Sunday March 8, 2009

Canto 4:
That they sinned not: and if they merit had,
'Tis not enough, because they had not baptism
Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest;

The verses following explain how not everyone is meant for heaven or hell which was really interesting I thought. It made the content more relatable because the infants, women and men didn't commit sins but rather made bad moral decisions- what we all (espcially high schoolers) commit every day. Furthermore, it seems like Dante isn't a horrible person, and therefore it's easy to assume that that's Dante's reason for being in the Inferno.

Canto 5:
Love, that on gentle heart doth swiftly seize,
Seized this man for the person beautiful
That was ta'en from me, and still the mode offends me.

Love, that exempts no one beloved from loving
Seized me with pleasure of this man so strongly,
That, as thou seest, it doth not yet desert me;

Love has conducted us unto one death;
Caina waiteth him who quenched our life!"
These words were borne along from them to us.

Throughout "The Inferno," differing uses of syntax don't seem to be that prevelant. So when these passages do use parallel structure, it seems like they're being used to get the reader's attention because something important is going on. In this case, the good vs. bad is very apparent. In the previous Canto, Canto 4, the horrible screams and images were described. In Canto 5, the sinners are the prostitues and lovers (i.e. Cleopatra), so a more gentler, loving tone is used. This tone change and use of the repitition of "love," it was very apparent that the good and evil was being compared.