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INFERNO DANTE
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TU li VISION OF DANTE
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CANTO I
argument.
The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and being hindered by certain wild beasts from ascending a mountain, is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Pur- gatory ; and that he shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He follows the Roman poet.
In the midway ^ of this our mortal hfe, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct ; and e'en 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.
^ In the midway.] That the era of the Poem is intended by these words to be fixed to the thirty-fifth year of the poet's age, a.d. 1300, will appear more plainly in Canto xxi., where that date is explicitly marked. In his Convito, human life is compared to an arch or bow, the highest point of which is, in those well framed by nature, at their thirty-fifth year. Opere di Dante, ediz. Ven. 8vo, 1793, t. i. p. 195.
» A
2 THE VISION. 8-27
Yet, to discourse of what there good befel, All else will I relate discover'd there.
How first I enter'd it I scarce can sa)^ Such sleepy dulness in that instant weigh'd My senses down, when the true path I left ; 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 respite 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, Forespent with toiling, 'scaped from sea to
shore. Turns to the perilous wide waste, and stands At gaze ; e'en 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 recomforted, again
' That planet's beam.] The sun.
28-45- INFERNO. Canto I. 3
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 oft-times, With purpose to retrace my steps, I turn'd. 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 ^
' The hinder foot.] It is to be remembered, that in ascending a hill the weight of the body rests on the hinder foot.
* A panther.] Pleasure or luxury.
3 With those stars.] The sun was in Aries, in which sign he supposes it to have begun its course at the creation.
* .4 Hon.] Pride or ambition. ^ A she-wolf.] Avarice.
4 THE VISION. 46-65.
Was at his heels, who in her leanness seem'd FuU 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, That of 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 step I fell, my ken discern'd the form of one Whose voice seem'd faint through long disuse
of speech. When him in that great desert I espied, " Have mercy on me," cried I out aloud, " Spirit ! or hving man ! whate'er thou be." He answer 'd : " Now not man, man once I
was, And bom of Lombard parents, Mantuans both By country, when the power of Julius ^ yet
1 When the power of Julius.]
Nacqui sub Julio, anchorchè fosse tardi. This is explained by the commentators : " Although it were rather late with respect to my birth, before Julius Caesar assumed the supreme authority, and made himself
66-85- INFERNO, Canto I. 5
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 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 Ascendest, cause and source of all delight ? " " And art thou then that Virgil, that well- spring. From which such copious floods of eloquence Have issued ?" I with front abash'd 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. 0 save me from her, thou illustrious sage !
perpetual dictator." Virgil indeed was born twenty-five years before that eveat.
5 THE VISION. 86-102.
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 wouldst '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. To many an animal in wedlock vile She fastens, and shall yet to many more. Until that greyhound ^ come, who shall destroy Her with sharp pain. He will not life support By earth nor its base metals, but by love. Wisdom, and virtue ; and his land shall be The land 'twixt either Feltro. ^ In his might
> That greyhound.] This passage has been commonly understood as an eulogium on the liberal spirit of his Veronese patron, Can Grande della Scala.
* 'Twixt either Feltro.] Verona, the country of Can della Scala, is situated between Feltro, a city in the Marca Trivigiana, and Monte Feltro, a city in the territory of Urbino. But Dante perhaps does not merely point out the place of Can Grande's nativity, for he may allude further to a prophecy, ascribed to Michael Scot, which imported that the " Dog of Verona would be lord of Padua and of all the Marca Trivigiana." It was fulfilled in the year 1329, a little before Can Grande's death. See G.
103-120. INFERNO, Canto I. 7
Shall safety to Italia's plains arise,
For whose fair realm, 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 I, 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,
Villani, Hist. lib. lo. cap. cv. and cxli. and some lively criticism by Gasparo Gozzi, entitled Giudizio degli Antichi Poeti, etc., printed at the end of the Zatta edition of Dante, t. 4. part ii. p. 15. The prophecy, it is likely, was a forgery ; for Michael died before 1300, when Can Grande was only nine years old. See Inferno, xx. 115, and Par. xvii. 75.
' Content in fire.] The spirits in Purgatory.
' A spirit worthier.'] Beatrice, who conducts the Poet through Paradise.
8 THE VISION. 121-132.
Who reigns above, a rebel to his law Adjudges me ; and therefore hath decreed That, to his city, none through me should
come. He in all parts hath sway ; there rules, there
holds His citadel and throne. O 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 \yorse I may escape) to lead me where thou said'st. That I Saint Peter's gate ^ may view, and those Who, as thou tell'st, are in such dismal
plight." Onward he moved, I close his steps pursued.
CANTO II
argument.
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.
Now was the day departing, and the air,
1 Saint Peter's gate.] The gate of Purgatory, which the Poet feigns to be guarded by an angel placed on that station by St. Peter.
2-22. INFERNO, Canto II. 9
Imbrown'd with shadows, from their toils
released All animals on earth ; and I alone Prepared myself the conflict to sustain, Both of sad pity, and that perilous road, Which my unerring memory shall retrace.
0 Muses ! O high genius ! now vouchsafe Your aid. 0 mind ! that all I saw hast kept Safe in a written record, here thy worth
And eminent endowments come to proof.
1 thus began : " Bard ! thou who art my
guide, Consider well, if virtue be in me Sufficient, ere to this high enterprise Thou trust me. Thou hast told that Silvius'
sire,^ Yet clothed in corruptible flesh, among Th' immortal tribes had entrance, and was
there Sensibly present. Yet if heaven's great Lord, Almighty foe to ill, such favour show'd In contemplation of the high effect, Both what and who from him should issue
forth. It seems in reason's judgment well deserved ; Sith he of Rome and of Rome's empire wide,
• Silvius' sire.] .^neas.
JO THE VISION. 23-45.
In heaven's empyreal height was chosen sire ; Both which, if truth be spoken, were ordain 'd And stabhsh'd for the holy place, where sits Who to great Peter's sacred chair succeeds. 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 travel'd there, To bring us back assurance in that faith Which is the entrance to salvation's way. But I, why should I there presume ? or who Permits it ? not ^Eneas I, nor Paul. Myself I deem not worthy, and none else Will deem me. I, if on this voyage then I venture, fear it will in folly end. Thou, who art wise, better my meaning
know'st, Than I can speak." As one, who tmresolves What he hath late resolved, and with new
thoughts Changes his purpose, from his first intent Removed ; e'en such was I on that dun coast, Waiting in thought my enterprise, at first So eagerly embraced. " If right thy words I scan," replied that shade magnanimous,
1 The chosen vessel] St. Paul. Acts ix. 15. " But the T.ord said unto him. Go thy way ; for he is a chosen
46-66. INFERNO. Canto II. ii
" Thy. soul is by vile fear assail'd, which oft So overcasts a man, that he recoils From noblest resolution, 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 what I heard in that same instant, 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, Call'd me ; her eyes were brighter than the star Of day ; and she, with gentle voice and soft, Angelically tuned, her speech address'd :
* O 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
* 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.
* Who rest suspended.] The spirits in Limbo, neitbT ad- mitted to a state of glory nor doomed to punishment.
12 THE VISION. 67-86.
' And by thy eloquent persuasive tongue, ' And by all means for his deliverance meet, ' Assist him. So to me will comfort spring. ' I, who now bid thee on this errand forth, ' Am Beatrice ; ^ from a place I come ' Revisited 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 farther 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 centre here beneath.'
" She then : ' Since thou so deeply wouldst inquire, ' I will instruct thee briefly why no dread
1 Beatrice.] The daughter of Folco Portinari, who is here invested with the character of celestial wisdom or theology.
' Whatever is contain'd.] Every other thing comprised within the lunar heaven, which, being the lowest of all,
87-T06. INFERNO, Canto IL 13
' 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 grace ! That any sufferance of your misery Touches me not, nor flame of that fierce fire Assails me. In high heaven a blessed dame * Besides, who mourns with such effectual 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 thy faithful servant need thy aid, ' And I commend him to thee." At her word Sped Lucia, of 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 succour lent ' To him, who so much loved thee, as to leave ' For thy sake all the multitude admires ?
1 A blessed dame.] The Divine Mercy.
' F^iicia.] The enlightening Grace of Heaven ; as it is commonly explained. But Lombardi has well observed, that as our Poet places her in the Paradiso, c. xxxii., amongst the souls of the blessed, so it is probable that she, like Beatrice, had a real existence ; and he accordingly supposes her to have been Saint Lucia the martyr, although she is here representative of an abstract idea.
14 THE VISION. 107-127.
" Dost thou not hear how pitiful his wail,
" Nor mark the death, w.hich in the torrent
flood, " Swoln 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 honour brings.' " When she had ended, her bright beaming
eyes Tearful she turned aside ; whereat I felt Redoubled zeal to serve thee. As she will'd. Thus am I come : I saved thee from 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 Harbour vile fear ? why hast not courage there. And noble daring ; since three maids, ^ so blest. Thy safety plan, e'en in the court of heaven ; And so much certain good my words forebode.^ " As florets, by the frosty air of night
128 -141. I-'^FERNO. Canto III.
Bent down and closed, when day has blanch'd
their leaves, Rise all unfolded oh their spiry stems ; So was my fainting vigour new restored. And to my heart such kindly courage ran, That I as one undaunted soon replied : " 0 full of pity she, who undertook My succour ! and thou kind, who didst perform 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." So spake I ; and when he had onward moved, I enter'd on the deep and woody way.
CANTO III
iSrgument.
Dante, following Virgil, comes to the gate of Hell ; where, after having read the dreadful words that are written thereon, they both enter. Here, as he understands from Virgil, those were punished who had past their time (for living it could not be called) in a state of apathy and indifference both to good and evil. Then pursuing 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.
" Through me you pass into the city of woe : Through me you pass into eternal pain :
i6 THE Visioni. 3-24.
Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved : To rear me 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."
Such characters, in colour dim, I mark'd 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 extinguished. We are come Where I have told thee we shall see the souls To misery doom'd, who intellectual good Have lost." And when his hand he had
stretched 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 e'en I wept at entering. Various tongues. Horrible languages, outcries of woe,
-Power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.] The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.
5-44 INFERNO, Canto III. 17
Accents of anger, voices deep and hoarse, With hands together smote that swell'd the
sounds, Made up a tumult, that for ever whirls Round through that air with solid darkness
stain 'd Like to the sand that in the whirlwind flies.
I then, with error yet encompast, cried : " O master ! what is this I hear ? what race Are these, who seem so overcome with woe ? "
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. From his bounds Heaven drove
them forth, Not to impair his lustre ; 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. That they lament so loud ?" He straight re- plied : " That will I tell thee briefly. These of death
* Lest the accursed tribe.] Lest the rebellious angels should exult at seeing those who were neutral, and there- fore less guilty, condemned to the same punishment with themselves.
,8 THE VISION. 4-_58.
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, I should ne'er Have thought that death so many had de-
spoil'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
' Who to base fear
Yielding, abjured his high eslate. ]
This is commonly understood of Celestine the Fifth, who abdicated the papal power in 1294. Venturi mentions a work written by Innocenzio Barcellini, of the Celestine order, and printed at Milan in 1701, in which an attempt is made to put a different interpretation on this passage. Lombardi would apply it to some one of Dante's fellow- citizens, who, refusing, through avarice or want of spirit to support the party of the Bianchi at Florence, had been the main occasion of the miseries that befel them. But the testimony of Fazio degli Uberti, who lived so near the time of our author, seems almost decisive on tliis point. He expressly speaks of the Pope Celestine as being in hpll-
59-80. INFERNO, Canto III. 19
Of those ill spirits both to God displeasing And to his foes. These wretches, who ne'er
lived, Went on in nakedness, and sorely stung By wasps and hornets, which bedew'd their
cheeks With blood, that, mix'd with tears, dropp'd
to their feet, And by disgustful worms was gathered there.
Then looking farther onwards, I 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 So eager to pass o'er, as I discern Through the blear light ?" He thus to me in
few : " Thisshalt thou know, soon as our steps arrive Beside the woeful tide of Acheron." Then with eyes downward cast, and filled
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, Crying, " Woe to you, wicked spirits ! hope not Ever to see the sky again. I come To take you to the other shore across,
20 THE VISION. 81-101.
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 will'd. 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, colour changed, And gnash'd their teeth, soon as the cruel words They heard. God and their parents they
blasphemed. The human kind, the place, the time, and seed. That did engender them and give them birth.
Then all together sorely wailing drew To the curst strand, that every man must pass Who fears not God. Charon, demoniac form,
1 A nimbler boat.] He perhaps alludes to the bark " swift and light," in which the angel conducts the spirits
^52. INFERNO, Canto HI. 21
With eyes of burning coal, collects them all, Beckoning, and each that lingers, with his oar vStrikes. As fall off the light autumnal leaves, One still another following till the bough Strews all its honours on the earth beneath ; E'en in like manner Adam's evil brood Cast themselves, one by one, down from the
shore, Each at a beck, as falcon at his call.^ Thus go they over through the umber'd
wave ; And ever they on the opposing 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 turn'd into desire. Hence ne'er hath past Good spirit. If of thee Charon comj^lain, Now mayst thou know the import of his words," This said, the gloomy region trembhng shook So terribly, that yet with clammy dews
* As falcon at his call.] This is Vellutello's explanation, and seems preferable to that commonly given : "as a bird that is enticed to the cage by the call of another."
22 THE VISION. 123-126.
Fear chills my brow. The sad earth gave a
blast, That, lightening, shot forth a vermilion flame Which all my senses conquer 'd quite, and I Down dropp'd, as one with sudden slumber
seized.
CANTO IV
argument.
The Poet, being roused by a clap of thunder, and following his guide onwards, descends into Limbo, which is the first circle of Hell, where he finds the souls of those, who, although they have lived virtuously and have not to suffer for great sins, nevertheless, through lack cf baptism, merit not the bliss of Paradise. Hence he is led on by Virgil to descend into the second circle.
Broke 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 cloud o'erspread, mine eye in
vain Explored its bottom, nor could aught discern.
T2-34. ^^^^ERNO. Canto TV. ^^
" Now let us to the blind world theie beneath Descend ; " the bard began, all pale of look : " I go the first, and thou shalt follow next,"
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 : " The 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 abyss.
Here, as mine ear could note, no plaint was heard Except of sighs, that made the eternal air Tremble, not caused by tortures, but from
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
24 THE VISION. 35-56
The Gospel lived, they served not God aright ; And among such am I. 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 mighty worth. " O tell me, sire revered ! Tell me, my master !" I began, through wish Of full assurance in that holy faith Which vanquishes all error ; " say, did e'er Any, or through his own or other's merit. Come forth from thence, who afterward was blest ? " Piercing the secret purport^ of my speech, He answer'd : " 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,
1 Secret purport.] Lombardi well observes, that Dante seems to have been restrained by awe and reverence from uttering the name of Christ in this place of torment ; and that for the same cause, probably, it does not occur once throughout the whole of this first part of the poem.
