Canto XXXI
¶ARGUMENT . — The Poets, following the sound of a loud horn, arc led by it to the ninth circle, in which there arc four rounds, one enclosed within the other, and containing as many sorts of traitors; but the present Canto shows only that the circle is encompassed with Giants, one of whom. Antxus, takes them both in his arms and places them at the bottom of the circle.
¶THE very tongue, whose keen reproof beforeHad wounded me, that either cheek was stain'd,Now minister'd my cure. So have I heard,Achilles' and his father's javelin causedPain first, and then the boon of health restored.Turning our back upon the vale of woe,We cross'd the encircled mound in silence. ThereWas less than day and less than night, that farMine eye advanced not: but I heard a hornSounded so loud, the peal it rang had madeThe thunder feeble. Following its courseThe adverse way, my strained eyes were bentOn that one spot. So terrible a blastOrlando 1 blew not, when that dismal routO'erthrew the host of Charlemain, and quench'dHis saintly warfare. Thitherward not longMy head was raised, when many a lofty towerMethought I spied. "Master," said I, "what landIs this?" He answer'd straight: "Too long a spaceOf intervening darkness has thine eyeTo traverse: thou hast therefore widely err'dIn thy imagining. Thither arrived
¶' "When Charlemain with all his peer- and which, as Turpin and the Islandic
¶age fell at Fontarabia." bards report, was endued with magical
¶Milton, Paradise Lost, b. i. 586. See power, and might be heard at the dis-Warton's Hist, of Eng. Poetry, vol. i. sect. tance of twenty miles." Sec the Paradise, iii. p. 132. "This is the horn which Canto xviii.
¶Orlando woo from the giant Jaunund,
p. 128¶Thou well shalt see, how distance can deludeThe sense. A little therefore urge thee on."Then tenderly he caught me by the hand;"Yet know," said he, "ere farther we advance,That it less strange may seem, these are not towers,. But giants. In the pit they stand immersed,Each from his navel downward, round the bank."As when a fog disperseth gradually,Our vision traces what the mist involvesCondensed in air; so piercing through the grossAnd gloomy atmosphere, as more and moreWe near'd toward the brink, mine error fledAnd fear came o'er me. As with circling roundOf turrets, Montereggion1 crowns his walls;E'en thus the shore, encompassing the abyss,Was turreted with giants, half their lengthUprearing, horrible, whom Jove from HeavenYet threatens, when his muttering thunder rolls.Of one already I descried the face,Shoulders and breast, and of the belly hugeGreat part, and both arms down along his ribs.All-teeming Nature, when her plastic handLeft framing of these monsters, did displayPast doubt her wisdom, taking from mad WarSuch slaves to do his bidding; and if sheRepent her not of the elephant and whale,Who ponders well confesses her thereinWiser and more discreet; for when brute forceAnd evil will are back'd with subtlety,Resistance none avails. His visage seem'dIn length and bulk, as doth the pine2 that topsSaint Peter's Roman fane; and the other bonesOf like proportion, so that from aboveThe bank, which girdled him below, such heightArose his stature, that three Friezelanders[129]Had striven in vain to reach but to his hair.Full thirty ample palms was he exposedDownward from whence a man his garment loops."Raphel* bai ameth, sabi almi:"So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymnsBecame not; and my guide address'd him thus:"O senseless spirit! let thy horn for theeInterpret: therewith vent thy rage, if rageOr other passion wring thee. Search thy neck,There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on.Spirit confused! lo, on thy mighty breastWhere hangs the baldrick!" Then to me he spake:"He doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this,Through whose ill counsel in the world no moreOne tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor wasteOur words; for so each language is to him,As his to others, understood by none."Then to the leftward turning sped we forth,And at a sling's throw found another shadeFar fiercer and more huge. I cannot sayWhat master hand had girt him; but he heldBehind the right arm fetter'd, and before,The other, with a chain, that fasten'd himFrom the neck down; and five times round his formApparent met the wreathed links. "This proud oneWould of his strength against almighty JoveMake trial," said my guide: "whence he is thusRequited: Ephialtes him they call.Great was his prowess, when the giants broughtFear on the gods: those arms, which then he plied,Now moves he never." Forthwith I return'd:"Fain would I, if't were possible, mine eyes,Of Briareus immeasurable, gain'dExperience next." He answered: "Thou shalt seeNot far from hence Antseus, who both speaksAnd is unfetter'd, who shall place us thereWhere guilt is at its depth. Far onward standsWhom thou wouldst fain behold, in chains, and made
p. 129¶Unmeaning sounds, meant, it is supposed, to express the confusion at the building
¶of Babel.
