As we progress from the throngs of infants...

As we progress from the throngs of infants, women and men who live in 'longing without hope' to the castle inhabited by the poets, philosophers and heroes of the classical world we find 'neither joy nor sorrow' in the appearance of these figures surrounded by light. Obviously, if these sages display 'neither joy nor sorrow' in their countenance, they can hardly be said to live 'in longing without hope.'" Iannucci, "LET," p.

75, note 13, recognizes this anomaly, but tries to explain it away: "It is true that unlike the unbaptized children and the flock (l. 66) of the virtuous but obscure souls whose sighs fill the air of Limbo (ll. 25­27), the illustrious virtuous pagans within the gates of thenobile castello show no emotion. .

But this apparent impassability before their fate is due not to any substantial difference in the degree of their suffering in comparison with that of the rest of the souls in Limbo, but rather to Dante's conception of the savio who can exert absolute control over his passions.

The virtuous pagans also suffer and perhaps even more for, being wise, they are more aware of what they have lost, but their dignity and self-esteem prevent them from expressing their anguish openly." This is a very interesting view of the situation; for Iannucci's sake, one only wishes Dante had made it explicit in the poem. [^10]: SeeInferno , xix, 19­21.

Here Dante offers a perfectly innocent explanation for having broken the baptismal font in the San Giovanni Church in Florence, as if more sinister explanations of his action had been circulating. [^11]: For Dante's view of the need for circumspection and even indirection in writing, seeConvivio, III , x. See Christopher Ryan, trans.,Dante: The Banquet (Stanford French and Italian Studies, 1989), p.

104: "It is highly commendable, and indeed necessary to use this figure of speech, in which the words are directed to one person and their intention to another, for while admonishment is always commendable and necessary it is not always appropriate that it be voiced by anyone whomever.

So when a son is aware of a fault in his father, or when a subject is aware of a fault in his lord, or when a person knows that to admonish a friend would increase his shame or diminish his honour, or when he knows that his friend is not receptive to admonishment but is angered by it, this is a most graceful and useful figure, to which we may give the name dissimulation.