Midway through our life's journey I came to In the midst of a dark, and dangerous wood, The way through, the straight path, the way to choose Having been lost, misplaced and erased from view. How hard it is here to even come near to describing sincerely and clearly the sheer Horridness of this forest, such gruesomeness fierce That its merest mention renews all my fears So bitter and awful, death is little more, But in order to talk of the good that would befall I am forced to discourse, recall and share All the myriad other things I saw there. I'm not aware, nor can easily describe The sequence of time that led me to arrive Stumbling tired In a wasteland and through dark So full of slumber when I had abandoned the true path. But at last, after I had looked for it still I found myself standing at the foot of a hill At the end of that valley which had pierced my heart And blinded my mind with fear from the start Gazing from the dark, up the slopes and boulders I was able to glimpse that mountain's shoulders Already clothed in the dawn light of the sun Which shows the way for the wanderer and guides everyone. Thus was the fear that had become so violent Becalmed, and made somewhat quiet, Fear had remained in the lake of my heart the dweller For that entire night which I had passed in terror and like a swimmer with shortness of breath Who crawls onto the shore having avoided his death And looks back at the scene and beholds The turmoil and boil of the sea as it rolls thus my poor soul, still hooked in panic, Turned around and fearfully looked back at The passage, that valley, that ill fen Which had never left a person alive until then. I needed a moment to rest my weary bones But then Began scrambling over the stones Now to Climb the barren slope leaving ground behind always keeping my stronger foot on the downside Intrepid, but barely had I commenced this effort Than leapt out of nowhere a leopard Svelte and light, moving as a rapid blur Darting, Cloaked in a pelt of dappled fur. I was Disturbed, shepherded by this leopard, Which didn't flee and impeded whichever way I was headed Indeed, so confined, I, unable to run Was tempted to turn and return the way I had come Nevertheless, this was the hour of morning The sun was mounting in the shroud of the Dawn And Alongside, the spring stars were rising above Just as on that auspicious day when the Divine Love First conspired to set into motion the beautiful events which inspire eternal devotion So that there was reason for hopeful feelings the glittering of that creature's coat even And between The hour of the day and the sweet season These all were causes for my easier breathing Yet not so easy that fear could be defied when faced with the appearance of the face of a fearsome lion Seemingly charging on and towards me Teeth bared, with ravenous head held lofty So that, this ferocious beast there entering Seemed to set in dread the very air trembling I was tempted to escape and I would've But straight away came a slavering emaciated wolf A she-wolf with Ribs exposed, whose savage hungering has caused so many casualties of lack and suffering Pummelling my spirit at the very sight Of This creature increasing my terror and fright I reached the limit of my will to fight And lost hope of crossing the slope and ascending the height And like one who has had life handed to him on a plate And acquired a fortune while things were great who all of a sudden loses it all in a twist of fate And breaks down, weeping in a despondent state Thus, I became when that remorseless beast Which knows no joy or thoughts of peace Approached,Without ceasing, snapping growling and snarling And forced me back down into the dark again. As I scrambled down the valley slope in retreat Hope defeated, suddenly I approached within reach Of a figure who stood, frozen, speechless As if he had spent eons with no speaking When I could see him in that vast desert I beseeched him speaking to him, asking, begging "Have mercy on me," I started to yell and demand "Whichever you are; spirit, or genuine man!" He answered: "I am not a man, not anymore. I already was a man. And my parents each hailed from the city of Mantua in the region of Lombardy. I was born to these late during the period of the reign of Julius Caesar and lived in Rome under good Augustus in the time of the lying gods of false substance I was a poet and I composed and recited odes to that righteous son of Anchises Aeneas, who fled from the city of Troy, splendid Ilion, as it was stripped and destroyed in fire. But you, tell me, why are you returning down here to the mire? Why are you not climbing higher on that mountain, the prime source of all that inspires?" "Could it be that you are that Virgil? That bounteous fountain of words that stirs still My heart and imparts such a river of speech?" I responded to him thus, with face hidden timidly "O, I call upon the honour and luminosity Of all poets, to now illumine the curiosity And draw up that long study, the depth of affection That allowed me to explore your epic collections. You are my master, and you are my author You alone, among all poets were the source of The beautiful style which has enveloped Every work I've had the honour to develop See this terrible she-wolf beast on the slope That has made me turn back and defeated my hope Please can you protect me, o legendary sage? For she makes the very blood tremble in my veins" "For you the best way through is to take an entirely different route" he was moved to say when he observed the tears on my face "if you wish to escape from this fearful place For this beast you face, which sets your terror free Never permits anyone to cross her territory And if someone attempts, she harasses his step So persistently that he is dragged to his death And the savagery that she possesses of nature So malign and ruthless, so desperate with hatred With an appetite that can never be sated But is hungrier after food than before she ate it And she mates with any one she can find To uncountable animals has she offered her hind And this number will continue to climb Until the greyhound arrives to kill her in kind