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Infinite_Library

The_Divine_Comedy

IN CHAPTERS TITLE

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

1.da_-_All_Being_within_this_order,_by_the_laws_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_And_as_a_ray_descending_from_the_sky_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_The_glory_of_Him_who_moves_all_things_rays_forth_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_The_love_of_God,_unutterable_and_perfect

IN CHAPTERS TEXT

1.da_-_All_Being_within_this_order,_by_the_laws_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_And_as_a_ray_descending_from_the_sky_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_The_glory_of_Him_who_moves_all_things_rays_forth_(from_The_Paradiso,_Canto_I)

1.da_-_The_love_of_God,_unutterable_and_perfect

1.pbs_-_Sonnet_-_From_The_Italian_Of_Cavalcanti

1.pbs_-_Sonnet_-_From_The_Italian_Of_Dante

1.wby_-_Ego_Dominus_Tuus

Book_of_Imaginary_Beings_(text)

PRIMARY CLASS

author

SIMILAR TITLES

Dante Alighieri

TERMS STARTING WITH

Dante Alighieri. La Divina Commedia. (ed.) Eugenio


TERMS ANYWHERE

Aristotelianism. In this group there are two broad currents of thought. The first attempted to harmonize Aristotle with St. Augustine and the Church's dogmas. This line was founded by St. Albert the Great (+1280), who amassed the then known Aristotelian literature but failed to construct any coherent synthesis. His pupil, St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274) succeeded to a remarkable degree. From the standpoint of clarity and formularization, St. Thomas marks the apex of medieval Scholasticism. Pupils and adherents worthy of note among Albert's, Hugo and Ulrich of Strassburg, this latter (+c. 1277), together with Dietrich of Freiberg (+c. 1310) revealing marked Neo-platonic tendencies; among Thomas', Aegidius of Lessines (+1304), Herveus Natalis (Herve Nedelec, +1318), John (de Regina) of Naples (+c. 1336), Aegidius Romanus (+1316), Godfrey of Fontaines ( + 1306 or 1309), quite independent in his allegiance, and the great Dante Alighieri (+1321).

Dante Alighieri. La Divina Commedia. (ed.) Eugenio

Political Philosophy: That branch of philosophy which deals with political life, especially with the essence, origin and value of the state. In ancient philosophy politics also embraced what we call ethics. The first and most important ancient works on Political Philosophy were Plato's Politeia (Republic) and Aristotle's Politics. The Politeia outlines the structure and functions of the ideal state. It became the pattern for all the Utopias (see Utopia) of later times. Aristotle, who considers man fundamentally a social creature i.e. a political animal, created the basis for modern theories of government, especially by his distinction of the different forms of government. Early Christianity had a rather negative attitude towards the state which found expression in St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei. The influence of this work, in which the earthly state was declared to be civitas diaboli, a state of the devil, was predominant throughout the Middle Ages. In the discussion of the relation between church and empire, the main topic of medieval political philosophy, certain authors foreshadowed modern political theories. Thomas Aquinas stressed the popular origin of royal power and the right of the people to restrict or abolish that power in case of abuse; William of Ockham and Marsiglio of Padua held similar views. Dante Alighieri was one of the first to recognize the intrinsic value of the state; he considered the world monarchy to be the only means whereby peace, justice and liberty could be secured. But it was not until the Renaissance that, due to the rediscovery of the individual and his rights and to the formation of territorial states, political philosophy began to play a major role. Niccolo Machiavelli and Jean Bodin laid the foundation for the new theories of the state by stressing its independence from any external power and its indivisible sovereignty. The theory of popular rights and of the right of resistance against tyranny was especially advocated by the "Monarchomachi" (Huguenots, such as Beza, Hotman, Languet, Danaeus, Catholics such as Boucher, Rossaeus, Mariana). Most of them used the theory of an original contract (see Social Contract) to justify limitations of monarchical power. Later, the idea of a Natural Law, independent from divine revelation (Hugo Grotius and his followers), served as an argument for liberal -- sometimes revolutionary -- tendencies. With the exception of Hobbes, who used the contract theory in his plea for absolutism, almost all the publicists of the 16th and 17th century built their liberal theories upon the idea of an original covenant by which individuals joined together and by mutual consent formed a state and placed a fiduciary trust in the supreme power (Roger Williams and John Locke). It was this contract which the Pilgrim Fathers translated into actual facts, after their arrival in America, in November, 1620, long before John Locke had developed his theorv. In the course of the 17th century in England the contract theory was generally substituted for the theory of the divine rights of kings. It was supported by the assumption of an original "State of Nature" in which all men enjoyed equal reciprocal rights. The most ardent defender of the social contract theory in the 18th century was J. J. Rousseau who deeply influenced the philosophy of the French revolution. In Rousseau's conception the idea of the sovereignty of the people took on a more democratic aspect than in 17th century English political philosophy which had been almost exclusively aristocratic in its spirit. This tendency found expression in his concept of the "general will" in the moulding of which each individual has his share. Immanuel Kant who made these concepts the basis of his political philosophy, recognized more clearly than Rousseau the fictitious character of the social contract and treated it as a "regulative idea", meant to serve as a criterion in the evaluation of any act of the state. For Hegel the state is an end in itself, the supreme realization of reason and morality. In marked opposition to this point of view, Marx and Engels, though strongly influenced by Hegel, visualized a society in which the state would gradually fade away. Most of the 19th century publicists, however, upheld the juristic theory of the state. To them the state was the only source of law and at the same time invested with absolute sovereignty: there are no limits to the legal omnipotence of the state except those which are self imposed. In opposition to this doctrine of unified state authority, a pluralistic theory of sovereignty has been advanced recently by certain authors, laying emphasis upon corporate personalities and professional groups (Duguit, Krabbe, Laski). Outspoken anti-stateism was advocated by anarchists such as Kropotkin, etc., by syndicalists and Guild socialists. -- W.E.

KEYS (10k)

   14 Dante Alighieri
   1 Mortimer J Adler

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

  757 Dante Alighieri
   2 Percy Bysshe Shelley
   2 Mortimer J Adler
   2 Fernando Pessoa
   2 Erik Larson

1:Nature is the art of God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

2:Beauty awakens the soul to act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

3:He listens well who takes notes.    ~ Dante Alighieri,

4:My course is set for an uncharted sea. ~ Dante Alighieri,

5:Be as a tower firmly set Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. ~ Dante Alighieri,

6:Do not be afraid; our fate Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.    ~ Dante Alighieri, Inferno,

7:Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.    ~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto 3, Verse 9,

8:There is a gentle thought that often springs to life in me, because it speaks of you. ~ Dante Alighieri,

9:The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain.    ~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy,

10:I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason.    ~ Dante Alighieri,

11:The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul the way that light rushes into a transparent object.    ~ Dante Alighieri, [T5],

12:Be like a solid tower whose brave height remains unmoved by all the winds that blow; the man who lets his thoughts be turned aside by one thing or another, will lose sight of his true goal, his mind sapped of its strength. ~ Dante Alighieri,

13:Within her presence, I had once been used to feeling-trembling-wonder, dissolution; but that was long ago. Still, though my soul, now she was veiled, could not see her directly, by way of hidden force that she could move, I felt the mighty power of old love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

14:My guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightless road to ascend into the shining world again. He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest. And beauteous shining of the heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri, Inferno,

15:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer - Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus - Tragedies 4. Sophocles - Tragedies 5. Herodotus - Histories 6. Euripides - Tragedies 7. Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates - Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes - Comedies 10. Plato - Dialogues 11. Aristotle - Works 12. Epicurus - Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid - Elements 14.Archimedes - Works 15. Apollonius of Perga - Conic Sections 16. Cicero - Works 17. Lucretius - On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil - Works 19. Horace - Works 20. Livy - History of Rome 21. Ovid - Works 22. Plutarch - Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus - Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa - Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus - Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy - Almagest 27. Lucian - Works 28. Marcus Aurelius - Meditations 29. Galen - On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus - The Enneads 32. St. Augustine - On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njal 36. St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer - Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus - The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus - On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More - Utopia 44. Martin Luther - Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne - Essays 48. William Gilbert - On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser - Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon - Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare - Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei - Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler - Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey - On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan 57. René Descartes - Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton - Works 59. Molière - Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens - Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza - Ethics 63. John Locke - Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine - Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67.Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve - The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley - Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope - Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu - Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire - Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding - Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson - The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets    ~ Mortimer J Adler,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Knowledge comes ~ Dante Alighieri,

2:This miserable way ~ Dante Alighieri,

3:toward the Mount.4 ~ Dante Alighieri,

4:Eternal love made me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

5:Follow your own star! ~ Dante Alighieri,

6:In His will, our peace. ~ Dante Alighieri,

7:Soy el que fui siempre. ~ Dante Alighieri,

8:Deed done is well begun. ~ Dante Alighieri,

9:my mind, still fugitive, ~ Dante Alighieri,

10:Nature is the art of God ~ Dante Alighieri,

11:Nature is the art of God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

12:Nature is the art of God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

13:All of nature is God's art. ~ Dante Alighieri,

14:Honor is the greatest poet. ~ Dante Alighieri,

15:The well heeded well heard. ~ Dante Alighieri,

16:Wisdom is earned, not given ~ Dante Alighieri,

17:My senses down, when the true ~ Dante Alighieri,

18:Apparuit iam beatitudo vestra, ~ Dante Alighieri,

19:Amor condusse noi ad una morte. ~ Dante Alighieri,

20:Beauty awakens the soul to act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

21:Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe! ~ Dante Alighieri,

22:These have not the hope to die. ~ Dante Alighieri,

23:Without Hope we live in desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

24:Without hope we live in desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

25:Beauty awakens the soul to act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

26:He listens well who takes notes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

27:I love to doubt as well as know. ~ Dante Alighieri,

28:I'm not alone in misery of soul. ~ Dante Alighieri,

29:Love insists the loved loves back ~ Dante Alighieri,

30:Thy soul is by vile fear assailed ~ Dante Alighieri,

31:Abandon every hope, you who enter. ~ Dante Alighieri,

32:I am the way into the city of woe. ~ Dante Alighieri,

33:I by not doing, not by doing, lost ~ Dante Alighieri,

34:I made my own house be my gallows. ~ Dante Alighieri,

35:No dirsas trompeti viņš iztaisīja. ~ Dante Alighieri,

36:The experience of this sweet life. ~ Dante Alighieri,

37:They yearn for what they fear for. ~ Dante Alighieri,

38:Astrology, the noblest of sciences. ~ Dante Alighieri,

39:He listens well who takes notes.    ~ Dante Alighieri,

40:Midway upon the journey of our life ~ Dante Alighieri,

41:Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

42:Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say ~ Dante Alighieri,

43:All hope abandon, ye who enter here! ~ Dante Alighieri,

44:All hope abandon, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

45:A mighty flame follows a tiny spark. ~ Dante Alighieri,

46:Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona. ~ Dante Alighieri,

47:Haste denies all acts their dignity. ~ Dante Alighieri,

48:He is not always at ease who laughs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

49:I found myself within a forest dark, ~ Dante Alighieri,

50:I found myself within a forest dark. ~ Dante Alighieri,

51:Love can move the Sun and the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

52:Sta come torre ferma, che non crolla ~ Dante Alighieri,

53:The path to paradise begins in hell. ~ Dante Alighieri,

54:You shall leave everything you love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

55:Go right on and listen as thou goest. ~ Dante Alighieri,

56:How come I never meet any nice girls? ~ Dante Alighieri,

57:Infinite goodness has such wide arms. ~ Dante Alighieri,

58:Often a retrospect delights the mind. ~ Dante Alighieri,

59:Still desiring, we live without hope. ~ Dante Alighieri,

60:A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark. ~ Dante Alighieri,

61:e se non piangi, di che pianger suoli? ~ Dante Alighieri,

62:From a little spark may burst a flame. ~ Dante Alighieri,

63:In the midway of this our mortal life, ~ Dante Alighieri,

64:I wept not, so to stone within I grew. ~ Dante Alighieri,

65:My course is set for an uncharted sea. ~ Dante Alighieri,

66:Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes ~ Dante Alighieri,

67:O mortal men, be wary of how ye judge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

68:So bitter is it, death is little more; ~ Dante Alighieri,

69:And now I fell as bodies fall,for dead. ~ Dante Alighieri,

70:I am the guardian, the shepherd of sins ~ Dante Alighieri,

71:I saw within Its depth how It conceives ~ Dante Alighieri,

72:I wept not — so to stone I grew within. ~ Dante Alighieri,

73:Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

74:My course is set for an uncharted sea. ~ Dante Alighieri,

75:The loser, when a game of dice is done, ~ Dante Alighieri,

76:The mouse had fallen in with evil cats. ~ Dante Alighieri,

77:Doubting pleases me no less than knowing ~ Dante Alighieri,

78:Et la faccia del sol noscere ombrata.... ~ Dante Alighieri,

79:Love rules me. It determines what I ask. ~ Dante Alighieri,

80:Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde ~ Dante Alighieri,

81:up yonder in the guzzling Germans’ land, ~ Dante Alighieri,

82:Ché perder tempo a chi più sa più spiace. ~ Dante Alighieri,

83:Consider that this day ne'er dawns again. ~ Dante Alighieri,

84:Everywhere is here and every when is now. ~ Dante Alighieri,

85:I cannot well repeat how there I entered, ~ Dante Alighieri,

86:I come from a place, I long to return to: ~ Dante Alighieri,

87:L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

88:No one thinks of how much blood it costs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

89:On march the banners of the King of Hell. ~ Dante Alighieri,

90:Will cannot be quenched against its will. ~ Dante Alighieri,

91:But if, as morning rises, dreams are true. ~ Dante Alighieri,

92:Fate's arrow, when expected, travels slow. ~ Dante Alighieri,

93:Follow your path, and let the people talk. ~ Dante Alighieri,

94:From a small spark, Great flame has risen. ~ Dante Alighieri,

95:«L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle» ~ Dante Alighieri,

96:Less shame a greater fault would palliate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

97:So what brings you to this killing pickle? ~ Dante Alighieri,

98:A backward glance can often lift the heart. ~ Dante Alighieri,

99:Ah! Justice of our God! Who else could stow ~ Dante Alighieri,

100:And to a place I come where nothing shines. ~ Dante Alighieri,

101:And we came forth to contemplate the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

102:Doubting charms me not less than knowledge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

103:I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath ~ Dante Alighieri,

104:Love hath so long possessed me for his own ~ Dante Alighieri,

105:Midway in our life's journey, I went astray ~ Dante Alighieri,

106:Segui il tuo corso et lascia dir les genti. ~ Dante Alighieri,

107:The devil is not as black as he is painted. ~ Dante Alighieri,

108:Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

109:We have no hope and yet we live in longing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

110:We were men once, though we've become trees ~ Dante Alighieri,

111:From there we came outside and saw the stars ~ Dante Alighieri,

112:Here let dead poetry rise once more to life. ~ Dante Alighieri,

113:i did not die, yet nothing of life remained. ~ Dante Alighieri,

114:Love, that moves the sun and the other stars ~ Dante Alighieri,

115:Mankind is at its best when it is most free. ~ Dante Alighieri,

116:The secret of getting things done is to act! ~ Dante Alighieri,

117:The secret of getting things done is to act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

