Tt

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
Like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

"‘The Banners of the King of Hell Advance’
         Closer to us," my master said; "so look
         Straight ahead and see if you can spot them."
 
         Just as when a thick fog starts to settle
5        Or when evening darkens all our hemisphere,
         Far-off a windmill appears to be rotating,
 
         So I thought I saw such a structure there.
         Then out of the wind I stepped back behind
         My guide, because there was no other shelter.
 
10       I was now — and with fear I set it down
         In verse — where the shades were wholly sealed
         And yet showed through below like straws in glass.
 
         Some of them lie flat, some stand upright,
         One on his head and one upon his soles;
15       Another, like a bow, bends face to foot.
 
         When we had made our way so far forward
         That my master sensed it time to show me
         The creature who was once so beautiful,
 
         He took a step aside and made me stop;
20       "Look at Dis," he said, "look at the place
         Where you must arm yourself with steadfastness."
 
         How faint and frozen, reader, I grew then
         Do not inquire: I shall not write it down,
         Since all my words would be too few and weak.
 
25       I did not die and still I did not live.
         Think for yourself — should you possess the talent —
         What I became, robbed of both life and death!
 
         The emperor of the kingdom of despair
         Rose up from mid-chest out of the sheer ice;
30       And I come closer to a giant’s height
 
         Than giants match the size of his huge arms:
         See now how large the whole of him must be
         If it’s proportionate to that one part!
 
         Were he once as beautiful as now he’s ugly
35        (And yet he raised his fist against his Maker!)
         Well may all our grief come down from him!
 
         Oh how much wonder was it for me when
         I saw that on his head he had three faces:
         One in front — and it was fiery red —
 
40       And two others, which joined onto this one
         Above the center of his shoulder blades,
         And all three came together at his crown.
 
         The right face seemed halfway white and yellow
         While the left one looked the color of the race
45       That lives close to the source of the Nile.
 
         Beneath each face there sprouted two large wings,
         Suitably massive for such a bird of prey:
         I never sighted sails so broad at sea.
 
         They had no feathers but looked just like a bat’s,
50       And he kept flapping these wings up and down
         So that three winds moved out from in around him:
 
         This was the cause Cocytus was all iced.
         With six eyes he wept, and from his three chins
         Dripped down the teardrops and a bloody froth.
 
55      In each mouth he mashed up a separate sinner
         With his sharp teeth, as if they were a grinder,
         And in this way he put the three through torture.
 
         For the one in front, the biting was as nothing
         Compared to the clawing, for at times his back
60       Remained completely stripped bare of its skin.
 
         "That soul up there who suffers the worst pain,"
         My master said, "is Judas Iscariot —
         His head within, he kicks his legs outside.
 
         "Of those other two, with their heads hung down,
65       The one who hangs from the black snout is Brutus:
         Look how he writhes and mutters not a word!
 
         "That other one is Cassius, who seems brawny.
         But nightfall rises once again, and we now
         Must take our leave, since we have seen the whole."
 
70       As he requested, I held him round the neck,
         And then he waited the right time and place,
         And when the wings spread open wide enough
 
         He caught firm hold of Satan’s shaggy flanks.
         Downward from shock to shock he climbed below
75       Between the matted hair and frozen crust.
 
         When we were at the point at which the thigh
         Revolves, right where the hip widens out,
         My guide, by straining and agonizing effort,
 
         Turned his head round to where his legs had been
80       And grabbed the hair, like a man climbing up,
         So that I thought we’d headed back to hell!
 
         "Hold tight! these are the only stairs to take us
         Out of this sin-filled hole," said my master,
         Panting, like a man worn out, for breath.
 
85       Then he squeezed through the crevice of a rock
         And raised me up onto its rim to sit,
         And afterward reached me with one wary step.
 
         I lifted up my eyes, thinking I’d see
         Lucifer as I had left him — instead
90       I found him with his legs suspended upward!
 
         And if at that time I became confused
         Let dull minds judge: those who do not see
         What point it was that I must just have passed.
 
         "Stand up!" my master said, "Up on your feet!
95       The way is long and the path strenuous.
         The sun once more turns back to middle tierce."
 
         It was no palace hall, the place where we
         Had come, but a natural stone cavern
         With scanty lighting and a treacherous floor.
 
100      "Before we uproot ourselves from this abyss,
         My master," said I when I stood up straight,
         "Talk to me a bit to clear my error:
 
         "Where is the ice? And how can he be fixed
         Upside-down like that? And how in so short time
105      Has the sun moved from dusk to morning?"
 
         And he told me, "You picture yourself still
         On the other side of center where I caught
         The hair of the vile worm that pierced the earth.
 
         "You were there as long as I climbed downward.
110      When I turned myself round you passed the point
         To which all weight on every side pulls down.
 
         "And now you come under the hemisphere
         Opposite that which domes the vast dry land:
         There, beneath its pinnacle of sky,
 
115      "The Man, sinless in birth and life, was slain.
         Your feet stand on a little sphere, a spot
         That marks the other side of Judecca.
 
         "Here it is morning when it is evening there,
         And he whose hair supplied our ladder down
120      Is still stuck fast, as he was from the first.
 
         "He fell down straight from heaven on this side,
         And the land, which once had bulged out here,
         In fright at his fall cloaked itself with sea
 
         "And rushed up toward our hemisphere; perhaps,
125      What you see on this side, to flee from him,
         Left this space vacant here and spurted upward.
 
         "Below, as far away from Beelzebub
         As the limit of his tomb, there is a place
         Which is known not by sight but by the sound
 
130      "Of a small stream that courses down this way
         Along the hollow of a rock it wore
         Away with winding flow and trickling fall."
 
         Along that hidden path my guide and I
         Started out to return to the bright world.
135      And without a thought for any resting-stops,
 
         We bounded up, he first and I second,
         Until, through a round opening, I saw
         Some of the lovely things the heavens hold:
 
         From there we came out to see once more the stars.

His mouth raised up above his savage meal,
         That sinner wiped his lips upon the hair
         Of the head that he had chewed on from behind.
 