p. 130¶Like to this spirit, save that in his looksMore fell he seems." By violent earthquake rock'dNe'er shook a tower, so reeling to its base,As Ephialtes. More than ever thenI dreaded death; nor than the terror moreHad needed, if I had not seen the cordsThat held him fast. We, straightway journeying on,Came to Antaeus, who, five ells completeWithout the head, forth issued from the cave."O thou, who in the fortunate vale, 5 that madeGreat Scipio heir of glory, when his swordDrove back the troop of Hannibal in flight,Who thence of old didst carry for thy spoilAn hundred lions; and if thou hadst foughtIn the high conflict on thy brethren's side,Seems as men yet believed, that through thine armThe sons of earth had conquer'd; now vouchsafeTo place us down beneath, where numbing coldLocks up Cocytus. Force not that we craveOr Tityus' help or Typhon's. Here is oneCan give what in this realm ye covet. StoopTherefore, nor scornfully distort thy lip.He in the upper world can yet bestowRenown on thee; for he doth live, and looksFor life yet longer, if before the timeGrace call him not unto herself." Thus spakeThe teacher. He in haste forth stretch'd his hands,And caught my guide. Alcides 6 whilom feltThat grapple, straiten'd sore. Soon as my guideHad felt it, he bespake me thus: "This way,That I may clasp thee;" then so caught me up,That we were both one burden. As appearsThe tower of Carisenda, 7 from beneathWhere it doth lean, if chance a passing cloudSo sail across, that opposite it hangs;Such then Antxus seem'd, as at mine easeI mark'd him stooping. I were fain at times[131]To have past another way. Yet in the abyss,That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs,Lightly he placed us; nor, there leaning, stay'd;But rose, as in a bark the stately mast.
Canto XXXII
¶ARC U MEN T . — This Canto treats of the first, and, in part, of the second of those rounds, into which the ninth and last, or frozen circle, is divided. In the former, called Caina, Dante finds Camiccione de' Pazzi, who gives him an account of other sinners who arc there punished; and in the next, named Antenora, he hears in like manner from Bocca degli Abbati who his fellow-sufferers are.
¶OULD I command rough rhymes and hoarse, tosuitThat hole of sorrow o'er which every rockHis firm abutment rears, then might the veinOf fancy rise full springing: but not mineSuch measures, and with faltering awe I touchThe mighty theme; for to describe the depthOf all the universe, is no empriseTo jest with, and demands a tongue not usedTo infant babbling. But let them assistMy song, the tuneful maidens, by whose aidAmphion wall'd in Thebes; so with the truthMy speech shall best accord. Oh ill-starr'd folk,Beyond all others wretched! who abideIn such a mansion, as scarce thought finds wordsTo speak of, better had ye here on earthBeen flocks, or mountain goats. As down we stoodIn the dark pit beneath the giants' feet,But lower far than they, and I did gazeStill on the lofty battlement, a voiceBespake me thus: "Look how thou walkest. TakeGood heed, thy soles do tread not on the headsOf thy poor brethren." Thereupon I turn'd,And saw before and underneath my feetA lake, whose frozen surface liker seem'dTo glass than water. Not so thick a veilIn winter e'er hath Austrian Danube spreadO'er his still course, nor Tanais far remoteUnder the chilling sky. Roll'd o'er that mass[132]Had Tabernich or Pietrapana' fallen,Not e'en its rim had creak'd. As