wi Fyne a sone i Re iz SEN ee eyes pe el hee Be Pernt he ee parr oe ® S a See aero Ra Hy eee teyey ay eae SR Rake ree Sorts eee BOE ey Lede pera be #o UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY | LTT er ae nn I 5 7 $i enw 8: Wineas pete ates bt pa ane tite tira Bs i a 3ere oe 5 a a A + 3forse me ore one 4 porte peo TT Di | t ser ae aes phate Ws mn yesh inte nena eee ets abi Pomerpe yey es era em See ee ee et tr ert ee oteDAN TES INP Ee ae TRANSLATED BY DEE REVS EIN oiReAN © iS GAO Ver lee FROM THE ORIGINAL OF DAN TE ALVOQ ER ie AND ILLUSTRATED: WITH THE DESIGNS OI i WV. CUSEAViE DOR. NEW EDITION. NEW YORK CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY 104 &.106 FOURTH AVENUEee en Fi : Bd 5 F ‘ f Py rey tet erat Se ye et et as Paar aoa TT ae pS ens on) c ea balan Sac eee ee Pere eet ie eee ars eer ee ar a ere ere uray mee \R ent ae bie OF BN Wises ANTE, a name abbreviated, as was the custom in those days, from Durante or Durando, was of a very ancient Florentine family. Dante was born in Florence, May, 1265. His mother’s name was Bella, but of what family is no longer known. His father he had the misfortune to lose in his childhood: but by the advice of his surviving rela- tions, and with the assistance of an able preceptor, Brunetto Latini, he applied himself closely to polite literature and other liberal studies, at the same time that he omitted no pursuit necessary for the accomplishment of a manly character, and mixed with the youth of his age in all honorable and noble exercises. In the twenty-fourth year of his age he was present at the memorable battle of Campaldino, where he served in the foremost troop of cavalry, and was exposed to imminent danger. In the following year Dante took part in another engagement between his countrymen and the citizens of Pisa, from whom they took the castle of Caprona. From what the poet has told us in his treatise entitled the ‘“ Vita Nuova,” we learn that he was a lover long before he was a soldier, and that his passion for the Beatrice whom he has immortalized commenced when she was at the beginning and he near the end of his ninth year. Their first meeting was at a banquet in the house of Folco Portinari, her father; and the impres- sion then made on the susceptible and constant heart of Dante was not obliterated by her death, which happened after an interval of sixteen years. 3ut neither war nor love prevented Dante from gratifying the earnest desire which he had of knowledge and mental improvement. By Benvenuto da Imola, one of the earliest of his commentators, it is stated that he studied in his youth at the universities of Bologna and Padua, as well as in that of his native city, and devoted himself to the pursuit of natural and moral phil- osophy. Francesco da Buti, another of his commentators in the fourteenth century, asserts that he entered the order of the Frati Minori, but laid aside the habit before he was professed. In his own city, domestic troubles, and yet more severe public calamities, awaited him. In 1291 he was induced, by the solicitation of his friends, to console himself for the loss of Beatrice by a matrimonial connection with Gemma, a lady of the noble family of the Donati, by whom he had a numerous offspring. But the violence of her temper proved a source of the VvLIFE OF DANTE. It is not improbable that political animosity might for his wife was a kinswoman of he was one of the most bitterest suffering to him. have had some share in these dissensions ; Gorso Donati, one Of the most formidable as inveterate of his opponents. In 300 he was chosen chief of the Priors, who at that time possessed ‘a the state; his colleagues being Palmieri degli the supreme authority Altoviti and Neri di Jacopo degli Alberti. From this exaltation our poet dated the cause of all his subsequent misfortunes in life. In order to show the occasion of Dante's exile, it may be necessary to particularly into the state of parties at Florence. The city, which enter more divisions between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, had been disturbed by many at length remained in the power of the former; but after some time these were again split into two factions. This perverse occutrence originated with the inhabitants of Pistoia, who, from an unhappy quarrel between two powerful families in that city, were all separated into parties known by those denom- ‘nations. With the intention of composing their differences, the principals PAT de were summoned to the city of Florence; but this measute; instead of remedying the evil, only contributed to increase its virulence, by communicating it to the people of Florence themselves. For the contending parties were so far from being brought to a reconciliation, that each contrived to gain fresh partisans among the Florentines, with whom many of them were closely connected by the ties of blood and friendship ; and who entered into 1 the dispute with such acrimony and eagerness, that the whole city was soon lon y before they ( engaged either on one part or the other. It was not passed, by the usual gradations, from contumely to violence. ‘The factions were ‘now known by the names of the Neri and the Bianci, the former generally siding with the Guelphs or adherents of the Papal power, the latter with the Ghibellines, or those who supported the authority of the Emperor. The Neri assembled secretly in the Church of the Holy Trinity, and determined on interceding with Pope Boniface VIII. to send Charles of Valois to pacify and reform the city. No sooner did this resolution come to the knowledge of the Bianci, than, struck with apprehension at the consequences of sch x measure, they took arms, and repaired to the Priors, demanding of ene ithe Eupicnnent of their adversaries, for having thus entered into private deliberations concerning the state, which they represented to have been done with the view of expelling them from the city. Those who had met, being alarmed in their turn, had also recourse to arms, and made their complaints to the Priors. Accusing ir I : | pia > the Priors. Accusing their opponents of having armed themselves without any previ sublic discussi frm1 | y previous public discussion, and affirming that, under various pretexts, they hi x > driv s pretexts, they had sought to drive them out of their country, they demanded that they might be punished as disturbers of the public tranquillity.PIRES OL DAN rs: The dread and danger became general, when, by the advice of Dante, the Priors called in the multitude to their protection and assistance, and then proceeded to banish the principals of the two factions, who were these: Corso Donati, Geri Spini, Giachonotto de’ Pazzi, Rosso della Tosa, and others of the Neri party, who were exiled to the Castello della Pieve, in Perugia; and of the Bianchi party, who were banished to Serrazana, Gentile and age de Cerchi, Guido Cavalcanti, Baschiera della Tosa, Baldinaccio Adimari, Naldo, son of Lottino Gherardini, and others. On this occasion wee was accused of favoring the Bianchi, thoug! oO himself with impartiality ; and the deliberation held by the Neri for intro- 7 h he appears to have conducted ducing Charles of Valois might, perhaps, have justified him in treating that party with greater rigor. The suspicion against him was increased, when those whom he was accused of favoring were soon after allowed to return from their banishment, while the sentence passed upon the other faction still remained in full force. To this Dante re ae d that when those who had been ent Neer oe “Tara -ecalled he wacnna | nNrver 1 office ee 1 hat l ves sent to Serrazana were recalled, he was no longer in oimce; and that tneit 1 1 1 return had been permitted on account of the death of Guido Cavalcanti, which ] ] x C ~ _ sf > f sy ¢ + : a) va ttributed to the unwholesome air of the place. The parti iality which had | ¢ 1 Bae Ss kgs = 4D Sete oe eee E D Shnown, Nowever, afforded a pretext to the I ope for alsp< ae 1g Charles \/ ] 1 (| ] ] 1 ] “7 eA90T “ 7 -“C¢ rac . ) “ry ot =" Valois to Florence, by whose influence a great reverse Was soon produce d in the public affairs; the ex-citizens being restored to their place, and the whole of the Bianchi party driven into exule. At this juncture Dante was not in Florence, but at Rome, whether he had a short time before been sent ] ] r ] rr Ei ] - “ eT .Or YO c - ambassador to the Pope, with the offer of a voluntary return to peace and ; ' 1 J ' ] | 7 T Ee CT 1 1 y ie *- TQ Cy eRe amity among the citizens. His enemies had now an opportunity of revenge, late Le 1 [ae “ eh Cer eA eR TN Anta jae, ek ane and. durine his absence on this pacific mission, proceeded to pass an iniquitous ] AT 4 aa ‘ Gecr' of banishme! against him and Palmieri Altoviti ech ts aut Ln ti 7} nhscated Nis POSSE€ss ons, whicn ndeed, hac be en pr! VIOUSLY GIVEN up 1] TO D Lhe O On hearing the tidings of his ruin, Dante instantly quitted Kome, and passed v ith all possible expedition to Sienna. Here, being more fully app yrised of the extent of the calamity, for which he could see no remedy, He came to ] ] ~ | “ lk a ex evan SUTn IGys ie ese ; he other axiles re the desperate resolution 0! onus himself to the other exiles. His first meeting with them was at a consultation which they had at Gorgonza, asmall tle subject to the jurisdiction of Arezzo, in which city It was finally, afte LSTLE ‘) : ; 1 1 1 Ee a estan li¢her a ane delneration. resolved that they should fake wp tien station. ithe a lone deliberation, 1 \ they accordingly repaired in a numerous body, made the Count Alessandro da Romena thei Dante was one. Inthe year 1304, having been joined by a very stron o fore which was not only furnished them by Arezzo, but sent from Sahat _ Pistoia, they made a sudden attack on the city ol Florence, oained possession ir leader, and appointed a council of twelve, of which numbetVill Lips: OF DANTE: art of the territory, but were finally of one of the gates, and conquered p } rantages they had acquired. compelled to retreat without retaining any os the ad | ee Disappointed in this attempt to reinstate himself in his country, Vante quitte Arezzo: and his course is, for t : by notices casually dropped in his own writings, or discovered in docu as ented either chance or the zeal of antiquaries may have brought to light. Inthe service of his last patron, Guido da Polenta, in whom he seems to have lents were grate- he most part, afterwards to be traced only met with a more congenial mind than in any of the former, his te | fully exerted, and his affections interested but to deeply - for having becniscnk by Guido on an embassy to the Venetians, and not being able even to obtain an audience, on account of the rancorous animosity with which they regarded that prince, Dante returned to Ravenna so overwhelmed with disappointment and grief, that he was seized by an illness that terminated fatally, either in July or September, 1321. Guido testified his sorrow and respect by the sumptuousness of his obsequies, and by his intention to erect a monument, which he did not live to complete. His countrymen showed, too late, that they knew the value of what they had lost. At the beginning of the next century, their posterity marked their regret by entreating that the immortal remains of their illustrous citizen might be restored to them, and deposited among the tombs of their fathers. But the people of Ravenna were unwilling to part with the sad and honorable memory of their own hospitality. No better success attended the subsequent negotiations of the Florentines for the same purpose, though renewed under the auspices of Leo X., and conducted through the powerful mediation of Michael Angelo. The sepulchre designed and commenced by Guido da Polenta, was, in 1483, erected by Bernardo Bembo. A yet more magnificent memorial was raised so lately as the year 1770, by the Cardinal Gonzaga. His children consisted of one daughter and five sons, two of whom, Pietro and Jacopo, inherited some of their father’s abilities. His daughter Beatrice became a nun in the convent of S. Stefano dell’ Uliva, at Ravenna; and, among the entries of expenditure by the Florentine Republic, appears a present of ten golden florins sent to her in 1350, by the hands of Boccaccio, from the state. It is but justice to the wife of Dante not to omit what Boccaccio relates of her : that after the banishment of her husband, she secured some share of his property from the popular fury, under the name of her dowry ; that out of this she contrived to support their little family with exemplary discretion ; and that she even removed from them the pressure of poverty, by such indus- trious efforts as in her former affluence she had never been called on to exert. Who does not regret, that with qualities so estimable, she wanted the Sweet- ness of temper necessary for riveting the affections of her husband ?THe VISION OF Panis Lie fet eee " CANTO I. > mT TT A NS GON EN The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and being hindered by certain wild beasts from ascend- ing a mountain, is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory ; and that he shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He follows the Roman poet. Ie the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct: and een to tell, It were no easy task, how savage wild That forest, how robust and rough its growth, Which to remember only, my dismay Renews, in bitterness not far from death. Yet, to discourse of what there good befell, All else will I relate discover’d there lows frst Ul entend tt sl seance ‘ecanesay, Such sleepy dullness in that instant weigh'd | My senses down, when the true peviliy le Vette But when a mountain’s foot I reach’d, where closed The valley that had pierced my heart with dread, I look’d aloft, and saw his shoulders broad Already vested with that planet's beam, Who leads all wanderers safe through every way. Then was, a little nespite to: the fear: That in my heart's recesses deep had lain All of that night, so pitifully past: And as a man, with difficult short breath, 9THE VISION. Forespent with toiling, 'scaped from sea to shore, Turns to the perilous wide waste, and stands At gaze; een so my spirit, that yet fail'd, Struggling with terror, turn’d to view the straits That none hath past and lived. My weary frame After short pause re-comforted, again I journey’d on over that lonely steep, The hinder foot still firmer. Scarce the ascent Began, when, lo! a panther, nimble, light, And cover'd with a speckled Skin, appear d ; Nor, when it saw me, vanish’d; rather strove To check my onward going; that ofttimes, With purpose to retrace my steps, turned: The hour was morning’s prime, and on his way Aloft the sun ascended with those stars That with him rose when Love divine first moved Those its fair works; so that with joyous hope All things conspired to fill me, the gay skin Of that swift animal, the matin dawn, And the sweet season. Soon that joy was chased, And by new dread succeeded, when in view A lion came, ’gainst me as it appear d, With his head held aloft, and hunger-mad, That e’en the air was fear-struck. A she-wolf Was at his heels, who in her leanness seem'd Full of all wants, and many a land hath made Disconsolate ere now. She with such fear O'erwhelm'd me, at the sight of her appall’d, Mhat ot the height all hope I lost. As one Who, with his gain elated, sees the time When all unwares is gone, he inwardly Mourns with heart-griping anguish; such was I, Haunted by that fell beast, never at peace, Who coming o’er against me, by degrees Impell’d me where the sun in silence rests. While to the lower Space with backward stepHELL.—CANTO I, II I fell, my ken discern’d the form of one Whose voice seem’d faint through long disuse of speech. ee When him in that great desert I espied ; Unave mercy, onmame, cried 1 out aloud “Spirit! or living man! whate’er thou be.” He answered: “Now not man, man once I was, And born of Lombard parents, Mantuans both hy : ) By country, when the power of Julius yet Was scarcely firm. At Rome my life was past, | Beneath the mild Augustus, in the time Of fabled deities and false. A bard Was I, and made Anchises’ upright son The subject of my song, who came from Troy, | 'y When the flames prey'd on Ilium’s haughty towers. But thou, say wherefore to such perils past Return’st thou ? wherefore not this pleasant mount nie | “And art thou then that Virgil, that well-spring, Ascendest, cause and source of all delig From which such copious floods of eloquence Have issued?” I with front abashd replied. “Glory and light of all the tuneful train! May it avail me, that I long with zeal Have sought thy volume, and with love immense Have conn’d it o’er. My master thou, and guide! Thou he from whom alone I have derived That style, which for its beauty into fame Exalts me. See the beast, from whom I fled. | Oh, save me from her, thou illustrious sage! ) For every vein and pulse throughout my frame She hath made tremble.’ He, soon as he saw That I was weeping, answer'd, “Thou must needs Another way pursue, if thou would’st ‘scape From out that savage wilderness. This beast, At whom thou criest, her way will suffer none To pass, and no less hindrance makes than death: So bad and so accursed in her kind, That never sated is her ravenous will, Still after food more craving than before.12 THE VISION. 96 —132. To many an animal in wedlock vile She fastens, and shall yet to many Until that greyhound come, who shall destroy Her with sharp pain. He will not life support nor its base metals, but by love, and his land shall be In his might more, 3y earth Wisdom, and virtue ; The land ’twixt either Feltro. Shall safety to Italia’s plains AS e. For whose realm, fair Camilla, virgin pure, Nisus, Euryalus, and Turnus fell. He, with incessant chase, through every town Shall worry, until he to hell at length Restore her, thence by envy first let loose. I, for thy profit pondering, now devise That thou mayst follow me, and J, thy guide, Will lead thee hence through an eternal space, Where thou shalt hear despairing shrieks, and see Spirits of old tormented, who invoke A second death; and those next view, who dwell Content in fire, for that they hope to come, Whene’er the time may be, among the blest, Into whose regions if thou then desire To ascend, a spirit worthier than? I Must lead thee, in whose charge, when I depart, Thou shalt be left: for that Almighty King, Who reigns above, a rebel to his law Adjudges me; and therefore hath decreed That, to his city, none through me shall come. He in all parts hath sway; there rules, there holds His citadel and throne. Oh, happy those, Whom there he chooses!” I to him in few: “Bard! by that God, whom thou didst not adore, I do beseech thee (that this ill and worse I may escape) to lead me where thou saidst, What 1 St. Peters gate may view, and those Who, as thou tell’st, are in such dismal plight.” Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued.a nom Lach, ‘ Safaee ae | gs Ra: inn Me TT hie ro 4 RA se oo Liha We ae STN ie sobs, © aN Serre = By x > Bb SOAS "faye ne Sree. Pann al AH Uy a Sy pes HY, Oe iw ths! Hi by Tf hh wf sh! SR ee UL 4 eas ft Opa LE TH ia Ys oN aw my enn 2 2 Vd Basie ry aes ¥ eg 3 came, ’gainst me as it appear, With his head held aloft, and hunger-mad. Canto l., lines 43, 44 aoe cine, —x a 1 a i S 3 1 ) i HM Hi r a po peneee XS — See ou rat) RSENS oo ay c a saree Pee RSCANTO Il. ox Io (Er 1B) IME 8; INI AE After the invocation, which poets are used to prefix to their works, he shows that, on a consideration of his own strength, he doubted whether it sufficed for the journey proposed to him, but that. being comforted by Virgil, he at last took courage, and followed him as his guide and master. Ne was the day departing, and the air, Embrown’d with shadows, from their toils released All antmals: on earth: and 1 alone Prepared myself the conflict to sustain, Both of sad pity, and that perilous road, Which my unerring memory shall retrace. OQ Muses! Oh, high genius! now vouchsafe Vour aid. Oh, mind! that all I saw hast kept Safe in a written record, here thy worth And eminent endowments come to proof. ewan: “Bard |, thou who art my guide, Consider well, if virtue be in me Sufficient, ere to this high enterprise ‘hou trustme. Lhou hast told that Silvis, sine, le thus be | Yet clothed in corruptible flesh, among The immortal tribes had entrance, and was there Sensibly present. Yet if heavens great Lord, Almighty foe to ill, such favor show d In contemplation of the high effect, Both what and who from him should issue forth, it S Sith he of Rome and of Rome’s empire wide, In heaven’s empyreal height was chosen Sites: Both which, if truth be spoken, were ordain’d And ’stablished for the holy place, where sits Who to great Peter’s sacred chair succeeds. eems in reason’s judgment well deserved ; I ©THE VISION. He from this journey, in thy song renown d, Learn’d things, that to his victory gave rise And to the Papal robe.: In after-times The chosen vessel also travell’d there, To bring us back assurance in that faith Which is the entrance to salvations way. But I, why should I there presume? or who Permits it? not Aéneas I, nor Paul. Myself I deem not worthy, and none else Will deem me. J, if on this voyage then I venture, fear it will in folly end. Thou, who art wise, better my meaning knowst, iihanel camespeakyrs AS One who unresolves What he hath late resolved, and with new thoughts Changes his purpose from his first intent Removed; een such was I on that dun coast, Wasting in thought my enterprise, at first So eagerly embraced. “If right thy words I scan,” replied that shade magnanimous, “Thy soul is by vile fear assail’d, which oft So overcasts a man that he recoils From noblest resolutions, like a beast At some false semblance in the twilight gloom. That from this terror thou mayst free thyself, I will instruct thee why I came, and eh [heard in that same ene when for thee Grief touch d me first, I was among the tribe, Who rest suspended, when a dame, so blest And lovely I besought her to command, Calitd mes her eyes were tri: ehter than the star Of day; and she, with gentle voice and soft, Angelically tuned, her speech address’d: ‘Oh, courteous shade of Mantua! thou whose fame Yet lives, and shall live long as Nature lasts | A friend, not of my fortune but myself, On the wide desert in his road has met UW hE LL eae 57 HM cere rte ua oL eSHELL.—CANTO II. Hindrance so great, that he through fear has turn’d. Now much I dread lest he past help have stray’d, And I be risen too late for his relief. From what in heaven of him I heard. Speed now, And by thy eloquent persuasive tongue, And by all means for his delivérance meet, i = Assist him. So to me will comfort spring. (x I, who now bid thee on this errand forth, Aim Beatrice: trom a place’ lf come | Re-visited with joy. Love brought me thence, Who prompts my speech. When in my Master's sight | I stand, thy praise to him I oft will tell. | “She then was silent, and I thus began: ‘O. Lady! by whose influence alone Mankind excels whatever is contain’d Within that heaven which hath the smallest orb, So thy command delights me, that to obey, If it were done already, would seem late. No need hast thou further to speak thy will: Yet tell the reason, why thou art not loth To.leave that ample space, where to return Thou burnest, for this center here beneath.’ “She then: ‘Since thou so deeply wouldst inquire, I will instruct thee briefly why no dread Hinders my entrance here. Those things alone Are to be fear'd whence evil may proceed ; None else, for none are terrible beside. I am so framed by God, thanks to his) onrace | That any sufferance of your misery Touches me not, nor flame of that fierce fire Assails me. In high heaven a blessed dame Resides. who mourns with such effectua! grief That hindrance, which I send thee to remove, That God’s stern judgment to her will inclines. To Lucia calling, her she thus bespake : “Now doth thv: faithful servant need thy aid,THE VISION: And I commend him to thee.’ At her word Sped Lucia, cf all cruelty the foe, And coming to the place, where I abode Seated with Rachel, her of ancient days, She thus address’d me: “Thou true praise of God! Beatrice! why is not thy succor lent - To him, who so much loved thee, as to leave For thy sake all the multitude admires Dost thou not hear how pitiful his wail, Nor mark the death, which in the torrent flood, Swollen mightier than a sea, him struggling holds ?” Ne’er among men did any with such speed Haste to their profit, flee from their annoy, As, when these words were spoken, I came here, Down from my blessed seat, trusting the force Of thy pure eloquence, which thee, and all Who well have mark’d it, into honor brings. “When she had ended, her bright beaming eyes Tearful she turn’d aside; whereat I felt Redoubled zeal to serve thee. As she will’d, Minus am . comes | saved thee trom the beast Who thy near way across the goodly mount Prevented. What is this comes o’er thee then ? Why, why dost thou hang back? why in thy breast Harbor vile fear? why hast not courage there, And noble daring; since three maids, so blest, Thy safety plan, een in the court of heaven; And so much certain good my words forbode ?” As florets, by the frosty air of night DA See : s : ; A Bent down and closed, when day has blanch’d their leaves ~ 29 Kise all unfolded on their spiry stems ; SO was my fainting vigor new restored, And to my heart such kindly courage ran, That I as one undaunted soon replied: “Oh, full of pity she, who undertook My succor! and thou kind, who didst perform‘\ a oe RATAN oo Rai Nia Ni % is LN AN AV aa Ns a x Let Se Wil Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued. Canto I., line 132.Leer Har Wr ayia suru sii el Wit me Mt MAT } u Pott i | ee HAN AR WIHT ml oc tutte TT l coe Mi ul | i | | nary Sennen) i ) ' i i ttt i i ] l | i rae 4, } i Hl i a il WH ri i ni Ze = € * Pe t ‘ a e i y | va lt ) i | ] | cua I | : : i i | | Ocala hacker thet aa i | i i | f} i hi i iN ot if i | i i; iN i) a SaaS r= SS ——— SSS == | \ i = = — SSS 2 =e a ——— SSS = ——— = =— i i) ' lj ! int a Hh Mi l mi \}} i 3 ah int rT | | i i) at A i Nh ~ iT : yy ' 2 c : Fie ———— ; | fy = —OS af i Ht ee ee i iD ne TURES] Hy )) a departing. Canto If.. line x:135—I4I. HELL.—CANTO II. So soon her true behest! With such desire Thou hast disposed me to renew my voyage, That my first purpose fully is resumed. Lead on: one only will is in us both. Thou art my guide, my master thou, and lord.” 50 spake I; and when he had onward moved, I enter'd on the deep and woody way.written thereon, they both enter. time (for living it could not be called) in a state of apathy and their way, they arrive at the river Acheron ; and there find the old ferryman Charon, who takes the spirits over to the opposite shore ; which as soon as Dante reaches, he is seized with terror, and falls into a trance. CANTO Ill. ————__—— ARGU ME NT: Dante, following Virgil, comes to the gate of Hell - where, after having read the dreadful words that are Here. as he understands from Virgil, those were punished who had passed their indifference both to good and evil. Then pursuing “-THROUGH me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: ¢ the people lost for aye. Cc Through me amon Justice the founder of my fabric moved: -To rear meé was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.” Sich characters, in color dim, Tmarkd Over a portal’s lofty arch inscribed. _ Whereat I thus: “Master, these words import Hard meaning.” He as one prepared replied: “Here thou must all distrust behind thee leave; Here be vile fear extinguish’d. We are come Where I have told thee we shall see the souls ood To misery doom’d, who intellectual g Have lost.’ And when his hand he had stretch’d forth To mine, with pleasant looks, whence I was cheer’d, Into that secret place he led me on. Here sighs, with lamentations and loud moans, Resounded through the air pierced by no star, That een I wept at entering. Various tongues, Horrible languages, outcries of WOE, 18! 4 it aes fk I z eg = = i) Ni Mitt he. yh Ca noe ‘I . mh ; On Pale al Ye i " dL Pie is Oy f Mi -————> ee = rhe Mi AA A Ay WA a eu ON ‘ Pn es EN TUNA Ts ee s BAN .) AN a Ni) Ni aaa a ee Wy i ihe ae ; Wee Ni ; i) ) ma eA ei Ay iy Ne On pn yy Di ae a i Cathy ND) iy ; oe rT Tt ih ; eV EER WenT | repr eua eh a Lt Ne al I a now bid thee on this errand forth, TLC ha Am Beatrice. Canto II., lines 79, 71.ER Voi STE 254 ees a 2 HN Y \ \ i AANA N VNVAINY PAY y) ANY io eee io icp oe eae oe ES Cee > ey A ea Fa SET Lg gees GGTF SS, er asia sp Sn SSO RISE ES a ZA ae Z LZ Kee a Fae fe ee pet eI Sard, Core dois Ze See fee as LB ee eee rel 4 a ada Peed ore LEE o sa “AS Z — ZA tlle, LIA a , ede 4 ae Oo =~ = tae Canto Lobe is, Sia z ee Pee host ee ae 4 fo a cz A we re aoa SS enter here. a AK vy V CEST A pa PLZZ \ Nike | hope abandon, ye who ce v4 ied AEB Al a o eee Pies - F aaa S Sige A GA ve oe Ne eee ss pata" = EE es Son. = SSS SS MO SSS " » x SSNs Pl } i i Nh So NaON AAT ai if a ‘ QSee NTE my RQ ANHELL.