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THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 OF DANTE 
 
 THE INFERNO 
 
THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 OF DANTE 
 
 THE INFERNO 
 
 A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY 
 
 BY 
 
 MARVIN R. VINCENT, D.D. 
 
 PBOFESSOB OF SA.CBED LITERATURE IN UNION THEOLOGICAL 
 BXMINABY, NEW YORK 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1904 
 
n%< 
 
 j;c.^^ 
 
 COPTBIGHT, 1904, BT 
 
 CHAKLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Pablished, October, 1904 
 
 THOW DIRECTORY 
 PRINTINQ AND BOOKBINPINQ COMPANY 
 HEW YORK 
 
TO 
 ISOBEL MACKERGO TAYLOR 
 
 MY COMPAN"IOiq- AI^D PUPIL 
 
 IIT THE STUDY OF 
 
 DANTE 
 
 255915 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The last quarter of a century has witnessed such a notable 
 revival of interest in Dante, and so many valuable contribu- 
 tions to the Dante-literature, that I have been led to believe 
 that there is room for a new Translation and Commentary, 
 in the light of these later contributions. Many of the fruits of 
 these are contained in the Commentary, many more in the 
 Translation. 
 
 I have made a literal translation, and have not attempted 
 to produce a smooth and elegant English poem. Such an 
 attempt will inevitably land any translator in florid para- 
 phrase. One who studies the Commedia only through the 
 medium of a translation, must be content with a partial 
 impression of its beauty, grandeur, and power. At the very 
 best, translation is "disenchantment"; but certainly the 
 spell will not be restored by rhetorical amplifications, by 
 diluting Dante's thought into conventional commonplace, or 
 by emasculating his vigorous diction to meet the demands 
 of conventional propriety. Literal translation will confront 
 its readers with not a few novel, startling, and occasionally 
 disagreeable forms of expression. For these, Dante, and not 
 his translator, must be held responsible. 
 
 I have used the texts of Witte, Scartazzini, and Moore; but 
 the basis of the Translation is the Oxford text of Dr. Moore. 
 
 Not even native Italian students of Dante are beyond the 
 need of commentaries, as is shown by the number and the 
 dimensions of those which have been appearing in Italy from 
 
 vii 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 a very early date. Much more is such aid required by readers 
 who are unacquainted with the original. Such readers have 
 been kept prominently in view in the preparation of the notes. 
 
 I shall not attempt a catalogue of the numerous works upon 
 which I have drawn. My obhgations are many. I have freely 
 availed myself of the enormous labors of Dr. Scartazzini and 
 of the important and deeply interesting contributions of Dr. 
 Edward Moore. To these names I may add Philalethes 
 (King John of Saxony), Arthur J. Butler, the Honorable 
 "William Warren Vernon, Franz Xaver Kraus, Paolo Perez, 
 and Alfred Bassermann. I have derived valuable suggestions 
 from the prose translations of Professor Norton and of Mr. 
 Oelsner, and also from that of Mr. Arthur J. Butler with its 
 scholarly notes. The notes of Mr. H. F. Tozer have been 
 useful, as have been the metrical versions of Gary and 
 Longfellow. Obligations to Professor Fay's invaluable Con- 
 cordance, Dr. Scartazzini's "Encyclopaedia Dantesca," and 
 Mr. Paget Toynbee's "Dante Dictionary," go without saying. 
 My old friend. Dr. Charlton T. Lewis, died before the comple- 
 tion of my task, in which, from the beginning, he manifested 
 a warm interest, and in the prosecution of which his con- 
 summate scholarship and his extensive library were always 
 at my command. 
 
 I may add a word as to the relation of this book to my strictly 
 professional work. I have long believed that the study of 
 Dante ought to form a part of the curriculum of every the- 
 ological institution. The department of Church History is 
 compelled to deal largely with the Mediaeval Church; and the 
 history of Theology cannot pass over Aristotle and the com- 
 pany of the great Scholastic Divines whose methods he in- 
 spired, and whose works played so important a part in Dante's 
 literary training. No well-equipped clergyman can afford to 
 be ignorant of these; but in order to know the Middle Ages, it 
 is indispensable to know Dante, who is the exponent not only 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 of their society and their poHtics, but equally of their ethics, 
 their theology, and their ecclesiasticism. 
 
 The second part of the work, the " Purgatorio," is about 
 ready for the press and will appear in due time. 
 
 M. R. V. 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 NAME OF THE POEM 
 
 Dante calls his poem Commedia in Inf. XVI. 128 and 
 XXI. 2. He explains this title in the letter to Can Grande 
 della Scala in which he dedicates to him the Paradise: 
 saying that he calls it a Comedy because it begins horribly 
 with Hell and ends happily in Paradise: and since a Comedy 
 is, according to the derivation of the word, a village-poem, 
 he further gives this name to his poem because it is written 
 in the vulgar or popular language, as distinguished from 
 Latin, in which he originally intended to write it. The 
 epithet "divine" was not a part of the title, but was added 
 later by admirers of the poem. 
 
 DANTE'S COSMOGONY 
 
 Dante's astronomical system bears the name of Ptolemy, a 
 mathematician, astronomer, and geographer, born in Egypt 
 about the end of the first Christian centiiry. Ptolemy, 
 however, was not the author, but only the principal ex- 
 pounder of the system, which was universally accepted until 
 the sixteenth century, when it was superseded by that of 
 Copernicus. Dante's principal geographical authority was 
 Orosius, a Spanish ecclesiastic, born toward the end of the 
 fourth century, and best known by his "Histories against 
 the Pagans in Seven Books " (Historiarum adversus Paganos 
 Libri VIL), the first book of which was mainly geographical, 
 its matter being mostly condensed from Strabo. 
 
 1 
 
2- • THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 According to the Ptolemaic system, the earth is a stationary 
 sphere, forming the centre of the universe, and the heavenly 
 bodies revolve round it in circular orbits. 
 
 The earth is divided into two hemispheres— the northern 
 and the southern, the former of land, the latter of water. 
 Dante retains the primitive belief that the dry land on the 
 surface of the globe is completely surrounded with water; the 
 belief being founded upon Scripture, Gen. I. 9; Ps. XXIV. 
 1, 2; I. Pet. III. 5. 
 
 The dry land is limited to the northern hemisphere. The 
 early behef was that the southern hemisphere was unin- 
 habitable. "This belief," says Dr. Moore, "is ciu-iously 
 illustrated by the fact that in some of the old Egyptian 
 zodiacs or star-maps, the figures representing the southern 
 constellations are said to be depicted in boats." The belief 
 in antipodes was regarded by the Christian Fathers as 
 heretical, on the ground that the tropical ocean, on account 
 of intense heat, was unnavigable; and that therefore any 
 inhabitants of the southern hemisphere could not be 
 descended from Adam. 
 
 In longitude, the habitable earth was supposed to occupy 
 180°, or 10,200 miles; from Gades (a group of islands believed 
 to lie directly in the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar) to the 
 river Ganges. In latitude, the dry land was supposed to 
 be included between the Equator and the Arctic circle; the 
 latitude of which is 66J°, and consequently to extend over 
 3,674 miles, only three-fifths of which was habitable by 
 man. 
 
 Asia, in which Egypt was included, was as large as Europe 
 and Africa together. The western half of the habitable 
 world was divided into the two nearly equal continents of 
 Europe and Africa by the Mediterranean, which was supposed 
 to cover 90° of longitude. Jerusalem was the centre of the 
 habitable earth both in latitude and longitude. Rome was 
 
INTRODUCTORY 3 
 
 central between Jerusalem and Gades; in other words, it 
 was the centre of the western or Christian world. Hell was 
 directly under Jerusalem: and Purgatory, the antipodes of 
 Jerusalem, was an island in the midst of the waters of the 
 southern hemisphere. 
 
 The earth was surrounded by the nine heavens, a series of 
 hollow revolving spheres, one within the other. If a boy's 
 marble were suspended in the centre of a small, hollow glass 
 globe, and this globe were enclosed in another and larger one, 
 and this again in another, and so on up to nine, the marble 
 would represent the earth, and each successive globe one of 
 the heavens. Each of these heavens receives its name from 
 the heavenly body attached to it. The one nearest the earth 
 is the heaven of the Moon, followed in order by the heavens 
 of Mercury, Venus, the Sun (regarded as one of the planets), 
 Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the heaven of the fixed stars, and the 
 crystalline heaven, known as the Primum Mobile, because it 
 generates and controls the revolutions of the other heavens, 
 as it revolves from east to west in twenty-four hours. Above 
 all these is the Empyrean, motionless and boundless, the 
 special abode of God, and the eternal habitation of his saints. 
 According to Dante (Conv. II. 4, 14), the term Empyrean 
 signifies the heaven of flame; "flame," however, being under- 
 stood spiritually, as holy love. 
 
 Beneath the lowest of these heavens, the heaven of the 
 Moon, are four elemental spheres, forming a continuation of 
 the system of the heavens. The sphere of earth is succeeded 
 by that of water, followed by the spheres of air and fire, the 
 last being next below the Moon. The earth is within the 
 spheres of water and air, subject to variations of heat and 
 cold, wind and rain. The division appears on the Mount of 
 Purgatory in the southern hemisphere, where the sphere of 
 air extends as far as the end of Ante-Purgatory at the 
 gate of St. Peter, the entrance to Purgatory proper, at which 
 
4 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 point the sphere of fire begins, and all atmospheric disturb- 
 ances cease. See Purg. XXVIII. 97-103. 
 
 Hell and Purgatory, being situated in the earth, were 
 treated as geographical facts. According to the popular 
 belief, the earthly Eden or Paradise was in the extreme east, 
 probably owing to the mention of the Tigris (Hiddekel) and 
 Euphrates in Gen. II. 14. Dante sees these two rivers in the 
 Earthly Paradise on the summit of the Purgatorial Mount, 
 issuing from one source; an idea which may have been due 
 to the use of the singular number, "a river," in Gen. II. 10. 
 Dante's conception of Purgatory as a mountain crowned by 
 the Earthly Paradise was entirely original. 
 
 DANTE'S MORAL UNIVERSE 
 
 The Commedia is, before all else, a moral and religious 
 poem. Dante himself characterized it as "sacred" or "con- 
 secrated," and says that "simply considered, its subject is 
 The state of the soul after death : but allegorically taken, its 
 subject is man, according as he renders himself liable to the 
 reward or punishment of justice, by his good or ill deserts." 
 The honor of having been the first Christian poet has been 
 claimed, and with some plausibility, for Dante; but however 
 that may be, the deepest significance of the Commedia lies 
 in its being the story of the human soul in its relation to God. 
 It is not only that it originates in Christian sentiment; that ' 
 the facts of Christian history and the precepts of Christian 
 teaching are employed by way of allusion and illustration;— 
 but that it is Christian in its very fibre. Dealing primarily 
 with the state of the soul after death, it reflects in the various 
 phases of that state the multiform aspects of th^ life of kings, 
 statesmen, politicians, party-leaders, tyrants. Popes and 
 Cardinals, lords and ladies, soldiers, sages, poets, musicians, 
 money-changers — of the hundreds of characters, in short, 
 
INTRODUCTORY 5 
 
 which figured in the society of the Poet's own age and of 
 former ages. Thus it is a picture of mediaev al poUticg; of 
 statecraft and local intrigue; of the attitude and policy of the 
 Church; of the common life of citizens; of the greed and ex- 
 tortion of Popes; of the quarrels of nobles. It reflects the 
 theology, the art, the literature, the employments and diver- 
 sions, the ruling ideas, the virtues and the vices of its age. 
 It is the consummate expression of Mediaevalism. But un- 
 derlying all and through all is the story of the soul of man, 
 working out its relation to a divine law and a divine ideal. 
 It is the assertion of the prime significance of personal virtue 
 over against the eudaemonism of Paganism: of the dignity 
 of individual manhood over against the dignity of birth and 
 station: of moral beauty over against mere sensuous beauty. 
 All men, all ages, all conditions are swept within the lines of 
 the Kingdom of God: not only men and women, but even the 
 grotesque mythical monsters of the pagan world, and the 
 imaginary personages of classic drama and poetry. After 
 we have stripped Dante's Christian thought of its medisBval 
 excrescences, there still remain the eternal truths that God 
 is the absolute and rightful sovereign of the universe; that 
 loyalty to him is blessedness, and estrangement from hin^ 
 misery: the truths of faith, love, penitence, pardon, duty and 
 retribution. 
 
 God is the centre and mover and administrator of all 
 things. 
 
 " His glory who doth all things move pervades 
 The universe." 
 
 Even the economy of the physical universe obeys spiritual 
 laws. Theology blends with cosmogony. The influence of the 
 Primum Mobile extends downward through the fixed stars 
 to the different forms of existence in the other spheres. The 
 characters and destinies of men, primarily ordained by God, 
 
6 - THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 are shaped through the agency of the stars, yet not so as to 
 destroy human responsibUity. The Empyrean is without 
 motion because it is the special home of God, whereby 
 the desire implied in motion is satisfied. The velocity of 
 the Primum Mobile is due to intensity of desire to attain the 
 perfect rest of the Empyrean. Earth is the centre of the 
 heavens. The nearer the earth, the smaller the circuit and 
 the slower the rate of revolution; because proximity to the 
 earth implies corresponding remoteness from the heaven of 
 God. Swiftness of motion measures the love and the hap- 
 piness of glorified spuits. 
 
 The administration of himian affairs is, again, predomin- 
 antly moral and spiritual. It is carried on through two 
 agents— the Church and the Empire; but not so as that the 
 one is spiritual and the other temporal. Both are spiritual. 
 The Empire is a spiritual agency no less than the Church. 
 Dante held by the delusion of "the Holy Roman Empire": 
 that the Empire of Augustus and Vespasian and Constantine 
 was still perpetuated in the Hohenstauf en : that the Empire 
 as represented by the German kings was the direct and 
 legitimate successor of the dominion of the Caesars, and was 
 divinely entitled to the sovereignty of the world, since the 
 Roman Empire was ordained to that end by God. The 
 world was a monarchy, and that monarchy was moral and 
 spiritual. The Church and the Empire were its co-ordinate 
 factors, each keeping strictly within its own function; but 
 both functions were ultunately spiritual. Pope and Emperor 
 were alike God's Vicars. Dante calls the Emperor Henry VII. 
 "the Lord's Anointed," "the exalted offspring of Jesse," and 
 even "the Lamb of God." The city of Rome is the divinely- 
 decreed local centre of Church and Empire aUke. Dante says : 
 "A special origin and a special growth, thought out and or- 
 dained by God, was that of the Holy City. And certainly I 
 am of the firm opinion that the stones which form her walls 
 
INTRODUCTORY 7 
 
 are worthy of reverence; and the ground on which she stands 
 is worthy beyond all that has been preached and proved by 
 men." In Purg. XXXII. he speaks of "that Rome where 
 Christ is Roman." The German sovereigns are continually 
 being urged to return and fix their seat upon the shore of the 
 Tiber. 
 
 This ideal, utterly chimerical and impracticable as it was, 
 was to Dante more than a political theory. It was a religion. 
 In his eyes the Roman people were as truly God's chosen peo- 
 ple as the Jews. Roman history was sacred equally with 
 Jewish history. If Moses and Isaiah and Paul were "in- 
 spired," so were Vergil and Livy and Lucan. The term 
 "scripture" is applied indiscriminately to the Bible and to 
 Greek and Roman classics; and a quotation or illustration 
 from the Bible is usually supplemented with one from Greek 
 or Roman literature or history. 
 
 Accordingly unfaithfulness or treachery to the Empire in- 
 curs the divine displeasure. Dante describes it as blasphemy 
 of deed against God who 
 
 " made it holy for His use alone." 
 
 To be outside the Church is to be excluded from Heaven. 
 The celestial gate is closed against the heathen, however 
 virtuous or noble, and even against unbaptized infants. 
 One or two peculiar exceptions to this rule will be noted in 
 their place. 
 
 THE ALLEGORICAL CHARACTER OF THE 
 COMMEDIA 
 
 In reading the Commedia one must be continually on the 
 watch for double, triple, and even quadruple meanings "coiled 
 up" within the text. This enigmatical method was the pro- 
 duct of the practice of allegorical interpretation which pre- 
 
8 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 vailed at a very early date. It was applied to the poems of 
 Homer nearly four centuries before Christ, as a means of ex- 
 plaining or reconciling passages which clashed with the relig- 
 ious conceptions of the \\Titer's day. It was developed by 
 Philo in the first Christian century, as a means of reconciling 
 Jewish thought and institutions with Greek culture. It per- 
 vaded and shaped the Biblical exegesis of the Christian Fathers 
 of the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, and was perpetuated 
 by the scholastic theologians, such as Albertus Magnus, 
 Aquinas, and Bonaventura, all of whom were contemporary 
 with Dante, who was a careful student of Scripture, and was 
 familiar with their writings, besides being an enthusiastic 
 admirer of Augustine. It was no wonder that he was im- 
 bued with the idea of a fourfold sense in Scripture, and that 
 he conveyed it into his own poem. 
 
 He himself explains it in his letter to Can Grande della 
 Scala. He says: "The sense of this work is not simple but 
 manifold. One sense is literal, the other allegorical." He 
 adds also a moral and a mystical sense, but says that these 
 may be included under the allegorical. His illustration is 
 drawn from the second canto of the Purgatory. When 
 the disembodied spirits, ferried over the Southern Ocean, 
 approach the shore of Purgatory, they chant Psalm CXI V. : 
 "When Israel went out of Egj^t," etc. Literally, he says, 
 this means the exodus of the Hebrews from Egj^t: allegoric- 
 ally, our redemption by Christ: morally, the conversion of 
 the soul: mystically, the departure of the holy soul from the 
 bondage of the world to the liberty of heavenly glory. It 
 must be borne in mind, however, that the four senses prac- 
 tically resolve themselves into two, and that, usually, it is 
 sufl5cient to look for only a literal and an allegorical sense. 
 The latter it is not always easy to identify. This twofold 
 sense ansrs^ers to a double design pervading the Commedia 
 as a whole. In a literal sense it is Dante's own spiritual 
 
INTRODUCTORY 9 
 
 biography; in another sense it is the spiritual biography of 
 man as man. 
 
 DANTE'S HELL 
 
 Much ingenuity and labor have been expended in attempts 
 to trace Dante's general conception to particular sources, 
 and to refer this or that passage of the poem to some one of 
 
 Such efforts count for very little, especially when they go 
 to the length of denying to Dante the credit of originality. 
 If originality consisted only in novelty, no literary production 
 could be called original. Dante's originality is a point which 
 it is superfluous to discuss. 
 
 For centuries before Dante men's minds had been busy 
 with speculations upon the state of the dead, and their im- 
 agination had produced numerous pictures of Hell, Purgatory 
 and Paradise. Many legendary visions were current in the 
 Middle Ages, such as "The Vision of St. Paul," "The Voyage 
 of St. Brandan," "The Vision of Tundalus," "The Purgatory 
 of St. Patrick," "The Vision of Fra Alberico," and "The Vision 
 of Wettin." That many of these were known to Dante is 
 probable; but their material was held in solution in popular 
 mediaeval thought. That Dante's conception grew out of 
 this popular thought goes without saying. The conception of 
 a journey through the realm of the dead was^as^old'as Homer 
 TTnofolder; and formed a prominent feature in the ^Eneid 
 of Vergil, who was Dante's favorite poet and acknowledged 
 litera ry master. It is not difficult to discover resemblances 
 to the Commedia in Vergil and in these crude legends; but 
 Dante's originality is in nowise impugned by these resem- 
 ^ances. As D'Ancona remarks; "The subject belonged to 
 everybody and nobody. Dante, in appropriating it, put into 
 it what his predecessors had been unable to put — what he 
 
10 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 alone possessed. Many had already tried to describe the 
 
 pains of Hell and the joys of Heaven; and it did not require 
 
 a large stock of imagination to accumulate, in the description 
 
 of the former, torments, writhings, fire, ice, pitch, brimstone, 
 
 ^- serpents, monsters, demons; and in that of the latter, delights 
 
 / 1 and joys, lights, perfumes, songs and sounds; but n o one had 
 
 I fought of taking up that old, hackneyed theme, and making 
 
 JiLcepresent human life in all its forms and vicissitudes, from 
 
 / 4te^abyss of woe to the summit of felicity." 
 
 In the inscription over the gate of Hell with which the 
 third canto of the Inferno opens, we read: 
 
 "Before me there were no created things. 
 Save things eternal." 
 
 This means that Hell was created at the time of the fall of the 
 rebellious angels from Heaven, and when the only existing 
 , things were the "eternal things" — the angels and the celestial 
 ' spheres. Vergil's account of Jhe_prign_of HeU in Inf. 
 XXXrV. is not consistent with this, since it assumes that the 
 earth was created before the fall of Lucifer. This account 
 is that Lucifer, when hurled from Heaven, struck the earth 
 on the southern hemisphere, which at that time consisted 
 of land, and tore through it to the centre of the globe. 
 The land of the southern hemisphere retreated from him 
 in terror, and \\ithdrew to the northern hemisphere; and 
 the sea came up and covered the space which it left. Then, 
 when Lucifer was fixed at the centre, the earth fled away in 
 both directions; northward, forming the pit of Hell, and 
 southward, heaving up the mount of Purgatory amid the 
 southern waters, leaving behind it a narrow passage from 
 the centre of the earth to the base of the Purgatorial 
 Mount. 
 
 The general outUne of the infernal pit is that of an inverted 
 cone or a funnel, the interior circumference of which is divided 
 
INTRODUCTORY 11 
 
 into nine concentric "circles," subdivided, in some cases, into 
 minor circles or "rounds." 
 
 The nine circles are approached through a zone compassing 
 the outermost border of the pit, which is not included in the 
 enumeration of the circles, but which forms a kind of ves- 
 tibule, where dwell the souls of those angels who were neither 
 loyal to God nor openly rebellious; and of men who did 
 neither positive good nor positive evil; neutrals, whom 
 Heaven and Hell alike reject. 
 
 The first circle is known as Limbo, where are placed 
 unbaptized infants, and virtuous men and women of pre- 
 Christian times. Their only punishment is to live in eternal 
 longing without hope. 
 
 The torments begin with the second circle. The punish- 
 ments increase in severity with the descent. The classifica- 
 tion of sins is expounded by Vergil in Inf. XL, on which see 
 notes. 
 
 The nine circles fall into two great sections, the uppermost^ 
 devoted to sins of incontinence, the other to sins of malice. 
 The Incontinent occupy four circles, beginning with the 
 second. The sixth circle is included within the wall of the 
 City of Dis. This forms the division between the two great 
 sections, or between upper and lower Hell. This is the circle 
 of the Heretics, or, more strictly, the followers of the atheistic 
 Epicurus. 
 
 From the sixth circle a steep descent leads to the second 
 section, which extends to the bottom of the pit and is divided 
 between sins of violence and sins of fraud. The Violent 
 occupy the seventh circle, which contains three rounds, in 
 which, respectively, are punished the violent against their 
 neighbors, against themselves (suicides), and against God. 
 
 The eighth circle, known as Malebolge or Evil-pits, is 
 reached by a deep, cylindrical shaft, from the foot of which 
 proceeds a series of ten trenches, arranged on a do^^nward 
 
12 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 slope like the rows of an amphitheatre. These trenches, in 
 each of which is punished some form of fraud, are separated 
 by embankments, which are crossed by rough bridges of rock 
 springing from the wall which encompasses Malebolge, and 
 traversing the entire series of trenches, converging toward a 
 deep well at the bottom of the slope, like the spokes of a wheel 
 to the hub. 
 
 At the bottom of this well the ninth circle is reached, where 
 treachery, the worst form of fraud, is punished. This is a 
 region of eternal ice, and is divided into four rounds, the 
 lowest of which surrounds the apex of the infernal cone, where 
 Lucifer is eternally fixed. 
 
 Hell is traversed by a stream which appears at different 
 points under four different names : Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon, 
 and Cocytus. Acheron is crossed in passing from the ves- 
 tibule of the Neutrals to the first circle. In the fourth circle 
 the stream forms the filthy lagoon of Styx, across which 
 passage is made to the city of Dis. At the entrance to the 
 third round of the seventh circle, it appears as Phlegethon, a 
 river of blood; and finally in the ninth circle, forming the 
 frozen lake of Cocytus. 
 
 Each of the nine circles is presided over by a demon or 
 monster, or several of them, all of whom are mythological 
 creations of the ancient world. There are Charon, Minos, 
 Cerberus, Plutus, Phlegyas, the Furies, the Minotaur, Geryon, 
 and the giants which surround the lowest well,— Nimrod, 
 Briareus, Ephialtes, Typhoeus and Antaeus. 
 
 Hell is a state of final, endless, hopeless suffering. The 
 punishment of sin is both spiritual and corporeal. The 
 damned suffer the pangs of regret, of longing for the world 
 which they have left, of unsatisfied vengeance upon those who 
 have wronged them, of hatred of each other, and of impotent 
 rage against God. They have bodies which cast no shadow, 
 but which display frightful mutilations. They suffer from 
 
INTRODUCTORY 13 
 
 heat and cold; they are torn by thorns, pursued and rent by 
 hell-hounds, transformed into serpents, and tortured with 
 itching sores. Dante's representations concerning their bod- 
 ily investiture are, however, scarcely consistent. When he 
 would embrace Casella in Purgatory, his arms clasp vacancy; 
 but in the lowest Hell he seizes Bocca by the hair, and tears 
 it out by handfuls. The subject of these bodies was much 
 discussed by the scholastic theologians. Vergil in Purg. III. 
 declares it to be a mystery which God has not chosen to 
 reveal. Statins, in Purg. XXV., attempts a metaphysical 
 explanation, which, as might be expected, is vague and 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 Dante's personality is so wrought into the fibre of the 
 Commedia, that some knowledge of his biography is indis- 
 pensable to an intelligent reading of the poem. 
 
 The scanty materials for his personal history are derived 
 from four sources: his own works; contemporary documents 
 relating to himself and his family; the ancient commentators; 
 the ancient biographies. 
 
 The commentators are, of course, unavailable to those un- 
 acquainted with Italian, with the exception of Benvenuto da 
 Imola, the first public lecturer on Dante at Bologna, in 1375. 
 The substance of his lectures is given in the six volumes 
 of "Readings" by the Hon. William Warren Vernon. The 
 contemporary documents are richer in the illustration of the 
 general political and social relations of Dante's time than in 
 personal details. The matter derived from these sources is 
 scattered through numerous magazines and monographs. 
 Much of it, originally published in the "BuUetino" of the 
 Italian Dante Society, has been reprinted in the " Transac- 
 tions of the American Dante Society." 
 
14 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 All of Dante's own writings are accessible in English trans- 
 lations, as follows: 
 
 " Lyric Poems," by Charles Lyell, London, 1835; D. G. Ros- 
 setti, Lond., 1861; E. H. Plumptre, in the second volume of 
 his Translation of the Commedia, Lond. and Boston, 1886-88. 
 There are numerous versions of single Sonnets by diiTerent 
 authors, as Percy Bysshe Shelley, H. F. Cary, J. R. Lowell, 
 T. W. Parsons, C. E. Norton, Katharine Hillard. Many may 
 be found in S. Waddington's "Sonnets of Europe," 1886. 
 
 "Vita Nuova," by Sir Theodore Martin, Lond., 1862; D. 
 G. Rossetti, Lond., 1874, and included in his collected works, 
 Lond., 1890; Charles Eliot Norton, Boston, 1867; C. S. Bos- 
 well, Lond., 1895. 
 
 " De Vulgari Eloquentia," by A. G. F. HoweU, Lond., 1890. 
 
 "Convivio," by Charles Lyell, Lond., 1842; Elizabeth P. 
 Sayer, Lond., 1887; Katharine Hillard, Lond., 1889. 
 
 "De Monarchia," by F. J. Church, Lond., 1879; Aurelia 
 Henry, Boston, 1904. 
 
 "Letters," by Charles Latham, Boston, 1891. "Epistle 
 to Can Grande," by Katharine Hillard, in her version of the 
 " Convivio." 
 
 Of the old biographers the earliest and most important is 
 Giovanni Villani, in his "Florentine Chronicles," B. IV., 
 Ch. 136. He furnishes a mere outline of Dante's life, with 
 a brief estimate of his character and writings. An English 
 version is given in " Selections from the Croniche Florentine 
 of VUlani," Rose E. Selfe, ed. by P. H. Wicksteed, West- 
 minster, 1897. 
 
 The biographies by Boccaccio and Lionardo Bruni are 
 translated in "A Provisional Translation of the Early Lives 
 of Dante," by P. H. Wicksteed, 1898. 
 
 A valuable critical resume of the five earlier Biographies 
 of Dante is given in Dr. Edward Moore's "Dante and his 
 Early Biographers," Lond., 1890. 
 
INTRODUCTORY 15 
 
 The more elaborate biographies are mostly m German. 
 Such are those of L. G. Blanc, Franz Xaver Wegele, G. A. 
 Scartazzini, Franz Xaver Kraus. A very full and careful 
 biography is prefixed to Dean Plumptre's translation of the 
 Commedia. 
 
 Valuable biographical matter will be found in the following: 
 "Companion to Dante," translated from G. A. Scartazzini by 
 Arthur J. Butler, Lond., 1893. This is substantially the same 
 as the "Dante Handbook," by G. A. Scartazzini and Thomas 
 Davidson, Boston, 1887. "Dante, his Times and Work," by 
 Arthur J. Butler, Lond., 1895 (for beginners). "Life of 
 Dante Alighieri," by Paget Toynbee, Lond., 1900. 
 
 A convenient outline is given by Edmund G. Gardner in 
 "Dante," one of the series of "Temple Primers." 
 
 Every student should be familiar with the admirable 
 essay on Dante by James Russell Lowell, in the second 
 series of "Among my Books," Boston, 1876, and with that 
 of Dean R. W. Church, in "Dante and Other Essays," Lond. 
 and N. Y., 1901. 
 
 Histories of Florence are those of Henry Edward Napier, 
 Lond., 1846-47; F. A. Hyett, 1903; Dr. Robert Davidsohn 
 (German), Berlin, 1896—. 
 
\'% 
 
INFERNO 
 
 CANTO I 
 
 Dante, lost and bewildered, finds himself in a dark and savage 
 forest. Escaping from this, he makes his way to the foot of a 
 hill which he endeavors to ascend. He is met by three beasts, a 
 panther, a lion, and a she-wolf, which drive him back to the foot 
 of the ascent. Here he meets the shade of Vergil, to whom he 
 appeals for aid. Vergil proposes to deliver him by conducting 
 him through Hell and Purgatory, and afterward committing him 
 to the charge of Beatrice, who will be his guide through Heaven. 
 Dante departs in his company. 
 
 Midway upon the journey of our life, a 
 I found myself within a forest dark, u 
 For the right road was lost. Ah! what it was — c 
 That savage wood, bristling and obstinate, 
 Which in the very thought renews the fear, — 
 How hard a thing it is to tell! so great 
 The bitterness, that death is little more. r 
 
 But to discourse about the good I found 
 Therein, I will recount the other things 
 10 Which there I marked. How first I entered there 
 I cannot well relate, I was so full 
 Of drowsiness, that moment when I left 
 The path of truth: but when I to the foot 
 Had come of an ascent, where to an end 
 That valley came which had my heart harassed 
 With fear, I upward looked, and mantled now 
 Beheld its shoulders with that planet's rays 
 Which rightly guides men upon every path. 
 My fear was then a little pacified, 
 
 17 
 
18 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 20 Which, through the night passed in such piteous wise, 
 In my heart's lake had lingered; and as he 
 Who from the deep comes panting forth to shore, 
 And turns him to the dangerous sea, and stares. 
 E'en so my mind, still speeding onward, turned 
 Again, to view the pass which never one 
 Did living leave. When I a httle rest 
 Had given to my wearied frame, again 
 Along the solitary slope I took 
 My way, in such wise that the firmer foot 
 
 30 Ever the lower was; and lo! wellnigh 
 At the beginning of the steep, a pard, 
 Nunble and very swift, all covered o'er 
 With spotted hair; and from before my face 
 She did not move; nay, so she blocked my way, 
 That often to go back I turned me round. 
 The time was break of morning, and the sun 
 Was mounting upward, with those stars that were 
 With him, when Love divine set moving first 
 Those beauteous things; so that the hour of day, 
 
 40 And the sweet time of year awoke in me 
 
 Good hope of that wild beast with dappled skin. 
 Yet not so much that did not cause me fear 
 The aspect of a lion which met my eyes. 
 Coming against me he appeared to be. 
 With head erect and hunger ravenous. 
 So that the air appeared afraid of him: 
 And a she-wolf that, in her meagreness, 
 Seemed with all cravings laden, and has made 
 Wretched already many people's Kves. 
 
 50 So much distress that beast afforded me 
 With the dismay that from her aspect came. 
 That hope of scaling the ascent I lost. 
 And such as he who gladly gathers gain, 
 
INFERNO I 19 
 
 And when the time arrives which makes him lose, 
 Weeps, and in all his thoughts is sorrowful, 
 Such made of me that beast implacable, 
 Which, right against me coming, pushed me back, 
 Little by little, where the sun is mute. 
 While I was in the valley blundering, 
 
 60 Before my eyes one showed himself, -who seemed 
 Faint from long silence. When I saw him there 
 In the great desert, "Pity me!" I cried, 
 "Whate'er thou be, or shade, or real man." 
 "Not man," he answered me; "I once was man. 
 And Lombards were my parents, and of both 
 The native place was Mantua. Though late, 
 Sub Julio I was born, and lived at Rome 
 Under the good Augustus, in the time 
 Of the false, lying deities. I was 
 
 70 A poet, and Anchises' upright son 
 I sang, who after Ihum proud was laid 
 In ashes, came from Troy. But thou, why back 
 To such vexation art thou going? Why 
 Dost not thou climb the Mountain of DeHght, 
 Which is the source and cause of every joy?" 
 "Art thou that Vergil then, that fount which pours 
 So copious a stream of speech abroad?" 
 With brow abashed I answered him. "0 thou, 
 The light and honor of the other bards, 
 
 80 May the long study and the ardent love 
 
 Avail me, which have made me search thy book. 
 Thou art my master and my model thou. 
 From thee alone that graceful style I took. 
 The which has done me honor. See that beast 
 Because of which I turned! sage renowned. 
 Save me from her; for she with tremor fills 
 My veins and pulses." When he saw me weep, 
 
20 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 He said: "Thou needs must go another road, 
 If thou wouldst from this savage place escape: 
 90 Because this beast at which thou criest out, 
 Allows not men to pass her way, but so 
 Impedes them, that she kills them; and she has 
 A nature so malign and bad, that ne'er 
 Her ravening greed is sated; and when fed. 
 She is more hungry than before. She weds 
 With many an animal, and will with more. 
 Until shall come the Greyhound, who with pain 
 Will make her die. Not land or pelf shall be 
 His fare, but wisdom, valor, love. Between 
 
 100 Feltro and Feltro shall his nation be. 
 Of that low-lying Italy he will 
 Be the salvation, for the sake of which 
 Camilla, virgin, died, and of their wounds 
 Turnus, and Nisus, and Euryalus. 
 Through every town he will give chase to her, 
 Till he have put her into Hell again. 
 Whence Envy at the first did set her loose. 
 I therefore, for thy profit, think and judge 
 That thou shouldst follow me, and I will be 
 
 110 Thy guide, and hence through an eternal place 
 Conduct thee, where thou the despairing shrieks 
 Shalt hear, and in their misery shalt see 
 The ancient spirits, each of whom cries out 
 Upon the second death. And thou shalt see 
 Those who are in the fire content, because. 
 Whene'er the time may be, they hope to come 
 To where the blessed are: to whom if thou 
 Wouldst afterward ascend, for that shall be 
 A spirit worthier than I assigned; 
 
 120 And I with her will leave thee when I part. 
 For since I was rebellious to his law, 
 
INFERNO I 21 
 
 That Emperor who there above bears rule 
 Decrees that with my escort none shall come 
 Into his city. He in every place 
 Governs, and there he reigns: his city there, 
 There his exalted seat: happy he 
 Whom he elects thereto!" And I to him: 
 "0 Poet, by that God thou didst not know, 
 In order that I may escape this ill, 
 130 And worse, I pray thee lead me to that place 
 Which thou just now didst mention; so that I 
 May see Saint Peter's gate, and those whom thou 
 Describest as so sad." Then he moved on, 
 And following after him I held my way. 
 
CANTO II 
 
 Dante prepares for his journey. The Muses are invoked. Dant 
 is haunted ivith misgivings. Vergil rebukes his cowardice 
 and relates how Beatrice visited him in Limbo, and sent hin 
 to Dante's aid. Dante declares himself encouraged and read\ 
 to set out. 
 
 Day was departing, and the dusky air 
 
 Releasing from their toils the animals 
 
 Which are on earth; and I, all, all alone, 
 
 Prepared myself to undergo the stress 
 
 Both of the journey and the suffering. 
 
 Which memory that errs not shall portray. 
 
 Now Muses, aid me! Lofty genius, aid! 
 
 Memory, who hast written what I saw, 
 
 Here shall thy nobleness be manifest. 
 10 1 thus began: "Poet, who guidest me, 
 
 Consider well my power if it suffice. 
 
 Ere thou commit me to the arduous road. 
 
 Thou sayest Silvius' father, mortal still, 
 
 Went to the world immortal, and was there 
 
 Bodily-wise. If gracious then to him 
 
 The Adversary of all evil was, — 
 
 Considering the great result, from him 
 
 Destined to issue, and the who and what, — 
 
 This, to a man of understanding, seems 
 20 Not unbefitting; for of sacred Rome 
 
 And of her empire, he, in highest Heaven, 
 
 Was chosen to be father; both of which. 
 
 To say the truth, were for the holy place 
 
 Decreed, where he who the successor is 
 
 Of greater Peter, sits. Things which the cause 
 
 22 
 
INFERNO II 23 
 
 Were of his triumph and the papal robe, 
 
 He learned upon that journey, for the which 
 
 Thou dost extol him. Thither, afterward. 
 
 The ^chosen vessel' went, to bring back thence 
 30 A confirmation to that faith wherein 
 
 Salvation's way begins. But as to me, 
 
 Why go I thither, or who suffers it? 
 
 Aeneas I am not, nor am I Paul: 
 
 Worthy of this nor I nor others deem me. 
 
 And therefore, if I yield myself to go, 
 
 I fear my going may be folly. Thou 
 
 Art wise, and knowest better than I speak." 
 
 And as he is who what he willed unwills. 
 
 And changes his design on second thought, 
 40 So that he wholly quits what he began, — 
 
 Such I became upon that hillside dim. 
 
 Because, in thinking, I forsook the emprise, 
 
 Which was begun so hastily. "If I 
 
 Have rightly understood thy words," replied 
 
 That shade of the high-minded one, " thy soul 
 
 By cowardice is staggered, which, ofttimes. 
 
 Cumbers a man so that it turns him back 
 
 From noble enterprise, as, when it shies. 
 
 False-seeing does a beast. That from this fear 
 50 Thou mayst be freed, I'll tell thee why I came. 
 
 And what I heard at the first moment when 
 
 Sorrow I felt for thee. I was with those 
 
 Who are suspended between joy and woe; 
 
 And me a lady called, so blest and fair. 
 
 That her commands I begged to know. Her eyes 
 
 Shone brighter than the star; and she began, 
 
 With voice angelic in her speech, to say, 
 
 Softly and low, to me: '0 Mantuan soul. 
 
 Courteous, whose fame still in the world survives. 
 
24 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 And will endure so long as motion lasts, — 
 My friend, not Fortune's friend, is, on his way 
 Upon the desert slope, so hindered, that 
 For fright he has turned back; and I do fear, 
 From what I have in Heaven heard of him, 
 That he ah-eady is so far astray. 
 That I have risen too late to succor him. 
 Now do thou move; and with thine ornate speech, 
 And with whate'er for his dehverance 
 Is needful, aid him so, that I may be 
 
 70 Consoled thereby. I who am sending thee 
 Am Beatrice. From a place I am come 
 Whither I would return. Love prompted me, 
 Which makes me speak. Ofttimes, when I shall be 
 Before my Lord, I will commend thee to him.' 
 Then she was silent, and I straight began: 
 *Lady of virtue, thou through whom alone 
 The human race surpasses all contained 
 Within that heaven which has the smallest orb, 
 So grateful to me thy conmiandment is, 
 
 80 That my obedience, even though it were 
 Already rendered, would be slow to me. 
 For thee to open further thy desire 
 To me, there is no need. But tell me what 
 The cause is that thou dost not hesitate 
 Down hither to this centre to descend. 
 From the vast region whither to return 
 Thou burnest.' 'Since a knowledge so profound 
 Thou dost desire,' she answered, 'I will tell. 
 Briefly, to thee why I am not afraid 
 
 90 To enter here. Those things alone which have 
 The power to injure people should be feared: 
 And not the rest, for dreadful they are not. 
 Such, in his goodness, I am made by God, 
 
INFERNO II 25 
 
 That me your misery does not affect, 
 Nor of this burning does the flame assail. 
 In Heaven is a noble dame, who grieves 
 So sorely for this hindrance whereunto 
 I send thee, that, up yonder, judgment stern 
 She breaks. To Lucia she betook herself 
 
 100 In her petition, saying: 'Now of thee 
 
 Thy faithful one has need, and to thy charge 
 
 I do commit him.' Lucia, enemy 
 
 Of every cruel thing, bestirred herself, 
 
 And to the place repaired where I was sitting 
 
 With ancient Rachel, and she said to me: 
 
 'Beatrice, God's true praise, why dost thou not 
 
 Fly to the help of him who loved thee so. 
 
 That he for thee forsook the vulgar throng? "" 
 
 Hearest thou not how piteous is his plaint? 
 
 110 Dost thou not see the death that battle joins 
 With him, upon the stream o'er which the sea 
 No vantage has?' On earth were never folk 
 So swift to make their gain or flee their hurt, 
 As I to come, after these words were said, 
 Down hither from my blessed seat, my trust 
 Reposing in thy sterling speech, which does 
 Honor to thee and to thy listeners.' 
 This said, she turned away her sparkling eyes, 
 Weeping, whereby she made me hasten more 
 
 120 To come; and thus, as she desired, I came 
 To thee. I took thee from before that beast 
 That stopped thy going to the mountain fair 
 By the short road. What is it then? Why, why 
 Dost thou delay? Why dost thou in thy heart 
 Such cowardice invite? Why hast thou not 
 Daring and bold assurance, when for thee 
 In Heaven's court are three such blessed dames 
 
26 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Concerned, and so much benefit to thee 
 
 My speech engages?" As the flowrets, bowed 
 
 130 And closed by chill of night, erect themselves 
 All open on their stems, when whitens them 
 The sun,— thus I revived my flagging power, 
 And such good courage flowed into my heart, 
 That like to one emboldened I began: 
 "0 she compassionate that succored me. 
 And coiu-teous thou who promptly didst obey 
 The truthful words which she addressed to thee, 
 Thou hast disposed my heart with such desire 
 To go, by what thou sayest, that I have 
 
 140 Returned to my first purpose. Forward now. 
 For one sole will is in us both. Thou art 
 The Leader, thou the Lord, the Master thou." 
 Thus I to him; and when he had moved on, 
 I entered by the steep and savage way. 
 
CANTO III 
 
 Dante reads the inscription over the gate of Hell. He is troubled 
 by the words, but is comforted by Vergil. They enter the gate. 
 Vergil describes the character and punishment of the neutral 
 spirits. They see a banner running swiftly round the circle 
 followed by a train of spirits. The shade of Pope Celestine V.. 
 Acheron and Charon. Charon warns Dante away, but is 
 quieted by Vergil. The spirits on the bank enter Charon's 
 boat. An earthquake-shock and a great wind are felt, and 
 Dante falls senseless. 
 
 Through me the way is to the city sad, 
 Through me the way is to eternal woe, 
 Through me the way among the people lost. 
 Justice did my exalted maker move; 
 Omnipotence divine created me, 
 Wisdom supreme, and love original. 
 Before me there were no created things. 
 Save things eternal, and i last forever: 
 All hope abandon ye who enter here! 
 
 10 These words, in color dark, above a gate 
 
 I saw inscribed; and thereupon I said: 
 
 "Master, they bear a grievous sense to me." 
 
 And he to me, as one expert, replied: 
 
 "Here all suspicion must be left behind: 
 
 All cowardice must be extinguished here: 
 
 We to the place are come where I have told thee 
 
 That thou shouldst see the people woe-begone, 
 
 Who have the good of understanding lost." 
 
 And after he had laid his hand on mine, 
 20 With cheerful countenance, which heartened me, 
 
 Within he brought me, to the secret things. 
 
 27 
 
28 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Here through the starless air resounded sighs, 
 Laments, and wailings shrill, whence I, at first, 
 Began to weep. Strange languages, and tongues 
 Horrible, words of anguish, tones of wrath, 
 And voices loud and faint, and sound of hands 
 With these, a tumult made which, endlessly, 
 Is swirling in that air of timeless gloom, 
 Like sand which eddies at the whirlwind's blast. 
 
 30 And I, my head begirt with horror, said: 
 "Master, what is it that I hear, and who 
 Are they that seem so overcome with pain?" 
 And he to me: "The wretched souls of those 
 Whose hves devoid of infamy and praise 
 Were spent, maintain this miserable way. 
 They are commingled with that evil band 
 Of angels, who nor rebels were, nor true 
 To God, but who were by themselves. The Heavens 
 Expelled them, not to be less beautiful; 
 
 40 And the deep Hell receives them not, because 
 
 The damned would have somewhat to boast of them/ 
 
 And I: "My Master, what distress so sore 
 
 Is theirs, that makes them mourn so bitterly?" 
 
 "Full briefly," he replied, "I'll tell it thee. 
 
 No hope of death have these, and their bUnd life 
 
 Is so debased, that they are envious 
 
 Of every other lot. Repute of them 
 
 The world allows not to exist. AUke 
 
 Mercy and Justice spurn them. Let us not 
 
 60 Talk about them, but look, and pass them by." 
 And I who looked, a banner saw, which ran, 
 Whirling, so swiftly that it seemed to spurn 
 All pause; and after it so long a train 
 Of people came, that I would ne'er have deemed 
 That death so many had undone. When some 
 
INFERNO III 29 
 
 I there had recognized, I saw and knew 
 
 The shade of him who made, through cowardice, 
 
 The great refusal. I perceived forthwith 
 
 And was assured that this the company 
 60 Was of the caitiffs, hateful both to God, 
 
 And to his enemies. These wretches, who 
 
 Ne'er were alive, were naked, and were much 
 
 By gadflies goaded, and by wasps, which had 
 
 Their dwelling there. Their faces these bedewed 
 
 With blood, which, mixed with tears, was at their feet 
 
 Gathered by loathsome worms. And when I turned 
 
 My gaze beyond, a crowd upon the bank 
 
 Of a great stream I saw; whereat I said: 
 
 "Now Master grant to me that I may know 
 70 Who these are, and what usage makes them seem 
 
 So ready to pass over, as I see 
 
 By the dim Hght." And he to me: "These things 
 
 Will be made known to thee, when we shall stay 
 
 Our steps on the sad shore of Acheron." 
 
 Then with abashed and downcast eyes, for fear 
 
 My talking had been wearisome to him. 
 
 As far as to the river I refrained 
 
 From speaking. And behold, an old man, white 
 
 With locks of age, toward us, in a boat 
 80 Coming, and crying: "Woe to you, bad souls! 
 
 Hope never to see Heaven! I come to bring 
 
 You to the other shore, into the gloom 
 
 Eternal, into heat and into frost. 
 
 And thou, thou living soul there, from those dead 
 
 Begone!" But seeing that I did not go, 
 
 He said: "By other way, by other ports. 
 
 Thou to the shore shalt come; to pass, not here. 
 
 A Hghter boat must bear thee." And to him 
 
 My Guide: "Charon, vex not thyself: it is 
 
30 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 90 So willed, there where is power to perform 
 That which is willed : and further question not." 
 After these words, quiet the fleecy chaps 
 Were, of the pilot of the livid marsh. 
 Who round about his eyes had wheels of flame. 
 But those tired, naked souls their color changed, 
 And gnashed their teeth, soon as the cruel words 
 They heard. God and their parents they blasphemed; 
 The human kind, the place, the time, the seed 
 Of their engendering and of their birth. 
 
 100 Then, weeping bitterly, they all repaired 
 Together to the shore accurst, which waits 
 Each man that fears not God. Charon the fiend, 
 With fiery eyes, beckoning, collects them all, 
 Beats with his oar each one who tries to sit. 
 As, one the other following, the leaves 
 Detach themselves in Autumn, till the branch 
 Sees all its spoils upon the ground, — just so 
 The evil seed of Adam, one by one. 
 Cast themselves at his signals from that shore, 
 
 110 Like bird at its recall: so on their way 
 
 O'er the dark wave they go, and ere they land 
 Upon the farther side, on this side is 
 Assembled a fresh company. "My son," 
 The courteous Master said: "All those who die 
 Under the wrath of God, from every landf 
 Assemble here, and eager are to cross 
 The stream, because God's justice spurs them so, 
 That fear is changed to longing. A good soul 
 Doth never pass this way. If then Charon 
 
 120 Complain of thee, thou now canst understand 
 Full well the import of his words." This said. 
 The gloomy plain so violently shook. 
 That even now the memory of my fright 
 
INFERNO III 31 
 
 Bathes me with sweat. The tearful land gave forth 
 A wind that flashed a crimson light, which all 
 My senses overpowered, and like a man 
 Whom slumber seizes suddenly, I fell. 
 
CANTO IV 
 
 Dante is awakened from his swoon by a heavy thunder-peal. He 
 finds himself on the brink of the first circle. Limbo. A bright 
 light is seen in the distance, and as Dante and Vergil approach 
 it they are met by four great poets who salute Vergil. They 
 welcome Dante as one of their member. They all arrive at a great 
 castle, within which is a green meadow, where are seen numerous 
 spirits of famous persons. The company separates, and Vergil 
 leads Dante to the second circle. 
 
 A heavy thunder broke the slumber deep 
 
 Within my head, so that I roused myself, 
 
 Like to a person who by force is waked: 
 
 And, risen upright, my rested eye I moved 
 
 Around me, and intently gazed to know 
 
 The place in which I was. Upon the brink, 
 
 In sooth, I found me of the woful vale 
 
 Of the abyss, which thunder gathers up 
 
 Of endless wails. So dark and deep it was, 
 10 So full of cloud, that though I fixed my gaze 
 
 Upon the depth, I nothing there descried. 
 
 "Now here below into the world obscure 
 
 Let us descend:" began the Bard, all pale. 
 
 "I will be first, and thou shalt second be." 
 
 And I, who had remarked his color, said: 
 
 "How shall I come if thou art fearful— thou 
 
 Who comfort in my doubt art wont to be?" 
 
 And he to me: "The anguish of the folk 
 
 Who are down here, depicts upon my face 
 20 The pity which thou dost mistake for fear. 
 
 Let us go on: the long way calls for haste." 
 
 And into the first cu-cle which engirds 
 
 The gulf, he thus did put hunself, and thus 
 
 32 
 
INFERNO IV 33 
 
 He made me enter. Here there was no plaint, 
 
 So far as one could hear, except of sighs 
 
 Which made the air eternal shake; and this 
 
 Arose from sorrow without torment, which 
 
 Suffered the crowds so numerous and great, 
 
 Of women, babes, and men. The master good 
 30 To me: "Dost not thou ask what souls are these 
 
 Whom thou beholdest? I would have thee know, 
 
 Now, ere thou goest on, these did not sin: 
 
 And though they have deserts, 'tis not enough. 
 
 Because they had not baptism, which is part 
 
 Of that faith which thou boldest; and if they 
 
 Were before Christianity, to God 
 
 They rendered not due worship; and of these 
 
 Am I myself: we for defects like these. 
 
 Are lost, and not for other guiltiness; 
 40 And only harmed so far that without hope. 
 
 We live in longing." Hearing this, great grief 
 
 Laid hold upon my heart, because I knew 
 
 Most worthy folk who in that Limbo were 
 
 Suspended. "Say to me, Master mine, 
 
 Sir, tell me," I began, moved by desire 
 
 To be assured respecting that belief 
 
 Which every doubt subdues,— "Did ever one, 
 
 By his own merit or another's, go 
 
 Forth from this place, who afterward was blest?" 
 50 And he, who did my covert speech detect, 
 
 Replied: "I was a novice in this state. 
 
 When hither I saw come a mighty one, 
 
 With sign of triumph crowned. Hence he drew forth 
 
 The shade of our first parent, of his son, 
 
 Abel, and that of Noah; of Moses too. 
 
 The legislator, and obedient; 
 
 Abraham, patriarch, and David, king; 
 
34 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And Israel, with his father and his sons, 
 Along with Rachel, for whose sake he did 
 
 60 So much; and many more, and made them blest 
 And I would have thee know that, before these, 
 No human souls were saved." We, for his talk. 
 Did not cease going on, but all the while. 
 The wood were traversing, the wood, I mean, 
 Of crowded spirits. Far we had not gone. 
 As yet, from where I slumbered, when I saw 
 A fire, which overcame a hemisphere 
 Of darkness. We were still a little way 
 From this, but not so far that I did not 
 
 70 Partly discern what honorable folk 
 
 Possessed that place. "0 thou who dost adorn 
 
 Each art and science, who are these who have 
 
 Such mark of honor, that it separates 
 
 Them from the fashion of the rest?" And he: 
 
 "Their honorable fame, which, in thy life 
 
 Above, is heard, in Heaven favor wins 
 
 For them, which thus advances them." Meanwhile, 
 
 A voice was heard by me: "All honor be 
 
 To the illustrious Poet. Back to us 
 
 80 His shade is come which had departed." When 
 The voice had ceased and quiet was, I saw 
 Four grand shades coming to us, in then* mien 
 Nor sorrowful nor glad. The kindly Master 
 Began to say: "Him with that sword in hand 
 Behold, who as a lord precedes the three. 
 That one is Homer, prince of bards: the next 
 That comes, is Horace, moralist: the third 
 Is Ovid, and the last is Lucan. Since 
 Each shares with me the name that single voice 
 
 90 Proclaimed, they do me honor, and therein 
 Do well." Thus, of those lords of loftiest song 
 
INFERNO IV 35 
 
 Which, like an eagle, soars above the rest, 
 
 The goodly school I saw assembled. They, 
 
 After they had together talked awhile, 
 
 With gesture of salute toward me turned; 
 
 And at so much respect my Master smiled. 
 
 And much more honor still they paid to me; 
 
 For of their band they made me, so that I 
 
 'Mid so much wisdom was the sixth. We thus 
 100 Far as the light went on, with talk of things 
 
 Whereof is silence seemly, as was speech 
 
 There where I was. We at the foot arrived 
 
 Of a grand castle, circled seven times 
 
 With lofty walls, and by a streamlet fair 
 
 Defended round about. O'er this we passed, 
 
 As over solid ground. Through seven gates 
 
 I entered with those sages. To a mead 
 
 Of verdure fresh we came. Upon it were 
 
 People with eyes deliberate and grave, 
 110 And in their looks of great authority. 
 
 They spake but seldom, and with voices soft. 
 
 We therefore on one side withdrew ourselves 
 
 Into a place that open was, and light, 
 
 And lofty, so that they could all be seen. 
 
 There, opposite, on the enamel green, 
 
 Were shown me the great souls, whom having seen, 
 
 I in myself exult thereat. I saw 
 
 Electra, with companions numerous. 
 
 And among them I Hector recognized, 
 120 iEneas too, and Caesar, falcon-eyed, 
 
 In arms: Camilla and Penthesilea 
 
 I saw; and on the other side, the king 
 
 Latinus, who did with his daughter sit, 
 
 Lavinia; Brutus, Tarquin's banisher; 
 
 Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia: 
 
36 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And Saladin, alone, aside, I saw. 
 When I had raised my eyes a little higher, 
 The master I beheld of those who know. 
 Amid a philosophic household sit. 
 
 130 All gaze at him: all pay him honor: here 
 I Socrates and Plato saw, who are 
 In front of all the rest, and nearest him : 
 Democritus, who lays the world to chance, 
 And Anaxagoras, Diogenes, 
 Thales, and Zeno, and Empedocles, 
 And Heraclitus: Dioscorides, 
 Good gatherer of qualities, I saw; 
 And Orpheus, Tully, moral Seneca, 
 And Linus; EucUd the geometer, 
 
 140 And Galen, Ptolemy, Hippocrates, 
 And Avicenna, and Averroes 
 Who the great Comment made: of all in full 
 I cannot give account; for the long theme 
 So drives me on, that, often, of the fact 
 The words come short. To two diminishes 
 The group of six; and me the guide discreet 
 Forth from the calm leads, by another road. 
 Into the air that trembles; and I come 
 Into a place where nought illuminates. 
 
CANTO V 
 
 The entrance to the second circle. Minos. He warns Dante 
 against entering. The two poets come to a place utterly dark, 
 and resounding with the roar of a hurricane which drives the 
 spirits before it. Vergil tells Dante that these are the spirits 
 of the luxurious and licentious, and points out several of them 
 by name. Francesca da Rimini and her lover. Francesca 
 tells her story, and Dante, overcome with pity, falls senseless. 
 
 From the first circle thus did I descend 
 
 Into the second, which less space engirds, 
 
 But suffering so much greater, that it goads 
 
 To wailing. Minos there, in fearful wise. 
 
 Stands with a snarl, and at the entrance tries 
 
 Transgressions, judgment gives, and downward sends 
 
 According as he girds himself. I mean. 
 
 That when into his presence comes the soul 
 
 To evil born, it full confession makes; 
 10 And that discerner of transgressions sees 
 
 What is its place in Hell, and with his tail, 
 
 As many times as the degrees he wills 
 
 That downward it be sent, engirds himself. 
 
 Always before him many of them are : 
 
 Each in its turn to judgment goes: they speak. 
 
 And hear, and then below are hurled. "0 thou 
 
 That comest to the doleful inn," to me 
 
 Said Minos when he saw me, the discharge 
 
 Of so grave office leaving,— " take good care 
 20 How here thou enterest, and in whom thy trust 
 
 Thou puttest. Let the entry's amplitude 
 
 Deceive thee not." To him my Guide replied: 
 
 " Why art thou also clamoring? Do not 
 
 37 
 
38 THE DIVINE COMEDY . 
 
 Hinder his destined journey. So 'tis willed 
 Where what is willed there is the power to do: 
 And ask no more." Now do the notes of woe 
 Begin to force themselves upon my ear. 
 Now I am come where lamentation great 
 Smites me. A place I reached, of every light 
 
 30 Deprived, which bellows as the ocean does 
 In tempest, when assailed by warring winds. 
 The infernal hurricane which never rests. 
 Carries along the spirits in its sweep. 
 And with its whirl and scourge harasses them. 
 There are, when they before its rush arrive. 
 Shrieks, plaining, lamentation; there they curse 
 The power divine. I understood that doomed 
 To torment such the carnal sinners are. 
 Who reason to the appetite subject. 
 
 40 And as their wings the starlings bear along, 
 In the cold season, in a broad, dense flock,— 
 So does that blast those evil spirits bear. 
 It sways them to and fro, and up and down, 
 Forevermore unsoothed by hope of rest. 
 Or milder penalty: and as the cranes 
 Go trumpeting their plaintive cry, in air 
 Making a long hne of themselves, so I 
 Beheld, with long-drawn wails advancing, shades 
 Swept on by that same tempest; whereupon 
 
 50 I said: "My Master, who are yonder folk 
 
 Whom the black air thus lashes?" Then to me 
 
 He said: "The first of those of whom thou wouldst 
 
 Hear tidings. Empress was of many tongues. 
 
 To vice of luxury abandoned so 
 
 She was, that in her statute lust she made 
 
 Legitimate, to take away the shame 
 
 She had incurred. She is Semiramis, 
 
INFERNO V 39 
 
 Of whom we read that she to Ninus was 
 
 Successor, and his wife. She held the land 
 60 O'er which the Sultan rules. The next is she 
 
 Who, all enamored, slew herself, and faith 
 
 Broke with the ashes of Sichaeus. Then, 
 
 Comes wanton Cleopatra. Helen see. 
 
 For whom so long a time of guilt revolved: 
 
 And see the great Achilles who, with love 
 
 Allied, contended to the last: behold 
 
 Paris, Tristan!" and shades to me he showed 
 
 More than a thousand, and their names to me 
 
 He, pointing with his finger, told, whom love 
 70 Had from our life divorced. When I had heard 
 
 My Teacher name the dames of olden time, 
 
 And cavaliers, compassion came on me, 
 
 And as if dazed I was. And I began: 
 ► "Poet, I gladly with those two would speak. 
 
 Who go together, and upon the wind 
 
 Appear to be so light." And he to me: 
 
 "Observe when they shall nearer to us be; 
 
 And then do thou entreat them, by that love 
 
 Which bears them on, and they will come to thee." 
 80 Soon as the wind toward us swings them round, 
 
 I raise my voice: "0 weary spirits, come 
 
 And talk with us; unless denies you this 
 
 Another." As, with pinions poised and set. 
 
 Doves to the sweet nest come, by longing called. 
 
 By their own will borne on athwart the air,— 
 
 Thus from the band where Dido is, they came, 
 
 Advancing toward us through the noisome air; 
 
 Such was the power my loving summons had. 
 
 "0 living creature, gracious and benign, 
 90 Who threadest the black air to visit us 
 
 Who stained the world blood-red, if were our friend 
 
40 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The Sovereign of the universe, we would 
 Entreat him for thy peace, because thou hast 
 Compassion for our fearful misery. 
 Of that whereof it pleases thee to hear 
 And speak, we will both hear you, and will speak 
 To you, while quiet keeps for us, as now, 
 The wind. Upon the seashore sits the town 
 Where I was born; where Po descends to rest, 
 
 100 With his attendant streams. Love, who so swift 
 Is to lay hold upon the noble heart. 
 Seized upon this one for the person fair 
 Of which I was bereft; and still the mode 
 A mischief is to me. Love, who absolves 
 No one beloved from loving, with desire 
 Of pleasing him, so stronglv seized on mg , 
 That, as thou seest, it still forsakes me not. 
 Love brought us to one death. Cama waits 
 For him who quenched our Ufe." These words from them 
 
 110 Were borne to us. As soon as I had heard 
 Those stricken souls, my face I bowed, and down 
 I held it, till the Poet said to me : 
 "What art thou thinking of?" When I replied, 
 I thus began: "Alas, how many were 
 The musings sweet: how great the longing was, 
 Which brought these souls to such a woful pass!" 
 Then back to them I turned me, and began 
 To speak: "Francesca, me thy sufferings make, 
 Even to tears, compassionate and sad. 
 
 120 But tell me— at the time of the sweet sighs. 
 At what, and how Love granted thee to know 
 Thy longings unconfessed?" And she to me: 
 "There is no greater pain than to recall. 
 In misery, the time of happiness: 
 And this thy Teacher knows. But if thou hast 
 
INFERNO V 41 
 
 So much desire our love's first root to know, 
 I will, as one who mingles tears and words. 
 The story tell. For pastime, we, one day. 
 Were reading about Launcelot, how Love 
 
 130 Enthralled him. All alone we were, and nought 
 Suspecting. Oft our eyes that reading urged 
 To meet, and drove the color from each face. 
 But that which overcame us was one place 
 Alone. When, how the smile that woke desire 
 Was kissed by lover such as he, we read. 
 This one who never shall be parted from me, 
 All trembhng, kissed my mouth. Galeotto was 
 The book, and he that wrote it. We, that day. 
 No further read therein." While the one soul 
 
 140 Spoke thus, the other one was wailing so. 
 That I, for pity, as if dying, swooned; 
 And down I fell, as a dead body falls. 
 
CANTO VI 
 
 Dante awakes in the third circle, and finds the Gluttons, who are 
 exposed to a furious rain, and are tormented by Cerberus, who 
 menaces the poets, but is quieted by Vergil. Dante is accosted 
 by Ciacco, and learns the future fortunes of the Whites and 
 Blacks in Florence. He is also informed about the place in 
 Hell of certain eminent Florentines who have lately died. Vergil 
 and Dante commence the descent to the fourth circle. 
 
 On the return of sense, which was shut up 
 
 Before the anguish of the kinsfolk twain, 
 
 Which utterly confounded me with grief, — 
 
 New torments and new victims I behold 
 
 Round me, howe'er I move, or turn, or look. 
 
 I am in the third circle — of the rain. 
 
 Ceaseless, and heavy, and accurst, and cold; 
 
 Ever the same in rule and quality. 
 
 Huge hail, and water foul, and snow, pour down 
 10 Athwart the murky air, and stinks the ground 
 
 Which catches these. The monster Cerberus, 
 
 Cruel, prodigious, with his gullets three. 
 
 Barks doglike o'er the people here submerged. 
 
 He has red eyes, and black and imctuous beard, 
 
 And belly huge, and paws with nails equipped. 
 
 He claws, and mouths, and into pieces rends 
 
 The spirits. The rain makes them howl like dogs. 
 
 One of their sides they make a screen, to shield 
 
 The other. Oft the wretches impious 
 20 Turn themselves to and fro. When that great worm, 
 
 Cerberus, marked us, he unclosed his mouths. 
 
 And showed his tusks; and not a limb he had 
 
 Which did not quiver: and my guide, his palms 
 
 42 
 
INFERNO VI 43 
 
 Outspreading, caught up earth, and with full fists 
 
 Into the greedy gullets threw it. Such 
 
 As is the dog which, baying, craves his food, 
 
 And quiet grows soon as in it he sets 
 
 His teeth, because he only tugs and fights 
 
 To swallow it, — such did those faces foul 
 30 Become of Cerberus, the fiend that stuns 
 
 So with his thundering bark the souls, that they 
 
 Would fain be deaf. We o'er the phantoms, laid 
 
 Prostrate beneath the heavy rain, passed on. 
 
 And on their emptiness which person seems. 
 
 We set our feet. Upon the ground they all 
 
 Were stretched, save one that raised itself to sit, 
 
 The moment it perceived us pass in front. 
 
 ''0 thou who through this Hell art being led," 
 
 It said to me, "if thou art able, call 
 40 Me to remembrance: thou wast made before 
 
 I was unmade." And I to him: "Perchance 
 
 The anguish thou art suffering withdraws 
 
 Thee from my memory so, that it appears 
 
 As if I never saw thee. Tell me then, 
 
 Who art thou, that in such a woful place 
 
 Art put, and in such punishment, that if 
 
 Another greater be, so odious 
 
 Is none?" And he to me: "Thy city there. 
 
 Which is so full of envy that the sack 
 50 Already overflows, within itself 
 
 Contained me, in the life where shines the light. 
 
 To me you citizens the nickname gave 
 
 Of Ciacco. As thou seest, in the rain, 
 
 I, for the baneful vice of gluttony. 
 
 Lie shattered: and I, wretched soul, am not 
 
 The only one, for in like punishment 
 
 For like offence, are all of these:" and more 
 
44 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 He did not say. And I replied to him: 
 "Ciacco, thy misery so burdens me, 
 
 60 That it calls forth my tears; but if thou know'st, 
 Tell me to what will come the citizens 
 Of the divided city: if therein 
 Is any just: and what the reason is, 
 Tell me, why so great discord has assailed it?" 
 And he to me: "After long striving, they 
 Will come to blood; and with much injury 
 The rustic party will the other side 
 Drive out. Thereafter must the former fall. 
 Within three years, and gain the upper hand 
 
 70 The latter, by the force of some one who 
 Just now is hanging, tacking, off the coast. 
 Long it will carry high its front, and keep 
 The other under burdens sore, howe'er 
 It may lament thereat and be ashamed. 
 There are two who are just, but they are not 
 Regarded there. Pride, envy, avarice. 
 Are the three sparks that set all hearts on fire." 
 Here of his tearful words he made an end. 
 And I to him: "I pray thee, show me more; 
 
 80 And make a gift to me of further talk. 
 Farinata and Tegghiaio, once so worthy, 
 Jacopo Rusticucci, Arrigo, Mosca, 
 And the others, who to doing good applied 
 Their talents — tell me where they are, and cause 
 That I may know of them; for urges me 
 A great desire to learn if heaven delights 
 These with its sweets, or Hell envenoms them." 
 He answered: "They are with the blacker souls: 
 A different transgression weighs them down 
 
 90 Toward the bottom: if thou goest down 
 
 So far, thou canst behold them; but when thou 
 
INFERNO VI 45 
 
 Shalt be in the sweet world, to memory 
 
 Of men, I pray thee, bring me; more to thee 
 
 I say not, and I answer thee no more." 
 
 With that his eyes, which had been straight, he writhed 
 
 Sideways; a moment gazed at me, and then 
 
 His head he bowed, and with the other blind, 
 - He to a level fell with it. To me 
 wt My Leader said: "He rises up no more, 
 100 This side the sound of the angelic trump, 
 
 What time the Power that is their enemy 
 
 Shall come. Each one again his dismal tomb 
 
 Will find: will take again his flesh and shape: 
 
 Will hear the sound which, to eternity, 
 
 Reverberates." Over the mixture foul 
 
 Of shades and rain, with paces slow we passed. 
 
 Touching a little on the future life. 
 
 Whence I: "These torments, — will they greater grow. 
 
 My Master, or diminish, or remain 
 110 Scorching as now, after the great award?" 
 
 And he: "Back to thy science turn, which holds 
 
 That, the more perfect a thing is, the more 
 
 It feels alike the pleasure and the pain. 
 
 Although this folk accurst can never come 
 
 To true perfection in the life beyond, 
 
 More than in this one they expect to be." 
 
 Around that road we wound, saying much more 
 
 Than I repeat, and at the point arrived 
 
 Where the descent is: Plutus here we found, 
 120 Who of man's peace is the great enemy. 
 
CANTO VII 
 
 Plutus soXvies the poets with jargon. Vergil reassures Dante 
 and rebukes Plutus. They see the punishment of the Avaric- 
 ious and the Spendthrifts. Vergil explains the nature and 
 functions of Fortune. They pass into the fifth circle to the marsh 
 of Styx where are the souls of the Wrathful, and arrive at the 
 foot of a tower, 
 
 "Pape Satan pape Satan aleppe!" 
 
 Plutus with clucking utterance began. 
 
 And for my comfort spake that gentle sage, 
 
 Who all things knew: "Let thy fear harm thee not: 
 
 For, whatsoe'er his power, he will not stop 
 
 Thy going down this rock." He turned him round 
 
 Then to that swollen lip, and said: "Be still, 
 
 Thou cursed wolf! Consume thee inwardly 
 
 With thine own rage. This journey to the deep 
 
 10 Is not without a cause: 'tis willed on high. 
 There, where on the proud rape did Michael work 
 The vengeance." Just as in a heap the sails. 
 Swelled by the wind, collapse, when snaps the mast. 
 So fell the cruel monster to the earth. 
 Thus we descended into the fourth pit. 
 Making our way along the dismal bank 
 Which all the evil of the universe 
 Inwraps. Justice of God! Ah, who heaps up 
 So many sufferings and new travailings, 
 
 20 As those I saw? and wherefore does our guilt 
 Such havoc of us make? As does the surge 
 Upon Charybdis there, which breaks itself 
 On that which it encounters, — here the folk 
 Must dance their round. I here beheld a folk, 
 
 46 
 
INFERNO VII 47 
 
 Far more than elsewhere, rolling weights with power 
 Of chest, and howlings loud. Together they 
 Kept clashing; and, at point of meeting, each 
 Bore back, and rolled the weights the other way. 
 Crying: "Why holdest thou? Why squanderest thou?" 
 
 30 Along the gloomy round they thus returned 
 To the point opposite, on either hand. 
 Bawling their shameful measure evermore. 
 Then every one, when he had reached it, turned 
 Through his half circle, to the other tilt. 
 And I who felt my heart as it were stung. 
 Said: "Master, show me now what folk is this; 
 And whether all these shavelings on our left 
 Were clerks." And he to me, "So squint in mind, 
 In their first life, were each and all of them, 
 
 40 That they no spending with due measure made 
 Therein. Their voice right clearly barks it forth, 
 When at the two points of the circle, where 
 Contrary guilt disparts them, they arrive. 
 These who upon their heads no covering have 
 Of hair, were clerks, and Popes, and cardinals. 
 In whom is avarice wont to work its worst." 
 And I to him: "Master, 'mid such as these, 
 I surely some should recognize, who were 
 Polluted with these evils." He repHed: 
 
 50 "An idle thought thou cherishest. Their hfe 
 Which, undiscerning, made them filthy, now 
 Makes them to every recognition dark. 
 To the two buttings they, forevermore. 
 Will come: these from the sepulchre will rise 
 With fists fast-clenched, and those with hair cut short. 
 Ill-giving and ill-keeping have from them 
 Taken away the beauteous world, and set 
 Them at this scuffle, What that is, with words 
 
48 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 I do not garnish. Now, my son, thou canst 
 
 60 Behold the brief gust of the goods which are 
 To Fortune trusted, for the which mankind 
 Each other tousle : because all the gold 
 That is beneath the moon, and ever was, 
 Rest to a single one of these tired souls 
 Ck)uld never give." "Master," I said to him: 
 "Now tell me further what this Fortune is 
 Of which to me thou hintest: she that has 
 Thus in her claws the good things of the world." 
 And he to me: "0 how great ignorance 
 
 70 Is that which injures you, ye foolish creatures! 
 My judgment of her I would have thee now 
 Receive. The one whose wisdom all transcends, 
 The heavens made, and gave to them their guides, 
 So that on every part shines every part, 
 The hght allotting equally. Like\^ise, 
 He for the splendors of the world ordained 
 A general ministress and guide, who should 
 From time to time the vain possessions change 
 From race to race, and blood to blood, beyond 
 
 80 The power of human wisdom to prevent. 
 Wherefore one people rules, another droops, 
 Pursuant to her judgment, who is hid. 
 Like serpent in the grass. Your wisdom has 
 No power to withstand her. She foresees, 
 Judges, and carries on her governance, 
 As do the other gods their own. No truce 
 Her shiftings have. Necessity compels 
 Her to be swift, so often some one comes 
 To take his turn: she is the one who is 
 
 90 So crucified, e'en by the same who ought 
 
 To praise her when they give her wrongful blame 
 And ill report: yet blest she is, and this 
 
INFERNO VII 49 
 
 She does not hear: gladsome she is, among 
 The other primal creatures, and she turns 
 Her sphere, and her beatitude enjoys. 
 Descend we now to greater misery. 
 Each star that was, when I set forth, arising, 
 Already is declining, and forbidden 
 Is too long staying." To the other bank 
 100 We crossed the circle, and a fountain reached, 
 Which boils, and pours itself along a trench 
 That leads from it. Darker by far than perse 
 The water was; and by the sombre waves 
 Accompanied, along a pathway weird, 
 
 iWe downward struck. This dismal rivulet. 
 When to the foot of the malign gray slopes 
 It has descended, forms a marsh, which bears 
 The name of Styx: and I who was intent 
 To gaze, saw muddy people in that bog, 
 110 All naked, and with look of injured folk. 
 These were each other smiting, not alone 
 With hand, but with the head, and breast, and feet, 
 Mangling each other, piecemeal, with their teeth. 
 "Son," the good Master said: "thou seest now 
 The souls of those whom anger overcame. 
 And Hkewise I would have thee to believe 
 For certain, that beneath this water are 
 People who sigh, and on the surface make 
 This water bubble, as thine eye reveals 
 120 To thee, where'er it turns: fixed in the mire. 
 They say: 'We were morose, in the sweet air 
 Which by the sun is gladdened, in ourselves 
 Carrying a sluggish reek: now here we sulk 
 In the black slime.' This chant within their throat 
 ' They gurgle, for they cannot give it voice 
 
 With words complete." Thus, of the filthy slough 
 
50 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 We compass a great arc, between the marsh 
 And the dry bank; turning our eyes on each 
 Who nure is gulping down; and so we came, 
 130 At last, to the foundation of a tower. 
 
CANTO VIII 
 
 They see two lights displayed at the top of the tower, which are 
 answered by another at a distance. A small vessel is seen 
 approaching, piloted by Phlegyas the ferryman of the Styx, 
 who takes the poets on board and begins to cross. Filippo 
 Argenti rises from the mire and accosts Dante, who repels him. 
 The fiery minarets of the city of Dis are seen at a distance. The 
 vessel enters the moat which surrounds the city. A throng of 
 enraged spirits appears to resist the entrance of the poets. Vergil 
 leaves Dante and goes to confer with them. The gates are shut 
 in his face, and he returns discomfited. 
 
