As mating doves that love calls to their nest Quali colombe dal disio chiamate

glide through the air with motionless raised wings, con l'ali alzate e ferme al dolce nido

borne by the sweet desire that fills each breast— vegnon per l'aere, dal voler portate;

Just so those spirits turned on the torn sky cotali uscir de la schiera ov' è Dido,

from the band where Dido whirls across the air; a noi venendo per l'aere maligno,

such was the power of pity in my cry. sì forte fu l'affettüoso grido.

(Canto V, ll. 82-87)

Traditionally, the dove has symbolized both love and peace. Thus, the first three words (of the English translation) immediately tell us that the image in this simile is going to be one of love and tranquility. In the next line, the words “glide” and “motionless” both contribute to the sense of peacefulness and tranquility, and the “sweet desire” of the third line illustrates the wonderful nature of desire that results from love. The fact that this desire “fills each breast” indicates that the entire being of each dove is tied to the love it has for the other. Then Dante returns us to the pit of Hell, where instead of doves, we have the spirits of Paolo and Francesca. Whereas the doves glide on motionless wings, the spirits “whirl” through the “torn sky”. The sky, according to the accepted cosmology of Dante’s time, is a set of concentric crystalline spheres surrounding the earth. As such, the sky should be as close to indestructible as anything short of God himself. The amount of force required to somehow tear the sky is therefore greater than any earthly event can provide, and the image of a “torn sky” may be one of the most violent in the entire Inferno.

In a purely literal sense, this simile tells us about the physical motion of two of the souls in Hell. On a deeper level, the simile’s meaning is brought out more fully by the specific images used, and especially by the sharp contrast between the two stanzas. The first stanza, if interpreted only as an illustration of the physical movement of the souls, does not do a particularly good job. It is far more interesting and useful to interpret this stanza as a symbolic illustration of what the couple was like in life. Francesca describes her relationship with Paolo as having been one of “bliss” (118) and “innocence” (126), terms that can surely be applied equally well to the relationship between two mating doves. More generally, the first stanza shows what every pair of human lovers is like. The sweet desire of the doves fills their breasts, just as the desire two people have for each other can easily encompass both of their souls completely. At the same time, though, it is only desire, rather than true love. It is unlikely that anyone in Dante’s time believed that the animalistic “love” doves have for each other would be godly enough to get them into heaven (it is also unlikely that anyone believed doves had real souls in the first place). To take the analogy further, then, we see that their relationship in life was little more than one of pleasurable physical gratification. Birds just mate, they do not make love. If we can ascribe any emotions at all to the doves, we would have to say that they feel little more than mere lust for each other. Francesca admits as much about her own relationship when she describes Paolo’s “passion for [her] sweet body” (98). While their lives may have been mostly good, we can see already that they were by no means perfect.

The second stanza, of course, shows what Paolo and Francesca’s situation is in death. Their life together on earth may have been blissful, but it was not entirely innocent. Passion led them to the sin of adultery, so they must be punished in Hell. Comparing them to a pair of mating doves returning to their nest creates a sense of pitiful irony. Doves are capable of sharing in the pleasurable physical manifestations of their desire, but Paolo and Francesca can only share in the painful spiritual manifestations of their sin. They no longer have bodies, so they cannot touch each other. Furthermore, because they are together even in death, each has to watch helplessly as the other suffers the same torment. A second aspect of the irony has to do with the fact that the doves in the image are returning to their nest, a place of comfort, security, and rest. All that Paolo and Francesca have to look forward to is the fleeting comfort of sharing their story with Dante. They will never again experience any lasting comfort, to say nothing of security and rest.