118:The wish to hear such baseness is degrading. ~ Dante Alighieri,

119:Until he shall have driven her back to Hell, ~ Dante Alighieri,

120:God is the love that moves the sun and stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

121:Here pity only lives when it is dead - Virgil ~ Dante Alighieri,

122:In this place piety lives where pity is dead. ~ Dante Alighieri,

123:Like the pages of a book soaked shut by time. ~ Dante Alighieri,

124:Love, that all gentle hearts so quickly know. ~ Dante Alighieri,

125:Love, who insists that love shall mutual be, ~ Dante Alighieri,

126:Multa promittite, pauca servate de promissis. ~ Dante Alighieri,

127:Strange and ironic, it will end the same way. ~ Dante Alighieri,

128:That with him were, what time the Love Divine ~ Dante Alighieri,

129:As phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. ~ Dante Alighieri,

130:Behave like men, and not like witless sheep... ~ Dante Alighieri,

131:CANTO I IN the midway of this our mortal life, ~ Dante Alighieri,

132:For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble. ~ Dante Alighieri,

133:He who know most grieves most for wasted time. ~ Dante Alighieri,

134:Small projects need much more help than great. ~ Dante Alighieri,

135:The man who lies asleep will never waken fame. ~ Dante Alighieri,

136:There is a place in Hell called the Malebolge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

137:He who knows most grieves most for wasted time. ~ Dante Alighieri,

138:If your world isn't right, the cause is in you. ~ Dante Alighieri,

139:Justice does not descend from its own pinnacle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

140:Oh how time hangs and drags till our aid comes! ~ Dante Alighieri,

141:Sí me entiendes, deben reanimarte mis palabras. ~ Dante Alighieri,

142:Incipit vita nuova"... Yeni bir yaşam başladı... ~ Dante Alighieri,

143:The Love that moves the sun and the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

144:The poets leave hell and again behold the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

145:It is necessity and not pleasure that compels us. ~ Dante Alighieri,

146:Love and the gentle heart are but the same thing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

147:Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice. ~ Dante Alighieri,

148:Non fa scienza, sanza lo ritenere, avere inteso ~ Dante Alighieri,

149:Purgatorio (Italian) LA DIVINA COMMEDIA di ~ Dante Alighieri,

150:Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice. ~ Dante Alighieri,

151:That which had pleased me once, troubled by spirit. ~ Dante Alighieri,

152:You did thirst for blood, and with blood I fill you ~ Dante Alighieri,

153:Ecce deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur michi. ~ Dante Alighieri,

154:Ink to parchment, words to paper, glory to Beatrice. ~ Dante Alighieri,

155:Let us go, for the length of our journey demands it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

156:the Love that moves the sun and all the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

157:The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time. ~ Dante Alighieri,

158:My son, Here may indeed be torment, but not death. ~ Dante Alighieri,

159:Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always ~ Dante Alighieri,

160:Come, follow me, and leave the world to its babblings. ~ Dante Alighieri,

161:Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always. ~ Dante Alighieri,

162:If you give people light, they will find their own way. ~ Dante Alighieri,

163:It is no learning to understand what you do not retain. ~ Dante Alighieri,

164:¡Oh vosotros los que entráis, abandonad toda esperanza! ~ Dante Alighieri,

165:What shall one do with the verse, if he knows not That? ~ Dante Alighieri,

166:We forget what we have heard if we do not write it down. ~ Dante Alighieri,

167:A fair request should be followed by the deed in silence. ~ Dante Alighieri,

168:... it is not just that man be given what he throws away. ~ Dante Alighieri,

169:Reason flies When following the senses, on clipped wings. ~ Dante Alighieri,

170:Se tu segui tua stella, non puoi fallire a glorioso porto ~ Dante Alighieri,

171:The more perfect a thing the more it feels good and evil. ~ Dante Alighieri,

172:Seldom indeed does human virtue rise From trunk to branch. ~ Dante Alighieri,

173:Curb your talent lest it speed where virtue does not guide. ~ Dante Alighieri,

174:Now our minds are like smoke, then they shall be like fire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

175:At this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe. ~ Dante Alighieri,

176:beheld a power whose head was crowned with signs of victory. ~ Dante Alighieri,

177:Behold a God more powerful than I who comes to rule over me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

178:I was so full of sleep at the time that I left the true way. ~ Dante Alighieri,

179:The only fit reply to a fit request is silence and the fact. ~ Dante Alighieri,

180:He is, most of all, l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

181:-Hermano, el mundo es ciego, y se conoce que tú vienes de el. ~ Dante Alighieri,

182:I am searching for that which every man seeks-peace and rest. ~ Dante Alighieri,

183:A man's renown is like the hue of grass, Which comes and goes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

184:Nobility is the perfection in each thing of its proper nature. ~ Dante Alighieri,

185:Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from The Eternal. ~ Dante Alighieri,

186:The whole universe is but the footprint of the Divine goodness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

187:thy wretchedness weighs upon me, so that it to weep invites me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

188:If thou follow thy star, thou canst not fail of glorious heaven. ~ Dante Alighieri,

189:If you follow your natural bent;you will definitely go to heaven ~ Dante Alighieri,

190:No hay mayor dolor, que, en la miseria recordar el feliz tiempo, ~ Dante Alighieri,

191:Do not be afraid; our fate Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift. ~ Dante Alighieri,

192:Noble demands, by right, deserve the consequence of silent deeds. ~ Dante Alighieri,

193:No hay mayor dolor en el infortunio que recordar el tiempo feliz. ~ Dante Alighieri,

194:No sadness is greater than in misery to rehearse memories of joy. ~ Dante Alighieri,

195:Remember tonight...for it's the beginning of forever. - Dante Alighieri ~ Dan Brown,

196:The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain. ~ Dante Alighieri,

197:I might then squeeze the juices of my thought more fully out of me ~ Dante Alighieri,

198:There is no greater sorrow...than to be mindful of the happy time. ~ Dante Alighieri,

199:Consider the sea's listless chime: Time's self it is, made audible. ~ Dante Alighieri,

200:My thoughts were full of other things When I wandered off the path. ~ Dante Alighieri,

201:- Ben poco ama colui che ancora può esprimere, a parole, quanto ami. ~ Dante Alighieri,

202:Do not be afraid; our fate Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift. ~ Dante Alighieri,

203:He loves but little who can say and count in words how much he loves ~ Dante Alighieri,

204:Here all suspicion must be abandoned, All cowardice must be extinct. ~ Dante Alighieri,

205:He who shall never be divided from me kissed my mouth all trembling. ~ Dante Alighieri,

206:placing his hand on mine, with a calm expression, that comforted me, ~ Dante Alighieri,

207: Se mala cupidigia altro vi grida, uomini siate, e non pecore matte, ~ Dante Alighieri,

208:No sorrow is deeper than the remembrance of happiness when in misery. ~ Dante Alighieri,

209:Be as a tower firmly set Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. ~ Dante Alighieri,

210:Be as a tower firmly set; Shakes not its top for any blast that blows. ~ Dante Alighieri,

211:He loves but little who can say and count in words, how much he loves. ~ Dante Alighieri,

212:There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery ~ Dante Alighieri,

213:Do not desert me when I need you most. And if we can't go on together, ~ Dante Alighieri,

214:en el lago del alma había entrado la noche que pasé con tanta angustia. ~ Dante Alighieri,

215:There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery. ~ Dante Alighieri,

216:Three things remain with us from paradise: stars, flowers and children. ~ Dante Alighieri,

217:As once I loved you in my mortal flesh, without it now I love you still. ~ Dante Alighieri,