 Continuing, I say that, long before 
 
 We to the foot of the high tower had come, 
 
 Our eyes went upward to its top, because 
 
 We saw displayed thereon two httle flames, 
 
 And from so far that scarcely could the eye 
 
 Catch it, another give a signal back. 
 
 And to the Sea of all intelligence 
 
 I turned, and said: "What is it this one says? 
 
 And what repHes the other fire? and who 
 10 Are they that made it?" And to me he said: 
 
 "Thou canst, already, o'er the filthy waves, 
 
 Discern what is expected, if from thee 
 
 The fog of the morass conceal it not." 
 
 Never did cord an arrow from itself 
 
 Propel, which through the air so swiftly sped 
 
 As did a httle vessel which I saw, 
 
 That instant, standing for us o'er the wave. 
 
 Steered by a single helmsman, who exclaimed: 
 
 "Now here thou art, vile soul!" "Phlegyas!" replied 
 20 My Master, "Phlegyas, vainly thou, this time. 
 
 Art crying out. Only while we the mire 
 
 Are passing, shalt thou have us." As is he 
 
 51 
 
52 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Who to some monstrous fraud which has been wTought 
 Upon him, listens, and thereafter chafes 
 At that, such Phlegyas in his gathered wrath 
 Became. Into the boat my Guide went down, 
 And then he made me enter after him. 
 And laden seemed it not till I was in. 
 Soon as my Guide and I were in the boat, 
 
 30 The ancient prow goes on its way, and cuts 
 More of the water than 'tis wont to do 
 With others. While we through the dead canal 
 Were running, one before me placed himself. 
 All full of mire, and said: "Who art thou, who 
 Art come before thy time?" And I to him: 
 "I stay not, though I come; but who art thou 
 That art become so filthy?" He replied: 
 "Thou seest I am one who make lament." 
 And I to him: "Stay there, thou cursed soul, 
 
 40 With weeping and with grief: for thee I know, 
 All filthy as thou art." Then both his hands 
 He stretched forth to the boat; and thereupon 
 The wary Master pushed him off, and said: 
 "Begone there, with the other dogs!" My neck 
 Then with his arms he clasped, and kissed my face, 
 And said: "Disdainful spirit, blest is she 
 That bore thee. That one was, up in the world, 
 A person full of arrogance; there is 
 No goodness which his memory adorns: 
 
 50 So is his shadow in a fury here. 
 
 How many there above now hold themselves 
 To be great kings, who here shall be like swine 
 In mire, and for themselves shall dire contempt 
 Behind them leave." And I: "Before we pass 
 Out from the lake, I would right happy be. 
 Master, to see him in this pottage soused." 
 
INFERNO VIII 53 
 
 And he to me: "Thou shalt be satisfied, 
 
 Before the shore disclose itself to thee: 
 
 It will be meet that thou be gratified 
 60 In such a wish." A little after this, 
 
 I saw the muddy people make of him 
 
 Such havoc, that for this I still give praise 
 
 And thanks to God. They all set up a shout: 
 
 "Have at Philippo Argenti!" and, enraged. 
 
 The spirit Florentine upon himself 
 
 Turned with his teeth. We left him there, and hence. 
 
 No more I tell of him: but on my ears 
 
 A lamentation smote, so that my eye 
 
 I open wide with forward gaze intent. 
 70 Said the good Master: "Nearing now, my son. 
 
 The city is which bears the name of Dis, 
 
 With townsmen pestilent, with rabble great." 
 
 And I: "Already, Master, I descry 
 
 Its minarets, distinctly, there within 
 
 The valley, red, as if from fire they sprang." 
 
 And he replied to me: "The eternal fire 
 
 Which these inflames within, this ruddy hue 
 
 Imparts, as in this nether Hell thou seest." 
 
 We came at last within the fosses deep 
 80 Which that sad city trench. The walls, to me. 
 
 Like iron seemed. Not without making first 
 
 A circuit great, we at a place arrived, 
 
 Where loudly cried to us the boatman: "Out! 
 
 Here is the entrance!" O'er the gates I saw 
 
 More than a thousand, from the heavens fallen. 
 
 Who angrily were crying: "Who is this. 
 
 Who, without death, is passing through the realm 
 
 Of the dead folk?" And my sage Master made 
 
 A sign, that he in private wished to speak 
 90 With them. Then they repressed their great disdain 
 
54 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Somewhat, and said: "Thou by thyself approach 
 
 And let that one begone who has this realm 
 
 So daringly invaded. By the path 
 
 His folly chose, let him return alone. 
 
 Try if he knows; for thou shalt here remain 
 
 Who through so dark a region hast convoyed him." 
 
 Bethink thee, reader, if I was dismayed 
 
 On hearing the accursed words; for I 
 
 Thought that I never hither should return. 
 
 100 "0 my dear Guide, who, more than seven times, 
 My courage hast restored, and rescued me 
 From the deep peril which confronted me, — 
 Leave me not thus undone," I said, "and if 
 The going farther be to us refused. 
 Let us, together, hastily retrace 
 Our footsteps." And that lord who thither had 
 Conducted me, replied: "Be not afraid. 
 For none can take away from us our passage, 
 By such an one it is vouchsafed to us. 
 
 110 But thou await me here; and with good hope 
 Thy weary spirit brace and feed; for I 
 Will not desert thee in this lower world." 
 Thus on his way the gentle Father goes. 
 And leaves me here, and I remain in doubt; 
 For yes and no within my head contend. 
 That which was proffered them I could not hear; 
 But long he was not with them there, when each 
 With other vied in running back within. 
 Those enemies of ours shut fast the gates 
 
 120 In my lord's face, who stayed without, and turne 
 Again to me with paces slow. He had 
 His eyes upon the ground, and shorn his brows 
 Of boldness all; and he with sighs was saying: 
 "Who has refused me the abodes of woe?" 
 
INFERNO VIII 55 
 
 And he to me: "Be not dismayed, although 
 To anger I am moved, for I will win 
 The contest, whatsoe'er, to keep us out. 
 Is stirring round within. Not novel is 
 This insolence of theirs. They practised it 
 130 Once, at a gate less secret, which is found 
 
 Still without bolt. O'er this the words of death 
 Thou sawest written; and, this side of it, 
 Ah*eady, without escort, passing through 
 The circles, such an one descends the steep, 
 That by his aid the city will be opened." 
 
CANTO IX 
 
 Vergil, at Dante's request, relates his former visit to Hell. The 
 three Furies appear on a tower of the city. An angel comes 
 over the Styx who rebukes tJie rebel spirits, and opens the gate. 
 The two poets enter the city. They see the tombs in which the 
 heretics are punished. 
 
 That hue which, when I saw my Guide turn back, 
 
 Cowardice painted outwardly on me. 
 
 More quickly his new color did repress. 
 
 He stopped, attentive, hke a man that harks; 
 
 For through the black air and the mist compact 
 
 Not far his eye could lead him. "Yet we must," 
 
 Began he, "win the fight, unless— such help 
 
 To us was proffered. how long to me 
 
 It is, till here another one arrive!" 
 10 How, with the rest that followed, he concealed 
 
 That which he uttered first, I plainly saw: 
 
 For these were words that differed from the first. 
 
 But none the less his speaking caused me fear. 
 
 For I, perhaps, drew out his speech curtailed 
 
 Into a meaning worse than what he held. 
 
 "Into this bottom of the dismal pit, 
 
 From the first grade does ever one descend, 
 
 Whose only punishment is hope cut off?" 
 
 I asked this question, and he answered me: 
 20 "It seldom comes to pass that any one 
 
 Of us the journey makes on which I go. 
 
 Another time, 'tis true, I was down here, 
 
 Conjured by fell Erichtho, who called back 
 
 Shades to their bodies. But a little time 
 
 My flesh had been bereft of me, when she 
 
 56 
 
INFERNO IX 57 
 
 Made me to pass within that wall, to bring 
 A spirit of the round of Judas thence. 
 That is the very lowest place of all, 
 And darkest, and the farthest from the Heaven 
 
 30 Which all revolves. Full well I know the road: 
 Therefore assure thyself. This fen that breathes 
 The mighty stench, engirds the city sad, 
 Where now we cannot enter without wrath." 
 And something else he said, but not in mind 
 I have it, for my eye had drawn me all 
 Toward the lofty tower with ruddy top. 
 Where, in an instant, sudden were uprisen 
 Three hellish Furies, stained with blood, who had 
 The limbs and mien of women, and were girt 
 
 40 With greenest hydras: little snakes for hair, 
 
 And serpents horned they had, with which were bound 
 
 Their savage temples. And that one, who well 
 
 Did recognize the handmaids of the Queen 
 
 Of the eternal wailing, said to me: 
 
 "See the Erinnyes fierce! Megaera is 
 
 On the left side: that is Alecto, who 
 
 Is weeping on the right: Tisiphone 
 
 Is 'twixt the two:" with that he held his peace. 
 
 Each one her breast was tearing with her nails; 
 
 60 They beat them with their palms, and cried so loud, 
 That I, for fear, close to the poet pressed. 
 "Now let Medusa come; so we to stone 
 Will change him," said they all, as they looked down: 
 " 'Twas ill that we did not, for his assault. 
 Take vengeance upon Theseus." "Backward turn, 
 And keep thine eyes shut; for if shows herself 
 The Gorgon, and thou shouldst upon her look. 
 Returning upward would be nevermore." 
 Thus said the Master, and he turned me round, 
 
58 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 Himself, and did not trust my hands so far 
 As not to blind me with his own. ye 
 Who are of understanding sound, observe 
 The teaching hidden underneath the veil 
 Of the strange verses. And already came 
 Across the turbid waves a crash of sound, 
 With terror fraught, whence both the shores did shake; 
 A sound as of a wind, impetuous 
 From counter heats, which, imimpeded, smites 
 The forest, rends the boughs, and beats them down, 
 
 70 And bears them off, and marches proudly on, 
 Marshalled by clouds of dust, and puts to flight 
 The wild beasts and the shepherds. He released 
 My eyes, and said: "Now turn the nerve of sight 
 Across that ancient scum, to where the smoke 
 Is most distressing." As before their foe 
 The serpent, through the water, one and all, 
 Vanish the frogs, till huddled is each one 
 Upon the bottom,— so did I behold 
 More than a thousand ruined souls in flight 
 
 80 Before one who across the Styx, dry-shod. 
 Was at the ferry passing. From his face 
 He was dispersing that thick air, ofttimes 
 Before him waving his left hand; and seemed 
 With that annoyance only to be tired. 
 I clearly saw that he was sent from Heaven, 
 And to my Master turned, who made a sign 
 That I should quiet stand, and bow me down 
 To him. Ah! how disdainful he appeared 
 To me! Up to the gate he made his way, 
 
 90 And with a httle rod he opened it, 
 
 For hindrance there was none. "Outcast from Heaven 
 People despised," on the dread threshold he 
 Began: "Whence does this arrogance in you 
 
INFERNO IX 59 
 
 Find entrance? Why do ye resist that will 
 
 Whereof can never frustrate be the end, 
 
 And which has many a time increased your woe? 
 
 What profits it to butt against the fates? 
 
 Your Cerberus, if ye remember well. 
 
 Still for this carries peeled his chin and throat." 
 100 Then he returned along the filthy road. 
 
 And spoke no word to us, but wore the look 
 
 Of one whom other care constrains and stings 
 
 Than that of him who is before his face. 
 
 And we toward the city bent our steps. 
 
 Relieved of fear after the holy words. 
 
 All unopposed we entered there within : 
 
 And I who wished to see what state of things 
 
 A stronghold such as this keeps under lock, 
 
 Soon as I was within cast round my eye, 
 110 And see on every side a spacious plain. 
 
 All full of suffering and of cruel torment. 
 
 Just as at Aries, where Rhone becomes a marsh, 
 
 Just as at Pola, near Quarnaro's gulf. 
 
 Which shuts in Italy and bathes its bounds, — jP \|(^ r^^^^MJi 
 
 So here they did on all sides, save that here 
 
 The fashion was more bitter; for dispersed 
 
 Among the tombs were flames, whereby they were 
 
 Fired so completely that no craft requires 
 
 More glowing iron. Their lids were all upraised, 
 120 And forth from them such lamentations dire 
 
 Proceeded, that they seemed indeed to come 
 
 From wretched people and from those in pain. 
 
 And I: "What folk are these, my Master, who. 
 
 Entombed within these coffers, make themselves 
 
 Heard by their doleful sighs?" And he to me: 
 
 "Here the Heresiarchs with their followers 
 
 Of all sects are; and laden are the tombs 
 
60 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 More than thou thinkest. Like with like is here 
 Buried, and more and less the monuments 
 130 Are hot." Then, having turned to right, we passed 
 Between the torments and the bastions high. 
 
r 
 
 CANTO X 
 
 Dante and Vergil proceed along a path between the tombs and the 
 wall of the city. Dante desires to look into some of the tombs. 
 The shade of Farinata appears, and while he is conversing 
 with Dante, the shade of Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti rises in 
 the same tomb. The latter, inferring from Dante's words that his 
 son Guido is dead, falls back and disappears. Farinata predicts 
 misfortune to Dante, and explains the nature and extent of the 
 knowledge possessed by the damned. 
 
 Now by a secret path my Master goes 
 
 Between the torments and the city-wall, 
 
 And I behind his back. I thus began: 
 
 "Virtue supreme, that turnest me along 
 
 The sinful circles, as it pleases thee. 
 
 Speak to me, and my wishes satisfy. 
 
 The people lying in the sepulchres- 
 Might they be seen? Already all the lids 
 
 Are lifted, and no one is keeping guard." 
 10 And he to me: "They all will be locked in, 
 
 When from Jehoshaphat they shall return 
 
 Here, with the bodies they have left above. 
 
 In this part Epicurus is entombed. 
 
 And with him all his followers, who make 
 
 The spirit with the body dead. Thou shalt 
 
 Within this place be quickly satisfied 
 
 Touching the question which thou askest me, 
 
 And also touching the desire, of which 
 
 Thou silent art to me." And I: "Good Guide, 
 20 My heart I do not keep concealed from thee. 
 
 Save to speak briefly; and not only now 
 
 Hast thou to this disposed me." "Tuscan, thou 
 
 Who through the fiery city goest on, 
 
 61 
 
62 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Alive, and thus discoursing modestly, 
 Mayst thou be pleased to tarry in this place. 
 Thy mode of speech shows plainly that thou art 
 A native of that noble fatherland, 
 To which, perhaps, I was too troublesome." 
 All of a sudden issued from within 
 
 30 One of the chests, this sound; whereat, in fear, 
 I drew a little closer to my Guide. 
 And he to me said: "Turn! What doest thou? 
 See Farinata there who is uprisen. 
 From the waist upward thou wilt see him all." 
 Already I had fixed my face on his. 
 And he himself upraised with breast and front. 
 As though he had a great contempt for Hell. 
 My Leader's bold and ready hands did push 
 Me 'mongst the sepulchres to him. He said: 
 
 40 "Well ordered be thy words!" As soon as I 
 Had come to his tomb's foot, he looked at me 
 A little, and, as if disdainful, asked 
 Of me, "Who were thine ancestors?" And I, 
 Who was desirous to obey, from him 
 Concealed it not, but all of it disclosed 
 To him: whereat he Ufted up his brows 
 A little, saying: "Bitterly, to me. 
 And to my party and my forefathers. 
 They were opposed, so that two several times 
 
 50 I scattered them." "If they were driven out," 
 I answered him, " from every quarter they 
 Returned both times; but rightly have not learned 
 Your partisans that art." Then at the mouth. 
 Uncovered far as to the chin, arose 
 Beside this one a shade. It had, I think, 
 Raised itself on its knees. Round me it looked. 
 As though it wished to see if some one else 
 
INFERNO X 63 
 
 Were in my company; but when all vain 
 Was its conjecture, "If," it weeping said, 
 
 60 "Through this blind prison, by the loftiness 
 Of genius, thou dost go, where is my son? 
 And wherefore is he not with thee? " And I 
 To him: "I come not of myself. That one 
 Who yonder waits conducts me through this place, 
 Whom, haply, in contempt your Guido held." 
 His words and mode of punishment had read 
 To me his name already: hence so full 
 My answer was. He on a sudden raised 
 Himself upright, and cried: "How didst thou say, 
 
 70 'He held'? Is not he living still? Does not 
 
 The sweet Hght strike his eyes?" When he was ware 
 
 Of some delay, which, ere I answered him, 
 
 I made, he backward fell, and he appeared 
 
 No more outside. But still that other one, 
 
 High-souled, at whose behest I had remained, 
 
 Did not his aspect change, or move his neck. 
 
 Or bend his side; but said, continuing 
 
 His former words: "And if they have that art 
 
 Learned badly, greater torment than this couch 
 
 80 That gives me. But not fifty times shall be 
 The face rekindled of the dame who here 
 Bears rule, ere thou shalt know how heavy is 
 That art. And, so to the sweet world, some time, 
 Mayst thou return, as thou shalt tell me why 
 That people is so pitiless to mine. 
 In every law?" I thereupon to him: 
 "The rout and the great carnage which dyed red 
 The Arbia, causes such law to be made 
 Within our temple." After he his head 
 
 90 Had shaken, sighing, "Not alone," he said, 
 "I was in that, nor surely without cause 
 
 
64 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Would I have with the others moved; but there, 
 Where leave was given to demolish Florence, 
 By every one, I only was the one 
 Who with an open face defended her." 
 "Ah, so, some time," I prayed him, "may your seed 
 Have rest: untie for me that knot which here 
 My judgment has entangled. If I hear 
 Aright, it seems that you foresee what time 
 
 100 Is bringing with it; while another way 
 
 You hold as to the present." "We," he said, 
 
 "See, just as one who has imperfect Hght, 
 
 The things remote from us; so much on us 
 
 Still shines the Guide supreme. When they draw near, 
 
 Or are, all vain is our inteUigence: 
 
 And if another bring it not to us. 
 
 We have no knowledge of your human state. 
 
 Hence thou canst understand that wholly dead 
 
 Will be our knowledge, from the moment when 
 
 110 The portal of the future shall be closed." 
 Then, as if contrite for my fault, I said: 
 "Now you will therefore tell that fallen one 
 That still his son is with the Hving joined. 
 And if I was just now without the words 
 To answer, let him know that so I was. 
 Because my thought already was employed 
 Upon the error you have loosed for me." 
 Whence I more hastily besought the shade 
 To tell me who was with him. "Here I lie," 
 
 120 He said to me, "with more than fifty score. 
 Within here is the second Frederick; 
 Also the Cardinal; and of the rest 
 I do not speak." Therewith he hid himself. 
 And I toward the ancient Poet turned 
 My steps, reflecting on those words which seemed 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 INFERNO X 65 
 
 Hostile to me. He onward moved, and then, 
 Thus going, said to me: "Why art thou thus 
 Disturbed?" And to his question I returned 
 An answer that sufficed him. "Let thy mind 
 130 Retain what thou hast heard against thyself," 
 That sage commanded me, "and now heed this": 
 And he his finger raised. "When thou shalt be 
 Before her gentle radiance whose fair eye 
 Sees every thing, then shalt thou learn from her 
 The course thy fife will take." Then to the left 
 His foot he turned: we left the wall, and went 
 Toward the middle, by a path which strikes 
 Into a valley which annoying made 
 Its stench as far as to the point above. 
 
CANTO XI 
 
 The poets reach the edge of the hank which overhangs the severUh 
 circle, and take refuge behind the tomb of Pope Anastasius, in 
 order to accustom their senses to the stench which ascends from 
 below. Vergil explains to Dante the classification of the sins 
 punished in the lower Hell. 
 
 Upon the margin of a lofty bank, 
 
 Formed, in a circle, by great, broken rocks, 
 
 Above a yet more cruel keep we came; 
 
 And here, by reason of the dire excess 
 
 Of the foul odor which the deep abyss 
 
 Throws up, we drew ourselves behind the lid 
 
 Of a great tomb, whereon I saw a script, 
 
 Which said: "I hold Pope Anastasius, 
 
 He whom Photinus lured from the right way." 
 10 "Slow it behoves that our descending be, . 
 
 So that our sense may grow a little used. 
 
 First, to the putrid blast; and afterward 
 
 It will not matter." Thus the Master said. 
 
 And I to him: "Find thou some recompense, 
 
 In order that the time run not to waste." 
 
 And he: "Thou seest that I think of that. 
 
 My son," he then began, "within these rocks 
 
 Three little circles in gradation are. 
 
 Like those which thou art leaving. All are full 
 20 Of souls accurst; but that hereafter may 
 
 The sight alone suffice for thee, hear how 
 
 And why they are shut up. Of every kind 
 
 Of wickedness which hatred wins in Heaven, 
 
 The end is injury; and every end 
 
 Like this, by violence or else by fraud 
 
 66 
 
INFERNO XI 67 
 
 Others afflicts; but since fraud is to man 
 
 An ill peculiar, more to God it is 
 
 Displeasing; and the fraudulent have place 
 
 Therefore, below, and woe assails them more. 
 30 All the first circle to the violent 
 
 Belongs; but inasmuch as violence 
 
 Is wrought upon three persons, in three rounds 
 
 It is divided and arranged. To God, 
 
 To self, and to a neighbor, may be done 
 
 Violence; to them, I say, and what is theirs, 
 
 As thou with plain discourse shalt hear. By force, 
 
 Upon one's neighbor are inflicted death. 
 
 And painful wounds; and on his property, 
 
 Destruction, fires, extortion ruinous: 
 40 Whence homicides, and every one that smites 
 
 MaHciously, destroyers, plunderers,— 
 
 The first round all torments in different groups. 
 
 Man may lay violent hands upon himself. 
 
 And on his goods; and in the second round, 
 
 He, therefore, must without avail repent. 
 
 Whoever of your world deprives himself. 
 
 Gambles away his means, and squanders them, 
 
 And there laments where cheerful he should be 
 
 Violence may to the Deity be done, 
 50 By cursing and denying him in heart. 
 
 And scorning Nature, and his bounty: hence 
 
 The smallest round doth with its signet seal 
 
 Both Sodom and Cahors; and whoso speaks 
 
 With his own heart, casting contempt on God. 
 
 The fraud by which is every conscience stung, 
 
 A man may practise upon him who trusts 
 
 In him, and upon him who entertains 
 
 No confidence. This latter fashion seems 
 
 To do away only the bond of love 
 
68 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 Which Nature forms; and therefore make their nest 
 Within the second round, hypocrisy, 
 And flatterers, and he who practises 
 Magic; and robbery and simony; 
 Panders and barrators, and such Uke filth. 
 There is forgotten by the other mode 
 The love which Nature makes, as well as that 
 Which afterward is added, by the which 
 The special trust is bred; and hence within 
 The smallest round, where of the universe 
 
 70 The point is upon which is seated Dis, 
 Whoe'er betrays forever is consumed." 
 And I: "Right clearly. Master, thy discourse 
 Proceeds, and well enough partitions out 
 This deep gulf, and the folk that dwells therein. 
 But tell me — those within the fat morass. 
 Whom the wind sways and the rain pelts, and those 
 Who with such biting tongues encounter,— why 
 Are not they punished in the fire-red town, 
 If God in anger holds them? And if so 
 
 80 He holds them not, why are they in such pHght?" 
 And he to me: "Why strays thy wit so far 
 Beyond its wont? Or is it that thy mind 
 Some otherwhere is looking? Dost thou not 
 Recall those words, in which thy " Ethics " treats 
 The dispositions three against the which 
 The will of Heaven is set— incontinence, 
 And mahce, and mad bestiahty? 
 And how incontinence gives less offence 
 To God, and gets less blame? If thou shalt well 
 
 90 Ponder this doctrine, and recall to mind 
 Who are the ones that suffer punishment 
 Above, outside, thou clearly wilt perceive 
 Why from these wretches they are set apart, 
 
INFERNO XI 
 
 And wherefore divine vengeance hammers them 
 Less wrathfuUy." " sun, that art the cure ; 
 Of all beclouded vision, so content 
 Thou makest me when thou unravellest, 
 That doubt no less than knowledge pleases me. 
 Yet turn a little back," I said, "to where 
 
 100 Thou say'st that usury offends against 
 
 God's goodness, and unloose the knot." He said: 
 "Philosophy, for him who knows her, notes, 
 Not in one place alone, how Nature takes 
 From the divine intelligence her course. 
 And from its art: and if thy * Physics ' well 
 Thou note, thou wilt, after not many leaves 
 Discover that your art, far as it can. 
 As pupil follows master, follows her; 
 So that your art is grandchild, as it were, 
 
 110 To God. From these two, if thou call to mind 
 In its beginning. Genesis, behoves 
 The human race to gain its livelihood 
 And thrive; and since the usurer pursues 
 Another way, both Nature, in herself 
 And in her follower, he scorns, because 
 He sets his hope upon another thing. 
 But follow me forthwith; for I would fain 
 Be going on, because the Fishes are 
 On the horizon quivering, and the Wain, 
 
 120 All of it, over Caurus lies, and far 
 
 Beyond there, lies our passage down the steep." 
 
CANTO XII 
 
 The descent into the seventh circle. The Minotaur. Vergil re- 
 lates how and when the rocky slope was formed. The river of 
 blood guarded by Centaurs. Nessu^ challenges the poets. 
 Vergil confers with Chiron, who appoints Nessus as an escort. 
 Nessus points out certain tyrants in the river of blood, and 
 shows how the stream varies in depth. At the shallowest point 
 Dante crosses on the back of Nessus, who immediately returns. 
 
 The place where to descend the bank we came, 
 Was alpine; and because of what was there 
 Besides, was such as every eye would shun. 
 Such as that landslip which, this side of Trent, 
 Struck on its flank the Adige, set loose 
 By earthquake or defective prop,— for so 
 The rock is shattered from the mountain's top 
 From which it started, to the plain below. 
 That it some track might furnish one who chanced 
 
 10 To be above,— just such was the descent 
 Of that ravine; and on the very edge 
 Of the jagged hollow lay the Infamy 
 Of Crete, stretched out, which was conceived within 
 The counterfeited cow: and seeing us. 
 He bit himself as one whom wrath consumes 
 Within. Toward him cried my Sage: "Perhaps 
 Thou think'st that here the Duke of Athens is, 
 Who in the world above gave thee thy death. 
 Begone, thou beast! for this one does not come 
 
 20 Schooled by thy sister, but is on his way 
 To view your punishments." As is that bull 
 Which, at the moment when already he 
 Has gotten his death-stroke, his tether breaks, 
 And cannot walk, but plunges here and there,— 
 
 70 
 
INFERNO XII 71 
 
 In such wise I beheld the Minotaur 
 
 Acting; and, all alert, my Leader cried: 
 
 "Run to the pass! While he is in his fit 
 
 Of rage, 'tis well that thou descend." Our way 
 
 Thus we took downward, over that discharge 
 30 Of stones, which often moved beneath my feet, 
 
 By reason of the novel weight. I went 
 
 Musing along; and, "Thou perchance," he said, 
 
 "Art thinking on this ruin, over which 
 
 Mounts guard that bestial fury which, just now, 
 
 I quelled. Now will I have thee know that when 
 
 Down here into the nether Hell I came. 
 
 The other time, not yet had fallen down 
 
 This cliff; but surely, if I rightly judge, 
 
 A Uttle while before He came, who took 
 40 From Dis the mighty spoil that was within 
 
 The highest circle, upon every side. 
 
 The deep, foul vale so trembled that I thought 
 
 The universe felt love, whereby, there are 
 
 Who think, the world has often been resolved 
 
 To chaos; and, that moment, this old rock. 
 
 Both here and elsewhere, such a downfall made. 
 
 But downward fix thine eyes; because draws nigh 
 
 The river of blood, wherein boils every one 
 
 Who injury by violence inflicts 
 50 On others." cupidity, that blind 
 
 And wicked art, and mad, that spurs us so 
 
 In the brief life, and after, in the life 
 
 Eternal, steeps us in such evil wise! 
 
 I saw a broad trench, bent into an arc. 
 
 As that which all the plain encompasses. 
 
 According to that which my Guide had said. 
 
 And 'twixt the bottom of the bank and this. 
 
 Centaurs, with arrows armed, in file were running, 
 
72 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 As in the world a-himting they were wont 
 
 60 To go. Perceiving us descend, each one 
 
 Halted, and from the troop detached themselves 
 Three, with their bows, and shafts already picked. 
 And from afar one cried: "Ye who descend 
 The hillside, to what torment do ye come? 
 Tell it from where you are, or else I draw 
 The bow." My Master said: "To Chiron there, 
 Near by, we will our answer make: thy will 
 Was ever, to thy harm, so hasty." Then 
 He touched me, saying: "That is Nessus, who 
 
 70 Died for fair Deianira, and himself 
 
 Wreaked vengeance for himself; and, midmost, he 
 Who gazes at his breast, is the great Chiron, 
 The one who reared Achilles : Pholus is 
 That other one, who was so full of wrath. 
 They go by thousands round about the trench, 
 Smiting with arrows whatsoever soul 
 Emerges from the blood more than its sin 
 Allots it." We approached those monsters swift, 
 And Chiron took a shaft, and with the notch 
 
 80 Put back his beard upon his jaws. When he 
 Had his great mouth uncovered, to his mates 
 He said: "Are ye aware that that one there 
 Behind, moves what he touches? Dead men's feet 
 Are not so wont to do." And my good Guide, 
 Who was ah*eady at his breast, where joined 
 Are the two natures, answered: "He indeed 
 Is living, and I thus alone must show 
 To him the valley dark. Necessity, 
 Not pleasure brings him hither. One who laid 
 
 90 This novel charge on me, withdrew herself 
 From singing Alleluia. He is not 
 A robber, nor am I a robber's soul. 
 
INFERNO XII 73 
 
 But, by that power through which I move my steps 
 
 Along a road so savage, give to us 
 
 One of thy troop, to whom we may keep near, 
 
 To show us where the ^rd is, and to bear 
 
 This one upon his back; for he is not 
 
 A spirit, that can travel through the air." 
 
 On his right breast turned Chiron, and he said 
 100 To Nessus: "Turn, and guide them as he asks: 
 
 And if another troop encounter you, 
 
 Make it turn out." We, with our trusty guide, 
 
 Along the brink of the red boihng moved, 
 
 Wherein the boiled were uttering loud shrieks. 
 
 Beneath I saw folk to the brows immersed: 
 
 And the great Centaur said: "Tyrants are these 
 
 Who laid their hands on blood and property. 
 
 They here bewail their ruthless injuries. 
 
 Here Alexander is, and Dionysius 
 110 Inhuman, who made Sicily endure 
 
 Sorrowful years: and yonder brow, with hair 
 
 So black, is Azzolino; and the other, 
 
 Who is fair-haired, Obizzo of Esti, 
 
 Who, verily, up yonder in the world. 
 
 Was by his stepson slain." Then to the Bard 
 
 I turned me, and he said: "Let this one now 
 
 Be first with thee, and second let me be." 
 
 A little farther on the Centaur stopped 
 
 Above a folk who, far as to the throat, 
 120 Appeared to issue from that boiling stream. 
 
 A shade he showed us, on one side, alone. 
 
 And said: "He in God's bosom cleft the heart 
 
 Which on the Thames is venerated still." 
 
 Then I saw people who from out the stream 
 
 Upheld the head and all the chest beside; 
 
 And recognized right many of them. Thus 
 
74 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Still more and more sank down the blood, imtU 
 The feet alone it cooked; and o'er the trench 
 Here lay our passage. "As the boiling stream 
 
 130 Thou seest ever dwindling on this side," 
 The Centaur said, "I wish thee to believe 
 That more and more it lowers its bed, till round 
 It comes again where tyranny must needs 
 Lament. On this side Heaven's justice goads 
 That Attila who was a scourge on earth, 
 Pyrrhus, and Sextus; and forever draws 
 The tears which with the boiling it unseals 
 In Rinier da Corneto and Rinier Pazzo, 
 Who caused upon the highways so much strife." 
 
 140 Then back he turned, and crossed the ford again. 
 
b 
 
 CANTO XIII 
 
 They enter the second round, occupied by those who do violence 
 to themselves. The Wood of the Suicides. The broken branch 
 bleeds and speaks. Pier delle Vigne recounts his wrongs and 
 protests his integrity. He explains to Dante how the spirits 
 of the Suicides are confined within trees. Lano da Siena and 
 Jacomo da St. Andrea are seen tearing through the bushes and 
 pursued by dogs. A Florentine Suicide prophesies misfortune 
 to Florence. 
 
 Not yet had Nessus reached the other side, 
 
 When we began our passage through a wood, 
 
 Which by no path was marked. Not green the leaves, 
 
 But of a dusky hue; not branches smooth, 
 
 But gnarled and twisted; and no fruits were there, 
 
 But thorns witft poison. Holts so rough and dense 
 
 Inhabit not those savage beasts that hate 
 
 The cultivated tracts which are between 
 
 Caecina and Corneto. In this wood 
 10 Their nests the ugly Harpies make, which chased 
 
 The Trojans from the Strophades away. 
 
 With dismal prophecy of future harm. 
 
 They have broad wings, and human neck and face, 
 
 And feet with claws, and the huge belly plumed. 
 
 On the weird trees they utter lamentations. 
 
 And the good Master: "Ere thou goest in 
 
 Farther," began to say to me, "observe 
 
 That thou art in the second round, and there 
 
 Wilt be, till to the dreadful sand thou come. 
 20 Therefore look well, and so thou shalt behold 
 
 Things which would faith in what I say destroy." 
 
 Already, upon every side, I heard 
 
 Wailings prolonged, and saw no one to make them; 
 
 75 
 
76 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Whence, all confused, I stopped. I think that he 
 Thought that I thought so many voices came, 
 Amid the tnmks, from people who had hid 
 Themselves because of us. The Master said, 
 Therefore: "If any twig thou breakest off 
 Of some one of these plants, the thoughts thou hast 
 
 30 Will wholly come to nought." Then I reached forth 
 My hand a little, and I plucked away 
 From a great thorn a Httle branch; and cried 
 Its trunk: "Why dost thou rend me?" When it had 
 Become thereafter dark with blood, again, 
 "Why dost thou break me?" it began to cry. 
 "Hast thou no spirit of compassion? We 
 Were men, and now are shoots become: thy hand, 
 Forsooth, should have been more compassionate, 
 If we had chanced to be the souls of snakes." 
 
 40 As from a green brand, lighted at one end. 
 Which from the other drips, and with the wind 
 That is escaping, hisses, so came forth, 
 Together, from that splinter, words and blood: 
 Wherefore I dropped the tip, and was like one 
 Who is afraid. "If he," my Sage replied, 
 "0 wounded soul, could have behoved before 
 That which he only in my verse has seen. 
 He would not have put forth his hand on thee; 
 But me the thing incredible constrained 
 
 50 To prompt him to an act which burdens me 
 Myself. But tell him who thou wast, so that, 
 By way of some amends, he may refresh 
 Thy fame up in the world to which he is 
 Permitted to return." And thus the trunk: 
 "Thou so allurest me with pleasant speech, 
 That I cannot be silent; and to you 
 Let it not be annoying if I am 
 
I 
 
 INFERNO XIII 77 
 
 Enticed to talk a little. I am he 
 
 Who kept the keys of Frederick's heart, and these, 
 60 So softly locking and unlocking, turned, 
 
 That from his secret almost every man, 
 
 I kept apart. Fidelity so great 
 
 I bore my glorious office, that I lost 
 
 My sleep and my life-pulses both, thereby. 
 
 The harlot who ne'er turned her strumpet eyes 
 
 From Caesar's dwelling, common death and vice 
 
 Of courts, inflamed against me every mind; 
 
 And these, inflamed, inflamed Augustus so. 
 
 That my glad honors turned to dismal griefs. 
 70 My spirit, moved by taste of scorn to think 
 
 That I could scorn escape by dying, made 
 
 Me, although just, unjust against myself. 
 
 I, by the new roots of this tree, to you 
 
 Swear that I never to my lord, who was 
 
 Of honor so deserving, broke my faith. 
 
 And if of you one to the world return. 
 
 Let him revive my memory, which still 
 
 Lies prostrate from the blow which Envy dealt it." 
 
 Awhile he paused, and then the Poet said 
 80 To me: "Since he is silent, do not lose 
 
 The time, but speak, and ask him, if it please 
 
 Thee to know more." Whence I to him: "Do thou 
 
 Still further question him of what thou think'st 
 
 Will satisfy me; for such pity moves 
 
 My heart, that I could not." He thereupon, 
 
 Began again: "So may this man for thee. 
 
 Imprisoned spirit, freely do whate'er 
 
 Thy words entreat of him, as thou shalt please 
 
 To tell us further how the soul is bound 
 90 Within these gnarls; and tell us, if thou canst, 
 
 If any from such limbs is ever freed." 
 
78 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Then strongly blew the trunk, and afterward, 
 That wind was changed into a voice Hke this : 
 "Briefly an answer shall be given you. 
 Whene'er the spirit from the body parts, 
 Whence, maddened, it has torn itself away, 
 Minos consigns it to the seventh gulf. 
 It falls into the forest, and no place 
 Is chosen for it there; but there it sprouts 
 
 100 Where fortune flings it, like a grain of spelt; 
 Then to a sapling, and a forest-tree 
 It grows. The Harpies, then, upon its leaves 
 Feeding, give pain, and for the pain a vent. 
 We, like the others, for our spoils will come, 
 But not that any one may clothe with them 
 Himself again; for 'tis not just that one 
 Should have what from himself he takes away. 
 These we shall hither drag, and up and down 
 The dismal wood our bodies shall be hung, 
 
 110 Each on the thomtree of its shade harassed." 
 We to the trunk as yet were giving heed. 
 Thinking that it might wish to tell us more, 
 When by a din we were surprised, like one 
 Who toward his post perceives the boar and hunt 
 Advancing, and who hears the beasts give tongue. 
 And branches crash. And lo, upon our left. 
 Two, scratched and naked, in such headlong flight, 
 That every hurdle of the wood they broke. 
 "Now hasten, hasten Death!" the foremost cried. 
 
 120 And the other one, who thought himself too slow, 
 Cried: "Lano, not so nimble were thy legs 
 At joustings of II Toppo." And perhaps 
 Because his breath was failing, of himself 
 And of a bush he made a group. The wood 
 Behind them of black bitches was all full, 
 
I 
 
 INFERNO XIII 79 
 
 Ravenous, and like greyhounds that have slipped 
 
 Their leashes, running. In that one who crouched 
 
 They set their teeth, and tore him piece by piece; 
 
 Then carried off those miserable limbs. 
 130 Then did my Escort take me by the hand, 
 
 And led me to the bush which, all in vain. 
 
 Was weeping through its bloody rents. It said: 
 
 '^0 Jacomo da Sant' Andrea, what 
 
 Availed it thee to make of me a screen? 
 
 How for thy sinful Ufe am I to blame?" 
 
 When now the Master was above it standing, 
 
 He said: "Who wast thou, who with blood dost blow 
 
 Through wounds so many thy distressful speech?" 
 
 And he to us: "0 spirits who are come 
 140 To see the shameful havoc which from me 
 
 Has thus my leaves dissevered, gather them 
 
 At bottom of the miserable bush. 
 
 I of that city was that made exchange 
 
 Of her first patron for the Baptist: whence, 
 
 Because of this, he ever, with his art. 
 
 Will make it sorrowful : and were it not 
 
 That, on the crossing of the Arno, still 
 
 Remains of him some semblance, all in vain 
 
 Those citizens who built it up again, 
 150 Afterward, on the ashes which remained 
 
 From Attila,— had had the work performed. 
 
 I made myself a gibbet of my house. " 
 
CANTO XIV 
 
 The third round of the seventh circle. The sandy plain and the 
 rain of fire. Capaneus. They reach the stream of Phlegethon 
 at another point. Vergil explains the origin of the infernal 
 rivers. 
 
 Because affection for my native place 
 
 Constrained me, I again the scattered leaves 
 
 Gathered, and gave them back to him who was, 
 
 By this time, faint. Then to the bomidary 
 
 We came, where from the third the second round 
 
 Divides, and where appears a dreadful mode 
 
 Of justice. That I clearly may explain 
 
 The novel things, I say that to a waste 
 
 We came, which from its bed rejects all plants. 
 10 The doleful wood inwreathes it, as the wood 
 
 Engirds the dismal trench. We stayed our steps 
 
 Here on the very edge. A stretch of sand 
 
 The ground was, dense and dry, not different 
 
 In fashion from that which by Cato's feet 
 
 Was trodden once. Vengeance of God! how much 
 
 Shouldst thou be feared by every one that reads 
 
 That which was manifested to my eyes! 
 
 Of naked souls I many bands beheld. 
 
 Who all were weeping very piteously, 
 20 And on them seemed a law diverse imposed. 
 
 Some people lay supine upon the ground; 
 
 Some sat, all huddled up, and others walked 
 
 Continually. Far more in number were 
 
 Those who were going round, and fewer those 
 
 Who in the torment lay, but freer were 
 
INFERNO XIV 81 
 
 Their tongues to speak their woe. O'er all the sand, 
 
 With slow descent, dilated flakes of fire 
 
 Were falling down like snow-flakes in the Alps, 
 
 Without a wind. As in those torrid climes 
 30 Of India, Alexander, on his host 
 
 Saw falling flames, unbroken, to the ground. 
 
 Wherefore he took precaution, with his troops 
 
 To trample down the soil, because the vapor 
 
 More easily was stifled while alone: 
 
 So was descending that eternal heat. 
 
 By which, like tinder under steel, the sand 
 
 Was kindled for the doubling of the woe. 
 
 Ever without cessation was the dance 
 
 Of the poor hands, on this side now, and now 
 40 On that, as from themselves they shook away 
 
 The freshly-fallen burning. I began: 
 
 "Master, who overcomest all things, save 
 
 The demons obstinate who issued forth 
 
 Against us, at the entrance of the gate, — 
 
 Who is that mighty soul, who for the fire 
 
 Seems not to care, and lies so insolent 
 
 And lowering, that the rain does not appear 
 
 To make him mellower?" And that same one, 
 
 Who was aware that I was questioning 
 50 My Guide about him, cried: "Such as I was 
 
 Alive, such am I dead. Though Jove should tire 
 
 His smith, from whom he in his anger took 
 
 The pointed thunderbolt by which I was 
 
 Smitten on my last day, or should exhaust 
 
 By turns the others at the sooty forge 
 
 In Mongibello, crying 'Help, help. 
 
 Good Vulcan!' as he did at Phlegra's fight, 
 
 And hurl with all his might at me,— thereby 
 
 He could not have a glad revenge." My Guide 
 
82 THE DIVINE CX)MEDY 
 
 60 Then spoke with energy so great, that I 
 Had ne'er so forceful heard him: "Capaneus, 
 Punished the more thou art, in that thy pride 
 Remains unquenched: no torment save thy rage 
 Were pain that would thy fury's measure fill." 
 Then, with a calmer look, he turned to me, 
 And said: "One of the seven kings was he. 
 Who Thebes besieged, and held, and seems to hold 
 God in contempt, and seems to prize him little: 
 But, even as I told him, his affronts 
 
 70 Are ornaments which well beseem his breast. 
 Now follow me, and see thou do not set 
 Thy feet, hereafter, on the burning sand. 
 But always keep them closely to the wood." 
 Silent, we reached the place where, from the wood, 
 Gushes a little brook, whose'redness still 
 Makes me to shudder. As a rivulet 
 From Bulicame flows, which, afterward, 
 The sinful women share among themselves, 
 So downward through the sand that brooklet went. 
 
 80 The bottom and both banks were petrified: 
 And, on the side, the margins: wherefore I 
 Perceived that there, by those, we were to pass. 
 "Among all else that I have shown to thee, 
 Since by the gate whose threshold is to none 
 Denied, we entered, by thine eyes has been 
 Nothing discerned so notable as is 
 The present stream, which all the little flames 
 Above itself extinguishes." These were 
 My Leader's words; whence I entreated him 
 
 90 To give me freely the repast for which 
 He freely had the cra\ing given me. 
 "In mid-sea lies a barren land," he said, 
 "Called Crete, beneath whose king the world, of old, 
 
INFERNO XIV 83 
 
 Was innocent. A mountain is therein, 
 
 Called Ida, which with waters and with leaves, 
 
 Of old, was glad; now, like a thing outworn, 
 
 'Tis desert. Rhea, in the days of old, 
 
 As a safe cradle for her little son. 
 
 Chose it, and better to conceal him, caused 
 100 Loud outcries to be made there when he wailed. 
 
 Within the mountain stands a great old man. 
 
 Erect, who keeps toward Damietta turned 
 
 His shoulders, while he gazes upon Rome, 
 
 As though it were his mirror. Of fine gold 
 
 His head is fashioned, and his arms and breast 
 
 Are of pure silver. Then far as the fork, 
 
 He is of brass, and downward thence is all 
 
 Of chosen iron, save that his right foot is 
 
 Baked clay, and upon this he stands erect 
 110 More than upon the other. Every part, 
 
 Except the gold, is by a fissure cleft, 
 
 Dripping with tears which, gathered, through that cave 
 
 A passage make. From rock to rock descends 
 
 Their course into this valley: Acheron 
 
 They form, and Styx, and Phlegethon: then down 
 
 Along this narrow channel take their way. 
 
 To where there is no more descent; they form 
 
 Cocytus; and what kind of pool that is 
 
 Thou shalt behold: so here I do not tell." 
 120 And I to him: "If thus the present rill 
 
 Down from our world is flowing, why to us 
 
 Appears it only at this edge?" And he: 
 
 "Thou knowest that the place is circular. 
 
 And though thou hast come far, continually 
 
 Descending toward the bottom to the left. 
 
 Thou hast not yet through the whole circle turned; 
 
 And therefore if aught new appear to us, 
 
84 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 It ought not to bring wonder to thy face." 
 And I again: "My Master, where are found 
 
 130 Lethe and Phlegethon? for of the one 
 Thou sayest nothing, and the other one, 
 Thou sayest, by this rain is made." "In sooth, 
 In all thy questions well thou pleasest me," 
 He answered, "but the one which thou dost ask, 
 The boiling of the crimson stream should well 
 Have solved. Thou shalt see Lethe, but outside 
 This pit, there where to bathe themselves repair 
 The spirits, when their sin, repented of, 
 Is put away." Then said he: "Now 'tis time 
 
 140 To quit the wood: see that thou follow me: 
 The margins make a path, for they are not 
 On fire, and over them all flame is quenched." 
 
I 
 
 CANTO XV 
 
 They pass on along the margin of Phlegethon. The banks of the 
 river described. They meet a company of spirits, among whom 
 is Brunetto Latini, who recognizes Dante, and accompanies 
 him for a time. He predicts for him misfortune at the hands of 
 the Florentines. He names some of the most prominent persons 
 among the shades. By the approach of another company he 
 is forced to leave Dante, and rejoins his comrades. 
 
 Now one of the hard margins bears us on, 
 
 And overhead the brooklet's smoke a shade 
 
 Diffuses, so that from the fire it saves 
 
 The water and the banks. As 'twixt Wissant 
 
 And Bruges, the Flemings, fearful of the flood 
 
 Which toward them sweeps, to put to flight the sea 
 
 Their bulwarks build, — and as the Paduans 
 
 Along the Brenta, to defend their towns 
 
 And forts, ere Chiarentana feels the heat,— 
 10 After such fashion these were formed, although, 
 
 Whate'er it was, neither so high nor thick 
 
 The master made them. From the forest now 
 
 We were so far removed, that where it was 
 
 I could not have discerned had I turned back, 
 
 When we a troop of spirits met, that came 
 
 Along the embankment, and each looked at us, 
 
 As one is wont another one to scan 
 
 At evening, under a new moon; and they, 
 
 With puckered brows, intently peered at us, 
 20 Like an old tailor at a needle's eye. 
 
 Thus eyed by such a company, I was 
 
 By some one recognized, who seized upon 
 
 My mantle's hem, and cried: "0 what a marvel!" 
 
 And I, when he stretched out his arm to me, 
 
 85 
 
86 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Fastened my eyes on his baked countenance, 
 So that his blackened face did not prevent 
 My mind from knowing him; and bending down 
 My face to his, I answered: "Are you here, 
 Master Brunetto?" "0 my son," he said: 
 
 30 "If Brunetto Latini turn with thee 
 A little back, and let his troop go on. 
 Let it not irk thee." I repUed to him: 
 "With all my power I beg this thing of you; 
 And if you wish that I sit down with you, 
 I will do so, if it please that one there. 
 For I am going with him." "Son," he said, 
 "Whoever of this herd an instant stops. 
 Thereafter lies a hundred years, without 
 Fanning himself, when the fire smites on him. 
 
 40 Therefore move on: I at thy skirts will come, 
 And then I will rejoin my company, 
 Which goes lamenting its eternal hurt." 
 Down from the road I did not dare to step, 
 Level to go with him; but held my head 
 Bent down, Uke one who reverently walks. 
 And he began: "What chance or destiny 
 Brings thee down here before thy final day? 
 And who is this that shows the way to thee?" 
 "Up yonder, in the tranquil hfe above," 
 
 50 1 answered him, "I lost me in a vale. 
 
 Ere I had reached full age. But yestermorn 
 I turned my back upon it: as I was 
 Returning thither, he appeared to me. 
 And by this road is homeward leading me." 
 And he to me: "If thou thy star pursue. 
 Thou canst not fail to reach a glorious port, 
 If I, in the fair life, discerned aright. 
 And if I had not so untimely died, 
 
INFERNO XV 87 
 
 Seeing that Heaven was so kind to thee, 
 60 I would have given thee comfort in thy work. 
 
 But that maUcious, thankless populace, 
 
 Which from Fiesole came forth of old. 
 
 Which smacks still of the mountain and the rock, 
 
 Will make itself thine enemy, because 
 
 Of thy well-doing: and with reason, since 
 
 It is not meet that the sweet fig bear fruit 
 
 Among tart sorbs. Old gossip in the world 
 
 Reports them blind; it is a greedy folk. 
 
 Envious and haughty. See to it that thou 
 70 Do cleanse thee from their habits. Honor such 
 
 For thee reserves tl^y fortune, that for thee 
 , Both parties shall be hungry: but the grass 
 
 Shall be far from the goat. Of their own selves 
 
 Let the Fiesolan beasts a litter make,. 
 
 And let them not lay hands upon the plant. 
 
 If any on their dunghill yet springs up, - 
 
 In which those Romans' holy seed revives. 
 
 Who there remained when it became the nest 
 
 Of so much wickedness." "If my desire 
 80 Had wholly been fulfilled," I answered him, 
 
 "You would not yet be put in banishment 
 
 From human kind: for in my mind is fixed. 
 
 And touches now my heart your dear and good 
 
 Paternal image, when you, in the world. 
 
 Taught me from hour to hour how man becomes 
 
 Eternal: and 'tis meet that in my speech. 
 
 Long as I live, should be discerned how much 
 
 I prize it. What you tell of my career 
 
 I note, and this, to gloss with other text, 
 90 1 for a lady keep, who will know how. 
 
 If I attain to her. Thus much I would 
 
 Have clear to you, that I, so chide me not 
 
88 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 My conscience, am for Fortune, as she wills, 
 Prepared. Such earnest is not to my ears 
 Novel : let Fortune therefore turn her wheel 
 At pleasure, and the churl his mattock." Then 
 The Master, on the side of the right cheek, 
 Turned back, and looked at me; and then he said: 
 "He listens well who marks it." None the less, 
 
 100 Talking with Ser Brunetto, I go on. 
 
 And ask who are his comrades most renowned 
 And eminent. And he to me : " 'Tis good 
 To know of some : 'twill be commendable 
 About the others to keep still, because 
 For so much talking short would be the time. 
 Know thou, in fine, that all of them were clerks, 
 And men of letters, great and much renowned, 
 Defiled by one same trespass in the world. 
 Priscian, with yonder miserable crowd, 
 
 110 Pursues his way, and Francesco d'Accorso: 
 If thou hadst had a hankering for such scurf. 
 Him too thou couldst have seen, who was transferred 
 From Amo, by the servants' Servitor, 
 To Bacchiglione, where he left behind 
 His nerves o'erstrained by sin. I would say more. 
 But longer must not be my walk and talk, 
 Because, arising yonder from the sand, 
 I see fresh dust. A folk draws near with whom 
 I must not be. Let my Tesoro be 
 
 120 Commended to thee, in the which I still 
 Survive, and more I ask not." Thereupon 
 He turned him back, and seemed hke one of those 
 Who, at Verona, run across the plain. 
 For the green cloth; and seemed of them to be 
 The one that wins, and not the losing one. 
 
CANTO XVI 
 
 Another group composed of military or civil officials. Jacopo 
 Rusticucci inquires about the condition of Florence, which 
 Dante describes. The sound of falling water indicates the 
 approach to the descent into the eighth circle. Vergil throws 
 the cord with which Dante is girt into the abyss. Geryon appears. 
 
 Now I was in a place where there was heard 
 
 The booming of the water, falling down 
 
 Into the next round, like the humming made 
 
 By beehives,— when three shades detached themselves 
 
 Together, running, from a passing troop. 
 
 Beneath the rain of the sharp torment. They 
 
 Came toward us, and each one was crying: "Stay! 
 
 Thou who appearest to us, by thy garb, 
 
 To be an inmate of our wicked city." 
 
 10 Ah me! What wounds upon their limbs I saw, 
 Both old and recent, by the flames burnt in! 
 But to remember this afflicts me still 
 For them. My teacher to their cry gave heed. 
 His face toward me turned, and said: "Now wait; 
 To these one should be courteous: and if 
 It were not for the fire, to dart the which 
 The nature of the place is, I would say 
 That thee the haste befitted more than them." 
 They, when they stopped, began their former strain 
 
 20 Again, and when they had come up to us. 
 All three of them made of themselves a wheel. 
 As were the oiled and naked champions wont. 
 Their grip and vantage spying out, before 
 They interchanged their mutual blows and thrusts, 
 Thus, wheeling, each directed toward me 
 
 89 
 
90 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 His visage, so that ever moved his neck 
 In contrary direction to his feet. 
 "And if," the one began, "the misery 
 Of this unstable place, together with 
 
 30 Our aspect stained and stripped, inspire contempt 
 For us and our entreaties, let our fame 
 Incline thy mind to tell us who thou art, 
 Who, thus secure, dost trail thy living feet 
 Through Hell. He in whose tracks thou seest me tread, 
 Although he flayed and naked goes, in rank 
 Was higher than thou thinkest. Grandson he 
 Was of the good Gualdrada; and his name 
 Was Guido Guerra. In his hfe he did 
 With sword and wisdom much. The other is 
 
 40 Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, who the sand 
 
 Behind me treads, whose fame up in the world 
 Should have been cherished. And I who with them 
 \m tortured, was Jacopo Rusticucci: 
 And certainly my savage wife is, more 
 Than aught beside, my bane." If from the fire 
 I had been sheltered, down I would have leaped 
 Among them, and my Teacher would, I think. 
 Have suffered it. But since I should have burned 
 And roasted me, my fear prevailed above 
 
 50 My good ml\, which to clasp them in my arms 
 Had made me greedy. "Not contempt," I then 
 Began, "but sorrow, your condition so 
 Fastened within me, that it will be long 
 Ere it is wholly stripped away,— as soon 
 As this my lord said words to me, from which 
 I thought that folk Uke you were drawing near. 
 I of your city am, and evermore 
 Have lovingly rehearsed and heard your deeds 
 And honored names. I leave the gall, and go 
 
INFERNO XVI 91 
 
 60 After sweet fruits which by my truthful Guide 
 
 Are promised me; but first I must descend 
 
 As far as to the centre." "So may long 
 
 Thy soul direct thy limbs/' he then replied, 
 
 "And so may thy renown shine after thee, 
 
 As thou shalt tell if courtesy and worth 
 
 Still in our city dwell, as they are wont, 
 
 Or if they wholly are gone forth from it? 
 
 For Guglielmo Borsiere, who with us 
 
 Has suffered torment for a short time past, 
 70 And yonder with our comrades goes along. 
 
 Much with his words provokes us." "The new folk, 
 
 And sudden gains, Florence, have in thee. 
 
 Excess and pride engendered, so that thou 
 
 Thereat already weepest." Thus I cried. 
 
 With face uplifted: and the three who took 
 
 This for an answer, at each other looked. 
 
 As men do when the truth is heard. "If thou," * 
 
 They all replied, "canst, at so little cost. 
 
 At other times another satisfy, 
 80 Thou happy art, if thus as pleases thee 
 
 Thou speakest. Wherefore, if thou shalt escape 
 
 These gloomy regions, and return to see 
 
 The beauteous stars again, when thou shalt be 
 
 Rejoiced to say: 'I was,' see that thou talk 
 
 About us to the people." Then they broke 
 
 Then* wheel, and as they fled, their nimble legs 
 
 Seemed wings. An Amen could not have been said 
 
 So quickly as they vanished: it appeared 
 
 Good to the Master, therefore, to depart. 
 90 I followed him, and far we had not gone. 
 
 Before so near us was the water's sound. 
 
 That, had we spoken, we had scarce been heard. 
 
 Just as that stream which is the first that holds, • 
 
92 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Eastward, from Monte Veso, its own course 
 On the left flank of Apennine, and is, 
 Above, called Acquacheta, ere it sinks 
 Into its lowly bed, and at Forli 
 That name has lost,— re-echoes there above 
 San Benedetto of the Mount, because 
 
 100 It downward plunges at a single leap. 
 
 Where shelter for a thousand should have been, — 
 So downward from a bank precipitous. 
 We found that water dark, with such a din 
 Resounding, that it would, in Kttle time. 
 Have stunned the ears. Around me gu-t I had 
 A cord; and once with this I thought to catch 
 The pard with spotted skin. When from myself 
 I wholly had unloosed it, as my Guide 
 Had bidden me, I handed it to him, 
 
 110 Gathered and coiled. Thereat he turned himself 
 To the right side, and some way from the edge 
 He threw it down into that deep abyss. 
 "And surely something new," within myself 
 I said, "must to this novel sign respond, 
 Which with his eye my Master follows thus!" 
 Ah, how much caution men should use, when near 
 To those who not alone the act behold. 
 But by their wisdom look within the thought! 
 He said to me: "What I am waiting for 
 
 120 Will soon come up, and that of which thy thought 
 Is dreaming, quickly to thy sight must be 
 Discovered." Always, to that truth which wears 
 The guise of falsehood, one should close his lips, 
 As far as possible, because it brings 
 Shame without fault; but here I cannot be 
 Silent concerning this: and by the strains 
 Of this my Comedy, I swear to thee, 
 
INFERNO XVI 93 
 
 Reader,— so may they not be destitute 
 Of lasting approbation,— that a shape, 
 130 Fearful to every heart, however bold, 
 I saw come swimming upward, as when he 
 Who down at times to clear an anchor goes, 
 Fouled with a rock, or other thing concealed 
 Within the sea,— returns, and stretches forth 
 Himself above, and draws him up beneath. 
 
CANTO XVII 
 
 Geryon^s appearance described. Vergil confers with him. Dante 
 meanwhile turns aside to visit the Usurers who are sitting near 
 the mouth of the pit. Returning, he finds Vergil seated upon 
 Geryon's back, and mounts in front of him. Geryon descends^ 
 and deposits the two poets at the bottom of the shaft. 
 
 "Behold the monster with the pointed tail, 
 
 That passes mountains, walls and weapons breaks; 
 
 See him that all the world with stench pollutes." 
 
 My Leader thus began to speak to me. 
 
 And to the brink he beckoned him to come, 
 
 Near where the marble causeway we had trod 
 
 Came to an end: and that foul effigy 
 
 Of fraud came on, and brought his head and bust 
 
 Ashore, but on the bank drew not his tail. 
 10 His face the face was of a righteous man; 
 
 So kind a semblance outwardly it wore, 
 
 And all his trunk a serpent's was. He had 
 
 Two arms, up to the armpits clothed with hair: 
 
 He had his back, and breast, and both his sides 
 
 With knots embellished and with little shields. 
 
 Never did Turks or Tartars make a cloth 
 
 With colors more, o'ershot or underlaid. 
 
 Nor on the loom were by Arachne laid 
 
 Such webs. As sometimes lie upon the shore 
 20 The wherries, part in water, part on land, 
 
 And as, among the gorging Germans yonder. 
 
 The beaver plants himself to wage his war, 
 
 So, on the rim of stone which closes in 
 
 The sand, that vilest monster lay. His tail 
 
 All in the void was quivering, as it writhed 
 
 94 
 
INFERNO XVII 95 
 
 Upward the venomed fork which armed the point, 
 
 In fashion of a scorpion. My Guide 
 
 Said: "Now our path a little must diverge, 
 
 As far as to that evil beast which there 
 30 Is couching." Therefore on the right we went 
 
 Downward, and walked ten paces on the verge, 
 
 That we might wholly shun the sand and flame : 
 
 And when, a little farther on, we came 
 
 To him, I saw, sitting upon the sand. 
 
 Some people near the precipice. To me 
 
 Here said the Master: "That thou mayst with thee 
 
 Bear away full experience of this round. 
 
 Go, see their state; and there let thy discourse 
 
 Be brief: till thou return, I with this beast 
 40 Will speak, that he may yield his shoulders strong 
 
 To us." Thus all alone, once more I went 
 
 Along that seventh circle's outmost ridge. 
 
 To where the melancholy people sat. 
 
 Their sorrow through their eyes was bursting forth: 
 
 They with their hands, on this side and on that, 
 
 Themselves defended, now against the flames. 
 
 Now from the burning soil. Not otherwise, 
 
 In summer, do the dogs, with muzzle now. 
 
 And now with paws, when they are stung by fleas, 
 50 Or flies or gadflies. When I set my eyes 
 
 Upon the face of certain ones on whom 
 
 The grievous fire is falling, none of them 
 
 I knew, but I perceived that from the neck 
 
 Of each there hung a pouch of certain hue, 
 
 And certain blazon: and with these, it seems, 
 
 Their eye is fed. And as I, scanning them. 
 
 Among them came, upon a yellow purse 
 
 I azure saw, which of a lion had 
 
 The face and bearing. Then, as onward went 
 
96 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 The movement of my look, I saw of them 
 Another, red as blood, display a goose, 
 Whiter than butter. And to me said one 
 Who with a blue and pregnant sow had marked 
 His wallet white, "What dost thou in this ditch? 
 Now get thee gone: and since thou livest still, 
 Know that upon my left side here shall sit 
 My fellow-citizen, Vitalian. 
 A Paduan I among these Florentines. 
 Ofttimes my ears they deafen, thundering: 
 
 70 'Let come the knight supreme who here shall bring 
 The pouch with the three beaks!' " He twisted here 
 His mouth, and thrust his tongue out, like an ox 
 That licks his nose. And fearing longer stay 
 Might worry him who had admonished me 
 To tarry briefly, from the weary souls 
 I turned me back again. I found my Guide, 
 Who had ah-eady mounted on the rump 
 Of the fierce animal : and he to me 
 Said: "Now be strong and bold. By stair like this 
 
 80 Henceforward we descend. Mount thou in front, 
 For I would be between, that so the tail 
 May have no power to harm." As he who has 
 So near at hand the quartan shivering-fit. 
 That livid now his nails are, and his frame 
 Trembles all over when he only looks 
 Upon a shady place, such I became, 
 At utterance of these words; but shame in me 
 His admonitions wrought, the shame which makes 
 A servant brave before a worthy lord. 
 
 90 Upon those shoulders huge I took my seat: 
 I would have said, but that my voice came not 
 As I believed it would, "Be sure that thou 
 Embrace me." But he who, at other times. 
 
INFERNO XVII 97 
 
 Had come in other hazard, to my aid, 
 
 Soon as I mounted clasped me with his arms, 
 
 And held me up, and said: "Now Geryon, go! 
 
 Large let thy circles be, and thy descent 
 
 Be slow: think of the novel load thou hast!" 
 
 As from its berth the little craft moves out, 
 100 Backward, still backward, so he drew away; 
 
 And when quite free he felt himself, he turned 
 
 His tail to where his breast had been, and this, 
 
 Outstretched, moved Hke an eel, and drew the air 
 
 Toward him with his arms. I do not think 
 
 That there was greater fear when Phaethon 
 
 Let go the reins, whereby, as still appears. 
 
 The heaven was scorched: nor when poor Icarus 
 
 Perceived his loins made by the melted wax 
 
 All bare of feathers, while his father cried: 
 110 "Thou boldest a bad course!"— than was my fear, 
 
 When I perceived myself on every side 
 
 Encompassed by the air, and every sight, 
 
 Save of the monster, vanished. On he goes, 
 
 Slowly, still slowly swimming, wheels, descends: 
 
 But I perceive it not, save that the wind 
 
 Blows on my face, and from below. I heard, 
 
 Already, on the right, beneath us make 
 
 The gulf a hideous booming; whereupon. 
 
 With eyes cast downward, I thrust out my head. 
 120 Then at the precipice I more was scared: 
 
 For I saw fires, and lamentations heard: 
 
 Whereat I, trembling, wholly drew myself 
 
 Together. And I then discerned, for I 
 
 Had not before perceived it, the descent 
 
 And circling, by the dreadful ills which were 
 
 Near to us drawing upon different sides. 
 
 As falcon which has long been on the wing, 
 
98 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Which, without sight of lure or bird, constrains 
 The falconer to say: "Ah me! thou stoopest!" 
 130 With hundred wheelings, to the place from which 
 It started swiftly, wearily descends. 
 And from its master far away aUghts, 
 Haughty and sullen,— thus did Geryon set 
 Us at the bottom, at the very foot 
 Of the sheer rock; and, from our persons freed, 
 He vanished, hke an arrow from the string. 
 
CANTO XVIII 
 
 The eighth circle. Maleholge described. In the first trench are 
 seen Panders and Seducers scourged by demons. Venedico 
 Caccianimico. Jason. The second trench, where the Fhiterers 
 are seen immersed in filth. 
 
 There is a place in Hell called Malebolge, 
 
 Wholly of stone, and of an iron hue, 
 
 As is the circling wall which round it winds. 
 
 Right in the middle of the noisome plain 
 
 There yawns a pit, exceeding wide and deep, 
 
 Whereof the structure, in its proper place, 
 
 I will describe. The belt, then, which between 
 
 The pit and foot of the high, stony bank 
 
 Remains, is round, and has its bed divided 
 10 Into ten valleys. Figure such as, where, 
 
 The ramparts to defend, successive moats 
 
 The castles gird, the region where they are 
 
 Presents,— such image those presented here: 
 
 And as in such strongholds small bridges are 
 
 Thrown from their entrance to the outmost bank, 
 
 So crags, out from the bottom of the cUff 
 
 Shot, which the dikes and trenches cut across, 
 
 Down to the pit which truncates and collects them. 
 
 In this place, shaken off from Geryon's back, 
 20 We found ourselves, and to the left the Bard 
 
 Held on, and I went after him. I saw, 
 
 On the right hand, a novel form of woe; 
 
 New torments, and new scourges, with the which 
 
 The first trench was all filled. All naked were 
 
 The sinners at the bottom: on our side 
 
 The middle, they were coming with their face 
 
 99 
 
100 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Toward us: and upon the other side, 
 Along with us, but with a longer stride: 
 Just as the Romans have devised a plan, 
 
 30 Because of the vast concourse in the year 
 Of Jubilee, across the bridge to pass 
 The people, so that, on the one side, all 
 Face toward the Castle, and are moving on 
 Toward Saint Peter's; on the other edge. 
 They go toward the Mount. On either side 
 I saw horned fiends along the dingy stone. 
 With monstrous whips, who fiercely from behind 
 Were lashing them. Ah how, with the first blows. 
 They made them hft their shanks! No one, be sure, 
 
 40 Stopped for the second or the third. While I 
 Was going on, my eyes encountered one; 
 And straightway thus I said: "For sight of him 
 I have not fasted heretofore." I stayed. 
 Therefore, my feet, that I might make him out: 
 And my dear Leader stopped along with me. 
 And gave me leave to go a little back: 
 And that whipped one supposed he could conceal 
 Himself by bending down his face, but that 
 Availed him little: for I said to him: 
 
 50 " Thou who dost cast thine eye upon the ground, 
 If are not false the featiu-es thou dost wear, 
 Thou art Venedico Caccianimico; 
 But what doth bring thee to such stinging Salse?" 
 And he to me: "To tell it I am loath; 
 But thy clear speech which makes me recollect 
 The former world, compels me. I was he 
 Who did Ghisolabella bring to do 
 The Marquis's will, however may be told 
 The shameful story. And of Bolognese 
 
 60 I am not here the only one who mourns: 
 
INFERNO XVIII ' 101 
 
 Nay, rather is this place so full of them, 
 
 That not so many tongues are taught to say 
 
 Sipa, 'twixt Reno and Savena now: 
 
 And if thou wantest pledge or proof of this, 
 
 Our avaricious spirit call to mind." 
 
 While thus he spoke, a demon with his whip 
 
 Smote him, and said: "Be off, thou pimp! There are 
 
 No women here to let." I joined again 
 
 My escort: then with a few steps we came 
 70 To where a crag projected from the bank. 
 
 Right easily we mounted that, and turned 
 
 Toward the right, along its spHntered mass 
 
 We from those endless circlings went away. 
 
 When we were where it opens underneath. 
 
 To give a passage to the scourged, my Guide 
 
 Said: "Wait, and of these others born to ill. 
 
 The face of whom thou hast not yet beheld. 
 
 Allow the sight to strike on thee, for they 
 
 Have gone along with us." From the old bridge 
 80 We scanned the file which on the other side 
 
 Was coming toward us, in like fashion driven 
 
 Before the scourge. The worthy Master said. 
 
 Unasked, to me: "Behold that stately shade 
 
 Approaching, who appears, for all his pain, 
 
 To shed no tear. What regal aspect still 
 
 He keeps! That one is Jason, who by craft 
 
 And courage robbed the Colchians of the ram. 
 
 He passed by Lemnos' island, after that 
 
 The women bold and pitiless had given 
 90 All of their males to death; and with fine words 
 
 And tokens, there seduced Hypsipyle, 
 
 The Httle maiden who had all the rest 
 
 Already cheated. Pregnant and forlorn 
 
 He left her there : such guilt to torment such 
 
102 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Condemns him; and Medea is avenged 
 Besides. With him go all who in such wise 
 Delude: and let this be enough to know 
 Of the first valley and of those it holds 
 Within its fangs." Ah-eady we had come 
 
 100 To where the narrow pathway intersects 
 The second dike, and for another arch 
 A buttress makes of that. From here we heard 
 Folk who are in the next trench whimpering, 
 And with then- muzzle snort, and with their pahns 
 Belabor them. The banks are with a mould 
 Incrusted, by the vapor from below 
 Which sticks thereon, and with the eyes and nose 
 Did battle. Hollowed out the bottom is. 
 So that no place suffices us to see, 
 
 110 Without our mounting to the arch's back, 
 Where highest is the crag. To this we came, 
 And in the pit below, from there I saw 
 People immersed in ordure, which appeared 
 To be from hiunan privies brought: and while 
 I with my eye was searching there below, 
 I saw one with his head so foul with dung, 
 That it was not apparent whether he 
 Were clerk or layman. He, reproachfully. 
 Bawled out to me: "Why art thou greedy more 
 
 120 To look at me than at the other ones 
 
 Befouled?" And I to hun: "Because, ere now, 
 
 If rightly I remember, I have seen 
 
 Thee with dry hair, and thou of Lucca art, 
 
 Alessio Interminei: therefore more 
 
 Than all the rest I eye thee. And he then. 
 
 Beating his pate: "The flatteries wherewith 
 
 My tongue was never cloyed have plunged me here 
 
 Below." Thereafter said to me my Guide: 
 
INFERNO XVIII 103 
 
 "See that a little thou advance thy look, 
 130 So that thou with thine eyes mayst fully reach 
 The face of that unclean, dishevelled drab, 
 Who yonder with her filthy nails doth score 
 Herself, and who is squatting now, and now 
 Standing upon her feet. The harlot she, 
 Thais, who to her lover, when he said: 
 'Have I much thanks from thee?' 'Nay, marvellous!' 
 Replied. And for our sight let this suffice." 
 
CANTO XIX 
 
 The third trench, where the Simoniacs are punished. Vergil con- 
 veys Dante to the bottom of the trench in order that he may 
 converse with a spirit who is writhing under severe torture ^ 
 and who proves to he Pope Nicholas III. Dante denounces to 
 him the rapacity of the clergy. 
 
 Simon Magus! ye followers, 
 Wretxjhed, because ye, greedily, for gold 
 And silver, prostitute the things of God, 
 Which ought to be the brides of righteousness; 
 Now it is meet the trumpet sound for you. 
 Because in the third trench you have your place. 
 To the next tomb we had already climbed. 
 
 On that part of the crag which overhangs 
 The very middle of the trench. How great, 
 10 Wisdom supreme, the art thou dost display, 
 In Heaven, on earth, and in the evil world! 
 And how great justice does thy power dispense! 
 Along the bottom and along the sides, 
 
 1 saw the livid rock all full of holes, 
 All of one size, and each was circular. 
 
 Not less in measure nor more great they seemed 
 To me, than those which in my fair Saint John, 
 Are for the stand of the baptizers made; 
 And one of which, not many years ago, 
 20 I broke, to save one who was stifling there : 
 And let this be a warrant, every man 
 To undeceive. Forth from the mouth of each 
 A sinner's feet protruded, and the legs. 
 Up to the calf, and inside was the rest. 
 On fire were both the soles of all of them; 
 
 104 
 
INFERNO XIX 105 
 
 Wherefore the joints so violently twitched, 
 
 That twisted withes or ropes they would have snapped. 
 
 Just as the flaming of oiled things is wont 
 
 To play upon the outer surface only, 
 30 So was it here from heels to toes. I said: 
 
 "My Master, who is that who is enraged 
 
 More than the others who consort with him,. 
 
 And whom a redder flame is sucking?" He 
 
 Replied to me : " If thou desirest me 
 
 Down there to take thee by that lower bank, 
 
 Thou of himself and of his wrongs shalt learn 
 
 From him." And I: "Whatever pleases thee 
 
 To me is pleasing: thou art lord, and know'st 
 
 That I depart not from thy will; and thou 
 40 Knowest beside that which is left unsaid." 
 
 We came upon the fourth embankment then; 
 
 We turned, and to the bottom, pierced with holes 
 
 And narrow, we went down upon the left. 
 
 And the good Master did not set me down 
 
 As yet from off his haunch, until he brought me 
 
 Down to the cleft of him who with his shanks 
 
 Was thus lamenting. I began to speak: 
 
 "0 whosoe'er thou art who, upside down, 
 
 Implanted like a stake, unhappy soul, 
 60 Dost hold thyself, if thou art able, speak." 
 
 I there was standing, like a friar that shrives 
 
 The treacherous assassin, who, when fixed 
 
 For execution, calls him back again. 
 
 Because he thus his death delays : and he 
 
 Cried out: "Art thou already standing there, 
 
 Boniface? Already standing there? 
 
 By several years the writing lied to me. 
 
 Art thou so quickly sated with that wealth 
 
 For which thou didst not fear to carry off 
 
106 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 By fraud the lady fair, and afterward, 
 To do her outrage?" I became as those 
 Who are as if bemocked, because they fail 
 To understand what is repUed to them, 
 And know not how to answer. Vergil then 
 Said: "Tell him instantly: 'I am not he, 
 I am not he thou thinkest:' " I replied 
 As I was bidden. Whereupon his feet 
 The spirit writhed all over: then to me, 
 Sighing, he said, and with a tearful voice: 
 
 70 "What dost thou ask of me? If to know who 
 I am, so much concerns thee that for this 
 Thou hast come down the bank, know thou that I 
 Was robed with the great mantle, and I was. 
 In very truth, a son of the She-Bear, 
 So eager to advance the whelps, that wealth. 
 Above, I pocketed, and here myself. 
 Beneath my head the others are dragged down, 
 Flattened within the fissures of the rock, 
 Who have preceded me in simony. 
 
