The Divine Comedy | Page 9

face depicts
That pity which for terror thou hast taken.
Let us go on, for the long way impels us."
Thus he went in, and thus
he made me enter
The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss.
There, as it seemed to me from listening,
Were lamentations none,
but only sighs,
That tremble made the everlasting air.
And this arose from sorrow without torment,
Which the crowds had,
that many were and great,
Of infants and of women and of men.
To me the Master good: "Thou dost not ask
What spirits these, which
thou beholdest, are?
Now will I have thee know, ere thou go farther,
That they sinned not; and if they merit had,
'Tis not enough, because
they had not baptism
Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest;
And if they were before Christianity,
In the right manner they adored
not God;
And among such as these am I myself.
For such defects, and not for other guilt,
Lost are we and are only so
far punished,
That without hope we live on in desire."
Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard,
Because some
people of much worthiness
I knew, who in that Limbo were
suspended.
"Tell me, my Master, tell me, thou my Lord,"
Began I, with desire of
being certain
Of that Faith which o'ercometh every error,
"Came any one by his own merit hence,
Or by another's, who was
blessed thereafter?"
And he, who understood my covert speech,
Replied: "I was a novice in this state,
When I saw hither come a

Mighty One,
With sign of victory incoronate.
Hence he drew forth the shade of the First Parent,
And that of his son
Abel, and of Noah,
Of Moses the lawgiver, and the obedient
Abraham, patriarch, and David, king,
Israel with his father and his
children,
And Rachel, for whose sake he did so much,
And others many, and he made them blessed;
And thou must know,
that earlier than these
Never were any human spirits saved."
We ceased not to advance because he spake,
But still were passing
onward through the forest,
The forest, say I, of thick-crowded ghosts.
Not very far as yet our way had gone
This side the summit, when I
saw a fire
That overcame a hemisphere of darkness.
We were a little distant from it still,
But not so far that I in part
discerned not
That honourable people held that place.
"O thou who honourest every art and science,
Who may these be,
which such great honour have,
That from the fashion of the rest it
parts them?"
And he to me: "The honourable name,
That sounds of them above
there in thy life,
Wins grace in Heaven, that so advances them."
In the mean time a voice was heard by me:
"All honour be to the
pre-eminent Poet;
His shade returns again, that was departed."
After the voice had ceased and quiet was,
Four mighty shades I saw
approaching us;
Semblance had they nor sorrowful nor glad.
To say to me began my gracious Master:
"Him with that falchion in
his hand behold,
Who comes before the three, even as their lord.

That one is Homer, Poet sovereign;
He who comes next is Horace,
the satirist;
The third is Ovid, and the last is Lucan.
Because to each of these with me applies
The name that solitary voice
proclaimed,
They do me honour, and in that do well."
Thus I beheld assemble the fair school
Of that lord of the song
pre-eminent,
Who o'er the others like an eagle soars.
When they together had discoursed somewhat,
They turned to me
with signs of salutation,
And on beholding this, my Master smiled;
And more of honour still, much more, they did me,
In that they made
me one of their own band;
So that the sixth was I, 'mid so much wit.
Thus we went on as far as to the light,
Things saying 'tis becoming to
keep silent,
As was the saying of them where I was.
We came unto a noble castle's foot,
Seven times encompassed with
lofty walls,
Defended round by a fair rivulet;
This we passed over even as firm ground;
Through portals seven I
entered with these Sages;
We came into a meadow of fresh verdure.
People were there with solemn eyes and slow,
Of great authority in
their countenance;
They spake but seldom, and with gentle voices.
Thus we withdrew ourselves upon one side
Into an opening luminous
and lofty,
So that they all of them were visible.
There opposite, upon the green enamel,
Were pointed out to me the
mighty spirits,
Whom to have seen I feel myself exalted.
I saw Electra with companions many,
'Mongst whom I knew both
Hector and Aeneas,
Caesar in armour with gerfalcon eyes;

I saw Camilla and Penthesilea
On the other side, and saw the King
Latinus,
Who with Lavinia his daughter sat;
I saw that Brutus who drove Tarquin forth,
Lucretia, Julia, Marcia,
and Cornelia,
And saw alone, apart, the Saladin.
When I had lifted up my brows a little,
The Master I beheld of those
who know,
Sit with his philosophic family.
All gaze upon him, and all do him honour.
There I beheld both