English Edition, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
| 1 | WHILE on the brink thus one before the other |
| 2 | We went upon our way, oft the good Master |
| 3 | Said: Take thou heed ! suffice it that I warn thee. |
| 4 | On the right shoulder smote me now the sun, |
| 5 | That, raying out, already the whole west |
| 6 | Changed from its azure aspect into white. |
| 7 | And with my shadow did I make the flame |
| 8 | Appear more red; and even to such a sign |
| 9 | Shades saw I many, as they went, give heed. |
| 10 | This was the cause that gave them a beginning |
| 11 | To speak of me; and to themselves began they |
| 12 | To say: That seems not a factitious body! |
| 13 | Then towards me, as far as they could come, |
| 14 | Came certain of them, always with regard |
| 15 | Not to step forth where they would not be burned. |
| 16 | O thou who goest, not from being slower |
| 17 | But reverent perhaps, behind the others, |
| 18 | Answer me, who in thirst and fire am burning. |
| 19 | Nor to me only is thine answer needful; |
| 20 | For all of these have greater thirst for it |
| 21 | Than for cold water Ethiop or Indian. |
| 22 | Tell us how is it that thou makest thyself |
| 23 | A wall unto the sun, as if thou hadst not |
| 24 | Entered as vet into the net of death. |
| 25 | Thus one of them addressed me, and I straight |
| 26 | Should have revealed myself, were I not bent |
| 27 | On other novelty that then appeared. |
| 28 | For through the middle of the burning road |
| 29 | There came a people face to face with these, |
| 30 | Which held me in suspense with gazing at them. |
| 31 | There see I hastening upon either side |
| 32 | Each of the shades, and kissing one another. |
| 33 | Without a pause, content with brief salute. |
| 34 | Thus in the middle of their brown battalions |
| 35 | Muzzle to muzzle one ant meets another |
| 36 | Perchance to spy their journey or their fortune. |
| 37 | No sooner is the friendly greeting ended, |
| 38 | Or ever the first footstep passes onward, |
| 39 | Each one endeavours to outcry the other; |
| 40 | The new-come people: Sodom and Gomorrah! |
| 41 | The rest: Into the cow Pasiphae enters, |
| 42 | So that the bull unto her lust may run! |
| 43 | Then as the cranes, that to Riphaen mountains |
| 44 | Might fly in part, and part towards the sands, |
| 45 | These of the frost, those of the sun avoidant, |
| 46 | One folk is going, and the other coming, |
| 47 | And weeping they return to their first songs, |
| 48 | And to the cry that most befitteth them; |
| 49 | And close to me approached, even as before, |
| 50 | The very same who had entreated me, |
| 51 | Attent to listen in their countenance. |
| 52 | I, who their inclination twice had seen |
| 53 | Began: O souls secure in the possession, |
| 54 | Whene’er it may be, of a state of peace, |
| 55 | Neither unripe nor ripened have remained |
| 56 | My members upon earth, but here are with me |
| 57 | With their own blood and their articulations. |
| 58 | I go up here to be no longer blind; |
| 59 | A Lady is above, who wins this grace, |
| 60 | Whereby the mortal through your world I bring. |
| 61 | But as your greatest longing satisfied |
| 62 | May soon become, so that the Heaven may house you |
| 63 | Which full of love is, and most amply spreads, |
| 64 | Tell me, that I again in books may write it, |
| 65 | Who are you, and what is that multitude |
| 66 | Which goes upon its way behind your backs? |
| 67 | Not otherwise with wonder is bewildered |
| 68 | The mountaineer, and staring round is dumb, |
| 69 | When rough and rustic to the town he goes, |
| 70 | Than every shade became in its appearance; |
| 71 | But when they of their stupor were disburdened, |
| 72 | Which in high hearts is quickly quieted, |
| 73 | Blessed be thou, who of our border-lands, |
