inferno - Canto XVI

[mark thomas prisco]

Still in the 7^th circle, we meet a band of warrior sodomites. At the end of this Canto we reach the threshold of the 8^th circle.

Already we could hear the distant rumble

of water falling, down into the next circle,

like the drone of honey bees in a swarm, 3

when three shadows broke off, running from

a band of wretched souls wandering

beneath that fiery rain of martyrdom. 6

They ran toward us, and each one yelled out:

"Wait there, you whose clothes mark you out

as a man from our own depraved city". 9

Ah, such wounds and lacerations! upon them

old and new, cankered by the flames.

It still hurts each time I think of them. 12

At this, the master suddenly stopped. He turned

his face toward me and he said: “Now wait:

to those men we ought to be courteous. 15

And if it wasn't for those shooting flames

that assail this torrid place, I would say

it's for you to hurry on to them”. 18

When they saw we'd stopped, they resumed

the ancient verse of their lament; and formed,

when they got to us, a circle, joining hands: 21

just like wrestlers who, oiled and naked,

measure their opponent for an advantage,

before the first blows are exchanged; 24

like so they eyed me up. And all the while

they stepped around me: their heads, cocked up,

turned one way; and their feet, the other . 27

And: “If the wretchedness of this desert,

and our burnt and disfigured features,

render us, and our prayers, unworthy”, 30

(began one) let our worldly fame persuade you

to tell us who you are – you whose feet

walk this Hell alive so easily. 33

This one here in front, whose steps I follow,

though now wandering pitiful and naked,

was once a man eminently noble: 36

he was the grandson of the good Gualdrada;

Guido Guerra was his name, and in his time

was wise, and accomplished with a sword. 39

And this one here who follows behind

is Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, whose voice

the world up there should have listened to. 42

And I who share their torment in this place

was Iacopo Rusticucci; and for sure

it was my nagging wife that drove me here”. 45

If it wasn't for those falling flames

I would have thrown myself at their feet;

the master, I think, would have suffered it. 48

But my fear of being cooked alive

by the falling fire overcame me,

and my strong desire to embrace them. 51

Then I began: “I feel only pain

for your pitiful condition, not disdain;

a deep sorrow that will long remain. 54

I felt respect the minute my lord told me

in such solemn words that great men

such as you were coming towards me. 57

I'm from your city, and I've always heard,

and myself rehearsed, your honoured names

in terms of great emotion and respect. 60

I leave the bitterness of sin behind and head

for the sweet fruits promised by my guide;

but first to the centre, further down”. 63

“Long may your soul conduct your limbs”,

(he replied) “and when you're gone, your fame,

for years to come, burn its brilliant light. 66

Tell us if courtesy and valour still live

in our city as they used to do;

or if now they've both been banished; 69

Guigliemo Borsiere, who has just joined us,

traveling now with our companions, tells us

things about our place that make us grieve”. 72

“A new class of self-made men, the nouveau riche,

have engendered pride and extravagance

in you, O Florence, and for this you suffer”. 75

This I cried, with head held high;

and the three men exchanged pained glances:

deep-down they knew the truth of what I said. 78

All three spoke at once: “Happy you,

if you so readily can answer,

with words that are succinct and plain! 81

Therefore, may you endure these dark places!

and gaze once more upon the lovely stars,

when you reflect and say, 'I was there', 84

and speak of us to all the living people”.

Then they broke their wheel and ran away,

so quick their legs seemed more like wings. 87

An “amen” could not have been said

as quick as those men had disappeared;

and so the master thought it time to leave: 90

I followed him. As we moved along

the water falling got ever closer,

and soon so loud - was hard conversing. 93

Like the river that springs from Monte Veso

on the left slope of the Apennines,

on its own course flowing eastward, 96

called, at that high point, the Acquaqueta,

before descending to its lower bed

at Forli where it has another name, 99

rumbling high over San Benedetto,

plunging all at once in a single fall,

where it could have made a thousand falls; 102

here too from a steep precipice

in one fell swoop the water fell:

