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Remounting by the steps, down which they had descended to the seventh gulf, they go forward to the arch that stretches over the eighth, and from thence behold numberless flames wherein are punished the evil counsellors, each flame containing a sinner, save one, in which were Diomede and Ulysses, the latter of whom relates the manner of his death. |
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Godi, Fiorenza, poi che se' sì grande che per mare e per terra batti l'ali, e per lo 'nferno tuo nome si spande! Tra li ladron trovai cinque cotali tuoi cittadini onde mi ven vergogna, e tu in grande orranza non ne sali. Ma se presso al mattin del ver si sogna, tu sentirai, di qua da picciol tempo, di quel che Prato, non ch'altri, t'agogna. E se già fosse, non saria per tempo. 10 Cosi foss' ei, da che pur esser dee! chè più mi graverà, com' più m'attempo. |
Florence! exult: for thou so mightily Hast thriven, that o'er land and sea* thy wings Thou beatest, and thy name spreads over hell. Among the plund'rers, such the three I found Thy citizens; whence shame to me thy son, And no proud honor to thyself redounds. But if our minds*, when dreaming near the dawn, Are of the truth presageful, thou ere long Shalt feel what Prato* (not to say the rest) Would fain might come upon thee; and that chance Were in good time, if it befel thee now. For as time* wears me, I shall grieve the more. |
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Noi ci partimmo, e su per le scalee che n'avea fatte i borni a scender pria, rimontò 'l duca mio e trasse mee; e proseguendo la solinga via, tra le schegge e tra ' rocchi de lo scoglio lo piè sanza la man non si spedia. Allor mi dolsi, e ora mi ridoglio quando drizzo la mente a ciò ch'io vidi, 20 e più lo 'ngegno affreno ch'i' non soglio, perchè non corra che virtù nol guidi; sì che, se stella bona o miglior cosa m'ha dato 'l ben, ch'io stessi nol m'invidi. |
We from the depth departed; and my guide Remounting scal'd the flinty steps*, which late We downward trac'd, and drew me up the steep. Pursuing thus our solitary way Among the crags and splinters of the rock, Sped not our feet without the help of hands. Then sorrow seiz'd me, which e'en now revives, As my thought turns again to what I saw, And, more than I am wont*, I rein and curb The powers of nature in me, lest they run Where Virtue guides not; that if aught of good My gentle star, or something better gave me, I envy not myself the precious boon. |
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Quante 'l villan ch'al poggio si riposa, nel tempo che colui che 'l mondo schiara la faccia sua a noi tien meno ascosa, come la mosca cede a la zanzara, vede lucciole giù per la vallea, forse colà dov' e' vendemmia e ara: 30 di tante fiamme tutta risplendea l'ottava bolgia, sì com' io m'accorsi tosto che fui là 've 'l fondo parea. E qual colui che si vengiò con li orsi vide 'l carro d'Elia al dipartire, quando i cavalli al cielo erti levorsi, che nol potea sì con li occhi seguire, ch'el vedesse altro che la fiamma sola, sì come nuvoletta, in sù salire: tal si move ciascuna per la gola 40 del fosso, ché nessuna mostra 'l furto, e ogne fiamma un peccatore invola. |
As in that season, when the sun least veils His face that lightens all, what time the fly Gives way to the shrill gnat, the peasant then, Upon some cliff reclin'd, beneath him sees Fire-flies innumerous spangling o'er the vale, Vineyard or tilth, where his day-labour lies; With flames so numberless throughout its space Shone the eighth chasm, apparent, when the depth Was to my view expos'd. As he, whose wrongs* The bears aveng'd, at its departure saw Elijah's chariot, when the steeds erect Rais'd their steep flight for heav'n; his eyes, meanwhile, Straining pursu'd them, till the flame alone, Upsoaring like a misty speck, he kenn'd: E'en thus along the gulf moves every flame; A sinner so enfolded close in each, That none exhibits token of the theft. |
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Io stava sovra 'l ponte a veder surto, sì che s'io non avessi un ronchion preso, caduto sarei giù sanz' esser urto. E 'l duca, che mi vide tanto atteso, disse: "Dentro dai fuochi son li spirti; catun si fascia di quel ch'elli e inceso." "Maestro mio," rispuos' io, "per udirti son io più certo; ma già m'era avviso 50 che così fosse, e già volvea dirti: chi è 'n quel foco che vien sì diviso di sopra, che par surger de la pira dov' Eteòcle col fratel fu miso?" Rispuose a me: "Là dentro si martira Ulisse e Dïomede, e così insieme a la vendetta vanno come a l'ira; e dentro da la lor fiamma si geme l'agguato del caval che fé la porta onde uscì de' Romani il gentil seme. 60 |
Upon the bridge I forward bent to look, And grasp'd a flinty mass, or else had fall'n, Though push'd not from the height. The guide, who mark'd How I did gaze attentive, thus began: "Within these ardours are the spirits, each Swath'd in confining fire."--"Master! thy word," I answer'd, "hath assur'd me; yet I deem'd Already of the truth, already wish'd To ask thee who is in yon fire, that comes So parted at the summit, as it seem'd Ascending from that funeral pile* where lay The Theban brothers." He replied: "Within, Ulysses there and Diomede endure Their penal tortures, thus to vengeance now Together hasting, as erstwhile to wrath. |
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Piangevisi entro l'arte per che, morta, Deïdamià ancor si duol d'Achille, e del Palladio pena vi si porta." "S'ei posson dentro da quelle faville parlar," diss' io, "maestro, assai ten priego e ripriego, che 'l priego vaglia mille, che non mi facci de l'attender niego fin che la fiamma cornuta qua vegna; vedi che del disio ver' lei mi piego!" Ed elli a me: "La tua preghiera è degna 70 di molta loda, e io però l'accetto; ma fa che la tua lingua si sostegna. Lascia parlare a me, ch'i' ho concetto ciò che tu vuoi; ch'ei sarebbero schivi, perch' e' fuor greci, forse del tuo detto." |
Those in the flames with ceaseless groans deplore The ambush of the horse*, that open'd wide A portal for that goodly seed to pass, Which sow'd imperial Rome; nor less the guile Lament they, whence, of her Achilles 'reft, Diedamia yet in death complains. And there is rued the strategem, that Troy Of her Palladium spoil'd."--"If they have power Of utt'rance from within these sparks," said I, "O Master!" think my prayer a thousand fold In repetition urg'd, that thou vouchsafe To pause, till here the horned flame arrive. See, how toward it with desire I bend." He thus: "Thy prayer is worthy of much praise, And I accept it therefore; but do thou Thy tongue refrain: to question them be mine, For I divine thy wish; and they perchance, For they were Greeks*, might shun discourse with thee." |
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Poi che la fiamma fu venuta quivi dove parve al mio duca tempo e loco, in questa forma lui parlare audivi: "O voi che siete due dentro ad un foco, s'io meritai di voi mentre ch'io vissi, 80 s'io meritai di voi assai o poco quando nel mondo li alti versi scrissi, non vi movete; ma l'un di voi dica dove, per lui, perduto a morir gissi." |
When there the flame had come, where time and place Seem'd fitting to my guide, he thus begun: "O ye, who dwell two spirits in one fire! If living I of you did merit aught, Whate'er the measure were of that desert, When in the world my lofty strain I pour'd, Move ye not on, till one of you unfold In what clime death overtook him self-destroy'd." |
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Lo maggior corno de la fiamma antica cominciò a crollarsi mormorando, pur come quella cui vento affatica; indi la cima qua e là menando, come fosse la lingua che parlasse, gittò voce di fuori e disse: "Quando mi diparti' da Circe, che sottrasse 90 me più d'un anno là presso a Gaeta, prima che sì Enëa la nomasse, né dolcezza di figlio, né la pieta del vecchio padre, né 'l debito amore lo qual dovea Penelope far lieta, vincer potero dentro a me l'ardore ch'i' ebbi a divenir del mondo esperto e de li vizi umani e del valore; ma misi me per l'alto mare aperto 100 sol con un legno e con quella compagna picciola da la qual non fui diserto. L'un lito e l'altro vidi infin la Spagna, fin nel Morrocco, e l'isola d'i Sardi, e l'altre che quel mare intorno bagna. Io e ' compagni eravam vecchi e tardi quando venimmo a quella foce stretta dov' Ercule segnò li suoi riguardi acciò che l'uom più oltre non si metta; da la man destra mi lasciai Sibilia, 110 da l'altra già m'avea lasciata Setta. |
Of the old flame forthwith the greater horn Began to roll, murmuring, as a fire That labours with the wind, then to and fro Wagging the top, as a tongue uttering sounds, Threw out its voice, and spake: "When I escap'd From Circe, who beyond a circling year Had held me near Caieta by her charms, Ere thus Æneas yet had nam'd the shore; Nor fondness for my son*, nor reverence Of my old father, nor return of love, That should have crown'd Penelope with joy, Could overcome in me the zeal I had To' explore the world, and search the ways of life, Man's evil and his virtue. Forth I sail'd Into the deep illimitable main, With but one bark, and the small faithful band That yet cleav'd to me. As Iberia far, Far as Marocco either shore I saw, And the Sardinian and each isle beside Which round that ocean bathes. Tardy with age Were I and my companions, when we came To the strait pass*, where Hercules ordain'd The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'ed by man. The walls of Seville to my right I left, On the' other hand already Ceuta past. |
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'O frati,' dissi, 'che per cento milia perigli siete giunti a l'occidente, a questa tanto picciola vigilia d'i nostri sensi ch'è del rimanente non vogliate negar l'esperïenza di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente. Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste a viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza.' Li miei compagni fec' io sì aguti, \120 con questa orazion picciola, al cammino, che a pena poscia li avrei ritenuti; e volta nostra poppa nel mattino, de' remi facemmo ali al folle volo, sempre acquistando dal lato mancino. Tutte le stelle già de l'altro polo vedea la notte, e 'l nostro tanto basso, che non surgëa fuor del marin suolo. Cinque volte racceso e tante casso 130 lo lume era di sotto da la luna, poi che 'ntrati eravam ne l'alto passo, quando n'apparve una montagna, bruna per la distanza, e parvemi alta tanto quanto veduta non avëa alcuna. Noi ci allegrammo, e tosto tornò in pianto; ché de la nova terra un turbo nacque e percosse del legno il primo canto. Tre volte il fé girar con tutte l'acque; a la quarta levar la poppa in suso e la prora ire in giù, com' altrui piacque, 140 infin che 'l mar fu sovra noi richiuso." |