—-CANTO III. Accents of anger, voices deep and hoarse, With hands together smote that swell’d the sounds, Made up a tumult, that for ever whirls Kound through that air with solid darkness stain’d, Like to the sand that in the whirlwind flies. ] then, with error yet encompassed, cried, “Oh, master! what is this I hear 2 what race Are these, who seem so overcome with woe 2” He thus to me: “This miserable fate Suffer the wretched Souls of those who lived Without or praise or blame, with that ill band Of angels mix'd, who. nor rebellious proved, Nor yet were true to God, but for themselves Were only. Krom his bounds Heaven drove them forth, Not to impair his luster: nor:-the depth Of Hell receives them, lest the accursed tribe Should glory thence with exultation vain.” I then: “Master! what doth aggrieve them thus, hat they lament so loud?” He straight replied: “That will ) tell thee briefly, ~Phese of «death No hope may entertain; and their blind life So meanly passes, that all other lots They envy. Fame of them the world hath none. Nor suffers; mercy and justice scorn them both. Speak not of*them, but look, and pass them by.’ And I, who straightway look'd, beheld a flag, Which whirling ran around so rapidly, That it no pause obtain’d: and following came Such a long train of spirits, [ should neer Have thought that death so many had despoil’d. When some of these I recognized, I saw And knew the'shade of him, who to base fear Yielding, abjured his high estate. Forthwith I understood, for certain, this the tribe Of those ill spirits both to God displeasing And to his foes. These wretches who never lived,YN —96. THE VISION. 61—9 Went on in nakedness, and sorely stung and hornets, which bedew’d their cheeks 3y wasps | nix’d with tears, dropp'd to their feet, With blood, that, 1 ) And by disgustful worms was gather d there. Then looking further onwards, | beheld A throng upon the shore of a great stream: Whereat I thus: “Sir! grant me now to know Whom here we view, and whence impell’d they seem iscern So eager to pass oer, as 1 d h Through the blear light?” He thus. to me im Tew ; rte nm W = Ww > “This shalt thou know, soon as our Steps arrive Beside the woful tide of Acheron.” Then with eyes downward cast, and fill’d with shame, Fearing my words offensive to his ear, Till we had reach’d the river, I from speech Abstain’d. And, lo! toward us in a bark Comes on an old man, hoary white with eld, 66 XAT | \ Crying, “Woe to you, wicked spirits! hope not Ever to see the sky again. | come To take you to the other shore across, Into eternal darkness, there to dwell In fierce heat and in ice. And thou, who there Standest, live spirit! get thee hence, and leave These who are dead But soon as he beheld I left them not, “By other way,” said he, “By other haven shalt thou come, to shore, Not by this passage; thee a nimbler boat Must carry.. Then to him thus spake my guide: “Charon! thyself torment not: so ‘tis willd, Where will and power are one: ask thou no more.” Straightway in silence fell the shaggy cheeks Of him, the boatman o’er the livid lake. Around whose eyes glared wheeling flames. Meanwhile Those spirits, faint and naked, color changed, And gnash’d their teeth, soon as the cruel words They heard. God and their parents they blasphemed,NOENN Ai A \\ UO ————— a a ————S== = — SSS And, lo! toward us in a bark Comes on an old man, hoary white with eld, Crying, ‘ Woe to you, wicked spirits ! Canto III., lines 76-78.=o oO oO my at S ) on & C "oO a | hy YU S Ss @ ce = o a sag S oO ) Cast themselves, one by one, down from the shore. 108. ~ Canto Lfl., ines 107,97—126. HELL.—CANTO III. The human kind, the place, the time, and seed, That did engender them and give them birth. Fi Then all together sorely wailing drew To the curst strand, that every man must pass Who fears not God. Charon, demoniac form. With eyes of burning coal, collects them all, ia Beckoning, and each, that lingers, with his oar idl Strikes. As fall off the light autumnal leaves, One still another following, till the bough if Strews all its honors on the earth beneath: \ Een like the manner Adam’s evil brood Cast themselves, one by one, down from the shore, | Pach ata bees as falcon atenis call: . Thus go they over through the umberd wave; And ever they on the opposite bank Be landed, on this side another throng Still gathers. “Son,” thus spake the courteous guide, ‘Those who die subject to the wrath of God All here together come from every clime, And to o’erpass the river are not loth: For so Heaven's justice goads them on, that fear Is turned into desire. Hence ne'er hath past Good spirit. If of thee Charon complain, Now mayst thou know the import of his words. ” This said, the gloomy region trembling shook So terribly, that yet with clammy dews Fear chills my brow. The sad earth gave a blast, That, lightning, shot forth a vermilion flame, Which all my senses conquer'd quite, and I Down dropp'd, as one with sudden slumber seized.The Poet, being roused by a clap of t the first circle of Hell, where he finds the souls of those who, although they have suffer for great sins, nevert Virgil to descend into the second circle. CANTO IV. en ARGC MipE IN ds. hunder, and following his guide onwards, descends into Limbo, which is lived virtuously, and have not to Hence he is led on by heless, through lack of baptism, merit not the bliss of Paradise. ROKE the deep slumber in my brain a crash Of heavy thunder, that I shook myself, As one by main force roused. Risen upright, My rested eyes I moved around, and search’d, With ¢fixed ken, to know what place it was Wherein I stood. For:certain, on the brink I found me of the lamentable vale, The dread abyss, that joins a thundrous sound Of plaints innumerable. Dark and deep, And thick with clouds o’erspread, mine eye in vain Explored its bottom, nor could aught discern. “Now let us to the blind world there beneath Descend”; the bard began, all pale of look: “I go the first, and thou shalt follow next. rm Then I, his alter'd hue perceiving, thus: “How may I speed, if thou yieldest to dread, Who still art wont to comfort me in doubt?” He then’ “Whe anguish of that race below With pity stains my cheek, which thou for fear Mistakest. Let us on. Our length of way Urges to haste.” Onward, this said, he moved: And entering, led me with him, on the bounds Of the first circle that surrounds the abvss. Here, as mine ear could note, no plaint was heard Except of sighs, that made the eternal air 99HELL.—CANTO IV. Tremble, not caused by tortures, but of grief Felt by those multitudes, many and vast, Of men, women, and infants. Then to me The gentle guide: “Inquirest thou not what spirits Are these which thou beholdest? Ere thou pass Farther, I would thou know, that these of sin Were blameless: and if aught they merited, It profits not, since baptism was not theirs, The portal to thy faith. If they before The Gospel lived, they served not God ari oO ght; And among such am IJ. For these defects, And for no other evil, we are lost: Only so far afflicted, that we live Desiring without hope.” Sore grief assail’d My heart at hearing this, for well I knew Suspended in that Limbo many a soul Of michty worth, “Oh; tell) me) siresrevered| Tell me, my master!” I began through wish Of full assurance in that holy faith Which vanquishes all error; “say, did eer Any, or through his own or other's merit, Come forth from thence. who afterward was blest 2?” Piercing the Secret import Of my speech, He answerd: “I was new to that estate, When' I beheld a puissant one arrive Amongst us, with victorious trophy crown‘d. He forth the shade of our first parent drew, Abel, his child, and Noah righteous man, Of Moses lawgiver for faith approved, Of patriarch Abraham, and David king, Israel with his sire and with his sons, Nor without Rachel whom so hard he won, And others many more, whom he to bliss Exalted. Before these, be thou assured, 93 No Spr human kind was ever saved t of We, while he spake, ceased not our onward road,THE VISION. Still passing through the wood; for so L name Those spirits thick beset. We were not tar On this side from the summit, when | kenn’d A flame, that o'er the darken’d hemisphere Prevailing shined. Yet we a little space Were distant, not so far but I in part Discovered that a tribe in honor high That place possessid) © thou, who every art And science valuest! who are these, that boast Such honor, separate from Allott mreStes He answerd: “The renown of their great names, That echoes through the world above, acquires 9) . Favor in heaven, which holds them thus advanced Meantime a voice I heard: “ Honor the bard } 9 Sublime! his shade returns, that left us late ! No sooner ceased the sound, than I beheld Four mighty spirits toward us bend their steps, Xf semblance neither sorrowful nor glad. When thus my master kind began: “ Mark him, Who in his right hand bears that falchion keen, ihe other three preceding, as their lord: This is that Homer, of all bards supreme: Ilaccus, the next.inssatine’s vein excelling ; he third issNasorsileucan 1s) pie last. 3ecause they all that appellation own, With which the voice singly accosted me, GE 5s Honorin So Of him the monarch of sublimest song, they greet me thus, and well they jud (OF oO 1 beheld united the bright school That o'er the others like an eagle soars. When they together short discourse had held, They turned to me with salutation kind Beckoning me; at which my master smiled: Nor was this all; but greater honor still They gave me, for they made me of their tribe: And I was sixth amid so learn’d a band.bah i. ite Ailes ff Ht ws) nes 33, 3Qe U Canto LV ., Desiring without hope. YD > _— ret o > - — — a9) a er H n> Y vo ~ OC — i io ad My a? 5°) — co VU yn ry =< = (a _ Hf i MLN ZZz. tes Ny Sy Rae Bas oO RNS ear Res ROR we rw ANN LANs RRR eee LOLS SNM es EL OO CR ey Ak ere ea y Ov A Secks ayer Ts eas y SA aN f POG Se ; So) Ke) LAREN xa ~ Se be if o TREN ; ti So I beheld united the bright school Of him the monarch of sublimest song, That o’er the others like an eagle soars. Cario IV., lines 89-01. OO Se Se ee Oe98—133. HELL.—CANTO IV. to O1 Far as the luminous beacon on we pass d, Speaking of matters then befitting well | oO To speak, now fitter left untold. At foot Of a magnificent castle we arrived’ Seven times with lofty walls begirt, and round Defended by a pleasant stream. O’er this ho “As oer dry land we pass’d. Next, through seven gates, Nid I with those sages enter’d, and we came ; Into a mead with lively verdure fresh. )) There dwelt a race, who slow their eyes around Majestically moved, and in their port Bore eminent authority; they spake } Seldom, but all their words were tuneful sweet. We to one side retired, into a place Open, and bright, and lofty, whence each one Stood manifest to view. Incontinent. There on the green enamel of the plain Were shown me the great spirits, by whose sight I am exalted in my own esteem. Electra there 1 saw accompanied By many, among whom Hector I knew, + i Anchises’ pious son, and with hawk’s eye Czesar all armed, and by Camilla there Penthesile# On the other side, Old King Latinus seated by his child Lavinia, anc that Brutus I beheld } Who Tarquin chased, Lucretia, Cato’s wife Marcia, with Julia and Cornelia there ; And sole apart retired, the Soldan fierce. Then when a little more I raised my brow, I spied the master of the sapient throng, Seated amid the philosophic train. Him all admire, all pay him reverence due. There Socrates and Plato both I mark’d Nearest to ‘him in rank, Democritus, | Who sets the world at chance, Diogenes,THE VISION. 134—148. With Heraclitus, and Empedocles, And Anaxagoras, and Thales sage, Zeno, and Dioscorides well read In Nature’s secret lore. Orpheus | mark’d And Linus, Tully and moral Seneca, Euclid and Ptolemy, Hippocrates, Galenus, Avicen, and him who made That commentary vast, Averroes. Of all to speak at full were vain attempt ; For my wide theme so urges, that ofttimes My words fall short of what bechanced. In two The six associates part. Another way My sage guide leads me, from that air serene, Into a climate ever vexed with storms: And to a part I come, where no light shines.SANS ; SE RSs ANNONA NOC ON ne - SS Shed - arts So ant Ue ME Te = 2 Py Sorat) Ate we en Yi die fj A PLEOPPCPPEPEEE, £4 ogi 5 y we LE (4 pi tfes ZG Le egg yy Mis Vi4 CIETY 2 y Cite ray) " ee eer MLL Leg: ~~ ; aa tt CO SMA pe EI, CLE EIU EN Lye yok SAY LLP ey hs Piao Agee Pea OO AALATAIGE VID gt SLT IE SEIS TTL LEAL AE Red PAAAZASIS DY EI YP A LA pte ae oe ers WAL VOTE ree ae ates i 7. ZZ, vO SOMA fy He? VME Gof OILS YY Uy BS YN Las AMEE ag tne iif ode tity hee, Le 4p 5, UG OPI adh eye ee Ey ge a YOY Td ( Wy Ly Z cZ Waa ides SOU oe ons Paes: AN . ee iD Ww ae CU WKS a LOT AS py FPOOT Z YYLULOY GE dpa CMLL ALLL OIA } : eer Ys, Z “ds Uae Fi 4 : C74 DE I OE a ea AM a ‘ty Spe piggititiisihlipallliits > ie WE, LEED Cinna hee Oe YL CUE ON Loe POLIS LLL: Di gh. ge SPITE A CLO OLIASH AL HN de te e a I 5 Le LPL Ig OE PEE GEE Cpe die 4, , Vaw YIM. ers a an os PP SEALE CeO MELE, ; UE) LEAL GS Oy MMIC CEPT fy ss ys SOLA ge Ti kde ud YE, ire v7 i CLRID OAL ie POO ALL AN a x G ieee PALL AAAa TNT y A yh las 1 LYM Wid ae eet Se I ee SA SPP LEED tree os Se etd pg eee OO = eee Ae ee ase ged 5 ee Sie eo = 5 Cie Fi eit ES SS eS ge ey a it tll aU Feil ye MN a hpalt a YY yy pn" TT ad ‘ Se ce i ne \ At ( = es — ahr ne -_— ‘ NI n a5 ine uy Lan NED | sie Va qi} ite i NH Ve) an ne ROE a) se) = cS od Wn n ° = = oO Mes o ao mo Canio V.. Ane 4,rere eter Seite EE erattare ree Rw SSS AN i 1 * \ Wi 6 es UE TAN, H} Uf WU ak ip rs ee epeheterdel EL ETINS Yak et i" rae ri AY ) oN SN NY PP =2 2 , Li eae LO aes at ih is Bas A ANN wll We Nn yt \ it i KN \ \ (Ut iy \ hyve i , NW NN 3 ZLL____ED = EZZZ a BZD BD Ns YY Ay ) m SSS ————=—"f ri SSS SSS —<———— ss HB Saaz oy SSS SSF stds Ini ry b= ary me mt With restless fury drives the spirits on. Cai “Lo Ve : BENS SN ‘ NYS ARN TOA lines 32, 33. SON S na ‘ SpsaS SE ih ee ewe a ee ry SS ee as eee . Sea be Saat boas aoe rs ~ To eS 2 Saat Syn -is admonished to beware tost about ceaselessly in the through pity at whose sad tale CANTO V. -_———.__., GO: Vile Coming into the second circle of Hell e how he enters those regions, dark air by the most furious winds. le he falls fainting to the ground. ROM the first circle I descended thus Down to the second, which, a lesser Space Embracing, so much more of erief contains, Provoking bitter moans. There Minos Stands, Grinning with ghastly feature; he, of all Who enter, strict examining the crimes, Gives sentence, and dismisses them beneath, According as he foldeth him around: For when before him comes the ill-fated soul. It all confesses; and that judge severe Of sins, considering what place in hell Suits the trangression, with his tail so oft Himself encircles, as degrees beneath He dooms it to descend. Before him stand Always a numerous throng; and in his turn Fach one to judgment passing, speaks, and hears His fate, thence downward to his dwelling hurl’d. “Q thou! who to this residence of woe Approachest!” when he saw me coming, cried Minos, relinquishing his dread employ, “Look how thou enter here; beware in whom Thou place thy trust; let not the entrance broad. Deceive thee to thy harm.” To him my guide. “Wherefore exclaimest ? Hinder not his way 27 Here he witnesses the punishment of carnal sinners, wl , Dante at the entrance beholds Minos the infernal Judge, by whom he 10 are Amongst these, he meets with Francesca of Rimini,28 25—60. THE VISION. By destiny appointed ; so tis will’d, Where will and power are one. Ask thou no more. Now ’gin the rueful wailings to be heard. Now am I come where many a plaining Voice Into a place I came Bellowing there eroan d Smites on mine ¢€ar Where light was silent all IN moise, as Ol a sea in temp stormy blast of hell est torn By warring winds. The With restless fury drives Whirl’d round and dashed the ruinous SWEEP, the spirits on, amain with sore annoy. tb When they arrive before There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moans, And blasphemies gainst the good Power in heaven. I understood, that to this torment sad The carnal sinners are condemn’d, in whom Reason by lust is sway d. As in large troops And multitudinous, when winter reigns, The starlings on their wings are borne abroad ; So bear the tyrannous gust those evil souls. On this side and on that, above, below, It drives them: hope of rest to solace them Is none nor e’en of milder pang. As cranes, Chanting their dolorous notes, traverse the sky, Stretch’d out in long array; so I beheld Spirits, who came loud wailing, hurried on By tiemecire doom, hen |. ~ Instructor! who Are these, by the black air so scourged 2?” —“ The first ‘Mong those, of whom thou question’st,’ he replied, “O’er many tongues was empress. She in vice Of luxury was so shameless, that she made Liking be lawful by promulged decree, To clear the blame she had herself incurr’d. This is Semiramis, of whom ’tis writ, That she succeeded Ninus her espoused ; And held the land, which now the Soldan rules. The next in amorous fury slew herself,HELL.—-CANTO V. And to Sicheus’ ashes broke her faith: Then follows Cleopatra lustful queen.” There mark’d I Helen, for whose sake so long The time was fraught with evil; there the great Achilles, who with love fought to the end. Pans i saw. and itistan + and beside A thousand more he show’d me, and by name Pointed them out, whom love bereaved of life. When I had heard my sage instructor name Those dames and knights of antique days, o’erpower’d By Was lost; and I began: “Bard! willingly oS T Id ad | I would address those two together coming, pity, well nigh in a maze my mind 1] ~ Aga: eR ke a Oy 7 A ee Which seem so light before the wind Pe ee, thls = “Note thou, when nearer they to us approach. Then by that love which carries them along, Entreat; and they will come.” Soon as the wind Sway’d them toward us, I thus framed my speech: “Oh, wearied spirits! come, and hold discourse With us, if by none else restrain'd.” As doves By fond desire invited, on wide wings And firm, to their sweet nest returning home, Cleave the air, wafted by their will along ; Thus issued, from that troop where Dido ranks, They, through the ill air speeding: with such force My cry prevail’d, by strong affection urged. “Oh, gracious creature and benign! who gost Visiting, through this element obscure, Us, who the world with bloody stain imbrued ; If, for a friend, the King of all, we ownd, Our prayer to Him should for thy peace arise, Since thou hast pity on our evil. plight. Of whatsoe’r to hear or to discourse It pleases thee, that will we hear, of that Freely with the discourse, while e’er the wind, As now, is mute. ‘The land, that gave me birth,UES Bsn ft Looks ae 97—132. PHE, VISION: Is situate on the coast, where Po descends To rest in ocean with his sequent streams. “Love, that in gentle heart is quickly learnt, Entangled him by that fair form, from me Ta’en in such cruel sort, as grieves me still: Love, that denial takes from none beloved, Caught me with pleasing him so passing well, That, as thou seest, he yet deserts me not. Love brought us to one death: Caina waits The soul, who spilt our life.” Such were their words; At hearing which, downward I bent my looks, And held them there so long that the bard cried : “What art thou pondering?” I in answer thus : “Alas! by what sweet thoughts, what fond desire Must they at length to that ill pass have reach'd!” Then turning, I to them my speech address’d, And thus began: “Francesca! your sad fate Even to tears my grief and pity moves. 3ut tell me; in the time of your sweet sighs, By what, and how Love granted, that ye know Your yet uncertain wishes?” She replied: “No greater grief than to remember days Of joy, when misery is at hand. That kens Thy learn’d instructor. Yet so eagerly If thou art bent to know the primal root, From whence our love gat being, I will do As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One day, For our delight we read of Lancelot, How him love thrall’d. Alone we were, and no Suspicion near us. Oft-times by that reading Our eyes were drawn together, and the hue Fled from our alter’'d cheek. But at one point Alone we fell. When of that smile we read, The wished smile so rapturously kiss’d 3y one so deep in love, then he, who ne’er From me shall separate, at once my lips133-130) HELL.—CANTO! V. All trembling kiss’d. The book and writer both Were love’s purveyors. In its leaves that day We read no more.” While thus one spirit spake, The other wail’d so sorely, that heart-struck ~ - through compassion fainting, seem’d not far I FE QD?) rom death, and like a corse fell to the ground.CANTO VI. ARGUMENT. AD ae mee ae Otis imsel Se circle, where the ¢ are shed, heir torment On his recovery, the poet finds himself in the third circle, where the gluttonous are punished i i inual at 1eavy s al Was discolored water; Cerberus meanwhile is, to lie in the mire, under a continual and heavy storm of hail, snow, and discolored wa Te ae tron foo -endine them piecemez ne se, who on earth was named barking over them with his threefold throat, and rending them piecemeal. One of these, art g Ciacco, foretells the divisions with which Florence is about to be distracted. Dante proposes a question to his guide, who solves it ; and they proceed toward the fourth circle. [ Y sense reviving, that erewhile had droop’d M Vith pity for the kindred shades, whence erief O’ercame me wholly, straight around I see New torments, new tormented souls, which way Soe’er I move, or turn, or bend my sight. In the third circle I arrive, of showers Ceaseless, accursed, heavy and cold, unchanged For ever, both in kind and in degree. Large hail, discolord water, sleety flaw Through the dun midnight air streamed down amain: Stank all the land whereon that tempest fell. Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat, barks as a dog Over the multitude immersed beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and clawd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts. Howling there Spread) as Cuns, S Under the rainy deluge, with one side The other screening, oft they roll them round, A wretched, godless crew. When that great worm Descried us, savage Cerberus, he oped His jaws, and the fangs show’d us; not a limb Of him but trembled. Then my guide, his palms 32VEE RD i) fe al . Sn

nS . x: MSV SS Ss ethos ES ue SSS SAK rath wth) : Sy > > Sy : oieh nae pbh Amn AGe ested ears a n death, and like a corse fell to the ground. reer mh te Fe Oe en en eee ae be hep 2 eeHELL.—CANTO VI. Expanding on the ground, thence fill’d with earth Raised them, and cast it in his ravenous maw. Even as a dog, that yelling bays for food His keeper, when the morsel comes, lets fall His fury, bent alone with eager haste To swallow it; so dropp’d the loathsome cheeks Of demon Cerberus, who thundering stuns The spirits, that they for deafness wish in vain. We, oer the shade thrown prostrate by the brunt Of the heavy tempest passing, set our feet Upon their emptiness, that substance seem’d. They all along the earth extended lay, Save one, that sudden raised himself to sit, Soon as that way he saw us pass. “Oh, thou! He cried, “who through the infernal shades art led, Own, if again thou know’st me. Thou wast framed Or ere my frame was broken.” J replied: “The anguish thou endurest perchance so takes Thy form from my remembrance, that it seems As if I saw thee never. But inform Me who thou art, that in a place so sad Art set, and in such torment, that although Other be greater, none disgusteth more.” He thus in answer to my words rejoin‘d: “Shy “Cley; heap’d with envy to the brim, Ave. that the measure overflows its bounds, Held me in brighter days. Ye citizens Were wont to namé me Ciacco. For the sin Of F’en as thou seest, I with fatigue am worn: eluttony, damned vice, beneath this rain, Nor I sole spirit in this woe: all these Have by like crime incurr’d like punishment.” No more he said, and I my speech resumed: “Ciaceo! thy dire affliction grieves me much, Even to tears. But tell me if thou know‘st, What shall at length befall the citizensTHE VISION. Of the divided city; whether any Just one inhabit there: and tell the cause Whence jarring Discord hath assail’d it thus.” He then: “After long striving they will come To blood; and the wild party from the woods Will chase the other with much injury forth. Then it behoves that this must fall, within Three solar circles: and the other rise By borrow’d force of one, who under shore Now rests. It shall a long space hold aloof Its forehead, keeping under heavy weight The other opprest, indignant at the load, And grieving sore. The just are two: in number, But they neglected. Avarice, envy, pride, Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all On fire.’ Here ceased the lamentable sound; And I continued thus: “Still would I learn More from thee, further parley still entreat. Of Farinata and Tegghiaio say, They who so well deserved; of Giacopo, Arrigo, Mosca, and the rest, who bent Their minds on working good. Oh! tell me where They bide, and to their knowledge let me come. For I am prest with keen desire to hear If heaven's sweet cup, or poisonous drug of hell, Be to their lips assign’d.” He answer’d straight: “These are yet blacker spirits. Various crimes Have sunk them deeper in the dark abyss. If thou so far descendest, thou may st see them. But to the pleasant world, when thou return’st, Of me make mention, I entreat thee, there. No more I tell thee, answer thee no more.” This said, his fixed eyes he turn’d askance, A little eyed me, then bent down his head, And ‘midst his-blind companions with it fell, AT . —a44 © 66 NT 7 When thus my guide: “No more his bed he leaves, ae. geGe —— ———— ba ZZ Wy ee i oe = —— ae SS eee — — = ae ih i NC SSN K ~ A \\" ‘ I Then my guide, his palms @~ _ —— - 0 Oo a —_— ~~ —_ — — _ YY vo — _— 1a eo) o O ce = Oo fan ae —_— Oo - ~— — ~ © fae oN oO a — — S oO ~~ oN o- —_— ©) = Co © © — ~K ea) py d them, and cast it in his ravenous maw. > aisé¢ - > \ Canto VI., lines 24-26,‘ NS i at i ae e REAR Ba Rane: i . : ' a ] ! aa BUGIS ; 2 cr Be = ; Ca i i poe SI Hi i = 2 | | LM bfiee zs ZZ, Mt HAAN : ii wi rea ue. oo eA ps fe + Hl il : 7, ts } | if) i MN; mH Iho: Uy Lh | ee | te ea ne aa > yy Ne ee —— — = a a E4 a iia) | \\ i F NY \ N yy: HHi}| f | aa Hl Asan i i TMT : il Hy Yj 5 bk, noe Vy My SN ih ; {| ( ‘f Wy OZ Lye MN : Wat \\ = Nh = IN \ {i} i in 3s \ 2 oa 7 a : b aS BE, BB tig a Saat tN Y YY EIA SSN 6? \ Mi Ss: ( SSR oa a. Ny a SS A ey = Si a =) if te SSE Ea A; Sa > , = UN C SS oS = tie Kose y Dy \ SS R\ < a SY WY a \ S \ , | f SSS { = \\ } ae | WN ! } i UY | > { | MU = Ui SH Sina \ d Si ‘ 4 uf Yt ai y WWW} COF EL Y “a Uy \) } EB y | t fo G\el i, i } Tay li YAS Rim, N42 WP a ANS ED AEA AT) a Thy city, heap’d with envy to the brim, Aye, that the measure overflows its bounds, Canto VI., lines 49, 50.HELL.