This greyhound shall be one who feeds Not on land, or precious metals, or on greed But on wisdom, on love and on good deed his simple kingdom shall be vast and without need Indeed it is safe to say that it is he The awaited saviour of poor Italy The country for whose sake Camilla the maid Euryalus, Turnus, and Nisus, were all slain. The she-wolf shall be ceaselessly chased By the greyhound through every single city state Until he has eventually driven her down again To the inferno from whence she in envy came. Due to this beast, for your sake I advise That you should follow me and make me your guide Stay by my side, I shall discern and trace A path through the maze of an eternal place A place wherein you will hear desperate screams, Wailing and moans, and you will see Ancient spirits in pain, bereft of breath, Each one crying out for the second death Then you shall see those who though located In the flames of a fire remain contented For they can harbour hope one day to enter, Whenever it shall be, among the blesséd And then at that point if you wish to ascend To see those people, a spirit will be sent Who is more worthy than I can compare Then I will depart and leave you with her there Because that all-powerful emperor that is The ruler up heaven forbids Anyone with me to travel through his city walls Given that I was rebellious to his laws He Rules over all, and everywhere the same And that is the place from which he reigns; That is his city, and his most potent throne How happy are those who are chosen to go" And so I said to him, "Poet, I beg of you, In the name of that same God you never knew So that I may be allowed to flee this curse And escape The woe surrounding me and worse please, guide me, and take me to the places you stated so I may see The gates of saint Peter and those pitiable ones you described," then he moved off and I followed behind

Inferno: Canto II The day was winding down at dusk and the fading sky all brown with rust Called all beasts alive and roaming To cease creeping and sleep, but I alone Prepared myself to enter the fray To walk the path, that lengthy way The war, the wrath, the sinister fate Which my unfailing mind shall unflinchingly relate. I call now upon the eternal muses The highest intellect to help me through this And upon my memory which wrote down everything Now your power will manifest again. I began to speak 'Poet, who guides me Please, look right deep inside of me And inquire if the required strength resides in me Prior to entrusting me with this giant scheme; In your grand poem it was written That Aeneas, the father of Silvius, while still living Travelled to the Underworld, flesh still intact And went there and back with all his senses and tact, In fact, God, the enemy of all that is bad Extended that grand honour to that man, Aeneas, considering the effect he would have, Who and what he was in the ineffable plan, Which cannot seem unworthy of respect to all sane In intellect, for he had been selected and ordained In Empyrean heaven sole and alone Sire and father of the empire and noble soul of Rome. And furthermore, that exact city state To tell the truth, was actually established to take Its place as the holy and sacred seat of The church, the successor of great saint Peter. And during his march into the depth of earth, The glorious journey you expressed in your work, Aeneas heard prophecies which came to be Of his victory and of the nascent papacy. And later Saint Paul was called to the same walls And came forth to restore strength to the cause This faith, which faithfully maintained is The greatest source and sole path of salvation. But me? Why me? Why would I be chosen? Who would ever say that I was appropriate? I am neither Paul, nor am i Aeneas, Not I, nor anyone, would ever believe this. For these reasons, if I relent and agree to Embark on this journey, i honestly fear that Lunacy infuses this enterprise and quest But you are wise, and know me more than I can express' And just like those who change their minds And take back a wish they have previously designed, And at the mercy of tides in their emotional core, Withdraw from all they'd begun a moment before Forlorn, I did exactly the same, Standing upon that dark hillside I became Fretful and stressed, as thought after thought divested Me of all the bold intent I'd initially possessed. 'If I have understood your discourse right' The shade of that great poet replied 'Then your heart and spirit are now eclipsed By a most ignominious cowardice. Now this is very often the source Of obstacles that buffet a man off course From a noble quest, just as animals scare And cower from shadows that aren't even there. Step near, and allow me to make myself clear, And You will free your heart of fear, As I relate the tale of how I came here And the words, when I first grieved for you, I did hear. I was among those shades without tears Who remain suspended, when now appeared A lady, so beautiful, blessed and inspired That when she called, I begged to attend her every desire. Her eyes were shining the same as the sun and then so lightly, in her native tongue She began to speak and address me alone, Her voice employing the most angelic of tones "O, noble and courteous Mantuan spirit, Whose fame in the world remains undiminished And which shall endure within it Without limit, Until the very world is finished; A dear friend of mine, though no friend of fate, Has landed himself in a wretched state Upon the dark hill, and in terror shakes, Tempted to turn from the path and step away And may have already strayed So far that I fear I have attempted too late To offer him succour, or help him with aid Given all I have heard of him in heaven of late Now go to him, make your ways converge Bring to bear your ornate words And whatever else he needs to be safe And thus console my fearful state. I am Beatrice... I am Beatrice, who bids you to hear this I came from and shall return to the dear bliss And the force which moved me to speak herewith Was the love divine that shines peerless. When again I am before God in his presence I shall be sure to praise and frequently mention You, and