peeps the frogCroaking above the wave, what time in dreamsThe village gleaner oft pursues her toil,So, to where modest shame appears, thus lowBlue pinch'd and shrined in ice the spirits stood,Moving their teeth in shrill note like the stork.His face each downward held; their mouth the cold,Their eyes express'd the dolour of their heart.A space I look'd around, then at my feetSaw two so strictly join'd, that of their headThe very hairs were mingled. "Tell me ye,Whose bosoms thus together press," said I,"Who are ye?" At that sound their necks they bent;And when their looks were lifted up to me,Straightway their eyes, before all moist within,Distill'd upon their lips, and the frost boundThe tears betwixt those orbs, and held them there.Plank unto plank hath never cramp closed upSo stoutly. Whence, like two enraged goats,They clash'd together: them such fury seized.And one, from whom the cold both ears had reft,Exclaim'd, still looking downward: "Why on usDost speculate so long? If thou wouldst knowWho are these two, 2 the valley, whence his waveBisenzio slopes, did for its master ownTheir sire Alberto, and next him themselves.They from one body issued: and throughoutCai'na thou mayst search, nor find a shadeMore worthy in congealment to be fix'd;Not him, 3 whose breast and shadow Arthur's handAt that one blow dissever'd; not Focaccia, 4[133]No, not this spirit, whose o'erjutting headObstructs my onward view; he bore the nameOf Mascheroni: 5 Tuscan if thou be,Well knowest who he was. And to cut shortAll further question, in my form beholdWhat once was Camiccione. 8 I awaitCarlino 7 here my kinsman, whose deep guiltShall wash out mine." A thousand visagesThen mark'd I, which the keen and eager coldHad shaped into a doggish grin; whence creepsA shivering horror o'er me, at the thoughtOf those frore shallows. While we journey'd onToward the middle, at whose point unitesAll heavy substance, and I trembling wentThrough that eternal chilness, I know notIf will it were, or destiny, or chance,But, passing 'midst the heads, my foot did strikeWith violent blow against the face of one."Wherefore dost bruise me?" weeping he exclaim'd;"Unless thy errand be some fresh revengeFor Montaperto, 8 wherefore troublest me?"I thus: "Instructor, now await me here,That I through him may rid me of my doubt:Thenceforth what haste thou wilt." The teacher pausedAnd to that shade I spake, who bitterlyStill cursed me in his wrath. "What art thou, speak,That railest thus on others?" He replied:"Now who art thou, that smiting others' cheeks,Through Antenora 9 roamest, with such forceAs were past sufferance, wert thou living still?""And I am living, to thy joy perchance,"Was my reply, "if fame be dear to thee,
p. 133¶5Sassol Maschcroni, a Florentine, who " The defeat of the Guelfi at Montamurdcrcd his uncle. perto through the treachery of Bocca degli
¶• Camiccione de' Pazzi of Valdarno, by Abbati, who, during the engagement, cut whom his kinsman Ubertino was treach- off the hand of Giacopo del Vacca de' erously put to death. Pazzi. the Florentine standard-bearer.
¶'"Carlino." One of the same family. 9 "So called from Antenor, who , acHe betrayed the Castel di Piano Travigne, cording to Dictys Cretensis (de Bcllo Troj. in Valdarno, to the Florentines, after the lib. v.) and Dares Phrygius (De Excidio refugees of the Bianca and Ghibelline Troja:) betrayed Troy his country." Lom - party had defended it against a siege for bardi.