 80 I there in turn will fall, when he shall come 
 For whom, when I the sudden question put, 
 I took thee. But already is the time 
 That I have baked my feet, and thus have been 
 Head downward,— longer than, with reddened feet, 
 He shall be fixed: for after him shall come 
 A lawless shepherd, from the west, in deed 
 More foul, such as is meet should cover up 
 Both him and me. New Jason shall he be, 
 Concerning whom we read in Maccabees: 
 
 90 And as his king indulgent was to him. 
 So to this one he who in France doth rule 
 Shall be." I know not if I was too dull. 
 That only in this strain I answered him: 
 
INFERNO XIX 107 
 
 "Now tell me pray how much the treasure was 
 
 Which of Saint Peter did our Lord demand, 
 
 Before he in his keeping placed the keys? 
 
 Surely he nothing asked but, 'Follow me/ 
 
 Nor of Matthias, Peter or the rest 
 
 Took gold or silver, when he for the place 
 100 Was chosen which the guilty soul had lost. 
 
 Therefore stay here! for thou dost well deserve 
 
 Thy punishment; and see thou carefully 
 
 Keep the ill-gotten money which inspired 
 
 Thy boldness against Charles. And were it not 
 
 -jthat still Jorbidsme reveLence for the keys 
 
 Supreme^ jvhich thou in the glad life didst hold, 
 
 I would use still severer words; because 
 
 Your avarice afflicts the world, the good 
 
 Down trampling, and the wicked lifting up. 
 110 The Evangelist descried you shepherds, when 
 
 She who upon the waters sits, by him 
 
 Was seen with kings to play the harlot: she 
 
 Who with the seven heads was born, and had 
 
 From the ten horns her warrant, for so long 
 
 As virtue pleased her spouse. A god of gold 
 
 And silver ye have made you: and what is 
 
 The difference 'twixt idolaters and you. 
 
 Save that they worship one, and you five-score? 
 
 Ah Constantino, to how much ill gave birth, 
 120 Not thy conversion, but the wedding-gift 
 
 Which from thy hand the first rich Father took!'* 
 
 And while I chanted notes like these to him. 
 
 Whether by wrath or conscience he was stung, 
 
 With both his feet he furiously kicked. 
 
 I truly think my Guide was gratified: 
 
 For all the while, with such contented face, 
 
 He to the sound of the true words I spake 
 
108 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Attended. Therefore, he, with both his arms, 
 Took me, and when he had me on his breast 
 130 Completely, by the path where he came down, 
 Remounted; nor because he had me pressed 
 To him so closely, did he tire, until 
 He bore me to the summit of the arch, 
 Which from the fourth embankment to the fifth 
 Affords a passage. Here he gently set 
 The burden down; gently, because the crag 
 Was steep and rugged; for it would have been 
 A passage difficult for goats. From here 
 Another valley was disclosed to me. 
 
CANTO XX 
 
 The fourth Bolgia, in which the Necromancers are punished. 
 Tiresias and his daughter Manto. Vergil relates the legend 
 of the foundation of Mantuxi. Eurypylus, Michael Scott, and 
 others are pointed out. 
 
 'Tis fitting that about new punishment 
 
 I verses make, and for the twentieth strain 
 
 Of the first cantica, which treats of those 
 
 Immersed in Hell, provide material. 
 
 I was completely in position now 
 
 To look into the depth disclosed, which was 
 
 With tears of anguish bathed: and I beheld 
 
 Through the round valley people coming on, 
 
 With weeping and in silence, at the pace 
 10 Which in the world the prayer-processions take. 
 
 As lower down my sight among them ranged, 
 
 Each one appeared distorted wondrously, 
 
 Between the chin and where the chest began: 
 
 For back toward the loins the face was turned. 
 
 And backward they must needs advance, because 
 
 They were deprived of power to look before. 
 
 Perhaps, by force of palsy, one, ere now. 
 
 Has right about been twisted thus, but I 
 
 Have never seen it, and do not believe 
 20 That so it is. As God may let thee pluck, 
 
 reader, fruit from what thou readest here, 
 
 Now for thyself imagine how I could 
 
 Keep dry my face, when close at hand I saw 
 
 Our image so contorted, that the tears. 
 
 As from their eyes they flowed, the hinder parts 
 
 Did bathe along the cleft. In truth I wept, 
 
 109 
 
110 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Against a fragment of the stubborn crag 
 Leaning, so that my Escort said to me: 
 "Art thou still numbered with the other fools? 
 
 30 Here piety doth live when wholly dead 
 Is pity. Who more impious is than he 
 Who on God's judgment passion brings to bear? 
 Lift, Uft thy head, and see that one for whom 
 Opened the earth before the Thebans' eyes, 
 Whereat all shouted: ^Whither in such haste, 
 Amphiaraus? Wherefore leavest thou 
 The war? ' And he ceased not from falling down. 
 Far as to Minos, who on every one 
 Lays hold. Behold how of his shoulders he 
 
 40 Has made a breast: because he wished to see 
 Too far in front of him, he looks behind. 
 And goes a backward road. Tiresias see. 
 Who semblance changed when he from male became 
 Female, when all his members were transformed; 
 And afterward he needs must strike again 
 The two entwisted serpents with his rod, 
 Before he could regain his manly plumes. 
 He who to this one's belly turns his back, 
 Aruns is, who, on Luni's hills, where grubs 
 
 50 The Carrarese who dwells below, the cave 
 Had for his dwelling mid the marbles white. 
 Whence, for the survey of the stars and sea, 
 His view was not cut off. And that one there. 
 Who covers with her loosened locks her breasts 
 Unseen by thee, and all the hairy skin ' 
 Has on that side, is Manto, who made search 
 Through many lands, and after, settled there 
 Where I was born; whereof it pleases me 
 That thou a httle hear me. When her sire 
 
 60 Had passed from life, and into servitude 
 
INFERNO XX 111 
 
 Had fallen Bacchus's city, long she roamed 
 
 Over the world. Up in fair Italy 
 
 There lies a lake, Benaco is its name, 
 
 Washing the bases of the Alps which bound 
 
 The land of Germany above Tyrol. 
 
 I think that through a thousand founts and more, 
 
 Pennino, by the streams which settle down 
 
 In the aforesaid lake, is bathed between 
 
 Garda and Val Camonica. There is 
 70 A place there, midway, where, if he should pass 
 
 That way, the Trentine Pastor, and Verona's, 
 
 And Brescia's might dispense the holy sign. 
 
 Peschiera, goodly garrison and strong 
 
 To front the Brescians and the Bergamasques, 
 
 Sits where falls lowest the surrounding shore. 
 
 There it must needs that all that cannot stay 
 
 Within Benaco's lap, together fall. 
 
 And it becomes a river, as it flows 
 
 Down through green pastures. Soon as starts to flow 
 80 The water, Mincio it is called; no more 
 
 Benaco, far as to Governo, where 
 
 It falls into the Po. Not far it runs. 
 
 Before it finds a plain, on which it spreads, 
 
 And turns it to a marsh; and now and then. 
 
 In Summer it is wont to be unwholesome. 
 
 Passing that way, the cruel virgin saw 
 
 Land in the middle of the fen, untilled. 
 
 And uninhabited. There, to avoid 
 
 All human fellowship, she with her slaves 
 90 Abode, to ply her arts, and lived, and there 
 
 She left her body vacant. Afterward, 
 
 The men who round were scattered gathered them 
 
 Together to that place, for it was strong, 
 
 By reason of the fen which on all sides 
 
112 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 It had. Above those lifeless bones they built 
 Their city; and for her who first did choose 
 The place, without another augiu-y, 
 They called it Mantua. Within it once 
 Its folk were thicker, ere the foolishness 
 
 100 Of Casalodi had experienced fraud 
 
 From Pinamonte. Hence I caution thee 
 
 That if thou ever hear that otherwise 
 
 My city had its origin, thou let 
 
 No lie pervert the truth." And I replied: 
 
 "Master, thy expositions are to me 
 
 So certain, and so on my faith lay hold. 
 
 That like spent coals would seem what others say. 
 
 But tell me of the people going past. 
 
 If thou beholdest any one of them 
 
 110 Worthy of note; because my mind reverts 
 To that alone." Then he rephed to me: 
 "An augur that one was who from his cheek 
 O'er his swart shoulders pushes forth his beard, 
 What time Greece was so destitute of males. 
 That scarcely for the cradles they remained; 
 And he with Calchas named the moment when 
 In Aulis the first cable should be cut. 
 He bore the name Eurypylus, and thus 
 About him, in a certain passage, sings 
 
 120 My lofty tragedy: thou knowest that 
 
 Full well, for thou dost know the whole of it. 
 That other one, so slender in the flanks. 
 Was Michael Scott, who knew, in truth, the game 
 Of magic cheats. Guido Bonatti see; 
 Behold Asdente, he who now would wish 
 That to his leather and his thread he had 
 Given attention, but repents too late. 
 Behold the wretched women who forsook 
 
INFERNO XX 113 
 
 Needle, and spool, and spindle, and became 
 130 Diviners; they, with herbs and effigy. 
 
 Enchantments wrought. But now come on, because 
 Cain and the thorns already holds the bound 
 Of both the hemispheres, and in the wave 
 Beyond Seville is dipping, and the moon 
 Was round already on the yesternight. 
 And thou shouldst well remember it, because 
 No harm she did thee at a certain time, 
 Within the forest deep." Thus did he speak 
 To me, and on our way we went the while. 
 
CANTO XXI 
 
 They pass to the highest point of the bridge over the fifth Bolgia, 
 where are the Barrators, immersed in a lake of boiling pitch. 
 A black devil is seen coming over the bridge with a sinner on 
 his shoulders, whom he throws into the pitch. Vergil appeases 
 the fiends who emerge from under the bridge and threaten him, 
 and who finally furnish the two poets with an escort. 
 
 Thus on from bridge to bridge, with other talk, 
 
 Whereof my Comedy cares not to sing, 
 
 We went, and held the summit, when we paused 
 
 To see another cleft of Malebolge, 
 
 And hear the vain laments which followed next; 
 
 And I perceived that it was wondrous dark. 
 
 As, in the winter, in the arsenal 
 
 Of the Venetians, boils the sticky pitch, 
 
 To pay their crazy craft again, because 
 10 They cannot sail, and one, instead of that, 
 
 Rebuilds his ship, another one recaulks 
 
 The sides of that which many a cruise has made; 
 
 One hammers at the bow, and one astern; 
 
 And one makes oars, another cordage twists; 
 
 One patches up the main- and mizzen-sail: 
 
 So, not by fire, but by the craft divine, 
 
 Down there was boiling a thick pitch, which limed 
 
 The bank on every side. This I perceived, 
 
 But in it nothing but the bubbles saw 
 20 Raised by the boiling, while the whole swelled up. 
 
 And settled down again compressed. While I, 
 
 With gaze intent, was looking down on this, 
 
 My Leader said: "Look! look!" and from the place 
 
 Where I was standing, drew me to himself. 
 
 114 
 
INFERNO XXI 115 
 
 At that I turned me, as a man in baste 
 
 To get a sight of what he ought to flee, 
 
 And whom a sudden fear unnerves; and he, 
 
 For looking, does not stay his going off: 
 
 And a black devil I behind us saw 
 30 Come running up along the crag. Alas, 
 
 How savage was his aspect! In his mien 
 
 How cruel he appeared to me, with wings 
 
 Outspread, and light of foot! His shoulder, high 
 
 And sharp, a sinner with his haunches both 
 
 Encumbered, and the sinew of the feet 
 
 He held fast clutched. "0 Malebranche, here 
 
 Is one of Santa Zita's elders!" he 
 
 From off our bridge exclaimed. "Under with him! 
 
 For I for others still am going back 
 40 To yonder city which I have well stocked 
 
 With them: for every one within it is 
 
 A barrator, except Bonturo : there. 
 
 By means of money, 'yes' is made of *no.' " 
 
 Down there he flung him, and he backward turned 
 
 Along the flinty crag, and mastiff loosed 
 
 Was never in such haste to chase the thief. 
 
 The other plunged beneath, and, doubled up, 
 
 Rose to the surface; but the fiends who were 
 
 Under the cover of the bridge, cried out: 
 60 "The holy countenance has here no place; 
 
 Swimming is practised here in other wise 
 
 Than in the Serchio; therefore, if our hooks 
 
 Thou wouldst not feel, do not uplift thyself 
 
 Above the pitch." Then with a hundred prongs 
 
 And more they gripped him. "Under cover here," 
 
 They said, "thou needs must dance, so that thou mayst 
 
 In secret do thy pilfering, if thou canst." 
 
 Not otherwise the cooks their scullions make 
 
116 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Midway into the cauldron, with their hooks, 
 
 60 Push down the meat, so that it may not float. 
 Said the good Master: "That it be not seen 
 That thou art here, squat down behind a jag. 
 Which may some screen afford thee; nor be thou 
 Afraid, whatever outrage may be done 
 To me, for I have knowledge of these things, 
 Since once before I was in such a fray." 
 Then he passed on beyond the bridge's head. 
 And there was need that he a fearless front 
 Should wear, when he arrived on the sixth bank. 
 
 70 With rage and clamor such as when the dogs 
 Rush out on a poor man, who, where he stops, 
 Forthwith begins to beg, they issued forth 
 From underneath the bridge, and all their gaffs 
 Turned against him; but loudly he called out: 
 "Let none of you be vicious. Ere your hooks 
 Lay hold of me, come forward, one of you. 
 To hear me, and take counsel afterward 
 About your grappling me." They shouted all: 
 "Let Malacoda go;" whereat one moved, 
 
 80 While quiet were the rest, and came to him. 
 
 Saying: "How does it help him?" "Dost thou think 
 
 Thou seest me, Malacoda,- hither come. 
 
 Safe hitherto from all your hindrances," 
 
 My Master said, "without divine behest, 
 
 And fate propitious? Let me go my way, 
 
 For it is willed in Heaven that I show 
 
 Another this mid road." His arrogance 
 
 Was then so bated that he let his hook 
 
 Drop at his feet, and to the others said: 
 
 90 "Now let him not be struck." And said to me 
 My Guide: "0 thou who midst the bridge's jags 
 All squatted down art sitting, now return 
 
INFERNO XXI 117 
 
 Safely to me." Whereat I moved, and came 
 
 With haste to him; and all the devils pressed 
 
 Toward the front, so that I was afraid 
 
 They would not keep their pact. And thus I saw, 
 
 Once on a time, the infantry afraid. 
 
 Who under treaty from Caprona marched, 
 
 Seeing themselves among so many foes. 
 1 00 Close to my Leader's side, with all my frame, 
 
 I drew, and from their look, which was not good. 
 
 Turned not my eyes. They downward turned their gaffs, 
 
 One to the other saying: "Wouldst thou like 
 
 To have me touch him on the rump?" And they 
 
 Were answering: "Aye! See that thou give it him." 
 
 But in an instant turned himself about 
 
 That demon who was talking with my Guide, 
 
 And said: "Be quiet, quiet, Scarmiglione!" 
 
 Then said to us: "Farther along this crag 
 110 It is not possible to go, because 
 
 All broken into pieces the sixth arch 
 
 Is at the bottom lying: and if still 
 
 It please you to go farther, hold your way 
 
 Along this ridge; there is another crag 
 
 Close by, which forms a passage. Yesterday, 
 
 Five hours after the present hour, made up 
 
 Tv/elve hundred threescore and six years, since here 
 
 The way was broken. I am going to send 
 
 Some of this gang of mine that way, to see 
 120 If any puts himself outside to air: 
 
 Go on with them, for they will not be wicked. 
 
 Step forward, Alichino," he began, 
 
 *'And Calcabrina, and Cagnazzo thou; 
 
 And Barbariccia, — let him lead the ten. 
 
 Let Libicocco also come along. 
 
 And Draghinazzo, and tusked Ciriatto; 
 
118 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 GraflSacane, Farfarello too, 
 
 And furious Rubicante. Search about 
 
 The boiling birdlime : far as the next crag, 
 
 130 Which all unbroken goes across the dens, 
 
 Let these be safe." "Ah me! my Master, what," 
 Said I, "is that I see? Pray let us go 
 Alone, without an escort, if the way 
 Thou know'st, for for myself I crave it not. 
 If thou as wary art as is thy wont. 
 Dost thou not see how they do grind their teeth, 
 And threaten mischief to us with their brows?" 
 And he to me: "I would not have thee fear: 
 Let them grind on, e'en to their hearts' content, 
 
 140 For at the wretched stews they do it." They 
 WTieeled by the left embankment; but at first, 
 Each of them with his teeth his tongue had pressed, 
 By way of signal toward their guide, and he 
 Had made a trumpet of his hinder part. 
 
CANTO XXII 
 
 Dante comments upon the unique signal for the advance of the 
 party. A barrator emerges from the pitch, and is caught and 
 dragged up by one of the fiends. He informs Vergil who he is, 
 and who are some of his companions. The fiends offer him 
 a chance to dive back into the pitch. By a sudden leap he escapes 
 their hooks. Angry at their disappointment, two of the devils 
 grapple each other on the wing, and fall together into the pitch, 
 from which they are extricated by their fellows. 
 
 I have, ere now, seen horsemen shift their camp, 
 
 And the attack commence, and their array 
 
 Draw up, and sometimes, for their safety's sake, 
 
 Retire: I have seen scouts, Aretines, 
 
 Scouring your land, and bands of foragers 
 
 Seen moving, tourneys fought, and tiltings run. 
 
 With trumpets now, and now with bells, with drums, 
 
 And castle-signals, and with native things 
 
 And foreign; but I never with a pipe 
 10 So strange saw cavalry or footmen move, 
 
 Or vessel, at a signal from the land 
 
 Or sight of star. With the ten demons we 
 
 Were going on: ah, savage company! 
 
 But, with the saints at church, and with the rakes 
 
 At tavern. On the pitch alone my looks 
 
 Were fixed, to see each feature of the pit, 
 
 And of the people burning there within. 
 
 As dolphins, when, with arching of their back,- 
 
 They make a sign to sailors to give heed 
 20 To save their vessel, so, from time to time. 
 
 To ease his pain some sinner showed his back, 
 
 And hid it quicker than a lightning-flash. 
 
 119 
 
120 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And as the frogs, with only muzzles out, 
 Stand on the edge of water of a ditch. 
 With feet and all their other bulk concealed, 
 So were the sinners upon every side: 
 But soon as Barbariccia near them came, 
 Beneath the boihng they withdrew. I saw, 
 And still at this a shudder thrills my heart, 
 
 30 One lingering in such wise as happens when 
 One frog remains, and off the other leaps. 
 And Graffiacane who more nearly was 
 Over against him, hooked his pitch-smeared locks, 
 And hauled him up, so that he seemed to me 
 An otter. I, by this time, knew the name 
 Of each and every one, I marked them so. 
 When they were chosen; and when they addressed 
 Each other, listened how. "See that thou set 
 Thy claws, Rubicante, on his back 
 
 40 So that thou flay him!" all the cursed crew 
 Together yelled. And I: "If possible. 
 Contrive, my Master, to find out who is 
 The ill-starred one who into his foes' hands 
 Has come." Close to his side my Leader drew, 
 And asked him whence he was, and he repUed: 
 "I was bom in the kingdom of Navarre. 
 My mother placed me servant to a lord. 
 For she had borne me to a knave, who had 
 Made way with both his substance and himself. 
 
 50 Thereafter, of the good king Theobald 
 I was a household servant; there I set 
 Myself to practise barratry, for which 
 Here in this heat I render reckoning:" 
 And Ciriatto, from whose mouth a tusk 
 On either side protruded, like a boar's. 
 Made him to feel how one of these did rip. 
 
INFERNO XXII 121 
 
 Among malicious cats the mouse had come; 
 
 But Barbariccia clasped him in his arms, 
 
 And said: "While I am hugging him, keep off!" 
 60 And he toward my Master turned his face : 
 
 And "Ask," he said, "if thou dost wish to learn 
 
 Some more from him, before some other one 
 
 Shall mangle him." My Leader then: "Now tell 
 
 About the other sinners: dost thou know 
 
 Any one underneath the pitch who is 
 
 Italian?" And he said: "Not long ago, 
 
 From one I parted who was, over there, 
 
 A neighbor. Would I still were covered thus 
 
 With him, for claw or hook I should not fear." 
 70 And Libicocco said: "We have endured 
 
 Too much" : and with the hook he seized his arm, 
 
 So that of this he, rending, carried off 
 
 A sinew. Draghinazzo too desired 
 
 Down on the legs to gripe him; whereupon, 
 
 With lowering aspect, their decurion 
 
 Turned himself round and round. When they somewhat 
 
 Were pacified, my Guide, without delay, 
 
 Of him who still was gazing at his wound 
 
 Asked: "Who was that from whom, in evil hour 
 80 Thou sayest, thou didst part to come to shore?" 
 
 And he replied: "It was Friar Gomita, 
 
 He of Gallura, vessel of all fraud, 
 
 Wlio had in hand his master's enemies. 
 
 And so did deal with them that each affirmed 
 
 Himself content therewith: he took their gold, 
 
 And without process let them, as he says, 
 
 Slip off: and in his other offices 
 
 Besides, he was no petty barrator, 
 
 But was a prince. Don Michel Zanche, he 
 90 Of Logodoro, companies with him: 
 
122 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And their tongues feel no weariness, while they 
 
 Are talking of Sardinia. See, ah me! 
 
 The other who his teeth is grinding! more 
 
 I would be saying, but I fear that he 
 
 Is making ready to my itch to give 
 
 A scratching." And the grand commandant turned 
 
 To Farfarello, who, in act to strike, 
 
 Was rolling round his eyes, and said: "Vile bird. 
 
 Stand off there! " " If ye wish to see or hear, 
 
 100 Tuscans or Lombards," then began again 
 
 The frightened wretch, " I will cause some of them 
 To come. But let the Malebranche stand 
 Aside a little, that these may not fear 
 Their vengeful acts; and I, while still I sit 
 In this same place, for one that I am, will 
 Make seven of them come when I shall whistle. 
 As is our wont to do whenever one 
 Comes out." Cagnazzo lifted at such words 
 His muzzle, shook his head, and said: "Just hear 
 
 110 The cunning trick he has devised, to throw 
 Himself beneath!" He thereupon, who had 
 A wealth of stratagems, replied: "I am 
 Too cunning, when I for my friends procure 
 Greater distress." No longer Alichin 
 Held in, but gainsaying the others, said 
 To him: "I will not, if thou throw thee down, 
 Follow thee on the nm, but I will ply 
 My wings above the pitch : leave we the ridge, 
 And be the bank a screen, that we may see 
 
 120 If thou alone dost count for more than we." 
 A new sport, reader, thou shalt hear! Each one 
 Turned toward the other side his eyes; he first 
 Who had been most reluctant to do this. 
 The Navarrese chose well his time; he set 
 
INFERNO XXII 123 
 
 His feet upon the ground, and in a trice 
 
 He leaped, and freed himself from their design. 
 
 Thereat each one was by his error stung, 
 
 But most he who was cause of the default; 
 
 Wherefore he started, crying: "Thou art caught!" 
 130 But little it availed him, for the wings 
 
 Could not outstrip the terror: under went 
 
 The one, and upward, as he flew, his breast 
 
 The other turned: not otherwise the duck 
 
 Dives down upon a sudden, when the hawk 
 
 Approaches, and he upward comes again. 
 
 Angry and baffled. At the jest enraged. 
 
 Flying, behind him Calcabrina kept. 
 
 Desirous that the other should escape, 
 
 That he might have his tussle. And the instant 
 140 The barrator was out of sight, he turned 
 
 His claws upon his mate, and was with him 
 
 Above the trench at grapple. But indeed 
 
 The other was a sparrowhawk full grown 
 
 To claw him well, and both of them dropped down 
 
 Into the middle of the boiling pool. 
 
 The heat unclutched their grapple suddenly: 
 
 But yet to raise themselves there was no way. 
 
 In such a fashion were their wings bedaubed. 
 
 Doleful with the remainder of his troop, 
 150 Four of them Barbariccia caused to fly 
 
 Toward the other side, with all their gaffs, 
 
 And very quickly they, on either side. 
 
 Descended to their posts: their hooks they stretched 
 
 Toward those belimed, within the crusting cooked 
 
 Already: and we left them thus ensnarled. 
 
CANTO XXIII 
 
 The poets go on alone. Dante is convinced that the demons will 
 pursue them, and communicates his fear to Vergil. The devils 
 are seen coming. Vergil takes Dante in his arms, and slides 
 down the embankment into the sixth trench, where the Hypocrites 
 are punished. Cataiano, Loderingo, Caiaphas. They reach 
 the next bridge and find this also broken, and perceive that 
 Malacoda has deceived them. 
 
 Silent, alone, and unattended, we, 
 
 The one in front, the other following, 
 
 Were going on as Minor Friars go 
 
 Along a road. My thought was, by the brawl 
 
 Present just now, to ^op's fable turned, 
 
 In which he spoke about the frog and mouse: 
 
 For "now" resembles not "this instant" more 
 
 Than does the one the other, if the end 
 
 And the beginning be correctly linked, 
 10 With mind attentive: and as from one thought 
 
 Another bursts, so from that one was born 
 
 Another then, which doubled my first fear. 
 
 After this fashion I was thinking: "These 
 
 Have, by our means, been made a laughing-stock, 
 
 With hurt and gibing such, that I believe 
 
 It much annoys them. If to their ill-will 
 
 Anger is added, they will follow us, 
 
 More cruel than the hound upon that hare 
 
 On which he seizes." With the fear I felt 
 20 My hairs already standing all on end. 
 
 And I was closely on our rear intent, 
 
 When I said: "Master, if thou hidest not, 
 
 Quickly, thyself and me, I am afraid 
 
 124 
 
INFERNO XXIII 125 
 
 Of Malebranche : they are after us 
 
 Already : I do so imagine them, 
 
 That even now I feel them." And he said: 
 
 "Were I of leaded glass, I should not draw 
 
 More quickly to myself thine outward form, 
 
 Than I thine inward semblance apprehend. 
 30 Among my thoughts thine entered but just now, 
 
 AHke in act and look, so that I made 
 
 Of both one sole resolve. If so it be 
 
 That on our right the slope so lies that we 
 
 Can into the next pit descend, we shall 
 
 Escape the fancied chase." He had not yet 
 
 Finished imparting his resolve, when I 
 
 Beheld them coming on, with wings outstretched, 
 
 Not far away, with will to seize on us. 
 
 My Leader suddenly laid hold on me, 
 40 As does a mother, by the noise awaked, 
 
 Who near to her beholds the kindled flames. 
 
 And grasps her son and flies, and caring more 
 
 For him than for herself, stays not so long 
 
 As only to put on a single shift: 
 
 And downward from the ridge of the hard bank, 
 
 He gave him to the sloping rock which bars 
 
 One side of the next pit. Ne'er water ran 
 
 So swiftly through a sluice, to turn the wheel 
 
 Of a land-mill when it draws near the paddles, 
 50 As o'er that rim my Master, on his breast 
 
 Bearing me off, as though I were his son. 
 
 And not his comrade. Scarce his feet had reached 
 
 The bottom of the depth below, when they 
 
 Were on the ridge right over us: but there 
 
 There was no fear; for the high Providence 
 
 Whose will it is to make them ministers 
 
 Of the fifth trench, deprives them all of power 
 
126 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 To go away from it. Down there we found 
 
 A painted people, who were going round i 
 
 60 With steps exceeding slow, and shedding tears. 
 And in appearance weary and subdued. 
 Goaks, with the hoods low down before their eyes. 
 They wore, of cut like that which, in Cologne, 
 Is fashioned for the monks. Outside they are 
 So gilded that it dazzles; but within 
 Are all of lead, and are so ponderous. 
 That those by Frederick put on were straw. 
 mantle wearisome forevermore! 
 Still ever to the left along with them 
 
 70 We turned, intent upon their sad lament: 
 But that tired folk, by reason of the weight. 
 Came on so slowly that our company 
 Was new at every movement of the hip. 
 Wherefore I to my Guide: "See that thou find 
 Some one who may be known by deed or name, 
 And while we thus are walking, move about 
 Thine eyes." And one who heard the Tuscan speech, 
 Cried after us: "Ye who at such a pace 
 Are speeding through the murky air, restrain 
 
 80 Your feet: perhaps thou wilt obtain from me 
 That which thou seekest." Whereupon the Guide 
 Turned, saying: "Wait, and afterward proceed 
 According to his pace." I stopped, and saw. 
 Two, showing in their look great haste of mind 
 To be with me; but them their burden stayed, 
 And the thronged road. After they had come up. 
 For a long time, with eye askant, they looked 
 At me, and uttered not single word: 
 Then, turning to each other, they remarked, 
 
 90 Between them: "By the movement of his throat, 
 This one seems living: and if they are dead. 
 
INFERNO XXIII 127 
 
 By what exemption, with the heavy stole 
 
 Uncovered, do they go?" Then they to me: 
 
 "0 Tuscan, who art to the college come 
 
 Of the sad hypocrites, do not disdain 
 
 To tell us who thou art." And I to them: 
 
 "In the great city on the lovely stream 
 
 Of Arno I was born and reared, and still 
 
 Am in the body I have always had. 
 100 But who are ye from whom, as I behold, 
 
 Down o'er your cheeks such bitter woe distils? 
 
 And what may be the penalty which so 
 
 Ghtters upon you?" And the one repHed 
 
 To me: "The orange mantles are of lead. 
 
 So thick, that in such wise the weights do cause 
 
 The scales to creak: and we were Jolly Friars, 
 
 And Bolognese, I Catalano named. 
 
 And Loderingo he, and jointly we 
 
 Were chosen by thy city to preserve 
 110 Its peace, as, commonly, one man alone 
 
 Is taken; and of such a sort we were. 
 
 As still round the Gardingo may be seen." 
 
 "0 friars," I began, "your evil deeds" — 
 
 But said no more: for on my sight there rushed 
 
 One on the ground with three stakes crucified. 
 
 When he beheld me, he all over writhed. 
 
 Blowing the while with sighs into his beard: 
 
 And Friar Catalan, who noted this. 
 
 Said to me: "That transfixed one upon whom 
 120 Thou gazest, did advise the Pharisees 
 
 That for the people 'twas expedient 
 
 To put one man to torture. As thou seest, 
 
 He is crosswise and naked on the path. 
 
 And whosoever passes, he must needs 
 
 First feel how much he weighs : and in this trench, 
 
128 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 In fashion similar, his father-in-law 
 Is stretched at length, together with the rest 
 Of that assembly which was for the Jews 
 A seed of evil." I saw Vergil then 
 
 130 Marvelling over him so vilely stretched, 
 Cross-fashion, in the endless banishment. 
 Then to the friar he addressed these words: 
 "Let it not irk you, if you be allowed. 
 To tell us if there lies, on the right hand. 
 Some passage by which both of us may make 
 Our exit hence, without our making some 
 Of the black angels come, and from this deep 
 Get us away." "Nearer," he answered then, 
 "Than thou art hoping, is a rock that starts 
 
 140 From the great circle, and the cruel pits. 
 All of them, bridges, saving that at this 
 'Tis broken down, and does not cover it: 
 But 'twill be possible for you to mount 
 Upon its ruin, for upon the side 
 It slopes, and on the bottom forms a rise." 
 My Guide a moment stood with head bent down. 
 Then said: "That one who hooks the sinners yonder, 
 Did give a bad account about the case." 
 And said the friar: "At Bologna, once, 
 
 150 I of the Devil's vices used to hear 
 
 Right many told, among the which I heard 
 
 That he a liar is, and of a He 
 
 The father." Then the Leader, with long strides, 
 
 Moved on, a little troubled in his look 
 
 With anger; whence I left the laden ones. 
 
 Following the prints of those beloved feet. 
 
CANTO XXIV 
 
 Dante is disturbed by the anger expressed in VergiVs face. Vergil 
 relieves him. On their arrival at the broken bridge Vergil 
 assists Dante to mount, and urges him forward. They reach 
 the seventh trench, where thieves are tormented by serpents. 
 Vanni Fucci is bitten and burned to ashes, and then resumes 
 his human form. He prophesies to Dante the evils to be suf- 
 fered by the Whites. 
 
 In that part of the youthful year wherein 
 
 The sun invigorates his locks beneath 
 
 Aquarius, and now the nights withdraw 
 
 Toward the south: when on the ground the rime 
 
 Copies the image of her sister white, 
 
 But not for long the temper of her pen 
 
 Endures, — the coimtryman whose forage fails, 
 
 Rises, and looks, and sees the land all blanched, 
 
 Whereat he slaps his thigh, returns indoors, 
 10 And here and there goes whining, like the wretch 
 
 Who knows not what to do; then back he comes, 
 
 And hope regains, perceiving how the world 
 
 Has changed its aspect in a little time. 
 
 And takes his crook, and forth to pasture drives 
 
 His sheep:— so did my Master make me fear, 
 
 When on his brow such trouble I beheld. 
 
 And to my hurt thus speedily there came 
 
 The plaster: for when to the ruined bridge 
 
 We came, the Leader turned him round to me, 
 20 With that- sweet look which, at the mountain's foot, 
 
 I first beheld. When he within himself 
 
 Had fixed upon some plan, first scanning well 
 
 The ruin, opening his arms, he laid 
 
 His grasp upon me. And as one who works 
 
 129 
 
130 THE DIVINE CXDMEDY 
 
 And reckons, for he always seems to be 
 Providing in advance, so, while toward 
 The top of one great rock he Hfted me. 
 He had his eye upon another crag, 
 Saying: "Take hold of that one next; but first 
 
 30 Try if to bear thee it is strong enough." 
 *Twas not a road for one who wore a cloak, 
 For hardly could we mount from jag to jag, 
 He Ught, and I pushed on. And if the slope 
 Toward that precinct had not been more short 
 Than toward the other one, I know not how 
 It might have fared with him, but I had been 
 Utterly overcome. But inasmuch 
 As toward the opening of the lowest well 
 All Malebolge downward slopes, the site 
 
 40 Of every pit implies that the one side 
 Is higher, and the other lower. We, 
 At last, however, at the point arrived 
 Whence the last stone splits off. When I was up. 
 The breath was from my lungs so milked away. 
 That I could go no farther, but sat down, 
 As soon as I arrived. The Master said: 
 "Henceforth behoves thee thus to free thyself 
 From sloth; for not by sitting upon down, 
 Nor imder coverlets, is fame attained, 
 
 50 Without the which he who consumes his Kfe, 
 Leaves upon earth such vestige of himself 
 As smoke in air, and on the water, foam: 
 And therefore rise, o'ermaster thy distress 
 With soul that in each battle overcomes, 
 If with its cumbrous flesh it sink not down. 
 A longer stairway must be climbed: that we 
 Have got away from these is not enough: 
 Now, if thou understandest me, so act 
 
1^ 
 
 INFERNO XXIV 131 
 
 That it avail thee." Thereupon I rose, 
 60 And, better than I felt, I made myself 
 
 Appear with breath provided; and I said: 
 
 "Go on, for I am strong and confident." 
 
 Upward along the crag we took our way. 
 
 The which was rugged, strait, and difficult. 
 
 And steeper far than was the one before. 
 
 I, as I went, was talking, so that I 
 
 Might not seem weak, and thereupon a voice, 
 
 Unfit for forming words, proceeded forth 
 
 From the next trench. I know not what it said, 
 70 Though on the summit of the arch which there 
 
 Crosses, I was already; but the one 
 
 Who spake appeared to be to anger moved. 
 
 I had bent downward; but my living eyes. 
 
 By reason of the darkness, could not reach 
 
 The bottom: wherefore I: "See that thou get, 
 
 Master, to the next belt: let us descend 
 
 The bridge; for as from where I am I hear. 
 
 And do not understand, so down I look. 
 
 And nought distinguish." " I return to thee," 
 80 He said, "no other answer than to do it: 
 
 Because the fit request should be with deed 
 
 Followed in silence." We went down the bridge, 
 
 At its head, where it joins with the eighth bank, 
 
 And then the pit was manifest to me: 
 
 And there I looked within a frightful mass 
 
 Of serpents, and of such a monstrous kind. 
 
 That still the memory congeals my blood. 
 
 Let Libya with her sand no longer boast; 
 
 For though she breeds chelydri, jaculi, 
 90 Cencri with amphisbaena, phareaB, — 
 
 She never, with all Ethiopia, *" 
 
 Nor with the land which lies on the Red Sea, 
 
132 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 So many plagues displayed, and so malign. 
 
 Amid this savage and most dismal swarm 
 
 Were running people nude and terrified, 
 
 Hopeless of hiding-hole or heUotrope. 
 
 They had their hands with serpents tied behind: 
 
 These through the loins fastened their tail and head, 
 
 And were entwined in front. And lo, a snake 
 100 Darted at one who was close by oiu" side, 
 
 And, where the neck is to the shoulders joined, 
 
 Transfixed him. Never was an or I 
 
 So quickly writ, as he took fire and burned, 
 
 And falling, must be all to ashes turned: 
 
 And after he was thus upon the ground 
 
 Unmade, the ash regathered of itself. 
 
 And suddenly into the selfsame man 
 
 Returned: so, it is solemnly declared 
 
 By the great sages that the Phoenix dies, 
 110 And then, when near to her five-hundredth year 
 
 She draws, is born again. She, Uving, feeds 
 
 On neither herb nor grain, but only tears 
 
 Of incense, and amomimi; and her shroud. 
 
 At last, is nard and myrrh. And as is he 
 
 Who falls, and knows not how, by demon-power 
 
 Which drags him to the earth, or else by force 
 
 Of other stoppage which doth bind the man, 
 
 Who, when he rises, gazes round about. 
 
 Wholly bewildered by the great distress 
 120 That he has undergone, and gazing, sighs, — 
 
 Such was that sinner after he had risen. 
 
 power of God, how rigorous it is. 
 
 That showers such blows in vengeance! Then my Guide 
 
 Asked who he was: he answered thereupon: 
 
 "From Tuscany I fell, not long ago. 
 
 Into this savage gorge. A bestial life, 
 
INFERNO XXIV 133 
 
 And not a human, pleased me, like the mule 
 
 I was: I Vanni Fucci am, a beast, 
 
 And a fit den Pistoia was for me." 
 130 And I to my Conductor: "Tell him not 
 
 To run away, and ask what was the sin 
 
 That hither thrust him down; for I have seen 
 
 Him as a bloody and a wrathful man." 
 
 The sinner then, who heard, dissembled not, 
 
 But turned toward me both his mind and face, 
 
 And with a painful shame was all suffused: 
 
 Then said: "That thou hast caught me in this woe 
 
 In which thou seest me, afflicts me more 
 
 Than when I from the other life was snatched. 
 140 That which thou askest I cannot refuse. 
 
 I am put down so far because I robbed 
 
 The Sacristy of the Fair Ornaments; 
 
 And to another, falsely, it was once 
 
 Imputed. But that thou mayst not be glad 
 » At such a sight, if ever thou shalt be 
 - Forth of the gloomy regions, open thou 
 
 Thine ears to my prediction, and attend: 
 
 Pistoia first of Neri strips herself, 
 
 Then Florence folk and fashions renovates. 
 150 Mars up from Val di Magra draws a mist, 
 
 Inwrapt in turbid clouds, and there shall rage 
 
 A fight, with tempest furious and sharp, 
 
 Over Piceno's plain, whence, suddenly 
 
 It shall disperse the cloud, so that thereby 
 
 Shall every White be smitten: and I have 
 
 Declared it, that thou mayst have cause to grieve." 
 
CANTO XXV 
 
 The seventh trench continued. Vanni Fucci blasphemes and 
 defies God. The serpents attack him. Cacus. Dante witnesses 
 the blending of the serpentina and human forms, and the inter- 
 change of the serpent's form with that of the man. 
 
 The robber, when these words were ended, raised 
 His hands with both the figs, and cried: "Take that, 
 God, for at thee I point them!" Friends to me 
 The serpents were from that time forth, for then 
 One coiled around his neck, as though it said: 
 "I will thou say no more": and round his arms 
 Another, and rebound him, clenching so 
 Itself in front, he could not give a jerk. 
 Pistoia! ah, Pistoia! Wherefore not 
 
 10 Resolve to turn thyself to ashes, so 
 
 That thou mayst last no longer, since the seed 
 Of which thou wast begot thou dost surpass 
 In evil-doing. I beheld no soul 
 Toward God so proud, through all the circles dark 
 Of Hell; not he who from the walls at Thebes 
 Fell down. He fled, and not another word 
 He uttered: and I saw a Centaur come, 
 All full of rage, and crying as he came: 
 "Where is, where is the stubborn one?" I think 
 
 20 That not Maremma has so many snakes, 
 As he had up along his rump, to where 
 Begins our semblance. On his shoulders lay, 
 With open wings, a dragon, just behind 
 The nape, and he sets fire to every one 
 That he encounters. "This," my Master said, 
 
 134 
 
INFERNO XXV 135 
 
 "Is Cacus, who ofttimes, beneath the rock 
 
 Of Monte Aventino, made a pool 
 
 Of blood. Upon the road his brethren walk 
 
 He does not go, by reason of the theft 
 30 Which treacherously he wrought on the great herd 
 
 Which he for neighbor had: because of this 
 
 His crooked dealings ceased beneath the club 
 
 Of Hercules, who gave him, it might be, 
 
 A hundred with it, and not ten of them 
 
 He felt." While he was speaking thus, that one 
 
 Ran, at the moment, past, and under us 
 
 There came three spirits, neither by my Guide 
 
 Nor by myself remarked, until they cried: 
 
 "Who are ye?" Thereupon our talk was stopped, 
 40 And after, we gave heed to them alone. 
 
 I did not know them, but it came to pass, 
 
 As usually it happens, by some chance. 
 
 That one to name another had occasion, 
 
 SayiM/^herever can have Cianfa stayed?" 
 
 Wherefore, in order that my Guide might be 
 
 Att^n^ive, up from chin to nose I placed 
 
 My finger. If, reader, now thou art 
 
 Slow to believe what I am going to tell, 
 
 No marvel it will be, for scarcely I 
 50 Who witnessed it admit it to myself. 
 ^ While I was holding raised on them my brows, 
 
 In front of me a serpent with six feet 
 
 Darts, and all over fastens upon him. 
 
 It clasped his belly with its middle feet. 
 
 And seized his arms with those before; then fixed 
 
 Its teeth in both his cheeks. Upon the thighs 
 
 It spread its hinder feet, and thrust its tail 
 
 Between the two, and stretched it up behind, 
 
 Along his loins. Never was ivy knit 
 
136 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 So to a tree, as did that monster dire 
 Entwine its own along the other's limbs. 
 They stuck together then as though they were 
 Of heated wax, and intermixed their hues; 
 And neither now appeared what it had been: 
 As up before the flame a color brown 
 Over the paper creeps, which is not black 
 As yet, and fades the white. The other two 
 Looked on, and each one cried: "0 me, Agnel! 
 How thou dost change! See how already thou 
 
 70 Art neither two nor one." The two heads now 
 Had become one, when there appeared to us 
 Two figures intermingled in one face. 
 Where two were lost.^"^ Two from four strips the arms 
 Became; the thighs together with the legs, 
 The belly and the chest, to members turned 
 Such as were never seen. Extinguished there 
 Was every former semblance; two and none 
 Seemed the distorted image, and its way 
 It went, such as it was, with footsteps slow. 
 
 80 Just as, beneath the dog-days' mighty lash, 
 The lizard, as it darts from hedge to hedge, 
 Appears a flash of lightning, if it cross 
 The road, so there appeared, infuriate, 
 A little reptile, Uvid, and as black 
 As is a peppercorn, advancing toward 
 The bellies of the other two; and this 
 Transfixed in one of them that part from which 
 At first is drawn our nourishment, and then 
 Fell down, stretched out before him. Stared at it 
 
 90 The one transfixed, but not a word he said: 
 Nay, with his feet unmoved, began to yawn, 
 Just as if drowsiness or fever had 
 Assailed him. He the serpent eyed, and him 
 
INFERNO XXV 137 
 
 The serpent: through his wound the one, and through 
 
 His mouth the other furiously smoked, 
 
 And the smoke met and mingled. From henceforth 
 
 Let Lucan hold his peace, where he alludes 
 
 To poor Sabellus and Nasidius, 
 
 And wait to hear that which is now let fly, 
 100 Let Ovid be concerning Cadmus mute, 
 
 And Arethusa: for I grudge it not, 
 
 If in his poetry he changes him 
 
 Into a serpent, her into a fount: 
 
 For never, front to front, did he transmute 
 
 Two natures, in such wise that both the forms 
 
 Were ready to exchange their substance.^ They 
 
 Answered each to the other in such wise 
 
 That the snake split its tail into a fork. 
 
 And close the wounded one together drew 
 110 His feet. The legs and thighs along with them 
 
 Stuck of themselves together, so that soon 
 
 The juncture made no mark that could be seen. 
 
 The cleft tail took the shape the other one 
 
 Was losing, and its skin grew soft, and hard 
 
 The other's. Through the armpits I beheld 
 
 The arms draw in, and both the reptile's feet 
 
 Which had been short, lengthen as shortened those. 
 
 Thereafter, the hind feet, together twined. 
 
 Became the member which a man conceals, 
 120 And from his own the wretch had two of them 
 
 Put forth. ^ While with new color veils them both 
 
 The smoke, and causes, over the one form, 
 
 The hair to grow, and from the other one 
 
 Strips it away, the one upraised himself. 
 
 And down the other fell, yet not for that 
 
 Their eyes malign withdrawing, under which 
 
 Each one was changing muzzle. He that was 
 
138 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Erect, drew inward his toward his temples, 
 And of excess of matter gathered there, 
 
 130 From the smooth cheeks the ears came forth. The part 
 Which ran not back, but stayed, of that excess 
 Formed for the face a nose, and made the Ups 
 As thick as was befittmg. He that prone 
 Was lying, forward thrusts his snout, and draws 
 His ears within his head, as does the snail 
 Its horns: and the tongue cleaves itself which was 
 Before united and was prompt to speak, 
 And in the other the forked one unites. 
 And the smoke ceases now. The soul transformed 
 
 140 Into a brute, along the valley fled, 
 Hissing, and after it the other one 
 Goes spluttering as he talks. And then he turned 
 Upon him his new shoulders, to the third 
 Saying: "Along this road it is my wish 
 That Buoso run, as I have done before, 
 Upon his belly." Thus did I behold 
 The seventh ballast shifted and transformed; 
 And here the novelty be my excuse, 
 If my pen strays a Uttle. And although 
 
 150 My eyes were somewhat darkened, and my mind 
 Bewildered, these could not so covertly 
 Take themselves off, but that I closely marked 
 Puccio Sciancato : and the only one 
 Wasleof the three comrades who at first 
 Appeared, that was not changed. The other one 
 Was he whom thou, Gaville, dost lament. 
 
CANTO XXVI 
 
 From the side of the embankment Vergil and Dante remount 
 to the crest, a'^d pass upon the bridge which spans the eighth 
 trench, where the Fraudulent Counsellors are punished. Dante 
 sees numerous lights moving in the trench. Vergil explains. 
 A double flame appears, containing the spirits of Diomede and 
 Ulysses. Vergil addresses the flame, and Ulysses, at his request, 
 relates the story of his final voyage and of his death. 
 
 Rejoice, Florence, since thou art so great. 
 
 That over sea and over land thy wings 
 
 Thou beatest, and through Hell thy name is spread. 
 
 Five such as these I found among the thieves. 
 
 Thy citizens, whence shame upon me comes. 
 
 And not to great esteem dost thou thereby 
 
 Ascend. And if, near morning, one doth dream 
 
 Of what is true, thou shalt, in little time. 
 
 Make proof of that which Prato, not to say 
 10 Others, for thee desires. And if it were 
 
 Already, not too early would it be. 
 
 Would that it were, for surely it must be; 
 
 For it will grow more burdensome to me 
 
 As I grow older. We departed thence, 
 
 And o'er the stairway which the jutting crags 
 
 Had made for our descent before, again 
 
 My Master mounted, drawing me along. 
 
 And following the solitary path, 
 
 Among the splinters and among the stones 
 20 Of the rock-bridge, the foot did clear no ground 
 
 Without the hand. I sorrowed then, and now 
 
 Again I grieve when I my mind direct 
 
 On what I saw; and more my genius curb 
 
 Than is my wont, that it may not pursue 
 
 139 
 
140 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 A course where Virtue does not point its way; 
 So that if kindly star or better thing 
 Have with that boon endowed me, to myself 
 I may not grudge it. In such multitudes 
 As are the fireflies by the peasant seen, 
 
 30 Who on the hillside rests, down through the vale 
 Where he perchance his vintage gathers in. 
 Or drives his plough, what time he who the world 
 Illimies, keeps least concealed from us Ms face, 
 When to the gnat the fly gives place, — with flames 
 All the eighth pit was gleaming, as I marked. 
 Soon as I reached the point where into view 
 The bottom came. And as the one who was 
 With bears avenged, Elijah's chariot saw 
 At its departure when the horses rose 
 
 40 Erect to heaven, for he with his eyes 
 Could not so follow it as to see aught 
 Save the flame only, like a little cloud 
 Ascending: so along the trench's gorge 
 Each one was moving, for no one displays 
 Its theft, and every flame a sinner hides. 
 Tiptoe I stood upon the bridge to see. 
 So that had not I grasped a knob of rock, 
 I should without a push have fallen down. 
 And said the Guide who saw me thus intent: 
 
 50 "Within the fires the spirits are: each one 
 Is swathed with that with which he is on fire." 
 "My Master," I replied, "through hearing thee 
 I am more certain; but that so it was 
 I had surmised already, and but now 
 I wished to say to thee: 'Who is within 
 That fire which comes, so parted at the top. 
 That from the pyre on which Eteocles 
 Was with his brother placed, it seems to rise?' " 
 
INFERNO XXVI 141 
 
 "Ulysses is tormented there within," 
 60 He answered me, " and Diomed, and these 
 
 Go, in their punishment as in their wrath. 
 
 Together: and within their flame is mourned 
 
 The ambush of the horse which made the gate 
 
 Whence issued forth the Romans' noble seed. 
 
 Within there is lamented the device 
 
 By which Deidamia still, though dead, 
 
 Grieves for Achilles; and the penalty 
 
 For the Palladium is borne therein." 
 
 "If they within those flames can speak," I said, 
 70 "I earnestly entreat thee, and again 
 
 I pray, Master, that my prayer may have 
 
 The value of a thousand, that to me 
 
 The waiting thou do not refuse, until 
 
 The horned flame come this way : thou seest how 
 
 I am inclined toward it with desire." 
 
 And he to me: "Thy prayer deserves much praise, 
 
 And therefore I accept it; see to it. 
 
 However, that thy tongue refrain itself. 
 
 Leave talk to me : for what thou dost desire 
 80 I have conceived: since, seeing they were Greeks, 
 
 They haply would be scornful of thy words." 
 
 After the flame had at the point arrived 
 
 Where to my Guide the time and place seemed fit, 
 
 I heard him in this fashion speak to it: 
 
 "Ye two within one fire, if, while I lived, 
 
 I merited of you, — if I deserved 
 
 Little or much of you, what time I penned 
 
 On earth my lofty verses, do not move. 
 
 But let the one of you tell where, when lost, 
 90 He went to die." Began the greater horn 
 
 Of that old flame to flicker, murmuring. 
 
 Just like the flame which by the wind is teased. 
 
142 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Then swaying to and fro its tip, as though 
 It were the tongue that spoke, it sent abroad 
 A voice, and said: "When I from Circe went, 
 Who for a year and more had hidden me 
 Near to Gaeta, ere ^Eneas thus 
 Had named it, neither fondness for my son. 
 Nor fihal reverence for my aged sire, 
 
 100 Nor the love due from me, which should have made 
 Penelope rejoice, could quell in me 
 The ardent longing which I had to grow 
 Experienced in the world, and in the faults 
 And virtues of mankind; but I put forth 
 On the deep, open sea, with one sole ship, 
 And with that little company by which 
 I had not been forsaken. I beheld 
 The shores on either side as far as Spain, 
 As far as to Morocco, and the isle 
 
 110 Of the Sardinians, and the others bathed 
 By that encircUng sea. Aged and slow 
 Were I and my companions when we reached 
 That narrow pass where Hercules set up 
 His boundaries, in order that beyond 
 Man may not push: on the right hand I left 
 Sevilla, and had Ceuta left behind 
 Already, on the other. Thus I spoke: 
 'Brothers, who through a hundred thousand risks 
 Have reached the West, desire not to deny 
 
 120 To this your senses' waking hour so brief, 
 Experience of the world unpeopled, won 
 By following the sun. Your origin 
 Consider: not to live as brutes were ye 
 Created, but to follow in pursuit 
 Of virtue and of knowledge.' With this speech. 
 Short as it was, I for the voyage made 
 
ft 
 
 INFERNO XXVI 143 
 
 So keen my comrades, that, thereafter, scarce 
 I could have held them back. And with our stern 
 Turned to the morning, with our oars we made 
 
 130 Wings for our crazy flight, to larboard still 
 Ever more bearing. Now the night beheld 
 All of the stars about the other pole. 
 And ours so low that from the ocean-floor 
 It did not rise. Five times the light had been 
 Rekindled underneath the moon, and quenched 
 As many, since upon the dangerous way 
 We entered, when to us appeared a mount, 
 By distance dim, which higher seemed to me 
 Than any I had ever seen before. 
 
 140 Joyful we were, but quickly was our joy 
 
 Turned into mourning; for from that new land 
 Was born a whirlwind, and our ship's fore part 
 It smote, and made her whirl about three times. 
 With all the waters, at the fourth the stern 
 Heave up, and the prow downward go, as pleased 
 Another, till the sea above us closed." 
 
CANTO XXVII 
 
 Ulysses and Diomede pass on. Another voice is heard asking 
 about the present condition of Romagna. Dante replies. The 
 spirit, Guido da Montefeltro, informs him who he is, and how 
 Boniface VIII. lured him to destruction. He describes his 
 experience immediately after death. 
 
 The flame, through having ceased to speak, was now 
 
 Erect and quiet, and away from us 
 
 Already moving, as the gentle Bard 
 
 Gave his consent, when still another one 
 
 Which came behind it, made us turn our eyes 
 
 Toward its tip, by reason of a sound 
 
 Confused, which issued from it. As the bull 
 
 Of Sicily, which bellowed first with plaint 
 
 Of him (and that was right) who with his file 
 10 Had shaped it, — with the sufferer's voice was wont 
 
 To bellow, so that, though it was of brass, 
 
 It seemed still with the pain to be transfixed, — 
 
 So, since they had nor way nor opening. 
 
 The woful words were into its own tongue 
 
 Changed by the fire's informing principle. 
 
 But after they had taken through the point 
 
 Upward their way, giving it that vibration, 
 
 Which, as they passed, the tongue had given them, 
 
 We heard it say: "0 thou at whom I aim 
 20 My voice, and who just now didst Lombard speak, 
 
 Saying: 'Pass on now, more I urge thee not:' 
 
 Though I perhaps am come a little late, 
 
 May it not trouble thee to stop and speak 
 
 With me: thou seest that it irks me not. 
 
 And yet I burn. If into this blind world 
 
 144 
 
INFERNO XXVII 145 
 
 Thou art but now fallen from that sweet land 
 Of Italy, whence all my sins I bring, 
 Tell me if peace the Romagnuoli have 
 Or war; for I was of the mountains there 
 
 30 Between Urbino and the chain wherefrom 
 The Tiber is unfettered." Still I was 
 Gazing intently down, and forward bent, 
 When my Conductor touched me on the side, 
 Saying: "Speak thou, he is of Italy." 
 And I who had already my reply 
 At hand, began to speak without delay: 
 "0 spirit who art hidden there below, 
 From conflict thy Romagna is not free, 
 Nor in its tyrants' bosoms ever was; 
 
 40 But now I there have left no open war. 
 Ravenna is as she for many years 
 Has been. The Eagle of Polenta there 
 Is brooding, so that with his wings he covers 
 Cervia. Under the Green Paws again 
 The city finds itself which made erewhile 
 The long defence, and in a gory heap 
 Did pile the French. Verruchio's Mastiff Old, 
 And the Young one, who with Montagna dealt 
 So foully, make an auger of their teeth 
 
 50 There where it is their wont. The Lion-cub 
 Of the white lair the cities of Lamone 
 And of Santerno governs, changing sides 
 From summer time to winter; and that town 
 Whose flank the Savio bathes, just as it sits 
 Between the mountain and the plain, so lives 
 'Twixt tyranny and freedom. Now I pray 
 That thou wilt tell us who thou art: be not 
 More uncomplying than have others been; 
 So may thy name on earth maintain a front." 
 
146 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 When the fire, after its own fashion, had 
 Roared for awhile, the sharp point to and fro 
 Moved, and thereafter vented such a breath 
 As follows: "If I thought that my reply 
 Were to a person who would ever go 
 Back to the world, without more flickerings 
 This flame would be: but since, if truth I hear, 
 No one did ever from this deep return 
 AUve, I answer thee without the fear 
 Of infamy. I was a man of arms, 
 
 70 And afterward became a Cordelier, 
 
 Trusting, thus girt, to make amends: and sooth, 
 My trust was in a way to be made good. 
 Had it not been for the great Priest (on whom 
 May evil seize), who set me back again 
 Into my former sins; and how and why 
 I will thou hear from me. While I retained 
 The form of bones and flesh my mother gave 
 To me, not of the lion were my deeds. 
 But of the fox. All subtle plans I knew, 
 
 80 And covert ways; and so I plied then* art. 
 That to the world's end went abroad the soimd. 
 When to that portion of my hfe I saw 
 That I had come, when every one should strike 
 The sails, and coil the ropes, that which to me 
 Before was pleasing, then became to me 
 Irksome, and I, repentant and confessed. 
 Gave up myself; alas, unhappy me! 
 And in good stead it would have stood. The chief 
 Of the new Pharisees, in war engaged 
 
 90 Hard by the Lateran, and not with Jews 
 Or Saracens, for every enemy 
 Of his was Christian, and no one had been 
 To conquer Acre, or to drive his trade 
 
INFERNO XXVII 147 
 
 Within the Sultan's country,— in hunself 
 
 Regarded not his charge pre-eminent, 
 
 Nor holy orders, nor in me the cord 
 
 Which used to make its girded ones more lean. 
 
 But as, to cure him of his leprosy, 
 
 Constantine, in Soracte, sought Sylvester, 
 100 So this one sought me out as an adept. 
 
 To cure the fever of his pride : he asked 
 
 Advice of me, and I kept still, because 
 
 His words seemed like the words of drunken men. 
 
 And then he said to me: *Let not thy heart 
 
 Mistrust: from this time forth I thee absolve, 
 
 And do thou teach me so to act that I 
 
 May cast down Palestrina to the earth. 
 
 I, as thou knowest, have the power to lock 
 
 Heaven, and to unlock it; hence the keys 
 110 Are two, for which my predecessor cared 
 
 But little.' Then his weighty arguments 
 
 Pushed me to where it was most ill-advised 
 
 For me to hold my peace, and so I said: 
 
 'Seeing that thou, my Father, purgest me 
 
 Of that transgression whereinto I now 
 
 Must fall, long promise and fulfilment short 
 
 Shall make thee triumph on thy lofty seat. 
 
 Then Francis came for me when I was dead; 
 
 But to him one of the black cherubim 
 120 Said: 'Take him not away; do me no wrong. 
 
 He needs must down among my minions come, 
 
 Because he gave the fraudulent advice. 
 
 Since which, till now, I have been at his hair; 
 
 For he who is not contrite cannot be 
 
 Absolved, nor can the will to sin exist 
 
 At the same time with penitence, because 
 
 The contradiction does not suffer this.' 
 
148 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 wretched me! How I did shudder when 
 He seized on me, and said tx) me : ^ Mayhap 
 
 130 Thou didst not think that I was a logician/ 
 He carried me to Minos, and he twined 
 His tail eight times around his stubborn back. 
 And having for great fury bitten it. 
 He said: 'This one is of the guilty souls 
 That dwell within the thievish fire/ for this, 
 Here where thou seest I am lost, and mourn, 
 As thus enrobed I go." The flame, when he 
 Had ended thus his words, went off lamenting, 
 Writhing its pointed horn and flapping it. 
 
 140 Both I and my Conductor onward went. 
 Upward along the crag, until we were 
 Upon another arch, which overhangs 
 The trench in which the fee is paid of those 
 Who for themselves by sundering gain a load. 
 
CANTO XXVIII 
 
 The ninth trench, where are 'punished Schismatics and Sowers of 
 Discord. A frightful spectacle of gashed and mutilated forms. 
 Mahomet, Pier da Medicina, Curio, Mosca Lamberti, Bertrand 
 de'^om. 
 
 Who, ever, even with unfettered words, 
 
 For all his telling, fully could describe 
 
 The blood and wounds which now I saw? Each tongue 
 
 Would surely fail, by reason of our speech 
 
 And understanding, for small room have these 
 
 To comprehend so much/ If yet again 
 
 Were gathered all the folk who, on a time, 
 
 In the ApuUan land, the sport of fate, 
 
 Lamented for their blood by Trojans spilled, 
 10 And for the tedious war which with the rings 
 
 Made such a heap of spoil, as Livy writes. 
 
 Who errs not: with that folk that felt the smart 
 
 Of blows, because to Robert Guiscard they 
 
 Had made resistance, and the other folk, 
 
 Whose bones are still at Ceperano heaped. 
 
 Where each Apulian was false, and there 
 
 By TagUacozzo, where a victory 
 
 The old Alardo without weapons won: 
 
 And one should show his limb transpierced, and one 
 20 His limb cut off,— there would be nought to match 
 
 The hideous mode of the ninth Evil-pit. 
 
 Never, by losing middle-piece or stave, 
 
 A cask is rent apart, as one I saw 
 
 Cleft from the chin as far as to the point 
 
 Where one breaks wind: between the legs hung down 
 149 
 
150 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The entrails; and the vitals were in sight, 
 And the foul pouch which into ordure turns 
 Whate'er is swallowed. While I gave myself 
 Wholly to seeing him, he looked at me, 
 
 30 And open with his hands he laid his breast, 
 Saying: "Behold now how I rend me! See 
 How Mahomet is mangled! Ali goes 
 Before me weeping, cloven in his face 
 From chin to forelock: and the others all 
 Whom here thou seest, in their lifetime were 
 Sowers of discord and of schism; and thus. 
 Therefore, are cleft. There is a devil here 
 Behind, who regulates so cruelly 
 This pUght of ours, and puts to the sword's edge 
 
 40 Afresh, each member of this gang, when we 
 Have made the circuit of the doleful road; 
 Because our wounds are all closed up again, 
 Ere any one in front of him repass. 
 '' But who art thou that musest on the crag, 
 Perchance in order that thou mayst delay 
 Thy going to the punishment adjudged 
 Upon thine own confession?" "Neither death 
 Has reached him yet, nor, to torment hun, guilt 
 Brings hun," my Master answered; " but to give 
 
 50 To him experience full, I who am dead. 
 
 From round to round must lead him here below, 
 Through Hell: and surely as I speak to thee. 
 This is the truth." More than a hundred were 
 They who, within the trench, to look at me, 
 Stopped when they heard him, through astonishment 
 Forgetful of their torment. "Therefore now, 
 Thou who perhaps wdlt shortly see the sun. 
 Bid Fra Dolcino, if he do not ^dsh 
 Hither, in no long time, to follow me, 
 
INFERNO XXVIII 151 
 
 60 So with provisions to equip himself, 
 
 That piled-up snows may to the Novarese 
 
 Not give the victory which, otherwise, 
 
 Twere no Hght task to win." When Mahomet 
 
 Had Ufted the one foot to go away. 
 
 He spoke this word to me, and after that. 
 
 Upon the ground he stretched it to depart. 
 
 Another one who had his throat transpierced, 
 
 And close beneath his brows his nose cut off, 
 
 And had but one ear, suddenly, to look, 
 70 Arrested with the others by surprise,— 
 
 Opened before the rest his gullet, red 
 
 Without, in every part, and said: "0 thou 
 
 Whom guilt doth not condemn, and whom, above, 
 
 I in the land of Italy have seen. 
 
 Unless too close resemblance play me false, 
 
 If ever thou returnest to behold 
 
 The lovely plain which from Vercelli slopes 
 
 To Marcabo, to thy remembrance bring 
 
 Piero da Medicina. And make known 
 80 To Fano's worthiest pair— to Messer Guido, 
 
 And Angiolello likewise, that if here 
 
 Our foresight be not vain, they shall be cast 
 
 Out of their vessel, and within a sack 
 
 Be drowned, through a fell tyrant's treachery, 
 
 Hard by Cattolica. A crime so great 
 
 Never did Neptune see between the isles 
 
 Of Cyprus and Majorca, at the hands 
 
 Either of pirates or of Argive folk. 
 
 That traitor who with one eye only sees, 
 90 And holds the city from the sight of which 
 
 One of my comrades here would wish to be 
 
 Fasting, will make them come along with him 
 
 To parley; then in such a way will deal. 
 
152 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 That they will need against Focara's wind 
 Nor vow nor prayer." And I repUed to him: 
 "Show and declare to me, if thou dost wish 
 That I should carry news of thee above, 
 Who is that one to whom the sight is bitter?" 
 Thereat he laid his hand upon the jaw 
 
 100 Of one of his companions, and his mouth 
 He opened, crying: "This is he himself, 
 And he speaks not: he, banished, drowned the doubt 
 In CaBsar, by affirming that the man. 
 Once ready, always to his hurt allowed 
 Delay." how confounded Curio, erst 
 So bold to speak, appeared to me, with tongue 
 Within his throat cut off. And one who had 
 Both hands lopped off, up through the murky air 
 Lifting the stumps, so that the blood befouled 
 
 110 His face, cried out: "Thou shalt bethink thyself 
 Of Mosca also, I who said, alas! 
 'A thing once done is ended,' that which was 
 The seed of evil to the Tuscan folk." 
 "And," added I to that, "death to thy race;" 
 He thereupon, woe heaping upon woe. 
 Went on his way like one distressed and crazed. 
 But I remained to look upon the crowd. 
 And saw a thing which, without further proof, 
 I would not venture only to relate, 
 
 120 Unless I were by conscience reassured, 
 
 That good companion which emboldens man, 
 Under the mail of conscious purity. 
 I surely saw, and seem to see it still. 
 Going along, a trunk without a head. 
 As went the others of that dismal herd. 
 And dangling like a lantern, with its hand 
 It held the head dissevered, by the hair, 
 
INFERNO XXVIII 153 
 
 And that was gazing at us, and "0 me!" 
 
 Was saying. Of itself it made a lamp 
 130 To guide itself, and they were two in one. 
 
 And one in two; how this can be He knows 
 
 Who so ordains. When it was at the foot, 
 
 Directly, of the bridge, it raised aloft 
 
 Its arm with head and all, that so it might 
 
 Near to us bring its words, the which were these; 
 
 "Behold now my distressful punishment. 
 
 Thou who go'st breathing, looking on the dead: 
 
 See if there any be as great as this; 
 
 And so that thou mayst carry news of me, 
 140 Know that I am Bertrand de Born, that man 
 
 Who wicked instigations did apply 
 
 To the young king. Father and son I set 
 
 At mutual enmity. Achitophel 
 
 With Absalom and David did no more, 
 
 By his malicious goadings. I, alas! 
 
 Because I parted persons thus allied. 
 
 Carry my brain dissevered from its source 
 
 Which is within this trunk. And thus in me 
 
 The law of retribution is observed." 
 
CANTO XXIX 
 
 After some talk about one of Dante's relatives whose shade Dante 
 thinks he has seen among the sinners in the ninth trench, they 
 pa^s upon the bridge which spans the tenth and last trench 
 where the Falsifiers are punished. Dante confers with two 
 aldiemists, Griffolino and Capocchio. 
 
 The many people and the wounds diverse 
 
 Had made my eyes so drunken that they longed 
 
 To stay to weep; but Vergil said to me: 
 
 "Why art thou gazing still? Why is thy sight 
 
 Still riveted down there among the shades 
 
 Mournful and mutilated? Thou hast not 
 
 Behaved thus at the other pits: reflect, 
 
 If thou dost think to count them, that the vale 
 
 A circuit makes of two and twenty miles; 
 10 And the moon is already imderneath 
 
 Our feet: brief is the time allowed us now, 
 
 And there is something else to see beside 
 
 What thou art seeing." I forthwith replied: 
 
 "If thou hadst given attention to the cause 
 
 For which I gazed, thou wouldst have granted me, 
 
 Perhaps, a longer stay." My Guide meanwhile 
 
 Was going on, and, as I went behind, 
 
 I was ah-eady making my response. 
 
 And adding: "In that hollow where I was 
 20 Holding just now my eyes so fixedly, 
 
 I think a spirit of my race bewails 
 
 The sin which there below so dearly costs." 
 
 Then said the Master: "Do not let thy thought 
 
 From this time forth be broken upon him: 
 
 Attend to something else, and let him there 
 
 154 
 
i 
 
 INFERNO XXIX 155 
 
 Remain; for at the little bridge's foot 
 
 I saw him point thee out, and furiously 
 
 Make menace with his finger, and I heard 
 
 Him by the name Geri del Bello called. 
 30 Thou then wast so engrossed with him who once 
 
 Held Altaforte, that thou didst not look 
 
 That way; so he was gone." "My Guide," I said: 
 
 "The violent death which is not yet avenged 
 
 For him by any one who of the shame 
 
 Is partner, filled him with disdain; and hence, 
 
 As I suppose, without a word to me, 
 
 He went his way; and more compassionate 
 
 Toward him thereby has made me." Thus we talked, 
 
 As far as the first place which from the crag 
 40 A view of the next valley would afford. 
 
 Quite to the bottom, if there were more light. 
 
 When we were over the last cloister now 
 
 Of Malebolge, so that its lay-brothers 
 
 Could make themselves apparent to our sight. 
 
 Diverse laments assailed me, which with woe 
 
 Their shafts had ^^le^ed: I therefore with my hands 
 
 Did cover up my eirs. Such as the woe 
 
 Would be, if, in the season from July 
 
 On to September, were the maladies 
 50 Of Valdichiana's hospitals, and those 
 
 Of the Maremma (iXi'd Sardinia, heaped 
 
 Within a single ditch,— such it was there; 
 
 And thence such stench did issue as is wont 
 
 To come from putrid limbs. From the long crag, 
 
 We, keeping ever to the left, went down 
 
 Upon the last bank, and my sight was then 
 
 More vivid down toward the bottom, where 
 
 Justice infallible— the ministress 
 
 Of the high Lord — inflicts her punishment 
 
156 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 Upon the Falsifiers whom she here 
 Enrolls. A greater sorrow, I believe, 
 It was not, in iEgina to behold 
 The people all enfeebled, when the air 
 Was laden with infection so, that all 
 The living creatures, to the little worm, 
 Fell down, and afterward the ancient folk 
 Was from the seed of ants restored, as hold 
 For sure the poets,— than it was to see 
 The spirits languishing in separate heaps, 
 
 70 Throughout the gloomy valley. One was lying 
 Upon the other's belly; and upon 
 The shoulders one; another, on all-fours. 
 His place along the melancholy road 
 Kept shifting. Step by step, without a word, 
 We moved along, with eyes a^d ears intent 
 Upon the sick who could not lift themselves. 
 I saw two sitting, on each other propped, 
 As baking-pans against each other lean 
 For heating, specked with scabs from head to foot: 
 
 80 And I ne'er saw a currycomb so plied 
 By stable-boy for whom his master waitb? 
 Or one who stays awake against his will, 
 As each was plying fast upon himself 
 The clawing of his nails, so furious was 
 The itch, which no assuagement has be.^"*^. 
 And the nails downward dragged the sc^i^, as does 
 A knife the scales of carp, or other fish 
 That has them larger. "Thou," began "my Guide 
 To one of them, "who with thy fingers art 
 
 90 Thyself dismailing, and dost pincers make, 
 Sometimes, of them, inform us if there be 
 Any Italian among those who are 
 Within here; so forever may thy nails 
 
INFERNO XXIX 157 
 
 Suffice thee for this work." "I," said the Guide, 
 
 "Am one who with this Hving man descend 
 
 From ledge to ledge, and mean to show him Hell." 
 
 Then broke their mutual support, and each, 
 
 Trembling, toward me turned, with others who 
 
 By echo heard him. The good Master gave 
 100 To me his whole attention, and he said: 
 
 "Say to them what thou wilt." And I began, 
 
 Since so he wished: "So in the former world 
 
 May not your memory from the minds of men 
 
 Be filched away, but under many suns 
 
 So may it live,— inform me who ye are 
 
 And of what folk: let not your punishn at 
 
 Unseemly and disgusting frighten you 
 
 From making known yourselves to meJ^ " I was," 
 
 The one of them replied, "an Aretine, 
 110 And Albero of Siena had me put 
 
 Into the fire; but that for which I died 
 
 Brings me not hither. True it is I said. 
 
 Speaking in jest, to him, that I knew how 
 
 In flight to raise me through the air: and he, 
 
 Possessed of cvriosity, and of wit 
 
 But little, wan ed me to ohow the art 
 
 To him; and ju t because I made him not 
 
 A Dasdalus, he caused me to be burned 
 
 By one who as hi? soii regarded him. 
 120 But Minos, who is^o t allowed to err, 
 
 Because of alchemy, which in the world 
 
 I practised, to the last pit of the ten 
 
 Condemned me." To the Poet then I said: 
 
 "Now was there ever folk so frivolous 
 
 As are the Sienese? Not so the French, 
 
 By a great deal." Whereat to what I said. 
 
 The other leprous one who overheard me. 
 
158 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Replied: "Except me Stricca, he who knew 
 The way to make his outlays moderate; 
 
 130 And Niccolo, who made discovery, 
 First, of the costly fashion of the clove, 
 Within the garden where such seed takes root: 
 Except too the fraternity wherein 
 Did Caccia d'Ascian his vineyard squander^ 
 And his great forest, and wherein his wit 
 The Abbagliati showed. But to the end 
 That thou may?t know who backs thee in such wise 
 Against the Sien3se, toward me make keen 
 Thine eye, so that^lh' face may truthfully 
 
 14ft Answer thy question; so thou wilt perceive 
 I am Capocchio's shade who falsified 
 The metals by the means of alchemy; 
 And thou shouldst recollect, unless my eye 
 Deceive me, how I nature deftly aped." 
 
CANTO XXX 
 
 The tenth Bolgia continued. Dante sees counterfeiters of others' 
 persons, false-coiners and perjurers, tormented with madness, 
 dropsy, and fever. The mad shade Gianni Schicchi attacks 
 Capocchio. Myrrha is pointed out. The poets are addressed 
 by Adam of Brescia, the counterfeiter of the Florentine coin. 
 He identifies Potiphar's wife and Sinon. Adam and Sinon 
 fall into a wrangle, for his interest in which Dante is rebuked 
 by Vergil. 
 
 When Juno was, because of Semele, 
 
 Wroth at the Theban blood, as more than once 
 
 She showed, — so crazed did Athamas become, 
 
 That when he saw his wife, with her two sons 
 
 Go laden upon either hand, he cried: 
 
 "Now let us spread the nets, that at the pass 
 
 I capture the she-lion and the cubs." 
 
 And then he spread his unrelenting claws. 
 
 And seized the one who was Learchus named, 
 10 And whirled hun round, and dashed him on a rock; 
 
 And with her other load she drowned herself. 
 
 And when the Trojans' pride which all things dared, 
 
 Fortune abased, and king and kingdom were 
 
 Together brought to ruin, Hecuba, 
 
 Sad, wretched, captive, after she beheld 
 
 Polyxena a corpse, and sorrowful. 
 
 Upon the margin of the sea descried 
 
 Her Polydorus,— of her sense bereft. 
 