218:Che sanza speme vivemo in disio. That without hope we live in desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

219:He did what any hero must: set sail. But you, you turn back. Tell me why. ~ Dante Alighieri,

220:No greater grief than to remember days Of joy, when mis'ry is at hand. ~ Dante Alighieri,

221:Stand firm as the tower that never shakes its top whatever wind may blow. ~ Dante Alighieri,

222:In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood. ~ Dante Alighieri,

223:Por la dañina culpa de la gula estoy, como tú ves, bajo la lluvia abatido: ~ Dante Alighieri,

224:The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and likewise pain. ~ Dante Alighieri,

225:There is no greater sorrow than to recall our time of joy in wretchedness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

226:Three sparks - pride, envy, and avarice - have been kindled in all hearts. ~ Dante Alighieri,

227:Doch bitt ich euch, gebt mir gefällig Kunde: Ist eine Seel aus Latium hier? ~ Dante Alighieri,

228:In each fire there is a spirit; Each one is wrapped in what is burning him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

229:There is no greater sorrow then to recall our times of joy in wretchedness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

230:Dianzi, ne l’alba che procede al giorno, quando l’anima tua dentro dormia ~ Dante Alighieri,

231:hablando cosas que callar es bueno, tal como era el hablarlas allí mismo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

232:Nessun maggior dolore che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria... ~ Dante Alighieri,

233:The Infinite Goodness has such wide arms that it takes whatever turns to it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

234:There is no greater sorrow Than to recall a happy time When miserable. ~ Dante Alighieri,

235:The truth thy speech doth show, within my heart reproves the swelling pride. ~ Dante Alighieri,

236:Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. [Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes] ~ Dante Alighieri,

237:Do not be afraid; our fate Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.    ~ Dante Alighieri, Inferno,

238:Go forth and preach impostures to the world, But give them truth to build on. ~ Dante Alighieri,

239:Iubirea-aceeași moarte ne-a sortit : străfund de iad pe ucigaș l-așteaptă. ~ Dante Alighieri,

240:No one on earth was ever as quick to search for their good, or run from harm, ~ Dante Alighieri,

241:O, câte vise și ce dor de viață i-a-mpins, grăii, pe aceștia spre mormânt! ~ Dante Alighieri,

242:Özgürlüğü arıyor o, özgürlüğün değerini uğrunda can verenler bilir en iyi. ~ Dante Alighieri,

243:Blessed are the peacemakers, For they have freed themselves from sinful wrath. ~ Dante Alighieri,

244:My soul tasted that heavenly food, which gives new appetite while it satiates. ~ Dante Alighieri,

245:He tells his reader that writings should be expounded in four senses. The first ~ Dante Alighieri,

246:If the present world go astray, the cause is in you, in you it is to be sought. ~ Dante Alighieri,

247:O human race, born to fly upward, wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall? ~ Dante Alighieri,

248:Be as a tower, that, firmly set, Shakes not its top for any blast that blows! ~ Dante Alighieri,

249:Because your question searches for deep meaning, I shall explain in simple words ~ Dante Alighieri,

250:For he, who sees a need, but waits to be asked, is already set on cruel refusal. ~ Dante Alighieri,

251:He who awaits the call, but sees the need, Already sets his spirit to refuse it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

252:He who best discerns the worth of time is most distressed whenever time is lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

253:...la quale fue chiamata da molti Beatrice li quali non sapeano che si chiamare. ~ Dante Alighieri,

254:There is no greater pain than to remember, in our present grief, past happiness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

255:There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy. ~ Dante Alighieri,

256:he aquí a Dite, me dijo, y aquí el lugar donde importa que de fortaleza te armes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

257:Oh human creatures, born to soar aloft, Why fall ye thus before a little wind? ~ Dante Alighieri,

258:There is no greater sorrow than thinking back upon a happy time in misery-- ~ Dante Alighieri,

259:But in the divine nature Persons three, And in one person the divine and human. ~ Dante Alighieri,

260:Lost are we, and are only so far punished, That without hope we live on in desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

261:O conscience, upright and stainless, how bitter a sting to thee is a little fault! ~ Dante Alighieri,

262:O faithful conscience, delicately pure, how doth a little failing wound thee sore! ~ Dante Alighieri,

263:The more perfect a thing is, the more susceptible to good and bad treatment it is. ~ Dante Alighieri,

264:The three Divine are in this hierarchy, First the Dominions, and the Virtues next; ~ Dante Alighieri,

265:Where the way is hardest, there go thou; Follow your own path and let people talk. ~ Dante Alighieri,

266:You were not made to live like brute beasts, but to pursue virtue and knowledge ~ Dante Alighieri,

267:Because your question searches for deep meaning, I shall explain in simple words ~ Dante Alighieri,

268:Mankind, why do ye set your hearts on things That, of necessity, may not be shared? ~ Dante Alighieri,

269:Our powers, whether of mind or tongue, cannot embrace that measure of understanding ~ Dante Alighieri,

270:Pride, envy, avarice - these are the sparks have set on fire the hearts of all men. ~ Dante Alighieri,

271:The human race is in the best condition when it has the greatest degree of liberty. ~ Dante Alighieri,

272:Ningún dolor más grande que el de acordarse del tiempo dichoso en la desgracia ~ Dante Alighieri,

273:Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.    ~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto 3, Verse 9,

274:Lost are we, and are only so far punished, That without hope we live on in desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

275:There is a gentle thought that often springs to life in me, because it speaks of you. ~ Dante Alighieri,

276:There, pride, avarice, and envy are the tongues men know and heed, a Babel of depsair ~ Dante Alighieri,

277:There's not the least thing can be said or done, but people will talk and find fault. ~ Dante Alighieri,

278:For pride and avarice and envy are the three fierce sparks that set all hearts ablaze. ~ Dante Alighieri,

279:How rough that wood was, wild, and terrible: By the mere thought my terror is renewed. ~ Dante Alighieri,

280:Love is the source of every virtue in you and of every deed which deserves punishment. ~ Dante Alighieri,

281:This is Nimrod, because of whose vile plan the world no longer speaks a single tongue. ~ Dante Alighieri,

282:E chi avesse voluto conoscere Amore, fare lo potea mirando lo tremare de li occhi miei. ~ Dante Alighieri,

283:He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

284:Segui il tuo corso et lascia dir les genti (Follow your road and let the people say) ~ Dante Alighieri,

285:The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain.    ~ Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy,

286:The weapons of divine justice are blunted by the confession and sorrow of the offender. ~ Dante Alighieri,

287:Ah, içimdeki korkuyu tazeleyen, balta girmemiş o sarp, güçlü ormanı anlatabilmek ne zor! ~ Dante Alighieri,

288:I presumed to fix my look on the eternal light so long that I consumed my sight thereon. ~ Dante Alighieri,

289:Love kindled by virtue always kindles another, provided that its flame appear outwardly. ~ Dante Alighieri,

290:There is a gentle thought that often springs to life in me, because it speaks of you. ~ Dante Alighieri,

291:e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle" ("and thence we came forth to see again the stars") ~ Dante Alighieri,

292:This sorrow weighs upon the melancholy souls of those who lived without infamy or praise. ~ Dante Alighieri,

293:-¿Cómo dijiste "tuvo"? Pues qué, ¿no vive aún? ¿No hiere ya sus ojos la dulce luz del día? ~ Dante Alighieri,

294:Justice divine has weighed: the doom is clear. All hope renounce, ye lost, who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

295:L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle (The love that moves the sun and the other stars) ~ Dante Alighieri,

296:The human race finds itself in a better situation when it has the higher level of freedom. ~ Dante Alighieri,

297:Three dispositions adverse to Heaven's still, - Incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