         Then he began, "You want me to make new
5         A desperate grief which even to call back
         Crushes my heart before I start to speak.
 
         "But should my words become a fruitful seed
         Of infamy for this traitor whom I gnaw,
         You’ll see me speak and weep at the same time.
 
10       "I don’t know who you are or by what means
         You’ve come down here, but when I hear you talk
         You surely seem to me a Florentine.
 
         "You need to know I was Count Ugolino,
         And this is the Archbishop Ruggieri.
15       Now I shall tell you why I am his neighbor.
 
         "How I was captured and then put to death
         As the result of his own evil scheming,
         I, who trusted him, need not explain.
 
         "What you cannot have heard, however, is
20       How cruel my death was: that you now shall hear
         And you will know whether he has wronged me.
 
         "A narrow window in a tower cell,
         Which for my sake is called the Tower of Hunger
         And in which others must be yet locked up,
 
25       "Had through its opening shown me several moons
         Already, when I dreamed the nightmare
         Which rent the veil of the future for me.
 
        "This man seemed lord and master of the hunt,
         Chasing the wolf and whelps upon the mountains
30       Which block the Pisans’ view toward Lucca.
 
         "With well-trained hounds, a lean and eager pack,
         He had sent up ahead of him, in front,
         Gualandi, with Sismondi and Lanfranchi.
 
         "After a short run, so it seemed to me,
35       Father and sons fell tired, and with sharp teeth
         It seemed to me I saw their sides ripped open.
 
         "When I awoke before the break of day,
         I heard my little sons who were with me
         Crying in their sleep and asking bread.
 
40       "You are cruel if by now you do not grieve
         To think of all that my own heart forewarned:
         And if you do not weep, what would you weep for?
 
         "They then awakened, and the hour drew near
         When customarily they brought us food,
45       But each of us was worried by his dream.
 
         "Below I heard them nailing up the door
         Of the horrible tower — at that, I looked,
         Without a word into my young sons’ faces.
 
         "I did not weep, I had so turned to stone
50       Within me. They wept. And my little Anselm
         Said, ‘You stare so... Father, what is it?’
 
         "At that I shed no tears, and I said nothing
         In answer all that day nor the next night
         Until another sun rose on the world.
 
55       "When a small ray of sunlight made its way
         Into that forlorn prison and I saw
         By their four faces the look in my own,
 
         "I bit both of my hands in desperate grief,
         And they, thinking I acted out of hunger,
60       All of a sudden stood straight up and wailed,
 
         " ‘Father, the pain for us would be far less
         If you ate us! You put this wretched flesh
         Upon us and now you may strip it off!’
 
         "I calmed myself, not to make them sadder.
65       That and the following day we kept silence.
         Ah hard earth! Why did you not open up?
 
         "After we had come to the fourth day,
         Gaddo threw himself down full length at my feet
         And cried, ‘Father, why don’t you help me?’
 
70      "He died then, and just as you see me
         I saw my three fall one by one by one
         Between the fifth day and the sixth, and then,
 
         "By now blind, I went groping over each boy
         And for two days I called them who were dead.
75       Then fasting did what grief had failed to do."
 
         When he had spoken this, with his eyes rolling
         He once more seized the loathed skull in his teeth
         Which were as strong on the bone as a dog’s.
 
         Ah, Pisa! scandal to all the peoples
80       Of the lovely land where our sì is sounded,
         Since your own neighbors are slow to punish you,
 
         Then let Caprara and Gorgona move
         And make a dam for the mouth of the Arno
         So that every soul in you might drown!
 
85       For if Count Ugolino was accused
         Of having himself betrayed your fortresses,
         You had no right to crucify his sons.
 
         Their newborn years had made them innocent,
         You newborn Thebes! — Uguiccione, Brigata,
90       And the other two my canto named above.
 
         We pushed on farther, where frost wraps around
         With its rough covering another race
         With bodies not bent down but turned face up.
 
         Their own weeping will not let them weep,
95       And grief which finds no outlet through their eyes
         Turns inward to intensify their anguish,
 
         Because the first tears cluster in a knot
         And, like a mask of crystal, fill up all
         The hollow socket underneath the eyebrows.
 
100      And although the deeply freezing cold
         Had taken all sensation from my face
         And left it feeling like a hard dead callus,
 
         I now thought that I felt a breath of wind
         And asked, "My master, who has stirred this breeze?
105     Are not all vapors snuffed out here below?"
 
         And he replied, "Shortly you shall be where
         Your own eyesight will answer you on this
         When you see why the wind blows from above."
 
         And one of those sad wraiths in the cold crust
110     Cried out to us, "O souls so cruel that
         This final outpost has been given to you,
 
         "Lift off from my face the stiffened veils
         That I may free the pain that fills my heart
         Before this weeping freezes up once more."
 
115      To this I told him, "If you want my help,
         Tell me who you are: if I give no aid
         May I drop to the bottom of the ice!"
 
         He answered, "I am Brother Alberigo,
         One of the fruits of the corrupted garden
120     Who here gets dates for figs I handed out."
 
         "Oh," I exclaimed, "are you already dead?"
         And he said to me, "How my body does
         There in the world above, I do not know.
 
         "For Ptolomea has this privilege:
125     Often the soul falls down into this place
         Before Atropos sends it out of life.
 
         "And that you may be all the more willing
         To scrape the frost-glazed tears from off my face
         Know this: as soon as the soul proves a traitor,
 
130      "As I did, its body then is snatched away
         By a demon who takes possession of it
         Until its time on earth has all run out.
 
         "The soul comes crashing down into this cistern,
         And maybe the body of the shade wintering
135      Here behind me still appears up there.
         
         "You must know him, if you but recently arrived.
         He is Ser Branca d’Oria, and many years
         Have passed since he was locked up in this ice."
 
         "I think," I said to him, "you must be lying,
140      For Branca d’Oria has not even died;
         He eats and drinks and sleeps and puts on clothes."
 
         "Above in the ditch of the Malebranche,"
         He said then, "where the sticky pitch boils up,
         Michel Zanche had not as yet rained down
 
145      "When Branca left his body for a devil
         To take his place, and so did a close kinsman
         Who carried out this treachery with him.
 