 Barked like a dog; so greatly did her grief 
 20 Distort her mind. But never were there seen 
 
 In any one such cruel frenzy-fits, 
 
 Theban or Trojan,— not for goading beasts, 
 
 Much less the limbs of men, — as in two shades, 
 
 159 
 
160 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Naked and pale, I saw, which biting ran 
 In such wise as a boar, when from the sty 
 He is let loose. One at Capocchio came, 
 And in his neck's nape so he struck his tusks, 
 That, dragging him, he made him scratch his belly 
 Upon the solid bottom. And to me 
 
 30 The Aretine, who shuddering remained, 
 Said: "Gianni Schicchi is yon furious imp. 
 Who, harrying others, thus goes raving round." 
 Said I to him: "So may the other one 
 Not fix his teeth on thee, — let not it be 
 Irksome to thee to tell us who it is. 
 Before it darts from here." And he to me: 
 "The ancient soul of Myrrha infamous 
 Is that, who lover to her sire became 
 Beyond the rightful love. To sin with hun 
 
 40 In this wise, in another's form she came, 
 Herself disguising, as that other one 
 Who yonder goes his way did, in himself, 
 Buoso Donati dare to personate. 
 That he might win the lady of the stud. 
 Making a will, and to the testament 
 Giving a legal form." And when had passed 
 The two infuriate ones on whom I had 
 Kept fixed my eye, I turned it back to watch 
 The others bom in evil hour. I saw 
 
 50 One fashioned like a lute, if only he 
 
 Had had his groin cut off close by the part 
 At which a man is forked. The dropsy sore, 
 Which, with the moisture that assimilates 
 Imperfectly, of due proportion robs 
 The members, so that does not correspond 
 The visage to the paunch,— was causing him 
 To hold his lips apart, like him who burns 
 
I 
 
 INFERNO XXX 161 
 
 With hectic fever, who, from thirst, directs 
 
 The one toward the chin, the other upward. 
 60 "Ye who from every punishment are free 
 
 In this sad world (and why I do not know)," 
 
 He said to us, "look, and consider well 
 
 Master Adamo's misery. I had, 
 
 While still I lived, enough of what I wished, 
 
 And now, alas! a drop of water crave. 
 
 The little brooks that from the verdant hills 
 
 Of Casentino down to Arno flow. 
 
 Making their channels cool and soft, alway 
 
 Are in my view, and not in vain, because 
 70 Far more than the disease which makes me strip 
 
 My face of flesh, their image dries me up. 
 
 The justice stern that goads me draws the more 
 
 Occasion from the place in which I sinned. 
 
 To wing my sighs. There is Romena, where 
 
 I falsified the current coin, which bore 
 
 The Baptist's effigy; for which I left 
 
 On earth my body burnt. But if I could 
 
 But see the wretched soul of Guido here. 
 
 Or that of Alessandro, or their brothers', 
 80 For Branda's fount I would not give the sight. 
 
 Within here one of them already is. 
 
 If speak the truth the maddened shades that round 
 
 Are going: but to me whose limbs are bound. 
 
 What profits it? If only I were yet 
 
 So nimble that I, in a hundred years, 
 
 Could go a single inch upon the road. 
 
 By this time I had started, seeking him 
 
 'Mid this disfigured folk, although it winds 
 
 Eleven miles around, and is not here 
 90 Less than a half a mile across. I am 
 
 In such a family because of them: 
 
162 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 By them I was prevailed upon to coin 
 The florins mth. three carats of alloy." 
 And I to him: "Who are the wretched pair 
 Who smoke like hands in winter washed, and lie 
 Close at thy right?" He answered: "When I dropped 
 Into this cleft, I foimd them here, and since, 
 They have not made a turn, nor do I think 
 They will, for everlasting. One of them 
 
 100 Is the deceitful woman who accused 
 Joseph; the other one false Sinon is. 
 The Greek from Troy. Sharp fever causes them 
 To send up such a reek." And one of them. 
 Who took offence, perhaps because was given 
 To him a name so black, smote with his fist 
 His belly hard; that sounded like a drum: 
 And Master Adam, with his arm that seemed 
 No softer, smote his face, and said to him: 
 "Although deprived of motion by my limbs, 
 
 110 The which are burdensome, I have an arm 
 Free for such need as this." He thereupon 
 RepUed: "When thou wast going to the fire. 
 Thou hadst it not so ready; but when thou 
 Wast coining, thou didst have it so and more." 
 And he with dropsy said: "Thou speakest truth 
 In this; but no such truthful witness there 
 Thou wast, when thou wast questioned of the truth 
 At Troy." Said Sinon : " If I falsely spake. 
 Yet thou didst falsify the coin, and I 
 
 120 Am here for but one sin, and thou for more 
 Than any other demon." "Perjurer, 
 The horse remember!" answered he who had 
 The swollen paunch; " and woeful may it be 
 To thee, that all the world is ware of it." 
 "To thee be woeful," said the Greek, "the thirst 
 
INFERNO XXX 163 
 
 With which thy tongue doth crack, and the foul rheum 
 That makes thy belly thus before thine eyes 
 A hedge." The coiner then: "Thus opens wide 
 Thy mouth to its own harm, as it is wont; 
 
 130 For if I have the thirst, and humor bloats me. 
 
 Thou hast the burning and the head that pains thee, 
 
 And thou wouldst not require a many words 
 
 To bid thee lap Narcissus's looking-glass." 
 
 I was all fixed on listening to them. 
 
 When said my Chief to me: "Now only look! 
 
 For little does it lack that I with thee 
 
 Have quarrel." When I heard him speak to me 
 
 With anger, toward him I turned with shame, 
 
 Such that it circles in my memory still. 
 
 140 And as he is who dreams of his own hurt. 
 Who, dreaming, wishes he were in a dream, 
 So that he longs for that which is, as though 
 'Twere not,— such I became, without the power 
 To speak; for to excuse myself I wished. 
 And all the while I was excusing me. 
 And did not think that I was doing it. 
 "Less shame doth wash away a greater fault 
 Than thine has been," the Master said; "do thou. 
 Therefore, discharge all sadness from thyself, 
 
 150 And count that I am always at thy side, 
 If fortune chance again to find thee where 
 Are people in a wrangle such as this; 
 For 'tis a low wish to desire to hear it.'* 
 
CANTO XXXI 
 
 Leaving the tenth trench, they proceed to cross the space which 
 separates it from the central pit. They hear the sound of a 
 horn, and Dante sees whai he supposes to he towers. 'Vergil 
 informs him that they are giants standing in the central pit. 
 The appearance of Nimrod and EphiaUes described. Next 
 Antceus, who takes the poets in his hand and places them at 
 tKef>ottom of the pit, and in the ninth circle. 
 
 One and the selfsame tongue first wounded me, 
 
 So that it colored both my cheeks, and then 
 
 To me supplied the medicine. Just so 
 
 Achilles's lance, I hear, which also was 
 
 His father's, used to be the cause, at first, 
 
 Of an unhappy gift, and afterward. 
 
 Of one benign. Upon the vale of woe 
 
 We turned our back, and up along the bank 
 
 Which girds it round we crossed, without exchange 
 10 Of any talk. Here there was less than night, 
 
 And less than day, so that in front of me 
 
 My sight but Uttle went: but a loud horn 
 
 I heard resound, so loud that every peal 
 
 Of thunder faint it would have made, the which 
 
 Guided my eyes, which counter to itself 
 
 Pursued its course, entirely to one place. 
 
 Orlando sounded not so terribly, 
 
 After the woeful rout, when Charlemagne 
 
 The sacred squadron lost. Not long I bore 
 20 My head that way directed, when it seemed 
 
 To me that many lofty towers I saw; 
 
 Whence I: "My Master, say what town is this?" 
 
 And he to me: "Because from too far off 
 
 Thou peerest through the gloom, it comes to pass 
 
 164 
 
INFERNO XXXI 165 
 
 That afterward in thine imagining 
 Thou errest. If that place thou shalt approach. 
 Right clearly thou wilt see how much thy sense 
 By distance is deceived: spur on thyself, 
 Therefore, a little more." Then by the hand 
 
 30 He took me lovingly, and said: "Ere we 
 Are farther on, in order that the fact 
 May seem to thee less strange, know that these are 
 Not towers but giants, and one and all of them 
 Are, from the navel down, within the pit. 
 Around its margin." As when is dispersed 
 The mist, the sight makes out by slow degrees 
 Whate'er the vapor hides which crowds the air, — 
 So, as I pierced the air so gross and dim. 
 And near and nearer to the brink approached, 
 
 40 My error fled from me, and grew my fear. 
 For as, above its round enclosing wall, 
 Montereggione crowns itself with towers. 
 So, as with towers, with half their bodies girt 
 The margin which encompasses the pit. 
 The giants horrible, whom Jove from heaven 
 Still threatens when he thunders. And I now 
 Descried the face, the shoulders, and the breast 
 Of one of these, and of the belly much. 
 And both the arms stretched down along the sides. 
 
 50 Right well did Nature, surely, when she left 
 The art of making creatures such as these, 
 To take away such ministers from Mars: 
 And if it be that she repents her not 
 Of elephants and whales, more just for that 
 And more discreet he holds her, who observes 
 Acutely: for where, to the evil will. 
 And to the power, the equipment of the mind 
 Is added, no defence the human race 
 
166 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Can make against it. Long and huge as is 
 
 60 At Rome Saint Peter's pine-cone, seemed to me 
 His face; and in proportion with it were 
 The other bones; so that the bank which was 
 A skirt, down from the middle, showed of him 
 Fidly so much above, that to his hair 
 Three Frisons would have made vain boast to reach: 
 Since downward from the place at which a man 
 Buckles his mantle, I beheld of him 
 Thirty great spans. Began the savage mouth, 
 Which sweeter psalms did not become, to cry: 
 
 70 "Rajel mai amech zabi dmi." 
 
 And said my Guide to him: "Thou silly soul, 
 Keep to thy horn, and vent thyself with that, 
 When wrath or other passion touches thee. 
 Seek at thy neck, and thou wilt find the cord 
 Which holds it tied, thou distracted soul, 
 And see it how it girds thy mighty breast." 
 Then said to me: "He doth accuse himself. 
 This one is Nimrod, through whose evil thought 
 One language only is not in the world 
 
 80 Employed. Him let us leave alone, and not 
 Waste words on him; for every tongue to him 
 Is such as his to others, which to none 
 Is known." Then, leftward turned, we farther went. 
 And found, a crossbow-shot away, the next, 
 More savage far and larger. Of what sort 
 The master may have been who fettered him, 
 I cannot say, but his left arm he held 
 Pinioned in front, and at his back the right. 
 With chain which held him downward from the neck 
 
 90 Engirded, so that on the part exposed. 
 As far as the fifth coil it woimd around. 
 "This haughty one," my Leader said, "desired 
 
INFERNO XXXI 167 
 
 To try his power on Jove supreme, for which 
 
 He suffers such requital. He is named 
 
 Ephialtes, and he showed his prowess great, 
 
 What time the giants caused the gods to fear: 
 
 No more he moves the arms he wielded then." 
 
 And I to him: "I would, if possible, 
 
 These eyes of mine might have experience 
 100 Of vast Briareus." Wherefore he replied: 
 
 "Antaeus thou shalt see not far from here. 
 
 Who speaks and is unfettered, who will set us 
 
 Down at the very bottom of all guilt. 
 
 The one whom thou would'st see is far beyond, 
 
 And is like this one bound and fashioned, save 
 
 That in his countenance he seems more fierce." 
 
 Never was earthquake violent enough 
 
 To shake a tower with the force with which 
 
 Ephialtes on the instant shook himself. 
 110 Then more than ever I feared death, and more 
 
 For that there was not needed than the fright, 
 
 Had not I seen his fetters. Then we went 
 
 Still farther on, and to Antseus came. 
 
 Who issued from the rock a good five ells, 
 
 Besides his head. " thou who in the vale 
 
 Favored by Fortune, which made Scipio 
 
 An heir of fair renown, when Hannibal 
 
 Turned with his host his back,— didst once for prey 
 
 Capture a thousand lions, and of whom 
 120 It seems that there are those who still believe 
 
 That if thou hadst been at the mighty fight 
 
 The which thy brothers fought, the sons of earth 
 
 The victory would have won, — set us below, 
 
 (And do not scorn to do it), where the cold 
 
 Locks up Cocytus. Do not make us go 
 
 To Tityus or to Typhon: this one has 
 
168 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 The power to give of that which here is craved: 
 Bend therefore down, and no wry faces make. 
 Up in the world he still can give thee fame; 
 
 130 For he is living, and he still expects 
 Long life, provided grace, before the tune, 
 Call him not to itself." The Master thus 
 Did speak: and quickly he stretched forth the hands 
 Whose mighty grip Hercules felt one time. 
 And took my Guide. When he perceived that he 
 Was grasped, to me said Vergil: "Put thyself 
 In here, that I may grasp thee:" then he did 
 So that one bundle he and I became. 
 Such as the Carisenda seems to sight 
 
 140 Beneath its leaning side, when over it 
 A cloud is passing, so that to the cloud 
 The tower is leaning counter, — such to me, 
 Who was upon the watch to see him bend, 
 Antaeus seemed, and such that moment was, 
 That by another road I could have wished 
 To go: but at the bottom which ingulfs 
 With Judas, Lucifer, he set us down, 
 Lightly, nor there, thus stooping, made delay, 
 But raised himself as in a ship a mast. 
 
CANTO XXXII 
 
 The ninth circle. Dante sees a great, frozen lake in which shades 
 are imbedded. Vergil warns him not to tread upon the heads 
 of the transgressors. Interviews with different traitors. 
 
 If I had rough and rasping verses, such 
 
 As would befit the dismal cavity 
 
 Upon the which the other rocky rounds 
 
 All thrust, I would more copiously express 
 
 The juice of my conception; but because 
 
 I have them not, I bring myself to speak 
 
 Not without fear. For to delineate 
 
 The lowest depth of all the universe. 
 
 Is not an enterprise to undertake 
 iO In jest, nor with a prattling tongue that cries 
 
 "Mamma and Papa." But may help my verse 
 
 Those dames who to Amphion lent their aid 
 
 In walling Thebes about, so that my words 
 
 May differ not from fact. rabble-rout, 
 
 Beyond all miscreated, who are in 
 
 The place whereof 'tis difficult to speak, 
 
 'Twere'better ye had here been sheep or goats. 
 
 When we were down within the gloomy pit. 
 
 Far lower than the giants' feet, and I 
 20 Was gazing still upon the lofty wall, 
 
 I heard it said to me: "Look how thou steppest! 
 
 So go that with thy soles thou trample not 
 
 Upon the wretched, weary brothers' heads." 
 
 I turned me thereupon, and I beheld, 
 
 Before me, and beneath my feet, a lake 
 
 Which had the semblance, from the frost, of glass, 
 
 169 
 
170 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And not of water. Ne'er in winter made, 
 In Austria, the Danube for its stream 
 So thick a veil, nor, yonder, Tanais 
 
 30 Beneath the freezing sky, as here there was: 
 For e'en if Tambernich had fallen on it. 
 Or Pietrapana, even at the edge 
 'Twould not have given a crack. And as the frog 
 Sits, with its muzzle out of water thrust 
 To croak, what time the peasant-woman dreams 
 Often of gleaning,— Uvid to the point 
 Where shame appears, the shades disconsolate 
 Were in the ice, and setting to the note 
 Of storks their teeth. Each held his face turned down; 
 
 40 Among them, from their mouth the cold procures 
 A witness for itself, and from their eyes 
 The heart distressed. When I had looked around 
 A little, to my feet I turned, and saw 
 Two, drawn so close together that the hair 
 Upon their heads was intermixed. I said: 
 "Ye who together thus your bosoms press. 
 Tell me, who are ye?" And they bent their necks, 
 And after they had raised to me their faces, 
 Their eyes which hitherto, only within 
 
 50 Were moist, dripped o'er the eyelids, and the frost 
 Bound up the tears between them, and again 
 Locked them together. Never bound a clamp 
 So strongly plank to plank; and therefore they, 
 Like two he-goats, were butting one another. 
 Such anger mastered them. And one who had 
 Lost both his ears by reason of the cold. 
 His face still downward, said: "Why dost thou so 
 Mirror thyself in us? If thou wouldst know 
 Who these two are, the valley down from which 
 
 60 Bisenzio flows, their father Albert's was. 
 
INFERNO XXXII 171 
 
 And theirs. They from one body issued forth: 
 
 And all Caina thou mayst search, and thou 
 
 Wilt find no shade more worthy to be set 
 
 In jelly: not that one who had his breast 
 
 And shadow cloven with a single blow 
 
 By Arthur's hand: not Focaccia; not he 
 
 Who with his head is so annoying me 
 
 That I no farther see, and bore the name 
 
 Of Sassol Mascheroni: if thou art 
 70 A Tuscan, who he was thou knowest now 
 
 Full well. And that thou mayst not set me on 
 
 To further talking, be it known to thee 
 
 That I was Camicione dei Pazzi, 
 
 And I await Carlino, that he may 
 
 Extenuate my guilt." When I had seen 
 
 A thousand faces, purple made by cold, 
 
 Whence comes to me a shudder, and will come, 
 
 Always, at sight of frozen pools, and while 
 
 We were toward the centre going, where 
 80 All that is heavy centres, and I was 
 
 Shivering in the eternal chill,— I know not 
 
 If it were will, or destiny, or chance: 
 
 But as I passed among the heads, I struck 
 
 My foot hard in the face of one. He cried, 
 
 Waihng, to me: "Why dost thou trample me? 
 
 Unless, for Montaperti, thou art come 
 
 To aggravate the vengeance, why dost thou 
 
 Molest me?" And I said: "My Master, now 
 
 Wait here for me, so that, by this one's means, 
 90 I from a doubt may issue: then for me 
 
 Thou shalt make haste as much as pleases thee." 
 
 The Leader stopped, and I to him, who still 
 
 Was fiercely cursing, said: "What sort of one 
 
 Art thou, who rates t others in such wise?" 
 
172 THE DRaNE COMEDY 
 
 **Now who art thou," he answered, "who dost go 
 Through Antenora, smiting others' cheeks, 
 So that, if thou wert living, all too hard 
 The blow would be?" " Mve," my answer was, 
 "I am, and of advantage it may be 
 
 100 To thee, if fame thou askest, that I place 
 Thy name among my other notes." " I crave 
 The contrary," he answered: "get thee hence, 
 And pester me no more: for in this plain 
 Thou poorly knowest how to flatter." Then 
 I seized upon him by the scalp behind. 
 And said: "Thou needs must name thyself, or else 
 Upon thee here a hair shall not remain." 
 Wherefore to me: "Although thou tear away 
 My hair, I will not tell thee who I am, 
 
 110 Nor show it to thee, though a thousand times 
 Thou stumble on my head." I had his hair 
 Already twisted in my hand, and had 
 Wrenched out more than one lock of it, the while 
 He barked, and fastened downward kept his eyes; 
 When cried another: "What doth ail thee, Bocca? 
 Does not the chattering with thy jaws sufiice 
 For thee, but thou must also bark? What fiend 
 Is plaguing thee?" "Now, traitor curst," I said: 
 "No words I want from thee, for to thy shame 
 
 120 I will concerning thee true tidings bear." 
 
 "Be off!" he answered: "tell whate'er thou wilt; 
 But be not silent, if thou gettest out 
 From here, concerning him who had his tongue 
 Just now so prompt. He is lamenting here 
 The silver of the French: thus thou canst say: 
 'I saw that one from Duera, there where are 
 The sinners in the cool.' Shouldst thou be asked 
 Who else was there, thou hast beside thee him 
 
INFERNO XXXII 173 
 
 Of Beccheria, he whose gorge was slit 
 130 By Florence. Farther on there is, I think, 
 Gianni de' Soldanier, with Ganelon, 
 And Tribaldello, who Faenza's gates 
 Opened while it was sleeping." We from him 
 Already had departed, when I saw 
 Two frozen in one hole, so that a hood 
 One head was to the other: and as bread 
 Is munched for hunger, so the upper one 
 His teeth fixed on the other where the brain 
 Joins itself to the nape. Not otherwise 
 140 Did Tydeus Menalippus's temples gnaw 
 For rage, than he was doing to the skull 
 And the adjoining parts. "Thou who by sign 
 So bestial, showest hatred upon him 
 Whom thou art eating, tell me why," I said, 
 "With this agreement, that if thou complain 
 Against him with good reason, I who know 
 Both who ye are and his offence, may yet 
 Requite thee for it in the world above, 
 If that with which I speak be not dried up." 
 
 ) 
 
CANTO XXXIII 
 
 Count Ugolino relates the story of his imprisonment in the Hunger- 
 Tower at Pisa, and of the starvation of himself and his children. 
 An apostrophe to Pisa. The poets pa^s to the third round, 
 and find shades lying face-upward in the ice. Dante feels 
 a wind, and asks whence it comes; and is told that he will soon 
 see for himself. Friar Alberigo explains how the bodies of 
 certain shades in Tohmea are still living on earth, hut occupied 
 by a demon. 
 
 That sinner lifted from his savage meal 
 
 His mouth, and wiped it on the hairs which were 
 
 Upon the head he had despoiled behind. 
 
 Then he began: "Thou wilt that I renew 
 
 The hopeless sorrow which weighs down my heart 
 
 Ab-eady, while I only think, before 
 
 I speak of it. But if these words of mine 
 
 Are to be seed which for the traitor whom 
 
 I gnaw, shall yield the fruit of infamy, 
 10 Together thou shalt see me speak and weep. 
 
 I know not who thou art, nor by what mode 
 
 Down hither thou art come; but verily, 
 
 Thou, when I hear thee, seem'st a Florentine. 
 
 Count Ugolino, thou must know, I was, 
 
 And this one was Ruggieri the archbishop: 
 
 Now I will tell thee what the reason is 
 
 That I am such a neighbor. Need is none 
 
 To say that I, confiding in him, was. 
 
 By the effect of his malicious wiles, 
 20 Made prisoner, and after put to death. 
 
 But that which thou canst not have heard, to wit, 
 
 How cruel was my death, thou now shalt hear, 
 
 And know if he has wronged me. In the cage 
 
 174 
 
CANTO XXXIII 175 
 
 The which the title 'Hunger' bears from me, 
 
 And wherein others yet must be confined, 
 
 A narrow chink had shown me many moons 
 
 Already through its opening, when I dreamed 
 
 The evil dream, which of the future rent • 
 
 The veil for me. This man appeared to me 
 30 Master and lord, chasing the wolf and whelps, 
 
 Upon the mountain which conceals the view 
 
 Of Lucca from the Pisans. He had put 
 
 Before him at the front with bitch-hounds gaunt 
 
 And keen and trained, Gualandi with Sismondi, 
 
 And with Lanfranchi. Weary seemed to me. 
 
 In a brief course, the father and the sons. 
 
 And ripped with the keen fangs methought I saw 
 
 Their flanks. When I before the dawn awoke, 
 
 I in their slumber weeping heard my sons 
 40 Who were with me, and asking for some bread. 
 
 Thou art right cruel if thou dost not grieve 
 
 Already at the thought of what my heart 
 
 Foreboded: and if tears thou dost not shed. 
 
 What are thou wont to weep for? They were now 
 
 Awake, and near the hour was drawing when 
 
 Our food was usually brought to us. 
 
 And each one's heart, by reason of his dream, 
 
 Misgave him: and I heard them nailing up. 
 
 Below, the entrance to that dreadful tower; 
 50 Whereat, into the faces of my sons 
 
 I gazed without a word. I did not weep; 
 
 So Hke a stone I had become within : 
 
 They wept; and my poor little Anselm said: 
 
 'Father, thou lookest so! What aileth thee?' 
 
 For that I shed no tear, nor all that day. 
 
 Nor the night after, did I make reply, 
 
 Till the next sun came forth into the world. 
 
176 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Soon as a little gleam had found its way 
 Into the doleful dungeon, and I saw 
 
 60 On the four faces my own very look, 
 Both of my hands for agony I bit. 
 And thinking that I did it from desire 
 Of eating, suddenly they rose, and said: 
 'Father, it will be far less pain to us, 
 If thou wilt eat of us: with this poor flesh 
 Thou clothedst us, and do thou strip it off/ 
 I cahned me then, not to increase their woe: 
 That day we all were silent, and the next: 
 Ah, why, thou cruel earth, didst not thou gape? 
 
 70 After that we were come to the fourth day, 
 Gaddo at full length flung him at my feet. 
 Saying: 'My father, why dost not thou help me? ' 
 Here he expired: and as thou seest me. 
 Between the fifth day and the sixth, I saw 
 The three fall, one by one: whence I, now blind, 
 Betook myself to groping over each. 
 And after they were dead I called on them 
 Two days: then stronger than my sorrow proved 
 My fasting." When he had said this, again, 
 
 80 With eyes askew, he seized the wretched skull 
 With teeth, which were as strong upon the bone 
 As are a dog's. Ah, Pisa! thou reproach 
 Of those who people the fair country where 
 The si is heard, — whereas thy neighbors are 
 So dilatory in thy punishment. 
 Let the Caprara and Gorgona shift. 
 And dam the Arno at its mouth, that so 
 Within thee it may drown each soul. For though 
 Count Ugolino was, by common fame, 
 
 90 Charged with betrayal of thy fortresses, 
 
 Thou to such torture shouldst not have exposed 
 
CANTO XXXIII 177 
 
 His sons. Their youthful age made innocent, 
 
 Thou new Thebes! Uguccione and Brigata, 
 
 With the two others, whom above, my song 
 
 Mentions by name. Still farther on we went, 
 
 To where the ice with its rough clasp enswathes 
 
 Another folk, not downward turned, but all 
 
 Reversed. Their very weeping there forbids 
 
 Their weeping, and the grief which finds a bar 
 100 Upon their eyes, turns inward to increase 
 
 Their anguish: for their first tears form a lump, 
 
 And all the hollow underneath the brow 
 
 Fill, like a crystal visor. And although, 
 
 As from a callus, in my face had ceased 
 
 All feeling to abide because of cold. 
 
 It now appeared to me as though I felt 
 
 Some wind; whereat I said: "My Master, who 
 
 Sets this in motion? Is not, here below, 
 
 All vapor at an end?" Whence he to me: 
 110 Thou soon wilt be there where thine eye will give the 
 
 Answer concerning this, as thou shalt see 
 
 The cause that showers the blast. And cried to us 
 
 One of the wretches of the icy crust: 
 
 "0 souls so cruel that the final place 
 
 Has been assigned to you, from off my face 
 
 Remove the rigid veils, that I may vent, 
 
 A little, the distress which fills my heart, 
 
 Before the weeping is again congealed." 
 
 Whence I to him: "If thou desirest me 
 120 To come and help thee, tell me who thou art; 
 
 And if I do not free thee, be my lot 
 
 To go down to the bottom of the ice." 
 
 He answered then: "I am Friar Alberigo; 
 
 I am that one of the bad garden's fruit. 
 
 Who for a fig do here get back a date." 
 
178 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 "0," said I, "now art thou already dead?" 
 And he to me: "How in the world above 
 My body fares, no knowledge I receive. 
 This Tolomea has such privilege, 
 
 130 That oft the soul down hither falls, before 
 Atropos sets it moving. And that thou 
 Mayst from my face scrape off more willingly 
 The tear-drops glazed, know thou that from the soul, 
 As soon as it betrays, just as I did, 
 Its body by a fiend is rapt away. 
 Who governs it thenceforth, until its time 
 Has all revolved. Into a well like this 
 It headlong falls; and still, perhaps, appears 
 On earth the body of that shade which here 
 
 140 Winters behind me. If thou art come down 
 But now, he should be known to thee: he is 
 Ser Branca d'Oria, and many years 
 Are passed since he was thus shut up." "I think," 
 Said I to him, "thou art deceiving me: 
 For Branca d'Oria is not yet dead. 
 And eats, and drinks, and sleeps, and puts on clothes." 
 "Within the Malebranche's trench above. 
 Where boils the sticky pitch," he said, "not yet 
 Had Michel Zanche come, when this man here, 
 
 150 In his own place, in his own body, left 
 A devil, as did one, his kinsman, who 
 Together with him wrought the treachery. 
 But now thy hand reach hither, and unclose 
 My eyes for me:" and I did not for him 
 Unclose them, and to be a churl to him 
 Was courtesy. Ah Genoese! ye men 
 Estranged from all good habit, and replete 
 With every vice, why are ye from the world 
 Not scattered? for I found, in company 
 
CANTO XXXIII 
 
 179 
 
 160 With the worst spirit of Romagna, one 
 Such that already for his work he is, 
 In soul, bathed in Cocytus, and on earth, 
 In body still he seems to be alive. 
 
CANTO XXXIV 
 
 The fourth and final round of the ninth circle, and the bottom of 
 Hell. Dante discerns the dim outline of Lucifer's form, and 
 approax^hes the arch-fiend. Description of Lucifer. The poets, 
 grasping his shaggy sides, descend to the centre of gravity, and 
 passing it, ascend, and finally emerge into the light of day. 
 
 " VexUla Regis prodeunt infemi 
 
 Toward us: therefore look before and see 
 
 If thou discernest him," my Master said. 
 
 As, when a thick mist breathes, or when to night 
 
 Our hemisphere is darkening, a mill. 
 
 Turned by the wind, appears from far away, 
 
 Such was the structure then I seemed to see: 
 
 Then for the wind I drew behind my Guide, 
 
 Because there was no other shelter there. 
 10 1 now was, (and I put it into verse 
 
 With fear), where wholly covered were the shades, 
 
 And like a straw in glass were showing through. 
 
 Some prone are lying, others are erect. 
 
 This with the head, and that one with the soles; 
 
 Another, like a bow, bends face to feet. 
 
 When we were so far forward that to me 
 
 It was my Master's pleasure to point out 
 
 The creature, once with the fair semblance graced. 
 
 He from before me moved and made me stop, 
 20 Saying: "See, there is Dis! and there the place 
 
 Where it behoves thee to equip thyself 
 
 With fortitude." How frozen and how weak 
 
 I then became, reader, do not ask, 
 
 For I record it not, because all speech 
 
 Would go for little. I died not, nor yet 
 
 180 
 
CANTO XXXIV 181 
 
 Did I remain alive: now for thyself 
 
 Think, if thou hast a single shred of wit, 
 
 What I became when of the two deprived. 
 
 The sovereign of the melancholy realm 
 30 Forth from the ice issued at middle-breast; 
 
 And better with a giant I compare. 
 
 Than with his arms the giants: now observe 
 
 How huge must be that whole which corresponds 
 
 To such a part. If he was once so fair 
 
 As he is ugly now, and raised his brows 
 
 Against his Maker, rightly should all woe 
 
 Proceed from him. How great the marvel seemed 
 
 To me, when I beheld upon his head 
 
 Three faces, one in front, of crimson hue; 
 40 Two were the others, which were, just above 
 
 The middle of each shoulder, joined to this. 
 
 Uniting at the place where is the crest; 
 
 And between white and yellow seemed the right; 
 
 That on the left appeared like those that come 
 
 From where the Nile descends. Beneath each one 
 
 Two great wings issued, as so great a bird 
 
 Befitted; I have ne'er beheld sea-sails 
 
 So huge. They had not feathers, but were like 
 
 In fashion to a bat's; and these he flapped, 
 50 So that three winds proceeded from him, whence 
 
 Cocytus all was frozen: with six eyes 
 
 He wept, and tears and bloody drivel dripped 
 
 Over three chins. He with his teeth was crunching, 
 
 Just like a brake, a sinner at each mouth. 
 
 So that he thus was keeping three of them 
 
 In torment. To the one in front was nought 
 
 The biting to the clawing, for the back 
 
 Sometimes remained entirely stripped of skin. 
 
 "That soul up yonder, which is suffering 
 
182 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 60 The greatest punishment," the Master said, 
 "Is Judas Iscariot, the one who has 
 His head within and plies his legs outside. 
 Of the remaining two who have their heads 
 Downward, that one who hangs from the black snout, 
 Dangling, is Brutus: notice how he writhes, 
 And utters not a word: and Cassius is 
 The other, who appears so large of limb. 
 But rising is the night again; and now 
 We must depart, for we have seen the whole." 
 
 70 As he desired, I clasped his neck, and he 
 Advantage took of time and place: and when 
 The wings were opened wide, the shaggy sides 
 He clutched, and then from tuft to tuft went down 
 Between the matted hair and frozen crusts. 
 When we were at the point where turns the thigh 
 Just on the thickness of the haunch, my Guide, 
 With struggle and with gasping, turned his head 
 Where he had had his legs, and on the hair 
 Grappled, like one that climbs, so that I thought 
 
 80 That we were going back to Hell once more. 
 Panting, as one fatigued, the Master said: 
 "Cling fast, for by such stairs we must depart 
 From so great evil." After that, he passed 
 Out through the opening of a rock, and placed 
 Me on the edge to sit: and then toward me 
 He stretched his wary step. I raised my eyes. 
 And thought I should see Lucifer, as I 
 Had left him, and I saw him holding there 
 His legs turned upward. And the dullards, who 
 
 90 Do not perceive the nature of that part 
 Which I had passed, may fancy if I then 
 Became perplexed. "Rise up," the Master said, 
 "Upon thy feet: the way is long, and bad 
 
CANTO XXXIV 183 
 
 The road, and now half-way to the third hour 
 
 The sun returns." It was no palace-hall 
 
 Wherein we were, but natural dungeon, formed 
 
 With an uneven floor and scanty light. 
 
 When I was risen, "Master mine," I said, 
 
 "Before I pluck myself from the abyss, 
 100 To draw me out of error, speak to me 
 
 A little. Say, where is the ice? and he — 
 
 How is he thus fixed upside down? and how 
 
 From eve to morning in so short a time 
 
 Has the sun made his transit?" He to me: 
 
 " Thou fanciest thyself still on that side 
 
 The centre, where I seized upon the hair 
 
 Of yonder evil worm that bores the world. 
 
 Thou wast, so long as I was going down, 
 
 On that side: when I turned me, thou didst pass 
 110 The point to which from every part the weights 
 
 Are drawn: and thou art now arrived beneath 
 
 The hemisphere directly opposite 
 
 To that which the great continent o'erspreads. 
 
 And underneath whose zenith there was slain 
 
 The man who without sin was born and lived. 
 
 Thou hast thy feet upon a little round 
 
 Which forms the other face of the Giudecca. 
 
 Here it is morning when 'tis evening there: 
 
 And he who made a ladder with his hair 
 120 For us, still fixed remains as first he was. 
 
 From heaven he fell down upon this side: 
 
 And for the fear of him the earth, which erst 
 
 On this side rose, made of the sea a veil. 
 
 And to our hemisphere betook itself; 
 
 And to escape from him, perhaps, that land 
 
 Which on this side appears, here vacant left 
 
 Its place, and upward fled." There is a place 
 
184 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Below there, from Beelzebub removed 
 
 Far as his tomb extends, which is not known 
 
 130 By sight, but by a brooklet's sound, that here 
 Descends along the hollow of a rock 
 Which it has eaten with its course that winds, 
 And slopes a little. On that hidden road 
 Entered my Guide and I, that so we might 
 Return to the bright world: and without care 
 Of having any rest, we mounted up, 
 He first, and second I, until I saw 
 Some of the beauteous things which heaven bears, 
 Through a round opening, and forth from this 
 
 140 We issued, to behold the stars again. 
 
NOTES ON THE TEXT 
 
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES 
 
 Dante's Works. 
 
 Inf. Inferno. 
 
 Purg. Purgatorio. 
 
 Par, Paradiso. 
 
 Conv. Convivio. 
 
 DeMon. De Monarchia. 
 
 De Vulg. El. De Vulgari Eloquentia. 
 
 V. N. Vita Nuova. 
 
 Greek and Latin Classics. 
 
 Horn. Homer. 
 
 H. Homer's Hiad. 
 
 Od. Homer's Odyssey. 
 
 Verg. Vergil. 
 
 Aen. Vergil's Aeneid. 
 
 Eel. Vergil's Eclogues. 
 
 Geor. Vergil's Georgics. 
 
 Ov. Ovid. 
 
 Metam. Ovid's Metamorphoses. 
 
 Ars Am. Ovid's Ars Amatoria. 
 
 Soph. Sophocles. 
 
 Phars. Lucan's Pharsalia. 
 
 Theb. Statius's Thebaid. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 Wisd. Apocryphal Book of "The Wisdom of Solomon." 
 
 Lit. Literally. 
 
 Cron. Chronicle of Villani. 
 
 References to the Infemo and Purgatorio are made to the line- 
 numbers of this tKuaslation. 
 
 186 
 
CANTO r 
 
 The date assumed by Dante for the vision is 1300 A.D., on 
 Good Friday, April 8th, at which time he enters on his journey. 
 The time occupied in passing through the circles of Hell is about 
 twenty-four hours; and twenty-one hours are consumed in ascend- 
 ing from Lucifer to the surface of the Southern Hemisphere. 
 At 4 A.M. on Easter day he emerges with Vergil on the shore of 
 Purgatory. 
 
 1. Midway. In the thirty-fifth year of his age. Dante says 
 (Conv. iv, 23) that human life proceeds in the figure of an arch, 
 ascending and descending; and that in perfect natures the highest j 
 point of this arch would be in the thirty-fifth year. 
 
 2. I found myself. Some translators render: "I came to my- 
 self, ' ' but the ideas are substantially the same. 
 
 forest dark. Allegorically, the life of sin and worldliness. In 
 Conv. iv, 24, Dante speaks of "the wood of error of this life." 
 Comp, Purg. xxiii, 119 ff. 
 
 3. The right road. Not the straight or direct road, but in a moral 
 sense: the path of right or righteousness. 
 
 8. The good. His meeting with Vergil, and his consequent 
 conversion from the error of his ways. 
 
 9. the other things. The hill, the beasts, his effort to climb 
 the hill, his repulse, and his blundering at the foot of the hill. He 
 would fain avoid telling of these painful things, bufr will relate 
 them in order to set forth the "good" which he found among them. 
 
 14. an ascent. Allegorically, the life of faith and virtue which 
 one must mount with toil and patience. 
 
 15. that valley. The low ground at the foot of the hill, probably 
 including the forest. 
 
 17. that planet's rays. The sun was regarded as one of the planets. 
 Allegorically, the light of divine grace which irradiates the life 
 of virtue. 
 
 21. my heart's lake. The heart is called a lake as being the 
 receptacle of the blood. 
 
 22. from the deep comes panting forth. Comp. Hom. Od. xxiii, 
 234 ff. 
 
 24. still speeding onward. Although safe for the moment, his 
 mind so strongly retained the impression of his recent terror, that it 
 kept flying on as if still pursued by it. Augustine says: "Fear 
 is the flight of the mind." Comp. Butler, "Hudibras," iii, 3, 64: 
 
 "His fear was greater than his haste : 
 For fear, though fleeter than the wind. 
 Believes 'tis always left behind." 
 
 31. a pard. The three beasts were suggested by Jer. v, 6. Comp. 
 
 187 
 
188 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Hos. xiii, 7. The panther is the syrobol of lust. Some interpreters 
 find in the spotted hide a poHtical reference to Florence with its 
 two factions, the "Whites" and the "Blacks." Lust is one of 
 the chief opposers of the ascent to virtue. Comp. Inf. xvi. 
 
 37. those stars. The constellation of Aries, marking the early 
 Spring. It was the belief of both classical and mediaeval writers 
 that the worid was created in the Spring, at the vernal equinox. 
 
 40. awoke in me, etc. The order of thought is: "The morning 
 hour and the pleasant season were to me cause of good hope concern- 
 ing that beast with the dappled skin." 
 
 43. a lion. Allegorically, pride. Some add, the royal house of 
 France. 
 
 46. the air appeared afraid. Comp. Hen. V. Chorus: 
 
 " That did affright the air at Agincourt." 
 
 So Ovid (Metam. xiii, 406) of Hecuba, changed into a dog. 
 "She terrified the foreign air with her strange barking." Also 
 Tennyson, "Godiva": 
 
 " And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear." 
 
 47. a she-wolf. Avarice. According to some, the Papal court. 
 Comp. Purg. XX, 11. 
 
 58. the Sim is mute. For a similar interchange of the terms 
 for sight and hearing, comp. Inf. v, 29. 
 
 59. blimdering. Not "hastening" or "falling." In his blind 
 terror he was blundering or stumbling at the bottom of the ascent. 
 Comp. Prov. iv, 19, which is quoted Conv. iv, 7, 5; and the word 
 "stumble" is translated by the verb used in this passage. 
 
 61. faint. The shade, instead of coming at once to Dante's 
 assistance, preserved a long silence, which Dante interpreted as an 
 evidence of weakness or faintness. The word iioco is often and 
 wrongly rendered * * hoarse. ' ' Comp. Inf. iii, 72. As Vergil is the 
 symbol of human reason at its best, the allegorical sense seems 
 to be: "the voice of my better reason had been so long unheard, 
 that it appeared to me to have grown feeble." 
 
 65. Lombards. In the mouth of Vergil this term is an anachro- 
 nism. The region now known generally as Lombardy was called 
 Gallia Cisalpina until the time of the second Roman Triumvirate 
 (B.C. 42-31), when it was included imder the general name of 
 Italy. At the time of the birth of Christ, the Langobardi (after- 
 ward Lombards) were dwelling on the southern shore of the Baltic. 
 The Lombard invasion of Italy under Alboin was not until 568 A.D. 
 The change of name from Langobardia to Lombardia was not 
 definitely recognized untU after 1200 A.D. 
 
 06, 67. Though late, sub Julio. This is an error if it means that 
 Vergil was bom when Julius Caesar was at the head of the state. 
 Julius Caesar was bom 100 B.C., and died 19 B.C. At the time 
 of Vergil's birth he had not attained to great eminence. But Dante 
 probably expresses the common mediaeval belief that Julius Caesar 
 was the first Roman Emperor. The Latin phrase, used because 
 it marks a date of Roman history, is too formal and stately to mean 
 
NOTES 189 
 
 merely ''in the time of Julius." "Though late" can hardly mean 
 that Vergil was bom late in the life of Caesar, for he was bom 
 twenty-six years before Caesar's death: but probably that he was 
 bom too late for literary eminence during Caesar's life. 
 
 76. Vergil. Next to Dante himself, Vergil plays the most promi- 
 nent part in the Commedia. In the present passage he says that 
 his parents were of Mantua; and in Inf. ii, 58, Beatrice addresses 
 him as "Mantuan soul." The familiar inscription said to have 
 been placed upon his tomb, begins "Mantua me genuit" ("Mantua 
 gave me birth"): and in Inf. xx, the appearance of the shade 
 of Manto, the Theban prophetess, calls out from Vergil the graphic 
 account of the origin of the city of Mantua, in order that Dante 
 may be able to correct false reports which he intimates have been 
 circulated on this subject. He speaks of it with affection as his 
 city, and says, "I was born there." Comp. also Purg. vi, 74. 
 
 As a fact, however, Vergil's birthplace was Andes or Pietola, 
 three miles southeast of Mantua. Dante mentions Pietola in 
 Purg. xviii, 88-89, declaring that it is more renowned in being 
 Vergil's native place than Mantua itself. 
 
 As the principal poet of the Roman Empire, which was to Dante 
 a divine institution, Dante regarded Vergil's writings as inspired, 
 though in a lower sense than the Scriptures. In De Mon. ii, 3, 
 he is quoted along with Scripture as "our divine poet"; in Conv. 
 iv. 4, 4, he is quoted as "speaking in the power of God." Comp. 
 also Inf. X, 4, and Purg. xxii, 68-77, where Statins declares that 
 next to God, Vergil enlightened him concerning the true faith. 
 His poetic genius made him Dante's literary master and model. 
 This appears not only from the numerous quotations, but from 
 the multitude of instances in which the matter of the Commedia 
 is drawn from the Aeneid or shaped by it. If Dante was as familiar 
 with the Eclogues and Georgics as with that poem, he gives little 
 evidence of it; but thorough as was his acquaintance with the 
 Aeneid (see Inf. xx, 120-121), there are instances in which he seems 
 to have been dependent, not upon the poem itself, but upon the com- 
 mentary of Servius, a celebrated Latin grammarian of the fifth 
 century. 
 
 In the Commedia his name is adorned with over seventy epithets 
 or descriptions, laudatory or affectionate, such as "the most illus- 
 trious Poet," "the sweet Poet," "the illustrious Teacher," "my 
 good Guide, ' ' "my wise Master, " " my sweet Father, " " that noble 
 Sage who knew everything," "the Magnanimous," etc., etc. 
 
 In the Middle Ages the knowledge of the literary treasures 
 and authors of classical antiquity had become dim and confused: 
 and although Vergil was still recognized as the composer of the 
 Aeneid, he had come to be regarded as a sort of legendary charac- 
 ter, and to be known chiefly as a great magician. This was partly 
 owing to a vague popular remembrance of the story of Aeneas' s 
 descent into Hell, which forms the subject of the sixth book of the 
 Aeneid, and partly to the belief that his fourth Eclogue was a 
 heathen prophecy of the birth of Christ. 
 
 In the Commedia he is the symbol of human reason unenlightened 
 
\190 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 by divine grace. He initiates the process of Dante's conversion 
 Hby leading him through Hell and Purgatory, but is himself made 
 to declare that reason must give place to revelation. See Purg. 
 xviii, 50-52; xxi, 36-38; xxvii, 128-130. Accordingly, at the 
 summit of Purgatory, he hands Dante over to Beatrice, who repre- 
 sents revealed truth. 
 
 82. model. Dante defines the word autore as one who is worthy 
 of being believed and obeyed (Conv. iv, 6, 3). 
 
 97. the Greyhound. There is much difficulty about the ex- 
 planation of this word, and the matter is still unsettled. The best 
 authorities refer it to Can Grande della Scala. This seems to be 
 indicated by the word "Veltro" ("greyhound"), the prefix "can" 
 {cane, "hound"), and the mastiff on the Scaligers' coat-of-arms. 
 Can Grande was Can Francesco della Scala, the third son of Alberto 
 della Scala, lord of Verona. He was bom in 1290, and died in 
 1329. In 1311 he became sole lord of Verona, and subsequently 
 Imperial Vicar. He was a prominent figure in the struggles in 
 which were engaged Vicenza, Padua, Cremona, Parma, Reggio, 
 and Mantua. Dante refers to him in verj' laudatory terms in 
 Par. xvii, commending his warlike deeds, his indifference to money 
 and to toil, and his generosity. He dedicated the Paradiso to him. 
 He is also supposed to be referred to in the mystical number DXV 
 in Purg. xxxiii. His tomb is still to be seen at Verona among the 
 well-known "tombs of the Scaligers." Whoever the personage 
 may have been, Dante appears to see in him the coming ruler and 
 social reformer of Italy. Can Grande was a Ghibelline, a supporter 
 of the Imperial cause so dear to Dante. At the same time, as Mr. 
 Tozer justly remarks, "the function assigned in this passage to the 
 Veltro is of too wide influence to be restricted to any local 
 potentate." 
 
 100. Feltro and Feltro. If the reference is to Can Grande, the 
 two points are Feltro in Venetia, and Montefeltro in Romagna, 
 thus indicating generally the countrj' in which Verona is situated, 
 and which was the scene of most of Can Grande's efforts in the 
 Imperial cause. 
 
 101. low-lying Italy. According to some, "low-lying" is used 
 ironically for "haughty." Others explain "abject, down-trod- 
 den." The phrase is doubtless a reminiscence of Aen. iii, 522, 
 and the primary sense is geographical, although there is probably 
 an underlying hint of the depressed condition of Italy in the thir- 
 teenth century. 
 
 103. Camilla. The daughter of King Metabus, who assisted 
 Tumus the king of the Rutulians, against Aeneas, and was slain 
 by Aruns. See Aen. xi, 535 ff. She appears in Limbo, Inf. iv, 121. 
 
 104, Nisus and Euryalus. Two Trojan youths who accom- 
 panied Aeneas to Italy, and perished in a night attack on the Ru- 
 tulian camp. See the story in Aen. ix, 179-449. 
 
 107. Envy. The en\y of the De^^l caused the fall of man, and 
 brought therewith into the world the sin of covetousness symbolized 
 by the she-wolf. 
 
 113. crying out upon the second death. The second death is the 
 
NOTES 191 
 
 state of the damned after time is no more. See Rev. xx, 14 ; xxi, 8. 
 It is being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and therefore 
 cannot mean total annihilation, as some hold If the verb "gridare" 
 which occurs eighty times in the Commedia, means here "to in- 
 voke," or "to cry out with desire," it is the only instance of that 
 meaning; and why should the damned invoke a worse condition? 
 The meaning is rather "to cry out upon," to protest angrily against 
 the fate in store. 
 
 115. content. The souls in Purgatory, who cheerfully endure 
 the pains which prepare them for heavenly bliss. 
 
 119. A spirit worthier. Beatrice. 
 
 129. this ill and worse. The gloomy forest and the ills which 
 would result from my entanglement in it. 
 
 131. Saint Peter's gate. The entrance to Purgatory, the keys 
 of which are intrusted by Peter to its angelic guardian. 
 
 CANTO II 
 
 1. dusky. Lit., "black"; but here in the general sense of "ob- 
 scure. ' ' 
 
 2. releasing. Reminding one of Homer's word for "eventide": 
 "the time of unyoking cattle." II. xvi, 779; Od. ix, 58. 
 
 all, all alone. Without human companionship, for Vergil was 
 a spirit. 
 
 4. the stress. Explained by the following words: The struggle 
 with the difficulties of the road, and the distress at beholding the 
 torments of the damned. 
 
 7. Muses. In the Ep. to Can Grande § 18, Dante says that rhet- 
 oricians begin their works with an exordium ; but poets add an 
 invocation, because they require a certain divine gift from super- 
 natural intelligences. The Muses are invoked also in Purg. i, 8, 
 and in Par i, 13. The invocation in the Inferno appears in the 
 second Canto, because the first is a general introduction to the 
 whole poem. This explains why there are thirty-four Cantos in 
 the Inferno, and only thirty-three in each of the other parts. 
 
 13. Silvius. The son of Aeneas by Lavinia, the daughter of 
 Latinus, king of Latium. He was bom after his father's death. 
 Aen. vi, 763-766. 
 
 14. went to the world immortal. Referring to Vergil's account 
 of Aeneas's journey through the lower world, in Aen. vi. 
 
 15. 16. If gracious— the Adversary of all evil. The general sense 
 is : If God was so gracious as to allow Aeneas to make this journey, 
 considering that the Roman Empire was to proceed from his settle- 
 ment in Italy, i' seems wholly befitting. 
 
 23. the holy ^ .u.ce. Rome was divinely ordained to be the seat 
 not only of the Empire but of the Church. 
 
 25. things which the cause, etc. Things relating to the future 
 destiny of Rome, communicated to him by Anchises. Aen. vi, 
 765-893. 
 
192 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 26. his triumph. His conquest of Italy, which led to the founda^- 
 tion of Rome, the seat of the Papacy. Here, as everj^ where, Dante 
 asserts the joint supremacy of the Church and the Empire. 
 
 29. the 'chosen vessel.' St. Paul. See Acts ix, 15; 2 Cor. 
 xii, 2 fif. " Thither" does not necessarily signify that Paul visited 
 Hell, although that was a common mediaeval belief. Hence the 
 legend of "the Vision of St. Paul." " Thither " probably means 
 simply the eternal worid. Aeneas visited not only Tartarus but 
 the Elysian Fields. 
 
 45. the high-minded one. In contrast with Dante's cowardice. 
 
 53. suspended. In Limbo, in a state between torment and bliss. 
 See Inf. iv. 
 
 56. the star. Not any special star, nor the sim, but used generic- 
 ally or abstractly. Practically equivalent to "the stars." 
 
 60. so long as motion lasts. The text of the passage is much 
 disputed, many reading mondo, "the world," for moto, "motion." 
 According to the former reading the meaning would be: "As 
 long as the world shall last." According to the latter: "As long 
 as its motion passes on into the boundless future." In Conv. 
 i, 3, 2, Dante quotes Vergil: "Fame flourishes by activity, and 
 acquires greatness by going onward." It is not improbable that 
 the words here put into Beatrice's mouth were suggested by the 
 Vergilian passage. 
 
 71. Beatrice. Dante, Vergil, and Beatrice are the three princi- 
 ^al figuresTn^the Commedia. Beatrice inspired its composition. 
 She is the lost love of Dante's youth ; she leaves her seat in Heaven 
 and descends to Hell to rescue him from moral ruin ; the prospect 
 of seeing her stimulates and sustains him in the weary ascent of 
 Purgatory. She is his severe mentor in the Earthly Paradise, 
 and his companion and guide through Heaven. The questions 
 concerning her identity, her symbolism, her very existence, have 
 
 Eroduced a literature. She is the theme of perhaps the most 
 eautiful love-story in all literature, which is related in the Vita 
 Nuova, the earliest of Dante's writings, composed in 1290 or 1291. 
 She was the daughter of Folco Portinari, a Florentine noble, and 
 was only a few months younger than Dante, who saw her for the 
 first time in her ninth year. Nine years later he saw her again, 
 and received her salutation. They had no intercourse bej^ond this. 
 She married a wealthy banker of Florence, Simone de Bardi, and 
 died in 1290, in her twenty-fifth year. She was the inspiration 
 of Dante's earliest poetical efiforts, and the Commedia was her 
 apotheosis. There are three leading theories of her personality 
 and her allegorical significance. According to the first, Dante's 
 Beatrice is the historical Beatrice Portinari, transfigured by the 
 poet's imagination. A modification of this view is that although 
 she was a real person, named Beatrice and beloved by the poet, 
 she was not Beatrice Portinari. The second theory is that Beatrice 
 is merely a name attached by Dante to an ideal conception of 
 womanhood, and unrelated to any li\'ing being. The third theory 
 is that Beatrice is only an arbitrary symbol of some fact or truth, 
 the fact or truth being the only reality. This theory assumes 
 
NOTES 193 
 
 different forms according to the different conceptions of the thing 
 symboUzed. 
 
 Of these theories I accept the first, which may include features 
 of the two others: for instance, that Beatrice was Dante's ideal 
 of womanhood, and that she was transfigured in the Commedia 
 into a sacred symbol of divine truth. But I hold that she was a 
 real personage, the Beatrice of the Vita Nuova, the object of Dante's 
 youthful passion, snatched away by an early death, and mourned 
 by him during the rest of his life. 
 
 The literature of the subject is voluminous. Among the most 
 notable discussions is that of Scartazzini, who, however, abandoned 
 in part his original positions. He began by asserting the historical 
 reality of Beatrice and her identity with Beatrice Portinari, and 
 that she was literally the object of Dante's passion. He drifted 
 more and more toward the ideal theory, holding that the object 
 of Dante's affection was primarily an ideal, and finally that, who- 
 ever Beatrice may have been, she became to Dante little more 
 than a pure symbol, representing the ideal Papacy. Gietmann, 
 1889, holds that the story of the Vita Nuova is a dream, attached 
 to the poet's life by his biographers and interpreters. The subject 
 is also treated by Kraus in his ''Dante," especially in relation 
 to the Vita Nuova and the allegorical significance of Beatrice. 
 According to him Beatrice is an imaginary name, and the visions 
 of the Vita Nuova are poetic fictions. Among the very latest 
 and best summaries and discussions of the whole question is that 
 of Dr. Edward Moore, of Oxford, in the second series of his "Studies 
 in Dante," 1899. 
 
 76. Lady of virtue. Virtu is habitually used by Dante for 
 "power." 
 
 77. surpasses all, etc. Only by the knowledge of divine truth i 
 can the thoughts of man rise above the earthly sphere. .V 
 
 78. smallest orb. The heaven of the Moon, which Is next to the 
 earth, and may be said to contain it. 
 
 86. the vast region. The Empyrean. Comp. Purg. xxvi, 66. 
 
 94. your misery. The longing without hope which characterizes 
 Limbo. 
 
 95. flame. Referring to the Inferno at large, since there is no 
 burning in Limbo. 
 
 96. a noble lady. Of heavenly lineage. -The Virgin Mary is 
 meant. She is the symbol of the free grace which precedes the good 
 efforts of men, or, as it is called by theologians, "prevenient grace." 
 So in St. Bernard's noble hynm to the Virgin, Par. xxxiii, 1 ff.: 
 
 " Not only him who asks 
 Thy bounty succors, but doth oft forerun. 
 Freely, the asking." 
 
 97. hindrance. Which Dante has encountered in trying to 
 climb the mount of virtue. 
 
 98. 99. judgment — she breaks. Mitigates the strictness of divine 
 justice in Dante's case. 
 
 99. Lucia. Usually supposed to be a Christian virgin of Syra- 
 
194 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 cuse in the time of Diocletian (A.D. 284-305). She persuaded 
 her mother to give all her wealth to the poor, as a thank-ofifering 
 for a miraculous cure of disease. For this she was denounced 
 to the Roman Prefect, and was condemned to suffer cruel indigni- 
 ties. All tortures proved powerless, and she was finall}' slain 
 with the sword. This is the oldest legend, to which was added later 
 the stor\^ that she plucked out her eyes lest they should tempt her 
 lover, and that they were miraculously restored. She was the 
 special patroness of sufferers from diseased eyes, and offerings 
 of silver eyes are stiU to be seen in some of her churches. In de- 
 votional pictures she is represented as bearing her ej'es in a dish, 
 and carr\-ing in her hand the awl with which they were destroj'ed. 
 In other pictures she bears a flaming lamp. In the Commedia, she 
 is the symbol of iUumiriating grace. In Purgator}% she conveys 
 Dante iri his sleep from the Valley of the Kings to the gate of Purga- 
 tory- proper. See Purg. ix, 51-63. A few interpreters hold that 
 by Lucia was meant St. Lucy of Florence, a nun, afterward canon- 
 ized, the sister of Cardinal Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, referred to 
 m Inf. X, 122. 
 
 101. thy faithful one. This may imply that Lucia.:was Dante's 
 patron saint. In Conv. iii, 9, 6, he says thafKeTiad wearied his 
 e^-es with too much reading, so that all the stars appeared obscured 
 with a mist. 
 
 105. Rachel. Daughter of Laban, and wife of Jacob the Patri- 
 arch. Gen. xxix. She is aUuded to in Inf. iv, 59, and appears 
 in Dante's vision in Purgatory. Purg. xxvii, 98-103. She is 
 pointed out to him in the Empyrean, with Beatrice sitting at her 
 right. Par. xxxii, 7-9. Shells the symbol pf Contemplation. 
 
 106. God's true praiseT'^^Many said when she passed: 'She is 
 a marvel. Blessed be the Lord who can work thus admirably.' " 
 V. N. xx^'i. 
 
 108. forsook the vulgar throng. Referring to Dante's with- 
 drawal to a Ufe of study, that he might worthily celebrate Beatrice. 
 V. N. xliii. 
 
 111. the stream. The life of the world, which is more tempestuous 
 than the sea. 
 
 123. the short road. The direct route to the HiU of Virtue. 
 Vergil led Dante by the longer way through Hell and Purgatory. 
 Comp. Inf. i, 88-89, 110 ff. 
 
 125. invite. Why dost thou in^ite such cowardice? Others, 
 however, assuming a different derivation of the verb, translate: 
 "\Miv dost thou make a bed for," or "harbor cowardice in thy 
 heart?" 
 
 131. whitens. Illumines. 
 
NOTES 195 
 
 CANTO III 
 
 Before entering upon the succession of punishments introduced 
 by this canto, the reader should understand the principle which 
 underlies all the details of Dante's scheme of retribution. The 
 conception of the various punishments as mere arbitrary and 
 brutal forms of vengeance must be summarily dismissed. The 
 punishments are not remote effects of the sins. Dante abolishes 
 "the interval between the sin and its consequences. He foreshortens, 
 and puts the sin and its punishment together before us, as parts 
 of an organic whole. The punishment is enfolded in the sin — is an 
 integral part of it. He who is under the dominion of any sin, is 
 already in the atmosphere of its punishment. In the present life 
 men do not realize this. It is brought to light in Dante's Hell. 
 The several punishments are not arbitrary, but have a direct and 
 definite relation to the inward moral condition of the transgressor, 
 and are appropriate expressions of that condition. Anger, for 
 instance, envelops the soul in a foul and suffocating medium, which 
 distorts the vision and prevents any proper apprehension of truth. 
 Accordingly, the angry are plunged in a muddy lagoon (Inf. vii, 
 109-126); the violently angry on the surface, and the sullenly angry 
 in the mud at the bottom. Victims of lascivious passion are driven 
 headlong by their depraved impulses. In Hell their souls are 
 at the mercy of an eternal hurricane (Inf. v, 32-45). Evil coun- 
 sellors, who kindle flames of discord in the world, are wrapped 
 in tongues of fire (Inf, xxvi, 28-51). 
 
 There should also be noted here Dante's personal attitude toward 
 the sins and their victims. In a few instances he exhibits leniency 
 and compassion; but, as a rule, he is indignant, contemptuous, 
 reproachful, and insulting. With the brutal denunciation of the 
 imprecatory Psalmist, he mingles the sneering sarcasm of a Meph- 
 istopheles. He invents the most revolting and humiliating 
 modes of torture. He revels in these. He even applies his own 
 hands to aggravate them. He compasses them with vile lan- 
 guage and obscene gestures. He taunts the sufferers with sneers, 
 and describes their punishments with contemptuous images. (See 
 Inf. xvii, 47-50, 53-56 ; xxi, 55-57 ; xviii, 53 ; viii, 39-50 ; xix, 
 94-118 ; xxi, xxii). This is not always nor often the result of 
 personal enmity toward the offenders: it is rather the attitude 
 of an Old Testament prophet: **Do not I hate them that hate 
 thee? I hate them with perfect hatred." 
 
 6. love original. Dante is not accentuating the idea that Hell 
 is the creation of love ; he is describing it as the creation of the 
 triune God. According to Thomas Aquinas, power is the at- 
 tribute of the Father, wisdom of the Son, and love of the Holy 
 Spirit. Aquinas also says that punishment is love if it is just. 
 
 7. no created things. See Introduction on Dante's Hell. 
 
 12. grievous. Not "hard to understand," but "painful, men- 
 acing. ' ' 
 
196 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 18. the good of understanding. The good of understanding 
 is the highest good, viz., the contemplation of God and the vision 
 of absolute truth and goodness, CJonv. ii, 14, 5. 
 
 22. resounded sighs, etc. Nothing can be more fearful than this 
 babel of sounds. The ear is appeal^ to before the eye. Dante is 
 keenly sensitive to impressions of sound. I am indebted to my 
 friend, the late Dr. Charlton T. Lewis, for calling my attention 
 to the wide difference between poets as regards the relative promi- 
 nence assigned by the imagination to the appeals made to sight 
 and to hearing. He says that Dante, Vergil, MUton, and Tennyson 
 are by far the most inclined to appeal to the imaginative ear, while 
 the majority of poets rarely do so, and only imder the stress of their 
 subject or of special occasions. The passage is an echo of Aen. 
 vi, 557-561. 
 
 24, 25. strange languages— tongues horrible. — Unfamiliar lan- 
 guages and dialects of fearful sound. 
 
 26. soimd of hands. Smiting together, or beating breasts and 
 faces. 
 
 30. with horror. The majority of textual authorities read 
 d' error, "with error;" but the passage is a manifest imitation of 
 Aen. ii, 559: "cruel horror encompassed me." 
 
 35. devoid of infamy and praise. Probably suggested by Rev. 
 iii, 15, 16. 
 
 36. that evil band. Notice the intense personal feeling. A 
 strong partisan like Dante would be peculiarly intolerant of neutrals 
 — "outsiders, who never lived because they never felt the pangs 
 or ecstasies of partisanship." (J. A. Symonds.) 
 
 37. of angels. This type of angels is of Dante's own invention. 
 41. would have somewhat to boast of them. Because they would 
 
 see these less flagrant sinners condemned in common with high- 
 handed transgressors. 
 
 45. death. Annihilation. See Rev. ix, 6. 
 
 bund Ufe. Ignoble ; not guided by reason or virtue. 
 
 46, 47. envious of every other lot. They prefer any pimishment 
 to their own. 
 
 49. Mercy and Justice spiun them. Dr. Moore cites a happy 
 parallel from Scott's "Rob Roy." "Ower bad for blessing and 
 ower good for banning." 
 
 51. a banner. The sin is cowardly and lazy indifference to moral 
 attitude. Insensible to the spur of positive conviction or of gen- 
 erous loj'alty, they are stung by unreasoning and venomous insects. 
 Too indolent or too cowardly to move in any definite direction, 
 they are forced to keep moving aimlessly round and round. Too 
 indifferent to attach themselves to any standard, they are forced 
 to follow a flag which bears no device. Without moral individuality, 
 the}' revolve after the flag in an indiscriminate herd. 
 
 58. the great refusal. This is usually referred to Pope Celestine 
 V, elected in 1294. He was eighty years old, and was living the 
 life of a hermit in the Abruzzi. He became wear>' of his honors, and 
 abdicated before the end of his first year, through the contrivance, 
 as was currently believed, of Benedetto Gaetani, who succeeded 
 
NOTES 197 
 
 him as Boniface VIII. (See Inf. xix, 56.) Boniface committed 
 him to prison, where he died in 1296. To Dante, with his views 
 of the Church and of the sacredness of the papal office, Celestine's 
 abdication was an act of treachery to mankind. Authorities, 
 however, are not unanimous as to the reference to Celestine. Some 
 think it is Esau, who sold his birthright; others the Emperor Dio- 
 cletian who abdicated his throne in his old age; others again Vieri 
 de' Cerchi, the feeble leader of the "White" party in Florence. It 
 is not possible to settle the matter decisively. Dante evidently 
 intended the shade to remain unknown. ' If Dante had Celestine 
 in mind, it will be noticed that he puts him into Hell although he 
 was canonized in 1313; but the decree of canonization was not 
 issued until seven years after Dante's death. 
 
 67. a crowd upon the bank. The following description is drawn 
 mainly from Aen. vi, 295 ff. 
 
 71. So ready. Comp. Aen. vi, 313-314, and see 11. 124-125. 
 
 86. by other ports. The port for the crossing to Purgatory, at 
 the mouth of the Tiber. Purg. ii, 99-101. Charon means that 
 Dante's proper route was by way of Purgatory, since he was not a 
 condemned soul. 
 
 104. tries to sit. This is often translated "lags behind," or 
 "delays." But the spirits are said (1. 71) to be eager to cross, 
 and Charon appears to have remained in the boat. The word may 
 mean "to sit down," "to rest one's self;" and Mr. Vernon says 
 that the expression is quite common in Tuscany. The spirits 
 were weary (1. 95), and were trying to sit down at ease or to lounge 
 in the boat. 
 
 106. detach themselves. Lit., "lift themselves." Very beauti- 
 fully describing the leaves as they detach themselves, one by one, 
 from the branches. Ruskin says: "When Dante describes 
 the spirits falling from the bank of Acheron as dead leaves from 
 a bough, he gives the most perfect image possible of their utter 
 lightness, feebleness, passiveness, and scattering agony of despair." 
 Comp. Aen. vi, 309. 
 
 107. sees — upon the ground. The correct reading here is vede, 
 "sees," not rende, "yields up." The image is beautiful of the 
 stripped branch looking down upon its leaves scattered on the 
 ground. 
 
 120. complain of thee. Charon is annoyed at the admission 
 into Hell of an uncondemned soul. Therefore his complaint at 
 Dante's presence imports that Dante is a " good soul." 
 
 124. the tearful land. Generally, the land of woe and tears, x 
 Others : * ' bathed with the tears of the damned. ' ' 
 
 125. flashed. The expression is novel: "the wind flashed forth 
 a crimson light." Dickens, in "Our Mutual Friend," writes: 
 "The light snowfall was falling white, while the wind blew black.'' 
 
 127. I fell. Dante does not cross the stream in Charon's boat, 
 but is mysteriously transported to Limbo during his swoon. 
 
198 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 CANTO IV 
 
 1. Thunder. The collected sound of the lamentations of Hell. 
 See 1. 8. 
 
 12. world obscure. Lit., "blind world." The world of those 
 deprived of the light of God and of reason. 
 
 20. the pity. Or "distress." But Comp. Inf. xx, 29-31, where 
 Vergil exhibits a quite different feeling. 
 
 -^ 23. the first circle. Here dwell the virtuous heathen and the 
 unbaptized infants. This is the logical outcome of Dante's view 
 that outside of the Church is no salvation. He says (De Mon. ii, 
 8, 28): "No one, however perfect he may be in moral and in- 
 tellectual virtues, both in habit and in action, can be saved without 
 0a ith, it being supposed that he never heard of Christ. Comp. 
 l*ar. xix, 70-84, xxxii, 76-84. The innocence of infants and the 
 virtue of good Pagans are recognized only by exemption from 
 physical torment. The only suffering is that of eternal and hope- 
 less longing. This is strictly according to Aquinas, who declares 
 that in Limbo there is no pain of sense, but only the pain of loss. 
 Vergil himself is a tenant of this circle (1. 38, and Purg. vii, 22-38). 
 It was beheved that the Patriarchs were formerly there, but that 
 they were released at the time of Christ's descent into Hades. 
 Hence the Schoolmen divided Limbo into the Limbo of the Fathers 
 and the Limbo of Infants. Dante is not uniformly strict or con- 
 sistent in his application of this doctrine, as appears in the cases 
 of Cato of Utica (Purg. i), Trajan (Purg. x), and Rhipeus (Par. 
 xx), which wiU be considered in their places. 
 
 25. sighs. Comp. Purg. vii, 32. 
 
 41. great grief. Dante is profoundly moved by this condition. 
 See especially the touching passage, Purg. iii, 35 ff. Sir Thomas 
 Browne remarks : " It is hard to place those souls in Hell whose 
 worthy lives do teach us virtue on earth ; methinks among those 
 many subdivisions of HeU there might have been one Limbo left 
 for these" (" Religio Medici," liv). 
 
 53. a mighty one. The name of Christ is not uttered in Hell. 
 
 64. the wood. The throng of spirits. 
 
 66. from where I slumbered. The entrance to the first circle, 
 where he awoke from his swoon (see 1. 1). The correct reading 
 is sonno, * ' slumber, ' * not sommo, * ' summit. ' ' 
 
 67, 68. a hemisphere of darkness. The hemisphere is the half 
 of the dark circle in which they were, the darkness of which the 
 light overpowered. 
 
 71. who dost adorn. Or "honorest." Variations are sovmded 
 on the word orior in the succeeding lines. 
 
 80. was departed. On his mission to rescue Dante. 
 
 86. Homer. With a sword, as the poet of the Iliad, the war- 
 like epic. Dante knew little or no Greek, and there were no Latin 
 translations of Homer, so that his acquaintance with the bard 
 was through the citations of Aristotle, and, in one case, through 
 
NOTES 199 
 
 Horace's translation of the opening lines of the Odyssey in his 
 ' 'Art of Poetry. ' ' (See Conv. iv, 20, 2 ; De Mon. iii, 6 ; V. N. xxv.) 
 
 87. Horace, moralist. Horace, B.C. 65-68. ''Moralist," not 
 "Satirist," since Dante shows no acquaintance with Horace's 
 Satires, and, indeed, does not seem to have known much more of 
 his writings than the ' ' De Arte Poetica. ' ' 
 
 88. Ovid. B.C. 43. A.D. 17. Dante was well acquainted with his 
 ''Metamorphoses," which are his principal mythological authority. 
 
 Lucan. A Roman poet, A.D. 39-65. Known by his "Phar- 
 salia," an epic in ten books on the civil war between Pompey 
 and Caesar. Dante draws from him many historical and some 
 mythological allusions, and appears to have studied him almost 
 as carefully as he had studied Vergil. Statins, who was also one 
 of Dante's favorites, first appears in the Purgatorio. Of these 
 poets Vergil is quoted, referred to, or imitated in the Commedia about 
 two hundred times, Ovid about one hundred, Lucan fifty, and 
 Statins thirty or forty. 
 
 91. those lords of loftiest song. The five poets. Some read 
 "that lord," referring to Homer; but neither Horace nor Ovid 
 could be classed in the school of Homer. 
 
 99. was the sixth Dante is not modest in asserting his own 
 merits as a poet. Comp. Inf. i, 83-84. 
 
 103. a grand castle. A symbol of human science. The seven i 
 walls represent the seven virtues: Prudence, Justice, Courage, / 
 Temperance, Knowledge, Intelligence, and Wisdom. The river/ 
 is Eloquence, by which the seven virtues are lauded and appeal to I 
 men. The seven gates are the seven sciences. ' 
 
 107. a mead. From Vergil, Aen. vi, 638 £f. 
 
 109. deliberate and grave. Comp. the description of Sordello, 
 Purg. vi, 65. 
 
 115. Enamel. Strictly, glass fused with protoxide of cobalt, 
 and used for ornamenting porcelain and earthenware, being spread 
 on while moist, and afterward hardened by fire. Ruskin thinks 
 that in applying this term to the grass of the Inferno, Dante means 
 to mark "that it is laid as a tempering and cooling substance 
 over the dark, inelastic, gloomy ground, yet so hardened by fire 
 that it is not any more fresh or living grass, but a smooth, silent, 
 lifeless bed of eternal green." In 1. 107-108, however, he speaks of 
 a meadow of "fresh verdure." The simile must not be pressed. 
 Dante evidently means to describe a smooth, green surface; and as 
 the place was "luminous," the light may have imparted to it a 
 metallic glister. See also Purg. viii, 116, where the word smalto 
 "enamel," can apply only to the green, flowery meadow at the 
 summit of Purgatory. 
 
 118. Electra. Not the heroine of Sophocles and Euripides, the 
 sister of Orestes, but the mother of Dardanus the founder of Troy. 
 See, Aen. viii, 134 ff. and comp. De Mon. ii, 3. 
 •121. CamiUa. See Inf. i, 104, note. 
 
 Penthesilea. Queen of the Amazons, who came to the assistance 
 of the Trojans after the death of Hector, and was slain by Achilles. 
 See Aen. i, 490-493. 
 
200 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 123. Latinus. King of Latium, and father of Lavinia, whom 
 he bestowed on Aeneas, although she had been promised to 
 Tumus. 
 
 124. Brutus. Lucius Junius, nephew of Tarquinius Superbus, 
 After the outrage upon Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius, he xoused 
 the Romans to expel the Tarquins. 
 
 125. Lucretia. Wife of CoUatinus and victim of Sextus Tar- 
 quinius. She stabbed herself to expiate her dishonor. 
 
 Julia. Daughter of Julius Caesar and wife of Pompey. 
 
 Marcia. Wife of Cato of Utica. See Purg. i, 82 ff. 
 
 Cornelia. Daughter of Scipio Africanus Major, and wife of 
 Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. The mother of the Gracchi, Ti- 
 berius and Caius. On the death of her sons she declared that she 
 who had borne them could never deem herself unhappy. 
 
 126. Saladin. He stands alone, apart, because he is of a remote 
 race and country. See a similar instance, Inf. xii, 121. 
 
 128. Master of those who know. Aristotle. He was the oracle 
 of the Middle Ages, and his writings, through the agency of the 
 Schoolmen, were almost aU that saved Europe from utter barbarism. 
 The Arabians, about 813 A.D., began to translate his works, which 
 were brought by the Saracens to the knowledge of Western Europe 
 through the medium of Latin translations from the Arabic. He 
 passed into the thought and writings of the Schoolmen of the 
 thirteenth century, during which the scholastic theology reached 
 its highest development. Albertus Magnus, Bonaventura and 
 Aquinas were imbued with his philosophy, and his philosophical 
 system, as modified by them, lies at the basis of the Catholic theology 
 of to-day. It was not until the Renaissance restored to Europe the 
 knowledge of Plato, that the popularity of Aristotle declined. 
 For Dante, Aristotle is the master and philosopher. He calls 
 him "the master of human reason;" ** the master of our life;" 
 "the master of the wise." His knowledge of his writings was 
 extensive and thorough. He was acquainted, and often intimately, 
 with most of his works, although he had access to them only through 
 Latin translations. In everj"^ department of Dante's large knowl- 
 edge, the foundations are laid upon Aristotle. From Aristotle 
 comes his whole system of Physics, Physiolog>', and Meteorology. 
 
 131. Plato. Dante had a very limited knowledge of Plato, 
 confined mainly to one dialogue — the "Timaeus," which was trans- 
 lated into Latin in the fifth century. Until the end of the twelfth 
 century, aU knowledge of Plato was limited to this one work. 
 
 133. Democritus. A Greek philosopher, B.C. 460-361. The 
 originator of the atomic theory of creation, that the world was 
 formed by a fortuitous aggregation of atoms. Dante alludes to 
 his slovenly personal habits: Conv. iii, 14, 3. 
 
 134. Diogenes. The CjTiic philosopher, B.C. 412-323. He dis- 
 tinguished himself by his contempt of riches and honors, exercising 
 the most rigid abstinence and wearing the coarsest and cheapest 
 clothes. The story of his liviag in a tub has little foundation. 
 
 Anazagoras. 500 B.C. One of the earliest of the Greek philoso- 
 phers. He made the first real advance toward the recognition 
 
NOTES 201 
 
 of a spiritual principle or reason as the evolver of an orderly world 
 out of chaos. 
 
