguaglianza, e per6 non ringrazio, Se non col core, alia paterna festa. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these three terzine: 76 PE 79 MA 81 Read: poema The following passage, Purg. xi. 1-9, contains another acrostic on the first Hnes of three terzine: *0 Padre nostro, che nei cieli stai, Non circonscritto, ma per piii amore Che ai primi efFetti di lassu tu hai, Laudato sia il tuo nome e il tuo valore Da ogni creatura, com' e degno Di render grazie al tuo dolce vapore. Vegna ver noi la pace del tuo regno, Che noi ad essa non potem da noi, S' ella non vien, con tutto nostro ingegno. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these three terzine: 48 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE I o 4 L 7 VE Read: velo The word ingegno, line 9, is, as often, a hint. Following is an example of an acrostic on the last line of a canto and the first lines of the two preceding terzine, Purg. xvii. 133-139: Altro ben e che non fa 1' uom felice; 133 Non e felicita, non e la buona Essenza, d' ogni ben frutto e radice. L' amor ch' ad esso troppo s' abbandona, 136 Di sopra noi si piange per tre cerchi; Ma come tripartite si ragiona, Tacciolo, acciocche tu per te ne cerchi.' 139 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line of the canto and of the first lines of the two preceding terzine: 133 A^ 136 l'am 139 TA Read: l'amata This is a sort of "potence," as the acrostic word begins on Uamor. l'amata appears also in the acrostic at the end of Par. xxxiii. (see p. 30). Following is an example of an acrostic on the first lines of five terzine, Par. xxix. 61-75: Perche le viste lor furo esaltate 61 Con grazia illuminante, e con lor merto, Si ch' hanno piena e ferma volontate. E non voglio che dubbi ma sie certo, 64 Che ricever la grazia e meritorio, Secondo che 1' affetto gli e aperto. Omai dintorno a questo consistorio 67 Puoi contemplare assai, se le parole Mie son ricolte, senz' altro aiutorio. Ma perche in terra per le vostre scuole 70 Si legge che 1' angelica natura E tal che intende e si ricorda e vuole, ACROSTICS 49 Ancor diro, perche tu veggi pura 73 La verita che laggiu si confonde, Equivocando in si fatta lettura. The initials of the first Hnes of these five terzine are: 61 P 64 E 67 O 70 M 73 A Read: poema Following is an example of an acrostic on the first lines of six terzine, Purg. xvi. 67-84: Voi che vivete, ogni cagion recate 67 Pur suso al ciel, cosi come se tutto Movesse seco di necessitate. Se cosi fosse, in voi fora distrutto 70 Libero arbitrio, e non fora giustizia, Per ben letizia, e per male aver lutto. Lo cielo i vostri movimenti inizia, 73 Non dico tutti: ma, posto ch' io il dica, Lume v' e dato a bene ed a malizia, E libero voler, che, se fatica 7^ Nelle prime battaglie col ciel dura, Poi vince tutto, se ben si nutrica. A maggior forza ed a miglior natura 79 Liberi soggiacete, e quella cria La mente in voi, che il ciel non ha in sua cura. Pero, se il mondo presente disvia, 82 In voi e la cagione, in voi si cheggia, Ed io te ne sarb or vera spia. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these six terzine: 67 V 70 SE 73 L 76 E 79 AM 82 PER Read: peremas vel so THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Following is an example of an acrostic on four lines, Par. x. 43-46: Perch' io lo ingegno, 1' arte e 1' uso chiami, 43 Si nol direi che mai s' immaginasse, Ma creder piiossi, e di veder si brami. E se le fantasie nostre son basse 46 Consider on these four lines the following marginal letters: 43 PER 44 s 45 MA 46 E Read: f^eremas There is a hint in the words ingegno and arte. Another acrostic on four lines appears in the following passage, Prtr. viii. 100-103: E non pur le nature provvedute 100 Son nella mente ch' e da se perfetta, Ma esse insieme con la lor salute. Perche quantunque questo arco saetta, 103 Consider on these four lines the following marginal letters: 100 E lOI s 102 MA 103 PER Read: peremas Following is an acrostic on a single terzina, Par. xxv. 28-30: Ridendo allora Beatrice disse: 'Inclita vita, per cui la larghezza Delia nostra basilica si scrisse. Consider the following marginal letters of these three lines: 28 R 29 I 30 DE Read: ride ACROSTICS 51 This is a sort of "potence," as the acrostic word begins on Ridendo. Another acrostic on the three lines of a single terzina appears in the following passage, Par. x. 52-54: E Beatrice incomincio: 'Ringrazia, Ringrazia il Sol degli Angeli, ch' a questo Sensibil t' ha levato per sua grazia.' Consider the following marginal letters on these three lines: 52 E 53 RI 54 s Read: rise Compare rise with the foregoing ride, which expresses the same idea in connection with Beatrice. Another example of an acrostic on the three lines of a single terzina appears in the following passage, Purg. xx. 1-3 : Contra miglior voler voler mal pugna; Onde contra il piacer mio, per piacerli, Trassi dell' acqua non sazia la spugna. Consider the following marginal letters of these three lines: 1 c 2 ON 3 tra Read: contra This is a potence, as the acrostic word begins on Contra. The following passage. Par. i. 85-87, consists of one terzina: Ond' ella, che vedea me si com' io, A quietarmi 1' animo commosso, Pria ch' io a domandar, la bocca aprio, Consider the following marginal letters of these three lines: 85 o 86 A 87 PRI Read: aprio 52 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE This repeats the word aprio in the text. The following passage, Inf. xvi. 88-90, consists of one terzina: Un ammen non saria potuto dirsi Tosto cosi, com' ei furo spariti: Perche al Maestro parve di partirsi. Consider the following marginal letters on these three lines: 88 UN 89 TO 90 P Read: punto Ammen is in a sense a punto. Following is one terzina, Purg. vii. 16-18: 'O gloria de' Latin,' disse, 'per cui Mostro cio che potea la lingua nostra, O pregio eterno del loco ond' io fui. The initials of the lines of this terzina are: 16 o 17 M 18 o Read: omo OMO, as a form of uomo, appears frequently in the crypto- grams in the Divina Commedia. The foregoing acrostics are sufficient to illustrate the structure of the shorter acrostics which I have discovered in the Divina Commedia. With the exception of the necessarily brief suggestion of the implications of the acrostics at the beginning and the end of the four main divisions of the Divina Commedia^ I have not attempted to explain the meaning of the acrostics shown in the present chapter in relation to the meaning of the poem. The whole question of meaning is deferred to succeeding chapters. Chapter III SIGNATURES Chapter III SIGNATURES THERE is apparently but a single instance of Dante's use of his own name in the Divina Commedia; it occurs, Purg. XXX. 55, in the words with which Beatrice addresses him. And apparently Dante is seeking to excuse himself for using his name when he says, lines 62-63: mi volsi al suon del nome mio, Che di necessita qui si registra. The necessity, apparently, is that his name occurs in the words of Beatrice which he is obliged to record. The excuse, if it is an excuse, may be related to the opinion, expressed in the Convivio, i. 2, 8-17: Parlare alcuno di se medesimo pare non licito . . . Non si concede per li rettorici alcuno di se medesimo senza necessaria cagione parlare. Now the duplicities of Dante's language are such that he repeats the mention of his name in the very words with which he excuses it. In his reference to his name, which, as he says, di necessita qui si registra^ Dante may be understood to be saying that his name is "registered here" in the words: di NECESSITA ; that is, that the words : di necessita, are the form which he here uses for his signature. But how can di necessita be deciphered as a signature of DANTE ? The hint for the method of deciphering is given in the words, lines 58-59: Quasi ammiraglio, che in poppa ed in prora Viene a veder, and, line 62: mi volsi al suon del nome mio. [ssl S6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE There are here suggested the sweeping glance that looks fore and aft, and the idea o( turning at the sound of dante. Let us examine now the two words of the signature di NECESsiTA. Note, first, that the word di is also the spelt form of the letter d, as which it may be at once considered. We have then for the signature: D NECESSITA Turn, now, fore and aft, and keep on so turning. In other words, read, first, the first letter, or d; second, the last letter, or a; third, the letter next the first letter, or n; fourth, the letter next the last letter, or t; and fifth, the letter nearest the front again, or e. The letters remaining spell cessi, or "stop," so that the cryptogram directs the decipherer to stop as soon as he has spelt dante. This spelling device is perfectly regular. Instead of being read in a straight sequence, the letters are to be read in a sequence of regular alternations between the letters at the extreme left and the extreme right. The regularity of the device will appear by numbering the letters in the order in which they are to be read: D N e cessi T A ^ 3 S 42 This hidden signature of Dante is one of a large number contained in the Divina Commedia. In the present chapter I will show some of these signatures and the cryptographic devices on which they are based. Many of the signatures will have a value that cannot be overestimated for illuminating some of the obscurest passages in the poem. ACROSTIC SIGNATURES In connection with the letter cluster shown in the preced- ing chapter at the beginning of Purg. i. in which Dante signs his poem: poema: ecco dante, see the last ten lines of Purg. xxxii. 1 51-160: SIGNATURES 57 E come perche non gli fosse tolta, 151 Vidi di costa a lei dritto un gigante, E baciavansi insieme alcuna volta: Ma perche V occhio cupido e vagante 154 A me rivolse, quel feroce drudo La flagello dal capo infin le piante. Poi di sospetto pieno e d' ira crudo, 157 Disciolse il mostro, e trassel per la selva Tanto, che sol di lei mi fece scudo Alia puttana ed alia nuova belva. 160 Consider the following marginal letters of the last line of the canto and of the first lines of the three preceding terzine: 151 E 154 M 157 PO 160 A Read : POEMA But this is not the only acrostic in the passage, for there is another on the lines between the lines already used to spell POEMA. The lines between the lines already used, 151, 154, 157, and 160, are lines 152, 153, 155, 156, 158, and 159. Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 152 V 153 E 155 A 156 L 158 D 159 TAN Read: vela dant DANT is a form that, as we shall see, Dante uses else- where. The acrostic poema on the ten-line frame may be understood, since it appears on the salient and enclosing lines of the passage, to veil the acrostic on the intervening lines. In other words, poema vela dant; the poem is the veil behind which Dante is hidden. A possible hint of the cryptographic intention may be 58 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE seen In the words disciolse il mostro and occhio . . . vagante a me. Dante is here associated with the puttana^ as he is in Inf. xviii. 127-136 (see pp. 59-60). The symboHsm of this association is explained in Chapter VI, pp. 179-80. Contrasting with this acrostic signature which appears as subsidiary to another acrostic built on the ten-line frame are others in which the ten-line frame is used for the signa- ture itself. An example occurs in Par. xxvi. 94-105: Devoto quanto posso a te supplico 94 Perche mi parli; tu vedi mia voglia, E per udirti tosto non la dice' Tal volta un animal coperto broglia 97 Si che 1' afFetto convien che si paia Per lo seguir che face a lui I'invoglia; E similmente 1' anima primaia 100 Mi facea trasparer per la coperta Quant' ella a compiacermi venia gaia. Indi spiro: 'Senz' essermi profferta 103 Da te, la voglia tua discerno meglio Che tu qualunque cosa t' e piia certa. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 94 D 97 TA 100 E 103 IN l', DANTE Read; Notice in connection with this acrostic signature the line on which it ends, line 103, and the line next following. Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 103 IN 104 DA TE Read: i', dante The repetition on lines 103-104 of the words i', dante, which appear on the ten-line frame, is strong confirmation of the intentional character of both acrostics, and the subject SIGNATURES 59 of the passage itself confirms the intention. The subject is Adam, in whom, as the father of mankind, Dante exists. Moreover, the words: Mi facea trasparer per la coperta, say plainly enough that dante may be made to appear through the covering of the text. Un animal coperto and convien che si paia are likewise expressions which may be taken as having a similar reference to the cryptogram. It is to be noticed also that the passage as a whole begins with the letters de, the first and last of dante and constantly used in the poem, either as de or ed, to indicate both the name itself and the presence of a cryptogram in the passage of which they are the beginning or the end. The passage is fur- ther bounded, first and last, by the significant letters d, line 94, and I, line 103. These letters also are used by Dante to suggest his own name and to indicate the limits of crypto- graphic passages. Another example of a signature on the ten-line frame appears in Inf. xviii. 127-136: Appresso cio lo Duca: *Fa che pinghe/ 127 Mi disse, 'il viso un poco piu avante, Si che la faccia ben con gli occhi attinghe Di quella sozza e scapigliata fante, 130 Che la si graffia con 1' unghie merdose, Ed or s' accoscia, ed ora e in piede stante. Taide e la puttana, che rispose ^ 133 Al drudo suo, quando disse: "Ho io grazie Grandi appo te?" "Anzi meravigliose." E quinci sien le nostre viste sazie.' 136 An interesting feature of the acrostic signature which appears here is that it occurs with another acrostic on the same fines. The two acrostics are thus concurrent. Before showing the dante signature I will show the acrostic that coincides with it. Consider first the following marginal letters of the last line, the last of the canto, and of the first lines of the three preceding terzine: 6o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 127 A 130 DI 136 E Read: taide Taide is the name of the harlot mentioned in the text, and the acrostic, since it repeats a word of the text and uses the initial of that word as one of its own letters, is a "potence." The repetition in the acrostic of the name in the text is confirmation of the intention of the acrostic. The signature dante to which I referred as concurrent with this acrostic taide appears by taking on the same lines the following marginal letters: 127 a 130 D 136 E QUIN Read: dante qui The text contains an unmistakable hint that a signature is concealed. This hint is found in the double meaning of the following words of Virgil to Dante himself, 127-129: Fa che pinghe un poco il viso piu avante, Si che la faccia ben con gli occhi attinghe. If these words are taken as having the double meaning of which they are capable, Dante is told to show himself. This command, moreover, is immediately followed by a line, 130, of which the first letter, d, and the last letters, ante, spell dante. For a discussion of this device and for other examples, see pp. 71-4. The two concurrent acrostics: taide and dante qui, show Dante and the puttana together. It is in harmony with the deeper symbolism of the poem that hero and harlot are involved with each other (see pp. 179-80). The following passage, Purg. xx. loo-iii, consists of four terzine: SIGNATURES 6i Tanto e risposta a tutte nostra prece, lOO Quanto il di dura; ma, quand' e' s' annotta, Contrario suon prendemo in quella vece. Noi ripetiam Pigmalion allotta, 103 Cui traditore e ladro e patricida Fece la voglia sua dell' oro ghiotta; E la miseria dell' avaro Mida, 106 Che segui alia sua domanda ingorda, Per la qual sempre convien che si rida. Del folle Acan ciascun poi si ricorda, 109 Come furo le spoglie, si che 1' ira Di Josue qui par ch' ancor lo morda. Consider on the first lines of these four terzine the follow- ing marginal letters: 100 TA 103 N 106 E 109 D Read: DANTE The following passage, Par. vi. 61-70, consists of four terzine: Quel che fe'poi ch'egli usci di Ravenna, 61 E salto Rubicon, fu di tal volo Che nol seguiteria lingua ne penna. In ver la Spagna rivolse lo stuolo; 64 Poi ver Durazzo, e Farsalia percosse Si ch' al Nil caldo si senti del duolo. Antandro e Simoenta, onde si mosse, 67 Rivide, e la dov' Ettore si cuba, E mal per Tolommeo poi si riscosse: Da indi scese folgorando a Juba; 70 Poscia si volse nel vostro occidente, Dove sentia la Pompeiana tuba. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 62 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 6i QUE 64 I 67 ANT 70 D Read: dante qui The first four terzine of Par. ii are: O voi che siete in piccioletta barca, Desiderosi d' ascoltar, seguiti Retro al mio legno che cantando varca, Tornate a riveder li vostri liti, 4 Non vi mettete in pelago; che forse Perdendo me rimarreste smarriti. L* acqua ch' io prendo giammai non si corse: 7 Minerva spira, e conducemi Apollo, E nove Muse mi dimostran 1' Orse. Voi altri pochi, che drizzaste il collo 10 Per tempo al pan degli Angeli, del quale Vivesi qui, ma non sen vien satollo, Consider on the first lines of these terzine the following marginal letters: I o 4 T 7 L 10 vo Read: volto Compare volto with the idea of turning in the text. The meaning of this acrostic is repeated in the acrostic on the first four lines of the canto: I o 1 D 3 R 4 TORNATE Read: rotor, dante Rotor is the first person singular, present indicative passive, of the Latin roto^ "I revolve." The use of this word in connection with a signature is a reference, as in gira SIGNATURES 63 (see p. 96), to the cryptographic device of revolving the letters in such a way as to give the hidden reading. "Revolve," is the word used to hint at the cryptogram in the anonymous letter to Malvolio, in Twelfth Night. There is reason to suspect the existence of a cryptogram in any passage in the Divina Commedia that shows a marked symmetry in the repetition of a word or phrase. Such a repetition occurs in the four terzine, Purg. vi. 106-117: Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, 106 Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura: Color gia tristi, e questi con sospetti. Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura 109 De' tuoi gentili, e cura lor magagne, E vedrai Santafior com' e sicura. Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, 112 Vedova e sola, e di e notte chiama: 'Cesare mio, perche non m' accompagne?' Vieni a veder la gente quanto s' ama; 115 E se nulla di noi pieta ti move, A vergognar ti vien della tua fama. The cryptogram is concealed here on all the Hnes except the four lines beginning with the same word: Vien. Consider on the second and third lines of each of the four terzine the following marginal letters; 106 VIENI 107 MON 108 COL 109 VIEN no DE T III E 112 VIENI 113 VE 114 C 115 VIENi] 116 E 117 A Read: velo. , ECCO ME, DANTE 64 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The following passage, hif. xvii. 1-12, consists of the first four terzine of the canto: 'Eccq la fiera con la coda aguzza, Che passa i monti, e rompe i muri e 1' armi; Ecco colei che tutto il mondo appuzza.' Si comincio lo niio Duca a parlarmi, 4 Ed accennolle che venisse a proda, Vicino al fin de' passeggiati marmi: E quella sozza imagine di froda 7 Sen venne, ed arrivo la testa e il busto; Ma in sulla riva non trasse la coda. La faccia sua era faccia d' uom giusto; 10 Tanto benigna avea di fuor la pelle, E d' un serpente tutto l' altro fusto. Consider on the first lines of these four terzine the follow- ing marginal letters; I E 4 S 7 E QU ID LA Read: sequela The "sequel" is to be found in the marginal letters of the last two lines of the passage: 11 TAN 12 ED Read: dante The following passage, Paj'. i. 13-24, consists of four terzine: O buono Apollo, air ultimo lavoro 13 Fammi del tuo valor si fatto vaso, Come domandi a dar V amato alloro, Infino a qui 1' un giogo di Parnaso 16 I Assai mi fu, ma or con ambedue M' e uopo entrar nell' aringo rimaso. Entra nel petto mio, e spira tue 19 Si come quando Marsia traesti Delia vagina delle membra sue. SIGNATURES 65 O divina virtu, se mi ti presti 22 Tanto che 1' ombra del beato regno Segnata nel mio capo io manifesti, Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 13 16 I 19 ENTR 22 Read: 10 entro Dante is entering neW aringo rimaso^ the last stage of his journey. This passage follows immediately after the acrostic VELA PENE (see pp. 29-30). The two acrostics are to be read together in the light of the symbolism, explained in Chapter VII, of DANTE as PENE. Now consider the following marginal letters of lines 21-24: 21 DE 22 23 TAN 24 SEGN SEGNO DANTE Read: All but the first of the cryptograms shown so far in this chapter are acrostics appearing on the ten-line frame or acrostics subsidiary to them. But the ten-line frame is not the only frame on which the acrostics in the Divina Commedia are constructed. The following is an acrostic signature on the first lines of three terzine, Purg. xxix. 16-24: Ed ecco un lustro subito trascorse 16 Da tutte parti per la gran foresta, Tal che di balenar mi mise in forse. Ma perche il balenar, come vien, resta, 19 E quel durando piu e piu splendeva, Nel mio pensar dicea: *Che cosa e questa?' Ed una melodia dolce correva 22 Per r aer luminoso; onde buon zelo Mi fe' riprender 1' ardimento d' Eva, 66 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The initials of the first lines of these terzine are: i6 E 19 M 22 E Read: e me Note that the first and last lines on which this acrostic reading is found begin respectively with ed. Consider on the two lines following the last ed, the last two lines of the last terzina, the following marginal letters: 23 PER 24 MI Read: per mi This reading echoes the acrostic e me. The signature which appears in this passage and which seems to be hinted at by the acrostics: e me and per mi, appears on the marginal letters of all the lines of the seven- line frame that is so conspicuously and symmetrically bounded at each end by ed. Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 16 e 17 D 18 T 19 MA 20 e 21 N 22 E Read: e me, dante It may be that there is a hint of the signature in the use of the word durando^ line 20, with its phonetic suggestion of Durante^ the early form of Dante. Hints in the text immediately preceding and following the acrostic passage are the words, line 15: Frate mio^guarda ed ascolta; and, line 27: Non sofferse di star sotto alcun velo. SIGNATURES e^ Guarda ed ascolta may be taken to mean: "Look, hear D. . .e." The allusion to the veil may likewise be understood as having a reference to the veil of the text that hides the cryptogram. The following passage, Par. xxxii. 136-144, consists of three terzine: E contro al maggior Padre di famiglia 136 Siede Lucia, che mosse la tua Donna, Quando chinavi a ruinar le ciglia. Ma perche il tempo fugge che t' assonna, 139 Qui farem punto, come buon sartore Che, com' egli ha del panno, fa la gonna; E drizzeremo gli occhi al primo amore, 142 Si che, guardando verso lui, penetri. Quant' e possibil, per lo suo fulgore. The initials of the first lines of these three terzine are: 136 E 139 M 142 E Read: e me Consider the following marginal letters of the third terzina: 142 ED 143 SI 144 quant'e Read: se' qui, dante The following passage, Par. xxvii. 43-48, consists of two terzine: Ma per acquisto d' esto viver Heto - 43 E Sisto e Pio e Calisto ed Urbano Sparser lo sangue dopo molto fleto. Non fu nostra intenzion ch' a destra mano 46 Dei nostri successor parte sedesse, Parte dall' altra, del popol cristiano; Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the two terzine: 68 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 43 MA 46 NO Read: noma Now consider the following marginal letters on all the lines: 43 MA 44 E 45 S 46 N 47 DE 48 PARTE Read: peremas dante The following passage, Par. xv. 19-24, consists of two terzine: Tale, dal corno che in destro si stende, 19 Al pie di quella croce corse un astro Delia costellazion che li risplende; Ne si parti la gemma dal suo nastro, 22 Ma per la lista radial trascorse, Che parve foco retro ad alabastro. Consider first the following marginal letters of the first four lines: 19 T 20 A 21 D 22 NE Read: dante In the lines on which this signature appears Dante is describing his vision of his ancestor Cacciaguida, who is seen like a star moving upon the cross seen at the same time. There is a suggestion that the star is reflected in the gleaming surface of the cross, and this reflection is repre- sented in a curious way by a second signature on the initials of the last words of lines 22, 23, and 24, taken in connection SIGNATURES 69 with D before alabastro of line 24. The two signatures may be shown as follows: 19 T 20 A 21 D 22 NE N 23 T 24 DA Read on the initials of the telestic words, lines 22, 23, and 24, together with the contiguous d: dant. It is natural that Dante should see himself (his name) both in the light of his ancestor and as reflected in the cross, the symbol of humanity that reflects, necessarily, the char- acter of the human individual. The telestic dant on lines 22, 23, and 24, is the cryptographic reflection of the acrostic DANTE on lines 19, 20, 21, and 22. The following passage. Par. i. 107-110, consists of four lines: Deir eterno valore, il quale e fine Al quale e fatta la toccata norma. Neir ordine ch' io dico sono accline 109 Tutte nature, per diverse sorti, Consider the following marginal letters on these four lines: 107 D 108 A 109 NE no T Read: dante Hints in the text may be found in the words /orw^, line 104, and orma^ line 106. The following passage is Inj. vi. 85-87: E quegli: 'Ei son tra le anime piu nere; Diversa colpa giu li grava al fondo: Se tanto scendi, li potrai vedere. 70 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Consider the following marginal letters on these lines: 85 E QU 86 Di 87 SE TAN Read: dante, se' qui Dante here identifies himself with the blacker spirits, as, indeed, he identifies himself with all that he sees. Unlike Aeneas, who says of his experience: pars magna fui^ Dante, as the dreamer of the universe, identifies himself with the whole of it. The following terzina is Inf. xxxiii. 109-111: Ed un de' tristi della fredda crosta Grido a noi: 'O anime crudeli Tanto, che data v' e I'ultima posta. Consider the following marginal letters on these lines: 109 ED no GRIDO III TAN Read: grido dante This echoes the sense of the text. There may be a hint in the line which follows this passage: Levatemi dal viso i duri veil. The following passage consists of the last four lines of Inf. xxiii: Appresso il Duca a gran pass! sen gi, 145 Turbato un poco d' ira nel sembiante: Ond' io dagl' incarcati mi parti' Dietro alle poste delle care piante. 148 Consider the following marginal letters: Read: 145 A 146 T 147 ON 148 DIE 10, dante SIGNATURES 71 STRING CIPHERS The last line of the foregoing passage, 148, contains an example of the "string" cipher, which may be seen in the letters which I here capitalize: Dietro Alle poste delle care piaNTE The string cipher is a device well known to students of cryptography. The device consists in spelling a name or other word or words in such a way that the first letter of the hidden word is the first letter of a unit of text, and the last letter of the hidden word is the last letter of the unit of text, and each of the interior letters of the hidden word, spelled in regular order, is the first instance of that letter to appear in the unit of text after the letter in the text already required for the preceding letter of the word. There are certain modifications of this method not indicated in the foregoing definition; I have not defined these modifications because they do not appear in the examples of the string cipher which I have discovered in the Divina Commedia. The unit of text in which I have found string ciphers in the Divina Commedia is the single line. In the line just quoted we begin with d, which is the first letter of the line, the line being a definite unit of text. We then take, not any a, but the next a, and the next n, and the next t, and the next e, which is the last letter of the line. Following are several examples, in which I have capitalized for clarity the letters of the cryptogram. Di quellA sozza e scapigliata faNTE. — Inf. xviii. 130. De' miei mAggior mi fer si arrogaNTE. — Purg. xi, 62. Del quAl ti fasciaN venTiquattro piantE. — Par. xii. 96. Dove ANchise fini la lunga eTatE. — Par. xix. 132. DinANzI agli occhi miei le quaTtro facE. — Par. xxvii. 10. Ditene dove lA moNTagna giacE. — Purg. iii. 76. 72 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE DellA molt' aNni lagrimaTa pacE. —Purg. X. 35. Diogenes, ANassagora e TalE. — Inf. iv. 137. Diretro A me che Non era piu TalE. — Purg. xxxi. 57. Dunque costui che tutte quANTo rapE — Par. xxviii. 70. Di che il polo di quA tutto quaNTo ardE. — Purg. viii. 90. DA si vil padre che si reNde a marTE. — Par. viii. 132. Di piegAr cosi piNTa in altra partE. — Par. i. 132. Due ANgeli con due spade afFocaTE. — Ptirg. viii. 26. DAI tuo potere e dalla tua boNTatE. — Par. xxxi. 83. DinANzi a me non fur cose creaTE. — Inf. iii. 7. Di guido o d'AlessaNdro o di lor fraTE. — Inf. XXX. jj. Di pugliA fu del suo saNgue dolenTE. — Inf. xxviii. g. DA quella parte oNde il core ha la genTE. — Purg. X. 48. De' nostri sensi ch'e del rimANenTE. — Inf. XX vi. 115. Diretro Al sol del moNdo senza genTE. — Inf. xxvi. 117. DA queste due se tu ti rechi a meNTE. — Inf. xi. 106. DA pigliar occhi per aver la meNTE. — Par. xxvii. 92. DA' ciel piovuti che stizzosameNTE. — Inf. viii. 83. Di voler lor pArlar segretameNTE. — Inf. viii. 87. Di quel ch'ei fe' col bAiulo segueNTE. — Par. vi. 73. Di bene in meglio si subitAmeNTE. — Par. X. 38. Di moise legistA e ubbidieNTE. —Inf. iv. 57. SIGNATURES 73 DellA carNe d'adamo ond'ei si vesTE. — Purg. xi. 44. D'un giro e d'un girAre e d'uNa seTE. — Par. viii. 35. Di fAre allor che fuori alcuN si meTtE. — Inf. xxii. 105. Del cui lAtiNo augusTin si provvidE. — Par. X. 120. Del sANgue piu che sua colpa sorTillE. —Inf. xii. 75. DellA NosTra basilica si scrissE. — Par. XXV. 30. Divenner membrA che Non fur mai visTE. — Inf. XXV. 75. Del cui nome ne' dei fu tANTa litE. — Purg. XV. 98. DANnando se danno Tutta sua prolE. — Par. vii. 27. Donne mi pArver Non da ballo sciolTE. — Par. X. 79. Delle sustANzie che T'appaion tondE. — Par. xxviii. 75. DicevA I'uN con laTro in sul gropponE. — Inf. xxi. loi. DAI suo priNcipio ch'e in quesTo tronconE. — Inf. xxviii. 141. Dicendo le pArole tue sieN conTE. —Inf. X. 39. Debili si che perlA iN bianca fronTE. — Par. iii. 14. Dolce ch'io vidi primA a pie del moNTE. — Inf. xxiv. 21. DAir altra spoNda vanno verso il monTE. — Inf. xviii. 33. Deir Alto di i giroN del sacro monTE. — Purg. xix. 38. Del vecchio pAdre Ne il debiTo amorE. — Inf. XX vi. 95. Di pAradiso taNTo il nostro amorE. — Par. xiv. 38. Del romAN principaTo il cui valorE. —Purg. X. 74. DellA vera cittade almeN la TorrE. — Purg. xvi. 96. 74 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE DellA quartaNa ch' ha gia I'unghie smorTE. — Inf. xvii. 86. DAir altra parte m'eraN le devoTE. — Purg. xiii. 82. Diverse voce FAN giu dolce noTE. — Par. vi. 124. DellA corNice onde cader si puoTE. — Purg. xiii. 80. Di suA poteNza conTra il sommo giovE. — hif. xxxi. 92. DA molte stelle mi vieN quesTa lucE. — Par. XXV. JO. Del nostro pellicANo e quesTi fuE. — Par. XXV. 113. Perhaps the construction of the foregoing string ciphers, in which the reading is suspended until the last letter of the line, will be more clearly evident if we examine two lines in which this suspension does not occur: DA deNTi morsi dElla morte avante. — Purg. vii. 32. Here the reading is complete on an indeterminate place in the middle of the line and there is, accordingly, no string cipher. Di tANTa plEnitudine volante. — Par. xxxi. 20. Here again the reading ends before the end of the line. It may be that since these lines begin with d and end with ANTE, we should regard them as containing signatures, but they are certainly not string ciphers. I do not suggest that all the string ciphers shown above are intentional; the inten- tional character of some of them, however, seems to be con- firmed by hints in the text. LETTER SEQUENCES Dante seems to use as a cryptographic device sequences of letters which, when rearranged, yield the cryptographic reading. I give here three examples. SIGNATURES 75 In Purg. xxlii. 91—92, is the following expression: Tant'e a Dio piu cara e piu diletta La vedovella mia. Notice in line 91 the letter sequence: nt e a d. These letters may be rearranged to read dante. It may be surmised that Dante set his signature here to indicate that in the reference to the vedovella he had in mind his own wife, widowed indeed by his exile. The following line is Par. i. 10: Veramente quant'io del regno santo. Note in these words the letter sequence: ant 10 de. These letters may be rearranged into a signature: 10, dante. This signature appears on the last line of the ten-line frame of the acrostic vela pene (see pp. 29-30). Line 8 of the same canto reads: Nostro intelletto si profonda tanto. The letter sequence in this line: nda t may be rearranged to read: dant. These letter sequences are like the one in Inf. viii. 105 (see p. 79). ACROSTIC SIGNATURES WITH MISSING LETTERS There are in the Dwina Commedia a number of acrostic signatures in which one of the letters of the signature is apparently missing. In every such instance the letter which is necessary for the spelling of the name and which is miss- ing from the acrostic letters is indicated, by some hint in the text, as existing somewhere in the interior of the text. In some instances the letter thus apparently missing is in- dicated, by some hint in the text, as existing in some equiva- lent substitute which the text supplies. The purpose of thus hiding an essential letter is in some instances to render the disguise more complete and in other instances to sug- gest some symbolic association with the name. 76 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The following passage, Par. iv. 13-24, consists of four terzine: Fe' si Beatrice, qual fe' Daniello, 13 Nabuccodonosor levando d' ira, Che r avea fatto ingiustamente fello, E disse: 'lo veggio ben come ti tira 16 Uno ed altro disio, si che tua cura Se stessa lega si che fuor non spira. Tu argomenti: "Se il buon voler dura, 19 La violenza altrui per qual ragione Di nieritar mi scema la misura?" Ancor di dubitar ti da cagione, 22 Parer tornarsi l' anime alle stelle, Secondo la sentenza di Platone. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 13 Y 16 E 19 T 22 AN Read: fante Fante has the same significance as fancello or fanciullo. With this acrostic fante Dante identifies himself by means of an acrostic signature on the same lines. Notice that in the five letters of the acrostic fante, four: ante, occur in the spelling of dante. If the f of fante were to be substituted by a D, the spelling of dante would be complete. That this substitution is to be made is indicated by the sense of the text. According to line 13, "Beatrice did what Daniel did." It is in the implications of these significant words that the substitution of d for f is indicated. The implication of these words is to be discovered by referring to the incident to which Beatrice here refers; her reference, as appears in Dan. ii, is to the fact that Daniel stood before the king and interpreted a dream. What Beatrice did, therefore, in doing what Daniel did, was to make Daniel stand before, that is, at the front of the line, and so replace the f of Fe by the d of Daniello. SIGNATURES -j-j By so doing, she substitutes the acrostic spelling of fante by the acrostic spelling of dante. By this identification of his own name with fante Dante identifies himself as the child in the rebirth symbolism of the poem, by a device analogous to that by which he identifies his own name with the acrostic NATi (see pp. 103-5). Further hints in the text of cryptic intention are the words: per parlar distintOy line 12, which immediately precede the terzine containing the acrostic; and: lo veggio ben come ti tira, line 16. Pa7'lar distinto may mean not only "distinct speech" but also "a different kind of speech," the different kind that is used in the cryptogram. And the words: lo veggio ben come ti tira, may be understood, apart from the context, as alluding to how clearly the letters of the text may be seen to draw out the acrostic dante. An example of an acrostic to be read on five terzine may be seen in Inf. viii. 94-108; and the acrostic reading here will show another signature in which an essential letter is hidden in the body of the text in order to add to the disguise and also to deepen the symbolism. The passage is: Pensa, Letter, se io mi sconfortai 94 Nel suon delle parole maledette: Ch' io non credetti ritornarci mai. *0 caro duca mio, che piu di sette 97 Volte m' hai sicurta renduta, e tratto D' alto periglio che incontra mi stette, Non mi lasciar,' diss' io, 'cosi disfatto: 100 E se '1 passar piu oltre c' e negato, Ritroviam 1' orme nostre insieme ratto.' E quel signor che li m' avea menato 103 Mi disse: 'Non temer, che il nostro passo Non ci puo torre alcun: da tal n' e dato. Ma qui m' attendi; e lo spirlto lasso 106 Conforta e ciba di speranza buona, Ch' io non ti lascero nel mondo basso.' Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these five terzine: 78 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 94 p 97 lOO NON MI LASCIAR 103 E 106 MA The letters, interrupted by the command: Non mi lasciar^ spell: POEMA. The command: Non mi lasciar^ seems to hint that dante himself is not to be left out of the acrostic reading. Following the hint, read the following marginal letters of the line in which the command appears and of the lines on each side of it: 99 da 100 N lOI E If a T were supplied, these letters would spell: dantte. As it is, they suggest the name as either unfinished or muti- lated, and this very suggestion is made by Dante himself in the complete form of his command, line 100: Non mi lasciar, diss' io, cosi disfatto. Dante, as an acrostic reading, is disfatto by the lack of a t. And because of this lacking t Dante may be understood, lines no and in, as referring to the doubtful spelling of his own name when he says: ed io rimango in forse, Che'l si e '1 no nel capo mi tenzona. Now the lacking t is mentioned by Virgil, line 108, when he replies, as he may be understood as replying, to Dante: Non ti lascerb. The ti of these words is to be understood, for the cryptographic purpose of the passage, to be the very letter T in question; and Virgil may be understood to be refusing to leave the t in Hell, since Hell is no place for t, the symbol of the cross and of Christ. The letter t as a cross, and so as the symbol of Christ, is often used in the cryptography of the Divina Commedia. Consistent with the idea that the symbol of Christ, and therefore Christ himself, is not to be left in SIGNATURES 79 Hell is the fact that Dante does not himself refer to Christ by name in Inferno. Dante must be content, therefore, to spell his name on the marginal letters of lines 99, 100, and loi, with the T thus mentioned as missing. The acrostic reads, then: poema: dante. In Virgil's words of comfort to Dante for leaving him cost disfattOy he says, lines 104 and 105: Non temer, che il nostro passo Non ci puo torre alcun: da tal n'e dato. Now the comfort of the words: da tal n'e dato^ consists, from the point of view of the cryptographic intention, in the fact that they contain a letter sequence: nedat, which spells Dante's own name. There are several other examples of acrostic signatures with the T hidden. One occurs in InJ. xxiv. 7c»-84: lo era volto in giu; ma gli occhi vivi 70 Non potean ire al fondo per 1' oscuro: Perch' io: 'Maestro, fa che tu arrivi Dair altro cinghio, e dismontiam lo muro; 73 Che com' i' odo quinci e non intendo, Cosi giu veggio, e niente affiguro.' 'Altra risposta,' disse, *non ti rendo, 76 Se non lo far: che la domanda onesta Si dee seguir coll' opera tacendo.' Noi discendemmo il ponte dalla testa, 79 Dove s' aggiunge coll' ottava ripa, E poi mi fu la bolgia manifesta: E vidivi entro terribile stipa 82 Di serpenti, e di si diversa mena, Che la memoria il sangue ancor mi sclpa. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these five terzine: 70 10 73 D 76 A 79 N 82 e If a T were supplied, these letters would read: 10 dante. 8o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE It may be understood to be on account of the missing t, which blocks the spelling, that Dante says, line 75: niente affiguro. The allusion to the missing t is made by Virgil, line 76: 7ion ti rendo. And as the t is not forthcoming, Dante, who is having great difficulty in seeing, cannot see the bolgia^ the hole or hiatus in the spelling, until he descends to where the bridge joins the bank. The bridge joining the bank makes, naturally, the shape of a t; and it is then, with the t thus supplied, that, as Dante says, mi Ju la bolgia manijesta^ and the spelling is completed: 10 dante. I take this acrostic to be on the five terzine spelling 10 DANTE, instead of on the four spelling simply dante, for the reason that the hint of its presence is given in the line begin- ning with /o, line 70. Dante says here that lo era volto in giii. These words are the hint that his name is written down the margin. The T is again not given for the cryptic spelling of Dante's name in Hell for the reason, as already explained, that t, as a cross shape, is the symbol of Christ. There is a dante signature in Paradiso in which the t is missing, and the reason that it is missing in the spelling in Paradiso confirms the reason for its being missing in the spellings in Inferno. The passage with the signature to which I refer is found in Par. xviii. 37-48: lo vidi per la croce un lume tratto 37 Dal nomar Josue, com' ei si feo, Ne mi fu noto il dir prima che il fatto. Ed al nome dell' alto Maccabeo 40 Vidi moversi un aitro roteando, E letizia era ferza del paleo. Cosi per Carlo magno e per Orlando 43 Due ne segui lo mio attento sguardo, Com' occhio segue suo falcon volando. Poscia trasse Guglielmo, e Rinoardo, 46 E il duca Gottifredi la mia vista Per quella croce, e Roberto Guiscardo. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these four terzine: SIGNATURES 8i 37 10 40 ED 43 CO 46 P Read: copio. ed Ed, as I shall show in Chapter V, is in itself a Dante signature. Notice that ed, as a signature, is immediately followed in the text by al nome. The whole passage is a play on the idea of name. In line 38 is the word nomar^ and in the terzina immediately preceding, 34-36, is the phrase: to or nomerb. The acrostic: copio. ed, may be understood to mean that Dante "copies" the cross, which is mentioned in the passage, in the sense that he shows the cross, or the divine nature, in his human nature. He illustrates this idea by the crypto- graphic device of showing the cross in the spelling of his name. Consider the following marginal letters of the terzina 37-39: 37 10 38 da 39 NE Id equals ten, which in the Roman notation is x; and x, as a sign of the cross, is equivalent to the other sign of the cross, t. Replace, therefore, 10 by t and read: dante. Another signature with a concealed t appears on the first lines of the four terzine, Purg. vi. 40-51 : E la dov' io fermai cotesto punto, 40 Non si ammendava per pregar difetto, Perche il prego da Dio era disgiunto. Veramente a cosi alto sospetto 43 Non ti fermar, se quella nol ti dice, Che lume fia tra il vero e 1' intelletto. Non so se intendi; io dico di Beatrice: 46 Tu la vedrai di sopra, in suUa vetta Di questo monte, ridere e felice.' 82 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Ed io: 'Signore, andiamo a maggior fretta; 49 Che gia non m' affatico come dianzi; E vedi omai che il poggio V ombra getta.' Consider on the first lines of these terzine the following marginal letters: 40 E LA 43 V 46 NO 49 ED VELO DANE Read; Notice that line 49 begins with the words: ed 10, which, as I shall show in Chapter V, are a cryptographic signature. If a T could be supplied, the acrostic reading: velo dane would become velo dante. The missing t is twice referred to in line 44: Non tl fermar, se quella nol ti dice. The reason that the t is missing from the signature appears from the sense of the text, which concerns a difetto, line 41. The acrostic illustrates this difetto by being itself defective. But Dante does not leave the defective signature in doubt, for on all the lines of the terzina preceding his symbol ed 10, line 49, along with this line, he gives the following letters: 46 non so 47 TU LA VE 48 DI Q 49 E Read: vel. sono qui. dante An example of an acrostic in which the t for dante appears to be indicated by the letters 10, considered as a ten, an x, a cross, and so as a t, appears in Par. viii. 35-39: D' un giro, e d' un girare, e d' una sete, Ai quali tu del mondo gia dicesti: Voi che intendendo il terzo del movete; 37 E sem si pien d' amor che, per piacerti, Non fia men dolce un poco di quiete.' SIGNATURES 83 Consider the following marginal letters on these five lines: 35 D 36 AI 37 vol 38 E 39 N Notice that all the letters except the t of dante appear as initials, and that the only line, 37, on which a letter of the name does not appear is composed of a quotation from one of his canzoni. The suggestion is forced that the letters se- lected above contain a signature. By substituting again a T for the 01 (reversed, 10, or ten) of line 37, read: dante vi. Following are five terzine, Purg. xxii. 94-108: Tu dunque, che levato hai il coperchio 94 Che m' ascondeva quanto bene io dico, Mentre che del salire avem soperchio, Dimmi dov' e Terenzio nostro antico, 97 Cecilio, Plauto e Varro, se lo sai: Dimmi se son dannati, ed in qual vice' 'Costoro, e Persio, ed io, ed altri assai,' 100 Rispose il Duca mio, 'siam con quel Greco Che le Muse lattar piii ch' altro mai, Nel primo cinghio del carcere cieco. 103 Spesse fiate ragioniam del monte Che sempre ha le nutrici nostre seco. Euripide v' e nosco, ed Antifonte, 106 Simonide, Agatone ed altri piue Greci che gia di lauro ornar la fronte. The initials of the first lines of these five terzine are: 94 T 97 D 100 c 103 N 106 E Read: dcnte I regard this as a concealed signature. C, initial of Hne 100, equals 100, which, by disregarding the ciphers, equals i, which 84 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE equals a, its cabalistic equivalent as the first letter of the alphabet. By substituting a for c we read dante. Note, as a hint of the concealed signature, the possible double sense of the first two lines of the passage. The terzina following the foregoing passage, Purg. xxii. 109-111, reads: Quivi si veggion delle genti tue Antigone, Deifile ed Argia, Ed Ismene si trista come fue. Consider the following marginal letters of these three lines: 109 QUIVI no ANT III ED Read: quivi dante A signature in which the d is concealed appears in Purg. XXV. 10-21 : E quale il cicognin che leva l' ala 10 Per voglia di volare, e non s' attenta D' abbandonar lo nido, e giu la cala; Tal era io con voglia accesa e spenta 13 Di domandar, venendo infino all' atto Che fa colul ch' a dicer s' argomenta. Non lascib, per 1' andar che fosse ratto, 16 Lo dolce Padre mio, ma disse: 'Scocca L' arco del dir che infino al ferro hai tratto.' AUor sicuramente aprii la bocca, 19 E cominciai: 'Come si puo far magro La dove 1' uopo di nutrir non tocca?* The initials of the first lines of the four terzine are: 10 £ 13 T 16 N 19 A Read: ante This approximation to dante suggests that the missing d SIGNATURES 85 is indicated in a double meaning of uopo di, line 21, and consumar d, line 23. Another indication that a d is to be supplied appears in an acrostic on lines 13-15, the first words of which are, significantly: Tal era io. Consider on these lines the following marginal letters: 13 TA 14 DI 15 c Read: taci d But what was Dante's reason for omitting the d from his name? The reason is given in lines 20-27. Dante asks Virgil how the spirits of the gluttonous can appear emaciated when, as spirits, they can have no need of nourishment; and Virgil, who explains by analogy, asks Dante to remember come Meleagro Si consumo al consumar d'un stizzo. Virgil is here referring to the story of the prophecy made to the mother of Meleager at the time of his birth. According to this prophecy, Meleager was to live as long as a log then burning on the hearth remained unconsumed. In order to preserve the life of her son, the mother seized the log from the hearth, extinguished it, and preserved it. But when Meleager grew to manhood, he excited her anger; in revenge she threw the log, which represented his life, in the fire; and as the log was consumed Meleager was consumed. The signature ante, of which the d has been consumed, is obviously given by Dante as a cryptographic analogy to the story of Meleager. Dante lives as long as his name lives. And he is destroyed with the destruction of his name. The myth of Meleager has a deeper meaning which is consonant with the deeper meaning of the Divina Commedia. The log is phallic; the fire is the symbol of sexual union; and the act of the mother in withdrawing the log from the fire at the moment of birth symbolizes the severing at birth of the union of the child with its mother. The act of the mother in putting the log back into the fire symbolizes the reunion of 86 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE the mother and child in an incestuous act which is the cause at once of the death and the rebirth of the child. The following passage, InJ. xxiii. 67-78, consists of four terzine: O in eterno faticoso manto! 67 Noi ci volgemmo ancor pure a man manca Con loro insieme, intenti al tristo pianto: Ma per lo peso quella gente stanca 70 Venia si pian, che noi eravam nuovi Di compagnia ad ogni mover d' anca. Perch' io al Duca mio: 'Fa che tu trovi 73 Alcun ch' al fatto o al nome si conosca, E gli occhi si andando intorno movi.' Ed un che intese la parola Tosca 76 Diretro a noi grido: 'Tenete i piedi, Voi che correte si per 1' aura fosca: Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the four terzine: 67 70 MA 73 P 76 E Read: poema Consider the following marginal letters on these lines and the intervening lines: 67 68 NOI 69 C 70 MA 71 VE 72 D 73 P 74 A 75 E 76 E Read: poema. ecco vi dane SIGNATURES 87 If a T were supplied, Dante's name would be complete. It is to be found in the falicoso manto, of line 67, for the weary- mantle to be borne eternally is, for Dante, his poem, and it is also the cross, and the cross is a t. Consider the following marginal letters of the lines of the last terzina: 76 E 77 Di 78 V Read: vedi INTERIOR SEQUENCES In addition to the various devices which we have examined in the preceding signatures is another well known device of cryptography that is frequently used in the Divina Commedia. The device to which I refer consists in arranging the letters of the cryptogram, not on the margin as in acrostics, but in the body of the text, in such a way that they follow a straight line that is either perpendicular or oblique to the regular lines of the text. This device is the so called interior sequence. An example of such an interior sequence appears in a passage which seems to give indications of a description of the very device in question. I refer to the first four terzine of Par. x: Guardando nel suo figllo con Y amore Che r uno e l' altro eternalmente spira, Lo primo ed inefFabile valore, Quanto per mente o per loco si gira 4 Con tanto ordine fe', ch' esser non puote Senza gustar di lui chi cio rimira. Leva dunque, lettor, all' alte rote 7 Meco la vista dritto a quella parte Dove r un moto e V altro si percote; E li comincia a vagheggiar nell' arte 10 Di quel maestro, che dentro a se 1' ama Tanto che mai da lei 1' occhio non parte. 