I follow here the footing of thy feet That with thy meaning so I may the rather meet Spenser...

Oft have I seen at some cathedral door A laborer, pausing in the dust and heat, Lay down his burden, and with reverent feet Enter, and cross himself, and on the floor Kneel to repeat his paternoster o...

Midway upon the journey of our life2 I found myself within a forest dark,3 For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say What was this forest savage, rough, and s...

Day was departing, and the embrowned air26 Released the animals that are on earth From their fatigues; and I the only one Made myself ready to sustain the war, Both of the way and likewise of the woe,...

“Through me the way is to the city dolent;43 Through me the way is to eternal dole; Through me the way among the people lost. Justice incited my sublime Creator; Created me divine Omnipotence, The hig...

Broke the deep lethargy within my head58 A heavy thunder, so that I upstarted, Like to a person who by force is wakened; And round about I moved my rested eyes, Uprisen erect, and steadfastly I gazed,...

Thus I descended out of the first circle73 Down to the second, that less space begirds,74 And so much greater dole, that goads to wailing. There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;75 Examines the tra...

At the return of consciousness, that closed Before the pity of those two relations,92 Which utterly with sadness had confused me, New torments I behold, and new tormented Around me, whichsoever way I ...

“Papë Satàn, Papë Satàn, Aleppë!”101 Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began; And that benignant Sage, who all things knew, Said, to encourage me: “Let not thy fear Harm thee; for any power that he ...

I say, continuing, that long before112 We to the foot of that high tower had come, Our eyes went upward to the summit of it, By reason of two flamelets we saw placed there,113 And from afar another an...

That hue which cowardice brought out on me,124 Beholding my Conductor backward turn, Sooner repressed within him his new color. He stopped attentive, like a man who listens, Because the eye could not ...

Now onward goes, along a narrow path133 Between the torments and the city wall, My Master, and I follow at his back. “O power supreme, that through these impious circles Turnest me,” I began, “as plea...

Upon the margin of a lofty bank Which great rocks broken in a circle made, We came upon a still more cruel throng; And there, by reason of the horrible Excess of stench the deep abyss throws out, We d...

The place where to descend the bank we came159 Was alpine, and from what was there, moreover,160 Of such a kind that every eye would shun it. Such as that ruin is which in the flank Smote, on this sid...

Not yet had Nessus reached the other side,179 When we had put ourselves within a wood,180 That was not marked by any path whatever. Not foliage green, but of a dusky color, Not branches smooth, but gn...

Because the charity of my native place193 Constrained me, gathered I the scattered leaves, And gave them back to him, who now was hoarse. Then came we to the confine, where disparted The second round ...

Now bears us onward one of the hard margins,207 And so the brooklet’s mist o’ershadows it, From fire it saves the water and the dikes. Even as the Flemings, ’twixt Cadsand and Bruges,208 Fearing the f...

Now was I where was heard the reverberation222 Of water falling into the next round, Like to that humming which the beehives make, When shadows three together started forth,223 Running, from out a com...

“Behold the monster with the pointed tail,235 Who cleaves the hills, and breaketh walls and weapons, Behold him who infecteth all the world.” Thus unto me my Guide began to say, And beckoned him that ...

There is a place in Hell called Malebolge,251 Wholly of stone and of an iron color,252 As is the circle that around it turns. Right in the middle of the field malign There yawns a well exceeding wide ...

O Simon Magus, O forlorn disciples,264 Ye who the things of God, which ought to be The brides of holiness, rapaciously For silver and for gold do prostitute, Now it behoves for you the trumpet sound,2...

Of a new pain behoves me to make verses280 And give material to the twentieth canto Of the first song, which is of the submerged. I was already thoroughly disposed To peer down into the uncovered dept...

From bridge to bridge thus, speaking other things301 Of which my Comedy cares not to sing,302 We came along, and held the summit, when We halted to behold another fissure Of Malebolge and other vain l...

I have erewhile seen horsemen moving camp,318 Begin the storming, and their muster make, And sometimes starting off for their escape; Vaunt-couriers have I seen upon your land, O Aretines, and forager...

Silent, alone, and without company327 We went, the one in front, the other after, As go the Minor Friars along their way. Upon the fable of Aesop was directed328 My thought, by reason of the present q...

In that part of the youthful year wherein343 The Sun his locks beneath Aquarius tempers,344 And now the nights draw near to half the day, What time the hoar-frost copies on the ground The outward semb...

At the conclusion of his words, the thief356 Lifted his hands aloft with both the figs,357 Crying: “Take that, God, for at thee I aim them.” From that time forth the serpents were my friends; For one ...