your carrying out this grand deed" Then she fell silent, so I began to speak "Lady of divine virtue, who defines the word 'True' And to whom the elevation of the entire earth is due For through you humanity assumes A higher position than the nearest heaven, the moon, In truth, the order you gave me Is so pleasing to me that had I already obeyed it Without hesitation, it would be too late as For me to carry out your wish, you need only state it But please enlighten me as to how you deign To descend to this centre of such burning pain Leaving behind the vast and eternal plain To which you yearn to return again." "Seeing as you so sincerely desire to know The reason why, briefly I will show" she answered me, "why I am not afraid To descend here and enter this place. The only things that should ever cause us alarm Are things that could genuinely cause us harm; For the rest, the contrary is clear That which cannot hurt us, causes no fear. I am made and created by God In the mercy and grace and name of our Lord, In such a way that the misery that pervades this spot Taints me not, nor do flames even make me hot. There is a most gentle lady dwelling In the very highest position In heaven, And whom the situation that I've been telling Grieves so much, that up there, harsh judgement is swelling. She went and sought st Lucia of Syracuse And said, 'The one who has held a faithful light for you Now has need of guidance from you. I will choose therefore to entrust his life to you' Lucia, enemy of every cruelty, in haste Went away, and came through to the place Where I was sitting in contemplation With wise Rachel, the lover of Jacob 'Beatrice,' said Lucia, when she came to our spot, 'You who are the essence of the praise of God, Why do you aid him not, He who loved you so, and in loving, strayed from the flock? Do you not hear the pitiful depth of his cries Can you not see imminent death in his eyes Can you not see him drowning in the tide On the floor Of an ocean that has dried?' No one in the entire world has ever run So rapidly and urgently towards some Advantage or away from some peril to come Than I did immediately when her words were done So I have come down here and left The sanctity of my holy seat so blessed Trusting the words and honesty of your text Which honour you and all who hear its depth" Then, immediately after she had said These words, she turned and I could see she wept, As her eyes shone then, even brighter Which made me try to speed my arrival And I came straightaway from the fire To find you, exactly as she had desired And I have rescued you from that terrible beast That prevented you from ascending the peak So, what is wrong? Why do you delay? Why is your heart so craven and afraid? Why do you wait? why are you paralysed How can you not have a brave appetite, When at this very moment in Paradise Three ladies of the court are standing by, Watching over you and holding candles bright And with my own words I have sworn to satisfy' And then, just like flowers That Bend low and close, frozen in nocturnal hours But when illumined by the sun's shower Of light, stand upright and open, showing renewed power So did I also, fight back my exhaustion Stand upright, and feel great courage coursing Through my heart, imparting such new purpose That I burst forth and spoke like an intrepid person 'I give thanks for Beatrice, her compassion Love, and charity, and her swift actions in Calling you, Mantuan, and for your reactions In acting without delay to obey the words she had to say: You have inflamed my heart with such Fire And raised my desire for this entire Adventure together, for when my spirit was tired, Your words inspired my intent from the mire. Now let us hasten our departure and go For henceforth one sole will charges us both You are my Leader, Lord and master,' I spoke As he moved off, and I entered the wild and dark road.

Inferno: Canto III "THROUGH ME YOU GO TO THE CITY OF GRIEVING OF WAILING, GNASHING OF TEETH AND OF SCREAMING THROUGH ME YOU ENTER ETERNAL PAIN WITHOUT EQUAL THROUGH ME YOU GO TO REMAIN AMONG THE LOST PEOPLE MY CREATOR WAS MOTIVATED BY JUSTICE AND HE MADE ME FROM SUBLIME SUBSTANCE AS AN EVERLASTING INSTRUMENT OF THE HIGHEST WISDOM COMBINED WITH PRIMAL LOVE IN THE DIVINE VISION NOTHING WAS MADE IN ALL CREATION EXCEPTING THE ETERNAL BEFORE MY MAKING AND I SHALL ENDURE FOREVER ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER" This was the grave statement engraved in dark script Written straight above the gate to a vast crypt I paused, turned forth to Virgil and asked him 'Sir, the meaning of these words is hard to pin' And he, answering with such deliberate intent As if to demonstrate that he knew what I meant said, 'Here you must surrender all doubts in your head; All trace of cowardice must now be dead. We have arrived at the place where I said That you'll witness dwelling in suffering without end The souls of those who know they are forever lost To the benevolent intellect of God.' And then his right hand extended to mine and With an encouraging smile he held my eye Which comforted me more than I can tell Before he finally led me right into that occult realm. Immediately on entering, the sound of pained yelling, Sobs and desperate cries overwhelmed me Assailing my ears, Echoing through the starless air And provoking me uncontrollably to shed tears. Such an incomparable mix of strange languages, Horrible dialects, savage words of agony Voices shrill and hoarse, forced to the loudest shrieking All punctuated by the coarse sound of beatings made a confusing, brutal, deafening cacophony That turns tumultuously, swirling constantly In that dark atmosphere beyond the reaches of time Like a sand storm that rises when a whirlwind strikes And I, my head full of horror and fear, Said, 'Master, what is this that I hear? And who are these people here, Who are so grievously overcome with grief and tears?' And he then replied to me, 'This choir of grief That rings out hereabouts so violently Is formed from the lukewarm souls who delayed Their decision and remained living with neither infamy or praise And mixed in among them are angels as