soon it would have deafened us with its roar. 105

I had a cord tied around my waist,

with which, on that day, I had thought

to catch that leopard with the gaudy skin. 108

This cord then I loosened; for the master

had commanded it, and so to him

I handed it in a coil, as instructed. 111

Turning to his right he flung the cord,

clearing the bank by quite some distance,

deep down into the gorge below. 114

Now, (I thought) some strange event

is immanent; no doubt it's a signal:

the master's eyes are fixed upon the spot”. 117

How careful one must be! when close to one

that sees not just the act, the outward deed,

but penetrates deep into our thoughts. 120

“It comes soon (he said) – from over there;

what I await, you can only imagine:

wait for it, your eyes shall soon be opened”. 123

It's always best to keep one's mouth shut,

if one can, about a truth, some fact

that marks you, without fault, as a liar; 126

but here it isn't possible; and by the verses

of this Inferno – may they meet with grace

and lasting favour! – I swear to you, dear Reader, 129

I saw there a figure rising up

before me, towering in the thick dark air,

such as can strike awe in the staunchest heart, 132

like one who emerges from under the water,

having freed the anchor from a rock

or some other thing the sea conceals, 135

and pulls himself up onto the shore.

Notes

1-2 the distant rumble/of water falling, The tributary of the Phlegethon.

4 shadows Shadows: I use the term interchangeably with souls or, sometimes, shades. They are the damned in Hell.

6 fiery rain The rain of fire that besets the Burning Sands. (See the last two Cantos).

9 our own depraved city Florence.

20 the ancient verse of their lament; The tears and laments they had momentarily left-off to address Dante (Sapegno).

26-27 their heads, cocked up,/turned one way; and their feet, the other. The three men circle Dante, all the while keeping their eyes on him.

37-38 he was the grandson of the good Gualdrada;/Guido Guerra was his name, Guido Guerra (d.1272), son of Marcovaldo, the Count of Dovadola, was a Guelf leader, a veteran of many battles (hence Guerra, meaning War). Gualdrada (di Bellincione Berti de' Ravignani): celebrated for her “domestic virtue and her rigid customs” (Sapegno).

41 Tegghiaio Aldobrandi Another Guelf leader (d. before 1266). He was “the spokesman for the group of...soldiers headed by...Guerra” (Musa).

44-45 Iacopo Rusticucci.../it was my nagging wife that drove me here”. A knight – a likable man, valorous; a man of the people - so says an anonymous Florentine, an early commentator of Dante. The same commentator says that his wife was an unpleasant woman, whom Rusticucci sent home to her parents.

48 the master, I think, would have suffered it. - He would have allowed it

63 but first to the centre, further down”. That is, to Cocytus, the centre of Hell.

64 “Long may your soul conduct your limbs”, A colourful way of saying, Long may you live!

70-71 Guigliemo Borsiere, who has just joined us,/traveling now with our companions, Borsiere – a knight of the Court; with intimate knowledge, therefore, of those that rule. It's evident from these lines that he died about 1300: has just joined us.

Our companions: their group (band) of fellow – warrior sodomites, from which they disbanded (in lines 3-6) to talk with Dante.

94-105 Like the river... The tributary of the river Montone (northern Italy) is compared to the Phlegethon here in Hell.

106 I had a cord The cord has been interpreted symbolically in various ways: self-confidence; Reason (in its fight against Fraud); temperance (the self-willed curtailment of one's passions; supported, perhaps, by the fact that it is also the symbol of the Franciscan friar).

108 that leopard One of the three beasts encountered in the first Canto. We are about to enter the third and final division of Hell where Fraud is punished; and this, thinks Mark Musa, is evidence that the Leopard symbolises fraud.

124-126 It's always best to keep one's mouth shut... In other words: some truths are too incredible to be believed: don't speak of them; lest you're taken as a liar.

127-128 and by the verses/of this Inferno The original has Comedy instead of Inferno (The Divine Comedy – the full title of all three volumes: Inferno; Purgatory; and Paradise). But comedy has acquired a meaning too light to be fitting here, I think.

130 I saw there a figure rising up This figure (as we'll see in the next Canto) is Geryon, the personification of Fraud.