13 Purgatorio, XV 7-15

E i raggi ne ferian per mezzo 'l naso,
perché per noi girato era sì 'l monte
chia già dritti andavamo inver' l'occaso,
quand'io senti' a me gravar la fronte
a lo splendore assai più che di prima,
e stupor m'eran le cose non conte;
ond'io levai le mani inver' la cima
de le mie ciglia, e fecemi 'l solecchio,
che del soverchio visibile lima.

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The rays were striking full upon our faces,
for we had circled so much of the mountain
that we were heading straight into the west,
when such great splendor overwhelmed my sight,
greater than any I had seen before,
that I was dazed by its unfamiliar brightness.
I raised one hand above my brow
and gave my eyes sufficient shade
to temper this excess of light.


It must be noted that the noun visibile is a technical term meaning the object of perception,
which here is the "splendore". "...fecemi il solecchio, che del soverchio visibile lima" can be

rendered into English as, ' I shielded my eyes, which [action] reduces the excess of the
visible'. It seems that Hollander's translation expresses well this phenomenon.