298:Its very memory gives a shape to fear.   Death could scarce be more bitter than that place! ~ Dante Alighieri,

299:I care not where my body may take me as long as my soul is embarked on a meaningful journey. ~ Dante Alighieri,

300:Qui viva la pietà, quand'è ben morta. در اينجا ترحم وقتي زنده است كه كاملا مرده باشد. ~ Dante Alighieri,

301:If a thief helps a poor man out of the spoils of his thieving, we must not call that charity. ~ Dante Alighieri,

302:¡Oh raza humana, nacida para remontar vuelo!, ¿por qué el menor soplo de viento te hace caer? ~ Dante Alighieri,

303:Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

304:Faith is the substance of the things we hope for, And evidence of those that are not seen... ~ Dante Alighieri,

305:You can stay and die or you can walk your ugly ass back through that gate. It's your call, pal. ~ Dante Alighieri,

306:Esta suerte miserable tienen las tristes almas de aquellos que vivieron sin infamia y sin honor. ~ Dante Alighieri,

307:lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate" آنکه پا از این در به درون میگذاری دست از هر امیدی بشوی ~ Dante Alighieri,

308:Consider your origin. You were not formed to live like brutes but to follow virtue and knowledge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

309:It may be that what we call modern is nothing, but what is not worthy of remaining to become old. ~ Dante Alighieri,

310:Si a la maldad ira se agrega, vendrán tras nosotros más crueles que perro que a la liebre aferra. ~ Dante Alighieri,

311:The Commedia , it must be remembered, is a vision of the progress of man’s soul toward perfection. ~ Dante Alighieri,

312:The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come. ~ Dante Alighieri,

313:Era la hora en que sentir consigo el navegante enternecido quiere, el día del adiós al dulce amigo; ~ Dante Alighieri,

314:It is necessity and not pleasure that compels us. [Italian: Necessita c'induce, e non diletto.] ~ Dante Alighieri,

315:O anima cortese mantoana Di cui la fama ancor nel mondo dura, E durera quanto 'l moto lontana ~ Dante Alighieri,

316:Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza. ~ Dante Alighieri,

317:No fuisteis criados para vivir como bestias sino para seguir en pos de la virtud y la sabiduría. ~ Dante Alighieri,

318:At the midpoint on the journey of life, I found myself in a dark forest, for the clear path was lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

319:Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground ~ Dante Alighieri,

320:how short a time the fire of love endures in woman if frequent sight and touch do not rekindle it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

321:öyle üzgündü ki onları dinleyen Beatrice, ondan üzgün olamazdı çarmıhın dibindeki Meryem bile. ~ Dante Alighieri,

322:Supe que a un tal tormento sentenciados eran los pecadores carnales que la razón al deseo sometieron. ~ Dante Alighieri,

323:Because there is no man who can be true and just judge of himself, so much will self-love deceive him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

324:Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground. ~ Dante Alighieri,

325:Son heresiarcas con sus secuaces, de toda secta, y muchas más son las tumbas que no creyeras pobladas. ~ Dante Alighieri,

326:A mitad del camino de la vida, 1 en una selva oscura me encontraba 2 porque mi ruta había extraviado. 3 ~ Dante Alighieri,

327:And I was told about this torture, that it was the Hell of carnal sins when reasons give way to desire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

328:And what is laughter but a flashing of the soul, that is, a light appearing externally as it is within. ~ Dante Alighieri,

329:What is a smile but the coruscation of the joy of the soul, like the outward shining of an inward light ~ Dante Alighieri,

330:Many have justice in their hearts, but slowly it is let fly, for it comes not without council to the bow. ~ Dante Alighieri,

331:so word for word/My master spoke, and I asked him for the food/To fill the appetite these words inspired. ~ Dante Alighieri,

332:Buraya sürükleyeceğiz onları. İç karartan bu ormanda her gövdeyi, ruhumuzun bulunduğu böğürtlene asacağız. ~ Dante Alighieri,

333:I have set foot in that region of life where it is not possible to go with any more intention of returning ~ Dante Alighieri,

334:In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

335:No inferno os lugares mais quentes são reservados àqueles que escolheram a neutralidade em tempo de crise. ~ Dante Alighieri,

336:Not one drop of blood is left inside my veins that does not throb: I recognize signs of the ancient flame. ~ Dante Alighieri,

337:Si yo fuera de espejado vidrio, tu imagen exterior no estaría tan pronto en mi, como la que adentro tengo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

338:O foolish anxiety of wretched man, how inconclusive are the arguments which make thee beat thy wings below! ~ Dante Alighieri,

339:Os lugares mais quentes do inferno estão destinados aos que, em tempo de grandes crises, se mantêm neutros. ~ Dante Alighieri,

340:Te responderé - me dijo - haciendo lo que deseas; que las peticiones justas deben satisfacerse en silencio. ~ Dante Alighieri,

341:The splendors that belong unto the fame of earth are but a wind, that in the same direction lasts not long. ~ Dante Alighieri,

342:In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

343:Love with delight discourses in my mindUpon my lady's admirable gifts...Beyond the range of human intellect. ~ Dante Alighieri,

344:Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura che' la diritta via era smarrita. ~ Dante Alighieri,

345:Solo aquellas cosas se han de temer que detentan poder de daño a otro; de las otras no, que no son temibles. ~ Dante Alighieri,

346:Ste povinný si svoje plemň vážiť: súdené nie je žiť Vám ako zveru, lež za cnosťou a za poznaním bažiť! ~ Dante Alighieri,

347:all things created have an order in themselves, and this begets the form that lets the universe resemble God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

348:Among themselves all things Have order; and from hence the form, which makes The universe resemble God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

349:In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

350:…all things created have an order in themselves, and this begets the form that lets the universe resemble God. ~ Dante Alighieri,

351:Hasty opinion too often points the wrong way, and then affection for one's own opinion binds up the intellect. ~ Dante Alighieri,

352:I learnt that the carnal sinners are condemned to these torments, they who subject their reason to their lust. ~ Dante Alighieri,

353:Nech nesúdia len ľudia príliš smele tak ako ten, čo zbožie ide v pole už šacovať, kým nie je ešte zrelé! ~ Dante Alighieri,

354:¡Oh venganza de Dios, cuanto debiera temerte todo aquel que lea un día cuanto a mis ojos manifiesto era! ~ Dante Alighieri,

355:There is no greater sorrow Than to remember a happy time when you are In misery, and that, your Teacher knows. ~ Dante Alighieri,

356:These are the radiancies of the perfected vision that sees the good and step by step moves nearer what it sees. ~ Dante Alighieri,

357:A prayer may chance to rise From one whose heart lives in the grace of God. A prayer from any other is unheeded. ~ Dante Alighieri,

358:Oh foolish desires of mortals! How weak are the reasons that lead us to not take off our flight from the ground. ~ Dante Alighieri,

359:Soon you will be where your own eyes will see the source and cause and give you their own answer to the mystery. ~ Dante Alighieri,

360:The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. ~ Dante Alighieri,

361:Y a más de mil sombras me fue enseñando y designando con el dedo, a quienes Amor había hecho salid de esta vida. ~ Dante Alighieri,

362:Caminábamos con los diez demonios, ¡fiera compaña!, mas en la taberna con borrachos, con santos en la iglesia. 15 ~ Dante Alighieri,

363:Come, quando i vapori umidi e spessi A diradar cominciansi, la spera Del sol debilemente entra per essi.... ~ Dante Alighieri,

364:Hope not ever to see heaven. I come to lead you to the other shore; into the eternal darkness; into fire and ice. ~ Dante Alighieri,

365:Of my sowing such straw I reap. O human folk, why set the heart there where exclusion of partnership is necessary ~ Dante Alighieri,