Rejoice, O Florence, since thou art so great,374 That over sea and land thou beatest thy wings, And throughout Hell thy name is spread abroad! Among the thieves five citizens of thine375 Like these I ...

Already was the flame erect and quiet,393 To speak no more, and now departed from us With the permission of the gentle Poet; When yet another, which behind it came, Caused us to turn our eyes upon its...

Who ever could, e’en with untrammelled words,414 Tell of the blood and of the wounds in full Which now I saw, by many times narrating? Each tongue would for a certainty fall short By reason of our spe...

The many people and the divers wounds435 These eyes of mine had so inebriated, That they were wishful to stand still and weep; But said Virgilius: “What dost thou still gaze at? Why is thy sight still...

’Twas at the time when Juno was enraged,449 For Semele, against the Theban blood, As she already more than once had shown, So reft of reason Athamas became,450 That, seeing his own wife with children ...

One and the self-same tongue first wounded me,463 So that it tinged the one cheek and the other, And then held out to me the medicine; Thus do I hear that once Achilles’ spear,464 His and his father’s...

If I had rhymes both rough and stridulous,478 As were appropriate to the dismal hole Down upon which thrust all the other rocks,479 I would press out the juice of my conception More fully; but because...

His mouth uplifted from his grim repast,499 That sinner, wiping it upon the hair Of the same head that he behind had wasted. Then he began: “Thou wilt that I renew The desperate grief, which wrings my...

“Vexilla Regis prodeunt Inferni516 Towards us; therefore look in front of thee,” My Master said, “if thou discernest him.” As, when there breathes a heavy fog, or when Our hemisphere is darkening into...

I enter, and I see thee in the gloom Of the long aisles, O poet saturnine! And strive to make my steps keep pace with thine. The air is filled with some unknown perfume; The congregation of the dead m...

To run o’er better waters hoists its sail531 The little vessel of my genius now, That leaves behind itself a sea so cruel; And of that second kingdom will I sing Wherein the human spirit doth purge it...

Already had the sun the horizon reached550 Whose circle of meridian covers o’er Jerusalem with its most lofty point, And night that opposite to him revolves Was issuing forth from Ganges with the Scal...

Inasmuch as the instantaneous flight Had scattered them asunder o’er the plain, Turned to the mountain whither reason spurs us, I pressed me close unto my faithful comrade, And how without him had I k...

Whenever by delight or else by pain, That seizes any faculty of ours, Wholly to that the soul collects itself, It seemeth that no other power it heeds; And this against that error is which thinks One ...

I had already from those shades departed,585 And followed in the footsteps of my Guide, When from behind, pointing his finger at me, One shouted: “See, it seems as if shone not The sunshine on the lef...

Whene’er is broken up the game of Zara,604 He who has lost remains behind despondent, The throws repeating, and in sadness learns; The people with the other all depart; One goes in front, and one behi...

After the gracious and glad salutations Had three and four times been reiterated, Sordello backward drew and said, “Who are you?” “Or ever to this mountain were directed The souls deserving to ascend ...

’Twas now the hour that turneth back desire652 In those who sail the sea, and melts the heart, The day they’ve said to their sweet friends farewell, And the new pilgrim penetrates with love,653 If he ...

The concubine of old Tithonus now675 Gleamed white upon the eastern balcony,676 Forth from the arms of her sweet paramour; With gems her forehead all relucent was, Set in the shape of that cold animal...

When we had crossed the threshold of the door700 Which the perverted love of souls disuses, Because it makes the crooked way seem straight, Re-echoing I heard it closed again; And if I had turned back...

“Our Father, thou who dwellest in the heavens, Not circumscribed, but from the greater love Thou bearest to the first effects on high,714 Praised be thy name and thine omnipotence By every creature, a...

Abreast, like oxen going in a yoke,734 I with that heavy-laden soul went on, As long as the sweet pedagogue permitted;735 But when he said, “Leave him, and onward pass, For here ’tis good that with th...

We were upon the summit of the stairs,759 Where for the second time is cut away The mountain, which ascending shriveth all. There in like manner doth a cornice bind The hill all round about, as does t...

“Who is this one that goes about our mountain,781 Or ever Death has given him power of flight, And opes his eyes and shuts them at his will?” “I know not who, but know he’s not alone; Ask him thyself,...

As much as ’twixt the close of the third hour816 And dawn of day appeareth of that sphere Which aye in fashion of a child is playing, So much it now appeared, towards the night, Was of his course rema...

Darkness of hell, and of a night deprived828 Of every planet under a poor sky,829 As much as may be tenebrous with cloud, Ne’er made unto my sight so thick a veil, As did that smoke which there envelo...

