The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Ave Dante
• Preface
• Inferno I
• Inferno Ii
• Inferno Iii
• Inferno Iv
• Inferno V
• Inferno Vi
• Inferno Vii
• Inferno Viii
• Inferno Ix
• Inferno X
• Inferno Xi
• Inferno Xii
• Inferno Xiii
• Inferno Xiv
• Inferno Xv
• Inferno Xvi
• Inferno Xvii
• Inferno Xviii
• Inferno Xix
• Inferno Xx
• Inferno Xxi
• Inferno Xxii
• Inferno Xxiii
• Inferno Xxiv
• Inferno Xxv
• Inferno Xxvi
• Inferno Xxvii
• Inferno Xxviii
• Inferno Xxix
• Inferno Xxx
• Inferno Xxxi
• Inferno Xxxii
• Inferno Xxxiii
• Inferno Xxxiv

INFERNO II

• Daylight was going, and the dusky air
• was now releasing from their weary toil
• all living things on earth; and I alone
• was making ready to sustain the war
• both of the road and of the sympathy,
• which my unerring memory will relate.

• O Muses, O high Genius, help me now!
• O Memory, that wrotest what I saw,
• herewith shall thy nobility appear!

• I then began: “Consider, Poet, thou
• that guidest me, if strong my virtue be,
• or e’er thou trust me to the arduous course.
• Thou sayest that the sire of Silvio entered,
• when still corruptible, the immortal world,
• and that while in his body he was there.
• Hence, that to him the Opponent of all ill
• was courteous, considering the great result
• that was to come from him, both who, and what,
• seems not unfitting to a thoughtful man;
• for he of fostering Rome and of her sway
• in the Empyrean Heaven was chosen as sire;

• and both of these, if one would tell the truth,
• were foreordained unto the holy place,
• where greatest Peter’s follower hath his seat.
• While on this quest, for which thou giv’st him praise,
• he heard the things which of his victory
• the causes were, and of the Papal Robe.
• The Chosen Vessel went there afterward,
• to bring thence confirmation in the faith,
• through which one enters on salvation’s path.
• But why should I go there, or who concedes it?
• I ’m not Aeneas, nor yet Paul am I;
• me worthy of this, nor I nor others deem.
• If, therefore, I consent to come, I fear
• lest foolish be my coming; thou art wise,
• and canst much better judge than I can talk.”

• And such as he who unwills what he willed,
• and changes so his purpose through new thoughts,
• that what he had begun he wholly leaves;
• such on that gloomy slope did I become;
• for, as I thought it over, I gave up
• the enterprise so hastily commenced.

• “If I have rightly understood thy words,”
• replied the shade of that Great-hearted man,
• “thy soul is hurt by shameful cowardice,
• which many times so sorely hinders one,
• that from an honored enterprise it turns him,
• as seeing falsely doth a shying beast.

• In order that thou rid thee of this fear,
• I ’ll tell thee why I came, and what I heard
• the first time I was grieved on thy account.
• Among the intermediate souls I was,
• when me a Lady called, so beautiful
• and happy, that I begged her to command.
• Her eyes were shining brighter than a star,
• when sweetly and softly she began to say,
• as with an angel’s voice she spoke to me:

• ‘O courteous Mantuan spirit, thou whose fame
• is still enduring in the world above,
• and will endure as long as lasts the world,
• a friend of mine, but not a friend of Fortune,
• is on his journey o’er the lonely slope
• obstructed so, that he hath turned through fear;
• and, from what I have heard of him in Heaven,
• I fear lest he may now have strayed so far,
• that I have risen too late to give him help.
• Bestir thee, then, and with thy finished speech,
• and with whatever his escape may need,
• assist him so that I may be consoled.
• I, who now have thee go, am Beatrice;
• thence come I, whither I would fain return;
• ’t was love that moved me, love that makes me speak.
• When in the presence of my Lord again,
• often shall I commend thee unto Him.’
• Thereat she ceased to speak, and I began:

• ‘O Lady of virtue, thou through whom alone
• the human race excels all things contained
• within the heaven that hath the smallest circles,
• thy bidding pleases me so much, that late
• I ’d be, hadst thou already been obeyed;
• thou needst but to disclose to me thy will.
• But tell me why thou dost not mind descending
• into this center from that ample place,
• whither thou art so eager to return.’

• ‘Since thou wouldst know thereof so inwardly,
• I ’ll tell thee briefly,’ she replied to me,
• ‘why I am not afraid to enter here.
• Of those things only should one be afraid,
• that have the power of doing injury;
• not of the rest, for they should not be feared.
• I, of His mercy, am so made by God,
• that me your wretchedness doth not affect,
• nor any flame of yonder fire molest.
• There is a Gentle Lady up in Heaven,
• who grieves so at this check, whereto I send thee,
• that broken is stern judgment there above.
• She called Lucìa in her prayer, and said:
• ‘Now hath thy faithful servant need of thee,
• and I, too, recommend him to thy care.’
• Lucìa, hostile to all cruelty,
• set forth thereat, and came unto the place,
• where I with ancient Rachel had my seat.

• ‘Why, Beatrice,’ she said, ‘true Praise of God,
• dost thou not succour him who loved thee so,
• that for thy sake he left the common herd?
• Dost thou not hear the anguish of his cry?
• see’st not the death that fights him on the flood,
• o’er which the sea availeth not to boast?
• Ne’er were there any in the world so swift
• to seek their profit and avoid their loss,
• as I, after such words as these were uttered,
• descended hither from my blessèd seat,
• confiding in that noble speech of thine,
• which honors thee and whosoe’er has heard it.’

• Then, after she had spoken to me thus,
• weeping she turned her shining eyes away;
• which made me hasten all the more to come;
• and, even as she wished, I came to thee,
• and led thee from the presence of the beast,
• which robbed thee of the fair Mount’s short approach.
• What is it, then? Why, why dost thou hold back?
• Why dost thou lodge such baseness in thy heart,
• and wherefore free and daring art thou not,
• since three so blessèd Ladies care for thee
• within the court of Heaven, and my words, too,
• give thee the promise of so much that’s good?”

• As little flowers by the chill of night
• bowed down and closed, when brightened by the sun,
• stand all erect and open on their stems;

• so likewise with my wearied strength did I;
• and such good daring coursed into my heart,
• that I began as one who had been freed:

• “O piteous she who hastened to my help,
• and courteous thou, that didst at once obey
• the words of truth that she addressed to thee!
• Thou hast with such desire disposed my heart
• toward going on, by reason of thy words,
• that to my first intention I ’ve returned.
• Go on now, since we two have but one will;
• thou Leader, and thou Lord, and Teacher thou!”

• I thus addressed him; then, when he had moved,
• I entered on the wild and arduous course.