• A puissant one.] Our Saviour.
57-79- INFERNO, Canto IV. 25
Nor without Rachel whom so hard he won, And others many more, whom he to bless Exalted. Before these, be thou assured, No spirit of human kind was ever saved." We, while he spake, ceased not our onward road. Still passing through the wood ; for so I name Those spirits thick beset. We were not far On this side from the summit, when I 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 Discover'd that a tribe in honour high That place possess 'd. " O, thou, who every
art And science valuest ! who are these, that boast Such honour, separate from all tha rest ? " He answer'd : " The renown of their great names. That echoes through your world above, ac- quires Favour in heaven, which holds them thus ad- vanced." Meantime a voice I heard : " Honour the bard Subhme ! his shade returns, that left us late ! " No sooner ceased the sound, than I beheld Four mighty spirits toward us bend their steps, Of semblance neither sorrowful nor glad.
26 THE VISION. 80-98.
When thus my master kind began : " Mark him Who in his right hand bears that falchion keen. The other three preceding, as their lord. This is that Homer, of all bards supreme : Flaccus the next, in satire's vein excelling ; The third is Naso ; Lucan is the last. Because they all that appellation own, With which the voice singly accosted me, Honouring they greet me thus, and well they judge."
So I beheld united the bright school Of him the monarch of sublimest song,i That o'er the others like an eagle soars.
When they together short discourse had held, They tum'd to me, with salutation kind Beckoning me ; at the which my master
smiled : Nor was this all ; but greater honour still They gave me, for they made me of their tribe ; And I was sixth amid so learn 'd a band.
Far as the luminous beacon on we pass'd,
' The monarch of sublimest song.] Homer. It appears from a passage in the Convito, that there was no Latin translation of Homer in Dante's time. " Sappia ciascuno," etc. p. 20. " Every one should know, that nothing, har- monized by musical enchantment, can be transmuted from one tongue into another without breaking all its sweetness and harmony. And this is the reason why Homer has never been turned from Greek into Latin, as the other writers we have of theirs."
99-iiS. INFERNO. Canto IV. 2^
Speaking of matters, then befitting well
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
As o'er dry land we pass'd. Next, through
seven gates, 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 I saw accompanied By many, among whom Hector I knew,
* Electra.] The daughter of Atlas, and mother of Dar- danus. the founder of Troy. See Virg. Ain. lib. 8. 134, as referred to by Dante in the treatise De Monarchia, lib. 2.
28 THE MSION. 119-130.
Anchises' pious son, and with hawk's eye CiEsar all arm'd, and by Camilla there Penthesilea. On the other side, Old king Latinus seated by his child Lavinia, and 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.
' Julia.] The daughter of Julius Caesar, and wife of Pompey.
* The Soldan fierce.] Saladin, orSalaheddin, the rivalof Richard Coeur de Lion. See D'Herbelot, Bibl.Orient, the Life of Saladin, by Bohao'edin Ebn Shedad, published by .Albert Schultens, with a Latin translation ; and Knolles' Hist, of the Turks, p. S7 to 73. " About this time (i 193) died the great Sultan Saladin, the greatest terror of the Christians, who, mindful of man's fragility and the vanity of worldly honours, commanded at the time of his death no solemnity to be used at his burial, but only his shirt, in manner of an ensign, made fast unto the point of a lance, to be carried before his dead body as an ensign, a plain priest going before, and crying aloud unto the people in this sort, ' Saladin, Conqueror of the East, of all the greatness and riches he had in his life, carrieth not with him any- thing more than his shirt.' A sight worthy so great a king, as wanted nothing to his eternal commendation more than the true knowledge of his salvation in Christ Jesus. He reigned about sixteen years with great honour." He is introduced by Petrarch in the Triumph of Fame, c. ii. ; and by Boccaccio in the Decameron. G. x. N. q.
3 The master of the sapient throng.] Aristotle, else- where in the poem referred to as the " Stagyrite."
131- 148. INFERNO, Canto IV. 29
There Socrates and Plato both I mark'd Nearest to him in rank, Democritus, Who sets the world at chance,^ Diogenes, With Heraclitus, and Empedocles, And Anaxagoras, and Thales sage, Zeno, and Dioscorides well read In nature's secret lore. Orpheus I 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 oft-times 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 vex'd with storms : And to a part I come, where no light shines.
• Democritus,
Who sets the world at chance.] Democritus, who maintained the world to have been formed by the fortuitous concourse of atoms.
' Him who made
That commentary vast, Averroes.] Averroes, called by the Arabians Roschd, translated and commented the works of Aristotle.
30 THE VISION. i-i^
CANTO V
Slramntnt,
Coming Into the second circle of Hell, Dante at the entrance beholds Minos the Infernal Judge, by whom he is admonished to beware how he enters those regions. Here he witnesses the punishment of carnal sinners, who are tossed about ceaselessly in the dark air by the most furious winds. Amongst these, he meets with Francesca of Rimini, through pity at whose sad tale he falls fainting to the ground.
From the first circle I descended thus Down to the second, which, a lesser space Embracing, so much more of grief 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 transgression, with his tail so oft Himself encircles, as degrees beneath He dooms it to descend. Before him stand Alway a numerous throng ; and in his turn Each one to judgment passing, speaks, and
hears His fate, thence downward to his dwelling
hurl'd.
ri8-38. INFERNO, Canto V. 3i
" O thou ! who to this residence of woe Approachest ? " when he saw me coming,
cried Minos, reUnquishing 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 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 Smites on mine ear. Into a place I came Where light was silent all. Bellowing there
groan 'd A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn By warring winds. The stormy blast of hell With ruthless fury drives the spirits on, Whirl'd round and dash'd amain with sore
annoy. WTien they arrive before the ruinous sweep, There shrieks are heard, there lamentations,
moans, And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in
Heaven. I understood, that to this torment sad
32 THE VISION. 39-53-
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 bears 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 their dire doom. Then I : " Instructor !
who Are these, by the black air so scourged ? " —
" The first 'Mong those, of whom thou question 'st," he
rephed, " O'er many tongues was empress. She in
vice
1 As cranes.] This simile is imitated by Lorenzo de
Medici, in his Ambra, a poem, first published by Mr.
Roscoe, in the Appendix to his Life of Lorenzo : Marking the tracts of air, the clamorous cranes Wheel their due flight in varied ranks descried ; And each with outstretch'd neck his rank maintains. In marshal'd order through the ethereal void.
Roscoe, vol. i. c. v. p. 257, 4to edit. Compare Homer, II. iii. 3 ; Virgil, jEh. lib. 10. 264 ;
Oppian, Halieut. lib. i. 620; Ruccellai, Le Api, 942;
and Dante's Purgatorio, xxiv. 63.
r
54-77- INFERNO. Canto V 33
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, 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. Paris I saw, and Tristan ; and beside, A thousand more he show'd me, and by name Pointed them out, whom love bereaved of Hfe. When I had heard my sage instructor name Those dames and knights of antique days,
o'erpower'd By pity, well-nigh in amaze my mind Was lost ; and I began : " Bard ! willingly I would address those two together coming, Which seem so light before the wind." He
thus : " 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
34 THE VISION. 78 95-
Sway'd them towards us, I thus framed my
speech : " O 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.
" O gracious creature and benign ! who go'st Visiting, through this element obscure.^ Us, who the world with bloody stain imbrued ; If, for a friend, the King of all, we own'd, Our prayer to him should for thy peace arise. Since thou hast pity on our evil plight. Of whatsoe'er to hear or to discourse It pleases thee, that will we hear, of that Freely with thee discourse, while e'er the wind,
* Element obscure.] " L'aer perso." Much is said by the commentators concerning the exact sense of the word " perso." It cannot be explained in clearer terms than those used by Dante himself in his Convito : " II perso è un colore misto di purpureo e nero, ma vince il nero," p. 185. " It is a colour mixed of purple and black, hut the black prevails." The word recurs several times in this poem. Chaucer also uses it, in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Doctour of Phisike :
In sanguin and in perse he clad was alle.
96-107. INFERNO, Canto V. 35
As now, is mute. The land,^ that gave me
birth. Is situate on the coast, where Po descends To rest in ocean with his sequent streams. " Love, that in gentle heart is quickly
learnt, 2 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,
1 The land.l Ravenna.
* Love, that in gentle heart is quickly learnt.']
Amor, ch'ai cor gentil ratto s'apprende. A line taken by Marino, Adone, c. cxli. st. 251.
That the reader of the original may not be misled as to the exact sense of the word "s'apprende," which I have rendered "is learnt," it may be right to apprise him that it signifies "is caught," and that it is a metaphor from a thing taking fire. Thus it is used by Guido Guinicelli, whom mdeed our Poet seems here to have had in view : Fuoco d'Amore in gentil cor s'apprende. Come vertute in pietra preziosa. Sonetti, etc., di diversi Antichi Toscani, ediz. Giunti, 1527, hb. 9. p. 107.
The fire of love in gentle heart is caught, As virtue in the precious stone.
3 Caina.] The place to which murderers are doomed.
36 THE VISION. 108-120.
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. But tell me ; in the time of your sweet sighs, By what, and how Love granted, that ye knew 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
1 Francesca.] Francesca, daughter of Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, was given by her father in marriage to Lanciotto, son of Malatesta, lord of Rimini, a man of extraordinary courage, but deformed in his person. His brother Paolo, who unhappily possessed those graces which the husband of Francesca wanted, engaged her affections ; and being taken in adultery, they were both put to death by the enraged Lanciotto. See Notes to Canto xxvii. v. 38 and 43. Troya relates, that they were buried together ; and that three centuries after, the bodies were found at Rimini, whither they had been removed from Pesaro, with the silken garments yet fresh. Veltro Allegorico di Dante, ediz. 1826, p. 33. Mr. Leigh Hunt has expanded the episode into a beautiful
I2I-I38. INFERNO, Canto V. 37
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 By one so deep in love, then he, who ne'er From me shall separate, at once my lips 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 I, through compassion fainting seem'd not far. From death, and like a corse fell to the ground.
' Lancelot.] One of the Knights of the Round Table, and the lover of Ginevra, or Guinever, celebrated in romance. The incident alluded to seems to have made a strong impression on the imagination of Dante, who introduces it again, in the Paradiso, Canto xvi.
* In its leaves that day
We read no more.] Nothing can exceed the delicacy with which Francesca in these words intimates her guilt.
38 THE VISION. ^..^^
CANTO VI
Hrgnment.
On his recovery, the Poet finds himself in. the third circle, where the gluttonous are punished. Their torment is to lie in the mire, under a continual and heavy storm of hail, snow, and discoloured water ; Cerberus meanwhile barking over them with his threefold throat, and rending them piecemeal. One of these, who on earth was named Ciacco, foretells the divi- sions with which Florence is about to be distracted. Dante proposes a question to his guide, who solves it ; and they proceed towards the foiurth circle.
My sense reviving, that erewhile had droop'd With pity for the kindred shades, whence grief 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, discolour'd water, sleety flaw Through the dun midnight air stream'd 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
1 6-35- INFERNO, Canto VI. 39
His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with
which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their
limbs Piecemeal disparts. Howling there spread, as
curs. 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 Hmb Of him but trembled. Then my guide, his
palms Expanding on the ground, thence fill'd with
earth Raised them, and cast it in his ravenous maw. E'en 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, o'er the shades thrown prostrate by the
brunt Of the heavy tempest passing, set our feet Upon their emptiness, that substance seem'd.
40 THE VISION. 36-57.
They all along the earth extended lay, Save one, that sudden raised himself to sit. Soon as that way he saw us pass. " O 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." I 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 : " The city, heap'd with envy to the brim. Ay, that the measure overflows its bounds. Held me in brighter days. Ye citizens Were wont to name me Ciacco.^ For the sin Of gluttony, damned vice, beneath this rain. E'en as thou seest, I with fatigue am worn : Nor I sole spirit in this woe : all these Have by Hke crime incurr'd hke punishment." No more he said, and I my sj^eech resumed :
^ Ciacco.] So called from his inordinate appetite ; Ciacco, in Italian, signifying a pig. The real name of this glutton has not been transmitted to us. He is introduced
58-73- INFERNO, Canto VI. 41
" Ciacco ! thy dire affliction grieves me much, Even to tears. But tell me if thou know'st, What shall at length befall the citizens 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 num- ber,'
* The divided city.] The city of Florence, divided into the Bianchi and Neri factions.
' The wild party from the woods.] So called, because it was headed by Veri de' Cerchi, whose family had lately come into the city from Acone, and the woody country of the Val di Nievole.
3 The other.] The opposite party of the Neri, at the head of which was Corso Donati.
* This must fall.] The Bianchi.
5 Three solar circles.] Three years.
8 Of one, who under shore
Now rests.] Charles of Valois, by whose means the Neri were replaced. " The just are two in number.] Who these two were, the commentators are not agreed. Some understand
42 THE VISION. 74_83.
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-
them to be Dante himself and his friend Guido Cavalcanti. I3ut this would argue a presumption, which our Poet himself elsewhere contradicts ; for, in the Purgatorio, he owns his consciousness of not being exempted from one at least of " the three fatal sparks, which had set the hearts of all on fire." See Canto xiii. 126. Others refer the encomium to Barduccio and Giovanni Vespignano, adduc- ing the following passage from Villani in support of their opinion : " In the year 1331 died in Florence two just and good men, of holy life and conversation, and bountiful in almsgiving, although laymen. The one was named Bar- duccio, and was buried in S. Spirito, in the place of the Frati Romitani : the other, named Giovanni da Vespig- nano, was buried in S. Pietro Maggiore. And by each, God showed open miracles, in healing the sick and lunatic after divers manners ; and for each there was ordained a solemn funeral, and many images of wax set up in dis- charge of vows that had been made." G. Villani, lib. ro. cap. clxxix.
1 Of Farinata and Tegghiaio.] See Canto x. and Notes, and Canto xvi. and Notes.
• Giacopo.] Giacopo Rusticucci. See Canto xvi. and Notes.
3 Arrigo, Mosca.] Of Arrigo, who is said by the com- mentators to have been of the noble family of the Fifanti, no mention afterwards occmrs. Mosca degli liberti, or de' Lamberti, is introduced in Canto xxviii.