well From that cowardly group who didn't deign to rebel were faithful neither to God nor to who reigns in hell but instead chose to live for themselves Heaven and hell both reject them the same Heaven because their presence would tarnish its name And deep Hell because the wicked would gain Some fame from these angels if they entered in.' So I said to him 'Master, what ever is So terrible that they scream and wail so relentlessly And lament so strongly and grievously?' And he to me, 'Very well, I will tell you briefly. This whole group of souls is so totally bereft, Possessing no hope of approaching closer to death And their blind life is so base in this pit That they envy every single other fate that exists. The world in which you live doesn't deign to permit Any fame of their name to remain on its lips Mercy and justice disdain them as quick. Let's talk of them no more, but look and then split.' When I looked back at the pit, I saw a black flag in rags on a stick, but no one carrying it And yet it was travelling quick Flapping in the wind and refusing to stand still for a bit And after it, there came a gigantic horde A rabble chasing after that flag as it soared And that train of people was so long and plenty I couldn't believe death had undone so many. As they came near I was tempted to tremble I looked at them and recognised several And then I saw one particular shade and knew that It was the one who through cowardice made the great refusal. Immediately I understood and was certain That this rabble circling was made up of those persons Who were cowards and equally deserving of the disdain of God and of his enemies' curses. These pathetic creatures, who never really lived, Were now all naked and dreadfully tormented By large flies and wasps that often vexed And bit them, attracted by their rotting flesh, And down their faces, dripping bright was blood streaming right from their horrific bites, Mixing with their tears, and putridly slathered Around their feet where it gathered to be consumed by maggots. And when I took a look beyond those nameless spirits I saw an incomparable mass of shades of figures Standing massed, back on the banks of a great river So I grasped the chance to ask, 'Master, will you reveal To me the details so that I may know the Station, nation and Identification of those who Seem so urgently disposed to cross over, Which I can discern even though the light is low.' And he then exclaimed to me, a little impatient, 'These things will be fully explained when We have travelled on And our feet have reached the banks of the dark river Acheron.' And we walked on a bit, but I kept my eyes set Down, on the ground and the path ahead And in fear that by speaking I'd earn his displeasure I kept my mouth shut until we reached the river. Where we witnessed the scrawniest Tallest longest bearded oarsman rowing towards us In a boat, his hair and beard all grey with old Yelling, 'Woe to you, depraved souls! Resign yourselves nigh and for the rest of time To never henceforth espying the sky, for I Will lead you to the other shore and leave you In eternal darkness, in fire and in freezing. And you standing there, Breathing air, You living soul, separate yourself and stand clear Of the rest of these wretches who are all dead.' But when he comprehended that I had not left, He said, 'There is another road, and other ports By which you'll cross over to the other shore. You will not cross here, today, do not wait: There is a lighter boat that you will take.' And my guide defiantly replied to his request, 'Charon, Do not torture yourself with such stress This quest has been willed and blessed Where what is willed can manifest so cease your protest.' There then arrived a moment of silence As the bearded jaw of the pilot fell quiet On the banks of that river mire But his eyes were still encircled by rings of fire. And after that moment of peace, he began to speak And the bedraggled naked souls within reach Became enraged, writhing, grinding their teeth As soon as they heard the crude lines of his speech They blasphemed, cursing god and his deeds They cursed their parents and all their beliefs They cursed the human race, the place on earth, The day, and even the semen which created their birth. Then all of the entire horde moved forward Involuntarily, weeping, their bodies being drawn Towards the river, that malevolent shore, Which calls all who do not tremble before God's law. That is where this demon Charon forever stands tall With haggard eyes glowing like embers of coal And making signs with his hands, gathers them all And any that resist, he smacks back with his oar. And just like in Autumn, when the leaves all come Detached from the tree one by one and begin falling Until the branch itself looks back down And sees all of its clothing collapsed on the ground, In this way, indeed, this strange motley gathering This fistful of the evil seed of Adam Throw themselves to the edge and over Like a falcon returning on the signal of its owner. In this manner they move off and travel Rowed across the dark river waves by Charon And before they have finished crossing the channel On this bank a whole other flock has already gathered. 'My son,' explained my courteous master, 'Those who die in the eye of God's eternal wrath all Come and gather here on these shores and just stand Together from every single earthly culture and land; And they demand, completely ready and willing To be taken quickly across this malevolent river For the justice divine so inclines and inspires That it converts and turns their burning fear into desire In all history no good soul has been claimed By Charon, and been made to cross this way So if he complains of you in this scene You can clearly understand what he means.' When he finished speaking the dark landscape And the ground surrounding me began to shake So violently trembling, upset so terribly That I am bathed in craven sweat at the memory: The earth itself split, with a terrifyingly large sound And an awesome fork of lightning suddenly blasted out Crimson in colour, so bright and charged now It overcame all of my senses, and I passed out.

