The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri

Cakto VIIL. HELL. 20 Two little signal flames bung out to burn, And one tbat seemed to answer from afar, ' So distant tbat tbe eye could scarce discern. I, turning to tbat sea of knowledge fair, Asked, " Wbat does tbis explain ? and wbat replies Tbe otber flame ? and wbo bave raised tbem tbere ?" And be to me ; " O'er tbe foul waves does rise ^* Tbat wbicb awaits us ; tbou migbtst see it now. Did not tbe marsb's vapour dim tby eyes." Arrow was never yet sbot from a bow Tbat ran so swiftly tbrougb tbe nimble air As I bebeld a little pinnace row ^* Tbat came towards us ere we were aware, Beneatb tbe guidance of one galley slave, Wbo sbouted out, ** O wicked eoul art tbere ?" " Nay, Pblegyas, Pblegyas, tbou do idly rave Only for tbis one time,'* my master cried, ^ " Tbou'lt bave us but to pass us o*er tbe wave." As one wbo some tremendous trick bas spied Practised upon bim, witb vexed brow glooms dark, So acted Pblegyas in bis angry pride. My leader tben descended in tbe bark, '^* And made me enter at bis side ; tbe strain Only, wben I was in, it seemed to mark. Soon as my guide and I our seats bad ta'en. Cutting tbe water goes tbe ancient prow. More tban its wont, wben otbers cross tbat main. ^ Wbile we tbus bunied o'er tbe stagnant slougb. Before me rose a figure mired witb clay, And cried, " Tbus coming ere tby time, wbo art tbou ?" And I : " Altbougb I come I do not stay ; But wbo art tbou wbo'st made tbyself so foul ?" ^ He answered, " I am one wbo mourns for aye." And I to bim : " Go on to figbt and bowl, Accursed spirit, bere tbou must abide ; I know tbee well, altbougb tbou be'st so foul." Tben witb botb bands our boat to grasp be tried, ^^ But bim my watcbful master backwards tbrew, Crying, ** Witb tbe otber wbelp bounds stand aside." worthy of remark that all traces of pity for the condemned, previously indulged in, cease from this time. Line 19. " Nay, Phle^yas, Phlegyas, you do idly rave." Phlegyas having burnt Apollo's temple, in revenge for the god's violation of his daughter, was condemned by him to Tartarus. The guardians of Dante's Christian Hell are almost all taken from Pagan mythology. In the 'Middle Ages Christianity had not destroyed the belief in the Pagan Deities, but transformed them to Spirits of Evil.

30 HELIi. Camto VIU. Then round my neck his loving arms he drew, Kissed me upon my face, and said, '' Be blest. Indignant soul, the one who bore you true ! This was on earth a man of proudest 'hest, No kindly trait his memory adorns ; So here his furious shade can neyer rest. Many great kings who now lift up their horns Will wallow here like swine in filthy swill. Leaving their memories to most horrible scorns." And I : " O master, it would please me well Could I but see him in this hog's wash dive. Before we issue from this lake of ill." And he to me : " Before we can arrive ** At the farther shore you shall be satisfied. Prom such desire you sure should joy derive." Soon after such a torture I descried, When all the miry people on him fall, I give God thanks for that wish gratified. " Philip Argenti on you," shouted all. The spirit of that Florentine of hate Turned on himself his teeth at that fell call* We left him there, and I no more relate ; But ill my ears there rang an anguish cry. On which intent I gaze before me straight. My gentle master said, '^ son, hard by Nears the dreary city, Dis by name, With woewom townsmen in great company." " Even now its minarets, master !" I exclaim, ^^ " I see above the valley rising higher. Vermeil, as though they issued out of flame. And he explained to me : ^* The eternal fire That glows within makes them look ruddy here, As in this deep of hell you seest each spire." ^* Meanwhile within the deep-cut moat we steer That trenches round that land disconsolate. As if of iron wrought the walls appear. Not without traversing a circuit great We reached a region where our helmsman strong *® Cried to us, " Q«t you out, for here's the gate." I saw above a thousand o'er it throng, Bained from the sky of old, who fiercely said, " Who's this, who does not unto death belong, Line 46. " This was on earth a man of proadest 'heat." Philip Argenti, we are told by Boccaccio, was a Florentine of extraordinary personal strength, and despotic temper. Sach a combination is, fortunately for the ha man race, not common.

Canto VIII. HELL. 31 Yet wanders through the kingdom of the dead ?" ** And my wise leader made to them a sign That he would speak to them in secret stead. Then seemed their anger somewhat to decline ; They cried, " Come you alone, and he depart, Who entered on this realm with rash design. ^ On his mad pathway lonely let him start, And prove his knowledge since you here will bide. Who through this gloomy region were his chart." Think, Eeader, if I was not terrified At sound of words accursed at the core, •* Thinking that all return would be denied. " O my dear leader, who, seven times and more. Hast given me safety, and escape have won From fearful peril that beset me sore, Do not abandon me, thus all undone, ^^ And if my further passage be denied, Back as we came let us together run.'* That leader, who so far had been my guide, Said to me, " Fear not, since to reach our bourne No one can bar, with such are we allied. ^^ But here await me, and your spirit worn Comfort, and feed on hope of goodly cheer ; I will not leave you in this world forlorn." So he departs, and he leaves me here. My father kind, and I in doubt remain, "° The no and yes within me so career. I could not hear the language they maintain ; But not for long time they in conference wait, Ere each one racing turns within again. Those enemies of ours had closed the gate ^^^ Before my leader's breast, who stayed without. And back returned to me with pensive gait. His eyes were cast to earth, his brows with doubt Had lost all boldness, and he said with sighs, " Who from the abodes of woe has shut me out ?" ^^ To me he said, ** Though in me anger rise, Do not despond, I'll conquer in this fray Whatever opposition they devise. This insolence is nothing new to-day ; At a less secret entrance it was tried, ^^ Which now without a bolt is found for aye. Line 124, " This insolence is nothing new ix)-day." Supposed to aUade to the vain resistance attempted by the Spirits of Evil when Christ entered Hell in triamph to save the Saints in Limbo.