84-105. INFERNO. Canto VI 43
For I am press'd with keen desire to hear If heaven's sweet cup, or poisonous drug of hell, Be to their hp 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 mayst 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 httle eyed me, then bent down his head, And 'midst his blind companions with it fell. When thus my guide : " No more his bed he leaves, 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 The vault." So pass'd we through that mix- ture foul Of spirits and rain, with tardy steps ; mean- while Touching, ^though slightly, on the Ufe to come, i'or thus I question'd : " Shall these tortures. Sir!
' Touching.] Conversing, though in a slight and super- ficial manner, on the life to come.
44 THE VISION. 106-117.
When the great sentence passes, be increased, Or mitigated, or as now severe ? "
He then : " Consult thy knowledge ; 1 that
decides, That, as each thing to more perfection grows. 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 VII
J3lrg;ument.
In the present Canto, Dante describes his descent into the fourth circle, at the beginning of which he sees Plutus stationed. Here one like doom awaits the prodigal and the avaricious ; which is, to meet in direful con- flict, rolling great weights against each other with mutual upbraidings. From hence Virgil takes occa- sion to show how vain the goods that are committed into the charge of Fortune ; and this moves our author to inquire what being that Fortune is, of whom he speaks : which question being resolved, they go
I Consult thy knowledge.] We are referred to the follow- ing passage in St. Augustin : — " Cum fiet resurrectio carnis et honorum gaudia et malorum tormenta majora erunt." — " At the resurrection of the flesh, both the happiness of the good and the torments of the wicked will be increased."
i-ii. INFERNO, Canto VII. 45
down into the fifth circle, where theyfind the wrathful and gloomy tormented in the Stygian lake. Having made a compass round great part of this lake, they come at last to the base of a lofty tower.
" Ah me ! O Satan ! Satan !" 1 loud ex-
claim'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, is none To hinder down this rock thy safe descent." Then to that swoln 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 will'd On high, there where the great Archangel
pour'd
* Ahme/0 Satan ! Satan f] Pape Satan, pape Satan, aleppe.
Pape is said by the commentators to be the same as the Latin word papcF. " strange !" Of aleppe they do not give a more satisfactory account. See the Life of Ben- venuto Cellini, translated by Dr. Nugent, v. ii. b. 3. cap. vii. p. 113, where he mentions " having heard the words, Paix, paix, Satan ! allez, paix ! in the courts of justice at Paris. I recollected what Dante said, when he with his master Virgil entered the gates of hell : for Dante, and Giotto the painter, were together in France, and visited Paris with particular attention, where the court of justice may be considered as hell. Hence it is that Dante, who was likewise perfect master of the French, made use of that expression ; and I have often been surprised that it was never understood in that sense."
46 THE VISION. 12-27.
Heaven's vengeance on the first adulterer proud." 1 As sails, full spread and bellying with the wind, Drop suddenly collapsed, if the mast split ; So to the ground down droop 'd 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 heap'st ^ New pains, new troubles, as I here beheld. Wherefore doth fault of ours bring us to this ?
E'en as a billow, on Charybdis rising Against encounter'd billow dashing breaks ; Such is the dance this wretched race must lead, Whom more than elsewhere numerous here I
found. From one side and the other, with loud voice, Both roU'd on weights, by main force of their breasts,
* The first adulterer proud.] Satan. The word " for- nication," or " adultery,'' " strupo," is here used for a revolt of the affections from God, according to the sense in which it is often applied in Scripture.
• In what store thou heap'st.] Some understand " chi stipa " to mean either " who can imagine," or " who can describe the torments," etc. I have followed Landino, whose words, though very plain, seem to have been mis- taken by Lombardi : " Chi stipa, chi accumula, ed insieme raccoglie ; quasi dica, tu giustizia aduni tanti supplicii."
„Q _ INFERNO. Canto VII.
28-47. 47
Then smote together, and each one forthwith Roll'd them back voluble, turning again ; Exclaiming these, "Why boldest thou so
fast ? " Those answering, " And why castest thou
away ? " So, still repeating their despiteful song. They to the opposite point, on either hand, Traversed the horrid circle ; then arrived. Both turn'd them round, and through the
middle space Conflicting met again. At sight whereof I, stung with grief, thus spake : " O say, my
guide ! What race is this ? Were these, whose heads
are shorn, On our left hand, all separate to the church ? " He straight replied : " In their first life,
these all In mind were so distorted, that they made, According to due measure, of their wealth No use. This clearly from their words collect, Which they howl forth, at each extremity Arriving of the circle, where their crime Contrary in kind disparts them. To the
church Were separate those, that with no hairy
cowls
48 THE VISION. ^g.gx.
Are crown'd both Popes and Cardinals,^ o'er
whom Avarice dominion absolute maintains."
I then : " 'Mid such as these some needs must
be, Whom I shall recognize, that with the blot Of tliese foul sins were stain'd. " He answering
thus ; " Vain thought conceivest thou. That
ignoble life. Which made them vile before, now makes
them dark, And to all knowledge indiscernible. For ever they shall meet in this rude shock : These from the tomb with clenched grasp shall
rise, Those with close -shaven locks. That iU they
gave, And ill they kept, hath of the beauteous world Deprived, and set them at this strife, which
needs No labour'd phrase of mine to set it off.
» Popes and Cardinals.] Ariosto, having personified Avarice as a stranger and hideous monster, says of her — Peggio facea nella Romana corte, Che v'avea uccisi Cardinali e Papi. Ori. Fur. C-
xxvi. st. 32. Worse did she in the Court of Rome, for there She had slain Popes and Cardinals.
62-84. INFERNO, Canto VII. 49
Now mayst thou see, my son ! how brief, how
vain. The goods committed into Fortune's hands, For which the human race keep such a coil ! Not all the gold that is beneath the moon. Or ever hath been, of these toil-worn souls Might purchase rest for one." I thus rejoin'd : " My guide ! of thee this also would I learn ; This Fortune, that thou speak'st of, what it is. Whose talons grasp the blessings of the world." He thus : "0 beings blind ! what ignorance Besets you ! Now my judgment hear and
mark. He, whose transcendent wisdom passes all, The heavens creating, gave them ruling powers To guide them ; so that each part ^ shines to
each. Their light in equal distribution pour'd. By similar appointment he ordain'd, Over the world's bright images to rule, Superintendence of a guiding hand And general minister, which, at due time, May change the empty vantages of life From race to race, from one to other's blood, Beyond prevention of man's wisest care : Wherefore one nation rises into sway,
* Each part.] Each hemisphere of the heavens shines upon that hemisphere of the earth which is placed under it.
50 THE VISION. 85-110.
Another languishes, e'en as her will Decrees, from us conceal'd, as in the grass The serpent train. Against her naught avails Your utmost wisdom. She with foresight
plans. Judges, and carries on her reign, as theirs The other powers divine. Her changes know None intermission : by necessity She is made swift, so frequent come who claim Succession in her favours. This is she, So execrated e'en by those whose debt To her is rather praise : they wrongfully With blame requite her, and with evil word ; But she is blessed, and for that recks not : Amidst the other primal beings glad, Rolls on her sphere, and in her bliss exults. Now on our way pass we, to heavier woe Descending : for each star is falling now, That mounted at our entrance, and forbids Too long our tarrying." We the circle cross'd To the next steep, arriving at a well, That boiling pours itself down to a foss Sluiced from its source. Far murkier was the
wave Than sablest grain : and we in company Of the inky waters, journeying by their side, Enter'd, though by a different track, beneath Into a lake, the Stygian named, expands
III-I32. INFERNO. Canto VII. 51
The dismal stream, when it hath reach'd the
foot Of the gray wit her 'd cliffs. Intent I stood To gaze, and in the marish sunk descried A miry tribe, all naked, and with looks Betokening rage. They with their hands alone Struck not, but with the head, the breast, the
feet. Cutting each other piecemeal with their fangs. The good instructor spake : " Now seest
thou, son ! The souls of those, whom anger overcame. This too for certain know, that underneath The water dwells a multitude, whose sighs Into these bubbles make the surface heave, As thine eye tells thee wheresoe'er it turn. Fix'd in the slime, they say : ' Sad once were
we, ' In the sweet air made gladsome by the sun, ' Carrying a foul and lazy mist within : ' Now in these murky settlings are we sad.' Such dolorous strain they gurgle in their
throats, But word distinct can utter none." Our route Thus compass'd we, a segment widely stretch'd Between the dry embankment, and the core Of the loath'd pool, turning meanwhile our
eyes
53 THE VISION. 133-134.
Downward on those who gulp'd its muddy
lees ; Nor stopp'd, till to a tower's low base we came.
CANTO VIII
argument.
A signal having been made from the tower, Phlegyas, the ferryman of the lake, speedily crosses it, and conveys Virgil and Dante to the other side. On their passage, they meet with Filippo Argenti, whose fury and torment are described. They then arrive at the city of Dis, the entrance whereto is denied, and the portals closed against them by many Demons.
My theme pursuing,^ I relate, that ere We reach'd the lofty turret's base, our eyes Its height ascended, where we mark'd uphung Two cressets, and another saw from far Return the signal, so remote, that scarce The eye could catch its beam. I, turning round
» My theme pursuing.] It is related by some of the early commentators, that the seven preceding Cantos were found at Florence after our Poet's banishment, by some one who was searching over his papers, which were left in that city ; that by this person they were taken to Dino Frescobaldi ; and that he, being much delighted with them, forwarded them to the Marchese Morello Mala- spina, at whose entreaty the poem was resumed. This account, though very circumstantially related, is rendered improbable by the prophecy of Ciacco in the sixth Canto, which must have been written after the events to which it alludes. The manner in which the present Canto opens furnishes no proof of the truth of the report.
7-26. INFERNO. Canto Vili. 53
To the deep source of knowledge, thus inquired : " Say what this means ; and what, that other
light In answer set : what agency doth this ? "
" There on the filthy waters," he replied, "E'en now what next awaits us mayst thou
see. If the marsh-gender'd fog conceal it not."
Never was arrow from the cord dismiss'd, That ran its way so nimbly through the air, As a small bark, 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 ? " — " Phlegyas,
Phlegyas,^ This time thou criest in vain," my lord replied ; " No longer shalt thou have us, but while o'er 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 In his fierce ire. My guide, descending,
stepp'd Into the skiff, and bade me enter next. Close at his side ; nor, till my entrance, seem'd
* Phlegyas.] Phlegyas, who was so incensed against Apollo, for having violated his daughter Coronis, that he set fire to the temple of that deity, by whose vengeance he was cast into Tartarus. See Virg. Mn. lib. 6, 6i8.
54 THE VISION. 27-46.
The vessel freighted. Soon as both embark'd, Cutting the waves, goes on the ancient prow, More deeply than with others it is 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 ? " I answer 'd : " Though I 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. E'en thus in filth disguised." Then stretch'd
he forth Hands to the bark ; 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 spake ; " O
soul. Justly disdainful ! blest was she in whom Thou wast conceived. He in the world was
one For arrogance noted ; to his memory No virtue lends its lustre ; even so
47_68. INFERNO, Canto VITI. 55
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 render I thanks to God and praise. " To Filippo Argenti ! " ^ cried they all : And on himself the moody Florentine Tum'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 !
* Filippo Argenti.} Boccaccio tells us, " he was a man remarkable for the large proportions and extraordinary vigour of his bodily frame, and the extreme waywardness and irascibility of his temper." Decani. G. ix. N. 8.
56 THE VISION. 69-90.
There, certes, 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 of iron. We had made Wide circuit, ere a place we reach'd, where
loud The mariner cried vehement : " Go forth : The entrance is here." Upon the gates I spied More than a thousand, who of old from heaven Were shower 'd. 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 thou alone ; and let him
go. Who hath so hardily enter'd this realm. Alone return he by his witless way ; If well he know it, let him prove. For thee, Here shalt thou tarry, who through clime so
dark
9I-I08. INFERNO. Canto Vili. 57
Hast been his escort." Now bethink thee,
reader ! What cheer was mine at sound of those cui"st
words. I did believe I never should return. " O my loved guide ! who more than seven
times ^ Security hast render'd me, and drawn From peril deep, whereto I stood exposed, 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, Replied : " Fear not : for of our passage none Hath power to disappoint us, by such high Authority permitted. But do thou Expect me here ; meanwhile, thy wearied
spirit Comfort, and feed with kindly hope, assured I will not leave thee in this lower world."
This said, departs the sire benevolent. And quits me. Hesitating I remain
* Seven times.] The commentators, says Venturi, per- plex themselves with the inquiry what seven perils these were from which Dante had been delivered by Virgil. Reckoning the beasts in the first Canto as one of them, and adding Charon, Minos, Cerberus, Plutus, Phlegyas, and Filippo Argenti, as so many others, we shall have the number ; and if this be not satisfactory, we may suppose a determinate to have been put for an indeterminate number.
58 THE VISION. 109-128.
At war, 'twixt will and will not, in my thoughts. I could not hear what terms he offer'd them. But they conferr'd not long, for all at once Pelimeli ^ rush'd back within. Closed were
the gates, By those our adversaries, on the breast Of my liege lord : excluded, he return'd To me with tardy steps. Upon the ground 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 anger'd, think No ground of terror : in this trial I Shall vanquish, use what arts they may within For hindrance. This their insolence, not new, ^ ErewhUe 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 land."
^ Pelimeli.] A pruova. " Certatim." " A I'envi." I had before translated "To trial; " and have to thank Mr. Carlyle for detecting the error.
" This their insolence, not new.] Virgil assures our Poet, that these evil spirits had formerly shown the same inso- lence when our Saviour descended into hell. They at- tempted to prevent him from entering at the gate, over which Dante had read the fatal inscription. " That gate which," says the Roman poet, " an angel had just passed, by whose aid we shall overcome this opposition, and gain admittance into the city."
I-I5. INFERNO, Canto IX. 59
CANTO IX
Higument.
After some hindrances, and having seen the hellish furies and other monsters, the Poet, by the help of an , angel, enters the city of Dis, wherein he discovers ■^ that the heretics are punished in tombs burning with intense fire : and he, together with Virgil, passes onwards between the sepulchres and the walls of the city.
The 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 restrain'd it. He, 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 ; " thus he began : " if not, Such aid to us is offer'd. — 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 Agreed not with the first. But not the less My fear was at his saying ; sith I drew To import worse, perchance, than that he held,
1 The hue.] Virgil, perceiving that Dante was pale with fear, restrained those outward tokens of displeasure which • his own countenance had betrayed.
6o THE VISION. 16-32.
