This insolence of theirs is nothing new ; 'Twas shown before at the less secret gate, Which yet remains unbarr'd. 'Twas there thou saw'st The unearthly scroll; already nigh at hand 'Twixt us and it across the steep comes down, 125 Passing the circles without escort, One Whose might will open yet the doleful land.' 130 61 CANTO IX. Quel color che vilta. THE ARGUMENT. DANTE, alarmed at the language in which his Guide, after expressing his confidence in their ultimate triumph over the devils, suggested for a moment the opposite alternative, enquires whether the spirits in Limbo ever descended into the lower circles of Hell. To this Virgil replies that he had himself been made to descend to the very lowest depth by Erictho, the Thessalian sorceress. The conversation is here interrupted by the apparition of the Furies. A terrific sound-as of a rushing mighty wind-announces the advent of the Angel, who opens the gate of the City. Within they find a wide territory, overspread with burning tombs, containing the Heresiarchs and their followers. THAT hue which coward fear upon my cheek Moveless he stood as one intent to hear; For sight was powerless to conduct him far 5 'Nathless it shall be ours to win this fight,' Ah me! why tarries yet that other one?' I noticed how he cover'd o'er the doubt At first express'd, and that his after-thought Was different from that which went before. Yet none the less my fear was strengthen'd by His interrupted speech, wherein perhaps I found a ghastlier import than he meant. 'Into this deep of the Abyss descends Any from the first sphere, wherein is found No pain beyond the loss of hope?' I this Inquiry made, and he then made response; 'It seldom comes to pass that one of us Maketh this journey whereon we are bound. 'Tis true that once before I was conjured * Down here by that fierce Erito, 1 who call'd The shades back to their bodies. I had been But short time of the flesh despoil'd, when she Made me to pass thro' yonder wall, to raise A spirit from the sphere where Judas lies. ΙΟ 15 20 25 That is the lowest place, and most obscure, And furthest from the heaven that circleth all. 2 I know the road; therefore rest thou secure. 30 This lake, which breathes the baleful stench around, Where none can enter without wrath.' And more Because mine eyes were now drawn wholly towards The blazing summit of the tower, whereon Appear'd uplifted suddenly the three Infernal Furies, smear'd with blood, who seem'd Women in shape and gesture-girded round With hydras all of greenest hue, and curl'd 35 40 About their angry brows with cerasts horn'd And serpents thick entwined.—And he, who knew Full well the ministers of her who sways The realm of everlasting wailings, said To me; 'Behold the fell Erinnyes ! Here on the left hand is Megæra: there Wailing upon the right Alecto drear : Midst is Tisiphone.' And then he ceased. Their talons rent their breasts; and with their palms They smote each other, and exclaim'd so loud, That I in terror to the Poet clung. 45 50 1 Or Erictho, a Thessalian sorceress, referred to by Lucan. Phars. vi. 589. 2 The Primum Mobile, the outermost of the heavenly spheres. 'Change him to adamant-Medusa!' thus They all exclaim'd with eyes bent downward; 'so Turn thee behind, and close thine eyes, for if The Gorgon once appear, and thou behold, For thee will be no journeying up to light.' So spake my Guide, nor rested there, but turn'd Me round himself, nor on my hands relied, But with his own mine eyelids held fast shut. O ye, that have discerning minds, behold And meditate the hidden sense involved Under the covering of the mystic verse. And now far echoing o'er the troubled waves Broke the loud crash of a terrific sound That shook both margins of the lake, and seem'd As if occasion'd by a wind that, lash'd Into strong fury by conflicting heat, 55 60 65 Heedless of all restraint the forest cleaves, The boughs rends down, and strews them all abroad: 70 Wrapt in a cloud of dust it tears along; The wild beasts and the shepherds fly dismay'd. * Theseus aided Pirithous in his attempt to carry off Proserpine. |