         "But now — reach out your hand — open my eyes!"
         I did not, however, open them for him,
150     Since rudeness toward him was a courtesy.
 
         Ah Genoese! you men so estranged
         From all sound custom and full of all corruption,
         Why have you not been scattered from this world?
 
         For with the wickedest spirit of Romagna
155     I found one of you so vile that for his deeds
         In Cocytus he already bathes in soul
 
         And still appears up here alive in body.

"O God, the Heathen Come," alternating
         Now three, now four, melodic psalmody,
         The weeping women now began to sing;
 
         And Beatrice, sighing and sympathetic,
5        Listened to them, so changed in her features
         That Mary at the cross looked no more sad-faced.
 
         But when those other virgins each gave way
         For her to speak, rising to her feet,
         She stood up straight and, coloring like fire,
 
10       "A little while and you shall not see me,
         And again," she said, "my dearest sisters,
         Another little while and you shall see me."
 
         Then she set all the seven in front of her,
         And at her back, with just a nod, she placed
15       Me and the lady and the sage who'd stayed.
 
         So she moved onward, and I do not think
         That she had put ten steps upon the ground
         When instantly she struck my eyes with her eyes,
 
         And with a tranquil look she spoke to me,
20       "Come forward more, that if I speak with you,
         You may be better placed to listen to me."
 
         As soon as I was with her as I should be,
         She said to me, "Brother, why not venture
         To question me, now that you come with me?"
 
25       Like those who with excessive reverence
         Speak in the presence of superiors
         And catch their living voices in their teeth,
 
         That was my case when with stumbling diction
         I began, "My lady, you know what
30       I need, and what will do me good you know."
 
         And she told me, "I want you from now on
         To tear yourself away from fear and shame
         And talk no more like someone in a dream.
 
         "Know that the vessel which the serpent smashed
35       Was, and is not. But he who bears the blame
         Shall learn that God’s revenge fears no delays.
 
         "The eagle that left its feathers on the chariot
         Which then became a monster, then a prey,
         Will not for all time be without an heir,
 
40       "For I see clearly, and so can tell you this,
         Stars are already near, secure from check
         Or hindrance, that will bring us to a time
 
         "In which a five hundred, ten and five,
         God’s messenger, shall kill the thieving whore
45       Together with the giant who sins with her.
 
         "Perhaps my prophecy, which is as obscure
         As Themis and the Sphinx, fails to convince you
         Since, in their fashion, it clouds up your mind;
 
         "But soon events themselves shall be the Naiads
50       That will resolve this difficult enigma
         Without the ravaging of herds or grain.
 
         "Take note! and as I utter these words to you
         Do you in your turn teach them to all those
         Who live the life that is a race to death;
 
55       "And keep in mind, when you shall write them down,
         Not to conceal what you saw of the tree
         Which now twice over has been here stripped bare.
 
         "Whoever robs that tree or rends its branches
         With act of blasphemy offends God who
60       For his sole use created it all-holy.
 
         "For eating of its fruit the first soul yearned
         Five thousand years and more in pain and hunger
         For him who with himself paid for the eating.
 
         "Your mind is fast asleep if it won’t guess
65       There is a special reason why this tree
         Is so tall and inverted at its top;
 
         "And had vain thoughts, like waters of the Elsa,
         Not petrified your mind, and pleasure in them
         Strained it, as Pyramus the mulberry,
 
70       "Then simply by details of height and width
         You would have recognized the moral sense
         Of God’s justice when he forbade this tree.
 
         "But since I see that in your intellect
         You turned to stone, and stony, so opaque
75       The light of what I say has dazzled you,
 
         "I want you to take back my words within you —
         And if not written down, at least depicted —
         As a pilgrim’s staff returns enwreathed with palm."
 
         And I: "As wax stamped by the seal takes on
80       The impressed figure without changing it,
         So is my brain imprinted now by you.
 
         "But why do your own deeply longed-for words
         Soar up so high beyond my vision that
         The more I strain the more they’re lost from sight?"
 
85       "They soar that you may know," she said,
         "The school which you have followed, and may see
         How well its teaching follows my own words,
 
         "And see too that your way is as far distant
         From the divine way as the earth is from
90       The heaven that spins highest of the nine."
 
         I answered her then, "I do not remember
         That ever I estranged myself from you,
         Nor does my conscience gnaw at me for this."
 
         "And if you cannot now remember it,"
95       She smilingly replied, "then call to mind
         How you have drunk of Lethe on this day,
 
         "And just as smoke is sure proof of a fire,
         So your forgetting clearly indicates
         A fault in your will’s tending somewhere else.
 
100     "But from now on my words shall be as bare
         As it is suitable or needful for me
         To make them plain for your rude sight to grasp."
 
         Now more glittering, now with slower steps,
         The sun tracked the meridian circle
105     Which with one’s point of view shifts here and there,
 
         When, just as one who goes before a group
         As guide will halt if he should happen on
         Something strange or trace of something strange,
 
         The seven women halted at the edge
110     Of a pale shadow such as mountains cast
         On cold streams under green leaves and black boughs.
 
         In front of them I seemed to see Euphrates
         And Tigris welling from a single spring
         And, in parting, lingering like friends.
 
115     "O light, O glory of the human race,
         What water is this that here gushes out
         From one source and then draws itself away?"
 
         To this request of mine, she answered, "Ask
         Matilda to tell you." The lovely woman,
120     As if she wished to free herself from blame,
 
         Replied, "I told him this and other things,
         And I am sure the waters of the Lethe
         Did not cloud out his recollection of it."
 
         And Beatrice: "Some greater care, perhaps,
125     Which often steals away one’s memory,
         Has left the eyes of his mind in the dark.
 
         "But see, there is Eunoè flowing onward:
         Lead him to it and, as it is your custom,
         Bring his fainting powers back to life."
 
130     As a noble soul that offers no excuse,
         But of another’s will makes her own will,
         As soon as some outward sign discloses it,
 
         So, when the lovely woman took me with her,
         She moved ahead, and with womanly grace
135     She said to Statius, "Come with him as well."
 
