by Dante
‘you’ll understand why they are set apart
from these wicked spirits and why God’s vengeance
90
smites them with a lesser wrath.’
‘O sun, you who heal all troubled sight, →
you so content me by resolving doubts
93
it pleases me no less to question than to know.
‘But go back a little way,’ I said,
‘to where you told me usury offends
96
God’s goodness, and untie that knot for me.’
‘Philosophy, for one who understands her, →
observes,’ he said, ‘and not in one place only,
99
how nature takes her course
‘from heavenly intellect and its operation.
And, if you study well your Physics,
102
you will find, after not too many pages,
‘that human toil, as far as it is able,
follows nature, as the pupil does his master,
105
so that it is God’s grandchild, as it were.
‘By toil and nature, if you remember Genesis,
near the beginning, it is man’s lot
108
to earn his bread and prosper.
‘The usurer, who takes another path,
scorns nature in herself and in her follower,
111
and elsewhere sets his hopes.
‘But follow me now, for it is time to go. →
The Fishes are flickering at the horizon
and all the Wain lies over Caurus. And here,
115
a short way off, is the descent.’
OUTLINE: INFERNO XII
1–3
retrospect (the edge of the precipice at XI.1) and monstrous prospect (the Minotaur)
4–10
simile: the fallen rock along the Adige near Trent
11–15
the wrath of the Minotaur
16–21
Virgil to the Minotaur: Dante is not Theseus
22–25
simile: bull’s movements after receiving mortal blow
26–30
the Minotaur’s fury allows a quick descent
31–45
Virgil’s remarks on the cause of the fallen rock
46–48
the river of blood (Phlegethon)
49–51
the poet’s apostrophe of covetousness and wrath
52–75
hellscape with centaurs: Nessus, Chiron, Pholus; Nessus threatens and Virgil parries
76–82
Chiron’s surprise that Dante moves what he touches
83–96
Virgil explains his mission and asks for help
97–99
Chiron assigns Nessus the task of protecting them
100–112
following Nessus, Dante and Virgil observe tyrants: Alexander, Dionysius, Ezzelino, Opizzo
113–114
Virgil’s order to Dante: let Nessus take you
115–126
Nessus stops; Dante sees Guy de Montfort and others less deeply immersed in the river; they cross
127–138
Nessus: in the shallower part of the river are Attila, Pyrrhus, Sextus, the two Riniers
139
coda: Nessus crosses back over the river
INFERNO XII
Steep was the cliff we had to clamber down,
rocky and steep, but—even worse—it held
3
a sight that every eye would shun.
As on the rockslide that still marks the flank →
of the Àdige, this side of Trent,
6
whether by earthquake or erosion at the base,
from the mountain-top they slid away from,
the shattered boulders strew the precipice
9
and thus give footing to one coming down—
just so was the descent down that ravine.
And at the chasm’s jagged edge
12
was sprawled the infamy of Crete, →
conceived in that false cow.
When he caught sight of us, he gnawed himself
15
like someone ruled by wrath.
My sage cried out to him: ‘You think, →
perhaps, this is the Duke of Athens,
18
who in the world above put you to death.
‘Get away, you beast, for this man
does not come tutored by your sister,
21
he comes to view your punishments.’
Like the bull that breaks its tether →
just as it receives the mortal blow
24
and cannot run, but lunges here and there,
so raged the Minotaur. My artful guide
called out: ‘Run to the passage:
27
hurry down while he is in his fury.’
And so we made our way down the steep landslide →
on scree that often shifted
30
under my feet with unexpected weight.
I went on lost in thought. And he said:
‘Perhaps you’re wondering about this rockslide →
33
guarded by that bestial rage I quelled just now. →
‘I want you to know, the other time →
I came down into nether Hell
36
this rock had not yet fallen.
‘But surely, if memory does not fail,
it was just before He came who carried off
39
from Dis the great spoil of the highest circle →
‘when the deep and foul abyss shook on every side, →
so that I thought the universe felt love,
42
by which, as some believe,
‘the world has many times been turned to chaos.
