| IN THE MID-JOURNEY OF OUR LIFE BELOW, I FOUND MYSELF WITHIN A GLOOMY WOOD, ... HOW FIRST I ENTERED, IT IS HARD TO SAY; IN SUCH DEEP SLUMBER WERE MY SENSES BOUND, ... BUT SOON AS I HAD REACHED A MOUNTAIN’S BASE, ... TO CLIMB THE ASCENT I SCARCELY HAD ESSAYED, WHEN LO! AN AGILE PANTHER BARRED MY WAY ... ... I SAW APPEAR A LION’S FORM THAT BURST UPON MY SIGHT, ... A SHE-WOLF TOO, ... RAVENOUS AND LEAN. “THEE IT BEHOVES ANOTHER PATH TO TAKE, ... FOR YONDER BEAST THAT FILLS THEE WITH DISMAY DOTH NONE PERMIT TO JOURNEY O’ER HER ROAD ... UNTIL THE GREYHOUND COME, TO MAKE HER DIE ... HIM NEITHER LAND NOR LUCRE SHALL SUSTAIN BY LOVE, BY WISDOM, AND BY VIRTUE FED; ... BACK TO THE LIMITS OF HER NATIVE HELL, WHENCE ENVY DREW HER FIRST—WITH POTENT SWAY FROM TOWN TO TOWN SHALL HE THE BEAST REPEL.” |
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“THEN GRIEVED I, AND | © V. O. | MIND TO WHAT I SAW, AND |
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INFERNO |
| VERGIL LEADS |
| THEN CAME WE TO A BOUNDARY, WHICH PARTS THE THIRD AND SECOND CIRCLES, WHERE ARE SHOWN THE RACKS OF JUSTICE, ... ... WE REACHED A WIDE AND DESERT GROUND, THAT SPURNS EACH PLANT FROM ITS UNGENIAL BREAST; THIS PLAIN IS COMPASSED BY THE MOURNFUL WOOD, AND THAT ENCIRCLED BY THE FOSS PROFOUND: HERE ON THE VERY EDGE OF BOTH WE STOOD. BEFORE US LAY A THICK AND ARID SAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O HEAVENLY VENGEANCE! HOW SHOULDEST THOU BE FEARED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O’ER ALL THE SANDY DESERT FELL BELOW LARGE FLAKES OF FIRE, AS WHEN ON ALPINE HILL, WHILE SLEEP THE WINDS, ARE FALLING FLAKES OF SLOW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “LETHE, BEYOND THIS FOSS, THOU SHALT SURVEY, THERE, WHERE THE SHADES RESORT, THEIR FORMS TO LAVE, WHEN PENITENCE HATH WASHED THEIR SINS AWAY.” |
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“THY WILL HENCEFORTH | © V. O. | LORD OF THYSELF |
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PURGATORIO |
| DANTE |
