Mark Vernon introduces some thoughts from Dante on love.

IN THE MIDDLE of Purgatory, halfway through the Divine Comedy, Dante the Pilgrim asks Virgil about love. Right at the centre of the great poem – that’s really a journey into the heart of Dante’s soul – comes a discussion of the force that is right at the centre of the psyche. It both propels the stars in the heavens and propels the human individual in their life, for good or ill.

As Iris Murdoch put it, love is the tremendous force that’s in you. You have no choice about its presence (what Virgil calls ‘natural love’). What you can cultivate is how to direct it aright (which Virgil explains is ‘rational love’).

The period of time that the soul spends in purgatory can also be thought of as the period of time in our lives when we cause ourselves and others suffering. But during the long seasons of these errors we can also learn how to direct love. It’s painful but it’s never without hope because, ultimately, love won’t let us down. With guidance, such as Virgil offers Dante, it will find its right balance and goal. And we can learn from others too, as Dante also does in this excerpt.

And what does love aim for? Nothing less than the best that the human individual desires and aspires to.

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VIRGIL BEGAN: Son, neither creature nor Creator, was ever devoid of love, natural or rational, and this you know. The natural is always free of error: but the rational may err because of an evil objective, or because of too much or too little energy.

While it is directed towards the primary virtues, and moderates its aims in the secondary ones, it cannot be the cause of sinful delight, but when it is turned awry, towards evil, or moves towards the good with more or less attention than it should, the creature works against its Creator. So you can understand, that love is the seed of each virtue in you, and its errors the seeds of every action that deserves punishment…

It follows, if I judge well in my classification that the evil we desire is due to the presence of our neighbours, and this desire has three origins, in your clay.

There are those who hope to excel through their neighbour’s downfall, and because of this alone want them toppled from their greatness. This is Pride.

There are those who fear to lose, power, influence, fame or honour because another is preferred, at which they are so saddened they desire the contrary. This is Envy.

And there are those who seem so ashamed because of injury, that they become eager for revenge, and so are forced to wish another’s harm. This is Wrath.

ENDS