Canto IV All of a sudden a massive thunderclap was breaking Ferociously, opening the sky, causing it to crack and making me shake my head, and start up straight with Eyes agape like someone by great force awakened At this incredibly loud sound, I moved my eyes all around As they were finally rested from my time down on the ground I rose up to try and take in my surroundings as well Squinting to see this place where I found myself And I immediately found that I was literally sitting on the lip On the very edge of the ledge of the precipice Of the cliff of the valley of the terrifying abyss Wherein the tortured screams and cries are infinite So dark, obscure and tenebrous So incredibly deep and nebulous That when I attempted to stare at it I could discern nothing at all in the depths of it "Now we climb down straight into the blind world" The poet, beside me, intoned with a face white as pearl And after a second then, As he beckoned Said "I shall enter first, and then you shall go second" Then I stared straight at his face and became aware That a horrified pallid lack of colour was there And said, "How am I expected to go down there, if you're scared? You, who are supposed to be comforting my fears" And he then responded, "It is for the sour anguish In which the crowd of tragic people in this place now languish That my face and manner are afflicted with palour You have made a grievous error, mistaking my pity for terror. Come on, let us get on and commence with this The journey impels us, and we've got a long way ahead of us" Then he went in, and bade me enter the shroud of the mist Into the outermost circle that surrounds the abyss And I stood there listening and to my surprise There seemed to be no shrieks, screams or cries But instead a multitude of jaded sighs That caused a tremor to rise in those changeless skies And these sighs of such misfortunes Were sighs not arising from torment or sick tortures, But rather from the sorrow that enshrouded and filled this Enormous tightly packed crowd of men women and children And just then, spoke my good master to me "I notice that you haven't even bothered to ask me Who these souls that you behold might be Well, I would have you know before we go farther that these Souls were not guilty of sinning And if they were good while living, it was not sufficient For they hadn't undergone a baptism Which is the gate to heaven in the faith you happen to believe in; Or if they were alive in these times Prior to the arrival of Jesus Christ Then they didn't worship your lord in the manner your creed prescribes Among their number, I too am deemed to reside For defects such as these, and no deeper crime We are consigned in the deep for all time We are not punished by torture or burned in fire But instead condemned to dwell in hopeless eternal desire" My heart, on hearing these very words, Was seized with grief and heavily burdened For I knew of people of significant worth Who'd been suspended here in limbo since they'd left earth "Tell me, my master, tell me my lord" I asked, with the fire of desire in my thought To be absolutely certain of the wise design at the core Of the faith which is refined beyond flaw "Has anyone ever succeeded in leaving This place, by his own deeds or through another's means, And subsequently been welcomed in heaven?" And he, who understood, though my meaning was hidden Replied, "I had only just died, and entered this state, When I witnessed a most incredible event Sweeping through these parts came a glorious figure Crowned with a shroud of victorious shimmer And with vigour, he rescued the soul of the first father And the soul of his son Abel emerged after And Noah, and Moses the bringer of commandments And also the one who did as he was asked to: Abraham, and David, the king of wisdom, Jacob and his father Isaac, with him And his twelve children, And his wife Rachel, For whose sake he made sure to do all he was able; And many others beside, this figure took them away To heaven's gates, By his side, and his blessing he gave Unto them, and I must state that prior to that day Not a single human spirit or shade had ever been saved." During this whole time we were talking We didn't pause once, and we never stopped walking But continued pressing onward to step through this ghostly forest, where the spirits were crowded like trees in a dense wood We had not travelled far along our route From the cliff top where I had previously come to When all of a sudden, a fire appeared in my view That conquered the darkness in that hemisphere of gloom We were still some remove from this higher place Which was brightly illuminated through by the fire of grace But not so far to keep me from telling That some most honourable people must call it their dwelling I turned to Virgil beside me, to ask "O you, who honour every science and art Who are these who with such honour are so decidedly marked That from the rest of the multitude, they reside apart?" And he replied to me fast, "The high regard And honourable titles you people decide to grant them Up above in your lifetime, resound in the sky and Suffice to convince heaven to mildly advance them." Just then I heard a disembodied voice intoning In volume growing "Let us honour this poet Among poets: the great powerful Virgil Whose spirit departed, but now returns still" As soon as that voice's pitch had ceased I saw the shades of four mighty figures of history Approaching us with quickening speed but Showing no happiness on their faces, or misery either Virgil slowed to a pause to hold forth "Behold the one in front who is holding a sword And comes strolling slowly before The other three with the composure of noble lord. That one is Homer of course Whom 'The Sovereign King Of All Poets' we call The next one is the satirist Horace The last is Lucan, preceded by Ovid And because to each of them, the title Which that disembodied voice gave me in that recital Applies just the same, they are truly impelled To come out and welcome me home, and they do it well" In this manner I was able to wholly view Assembled in its entirety the noble school Of high poetry, over which that lord Homer, who Soars over the rest like an eagle, alone rules. Then they formed a huddle and had an impromptu meeting And after a while they stopped speaking. They turned around and kind of nodded in greeting And Virgil couldn't prevent a smile from creeping in And an even higher honour was mine as To my delight, they unanimously decided To allow me to join as one of their kind And be considered the sixth greatest poet of all time. Then we continued to walk towards the bright light As one group, discoursing of such stupefying heights That to stay silent about them in hindsight Is as sweet as