Response, and said; 'New in this state was I,
When lo! to us there came One full of might,
And on His brow the wreath of victory.

He took from us the shade of our first parent,

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With that of Abel, and his who 'scaped the flood,

Moses the lawgiver obedient,

Abram the patriarch, and royal David,

Israël, with his father, and his children,

And Rachel, for whose sake so long he labour'd,

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And many more; and led them up to heaven :
And thou must know that earlier than these
No human spirit e'er attain'd salvation.'
Not for his speaking slacken'd we our pace,

Still thro' that dismal forest onward moving

The forest, I mean, form'd by the surging mass

Of souls. We were at no great distance from

The highest elevation, when I saw

A light that shone amid the encircling gloom. 2

Onward a little farther yet in haste

We went, until I could perceive in part

That honourable people held that place.

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2 The light of the wisdom of the ancients shining amid the darkness of the heathen world.

'O thou, that honourest each science and art,
Say who are these held in such high esteem
That from the others thus they dwell apart?'
'The blaze of fame,' he forthwith made response,
'Which sounds their praises in the world above,
Gains grace in heaven, which thus exalteth them.'

Suddenly thro' the gloom a voice was heard ;

'All honour to the bard of loftiest strain :

His shade returns, that erst departed hence.'
Scarce had the voice its utterance ended, when
I saw four shadows tall to us advance:
Their looks betoken'd neither grief nor joy.
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.

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,

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80

85

90

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Who soars above the rest with eagle flight.

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:

Another way I went with my sage Guide

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Forth from the tranquil to the troubled air ;

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And came into a part where is no light.

3 Aristotle. I am indebted to Cary's translation for the expression

'thunderous sound' in v. 9 of this Canto.

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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
Into the second, that lesser space surroundeth,
And greater pain, which goads to loud lament.
There with his grin terrific Minos standeth,

Examineth offences at the gate,

Judgeth, and doometh, as himself he windeth.
For when the spirit born with evil fate

Before him comes, it maketh full confession
And that dread Punisher inquireth straight

What place in Hell befitteth its transgression;

Then girds him with his tail so oft as will
Denote the grade ordain'd for its dismission.

Always before him many stand they go,

Each in his turn, and one by one, to judgment:

They speak, and hear, and then are hurl'd below.
'O thou that comest to this house of sorrow,'
Cried Minos unto me, when he beheld me,
Leaving the business of that dreadful office;
'See how thou enterest, and on what reliest :
Be not deceived by the broad entrance way.'
To whom the Master; 'Wherefore vainly criest?
It lieth not with thee his course to stay.

'Tis thus by fate decreed, and will'd where power

Effectuates will forbear; and ask no more.' Thereon the notes of woe began to sound

Nearer and yet more near, till we alight

There where loud anguish smites upon the ear.

I found me in a place void of all light,

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That moaneth as the troubled ocean moaneth,

When roused in conflict with the tempest's might.

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The infernal hurricane, that never resteth,

Gathers the spirits in its swift career,

And turns about and drives them where it listeth.

When yawns the precipice before their eyes,

Shrieks, moans, and lamentations rend the air,
And blasphemies against the heavenly Power.

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