88 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The complete acrostic reading on this passage will be shown in Chapter IX, pp. 407-8. For the present note the following marginal letters of the last terzina: 10 E 11 D 12 TAN Read: dante Now look at the letters which I have capitalized in the first five lines of this passage, as follows: 1 guardando nel suo figlio con I'amorE 2 che I'uno e I'altro eternalmeNTe spira 3 lo primo ed ineffabile vAlore 4 quanto per menTE Per loco si gira 5 con tanto orDine fe ch'esser non puote The letters which I have capitalized make the following figure: E NT A TE O P D The letters capitalized in line 4: te o p, spell backwards: POET. A straight line drawn from the capitalized d of ordine, line 5, to the capitalized e oi amore, line i, passes through the capitalized a of va/ore, line 3, and the capitalized nt of eternalmente^ line 2. The capitalized letters on this line spell, therefore, dante; and the same line passes through the letter group: TE OP, on line 4. Thus the complete reading of the interior sequence may be considered to be: dante, poet. Notice that the spacing between the letters of the signature is almost mathematically regular. In the sixth space beyond the D, on the line above the d, is the space between the o and the p of the sequence: te o p; in the sixth space beyond this space, on the line above, is the a; in the sixth space SIGNATURES 89 beyond the a, on the line above, is theTof nt; and in the sixth space beyond the n of nt, on the line above, is the e. Let me first give the method by which I arrive at this sequence and then the confirmatory indications in the text for so doing. First, then, for the method. The passage is printed with a perfectly even margin, so that the first letter of every line is directly above or below the first letter of the line that follows or precedes it. It is a necessary consequence, therefore, that if a line be considered as a series of equal positions every one of which is occupied either by a letter or a space between words, all the relative positions of the lines will be directly above or below each other, exactly as in the case of the positions of the first letters. This is not the form in which the text of the Divina Commedia is usually presented; in all the editions with which I am acquainted, the second and third lines of each terzina are indented, with the effect of emphasizing the terzine as separate units by the salience of their first lines. Whatever the authority for thus indenting the second and third lines of each terzina and whatever advantage there may be in typographically marking the terzina as a unit, the uneven margin is a form that cannot be presupposed to have been used by Dante, especially if there is any reason to believe that he used his text as a bed for interior sequences. Indeed, in such a case, it is practically certain that he must have made, or at least have calculated, his margin even. The discovery of the interior sequences in the Divina Commedia is dependent on the presumption that every letter in every line has a calculable position in relation to every other letter. An author may insert, indeed, an interior sequence into a text in which the positions of the letters have not been calculated, but he can never expect the sequence to be discovered by the reader, if the relative positions of the letters in his original copy are altered. Any alteration, in fact, would completely distort the sequence beyond the possibility of recognition. In the case of the use of a manuscript copy, such as Dante was obliged to use in presenting his poem to 90 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE the public, the chances for the alteration of the relative positions were infinite; the chances for preserving them were nil. His only means for preserving them, therefore, would have been to make it possible to calculate the relative posi- tions of the letters of his original copy from the very form of the poem itself. And his only means of making this calculation possible would have been to consider every line as an ordinal series of equal positions directly above or below the relative positions in all the other lines. Such an ordinal series of equal positions, occupied respectively by the letters of the text or the spaces between the words of the text, never appears on the ordinary printed page, where the various letters, such as I and M for instance, occupy spaces of different size; it can occur, however, in script produced by a typewriter, where every letter occupies an equal space. I have accordingly, in order to show the interior sequences in the Divina Commedia^ had the passages in which they occur printed in typewriter style. My argument for supposing that Dante intended his text to be so arranged is based primarily, of course, on the hypo- thesis that he used his text as a bed for interior sequences. This original hypothesis has in its favor, first, the fact that if he used cryptographic devices at all he may well be supposed to have used the well known and common device of the interior sequence; and further in favor of this hypo- thesis are the implications of certain curious expressions in the very passage, and in the lines immediately following it, in which I have just shown the interior sequence spelling DANTE, POET. Let me refer first to the possible duplicity in the meaning of the command to "lift then thy sight. Reader, with me to the lofty wheels, straight to that region where the one motion strikes on the other." May there not be a hint here to look up at the "wheels" of the lines above, where "the one motion" of the first line "strikes on the other" motion of the second line? It is to this point, in the word Amore^ the last word of the first line, that the reader may accordingly be considered to be directed to lift up his eyes for the beginning of the interior sequence just shown. And may SIGNATURES 91 not the reference to the art of the master "who within him- self so loves it" suggest the art of hiding a spelling inside the text? And may not the "master" be Dante, since dante appears in an acrostic on the terzina in which the "master" is mentioned? And considering the oblique line made by the interior sequence here discovered, may we not see an allusion to it in the words; "See how the oblique circle which bears the planets branches off?" And may there not be a similar hidden meaning in the allusion to the departure of this line as "more or less distant from the straight line?" The whole passage, read with suspicion alert to the duplicities of expres- sion so common in the Divina Commedia, points to a crypto- graphic device like the interior sequence here discovered. In view of these possible hints of the existence of interior sequences I have arranged the text in the manner shown above; for this manner of arranging the text, assuming that the text contains interior sequences, may fairly be assumed to have been considered by Dante himself as the only means by which the interior sequences could be reconstructed from the text itself in the absence of the original copy. It may very well be, however, that in spite of the pre- sumptive evidence in its favor, the interior sequence which I have shown may fail in itself to convince the reader that it is anything else than an accident. Nor am I able to affirm, as a fact, that it is not an accident. The strongest evidence in its favor will be the cumulative evidence of other interior sequences in positions where the sense of the text corresponds to the sense of the interior sequence. There is another possible objection to the "intention" of this interior sequence. It is the fact that the spacing of the letters of the sequence is not quite regular. I will show in- stances of interior sequences where the regularity of the spacing is absolute, and this regularity is additional proof, of course, of the intention of the sequence. But a sequence remains a sequence in spite of spacing that is not quite mathematically strict, especially when it can be conjfirmed by the sense of the text. A sequence that is not mathematically regular in its spacing may still, as in the present instance. 92 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE strike the eye as regular, and it is the eye that judges. Indeed, the mathematical regularity cannot be seen without careful counting, and it must be remembered that whatever the ingenuity of the author, the difficulties of constructing an absolutely strict sequence may be at times so great as to warrant his use of a sequence that satisfies the eye.* There is a group of interior sequences spelling dante in Par. XV. 94-1 1 1, a passage to which I have referred in Chapter I as showing a curious symmetrical arrangement of four terzine each beginning with the same word: Non. The passage reads as follows: Mio figlio fu, e tuo bisavo fue: 94 Ben si convien che la lunga fatica Tu gli raccorci con 1' opere tue. Fiorenza dentro dalla cerchia antica 97 Ond' ella toglie ancora e terza e nona, Si stava in pace, sobria e pudica. Non avea catenella, non corona, 100 Non donne contigiate, non cintura Che fosse a veder piu che la persona. Non faceva nascendo ancor paura 103 La figlia al padre, che il tempo e la dote Non fuggian quinci e quindi la misura. Non avea case di famiglia vote; 106 Non v' era giunto ancor Sardanapalo A mostrar cio che in camera si puote. Non era vinto ancora Montemalo 109 Dal vostro Uccellatoio, che, com' e vinto Nel montar su, cosi sara nel calo. Before examining the interior sequences let us read the acrostic in this passage. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the six terzine: 94 MI 103 NO 97 FIORENZA DE 106 NO 100 NO 109 NO Read: nomi, fiorenza, d. . .e. no, no, no *In the device in George Herbert's poem, shown on page 8, the words are not regularly spaced, either numbered as words in the line, or counted in letters and letter spaces. Poe's well-known "Valentine" to Frances Sargent Osgood is mathematically regular. SIGNATURES 93 Cacciaguida, the ancestor of Dante, is speaking of the past of Florence, Dante's birthplace, the mother that denied him by sending him into exile. The acrostic: nomi, fiorenza, D. . . E, is met, therefore, characteristically, by the reiteration of her denial: no, no, no. Dante is thrice denied, as Christ was thrice denied. This is another of the numerous instances of Dante's identification of himself with Christ. Florence refuses to name Dante, and the refusal seems to be expressed by the following cryptographic device. Grouped about the last no, line 109, are the following marginal letters: 108 A 109 NON E no DAL III NEL MONTA Read: ella non noma dante Now in connection with these two acrostic readings: nomi, fiorenza, d. . .e. no, no, no, and ella non noma dante, see how Dante is named in the passage in interior sequences, notwithstanding the refusal of Florence to name him: 99 si stava in pAce sobria E pudica 100 non avea cateNella noN corona 101 non donne conTigiATe non cintura 102 che fosse a vEDer piu che la persona Read the capitals on the vertical line from a of pace^ 99; n oi catenella, 100; first t oi contigiate, loi; ed of veder^ 102: DANTE. Read from e, after sobria^ 99; second n on non, 100; at of contigiate, loi; d oi veder^ 102: dante. These two interior sequences, shown respectively in the capital letters on a vertical and an oblique line, are absolutely regular. In the vertical sequence the letters a, n, t, and e are each in the fourteenth space of their respective lines and the d is immediately adjacent to the e. In the oblique sequence there are exactly two spaces between the d and the at, between the at and the n, and between the n and the e. Moreover, the fact that both signatures meet on the same d 94 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE adds still more to the probability that they are intentional, as does likewise their meeting on the d of ed, in itself a signature. There is a hint in the text to look for the signature in the words: veder piu che la persona, and this hint itself coincides with the converging point of the two signatures. In lines 105-108, there is an interior sequence reading DANTE, thus: 105 non fuggiaN quinci e quindi la misura 106 non avea case di fAmilia vote 107 non v'era giunto ancor sarDanapalo 108 a mostrar cio che in camera si puoTE Read from n o{ fuggian, 105; first a oi Jamiglia, 106; d of sardanapalo, 107; te oi puote, 108: dante. This sequence is spaced with mathematical precision. There are seven spaces between the n oifuggian and the a of famiglia, seven spaces between this a and the d of sardana- paloy and seven spaces between this d and the te of puote. There is a hint in the text in the words: A mostrar cio che in camera si puote. The nest of three interior sequences spelling Dante in this passage, confirmed by hints in the text and the acrostic readings: nomi, fiorenza, d. . . e. no, no, no, and ella non noma DANTE, Can scarcely be rejected as accidental. Following is another interior sequence which resembles the first one I showed in that it appears on the first five lines of a canto, namely, InJ. xiii. 1-5: 1 non era ancor di la nesso arrivAto 2 quando noi ci mettemmo pEr un bosco 3 che da nessun senTiero era segnato 4 non fronDe verdi ma di color fosco 5 Non rami schietti ma nodosi e involti Read from the second a of arrivato, i; e of per, 2; t of sentiero, 3; d oijronde, 4; initial n oi non, 5: dante. In the passage to which I have already referred as con- taining the acrostic vom there are two interior sequences in the first five lines, Purg. xii. 25-29: SIGNATURES 95 25 veDE colui che fu Nobil create 26 piu ch'Altra creaturA giu DAI cielo 27 folgoreggiaNdo scender DA un lato 28 vedea briareo fiTto DAI TElo 29 celestial giacer DAll'altra parte Read : de of vede, 25 ; first a of altra^ 26; n oijolgoreggiando^ I']; first T oifitto, 28: dante. Read n of nobil, 25; second a of creatura, 26; d of da, 27; TE of telo, 28: DANTE. Notice the curious sequence, da, 26, da, 27, da, 28, da, 29. DA are Dante's initials and are apparently used by Dante as a signature. The foregoing examples are sufficient to establish Dante's use of the interior sequence in the Divina Commedia. The other interior sequences which I have discovered I will show later, as especially pertinent to certain aspects of Dante's symbolism. NON-ITALIAN PHRASES In the Divina Commedia are many Latin phrases, one pass- age in Provengal, and two passages of "gibberish." It is my opinion that Dante was partly determined in his use of these passages by the cryptographic possibilities which they presented. I will show, at any rate, that many of these non-Italian phrases can be regarded as yielding acrostic or telestic or anagrammatic readings referring to Dante or to the symbolism of the poem. The device by which the acrostics or telestics are read on phrases is the same device by which the famous acrostic 'IXGTS is derived from the phrase: 'Itjo-oDs yi.pi.aTos Qeov Tios Xurrjp. It is impossible, indeed, to prove that the cryptograms which I shall show on the non-Italian passages were intended by Dante. But some evidence of intention appears from the very possibility of finding in a large number of them acrostics, telestics, and anagrams appropriate to the mean- ing of the poem. I believe that in many of these non-Itahan 96 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE phrases Dante was conscious of the possibility of converting them, by cryptographic devices, into references to himself. The "delusion of reference" which this cryptographic use of innocent phrases indicates is consistent both with the form of the poem as a dream and with Dante's highly rationalized egocentricity. I will give here several examples which contain Dante's signature. Most of the other examples will be found in Chapter IX. A few will be found in other chap- ters, to which their cryptographic meaning is especially per- tinent. In Purg. ii. 46, is the Latin phrase: In exitu Israel de Mgypto. These words contain a signature. The x of exitu is to be taken as the equivalent of a t, since x and t, as has already been noted, are both signs of the cross. Con- sider the following initial and contiguous letters: IN IN EXITU EX ET ISRAEL ISRA DE D AEGYPTO AEG Read: gira. sei dante The GIRA of this reading is a direction to revolve or re- arrange the letters. The use of gira recalls the use of the word "revolve" in Twelfth Night, ii, 5. That the signature in In exitu Israel de JEgypto was in- tended by Dante is indicated by the acrostic on the six lines ending with the line composed of the Latin words in ques- tion. 41 c 42 TA 43 DA 44 T 45 E 46 IN Read: taci dante (or cita dante) Notice, moreover, that the terzina preceding the line in Latin contains a signature. The terzina reads: SIGNATURES 97 Da poppa stava il celestial nocchiero, Tal che parea beato per iscripto; E piu di cento spirti entro sediero. Consider the initial and contiguous letters on the first and last words of each line: 43 DA N 44 T I 45 E SE Read: sei dante This method of signing appears to be hinted at in the allu- sion, line 43, to the nocchiero who stood da poppa. This allusion to tho. poppa may be understood as a hint of what is standing at the poppa of the line. In the signature in di NECESSiTA, Purg. XXX. Gi, (see p. 55), there is a similar use of poppa with prora as a hint to look at the end as well as at the beginning of the words. The signature on this terzina: sei dante, is identical, with the exception of the word gira, with the signature found on the Latin phrase which immediately follows: gira. SEI DANTE. In Purg. viii. 13, is the Latin phrase: Te lucis ante. These words are part of the first line of a hymn sung at Compline, the last service of the day. Tutto V inno intero, as is in- dicated in line 17, was sung in the hearing of Dante. Why, then, does he refer to the hymn by just the three words: Te lucis ante? The answer is to be found in the crypto- graphic signature which these three words make possible. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: TE TE LUCIS LUCI ANTE ANTE Read: tu celi ante There is, of course, a suggestion of dante in the sound of ante, and it is on this sound suggestion that Dante is here playing. If a d could be supplied, his name would be spelled 98 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE in full, and the cryptogram would read: tu celi dante. Now as a matter o^ double entente, Dante is to be understood as saying himself that he heard his own name in the words: Te lucis ante; this double meaning appears in the way he says that the Latin phrase was uttered: con si dolci note, Che fece me a me uscir. These words, taken as they are from their context, are capa- ble of meaning that the Latin phrase was uttered "with such sweet notes that it made me (my name) come out to me." In addition to this suggestion that a d is to be supplied, there is another suggestion to supply the d in the three d's in the line preceding the Te lucis ante: Come dicesse a Dio: 'D'altro non calme.' Moreover, the D altro is capable of suggesting an other D. Another suggestion that a d is to come out of the context for the signature in Te lucis ante may be found in the words uscir di, line 15. Another suggestion that a d somewhere in the text is to be sounded with Te lucis ante may be taken from the words, removed from their context: squilla di lontano. These words may be understood as meaning that "a distant d sounds." For the acrostic which appears on the passage in which this Latin phrase is quoted see page 418. The acrostic reads: dante e qui l'eguale. This acrostic may refer, in part, to the Latin words, to which Dante, in a cryptographic sense, is the equal. The Latin phrase is followed, lines 19-21, with a reference to the vela; the vela may be the cryptogram which we have just deciphered. The reference to the vela is as follows: Aguzza qui, Lettor, ben gli occhi al vero, Ch6 il velo h ora ben tanto sottile, Certo, che il trapassar dentro h. leggiero. In Purg. xxvii. 8, is the Latin phrase Beati mundo corde. Consider in these words the following final and contiguous letters: SIGNATURES 99 BE ATI ATI MUNDO NDO CORDE E Read: 10 dante The first line of Inj. xxxiv. is in Latin: Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni. These words are a parody of a hymn in honor of Christ. The sense is reversed to apply to Lucifer. This reversing of the sense is paralleled by the cryptographic device of taking the letters from the end of the words instead of from the beginning. Consider the following telestic letters of the Latin words — the u oi prodeunt being the equivalent of a v: VEXILLA A REGIS CIS PRODEUNT ODEUNT INFERNI NI Read: vi signo: dante GROUPS OF PROPER NAMES Analogous to the cryptograms constructed on the words of a phrase or a sentence is a form of cryptogram constructed on the proper names of a passage. Of this form I have found several examples in the Divina Commedia, and it is possible that there are more than I have found. Dante's choice of the proper names which he groups together seems to have been determined by his cryptographic purpose as well as by historical and poetical association. In some cases the association is not self-evident and has puzzled the commen- tators. It may be that the cryptograms which I have found explain the reason for his selection, namely, the need of cer- tain letters for the cryptographic reading. I will give here a single specimen of this type of cryptogram; I will reserve others for the chapters to which the cryptographic meaning is especially pertinent and the rest for Chapter IX. ICX3 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE There are several groups of persons with whom Dante identifies himself by the device of signing his name on the first letters of their names. The first group is the group of souls that accompanied Christ in his ascent from Hell to Heaven. This group is mentioned by Virgil in InJ. iv. 46-69, in response to a question from Dante; 'Dimmi, Maestro mio, dimmi, Signore,* 46 Comincia' io, per volar esser certo Di quella fede che vince ogni errore: 'Uscicci mai alcuno, o per sue merto, 49 O per altrui, che poi fosse beato?' E quel, che intese il mio parlar coperto, Rispose: 'Io era nuovo in questo state, 52 Quando ci vidi venire un possente Con segno di vittoria coronato. Trasseci 1' ombra del prime parente, 55 D* Abel sue figlio, e quella di No^, Di Mois^ legista e ubbidiente; Abraam patriarca, e David re, 58 Israel con Io padre, e co' suoi nati, E con Rachele, per cui tanto fe', Ed altri molti; e fecegli beati: 6i E vo' che sappi che, dinanzi ad essi, Spiriti umani non eran salvati.' Non lasciavam 1' andar perch' ei dicessi, 64 Ma passavam la selva tuttavia, La selva dico di spiriti spessi. Non era lunga ancor la nostra via 67 Di qua dal sonno, quand' io vidi un foco Ch' emisperio di tenebre vincia. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the terzine: 58 A 61 E 64 N 67 NON Read: non riusci dante? The acrostic expresses the real meaning of Dante's parlar coperto, the question: Uscicci mai alcuno? 46 D 49 USCI 52 RI 55 T SIGNATURES loi Notice also the dante on the first lines of the four terzine, S5-66: T, A, ED, N. Now consider the initials of the names actually mentioned, lines 56-60, of the spirits delivered from Hell by Christ im- mediately after the crucifixion. In the reference to Christ as u?7 possentCy the cross is indicated as the segno di vittoria with which he was crowned. The names, appearing in the text, of the delivered spirits are: ABEL A NOE N MOISE M A BRA AM A DAVID D ISRAEL I RACHELE R The initials of these names may be taken to read: mira DAN. By adding to these letters the t of the cross, the sign of Christ, the reading is: mira dant. Dante thus identifies himself with the souls of the saved, and so answers in the affirmative the question expressed in the acrostic: non riusci dante? LOST AND FOUND The cryptographic signatures of Dante shown in the pre- ceding pages are widely scattered through the Divirta Commedia. I will conclude this chapter by showing signatures at the beginning and at the end of the poem. They are important because of their position, their structure, and their relation to each other; and also because they illustrate the philosophic raison d'etre of the cryptographic signatures in general. The importance of the signatures at the beginning and the end of the Divina Commedia consists in part in the fact that it is in these positions that Dante, in accordance with the I02 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE general cryptographic custom of signing a work at its begin- ning or end, is most surely to be expected to have signed his poem. The presence of the signatures in these positions is in itself, therefore, a strong confirmation that they are in- tentional. But of still greater importance is the light which these signatures throw on Dante's use of cryptography as a symbol of his theme. Expressed in its simplest terms, the theme of the Divina Commedia is a quest. In the beginning of the poem Dante is lost; he has lost himself in being lost to God. He begins at once, accordingly, the quest to find himself, and it is on this quest that he traverses the universe, which, though he is lost in it, is still himself, his own human condition of evil and good. But at last, having climbed to Paradise, he finds God; and it is in finding God that his quest is ended, for in finding God it is himself that he finds. Dante and God, son and father, human and divine, are found together as one and inseparable. Now the theme of the Divina Commedia^ as thus expressed, is symbolized by the use which Dante makes of his crypto- graphic signatures. When, for instance, in the beginning of the poem, Dante is lost, he symbolizes his lost estate by losing (or hiding) his name in the text by means of various cryptographic devices. Dante thus shows himself as lost in the universe just as his name, hidden by the cryptographic spellings, is lost in the text. And when Dante, in his quest to find himself, traverses the universe, which always, in all its diversities, is still himself in his dual nature as human and divine; when, in other words, he shows that it is in himself that he is lost when he is lost in the universe; he illustrates the identity of himself and the universe by the cryptographic devices which spell his own name with the very letters with which the various aspects of the universe itself are described. And when at last Dante finds God and finds himself in God, he illustrates his meaning once more by the crypto- graphic devices which spell his name in the very words that describe his vision of God. SIGNATURES 103 Let us now turn to the cryptographic signatures them- selves which illustrate the theme of the Divina Commedia as a quest in which Dante is lost and found. The first that I will show appears on the marginal letters of the first lines of the first four terzine of Inferno i, the very position in which we have already seen the acrostic nati: I N 4 A 7 T 10 I Now the acrostic nati refers to the human children of God who are born into the selva oscura of the life on earth; they are mankind in general, and they are represented in the poem by Dante, who describes himself as the typical human being whose experience is the common experience of all. In the sense that his experience as an individual is the common experience of mankind, Dante identifies himself with man- kind, and it may not be unexpected, therefore, that he ex- presses this identification of himself with mankind by cryptographic means. The cryptographic means of expressing the identification of himself with mankind appears at once in the possibility of identifying to a certain extent the words nati and dante. These two words have three letters in common: n, a, t; and a cryptographic signature spelt with the very n, a, and t already used in the acrostic nati would seem to indicate that Dante himself was aware of the common letters possessed by the two words, and intended, in his coincident use of these letters for an acrostic nati and an acrostic dante, to express an identification not only of the words themselves but of what they represent. In order to show the acrostic dante that coincides with the letters n, a, and t of the acrostic nati, consider the following marginal letters on the same lines on which the nati appears: I04 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE I NE 4 A 7 T 10 l' NON SO BEN RID Read: i' non so ben ir. dante This acrostic not only gives a signature at the head of the poem but expresses in a single sentence the fundamental situation as described in the lines on which it appears. La diritta via era smarrita^ and Dante does not know how to go. I am inclined to believe that there is to be found on these same lines another acrostic dante that coincides even more closely with the nati. Observe that the last of the four terzine has an acrostic on its three lines: 10 I 11 TA 12 C Read: taci In accordance with the sense of this taci, the reader is perhaps informed that he is keeping something silent or else commanded to keep something silent. Now observe that with the preceding line the acrostic letters may be considered: 9 D 10 I 11 TA 12 C Read: taci d May not the reader consider that this acrostic either in- forms him that he is keeping d silent or else commands him to keep it silent? In either case, there is suggested a silent d, and if this silent d is added to the acrostic letters ne, a, t, i, the spelling is i', dante. Or if the taci indicates that the whole final terzina on which it appears is to be kept silent, the last line of the frame would then become the ninth, the initial of which is d; and the acrostic would be read thus: SIGNATURES 105 I NE 4 A 7 T 9 D Read: dante With whatever conjecture, and whether with or without the sentence: i' non so ben ir, an acrostic dante appears on the opening lines of Inferno i in such a way as to suggest a cryptographic identification of dante and nati, an identifi- cation which corresponds to the identification which Dante makes of himself, as a typical human being, with mankind in general. And this spelling of dante is lost in the text just as Dante himself is described in the text as lost in the selva oscura. Compare this identification of dante and nati with the identification of dante and fante (p. 77). But Dante has not limited himself in this passage to the acrostic form of signature; the passage contains two interior sequences each spelling dante and keying together on the initial t of Tanto, line 7. The zigzag course of these sig- natures through the text may well be imagined to il- lustrate the course of Dante himself after he had lost the diritta via. The two interior sequences appear thus: 3 che la diritta viA era smarrita 4 ahi quanto a Dir qual era e cosa dura 5 questa sElva selvaggia ed aspra e forte 6 che Nel pensier rinnuova la paura 7 Tanto e amara che poco e piu morte 8 ma pEr trattar del ben ch'i'vi trovai 9 diro dell'Altre cose ch'io v'ho scorte 10 i'non so ben riDir com'io v'entrai 11 tant'era pien di sonNo in su quel punto Read from a of via^ 3; d of dir^ 4; e of selva^ 5; n of nel^ 6; first T oi tanto, 7: dante. Read from the same t oi tanto , 7; e o^ per, 8; a oi altre, 9; D of ridivy 10; second n of sonno^ 1 1 : dante. io6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Let us now turn from the beginning of Inferno, where Dante shows himself by cryptographic devices as identical with mankind and as lost, to the end of Paradiso. In the words with which he there describes his vision of God, Dante illustrates by cryptographic devices that he is identical with God and that in finding God he finds himself. The passage to be considered first is Par. xxxiii, lines 121- 132; within this passage is hidden a most remarkable com- plex of cryptographic signatures. The passage, which fol- lows, describes what Dante saw in his vision of the luce eterna, the eternal light being, as consistently throughout the Divina Commedia, the symbol of God: O quanto e corto il dire, e come fioco 121 Al mio concetto! e questo a quel ch' io vidi E tanto, che non basta a dicer poco. O luce eterna, che sola in te sidi, 124 Sola t' intendi, e da te intelletta Ed intendente te, ami ed arridi! Quella circulazion, che si concetta 127 Pareva in tre come lume riflesso, Dagli occhi miei alquanto circonspetta, Dentro da se del suo colore stesso 130 Mi parve pinta della nostra effige, Per che il mio viso in lei tutto era messo. Let me call attention first, before proceeding to the crypto- grams, to the remarkable play on sounds suggesting the sound of DANTE in lines 125 and 126, and indeed throughout the entire passage. The letters of the name circulate through the text like motes in a sunbeam, now and then almost spelling the name complete. Indeed, in this circulation of the motes of DANTE in the sunbeam of the luce eterna, the name, i', DANTE, is actually spelled in the letter sequence, line 125, DA TE IN. The figure which I have used of motes circulating in a sunbeam, appropriate as it is in connection with the letters of dante circulating in the text describing the luce eterna, suggests that Dante himself may have had the figure in mind. And if such may have been the case, it may well be imagined that there is a double entente in the phrase, lines 127-128: SIGNATURES 107 Quella circulazion, che si concetta Pareva in tre.* This phrase, as I take it, has in addition to its manifest meaning a meaning referring to the cryptograms contained in the text. The cryptic allusion that I see in the phrase may be developed in the following fashion: "That circulation of the letters, conceived thus as dante, appeared in three ways or signatures." And as a matter of fact, out oi quella circula- zion of the letters three signatures do indeed appear. The first of the three signatures to which I refer is the letter sequence already referred to: da te in, in line 125, spelling i' DANTE. Though this is in itself not a particularly interesting signature, it assumes an extraordinary interest from the fact that it is one of three signatures which have in common the same letter d. The other two signatures are interior sequences which transect each other on this d and form a cross. Thus the first signature is a dante on a cross which is composed of two interior sequences, each spelling dant or dante. The sequences appear thus: 123 e tanTo che non basta a dicer poco 124 o luce eterNa che sola IN te sidi 125 sola t ' intendi E Da te intelletta 126 ed IntendenTe te ami ed Arridi 127 quellA circulazion che si concetta The figure of the cross with Dante upon it appears thus: 123 T 124 125 126 • • • • a 1 • « • • ■ • < , . .N. . . .T. N . . E DA TE IN A. . . . • • • • 127 • • • • pi • < For the first of these interior sequences, read from the second t o{ tanto^ line 123, through the n oi eterna^ line 124, through the d of da^ line 125, to the a of arridi^ line 126. *I have adopted Toynbee's reading tre in place of te, as in the text of Moore. Nothing consistent with the sense of the passage, so far as I can see, can be said for te. Tre as an allusion to the Trinity is especially appropriate. io8 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE These letters spell dant. For dante add the e adjacent to the D, line 125. For the second Interior sequence, read from the a o{ quella^ line 127, through the second t o{ intendente, line 126, through the D of da^ line 125, to the n of /'«, line 124. These letters spell DANT. For dante add the e adjacent to d, line 125, as in the other sequence. Notice that these two sequences are absolutely identical in their spacing, and that they form an absolutely sym- metrical cross. The first sequence starts with the letter t, on the sixth space of line 123; the second sequence starts with the letter a, on the sixth space of line 127. The second letter of the first sequence, n, falls on the twelfth space in line 124; the second letter of the second sequence, t, falls on the twelfth space of line 126. The third letter of both sequences, the D of line 125, on which the sequences transect, falls on the eighteenth space of the line. The fourth letter of the first sequence, a, falls on line 126 on the seventh space beyond the transection; the fourth letter of the second sequence, n, falls on line 124 on the seventh space beyond the transection. The two feet of the cross, which correspond to the letters with which I have described the sequences as beginning, are five lines apart; the two heads, which correspond to the letters with which I have described the sequences as ending, are three lines apart; and the transection of the cross is on the central line of the passage in which the cross appears. On this middle line, line 125, at the transection is the sequence spelling: i', dante; so that dante, like Christ, is on the cross, composed of his own name, or nature, as a dualism. What Dante finds, therefore, when he looks into the eternal light, is the thrice repeated image of himself, corre- sponding to the triune God; and he sees himself on the cross, as Christ was on the cross. In finding God he finds himself in the image of God. Compare this cross with the cross formed by interior sequences in Par. xix. 124-129 (pp. 163-4). In addition to this remarkable cross composed of two dante's with DANTE crucificd upon it, there is an anagram in SIGNATURES 109 the passage describing the vision of the eternal light. I was directed to this anagram by the suggested sound of Dante's name, just as I was directed to the cross by the suggested sound of his name in the earlier lines of the passage. The suggested sound I regarded as a hint, just as I have proved the suggested sound to be a hint in treating of the crypto- graphic cross. Observe, then, as a hint of the presence of the anagram, the words with which lines 129 and 130 begin: 129 DAGLI OCCHI MIEI 130 DENTRO DA SE Observe that dagli suggests vaguely the ancestral form of Alighieri, or Aldighiero, in the following letters: aldig; observe that dentro begins with four of the five letters of DANTE. The juxtaposition of these two words suggesting the sound of the first and last names of Dante gave me the idea, after the success of my experiment with the cryptographic cross, that Dante might have intended here an anagram. This idea was reinforced by the fact that the words at the beginnings of lines 127-130 could be read consecutively to form the following acrostic sentence: QUELLA CIRCULAZION PAREVA DAGLI OCCHI MIEI DENTRO DA SE. This acrostic sentence corresponds in meaning exactly to what we have found was true of the circulazion as a circu- lazion of letters spelling Dante's name. In other words, the circulazion^ . . . si concetta as the image of Dante, appeared, when Dante looked into the luce eterna^ like the image of his own eyes (or himselQ which was reflected in it. It was as if Dante saw his own eyes reflected back from the luce eterna in the form of the circulazion. So much for a partial justification of the acrostic sentence: quella circulazion PAREVA DAGLI OCCHI MIEI DENTRO DA SE. But this Same sentence may also, with equal truth to the cryptographic character of the passage as we have already discovered it, be read as follows: no THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE QUELLA ciRCULAziON PAREVA: " DagH occhi mtei dentro da se." In other words, the chru/azion, which we have discovered to be a circHng of letters spelling Dante's own name, appeared also in the form: "dagli occhi miei dentro da se." If, then, the acrostic sentence says that the circling of letters spelling Dante's name appeared also in the form: dagli occhi miei dentro da se, can the statement be justified? It may, indeed, for the words: dagli occhi miei dentro da se, are an anagram which may be read as follows: ECCOMI, DIS, DANTE ALDIGHIERO. In this anagram, accordingly, Dante utters his cry of victory and exultation as he finds himself at last in the very womb of the divine light which is God. Is he calling back to Dis, the emperor of Hell, that Dis should see him so high above? Or is he exulting over God himself, who, as it is said in the first chapter of Genesis, had feared, and with reason, that man would make himself equal with Him; is he calling to God to see him, Dante, as identical with Dis in his usurpation of divinity? I am inclined to believe, in view of the general ambivalence of the symbolism of the Divina Commedia^ that both these meanings are expressed in this anagram at the close of the poem. This anagram is important, moreover, as determining the form in which Dante spelt his own name: Aldighiero. This indeed, was an early form of the name. There remains one other signature in the closing lines of the final canto of the poem that I wish to show here. In Chapter IX the reader may see two more. Dante says, lines ^37~i38, that, as he looked into the eternal light which is God and saw the image of himself, Veder voleva, come si convenne L'imago al cerchio, e come vi s'indova. In the lines immediately succeeding, in telling how he lacked the power to fulfill this desire until, in a flash, the wish came, he signs his name in a final interior sequence: SIGNATURES in 139 ma non eran Da cio le proprie penne 140 se non che lA mia mente fu percossa 141 da un fulgorE in che sua voglia venne 142 all'alta faNTasia qui manco possa Read from d oi da^ 139; a of /^, 140; e oijulgorey 141 ; nt of fantasia, 142: dante. This sequence is absolutely vertical as to four letters, with the fifth adjacent. Thus in the moment of realizing his wish, the wish to understand his exact relation with God in whom he finds himself, it is his name (himself) that comes as the fulfillment of his wish — his name which here signifies, in the symbolic use which Dante makes of cryptography throughout the Divina Commedia, that the relation of Dante to God is the relation of Dante to Dante, of self to self. Chapter IV DXV Chapter IV DXV ^T^HE personage described by Beatrice, Purg. xxxiii. 43, -*- as "a five hundred, ten, and five" has never been satis- factorily identified. He remains, in fact, after many guesses, the Iron Mask of the Divina Commedia. I will show that he is Dante himself. The evidence that I shall here present that Dante himself is designated by the cryptic number is based on the crypto- grams contained in the passage in which the number is mentioned. The cryptograms are not, however, the only evidence that I have to offer; I had, indeed, not yet dis- covered them when I first came to the conclusion that the identification of Dante with the cryptic number was in- dicated by the symbolism of the poem. The most commonly accepted method of interpreting the designation: "a five hundred, ten, and five," is to substitute for the three numbers mentioned the letters which represent these numbers in the Roman notation. Thus five hundred is D, ten is X, and five is v; and they read in the sequence given: DXV. If the V and the x are transposed, as in an anagram, the three letters spell dvx, or — since v and u are interchangeable forms— DUX, the Latin word for "leader." This interpretation, which is satisfactory as far as it goes, fails, however, to yield the name of the dvx; he remains, in fact, as anonymous as before. And in the opinion of certain commentators his anonymity is intentional. The reference to the DVX is prophetic; he is said to be coming, as a leader "sent by God," at some future date; and since Dante is not supposed to have had the gift of prophecy, the name of the [IIS] ii6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE leader cannot have been known to him, no matter how much he may have hoped for or beHeved in him. In the opinion, therefore, of those who hold that the dvx is intentionally- anonymous, Dante quite naturally alluded to the unknown leader by a generic term that would apply to whatever particular person he might turn out to be. More commonly held, however, is the opinion that the enigmatic dvx is a reference to a particular person. In the words of Moore, "it must represent in some way or other a definite name, because it is so evidently suggested by the riddle of the number of the Beast in Rev. xiii. i8." The verse in Revelation reads: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." By substituting for these numbers the Hebrew letters regarded as their cabalistic equivalents, the beast has been identified as Nero. It seems likely, therefore, from the analogy of the cabalistic " number of the beast " in Revelation, that the dvx, as " a five hundred, ten, and five," is some sort of cabalistic cryptogram for the name of a particular person. That the "number of the beast" was indeed Dante's model for the dvx as "a five hundred, ten, and five" is further proved by another striking analogy. It is prophesied of the DVX, Purg. xxxiii. 44-45, that he ancidera la fuia Con quel gigante che con lei delinque. The harlot here mentioned is evidently suggested by "the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication," Rev. xvii. 1-2; and the giant by "the beast that carrieth her," Rev. xvii. 7, the beast, that is, whose number is given in Rev. xiii. These analogies between Revelation and the passage in Purgatorio prove that Dante found the model for his enigma DXV 117 forte in the cabalistic "number of the beast." That he found his model in the Scriptures disposes finally of any objection that he could have considered cryptographic devices as unworthy of his poem. Proceeding on the analogy with " the number of the beast," which is generally accepted as a cabalistic cryptogram, various commentators, with various results, have attempted to decipher the "five hundred, ten, and five" by the method of cabala. This method consists of representing the letters of the alphabet by numbers. Since there are many cabalistic systems, which differ as to the numbers by which the various letters are represented, the interpretation must depend on the system that is adopted. As an illustration I refer specially to the process by which Moore, in his Studies in Dante, seeks to prove that 515 refers to Emperor Henry VII. The entire essay might well be quoted for my purposes, for its detailed erudition reveals the vast extent of cabalistic literature, the seriousness with which learned men regarded it, and especially the likely "acquaintance and even friend- ship" between Dante and a Jewish writer on cabala, Emanuel ben Salomon. Moore thinks that Dante would have desig- nated the Emperor Henry as "Arrico," and that then, since the science of cabala was originally and remained predomi- nantly Hebrew, he would have transliterated the Italian name into the nearest Hebrew equivalents. As there is no equivalent for "o," Moore assumes that Dante would have assigned to it the value 4, because it is the fourth vowel; the other values which Moore assigns are those regularly accepted in Hebrew. Thus he obtains: A I R 200 R 200 I 10 c or K 100 4 515 ii8 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE By a different application of the cabalistic method Scartazzini arrives at what he regards as proof that the dvx is Can Grande. His "proof" depends, among other things, on his giving Can Grande the title: "Kan Grande de Scala, Signore de Verona." Moore dismisses Scartazzini's solution in the following words: "Scartazzini endeavors, in a most preposterous fashion, to make the number 515 indicate 'Can Grande' by the help of a descriptive title containing a mixture of Latin and Italian words, and by then selecting out of it most arbitrarily certain letters and neglecting others . . . He has still to invent ... a purely arbitrary and imaginary system of numerical values for the letters of the alphabet, not Latin, nor Greek, nor Hebrew." Some of the objections which Moore makes to Scartaz- zini's solution are applicable to his own. The arbitrary character of Moore's argument shows in the choice of the form ARRico, his assumption of the value four for the letter o, his dubious use of k, and the further assumption that Dante would have used for the numerical equivalents of Italian letters the cabalistic equivalents of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is significant, however, that the two great Dante scholars agree that it is only by some appli- cation of the cabalistic method that the enigma is to be solved. There can be no doubt, in justification of this agree- ment, that Dante knew the literature of cabala. As Moore points out, "the method could scarcely have been unfamiliar to one so much interested in Biblical exegesis as Dante. Indeed, his own processes of interpretation have much in common with Kabbalistic methods." Moreover, there appeared in Dante's life-time the celebrated book Zohar^ an important and widely circulated work on the cabalistic interpretation of Scripture. Evidence exists, as I believe, in the symbolism of the Divina Commedia that Dante was acquainted with this work; and it is not impossible that he may have been acquainted, as Moore suggests, with the work of his contemporary Emanuel ben Salomon, an authority on the subject of cabala. There is a device used by Emanuel ben Salomon, the DXV 119 contemporary of Dante to whom I have just referred, which shows an interesting variation of the cabalistic method. In order to designate himself at the end of one of his works he says: "My name is 70 and 40, and a Nun (n) joined to a Vau (v or u), and the ending of my name is 'El.'" In this cabalistic signature, made by an expert in cabala, it is important to note that, along with the use of numbers regarded as cabalistic equivalents of letters, some of the actual letters of the name are used. This use of a combination of numbers and letters will show, I think, a kind of precedent for the method by which I interpret the dxv. In my own interpretation of the "five hundred, ten, and five" I accept as a partial interpretation the reading: dvx. In other words, I regard the cryptogram as double, in the sense that it not only, as I shall show, names Dante himself but also names him leader, dvx, then, is the first, or prelimi- nary, form into which the "five hundred, ten, and five" is to be translated. But how, in its turn, is dvx to be translated into DANTE ? The translation of dvx into dante requires, for the perfect working out of the cryptogram, a spelling of Dante's whole name in which the last name has ten letters. The cryptogram will work out, however, on a nine letter form of the last name ending in o, as in the accepted form for the name of Dante's father, Alighiero. An instance of Dante's own use of a spelling with ten letters exists, I believe, in the anagrammatic read- ing: ECCOMI, DIS, DANTE ALDIGHIERO (seC page I lO.) We need not rely, however, on this anagram for authority for a ten-letter spelling of Dante's last name. For early ex- amples I refer to Toynbee's Dante Dictionary and to Sche- rillo's // Cognome Alighieri in Alcuni Capitoli della Biografia di Dante, which show that there is early evidence for the forms Aldighiero, Aldighieri, and Allighieri. The name de- rives from the name of the wife of Dante's ancestor Cac- ciaguida, which was, according to some spellings, Aldighiera degli Aldighieri. The singular masculine would, then, in this original form, have been Aldighiero. I20 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE For the translation of dvx into Dante's name I take, then, the form dante aldighiero. The other ten-letter spellings of Alighieri will answer, as will also the nine-letter spelling ending in o: Alighiero\ but they answer less perfectly. The D of DVX, obtained as the equivalent of five hundred, corresponds to the initial letter d in dante. The V, or five, corresponds to the number of letters in DANTE. It also corresponds to e, the last letter in dante, since e, as the fifth letter of the alphabet, is the alphabetical equivalent of five, dante is indicated, therefore, not only as to the number of letters, but also as to the first and last letters, as in the common method of indicating a proper name without spelling it in full: d. . .e. The X, or ten, corresponds to the ten letters in aldighiero. It also indicates in their proper order both the initial and the final letter of aldighiero, or a o. This indication appears in writing ten according to the Arabic notation. The I of lo corresponds to the initial a of aldighiero, since a, as the first letter of the alphabet, has the numerical value of one. And the o of lo corresponds to the final o in aldi- ghiero, since o as zero and o as a letter have the same form. Thus the ten indicates not only the number of letters in the last name, but also the first and last letters of the name: a. . . .o. In case, however, the name, as in Alighiero^ was a nine-letter name ending in o, the ten of the cryptogram still indicates the name by its initial and its final letters: a. . . .o. The correspondence between "five hundred, ten, and five," DVX, and dante aldighiero is sufficiently close. And this correspondence is determined by variations in a cabalistic method which is known to have been used by Dante's con- temporary, the authority on cabala, Emanuel ben Salomon. This method, as we saw, consists in a combination of letters and of numbers regarded as the equivalents of letters. Dante's variations — if it be admitted that the method I have ascribed to him is his — from the method of Salomon consists in a combined use of the Roman and Arabic notation of numbers and in taking as the numerical value of a letter, not the number that would be assigned to it in the Hebrew DXV 121 alphabet, but the number of its position in the I talian alphabet. The identification of the dvx and dante aldighiero may certainly be regarded as indicated by the preceding interpre- tation. But in the very passage that treats of the enigma forte there is further evidence of a cryptographic character for this identification. This evidence consists of a double acrostic, a series of interior sequences, and an acrostic on the proper names contained in the passage. First, for the double acrostic, see the five terzine, Purg. xxxiii. 43-57: Nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque, 43 Messo da Dio, ancidera la fuia Con quel gigante che con lei delinque. E forse che la mia narrazion buia, 46 Qual Temi e Sfinge, men ti persuade, Perch' a lor modo lo intelletto attuia; Ma tosto fien li fatti le Naiade, 49 Che solveranno questo enigma forte, Senza danno di pecore o di biade. Tu nota; e si come da me son porte, 52 Cos! queste parole segna ai vivi Del viver ch' e un correre alia morte; Ed abbi a mente, quando tu le scrivi, 55 Di non celar qual hai vista la pianta, Ch' e or due volte dirubata quivi. There are several features in the text of this passage which seem to indicate that these five terzine are to be taken as an acrostic frame. First, the passage begins with the line in which the all important "five hundred, ten, and five" is mentioned. Moreover, the number of this line is 43, a number whose integers have the perfect number 7 for their sum and which express, moreover, the fundamental relation: 3 to 4, on which the number symbolism of the Divina Commedia is based. Second, the passage ends with a terzina that begins, line i^<^^ with the letters: ed. These letters, the last and first of DANTE, seem often to be used by Dante both to indicate his own name and to mark the beginning or the end of a passage that contains a cryptogram. 