The Lycaonian offspring scarcely through
The furrows of the sky his plough did send.
(Canto 80.)
Comparisons, especially about the beauty of women, are very artistic, recalling Sappho and Catullus:
The tender maid is like unto the rose
In the fair garden on its native thorn;
Whilst it alone and safely doth repose,
Nor flock nor shepherd crops it; dewy morn,
Water and earth, the breeze that sweetly blows,
Are gracious to it; lovely dames adorn