• Dante calls the spirit of Cacciaguida a living topaz set in the celestial cross, probably from the brilliancy and golden light of this precious stone. He may also have had in his mind the many wonderful qualities, as well as the beauty, of the gem. He makes use of the same epithet in Canto XXX 76. The Ottimo says, that he who wears the topaz cannot be injured by an enemy; and Mr. King, Antique Gems , p. 427, says:⁠— “If thrown into boiling water, the water cools immediately; hence this gem cools lust, calms madness and attacks of frenzy.” In the same work he gives a translation of the Lapidarium of Marbodus, or Marboeuf, Bishop of Rennes in 1081. Of the chrysolite, which is supposed to be the same as the topaz, this author says:⁠— “The golden Chrysolite a fiery blaze Mixed with the hue of ocean’s green displays; Enchased in gold, its strong protective might Drives far away the terrors of the night; Strung on a hair plucked from an ass’s tail, The mightiest demons neath its influence quail.” ↩
• He had been waiting for the coming of Dante, with the “hunger long and grateful” spoken of in line 49. ↩