         If, reader, I had room to write more lines,
         I would sing still, in part, of the sweet drink
         That kept me thirsting always after more,
 
         But since all of the pages planned beforehand
140     For this, the second canticle, are filled,
         The curb of art lets me run on no further.
 
         From out those holiest waves I now returned,
         Refashioned, just as new trees are renewed
         With their new foliage, for I came back
 
145     Pure and prepared to leap up to the stars.

My eyes were so intent and fixed on her
         To satisfy the thirst of those ten years
         That every other sense was quenched in me.
 
         On one side and the other, my eyes were walled
5        By indifference to all else: the holy smile
         So drew them to itself with the old net
 
         When I was forced to turn my face leftward
         By those three goddesses because I heard
         From them the words, "You gaze too fixedly!"
 
10       And my sight was in such a state as when
         The eyes have just been struck by too much sun,
         So that for some time I could make out nothing;
 
         But when my sight grew used to lesser objects
         (I say "to lesser" in relation to
15       The greater one from whom I turned by force),
 
         I saw that the magnificent army there
         Had wheeled round to the right, and now was turning
         With faces toward the sun and the seven flames.
 
         Just as a squadron, underneath their shields,
20       Turn to retreat and, with the standard, wheel
         Around before the rest can swing about,
 
         So the militia of the celestial realm
         In the advanced guard passed in front of us
         Before the chariot circled on its pole.
 
25       At that the women turned back to the wheels,
         And then the griffin pulled his blissful burden
         In such a way none of his feathers stirred.
 
         The lovely woman who towed me at the ford,
         And Statius, and I, were following
30       The wheel that makes the smaller arc in turning.
 
         So pacing through the soaring forest, empty
         Because of her who trusted in the serpent,
         Our steps kept time to an angelic tune.
 
         We had advanced about the distance covered
35       By three flights of an arrow shot from its bow,
         When Beatrice stepped down from the chariot.
 
         I heard them all there murmuring "Adam,"
         And then they gathered round a tree stripped bare,
         On every branch, of foliage and flowers.
 
40       Its branches, which spread wider as they grow
         Higher up, would, with their towering height,
         Make even Indians marvel in their forests.
 
         "Blessed are you, griffin, that your beak
         Tears nothing from this sweetly-tasting tree
45       Which sadly racks the stomach afterward!"
 
         Around the sturdy tree, the others cried
         These words; and the two-natured animal:
         "So is preserved the seed of all justice."
 
         And turning to the pole-shaft he had pulled,
50       He dragged it to the foot of the widowed trunk
         And tied it to the wood from which it came.
 
         Just as our trees, when the strong light of spring
         Streams downward mingled with the rays that glow
         Behind the stars of the celestial Fish,
 
55       Swell into bud, and then renew themselves
         In each one’s coloring, before the sun
         Yokes its steeds under a new constellation,
 
         So, showing color less deep than the rose
         But darker than the violet, the tree
60       That first had boughs so barren was renewed.
 
         I did not understand — it is not sung
         On earth — the hymn that company sang there,
         Nor could I hear the music to the end.
 
         Could I portray the ruthless eyes of Argus
65       Lulled to sleep, hearing the tale of Syrinx —
         The eyes whose long-kept watching cost so dear —
 
         Then like a painter who paints from a model,
         I here would picture how I fell asleep,
         But let whoever wants to depict sleeping!
 
70       I move on, then, to when I came awake,
         And I tell you a bright light rent the veil
         Of sleep, and a voice: "What are you doing? Rise!"
 
         Just as, when brought to see the blossoms of
         The apple tree whose fruit the angels crave
75       And makes an endless marriage-feast in heaven,
 
         Peter and John and James were overpowered
         And, coming to themselves at that same word
         By which slumbers more profound were broken,
 
         They saw their company dwindle away
80       When Moses and Elijah disappeared,
         And viewed their Master’s raiment changed again:
 
         So I came to myself and saw that same
         Compassionate woman standing over me
         Who first had led my steps along the shore.
 
85       And all perplexed, I asked, "Where is Beatrice?"
         She answered, "See her seated on the roots
         Of that tree there with its fresh foliage.
 
         "See all the company surrounding her;
         The rest behind the griffin rise to heaven
90       With sweeter and with deeper melodies."
 
         If she said more than this I do not know,
         For already my eyes filled with sight of her
         Who shut me off from every other thought.
 
         She sat there all alone on the bare ground,
95       Left like a lookout for the chariot
         Which I had seen the two-form animal tie.
 
         In a ring the seven nymphs now fashioned
         A shelter for her; in their hands they held
         The lamps the north and south winds cannot quench.
 
100     "Here, for a short time, you'll be a forest wayfarer;
         Then you shall live with me a citizen
         Forever of that Rome where Christ is Roman.
 
         "To benefit the world, then, that lives badly,
         Fix your eyes on the chariot. What you see,
105     Make sure you write it down when you return there."
 
         So Beatrice spoke. And I, who at the feet
         Of her commands was all obedience,
         Attached my mind and eyesight where she wished.
 
         Lightning never fell with such swift motion
110     Down from the densest cloud, when it descends
         From out the region that lies most remote,
 
         As did the bird of Jove which I watched swoop
         Down through the tree, tearing at the bark
         And also at the flowers and new leaves.
 
115     It struck the chariot with its full force,
         Making it reel like a ship in a storm,
         Tossed, now to starboard, now to port, by waves.
 
         Then I saw leaping up into the body
         Of the triumphal vehicle a fox
120     Seemingly starved of wholesome nourishment.
 
         But, reprimanding it for foul offenses,
         My lady sent it flying off as fast
         As those bones bare of flesh would let it go.
 
         Then, from the tree where it had flown before,
125     I saw the eagle dive inside the chariot
         And leave it coated over with its feathers.
 
         And, as a voice breaks from a heart in grief,
         There came a voice from heaven and it cried,
         "O my small ship, how you are laden down!"
 
