Dante Gossip

The Muses Urania and Calliope

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, refers to Calliope:

Here rise to life again, dead poetry!

Let it, O holy Muses, for I am yours,

And here Calliope, strike a higher key,

Accompanying my song with that sweet air

which made the wretched Magpies feel a blow

that turned all hope of pardon to despair

Dante, “Purgatorio”, Canto I, lines 7 to 12

Simon Vouet and workshop

1590–1649