—CANTO VI. Ere the last angel-trumpet blow. The Power Adverse to these shall then in glory come, Each one forthwith to his sad tomb repair, Resume his fleshly vesture and his form, And hear the eternal doom re-echoing rend s9 The vault So pass'd we through that mixture foul Of spirits and rain, with tardy steps; meanwhile Touching, though slig rhtly, on the life to come. For thus I questionid: “ Shallythesestontuness sie When the great sentence passes, be increased. Or mitigated, or as now severe? He then: “Consult thy knowledge; that decides, >) OTOWS, oO That, as each thing to more perfection It feels more sensibly both good and pain. Though ne’er to true perfection may arrive This race accurst, yet nearer then, than now, They shall approach it.” Compassing that path, Circuitous we journey'd; and discourse, Much more than I relate, between us pass'd: Till at the point, whence the steps led below, Arrived, there Plutus, the great foe, we found.CANTO WI. — eRe GW Vis ey Nee: he fourth circle, at the beginning of which he sees Plutus lescent into t rich is, to meet in direful conflict, rolling In the present canto Dante describes his « stationed. Here one like doom awaits the prodigal and the avaricious ; wl ‘ : es Pe Alanbraidipos: Ero! ence Viroil takes occasion to show how vain the great weights against each other with mutual upbraidings. From hence Virgil takes occasi0l arge of Fortune, and this moves our . « wot : antes 1 i i { to inquire what being that Fortune goods which are committed into the chars inquire what being +1 aa autnor lO oe et ee ee nen] earl mete foOOndOWD. ICC . fifth circle, where they find the is, of whom he speaks: which question being resolved, they go down into the filth circle, where they t wrathful and gloomy tormented.in the Stygian lake. Having made a compass round great part ol this lake, they come at last to the base of a lofty tower. ae mel © Satan! Satan! loud exclaim’'d Plutus, in accent hoarse of wild alarm: And the kind sage, whom no event surprised, To comfort me thus spake: ° Let not thy fear Harm thee, for power in him, be sure 1S none To hinder down this rock thy swift descent. Then to that swollen lip turning, “ Peace!” he cried, “Curst wolf! thy fury inward on thyself Prey, and consume thee! Through the dark profound, Not without cause, he passes. So ‘tis willd On high, there where the great Archangel pour d Heaven's vengeance on the first adulterer proud.” As sails, full spread and bellying with the wind, Drop suddenly collapsed, if the mast split ; So to the ground down dropped the cruel fiend. Thus we, descending to the fourth steep ledge, Gain’d on the dismal shore, that all the woe Hems in of all the universe. Ah me! Almighty Justice! in what store thou heapsst New pains, new troubles, as I here beheld. Wherefore doth fault of ours bring us to this ? F’en as a billow, on Charybdis rising, Against encounter'd billow dashing breaks ; Such is the dance this wretched race must lead, 36es fi ALI ee ——— —— SS SS a He PA | Hi Hh a) SS —— SS —— SS —————— =e Ps ———— z Feet So ~ Z SSS —S — \\ i t Canto VIT., lunes 8, 9. —_— oO WY a re ~ re) © oO oS = - c ~~ = ~ ry + ts ue Lo ry it + — Ty — = > was) ep) ~ S Prey, and consume thee. a : Z Be ye] a DA i. fy ae i re ae ey eM) fs RA CUR oa DRY tor Kl aay oy yD Co een ute ae h NRO. 6 (6 SA WN AN BQN LOY k i Ly ri PAA ne TM ae aa Rat KG Y Ai Ue i 7 NY NT } a RH BW Re i a ALA yet \ NA q aTCanto VII., lines 65-67. Not all the gold that is beneath the moon, Or ever hath been, or these toil-worn souls, Might purchase rest for one. os Ss = . <>. Between the dry embankment, and the core e : : scones ‘ e Pee es ey Nee AN Of the loath’d pool, turning meanwhile our eyes Downward on those who gulp’d its muddy lees ; Nor stopp’d, till to a towers low base we came.CANTO VIII. ——_——_ A kG Ovi Ne: af : i > ferryman c e lake, s ly crosses it, and con- A signal having been made from the tower, Phlegyas, the ferryman of the lake, speedil} S Virgil and Dante to the other side. On their passage ae met with Filippo Argenti, whose fury and torment vey gl ¢ c C S1¢ > 5 ) described. They then arrive at the city of Dis, the entrance whereto is denied, and the portals closed against are des . ) a - J them by many demons. M Y theme pursuing I relate, that ere \ We reach’d the lofty turret’s base, our eyes Its height ascended, where we markd uphung Two cressets, and another saw from far Return the signal, so remote, that scarce The eye could catch its beam. I, turning round, To the deep source of knowledge, thus inquired: “Say what this means; and what, that other light L In answer set: what agency doth this Uhenevon the nlthy, waters; se tet “Een now what next awaits us mayst thou see, If the marsh-gendered fog conceal it not.” Never was arrow from the cord dismiss’d That ran its way so nimbly through the air, As a small barque, that through the waves I spied Toward us coming, under the sole sway Of one that ferried it, who cried aloud, ‘Art thou arrived, fell Spirit ?” —“ Phle egyas, Phle This time thou criest in vain,” my lord rephed ; “No longer shalt thou have us, but while o’er o Cova The slimy pool we pass.” As one who hears Of some great wrong he hath sustain’d, whereat Inly he pines, so Phlegyas inly pined eS) In his fierce ire. My guide, « descending, stepp'd 40a e A oes on =x ott Seu BcKd 4 = — = a = . = 7 = ; é = 3 . ec Na } ana LS ee eS et pe Now seest thou, son! The souls of those, whom anger overcame, Canto VILL, dines 118, 119.HN i Nill Ha a | Hi | | ) ay a ti HN ale —— = qe es SSS 2= = SSS] ee ao —— =aiee = a —— So SSS = <= — SS a = = ee = Hi) i} i A 7 an Bua y EA i SSS == = = — i= = 27-20. Canto VILI., lines Soon as both embark’d, Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow, More deeply than with others it is wont.HELL.—CANTO VIII. Into the skiff and bade me enter next, Close at his side; nor, till my entrance, seem’d | The vessel freighted. Soon as both embark’d, Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow, More deeply than with others is its wont. \ While we our course o’er the dead channel held, | One drench’d in mire before me came, and said, ' | “Who art thou, that thus comest ere thine hour ?” | | answer d, ~ Though | come, I tarry not: But who art thou, that art become so foul >?” “One, as thou seest, who mourn,” he straight replied. To which I thus: “In mourning and in woe, | Curst spirit! tarry thou. I know thee well, | thus in filth disguised.” Then stretch’d he forth ] Hands to the barque ; whereof my teacher sage Aware, thrusting him back: “ Away! down there To the other dogs!” then, with his arms my neck | encircling, kiss'd my cheek, and ‘spakes | ©) soul; blest was she in whom i = Bae) = Seon one Justly disdaint Thou wast conceived. He in the world was one For arrogance noted: to his memory No virtue lends its luster; even so Here is his shadow furious. There above, How many now hold themselves mighty kings, Who here like swine shall wallow in the mire, Leaving behind them horrible dispraise.” | I then: “Master! him fain would I behold | Whelm’d in these dregs, before we quit the lake.” He thus: “Or ever to thy view the shore Be offer’d, satisfied shall be that wish, Which well deserves completion.” Scarce his words Were ended, when I saw the miry tribes Set on him with such violence, that yet For that I render thanks to God, and praise. | “To Filippo Argenti! cried they all: And on himself the moody FlorentineTHE VISION. Turn’d his avenging fangs. Him here we left, Nor speak I of him more. But on mine ear Sudden a sound of lamentation smote, Whereat mine eye unbarr'd I sent abroad. And thus the good instructor: © Now, my son, Draws near the city, that of Dis is named, With its grave denizens, a mighty throng.’ I thus: “The minarets already, sir! There, certés, in the valley I descry, Gleaming vermilion, as if they from fire Had issued.” ‘He replied: “Eternal fire, That inward burns, shows them with ruddy flame Illumed; as in this nether hell thou seest.” We came within the fosses deep, that moat This region comfortless. The walls appear’d As they were framed. in iron. We had made Wide circuit, ere a place we reach’d where loud The mariner cried vehement, “Go forth: ithe! entrance is here” Upon the gates I spied More than a thousand, who of old from Heéaven Were showerd. With ireful gestures, “Who is this,” They cried, “that, without death first felt, goes through The regions of the dead?” My sapient guide Made sign. that he for secret parley wish d ; Whereat their angry scorn abating, thus They spake: “Come thow alone; and Jet him ‘go, Who has so hardily entered this realm. Alone return he by his witless way; If well he know it, let him prove, “or thee Here shalt thou tarry, who through clime so dark Hast been his escort.’ Now bethink thee, reader! What cheer was mine at sound of those curst words. I did believe I never should return. “Oh, my loved guide! who more than seven times Security hast render’'d me, and drawn From peril deep, whereto I stood exposed,KO ‘ i \ \ | | nN 2 = 2 ~- = ee = = = = =e 5 ss SSS ee a eee : — ae — Sees SSS eee tipi 7 ae \ My teacher sage Aware, thrusting him back: “ Away! down there To the other dogs! Canto VIIT., lines 39-41.ae | AN Z ee AWN Ow Wy iY HAN lh 7 \ i) h Ms H ee i sn { } } | | i i) q : ) we | HH) i) \ Ce: Hl — ——————— = = —— = = (= : = es = S A = =a SS = : Se = = ——————— ——— = — a. = SSS == : = === a SSS es =—— == = a SSS — == SSW SSS Se == = z = = ae — = = = a = ey i] ———— ———————— Canto VIL1., lines 110, I1t. a ————————— SS -~-- SSS SF =F —— = z = Ire ere === = = > = == ee oe ee Ss = Z == S = = meee E ——————— : = Akt Tee IDS <== = — SR = - = x = CECE sn DOS S — L— = = = => > = So = SSS = ANY ANN ANNI, Ny ie Wenl\t | \\ } | SSS I could not hear what terms he offer'd them, But they conferr’d not long. == SSS = SSS SSS LZ — SS = z = SN = ——— S t —F3 J iI SH s/ t - po yy NOY ao) Hay \ f Gh “ff A SII UY. yy i] Wh PAULL DU | if UTM / i a { y u A EME AES NINA “ss , AAI) Wi / GUNG y i yal | } Yi i Bet] Mh HA tA Up i REE WA q MY AAU SECU A b | i ZY Ql AAR f TA z } NH | i] i = == Fa = SSH] ti ! j | } We Lie BY Ni bsd RS oS NS: ) i ) i a Hee eT Vas VTC.) aCe ih 1) iHELL.—CANTO VIII. Desert me not,’ I cried, “in this extreme, And, if our onward going be denied, Together trace we back our steps with speed.” My liege, who thither had conducted me, Keplied: “ear not: for of our passase none Hath power to disappoint us, by such high Authority permitted. Sut do thou Expect me here; meanwhile thy weary spirit Comfort, and feed with kindly hope, assured ] i I will not leave thee in this lower world.” This ‘said, departs the sire benevolent, And quits me. Hesitating I remain At war, ‘twixt will and will not, in my thoughts. I could not hear what terms he offered them, But they conferr’'d not long, for all at once Pellmell rush d back within. Closed were the gates, 3y those our adversaries, on the breast Of my liege lord: excluded, he return’d To me with tardy steps. Upon the eround His eyes were bent, and from his brow erased All confidence, while thus in sighs he spake: “Who hath denied me these abodes of woe?” Then thus to me: “That I am angerd, think No ground of terror: im this tala Shall vanquish, use what arts they may within For hindrance. This their insolence, not new, Erewhile at gate less secret they display d, Which still is without bolt; upon its arch Thou saw’st the deadly scroll: and even now, On this side of its entrance, down the steep, Passing the circles, unescorted, comes One whose strong might can open us this, lana:After some hindrances, and having seen t angel, enters the city of Dis, wherein he disc and he, together with Virgil CANTO IA: ARGUMENT: he hellish furies and other monsters, the poet, by the help of an overs that the heretics are punished in tombs burning with intense fire: " passes onward between the sepulchers and the walls of the city. HE hue, which coward dread on my pale cheeks Imprinted when I saw my guide turn back, Chased that from his which newly they had worn, And inwardly resttaim.ceut. ie, aS One Who listens, stood attentive: for his, eye Not far could lead him through the sable air, And the thick-gathering cloud. “It yet behoves We win this fight; fhiisehe became = i Mot Such aid to us is offerd— Oh! how long Me seems it, ere the promised help. arrive I noted, how the sequel of his words Cloked their beginning; for the last he spake C mye L eg j 1 Se re first. But not the less Ww 4 Agreed not with tl My fear was at his saying; sith I drew To import worse, perchance, fhan that le: held: Elis mutilated speech. “Doth ever any Into this rueful concave’s extreme depth Descend, out of the first degree, whose pain Is deprivation merely of sweet hope ee Thus I inquiring. “Rarely,” he replied, “Tt chances, that among us any makes This journey, which I wend: Erewhile, ‘tis true, Once came I here beneath, conjured by fell Erictho, sorceress, who compell’d the shades Back to their bodies. No long space my flesh 44m ane a 7) an My Waly Ps Eran! ta SLs BES : SS Lp OE See ened 7 7, 4 Canto [X., “ne 4i mI Rv HV i Hl HHH | : / | Ki | i i i a a i i i H Ih i ‘i i i HHH WA AAlh j ih HN Hi SS | | | i | hi i ih i ae il il a | : i ie ~ oO © ~ oO ao on) = —_ ~ — — _ o O S ~~ "Ty 2) mad o a b 5 wn) — ah ce ~ S _ Y a @ n~ o ct - @ O a — — Open without impediment it flew. (hd ray ae Oa 4 i Bice mt Duh AHH aka SM WN as aie Hh LLU BTA My LY Wisi ; hi ‘ , we iG a Ht UT, YG HY) GY) § 2 Le ie Nea: ae A RU oh I) h ms a iL i LLLHELL.—CANTO IX. Was naked of me, when within these walls She made me enter, to draw forth a spirit From out of Judas’ circle. Lowest place Is that of all, obscurest, and removed Furthest from Heaven's all-circling orb. The road Full well I know: thou therefore rest secure. That lake, the noisome stench exhaling, round The city of grief encompasses, which now We may not enter without rage. Verainore Eie-added: but Lhold it not imma: For that mine eye toward the lofty tower Had drawn me wholly, to its burning top ; Where, in an instant, I beheld uprisen At once three hellish furies, stain’d with blood: In limb and motion feminine they seemed ; Around them greenest hydras twisting roll'd ‘Their volumes; adders and cerastes crept Instead of hair, and their fierce temples bound. He, knowing well the miserable hags Who tend the queen of endless woe, thus spake: “Mark thou each dire Erynnis. lo the left, This is Megzera; on the right hand, she Who wails, Alecto; and Tisiphone l’ th’ midst.” This said, in silence he remain’d. Their breast they each one clawing tore, themselves Smote with their palms, and such thrill clamor raised That to the bard I clung, suspicion-bound. “ Fasten Medusa: so to adamant Him shall we change”; all looking down exclaim d: ‘Ben when by Theseus’ might assail’d, we took No ill revenge.’ Jurn thyself round, and keep Thy countenance hid; for if the Gorgon dire Be shown, and thou shouldst view it, thy return Upwards would be forever lost. This said, Himself, my gentle master, turn'd me round ; Nor trusted he my hands, but with his ownIBUS, WATSON: He also hid me. Ye of intellect Sound and entire, mark well the lore conceal’d Under close texture of the mystic strain. And now there came o’er the perturbed waves Loud-crashing, terrible, a sound that made Either shore tremble, as if of a wind Impetuous, from conflicting vapors sprung, That ’gainst some forest driving all his might, oO Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and hurls Afar; then, onward passing, proudly sweeps His whirlwind rage, while beasts and shepherds fly. Mine eyes he loosed, and spake: “And now direct Thy visual nerve along that ancient foam, there sthickest where! the smoke ascends’, “As fogs Before their foe the serpent, through the wave Ply swiftly all, till at the ground each one Lies on a heap; more than a thousand spirits Destroy'd, so saw I fleeing before one Who pass’d with unwet feet the Stygian sound. He from his face removing the gross air, Oft his left hand forth stretch’d, and seem’d alone By that annoyance wearied. I perceived That he was sent from Heaven; and to my guide Turn'd me, who signal made, that I should stand Quiet, and bend to him. Ah me! how full Of noble anger seem’d he. To the gate He came, and with his wand touch’d it, whereat Open without impediment it flew. “Outcasts of heaven! Oh. abject race, and scorn’d!” Began he, on the horrid grunsel standing, " Whence doth this wild excess of insolence Lodge in you? wherefore kick you gainst that will Neer minusmeatemotts: enc and which ise oft Hath laid on you enforcement of your pangs ? What profits, at the fates to butt the horn? Your Cerberus, if ye remember, hence98—.131 HELL.—CANTO IX. Bears still, peel’d of their hair, his throat and maw. This said, he turn’d back o’er the filthy way, And syllable to us spake none; but wore The semblance of a man by other care Beset, and keenly prest, than thought of him Who in his presence stands. Then we our steps Toward that territory moved, secure After the hallow’d words. We, unopposed, There enter'd; and, my mind eager to learn What state a fortress like to that might hold, I. soon as enter’d, throw mine eye around, And see, on every part, wide-stretching space, Replete with bitter pain and torment ill. As where Rhone stagnates on the plains of Arles, Or as at Pola, near Quarnaro’s gulf, That closes Italy and laves her bounds, The place is all thick spread with sepulchers ; So was it here, save what in horror here Excell’d: for ‘midst the graves were scatter'd flames, Wherewith intensély all throughout they burn'd, 7 That iron for no craft there hotter needs. Their lids all hung suspended; and beneath, From them forth issued lamentable moans, C 1 ore Ge as eee ee ei [Ge oe ees Such as the sad and tortured well might raise. is Master ! SAY who Ane tlese, THnteHh ct — aa — J Within these vaults, of whom distinct we hear The dolorous sighs.” He answer thus return'd: The arch-heretics are here, accompanied By every sect their followers ; and much more Than thou believest, the tombs are freighted: like With like is buried; and the monuments Are different in degrees of heat.” This said, He to the right hand turning, on we pass d om Reet Betwixt the afflicted and the ramparts high.Cavalcanti, who/lie in their fiery tombs that are yet open, and . 1 aye eT ues RIATAnCAL: Farinata predicts the poet’s exile from Florence ; CANTO X. ———. : SL aT ae ARGO Nine Dante, having obtained permission from his guide, holds discourse with Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante Vante, aving oODtall I S10 I § ) 1d not to be closee up till after the last judgment. and shows him that the condemned have knowledg> of future is at present ing, unless it be revealed by some new comer from heart things, but are ignorant of what is at present passing, unless it be revealed by so N TOW by a secret pathway we’ proceed, N Between the walls that hem the region round, And the tormented souls: my master first, I close behind his steps: “Virtue supreme! I thus began: “who through these ample orbs In circuit lead’st me, even*as thou will st: Speak thou, and satisfy my wish. May those Who lie within these sepulchres, be seen?” Already ‘all the lids are raised, and none O’er them keeps watch. He thus in answer spake: “They ‘shall be closed all, what time they here From Josaphat return’d shall come, and bring Their bodies, which above they now have left, The cemetery on this part obtain, With Epicurus, all his followers, Who with the body make the spirit die. Here therefore satisfaction shall be soon, Both to the question asked, and to the wish Which thou conceal’st in silence.” I Kepluied: “I keep not, guide beloved! from thee my heart Secreted, but to shun vain length of words ; A lesson erewhile taught me by thyself.” ©; Dtsean ! thou; who through the city of fire Alive art passing, so discreet of Speech: Q 48g Ss == Ss Th ‘in og 7B$wB a mn ————— ‘ AN \\in = HY \ SSS SEN Sh NUH Pin i NEA SS BZ “1 = i = I He answer thus returnd: “The arch-heretics are here, accompanied By every sect their followers.” Cantce 1X., lines 124-126.A u id . 5 , ” i e 4 Ci c ; b o £ . : vd y ; : 7 ” : : 5 a . - . is save bs 5 5 7 Bs - a 5 A ni 4 be “ ra U 3 A Ly : F o es i] Tat storey A Pils bs i} 1 ra Pen hh i Tr | cee i jie | i i i ! a AS iN aay . \ NANAVAU NY Na) \ \\ \ iN Ny SEAR haat EAN ai Tape Nii haya eat \s \ \\ uN AN A is ao ee TTT | i mya a i A ay a) HE s \ \ \ y) i \ wt \\ X M i Z = ANNA , BB = iN ee | its = ) Si Ki i a ll ‘ | Wi nu | a | wy i r i] HT ( } | I ! nh ) anlar MA i Wye . i { } ( | nl Siti Lie a es ee PRE Hw Sr Tie we st i} Min 5 ve Ne urs yah i Warr NY Ney aN ‘) i} ; \ ‘ " \ Hi ‘ s) ‘ Ma Wy Y iy i \ ARRAN AVA \ aL NSD aay ‘\ He, soon as there I stood at the tomb’s foot, Eyed me a space; then in a disdainful mood Address’d me: “Say what ancestors were thine.” Sear ee err eer are 2b Canto X.HELL.—CANTO: X. Here, please thee stay awhile. Thy utterance Declares the place of thy nativity To | I too severely dealt.’ Sudden that sound yy ye that noble land, with which perchance Forth issued from:a vault, whereat, in fear, I somewhat closer to my leader's side Approaching, he thus spake: “What. dost thou? Turn: Lo! Farinata there, who hath himself Uphited : from his girdle upwards, all Exposed, behold him.’ On‘ his face was mine Already fxd: his breast and forehead there Erecting, seem’d as in high scorn he held ia sf ) TeRPT) TH » <7 ] Trac Y 11 E en hell. Detween the sepulchres, to him - My guide thrust me, with fearless hands and prompt; This warning added: .““See-thy words be clear.” He. soon as I there stood at the tomb’s foot, Eyed mea space ; then in disdainful mood Address'd me: “Say what ancestors. were thine. I, willing ) = ] r hin tenicrh -axyreql|’ cd to obey him, Straight reveal d 1 The whole, nor kept back aught: whence he, his brow Somewhat uplifting, cried: “ Fiercely were they Adverse to me, my party, and the blood From whence I sprang: twice, therefore, | abroad < Scatter’'d them.” ‘Though driven out, yet they each time From all parts, answer'd I, “return’d; an art Which yours have shown they are not skill’d to learn. Then, peering forth from the unclosed jaw, Rose from his:side a shade, high as the chin, Leaning, methought, upon its knees upraised. It look’d around, as eager to explore If there were other with me; but perceiving That fond imagination quench’d, with tears ais Spake. oo li Led by thy lofty genius and profound, Where is mv son? and wherefore not With,-thee ?, I straight replied: “ Not of myself I come; © *thou through this blind prison gost,APIELS, WILSON By him, who there expects me, through this clime Conducted, whom perchance Guido thy son Had in contempt.” Already had his words And mode of punishment read me his name, Whence I so fully answer'd. le ar Ones Exclaim’d, up starting, “ How! said’st thou, he had? No longer lives he ° Strikes not on his eye The blessed daylight ?” Then, of some delay I made ere my reply, aware, down fell Supine, nor after forth appeard he more. Meanwhile the other, great of soul, near whom I yet was station’d, changed not countenance stern. Nor moved the neck, nor bent his ribbed side. ‘And if,’ continuing the first discourse, jMineyimearmiswarts, le cried, “small skill have shown; That doth torment me more e’en than this bed. But not yet fifty times shall be relumed Her aspect, who reigns here queen of thi Ere thou shalt know the full weight of that art. So to the pleasant world mayst thou return, As thou shalt tell me why, in all their laws, us reali day ao my kin this people is so fell.” The slaughter and great havoc,” I replied, “That colord Arbia’s flood with crimson stain — To these impute, that in our hallow’d dome Such orisons ascend.” Sighing he shook The head, then thus resumed: “In that affray I stood not singly, nor, without just cause, Assuredly, should with the rest have stirr’d; But singly there I stood, when, by consent Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed, The one who openly forbade the deed.” “So may thy lineage find at last repose,” I thus adjured him, “as thou solve this knot, Which now involves my mind. If right I hear, Ye seem to view beforehand that which timeLeads with him, of the present uninform’d “We view, as one who hath an evil sight,” He answer d., So much of his large splendor yet imparts The Almighty Ruler: but when they approach, \ Or actually exist, our intellect a y (mn Then wholly falls > nor Of vou human state if Except what others brin; Hence therefore mayst thou understand, that all Our knowledge in that instant shall expire, When on futurity the portals close.” Then conscious of my fault, and by remorse } Smitten, I added thus: “ Now shalt thou say To him there LSSto the liv That if from answer, silent, I abstain’d, ‘Twas that my thought was occupied, intent Upon that error, which thy help hath solved But now my master summoning me back I heard, and with more eager haste besought The spirit to inform me, who with him Partook his lot. He answer thus returnd: ‘More than a thousand with me here are laid. Within is Frederick, second of that name, And the Lord Cardinal; and of the rest I speak not.” He, this said, from sight withdrew. | But I my steps toward the ancient bard Reverting, ruminated on the words Betokening me such ill. Onward he moved, And thus, in going, question’d: “Whence the amaze That holds thy senses wrapt?” | satisfied The inquiry, and the sage enjoin’d me straight: “Tet thy safe memory store what thou hast heard To thee importing harm ; and note thou this,” | With his raised finger bidding me take heed, “When thou shalt stand before her gracious beam, ‘plainly, objects far remote ; re 4 a a meee ee Sas=l fallen, that his offspring still ) Ine HELL.—-CANTO X. ) oO Cc y us, know we aught. =~ 1] < joind; and bid him know, 9tes Val SOE Whose bright eye all surveys, she of thy life The future tenor will to thee unfold.” Forthwith he to the left hand turn’d his feet: We left the wall, and towards the middle space Went by a path that to a valley strikes, Which e’en thus high exhaled its noisome steam.GANIC \\ \\\ \ i \ ) R Ro NAS VN \\ \ “i 4 \} ‘| \ \ y' ww —— —— ——— SS ae ss AI WY AWN\\\ \ = AY \\ \ \\\\\ \ \ \\ XS Vs nN \\ — ——= = : a = AI Wi \ \ \ WAN SSS \ \\\ \ = \\ \\\ Ms \ er —— LL LSSSSSSSSS=—= Ry \ \\\ WN <\\\ A = \\ \\ AW \ \ BAM |\\ NAN = — SSS —— ANN om | BED AYR OANA \" SSS —/ a ASS SS . Ne : AN dS \ ‘ \\ = = LL SSSSS= SS i SSS = S BN Ih Aires tC \ A: hy Ss Wns \\F on in aby) \ os ee ge IZ i ZS ea ars ee se, toa a . PH AIS NS WO NWN Ns ‘ SSS 7) ‘| NWN SSS Sv” ‘i ZW INA ei OS S R S Y Uf i Aen HAL : eR CL NN | TRESS S \ AS S 4 Z J i Hi ps Gv SS, Wy, Y 4 SS \ = SS: OA YS GME, i Ys SSSSWSSS= ZZ MMII dlls { ” - een Foal ges From the profound abyss, behind the Of a great monument we stood retired. Canto XI., lines 6, 7.Septeertad et ear aaees ty ty Ly f Vp, Bh ay Y, RARER NSE WWE And there At point of the disparted ridge lay stretch’d The infamy of Crete, detested brood Of the feign’d heifer. Canto XII... lines 11-14, WY p if qs i yj 4 Yi y Z We a ts WE WY, WY NM a ig Fi y y, ey Uf phe Se} Wy YZ " i / if if. | y LT De sy Aol aa 77, Ly) wa Z Wey a7 Lip Pa YY) yi ; A ey He yy) Gp ty Y MENGE YY Lo Y, VA oy Le ee Am UF, \ AQ AS x SS SS SS SY >) E\ WY nS WS SS ENS WMS x RQ a) wo QsCANTO XI. ARGUMEN I. Dante arrives at the veroe of ar 1c. opeae 1: 1 r ives at the verge of a rocky precipice which encloses the seventh circle, where he sees the sepulchre > of nastasius the heretic; behind the lid of which pausing a little, to make himself capable by degrees of enduring weet ona steamed upward from the abyss, he is instructed by Virgil concerning the manner in which the three following circles are disposed, and what description of sinners is punished in each. He then inquires the reason why the carnal, the gluttonous, the avaricious and prodigal, the wrathful and gloomy, suffer not their punish. ments within the city of Dis. He next asks how the crim pie oe - : a ee ae wie MR AAS He next asks how the crime of usury is an offense against God ; and at length the two oets go toward the place from whence a passag ads dc l i Pp & | the piace trom whence a passage leads down to the seventh circle. PON the utmost verge of a high bank, By craggy rocks environ’d round, we came, Where woes beneath, more cruel yet, were stow d ; And here, to shun the horrible excess Of fetid exhalation upward cast From the profound abyss, behind the lid Of a great monument we stood retired, Whereon this scroll I mark’d: “I have in charge Pope Anastasius, whom Photinus drew From the right path.’ —‘“ Ere our descent, behoves We make delay, that somewhat first the sense, To the dire breath accustom'd, afterward Regard it not.” My master thus; to whom Answering | spake: “Some compensation find, That the time pass not wholly lost.” He then: “Lo! how my thoughts een to thy wishes tend. My son, within these rocks,” he thus began, “ Are three close circles in eradation placed, As these which now thou leavest. Each one is full Of spirits accurst ; but that the sight alone Hereafter may suffice thee, listen how And for what cause in durance they abide. “Of all malicious act abhorr'd in Heaven, 53ee VEISTON: {The end is injury; and all such end Either by force or fraud works other’s woe. But fraud, because of man peculiar evil, To God is more displeasing; and beneath, The fraudulent are therefore doom’d to endure Severere pane.) dihic violent occupy Nillthe tinst circle; and because, to, force, Three persons-are obnoxious, in three rounds, Each within other separate, is it framed. To God, his neighbor, and himself, by man Rorcepmay be offerd: to himselt I say, And his possessions, as thou soon shalt hear At full. Death, violent death, and painful wounds Upon his neighbor he infirets;~and wastes, By devastation, pillage, and the flames, His substance. Slayers, and each one that smites In malice, plunderers, and all robbers, hence The torment undergo of the first round, In different herds. Man can do violence To himself and his own blessings: and for this, He in the second round must aye deplore With unavailing penitence his crime. Whoe'er deprives himself of life and light, 1g In reckless lavishment his talent wastes, a ~ And sorrows there where he should dwell in JOY. To God may force be offer’d, in the heart Denying and blaspheming his high power, Oo And Nature with her kindly law contemning. And thence the inmost round marks with its seal Sodom, and Cahors, and all such as speak Contemptuously of the Godhead in their hearts. “Fraud, that in every conscience leaves a sting, May be by man employ’d on one, whose trust He wins, or on another who withholds Strict confidence. Seems as the latter way Broke but the bond of love which Nature makes.HELL.