Remember, Reader, if e’er in the Alps851 A mist o’ertook thee, through which thou couldst see852 Not otherwise than through its membrane mole, How, when the vapors humid and condensed Begin to dissipa...

An end had put unto his reasoning862 The lofty Teacher, and attent was looking Into my face, if I appeared content; And I, whom a new thirst still goaded on, Without was mute, and said within: “Percha...

It was the hour when the diurnal heat886 No more can warm the coldness of the moon, Vanquished by earth, or peradventure Saturn,887 When geomancers their Fortuna Major888 See in the orient before the ...

Ill strives the will against a better will;900 Therefore, to pleasure him, against my pleasure901 I drew the sponge not saturate from the water. Onward I moved, and onward moved my Leader, Through vac...

The natural thirst, that ne’er is satisfied940 Excepting with the water for whose grace The woman of Samaria besought,941 Put me in travail, and haste goaded me Along the encumbered path behind my Lea...

Already was the Angel left behind us,957 The Angel who to the sixth round had turned us, Having erased one mark from off my face; And those who have in justice their desire Had said to us, “Beati,” in...

The while among the verdant leaves mine eyes983 I riveted, as he is wont to do Who wastes his life pursuing little birds,984 My more than Father said unto me: “Son, Come now; because the time that is ...

Nor speech the going, nor the going that998 Slackened; but talking we went bravely on, Even as a vessel urged by a good wind. And shadows, that appeared things doubly dead, From out the sepulchres of ...

Now was it the ascent no hindrance brooked,1019 Because the sun had his meridian circle To Taurus left, and night to Scorpio;1020 Wherefore as doth a man who tarries not, But goes his way, whate’er to...

While on the brink thus one before the other1037 We went upon our way, oft the good Master Said: “Take thou heed! suffice it that I warn thee.” On the right shoulder smote me now the sun, That, raying...

As when he vibrates forth his earliest rays,1054 In regions where his Maker shed his blood,1055 (The Ebro falling under lofty Libra, And waters in the Ganges burnt with noon,) So stood the Sun; hence ...

Eager already to search in and round1070 The heavenly forest, dense and living-green,1071 Which tempered to the eyes the new-born day, Withouten more delay I left the bank, Taking the level country sl...

Singing like unto an enamoured lady1083 She, with the ending of her words, continued: “Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata.”1084 And even as Nymphs, that wandered all alone Among the sylvan shadows, sedul...

When the Septentrion of the highest heaven1109 (Which never either setting knew or rising, Nor veil of other cloud than that of sin, And which made everyone therein aware Of his own duty, as the lower...

“O thou who art beyond the sacred river,”1126 Turning to me the point of her discourse,1127 That edgewise even had seemed to me so keen, She recommenced, continuing without pause, “Say, say if this be...

So steadfast and attentive were mine eyes1147 In satisfying their decennial thirst,1148 That all my other senses were extinct, And upon this side and on that they had Walls of indifference, so the hol...

“Deus venerunt gentes,” alternating1172 Now three, now four, melodious psalmody The maidens in the midst of tears began; And Beatrice, compassionate and sighing, Listened to them with such a countenan...

I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze With forms of Saints and holy men who died, Here martyred and hereafter glorified; And the great Rose upon its leaves displays Christ’s Triumph, and the ang...

The glory of Him who moveth everything1196 Doth penetrate the universe, and shine1197 In one part more and in another less. Within that heaven which most his light receives1198 Was I, and things behel...

O Ye, who in some pretty little boat,1219 Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along, Turn back to look again upon your shores; Do not put out to sea, lest peradvent...

That Sun, which erst with love my bosom warmed,1236 Of beauteous truth had unto me discovered, By proving and reproving, the sweet aspect. And, that I might confess myself convinced And confident, so ...

Between two viands, equally removed1242 And tempting, a free man would die of hunger1243 Ere either he could bring unto his teeth. So would a lamb between the ravenings Of two fierce wolves stand fear...

“If in the heat of love I flame upon thee1263 Beyond the measure that on earth is seen, So that the valor of thine eyes I vanquish, Marvel thou not thereat; for this proceeds From perfect sight, which...

“After that Constantine the eagle turned1282 Against the course of heaven, which it had followed Behind the ancient who Lavinia took, Two hundred years and more the bird of God1283 In the extreme of E...

“Osanna sanctus Deus Sabaoth,1321 Superillustrans claritate tua Felices ignes horum malahoth!” In this wise, to his melody returning, This substance, upon which a double light1322 Doubles itself, was ...

The world used in its peril to believe1335 That the fair Cypria delirious love1336 Rayed out, in the third epicycle turning;1337 Wherefore not only unto her paid honor Of sacrifices and of votive cry ...

