by Dante
60
and shall continue while the world endures,
‘ “my friend, who is no friend of Fortune, →
is so hindered on his way upon the desert slope; →
63
that, in his terror, he has turned back,
‘ “and, from what I hear of him in Heaven,
I fear he has gone so far astray
66
that I arose too late to help him.
‘ “Set out, and with your polished words; →
and whatever else is needed for his safety,
69
go to his aid, that I may be consoled.
‘ “I who bid you go am Beatrice.
I come from where I most desire to return.
72
The love that moved me makes me speak.
‘ “And when I am before my Lord
often will I offer praise of you to Him.” →
75
Then she fell silent. And I began:
‘ “O lady of such virtue that by it alone; →
the human race surpasses all that lies
78
within the smallest compass of the heavens,
‘ “so pleased am I at your command that my consent,
were it already given, would be given late.
81
You have but to make your desire known.
‘ “But tell me why you do not hesitate
to descend into the center of the earth; →
84
from the unbounded space you long for.”
‘ “Since you are so eager to know more,” →
she answered, “I shall be brief in telling you
87
why I am not afraid to enter here.
‘ “We should fear those things alone
that have the power to harm.
90
Nothing else is frightening.
‘ “I am made such by God’s grace
that your affliction does not touch,
93
nor can these fires assail me.
‘ “There is a gracious lady in Heaven so moved; →
by pity at his peril, she breaks stern judgment
96
there above and lets me send you to him.
‘ “She summoned Lucy and made this request: →
«Your faithful one is now in need of you
99
and I commend him to your care.»
‘ “Lucy, the enemy of every cruelty,
arose and came to where I sat
102
at venerable Rachel’s side, →
‘ “and said: «Beatrice, true praise of God,
why do you not help the one who loved you so
105
that for your sake he left the vulgar herd?; →
‘ “«Do you not hear the anguish in his tears?
Do you not see the death besetting him; →
108
on the swollen river where the sea cannot prevail?»
‘ “Never were men on earth so swift to seek; →
their good or to escape their harm as I,
111
after these words were spoken,
‘ “to descend here from my blessèd seat,
trusting to the noble speech that honors you
114
and those who have paid it heed.”
‘After she had said these things to me,
she turned away her eyes, now bright with tears, →
117
making me more eager to set out.
‘And so I came to you just as she wished. →
I saved you from the beast denying you
120
the short way to the mountain of delight.
‘What then? Why, why do you delay?
Why do you let such cowardice rule your heart?
123
Why are you not more spirited and sure,
‘when three such blessèd ladies
care for you in Heaven’s court
126
and my words promise so much good?’
As little flowers, bent and closed
with chill of night, when the sun
129
lights them, stand all open on their stems,
such, in my failing strength, did I become.
And so much courage poured into my heart
132
that I began, as one made resolute:
‘O how compassionate was she to help me, →
how courteous were you, so ready to obey
135
the truthful words she spoke to you!
‘Your words have made my heart
so eager for the journey
138
that I’ve returned to my first intent.
‘Set out then, for one will prompts us both.
You are my leader, you my lord and master,’ →
I said to him, and when he moved ahead
142
I entered on the deep and savage way. →
OUTLINE: INFERNO III
1–9
words inscribed above the gate of hell
10–12
having read them, Dante is afraid
13–21
Virgil admonishes, then encourages, Dante
22–30
tumultuous sound made by mouths and hands
31–33
Dante asks who these shades (in Circle “zero”) are
34–42
Virgil: the neutrals and the neutral angels
43–44
Dante wants to know the reason for their lamentation
45–51
Virgil: they would rather be anyone but themselves
52–57
Dante watches shades following a wavering banner
58–63
he knows some, and one who “made the great refusal”
64–69
they are stung by insects that make their faces bleed
70–75
looking ahead, Dante sees a crowd at a riverbank
76–78
Virgil says his questions will be answered later
79–81
Dante’s shame at this implicit criticism
82–93
appearance of Charon; his refusal to ferry Dante
94–99
Virgil’s rejoinder stills Charon
100–111
shades, cursing, enter his skiff; he strikes laggards
112–120
similes: leaves in fall, falcon returning to falconer
121–126
Virgil: the damned want the justice of their penalty
127–129
Virgil explains Charon’s desire not to include Dante
130–136
the earthquake and Dante’s fainting fit
INFERNO III
THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE CITY OF WOE, →
THROUGH ME THE WAY TO EVERLASTING PAIN,
3
THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST. →
JUSTICE MOVED MY MAKER ON HIGH. →
DIVINE POWER MADE ME, →
6
WISDOM SUPREME, AND PRIMAL LOVE.
BEFORE ME NOTHING WAS BUT THINGS ETERNAL, →
AND ETERNAL, I ENDURE.
9
ABANDON ALL HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER HERE.
These words, dark in hue, I saw inscribed →
over an archway. And then I said:
12
‘Master, for me their meaning is hard.’ →
And he, as one who understood: →
‘Here you must banish all distrust,
15
here must all cowardice be slain.
‘We have come to where I said
you would see the miserable sinners
18
who have lost the good of the intellect.’ →
And after he had put his hand on mine
with a reassuring look that gave me comfort,
21
he led me toward things unknown to man. →
Now sighs, loud wailing, lamentation →
resounded through the starless air,
24
so that I too began to weep. →
Unfamiliar tongues, horrendous accents, →
words of suffering, cries of rage, voices
27
loud and faint, the sound of slapping hands— →
all these made a tumult, always whirling
in that black and timeless air,
30
as sand is swirled in a whirlwind.
And I, my head encircled by error, said:
‘Master, what is this I hear, and what people
33
are these so overcome by pain?’
