The father and his sons, as though forespent,
Lagged in the course; and then their heaving flanks
Methought by those infuriate tusks were rent.
When I awoke, ere morn its rays had shed,

I heard my sons, who with me were confined,
Sob in their slumbers, and cry out for bread.
Full cruel art thou, if thou canst conceive

Without a tear what then came o'er my mind!
And if thou grieve not, what can make thee griere?
They were awake; and now the hour drew near,
Which had been wont to bring their scant repast;
And each was pondering o'er his dream of fear,-
When from within the dreadful tower I heard

The entrance underneath with nails made fast!-
I gazed upon my boys-nor spake a word.

37

43

I wept not, for my heart was turned to stone;—
My children wept ;-and little Anselm cried :

49

What ails thee, Father? strange thy looks are grown.'

Yet still I wept not-still made no reply

Throughout that day, and all the night beside,
Until another sun lit up the sky.

But, when a faint and broken ray was thrown
Within that dismal dungeon, and I viewed
In their four looks the image of my own,—
Then both my hands through anguish did I bite;
And they, supposing that from want of food
I did so-sudden raised themselves upright,
And said: 'O Father, less will be our pain,

If thou wilt feed on us: thou gav'st us birth ;-
Be thine to take this wretched flesh again.'
Then was I calm, lest they the more should grieve.
Two days we all were silent.-Cruel earth,
O wherefore didst thou not beneath us cleave?
To the fourth day had been prolonged our woe,
When at my feet sank Gaddo on the floor,
Saying: Ŏ Father; why no aid bestow ?'
He died;-and, as distinct as here I stand,
I saw the three fall one by one, before

55

61

67

47. The word "chiavare," in the Paradiso (canto xix. 105), is used to express the nailing our Saviour to the cross.

The sixth day closed;-then, groping with my hand, I sought each wretched corse, for sight had failed; Two days I called on those who were no more; Then hunger-stronger e'en than grief-prevailed." This said-askance his vengeful eyes were thrown, And with his teeth the skull again he tore, Fierce as a dog to gnaw the very bone.

Ah Pisa! the disgrace of that fair land

66

Where "Si" is spoken; since thy neighbours round Take vengeance on thee with such tardy handTo dam the mouth of Arno's rolling tide, Capraia and Gorgona, raise a mound, That all may perish in the waters wide!

Thou modern Thebes! what, though, as fame hath said, Count Ugolino did thy forts betray,

His sons deserved not punishment so dread.

Brigata, Uguccion, and that sad pair

My song hath told of-innocent were they;

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79

86

Their tender years should have inclined to spare.

We then arrived, as we pursued our track,

91

Where bonds of ice confine another class,

Not looking down, but stretched upon the back:

Their very tears forbid their tears to flow;

And grief, unable through their eyes to pass,
Turns itself inward to increase their woe.
Forming a cluster, the first tears unite,

Which thus, like crystal vizors to behold,
Fill all the cup that holds the ball of sight.
And though, like one to all impressions dead,
And callous grown, I was benumbed with cold,
So that sensation from my face had fled,-
Still as it seemed to me, some wind prevailed;
Whereat I said, "O master, whence this wind?
Methought, at such a depth all vapour failed."

97

103

83. Two

80. i. e. Where the affirmative "Si," "yes," is used. small islands, not far from the mouth of the Arno, on which Pisa is situated. 85. Pisa is likened to Thebes from the cruelties of which it was the scene. 88. Brigata and Uguccion are the two children who, besides Anselm and Gaddeo, were starved to death with Ugolino. 105. As winds are caused by the sun, Dante is surprised that in this sunless abyss, any winds should prevail; and is told that he will soon find that the wind is caused by Lucifer's wings.

"Soon shall we be," he answered, "where thine eye
The reason of this cutting blast shall find,
And of itself afford thee a reply."

Then one, his grief in frozen crust confined,
Exclaimed: "O souls, so cruel though you be,
Since to the lowest place ye are assigned,
Raise from my face the rigid veil I feel,
That I may vent in tears my agony

109

A moment's space, ere they again congeal." Then I: "If thou would'st bid my heart relent,

115

Say who thou art—and, if denied thy suit,
Down to the lowest ice may I be sent."

"Friar Alberigo is my name," he said,

"Who from the evil garden plucked the fruit;

And here my fig is with a date repaid."

"What! art thou numbered with the dead?" I cried.

"How on the earth above my body fares

122

That knowledge I possess not," he replied;
"For souls oft hither come, by vengeance driven,
(Such privilege this Ptolomea shares)

Ere Atropos the fatal stroke hath given :
And that more gladly thou mayst wipe away
The crystal tears congealed upon my face,
Know-soon as doth the soul, like mine, betray,

Its body by a demon is possessed,

By whom 'tis governed, till it fill the space
On earth allotted to its course unblest.
The soul descends to such a cistern here;

And still perhaps on earth the body's seen
Of the sad shade which winters in my rear.
If lately thou camest hither, thou must know,

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133

110. Virgil and Dante are taken for spirits proceeding to punishment in the nethermost abyss. 118. Alberigo de Manfredi of Faenza, feigning a wish to be reconciled to some of his brotherhood, the Frati Gaudenti, invited them to a banquet. At the conclusion, he called for the fruit, which was the signal for assassins to rush in and murder his guests. Hence one who had been stabbed was proverbially said to have tasted Friar Alberigo's fruit. The ill garden" is Faenza. 126. The souls

of these traitors are supposed to be precipitated into hell the moment their treachery is committed, and their bodies to be simultaneously possessed by a devil, who inhabits them during the remainder of their natural life.