130     Then the ground, it seemed to me, opened up
         Between the two wheels, and I saw a dragon

"O you on that side of the sacred stream,"
         She began, turning on me her speech’s point —
         Even its edge had seemed too sharp for me —
 
         And then went right ahead without a respite,
5         "Tell, tell if this is true! To such a charge
         You are obliged to add your own confession."
 
         My power of speech was thrown into such confusion
         That my voice stirred and yet was cut off short
         Before my throat and mouth could set it free.
 
10       She barely paused, then said, "What are you thinking?
         Answer me! The water of the river
         Has not yet dimmed your mournful memories."
 
         Confusion, mixed together with dismay,
         Forced from my mouth a Yes, so muted that
15       Eyes would have had to read it on my lips.
 
         Just as a crossbow, shot with too much tension,
         Snaps both its bow and bowstring, and the arrow
         Strikes at the target with a feeble force,
 
         So I broke then beneath that heavy burden,
20       Pouring out a stream of tears and sighs,
         And my voice slackened along its passageway.
 
         At this she said, "In your desire for me
         Which always led you on to love the Good
         Beyond which there is nothing one can long for,
 
25       "What pitfalls did you find placed in your path,
         What chains, that you had so to strip yourself
         Of any hope of journeying ahead?
 
         "And what allurements or advancements were
         So obvious upon the brow of others
30       That you felt bound to dally at their doorsills?"
 
         After having heaved a bitter sigh,
         I hardly had a voice to give an answer,
         And my lips shaped the words with difficulty.
 
         Weeping I said, "Things of the present moment,
35       With their false pleasures, turned my steps aside,
         As soon as your face was hidden from my sight."
 
         And she: "Had you kept silent or denied
         What you confess, your guilt would not be less
         Noted down: It is known by such a Judge!
 
40       "But when the accusation of the sin
         Bursts from one’s own cheeks, within the court
         The grindstone turns against the cutting edge.
 
         "Still, that you may now bear the rightful shame
         For your error, and that, another time,
45       Hearing the Sirens’ song, you may be stronger,
 
         "Dismiss what you have sown in tears, and listen:
         So shall you hear how in a different way
         My buried flesh should have conducted you.
 
         "Never in art or nature were you shown
50       Beauty quite like the lovely limbs in which
         I was enclosed and which now lie strewn in dust.
 
         "And if the highest beauty failed you so
         Through my death, what merely mortal thing
         Should then have drawn you to desire it?
 
55       "At the first arrow shot from such deceits,
         Surely you should have flown up higher still,
         Following me, no longer in the flesh.
 
         "You ought not to have let some youthful girl
         Or other novelty of brief delight
60       Weigh your wings down to face a further shot.
 
         "The fledgling will wait for two or three shots,
         But any net is spread or arrow fired
         Idly before the eyes of the full-grown bird."
 
         As children, when ashamed, stand dumbfounded
65       With eyes cast on the ground and listening,
         Admitting to their fault and fully sorry,
 
         So stood I. And she said, "Since you are grieved
         Simply on hearing this, lift up your beard
         And you will feel more grief from what you see."
 
70       With less resistance is the sturdy oak
         Uprooted by the blasts out of our homeland
         Or by the winds that blow from Libya
 
         Than I, at her command, raised up my chin;
         And when, by saying "beard," she meant my face,
75       I truly learned the venom in her speaking.
 
         And while my face was lifted up full-length,
         My eyes made out those first-created beings
         Resting from their sowing of the flowers.
 
         Light of my eyes, still partly clouded over,
80       Saw Beatrice then turned toward the animal
         That is a single person with two natures.
 
         Beneath her veil, and from beyond the stream,
         She seemed more to outshine her former self
         Than she outshone all others while she lived.
 
85       The nettle of remorse so stung me there
         That what, among all other things, had most
         Turned me to its love now became most hateful.
 
         Such guilty recognition gnawed my heart
         That I fell, overcome. What I became then
90       She who was the cause of it best knows.
 
         Then, when my heart restored my outer sense,
         I saw above me the woman I had found
         Alone; she cried, "Hold tight to me! Hold tight!"
 
         She plunged me in the stream up to my neck
95       And, pulling me behind her, passed along,
         Lighter than a shuttle, on the water.
 
         When I had nearly reached the sacred shore,
         I heard "Asperges me" so sweetly sung
         That I cannot recall, much less describe it.
 
100     The lovely woman opened her arms wide;
         She clasped me by the head and dipped me under,
         So deep that I was forced to swallow water.
 
         She drew me out then and she led me bathed
         Into the dance of the four shining beauties,
105     And each one linked her arm above my head.
 
         "Here we are nymphs — in heaven we are stars:
         Before Beatrice was born into the world,
         We were ordained to serve as her handmaidens.
 
         "We’ll lead you to her eyes, but for the joyous
110      Light that is within, the three beyond,
         Who look more deeply, will sharpen your own eyes."
 
         So singing, they began; and then, together,
         They led me with them to the griffin’s breast
         Where Beatrice stood in front and faced toward us.
 
115     "See that you do not spare your gaze," they said,
         "For we have placed you here before the emeralds
         From which Love once propelled his shafts at you."
 
         A thousand yearnings seething more than flames
         Held my eyes fastened to the radiant eyes
120     That remained ever rooted on the griffin.
 
         Exactly like the sunlight in a mirror,
         The twofold animal gleamed in her eyes,
         Now beaming with one nature, now the other.
 
         Reader, reflect if I was struck with wonder
125     When I observed the object in itself
         Stand still while its reflecting image moved.
 
         While my soul, full of gladness and amazement,
         Was tasting that food which, while satisfying
         Of itself, still causes one to crave it,
 
130     The other three, revealing by their bearing
         That they were of a higher rank, came forward
         Dancing to their angelic roundelay.
 
         "Turn, Beatrice, turn your holy eyes to him"
         (This was their song) "who now is faithful to you
135     And who has come so many steps to see you!
 
         "For grace do us the grace here to unveil
         Your lips to him that he may there discern
         The second beauty which you hide from him."
 
