The Forty-First Canto is an odd duck. It is a series of conversations about work and finance in Italy and Germany, with numerous statements by “characters” in Italian.

There is some play with form here, with bits like this:

delivered in ports of France @ 8 sous
                                                               9 million 600 thousand
at the rate  6 sous to manufacture
                                                               7 million and something
revenue to the King                       30 million
to the consumer                              72

The style is a balance sheet, of course.

This Canto marks the end of… well, something, because the page after this one reads:

THE FIFTH DECAD
OF CANTOS
XLII-LI

We had not seem such a demarcation at the beginning of our readings.