Where now such malice reigns in recreant hearts.
O Brettinoro !” wherefore tarriest still,
Since forth of thee thy family hath gone,
And many, hating evil, join’d their steps ?
Well doeth he, that bids his lineage cease,
Bagnacavallo;f Castracaro ill,
And Conio worse, who care to propagate
A race of Countiesš from such blood as theirs. 129
Well shall ye also do, Pagani, then
When from amongst you hies your demon child;
Not so howe'er," that henceforth there remain
True proof of what ye were. O Hugolin,”

* O Brettinoro..] A beautifully situated castle in Romagna, the hospitable residence of Guido del Duca, who is here speaking. Landino relates, that there were several of this family, whe, when a stranger arrived amongst them, contended with one another by whom he should be entertained ; and that in order to end this dispute, they set up a pillar with as many rings as there were fathers of families among them, a ring being assigned to . each, and that accordingly as a stranger on his arrival hung his horse's bridle on one or other of these, he became his guest to whom the ring belonged

t Bagnacavallo.] A castle between Imola and Ravenna.

# —- Caxtracaro ill
And Conio worse.] Both in Romagna.

§ Counties.] I have used this word here for “Counts,” as it is in Shakspeare.

| Pagani.] The Pagani were lords of Faenza and Imola. One of them, Machinardo, was named the Demon, from his treachery. See Hell, canto xxvii. 47, and note.

* Not so howe'er.] “Yet your offspring will be stained with some vice, and will not afford true proof of the worth of your ancestors.”

** Husolin.] Ugolino Ubaldini, a noble and virtuous person in Faenza, who, on account of his age probably, was not likely to leave any offspring behind him. He is enumerated among the poets by Crescimbeni, and by Tiraboschi, Mr. Mathias's edit. vol. i. p. 143.

Thou sprung of Fantolini’s line ! thy name
Is safe; since none is look’d for after thee
To cloud its lustre, warping from thy stock.
But, Tuscan go thy ways; for now I take
Far more delight in weeping, than in words.
Such pity for your sakes hath wrung my heart.” 130
We knew those gentle spirits, at parting, heard
Our steps. Their silence therefore, of our way,
Assur'd us. Soon as we had quitted them,
Advancing onward, lo! a voice, that seem'd
Like volley'd light'ning, when it rives the air,
Met us, and shouted, “Whosoever finds
Will slay me;” then fled from us, as the bolt
Lanc'd sudden from a downward-rushing cloud.
When it had giv'n short truce unto our hearing,
Behold the other with a crash as loud 140
As the quick-following thunder: “Mark in me
Aglaurost, turn'd to rock.” I, at the sound
Retreating, drew more closely to my guide.
jo. mute stillness rested all the air;
And thus he spake : “There was the galling bit.t
But your old enemy so baits his hook, -
He drags you eager to him. Hence nor curb
Avails you, nor reclaiming call. Heav'n calls,s

Whosoever finds Will slay me.] The words of Cain, Gen. iv. 14. + Aglauros.] Ovid. Met, lib. ii. fab. 12. # There was the galling bit..] Referring to what had been before said, Canto xiii. 35. The commentators remark the unusual word “camo,” which occurs here in the original; but they have not observed, I believe, that Dante himself uses it in the De Monarchià, lib. iii. p. 155. § Heav'n calls.] Wenturi refers to an imitation of this by Patrarch: Or tisolleva a più beata speme, Mirando il ciel, che ti si volve intorno.

And, round about you wheeling, courts your gaze With everlasting beauties. Yet your eye 150 Turns with fond doting still upon the earth. Therefore He smites you who discerneth all.”

CANTO XV.

ARGUMENT.

a

An angel invites them to ascend the next steep. On their way Dante suggests certain doubts, which are resolved by Virgil; and, when they reach the third cornice, where the sin of anger is purged, our Poet, in a kind of waking dream, beholds remarkable instances of patience; and soon after they are enveloped in a dense fog.

As much” as 'twixt the third hour’s close and dawn,
Appeareth of heav'n's sphere, that ever whirls
As restless as an infant in his play;
So much appear'd remaining to the sun
Of his slope journey tow’rds the western goal.
Evening was there, and here the noon of night;
And full upon our forehead smote the beams.
For round the mountain, circling, so our path
Had led us, that toward the sun-set now
Direct we journey’d; when I felt a weight 10
Of more exceeding splendour, than before,
Press on my front. The cause unknown, amaze
Possess'd me; and both hands against my brows
Lifting, I interpos'd them, as a screen,
That of its gorgeous superflux of light