Note 223 — SECOND PART. The Astronomy of Dante.
Reading edition
“O glorious stars ... With you was born, and hid himself with you, He who is father of all mortal life, When first I tasted of the Tuscan air.” Par. xxii. 112-117. (Longfellow).
At this date the sun entered the constellation of Gemini on June 1 (Old Style), but was in the sign from May 11 to June 11, and it is always to the signs that Dante refers in the Divine Comedy. The anonymous fourteenth century commentator known as “l’Ottimo” interprets this passage as indicating the time “between the middle of May and the middle of June.”