¶twenty-nine days, in the summer of 1302.
p. 134¶That with the rest I may thy name enrol.""The contrary of what I covet most,"Said he, "thou tender'st: hence! nor vex me more.Ill knowest thou to flatter in this vale."Then seizing on his hinder scalp I cried:"Name thee, or not a hair shall tarry here.""Rend all away," he answer'd, "yet for thatI will not tell, nor show thee, who I am,Though at my head thou pluck a thousand times."Now I had grasp'd his tresses, and stript offMore than one tuft, he barking, with his eyesDrawn in and downward, when another cried,"What ails thee, Bocca? Sound not loud enoughThy chattering teeth, but thou must bark outright?What devil wrings thee?"—"Now," said I, "be dumb,Accursed traitor! To thy shame, of theeTrue tidings will I bear."—"Off!" he replied;"Tell what thou list: but, as thou 'scape from hence,To speak of him whose tongue hath been so glib,Forget not: here he wails the Frenchman's gold.'Him of Duera,' 10 thou canst say, 'I mark'd,Where the starved sinners pine.' If thou be ask'dWhat other shade was with them, at thy sideIs Beccaria," whose red gorge distain'dThe biting axe of Florence. Further on,If I misdeem not, Soldanieri 12 bides,With Ganellon, 13 and Tribaldello, 14 himWho oped Faenza when the people slept."We now had left him, passing on our way,When I beheld two spirits by the icePent in one hollow, that the head of one[135]Was cowl unto the other; and as breadIs raven'd up through hunger, the uppermostDid so apply his fangs to the other's brain,Where the spine joins it. Not more furiouslyOn Menalippus' temples Tydeus gnaw'd,Than on that skull and on its garbage he."O thou! who show'st so beastly sign of hate'Gainst him thou prey'st on, let me hear," said I,"The cause, on such condition, that if rightWarrant thy grievance, knowing who ye are,And what the color of his sinning was,I may repay thee in the world above,If that, wherewith I speak, be moist so long."
Canto XXXIII
¶ARGUMENT . — The Poet is told by Count Ugolino de' Gherardeschi of the cruel manner in which he and his children were famished in the tower at Pisa, by command of the Archbishop Ruggicri. He next discourses of the third round, called Ptolomea, wherein those are punished who have betrayed others under the semblance of kindness; and among these he finds the Friar Alberigo de' Manfredi, who tells him of one whose soul was already tormented in that place, though his body appeared still td be alive upon the earth, being yielded up to the governance of a fiend.
¶HIS jaws uplifting from their fell repast,That sinner wiped them on the hairs o' the head,Which he behind had mangled, then began:"Thy will obeying, I call up afreshSorrow past cure; which, but to think of, wringsMy heart, or ere I tell on't. But if words,That I may utter, shall prove seed to bearFruit of eternal infamy to him,The traitor whom I gnaw at, thou at onceShalt see me speak and weep. Who thou mayst beI know not, nor how here below art come:But Florentine thou seemest of a truth,When I do hear thee. Know, I was on earthCount Ugolino,1 and the Archbishop he
Ruggieri. Why I neighbor him so close,Now list. That through effect of his ill thoughtsIn him my trust reposing, I was ta'enAnd after murder'd, need is not I tell.What therefore thou canst not have heard, that is,How cruel was the murder, shalt thou hear,And know if he have wrong'd me. A small grateWithin that mew, which for my sake the nameOf Famine bears, where others yet must pine,Already through its opening several moonsHad shown me, when I slept the evil sleepThat from the future tore the curtain off.This one, methought, as master of the sport,Rode forth to chase the gaunt wolf, and his
¶whelps,
Unto the mountain* which forbids the sightOf Lucca to the Pisan. With lean brachsInquisitive and keen, before him ranged