His 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 ? "
Thus I inquiring. " Rarely," he replied, " It 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 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 Farthest from heaven's all-circling orb. The
road Full well I know : thou therefore rest secure. That lake, the noisome stench exhaling, round
* Erictho.] Erictho, a Thessalian sorceress, according to Lucan, Pharsal. lib. 6, was employed by Sextus, son of Pompey the Great, to conjure up a spirit, who should inform him of the issue of the civil wars between his father and Caesar.
* No long space my flesh
Was naked of me.]
Dante appears to have fallen into an anachronism. Virgil's death did not happen till long after this period. But Lombardi shows, in opposition to the other commenta- tors, that the anachronism is only apparent. Erictho might well have survived the battle of Pharsalia long enough to be employed in her magical practices at the time of Virgil's decease.
33-56. INFERNO, Canto IX. 6i
The city of grief encompasses, which now We may not enter without rage." Yet more He added : but I hold it not in mind. 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 seem'd ; 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. To the left, This is Megaera ; on the right hand, she Who wails, Alecto ; and Tisiphone r th' midst." This said, in silence he remain 'd. Their breast they each one clawing tore ;
themselves Smote with their palms, and such thrill clamour
raised That to the bard I clung, suspicion bound. " Hasten Medusa : so to adamant Him shall we change ; " all looking down
exclaim 'd : " E'en when by Theseus' might assail'd, we took No ill revenge." " Turn thyself round, and
keep
62 THE VISION. 57-71.
Thy countenance hid ; for it the Gorgon dire Be shown, and thou shouldst view it, thy
return Upwards would be for ever lost." This said, Himself, my gentle master, turn'd me round ; Nor trusted he my hands, but with his own He also hid me. Ye of intellect Sound and entire, mark well the lore ^ con-
ceal'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 vapours sprung, That 'gainst some forest driving all his might, Plucks off the branches, beats them down, and
hurls Afar ; '■' then, onward passing, proudly sweeps
' The lore.] The Poet probably intends to call the reader's attention to the allegorical and mystic sense of the present Canto, and not, as Venturi supposes, to that of the whole work. Landino supposes this hidden meaning to be, that in the case of those vices which proceed from incontinence and intemperance, reason, which is figured under the person of Virgil, with the ordinary grace of God, may be a sufficient safeguard ; but that in the instanct of more heinous crimes, such as those we shall hereafter see punished, a special grace, represented by the ange), is requisite for oiu: defence.
^ Afar.] " Porta i fiori," " carries away the blossoms," is the common reading. " Porta fuori," which is the right reading, adopted bv Lombardi in his edition from the
72-88. INFERNO, Canto IX. ^3
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, thickest where the smoke ascends."
As frogs 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
Nidobcatina, for which he claims it exclusively, I had also seen in Landino's edition of 1484, and adopted from thence, long before it was my chance to meet with Lombardi. ^ With his uund.]
She with her rod did softly smite the raile. Which straight flew ope.
Spenser, F. Q. b. 4. c. iii. st. 46.
64 THE VISION, 89-104.
Open without impediment it flew.
" Outcasts of heaven ! O abject race, and
scom'd ! " Began he, on the horrid grunsel standing, " Whence doth this wild excess of insolence Lodge in you ? wherefore kick you 'gainst that
will Ne'er frustrate of its end, and which so oft Hath laid on you enforcement of your
pangs ? What profits, at the fates to butt the horn ? Your Cerberus,! if ye remember, hence 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 Towards that territory moved, secure
* Your Cerberus!] Cerberus is feigned to have been dragged by Hercules, bound with a threefold chain, of which, says the angel, he still bears the marks. Lombardi blames the other interpreters for liaving supposed that the angel attributes this exploit to Hercules, a fabulous hero, rather than to our Saviour. It would seem as if the good father had forgotten that Cerberus is himself no less a creature of the imagination than the hero who encountered him.
105-126. INFERNO, Canto IX. 65
After the hallow'd words. We, unopposed, There enter'd ; and, my mind eager to learn What state a fortress like to tiiat 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
Aries, 1 Or as at Pola,^ near Quarnaro's gulf. That closes Italy and laves her bounds, The place is all thick spread with sepulchres ; So was it here, save what in horror here Excell'd : for 'midst the graves were scatter'd
flames Wherewith intensely all throughout they
burn'd, That iron for no craft there hotter needs.
Their lids all hung suspended ; and beneath, From them forth issued lamentable moans, Such as the sad and tortured well might raise.
I thus : " Master ! say who are these, interr'd 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
• The plains of Aries.] In Provence. ^ At Pola.] A city of Istria, situated near the gulf of Quarnaro, in the Adriatic Sea.
C
66 THE VISION. 127-131.
Than thou belie vest, 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 Betwixt the afflicted and the ramparts high.
CANTO X
Stvtvtmtnt.
Dante, having obtained permission from his guide, holds discourse with Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante Cavalcanti, who lie in their fiery tombs, that are yet open, and not to be closed up till after the last judg- ment. Farinata predicts the Poet's exile from Flor- ^ enee ; and shows him that the condemned have know- ledge of future things, but are ignorant of what is at present passing, unless it be revealed by Some new- comer from earth.
Now by a secret pathway we proceed, 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
12-27- INFERNO, Canto X. 67
From Josaphat ^ returned 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 ask'd, and to the wish ^ Which thou conceal'st in silence." I replied : " I keep not, guide beloved ! from thee my
heart Secreted, but to shun vain length of words ; A lesson ere while taught me by thyself." " O Tuscan ! thou, who through the city of fire Alive art passing, so discreet of speech : Here, please thee, stay awhile. Thy utterance Declares the place of thy nativity To be that noble land, with which perchance
1 Josaphat.] It seems to have been a common opinion among the Jews, as well as among many Christians, that the general judgment will be held in the valley of Josaphat, or Jehoshaphat : " I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the natifms, and parted my land." Joel, iii. 2.
' The wish.] The wish, that Dante had not expressed, was to see and converse with the followers of Epicurus ; among whom, we shall see, were Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante Cavalcanti.
68 THE VISION. 28-46.
I too severely dealt." Sudden that sound 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 Uplifted : from his girdle upwards, all Exposed, behold him." On his face was mine Already fix'd : his breast and forehead there Erecting, seem'd as in high scorn he held E'en hell. Between 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 me a space ; then in disdainful mood Address'd me : " Say what ancestors were
thine." I, willing to obey him, straight reveal 'd The whole, nor kept back aught : whence he,
his brow Somewhat uplifting, cried : " Fiercely were
they Adverse to me, my party, and the blood
1 Farinata.] Farinata degli Uberti, a noble Florentine, was the leader of the Ghibelline faction, when they ob- tained a signal victory over the Guelfi at Montaperto, near the river Arbia. Macchia velli calls him " a man of exalted soul, and great military talents." Hist, of Fior. b. 2.
47-59- INFERNO. Canto X. 69
From whence I sprang : twice, ^ therefore, I
abroad Scatter'd them." " Though driven out, yet
they each time From all parts," answered 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 Thus spake : " If thou through this blind prison
go'st, Led by thy lofty genius and profound. Where is my son ? ^ and wherefore not with
thee ? "
* Twice.] The first time in 1248, when they were driven out by Frederick the Second. See G. Villani, lib. 6 c. xxxiv. ; and the second time in 1260. See Note to v. 83.
• A shade.] The spirit of Cavalcante Cavalcanti, a noble Florentine, of the Guelph party.
3 My son.] Guido, the son of Cavalcante Cavalcanti ; " he whom I call the first of my friends," says Dante in his Vita Nuova, where the commencement of their friendship is related. From the character given of him by contem- porary writers, his temper was well formed to assimilate with that of our Poet. " He was," according to G. Villani, lib. 8. c. xli., " ol a philosophical and elegant mind, if he
70 THE VISION. 60-75.
I straight replied : " Not of myself I come ; 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 answered. He at once 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 appear'd he more. Meanwhile the other, great of soul, near
whom 1 yet was station'd, changed not countenance
stern. Nor moved the neck, nor bent his ribbed side. " And if," continuing the first discourse. " They in this art," he cried, " small skill have
shown ;
had not been too delicate and fastidious." He died, either in exile at Serrazana, or soon after his return to Florence, December, 1300, during the spring of which year the action of this poem is supposed to be passing.
1 Guido thy son
Had in contempt.] Guido Cavalcanti, being more given to philosophy than poetry, was perliaps no great admirer of Virgil. Some poetical compositions by (iuido are, however, still extant ; and his reputation for skill in the art was such as to eclipse that of his predecessor and namesake, Guido GuiniceUi.
,1
76-90. INFERNO, Canto X. 71
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 this realm,^ 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. Against my kin this people is so fell.
" The slaughter ^ and great havoc," I replied, " That colour'd 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
1 Not yet fifty times.'] ' ' Not j&fty months shall be passed, before thou shalt learn, by woeful experience, the difficulty of returning from banishment to thy native city."
' Queen of this realm.] The moon, one of whose titles in heathen mythology, was Proserpine, queen of the shades beiow.
3 The slaughter.] " By means of Farinata degli Uberti, the Guelfi were conquered by the army of king Manfredi, near the river Arbia, with so great a slaughter, that those who escaped from that defeat took refuge, not in Florence, which city they considered as lost to them, but in Lucca."
* Such orisons.] This appears to allude to certain prayers which were offered up in the churches of Florence, for deliverance from the hostile attempts of the Uberti : or, it may be, that the public councils being held in churches, the speeches delivered in them against the Uberti are termed " orisons," or prayers.
5 Singly there I stood.] Guido Novello assembled a
72 THE VISION. 91-108.
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 viev/ beforehand that which time Leads with him, of the present uninform'd."
" We view, as one who hath an evil sight," He answer'd, " plainly, objects far remote ; So much of his large splendour yet imparts The Almighty Ruler : but when they approach, Or actually exist, our intellect Then wholly fails ; nor of your human state. Except what others bring us, know we aught. 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
council of the Ghibellini at Empoli ; where it was agreed by all, that, in order to maintain the ascendancy of the Ghibelline party in Tuscany, it was necessary to destroy Florence, which could serve only (the people of that city being Guelfi) to enable the party attached to the church to recover its strength. This cruel sentence, passed upon s® noble a city, met with no opposition from any of its citizens or friends, except Farinata degli Uberti, who openly and without reserve forbade the measure ; affirm- ing, that he had endured so many hardships, and encoun- tered so many dangers, with no other view than that of being able to pass his days in his own country. Macchia- velli, Hist, of Fior. b. 2.
* My fault.] Dante felt remorse for not having returned
I09-I2Ò. INFERNO, Canto X. 73
Smitten, I added thus : " Now shalt thou say To him there fallen, that his offspring still Is to the living join'd ; and bid him know, 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 answered thus return 'd : " More than a thousand with me here are laid. Within is Frederick, 1 second of that name. And the Lord Cardinal ; ^ and of the rest I speak not." He, this said, from sight with- drew. 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
an immediate answer to the inquiry of Cavalcante, from which delay he was led to believe that his son Guido was no longer living.
1 Frederick.] The Emperor Frederick the Second, who died in 1250.
• The Lord Cardinal.] Ottaviano Ubaldini, a Floren- tine, made cardinal in 1245, and deceased about 1273. On account of his great influence, he was generally known by the apellation of " the Cardinal." It is reported of him, that he declared, if there were any such thing as a human soul, he had lost his for the Ghibellini.
74 THE VISION. 127-138.
That holds thy senses wrapt ?" I satisfied The inquiry, and the sage enjoin'dme straight : " Let 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,^ Whose bright eye all surveys, she of thy life The future tenour 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.
CANTO XI
3Irgumrnt.
Dante arrives at the verge of a rocky precipice which encloses the seventh circle, where he sees the sepulchre of Anastasius the Heretic ; behind the lid of which pausing a little, to make himself capable by degrees of enduring the fetid smell that steamed upward from the abyss, he is instructed by Virgil concerning the manner in which the three following circles are dis- posed, and what description of sinners is punished in each. He then inquires the reason why the carnal, the gluttonous, the avaricious and prodigal, the wrath- ful and gloomy, suffer not their punishments withiu
* Her gracious beam.] Beatrice.
i-i6. INFERNO, Canto XI. 75
the city of Dis. He next jisks how the crime of usury is an offence against God, and at length the two Poets go towards the place from whence a passage leads down to the seventh circle.
Upon 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, be- hoves We make delay, that somewhat first the sense, To the dire breath accustom'd, afterward Regard it not." My master thus ; to whom i\nswering I spake : " Some compensation
find. That the time pass not wholly lost. " He then : "Lo ! how my thoughts e'en to thy wishes tend.
1 Pope Anastasius.] The commentators are not agreed concerning the person who is here mentioned as a follower of the heretical Photinus. By some he is supposed to have been Anastasius the Second ; by others, the Fourth of that name ; while a third set, jealous of the integrity of the papa! faith, contend that our Poet has confounded him with Anastasius I., Emperor of the East.
76 THE VISION. 17-39-
My son ! * within these rocks," he thus began, " Are three close circles in gradation placed As these which now thou leavest. Each one is
full Of spirits accurst ; but that the sie;ht alone Hereafter may suffice thee, listen how And for what cause in durance they abide.
" Of all malicious act abhorr'd in heaven. 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 doomed to endure Severer pang. The violent occupy All the first circle ; and because, to force, Three persons are obnoxious in three rounds, Each within other separate, is it framed. To God, his neighbour, and himself, by man Force may be offer'd ; to himself I say. And his possessions, as thou soon shalt hear At full. Death, violent death, and painful
wounds Upon his neighbour he inflicts ; and wastes. By devastation, pillage, and the flames, His substance. Slayers, and each one that
smites
1 My son.] The remainder of the present Canto may be considered as a syllabus of the whole of this part of the poem.
40-58- INFERNO, Canto XI. 77
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, In reckless lavishment his talent wastes. 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. 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
1 And sorrows.l This fine moral, that not to enjoy out being is to be ungrateful to the Author of it, is well ex- pressed in Spenser, F. Q. b. 4. c. viii. st. 15. : For he whose daies in wilful woe are worne, The grace of his Creator doth despise, That will not use his gifts for thankless nigardise. * Cahors.] A city of Guienne, much frequented by usurers.