it was to talk of them in that twilight Having walked over a while we arrived at last at The foot of a noble high and vast castle Guarded and encircled by seven huge walls of stone And defended all around by a beautiful moat Which we walked over like it was solid ground And through seven gates entered the castle grounds I entered beside these sages at last and found a large meadow where the freshest green grass abounds The people around there standing were languid Their eyes solemn, movements slow, but their authority was candid Language was something they seldom brandished And when they did, their voice was never frantic Our poetic group walked off to one side And climbed to an opening filled with light So that we could view the scene from on high And see at once everyone dwelling on site There in front of us, arranged down on the green Were carefully and graciously pointed out to me The spirits of great figures, whom to have seen I feel myself elevated and honoured in the extreme I recollect seeing Electra, standing ahoy With Hector and Aeneas among her companions from Troy What's more I saw murdered Julius Caesar In full armour with eyes burning like a warrior leader I saw Camilla, who sacrificed herself for all Italians I saw Penthesilea, queen of the amazons And as I carried on, and I also saw the King of Rome, Latinus with Lavinia, his daughter I saw Brutus, scourge of Tarquin, Tuscany's last king, And Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, Cornelia, just glancing At these exalted women from the start of Rome, And the mighty Saladin, I saw sitting apart, alone At that moment, upon raising my gaze a little I was able to glimpse then the king of wisdom: Aristotle, the king of the knowledge kingdom Together with his philosophical family, sitting He is the centre of everyone's attention All gaze upon him, pay him respects and I also beheld Socrates and Plato next Who stand closer to Aristotle than anyone else Then Democritus, who proposed the existence of atoms Diogenes, with two ears who lived in a barrel Thales, Zeno, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, And Empedocles, killed by the miraculous tortoise And the cataloguer of the effects of all herbs Dioscorides, and the lyricist of all words Orpheus, that musical demigod emperor And Tully, Livy, and the moral Seneca. Then there was Euclid, great master of geometry, And the genius of astronomy, Ptolemy Galen, Hippocrates, Avicenna Averroes, who translated Aristotle for us to read forever I regret that I cannot list all i saw Because there are so very many more in store That if I attempted to recall them all Many times word compared to fact would fall short. At this point, our noble group of six splits in two As my wise guide takes me on a different route Away from the peace, into the trembling air of doom Into an area where all is buried in gloom.

Inferno: Canto V And so now Virgil urged me to descend out of the first circle Down to the Second which though it encircles and girdles Less space, is a place certainly worse still Causing more pain, more curses, and is more hurt filled. There stood King Minos, Judge of the sinners Snarling, as his eyes lock and centre on each one that enters He hears their line of transgressions at the entrance And with a whip crack, decides and sends them off where his judgement delivers What I mean is that whenever an evil born spirit Enters and falls forlorn before him in the thrall of these limits It cannot help itself at all, and completely confesses And that king connoisseur of sinful deeds and transgressions Listens, and judges which place in Hell is right Then he whips his scaly tail around him as many times As the number of the circle of Hell he then decides This sinner should be confined to spend the rest of time. At any time thousands upon thousands stand before him, Then one by one they crawl down and present themselves to fortune They confess, hear their judgement as Minos calls it And then in the next instant are hurled downward, violently falling. "You there, who've come to enjoy this miserable hospitality" Said Minos to me, when he glanced at me Pausing for a moment all horrid activity Of his grand and grisly office of responsibility "Beware of the means by which you enter this place and Also in whom you place you trust and faith cos Don't think you can escape just because the gates are spacious!" But Virgil snapped back thus: "Why complain to us? Do not impede or even conceive of getting in the way Of his journey this day, for it is fate ordained It has been willed where the power is instilled To fulfil that which is willed, so now just be still." And now I have reached the point of Hearing the growing lowing of a multitude of screeching voices Now I have arrived At the place where I Am assailed by weeping and pained cries. I came right into a place where all light is silent Which bucks, strains and bellows with heightened violence Like the sea does when tempests rise and strike it When winds arriving from opposite tides are fighting. This hurricane of the inferno never calms its assault But hurls and assaults millions of spirits on through the vault In pitch blackness, the captive souls roll in this madness Being flung rapidly through the air and smashed upon rocks And when they are about to drop and hit the ground, The air all around is drowned out with the sound Of shrieking, screaming, hoarse with the pain As they curse the divine force for forcing them into this forceful whirlwind and torturing them this way. I was able to order my thoughts and clearly comprehend That into this terribly awful torture and torment Were condemned the incredibly many sinners of carnal crimes Who let their lustful desires take charge of their minds. And just as starlings fly on their wings as one Forming giant flocks in the winter months Darting and weaving, their numbers infinite thus Move the sinner spirits in that wind as dust. It just blasts them here, there, downward, over and upward And they have not the slightest hope of comfort For eternity, Certainly no hope of unction Not even that their seething pain could show slight reduction. Yet there is another group of shades residing, Who, gracefully like cranes are flying Slowly, steadily, but plaintively crying I saw them arriving Making a line across the horizon Both types of soul are impelled by the stressful wind. After a while I turned to Virgil and said to him "Master, please tell me then Who are these souls flung about with this black air molesting them?" "Among the lusty, the first one we see there in the furious gale; I can tell you must be curious as to her tale," He yelled this, "She was once Empress Of a large empire which extended a vast distance. By