¶franchi, Sismondi, Gualandi, and other by the Pisans. The power of the Guelfi Ghibelline houses. The Count Ugolino, being so much diminished, the archbishop to effect his purpose, united with the arch devised means to betray the Count Ugobishop and his party, and having betrayed lino, and caused him to be suddenly Nino, his sister's son, they contrived that attacked in his palace by the fury of the he and his followers should either be people, whom he had exasperated, by driven out of Pisa, or their persons seized. telling them that Ugolino had betrayed Nino hearing this, and not seeing any Pisa, and given up their castles to the means of defending himself, retired to citizens of Florence and of Lucca. He Calci, his castle, and formed an alliance was immediately compelled to surrender; with the Florentines and the people of his bastard son and his grandson fell in Lucca, against the Pisans. The count, be the assault; and two of his sons, with fore Nino was gone, in order to cover his their two sons also, were conveyed to treachery, when everything was settled for prison. . . . In the following March, the his expulsion, quitted Pisa, and repaired Pisans, who had imprisoned the Count to a manor of his called Settimo; whence, Ugolino, with two of his sons and two of as soon as he was informed of Nino's de his grandchildren, the offspring of his son parture, he returned to Pisa with great the Count Guclfo, in a tower on the rejoicing and festivity, and was elevated Piazza of the Anziani, caused the tower to the supreme power with every demon to be locked, the key thrown into the stration of triumph and honor. But his Arno, and all food to be withheld from greatness was not of long continuance. It them. In a few days they died of hunger; pleased the Almighty that a total reverse but the Count first with loud cries deof fortune should ensue, as a punishment dared his penitence, and yet neither priest for his acts of treachery and guilt; for he nor friar was allowed to shrive him. All was said to have poisoned the Count An- the five, when dead, were dragged out selmo da Capraia, his sister's son, on ac of the prison, and meanly interred; and count of the envy and fear excited in his from thenceforward the tower was called mind by the high esteem in which the the Tower of Famine, and so shall ever gracious manners of Ansclmo were held be." G. Villani, lib. vii.
¶' The mountain S. Giuliano between Pisa and Lucca.
p. 137¶Lanfranchi with Sismondi and Gualandi.After short course the father and the sonsSeem'd tired and lagging, and methought I sawThe sharp tusks gore their sides. When I awoke,Before the dawn, amid their sleep I heardMy sons (for they were with me) weep and askFor bread. Right cruel art thou, if no pangThou feel at thinking what my heart foretold;And if not now, why use thy tears to flow?Now had they waken'd; and the hour drew nearWhen they were wont to bring us food; the mindOf each misgave him through his dream, and IHeard, at its outlet underneath, lock'd upThe horrible tower: whence, uttering not a word,I look'd upon the visage of my sons.I wept not: so all stone I felt within.They wept: and one, my little Anselm, cried,'Thou lookest so! Father, what ails thee?' YetI shed no tear, nor answer'd all that dayNor the next night, until another sunCame out upon the world. When a faint beamHad to our doleful prison made its way,And in four countenances I descriedThe image of my own, on either handThrough agony I bit; and they, who thoughtI did it through desire of feeding, roseO' the sudden, and cried, 'Father, we should grieveFar less if thou wouldst eat of us: thou gavestThese weeds of miserable flesh we wear;And do thou strip them off from us again.'Then, not to make them sadder, I kept downMy spirit in stillness. That day and the nextWe all were silent. Ah, obdurate earth!Why open'dst not upon us? When we cameTo the fourth day, then Gaddo at my feetOutstretch'd did fling him, crying, 'Hast no helpFor me, my father!' There he died; and e'enPlainly as thou seest me, saw I the threeFall one by one 'twixt the fifth day and sixth:Whence I betook me, now grown blind, to gropeOver them all, and for three days aloud[138]Call'd on them who were dead. Then, fasting gotThe mastery of grief." Thus having spoke,Once more upon the wretched skull his teethHe fasten'd like a mastiff's 'gainst the bone,Firm and unyielding. O thou Pisa! shameOf all the people, who their dwelling makeIn that fair region, where the Italian voiceIs heard; since that thy neighbors are so slackTo punish, from their deep foundations riseCapraia and Gorgona,1 and dam upThe mouth of Arno; that each soul in theeMay perish in the waters. What if fameReported that thy castles were betray'dBy Ugolino, yet no right hadst thouTo stretch his children on the rack. For them,Brigata, Uguccione, and the pairOf gende ones, of whom my song hath told,Their tender years, thou modern Thebes, did makeUncapable of guilt. Onward we pass'd,Where others, skarf'd in rugged folds of ice,Not on their feet were turn'd, but each reversed.There, very weeping suffers not to weep;For, at their eyes, grief, seeking passage, findsImpediment, and rolling inward turnsFor increase of sharp anguish: the first tearsHang cluster'd, and like crystal vizors show,Under the socket brimming all the cup.Now though the cold had from my face dislodgedEach feeling, as 't were callous, yet me seem'dSome breath of wind I felt. "Whence cometh this,"Said I, "my Master? Is not here belowAll vapor quench'd?"