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; (utiu»T) Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/dantesinfernoOOdantuoft DANTE'S INFERNO TRANSLATED BY THE REV. HENRY FRANCIS GARY, M.A. . FROM THE ORIGINAL OF DANTE ALIGHIERI AND ILLUSTRATED WITH THE DESIGNS OF GUSTAVE DORE M. Ncu) (Sbitiou With Critical and Explanatory Notes, Life of Dante, and Chronology EX UBRIS ST. BASIL'S SCHOLASTICATE & Cassell, Petter, Galpin Co. NEW YORK, LONDON AND PARIS OCT 30 1959 CONTENTS. I' ,.viPACiK I.iFK OF Danib CURONOLOGICAI. VlKW OF THE AgK OF DaNTE ,. . , . . Xxii THE VISION OF HELL. CANTO I. TTie writer, havinglosthiswayinagloomy forest, and being hindered by.certa.in wil•d be.asts .from.ascen.dhig.amou•ntai•n, is•metI byVirgil, whopremises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory; and that he shall then be conductedby Beatriceinto Paradise. Hefollowsthe Romanpoet CANTO II. Aftertheinvocation, which poetsareusedto prefix to their works, he shows that, on a consideration ofhis own strength, he doubted whetheritsufficed fortliejourneyproposed to him, but that, being comforted by Virgil, he at last took courage,.7 and followed himashisguideandmaster CANTO III. Dante, followingVirgil, comestothegateof Hell; where, afterhaving read the dreadful words that are written thereon, they bothenter. Here, asheunderstands from Virgil, those werepunished whohad passed theirtime (for living it could not be cAaclhleedr)onin; aandstattheeroeffianpdatthheyoalnddfeirnrdyimfafenreCnhcaerobno,thwhtoogtaokoedsathnedspeivriiLtsoTvherentoptuhresuoipn.pgostiht.eeirswh.aoyr,e;.twhheyi•cahrrais•vesoaotnatshe.Darnivt1eer 3 Teaches, beisseizedwithterror, andfallsintoatrance Thepoet, beingrousedbyaclapof thunder, and followinghisguide onwards, descends into I.imbo, which is the first circle of Hell, where he finds the souls of those who, although they have lived vi•rtuou.sly,.and.hav.e not•to•suffe•r for.gre.at si1ns, 7 nevertheless, through lack of baptism, merit not the bliss of Par—adise. Hence he is led on by Virgil to descend into thesecondcircle , .^.<— r^ ComingintothesecondcircleofHell, Danteattheentrance beholds Minos the Infernal Judge, bywhom he is admonished to bewarehow heentersthose regions. Here hewitnesses thepunishment of carnal sinners, who are tost about ceaselessly in thedark airbythemostfurious winds. Amongstthese, hemeetswith Francescaof Rimini, through pityat whose sad tale befallsfaintingtotheground 23 CANTO VI. Onhisrecovery, thei>oetfindshimself in thethirdcircle,wherethegluttonousarepunished. Theirtormentis,tolieinthemire, underacontinual and heavystorm of hail, snow, and discoloured water; Cerberus meanwhile barking over them with his threefold throat, and rendingthempiecemeal. Oneof these, who on earth was named.Cia.cco,.fore.tells.the.div.ision.s wi3th 9 which Florenceisabouttobedistracted. Dante proposesaquestiontohisguide, whosolvesit; and theyproceed towards thefourthcircle CANTO VII. Id the present cantoDantedescribeshisdescentintothefourth circle, atthebeginningofwhichhesees Plutus stationed. Here "Y onelikedoomawaitsthe prodigal and theavaricious; whichis, to meetin direful conllirt, rolling greatweights against each otherwith mutu.!!upbraidings. From hence Virgil takesoccasiontoshowhowvainthe goo<ls that are committed into tlif chargeof Fortune; and this movesourauthorto inquirewhat being that Fortune is, of whom he spe.iks: which question beingresolved, theygodown intothe fifthcircle, where theyfind the wrathful and gloomy tormented in the Stygian hike. Having made»compassroundgreatpart ofthis lake, theycomeatlastto thebase ofaloftytower 34 » CANTO VIII. Asignal havingbeen madefrom thetower, Phlcgyas, theferryman of the lake, speedilycrossesit, and conveysVirgiland Dante totheother side. On their passage they meet with Filippo Argcnti, whose fury and torment are described. .The.y t.hen axriveatthecityofDis, theentrancewheretoisdenied, andtheportalsclosed againstthemby manydemons 39 a. CONTENTS. II CANTO IX. Afteriomehindnncct, and havingseen thehellish fanesanduiher mousiers, the poet, hythehelpofan angel, entersthecityof Dis, wherein hediscoversthat thehereticsare punished in tombs burning with intense fire: and he, together with Virgil, puKioowarda.betweenthesepulchresand thewallsofthecity 44 CANTO X. Dante, havingobtained permissionfromhisguide, holds discoursewith Farlnata degllUbettiand ^av!t^n^ntl^l^^vl'^'^tiiwholie intheirfierytombs that areyetopen, and nottobeclosed up till afterthe lastjudgment. Karinata predicts the poet's exile from Florence; andshuwshim that