—CANTO XI. Whence in the second circle have their nest, Dissimulation, witchcraft, flatteries, Theft, falsehood, simony, all who seduce To lust, or set their honesty at pawn, With such vile scum as these. The other way Forgets both Nature’s general love, and that Which thereto added afterward gives birth To special faith. Whence in the lesser circle, Point of the universe, dread seat of Dis, The traitor is eternally consumed. ' I thus: “Instructor, clearly thy discourse Proceeds, distinguishing the hideous chasm And its inhabitants with skill exact. But tell me this: they of the dull, fat pool, Whom the rain beats, or whom the tempest drives, Or who with tongues so fierce conflicting meet, Wherefore within the city fire-illumed Are not these punish d, if God's wrath be on them? And if it be not, wherefore in such guise Are they condemn’d?” He answer thus return d : “ Wherefore in dotage wanders thus thy mind, Not so accustom’d? or what other thoughts Possess it? Dwell not in thy memory The words, wherein thy ethic page describes Three dispositions averse to Heaven's will, Incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness, And how incontinence the least offends God, and least guilt incurs? If well thou note This judgment, and remember who they are, Without these walls to vain repentance doom d, Thou shalt discern why they apart are placed From these fell spirits, and less wreakful pours Justice divine on them its vengeance down. ‘Oh. sun! who healest all imperfect sight, Thou so contentst me, That ignorance not less than knowledge charms. when thou solvest my doubt,THE ViISLON: Vet somewhat turn thee back,” I in these words Continued, “where thou ,said’st, that usury Offends celestial Goodness.; and this knot He thus made reply: 9 Perplex’d unravel “ Philosophy, to an attentive ear, Clearly points out, not in one part alone, How imitative Nature takes her course From the celestial mind, and from its art: And where her laws the Stagirite unfolds, Not many leaves scann’d o'er, observing well Thou shalt discover, that your art on her Obsequious follows, as the learner treads In his instructor's step; so that your art Deserves the name of second in descent From God.. “these two, if thou recall to_mind Creation’s holy book, from the beginning Were the right source of life and excellence To human kind. . But in another path The usurer ,walks; and Nature in herself And in her follower thus he sets at nought, Placing elsewhere his hope. But follow now My steps on forward journey bent; for now olance The Pisces play with undulating g Along the horizon, and the Wain lies all O'er the northwest; and onward there a Space Is our steep passage down the rocky height.”i i Ui it i ie mn i nh y/ ae ee ae SN i ea i i i ! oe ah Sa ond = Cani‘o XTI., lines 58, 59- “Say, to what pain ye come Condemn’d, who down this steep have journey’d.” One cried from far: HH Ht hen = — SS = . 3 SS ws = == = —— > [= SS SS Ss Ss —— ——s x . : ae : i Xs Mi : a e A Ht i Ge) ne vee tH ——— =~ ne == SS aa i‘ ———, — SS SS aa Li a = = it nt fh IAil \ UHH Roe i VII AY co Y HH ite | YI Hilt iy hint THY “ Haul Hen | HH i ili nie | i Hi Me Ht a i We to those beasts, that rapid strode along, 3; 74. > / XIT., lines CaitloCANTO XII. XA (GU! IE IN| AP: Descending by a very rugged way into the seventh circle. whe re the violent are punished, Dante and his leader find it guarded by the Minotaur : whnace fa. r |} 7 nNacif#an hw Ts + j wnose tury being pacified by Virgil, they step downwards from crag to crag ; till 5 ry ner hea her - fe baton ere piled ese cere c | | ;. Gane eae ‘ sey = drawing near the bottom, they descry a river of blood, wherein are tormented such as have committed violence against Lateinaico hin; an gee ep gene ex ae foes pe es von . 1 : their neighbor. At these, when they strive to emerge from the blood, a troop of Centaurs, running along the side of the river, aim their arrows ; and three of their band opposing our travelers at the foot of the steep, Virgil prevails so far, that one consents to carry them both across the stream ; and on their passage Dante is informed by him of the course of the river, and of those that are punished therein, sl ages place, where to descend the precipice We came, was rough as Alp; and on its verge Such object lay, as every eye would shun. As is that ruin, which Adice’s stream On this side Trento struck, shouldering the wave, Or loosed by earthquake or for lack of prop ; For from the mountain’s summit, whence it moved To the low level, so the headlong rock Is shiver'd, that some passage it might give To him who from above would pass; e’en such Into the chasm was that descent: and there At point of the disparted ridge lay stretch’d The infamy of Crete, detested brood Of the feign'd heifer: and at sight of us It gnaw d itself, as one with rage distract. To him my guide exclaimd: “Perchance thou deem’st The King of Athens here, who, in the world Above, thy death contrived. Monster! avaunt! He comes not tutor’d by thy sister’s art, But to behold your torments is he come.” Like to a bull, that with impetuous spring Darts, at the moment when the fatal blow Hath struck him but unable to proceed o/THE VISION. Plunges on either side: so saw I plunge e ep ea Dp ie The Minotaur; whereat the sage exclaim ae “Run to the passage! while he storms, ‘tis well That thou descend.” Thus down our road we took Through those dilapidated crags, that olt ; ~ i . 5 1 ‘ < et Moved underneath my teet, to weight like theirs Unused. I pondering went, and thus he spake: “Perhaps thy thoughts are of this rum d steep, Guarded by the brute violence, which I Have vanquished now. Know then, that when I erst Hither descended to the nether hell, But past doubt This rock was not yet. fallen. (If well I mark), not long ere He arrived, Who carried off from Dis the mighty spoil Of the highest circle, then through all its bounds Such trembling seized the deep concave and foul, I thought the universe was thrill’d with love, Whereby, there are who deem, the world hath oft Been into chaos turn’d:. and in that point, Here. and elsewhere, that old rock toppled down. But fix thine eyes beneath: the river of blood Approaches, in the which all those are steep d, Who have by violence injurd.” Oh, blind lust! Oh, foolish wrath! who so dost goad us on In the brief life, and in the eternal then Thus miserably o’erwhelm us. I beheld. An ample fosse, that in a bow was bent, As circling all the plain; for so my guide Had told. Between it and the rampart’s base, On trail ran Centaurs, with keen arrows armid, As to the chase they on the earth were wont. At seeing us descend they each one stood ; And issuing from the troop, three sped with bows And missile weapons chosen first; of whom One cried from'far: “Say, to what pain ye come Condemn'd, who down this steep have journey d. SpeakHELL.—-CANTO XII. From whence ye stand, or else the bow I draw. To whom my guide: “Our answer shall be made To Chiron, there, when nearer him we come. Ill was thy mind, thus ever quick and rash.” Then me he touch’d, and Spake: “Nessus is this, Who for the fair Deianira died. And wrought himself revenge for his own fate. He in the midst, that on his breast looks down. Is the great Chiron who Achilles nursed ; That other, Pholus, prone to wrath.” Around The fosse these go by thousands, aiming shafts At whatsoever spirit dares emerge From out the blood, more than his guilt allows. We to those: beasts, that rapid strode along, Drew near; when Chiron took an .arrow forth, And with the notch push’d back his shaggy beard To the cheek-bone, then, his great mouth to view Exposing, to his fellows thus exclaim’d: “Are ye aware, that. he who comes behind Moves what he touches? The feet of the dead Are not so wont. My trusty guide, who now Stood near his breast, where the two natures join, Thus made teply: * Ele 1s indeed alive’ And solitary so must needs by me Be shown the gloomy vale, thereto induced By strict necessity, not by delight. She left her joyful harpings in the sky, Who this new office to my care consign’d. | He is no robber, no dark spirit I. But by that virtue, which empowers my step To tread so wild a path, grant us, | pray, One of thy band, whom we may trust secure, Who to the ford may lead us, and convey Across. him mounted on his back; for he Is not a spirit that may walk the air.” Then on his right breast turning, Chiron thus >)60 THE VISION. g6—131. To Nessus spake: “ Return, and be their guide. And if you chance to cross another troop, Command them keep aloof. Onward we moved, The faithful escort by our side, along The border of the crimson-seething flood, hose steep'd within, loud shrieks arose. Whence, from t as high as to their brow Some there I mark’d, Immersed, of whom the mighty Centaur thus : “These are the souls of tyrants, who were given To blood and rapine. Here they wail aloud Their merciless wrongs. Here Alexander dwells, And Dionysius fell, who many a year Of woe wrought for fair Sicily. That brow, Whereon the hair so jetty clustering hangs, Is Azzolino; that with flaxen locks Obizzo of Este, in the world destroyd By his foul step-son. lo the bard revered I turn’d me round, and thus he spake: “Let him Be to thee now first leader, me but next Mountim means Lhen further on a space The Centaur passed, near some, who at the throat Were extant from the wave; and, showing us A spirit by itself apart retired, Exclaim’d: “He in God’s bosom smote the heart, Which yet is honor’d on the bank of Thames.” A race J next espied who held the head, And even all the bust, above the stream. ‘Midst these I many a face remember'd well. Thus shallow more and more the blood became, Southatatelastmt but inbred the feet: And there our passage lay athwart the fosse. “As ever on this side the boiling wave Thou seest diminishing,’ the Centaur said, “So on’ the other, be thou well assured, It lower still and lower sinks its bed, Till in that part it re-uniting join,132—I 40, HELL.—CANTO: XII. Where ’tis the lot of tyranny to mourn. There Heaven's stern justice lays chastising hand On Attila, who was the scourge of earth, On Sextus and on Pyrrhus, and extracts Tears ever by the seething flood unlock’d From the Rinieri, of Corneto this. Pazzo the other named, who fill’d the ways With violence and war.’ This said, he turn’d, And quitting us, alone re-pass’d the ford.CANTO Sie ———<<$<$_—_—_— GRY GUN Ney. : i i ‘s its secc : é 2 rhic 7 se who have done Stillin the seventh circle, Dante enters its second compartment, which contains both those violence on their own persons and those who have violently consumed their goods; the first changed into rough and ETT eT ee eat e latter chased and torn by black female mastiffs. Among the knotted trees whereon the harpies build their nests, the latter chased and torn by black fema g Pi l ‘ione is © y ells him the cause is having co itted suicide, and moreover in what former, Piero delle Vigne is one, who tells him the cause of his having committed s ; " ays C st ACA ks ie latter crew he recognizes Lano, a Siennese, and Gila- manner the souls are transformed into those trunks. Of the latter crew he recognizes Lano, a Sie e dG ‘lorentine, w ad hung himse is own re aks i the calamities como, a Paduan; and lastly, a Florentine, who had hung himself from his own roof, spe aks to him of tl I of his countrymen. RE Nessus yet had reach'd the other bank, We enterd on a forest, where no track Of steps had worn a way. Not verdant there The foliage, but of dusky hue; not light The boughs and tapering, but with knares deform’d And matted thick: fruits there were none, but thorns Instead, with venom fill’d. Less sharp than these, Less intricate the brakes, wherein abide Those animals, that hate the cultured fields, Betwixt Corneto and Cecina’s stream. lcre wie iDmitey LlanMles make their mest the same Who trom the Strophades the Trojan band Drove with dire boding of their future woe. 3road are their pennons, of the human form Their neck and countenance, arm’d with talons keen The feet, and the huge belly fledge with wings. These sit and wail on the drear mystic wood. The kind instructor in these words began: “Ere further thou proceed, know thou art now l’ th’ second round, and shalt be, till thou come Upon the horrid sand: look therefore well Around thee, and such things thou shalt behold, As would my speech discredit.” On all sides 62HELL.—CANTO XIII. I heard sad plainings breathe, and none could see From whom they might have issued. In amaze | Fast bound I stood He, as it seem’d, believed That I had thought so many voices came From some amid those thickets close conceal’d. And thus his speech resumed: “If thou lop off = A single twig from one of those ill plants, \ The thought thou hast conceived will vanish quite.” Thereat a little stretching forth my hand, | i From a great, wilding gathered I a branch, And straight the trunk exclaim’d, ‘Why pluck’st thou me ?” Then, as the dark blood trickled down its side, These words it added: “ Wheréfore tearst me thus ? Is there no touch of mercy in thy breast ? Men once were we, that now are rooted here. Thy hand m1 it well have spared us, had we been at (yf ii > The souls of serpents.’ As a brand yet green, That burning at one end from the other sends A groaning sound, and hisses with the wind That forces out its way, so burst at once Forth from the broken splinter words and blood. I, letting fall the bough, remain’d as one Assail’d by terror; and the sage replied: “If he, O injured spirit! could have believed What he hath seen but in my verse described, | He never against thee had stretch’'d his hand. But I, because the thing surpass’d belief, Prompted him to this deed, which even now Myself I rue. But tell me who thou wast; That, for this wrong to do thee some amends, In the upper world (for thither to return Is granted him) thy fame he may revive. “That pleasant word of thine, the trunk replied, “ath so inveigled me, that I from speech Cannot refrain, wherein if I indulge A little longer, in the snare detain d,ARIES, WAS IKON Count it not grievous. I it was, who held Both keys to Frederick’s heart, and turn’d the wards, Opening and shutting, with a skill so sweet, That besides me, into his inmost breast Scarce any other could admittance find. The faith I bore to my high charge was such, It cost me the life-blood that warm’d my veins. The harlot, who ne’er turn’d her gloating eyes From Czesar’s household, common vice and pest Of courts, ‘gainst me inflamed the minds of all; And to Augustus they so spread the flame, That my glad honors changed to bitter woes. My soul, disdainful and disgusted, sought Refuge in death from scorn, and I became, Just as I was, unjust toward myself. By the new roots, which fix this stem, l swear, That never faith I broke to my liege lord, Who merited such honor; and of you, If any to the world indeed return, Clear he from wrong my memory, that lies Yet prostrate under envy’s cruel blow.” First somewhat pausing, till the mournful words Were ended, then to me the bard began: “Lose not the time; but speak,,and of him ask, If more thou wish to learn.” Whence I replied “Question thou him again of whatso’er Will, as thou think’st, content me; for no power Flave 1 to ask, such pity is at my heart.” icwinus resumed: “Soumay he do tom thee Freely what thou entreatest, as thou yet 3e pleas’d, imprison’d spirit! to declare, How in these gnarled joints the soul is tied; And whether any ever from such frame Be loosenidy it thou canst, that also tell,” Thereat the trunk breathed hard, and the wind soon Changed into sounds articulate like these:HELL.—CANTO XIII. “Briefly ye shall be answer'd. When departs The fierce soul from the body, by itself Thence torn asunder, to the seventh gulf By Minos doom’d, into the wood it falls, No place assign’d, but wheresoever chance Hurls it; there sprouting as a grain of spelt, It rises to a sapling, growing thence g, A. savage plant. The Harpies, on its leaves Then feeding, cause both pain, and for the pain A vent to grief We, as the rest, shall) come For our own spoils, yet not so that with them We may again be clad; for what a man Takes from himself it is not just he have. Here we perforce shall drag them; and throughout The dismal glade our bodies shall be hung, Each on the wild thorn of his wretched shade.’ Attentive yet to listen to the trunk We stood, expecting further speech, when us A noise surprised; as when a man perceives The wild boar and the hunt approach his place Of station’d watch, who of the beasts and boughs Loud rustling round him hears. And lo! there came Two naked, torn with briers, in headlong flight, That they before them broke each fan o th’ wood. “ Haste now,” the foremost cried, “now haste thee, death!” The other, as seem’d, impatient of delay, Exclaiming, “Lano! not so bent for speed Thy sinews, in the lists of Toppo’s field.” And then, for that perchance no longer breath Sufficed him, of himself and of a bush One group he made. Behind him was the wood Full of black female mastiffs, gaunt and fleet, As greyhounds. that have newly slipt the leash. On him, who squatted down, they stuck their fangs, And having rent him piecemeal bore away The tortured limbs. My guide then seized my hand,THE VISION. And led me to the thicket, which in vain Mourn’d through its bleeding wounds: “O Giacomo Of Sant’ Andrea! what avails it tees It cried, “that of me thou hast made thy screen | For thy ill life, what blame on me HeECOLISia. When o’er it he had paused, my master spake ; “Say, who was thou, that at so many points Breathest out with blood thy lamentable speech ° He answerd: “Oh, ye spirits! arrived in time To spy the shameful havoc that from me My leaves have sever'd thus, gather them up, And at the foot of their sad parent-tree Carefully lay them. In that city I dwelt, Who for the Baptist, her first patron changed, Whence he for this shall cease not with his art To work her woe: and if there still remain’d not On Arno’s passage some faint glimpse of him, Those citizens, who rear’d once more her walls Upon the ashes left by Attila, Had labor'd without profit of their toil. I slung the fatal noose from my own TOOPa i i i i HK \ ik ial A i Cite a OG TO a = ‘4 i \ i i ih th i HUAN MAA oe i N Fs Hi ! | i | i } fl Wil ARM OL iil anh ii WH Mh ni Wa nis HN Ned TEE ame Py MN TRA | Hi Hp . I aa In 5 a k ara Wi, ibs | je AE } ii i . : Mh ee i aN Ne it 4 iy) } >) a i ae | A Mi) Hh i i lh AAR vis ree Canto XTI1., line 34. BN itt f Witte i SS d, ‘““ Why pluck’st thou me ime excla < < Wl Wee ae - Ve “Wt 0 Z~M U-- Vly nn ie Wi yi) WM0- Zz Zi: jj ht the trunl er gs al And str CUM WC dit yt ! ate | 1 IK Rt i wal hat ae NU! Wu tie R MN i A \} Nii tut ) A re ‘ aN i vu li. \ Ly Wie Y \ : N AU AN Wea p \ 4 N \ \ WW WW NIN nN \ i NN i \ \ N \ tt i i \ is \ ii \) . i eo SES A) sD TM th ' Ls Zh; bi rat os Lf ey 17 Ll we ath bs j ) Hy \) \) \ A i aa fie ic a Gj) YY) D 5 yy Wy, WS By iN, SSE eat, ty op = BALL YYW Here the brute Harpies make their nest. Canto XIII, line 11.~ USANA HN | \\ (yl HANNAN | NTN Wn \ se HA H \ WANT i\| i) Hi | | IN Hl \ i is | Dy, . UN | | NA Hi | Mi i Vn i | Ih i Hi iim e 0 , Nt ini IN Ki y ys = So | is . zy | HI II aS a \ WN YS Wit Wei | i } | AHI HAN hi S AN NX | i Ni \ eel HHI We \ = we SAM) )\ \s RATAN Y) ae < ty \y WS Tey. >| oe Ca a 1 Canto XITI., line 120. RSs | Y, SUM ii oe fea YT Wy le ly Nh a SS ™) S os S 3 " ” eat sé ac > vas » | 2 “ Haste now,” the foremost cried, ‘‘ now haste thee, death! Ny AN WHHIIW i Hh MK \ Ke N {i (WINK WIRE \N Wihnitl WN 1} TTL A Mull HOM : eeoo i i a Wy te i ‘ ea TNA — = ae a TN i ANT ———— ——— ———ar4 —~ : ATEN yeh hh SH i A Mi i} i: Ath) ar fie a — ya | = Se —_ ee : = = - eo _—S—SSS— =—— —_————S=SSSSS —SSSSSs5 ——————— Hi i a i |! Abt o mi Uy} en "OO = @ & oC —_ Ay oO G ae) WwW S = oN S Ha cs oO oO S Now this, now that way glancing, to shake off The heat, still falling freshCANTO XIV. A RG UN EN ae They arrive at the beginning of the third of those compartments into which this seventh circle is divided. It is a plain of dry and hot sand, where three kinds of violence are punished ; namely, against God, against Nature, and against Art ; and those who have thus sinned are tormented by flakes of fire, which are eternall showering down upon them. Among the violent against God is found Capaneus, whose blasphemies they hear. Next, t ning to the left along the forest of self-slayers, and haying journeyed a little onwards. they m samlet of blood that issues from the forest and traverses. the sandy plain. He gil speaks to yet ¢ huge ancient statue that stands within Mount Ida in Crete, from a fissure in v Statue there is a dripping ears, fror 1 the said streamlet, together with the three other infernal rivers formec oO as the charity of native land Wrought in my bosom, I the scatter’d leaves Collected; and to him restored. who now Was hoarse with utterance. To the limit thence We came, which from the third the second round Divides, and where of justice is display’d Contrivance horrible. Things then first seen Clearlier to manifest, I tell how next A. plain we reach’d, that from its sterile bed Fach plant repell’d. The mournful wood. waves round Its garland on all sides, as round the wood Spreads the sad fosse. There, om the very edge, Our steps we stayd.. It was an area wide Of arid sand and thick, resembling most The soil. that erst by .Cato’s foot: was trod. Vengeance of heaven! Oh! how shouldst thou be fear’d By all, who read what here mine eyes beheld. Of naked spirits many a flock I saw, All weeping piteously, to different laws Subjected; for on the earth some lay supine, Some crouching close were seated, others paced Incessantly round; the latter tribe 6 768 THE VISION. i hee ees] More numerous, those fewer who beneath but louder in their grief. The torment lay, , wafting down O’er all the sand fell slowly Dilated flakes of fire, as flakes of snow On Alpine summit, when the wind is hush’d. As, in the torrid Indian clime, the son Of Ammon. saw, upon his warrior band solid flames, that to the ground Descending, whence he bethought him with his troop Come down ; To trample on the soil: for easier The vapor was extinguish d, while alone: So fell the eternal fiery flood, wherewith The marle glowed underneath, as under stove The viands, doubly to augment the pain. Unceasing was the play of wretched hands, Now this, now that way glancing, to shake off oO The heat, still falling ‘esh. I thus began: Cimstructon! thou % ca all things overcomest, Except the hardy demons that rushd forth To stop our entrance at the gate, say who thus Is yon huge spirit, that, as seems, heeds not The burning, but lies writhen in proud scorn, As by the sultry tempest immatured °” Straight he himself, who was aware I askd My guide of him, exclaim’d: “Such as I was When living, dead such now I am. If Jove Weary his workman out, from whom in 1re He snatch’d the lightnings, that at my last day ittansnxd me. it the rect he weary out, At their black smithy laboring by turns, In Mongibello, while he cries aloud, ‘Help, help, good Mulciber!’ as erst he cried In the Phlegrzean warfare; and the bolts Launch he, full aim’d at me, with all his might; He never should enjoy a sweet revenge. | Then thus my guide, in accent higher raised 23—58. aeAELE.—CANTO, XIV, Than I before had heard him: “ Capaneus ! Thou art more punish’d, in that this thy pride Lives not unquench’d: no torment, save Elivanacre: Were to thy fury proportion’d full.” . Next turning round to me, with milder lip rr ts [his of the seven kings was one, He spake: Who girt the Theban walls with siege, and held, Ac stil he seems to helde God tamcioe: Jas) syUlll IS SECIS TO) Hola: God in disdain And sets his high omnipotence at nought. But, as I told him, his despiteful mood Is ornament well suits the breast that wears it. ee me now: and look thou set not yet Thy foot in the hot sand, but to. the wood Keep ever close: Silently on we pass d To where there gushes from the forest's bound A little brook, whose crimson’d wave yet lifts My hair with horror. As the rill, that runs From Bulicame, to be portiond out Among the sinful women; so ran this Down through the sand; its botton and each bank Stone-built, and either margin at its side, Whereon I straight ea our passage lay. “Of all that I have shown thee, since that gate We enter’d first, whose threshold is to none Denied, nought else so worthy of regard, As is this river, has thine eye discern d, O’er which the flaming volley all is quench'd. So spake the guide; and I him thence besoucht, That having given me appetite to know, The food he too would give, that hunger craved. “Tn midst of ocean,’ forthwith he began, “A desolate country lies, which Crete is named. Under whose monarch, in old times, the world Lived pure and chaste. A mountain rises there, Call’d Ida, joyous once with leaves and streams, ee now like a forbidden thing.ne 5 ‘ THE. VISION: It was the spot which Rhea, Saturn's spouse, Chose for the secret cradle of her son; And better to conceal him, drown’d in shouts His infant cries. Within the mount, upright An ancient form there stands, and huge, that turns His shoulders towards Damiata; and at RKome, As in his mirror, looks. Of finest gold His head is shaped, pure silver at the breast And arms, thence to the middle is of brass, And downward all beneath well-temper'd steel, Save the right foot of potter's clay, on which Than on the other more erect he stands, Zach part, except the gold, is Sent throughout ; And from the fissure tears distill, which join‘d Reneirate to) that cave, — hey ain thei course Thus far precipitated down the rock, Form Acheron, and Styx, and Phlegethon ; Then by this straiten’d channel passing hence Beneath, een to the lowest depth of all, Form there Cocytus, of whose lake (thyself shialtsee it) I here oivel thee mo) account. ” then Isto him: “li from our world this sluice Be thus derived; wherefore to us:but now Appears it at this edge?” He straight replied: “The place, thou know’st, is round: and though great part Thou have already past, still to the left Descending to the nethermost, not yet Hast thou the circuit made of the whole orb. 4 Wherefore, if aught of new to us appear, It needs not bring up wonder in thy looks.” Then I again inquired: “Where flow the streams Of Phlegethon and Lethe? for of one Thou tell’st not; and the other, of that shower. Thou say’st, is form’d.” He answer thus return’d: “ Doubtless thy questions all well pleased I hear. Yet the red seething wave might have resolvedTae 13 3" HELL.—CANTO XIV. One thou proposest. Lethe thou shalt see, But not within this hollow, in the place Whether, to lave themselves, the Spirits gO, Whose blame hath been by penitence removed.” evadded] = Mime is now werquut the wood. Look thou my steps pursue: the margins give Safe passage, unimpeded by the flames; For over them all vapor is extinct.’a CANTO XV. ACReG, © NEE IN| We. Taking their way upon one of the mounds by which the streamlet, spoken of in the last canto, was embanked, ! 5 aie Pe ne ae tenaenad the foreshit thev bad turned round look for it, they and having gone so far as they could no longer have discerned the forest if they had turned round to loo , they meet a troop of spirits that come along the sand by the side of the pier. These are they who have done violence to who had been formerly his master ; with whom, Nature: and amongst them Dante distinguishes Brunetto Latini, w | turning a little backward, he holds a discourse which occupies the remaince! of this canto. (,\NE of the solid margins bears us now \ Envelop’d in the mist, that, from the stream 1 { Arising, hovers o’er, and saves from fire Both piers and water. As the Flemings rear Their mound, ‘twixt Ghent and Bruges, to chase back The ocean, fearing his tumultuous tide That drives toward them: or the Paduans theirs | Along the Brenta, to defend their towns And castles, ere the genial warmth be felt On Chiarentana’s top; such were the mounds, So framed, though not in height or bulk to these Made equal, by the master, whosoe er He was, that raised them here. We from the wood Were now so far removed, that turning round I might not have discern’d it, when we met A troop of spirits, who came beside the pier. ithey cach one eyed us, as at eventide One eyes another under a new moon; And toward us sharpen’d their sight, as keen As an old tailor at his needle’s eye. Thus narrowly explored by all the tribe, I was agnized of one, who by the skirt Caught me, and cried, “What wonder have we here?” And I, when he to me outstretch’d his arm, 72HELL.—CANTO XV. Intently fix'd my ken on his parch’d looks, That, although smirch’d with fire, they hinder’d not But I remember’d him; and towards his face My head inclining, answer’d: “Ser Brunetto! mndvare ye here: rie thus) te mesaavivecon! Oh, let it not displease thee, if Brunetto Latini but a little space with thee Turn back, and leave his fellows to proceed.” I thus to him replied: “Much as I can, i) I thereto pray’thee; and if thou be willing | That IT here seat me with thee, I consent: His leave, with whom I journey, first obtain’d.” “Oh, son!” said he, “whoever of thismthrong One instant stops, lies then a hundred years, No fan to ventilate him, when the fire Smites sorest. Pass thou therefore on. I close Will at thy garments walk, and then rejoin My troop, who go mourning their endless doom.” I dared not from the path descend to tread On equal ground with him, but held my head Bent down, as one who walks in reverent guise. “What chance or destiny,” thus he began, “Ere the last day, conducts thee here below ? And who is this that shows to thee the way ?” ‘There up aloft,’ I answerd, “in the life Serene, I wander’d in a valley lost, Before mine age had to its fullness reachd. But yester-morn I left it: then once more Into that vale returning, him | met; And by this path homeward he leads me back.” | “Tf thou,” he answer'd, “follow but thy star, | Thou canst not miss at last a glorious haven ; Unless in fairer days my judgment err'd. And if my fate so early had not chanced, Seeing the heavens thus bounteous to thee, I | = \ Had gladly given thee comfort in thy work.TPE VAISlON: But that ungrateful and malignant race, Who in old times came down from Fesole, Ay and still smack of their rough mountain-flint, Will for their good deeds show thee enmity. Nor wonder; for amongst ill-savord crabs It suits not the sweet fig-tree lay her fruit. Old fame reports them in the world for blind, Covetous, envious, proud. Look to it well: Take heed thou cleanse thee of their ways. [or thee, Thy fortune hath such honor in reserve, That thou by either party shalt be craved With hunger keen: but be the fresh herb far From the goat’s tooth. The herd of Fesole May of themselves make litter, not touch the plant, If any such yet spring on their rank bed, In which the holy seed revives, transmitted From those true Romans, who still there remain‘d, When it was made the nest of so much ill.” “Were all my wish fulfilled, I straight replied, “Though from the confines of mans nature yet Hadst not been driven forth; for in my mind Is fix’d, and now strikes full upon my heart, The dear, benign, paternal image, such As thine was, when so lately thou didst teach me The way for man to win eternity: And how I prized the lesson, it behoves, That, long as life endures, my tongue should speak. What of my fate thou tell’st, that write I down ; And, with another text to comment on, lopshem Iikeep it, the celestial dame; Who will know all, if I to her arrive. This only would I have thee clearly note: That, so my conscience have no plea against me, Do Fortune as she list, I stand prepared. Not new or strange such earnest to mine ear. Speed Fortune then her wheel, as likes her best;HELL.