366:The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. ~ Dante Alighieri,

367:aquel en quien bulle un pensamiento sobre otro pensamiento, se extravía, porque el fuego del uno ablanda al otro.» ~ Dante Alighieri,

368:No tienen éstos de muerte esperanza, y su vida obcecada es tan rastrera, que envidiosos están de cualquier suerte. ~ Dante Alighieri,

369:Siempre debe el hombre sella sus labios, en cuanto pueda para aquellas verdades que tienen apariencia de mentiras. ~ Dante Alighieri,

370:Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello, / nave senza nocchiere in gran tempesta, / non donna di province, ma bordello. ~ Dante Alighieri,

371:And as he, who with laboring breath has escaped from the deep to the shore, turns to the perilous waters and gazes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

372:Before me things created were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

373:Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth, for sitting softly cushioned, or tucked in bed, is no way to win fame. ~ Dante Alighieri,

374:If thou thy star do follow, Thou canst not fail thee of a glorious port. If well I judged in the life beautiful ~ Dante Alighieri,

375:If you're asking for a date, forget it. 'Cause I make it a point not to go out with women who shoot me in the head! ~ Dante Alighieri,

376:This mountain’s of such sort that climbing it is hardest at the start; but as we rise, the slope grows less unkind. ~ Dante Alighieri,

377:Tu se' lo mio maestro e 'l mio autore, tu se' solo colui da cu' io tolsi lo bello stilo che m'ha fatto onore. ~ Dante Alighieri,

378:Before me there were no created things, Only eternity, and I too, last eternal. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here! ~ Dante Alighieri,

379:I am made of God, through his Grace. Such that your misery touches me not, Nor does flame of that burning assail me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

380:Imagination, that dost so abstract us That we are not aware, not even when A thousand trumpets sound about our ears! ~ Dante Alighieri,

381:Majster tvoj vie, že nieto váčšej biedy než spomínať si na blažené časy za časov zlých," mi riekla v odpovedi. ~ Dante Alighieri,

382:Midtveges fram i gonga gjennom livet, eg fann meg att i tjukke svarte skogen, i vilska fór eg langt frå rette vegen. ~ Dante Alighieri,

383:The only answer that I give to you is doing it," he said. "A just request is to be met in silence, by the act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

384:Zjavil som mu svet zločinov a špiny a teraz chcem mu zjaviť svet, kde z duší pod tvojou mocou zmývajú sa viny. ~ Dante Alighieri,

385:At grief so deep the tongue must wag in vain; the language of our sense and memory lacks the vocabulary of such pain. ~ Dante Alighieri,

386:Entonces se calmó aquel miedo un poco, que en el lago del alma había entrado la noche que pasé con tanta angustia. 21 ~ Dante Alighieri,

387:Non isperate mai veder lo cielo: i’ vegno per menarvi a l’altra riva ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e ’n gelo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

388:Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, and now that, and changes name as it changes direction. ~ Dante Alighieri,

389:A light there is in the beyond which makes the Creator visible to the creature, who only in beholding Him finds peace. ~ Dante Alighieri,

390:Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona, mi prese del costui piacer sì forte, che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona. ~ Dante Alighieri,

391:Los echa el cielo, porque menos bello no sea, y el infierno los rechaza, pues podrían dar gloria a los caídos.» 42   Y ~ Dante Alighieri,

392:We were still some way from it, but not so far that I failed to discern in part what noble people occupied that place. ~ Dante Alighieri,

393:…I am left with less than one drop of my blood that does not tremble. I recognize the the signs of the old flame. ~ Dante Alighieri,

394:To run over better waters the little vessel of my genius now hoists her sails, as she leaves behind her a sea so cruel. ~ Dante Alighieri,

395:, your spirit is attacked by cowardly fear, that often weighs men down, so that it deflects them from honourable action ~ Dante Alighieri,

396:For where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defense. ~ Dante Alighieri,

397:I make no other answer than the act, the Master said: the only fit reply to a fit request is silence and the fact. ~ Dante Alighieri,

398:In judgement be ye not too confident, Even as a man who will appraise his corn When standing in a field, ere it is ripe. ~ Dante Alighieri,

399:Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

400:¡Oh vosotros, que gozáis de sano entendimiento; descubrid la doctrina que se oculta bajo el velo de tan extraños versos! ~ Dante Alighieri,

401:Pred pravdou, ktorá črty lži má v tvári, nech človek radšej zavrie ústa z bázne, bo bez viny mu pečať hanby vpáli, ~ Dante Alighieri,

402:Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people ~ Dante Alighieri,

403:Before me things created were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

404:Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa; misericordia e giustizia li sdegna: non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa. ~ Dante Alighieri,

405:If you weep not now, when will you ever weep? E se non piangi, de che pianger suoli? --Inferno, c. 33 l. 42 ~ Dante Alighieri,

406:Mezcladas están con aquel malvado coro de los Angeles que ni fueron rebeldes a Dios, ni fieles, sino sólo para sí fueron. ~ Dante Alighieri,

407:Open thy mind; take in what I explain and keep it there; because to understand is not to know, if thou dost not retain... ~ Dante Alighieri,

408:Thus you may understand that love alone is the true seed of every merit in you, and of all acts for which you must atone. ~ Dante Alighieri,

409:As fall the light autumnal leaves, one still the other following, till the bough strews all its honors on the earth below. ~ Dante Alighieri,

410:Do ye not comprehend that we are worms born to bring forth the angelic butterfly that flieth unto judgment without screen? ~ Dante Alighieri,

411:Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice. ~ Dante Alighieri,

412:I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason. ~ Dante Alighieri,

413:Non è il mondan romore altro ch’un fiato di vento, ch’or vien quinci e or vien quindi, e muta nome perché muta lato. ~ Dante Alighieri,

414:So may heaven's grace clear away the foam from the conscience, that the river of thy thoughts may roll limpid thenceforth. ~ Dante Alighieri,

415:There is in hell a place stone-built throughout, Called Malebolge, of an iron hue, Like to the wall that circles it about. ~ Dante Alighieri,

416:You shall find out how salt is the taste of another man's bread, and how hard is the way up and down another man's stairs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

417:Oh blind, oh ignorant, self-seeking cupidity whcih spurs as so in the short mortal life and steeps as through all eternity. ~ Dante Alighieri,

418:Open your mind to what I shall explain, then close around it, for it is no learning to understand what one does not retain. ~ Dante Alighieri,

419:The heavens call to you, and circle about you, displaying to you their eternal splendors, and your eye gazes only to earth. ~ Dante Alighieri,

420:And after he had laid his hand on mine With joyful mien, whence I was comforted, He led me in among the secret things. ~ Dante Alighieri,

421:A rapid bolt will rend the clouds apart, and every single White be seared by wounds. I tell you this. I want it all to hurt. ~ Dante Alighieri,

422:As at those words did I myself become; And all my love was so absorbed in Him, That in oblivion Beatrice was eclipsed. ~ Dante Alighieri,

423:But the stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay. ~ Dante Alighieri,

424:I love to doubt as well as know." ~ Dante Alighieri Dante's Inferno, Canto XI, 93: "non men che saver, dubbiar m'aggrata. ~ Dante Alighieri,

425:My will and my desire were both revolved, as is a wheel in even motion driven, by Love, which moves the sun and other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

426:Neither Creator nor creature ever, Son, " he began, "was destitute of love Natural or spiritual; and thou knowest it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

427:These dwell among the blackest souls,loaded down deep by sins of differing types.If you sink far enough,you'll see them all. ~ Dante Alighieri,

428:This mountain is so formed that it is always wearisome when one begins the ascent, but becomes easier the higher one climbs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

