vv (1): every red light maid a beatrice

[David Morris]

http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/mage/719/dante1/inferno1.html

Canto II
But the Pilgrim begins to waver; he expresses to Virgil his misgivings about 
his ability to undertake the journey proposed by Virgil. His predecessors 
have been AENEAS and SAINT PAUL, and he feels unworthy to take his place in 
their company. But Virgil rebukes his cowardice, and relates the chain of 
events that led him to come to Dante. The VIRGIN MARY took pity on the 
Pilgrim in his despair and instructed SAINT LUCIA to aid him. The Saint 
turned to BEATRICE because of Dante’s great love for her, and Beatrice in 
turn went down into Hell, into Limbo, and asked Virgil to guide her fiend 
until that time when she herself would become his guide. The Pilgrim takes 
heart at Virgil’s explanation and agrees to follow him.

Notes on Canto II
The second major movement of Canto II includes Virgil’s explanation of his 
coming to the Pilgrim, and the subsequent restoration of the latter’s 
courage. According to Virgil, the Virgin Mary, who traditionally signifies 
mercy and compassion in Christian thought, took pity on the Pilgrim in his 
predicament and set in motion the operation of Divine Grace. Saint Lucia, 
whose name means ‘light’, suggests the Illuminating Grace sent for by the 
Blessed Virgin; without Divine Grace the Pilgrim would be lost. Beatrice, 
whose name signifies blessedness or salvation, appears to Virgil in order to 
reveal to him the will of God, who is the ultimate bestower of Divine Grace. 
The three heavenly ladies balance the three beats of Canto I; they represent 
man’s salvation from sin through Grace, as the beasts represent man’s sins. 
The Pilgrim’s journey then, actually starts in Paradise when the Blessed 
Virgin Mary takes pity on him. Thus the action of The Divine Comedy is in 
one sense a circle that begins in Heaven, as related here, and will 
ultimately end in Heaven with the Pilgrim’s vision of God in the closing 
canto.



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