sensuousness, incestuous lustful vices, She was so broken and corrupt minded She just decided to make incest legalised and Thus cover up her own transgressions against moral guidance. Her name was Semiramis, and when her husband Ninus perished She became empress instead and When the people revolted, mistakenly thinking she could halt it she disrobed and vaulted naked onto her balcony to be savagely and fatally assaulted Those who more calmly fly above like doves died for love Dido, who committed suicide cause she loved Aeneas, having sworn on Sichaeus's ashes not to love And there: Cleopatra for whom lust was love There: Helen of Troy, for whose sake was embroiled A Seemingly endless era of terrible toil And the great Achilles flying above as well Who was ambushed and killed due to love itself And Helen's abductor Paris is with them, and Isolde's lover Tristan" Virgil named and singled out with his finger As We lingered More than a thousand souls whose life had for love been extinguished After I had listened to my teacher deliver This list of dames and cavaliers - historic figures Overwhelming pity took my attention thither And I was bewildered, I had a fit of shivers And I interrupted his flowing, by saying "o, poet, I have a desire growing to know them; Those two together there who seem to be floating with Such lightness on the wing in this strongest wind." And he replied then, "Keep your eyes clear and thus You can espy when they fly near to us. Divine love leads them, thus beseech them with such, And they will come near and speak with us, trust." Within a brief instant, the wind shifted And between us and them diminished the distance. Therefore I addressed them both "O, weary spirits! Come! Speak with us, if no one here forbids it." And just like two doves, inspired and beckoned By desire, with wings open to the highest extension And obeying instincts their own prime volition connects Fly through the air to rest in the sweetness of the nest, Thus, In this manner they arrived to us next Flying down from the sky where Dido is kept Approaching through the air in that malignant zone So effectively my affectionate appeal had hit home "O, living soul, so gracious and benign Who goes visiting through this air the shade of wine, We who reside within this blustery wind Who have stained the world with our lustful sin If the king of the universe were our friend We would pray to him from now on without end For peace to be showered on you, for the pity you've shown To us, miserable souls, and our perverted woe So, whatsoever you need to find out Whatever pleases you to speak of or hear about Is what we will speak and hear when the wind has died down As it appears to be doing right now. The town where I was born sits down low On the coast, on the river mouth of the Po Where that river descends to its home And comes to peaceful rest with its tributaries in tow. Love! Love, which pounces upon a gentle heart Swiftly, grips it and rips it apart, Seized the heart Of this man, who was torn from me And murdered so horribly it still haunts my dreams. Love! Love, which is so powerful that it's a proven fact No one beloved can prevent themselves loving back, Attacked me with such a passion for this man that As you see, nothing has diminished the attraction Love was the force that tempted us together and then It has brought us together to one death An eternity dwelling with Cain when he's dead Awaits the one who extinguished our breath." As I paused to reflect on the evident depth Of torment of these two souls, I bowed my head So low and for such a long time Until the poet beside me said "What's on your mind?" And then, after a time I spoke and stated "My goodness! How many knowing gazes Sweet thoughts, what desire and longing state Must have led these two to this woeful fate?" Then I turned myself towards them to speak And I began, "Your agonies are so awfully deep, Francesca, so filled with such maddening grief that They provoke me to compassionate weeping But, tell me, at that deep time Of burgeoning emotions and sweet sighs By what discreet signs did love realize To make you both concede the design of your secret desires?" And she replied: "No more tender pain Exists than to remember a blessed day Full of happiness and pleasurable escapades When in misery, as your teacher is well acquainted. Nevertheless, if you truly desire To recognise the earliest root of the fire Of that love which conspired to pass between us I will speak of it like one who speaks while weeping. We were reading together for our pleasure one day The story of Lancelot, how he was swept away And enthralled by love, as the text explained. We were alone in the room, and never afraid. We were sitting side by side and on many occasions While set on the page, our eyes together came, as Steadily the colour eventually drained from our faces. But on only one occasion desire overcame us When we came to the page which described The moment of the long craved smile And the passionate kiss which from a noble lover arrived This one here beside, from whom I'll never be divided Kissed me fully upon my trembling lips Passionately embraced me, caressing my hips. But we read no more of the chapter which was the catalyst of our passions For my husband caught us in the act and stabbed us." And while Francesca delivered this sorrowful talk Paolo floated next to her so distraught with remorse That out of pity I started to feel lightheaded and fall As heavily as a recently dead corpse

Upon regaining consciousness, which I had lost in this So suddenly on hearing that tale of such loss From these two lovers, which had upset and tossed My temper into such sadness I could barely adjust to it I immediately witnessed and beheld new torments And new tormented, surrounding me with no ends That whichever way I turned, or attempted to move From horizon to horizon they filled the entirety of my view I find myself in the third circle of endless pain The circle in which it perpetually rains Heavy, cold, brutal, sleet filled, torrential rains Which never change, but forever remain to descend on the plain Terrible hail, and putrid stale water are thrown Pouring forth from the dark air mixed with a horrible snow Creating a swampy miasma below that chokes And causes a terrifying stench on the ground that it soaks. In that area resides this murderous Cerberus The three headed canine beast whose sole purpose is To patrol among the sinner souls who lie submerged in this Murky muck, barking with those ravenous jaws of his He is gigantic, and each of his rabid heads has deep red eyes, And a thick black beard sloppy with rancid saliva He has a fat distended belly, and with claws the size of Swords he slashes, hacks and flays the spirits sprawled