         O splendor of the endless living light,
140     Who ever grew so pale beneath the shade
         Of Parnassus, or drank its well so deeply,
 
         That he’d not seem to have his mind obstructed,
         Trying to render you as you appeared
         Where harmony in heaven was your shadow
 
145     When in the open air you raised your veil?

When the Seven Stars of the first heaven —
         Which neither set nor rise, nor ever know
         Any cloud except what sin has veiled,
 
         And which make each one there perceive his duty,
5        Just as the Seven Stars down here direct
         The mariner to turn his helm toward port —
 
         Stopped short, the truthful people who at first
         Had come between the griffin and its lights
         Turned to the chariot as to their peace,
 
10       And one of them, as though sent down from heaven,
         In song cried, "Come, my spouse, from Lebanon,"
         Three times, and all the rest sang after him.
 
         Just as the blessed at the last trumpet blast
         Will rise up ready, each one from his tomb,
15       Singing with new-do

Singing like a woman who is in love,
         She — after finishing her speech — continued,
         "Blessed are they whose sins are covered over!"
 
         And just as nymphs who used to roam alone
5        Through woodland shadows, one solicitous
         To see the sun, another to avoid it,
 
         So she then moved, walking along the bank,
         Against the stream, and I kept pace with her,
         Following her short steps with my short ones.
 
10       Between us we’d not gone a hundred steps,
         When both banks turned a bend at the same angle,
         In such a way that I once more faced east.
 
         And we had not yet gone far on our way
         When the lady turned around full-face,
15       Saying to me, "My brother, watch and listen!"
 
         And look! a sudden glowing brightness coursed
         Throughout the lofty forest on all sides,
         So that at first I thought it must be lightning.
 
         But since as soon as lightning comes it goes,
20       While this light, glowing brighter, lasted brightly,
         I asked within my mind, "What thing is this?"
 
         And a sweet-sounding melody ran through
         The light-filled air; at that, a holy zeal
         Made me reproach the impudence of Eve,
 
25       In that, where earth and heaven were obedient,
         A solitary woman, just then formed,
         Would not endure the veil before her eyes:
 
         Had she but stayed devout beneath that veil,
         I could have tasted — and for much more time —
30       These ineffable delights before this moment.
 
         While I walked on among so many first fruits
         Of everlasting pleasure, all in raptures,
         And longing for still deeper happiness,
 
         Ahead of us, beneath the greening boughs,
35       The air became just like a blazing fire,
         And now the sweet sound could be heard as song.
 
         O Virgins, sacrosanct, if for your sake
         I’ve ever endured fastings, cold, or vigils,
         Occasion spurs me now to claim reward!
 
40       Now Helicon should pour its streams for me,
         Urania should help me with her choir
         To put in verse things difficult to ponder.
 
         A short way farther on, we seemed to see
         Seven golden trees, a false impression
45       Caused by the vast space between the trees and us;
 
         But when I had come up so close to them
         That the broad likenesses which fool the senses
         Did not let distance blur their true details,
 
         The power which forms matter for the reason
50       Made out that they in fact were candlesticks
         And that the voices sang the word "Hosanna."
 
         Atop that beautiful arrangement flamed
         Light far more brilliant than the mid-month moon
         At midnight in a calm and cloudless sky.
 
55       I turned around, all full of wonderment,
         To my good Virgil, but he answered me
         With a look no less bewildered than my own.
 
         Then I returned my gaze to those lofty things
         Moving towards us at so slow a pace
60       That even newly wedded brides move faster.
 
         The lady chid me, "Why are you so ardent
         Only for the sight of the living lights
         And do not look at what comes after them?"
 
         Then I saw people following the lights,
65       As if behind their lords, and clothed in white:
         Whiteness so pure has never been on earth!
 
         The water on my left took in my likeness,
         And like a mirror, when I looked in it,
         Reflected back to me my left-hand side.
 
70       When I had reached the point along my bank
         Where only the stream now separated us,
         I stayed my steps so that I could see better,
 
         And I beheld the glowing flames glide forward,
         Leaving the air behind them streaked with pigment,
75       Like moving strokes a painter’s brush might make,
 
         So that the air above them remained marked
         With seven bands, all in those colors which
         Make up the rainbow and Delia’s girdle.
 
         These banners streamed on to the rear and far
80       Beyond my sight; as well as I could judge,
         The outside bands were full ten feet apart.
 
         Beneath the vivid sky I have described,
         Twenty-four elders, two by two, approached,
         With crowns of woven lilies on their brows.
 
85       They all were singing, "Blessed are you among
         The daughters of Adam, and blessed be
         Your beauties throughout all eternity!"
 
         After the flowers and fresh-growing grass
         Across from me on the opposing bank
90       Were clear again of the elected people,
 
         As star replaces star within the heavens,
         Behind the elders came four living creatures,
         Each with a crown of green leaves on his head.
 
         Each had six wings with feathers full of eyes.
95       And were the eyes of Argus still alive
         They would have looked exactly like his eyes.
 
         I shall not spend more of my verses, reader,
         Describing their forms, since I have other charges
         So pressing that I can’t be lavish here.
 
100      But read Ezekiel who pictures them
         As he saw them come from the frozen north
         Out of a storm of wind and cloud and fire.
 
         And just as you will find them in his pages,
         Such were they here, except that, for the wings,
105     John is with me and disagrees with him.
 
         The space between the four of them contained
         A chariot of triumph on two wheels,
         Coming drawn at the neck of a griffin.
 
         And he stretched upward one wing and the other
110     Midway between the bands — three here, three there —
         So that by splitting them he did no damage.
 
         They rose so high the wings were lost to sight;
         His limbs were golden where he was a bird
         And all the rest was white mixed in with red.
 
115     Never did Africanus or Augustus
         Please Rome with such a splendid chariot,
         But even the sun’s cannot compare to it —
 
         The sun’s, which veering off its course burnt out
         At the devout petition of the earth,
120     When Jove in his mysterious ways was just.
 
         Three women in a circle next came dancing
         At the right wheel; the first one was so red
         She scarcely would be noticed in a flame;
 
         The second seemed as if her flesh and bone
125     Had been cut out of emerald; and the third
         Appeared to be of freshly fallen snow.
 
         And now the white one seemed to lead them round
         And now the red, and from their leader’s song
         The others took the measure fast and slow.
 