122 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Third, the initials of the three lines of this last terzina have a special significance which I shall have to wait till the next chapter to explain in full. These initial letters are: E D C Note that e, as the fifth letter in the alphabet, has the value of 5. D, in the Roman notation, has the value of 500. And c, in the Roman notation, has the value of 100. If the zeros are disregarded, it appears that the integers which these numbers yield are 5 and 5 and i, exactly the same integers contained in the number of the enigma: 500, 10, and 5. In the next chapter I will show in detail how Dante constantly uses as a signature a variety of combinations of letters which yield these integers. For the present, then, I simply note that the five terzine, lines 43 to 57, are indicated as an acrostic frame by being bounded symmetrically at the beginning and end by the significant integers: 5, 5, and i. Consider, then, that the five terzine are indicated as an acrostic frame. The initials of the first lines of these terzine are: 43 N 46 E 49 M 52 T 55 E Read: mente But this acrostic mente is not the only acrostic on these lines. Consider on the same lines the following marginal letters: 43 N 46 E 49 MA 52 T 55 ED Read: ME, DANTE DXV 123 Exactly as Dante identifies himself (his name) by means of a double acrostic with nati (see pp. 103-5), with fante (see p. 77), and with mente (see pp. 183-4), so here, by the same device, he again identifies himself with mente. Mente, as appears in the reference to the Trinity in Inferno iii, is the intellectual form of the divine Son, or Christ, with whom Dante constantly identifies himself throughout the Divina Commedia. The presence of me, dante in acrostic form in the passage which contains the enigma forte: "five hundred, ten, and five," is an association which points indubitably to Dante as the mysterious person whom the enigma masks. Dante, as mente, is the prophesied dvx. There are some interesting double meanings in the passage containing these acrostics which may be taken as hints of the cryptic intention. Note first the words, line 55: Ed abbi a mente. If ed is taken, as it so often seems to be meant, to indicate dante, the quotation may be understood in the sense: "Have Dante in mind." Moreover, the ed and mente in the same phrase repeat the association of dante and MENTE that appears in the associated acrostic readings: me, DANTE and mente. Note, second, the words, line 56: D/ non celar. Di is the spelled form of d; it may be understood in connection with this phrase as the initial of dante. The words T)i non celar may therefore be read, as having a double sense, for the imperative "Do not conceal dante." Note also the possible double meaning, line 52, in regard to the enigma, of the words: Come da me. All these possible double meanings, slight or farfetched as they may seem in themselves taken separately, have a cumulative value in connection with my reading of the enigma and the acrostic readings which I have shown. Note now, in confirmation of my interpretation of the dvx as dante aldighiero, the interior sequences in the same passage in which the dvx is mentioned and the acrostic me, dante is found. The first interior sequence to which I will call attention 124 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE begins on the initial oi cinquecento, line 43, and reads directly down. The c of cinquecento is to be replaced, exactly as it is replaced in the reading: dvx, by a d, since d is the equivalent o{ cinquecento in the Roman notation. The sequence to which I refer appears in the following form: 43 nel quale un D 44 messo da dio A 45 con quel gigaNTE The letters of the sequence, which I have thus capitalized, spell: DANTE. The regularity of this sequence is noteworthy. The d, the A, and the n are each in the fourteenth letter space of their respective lines; and the te is immediately adjacent to the N. The possibility that such a sequence might be accidental is very slight. The intention is confirmed, first, by the mathematical regularity, and, second, by the fact that the beginning of the sequence coincides with the beginning of the cryptic number and that the sequence and the cryptic number both give for their readings the name of the same person: dante. There are two more interior sequences in this passage, and the three sequences appear as follows: 43 nel quale un Dinquecento Diece e cinque 44 messo da dio AnciderA la fuia 45 con quel gigaNTE che con lei delinque 46 e forse che la mia narrazion buia 47 qual temi e sfiNge men ti persuade 48 perch 'a lor modo lo inTelletto attuia 49 ma tosto fien li fatti le naiADE For the second sequence read the d of diece^ the second of the cryptic numbers, line 43; the second a of ancidera^ 44; the NTE Q){ gigante^ 45: dante. For the third sequence read the n oi sfinge^ 47; the first t of intelletto^ 48; the ade oi naiade, 49: dante. The second sequence, which runs from D of diece to nte of ^/^rtw/^, is mathematically regular in its spacing. It is strongly corroborated as intentional by its relation to the first DXV I2S sequence; it starts on the second of the cryptic numbers, just as the first sequence starts on the first cryptic number; it uses for its a the last letter of ancidera^ just as the first sequence uses for its a the first letter of the same word; and it uses for its nte the nte used by the first sequence. The third sequence is likewise spaced with mathematical regularity. The fourth interior sequence which I shall show here is in a passage a few lines below the foregoing, as follows: 52 tu nota e si come da me son porTE 53 cosi queste parole SEGNA ai vivi 54 del viver ch'e uN correre alia morte 55 ed abbi A mente quando tu le scrivi 56 Di non celar qual hai vista la pianta Read the te oi porte^ 52; segna, 53; the n of w«, 54; the a before mente ^ f^^^'^ the d, initial of 56: segna dante. Note the hints in the text which call attention to the signature. The signature starts on the d of Di non celar^ which words may be taken, as I have indicated, in a double sense to mean, "Do not conceal Dante." And the signature ends oh a line that begins with what may be under- stood as an injunction to the reader to be on the lookout: Tu nota. And on the same line are the significant words: Come da me. This sequence is mathematically regular. It begins with the D on the first space of 56; on the eighth space after d, on the line above, is a; on the eighth space after a, on the line above, is n; the eighth space after n, on the line above, is an empty space, since no letter is to be read here, and the word segna is immediately adjacent; and on the line above, on the eighth space beyond the empty space adjacent to segna where no letter is to be read, is the t followed by the e which completes the signature. I need hardly repeat that the mathematical regularity of the sequence is a strong argument against the possibility that it might be accidental. In the passage of five terzine which contains in its first line 126 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE the cryptic un cinqiiecento diece e cinque we have now seen an acrostic signature and several signatures in interior se- quences. The passage contains still another signature by still another cryptographic device — -the device of an acrostic on a group of proper names. The proper names mentioned in the passage which we are here considering are dig, temi, SFiNGE, and NAiADE. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters in these proper names: DIG DI TEMI TE SFINGE SFINGE NAIADE NA Read: dante si finge Interesting in connection with this signature is the fact that it is made possible by Dante's use of a word to which the editors of the Divina Commedia commonly refer as a blunder: Naiade for the Latin Laiades. In recapitulation of my argument that Dante is the dxv, I have shown in the preceding pages a close correspondence between the cryptic number, "five hundred, ten, and five," and the name dante aldighiero, a form of the name for which, as I have shown, there is early evidence and the evidence of the anagram: eccomi, dis, dante aldighiero. I have also shown an acrostic signature: me, dante, in the passage in which the cryptic number appears, a series of four interior sequences in the same passage, reading dante, and an acrostic on the proper names in the passage. More- over, I have pointed out a number of expressions in the passage that may be taken as having double meanings which again indicate dante. Such a complex of signatures, which can scarcely have been accidental, is the cryptographic proof that Dante and the dxv are one and the same. For the symbolism of the dxv see the discussion in Chapter VI of the symbolism of the Veltro and especially the dis- cussion, in Chapter VIII, of the symbolism of the Mystic Procession, in connection with which the dxv is prophesied. The dxv, as I will show, is to be understood to indicate Dante as reborn and therefore as divine. Chapter V THE UNIVERSAL FORM Chapter V THE UNIVERSAL FORM THERE is a curious statement in the fifth canto of Paradiso^ Hnes 98-99, that Dante makes about himself. He says: pur di mia natura Trasmutabile son per tutte guise! This statement that Dante is by nature transmutable into all guises is an important clue both to the symbolism and to the cryptography of the Divina Commedia. But what are the guises into which Dante is transmutable ? One of them, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, is certainly the dxv, the cryptic number, five hundred, ten and five, into which, as I have shown, the name of Dante can be transmuted. What, then, are his other guises? In the present chapter I will show various purely cryptographic guises into which Dante, or, rather, the name of Dante, is transmutable. I will leave to the next chapter the discussion of the symbolic guises, the personifications, into which he transmutes himself as an individual. The passage in which Dante comes nearest to giving a literal statement as to the method of discovering his guises, the transmutations of which he remains himself the constant factor, is to be found in Paradiso xxxiii. 85-93, in the words with which he describes what he saw in his vision of the somma luce. The passage reads as follows: [129] I30 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Nel suo profondo vidi che s' interna, 85 Legato con amore in un volume, Cio che per I'universo si squaderna; Sustanzia ed accidenti e lor costume, 88 Quasi conflati msieme per tal modo, Che cio ch' io dico e un semplice lume. La forma universal di questo nodo 91 Credo ch' io vidi, perche piu di largo, Dicendo questo, mi sento ch' io godo. Dante is here describing how he saw in his vision the union of substance and accidents and their modes. The words substance^ accident^ and mode belong to the technical vocabu- lary of scholastic philosophy; they are used to express the relation of appearance to reality. The appearance of things is infinite, the infinite phenomena of the universe. But under- lying the infinite phenomena and uniting them is a reality that is single, the one and universal substance of God. The appearances of things, therefore, are the accidents and modes of the divine substance; they are the divine manifestations, the guises into which God himself is transmuted. The key to these transmutations of God into all the guises of his phenomena, the solution — in other words — of the problem of appearance and reality, is what Dante says he found in his mystic vision of the Supreme Light. Now when Dante declares that he himself is by his nature transmutable into all guises he is making no confession of weakness or instability of character, as is often supposed. He is actually declaring, on the contrary, that his trans- mutability into all guises is the transmutability of God, who manifests himself in all the divine guises of the phenomena of the universe. Dante is asserting, therefore, his own divine character; he is identifying himself with God. If, then, as Dante says in describing his vision of the Supreme Light, he solved the problem of appearance and reality, seeing and understanding the relation of the infinite phenomena of the universe to the divine substance that makes them one, if, in other words, he found the key to the transmutations of God into the guises of God, he found, per- THE UNIVERSAL FORM 131 force, the key to his own transmutations into all the guises of himself. The key that unlocks the mystery of the divine appearances is the key that unlocks the mystery of his own, since the mystery is the same for the appearances of God and the appearances of Dante. Important for us, therefore, are the exact words with which Dante expresses himself as having found this key. They are so very important, indeed, that I will repeat them: La forma universal di questo nodo Credo ch' io vidi. These words, which are capable of a double meaning, give the key to the "guises" of Dante. The obvious meaning which these words convey is simply this: "The universal form of this knot I believe that I saw." But it is possible to understand them as follows: "The universal form of this knot I believe as 10 vidi." In other words, Dante may here be understood to say: " I believe that the universal form of this knot is 10 vidi" — taking thus the words 10 vidi as being a form in themselves quite apart from their denotation. But how, as I have here suggested, can the words 10 vidi be "the universal form" of the guises of Dante? How can they be the key to his transmutations of himself as an in- dividual or as a name? The answer is obvious. The words 10 vidi, considered as a cryptogram, are the equivalent of the cryptic number ''five hundred^ ten, and five ^' and therefore in turn equivalent, as I demonstrated in the preceding chapter, to Dvx and to dante aldighiero (or, if the reader prefers, to DANTE ALDIGHIERI or DANTE ALIGHIERO). The letters IO of 10 VIDI are the equivalent, in the Arabic notation of numbers, of ten; the letters vi of vidi are the Italian spelling of the letter v, which in the Roman notation of. numbers is five; and the letters di of vidi are the Italian spelling for the letter D, which in the Roman notation is five hundred. The corres- pondences may be expressed more clearly, perhaps, as follows : 132 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE lO = lO VI (v) = 5 DI (d) = 500 The transmutation of the words of the universal form 10 viDi into Dvx may be shown as follows: 10 = ten = X (in the Roman notation) VI = V DI = D Rearranged, these letters spell dvx. The transmutation of the words of the universal form 10 VIDI into DANTE proceeds by the method described in the preceding chapter for transmuting "five hundred, ten, and five" into dvx and into dante aldighiero. 10 = 10 =ALDiGHiERO, the I of lo representing the alpha- betical equivalent of one, or a, the first letter of the alphabet and the initial of aldighiero; the o of 10 representing the last letter, or o, of aldighiero; and the 10, as a number, representing the ten letters of the name. As I said in the pre- ceding chapter, aldighiero is the form of the name for which there is documentary evidence and, as I have found, the evidence of the anagram (see p. 1 10). But if the reader is unwilling to admit the evidence for this form of the name, the 10, as a ten, of 10 vidi is transmutable, as I showed in the preceding chapter, to any ten-letter spelling of the name in so far as it designates the number of letters of the name, or to a nine-letter spelling ending in o, as in Alighiero^ in that it designates by its i the initial and by its o the final letter. VI = V, or five, =first, the number of letters in dante; and second, the letter with which dante ends, or e, which, as the fifth letter of the alphabet, has the numerical value of five. DI =D, the initial letter of dante. lo VIDI is, therefore, "the universal form" which appears, by transmutation, in the name of Dante, and in his guise as a "five hundred, ten, and five," and in dvx. In the foregoing exposition of 10 vidi as "the universal form " of dante, 1 have confined myself to the purely crypto- THE UNIVERSAL FORM 133 graphic analogies between 10 vidi and dante as a name. In addition to these cryptographic analogies, however, there is a striking analogy between the sense of the words 10 vidi and the character of Dante — the character, at any rate, which he ascribes to himself in the Divina Commedia. The analogy to which I now refer may have further determined Dante in his choice of 10 vidi as his " universal form." The sense, " I saw," expresses, indeed, the very theme of the Divina Commedia. Dante is the seer\ he saw the universe from bottom to top; he saw God; and in God he saw himself. The universal form 10 VIDI expresses, therefore, not only a cryptographic analogy with the name of Dante but an analogy with his character in the poem. It is not inconceivable, moreover, that in the identification which he makes in the poem of his own nature with the divine nature, Dante may have intended a punning: 10, VI Di, as "I, there God." The importance of the forma universal as the clue to the cryptographic guises, or disguises, of Dante is indicated by an acrostic reading in the very passage in which t\vQ. forma universal is mentioned. The six terzine, Par. xxxiii. 91-108, are: La forma universal di questo nodo 91 Credo ch' io vidi, perche piu di largo, Dicendo questo, mi sento ch' io godo. Un punto solo m' e maggior letargo, 94 Che venticinque secoli alia impresa, Che fe' Nettuno ammirar l' ombra d' Argo. Cosi la mente mia, tutta sospesa, 97 Mirava fissa immobile ed attenta, E sempre di mirar faceasi accesa. A quella luce cotal si diventa, 100 Che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto E impossibil che mai si consenta; Perocche il ben ch' e del volere obbietto, 103 Tutto s' accoglie in lei, e fuor di quella E difettivo cio che li e perfetto. Omai sara piu corta mia favella, 106 Pure a quel ch' io ricordo, che di un fante Che bagni ancor la lingua alia mammella. Consider the initials of the first lines of these terzine: 134 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 91 L 94 U 97 C 100 A 103 P 106 Read down on lines 91, 94, 97, and 100: luca. Read down on 97, 100, 103, and 106: capo. Each of the acrostic words is spelt on four terzine, so that they overlap, the last two letters of the first word being also the first two letters of the second word. Exactly in the middle of this acrostic reading, between the two letters used in both words, is the acrostic me, spelt on the initials of lines 98 and 99. The complete reading may be shown thus: 91 L 94 U 97 C 98 M 99 E 100 A 103 P 106 The complete reading is therefore: luca capo. me. The me calls attention to the fact that Dante is present in the passage. Capo, like the words viso and faccia, indicates the device of the person concealed. "Head shines," therefore, is a confirmation of the forma universal as a disguise for Dante. The first words of the line, 97, on which the acrostic capo begins are: Cost la mente mia^ so that the text and the acrostic are related in meaning. Moreover, as we have seen, Dante identifies himself with mente m general. The idea of the acrostic luca appears in the text in the words: ^ quella luce^ line 100, the line on which the acrostic luca ends. Note that on the first lines of the two terzine, 103-108, may be read an acrostic: poema; so that, as a variant for the acrostic: luca capo, there may be read on the same lines an acrostic: luca poema. THE UNIVERSAL FORM 135 There is another confirmation of the cryptic character of the. forma universal in the initials of the three lines of the terzina in which the forma universal is mentioned. The initials of these lines are: 91 L 92 c 93 D These three letters, considered as indicating numbers in the Roman notation, represent respectively 50, 100, and 500. By disregarding the zeroes, we have here 5, i, and 5, the integers of the cryptic number of the prophesied dxv, in connection with the forma universal. As a symbol of himself Dante constantly uses any combi- nation of letters which may be transmuted into these integers, since from these integers his own name can be reconstructed. Before proceeding, therefore, to show the more important specific guises of Dante I will show a few examples of his use, as symbols of his own name, of various combi- nations of letters that may be transmuted, by disregarding the zeroes, into a 5, a i, and a 5. The following passage. Par. xxxiii. 46-57, consists of four terzine: Ed io ch' al fine di tutti i disii 46 M' appropinquava, si com' io dovea, L' ardor del desiderio in me finii. Bernardo m' accennava, e sorridea, 49 Perch' Io guardassi suso; ma io era Gia per me stesso tal qual ei volea; Che la mia vista, venendo sincera, 52 E piu e plu entrava per Io raggio Deir alta luce, che da se e vera. Da quinci innanzi il mio veder fu maggio 55 Che il parlar nostro, ch' a tal vista cede, E cede la memoria a tanto oltraggio. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 136 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 46 E 49 BERNARDO 52 C 55 DA : CEDA BERNARDO This reading is appropriate to the text. Bernardo has been directing the eyes of Dante to God, and he yields his place, as intermediator, when Dante, as he says himself, becomes per me stesso tal qual ei volea. The chief cryptographic interest of the passage, however, is not in this acrostic, but in the variants which it contains of Dante's numerical signature. The initials of the first, the third, and the fourth terzina may be transmuted respectively into a 5, a I, and a 5. The initials of the first terzina are: 46 E 47 M 48 L E, as the fifth letter of the alphabet, has the value in cabala of 5; M, in the Roman notation, is 1,000; and l, in the Roman notation, is 50. By disregarding the zeroes we have a 5, a i, and a 5. The initials of the third terzina are: 52 c 53 E 54 D C, in the Roman notation is 100; e, in cabala, is 5; and d, in Roman notation, is 500. By disregarding the zeroes we have a 5, a I, and a 5. The initials of the fourth terzina, d, c, e, are the same in different order, and give therefore the same integers. But why, if there is a numerical signature on the first, the third, and the fourth terzina, should there be none on the second? The absence here is only apparent, for the signature is concealed in an interior sequence: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 137 49 bernardo m'accennava e sorrlDea 50 perch 'io guardassi suso ma 10 era 51 gia per me stesso tal qual el Volea Notice that in sorridea, 49, is d with i beside it; im- mediately below, 50, in the same letter space, is o, with i beside it; and immediately below is i, with v beside it. All these letters spell 10 vidi, the "universal form" itself, and give, therefore, the integers of the cryptic number, 515. Notice that the passage on which the acrostic ceda BERNARDO appears begins with the words Ed io. These words, as we shall see, are also a cryptographic signature. Notice, moreover, that the letters on the line indicating the sequence, the letters, that is, that fall in an exactly vertical line, spell dig. Thus in the very passage in which Dante says in effect: Io vidi Dio, he makes in one of the four terzine in question an interior sequence: 10 vidi, with a special emphasis on the letters dig; and in each of the other three terzine acrostic initials with the numerical value of ig vidi. The coincidence in such a passage of an interior sequence: 10 vidi, with three numerical equivalents in acrostics is strong confirmation for the argument that ig vidi is the "universal form" that may be transmuted into dante, and the guises of dante, by a system of alphabetical and numerical equivalents. It may be noted that in connection with the one overt mention of the name of Dante in the Divina Commedia there appear in acrostic form the letters: vid, which yield in Roman notation the same number as 10 vidi: 515. The four terzine beginning with "Dante," Purg. xxx. 55-66, are: 'Dante, perche Virgilio se ne vada, 55 Non pianger anco, non pianger ancora; Che pianger ti convien per altra spada.' Quasi ammiraglio, che in poppa ed in prora 58 Viene a veder la gente che ministra Per gli altri legni, ed a ben far la incuora, In sulla sponda del carro sinistra, 61 Quando mi volsi al suon del nome mio, Che di necessita qui si registra, 138 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Vidi la Donna, che pria m' appario 64 Velata sotto 1' angelica festa, Drizzar gli occhi ver me di qua dal rio. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these four terzine: 55 D 58 QUASI 61 I 64 V Read: quasi vid This suggestion of 10 vidi in the acrostic quasi vid, is curiously repeated in the text itself, where, along with the mention of Dante, there is constant reiteration of the elements of 10 vidi. This reiteration will appear in the following method of capitalizing the text: 55 D ante, perche V irgil 10 se ne V a D a 62 quando mi V olsi al suon D el nome m 10 64 V i D i la D onna che pria m'appar 10 66 D rizzar gli occhi V er me di qua dal r 10 In line 55 10 vidi is repeated, reading, first, from the first of the line to the centre, and reading, second, from the last of the line to the centre. This repetition of d, v, and 10 in the passage which contains the one overt mention of his name in the Divina Commedia confirms the use of 10 vidi as a cryptographic symbol of the name of Dante. There is a curious use of 10 vidi in Par. xxx. 91-99, which further confirms the words as a cryptographic symbol. The passage is: Poi come gente stata sotto larve, 91 Che pare altro che prima, se si sveste La sembianza non sua in che disparve; Cosi mi si cambiaro in maggior feste 94 Li fiori e le faville, si ch' io vidi Ambo le corti del ciel manifeste. THE UNIVERSAL FORM 139 O isplendor di Dio, per cu' io vidi 97 L' alto trionfo del regno verace, Dammi virtu a dir com' io lo vidi. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the three terzine: 91 POI 94 C 97 O Read: copio What is it that, as Dante says in the acrostic, he copies ? I suggest that it is the words of the "universal form", 10 vidi. Lines 95, 97, 99 end in vidi^ one of the only three words, so far as I can discover, which Dante uses as rhymes in an identical sense. He has many "perfect" rhymes, but in the perfect rhyme the sense is different, though the sound is the same. He uses Crista as an identical rhyme in three passages, and the Latin word me, Purg. xxxiii. 10 and 12. The use of vidi to rhyme with itself in the same way that Crista is used to rhyme with itself suggests that 10 vidi and Crista are identified as symbols in the way that Dante constantly identifies himself with Christ in the symbolism of the entire poem. And the use of me in the same way confirms the suggestion. The usual explanation of this repetition of vidi, thus used as a rhyme with itself, is that Dante wished to emphasize the intensity of his vision. This explanation is good as far as it goes. But see what the final words really are: 95 10 VIDI 97 ID VIDI 99 10 LO VIDI Here is Dante's symbol 10 vidi repeated in a most signifi- cant passage. Dante is looking into the light of God and sees the image of himself as 10 vidi, exactly as in the passage in which 10 vidi appears in connection with thtforma universal. Notice as possible hints of 10 vidi as a disguise of Dante, the words: gente stata sotto larve, and: mi si cambiaro. I40 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The following passage, Inf. xxvi. 19-24, consists of two terzine: Allor mi dolsi, ed ora mi ridoglio, 19 Quand' io drizzo la mente a cio ch' io vidi; E piu Io ingegno afFreno ch' io non soglio, Perche non corra che virtu nol guidi; 22 Si che se stella buona, o miglior cosa M' ha date il ben, ch' io stesso nol m' invidi. Consider, first, on all the lines of this passage the following marginal letters: 19 A 20 QU 21 E 22 PER 23 SI 24 M PEREMAS QUI Read: The command, expressed in this acrostic, to "remove here" may refer to the telestic device by which the signature 10 VIDI appears: 19 (riaogl) 10 20 VIDI 21 (sogl) 10 22 (g) UIDI 23 COSA 24 (in) VIDI Thus 10 VIDI is repeated twice, vidi thrice. The sense of the passage is amusing in connection with the signatures; Dante is curbing his genius {ingegno) so that he may not have reason to grudge himself the good. Ingegno is a suggestive word here, meaning "artifice" and "wit," as we find it in the phrase ingegno sottile^ Purg. xii. 66 (see p. 14). The repetition of the vidi rhyme should be compared with Par. xxx. 95-97-99. There we have the same word in the same THE UNIVERSAL FORM 141 sense, whereas here we have a "perfect" rhyme, the letters the same, since u equals v, but the sense different. Confirming 10 vidi as a cryptic designation of Dante is an acrostic on the passage in which the words lo vidi are used for the first time in the Divi77a Commedia^ Inf. i. 64: Quand'io vidi cestui nel gran diserto. The four terzine, hif. i. 55-66, ending with the terzina in which this first use of the words lo vidi appears, are: E quale e quei che volentieri acquista, 55 E giugne il tempo che perder lo face, Che in tutt' i suoi pensier piange e s' attrista: Tal mi fece la bestia senza pace, 58 Che, venendomi contra, a poco a poco Mi ripingeva la, dove il Sol tace. Mentre ch' io rovinava in basso loco, 61 Dinanzi agli occhi mi si fu offerto Chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco. Quand' io vidi cestui nel gran diserto, 64 'Miserere di me' gridai a lui, 'Qual che tu sii, od ombra od uomo certo.' Consider on the first lines of these terzine the following marginal letters: 55 E 58 TA 61 ME 64 QUAND 10 VIDI "10 vidi" qua me Read; The second time that the words Io vidi appear in the Divina Commedia is in Inf. ii. 8: O mente, che scrivesti cio ch' io vidi. The cryptograms in the passage in which the 10 vidi thus ap- pears confirm again the words as a designation for Dante. The first four terzine of the canto read as follows: Lo giorno se n' andava, e 1' aer bruno Toglieva gli animai che sono in terra. Dalle fatiche loro; ed io sol uno 142 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE M' apparecchiava a sostener la guerra 4 Si del cammino e si della pietate, Che ritrarra la mente, che non erra. O Muse, o alto ingegno, or m' aiutate: 7 O mente, che scrivesti ci6 ch' io vidi, Qui si parra la tua nobilitate. Io cominciai: 'Poeta che mi guidi, 10 Guarda la mia virtu, s' ella e possente. Prima che all' alto passo tu mi fidi. On the first lines of these terzine, as we have already noted, are the following marginal letters: I LO 4 M 7 10 10 l'omo IO Read; Dante is here associated, in his descent into Hell, as I suggested in Chapter II, with the dying day. Note now on the three lines of the third terzina, within which the 10 vidi appears, the following marginal letters: 7 M 8 9 QUI Read: omo qui This acrostic repeats in effect the acrostic on the ten-line frame, and says that the "Man" is here in the very terzina which contains 10 vidi. In addition to the acrostics in this passage there is a telestic which even more precisely identifies 10 vidi with Dante. This telestic appears on lines 3-8. Notice, in con- nection with these lines, that the first contains the words Ed tOy which, as I shall show later, are another cryptographic guise of Dante, and that the last line contains the 10 vidi. The telestic on these lines appears in the following telestic letters: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 143 3 NO 4 RA 5 E 6 A 7 TE 8 DI Read: 10 era dante This telestic: 10 era dante, reading as it does with the di of io vUiy associates 10 vidi with Dante. The third time that the words Io vidi appear in the Divina Commedia, and the first time that they appear at the be- ginning of a line, is in Inf. iv. 121 : Io vidi Elettra con molti compagni. This line falls within the five terzine. Inf. iv. 1 18-132: Cola diritto sopra il verde smalto 118 Mi fur mostrati gli spiriti magni, Che del vederli in me stesso n' esalto. Io vidi Elettra con molti compagni, 121 Tra' quai conobbi Ettore ed Enea, Cesare armato con gli occhi grifagni. Vidi Cammilla e la Pentesilea, 124 Dair altra parte vidi il re Latino Che con Lavinia sua figlia sedea. Vidi quel Bruto che caccio Tarquino, 127 Lucrezia, Julia, Marzia e Corniglia, E solo in parte vidi il Saladino. Poi che innalzai un poco piu le ciglia, 130 Vidi il Maestro di color che sanno Seder tra filosofica famiglia. Notice first that the Io vidi at the beginning of the ter- zina 121-123 is followed by a Fidi at the beginning of each of the next two terzine. Such a symmetrical repetition of a word is often used by Dante as a hint of the presence of a cryptogram. Consider now the following marginal letters of the first lines of the five terzine: 144 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE ii8 CO 121 I 124 V 127 V 130 POI COPIC ' V, V, I. Read; V, V, and i correspond, in Roman notation, to 5, 5, and i, so that they yield the integers of the cryptic number 515. In saying thus in this acrostic in connection with the words lo vidi that "I copy 515," Dante may be understood to indicate the association of himself with the cryptic number and the "universal form," 10 vidi. That Dante is indeed making a cryptographic reference to himself appears not only from the cryptographic use which he makes of the proper names (see p. 445), but also from the acrostic on the first lines of the remaining terzine of the canto. The terzine immediately following the terzine on which we find the acrostic; copio v, v, i, read as follows: Tutti lo miran, tutti onor gli fanno. 133 Quivi vid' io Socrate e Platone, Che innanzi agli altri piu presso gli stanno. Democrito, che il mondo a caso pone, 136 Diogenes, Anassagora e Tale, Empedocles, Eraclito e Zenone: E vidi il buono accoglitor del quale, 139 Dioscoride dico: e vidi Orfeo, Tullio e Lino e Seneca morale: Euclide geometra e Tolomnieo, 142 Ippocrate, Avicenna e Galieno, Averrois, che il gran commento feo. Io non posso ritrar di tutti appieno; 145 Perocche si mi caccia il lungo tenia, Che molte volte al fatto il dir vien meno. La sesta compagnia in due si scema: 148 Per altra via mi mena il savio duca, Fuor della queta nell' aura che trema; E vengo in parte ove non e che luca. 151 Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these terzine: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 145 133 T 136 D 139 E 142 E 145 10 N 148 LA S 151 E Read: dante e elios The last word of the canto is luca^ and the region described in the passage on which the acrostic appears is one Ch' emisperio di tenebre vincia. — Inj. IV. 69 Dante is here again associated with the sun as his symbol. For another acrostic elios see page 349. For the cryptograms in connection with the last instance of the use of lo vidi^ Par. xxxiii. 122, see pages 106-8. lo viDi is frequently used in the Divina Commedia as a cryptogram for dante to indicate the presence of other cryptographic devices in the text. The appearance of 10 vidi at the beginning of a line, or in the interior of a line, is often the hint that the text is speaking in a hidden way of Dante himself. ED 10 The next cryptographic guise of dante to which I wish to call attention is the words ed 10. By the system already shown of alphabetical and numerical equivalents, these words may be transmuted into either the " universal form," 10 vidi, or dante. In other words, ed 10, as a symbol, has the value of the cryptic number, five hundred, ten, and five. This numeri- cal value appears as follows: e, as the fifth letter = 5 d, in Roman notation = 500 10, in Arabic notation = 10 146 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The use of ed io at the beginning of a terzina, like the similar use of lo vidi, is frequent in the Divina Commedia. This use is not accidental to the literal meaning of the poem; it is often meant to have a cryptic reference to Dante himself and to indicate the presence of other cryptograms in the text. And indeed, quite apart from the numerical value of ed id as a 515, the words suggest the name of Dante in the follow- ing obvious way: 10, d . . . e, or " I, Dante," the name dante being suggested by the common convention of indicating a proper name by its first and last letters. Dante's use of the words ed 10 as a cryptogram for dante is further determined, I believe, by the fact that the same letters in the same order may be read: e dio. In view of the identification, so fundamental in the Divina Commedia^ which Dante makes of himself with God, he may surely be suspected of having wished to suggest the punning ed 10, e dig. In other words, he expresses by this cryptographic device the symbolism of the poem that Dante, by virtue of his divine nature, is God. Let me now cite several instances of the use of ed 10 as a cryptographic device for dante. The four terzine, Purg. xiv. 16-27, are: Ed io: 'Per mezza Toscana si spazia 16 Un fiumicel che nasce in Falterona, E cento miglia di corso nol sazia. Di sopr' esso rech' io questa persona: 19 Dirvi ch' io sia, saria parlare indarno; Che il nome mio ancor molto non suona.' 'Se ben lo intendimento tuo accarno 22 Con lo intelletto,' allora mi rispose Quei che diceva pria, 'tu parli d' Arno.' E r altro disse a lui: * Perche nascose 25 Questi il vocabol di quella riviera, Pur com' uom fa dell' orribili cose.'" Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 147 16 ED 10 19 DI S 22 S 25 E Read: "ed 10," disse "He said: ed 10," is the answer to the question in the text. The passage is a play on the idea of name, identification, and concealment. Dante is answering the question who he is; he says it were vain for him to tell who he is, for as yet his name does not make much noise. He does not even name the Arno, but defines its position and leaves it to his questioner to penetrate his meaning. In the literal meaning of the text, therefore, he avoids giving his name. But the question thus left unanswered is answered in the acrostic: "ed 10," disse. In Par. xxxiii. 28-39, Bernardo is praying that a way may be found for Dante to see God. The four terzine are: Ed io, che mai per mio veder non arsi 28 Piu ch' io fo per lo suo, tutti i miei preghi Ti porgo, e prego che non sieno scarsi, Perche tu ogni nube gli disleghi 31 Di sua mortalita coi preghi tuoi, Si che il sommo piacer gli si dispieghi. Ancor ti prego, Regina, che puoi 34 Cio che tu vuoli, che conservi sani, Dopo tanto veder, gli affetti suoi. Vinca tua guardia i movimenti umani: 37 Vedi Beatrice con quanti Beati Per li miei preghi ti chiudon le mani.' Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: 28 ED ID 31 PER 34 A 37 VI Read: via per "ed 10" The words of the acrostic are in effect a repetition of the prayer of Bernardo for a "way for Dante." 148 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The following passage, Inf. xv. i^-^^^ consists of four terzine: Cosi adocchiato da cotal famiglia, 22 Fill conosciuto da un, che mi prese Per lo lembo e grido: 'Qua! maraviglia?' Ed io, quando il suo braccio a me distese, 25 Ficcai gli occhi per lo cotto aspetto Si che il viso abbruciato non difese La conoscenza sua a! mio intelletto; 28 E chinando la mia alia sua faccia, Risposi: 'Siete voi qui, ser Brunette?' E quegli: 'O figliuol mio, non ti dispiaccia 31 Se Brunetto Latini un poco teco Ritorna indietro, e lascia andar la traccia.' Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 22 C 25 ED I< 28 LA 31 E CELA ED 10 Read; The following passage consists of the first four terzine of Purg. xviii: Posto avea fine al suo ragionamento L' alto Dottore, ed attento guardava Nella mia vista s' io parea contento: Ed io, cui nuova sete ancor frugava, 4 Di fuor taceva, e dentro dicea: 'Forse Lo troppo domandar, ch' io fo, gli grava.' Ma quel padre verace, che s' accorse 7 Del timido voler che non s apriva, Parlando, di parlare ardir mi porse. Ond' io: 'Maestro, il mio veder s' avviva 10 Si nel tuo lume, ch' io discerno chiaro Quanto la tua ragion porti o descriva: Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 149 I p 4 ED 10 7 MA 10 Read: poema, signed with the device of Dante, ed 10. The signature thus attached to the poem is confirmed by the acrostic reading of the first four lines of this passage. Consider the following marginal letters of these four lines: 1 POSTO 2 l'a 3 NELL 4 ED 10 Read downwards: posto l'anell: " ed 10." This may mean that ed 10, as Dante's signature, is the "seal set." The following passage, Purg. xxvi. 103-114, consists of four terzine: Poiche di riguardar pasciuto fui, 103 Tutto m' offersi pronto al suo servigio, Con r affermar che fa credere altrui. Ed egli a me: 'Tu lasci tal vestigio, 106 Per quel ch' i' odo, in me e tanto chiaro, Che Lete nol puo tor, ne farlo bigio. Ma se le tue parole or ver giuraro, 109 Dimmi che e cagion per che dimostri Nel dire e nel guardare avermi caro?' Ed io a lui: 'Li dolci detti vostri 112 Che, quanto durera 1' uso moderno, Faranno cari ancora i loro inchiostri.' Consider on the first lines of these four terzine the following marginal letters: 103 PO 106 E 109 MA 112 ED 10 Read: poema. ed 10 The poema is signed by the cryptic signature. I50 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The following passage, Purg. xxiv., 49-54, consists of two terzine: Ma di' s' io veggio qui colui che fuore 49 Trasse le nuove rime, cominciando: Donne, ch' avete intelletto cC Amove.' Ed io a lui: 'Io mi son un che, quando 52 Amor mi spira, noto, ed a quel modo Che ditta dentro, vo significando.' Line 51 is a quotation from one of Dante's canzoni. On all the lines of the two terzine consider the following marginal letters: 49 MA 50 TR 51 DO 52 ED I 53 A 54 c Read: marco di dante The MARCO DI DANTE scems to be the line quoted from his canzone, which is followed immediately by his signature: ED 10. The following passage. Inf. xi, 61-72, consists of four terzine: Per r altro modo quell' amor s' obblia 61 Che fa natura, e quel ch' e poi aggiunto, Di che la fede spezial si cria: Onde nel cerchio minore, ov' e il punto 64 Deir universo, in su che Dite siede, Qualunque trade in eterno c consunto.* Ed io: 'Maestro, assai chiaro precede 67 La tua ragione, ed assai ben distingue Questo baratro e il popol che il possiede. Ma dimmi: Quei della palude pingue, 70 Che mena il vento, e che batte la pioggia, E che s' incontran con si aspre lingue. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these terzine: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 151 61 p 64 o 67 E 70 MA Read: poema POEMA is signed, line 67, by the acrostic words: ed 10. The first time that the words Ed io appear in the Divina Commedia is in Inf. i. 130: Ed io a lui: Poeta, io ti richieggio. This Hne lies within the last four terzine of the canto: In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge, 127 Quivi e la sua citta e 1' alto seggio: O felice colui eui ivi elegge!' Ed io a lui: Toeta, io ti richieggio _ 130 Per quello Dio che tu non conoscesti, Acciocch' io fugga questo male e peggio Che tu mi meni la dov' or dicesti, 133 Si ch' io vegga la porta di san Pietro, E color cui tu fai cotanto mesti.' AUor si mosse, ed io li tenni retro. 136 On the first lines of these four terzine we have already seen, pages 40-1, the acrostic: e indica. In showing this acrostic I said that I was obliged to defer showing the full cryptographic content of the passage to a later chapter. Let us consider now, therefore, the following marginal letters of the lines immediately before and after the Ed io: 127 I 128 QU 129 130 ED 10 131 P 132 A 133 C CAPO qui: Read: capo qui: ed io This acrostic capo recalls the capo in the acrostic that 152 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE appears in the passage that contains the words La forma uni- versal^ Par. xxxiii. 91, in connection with the words io vidi. Now consider the following marginal letters on all the lines: 127 IN T 128 QU 129 130 ED 131 PE 132 A 133 C 134 s 135 E C 136 A : CAPO ESCE QUI. DANTE Da, as the initials of Dante Aldighiero, di, as the spelled form of the initial d of Dante, and ed, as an abbreviation of ED 10, seem to be frequently used as symbols of Dante's name. This use of ed is determined in part, I think, by the fact that ed is a copulative conjunction. It expresses thus, as a copulative, the phallic symbolism of Dante himself in the theme of rebirth as developed in the Divina Commedia. The following passage, InJ. xxv. 28-36, consists of three terzine: Non va co' suoi fratei per un cammino, 28 Per lo furar che frodolente fece Del grande armento ch' egli ebbe a vicino: Onde cessar le sue opere biece 31 Sotto la mazza d' Ercoie, che forse Gliene die cento, e non senti le diece.' Mentre che si parlava, ed ei trascorse, 34 E tre spirit! venner sotto noi, De' quai ne io ne il Duca mio s' accorse, Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the three terzine: 28 N 31 O 34 ME Read: nome THE UNIVERSAL FORM 153 The initials of the last two lines of the passage are: 35 E 36 D Read: ed So that the complete reading on the passage is: nome ed. Following are the last ten lines of Par. iii: Cosi parlommi, e poi comincio: Ave, ill Maria, cantando; e cantando vanio, Come per acqua cupa cosa grave. La vista mia, che tanto la seguio 124 Quanto possibil fu, poi che la perse, Volsesi al segno di maggior disio, Ed a Beatrice tutta si converse; 127 Ma quella folgoro nello mio sguardo Si che da prima il viso non sofferse; E cio mi fece a domandar piu tardo. 130 Consider the following marginal letters of the last hne of the canto and of the first lines of the three preceding terzine: 121 c 124 LA 127 ED 130 e : cela ED The following passage, Par. vii. 76-87, consists of four terzine: Di tutte queste cose s' avvantaggia 76 L' umana creatura, e s' una manca, Di sua nobilita convien che caggia. Solo il peccato e quel che la disfranca, 79 E falla dissimile al Sommo Bene, Perche del lume suo poco s' imbianca; Ed in sua dignita mai non riviene, 82 Se non riempie dove colpa vota. Contra mal dilettar con giuste pene. Vostra natura, quando pecco tola 85 Nel seme suo, da queste dignitadi, Come da Paradise, fu remota; 154 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the four terzine: 76 D 79 SOL 82 £ 85 VO Read: soLvo ed The following passage, Par. xxvi. 13-24, consists of four terzine: lo dissi: 'Al suo piacere e tosto e tardo 13 Vegna rimedio agli occhi che fur porte, Quand' ella entro col foco ond' io sempr' ardo. Lo ben che fa contenta questa corte, 16 Alfa ed O e di quanta scrittura Mi legge amore, o lievemente o forte.' Quella medesma voce, che paura 19 Tolta ni' avea del subito abbarbaglio, Di ragionare ancor mi niise in cura; E disse: 'Certo a piu angusto vaglio 22 Ti conviene schiarar; dicer convienti Chi drizzo 1' arco tuo a tal bersaglio.' Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the terzine: 13 I 16 LO 19 QU 22 ED Read: loqui ed There is a hint in the words scrittura mi legge, 17-18. For the reading of Alfa ed 0, see page 444. The following passage, Inf. xxxiv. 11 8-1 29, consists of four terzine: Qui e da man quando di la e sera: 118 E questi che ne fe' scala col pelo, Fitto e ancora, si come prim' era. THE UNIVERSAL FORM 155 Da questa parte cadde giu dal cielo: 121 E la terra che pria di qua si sporse Per paura di lui fe' del mar velo, E venne all' emisperio nostro; e forse 124 Per fuggir lui lascio qui il loco voto Quella che appar di qua, e su ricorse.' Loco e laggiu da Belzebu remoto 127 Tanto, quanto la tomba si distende, Che non per vista, ma per suono e noto Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the four terzine: 118 QUI 121 D 124 E 127 LO Read: loqui ED Note the suggestive velo in line 123 DIL I mentioned in Chapter I the curious way in which the letters d, i, and l appear in Par. xviii, apart from their con- text, as the first letters in the sentence: Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis terram. These letters, dil, form another of the cryptographic guises of Dante. d, in Roman notation = 500 I, in Roman notation = i L, in Roman notation = 50 If we disregard the zeroes, these numbers give the integers 5, I, and 5, the integers of the cryptic dxv, and may accord- ingly be transmuted into the name of dante. This interpretation of dil as a cryptographic device for DANTE is confirmed by other cryptographic devices to be found in the same passage. The passage in which Dante speaks of seeing the cryptic letters begins, line 70, with the significant 10 vidi, and continues for four terzine, as follows: IS6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE lo vidi in quella giovial facella 70 Lo sfavillar dell' amor che li era, Segnare agli occhi miei nostra favella. E come augelli surti di riviera, 73 Quasi congratulando a lor pasture, Fanno di se or tonda or altra schiera, Si dentro ai lumi sante creature 76 Volitando cantavano, e faciensi Or D, or I, or L, in sue figure. Prima cantando a sua nota moviensi; 79 Poi, diventando 1' un di questi segni, Un poco s' arrestavano e taciensi. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these four terzine: 70 10 VIDI 73 E COM 76 SI 79 PR COMPRESI "10 VIDI Read: Thus in connection with the cryptic letters d, i, and l, mentioned in the text, Dante says in the acrostic: "I under- stood 10 VIDI." In other words, he says in the acrostic that he understood 10 vidi, that is, dante, when he saw dil. The four terzine that follow the passage just quoted con- tain further cryptographic proof that dil is a guise of dante. These four terzine, Par. xviii. 82-93, which include an invocation to Pegasus, read as follows: O diva Pegasea, che gl' ingegni 82 Fai gloriosi, e rendili longevi, Ed essi teco le cittadi e i regni, lUustrami di te, si ch' io rilevi 85 Le lor figure com' io 1' ho concette; Paia tua possa in questi versi brevi. Mostrarsi dunque in cinque volte sette 88 Vocali e consonanti; ed io notai Le parti si come mi parver dette. Diligite iustitiam, primai 91 Fur verbo e nome di tutto il diplnto; Qui iudicatis terram, fur sezzai. THE UNIVERSAL FORM 157 Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these four terzine: 82 o 8S I 88 MOSTR 91 D Read: dimostro Notice that the first line of the passage on which this acrostic is found begins with the letters: o div. These letters are in themselves the "universal form": 10 v-d. Notice also the word ingegni, a word which Dante frequently uses in connection with cryptographic devices. The acrostic dimostro may refer to what Dante says, line 88, of the whole sentence of which dil is the beginning. This sentence, he tells us, is composed of vowels and consonants "five times seven." Now what can be the reason for his thus indicating the exact number of the letters ? I suggest that the reason is simply that the number offers another means of identifying himself with what he describes himself as seeing. "Five times seven" is thirty-five, the age, as is well known, which Dante ascribes to himself at the time of his "vision." His vision came to him, as he tells us in Inf. i, nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita. In the Convivio he elaborates the psalmist's idea of the length of the life of man as seventy years, the mezzo of which is thirty-five. This age, morever, is really an approximation to the age of Christ, ac- cording to medieval computations, at the time of his cruci- fixion. Thus Christ and Dante may be considered to have descended into Hell at the same age, a coincidence which I believe Dante intended as a further indication of his iden- tity with Christ. At any rate, the "thirty-five" of the letters in the sentence beginning with dil further identifies the dil as a guise of Dante. The cryptic play on the letters of this sentence of thirty- five letters is continued in what Dante says about the letter M with which the sentence ends. This m is metamorphosed, first, into a fleur-de-lys and then into an eagle which utters 158 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE some of the most cryptic sentences of the whole Divina Commedia. I shall have to postpone to the chapter on the Symbolic Guises of Dante the explanation of the meaning of this M and of the eagle into which it changes. Another proof that oil is indeed a cryptographic guise of Dante is contained in the passage itself in which the cryptic letters are mentioned. This proof consists of various interior sequences spelling the name of Dante. Consider the following: 71 lo sfavillar dell 'amor che li erA 72 segnare agli occhi miei nosTra favella 73 e come augelli surti Di riviera 74 quasi congratulaNdo a lor pasture 75 fanno di sE or tonda or altra schiera Read a of era^ 71 ; t of nostra^ 72; d of ^/, 73; second n of congratulando^ 74; e of j^, 75: dante. This sequence is not quite regular by count, but it is straight to the eye, and it is confirmed by the sense of the words on which it Q.x\ds^ fanno di se. The lights of the spirits "make of themselves," according to the text, dil; they like- wise make dante. The next six lines are: 76 si dentro ai lumi sanTE creature 77 volitando cANtavano e faciensi 78 or D or i or 1 in sue figure 79 prima cAntando a sua nota moviensi 80 poi diventaNdo I'un di questi segni 81 un poco s'arresTavano e taciensi Read te of sante, 76; first an of cantavano, 77; d, 78: DANTE. Read the same d, 78; first a of cantando^ 79; second n of diventando^ 80; t of arrestavano^ 81: dant. This sequence starts on the fourth space of line 78, and the other letters are on the eighth, twelfth and sixteenth spaces of the respective lines. A few lines below is another sequence: THE UNIVERSAL FORM 159 86 IE lor figure com'io I'ho concette 87 paia Tua possa in questi versi brevi 88 mostrarsi Dunque in cinque volte sette 89 vocali e consoNAnti ed io notai Read e of / SI 136 A 139 PRESS Read: pressa sia Dante is near Beatrice but he cannot see her, so that the wish expressed in the cryptogram: "May she be near," is appropriate to the text. Analogous to Medusa as a mother symbol are the bird-like Harpies who inhabit the bosco^ Inf. xiii. The forest is used as a 234 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE mother symbol in three important passages in the Divina Commedia: the selva oscura. Inf. i, the divina foresta, Purg. xxviii, and the bosco. The mother symbolism of the Harpies, as well as of the bosco, is indicated in the following interior sequence, Inf. xiii. 9-13: 9 tra cecinA e corneto i luoghi colti 10 quivi le bruttE arpie lor nidi fanno 11 che cacciar delle stRofade i troiani 12 con tristo annunzio di fuTuro danno 13 ali hanno late e colli e visi uMani Read a of cecina, 9; e of brutte, 10; r of strofade, 1 1 ; t of futurOy 12; M of umani, 13: matre. Associated with the hostile, or dangerous, mother is the hostile or dangerous father in his guise as lion. He has already appeared as the lion in Inf. \. He appears again in an acrostic on the passage in which Dante hears but is not permitted to see Medusa — the passage which begins with one of the most significant of Dante's cryptic hints, Inf. ix. 61-72: O voi che avete gl' intelletti sani, 61 Mirate la dottrina che s' asconde Sotto il velame degli versi strani. E gia venia su per le torbid' onde 64 Un fracasso d' un suon pien di spavento, Per cLii tremavano ambedue le sponde; Non altrimenti fatto che d' un vento 67 Impetuoso per gli avversi ardori, Che fier la selva, e senza alcun rattento Li rami schianta, abbatte, e porta fuori. 