'O brothers!' I began, 'woe to the west 'Through perils without number now have we reach'd; 'To this the short remaining watch, that yet 'Our senses have to wake, refuse not proof 'Of the unpeopled world, following the track 'Of Phoebus. Call to mind from whence ye sprang: 'Ye were not form'd to live the life of brutes, 'But virtue to pursue and knowledge high.' With these few words I sharpen'd for the voyage The mind of my associates, that I then Could scarcely have withheld them. To the dawn Our poop we turn'd, and for the witless flight Made our oars wings*, still gaining on the left. Each star of the' other pole night now beheld*, And ours so low, that from the ocean-floor It rose not. Five times re-illum'd, as oft Vanish'd the light from underneath the moon, Since the deep way we enter'd, when from far Appear'd a mountain dim*, loftiest methought Of all I e'er beheld. Joy seiz'd us straight, But soon to mourning chang'd. From the new land A whirlwind spring, and at her foremost side Did strike the vessel. Thrice* it whirl'd her round With all the waves, the fourth time lifted up The poop, and sank the prow: so fate decreed: And over us the booming billow clos'd*." |
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For he can spread thy name o'er lands and seas.
Namque sub Auroram, jam dormitante lucernâ,
The poet prognosticates the calamities which were soon to befal his native city, and which he says even her nearest neighbor Prato would wish her. The calamities more particularly pointed at, are said to be the fall of a wooden bridge over the Arno, in May 1304, where a large multitude were assembled to witness a representation of hell and the infernal torments; in consequence of which accident many lives were lost; and a conflagration, that in the following month destroyed more than seventeed hundred houses, many of them sumptuous buildings. See G. Villani, Hist. lib. viii. c. lxx. and lxxi.
"I shall feel all calamities more sensibly as I am advanced in life."
Venturi, after Daniello and Volpi, explains the word in the original, "borni," to mean the stones that project from a wall for other buildings to be joined to, which the workmen call "toothings."
"When I reflect on the punishment allotted to those who do not give sincere and upright advice to others, I am more anxious than ever not to abuse to so bad a purpose those talents, whatever they may be, which Nature, or rather Providence, has conferred on me." It is probable that this declaration was the result of real feeling in the mind of Dante, whose political character would have given great weight to any opinion or party he had espoused, and to whom indigence and exile might have offered strong temptations to deviate from that line of conduct which a strict sense of duty prescribed.
Kings, b. ii. c. ii.
The flame is said to have divided on the funeral pile, which consumed the bodies of Eteocles and Polynices, as if conscious of the enmity that actuated them when living.
Ecce iterum fratris primos ut contigit artus
"The ambush of the wooden horse, that caused Aeneas to quit the city of Troy and seek his fortune in Italy, where his descendants founded the Roman Empire."
By this it is, perhaps, implied that they were haughty and arrogant. So in our Poet's twenty-fourth Sonnet, if which a translation is inserted in the Life prefixed, he says-- Ed ella mi ripose, come un greco.
Virgil, Æneid, lib. vii. 1.
Imitated by Tasso, G.L. c. viii. st. 7.
Ne timor di fatica ò di periglio, This imagined voyage of Ulysses into the Atlantic is alluded to by Pulci:--
E soprattutto commendava Ulisse,
The straits of Gibraltar.
Oud' eueire' eretma, ta te ptera neiusi pelontai Farò de' remi un volo.And Tasso, Ibid. 26.
Petrarch is here cited by Lombardi:--
Ne là su sopra il cerchio della luna Did ever night behold so many stars.
The mountain of Purgatory.-- Amongst the various opinions of theologians respecting the situation of the terrestrial paradise, Pietro Lombardo relates that "it was separated by a long space, either of sea or land, from the regions inhabited by men, and placed in the ocean, reaching as far as to the lunar circle, so that the waters of the deluge did not reach it."
-----Ast illum ter fluctus ibidem Venturi refers to Pliny and Solinus for the opinion that Ulysses was the founder of Lisbon, from whence he thinks it was easy for the fancy of the poet to send him on yet further enterprizes. Perhaps the story (which it is not unlikely that our author will be found to have borrowed from some legend of the middle ages), may have taken its rise partly from the obscure oracle returned by the ghost of Tiresias to Ulysses (see the eleventh book of the Odyssey), and partly from the fate which there was reason to suppose had befallen some adventurous explorers of the Atlantic ocean. |