—"Thou shalt be speedily,"He answer'd, "where thine eyes shall tell thee whence,The cause descrying of this airy shower."Then cried out one, in the chill crust who mourn'd:"O souls! so cruel, that the farthest postHath been assign'd you, from this face removeThe harden'd veil; that I may vent the griefImpregnate at my heart, some little space,[139]Ere it congeal again." I thus replied:"Say who thou wast, if thou wouldst have mineaid;And if I extricate thee not, far downAs to the lowest ice may I descend.""The friar Alberigo," 4 answer'd he,"Am I, who from the evil garden pluck'dIts fruitage, and am here repaid, the dateMore luscious for my fig."—"Hah!" I exclaim'd,"Art thou, too, dead?" "How in the world aloftIt fareth with my body," answer'd he,"I am right ignorant. Such privilegeHath Ptolomea, 1 that oft-times the soulDrops hither, ere by Atropos divorced.And that thou mayst wipe out more willinglyThe glazed tear-drops that o'erlay mine eyes,Know that the soul, that moment she betrays,As I did, yields her body to a fiendWho after moves and governs it at will,Till all its time be rounded: headlong sheFalls to this cistern. And perchance aboveDoth yet appear the body of a ghost,Who here behind me winters. Him thou know'st,If thou but newly art arrived below.The years are many that have passed away,Since to this fastness Branca Doria 6 came.""Now," answer'd I, "methinks thou mockest me;For Branca Doria never yet hath died,But doth all natural functions of a man,Eats, drinks, and sleeps, and putteth raiment on."[140]He thus: "Not yet unto that upper fossBy th' evil talons guarded, where the pitchTenacious boils, had Michel Zanche reach'd,When this one left a demon in his steadIn his own body, and of one his kin,Who with him treachery wrought. But now put forthThy hand, and ope mine eyes." I oped them not.Ill manners were best courtesy to him.Ah Genoese! men perverse in every wayWith every foulness stain'd why from the earthAre ye not cancel'd? Such an one of yoursI with Romagna's darkest spirit1 found,As, for his doings, even now in soulIs in Cocytus plunged, and yet doth seemIn body still alive upon the earth.
Canto XXXIV
¶ARGUMENT . — In the fourth and last round of the ninth circle, those who have betrayed their benefactors are wholly covered with ice. And in the midst is Lucifer, at whose back Dante and Virgil ascend, till by a secret path they reach the surface of the other hemisphere of the earth, and once more obtain sight of the stars.
¶I A HE banners of Hell's Monarch do come forthI Toward us; therefore look," so spake my guide,g "If thou discern him." As, when breathes a cloudHeavy and dense, or when the shades of nightFall on our hemisphere, seems view'd from farA windmill, which the blast stirs briskly round;Such was the fabric then methought I saw.To shield me from the wind, forthwith I drewBehind my guide: no covert else was there.Now came I (and with fear I bid my strainRecord the marvel) where the souls were allWhelm'd underneath, transparent, as through glassPellucid the frail stem. Some prone were laid;Others stood upright, this upon the soles,That on his head, a third with face to feetArch'd like a bow. When to the point we came,Whereat my guide was pleased that I should see[141]The creature eminent in beauty once,He from before me stepp'd and made me pause."Lo!" he exclaim'd, "lo! Dis; and lo! the place,Where thou hast need to arm thy heart with strength."How frozen and how faint I then became,Ask me not, reader! for I write it not;Since words would fail to tell thee of my state.I was not dead nor living. Think thyself,If quick conception work in thee at all,How I did feel. That emperor, who swaysThe realm of sorrow, at mid breast from the iceStood forth; and I in stature am more likeA giant, than