Real

Arno

River in Tuscany cited by Dante: in Inferno XXXIII it is invoked to form a barrier at its mouth; in Purgatory XIV a soul uses its name to indicate a Tuscan river.

Description

The Arno is mentioned by name at two points in the poem. In Inferno XXXIII 83 the invective closes with the wish that the Florentines «faccian siepe ad Arno in su la foce», that is, be exterminated at the mouth of the river, near Pisa. In Purgatory XIV 24 a soul in Purgatory reproaches Dante with the words «tu parli d'Arno», meaning by this name to indicate generically a Tuscan river. The authorized notes to canto V of the Purgatory also link the valley of the upper Arno to the Casentino and recall that the poet took part in the battle of Campaldino, fought in 1289 in Valdarno, the plain crossed by the river.

In the text

Linked verses

8 verses