Beautiful Clemence, after that thy Charles1372 Had me enlightened, he narrated to me The treacheries his seed should undergo;1373 But said: “Be still and let the years roll round”; So I can only say, ...

Looking into his Son with all the Love1417 Which each of them eternally breathes forth,1418 The Primal and unutterable Power Whate’er before the mind or eye revolves With so much order made, there can...

O Thou insensate care of mortal men,1447 How inconclusive are the syllogisms That make thee beat thy wings in downward flight! One after laws and one to aphorisms1448 Was going, and one following the ...

Soon as the blessed flame had taken up1481 The final word to give it utterance, Began the holy millstone to revolve,1482 And in its gyre had not turned wholly round, Before another in a ring enclosed ...

Let him imagine, who would well conceive1522 What now I saw, and let him while I speak Retain the image as a steadfast rock, The fifteen stars, that in their divers regions The sky enliven with a ligh...

From centre unto rim, from rim to centre,1554 In a round vase the water moves itself,1555 As from without ’tis struck or from within. Into my mind upon a sudden dropped What I am saying, at the moment...

A will benign, in which reveals itself1573 Ever the love that righteously inspires, As in the iniquitous, cupidity, Silence imposed upon that dulcet lyre, And quieted the consecrated chords, That Heav...

O thou our poor nobility of blood,1607 If thou dost make the people glory in thee Down here where our affection languishes, A marvellous thing it ne’er will be to me; For there where appetite is not p...

As came to Clymene, to be made certain1657 Of that which he had heard against himself,1658 He who makes fathers chary still to children,1659 Even such was I, and such was I perceived By Beatrice and b...

Now was alone rejoicing in its word1683 That soul beatified, and I was tasting1684 My own, the bitter tempering with the sweet, And the Lady who to God was leading me Said: “Change thy thought; consid...

Appeared before me with its wings outspread1711 The beautiful image that in sweet fruition Made jubilant the interwoven souls; Appeared a little ruby each, wherein Ray of the sun was burning so enkind...

When he who all the world illuminates1746 Out of our hemisphere so far descends That on all sides the daylight is consumed,1747 The heaven, that erst by him alone was kindled, Doth suddenly reveal its...

Already on my Lady’s face mine eyes1769 Again were fastened, and with these my mind, And from all other purpose was withdrawn; And she smiled not; but “If I were to smile,” She unto me began, “thou wo...

Oppressed with stupor, I unto my guide1790 Turned like a little child who always runs For refuge there where he confideth most; And she, even as a mother who straightway Gives comfort to her pale and ...

Even as a bird, ’mid the beloved leaves,1814 Quiet upon the nest of her sweet brood Throughout the night, that hideth all things from us,1815 Who, that she may behold their longed-for looks And find t...

“O company elect to the great supper1841 Of the Lamb benedight, who feedeth you So that forever full is your desire, If by the grace of God this man foretaste Something of that which falleth from your...

If e’er it happen that the Poem Sacred,1864 To which both heaven and earth have set their hand, So that it many a year hath made me lean, O’ercome the cruelty that bars me out From the fair sheepfold,...

While I was doubting for my vision quenched,1903 Out of the flame refulgent that had quenched it Issued a breathing, that attentive made me, Saying: “While thou recoverest the sense Of seeing which in...

“Glory be to the Father, to the Son,1925 And Holy Ghost!” all Paradise began, So that the melody inebriate made me. What I beheld seemed unto me a smile Of the universe; for my inebriation Found entra...

After the truth against the present life1965 Of miserable mortals was unfolded By her who doth imparadise my mind,1966 As in a looking-glass a taper’s flame He sees who from behind is lighted by it, B...

At what time both the children of Latona,1990 Surmounted by the Ram and by the Scales,1991 Together make a zone of the horizon,1992 As long as from the time the zenith holds them In equipoise, till fr...

Perchance six thousand miles remote from us2025 Is glowing the sixth hour, and now this world2026 Inclines its shadow almost to a level, When the mid-heaven begins to make itself So deep to us, that h...

In fashion then as of a snow-white rose2047 Displayed itself to me the saintly host, Whom Christ in his own blood had made his bride, But the other host, that flying sees and sings The glory of Him wh...

Absorbed in his delight, that contemplator2057 Assumed the willing office of a teacher, And gave beginning to these holy words: “The wound that Mary closed up and anointed, She at her feet who is so b...

“Thou Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son,2087 Humble and high beyond all other creature, The limit fixed of the eternal counsel, Thou art the one who such nobility To human nature gave, that its Creat...

The Vita Nuova of Dante closes with these words:⁠— “After this sonnet there appeared to me a wonderful vision, in which I beheld things that made me propose to say no more of this blessed one, until I...