Dante's Divine Comedy: The Inferno: Canto I
"Dante, lost and bewildered, finds himself in a dark and savage forest..."
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From The Divine Comedy of Dante: The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri and translated by Marvin Richardson Vincent, 1904.
Inferno, Canto I
Dante, lost and bewildered, finds himself in a dark and savage forest. Escaping from this, he makes his way to the foot of a hill which he endeavors to ascend. He is met by three beasts, a panther, a lion, and a she-wolf, which drive him back to the foot of the ascent. Here he meets the shade of Vergil, to whom he appeals for aid. Vergil proposes to deliver him by conducting him through Hell and Purgatory, and afterward committing him to the charge of Beatrice, who will be his guide through Heaven. Dante departs in his company.
Midway upon the journey of our life,
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the right road was lost. Ah! what it was —
That savage wood, bristling and obstinate,
Which in the very thought renews the fear, —
How hard a thing it is to tell! so great
The bitterness, that death is little more.
But to discourse about the good I found
Therein, I will recount the other things
Which there I marked. How first I entered there
I cannot well relate, I was so full
Of drowsiness, that moment when I left
The path of truth: but when I to the foot
Had come of an ascent, where to an end
That valley came which had my heart harassed
With fear, I upward looked, and mantled now
Beheld its shoulders with that planet's rays
Which rightly guides men upon every path.
My fear was then a little pacified,
Which, through the night passed in such piteous wise,
In my heart's lake had lingered; and as he
Who from the deep comes panting forth to shore,
And turns him to the dangerous sea, and stares.
E'en so my mind, still speeding onward, turned
Again, to view the pass which never one
Did living leave. When I a little rest
Had given to my wearied frame, again
Along the solitary slope I took
My way, in such wise that the firmer foot
Ever the lower was; and lo! well-nigh
At the beginning of the steep, a pard,
Nimble and very swift, all covered o'er
With spotted hair; and from before my face
She did not move; nay, so she blocked my way,
That often to go back I turned me round.
The time was break of morning, and the sun
Was mounting upward, with those stars that were
With him, when Love divine set moving first
Those beauteous things; so that the hour of day,
And the sweet time of year awoke in me
Good hope of that wild beast with dappled skin.
Yet not so much that did not cause me fear
The aspect of a lion which met my eyes.
Coming against me he appeared to be.
With head erect and hunger ravenous.
So that the air appeared afraid of him:
And a she-wolf that, in her meagreness,
Seemed with all cravings laden, and has made
Wretched already many people's lives.
So much distress that beast afforded me
With the dismay that from her aspect came.
That hope of scaling the ascent I lost.
And such as he who gladly gathers gain,
And when the time arrives which makes him lose,
Weeps, and in all his thoughts is sorrowful,
Such made of me that beast implacable,
Which, right against me coming, pushed me back,
Little by little, where the sun is mute.
While I was in the valley blundering,
Before my eyes one showed himself, who seemed
Faint from long silence. When I saw him there
In the great desert, "Pity me!" I cried,
"Whate'er thou be, or shade, or real man."
"Not man," he answered me; "I once was man.
And Lombards were my parents, and of both
The native place was Mantua. Though late,
Sub Julio I was born, and lived at Rome
Under the good Augustus, in the time
Of the false, lying deities. I was
A poet, and Anchises' upright son
I sang, who after Ilium proud was laid
In ashes, came from Troy. But thou, why back
To such vexation art thou going? Why
Dost not thou climb the Mountain of Delight,
Which is the source and cause of every joy?"
"Art thou that Vergil then, that fount which pours
So copious a stream of speech abroad?"
With brow abashed I answered him. "O thou,
The light and honor of the other bards,
May the long study and the ardent love
Avail me, which have made me search thy book.
Thou art my master and my model thou.
From thee alone that graceful style I took.
The which has done me honor. See that beast
Because of which I turned! sage renowned.
Save me from her; for she with tremor fills
My veins and pulses." When he saw me weep,
He said: "Thou needs must go another road,
If thou wouldst from this savage place escape:
Because this beast at which thou criest out,
Allows not men to pass her way, but so
Impedes them, that she kills them; and she has
A nature so malign and bad, that ne'er
Her ravening greed is sated; and when fed,
She is more hungry than before. She weds
With many an animal, and will with more.
Until shall come the Greyhound, who with pain
Will make her die. Not land or pelf shall be
His fare, but wisdom, valor, love. Between
Feltro and Feltro shall his nation be.
Of that low-lying Italy he will
Be the salvation, for the sake of which
Camilla, virgin, died, and of their wounds
Turnus, and Nisus, and Euryalus.
Through every town he will give chase to her,
Till he have put her into Hell again.
Whence Envy at the first did set her loose.
I therefore, for thy profit, think and judge
That thou shouldst follow me, and I will be
Thy guide, and hence through an eternal place
Conduct thee, where thou the despairing shrieks
Shalt hear, and in their misery shalt see
The ancient spirits, each of whom cries out
Upon the second death. And thou shalt see
Those who are in the fire content, because.
Whene'er the time may be, they hope to come
To where the blessed are: to whom if thou
Wouldst afterward ascend, for that shall be
A spirit worthier than I assigned;
And I with her will leave thee when I part.
For since I was rebellious to his law,
That Emperor who there above bears rule
Decrees that with my escort none shall come
Into his city. He in every place
Governs, and there he reigns: his city there,
There his exalted seat: happy he
Whom he elects thereto!" And I to him:
"O Poet, by that God thou didst not know,
In order that I may escape this ill,
And worse, I pray thee lead me to that place
Which thou just now didst mention; so that I
May see Saint Peter's gate, and those whom thou
Describest as so sad." Then he moved on,
And following after him I held my way.
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante: The Inferno. Translated by Marvin Richardson Vincent, C. Scribner’s Sons. 1904.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