130     By the left wheel, four women clad in purple
         Celebrated, dancing to the cadence
         Of one of them with three eyes in her head.
 
         After all the group I have described,
         I saw two old men, different in their dress
135     But like in bearing, straightforward and staid:
 
         One showed himself to be by his attire
         A follower of great Hippocrates

Longing now to search in and around
         The heavenly woods — dense and green with life —
         Which softened the new sunlight for my eyes,
 
         Not waiting any longer, I left the cliff,
5        Making my slow, slow way on level ground,
         Over the soil which everywhere spread fragrance.
 
         A sweetly scented breeze, which did not vary
         Within itself, struck me across the forehead
         With no more force than would a gentle wind.
 
10       The branches quivering at its touch all bent
         Spontaneously in the direction where
         The holy mountain casts its shadow first;
 
         Yet the trees weren't so swayed from standing straight
         That little birds among the topmost boughs
15       Had to leave off the practice of their art,
 
         But with their song they welcomed, full of joy,
         The early morning hours among the leaves
         Which kept up an accompaniment to their rhymes,
 
         As sound accumulates from branch to branch
20       Through the pine forest on the shore of Chiassi
         When Aeolus lets the Sirocco loose.
 
         Now my slow steps had brought me on so far
         Into the ancient woodland that I could
         Not see back to the point where I had entered —
 
25       And look! a stream stopped me from going farther.
         With its little waves it bent toward the left
         The grass that sprouted up along its bank.
 
         All of the clearest waters here on earth
         Would seem to carry clouds of sediment
30       Compared to that stream which keeps nothing hidden,
 
         Although its dark, dark waters flow beneath
         The ever-present shade which never lets
         A beam of sun or moon to glimmer there.
 
         I stayed my feet and passed my eyes across
35       The far side of the river to survey
         The lush variety of blossoming boughs,
 
         And I saw there — as something suddenly
         Appears that causes such astonishment
         It drives all other thought out of the mind —
 
40       A woman all alone, who walked along
         Singing, and picking flower after flower,
         For her whole path was painted with their colors.
 
         "Ah, lovely lady, you who warm yourself
         In rays of love, if I am to believe
45       Those looks which often witness to the heart,"
 
         I said to her, "may you be pleased to come
         Forward toward this river, close enough
         That I may comprehend what you are singing.
 
         "You make me remember where and what
50       Proserpine was when her mother lost her,
         And she too lost the flowers of the spring."
 
         Even as a woman, dancing, turns around
         With feet close to the ground and to each other,
         And scarcely places foot in front of foot,
 
55       She turned upon the red and yellow flowers
         In my direction, no differently than would
         A virgin lowering her modest eyes.
 
         And in this way she satisfied my prayers,
         Approaching me so near that the sweet sound
60       That came to me was comprehensible.
 
         As soon as she had come to where the waves
         Of the untainted stream just touched the grass,
         She favored me with the lifting of her eyes.
 
         I do not think a light so splendid shone
65       Beneath the lids of Venus when her son,
         Without intending, pierced her with an arrow.
 
         Standing straight, she smiled on the far bank,
         Weaving in her hands the colored flowers
         Which that high land produces without seeds.
 
70       The stream kept us a mere three strides apart,
         And yet the Hellespont where Xerxes crossed
         (It still serves as a curb to human pride)
 
         Stirred no more hatred in Leander for
         Its surging flood from Abydos to Sestos
75       Than I felt at that stream’s not opening then.
 
         "You are new here, and maybe," she began,
         "Because I smile in this place which was chosen
         For the human race as its first nest,
 
         "A doubt of some kind keeps you wondering,
80       But the psalm ‘You made me glad’ sheds light
         That can clear up the mist that clouds your minds.
 
         "And you who are in front, and called on me,
         Speak if you would hear more, since I came ready
         For all your questions till you’re satisfied."
 
85       "The water and the woodland sounds," I said,
         "Contend in me against my recent faith
         In something I heard contrary to this."
 
         To this she answered, "I will tell you how
         The thing that makes you wonder has been caused,
90       And I will clear the mist that troubles you.
 
         "The highest Good, Self pleasing Self alone,
         First made man good and for good, and this place
         He gave him as a pledge of endless peace.
 
         "Through his own sin his stay here was cut short;
95       Through his own sin he changed innocent laughter
         And wholesome sport to tearfulness and toil.
 
         "So that the tempests — which the exhalations
         Of earth and water, drawn up by the heat
         As far as possible, produce below —
 
100     "Should not make war on man in any way,
         This mountain rose to such a height toward heaven
         That it is free, above the gate, from storms.
 
         "Now, since the whole air rotates in a circuit,
         Moving with the primal revolution,
105     Unless its circling breaks off at some point,
 
         "Upon this height, which is completely open
         To the pure air, this whirling motion strikes
         And makes the forest, since it’s dense, resound;
 
         "And, being struck, each tree has so much power
110      That with its seed it makes the same breeze pregnant
         Which, in its whirling, scatters seed abroad;
 
         "And other land conceives and reproduces
         The different plants that grow with different powers
         According to the soil itself and climate.
 
115     "It should not seem a wonder, then, on earth,
         Once this account is heard, when some plant there
         Takes root without a seed that can be seen.
 
         "And you should know here that the holy field
         Where you now stand is full of every growth
120      And has in it fruit never plucked on earth.
 
         "Water you see does not spring from a source
         Restored by vapors which the cold condenses,
         Like rivers gaining and then losing force,
 
         "But pours out from a sure and steady fountain
125     Which by the will of God regains as much
         As it gushes freely down on either side.
 
         "On this side it flows down with the power
         To wipe away the memory of sin,
         On that side to bring all good deeds to mind.
 
130     "It is called Lethe here, Eunoè there;
         And its waters will not work unless they first
         Be tasted on one side and then the other:
 
         "Their flavor is above all other sweetness.
         And though your thirst may now be fully quenched
135      If I disclose to you no more than that,
 
         "I’ll give you, as a gift, a corollary;
         Nor do I think you’ll welcome my words less
         If they extend beyond my promise to you

Just as when the sun shoots its first rays
         On the land where its Maker shed his blood,
         While Ebro flows beneath the scales of Libra,
 
         And Ganges’ waves are scorched by noonday heat,
5        So here the sun stood, for the day was fading
         As God’s enraptured angel appeared to us.
 