lying on the floor They themselves howl resoundingly without cease like dogs Straining in the rain as they are restrained in the bogs They writhe in pain, turning on one side to shelter the other These wretched sinners perpetually desperate for cover When Cerberus turned, heard and perceived us That bloodcurdling beast, immediately spurred, leaped up Opened his mouths to expose his fearsome teeth and tusks His body quivering all over with appetite to eat us up And my leader, Virgil, as the beast converged Reached down first and dug his hands deep in the earth He picked up two fistfuls of dirt from the grounds And tossed them into Cerberus's three slavering mouths And just like a famished dog who will not cease barking Until he gets the food which he is demanding But becomes quiet the precise instant that he's consuming For to devour it is the only powerful thing that moves him This movement was what now occurred to this demon Cerberus, whose filthy jaws fell mercilessly into eating Momentarily ceasing from roaring over the dead Which he does so loudly they wish they were deaf. We then commenced traversing these shades Which are packed so tight subdued by the merciless rains That there was no way we could avoid placing Our feet straight upon their projected bodies and faces. They were all laid prostrate, flat in the mud Except one, who suddenly sat straight up When he sensed that we were passing before The location where he was stationed to lay gasping forlorn "Hey! You there that on this journey below Is being shown through this Inferno" He said to me, "recognise me, if you know, for You were born before my life was over." And I replied to him, "It's possible that the anguish With which you have had the misfortune to be branded Has caused you to vanish from my memory's core So that it seems I have met you never before But help me recall, let me know who you are That have ended up in such a woeful state at last And with an unpleasant punishing sentence that if others are more excessive Surely there is none more offensive." And he said, "Your city of Florence, so rotten with greed And dripping with envy that it is bursting at the seams Used to number me among its citizenry And the life I used to lead there was serene. The rest of the citizens back home gave me a nickname: 'Fatso' - based on the shape of my frame And of the sin of gluttony I was found to blame And to pay for this sin, I am drowned in this rain And, sad soul, as you can probably see In committing this transgression, I'm far from solitary For all of these surrounding me are paying the same horrid fee For the same immoral deed," And no more he said to me So I decided to question him, "Fatso, your wretched state Weighs so upon my mind it tempts tears to my face But tell me straight, if you are able to detect and relate fate Sate my desire to know the eventual state that awaits The citizens of the divided city, Florence; Also, tell me if any that call it their home are honest Or honorable, and when they decide to behave like it; And why such discord resides there, why the city has been claimed by it." So came his reply then: "The populace of this metropolis Will, after a long ominous struggle for dominance, Come to bloodshed, in which the White Guelfs from the sticks Will drive out the Black faction with much violence and horridness Then to follow this, the Whites will fall from grace And the Blacks, within three years of their exile from politics Will return with all their strength, and go on the attack Funded by the tyrant who allies with both sides - Pope Boniface And after that the Black faction will hold its head up proudly For a while, all the while condemning their enemies roundly To various indignations, reprisals and strict boundaries, However much they weep and cry, and no matter how loudly There are two honest people in Florence, and no one understands them; For Envy, Arrogance and Avarice work in tandem As the three main sparks of motivation and action That inspire all the citizens' hearts with any passion." And with that he ceased, Tears streaking his cheeks, weeping So I beseeched him, "Fatso, I have a deep seated Greedy need to feed on more of these teachings, So if it pleases, I wish you to keep speaking: Tell me the fate of Florentines from earlier times Like Farinata degli Uberti, leader of the Ghibbellines Tegghiaio of the Guelf side; Iacopo Rusticucci; Arrigo and Mosca, and others who attempted good deeds I'd like to know where they've ended up, if you can tell For I have insatiable desire to know their fate as well Whether they in Heaven's sweetness dwell Or they drown down in the venomous pits deep in Hell And so Fatso did tell, "they found themselves dragged low To dwell in hell's cells forever among the black souls A different sin than mine weighs them down deeper And if you descend that far, you're bound to meet them But when you return to the sweet world of the living I beg of you, do not forget all that I have given Bring me to the minds of all people you have chance to No more shall I tell you, no more will I answer." Then his eyes went blank and he stared for an instant At my face, but then turned away without blinking And he lay down again, in the mud in his small space Squeezed in between all the other blind rotund corpses And Virgil returning thus having distracted Cerberus Wiping mud from his hands, said, "He will stir not Or move around until the sound of the angelic trumpet resounds When the potentate of judgement is coming down And each of the spirits of the departed will move And crawl once more to the place of his tomb And will resume inhabiting his corpse and emerge to see And hear the divine judgement which echoes through eternity" So as we walked on gingerly, for each of our steps were Squelching into the depths of this slimy filthy texture Of this festering mixture of mud, rain and semi solid corpulent souls We conversed a little of what the future would hold So I asked, "Master, these torments that are on display I wonder what will happen after Judgement Day. Will the punishments increase in suffering pain Or be less intense, or burn just the same?" And his reply was, "Remember your science, That you derived from Aristotle, now you may apply it For it describes that the more perfect an object The more intensely feelings of pain or pleasure will be upon it. So even though these souls, guilty of such malefaction Can, in fact, never attain true perfection Even they, when the hereafter comes around Will be closer to perfection than they are now." Round and round on that road we traveled perpetually And we talked of much more of which I'll never speak And as we reached the place where the descent is steep We found Plutus, the great enemy.