70 Dinanzi polveroso va superbo, E fa fuggir le fiere e li pastori. Consider on the first lines of these four terzine the following marginal letters: 6i o 64 E 67 N 70 LI Read: lione THE SEAL 235 Now let us return to Dante's journey in Inferno. The gate of the city of Dis is finally opened to Dante by a mysterious personage, del cielmessOy of whom Dante says, Inf. ix. 88-90: Ahi quanto mi parea pien di disdegno! Venne alia porta, e con una verghetta L'aperse, che non ebbe alcun ritegno. The identity of this personage is one of the mysteries of the Divina Commedia. That he is important for the sym- bolism of the poem is indicated by the acrostic on the terzina just quoted. Consider on the three lines the following marginal letters: ZZ A 89 VE 90 L Read: vela This personage veils, as I believe, Dante himself. As someone del del messo he is the same as the dvx, who is designated, Purg. xxxiii. 44, as messo da Dio. The verghetta is his phallic symbol, which opens the female gate. Notice that the initials of the three lines of this terzina, in which the opening of the gate is described, are a, or i; v, or 5; and l, or 50. They make, without the zero, the cryptic 515. This same number appears in terzina 82-84, in which the mysterious personage is described. The initials of the three lines of this terzina are: 82 D or 500 83 M or 1000 84 E or 5 With the zeroes omitted, these numbers again give the cryptic 5^5 ii^ association with the mysterious personage, who represents the divine power of the symbolized sexual act of Dante. Consider the following marginal letters of this terzina: 236 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 82 DA 83 M 84 E Read: me, d . . . a . . . Dante thus indicates himself by his initials. In the present guise Dante is thus analogous to Mercury with the phalHc caduceus, who is the phalHc personification of Jupiter. He is also analogous to Gabriel at the annunciation with the phallic lily, who is the phallic personification of the divine father in the Christian story of the birth of Christ. With Dante thus inside the uterine city of Dis, it remains for us to examine the manner of his exit from it; this exit, as I shall show, symbolizes his delivery from the uterus in the sense of his being at last reborn. In the center of the city of Dis, in the lowest spot of Hell, stands Lucifer, the imperador del dolorosa regno. When Dante sees him he becomes, through itQ-V^gelato efioco^lnj. xxxiv. 22: Com' io divenni allor gelato e fioco, 22 Nol domandai", Letter, ch' io non lo scrivo, Pero ch' ogni parlar sarebbe poco. Io non morii, e non rimasi vivo: 25 Pensa oramai per te, s' hai fior d' ingegno, Qual io divenni, d' uno e d' altro privo. In these cryptic words, which should be examined with particular care, the reader is adjured to think for himself what Dante then became^ since Dante himself will not write it. What was it, then, that Dante became, if he was here neither dead nor alive? The only condition which may be considered as neither dead nor alive is the foetal condition, and Dante is saying here that in the presence of Lucifer he became a foetus. This interpretation is confirmed by the interior sequences in the passage: 22 com'io divenni allor gelaTO E Fioco 23 nol domandar letTOr ch'io NON lo scrivo 24. pEro ch'ogni parlar sarebbE poco 25 io non morii e non rimasi VIVO 26 pensa oramai per te s'hai Fior d' ingegno THE SEAL 237 Notice first that in the words gelato e fioco, line 11. the letters of feto are grouped together, thus: (gela)TO e F(ioco). Now read from r oifioco^ ii\ to oi lettor, 23; e o{ pero, 24: FETO. Read, in a vertical line, from to o{ gelato, 22; non, 23; final e Q){ sarebbe, 24; vivo, 25; f oifior, 26: feto non vivo. It is therefore as a foetus that Dante, clinging to Virgil, is carried by Virgil, climbing down the shaggy sides of Lucifer, to a spot from which they seem to Dante to begin to climb up again. Dante imagines that they are climbing back from this spot to where he has been before. But, as he after- wards learns, the spot is the center of gravity, i.e., the center of the earth; and therefore, in continuing still in the same direction toward the southern side of the earth, the poets have to begin to climb instead of continuing to descend. Such is the apparent meaning of the spot by which Dante becomes confused. That the spot has some deeper symbolism is indicated by the words which Dante addresses to the reader in regard to it, InJ. xxxiv. 91-93: E s' io divenni allora travagliato, La gente grossa il pensi, che non vede Qual e quel punto ch' io avea passato. What Dante means to indicate here is that the punto which he passed is the pene of Lucifer. It must be re- membered that Lucifer is standing in Hell in such a position that his genitals are exactly at the centre of the earth and so at the centre of gravity. Dante, who, at the sight of Lucifer, became feto, must now have become sperma again in order to pass through the pene of Lucifer into the cavity below. That Dante means the pene as the mysterious punto which he passed should be apparent in the words in which he refers to it, lines 91-93. Travagliato, line 91, has a double meaning referring to coitus, and gente grossa has a double meaning referring to pregnancy. The verb for gente grossa is pensi, line 92, which is an anagram for penis, and which is 238 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE in addition the word on which terminate three interior sequences spelling: pene. They appear as follows: 90 E vidili le gambe in su tenere 91 e s'io divENni allora travagliato 92 la gENte grossa il PENsi che non vede 93 qual e quel Punto ch'io avea passato 94 lEvati su disse il maEstro in piede Read from the e, initial of line 90; en of divenni, 91; p of pensi, 92: PENE. Read from en of the same word, pensi, 92; p o( punto, 93; E oi levati, 94: pene. Read en o{ gente, 92; p oi punto, 93; e o{ maestro, 94: pene. In addition to the sequences, the three terzine in which they appear, Inf. xxxiv. 88-99, contain an acrostic: lo leva! gli occhi, e credetti vedere 88 Lucifero com' io 1' avea lasciato, E vidili le gambe In su tenere. E s' io divenni allora travagliato, 91 La gente grossa il pensi, che non vede Qual e quel punto ch' io avea passato. 'Levati su,' disse il Maestro, 'in piede: 94 La via e lunga e il cammino e malvagio, E gia il sole a mezza terza riede,' Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these three terzine: 88 10 91 ES 94 L Read: elios The initials of the lines of the first terzina of the foregoing passage are: 88 I 89 L 90 e Read: eli THE SEAL 239 Eli is God the father, and Lucifer is not only an aspect of Christ as the fallen son, but also an aspect of God the father in that he is emperor of the nether world. The acrostic elios is thus associated with Lucifer in his final appearance in the poem, just as the acrostic sole is associated with Lucifer in his first appearance. The interior sequences spelling pene in the passage containing the acrostic elios point to the phallic symbolism of the sun in the penetrating power of its light. I have already referred to this symbolism, and I shall have to develop it further in connection with the sex symbolism of Paradise. It is of the highest importance to notice that Dante, in passing through the pene of Lucifer, must biologically, have been reduced to sperma, the significant word that appears in his seal. He starts in the poem as omo; he then becomes FETO; and finally sperma. In this succession of changes Dante reverses in his journey through Hell the natural order by which he was, in his origin, first sperma, then feto, and finally omo. The journey through Hell is thus a retrogression by which Dante retraces the successive stages of his develop- ment as a human being; he returns to his original condition as SPERMA in the body of the father symbolized here as Lucifer, in order that he may make a fresh start on the cammin di nostra vita^ in order, in other words, that he may be born again. This backward course through the successive stages of the natural evolution of a human being is expressed by Dante as a universal tendency; he defines this idea in the Convivio^ iv. 12, 138, when he says, in words that should never be forgotten in connection with the Divina Commedia^ that il sommo desiderio di ciascuna cosa, e prima dalla Natura dato^ e lo ritornare al suo Principio. This statement that the supreme desire of everything is to return to its source is a rationalization of the desire to return to the mother as the source of life. After Dante has retrogressed from omo to feto and finally to sperma in Inferno^ he reverses the process and progresses, in the final lines of the final canto, from sperma to new-born man. The importance of the final lines of Inf. 240 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE xxxiv is not sufficiently appreciated; I wish therefore to call attention to the geography of the region through which they describe Dante as passing after he leaves Lucifer, On his journey from the centre of the earth, where he leaves Lucifer, to the surface of the southern hemisphere, where he emerges on the shore of the island of Purgatory, Dante passes first a/oro d'un sasso, Inf. xxxiv. 85; then a natural burella^ line 98; then la buca d'un sasso, line 131, through which descends a stream along a cammino ascoso^ line 133; and finally, at the end of the cammino ascoso, a pertugio tondo, through which Dante emerges to the surface of the earth. Now it must be observed that this interior between the centre of the earth and the southern hemisphere is a duplicate of the interior of Hell, which is between the centre of the earth and the northern hemisphere. The pertugio toyido^ at the surface of the southern hemi- sphere, corresponds to the gate of Hell, at the surface of the northern hemisphere. The cammino ascoso, with the stream in it, corresponds to the course which Dante follows in Hell from the gate of Hell to the gate of the city of Dis. The buca d'un sasso, through which the stream descends from this hidden way to the centre of the earth, corresponds to the gate of the city of Dis. The natural burella corresponds to the city of Dis. The foro d'un sasso, through which Dante emerges in leaving Lucifer, is the southern end of a cylindrical hole in the rock in which Lucifer is placed with his feet at the southern end and his head emerging from the northern end. Lucifer is erect in this hole, which is a female symbol, in an eternal act of copulation. Thh/oro d'un sasso is the opening which con- nects the interior of Hell with the southern interior of the earth, and belongs, accordingly, to them both in common. The fact that the genitals of Lucifer are situated at the center of gravity, and so at the center of the universe, indicates the central importance of the sexual life in Dante's symbolism. In Dante's universe there exists a detailed parallel between THE SEAL 241 its physical structure and laws and its spiritual structure and laws; the physical center of gravity is to be understood, accordingly, as corresponding to the spiritual center of gravity. The lowest point in the universe, in other words, is the symbol of the lowest moral value, and corresponds to the sexual nature of man, as symbolized by the genitals. This symbolism is apparent in medieval charts showing the human body as the microcosm of the universe considered as the macrocosm. In these charts of the human body as a repetition in parvo of the universe the genitals are definitely shown as corresponding to the center of gravity. The interior extending from the centre of the earth to the southern hemisphere is, as I have now shown, similar in structure to the interior of Hell. And these two interiors have likewise a similar symbolism. T\\t pertugio tondo corresponds to the vulva; the cammino ascoso to the vagina; the buca cCun sasso to the cervix; and the natural burella to the uterus. The Joro d'un sasso, in which Dante sees Lucifer's feet, is the southern end of a cylindrical passage by which the southern interior and Hell are connected; it is therefore repeated by a similar /oro d'un sasso at the northern end, through which the upper part of Lucifer emerges. The southern interior is thus an exact counterpart of the interior of Hell and, accord- ingly, a geographical symbol of the mother. From the mother region of Hell, therefore, Dante is ejected, as SPERMA, by the agency of the father figures of Lucifer and Virgil, into the mother region of the southern interior; and in his brief passage through the southern interior Dante must be supposed to be transformed successively, by the process of gestation, from sperma to feto and from feto once more to omo, the reborn man who is now prepared to continue the ascent to God. Having entered the gate of Hell by an act of incest, Dante emerges from the pertugio tondo^ the counterpart of the gate of Hell as a symbol of the vulva, by the act of birth, which is here, for Dante, rebirth. It is evident from the foregoing interpretation of the two interiors of the earth that the earth, as Dante describes it, is to be considered as two mothers, or as a dual mother. This 242 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE symbolism of the interior of the earth as two mothers, or as a dual mother, is repeated by Dante in his description of the surface of the earth, which he divides as land in the northern hemisphere and water in the southern hemisphere, both land and water being symbols, and contrasting symbols, of the mother. The dual motherhood of the earth corresponds to the conception of the two mothers, good and evil, to which I have already referred as existing in myths of rebirth. Dante's symbolism of the dual character of the earth as mother is derived in the first place, I believe, from the Pythagorean doctrine of two earths^ the earth and the counter earth, Antictona^ which Dante discusses and rejects in a highly significant way in the Convivio, iii. 5, 29 fF. For my interpre- tation of Dante's symbolism of the surface of the earth as a dual mother, see pp. 267-75. The cylindrical hole in the rock in which Lucifer stands at the center of the earth opens into each of the interiors symbolizing the two mothers; it is, therefore, the organ which they possess in common and by which they are connected. It corresponds, not to any physical conformation in the female body, but to the function whereby the sperma which is received by one aspect of the mother is transformed and delivered by the other aspect of the mother. In the passage of the son from one mother to the other through this opening there is signified the death of the son in the mother whom he leaves at the moment of his birth in the mother whom he enters. Death and birth are thus synony- mous terms, and the ambivalence of these two states is of the highest importance in the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. Dante develops this ambivalence throughout his poem with the greatest precision. The eternal existence of man is a series of deaths which are deaths in one mother and births in the other; existence thus alternates between the two mothers exactly as the sun is described in the passage just referred to in the Convivio as alternating between the two mother cities, Maria and Lucia, which Dante, in discussing the Pythagorean doctrine of the earth and the counter earth, imagines to be situated at the two poles of the earth. These THE SEAL 243 successive existences of the individual in the two mothers between whom he alternates is an expression by Dante of the Pythagorean metempsychosis, or "wheel of birth;" and it is in this sense that Dante's successive existences in Earth, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise are to be understood. This succession of existences is analogous to the successive revolu- tions of the sun, which is forever alternately above the earth and below the earth, and forever alternating, in the summer and winter solstices, between the north and the south poles of the earth. PURGATORY Dante's symbolism of Hell as the mother is repeated in his symbolism of Purgatory as the mother. With the difference that Hell is situated in the interior of the earth and Purgatory on the surface of the earth, the female physiology of Purga- tory is strictly parallel to the female physiology of Hell. Dante's Purgatory is a mountain on an island. As an island. Purgatory is thus related to the classical conception of the abode of the dead in the Blessed Isles. The Blessed Isles were supposed to lie somewhere in the west; they are a development of the sun myth, representing the spot where the sinking sun enters the earth in the evening in order to be reborn the following morning. The island is thus the symbol of the female organ by which the incestuous son, in the sun myths, enters the body of the mother. As a mountain. Purgatory is related to the common con- ception of sacred mountains where the gods and the spirits of men were supposed to dwell. Such mountains appear in the classical Olympus and the Teutonic Venusberg, in which especially the mother symbolism is manifest in the fact that the mountain is the dwelling place of the mother goddess. The mountain is, indeed, one of the preeminent symbols of motherhood; the analogy between mountain and mother which underlies this symbolism is to be found in the Mons Veneris, the breast, and the swelling of pregnancy. The 244 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE mountain as a birthplace is developed with curious elabor- ation by Dante himself in his reference to the birth of Jupiter, InJ. xiv. And as the mother of Christ, the Virgin Mary is constantly likened to a mountain in early Christian liter- ture.* Compare in Purg. xxii. 104-105, the words: del monte Che sempre ha le nutrici nostre seco. There is another indication of the mother symbolism of Dante's Purgatory in the shape which he gives it. Purgatory is a truncated cone with terraces, exactly like the Tower of Babel. The mother symbolism of the Tower of Babel is not, perhaps, commonly recognized; this symbolism is manifest, however, in the fact that the Tower was intended to be the means by which the builders were to ascend from Earth to Heaven, exactly as Purgatory for Dante is the efficient means of ascent. The ascent from Earth to Heaven is the equivalent of rebirth; and as the instrument of rebirth. Purgatory, like the Tower of Babel which it resembles in shape, is the symbol of the mother. This interpretation of the mother symbolism of the Tower of Babel is confirmed by the comparison in the Song of Songs, of the Shulamite, commonly accepted as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and of the church, to a tower, and by the constant use of the tower as a symbol of the Virgin Mary in medieval Christian literature. The mother sym- bolism of the tower, or of the Tower of Babel in particular, is apt to be disregarded on account of its more obvious phallic symbolism, based on its phallic shape. But like so many symbols, the tower is ambivalent; it symbolizes in a single image both the means of rebirth, as uterus, and the being who is to be reborn, as phallus. That Dante had the mother symbolism of the Tower of Babel in mind appears from the cryptograms contained in the passage in which he describes Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel. At the sight of Dante Nimrod utters a cry *See Hirn: The Sacred Shrine; also the articles on Mountains, Mountain Gods, and Mountain Mother in Hastings: Encyc. of Religion and Ethics. THE SEAL 245 which is commonly regarded by the commentators as pure gibberish, InJ. xxxi. 67: Rafel mai amech izabi* almi. These words are a prayer; the proof that they are a prayer is to be found both in their meaning as a cryptogram and in the acrostic on the passage in which they appear. Let me show first the acrostic on the first lines of the four terzine beginning with the line in question, InJ. xxxi. 67-78: 'Rafel mai amech izabi almi,' 67 Comincio a gridar la fiera bocca, Cui non si convenian piu dolci salmi. E il Duca mio ver lui: 'Anima sciocca, 70 Tienti col corno, e con quel ti disfoga, Quand' ira o altra passion ti tocca. Cercati al collo, e troverai la soga 73 Che il tien legato, o anima confusa, E vedi lui che il gran petto ti doga.' Poi disse a me: 'Egli stesso s' accusa; 76 Questi e Nembrotto, per lo cui mai coto Pure un linguaggio nel mondo non s' usa. Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 67 R 70 E 73 CE 76 P Read: prece In view of this suggestion that the words: Raj el mat amech izabi almi, are a prayer, it may not be surprising that they yield, as a cryptogram, the name of the person to whom the prayer is addressed. Consider the initials of these words: *Moore reads: zahi. I have adopted the reading izahi of Toynbee, Casini, Polacco, and others. The syllable i is necessary for the scansion. 246 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE ' R M A I A Read: maria The acrostic is an invocation of the divine mother. The prayer itself appears in the initial and contiguous letters of the words of the "gibberish" line, as follows: rafel R MAI M AMECH AME IZABI I ALMI A Read: mira a me The prayer, addressed to Maria, is that she should have regard for the suppliant. Since the words of this line are a pure invention of Dante, they permit him complete freedom in turning them to cryptographic purposes. This freedom in the formation of the words themselves accounts for the superficial nonsense of the words and for the profound and diversified cryptographic use of them. For we have not yet exhausted the cryptographic significance of this line. Consider in the words of the line the following telestic and contiguous letters: RAFEL EL MAI MAI AMECH CH IZABI ABI ALMI ALMI Read: chiami mia bella Thus the very words which yield as an acrostic the name of the divine mother, Maria, yield in the telestic reading the name of the mother of Dante. It is as if Dante, when he heard Nimrod calling maria in the acrostic, explained to THE SEAL 247 Nimrod in the telestic that the maria whom he is calling is the same as bella. Thus Maria and Bella are expressly identified. Presented as they are together in two cryptograms contained in the same words, they represent the mother in her dual character. This identification of Maria and Bella as the divine and the human form of the mother will be developed in the next chapter. It was in punishment of the impiety of Nimrod's act, as builder of the Tower of Babel, by which he strove to ascend into Heaven, that Pure un linguaggio nel mondo non s'usa. This reference to the fact that only one language is not used in the world may be taken as a hint of the use of cryptography. The symbolism of the Tower of Babel is fundamentally incest symbolism. To ascend into Heaven is to enter the symbol of the mother. It is appropriate, therefore, to the character of Nimrod that his prayer is addressed to the divine mother Maria and that he beseeches her to have regard for him. The analogies which suggest the mother symbolism of Purgatory are confirmed by the precise parallel which Dante establishes between the structure of Purgatory and the structure of the female body. At the beginning oi Purgatorio Dante is to be considered as having just been reborn from Hell, exactly as at the beginning of Inferno he is to be con- sidered as having just been born on earth. The parallel be- tween the structure of Hell and the structure of Purgatory in terms of the female body may be shown as follows: The sea, referred to as mar si Amniotic fluid. Cf. lago crudele, Purg. i. 3. del cor^ Inf. i. 20. The giunchi^ the reeds which Pubic hair. Cf. selva fringe the shore, Purg. i. 102. oscura^ Inf. i. 1. The piu lieve salita of the moun- Mons Veneris. Cf. il di- tain, Purg. i. 108, which Dante lettoso montCy Inf. i. 77. is directed to ascend and which he begins to ascend in Pwrg-. iii. 248 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The narrow calla through which Dante passes at the foot of the mountain into Purgatory from the shore, Purg. iv. 22. The ascent from the narrow opening to the Valley of the Princes, Purg. vii. Valley of the Princes, Purg. vii. Ascent from the Valley of the Princes to the gate of Purg- atory proper, Purg. vii-ix. Gate to Purgatory proper, Purg. ix. 76. Purgatory proper, Purg. x-xxvii. Vulva. Cf. gate of Hell, Inf. iii. Entrance of vagina. Cf. the passage from the gate of Hell to the nobile castelloy Inf. iii. iv. Clitoris. Cf. nobile cas- telloy Inf. iv. 108. Vagina. Cf. descent from the nobile castello to the gate of the city of Dis, Inf. v-vii. Cervix. Cf. gate to the city of Dis (Hell proper). Inf. viii. Uterus. Cf. city of Dis, Inf. ix-xxxiv. The significance of these parallels, as pointing to the mother symbolism of Purgatory, is unmistakable. The stream symbolism which we found in Hell, and which must be considered not only as seminal and lacteal but also as urinary and fecal, is represented in Purgatory by Lethe and Eunoe. This confusion of the seminal stream with the lacteal, the urinary, and the fecal appears not only in primitive myth but also in unconscious fantasies, as in dreams. The four-fold aspect of the stream symbolism appears in the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden, from which four streams flowed. Immediately after the rebirth of Dante on the shore of Purgatory Virgil washes the face of Dante; this washing is analogous, indeed, to the washing of the new-born child, and especially analogous to the rite of baptism as a symbolic imitation of birth. Before Dante reaches the entrance to Purgatory, the THE SEAL 249 entrance which, as I said, symboHzes the vulva and which he enters as by a sexual act, there is suggested the erection symbolism which we saw in the reference to the stem of the flowers, InJ. ii. 129, before his approach to the gate of Hell. This suggestion appears in these lines, Purg. iii. 12-15: La mente mia che prima era ristretta, Lo intento rallargo, si come vaga, E diedi il viso mio incontro al poggio, Che inverso il ciel piii alto si dislaga. This description of his mind parallels the description of his drooping courage, in the passage in InJ. ii, which became like the flowers erect on their stem. The entrance itself into Purgatory is described, Purg. iv. 19-21, in terms which suggest its symbolism: Maggiore aperta moke volte impruna Con una forcatella di sue spine L'uom della villa, quando I'uva imbruna. The allusion to an opening which a man impruna with his spine is obviously capable of a double meaning. Consider the following marginal letters of this terzina: 19 MA 20 CO 21 L Read: colma This reference to a climax may be understood as sym- bolical of the sexual act. The coitus symbolism of Dante's passage through the calla is expressed by le piume del gran disio which the ascent through the passage requires and also by the following lines, Purg. iv. 31-33: Noi salivam* per entro il sasso rotto E d' ogni lato ne stringea lo stremo, E piedi e man volvea il suol di sotto. The pressing of the walls of the opening upon the body *Moore reads: salavam, an obvious misprint. 250 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE passing through it and the attitude of the hands and feet indicate the sexual character of the act. The phallic sym- bolism in the passage is further indicated by the acrostic on the three lines of the terzina in question. Consider the follow- ing marginal letters on these lines: 31 N 32 E 33 E p Read: pene Dante is the pene in the sex symbolism of passing through the opening of the mother-mountain. The female symbolism of the Valley of the Princes appears in the allusion to it as ^gremboy Purg. vii. 68, a word that is repeated in describing the guardian angels as coming from the grembo di Maria^ Purg. viii. 37; in the hymn to the Virgin Mary, Purg. vii. line 82; in the entrance of the serpent, Purg. viii. 98, into the grembo — the serpent, which is likened to the serpent that tempted Eve, being certainly phallic; and in the pleasant sleep in the grembo. The symbolism of the Valley of the Princes is developed with an abundance of detail into which I have no time to go. The character of Dante's sojourn in the Valley of the Princes is expressed in the dream which he had there. In this dream, which is described in Purg. ix, Dante seemed to be carried away by an eagle up to the fire. That this eagle is a symbol of the mother with whom incest is suggested by the fire to which she carries him, should be evident from the mother symbolism which I have already shown in the eagle in Par. xviii and following (see pp. 201-1 1). The eagle in the passages in Paradiso appears indeed as a composite symbol of the family triad. In the present instance its symbolism is determined as maternal by the act of carrying the child. Dante's allusion to the "mother," Purg. ix. 37, immediately on wakening, proves that he intends the mother symbolism in the dream. The coitus symbolism of Dante's passage through the gate to Purgatory proper is indicated by the convulsive move- THE SEAL 251 ment of the rock through which he passes immediately beyond the gate, Purg. x. 7-9, and in the allusion to the moon regaining its bed, line 15. The moon, on account of its waxing and waning as in pregnancy, is one of the supreme symbols of the mother in ancient and medieval symbolism. But here again I am obliged to forego developing in detail the sym- bolism of the gate and of Dante's passage through it. I wish, however, as more particularly pertaining to the cryptography of the Divina Commedia^ to call attention to the seven p's which the angel cuts on the forehead of Dante and directs him to wash off. The letter p is generally sup- posed to stand for the Italian word for s\n: peccato; and the seven p's to stand, thus, for the seven so-called mortal sins. I am convinced that this explanation of the seven p's, correct though it may be for the mere manifest meaning, does not go to the root of Dante's symbolism. Considering the sex symbolism of the poem, I suggest that Dante intends the letter p as the phallic symbol which it was recognized to be. The letter p is the shape of the Greek letter for r, which appears in variations of the so-called crux ansata: ± This cross is a monogram composed of the first two letters of the name of Christ according to the Greek spelling: XPISTOS. But the symbolism of the forms in this cross is much older than the date of Christ. This cross, indeed, was first associated with Osiris. The p, or, as here, the Greek letter for R, is not only the complete phallic shape; it is also the shape of a key; and the phallus as the key which opens the female door is an ancient and wide-spread conception. That Dante here intends the ? to represent a key is indicated by the reference which the angel makes to keys immediately after he has cut the p's on Dante's forehead. The use of the p suggests here, therefore, by virtue of its appearing in the crux ansata as a monogram of Christ, the 252 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Christlike character of Dante's journey; and by its being a symbol of the phallus as key, the p suggests here also the sexual character of this journey. The seven p's as phallus suggest the seven acts of creation, which are recorded in the seven days of creation and sym- bolized in the phallic seven branched candlestick. The words with which the angel directs Dante to wash the "wounds" of the seven p's have a double meaning. He says, Purg. ix. 113-114: Fa che lavi, Quando sei dentro, queste piaghe. In the double meaning of these words, there is a reference to the sexual act which Dante is to perform when he is dentro, the sexual act, seven times repeated, as in the creation of the world, whereby he is to recreate himself. Having penetrated into the womb, or Purgatory proper, of the Purgatorial mother, Dante passes from the womb of Purgatory into the womb of the Terrestrial Paradise. His passage from womb to womb thus symbolized is accom- plished by an arduous progress through a wall of fire, Purg. xxvii, and the ascent of a stairway from the top step of which the Terrestrial Paradise opens out. The progress through the wall of fire and the ascent of the stairway symbolize the passage of Dante as sperma from the Purgatorial mother into the motherlike Terrestrial Paradise. This passage is exactly analogous to his passage via Lucifer from Hell to the southern interior of the earth; and just as we saw that Dante was reduced to the condition of sperma before passing from Hell to the southern interior of the earth , he must likewise be considered here, in the uppermost terrace of Purgatory, as having been reduced to sperma in order to pass from Purgatory to the Terrestrial Paradise. The retrogressive character of the ascent of the mountain of Purgatory, disguised as a progress from the greater sinful- ness of the lower cornices to the lesser sinfulness of the higher, must not be overlooked. For just as Dante has retrogressed in Hell to the original evil in man, so here in Purgatory he THE SEAL 253 retrogresses to man's original sinlessness, as exemplified in the condition of Adam in the Terrestrial Paradise before the fall. Here, as in Hell, Dante is illustrating the general principle which he enunciates in the Convivio that the supreme desire of everything is to return to its source. That this desire may- express itself as incest desire is apparent from the fact that in incest desire the child seeks to return to its source in the mother. The retrogressive ascent of Purgatory to the original sin- lessness of man is symbolized, as I have said, by Dante's retrogression from human form to the form of sperma, as which he is passed through the fire and up the stairway. His form as sperma is indicated, as I have already shown in my treatment of Statius (pp. 195-200), by his being, during the passage through the fire, between his poetical father Virgil and his poetical mother Statius, the proper position of SPERMA at the moment of conception. The fire and the stair- way, as commonly both in dreams and conscious symbolism, is coitus symbolism. Coitus and the act of birth are ambiva- lent in rebirth symbolism, since both coitus and birth are a passage through the vulva. Dante, then, is not reborn in Purgatory. He is merely prepared for rebirth by being reduced to the primitive con- dition in which he is capable of rebirth, and then passed into the womb of the mother, the Terrestrial Paradise, by whom his rebirth is accomplished. Thus the Terrestrial Paradise, as the mother in whom Dante enters by a sexual act in order to be conceived anew, corresponds to the southern interior of the earth, in which Dante is reconceived after having been reduced to the original form of sperma in Hell. The Ter- restrial Paradise as a mother symbol is the counterpart of Purgatory; Purgatory and the Terrestrial Paradise together are the two mothers, or the dual mother, analogous to the dual mother of the earth as symbolized by the northern interior of the earth, or Hell, and the southern interior of the earth. That the Terrestrial Paradise is indeed a mother symbol is self-evident from its being the Garden of Eden. The mother is 254 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE preeminently the garden, and has been universally so sym- bolized. The mother symbolism of the Terrestrial Paradise is developed, as I shall show in the next chapter, in the episode of Dante's sleep with Beatrice. In this sleep is signified the union of Dante and Beatrice, whereby he enters her womb as he has entered the womb of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is in the womb of Beatrice that he is carried to Paradise. PARADISE The mother symbolism of Hell and Purgatory is repeated in the structure of Dante's Paradise. The symbolism of Heaven, or the sky, as mother is much more ancient, however, than Dante. The sky is a womb-like enclosure of all the life beneath it, and this similitude is expressed in the symbolism of all peoples in all ages; it is apparent in certain variations of the sun myth, where the sky is the mother of the sun. It must not be forgotten, moreover, that the primitive conceptions of the earth and the sky as mother were rational- ized into a philosophic form in which the universe, or macrocosm, is considered as exactly analogous in structure to the human body, the microcosm, or little universe. According to Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology^ to which the reader should refer, "the idea of such an analogy is present in the Aristotelian philosophy, and was developed by the Stoics in connection with their doctrine o{ pneuma^ the divine reason, which is also the warm vital breath that animates and purposively pervades the universe." The analogy between the universe and the mind of man underlies all forms of idealism. But preceding this idealistic conception of the macrocosm and the microcosm, and con- tinued in connection with it, there was worked out in the greatest detail the analogy between the structure of the universe and the structure of the human body. This physical correspondence underlies the structure of the universe in the Divina Commedia; it is expressed by Dante in the phrase, THE SEAL 255 questa e forma Che I'universo a Dio fa simigliante; — Par. i. 1 04-105: and in his reference to Paradise as the deijorme regno, Par. ii. 20. The universe is made in the image of God, exactly as man is made in the image of God, as expressed in Genesis i, 27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Now if the universe is made in the image of God, and man is in the image of God, it follows that the universe and man, being both in the image of God, must resemble each other. In other words, the universe must be the image of man. Moreover, if the universe is the image of God as the Christian Trinity, it must have a male aspect, as correspond- ing to God the Father, and in its male aspect it must have an aspect corresponding not only to God as father but also to God as Son. And it must also have ^. female aspect cor- responding to God as Holy Ghost, or divine mother. That there is a female aspect of the God described in Genesis is implied in the sentence from Genesis where it is said that God, creating man in his own image, created man male and female. The foregoing observations have the strictest pertinence to the structure of Dante's universe, which has a male, or penetrating and conceptual^ form corresponding to the father and the son of the divine Trinity; and a female form corres- ponding to the mother or Holy Ghost, of the divine Trinity. The unity of the Divine Trinity, thus expressed as a family, is expressed by their union in the moment in which the divine son is conceived; it is at this moment, as a biological fact, that father, mother, and son are together and therefore one. Rational as the idea thus appears to be, from the point of view of ancient and medieval philosophy, that the universe has a female form as well as a male form, it should not be surprising that Dante expresses this female form in the structure of his Paradise, just as he expresses it in the struc- 2s6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE ture of Hell and Purgatory, and that he expresses the male form in the symbolism of his journey as sperma through the female form of Paradise. Let us now examine the correspondences between the structure of Paradise and the structure of the female body, correspondences which in turn reveal the parallel between the structure of Paradise and the structure of Hell and of Purgatory. The parallel is clear, but in order to recognize the parallel it is necessary to recognize the method by which the symbolism in Paradiso is expressed. Beyond the division of Paradise into ten regions, it has no specific topography, and therefore the organi del mondoy to use a suggestive phrase of Dante's, are not materially localized in Paradiso, as they are in Inferno and in Purgatorio. The various regions of Paradise are differentiated by the different kinds of thought expressed in them; it is from the symbolism of ideas rather than from topographical symbolism that the meaning of Paradise is to be inferred. The following parallel columns will show the extent to which the structure of Paradise resembles the structure of the female body and the structure of Hell and Purgatory. Lo gran mar delV essere. Par. Amniotic fluid. Cf. lago i. 113. del cor. Inf. i. 20, and mar si crudele, Purg. Foglie of the alloro, the foliage of Pubic hair. Cf. selva the laurel on the mountain, oj-<:z/r«,/«/. i. 2, and the Par. i. 15, 26. giunchiy Purg. i. 102. Parnaso, Par. i. 16. Mons Veneris, Cf. il di- lettoso monte, Inf. i. 77, and the piu lieve salita, Purg. i. 108. Face, Par. i. 44, reinforced by the Vulva. Cf. gate of Hell, allusion to the passage to Col- Inf. iii, and the narrow chos, Par. ii. 16, these allusions calla, Purg. iv. 22. referring to Dante's entrance into the sphere of the moon. THE SEAL 257 Rivo^ Par. i. 137, together with acquCy Par. iii. 11, acqua. Par. iii. 123, and santo rioy Par. iv. 115. Passage from the sphere of the moon to the sphere of Mer- cury, Par. V. The peschiera, Par. v. Passage from the sphere of Mer- cury to the sphere of Venus, Par. viii. Entrance into the sphere of Venus. The conical shadow of the earth which extends through the first three heavens, coming to an apex at the sphere of Venus, redupli- cates in its form the hollow cone of Hell and the solid cone of the mountain of Purga- tory. Thus the shadow of the earth represents the organs al- ready named; the circle of the Bodily streams, seminal, lacteal, urinary and fecal. Cf. Acheron, Inf. iii. 78, and Lethe and Eunoe, Purg. xxviii. 130-131, and elsewhere. Entrance of vagina. Cf. the passage from the gate of Hell to the nobile castello^ Inf. iii, iv; and the ascent from the narrow opening to the Valley of the Princes, Purg. vii. Clitoris. Cf. nobile castel- lo. Inf. iv; and the Valley of the Princes, the gremboy Purg. vii. Vagina. Cf. descent from the nobile castello to the gate of the city of Dis, InJ. v-vii; and the as- cent from the Valley of the Princes to the gate of Purgatory proper, Purg. vii-ix. Cervix. Cf. gate to the city of Dis (Hell proper), InJ. viii; and gate to Purgatory proper, Purg. ix. 76. 258 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE cone in the sphere of the moon represents the vulva; the shadow from the sphere of the moon to the sphere of Venus, the vagina; and the apex of the cone, the cervix. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth. Uterus. Cf. city of Dis, seventh, eighth and ninth /;7/. ix-xxxiv; andPurg- circles. The uterine character atory proper, Purg. x- of the heavens beyond the xxvii. shadow of the earth is sug- gested by the allusion. Par. ix, 82, to la maggior valle in che Vacqua si spanda. For the de- velopment of the symbolism of la fnaggior valle ^ see pp. 267-73. The passage of Dante through the heavens thus symbolized as the female body is expressed in terms of sexual union and birth. The expression of this union and birth, or rebirth, is throughout Paradiso principally in terms of the phallic symbolism of the sun and of light, the penetrating power of the sun. Especially clear is this symbolism in the follow- ing lines, describing the actual entrance into the sphere of the moon, Par. ii. 34-36: Per entro se I'eterna margarita Ne recepette, com'acqua recepe Raggio di luce, permanendo unita. The entrance of light into a transparent body is one of the common symbols of the sexual union whereby the Virgin Mary conceived her divine child. The light enters the object without rupturing its surface; the unruptured surface through which the light enters corresponds, in medieval symbolism, to the unruptured hymen of the Virgin, whereby she received the divine child into her womb without losing the sign of her virginity. The light is phallic, and the object through which it passes is the female.* The entrance of the *See Hirn, The Sacred Shrine. THE SEAL 259 light into "the eternal pearl," as described in the terzina just quoted, recalls the acrostic readings on the opening lines of Par. i. which are: vela pene, on a passage treating of the "light" of God, and in una perla (see pp. 29-30). That the light which enters the pearl in the present passage has the phallic symbolism which I suggest is proved by the acrostic on the three lines of the terzina: 34 PE 35 NE 36 RAGGIO DI LUCE Read: pene: raggio di luce The phallic symbolism of light in the Divina Commedia^ and especially in Paradiso, is so important that Dante has not limited himself to the foregoing acrostic to indicate his meaning. There are, indeed, several acrostics showing the same reference to the ray of light as phallic. Following are the last four lines o( Par. v: Per piu letizia si mi si nascose 136 Dentro al suo raggio la figura santa, E cosi chiusa chiusa mi rispose Nel modo che il seguente canto canta. 139 Consider the following marginal letters of these four lines: 136 PE 137 D 138 E 139 NE Read: pene ed Ed is Dante's signature and it is also a copulative con- junction. Note the word raggio in line 137. For further cryptographic evidence of the symbolism of light, see pp. 106-10, 290. The light symbolism of the Divina Commedia is further developed in such a way that the act of seeing is phallic just as the ray of light is phallic. Sight is supposed to penetrate 26o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE a transparent object as light penetrates it; and Dante as one who sees God is the same as Dante who unites himself with God in a union symbolized as sexual. The symbolism of Medusa in InJ. ix now becomes clear. As 1 suggested in speaking of her appearance at the gate of the city of Dis, Medusa is a symbol of the mother identified with the mother symbol of Hell itself. The danger for Dante of seeing her is that the act of sight, as penetrating an object, is the symbol of sexual union. The sex symbolism of Dante's progress through the female form of Paradise is further developed in the/otrd", Par. i. 44, which is mentioned in connection with Dante's entrance into Heaven and which I regard as a veiled allusion to the vulva. The/ofd" is the spot through which the sun rises at the vernal equinox, the season assigned to the Creation and the An- nunciation. Dante is thus to be considered as symbolized by the sun at the moment when it passes through the/ocy^,^xxiv,[Dante says: lo vidi monna Vanna e monna Bice. Now in connection with this use of Bice Dante makes a remarkable statement both in the sonnet and in the prose discussion of the meeting with Beatrice which the sonnet records. In referring, in the sonnet, to the two ladies, monna Vanna and monna Bice respectively, Dante says: Amor mi disse: Questa e Primavera, E quella ha nome Amor, si mi somiglia. And in the prose comment he explains how Love said to him BEATRICE 347 in his heart that quella Beatrice chiamerebbe Amore^ per molta somiglianza che ha meco. What, then, is the resemblance which Beatrice has with Love ? I suggest that the answer to this question is to be found in the letters of the name Beatrice which are omitted in the form bice. These letters are eatr. The cryptographic significance of these letters, as showing the resemblance of Beatrice to Love, is to be discovered in the fact that, as we have already seen, the letter t is the symbol of the cross and so of Christ, or the divine man. A form for the Italian word for man is om^ so that the t of eatr may be considered as representing, in the divine form, cm. Replace the t, therefore, by its equivalent cm, in the letters eatr; and eatr become eagmr, or amore. It appears, then, that BEATRICE resembles love by virtue of the fact that amore is actually spelt, by a cryptographic device, in BEATRICE. Beatrice thus equals bice + amore, or B — AMORE — ICE. The same substitution of cm for t is to be made in the omitted letters in the allusion to Beatrice as be and ice. The letters of Beatrice intervening between be and ice are ATR. Substitute cm for the t, and the letters are aomr, or AMOR, the Latin form of amore. Amor, or the divine child, is thus inside Beatrice, as in her womb. This same idea of Love, as the divine child, in the womb of his mother, has already been noted in the words of the prayer to the Virgin in the opening lines oi Par. xxxiii. In this passage, moreover, Dante shows by a cryptographic device that it is himself who is in the womb of the mother, and thus, by the corres- pondence between the meaning of the cryptogram and the manifest meaning of the text, identifies himself with the divine child and his mother with the divine mother. The passage, Par. xxxiii. 1-15, reads as follows: 'Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo Figlio, Umile ed alta piu che creatura, Termine fisso d' eterno consiglio, 348 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Tu se' colei che 1' umana natura 4 Nobilitasti si, che il suo Fattore Non disdegno di farsi sua fattura. Nel ventre tuo si raccese I' amore, 7 Per lo cui caldo nell' eterna pace Cosi e germinato questo fiore. Qui sei a noi meridiana face lO Di caritate, e giuso intra i mortali Sei di speranza fontana vivace. Donna, sei tanto grande e tanto vali, 13 Che qual vuol grazia ed a te non ricorre, Sua disianza vuol volar senz' ali. Consider first the following marginal letters of the first lines of the first three terzine: I VER 4 T 7 NE Read: ventre This recalls the phrase nel ventre tuo^ line 7. For the interior sequence in this passage see p. 328. Now note the following marginal letters on the first lines of the five terzine, five being the number of letters in Dante's name: IV E 4 T 7 N 10 QUI SEI A 13 D Read: quivi sei, dante The letter v, line i, has the spelled form vi, and in this form it is here considered. The n, t, and e of dante are the same letters used in reading the acrostic ventre, so that Dante, as here written, is in the ventre. Dante was not unaware, I surmise, that he could also be shown to be nel ventre by another cryptographic device, since Dante's initials reversed, a. d., are contained in the word madre^ line i. BEATRICE 349 The acrostic: sei quivi, dante, is immediately followed by a passage of five terzine which contains an acrostic. The passage, Par. xxxiii. 16-30, reads: La tua benignita non pur soccorre 16 A chi domanda, ma molte fiate Liberamente al domandar precorre. In te misericordia, in te pietate, ig In te magnificenza, in te s' aduna Quantunque in creatura e di bontate. Or questi, che dall' infima lacuna 22 Deir universe infin qui ha vedute Le vite spiritali ad una ad una, Supplica a te per grazia di virtute 25 Tanto che possa con gli occhi levarsi Piu alto verso 1' ultima salute. Ed io, che mai per mio veder non arsi 28 Piu ch' io fo per lo suo, tutt'i miei preghi Ti porgo, e prego che non sieno scarsi, • Consider the initials of the first lines of these five terzine: 16 L 19 I 22 25 S 28 E Read: elios ELios is, as we have already seen, a designation of God which identifies God with the sun. The symbolism of Christ in the womb of the divine mother corresponds, in sun sym- bolism, to the sun at night in the womb of the earth. That the ELios here, as the sun god, is to be understood as in this nocturnal phase is expressed by the acrostic on the five ter- zine immediately following: Perche tu ogni nube gli disleghi 31 Di sua mortalita coi preghi tuoi, Si che il sommo piacer gli si dispieghi. Ancor ti prego, Regina che puoi 34 Ci6 che tu vuoli, che conservi sani, Dopo tanto veder, gli afFetti suoi. 3SO THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE VInca tua guardia i movimenti umani: 37 Vcdi Beatrice con quanti Beati Per li miei preghi ti chiudon le mani.' Gli occhi da Dio diletti e venerati, 40 Fissi neir orator, ne dimostraro Quanto i devoti preghi le son grati. Indi air eterno lume si drizzaro, 43 Nel qua! non si de' creder che s' inii Per creatura 1' occhio tanto chiaro. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these terzine: 31 PER 34 A 37 VI 40 GLI 4^ I Read: pervigilia The vigil is for the rising of the sun that is enclosed in the womb of the night; it corresponds to the vigil for the re- surrection of Christ, and, in the allegory of the Divina Commediay to the mystic rebirth of Dante, who has been symbolized, in the acrostic on the opening lines of the canto, as in the womb of the divine mother. The three consecutive acrostics: sei quivi, dante; elios; and pervigilia, appear, it is to be noted, on frames of five terzine. Their identity of structure and their consonance of meaning go far to proving their intentional character. In view of the foregoing cryptograms which indicate Dante as in the womb, let us return now to the considera- tion of the cryptographic device: be . . . ice, in connec- tion with the thrice repeated word: dille. The passage in which the device appears reads as follows. Par. vii. 10-15: lo dubitava, e dicea: 'Dille, dille,' 10 Fra me, 'dille,' diceva, 'alia mia donna Che mi disseta con le dolci stille'; Ma quella riverenza che s'indonna 13 Di tutto me, pur per be e per iCE, Mi richinava come I'uom ch'assonna. BEATRICE 351 The play on the double meanings of the words in this passage is extraordinary. I wish to call attention particularly to the use of the word indonna^ line 13; the punning idea of this word as "in lady" suggests the meaning of the crypto- gram showing AMOR in Beatrice. Notice, also, the thrice repeated T>ille^ lines 10 and 11. The literal meaning of 'Dille is, of course: "Tell her." But the letters dil, as we have already seen, are one of the cryptographic guises for the name of Dante; so that dille, dille, dille may be taken to mean: "To her, Dante; to her, Dante; to her, Dante." There is certainly in this cryptic iteration the suggestion of the act by means of which the child enters its mother's womb. In the Christian symbolism of the Middle Ages Love signifies sometimes, as in the passage just quoted from the prayer to the Virgin Mary, the divine son; and sometimes, as in the inscription over the gate of Hell, the Holy Ghost. The resemblance of Beatrice to Love, which Dante speaks of in the Vita Nuova^ indicates, therefore, that she resembles Love in the sense that she reproduces Love, as the divine child, in her womb; and also that she is to be identified with Love as the Holy Ghost, the divine mother in the Trinity. It is now possible to understand why Dante uses the word pur^ or "merely," in speaking of quella riverenza che s'indonna Di tutto me, pur per be e per ice. In the form of her name as be and ice Beatrice is repre- sented as being as yet without the divine child in her womb. Per BE e per ICE, therefore, she is represented as still virginal, and accordingly as commanding less reverence than in the full form of the name, Beatrice, which represents her as having the divine child in her womb and therefore as being now the divine mother. This interpretation of Bice as the virginal and Beatrice as the maternal form of the name is supported by the use which Dante makes of the two forms in the Fita Nuova. The only allusion to Beatrice by name iri the verse of the Vita Nuova that may be supposed to have been written before the time 352 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE assigned for her death is in the Bice to which we have been referring, Fita Niiova^ xxiv. After her death she is consist- ently called Beatrice. The maternal character of Beatrice is expressed sym- bolically by her death and consequent ascent to Heaven; her death symbolizes the act by which Dante is reunited with her, as in incest, and her ascent to Heaven symbolizes the act by which Dante is reborn, or borne to God. The form Beatrice is therefore applied to her after her death as to the mother, whereas the form Bice is applied to her before her death as to the virgin who has not yet received the son into her womb. That the ascent of Beatrice to Paradise is the means by which Dante is reborn has already been suggested. In Dante's sleep with Beatrice in the Terrestrial Paradise is symbolized the sexual union by which Dante, as the son, begets himself anew in his own mother in order to be reborn. By this act he is to be understood as entering her womb, and it is in her womb that Beatrice carries Dante in their ascent to Paradise. Paradise and the womb are, as a matter of fact, one and the same. There is nothing unusual in this phantasy of returning to the womb of the mother as to the ideal state of existence; it is common in myth, religion, and dream. For the symbolism of Dante's sleep with Beatrice, see pp. 380-7. That Dante is indeed to be considered as in the womb of Beatrice in his ascent to Paradise is frequently implied by double entente. A striking instance of such a double meaning is to be seen in the words of Beatrice to Dante, Par. i. 88-89: Tu stesso ti fai grosso Col falso immaginar. These words occur just a few lines before Beatrice, as I have already pointed out, is likened to a mother turning toward her delirious child Dante. The word grosso has, of course two meanings in Italian; it means, first, "dull" or "stupid;" and, second, it means " pregnant." The double meaning of the whole passage may be developed, therefore, as follows: Beatrice and Dante are ascending together to Paradise, and BEATRICE 353 Dante, who imagines that he is still on earth, is confused by the novel experiences which the ascent produces. When Beatrice, therefore, says in effect to Dante that in his false conjecture he is making himself pregnant, she is virtually implying that what he is really doing is making her pregnant. The passage. Par. i. 88-90, which contains the phrase just quoted, is as follows: E comincio: Tu stesso ti fai grosso Col falso immaginar, si che non vedi Cio che vedresti, se I' avessi scosso. Consider the following marginal letters of these three lines: 88 E 89 CO 90 c Read: ecco The intention of this acrostic may be to call attention to the double meaning in the words: tu stesso ti fai grosso. A similar suggestion of Dante's union with Beatrice will appear, I believe, in the first seventy lines o( Par. xviii, if the reader is alert to the possible double meanings. In this passage Cacciaguida, as the ancestor of Dante, is obviously a father image, and when it is said of him that Gia si godeva solo del suo verbo Quello specchio beato, the word verl^o, as a word used like Logos for Christ, may well be understood to refer not merely to what Cacciaguida has been saying, but also to his Christ-like son. The specchio beato, as in the three mirrors in Par. ii, is a father image, which reinforces the father imagery of Cacciaguida himself. In the Hght of this symbolism of father and son, it is not unnatural to think of Beatrice as completing the family trinity, and as with child, in view of the possible double meaning of her words: io sono Presso a colui ch'ogni torto disgrava. Disgrava, as disburdens, has a possible reference to delivery 354 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE in childbirth. The idea seems to be adumbrated again in the words, Hnes 65-66: bianca donna, quando 11 volto Suo si discarchi di vergogna il carco. The importance of the passage as containing a double meaning seems to be suggested by the cryptograms which it contains. The first four terzine of the canto are: Gia si godeva solo del suo verbo Quello specchio beato, ed io gustava Lo mio, temprando col dolce 1' acerbo; E quella Donna ch' a Dio mi menava, 4 Disse: 'Muta pensier, pensa ch' io sono Presso a colui ch' ogni torto disgrava.' Io mi rivolsi all' amoroso suono 7 Del mio conforto, e quale io allor vidi Negli occhi santi amor, qui l' abbandono; Non perch' io pur del mio parlar diffidi, 10 Ma per la mente che non puo reddire Sopra se tanto, s' altri non la guidi. Consider first the following marginal letters of the first lines of these four terzine: I G 4 E 7 10 10 N Read: genio Genio suggests ingegno, a word which Dante often uses as a hint of the presence of a cryptogram. In the same passage appears the following interior sequence: 2 quello specchio bEato ed io gustava 3 lo mio tempranDo col dolce 1' acerbo 4 e quella doNna ch'a dio mi menava 5 disse muTA pensier pensa ch'io sono Read e of l>eato, 2; d of temprando, 3; first n of donna, 4; TA of muta, 5: DANTE. BEATRICE 355 There is a passage in the Divina Commedia where, as I believe, Beatrice is actually named in the open text as Bella, the Christian name of Dante's mother. The passage to which I refer is to be found in Inf. ii. 52-54, where Virgil is tellng Dante how he was persuaded to come to the aid of Dante. Virgil says: lo era tra color che son sospesi, E donna mi chiamo beata e bella, Tal che di comandare io la richiesi. In this, the first allusion to Beatrice in the Divina Commedia, it is highly significant that Beatrice is not named as Beatrice and that the allusion to her as beata e bella may be under- stood, as far as the structure of the sentence is concerned, as actually naming her in a punning use of the proper name Bella. Consider the interior sequences in the passage that includes the foregoing lines: 50 dirotti perch 'io venni e quEl che intesi 51 nel primo punto che Di te mi dolve 52 io era tra coloR che son sospesi 53 e donna Mi chiamo BEata e bella 54 tAl che di comandare io La richiesi 55 lucevan gli occhi suoi piu che LA stella Read e of quel, 50; d of di, 51; r of color, 52; m of mi, c^2'-> A oi tal, 54: MADRE. Read be oi beata, ^y, l oi la, 54; la, 55: bella. The interior sequences in the rest of this canto repeat the idea of mother. The following sequences are in lines 68-75: 68 e con cio ch'e mestieri al suo caMpare 69 I'aiuta si ch'io ne siA consolata 70 io son beaTRice che ti faccio andare 71 vEgno di loco ove tornar disio 72 amoR mi mosse che mi fa parlare 73 quanDo saro dinanzi al signer mio 74 di te Mi lodero sovente a lui 75 tacette Allora e poi comincia'io 3S6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Read: m of campare^ 68; a of j/Vz, 69; tr of beatrice^ 70; e of vegnOy 71 : matre. Read: e oi vegno, 71 ; R of amor, 72; d of quando, 73; m of mi, 74; first A of allora, 75: madre. Note that the two sequences key on the e of vegno, 71. Note the initials of the lines of the terzina, 70-72: 70 I 71 V 72 A Read: via Beatrice is the "way" from one life to another. The following interior sequence is in lines 91-94: 91 io son fatta Da die sua merce tale 92 che la vostRa miseria non mi tange 93 ne fiamMA d'esto incendio non m'assale 94 donna E gentil nel ciel che si compiange Read from d of da, 91; r of vostra, 92; ma of fiamm a, 93; e, 94: madre. The following interior sequences are in lines 101-105: 101 si mosse e venne al loco Dov'io era 102 che Mi sedea con I'ANTica rachele 103 disse beATricE loda di die vara 104 che non soccoRri quei che t'amo tanto 105 che uscio per te dElla volgare schiera Read d of dov , loi; ant of antica, 102; last e of beatricCy 103: DANTE. This signature begins significantly in dov io era and ends in Beatrice, and the other sequence passes through the same word, Beatrice. Read m of mi, 102; at of beatrice^ 103; first r of soccorrij 104; e of della, 105: matre. There is in the Vita Nuova another curious instance of the use of Bella which can only be properly understood, I believe. BEATRICE 357 as a punning reference to the name of Dante's mother. In Vita Nuova^ xxv, in a highly elaborate discussion of literary personification^ a discussion, moreover, which immediately follows the cryptic use of Bice, Dante cites a number of examples of personification in the classical poets. He says: "That the poets have thus spoken as has been said, appears from Virgil, who says that Juno, that is, a goddess hostile to the Trojans, spoke to iEolus, lord of the winds, here, in the first of the ^neid: Mole, namque tibi, etc. (iEolus, here to thee, etc.); and that this lord replied to her, here: Tuus, regina, quid optes, etc. (Thine, O queen, what thou askest, etc.). In this same poet the inanimate thing speaks to the animate thing, in the third of the iEneid, here: Dardanidoe duri, etc. (Ye hardy Trojans, etc.). In Lucan the animate thing speaks to the inanimate, here: Multum, Roma, tamen debes civilibus armis (Much dost thou owe, O Rome, to civic arms). In Horace a man speaks to his own knowledge as to another person; and not only are they the words of Horace, but he says them as the interpreter of the good Homer, here, in his book on Poetry: Die mihi, Musa, virum, etc. (Tell to me. Muse, of the man, etc.). In Ovid, Love speaks as if he were a human person, at the beginning of the book of the Remedy for Love, here: Bella mihi, video, bella parantur, ait (Wars against me, I see, wars are preparing, he says).* The use of Bella to which I referred is the Bella, Latin for "wars," in the quotation from Ovid. But before proceeding to explain the cryptic use of Bella here, I wish to express my opinion that the whole passage is not at all as simple as it seems, and that all the quotations are intended to convey a double meaning. The cryptic character of the passage, indeed, is distinctly hinted by Dante in the words immediately following it. He says: "And by this the matter may now be clear to any one who is perplexed in any part of this my little book. "And in order that no uncultured person may derive any over-boldness herefrom, I say, that the poets do not speak * Norton's translation. 358 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE thus without reason, and that those who rhyme ought not to speak thus, unless they have some reason for what they say; since it would be a great disgrace to him who should rhyme anything under the garb of a figure or of rhetorical coloring, if afterward, being asked, he should not be able to denude his words of this garb, in such wise that they should have a true meaning. And my first friend and I are well acquainted with those who rhyme thus foolishly." * This concluding paragraph should be taken to heart; it expresses as clearly as possible the cryptic character of Dante's imagery. It ought to be obvious, indeed, from the insistence with which he dwells on the meaning which the imagery covers, that the reader is expressly directed to look for a hidden meaning. There is another passage in the Vita Nuova with a some- what analogous reference to a hidden meaning; I will quote it here, en passant, as an indication of the emphasis with which the existence of a hidden meaning is proclaimed by Dante. At the close of his comment on the canzone, Donna, cK avete intelletto d' amove. Vita Nuova, xix, Dante says: "I say, indeed, that to make the meaning of this canzone more clear it might be needful to employ more minute divisions; but nevertheless it will not displease me that he who has not wit enough to understand it by means of those already made should let it alone; for surely I fear I have communicated its meaning to too many even through these divisions which have been made, if it should happen that many should hear it.* Prepared now with a suspicion of the duplicity of the language of the Vita Nuova, let us return to the examples of personification which Dante quotes from the classical poets. These quotations, intended apparently as examples merely of personification, are really intended to illustrate the hidden meaning of the Vita Nuova. The clues to the hidden meaning which they illustrate appear in the unquoted context of the passages of which Dante quotes merely the beginnings. As in deciphering the cryptic use of Bice and o{ per BE e per ICE * Norton's translation. BEATRICE 359 it was necessary to consider the omitted letters, so here it will be necessary to consider the omitted words. But before considering the passages in their entirety, let us examine what they present in the briefer form in which they appear in the text of the Vita Nuova. Notice, first, the reference to Juno, who, as the wife of Jupiter, is the figure of the divine mother. Notice, next, in the quotation from Lucan, the Roma, which, as has been developed earlier, is, first, the symbol of the divine mother in the Christian church, and, second, a palindrome for Amor, the very word which appears in connection with the cryptic use of Bice and per Be e per Ice, In connection with the two appearances of the divine mother in Juno and Roma the Bella of the quotation from Ovid may be taken as at least a hint that Bella is here used in a double sense to suggest the name of the mother of Dante. That it is a hint indeed, and a very strong hint, appears from the fact that in the passage to which Dante refers, beginning Dardanidae duri, there appears the command: *'Seek out your ancient mother." This command is uttered by the oracle whom ^neas has consulted in regard to his future. The passage, as in the words of iEneas, is as follows: "Scarcely had I thus said, when suddenly all seemed to tremble, both the temple itself, and the laurel of the god; the whole mountain quaked around, and the sanctuary being exposed to view, the tripod moaned. In humble reverence we fall to the ground, and a voice reaches our ears: Ye hardy sons of Dardanus, the same land which first produced you from your forefather's stock shall receive you in its fertile bosom after all your dangers; search out your ancient mother. There the family of /Eneas shall rule over every coast, and his children's children, and they who from them shall spring."* In connection with the command here expressed to "search out your ancient mother," this passage distinctly develops the idea of rebirth as to be accomplished by a return to the fruitful bosom of that mother. The means of rebirth here *Mneid, iii. Davidson's translation. 36o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE suggested is thus, as we have seen it to be elsewhere, incestuous. The passage which I have just quoted is the third referred to by Dante; the two preceding it prepare for the rebirth symbolism with remarkable precision. The first passage to which Dante refers reads as follows: "y^olus (for the sire of gods and the king of men hath given thee power both to smooth the waves, and raise them with the wind), a race by me detested sails the Tuscan Sea, trans- porting Ilium, and its conquered gods, into Italy. Strike force into thy winds, everset and sink the ships; or drive them different ways, and strew the ocean with carcasses."* It appears from this passage that the divine mother is hostile to the Trojans, who, as human beings, are to be considered as her sons; and that in order to wreak her wrath on her sons, she appeals to iEolus as representing the power of the divine father. There thus appears the family triad of father, mother, and son, in which the son is the object of the hostility of the father and the mother. This relation is exactly appropriate to the son as incestuous in relation to his father and his mother as resisting the incestuous act. The second of Dante's references, beginning TuuSy regina, quid optes, is the reply of ^olus to Juno, in which he acknowledges the power of the mother as supreme. Now the hostility of Juno as the divine mother is offset in the JEneid by the benignity of Venus, who, as the mother of iEneas, is to be considered as completing the dual char- acter of the divine mother. The symbolism of the dual mother is elaborated in the JEneid to a degree that has not, I believe, been sufficiently appreciated; Juno and Venus, as represent- ing the two aspects of the divine mother of the Trojans, and particularly of the mother of iEneas, have their counterparts in Crete, as the malignant motherland from which the Trojans are expelled and Italy, as the benignant motherland into which they are received. Nor is it sufficiently recognized that the theme of the ALneid is rebirth involving, in the return to the ancient mother, incest. It is on account of *Mneid, i. Davidson's translation. BEATRICE 361 this theme, which is also to be seen in the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, that Dante takes Virgil as his poetic father; for Virgil works out the theme of rebirth with a conscious elaboration that is exceeded only by Dante himself. The analogy between the two poems extends even to the con- ception in the jEneid, as in the Divina Commedia, of the infernal regions as the womb. This idea is expressly implied, indeed, by the fact that iEneas, in his descent to the infernal regions, sees there the shades of his descendants waiting for their birth. The two mothers in the JEneid, as in the Divina Commedia, are to be understood as, first, the mother who expels the child as in birth, and, second, the mother who receives the child back into her womb as in the act of incest. We have now examined the first three of Dante's classical instances of personification, and find that they imply, with an aptness that can scarcely be considered as accidental, the mother symbolism of the Vita Nuova and the Divina Com- media. The fourth of his references is to Lucan, a reference which includes the cryptic Roma; the passage is appropriate as applied to Dante himself in his imagined ascent to Paradise. The passage reads as follows: "Still, much does Rome owe to the arms of her citizens, since for thy (Nero) sake these events have come to pass. "When, thy allotted duties fulfilled, thou shalt late repair to the stars, the palace of heaven, preferred by thee, shall receive thee, the skies rejoicing; whether it please thee to wield the sceptre, or whether to ascend the flaming chariot of Phoebus, and with thy wandering fire to survey the earth, in no way alarmed at the change of the sun; by every divinity will it be yielded to thee and to thy free choice will nature leave it what god thou shalt wish to be, where to establish the sovereignty of the world."* Dante's next reference is to a description of "the man"; this description is likewise appropriate to himself (appropriate both as to his wanderings among "many men and cities" and also as to his allegorical method of mingling "feigned with true"). The passage in Ars Poetica reads as follows: *Pharsalia, i. Riley's translation, London, 1853. 362 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE '"Sing for me, my muse, the man who, after the time of the destruction of Troy, surveyed the manners and cities of many men.' He meditates not to produce smoke from a flash, but out of smoke to elicit fire, that he may thence bring forth his instances of the marvelous with beauty, such as Anti- phates, Scylla, the Cyclops, and Charybdis. Nor does he date Diomede's return from Meleager's death, nor trace the rise of the Trojan war from Leda's eggs: he always hastens on to the event: and hurries away his reader into the midst of interesting circumstances, no otherwise than as if they were already known; and what he despairs of, as to receiving a polish from his touch, he omits; and in such a manner forms his fictions, so intermingles the false with the true, that the middle is not inconsistent with the beginning, nor the end with the middle."* The last of the classical allusions that Dante makes, the one in which appears the Bella^ is again appropriate to Dante in its description of thew^r of love y which is expressed indeed in the Dtvina Commedia as resulting from the symbolized incest. Notice again, in this passage, the reference to the mother. The passage in Remedium Amoris reads as follows: "The God of Love had read the title and the name of this treatise when he said, 'War, I see, war is being meditated against me.' Forbear, Cupid, to accuse thy poet of such a crime; me, who so oft have borne thy standards with thee for my leader, I am no son of Tydeus, wounded by whom, thy mother returned into the yielding air with the steeds of Mars. Other youths full oft grow cool; I have ever loved; and shouldst thou enquire what I am doing even now, I am still in love."f The last sentence recalls the lines, Purg. xxiv. 52-54, in which Dante describes himself: lo mi son un che, quando Amor mi spira, noto, ed a quel modo Che ditta dentro, vo significando. *Smart's translation. fRiley's translation. BEATRICE 363 The foregoing glance at the sense of the passages cited by Dante as examples of personification brings to light such astonishing analogies with the hidden meaning of the Vita Nuova and the Divina Commedia as to suggest that the ostensible reason for referring to them is only another schermo della veritade. This suspicion is reinforced by the hint he gives of a hidden meaning in his discussion, quoted above, of the necessity of having a meaning from which the imagery may be denuded. The whole discussion, with its elaboration of mother symbolism, suggests that the Latin Bella may have been intended as a punning reference to the name of Dante's mother. The mention of Bella immediately after the reference to the man in a passage so aptly describing Dante himself makes the conjecture, in my opinion, more than probable — more than probable especially in view of the fact that the reader, in the suppressed words of the quotation, is directed to seek out "the ancient mother." In fact, the scholastic elaboration of the passage must seem curiously out of place and unmotivated in the general simple air of the Vita Nuova unless it may be understood, as Dante himself hints, as having some such hidden meaning. LIA AND MATELDA There is still another instance in the Divina Commedia of what I regard as a punning use of bella for Bella; it occurs in Dante's description of the dream in which he sees Lia, Purg. xxvii. 97-99: Giovane e bella in sogno mi parea Donna vedere andar per una landa Cogliendo fiori. In the form of Lia Dante sees his mother Bella in a dream. But Lia is to be understood as one of the two aspects of his mother; the other aspect is Rachel, to whom Lia refers. This dream of Lia and Rachel is a prophetic dream, in that it foreshadows the two maternal figures of Matelda and Beatrice whom 364 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Dante is to see, on awakening, in the Terrestrial Paradise. Matelda and Beatrice are likewise to be considered, as I shall show, as representing the mother as a duality. That Lia is indeed a dream form of the mother appears from the cryptogram in the passage in which she speaks. For this cryptogram see page 409. Let us now turn to Matelda, who, as is generally recog- nized, corresponds in the Terrestrial Paradise to Lia in the dream. The maternal character of Matelda is indicated with the greatest possible precision. In the first place, the very sight of her suggests to Dante a figure in which the word madre occurs, Purg. xxviii. 49-51: Tu mi fai rimembrar, dove e qua! era Proserpina nel tempo che perdette La madre lei. ed ella primavera. Moreover, Proserpina, whom Matelda here suggests to Dante, was the mother goddess of the spring. The maternal character is still further indicated by the comparison which Dante makes of her with Venus, Purg. xxviii. 64-66: Non credo che splendesse tanto lume Sotto le ciglia a Venere trafitta Dal figlio, fuor di tutto suo costume. This comparison of Matelda with Venus as the divine mother is further remarkable for the fact of the incestuous relation indicated as existing between Venus and her son Cupid, by whom she is here said to be trafitta fuor di tutto suo costume. There is only one interpretation to be put upon the act of Cupid in wounding his own mother. Another, and crucial, indication of the maternal character of Matelda is the fact that it is she who bathes Dante in the mystic stream. This bathing, like the sacrament of baptism, symbolizes birth, the symbol of the immersing waters being borrowed from the amniotic fluid in which the child is born. There is no lack of cryptographic proof of the maternal character of Matelda. Following are the proper names in the passage which describes Matelda, Purg. xxviii, 64-75: BEATRICE 365 VENERE ELLESPONTO XERSE LEANDRO SESTO ABIDO X is not an Italian letter. As a sign of the cross it may- be considered, as we have already seen, as equivalent to the letter t, another sign of the cross. Substitute, accord- ingly, T for the initial x of xerse, and consider in all the proper names the following initial and contiguous letters: V EL T LEA S ABI Read: bella e vista Following are the four terzine which include the speech of Matelda: *Voi siete nuovi, e forse perch' io rido,' 76 Comincio ella, 'in questo loco eletto Air umana natura per suo nido, Maravigliando tienvi alcun sospetto; 79 Ma luce rende il salmo Delectasti, Che puote disnebbiar vostro intelletto. E tu che sei dinanzi, e mi pregasti, 82 Di' s' altro vuoi udir, ch' io venni presta Ad ogni tua question, tanto che basti.' *L' acqua,' diss' io, 'e il suon della foresta, 85 Impugna dentro a me novella fede Di cosa, ch' io udi' contraria a questa.' Consider on the first lines of the four terzine the following marginal letters: 366 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 76 vol 79 MAR 82 E 85 LA VELO MARIA Read: The passage which describes Dante's baptism in the mystic stream at the hands of Matelda is as follows, Purg. xxxi. 97-1 1 1 : Qiiando fui presso alia beata riva, 97 Asperges me si dolcemente udissi, Ch' io nol so rimembrar, non ch' io lo scriva. La bella Donna nelle braccia aprissi, 100 Abbracciommi la testa, e mi sonimerse, Ove convenne ch' io I' acqua inghiottissi; Indi mi tolse, e bagnato mi ofFerse 103 Dentro alia danza delle quattro belle, E ciascuna del braccio mi coperse. *Noi sem qui ninfe, e nel ciel semo stelle; 106 Pria che Beatrice discendesse al mondo, Fummo ordinate a lei per sue ancelle. Menrenti agli occhi suoi; ma nel giocondo 109 Lume ch' e dentro aguzzeranno i tuoi Le tre di la, che miran piii profondo.' Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these five terzine: 97 QUA ICO LA BEL 103 I 106 NCI S 109 M Read: bella SI NOMA QUI For the cryptogram on the Latin words Asperges me, line 98, see page 284. Following are interior sequences in the lines describing the first appearance of Matelda, Purg. xxviii. 39-43, 48-51 : BEATRICE 367 39 per Maraviglia tutt'altro pensare 40 una Donna soletta che si gia 41 cantAndo ed iscegliendo fior da fiore 42 ond'ERa pinta tutta la sua via 43 deh BELLA donna ch'ai raggi d'amore Read in a vertical line m of maraviglia, 39; d of donna, 40; second a of cantando, 41; er or era, 42; bella, 43: madre BELLA. Maraviglia, as we have already noted, is an anagram for VAGLI MARIA. 48 tanto ch'io possa intenDEr che tu canti 49 tu mi fai rimembRar dove e qual era 50 proserpinA nel tempo che perdette 51 la Madre lei ed ella primavera Read de of intender, 48; second r of rimembrar, 49; a of proserpina, 50; m of madre, 51 : madre. Note that this word begins with the initial of the word madre in the text and runs through Proserpina, a recognized mother image. Various attempts have been made to identify Matelda with historic persons bearing the same name. In view of the unmistakable mother symbolism of Matelda I regard these identifications as beside the mark. I suggest, on the contrary, that Dante chose the name Matelda, just as I have tried to show that he chose the name Beatrice, for cryptographic reasons. The name Matelda is composed of letters derived from mater, Bella, and Dante in the following order: MAT from MATER EL from BELLA DA from DANTE There appears in the Vita Nuova in association with Beatrice a figure which, as I think, corresponds to Matelda. This figure is Giovanna, mentioned in the sonnet, Vita Nuova, xxiv, with Bice; lo vidi monna Vanna e monna Bice. 368 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE In the prose description of his meeting the two ladies, the meeting which is recorded also in the sonnet, Dante says of monna Vanna that she/^/ gia molto donna di qiiesto mio primo amico. E lo nome di questa donna era Giovanna^ salvo che per la sua beltade^ secondo clialtri crede, imposto Vera nome PRIMAVERA: e cos) era chiamata. E appresso lei guardando^ vidi venire la mirabile Beatrice, ^ueste donne andaro presso di me cos} I'una appresso Valtra^ e parvemi che Amore mi parlasse nel core^ e dicesse: ^uella prima e nominata Primavera solo per questa venuta d'oggi; che io mossi lo impositore del nome a chiamarla cos): PRIMAVERA^' cioe 'prima verra^ lo d\c he Beatrice si mostrera dopo V im agin azi one del suo fedele. There is indicated here an intimate, even mystic, asso- ciation of the two ladies, which is best to be explained, it seems to me, by understanding them to represent together the dual character of the mother. On this hypothesis Gio- vanna must correspond to Matelda; and there are, as a matter of fact, two verbal coincidences which support the hypothesis. In the dream of Lia, who, as is generally recog- nized, is the dream form of Matelda, Lia is spoken of as giovane e bella. I have already suggested that bella is a punning use for Bella; and I likewise suggest that giovane is a punning reference to the Giovanna of the Vita Nuova. This pun is no worse, at any rate, than Dante's own of primavera for PRIMA VERRA. The identification thus suggested of Giovanna and Matelda is suggested again in the words in which Dante, addressing Matelda, says that she reminds him of Proserpina at the time when Proserpina lost primavera. And there is another suggestion in Par. xii. 80, in the words: O madre sua veramente Giovanna. If my identification of Giovanna with one of the two mothers is correct, there remains to explain Dante's state- ment that she was gia molto donna di questo mio primo amico. Now the first friend of Dante was Guido Cavalcanti; but as the meaning of nothing in allegory is ever simple, Dante's "first friend," in the temporal sense of the word, may also be understood to be his father. That the father is indeed a friend BEATRICE 369 is declared by Dante himself in the Vita Nuova when he says, in connection with the death of the father of Beatrice, that "there is no friendship so intimate as that of a good father with a good child, and of a good child with a good father." With the primo amico^ then, understood as having a double reference to Guido Cavalcanti and to Dante's father, there is nothing inconsistent in regarding Giovanna, the lady of this friend, as representing, under one of the two maternal aspects, the mother of Dante. I conclude, therefore, with the suggestion that just as in the Divina Commedia the dual character of Bella is represented by Beatrice and Matelda, it is represented in the Vita Nuova by Beatrice and Giovanna, and in the Convivio by Beatrice and Lucia. LA VITA NUOVA As I have referred so constantly in the preceding pages to the Vita Nuova^ I will record here my conviction that the Vita Nuova was conceived and written as an integral part of the Divina Commedia. There is not a detail of the Vita Nuova that is not consistent with the plan of the Divina Commedia; the consistency, indeed, is so close that it seems impossible to accept the orthodox opinion that the relation of the two works is more or less accidental. I have not the space to develop here the essential unity of conception which the Vita Nuova and the Divina Commedia reveal. For cryptographic evidence of this unity see pp. 420-1. I will confine myself at present to a brief comment on the first sonnet of the Vita Nuova; in this sonnet the complete conception not only of the Vita Nuova itself but of the Divina Commedia is expressed in parvo. The first sonnet of the Vita Nuova, like the Divina Com- media, purports to be the record of a dream; and this dream has for Dante, like the prophetic dreams of the Bible and again like the Divina Commedia, a hidden meaning. The sonnet is addressed to friends of Dante's; it describes the dream to them and asks them to interpret it. In none of the 370 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE responses to the sonnet, however, was the interpretation given correctly, Lo verace giudizio del detto sogno, says Dante, 71072 J li veduto allora per alcuno^ ma ora e manifestissimo alii piu semplici. How seriously this last statement is to be taken may be imagined from Dante's reference, Purg. xvi. 88, to ranima semplicettay che sa nulla. The prose account of the dream is as follows: "And thinking of her (Beatrice), a sweet slumber over- came me, in which a marvelous vision appeared to me; for methought I saw in my chamber a cloud of the color of fire, within which I discerned a shape of a Lord of aspect fearful to whoso might look upon him; and he seemed to me so joyful within himself that a marvelous thing it was; and in his words he said many things which I understood not, save a few, among which I understood these: Rgo Domtnus tuus (I am thy Lord). In his arms meseemed to see a person sleeping, naked, save that she seemed to me to be wrapped lightly in a crimson cloth; whom I, regarding very intently, recognized as the lady of the salutation, who had the day before deigned to salute me. And in one of his hands it seemed to me he held a thing which was all on fire; and it seemed to me that he said these words: Vide cor tuum (Behold thy heart). And when he had remained awhile, it seemed to me that he awoke her that slept; and he so far prevailed upon her with his craft as to make her eat that thing which was burning in his hand; and she ate it timidly. After this it was but a short while before his joy turned into most bitter lament; and as he wept he gathered up this lady in his arms, and with her it seemed to me that he went away toward heaven. Whereat I felt such great anguish, that my weak slumber could not endure it, but was broken, and I awoke." * The obvious interpretation of this dream, in the light of the subsequent death of Beatrice, is that it was a prophetic dream in which the death of Beatrice was foreshadowed. But it ought to be equally obvious that this dream is also the exact equivalent of the dream of the Divina Commedia^ in which Dante imagines himself as being carried to heaven by *Norton's translation. BEATRICE 371 Beatrice. In the dream of the Vita Nuova the "Lord of aspect fearful," or Dominus, is the equivalent of God in the Divina Cotnmedia; the lady in his arms the equivalent of Beatrice; and the heart of Dante the equivalent of Dante himself. The lady by eating the heart and then being carried to Heaven is analogous, in the Divina Commedia, to Beatrice carrying Dante to Heaven in her womb. In myth and dream, the act of eating is commonly a symbol of the act of impreg- nation; this symbolism survives in various stories, as in the Bible and in Boccaccio, of impregnation through eating the mandrake. The obvious analogies which I have here suggested be- tween the dream of the Pita Nuova and the Divina Corn- media are far, however, from giving a complete interpretation of the dream. Let us examine, therefore, for further light, the provenance of the dramatic situation which the dream in the Vita Nuova presents. This situation, as Scherillo has shown conclusively, is derived from a popular troubador story of a feudal lord who discovers the infidelity of his wife with one of his liegemen (Italian, fedeli; old French, feaux; Provencal fiel). In revenge the lord kills the paramour of his wife, cuts out his heart, and compels his wife to eat it. Dante can hardly be imagined to have been ignorant of this story; indeed, he seems to indicate the troubador provenance of his dream in his reference. Vita Nuova^ iii. 68, to trovatori^ and in his use oi fedeli, line 72, as expressing the relationship of the trovatori to their feudal lord. Now in appropriating from this gruesome tale of illicit love, jealousy, and murder the situation presented in his dream, Dante can only be understood as portraying Beatrice as a married woman who has been unfaithful to her husband. She is portrayed, moreover, as having been unfaithful with one of her husband's fedeli, who must be understood as standing, in the feudal system, in a filial relation to their lord. I have already spoken of the cult of the mother as underlying the conventions of chivalric love; the con- ventions of chivalric love appear in the present instance, where the lover of the married lady stands in a relation 372 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE analogous to the filial relation both to her and to her husband. This filial relationship is immediately intensified in the dream by the fact that the "Lord of aspect fearful" is conceived as godlike by the human Dante. Along with the illicit love which the dream thus expresses as existing between Dante and Beatrice it is further implied, therefore, that this illicit love has an incestuous character. Important, moreover, to remember in connection with the sin of the two lovers is the punishment meted out for it. Since, as I pointed out above, the eating of the heart symbolizes the sexual act, the punishment, as in all the punishments in the Injerno^ is a repetition of the sin itself. The first dream of the Vita Nuova, paralleling, as I have shown that it does, the dream of the Divina Commedia, is to be interpreted, therefore, as referring to the existence of illicit love between Dante and Beatrice, who is portrayed as married to the "Lord of aspect fearful." This "Lord of aspect fearful," moreover, is to be understood as a father to Dante, for in Fita Nuova, xii, he addresses Dante as "my son." The implication, therefore, of the maternal character of Beatrice in the dream is not to be avoided. Now the essential situation in the dream, as I have thus defined it, is the essential situation in the whole of the Vita Nuova. The apparent innocence of the tone of the Vita Nuova has concealed the fact that it tells a story of incestuous love, jealousy, and murder — a story of father and son as rivals for the possession of the mother. Beatrice is the mother; the father is God, or Love, who desires to have Beatrice with him in Heaven; the son is Dante, who desires to have Beatrice with him on earth. In these conflicting desires is represented the jealousy of the father and the son, a jealousy which wreaks its revenge in the death of Beatrice, and, as symbol- ized in the eating of Dante's heart, in the death of Dante. But the death of Dante must be understood as an ambivalent symbol. It symbolizes not only his death but also his entrance into the womb of the mother, through whom he thus attains his rebirth, or Fita Nuova. The situation suggested in the dream is the identical situ- BEATRICE • 373 ation which was recognized by medieval symbolists in the relation of Christ to Mary — an incestuous relation, in so far as it expresses the son's return to the source of life, the divine mother. It is this reunion and rebirth which is symbolized by the death on the cross, by the descent into Hell, and by the ascent into Heaven. In the Vita Nuova^ therefore, Dante is associating himself with Christ, and Beatrice with Mary, under the guise of the conventions of chivalric love. THE DESCENT OF BEATRICE In the light of the maternal character of Beatrice as it thus appears in the essential situation of the Vita Nuova, let us now examine the essential situation in which she appears in Inferno. What, in other words, does the Divina Commedia say that Beatrice does to rescue Dante from Hell? The words of Beatrice herself in reference to Dante give the answer, Purg. xxx. 124-141: Si tosto come in sulla soglia fui 124 Di mia seconda etade, e mutai vita, Questi si tolse a me, e diessi altrui, Quando di came a spirto era salita, 127 E bellezza e virtu cresciuta m' era, Fu' io a lui men cara e men gradita; E volse i passi suoi per via non vera, 130 Imagini di ben seguendo false, Che nulla promission rendono intera. Ne impetrare ispirazion mi valse, 133 Con le quali ed in sogno ed altrimenti Lo rivocai; si poco a lui ne calse. Tanto giu cadde, che tutti argomenti 136 Alia salute sua eran gia corti, Fuor che mostrargli le perdute genti. Per questo visitai 1' uscio dei morti, 139 Ed a colui che 1' ha quassu condotto, Li preghi miei piangendo furon porti. It was not of her own will, however, that Beatrice, as she here tells us, visited the portal of the dead; she was moved, as we are told in Inf. ii., by the command, transmitted by 374 TH-E CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Lucia, of the divine mother Mary. She was thus the instru- ment of the divine mother; and the maternal significance of her act should appear from what we have already discovered as to the female symbolism of the gate of Hell. In the gate of Hell (or vulva) Beatrice meets the paternal image of Virgil, and the meeting of father and mother in such a region results, naturally, in the birth, or rebirth, of the filial Dante. But it is not on this aspect of the symbolism of the visit of Beatrice to the portal of the dead that I wish to dwell at present; I wish, instead, to call attention to the striking analogies which may be shown to exist between the visit of Beatrice to the portal of the dead and certain ancient myths. Common to many peoples are myths of the descent of a living person to the abode of the dead. These myths may be divided into two groups, corresponding to the sex of the person supposed to make the descent. Among the men to whom the miraculous feat is ascribed are Hercules, Ulysses, ^neas, and St. Paul. Many other examples may be cited, and it is obvious that there are analogies between these descents and the descent of Christ into Hell after the cruci- fixion. The myth of the descent of a living man into the abode of the dead is referable to the sun myth, according to which the sun descends into the earth at evening in order to be reborn in the morning. In the last analysis, however, the rebirth symbolism, which is a constant feature in all variations of the sun myth, symbolizes the rebirth not of the sun qua sun, but of the hero, man, as accomplished by an act of reunion with the original source of his life. As the original source of a man's life is his mother, these myths are invariably expressed in terms implying incest. In the variation of the myth in which the person supposed to make the descent is a woman the symbolism is still the symbolism of rebirth; the person to be reborn, however, is not the woman who makes the descent, but her son whom she descends into the abode of the dead to deliver, or bring to life again. The woman who makes the descent is invariably the mother. An example of the descent of the mother to save her son BEATRICE 375 appears in the myth of the great Babylonian mother goddess Istar, who descended into Arahi, or Hades, to bring back to Hfe her son Tammuz. Analogous to this story is the Greek myth of the descent of the mother goddess Aphrodite to redeem Adonis. As indicative of the sex symbolism which these myths expressed to those who believed in them, it is said that in the temple of the Syriac Aphrodite sexual relations with the priestesses representing her were supposed to ransom a soul from Hades, just as Adonis had been ransomed.* Hell, or the abode of the dead in general, is invariably a symbol of the mother. Accordingly it is necessary to recognize that in the myth of the descent of the mother into Hell, Hell and the mother are to be identified; she descends into the womb of the earth because the womb, as the source of life, is what she herself becomes at the moment of delivering her child. The descent of the mother into the abode of the dead appears also, in a modified form, in the myth of the great Egyptian mother goddess Isis. And it is of particular interest to note, in this connection, that as a result of the contact of the Egyptian myth with early Christianity, Isis became identified with the Virgin Mary. Now the myth of the descent of the mother into the abode of the dead survived — and it is in this survival that the myth principally concerns us here — comparatively late into the Christian era in the central female figure of the Gnostic belief, Sophia, or, according to certain sects, Bardelo. As a preeminent feature of a system of belief with which Dante was intimately acquainted (the intimacy is evident, indeed, in the Gnostic elements in the Divina Commedia that I have already pointed out and in many others which I lack space to discuss here), the maternal symbolism of the descent of Sophia must have been understood by Dante. The fact, there- fore, that he reproduces in the myth of Beatrice a similar descent must be taken to indicate that he intends for Beatrice a similar mother symbolism. *See Hastings: Dictionary of Religion and Ethics; Descent to Hades. 376 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE There is, moreover, a feature in Christian beHef which corresponds to the descent of the mother as we have already seen it in primitive myth and in Gnosticism. The feature to which I refer is the descent to the earth of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. In the doctrine of the Holy Ghost as male, the descent of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove is under- stood as the male principle through which the Virgin Mary conceived her divine child. In the doctrine of the Holy Ghost as female, the descent in the form of a dove to Mary must be understood as an expression of the identity of the Holy Ghost and Mary as the divine mother. The descent of the mother has a double meaning in ancient and medieval symbolism which I have no space to develop here in detail. It means, first, the act of birth: the mother descends to deliver her child; and it means, second, the act by which the child is conceived: the fail of the mother, as in the fall of Eve. The delivery of the child, as symbolized in myths of the descent of the mother, and the conception of the child, as symbolized in myths of the fallen mother, are sometimes represented as evil acts and sometimes as benign. The ambivalence of these acts depends upon the imagined value of the mother herself, in expelling the child from her womb in birth and in receiving her child back into her womb in rebirth. The dual character of the mother is expressed in the Bible, as was commonly recognized in early Biblical exe- gesis, in the contrasting figures of Eve and Mary. THE MYSTIC PROCESSION There remains to be considered in connection with the interpretation of the character of Beatrice the part that she plays in the Mystic Procession, described in the closing cantos of Purgatorio. The pageant of the Mystic Procession is generally supposed to represent the history of the Church terminating with the transference of the Papal See to Avignon in 1309; and the parallels, indeed, between the pageant and the history of the Church lend some plausibility to this interpretation. I am willing to grant, therefore, that there are BEATRICE 377 allusions to the history of the Church in the dumb-show of the pageant. But the deeper symbolism of the pageant is the symbolism of rebirth. Let us assume for the moment, however, that the inter- pretation of the pageant as simply a representation of the history of the Church is correct. To a degree that certainly demands further explanation, this history of the Church is represented in terms of the sexual life. The harlot and the giant embracing in the car and the giant dragging away the car with the harlot in it, the closing scene of the pageant, make the sex symbolism quite obvious; but this symbolism has indeed been present in almost every detail of the pageant. It is certainly obvious in the incident of the dragon issuing from a hole in the earth between the two wheels of the car and piercing the floor of the car with his tail. The car, as the symbol of the Church, is the symbol of the divine mother, who is thus represented, as in all myths of rebirth, as being prostituted. Now the reason that the history of the Church, in so far as it is represented in the pageant, is represented in terms of the sexual life, is simply that the sexual life is the form under which all existence may be symbolized. Whatever is is first created, and then, by the fact of existing in time, becomes what it was not at first. There is first the birth and then the "change Into something new and strange." This change may be expressed, as in the language of the philosophers, in the problem of becoming, or, as in the language of myth and religion, in the theme of rebirth. Thus the fundamental distinction between being and becoming is dramatized in the sexual life conceived as the means by which, first, the birth of the individual and, second, his rebirth, or becoming new, may be accomplished. Fundamentally, therefore, the Mystic Procession is a representation of the history of the universe. If the universe may be considered to have a life, the story of its life is the story of its origin, or birth, and of its development, or rebirth. 378 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE And the history of the universe as a whole is identical with the history of every part of the universe, whether the part be an institution, like the Church, or an individual. In the divine drama of the universe which God imagines, there is just one plot, the plot of birth and rebirth, a drama in which the dramatis personae are three, the paternal principle, the maternal principle, and the filial principle. This plot is the universal form of life. And therefore, since the life of the universe is the same in form as the life of the individual, Dante sees in the pageant the representation of his own life, which is typical of the life of all mankind. I lack the space to treat of the symbolism of the Mystic Procession in detail; I will confine myself, therefore, to referring to a few of the indications of its symbolism of rebirth. The car, as commonly in ancient myth and legend, represents the mother, and as Beatrice appears in the car, she and the mother are identified. Any such identification of contained with container is, indeed, the essence of synecdoche. Now it is of the highest importance for the symbolism to note that after Beatrice has left the car, the harlot appears in it. The harlot is likewise, therefore, to be identified with the mother; and Beatrice and the harlot together symbolize the mother in her dual aspect. The two aspects of the mother, as we have already noted, are, first, the receiving of the child into the womb, as in union and pregnancy, and, second, the expelling of the child from the womb, as in the act of birth. Either aspect appears in myth and legend as ambivalent for good or for evil. Just as one of the two aspects of the motherhood of Beatrice is represented by the harlot, so one of the two aspects of motherhood as symbolized by the car is represented by the tree to which the griff^on draws and attaches the car. The griffon represents, as commonly in Christian legend, Christ. And in the griffon, since Christ represents bot God and mankind, Dante sees the representation of himself in one aspect of his dual nature, human and divine. The other aspect of the dual nature of Christ, Dante, or mankind, is represented by the giant, who, after the disappearance of the BEATRICE 379 griffon, drags the car away. As Beatrice was replaced by the harlot, the griffon is replaced by the giant; the giant, by thus replacing the griffon, is indicated as an aspect of the griffon. The giant, accordingly, also represents an aspect of Dante himself; and when it is prophesied of the dvx, who is Dante, that he shall slay the giant, a partial meaning is that Dante shall overcome his own lower nature. The dvx represents the reborn or regenerate Dante, just as the giant represents Dante unregenerate. The pole of the car, by which the griffon is attached to the car, is phallic. The phallic symbolism of the pole is plainly indicated by the fact that as soon as the pole is united with the tree, a recognized mother symbol, the tree, which has been leafless, puts forth blossoms. The griffon is, indeed, the son who accomplishes his rebirth by the act of incest, since incest is the means of returning to the original source of life. The griffon is attached to the car, as a mother symbol, in birth, and to the tree, as a mother symbol, in rebirth. But the griffon, like Christ, is peculiar in possessing his human and divine nature together in perfection. He is at once his human self and his reborn self. This peculiarity is implied in the epithets animal binato^ bijorme fiera^ doppia fiera. Repeating the rebirth symbolism of the details of the pro- cession already described is the incident of the two descents of the eagle into the car. The eagle is usually interpreted as a symbol of the empire, and the descent of the eagle into the car as a symbol of the union, in some form or other, of the empire and the church. As a matter of fact, the first descent of the eagle into the car symbolizes the union of God, or the father, with the mother, the union which results in the birth of the son. The second descent of the eagle into the car symbolizes the union of the son with the mother. The son descends in the guise of the father, and, as the result of the incestuous union, is reborn. This interpretation of the descent of the eagle as rebirth symbolism is confirmed by an ancient Hebrew belief to which Frazer refers in his Folk-lore in the Old Testament. "Certainly," he says, "the Hebrews seem to have thought that eagles renew their youth by moulting their 38o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE feathers." And in a note to this sentence he adds: " Psalm ciii. 5, 'Thy youth is renewed like the eagle.' The commentators rightly explain the belief in the renewal of the eagle's youth by the moulting of its feathers. Compare J. Morgenstern, 'On Gilgames-Epic, xi, 274-320,' Zeitschriftfiir Assyriologie^ xxix. (191 5) p. 294, 'Baethgen quotes a tradition from Bar Hebraeus, that when the eagle grows old he casts off his feathers and clothes himself with new ones. Rashi, com- menting on this same verse, is even more specific. He says that from year to year the eagle casts off his old wings and feathers and puts on new, and thereby renews his youth constantly.'" The rebirth symbolism of this myth of the eagle recalls the rebirth symbolism of the myth of the phoenix, with which, as we have already seen, Dante identifies himself. The phoenix rises from its own ashes; the eagle from its own feathers. The incestuous son, accomplish- ing his rebirth like the phoenix and the eagle, is to be under- stood, beneath these veils, as rising from his own semen. The analogy between this myth of the rebirth of the eagle and the descent of the eagle in the pageant of the Mystic Procession appears in the fact that the eagle is described as leaving the car covered with its feathers, whereupon a voice from above cries: O navicella mia, com' mal sei carca. It is the protesting voice of the replaced father. It is immediately after the griffon has bound the pole of the car to the tree that Dante describes himself as falling asleep; and it is in this sleep, as I suggested in an earlier chapter, that he must be understood to unite himself with Beatrice. This union is not, indeed, expressed in such plain terms that it cannot be overlooked. It has been overlooked, apparently, for six centuries. But the indications are such that, once pointed out, they can scarcely be denied. In order to show how Dante indicates his union with Beatrice in the description of his sleep, let us revert for a moment to the griffon's act of tying the pole of the car to the mystic tree. The tree is a mother symbol, so used indeed in the story of the BEATRICE 381 Garden of Eden from which it is here borrowed by Dante. And the pole, as I suggested, is phalHc. The union of the phaUic pole and the maternal tree, which before was leafless, results in the tree's putting forth blossoms. The griffon him- self makes the symbolism clear in the words which he utters as he is about to unite the pole and the tree: Si si conserva il seme d'ogni giusto. The act that is performed by Dante with Beatrice in his sleep is simply an imitation of the act of the griffon, the symbol of Christ. Let me now quote the passage in which the sleep of Dante is described. In its innuendo, in its implying everything with the air of saying nothing at all, this passage, Purg. xxxii. 