—CANTO XV. The clown his mattock: all things have their course.” Whereat my sapient guide upon his right Turn'd himself back, then looked at me, and spake: “He listens to good purpose who takes note.” I not the less still on my way proceed, Discoursing with Brunetto, and inquire Who are most known and chief among his tribe. ‘To know of some is well”; he thus replied, » But of the rest may best beseem: Time would not serve us for report so long. In brief I tell thee, that all these were clerks, Men of great learning and no less renown, By one same sin polluted in the world. With them is Priscian: and Accorsos son: Francesco, herds among that wretched throng ; And, if the wish of so impure a blotch Possess d thee, him thou also mightst have seen, Why by the servants’ servant was transferr'd From Arno’s seat to Bacchiglione, where His ill-strain’d nerves he left. JI more would add, But must from further speech and onward way Alike desist; for yonder I behold A mist new risen on the sandy plain. A company, with whom I may not sort, Approaches. I commend my Treasure to thee, Wherein I yet survive; my sole request. This said, he turn’d, and seemed as one of those Who o’er Verona’s champaign try their speed For the green mantle; and of them he seem'd Not he who loses but who gains the prize. ©Sere CANTO XVI. ———_—————. ARGU EN which crosses the sand, they are now so near the end of it as to hear the noise of : ae Ae Journeying along the pier, z oe he spirits of three military men ; who judging Dante, trom the stream falling into the eighth circle, when they meet t him to stop. He complies, and speaks with them. ‘The two poets his dress, to be a countryman of theirs, entreat the termination of this third compartment in the seventh circle ; then reach the place where the water descends, being : 1 ; irs mee pee Shave: AAA : and here Virgil having thrown down into the hollow a cord, wherewith Dante was girt, they behold at that signal a monstrous and horrible figure come swimming up to them. OW came I where the water's din was heard, | As down it fell into the other round, Resounding like the hum of swarming bees: When forth together issued from a troop, That pass'd beneath the fierce tormenting storm, Three spirits, running swift: ~ Phey towards us came, And each one cried aloud, “Oh! do thou stay, Whom, by the fashion of thy garb, we deem To be some inmate of our evil land.” Ah me! what wounds I mark’d upon their limbs, Recent and old, inflicted by the’ flames. E’en the remembrance of them grieves me. yet. Attentive to their cry, my teacher paused, And turn’d to me his visage, and then spake: «Wait now: our courtesy these merit well; And were ’t not for'the nature of the place, Whence glide the fiery darts, I should have said, That haste had ‘better suited thee than. them.’ They, when we stopp’d, resumed their ancient wail, And, soonm“as they had reach’d us, all the three Whirl’d round together in one restless wheel. As naked champions, smear’d with slippery oil, Are wont, intent, to watch their place of hold 76UY EMIS Up ps t, Oi 3 3g Ut Te e a Wp WU ep Canto XV., lines 28, 29s ~ Y — ~ VU = =) AA ‘¢Ser x) And are ye here?\ \ * => = Wy Diy, ies ly ey ee \) aS PDD : Nyy 2SSVSs_q—~ws wa SS SN y) oe Bi Wf WS RG" SZ : ; i H) STL iS SS N J s. Le yy ig))) Forthwith that image vile of Fraud appear’d. Canto X VIL , lineHELL.—CANTO XVI. And vantage, ere in closer strife they meet; Thus each one, as he wheel’d, his countenance At me directed, so that opposite The neck moved ever to the twinkling feet. “Ti woe of this unsound and dreary waste,’ Thus one began, “added to our sad cheer Thus peel'd with flame, do call forth scorn on us And our entreaties, let our great renown Incline thee to inform us who thou art, That dost imprint, with hving feet unharmd, The soil of Hell. .He, in whose: track thou seest My steps pursuing, naked though he be And reft of all, was of more high estate Than thou believest: grandchild of the chaste ~~) < Gualdrada, him they Guidoguerra call’d, Who in his lifetime many a noble act Achieved, both by his wisdom and his sword. The other, next to me that beats. the sand, Is Aldobrandi, name deserving well, In the upper world, of honor ; and myself, Who in this. torment do partake with them, Am Rusticucci, whom, past doubt, my wife, Of savage temper, more than aught beside Hath to this evil brought.’ If from the fire I had been shelter'd, down amidst them: straight I then had cast me; nor-my guide, I deem, Would have restrain’ my going: but that fear Of the dire burning vanquish’d the desire, Which made me eager of their wish'd embrace. I then began: ‘Not scorn, but grief much more, Such as long time alone can cure, your doom Fix’d deep within me, soon as this my lord Spake words, whose tenor taught me to expect That such a race, as ye are, was at hand. I am a countrymen of yours, who still Affectionate have utter’d, and have heard Vour deeds and names.renown'd. Leaving the gall,Ee VISTO: For the sweet fruit I go, that a sure guide Hath promised to me. But behoves, that far As to the center first I downward tend.” “So may long space thy spirit guide thy limbs,” He answer straight return’d; “and so thy fame Shine bright when thou art gone, as thou shalt tell, If courtesy and valor, as they wont, Dwell in our city, or have vanish’d clean: For one amidst us late condemn’d to wail, 3orsiere, yonder walking with his peers,, Grieves us no little by the news he brings.” “An upstart multitude and sudden gains, Pride and excess, O Florence! have in thee Engender’d, so that now in tears thou mourn’st !~ Thus cried I, with my face uprais d, and they All three, who for an answer took my words, Look’d at each other, as men look when truth Gomes to them car “If at so little cost,. They all at once rejoin’'d, “thou satisfy Others who question thee, oh happy thou! Gifted with words so apt to speak thy thought. Wherefore, if thou escape this darksome clime, Returning to behold the radiant stars When thou with pleasure shalt retrace the past, See that of us thou speak among mankind.” This said, they broke the circle, and so swift Fled, that as pinions seem’d their nimble feet. Not in so short a time might one have said amen sas they had) vanish'd) Straiht my, euwide Pursued his track. I followed: and small space Had we past onward, when the water’s sound Was now so near at hand, that we had scarce Heard one another’s speech for the loud din. Eecnas the river that first holds tts course Unmingled from the Mount of Vesulo. On the left side of Apennine, toward The east, where Acquacheta higher up98—1 34. HELL.—CANTO XVI. hey call) ere it descend! into the vale: At Forli, by that name no longer known, Rebellows o’er Saint Benedict, roll’d on From the Alpine summit down a precipice, Where space enough to lod ( oO ge a thousand spreads ; : Thus downward from a craggy steep we found That this dark wave resounded, roaring loud, So that the ear its clamor soon had stunn/d. I had a cord that braced my girdle round, \% Wherewith I erst had thought fast bound to take = The painted leopard. This when I had all Unloosen’d from me (so my master bade) ! I-gather’d up, and stretch’d it forth to him. Then to the right he turn’d, and from the brink Standing few paces distant, cast it down Into the deep abyss. ‘“ And somewhat strange, Thus to myself I spake, “signal so strange, | Betokens, which my guide with earnest eye Thus follows.” Ah! what caution must men use With those who look not at the deed alone, But spy into the thoughts with subtle Skill. ‘Quickly shall come,” he said, “what I expect: Thine eye discover quickly that, whereof Thy thought is dreaming.” Ever to that truth, Which but the semblance of a falsehood wears, A man, if possible, should bar his lip; Since, although blameless, he incurs reproach. But silence here were vain; and by these notes, i Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee, So may they favor find to latest times ! That through the gross and murky air | spied A shape come swimming up, that might have quell'd The stoutest heart with wonder; in such guise As one returns, who hath been down to loose An anchor grappled fast against some rock, Or to aught else that in the salt wave lies, Who, upward springing, close draws in his feet.: nes Be ieil oan 1: STATA RINE TTT amelv species of sinners contained in this compartment, name y, CANTO: XVII. ——_—_—_—- ARGU:ME NT. ; i scribed; to w while Virgil. is speaking: 1 der that he may carry them both The monster Geryon is described; to whom while Virgil is speaking in ord t y j } issi s alittle further < 1e edge of the void, to descry the third J ircl t permission, goes a little o of the void, to desc down to the next circle, Dante, by permission, goes a little further along the edge J those who have done violence to Art; and then returning = ] Tea tes aihanclkink Geruc to his master, they both descend, seated on the back of Geryon. “T ©! the fell monster with the déadly sting, L Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced walls And firm embattled spears, and with his filth 2 Taints all the world.” Thus me my guide address d, And beckon’d | im: that he should come to shore Near to the stony causeways utmost edge. Forthwith that image vile of Fraud appear’d, His head and upper part exposed on land, But laid not on the shore his bestial’ train. His face the semblance of a just man’s wore, So kind and gracious was its outward cheer ; The rest was serpent al WO. Siiale: < gy claws R a each d to the arm-pits; and the back and breast, And either side, were painted o’er with nodes And orbits. Colors variegated more Nor Turks nor Tartars e’er on cloth of state With interchangeable embroidery wove, Nor spread Arachne o’er her curious loom. As oft-times a light skiff, moor’d to the shore, Stands part in water, part upon the land; Or, as where dwells the greedy German boor, The beaver settles, watching for his prey ; So on the rim, that fenced the sand with rock, Sat perch’d the fiend of evil. In the void Glancing, his tail upturned its venomous fork, 0‘ a i RHE 4 iH UHeeg Leet A — ai <= == ——— od i ——~ a —— ———- il i} ay fr | | i Ny Ni Mi NINA | | WIEN Hl . NU Hat an ih HT Kh i SSS y \ —. , a nT Hi PM ; oH Hi Hi i Ay SN ea entero Me , at Od 2 Hi h i) LT B & f ih hy in N q ih wee Soe ree a . ray ae ci Lia ee ee a I i Vt Seals ue RGR eR os Uh Roath) ULI Pe iW HMM iat i Hh} ea Se Mien MA AT ea —— hi : H WMH } Mai AANA eA aaa Ui HH ; Wheotey New terror I conceived at the steep plunge. Canto X VT1., line Ct7.Wi Hil Canto XVIII, line 38 ~e © ser u WwW n Ww a eS Oo S — a oS AO, S > 2 = & 0 S&S —_— ) = a oS ca S > oO & —_— = - o SS =. o — oO —_— Fons S — a — Tae > od ci = __ — —_— oO vo —— Oy Ay 3 MM on a os ies rm99—135. HELL.—CANTO XIX. gI When lots were cast upon the forfeit place Of the condemned soul. Abide thou then; Thy punishment of right is merited: And look thou well to that ill-gotten coin, Which against Charles thy hardihood inspired. Itreverence of the keys sestramid memo Which thou in happier time didst hold, I yet Severer speech might use. Your avarice O’ercasts the world with mourning, under foot Treading the good, and raising bad men up, Of shepherds like to you, the Evangelist Was ware, when her, who sits upon the waves, With kings in filthy whoredom he beheld; She who with seven heads tower’d at her birth, | C And from ten horns her proof of glory drew, ‘= Long as her spouse in virtue took delight. | Of gold and silver ye have made your god, Differing wherein from the idolater, But that he worships one, a hundred ye? Ah, Constantine! to how much ill gave birth, Not thy conversation, but that plenteous dower, Which the first wealthy Father gain’d from thee.” Meanwhile, as thus I sung, he, whether wrath Or conscience smote him, violent upsprang Spinning on either sole. I do believe My teacher well was pleased, with so composed A lip he listen’d ever to the sound Of the true words I utter’d. In both arms He caught, and to his bosom lifting me, Upward retraced the way of his descent. Nor weary of his weight, he press'd me close Till to the summit of the rock we came, Our passage from the fourth to the fifth pier. His cherish’d burden there gently he placed Upon the rugged rock and steep, a path Not easy for the clambering goat to mount. Thence to my view another vale appear d.CR CANTO XxX. —<$—$—<—$———- PRIR GU ML IN 1 hile living, to predict future events. It is to have their The poet relates the punishment of such as presumed, w before them, they limbs, so that, being deprived of the power to see faces reversed and set the contrary way on their Tiresias, Aruns, and Among these Virgil points out to him Amphiaraiis, are constrained ever to walk backwards. asion to speak of the origin of Mantua), together with several others) Manto (from the mention of whom he takes occ who had practised the arts of divination and astrology. ND now the verse proceeds to torments new, Fit argument of this the twentieth strain Of the first song, whose awful theme records The spirits whelm’d in woe. Earnest I look’d Into the depth, that open’d to my view, Moisten’d with tear and anguish, and beheld, A tribe, that came along the hollow vale, In silence weeping: such their step as walk Quires, chanting solemn litanies, on earth. As on them more direct mine eye descends, Each wondrously seem’d to be reversed At the neck-bone, so that the countenance Was from the reins averted; and because None might before him look, they were compell'd To advance with backward gait. Thus one perhaps Hath been by force of palsy clean transposed, But I ne’er saw it nor believe it so. Now, reader! think within thyself, so God Fruit of thy reading give thee! how I long Could keep my visage dry, when I beheld Near me our form distorted in such guise, That on the hinder parts fallen from the face The tears down-streaming roll’d. Against a rock I leant and wept, so that my guide exclaim d, 92HELL.—CANTO XxX. “What! and art thou, too, witless as the rest? Here pity most doth show herself alive, When she is dead. What euilt exceedeth his, Who with Heaven's judgment in his passion strives ? Raise up thy head, raise up, and see the man Before whose eyes earth gaped in Thebes when all Cried out ‘Amphiaratis, whither rushest ? Why leavest thou the war?’ He not the less Fell ruining far as to Minos down, Whose grapple none eludes. Lo! how he makes The breast his shoulders; and who once too far Before him wish’d to see, now backward looks And treads reverse his path. Tiresias note, Who semblance changed, when woman he became Of male, through every limb transform’d; and then Once more behoved him with his rod to strike The two entwining serpents, ere the plumes, That mark’d the better sex, might shoot again. “Aruns, with rere his belly facing, comes. On Luni’s mountains ‘midst the marbles white, Where delves Carrara’s hind, who wons beneath, A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars And main sea wide in boundless view he held. “The next, whose loosen’d tresses overspread Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair On that side grows) was Manto, she who search’d Through many regions, and at length her seat Fix’d in my native land: whence a short space My words detain thy audience. When her sire From life departed, and in servitude The city dedicate to Bacchus mourn d, Long time she went a wanderer through the world. Aloft in Italy’s delightful land A lake there lies, at foot of that proud Alp That o’er the Tyrol locks Germania 1n, Its name Benacus, from whose ample breastNI THE VISION. 61—96. A thousand springs, methinks, and more, between Camonica and Garda, issuing forth, Water the Apennine. There is a spot At midway of that lake, where he who bears Of Trento’s flock the pastoral staff, with him Of Brescia, and the Veronese, might each Passing that way his benediction give. A garrison of goodly site and strong Peschiera stands, to awe with front opposed The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore More slope each way descends. There, whatsoe er Benacus’ bosom holds not, tumbling oer Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath Through the green pastures. Soon as in his course The stream makes head, Benacus then no more They call the name, but Mincius, till at last Reaching Governo, into Po he falls. Not far his course hath run, when a wide flat It finds, which overstretching as a marsh It covers, pestilent in summer oft. Hence journeying, the savage maiden saw Midst of the fen a territory waste And naked of inhabitants. To shun All human converse, here she with her slaves, Plying her arts, remain’d, and livd, and left Her body tenantless. Thenceforth the tribes, Who round were scatter'd, gathering to that place, Assembled; for its strength was great, enclosed On all parts by the fen. On those dead bones They rear’d themselves a city, for her sake Calling it Mantua, who first chose the spot, Nor ask’d another omen for the name; Wherein more numerous the people dwelt, Ere Casalodi’s madness by deceit Was wronged of Pinamonte. If thou hear nd 1Oo LY il oO Henceforth another origin assHELL.—-CANTO XX. Of that my country, I forewarn thee now, That falsehood none beguile thee of the truth.” I answer'd, “Teacher, I conclude thy words So certain, that all else shall be to me As embers lacking life. But now of these, Who here proceed, instruct me, if thou see Any that merit more especial note. For thereon is my mind alone intent.” He straight replied:. “That spirit from whose cheek The beard sweeps o’er his shoulders brown, what time Grecia was emptied of her males, that scarce The cradles were supplied, the seer was he In Aulis, who with Calchas gave the sign When first to cut the cable. Him they named Eurypilus: so sings my magic strain, In which majestic measure well thou knowst, Who know’st it all. That other, round the loins So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot, Practiced in every slight of magic wile. Ee “Guido Bonatti see: Asdente mark, Who now were willing he had tended still The thread and cordwain, and too late repents. “See next the wretches, who the needle left, The shuttle and the spindle, and became Diviners: baneful witcheries they wrought With images and herbs. But onward now: For now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine On either hemisphere, touching the wave Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight The moon was round. Thou mayst remember well: Of the deep wood.” This said, both onward moved. For she good service did thee in the gloomCANTO XXI. -AGRIG UV EIN: Still in the eighth circle, which bears the name of Malebolge, they look down from the bridge that passes over ; ] 13 ] TT} : ay +] - 1 6 al tinge te r d < Arc 4 xy its fifth gulf, upon the barterers or public peculators. These are plunged ina lake of boiling pitch, and guarded by demons, to whom Virgil, leaving Dante apart, presents himself; and license being obtained to pass onward, both pursue their way. HUS we from bridge to bridge, with other talk, The which my drama cares not to rehearse, Pass’d on; and to the summit reaching, stood To view another gap, within the round Of Malebolge, other bootless pangs. Marvelous darkness shadow’d o’er the place. insthe Venetians, arsenal as boils Through wintry months tenacious pitch, to smear Their unsound vessels; for the inclement time Seafaring men restrains, and in that while His barque one builds anew, another stops The ribs of his that hath made many a voyage, One hammers at the prow, one at the poop, This shapeth oars, that other cables twirls, The mizen one repairs, and mainsail rent; 50, not by force of fire but art divine Boil'd here a glutinous thick mass, that round Limed all the shore beneath. I that beheld. But therein nought distinguish’d, save the bubbles Raised by the boiling, and one mighty swell Heave, and by turns subsiding fall. While there I fix'd my ken below, “Mark! mark!” my guide Exclaiming, drew me towards him from the place 96HELL.—CANTO XXI. Wherein I stood. I turn’d myself, as one Impatient to behold that which beheld He needs must shun, whom sudden fear unmans, That he in flight delays not for the view. Behind me I discern’d a devil black, [That running up advanced along the rock. Ah! what fierce cruelty his look bespake. In act how bitter did he seem, with wings 3uoyant outstretch'd and feet of nimblest tread. His shoulder, proudly eminent and sharp, Was with a sinner charged: by either haunch He held him, the foot’s sinew griping fast. “Ve of our bridge!” he cried, “keen-talond fiends j Lo! one of Santa Zita’s elders. Him Whelm ye beneath, while I return for more. That land hath store of such. All men are there, Except Bonturo, barterers; of ‘no’ For lucre there an ‘ay’ 1s quickly made.” Him dashing down, o'er the rough rock he turn d Nor ever after thief a master loosed Sped with like eager haste. The other sank, And forthwith writhing to the surface rose. But those dark demons, shrouded by the bridge, Cried, “Here the hallow’d visage saves not. fete Is other swimming than in Serchios wave, Wherefore, if thou- desire we rend thee not, Take heed thou mount not oer the pitch.’ ‘This said, | him with more than hundred hooks, They orapplec And shouted, “Cover'd thou must sport thee here; So. if thou canst, in secret mayst thou lek. Fen thus the cook bestirs him, with his grooms, To thrust the flesh into the caldron down With flesh-hooks, that it float not on the top. Me then my oulde bespakes Lest they descry That thou art here, behind a craggy rock Bend low and screen thee: and whateer OL LOnce} | AMEDD, WAGSIOMS|: Be offer’'d me, or insult, fear thou not; For I am well advised, who have been erst In the like fray.” Beyond the bridge's head Therewith he pass d,; and reaching the sixth pier, Behoved him then a forehead terror-proof. With storm and fury, as when dogs rush forth Upon the poor man’s back, who suddenly From whence he standeth makes his suit; so rushd Their weapons all they pointed. He, aloud: “Be none of you outrageous: ere your tine Those from beneath the arch, and against him Dare seize me, come forth from amongst you one, Who having heard my words, decide he then If he shall tear these limbs.” They shouted loud “Go, Malacoda!” Whereat one advanced, The others standing firm, and as he came, “What may this turn avail: him?” he exclaim d. “ Believest thou, Malacoda! I had come Thus far from all your skirmishing secure,’ My teacher answer’d, “without will divine And destiny propitious 2? Pass we then; For so Heaven’s pleasure is, that I should lead Another through this savage wilderness.” Forthwith so fell his pride, that he let drop The instrument of torture at his feet, And.to the rest exclaim’d, “We have no power orsimikesiiim.., Lhen to my, euide. Oh; throw! Who on the bridge among the crags dost sit Low crouching, safely now to me return.” I rose, and towards him moved with speed; the fiends Meantime all forward drew: me terror seized, Lest they should break the compact they had made. Thus issuing from Caprona, once I. saw The infantry, dreading lest his covenant The foe should break; so close he hemmed them round. I to my leader's side adhered, mine eyesPALL ou Th ! i Si ane KT An Ny \ ; ee ian ay } { ] } Ht a \ ee Hy i] 4 A ah Al HA | | | ny Ly i | i ‘ ah | nn RANA | i Hl Hn fl ———S = = : ——— : = — = == ———— SSS =— —— SSS SS : ————— ———— = Ss = —— —— a ——— ————— —— SS == Canto XXI., line 70, R ‘ -_ ~ ° a) = O oO c _ - i ce — oO faa — , aa nl \ i IR HN : | " Gy i eA. 26 HAF Mi ” Canto XXII., lines 125, I , ‘Thou art caught. (@ In pursui wn ° oa = = = a & — C O SA ‘ o He therefore sped, A\ ASS EKO -96—131. HELL.—CANTO. XXII; 99 With fixed and motionless observance bent On their unkindly visage. They, their hooks Protruding, one the other thus bespake : “Wilt thou I touch him on the hip: - To whom Was answer'd, “Even so; nor miss thy aim.” But he who was in conference with my guide, ‘Turn’d rapid round; and thus the demon Spake: “Stay, stay thee, Scarmiglione!”” Then to us He added: “Further footing to your step This rock affords not, shiver’d to the base Of the sixth arch. _But would ye still proceed, Up by this cavern go: not distant far, Another rock will yield you passage safe. “ - Yesterday, later by five hours than now, Twelve hundred threescore years and six had fill’d d The circuit of their course, since here the way Was broken. Thitherward | straight dispatch Certain of these my scouts, who shall espy If any on the surface bask. With them Go ye; for ye shall find them nothing fell. Come Alichino, forth,” with that he cried, “And Calcabrina, and Cagnazzo thou! The troop of ten let Barbariccia lead. With Libicocco, Draghinazzo haste, Fang d Ciriatto, Graffiacane fierce, And Farfarello, and mad Rubicant. Search ye around the bubbling tar. For these In safety lead them, where the other crag Uninterrupted traverses the dens.” I then: “Oh, master! what a sight is there. Ah! without escort, journey we alone, Which, if thou know the way, I covet not. Unless thy prudence fail thee, dost not mark How they do gnarl upon us, and their scowl Threatens us present tortures?’ Ele replied: ; | charee thee, fear not let themmas they will,THE VISION. but in token of their spite 10 mourn in torment steep d.- they turn’d; but each Gnarione Hs Against the souls wl To leftward o’er the pier Had first between his teeth prest close the tongue, f onal looking, Toward their leader tor a SI Which he with sound obscene triumphant gave.same gulf. The device of CANTO XXII. —_—__.. ARGUMENT. Virgil and Dante proceed, accompanied by the demons, and see other sinners of the same description in the \lampolo, one of these, to escape from the demons, who had laid hold on him. Ie hath been heretofore my chance to see lorsemen with martial order shifting camp, To onset sallying, or in muster ranged, Or in retreat sometimes outstretch’d for flight : Light-armed squadrons and fleet foragers Scouring thy plains, Arezzo! have I seen And clashing tournaments, and tilting jousts, Now with the sound of trumpets, now of bells, labors, or signals made from castled heights, And with inventions multiform. our own, Or introduced from foreign land; but ne’er Worsuch, a Strange recorder I beheld. In evolution moving, horse nor foot. Nor ship, that tack’d by sign from land or star. With the ten demons on our way we went; Ah, fearful company! but in the church With saints, with eluttons at the tavern’s mess. Still earnest on the pitch I gazed, to mark All things whate’er the chasm contain’d, and those Who burn’d within. As dolphins that, in sign ‘To mariners, heave high their arched backs, That thence forewarn’d they may advise to save Their threaten’d vessel: so, at intervals, To ease the pain, his back some sinner show’d ) olance. oO Then hid more nimbly than the lightning- Fen as the frogs, that of a watery moat IoIee eee ANNES, WASIOIN. 27-—62. Stand at the brink, with the jaws only out, Their feet and of the trunk all else conceal’d, Thus on each part the sinners stood; but soon As Barbariccia was at hand, so they Drew bach under the wave. I saw, and yet My heart doth stagger, one, that waited thus, As it befalls that oft one frog remains, While thé next springs away: and Graffacan, Who of the fiends was nearest, grappling seized His clotted locks, and dragg’d him sprawling up, That he appear’d to me an otter. Each Already by their names I knew, so well When they were chosen | observed, and mark’d How one the other call’d. ‘“O Rubicant! See that his hide thou with thy talons flay, Shouted together all the cursed crew. Then I: “Inform thee, master! if thou may, What wretched soul is this, on whom their hands His foes have laid.’ My leader to his side Approach’d, and whence he came inquired; to whom Was answer’d thus: “Born in Navarre’s domain, My mother placed me in a lord's retinue ; Hor she had borne me to a losel vile, A spendthrift of his substance and himself. The good king Thibault after that I served: To peculating here my thoughts were turn‘d, Whereof I give account in this dire heat.” Straight Ciriatto, from whose mouth a tusk issuedmonecither side. as trom a. boar: Rippd him with one of these. “Twixt evil claws The mouse had fallen: but Barbariccia cried, Seizing him with both arms: “Stand thou apart, While I do fix him on my prong transpierced.” Then added, turning to my guide his face, “Inquire of him if more thou wish to learn Ere he again be rent.” My leader thus:HELL.