felice
nella miseria;_

Gollancz says:

Although these words are translated literally from Bo[:e]thius, and
although we know that Dante had made a special study of Bo[:e]thius,
yet we cannot well identify the _dottore_ with this philosopher:
for how can we be expected to assume that Francesca was acquainted
with these two facts? The reference is probably to Virgil, and to
his position in Limbo.

Into this Limbo Christ descended fifty-two years after Virgil's death
and drew certain souls up with him to Heaven. We are, however, by no
means certain that Virgil was happier on earth than he was "upon the
green enamel" (_verde smalto_) in this place of quiet leisure which was
the vestibule to Hell, but not Hell itself, and which, to some chosen
souls, had already been a vestibule to the Palace of the Beatific
Vision. If Dante had been translated in the old days of rigid Calvinism
in Scotland and New England, his tolerance of the pagans who found parts
of Hell not entirely uncomfortable would have caused him to be looked on
as a corruptor of the faith. But what would they have said to the
"Paradiso" which I have always found more full of consolation than any
sermon that was ever preached? Let us take the description of the Church
Triumphant in Canto XXXII. How sweetly Dante disposes of the heresy that
all children unbaptized by material water are doomed:

_Dunque, senza merce di lor costume,
locati son per gradi differenti,
sol differendo nel primiero acume._

_Bastava si nei secoli recenti
con l'innocenza, per aver salute,
solamente la fede dei parenti;_

_poiche le prime etadi fur compiute,
convenne ai maschi all' innocenti penne,
per circoncidere, acquistar virtute._

_Ma poichee il tempo della grazia venne,
senza battesmo perfetto di Cristo,
tale innocenza laggiu si ritenne._

And then remembering the innocence of the little children Dante turns to
that face "which is most likest unto Christ's" the face of Mary the
Mother, who is the protectress and friend of all children. If the strict
Calvinists had known the "Paradiso" of Dante as well as they knew their
Old Testament, their theology might have found more adherence among the
merciful, for the "Paradiso" is a triumphant song of mercy, of love, and
of the final triumph of every soul that has sincerely hoped in, or
sought, the truth, even if the truth were not cr