Commentary Inf XXVIII 130-138

Bertran de Born, one of the great poets of war of his or any time (and thus greatly admired by Ezra Pound in the last century) loved to see destruction of towns and men. One thinks of Robert Duvall's character in Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now, who loved the smell of napalm in the morning. His plangent tone, as he opens his remarks to Dante, would have bothered him considerably, had he been able to read this scene -- and perhaps Dante thought exactly this himself, as he composed them. It is often pointed out that v. 132 is a reprise of a passage in the Lamentations of Jeremiah (Lament. 1:12), already cited by Dante in the opening verses of an 'exploded' sonnet in (V.N.VII.3) to express his own solitary sadness in love. In a sense, they are part of Bertran's punishment, the 'tough guy' portrayed as self-pitying.

Bertran was a Gascon nobleman of the second half of the twelfth century. His poetry, written in Provençal, which is reflected in several passages in this canto, is not the subject of his discourse. Rather, he condemns himself for his implacable schismatic actions at the English court, where he supported and encouraged the rebellious plotting of Prince Henry against his own father, Henry II, king of the realm. For a text that encapsulates the problem presented in Bertran and all the other political schismatics, see Luke 11:17: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation' (cited by Marianne Shapiro [Shap.1974.1], p. 114).

For the reference to Ahitophel's similar support and encouragement of Absalom's rebellion against his father, King David, see II Kings 15:7-18:15.

On Bertran's poetry see Picone (Pico.1979.1). For its resonance in the verses of this canto see Allegretti (Alle.2001.1), pp. 9-18, and Picone (Pico.2003.1), pp. 84-86.