| 74 | He recommenced who first had questioned us, |
| 75 | Experience freightest for a better life. |
| 76 | The folk that comes not with us have offended |
| 77 | In that for which once Caesar, triumphing, |
| 78 | Heard himself called in contumely, ‘Queen.’ |
| 79 | Therefore they separate, exclaiming,’Sodom!’ |
| 80 | Themselves reproving, even as thou hast heard, |
| 81 | And add unto their burning by their shame. |
| 82 | Our own transgression was hermaphrodite; |
| 83 | But because we observed not human law, |
| 84 | Following like unto beasts our appetite, |
| 85 | In our opprobrium by us is read, |
| 86 | When we part company, the name of her |
| 87 | Who bestialized herself in bestial wood. |
| 88 | Now knowest thou our acts, and what our crime was; |
| 89 | Wouldst thou perchance by name know who we are, |
| 90 | There is not time to tell, nor could I do it. |
| 91 | Thy wish to know me shall in sooth be granted; |
| 92 | I’m Guido Guinicelli, and now purge me, |
| 93 | Having repented ere the hour extreme. |
| 94 | The same that in the sadness of Lycurgus |
| 95 | Two sons became, their mother re-beholding, |
| 96 | Such I became, but rise not to such height, |
| 97 | The moment I heard name himself the father |
| 98 | Of me and of my betters, who had ever |
| 99 | Practised the sweet and gracious rhymes of love; |
| 100 | And without speech and hearing thoughtfully |
| 101 | For a long time I went, beholding him, |
| 102 | Nor for the fire did I approach him nearer. |
| 103 | When I was fed with looking, utterly |
| 104 | Myself I offered ready for his service, |
| 105 | With affirmation that compels belief |
| 106 | And he to me: Thou leavest footprints such |
| 107 | In me, from what I hear, and so distinct, |
| 108 | Lethe cannot efface them, nor make dim. |
| 109 | But if thy words just now the truth have sworn, |
| 110 | Tell me what is the cause why thou displayest |
| 111 | In word and look that dear thou holdest me? |
| 112 | And I to him: Those dulcet lays of yours |
| 113 | Which, long as shall endure our modern fashion, |
| 114 | Shall make for ever dear their very ink! |
| 115 | O brother,said he, he whom I point out, |
| 116 | And here he pointed at a spirit in front, |
| 117 | Was of the mother tongue a better smith. |
| 118 | Verses of love and proses of romance, |
| 119 | He mastered all; and let the idiots talk, |
| 120 | Who think the Lemosin surpasses him. |
| 121 | To clamour more than truth they turn their faces, |
| 122 | And in this way establish their opinion, |
| 123 | Ere art or reason has by them been heard. |
| 124 | Thus many ancients with Guittone did, |
| 125 | From cry to cry still giving him applause, |
| 126 | Until the truth has conquered with most persons. |
| 127 | Now, if thou hast such ample privilege |
| 128 | ‘Tis granted thee to go unto the cloister |
| 129 | Wherein is Christ the abbot of the college, |
| 130 | To him repeat for me a Paternoster, |
| 131 | So far as needful to us of this world, |
| 132 | Where power of sinning is no longer ours. |
| 133 | Then, to give place perchance to one behind, |
| 134 | Whom he had near, he vanished in the fire |
| 135 | As fish in water going to the bottom. |
| 136 | I moved a little tow’rds him pointed out, |
| 137 | And said that to his name my own desire |
| 138 | An honourable place was making ready. |
| 139 | He of his own free will began to say: |
| 140 | Tan m’ abellis vostre cortes deman, |
| 141 | Que jeu nom’ puesc ni vueill a vos cobrire; |
| 142 | Jeu sui Arnaut, que plor e vai chantan; |
| 143 | Consiros vei a passada folor, |
| 144 | E vei jauzen lo jorn qu’ esper denan. |
| 145 | Ara vus prec per aquella valor, |
| 146 | Que vus condus al som de la scalina, |
| 147 | Sovenga vus a temprar ma dolor. |
| 148 | Then hid him in the fire that purifies them. |