the giants are his arms.Mark now how great that whole must be, which suitsWith such a part. If he were beautifulAs he is hideous now, and yet did dareTo scowl upon his Maker, well from himMay all our misery flow. Oh what a sight!How passing strange it seem'd, when I did spyUpon his head three faces: one in frontOf hue vermilion, the other two with thisMidway each shoulder join'd and at the crest;The right 'twixt wan and yellow seem'd; the leftTo look on, such as come from whence old NileStoops to the lowlands. Under each shot forthTwo mighty wings, enormous as becameA bird so vast. Sails never such I sawOutstretch'd on the wide sea. No plumes had they,But were in texture like a bat; and theseHe flapp'd i' th' air, that from him issued stillThree winds, wherewith Cocytus to its depthWas frozen. At six eyes he wept: the tearsAdown three chins distill'd with bloody foam.At every mouth his teeth a sinner champ'd,Bruised as with ponderous engine; so that threeWere in this guise tormented. But far moreThan from that gnawing, was the foremost pang'dBy the fierce rending, whence oft-times the backWas stript of all its skin. "That upper spirit,Who hath worst punishment," so spake my guide,[142]"Is Judas, he that hath his head withinAnd plies the feet without. Of th' other two,Whose heads are under, from the murky jawWho hangs, is Brutus:' lo! how he doth writheAnd speaks not. The other, Cassius, that appearsSo large of limb. But night now reascends;And it is time for parting. All is seen."I clipp'd him round the neck; for so he bade:And noting time and place, he, when the wingsEnough were oped, caught fast the shaggy sides,And down from pile to pile descending stepp'dBetween the thick fell and the jagged ice.Soon as he reach'd the point, whereat the thighUpon the swelling of the haunches turns,My leader there, with pain and struggling hard,Turn'd round his head where his feet stood before,And grappled at the fell as one who mounts;That into Hell methought we turn'd again."Expect that by such stairs as these," thus spakeThe teacher, panting like a man forespent,"We must depart from evil so extreme:"Then at a rocky opening issued forth,And placed me on the brink to sit, next join'dWith wary step my side. I raised mine eyes,Believing that I Lucifer should seeWhere he was lately left, but saw him nowWith legs held upward. Let the grosser sort,Who see not what the point was I had past,Bethink them if sore toil oppress'd me then."Arise," my master cried, "upon thy feet.The way is long, and much uncouth the road;And now within one hour and a half of noon1The sun returns." It was no palace-hall[143]Lofty and luminous wherein we stood,But natural dungeon where ill-footing wasAnd scant supply of light. "Ere from the abyssI separate," thus when risen I began:"My guide! vouchsafe few words to set me freeFrom error's thraldom. Where is now the ice?How standeth he in posture thus reversed?And how from eve to morn in space so briefHath the sun made his transit?" He in fewThus answering spake: "Thou deemest thou art stillOn the other side the centre, where I grasp'dThe abhorred worm that boreth through the world.Thou wast on the other side, so long as IDescended; when I turn'd, thou didst o'erpassThat point, to which from every part is dragg'dAll heavy substance. Thou art now arrivedUnder the hemisphere opposed to that,Which the great continent doth overspread,And underneath whose canopy expiredThe Man, that was born sinless and so lived.Thy feet are planted on the smallest sphere,Whose other aspect is Judecca. MornHere rises, when there evening sets: and he,Whose shaggy pile we scaled, yet standeth fix'd,As at the first. On this part he fell downFrom Heaven; and th' earth here prominent before,Through fear of him did veil her with the sea,And to our hemisphere retired. Perchance,To shun him, was the vacant space left here,By what of firm land on this side appears, 3That sprang aloof." There is a place beneath,From Belzebub as distant, as extendsThe vaulted tomb; 4 discover'd not by sight,But by the sound of brooklet, that descendsThis way along the hollow of a rock,Which, as it winds with no precipitous course,The wave hath eaten. By that hidden wayMy guide and I did enter, to return
p. 143¶The mountain of Purgatory. This word is used to express the whole "The vaulted tomb" ("La tomba"). depth of the infernal region.