ABSTRACT
Truth always reveals itself or, at least, shines through in many places. The formulas of Truth may, however, strain the meaning and fail of their intent if they are used for inadequate concepts, or if they fall into metaphor, or lose themselves in abstractions. It is often remarked, for instance, that Dante draws not what is happening but what has happened; not the present, but the past. In Italy no less than in other countries, controversy rages round the “modernity” or “non-modernity” of his spirit; which means, in clearer terms, that people moderns should inquire whether Dante can or cannot be taken as our master and guide in spiritual life, political and moral ideas, and everything else. In Dante the Middle Ages, the cruel ages, with their fierce asceticism or fierce and happy warfare, no longer exist. Those who spoke in divine, or, rather in such profoundly human, accents, were given the name of Genius in former days.
