Page 39 - GALIET EXILE: Dante IV+

Galiet & Galiet
apostles for their ‘little faith’ and of the importance to trade all for that precious pearl found in the depths of the sea.
Rainbows: Sea Port of Heaven. Just as Beatrice longs to return to the Empyrean, Dante also yearns to return to his beloved Florence, not in the shadow of disgrace, but in rainbows of honour’s glory, Poem and Poetry.
As pilgrim gaze, enthralled at their new life, Around the temple that they’d vowed to reach, Hoping to tell, already, where they have been, So pacing, upwards through the living light,
I drew my eyes through every step and grade Now up, now lower, circling all around.
(Par. 31 43-48)
Dante’s exile unfolds its grief into a virtuous gift, a blessing of self- discovery. The spiritual poet-pilgrim, in longing to journey homewards (Par. I, 49-51), faces heroic adversities to return to his innocent beginnings. There, he will find Truth and Beauty, luminescent song and verse, Beatrice’s redeeming gaze, God’s divine love, and himself, mesmerized by the oneness of the one, strengthened and renewed by the four classical and three theological virtues of hope, faith and charity. Yet his return to the centre of centre is fraught with perils in the three realms. In Inferno 9, Virgil commands Dante to shut his eyes to avoid the gorgon’s gaze, for if he looks at her, he will not be able to return. In Purgatorio 9, the guardian angel that engraves the Seven P’s on Dante’s forehead, warns him not to look back for if he does, he will return outside. What’s more, in Inferno 34 (94-96), Virgil and Dante face the peril of exiting Inferno by going through Satan. Hour after hour, Dante learns to see every more clearly and move forward ever more eagerly, seeking that which, long eclipsed by the vicissitudes of being, shines with divine love and peace. If Dante were to look backwards, he would suffer the same unforgettable
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