61-87, is one of the subtlest in the Divina Commedia: lo non lo intesi, ne qui non si canta 61 L' inno che quella gente allor cantaro, Ne la nota soffersi tutta quanta. S' io potessi ritrar come assonnaro 64 Gli occhi spietati, udendo di Siringa, Gli occhi a cui piu vegghiar costo si caro; Come pittor che con esemplo pinga 67 Disegnerei com' io m' addormentai; Ma qualvuol sia che 1' assonnar ben finga. Pero trascorro a quando mi svegliai, 70 E dico ch' un splendor mi squarcio il velo Del sonno, ed un chiamar: 'Surgi, che fai?' Quale a veder dei fioretti del melo, 73 Che del suo porno gli Angeli fa ghiotti, E perpetue nozze fa nel cielo, Pietro e Giovanni e Jacopo condotti 76 E vinti ritornaro alia parola, Dalla qual furon maggior sonni rotti, E videro scemata loro scuola, 79 Cosi di Moise come d' Elia, Ed al Maestro suo cangiata stola; Tal torna' io, e vidi quella pia 82 Sopra me starsi, che conducitrice Fu de' miei passi lungo il fiume pria; E tutto in dubbio dissi: *0v' e Beatrice.?' 85 Ond' ella: 'Vedi lei sotto la fronda Nuova sedere in sulla sua radice. 382 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE I wish first to call attention to the manner in which Dante says that he would depict how he fell asleep "if he could portray how the pitiless eyes sank to slumber while hearing of Syrinx." In this allusion Dante is apparently suggesting some sort of parallel between the way the "pitiless" eyes sank to slumber while hearing of Syrinx and the way his own eyes sank to slumber while hearing the hymn alluded to in lines 61-63. Such, however, is not the case; Dante's eyes cannot be likened to pitiless eyes; and the parallel which Dante seems to be suggesting is a blind to throw the reader off the track of his real meaning. The real meaning, indeed, is to be found in following up the allusion to the "pitiless" eyes. To understand the allusion to the pitiless eyes that sank to slumber while hearing of Syrinx, we must refer to the first book of the Metamorphoses of Ovid; the pitiless eyes are the eyes of Argus, the "all seeing," and the story that Ovid tells of them may be summarized as follows. Jupiter had fallen in love with lo, and in order to conceal his amour from his jealous wife Juno, who had followed him to the spot where he was still with the seduced maiden, he changed lo into a cow. Juno, who was not completely deceived, demanded the cow as a gift from her husband; and Jupiter, still in the hope of diverting her suspicions, gave it to her. Juno straightway placed the cow under the guard of the hundred-eyed Argus, so that Jupiter might not again gain possession of it. As this situation was intolerable to the amorous Jupiter, he com- manded his son Mercury to kill Argus and steal lo away. Mercury accordingly, in the guise of a shepherd, went to where Argus was guarding lo, and by playing to him on his pipe and telling him the story of Syrinx, caused the hundred eyes of Argus at last to close in slumber. As soon as Argus was asleep. Mercury cut off his head and thus gained possession of the metamorphosed maiden. Juno, however, inconsolable at the death of her faithful Argus, transplanted his hundred eyes into the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock. Now it is evident from this story that the way the pitiless eyes of Argus sank to sleep can hardly have been cited by BEATRICE 383 Dante as a parallel to the way his own sank to sleep. It is true, indeed, that both Argus and Dante sank to sleep in hearing music. But beyond the hearing of music the parallel ends; for Dante is a lover and Argus is a guard who keeps the lover away from his mistress. The real parallel, therefore, which Dante must be considered as suggesting in his allusion to the pitiless eyes of Argus is to some Argus-like eyes that were guarding Beatrice from himself as her lover. But if Dante is referring to some Argus-like eyes that are guarding Beatrice and not to his own, where can these Argus- like eyes be found? For the answer to this question, let us turn to Dante's description of the Mystic Procession as he first sees it. What he first sees is candlesticks, Purg. xxix. 50, and then twenty-four elders crowned with fleur-de-lys. Candlesticks and fleur-de-lys were universally recognized as phallic symbols. Immediately after these elders, who are singing, lines 85-86: Benedetta tue Nelle figlie d'Adamo, comes the triumphal car in which Beatrice is to appear; and surrounding the car, as a guard, quattro animali. Of these animali Dante says, lines 94-96: Ognuno era pennuto di sei ali, Le penne piene d'occhi; e gli occhi d'Argo, Se fosser vivi, sarebber cotali. Here then, as guarding the triumphal car of Beatrice, the car which is the symbol of the divine mother and with which Beatrice is to be identified as the divine mother, are expressly cited the Argus-like eyes referred to in Dante's description of his sleep. And these guardian eyes are expressly described as intervening between the mother symbol of the car and the phallic symbols of the candlesticks and the fleur-de-lys. Accordingly, when Dante says that he would tell how he himself fell asleep "if he could portray how the pitiless eyes sank to slumber while hearing of Syrinx," he must be under- stood to refer to the Argus-like eyes in the wings of the guardian animali. But though he cannot say how these eyes 384 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE were closed in slumber, he can at least say how they were put off their guard, for on waking he is informed, as he tells us, that the animals with the Argus-like eyes had already departed. In accomplishing, therefore, what he accomplished in his sleep with Beatrice, he had been freed from the jealous restraint of the eyes that would have guarded her from him just as the eyes of Argus guarded lo from Jupiter. The duplicity of the entire passage in which Dante refers to his sleep consists in the fact that he describes it in the very words with which he apparently disclaims the ability to describe it. But there are still more precise indications of the character of his sleep in what he has to say of his waking. He is wakened, as he records, Purg. xxxii. 72, by a voice crying to him: Surgi, che fai? In the abruptness of this imperative and in the accusatory tone of the che fat? there is certainly a suggestion that Dante has been doing something in his sleep that has not been completely sanctioned; the character of this unsanctioned act is to be guessed, to say the least, from the immediate allusion, Purg. xxxii. 74-75, to the melo Che del suo pomo gli Angeli fa ghiotti E perpetue nozze fa nel cielo. The eating of the apple, as in the story of the fall of Adam and Eve, is unmistakable symbolism for sexual union, and this symbolism is made absolutely explicit in the allusion to the perpetue nozze. By these allusions to the apple and the nozze on awakening and by the incident, immediately before the sleep, of the griffon tying the phallic pole to the maternal tree, the sleep of Dante is bounded by images of sexual union which serve to suggest what happened during the sleep. Moreover, there is a wealth of detail in the further descrip- tion of what happened after the waking which repeats this same symbolism of sexual union. There is first the allusion to the Transfiguration of Christ, as recorded in Matthew xvii; in this account of the Trans- figuration Christ ascends "into a high mountain apart" and is there "overshadowed" by "a bright cloud;" "and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said. This is my beloved Son, BEATRICE 385 in whom I am well pleased." The incident of the Trans- figuration had a profound significance for Dante, as may be seen in the use which he makes of the incident in the Convivio in defining the four meanings of allegory. Just what this significance was I infer from the fact that the cloud, as well as the mountain, was a widely recognized mother symbol.* For Christ to have been overshadowed by the bright cloud signified for Dante that Christ was enclosed in the womb of the cloud as a mother symbol; and the voice from the cloud announcing Christ as the beloved son must have been for Dante the voiceof the Holy Ghost, or mother principle of the divine Trinity. In the incident of the Transfiguration, there- fore, Christ must be understood, in the language of medieval symbolism, to have been reunited with the divine mother. This union is, indeed, further implied in the fact that after the union Christ was transfigured, or changed, as in rebirth. Thus the allusion to the Transfiguration is a further impli- cation as to what happened in Dante's sleep. For the interpretation of the sleep of Dante as symbolizing his union with Beatrice there is the following cryptographic confirmation to be found in the first five terzine in which the sleep is referred to. This passage begins with line 61, with the allusion to the music during which Dante falls asleep, and ends, line 75, with the allusion to the nozze. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of these terzine: 61 10 64 S I 67 CO 70 p 73 QUAL Read: qui si copola In the continuation of the canto still more images appear which confirm the interpretation of the sleep which I suggest. Beatrice is discovered sotto la frond a Nuova sedere in sulla sua radice. *See Hirn, The Sacred Shrine. 386 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The radice is phallic, and the fact that Beatrice is described as seated upon the radice suggests that we have here an analogy with an ancient Roman marriage custom, referred to in the article on "Phallism" in Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: "At Roman marriages the bride was required to sit upon the image of Priapus (Augustine, de Civ. Dei, vii. 24; Lactantius, Diu. Inst. \. 20)." Dante also refers to Beatrice as she who m'avea chiuso. This declaration that Beatrice had enclosed Dante must certainly not be overlooked. She is described, moreover, as being surrounded by the nymphs with lights in their hands; there seems to be here an allusion to the virgins in the parable, Matthew xxv, "which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom." Thus Beatrice may be under- stood to be surrounded by the virgins like a bride. It is further significant of the symbolism of Dante's sleep that it is after he wakes from it that the character of the mystic pageant itself changes from images of innocence to images of guilt, as in the fox that leaps into the car, the dragon that pierces the car with his tail, the harlot in the car embracing the giant. I have already alluded to the accusatory tonQoix.\\Q.chefai? addressed to Dante, as if what he had done in his sleep had not been completely sanctioned. The sense of guilt, as implied in these images following the union of Dante and Beatrice, is thus like the sense of guilt that followed the union, in the same Garden of Eden, of Adam and Eve, a union, as the reader will recall, which I have already indicated as incestuous. The incestuous union, sanctioned as it may be in myth and legend as the means of rebirth, is nevertheless consistently treated as guilty, or at least as incurring the jealous hostility of the father. The act by which mankind is to be reborn, as suggested in the Biblical account, is therefore ambivalent; it is good, in that it is the means by which man attains the kingdom of God-^the mother; and it is evil in that it entails a usurpation of the rights of the father. The following verses in Genesis may be read in the light of this interpretation of incest as the means of rebirth: "And the Lord God said. Behold, the man is become as BEATRICE 387 one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." This expulsion of the guilty x'\dam_ and Eve is reproduced in the mystic pageant of the Divina Commedia by the flight of the giant, in whom Dante, as a result of his guilty act, now sees himself, together with the puttana, in whom Dante now sees Beatrice, the mother with whom the act has been consummated. But though the act is evil, in the sense of incurring the anger of the father, it is the highest virtue, in the sense that it is the means by which Dante is to be reborn and so to return to the father. The result of the union is accordingly indicated in the prophecy of the dxv; this personage, as I have shown, is Dante himself, and as the dxv, or himself reborn, Dante is to slay, as Beatrice foretells, la fuia Con quel gigante che con lei delinque. In other words, he is to slay himself, as human and in- complete, and his own mother, as human and incomplete, in becoming, in her and through her and with her, complete and divine. THE VARIETY OF MOTHER SYMBOLS I have now shown that in her various manifestations in the f^ifa Nuova and the Divina Commedia Beatrice represents Bella, the mother of Dante, conceived as an incarnation of the divine mother. It is in this ascription of divine mother- hood to a human mother that Dante must be understood to fulfill the mysterious promise that he makes at the end of the Vita Nuova, in what is apparently his earliest allusion to the project of the Divina Commedia: Appresso a questo sonetto apparve a me una viirabil visione, nella quale vidi cose, che mi fecero proporre di non dir piu di questa benedetta, infino a tanto che to 388 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE non potessi piu degnamente trattare di lei. E di venire a cid io studio quanta posso, si com' ella sa verace- mente. Sicche, se piacere sara di Colui, per cui tutte le cose vivono, che la mia vita per alquanti anni duri, spero di dire di lei quello che mai non fu detto d'alcuna. The mother symboHsm of Beatrice is not, however, the only mother symboHsm in the Divina Commedia; as I showed in Chapter VII, Earth is a mother symbol, Hell is a mother symbol. Purgatory is a mother symbol, Paradise is a mother symbol; and a series of other symbols of the mother is developed throughout the entire poem. Thus the universe of Dante's experience is a long succession of symbols, which are to be understood as incarnations, of the one divine mother who exists in God. Among these mother symbols in the Divina Commedia^ as I have already shown, are the selva oscura; the lupa; the moon, with its waxing and waning as in pregnancy and delivery; the sea, with the analogous swelling and sinking of its tides; the car in the Mystic Procession; the tree in the Terrestrial Paradise; Giovanna, Lia, Rachel, Matelda, Lucia; the maggior valle in che V acqua si spanda; the city of Florence, as the birthplace of the poet; and the mystic rose. These are only a few of the mother symbols in the Divina Commedia, in which, indeed, the principal experiences through which Dante describes himself as passing are expressed in terms of mother symbolism. Let me conclude the list, therefore, with a final example that may serve as typical of the working of Dante's imagination, dominated as it was by his love for his mother and his desire to return to her. In Inf. xix. 16-21, in describing the holes in which the sinners were inserted head first, Dante likens them to the openings of the fonts in the Baptistry in Florence, and de- scribes how he broke one of these fonts in order to save a child who was drowning in it: Non mi parean meno ampi ne maggiori, 16 Che quei che son nel mio bel San Giovanni Fatti per loco de' battezzatori; BEATRICE 389 L' un delli quali, ancor non e molt' anni, 19 Rupp' io per un che dentro vi annegava: E questo sia suggel ch' ogni uomo sganni. The last line of the passage quoted is to be noticed par- ticularly, for it implies that Dante had been considered guilty of sacrilege in thus breaking one of the sacred containers and delivering a child from it. Disinterested as the act had been as the only means of saving a life, it was nevertheless a guilty act, in that it was a violation of a symbol of the divine mother, and so of the divine mother herself. The degree to which the baptismal font is to be considered as a mother symbol appears from the symbolism of baptism as a reenactment of birth; the baptismal water in which the child is immersed symbolizes the amniotic fluid in which the child is immersed in the womb, and the font which holds the water symbolizes the womb itself. In view, therefore, of the maternal symbolism of the font, Dante's act of breaking it and delivering a child from it is only to be understood as a symbolized act of incest; in no other way, indeed, is the guilt from which Dante so curiously seeks to exculpate himself to be accounted for. This guilt is exactly analogous to the guilt of Uzza, as recorded in i Chronicles xiii. 9-10: "And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God." The ark, for the Hebrews, was the supreme symbol of the divine mother, and to touch it even to save it was an incestuous profanation. That the Baptistry of Florence, like the ark of the Hebrews, was considered by Dante as a mother symbol, a symbol of the womb which he had no right to open, appears from his reference to it, in the words of Cacciaguida, as the place where he himself was baptized. Through the long series of mother symbols contained in the 390 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Divina Commedia^ a series of mother symbols which are to be understood as incarnations of the divine mother, Dante makes his journey from Earth to Heaven as by a series of births and rebirths. The object of his journey is to return to his mother as the source of Hfe in which life may be renewed and fulfilled. But the various incarnations of the divine mother through which Dante passes are all imperfect; they are arranged, indeed, in an ascending scale of perfection, so that Dante passes from the less perfect to the more perfect, until, in the penultimate stage of his journey, he attains to his own human but now transfigured mother Bella in the figure of Beatrice. Bella as Beatrice is the supreme incarnation of the divine mother. But as an incarnation she is not the divine mother herself; of the divine reality she is only the most perfect appearance; and Dante in passing as he does from Beatrice to Mary and thence to God, passes from appearance to reality. In the return to God with which the vision ends God is to be understood as a divine motherhood as well as a divine fatherhood; and Dante himself, by the fact of coming home, becomes himself the divine son. The home coming that I have attempted to describe is described by Dante in Convivio iv. 12: II sommo deslderio di ciascuna cosa, e prima dalla Natura dato, e lo ritornare al suo Principio. E perocche Iddio e Principio delle nostra anime e Fattore di quelle simili a se, siccom' e scritto: 'Facciamo I' uomo ad immagine e simiglianza nostra'; essa anima massimamente desidera tornare a quello. E siccome peregrino che va per una via per la quale mai non fu, che ogni casa che da lungi vede, crede che sia 1' albergo, e non trovando cio essere, dirizza la credenza all' altra, e cosi di casa in casa tanto che all' albergo viene; cosi 1' anima nostra, incontanente che nel nuovo e mai non fatto cammino di questa vita entra, dirizza gli occhi al termine del suo Sommo Bene, e pero qualunque cosa vede, che paia avere in se alcun bene, crede che sia esso. E perche la sua conoscenza prima e BEATRICE 391 imperfetta, per non essere sperta ne dottrinata, piccioli beni le paiono grandi; e pero da quelli comincia prima a desiderare. Onde vedemo li parvoli desiderare massimamente un porno; e poi piu oltre procedendo, desiderare uno uccellino; e poi pill oltre, desiderare bello vestimento; e poi il cavallo, e poi una donna: e poi le ricchezze non grandi, poi grandi, e poi grandissime. E questo incontra perche in nulla di queste cose trova quello che va cercando, e credelo trovare piii oltre. Per che vedere si puote che l' uno desiderabile sta dinanzi all' altro agli occhi della nostra anima per modo quasi piramidale, che '1 minimo li copra prima tutti, ed e quasi punta dell' ultimo desidera- bile, ch' e Dio, quasi base di tutti. Chapter IX PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS Chapter IX PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS WITH the proof that the Divina Commedia is based on the symboHsm of an anthropomorphic universe, and that Beatrice is to be identified with Bella, the mother of Dante, conceived as an incarnation of the divine, or uni- versal, mother, and that the dxv and the Veltro are to be identified with Dante, conceived as an incarnation of the divine, or universal, son, I have completed the principal part of the task that I set for myself in the present volume. This part of the task has been a double one: it has been, first, to show the presence of cryptograms in the Divina Commedia^ and, second, to show the bearing of these cryptograms on the meaning of the Divina Commedia. But for an exhaustive analysis of the Divina Commedia there remain to be con- sidered certain aspects of the cryptography which may prove, indeed, to be insoluble, and certain aspects of the meaning which lie beyond the scope of the present volume but which I wish to define as a program for further research. THE LONG ANAGRAMMATIC ACROSTIC In concluding my examination of the cryptography of Dante I will show four groups of cryptograms: first, long anagrammatic acrostics; second, cryptograms in passages not Italian; third, cryptograms on groups of proper names; and, fourth, acrostics on the first lines of consecutive cantos. Examples of the first, second, and third groups have been shown in previous chapters. [395] 396 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE The long anagrammatic acrostics, which I will now show, cannot be proved to be intentional, and they are, I bel eve, imperfectly deciphered. But I give these readings, imperfect as they are, for the reason that they seem to indicate that acrostics of which they are approximate readings were actually intended by Dante. Indeed, I am inclined to suspect that the Divina Commedia may possibly contain a continuous acrostic extending from the beginning to the end. I have not deciphered such an acrostic, and I am unable to do so. But I have deciphered long acrostics which seem to be confirmable in part as intended by Dante. The impression that 1 get from these long readings, separated as they are from each other without any apparent reason for being separated, is that they may be fragments of a unit which I am unable to reconstruct. The existence of these long anagrammatic acrostics seems to be indicated by the repeated appearance of certain acrostic words, such as peremas, vel, poema, dante. These words appear with such a constancy of repetition as to suggest that they should be connected together in some continuous reading. The frequent possibility of reading them together suggests that some such continuous reading was intended by Dante. But in view of the nature of the anagrammatic acrostic form I regard the attempt to decipher these long acrostics as extremely liable to error. On account, therefore, of the liability to error, I have, in the previous chapters, used only a few of the long acrostics to support my interpretation of the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. And I wish to make it clear that my general thesis does not depend on the long readings shown in this chapter. The method, however, by which these long anagrammatic acrostics are to be deciphered is precisely the same method, applied to longer passages of the text, that was used in deciphering the short anagrammatic acrostics shown in the preceding chapters. In some of the short acrostics, the reader will remember, the acrostic letters appear in the text in the exact sequence in which they are to be read. An example of such a sequence is the nati discovered in the initials of the first four terzine oi Inf. i: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 397 I N 4 A 7 T 10 I But in other of the short acrostics the acrostic letters appear in such an order that they have to be rearranged to reveal their hidden meaning. An example of an acrostic that requires such a transposition of the acrostic letters is the vela pene discovered in the marginal letters of the first lines of the first four terzine oi Par. i: I LA 4 NE 7 PE 10 VE Such a transposition of letters is the essential characteristic of the anagram, and I have accordingly called the acrostics in which such a transposition of letters is necessary anagram- matic acrostics. All the long acrostics that I have deciphered are anagrammatic in the sense defined. In order to clarify the relation of the anagrammatic to the common form of acrostic, let me define, first, an anagram, and, second, an acrostic as generally understood. An anagram, according to the New English Dictionary, is: " I. A transposition of the letters of a word, name, or phrase, whereby a new word or phrase is formed." An anagram may also be: "2. loosely or Jig. A transposition, a mutation." The following example of the use of the word as well as an example of an anagram is quoted by the New English Dictionary from Howell: "This Gustavus (whose anagram is Augustus was a great Captain. "Another example, quoted from Hickeringell, is: "The true anagram oijesuita is Sevitia." It is of interest to note, as illustrating the motive for using anagrams, that the two anagrams given are supposed by their authors to express the meaning of the words from which they are formed. This understanding of an anagram as expressing the meaning of the word from which it is formed appears in the definition of "anagrammatisme" in the Remains, 1674, of W. Camden. 398 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE "Anagrammatisme" is there defined as "a dissolution of a name truly written into his letters, as his elements, and a new connection of it by artificial transposition, without addition, subtraction or change of any letter, into different words, making some perfect sence applyable to the person named." According to the Encyclopaedia Britlanica," the construc- tion of anagrams is an amusement of great antiquity, its invention being ascribed without authority to the Jews, probably because the later Hebrew writers, particularly the Kabbalists, were fond of it, asserting that 'secret mysteries are woven in the numbers of letters.' ... A well-known anagram is the change oi Ave Maria^ gratia plena^ Dominus tecum into Virgo sereyia^ pia^ munda et immaculata. Among others are the answer to Pilate's question, ' ^uid est Veritas?' — namely, 'Est vir qui adest;' and the transposition of ' Horatio Nelson ' into ' Honor est a Nilo; ' and of ' Flo: ence Nightingale ' into ' Flit on, cheering angel'. James I's courtiers discovered in 'James Stuart' 'A just master,' and converted 'Charles James Stuart' into 'Claimes Arthur's seat.'" Let us now examine the meaning of the word acrostic, which is derived from the Greek axpos, extreme, and otlxos, order, row, line, verse. Acrostic is defined as having two principal meanings. According to the first definition, an acrostic is a composition, usually in verse, which contains a particular kind of cryptogram that is also called an acrostic. According to the second definition, the word designates the cryptogram itself. It is in this sense of designating a par- ticular kind of cryptogram that I will use the word in the following pages. In the sense of the word, then, to which I am limiting myself, an acrostic is commonly understood as a cryptogram which is composed of the initial letters, to be read consecu- tively, of the lines of a composition usually in verse. This common understanding of an acrostic is inadequate in one important particular: the initial letters used in an acrostic are not necessarily the initials of lines. They may be the initials of any of the divisions of the composition in which the acrostic occurs, such as chapters, cantos, stanzas, etc. They PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 399 may also be the initials of consecutive words. An example of an acrostic composed of the initials of the chapters of a work is to be found in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili; the initials of the chapters of this anonymous work spell : poliam frater FRANCiscus COLUMNA PERAMAviT. This acrostic reveals the name of the author of the work in which it appears and the name of his mistress. An acrostic composed of the initials of consecutive words is the 'IXOTS, composed of the initials of the words: 'Itjctous Xptoros Qtov tlos Hojttjp, "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior." We shall see, in the course of the chapter, that Dante composed acrostics analogous to these two examples. Now it is to be noted that in the anagram the precise letters and the exact number of letters to be used are indicated by the word or phrase which is to undergo the anagrammatic transformation. This indication of the letters and of the number of letters to be used does not, however, enable the decipherer to be certain that the anagram which he finds is intended. In the first place, a decipherer may find an anagram in a word or phrase where no anagram was intended at all. And in the second place, he may find an anagram which is different from the intended one. Take, for instance, the word ROMA, for which, let us assume, we have been directed to find an anagram. There are several anagrams for roma: amor, MARC, armo, ramo, and mora; and nothing in the nature of the anagram itself will aid us in determining which of these variations was intended and which was not. Though the letters themselves are indicated, there is no indication as to the order in which they are to be rearranged. As contrasted with the anagram, therefore, the common form of acrostic, which is to be read consecutively on initials^ indicates the cryptographic letters in their proper order. And it would seem, perhaps, that the common form of acrostic indicates also just what the cryptographic letters are. Such is the case, however, only in those acrostics, as in the alphabetical psalms, which begin at the beginning of a composition and end at the end of it. For all acrostics that extend through less than the entire text, the extent or the 400 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE acrostic, and so the letters that compose it, are indicated merely by the spelling which the decipherer is able to discover. Now the anagrammatic acrostic, which I find in the Divina Commedia, differs from the common acrostic in two im- portant particulars; it is not read consecutively; and, using as it does initial and contiguous letters, it is not read exclusively on initials. So far as I know, such a combination of the acrostic and anagrammatic forms is not described in the histories of cryptography. But the fact that the form may not have been described by the historians is no evidence that the anagrammatic acrostic is not a valid form or that it was not used by Dante. Indeed, in regard to the precedents for the anagrammatic acrostic, I find them plainly enough in the irregular clusters of significant letters which the makers of cryptograms have frequently placed on the margins of the opening lines of their texts. An instance of such an irregular letter cluster has already been noted in the first two lines of Purgatorio: 1 PE 2 OMA This letter cluster is acrostic in the sense that the letters which compose it are all either initials or contiguous to initials. And since, as we saw in an earlier chapter, these letters may be rearranged to read poema, the cluster is anagrammatic. I call this cluster of letters, therefore, an anagrammatic acrostic; and the method that I have used in deciphering it is identically the method used in deciphering the long acrostics to be shown in the following pages. Like the anagram and unlike the common acrostic, the anagram- matic acrostic does not indicate the order in which the signifi- cant letters are to be read. And unlike both the anagram and the common acrostic that is coextensive with the composition in which it appears, the anagrammatic acrostic does not, of itself, give an exact indication as to what the significant letters are: it indicates by its structure merely the initials and an indeterminate number of contiguous letters. PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 401 But if the anagrammatic acrostic indicates by its structure merely the initial letters and an indeterminate number of contiguous letters, how can these contiguous letters be determined at all? The contiguous letters are many: how, then, can the decipherer know which of them to choose? Is he not free, by reason of the indeterminate indications of the anagrammatic acrostic form, to pick out at fancy the letters that spell whatever word or phrase he happens to preconceive? And if the acrostic is not necessarily co- extensive with the text, is not the decipherer free to fix its limits arbitrarily? There can be no doubt, in view of the incomplete guidance afforded by the anagrammatic acrostic structure, that the probability of error in deciphering is great. In deciphering anagrams of any kind and in deciphering any acrostic for which definite instructions have not been supplied by the author to take the initials on an exact number of specified lines, the reading, however it may be confirmed, cannot be absolutely proved as intentional. But the confirmations may be strong, and the decipherer is by no means free to wander at will. Though the anagram- matic acrostic form fails to indicate exactly how many letters are to be taken or exactly what all of them are, it indicates enough of them to guide the decipherer in the right direction. Almost invariably, in the long anagrammatic acrostics which I shall show in the Divina Commedia^ the letters spelling an important word appear in such proximity as to suggest the word to any one who has freed himself from the convention — which is, after all, merely a convention — of reading letters in the usual order from left to right. Let me show again the anagrammatic acrostic on the first six lines of Purgatorio: 1 PE 4 E CANT 2 OMA 5 DO 3 C 6 E Read: poema. ecco dante The marginal letters which show in the first two lines are 402 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE PE and OMA. Though these letters have to be rearranged to spell POEMA in the usual order, they can easily be read as POEMA in the order in which they occur. To a practised decipherer the word is plainly visible. It is a word, moreover, which appears frequently in other cryptograms. It makes obviously good sense in relation to the Divina Commedia. It is at the beginning of an important unit of text, and, as is well known to any student of cryptography, the beginning of a unit of text is a likely place in which to find a cryptogram and especially a signature. But poema is not in itself a signature. Where is the signature if there be one? Close at hand are the initials of lines 4 and 5, e and d, which suggest DANTE, and the rest of the letters of the name appear, also close at hand, in the third, fourth, and fifth letters of line 4. But this reading, so far, is not satisfactory. C intervenes between the letters e and a in line 4, and another c, the initial of line 3, intervenes between poema and the broken or inter- rupted DANTE. The decipherer of an anagrammatic acrostic is not free to skip about among non-contiguous letters or to disregard initials. He is restricted and thereby he is guided. The two c's must be accounted for: and the presence, in contiguous letters, of the means to account for them is an indication that the whole reading is intentional; the e and the o are in plain sight, and ecco completes the reading on the two terzine. Thus the process by which the decipherer works is systematic. When he finds a collocation of letters that spells POEMA and the name of the author of the poem he is inclined to believe that the collocation of letters was intentionally arranged by the author to spell just those words. The probability that the author intended the words thus de- ciphered is greater than that he did not intend them. The guide, then, for the decipherer, is the existence, in an appropriate place, of letters spelling words that show by position and meaning a consonance with the text. Following the guide, the decipherer chooses the letters spelling the consonant words and rejects the remaining letters as irrelevant. The chief difficulty in deciphering is to find, as in PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 403 Ecco in the reading above, the links between the more important cryptographic words which seem actually to protrude from the text. And it is in this difficulty in particular that the decipherer is most likely to be misled by his ingenuity or lack of it. The outstanding words are, in most of the instances which I will show, plainly indicated. Their intention is confirmed by their "high visibility," by the correspondence of their meaning to the sense of the text in which they are embodied, by the hints which Dante gives of a hidden meaning, by the constant recurrence of the same letters spelling the same words; that is, by the same indi- cations of intention that I enumerated in Chapter I. The short anagrammatic acrostics are easier to decipher and more convincing than the long anagrammatic acrostics. But the long readings shown in this chapter are applications to long passages of precisely the same method that was applied to the short passages. In many instances the long readings extend through passages of the text in which the short readings appear, and the same letters are used to spell either the same or different words. Examples of such concurrent readings have already been shown in the preceding chapters. The passage which we have just examined at the beginning of Purgatorio is an especially good example. For together with the reading: poema. ecco dante, on the first six lines are the two readings: peremas and spem, on the first lines of the first four terzine (see pp. 27-8). Far from suggest- ing an accidental character in each other, these concurrent readings are mutually corroborative, in that they intensify the sense. Dante's choice of the anagrammatic acrostic form for the majority of his cryptograms, both short and long, may have been determined, first, by the fact that it allowed him greater freedom than an acrostic with the letters in strict sequence, and, second, by the fact that, being less easy to decipher, it offered surer means of concealment. I do not believe that in the construction of his cryptograms Dante was primarily interested in having them deciphered. The chief philosophic interest of cryptograms, is, as I explained in 404 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Chapter I, that they express, as latent in a given text, the fundamental difference between appearance and reality. In the universe in parvo which the Divina Commedia may well be considered to be, the problem of appearance and reality had to have a place; it is symbolized, therefore, by the relation of the manifest meaning of the text to the crypto- grams which it contains. These cryptograms may also have been used to give the poem a form derived from the idea expressed, just as the form of the universe is derived from the ideas oi its creator. The difficulty, or even, it may be, the impossibility, of deciphering the cryptograms in the text may be quite irrelevant to the purpose for which they were inserted. But the difficulty, or even the impossibility, of deciphering the anagrammatic acrostics in the Divina Commedia in no wise necessarily implies that these anagram- matic acrostics do not exist. The evidence for their existence, in the repetition of certain cryptographic forms that keep emerging from the text, like islands that unite with each other at the bottom of a sea, is so clear and so consistent that it cannot be controverted. As an example of the long anagrammatic acrostic form let us examine first the anagrammatic acrostic in the first lines of the terzine. Par. xxxiii. 100-145. As I showed in Chapter II, page 30, there is an acrostic on the last line of this canto and the first lines of the three preceding terzine. This acrostic reads: l'amata. The long acrostic will include some of the letters used for l'amata; the word l'amata will not, how- ever, appear in it. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the first three terzine: 100 A 103 PE 106 OMAI Notice that these letters, minus the ai, spell poema. Now consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the next two terzine: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 405 109 NO 112 MA 133 QU 136 T 139 M 142 A 145 L Notice that these letters spell noma. Now consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the remaining terzine: 115 N 117 E 121 O 124 O 127 Q.U 130 D Notice that these letters, minus ququ, spell dante and l'omo. Read, then, on all the letters given, beginning line 100: POEMA NOMA QUI DANTE QUA l'oMO. Easy to see in this reading are the salient words: POEMA, NOMA, DANTE, and l'omo. The difficulty, to which I have referred in discussing in general the salient words that appear in the anagrammatic acrostics, is the difficulty of connecting these words into the continuous reading which they seem to suggest. I have solved the difficulty here by the use which I have made of the ququ. But this solution is not the only solution possible. For instance, if instead of the letters qu of the first word ^uella^ on line 127, the letters QUEL be taken; and if, instead of the ma of 112, simply the m; and if, instead of simply n of the word Nella on line 115, the letters ne; the reading might be considered as: poema noma QUI DANTE. QUEL E l'oMO. Or a variation on this second reading might be made by omitting the l o{ ^uella^ line 127, and the e oiNellUy line 115: POEMA NOMA QUI QUEL OMO DANTE These variations illustrate the difficulty of deciphering the exact form of the anagrammatic acrostic; but this difficulty, however great it may be, in no way invalidates the readings as an approximation to the reading actually intended by Dante. The words poema, noma, dante, and l'omo appear so 4o6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE plainly in the anagrammatic acrostic form, and they so nearly group of themselves into a sentence, and this sentence expresses so great a relevance to the poem, as auto- biographical, that I find it difficult to doubt that Dante intended some approximation to the anagrammatic acrostic which I have here shown as actually existing in the text. The cryptographic interest of this passage is not yet exhausted. For consider the following marginal letters of all the lines from line 133 to the end of the canto: 133 QU 140 SE 134 PER 141 D 13s PE 142 A 136 TALE E 143 MA 137 VE 144 SI C 138 L I 145 L 139 MA NGN E Read: peremas qui vel. dante si cela nel poema The sentence: peremas qui vel, is frequently repeated in the acrostic readings, as is also the idea that Dante conceals himself in the poem. The exact repetition of the first sentence, and the repetition of the ideas expressed in both, confirm the intention of the acrostic. The last ten terzine oi Inf. v show a reading on the follow- ing marginal letters of their first lines: 115 POI 130 PER 118 MA 133 QU 121 E 136 L 124 MA SE 139 M ENT 127 NOI LE 142 EC AD Read: peremas qui. mi celo nel poema. dante Manifest on lines 11 5-1 21 is the poema; and the peremas on lines 124 and 130 is scarcely disguised by the intervening letters of 127. The dante at the end is unmistakable. In Par. viii consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the terzine from line 1 12 to the end of the canto: 133 N 136 139 S 142 E 145 MA 148 PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 407 112 V 115 o 118 E 121 S 124 PER 127 L 130 QUI Read: peremas velo. sono qui Dante says in this reading that he is in the text. But where? Consider on the last three lines the following marginal letters: 146 TA 147 E 148 OND Read: o dante The o belongs to the long reading which is given above and which the dante signs. The complete reading, therefore, may be considered as: peremas velo. song qui. dante Consider the following marginal letters on all the first twenty-one lines oi Par. x: I GUA 12 TAN 2 CHE 13 VE 3 LO P 14 LO 4 QUAN 15 PER SATI 5 CON TA 16 E 6 SE 17 M 7 LE 18 E QU 8 MECO 19 E 9 DO 20 F 10 E LI CO 21 E II DI Read: peremas qui velo. ecco che dante s'e fatto qui NEL POEMA l'eGUALE CON DIO This reading is determined by the salient words. Dante appears as a unit on lines 10, 11, and 12. Velo appears on 4o8 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE lines 13 and I4; peremas on lines 15, 16, and 17. The l'equale qui appears clearly on the regular ten-line frame of the first four terzine, thus: I GUA 4 QU 7 LE 10 E LI Read: l'eguale qui This refers to Dante's identification of himself with Christ, tht fig/io in line i. For the interior sequence in this passage see Chapter III, page 88. The passage in which the longer reading is found is immediately followed by a terzina, Par. x. 22-24, i^ which the reader is expressly directed to the lines preceding: Or ti riman, lettor, sopra il tuo banco Dietro pensando a cio che si preliba, S'esser vuoi lieto assai prima che stance. These words may well be taken as a hint of the crypto- graphic character of the passage. An acrostic appears on these three lines, thus: 22 OR 23 DI 24 s Read: sordi May Dante, in the acrostic on these lines which direct the reader to reconsider what he has been reading, have in mind the Biblical words: "Having ears, hear ye not?" On the first lines of the first five terzine of Purg. xxxii consider the following marginal letters: I TAN 4 ED E 7 QU 10 E LA 13 MA PCI C ead: POEMA QUI CELA DANTE PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 409 The letters of dante are clustered on the first two lines, the letters of poema on the last two. The initials of the first six lines are: t, a, c, e, d, a. Read: tace da This corresponds to the meaning of the text. Dante is look- ing so fixedly that every sense but sight is extinct. Consider in Purg. xxxiii the following marginal letters on the first lines of all the terzine from line 100 to the end of the canto: 100 VE 124 e 103 E 127 MA 106 Q.UAN 130 CO 109 LE SET 133 C 112 DINAN 136 S I IIS O ^ 139 MA 118 PER 142 I 121 LA BEL 145 P Read: peremas qui vel. dante si cela con bella in POEMA This passage contains two concurrent readings, the acros- tics: Pio RiMASi and puri rii, which have been shown in Chapter II, page 29. Consider the following marginal letters on all the lines of the five terzine, Purg. xxvii. 100-114: 100 SA 108 LEI LO lOI C 109 E 102 LE B no CHE 103 PER PIAC III QUAN 104 MA M 112 LE TEN 105 DA 113 E 106 E 114 V 107 CO Read: PEREMAS QUI VEL. ECCO CHE DANTE CELA i poema 4IO THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE This acrostic confirms the idea that Lia is a dream form of the mother. In Par. iii consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the first twenty-seven terzine: I QUEL 4 ED I 7 MA lO QUA LI 13 T 16 TALI 1 19 s 22 E N 25 N 28 MA 31 PER 34 E 37 BE 40 G Read: PEREMAS C BELLA E l'amata n: 43 LA 46 I 49 MA 52 LI N 55 E 58 61 P E 64 MA 67 C 70 F 73 S E 76 C 79 A i SIGNIFICA QUI VEL. DANTE SIGNIFICA QUI COME The reading which I have here deciphered is determined in its essential words by the initial letters. Poema, lines 55-64, is unmistakable; and the peremas, lines 19-31, disguised merely by the intervening n, line 25, is almost equally unmistakable. All the letters of dante except the d occur as initials, and the significa is suggested by three initials, s, G, and F. In the text of the passage in which this acrostic naming BELLA appears the adjective bella is twice used. The first instance is in the second line. The marginal words of the first six lines seem to suggest that bella has a reference to Bella: QUEL SOL DI BELLA PROVANDO ED 10 ' ME STESSO PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 411 The sun and ed 10 are both symbols of Dante. In the words: QUEL SOL DI BELLA, PROVANDO EDIO ME STESSO, he may accordingly be considered as referring to himself as belonging to BELLA. The second bella occurs in the line, Par. iii. 48: Non mi ti celera I'esser piu bella. These words are so composed as to be capable of expressing by double entente: "Being Bella will no longer conceal me from thee." Words in the text that may be considered as cryptographic hints are pastille, line 13, meaning "marginal notes," and levai lo capo, line 6. Capo is a word that suggests a crypto- graphic device. Inf. XX. 100-114, reads: Ed io: 'Maestro, i tuoi raglonamenti 100 Mi son si certi, e prendon si mia fede, Che gli altri mi sarian carboni spenti. Ma dimmi della gente che procede, 103 Se tu ne vedi alcun degno di nota; Che solo a cio la mia mente rifiede.' AUor mi disse: 'Quel che dalla gota 106 Porge la barba in sulle spalle brune, Fu, quando Grecia fu di maschi vota Si che appena rlmaser per le cune, 109 Augure, e diede il punto con Calcanta In Aulide a tagliar la prima fune. Euripilo ebbe nome, e cosi il canta 112 L' alta mia Tragedia in alcun loco: Ben lo sai tu, che la sai tutta quanta. Consider on the first lines of these five terzine the following marginal letters: 100 ED 103 M 106 A 109 SI 112 EURI Taking the u of EURIPILO for its equivalent v, read MADRE, VI SEI, 412 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE And exactly as this acrostic Indicates, the name of Dante's mother appears in an acrostic in the same passage. Consider the following marginal letters of the three lines of the last terzina: 112 E 113 L AL 114 B Read: bella The terzina immediately preceding the foregoing passage, Inf. XX. 97-99, reads: Pero t' assenno, che se tu mai odi Originar la mia terra altrimenti, La verita nulla menzogna frodi.' The marginal letters of the first line of this terzina and of the first lines of the next four terzine are: 97 PER 100 E 103 M 106 A 100 s Read: peremas This passage and neighboring lines contain several words that are hints of cryptograms, augurCy no; nome, 112; magiche jrode y 117. The words in the last terzina, 11 2-1 13: cosi il canta L'alta mia Tragedia in alcun loco, taken in connection with the acrostics indicating the mother, suggest that Dante was aware of the mother symbolism of the Mneidy the tragedy to which Virgil is referring in the text. That Dante has the same symbolism for his Commedia appears from the acrostic on the opening lines of the next canto. The first four terzine, Inf. xxi. 1-12, are: Cosi di ponte in ponte, altro parlando Che la mia commedia cantar non cura, Venimmo, e tenevamo il colmo, quando PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 413 Ristemmo per veder 1' altra fessura 4 Di Malebolge, e gli altri pianti vani; E vidila mirabilmente oscura. Quale neir Arzana de' Viniziani 7 Bolle r inverno la tenace pece A rimpalmar li legni lor non sani, Che navicar non ponno, e in quella vece 10 Chi fa suo legno nuovo, e chi ristoppa Le coste a quel che piu viaggi fece; Consider on all the twelve lines of this passage the follow- ing marginal letters: I CO 2 c 3 VENI 4 RIST 5 DI 6 E 7 QUALE 8 BOLLE 9 A 10 CHE NA II C 12 LE Read: ecco che dante si rivela qui con bella Compare this acrostic containing the name of bella in connection with the mention of the Commedia with the acrostic containing the name of bella in connection with the passage in which Virgil refers to his Tragedia, Inf. xx. 1 13. In the present passage Dante declares that Virgil and he were speaking of things Che la mia commedia cantar non cura. It may therefore be inferred from the acrostic that the subject of their conversation was the relation of Dante with his mother Bella. This relation is, indeed, the hidden subject of the entire Commedia. The following passage, Par. xxiii. 