'O thou, that honourest each science and art, 'All honour to the bard of loftiest strain : The Master then to me in brief began ; 'Mark him with yonder falchion in his hand, Who comes before three others as their chief. 'Tis Homer, sovran poet: after him Horace the satirist in haste comes on: The third is Ovid, and the last is Lucan. 75 80 85 90 Because that each of them had earnèd well The glorious name with which they welcom'd me, They do me honour, and in this do well.' Thus I beheld united the fair school Of that renownèd lord of loftiest song, 95 Who soars above the rest with eagle flight. When they awhile had held discourse among Unto a lordly castle's foot we came, Seven times with lofty walls encompass'd round, O'er this we pass'd with ease as on dry ground: Thro' seven gates I enter'd with those sages: A meadow of fresh green within we found. Speaking but seldom, with melodious voices. There on the smooth enamell'd green beneath Were shown to me the famous spirits of old, Whom yet my heart exulteth to have seen. There did I 'mid a numerous throng behold Cæsar all arm'd with falcon eyes; and bold On the other side: and there the Latin king 125 Sitting beside Lavinia was seen. I saw that Brutus, who expell'd Tarquin, Cornelia, Julia, Marcia, Lucrece ; And then, when I had somewhat lifted up eyes, Mine 3 Him all admire, all give him honour due : 130 And nearer to him standing than the rest 135 Who builds the world on chance, Democritus ; Diogenes, Anaxagoras, and Thales, Zeno, Empedocles, and Heraclitus ; And he, of herbs who track'd the qualities, Dioscorides. Orpheus too was there, Tully, and Linus, moral Seneca, Geometrician Euclid, Ptolemy, Galen, Hippocrates, and Avicenna, And he who made the famous commentary, 140 Averrois.—I cannot all retrace, So hurried onward by the exhaustless theme That oft-times words with things cannot keep pace. Our company of six divided here : 145 Another way I went with my sage Guide Forth from the tranquil to the troubled air; 150 And came into a part where is no light. Aristotle. I am indebted to Cary's translation for the expression 'thunderous sound' in v. 9 of this Canto. 33 CANTO V. Cosi discesi. ARGUMENT. Dante and his Guide pass into the second circle, in which they view the souls of Carnal Sinners, in utter darkness—the sport and prey of racking whirlwinds. Dante converses with Francesca and Paolo Malatesta, from the former of whom he hears the narrative of their disastrous love. Thus downward from the foremost circle I went Examineth offences at the gate, Judgeth, and doometh, as himself he windeth. Before him comes, it maketh full confession What place in Hell befitteth its transgression; |