429:A friend of mine, with fortune for his foe, Has met with hindrance on his desert way, And, terror-smitten, can no further go, ~ Dante Alighieri,

430:Conscience, that boon companion who sets a man free under the strong breastplate of innocence, that bids him on and fear not. ~ Dante Alighieri,

431:I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason.    ~ Dante Alighieri,

432:Ó, duša, v ktorej túžba za mnou planie, vrav tak, nech chápe ťa i duša moja,“ rieknem, „a obom splň nám vrúcne prianie. ~ Dante Alighieri,

433:Rejoice, Florence, seeing you are so great that over sea and land you flap your wings, and your name is widely known in Hell! ~ Dante Alighieri,

434:What is it then? Why do you hesitate? Why do you relish living like a coward? Why cannot you be bold and keen to start? ~ Dante Alighieri,

435:Great fire can follow a small spark: there may be better voices after me to pray to Cyrrha's god for aid - that he may answer. ~ Dante Alighieri,

436:High justice would in no way be debased if ardent love should cancel instantly the debts these penitents must satisfy. ~ Dante Alighieri,

437:In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods Where the straight way was lost. —DANTE ALIGHIERI ~ Elizabeth Lesser,

438:Oh blind! Oh ignorant, self-seeking cupidity which spurs us so in the short mortal life and steeps us so through all eternity! ~ Dante Alighieri,

439:The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul the way that light rushes into a transparent object.    ~ Dante Alighieri, [T5],

440:And what will bow your shoulders down will be the vicious and worthless company with whom you will fall into this abyss. ~ Dante Alighieri,

441:Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master; thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild. ~ Dante Alighieri,

442:Give unto us this day the daily manna Without which, in this desert where we dwell, He must go backward who would most advance. ~ Dante Alighieri,

443:Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. ~ Dante Alighieri,

444:One ought to be afraid of nothing other then things possessed of power to do us harm, but things innoucuous need not be feared. ~ Dante Alighieri,

445:That precious fruit which all men eagerly go searching for on many different boughs will give,today, peace to your hungry soul. ~ Dante Alighieri,

446:The glory of Him who moves everything penetrates through the universe, and is resplendent in one part more and in another less. ~ Dante Alighieri,

447:These dwell among the blackest souls, loaded down deep by sins of differing types. If you sink far enough, you'll see them all. ~ Dante Alighieri,

448:These have no hope that death will overcome. And so degraded is the life they lead all look with envy on all other fates. ~ Dante Alighieri,

449:Thus you may understand that love alone is the true seed of every merit in you, and of all acts for which you must atone. ~ Dante Alighieri,

450:And now, I pray you, tell me who you are: do not be harder than I've been with you that in the world your name may still endure. ~ Dante Alighieri,

451:Even as he who glories while he gains will, when the time has come to tally loss, lament with every thought and turn despondent, ~ Dante Alighieri,

452:I felt for the tormented whirlwinds Damned for their carnal sins Committed when they let their passions rule their reason. ~ Dante Alighieri,

453:I understood that to this mode of pain are doomed the sinners of the carnal kind, who o'er their reason let their impulse reign. ~ Dante Alighieri,

454:No man may be so cursed by priest or pope but what the Eternal Love may still return while any thread of green lives on in hope. ~ Dante Alighieri,

455:Only as a man surrenders himself to Devine Love may he hope for salvation, and salvation is open to all who surrender themselves ~ Dante Alighieri,

456:Par moi l'on va dans la cité des pleurs ; Par moi l'on va dans l'éternelle douleur ; Par moi l'on va chez la race perdue. ~ Dante Alighieri,

457:And my Guide to me: “He will not wake again until the angel trumpet sounds the day on which the host shall come to judge all men. ~ Dante Alighieri,

458:Being by such a noble lover kissed, This one, who ne'er from me shall be divided, Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating. ~ Dante Alighieri,

459:it is his fate to enter every door. This has been willed where what is willed must be, and is not yours to question. Say no more. ~ Dante Alighieri,

460:Por ti fui poeta, por ti fui cristiano, mas para que veas mejor lo que te pinto, extenderé las manos a fin de darle más colorido. ~ Dante Alighieri,

461:su naturaleza es tan malvada y cruel, que nunca satisface su hambrienta voluntad, y tras comer tiene más hambre que antes. Muchos ~ Dante Alighieri,

462:Your fame is as the grass, whose hue comes and goes, and His might withers it by whose power it sprang from the lap of the earth. ~ Dante Alighieri,

463:A rapid bolt will rend the clouds apart, and every single White be seared by wounds. I tell you this. I want it all to hurt. ~ Dante Alighieri,

464:But the stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay. ~ Dante Alighieri,

465:The more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love... and, mirror-like... each soul reflects the other. ~ Dante Alighieri,

466:Through me, the way is to the suffering city; Through me, the way is to eternal pain; Through me, the way among the people lost.   ~ Dante Alighieri,

467:When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray. ~ Dante Alighieri,

468:When you are nearer, you will understand how much your eyesight is deceived by distance. Therefore, push yourself a little harder. ~ Dante Alighieri,

469:And said the Guide, 'One am I who descends Down with this living man from cliff to cliff, And I intend to show Hell unto him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

470:I make no other answer than the act, the Master said: "The only fit reply to a fit request is silence and the fact." [XXIV] ~ Dante Alighieri,

471:O Virgins, sacrosanct, if I have ever, for your sake, suffered vigils,cold,, and hunger, great need makes me entreat my recompense. ~ Dante Alighieri,

472:Christians, be steadier in what you do, not blown like feathers at the wind's discretion, nor think that every water cleanses you... ~ Dante Alighieri,

473:Nothing which is harmonized by the bond of the Muse can be changed from its own to another language without destroying its sweetness ~ Dante Alighieri,

474:Other response, he said, I make thee not, Except the doing; for the modest asking Ought to be followed by the deed in silence. ~ Dante Alighieri,

475:Through me the way into the suffering city, Through me the way into eternal pain, Through me the way that runs among the lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

476:And so we made our way across that heap of stones, which often moved beneath my feet because my weight was somewhat strange for them. ~ Dante Alighieri,

477:And without fame, a man must spend his life Only to leave such traces upon earth As smoke leaves in the air, or foam in the sea ~ Dante Alighieri,

478:Now you know how much my love for you burns deep in me when I forget about our emptiness, and deal with shadows as with solid things. ~ Dante Alighieri,

479:So I stood up, pretending I had more Breath than I had been feeling that I had, And said: "Lead on! I'm strong. I have no fear. ~ Dante Alighieri,

480:So, now, with me. That brute which knows no peace came ever nearer me and, step by step, drove me back down to where the sun is mute. ~ Dante Alighieri,

481:Thou shall know by experience how salt the savor is of others' bread, and how sad a path it is to climb and descend another's stairs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

482:Compassion is not a passion; rather a noble disposition of the soul, made ready to receive love, mercy, and other charitable passions. ~ Dante Alighieri,

483:Midway in the journey of our life   →                I came to myself in a dark wood,   → 3             for the straight way was lost. ~ Dante Alighieri,

484:So many times a man's thoughts will waver, That it turns him back from honored paths, As false sight turns a beast, when he is afraid. ~ Dante Alighieri,

485:But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars ~ Dante Alighieri,

486:Consider ye the seed from which ye sprang; Ye were not made to live like unto brutes, But for pursuit of virtue and of knowledge. ~ Dante Alighieri,

487:I, answering in the end, began: 'Alas, how many yearning thoughts, what great desire, have lead them through such sorrow to their fate? ~ Dante Alighieri,

488:Though every city shall he hunt her down, Until he shall driven her back to Hell, There from whence envy first did let her loose. ~ Dante Alighieri,

