DANTE.
[To TEE EDITOR OF TEL "SPECTATOR."' SIR,—Yonr reviewer of Mr. Gardiner's book on Dante well points out the misfortune of the great poet being regarded too much as "the Bard of Hell "—as Byron calls him—by Englishmen. Not only his " Paradiso," but also his " Purgatorio" is superior to the "Inferno,"—the " Purga- torio," indeed, though less sublime than the " Paradiso," teems with beauties. The description of Easter morning breaking-
" L'alba vinceva l'ora Matutina," &c. ; the arrival of the ship filled with penitents singing, "In exitu Israel," the old psalm of deliverance; the description of the valley of flowers, and the singing of the compline hymn, " Te Incis ante terminnm ; " the exquisite pictures of angels far surpassing anything Milton ever did (is it not Leigh Hunt who says that Milton's angels are tame compared to Dante's ?); and above all, the passage describing the shout of joy, the "Gloria in excelsis Deo," which shakes the great mountain.—are beyond expression beautiful. As to the " Paradiso," one can only say that in places the very pages seem to shine as one reads the ascent "from strength to strength," from light to light up to the vision of the
majesty on high.—I am, Sir, &c., RICHARD F. JUPP.
Longley Old Hall, Huddersfield, May 28th.
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