—CANTO XXII: “Then tell us of the partners of thy guilt; Knowest thou any sprung of Latian land Under the tare] | parted,” he replied, “But now from one. who sojourn’d not far thence: So were I under shelter now with him. Nor hook nor talon then should scare me more.” “Too long we suffer,” Libicocco cried; Then, darting forth a prong, seized on his arm, And mangled bore away the sinewy part. Him Draghinazzo by his thighs beneath Would next have caught; whence angrily their chief, Turning on all sides round, with threatening brow Kestrain’d them. When their strife a little ceased, Of him, who yet was gazing on his wound, My teacher thus without delay inquired: “Who was the spirit, from whom by evil hap Parting, as thou hast told, thou camest to shore 2” “It was the fair Gomita,” he rejoin’d, ' Hie of Gallura, vessel of alll euile Who had his master's enemies in hand, And used them so that they commend him well. Money he took, and them at large dismiss’d; So he reports; and in each other charge Committed to his keeping play’d the part Of barterer to the height. With him doth herd The chief of Logodoro, Michael Zanche. Sardinia is a theme whereof their tongue Is never weary. Out! alas! behold That other, how he grins. More would I say, But tremble lest he mean to maul me sore.’ Their captain then to Farfarello turning, Who roll’d his moony eyes in act to strike, Rebuked him thus: “Off, cursed bird! avaunt!” olf ye desire to see of eam sire thts Quaking with dread resumed, “or Tuscan spirits Or Lombard, I will cause them to appear.104 Ee VIS LOIN: 99—134. let these ill talons bate their fury, Meantime, hey may fear from them, So that no vengeance t And I, remaining in this self-same place, | Will, for myself but one, make seven app€éar, When my shrill whistle shall be heard: for so | Our custon is to | Caenazzo at that word deriding call each other up.” erinn d, “Hear his device, Then wage'd the head and spake: | ie Mischievous as he is, to plunge him down.” f Whereto he thus, who fail’d not in rich store Of nice-wove toils: “ Mischief, forsooth, extreme ! Meant only to procure myself more Woe. No longer Alichino then refrain’d, But thus, the rest gainsaying, him bespake : “Tf thou do cast thee down, I not on foot Will chase thee, but above the pitch will beat | \ My plumes. Quit we the vantage ground, and let ee The bank be as a shield; that we may SCE, If singly thou prevail against US allie f Now, reader, of new sport expect to hear. They each one turn’d his eyes to the other shore, He first, who was the hardest to persuade. The spirit of Navarre chose well his time, Planted his feet on land, and at one leap Escaping, disappointed their resolve. Them quick resentment stung, but him the most Who was the cause of failure: in pursuit He therefore sped, exclaiming, ““Thou art caught.” But little it avail’d; terror outstripp’d His following flight; the other plunged beneath, And he with upward pinion raised his breast: F’en thus the water-fowl, when she perceives \ The falcon near, dives instant down, while he it Enraged and spent retires. That mockery \ In Calcabrina fury stirr'd, who flew After him, with desire of strife inflamed ;135—148, HEE. CANO xox And, for the barterer had scaped, so turn’d His talons on his comrade. O’er the dyke In grapple close they join’d; but the other proved A. goshawk able to rend well his foe; And in the boiling lake both fell. The heat Was umpire soon between them; but in vain To lift themselves they strove, so fast were glued Their pennons. Barbariccia, as the rest, That chance lamenting, four in flight dispatch’d From the other coast, with all their weapons arm’d. | They to their post on each side speedily Descending, stretch’d their hooks toward the fiends, Who flounder’d, inly burning from their scars : And we departing left them to that broil.- Y "ef WS beholds the punishment of the hypocrites ; and hoods that are gilt on the outside, but leaden within. its of Saint Mary, otherwise called Joyous Friars of Bologna. CANTO XXIIi. ARG UE IN: eS rae em nae Nn yrenehine cist oul The enraged demons pursue Dante, but he is preserved ‘from them by Virgil. On reaching the sixth gulf, he which is, to pace continually round the gulf under the pressure of caps He is addressed by two of these, Catalano and .Loderingo, Caiaphas is seen fixed to a cross on the ground, and lies so stretched along the way, that all tread on him in passing. es silence and in solitude we went, One first, the other following his steps, As minor friars journeying on their road. The present fray had turn’d my thoughts to muse Upon old A‘sop’s fable, where he told What fate unto the mouse and frog befell ; For language hath not sounds more like in sense, Than are these chances, if the origin And end of each be heedfully compared. And as one thought bursts from another forth, So afterward from that another sprang, Which added doubly to my former fear. tb For thus I reason’d: ‘ These through us have been So foil’d, with loss and mockery so complete, As needs must stin: oe them» sone, “i anger then Be to their evil will conjoin’d, more fell They shall pursue us, than the savage hound Snatches the leveret panting “twixt his jaws.” Already I perceived my hair stand all On end with terror, and look’d eager back. Weacher,” 1 thus began; “a speedily ~ Thyself and me thou hide not, much I dread Those evil talons. Even now behind They urge us: quick imagination works 106Ny Oi) \ Lipp Gr) YY Wy 5 on Up Yd Z, But the other proved A goshawk able to rend well his foe ; And in the boiling lake both fell. Canto XXII, lines 137-139.Hf BH (a a Nv ct iY i ——, eae nA ¥, fee x ge aeunN Be Ce a SAB Le Ot eats nS ae SS Saree li i ITE ati Wi NA i | U ik aoe aS = = ae eae —— —= —— am Scarcely had his feet Reached to the lowest of the bed beneath, When over us the steep they reach’d. Canto XXI/I., lines 52-54.HELL.—CANTO XXIII. So forcibly, that I already feel them.” Hie answer’d: “Were I formed of leaded glass, I] should not sooner draw unto myself Thy outward image, than I now imprint That from within. This moment came thy thoughts Presented before mine, with similar act And countenance similar, so that from both I one design have framed. If the right coast Incline so much, that we may thence descend Into the other chasm, we shall escape Secure from this imagined pursuit.” He had not spoke his purpose to. the end, When I from far beheld them with spread wings Approach to take us. Suddenly my euide Caught me, even as a mother that from sleep Is by the noise aroused, and near her. sees The climbing fires, who snatches up her babe And flies ne’er pausing, careful more of him Than of herself, that but a single vest Clings round her limbs. Down from the jutting. beach Supine he cast him to that pendent rock, Which closes on one part the other chasm. Never ran water with such hurrying pace Adown the tube to turn a land-mill’s wheel, When nearest it approaches to the spokes, As then along that edge my master ran, Carrying me in his bosom, as a child, Not a companion. Scarcely had his feet Reach’d to the lowest of the bed beneath, When over us the steep they reachd: but fear In him was none; for that high Providence, Which placed them ministers of the fifth fosse, Power of departing thence took from them all. There in the depth we saw a painted tribe, Who paced with tardy steps around, and wept, Faint in appearance and o’ercome with toil.THE VISION. Caps had they on, with hoods, that fell low down Before their eyes, in fashion like to those Worn by the monks in Cologne. Their outside Was overlaid with gold, dazzling to view, But leaden all within, and of such weight, That Frederick’s compared to these were Straw. Oh, everlasting wearisome attire ! We yet once more with them together turn’d To leftward, on their dismal moan intent. But by the weight opprest, so slowly came The fainting people, that our company Was changed, at every movement Ofithe: step: Whence I my guide address'd: “See that thou find Some spirit, whose name may by his deeds be known} And to that end look round thee as thou gost.” Then one, who understood the Tuscan Voice, Cried after us aloud: “Hold in your feet, Ye who so swiftly speed through the dusk air. Perchance from me thou shalt obtain thy wish.” Whereat my leader, turning, me bespake : “Pause, and then onward at their pace proceed.” I stayed, and saw two spirits in whose look Impatient eagerness of mind was mark’d To overtake me; but the load they bare And narrow path retarded their approach. Soon as arrived, they with an eye askance Perused me, but spake not: then turning, each To other thus conferring said: “This one Seems, by the action of his throat, alive ; And, be they dead, what privilege allows They walk unmantled by the cumbrous stole ?” Then thus to me: Tuscan, who visitest The college of the mourning hypocrites, Disdain not to instruct us who thou art.” “By Arno’s pleasant stream,’ I thus replied, “In the great city 1 was bred and grew,TRA ——S SAN SSS a a ee See ee SS SS oe = ———s —— We We | | | i a ni = it i SS URS SSNs BSE) xX ia z —— i ie & —— 7 ee Ly Ha = os WW = oy it cc ] ae —— ——> eae oN = \} PN ALE RIF NY iN Ht OW WA i DORA —— ee —— — = -—— es = —— Sa ' ak MANE Vs LAS i i a Wan AN a STE \) i ne A A i ape ra == i yy hs iH — —S—S —— E =<——=== —= eS > —— i =e nA it ve << ——— Se 5 = aoe — SS ai ————— os ae —— a —= sa = Se — == mn = — { —s — ae irs eo Fi — = == eS wi Mat = ——— Rage N wy ri RS X ——— See \ { OF, ee Kod ZG ea So ee a] 1 ‘ ra 0 i ints My ty Ar) Petey HK Na i thy —— A ‘f Hah HN ee Ge a = ———— KS) : { ERR PHAN ‘ ANN NWS i SAN RS) hee ty a ais Sin) sea om aed a aI —E as — Paes en ins Ph oI sr 1] ———— —— : = hypocrites o 2 ollege of the mourning Gc Wit c c Disdain not to instruct us who thou Canto XXIII, lines 92-94.| oo | Te it Ml ui i Wi vi NANA | | | | i | | } | ! | | ) | i | iI AN | | i j | ! y MH \ ] {| i i | en Nes vey “That pierced spirit, whom intent i I Thou view’st, was he who gave the Pharisees Counsel, that it were fitting for one man Yi / To suffer for the people.” Canto XXITIL,, lines 117-120,HELL.—CANTO: XXIII. And wear the body I have never worn. But who are ye, from whom such mighty grief, As now I witness, courseth down your cheeks ? What torment breaks forth in this bitter woe 2?” “Our bonnets gleaming white with orange hue,” One of them answer’d, “are so leaden @TOSS, That with their weight they make the balances To crack beneath them. Joyous friars we were, Bologna’s natives; Catalano -], He Loderingo named; and by thy land Together taken, as men used to takc A single and indifferent arbiter, To reconcile their strifes. How there we sped, Gardingo’s vicinage can best declare.” Oly friars! = 1 began, “your miseries Sut there brake off, for one had caught mine eye, Fixd to a cross with three stakes on the ground : He, when he saw me, writhed himself, throughout Distorted, ruffling with deep sighs his beard. And Catalano, who thereof was ‘ware, Thus spake: “That pierced spirit, whom intent Thou viewst, was he who gave the Pharisees Counsel, that it were fitting for one man io sutier forthe people. Ele doth lie Transverse; nor any passes, but him first Behoves make feeling trial how each weighs. In straits like this along the fosse are placed The father of his consort, and the rest Partakers in that council, seed of ill And sorrow to the Jews. I noted then, How Virgil gazed with wonder upon him, Thus abjectly extended on the cross In banishment eternal. To the friar He next his words addressed: “We pray ye tell, If so be lawful, whether on our right Lies any opening in the rock, wherebyTHE VISION. We both may issue hence, without constraint On the dark angels, that compell’d they come To lead us from this depth.’ He thus replied : “Nearer than thou dost hope, there is a rock From the great circle moving, which oersteps Fach vale of horror, save that here his cope Is shatter'd. By the ruin ye may mount: For on the side it slants, and most the height Rises below.” With head bent down awhile My leader stood; then spake: “ He warn’d us ill, Who yonder hangs the sinners on his hook.” To whom the friar: “At Bologna erst I many vices of the devil heard; Among the rest was said, ‘He is a liar, And the father of lies!’” When he had spoke, My leader with large strides proceeded on, Somewhat disturb’d with anger in his look. I therefore left the spirits heavy laden, And, following, his beloved footsteps mark'd.CANTO XXIV. ARGUMENT. Under the escort of his faithful master, Dante, not without difficulty, makes his way out of the sixth gulf, and in the seventh sees the robbers tormented by venomous and pestilent serpents. The soul of Vanni Fucci, who had pillaged the sacristy of Saint James in Pistoia, predicts some calamities that impended over that city, and over the Florentines. i the year’s early nonage, when the sun Tempers his tresses in Aquarius urn, And now towards equal day the nights recede ; Whenas the rime upon the earth puts on Her dazzling sister's image, but not long Her milder sway endures ; then riseth up The village hind, whom fails his wintry store, And looking out beholds the plain around All whiten’d; whence impatiently he smites His thighs, and to his hut returning in, There paces to and fro, wailing his lot, As a discomfited and helpless man ; Then comes he forth again, and feels new hope Spring in his bosom, finding e’en thus soon The world hath changed its countenance, grasps his crook, And forth to pasture drives his little flock: So me my ouide dishearten’d, when | saw His troubled forehead; and so speedily That ill was cured; for at the fallen bridge Arriving, towards me with a look as sweet, He turn’d him back, as that | first beheld At the steep mountain's foot. Regarding well The ruin, and some counsel first maintain’d With his own thought, he open'd wide his arm And took me up. As one, who, while he works, Teer2 a i Es) VlSlON: Computes his labor’s issue, that he seems Still to foresee the effect; so lifting me Up to the summit of one peak, he fix’d His eye upon another. “Grapple that,” Said he, “but first make proof, if it be such As will sustain thee.’ For one capt with lead This were no journey. Scarcely he, though light And J, though onward push’d from crag to Crag, Could mount. And if the precinct of this coast Were not less ample than the last. fom lim I know not, but my strength had surely fail’d. But Malebolge all toward the mouth Inclining of the nethermost abyss, The site of every valley hence requires, That one side upward slope, the other fall. ) At length the point from whence the utmost stone Juts down, we reach’d; soon as to that arrived, So was the breath exhausted from my lungs Ivcould no tunther. but did seat ime there: “Now needs thy best of man”; so spake my “For not on downy plumes, nor under shade Of canopy reposing, fame is won; Without which whosoe’er consumes his days, Leaveth such vestige of himself on earth, As smoke in air, or foam upon the wave. Thou therefore rise: vanquish thy weariness By the mind's effort, in each struggle form’d To vanquish, if she suffer not the weight Of her corporeal frame to crush her down. A longer ladder yet remains to scale. From these to have escaped sufficeth not, Ii well thou note me, profit by my words.” I straightway rose, and show’d myself less s Mhan wl mana, did feel me “On” -I cried: “For I am’stout and fearless.” Up the rock Our way we held, more rugged than before, culde: penti ‘ ‘ ‘) ih \ AY nN \ i Whit Mh | f) H | | : Y Wf f, 1K Bait, gs T A V4 YY fy fe UY, se? Z , Wy UY i Y Up i FINDS | Wy ci yr 7 by B Daf ty LA ea ¥ fy I, YG Gogo ig iy bets) it ie I pS a i ba! 5 2S a i iu CA | iu 4 a i = Ae BOT pe = xuberance of woe > Y — VY oO oO ‘ a — —) Y — ~ _— ~ -_— 2S) _ oS = d with horrid fear, > spirits wing ~d Fouts XXIV, lines 89, 92NN ae \ WO ANI Wree vase Ns a VAY + ‘\ WS : RCN | NS A \ \ SN \ WIS \ \\\\ \ TE WW) i Lea ETS eae Le 5 ¢ \ . AR \ A VeDiNnt i Y ‘ \ alr Ese, : ay fy 5 i) ij ey BUSS \ CAAA A) ARERR ee NUSEVGAM Te ener ar raat Efe AND \ \ : . te y fi f /, iy ih f if yj eo | UE ee tat SINE ea ce A Oa ¢ Ban il i ii ; Baal ba a Batt Ppt tet tt ids eter Tere, ; = ety 2 oe rs Sar re a = ah ry A ; | ea : es ' ee ey hy Hie 4 eee \ SS Bees i ieah aye + FBV SNR eso ree eee ae eu : | Gp 2 | ora as RHR te eh Nh) A ee a | SMW cake ailh Nae : He Ye, —vs- SS ——-s The other two Look’d on, exclaiming, “Ah! how dost thou change, Agnello!”’ Canto XX V., lines 59-61. i ie TT eget ay, My / iHELL.—CANTO XXIV. Narrower, and steeper far to climb. From talk I ceased not, as we journey’d, so to seem Least faint; whereat a voice from the other fosse Did issue forth, for utterance suited ill. Though on the arch that crosses where I stood, What were the words I knew not, but who spake Seem'd moved in anger. Down I stooped to look; But my quick eye might reach not to the depth For shrouding darkness; wherefore thus I spake: “To the next circle, teacher, bend thy steps, And from this wall dismount we; for as hence I hear and understand not, so I see Beneath, and nought discern.” “J answer not,’ Said’ he, “but by, the deed: “lo fair Tequest Silent performance maketh best return.” We from the bridge’s head descended, where To the eighth mound it joins; and then, the chasm Opening to view, I saw a crowd within Of serpents terrible, so strange of shape And hideous, that remembrance in my veins Vet shrinks the vital current. Of her sands Let Libya vaunt no more: if Jaculus, Pereas and Chelyder be her brood, Cenchris and Amphisbzena, plagues so dire Or in such numbers swarming ne'er she show d. Not with all Ethiopia, and whate er Above the Erythrzean sea is spawn d. Amid this dread exuberance of woe Ran naked spirits wing’d with horrid fear, Nor hope had they of crevice where to hide, Or heliotrope to charm them out of view. With serpents were their hands behind them bound, Which through their reins infix’d the tail and head, Twisted in folds before. And, lo! on one Near to our side, darted an adder up, And. where the neck is on the shoulders tied,—— eran al a THE VISION. Transpierced him. Far more quickly than ecr pen Wrote O or I, he kindled, burn’d, and changed To ashes all, poured out upon the earth. When there dissolved he lay, the dust again Uproll’d spontaneous, and the self-same form The Arabian Phoenix, when five hundred years Have well nigh circled, dies, and springs forthwith Renascent: blade nor herb throughout his life Instant resumed. So mighty sages tell, He tastes, but tears of frankincense alone And adorous amomum: swaths of nard And myrrh his funeral shroud. As one that falls, He knows not how, by force demoniac drage’d To earth, or through obstruction fettering up In chains invisible the powers Olfeman Who, risen from his trance, gazeth around, Bewilder’d with the monstrous agony He hath indured, and wildly staring sighs; So stood aghast the sinner when he rose. Oh! how severe God's judgment, that deals out Such blows in stormy vengeance. Who he was My teacher next inquired; and thus in few Flemanswerd: “ Vanm Ieweer am I callid, Not? long since rained down from Tuscany To this dire gullet. Me the bestial lite And not the human pleased, mule that 1 was Who in Pistoia found my worthy den.” I then to Virgil: “Bid him stir not hence; And ask him what crime did thrust him hither: once A man I knew him, choleric and bloody.” The sinner heard and feigned not, but towards me His mind directing and his face, wherein Was dismal shame depictured, thus he spake: “Tt grieves me more to have been caught by thee In this sad plight, which thou beholdest, than When I was taken from the other life.134—I50, HELL.—CANTO XXIV. I have no power permitted to deny What thou inquirest. I am doom’d thus low To dwell, for that the sacristy by me Was rifled of its goodly ornaments, And with the guilt another falsely charged. Sut that thou mayst not joy to see me thus, So as thou eer shalt scape this darksome realm, Open thine ears and hear what I forebode. Reft of the Neri first Pistoia pines ; Then Florence changeth citizens and laws; From Valdimagra, drawn by wrathful Mars, A. vapor rises, wrapt in turbid mists, And sharp and eager driveth on the storm With arrowy hurtling oer Piceno’s field, Whence suddenly the cloud shall burst, and strike Each helpless Bianco prostrate to the ground. This have I told, that grief may rend thy heart.GANTO XX | { i a / > — T +, rT {, NReGAU VL aN ae . . . ~~ . ak: The sacrilegious Fucci vents his fury in blasphemy, is seized by serpents, and flying is pursued by Cacus in the 2 ies a / i / i 1} form of a centaur, who is described with a swarm of serpents on his haunch, and a dragon on his shoulders breathing | | forth fire. Our poet then meets with the spirits of three of his countrymen, two ol whom undergo a marvelous trans- \ formation in his presence. HEN he had spoke, the sinner raised his hands Pointed in mockery, and cried: “Take them, God! I level them at thee.” From that day forth The serpents were my friends: for round his neck One of them rolling twisted, as it said, \ “Be silent tongue!” Another, to his arms Wy Upgliding, tied them, riveting itself So close, it took from them the power to move. Pistoia! ah, Pistoia! why dost doubt Se > a To turn thee into ashes, cumbering earth —— Sele No longer, since in evil act so far Thou hast undone thy seed? I did not mark, Through all the gloomy circles of the abyss, Spirit, that swell’d so proudly ‘gainst his God: headlong fell from Thebes. He fled, 7 | | Not him, who g Nor utter’d more; and after him there came A centaur full of fury, shouting, “ Where, Where is the caitiff?” On Maremma’s marsh Swarm not the serpent tribe, as on his haunch They swarm’d, to where the human face begins. : ; Behind his head, upon the shoulders, lay With open wings a dragon, breathing fire | On whomso’er he met. To me my guide: “Cacus is this, who underneath the rock 116HELL.—CANTO XXV. Of Aventine spread oft a lake of blood. He, from his brethren parted, here must tread A different journey, for his fraudful theft Of the great herd that near him stall’d; whence found g His felon deeds their end, beneath the mace Of stout Alcides, that perchance laid on A hundred blows, and not the tenth was felt.” While yet he spake, the centaur sped away: And under us three spirits came, of whom Nor I nor he was ware, till they exclaim d, “Say, who are ye Ve tien brake off discourse, Intent on these alone. I knew them not: But. as it chanceth oft, befell, that one Had need to name another. ‘“ Where,” said he, “Doth Cianfa lurk?” I, for a sign my guide Should stand attentive, placed against my lips The finger lifted. If, O reader! now Thou be not apt to credit what I tell No marvel; for myself do scarce allow The witness of mine eyes. But as | look’d Toward them, lo! a serpent with six feet Springs forth on one, and fastens full upon him: His midmost grasp'd the belly, a forefoot Seized on each arm (while deep in either cheek He flesh’d his fangs); the hinder on the thighs Were spread, ‘twixt which the tail inserted curl'd Upon the reins behind. Ivy neer clasp'd A. dodder’d oak, as round the others limbs The hideous monster intertwined his own. Then, as they both had been of burning wax, Each melted into other, mingling hues, That which was either now was seen no MOTE. Thus up the shrinking paper, ere it burns, A brown tint glides, not turning yet to black, And the clean white expires. The other two Look’d on, exclaiming, “Ah! how dost thou change,a Sn a Lena ae oonlen PHP VISION, Agnello! See! thou art nor double now, Nor only one.” The two heads now became One, and two figures blended in one form Appear’d, where both were lost. Of the four lengths Two arms were made: the belly and the chest, The thighs and legs, into such members changed As never eye hath seen. Of former shape All trace was vanish’d. Two, yet neither, seem’d That image miscreate, and so passd on With tardy ste Of the sierce d Shifting from ps. As underneath the scourge og-star that lays bare the fields, yrake to brake the lizard seems A flash of lightning, if he thwart the road; So toward the entrails of the other two Approaching seem’d an adder all on fire, As the dark pepper-grain livid and swart. In that part, whence our life is nourish’d first, One he transpierced; then down before him fell Stretch'd out. The pierced spirit look’d on him, But spake not; yea, stood motionless and yawn’d, As if by sleep or feverous fit assail’d. him. He eyed the serpent, and the serpent One from the wound, the other from the mouth Breathed a thick smoke, whose vapory columns join’d. Lucan in mute attention now may hear, Nor thy disastrous fate, Sabellus, tell, INor thine, Nasidius. Ovid now be mute. + What if in warbling fiction he record Cadmus and Arethusa, to a snake Z . al By . ~ . Him changed, and her into a fountain Cleary. Cr I envy not; for never face to face Two natures thus transmuted did he sing, Wherein both shapes were ready to assume The other’s substance. They in mutual SUISE 50 answerd, that the serpent split his train Divided to a fork, and the pierced spirit97—132. HELL.—CANTO XXV. Drew close his steps together, legs and thighs Compacted, that no sign of juncture soon Was visible: the tail disparted, took The figure which the Spiml lost. ats) slain Softening, his indurated to a rind. The shoulders next I mark’d, that entering join’d The monster’s arm-pits, whose two shorter feet So lengthen’d, as the others dwindling shrunk. The feet behind then twisting up became That part that man conceals, which in the wretch Was cleft in twain. While both the shadowy smoke 1 With a new color veils, and generates ry ~— [he -excrescent pile on one, peeling it off From the other body, lo! upon his feet One upright rose, and prone the other fell. Nor yet their glaring and malignant lamps Were shifted, though each feature changed beneath. Of him who stood erect, the mounting face Retreated towards the temples, and what there Superfluous matter came, shot out in ears +> From the smooth cheeks; the rest, not backward drage’d, Of its excess did shape the nose; and swell’d Into due size protuberant the lips. He, on the earth who lay, meanwhile extends His sharpen'd visage, and draws down the ears Into the head, as doth the slug his horns. His tongue, continuous before and apt For utterance, severs; and the other's fork Closing unites. That done; the smoke was laid. ( ) < The soul, transform’d into the brute, glides off, o the vale, and after him Hissing along The other talking sputters; but soon turn’d His new-grown shoulders on him, and in few Thus to another spake: “Along this path Crawling, as I have done, speed Buoso now! So saw I fluctuate in successive changeTHE VISION. The unsteady ballast of the seventh hold: And here if aught my pen have swerved, events Olver mine Eyes So strange may be its Wankame: Confusion hung, and on my thoughts amaze. Yet ‘scaped they not so covertly, but well, I mark’d Sciancato: he alone it was Of the three first that came, who chang’d not: thou The other’s fate, Gaville! still dost rue.CANTO AXXVIE ARG OU Vili Ne Remounting by the steps, down which they had descended to the seventh gulf, they go forward to the ~} ¢ “trate rar or} E+ } } } 1 i } j arch that stretches over the eighth, and from thence behold numberless flames wherein are punished the evil counsellors, each flame containing a sinner, save one, in which were Diomede and Ulysses, the latter of whom relates the manner of his death. ee exult! for thou so mightily Hast thriven, that o'er land and sea thy wings Thou beatest, and thy name spreads over hell. Among the plunderers, such the three I found Thy citizens; whence shame to me thy son, And no proud honor to thyself redounds. But if our minds, when dreaming near the dawn, Are of the truth presageful, thou ere long Shalt feel what Prato (not to say the rest) Would fain have come upon thee; and that chance Were in good time, if it befell thee now. Would so it were, since it must needs befall! For as time wears me, I shall grieve the more. We from the depth departed; and my guide Remounting scaled the flinty steps, which late We downward traced, and drew me up the steep. Pursuing thus our solitary way Among the crags and splinters of the rock, Sped not our feet without the help of hands. Then sorrow seized me, which een now revives, As my thought turns again to what I saw, And. more than I am wont, I rein and curb The powers of nature in me, lest they run Where Virtue guides not; that, if aught of good I21ILe VIStON: My gentle star or something better gave me, I envy not myself the precious boon. As in that season, when the sun least veils His face that lightens all, what time the fly Gives way to the shrill gnat, the peasant then, Upon some cliff reclined, beneath him sees Fire-flies innumerous spangling oer the vale, Vineyard or tilth, where his day-labor lies ; With flames so numberless throughout its space Shone the eighth chasm, apparent, when the depth Was to my view exposed. As he, whose wrongs The bears avenged, at its departure saw Bliah’s chariot, when the steeds erect Raised their steep flight for heaven; his eyes, meanwhile, Straining pursued them, till the flame alone, Upsoaring, like a misty speck, he kenn‘d: Fen thus along the gulf moves every flame, A sinner so enfolded close in each, That none exhibits token of the theft. Upon the bridge I forward bent to look, And grasp‘d a flinty mass, or else had fallen, Though push’d not from the height. The guide, who mark’d How I did gaze attentive, thus began : “Within these ardors are the spirits, each Swathed in confining fire.” “Master! thy word J answerd, “hath assured me; yet I deem’d Already of the truth, already wish’d To ask thee who is in yon fire, that comes So parted at the summit, as it seem’d Ascending from that funeral pile where lay The Theban brothers,” - He replied: “ Within, Ulysses there and Diomede endure Their penal tortures, thus to vengeance now Together hasting, as erewhile to wrath. These in the flame with ceaseless groans deplore The ambush of the horse, that opend wide A portal for that goodly seed to pass,HLT il i 7 SON) \\\\ ann Ly beng AEN Sn ORE i\ | | \ WK Cn ————— —————_ —_—-_ a Se TE re a sa x An } ‘\ = a eS | MA | | i) | n Na PAR 7 geet ‘ i SS ee ; | eS eas Se a ot EL SE =e ee ——_ ) ST SS a ee ES apne oe SS —— Se es ————— ee — ae es 2 ae Cee el rae jams = —— 2 a ee os ee = Se PO eer —— Sa A as t= as —<———— ll | | are i) SS So Se ae So ae Fie —! co —— Cae rae aa a a a el —_ rene —__ nt Ne en, ee ———— ——— . — ——————— —— ———— ee aa — —————— = == ———— | : i : a i | H ) ae a i ooo —————— | nt A H ; j he ian be i n ASNTTTTFVHLIPCRRAVUNN RNR lb \ Ne! a Pr gs acres db eee] OP inn Mh ra aa SOIC ale ai i ea Oe n Aah pts Ey \ |) AV Vp tt. ny mh} 1 | \ al) Biri ste iP Fj 1) 5 Re or nears Ma THI NUI RARE 1 Waa ; apeie aN Ve ‘ a Hh 4 : H uri} 1 ie Deere re yt na wart i a ti | ey . ‘ af ne ae | Hl i \ | ‘Within these ardors are the spirits, eac Cwathed in confining fire Canto XXVTI., lines 46-49.oa SPS = oe pe = He 5 ith ts io NUE Nei —~ SS See SSS i ieee — oS SS — 4, LT AL Ti CONT Hier ay Ue Mt Ui) Yh W) — PE SWS ~ SS SS UA Up 9 eS Sy Ny OS SS S So S&S LH AY G Uy Hy ji ay MLA Up Thy iy HY} Yip Ui Us yy Cy a > = — tis —=— =" — — — JZ ~ —SS 2S SSS SE SS — Et a Sos Ss —— era SSS == SS Ss ee — ae SS ‘“ Now mark how I do rj 1p How is Mahomet mangled.” SS ——, = Sa WES SS = = SSS we A eS Canto XX VITT, ) —SS==== ——ss = —, ~ —s = I zm = = — > SSS = at oe —— — SSS es a i ! : t i i i ih i | in ‘il oa He l “hee a any ARH i i ea aca ae i ve il Sc aa ae ta ea | HtHELL.