And at that moment this ancient rock,
45
here and elsewhere, fell broken into pieces.
‘But fix your eyes below, for we draw near
the river of blood that scalds
48
those who by violence do injury to others.’ →
O blind covetousness, insensate wrath, →
which in this brief life goad us on and then,
51
in the eternal, steep us in such misery!
I saw a broad moat curving in its arc
that seemed to circle all the plain,
54
just as my guide had said.
Between the edge of moat and precipice
ran centaurs in a file and armed with arrows, →
57
as when they went off hunting in our world.
They saw us coming, stopped, and three →
departed from the troop with bows
60
and shafts they had selected with great care.
One cried from afar: ‘To what torment
do you come, you two approaching down the slope?
63
Tell us from there. If not, I draw my bow.’
My master said: ‘We will give our answer →
to Chiron once we have come closer.
66
Your will was always hasty, to your hurt.’
Then he nudged me, saying: ‘That is Nessus, →
who died for lovely Deianira
69
and fashioned of himself his own revenge.
‘The middle one, his gaze fixed on his chest, →
is the great Chiron, he who raised Achilles.
72
The other one is Pholus, who was so filled with wrath. →
‘Around the moat they go in thousands,
shooting arrows at any soul that rises
75
higher from the blood than guilt allows.’ →
As we drew near those swift wild beasts,
→
Chiron took an arrow and with its nock
78
pulled back his beard along his jaw.
When he had uncovered his enormous mouth
he said to his companions: ‘Have you observed
81
the one behind dislodges what he touches?
‘That is not what the feet of dead men do.’
And my good leader, now at Chiron’s breast,
84
where his two natures join, replied:
‘He is indeed alive, and so alone,
it is my task to show him this dark valley.
87
Necessity compels us, not delight.
‘One briefly left her song of hallelujah →
and came to charge me with this novel task.
90
He is no robber, nor am I a thief.
‘But, by that power by which I move my steps
on this wild road, lend us a guide,
93
one of your band to whom we may stay close, →
‘one who will show us to the ford
and carry this man over on his back,
96
for he is not a spirit that can fly through air.’
Chiron bent his torso to the right, then said →
to Nessus: ‘Go back and guide them.
99
If you meet another troop, have it give way.’
And with this trusty escort we went on,
skirting the edge of the vermilion boil
102
from which the boiled cried out with piercing shrieks.
There I saw some sunken to the eyebrows,
and the great centaur said: ‘They are tyrants →
105
who took to blood and plunder.
‘Here they lament their ruthless crimes. →
Here is Alexander, here cruel Dionysius,
108
who gave to Sicily its years of woe.
‘And that brow with such jet-black hair
is Ezzelino, while the other blond one there
111
is Obizzo d’Este, who was indeed
‘slain by his stepson in the world above.’
Then I turned to the poet, and he said:
114
‘Now let Nessus be your guide and I will follow.’ →
A little farther on the centaur stopped
above a crowd whose heads, down to their necks, →
117
seemed to issue from that boiling stream.
He pointed out a shade apart, alone:
‘In God’s bosom that one clove in two
120
the heart that on the Thames still drips with blood.’
Then I saw some who had their heads, →
even their whole chests, out of the river,
123
and of these I recognized a number,
as the blood became even more shallow →
until it cooked nothing but their feet.
126
And here was our place to cross the moat. →
‘Just as on this side you can see →
the boiling stream always diminishing,’
129
said the centaur, ‘so, I’ll have you know,
‘on the other side the bottom falls away
until it plumbs the depths
132
where tyranny must groan.
‘There divine justice stings Attila, →
who was a scourge on earth, and Pyrrhus,
135
and Sextus, and eternally wrings
‘tears, loosed by the boiling, →
from Rinier of Corneto and Rinier Pazzo,
who on the highways made such strife.’