78 THE VISION. ' 59-82.
Broke but the bond of love which Nature
makes. 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
83-101. INFERNO, Canto XI. 79
The words, wherein thy ethic page ^ describes Three dispositions adverse 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." " O sun ! who healest all imperfect sight. Thou so content'st me, when thou solvest my
doubt, That ignorance not less than knowledge charms. Yet somewhat turn thee back," I in these
words Continued," where thou said'st that usury Offends celestial Goodness ; and this knot Perplex'd unravel." He thus made reply : " Philosophy, to an attentive ear, Clearly points out, not in one part alone,
* Thy ethic page.] He refers to Aristotle's Ethics j
" Mera Si TaÙTO ÀeicTc'ov, aAAiji' iroirjaa/xeVovs opx'C on Ttii' irep'i TO. rjOr] ^tvKTÙiV rpi'a cittì»' elSr), xaKia, àKpa<TÌa, fljjpiÒTrjs
Ethic. Nicomach. lib. 7. cap. i. " In the next place, entering on another division of the subject, let it be defined, that respecting morals there are three sorts of things to be avoided, malice, incontinence, and brutish
ness."
8o THE VISION. 102-119.
How imitative Nature takes her course From the celestial mind, and from its art ; And where her laws ^ the Stagyrite 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 The Pisces play with undulating glance Along the horizon, and the Wain * lies all
1 Her laws.] Aristotle's Physics.
• Creation's holy book.] Genesis, ii. 15 : " And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it." And, Genesis, iii. 19 : " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
' Placing elsewhere his hope.] The usurer, trusting in the produce of his wealth lent out on usury, despises nature directly, because he does not avail himself of her means for maintaining or enriching himself ; and indirectly, be- cause he does not avail himself of the means which art, the follower and imitator of nature, would afford him for the same purposes.
♦ The Wain.] The constellation Bootes, or Charles's Wain.
I20-I2I. INFERNO, Canto XII. 8i
O'er the north-west ; and onward there a space Is our steep passage down the rocky height."
CANTO XII
SHrgument.
Descending by a very rugged way into the seventh circle, where the violent are punished, Dante and his leader find it guarded by the Minotaur ; whose fury being pacified by Virgil, they step downwards from crag to crag ; till, drawing near the bottom, they descry a river of blood, wherein are tormented such as have committed violence against their neighbour. 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 travellers 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.
The 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
1 Adice's stream.] After a great deal having been said on the subject, it still appears very uncertain at what part of the river tiiis fall of the mountain happened.
82 THE VISION. 9-28.
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 stretched The infamy of Crete, ^ detested brood Of the feigned heifer : ^ and at sight of us It gnaw'd itself, as one with rage distract. To him my guide exclaim'd ; " 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 Plunges on either side ; so saw I plunge The Minotaur ; whereat the sage exclaim'd : " Run to the passage ! while he storms, 'tis well That thou descend." Thus down our road we
took Through those dilapidated crags that oft
* The infamy of Crete.] The Minotaur. » The feign d heifer.] Pasiphae.
3 The king of Athens.) Theseus, who was enabled by the instruction of Ariadne, the sister of the Minotaur, to destroy that monster.
♦ Thy sister s art.] Ariadne.
29-45. INFERNO, C\nto XIT. 83
Moved underneath my feet, to weight Uke
theirs Unused. I pondering went, and thus he spake : " Perhaps thy thoughts are of this ruin'd steep, Guarded by the brute violence, which I Have vanquish'd now. Know then, that when
I erst Hither descended to the neither hell, This rock was not yet fallen. But past doubt, (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,
* He arrived.] Our Saviour, who, according to Dante, when he ascended from hell, carried with bina the souls of the Patriarchs, and of other just men, out of the first circle. See Canto iv.
• Been into chaos turn''d.'\ This opinion is attributed to Empedocles.
84 THE VISION. 46-66.
Who have by violence injured." O blind lust ! O 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 foss, 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 arm'd, 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 joumey'd.
Speak 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, 111 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.
1 And wrought himself revenge.] Nessus, when dying by the hand of Hercules, charged Deianira to preserve the
67-87. INFERNO, Canto XII. 85
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 foss 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 exclaimed : " 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 reply : " He is indeed ah ve, 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 consigned.
gore from his wound ; for that if the affections of Hercules should at any time be estranged from her, it would act as a charm, and recall them. De.anira had occasion to try the experiment ; and the venom acting, as Nessus had intended, caused Hercules to expire in torments. See the Trachinia of Sophocles.
86 THE VISION. 88-110.
He is no robber, no dark spirit I. But by that virtue, which empowers my step To tread so wild a path, grant us, I 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 To Nessus spake : " Return, and be their
guide. And if ye 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, Whence, from those steep'd within, loud
shrieks arose. Some there I mark'd, as high as to their brow 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
* Azzolino.] Azzolino, or Ezzelino di Romano, a most cruel tjTant in the Marca Trivigiana, Lord of Padua, Vicen-
riT-iiQ. INFERNO. Canto XII. 87
Obizzo 1 of Este, in the world destroy'd
By his foul step-son." To the bard revered
I turn'd me round, and thus he spake ; " Let
him Be to thee now first leader, me but next To him in rank." Then farther on a space The Centaur paused, 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,
za, Verona, and Brescia, who died in 1260. His atroci- ties form the subject of a Latin tragedy, called Eccerinis, by Albertino Mussato, of Padua, the contemporary of Dante, and the most elegant writer of Latin verse of that age.
» Obizzo of Este.] Marquis of Ferrara and of the Marca d'Ancona was murdered by his own son (whom, for that most unnatural act, Dante calls his step-son) for the sake of the treasures which his rapacity had amassed. See Ariosto, Ori. Fur. c. iii. st. 32. He died in 1293, according to Gibbon, Ant. of the House of Brunswick, Posth. Works, vol. ii. 4to.
• He.] " Henrie, the brother of this Edmund, and son to the foresaid king of Almaine (Richard, brother of Henry III of England) as he returned from Affrike, where he had been with Prince Edward, was slain at Viterbo in Italy (whither he was come about business which he had to do with the Pope) by the hand of Guy de Montfort, the son of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, in revenge of the same Simon's death. The murther was committed afore the high altar, as the same Henrie kneeled there to hear divine service." a.d. 1272. Holinshed's Chron. p. 275. See also Giov. Villani, Hist. lib. 7. cap. xl., where it is said " that the heart of Henry was put into a golden cup, and placed on a pillar at London bridge over the
88 THE VISION. 120-138.
Which yet is honour'd on the bank of Thames."
A race I ntxt 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, So that at last it but imbrued the feet ; And there our passage lay athwart the foss.
" 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, 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
river Thames, for a memorial to the English of the said outrage." Lombardi suggests that " ancor si cola " in the text may mean, not that " the heart was still honoured," but that it was put into a perforated cup in order that the blood dripping from it might excite the spectators to revenge. This is surely too improbable.
1 On Sextus and on Pyrrhus.] Sextus, either the son of Tarquin the Proud, or of Pompey the Great ; and Pyrrhus, Àing of Epirus.
* . — The Rinieri, of Corneto this,
Pazzo the other named- ]
Two noted marauders, by whose depredations the public
139-140- INFERNO, Canto XIII. 89
With violence and war." This said, he turn'd, And quitting us, alone repass'd the ford.
CANTO XIII
airgumcnt.
Still in the seventh circle, Dante enters its second compart- ment, which contains both those who have done vio- lence on their own persons and those who have violently consumed their goods ; the first changed into / rough and knotted trees whereon the harpies build "^ their nests, the latter chased and torn by black female mastiffs. Among the former, Piero delle Vigne is one who tells him the cause of his having committed suicide, and moreover in what manner the souk are transformed into those trunks. Of the latter crew, he recognizes Lano, a Siennese, and Giacomo, a Pad- uan ; and lastly, a Florentine, who had hung himself from his own roof, speaks to him of the calamities of his countrymen.
Ere Nessus yet had reached the other bank, We enter'd 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
•ways in Italy were infested. The latter was of the aoble family of Pazzi in Florence.
90 THE VISION. 9-26.
Those animals, that hate the cultured fields, Betwixt Corneto and Cecina's stream. ^
Here the brute Harpies make their nest, the same Who from the Strophades ^ the Trojan band Drove with dire boding of their future woe. Broad 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 farther thou proceed, know thou art now r th' second round, and shalt be, till thou come Upon the horrid sand : look therefore well Around thee, and such things thou shalt be- hold, As would my speech discredit." On all sides 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, be- lieved
* Betwixt Corneto and Cecina's stream.] A wild and woody tract of country, abounding in deer, goats, and wild boars. Cecina is a river not far to the south of Leghorn ; Corneto, a small city on the same coast, in the patrimony of the Church.
» The Strophades.] See Virg. Sn. lib. 3. 2x0.
27-47- INFERNO, Canto XIII. 91
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 shall vanish
quite." Thereat a little stretching forth my hand, From a great wilding gather'd I a branch, And straight the trunk exclaimed : " Why
pluck'st thou me ? " Then, as the dark blood trickled down its
side, These words it added : " Wherefore tear'st
me thus ? Is there no touch of mercy in thy breast ? Men once were we, that now are rooted here. Thy hand might well have spared us, had we
been 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, remained as one Assail'd by terror ; and the sage replied : " If he, O injured spirit ! could have believed
92 THE VISION. 48-60.
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 re- plied, " Hath so inveigled me, that I from speech Cannot refrain, wherein if I indulge A little longer, in the snare detain'd, Count it not grievous. I it was,^ who held
* In my verse described.] The commentators explain this, " If he could have believed, in consequence of my assurances alone, that of which he hath now had ocular proof, he would not have stretched forth his hand against thee." But I am of opinion that Dante makes Virgil allude to his own story of Polydorus, in the third book of the Mneid.
• That pleasant word of thine.] " Since you have in- veigled me to speak by holding forth so gratif3nng an ex- pectation, let it not displease you if I am as it were detained in the snare you have spread for me, so as to be somewhat prolix in my answer."
3 / it was.] Piero delle Vigne, a native of Capua, who from a low condition raised himself, by his eloquence and legal knowledge, to the office of Chancellor to the Emperor Frederick II ; whose confidence in him was such, that his influence in the empire became unbounded. The courtiers, envious of his exalted situation, contrived, by means of forged letters, to make Frederick believe that he held a secret and traitorous intercourse with the Pope, who was then at enmity with the Emperor. In conse- quence of this supposed crime, he was cruelly condemned
61-78. INFERNO, Canto XIII. 93
Both keys to Frederick's heart, and tum'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 Caesar'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 honours 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, I swear. That never faith I broke to my liege lord, Who merited such honour ; and of you , If any to the world indeed return,
by his too credulous sovereign, to lose his eyes ; and being driven to despair by his unmerited calamity and disgrace, he put an end to his life by dashing out his brains against the walls of a church, in the year 1245. Both Frederick and Piero delle Vigne composed verses in the Sicilian dialect which are now extant. A canzone by each of them may be seen in the ninth book of the Sonetti and Canzoni di diversi Autori Toscani, published by the Giunti in 1527. See further the Note on Purg. Canto iii. no.
1 The harlot.] Envy. Chaucer alludes to this, in the Prologue to the Legende of Good Women :
Envie is lavender to the court alway, For she ne parteth neither night ne day Out of the house of Cesar : thus saith Dant.
94 THE VISION. ' 79-101.
Clear he from wrong my memory, that Hes 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 re- plied : " Question thou him again of whatsoe'er Will, as thou think'st, content me ; for no
power Have I to ask, such pity is at my heart."
He thus resumed : "So may he do for thee Freely what thou entreatest, as thou yet Be pleased, imprison'd spirit ! to declare, How in these gnarled joints the soul is tied ; And, whether any ever from such frame Be loosen'd, if thou canst, that also tell." Thereat the trunk breathed hard, and the wind soon Changed into sounds articulate like these : " 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.
102-122. INFERNO. Canto XIII. 95
It rises to a sapling, growing thence 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 through- out 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 beast 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
' Lano.] Lano, a Siennese, who, being reduced by prodigality to a state of extreme want, found his existence no longer supportable ; and, having been sent by his
96 THE VISION. 123-138.
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 them was the
wood FuU of black female mastiffs, gaunt and fleet, As greyhounds that have newly slipp'd 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. And led me to the thicket, which in vain Mourn'd through its bleeding wounds : " 0
Giacomo Of Sant' Andrea ! ^ what avails it thee," It cried, " that of me thou hast made thy
screen ? For thy ill life, what blame on me recoils ? " When o'er it he had paused, my master spake : " Say who wast thou, that at so many points
countrymen on a military expedition to assist the Floren- tines against the Aretini, took that opportunity of exposing himself to certain death , in the engagement which took place at Toppo near Arezzo. See G. Villani, Hist. lib. 7. cap. cxix.
1 O Giacomo
Of Sant' Andrea !] Jacopo da Sant' Andrea, a Paduan, who, having wasted his property in the most wanton acts of profusion, killed himself in despair,
139-152- INFERNO, Canto XIII. 97
Breathest out with blood thy lamentable speech ? " He answer'd : " O ye spirits ! arrived in time To spy the shameful havoc that from me My leaves hath 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 labour'd without profit of their toil. I slung the fatal noose ^ from my own roof."
' In that city.'] " I was an inhabitant of Florence, that city which changed her first patron Mars for St. John the Baptist ; for which reason the vengeance of the deity thus slighted will never be appeased ; and if some remains of his statue were not still visible on the bridge over the Arno, she would have been already levelled to the ground ; and thus the citizens, who raised her again from the ashes to which Attila had reduced her, would have laboured in vain." See Paradiso, Canto xvi. 44. The relic of anti- quity, to which the superstition of Florence attached so high an importance, was carried away by a flood, that destroyed the bridge on which it stood, in the year 1337, but without the ill effects that were apprehended from the loss of their fancied Palladium.
' / slung the fatal noose.] We are not informed who this suicide was ; some calling him Rocco de' Mozzi, and others Lotto degli Agli.
98 THE VISION. I-12.
CANTO XIV
jarsument.
They arrive at the beginning of the third of those com- partments 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 eternally showering down upon them. Among the violent against God is found Capaneus, whose blas- phemies they hear. Next, turning to the left along the forest of self-slayers, and having journeyed a little onwards, they meet with a streamlet of blood that issues from the forest and traverses the sandy plain. Here Vii'gil speaks to our Poet of a huge ancient statue that stands within Mount Ida in Crete, from a fissure in which statue there is a dripping of tears, from which the said streamlet, together with the three other infernal rivers, are formed.
Soon 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 steril bed Each plant repell'd. The mournful wood waves
round Its garland on all sides, as round the wood Spreads the sad foss. There, on the very edge.
J3_36. INFERNO, Canto XIV. ^^^
Our steps we stay'd. 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 around ; the latter tribe More numerous, those fewer who beneath The torment lay, but louder in their grief.
O'er all the sand fell slowly wafting down 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 Descending, solid flames, that to the ground Came down ; whence he bethought him with
his troop To trample on the soil ; for easier thus The vapour was extinguish'd, while alone : So fell the eternal fiery flood, wherewith The marie glow'd underneath, as under stove The viands, doubly to augment the pain.