 135. Thales. An Ionic philosopher of Miletus, B.C. 636. One 
 of the founders of the systematic study of mathematics and phi- 
 losophy in Greece. He held that water was the elemental prin- 
 ciple of aU things. 
 
 Zeno. Founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, about the 
 end of the fourth century B.C. His pupils were called Stoics be- 
 cause they assembled in the Painted Porch (stoa) of Polygnotus. 
 
 Empedocles. A philosopher of Sicily, B.C. 450. He was said 
 to have thrown himself into the crater of Aetna, in order that, 
 by his disappearance, he might be taken for a god. 
 
 136. Heraclitus. A Greek philosopher of Ephesus, B.C. 510. 
 He held that fire was the primary form of all matter. 
 
 137. gatherer of qualities. Dioscorides of Cilicia, a Greek phy- 
 sician of the first century A.D. He collected information on the 
 medicinal qualities of plants, and wrote a work on that subject. 
 
 138. Orpheus. A mythical poet of Greece who was said to move 
 rocks and trees by the music of his lyre. He accompanied the 
 Argonauts on their voyage in quest of the golden fleece. The 
 story of his descent to Hell to recover his dead wife, Eurydice, is 
 familiar. 
 
 TuUy. Marcus Tullius Cicero. Dante frequently quotes or 
 derives his matter from him. He shows little or no familiarity 
 with Cicero's Orations, and draws mostly on three treatises, the 
 "De Officiis," the "De Senectute," and the *'De Amicitia." 
 The passages used are found mostly in Dante's prose works. 
 
 Seneca. Dante shared the mediaeval error that Seneca the 
 moralist and Seneca the writer of tragedies were different persons. 
 He adds the epithet "moral" in order to designate Lucius An- 
 nacus Seneca (B.C. 4-A,D. 65), who was Aero's tutor, and who 
 committed suicide by that Emperor's command. He was the 
 author of numerous philosophical works, and of tragedies, nine of 
 which are extant. 
 
 139. Linus. A mythical Greek poet, a son of Apollo by a Muse. 
 Euclid. A Greek mathematician of Alexandria, B.C. 300. 
 
 140. Galen. A celebrated physician of Asia, A.D. 130-200. 
 He acquired great renown at Rome as physician to several of the 
 Emperors. He left many works on medical and philosophical 
 subjects. 
 
 Ptolemy. See Introduction under "Dante's Cosmogony." 
 Hippocrates. Of Cos, B.C. 460. The Father of Medicine. 
 
 141. Avicenna. An Arabian philosopher and physician of 
 Ispahan, A.D. 980-1037. He wrote commentaries on Aristotle, 
 and condensed, arranged, and commented upon the writings of 
 Galen. 
 
 Averroes. A distinguished Arabian scholar of the twelfth cen- 
 tury, and the most eminent commentator on Aristotle. He was 
 both a physician and a lawyer. 
 
 148. that trembles. With the blowing of the hurricane in the 
 next circle. 
 
202 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 CANTO V 
 
 This is the first circle of the Incontinent. 
 
 4. Minos. Son of Zeus and Europa, and king of Crete. His 
 brother was Rhadamanthus. The two brothers were appointed 
 judges in the lower world, along with Aeacus, the son of Zeus and 
 Aegina. Aeacus does not appear in the Aeneid, Minos is described 
 in Aen. vi, 431-433, and Rhadamanthus in Aen. xi, 566-572. Neither 
 Aeacus nor Rhadamanthus appear in the Commedia. Dante's 
 ^linos combines Vergil's accounts of Minos and Rhadamanthus. 
 v/From the description of Minos Dante takes the position at tlie en- 
 trance and the function of judgment. From that of Rhadamanthus 
 the enforced confession and the sup)erS'ision of the punishment. 
 ^The anomalous tail of Minos is an invention of Dante, and Dante 
 has substituted a si:iarling fiend for the calm and dignified Minos 
 of Vergil. The change Is' due to the Christian opinion that the 
 Pagan deities were devils. See 1 Cor. x, 20. 
 
 17. inn. Ironical. A place of entertainment. 
 
 23. also. As Charon cried out at us. 
 
 29, 30. of every light deprived. Lit., "mute of all light." Comp. 
 note on Inf. i, 58. The darkness synnbolizes the blinding influ- 
 ence of carnal passion. 
 
 33. sweep. The furious motion or rush. The term is used of 
 the movement of the Primiun Mobile, in Conv. ii, 6, 7. 
 
 35. rush. Often explained as "the precipice," or descent 
 into the second circle from the point where Minos sits. Rather 
 it means "the stress" of the hurricane. Dante says : "When 
 they come within range of the blast." 
 
 36. they curse. Aquinas specifies hatred of God as one of the 
 effects of carnal lust. 
 
 37. I understood. Either hearing it from Vergil, or inferrii^ 
 it from the character of the punishment, 
 
 45. the cranes. Aen. x, 264-266 ; Hom. II. iii, 2-6. The simile 
 of the starlings illustrates the rushing movement; that of the 
 cranes, the cries of the spirits. Comp. Purg. xxiv, 66 ff. ; xxvi, 45 ff. 
 
 46. plaintive cry. The word lai is a Provencal term for a mourn- 
 ful song. Comp, Purg. ix, 13. The not€ of the crane is sonorous 
 and trumpet-like, owing to the peculiar formation of the trachea. 
 
 53. Empress. The entire passage, 53-60, is drawn from Orosius. 
 See Introduction under ' ' Dante's Cosmogony. ' ' 
 
 tongues. Races or nations, although Philalethes suggests an 
 allusion to the confusion of tongues at Babel, since Babylon was 
 a part of the Assyrian empire. Improbable and fanciful. 
 
 55, 56. lust she made legitimate. Mr. Toynbee aptly cites Chaucer, 
 "Monk's Tale," 366-367. 
 
 " His lustes were all awe in his decree." 
 
 57. Semiramis. Queen of Assyria, and wife and successor of 
 Ninus, the mythical founder of the empire of Nineveh, 
 
 58, we read. In Orosius, according to Dante's own statement, 
 De Mon. ii, 9. 
 
NOTES 203 
 
 60. the Sultan rules. In the geography of Dante's time Egypt 
 was included in Asia. Moreover, the name Babylon was given to 
 old Cairo, as well as to the city on the Euphrates. Dante either 
 confused the Babylon of Semiramis with that in Egypt, or thought 
 that the empire of Semiramis extended to Egypt, which is more 
 probable. 
 
 61. enamored slew herself. Dido, who destroyed herself when 
 abandoned by Aeneas. Aen. iv, 630-665. 
 
 62. broke faith. Comp. Aen. iv, 552. Becoming enamored 
 of Aeneas, she forgot her vow to remain faithful to the memory of 
 Sichaeus, her former husband. See Aen. i, 343 fif. As a suicide, 
 Dido would appear to belong to the seventh circle; but she is pun- 
 ished only for incontinence. In Vergil's Hell there is a place for 
 suicides (Aen. vi, 434-436), and also a place for ill-fated lovers (Aen. 
 vi, 450). Dante's more lenient treatment may be due in part 
 to Dido's association with the founder of the Roman Empire. 
 
 63. Cleopatra. Queen of Egypt, and mistress of Julius Caesar 
 and Mark Antony. She is mentioned again in Par. vi, 76-78. 
 
 Helen. The famous Helen of Troy, the wife of Menelaus, se- 
 duced by Paris, and the cause of the Trojan war. 
 
 64. so long a time. The ten years of the Trojan war. 
 
 65. Achilles. The principal hero of the Greeks in the Trojan war. 
 with love allied. According to the Homeric story Achilles was killed 
 
 before Troy. Dante follows the mediaeval account, that he was 
 treacherously slain in the temple of Apollo at Troy, to which he had 
 repaired to meet Polyxena who had been promised to him in mar- 
 riage if he would embrace the Trojan cause. Thus Achilles, though 
 ready to change sides in war, fought to the end on the side of love. 
 Dante found the story in Servius's Commentary on Vergil. See 
 note on Inf. i, 76. "In this pregnant sentence Dante sounded 
 the whole depth of the Iliad. . . . Two passions — heroic anger and 
 measureless love — in the breast of the chief actor are the motive 
 forces of the poem." — J. A. Symonds, "Greek Poets." 
 
 67. Paris. There is some question whether Dante refers to 
 Paris the son of Priam, or to the Paris of mediaeval romance. The 
 coupling of his name with that of Tristan might suggest the latter. 
 But it is not uncommon to find the name of Paris of Troy associated 
 with that of Tristan in the literature of the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries. The reference is clearly to Paris of Troy, the son of 
 Priam and the seducer of Helen. 
 
 Tristan. Of Lyonesse. The story of Tristan and Isolde or 
 Yseult is familiar, 
 
 80. Soon as the wind, etc. Note the consummate art with which 
 Dante, throughout the whole of the following interview, keeps the 
 reader continually conscious of the blowing of the wind. 
 
 84. doves. Drawn from Aen. vi, 213-217; comp. vi, 190-203. 
 Lowell says: "This simUe is perhaps the most exquisite in all 
 poetry." Shelley imitates it in "Prometheus Unbound." 
 
 " Come, as two doves to one beloved nest, 
 Twin nurslings of the all-sustaining air, 
 On swift, still wings glide down the atmosphere." 
 
204 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 longing. Afifection for their home and offspring. 
 
 85- by their own will. Without seeming to use any means 
 of propulsion. ''The comparison of the flight of the dove is used 
 for a very different purpose in Vergil. To it is likened a ship which, 
 having run upon a rock, is thrust off first into the troubled waters, 
 and then floats as smoothly over the op)en sea as the gliding flight 
 of the dove. Dante has gone beyond the superficial similarity 
 of the outward action, and has brought in all the beautiful and 
 tender feelings suggested by the homeward flight of the doves. . . . 
 One feels that, beautiful as the Vergilian passage is in its way, the 
 resemblance of the things compared in Dant€ is much fuller, deeper, 
 and more appropriate." — Dr. E. Moore, "Studies in Dante," i, 185. 
 
 90. black. Lit., ' ' perse. ' ' Dante says (Conv. iv, 20, 1) : " Perse 
 is a color composed of purple and black; but the black predom- 
 inates. ' ' 
 
 98. the town. Ravenna, on the Adriatic. It was originally 
 only a mile from the coast. Its suburb, Classis, was an important 
 harbor in the time of Augustus, being one of the two chief stations 
 of the Roman fleet. Classis was at that time a large town, but the 
 site is now a dreary marsh, and the only remaining relic is the 
 venerable church of S. ApoUinare in Classe of the sixth century, 
 where the floor is green with the slime of the marsh, and the water 
 sometimes fills the crypt under the high altar. Ravenna is now 
 five miles from the sea. It was the seat of the Emperors of the 
 West, and after the fall of the W^estem Empire was the capital of 
 Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths. Later it was the residence 
 of the Exarchs of the Byzantine Empire in Italy. It was Dante's 
 residence in his later life, and there he died and is buried. 
 
 99. I was bom. Francesca da Rimini the subject of this epi- 
 sode was the daughter of Guido Vecchio da Polenta, Lord of Ra- 
 venna (see Inf. xxvii, 42). About 1275 she married Gianciotto, 
 the second son of Malatesta da Verruchio, Lord of Rimini. She 
 fell in love with his younger brother, Paolo, and Gianciotto, having 
 surprised them in their intrigue, killed them both. 
 
 100. with his attendant streams. In all the upper part of its 
 course the Po receives a multitude of affluents — the T^sin, the Adda, 
 the Oglio, the Mincio, the Trebbia, the Bormida, and the Taro. 
 
 104. a mischief is to me. Because I still suffer the consequences 
 of it in Hell, and it has left a reproach attached to my name. 
 
 108. Caina. The round of the ninth circle where treachery 
 to relations is punished. 
 
 123. There is no greater pain, etc. "Fortune lays the plot of 
 our adversities in the foundation of our felicities, blessing us in the 
 first quadrate, to blast us more sharply in the last. . . . Affec- 
 tion smarts most in the most happy state. ' ' Sir Thomas Browne, 
 "Christian Morals." 
 
 " For of fortunes sharp adversitee 
 The worst kinde of infortune is this, 
 A man to have been in prosi>eritee, 
 And it remembren, whan it passed is." 
 
 Chaucer, " Troilus and Criseyde," B. iii, 1625 ff. 
 
NOTES 205 
 
 125. this thy teacher knows. Vergil, not Boethius; but it is 
 impossible to say what experience is referred to, 
 
 129. Launcelot. Launcelot of the Lake, the lover of Guinevere 
 at King Arthur's court. The romance was a favorite one in Dante's 
 time. The Arthurian tales had begun to supersede, in the twelfth 
 century, the previous legends of Charlemagne, as being better 
 suited to a more refined feudal civilization. They appealed es- 
 pecially to the nobles of Northern Italy. 
 
 137. Galeotto. In the Romance of Launcelot, Gallehault, a 
 knight, and a friend of Launcelot, arranged a secret meeting be- 
 tween him and Guinevere. See Par. xvi, 13-15. So Francesca 
 says that the story which she and Paolo were reading together, 
 played the part of Gallehault or uitermediary, 
 
 CANTO VI 
 
 1. On the return of sense. Dante is conveyed into the third 
 X circle while still unconscious. 
 
 was shut up. Comp. Purg. xxxi, 88, and see note. 
 
 2. kinsfolk. Francesca's lover was her husband's brother, 
 
 8. the same in rule and quality. It does not come in gusts, but 
 
 Eours without intermission, unlike showers on earth, and is always 
 eavy and cold. 
 
 9. water foul. Dirty water; although one of the early com- 
 mentators says that it is a local phrase in Tuscany for a cold rain. 
 Comp. 1. 105. 
 
 11. Cerberus. Aen. vi, 417 ff. 
 
 12. prodigious. Strange, monstrous. Cerberus, as here por- 
 trayed, is a fitting symbol of voracity.^ 
 
 20, impious. The Italian word is profani. Comp. Heb. xii, 16, 
 where Esau is called a "profane person," because he parted with his 
 birthright in order to gratify his appetite. See also Phil, iii, 19: 
 "Whose god is their belly." 
 
 worm. A general term for any disgusting creature. It is 
 applied to Lucifer, Inf. xxxiv, 107. 
 
 24. caught up earth. In the Aeneid, the Sibyl throws Cerberus 
 a medicated cake which puts him to sleep. Aen. vi, 419. 
 
 34. emptiness. Comp. Purg. ii, 77 ; xxi, 143. 
 
 40. thou wast made. Dante was bom in 1265 ; Ciacco died in 
 1286. 
 
 49. envy. The principal cause of the Florentine factions. 
 
 51. where shines the light. Suggested by the contrast with 
 the gloomy atmosphere in which the gluttons are punished. Often 
 in the Inferno a single adjective expresses the bitter contrast with 
 the cheering, stirring life of the upper world. See Inf. vi, 92; 
 vii, 57 ; x, 83 ; xv, 49, 57. 
 
 53. Ciacco. A nickname meaning *'pig." Though a notori- 
 ous glutton, he is described as a man of good ability and breeding. 
 
 59. so burdens me. Dante is compassionate here. His dis- 
 
206 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 gust for the sin is shown by the punishment he assigns it. See 
 Introductory Note on Inf. iii. 
 
 62. the divided city. The party struggles of Florence were 
 twofold. One was Italian and included Florence, the other was 
 Florentine. The more comprehensive party-division was that 
 of Guelf and Ghibelline: the local division was that of Bianchi and 
 Neri, or Whites and Blacks. The names Guelf and Ghibelline, 
 as applied to parties in Italj^ at an earUer period designated parties 
 in Germany. The names were originally the family names of 
 Welf and Waiblingen, and were first employed as battle-cries at 
 the siege of Weinsberg in 1140, where Count WeK, the brother of 
 Henr}' the Proud, was besieged by the adherents of the house of 
 Hohenstaufen. The besieged raised the cry of "Welf" and the 
 besiegers that of "Waiblingen," the name of the birthplace of 
 Frederick of Suabia. These names were converted by the Italians 
 into GueKo and Ghibellino, and first came into prominence in 
 Italy in the Lombard league of 1167 against the Emperor Barbarossa. 
 
 It is commonly said that the GueSs represented the Papacy and 
 the Ghibellines the Empire; but, as a fact, papal and imperial 
 principles play a secondary part in the conflict. The Guelfs were 
 the popular and democratic party, represented by the burgher- 
 class and the trades-guilds, and standing for mimicipal freedom. 
 The Ghibellines represented the territorial aristocracy, the natural- 
 ized nobles, and the idle and licentious soldiery. The Guelf was 
 papal, because he regarded the Pope (theoretically, at least) as 
 standing for Christ as the preacher of equality and of the best 
 social condition for mankind. The Pope, in his turn, "naturally 
 jealous of a strong territorial power, encouraged the cities in their 
 resistance to imperial pretensions, while he and the merchant- 
 bankers of Florence were indispensable to each other in the way 
 of business." The Ghibelline was a feudalist, and the Emperor 
 or King was the necessary- and first factor of feudalism, and the only 
 possible backer of the claims of the magnates, whom, in turn, he 
 could use in any attempt to assert his power over the cities. Neither 
 Pope nor Emperor had any real sj-mpathy with the aims of either 
 party. The real issue, in short, was between the mercantile de- 
 mocracy of the city and the milita,r>'^ and territorial aristocracy. 
 
 These elements, which had long been held in solution in Italian 
 society, were cr5'stallized in 1215 by a feud between the Florentine 
 families of Buondelmonte and Amidei, growing out of young Buon- 
 delmonte's breaking his marriage engagement with a lady of the 
 Amidei family and marr^^ing another. Buondelmonte was mur- 
 dered by the Amidei, and all Florence became divided into two 
 parties, the Guelfs under Buondelmonte and the Ghibellines sup- 
 ported by the Amidei. 
 
 Dante himself was originally a Guelf, but cannot be permanently 
 identified with either party. The Commedia furnishes not a few 
 e^'idences of his impartial dealing with representatives of either 
 side, and he says equally hard things of both. The second and 
 third books of the De Monarchia and the later cantos of the Purga- 
 tory exhibit Ghibelline leanings. His Guelfism gave way under 
 
NOTES 207 
 
 the policy of Boniface VIII, and his own disappointment in the 
 case of Henry of Luxemburg ; and these and the events of 1311-1313 
 threw him decidedly on the imperial side. In Par. xvii, 68, Caccia- 
 guida, Dante's greai>-great-grandfather, predicts his course, and 
 declares that the atrocious dealings of the Whites will cause him 
 to form a party by himself. 
 
 The Bianchi and Neri (Whites and Blacks) were the parties 
 of a local faction which originated in Pistoia in a feud between two 
 branches of the Cancellieri family, which assumed respectively 
 the names of Cancellieri Bianchi and Cancellieri Neri. The quarrel 
 drew into itself the whole of Pistoia, and resulted in a civU war, 
 in which the Florentines intervened, and thereby transferred 
 it to their own city, where the opposite sides were espoused by 
 two rival Florentine families, the Donati (Blacks) and the Cerchi 
 (Whites). Both sides were originally Guelf ; but the Whites finally 
 deserted to the Ghibellines. Dante was identified with the Whites. 
 
 66. will come to blood. The first blood was shed May 1, 1300, 
 in a scuffle in which one of the Cerchi had his nose cut off. The 
 story is told by Villani, Cron. viii. 39. 
 
 67. the rustic party. The Bianchi. So called because of the rus- 
 tic origin and boorish ways of the Cerchi, who were new-comers hi 
 Florence. Villani says: "They were uncultivated and ungracious 
 people, like folk come in a short time to great estate and power." 
 
 71. tacking, off the coast. Boniface VIII, who in 1300 pro- 
 fessed neutrality between the Bianchi and Neri, and in 1302 sup- 
 ported Charles of Valois. Others think the reference is to Charles, 
 who at this time was in Flanders. Villani uses the word "coasting" 
 to express temporizing. 
 
 75. who are just. Who are meant is unknown. 
 
 81. Farinata. See Inf. x. 
 
 81, 82. Tegghiaio, Rusticucci, Mosca. See Inf. xvi, xxviii. 
 
 89. a different transgression. From that which is punished in 
 this circle. 
 
 92, 93. to memory of men. The only comfort which the damned 
 have is the hope that their memory may be perpetuated on earth. 
 See Inf. xiii, 77 ; xv, 118-120. Some, however, whose crimes have 
 incurred general execration, wish to remain unremembered. See 
 Inf. xviii, 47-58 ; xxvii, 63-66, and the traitors in the ninth circle. 
 
 111. thy science. The Aristotelian philosophy. 
 
 116. more than in this one. After the final trump of doom, 
 because they will then possess both bodies and souls. 
 
 119. Plutus. The god of wealth ; the guardian of the fourth 
 circle. He is called "the great Enemy,' ' because of the evils caused 
 by the love of money. See 1. Tim. vi, 10. Others think the refer- 
 ence is to Pluto, known also as Dis or Hades, the god of the nether 
 world ; but Lucifer is called Dis in Inf. viii, 71 ; xi, 70 ; xii, 39 ; 
 xxxiv, 20. In classical authors the attributes of Plutus are oc- 
 casionally given to Pluto. The name Plutus rarely occurs in the 
 classics, and could not have been well known to mediaeval writers. 
 It does not seem likely that Dante intended to use "Pluto" here 
 in the usual classical senge as the King of Hell. 
 
208 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 CANTO VII 
 
 The fourth circle is the third of the Incontinent. It must be 
 remembered that Incontinence is not to be understood merely in 
 the narrow, popular sense of the word, as unbridled indulgence 
 in sensual passion, but in the wide sense indicated by its etymology, 
 the want of self-containment or control. The incontinent yield 
 to impulse without restraint, whether the impulse is to sensual 
 pleasure, to inordinate eating and drinking, to anger, or to acquiring 
 or spending money. Such offences differ from those which are 
 deliberately determined and practised, and their punishment 
 is less severe than that of deliberate sins. 
 
 I. Pape Satan, etc. Mere brutal gibberish. Attempts to trans- 
 late it, which have been numerous, are a waste of ingenuity. 
 
 II. proud rape. The revolt of the rebel angels against God. 
 The phrase will not seem strange to anyone who is familiar with 
 the scriptural figures. See Jer. iii, 8, 9 ; Ezek. xxiii, 37 ; Mat. 
 xii, 39 ; Mark viii, 38. 
 
 12, 13. sails — collapse. What a picture of sudden and utter col- 
 
 1 6. making our way along, etc. Lit. , ' ' taking more of the bank. ' ' 
 Going farther on. 
 
 22. Charybdis. The real Charj^bdis was a rock between Italy 
 and Sicil}'. In fable it was the abode of Charybdis, a monster 
 which thrice each day swallowed the waters of the sea, and as often 
 cast them up. Facing Charj-bdis, and nearer to Italy, was another 
 rock containing a cave in which dwelt Scylla, a monster with twelve 
 feet and six heads surmounting long necks. 
 
 which breaks itself, etc. The line describes the meeting of two 
 opposite currents. 
 
 24. dance. Ironical. Ridda is a contra-dance accompanied 
 with singing. 
 
 25. rolling weights. The weights represent the burden imposed 
 alike by avarice and by prodigality. The miser is oppressed with 
 efforts to gain and hoard, the spendthrift by the lack of means to 
 supply his extravagance. 
 
 27. kept clashing. The misers and the prodigals form two 
 companies, each of which moves round half the circle in the direc- 
 tion opposite to the other. When they meet, each company turns 
 and goes the other way, imtil they meet again and clash together 
 like opposing tides. 
 
 29. cr3ring, why boldest, etc. The miser feels himself wronged 
 by the spendthrift's extravagance ; the spendthrift by the miser's 
 parsimony. 
 
 34. tilt. The image is changed from a dance to a tourney. Both 
 are ironical. 
 
 39. each and all of them. Both bands, for both had misused 
 money. 
 
 41. barks. WTien they say, "Why boldest? etc." 
 
NOTES 209 
 
 50. cherishest. The original word means to bring several things 
 into one ; to collect a number of facts into a definite judgment. 
 
 51. undisceming. These people failed to discern the true end 
 of life in the worid, and the right use of woridly possessions. 
 
 52. to every recognition dark. Avarice is the vice for which 
 Dante exhibits the most profound contempt. In Purg. xx, 9, 10, 
 he describes it as **the evil which possesses the whole world." 
 He handles it severely in many passages in the Convito. See, for 
 instance, iv, 12, 4. "And what other thing daily imperils and de- 
 stroys cities, neighborhoods, individuals, like the amassing of new 
 possessions by some one? Which accumulation inspires fresh 
 desires impossible to fulfil without injury to others." And again, 
 iv, 13, 4, 6. "We may see that the possession of riches is harm- 
 ful for two reasons : first, that it is the cause of evil ; secondly, that 
 it is the privation of good. It is the cause of evil because it makes 
 the possessor wakeful, timid, and hateful. What fear is his who 
 carries riches about him, whether walking or resting, awake or 
 asleep, not only that he will lose his gains, but that he will be lost 
 for the sake of his gains." Accordingly, both in the Inferno and 
 in the Purgatorio, Dante represents the avaricious as unrecogniz- 
 able. The greed of gain which absorbs their faculties destroys 
 their individuality. It reduces them all to one level. Besides 
 this passage, see Inf. xvii, 52 ff., where the usurers can be identified 
 only by the purses round their necks, decorated with their armorial 
 bearings, on which their eyes are fixed. In Purgatory, those who 
 are expiating this sin are lying face downward, chained and incapable 
 of motion. Purg. xix, 76, 120 ff. On the opposite vice of prodi- 
 gality, and the punishment of the two vices in one cricle, comp, 
 the words of Statius in Purg, xxii, 33-56. 
 
 55. hair cut short. An Italian proverb describes a prodigal 
 as one who has squandered up to his hair. Comp. Purg. xxii, 48. 
 
 60. gust. The primary meaning of the word is "vanity," 
 "emptiness." Some render "jest" or "farce." 
 
 73. guides. In the following celebrated passage which is de- 
 rived from Boethius, Dante represents Fortune as an Intelligence 
 ordained by God, which orders human affairs as the angelic orders 
 direct the motions of the heavens. 
 
 86. no truce. Fortune does not make terms with men, as con- 
 tending armies when they agree to a temporary suspension of 
 hostilities. On the incessant rising and falling of great families, 
 see Par. xvi, 73-84. 
 
 88. so often someone comes, etc. So often comes one who wins 
 his turn or has good luck. Because Fortune moves so swiftly, 
 the succession is rapid of those who come into her favor. 
 
 90. crucified. Execrated. The phrase is quite common in 
 Tuscany. The meaning is "to censure with curses." 
 
 100. we crossed. Lit., "we cut off." Instead of going round 
 the fourth circle, they cut across to ' ' the other bank,' ' which begirds 
 the fifth circle, to a point above a fountain or spring which dis- 
 charges its waters through a trench into the fifth circle. They 
 are standing on higher ground than the spring, and see it at their 
 
210 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 feet. Before this they have been skirting the edge of the high 
 bank, but now they strike inward, and begin descending, parallel 
 with the trench, into the fifth circle. 
 
 103. perse. See note on Inf. v, 90. 
 
 106. gray slopes. Benvenuto compares the color to that of a 
 black monastic habit, subnignim or blackish. 
 
 108. Styx. See Aen. vi, 323-324. The name is akin to the Greek 
 verb meaning "to hate." According to Homer and Vergil, it 
 flows seven times round the nether world. In classic mythology 
 it is personified as a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, who dwelt 
 in a lofty grotto supported by sUver columns, at the entrance 
 of Hades. The most solemn oaths were sworn by St>^. By 
 Dante Styx is pictured as a marsh of black mire; an idea derived 
 from Vergil, who describes it as the "Stygian marsh," and "the 
 Stvgian lakes." Comp. Aen. vi, 323, 369 ; vi, 134. 
 
 109. bog. Mr. Hodgkin ("Italy and her Invaders," i, 853) 
 thinks that the picture of this marsh may have been shaped or 
 suggested by the rice-swamp which extends over the site of the 
 ancient Classis, between Ravenna and the sea. See note on Inf. 
 V, 98. 
 
 115. anger overcame. In the mud of this fen anger is punished; 
 violent anger on the surface, and sullen or sulky anger in the 
 mire at the bottom. 
 
 121. we were morose. Sullen wrath beclouds the spirit. Like a 
 dense smoke it perv'erts the mental and moral vision, and shuts 
 out all right impressions of truth and goodness. Self-centred, it 
 smoulders in its own sluggish medium. Hence the appropriate- 
 ness of the punishment which condenms the soul to an eternal 
 environment of mire. Comp. Wisd. xvii, 21. 
 
 123. sltiggish. In this adjective many interpreters find an in- 
 dication of a distinct sin — Spiritual Sloth and Indifference. Such 
 assume that the classification of sins in the Inferno is identical 
 with that in the Purgatorio, both being intended as classifications 
 of the seven deadly sins. But, not to sp>eak of the difference of ar- 
 rangement, in the Purgatorio more than half the special sins treated 
 in the Inferno are omitted altogether, and the correspondence 
 can be established only by finding the omitted sins included in 
 the circles which are distinctly assigned to others. Thus it is 
 asserted that En\^ is found in the fifth circle (Inf. vii, 121; viii, 
 63) ; Pride in the fifth, sixth, or seventh (Inf. viii, 48 ; ix, 93 ; xiv, 
 62). So it is maintained that Spiritual Slothfulness, which is one 
 of the seven sins expiated in Purgatory, is indicated by "the 
 sullen smoke." But the state of sullen wrath described here has 
 Uttle in common with Spiritual Slothfulness. The sins are arranged 
 according to their gra^'ity : those of the Purgatorio in inverse order 
 to those of the Inferno. In the Purgatorio, Spiritual Slothfulness 
 is higher up than Anger, and is therefore less grave. In the In- 
 ferno it is lower than Anger, and therefore more grave. In the 
 Purgatory Spiritual Slothfulness is lower and graver than Avarice. 
 If the former appears in the Inferno, it is higher and less grave 
 than Avarice. Moreover, if Spiritual Slothfulness is here indi- 
 
NOTES 211 
 
 cated as a vice distinct from Anger, we have two distinct sins pun- 
 ished in one circle with the same punishment. It seems better to 
 abandon the attempt to make the classification of the Inferno 
 and of the Purgatorio correspond, and to see in this circle, not 
 Anger and Spiritual Slothfulness, but two forms of anger — violent 
 and sullen. (For the substance of this note I am indebted to Dr. 
 Moore.) 
 
 126. slough. In Tuscany pozza means every kind of collection 
 of waters — pool, pond; lake, lagoon, fen, etc. 
 
 CANTO VIII 
 
 1. Continuing. Continuing the subject of the previous canto. 
 Some, however, think that the word indicates Dante's resumption 
 of his work on the Commedia after a considerable interval of 
 his exile. The story is that the manuscript of the first seven cantos 
 was recovered by Dante's nephew from the chest in which Dante 
 had deposited them, and was handed to a well-known literary man, 
 who, in turn, sent it to the nobleman with whom Dante was re- 
 siding at the time, begging him to induce the poet to continue 
 his work. Much doubt, however, has been cast upon the story 
 by later scholars, such as Blanc. Scartazzini, and Kraus. 
 
 4. two little flames. Signal lights, notifying the city of Dis that 
 two spirits are about to cross the Styx. 
 
 5. from so far. From the city of Dis. The whole scene is thor- 
 oughly mediaeval ; the walled city surrounded by a moat, the 
 signal-towers, the fire-signals, the ferry-boat — all might be seen in 
 many parts of Northern Italy. 
 
 14. never did cord, etc. Comp. Aen. xii, 856. 
 
 19. Phlegyas. The guardian of the fifth circle. See 1. 21. He 
 was the son of Mars. His daughter Coronis having been ravished 
 by Apollo, he set fire to Apollo's temple at Delphi, for which crime 
 he was condemned to the lower world. As a flagrant example 
 of the consequence of anger leading to contempt of divine and 
 human law, his place in the circle of the Angry is appropriate. 
 Vergil places him in Tartarus, warning the shades to learn justice, 
 and not to despise the gods. See Aen. vi, 618-620. His boat is 
 not mentioned in classical legend, and is apparently an invention of 
 Dante. 
 
 28. laden seemed it not. Comp. Aen. vi, 412-414. 
 
 29. boat. In most parts of Italy the word legno is used in- 
 dtecriminately for **a ship" or "a carriage." 
 
 32. dead canal. The great fen, stagnant, unruffled, perhaps 
 in contrast with the bubbling mire of Cant, vii, 119. 
 
 34. all full of mire. Filippo Argenti, one of the Adimari family 
 of Florence. According to the older commentators, his name Argenti 
 (''silver") was bestowed because he once had his horse shod with 
 silver. He was credited with a very savage temper. Dante may 
 
212 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 have had some personal quarrel with him, and he was a Black, 
 while Dante was a White. 
 
 35. before thy time. Before thy death. 
 
 39. thou cursed soul. Dante's bitter contempt is characteristic, 
 and is commended by the Pagan Vergil in language which is strongly 
 scriptural. 
 
 46. blest is she. Ck)mp. Luke xi, 27. This is the only allusion 
 in the poem to Dante's mother. 
 
 55. I would right happy be. Dante's animosity is not satisfied 
 with words. 
 
 56. pottage. Or "broth," "soup." It is a "gruel thick and 
 slab, ' ' crowded with souls as a thick soup is with fragments of meat 
 and vegetables. 
 
 71. Dis. The name of Pluto the King of Hell, and applied by 
 Dante to Lucifer. See note on Cant, vi, 119. Vergil uses the 
 name for Hell (Aen. \i, 127). The city of Dis marks the beginning 
 of the sixth circle. The occupants of that circle are not in the upper 
 Inferno, which is bounded by Acheron and Styx. Nor are they 
 in the lower Inferno, the descent to which begins wHth Cant. xii. 
 The sixth circle, therefore, occupies an intermediate level plain 
 within the city walls. There is no difference of level between this 
 and the preceding circle. It is separated from the seventh circle 
 by a steep precipice. The description of the city of Dis is evidently 
 founded upn^n^Aen. vi, 548 ff. 
 
 72. townsmen pestilent. Two explanations are given of gravi : 
 "burdened with their sins," or "noxious, offensive," as they 
 showed themselves toward Vergil and Dante. The latter is prefer- 
 able. 
 
 74. minarets. Suggesting the Mohammedan mosques, and 
 marking the abode of unbelievers. 
 
 78. in this nether Hell. Pointing the contrast of the fiery glow 
 with the surrounding darkness. Nothing can be finer than the 
 picture of these fiery towers seen in the distance through the dusky 
 air. 
 
 79. the fosses deep. Very impressive is this approach to the 
 dark, massive walls through the deep, stiU fosses which lap their 
 bases; and the savage sombreness of the whole is pointed by the 
 words "that sad city." 
 
 85. more than a thousand. Demons. Devils appear here for 
 the first time. 
 
 fallen. Lit., "rained" from Heaven. These are fallen angels. 
 
 94. his folly chose. The path which he rashly and foolishly 
 chose. Dante says to Vergil before entering Hell: "I fear my 
 going may be foolish" (Inf. ii, 36); and Ulysses describes his last 
 voyage as a "crazy flight" (Inf. xxxi, 130). 
 
 100. more than seven times. Against the wolf, his own mis- 
 givings, Charon, Minos, Cerberus, Plutus, Plilegyas. Scartazzini 
 very pertinently says that it seems ridiculous for Dante, in a 
 moment of such fearful distress, to be counting how many times 
 Vergil has reassured him. But "seven" is probably used indefi- 
 nitel3^ 
 
NOTES 213 
 
 115. yes and no. Yes! Vergil will return. No! He will not 
 return. 
 
 130. a gate less secret. The gate by which Vergil and Dante 
 had entered Hell. According to the ancient Church- tradition, 
 the devils opposed Christ's descent into Hades. 
 
 131. the words of death. The inscription at the opening of 
 Cant. iii. 
 
 CANTO IX 
 
 1. That hue. Dante means that the paleness occasioned by his 
 fear caused Vergil to banish the traces of disturbance from his 
 own face, so that he might not aggravate Dante's terror. 
 
 7. unless. Vergil is on the point of expressing a doubt, but 
 represses it, and reassures himself and Dante by saying : "So 
 great a power offered itself for our aid"; Heaven itself, whose as- 
 sistance was procured through the Virgin and Lucia, and was 
 proffered by Beatrice. See Cant. ii. 
 
 16. pit. Often translated "shell," which, however, is a second- 
 ary meaning. The word conca is familiar in Tuscany as a large 
 earthenware vessel for containing lye, and having the form of a trun- 
 cated cone, which is the form of the infernal pit. 
 
 17. the first grade. Limbo. 
 
 23. Erichtho. A Thessalian sorceress. Doubtless suggested to 
 Dante by Lucan's Pharsalia, in which she is represented as em- 
 ployed by Pompey's son to conjure up the spirit of one of his dead 
 soldiers on the eve of the battle of Pharsalia, to reveal the issue 
 of the battle. It is difficult if not impossible to explain Dante's 
 association of Erichtho with Vergil. The popular mediaeval 
 belief that Vergil was a great magician may have had something 
 to do with it. Dante may have found the germ of the story in 
 some of the current legends about Vergil. 
 
 26. that wall. Of the city of Dis. 
 
 27. The round of Judas. Giudecca, the very lowest round of the 
 Inferno. 
 
 30. which all revolves. The Primum Mobile. See Par. xxviii, 
 70, and Introduction, under "Dante's Cosmogony." 
 
 38. Furies. Dante also uses the classical term, Erine, in 1, 45. 
 The name Erinyes was derived from a Greek verb meaning "to 
 hunt down; to persecute." The later name, Eumenides, signi- 
 fying "the well-meaning ones," was a euphemism, used because 
 people dreaded to call these fearful beings by their real name. In the 
 Homeric poems, the word Erinyes is often used for "curses." 
 For Dante's picture, comp. Aen. vi, 554-555 ; Statins, Theb. i, 103. 
 
 43, 44. Queen of the eternal wailing. Comp. Chaucer, "House of 
 Fame," iii, 1512. 
 
 " That quene is of the derke pyne." 
 
 49. breast — nails. Comp. Aen. vi, 673. 
 
 52. Medusa. Or the Gorgon. According to a very ancient 
 
214 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 tradition there were three Goi^ons that dwelt on the farthest shore 
 of Ocean. Two of them were immortal. Medusa alone was 
 mortal. Her head was cut ofif by Perseus and was given to Athene 
 (Minerva), who set it in her shield. Whoever looked upon it was 
 turned to stone. 
 
 55. Theseus. King of Athens. With his friend Pirithous he 
 attempted to carry off Proserpina, Pluto's queen. Pirithous was 
 slain, and Theseus was kept a prisoner in HeU untU released by 
 Hercules. Vergil represents him as detained in Hell forever. See 
 Aen. vi, 617-618. Comp. 391-397. Dante adopts the version 
 of the legend according to which he was liberated. 
 
 63. the teaching hidden. Dante here calls attention to the 
 allegoric^ significance of U. 55-58. It must be remember^ that 
 Dante's pilgrimage is the process of his conversion from a life 
 of sensuality and unbehef. This circle is the circle of the unbe- 
 Ue\Tng, and especially of a form of unbehef which was largely 
 associated with sensualism. The malevolent angels of this circle 
 are bent upon resisting all progress toward true penitence. The 
 most effectual means to this end is to produce despair, which may 
 act either to make one deny God, or to make him, through the 
 memory of past sins, lose all hope of pardon. The beating and 
 tearing of the breasts in hopeless misery symbolizes the harrowing 
 remembrance of former sins. The Gorgon which turns to stone is 
 despair. 
 
 64. and already came. There is no more magnificent descrip- 
 tive passage in the poem than the following. 
 
 68. counter heats. Heat from an opposite quarter. The wind 
 rushes in to fill the vacuum caused by heat. 
 
 69. smites the forest. Chaucer may have found here his lines 
 describing those forest growths 
 
 " In which there ran a rumbel and a swough. 
 As though a storm sholde bresten every bough." 
 
 "Knighte's Tale," 1879-1880. 
 
 75. is most distressing. Most annoying to the eyes. 
 
 77. the frogs. Mr. J. A. Symonds thinks that this description 
 may have been suggested to Dante in the Pineta at Ravenna. 
 "The picture of the storm among the trees might well have occurred 
 to Dante's mind beneath the roof of pine-boughs. Nor is there 
 any place in which the simile of the frogs and water-snake attains 
 such dignity and grandeur. I must confess that, till I saw the 
 ponds and marshes of Ravenna, I used to fancy that the com- 
 parison was somewhat below the greatness of the subject ; but 
 there so grave a note of solemnity and desolation is struck, the 
 scale of Nature is so large, and the serpents coiling in and out among 
 the lily-leaves and flowers are so much in their right place, that 
 they suggest a scene by no means unworthy of Dante's conception." 
 "Sketches and Studies in Southern Eurof)e." 
 
 huddled. Following Boccaccio, many explain "gather them- 
 selves into heaps." But observation shows that on the approach 
 of danger to a number of frogs, they throw themselves separately 
 
NOTES 215 
 
 into the water, and may be seen lying separated at the bottom. 
 Notice that Dante says "each one." William Warren Vernon 
 ("Readings on the Inferno of Dante") thinks that the Italian 
 abbicare is a latinism from abjicere "to throw off." Even if 
 " huddle" is retained, it need not imply that many frogs are huddled 
 in a heap, but simply that each frog is drawn up or bunched up with 
 terror. 
 
 80, 81. one who — ^was passing. Dante's angels are unique both 
 in beauty and in majesty. Perez (" I Sette Cerchi del Purgatorio 
 di Dante") remarks that it seems to him that the angels have 
 loved to reveal themselves in Italy more than in any other land; 
 and that their excellence, nature, and beauty have been set forth at 
 their highest by the three great Italians to whom the title of Angelic 
 properly belongs. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor; Giovanni 
 da Fiesole or Fra Angelico; and Dante, who is named the divine poet, 
 which is better than " angelic." At this point he will naturally be 
 compared with Milton. Macaulay's attempt to draw the com- 
 parison may be pardoned because of the immature character of the 
 " Essay on Milton," which betrays the crudest possible conception of 
 the subject. Dante's only picture of a fallen angel is that of Lucifer. 
 In his portraits of Satan and his associate rebels, Milton accentuates 
 former glory now lost or tarnished. Satan's form 
 
 " had not yet lost 
 All her original brightness, nor appeared 
 Less than archang'el ruined, and th' excess 
 Of glory obscured." 
 
 His companions are 
 
 " godlike shapes, and forma 
 Excelling human, princely Dignities, 
 And Powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones." 
 
 Dante's Lucifer is the consunmiate incarnation of demoniac 
 bestiality. Milton's good angels are winged men in casques and 
 breastplates, wielding swords and spears, or celestial Adonises 
 with curling locks and golden tiaras. They go sociably to lunch with 
 Adam and Eve in Eden; they engage in athletic sports, and dance 
 cotillions round the sacred hill on festive occasions; they mount 
 and relieve guard on the heights of heaven, and are rolled over by a 
 vigorous onslaught of the infernal squadrons; they are stamped 
 with what Mrs. Jameson calls "the aggrandized and idealized human 
 presence." Dante, whose outlines are usually so sharp, commonly 
 evades definiteness in portraying his angels. The outlines melt in the 
 reader's effort to define them. One never loses the impression 
 of a superhuman being, and never receives the impression of an ex- 
 aggerated man. Over and above the distinctive traits necessary to 
 the evolution of the particular idea or scene, they are invested with 
 a quality which defies analysis or definition. The most sharply 
 drawn are the one in this passage and the warder of the gate of 
 Purgatory. Next to these are the pilot-angel and the two in the 
 Valley of the Princes. The angel who conducts the ascent to the 
 second terrace of |Purgatory is portrayed by hints rather than 
 by details — the fair creature, white-robed, and with a face like the 
 
216 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 trembling moming-star. At the ascent to the third terrace there are 
 only a great splendor and the words "Enter here"; at the fourth, 
 only light and a sense of the fanning of wings; at the fifth, onl}^ a 
 vision of two wings like a swan's; but in the merest hints, the an- 
 gelic presence is recognized and felt. The angel of this passage is, 
 on the whole, the finest of aU. 
 
 84. with that annoyance only. The effect of the noisome at- 
 mosphere. He was not troubled with compassion for the damned 
 nor with fear of their wrath. 
 
 87. bow me down. Comp. Purg. ii, 27. 
 
 88. disdainful. Of the impotent rage of the demons. See note 
 on Inf. ii, 122. 
 
 99. to butt against. Comp. Purg. xvi, 11. 
 
 101 . carries peeled his chin and throat. Hercules chained Cerberus 
 and dragged him to the upper world. See Aen. vi, 395-396. 
 
 103. spoke no word to us. Possibly because he was in haste to 
 return. Some have thought that he did not address Vergil because 
 he was a Pagan, nor Dante because his purification was not com- 
 plete. 
 
 104. other care. Not merely as "preoccupied with thoughts 
 of Heaven," but as preoccupied with the burden of his heavenly 
 conunissions. 
 
 114. Aries. Aries, once the most important city of Southern 
 France, and called the Rome of Gaul, is in Provence near the delta of 
 the Rhone. The great cemeter}^, which still retains the name 
 Aliscamps, or Elysian Fields, hes beyond the walls east of the city. 
 According to the legend it was consecrated to the interment of the 
 bodies of the faithful. The peers of Charlemagne with their ten 
 thousand men-at-arms were said to be interred there. The tombs, 
 of which there are many remains, were evidently both Christian and 
 Pagan. 
 
 becomes a marsh. Forms a lagoon; not " is stagnant. " Twenty- 
 five mUes from the sea the Rhone begins to form its delta, breaking 
 into two main branches, and cannot keep a clear passage to the sea 
 because of the accumulations of its own alluvium. It has been 
 estimated that since the Gallo-Roman period, from seventy-five 
 to a hundred square miles have been added to the area of the delta. 
 From Tarascon to Aries, seventeen miles, is an alluvial plain in- 
 tersected by ditches. 
 
 115. Pola. Pola is in the extreme south of the peninsula of 
 Istria, separated by a few miles from the deep gulf of Quamaro. 
 It was an important naval station in the Augustan age, and, in the 
 Middle Ages, suffered severely in the contests between the Venetians 
 and the Genoese, being laid waste by each in turn. It sank into 
 insignificance, and did not come into notice again until the Austrians 
 made it their headquarters in their attempts against Venice. An 
 interesting description of the modern town is given by Bassermann 
 (" Dante's Spuren in Italien, " p. 40 ff.). He describes the necropolis 
 as occupying a spacious amphitheatre on the southeast of the city, 
 on the road leading to the Gulf of Quamaro. The tombs have 
 vanished, but must have been very numerous. It is, beyond doubt. 
 
NOTES 217 
 
 Dante's field of tombs. There is an unsupported tradition that Dante 
 was entertained in the neighboring Benedictine abbey of S. Michele. 
 A description and a wood-cut are given in Sir Gardner Wilkinson's 
 "Dalmatia and Montenegro," Vol. I, Ch. ii. See also AUason's 
 "Antiquities of Pola," Lond., 1819. 
 
 128. Heresiarchs. The term is somewhat ambiguous. Dante 
 has one type of sin prominently in mind, namely, Epicureanism, 
 and that in respect of its holding that the soul dies with the body. 
 In this sense alone the punishment is appropriate. Heresiarchs, in 
 the ordinary sense of that term, would belong with the Schismatics 
 in the ninth Bolgia (Cant, xviii). Here Dante contemplates open and 
 professed infidelity, particularly in its aspect of materialism. Dr. 
 Moore has some very interesting remarks as to the reason why 
 Dante did not provide a special punishment for heresy properly so 
 called, or perverted opinions on religious truth as such. He points 
 out that it was no part of Dante's plan to deal with secret sins of 
 the heart, but only with those which were developed in some out- 
 wardly vicious action. There is no place in the Inferno for one 
 who merely holds heretical views ; but when he openly promulgates 
 them, or openly denies the truth of Christianity and repudiates the 
 authority of the Church, he becomes a candidate for the ninth 
 Bolgia. ("Studies in Dante," ii, 178 ff.) 
 
 132. to right. In his passage through Hell, Dante follows a 
 leftward course throughout. See Inf. xiv, 125 ; xviii, 20 ; xix, 43 ; 
 xxi, 141 ; xxiii, 69 ; xxix, 55 ; xxxi, 83. The allegorical meaning 
 of this practice is variously explained. Some : at the day of judg- 
 ment the doomed will stand at the left hand. Others : in Hell 
 the forms of sin proceed from worse to worse. At best these are 
 speculations, as are the explanations of the turn to the right at this 
 point of the journey. 
 
 CANTO X 
 
 I. secret path. "Secret" is the true reading; not "narrow." 
 
 II. Jehoshaphat. According to the belief that the final judgment 
 would take place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat on the east side of 
 Jerusalem. See Joel iii, 2, 12. 
 
 13. Epicurus. See note on Inf. ix, 128. 
 
 18. the desire. See Inf. vi, 79. 
 
 21. save to speak briefly. Dante means that he does not keep 
 silent for the sake of concealing his thoughts, but in order that he 
 may not annoy Vergil by talking too much. 
 
 26. thy mode of speech. Farinata has heard Dante talking with 
 Vergil, and has recognized him as a Tuscan by his dialect. 
 
 28. I was too troublesome. By returning to Siena after his 
 expulsion from Florence in 1258, where, with his companions in 
 exile, he concerted the measures which led to the crushing defeat 
 of the Florentine Guelfs at Montaperti. 
 
 33. Farinata. Son of Jacopo degli Uberti. He was born in the 
 
218 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 beginning of the thirteenth century. His family became a leader 
 of the Ghibellines. In 1248 he was active in the expulsion of the 
 Guelfs, who returned in 1251, and in 1258 expelled the Ghibellines, 
 Farinata among them. He retired to Siena, where he organized 
 a movement which led to the defeat of the Guelfs at the battle of 
 Montaperti, September 4, 1260, leaving the Ghibellines masters 
 of Tuscany. After this he returned to Florence, and died about 1264. 
 He is placed in Hell as a follower of Epicurus's opinion that the soul 
 died with the body. 
 
 44. to obey. Vergil's admonition. It is noticeable that Dante 
 does not manifest here his usual contempt for the sufferers, but 
 rather speaks respectfully, possibly because of their dignity and 
 reputation. 
 
 49. they were opposed. Being Guelfs, and therefore hostile to the 
 Ghibellines, Farinata's party. 
 
 two several times. In 1248 and 1260. 
 
 52. returned both times. In 1251, and in 1266, after the battle of 
 Benevento between Charles of Anjou and Manfred, the King of 
 Sicily. Manfred was defeated and slain. He had contributed 
 greatly to the Ghibelline victory at Montaperti, and his defeat and 
 death were a crushing blow to the Ghibelline cause. 
 
 53. at the mouth. Conmaonly rendered "to sight." But vista 
 means rather the unclosed mouth of the tomb, just as, in Purg. 
 X, 68, it means " window. " 
 
 55. a shade. This is Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti, the father of 
 Dante's friend Guido Cavalcanti, who married Farinata's daughter. 
 
 61 . where is my son ? Comp. the interview of Aeneas and Androm- 
 ache, Aen. vi. 310 S. 
 
 65. in contempt. Why, cannot be satisfactorily explained. 
 Dante dedicated the " Vita Nuova" to him, and says (§ xxxi) that 
 Guido desired him to write to him only in Italian and not in Latin ; 
 from which it is inferred that Guido had no love for Latin poetry, and 
 consequently none for Vergil. Others assign a political reason ; that 
 Guido, a Guelf, disliked Vergil who was the poet of the Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 70. he held. Cavalcante interprets the past tense as indicating 
 that Guido was no longer living. 
 
 78. that art. The art of returning home after banishment. 
 
 81. the dame. Hecate or Proserpina who rules in Hell, and rep- 
 resents the moon. 
 
 82, 83. how heavy is that art. Dante was banished from Florence 
 in 1302. Faruaata's prediction refers to 1304, when the banished 
 Whites and Ghibellines, including Dante, tried in vain to secure a 
 reversal of the decree of banishment. 
 
 85. that people is so pitiless. The Florentine Guelfs. At the 
 time when Dante wrote, the middle classes were all-powerful, and the 
 nobles, especially the Ghibellmes, were trampled under foot. See 
 Purg. vi, 114. 
 
 mine. The family of the Uberti who were excepted from the 
 permission to return in 1280, when the Guelfs and Ghibellines were 
 reconciled. 
 
NOTES 219 
 
 88. the Arbia. A small stream of Tuscany rising a few miles south 
 of Siena. On its left bank is the hUl of Montaperti, where occurred 
 the great battle between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines of Florence. 
 The Ghibellines were driven from Florence in 1250, but found an 
 ally in Manfred, the natural son of the Emperor Frederick II, with 
 whose aid and that of the Sienese they utterly routed the Guelfs at 
 Montaperti, September 4, 1260. 
 
 such law. Orazion is rendered in two ways : either "decree, law," 
 or "prayers." According to the former, the meaning is: "the 
 defeat of the Guelfs at Montaperti causes such decrees to be pro- 
 mulgated in our temple against the Uberti." According to the 
 latter : "the defeat, etc., causes prayer to be offered in our temple 
 for deliverance from the plots of the Uberti. " The former is prefer- 
 able. The temple was the church of San Giovanni, where popular 
 assemblies were held. 
 
 91. in that. In fighting against Florence. Not on my shoulders 
 alone was the reproach of fighting against my native city. I was 
 carried along with others — the Sienese and the Pisans — and not 
 without cause, for I had been unjustly banished. 
 
 94. I only was the one, etc. After the battle of Montaperti a 
 diet of the Ghibellines was held at Empoli, in which the deputies 
 from Siena and Pisa proposed the demolition of Florence. Farinata 
 strenuously opposed this, and the project was dropped. The 
 incident is related in detail by Villani, Cron. vi, 81. 
 
 99. it seems that you foresee. Dante's perplexity is caused by 
 the fact that Farinata predicts the future (11. 80-83), while Caval- 
 cante is not aware that his son is still alive (11. 61, 62, 69, 70). 
 
 101, 102. we — see. It is a question whether by "we" Farinata 
 is referring to the damned generally, or only to the tenants of this 
 circle. There are numerous instances in the Inferno of the pre- 
 diction of the future by the damned. See vi, 65 ff.; xxiv, 148 ff. ; 
 xxviii, 58-63 ; xxxii, 74 ; and in the later cantos there is no instance 
 of any definite knowledge of the present. Note especially Guido da 
 Montefeltro's ignorance of the present state of Romagna, xxvii, 28. 
 But in vi, 49, 71, 75, 76, Ciacco is aware of the present state of 
 Florence. This is a glaring inconsistency unless Farinata refers only 
 to those in the sixth circle. 
 
 104. still shines the Gtiide. God still allows us to retain so much 
 light. 
 
 109. from the moment, etc. After the final judgment the knowl- 
 edge of present and future events in the world will cease, because 
 time will have ceased. 
 
 111. contrite. Dante appears to be visited with some compunc- 
 tion for the anguish which he has caused Cavalcante by not answering 
 at once his question "Where is my son?" and thus suffering him to 
 believe that his son was dead. 
 
 117. error. Not "perplexing question." He means his own 
 error in supposing that Cavalcante was aware of what was then going 
 on in the world. 
 
 121. the second Frederick. Grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, 
 son of the Emperor Henry VI and Constance of Sicily. Elected 
 
220 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 King of the Romans in 1196. Became King of Sicily and Naples, 
 1197. Emperor, 1212, He espoused the cause of the Emperor 
 Otho deposed by Innocent III in 1211. Excommunicated by 
 Gregory IX in 1239. Undertook a crusade to Palestine in 1228, 
 and crowned himself King of Jerusalem in 1229. He was deposed 
 by Innocent IV in 1245. He defied the Pope and appealed to the 
 princes and kings of Christendom. He carried on the war with the 
 Pope until his death at Firenzuola in 1250. By birth he was half 
 Norman and half German; by birthplace, Italian; by residence, 
 Sicilian; by temperament and education, Italian rather than German. 
 He was sensual and luxurious, but vigorous and brave in war, and 
 astute in politics. The English historian Matthew Paris called 
 him "the wonder of the world." Professor Edward Freeman says: 
 "There probably never lived a human being endowed with greater 
 natural gifts, or whose natural gifts were, according to the means 
 afforded him by his age, more sedulously cultivated." He was an 
 accomplished linguist, a student of natural history, an intelligent 
 and generous promoter of art and literature. He restored and 
 endowed the University of Naples, and provided Arab, Latin, Greek, 
 and Hebrew teachers for the medical schools of Salerno. He caused 
 the works of Aristotle and of other ancient philosophers to be trans- 
 lated into Latin. 
 
 The correctness of Dante's judgment in placing him in the sixth 
 circle among Epicurean infidels is not beyond question. The exact 
 nature of his religious views it is not easy, perhaps not possible to 
 define. His attitude toward the Church, to say nothing of his 
 intellectual and moral isolation from the current sentiment of the 
 thirteenth century, would easily have procured for him the reputa- 
 tion of an infidel. Dean Mibnan's estimate is cautious and dis- 
 criminating, though generous. "It was the shattered, dubious, at 
 times trembling faith, at times desperately reckless incredulity, of a 
 man under the burden of an undeserved excommunication, of 
 which he could not but discern the injustice, but could not quite 
 shake off the terrors; of a man whom a better age of Christianity 
 might not have made religious, whom his own made irreligious." 
 On the other hand, he has been depicted as the centre of a circle 
 of admirers by whom he was regarded as the Messiah of a new 
 religion. Whatever his personal belief, his attitude toward ecclesi- 
 astical questions was clearly defined. He professed and enforced 
 strict orthodoxy of dogma. He was tolerant to the Jew and to the 
 Islamite. He was relentlessly cruel to the Christian heretic. If he 
 accepted Dante's theory of the coequality of Pope and Emperor, 
 the attitude of the Popes was largely responsible for his effort to 
 exalt the Empire above the Papacy. The storj- that he became 
 a Mohammedan is a fable. Possibly he never formally abandoned 
 all faith in the Christian dogmas as they were understood in his ovm 
 age. It cannot be doubted that he was at least a free-thinker, and 
 indulged in speculations condemned by the orthodoxy of his age, and 
 that he aimed at great changes in the external fabric of the Church 
 and in the relations between the Papacy and the Empire. 
 
 From the Oriental and Mohammedan touch in the word minarets 
 
NOTES 221 
 
 (viii, 74), I am inclined to think that Dante was somewhat influenced 
 by the popular opinion that Frederick had become a convert to 
 Islamism. It is not improbable that he was also influenced by 
 the common, and largely unjust association of Epicureanism with 
 sensuality. 
 
 122. the cardinal. Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, the uncle of Arch- 
 bishop Ruggieri, whose punishment is described in Cant, xxxii, 135 ff. 
 He was Bishop of Bologna, and Chaplain of Pope Gregory IX. He 
 attained great influence at the Roman court. Although an ecclesi- 
 astic, he was a sturdy Ghibelline, so much so that he is said to have 
 declared: "If I have a soul, I have lost it a thousand times over 
 for the Ghibellines. " He is described as a very sagacious and 
 daring man, often openly defending rebels against Church authority. 
 
 139. the point above. Up to the place where Dante and Vergil 
 were standing. Not, up to the world above. 
 
 In reviewing this canto one recalls the words of Mrs. Oliphant in 
 "The Makers of Florence." "Genius has never proved its potency 
 so mightily as by the way in which so many petty tumults and 
 functionaries of the thirteenth century, so many trifling incidents 
 and local circumstances, passed out of all human importance for 
 the last six hundred years, have been held suspended in a fierce light 
 of life and reality, unable to perish and get themselves safe into obliv- 
 ion up to this very day, in consequence of their connection with this 
 one man." 
 
 CANTO XI 
 
 It will be convenient, by way of preface to this canto, to present 
 at a glance the scheme according to which sins and punishments 
 are classified in the nether Hell. It will be remembered that Circle 
 VI forms the division between the upper and the lower Inferno. In 
 the lower Inferno is punished — 
 
 Malicious Wickedness; 
 of which the end is 
 
 Injury, 
 wrought by 
 
 Violence, 
 Fraud. 
 I. Violence, Circle VII. 
 Subdivided into three rounds : 
 
 A. Violence against neighbors • 
 
 Their persons. 
 Their property. 
 
 B. Violence against self : 
 
 The person (suicide), 
 
 The goods (prodigal waste). 
 
 C. Violence against God : 
 
 By blasphemy, 
 By unnatural sin. 
 
222 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 II. Fraud, Circles VIII, IX. 
 
 A. Fraud against man as man, where no special 
 
 tie exists. Punished in Circle VIII, in the 
 ten pits of Malebolge. 
 
 1. Seducers. 
 
 2. Flatterers. 
 
 3. Simoniacs. 
 
 4. Diviners. 
 
 5. Barrators. 
 
 6. Hypocrites. 
 
 7. Robbers. 
 
 8. Evil Coimsellors. 
 
 9. Schismatics. 
 10. Falsifiers. 
 
 B. Fraud against those united by special ties. 
 
 Pimished in Circle IX. Four rounds of 
 Traitors. 
 
 Caina: Traitors to Kindred. 
 
 Antenora: Traitors to Country. 
 
 Tolomea: Traitors to friends or companions. 
 
 Giudecca: Traitors to benefactors. 
 
 1. embankment. Forming the boimdary between the sixth and 
 seventh circles. 
 
 3. keep. The word signifies "a prison, cage, enclosure." Some- 
 times "a. coop" for chickens. SarcasticaJly used here. Some 
 translate "a, throng" (of sufferers). 
 
 5. foul odor. If Dante is sensitive to color and sound, he is 
 likewise sensitive to odors, pleasant and unpleasant. See Inf. x, 
 
 /138 ; xvii, 3 ; xiiii, 107 ; xxix, 53 ; Purg. vii, 83 f. ; xix, 33 ; xxii, 
 136 ; xxiii, 67 ; xxiv, 152 ; Par. xvi, 35 ; xx. 124 ; xxx, 67. 
 8. Pope Anastasius. Dante, though a loyal churchman, does not 
 hesitate to place a Pope in Hell. Celestine V is in the vestibule 
 with the Neutrals; Nicholas III is in the third Bolgia, and Clement 
 V and Boniface VIII are expected there. See Cant. xix. Two are 
 in Purgatory, Adrian V (Purg. xix, 99 ff.), and Martin IV (Purg. 
 xxiv, 22-25). Only one is mentioned by name as seen by Dante 
 in Paradise, John XXI (Par. xii, 134-135) ; and John XXII is de- 
 nounced by anticipation along vnih Clement V (Par. xxvii, 58). 
 In some of these instances, Dante shows respect for the office while 
 he reprobates the sin. Thus, when he recognizes Adrian V, he 
 falls on his knees; and even in the case of Boniface VIII whom he 
 ^ lashes unsparingly, he deprecates the insults heaped upon him at 
 .^ Anagni. See Purg. xx, 87-88. His denunciation of the abuses 
 \ of the Papal See in Par. xxvii, 22 ff., is one of the grandest passages 
 V inihn poem. 
 
 /i^nastasius II was Pope from 496 to 498. The Emperor Zeno 
 7(474-491) had been persuaded by Acacius, the Patriarch of Con- 
 I stantinople, to prepare in 482, a document called " Henotikon" or 
 y* Unifier," the purpose of which was to adjust the controversy 
 about the nature of Christ's person. For this Acacius was excom- 
 
NOTES 223 
 
 municated, and his name was ordered to be stricken from the roll 
 of those who, after their death, should be mentioned in the prayers 
 of the Church. Pope Anastasius, on his accession, sent two Bishops 
 to the Emperor, declaring his willingness to recognize the consecra- 
 tions performed by Acacius during his lifetime. He dared to doubt 
 the damnation of a Bishop excommunicated by the See of Rome, 
 and wished to have the name of Acacius passed over in silence rather 
 than publicly expunged from the roll of the blessed. Photinus, 
 a deacon of Thessalonica, came to Rome with the purpose of pro- 
 curing the restoration of Acacius' name to the roll. He was cor- 
 dially received by Anastasius. The clergy disagreed with the Pope, 
 and withdrew their allegiance. Thus arose the story which Dante 
 revived, that Anastasius was persuaded to heresy by Photinus. 
 The assertion that Dante is here confusing Pope Anastasius with the 
 Emperor of that name is without sufficient ground. 
 
 17. these rocks. Those mentioned in 1. 2, which formed the bank 
 enclosing the seventh circle. 
 
 18. in gradation. Descending in stages. 
 
 23. wickedness. The following distinction between sins of violence 
 and sins of fraud is drawn from Cicero, "De Officiis," i, 13. 
 
 27. an ill peculiar. Because it involves the use of reason which 
 only man possesses. 
 
 30. the violent. The seventh circle is occupied by the Violent 
 only, but is subdivided into three minor circles or rounds. 
 
 35. to them and what is theirs. Violence may be done either to 
 person or to property. 
 
 50. denying him in heart. See Ps. xiv, 1. 
 
 51. his boimty. The bounty or goodness of God, not of Nature. 
 Unnatural sin is here combined with usury: Sodom with Cahors. 
 
 52. Cahors. In the south of France, on the river Lot. The term 
 Caorsinus came to be used as synonymous with "usurer." See 
 St. Peter's denunciation in Par. xxvii, 58, 59. 
 
 53. 54. speaks with his own heart. As 1. 50. 
 
 55. is every conscience stung. Not that every one is guilty of 
 fraud, but that the fraudulent acts deliberately and with fore- 
 thought, and not under the influence of passion; therefore he is 
 fully conscious of his sin. 
 
 56. a man may practise, etc. A man can employ fraud upon one 
 who trusts him or upon one who does not trust him. In the latter 
 case, the fraud breaks merely the bond of love which one has for his 
 neighbor as being human like himself. This class of sins is punished 
 in the ten pits of Malebolge in the eighth circle. 
 
 60. which Nature forms. The second class of fraud ruptures not 
 only the natural, human bond, but the ties of kindred, friendship, 
 etc., which should create a peculiar bond of trustfulness between 
 men. This is treachery, the vilest form of fraud, punished in the 
 four ice-bound rounds at the bottom of Hell. 
 
 75. But tell me, etc. Dante's question is why the tenants of 
 Circles II, III, IV, V, — the Lustful, the Gluttons, the Angry, and 
 the Misers and Spendthrifts — are not punished in the lower instead 
 of in the upper Hell. He does not see how the classification laid 
 
224 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 out by Vergil for the lower Hell explains the lighter punishment of 
 the upper circles. Vergil in reply refers him to the classification 
 of Aristotle, that all wrong-doing falls under the categories of In- 
 continence, Malice, and Brutishness, and to his assertion that 
 Incontinence is less displeasing to God, and worthy of less rep>- 
 rehension. Aristotle makes a distinction between sins of impulse 
 and sins of deliberate intellectual determination, habitually pursued, 
 in the entire absence of passion. The former are outside of "the 
 red city," the latter within its walls. But this Aristotelian classi- 
 fication is not carried further; and in the scheme of the lower Hell, 
 Cicero is followed. See note on 1. 23. Cicero's words are: "Injury 
 is wrought in two ways : that is, either by violence or by fraud; fraud 
 as of the fox, violence as of the lion. Both are most alien to man, 
 but fraud deserves the greater detestation." Neither the classifi- 
 cation of Cicero nor that of Aristotle provides a place for the sin of 
 the sixth circle — infidelity, especially in its materialistic aspect. This 
 seems to form an intermediate grade, in which the sin is less flagrant 
 than the sins of violence, and graver than the sins of impulse. 
 
 100. usury offends. See 1. 51 and note. Dante's question 
 Ls why the Usurers are classed with the Sodomites. Vergil replies 
 that the operations of Nature originate with God and with his art 
 or process of working. Man's art in acquiring the means of sub- 
 sistence therefore follows Nature as Nature follows God. Both 
 the natural and the divine law are laid down in Gen. ii, 15: "By 
 the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread." The Usurer "takes 
 another way." He strives to acquire wealth without labor, and 
 therefore sins against both God and Nature. Thus the Sodomite 
 and the Usurer alike sin against Nature. 
 
 118. the Fishes. The sun was now in Aries, which it enters 
 at the vernal Equinox. The Fishes are the zodiacal sign preceding 
 Aries. Comp. Irurg. i, 22; xxxii, 54. The time indicated is early 
 dawn, between 4 and 5 A. M. 
 
 119. the Wain. The constellation known as Ursa Major or the 
 Greater Bear. 
 
 120. Caurus. Lit., "the northwest wind," but used here for the 
 northwestern quarter. The Wain lies just upon the northwest line. 
 
 CANTO xn 
 
 2. what was there. The Minotaur. 
 
 4. that landslip. A tremendous slide of rocks known as the 
 Slavini di Marco, between Ala and Roveredo, on the road from 
 Trent to Verona. Albertus Magnus, the Schoolman and Dante's con- 
 temporary, in his treatise on Meteors, explains the cause of landslips, 
 and as one of his illustrations cites the fall of a great mountain 
 between Trent and Verona, which fell into the Adige and over- 
 whelmed villages and people along a stretch of three or four miles. 
 
 6. by earthquake. Albertus says that mountains fall because 
 of earthquakes, or from the undermming of their bases by water. 
 
NOTES 225 
 
 12, 13. the Infamy of Crete. The Minotaur, a monster, half-man 
 and half-bull. Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, King of Crete, in order 
 to gratify her lust for a bull, entered a wooden cow. The offspring 
 was the Minotaur, which was kept in a labyrinth in Crete, constructed 
 by Daedalus. As a satisfaction for the murder of his son, the 
 Athenians were compelled by Minos to send to Crete annually, seven 
 youths and seven maidens to be devoured by the beast. The mon- 
 ster was finally slain by Theseus, with the help of Ariadne, Minos's 
 daughter, who provided him with a sword and a clue to the labyrinth. 
 See Aen. vi, 24-30. This brutal creature is a fitting guardian of the 
 circle occupied by bloody tyrants. 
 
 17. the Duke of Athens. Theseus. 
 
 20. schooled. Tutored, by Ariadne, the daughter of Pasiphae and 
 therefore sister of the Minotaur. 
 
 21. that bull. Comp. Aen. ii, 223-4. 
 
 " Right as the wilde bole biginneth springe 
 Now here, now there, y-darted to the herte, 
 And of his death roreth in compleyninge." 
 
 Chaucer, " Troilus and Criseyde," iv. 239 ff. 
 
 24. plunges. Lit., "skips, frisks." A touch of irony. It suggests 
 the slang usage of the word "waltz." 
 
 27. the pass. Where the Minotaur had been. 
 
 29. discharge. The original word, "unloading," is peculiarly 
 graphic, picturing a mass of loose stones shot out down the slope 
 as from a vast wagon. 
 
 31. novel weight. Of a mortal body. 
 
 37. the other time. See Inf. ix, 23. 
 
 38. if I rightly judge. Vergil speaks with some hesitation, as 
 one who is not familiar with the facts of Christian history. 
 
 39. Dis. See note on Inf. viii, 71. 
 
 40. the great prey. See Inf. iv, 52 ff. The spirits of the Patri- 
 archs. 
 
 42. so trembled. Referring to the earthquake at the time of the 
 Crucifixion. Matt, xxvii, 51. 
 
 43, 44. there are who think. Referring to the teaching of Em- 
 pedocles (see note on Inf. iv, 135). He held that the world was 
 formed of six principles or natural forces, viz., the four elements, 
 and love and hatred. This formation was due to discord between the 
 elements and the motions of Heaven, in other words, by homogeneous 
 matter separating itself from homogeneous, to unite with hetero- 
 geneous matter. When, after a certain time, the elements and the 
 motions of Heaven were in agreement, love, or the tendency of like 
 to unite with like, was generated; and thus the world was resolved 
 into chaos, with a tremendous convulsion. Vergil, feeling Hell 
 tremble, supposed that Empedocles' opinion was correct: that by 
 force of natural love the links had been broken, and the heteroge- 
 neous parts dispersed to unite with the homogeneous ones, and that 
 the universe had again resolved itself into chaos. 
 
 46. here and elsewhere. See Inf. xxiii, 141-142. 
 
 48. the river of blood. Phlegethon. See Inf. xiv, 130-136. 
 
226 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 55. as that. The arc which they saw was a segment of a circular 
 trench compassing the entire plain. 
 
 57. 'twixt the bottom. The foot of the bank which they had just 
 descended was separated by a space from the margin of the river 
 of blood. 
 
 58. Centaurs. Half-horses and half-men. 
 
 " Until at last in sight the Centaur drew, 
 A mighty grey horse, trotting down the glade. 
 Over whose back the long grey locks were laid. 
 That from his reverend head abroad did flow ; 
 For to the waist was man, but all below, 
 A mighty horse." 
 
 William Morris, " Jason." 
 
 62. shafts. Properly "long arrows." 
 
 already picked. Selected before they separated from the group. 
 65. from where you are. Do not advance toward us. Comp. 
 Purg. Lx, 85-87, and Aen. vi, 388-389. 
 
 69. Nessus. Nessus was the ferr>^man at the Evenus, a river 
 of Aetolia. He is described in the "Trachiniae" of Sophocles, 
 559 ff. "Who used to carry men in his arms for hire across the 
 deep waters of the Evenus, using no oar to waft them, nor sail of 
 ship." 
 
 70. Deianira. The second wife of Hercules. While journeying 
 with her husband from Calydon to Trachis, Nessus, at the ford 
 of the Evenus, attempted to outrage her, and was shot by Hercules 
 with a poisoned arrow. 
 
 71. wreaked vengeance. When dying, Nessus gave to Deianira 
 a shirt stained with his poisoned blood, and told her that if her 
 husband should prove imfaithful, it would be the means of restoring 
 him. Hercules became infatuated with lole, and Deianira sent 
 him the garment, and the poison destroyed him. The whole passage 
 is drawn from Ovid, Metam. ix, 101 ff. 
 
 72. Chiron. Chiron was the most celebrated of the Centaurs. 
 Homer, II. xi, 832, describes him as "the most just of the Centaurs." 
 He was the instructor of Jason, Hercules, Aesculapius, and Achilles. 
 
 74. so full of wrath. Vergil, Geor. ii, 456, speaks of Pholus as 
 one of "the raging Centaurs." 
 
 77, 78. more than its sin allots it. The offenders are immersed 
 at different depths, according to the degree of their guilt. 
 
 79. Chiron took a shaft, etc. One of the finest pictures in all 
 poetry. 
 
 notch. The notch-end of the arrow. The word is also used for 
 the arrow itself. See Inf. xyu, 136. 
 
 88. necessity. Since this journey was the only means of restoring 
 Dante to a righteous life. See Inf. i, 88 f. Purg. i, 59-65. 
 
 89, 90. one who laid on me, etc. Beatrice. Inf. ii, 67-70. 
 
 92. a robber's sold. Nor am I the spirit of a robber who violently 
 seizes others' goods, like those in this circle. 
 
 95. we may keep near. Interpretations differ. Some explain: 
 "to whom we may be approved and held dear." One modem 
 
NOTES 227 
 
 commentator says that the phrase, in the sense of "near," is still 
 in use among the people about Genoa. 
 
 106. tjnrants. Their sufferings are described by Dante without 
 comment. "It is seldom that his narrative is so absolutely ret- 
 icent and colorless in respect of the effect produced upon himself, 
 as it is here." — Moore. 
 
 109. Alexander. It is disputed whether the reference is to Alex- 
 ander the Great, Alexander of Pherae, B.C. 368-359, notorious 
 for his ferocity (see Cicero "De Officiis," ii, 7), or Alexander Balas, 
 who gave himself out as the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, laid claim 
 to the throne in Antioch, was defeated near Antioch by Jonathan 
 the Maccabee, and died B.C. 145. The reference to Alexander of 
 Pherae is pressed on the ground of his being coupled with Dionysius 
 in the passage in Cicero above. But in that passage he is not cited 
 as an illustration of tyranny, but of suspiciousness. There can be 
 no doubt, however, that Alexander of Pherae was well entitled to 
 a place in the river of blood. Grote says he was "the greatest 
 potentate in Thessaly, as well as the most sanguinary tyrant, 
 until the time of his death." It is related of him that he used to 
 clothe his victims in the skins of wild beasts and have them worried 
 by his hounds. Against the reference to Alexander the Great, it 
 is urged that Dante in his other works speaks of him with high praise; 
 lauding, for instance, his royal beneficence in Conv. iv, 11, 7. But, 
 as Mr. Butler aptly remarks, such words are offset by Dante's 
 citing Bertrand de Bom along with Alexander, as one of the world's 
 generous benefactors, while he none the less puts Bertrand in the 
 ninth pit of Malebolge. Lucan and Orosius, both favorite authori- 
 ties of Dante, speak in the strongest terms of Alexander's tyranny 
 and cruelty. Alexander the Great is not among the great shades 
 in Limbo, and it is not probable that Dante would have referred 
 here to a comparatively inconspicuous personage without adding 
 something to distinguish him from one whose name was universally 
 familiar. 
 