And he to me: ‘This miserable state is borne →
by the wretched souls of those who lived
36
without disgrace yet without praise.
‘They intermingle with that wicked band →
of angels, not rebellious and not faithful
39
to God, who held themselves apart.
‘Loath to impair its beauty, Heaven casts them out, →
and depth of Hell does not receive them
42
lest on their account the evil angels gloat.’
And I: ‘Master, what is so grievous to them,
that they lament so bitterly?’
45
He replied: ‘I can tell you in few words.
‘They have no hope of death, →
and their blind life is so abject
48
that they are envious of every other lot.
‘The world does not permit report of them.
Mercy and justice hold them in contempt. →
51
Let us not speak of them—look and pass by.’
And I, all eyes, saw a whirling banner →
that ran so fast it seemed as though
54
it never could find rest.
Behind it came so long a file of people
that I could not believe
57
death had undone so many.
After I recognized a few of these, →
I saw and knew the shade of him
60
who, through cowardice, made the great refusal.
At once with certainty I understood
this was that worthless crew
63
hateful alike to God and to His foes.
These wretches, who never were alive, →
were naked and beset
66
by stinging flies and wasps
that made their faces stream with blood,
which, mingled with their tears,
69
was gathered at their feet by loathsome worms.
And then, fixing my gaze farther on, →
I saw souls standing on the shore of a wide river,
72
and so I said: ‘Master, permit me first
‘to know who they are and then what inner law
makes them so eager for the crossing,
75
or so they seem in this dim light.’ →
And he to me: ‘You shall know these things, →
but not before we stay our steps
78
on the mournful shore of Acheron.’
Then, my eyes cast down with shame,
fearing my words displeased him,
81
I did not speak until we reached that stream.
And now, coming toward us in a boat,
an old man, his hair white with age, cried out:
84
‘Woe unto you, you wicked souls,
‘give up all hope of ever seeing Heaven.
I come to take you to the other shore,
87
into eternal darkness, into heat and chill.
‘And you there, you living soul, →
move aside from these now dead.’
90
But when he saw I did not move,
he said: ‘By another way, another port, →
not here, you’ll come to shore and cross.
93
A lighter ship must carry you.’
And my leader: ‘Charon, do not torment yourself. →
It is so willed where will and power are one, →
96
and ask no more.’
That stilled the shaggy jowls
of the pilot of the livid marsh,
99
about whose eyes burned wheels of flame.
But those souls, naked and desolate,
lost their color. With chattering teeth
102
they heard his brutal words.
They blasphemed God, their parents,
the human race, the place, the time, the seed →
105
of their begetting and their birth.
Then, weeping bitterly, they drew together
to the accursèd shore that waits
108
for everyone who fears not God.
Charon the demon, with eyes of glowing coals, →
beckons to them, herds them all aboard,
111
striking anyone who slackens with his oar. →
Just as in autumn the leaves fall away, →
one, and then another, until the bough
114
sees all its spoil upon the ground,
so the wicked seed of Adam fling themselves
one by one from shore, at his signal,
117
as does a falcon at its summons.
Thus they depart over dark water,
and before they have landed on the other side
120
another crowd has gathered on this shore.
‘My son,’ said the courteous master,
‘all those who die in the wrath of God
123
assemble here from every land.
‘And they are eager to cross the river,
for the justice of God so spurs them on →
126
their very fear is turned to longing.
‘No good soul ever crosses at this place.
Thus, if Charon complains on your account,
129
now you can grasp the meaning of his words.’
When he had ended, the gloomy plain shook →
with such force, the memory of my terror
132
makes me again break out in sweat.
From the weeping ground there sprang a wind,
flaming with vermilion light,
which overmastered all my senses,
136
and I dropped like a man pulled down by sleep. →
OUTLINE: INFERNO IV
1–3
Dante awakened by “thunder” (after “lightning”)
4–12
once again Dante cannot see in the darkness
13–18
Virgil’s pallor entering the first Circle
19–22
Virgil says his face is pale from pity, not fear
23–30
to Dante the lament here seems less mournful (sighs)
31–42
Virgil is eager for Dante’s questions about those who dwell in Limbo, sinless, but without faith
43–45
Dante grieves, realizing many good people are here
46–50
Dante: has anyone gone from Limbo to heaven?
51–63
Virgil describes the harrowing of hell, which he saw
64–72
the lightest place in hell: honorable souls
73–75
Dante: why are these set apart in the light?
76–78
Virgil: their fame on earth has this result in heaven
79–81
Dante hears a voice welcome Virgil on his return
82–93
/>
the poets (Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan) approach
94–102
the “school” greets Dante and includes him among them
103–105
unreported discourse of the six poets
106–117
the “noble castle” and its inner meadow
118–129
Greeks, Romans, and Saladin: active life (14 named)
130–144
Greeks, Romans, Arabs: contemplative life (21 named)
145–147
the poet insists on his inability to give a full account
148–151
Virgil and Dante move on to less peaceful precincts
INFERNO IV
A heavy thunderclap broke my deep sleep →
so that I started up like one
3
shaken awake by force.
With rested eyes, I stood
and looked about me, then fixed my gaze
6
to make out where I was.
I found myself upon the brink
of an abyss of suffering
9
filled with the roar of endless woe.
It was full of vapor, dark and deep.
Straining my eyes toward the bottom,
12
I could see nothing.
‘Now let us descend into the blind world →
down there,’ began the poet, gone pale.
15
‘I will be first and you come after.’
And I, noting his pallor, said: →
‘How shall I come if you’re afraid,
18
you, who give me comfort when I falter?’ →
And he to me: ‘The anguish of the souls →
below us paints my face
21
with pity you mistake for fear.
‘Let us go, for the long road calls us.’
Thus he went first and had me enter
24
the first circle girding the abyss.
