When some among them I had recognised. I looked, and I beheld the shade of him That this the sect was of the caitiff wretches Were naked, and were stung exceedingly Which, with their tears commingled, at their feet And when to gazing farther I betook me. And he to me: "These things shall all be known Then with mine eyes ashamed and downward cast, And lo towards us coming in a boat An old man, hoary with the hair of eld, Withdraw thee from these people, who are dead!" He said: "By other ways, by other ports Thou to the shore shalt come, not here, for passage ; And unto him the Guide: "Vex thee not, Charon; That which is willed; and farther question not." Thereat were quieted the fleecy cheeks Of him the ferryman of the livid fen, Who round about his eyes had wheels of flame. But all those souls who weary were and naked Their colour changed and gnashed their teeth together. God they blasphemed and their progenitors, Bitterly weeping, to the accursed shore, Beckoning to them, collects them all together, First one and then another, till the branch In similar wise the evil seed of Adam Throw themselves from that margin one by one, So they depart across the dusky wave, And ere upon the other side they land, Again on this side a new troop assembles. "My son," the courteous Master said to me, 66 All those who perish in the wrath of God This way there never passes a good soul; And hence if Charon doth complain of thee, Well mayst thou know now what his speech imports." This being finished, all the dusk champaign 130 Trembled so violently, that of that terror CANTO IV. BROKE the deep lethargy within my head. 135 True is it, that upon the verge I found me That gathers thunder of infinite ululations. So that by fixing on its depths my sight Nothing whatever I discerned therein. "Let us descend now into the blind world," Began the Poet, pallid utterly; "I will be first, and thou shalt second be." And I, who of his colour was aware, Said: "How shall I come, if thou art afraid, Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter There, as it seemed to me from listening, Were lamentations none, but only sighs, Which the crowds had, that many were and great, To me the Master good: "Thou dost not ask 'Tis not enough, because they had not baptism Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest; And if they were before Christianity, In the right manner they adored not God; For such defects, and not for other guilt, Lost are we, and are only so far punished, Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard, Began I, with desire of being certain Of that Faith which o'ercometh every error, "Came any one by his own merit hence, Or by another's, who was blessed thereafter?" Replied: "I was a novice in this state, Hence he drew forth the shade of the First Parent, Israel with his father and his children, And thou must know, that earlier than these We ceased not to advance because he spake, But still were passing onward through the forest, Not very far as yet our way had gone This side the summit, when I saw a fire We were a little distant from it still, But not so far that I in part discerned not Who may these be, which such great honour have, And he to me: "The honourable name, That sounds of them above there in thy life, Wins grace in Heaven, that so advances them.” In the mean time a voice was heard by me : "All honour be to the pre eminent Poet; His shade returns again, that was departed." After the voice had ceased and quiet was, Four mighty shades I saw approaching us; "Him with that falchion in his hand behold, That one is Homer, Poet sovereign ; He who comes next is Horace, the satirist ; The third is Ovid, and the last is Lucan. Because to each of these with me applies The name that solitary voice proclaimed, Of that lord of the song pre-eminent, When they together had discoursed somewhat, Things saying 'tis becoming to keep silent, Seven times encompassed with lofty walls, This we passed over even as firm ground; Through portals seven I entered with these Sages; People were there with solemn eyes and slow, Of great authority in their countenance; They spake but seldom, and with gentle voices. Into an opening luminous and lofty, There opposite, upon the green enamel, Were pointed out to me the mighty spirits, I saw Electra with companions many, 'Mongst whom I knew both Hector and Æneas, I saw Camilla and Penthesilea On the other side, and saw the King Latinus, I saw that Brutus who drove Tarquin forth, The Master I beheld of those who know, All gaze upon him, and all do him honour. There I beheld both Socrates and Plato, Democritus. who puts the world on chance, Diogenes, Anaxagoras, and Thales, Hight Dioscorides; and Orpheus ɛaw 1, TCC 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 |