 Dionysius. B.C. 405-365. The tyrant of Syracuse. 
 
 112. Azzolino. Azzolino or Ezzelino da Romano, 1194-1259. 
 son-in-law of the Emperor Frederick II, and chief of the Ghibellines 
 of upper Italy. His sister Cunizza in Paradise alludes to him as 
 "a firebrand." Par. ix, 28-31. He was lord of the March of 
 Treviso, and was guilty of the foulest atrocities. A graphic de- 
 scription of his cruelties may be found in Mr. J. A. Symonds's 
 "Renaissance in Italy," Vol. I, p. 97 ff. Vol. IV, p. 280. 
 
 113. Obizzo of Esti. 1264-1293. Marquis of Ferrara and of the 
 March of Ancona. A Guelf. The accent of "Esti" falls on the 
 last syllable. 
 
 120. boiling stream. The word hulicame, as a common noun, 
 occurs only here and in 1. 129. In Inf. xiv, 77, it is a proper name. 
 
 122. cleft the heart. Guy de Montfort, son of Simon de Montfort 
 and Eleanor, daughter of King John of England. In 1271 he 
 murdered his first cousin. Prince Henry, son of Richard, duke of 
 Cornwall, and consequently nephew of Henry III of England. 
 The murder was perpetrated in the church of San Silvestro at 
 
228 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Viterbo. The crime was committed at mass, it waa said at the 
 Elevation of the Host. Hence the expression, "in the bosom of 
 God." 
 
 123. on the Thames is venerated. The word rendered "is vener- 
 ated," is by some editors explained "continues to drip blood." 
 The reference is to an unfounded story that Henry's heart was 
 enclosed in a gold casket and placed on a pillar on London Bridge. 
 The stoiy is told by Villani, Cron. vii, 39. The murderer is pictured 
 as standing alone on one side, either because of the special enormity 
 of his crime, or because, being an Englishman, his race and country 
 were remote. Comp. Saladin, Inf. iv, 126, and Sordello, Purg. vi, 
 62. The passage iUustrates Dante's habit of indicating cities or 
 towns by the names of their rivers. See Inf. xxvii, 54; xv, 112; 
 Par. vi, 58-60. 
 
 135. Attila. King of the Huns, A.D. 434-453. Known as " the 
 scourge of Grod." His portrait is very finely drawn by Mr. T. Hodgkin 
 in the second volume of "Italv and Her Invaders. " 
 
 136. Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus, Kmg of Epirus, B.C. 318-272. He 
 invaded Italy in 280, at the in^'itation of the Tarentines to assist 
 them in their war against the Romans. He defeated the Roman 
 army near Heraclea. In 279 he gained another victory. He went 
 to Sicily, where he remained for two years, returned to Italy in 
 276, and in 275 was utteriy defeated near Beneventum, and was 
 forced to leave Italy, After some enterprises in Greece, he was 
 slain in 242. He was the greatest warrior of his time, and wrote 
 a work on the art of war. He is placed in Hell because of his in- 
 vasion of Italy. 
 
 Sextus. Sextus Pompey, the younger son of Pompey the Great. 
 Bom B.C. 75. In the civil wars which followed the assassination 
 of Julius Caesar (B.C. 44), he obtained a large fleet which enabled 
 him to stop all the supplies of com brought to Rome from Egypt 
 and the Eastern provinces. Owing to the scarcity which was thus 
 caused in the city, the Triumvirs were compelled to make peace 
 with him in B.C. 39. The war, however, was renewed the next 
 year, and in 36 he was defeated and put to death. Dante puts him 
 m Hell on account of his piracies. 
 
 136. forever draws. The sense is: Divine justice causes to 
 flow the tears which, by means of the boiling heat of the bloody 
 river, it extorts from Rinier, etc. 
 
 138. Rinier da Cometo; Rinier Pazzo. Two noted highwaymen. 
 
 CANTO xin 
 
 1. the other side. The side to which he was retuming after 
 lea\'ing the poets. 
 4. not branches smooth. 
 
 " With knotty knarry bareyn trees olde 
 Of stubbes sharpe and hidous to biholde.' 
 
 Chaucer, " Knighte's Tale," 1977. 
 
NOTES 22^ 
 
 8, 9. between Caecina and Corneto. The district between the 
 mountains of Tuscany and the sea, known as Maremma, which is 
 Maritima, or the coast-land. From its low situation and want of 
 drainage it was infected with malaria. In the wider sense, the 
 name covered the whole strip along the western coast of Italy, from 
 the Gulf of Spezzia to the Gulf of Salerno. In the narrower sense, 
 it is where Dante places it, where the malaria most prevails. Bas- 
 sermann says: "I am especially familiar with the wood southward 
 from Massa; and the picture of the Maremma which Dante sketches 
 answers to it only too well. An uneasy, oppressive feeling seizes 
 us when these bush-woods surround us. There is nothing of the 
 cheerful, mild poetry of our forest; no spacious vistas and mossy 
 resting-places. In whatever direction we go, we are surrounded 
 with thick, vicious underwood, mostly stone-oaks and cork-oaks, 
 with their tangled branches and the dusky green of their hard, 
 leathern leaves. Our path follows it without end or break; and 
 if occasionally a tree appears overhead, it is a deformed monster 
 which writhes upward out of the confusion, with wrathfully distorted 
 masses of limbs. The forests of Maremma cannot to-day be better 
 described than in Dante's words; and the fancy is moved involun- 
 tarily to invest with life, as he has done, the very tree-forms 
 which start up from the thicket. " (" Dante's Spuren in Italien. ") 
 The Maremma appears in Inf. xxv, 20, as the haunt of serpents; 
 in Inf. xxix, 51, as a sickly region; in Purg. v, 143, as destroying 
 life with its poisonous atmosphere. 
 
 10. Harpies. The word means "snatchers," and was used by 
 Homer to personify whirlwinds or hurricanes, and to symbolize the 
 sudden and total disappearance of men. The conception adopted 
 by Vergil and Dante is later. 
 
 11. the Strophades. The Strophades were two islands in the 
 Ionian sea off the coast of Messenia. The name, which is derived 
 from the Greek verb "to turn, " was connected with the return of 
 the sons of Boreas from these islands to which they had pursued 
 the Harpies. Aeneas and his companions touched there on their 
 voyage to Italy. The Harpies defiled their tables, and one of 
 them solemnly predicted disaster to the Trojans. See Aen. iii, 
 210-258. 
 
 19. the dreadful sand. In the third round. See Inf. xiv, 8-15. 
 
 24, 25. I think that he thought. For similar plays on words, see 
 Inf. xiii, 68; xxvi, 70-71; xxx, 140-141; Purg. xx, 1; Par. v, 139. 
 
 41. drips. The word means primarily "to distil drops," or "to 
 send forth bubbles." Mr. Vernon says that in the Florentine 
 market the cheese-sellers, praising their Parmesan, cry, "Guardi '1 
 bel Parmegiano! lo vedi come geme!" ("See the fine Parmesan! 
 See how it sends out drops of moisture!") They also use piange 
 "weeps," in the same sense. 
 
 46. could have believed. Vergil means that if Dante could have 
 accepted the story of Polydorus in the Aeneid as true, and had not 
 regarded it as a fable, he would not have broken the twig; but that 
 he (Vergil) stretched his own conscience in telling Dante to break 
 it, in order to convince him of the fact. 
 
230 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 58. I am the one, etc. Pier delle Vigne or Petrus de Vinea, 
 minister of Frederick II. In 1247, he was Frederick's private 
 secretary and confidential adviser. On the suspicion of having 
 intrigued with the Pope to poison the Emperor, he was blinded and 
 thro\NTi into prison, where he committed suicide. Dante, with 
 many others, believed that he was the victim of jealousy and slander. 
 No documentary evidence has ever been produced against him, 
 and no reason for his treachery has appeared. He was a poet, 
 and is credited with the invention of the sonnet. See "Vie et Cor- 
 respondance de Pierre de la Vigne, Ministre de V Empereur Frederic 
 II." Par A. Huillard-BrehoUes. Paris, 1866. 
 65. the harlot. En\y. 
 
 " En\^e 
 Is lavender in the grete court alway. 
 For she ne parteth, neither night ne day, 
 Out of the ho VIS of Caesar ; thus seith Dante." 
 
 Chaucer, " Legend of Good Women," Prologue, 333 ff. 
 
 68. Augustus. Frederick, The name Augustus was commonly 
 given to the Roman emperors from Octavianus do\sTi, Dante 
 uses it as the proper name of Octavianus, Inf. i, 68; Purg. xxix, 
 116. 
 
 70. taste of scorn. Through his own disdainful feeling. In 
 the Italian, Dante plays on the words "scornful" and "disdain." 
 
 75. of honor so deserving. The tribute thus paid to the master 
 who had so unjustly and cruelly treated him, is most touching. 
 
 84. such pity moves. This is one of the few instances where 
 Dante's compassion absorbs every other feeling. 
 
 87, 88. whate'er thy words entreat of him. The vindication of 
 his memory in the world. 
 
 100. spelt. A kind of oats with a very small brown grain which 
 throws out a great many sprouts. 
 
 103. a vent. Lit., "a wmdow." 
 
 104. our spoils. Our bodies, to be reclaimed at the last Judg- 
 ment. 
 
 105. but not that anyone may clothe. The law which ordains 
 that the original bod}' shall be resumed at the Judgment, does not 
 apply in the case of the Suicides, since "it is not just that one should 
 have that of which he deprives himself." They will bring their 
 bodies to the forest, where each will be suspended on the tree in 
 which the spirit has been confined. 
 
 110. its shade harassed. Because it is owing to the soul that 
 the body has been slain. 
 
 Now follows the punishment of those who have done violence 
 to themselves by squandering their property. 
 
 113. like one, etc. A very striking simile of one who hears a band 
 of huntsmen in pursuit of a wild boar, crashing tlirough the trees 
 and bushes, with the pack of hounds in full crj^ 
 
 118. hurdle. The meaning is disputed. Originally it appears 
 to have signified "a fan" or " a screen." It was used of a green 
 branch employed to drive away flies. Others explain it as a hedge 
 of trees. 
 
NOTES 231 
 
 119. hasten, death. Hasten, Death, to relieve me of torment 
 by extinction. 
 
 121. Lano. A Sienese gentleman of extravagant habits. He is 
 said to have been a member of "the Spendthrift Brigade" of Siena, 
 which flourished in the second half of the thirteenth century (see 
 Inf. xxix, 128-132), and which consisted of twelve members, each 
 of whom contributed a large sum to a common fund of which they 
 were sworn to spend lavishly. They hired a splendid palace, and 
 gave the most costly entertainments, accompanied with superb 
 presents to guests. One of their freaks was to fling out of the 
 window the gold and silver table-furniture, as soon as the banquet 
 was ended. 
 
 122. II Toppo. The story was that Lano, who had ruined him- 
 self by his extravagance, served at the battle of the Toppo, a ford 
 near Arezzo, where the Sienese were routed by the Aretines, and 
 that he refused to flee, courting certain death. The point of the 
 gibe is that if at the Toppo he had run as fast as he is running now, 
 he would have escaped. His death was really suicide. 
 
 124. he made a group. The one who had addressed Lano hid 
 himself in a bush, so that the bush and he formed but a single 
 object. 
 
 133. Jacomo da Sant* Andrea. A Paduan. He appears to have 
 been noted for reckless prodigality, and was supposed to have been 
 put to death by Ezzelino. See note on Inf. xii, 112. He also 
 appears to have had an incendiary mania, setting on fire not only 
 others' houses, but his own. The spirit imprisoned in the bush 
 in which Jacomo has taken refuge is another Suicide whose name is 
 not given. 
 
 141. my leaves dissevered. By Jacomo' s forcing himself into 
 the bush. 
 
 144. her first patron. The god Mars was the original patron 
 of Florence. A temple is said to have been erected to him in the 
 time of Augustus. "And they caused to be brought white and 
 black marbles and columns from many distant places, by sea ; and 
 then, by the Amo, they brought stone and columns from Fiesole, 
 and founded and built the said temple in the place anciently called 
 Camarti, and where the Fiesolans held their market. Very noble 
 and beautiful they built it, with eight sides, and when it had been 
 built with great diligence, they dedicated it to the god Mars who 
 was the god of the Romans; and they had his effigy carved in marble 
 in the likeness of an armed cavalier on horseback; they placed him 
 on a marble pillar in the midst of that temple, and held him in great 
 reverence, and adored him as their god so long as Paganism con- 
 tinued in Florence. " Villani, Cron. i, 42. The change of patron was 
 marked by the conversion of this temple into the church of St. John 
 the Baptist, the old cathedral of Florence, now the Baptistery, 
 which Dante calls "my fair Saint John." Inf. xix, 17. 
 
 147. on the crossing of the Amo. On the Ponte Vecchio. "And 
 from the noble and beautiful temple of the Florentines . . 
 the Florentines removed their idol, which they called the god Mars, 
 and placed it upon a high tower by the river Amo. . . . 
 
232 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 And although the Florentines had lately become Christians, they 
 still obsers-ed many Pagan customs, and long continued to obsen'^e 
 them, and they stiU stood in awe of their ancient idol of Mars." 
 Villani, Cron. i, 60. It was said that, after the destruction of 
 Florence, the statue of Mars feU into the Amo and remained there 
 as long as the city continued in ruins. When the city was rebuilt 
 by Charies the (Jreat, the statue was recovered, and was set up 
 again on a column on the bank of the river w^here the Ponte 
 Vecchio was afterward built. Par. xvi, 47. It was carried away 
 by a flood in 1333. 
 
 149. those citizens. Villani says that the Romans decreed that 
 members of the best families in Rome should go to Florence to 
 rebuUd and inhabit it, which was done; and that all they who dwelt 
 in the countn'^ around Florence, and her exiled citizens in every 
 place, gathered themselves to the host of the Romans and of the 
 Emperor to rebuild the city. Probably it is to these exiled citizens 
 that Dante refers here, 
 
 151. Attila Attila did not destroy Florence or come near it. It 
 is said that Dante confounded Attila with Totila, King of the Ostro- 
 goths. Totila set out to besiege Florence in A.D. 542; but the 
 siege was soon raised, and Florence never fell uito the hands of 
 the Goths. See Hodgkm, "Italy and Her Invaders," iv, 396, 399. 
 
 152. I made myself a gibbet. Hung myself at home. The name 
 Giubetto was given to a house in Paris where executions — behead- 
 ing, hanging, etc., were performed. 
 
 CANTO XIV 
 
 1. Affection. Dante's love for his native country prompts him 
 to comply with the request of the shade (Cant, xiii, 141-142) who 
 was a Florentine. 
 
 4. the boimdary. Of the forest. 
 
 5. from the third the second roimd. They have reached the 
 third round of the seventh circle (see preliminary note to Cant. xi). 
 Here are punished the Violent against God. Such violence may be 
 offered to God Himself (blasphemy), or to Nature, the ministress of 
 God (Sodomy), or to God's gifts through Nature (Usur}^. 
 
 12. a stretch of sand. 
 
 " Then saw I but a large feld, 
 As fer as that I mighte see, 
 Withouten toun or hous, or tree, 
 Or bush, or gras, or ered lond ; 
 For al the feld was but of sond 
 As smal as man may see yet lye 
 In the desert of Libye." 
 
 Chaucer. " Hous of Fame," 482 ff. 
 
 14. Gate. Marcus, sumamed Cato the Less, and Cato Uticensis, 
 from his death at Utica. Born B.C. 93. When the rupture be- 
 tween Pompey and Caesar occurred, he took the side of Pompey. 
 
h 
 
 NOTES ' 233 
 
 He was not present at Pharsalia, B.C. 48, where Pompey was 
 defeated. He went to Africa, hoping to meet Pompey, but heard 
 of his death, and also that Pompey 's father-in-law, Scipio, had 
 gone to join Juba the King of Mauretania. In order to meet Scipio, 
 Cato was compelled to make a long and painful march across a 
 desert, in which his troops suffered severely. This is what Dante 
 alludes to. See Lucan, Phars, ix, 371-378. 
 
 20. diverse law seemed, etc. That is, the three classes of trans- 
 gressors were punished in different ways, and with different degrees 
 of severity. The Blasphemers lie supine; the Sodomites are in 
 continued motion; the Usurers sit hunched up. 
 
 25, 26. freer were their tongues, etc. Those who are lying down 
 utter louder cries. The tongues which, in life, were loud in blas- 
 phemy, are here loosed in imprecations. 
 
 o'er all the sand. The fiery rain descended upon the sinners of 
 all grades. 
 
 27. dilated flakes of fire. Appropriate to the Sodomites. See 
 Gen. xix, 24. Fire is applied in Purgatory to the same offence. 
 See Purg. xxvi, 30 ff. 
 
 28. snow-flakes. There is a reminder here of Homer, B. xii, 
 278 ff. 
 
 " As when, upon a winter day, the flakes 
 Of snow fall thick, when Zeus the Counsellor, 
 His shafts to men displaying, has begun 
 To snow, and having laid the winds to rest, 
 Unceasing pours it down." 
 
 The picture is very striking. The fire falls in broad flakes, 
 "dilated." When there is no wind, the snow-flakes are broad. A 
 wind cuts them into small bits. 
 
 30. Alexander. Dante drew this story from a fictitious letter 
 of Alexander to Aristotle, entitled : " A Letter of Alexander the King 
 to Aristotle his Teacher, concerning the Marvels of India." Dante 
 probably found this passage of the letter in Albertus Magnus's 
 " Treatise on Meteors" (see note on Inf. xii, 4). In the letter, how- 
 ever, the story is that snow fell, which Alexander ordered his 
 soldiers to trample down. This was followed by rain, and then 
 fiery clouds like torches were seen to descend from heaven, and the 
 soldiers were ordered to tear their clothes and extinguish the flames 
 with them. It is easy to see how the confusion in Dante's account 
 came about. 
 
 29. those torrid climes. That is, through India, which is a torrid 
 region. Not the hot parts of India through which Alexander's 
 march lay. 
 
 35. So was descending. No translation can give the full effect 
 of this line, which in its structure and movement conveys the slow, 
 steady descent of the fiery flakes. It is impossible to read the 
 Italian line rapidly; and the contrast is very striking with the quick 
 movement and crackle of the two succeeding lines which describe 
 the kindling of the sand like tinder under steel. 
 
 38. dance. The "dance" of the hands. A graphic picture of 
 
234 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the hands moving rapidly to and fro. Tresca was a brisk, unrhyth- 
 mical dance in which the hands were much used. 
 
 41. freshly fallen. Continually renewed. 
 
 45. that mighty soul. This was Capaneus, one of the seven myth- 
 ical heroes who marched against Thebes. While in the act of 
 scaling the walls, he was struck with lightning by Zeus, because 
 he had dared to defy the Thunderer. Aeschylus thus describes 
 him: "This is a giant greater than the other aforementioned, 
 and his boast savors not of humanity; but he threatens fearful 
 things against our towers, which may Fortune not bring to pass; 
 for he declares that whether the god is willing or unwilling, he 
 will lay waste our city, and that not even the wrathful bolt of Zeus 
 darting down upon the ground shall stop him. And he is wont to 
 compare both the lightnings and the thunderbolts to the heat of 
 noontide." "Seven against Thebes," 411-418. See also 427-432. 
 Dante took the story from Statins, Theb. x, 897-918. 
 
 48. mellow. Make more submissive. 
 
 52. his smith. Vulcan, who forged the thunderbolts of Zeus. 
 
 52. in his anger. Aroused by the threats of Capaneus. 
 
 55. the others. The other workmen, the Cyclopes. 
 
 56. Mongibello. Aetna: where Vulcan was supposed to have 
 his forge. See Aen. xiii, 416-438. 
 
 57. Phlegra. In Thrace, where, according to the legend, Zeus 
 defeated and slew the giants who attempted to storm Olympus. 
 
 60. spoke with energy. Vergil's indignation is roused by the 
 contumacious blasphemy of Capaneus. 
 
 63. no torment save thy rage. No torment would be equal to 
 your own impotent rage. See 1. 70. 
 
 70. ornaments, etc. Ironical. His fury is represented as a 
 decoration upon his breast. 
 
 75. a little brook. This is Phlegethon, at which they arrived 
 after descending the slope to the seventh circle (Cant, xii, 47-48). 
 Here they strike it again, where it issues from the forest of the 
 Suicides. 
 
 77. Bulicame. A sulphurous, boiling spring, two miles west 
 of Viterbo. From this issued a brook which formed a bath sup- 
 posed to have medicinal qualities, and much frequented by invalids. 
 In its course the stream traversed a quarter to which public prosti- 
 tutes were confined. Being forbidden to use the baths to which 
 other women resorted, they had the water conducted into their 
 houses. This is what Dante refers to in the phrase "divide among 
 themselves." Bassermann ("Dante's Spuren in Italien") says 
 that the source is on a low, bare hiU, from which, probably, are 
 derived the copious deposits of the water. The spring is a sparkling, 
 steaming pit of perhaps three metres in diameter, the water of 
 which is almost too hot for the hand to bear. From it radiate 
 five streams, all steaming, and bordered on each of their sides with 
 rims of snow-white sediment. The petrifaction goes on very 
 rapidly. Some channels lie considerably higher than the meadow- 
 ground of the hill, from which they sharply detach themselves. 
 Occasionally the deposits completely close the channels and take 
 
NOTES 235 
 
 their place. Others are artificially deepened, and in these the 
 steaming cascades take their way between margins of blinding 
 white or intense yellow, in a way quite diabolical. The petri- 
 faction is alluded to in 11. 80-81. 
 
 90. give me freely the repast. Dante asks that, as Vergil has 
 awakened great curiosity in him, he will satisfy it in corresponding 
 measure. 
 
 Vergil now describes the origin of the infernal rivers. 
 
 92. a barren land. Probably by comparison with former times, 
 since Crete, originally, was populous and fertile. Boccaccio says 
 that in his time the Venetians were oppressing Crete, had driven 
 out many of the former inhabitants, and had turned a great part 
 of the soil into pasture, or had caused it to lie fallow. 
 
 93. Crete. Now Candia in the Mediterranean, 
 whose king. Saturn. 
 
 94. was innocent. See Aen. viii, 319 ff. 
 
 95. Ida. See Aen. iii, 104-113. 
 
 97. Rhea. Also known as Cybele. According to the Greek 
 legends she represented the fruitfulness of Nature. She was the 
 mother of Zeus, to whom she gave birth in a cave on Mt. Ida, where 
 she concealed him from the wUes of Saturn. She intrusted the care 
 of him to her servants, the Curetes, who, in order to prevent his 
 being discovered, made an uproar by beating their spears against 
 their shields. Accordingly, the priests of the Cretan Rhea and 
 the Idaean Zeus executed noisy war-dances at the festivals of those 
 gods. The worship of Cybele, which was practised on the mount- 
 ains of Lydia, Mysia, and Phrygia, was also accompanied with the 
 clangor of horns, drums, and cymbals. Dante's account is drawn 
 from Ovid, "Fasti," iv, 197-214. 
 
 101. old man. The following picture of the old man of Crete 
 is founded on the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Dan. ii, 32, 
 33, which symbolized the monarchies of the ancient world. Dante's 
 figure symbolizes the history of the human race as it passed suc- 
 cessively through the golden, silver, and iron ages. 
 
 102, Damietta. Or Damiata. In Egypt, at the mouth of the 
 easternmost branch of the Nile delta. Here it is used generally 
 for the East, where were the great ancient monarchies. The figure 
 faces Rome, the later seat of imperial authority, turning its back 
 upon the old and vanished monarchies. The course of empire is 
 from east to west. 
 
 104. his mirror. The ideal of monarchy, according to Dante, 
 would be realized only in Rome. See De Mon. i, 15, 16. 
 
 of fine gold. The first or golden age. See Ovid, Metam. i, 
 89-112. 
 
 106. Silver. The gradual deterioration of the metals denotes 
 the moral deterioration of mankind in the successive ages. For 
 the silver age, see Ovid, Met. i, 114-124. It was the beginning of 
 the decline and fall of the Empire. 
 
 107. brass. "A race more fierce in disposition and more ready 
 for dreadful arms, not infamous nevertheless." Ovid, Metam. i, 
 125 ff. The brass marks a further decadence, ending in the division 
 
236 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 of the Eastern and Western Empires at the death of Theodosius. 
 The division is figured by the fork, 1. 106. 
 
 108. chosen iron. Iron, without admixture of any other metal, 
 symboUzing the wars which form nearly the whole of the history 
 of Dante's own age. See Ovid, Metam. i, 127 ff. 
 
 109. baked clay. The clay foot, on which the figure chiefly 
 rests, denotes the vile and fragile basis on which both the ecclesias- 
 tical and political institutions of the time were founded. It may, 
 perhaps, also indicate that the end of all things is at hand, especially 
 as, to Dante, the last hope of the strong, triumphant Roman Empire 
 seemed to be extinguished with the Hohenstaufen. 
 
 112. dripping with tears. The tears figure the sorrows of man- 
 kind caused by their sins, which have marked the successive ages 
 of decline. None flow from the head, for the golden age was one of 
 innocence and happiness. 
 
 113. a passage make. The tears make a passage through that 
 cavern where the image is. 
 
 114. this valley. HeU. 
 
 114, 115. Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon. There is but one river 
 bearing different names at different parts of its course. 
 
 118. Cocytus. The frozen lake at the bottom of the abyss. 
 
 120. If thus the present rill, etc. Dante's question is : "If this 
 stream which we see has flowed all the way down through Hell 
 from the upper world, how happens it that we have not met with 
 it before?" Vergil's answer is, in effect, that although they have 
 descended through six circles and have kept moving toward the 
 left, they have not gone around the entire circumference of Hell; 
 the implication being that the stream, though passing through the 
 circles above, did not pass through any section of the circles which 
 they had visited. In the seventh circle, Dante had already seen 
 and crossed this stream. See Inf. xii, 47, 129. But evidently he 
 does not recognize it as the same. 
 
 131. thou sayest nothing. Vergil had not included Lethe among 
 the names in U. 114-115. 
 
 132. this rain. The rain of tears flowuig down from the cave 
 on Ida. 
 
 135. the boiling of the crimson stream. Vergil assumes that 
 Dante knows the derivation and meaning of the word Phlegethon, 
 "flaming," and says that the fierj^ red of the river might have sug- 
 gested its name. ' Dante, although he knew no Greek, might have 
 learned this from Aen. \i, 550-551. 
 
 136. thou Shalt see Lethe. In the Earthly Paradise on the summit 
 of the mount of Purgatory. 
 
 141, 142. they are not on fire. Because not covered with the 
 inflamed sand. See 11. 80-82. 
 
NOTES 237 
 
 CANTO XV 
 
 1. one of the hard margins. A narrow space along the bank 
 of Phlegethon, petrified by the stream. The bank on the top of 
 which their path Hes, is between the sandy plain and the stream. 
 On the side of the sand the track is less than a man's height above 
 the sand, so that Brunetto, walking on the sand, can reach the 
 bottom of Dante's robe, 
 
 2, 3. the smoke a shade diffuses. The dense smoke arising 
 from the boiling brook forms a cloud of vapor which extinguishes 
 the fiery flakes before they fall into the water or upon the path. 
 
 4. Wissant. Very often explained as Cadsand, in the Nether- 
 lands, about fifteen miles northeast of Bruges. But Cadsand, apart 
 from the fact that it is not in Flanders, is called in Italian, Gaggiante, 
 not Guizzante. The reference is to the port of Wissant, between 
 Calais and Cape Grisnez, in what was formerly a part of Flanders. 
 
 7, 8. the Paduans along the Brenta. The Brenta rises in the 
 Tyrolese Alps above Trent, flows southeast and south, is joined 
 by the Bacchiglione just below Padua, and empties into the Vene- 
 tian lagoons. 
 
 9. Chiarentana. A mountainous province of lUyria, between 
 Styria and the Tyrol. In early times it embraced the Val Sugana, 
 where are the headwaters of the Brenta, and extended as far as 
 Padua. Some, however, identify it with Canzana or Carenzana, 
 a mountain-group in the neighborhood of Trent. Bassermann 
 thinks it is the lake of Caldonazzo in the same neighborhood, which 
 he says is in a special sense the source of the Brenta. He urges 
 that, since all the points named are in the region of Verona, Dante 
 must have become personally familiar with them during his residence 
 with the Scaligers in that city. Apart from the identification of the 
 name, Dante's meaning here is plain. The Paduans, before the 
 warm season which melts the snows at the sources of the Brenta, 
 take measures to guard themselves against the spring floods. 
 
 11. whate'er it was Two renderings are possible. "What- 
 ever the height of the infernal dikes may have been" ; or, "Whoever 
 it was that made the dikes" ; that is to say, whether God made them 
 by the agency of angels or of devils. But the former of the two 
 renderings falls in better with Dante's evident intent not to define 
 specifically the height or the bulk of the dikes 
 
 18, 19. peered with puckered brows. Knitting the brows and 
 narrowing the eyelids. 
 
 20 an old tailor, etc. The delicious realism is eminently character- 
 istic of Dante. 
 
 28. my face. Many read here "hand" for "face." But see 
 1. 44. 
 
 30. Brunetto Latini. (1210-1294.) It is disputed whether the 
 name should be written Brunetto Latim or Brunetto Latino The 
 majority of Dante scholars prefer the former, explaining that the 
 full name was Brunetto dei Latini, that is, Brunetto of the Latini. 
 
238 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 Scartazzini claims that the correct ancient usage was Brunetto 
 Latino, and is convinced that Brunetto always signed himself 
 Latino or dei Latini. but says that if he were living now, he would 
 write Brunetto Latini. As a fact, Brunetto himself uses both. He 
 was a notary, which explains the title, Ser. He no doubt exerted 
 an important influence upon Dante's intellectual development, but 
 cannot have been his master, as is so often asserted, since he was 
 about fifty-five years old when Dante was bom. He was a Guelf. 
 After the battle of Montaperti, he took refuge in France, where 
 he compiled the work to which he alludes in 1. 118, "the Tesoro" 
 or "Li\Te dou Tresor." He returned to Florence after the battle 
 of Benevento and the rout of the Ghibellines, and occupied several 
 public positions. He is said to have been the first who introduced 
 mto Florence the study of oratory and political science. Of the 
 sin for which he is placed in Hell there is no historical trace. Mr. 
 TojTibee thinks he may have been merely the representative of the 
 class of litterateurs who were especially addicted in those times to 
 the vice in question, which he emphatically condemns in the 
 "Tesoro." This work, as edited in 1863, "is," says Longfellow, 
 "a stately quarto of some seven hundred pages, which it would 
 assuage the fiery torment of Ser Brunetto to look upon." It is a 
 collection of treatises on a variety of topics — the Beginning of 
 Time, the Antiquity of Old Histories, the Vices and Virtues, the 
 Rules of Rhetoric, and the Principles of Government. 
 46. what chance or destiny. Comp. Aen. vi, 531. 
 
 51. ere I had reached full age. This probably means, "before 
 I reached my thirty-fifth year." The "valley " or the "gloomy 
 wood" (Inf. i, 2, 15) probably refers to his going astray morally after 
 Beatrice's death, which was in 1290, when Dante was twenty-five 
 years old. 
 
 yestermom. The morning of Good Friday — the real, and not 
 an ideal Good Friday — on April 5th. He enters the seventh circle 
 between 3 and 5 a.m. on Easter Eve. See Inf. xi, 120. 
 
 52. I turned my back. In the attempt to ascend the mountain 
 of Virtue. Inf. i, 13, 14, 28 
 
 53. returning thither. Inf. i, 57-59. 
 
 54. homeward. Probably to Heaven; but some, back to earth. 
 But Vergil did not lead Dante back to earth. 
 
 57. if I — discerned aright. In his astrological obser^-ations 
 Brunetto possibly cast Dante's horoscope. 
 
 in the fair life. As compared with that of Hell. See note on 
 Inf. \'i, 51. 
 
 58. so untimely. Too early to be of serv'ice to Dante in his 
 maturer work. 
 
 62. Fiesole. About three miles northeast of Florence. Accord- 
 ing to tradition, Florence was originally peopled, partly bj' Romans 
 and partly by immigrants from Fiesole, who formed the Commons. 
 
 63. of the mountain and the rock. Florence was built largely of 
 stone from the quarries of Fiesole. Brunetto says that the descend- 
 ants of the Fiesolans still retain the quality of their stone. "The 
 building material, consisting of heavy stones or macigni, was fum- 
 
NOTES 239 
 
 ished by the neighboring stone-quarries of the hills of Fiesole and 
 Golfolina on the Amo, at the spot where the river forces a narrow 
 passage from the Florentine to the broad lower valley. Great 
 blocks of freestone, rough-hewn and gradually blackened by ex- 
 posure to the air, formed those massive walls that seemed as though 
 built for eternity. These walls have stamped their character on 
 the later Florentine architecture ; for the fifteenth and even the 
 sixteenth century remained faithful to this opus rusticum, which 
 has been transmitted down to our own days, modified, it is true, 
 in its harsher features, but essentially imchanged." A. von Reu- 
 mont, "Lorenzo de' Medici." 
 
 65. thy well-doing. His opposing the entry of Charles of Valois 
 into Florence, one of the causes for which he was banished in 1302. 
 Comp. Par. xvii, 46 f. 
 
 67. tart sorbs. The sorb or service-tree. Germ., Sperberbaum or 
 Elsebeere ; French, coenier. Serves is merely a form of sorbs, so that 
 service-tree is a tree bearing sorbs. The tree bears a very acid fruit, 
 like a small pear, and the wood is very hard. The old English name 
 was checker-tree. Vergil (Geor. iii, 380) describes the Scythian 
 nomads as drinking a kind of beer made of grain and sour sorbs. 
 
 68. blind. Two explanations are given : (1) The Florentines 
 blindly trusted the promises of Totila, who promised that, in their 
 interest, he would destroy Pistoia, and would give them great 
 privileges. On these assurances they opened their gates and lodged 
 him in the capitol, whereupon he caused the principal men of the 
 city to be massacred, and despoiled the city. But see note on 
 Inf. xiii, 151. (2) The Florentines allowed themselves to be im- 
 posed upon by the Pisans, who were about to undertake an ex- 
 pedition against the Saracens in Majorca. At this juncture they 
 were menaced by the Luccans, who proposed to seize Pisa. They 
 applied to Florence to protect their city during their absence, which 
 the Florentines did. On their return in 1114, the Pisans sent to the 
 Florentines as a thank-offering two porphyry columns taken at 
 Majorca, and these being defaced by fire they covered them with 
 scarlet cloth, a trick which the Florentines did not suspect or 
 discover. Villani says: "And the said columns are those which 
 stand in front of San Giovanni. " They are still to be seen near 
 the eastern gate of the Baptistery. There is little to choose 
 between the explanations. 
 
 72. shall be hungry. The Whites and the Blacks will both be 
 eager to secure Dante's adherence. 
 
 73. far from the goat. The proverb means that neither party 
 will succeed in winning Dante. See note on Inf. vi, 62. 
 
 74. a litter make, etc. Let them tear each other in pieces. 
 
 75. the plant. The original Roman stock, if any still survives. 
 From this stock Dante claimed descent. It is called "holy" as 
 being originally ordained by God as the source of the power which 
 should dominate the world. 
 
 82. in my mind is fixed, etc. Not only for Brunetto, but for 
 others punished for this vice, Dante shows marked respect. See 
 Inf. xvi, 18, 31, 57-59, "Which emotion is to overpower the other? 
 
240 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 There must be a conflict of sentiments. Which shall have promin- 
 ence in the artistic result? It is a question of feeling (in some sense, 
 we may say, of poetic feeling), not of morality ; one of personal 
 sentiment, not of moral judgment on Dante's part. His own 
 decision, at any rate, is: 
 
 " Sorrow and not disdain 
 Did your condition fix within me so, 
 That tardily it wholly is stripped ofiF." 
 
 Moore, " Dante Studies," ii, 222. 
 
 89. I note. In my memor\'. 
 
 to gloss with other text. To be commented on and explained by 
 Beatrice when he shall meet her. 
 
 94. earnest. The word means a payment made in security for 
 the fulfilment of a contract. Used here of the prediction of Bnmetto, 
 which is the earnest of Dante's future misfortunes. 
 
 95. not novel. He had heard a similar prediction from Ciacco 
 (Inf. v\, 65 S.), and from Farinata (Inf. x, 80-83). 
 
 Fortune. Let Fortune go on turning her wheel, and the Fiesolan 
 churls plying their drudgery. It matters not to me. All shall 
 come to pass according to God's will. 
 
 99. who marks it. Who lays to heart the words of the wise. 
 
 107. men of letters. The vice of sodomy is said to have prevailed 
 to a frightful extent among this class. The words of Benvenuto da 
 Imola are too long to quote here. They are given in Mr. Toynbee's 
 *'Dant€ Dictionary," p. 3, under Accorso, Francesco d'. 
 
 109. Priscian. A Latin grammarian who lived in Constantinople 
 at the beginning of the sixth centur\% A.D. Here he compiled his 
 great Latin Grammar in eighteen books, which was epitomized, and 
 used for a long time in the Middle Ages as a school-book, and which 
 was the foundation of the earlier modem treatises on Latin grammar. 
 There is no historical ground for accusing him of this vice. 
 
 110. Francesco d* Accorso. The son of the Florentine jurist, 
 Accorso da Bagnolo, a lecturer in the University of Bologna. Fran- 
 cesco was Professor of Civil Law at Bologna, and subsequently went 
 to England, where he lectured at Oxford in 1273. The Bolognese 
 were so anxious to retain his services that they forbade his going 
 under pain of confiscation of his property, and he was actually 
 proscribed. He returned to Bologna in 1281, when his property 
 was restored. He died in 1293. 
 
 112. was transferred. This is Andrea de' Mozzi , Bishop of Florence 
 1287-1295. In 1295, because of his depraved life, he was trans- 
 ferred by Boniface VIII ("the serv^ant of ser\'ants") to the see of 
 Vicenza. Benvenuto says: "often, while preaching to the people, 
 he was wont to say many ridiculous things. " 
 
 113, 114. from Amo to Bacchiglione. The Bacchiglione rises 
 in the Alps, above Vicenza, through which it flows. It is referred 
 to again, Par. ix, 47. Another illustration of Dante's denoting 
 towns or countries by their rivers. See note on Inf. xii, 123. 
 
 118. dust. Announcing the approach of another troop. 
 
 119. I must not be. The transgressors moved in groups, ap- 
 
NOTES 241 
 
 parently according to their rank or occupation, and these must 
 not associate. 
 
 124. for the green cloth. Brunetto ran as fast as the one who 
 wins the foot-race which took place annually outside of Verona, 
 on the first Sunday in Lent. The prize was a piece of green cloth. 
 
 CANTO XVI 
 
 2. the water. Phlegethon. 
 4. by beehives. 
 
 " I herds a noise aprochen blyve, 
 That f erde as been don in an hyve, 
 Agen her tyme of out-fleyinge ; 
 Right swiche a maner murmtiringe, 
 For al the world, hit semed me." 
 
 Chaucer, " Hous of Fame," 1521 ff. 
 
 8. thy garb. Most Italian cities were marked by a particular 
 costume of their citizens. That of Florence was distinguished by 
 the lucco, a closely fitting robe falling from the neck without folds, 
 and the capuccio, the hood or beretta. Villani says that the dress 
 of the Florentines was anciently fair, noble, and more dignified than 
 that of any other nation, and that the citizens looked like Romans 
 in togas. 
 
 18. thee the haste befitted. It would be more becoming for you 
 to hasten to meet them than for them to hasten to you. 
 
 19. strain. See 1. 7-9. 
 
 21. made of themselves a wheel. They moved round and round 
 in order to get a near view of Dante who was on the causeway 
 above ; and also that they might not incur the penalty for stopping. 
 See Inf. xv, 37-39. Comp. Aen. vi, 329. 
 
 22. As — champions. Like boxers or wrestlers moving round 
 each other, and looking for a chance for a grip or a blow. The 
 use of the imperfect, "were wont," would seem to point to the 
 contests of the Greek and Roman palaestra, which, in Dante's age, 
 were things of the past. The alternative reading, "are wont," 
 is supposed to refer to the hired combatants in the "judicial duels," 
 as they were called, by which suits were determined in Italy in 
 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 
 
 27. in contrary direction. They were continually looking back- 
 ward in order to see Dante ; their necks being turned in a direction 
 contrary to that in which their feet were moving. 
 
 29. imstable. Because of the yielding sand. 
 
 33. trail thy living feet. The idea is that the living body lacks 
 the lightness of movement which marks the spirit. See Inf. viii, 
 28 ; xii, 30-31. 
 
 37. Gualdrada. A daughter of Bellincion Berti, who is men- 
 tioned. Par. XV, 112-113, as a representative of "the good old time" 
 of Florence, when the citizens walked the streets girded with a 
 
242 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 leathern belt with its clasp of bone. There is a story of her that 
 she appeared with her mother in the church on the festival of St. 
 John, at which the Emperor Otho IV was present. The Emperor, 
 being struck with her beauty, asked her father who she was ; to 
 which he replied : "She is the daughter of one who, I dare say, 
 would let you kiss her if j'^ou wished." Gualdrada, overhearing 
 this, said to her father: "Do not make such courteous promises 
 at the expense of my modesty, for certainly, unless by \'iolence, 
 no one shall ever kiss me except he whom you shall give me as my 
 husband." The Emperor, being greatly pleased at these words, 
 called forward a noble youth named Guido Beisangue, afterward 
 known as Guido the Elder, insisted on his marrying her, and be- 
 stowed on her a large dowry. 
 
 38 Guido Guerra. Gualdrada's grandson, a Guelf leader of 
 Florence. He endeavored to dissuade the Florentine Guelfs from 
 the expedition against Siena which resulted in the ruin of the 
 Guelf party in Florence. After the flight of the Guelfs to Romagna, 
 he acted as their leader. At the battle of Benevento he contributed 
 materially to the defeat of Manfred. Charles of Anjou in 1266 
 appointed him his Vicar in Tuscany. He died in 1272. He is 
 described as ambitious, warlike, accomplished in arms, and of a lofty, 
 generous, and cheerful spirit. 
 
 40. Tegghiaio Aldobrandi. A Florentine Guelf. Dante had al- 
 ready inquired about his fate of Ciacco (Inf. vi, 81). He opposed 
 the declaration of war against the Sienese, which resulted in the 
 battle of Montaperti. 
 
 43. Jacopo Rusticucci. See Inf. vi, 82. He was said to be of 
 low birth, politic, wealthy, and liberal. The fact that he is the only- 
 one whose surname is mentioned among those named in Inf. vi, 
 81-82, would seem to indicate that he was not specially distinguished. 
 Benvenuto says that his vile life was owing to the ferocious tem- 
 per of his wife, with whom it was impossible for him to live. 
 
 52. sorrow. See note on Inf. xv, 82. 
 
 59. I leave the gall. Replying to the request in 11. 31-32. 
 
 68. GiigUelmo Borsiere. A Florentine, said to have been a 
 purse-maker, as his name imports. 
 
 71. provokes us. By his grievous reports of the condition of 
 Florence. 
 
 the new folk. Either an uncultivated class who had come into 
 the city from the country (see Par. xvi, 49-50), or a commercial 
 class who had become rapidly rich. Others think the reference 
 is to the two factions of the Cancellieri, transplanted in 1300 from 
 Pistoia to Florence. See note on Inf. vi, 62, 67. 
 
 72. sudden gains. By trade and usury. 
 
 75. with face uplifted. Toward Florence, which he apostrophizes. 
 
 77. when the truth is heard. As men look when something that 
 is told them carries conviction to their minds. 
 
 79. at other times. Dante has replied in three lines to the question 
 asked by the three, and has indicated, besides, the cause and the 
 consequences of the condition of Florence. The three commend 
 his response for its fulness, brevity, ajid clearness; and say: "If 
 
NOTES 243 
 
 on other occasions you can with so little effort satisfy others, you 
 will be happy if, by your free speaking, you can do so without more 
 risk to yourself than you incur at our hands." 
 
 84. I was. When, having all the dangers of this journey through 
 Hell behind you, you can speak of them as past. Comp. Aen. i, 
 204. 
 
 85. talk about us to the people. See note on Inf. vi, 92. 
 
 85, 86. they broke their wheel. See 1. 21. They ceased moving 
 round. 
 
 93. that stream. The river, as the following lines tell, was called 
 Acquacheta in the first part of its course, as far as Forli. At Forli 
 it became "vacant of that name." (For the phrase, see Purg. v, 
 103-104.) It then became the Montone, which Dante does not men- 
 tion by name, which flows through Forli and into the sea near 
 Ravenna, He further says that this river is the first which, from 
 Monte Viso eastward on the left flank of the Apennines, has an 
 independent course : i.e., it is the first which, rising on the northern 
 side of the Apennines, does not flow into the Po. In Dante's time 
 that would have been true. The river which, owing to changes in 
 the course of the Po, now answers to this description, is the 
 Lamone, which is the first to make its own way to the Adriatic ; 
 but at that time the Lamone ended in the swamps at the mouth of 
 the Po. 
 
 99. San Benedetto of the Mount. San Benedetto is a mountain 
 in the Etruscan Apennines, on the slope of which, above Forli, 
 is a Benedictine monastery called San Benedetto dell' Alpe. The 
 name Montone is borne by the river as high up as this point, near 
 which it is joined by a torrent called Acquacheta. This region 
 was familiar to Dante. See Conv., iv, 11, 5. 
 
 101. shelter for a thousand should have been. This is sometimes 
 explained that the river plunged at a single leap over a precipice 
 high enough for a thousand cascades. The correct explanation, 
 however, is probably that given by Boccaccio, who says that he 
 was told by the Abbot of San Benedetto that the Count Guidi to 
 whom the neighboring lands belonged, proposed to build near the 
 cascade a village for the accommodation of his vassals of that 
 district, but died before he could carry out his design. Thus it 
 was intended that room should be provided for a thousand. Basser- 
 mann says: "When the cascade is viewed from above, especially 
 from the edge of the precipice, one is impressed by the resemblance 
 to the infernal landscape pictured by Dante. Dante evidently had 
 in his mind's eye the view of the fall from above." His whole 
 description will repay reading. Longfellow remarks that this 
 comparison shows the delight which Dante took in the study of 
 physical geography. To reach the waterfall of Acquacheta, he 
 traverses in thought the entire valley of the Po, stretching across 
 the whole of northern Italy. 
 
 106. a cord. It has been said that this is perhaps the most 
 perplexing piece of symbolism in the whole poem. No entirely 
 satisfactory explanation appears to be possible. Dante says that 
 with the cord he had once attempted to take the panther with the 
 
244 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 spotted skin (Inf. i, 31-33). The panther is the symbol of lust, 
 and the cord is therefore supposed to signify the restraints of monastic 
 life. To one fourteenth-century commentator, and to him alone, the 
 story is due that Dante became a lay member of the Franciscan 
 order, whose emblem was the cord, from which they were called 
 Cordeliers. What, then, is the meaning of Vergil's throwing down 
 the cord to summon Geryon? It is answered that the cord signifies 
 righteousness ; and Isa, xi, 5, and Eph. vi, 14 are cited. Hence the 
 cord is used to summon Geryon, because it is by the truth that 
 fraud is forced to come to the light and show itself. Scartazzini, 
 who believes that Dante did join the Franciscans, explains as 
 follows : Dante, by becoming a Franciscan and assuming the cord, 
 endeavored to capture the panther, or, in other words, to subdue 
 carnal temptation. But this did not suffice. He must also witness 
 the eternal punishment of lust, as he has already done. Through 
 seeing this, he has inwardly prevailed. Vergil, therefore, causes 
 him to take ofif the cord, never to resume it, for he throws it into 
 the abyss. Vergil used the cord to sunomon Geryon because he 
 wished "to pay the image of fraud in his own coin." How often 
 the monastic habit proved itself to be only "afoul image of fraud ! " 
 The cord signifies not a virtue, but a vice which Dante forever 
 abjures. Dean Plumptre in his elaborate biography of Dante also 
 makes an ingenious plea for the Franciscan story. On the whole, 
 the case seems hopeless. The Franciscan story is, at best, doubtful. 
 Is it absolutely necessary to assume any allegory at all? 
 
 116. how much caution. Dante had said to himself that some- 
 thing strange would answer the signal, but did not conceive of 
 such a horror as Geryon. Vergil reads his thought, and discerns 
 how far short of the truth it comes. Hence Dante says that one 
 should be cautious in dealing with those who discern the workings 
 of the mind. 
 
 122, 123. to that truth which wears the guise of falsehood, etc. 
 A man should refrain, as far as possible, from uttering a thing which, 
 though true, has the appearance of falsehood. Dante is at a loss 
 how to describe such an extraordinary phenomenon as Geryon 
 without laying himself open to the suspicion of lying. 
 
 128. so may they not be destitute, etc. So may the verses not 
 have a short-lived reputation. 
 
 134, 135. Stretches forth himself above, etc. Stretches forward 
 and upward the upper part of his body, and draws in his feet, as a 
 diver does when coming to the surface. 
 
 CANTO XVII 
 
 1. the monster. Dante's Geryon does not correspond to the 
 monster of classical fable. The latter was a winged giant with 
 three bodies, and kept his herd of red cattle in the island of Erythia 
 in the extreme west of the ocean. It was one of Hercules' twelve 
 labors to slay Geryon and to carry off his cattle. Dante's Geryon 
 
NOTES 245 
 
 is purely his own invention, save that the scorpion- tail is taken from 
 Rev, ix, 10. His selection as an image of fraud may be due to a 
 tradition that he lured strangers to his dwelling and then slew them. 
 
 6. the marble causeway we had trod. The petrified causeway 
 along the bank of the Phlegethon. 
 
 10. his face. The face signified hypocrisy ; the serpent-body 
 deceit and malice ; the claws, rapacity ; the knots and shields on 
 the body, snares and subterfuges. 
 
 15. Knots — little shields. Knots signify the entanglements of 
 fraud. Shields, lit., "little wheels or rings," such as would be 
 wrought into chain-armor, signifying the coverings and conceal- 
 ments which the fraudulent apply to their deceits, as the soldier 
 covers himself with his shield. 
 
 16. Turks, Tartars. The Tartar cloths were highly esteemed in 
 the Middle Ages. In old French, rich Oriental stuffs were called 
 "Tartarini' or "Tartaire." By the Turks are meant Asiatic Turks. 
 Their fabrics, like those of the Tartars, were highly prized. 
 
 17. with colors more. Benvenuto says that Dante, desiring to 
 express the infinite variety and shades of fraud, shows that he 
 cannot find any comparison suitable to the subject, since there is 
 no cloth woven that exactly resembles the variegated colors on 
 the skin of this monster; so he goes on to show that the most intricate 
 and elaborate embroidery known to man would fall short of what 
 he wishes to describe. There is a difference of opinion as to the 
 construction ; some taking colori, sommesse, soprapjwste as three 
 nouns in apposition; thus: "more colors, (more) ground work, 
 (more) overlaying." Others take sommesse and soprapposte as ad- 
 jectives agreeing with colori; thus: "more colors underlaid and 
 overshot. " 
 
 18. Arachne. A Lydian maiden, daughter of a famous dyer 
 in purple, an expert in the art of weaving, in which she challenged 
 Athene to compete with her. She produced a piece of cloth on 
 which the amours of the gods were depicted, and as Athen^ could 
 find no fault with it, she tore it in pieces, and Arachne hanged 
 herself. Her story is told by Ovid, Metam. vi, 5 ff. She is sculptured 
 on the pavement of the first terrace of Purgatory. Purg. xii, 43. 
 
 20. wherries. Flat-bottomed boats for navigating rivers. 
 
 22. the beaver. From the beaver's habit of sitting on the bank 
 with his tail in the water arose the story that he dropped oil upon 
 his tail and so attracted fish. The beaver does not feed on fish but 
 on vegetable food. 
 
 26. fork. The forked tail is an emblem of the two species of 
 fraud described in Inf. xi, 55-58. 
 
 35. near the precipice. Lit., " the place which is lacking. " Where 
 the ground ceases. 
 
 43. the melancholy people sat. See note on Inf. xi, 102-103. 
 They were sitting. Comp. John ii, 14. Representing acquisition 
 without labor. "They make the money work." Scartazzini. 
 
 52, 53. none of them I knew. As in the case of the avaricious 
 and prodigal. See Inf. vii, 52, and note. All individuality was de- 
 stroyed, so that they were unrecognizable. 
 
246 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 54. a pouch. Ruskin says that attaching the purse to the neck 
 as a badge of shame is found before Dante's time, as in the windows 
 of Bourges cathedral. They hfvd kept their eyes fastened on their 
 purses in life ; their eyes feed on them eternally, only they are 
 empty. 
 
 55. blazon. Coat-of-arms, indicating that they were persons of 
 good famUy. 
 
 58. a lion. The Florentine family of the Gianfigliazzi, Guelfs, 
 exiled from Florence in 1248. They sided with the Blacks. 
 
 61. a goose. The Ubbriacchi of Florence. Ghibellines. 
 
 63. sow. The Scrovigni of Padua. The one who addresses Dante 
 is Rinaldo, a noted usurer. 
 
 67. my fellow-citizen Vitalian. Vitaliano is still living. He is 
 the only one of the usurers whom Dante mentions by name. 
 
 69. thundering. The Florentine usurers who are sitting with 
 the speaker thunder in his ears. 
 
 70. the knight supreme. A Florentine, Giovanni Buiamonte, 
 whose bearings were three kites' or eagles' beaks. Not "goats." 
 "knight supreme" signifies the prince of usurers. 
 
 71. 72. his mouth twisted. Comp. Isa. Ivii, 4. 
 
 79. by stair like this. From this point there are no more natural 
 descents into the depths below. 
 
 88. admonitions. Or "reproofs." Not "threats." 
 
 105. Phaethon. The name means "shining." He was a son 
 of ApoUo by the Ocean-nymph Clymen6. Having been told that 
 ApoUo was not his father, he requested that god to let him prove 
 his parentage by driving the chariot of the sun for one day. He was 
 too weak to hold the horses, and they veered from their track and 
 approached so near to the earth as nearly to set it on fire. In answer 
 to the prayer of Earth, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt, and flung 
 him into the Po. The story is from Ovid, Metam. ii, 47-324. Dante 
 often alludes to it. See Cliaucer, "Hous of Fame," 941 fif. 
 
 106. as still appears. It was said that the Milky Way was caused 
 by the scorching of the heavens by Phaethon's accident. 
 
 107. Icarus. The son of the artificer Daedalus of Crete. Daedalus 
 constructed wings for him, with w^hich he attempted to fly ; but 
 ha%'ing approached too near the sun, the heat melted the wax with 
 which the wings were fastened, and he fell into the sea and was 
 drowned. Dante took the story from Ovid, Metam. viii, 183-235. 
 
 115. I perceive it not. He did not perceive the descent except 
 by the wind which blew from beneath upon his face. 
 
 127. falcon. The falcon is one of Dante's favorite figures. See 
 Inf. xxii, 135 ; Purg. xLx, 67 ; Par. xLx, 34. 
 
 128. lure. The figure of a bird tied to a stick, and used to recall 
 the falcon. 
 
 135. sheer. Cut sheer down, "As if hewn out with an adze." 
 Ruskm. See "Modern Pamters," Vol. IV, Ch. 16. 
 
NOTES 247 
 
 CANTO XVIII 
 
 The poets are now in the eighth circle. This circle, called Malebolge 
 or Evil-Pits, is devoted to those who have defrauded persons not 
 bound to them by any special tie of relationship, friendship, or 
 gratitude. See Introductory Note to Canto XI. For the de- 
 scription of Malebolge, see Introduction, under "Dante's Hell." 
 
 1 . Malebolge. Bolgia means a pocket or wallet. Hence a hollow 
 place, a trench. 
 
 2. iron hue. Ruskin ("Modem Painters," III, Ch. 15) says: 
 "Dante's idea of rock-color ... is that of a dull or ashen grey, 
 more or less stained by the brown of iron-ochre, precisely as the 
 Apennme limestones nearly always are ; the grey being peculiarly 
 cold and disagreeable. . . . The whole of Malebolge is made of 
 this rock. " 
 
 3. the circling wall. The encompassing wall of the circular 
 space within which all the trenches lie. 
 
 5. a pit. Or "well," leading down to the ninth circle. 
 
 7. the belt, etc. The belt which remains of the eight circles, 
 and which lies between the mouth of the well and the foot of the 
 rock (xvii, 135) that forms the wall of the shaft at the bottom of 
 which Geryon had set them down. 
 
 10. figure such, etc. The passage is somewhat involved. The 
 sense is : Malebolge presents such a general appearance as do 
 castles girt with successive trenches for the security of the walls; 
 and as in such castles bridges lead from their gate to the outer bank 
 of the trenches, so bridges of rock, starting from the foot of the 
 wall of the shaft, span the successive trenches of Malebolge. These 
 trenches, of course, run round the whole circuit of Hell. 
 
 17. the cUkes and trenches cut across. That is, traverse the suc- 
 cessive trenches and the embankments between them, down to the 
 well at the bottom, at which they concentrate as the spokes of a 
 wheel at the hub, 
 
 25, 26. on our side the middle. The middle of the track at the 
 bottom of the trench. Remembering that each trench goes round 
 the entire circuit of Hell, we may draw an imaginary line in the mid- 
 dle of the floor of the trench, running parallel to its circumference. 
 Along this floor two companies of sinners are moving in opposite 
 directions, one company on each side of the imaginary line. The 
 two poets are moving from right to left. The company on the side 
 nearest to them moves from left to right, and therefore comes facing 
 them. The company on the other side of the line moves from right 
 to left, in the same direction with the poets, but faster, so that some 
 of them are continually abreast of VergU and Dante. This Dante 
 now proceeds to illustrate. 
 
 29. just as the Romans, etc. Toward the close of 1299, Pope Boni- 
 face VIII issued a proclamation granting full absolution to all Romans 
 who, during the year 1300 should visit once a day for thirty days the 
 churches oi the Apostles at Rome, and to all strangers who should 
 
248 THE DWINE COMEDY 
 
 do the same for fifteen days. Thus was inaugurated the first Jubi- 
 lee of the Roman Church, on Christmas, 1299. The roads from 
 Britain, Germany, and Hungary were thronged with pilgrims. At 
 times there were two hundred thousand strangers in Rome. The 
 Chronicler Ventura declares that the total number of pilgrims was 
 not less than two millions. This is what Dante means by ' * the vast 
 concourse," 1. 30. 
 
 31. across the bridge. It is said that, in order to prevent confu- 
 sion and disaster among the crowds going across the bridge of St. 
 Angelo to St. Peter's, and returning, a barrier was erected along the 
 middle of the bridge, by which those going and those returning were 
 kept separate. 
 
 33. the Castle. The castle of St. Angelo, formerly the Mausoleum 
 of Hadrian, begun by Hadrian about A.D. 130, and completed by 
 Antoninus Pius ten years later. After Hadrian's time it was the 
 tomb of many Roman Emperors, down to the time of Septimius 
 Severus, A.D. 211. Its first conversion into a fortress dates, prob- 
 ably, from about A.D. 423. At the close of the sixth century, accord- 
 ing to the Church tradition, while Pope Gregory the Great was en- 
 gaged in a procession to St. Peter's for the purpose of performing a 
 solemn ser\'ice to avert the pestilence which followed the inundation 
 of 589, the Archangel Michael appeared to him standing on the sum- 
 mit of the fortress, in the act of sheathing his sword, to signify that 
 the plague was stayed. The name St. Angelo was derived from 
 this tradition. 
 
 34. St. Peter's. This was the old church, founded A.D. 306 by Con- 
 stantine. The present edifice was begun in 1503 and finished in 1590. 
 
 Whether or not Dante was personally present at Rome during the 
 Jubilee, is a much-disputed question. It was long held as a histor- 
 ical fact that in the autumn of 1301 Dante was sent to Rome with 
 an embassy to Boniface VIII, to avert the coming of Charles of 
 Valois to Florence; and that he was absent from Florence when the 
 decree of his banishment was issued. This has been disproved. 
 That Dante may have been in Rome in 1299 or 1300 is possible; but 
 all that the evidence adduced amounts to is that there are in the 
 " Conmiedia " allusions to well-known features of the city, and to this 
 incident of the JubUee. 
 
 35. the Mount. It is impossible to say positively what Dante re- 
 fers to. Some gopd authorities hold* to Monte Giordano, directly 
 across the river from St. Angelo, and not far from the bridge. In 
 the twelfth century it was an artificial mound formed of fragments 
 of old buildings. In Dante's time it was one of the seats of the Or- 
 sini family. Gregorovius says that in 1334 it formed a quarter en- 
 tirely surrounded with walls. Others hold that Monte Gianicolo 
 is meant. This is on the same side of the river as St. Angelo; but 
 owing to a bend in the stream it faces one coming from the castle. 
 On a spur of Monte Gianicolo is the Church of San Pietro in Montorio, 
 said to have been foimded by Constantine near the spot where Peter 
 suffered martyrdom. Still others maintain that Dante meant the 
 Capitoline HiU. ProbabiUties, on the whole, seem to favor Monte 
 Giordano. 
 
NOTES 249 
 
 36. homed demons. The hems are a symbol of adultery. 
 
 39. lift their shanks. Or "kick up their heels." The word berze, 
 "shanks," occurs only here. There is a grim contemptuousness in 
 its use. 
 
 52. Venedico Caccianimico. Of Bologna. Prominent in party- 
 politics, a violent Guelf, and expelled from Bologna in 1289. 
 
 53. such stinging Salse. Salse was the name of a ravine outside 
 of Bologna, where the bodies of criminals were thrown, and minor 
 criminals were whipped by the public executioner. Benvenuto 
 says that the boys of Bologna might be heard saying to one another: 
 " Your father was thrown into the Salse." There is a play upon the 
 word, which also means "pickle." Addressing a Bolognese, Dante 
 says sarcastically, "What brought you into such a stinging pickle?" 
 implying at the same time that he is in the appropriate place for a 
 whipped malefactor. 
 
 57. Ghisolabella. The two words form one name. Not, as often 
 rendered, "the fair Ghisola." The vile story repels comment. She 
 was the sister of Caccianimico, who was said to have betrayed her 
 into the hands of the Marquis of Este, probably Obizzo II, who ap- 
 pears among the tyrants in Inf. xii, 113. 
 
 58. however may be told. Implying that there was more than 
 one version of the story. 
 
 62. not so many tongues, etc. Caccianimico means that there 
 are more Bolognese in the first trench than there are in the world 
 above. There are not so many people living between the Savena 
 and the Reno (the two rivers between which Bologna lies) who are 
 taught to say sipa, the Bolognese for sia, "let it be," or, in other 
 words, who used the Bolognese dialect, as there are in this trench. 
 
 70. a crag. One of the rock-bridges which started from the out- 
 side wall of Malebolge, and spanned the whole series of trenches. 
 
 72. splintered mass. Lit., a splinter or chip. The underlying 
 idea is that of a fragment split off from a larger mass. 
 
 73. endless circlings. The endless movement of the transgressors 
 round the trench. 
 
 The poets now cross the sinners' line of march, and begin to cross 
 the bridge toward the edge of the next trench. 
 
 74. it opens. The bridge forms over the track an arch, under 
 which the shades pass. 
 
 77. thou hast not yet beheld. Vergil means that Dante has as yet 
 only seen the faces of the company which moves from left to right 
 and confronts the poets. The faces of those who are going in the 
 same direction with themselves, and who keep coming up behind 
 them and walking parallel with them, he has not seen. Upon these 
 they now look down from the right-hand side of the bridge. 
 
 86. Jason. The leader of the Argonautic Expedition in quest of 
 the golden fleece at Colchis. 
 
 88. Lemnos. One of the largest islands in the Aegean Sea, 
 nearly midway between Mt. Athos and the Hellespont. Jason and 
 his Argonauts touched at the island, and found it inhabited only by 
 women who had murdered their husbands, and had chosen as their 
 queen Hypsipyle, the daughter of their former king, Thoas, whose 
 
250 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 flight she had aided. Jason seduced Hypsipyle and abandoned 
 her, 
 
 93. already cheated. Deceived the other women, and saved 
 Thoas, her father. Dante has taken the story mainly from Statins, 
 Theb. V, 403 ff. He alludes to Hypsipyle again, Purg. xxii, 115; 
 xx\d, 100-101. 
 
 95. Medea. Daughter of Aeetes, King of Colchis. By her aid 
 Jason obtained the fleece, and she fled with him as his wife to Greece, 
 where he deserted her for Glauce, the daughter of Creon, King of 
 Corinth. Medea took vengeance upon him by murdering the two 
 children she had borne him, and by destroying Glauce with a poi- 
 soned robe. 
 
 100. intersects. The point where the bridge joins the embank- 
 ment between the first and the second trench. At this point is the 
 spring of another arch crossing the second trench, so that the end of 
 the first bridge forms a buttress or shoulder for the second. The 
 bridges across the several trenches succeed each other in straight 
 fines to the well at the bottom. 
 
 103. the next trench. In this trench are punished Flatterers. They 
 win unlawful influence over others, and gaui their own ends by false 
 representations which feed the self-conceit of their victims, and im- 
 pair or destroy their rational self-estimate. Thus they minister to all 
 uncleanness, and are therefore appropriately immersed in filth. Note 
 the contemptuous terms which "ollow: "whimper" and "muzzle." 
 
 whimpering. The original word is in common use in Florence to 
 denote the cries of a woman beginning to be in labor. Scartazzini 
 thinks that it is apphed to the flatterers as being vile and effeminate 
 men. 
 
 110. without our mounting. They could not get a good view of 
 the bottom of the second trench without climbing to the sununit of 
 the arch. 
 
 117. it was not apparent. His head was so covered with filth, 
 that one could not tell whether he was shaven like a priest or not. 
 
 124. Alessio Intenninei. A native of Lucca of whom nothing is 
 known. 
 
 126. his pate. Lit., "his pumpkin." Another contemptuous 
 epithet. 
 
 132. filthy nails. Comp. Aen. iv, 673. 
 
 135. Thais. The name of a courtesan introduced by Terence in 
 his "Emiuchus." Dante treats her as a real personage; and having 
 taken the story at second-hand from Cicero's citation ("De Am." 
 xx\i), he puts into the mouth of Thais the words which, in the play, 
 are spoken by another character. The point of the reply attributed 
 to Thais seems to lie in the word "marvellous." Cicero's words are: 
 "Not so many desire to be endowed with virtue itself as to seem to 
 be so. Flattery delights such men; when conversation formed accord- 
 ing to their wishes is addressed to such persons, they think those 
 deceitful addresses to be the evidence of their merits . . . 'Does 
 then Thais pay me many thanks?' It was enough to answer 'Yes, 
 many;' but he says, 'Monstrous.' The flatterer always exaggerates 
 that which he for whose pleasure he speaks wishes to be great." 
 
NOTES 251 
 
 CANTO XIX 
 
 1. O Simon Magus. Simony, according to Canon law, is the grav- 
 est of ecclesiastical crimes. The name was derived from the story 
 of Simon Magus, Acts viii, 18-23, who offered the Apostles money 
 for the gift of the Holy Ghost. As the imposition of Bishops' hands 
 was supposed to impart the Holy Spirit, the buying and selling of 
 ordination was regarded as simony. The term was gradually ex- 
 tended to cover traffic in ecclesiastical offices and in the rights of 
 ecclesiastical patronage, and to the purchase of admission to monastic 
 orders. According to primitive usage, a candidate for an Epis- 
 copal vacancy was elected by the clergy and people of the diocese, 
 subject to the approval of the Metropolitan Bishop and his suffra- 
 gans. The Merovingian and Carlo vingian Kings of France and the 
 Saxon Emperors of Germany conferred bishoprics by direct nomina- 
 tion, or by recommendatory letters to the electors; but the honors 
 and estates of a see were oiten granted by sovereigns, prelates, and 
 lay-patrons of the tenth and eleventh centuries, only on liberal pay- 
 ments by the recipients. Thus the power of nomination and invest- 
 iture became an instrument of the grossest rapacity, and church- 
 offices were bestowed on the highest bidder. The decree of the 
 Great Roman Synod under Hildebrand, in 1075, entirely abrogating 
 the right of investiture by the temporal sovereign, gave the watch- 
 word for a war of a hundred years between the Church and the secu- 
 lar power. 
 
 5. the trumpet sound. That your deeds should be publicly pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 7. tomb. The bolgia or trench. 
 
 17. my fair St. John. The Baptistery of St. John the Baptist at 
 Florence. Formerly the Cathedral. 
 
 18. the stand of the baptizers. At the comers of the great baptis- 
 mal cistern of San Giovanni were cylindrical openings in the thick- 
 ness of its waU, in which the officiating priests stood in order to 
 escape the pressure of the crowd. The font with its circular holes 
 is no longer to be seen at Florence, having been destroyed in 1576; 
 but a similar one may be seen in the Baptistery at Pisa. In this 
 there are four of these wells. 
 
 20. was stifling. Not "drowning," as there was no water in the 
 holes. Probably some boy, in sport, had put himself into the well 
 head downward. 
 
 21, 22. every man to undeceive. This account may convince peo- 
 ple that I did not do it wantonly. 
 
 27. withes or ropes. Ritorte are flexible green willow or osier 
 twigs used as bands to fasten fagots; strambe are ropes of grass, 
 plaited but not twisted. 
 
 35. by that lower bank. The embankment on the inner side of the 
 trench, separating it from the fourth bolgia. This embankment 
 was, of course, lower than the one on the other side between the 
 third and second trenches, since the ten pits lie on a slope, although 
 the bottom of each pit is level. 
 
252 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 46, 47. with his shanks — lamenting. Another mocking touch. 
 
 48. upside down. "Throughout the Canto there seems to be a 
 sort of running parody on the keynote of vice versa or topsy-tu^^'y. 
 . . . The priests in the beautiful Baptistery of St. John stand 
 ministering in the circular stations pro\'ided for them. These false 
 priests have just similar receptacles, neither larger nor smaller, in 
 which they stand, but head downward. The saints above have an 
 aureole of glory upon their heads ; these simUariy eminent denizens 
 of Hell (these infernal saints, if I may use such a phrase) have their 
 feet surrounded by lambent fire, and so, as we may say, bear upon 
 the soles of their feet this mock aureole of their shame and torment." 
 Moore, "Dante Studies," ii, 229. 
 
 52. when fixed. Fixed in his place for execution. The refer- 
 ence is to a punishment sometimes inflicted on assassins or other 
 malefactors, in which the offender was placed head downward in a 
 hole, into which earth was thrown in small quantities until he was 
 suffocated. The picture is impressive of the criminal calling back 
 his confessor in order that he may delay the fatal moment. 
 
 55. cried out. The occupant of the hole was Pope Nicholas III, 
 enthroned in 1277, died in 1280. 
 
 56. O Boniface. Nicholas mistakes Dante for Boniface VIII, 
 who died in 1303. Dante's vision is in 1300. 
 
 Boniface VIII was an object of Dante's special aversion. He 
 succeeded Celestine V in 1295. He was crafty, rapacious, ambi- 
 tious, with an exaggerated conception of the papal prerogative, and 
 a reckless arrogance in asserting it. Contemporary Christendom 
 wrote him down in the words: "He came in like a fox, he ruled like 
 a lion, he died like a dog." He incurred the enmity of the Franciscan 
 Order by refusing to annul the provision of their charter which 
 disquaUfied them from holding property, and by seizing for his own 
 use a large sum which they ha^ deposited with bankers as the price 
 of the annulment. He came into collision with the powerful Roman 
 house of the Colonnas, and destroyed Palestrina, their city. By 
 his enormous and arrogant demands he embroiled himself with 
 Philip the Fair of France and Edward I of England. He determ- 
 ined to sever the property of the Church from all secular obliga- 
 tions, and to declare himself the sole trustee of all property held 
 throughout Christendom by the clergy, the monastic bodies, and 
 the universities; so that without his consent no grant or subsidy, 
 aid or benevolence could be raised on these properties by any sov- 
 ereign in the world. The principal cause of Dante's detestation of 
 Boniface was his invitation to Charles of Valois, the brother of 
 Philip IV of France, to go to Florence, ostensibly to reconcile the 
 Bianchi and Neri, but really to carry out his own plan of becoming 
 master of Tusciiny. The' entrance of Charles into Florence in 
 November, 1301, was the signal for the triumph of the Blacks, who 
 had treacherously aided Boniface, the expulsion of the Whites, and 
 Dante's life-long banishment. In 1303, the Colonnas appeared 
 with a troop of horse at Anagni to which the Pope had retired for 
 the summer. They attacked his palace, seized him, placed him 
 backward on a horse, and led him through the town. He was con- 
 
NOTES 253 
 
 veyed to Rome and thrown into prison, where he died on October 
 11th. With him fell the Hildebrandian Papacy. Dante repeatedly 
 lashes Boniface in the "Commedia." See Inf. xxvii, 73-117; Purg. 
 XX, 88; Par. xii, 90; xxvii, 22-27; xxx, 146-148. In one of these 
 passages, however, Purg. xx, 88, he deprecates the violence shown 
 to him at Anagni ; but he pays this respect to the office, not to the 
 man. 
 
 57. by several years the writing lied. By "the writing" is meant 
 the scroll of the future which the damned were able to read (see Inf. 
 X, 101-104). Nicholas says, in effect, that Boniface has arrived (as 
 he supposes) three years too early, and that therefore the book of 
 the future has lied to him. 
 
 59, 60. carry off by fraud. To espouse with guile the fair lady, the 
 Church. The reference is to Boniface's crafty devices to secure the 
 Papacy for himself by bringing about the abdication of Celestine V, 
 whom he afterward put in prison, where he died in 1296. See note 
 on Inf. iii, 58. 
 
 61. do her outrage. By simony. He exposed the church for sale 
 as a prostitute. " He made many of his friends and confidants 
 cardinals in his time, among others two very young nephews, and 
 his uncle, his mother's brother, and twenty of his relations and 
 friends of the little city of Anagna, bishops, and archbishops of rich 
 benefices." Villani, Cron. viii, 64, 
 
 62, 63. fail to imderstand. Dante, not being aware of Nicholas's 
 mistake, is puzzled at his words about Boniface. 
 
 74. son of the she-bear. A member of the Orsini family whose 
 family badge was a she-bear, Orsa. 
 
 76. I pocketed, and here myself. Referring to the hole into 
 which he was thrust. A grim joke imder the circumstances. 
 
 82. already is the time, etc. Nicholas means that Boniface will 
 not remain in the hole as long as he has done. Nicholas died in 
 1280, and he had therefore been there for twenty years. Boniface 
 was to die in 1303; Benedict XI, his successor, in 1304; Clement V 
 m 1314; so that Boniface would "stand planted with red feet" a 
 little over ten years, when Clement would take his place. 
 
 86. a lawless shepherd. Clement V, a native of Gascony, Arch- 
 bishop of Bordeaux in 1299. Elected Pope in 1305, and enthroned 
 at Lyons. He appears never to have entered Italy. It was during 
 his pontificate that the papal See was transferred to Avignon, where 
 it remained for over seventy years. Thus are explained Dante's 
 words "from the west." He is called "a pastor without law" be- 
 cause he owed his election to an intrigue between Phihp the Fair 
 and the French party among the cardinals. The King promised to 
 make him Pope on condition that he would swear to grant him six 
 favors, to which Clement agreed. See the story in Villani, Cron. 
 viii, 80. 
 
 87, 88. cover up both him and me. Clement will come and 
 take his place over Boniface and Nicholas, who will fall down into 
 the recesses below. 
 
