The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri
62 HELL. OahtoXYI.
Called Acquaclieta in its upland stream, Which tumbles headlong to its bed below At Forli, where it loses its first name And o'er Samt Benedict re-echoing flow ^^ Its waters from the Alps into the vale, Site chosen for a thousand soldiers ; so Down from a bank precipitous, we hail Eoaring reverberate that blood-tinged tide, 'Gainst which the stunned ear could not long avail. ^^ I had a rope around my body tied, And with it I had some time thought to hold That panther with the variegated hide.
When I had loosened from me every fold, My master's mandates ever prompt to keep, I gave it to him ready noosed and rolled* Then to his right he turned him from the deep, And to some little distance from the shore He hurled it downwards, in that rocky steep. Surely some novelty must be in store, I said within myself, to this new sign. Which with his eye my master seeks before.
Ah me ! how cautiously should men opine 'Midst those who yet unseen the end can prove, And others' thoughts intuitive divine ! He said to me : *^ There soon will come above That which I wait, and which thy fancy dreams, Soon to thy sight uncovered shall it move.
Of that truth always, which like falsehood seems, Man should keep closed his eyes whene'er he can, Since without fault of his it bringeth shames ; But here I can but speak ; and by the plan Of this my Comedy, I swear to thee, So may it long find favour amongst man ! "That through the thick and gloomy air I see An object swimming, upwards through it sweep. That would wake marvel in the heart most free : Line 102.
Boccaccio has given the ezplanatioii in the text to this line. It may also mean that the abbey of St. Benedict was large enough to contain a thousand monks. Line 106. Dante is believed in yonth to have entered the Franciscan order' with the rope, worn by whose brothers, he had thought to conquer his carnal appetites, or take the panther, symbolical of pleasure, as allegorised in the opening Canto of the Poem.
This rope Vir^ throws over the precipice to lure up the monster, who is to bear them down to the next circle, and who we find afterwards described as tiie personification of Fraud, under the name of Grerion.
p. 120
p. 126
p. 130
oahio xvn. HELL. 6a Like one returning who has dived down steep To clear away an anchor that has caught Some rock or obstacle im ocean deep, ^^ With feet stretched downwards, and who upwards raught.
CANTO xvn. The form of the monster Gerion is described. YirgH and Dante desoend a short distance to reach him, and then Dante returns alone to the extreme verge of the sandy desert, where he sees seated under the rain of fire those who have committed violence a^^ainst arL or tisarers. On retnmini^ to Yirgil he finds him seated on the iHEick of Grerion, and taking his place before him, the poets are carried down by the monster to the next cude.
'^ Behold the wild beast with the sharpened tail, Behold the thing that makes the whole world stink, That passeth mountains, breaketh walls and mail. Thus 'gaji mj leader his discourse to link, And pointed towards it as it came to shore, ^ Close to that traversed river's stony brink ; And that foul image of all fraudulent lore Came on and reared alofb his head and bust. But on the bank his tail he drew not o'er.
The &,ce was like a man's &ce, mild and just, '^ So far benignant was its show outside, But like a serpent's trunk was all the rest. Arms hairy to the pit himg on each side. Its back and breast and both its flanks were rough With litUe knots and varied stains endyed. ^^ With brighter colour in the warp and woof Tartars and Turks their cloths have never wove, Nor did Arachne ever work such stuff.
As sometimes on the banks the boats are hove, When part is in the water, part on land, ^^ As there amongst the greedy German drove, The beaver waiting for his prey will stand. So rested that wild beast detestable Upon the brink of stone that girds the sand. In empty air he jerked his quivering tail, ^* Twisting right upwards the envenomed sting. Which, like a scorpion's, armed its point so fell.
The leader said : " Oiir way we now must wring A little from its course, that we may reach Down to the wicked beast who there doth swing." ^*
62 HELL. OahtoXYI. Called Acquaclieta in its upland stream, Which tumbles headlong to its bed below At Forli, where it loses its first name And o'er Samt Benedict re-echoing flow ^^ Its waters from the Alps into the vale, Site chosen for a thousand soldiers ; so Down from a bank precipitous, we hail Eoaring reverberate that blood-tinged tide, 'Gainst which the stunned ear could not long avail. ^^ I had a rope around my body tied, And with it I had some time thought to hold That panther with the variegated hide. When I had loosened from me every fold, My master's mandates ever prompt to keep, I gave it to him ready noosed and rolled* Then to his right he turned him from the deep, And to some little distance from the shore He hurled it downwards, in that rocky steep. Surely some novelty must be in store, I said within myself, to this new sign. Which with his eye my master seeks before. Ah me ! how cautiously should men opine 'Midst those who yet unseen the end can prove, And others' thoughts intuitive divine ! He said to me : *^ There soon will come above That which I wait, and which your fancy dreams, Soon to your sight uncovered shall it move." Of that truth always, which like falsehood seems, Man should keep closed his eyes whene'er he can, Since without fault of his it brings shames ; But here I can but speak ; and by the plan Of this my Comedy, I swear to you, So may it long find favour amongst man ! "That through the thick and gloomy air I see An object swimming, upwards through it sweep. That would wake marvel in the heart most free : Line 102. Boccaccio has given the ezplanatioii in the text to this line. It may also mean that the abbey of St. Benedict was large enough to contain a thousand monks. Line 106. Dante is believed in yonth to have entered the Franciscan order' with the rope, worn by whose brothers, he had thought to conquer his carnal appetites, or take the panther, symbolical of pleasure, as allegorised in the opening Canto of the Poem. This rope Vir^ throws over the precipice to lure up the monster, who is to bear them down to the next circle, and who we find afterwards described as tiie personification of Fraud, under the name of Grerion.
p. 120
p. 126
p. 130
oahio xvn. HELL. 6a Like one returning who has dived down steep To clear away an anchor that has caught Some rock or obstacle im ocean deep, ^^ With feet stretched downwards, and who upwards raught.
CANTO xvn. The form of the monster Gerion is described. YirgH and Dante desoend a short distance to reach him, and then Dante returns alone to the extreme verge of the sandy desert, where he sees seated under the rain of fire those who have committed violence a^^ainst arL or tisarers. On retnmini^ to Yirgil he finds him seated on the iHEick of Grerion, and taking his place before him, the poets are carried down by the monster to the next cude. '^ Behold the wild beast with the sharpened tail, Behold the thing that makes the whole world stink, That passes mountains, breaks walls and mail." Thus 'gaji mj leader his discourse to link, And pointed towards it as it came to shore, ^ Close to that traversed river's stony brink ; And that foul image of all fraudulent lore Came on and reared alofb his head and bust. But on the bank his tail he drew not o'er. The &,ce was like a man's &ce, mild and just, '^ So far benignant was its show outside, But like a serpent's trunk was all the rest. Arms hairy to the pit himg on each side. Its back and breast and both its flanks were rough With litUe knots and varied stains endyed. ^^ With brighter colour in the warp and woof Tartars and Turks their cloths have never wove, Nor did Arachne ever work such stuff. As sometimes on the banks the boats are hove, When part is in the water, part on land, ^^ As there amongst the greedy German drove, The beaver waiting for his prey will stand. So rested that wild beast detestable Upon the brink of stone that girds the sand. In empty air he jerked his quivering tail, ^* Twisting right upwards the envenomed sting. Which, like a scorpion's, armed its point so fell. The leader said : " Oiir way we now must wring A little from its course, that we may reach Down to the wicked beast who there does swing." ^*
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