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