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assurance in herself, on her behalf
commanded that there be two princes, one
on this side, one on that side, as her guides.
One prince was all seraphic in his ardor;
the other, for his wisdom, had possessed
the splendor of cherubic light on earth.a
I shall devote my tale to one, because
in praising either prince one praises both:
the labors of the two were toward one goal.
Between Topino’s stream and that which flows
down from the hill the blessed Ubaldo chose,
from a high peak there hangs a fertile slope;b
from there Perugia feels both heat and cold
at Porta Sole,c while behind it sorrow
Nocera and Gualdo under their hard yoke.d
From this hillside, where it abates its rise,
a sun was born into the world, much like
this sun when it is climbing from the Ganges.e
Therefore let him who names this site not say
Ascesi, which would be to say too little,
but Orient,f if he would name it rightly.
- Saints Francis and Dominic are the "two princes" sent to guide the Church; Francis is compared to the seraph, Dominic the cherub. Bonaventure described Francis as "totally aflame with seraphic fire" (LMj Prol 1, FA:ED II 526), but Dante seems more indebted here to Ubertino's extended comparison of Francis and Dominic in these angelic terms, cf. TL V 2.
- A poetic description of the site of Assisi, situated on a spur of Mt. Subasio lying between two rivers: the small Topino in the valley, near the Portiuncola, and the larger Chiascio, flowing from the hill near Gubbio where Saint Ubaldo (d. 1160) had his hermitage. He eventually became bishop of that city.
- The east gate of Perugia, which felt the changing winds coming off Mt. Subasio.
- Probably a double allusion here: one geographical, the fact that the "yoke" (shadow) of Mt. Subasio blocked the full light of the sun from these small towns, but the other political, as they were subject to the harsh rule of Perugia.
- Francis, himself a new spiritual "sun" shining on the darkness of the medieval church, rose in the radiant manner of "this (physical) sun" from the easternmost boundary of the habitable world (India). Cf. LMj Prol, FA:ED II 525-9.
- The place from which this new Sun rose should be called "Orient" or "Dayspring." The usual form of the name Assisi, in the Tuscan of Dante's day, was Ascesi, which may be interpreted as meaning "I have risen." While this is suggestive, it is inadequate; "Orient" is the only fit word. Dante is making a clear reference here to Francis as the angel of Rv 7:2, "ascending from the rising of the sun, bearing the seal of the living God." Cf. LMj Prol 1, FA:ED II 527..