         He stood upon the bank, outside the flames,
         And sang aloud, "Blessed are the clean of heart!"
         In a voice far more alive than ours.
 
10       Then, "You may go no further, holy souls,
         Unless the fire sting you: enter it,
         And don’t be deaf to what is sung beyond,"
 
         He said to us when we drew near to him;
         And when I heard him speak so, I became
15       Like someone buried in the pit, alive.
 
         I now arched forward over my clasped hands.
         Staring at the fire, I clearly pictured
         Human bodies I had once seen burned.
 
         My kindly escorts turned in my direction,
20       And Virgil said to me, "My son, there may
         Be suffering here, but there can be no death.
 
         "Remember now, remember! And if I
         On Geryon have guided you to safety,
         What shall I do now we are nearer God?
 
25       "Rest assured that should you have to stay
         A thousand years within this womb of flame,
         It could not singe a single hair from you!
 
         "And if perhaps you think that I deceive you,
         Draw near the flame and test it for yourself,
30       With your own hands, against your garment’s hem.
 
         "Put off now, put off all of your fears!
         Turn this way, come, and confidently enter!"
         But, conscience-stricken, I stood motionless.
 
         When he saw me stand so stubborn and stock-still,
35       Slightly upset he said, "Now, son, look here:
         This is the wall between yourself and Beatrice."
 
         As, at the name of Thisbe, Pyramus,
         Near death, opened his eyes and looked at her
         (That moment when the mulberry turned red),
 
40       So, my stubbornness softening at last,
         I turned to my wise master when I heard
         The name that always blossoms in my mind.
 
         At that he shook his head and said, "What’s this?
         You’d have us stay on this side?" Then he smiled,
45       As one does at a child won by an apple.
 
         Then he stepped in the flames ahead of me,
         Requesting Statius, who a long way now
         Had walked between us, to approach behind.
 
         Once in the fire, I would have flung myself
50       Into molten glass to feel cooled off,
         The burning heat inside was so intense.
 
         My tender father, trying to comfort me,
         Kept talking about Beatrice as we walked,
         Saying, "I seem to see her eyes already!"
 
55       A singing voice, beyond, was guiding us;
         And we, while listening all the time to it,
         Came outside at the point which starts to climb.
 
         "Come, you who are blessed of my Father,"
         Resounded from within a light, so bright
60       It overcame me, and I could not look.
 
         "The sun sinks," the voice added; "evening comes;
         Do not stop now, but hurry up your steps
         Before the western sky grows dark again."
 
         The pathway leaped straight up, on through the rock,
65       In such direction that my body blocked
         The rays of sun — already low — before me.
 
         And we had scaled just a few steps when I
         And my two sages sensed, because my shadow
         Vanished, that the sun had set behind us.
 
70       Before the wide horizon turned one color
         Through all the boundless reaches of the sky
         And night possessed the whole of its dominion,
 
         Each of us made his bed upon a stair:
         The nature of the mountain took from us
75       If not the pleasure then the power to climb.
 
         As goats, that have been swift of foot and frisky
         Up on the peaks before they’re put to graze,
         Grow reposeful while they are ruminating,
 
         Hushed in the shade, although the sun is hot,
80       Watched by the shepherd who leans on his staff,
         Tending to their rest with his alertness;
 
         And as the herdsman, who lies in the open,
         Passes the night beside his quiet flock,
         On guard that no wild beast should scatter them,
 
85       So were all three of us on that occasion,
         I as the goat and those two as the herdsmen,
         Hemmed by high rocks on this side and on that.
 
         One could see little of the outside there,
         But in that little I observed the stars
90       Brighter and larger than they usually are.
 
         While ruminating, and admiring them,
         Sleep overcame me, sleep which often knows
         What is the news before events occur.
 
         Within the hour, I think, when from the east
95       Cytherea, who always seems ablaze
         With fires of love, first shone upon the mountain,
 
         A young and pretty woman came to me
         Within a dream as she walked through a meadow,
         Gathering flowers and singing while she said,
 
100     "Whoever asks my name, let him know that
         I am Leah, and I ply my lovely hands
         In circles to make garlands for myself.
 
         "For a glimpse of pleasure at the mirror, I
         Adorn myself here, but my sister Rachel
105     Never leaves her mirror, and sits all day.
 
         "Her yearning is to see her shining eyes,
         As mine is with my hands to adorn myself:
         She is content to look and I to labor."
 
         And now, with the soft splendor of the dawn
110     Whose rising is more welcome to the pilgrims
         As, in returning, they lodge nearer home,
 
         The shadows of the night fled from all sides,
         And my sleep with them. And at that I rose,
         Finding my great teachers up already.
 
115     "That spotless fruit which the concerns of mortals
         Go searching for on many branches shall,
         This day, give peace to all your hungerings."
 
         These were the words that Virgil spoke to me,
         And never could there be a gift received
120     Equal to the pleasure that they gave.
 
         So strong a will on will came over me
         To be up there that, from then on, at each step
         I felt my wings outstretching for the flight.
 
         When all the stairway under us had sped
125     And we had reached the highest step of all,
         Virgil fixed his eyes on me and said,
 
         "My son, now you have seen the temporal and
         The eternal fire, and you have reached the place
         Where on my own I can discern no further:
 
130     "I’ve brought you here with intelligence and art.
         Let your own pleasure guide you from now on:
         You’re through the steep and through the narrow ways.
 
         "See there the sun that shines upon your brow;
         See the young grass, the flowers, and the shrubs,
135     Which here the earth all by itself produces.
 
         "Until those beautiful, rejoicing eyes
         Come, which in tears moved me to come to you,
         You can sit down or walk among the flowers.
 
         "Await no more a word or sign from me.
140     Your will is straightened, free, and whole — and not
         To act upon its promptings would be wrong:
 
         "I crown and miter you lord of your self."