English

Canto XXXIV

Argument.

Centre of the Universe, where Lucifer is fixed in the eternal ice. There, is punished treason to benefactors, and there Judas, Brutus, and Cassius, are found. — Virgil bears Dante through the centre of the earth, and rises with him in the opposite hemisphere.

" Behold ! the banners of the King of Hell
Come tow'rd us; therefore look before thee now, "
My Master said, " wouldst thou discern them well. "

CANTO XXXIII.

Argument.

Count Ugolino. — Third zone of the ninth circle. — The souls of those whose bodies are still alive.

T HE sinner raised his mouth from its fierce food,
And o'er the hair of the torn head he drew
His lips, to wipe away the stain of blood.
Then he began: " Thou wouldst I should renew
The desperate grief that all my heart doth steep,
Only to think thereon, ere speech ensue.

CANTO XXXII.

Argument.

Ninth and last Circle; the traitors imprisoned in ice — Count Ugolino gnawing the head of the Archbishop Ruggieri.

I F I had rhymes as harsh and rough, I ween,
As might be fitting for this dismal vale,
Towards which every other rock doth lean,
The juice of my conceit I should not fail
To press more fully; but I have them not;
Therefore in fear I come to tell my tale.

CANTO XXXI.

Argument.

The Giants — Antaeus conveys the two Poets down the abyss which separates the Eighth from the Ninth Circle.

N OW the same tongue which erst did give me pain,
Whence on my cheek the hue of shame I wore,
Brought sweetest balm unto my hurt again.
Thus have I heard that, in the days of yore,
With wounds at first, with balsam then was fraught
The lance Achilles and his father bore.

CANTO XXX.

Argument.

The same valley; other kinds of falsehood.

W HEN Juno's wrath wax'd high, in days of yore,
For Semeli, against the Theban race,
(As many a time she show'd) then did such sore
And frenzied madness fall on Athamas,
That he, when he his hapless wife descried,
With her two children clasp'd in her embrace,
" Now spread the nets, that I may snare, " he cried,

CANTO XIX.

Argument.

Those guilty of simony; and, among them, Pope Nicholas III, who announces that he waits the coming of Boniface VIII and Clement V.

O FOLLOWERS of Simon Magus! ye
Rapacious ones, who take the things of God,
Which unto good should consecrated be,
And souls for silver and for gold defraud!
Here must I sound the trumpet of your doom,
For in this third abyss is your abode.

CANTO XXVIII.

Argument.

Ninth valley; schismatics and sowers of discord. — Bertram de Born condemned to carry his own head as a lantern.

B UT who that history may, e'en in prose,
Narrate, and tell of every bloody wound
Which here I saw, and now would fain disclose?
In sooth, our language still too weak is found;
For human speech and memory may not hold
So vast a theme in such a narrow bound

CANTO XXVII.

Argument.

In the same valley Dante meets the Shade of Count Guido da Montefeltro, punished here for the evil counsel given to Boniface the Eighth.

S TILL and unbending now remain'd the flame,
And spake no more, and from us pass'd away,
With gentle Virgil's leave; and then there came
Another, following in the selfsame way,
And towards its summit made us turn our eyes,
By murmuring sounds that issued from its ray.

CANTO XXVI.

Argument.

Eighth valley; deceitful counsellors. — The fate of Ulysses.

F LORENOE , rejoice, who dost so much excel,
That thou dost spread thy wing o'er sea and land,
And thy name soundeth through the depths of Hell!
Five of thy sons amid the robber-band
I found; which brings unto my cheek shame's hue,
And in great honour, sooth, thou dost not stand.

CANTO XXV.

Argument.

The same place. — Cacus in form of a Centaur. — New metamorphoses.

As thus the villain his discourse did end,
He raised his hands with gest obscene, and cried:
" Take that, O God; such sign to thee I send! "
Therefore, the serpents were to me allied
In friendship; because one around his neck
Entwined, as though it said: " Now hush thy pride. "