Graded Recitation on Canto 1 of Divine ComedyPrepared by Mr. Jerry M. Noveno

Question No. 1Why does the poet start the

epic with “Midway in our life’s journey”? What can that word signify especially considering “straight road” and “alone in a dark wood”?

Question No. 2In the second verse, if “rank”

refers to being “overgrown”, then why does the poet choose to describe the wood in that manner?

Question No. 3Again, referring to the place,

verse three states, “Death could scarce be more bitter than that place”. What implication does he want to present if drug and sleep are given a negative meaning?

Question No. 4The fourth verse suggests that

the character cannot explain how he came to that place. What idea does he suggest if drug and sleep are given a negative meaning?

Question No. 5What is the “True Way”? What

does the poet suggest by this phrase? If it is a way of insisting, what is the poet insisting to the reader?

Question No. 6What does the conjunction

“but” in Line 14 present if literally it is a conjunction used to show contrast? What words from lines 15-20 support such contrast?

Question No. 7

Explain the extended simile in lines 22-27. Why would the narrator compare himself with a swimmer? What is the symbolism of the “perilous seas”?

Question No. 8“My soul still fugitive from

death’s surviving image; to stare down that pass that none had ever left alive.” If the narrator has come to the place for the first time, where does he base his conclusion regarding how inescapable hell is?

Question No. 9What relevance does the

appearance of the leopard, lion, and she-wolf have for the narrative? If this were prose literature, what could they stand for?

Question No. 10Why does the poet make the

character travel on “the holy hour and the sweet season of commemoration”? Would the story have a different effect if Dante traveled at a different time?

Question No. 11What meaning is conveyed by

lines 58-60 regarding sinning or temptation? Why is the she-wolf an appropriate symbol for that?

Question No. 12Line 60 says that the wood has

become sunless? What do you think happened to the “sweet rays” in line 17? Why does the poet decide to make the wood sunless?

Question No. 13How does the phrase

“friendless waste” in line 54 worsen the situation of Dante the character?

Question No. 14How does Virgil introduce

himself to Dante? Why is it appropriate that he is Dante’s guide?

Question No. 15Based on lines 79-87, how does

Dante regard Virgil?

Question No. 16

Why do you return to these distresses instead of climbing that shining Mount of Joy? What does Virgil suggest about humans? What are these distresses?

Question No. 17In relation to the previous

question, if the she-wolf represents a sinner, what are his beasts, what does he feed on, and why does he grow hungrier than he was?

Question No. 18In lines 95-104, Virgil makes an

allusion to the greyhound which refers to a great Italian leader. What does this allusion emphasize regarding Italy during the Middle Ages?

Question No. 19In summary, what does Virgil

say the journey is going to be? Why does he mention “eternal place”? What promise does it bring for Dante amid the situation in Canto I?

Question No. 20Who is the King of Time? How

is the reader expected to change his view of Dante when Virgil says, “Blessed are they he chooses!”

Question No. 21In what ways does Dante

represent a person living in the late thirteenth century? In what ways does he represent all people?