Commentary Par XIV 103-108

These tercets contain the second set (of four) triple identical rhymes on Cristo found in the poem (for the first, see [Par XII 71-75]; also see C.Par.XII.71-75.

Beginning with the notice of the fact that the Cristo-rhymes in Cantos XIV and XIX of the Paradiso appear in exactly the same lines ([Par XIV 104-108] and [Par XIX 104-108]), Thomas Hart performs a series of calculations to demonstrate that Dante had employed ratios used to calculate the circumference of a circle to predetermine the precise locations in the poem of all four of these rhymes; these ratios in turn suggest the quadrants of a circumscribed Greek cross (formed by two diameters at right angles to one another).  For more on the question of Dante's numerical composition, see Hart's various studies, as referred to in what may serve as a sort of compendium of them (Hart.1995.1).  And see C.Purg.XXXIII.136-141.