85-90, consists of two terzine: O benigna virtu che si gl' imprenti, 85 Su t' esaltasti per largirmi loco Agli occhi li, che non eran possenti. II nome del bel fior ch' io sempre invoco 88 E mane e sera, tutto mi ristrinse L' animo ad avvisar lo maggior foco. 414 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Consider the following marginal letters on all the lines of these two terzine: 8S BE 86 SU T 87 A 88 IL 89 E 90 L Read: bella sei tu For the interior sequence in this passage and for the significance of // nome del bel fior see page 328. The following four terzine, Inj. vi. 64-75, comprise the prophecy which Ciacco makes about Florence: Ed egli a me: 'Dopo lunga tenzone 64 Verranno al sangue, e la parte selvaggla Caccera 1' altra con molta ofFensione. Poi appresso convien che questa caggia 67 Infra tre soli, e che 1' altra sormonti Con la forza di tal che teste piaggia. Alte terra lungo tempo le fronti, 70 Tenendo 1' altra sotto gravi pesi, Come che di cio pianga, e che ne adonti. Giusti son due, ma non vi sono intesi: 73 Superbia, invidia ed avarizia sono Le tre faville che hanno i cori accesi.' The reference, line 73, to the "two just ones" is generally supposed to be to Dante himself and his friend Guido Cavalcanti. No proof, so far as I know, has been given for these identifications. There is confirmation, however, in the anagrammatic acrostics which the passage contains. Observe, first, that the prophetic words of Ciacco begin, line 64, after the introductory Ed e^li a me. Let us, therefore, consider, as a preliminary, the following marginal letters of the first line of the prophecy itself, which begins with T)opo lunga tenzone^ and of the first lines of the remaining terzine in which the prophecy appears: . PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 415 64 DO 67 POI 70 ALTE 73 GIU Read: il poeta guido Let us now return to the complete text of the four terzine and consider the following marginal letters on their first lines: 64 ED E 67 POI A 70 ALTE 73 GIUSTI SON DUE MA NO Read: il poeta vi noma essi: guido e dante In medieval Italian the letter u was the same as the letter V. I have here taken, therefore, the u oi due for its equivalent V, and have used it as the equivalent of its spelled form vi. The acrostic just deciphered is confirmed by another acrostic extending through the remainder of the same canto. Consider on the first lines of these terzine, Inf. vi. 76-115, the following marginal letters: 76 QUI 97 CI 79 FA 100 S 82 D 103 PER 85 E 106 ED E 88 MA 109 TU 91 GL 112 NOI 94 E I 115 QUIV Read: peremas qui vel. feci qui guido e dante Consider on the first lines of the first nine terzine of Par. xi the following marginal letters: I o I 16 E 4 c 19 c 7 E 22 T 10 QUA 25 O 13 P Read: ecco qui poeta 4i6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the last nine terzine of /«/. xxxiii: 133 E 148 M 136 T 151 A 139 10 154 c 142 N 157 ED 145 c Read: eccomi dante The following acrostic appears in Dante's description of the punishment of the peccator carnali, Inf. v. 34-54. Con- sider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the terzine: 34 QUA 37 INT 40 E 43 Dl 46 EC 49 CM 52 L Read: mi celo qui. dante Following are two examples of acrostics reading peremas, in which the letters of the word are very plain but in which the word non intrudes. It may be that the two words are fragments of a longer reading (see p. 410). The first acros- tic is in Par. iii. 19-33: Subito, si com' io di lor m' accorsi, 19 Quelle stimando specchiati sembianti, Per veder di cui fosser, gli occhi torsi; E nulla vidi, e ritorsili avanti 22 Dritti nel lume della dolce guida, Che sorridendo ardea negli occhi santi. 'Non ti maravigliar perch' io sorrida,' 25 Mi disse, 'appresso il tuo pueril coto, Poi sopra il vero ancor Io pid non fida, Ma ti rivolve, come suole, a voto. 28 Vere sustanzie son ci6 che tu vedi, Qui rilegate per manco di voto. PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 417 Perd paria con esse, ed odi, e credi; 31 Chd la verace luce che le appaga Da se non lascia lor torcer li piedi.' Consider on the first lines of these five terzine the follow- ing marginal letters: 19 S 22 E 25 NON 28 MA 31 PER Read: peremas [non] The following passage is Par. xxvi. 43-57: Sternilmi tu ancora, cominciando 43 L' alto preconio, che grida V arcano Di qui laggiu sopra ogni altro bando.' Ed io udi': 'Per intelletto umano, 46 E per autoritadi a lui concorde, De' tuoi amori a Dio guarda il soprano. Ma di' ancor, se tu senti altre corde 49 Tirarti verso lui, si che tu suone Con quanti denti questo amor ti morde.' Non fu latente la santa intenzione 52 Deir aquila di Cristo, anzi m' accorsi Dove volea menar mia professione. Pero ricominciai: 'Tutti quei morsi, 55 Che posson far lo cor volger a Dio, Alia mia caritate son concorsi; Consider on the first hnes of the five terzine the following marginal letters: 43 46 s E 49 MA 52 NON 55 PER Read: peremas [non] Consider the following marginal letters on all the lines, Inf. xxxiii. 139-157: 4i8 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 149 A 150 E 151 A 152 D O 154 c 156 I 157 E Read: ecco che dante si indica nel poema All the letters of dante appear as initials. Consider the following marginal letters on all the lines of the five terzine, Purg. xvi. 37-51 : 139 I 140 c 141 E 142 NE 143 L 144 NO 145 C 146 N 147 CHE 148 MA DIS 37 A 38 CHE 39 E V 40 E SE 41 TA 42 PER M 43 NO 44 MA ERE] MAS. EC( 45 E 46 L 47 D 48 A 49 PE 50 CO 51 C Read: peremas. ecco che poema vela dante Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the first seven terzine oi Purg. viii: Read: I E 4 E 7 QUAND I 10 ELL 13 T 16 E 19 AGU DANTE F. QUI l' 'eguale PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 419 The reference of the cryptogram may be to lo nuovo pere- grin d'amore^ Hne 4, which is exactly what Dante represents himself to be throughout the Divina Commedia. For the cryptogram on the Latin phrase: te lucis ante, see pp. 97-8. The seventh terzina, 19-21, is a distinct hint to penetrate the veil, and the cryptogram on this terzina is a further hint to look for a hidden meaning. Consider on the terzina the following marginal letters: 19 A 20 c 21 CER Read: cerca Consider on the first lines of the next four terzine the following marginal letters: 22 I 25 E 28 V 31 L Read: veli This repeats the idea of velo .... sottile^ line 20. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the terzine, Purg. xxx. 118-145: 118 M 133 NE 121 A 136 T 124 SI 139 PER 127 Q.U 142 A 130 E 145 D Read: peremas qui dante Notice how clearly dante appears on the margin of the last five lines, interrupted only by the per, 139. Consider the following marginal letters on the first lines of the terzine. Far. xxix. 100-145: 420 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE lOO E 124 DI 103 N 127 MA PE 106 SI 130 Q 109 N . 133 E S 112 E 136 LA 115 o 139 O 118 MA TALE 142 V 121 PER 145 UNO M Read: peremas qui velo. dante si noma nel poema Note that the word poema is spelled on the marginal letters, all but one being initials, of four consecutive lines, 1 1 2-1 21. A proof of the close relationship between the Vita Nuova and the Divina Commedia appears in the fact that the Vita Nuova contains cryptograms similar in meaning and identical in form to cryptograms found in the Divina Commedia. Following are the last five lines of the fourteenth sonnet in the Vita Nuova, xxiv. 59-63: Venire inverso il loco la ov' i' era, L' una appresso dell' altra meraviglia: E si come la mente mi ridice, Amor mi disse: Questa e Primavera, E quella ha nome Amor, si mi somiglia. Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 59 V 60 L 61 E 62 AM 63 E Read: velame The line preceding these five lines begins with lo vidi. The eighteenth sonnet in the Vita Nuova appears in two versions. For reasons that must have been sufficient, Dante gives first what he calls the Primo cominciamento and then the final form of the completed sonnet. The Primo comincia- mento reads: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 421 Era venuta nella mente mia La gentil donna, che per suo valore Fu posta dair altissimo signore Nel ciel dell' umiltate, ov' e Maria. Consider the following marginal letters of these four lines: ER LA FU NE Read: funerale The sonnet commemorates the first anniversary of the death of Beatrice. The Secondo cominciamento reads: Era venuta nella mente mia Quella donna gentil, cui piange Amore, Entro quel punto, che lo suo valore Vi trasse a riguardar quel ch' io facia. Amor, che nella mente la sentia, S' era svegliato nel distrutto core, E diceva a' sospiri: Andate fuore; Per che ciascun dolente sen partia. Piangendo usciano fuori del mio petto Con una voce, che sovente mena Le lagrime dogliose agli occhi tristi. Ma quelli, che n' uscian con maggior pena, Venien dicendo: O nobile intelletto, Oggi fa r anno che nel ciel salisti. Consider the following marginal letters of all the lines of this sonnet: E PER QU PIA ENT C VI LE LA AM MA S VE ED O Read: peremas vi vel. poema cela qui dante 422 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE CONTINUOUS ACROSTICS THROUGH ENTIRE CANTOS The first of the cantos in which I have deciphered a continuous reading from beginning to end' is Inf. i. On the first lines of the first four terzine appears, as the reader will remember, the acrostic nati. Consider now the marginal letters of the first lines of the next four terzine: 13 M 16 GUARD 19 A 22 E GUARDA ME Read; On the first lines of the next six terzine consider now the following marginal letters: 25 CO 28 POI 31 E 34 EN 37 T 40 M COPIO MENTE Read: It thus appears that on the first lines of the first fourteen terzine of Inf. i there is a consecutive series of acrostics, reading: NATI. GUARDA ME. COPIO MENTE Now the reader will remember that I showed in Chapter II that lines i, 4, 7, and 10, on which the nati appears, may also be considered to give dante. The coincidence of the two readings on the same lines seem to indicate that dante is to be identified with the nati as a typical man. Taking then the first acrostic as dante, the complete reading on the first fourteen terzine may be considered: GUARDA ME, DANTE (nATI). COPIO MENTE PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 423 The meaning of dante : copio mente, is profoundly true of the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. In saying that he "copies mind," Dante is implying an identification of himself with Intelligence which is constantly repeated throughout the entire poem. In the Christian Trinity the three persons are represented respectively, as Dante indicates in the inscription over the gate of Hell, Inf. iii, as Power, Intellect, and Love; Intellect corresponds to the divine Son. The identification which Dante makes of himself with Christ has already been indicated, and this identification carries with it, therefore, the identification of Dante with Intelligence. This identification is indeed expressed by an acrostic shown in Chapter VI, on the very lines on which we have just found mente. The DANTE, as identified with mente, appears thus: 31 ED ECCO quasi a 34 EN 37 T 40 M Read: ecco quasi me, dante Now on the very lines on which we have found nati. GUARDA ME. COPIO MENTE, or GUARDA ME, DANTE. COPIO MENTE, there appears another reading. Consider on these lines the following marginal letters: I NEL 22 E 4 A 25 CO 7 T 28 PC 10 I 31 E 13 M 34 EN 16 G 37 T 19 A 40 M : MENTE COGITA NEL POEMA Consider in the succeeding seven terzine the following marginal letters: 424 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE 43 LO 46 QU 49 E 52 QUE ST A 55 E 58 T 61 MEN Read: loque questa mente Consider the following marginal letters in the succeeding fifteen terzine: 64 Q.UAND I 88 VE 67 RI 91 A 70 N 94 C 73 POETA 97 E 76 MA 100 M 79 OR 103 QUE 82 106 DI 85 T Read: QUANTDO POETA MARO QUI MI RICEVE, DANTE Observe on lines 73, 76, and 79 the maro following the POETA; maro is the name of Virgil. For the remarkable cryptographic use which Dante makes of maro in this passage see pp. 190-3. Observe also that, exactly as in the final lines of Paradiso already examined, all the letters of dante appear in the initials of the lines. Consider now the following marginal letters on the first lines of the remaining terzine of the canto: 109 QUEST 124 C 112 127 IN 115 OVE 130 ED 118 E 133 C 121 ALL 136 A QUESTO INDICA OVE E CALLE Read; Thus the continuous anagrammatic acrostic reading on the first lines of all the terzine oi Inf. i appears: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 425 MENTE (eCCO QUASI ME, DANTE) COGITA NEL POEMA (or GUARDA ME, DANTE — NATI COPIO MENTe). LOQUE QUESTA MENTE Q.UANDO POETA MARO QUI MI RICEVE, DANTE. QUESTO INDICA OVE E CALLE. This reading is, in effect, a synopsis of the text of the canto. Following is the continuous anagrammatic acrostic on the first lines of all the terzine of Purg. xxix. Consider first on the first lines of the first twenty-nine terzine the following marginal letters: I CA 46 MA 4 E 49 LA 7 A 52 DI 10 NO 55 10 13 NE 58 I 16 E 61 LA 19 MA 1 perche IL B 64 GE 22 E 67 L 25 C 70 QU 28 SOT 73 E 31 M 76 SI 34 D 79 QU 37 82 SO 40 OR CON VI 85 T 43 PO Read: peremas QUI POEMA. ECCOMI, DANTE ALDIGHIERO. SONG COSI VELATO QUI CON BELLA Now consider th e following marg ;inal 1 etters on the next nine terzine: 88 P 103 E 91 SI 106 LO 94 OGN 109 E 97 100 AD MA 112 TAN Read: poema: dante lo signa And finally consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the remaining terzine of the canto: OF DANTE 136 L 139 M 142 POI 145 E 148 A 151 E 154 F 426 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY 115 NO 118 QU 121 T 124 L 127 E 130 D Read: poema: dante fello qui Notice that the word poema is on the marginal letters, all but one being initials, of the first lines of four consecutive terzine, 139-148. The complete acrostic in this canto, as thus deciphered, is: PEREMAS QUI POEMA. ECCOMI, DANTE ALDIGHIERO. SONO COSI VELATO QUI CON BELLA. POEMA: DANTE LO SIGNA. poema: DANTE FELLO QUI. In Purg. XXX, on the first lines of all the terzine preceding the mention of Dante, line ^^, appears a reading particularly- pertinent to the sense of the text. Consider the following marginal letters: I QUA 28 CO 4 E CHE 31 S 7 F 34 EL 10 E 37 s 13 QUA 40 T 16 COT 43 V 19 T 46 PER DI 22 I 49 MA 25 E 52 NE Read: peremas qui vel. ecco che dante s'e fatto qui On the first lines of the terzine from line ^^ to line 78 consider the following marginal letters: 55 DANTE 67 TU 58 QUA 70 RE 61 I 73 GUA 64 VI 76 GLI Read: dante eguaglia qui virtu PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 427 Inlaid in this passage are other important cryptograms, which I have already shown, referring to the symbolism. They are not to be understood, however, as belonging to the continuous reading that runs throughout the canto. On the first lines of all the remaining terzine of the canto consider the following marginal letters: 79 c 115 QUE 82 E 118 M 85 SI COME 121 A 88 POI 124 SI 91 C 127 QU 94 MA 130 E 97 L 133 NE 100 E 136 T 103 V 139 PER 106 ON 142 A 109 NO 145 DI 112 MA Read: peremas qui vel. ecco come dante si noma qui IN POEMA The complete anagrammatic acrostic in this canto, as thus deciphered, is: peremas qui vel. ecco CHE DANTE s'e FATTO QUI. DANTE EGUAGLIA qui virtu, peremas QUI VEL. ECCO COME DANTE SI NOMA QUI IN POEMA. NON-ITALIAN PHRASES I have shown in Chapter III several examples of crypto- grams on passages not Italian. For the discussion of this form of cryptogram see page 95. I will show here other examples. In Purg. vii. 82, is the Latin ^\iV2iSQ: Salve regina. These words may be regarded as an anagram for vel a signare. This reading is appropriate to the symbolism of the Divina Commedia^ in which the divine regina veils Bella, the mother of Dante. 428 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE There is nothing to prove, indeed, that Dante intended the phrase: salve regina, to be considered as an anagram for VEL A siGNARE. But there is plenty of evidence that phrases from the Bible and from the literature of the Church were commonly considered to contain cryptograms ex- pressing the inner meaning of the phrases. An example is the well-known anagram which I have quoted from the Encyclopaedia Brittanica^ the change of Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum into Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata. It is my belief that Dante considered all, or nearly all, the Latin phrases in the Divina Commedia to be transformable, like the foregoing anagram, into readings appropriate to his symbolism. The reason for my belief is the fact that cryptographic transformations of many of his Latin phrases into appropriate readings may actually be shown. In Purg. xxvii. 58, is the Latin phrase: Venite, benedicti patris mei. Consider in these words the final and contiguous letters as follows, changing the di of benedicti into the letter d, of which the letters di are the spelled form: VENITE E BENEDICTI NEDCTI PATRIS ATRIS MEI EI Read: reciti: sei dante In Purg. xxiii. 1 1, is the Latin phrase: Labia mea, Domine. These words contain a cryptic reference to Bella, the mother of Dante. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: labia labia mea mea domine domi Read: odami, mia bela Bela as a kind of bella may be suggested in the words: per modo, which immediately follow Labia mea, Domine. The oda of the deciphered reading is echoed in the words of Dante, line 13: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 429 O dolce Padre, che e quel ch'i 'odo? That Dante intended to suggest that he heard bella in the Latin Labia mea^ Domine^ is indicated in the acrostic on the three lines of the terzina in which the Latin phrase appears: 10 E 11 LABI 12 TAL C Read: taci bella As we have already seen, taci may be read cita; both make sense and it is difficult to choose between them. The Latin word Ave appears apart from a Latin context in Purg. X. 40, and Par. xvi. 34, and with Maria in Par. iii. 121. This word was recognized early in the Middle Ages as a palindrome for eva. The palindrome thus associates the divine mother Mary^ as the woman to whom the Ave was uttered, with the fallen mother Eve. This association of the two mothers in an identical form is fundamental in the symbolism of the Divina Commedia. In Purg. X., line 44, appears the Latin Ecce ancilla Dei. These words yield a signature in which the t is missing. ECCE E ANCILLA AN DEI D Read: dane The T is suggested by the reference which the Latin words, used in the Annunciation, have to Christ. The symbol of Christ is the cross, and the cross, as has already appeared in several cryptograms, is to be considered as represented by the letter t. A hint of the silent t, as the image of the cross of Christ, may be taken from the words, line 39, imagine che tace. By supplying, then, the imagine che tace^ the complete reading is: dante. In Par. xxiii. 128, is the Latin phrase :i?^|'/«^cod'//. Consider in these words the initial and marginal letters as follows: 430 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REGINA R COELI COEL Read: celor, Latin for "I am concealed." The Latin words Regina coeli are from an antiphone sung in the office of the Virgin. The association of celor with a hymn to the Virgin has a bearing on the fundamental symbol- ism of the Divina Commedia. Dante, as we have seen, portrays himself at the culmination of his mystical journey, as concealed in the womb of the divine mother. In Par. xx. 94, appears the Latin Regnum coelorum. These words may be considered as yielding the same acrostic: CELOR. The acrostic on both Regina coeli and Regnum coelorum may also be considered as cor. The Regnum coelorum as cor recalls the Biblical: "The kingdom of God is within you," Luke xvii. 21. The symbolism of the kingdom of God as the heart or as within the body is fundamental in the Divina Commedia. In Par. xxix, line 12, are two Latin words, ubi and quando; and three lines later, line 15, is the Latin subsisto. These three Latin words, taken together, yield a signature. Con- sider in these three words the following terminal and con- tiguous letters: UBI HI QUANDO ANDO SUBSISTO TO Read: bioo. dant Bioo is the Greek Btoco, "I exist" or "I live;" it echoes the sense of Dante's Latin subsisto. In the first twelve lines oiPurg. xxxiii are three expressions in Latin: Deus^ venerunt gentes^ line i; Modicum^ et non videbitis me^ Et iterum, lines lo-ii; and Modicum, et vos videbitis me, line 12. A determinant in the choice of these expressions is the meaning which they may be considered as conveying in the anagrammatic acrostic to be found on the initial and contiguous letters of all the words involved. PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 431 A hint for the method of deciphering these words as a cryptogram may be taken from the words, lines i and 2: alternando Or tre or quattro. Let us arrange the Latin words, therefore, in alternating groups of three and four. As there are fifteen Latin words in all, the last word, me, will fall outside the last group of four. The first group, then, which is of the first three words, comprises Deus, venerunt gentes. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: DEUS DE VENERUNT VENERUNT GENTES GENTES In the letters selected above the v is to be taken as its equivalent vi, the spelled form of v. The un of venerunt spells un, or one; as a one, therefore, it may be taken as its cabalistic equivalent a. The selected letters may accordingly be transposed thus: DE DE VENERUNT VI ENER A T GENTES GENTES Read: vi segnerete dante The second group, which is of the succeeding /oz/r words, comprises Modicum, et 72on videbitis. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: modicum m et e NGN NO VIDEBITIS VIDE Read: vedi nome The name which the reader is thus directed to see is the name in vi segnerete dante. But notice that by the omission of the e of vide the initial and contiguous letters of the words of this group may be read: nome vid. V has the value of five; i the value of one; and d the value of five 432 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE hundred. By omitting the zeroes, there thus appears the cryptic number 515. Thus the reading vedi nome may be converted into nome: 515. The third and fourth groups, of three and four words respectively, comprise respectively me^ et iterum and modi- ciun^ et vos videbitis. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: {Third groups of three words) ME M ET ET ITERUM IT Read: metti {Fourth group y of four words) modicum M e £ vos V videbitis VI Read: me vvi The two last readings taken together are thus: metti me vvi. V has the value of five; i the value of one. Thus the cryptic number 515 appears again, and the cryptogram in the last two groups may be considered as metti me, 515. The entire reading for the four groups of alternating three and four words is thus: vi segnerete dante. vedi nome (or NOME 515). metti me 515. To these deciphered readings may be added the last of the Latin words, me, which falls outside the alternating groups of three and four words. It is to be noted that me is used to rhyme with itself, like Cristo and Dante's symbol 10 vidi. This identical rhyming on me is, like the identical rhyming on 10 vidi, a detail of Dante's imitation of Christ. In Purg. xvi. 19, is the Latin phrase: Agnus Dei. The u of agnus is the same as v; so that the phrase is an anagram for: SEGNA Div (515). PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 433 In Purg. xii. no, is the Latin phrase: Beati pauperes spiritu. Consider in these words the following telestic letters: BEATI I PAUPERES ES SPIRITU TU Read: sei tu Dante may here be considered as hearing himself referred to in the words of the Beatitudes. In Purg. XV, line 38, is the Latin phrase: Beati misericordes. These Latin words may be considered to yield a signature in which the n is missing. Consider in these words the following telestic letters: BEATI EATI MISERICORDES DES Read: sei date The missing n is referred to in an acrostic on the first lines of the four terzine ending with the terzina in which the Latin phrase appears: 28 NGN 31 tos 34 PO 37 N Read: NGN PGSTG N In Purg. xxii. 5 and 6, are the Latin words: Beati and sitiunt. These two words, taken together, conceal a signature in which the d of Dante is missing. The context indicates that the missing d is to be supplied. Consider in the two Latin words the following final and contiguous letters: BEATI EATI SITIUNT NT Read: ti, ante. With a d suppHed, the reading is ti, DANTE. 434 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE There are several hints in the context to supply the d. Notice, in the first place, line 3: Avendomi dal viso un colpo raso. These words are capable of being taken as a hint that a letter has been removed from Dante's viso, or signature. And the whole of the second terzina, in which the Latin words appear, is so phrased as to imply that Beali and sitiunt, which suggest the sound of dante, senz altro^ cib fornirOy line 6. Line 17 reads: Piij strinse mai di non vista persona. The words di non vista are capable, when removed from their context, of being understood as an allusion to the unseen letter d. Another reference to the concealed d may be found in an acrostic on the initials of the five lines ending with the line in which sitiunt appears: 2 L 3 A 4 E 5 D 6 c Read: cela d There is also an acrostic on all the first eighteen lines of the canto which seems to point to the signature hidden in Beati and sitiunt. Consider on lines 1-18 the following marginal letters: 1 GI 10 Q.U 2 L A II AC 3 AVE 12 PUR 4 E Q 13 O 5 DET 14 NE 6 CON 15 CHE 7 E 16 M 8 M A 17 PI 9 SE 18 SI Read: peremas qui vel. ecco che dante signa qui poema PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 435 In Purg. xxix. 3, is the Latin phrase: Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata. Consider the final letters of these words: BEATI I QUORUM M TECTA A SUNT T PECCATA A : AMATI Compare with the sense of this telestic the donna inna- morata^ line i. In Purg. xix. 73, is the Latin phrase: Adhaesit pavimento anima mea. Consider in these words the following final and contiguous letters: ADHAESIT T PAVIMENTO ANIMA MA MEA A Read: amato In Purg. xix^ 99, is the Latin phrase: Scias quod ego Jui successor Petri. Consider in these words the following final and contiguous letters: SCIAS AS QUOD OD EGO FUI I SUCCESSOR OR PETRI I Read: 10 SARO DIO In the ultimate identification of himself with God, Dante, in a sense, becomes God. In Purg. xxv. 121, is the Latin phrase: Summae Deus clementiae. Taking the u oiDeus for its equivalent v, consider in these words the following final and contiguous letters: 436 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE SUMMAE AE DEUS DEUS CLEMENTIAE NTIAE Read: ave. sei dante In Par. xxv. 98, is the Latin Sperent in te. These words contain a signature which may be deciphered by substituting, as in the phrase: In te^ Domine, speravi, page 443, an a for the I, and by supplying a d, in accordance with hints in the text to do so. Consider in these Latin words the following initial and contiguous letters: SPERENT SPERE IN = AN AN TE TE Read: per se, ante By supplying a d from the context, the reading may be per SE, DANTE. A hint to supply a d may be the fact that the Latin words are immediately followed by di, the preposition which may be considered as the spelled form of d. That DANTE is here concealed is hinted in the acrostic on lines 94-99: 94 E 95 LA DOV 96 QUE 97 E PRIMA 98 SPERENT 99 A Read: peremas velo. dante pare qui Another hint that the Latin words are to be understood as having a cryptic reference to Dante may be taken from Dante's words, lines 88-89: Le nuove e le scritture antiche Pongono il segno, ed esso lo mi addita. There is surely a double meaning in these words. Dante is referring not only to the New and Old Testaments; he is PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 437 referring also to the new and old ways of writing, the manifest and the cryptic. In the present instance, in con- nection with the Latin Sperent in te^ Dante says in effect that he is himself referred to. In Par. xv. 28-30, Cacciaguida, the ancestor of Dante, addresses Dante in Latin. His words are: O sanguis meus, o superinfusa Gratia Dei! sicut tibi, cui Bis unquam coeli ianua reclusa? Consider the following initial and contiguous letters of all the words of this terzina: SANGUIS SA MEUS ME SUPERINFUSA SUPER GRATIA G DEI D SICUT SIC TIBI TI CUI CUI BIS BI UNQUAM UN QUA COELI CO IANUA IANUA RECLUSA RE Read: peremas vi. song qui in rebus tuo cacciaguida Rebus is a well recognized word in cryptography. In connection with the cryptogram in the preceding passage, let me show the cryptogram on the four terzine, Par. XV. 34-45 : Ch6 dentro agH occhi suoi ardeva un riso 34 Tal, ch' io pensai co' miei toccar lo fondo Delia mia grazia e del mio Paradise. Indi ad udire ed a veder giocondo, 37 Giunse lo spirto al suo principio cose Ch' io non intesi, si parld profondo: 438 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE N^ per elezion mi si nascose, 40 Ma per necessity, ch^ il suo concetto Al segno dei mortal si soprappose. E quando 1' arco dell' ardente affetto 43 Fu si sfocato che il parlar discese Inver lo segno del nostro intelletto; Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 34 CH 37 I 40 N 43 E Read: niche. This may be an Italian transliteration of the Greek vUrj. There are several hints in this passage: cose cK to non in- tesi, St parlb profondo^ 38~395 ^^ P^i^ elezion mi si nascose, 40; segno del nostro intelletto, 45. Nurj, Greek for "victory," expresses Dante's satisfaction in his meeting with Cacciaguida, who as a benign father image contrasts with the malignant and hated father image as it appears in Filippo Argenti. In Par. vii. 1-3, is a terzina composed entirely of a combination of Latin and Hebrew. This terzina recalls the foregoing Latin terzina, in which a rebus is discovered. Consider in the words of the present terzina the following initial and contiguous letters: OSANNA SANCTUS SA DEUS DE SABAOTH SAB SUPERILLUSTRANS SUPERI CLARITATE CLARI TUA T FELICES FELI IGNES IGNE HORUM HOR MALACHOTH MALA Read: peremas. suo figlio dante rischiara bella PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 439 In Gnostic symbolism the divine son, as Light, in the in- cestuous relation with the divine mother through whom he is to be reborn, is described as shining upon, or illuminating, her. In Purg. xxvi. lines 140-147, there is a passage in Provencal, as if uttered by the Provencal poet Arnaut. The passage is: Tan m' abellis vostre cortes deman, Qu'ieu no-m puesc, ni-m voil a vos cobrire. leu sui Arnaut, que plor, e vau cantan, 142 Consiros vei la passada folor, E vei jauzen lo jorn qu' esper, denan. Ara vos prec per aquella valor, 145 Que vos guida al som de 1' escalina, Sovenha vos a temps de ma dolor. Consider on all the lines in Provencal the following marginal letters: 140 TAN M ABELL 141 QU I 142 lEU 143 CON 144 E V 145 ARA 146 QU 147 SQ Read: quasi vece arnaut, nomo qui bella Notice, moreover, that the first and last words of the first line of the Provencal: TAN DEMAN, spell DANTE, MAN. The MAN suggcsts, like " hand " in English, "signature." In Purg. XXX there is a series of Latin quotations, all of which are to be considered as containing a hidden meaning. The first appears on line 1 1 : Veni^ sponsa^ de Libano. This phrase is followed, line 15, by alleluiando^ which may be considered as another foreign word. In these five foreign words consider the following initial and contiguous letters: 440 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE VENI VE SPONSA S DE D LIBANO LIB ALLELUIANDO ALLE Read: disvela bella The next Latin phrase is: ad vocem tanti senis^ Hne 17. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: AD AD VOCEM vo TANTI TA SENIS SENI Read: savio dante Possibly the two phrases, with alleluiando^ should be read together, thus: VENI VE SPONSA S DE D LIBANO LIBANO ALLELUIANDO ALLE AD A VOCEM voc TANTIS TA SENIS SENI Read: savio dante si vela con bella The phrase: Veni^ sponsa^ de Libano is uttered by un dilorOy quasi da del messo. The association of these words with Dante appears from the consideration of the phrases: del del messo ^ and messo da dio (see p. 12S)- Immediately following the two Latin phrases just con- sidered are two others. They appear in lines 19-21 : Benedictus qui venisy and Manibus date lilia plenis. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters in these Latin words: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 441 BENEDICTUS BEN QUI QUI VENIS VEN MANIBUS MA DATE DATE LILIA LILIA PLENIS PLE Read: veli, dante, bella qui in poema In Par. xii. 93, is the Latin phrase: decimas quae sunt pauperum Dei. Consider in these words the following telestic letters, taking the final u oi pauperum as its equivalent v: decimas AS quae AE SUNT NT PAUPERUM PERUM DEI DEI Read: peremas vi dante In Par. xiii. 100, is the Latin phrase: si est dare primum motum esse. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: SI SI est £ DARE DA primum PR MOTUM MO ESSE E Read: peremas dig In Purg. ix. 140, is the Latin sentence: Te Deum laudamus. These words contain a signature, dante, in which the letter n is missing, and the missing n is unmistakably referred to in the passage in which the words occur. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters in the Latin words: 442 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE TE TE DEUM DEV (u and V being equivalent) LAUDAMUS LA Read: vel: date With an n the reading would be vel: dante. Now there are various hints in the text that this vel: date is to be understood as vel: dante. The similarity of the sound of the two phrases is so confusing that, as Dante suggests, line 145, Or si or no s'intendon le parole. And in line 132 there is an expression which is so phrased that it may be understood, when taken from its context, as a direct allusion to the missing n: chi 'ndietro si guaia. By removing the chi from this phrase there appears the following: N dietro si guata. Dante has further indicated the silent n in an acrostic in the passage in which the Latin phrase appears. The last ten lines of the canto are: Non rugghio si, ne si mostro si acra 136 Tarpeia, come tolto le fu il buono Metello, per che poi rimase macra. lo mi nvolsi attento al primo tuono, 139 E Te Deum laudamus mi parea Udir in voce mista al dolce suono. Tale imagine appunto mi rendea 142 Cio ch' io udiva, qual prender si suole Quando a cantar con organi si stea: Che or si or no s' intendon le parole. 145 Consider on arginal letters the regular ten-line frame the following 136 N 139 142 I TA 145 Read: taci n C The passage which concludes with the lines just quoted records a curious instance of disobedience on the part of Dante. The angel of God has just permitted Dante and Virgil PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 443 to pass through the entrance into Purgatory proper, and in admitting the poets he says, hnes 131-132: Entrate; ma facciovi accorti Che di fuor torna chi 'ndietro si guata. Now in spite of the threatened penalty of being turned out if he looked back, Dante states, line 139, that lo mi rivolsi attento al primo suono. But why, if the angel meant what he said, was the penalty not inflicted? Why was Dante not compelled to tornare difuor? There is apparently no answer given to this question in the poem, but the answer is implied in the cryptogram which has just been deciphered. Dante was turned out, as a result of looking back, in the sense of having his name turned out of Te Deum laudamus. In Purg. XXX. 83-84, are two Latin phrases: In te, Domine, speravi a.nd pedes ??ieos. These Latin words indicate the begin- ning and end of a passage in a Psalm sung by the angels. But why does Dante indicate the exact limits of the passage ? He does so, as I shall show, as a means of getting the exact letters needed for a cryptogram. Notice, in the first place, the suggestion of his name in In te, Domine. Of the first five letters in this phrase four belong to the poet's name. The coincidence can scarcely be imagined to have escaped the attention of Dante. Now the letters In te, D can be con- verted into Jn te, D by the cabalistic method of considering the letter i, which is a one in the Arabic notation, as the letter corresponding to one, or a, the first letter of the alphabet. Consider now the following initial and contiguous letters, changing by the recognized cabalistic method the i of In and the I of Domine into a's: Read; IN = AN AN TE TE DOMINE = DOMANE DOMA SPERAVI SPERA PEDES PE MEOS ME PEREMAS POEMA. DANTE 444 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE In Par. xi. 62, is the Latin phrase: Et coram patre. Consider in these words the following initial and contiguous letters: ET E CORAM C PATRE PA Read: pace Consider in the same words the following final and contiguous letters: ET T CORAM MA PATRE RE Read: mater I suspect that in the use of single Latin words in the text of the Divina Commedia there may be a double meaning. This double meaning may appear in an anagrammatic re- arrangement of the word. We have seen the anagram ave — eva. Another is velle^ which appears in Par. iv. 25 and Par. xxxiii. 143. This may be read el vel, ^/ being a good form for //. Another example is Delectasti^ Purg. xxviii. 80, quoted from Psalm xcii. 4. This word is an anagram for celasti de. As de is a symbol of Dante, the meaning of the anagram is: celasti dante. In Par. xxvi. 17, reference is made to the Greek letters alpha and omega. These letters may be considered as suggest- ing a signature, in that alpha^ or a, is the beginning and om^^«, or o, is the end, of ALDiGHiERO. a . . . o, as used for ALDiGHiERO, is cxactly analogous to the constant use of de, or ED, for DANTE. The identification of Dante and Christ, expressed many times and in many ways in the Divina Commedia^ is implicit again in these letters, for "I am Alpha and Omega . . . saith the Lord." GROUPS OF PROPER NAMES We have already seen in Chapter III examples of crypto- grams constructed on the proper names of a passage. The PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 445 first cryptogram of this kind which I showed is constructed on the names of the group of souls that accompanied Christ in his ascent from Hell to Heaven. And I suggested that by signing his name in a cryptogram on the first letters of their names Dante identifies himself with them. I give here examples of cryptograms on other groups of proper names. In the nobile castello Dante sees the heroes and heroines of antiquity and then the philosophers. Both these groups show cryptographic signatures on the first letters of the proper names. The passage containing the heroes and heroines, Inf. iv. 1 21-129, is as follows: lo vidi Elettra con moltl compagni, 121 Tra' quai conobbi Ettore ed Enea, Cesare armato con gli occhi grifagni. Vidi Cammilla e la Pentesilea, 124 Dair altra parte vidi il re Latino, Che con Lavinia sua figlia sedea. Vidi quel Bruto che caccio Tarquino, 127 Lucrezia, Julia, Marzia e Corniglia, E solo in parte vidi il Saladino. Note that the initials of these three terzine are: 121 I 124 V 127 V Read: v i v, that is, 515. Consider the following initial and contiguous letters in all the proper names in this passage of heroes and heroines: ELETTRA ELE ETTORE E ENEA ENE CESARE CESA CAMMILLA CAM PENTESILEA PE LATINO L LAVINIA LAV BRUTO BRUTO 446 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE TARQUINO TARQU LUCREZIA L lULIA I MARZIA M CORNIGLIA CO SALADINO SALAD Read: peremas vel. ecco qui dante colla sua matre BELLA The following passage, Inf. iv. 130-144, contains the philosophers: Poi che innalzai un poco piu le ciglia, 130 Vidi 11 Maestro di color che sanno, Seder tra filosofica famiglia. Tutti lo miran, tutti onor gli fanno. 133 Quivi vid' io Socrate e Platone, Che innanzi agli altri piu presso gli stanno. Democrito, che il mondo a caso pone, 136 Diogenes, Anassagora e Tale, Empedocles, Eraclito e Zenone: E vidi il buono accoglitor del quale, 139 Dioscoride dico: e vidi Orfeo, Tullio e Lino e Seneca morale: Euclide goemetra e Tolommeo, 142 Ippocrate, Avicenna e Galieno, Averrois, che il gran comento feo. The first philosopher whom Dante sees is // maestro di color che sanno., line 131, It is to be noted that Dante, who is here referring to Aristotle, does not mention him by name. The reason that Dante does not mention Aristotle by name is simply for the sake of the duplicity of his intention. In referring to il maestro di color che sanno heisindicatingnot only Aristotle but himself. A similar duplicity appears in the anonymous allusions to David, Par. xx. ^^^ iEneas, InJ. i. 73-74) ^rid Homer, Purg. xxii. loi. Aristotle is seated, as Dante says, tra filosofica famiglia^ with Socrates and Plato nearest to him. These three form a philosophic trinity as a family analogous to the divine Trinity. This philosophic trinity is likewise analogous to the PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 447 poetical trinity of Virgil, Statius, and Dante. Regarded thus as a trinity, the three supreme philosophers are separated from the rest and are named by Dante in his poem separately, lines 130-135. Notice that in the line in which he mentions Plato and Socrates: Quivi vid' io Socrate e Platone, the Q.UIVI vid'io is the equivalent of quivi 515, or Dante himself. The philosophers grouped about ^Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates are named in the next lines, 136-I44. Recall first that Dante has spelled his name by the "string" cipher method on line 137: Diogenes, ANassagora e TalE. The signature is especially plain because the first letters of the three names spell in themselves: dant. In addition to these three philosophers, Diogenes Anassagora, and Tale, who give a dant by themselves, there are grouped about the philosophic trinity of Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato the following: Democrito, Empedocles, Eraclito, Zenone, Dioscoride, Orfeo, Tullio, Lino, Seneca, Euclide, Tolommeo, Ippocrate, Avicenna, Galieno, and Averrois. Take of these names the following contiguous letters, beginning with the initials, noticing that the i of Ippocrate is aspirated in the original Greek and so may be regarded as supplying an h: DEMOCRITO D EMPEDOCLES E ERACLITO ER ZENONE ZEND DIOSCORIDE DI ORFEO OR TULLIO TU LINO LI SENECA s EUCLIDE E TOLOMMEO T 448 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE IPPOCRATE HI AVICENNA A GALIENO G AVERROIS A Read: dante aldighiero, tu sei zero Or, by regarding the "zero" as the equivalent of an o: sei TU, O DANTE ALDIGHIERO. I beHeve that this cryptogram is to be understood in the double sense which I have here indicated. Dante is here arrogating to himself the combined wisdom of all the philosophers and saying at the same time that the wisdom of man is nothing. Notice, moreover, how nearly Dante comes to spelling his name on the initials of lines 140-144: D T E I A With the next line, in which he says with a double meaning, lo non posso ritrar di tutti appieno, he completes the spelling. Consider for this spelling the following marginal letters: 140 D 141 T 142 E 143 I 144 AV 145 ID N Read: 10 vi, dante Interesting in connection with Dante's play on the names of the ancient philosophers is his reference to Thomas Aquinas, Par. x, 97-99, which is so phrased as to suggest the name of Dante. Thomas Aquinas, who is speaking, indicates thus the names of his companions and himself: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 449 Quest! che m' e a destra piu vicino, Frate e maestro fummi, ed esso Alberto E di Cologna, ed io Thomas d' Aquino. The words in which he refers to himself, ed io Thomas d" Aquino^ begin with Dante's symbol ed io, and the letters beginning the two proper names that follow may be con- sidered as T and d'aquin, which may be read: dant qui. Notice also that 10 dante is spelled by the initial t of Thomas and the six letters immediately preceding: na ed io t. There is a group of proper names in Purg. vii. 91-112. The first five terzine of this passage are as follows: Colui che piu sied' alto, e fa sembianti 91 D' aver negletto cio che far dovea, E che non move bocca agli altrui canti, Ridolfo imperador fu, che potea 94 Sanar le piaghe ch' hanno Italia morta, Si che tardi per altri si ricrea. L' altro, che nella vista lui conforta, 97 Resse la terra dove 1' acqua nasce, Che Molta in Albia, ed Albia in mar ne porta: Ottacchero ebbe nome, e nelle fasce 100 Fu meglio assai che Vincislao suo figlio Barbuto, cui lussuria ed ozio pasce. E quel Nasetto, che stretto a consiglio 103 Par con colui ch' ha si benigno aspetto, Mori fuggendo e disfiorando il giglio: Consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of these terzine: 91 c 94 R 97 LA 100 103 E Read: e claro The initials of the first five proper names in this passage are: 450 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE RIDOLFO R ITALIA I MOLTA M ALBIA A ALBIA A Read: maria The rest of the proper names in the passage are: OTTACHERO VINCISLAO FRANCIA Consider the following initial and contiguous letters of these names: o VI FRA Read: vi faro Thus the complete reading on this group of proper names is: VI faro MARIA. This passage occurs in the description of the Valley of the Princes, the grembo which, as I have already shown, is asso- ciated in Dante's symbolism with the divine mother, Maria. In Inf. xvi. 94-102, is a group of proper names (and we have a right to regard Alpe as a proper name). Of these names consider the following contiguous letters beginning with the initials: VESO V APENNINO APEN ACQ.UAQUETA A FORLI FORLI BENEDETTO BEN ALPE AL Read: fanno via per bella The passage shows Dante's elaborate water and river symbolism. Note that immediately following is the symbol of the cord and the lonza. PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 451 In Purg. xiv. 16-48, is a group of proper names of which we consider the following initial and contiguous letters: TOSCANA TO FALTERONA FALTER ARNO A PELORO PEL CIRCE CI BOTOLI B Read: factito per bella Factito is Latin. This passage is an elaborate description of the Arno and is another instance of Dante's river-mother symbolism. The following passage, Purg. vii. 4-9, contains Virgil's description of himself: 'Prima che a questo monte fosser volte 4 L' anime degne di salire a Dio, Fur r ossa mie per Ottavian sepolte. lo son Virgilio; e per null' altro no 7 Lo ciel perdei, che per non aver fe': Cos! rispose allora il Duca mio. Of the three proper names in this passage consider the following initial and contiguous letters: DIG DI OTTAVIAN VIRGILIO V Read: divo Consider the following initial and contiguous letters of all the proper names of the last ten lines oi Purg. vii: BEATRICE BEATRI MARGHERITA MAR COSTANZA CO ARRIGO A INGHILTERRA I GUGLIELMO GUGLIEL 452 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE MARCHESE M ALESSANDRA ALE MONFERRATO MO CANAVESE CANAVE Read: ecco vi nom. matre bella eguaglia maria The first name in the series is Beatrice. The cryptogram thus associates Bella, Beatrice, and Maria. Compare this with the acrostic: eguaglia cosi la madre, shown on page 337. There are two other cryptograms on groups of proper names which include the name Beatrice. Consider, first, the following initial and contiguous letters of all the proper names in Par. xxix. 1-9: LATONA LA MONTONE MON LIBRA L BEATRICE BEA Read: noma bella Now consider the following marginal letters of the first lines of the first four terzine of Par. xxxii: I A 4 L 7 NEL 10 S Read: snella The passage refers to Eve, and the meaning may be that Eve is quick or prone to sin. Now consider in this passage the following initial and contiguous letters of the proper names: MARIA MA RACHEL RA BEATRICE BEATRICE SARA SA REBECCA RE JUDIT lUD Read: Beatrice vi sara madre PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 453 Consider, finally, the following marginal letters of the first six lines of the passage: 1 A 2 LIB 3 E CO 4 L 5 QU 6 EC Read: ecco qui bella ACROSTICS ON FIRST LINES OF CONSECUTIVE CANTOS It is a recognized device in cryptography to use for acrostics not only the initial positions of lines or of stanzas but also of larger units of text, as in the signature of Fran- cesco Colonna in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This signature, as I have already explained, is written on the initials of the chapters of the book. I will now show that in an analogous way Dante makes use of the initial positions of his cantos. I am unable, however, to find a continuous reading through all the cantos. Imagine that the first lines of the cantos are written one under the other like the lines of a poem. The first lines of the first four cantos of Inferno, written thus together, appear as follows: Inf. i. I. Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Inf. ii. I. Lo giorno se n'andava, e I'aer bruno Inf. iii. I. Per me si va nella citta dolente Inf. iv. I. Ruppemi I'alto sonno nella testa Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 1. NEL ii. LO • • • 111. p iv. RU Read: prunello 454 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE This acrostic prunello, as the evil or fruitless tree, stands thus at the beginning o{ Inferno. Compare the thorn symbol- ism of the New Testament, and also pruno^ Inf. xiii. 32. Consider now in connection with this acrostic prunello the first lines of the first thirteen cantos of Inferno: Inf. Inf. Inf. Inf. Inf. Inf. Inf. Inf. viii Inf. ix Inf. X Inf. xi Inf. xii. I Inf. xiii. I 1. ii. iii, iv. V. vi. vii. Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Lo giorno se n'andava, e I'aer bruno Per me si va nella citta dolente Ruppemi I'alto sonno nella testa Cos! discesi del cerchio primaio Al tornar della mente, che si chiuse Pape Satan, pape Satan aleppe lo dico seguitando, ch'assai prima Quel color che vilta di fuor mi pinse Ora sen va per un secreto calle In su r estremita d* un' alta ripa Era lo loco, ove a scender la riva Non era ancor di la Nesso arrivato Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: 1. ii. iii. iv. V. vi. vii. NEL LO p RU c AL T p VUl. 10 D ix. QU X. xi. I xii. E xiii. NO Read: copio qui lo prunello. dante This acrostic is appropriate to the symbolism of Inferno, in which Dante "copies the thorn-tree" in the sense that he represents himself as leading the evil life of which the thorn- tree is the symbol. Notice that the acrostic is read on the first lines of thirteen cantos. The symbolism of the number of thirteen as unlucky or evil is appropriate to the meaning of the acrostic. Notice, moreover, that it is in the thirteenth canto, on which the acrostic ends, that the pruno, suggesting the prunello of the acrostic, is mentioned. Following are the first lines of the last three cantos of Inferno: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 455 Inf. xxxli. I. S'io avessi le rime aspre e chiocce Inf. xxxiii. i. La bocca sollevo dal fiero pasto Inf. xxxiv. I. Vexilla Regis prodeunt inferni Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: xxxii. SI xxxiii. LA xxxiv. VE Read: si vela Following are the first lines of the last two cantos of Purgatorio: Purg. xxxii. I. Tanto eran gli occhi miei fissi ed attenti Purg. xxxiii. I. Deus, venerunt gentes, alternando Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: xxxii. TAN xxxiii. DE Read: dante Following are the first lines of the first four cantos of Paradiso: Par. i. I. La gloria di colui che tutto move Par. ii. i. O voi che siete in piccioletta barca Par. iii. i. Quel sol, che pria d'amor mi scaldo il petto Par. iv. I. Intra due cibi, distanti e moventi Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: i. LA 'ii. o vo iii. QUE iv. INTRA D Read: lavoro qui dante There is another reading on the marginal letters, thus: i. L ii. o iii. Qu iv. I Read: loqui 4S6 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Following are the first lines of cantos xxvi to xxviii of Paradiso: Par. xxvi, i. Mentr'io dubbiava per lo viso spento Par. xxvii. i. Al Padre, al Figlio, alio Spirito Santo Par. xxviii. i. Poscia che contra alia vita presente Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: XXVI. ME xxvii. A xxviii. PC Read: poema Following are the first lines of cantos xxiv to xxix of Paradiso : O sodalizio eletto alia gran cena Se mai continga che il poema sacro Mentr' io dubbiava per lo viso spento Al Padre, al Figlio, alio Spirito Santo Poscia che contra alia vita presente Quando ambedue i figli di Latona Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: Par. xxiv. Par. XXV. Par. xxvi. Par. xxvii. Par. xxviii. Par. xxix. XXIV. o XXV. SE MAI xxvi. MENT xxvii. AL PA xxviii. PO xxix. QUANDO A Read: qui dante posa mano al poema Following are the first lines of the last four cantos of Paradiso: Par. XXX. I. Forse sei milia miglia di lontano Par. xxxi. I. In forma dunque di Candida rosa Par. xxxii. i. AfFetto al suo piacer quel contemplante Par. xxxiii. i. Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo Figlio Consider the following marginal letters of these lines: PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 457 XXX. F xxxi. IN xxxii. A xxxiii. VE Read: fin. ave These last two readings on the first lines of the last cantos of the Divina Commedia should be considered together: DANTE POSA QUI MANO AL POEMA. FIN. AVE. Or it may be that the readings on the first lines of the last cantos of the three canticles should be read together thus: SI VELA DANTE. FIN. AVE. Some of the cryptograms which I have shown in the present chapter are so apparent that there can be no question of the validity of the reading. Others are obscure, and the reading is problematic. But I have presented them for two reasons, first, because as a group they show indications of intention, and second, because as a group they point to a cryptographic plan in the Divina Commedia more inclusive than I have been able to prove. Part of my purpose, therefore, in showing cryptic readings of which I am not certain, is to suggest the direction which should be followed in further investigations of Dante's cryptography. PROBLEMS OF MEANING Turning now from the problems of cryptography to the problems of meaning, let me in conclusion enumerate the formal elements of which the Divina Commedia is composed and indicate the opportunities which these elements offer for further analysis. The Divina Commedia of Dante Aldighiero is an unsur- passed, if not the supreme, synthesis of human thought. It condenses into a unit of almost unbelievable complexity the universe of knowledge as it existed in Dante's time. It is a compendium of the political, artistic, philosophical, and religious history of the world. 458 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE But the historical element in the Divina Commedia is by no means paramount. As Dante himself declares, the Divina Commedia is an allegory, a kind of poetical creation which, by his own definition, expresses, along with a literal or historical meaning, a non-historical or allegorical meaning. Now as an allegory the Divina Commedia has a peculiar feature which it shares with many other allegories, but not with all. It purports to be the record of a dream. It is called a vision by Dante himself, and in addition to its dream form as a whole, it contains within itself a number of other dreams and many observations as to the meaning of dreams. It is obvious, therefore, that Dante attaches an importance to dreams as a mode of expression, and that in casting the Divina Commedia in the form of a dream he may be either recording some actual dream-material or else attempting to make the dream-poem express in form and in meaning what he understands of the form and meaning of dreams in general. The main action of the Divina Commedia, which, as we have now seen, is an allegory cast in the form of a dream and embodying an important element of history, is a journey which Dante, as the author, tells of making while he is still alive through the post-mortem regions of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The idea of the journey of a living man through the abodes of the dead is fundamental in the Divina Com- media, but it is not, of course, original with Dante. It appears, indeed, in countless forms in the mythologies of all peoples. Among the heroes of classical mythology who descended alive to the underworld of the dead are Odysseus, ^neas, Theseus, and Hercules; and Ganymede was taken alive to Heaven. In Christian belief St. Paul was "caught up to the third heaven," and it is recorded of Christ, in the Apostles' Creed, that he descended into Hell after the crucifixion and after three days ascended into Heaven. All these instances are expressly cited in the Divina Commedia. They set, so to speak, the example for Dante's journey and prove that Dante consciously adapted an ancient myth for the main action of his poem. There are thus, according to the foregoing analysis, four PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 459 principal elements in the Divina Commedia: history, allegory, dream, and myth. Of these four elements the historical is the one that has been most adequately studied in the past, though the failure of the historians to identify correctly Beatrice, the dxv, and the Veltro has led to a complete mis- understanding of the entire poem. If the identifications of these characters which I have made in the preceding pages be accepted, the chief historical difficulties of the poem are solved. The remaining three elements into which the Divina Commedia may be analyzed, allegory, dream, and myth, however they differ from each other, have an important feature in common. In contrast with history, which is limited to expressing its single literal meaning, allegory, dream, and myth are capable respectively of expressing more than one meaning at once. In regard to the duplicities of allegory the reader of Dante is left in no doubt; for the letter to Can Grande and the Convivio contain two profound definitions of allegory in which its multiple meanings are precisely distinguished. The duplicity of dreams as having a rational as well as their obviously irrational meaning has been believed from early antiquity, and this belief is confirmed by the modern study of dreams. The rational as well as the irrational meaning of myths was recognized in antiquity, and is likewise confirmed by modern scholarship. In popular usage, indeed, the mythical is per se untrue, unreal. But the popular view of the mythical is obviously in contradiction to the recognized character of myths as primitive theories of cosmogony. However false the theories thus expressed may appear in the light of modern science, they cannot on that account be denied the possession of some sort of rational meaning. In its original sense, a myth is merely a something said; and the something said contrasts with a something done in a primitive ceremony of a magical character, a ceremony performed with the object of bringing about a change in nature similar to the change indicated in symbolic form by the words and the action. In other terms, 46o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE the myth was originally the spoken part of a drama enacted for a practical purpose; and with the gradual disappearance of the drama itself the spoken part survived in narrative form. Two fundamental errors are to be found, I believe, in much of the modern study of myths. The first is the error that the symbolism of ancient myths is always unconscious symbol- ism, analogous to the symbolism of dreams. This error is based on the failure to recognize that the most archaic forms of myth, which must indeed have originated unconsciously in dream-like phantasies, were reshaped at a very early period by highly self-conscious and sophisticated priests and poets, such as the Hebrew priests in the period of the Babylonian Captivity and the poets of the Homeric period and the great Greek dramatists. In this reshaping of the archaic material the symbolism which we are at last beginning to recognize must have been a self-conscious expression of the priests and poets who used it. The second error which appears in modern myth inter- pretation is the error of supposing that the ancient myth- makers were personifying, in the so-called sun myths and vegetation myths, the annual or diurnal progress of the sun or the recurrence of crops. Man, and especially primitive man, is too egocentric to be so exclusively preoccupied with the life of a nature that is not his own. In the last analysis the so-called sun and vegetation myths must be understood to be purely autobiographical^ borrowing from the recurrent life of the sun and the crops merely the symbols of the manner in which man itnagines that he himself may survive. The so- called sun and vegetation myths must all be interpreted, therefore, as symbolizing, not the rebirth of the sun or the crops, but the rebirth of man. In view of the rational, as well as of the irrational, meaning that must thus be recognized in allegory, dream, and myth, it appears that there is needed for the interpretation of the Divina Co^nmedia, first, a serious analysis of Dante's own definition of allegory, a study of this definition, indeed, in the light of the Aquinian account of knowledge; and, second, a study of the dream and myth elements of the poem in the PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 461 light of the modern analysis of dreams and myths in general. No adequate analysis of Dante's definition of allegory has yet, it seems to me, appeared; nor has any attempt, so far as I know, been made to interpret the poem as a dream and as a myth. Moreover, as allegory, as dream, and as myth, the poem must be completely reexamined in the light of the identifica- tion of Beatrice with Bella and of the dxv and the Veltro with Dante, Limited as I have been in the present volume by the primary purpose of presenting the cryptography of the Divina Commedia^ I have postponed to a study now in preparation. The Symbolism of the Divina Commedia^ the presentation of my own views of the Divina Commedia as allegory, dream, and myth. But as these views are implicit in the partial interpretation of the poem as a whole which I have made already, I wish, in conclusion, to define them as briefly as possible. The analysis that I propose to make of the Divina Com- media as an allegory will show that the various ways in which an allegory is to be understood must correspond to the various ways we have of understanding. In other words, the four meanings which Dante declares that the Divina Com- media^ as an allegory, expresses, correspond to the four modes of cognition. The literal meaning corresponds to sensation; the allegorical meaning to perception; the moral meaning to conception; and the anagogical or symbolical meaning to the mode of cognition which appears in the Aquinian account of knowledge as revelation^ and in other accounts as intuition, apperception and interpretation.'^ This view of the multiple meanings of allegory will lead to a new definition of symbol- ism, according to which allegory is based on the use of things as signs of other things and symbolism is based on the use of things as signs of mind or mental states. This fundamental distinction between allegory and symbolism, entailed in the fundamental distinction between the four meanings of alle- gory as based on the four modes of cognition, will make it possible to analyse with precision the four distinct and con *See J. Royce: The Problem of Christianity. 462 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE sistent meanings which Dante actually expresses in the Divina Commedia. In my analysis of the Divina Commedia as dream I oppose to the Freudian view of dreams as symbolizing the sexual life in its literal aspects my view that the sexual life appears in dreams as itself the symbol of something else — as the symbol, indeed, oi t\\& personified convict of the intellect, emotion, and will of the dreamer himself as an individual. This view of the sex symbolism of dreams in general will illuminate the pro- founder implications of the sex symbolism of the Divina Commedia. I also dissent from the Freudian view of dreams as wish- fulfillments. This view involves the Freudians in the difficulty of explaining as wish-fulfillments dreams that have every appearance o{ failing to fulfill wishes; and to help themselves out of this difficulty they have invented a quite too gullible "censor." The wish is invariably fulfilled, according to the Freudian view, in spite of the censor, who strives to thwart the wish. But how can it be shown that the thwarting power, whatever it is, is always evaded or defeated, and that the wish is always fulfilled in spite of it ? In dreaming, as in any other activity, asleep or awake, there is doubtless a wish that strives to fulfill itself; but there is nothing in the evidence of dreams themselves to warrant the belief that the striving to fulfill a wish is any oftener, or in any other way, successful in dreaming than it is in waking life. Dreams have no such one hundred per cent success in fulfilling the wishes implied in the dream activity. By virtue of their very liability to failure dreams are more lifelike than the Freudians represent them to be, and they are accordingly better fitted to the use which Dante makes of the dream-form as the form of life. I have been obliged, in advance of my forthcoming study, to treat in some detail of the mythical element of the Divina Commedia^ the myth of the journey of a living person through the abodes of the dead. But the interpretation of the myth as I have expressed it in the present volume remains, as I wish to say with all possible emphasis, incomplete. Our examination of the myth has resulted, so far, in the PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS 463 discovery that it implies a parallel between the structure of the universe and the structure of the human body; the universe is a womb in which man is at once and in eternal repetition the child that is expelled from it, the seed that reenters it, and the foetus that remains in it. But the parallel between the universe and the human body is only the shell of the meaning of the myth; it implies, as its fundamental meaning, a parallel between the universe and the human mind, a psycho-physical parallelism which I will discuss in The Symbolism of the Divina Commedia. In the light of this psycho-physical parallelism the relation which I have been obliged, for want of a better term, to call incestuous in the present volume will appear to be a special relation between the three faculties of the mind, will, intellect, and emotion, which are to be understood as dramatized, in the myths of rebirth, as Father, Son, and Mother in conflict and in union. An identical use of th.Q family as a symbol of the individual appears in the Christian account of the divine Trinity, in which the Three Persons correspond on the one hand to Father, Son, and Mother and on the other hand to the three faculties of the human individual, will, intellect, and emotion. The Trinity as a family is unmistakably implied in the early Gospel of the Hebrews, where the Holy Ghost is represented as saying to Christ at the time of the baptism; "Thou art my first-born son;" and where Christ Himself is represented as saying in the account of the temptation: "My mother, the Holy Spirit, lately took me by one of my hairs and carried me to the great mountain Tabor." Further support for the maternal character of the Holy Ghost may be found in L. L. Paine's "The Ethnic Trinities." That the Trinity, which was recognized as a family, was likewise recognized as correspond- ing to the human individual appears in the work on the Trinity by St. Augustine, where a comparison is made be- tween God as a Trinity and man as having a trinity of faculties. The same correspondences between the Trinity and the human family and the human individual are expressed by Dante, and it is essential to the interpretation of the Divina Commedia that these correspondences be recognized as the 464 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE means by which Dante expresses, primarily, the identifi- cation of himself with God, and so, in general, the divine, or universal, nature of man. FINIS. LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS Following the cryptograms here listed are bracketed letters which indicate the classifications to which the cryptograms belong. [Ac] means Acrostic; [An] Anagram; [C] Cabala; [I S] Interior Sequence; [L S] Letter Sequence; [P] Pun; [S C] String Cipher; [Sep L] Play on Separate Letters; [T] Telestic. DIVINA COMMEDIA REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Inf. i. 1-4 Nemica [Ac] 24-25,31-34,37-39,396-397 1-9 Dante [Ac] 104-105 1-12 Nati [Ac] 24-25,31-34,37-39,103,396-397 1-12 r NoN So Ben Ir. Dante [Ac] 103-104 3-7 Dante [IS] 105 7-1 1 Dante [IS] 105 9-12 Taci D [Ac] 104 10-12 Taci [Ac] 104 31-36 lo Dante [IS] 184 31-42 Mente [Ac] 183-184 31-42 Ecco Quasi Me, Dante [Ac] 183-184 47-49 Bella [IS] 186-187 47-50 Bella [IS] 186-187 49-52 Madre [IS] 186-187 51-54 Madre [IS] 186-187 55-66 "loViDi" Qua Me, Dante [Ac] 141 58-61 Bella [IS] 187 67-69 Mare [Ac] 191 67-69 Rem [Ac] 191 67-69 Nome [Ac] 191 67-87 Maro Rinato Poeta [Ac] 189-190 70-74 Dante [IS] 190 71 Roma (Maro) (Amor) [An] 192-193 74 Dante [L S] 191 [467] 468 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE 86-89 Bella [IS] 187 88-99 Cave [Ac] 186 97-101 IVIatre [IS] 187-188 100-104 Matre [IS] 187-188 101-105 Matre [IS] 187-188 103-106 Dante [IS] 187-188 100-102 IVIe, Veltro [Ac] 171-172 100-102 515 [C] 171-172 10CHI14 Peremas Qui Poema. Ecco Dante, Quasi Veltro IN Feltro [Ac] 171-173 101-105 T : Dante [IS] 175 106-108 CiTA Dante [Ac] 174 111-114 IVIadre [IS] 188 127-133 Capo Qui. Ed Io [Ac] 151 127-136 Capo Esce Qui. Dante [Ac] 151-152 127-136 Indica Ed Io [Ac] 40-41 1-136 IVIente (Ecco Quasi IVIe, Dante) Cogita Nel Poema (or Guarda IMe, Dante — Nati — Copio IVIente). Loque Questa Mente Quando Poeta IVIaro Qui Mi Riceve, Dante. Questo Indica OvE E Calle [Ac] 422-425 Inf. a. 1-2 LoTo [Ac] 41-42 I-I2 L'Omo Io [Ac] 41-42, 141-142 3-8 Io Era Dante [T] 141-143 7-9 Omo Qui [Ac] 141-142 50-54 Madre [IS] 355 53-55 Bella [IS] 355 53 Bella [P] 355 58-60 Deo [Ac] 193-194 58-69 O Leo [Ac] 193-194 61-63 Snella [Ac] 193-195 67-69 Leo [Ac] 193-194 68-71 Matre [IS] 355-35^ 71-75 Madre [IS] 355-35^ 70-72 Via [Ac] 355-35^ 91-94 Madre [IS] 356 101-103 Dante [IS] 356 102-105 Matre [IS] 356 Inf. in. 1-9 Per Me Si Va, Per Me Si Va, Per Me Si Va. Dante Si Fa Suo Sigillo [Ac] 224-225 7 Dante [S C] 70 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 469 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Inf. iv. I-I2 Vero [Ac] 176 1-12 T : Velor [Ac] 176-177 46-69 NoN Riusci Dante? [Ac] 100 55-66 Dante [Ac] loo-ioi 56-60 MiRA Dant [Ac] loi 57 Dante [S C] 72 118-132 Copio 515 [Ac and C] I43-I44 121-129 515 [C] 445 121-129 Peremas Vel. Ecco Qui Dante Colla Sua Matre Bella [Ac] 445-446 130-144 Sei Tu, O Dante Aldighiero (Dante Aldighiero, Tu Sei Zero) [Ac] 476-478 133-151 Dante E Elios [Ac] 144-14S 134 Quivi 515 [C] 447 137 Dante [S C] 7i)447 140-145 lo Vi, Dante [Ac] 448 Inf. V. 34-54 Mi Celo Qui. Dante [Ac] 416 1 15-142 Peremas Qui. Mi Celo Nel Poema. Dante [Ac] 406 Inf. vi. 64-75 II Poeta Guido [Ac] 415-416 64-75 II Poeta Vi Noma Essi: Guido E Dante [Ac] . . . 415-416 76-115 Peremas Qui Vel. Feci Qui Guido E Dante [Ac] . 415 85-87 Dante, Se' Qui [Ac] 69-70 Inf. vii. I Dante, Dante, Aleppe (or Christ) [Ac] 303-305 I Pene, Pene [T] 306 1-4 Pace D [Ac] 305 Inf. viii. 7 Maro [P] 192 42-45 Bella [IS] 324 45-48 Madre [IS] 324 82-93 Savio [Ac] 43-44 83 Dante [S C] 72 85-87 Vedi [Ac] 44 87 Dante [S C] 72 94-108 Poema: Dante [Ac] 77-79 105 Dante [L S] 79 470 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM ' PAGE Inf. ix. 82-84 Me, D..A.. [Ac] 236 82-84 515 [C] " . 23s 88-90 Vela [Ac] 235 88-90 SIS [C] 23s Inf. X. 1-3 LoTO [Ac] 287-288 1-12 O Leo [Ac] 287-288 1-15 O Sole [Ac] 287 22-33 Sole [Ac] 288 39 Dante [S C] 73 127-136 L'AcQUA [Ac] 301-302 Inf. xi. 61-72 PoEMA (with Ed Io) [Ac] iSo-isi 106 Dante [S C] 72 Inf. xii. 75 Dante [S C] 72 Inf. xiii. i-S Dante [IS] 94 9-83 Matre [IS] 234 Inf. xiv. 94-ios NuDRi [Ac] 329 94-ios In Una Madre [Ac] 329 Inf. XV. 22-33 Cela Ed Io [Ac] 148 Inf. xvi. 43-51 Peremas [Ac] 277-278 43-54 Spem [Ac] 277 43-54 Dante [Ac] 277-278 88-90 Punto [Ac] 52 94-102 Fanno Via Per Bella [Ac] 450 106-114 Pio [Ac] 218-219 121-136 Esce Maschio [Ac] 217-218 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 471 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Inf. xvii. I-I2 Sequela [Ac] 64 11-12 Dante [Ac] 64 86 Dante [S C] 73 Inf. xviii. 33 Dante [S C] 73 34-54 Peremas Qui Dante [Ac] 278-279 127-136 Taide [Ac] 59-60 127-136 Dante Qui [Ac] 59-60 130 Dante [S C] 71 Inf. XX. 97-1 1 1 Peremas [Ac] 276-277, 412 97-1 II Ed lo Sperma [Ac] - 277 100-114 Madre, Vi Sei [Ac] 411 112-114 Bella [Ac] 411-412 Inf. xxi. 1-12 Ecco Che Dante Si Rivela Qui Con Bella [Ac] . . 412-413 loi Dante [SC] 73 Inf. xxii. 105 Dante [SC] 72 Inf. xxiii. 67-78 PoEMA, Ecco Vi Dante [Ac] 86-87 76-78 Vedi [Ac] 86-87 145-148 lo, Dante [Ac] 70 148 Dante [S C] 70 Inf. xxiv. 21 Dante [S C] 73 43-54 Sole [Ac] 289 70-84 lo Dante [Ac] 70-80 91-111 Ecco Ed! Ecco Dante! [Ac] 167-168 91-111 515 [C] 169-170 100 lo [Sep L] 169 109-111 E Me [Ac] 170 472 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Inf. XXV. 13-24 Peremas (Spem) [Ac] 275-276 28-36 Nome Ed [Ac] 152-153 75 Dante [Ac] 73 Inf. xxvi 19-24 Peremas Qui [Ac] 140 19-24 lo ViDi [T] 140 71-81 Pleo [Ac] 299 85-96 Limne [Ac] 300 95 Dante [S C] 73 115 Dante [S C] 72 117 Dante [S C] 72 Inf. xxviii. 9 Dante [S C] 72 141 Dante [S C] 73 Inf. XXX. 77 Dante [S C] 72 Inf. xxxi. 67 Maria [Ac] 245-246 67 MiRA A Me [Ac] 245-246 67 Chiami Mia Bella [T] 245-246 67-78 Prece [Ac] 245 92 Dante [S C] 73 Inf. xxxiii. 85-96 T: Velor [Ac] . 177-178 Inf. xxxiii. 22-24 Qua Bella [Ac] 297 46-57 Copio. Ed Io [Ac] 296 55-57 Come Pene [Ac] 297 109-111 Grido Dante [Ac] 70 133-157 EccoMi Dante [Ac] 416 139-157 Ecco Che Dante Si Indica Nel Poema [Ac] .... 417-418 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 473 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Inf. xxxiv. I Vi SiGNo: Dante [T] 90 22 Feto [L S] 236-237 22-24 Feto [IS] 236-237 22-26 Feto Non Vivo [IS] 236-237 34-60 Sole: SoNO Qui Dante [Ac] 213-214 40-42 Sole [Ac] 213-214 43-45 Vel [Ac] 213-214 88-90 Eli [Ac] 238 88-96 Elios [Ac] 238 90-92 Pene [IS] 238 92-94 Pene [IS] 238 92-94 Pene [IS] 238 92 Penis [An] • 237 1 18-129 LoQui Ed [Ac] 154-155 130-139 Sol:D...e [Ac] 25-26,34 134-139 Dante Esce Qui [Ac] 26-27, 34 Purg. i. 1-6 PoEMA. Ecco Dante [Ac] 28, 400-403 1-12 Peremas (Spem) [Ac] 27, 35, 223 Purg. {{. 1-12 Segno [Ac] 44-45 41-46 Taci Dante (or Cita Dante) [Ac] 96 43-45 Sei Dante [Ac] 96 46 GiRA. Sei Dante [Ac] 96 Purg. in. 76 Dante [S C] 71 Purg. iv. 19-21 CoLMA [Ac] 249 31-33 Pene [Ac] 249-250 Purg. vi. 40-51 Velo Dante [Ac] 81-82 46-49 Vel. Sono Qui. Dante [Ac] 81-82 76-87 AcQUE [Ac] 301-302 106 Velo. Ecco Me, Dante [Ac] 63 474 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Purg. vii. 4-9 Divo [Ac] 451 15-18 Omo [Ac] 51-52 82 Vel a Signare [An] 427-428 91-112 E Claro [Ac] 449 91-112 Vi Faro Maria [Ac] 449 127-136 Ecco Vi NoM. Mater Bella Eguaglia Maria [Ac] 451-452 Purg. viii. 1-2 1 Dante E Qui L'Eguale [Ac] 418 13 Tu Celi Dante [Ac] 97-98 19-21 Cerca [Ac] 419 22-33 Veli [Ac] 419 26 Dante [S C] ' 72 58-69 Pleo [Ac] 301 90 Dante [S C] 71 Purg. ix. 64-72 L'Amica [Ac] 345 63-81 NovE [Ac] 345 136-145 Taci N [Ac] 442 140 Vel Dante [Ac] 442 Purg. X. 35 Dante [S C] 71 40 Eva [An] 429 44 Dante [Ac] 429 48 Dante [S C] 72 74 Dante [S C] 73 Purg. xi. 1-9 Velo [Ac] 47-48 44 Dante [S C] 72 62 Dante [S C] 71 Purg. xit. 25-28 Dante [IS] 95 25-28 Dante [IS] 95 26-29 Da Da Da Da [I S] 95 25-63 VoM [Ac] 12-14 no Sei Tu [T] 433 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 475 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Purg. xiii. 145-154 MORTE [Ac] 45 80 Dante [S C] 73 82 Dante [S C] 73 Purg. xiv. 10-12 Pene [Ac] 292 16-27 "EdIo,"Disse [Ac] 146-147 16-48 Factito Per Bella [Ac] 45 1 Purg. XV. 28-39 Non Posto N [Ac] 433 38 Sei Dante [T] 433 98 Dante [S C] 73 118-129 L'Omo Ed [Ac] 290 118-129 Lome [Ac] 290 127-129 Sole [Ac] 291 Purg. xvi. 19 Segna Div (515) [An and C] 432 37-51 Peremas. Ecco Che Poema Vela Dante [Ac] . . . 418 67-84 Peremas Vel [Ac] 48-49 96 Dante [S C] 73 Purg. xvii. 133-139 L'Amata [Ac] 47-48 Purg. xviii. 1-4 Posto L'Anell: "Ed lo" [Ac] 148-149 1-12 Poema (with Ed Io) [Ac] 148-149 Purg. xix. 38 Dante [S C] 73 73 Amato [T] 435 99 Io Saro Dio [T] 435 Purg. XX. 1-3 Contra [Ac] 5051 loo-iii Dante [Ac] 60-61 Purg. xxi. 67-69 515 [C] 197 68-101 515 [C] 197 82-102 Stazio Col Nome Dante [Ac] I97 476 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Purg. xxii. i-i8 Peremas Qui Vel. Ecco Che Dante Signa Qui PoEMA [Ac] 434 2-6 Cela D [Ac] 434 5-6 Ti, Dante [T] 433-434 28-39 T: Velor [Ac] . 178 94-108 Dante [Ac] 82-83 109-111 Quivi Dante [Ac] 84 Purg. xxiii. 10-12 Taci Bella [Ac] 429 II Od AM I, Mia Bella [Ac] 428 22-33 Omo [Sep L] 206 33 E Me [P] 206 Purg. xxiv. 49-54 Marco Di Dante [Ac] 150 Purg. XXV. 10-21 Dante [Ac] 84-86 13-15 Taci d [Ac] 84-86 121 Ave. Sei Dante [T] 435-436 Purg. xxvi. 103-114 Poema. Ed Io [Ac] 149 140-147 Quasi Vece Arnaut, NoMO Qui Bella [Ac] .... 439 140 Dante, Man [An] ♦ 439 Purg. xxvii. 8 Io Dante [T] 98-99 58 Reciti: Sei Dante [T] 428 97 Bella [P] 363-364 97 GlOVANNA [P] 368 100-114 Peremas Qui Vel. Dante Si Cela Con Bella in PoEMA [Ac] 409 Purg. xxviii. 39-43 Madre Bella [IS] 367 48-51 Madre [IS] 367 64-75 Bella E Vista [Ac] 364-365 76-87 Velo Maria [Ac] 365-366 80 Celasti De [An] 444 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 477 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Purg. xxix. 3 Amati [T] 435 16-24 E Me [Ac] 65-66 16-22 E Me, Dante [Ac] 65-66 23-24 Per Mi [Ac] 65-66 1-154 Peremas Qui Poema. Eccomi, Dante Aldighiero. SoNO Cosi Velato Qui Con Bella. Poema : Dante Lo SiGNA. Poema Dante Fello Qui [Ac] .... 425-426 Purg. XXX. II Disvela Bella [Ac] 439-440 17 Savio Dante [Ac] 439-44° 11-17 Savio Dante Si Vela Con Bella [Ac] 440 19-21 Veli, Dante, Bella Qui in Poema [Ac] 440-441 55-66 Quasi Vid [Ac] 137-138 62-63 Dante Cessi [An] 55-56 73-75 Bella [IS] 338 73-75 Bella [IS] 338 73-84 Equaglia Cosi La Madre [Ac] 337 83-84 Peremas Poema. Dante [Ac] 443 1 18-145 Peremas Qui Dante [Ac] 4^9 1-145 Peremas Qui Vel. Ecco Che Dante S'e Fatto Qui. Dante Eguaglia Qui Virtu. Peremas Qui Vel. Ecco Come Dante Si Noma Qui in Poema [Ac] 426-427 Purg. XXXI. S7 Dante [S C] 72 97-1 1 1 Bella Si Noma Qui [Ac] 366 98 Peremas [Ac] 384 Purg. xxxii. 1-6 Tace Da [Ac] 409 1-12 Poema Qui Cela Dante [Ac] 408-409 61-75 QuiSiCopoLA [Ac] 385 151-160 Poema Vela Dant [Ac] 56-57 Purg. xxxiii. I Vi Segnerete Dante [Ac] 430-431 10 Vedi Nome [Ac] 43^-432 10 Nome, 515 [Ac and C] 43^-432 II-I2 METT1ME515 [Ac and C] 432 43 Dux, 515, Dante Aldighiero [An and C] 115-128 43-57 Mente [Ac] 121-123 478 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE reference cryptogram page 43-57 Me Dante [Ac] 121-123 43-57 Dante Si Finge [Ac] 126 43-45 Dante [IS] 124 43-45 Dante [IS] 124 47-49 Dante [IS] 124 52-56 Segna Dante [IS] 125 52-63 515 [C] 211-212 55-57 515 [Q 122 69-90 Peremas Vi Ed Io. Peremas Vi Edi Io [Ac] . . . 280-282 100-145 Peremas Qui Vel. Dante Si Cela Con Bella in PoEMA [Ac] 409 119 IVIatelda [An] 280-282 136-145 Pio RiMAsi [Ac] 28-29, 35-36 142-145 PuRi Rii [Ac] 28-29, 35-36 Par. i. 1-3 In Una Perla [Ac] 29-30, 36 i-io Vela Pene [Ac] 29-30, 36, 297 8 Dant [L S] 75 10 Io Dante [L S] 75 13-24 Io Entro [Ac] 64-65 21-24 Segno Dante [Ac] 64-65 85-87 Aprio [Ac] 51 88-90 Ecco [Ac] 353 107-110 Dante [Ac] 69 1 21-142 Cosi Vela Nome Qui [Ac] 339-340 133-136 Bella [IS] 341 135-139 IMaria [IS] 341 139-141 Madre [IS] 341 139 Vagli Maria [An] 340 140-142 Dico Qui [Ac] 340-341 Par. a. 1-4 Rotor. Dante [Ac] 62-63 I-IO VOLTO [Ac] 62 34-36 Pene: Raggio Di Luce [Ac] 258-259 Par. Hi. 1-6 Quel Sol Di Bella. Provando Edio Me Stesso [Ac] 410-411 1-81 Peremas Qui Vel. Dante Significa Qui Come Bella E LAmata Nel Poema [Ac] 410 14 Dante [S C] 73 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 479 reference cryptogram page 19-33 Peremas [Non] [Ac] 416-417 48 Bella [P] 411 121-130 Cela Ed [Ac] 153 121 Eva [An] 429 Par. iv. 13-24 Dante [Ac] 76-77 25 El Vel [An] 444 Par. V. 97-1 1 1 Pesce [Ac] 260-261 112-114 Peremas [Ac] 262 112-114 Seme [Ac] 261-262 136-139 Pene Ed [Ac] 259 Par. vi. 61-72 Dante Qui [Ac] 61-62 73 Dante [S C] 72 124 Dante [S C] 73 124-142 PoEMA. Dante Qui [Ac] 200-201 133-142 515 [C] 201-202 Par. vii. 1-3 Peremas. Suo Figlio Dante Rischiara Bella [Ac] 438 1-27 Peremas. EccoQuiPoema [Ac] 282-283 10-15 DiLLE, DiLLE, Dille [C and P] 350351 13 Indonna [P] 351 14 Be-Amor-Ice [An] 347 16-18 PoETA [Ac] 282-284 16-25 Spem [Ac] 282-283 16-25 Sperma [Ac] 282-283 27 Dante [S C] 73 76-87 SoLvo Ed [Ac] 153-154 132 Dante [S C] 73 Par. via. 1-12 Peremas (e Sperma) [Ac] 223-224 35 Dante [S C] 73 35-39 Dante Vi [Ac] 82-83 100-103 Peremas [Ac] 50 1 12-148 Peremas Velo. Song Qui. Dante [Ac] 406-407 48o THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Par. ix. 136-142 Amato [Ac] 262-263 136-142 SoNo Qui L'Amato Di Bella. Dante [Ac] .... 262-263 Par. X. i-S Dante Poet [IS] 88 i-io L'Eguale Qui [Ac] 408 1-21 Peremas Qui Velo. Ecco Che Dante S'e Fatto Qui Nel Poema L'Eguale Con Dio [Ac] .... 407 10-12 Dante [Ac] 87-88 22-24 SoRDi [Ac] 408 38 Dante [S C] 72 43-46 Peremas [Ac] 50 52-54 Rise [Ac] 51 79 Dante [S C] 73 99 Dant Qui [Ac] 449 99 lo Dante [L S] 449 120 Dante [S C] 72 146-148 Seme [Ac] 292 Par. xi. 1-27 Ecco Qui Poeta [Ac] 415 62 Pace [Ac] 444 62 Mater [T] 444 Par. xii. 93 Peremas Vi Dante [T] 441 96 Dante [S C] 71 Par. xiii. 64-73 Sole [Ac] 286 73-81 Peremas (Sperma) (Spem) [Ac] 286-287 100 Peremas Dio [Ac] 441 Par. XIV. 38 Dante [S C] 73 70-81 Poema [Ac] 44-45 133-139 Peremas [Ac] 284 Par. XV. 19-24 Dante [Ac] 68-69 22-24 Dant [T] 68-69 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 481 reference cryptogram page 28-30 Peremas Vi. Sono Qui In Rebus Tuo Caccia- GuiDA [Ac] 437 34-45 Niche [Ac] 437-438 46-57 515, EIlSei [C and P] 212 94-1 1 1 NoMi, Fiorenza, D. . .E. No, No, No [Ac] .... 92-93 99-102 Dante [IS] 93 99-102 Dante [IS] 93 105-108 Dante [IS] 104 108-111 Ella Non Noma Dante [Ac] 92-93 112-114 Di Bella [Ac] 326-327 112-138 Bella E IVIaria Amorosa [Ac] 326-327 Par. xvi. 34 Eva [An] 429 Par. xvii. 19-21 Seme [Ac] I9S Par. xviii. 1-12 Genio [Ac] 354 2-5 Dante [IS] 354 37-39 Dante [Ac] 80-81 37-48 Copio. Ed [Ac] 80-81 70-81 Compresi "lo ViDi" [Ac] ISS-156 71-75 Dante [IS] 158 76-78 Dante [IS] 158 78-81 Dant [IS] 158 78 DiL, 51S [C] 155-159 82-93 DiMOSTRO [Ac] 156-157 86-89 Dante [IS] i59 93 Mater [An] 207 Par. xix. 11-12 Ed lo [C] 20s 40-51 Pene [Ac] 291 115-140 Vel [Ac] 159-164 124-128 lo Dante [IS] 163-164 125-129 Dante [IS] 163-164 128-129 Mi [Sep. L] 163-164 130-133 VediD...e [Ac] 159-162 132 Dante [S C] 71. 162 132-136 Dante [IS] 162 135 L'Omo [L S] 162-163 482 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE Par. XX. 38 D.A: ViD [An] 204-205 38-68 RiGUARDAVI COSI DaNTE [Ac] 202-205 40-72 Cela Ed [Ac] 202-203 48-52 Dante [IS] 203-204 52-55 Dante [IS] 203-204 53-56 Dante [IS] 203-204 94 Celor [Ac] 430 94 Cor [Ac] 430 Par. xxii. 28-36 PoEMA [Ac] 46-47 145-154 Qui Pled [Ac] 300-301 Par. xxiii. 1-3 CopOLA [Ac] 292-293 13-24 Peremas (Spem) (Sperma) [Ac] 279-280 55-66 Peremas (Spem) [Ac] 285 58-60 Pene [Ac] 285 61-63 Ecco [Ac] 285-286 64-66 Nome [Ac] 285-286 84-88 Bella [IS] 328 85-90 O Bella Sei Tu [Ac] 413-414 91 Dante [L S] 75 109-120 Si Copola [Ac] 293 113-116 Dante [Ac] 294 128 Celor [Ac] 429-430 128 Cor [Ac] 429-430 Par. XXV. 28-30 Ride [Ac] 50 30 Dante [S C] 73 70 Dante [S C] 74 94-99 Peremas Velo. Dante Pare Qui [Ac] 436 98 Per Se, Dante [Ac] 436 130-139 Pressa Sia [Ac] 233 Par. xxvt. 1-3 Medus [Ac] 223 13-22 LoQui Ed [Ac] 154 17 Aldighiero 444 43-57 Peremas [Non] [Acj 417 94-105 r, Dante [Ac] 58 LIST OF CRYPTOGRAMS 483 REFERENCE CRYPTOGRAM PAGE 103-104 r, Dante [Ac] 58 133-142 Come Pene [Ac] 294 134-136 Elios [Ac] 294 141-142 Coda [Ac] 294 Par. xxvii. 1-12 Coda [Ac] 295 10 Dante [S C] 71 43-45 Noma [Ac] 67-68 43-48 Peremas Dante [Ac] 67-68 Par. xxviii. 70 Dante [S C] 72 75 Dante [S C] 73 Par. xxix. 1-9 Noma Bella [Ac] 452 12 Bioo [T] 430 61-75 PoEMA [Ac] 48-49 100-145 Peremas Qui Velo. Dante Si Noma Nel Poema [Ac] 420 Par. XXX. 91-99 Copio [Ac] 138-139 95-99 lo ViDi . 139 Par. xxxi. 83 Dante [S. C] 72 Par. xxxii. 1-6 Ecco Qui Bella [Ac] 452-453 1-12 Snella [Ac] 452 1-18 Beatrice Vi Sara Madre [Ac] 452 136-144 E Me [Ac] 67 142-144 Se' Qui, Dante [Ac] 67 Par. xxxiii. I A. D 348 1-9 Ventre [Ac] 348 i-iS Quivi Sei, Dante [Ac] 348 13-16 Bella [IS] 328 16-30 Elios [Ac] 349 28-39 Via Per "Ed lo" [Ac] 147 31-45 Pervigilia [Ac] 149-150 484 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE reference cryptogram page 46-57 Ceda Bernardo [Ac] 135-136 46-48 515 [C] 136 49-51 lo ViDi [IS] 136-137 52-54 515 [C] 136 55-57 515 [C] 136 91-93 515 [C] 135 100-145 PoEMA Noma Qui Dante Qua L'Omo [Ac] 404-406 123-126 Dante [IS] 107-108 124-127 Dante [IS] 107-108 124-126 Sole [Ac] 289 125 Dante [L S] 106-108 127-130 QuELLA Circulazion Pareva Dagli Occhi MlEI Dentro Da Se [Ac] 109 129-130 Ecco Mi, Dis, Dante Aldighiero [An] 109-110 133-145 Peremas Qui Vel. Dante Si Cela Nel Poema [Ac] 406 136-145 L'Amata [Ac] 30, 36-37 139 Pene [P] .- . . 266 139-142 Dante [IS] iii 142-145 Salma [Ac] 30-31,36-37 143 El Vel [An] 444 ACROSTICS ON CONSECUTIVE FIRST LINES OF CANTOS Inf. i-iv. Prunello [Ac] 453-454 Inf. i-xiii. Copio Qui Lo Prunello. Dante [Ac] . . 454 Inf. xxxii-xxxiv. Si Vela [Ac] 455 Purg. xxxii-xxxiii. Dante [Ac] 455 Par. i-iv. Lavoro Qui Dante [Ac] 455 Par. i-iv. LoQUi [Ac] 455 Par. xxvi-xxviii. Poema [Ac] 456 Par. xxiv-xxix Qui Dante Posa IMano Al Poema [Ac] . . 456 Par. xxx-xxxiii. FiN. Ave [Ac] 457 VITA NUOVA V. N. xxiv. B-Amore-Ice [An] 346-347 V. N. xxiv. Velame [Ac] 420 V. N. XXV. Bella [P] 356-362 V. N. XXX. Beatrice as 9 [C] 341-344 V. N. XXXV. Funerale [Ac] 420-421 V. N. XXXV. Peremas Vi Vel. Poema Cela Qui Dante [Ac] 421 INDEX INDEX A, cryptographic use of, as Aleppe, 303; as alf a, 444. Abecedarian psalms, 7. Abraham, K., ix. Acrostic, defined, 398-9; anagram- matic, defined, 396-421; forms of, illustrated, 23-52. Adam, 36, 59, 181, 304, 384, 386, 387. Adonis, 375. Adultery, 262, 303. ^neas, descent to hell of, 361, 374, 458. Aeneid, quoted, 359, 360; mother symbolism in, 360-1, 412. Aldighiera degli Aldighieri, wife of Cacciaguida, 119. Aldighieri, form of D.'s cognomen, 119. Aldighiero, form of D.'s cognomen, 109-10, 119. Alighiero, D.'s father, 119. Allegory, D.C. as, 3.458, 459; defini- tion of, 461-2; raison dUre of, 11. Allighieri, form of D.'s cognomen, 119. Amor, anagram for Roma and Maro, 192; Christ as, 192, 347; Holy Ghost as, 184, 226. Amorosa Visione, 8, 317-8. Anagram, as pseudonym, 9; classic example of, Ave Maria, etc. 428; defined, 397-9. Anonymity, literary, 10. Anonymous allusions in D. C. as, referring to D., 446. Antaeus, 309-10. Antictona, 242. Aphrodite, 375. Appearance and reality, 11-12; 130. Aquinas, 448-9; his account of knowl- edge, 461. Argenti, Filippo, 189, 325, 438. Argus, 382-4. Aristotle, 446-7. Ark, mother symbolism of, 298, 389. Arnaut, Provengal poet, 439. Arrow, symbolism of, 260. Arte, as hint of cryptogram, 18, 50. Ascent, D.'s of Purgatory, 243-254; of Ganymede, 458; to Paradise of Beatrice, 254, 352-3, 371 ; of Christ, 167, 458; of Dante, 254-67, 352-3, 36i,37i;ofSt. Paul, 458. Asceticism, 330-1. Ave, palindrome for Eva, 429. B Babel, Tower of, 244-7, 297. Bacon, Francis, vii. Baldwin's Die, Phil. & Psych., 226, 254- Baptism, 248, 364, 366, 388-9. Baptistry of Florence, mother sym- bolism of, 388-9. Bardelo, 375. Bathing, symbolism of, 35-6, 284, 364, 366. Beast, number of, in Rev., 7, 9, 1 16-7. Beatrice, 313-91; as Holy Ghost, 351; as mother, 341-4. 352-3; as a nine, 341-4; as Virgin Mary, 34i;4; descent of, 373-6; identified with Bella, viii, 336-63; in Mystic Pro- cession, 376-87; in V. N., 324, 338, 341-3, 346, 351-2 369-73; not Beatrice Portinari, viii, 313, 314. 315-21 ; various theories as to iden- tity of, 313-15. Beatrice Portinari, 313-21. [487] 488 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Beatrice, sister of Roberto, 182. Begley, W., vii, 344. Bella, D.'s mother, 322-328; iden- tified with Beatrice, viii, 336-63; identified with Virgin Mary, 323-4; overt reference to, 323-4; punning references to, 355, 356-63. Benvenuto da Imola, 174-5. Bernard, St., 136, 147, 334-5. Bible, cryptography in, 7, 9, 116-7. Bice, 17, 315-8, 346-7- Birth, See Death and Rebirth. Boccaccio, vii, 185, 371; Amorosa Visione, 8, 316-8; Life of D., vii, 315-322. Booth, W. S., vii. Buca d'un sasso, 240-1. Burella, natural, 240-1. Cabala, 7, 116-9. Cacciaguida, 68, 93, 119, 195, 326-7, 353, 438- Cammino ascoso, 240-1. Candlesticks, symbolism of, 383. Can Grande, 171; D.'s letter to, 36, 314, 459; erroneously identified as DXV, 118. Car, symbolism of, 18, 378. Casini, T, vii, 46. Castello, nobile, 228-30. Cavalcanti, Guido, 368-9, 414-5. Cerberus, 217. Chivalric Love, 319, 335-6. Christ, as Aleppe, 303; as Amor, 192, 347; as four, 344; as incestous son, 38, 266, 272-3; as intellect, 123, 184, 463; as ten, 169, 196; D. iden- tified with, 31, 123, 139, 157, 170-1, 175, 184, 21 1-2, 226, 303-5, 324, 339. 344. 359. 373; eternally be- gotten, 266; in Greek acrostic, 6, 95. 399; not mentioned in Inf., 78-9; rebirth of, 32 (see also Christ as incestuous son); symbolized by fish, 306; symbolized by grififon, 387-9; symbolized by sun, 34, 215, 272-3, 349-50; synihoiizcd by sym- bol of Osiris, 251 ; symbolized by T, 78-9, 347; words of, to Nicodemus, 31-2. Chronicles, cited, 389. Church, mother symbolism of, 179, 182, 262, 376-7. Cicero, 6. Ciotto di Jerusalemme, 163-4. Cloud, mother symbol, 384-5. Colonna, Francesco, 8, 9, 399, 453. Continuous acrostics through entire cantos, 422-7. Convivio, 55, 239, 242, 253, 265, 268, 309.314.326,390-1. Cord, symbolism of, 219-20. Corpse, symbolism of, 37-8, 228, 267. Covert, J., ix. Cranes, letter-making, 16. Creed, Apostles', 330, 342. Crista, as identical rhyme, 139. Cross, as T, 78, 81, 82, 87, loi, 177, 178, 347. 365. 429; asX, 8r, 96, 365; cryptograms in form of, 41, 107, 163-4, 338; symbol of Christ, 78, 80, loi, 251, 347, 429. Crucifixion, symbolism of, 272-3. Crux ansata, 251. Cryptograms, defined, 3-4; indica- tions of intention of, 4-5, 13-4, 23-4, 91-2, 102, 401-3; motives for use of, 9-12, 403-4; symbolic use of, 8, 11-2, loi-ii. See Acrostics, Anagrams, Cabala, Interior Se- quences, Letter Sequences, Palin- dromes, String Ciphers, Telestics. See also List of Cryptograms. Cupid, 260, 362, 364. D Da, symbol of D., 152. Daniel, cited, 76. Dante, as lost and found, 32, loi-ii; identified with Christ, 31, 41, 93, 108, 123, 139, 157, 170-1, 174-5, 184, 21 1-2, 226, 303-5, 324, 339f 344. 350, 373. 408, 432; identified with ciotto di Jerusalemme, 163-4; with DXV, 115-26; with eagle, 201; with Fante, 76-7; with foetus, 236-41; with God, 96, io6-ri, 133, 146, 161, 260; with intellect, 123, 183-4, 423; with lonza, 182-4; with Lucifer, 213-7; with mankind, 42, 103, 105, 206; with Mente, 123, INDEX 489 183-4, 422-3; with Nati, 31, 103; with Phoenix, 167-71; with Romeo, 200-1; with Sperma, 226-7, 229-30, 237-9, 252-3; with sun, 288; with universe, 70, 102; with Veltro, 3, 171-82; love for his mother, 323-5, 328; suggested in anonymous allusions, 204, 446; symbolism of his journey, 37-8, loi-ii, 227-306; symbolism of his sleep with Bea^ trice, 36, 254, 380-7; united crypto- graphically with Taide, 59-60, See Ad, Di, Dil, Ed, Ed Io, Io Vidi, Vel. David, 204-5, 446. Death, ambivalent for birth, 242, 272. See Morte seconda and Rebirth. Descent to underworld, in mythol- ogy, 231, 374, 458; of Beatrice, 373-6; of Christ, 167, 215, 303-4, 458; of D., 227-243, 303-4; of Luci- fer, 215, 273; of mother, 374-5; of sun, 34, 215. Dl, symbol of D., 152. Dil, symbol of D., 15, 155-9. Dinsmore, C. H., viii. Dis, city of, 229, 231. Divina Commedia, allusion to, in V. N., 387; as allegory, 3, 458, 459, 461-2; as dream, 458, 459, 460, 461-2; as history, 457-8, 459; as myth, 309-10, 459-60, 462-4; divisions of, ID, 39-42. Donnelly, I., 5. Dragon, 217, 377. Dream, 96, 189, 253, 458, 459, 460, 461-2; in Purgatory, 250, 363, 364; in V. N., 369-73; of dejd vu, 274. Dream-like representation, 186-325. Durante, 66, 322. DVX. See DXV. DXV, identified with Dante, viii, 3, 115-26; identified with others, 116- 8; symljolism of, 126, 179, 379. Eagle, dream of, 250; guise of D. and of Trinity, 201-11; symbolism of, 379-80. Earth, as mother, 227-8, 267-75, 388. Easter, 34, 273. Eating, symbolism of, 185, 209-10, 217, 307, 371-2, 384. Ed, symbol of D., 152. Ed Io, symbol of D., 145-152. Eden. See Garden of. Elios, 238-9, 295, 349. Emotion, corresponding to love and Holy Ghost, ix, 184, 226, 463. See Trinity. Empyrean, the spaceless, 263-5, 3^6. Enigma forte, 12. See DXV. Eunoe, 35, 195, 199, 248, 264. Eve, 14, 36, 179, 181, 304, 306, 384, 386, 387, 429, 452. Faith, 226. Falcon, 208-10. Family, as symbol of the individual mind, 184, 225-6, 463; as symbol of Trinity, ix, 184, 192, 207-8, 255, 266, 330-2, 346. Father, 170, 189, 268, 368-9, 386-7. See Alighiero, Argenti, Caccia- guida, Cavalcanti, God, Lion, Lucifer, Pape Satan, Trinity, Vir- gil. Faye, E. de, ix. Feltro, 180-2. Fiametta, 321. Fire, symbolism of, 85, 253, 333. First lines of consecutive cantos, acrostics on, 453-7. Fish, symbolism of, 6, 95, 226, 260, 306, 399. Fleming, W. K., ix. Fletcher, J. B., vii, viii. Fleur-de-lys, symbolism of, 227, 383. Florence, mother symbolism of, 325-8. Foce, 256. Foglie, 256. Font, mother symbolism of, 388-9. Form, universal, 129-164. Foro d'un sasso, 240-1. Four, Christ as, 344; division into, 39-42; groups of 216-7; in terza rima, 40; in trinity, 40; man as, 344. Francesca, 298. Frazer, J. G., ix, 219, 379-8o. 490 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Freud, S., ix, 274. Freudian psychology, viii, ix, 462. Gabriel, 236. Ganymede, 458. Garden of Eden, 36, 181, 210, 248, 253. 306-310. Gardner, E. G., vii, 175, n. Gate, city of Dis, 229; of Hell, 194, 224, 228, 229-30, 271, 275, 374, 423; of Purgatory proper, 348; symbol- ism of, 235, 298. Genesis, cited, no, 255, 386-7. Geography, D.'s symbolical, 267-72. Geryon, 217-8. Giant, symbolism of, 116, 377, 379. "Gibberish," 17, 244-7, 303-6. Giovanna, 367-8. Giimchi, 247. Gnosticism, 198, 266, 331-5. 375-6, 438-9- God, as alpha and omega, 7, 444; as father, 330; as light, 106-11; as mother, 38, 330 (see Holy Ghost); D. identified with, 106-11; return to, 38, 106-11, 390; sun symbolism of, 295, 349. See Trinity. Gods, mother of the, 328. Golden Age, symbolism of, 307, 309. Grave, symbolism of, 37-8, 228, 267. Gravity, symbolism of center of, 240. Gremho, 250. Griffon, symbolism of, 18, 378-81. Guises, cryptographic, see Ad, Di, DiL, Ed, Ed Io, Io Vidi, Vel; sym- bolic, see Ciotlo, Dxv, Eagle, Lonza, Lucifer, Lupa, Phoenix, Romeo, Statius, Veltro, Virgil. H Harlot, symbolism of, 58, 60, 116, 179, 262, 377-8, 379, 387. Harpies, 233-4. Harrison, J. E., ix. Hastings, J., vii, ix., 7, 244, n., 328, n., 375. n-. 3^6. Hebrews, Gospel of the, 463. Hell, symbolism of, 188, 227-43, 275, 288, 298, 361. See Descent to underworld. Henry, Emperor, 117. Herbert, George, 8, 92, n. Hercules, 310, 374, 458; Pillars of, symbolism of, 267, 270, 271, 298-9. Hesiod, 397. Him, Y., ix, 244, n., 258, n., 385, n. History, D. C. as, 457-8, 459; sym- bolized in Mystic Procession, 376-7. Holbrook, R. T., viii, 16, 303. Holy Ghost, 184, 193, 198, 200, 330, 5, 346, 463. See Trinity. Homer, 329. Hope, 225-6. Horace, 361-2. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. See Col- onna. I I, cryptographic use of, 15, 16, 155, 163-4, 169. IdeaUsm, 254. Iliad, 361. Incest, 33, 34, 38, 170-1, 179-80, 199, 209-10, 216, 228, 247, 250, 266, 268, 272-3, 274, 298, 304, 308- 10, 352, 359-60, 364, 371-3, 374, 380, 386, 389, 463. Individual, the human, as trinity, ix-x, 184, 463. Ingegno, 35, 48, 50, 140, 157, 281, 354- Intellect, Christ and Dante as, ix, 123, 184, 226, 423, 463. See Trinity. Intention, indications of, in crypto- grams, 4-5, 13-4, 23-4, 91-2, 102, 401-3. Interior of earth, northern, see Hell; southern, 239-43. Interior sequences, 4, 87-95. See List of Cryptograms. Intrauterine existence, 38, 228, 265, 307-9. 347-52. Io Vidi, symbol of D., 129-145. See List of Cryptograms. Isaiah, cited, 215. Isis, 375. Istar, 374-5. INDEX 491 Jerusalem, symbolism of, 267-72. John, gospel of, cited, 31-2, 33. Josephus, 209. Journey of D., symbolism of, 31, 34, 37, loi-ii, 252, 273, 292, 309; of Ulysses, symbolism of, 298-9. See Parallel. Jung, C. G., ix. Juno, 359, 360, 382. Jupiter, 236, 244, 382. K Key, symbolism of, 251, 265, 298, 306. King, C. W., vii, 333-4. Kliiber, J. L., vii. Lapa, D.'s stepmother, 323. Lark, symbolism of, 208-10. Latham, C. S., 37, 171, n. Laura, of Petrarca, 321. Lethe, 35, 248, 264. Letter sequences, 74-5. See List of Cryptograms.. Lettere mozze, 19-20, 162. Lia, 363-4, 368. Light, river of, 264; symbolism of, 36, 106-10, 258-60, 290-1, 297, 332, 333. See Sun symbolism. Lily, symbolism of, 207, 236. See Fleur-de-lys. Lion, symbolism of, 185, 188, 193, 216, 234. Lithopaedion, 231. Logos, 208, 353. Longfellow, H. W., vii, 19. Lonza, symbolism of, 182-4, 216. Lost and found, Dante as, 32, loi-ii. Love, as Christ, 192, 347, 351; as emotion, 226; as Holy Ghost, 225- 6, 351; Beatrice as, 347-51; chiv- alric, 319, 335-6; D.'s, for his rnother, 323-5; of bodies for their birthplace, 309; war of, 362. See Trinity. Lucan, 359, 361. Lucia, 217, 338, 345, 369, 374; city of, 242, 268, 270. Lucifer, 212-7; as father, 303-4; as triadic, 215-6; identified with Christ, 214-5; with Dante, 212-6; with God, 214-5; with Sun, 214-5; sin of, 216, 303; sex symbolism of, 236-42, 273, 303-4- Luke, gospel of, cited, 323-4. Lupa, symbolism of, 179, 185-8, 216. M M, cryptographic use of, 16, 157-8, 205-9. Macrocosm-microcosm, 241, 254-5. Macy, J., ix. Mar, pun for Maro, 192. Mar dell' essere, 256. Maria, city of, 242, 268, 270; of Boc- caccio, 317, 321; of Jerusalem, 209-10. See Virgin Mary. Mariolatry, 334. Matelda, 195, 200, 284, 364-7. Matthew, gospel of, cited, 384. Me, as identical rhyme, 139. Meanings, allegorical, 3, 12, 18, 314-5, 357-8, 363, 385. 459, 460, 461-2; dream, 459, 462; myth, 309-10, 459-60, 462-4. Mediterranean, geographical sym- bolism of, 263, 267-72. Medusa, 231-3, 260. Meleager, 85-7. Mercury, 236, 382. Messo da Dio, 115, 235, 440. Mirror, symbolism of, 216-7, 330, 353- Monte, dileUoso, 189, 228. Moon, symbolism of, 251, 298. Moore, E., vii, 17, 24, 46, 1 16-18, 313-5,321,322,342. Morte seconda, 332-3. Mother, ancient, 359, 363; cult of, 328-36; dual, 32-3, 37-9, 241-2, 360-1; fallen, 179-82, 376; symbols, variety of, 387-91. See Ark, Bea- trice, Bella, Car, Cerberus, Church, Clouds, Earth, Eve, Feltro, Flor- ence, Font, Garden of Eden, 492 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Geryon, Giovanna, Gods, mother of, Hell, Holy Ghost, Jerusalem, Lia, Lucia, Lupa, Maria, IVkitelda, Medusa, Moon, Mountain, Mys- tic rose, Purgatory, Puttana, Ra- chel, Sea, Selva Osciira, Sky, Statius, Terrestrial Paradise, Tower Tree, Virgin Mary. Mountain, of Purgatory, 270; sym- bolism, 196, 243-4, 330, 385- See Monte dilettoso. Myer, I., ix. Mystic procession, 377-87. Mystic rose, symbolism of, 264-6, 338. Myth, meaning of, see Meanings; of ascent and descent to abodes of dead, see Ascent and Descent; Sun, see Sun symbolism. See also Antaeus, Meleager, etc. N Names, cryptograms of groups of pro- per, 99-101, 126, 174, 364-5, 444-53; numerical value ot, 334, 343-4. See DXV. Nicodemus, 31, 33. Nimrod, 244-7. Nine, Beatrice as, 17, 341-5; symbol- ism of, 169, 262, 272, 293, 327. Non-Italian phrases, cryptograms in, 95-99, 284, 427-44. See List of Cryptograms. Norton, C. E., vii, 19, 267, 333, 357, n., 358, n. Number symbolism. See Four, Nine, Seven, Ten, Thirty-five, Three. O O, cryptographic use of, 169, 444. Odor symbolism, 230. Odysseus, see Ulysses. Odyssey, 361. Omo, 10, 16, 205-6, 209. Ovid, 362, 382. P, cryptographic use of, 17, 251-2. Palindrome, 192, 429. Paolo, 298. Pape Satan, etc., 17, 303-6. Paradise, symbolism of, 254-67, 271. See Ascent. Parallel, between female body and Earth, 227-8, 267-75; Hell, 38, 227-43; Paradise, 254-67; Purga- tory, 243-54; psycho-physical, 463. Parnasso, 256. Paul, St., 374, 458. Pauly, Encyclopaedie, vii, 6. Personification, D.'s discussion of, 357-63. Pertugio tondo, 240-1. Peschiera, 257, 260-1. Petrarca, 319-21. Phallic symbolism, 36, 65, 85, 207, 226, 227, 229-30, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 244, 248-50, 251-2, 258- 60, 264, 265, 266, 272, 289, 291, 292, 295, 297, 298, 379, 381, 383, 386. Phoenix, symbolism of, 167-71, 196, 380. Plato, 446-7. Platonic love, see Chivalric love. Plautus, 6. Poast, F. M., ix. Poe, E. A., 92, n. Portinari, Beatrice, viii, 313, 314, 315-21. Potence, 51, 60, 176. Procession, mystic, 377-87. Prometheus, 170. Proserpine, 231, 364. Proverbs, cited, 11. Prunicos, 333. Psycho-physical parallelism, see Par- allel. Pun, 146, 161, 192, 206, 212, 266, 351,355, 356-63, 368. Purgatory, symbolism of, 240, 243- 54, 270, 271, 272, 279, 298-9, 306. Puttana, 58, 60, 179, 387. See Har- lot. Pythagorean concepts, Antictona, 242; sacred tetrad, 344; transmigra- tion, 243, 332. Q Quest, D.'s journey as a, loi-ii. INDEX 493 R Rabelais, 9. Rachel, 363, 388. Rafel mat, etc., 17, 245-7. Rahab, 179, 262. Rank, O., ix. Rebirth, 31-4, 37-8, 85-6, 168, 170-1, 179-80, 189, 199, 209, 227, 241, 242, 247, 248, 277, 322, 352, 359, 385. See Incest. Rees's Encyclopaedia, vii. Retrogression, universal tendency to, 239.252-3,265,309,390-1. Revelation, cited, 7, 9, 116-7. Rhea, 329. Rhymes, 11 ; identical, 139; in terza rima, 40; perfect, 140. Ricklin, F., ix. Ritrovai, reiterative sense of, 274. River, of light, 264. See Stream sym- bolism. Rivo, 257. Romeo, 200-1. Rose, see Mystic rose. Royce, J., 463, n. Sailing, symbolism of, 299. Salomon, Emanuel ben, 117, 118-20. Scartazzini, G. A., vii, 118, 274. Scherillo, M., vii, viii, 119, 371. Schermo delta veritade, 318-21. Schmidt, Hans, ix, 228. Scrittura, 18, 19, 154, 161-2. Sea, symbolism of, 219, 247, 268, 298-9, 330. Seal of Dante, 225, 282, chap. viii. Selva oscura, 33, 228, 274-5. Serpent, symbolism of, 250. Seven, symbolism of, 252. Sex symbolism, ix-x, 36, 181, 199, 224, 241,248-51,260,262,266-7,271,287, 377, 462. See Phallic symbolism. Parallel and Uterine symbolism. Shakespeare, 5, 321. Shulamite, 182, 244, 296. Sight symbolism, 259-60, 266. Sky, symbolism of, 254. Sleep, symbolism of D.'s, 36, 254, 380-7. Smith, W. B., ix. Socrates, 446-7. Son (child), ix, 3, 14 ifigliuoli) , 7,1 , 7,2- 3, 76 (fante), 85, 123, 170, 175, 179, 193, 199, 209, 210, 228, 239, 242, 234, 255, 304, 423. 463- Song of Songs, cited, 182, 244, 296-7. Sophia, 333, 375. Sordello, 301. Southard, E. E., ix. Sparks, symbolism of, 260. Sperber, A., viii. Sperma, D. as 226-7, 229-30, 237-9, 252-3- Stairway, symbolism of, 252, 253. Statius, 195-200, 447. Stork, symbolism of, 208-10. Stream, symbolism of, 219, 248, 364, 366, 450-1. String ciphers, 71-74. See List of Cryptograms. Strupo, superbo, 216, 262, 303-4. Styx, 231. Sun symbolism, 34, 36, 42, 142, 145, 214-5, 258, 265, 266, 268-73, 295, 288, 295, 298, 349-50, 460. Sybilline oracles, 6. Symbolic guises, see Guises, symbolic. Symbolism, 3, 18, 102, 189, 314, 395, 461. See Allegory, Dream, Fam- ily, Guises, Incest, Myth, Number symbolism. Parallel, Phallic sym- bolism, Rebirth, Sex symbolism. Sight symbolism. Sun symbolism. Trinity, and all subjects listed with the word "symboUsm." T T, as cross, 78-9, 81, 82, 87, loi, 177, 178, 347, 365, 429- Taide, 59-60. See Harlot. Tammuz, 375. Taylor, H. O., ix. Ten, symbolism of, 169, 196. Ten-line frame, defined, 23, 42-3. Terrestrial Paradise, 36, 252-4, 306. Tertullian, 227. Terza rima, 10, 39-42. 494 THE CRYPTOGRAPHY OF DANTE Tetrad, sacred, 344. Theft, symbolism of, 170, 189. Theodotus, 332. Theseus, 231, 458. Thirty-five, symbolism of, 157. Thorn, symbolism of, 454. Three, symbolism of, 10, 40, 42-3. See Trinity. Torraca, F., vii, 24. Torre, R. della, viii. Tower, symbolism of, 244-7, 295-8. Toynbee, P., vii, 46, 119, 207, 323. Transfiguration, 384. Transmigration, 332. Tree, symbolism of, 18, 379-81. Trinity, ix, 123, 174, 180, 184, 192, 193, 196-8, 199-200, 205, 207-9, 211, 212, 215-6, 225-6, 255, 266, 295» 330-2, 341-2, 346, 423, 463. Troia, as prostitute, 191. Twelfth Night, 63, 96. Tyler, E. B., ix. U Ugolino, 295-8. Ulysses, 298-9, 374, 458. Underhill, E., ix. Universal form, 129-164. Universe, 36, 102, 180; anthropo- morphic, 3, 254, 291, 292, 325, 333, 395. 463; the image of God, 255. See Garden of Eden and Parallel. Uterine symbolism, 32, 33, 37-9, no, 210, 228, 231-2, 236, 240, 241, 246, 251, 252, 253-4, 257-8, 262, 263, 265, 269,271,273,275, 288, 293, 298, 304, 307, 309, 324. 345. 347-54. .361, 372, 375. See Intrauterine existence. Uzza, 389. V Valley of the Princes, 248, 250, 450, Veil, 18, 19, 35, 57, 67, 70, 98, 161. Vel, symbol of Dante, 159-64. Veltro, viii, 3, 126, 171-82, 216, 395. Venus, 360, 364; sphere of, 257, 262, 263. See Aphrodite. Verba. See Logos. Verghetta, symbolism of, 235. Vernon, W. W., vii. Vidi, as identical rhyme, 139-40. Villon, Frangois, 8. Virgil, as father, 188-200, 337; cited, 175. 359. 360; meeting of, with Beatrice, 374; mother symbolism in /Eneidoi, 360-1, 412-3; prophecy of, in fourth Eclogue, 175; prophesies Veltro, 182 ; punningreferenceto, 192. Virgin Mary, as mother of God, 331 ; associated with Beatrice, 338-9, 340, 341-4, 373; associated with Bella, 246-7, 323-4, 327, 328; asso- ciated with Eve, 376, 429; asso- ciated with Holy Ghost, 192-3, 346, 376; associated with Isis, 375; Christ born of, ^2, 209, 266, 342; cult of, 334-5; grembo di, 250, 450; hymn to, 250; in classic anagram, 428; number symbolism of, 344; place of, in mystic rose, 265, 338; Rahab as ancestress of, 179; rela- tion of Christ to, 373; Shulamite as type of, 244; spouse of Holy Ghost, 346; symbolized by mountain and tower, 244; veiled allusion to, as Maria of Jerusalem, 209-10; womb of, associated with Hell, 228. See Holy Ghost, Mariolatry, Trinity. Vita Nuova, 10, 316, 318, 319, 320, 322,338,341-2,346, 358, 387-8; dis- cussion of personification in, 357-63 ; relation of, to D. C, 369-73, 420-1 ; symbolism of, 369-73. Voltaire, 9. VOM, 13-4, 94. W Waite, A. E., ix. Water, symbolism of, 229, 242, 268, 273,302,306,450-1. See Baptism, Bathing, Sea, Stream. Wheel of Birth, 243, 332. Wicksteed, P. H., viii, 19. Will, ix, 37, 184,225-6,463. SeeTrinity. Witte, K., vii. Womb. See Uterine symbolism. X, as cross, 81, 96, 365. Z Zeus, 329. Zohar, 118. (i O it: OT > -^. A^' "^^ "% (J university ot Camorma SOUTHERN BEG.ONAL LIBRARY^FA^^ ^^^^^^ 305 DO Neve ^ve^ ^cfLrFORNU 90095-1388 LOS ANGELES, CAuir borrowed. Return this n.aterianothi]ibran^ ^"^ -^IIIBRAR^ '^ O "^/SMAINaJWV -7 ''JdjAiri. ^lOSANC "^A^AIN 5: fc ."^ti: k;^OFCAII LlOSANf 3AIN,^; L~ iurri r^ .INfll V ^HIBRARYQ^ I U(T t C5 =0 '^(i/OJllVDJO'^ <^ il- ls •< cc ^ 00 oil S^ ij -1 i. ti; ^^^EUNIVER5//. <: "^ 'A- A^^lOS-ANCElfji^;. o > •-cr O / = ( 'Ji]JDNV-S01-^'' '^A^a3AiNn-3uv ■ V.^i a: 'A >A,0FCAIIF0% ,^.OFl UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 431 865 5 \lmmml^!:i'°'''''-^°''''^9e>es L 007 551 520 5 )i\\y^K IJJNViUl "JCiiAinu JU> -;_j..VJ i'J ' " -ij ,-4.0F-CAl!F0P.-; ,-^MFUN!VERS-/A 'OO -sVt m --' 1 >jo-^ ';V'~ -'*sf!np/ '^ 7;!VF!?.^;>. ^ ^OK [W 41 i( vvlOSANCFlfr, ^gjT ^ //.-•. IT :. ■ .1- Hi > ^ -^'^O^ny^ja^^^ to ^Wl 1?! ^ i i■LAU^v /^\ o ^- if r^ 1 '^ C; Yho/^ ^ "^ OQ V 1 """ — -i __ >-J L r^ l- 1 <,ivj\inn Yw*" -JJDVyjl >-