' As, in the torrid Indian clime.] Landino refers to Albertus Magnus fur the circumstance here alluded tou
100 THE VISION. 37-63.
Unceasing was the play of wretched hands, Now this, now that way glancing, to shake off The heat, still falling fresh. I thus began : " Instructor ! thou who all things overcomest. Except the hardy demons that rush'd forth To stop our entrance at the gate, say who 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 ask'd My guide of him, exclaimed ; " Such as I was When living, dead such now I am. If Jove Weary his workman out, from whom in ire He snatch'd the hghtnings, that at my last day Transfix'd me ; if the rest he weary out, At their black smithy labouring by turns, In Mongibello, while he cries aloud, ' Help, help, good Mulciber ! ' as erst he cried In the Phlegraean 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 Than I before had heard him : " Capaneus ! Thou art more punish'd, in that this thy pride Lives yet unquench'd : no torment, save thy
rage. Were to thy fury pain proportion'd full."
Next turning round to me, with milder lip,
64-84. INFERNO, Canto XIV. loi
He spake : " This of tne seven kings was one. Who girt the Theban walls with siege, and held. As still he seems to hold, God in disdain, And sets his high omnipotence at naught. But, as I told him, his despiteful mood Is ornament well suits the breast that wears it. Follow 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 Ufts My hair with horror. As the riU, that runs From Bulicame,^ to be portion'd out Among the sinful women ; so ran this Down through the sand ; its bottom and each
bank Stone-built, and either margin at its side. Whereon I straight perceived our passage lay. " Of all that I have shown thee, since that gate We enter'd first, whose threshold is to none Denied, naught else so worthy of regard, As is this river, has thine eye discern'd,
^ Bulicame.] A warm medicinal spring near Viterbo, the waters of which, as Landino and Vellutello affirm passed by a place of ill-fame. Venturi, with less prob- ability, conjectures that Dante would imply that it was the scene of much licentious merriment among those who frequented its baths.
102 THE VISION. 85-109.
O'er which the flaming volley all is quench'd." So spake my guide ; and I him thence
besought, That having given me appetite to know, The food he too would give, that hunger craved. " In 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, Deserted now like a forbidden thing. 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 Rome, As in his mirror, looks. Of finest gold His head is shaped, pure silver are the breast And arms, thence to the middle is of brass, And downward all beneath well-tempered
steel, Save the right foot of potter's clay, on which Than on the other more erect he stands. Each part, except the gold, is rent thoughout ; And from the fissure tears distil, which join'd Penetrate to that cave. They in their course,
II0-I30. INFERNO. Canto XIV. 103
Thus far precipitated down the rock, Form Acheron, and Styx, and Phlegethon ; Then by this straiten'd channel passing hence Beneath, e'en to the lowest depth of all, Form there Cocytus, of whose lake (thyself Shalt see it) I here give thee no account." " Then I to him : "If 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. 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 re-
tum'd : " Doubtless thy questions all well pleased I
hear. Yet the red seething wave * might have resolved
* The red seething wave.] This he might have known was Phlegethon.
104 THE VISION. 131-138.
One thou proposest. Lethe thou shalt see, But not within this hollow, in the place Whither,^ to lave themselves, the spirits go. Whose blame hath been by penitence removed." He added : " Time is now we quit the wood. Look thou my steps pursue : the margins give Safe passage, unimpeded by the flames ; For over them all vapour is extinct."
CANTO XV
atrsument.
Taking their way upon one of the mounds by which the streamlet, spoken of in the last Canto, was embanked, and having gone so far that they could no longer have discerned the forest if they had turned round to look for it, 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 Nature ; and amongst them Dante distmguisTies Brunetto Latini, who had been formerly his master ; with whom, turning a little backward, he holds a discourse which occupies the remainder of this Canto.
One of the solid margins bears us now Envelop'd in the mist, that, from the stream 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
1 Whiàer.] On the other side of Purgatory.
7-26. INFERNO, Canto XV. 105
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.
They each 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. Intently fix'd my ken on his parch'd looks. That, although smirch'd with fire they hinder'd
not
1 Chiarentana.] A part of the Alps where the Brenta rises ; which river is much swollen as soon as the snow begins to dissolve on the mountains.
io6 THE VISION. ^^_^^^
But I remember'd him ; and towards his face My hand inclining, answer 'd : " Ser Brunetto ! ^ And are ye here ? " He thus to me : " My
son
Oh let it not dislpease 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 thereto pray thee ; and if thou be willing That I here seat me with thee, I consent ; His leave, with whom I journey, first obtain'd."
" 0 son ! " said he, " whoever of this throng 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."
1 Brwnetto^^ " Ser Brunetto, a Florentine, the secretary or chancellor of the city, and Dante's preceptor, hath left us a work so little read, that both the subject of it and the language of it have been mistaken. It is in the French spoken in the reign of St. Louis, under the title of Tresor ; and contains a species of philosophical course of lectures divided into theory and practice, or, as he expresses it, un enchaussetnent des choses divines et humaines," etc. Sir R. Clayton's Translation of Tenhove's Memoirs of the Medici, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 104. The Tresor has never been printed in the original language. There is a fine manuscript of it in the British Museum, with an illuminated portrait of Brun- etto in his study, prefixed. Mus. Brit. MSS. 17 E. i. Tesor.
43-62. INFERNO, Canto XV. 107
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 answer'd, "in the life Serene, I wander'd in a valley lost, Before mine age ^ had to its fulness reach' d. But yester-morn I left it : then once more Into that vale returning, him I met ; And by this path homeward he leads me back."
" If 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. But that ungrateful and malignant race. Who in old times came down from Fesole,
* Before mine age.] On the whole, Vellutello's explana- tion of this is, I think, most satisfactory. He supposes it to mean, " before the appointed end of his life was arrived — before his days were accomplished." Lombardi, con- cluding that the fulness of age must be the same as " the midway of this our mortal life " (see Canto i. v. 1), under- stands that he had lost himself in the wood before that time, and that he then on\y discovered his having gone astray.
io8 THE VISION. 63-22.
Ay and still smack of their rough mountain
flint, Will for thy good deeds show thee enmity. Nor wonder ; for amongst ill-savour'd 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.
For thee, Thy fortune hath such honour 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 fulfill'd," I straight
replied, " Thou from the confines of man's nature yet Hadst not been driven forth ; for in my mind Is fixed, and now strikes fuU upon my heart,
1 Blind.] It is said that the Florentines were thus called, in consequence of their having been deceived by a shallow artifice practised on them by the Pisans, in the year 1117. See G. Villani, lib. 4. cap. xxx.
83-101. INFERNO, Canto XV. ^09
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, For her I keep 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 hkes her
best ; The clown his mattock ; all things have their
course." Thereat my sapient guide upon his right Turned himself back, then look'd at me, and
spake : " He listens to good purpose who takes note." I not the less still on my way proceed,
* With another text.] He refers to the prediction of Far- inata, in Canto x.
no THE VISION. 102-113.
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 silence 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 Accorso's 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,
1 Priscian.] There is no reason to believe, as the com- mentators observe, that the grammarian of tliis name was stained with the vice imputed to him ; and we must there- fore suppose that Dante puts the individual for the species, and implies the frequency of the crime among those who abused the opportunities which the education of youth afforded them, to so abominable a purpose.
' Francesco.] Accorso, a Florentine, interpreted the Roman law at Bologna, and died in 1229, at the age of 78. His authority was so great as to exceed that of all the other interpreters, so that Cino da Pistoia termed him the Idol of Advocates. His sepulchre, and that of his son Francesco here spoken of, is at Bologna, with this short epitaph : " Sepulcrum Accursii Glossatoris et Fran- cisci ejus Filii." See Guidi Panziroli, De Claris Legum I nterpr elibus, lib. 2. cap. xxix. Lips, 4to, 1721.
3 Him.] Andrea de' Mozzi, who, that his scandalous life might be less exposed to observation, was translated either by Nicholas III or Boniface VIII from the see of Florence to that of Vicenza, through which passes the river Bacchiglione. At the latter of these places he died.
II4-I26. INFERNO, Canto XVI. iii
Who by the servants' servant was transferr'd From Arno's seat to BacchigHone, where His ill-strain'd nerves he left. I 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 ,i Wherein I yet survive ; my sole request." This said, he turn'd, and seem'd as one of
those Who o'er Verona's champain try their speed For the green mantle ; and of them he seem'd, Not he who loses but who gains the prize.
CANTO XVI
Hrgiument,
Journeying along the pier, which crosses the sand, they are nt)W so near the end of it as to hear the noise of the stream falling into the eighth circle, when they meet the spirits of three military men ; who judging Dante, from his dress, to be a countryman of theirs, entreat him to stop. He complies, and speaks with them. The two Poets then reach the place where the water descends, being the termination of this third compart-
* / commend my Treasure to thee.] Brunetto's great
work, the Tresor.
112 THE VISION. 1-20.
ment in the seventh circle ; 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.
Now 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. They 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, soon as they had reach'd us, all the three
I
21-38. INFERNO, Canto XVI. 113
Whirl'd round together in one restless wheel. As naked champions, smear'd with slippery
oil, A.re wont, intent, to watch their place of hold 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.
" If 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 IncUne thee to inform us who thou art. That dost imprint, with living feet unharm'd, 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,
» Gualdrada.] Gualdrada was the daughter of Bellin- cione Berti, of whom mention is made in the Paradiso, Canto XV. and xvi. He was of the family of Ravignani, a branch of the Adimari. The Emperor Otho IV, being at a festival in Florence, where Gualdrada was present, was struck with her beauty ; and inquiring who she was, was answered by Bellincione, that she was the daughter of one who, if it was his Majesty's pleasure, would make her admit the honoiu: of his salute. On overhearing this, she arose from her seat, and blushing, in an animated tone of voice, desired her father that he would not be so liberal.
114 '^^^ VISION. 39-48.
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 honour ; and myself, Who in this torment do partake with them, Am Rusticucci,2 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
in his offers, for tliat no man should ever be allowed that freedom except him who should be her lawful husband. The Emperor was not less delighted by her resolute modesty than he had before been by the loveliness of her person ; and calling to him Guido, one of his barons, gave her to him in marriage ; at the same time raising him to the rank of a Count, and bestowing on her the whole of Casentino, and a part of the territory of Romagna, as her portion. Two sons were the offspring of this union, Guglielmo and Rug- gieri ; the latter of whom was father of Guidoguerra, a man of great military skill and prowess ; who, at the head of four hundred Florentines of the Guelph party, was sig- nally instrumental to the victory obtained at Benevento by Charles of Anjou, over Manfredi, King of Naples, in 1265. One of the consequences of this victory was the expulsion of the Ghibellini, and the re-establishment of the Guelfi at Florence.
1 Aldobrandi.] Tegghiaio Aldobrandi was of the noble family of Adimari, and much esteemed for his military talents. He endeavoured to dissuade the Florentines from the attack which they meditated against the Siennese ; and the rejection of his counsel occasioned the memorable defeat which the former sustained at Monta- perto, and the consequent banishment of the Guelfi from Florence.
* Rusticucci.] Giacopo Rusticucci, a Florentine, remark- able for his opulence and the generosity of his spirit.
49-69- INFERNO, Canto XVI. ^ ii5
I then had cast me ; nor my guide, 1 deem. Would have restrain'd 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 countryman of yours, who still Affectionate have utter'd, and have heard Your deeds and names renown'd. Leaving
the gall, For the sweet fruit I go, that a sure guide Hath promised to me. But behoves, that far As to the centre 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 shall
tell, If courtesy and valour, as they wont, Dwell in our city, or have vanish' d clean : For one amidst us late condemn'd to wail,
ii6 THE VISION. 70-88.
Borsiere ^ 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 upraised, and they All three, who for an answer took my words, Look'd at each other, as men look when truth Comes to their ear. " If at so little cost," * They all at once rejoin'd, " thou satisfy Others who question thee, O 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
' Borsiere.] Guglielmo Borsiere, another Florentine, whom Boccaccio, in a story which he relates of him, terras " a man of courteous and elegant manners, and of great readiness in conversation." Dec. Giorn. i. Nov. 8.
^ At so little cost.] They intimate to our poet (as Lom- bardi well observes) the inconveniences to which his free- dom of speech was about to expose him in the future course of his life.
89-103. INFERNO, Canto XVI. 117
" Amen," as they had vanish'd. Straight my
guide Pursued his track. I follow'd : 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. E'en as the river ^ that first holds its course Unmingled, from the Mount of Vesulo, On the left side of Apennine, toward The east, which Acqu acheta higher up They call, ere it descend into the vale, At Forli 2 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 lodge a thousand
spreads ; Thus downward from a craggy steep we found
1 E'en as the river.] He compares the fall of Phlege- then to that of the Montone (a river in Romagna) from the Apennine above the Abbey of St. Benedict. AH the other streams, that rise between the sources of the Po and the Montone, and fall from the left side of the Apennine, join the Po, and accompany it to the sea.
* At Forli.] Because there it loses the name of Acqua- cheta, and takes that of Montone.
3 Where space.] Either because the abbey was capable of containing more than those who occupied it, or because (says Landino) the lords of that territory, as Boccaccio related on the authority of the abbot, had intended to build a castle near the waterfall, and to collect within its walls the population of the neighbouring villages.
ii8 THE VISION. 104-117.
That this dark wave resounded, roaring loud,
So that the ear its clamour 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,
* A cord.] This passage, as it is confessed by Landino, involves a fiction sufficiently obscure. His own attempt to unravel it does not much lessen the difficulty. That which Lombardi has made is something better. It is believed that our Poet, in the earlier part of his life, had entered into the order of St. Francis. By observing the rules of that profession, he had designed to mortify his carnal appetites, or, as he expresses it, " to take the painted leopard " (that animal, which, as we have seen in a note to the first Canto, represented Pleasure) " with this cord." This part of the habit he is now desired by Virgil to take off ; and it is thrown down the gulf, to allure Geryon to them with the expectation of carrying down one who had cloaked his iniquities under the garb of penitence and self mortification ; and thus (to apply to Dante on this occasion the words of Milton) —
He, as Franciscan, thought to pass disguised.
II8-I34- INFERNO, Canto XVII. 119
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. Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee, So may they favour find to latest times ! That through the gross and murky air I 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.
CANTO XVII
argument.
The monster Geryon is described ; to whom while Virgil is speaking in order that he may carry them both down to the next circle, Dante, by permission, goes a little farther along the edge of the void, to descry
120 THE VISION. i-ig.
^^ the third species of sinners Contained in this compart- ment, namely, those who have done violence to Art ; and then returning to his master, tffèy both descend, seated on the back of Geryon.