—CANTO XXVI. Which sow’d imperial Rome; nor less the guile Lament they, whence, of her Achilles elf Deidamia yet in death complains. And there is rued the stratagem that Troy Of her Palladium spoil d.” 2 if they have power Of utterance from within these Sparks,” said I, “Oh, master! think my prayer a thousand-fold In repetition urged, that thou vouchsafe To pause till here the horned flame arrive. See how toward it with desire I bend.” Me thus: “Thy prayer is worthy of much praise, And I accept it therefore: but do thou Thy tongue refrain: to question them be mine; For I divine thy wish; and they perchance, For they were Greeks, might shun discourse with thee.” When there the flame had come, where time and places Seem d fitting to my guide, he thus began: “OQ ye, who dwell two Spirits in one fire! If, living, I of you did merit aught, Whate’er the measure were of that desert. When in the world my lofty strain I pour’d, Move ye not on, till one of you unfold In what clime death o’ertook him self-destroy d.” Of the old flame forthwith the greater horn Began to roll, murmuring, as a fire That labors with the wind, then to and fro Wagging the top, as a tongue uttering sounds, Threw out its voice, and spake: “When I escaped From Circe, who beyond a circling year Had held me near Caieta by her charms, Fre thus A‘neas yet had named the shore; Nor fondness for my son, nor reverence Of my old father, nor return of love, That should have crown’d Penelope with joy, Could overcome in me the zeal I had To explore the world, and search the ways of life, Bonin sald Man’s evil and his virtue.THE VISION. Into the deep illimitable main, With but one barque, and the small faithful band sinatra yiet cleaved to me. As Iberia faite Far as Marocco, either shore I saw, And the Sardinian and each isle beside Which round that ocean bathes. Tardy with age Were I and my companions, when we came To the strait pass, where Hercules ordain’d The boundaries not to be o’erstepp’d by man. The walls of Seville to my right lett. On the other hand already Ceuta past. ‘Oh, brothers!’ I began, ‘who to the west Through perils without number now have reach’d ; To this the short remaining watch, that yet Our senses have to wake, refuse not proof Of the unpeopled world, following the track Of Phcebus. Call to mind from whence ye sprang: Ve were not form’d to live the life of brutes, 3ut virtue to pursue, and knowledge high. With these few words I sharpen’d for the voyage The mind of my associates, that | then Could scarcely have withheld them. To the dawn Our poop we turnd, and for the witless flight Made our oars wings, still gaining on the left. Each star of the other pole night now beheld, And ours so low, ¢éhat from the ocean floor It rose not. Five times re-illumed, as oft Vanish'd the light from underneath the moon, Since the deep way we enter d, when from far Appeared a mountain dim, loftiest methought On all iecierm beheld: Voy seized us straiehy; But soon to mourning changed. From the new land A whirlwind sprung, and at her foremost side Did strike the vessel. Thrice it whirl’d her round With all the waves: the fourth time lifted up The poop, and sank the prow: so fate decreed: And over us the booming billow closed.”CANTO XXVII. 5m TT SONOS Ake GUM ENE risen ~ AAT TAT eR AG Cnn +1 : aos ; The poet, treating of the same punishment as in the last canto, relates that he turned towards a flame in which was the Count Guido da Montefeltro, whose inquiries respecting the state of Romagna he answers; and Mea On ee hes, Oy) a pe on J Guido is thereby induced to declare who he is, and why condemned to that torment. Nee upward rose the flame, and still’d its light To speak no more, and now passd on with leave From the mild poet gain’d; when following came Another, from whose top a sound confused, Forth issuing, drew our eyes that way to look. As the Sicilian bull, that rightfully His cries first echoed who had shaped its mold, Did so rebellow, with the voice of him Tormented, that the brazen monster seem’d Pierced through with pain; thus, while no way they found, Nor avenue immediate through the flame, Into its language turn’d the dismal words: But soon as they had won their passage forth, Up from the point, which vibrating obey'd Their motion at the tongue, these sounds were heard: “Oh, thou! to whom I now direct my voice, That lately didst exclaim in Lombard phrase, ‘Depart thou; | solicit thee no more ; Though somewhat tardy | perchance arrive, Let it not irk thee here to pause awhile, And with me parley: lo! it irks not me, And yet I burn. If but e’en now thou fall Into this blind world, from that pleasant land Of Latium, whence I draw my sum of guilt, Tell me if those who in Romagna dwell 125el Ey Wal SON: Inmavenpeace Of War lor of the mountains there | Was I, betwixt Urbino and the height i ) Whence Tiber first unlocks his mighty flood.” Leaning I listen’d yet with heedful ear, When, as he touch’d my side, the leader thus: ; “Speak thou: he is a Latian.” My reply | Was ready, and I spake without delay : “Oh, spirit! who art hidden here below, Never was thy Romagna without war , In her proud tvrants’ bosoms, nor is now: f 3ut open war there left 1 none. The state, ——- AO Ravenna hath maintain’d this many a year, Is steadfast. There Polenta’s eagle broods ; And in his broad circumference of plume O’ershadows Cervia. The green talons grasp The land, that stood erewhile the proof so long And piled in bloody heap the host of France. i “The old mastiff of Verruchio and the young, That tore Montagna in their wrath, still make, : lanes. oO f Where they are wont, an auger of their )) | “Lamone’s city, and Santerno’s, range | Under the lion of the snowy lair, Inconstant partisan, that changeth sides, Or ever summer yields to winter’s frost. And she whose flank is wash’d of Savio’s wave. | As ‘twixt the level and the steep she lies, { Lives so ‘twixt tyrant power and liberty. i “ Now tell us, I entreat thee, who art thou: | Be not more hard than others. In the world, ( 5o may thy name still rear its forehead high.” Then roar'd awhile the fire, its sharpen’d point On either side waved, and thus breath’d at last: oe Gel aital thm My answer were to one Who ever could return unto the world, This flame should rest unshaken. But since ne‘’er, If true be told me, any from this depthHELL.—CANTO XXVII. Has found his upward way, I answer thee ) Nor fear lest infamy record the words. “A man of arms at first, I clothed me then In good Saint Francis’ girdle, hoping so To have made amends. And certainly my hope Had fail’d not, but that he. whom curses light on, The high priest, again seduced me into sin. And how, and wherefore, listen while I tell. Long as this Spirit moved the bones and pulp My mother gave me, less my deeds bespake The nature of the lion than the fox. All ways of winding subtlety I knew, And with such art conducted, that the sound Reach'd the world’s limit. Soon as to that part it Of life I found me come, when each behoves To lower sails and gather in the lines; That, which before had pleased me, then I rued, AIG to repentance and confession turn’d, Wretch that I was; and well it had bested me. The chief of the new Pharisees meantime, Waging his warfare near the Lateran, Not with the Saracens or All Christians were, Had. fought, nor traffick’d in the Soldan’s land). Jews (his foes rainst Acre one Ag Nor He, his great charge nor sacred ministry, 2 In himself reverenced. nor in me that cord | Which used to mark with leanness whom it girded. g As in Soracte, Constantine besought, To cure his leprosy, Sylvester's aid; SO me, to cure the fever or his) pride; This man besought: my counsel to that end He ask’d; and I was silent; for his words but forthwith he thus resumed : ‘From thy heart banish fear: of Seem'd drunken: all offense I hitherto absolve thee. In return, each. me smiy purpose So to SxEcliue,THE VISION. That Penestrino cumber earth no more. Heaven, as thou knowest, I have no power to shut And open: and the keys are therefore twain, The which my predecessor meanly prized. “Then, yielding to the forceful arguments, Of silence as more perilous I deem ’d, And answer'd: ‘Father, since thou washest me Clear of that guilt wherein I now must fall, Large promise with performance scant, be sure, Shall make thee triumph in thy lofty seat. “When I was number’d with the dead, then came Saint Francis for me; but a cherub dark He met, who cried, ‘Wrong me not; he is mine, And must below to join the wretched crew, For the deceitful counsel which he gave. F’er since I watch’d him, hovering at his hair. No power can the impenitent absolve ; Nor to repent, and will, at once consist, by V Oh, misery! how I shook myself when he contradiction absolute forbid.’ Seized me and cried, ‘Thou haply thought’st me not A disputant in logic so exact!” To Minos down he bore me, and the judge Twined eight times round his callous back the tail, Which biting with excess of rage, he spake: ‘This is a guilty soul, that in the fire Must vanish. Hence, perdition-doomd, I rove A prey to rankling sorrow, in this garb.” When he had thus fulfill’d his words, the flame In dolor parted, beating to and fro And writhi ag its-sharp horn. We onward went, e I and my leader, up along the rock, Far as another arch, that overhangs The fosse, wherein the penalty is paid Of those who load them with committed sin.They arrive in the ninth gulf, where the sowers of scandal, schismatics, and heretics are seen with their limbs miserably maimed or divided in different ways. CANTO XXVIII. ARGUMEN &. Mosca, and Bertrand de Born. HO, éen in words unfetter’d, might at full Tell of the wounds and blood that now I saw, Though he repeated oft the tale? No tongue So vast a theme could equal, speech and thought 30th impotent alike. If in one band Collected, stood the people all, who eer Pour'd on Apulia’s happy soil their blood, Slain by the Trojans, and in that long war, When of the rings the measured booty made A: pile so high, as Rome’s historian writes Who errs not; with the mutitude, that felt The grinding force of Guiscard’s Norman steel, And those the rest, whose bones are gather'd yet At Ceperano, there where treachery Branded the Apulian name, or where beyond Thy walls, O Tagliacozzo, without arms The old Alardo conquer'd ; and his limbs One were to show transpierced, another his Clean lopt away; a spectacle like this Were but a thing of nought, to the hideous sight Of the ninth chasm. A rundlet, that hath lost Its middle or side stave, gapes not so wide As one I mark’d, torn from the chin throughout Down to the hinder passage: 'twixt the legs 129 Among these the poet finds Mahomet, Piero da Medicina, Curio,THe VISION: Dangling his entrails hung, the midriff lay Open to view, and wretched ventricle, That turns the eee 5 aliment to dross. Whilst eagerly I nx on him my gaze, He eyed me, an his ee laid his breast bare, And cried, “ Now mark how I do mp mes lo! How is Mahomet mangled: before me Walks Ali weeping, from the chin his face Cleft to the forelock; and the others all, Whom here thou seest, while they lived, did sow Scandal and schism, and therefore thus are rent. A fiend is here behind, who with his sword Hacks us thus cruelly, slivering again Each of this realm, when we have compast round The dismal way; for first our gashes close Ere we repass before him. But, say who Art thou, that standest musing on the rock, Haply so lingering to delay the pain Sentenced upon thy, crimes, “lim death not yet. My g Conducts to torment; but, that he may make uide rejoin’d, “hath overta’en, nor sin 1 Full trial of your state, I who am dead Must through the depths of hell, from orb to orb, Conduct him. Trust my words; for they are true.” More than a hundred spirits when that they heard, Stood in the fosse to mark me, through amaze Thou, who perchance Rornechul or thei pangs. = Shalt shortly view the sun, this warning thou Bear to Doleinoe: bid him, i he wish not Here soon to follow me, that with good store Of food he arm him, lest imprisoning snows Yield him a victim to Novara’s power ; No easy conquest else”: with foot upraised For stepping, spake Mahomet, on the ground Then fix’d it to depart. Another shade, Eicrced im the throat, his Deaay mutilateei il Ni | MV Up \) y Ul? Mi ELL TSA ed ——— ~~ Lj 1 Canto XX VITTI., lines 68, 69. Oo minc _— — — oC / ~ —_ ome —- —: — nN — oO oO oO — eS Mees rat O Cy O =~ oO — — LD SS =yan vo TRL i oa KS ae yyy typ 4 = =— it vi Ih Hh ee i Uy Noe H Ht I —S a \ RS a ANKE AE RS AY AN NY A ANN he \ Ny Ay NA x By the hair It bore the sever'd member, lantern-wise Pendent in hand, which look'd at us, and said, “ Woe's me!” Canto XX XVITI., lines 116 119.HELL.—CANTO XXVIII. Een from beneath the eyebrows, and one ear Lopt off, who, with the rest. through wonder stood Gazing, before the rest advanced, and bared His windpipe, that without was all o’ersmear’d With crimson stain. “Oh, thou!” said he, “whom sin Condemns not, and whom erst (unless too near Resemblance do deceive me) I aloft Have seen on Latian ground, call thou to mind Piero of Medicina, if again Returning, thou behold’st the pleasant land That from Vercelli Slopes to Mercabo ; And there instruct the twain, whom Fano boasts Her worthiests sons, Guido and Angelo, That if ‘tis given us here to scan aright The future, they out of life’s tenement Shall be cast forth, and whelm’d under the waves Near to Cattolica, through perfidy Of a fell tyrant. ‘“Twixt the Cyprian isle And Balearic, ne'er hath Neptune seen An injury so foul, by pirates done, Or Argive crew of old. That one-eyed traitor (Whose realm, there is a spirit here were fain His eye had still lack’d sight of) them shall bring To conference with him, then so shape his end, That they shall need not ‘gainst Focara’s wind Offer up vow or prayer.” I answering thus: “Declare, as thou dost wish that I above May carry tidings of thee, who is he, In whom that sight doth wake such sad remembrance.’ Forthwith he laid his hand on the cheek-bone Of one, his fellow-spirit, and his jaws Expanding, cried: “Lol this 18 he 1 wot of: He speaks not for himself: the outcast this, Who overwhelm’d the doubt in Czesar’s mind, Affirming that delay to men prepared Was ever harmful.’ Oh! how terrified Ric pe re oeTHE VISION. Methought was Curio, from whose throat was cut The tongue, which spake that hardy word. Then one, Maim’d of each hand, uplifted in the gloom The bleeding stumps, that they with gory spots Gullied his face, and cried: “ Remember thee Of Mosca too; I who, alas! exclaim ’d, ‘The deed once done, there is an end, that proved A seed of sorrow to the Tuscan race.” I added: “ Ay, and death to thine own tribe.” Whence, heaping woe on WOE, he hurried off, As one grief-stung to madness. But | there Still lingered to behold the troop, and saw Thing, such as | may fear without more proof To tell of, but that conscience makes me firm, The boon companion, who her strong breastplate Buckles on him, that feels no guilt within, And bids him on and fear not. -Without doubt I saw, and yet it seems to pass before me, A headless trunk that. even as the rest Of the sad flock paced onward. By the hair It bore the sever'd member, lantern-wise Pendent in hand, which look’d at us, and said, “\WWoesime!” Whe: spirit lighted thus himselir, And two. there were in one, and one in two. How that may be,. he knows who ordereth so. When at the bridge’s foot direct he stood, His arm aloft he rear’d, thrusting the head Full in our view, that nearer we might hear The words, which thus it utterd: “ Now behold OF. (Ox ie g gost ; This grievous torment, thou, who breathin To spy the dead: behold, if any else Be tertible-as this, And: that on earth Thou mayst bear tidings of me, know that I Am Bertrand, he of Born, who gave King John The counsel mischievous. Father and son I set at mutual war. For Absalom] m7 j i FTKI I wi rs ‘J SON ite Wk NUH i SN aN AN BEORGR ; Nh AR EN AY N : SARIN ; N WK s , * Q ra a I erent Cob bia] ae ee (aa rrr ad 5 Re coe aaron pe Ree ee eet ie 5 — RS a Se Se nee y i rf b ON vat SypeF er cf i Tet aS ra! a2 WY Leigh y €f Yy yf, A a Ly Amongst the maim’d and miserable shades? ” Canto KOXTfinest HIP nah | ‘ h i Hy | Hi Ne This Ak i) He Hi i Ha hy I if i o il cht Was livelier to explore the depth, wherein The minister of the most mighty Lord, Then my si All searching Justice, dooms to punishment The forgers noted on her dread record. Canto XXTX., lines 52-26.133—138. HELL.—CANTO XXVIII. And David more did not Ahithophel, Spurring them on maliciously to strife. For parting those so closely knit, my brain Parted, alas! I carry from its source, That in this trunk inhabits. Thus the law Of retribution fiercely works in me.”eee ees 5 GANTO! XXIX. : ARGUMENT. Dante, at the desire of Virgil, proceeds onward to the bridge that crosses the tenth gulf, z t aa s ™ RO able t scolar ’ y ' r acc + , L the cries of the alchemists and forgers, who are tormented therein ; but not being able to discern anything on account from whence he hears of the darkness, they descend the rock that bounds this the last of the compartments in which the eighth circle is 6 ~y 4 J ) ve vie 1: 15 — nlag a 7cAa 2c Tuy el a] iy *r] j \t divided, and then behold the spirits who are afflicted by divers plagues and diseases. Two of them, namely, Grifolino f / of Arezzo, and Capocchio of Sienna, are introduced speaking. O were mine eyes inebriate with the view Of the vast multitude, whom various wounds Disfigured, that they long’d to stay and weep. | But Virgil roused me: “ What yet gazest on ° Wherefore doth fasten yet thy sight below a Among the maim’d and miserable shades ? ee \3 : O , , Thou hast not shown in any chasm beside This weakness. Know, if thou wouldst number them, That two and twenty miles the valley winds Its circuit, and already is the moon Beneath our feet: the time permitted now Is short; and more, not seen, remains to see.” “Tt thou,” I straight replied, “ had’st weigh'd the cause, For which I look’d, thou hadst perchance excused The tarrying still” My leader part pursued His way, the while I follow’d, answering him, And adding thus: “ Within that cave I deem, Whereon so fixedly I hold my ken, There is a spirit dwells, one of my blood, Wailing the crime that costs him now so dear.” Then spake my master: “Let thy soul no more Afflict itself no more for him. Direct elsewhere Its thought, and leave him. At the bridge’s foot 134HELL.—CANTO XXIX. I mark’d how he did point with menacing look At thee, and heard him by the others named Ger of Bello. Thou so wholly then Wert busied with his Spirit, who once ruled The towers of Hautefort, that thou lookedst not Phat way, ere he was gone.” “Oh, guide beloved! His violent death yet unavenged es ) ) said By any, who are partners in his shame, Made him contemptuous; therefore, as I think, He pass’d me speechless by: and, doing so, Hath made me more compassionate his fate.” So we discoursed to where the rock first show’d The other valley, had more light been there, Fen to the lowest depth. Soon as we came O’er the last cloister in the dismal rounds Of Malebolge, and the brotherhood Were to our view exposed, then many a dart Of sore lament assail’d me, headed all With points of thrilling pity, that I closed Both ears against the volley with mine hands. As were the torment, if each lazar-house Of Valdichiana, in the sultry time ‘Twixt July and September, with the isle Sardinia and Maremma’s pestilent fen, Had heap’d their maladies all in one fosse Together; such was here the torment: dire The stench, as issuing steams from fester'd limbs. We on the utmost shore of the long rock Descended still to leftward. Then my sight Was livelier to explore the depth, wherein The minister of the most mighty Lord, All-searching Justice, dooms to punishment The forgers noted on her dread record. More rueful was it not methinks to see The nation in A¢gina droop, what time Each living thing, e’en to the little worm, oOTHE, VISION: All fell, so full of malice was the air (And afterwards, as bards of yore have told, The ancient people were restored anew From -seed of emmets), than was here to see The spirits, that languish’d through the murky vale, Up-piled on many a stack. Confused they lay, One o'er the belly, o'er the shoulders one Roll’d of another; sideling crawl’d a third Along the dismal pathway. Step by step We journey’d on, in silence looking round, And listening those diseased, who strove in vain To lift their forms. Then two I mark’d, that sat Propt ’gainst, each other, as two brazen pans Set to retain the heat. From head to foot, A tetter barked them round. Nor saw I eer Groom currying so fast, for whom his lord Impatient waited, or himself perchance Tired with long watching, as of these each one Plied quickly his keen nails, through furiousness Ot neer abated pruriency. The crust Came drawn from underneath in flakes, like scales Scraped from the bream, or fish of broader mail. “Oh, thou! who with thy fingers rendest off Thy coat of proof,’ thus spake my guide to one, “And sometimes makest tearing pincers of them, Tell me if any born of Latian land Be among these within; so may thy nails Serve thee for everlasting to this toil.” oun ane on Matium,” weeping he replied “Whom tortured thus thou seest: but who art thou That hast inquired of us?” To whom my guide: “One that descend with this man, who yet lives, From rock to rock, and show him hell’s abyss.” Then started they asunder, and each turn'd Trembling toward us, with the rest, whose ear Those words redounding struck. To me my liegeaT TN | ] I HI WY = “— == SS — = — = S S SS a SS Z Gf 4 : \ —— — ———S es == —= —> —— —S—— = = aS s — — = u . —— = — = } Ph —Zy oA Ge eh WG - peat aN, tpt * (seth Rear, 4 j- gfe AV ES y oe s, a ) eae (Y 2 a | apy) Q SS Se ‘Che crust ep oO 9°) O Nn O —G soa) oy oO —~ o eS S oS ~~ - Av o a ea O oO I _ = © a — & = - w So Yo a & @ Scraped from the bream, or fish of broader mail.3”) like mood Canto XXX., lines 33, 34. aati i fal] [At AAENY ff (7 4 Y BM AY LARS | LH Ee Oy Uhl Das an = Qy n YN —_— SS mo — _— —— Y) Oo GS Y) Ww —_— — Vv > nm oO _—_— - ane C Nn — S g oO: Th - — R a 3 “ That sprite of air is Schicch a — - : zi Le V4 Vee, 2 J 1] ol te, TPES OTA 7 cs “ tie / ie Sy S Ley Ls 4 ie o) WE kn 4 PP A Ts os Vr a ss = = es Se aH a i AY a wa~ = + i 1 PATS t ASSES . a x \ \ \ Rk Si S = Ss - i = a =o PI ty y itu ‘ Bees TEBE YG SL Ope Cy hbey UY itso PIE Le pe eee OSE ao bd igor IDE Bote Ze re Sap Q ee 5 AN Sy iN) XY aK a SS <= i Ss ~ — or ie ont 7 epee 5 Ep. Xf} {Ze SEL = SS > Ey — Z SFE ==S SSeS eS 7 Sl Se90—I131. HELL. CANTO XXIX. 137 Address’d him: “ Speak to them whate’er thou list.” And I therewith began: “So may no time Filch your remembrance from the thoughts of men In the upper world, but after many suns SUrVive it. as ye tell me, who ye are And of what race ye come. Your punishment, Unseemly and disgustful in its kind, Deter you not from opening thus much to me.” ~ AT€ZZO was my dwelling,” answer’d one, “And me Albero of Sienna brought To die by fire: but that, for which I died. Leads me not here. True is. in sport I told him, That I had learn’d to wing my flight in air; And he, admiring much, as he was void Of wisdom, will’d me to declare to him ihe secret of mine art: and only hence, Because I] made him not a Dzdalus. Prevail’d on one supposed his sire to burn me, 3ut Minos to this chasm, last of the ten, For that I practised alchemy on earth, Has doom’d me. Him no subterfuge eludes.” Then to the bard I spake: “Was even race Licht as Siennas? Sure not France Were Can show a tribe so frivolous and vain.’ The other leprous spirit heard my words, And thus return’d: “ Be Stricca from this charge Exempted, he who knew so temperately To lay out fortune’s gifts; and Niccolo, Who first the spice’s costly luxury Discovered in that garden, where such seed Roots deepest in the soil: and be that troop Exempted, with whom Caccia of Asciano Lavish’d his vineyards and wide-spreading woods. And his rare wisdom Abbagliato show'd A spectacle for all. What thou mayst know Who seconds thee against the SienneseHELL CANTO, XxX. Thus gladly, bend this way thy sharpen’d sight, That well my face may answer to thy ken ; So shalt thou see I am Capocchio’s ghost, Who forged transmuted metals by the power Of alchemy; and if I scan thee right, Thou needs must well remember how I aped Creative nature by my subtle art.”if i ws = = = = =~ CPT fe (bio " y HY, - i Arete pretreat tra * aris er re te mi ae iit +B ad sola ne eh menu pepe res Yh iy fp, LLP Ly Fi ere re Perens PELs] UM eye on Ue eee te ey > <4 Py mt rs Pas — Ae 1k W/ Hi i Bip == \ RE hae ad : —— ES ae 3 SS oath paso eee uJ lai eal ———_ aa ‘ OPA ae Cee Va eet tts 7 yee Of wretched Myrrha.”\ | \:1}} Ny) \\.\i Wy Wi DY VE tij7 KLIS GOg £ LLL Lf} Yi Zag Yigg as SSS heyy 44, We VD MAM Sy ZMMEEELEEZEZ-_ED ff Z age ani LEZ a GLETEB te eA SSS SSS 3 Z SS ~ N 5 2 A Ade tITGSS 5p ete, Lp z= EZ Seige LEZ) eg i yyy CLLLG. Lo “yay st Z Z Z, Z Ze 4, LES ives itz iy yy Lf tg) ES Hips, ag A f eg jy 7 Lge La Lite gre PotD YEE Leb oD LLL SE pe Meggan epee Ly Mm EEE EL hype teeth Estep oon pgsteemitumi iid dae es ae = ~=: SSS SSS SSS ~~ / tf Lf ASA hb ff | S SA 4p 4 2 TN Nf Aff Y hy SASL, Ligif Yi Yy CAG Li Yj ALLL IYIJIf@{?_ at FE, NY ar \ ANY Ae AY NY N \\ NK \Y \ XY \ LZ AE LAL} ZL Lf, tip AN AY \\ AWW ANY \\y YY \ \\ Wu RN A AN \\ YY \ WW ATS A AN NW \\\ \\ AY AW AN \ \\ \\ NY \\ i WN \\ LEAP Wt Lee, = Ss ISO Heer 2 oy am a Ea pres a a Bate as “Oh senseless spirit! let thy horn for thee Interpret: therewith vent thy rage, if rage Or other passion wring thee.” Canto XXXT., lines 64-66.In the same gulf, other kinds o CANTO XXX. Ack GUrM Bane f impostors, as those who have counterfeited the persons of others, or debased the current coin, or deceived by speech under false pretenses, are described as suffering various diseases. Simon of roy, and Adamo of Brescia, mutually reproach each other with their several impostures. HAT time resentment burn’d in Juno’s breast For Semele against the Theban blood, As more than once in dire mischance was rued; Such fatal frenzy seized on Athamas, That he his spouse beholding with a babe Faden on either arm, “Spread out,” he cried, ‘“The meshes, that I take the lioness And the young lions at the pass”: then forth Stretch'd he his merciless talons, grasping one, One helpless innocent, Learchus named, Whom swinging down he dash’d upon a rock; And with her other burden, self-destroy’d, The hapless mother plunged. And when the pride Oe Of all presuming Troy fell from its height, 3y fortune overwhelm‘d, and the old king With his realm perishd; then did Hecuba, A wretch forlorn and captive, when she saw Polyxena first slaughter'd, and her son, Her Polydorus, on the wild sea-beach Next met the mourner’s view, then reft of sense Did she run barking even as a dog; Such mighty power had grief to wrench her soul. But ne’er the furies, or of Thebes, or Iroy, With such fell cruelty were seen, their goads Infixing in the limbs of man or beast, 139EVES VISION: As now two pale and naked ghosts I saw, That gnarling wildly scamper'd like the swine Excluded from his sty. One reach‘d Capocchio, And in the neck-joint sticking deep his fangs, Drage’d him, that, o'er the solid pavement rubb’d His belly stretch’d out prone. The other shape, He of Arezzo, there left trembling, spake : “That sprite of air is Schicchi; in like mood Of random mischief vents he still his spite.” To whom I answering: “Oh! as thou dost hope The other may not flesh its jaws on thee, Be patient to inform us, who it 1s, Bremtaspeed Mence, © That is the ancient soul Of wretched Myrrha,” he replied, “who burn’d With most unholy flame for her own sire, And a false shape assuming, so perform'd ~ The deed of sin; een as the other there, That onward passes, dared to counterfeit Donati’s features, to feign'd testament The seal affixing, that himself might gain, Cc For his own share, the lady of the herd.” When vanish'd the two furious shades, on whom Mine eye was held, I turn’d it back to view The other cursed spirits. One I saw In fashion like a lute, had but the groin Been Severd where it meets the forked part. Swollen dropsy, disproportioning the limbs With ill-converted moisture, that the paunch Suits not the visage, open’d wide his lips, Gasping as in the hectic man for drought, One towards the chin, the other upward curl’d. “Oh, ye! who in this world of misery, Wherefore I know not, are exempt from pain,” Thus he began, “Attentively regard Adamo’s woe. When living, full supply Neer lack'd me of what most I coveted ;Ey ta a Pee HELL.