Blaspheming the Holy One of heaven-the earth And then, loud wailing all, with echoing pace To that accursed shore in heaps they roll, 105 That waits each mortal man who spurn'd Heaven's grace. Demonian Charon's eyes of blazing coal Strikes with uplifted oar each lagging soul. That desolate shore abandon one by one, And they are eager to pass o'er the flood, Because Heaven's justice goadeth them, till fear Is heard no more, by strong desire subdued. 115 120 125 No righteous spirit ever passeth here; And, therefore, if with anger Charon met Thy coming, what his words import is clear.' Shook with such violence, that yet again 130 135 25 CANTO IV. Ruppemi l'alto. ARGUMENT. THE Poets descend into the first circle of Hell, or Limbo, wherein are placed the spirits of those, who, not having sinned in the theological sense, have yet, owing to their want of baptism, come short of salvation; and also of those, who, having lived in pre-Christian times, neglected the dictates of natural religion. Emerging from the dense crowd of souls in the direction of a light shining in the darkness, they meet the shades of Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, by whom they are accompanied into the separate abode of the great spirits of antiquity. THE sleep that bound my head was broken by As one that is awaken'd forcibly. Uplifted on my feet I moved around My rested eyes, and look'd with eagerness, To ascertain the place wherein I was. 5 'Tis true-upon the margin of the Abyss I found myself, whose caverns dolorous Gather the thunderous sound of agonies Innumerable. It was so dark, profound, And nebulous, that we on bending down Our steadfast gaze discern'd no single thing. 'Descend we now to the blind world below ;' My Teacher thus his speech all pale as death Replied; How shall I go, if thou dost fear, That are down here pourtrays upon my face 10 15 20 The foremost circle that surrounds the Abyss. Within, far as the listening ear could hear, 25 No wailing sound arose, save that of sighs Alone, that shook the everlasting air, Of sorrow born, without tormenting pain— Sorrow, that held the crowds thick-banded there Of infants, and of women, and of men. 30 Said the good Master then; 'Dost thou forbear To ask what spirits are these that here thou seest? Yet would I have thee know, ere thou draw near, These have not sinn'd:1 and, if they have their merits, 'Tis not enough, for, being unbaptised, They enter'd not the portal of thy Faith: And, if they lived before the birth of Christ, They render'd not due worship unto God. And these are they with whom my lot is cast. For these defects-these only-we are lost, Guiltless besides yet only in this afflicted, 35 40 That without hope in vain desire unblest We live.' Great sorrow then my heart possess'd, Soon as I heard, because I knew that souls Of highest worth were in that Limbo placed. 45 And 'Tell me, O my lord-O Master, tell;' 50 1 Sin is 'the transgression of the law,' or 'the rejection of divine grace.' The heathen, having had no divine law, and the unbaptized, lacking divine grace, had not 'sinned' in the technical theological sense of the term. This, I presume, is the meaning of the Poet. |