Pia de' Tolommei [pp. 206-212; system: 206-211]

PIA DE' TOLOMMEI.
PIA DE' TOLOMMEI.
IT has frequently been remarked that one of the most obvious
proofs of Dante's genius is the manner in which, with a few
verses, he has conferred immortality on so many of his characters. Of such creations Francesca di Rimini and Ugolino are favorite examples. They are known to those who know nothing
more of Dante, and have furnished subjects for more than one
writer and artist. Among foreigners the story of Pia cannot
claim to be so well known, but in itself it is as pathetic as the fate
of Francesca and Paolo, and in Italy is almost as familiar as that
of Romeo and Juliet. The lines in Dante devoted to Pia are very
few-less than those which tell the story of the lovers of Riminibut from them has grown, one might almost say, a literature
which shows the hold her legend has gained upon the imagination of the Italian people. The interest attaching to Pia is purely personal: she is not a distinct type of anything, except in so
far as all Dantean characters are typical, and does not represent
any passion or virtue; nor is she, like Francesca, an example of
love unlawful. It is as one of the inmates of Purgatory who has
undergone wrong, or at least suffering, and whose death has
been in some way unnatural, that she bids the Florentine on
his return to earth remember her, a Sienese. The poet meets her
in the second circle of the Purgatorio, and her address to him
makes an impressive ending to the fifth canto:
"Deh quando tu sarai tornato al mondo,
E riposato della lunga via,"
Seguitb il terzo spirito al secondo,
" Ricorditi di me che son la Pia.
Siena mi fe'; disfecemi Maremma;
Salsi colui che, inanellata pria,
Disposato m'avea con la sua gemma."
"Ah! when thou once again to earth shalt come,
And from thy weary way refreshed shalt be,"
So spake the third, soon as the last had done,
" Remember Pia and her sad words to thee:
Siena made, Maremma me unmade.
Well does he know who on my hand, then free,
Did place the ring that once another gave.",
In these verses Dante tells very briefly the story of "la Pia,"
[May,
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