"Lo ! the fell monster ^ with the deadly sting, Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced
walls And firm embattled spears, and with his filth Taints all the world." Thus me my guide
address' d. And beckon'd him, that he should come to
shore, Near to the stony causeway's 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 all : two shaggy claws Reach'd to the arm pits ; and the back and
breast. And either side, were painted o'er with nodes And orbits. Colours 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,
1 The fell monster.] Fraud.
20-42. INFERNO, Canto XVIL 121
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 upturn'd its venomous fork, With sting like scorpion's arm'd. Then thus
my guide : " Now need our way must turn few steps
apart. Far as to that ill beast, who couches there." Thereat, toward the right our downward course We shaped, and, better to escape the flame And burning marie, ten paces on the verge Proceeded. Soon as we to him arrive, A little farther on mine eye beholds A tribe of spirits, seated on the sand Near to the void. Forthwith my master
spake : " That to the full thy knowledge may extend Of all this round contains, go now, and mark The mien these wear ; but hold not long dis- course. Till thou returnest, I with him meantime Will parley, that to us he may vouchsafe The aid of his strong shoulders." Thus alone, Yet forward on the extremity I paced
122 THE VISION. 43-60.
Of that seventh circle, where the mournful
tribe Were seated. At the eyes forth gush'd their
pangs. Against the vapours and the torrid soil Alternately their shifting hands they plied. Thus use the dogs in summer still to ply Their jaws and feet by turns, when bitten sore By gnats, or flies, or gadflies swarming round.
Noting the visages of some, who lay Beneath the pelting of that dolorous fire. One of them all I knew not ; but perceived. That pendent from his neck each bore a pouch * With colours and with emblems various mark'd. On which it seem'd as if their eye did feed. And when, amongst them, looking round I
came, A yellow purse ^ I saw with azure wrought, That wore a lion's countenance and port. Then, still my sight pursuing its career, Another ^ I beheld, than blood more red,
1 A pouch.] A purse, whereon the armorial bearings of each were emblazoned. According to Landino, our Poet implies that the usurer can pretend to no other honour than such as he derives from his purse and his family. The description of persons by their heraldic insignia is remark- able both on the present and several other occasions in this poem.
* A yellow purse.] The arms of the Gianfigliazzi of Florence.
3 Another.] Those of the Ubbriachi, another Florentine family of high distinction.
61-78. INFERNO, Canto XVII. 123
A goose display of whiter wing than curd. And one, who bore a fat and azure swine ^ Pictured on his white scrip, address'd me thus : " What dost thou in this deep ? Go now and
know, Since yet thou livest, that my neighbour here Vitaliano 2 on my left shall sit. A Paduan with these Florentines am I. Oft-times they thunder in mine ears, exclaim- ing, ' Oh ! haste that noble knight, ^ he who the
pouch ' With the three goats will bring.' " This said,
he writhed The mouth, and loll'd the tongue out, like an ox That licks his nostrils. I, lest longer stay He ill might brook, who bade me stay not long, Backward my steps from those sad spirits turn'd. My guide already seated on the haunch Of the fierce animal I found ; and thus He me encouraged. " Be thou stout : be
bold. Down such a steep flight must we now descend.
» A fat and azure swine.] The arms of the Scrovigni,
a noble family of Padua.
' Vitaliano.] Vitaliano del Dente, a Paduan.
3 That noble knight.] (aovanni Bujamonti, a Florentine usurer, the most infamous of this time.
124 THE VISION. 79-98.
Mount thou before : for, that no power the tail May have to harm thee, I will be i' th' midst."
As one ^ who hath an ague fit so near, His nails already are turn'd blue, and he Quivers all o'er, if he but eye the shade ; Such was my cheer at hearing of his words. But shame soon interposed her threat, who
makes The servant bold in presence of his lord.
I settled me upon those shoulders huge, And would have said, but that the words to aid My purpose came not, " Look thou clasp me firm."
But he whose succour then not first I proved. Soon as I mounted, in his arms aloft. Embracing, held me up ; and thus he spake : " Geryon ! now move thee : be thy wheeling
gyres Of ample circuit, easy thy descent. Think on the unusual burden thou sustain'st."
As a small vessel, backening out from land. Her station quits ; so thence the monster
loosed. And, when he felt himself at large, turn'd round
^ As one.] Dante trembled with fear, like a man who, expecting the return of a quartan ague, shakes even at the sight of a place made cool by the shide.
99-II8. INFERNO, Canto XVTI. 125
There, where the breast had been, his forked
tail. Thus, like an eel, outstretch'd at length he
steer'd. Gathering the air up with retractile claws.
Not greater was the dread, when Phaeton The reins let drop at random, whence high
heaven, Whereof signs yet appear, was wrapt in flames ; Nor when ill-fated Icarus perceived. By liquefaction of the scalded wax, The trusted pennons loosen'd from his loins, His sire exclaiming loud, " lU way thou
keep'st." Than was my dread, when round me on each
part The air I view, and other object none Save the fell beast. He, slowly sailing, wheels His downward motion, unobserved of me. But that the wind, arising to my face. Breathes on me from below. Now on our
right I heard the cataract beneath us leap With hideous crash ; whence bending down
to explore, New terror I conceived at the steep plunge ; For flames I saw, and wailings smote mine
ear :
126 THE VISION. 1 19-132.
So that.all trembling, close I crouch'd my limbs, And then distinguish'd, unperceived before By the dread torments that on every side Drew nearer, how our downward course we
wound. As falcon, that hath long been on the wing, But lure nor bird hath seen, while in despair The falconer cries, " Ah me ! thou stoop'st to
earth," Wearied descends, whence nimbly he rose In many an airy wheel, and lighting sits At distance from his lord in angry mood ; So Geryon lighting places us on foot Low down at base of the deep furrow'd rock, And, of his burden there discharged, forthwith Sprang forward, like an arrow from the string.
CANTO XVIII
^raument.
he Poet describes the situation and form of the eighth circle, divided into ten gulfs, which contain as many different descriptions of fraudulent sinners ; but in the present Canto he treats only of two sorts ; the first is of those who, either for their own pleasure, or for that of another, have seduced any woman from her duty ; and these are scourged of demons in the first gulf : the other sort is of flatterers, who in the second gulf are condemned to remain immersed in filth.
There is a place within the depths of hell
2-24- INFERNO, Canto XVITI. 127
Call'd Malebolge, ali of rock dark stain'd With hue ferruginous, e'en as the steep That round it circling winds. Right in the
midst Of that abominable region yawns A spacious gulf profound, whereof the frame Due time shall tell. The circle, that remains. Throughout its round, between the gulf and
base Of the high craggy banks, successive forms Ten bastions, in its hollow bottom raised.
As where, to guard the walls, full many a f oss Begirds some stately castle, sure defence Affording to the space within ; so here Were model'd these : and as like fortresses. E'en from their threshold to the brink without, Are flank'd with bridges ; from the rock's low
base Thus flinty paths advanced, that 'cross the
moles And dikes struck onward far as to the gulf. That in one bound collected cuts them off. Such was the place, wherein we found ourselves From Geryon's back dislodged. The bard to
left Held on his way, and I behind him moved.
On our right hand new misery I saw. New pains, new executioners of wrath,
Ì28 THE VISION. 25-40.
That swarming peopled the first chasm. Below Were naked sinners. Hitherward they came, Meeting our faces, from the middle point ; With us beyond,^ but with a larger stride. E'en thus the Romans, ^ when the year returns Of Jubilee, with better speed to rid The thronging multitudes, their means devise For such as pass the bridge ; that on one side All front toward the castle, and approach Saint Peter's fane, on the other towards the
mount. Each diverse way, along the grisly rock, Horn'd demons I beheld, with lashes huge, That on their back unmercifully smote. Ah ! how they made them bound at the first
stripe ! None for the second waited, nor the third. Meantime, as on I pass'd, one met my sight,
* With us beyond.] Beyond the middle point they tended the same way with us, but their pace was quicker than ours.
* E'en thus the Romans.] In the year 1300, Pope Boni- face VIII, to remedy the inconvenience occasioned by the press of people who were passing over the bridge of St. Angelo during the time of the Jubilee, caused it to be divided lengthwise by a partition ; and ordered, that all those who were going to St. Peter's should keep one side, and those returning the other. G. Villani, who was pres - ent, describes the order that was preserved, lib. 8. cap. xxxvi. It was at this time, and on this occasion, as the honest historian tells us, that he first conceived the design of " compiling his book."
41-59- I:\FERNO, Canto XVTTT. 129 Whom soon as vievv'd, " Of him," cried 1,
" not yet Mine eye hath had his fill." I therefore stay'd My. feet to scan him, and the teacher kind Paused with me, and consented I should walk Backward a space ; and the tormented spirit. Who thought to hide him, bent his visage
down. But it avail'd him naught ; for T exclaim 'd : " Thou who dost cast thine eye upon the
ground. Unless thy features do belie thee much, Venedico ^ art thou. But what brings thee Into this bitter seasoning ? " ^ jje replied : " Unwillingly I answer to thy words. But thy clear speech, that to my mind recalls The world I once inhabited, constrains me. Know then 't was I who led fair Ghisola To do the Marquis' will, however fame The shameful tale have bruited. Nor alone, Bologna hither sendeth me to mourn. Rather with us the place is so o'erthrong'd
* Venedico.] Venedico Caccianimico, a Bolognese, who prevailed on his sister Ghisola to prostitute herself to Obiz- zo da Este, Marquis of Ferrara, whom we have seen among the tyrants, Canto xii.
' Seasoning.] Salse. Monti, in his Proposta, following Benvenuto da Imola, takes this to be the name of a place. If so, a play must have been intended on the word, which cannot be preserved in English.
£
^30 THE VISION. ^^-79-
That not so many tongues this day are
taught, Betwixt the Reno and Savena's stream, To answer Sipa ^ in their country's phrase. And if of that securer proof thou need, Remember but our craving thirst for gold."
Him speaking thus, a demon with his thong Struck and exclaim'd, " Away, corrupter !
here Women are none for sale." Forthwith I join'd My escort, and few paces thence we came To where a rock forth issued from the bank. That easily ascended, to the right Upon its splinter turning, we depart From those eternal barriers. When arrived Where, underneath, the gaping arch lets pass The scourged souls : " Pause here," the
teacher said, " And let these others miserable now Strike on thy ken ; faces not yet beheld, For that together they with us have walk'd."
From the old bridge we eyed the pack, who came From the other side toward us, like the rest,
* To answer Sipa.] He denotes Bologna by its situa- tion between the rivers Savena to the east, and Reno to the west of that city ; and by a peculiarity of dialect, the use of the affirmative sipa instead either of si, or, as Mouti will have it, of sia..
80-100. INFERNO, Canto XVIH. 131
Excoriate from the lash. My gentle guide, By me unquestion'd, thus his speech resumed : " Behold that lofty shade, who this way tends, And seems too woe-begone to drop a tear. How yet the regal aspect he retains ! Jason is he, whose skill and prowess won The ram from Colchos. To the Lemnian isle His passage thither led him, when those bold And pitiless women had slain all their males. There he with tokens and fair witching words Hypsipyle ^ beguiled, a virgin young, Who first had all the rest herself beguiled. Impregnated, he left her there forlorn. Such is the guilt condemns him to this pain. Here too Medea's injuries are avenged. All bear him company, who like deceit To his have practised. And thus much to
know Of the first vale suffice thee, and of those Whom its keen torments urge." Now had we
come. Where, crossing the next pier, the straiten' d
path Bestrides its shoulders to another arch.
1 Hypsipyle.] See Apollonius Rhodius, lib. i. and Valerius Flaccus, lib. 2. Hypsiyple deceived the other women, by concealing her father Thoas, when they had agreed to put all their males to death.
132 THE VISION. 1 01 -1 20.
Hence, in the second chasm we heard the ghosts, Who gibber in low melancholy sounds, With wide-stretch' d nostrils snort, and on them- selves Smite with their palms. Upon the banks a
scurf, From the foul steam condensed, encrusting
hung, That held sharp combat with the sight and smell. So hollow is the depth, that from no part, Save on the summit of the rocky span, Could I distinguish aught. Thus far we came ; And thence I saw, wdthin the foss below, A crown immersed in ordure, that appear'd Draff of the human body. There beneath Searching with eye inquisitive, I mark'd One with his head so grimed, 'twere hard to
deem If he were clerk or layman. Loud he cried : '' Why greedily thus bendest more on me, Than on these other filthy ones, thy ken ? " " Because, if true my memory," I replied, " I heretofore have seen thee with dry locks ; And thou Alessio ^ art, of Lucca sprung.
1 Alessio.] Alessio, of an ancient and considerable family in Lucca, called the Interminei,
121-133- INFERNO, Canto XTX. 133
Therefore than all the rest I scan thee more." Then beating on his brain, these words he
spake : " Me thus low down my flatteries have sunk, Wherewith I ne'er enough could glut my
tongue." My leader thus : " A little farther stretch . Thy face, that thou the visage well mayst note Of that besotted, sluttish courtezan. Who there doth rend her with defiled nails, Now crouching down, now risen on her feet. Thais is this, the harlot, whose false lip Answer'd her doting paramour that ask'd, ' Thankest me much.' — ' Say rather, won-
drously ? ' And seeing this, here satiate be our \iew."
CANTO XIX
iSlrgumcnt.
They come to the third gulf, wherein are punished those who have been guilty of simony. These are fixed with the head downwards in certain apertures, so that no more of them than the legs appears without, and on thejsoles'of their feet are seen burning flames. Dante is taken down by his guide into the bottom of the gulf ; and there finds Pope Nicholas the Fifth, whose evil deeds, together with those of other pontiffs, are bitterly represented. Virgil then carries him up again to the arch, which affords them a passage over the following gulf.
Woe to thee, Simon Magus ! woe to }'ou,
134 TNK VISION. 2-21.
His wretched followers ! who the things of
God, Which should be wedded unto goodness, them, Rapacious as ye are, do prostitute For gold and silver in adultery. Now must the trumpet sound for you, since
yours Is the third chasm. Upon the following vault We now had mounted, where the rock impends Directly o'er the centre of the foss.
Wisdom Supreme ! how wonderful the art, Which thou dost manifest in heaven, in earth, And in the evil world, how just a meed Allotting by thy virtue unto all.