 Jason. See 2 Maccabees, iv, 7 flf. In 175-165 B.C. Antiochus 
 Epiphanes was on the throne of Syria. He was bent upon making 
 
254 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 his whole kingdom Greek in language, institutions, customs, and 
 religion. In Judea he had a following of which Jason, the brother 
 of the High Priest Onias III, was the leader. Jason desired the 
 office of High Priest, which conferred great political as well as relig- 
 ious power; since the High Priest was virtually the head of the 
 nation. The parallel drawn by Dante between Clement and Jason 
 is ob"saous. 
 
 92. too stupid. I was a fool to waste so much time in censuring 
 one already damned. 
 
 93. I answered him. The following sentences are scathing. ''If 
 only as a specimen of perfect oratory, this invective deserves ever- 
 lasting recollection." J. A. Symon(fe. 
 
 100. the giiilty soul. Judas. See Acts i, 15-22. 
 
 103. the Ul-gotten money. After the death of Manfred, the son 
 of Frederick II, in 1265, Sicily passed by papal gift into the hands 
 of Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX of France. His cruelties in 
 Sicilv caused a conspiracy against him, headed by Peter of Aragon, 
 the husband of Manfred's daughter. Charles had his eye on the 
 East, and was planning to add Constantinople to his realm; but the 
 conspirators were in conference with Palaeologus the Eastern Emp- 
 eror. Palaeologus offered Nicholas III a vast sum to enable him 
 to defy the power of Charles; and Nicholas consented to recognize 
 the claim of Peter of Aragon, and promised him the investiture of 
 Sicily. Nicholas died before the conspiracy came to a head. It is 
 to this transaction between Nicholas and the Eastern Empire that 
 Dante alludes here. 
 
 105. reverence. Even in the midst of this invective, Dante re- 
 tains his respect for the papal office. Comp. Purg. xix, 132. 
 
 110. the Evangelist. St. John, assumed to be the author of the 
 Book of Revelation. 
 
 114. the ten horns. The passage referred to is Rev. xvii, 1-3. 
 UntQ we know just what the \sTiter of the Apocalypse meant by 
 that passage, it is somewhat hazardous to attempt an interpreta- 
 tion of his allegory as resolved into Dante's aUegory. Two things 
 are certain: 1. that Dante regards the passage as referring to 
 Christian Rome under the Papacy. 2. That he varies the Biblical 
 allegory, attributing the seven heads and ten horns to the woman 
 instead of to the beast. Beyond this it behoves one to tread cau- 
 tiously. In the Biblical allegory the seven heads and ten horns 
 represent e\-il forces. In Dante they appear to represent powers 
 possessed by the Church, which may vindicate themselves as hon- 
 orable and beneficent so long as the Pope (the "spouse") shall 
 administer them righteously. Whether or not the seven heads 
 signify the seven sacraments or the seven virtues, and the ten horns 
 the ten commandments, I do not venture to pronounce. It may 
 be said generally that until the principles of Apocalyptic interpre- 
 tation are settled, as they are far from being, one runs much risk in 
 offering expositions of either John or Dante. 
 
 The word argomento, v^hich I have rendered "warrant," is verj"- 
 variously translated — "mode of government," "proof," "witness." 
 The general idea seems to be that the Church had a divine warrant 
 
NOTES 255 
 
 for her authority, and a divinely ordained scheme of administration, 
 which would vindicate itself so long as she should prove herself 
 faithful to God. 
 
 119. Ah, Constantino! The reference is to what was known as 
 "the Donation of Constantine." According to the legend, Constan- 
 tine was cured of leprosy by the Roman Bishop Silvester, in 324 A.D. ; 
 in return for which he bestowed on the Popes the free and perpetual 
 sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the West, declar- 
 ing his intention to remove the seat of his sovereignty from Rome, 
 and to establish a new imperial centre at Byzantium: ''since, where 
 the sovereign of priests and the head of the Christian religion has 
 been placed by the Heavenly Emperor, it is not fitting that there 
 the earthly Emperor should also bear sway." This stupendous 
 fraud was first made public between A.D. 755 and 766, in the form 
 of a forged imperial edict, produced in a letter of Pope Adrian I to 
 Charlemagne. The document served later Popes as a pretext for 
 wholesale appropriations of territory. The forgery was exposed by 
 Laurentius Valla in the fifteenth century. This whole passage, 11. 
 110-121, was expunged, by order of the Spanish Inquisition, from 
 copies of the Commedia introduced into Spanish territory. To these 
 were added Inf. xi, 8-9, and Par. ix, 136-137. 
 
 A most interesting and detailed account of " the Donation of Con- 
 stantine" may be found in Mr. Hodgkin's "Italy and her Invaders," 
 Vol. VII, Chap. 7. 
 
 CANTO XX 
 
 3. cantica. I have retained the original word in the translation 
 as there is no single English word precisely answering to it. It 
 means the first division of the Commedia — the Inferno. "Canto" 
 has been similarly appropriated in English, 
 
 8. valley. Strictly, a great valley. 
 
 10, prayer-processions. The original, letane, is our "litany"; 
 properly a supplicatory prayer, but here used of processions of 
 suppliants, 
 
 14, the face was turned, Benvenuto says: "Now here they are 
 seen with their faces turned the wrong way; for they had wished 
 to see far away in the distant future events which must be uncertain 
 to man; wherefore, by the just judgment of God who alone knoweth 
 the future, they can now only see behind them; and in truth we may 
 often remark that in their own affairs these soothsayers are par- 
 ticularly shortsighted and unfortunate, and always retrograding; 
 they are like the monkey, which, the more it advances, the more it 
 displays its hinder-parts; and they are weeping, because they always 
 end in the greatest poverty and wretchedness," 
 
 26, I wept. Here Dante is again moved with pity, for which he 
 is presently rebuked by Vergil. 
 
 30, here piety doth live, etc. There is a play on the word pietd, 
 which means both "piety" and "pity." Vergil says that for one to 
 
256 THE DIVINE CX)MEDY 
 
 be truly pious all pity must be extinguished for those who are justly 
 suffering the wrath of God. Vergil himself, however, is moved with 
 compassion in Inf. iv, 19-20. 
 
 32. passion brings to bear. Who allows feeling to operate where 
 God's judgments are concerned. 
 
 36. Ampbiaraus. One of the seven kings who joined the expedi- 
 tion against Thebes. He warned his companions against the enter- 
 prise. Being a prophet, he foresaw that the issue would be fatal to 
 himself. As he was about to be slain by a spear, Zeus interposed, 
 and cleft open the earth with a thunderbolt, bidding it swallow up 
 Amphiaraus and his charioteer. Dante took the storj'- from Statins, 
 Theb. close of A'ii and beginning of viii. The cry which Dante 
 ascribes to the Thebans is put by Statins into the mouth of Pluto. 
 
 38. Minos. See Inf. v, 4 S. 
 
 42. Tiresias. A renowned Theban soothsayer, and blind. He 
 plays so prominent a part in the mythical history of Greece that 
 there is scarcely any event with which he is not, in some way, con- 
 nected. The story to which Dante alludes is found in Ovid, Metam. 
 iii, 316 ff. 
 
 49. Aruns. An Etruscan soothsayer who foretold the civil war 
 between Caesar and Pompey. Dante follows Lucan in the descripy- 
 tion of his dwelling among the hills of Luni. Phars. i, 584-588. 
 
 Luni. An ancient Etruscan town, formerly Luna, on the river 
 Macra. It possessed a large harbor, now the Gulf of Spezzia. It 
 was celebrated for its white marble, now known as Carrara marble, 
 from the name of the neighboring town. See the foUo^sing lines. 
 
 56. Manto. By some oversight, Dante not only places Man to 
 here, but in telling Statins in Purgatorj'^ who are with himself in 
 Limbo, he mentions "the daughter of Tiresias." See Purg. xxii, 116. 
 
 58. where I was bom. See note on Inf. i, 76. In Vergil's ver- 
 sion here of the story of the founding of Mantua, he is inconsistent 
 with his own account in the Aeneid. See Aen. x, 198-200: 
 
 " Then he, e'en Genus, stirreth up folk from his father's shore, 
 Who from the love of Tuscan flood, and fate- wise Manto came. 
 And gave, O Mantua, walls to thee, and gave his mother's name." 
 
 W. Morris's Translation. 
 
 In other words, Mantua was founded by Ocnus, son of the river 
 Tiber and the prophetess Manto; and Ocnus called it after his 
 mother's name. Dante would seem to desire to correct the Ver- 
 gilian story. He makes Vergil say that Manto was unmarried, and 
 that she herself selected the site of Mantua. 
 
 61. Bacchus's City. Thebes, of which Bacchus was the tutelar 
 deity. 
 
 62. up in fair Italy, etc. The following beautiful description 
 illustrates Dante's delight in physical geography. It portrays the 
 basin of the Lago di Garda from north to south. 
 
 63. alpine range. The group of mountains between Val Cam- 
 onica and the vaUey of the Adige extends, longitudinally, from the 
 Lago di Garda to the right bank of the upper Adige, embracing the 
 heights of Adamello, Tonale, and Ortles. Going northward, it 
 
NOTES 257 
 
 terminates above the right bank of the Adige, on the other side of 
 which, near Meran, was the castle of Tiralli, the seat of the Tyrol- 
 ean counts, and the first German territory. "Tyrol" may refer to 
 the country or to the Schloss Tirol. 
 
 65. Benaco, Benacus was the Roman name of Lago di Garda. 
 
 68. Apennino. See below. 
 
 69. Val Camonica. One of the largest valleys in Lombardy, 
 lying to the west of Lago di Garda, and extending for over fifty 
 miles from the chain of Tonale and the mountains south of Bormio, 
 as far as the Lake of Iseo. The river Oglio flows through it into 
 this lake. Very charming descriptions of this region may be found 
 in Mr. Douglas Freshfield's "Italian Alps," 1875. 
 
 By Apennino, which is the best attested reading, Dante certainly 
 cannot mean the Apennine range. It is probable that he wrote 
 Pennino, which appears in two manuscripts. But what did he 
 mean by Pennino? It is claimed that there is a mountain of that 
 name on the upper course of the Toscolano, one of the most consid- 
 erable tributaries of the Lake, but the only stream which Pen- 
 nino sends into the Lake; whereas Dante says that Pennino is 
 bathed through more than a thousand sources with the water which 
 falls to rest in the Lake. Bassermann, who discusses the matter 
 very minutely, holds that, instead of Val Camonica the reading 
 should be Val di Monica, which has the support of only one manu- 
 script, though an important one. Monica or Moniga is on the 
 western side of the Lake, not far from its southern extremity. 
 Although the name Val di Monica no longer exists, there is a valley 
 behind Monica which runs to the bold headland of Manerba. South 
 of that point, the Lake receives no tributaries worth mentioning. 
 Thus Monica is well adapted to mark the point where the shore 
 ceases to be a source-region. Bassermann further maintains that 
 Dante means by Pennino the whole stretch of the mountains which 
 engird the Lake from Garda on the eastern side to Monica on the 
 western; so that his statement is simply: "The mountains from 
 Garda round to Val di Monica engird the Lake, and feed it from 
 countless sources." He urges that the geographer Ptolemy puts 
 the Pennine Alps on the west, as well as on the east of the Lake. 
 All this if we could be sure of the reading Val di Monica, which Mr. 
 Butler says, arose from a misunderstanding as to the position of 
 Val Camonica. But is it certain that Dante meant Val Camonica 
 in any case? Mr. Butler also thinks that Dante took Pennino in a 
 wide sense, as applying to any part of the Central Alps; and that 
 the term Pennine Alps was very loosely used. So far, he is substan- 
 tially in accord with Bassermann. 
 
 It seems to me (1) that little importance can be attached to the 
 hypothesis of a single mountain named Apennino. (2) That the 
 reading Pennino has very strong claims. (3) That Dante used 
 Pennino (if he did write thus) in a wide and general sense. (4) 
 That the reading Val di Monica is not sufficiently attested. If it 
 could be trusted, it would go very far to solve the difficulty, and I 
 should be inclined to accept Bassermann' s solution entire. It 
 seems pretty clear that Dante's general meaning is that the system 
 
258 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 of mountains encircling Lago di Garda is bathed with a multitude 
 of streams which flow into the Lake. 
 
 70. a place — midway. Dante means the point where the three 
 dioceses of Trent, Brescia, and Verona adjoin each other, so that 
 the bishop of either diocese might lawfully exercise his functions 
 there. Opinions differ as to the point. Evidence seems to favor 
 the mouth of the river Tignalga near Campione on the western shore. 
 
 73. Peschiera. At the southeastern comer of the Lake, at the 
 outflow of the river Mincio. 
 
 74. Brescians, Bergamasques. Peschiera is about twenty miles 
 southeast of Brescia, and fifty miles southeast of Bergamo. 
 
 76. all that cannot stay, etc. All the water which cannot be con- 
 tained in the Lake flows out and forms the Mincio. The name 
 Mincio is retained as far as Govemo, where the Mincio joins the Po. 
 Govemo is on the right bank of the Mincio, about twelve mUes from 
 Mantua. Dante now foUows the course of the Mincio to IMantua. 
 
 84. turns it to a marsh. Mantua is surrounded with lakes and 
 marshes, which add at once to its strength and to its insalubrity 
 (see 1. 85). The marshes have been partially drained by the French. 
 "The approach to the town from the old station of S. Antonio is 
 most picturesque. The long lines of grej'^ buildings, broken here 
 and there by a tall campanUe, rise abruptly from the lagoons which 
 surround it. The fishing vessels flap their red sails close beneath 
 the windows of the houses. In the shallower parts of the marsh 
 masses of reeds rustle and sigh in the wind, the very reeds described 
 by Vergil as a characteristic feature of his native place : 
 
 * Here wanton Mincius winds along the meads, 
 And shades his happy banks with bending reeds.' " 
 
 Hare, " Cities of Northern and Central Italy." 
 
 86. cruel virgin. Vergil, in the Aeneid, says she was married and 
 had two sons, Ocnus and Mopsus. Benvenuto suggests that she 
 was umnarried when she first settled in the place, and was married 
 afterward. As to the epithet " cruel," Statins, Theb ., iv, 463, describes 
 her as assisting her father in magic rites, tasting blood from bowls, 
 etc. In that passage Statins describes her as unmarried, and some 
 are inchned to interpret cruda in that sense. 
 
 100. Casalodi. The name of a Mantuan family, derived from a 
 fortress in Brescia. 
 
 101. Pinamonte. Lord of Mantua, 1272-1291. Desiring to get 
 the government of Mantua into his own hands, he took advantage 
 of the hostility of the people to the Counts of Casalodi, and advised 
 Alberto da Casalodi to expel many of the nobles. By this advice he 
 confirmed the popular hatred of the Casalodi, and then turned upon 
 Alberto and drove him from the city along with almost every family 
 of note. 
 
 114. Greece was so destitute of males. At the time of the Trojan 
 war. 
 
 115. scarcely for the cradles they remained. Hyperbole. The 
 male population, old and young, flocked to Troy in such numbers 
 that hardly any, even infants, remained. 
 
NOTES 259 
 
 116. Calchas. The soothsayer whom the Greeks, on their de- 
 parture for the Trojan war, appointed their priest and prophet. 
 It was he who predicted that the Grecian fleet would not be able to 
 sail until Agamemnon should have sacrificed his daughter Iphi- 
 genia. It will be seen that Dante mixes two stories. In the Aeneid 
 there is no mention of Eurypylus's being associated with Calchas in 
 tixing the time for the sailing of the Grecian fleet; but they are assoc- 
 iated in the incident of Iphigenia. Aen. ii, 122 ff. 
 
 118. Etirypylus. He was sent by the Greeks to consult the 
 oracle of Apollo about their returning from Troy. He brought back 
 the answer that, as they had purchased permission to sail from 
 Greece with the blood of Iphigenia, so they must purchase their 
 return with blood. See Aen. ii, 114-119. 
 
 123. Michael Scott. Best known through Walter Scott's "Lay 
 of the Last Minstrel." He was bom at Balwearie in Fifeshire, about 
 1190. He appears at different times in Oxford, Pavia, Toledo, 
 Germany. He was a student of Astrology, Alchymy, Physiology, 
 and Chiromancy. He wrote a commentary on Aristotle, and sev- 
 eral treatises on Natural Philosophy, and passed as a skilful magic- 
 ian. He died in Scotland about 1250. 
 
 124. Guide Bonatti. An astrologer and soothsayer of Forli. A 
 tiler by trade. He is said to have written a work on Astrology. He 
 acted as astrologer to Guido da Montef eltro (see Inf. xxvii) , and it is 
 said that by his aid Guido won his victory over the French papal 
 forces at Forh, May 1, 1282. 
 
 125. Asdente. "Toothless." A shoemaker of Parma, renowned 
 as a soothsayer and prophet in the latter half of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. He is mentioned in the Convito, iv, 16, 5. 
 
 130. effigy. An effigy of the person on whom the sorcerer's 
 charms are practised. See Vergil's 8th Eclogue. The idea is pow- 
 erfully worked out in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's weird poem, "Sister 
 Helen." It may also be found in Southey's "Thalaba," ix, 24-27. 
 
 133. Cain and the thorns. Here is one of Dante's technical and 
 rather pedantic descriptions of astronomical phenomena, which will 
 be more fully discussed in the notes on the Purgatorio. What he 
 means is, in brief, that the moon is setting in the world above. The 
 moon is described as "Cain and the Thorns," which term applies 
 strictly to the spots on the moon or to what is still called "the man 
 in the moon," according to the popular belief that this was Cain 
 with a bundle of thorns, possibly with reference to his unacceptable 
 offering to God. See Par. ii, 49-51. The moon occupies the bor- 
 ders of both the hemispheres; that is, of the northern and southern 
 hemispheres — the hemisphere of Jerusalem and the hemisphere of 
 Purgatory. See Introduction under "Dante's Cosmogony." The 
 moon, then, is on the horizon line, and is setting, or touching the 
 wave below, i. e. on the farther side of Seville, or the West. The 
 extreme western limit of the world was, to Dante, the Pillars of 
 Hercules; and this he expresses by Spain, Gades, Morocco, or Seville. 
 
 135. yesternight. The night before the last, it being now about 
 6 A.M. The night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday. 
 
 137. no harm she did thee. But rather aided thee with her light. 
 
260 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 at a certain time. On another occasion which Vergil does not 
 mention — the time when he was in the gloomy wood. 
 
 CANTO XXI 
 
 3. held the summit. Occupying the middle and highest point of 
 the bridge over the fifth trench, from which they looked directly 
 down into the trench. 
 
 7. in the Arsenal. One of Dante's most famous simUes. 
 
 Readers of Aristophanes will be reminded of the passage in "the 
 Achamians," 552 S. "And the dock-yard again had been filled 
 with spars getting cut into oars, wooden pins sounding, bottom-oars 
 getting furnished with thongs, boatswains' flutes, fifes, whistlings." 
 
 In this trench are punished Barrators. Barratry is malversation 
 of a public office or trust; traffic in public offices; generally, the sell- 
 ing of justice, office, or employment. 
 
 17. a thick pitch. The si^iificance of the punishment \s thus 
 explained by Benvenuto: "First, because pitch is dark and black, 
 and barratry blackens with infamy; secondly, because pitch is 
 tenacious, viscous, and sticky; and so is barratry, which is founded 
 upon avarice, and whosoever is once infected with it is never again 
 able to get quit of it; thirdly, because pitch defiles all who touch it, 
 as Solomon has said; and in like manner this barratry is so contag- 
 ious, that if a very saint were to enter a court or hold offices about 
 a court, he would become a barrator. . . . fourthly, because all 
 that is below the surface of the pitch is unseen; and in like man- 
 ner barratry plies its craft occultly and secretly." He goes on to 
 draw a very minute and ingenious analogy between the arsenal and 
 a court of princes or Popes. Gabriel Rossetti (quoted by Dr. 
 Moore) suggests that this whole episode of the barrators was a par- 
 ody of a disaster which occurred at Florence on May 1 , 1303, on the 
 occasion of a singular entertainment in honor of the Cardinal da 
 Prato who was sent to Florence as a peacemaker by Benedict XI. 
 There was a representation of the Inferno with demons and tor- 
 tured spirits, and among the forms of torture were caldrons of boiling 
 water and pitch. The crowded Ponte alia Carraia gave way, and 
 many fell into the water and were drowned. The entertainment is 
 described by Villani, Cron. %dii, 70. 
 
 20, 21. swelled up and settled down. Comp. Vergil, Geor. ii, 
 479-480. 
 
 34, 35. with his haunches both encimibered. The sinner was 
 astride of the demon's shoulders, and the fiend was holding him by 
 the feet. Others represent the fiend as holding the wretch's feet 
 over his shoulders, while the body hangs down his back. Mr. Ver- 
 non notes that in Michel Angelo's "Last Judgment," in the Sistine 
 Chapel, one of the sinners is represented as being carried by a demon 
 in something like the former posture. 
 
 36. Malebranche. "Evil Claws." A collective name for the 
 fiends. 
 
NOTES 261 
 
 37. elders. The Elders or Ancients were the principal magis- 
 trates of Lucca, answering to the Priors in the Florentine Republic. 
 
 Saint Zita. The patron saint of Lucca. She was of humble ori- 
 gin, and her sanctity was in high repute. She was the patroness 
 of servants. 
 
 38. from off our bridge. The demon spoke from the bridge on 
 which Vergil and Dante were standing. 
 
 42. except Bonturo. Ironical. Bonturo was a notorious barrator. 
 He was the head of the popular party in Lucca at the beginning of 
 the fourteenth century. He controlled nearly all the offices in the 
 city. He was finally expelled by the Lucchese for his agency in a 
 war with Pisa, in which they were worsted. 
 
 47. doubled up. With his back arched above the surface, his 
 head and legs remaining beneath the pitch. 
 
 50. the holy coimtenance. The culprit's posture on emerging 
 from the pitch suggests to the demons the attitude of worship. 
 Hence the following jeer. The Santo Volto, or holy countenance, 
 was a wooden image of Christ held in great veneration by the Luc- 
 chese. The legend runs that, after the death and ascension of 
 Jesus, Nicodemus desired to carve a figure of the Crucified. Having 
 finished the cross and the bust, and while he was endeavoring to 
 recall the features of the face, he fell asleep, and on waking found 
 the head completed by celestial hands. 
 
 52. the Serchio. The river, a few miles north of Lucca, turns to 
 the southwest, and flows past the city into the Mediterranean, not 
 far from Viareggio. It was a favorite bathing-place. 
 
 66. once before. See Inf. ix, 22-27. 
 
 69. the sixth bank. At the end of the bridge, and on the embank- 
 ment between the fifth and sixth trenches. 
 
 79. Malacoda. The leader of the troop of demons. 
 
 81. how does it help him ? The demon was muttering to himself: 
 " What good will it do him to talk with me? We wiU have our hooks 
 upon him shortly." 
 
 91, 92. thou who— art sitting. Addressing Dante. See 11. 62-63. 
 
 98. Caprona. A castle in the Pisan territory, about five miles 
 from the city of Pisa. Dante refers here to its capture by the Tus- 
 can Guelfs with the Lucchese and Florentines; and implies that the 
 garrison capitulated and marched out under safe-conduct. 
 
 108. Scanniglione. Meaning "the tumbler" or "ruffler." It is 
 said that there were at Siena certain soldiers armed with long spears 
 with hooks at the head, with which they laid hold of robbers, and 
 that they were called Scarmiglioni. 
 
 110. it is not possible, etc. He means that the poets cannot 
 cross the sixth trench by the bridge which is in a direct line with the 
 one they have just crossed, because it is broken. They are there- 
 fore to follow the embankment to the left, along the edge of the 
 sixth Bolgia, until they come to the next rock-bridge. 
 
 115. yesterday, etc. Malacoda accounts for the destruction of 
 the bridge by the earthquake which occurred at the Crucifixion. 
 He is thus precise, possibly, to inspire Vergil with confidence in his 
 statement. Dante introduces this in order to fix accurately the 
 
262 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 year, day, and hour of this part of his journey. He says (Conv. iv, 
 23, 6) that our Saviour chose to die when he was thirty-four years 
 old. Adding 34 to 1266 would give 1300, the year commonly 
 assigned to the vision. He further says that it is five hours earlier 
 than the hour of our Lord's death, which took place on the previous 
 day, 1266 years ago. Dante held that Christ died at midday (Conv. 
 iv, 23, 6), the sixth hour according to St. Luke; so that, deducting 
 five hours from twelve, we have for the present time 7 a. m., Easter 
 Eve, 1300. The passage is important as fixing a point from which 
 other time-computations in the poem can be made. 
 
 120. is airing. A very graphic word in the original. It means 
 to hang out linen to dry or air. So the wretches in the pitch are said 
 to come to the surface in order to air themselves. 
 
 122. Alichino, etc. Various translations and explanations of 
 these names are offered; but few of the names have an obvious 
 meaning. Malebranche, *'e\il claws," and Malacoda, ''evil tail," 
 are plain; but it is better to let the rest stand undefined. PhU- 
 alethes's attempt in his excellent German version is truly heroic, and 
 his ingenuity is worthy of a better cause. A plausible account of 
 this fist of names is offered by Rossetti, who is followed by Dr. 
 Moore. It is that they are caricatures of the names of certain 
 political officials in Florence who were Dante's bitterest enemies. 
 Dr. Moore's remarks in the second series of his "Dante Studies," 
 p. 232 fif, should by all means be read. 
 
 130. the dens. Notice the variety of terms by which Dante 
 describes the trenches of Malebolge: valley, great valley, ditch, 
 cleft, tomb, throat. 
 
 140. stews. The sinners in the pitch. The original word, lesso, 
 is used principally in Tuscany instead of hoUito, "a boil" (as we say 
 "a roast"), which is common in other parts of Italy. It is the 
 houlli. 
 
 This canto and the next are marked by a vein of comicality 
 which is very rare in Dante. He is often enough grotesque, and 
 gives abundant e\idence of a grim, sardonic humor, little adapted 
 to provoke laughter. Here, however, there is an element of broad 
 farce. None the less it is farce which heightens the bestial horror of 
 the whole scene. Some one has suggested that it was introduced 
 in order to relieve the strain on the reader's feehngs! That must 
 be a remarkable reader who would say on reading these cantos: 
 
 " For this relief much thanks." 
 
 142. with his teeth his tongue had pressed. The gross obscenity 
 of the last three lines requires no comment. Only it is to be kept 
 in mind that Dante was possessed with the thought that sin tends to 
 bestiahty; that he is under all circumstances a plain speaker; and 
 that he intentionally infused into this scene as much of the bestial 
 element as he could. 
 
NOTES 263 
 
 CANTO XXII 
 
 4. Aretines. After the expulsion of the Guelfs from Arezzo in 
 1287, there were constant hostiUties between that city and Florence, 
 and encounters of skirmishing-parties were frequent. Some think 
 that the reference is to the battle of Campaldino in 1289, between 
 the Florentine Guelfs and the Ghibellmes of Arezzo. Some of 
 Dante's later biographers claim that he was present at that battle. 
 
 7. bells. The Florentine army was accompanied to the j&eld by 
 a great bell called Martinella, which for thirty days before the com- 
 mencement of hostilities tolled continually from the arch of Porta 
 Santa Maria as a public declaration of war. On taking the field the 
 beU was removed to a wooden tower which was placed on a car. 
 Along with this went the Carroccio on which the standard of the 
 commonwealth was placed. It was a four-wheeled, oblong car, 
 painted red, and drawn by two, four, or six bullocks covered with 
 red or white. The ensign hung from two red masts. The Carroccio 
 was devised by the Milanese Archbishop Heribert, and was soon 
 adopted by the cities throughout Italy. 
 
 8. castle-signals. Fire-beacons and similar signals. See Inf. 
 viii, 4-6. 
 
 14. with the saints at church, etc. The proverb signifies: adapt 
 yourself to your company. "At Rome, do as do the Romans." 
 
 18. arching of their back. The appearance of the backs of the 
 dolphins above water was popularly supposed to presage a storm. 
 The creature arches its back in order to leap forward through the 
 water, as may be seen in porpoises. 
 
 35. I — ^knew the name. Explaining his familiar use of the name 
 Graffiacane. 
 
 50. Theobald. Thibaut, or Theobald II, who became King of 
 Navarre in 1244. He is quoted by Dante in De Vulg. El. i, 9; 
 ii, 5, 6. His fame rests on his amatory poems. 
 
 59. while I am hugging him. Not "while I fork him." This was 
 what the fiend was aiming to prevent for the present, until another 
 should tear him (1. 63). Rather, "Keep off as long as I am holding 
 him." There is a touch of grim irony: "while I hold him in my em- 
 brace." 
 
 66. Italian. By Latino, Dante always means Italian. 
 
 68. a neighbor. Lived in the neighboring country of Sardinia. 
 See 1. 82. 
 
 75. their decurion. In the Roman army a decurion was the com- 
 mander of a troop of ten cavalrymen. At a later period the name 
 was given to the Senators of the colonies and free-towns. The 
 dignified title is ironically applied to the leader of the troop of 
 devils. 
 
 78. gazing at his wound. He stood looking at his wound like 
 one dazed. 
 
 81. Friar Gohiita. A Sardinian friar, appointed chancellor or 
 deputy of Nino Visconti, the judge of Gallura. Gallura was one of 
 
264 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the four judicial districts of Sardinia, which, in Dante's time, 
 belonged to the Pisans. He abused his position by traffic in public 
 offices. 
 
 83. had in hand his master's enemies. Having charge of certain 
 imprisoned enemies of his master, he took bribes from them and 
 allowed them to escape, so that they conunended him (1. 84-85). 
 
 89. Michel Zanche. Governor of Logodoro in Sardinia. He is 
 mentioned again in Inf. xxxiii, 149, as the father-in-law of Branca 
 d'Oria, whom he murdered. 
 
 95, 96. to my itch to give a scratching. A coarse proverbial expres- 
 sion. 
 
 grand commandant. Another dignified title ironically used. 
 Provost, Rector, President. 
 
 112, 113. I am too cunning, etc. The fiend Cagnazzo had said: 
 "Only hear the cunning knavery (malizia) which he has designed, 
 to escape us by plimging into the lake." Ciampolo replies with a 
 play on the word malizia, which may mean either malice, or cunning. 
 " I shall be too cunning (malizioso) if I procure for my companions 
 greater suffering than they are now enduring." 
 
 115. held in. He did not restrain himseK, since he was so eager 
 to see the other wretches allured from the lake. 
 
 116, 117. I will not — follow thee. The demon means: "You can- 
 not escape, because you have not wings. Therefore if you drop, 
 I will not follow you on foot, but wiU rise on the wing over the pitch, 
 and so I shall be sure to catch you." 
 
 118. leave we the ridge. The fiends propose to put themselves 
 where they wiU not be seen by those who answer Ciampolo's sum- 
 mons. They were then standing on the embankment between the 
 fifth and sixth trenches, where the bridge over the fifth trench came 
 to an end. The top of the embankment falls off on either side. The 
 fiends propose to remove from the top and to go down a little way 
 on the side toward the sixth trench, where they will be entirely 
 concealed from the people in the pitch. 
 
 122. turned toward the other side. Each of the demons looked 
 away from the edge of the fifth trench, and turned to go down the 
 slope of the ridge toward the sixth trench. Ciampolo took this 
 opportunity to jump. 
 
 128. chiefly he. Alichino, who had made the proposition to go 
 down from the ridge. 
 
 132. upward. Going toward the crest of the embankment. 
 
 138. the other. Ciampolo. 
 
 146. the heat imclutched. The heat of the boiling pitch made 
 them relax their clutch. Lit., "the heat was a sudden separator." 
 
 149. doleful. There is a comical pathos in the word. 
 
 154. the crusting. The meaning is somewhat uncertain. It is 
 usually explained as the surface of the pitch. According to others 
 it is the skin of the demons, which the heat penetrated. The most 
 probable explanation is the crust which the pitch formed over their 
 bodies. 
 
NOTES 265 
 
 CANTO XXIII 
 
 3. were going on. They were going to the left, along the ridge 
 of the embankment between the fifth and sixth trenches. 
 
 Minor Friars. Franciscans, also called Cordeliers. See note on 
 Inf. xvi, 106, and comp. Inf. xxvii, 70, 96-97 ; Par. xi, 86-87, 94; 
 xii, 115, 131-132. The name "minor," intended as a token of humil- 
 ity, was adopted in 1210. Up to this time the order had, properly, 
 no name, but was styled "Penitents of the City of Assisi." 
 
 5. Aesop's fable. The fable is that a mouse and a frog met at a 
 river which they had to cross. As the mouse could not swim, the 
 frog proposed to convey her across by tying her to his leg. During 
 their passage the frog tried to drown the mouse; but just then a 
 kite swooped down and carried off the frog, setting the mouse at 
 liberty. Dante's appUcation of the fable is that one who was 
 conspiring against another (Alichino against Ciampolo) brought 
 disaster upon himself. Aesop, who lived about B.C. 600, was the 
 first author who created an independent class of stories about ani- 
 mals, so that, in a few generations, his name and person had become 
 typical of that entire class of literature, and the story of his own 
 life was enveloped in a tissue of tales and traditions which, in the 
 Middle Ages, were woven into a kind of romance. It is doubtful 
 whether he left any written works. This fable is not found in any 
 collection of "Aesop's Fables," all of which were made at least three 
 centuries after his time. All that have come down to us are, in 
 part, late prose renderings of the version of Babrius, made a little 
 before the beginning of the Christian era. Dante may have seen 
 this fable in a Life of Aesop prefixed to a collection made by Plan- 
 udes, a Greek monk of the fourteenth century, or in a collection of 
 extracts. Many such collections were current in the Middle Ages; 
 and Benvenuto da Imola, who lectured on the Commedia at Bologna 
 in 1375, says that this fable was contained in a Latin version of 
 extracts from Aesop. 
 
 7. for "now" resembles not "this instant" more. Mo and issa 
 both mean "now." The amount of this somewhat prolix passage is 
 that Dante, in pondering Aesop's fable, felt that the case of the frog 
 and that of Alichino were so similar, that the worst results to Vergil 
 and himself might be expected from the baffled demons. 
 
 27. were I of leaded glass. If I were a mirror, I should not more 
 readily receive the impression of your bodily person than I catch 
 your thought which tallies with my own. 
 
 32. of both one sole resolve. Out of our two corresponding 
 thoughts I formed one purpose — to flee. 
 
 33. on our right. As they were moving toward the left, the 
 descent into the sixth Bolgia would be on their right. 
 
 46. he gave him to the sloping rock. Vergfl, clasping Dante in 
 his arms, slid down the slope on his back. 
 
 48, 49. wheel of a land-mill. An overshot wheel, to which the 
 water is brought by a sloping sluice. In a river-mill the water 
 flows underneath. 
 
266 THE DIVINE CXDMEDY 
 
 49. when it draws near the paddles. An instance of Dante's 
 minute observation. How many would have noted the quickened 
 motion of the water as it approaches the paddles? 
 
 63. Cologne. It was said that the hoods of the monks of Cologne 
 were peculiarly ungainly, being so fashioned by the Pope's order as 
 a punishment for their petitioning for leave to wear scarlet cowls. 
 
 65. so gilded. The significance of the punishment is evident. 
 It is also claimed that the gilded cloaks were suggested to Dante by 
 the false etymology of the word "hypocrite," which was current in 
 his time; viz., hyper, "above," and crisis for the Greek chrusos, 
 "gold." 
 
 67. Frederick. Frederick 11, who is said to have devised this 
 punishment for traitors. The tradition is that he had them wrapped 
 in lead, and thrown into a heated caldron. The same punishment 
 is said to have been inflicted in Scotland, and LongfeUow quotes 
 from the ballad of "Lord Soulis": 
 
 " They rolled him up in a sheet of lead, 
 A sheet of lead for a funeral pall, 
 And plunged him into the caldron red, 
 
 And melted him — lead, and bones, and all." 
 
 72, 73. our company was new. The poets moved so much faster 
 than the train of hypocrites, that at every step they were abreast 
 of new persons. 
 
 91. this one seems living. Ck)mp. Purg. ii, 69. 
 
 103. glitters. Wliat is the natiu^ of the punishment which 
 appears in your sparkling cloak? 
 
 105, 106. cause the scales to creak. The cloaks cause their wear- 
 ers to show these signs of distress, as the weights make the scales 
 creak. 
 
 Jolly Friars. The name given to the knights of a military and 
 conventual order called "the Order of the Soldiery of the Blessed 
 Mar}%" founded in 1261 by certain Bolognese. Their object was to 
 reconcile hostUe factions and family feuds in the different cities of 
 Italy, and to protect the weak against their oppressors. They 
 received the name of "Jolly Friars" because of the laxity of their 
 rules, which allowed them to marry and to five in their own homes. 
 Villani says: "They wore a white gown and a grey mantle, and 
 for arms a white field with a red cross and two stars. . . . But 
 it (the order) endured but a short while, for the fact followed the 
 name, to wit, they gave themselves more to joviality than to aught 
 else." Cron. vii,'l3. 
 
 107, 108. Catalano, Loderingo. They were the founders of the 
 order. Catalano was a Guelf, Loderingo a Ghibelline. They 
 shared the office of Podesta in Bologna in 1265 and 1267, and in 
 1266 in Florence. They were accused of taking bribes from the 
 Guelfs, and persecuting the Ghibellines. Villani says: "Albeit in 
 heart they were of diverse parties, under cover of false hypocrisy, 
 they were at one, more for their own gain than for the pubUc weal." 
 Cron. vii, 13. 
 
 112. the Gardingo. The name of a part of Florence in the neigh- 
 
i 
 
 NOTES 267 
 
 borhood of the Mazzo Vecchio, where the palace of the Uberti, the 
 heads of the Ghibelline party in Florence, stood. This palace was 
 wrecked during a rising of the Ghibellines while Catalan© and Loder- 
 ingo were Podestas. 
 
 119. that transfixed one. Caiaphas. See John xi, 50. The 
 High Priest was supposed to give inspired decisions on doubtful 
 questions. This Caiaphas professed to do in the case of Jesus; but 
 he spoke from political motives, not proclaiming a divine oracle, 
 but expressing his own conviction as an unscrupulous Sadducee, on 
 the basis of a rule of statesmanship, that the one must be sacrificed 
 for the many. 
 
 126. his father-in-law. Annas. See John xviii, 13, 24. 
 
 129, 130. Vergil— marvelling. Vergil was of course ignorant of 
 the Gospel history. There is no little force in the suggestion that the 
 words in 11. 121-122 reminded Vergil of his own words in Aen. v, 815: 
 
 " One head shall pay for all the rest.'* 
 
 Comp. John xi, 49-52, where Caiaphas is declared to have uttered 
 unconsciously a truthful prophecy. The significance of his being 
 stretched upon a cross is apparent. 
 
 136, 137. making-come. In virtue of his divine commission to 
 pass through Hell, Vergil could command, if necessary, the aid of 
 evil spirits. 
 
 140. the great circle. The wall encircling the whole of Malebolge. 
 
 144, 145. upon the side it slopes. He means that the fragments 
 of the broken bridge form a slope at the side, and then heap them- 
 selves up at the bottom. 
 
 149. Bologna. The speaker's native place, and the seat of an 
 important theological school. 
 
 CANTO XXIV 
 
 1. In that part of the youthful year, etc. The following long and 
 elaborate simile is intended simply to point the fact that Dante, 
 having been alarmed by the angry expression of Vergil's face, is 
 reassured by the kindly and affectionate look which Vergil bestows 
 on him. The part of the year is the latter part of January and the 
 beginning of February. The sun, having begun to turn northward 
 after the winter solstice at the first point of Capricorn, is now in 
 Aquarius. Correspondingly, the night (used by Dante for the 
 point of the heavens opposite to the sun) has turned southward 
 from the first point of Cancer. 
 
 2. invigorates his locks. Warms his rays. 
 
 4. Toward the south. The nights shorten and retreat southward 
 as the days lengthen and the sun moves northward. 
 
 copies the image. The hoar-frost has the appearance of its "white 
 sister," the snow. 
 
 6, 7. not for long the temper of her pen endures. The hard, 
 frosty appearance does not last long. The hoar-frost quickly melts 
 with the sun. 
 
\ 
 
 268 THE DIVINE COMED 
 
 10. goes whining. We must remember that Dante is not pictur- 
 ing a stolid northern peasant, but an impressionable Italian, who 
 gives free and violent expression to his emotions, and changes 
 quickly from despair to exhilaration. 
 
 18. the plaster. One of Dante's realistic metaphors. His relief 
 at Vergil's cheerful look is the wholesome effect of a plaster appUed 
 to a wound. 
 
 20. at the moiintain's foot. See Inf. i, 14. 
 
 22. had fixed upon some plan. Vergil first inspects the ruin of the 
 shattered bridge, in order to make sure that he has not been deceived 
 by Catalano as he had been by Malacoda. Then he considers the 
 best way of climbing the side of the trench on the broken stones. 
 Finally he takes hold of Dante to push and lift him upward. 
 
 25, 26. seems to be providing in advance. Vergil is compared to 
 an experienced mountaineer, who, whUe securing a footing at any 
 
 Eoint, keeps looking out for a point above, where he can get a foot- 
 old. 
 
 31. for one who wore a cloak. Like the hypocrites. 
 
 32. hardly could we mount. Ruskin ("Modem Painters," III, ch. 
 15) insists that "Dante, by many expressions throughout the poem, 
 shows himself to have been a notably bad climber; and being fond 
 of sitting in the sun, looking at his fair Baptistery, or walking in a 
 dignified manner on a flat pavement iu a long robe, it puts him seri- 
 ously out of his way when he has to take to his hands and knees, or 
 look to his feet; so that the first strong impression made upon him 
 by any Alpine scene whatever, is, clearly, that it is bad walking. 
 When he is in a fright and hurry, and has a verv steep place to go 
 down, Vergil has to carry him altogether, and is obliged to encourage 
 him again and again when they have a steep slope to go up." 
 
 This statement is at once superficial and untruthful. In the first 
 place, it is quite unwarrantable, and it is a mere play of fancy to 
 attempt to draw any such general and sweeping conclusion from 
 Dante's occasional allusions. In the second place the allusions 
 themselves rather contradict than warrant the conclusion. Dante 
 may have been fond of sitting in the sun, but Dante was an exten- 
 sive traveller in Italy and had a large experience in mountain-travel. 
 An allusion to the diflaculties of an ascent or descent does not show 
 that he was a poor chmber any more than Mr. Whymper's graphic 
 picture of the tremendous difficulties of the Matterhom, or Mr. 
 Freshfield's blood-curdling account of his passage along the face of 
 the Pelmo, show that these gentlemen were poor climbers or disliked 
 climbing. That Dante now and then accentuates the steepness or 
 roughness of a decli\'ity is to be expected from one who was con- 
 fronting savage hell-heights, not made to be scaled by mortal feet. 
 If Dante requires the help of VergU, the best modem Alpine tourist 
 cannot disp>ense with the rope and the guide. If Dante was a poor 
 climber, this passage shows that he knew how climbing ought to be 
 done. That the first strong impression made upon him by any 
 Alpine scene is that it is bail walking, is nonsense, and is contra- 
 dicted by more than one passage of the poem. On this point Ruskin 
 is vigorously handled by Douglas W. Freshfield in an article on "The 
 
NOTES 269 
 
 Mountains of Dante," in the Alpine Journal, February, 1882, 
 Vol. X.* 
 
 39. all Malebolge downward slopes. The successive trenches lie 
 one below the other. The whole area of Malebolge slopes toward 
 the central pit, like the area of an amphitheatre toward the orches- 
 tra. The bottom of each pit, however, is horizontal, and lies at a 
 right angle to the wall which encompasses the whole series of pits. 
 Of course, in each trench, the side which is toward the central pit is 
 lower than the side toward the encircling wall. 
 
 43. whence the last stone splits off. They had mounted to the 
 point where the last stone of the broken bridge had split off, and 
 were therefore at the top of the embankment between the seventh 
 and eighth trenches. Here Dante, exhausted, sits down for a brief 
 rest, after which they move on to the left to the next bridge, which 
 is unbroken, and which spans the seventh trench. 
 
 56. a longer stairway. The ascent to Purgatory. It is not 
 enough to have parted with the souls in Hell. 
 
 63. the crag. The unbroken bridge which they had now reached, 
 leading across the seventh trench. 
 
 69. the next trench. The seventh trench, into which they are now 
 looking down. 
 
 75. to the next belt. Dante's request to Vergil is to pass over the 
 bridge to where it abuts on the embankment which divides the 
 seventh from the eighth trench (1. 83), and then to descend with 
 him to a point where he can see better. 
 
 88. Libya. The Roman Province of North Africa, lying west of 
 Egypt, and used here for Africa in general. 
 
 89, chelydri, etc. Dante takes this list of serpents from Lucan, 
 Phars. ix, 700 ff., although Lucan names many others. 
 
 91. Ethiopia. The district of Africa south of Egypt. 
 
 92. on the Red Sea. The eastern coast of Egypt. In Par. vi, 79, 
 it is called "the red shore." 
 
 96. hiding-hole or heliotrope. A hole in which to hide them- 
 selves, or the stone called heliotrope, which was supposed to render 
 the writer invisible. 
 
 109. Phoenix, A fabulous Arabian bird, which, on attaining its 
 five-hundredth year, burned itself to ashes on a pyre of incense, and 
 rose from the ashes in the shape of a small worm, which, on the third 
 day, developed into a full-grown bird. Dante says that the story is 
 told **by many sages." He himself drew it from Ovid, Metam. xv, 
 392-400, although he does not reproduce all of Ovid's details. The 
 story originated with Herodotus, II, 73, having been told to him by 
 the Egyptian priests, who, he implies, were lying. Pliny says that 
 it was asserted that the bird had been actually exhibited in Rome 
 in A.D. 47. Tacitus declares that no doubt was entertained of its 
 existence. Tertullian interprets Ps. xcii, 12, "The righteous shall 
 flourish like the phoenix;" phoenix being the Greek word for palm- 
 
 * My thanks are due to Dr. James Canfield, the accomplished Librarian of 
 Columbia University, N. Y., for procuring for me this volume of the Alpine 
 Journal from the Boston Public Library, No library in New York contains a 
 set of this periodical. 
 
270 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 tcee. Clement of Rome, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, cites the 
 story as a fact. Before the Christian era the tale had been adopted 
 by Jewish writers. In a poem on the Exodus, written by Ezekiel, 
 an Alexandrian Jew, in the second or third century, the phoenix is 
 represented as appearing to the host of the Israelites. Those who 
 are curious about the matter can consult Bishop Lightfoot's "St. 
 Clement of Rome," Vol. II, p. 84. 
 
 113. amomuni. Not "tears of incense and o/ amomum." Amom- 
 um was an aromatic shrub, bearing a fruit like a grape, from which 
 a fragrant ointment was prepared. The best was said to be pro- 
 duced in Armenia. The Roman poets used the word for any spec- 
 ially delicious odor. Vergil mentions it in Eel. iii, 89; iv, 25. 
 
 115. by demon-power. See Luke ix, 42. 
 
 125. I fell. Lit., "rained." Comp. Inf. viii, 85; xxx, 98. An 
 expressive term for the falling of a soul down to Hell. 
 
 127. mule. Meaning "bastard." 
 
 128. Vanni Fucci. A natural son of one of the Lazzari, a noble 
 family of Pistoia. In 1293 he broke into and plundered the treasury^ 
 of San Jacopo in the Church of San Zeno at Pistoia. A namesake 
 of his with whom he had deposited the booty was hanged for the 
 crime, Vanni having revealed his name in order to save the life of 
 another man who was about to be executed for the theft. 
 
 138. afficts me more. His pain arose from his mortification at 
 being seen by a political opponent, and from the satisfaction which 
 his punishment would cause him. 
 
 142. the Sacristy of the Fair Ornaments. This is the name of the 
 Sanctuary. The rendering is not: "I robbed the sanctuar>^ of its 
 fair ornaments." 
 
 148. Pistoia first of Neri strips herself. This alludes to the trans- 
 actions which led up to Dante's exile. The Whites, who were all- 
 g5werful in Florence, procured, in 1301, the expulsion of the 
 lacks from Pistoia. "Pistoia first is thinned of Neri." On April 
 13th, 1301, Dante voted in the Council of the Consuls of the Arts. 
 On June 19th he opposed, in the Council of the Hundred, the grant 
 of a subsidy to the King of Naples for the war in Sicily and the 
 service of a himdred soldiers for Pope Boniface VIII. Charles of 
 Valois was already on his way to Florence, and Dante was specially 
 marked out at Rome for destruction. Charles entered Florence 
 with twelve hundred horsemen on November 1st. Dante was soon 
 after indicted, and accused of barratry, fraud, and corrupt prac- 
 tices, unlawful gains and extortions and the like; of having resisted 
 the Pope and Charles, and of having opposed the pacific state of 
 Florence and of the Guelf party; of having caused the expulsion of 
 the Blacks from Pistoia, and severed that city from Florence and 
 the Church. The white Guelfs were driven from Florence by 
 Charles, and thus Florence "changed her families and her fashions," 
 that is, her government, which now passed into the hands of the 
 Blacks. 
 
 150. Mars draws — a mist. The vapor or mist which Mars draws 
 from Val di Magra is Moroello Malaspina, a Guelf, and Captain of 
 the Florentine Blacks, when, in company with the forces of Lucca, 
 
/ 
 
 NOTES 271 
 
 they attacked Pistoia in 1302, Val di Magra is the valley of the 
 river Macra which flows through Lunigiana in the northwestern 
 comer of Tuscany; a territory belonging, in Dante's time, to the 
 Malaspina family. 
 
 153. Piceno's plain. It seems quite impossible to identify this 
 point. Dante places it somewhere in the vicinity of Pistoia; but 
 there is no trace of any Campo Piceno in that neighborhood. The 
 Picenian Field (" Ager Picenus ") referred to by SaUust and Cicero in 
 connection with the movements against Catiline, was on the Adri- 
 atic coast, a good way from Pistoia. Villani, in relating the story 
 of Catiline's rout, says that Catiline came from Fiesole to the place 
 where to-day is the city of Pistoia in the place called Campo Piceno, 
 that was below where to-day is the fortress of Piteccio, and that here 
 he was forced to give battle (Cron. i, 32). Villani, on the other 
 hand, does not mention Campo Piceno as the scene of a battle between 
 the Whites and the Blacks. It is possible that Villani has misunder- 
 stood Sallust. It may be that Dante means to denote by Campo 
 Piceno simply the territory of the city of Pistoia itself, which, in 
 the absence of certainty, seems on the whole most probable. One 
 of the best discussions of the subject is by Bassermann, "Dante's 
 Spuren in Italien." 
 
 154. it shall disperse the cloud. The metaphor is very bold. The 
 mist shall rend the cloud. Out of the cloud of war shall break 
 Malaspina in his charge upon his foes. 
 
 The whole prophecy, succinctly stated, is as follows: The Blacks 
 shall be expelled from Pistoia. The Whites shall be driven from 
 Florence, and a change shall come over its people and government. 
 Malaspina with the Florentine Blacks shall come from his territory 
 on the Macra and attack Pistoia. There shall be a battle on the 
 Picenian plain, and Malaspina' s headlong charge shall be fatal to 
 the Whites of Pistoia. 
 
 156. thou mayst have cause to grieve. Because Dante belonged 
 to the Whites. 
 
 CANTO XXV 
 
 2. the figs. The gesture consists in thrusting the thumb between 
 the first and middle fingers. Ruskin says that ui old English illumin- 
 ated Psalters, the vignette of the fool saying in his heart "there 
 is no God," nearly always represents him in this action. 
 
 3, 4. friends — the serpents were. Because they inflicted such 
 fearful punishment upon the blasphemer. 
 
 10. to turn thyself to ashes, etc. Since you produce such a 
 wretch as Vanni Fucci, thus surpassing the evil seed from which 
 you sprang — the company of Catiline who headed a conspiracy 
 against Rome, for which he was banished. It was believed that 
 Pistoia was founded by the remnant of Catiline's force. Villani 
 says that the place received its name from its unhealthful character: 
 "by reason of the great mortaUty and pestilence which was near 
 that place." Like Brunetto Latini who says, "Pestoire," he evj- 
 
/; 
 
 272 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 dently connects the name with pestis, "plague." As a fact its origin 
 is involved in darkness. 
 
 15, 16. from the walls at Thebes fell down. Capaneus. See Inf. 
 xiv, 66. 
 
 17. a Centaur. See note on Inf. xii, 58. 
 
 20. Maremma. See note on Inf. xiii, 9. 
 
 26. Cacus. Dante errs in calling him a Centaur, and repeats the 
 mistake in 1., 28. The description is suggested by Aen. viii, 193 ff. 
 
 28. his brethren walk. See Inf. xii, 58. 
 
 29. the theft. He stole from Hercules, while asleep, some of the 
 cattle which the latter had taken from Geryon (see note on Inf. 
 xvii, i); and to prevent their being tracked, dragged them into his 
 cave by their tails. Their bellowing revealed their place of conceal- 
 ment, and Hercules attacked Cacus and killed him. 
 
 32. beneath the club. According to Vergil, Hercules strangled him. 
 
 36. under us. The poets were on the side of the embank- 
 ment, below the bridge. See Inf. xxiv, 76-77. 
 
 37. three spirits. Three Florentine thieves: Agnello Brun- 
 elleschi, Buoso degli Abati, and P*uccio Sciancato. 
 
 44. Cianfa. One of the Donati family, and a housebreaker. 
 From hearing his name Dante recognized the group as Florentines. 
 
 52. a serpent, etc. Nothing more horrible was ever conceived 
 than the successive stages of the following transformation; and no 
 conception was ever worked out with more masterly skill. 
 
 59. ivy knit. No better simile could be de^'ised to portray the 
 closeness with which the serpent's body attached itself to the man. 
 Comp. Ovid, Metam. iv, 365. 
 
 66. over the paper creeps. Another simple, but wonderfully 
 graphic simile, to express the blending of colors as the man and the 
 reptile melted together, each losing his own native color, and taking 
 on an intermediate one. 
 
 73. four strips. Strips of flesh. The fore-feet of the serpent and 
 the arms of Agnello shaj>ed themselves into two arms. 
 
 87. in one of them. Buoso degli Abati. Nothing is known of 
 him. See note on Buoso Donati, Inf. xxx, 43. This is the third 
 mode of punislunent by the serpents. Vanni Fucci is burned to 
 ashes by a serpent's bite, and is then restored to his proper shape 
 (Inf. xxiv, 99-102). Agnello's form is blended with that of a ser- 
 pent (11., 52-78). In the third case, that of Buoso, the man and the 
 serpent exchange forms. 
 
 88. is drawn our nourishment. The navel. 
 
 98. Sabellus and Nasidius. Two Roman soldiers belonging to 
 Cato's army in Africa (see note on Inf. xiv, 14) who were stung, 
 according to Lucan, by venomous serpents. Sabellus's body became 
 a mass of corruption. The bodv of Nasidius swelled tUl his corslet 
 burst and he died. Phars. Lx, 763-797. 
 
 100. Cadmus. The founder of Thebes. He married Harmonia, 
 the daughter of Mars and Venus. For slaying a dragon sacred to 
 Mars, he was changed into a serpent, and Harmonia, by her own 
 request, shared his fate. Dante here refers to the story as related 
 by Ovid, Metam. iv, 575 ff., and draws from it some of his details. 
 
^OTES 273 
 
 101. Arethusa. A nymph of the fountain of Arethusa in the 
 island of Ortygia near Syracuse. While bathing she was seen and 
 pursued by the river-god Alpheus. Artemis heard her prayer and 
 changed her into a fountain; but Alpheus continued to pursue her 
 under the sea, and attempted to mingle his stream with the waters 
 of the fountain. The story is told by Ovid, Metam. v, 586 ff., and 
 is the subject of Shelley's familiar and beautiful poem, "Arethusa." 
 
 I grudge it not. Dante claims that he relates something more 
 wonderful than Ovid, because, in the transformations described by 
 Ovid, the spirit of the Uving man assumes the substance of an animal, 
 a fountain, etc. In Dante, on the other hand, two natures are 
 exchanged — a man's with a serpent's, and vice versa. The word 
 "form" as used by Dante does not mean the outward contour and 
 appearance of bodies, but the essential quality — that which makes 
 anything what it is. The materia, "matter" is the body with 
 which this is invested. 
 
 108. the snake split its tail. The serpent taking the form of a 
 man cleft his tail into two legs. 
 
 110. the legs and thighs. The thighs, and with them the legs, 
 drew together, and the division between them disappeared, and no 
 mark of the union remained. 
 
 113. the cleft tail. The forked tail of the serpent took the form 
 of the legs which had disappeared in the man (1. 112). 
 
 114. its skin grew soft. The serpent's skin became soft like a 
 man's, and the man's became hard like the scaly skin of the serpent. 
 
 116. the arms draw in. In the man the arms drew up into the 
 armpits, and did not entirely disappear (see "shortened," 1. 117), 
 but enough remained to form the serpent's fore-feet. 
 
 117. lengthen. To the size of the human foot. 
 
 118. the hind feet. The hinder-feet of the serpent were twisted 
 together, and formed the membrum virile. 
 
 120. had two of them. The wretched man put forth two feet 
 like the serpent's. 
 
 121. with new color. The smoke imparted to each a new color: 
 to the man that of the serpent, and to the serpent that of the man. 
 
 123. the hair. Causes hair to grow on the serpent's body, and 
 removes the hair from the body of the man. 
 
 124. upraised himself. The serpent rises and stands upright like 
 a man; the man falls down and grovels on his belly like a serpent. 
 
 125. 126. not — their eyes withdrawing. The two kept looking 
 fixedly at each other while the transformation was in progress. 
 
 127. muzzle. The contemptuous term "snout" or "muzzle" is 
 applied to the man as well as to the serpent. 
 
 Lines 127-138 describe the exchange of faces. The one that 
 was erect (the serpent now standing on human feet) drew his muzzle 
 toward the temples — inward and upward — and of the "excess of 
 matter" which thus accumulated about the temples came forth 
 ears from the "smooth" or "flat cheeks," The matter which was 
 more than enough to form the ears, and which therefore "did not 
 run backward," made "of that surplus" a nose, and thickened the 
 lips "so much as was fitting," that is, to the proper dimensions of 
 
274 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the human Ups. The man, now lying prone, "shoots forward his 
 muzzle" into the semblance of the serpent's, and "draws back his 
 ears into his head"; and the human tongue, formerly of one piece, 
 is cloven, while the forked tongue closes up in the former serpent. 
 
 141, 142. hissing — spluttering. It is fearful— this first trial of 
 its new faculties by the newly-created serpent-nature, moving off 
 through the vaUey on its beUy, and with no language but a hiss, 
 and the newly-made man, who has not yet acquired the power of 
 himian speech, sputtering after him. 
 
 142, 143. he turned his new shoulders. The serpent, now be- 
 come a man, turned his new shoulders on Buoso, the newly-made 
 serpent. 
 
 the third. Puccio Sciancato, who had undergone no change 
 (11. 153-155). 
 
 147. ballast. A highly contemptuous phrase denoting the occu- 
 pants of the seventh trench. A worthless mass of creatures like 
 the refuse stone or gravel which is useful only for ballasting vessels. 
 
 155. the other one. This is Francesco Guercio de' Cavalcanti, 
 "the Squinter." He is the "httle fiery serpent" of 1. 84, and 
 has just exchanged forms with Buoso. He was murdered by the 
 inhabitants of GavUle, a vUlage in the upper Valdamo. Dante says 
 that Ga\alle mourns for himu because, in revenge for his murder, 
 the Cavalcanti nearly depopulated the village. 
 
 CANTO XXVI 
 
 Dante's apostrophe to Florence in the first twelve lines of this 
 canto is charged with bitter irony and sorrow. 
 
 4. five. Cianfa, AgneUo, Buoso, Puccio, Guercio. 
 
 7, 8. one doth dream of what is true. Comp. Purg, ix, 13-18. 
 It was a conmion ancient behef that the truthful dreams are those 
 of the morning. Three visions of his o\mi are described by Dante as 
 occurring in the early dawn of each of the three mornings passed in 
 Purgatory. See Purg. Lx, 19 ff.; xLx, 1-33; xxvii, 95-109. Comp. 
 Ovid, "Heroides," xLx, 195-196. 
 
 9. Prato. A town about ten miles northwest of Florence, and 
 usually on friendly terms with that city; so that it is difficult to 
 understand why Dante here speaks of it as an enemy which desires 
 evil to Florence. The reference is, probably, not to the tovm, but 
 to the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato, whom Pope Benedict XI sent 
 in March, 1303; to Florence, to pacify the factions. Having failed 
 in this effort, Villani relates that, on the fourth of June, 1304, he 
 suddenly departed, saying: "Seeing that ye desire to be at war and 
 under a curse, and do not desire to hear or to obey the messenger of 
 the Vicar of God, or to have rest or peace among yourselves, abide 
 with the curse of God and of Holy Church!" Cron. viii, 69. To 
 this malediction were attributed the calamities which followed — 
 the burning of the Ponte alia Carraja, a wooden bridge over the 
 Amo, by which many people were drowned ; and a great fire which 
 
NOTES 275 
 
 destroyed, according to Villani, "all the marrow and yolk and the 
 most precious places of the city. And the number of the palaces 
 and towers and houses was more than seventeen hundred." 
 
 15. the stairway. The stairs formed by the projections of the 
 rock. 
 
 19. the splinters and the stones. Dante, in 11. 15-20, uses four 
 different words for "rocks." Borni (1. 15) occurs but once in the 
 poem, and means "projecting rocks" which served as stairs. It 
 seems to be akin to the French home, a projecting stone placed at 
 the comer of a building to protect the wall from the blows of passing 
 vehicles. In 11. 19, 20, we have schegge, rocchi, scoglio. Rocchio 
 is "a round piece of rock, or a piece of wood detached from a 
 larger mass" (Inf. xx, 25; xxvi, 17). Scoglio is used uniformly of 
 "a projection of rock," usually of the crags projecting from the wall 
 of Malebolge and forming bridges across the trenches (Inf. xviii, 70, 
 111; xxvi, 20). Once of a sunken rock rising from the bottom of 
 the sea (Inf. xvi, 133). Scheggio is "a splinter," a small fragment, 
 not always of rock, but sometimes of wood or other material (Inf. 
 xiii, 43; xxi, 62; xxiv, 28). Once it is used as synonymous with 
 scoglio (Inf. xxi, 129). 
 
 23. more my genius curb. The general sense of 11. 23-28 is as 
 follows: Dante is strongly impressed with the punishment of the 
 Fraudulent Counsellors who have brought it upon themselves by 
 their misuse of superior mental endowments. Therefore, whenever 
 he recalls the horrors of this trench he is moved to put a restraint 
 upon his own genius, lest he should forfeit his superior endowments 
 by abusing them. 
 
 27, 28. To mjrself I may not grudge it. Lit. "grudge" or "envy 
 myself." 
 
 LI. 28-35 present one of Dante's long-drawn and involved similes, 
 which contains within itself a number of little incidental pictures, 
 the whole combined in a way which makes the passage very com- 
 plicated. The main simile is, that he saw a multitude of lights 
 moving in the trench below, as a peasant, from his resting place on 
 a hillside at evening, sees countless fireflies in the valley. 
 
 33. keeps least concealed his face. In Summer, when the sun 
 is longest above the horizon. 
 
 34. when to the gnat, etc. Late in the evening, when the flies are 
 gone, and their place is taken by the gnats. 
 
 37, 38. who was with bears avenged. Elisha. See 2 Kings ii, 
 23-24. 
 
 41, 42. as to see aught save, etc. The point of the comparison 
 is that both Dante in looking at the flames, and the spectators of 
 Elijah's translation, saw only the flame and not the person within it. 
 
 44, 45. no one displays its theft. The flame is represented as 
 stealing away a transgressor and hiding him within itself. 
 
 51. is swathed. Each one is wrapped and concealed with the 
 flame which consumes him. This punishment of the abuse of the 
 tongue may have been suggested to Dante by Jas. iii, 6. 
 
 57, 58. Eteocles — ^with his brother. Eteocles, the son of Oedipus, 
 King of Thebes, and his brother, Polynices. The brothers contended 
 
276 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 for the sovereignty of Thebes, and theu* quarrel inaugurated the 
 war of the Seven against Thebes, so called because Adrastus, King 
 of Argos, who had espoused the cause of Polynices, his son-in-law, 
 took with him to the assault of Thebes seven celebrated chiefs.' 
 Eteocles and Polynices slew each other in single combat. When 
 the two bodies were burned upon the funeral-pyre, the flame, as it 
 mounted, divided into two in token of their bitter hatred. 
 
 This is a Theban legend, recorded by Pausanias, and adopted by 
 ^schylus at the close of his "Seven against Thebes." The "Antig- 
 one" of Sophocles follows another version of the story, according 
 to which burial was allowed to Eteocles, but refused to Polynices. 
 The incident is related by Statins, Theb. xii, 429 ff. 
 
 60. Diomede. One of the Greek generals who fought against Troy, 
 and planned with Ulysses the stratagem of the wooden horse by 
 which Troy was captured. 
 
 61. their wrath. Against the Trojans. 
 
 64. whence issued, etc. In the person of Mneas, the founder of 
 the Roman state. 
 
 66. Deidamia. Thetis, the mother of Achilles, left her son, dis- 
 guised in female attire, in charge of Deidamia, the daughter of 
 Lycomedes, King of Scyros, in order to prevent his accompanying 
 the expedition to Troy. Ulysses, who discovered the disguise, per- 
 suaded Achilles to go; and Deidamia, who had become Achilles's 
 paramour and had borne him a son, died of grief. 
 
 68. the Palladium. The image of Athene which was presented 
 in the citadel of Troy, and on which the preservation of the city 
 was supposed to depend. Ulysses and Diomede stole it away. 
 
 81. they haply would be scornful. Why Vergil should have given 
 this reason for Dante's keeping silent, it is not easy to explain. It 
 is said by some that these Greeks would refuse intercourse with 
 Dante because of their hatred of Troy, whence came ^neas, the 
 foiuider of Rome, which Dante loved. But for the same reason 
 they would have refused to listen to Vergil. Others hold that 
 Vergil understood their own language, of which Dante was ignorant. 
 But Vergil did not address them in their own tongue. See Inf. 
 xxvii, 20. Another suggests that, according to the rule of the 
 Inferno, Dante speaks only with the modem characters, and Vergil 
 with the ancients. But this would fail to explain the strong expres- 
 sion, "they would be disdainful." The most satisfactory explana- 
 tion is the simplest. These were great Greek heroes who would 
 disdain to converse with a stranger of the modem world; but Vergil, 
 an ancient poet, who had commemorated them in immortal verse, 
 might expect to be listened to respectfully. See 11. 85-88. 
 
 88. my lofty verses. The ^Eneid. 
 
 89. the one of you. Ulysses. 
 
 90. the greater horn. The larger section of the flame, because 
 Ulysses was the greater personage. 
 
 The story of Ulysses's last voyage and death in the following splen- 
 did passage cannot be traced to any source. It seems to have been 
 an invention of Dante. It has nothing in common with the end 
 which is predicted for Ulysses in the Odyssey, xi, 134-137. 
 
NOTES 277 
 
 " So at the last thy death shall come to thee 
 Far from the sea, and gently take thee oflF, 
 In a serene old age that ends among 
 A happy people." 
 
 Tennyson's noble poem, "Ulysses," was evidently inspired by 
 Dante. 
 
 95. Circe. An enchantress who dwelt in the island of Aeaea, and 
 who turned men into beasts. After transforming Ulysses's com- 
 panions, she restored them at his intercession and through the inter- 
 vention of Hermes. They remained on the island for a year. The 
 story is told in the tenth book of the Odyssey. 
 
 96. for a year and more. Odyssey, x, 466-408. Dante may have 
 drawn the tradition of Ulysses and Circe from Ovid, Metam. xiv, 
 308 ff., since it is not probable that he knew Homer. 
 
 97. near to Gaeta. According to the Homeric legend, Circe 
 dwelt on the island of Aeaea (Od. x, 135). Dante, following Vergil, 
 Aen. vii, 10-20, places her at the promontory of Circaei, the modem 
 Cape Circello, near to Gaeta, a town on the southwestern coast of 
 Italy, at the upper extremity of the modem GoKo di Gaeta, and 
 named by Aeneas after his nurse. See Aen. vii, 1-2. 
 
 98. fondness for my son. Comp. Aen. ii, 137-138, where similar 
 words are used by Sinon. 
 
 103. experienced in the world. Comp. Homer, Od. i, 1-5; but 
 Dante may have recalled Horace's version of Od. i, 3, in his "Ara 
 Poetica," 1. 142. 
 
 110. the others. Corsica, Sicily, and the Balearic Islands 
 
 113. that narrow pass. The Straits of Gibraltar. 
 
 114. his boundaries. Two heights, one on each side of the 
 Straits of Gibraltar. The one on the Spanish side was called Calpe, 
 now Gibraltar, and the one on the African side, Abyla. The two 
 were known as "the Pillars of Hercules." According to tradition, 
 the shores were originally united, but were torn asunder by Hercules. 
 
 116. Ceuta. In Morocco, opposite Gibraltar. 
 118. Brothers, etc. Comp. Aen. i, 198-203. 
 121. the world unpeopled. See Introduction under "Dante's 
 Cosmogony." 
 
 128. our stem. He marks the direction of the stem, knowing 
 what he was leaving, but ignorant of his destination. 
 
 129. 130. we made wings. Comp. Aen. iii, 520. 
 
 crazy flight. Dr. Moore quotes from C. R. Beazely, "Prince 
 Henry the Navigator": "The Arabs, from whom the Christian 
 world borrowed most of their geographical ideas, even as the Arabs 
 borrowed theirs largely from the Greeks — were adventurous enough 
 in their explorations of the eastern seas, allured by the pursuit and 
 profit of commerce. But they had a strange horror of the Atlantic, 
 * the green sea of darkness,' and they imparted much of this paralyz- 
 ing cowardice to Christian nations. It was said that a man who 
 should embark on such a voyage was so clearly mad, that he ought 
 to be deprived of civil rights." 
 
 130. to larboard still. Their course, at first westward, was con- 
 tinually veering to the southwest. 
 
278 THE DIVINE CX)MEDY 
 
 132. the other pole. The Antarctic pole. They had passed 
 south of the Equator. 
 
 134. beneath the moon. On the side of the moon tmned toward 
 the earth. 
 
 137. a momit. The moimtain of Purgatory. 
 
 143. it smote. Comp. Aen. i, 114-117. 
 
 144. with all the waters. The blast made not only the ship 
 revolve, but all the waters roimd it. 
 
 145. 146. as pleased another. As pleased God. 
 
 CANTO XXVII 
 
 4. consent. See 1. 21. 
 
 7, 8. bull of Sicily. A brazen bull constructed for Phalaris, the 
 tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily, about B.C. 570. In this contrivance 
 victims were burned to death. 
 
 9, 10. of him who — had shaped it. Perillus, the maker of the 
 bull, is said to have been the first victim. 
 
 and that was right. See 0\dd, Ars Am., 653-656. 
 
 21. pass on now. These words are implied in "consent," 
 1. 4. 
 
 27. whence all my sins I bring. Which is the origin of all 
 my sin. 
 
 28. the Romagnuoli. Romagna was the former Exarchate of 
 Ravenna. The Exarchate and the adjoining Pentapolis, the five 
 maritime cities from Rimini to Ancona, received the name of 
 Romania, Romandiola, or Romagna, as having been the chief seat 
 of the later imperial power in Italy. Roughly speaking, it included 
 the district between the Po, the Apennines, the Adriatic, and the 
 Reno, and corresponded to the modem provinces of Bologna, Ra- 
 venna, Forli, and Ferrara. 
 
 29. the momitains. The Apennine ridge. The Tiber has its 
 source at Monte Coronaro. The speaker, Guido da Montefeltro, 
 fixes his birthplace at Montefeltro, now San Leo (see note on Purg. 
 iv, 25), between Urbino, twenty-five miles south of Rimini, and 
 Monte Coronaro in the Apennine ridge to the southwest. The name 
 Monte Feltro, which was originally the name of the town and was 
 transferred to the district, was derived from the ancient Mons 
 Feretrius in the vicinity; so called, it is said, from a temple dedi- 
 cated to Jupiter Feretrius or "the smiter." The district of Monte- 
 feltro formed part of Romagna, and belonged, in Dante's time, to 
 the Dukes of tJrbino. The historj^ of the place and of the house of 
 Urbino is related by James Dennistoun in his "Memoirs of the 
 Dukes of Urbino." 
 
 39. tyrants. The great families in the different cities of Romagna, 
 whose hearts are ever burning with mutual hatred. 
 
 41. Ravenna. See note on Inf. v, 98. 
 
 42. Polenta. A few miles south of Forli. The Polenta family 
 were Guelfs. They had been lords of Ravenna since 1270. The 
 
NOTES 279 
 
 head of the house in 1300 was the father of Francesca da Rimini 
 (see Inf. v), and under the roof of his grandson, Guido da Polenta, 
 Dante passed his last days, and died. The armorial bearing of the 
 Counts of Polenta was an eagle, half silver on a blue field, and half 
 red on a field of gold. 
 
 43. Cervia. A little town about twelve miles south of Ravenna. 
 Dante means that Cervia is included in the jurisdiction of the Count 
 of Polenta. 
 
 44. under the Green Paws. Dante means that Forli is now 
 governed by the Ordelafli, whose arms are a green lion in a yellow 
 field. 
 
 47. did pile the French. Forli, about twenty miles southwest of 
 Ravenna, became the capital of Guido da Montefeltro after he had 
 subjected the whole of Romagna. The incident here alluded to 
 grew out of the attempt of Pope Martin IV, in 1822. to vindicate 
 the papal claims by sending a French force into Romagna. Forli 
 was besieged, and Guido pretended to surrender the city, and opened 
 a gate to the besiegers, while the garrison withdrew by another gate. 
 Guido fell upon and dispersed the French reserve which was posted 
 in the plain, and then re-entered the town with a division of cavalry, 
 and "made a bloody heap of the French." 
 
 47, 48. Verruchio*s Mastiff Old, and the Young one. Sons of 
 the powerful family of Malatesta, who were lords of Rimini. Their 
 influence began with Giovanni Malatesta, who died in 1247. His 
 oldest son was called Malatesta da Verruchio, from the name of a 
 castle near Rimini which had been presented to the family in return 
 for their services to the city. He succeeded his father, and is the 
 one whom Dante calls "the Old Mastiff." He was the first of his 
 family to become lord of Rimini. One of his sons, Gianciotto, was 
 the husband of Francesca da Rimini, and the other was her lover 
 whom Gianciotto killed. Gianciotto's half-brother was Malatestino, 
 styled by Dante "the Young Mastiff." 
 
 Montagna. Montagna di Parcitade, the head of the Ghibellines 
 in Rimini, He was treacherously taken prisoner by "the Old 
 Mastiff," and murdered in prison by the Young one. 
 
 49, make an auger of their teeth. Harass the people of their 
 subject territories. 
 
 50, 51. the Lion-cub of the white lair. Mainardo Pagano, lord 
 of Faenza in 1290, and of Imola in 1296. His arms were a blue lion 
 on a silver field. He is called "a demon" in Purg. xiv, 126. 
 
 51, 52. of Lamone and of Santemo. The cities of Faenza and 
 Imola, designated by their rivers. Faenza was on the Lamone, 
 between Forli and Imola. It is mentioned again in Inf. xxxii, 132, 
 and in Purg. xiv, 107. Imola on the Santemo was the birthplace 
 of Benvenuto Rambaldi, who was the first public lecturer on Dante 
 at Bologna in 1375, and the author of one of the earliest and most 
 valuable commentaries on the Commedia. Dante says (De Vulg. 
 El. i, 15), "The citizens of Bologna, also, get from those of Imola 
 their smoothness and softness of speech, and from those of Ferrara 
 and Modena a spice of sharpness characteristic of the Lombards. . . 
 If therefore the people of Bologna borrow from both these kinds of 
 
280 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 dialect, it seems reasonable that their speech should, by mixture 
 of opposites above referred to, remain tempered with a praiseworthy 
 sweetness." 
 
 changing sides. In Romagna Mainardo supported the Ghibellines ' 
 but on the other side of the Apennines was devoted to the Florentine 
 Guelfs, out of gratitude for the protection afiforded by Florence to 
 himself and his property during his minority. At the battle of 
 Campaldino in 1289 he fought on the Guelf side; the next year he 
 repelled the Guelfs from Faenza and made himself master of the city. 
 From 1290 to 1294 he was in alliance with the Guelf Polentas and 
 Malatestas; but after the peace in 1294, he served the Ghibelline 
 Counts of Romagna. He accompanied Charles of Valois to Floience 
 in 1301. Villani describes him as a great and wise tyrant, wise in 
 war, and very fortunate in many battles, and as holding manj"^ castles 
 and having many followers (Cron. vii, 149). 
 