—CANTO XXX, One drop Ol water now, alas! I crave. Che’ rills that elitter down the grassy slopes Of Casentino, making fresh and soft The banks whereby they glide to Arno’s stream, Stand ever in my view; and not in vain: For more the pictured semblance dries me up, Much more than the disease. which makes the flesh Desert these shrivel’d cheeks. So from the place, Where I transeress’d, stern justice urging me, Takes means to quicken more my laboring sighs. There is Romena, where I falsified The metal with the Baptist’s form imprest, For which on earth I left my body burnt. But if I here might see the sorrowing soul Of Guido, Alessandro, or their brother. For Branda’s limpid spring I would not change The welcome sight. One is e’en now within, If truly the mad spirits tell, that round Are wandering. But wherein besteads me that ? ht, That I each hundred years might move one inch, My limbs are fetter. Were‘I but so lig I had set forth already on this path, Seeking him out amidst the shapeless crew, Although eleven miles it wind, not less Than half of one across. They brought me down Among this tribe; induced by them, I stamp’d The florens with three carats of alloy.” “Who are that abject pair, I next inquired, “That closely bounding thee upon thy right © Lie smoking, like a hand in winter steep d Im the chill stream? “When to this cult Tdroppids He answer’d, “here I found them: since that hour They have not turn’d, nor ever shale al ween Till Time hath run his course. One is that dame, The false accuser of the Hebrew youth; Sinon the other, that false Greek from Troy.THE VISION: Sharp fever drains the reeky moistness out, In sucha cloud unsteam’d.” When that he heard, One, gall’d perchance to be so darkly named, With clench’d hand smote him on the braced paunch, That like a drum resounded: but forthwith Adamo smote him on the face, the blow Returning with his arm, that seem’d as hard. “Though my o’erweighty limbs have ta’en from me The power to move,” said he, “I have an arm At liberty for such employ. Io whom Was answerd: “When thou wentest to the fire, Thou hadst it: not so ready at command, Then readier when it coin’d the impostor gold.” And thus the dropsied: “ Ay, now speak’st thou true: 3ut there thou gavest not such true testimony, When thou was question’d of the truth, at Troy.” “Tf I spake false, thou falsely stamp dst the coin,” Said Sinon; “I am here for but one fault, And thou for more than any imp beside.” “Remember,” he replied, “O perjured one! The horse remember, that did teem with death ; And all the world be witnéss to thy guilt.” “To thine,” return’d the Greek, “witness the thirst Whence thy tongue cracks, witness the fluid mound Rear'd by thy belly up before thine eyes, A mass corrupt.’ To whom the coiner thus: “Thy mouth gapes wide as ever to let pass < Its evil saying. Me if thirst assails, Yet I am stuft with moisture. Thou art parchd: -ain racks thy head: no urging wouldst thou need To make thee lap Narcissus’ mirror up.” I was all fix’d to listen, when my guide Admonish’d: “Now beware. A little more And I do quarrel with thee.” I perceived How angrily he spake, and towards him turn’d With shame so poignant, as remember’d yet134—145. HE VE —CANR@ Soo Confounds me. As a man that dreams of harm Befallen him, dreaming wishes it a dream, And that which is, desires as if it were not ; Such then was I, who. wanting power to ‘speak, Wish'd to excuse myself, and all the while Excused me, though unweeting that I did. “More grievous fault than thine has been, less shame,” My master cried, “might expiate. Therefore cast All sorrow from thy soul; and if again Chance bring thee where like conference is held, Think I am ever at thy side. To hear Such wrangling is a joy‘for vul gar minds.”CANTO XXXI. sr ~ TT NATE ONT ARG UM ENE. ] : rq he ; irc 1 rhic "re Are The poets, following the sound of a loud horn, are led by it to the ninth circle, in which there are four rounds, one enclosed within the other, and containing as many sorts of traitors ; but the present canto shows only that the circle is encompassed with giants, one of whom, Antzus, takes them both in his arms and places them at the bottom of the circle. | very tongue, whose keen reproof before Had wounded me, that either cheek was stain’d, Now minister’d my cure. So have I heard, Achilles’ and his father’s javelin caused Pain first, and then the boon of health restored. a Wi Turning our back upon the vale of woe, 1 We cross’‘d the encircled mound in silence. There Was less than day and less than night, that far Mine eye advanced not: but I heard a horn Sounded so loud, the peal it rang had made The thunder feeble. Following its course The adverse way, my strained eyes were bent On that one spot. So terrible a blast : Orlando blew not, when that dismal rout | Overthrew the host of Charlemain, and quench’d His saintly warfare. ‘Thitherward not long My head was raised, when many a lofty tower Methousht spied: “Master, said) I “what jand Is this ble answerd straight: “too long a space Of intervening darkness has thine eye To traverse: thou hast therefore widely err’d In thy imagining. Thither arrived 144HELL.—CANTO XXxXI. Thou well shalt see how distance can delude The sense. A little therefore urge thee, on: Chen tenderly he caught me by the hand; ( li : =, 0?) Senta a . Yet know,” said he, “ere further we advance, That it less strange may seem, these are not towers, But giants. In the pit they stand immersed, Each from his navel downward. round the bank. As when a fog disperseth gradually, Our vision traces what the mist involves Condensed in air: so piercing through the gross And gloomy atmosphere, as more and more We near’d toward the brink, mine error fled And fear Game oer me. As with) cite ling round Of turrets, Montereggion crowns his w alls, Fen thus the shore, encompassing the abyss, Was turreted with giants, half their length Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heaven Yet threatens, when his muttering thunder rolls. Of one dlready I descried the face, Shoulders, and breast, and of the belly huge Great part, and both arms down along the ribs. All-teeming Nature, when her plastic hand Left framing of these monsters, did display Past doubt her wisdom, taking from mad War Such slaves to do his bidding; and if she Repent her not of the elephant and whale, Who ponders well confesses her therein Wiser and more discreet; for when brute force And evil will are back’d with subtlety, Resistance none avails. His visage seemd In length and bulk as doth the pine that tops Saint Peter's Roman fane; and the other bones Of like protortion, so that from above The bank, that girdled him below, such height Arose his Sahine that three Friezelanders Had striven in vain to reach but to his hair. GF LTLGL EeTHE VISION. Full thirty ample palms was he exposed | Downward from whence a man his garment loops. “Raphel bai ameth, sabi almi oe So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymns Became not; and my guide address’'d him thus: “Oh, senseless spirit! let thy horn for thee Interpret: therewith vent thy rage, lu rage Or other passion wring thee. Search thy neck, There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on. Spirit confused! lo, on thy mighty breast Where hangs the baldrick '”. Then to me he spake: “Be doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this, Through whose ill counsel in the world no more One tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor waste Our words ;: for so each language is to him, As his to others, understood by none.” Then to the leftward turning, sped we forth And at a sling’s throw found another shade an fencer and more huge. I cannot say What master hand had girt him; but he held 1 Behind the right arm fetter'd, and before, The other, with a chain, that fasten’d him From the neck down; and five times round his form Apparent met the wreathed links. “This proud one Would of his strength against almighty Jove Make trial,” said my guide: ‘whence he is thus Requited: Ephialtes him they call. Great was his prowess, when the giants brought Fear on the gods: those arms, which then he plied, Now moves he never.’ Forthwith I returnd: “Fain would I, if ‘twere possible, mine eyes, Of Briareus immeasurable, gain’d Bxpemence next. Ee answerd= “hou shalt Gee Not far from hence Antzeus, who both speaks And is unfetter’d, who shall place us there Where guilt is at its depth.’ Far onward stands4 ‘> MSIE — GASG ay) ) MS ye Lp 5 Oy : Ee Yd Ee = AD) ( ~~ ¥ = AG , — = Vy S RN g Re SS (ie “\ c Ty Ny / Wf = WWW 2 CNHI WATE \ NA; | \ \\\iy \ \ \ Srp ao I ——— BY | ||| Wa ih} | | _—=S I oi SWAN | } pe) | (INN ——r ae Wey I i y | | Mit = — = | Hl ? 5 | ii t HE MEI | | — ERR —— SEY VE Z. ~—) a J sae GHHOX i eee! — Bird LP Nip Hos iy) oP . 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=—X—X—X—X—X—X—X —————SSS=S==S=SBa=—_——SS=[ —_—_—_————SS=——SS= ————————SSSS—SSSSSS SSeS 5: —————— wn IO i a H | ail) 4 | } | | i —— ——————SSSS=ss=ss=s=s == = : SS SSS SS SSS — —— SS —=— Oo ee = — oe HAANCANTO XXXII. i GW VEIN: This canto treats of the first, and. in part, of the second of those rounds, into which the ninth and last, or senile . lisriddedd Tn thn: faeries sallad Catna lan Bhne SA mMACCINY , 7 he i 1 frozen circle, is divided. In th rmer, called Caina, Dante finds Camiccione de’ Pazzi, who gives him an account of other sinners who are there punished ; and in the next, named Antenora, he hears in like manner from Bocca degli Abbati who his fellow-sufferers are. GC LD I command rough rhymes and hoarse, to suit That hole of sorrow o’er which every rock His firm abutment rears, then might the vein 117 Of fancy rise full springing; but not mine _~ Such measures, and with faltering awe I touch The mighty theme; for to describe the depth Of all the universe, is no emprise To jest with, and demands a tongue not used To infant babbling. But let them assist My song, the tuneful maidens, by whose aid Amphion wall’d in Thebes; so with the truth My speech shall best accord. Oh, ill-starr’d folk, Beyond all others wretched! who abide In such a mansion, as scarce thought finds words To speak of, better had ye here on earth Been flocks, or mountain goats. As down we stood In the dark pit beneath the giants’ feet, But lower far than they, and I did gaze Still on the lofty battlement, a voice Bespake me thus: “Look how thou walkest. Take Good heed, thy soles do tread not on the heads Of thy poor brethren.” Thereupon I turnd, 149THE VISION. And saw before and underneath my feet A lake, whose frozen surface liker seem’d To glass than water. Not so thick a veil In winter e’er hath Austrian Danube spread O’er his still course, nor Tanais fam TFeMoLe Under the chilling sky. Roll’'d o'er that mass Had Tabernich or Pietrapana fallen, Not e’en its rim had creak’d. As peeps the frog Croaking above the wave, what time in dreams The village oleaner oft pursues her toil, So, to where modest shame appears, thus low Blue pinch’d and shrined in ice the spirits stood, Moving their teeth in shrill note like the stork. His face each downward held; their mouth the cold, Wheip eves express'd the dolor of their heart. A space I look'd around, then at my feet Saw two so strictly join’d, that of their head The very hairs were mingled. “ kell mesye; Whose bosoms thus together press,” said I, ‘Who are ye? At that sound their necks they bent; And when their looks were lifted up to me, Straightway their eyes, before all moist within, Distill’d upon their lips, and the frost bound The tears betwixt those orbs, and held them there. Plank unto plank hath never cramp closed up So stoutly. Whence, like two enraged goats, They clash’d together: them such fury seized. And one, from whom the cold both ears had reft, Exclaim’d, still looking downward: “ Why on us Dost speculate so long? If thou wouldst know Who are these two, the valley, whence his wave Bisenzio slopes, did for its master own Their sire Alberto, and next him themselves. They from one body issued: and throughout Caina thou mayst search, nor find a shade More worthy in congealment to be fix’d;HELL.—CANTO XXXII. Not him, whose breast and shadow Arthur's hand At that one blow dissever’d; not Focaccia: No, not this spirit, whose o’erjutting head Obstructs my onward view: he bore the name Of Mascheroni: Tuscan if thou be, Well knowest who he was. And to cut short All further question, in my form behold What once was Camiccione. I await Carlino here my kinsman, whose deep guilt Shall wash out mine.” NS ) .\ 1istin SOS SS WR \) SNK ~ WS ~ Se RS SS \ ~~ AA. + S NN ROS wy S SN SS Ne NS AS AN ; se SS , NSS SV Soe SNK WN WS ANS Soe SS RS Sy WS. a ) NS ~ RSS SSS SS eS n ~) SN N aS ‘ SS SS DS SS hen, f Gh MI AGG, OOS) Up WG 1 i i | 1 \ Hi A ' i A e ri 1 Ly H 5 A Se So a ~~ rrief, we 5 ‘The mastery of ei eed Etleimiter vole a = ett 4 = ns ES is ye nn AAS aN bi ‘\ NAN c\ ANN SAAS PASC y 48S, A as %. ~ —: Se = He st aH Warn Ray AMR hea ed th SoHE PMU Lee OS SN Pee A SA ~ Sy mS (HELL.—CANTO XXXII. Already through its Opening several moons Had shown me, when [| Slept the evil sleep That from the future tore the curtain off This one, methought, as master of the sport, Rode forth to chase the gaunt wolf, and his whelps, Unto the mountain which forbids the sight Of Lucca to the Pisan. With lean braches Inquisitive and keen, before him ranged Lanfranchi with Sismondi and Gualandi. After short course the father and the sons Seem d tired and lagging, and methought I saw The sharp tusks gore their sides. When I awoke, Before the dawn, amid their sleep I heard My sons (for they were with me) weep and ask For bread. Right cruel art thou, if no pang Thou feel at thinking what my heart foretold ; And if not now, why use thy tears to flow? Nor had they waken’d; and the hour drew near When they were wont to bring us food; the mind Of each misgave him through his dream, and I Heard, at its outlet underneath lock'd up The horrible tower: whence, uttering not a word, I look'd upon the visage of my sons. I wept not: so all stone I felt within, They wept: and one my little Anselm, cried, ‘Thou lookest so! Father what/ails thee > =~ Yer I shed no tear, nor answerd all that day Nor the next night, until another sun Came out upon the world. When a faint beam Had to our doleful prison made its way, And in four countenances I descried The image of my own, on either hand Through agony I bit; and they, who thought I did it through desire of feeding, rose ©’ the sudden and cried, ‘Father, we should grieve Far less, if thou wouldst eat of us: thou gavest =SSAe TREO ENTHE VISION. These weeds of miserable flesh we wear; And do thou strip them off from us again. Then, not to make them sadder, I kept down My spirit in stillness. That day and the next We all were silent. Ah, obdurate earth | Why open’dst not upon us? When we came To the fourth day, then Gaddo at my feet Outstretch’d did fling him, crying, ‘Hast no help For me, my father ?- There he died; and een Plainly as thou seest me, saw I the, three Fall one by one ’twixt the fifth day and sixth: Whence I betook me, now grown blind, to grope Over them all, and for three days aloud Call’d on them who were dead. Then, fasting got The mastery of grief.” Thus having spoke, Once more upon the wretched skull his teeth He fasten’d like a mastiff’s ‘gainst the bone, Firm and unyielding. Oh, thou Pisa! shame Of all the people, who their dwelling make In that fair region, where the Italian voice Is heard; since that thy neighbors are so Slack To punish, from their deep foundations rise Capraia and Gorgona, and dam up The mouth of Arno; that each soul in thee May perish in the waters. What if fame Reported that thy castles were betray’d By Ugolino, yet no right hadst thou orstnetch, his) children-om thefrack “Hor them, Brigata, Uguccione, and the pair Of gentle ones, of whom my song hath told, Their tender years, thou modern Thebes, did make Uncapable of guilt. Onward we pass’d, Where others, scarf'd in rugged folds of ice, Not on their feet were turn’d, but each revers’d. There, very weeping suffers not to weep ; For, at their eyes, grief seeking passage, finds—= Tinie YF oT - ‘s SS )) a mi m | < " : i Hh | ite) | Hh Hi} ty i HHP Hi } bh Wy if SH HIPHL if Hi Wi, i i ij MUSE: | ih | } TAU HY | f i i } 4 H Hs | HHI | iy ! oA | ry i 8 i HH Hy HH Hi i lu) NG) )) iH} 0 WH RNAA AAA , i f | / | HOARY Wh) eae || } / } nih a Mia creas flit, MLA Hh aN H fy j jf i ) t { | i i Hi HE Wy a j } ; 1 | i TTL LLL YY ‘ ] Hie p/ H HULA fc f } i} U f ] fi aed ii a ) Wi | j hee aaa a | if 1 [hayomesten | \ HP i } { i | i Fay or —— ——— SS —— == WA ; i yf . ni MH i pl ih \ epee Wi i aN } P nn | i iF 0 i a Wy 5 a il is | “dina H i ie | ena My, NANT ; A \ Aon at | | ih oe IIa eek NY HU m Ye a | \ iT a aa mn } Hy/ A i ‘ i) A Mit) \ i), ‘ee ' if i 7 i Pave HIP / a /, Ay ; Hy } \s el III ‘ i} I Me y; ; | H Ant bhy } Hill Ul r Wy ( Hoa WH! wth i i) Ni il ti! IE ges Mp aati ery Hl | Wash NY i / | 0 lt — ve othe stren Canto XXXIV., lines 20, 21 nd lo! the place eart with — ae Ve SS =) NE i | I / ie ae ah H PAG) tae i i f i mn mn } ANY } Sa || N ily | A he i Hl oe y } AN ie j 1 et bana i ii ii ai mere || Wee erty i HL aT eee |e SSH ea SMA Eeeee HTWPIGRTR MI, ae THA ae Raab ; \ H me SIL AH aaveeeeD, ||| } bu iy Ae vn i} joa } - y We Mi i : a | | fea Nhe } vie ue | | eels ( \ iy | | {II IN il ay A | bit HAH |! i , i | nA H i] f } 1 ma | ne } “ Warek Uuity Te ||| a , LOAN } WHEE Way NY Roast MH 1 (| H yy a HAW E PALOn ay it a sl BD | | | An i ae pd ; Wl AUN LE 1 } i IH an DTN fi i) ea i) Willan Lily, i Mi Shad wn amit If bel il ace iy RATE e ecu Hemera NTT i | pee, tH | ; ea it t Hi ! } | HY NEE Hi Hy fa Ny hte HIE a \ i iF : j Hi ae i} par | mn! i iy ha pice HAS Mi tee 4 | MH Hil ili lla i i a Ae TAT mets i? | Pat { 1 | i fate nl , | hy ai) A f HVAABANTSHTTHTTTT TE” ad Z "\ Sah | — Ve Die 10 laimed, thou hast need to arm thy h he exc | Where i wl oie = one1 0 oe ahd Aptos, ot EN ai i <— ae Tae his ' br eek ey 4 C Pas See es ars U] iD / Pal Ui, fy vy) es RBI eee a PUP SFe Hie aoe 7] Uy) es EST EE Spee ees tat ey Lp i a Ht a rR ry mn a ah A yi ay ri ¥v ae ; Py 2 Pres By that hidden w My guide and I did enter, to return To the fair world.96—13I. HELL.—CANTO XXXIII. Impediment, and rolling inward turns For increase of sharp anguish: the first tears Hang cluster'd, and like crystal vizors show, Under the socket brimming all the cup. Now though the cold had from my face dislodged Fach feeling, as ‘twere callous, yet me seem’d Some breath of wind I felt. “Whence cometh, this,” Said I, “my master? Is not here below All vapor quench’'d?” “Thou shalt be speedily,” He answer'd, “where thine eyes shall tell thee whenee, ee eed ye ee 3 he cause descrying of this airy shower. [hen cried out one, in the chill crust who mourn’d: “Oh, souls! so, cruel, that the farthest post Hath been assign’d you, from this face remove T | may vent the erief The harden’'d veil; that Impregnate at my heart, some little space, ere if congeal again.’ I thus replied: “Say who thou wast, if thou wouldst have mine aid; And if I extricate thee not, far down As to the lowest ice may I descend ‘The friar Alberigo, » answer d he, “Am I, who from the evil garden pluck’d Its fruitage, and am here repaid, the date More luscious for my fig.” “Ah!” I exclaim‘d, “Art thou too dead?” “How in the world aloft It fareth with my body, © answer d he, “T am right ignorant. Such privilege | Hath Ptolomea, that oft-times the soul Drops hither, ere by Atropos divorced. And that thou mayst wipe out more willingly The glazed tear-drops that o’erlay mine eyes, Know that the soul, that moment she betrays, As I did, yields her body to a fiend Who after moves and governs it at will, Till all its time be rounded: headlong she Falls to this cistern. And perchance abovePEE VASTOIN: Doth yet appear the body of a ghost, Who here behind me winters. Him thou knowst, If thou but newly art arrived below. The years are many that have past away, Since to this fastness Branca Doria came.” “Now,” answer'd I, “methinks thou mockcst me; : For Branca Doria never yet hath died, . But doth all natural functions of a man, Eats, drinks, and sleeps, and putteth raiment on.” He thus: “Not yet unto that upper fosse By th’ evil talons guarded, where the pitch Tenacious boils, had Michel Zanche reach’d, When this one left a demon in his stead In his own body, and of one his kin, Who with him treachery wrought. But now put forth Thy hand, and ope mine eyes.” I oped them not. Ill manners were best courtesy to him. MS Ah, Genoese! men perverse in every way, | With every foulness stain’d, why from the earth Age ye not cancell’d? Such a one of yours I with Romagna’s darkest spirit found, As for his doings, even now in soul Is in Cocytus plunged, and yet doth seem In body still alive upon the earth.CANTO XXXIV. a av tse (GU! LIS, IN| IP, l se _¢ . . + ? In the fourth and last round of the ninth circle, those who have betrayed their benefactors are wholly covered with ice. And in the midst is Lucifer, at whose back Dante and Virgil ascend, till by a secret path they reach the surface of the other hemisphere of the earth, and once more obtain sight of the stars. - HE banners of Hell's Monarch do come forth Toward us; therefore look,” so spake my guide, “Tf thou discern him.’ As, when breathes a cloud Heavy and dense, or when the shades of night Fall on our hemisphere, seems viewd from far A. windmill, which the blast stirs briskly round ; Such was the fabric then methought I saw. ld L To shield me from the wind, forthwith I drew Behind my guide: no covert else was there. Now came I (and with fear I bid my strain Record the marvel) where the souls were all Whelm’d underneath, transparent, as through glass Pellucid the frail stem. Some prone were laid ; al I Others stood upright, this upon the soles, That on his head. a) third! with tacestomtcet Arch’d like a bow. When to the point we came, Whereat my guide was pleased that I should see The creature eminent in beauty once, He from before me stepp’d and made me pause. “Tol”: he exclaim d, “lo! Dis; and lo! the place Where thou hast need to arm thy heart with strength.” How frozen and how faint I then became, Ask me not, reader! for I write it not; Since words would fail to tell thee of my state. I was not dead nor living. Think thysell, 159THE VISION. | If quick conception work in thee at all, | How I did feel. That emperor, who sways The realm of sorrow, at mid breast from tne Ace ) Stood forth: and J in stature am more like A giant, than the giants are his arms. Mark now how great that whole must be, which suits | With such a part. If he were beautiful As he is hideous now, and yet did dare B To scowl upon his Maker, well from him May all our misery flow. Ob wihat 2 sight ! —s How passing strange it seemd, when I did spy Upon his head three faces: one in front Of hue vermilion, the other two with this Midway each shoulder join’d and at the crest, ) The right ‘twixt wan and yellow seem'd; the lett To look on, such as come from whence old Nile a | Stoops to the lowlands. Under each shot forth i ys Two mighty wings, enormous as became Mepindeso vast oats never suem Wl Saw Outstretch’d on the wide sea. No plumes had they, But were in texture like a bat; and these He flapped i’ th’ air, that from him issued still Three winds, wherewith Cocytus to its depth Wasinozen. At Six eyes he wepis the tears Adown three chins distill’d with bloody foam, At every mouth his teeth a sinner champ d, Bruised as with ponderous engine; so that three Were in this guise tormented. But far more Than from that gnawing, was the foremost pang’d sy the fierce rending, whence oft-times the back Was stript of all its skin. “That upper spirit, Who hath worst punishment,’ so spake my guide, “Is Judas, he that hath his head within And plies the feet without. Of th’ other two, Whose heads are under, from the murky jaw Who hangs, is Brutus: lo! how he doth writhe a omnes thee as eae eee5 A et) Lgrisarys 7 patty hat Pra} it : D 5 er ; Pica ey “ [ E j ‘ f a : een F Orn 5 pone 2 5 o f 5 : Y e : a8 5 a A 4 A by ' w io 5 ies 0 ‘Pal r} ri 3 2 me _ M : : : ; i ; ee 7} aN , “3 4 S N x Sy m SS S ‘ sy Fe ri a oh 1 = 5 — - —— 4 TH if i ti ie He | = 3 ~ = 4 4 cS i a ie i aa > 3 i KS a4 as bat is ay a) Cree | AI a os) } p * i 2 o t n -t ‘ — > a e eo Hi + ia td = i] = = => Ee : cs a 2 rae A a . a > ine - scapes he Pe st a: rt F re a Fi ve “ Fy meas ee ey Vee aL ey pee Perea Perr re fast peHELL.—CANTO XXXIV. And speaks not. The other, Cassius, that appears So large of limb. But night now re-ascends ; And it is time for parting. All is seen.” I clipp'd him round the neck; for so he bade: And noting time and place, he, when the wings Enough were oped, caught fast the shaggy sides, And down from pile to pile. descending stepp’d Between the thick fell and the jagged ice oOo : Soon as he reach’'d the point, whereat the thigh Upon the swelling of the haunches turns, My leader there, with pain and struggling hard, Turn'd round his head where his feet stood before, And grappled at the fell as one who mounts ; That into hell methought we turn’d again. ( «< “Expect that by such stairs as these,’ thus spake The teacher, panting like a man forespent, “We must depart from evil so extreme ~ Then at a rocky opening issued forth, And placed me on the brink to sit, next join'd With wary step my side. I raised mine eyes, Believing that I Lucifer should see Where he was lately left, but saw him now With legs held upward. Let the grosser sort, Who see not what the point was I had past, Bethink them if sore toil oppress’d me then. “ Arise,’ my master cried, “upon thy feet. The way is long, and much uncouth the road; And now within one hour and half of noon The sun returns.” It was no palace hall Lofty and luminous wherein we stood, But natural dungeon, where ill-footing was And scant supply of light. “Ere from the abyss lesepatrate,, thls when risen I began: “My guide! vouchsafe few words to set me free From error’s thraldom. Where is now the ice 2 How standeth he in posture thus reversed?DHE VISION: And how from eve to morn in space so brief | Hath the sun made his transit?’ He in few Thus answering spake: “Thou deemest thou art still f } On the other side the center, where I graspd , The abhorred worm that boreth through the world. Thou wast on the other side, so long as [ Descended; when I turn’d, thou didst oerpass That point, to which from every part Is drage’'d All heavy substance. Thou art now arrived Under the hemisphere opposed to that, Which the great continent doth overspread, And underneath whose canopy expired The Man, that was born sinless and so lived. Thy feet are planted onthe smallest sphere, I i: Bes pe ee tee NW (eee Whose other aspect is Judecca. Morn ‘ ere rises, when there evening sets: and he, Whose shaggy | i \ at ING athe tmnst On this part he fell down J 1 Ny ; 5 . From Heaven; and th’ earth, here prominent before, ile we scaled, yet standeth fix’d ) Through fear of him did veil her with the sea, And to our hemisphere retired. Perchance, To shun him, was the vacant space left here, By what of firm land on this side appears, That sprang aloof.’ There is a place beneath, From Beelzebub as distant, as extends The vaulted tomb; discover'd not by sight, But by the sound of brooklet, that descends This way along the hollow of a rock, Which, as it winds with no precipitous course, The wave hath eaten. By that hidden way My guide and I did enter, to return To the fair world: and heedless of repose We climb’d, he first, I following his steps, Till on our view the beautiful ights of heaven Dawn’d through a circular Opening in the cave; Thence issuing we again beheld the stars.CX 000 744 25? N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA