7–12
Dante’s questions and Virgil’s reply
13–16
simile: swiftly flying arrow
17–24
Phlegyas, his skiff; his wrath at Virgil’s rebuke
25–30
Dante’s weight displaces water beneath the skiff
31–39
Filippo Argenti: hostile exchange with Dante
40–48
Filippo Argenti: Dante’s reaction and Virgil’s assent
49–51
Virgil’s musing on the wealth of kings
52–64
Filippo Argenti: Dante’s wish and its fulfillment
CITY OF DIS (sixth Circle begins)
65–81
approach to Dis and arrival in Phlegyas’s skiff
82–85
rebel angels decry the approach of living Dante
86–93
they will parley, but with Virgil alone
94–96
first address to reader in the poem
97–108
Dante’s concerns and Virgil’s comforting
109–111
Virgil leaves Dante alone for the first time
112–120
the rebel angels rebel once again; Virgil’s chagrin
121–130
Virgil’s promise of aid from above
INFERNO VIII
To continue, let me say that long before →
we reached the foot of that high tower
3
our eyes had noted at its top
two flaming lights displayed up there →
to which another, so far off the eye
6
could hardly make it out, sent back a signal.
And turning to that sea of wisdom, I asked: →
‘What does this mean? And that other fire,
9
what does it answer? And who are they that made it?’
And he to me: ‘Over the filthy waves
you may already glimpse what is to come,
12
if the marsh-fumes do not hide it from you.’
Never did a bowstring loose an arrow
that whipped away more swiftly through the air
15
than, even as I watched, a skiff came skimming →
straight toward us on the water,
under the guidance of a single helmsman,
18
crying: ‘Now you are caught, damned spirit!’ →
‘Phlegyas, Phlegyas, this time you shout in vain,’ →
replied my lord: ‘You’ll not have us any longer →
21
than it takes to cross this bog.’
Like one who learns of a deceitful plot →
that has been hatched against him and begins to fret,
24
such was Phlegyas in his stifled wrath.
My leader stepped into the boat, →
and had me follow after.
27
And only then did it seem laden.
As soon as he and I were in the bark
the ancient prow moves off, cutting deeper
30
through the water than when it carries souls.
While we crossed the stagnant swamp →
one cloaked in mud rose up to say: →
33
‘Who are you that you come before your time?’
And I to him: ‘If I come, I do not stay.
But you, who are you, now become so foul?’
36
He answered: ‘As you can see, I am one who weeps.’
And I to him: ‘In weeping and in misery, →
accursèd spirit, may you stay.
39
I know you, for all your filth.’
When he stretched both his hands toward the boat, →
the wary master thrust him off, saying:
42
‘Away there with the other dogs!’
Then my master put his arms around my neck,
kissed my face and said: ‘Indignant soul,
45
blessed is she that bore you in her womb!
‘In the world this man was full of arrogance. →
Not one good deed adorns his memory.
48
That is why his shade is so enraged.
‘How many now above who think themselves
great kings will lie here in the mud, like swine,
51
And I: ‘Master, I would be most eager
to see him pushed deep down into this soup
54
before we leave the lake.’
And he to me: ‘Before the shore
comes into view you’ll have your satisfaction.
57
Your wish deserves to be fulfilled.’
Soon I watched him get so torn to pieces
by the muddy crew, I still give praise
60
and thanks to God for it.
All cried: ‘Get Filippo Argenti!’ →
And that spiteful Florentine spirit →
63
gnawed at himself with his own teeth. →
Of him I say no more. Then we moved on,
when such a sound of mourning struck my ears
66
I opened my eyes wide to look ahead.
The good master said: ‘Now, my son,
we approach the city known as Dis, →
69
with its vast army and its burdened citizens.’
And I: ‘Master, I can clearly see its mosques →
within the ramparts, glowing red
72
as if they’d just been taken from the fire.’
And he to me: ‘The eternal fire
that burns inside them here in nether Hell
75
makes them show red, as you can see.’
At last we reached the moats
dug deep around the dismal city.
78
Its walls seemed made of iron. →
Not until we’d made a wide approach
did we come to a place where the boatman bellowed:
81
‘Out with you here, this is the entrance.’ →
At the threshold I saw more than a thousand angels →
fallen from Heaven. Angrily they shouted:
84
‘Who is this, who is not dead,
‘yet passes through the kingdom of the dead?’
At this my prudent master made a sign
87
that he would speak with them apart.
Then they reined in their great disdain
enough to say: ‘You come—alone. Let him be gone,
90
who has so boldly made his way into this kingdom.
‘Let him retrace his reckless path alone—
let him see if he can, for you shall stay,
93
you who have led him through this gloomy realm.’
Reader, how could I not lose heart →
at the sound of these accursèd words?
96
I thought I would never make it back.
‘O my dear leader, who seven times and more →
have braced my confidence and rescued me
99
from the grave dangers that assailed me,
‘do not leave me,’ I cried, ‘helpless now!
If going farther is denied us,
102
let us at once retrace our steps.’
But the mentor who had brought me there replied:
‘Have no fear. None can prevent our passage, →
105
so great a power granted it to us.
‘Wait for me here. Comfort your weary spirit →
and feed it with good hope.
108
I will not forsake you in the nether world.’
He goes away and leaves me
there,
my gentle father, and I remain in doubt,
111
‘yes’ and ‘no’ at war within my mind.
I could not hear what he proposed,
but it was not long he stayed with them
114
before they pushed and scrambled back inside.
Then our adversaries slammed shut the gates →
against my master, who, left outside,
117
came back to me with halting steps.
He had his eyes upon the ground, his brows
shorn of all confidence. Sighing, he muttered:
120
‘Who dares deny me access to the realm of pain?’
To me he said: ‘Be not dismayed →
at my vexation. In this contest I’ll prevail,
123
whatever they contrive to keep us out.
‘This insolence of theirs is nothing new:
they showed it once before, at another gate.
126
It still stands open without lock or bolt.
‘Over it you saw the deadly writing. →
Even now, making his unescorted way →
down through the circles, one descends
130
by whom the city shall be opened.’
OUTLINE: INFERNO IX
1–15
Dante’s pallor, Virgil’s reaction, Dante’s response
16–21
Dante’s pointed question and Virgil’s general response
22–30
a precision: his previous journey to the pit of hell
31–33
Virgil: a need now for assistance in entering the city
34–54
the Furies and their threat: Medusa
55–60
Virgil’s ministrations to threatened Dante
61–63
address to reader (second in poem)
64–72
simile: sound of advancing storm
73–75
Virgil uncovers Dante’s eyes as the “storm” approaches
76–81
simile: frogs leaving pond at the advent of a snake
82–90
Dante obeisant before the messenger’s angelic disdain
91–103
his speech to the fallen angels and abrupt departure
104–109
the poets’ entrance into Dis, force no longer needed
110–111
the sixth Circle: a plain of torment
112–117
simile: cemeteries at Arles and Pola
118–123
the tombs of the heretics, glowing red with heat
124–131
Dante’s question and Virgil’s answer: heresy
132–133
coda: the rightward turn
INFERNO IX
The pallor cowardice painted on my face →
when I saw my leader turning back
3
made him hasten to compose his features.
He stopped, like a man intent on listening,
for the eye could not probe far
6
through that dim air and murky fog.
‘Yet we must win this fight,’ he began, →
‘or else.… Such help was promised us.
9
How long it seems to me till someone comes!’
I clearly saw that he had covered up →
his first words with the others that came after,
12
words so different in meaning.
Still, I was filled with fear by what he said.
Perhaps I understood his broken phrase
15
to hold worse meaning than it did.
‘Does ever anyone from the first circle,
where the only penalty is hope cut off, →
18
descend so deep into this dismal pit?’
I put this question and he answered: →
‘It seldom happens that a soul from Limbo
21
undertakes the journey I am on.
‘It is true I came here once before,
conjured by pitiless Erichtho,
24
who could call shades back into their bodies.
‘I had not long been naked of my flesh
when she compelled me to go inside this wall
27
to fetch a spirit from the circle of Judas. →
‘That is the lowest place, the darkest, →
and farthest from the heaven that encircles all.
30
Well do I know the way—so have no fear.
‘This swamp, which belches forth such noxious stench,
hems in the woeful city, circling it.
33
Now we cannot enter without wrath.’ →
And he said more, but I do not remember,
for my eyes and thoughts were drawn
36
to the high tower’s blazing peak
where all at once, erect, had risen
three hellish, blood-stained Furies: →
39
they had the limbs and shape of women,
their waists encircled by green hydras.
Thin serpents and horned snakes entwined,
42
in place of hair, their savage brows.
And he, who knew full well the handmaids
of the queen of endless lamentation,
45
said to me: ‘See the fierce Furies!
‘That is Megaera on the left. On the right
Alecto wails. In the middle
48
is Tisiphone.’ And with that he fell silent.
Each rent her breast with her own nails.
And with their palms they struck themselves, shrieking.
51
In fear I pressed close to the poet.
‘Let Medusa come and we’ll turn him to stone,’ →
they cried, looking down. ‘To our cost,
54
we failed to avenge the assault of Theseus.’ →
‘Turn your back and keep your eyes shut,
for if the Gorgon head appears and should you see it,
57
all chance for your return above is lost.’
While my master spoke he turned me round →
and, placing no trust in my own hands,
60
covered my face with his hands also.
O you who have sound intellects,
consider the teaching that is hidden
63
behind the veil of these strange verses.
And now there came, over the turbid waves, →
a dreadful, crashing sound
66
that set both shores to trembling.
It sounded like a mighty wind,
made violent by waves of heat,
69
that strikes the forest and with unchecked force
shatters the branches, hurls them away, and,
magnificent in its roiling cloud of dust, drives on,
72
putting beast and shepherd to flight.
He freed my eyes and said: ‘Now look →
across the scum of that primeval swamp
75
to where the vapor is most dense and harsh.’
As frogs, before their enemy the snake, →
all scatter through the water
78
till each sits huddled on the bank,
I saw more than a thousand lost souls flee
before one who so lightly passed across the Styx
81
he did not touch the water with his feet. →
He cleared the thick air from his face, →
his left hand moving it away,
84
as if that murky air alone had wearied him.
It was clear that he was sent from Heaven, →
and I turned to the m
aster, who signaled me →
87
to keep silent and bow down before him.
Ah, how full of high disdain he seemed to me!
He came up to the gate and with a wand →
90
he opened it, and there was no resistance.
‘O outcasts of Heaven, race despised,’ →
he began on the terrible threshold, ‘whence
93
comes this insolence you harbor in your souls? →
‘Why do you kick against that will
which never can be severed from its purpose,
96
and has so many times increased your pain?
‘What profits it to fight against the fates?
Remember your own Cerberus still bears
99
the wounds of that around his chin and neck.’
Then he turned back along the wretched way →
without a word for us, and he seemed pressed,
102
spurred on by greater cares
than those of the man who stands before him.
We turned our steps toward the city,
105
emboldened by his holy words.
We entered without further struggle. →
And I, in my desire to see
108
what such a guarded fortress holds,
as soon as I had entered eagerly surveyed
the wide plain stretching on all sides,
111
so filled with bitter torment and despair.
Just as at Arles where the Rhone goes shallow, →
just as at Pola, near Quarnero’s gulf,
114
which hems in Italy and bathes her borders,
the sepulchers make the land uneven,
so all around me in this landscape
117
the many tombs held even greater sorrow.