English Edition, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
| 1 | BEHOLD the monster with the pointed tail, |
| 2 | Who cleaves the hills, and breaketh walls and weapons, |
| 3 | Behold him who infecteth all the world. |
| 4 | Thus unto me my Guide began to say, |
| 5 | And beckoned him that he should come to shore, |
| 6 | Near to the confine of the trodden marble; |
| 7 | And that uncleanly image of deceit |
| 8 | Came up and thrust ashore its head and bust, |
| 9 | But on the border did not drag its tail. |
| 10 | The face was as the face of a just man, |
| 11 | Its semblance outwardly was so benign, |
| 12 | And of a serpent all the trunk beside. |
| 13 | Two paws it had, hairy unto the armpits; |
| 14 | The back, and breast, and both the sides it had |
| 15 | Depicted o’er with nooses and with shields. |
| 16 | With colours more, groundwork or broidery |
| 17 | Never in cloth did Tartars make nor Turks, |
| 18 | Nor were such tissues by Arachne laid. |
| 19 | As sometimes wherries lie upon the shore, |
| 20 | That part are in the water, part on land; |
| 21 | And as among the guzzling Germans there, |
| 22 | The beaver plants himself to wage his war; |
| 23 | So that vile monster lay upon the border, |
| 24 | Which is of stone, and shutteth in the sand. |
| 25 | His tail was wholly quivering in the void, |
| 26 | Contorting upwards the envenomed fork, |
| 27 | That in the guise of scorpion armed its point. |
| 28 | The Guide said: Now perforce must turn aside |
| 29 | Our way a little, even to that beast |
| 30 | Malevolent, that yonder coucheth him. |
| 31 | We therefore on the right side descended, |
| 32 | And made ten steps upon the outer verge, |
| 33 | Completely to avoid the sand and flame; |
| 34 | And after we are come to him, I see |
| 35 | A little farther off upon the sand |
| 36 | A people sitting near the hollow place. |
| 37 | Then said to me the Master: So that full |
| 38 | Experience of this round thou bear away, |
| 39 | Now go and see what their condition is. |
| 40 | There let thy conversation be concise; |
| 41 | Till thou returnest I will speak with him, |
| 42 | That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders. |
| 43 | Thus farther still upon the outermost |
| 44 | Head of that seventh circle all alone |
| 45 | I went, where sat the melancholy folk. |
| 46 | Out of their eyes was gushing forth their woe; |
| 47 | This way, that way, they helped them with their hands |
| 48 | Now from the flames and now from the hot soil. |
| 49 | Not otherwise in summer do the dogs, |
| 50 | Now with the foot, now with the muzzle, when so |
| 51 | By fleas, or flies, or gadflies, they are bitten. |
| 52 | When I had turned mine eyes upon the faces |
| 53 | Of some, on whom the dolorous fire is falling, |
| 54 | Not one of them I knew; but I perceived |
| 55 | That from the neck of each there hung a pouch, |
| 56 | Which certain colour had, and certain blazon; |
| 57 | And thereupon it seems their eyes are feeding. |
| 58 | And as I gazing round me come among them, |
| 59 | Upon a yellow pouch I azure saw |
| 60 | That had the face and posture of a lion. |
| 61 | Proceeding then the current of my sight, |
| 62 | Another of them saw I, red as blood, |
| 63 | Display a goose more white than butter is. |
| 64 | And one, who with an azure sow and gravid |
| 65 | Emblazoned had his little pouch of white, |
| 66 | Said unto me: What dost thou in this moat? |
| 67 | Now get thee gone; and since thou’rt still alive, |
| 68 | Know that a neighbour of mine, Vitaliano, |
| 69 | Will have his seat here on my left-hand side. |
| 70 | A Paduan am I with these Florentines; |
| 71 | Full many a time they thunder in mine ears, |
| 72 | Exclaiming, ‘ Come the sovereign cavalier, |
| 73 | He who shall bring the satchel with three goats;’ |
| 74 | Then twisted he his mouth, and forth he thrust |
| 75 | His tongue, like to an ox that licks its nose. |
| 76 | And fearing lest my longer stay might vex |
| 77 | Him who had warned me not to tarry long, |
| 78 | Backward I turned me from those weary souls. |
| 79 | I found my Guide, who had already mounted |
| 80 | Upon the back of that wild animal, |
| 81 | And said to me: Now be both strong and bold. |
| 82 | Now we descend by stairways such as these; |
| 83 | Mount thou in front, for I will be midway, |
| 84 | So that the tail may have no power to harm thee. |
| 85 | Such as he is who has so near the ague |
| 86 | Of quartan that his nails are blue already, |
| 87 | And trembles all, but looking at the shade; |
| 88 | Even such became I at those proffered words; |
| 89 | But shame in me his menaces produced, |
| 90 | Which maketh servant strong before good master. |
| 91 | I seated me upon those monstrous shoulders; |
| 92 | I wished to say, and yet the voice came not |
| 93 | As I believed, Take heed that thou embrace me. |
| 94 | But he, who other times had rescued me |
| 95 | In other peril, soon as I had mounted, |
| 96 | Within his arms encircled and sustained me, |
| 97 | And said: Now, Geryon, bestir thyself; |
| 98 | The circles large, and the descent be little; |
| 99 | Think of the novel burden which thou hast. |
| 100 | Even as the little vessel shoves from shore, |
| 101 | Backward, still backward, so he thence withdrew; |
| 102 | And when he wholly felt himself afloat, |
| 103 | There where his breast had been he turned his tail, |
| 104 | And that extended like an eel he moved, |
| 105 | And with his paws drew to himself the air. |
| 106 | A greater fear I do not think there was |
| 107 | What time abandoned Phaeton the reins, |
| 108 | Whereby the heavens, as still appears, were scorched; |
| 109 | Nor when the wretched Icarus his flanks |
| 110 | Felt stripped of feathers by the melting wax, |
| 111 | His father crying,An ill way thou takest! |
| 112 | Than was my own, when I perceived myself |
| 113 | On all sides in the air, and saw extinguished |
| 114 | The sight of everything but of the monster. |
| 115 | Onward he goeth, swimming slowly, slowly; |
| 116 | Wheels and descends, but I perceive it only |
| 117 | By wind upon my face and from below. |
| 118 | I heard already on the right the whirlpool |
| 119 | Making a horrible crashing under us; |
| 120 | Whence I thrust out my head with eyes cast downward. |
| 121 | Then was I still more fearful of the abyss; |
| 122 | Because I fires beheld, and heard laments, |
| 123 | Whereat I, trembling, all the closer cling. |
| 124 | I saw then, for before I had not seen it, |
| 125 | The turning and descending, by great horrors |
| 126 | That were approaching upon divers sides. |
| 127 | As falcon who has long been on the wing, |
| 128 | Who, without seeing either lure or bird, |
| 129 | Maketh the falconer say, Ah me, thou stoopest, |
| 130 | Descendeth weary, whence he started swiftly, |
| 131 | Thorough a hundred circles, and alights |
| 132 | Far from his master, sullen and disdainful; |
| 133 | Even thus did Geryon place us on the bottom, |
| 134 | Close to the bases of the rough-hewn rock, |
| 135 | And being disencumbered of our persons, |
| 136 | He sped away as arrow from the string. |