English

Inferno: Canto XII

The place where to descend the bank we came
Was alpine, and from what was there, moreover,
Of such a kind that every eye would shun it.

Such as that ruin is which in the flank
Smote, on this side of Trent, the Adige,
Either by earthquake or by failing stay,

For from the mountain's top, from which it moved,
Unto the plain the cliff is shattered so,
Some path 'twould give to him who was above;

Even such was the descent of that ravine,

Inferno: Canto XI

Upon the margin of a lofty bank
Which great rocks broken in a circle made,
We came upon a still more cruel throng;

And there, by reason of the horrible
Excess of stench the deep abyss throws out,
We drew ourselves aside behind the cover

Of a great tomb, whereon I saw a writing,
Which said: " Pope Anastasius I hold,
Whom out of the right way Photinus drew. "

" Slow it behoveth our descent to be,
So that the sense be first a little used

Inferno: Canto X

Now onward goes, along a narrow path
Between the torments and the city wall,
My Master, and I follow at his back.

" O power supreme, that through these impious circles
Turnest me, " I began, " as pleases thee,
Speak to me, and my longings satisfy;

The people who are lying in these tombs,
Might they be seen? already are uplifted
The covers all, and no one keepeth guard. "

And he to me: " They all will be closed up
When from Jehoshaphat they shall return

Inferno: Canto IX

That hue which cowardice brought out on me,
Beholding my Conductor backward turn,
Sooner repressed within him his new colour.

He stopped attentive, like a man who listens,
Because the eye could not conduct him far
Through the black air, and through the heavy fog.

" Still it behoveth us to win the fight, "
Began he; " Else... Such offered us herself...
O how I long that some one here arrive! "

Well I perceived, as soon as the beginning

Inferno: Canto VIII

I say, continuing, that long before
We to the foot of that high tower had come,
Our eyes went upward to the summit of it,

By reason of two flamelets we saw placed there,
And from afar another answer them,
So far, that hardly could the eye attain it.

And, to the sea of all discernment turned,
I said: " What sayeth this, and what respondeth
That other fire? and who are they that made it? "

And he to me: " Across the turbid waves

Inferno: Canto VII

" Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe! "
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began;
And that benignant Sage, who all things knew,

Said, to encourage me: " Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag. "

Then he turned round unto that bloated lip,
And said: " Be silent, thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage.

Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;

Inferno: Canto VI

At the return of consciousness, that closed
Before the pity of those two relations,
Which utterly with sadness had confused me,

New torments I behold, and new tormented
Around me, whischsoever wa I move
And whichsoever way I turn, and gaze.

In the third circle am I of the rain
Eternal, maledict, and cold, and heavy;
Its law and quality are never new.

Huge hail, and water sombre-hued, and snow
Athwart the tenebrous air pour down amain;

Inferno: Canto V

Thus I descended out of the first circle
Down to the second, that less space begirds,
And so much greater dole, that goads to wailing.

There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;
Examines the transgressions at the entrance;
Judges, and sends according as he girds him.

I say, that when the spirit evil-born
Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;
And this discriminator of transgressions

Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it;

Inferno: Canto IV

Broke the deep lethargy within my head
A heavy thunder, so that I upstarted,
Like to a person who by force is wakened;

And round about I moved my rested eyes,
Uprisen erect, and steadfastly I gazed,
To recognise the place wherein I was.

True is it, that upon the verge I found me
Of the abysmal valley dolorous,
That gathers thunder of infinite ululations.

Obscure, profound it was, and nebulous,
So that by fixing on its depths my sight

Inferno: Canto III

" Through me the way is to the city dolent;
Through me the way is to eternal dole;
Through me the way among the people lost.

Justice incited my sublime Creator;
Created me divine Omnipotence,
The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.

Before me there were no created things,
Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in! "

These words in sombre colour I beheld
Written upon the summit of a gate;