 54. whose flank the Savio bathes. Cesena, at the foot-hills of the 
 Apennines, "between the plain and the mountain," on the river 
 Sa\'io, between Forli and Rimini. 
 
 56. *twixt tyranny and freedom. In 1300 Cesena was partially 
 independent. In 1314 it came imder the rule of Malatestino, lord 
 of Rimini. 
 
 Dante's account of the condition of Romagna may be thus 
 summed up. The Counts of Polenta are now lords of Ravenna 
 and Cervia. Forli is ruled by the Ordelaffi. The Malatestas are, 
 as usual, harassing their subject territories. Mainardo Pagano is 
 governing Faenza and Imola, and Cesena is alternately free, and in 
 the hands of tyrants. 
 
 60. after its own fashion. See U. 14-18. 
 
 63. if I thought, etc. Ordinarily, the souls desire to have their 
 memory j>erpetuated in the world (see note on Inf. vi, 92); but 
 not when they have been guilty of gross crimes against their fellow- 
 men, which have exposed them to execration. 
 
 Guido da Montefeltro's story which follows is justly regarded as 
 one of the finest passages in the poem. Guido joined the Franciscan 
 order in 1296. Boniface VIII had been elected to the Papacy in 
 1294, on the abdication of Celestine V. (See note on Inf. iii, 58.) 
 This abdication was accomplished through the intrigues of Boniface, 
 then Cardinal Gaetani. The validity of Boniface's election had 
 been early questioned, and was long disputed on the ground that the 
 rights of his predecessor as a legally-chosen Pope were indefeasible 
 by abdication. Prominent among the challengers of Boniface's 
 election were two cardinals of the house of the Colonnas, a powerful 
 Ghibelline family of Rome. Their protest was followed by excom- 
 munication and' the sequestration of their vast property. Their 
 principal fief was Palestrina, the ancient Praeneste, situated on a 
 lofty hill about twent}^ miles southeast of Rome, and strongly forti- 
 fied. This Boniface proceeded to besiege, but unsuccessfully. At 
 this juncture he bethought himself of Guido, the old Ghibelline 
 monk of Montefeltro, who was then living in monastic retirement at 
 Ancona. The Pope summoned him from his cell, gave him plenary 
 absolution for his broken vows, and commanded him to give his 
 
NOTES 281 
 
 advice as to the best means of reducing the fortress. Guido de- 
 manded further absolution for any crime of which he might be 
 guilty thereafter, and then gave his oracular counsel: "long prom- 
 ise and short fulfilment." A reconciliation followed between the 
 Colonnas and the Pope. The Colonnas afterward asserted that they 
 had been induced to surrender Palestrina on the understanding that 
 the papal banners were to be displayed upon the walls, but that 
 once the papal honor was satisfied, and, possibly, the fortifications 
 dismantled, the city was to be restored to its lords. Boniface, how- 
 ever, commanded that it should be utterly destroyed, and its site 
 ploughed over and sown with salt. 
 
 73. the great priest. Pope Boniface VIII. See note on Inf. 
 xix, 56. 
 
 78, 79. not of the lion — ^but of the fox. His sins were not those 
 of violence, but of fraud. See prefatory note to Inf. xi. This 
 statement, however, does not agree with the character ascribed to 
 him in history, which is that of a distinguished soldier, masterly in 
 war no less than in diplomacy. 
 
 83, 84. should strike the sails. "And as a good sailor, when 
 he nears the harbor, lowers his sails, and gently and with feeble 
 headway enters it, so should we lower the sails of our worldly occupa- 
 tions, and return to God with all our mind and heart, so that we may 
 enter our haven with all gentleness and peace." Conv. iv, 28, 1. 
 
 88, 89. the chief of the new Pharisees. Boniface, as the head 
 of the worldly clergy. 
 
 90. hard by the Lateran. Being a strife with the Colonnas who 
 lived near the church of St. John Lateran. 
 
 92. was Christian. He means that Boniface's enemies were all 
 within the pale of Christendom. They were neither of the Saracens 
 who conquered Acre, nor of the Jews who carried on their trade 
 in the dominions of the Sultan. 
 
 93. Acre. The ancient Accho (Judges i, 31); later, as in the 
 New Testament, Ptolemais (Acts xxi, 7), now St. Jean d'Acre, a 
 name which it received from the Crusaders. It lies on the northern 
 extremity of the bay which runs northward from the promontory 
 of Carmel. It was called the key to Palestine. The Franks became 
 masters of it in 1110. It was recovered by Saladin in 1187, and 
 was held by him until 1191, when it was taken by the Christians 
 under Richard Coeur de Lion, and was retained until 1291. It had 
 been assigned to the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, who fortified 
 it strongly, and it was wrested from them by the Sultan of Egypt. 
 Guido 's words are a reproach to Boniface for carrying on strife with 
 Christians at home, while he should have been aiding the Christian 
 hosts in the East. 
 
 96. the cord. The cord of St. Francis. See notes on Inf. xvi, 
 106; xxiii, 3. 
 
 97. was wont. The past tense, indicating that the Franciscans 
 had departed from their vow of poverty. They were originally a 
 spiritual force in a movement against the corruption of the church, 
 and an evangelistic force in the interest of penitence and faith; 
 but they were corrupted by the Roman See, and converted into an 
 
282 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 instrument of its own greed and secular tyranny. Preaching for 
 money began early among them. Their profession of poverty be- 
 came a notorious farce, and their vow was evaded by vesting abso- 
 lute ownership of all property in the Pope, and enjoying the returns. 
 The property thus vested accumulated so that the two orders of St. 
 Francis and St. Dominic were the richest in Christendom. 
 
 98, 99. as — Constantine. See note on Inf. xix, 119. 
 
 Soracte. Now Monte di S. Oreste, about twenty-four miles north 
 of Rome. Pope Sylvester is said to have taken refuge there in 
 a cave during the persecutions of Constantine, and to have been 
 summoned thence by the Emperor. A church and a monastery, both 
 bearing the name of San Silvestro, were erected on the mountain. 
 
 100. an adept. The word maestro also means "physician," 
 which is implied here. 
 
 101. fever of his pride. His feverish impatience to rum the 
 Colonnas. 
 
 110. my predecessor. Celestine V, who prized the keys so little 
 that he voluntarily relinquished them. 
 
 118. Francis came for me. The counsel to Boniface was given 
 in 1297, and Guido died in 1298, according to some accounts in the 
 Franciscan monastery at Assisi, and according to others at Ancona. 
 
 120. take him not away. Comp. Purg. v, 112 ff. 
 
 124. he who is not contrite, etc. Repentance and the will to sin 
 cannot exist together, for that involves a contradiction. Dante 
 everywhere deprecates mere form in religion. Forms of prayer, 
 for instance, avail nothing unless the heart is sincerely enlisted. 
 See Purg. iv, 139-140; xi, 33; viii, 73; vi, 45; xi, 139. 
 
 130. that I was a logician. Referring to 11. 126-127. I could 
 show that logic could not admit a contradiction. 
 
 131. to Mmos. See Inf. v, 4-13. 
 
 133. having bitten it. A characteristic expression of his detesta- 
 tion of the crime. 
 
 135. the thievish fire. See Inf. xxvi, 44-45. 
 
 144. by simdering gain a load. A burden is commonly acquired 
 b\'' adding or joining things together. Here the opposite is the 
 case. The burden of suffering and punishment comes of dividing — 
 sowing discord. 
 
 CANTO XXVIII 
 
 1. unfettered words. Words freed from the trammels of metre. 
 
 6, 7. if — were gathered, etc. The following passage, 6-21, 
 is another specimen of Dante's multiplication and elaboration of 
 the details of a comparison, tending to obscure the main point. 
 Simply stated, the comparison is: if the victims of five different 
 scenes*^ of bloodshed could be brought together, the combined effect 
 would not equal the display presented in this Bolgia. But Dante 
 names the different scenes of carnage, and to most of them adds 
 details, and in one instance stops to note his authority for his state- 
 ment. 
 
 8. Apulianland. In its widest sense, Apulia originally included the 
 
NOTES 283 
 
 whole southeast of Italy, from the river Frento to the lapygian 
 
 Eromontory, now S* Maria di Leuca, at the very extremity of the 
 eel of the boot. 
 
 the sport of fate. Which has experienced changes of fortune. 
 Sometimes, less correctly, it is explained, "doomed to disaster." 
 
 9. Trojans. The majority of modem editors incorrectly read 
 Romani, * 'Romans." The Romans at the time of the Second 
 Punic war are called Trojans, as having originally come from Troy. 
 Thus Dante says, speaking of the Romans: "the holy race in whom 
 is mingled the lofty Trojan blood." Conv. iv, 4, 4. Comp. iv, 5, 2. 
 
 10. with the rings. The Romans were decisively defeated by 
 the Carthaginians under Hannibal near the village of Cannae, 
 B.C. 216. The story is that great quantities of rings were taken 
 from the fingers of the slain Roman knights after the victory. 
 
 11. as Livy writes. Livy's words are: "Then, in proof of this 
 so joyful news, he ordered the golden rings to be poured out in the 
 vestibule of the Senate-House (at Carthage), of which there was 
 such a heap that some have taken upon themselves to say that, 
 on being measured, they filled three pecks and a half. The state- 
 ment has obtained, and is more like the truth, that there were not 
 more than a peck." Hist, xxiii, 12. Comp. Conv. iv, 5, 4. 
 
 13. Robert Guiscard. Bom at Hauteville, in Normandy, about 
 1015, and sumamed Guiscard, "sagacious" or "cunning." A 
 lively picture of his appearance and character is furnished by Gibbon, 
 "Decline and Fall," ch. Ivi. From a very early period Southern 
 Italy had been occupied by Greeks, so that it was known as Magna 
 Graecia. The Saracens came to Sicily in 827 A.D., and after fifty 
 years completed the conquest of that island. The Norman conquests 
 m Italy began early in the eleventh century. Within a hundred 
 years all Southern Italy with Sicily was brought under Norman 
 rule. The Duchy of Apuha began in 1042. In 1053, Pope Leo IX 
 invested the Normans with all that they could conquer in Apulia, 
 Calabria, and Sicily. Robert Guiscard succeeded to the chief com- 
 mand of the Norman forces in 1057. Two years later he was made 
 Duke of Apulia, and for the next twenty-one years was engaged in 
 wars with the Greeks and Saracens in Southern Italy and Sicily. 
 These Greeks and Saracens are referred to by Dante here as "feeling 
 the pain of blows." 
 
 15. Ceperano. A town in Latium on the bank of the river Liris 
 (mod. Garigliano). Dante alludes to it here in connection with the 
 betrayal of Manfred by the Apulians, just before the battle of Bene- 
 vento in 1266. On the approach of Charles of Anjou, Manfred posted 
 the Count Giordano and the Count of Caserta at the bridge of Ceper- 
 ano ; but the Count of Caserta abandoned the post, owing, it was said, 
 to a private wrong at the hands of Manfred ; and Count Giordano was 
 therefore compelled to retire. There was no battle at Ceperano, as 
 Dante seems to imply, and he may have confused it with the battle 
 of Benevento, where the greater part of the barons of Apulia and of 
 the kingdom, either from cowardice or from treachery, took to flight. 
 
 17. Tagliacozzo. A village of central Italy in the Abmzzi, twenty 
 miles south of Aquila. On the death of Frederick II, in 1250, his 
 
284 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 son Manfred seized the crovm of Sicily and Naples, and held it to 
 the exclusion of young C!onradin, the son of Conrad IV of Germany 
 and the rightful claimant. The Pope, filled with hatred for the 
 house of Hohenstaufen and for the race of Frederick, offered the 
 crown to Charles of Anjou, a younger brother of Louis IX of France, 
 who accepted it, and was furnished with money by the Pope to 
 enable him to take possession. He defeated Manfred, who was slain, 
 and assumed the sovereignty. In 1268 Conrad in, now sixteen 
 years of age, with Frederick of Austria, crossed the Alps to recover 
 his inheritance, and was joined by the Ghibellines in Italy. The 
 armies met at Tagliacozzo. Charies was routed, and his troops fled ; 
 but by the advice of Alardo or Erard de Valery, the conmiander of 
 his forces, he kept his reserves in the background until Conradin's 
 German and Spanish troops were scattered over the field in search 
 of plunder. Then Charies threw forward his fresh troops, and 
 completely routed Conradin. See the account of the battle in 
 Villani, Cron. vii, 26, 27. 
 
 18. without weapons. Alardo won the battle for Charles by his 
 advice, and not by fighting. 
 
 22, middle-piece or stave. The middle- or side-boards of the 
 bottom of a cask. 
 
 32. All. Adopted and educated by Mahomet and his fourth 
 successor. Mahomet made him his vicegerent, and gave him the 
 hand of his daughter. The question of All's right to the succession 
 divided the Mahometans into two sects — the Sunnites, who denied 
 the right, and the Shiites or Shya'ees, who maintained it. 
 
 33. cloven in his face. Scartazzini points out that Dante has 
 represented Ali with just that part of the body severed which has 
 been left entire to Mahomet, because Ali was the author of a schism 
 among the Mahometans themselves. Mahomet has his body cleft 
 because he sowed schism among the nations. Ali has his head 
 cleft because he sowed schism principally among the heads of the 
 Mahometan sect. 
 
 44. musest. The word muse, which occurs only here, conveys 
 a contemptuous intimation. The verb is defined "to think, to 
 surmise"; but also "to gape idly about; to hold one's muzzle or 
 snout in the air." It is directly akin to muso, "snout"; but there 
 underlies it the sense of stupid gazing, with an idle, unintelligent 
 curiosity ; snuffing about like a dog with his nose in the air. Scar- 
 ta,zzini gives as the primary definition, "to stand lazily in stupid 
 fashion." 
 
 56. forgetful of their torment. Comp. Purg. ii, 75. 
 
 58. Fra Dolcino. Dolcino de' Tomielli of Novara, 1305. He 
 was known as Fra ("brother") from his connection with the sect 
 of "the Apostolic Brethren," founded in 1260 by Gerardo Segarelli 
 of Parma, and ha\'ing for its object to restore the apostolic simphcity 
 of the Church. After the death of Segarelli in 1300, he became the 
 head of the sect. They denounced the Papacy as * * the Great Harlot' ' 
 of the ApocaJypse. They held themselves amenable to no papal 
 censure, yet accepted in other respects the entire creed of the Church. 
 PoUtically they were Ghibellines, resting their hopes on the Sicilian 
 
NOTES 285 
 
 house of Aragon. They first appeared as an organized community 
 in 1304 in Piedmont, where they were joined by a multitude of 
 adherents. They professed to hve a sternly ascetic life. Clement V, 
 in 1305, issued a bull for their excommunication; whereupon they 
 withdrew to a mountain called Balnera, in the upper part of Vai 
 Sesia, and there built a town. They repelled successfully the first 
 attack upon them, and took prisoner the Podesta of Varallo, the 
 leader of the attacking force. A league of Guelf nobles was formed 
 under an oath to exterminate them. This converted the brotherhood 
 into an army, and Dolcino showed himself to be an able general, 
 and thrice defeated the forces of the Bishop of Vercelli. They were 
 finally subdued by starvation, massacred, and burned. Dolcino him- 
 self was seized and burned alive with horrible tortures. The esti- 
 mates of Fra Dolcino differ. Villani denounces him as a preacher 
 of the vilest communism. Milman, whose principal authority is 
 Muratori, is temperate and cautious. Mariotti (an assumed name), 
 "Dolcino and his Times," thinks that he was the victim of un- 
 founded calumnies. Benvenuto da Imola testifies to his learning, 
 eloquence, and fortitude, but believes the reports of his profligate 
 teachings. 
 
 60. to equip himself. Dolcino and his followers finally suc- 
 cumbed to starvation, and to a heavy fall of snow, which enabled the 
 Novarese, who were leading the attack, to overpower them. Dante 
 represents the schismatic Mahomet, the enemy of Christendom, as 
 sending this message to one who professed to represent primitive 
 apostolic Christianity. It has been suggested that Mahomet rnay 
 have seen in Dolcino a sympathizer with his own views regarding 
 women. If that be true, it is a keen thrust of Dante, who naturally 
 regarded Dolcino as a schismatic. Benvenuto thinks that Mahomet's 
 interest in Dolcino grew out of his hatred of the Christian Church, of 
 which Italy was the chief seat. If he could prevent Dolcino 's heresy 
 from being exterminated he might hope that it would spread through 
 Italy. 
 
 77. the lovely plain. The plain of Lombardy. 
 
 79. Pier da Medicina. Medicina was a smaU town near Bologna. 
 Pier da Medicina belonged to a family who were "captains" of 
 Medicina m the thirteenth century. He was a notorious scandal- 
 monger, and a persistent sower of discord between the houses of 
 Polenta and Malatesta. 
 
 80. Fano's worthiest pair. Fano was on the Adriatic between 
 Pesaro and Ancona. "The two" are Angiolello da Cagnano and 
 Guido del Cassero, noblemen, whom Malatestino of Rimini, "the 
 Young Mastiff" (see note on Inf. xxvii, 48), invited to a conference 
 at La Cattolica, a small town on the Adriatic, and caused to be 
 drowned by the sailors on their way thither. 
 
 87. Cyprus and Majorca. Regarded as marking the eastern and 
 western limits of the Mediterranean. 
 
 88. Argive folk. The early Greek settlers in Italy and Sicily 
 were regarded as brigands. 
 
 89. that traitor. Malatestino, who had lost an eye. 
 
 90. the city. Rimini. 
 
286 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 91. one of my comrades. This is Caius Scribonius Curio Q. 106). 
 In the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, he was originally an 
 adherent of Pompey, by whose influence he was made Tribune of 
 the Plebs, B.C. 50. In this office he became deeply involved in 
 debt, and Caesar won him to his side by discharging his obligations ; 
 Curio having, it is said, saved his life when he was leaving the Senate- 
 house after the debate about Catiline's accomplices. He was a 
 turbulent and unprincipled man, and used his influence against his 
 former friends. 
 
 94. Focara's wind. Focara was a headland near La Cattolica, 
 and was dangerous on account of ts storms. AngioleUo and Guido 
 would have no need to invoke the protection of Heaven against a 
 tempest, because they would be drowned before reaching Focara. 
 
 98. to whom the sight is bitter. To whom it is painful to have 
 seen Rimini. 
 
 101. this is he himself. Curio. 
 
 102. banished. He accompanied Caesar from Rome when the 
 latter was proclaimed an enemy to the Republic by the Senate. 
 
 102, 103. drowned the doubt in Caesar. Overcame Caesar's 
 hesitation about commencing the civil war. Curio reached Caesar 
 at Ravenna before he cross^ the Rubicon. Dante represents him 
 as giving his advice at Rimini, and after he had crossed the Rubicon. 
 Dante foUows Lucan, Phars. i, 223-224, who says that after Caesar 
 had crossed the Rubicon he attacked Ariminum, and was there joined 
 by Curio; and that when he was hesitating whether he should 
 advance, Curio answered in the words which Dante here gives in 
 substance: "Away with delays! Delaying has always harmed 
 those who were ready." 
 
 111. Mosca. Mosca Lamberti. Dante inquired for him when in 
 the third circle (see Inf. vi, 82). He was the one at whose instigation 
 the Amidei murdered Buondelmonte, the crime which led to the 
 introduction into Florence of the Guelf and Ghibelline feuds (see 
 note on Inf. \i, 62). 
 
 112. a thing once done is ended. The words uttered by Mosca 
 when the friends of the Amidei were plotting how to avenge the 
 wrong done to their house by Buondelmonte. He was also, accord- 
 ing to Villani, one of the murderers. 
 
 113. seed of evil to the Tuscan folk. Because the murder divided 
 the citizens into two factions. The Buondeknonti became the leaders 
 of the GueKs, the Amidei of the Ghibellines. 
 
 114. death to thy race. The Lamberti family. They were driven 
 from Florence in 1258. When the two Jovial Friars, Catalano and 
 lx)deringo, were made Podest^s of Florence (see note on Inf. xxiii, 
 107-108), they appointed thirty-six of the best men in the city as 
 counsellors. In 1266 the Ghibellines began to suspect the thirty- 
 six of favoring the Guelfs, and determined to break up the body. 
 The Lamberti began the attack. From this time the family dis- 
 appears from the chronicles. 
 
 129. of itself it made a lamp. He saw his way through the eyes 
 of the head which he held in his hand. 
 
 130, 131. two in one and one in two. There were two, because 
 
NOTES 287 
 
 the body was divided into two parts ; but there was only one, because 
 the two parts continued their functions as if united. 
 
 140. Bertrand de Bom. Bertrand de Bom, one of the oldest and 
 most famous of the Troubadours, and Lord of Hautefort, 1140-1215. 
 He was a Cistercian monk for twenty years, and a writer of warlike 
 poems, of which a number have been preserved. He was fond of 
 strife, and active in promoting it among his neighbors. 
 
 142. to the young king. The correct reading is giovane, "young," 
 and not Giovanni, "John," although the latter is supported by the 
 great mass of manuscript-evidence, and is adopted by some eminent 
 authorities. "The young king" was Henry, the son of Henry H of 
 England (1154-1189). He was twice crowned during his father's 
 lifetime, in 1170 and 1172. After the second coronation he claimed to 
 share the royal power with his father, and demanded the sovereignty 
 of either England or Normandy. He was compelled to fly to the 
 French court, but was supported by his mother. Queen Eleanor, by 
 King Louis of France, and by King William of Scotland. He was 
 aided in this rebellion, if not prompted to it, by Bertrand de Bom, 
 with whom he was on very intimate terms. 
 
 143. Achitophel. See 2 Sam. xv, 12 ff. 
 
 144. did no more. Did not stir up more strife. The fitness of 
 the parallel is obvious, and the grief of David when informed of 
 Absalom's death (2 Sam. xviii, 33) has its analogue in the violent 
 sorrow of Henry II on hearing of Prince Henry's death. 
 
 147. its source. The spinal marrow. Others explain, the heart. 
 
 CANTO XXIX 
 
 8. the vale. The ninth Bolgia. For the first time, Dante gives 
 a precise numerical measurement of dimension. In Inf. xxx, 89, 
 he tells us that the tenth trench is eleven miles in circuit, showing 
 that the circuit of the trenches diminishes as they approach the 
 central pit. As the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of 
 a circle was understood in Dante's time to be 22 :7, the diameter of 
 the ninth bolgia was seven miles, and that of the tenth, three miles 
 and a half. This last included the diameter of the well or pit enclosed 
 within it. There may also be an implication that the number of 
 those guilty of the worse forms of fraud is smaller than the numbers 
 in the higher trenches, 
 
 10, 11. the moon is underneath our feet. Time in the Inferno 
 is measured by the moon, and not by the sun. Comp. Inf. x, 81 ; 
 XX, 132-135, and see notes. It was 1 or 2 P.M. The moon 
 was two days past the full. 
 
 17, and, as I went behind. The sense is: Even while I was 
 apologizing, my guide moved on and I after him, adding, etc. 
 
 29. Geri del Bello. First cousin of Dante's father, a turbulent 
 and quarrelsome character, who sowed discord among the Sachetti, 
 a noble family of Florence, in revenge for which he was murdered 
 by one of them. 
 
THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 30, 31. who once held Altaforte. Bertrand de Bom, who occu- 
 pied the Castle of Hautefort, near Perigueux. 
 
 33. which is not yet avenged. Vengeance was regarded in Dante's 
 time as a positive duty, which it was dishonorable to omit. Napier 
 says that it was sometimes allowed to sleep for thirty-five years, 
 and then struck suddenly a victim who had, perhaps, not yet seen 
 the light when the original injury was inflictea. 
 
 34, 35. who of the shame is partner. The outrage was regarded 
 as affecting the whole family of the injured party. 
 
 37. more compassionate. Dante thus intimates his approval of 
 the vendetta. 
 
 39. the first place, etc. They were crossing the bridge which 
 spanned the tenth trench, and had reached the first point which 
 would have conamanded a view into the trench if the light had been 
 sufficient. 
 
 42. cloister. Possibly with an ironical reference to a monastic 
 cloister, although the word does not necessarily imply that. It may 
 be simply an enclosed place, a "close." 
 
 44. lay-brotherhood. Appropriate to a cloister. 
 
 45. assailed me. Lit. "pierced me as wHth arrows." 
 
 50. Valdichiana. The river Chiana in Tuscany was noted for the 
 sluggishness of its stream, owing to the deposits in its bed, which 
 converted the whole valley into a malarious swamp. Dante, speak- 
 ing of the evolutions of two clusters of stars which he saw in the 
 heaven of the Sun, says that their motion is as much swifter than 
 we are wont to see, as that of the Primum Mobile is swifter than the 
 motion of the Chiana. Par. xiii, 22-24. The malarious character of 
 the district caused the erection of many hospitals. Modem enter- 
 prise has entirely changed its character, and has converted it into 
 one of the most fertile districts of Italy. 
 
 51. Maremma. See note on Inf. xiii, 9. 
 
 Sardinia. Even in modem times the heat and drought of summer 
 develop malaria in the low grounds of the island. 
 
 53. such stench. See note on Inf. xi, 5. 
 
 56. upon the last bank. The embankment on the side of the 
 trench nearest the central pit. 
 
 62. Aegina. An island near the coast of Argolis. Its unpro- 
 ductive soil turned its inhabitants to seafaring. For a long time 
 it was the maritime rival of Athens, \mtil, after the Persian war, 
 its fleet was destroyed in a sea-fight with the Athenians, and many 
 of the inhabitants were driven from the island. It revived after 
 the fall of Athens, but never recovered its former prosperity. Ac- 
 cording to legendary historj', Aegina was the birthplace of Aeacus, 
 who, after his death, became one of the judges in the lower world 
 along with Minos and Rhadamanthus. Jupiter having become 
 enamored of the nymph Aegina, Juno depopulated the island by 
 a pestilence. Aeacus besought Jupiter to repeople it; whereupon 
 Jupiter transformed all the ants into men, who were called Myrmi- 
 dons. The story is told by Ovid, Metam. vii, 523 ff., from whom 
 Dante derived it. 
 
 78. as baking-pans — lean. A contemptuous simile. Dr. Moore 
 
NOTES 280 
 
 calls attention to the contrast presented by the language in which 
 the same posture is described in Purg. xiii, 55-64. 
 
 86. the nails downward dragged, etc. The disgusting realism 
 of this picture needs no comment. 
 
 93, 94. forever may thy nails suffice thee. Insulting contempt. 
 Comp. Inf. XXX, 33, 34. 
 
 97. broke their mutual support. They ceased leaning agamst 
 each other. 
 
 108, 109. I was an Aretine. The speaker is one Griff olino, an 
 alchemist. Arezzo is in Tuscany, midway between Florence and 
 Perugia. 
 
 110. Albero of Siena. Said to have been the natural son of a 
 Sienese bishop. 
 
 117, 118. I made him not a Daedalus. I did not teach him to 
 do what Daedalus did when he made wmgs for Icarus. See note on 
 Inf. xvii, 107. 
 
 119. by one. The Bishop of Siena, who regarded Albero as his 
 son although he was illegitimate. 
 
 124, 125. so frivolous as are the Sienese. Comp. Purg. xiii, 156. 
 Dante's contempt for the Sienese appears in many passages of the 
 Commedia. It is, in part, an expression of the bitter hatred which, 
 for more than a hundred and fifty years, had existed between Siena 
 and Florence. This reached its climax in the expulsion of the 
 Ghibellines from Florence in 1258, and their warm reception at 
 Siena, in violation of a treaty made in 1255, by which Siena had 
 bound herself not to receive any person banished from Florence; 
 and finally in the battle of Montaperti in 1260, in which the Guelfs 
 of Florence were utterly routed by the Sienese Ghibellines. Apart 
 from these political motives, the character of the Sienese people 
 was repugnant to Dante's stem and severe temperament. Their 
 vanity made them ambitious to excel alike in arms and in arts. They 
 were at once sensual and self-assertive. They mingled religious 
 enthusiasm with partisan bitterness. "The city of civil discord 
 was also the city of frenetic piety." In the Middle Ages they 
 were notorious for the refinements of sensuality. They delighted 
 in all manner of showy pageants, and in the most reckless extrava- 
 gance in their sensual pleasures. Their sensuous character was 
 stamped alike upon their art and their literature. Of their novel- 
 ists, Symonds says: "They blend the morbidezza of the senses 
 with a rare feeling for natural and artistic beauty. Descriptions 
 of banquets and gardens, fountains and wayside-thickets, form a 
 delightful background to the never-ending festival of love. . . . 
 Though indescribably licentious, these novelists are rarely coarse 
 or vulgar. . . . Their tales, for the most part, are the lunes of 
 wanton love, day-dreams of erotic fancy, a free debauch of images, 
 now laughable, now lewd, but all provocative of sensual desire. 
 At the same time their delight in landscape-painting, combined with 
 a certain refinement of aesthetic taste, saves them from the brutal- 
 ities of lust." "Renaissance in Italy," v, 97. Allusions to Siena 
 or the Sienese may be found in Purg. v, 143; xi, 69, 119, 132, 144. 
 The student may profitably consult Mr. J. A. Symonds's "Renais- 
 
290 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 sance in Italy," Professor C. E. Norton's "Church Building in the 
 Middle Ages," and Bassermann's ''Dante's Spuren in Italien." 
 
 128. except me Stricca. Bitterly ironical, since Stricca was noto- 
 rious for his extravagance. He is said to have been a member of 
 "the Spendthrift Brigade." See note on Inf. xiii, 121, 
 
 130. Niccolo. Another reputed member of "the Spendthrift 
 Brigade." He is said to have been the author of a cooker>'-book. 
 
 131. fashion of the clove. The precise nature of this Epicurean 
 refinement is uncertain. It has been explained as the roasting of 
 game-birds at fires made with cloves ; the serving of cloves and other 
 spice with roasted meats ; and the cultivating of spices in proximity 
 to each other, so that the various flavors might blend in each. 
 
 132. the garden. This may mean the company of Epicures or 
 Siena. 
 
 134. Caccia d'Ascian. Another Sienese spendthrift. 
 
 136. the Abbagliato. A nickname, "muddle-head," applied to 
 one Bartolonuneo de' Folcacchieri, who held high official position 
 in Siena between 1277 and 1300. 
 
 137. backs thee. Backs your accusation of vanity against the 
 Sienese. 
 
 141. Capocchio. Meaning "blockhead." An alchemist, whether 
 of Florence or of Siena is disputed. His being burnt at Siena is a 
 historical fact. 
 
 144. Nature aped. He appeals to Dante's personal recollection 
 that he was a clever mimic. The reference is not to his skill in 
 treating metals. 
 
 CANTO XXX 
 
 The illustration of insanitj' with which the Canto opens is drawn 
 from 0\'id, Metam. iv, 512 fif., whom Dante follows closely. 
 
 1. because of Semele. Semele was the daughter of Cadmus. 
 She became, at Thebes, the mother of Dionysus (Bacchus) by Jupiter. 
 Juno, enraged at Jupiter's imfaithfulness, induced Semele to ask 
 him to appear before her in his fuU di\Tne majesty; and Semele 
 was struck by his lightnings and burned to ashes. Juno likewise 
 vented her wrath upon the Thebans by smiting with madness 
 Athamas, the lover of Semele's sister Ino, to whom the care of Dio- 
 nysus had been intrusted by Jupiter. Athamas, in his frenzy, took 
 Ino and her two sons for a lioness and her cubs. He dashed out 
 the brains of Learchus, one of the sons, and Ino with the other son, 
 Melicertes, threw herself into the sea. 
 
 2. more than once. The other instance of Juno's wrath was 
 in the case of Pentheus, a son of Agave, another sister of Semele. 
 Pentheus was Cadmus's s\iccessor as king of Thebes. Being opposed 
 to the introduction of the worship of Dionysus, he was torn in pieces 
 by his mother and Ino. According to one version of the legend, 
 he had concealed himself in a tree in order to witness the orgies 
 of the Bacchantes. According to another version, the women in 
 their frenzy believed him to be a wild beast. 
 
NOTES 291 
 
 14. Hecuba. The wife of Priam, king of Troy. After the fall 
 of Troy she was carried away by the Greeks as a slave. On the 
 way to Greece her daughter Polyxena was torn from her and sacri- 
 ficed upon the tomb of Achilles, and at the same time the body 
 of her son Polydorus, who had been murdered, was washed up on the 
 seashore. She went mad with grief, and was changed into a dog, 
 and leapt into the sea. See Ovid, Metam. xiii, 404 ff. Vergil's allus- 
 ions to Hecuba in the ^neid are merely incidental, and do not 
 touch the events referred to by Dante. 
 
 31. Gianni Schicchi. A Florentine of the Cavalcanti family, 
 who was noted for his powers of mimicry. As he threw off his own 
 personality in counterfeiting others, so in his punishment he is out 
 of himself. 
 
 37. Myrrha. The daughter of Cinyras, the king of Cyprus. 
 She conceived an incestuous passion for her father, and accom- 
 plished her purpose by passing herself ofif as another woman. The 
 story is told by Ovid, Metam. x, 298 ff. 
 
 41. that other one. Gianni Schicchi. 
 
 43. Buoso Donati. Of Florence. Sometimes identified with the 
 Buoso of Inf. XXV. The story is that with the aid of Buoso 's son 
 or nephew, Simone, Gianni Schicchi first smothered Buoso, and 
 then took his place in the bed and dictated a will in favor of Simone, 
 who had feared that the money would be bequeathed to charities. 
 He took care to insert in the wiU clauses containing bequests to 
 himself, among which was "the lady of the stud," a favorite mare 
 of Buoso's. 
 
 50. fashioned like a lute. Dante means that his body would 
 have resembled a lute if his legs had been cut off at the groin. 
 
 63. Master Adamo. Of Brescia. A famous coiner. He was 
 employed by the Florentines to coin their gold florins, and is sup- 
 posed to have been introduced in 1252, when the florins were first 
 coined. "The florins," says Villani, "weighed eight to the ounce, 
 and on one side was the stamp of the lily, and on the other of St. 
 John." Adamo alloyed them to the extent of three carats, so that 
 the coins contained twenty-one instead of twenty-four, carats. For 
 this he was burned in 1281. 
 
 66. the little brooks. Nothing can be more impressive than the 
 contrast of the flowing streams dashing down their soft, cold chan- 
 nels, with the thirsty misery of the poor wretch. Ruskin says that 
 Adamo remembers the hills of Romena only for their sweet waters; 
 but Mr. Freshfield (Alpine Journal, vol. x, February, 1882) calls 
 attention to the fact that in many mountain districts canale is a 
 common term for "a valley," and remarks that the verdure of the 
 hills C ' the verdant hills' ') and their cool, soft glens form an essential 
 part of the picture. 
 
 67. Casentino. A district in Tuscany, comprising the upper 
 valley of the Arno and the slopes of the Etruscan Apennines. 
 
 72, 73. draws occasion. Adamo means that the place where he 
 sinned, with its fresh, cool streams, is made the instrument of his 
 punishment by being always before his mind. 
 
 74. Romena. A village in Casentino, on the Amo. It was 
 
292 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 the dwelling of the Conti Guidi, who had a castle there, Romena, 
 which gave name to the place. 
 
 76. the Baptist's effigy. "On the gold florin the Baptist was 
 represented standing at full length, with his raiment reaching to 
 the knee, and girt about the loins, his hair hanging over his shoulders, 
 and his head surrounded with a halo. With his right hand he is 
 in the act of giving the benediction aft-er the usage of the Greek 
 Church {i.e., with the thumb and little-finger joined, and the 
 other fingers opened wide). In his left hand he holds a staff ter- 
 minating in a cross, surrounded with the inscription, **S. Johannes 
 B." Orsini, "History of the Florentine Coinage." 
 
 78, 79. Guido — Alessandro — their brothers. The Guidi were one 
 of the richest and most powerful families of Italy during the eleventh, 
 twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. They became lords of nearly 
 the whole of Romagna. They established their principal seats in 
 the Casentino, but had also large possessions on the other side of 
 the mountains. In the thirteenth century they occupied important 
 oflicial positions both in Romagna and Tuscany. The names men- 
 tioned in this line are names of Counts of Romagna, the unnamed 
 brother being Aghinolfo. It was at the instance of these three that 
 Adamo debased the florins. 
 
 80. Branda's fount. Commonly referred to the well-known 
 fountain at Siena, but almost certainly a fountain of the same name 
 in the neighborhood of Romena, the scene of Adamo 's crime. Bas- 
 sermann says that it is on the southern slope of the hiU of Romena, 
 choked with rubbish, and almost dried up. 
 
 82. the maddened shades. Schicclii and Myrrha. 
 
 89. eleven miles. See note on Inf. xxix, 8. 
 
 100. the deceitful woman. Potiphar's wife. Gen. xxxix, 7fiF. 
 
 101. false Sinon. One of the numerous illustrations of Dante's 
 habit of placing side by side examples from Scripture and from 
 
 Erofane or mythical histor}\ Sinon allowed himself to be captured 
 y the Trojans, and then, by a false story, persuaded them to admit 
 within the city the wooden horse with the armed Greeks concealed 
 inside. The story is told in Aen. ii, 57 S. 
 
 1 33. Narcissus's looking-glass. A clear pool in which one might 
 see his face reflected. The story of Narcissus, who became enamored 
 of his own image which he saw reflected in a fountain, is told by 
 Ovid, Metam. iii, 407 ff. 
 
 140. as he is who dreams of his own hurt, etc. Dante's simile 
 is: As one who dreams of something which is injuring him, and in 
 his dream wishes that he might be only dreaming, which really is 
 the case, so I, being speechless with shame, desired to excuse mj^self, 
 and was unaware that I was doing so by my very inability to express 
 myself. In other words, I was as ignorant of the fact that I was 
 making the best possible excuse, as the dreamer is ignorant of the 
 fact that he is dreaming. 
 
 151. if fortune chance again to find thee, etc. Vergil has to 
 reprove Dante again for a similar fault. Purg. v, 10 ff. 
 
NOTES 293 
 
 CANTO XXXI 
 
 In the ninth and last circle, Treachery, the worst form of Fraud, 
 is punished. 
 
 1. first wounded me. Referring to Vergil's rebuke at the close 
 of the preceding canto. 
 
 4. Achilles's lance, etc. The father of Achilles was Peleus. The 
 healing property of the lance appears in the story of Telephus, the 
 son of Hercules, who attempted to prevent the Greeks from landing 
 on the coast of Mysia. Dionysus caused him to stumble over a vine, 
 whereupon he was wounded by Achilles. Being informed by an 
 oracle that the wound could be cured only by the wounder, Telephus 
 applied to Achilles and was cured by means of the rust of the spear 
 which had wounded him. That the spear formerly belonged to Peleus 
 is related by Homer as follows : ' * The spear — which indeed no other 
 of the Greeks could brandish, but Achilles alone knew how to wield 
 it, a Pelian ash which Chiron had given to his sire from the top of 
 Pelion." II. xvi, 143. Dante did not obtain the story from Homer, 
 whom he did not know, but quite probably from a passage in Ovid's 
 "Remedia Amoris," 1. 48, in which occur the words *'Pelias hasta," 
 meaning "the spear from Pelion," but which Dante supposed to 
 mean "the spear of Peleus." Versions of the story appeared in 
 several thirteenth century poets, in which the lance of Peleus was 
 referred to. Several extracts from these poems are given by Mr, 
 Paget Toynbee in the article "Peleus" in his "Dante Dictionary." 
 
 10, 11. less than night and less than day. A dim, gloomy 
 atmosphere. 
 
 15, 16. which counter to itself pursued its course. He means 
 that the sound of the horn turned his eyes toward the place from 
 which it proceeded, and that as the sound came toward him, his 
 eyes followed a contrary direction — toward the source of the sound. 
 
 18. Charlemagne, etc. At the Diet of Paderbom in 777, some 
 Mahometan ambassadors appeared before Charlemagne, professing 
 to represent the large number of Arabs in Spain who were dissatisfied 
 with the rule of their Emir at Cordova, and desired to put them- 
 selves under Charlemagne's protection, and to secure his aid in 
 throwing off the Emir's rule. Charlemagne accepted the offer, and 
 in the spring, two armies, made up from all the people in alliance 
 with the Franks, started for the South, one going by the way of 
 the Mediterranean, the other over the Pyrenees and through the 
 valley of Roncesvalles. Both armies were to meet at Zaragoza, 
 which was to be immediately surrendered. They found the city, 
 however, closed against them. The Spanish expedition was a 
 failure. On Charlemagne's return, the Basques fell upon his rear- 
 guard in the pass of Roncesvalles, and annihilated the whole body 
 together with their leader, Roland or Orlando, Charlemagne's nephew 
 and Count of the March of Brittany. It was said that Roland in 
 his extremity sounded a bugle-call, which was heard by Charlemagne 
 eight miles away. There is also a legendary account to the effect 
 that Roland and his force were destroyed by an army of Saracens, 
 
294 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 through the treacherj' of Ganelon, Roland's step-father. Ganelon 
 is mentioned in Inf. xxxii, 131. 
 
 19. the sacred squadron. So called because of their holy war 
 against the Moslem infidels. 
 
 33. giants. It does not appear why Dante places the giants at 
 the entrance of the circle of traitors. Their crime was that of 
 violence against the gods, and one would expect to find them in 
 the third round of the seventh circle, ^dth Capaneus. See Inf. xiv, 
 45 fif. The reference to Aen. vi, 580-581 does not seem to furnish 
 a sufficient explanation. 
 
 42. Monte reggione. Montereggione is a Sienese castle about 
 eight miles from Siena, situated on the crest of a low hiU, and sur- 
 rounded with a wall surmounted by fourteen towers about a hundred 
 feet apart, round the entire circuit. Bassermann says that most 
 of the towers are not much higher than the wall, having been worn 
 down by the lapse of time. 
 
 53, 54, if — she repents her not of elephants, etc. When Dante 
 says that Nature did well in ceasing to produce such monsters, it 
 might be answered : * * Why not then cease to create other monsters, 
 such as elephants and whales?" Dante anticipates this by saying 
 that the giants were more dangerous because possessed of reason. 
 
 60. Saint Peter's pine-cone. A colossal pine-cone of bronze, 
 which once crowned the Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castle of St. Angelo). 
 If Dante was among the Jubilee-pilgrims in 1300 (see Inf. xviii, 30, 
 31), he would have found this cone in a portico in front of St. 
 Peter's. Toward the end of the fifth century it was placed upon 
 the metal cover of a fountain erected for the use of pUgrims in the 
 fore-court of the Vatican basilica. It now stands in one of the 
 Vatican gardens, Giardino della Pigna. It is seven and a half feet 
 high. 
 
 65. three Prisons. Friesland was one of the northernmost 
 provinces of HoUand, and its inhabitants were renowned for their 
 great stature. The entire height of the giant according to Dante's 
 reckoning was about seventy feet. 
 
 70. Rafel mai amech, etc. This is mere gibberish. In 11. 81, 
 82, Dante distinctly says that it is "known to no one." It is ap- 
 propriate to Nimrod, to whom tradition ascribed the building of the 
 tower of Babel, and who is therefore associated with the confusion 
 of tongues. In Purg. xii, 33-36, he is sculptured on the wall of 
 the first terrace, standing bewildered at the foot of the tower; and 
 in Par. xxvi, 124-125, he is mentioned in connection with the tower 
 of Babel and the confusion of tongues. See also De Vulg. El. i, 
 7,26. 
 
 72. thy horn. Assigned to Nimrod as *'a mighty hunter." 
 Gen. X, 9. 
 
 77. he doth accuse himself. By his jargon and his mental eon- 
 fusion (U. 70, 75). 
 
 78. Nimrod. In Scripture Nimrod is not represented either as 
 a giant or as the founder of the tower of Babel. Dante, no doubt, 
 drew these representations from such authors as St. Augustine, 
 Isidore, Orosius, Hugh of St, Victor, and Brunetto Latini. 
 
NOTES 295 
 
 82. such as his to others. Scartazzini's query is pertinent: 
 Why did Vergil speak to Nimrod if he knew that his words would 
 not be understood? 
 
 95. Ephialtes. Son of Neptune. With his brother Otus he 
 made war upon the Olympian gods, and attempted to pile Ossa 
 on Olympus, and Pelion upon Ossa. See Verg. Georg. i, 280-283. 
 Another case in which Dante places side by side a Scriptural and 
 a mythical personage. 
 
 99. Briareus. Or Aegaeon, another of the giants who assailed 
 Olympus. He was slain by Jupiter with a thunderbolt, and buried 
 under Mt. Aetna. Vergil represents him as having a hundred arras 
 and fifty heads. Aen. x, 565-568. See Purg. xii, 28. 
 
 101. Antaeus. Son of Neptune and the Earth. He was invincible 
 so long as he remained in contact with his mother, Earth. Hercules 
 discovered the secret of his strength, lifted him into the air, and 
 crushed him. 
 
 102. speaks and is unfettered. In contrast with Nimrod he 
 speaks, and he is unchained because he was not present at the battle 
 of the giants with the gods. Dante refers to him, De Mon. ii, 8, 10; 
 Conv. iii, 3, 7. He draws the story principally from Lucan, Phars. 
 iv, 587-633. 
 
 109. Ephialtes — shook himself. Ephialtes was enraged at 
 being described as less fierce than Briareus. 
 
 115. 116. the vale favored by fortime. The valley of Bagrada 
 near Zama, in Numidia, on the borders of the Carthaginian ter- 
 ritory, where Hannibal was defeated by Scipio, B.C. 202. According 
 to Lucan, Phars. iv, 587 ff., Antaeus had his abode there. For the 
 epithet of the valley, "favored by fortune," comp. Inf. xxviii, 8. 
 
 116. Scipio. Known as Africanus Major. 
 
 117. an heir of fair renown. The battle of Zama brought the 
 second Punic war to an end, and caused the submission of the Car- 
 thaginians. 
 
 119. a thousand lions. Lucan relates that Antaeus dwelt in a 
 cave in the valley of Bagrada, lying hidden beneath a high rock, 
 and devouring lions which he had captured. Phars. iv, 585 ff. 
 
 123. the victory would have won. Vergil flatters Antaeus in 
 order to secure his services in conveying Dante and himself into the 
 ninth circle. 
 
 126. Tityus — ^Typhon. Antaeus's brother-giants, an appeal to 
 his jealousy. 
 
 127. that which here is craved. Remembrance and repute among 
 the living. 
 
 139. the Carisenda. One of the leaning towers at Bologna. It 
 stands not far from the tower of the Asinelli, also leaning, which is 
 more slender and graceful, and is considerably higher. The Carisenda 
 is a hundred and thirty feet high, and leans eight feet from the perpen- 
 dicular to the south, and three feet to the east. Dante's illustration 
 is most felicitous. When a cloud passes over the tower in a direction 
 opposite to the inclination, it seems to the spectator as though the 
 structure were falling. Such was Dante's impression as Antaeus 
 bent toward him. 
 
296 THE DIVINE CX)MEDY 
 
 149. as in a ship a mast. Antaeus, rising again to his erect 
 position, is compared to a mast which has been temporarily lowered 
 and is again set upright. 
 
 CANTO XXXII 
 
 The ninth circle is devoted to Treachery, the worst type of Fraud. 
 It is di\'ided into four rounds. The first is devoted to traitors to 
 their own kindred, and is named Caina, after Cain the murderer of 
 his brother. In the second are punished traitors to their country, 
 city, or party. This is named Antenora, from the Trojan Antenor, 
 who, in the Middle Ages, was universally regarded as the betrayer 
 of Troy to the Greeks. The third round contains traitors to guests 
 and companions, and is named Tolomea, after Ptolemy, the son of 
 Abubus, the captain of Jericho, who treacherously murdered Simon, 
 the third of the Maccabean princes, with two of his sons at a banquet, 
 B.C. 135. For the story see 1 Mace, xvi, 11-17. In the fourth 
 round are those who have betrayed benefactors. This is named 
 Giudecca, after Judas Iscariot, and here Lucifer is eternally fixed at 
 the centre of the earth. These spirits are wedged iu the ice which 
 forms the sloping floor of the pit, and which is made by the freezing 
 of the river Cocytus. 
 
 4. all thrust. All the rocky walls and dechvities of Hell converge 
 to tills centre and abut upon it. 
 
 express the juice of my conception. I would fully express what 
 is in my mind. 
 
 12. those dames. The Muses. 
 
 Amphion. Amphion, the son of Zeus. He and his brother 
 Zethus marched against Thebes, and after capturing it, fortified it 
 with a wall. Amphion had received a lyre from Hermes (Mercury), 
 on which he played so skilfully that the stones, of their own accord, 
 moved down from Mt. Cithaeron and arranged themselves in the 
 wall. 
 
 20. the lofty wall. The rocky bank which encloses the ninth 
 circle. 
 
 23. the wretched, weary brothers. The two mentioned in 1. 44. 
 Comp. Purg. X, 123-124. 
 
 29. Tanais. The river Don. 
 
 31. Tambemich. This mountain cannot be decisively identified. 
 By different commentators it has been placed in Armenia, Dalmatia, 
 Sclavonia, etc. Some modem authorities incline to the Javomick, 
 near the grottoes of Adelsberg in Camiola. 
 
 32. Pietrapana. Identified by some with Pania, one of the peaks 
 of the Alpe Apuana, in the northwest of Tuscany. The region of 
 Lunigiana is known to have been familiar to Dante. In the little 
 town of Mulazzo, north of Spezia and near the river Magra, Dante 
 resided for a time in 1306, with Franceschino Malaspina, to whose 
 family Lunigiana belonged. A tower is to be seen on the height on 
 which Mulazzo stood, which is popularly known as "Dante's tower,'' 
 
NOTES 297 
 
 and there is a house at the foot of the tower in which Dante is said 
 to have Hved. Bassermann, whose chapter on Lunigiana (' ' Dante's 
 Spuren in ItaHen") will well repay reading, says that Mulazzo affords 
 a wonderful view of the Apuan Alps, with the giant peak of Pietra 
 Apuana rising prominently behind the lower hills. 
 
 33. crack. In the original, eric, evidently chosen to suggest the 
 cracking of the ice. 
 
 38. 39. to the note of storks. Their teeth were chattering with 
 the cold, and sounding like the chattering of storks. The stork 
 makes a loud noise with the clattering of its mandibles. 
 
 39. his face turned down. Through shame; desiring to avoid 
 recognition. 
 
 40. from their mouth the cold, etc. The chattering of the teeth 
 was evidence of the cold, and the tears of the inward anguish. 
 
 49, 50. only — within were moist. Up to this point no tears had 
 been shed. The eyes were moist or soft only within. When the 
 tears gushed forth they were immediately congealed. 
 
 58. mirror thyself in us. Lit. "gaze as if looking at a mirror." 
 
 60. Bisenzio. A river of Tuscany falling into the Amo, about 
 ten miles below Florence. In its valley were the castles of the 
 Alberti of Mangona. 
 
 61. from one body issued forth. The two sons of Alberto were 
 named Napoleone and Alessandro. The castle of Mangona right- 
 fully belonged to the latter, and was seized by his brother. The 
 Florentines expelled Napoleone, who was a Ghibelline. When the 
 Guelfs returned to Florence in 1267, Alessandro was reinstated. It 
 was said that in a subsequent quarrel the brothers kiUed each other. 
 
 63, 64. set in jelly. Ironical for "fixed in the ice." 
 
 65. cloven with a single blow. Mordred, the son of the mythical 
 King Arthur of Britain, who was slain by his father when he 
 treacherously attempted his life. The legend goes that the wound 
 made by Arthur's sword was so wide that the sunlight appeared 
 through it. Dante's acquaintance with the Arthurian legends is 
 shown by his repeated references to them. See Inf. v, 67, 129, 137; 
 Par. xvi, 15; Conv. iv, 28, 3. 
 
 66. Focaccia. A member of the Cancellieri family of Pistoia. 
 Accounts about him vary, but he appears to have been prominently 
 concerned in the feud between the two branches of the Cancellieri 
 family which resulted in the Black and White factions. He is said 
 to have been guilty of at least two treacherous murders, and of 
 cutting off the hand of a young cousin for an insult to his imcle, 
 Focaccia's father. The family feud finally reached such propor- 
 tions that the Pistoians called in the aid of Florence; and the 
 White and Black factions were thus introduced in due time into 
 Florence itself. 
 
 69. Sassol Mascheroni. A Florentine who murdered his nephew, 
 or, as some say, his brother, for the sake of his inheritance; for 
 which crime he was rolled through the streets of Florence in a cask 
 full of nails, and was afterward beheaded. 
 
 73. Camicione del Pazzi. Known only for his treacherous murder 
 of his kinsman TJbertino. The Pazzi were a Tuscan family. Their 
 
298 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 possessions lay between Florence and Arezzo. They were partly 
 Guelf and partly Ghibelline, but finally identified themselves with 
 the Whites. 
 
 74. Carlino. One of the Pazzi family. During the siege of 
 Pistoia by the Florentine Blacks and the Lucchese in 1302, he 
 held the castle of Piantravigne in the Valdamo for the Whites of 
 Florence, but for a bribe dehvered it into the hands of the Blacks. 
 This act had, of course, not occurred at the date of Dante's vision, 
 1300; but Dante places him in Caina by anticipation, by making 
 Camicione say that he is expecting him. The crime properly belongs 
 in the next round. 
 
 75. extenuate my guilt. Carlino's crime was so much worse than 
 Camicione's that it would make the latter appear trivial, and so 
 excuse him. 
 
 76. purple. There is some controversy about the meaning. It 
 probably means "livid" or "purple" with the cold; but others 
 explain "grinning hke a dog." 
 
 82. if it were will. It is significant that Dante hints that his 
 act may have been intentional. Not "the will of God," or "of 
 Heaven," but his own will. Dante utters no expression of regret. 
 Comp. Inf. xiii, 44, 52-54. 
 
 86, 87. for Montaperti — to aggravate the vengeance. To aggra- 
 vate the retribution which I am suffering for my treason at Monta- 
 perti. It is Bocca degli Abati who is speaking. At the battle of 
 Montaperti in 1260 (see note on Inf. x, 88), he appeared on the side 
 of the Florentine Guelf s; but at a critical moment treacherously 
 cut off the hand of the Florentine standard-bearer, thus creating a 
 panic, which resulted in the defeat of the Guelfs. 
 
 97, 98. if thou wert living, all too hard, etc. Bocca supposes 
 that Dante is a danmed spirit, and is surprised that a shade can 
 inflict a blow that would be hard, even if he were alive. 
 
 101, 102. I crave the contrary. Bocca has no desire to be remem- 
 bered in the world, but he has a fiendish pleasure in revealing the 
 names of his companions, who, like himself, wish to remain un- 
 recognized. See 1. 115. This is a kind of treachery appropriate to 
 the circle in which he is punished. 
 
 123, 124. who had his tongue — so prompt. The one who had 
 called Bocca by name, 1. 115, 
 
 124, 125. he is lamenting the silver of the French. Buoso da 
 Duera, a Ghibelline of Cremona, and one of the heads of the 
 party. Being instructed by Manfred in 1265 to block the pas- 
 sage of Charles of Anjou, who was on his way to take possession 
 of the kingdom of Naples, it was charged that he connived at 
 Charles's advance, having been bribed by the French. For this 
 act the whole of the Duera line in Cremona was exterminated by 
 its citizens. 
 
 127. in the cool. The phrase is a popular one for being in a 
 predicament. 
 
 128, 129. him of Beccheria. Tesauro de' Beccheria of Pavia, 
 Abbot of Vallombrosa, and legate of Pope Alexander IV in Florence. 
 After the expulsion of the Ghibellines from Florence in 1258, he was 
 
NOTES 299 
 
 put to torture and beheaded by the Florentines on the charge of 
 having intrigued with the GhibelHnes. 
 
 131. Gianni de' Soldanier. A Ghibelline of Florence. When 
 Florence rose against the Ghibellines and expelled them, Gianni took 
 sides against his own party. 
 
 Ganelon. According to the version of the legend which ascribes 
 Charlemagne's disaster at Roncesvalles to the Saracens (see note 
 on Inf. xxxi, 18), the destruction of Charlemagne's rear-guard and 
 the death of Roland were brought about by the treachery of Gane- 
 lon, Roland's step-father. The story is that Charlemagne, hearing 
 the horn of Roland, proposed to turn back and aid him, but was 
 dissuaded by Ganelon, who said that Roland often sounded his 
 horn merely for amusement. 
 
 132. Tribaldello. Of Faenza, a Ghibelline who, in order to avenge 
 a personal affront, treacherously opened the city gates in 1280 to 
 the Bolognese Guelfs. His name is sometimes given as Tebaldello. 
 
 140. Tydeus — Menalippus. Tydeus was one of the companions 
 of Adrastus in the expedition of the seven against Thebes (see note 
 on Inf. xxvi, 57, 58). He was mortally wounded by Menalippus. 
 Athen^ appeared with a remedy which was to make him immortal; 
 but finding him gnawing the head of Menalippus, she left him in 
 disgust. 
 
 CANTO XXXIII 
 
 14. Count Ugolino. Ugolino della Gherardesca, Count of Dono- 
 ratico, was born in the first half of the thirteenth century. He was 
 the father of five sons and three daughters. His third daughter 
 was the wife of Giovanni Visconti, Judge of Gallura, one of the four 
 judicial districts into which Sardinia was divided by the Pisans to 
 whom the island belonged in Dante's time. Owing to complicity with 
 a movement to shift the Sardinian administration from Ghibelline 
 to Guelf hands, Ugolino's son-in-law, Giovanni Visconti, was expelled 
 from Pisa and declared a rebel, and Ugolino himself was imprisoned. 
 Upon his liberation he formed a league with the Lucchese and the 
 Guelfs of Tuscany, and forced the Pisans to restore the exiles, among 
 whom was young Nino Visconti, the son of Giovanni. Ugolino 
 succeeded so well in conciliating the Pisans, that he was chosen 
 captain of the force against the Genoese with whom the Pisans had 
 been at war since 1282. In the bloody naval battle of Meloria, 
 August 6th, 1284, the power of Pisa was forever broken. In some 
 quarters Ugolino was suspected of having treacherously brought 
 about this disaster by an untimely retreat. The Florentines, Lucchese, 
 and other Guelfs now plotted to' bring Pisa back to the Guelf party. 
 Ugolino, knowing the impossibility of thwarting their design by 
 force, had recourse to cunning. He made over to the Guelfs of 
 Florence the strongholds of S. Maria in Monte, Fucecchio, Castel- 
 franco, and S. Croce e Montecalvoli ; and to the Guelfs of Lucca, 
 Bientina, Ripafratta, and Viareggio. By this means he saved Pisa 
 from extermination ; for when the Genoese arrived at Porto Pisano 
 
300 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 with a large fleet, the Florentines and Lucchese, won over by the 
 gift of Ugolino, refused to co-operate with them by a land assault 
 upon Pisa. Before the arrival of this fleet, Ugolino had been elected 
 Podest^ for ten years. His young nephew, Nino Visconti, whom he 
 associated with himself, was ambitious to have too large a part in 
 the administration, and a quarrel was the result. The Guelfs 
 became divided, Ugolino leading one faction and Nino the other. 
 Ugolino then intrigued with the GhibeUines, whose leader was Arch- 
 bishop Ruggieri degli LlDaldini, and with his aid succeeded in ex- 
 pelling Nino. Having thus succeeded in weakening the Guelfs, 
 Iluggieri turned upon Ugolino and succeeded in imprisoning him 
 with his two sons and two grandsons. After eight months in prison 
 they were left to starve. 
 
 It is difficult to decide why Ugolino is condenmed to Antenora. 
 Not for treachery at Meloria, for the charge is without proof, and 
 is disproved by the fact that, soon after the battle, Ugolino was 
 elected Podest4. Not for the gift of the strongholds, for by means 
 of that, the city was saved. It may have been that Dante regarded 
 Ugolino and Ruggieri as alike traitors to their own city in conspiring 
 to expel Nino Visconti. Each was attempting to further his own 
 interests at the expense of the community Nino appears in Pur- 
 gatory, in the Valley of the Princes. Purg. viii, 54. 
 
 It will be noticed that Ugolino says : * * I was the Count Ugolino." 
 Dante habitually speaks of permanent conditions, such as name and 
 personality, in the present tense. For transient conditions, such as 
 residence or title, he uses the past. A striking instance is fovmd in 
 Purg. V, 93. See, also. Par. vi, 10. 
 
 23. cage. The Italian muda is akin to the English mew. 
 
 24. "Hunger." The tower was originally called "the Tower of 
 the Gualandi at the Seven Streets." The Gualandi were a noble 
 GhibeUine family of Pisa. The tower was situated in what is now 
 the Piazza dei Cavalieri, upon which seven streets open from dif- 
 ferent directions. It received later the name of "the Tower of 
 Hunger." It was destroyed in the seventeenth century. Basser- 
 mann says that the horrible character of the place may be inferred 
 from a document in the Pisan archives, according to which the 
 removal of the prison was resolved upon in 1318, on the ground that 
 it was too near the "House of the Elders," to whom it was offensive 
 by its foul odor; and that it was so confined and devoid of all con- 
 veniences, that prisoners died before their time. 
 
 25. others yet must be confined. Ugolino anticipates that the 
 political dissensions in Pisa will cause the imprisonment of others. 
 
 29. this man. Ruggieri. 
 
 30. the wolf and whelps. Ugolino and his sons and grandsons. It 
 has been suggested that Ugolino in the dream is represented by the 
 wolf, because he was a Guelf, the name Guelf being originally Welf 
 (see note on Inf. xi, 62). The evidence, however, is not satisfactory 
 that "throughout the Commedia the Wolf is symbolical of the 
 Guelf party" (see Mr. Paget Toynbee's "Dante Dictionary," under 
 "Guelfi"); nor that Dante thought of "Guelf" as derived from 
 "welf." 
 
NOTES 301 
 
 31. the mountain. Monte San Giuliano, between Pisa and Lucca. 
 
 34, 35. Gualandi, Sismondi, Lanfranchi. Three leading Ghibel- 
 Une famines employed with their attendants ("hounds") as the 
 Archbishop's agents. 
 
 47. by reason of his dream. Apparently the sons also had dreamed 
 of starvation. 
 
 78, 79. stronger than my sorrow proved my fasting. The mean- 
 ing is that the want of food killed him. The horrible suggestion has, 
 however, been found in the words, that Ugolino fed upon his dead 
 children, which is most improbable. Mr. William W. Vernon 
 ("Readings on the Inferno of Dante") says, very sensibly: "The 
 Count had seen the last of his children drop off between the fifth and 
 sixth days. His own vital powers, though not extinct, are so much 
 impaired that he is only able to crawl along and feel their dead bodies, 
 his sight being gone. He is in no condition to have the physical 
 power to commit the deed of cannibal voracity that some of the 
 modem commentators have attempted to impute to him. He simply 
 lingers on for two days in the extremity of weakness, and then he 
 says : ' the want of food was more efficient than the anguish of heart 
 that had kept me alive longer than my sons.' " 
 
 The word digiuno is not "hunger," but "abstinence from food," 
 which impairs the strength, rather than the desire for food, which 
 impels one to seize even upon that from which nature recoils. 
 
 Neither Villani, nor Buti, the commentator of the fourteenth 
 century, who was a Pisan, makes any mention of a horror which, if it 
 had occurred, must have been generally known. Buti says that 
 after eight days the bodies were taken out dead, and says nothing 
 about their mutilation. 
 
 84. the si is heard. Si, "yes." Dante distinguishes French, 
 Spanish, and Italian by the particle of affirmation: in Spanish, oc, 
 in French oil, in Italian si. See De Vulg. El. i, 8. Oc is hoc est; 
 oil is hoc illud est, ouill, oui; si is sic est. 
 
 86. the Caprara and Gorgona. Two small islands in the Mediter- 
 ranean. Capraia or Caprara is about twenty miles east of the north- 
 ern point of Corsica. Gorgona is farther north, about twenty miles 
 southwest of Leghorn. Gorgona is to be seen directly in front of 
 the mouth of the Arno, and Caprara is visible arTittle to the south. 
 
 90. betrayal of thy fortresses. See note on 1. 14. 
 
 92. their youthful age. Hardly, as Villani, "young and innocent 
 boys ' ' ; but Dante uses the words of youth. One of them at least 
 is known to have been married. Only Anselmuccio appears to have 
 been under age. 
 
 93. Uguccione and Brigata. Uguccione was Ugolino 's fifth son. 
 Nino il Brigata was his grandson. 
 
 94. the two others. Anselmuccio, Ugolino's grandson, and 
 Gaddo his son. 
 
 95. still farther on. Into the third round, Tolomea. 
 
 97. not downward turned. In Caina the damned are fixed in 
 ice up to the head, keeping their faces downward. See Inf. xxxii, 
 39, 57. In Antenora also they are encased in ice to their head, but 
 do not seem to have their heads inclined. In Tolomea they lie 
 
302 THE DIVINE CX)MEDY 
 
 on their backs with their face upward, and with only their face out 
 of the ice. In Giudecca they are entirely covered. 
 
 98, 99. weeping forbids weeping. The frozen tears prevent 
 their shedding tears. 
 
 109. all vapor at an end. Wind being caused by exhalations 
 produced by heat, and there being no sun to produce exhalations, 
 Dante asks how there can be wind in that place. 
 
 114, 115. the final place has been assigned to you. The speaker 
 supposes that both the poets are dead and on their way to the lowest 
 round, 
 
 122. down to the bottom of the ice. Dante is intentionally de- 
 ceiving the spirit. He does not mean to keep his agreement (see 11. 
 154-155), and he so frames his words that they cannot bind him. 
 He is going to the bottom of Hell in any case. 
 
 123. Friar Alberigo. Of Faenza. One of the Jovial Friars (see 
 note on Inf. xxiii, 105) in 1267. Ha\dng in a dispute received a 
 blow from his younger brother, Manfred, Alberigo, some time later, 
 invited Manfred and one of his sons to a banquet at his house. The 
 repast being finished, he called out: "Bring the fruit!" at which 
 some assassins came from their hiding-place and killed both Man- 
 fred and his son. "The evil fruit of Frate Alberigo" passed into a 
 proverb. 
 
 125. for a fig get back a date. I received a large return for my 
 crime. In Italy dates, at that time, were more expensive than figs. 
 
 126. art thou already dead? Dante is surprised to find here one 
 whom he supposed to be stiU hving. Alberigo was not yet dead in 
 1300, the date of the vision. 
 
 128. no knowledge I receive. See note on Inf. x, 101 ff. 
 
 129. such privilege. Mr. Butler says that the "privilege" 
 assigned to tWs circle is one of Dante's most original and terrible 
 conceptions. It may have been suggested by Ps. Iv, 15; and it is in 
 connection with this very form of treachery that the Psalmist utters 
 these words. See w. 12-14, and ver. 23. Note that in ver. 15 
 * * quick ' ' means ' ' alive. ' ' 
 
 131. Atropos. One of the three Fates. Clotho, the Spinner, 
 spins the thread of life; Lachesis, the Disposer of lots, determines 
 its length; Atropos, the Inflexible, cuts it off. Clotho is usually 
 represented with a spindle ; Lachesis with a scroll or globe ; Atropos 
 with a pair of scales or shears, or in the act of drawing a lot. 
 
 sets it moving. Dante means simply that before Death starts the 
 soul on its journey to the world of spirits, it goes down to Hell. 
 
 136. governs it. Comp. Purg. v, 116. 
 
 137. a well. The original is cistema, a peculiar term for the pit of 
 HeU. 
 
 142. Branca d'Oria. Of the Ghibelline house of Doria at Genoa. 
 About 1290, he treacherously murdered his father-in-law, Michael 
 Zanche, Governor of Logodoro in Sardinia, at a banquet to which 
 he had invited him. 
 
 146. eats and drinks and sleeps. A sarcastic summing up of 
 Branca's life. 
 
 147. Malebranche. See note on Inf. xxi, 36. Dante means that 
 
NOTES 303 
 
 before Michael Zanche had come to the fifth Bolgia to which he 
 had been condemned for barratry (see Inf. xxii, 89), Branca d'Oria 
 and his nephew and accomphce had arrived in Tolomea, and their 
 bodies on earth were occupied by devils. 
 
 154, 155. I did not — unclose them. See note on 1. 122. Com- 
 ment is needless upon the pitiless brutality which Dante vents upon 
 this wretch. It is in the very spirit of the imprecatory Psalms. 
 
 156. Ah, Genoese I The Italian proverb about Genoa is: "Sea 
 without fish, mountains without wood, men without faith, women 
 without shame." Mr. Hare says that it is probably of Pisan origin. 
 
 160. the worst spirit of Romagna. Frate Alberigo. Faenza 
 was in Romagna. 
 
 162. Cocytus. The frozen lake in the ninth circle was formed 
 by the waters of the infernal river Cocytus. See, on the rivers of 
 Hell, Introduction, under "Dante's Hell." Comp. Inf. xxxi, 125. 
 
 CANTO XXXIV 
 
 I. Vexilla Regis, etc. An adaptation or parody of the opening 
 of the hymn of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, 530-609. 
 It was sung during the procession, when, after the adoration of the 
 cross, the Host, consecrated on Maunday Thursday, was carried 
 to the altar. Daniel calls this hymn one of the grandest in the 
 treasury of the Latin church. In the original hymn "the banners 
 of the King" refer to the cross. 
 
 II. wholly covered. In contrast with those in the three other 
 rounds who were only partially imbedded lu the ice. See note on 
 Inf. xxxiii, 97. 
 
 18. once ^th the fair semblance graced. Before he fell from 
 heaven. 
 
 20. Dis. Lucifer is called Dis, which originally denoted godhead, 
 deity in general, and Zeus in particular. Later it was confined to 
 Pluto, the god of the infernal regions. 
 
 39. three faces. The symbolism of these three faces has called 
 out a variety of conjectures, such as Avarice, Envy, Ignorance; 
 Anger, Avarice, Envy; Concupiscence, Ignorance, Impotence; 
 Pride, Envy, Avarice ; Rome, Florence, France; the three divisions 
 of the earth. It seems likely that the three faces are intended to 
 form a counterpart to the divine Trinity. Dante, following Aquinas, 
 holds that Power is the peculiar attribute of the Father, Wisdom 
 of the Son, and Love of the Holy Spirit. See note on Inf. iii, 6. 
 Consequently the three Satanic faces will represent the opposites of 
 these — Impotence, Ignorance, Hatred. 
 
 45. where the Nile descends. Ethiopia. 
 
 45, 46. beneath each — two great wings. Six wings, because he 
 had been one of the Seraphim. See Par. ix, 77-78. Comp. Isa. vi, 2. 
 
 bird. Comp, |*urg. ii, 37, where the Pilot-angel is called "the 
 bird divine." 
 
304 THE DIVINE COMEDY 
 
 47. sea-sails. Comp. Milton of Satan : 
 
 " his sail-broad vans." 
 
 54. a brake. An instrument for breaking hemp or flax. 
 
 65. Brutus. In the assassination of Julius Caesar, Brutus, from 
 Dante's point of view, was guilty of treachery to the Empire, which, 
 like the Papacy, was di\inely ordained. Dante regarded Julius 
 Cspsar as the first Roman Emperor. See note on Inf. i, 67. 
 
 66. so large of limb. It is not kno\Mi from what source Dante 
 derived this description of Cassius. It has been suggested that he 
 confused him with one L. Cassius, one of CatUine's feUow-conspirators, 
 who is described by Cicero in the third Catilinarian Oration as 
 "corpulent." But that is not Dante's epithet, and there is no 
 evidence that Dante was acquainted with those orations. Plutarch 
 implies that Cains Cassius was pale and somewhat weakly; and so 
 Shakespeare : 
 
 " Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look." 
 
 68. rising is the night again. It is nightfall of Easter-eve. 
 
 77. turned his head. They turned the centre of gravity, and 
 began to ascend toward the surface of the opposite hemisphere. 
 Dante was not aware of this, and supposed that they were going 
 back to Hell. 
 
 85. placed on the edge. Dante had been clinging to the shaggy 
 hide of Lucifer. Vergil now transfers him to the ^ge of the opening 
 through which they had passed. 
 
 86. he stretched his wary step. Vergil next lets go of Lucifer's 
 hair, and carefully steps to Dante's side. 
 
 91, 92. fancy if I then became perplexed. My perplexity will be 
 understood by those who, like uneducated people, know nothing of 
 the centre of gravity. 
 
 94. half way to the third hour. The day is divided into four 
 equal parts of three hours each, known as terza, sesta, nona, and 
 vespro. Reckoning sunrise at 6 A.M., half way to the third hour 
 will be one hour and a half, or 7.30 A.M. See Conv. iii, 6, 1 ; iv, 23, 8. 
 There is no contradiction between this and 1. 68, because they have 
 changed hemispheres. The time has gone back twelve hours. Hence 
 the word ''returns." Dante explains this in 11. 105-115. Having 
 quitted Hell, time is now measured by the sun. While they were 
 in Hell, it was measured by the moon. 
 
 95. palace-hall. Strictly a room with a hearth in it. 
 
 107. evil worm. Lucifer. "Worm" is also applied to Cerberus, 
 Inf. vi, 20. Lucifer is said to bore the world, partly because the 
 pit of Hell was formed by his penetrating the earth to the centre 
 when he fell from Heaven, and partly because in his position at the 
 centre, he is in both hemispheres. See Introduction under ' * Dante's 
 HeU." 
 
 113. the great continent. Lit. "the great dry land." The 
 northern hemisphere is covered with land. Lucifer, when he fell 
 from Heaven, struck the earth on the southern hemisphere, which, 
 at that time, consisted of land, and tore through to the centre of the 
 
NOTES 305 
 
 globe. The land of the southern hemisphere retreated from him 
 in terror, and withdrew to the northern hemisphere, and the sea 
 came up and covered the space which it left. 
 
 1 16. upon a little round. Dante had asked : "Where is the ice?" 
 Vergil's reply, in substance, is: "The ice is under your feet. You 
 are standing upon a small circular platform. The upper side of this 
 on which you stand is the stone of the perforated rock (1. 84), cor- 
 responding to the under side, which is formed by the icy floor of 
 Giudecca, the smallest of the rounds. 
 
 121. he fell down upon this side. See note above on 1. 113. 
 
 126, 127. vacant left its place. This is explained by 11. 122 ff. 
 
 there is a place, etc. This is the long, dark passage by which the 
 poets are to ascend to the light of day. Vergil speaks of it as " below," 
 from the point of view of one standing on the earth. He says that 
 it was formed by the transfer of the land from the southern to the 
 northern hemisphere at the fall of Lucifer, and that, perhaps, the land 
 withdrew in order to escape him. 
 
 128. Beelzebub. See Matt, xii, 24. The only occurrence of the 
 name in the Commedia. The fallen angel is called by Dante "Luci- 
 fer"; "Dis"; "the hostile power"; "the king of Hell"; "the 
 creation which had the fair semblance"; "the emperor of the 
 doleful realm"; "the wicked worm that pierces the world"; "he 
 who was created more noble than any other creature"; "he who 
 first turned his back on his Creator"; "the first haughty one"; 
 "the highest of all created beings"; "the perverse"; "the one 
 straitened by all the weights of the world' ' ; " Satan' ' ; " the Devil." 
 
 130. a brooklet. In Purg. i, 43, it is called "the blind or dark 
 river." It is commonly understood as the outflow of Letli'3, which 
 descends from the summit of Purgatory, and bears down to Hell the 
 expiated sins, as the infernal rivers, Acheron, Styx, and Phlegethon 
 carry down into Hell the whole mass of sins committed by men on 
 earth. See Inf. vii, 17, 18. It should be noted, however, that in 
 Inf. xiv, 136-137, Vergil says: "thou shalt see Lethe, but outside 
 of this ditch, there where souls go to purge themselves when their 
 sin has been repented of and removed' ' ; and further, that there is 
 nothing whatever in the poem which indicates the connection of 
 this stream with Lethe. 
 
 138. the beauteous things. The stars. Comp. Inf. i, 39. These 
 were the stars of the early morning, as appears from Purg. i, 20-26. 
 
 140. the stars. Each division of the poem closes with this word. 
 
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