thecondemned havekiiowleilgeoffuturethings, but are Ignorant of what is at pre&ent passing, unlessitberevealed bysomenew comerfrom earth 49 CANTO XI. Dantearrivesatthe vergeofarocky precipicewhich enclosesthe seventh circle, where he sees the sepulchre of Anastasius the heretic; liehind the lid ofwhich pausingalittle, to makehimselfcapablebydegreesof enduringthefelid smell thatsteamed upwardfromtheabyss, heis instructedby Virgilconcerning the manner in which the three following circles are disposed, and what description of sinners is punished in each. He then inquires the reason why the carnal, the gluttonous, the avariciousand prodigal, thewrathful andgloomy, sulTcrnot their punishments within the city of DIs. lie next asks how thecrimeof usuryisan offenceag.iinst God; andatlengththetwopoetsgotowardsthe placefromwhence a passage leads downtotheseventhcircle 55 CANTO XII. Descendingbyaveryragged wayintotheseventhcircle, wherethe violent are punished, Danteand his leader find it giiarded by theMinot.iur; whosefurybeing pacified by Virgil, theystepdownwards from crag to crag; till, drawing near the bottom, theydescryariverof blood, wherein are tormented such as have committed violence against their neighbour. At these, whentheystrivetoemergefromtheblood, atroopof Centaurs, runningalongthe side of the river, aim their arrows; and threeoftheirband opposingourtravellersatthe foot of thesleep, Virgil prevails so far, that oneconsentsto carrythem both across thestream; andontheirpassage Danteisinformed byhim of thecourseof theriver, and of those that are punished therein 60 CANTO XIII, Stillintheseventhcircle, Danteentersitssecondcompartment, which containsboth those who have done violence on their own persons and those who have violently consumed their goodsj the first changed into rough and knotted trees whereon the harpiesbuildtheir nests, thelatterchasedand tornby black female mastiffs. Among the former, Piero delle VIgiie is one, whotellshim thecauseof his havingcommitted suicide, andmoreover In what manner the souls are transformed Into those trunks. Of the latter crew he recognises Lano, a Siennese, and Gi.icomo, a Paduan; and lastly, a Florentine, who had hunghimselffromhisownroof, speaksto himofthecalamities ofhiscountrymen 66 CANTO XIV. Theyarriveat thebeginningofthethird ofthosecompartments into which thisseventh circleisdivided. It isa plain of dryand hotsand, wherethree kiiulsof violenceare punished; namely, against God, against Nature, and against Artj andthose who havethussinnedaretormented by flakesoffire, whichareeternallyshoweringdown upon them. Amongthe violentagainst God isfoundCapaneus, whoseblasphemiesthey hear. Next, turningtothe left along the forest of self-slayers, and having journeyed aIntie onwards, they meet with a streamlet of blood that Issues from the forest and traverses the sandy place. HereVirgilspeaksto ourpoetofahugeancient statuethat stands within Mount Idain Crete, froma fissure In which statue thereisadrippingoftears, fromwhichthesaidstreamlet, togetherwiththethreeotherinfernal rivers, areformed . 72 CANTO XV. Takingtheirwayupononeofthemoundsbywhich thestreamlet, spokenof inthelast canto, wasembanked, andhavinggoneso farthat theycould nolongerhavediscernedtheforestifthey had turnedroundtolook for It, theymeet atroopo. spiritsthat comealongthesandbythesideofthepier. Thesearethey whohave done violence to Nature; and amongst them Dante distinguishes Brunetto Latini, whohad beenformerlyhismaster; withwhom, turningalittle backward, he holdsa discourse whichoccu4>lestheremainderof thiscanto 77 CANTO XVI. Jotmeyingalongthepier, which crossesthesand, theyare nowto neartheend ofitasto hearthenoiseof thestream railing into theeighthcircle, wlien theymeetthespiritsofthree militarymen; whojudgingDante, from hisdress, tobeacountrymanof theirs,entreathimtostop. Hecompiles,and speaks with them. The two poets then reach the place where the water descends, beingthe termination ofthisthird comparlraent in theseventh circle; and here Virgil having thrown down Intothe hollowacord, wherewith Dantewasgirt, theybeholdatthat signalamonstrous and horrible figure come swinuning up to them S3 CANTO XVII. Tlie monster Geryon it described; to whom while Viigil is speaking in order that he may carry them both down to the next circle, Dante, by permission, goes a little further along the e<lge of the void, to descry the third species of sinners contained inthiscompartment, namely, those whohive done violence to Art; and then returning to his master, they both descend,seatedon thebackofGcryon 88