I saw the livid stone, throughout the sides And in its bottom full of apertures, All equal in their width, and circular each. Nor ample less nor larger they appear'd Than, in Saint John's fair dome^ of me beloved. Those framed to hold the pure baptismal
streams. One of the which I brake, some few years past, To save a whelming infant : and be this
» Saint John's fair dome.] The apertures in the rock were of the same dimensions as the fonts of St. John the Baptist at Florence ; one of which, Dante says, he had broken, to rescue a child that was playing near and fell in. He intimates that the motive of his breaking the font had been maliciously represented by his enemies.
22-44- INFERNO, Canto XIX. ^35
A seal to undeceive whoever doubts
The motive of my deed. From out the mouth
Of every one emerged a sinner's feet,
And of the legs high upward as the calf.
The rest beneath was hid. On either foot
The soles were burning ; whence the flexile
joints Glanced with such violent motion, as had snapt Asunder cords or twisted withs. As flame, Feeding on unctuous matter, glides along The surface, scarcely touching where it moves ; So here, from heel to point, glided the flames. " Master ! say who is he, than all the rest Glancing in fiercer agony, on whom A ruddier flame doth prey ?" I thus inquired.
" If thou be willing," he replied, " that I Carry thee down, where least the slope bank
falls. He of himself shall tell thee, and his wrongs." ^'^
I then : " As pleases thee, to me is best. Thou art my lord ; and know'st that ne'er I
quit Thy will : what silence hides, that knowest
thou." Thereat on the fourth pier we came, we
turn'd. And on our left descended to the depth, A narrow strait, and, perforated close.
136 THE VISION. 45-64.
Nor from his side my leader set me down, Till to his orifice he brought, whose limb Quivering express'd his pang. " Whoe'er thou
art, Sad Spirit J thus reversed, and as a stake Driven in the soil," I in these words began ; "If thou be able, utter forth thy voice."
There stood I like the friar, that doth shrive A wretch for murder doom'd, who, e'en when
iix'd, Calleth him back, whence death awhile delays.
He shouted : " Ha ! already standest there ? Already standest there, O Boniface ! ^ By many a year the writing play'd me false. So early dost thou surfeit with the wealth. For which thou fearedst not in guile ^ to take The lovely lady, and then mangle her ? "
I felt as those who, piercing not the drift Of answer made them, stand as if exposed In mockery, nor know what to reply ; When Virgil thus admonish'd : " Tell him
quick, ' I am not he, not he whom thou believest."
1 O Boniface !] The spirit mistakes, Dante for Boniface VIII, who was then alive ; and who he did not expect would have arrived so soon, in consequence, as it should seem, of a prophf^cy, which predicted the death of that pope at a later period. Boniface died in 1303.
' In guile.] " Thou didst presume to arri\e by fraudu- lent means at the papal power, and afterwards to abuse it."
65-86. INFERNO. Canto XIX. 137
And I, as was enjoin'd me, straight replied.
That^ heard, the spirit all did wrench his feet. And, sighing, next in woeful accent spake : " What then of me requirest ? If to know So much imports thee, who I am, that thou Hast therefore down the bank descended, learn That in the mighty mantle I was robed, ^ And of a she-bear was indeed the son, So eager to advance my whelps, that there My having in my purse above I stow'd. And here myself. Under my head are dragg'd The rest, my predecessors in the guilt Of simony. Stretch' d at their length, they lie Along an opening in the rock. 'Midst them I also low shall fall, soon as he comes, For whom I took thee, when so hastily I question'd. But already longer time Hath past, since my soles kindled, and I thus Upturn'd have stood, than is his doom to
stand Planted with fiery feet. For after him, One yet of deeds more ugly shall arrive, From forth the west, a shepherd without law, -
1 In the mighty mantle I was robed.] Nicholas III of the Orsini family, whom the Poet therefore calls " figliuol dell' orsa," " son of the she-bear." He died in 1281.
' From forth the west, a shepherd without law.] Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bourdeaux, who succeeded to the
138 THE VISION. 87-103.
Fated to cover both his form and mine. He a new Jason ^ shall be call'd, of whom In Maccabees we read ; and favour such As to that priest his king indulgent show'd, Shall be of France's monarch ^ shown to him."
1 know not if I here too far presumed, But- in this strain I answer'd : " Tell me now, What treasures from Saint Peter at the first Our Lord demanded, when he put the keys Into his charge ? Surely he ask'd no more But ' Follow me ! ' Nor Peter, ^ nor the rest. Or gold or silver of Matthias took, 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 in- spired.
pontificate in 1305, and assumed the title of Clement V. He transferred the holy see to Avignon in 1308 (where it remained till 1376), and died in 1314.
1 A new Jason.] " But after the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus, called Epiphanes, took the kingdom, Jason, the brother of Onias, laboured underhand to be high priest, promising unto the king, by intercession, three hundred and threescore talents of silver, and of another revenue eighty talents." 2 Maccab. iv. 7, 8.
2 Of France's monarch.] Philip IV of France.
3 Nor Peter.] Acts of the Apostles, i. 26. * The condemned soul.] Judas.
6 Against Charles.] Nicholas III was enraged against Charles I. King of Sicily, because he rejected with scorn
104-125. INFERNO, Canto XIX. i39
If reverence of the keys lestrain'd me not, 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. 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 conversion, 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
a proposition made by that pope for an alliance between their families. See G. Villani, Hist. lib. 7. cap. liv.
* The Evangelist.'] Revelation, xvii. i, 2, 3.
^ Ah, Constantine !] He alludes to the pretended gift of the Lateran by Constantine to Sylvester, of which Dante himself seems to imply a doubt, in his treatise De Monarchia.
140 THE VISION. 126-135.
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, Ou]- 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.
CANTO XX
iatrgument.
The Poet relates the punishment of such as presumed, while living, to predict future events. It is to have their faces reversed and set the contrary way on their limbs, so that, being deprived of the power to see before,.. them, they are constrained ever to walk backwards. "Among these Virgil points out to him Amphiaraiis, Tiresias, Aruns, and Manto (from the mention of whom he takes occasion to speak of the origin of Mantua), together with several others, who had practised the arts of divination and astrology.
And 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 tears of anguish, and beheld
A tribe, that came along the hollow vale,
In silence weeping : such their step as walk
I
9-30- INFERNO, Canto XX. I4i
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 com-
pell'd To advance with backward gait. Thus one per- haps 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 : " What, and art thou, too, witless as the rest ? Here pity most doth show herself alive. When she is dead. What guilt 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
' Before whose eyes."] Amphiaraiis, one of the seven
142 THE VISION. 31-48.
Cried out * Amphiaraiis, 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 be- came 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 be- neath, A cavern was his dwelling, whence the stars And main-sea wide in boundless view he held. " The next, whose loossen'd tresses over- spread
kings who besieged Thebes. He is said to have been swallowed up by an opening of the earth.
1 Aruns.] Aruns is said to have dwelt in the mountains of Luni (from whence that territory is still called Luni- giana), above Carrara, celebrated for its marble. Lucan, Phars. lib. i. 575.
I
49-62. INFERNO, Canto XX. 143
Her bosom, which thou seest not (for each hair On that side grows) was Manto, ^ she who
search' d Through many regions, and at lengtli her seat Fix'd in my native land : whence a short space My words detain thy audience. When her sire From hfe 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 Tryol locks Germania in. Its name Benacus, from whose ample breast A thousand springs, methinks, and more, be- tween Camonica ^ and Garda, issuing forth,
^ Manto.] The daughter of Tiresias of Thebes, a city dedicated to Bacchus. From Manto, Mantua, the country of Virgil, derives its name. The Poet proceeds to describe the situation of that place. But see the note to Purgatorio, Canto xxii. v. 112.
» Camonica.] Lombardi, instead of
Fra Garda e vai Camonica e Apennino, reads
Fra Garda e vai Camonica Pennino, from the Nidobeatina edition (to which he might have added that of Vellutello in 1544), and two MSS., all of which omit the second conjunction, the only part of the alteration that affects the sense. I have re-translated the passage, which in the former editions stood thus :
which a thousand rills
Methiuks, and more, water between the vale
144 THE VISION. 63-79
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 2 stands, to awe with front opposed The Bergamese and Brescian, whence the shore More slope each way descends. There, what- soe'er Benacus' bosom holds not, tumbhng o'er Down falls, and winds a river flood beneath Through the green pastures. Soon as in its
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
Camonica and Garda, and the height Of Apennine remote.
It should be added, that Vellutello reads " Valdimonica " for " Val Camonica ; " but which of these is right remains to be determined by a collation of editions and MSS., and still more perhaps by a view of the country in the neigh- bourhood of the lake (now called the Lago di Garda,) with a reference to this passage.
1 There is a spot.] Prato di Fame, where the dioceses of Trento, Verona, and Brescia meet.
' Peschiera.] A garrison situated to the south of the lake, where it empties itself and formi the Mincius.
3o-96. INFERNO, Canto XX. 145
Tt 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 lived, and left Her body tenantless. Thenceforth the tribes Who round were scatter' d, gathering to that
place. Assembled ; for its strength was great, en- closed 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 wrong'd of Pinamonte. If thou hear Henceforth another origin 2 assign'd
* Casalodi's madness.] Alberto da Casalodi, who had got possession of Mantua, was persuaded, by Pinamonte Buonacossi, that he might ingratiate himself with the people, by banishing to their own castles the nobles, who were obnoxious to them. No sooner was this done, than Pinamonte put himself at the head of the populace, drove out Casalodi and his adherents, and obtained the sover- eignty for himself.
' Another origin.] Lombardi refers to Servius on the Tenth Book of the Mneid. Alii a Tarchone Tyrrheni fratre conditam dicunt Mantuam autem ideo nominatam quia Etrusca lingua Mantum ditem patrem apellant.
146 THE VISION. .^y^^^j^.
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 Graecia 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 tragic strain, In which majestic measure well thou know'st. Who know'st it all. That other, round the
loins So slender of his shape, was Michael Scot,^ Practised in every slight of magic wile.
1 Michael Scot.] " Egli non ha ancora guari, che in questa città fu un gran maestro in negromanzia, il quale ebbe nome Michele Scotto, perciò che di Scozia era." Boccaccio, Dee. Giorn. viii. Nov. 9. " It is not long since there was in this city (Florence) a great master in necro- mancy, who was called Michele Scotto^ because he was from Scotland."
1I6-I26. INFERNO. Canto XX, i47
" Guido Bonatti ^ see : Asdente 2 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 :
1 Guido Bonatti.] An astrologer of Forlì, on whose skill Guido da Montefeltro, lord of that place, so much relied, that he is reported never to have gone into battle, except in the hour recommended to him as fortunate by Bonatti. Landino and Vellutello speak of a book which he composed on the subject of his art. Macchiavelli mentions him in the History of Florence, lib. i. p. 24, ed. 1550. " He flour- ished about 1230 and 1260. Though a learned astronomer, he was seduced by astrology, through which he was greatly in favour with many princes of that time. His many works are miserably spoiled by it." Bettinelli, Risorgimento d'Italia, t. i. p. 118, 8vo, 1786.
' A sdente.] A shoemaker at Parma, who deserted his business to practise the arts of divination. How much this man had attracted the public notice appears from a passage in our author's Convito, p. 179, where it is said, in speaking of the derivation of the word " noble," that " if those who were best known were accounted the most noble, Asdente, the shoemaker of Parma, would be more noble than any one in that city."
3 Cain with fork of thorns.] By Cain and the thorns, or what is still vulgarly called the Man in the Moon, the Poet denotes that luminary. The same superstition is alluded to in the Paradiso, Canto ii. 52.
148 THE VISION 127-128.
For she good service did thee in the gloom Of the deep wood." This said, both onward moved.
CANTO XXI
airgumtnt.
Still in the eighth circle, which bears the name of Male- bolge, they look down from the bridge that passes over its fifth gulf, upon the_barterers^or public pecula- j tors. These are plunged In a lake of' boiling pitch, » guarded by Demoii§;'TowBOffi' Virgil, leaving Dante apart, presents himself ; and license being obtained to pass onward, both pursue their way.
Thus 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.
Marvellous darkness shadow'd o'er the place.
In the 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 bark 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 ;
i6-37. INFERNO, Canto XXI. 149
So, 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 naught 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 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 his 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 Buoyant 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. " Ye of our bridge ! " he cried, " keen talon'd
fiends ! Lo ! one of Santa Zita's elders. ^ Him
' One of Santa Zita's elders.] The elders or chief magis- trates of Lucca, where Santa Zita was held in especial
150 THE VISION. 38-52.
Whelm ye beneath, while I return for more. That land hath store of such. All men are
there, Except Bontura, barterers : ^ of ' no * For lucre there an ' ay ' is quickly made." Him dashing down, o'er the rough rock he
turn'd ; Nor ever after thief a mastiff 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 :
here Is other swimming than in Serchio's wave,^ Wherefore, if thou desire we rend thee not. Take heed thou mount not o'er the pitch."
This said, They grappled him with more than hundred
hooks, And shouted : " Cover'd thou must sport thee
here ;
veneration. The name of this sinner is supposed to have been Martino Botaio.
1 Except Bonturo, barterers.] This is said ironically of Bonturo de' Dati. By barterers are meant peculators, of every description ; all who traffic the interests of the public for their own private advantage.
' The hallow'd visage.] A representation of the head of our Saviour worshipped at Lucca.
3 Is other swimming than in Serchio's wave.] Serchio is the river that flows by Lucca.
ffo_7Q IxNhliKJNU, UANTO A Ai. j.-^
So, if thou canst, in secret mayst thou filch." E'en 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 guide bespake : " Lest they
descry That thou art here, behind a craggy rock Bend low and skreen thee : and whate'er of
force 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
rush'd Those from beneath the arch, and against him Their weapons all they pointed. He aloud : " Be none of you outrageous : ere your tine 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,
152 THE VISION. 74-93.
" Go, Malacoda ! " Whereat one advanced, The others standing firm, and as he came, " What ma}' this turn avail him ? " he ex- claimed " Believest thou, Malacoda ! I had come Thus far from all your skirmishing secure," - My teacher answer'd, " without will divine And destiny propitious ? 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 To strike him." Then to me my guide : "0
thou! 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 Th' infantry, dreading lest his covenant
1 From Caprona.] The surrender of the castle of Caprona to the combined forces of Florence and Lucca, on condition that the garrison should march out in safety, to which event Dante was a witness, took place in 1290.
94-110. INFERNO. Canto XXI. ^53
The foe should break ; so close he hemm'd
them round« I to my leader's side adhered, mine eyes With fixt 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 ansvver'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 tons 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
fiU'd
» Yesterday.] This passage fixes the era of Dante's descent at Good Friday, in the yeai- 1300 (34 years from our blessed Lord's incarnation being added to 1266), and at the t