139
Then he turned back and crossed the ford again. →
OUTLINE: INFERNO XIII
1–3
retrospect (Nessus) and prospect (the wood)
4–9
description of the wood
10–15
the Harpies
16–21
Virgil urges Dante to be closely attentive
22–32
Dante’s puzzlement and Virgil’s instruction
33–39
the complaint of Pier delle Vigne
40–45
simile: Pier’s bloody words; Dante’s reaction
46–54
Virgil’s apology and captatio, addressed to Pier
55–78
Pier’s “oration”:
55–57
capturing the goodwill of his audience
58–72
narrative of the events at issue
73–75
peroration, making his climactic point
76–78
petition, seeking the consent of his audience
79–84
Virgil urges Dante to question Pier further; he cannot, and, too moved, asks Virgil to do so instead
85–90
Virgil’s two questions concern the suicides’ condition
91–108
Pier’s responses:
94–102
(1) how a dead soul becomes a thornbush
103–108
(2) how it will bring back its body after Judgment
109–110
the two poets continue to regard Pier
111–114
simile: concealed hunter hearing prey approaching
115–129
the spendthrifts (Arcolano, Jacomo) pursued by dogs
130–135
the nameless Florentine suicide
136–138
Virgil’s question to him
139–151
the suicide’s answering “oration”
INFERNO XIII
Nessus had not yet reached the other side →
when we made our way into a forest
3
not marked by any path.
No green leaves, but those of dusky hue— →
not a straight branch, but knotted and contorted—
6
no fruit of any kind, but poisonous thorns.
No rougher, denser thickets make a refuge
for the wild beasts that hate tilled lands
9
between the Cècina and Corneto.
Here the filthy Harpies nest, →
who drove the Trojans from the Strophades
12
with doleful prophecies of woe to come.
They have broad wings, human necks and faces,
taloned feet, and feathers on their bulging bellies.
15
Their wailing fills the eerie trees.
And my good master then began to speak:
‘Before you go in deeper you should know,
18
you are, and will be, in the second ring
‘until you reach the dreadful sand. Look well—
you will see things that, in my telling, →
21
would seem to strip my words of truth.’
Lamentations I heard on every side
but I saw no one who might be crying out
24
so that, confused, I stopped. →
I think he thought that I thought →
all these voices in among the branches
27
came from people hiding there.
And so the master said: ‘If you break off
a twig among these brambles,
30
your present thoughts will be cut short.’
Then I stretched out my hand →
and plucked a twig from a tall thorn-bush,
33
and its stem cried out: ‘Why do you break me?’
When it ran dark with blood
it cried again: ‘Why do you tear me?
36
Are you completely without pity?
‘We once were men and now are turned to thorns.
Your han
d might well have been more merciful
39
had we been souls of snakes.’
As from a green log, burning at one end, →
that blisters and hisses at the other
42
with the rush of sap and air,
so from the broken splinter oozed
blood and words together, and I let drop
45
the twig and stood like one afraid.
‘Could he have believed it otherwise, →
O wounded soul,’ my sage spoke up,
48
‘what he has seen only in my verses,
‘he would not have raised his hand against you.
But your plight, being incredible, made me
51
goad him to this deed that weighs on me.
‘Now tell him who you were, so that, by way →
of recompense, he may revive your fame
54
up in the world, where he’s permitted to return.’
And the stem said: ‘With your pleasing words →
you so allure me I cannot keep silent.
57
May it not offend if I am now enticed to speak.
‘I am the one who held both keys →
to Frederick’s heart, and I could turn them,
60
locking and unlocking, so discreetly
‘I kept his secrets safe from almost everyone.
So faithful was I to that glorious office
63
that first I lost my sleep and then my life.
‘The slut who never took her whoring eyes →
from Caesar’s household, the common bane
66
and special vice of courts,
‘inflamed all minds against me.
And they, inflamed, did so inflame Augustus →
69
that welcome honors turned to dismal woe.
