The Inferno Read online

  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.

  Here, as far as I could tell by listening, →

  was no lamentation other than the sighs