Poetry · Chapter
A Vision explained
The speaker envisions three crowned kings, two with laurels and one without, who is weary and sorrowful.
What happens
The speaker envisions three crowned kings, two with laurels and one without, who is weary and sorrowful. The unlaureled figure wears a black and red garment, with a broken stone at his feet that sends up lilies. The speaker, heart aflame, asks Beatricé who they are, and she identifies them as Aeschylos, Sophokles, and Euripides.
Themes in this chapter
Classical Mythology and Antiquity
The vision features the three great Greek tragedians, evoking the classical tradition.
Suffering and Redemption
The unlaureled king is weary with man's moan for sins no victim can atone, and the broken stone sends up lilies, suggesting redemption through suffering.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Two crownèd Kings, and One that stood alone With no green weight of laurels round his head, But with sad eyes as one uncomforted, And wearied with man’s never-ceasing moan For sins no bleating victim can atone, And sweet long lips with tears and kisses fed.”
Two kings wear laurel crowns, but a third stands apart, unadorned, with sorrowful eyes, exhausted by humanity's endless lament for sins that no animal sacrifice can expiate, his lips sweetened by tears and kisses.
Describes the three figures in the vision, emphasizing the unique sorrow of the unlaureled king.
“Girt was he in a garment black and red, And at his feet I marked a broken stone Which sent up lilies, dove-like, to his knees.”
He wore a black and red robe, and at his feet I noticed a shattered stone from which lilies rose, gentle as doves, reaching his knees.
Details the attire of the unlaureled king and the symbolic broken stone producing lilies.
“Now at their sight, my heart being lit with flame, I cried to Beatricé, “Who are these?” And she made answer, knowing well each name, “Aeschylos first, the second Sophokles, And last (wide stream of tears!) Euripides.””
Seeing them, my heart blazed with passion, and I called out to Beatricé, asking who they were. She, familiar with each, replied: 'First Aeschylos, second Sophokles, and last—amid a flood of tears—Euripides.'
The speaker's emotional reaction and Beatricé's identification of the three tragic poets.