489:Open your mind to what I shall disclose, and hold it fast within you; he who hears, but does not hold what he has heard, learns nothing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

490:Tan débiles solemos ser los hombres en cuestiones del amor, pero es de un hombre virtuoso el no dejarse arrebatar por estos impulsos ~ Dante Alighieri,

491:Lady, you who are so great, so powerful, that who seeks grace without recourse to you would have his wish fly upward without wings. ~ Dante Alighieri,

492:The heaven that rolls around cries aloud to you while it displays its eternal beauties, and yet your eyes are fixed upon the earth alone. ~ Dante Alighieri,

493:One should only be afraid of those things Which have the power of doing others harm; For the rest, fear not; because they are not fearful. ~ Dante Alighieri,

494:Pure essence, and pure matter, and the two joined into one were shot forth without flaw, like three bright arrows from a three-string bow. ~ Dante Alighieri,

495:True love is never lost, not even by a bishop's or a priest's curse, that we cannot regain it, so long as hope has still its bit of green. ~ Dante Alighieri,

496:We are but a day in this world, and in that day the fashion is changed a thousand times: all seek liberty, yet all deprive themselves of it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

497:All your renown is like the summer flower that blooms and dies; because the sunny glow which brings it forth, soon slays with parching power. ~ Dante Alighieri,

498:But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars ~ Dante Alighieri,

499:...Everything that is, desires to be. As we act, we unfold our being. Enjoyment naturally follows, for a thing desired always brings delight. ~ Dante Alighieri,

500:I, answering in the end, began: 'Alas, how many yearning thoughts, what great desire, have lead them through such sorrow to their fate? ~ Dante Alighieri,

501:It was the hour of morning, when the sun mounts with those stars that shone with it when God's own love first set in motion those fair things ~ Dante Alighieri,

502:In quella parte del libro de la mia memoria dinanzi a la quale poco si potrebbe leggere, si trova una rubrica la quale dice: INCIPIT VITA NOVA ~ Dante Alighieri,

503:Now you know how much my love for you burns deep in me when I forget about our emptiness, and deal with shadows as with solid things. ~ Dante Alighieri,

504:Estos fueron clérigos, los que tienen la coronilla pelada en la cabeza, y Papas y Cardenales, a quienes de la avaricia los doblegó la soberbia. ~ Dante Alighieri,

505:Love, that exempts no one beloved from loving, seized me with pleasure of this man so strongly, that, as thou seest, it doth not yet desert me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

506:Nessun maggior dolore che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria;... دردي بزرگتر از ياد روزگاران خوشي در دوران تيره روزي نيست. ~ Dante Alighieri,

507:Turn around, and keep your eyes closed shut, For if the Gorgon, Medusa, does appear, and you see her, You would never be able to return upward. ~ Dante Alighieri,

508:Io ritornai da la santissima onda rifatto sì come piante novelle rinnovellate di novella fronda, puro e disposto a salire alle stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

509:As, pricked out with less and greater lights, between the poles of the universe, the Milky Way so gleameth white as to set very sages questioning. ~ Dante Alighieri,

510:In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost. —DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy: Canto I ~ Erik Larson,

511:In that book which is my memory, On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, Appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life’. ~ Dante Alighieri,

512:and the shining strengthened me against the fright whose agony had wracked the lake of my heart through all the terrors of that piteous night. ~ Dante Alighieri,

513:...but nature scants that lights in all it makes, working in much the manner of a painter who knows the true art, but those whose brush hand shakes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

514:Not foliage green, but of a fusk colour, Not branches smooth, but gnarled and intertangled not apple-tress were there, but thorns with poison. ~ Dante Alighieri,

515:When we encountered a band of souls coming along the barrier, and each was gazing at us in the evening people gaze at one another under the new moon ~ Dante Alighieri,

516:Ca florile ce-atinse de răcoare tânjesc, ci-n zori, sub ploaia de lumine, se n-alță drept pe lujere ușoare, la fel curajul se trezi în mine. ~ Dante Alighieri,

517:In that part of the book of my memory before which little can be read, there is a heading, which says: ‘Incipit vita nova: Here begins the new life’. ~ Dante Alighieri,

518:You did as one who, walking by night, Carries the light behind him, where it does him no good, But is of advantage to those who come after him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

519:You did as who who, walking by night, Carries the light behind him, where it does him no good, But is of advantage to those who come after him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

520:It was the hour of morning, when the sun mounts with those stars that shone with it when God's own love first set in motion those fair things ~ Dante Alighieri,

521:Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost.” DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy ~ J A Konrath,

522:It may be that a more subtle person would find for this thing a reason of greater subtlety: but such is the reason that I find, and that liketh me best. ~ Dante Alighieri,

523:... Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria. (There is no greater pain than to remember a happy time when one is in misery.) ~ Dante Alighieri,

524:You've built yourselves a god from silver and gold. How does that differ from idol worship, except Those people worship one god and you a hundred? ~ Dante Alighieri,

525:In that book which is my memory, On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, Appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life’. ~ Dante Alighieri,

526:Mă-ntorsei, deci, de la pârâul sfânt ca nou, asemeni plantei tinerele când nouă crește-n noul său vestmânt, curat și gata să mă urc la stele. ~ Dante Alighieri,

527:Nech Janči s Ančou nesúdia hneď ľudí, keď tamten dáva almužnu, ten kradne, že vidia už, aj ako Boh ich súdi: ten môže vstať, a tamten možno padne. ~ Dante Alighieri,

528:That your art, as best it can, also follows Divine Intellect, as the disciple follows the master; So in reality, your art is, as it were, God's grandchild. ~ Dante Alighieri,

529:A l'alta fantasia qui mancò possa; ma già volgeva il mio disio e'l velle sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa, l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

530:As the geometer intently seeks to square the circle, but he cannot reach, through thought on thought, the principle he needs, so I searched that strange sight. ~ Dante Alighieri,

531:Open your mind to what I shall disclose, and hold it fast within you; he who hears, but does not hold what he has heard, learns nothing. Beatrice - Canto V 40-42 ~ Dante Alighieri,

532:As the geometer intently seeks to square the circle, but he cannot reach, through thought on thought, the principle he needs, so I searched that strange sight. ~ Dante Alighieri,

533:1) la felicidad de cada uno está en proporción a su capacidad para sentirla, y 2) esta felicidad consiste solamente en la perfecta adecuación a la voluntad divina. ~ Dante Alighieri,

534:Await no further word or sign from me: your will is free, erect, and whole—to act against that will would be to err: therefore I crown and miter you over yourself. ~ Dante Alighieri,

535:The day that man allows true love to appear, those things which are well made will fall into cofusion and will overturn everything we believe to be right and true. ~ Dante Alighieri,

536:Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft so overcasts a man, that he recoils from noblest resolution, like a beast at some false semblance in the twilight gloom. ~ Dante Alighieri,

537:your soul is sunken in that cowardice that bears down many men, turning their course and resolution by imagined perils, as his own shadow turns the frightened horse. ~ Dante Alighieri,

538:—¿Qué es esto, espíritus perezosos? ¿Qué negligencia, qué demora es ésta? Corred al monte a purificaros de vuestros pecados, que no permiten que Dios se os manifieste. ~ Dante Alighieri,

539:We climbed, he first and I behind, until though a small round opening ahead of us, I saw the lovely things the heavens hold, and we came out to see once more the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

540:Love, that allows no loved one to be excused from loving, seized me so fiercely with desire for him, it still will not leave me, as you can see. Love led us to one death. ~ Dante Alighieri,

541:Love, which absolves no one beloved from loving, seized me so strongly with his charm that, as you see, it has not left me yet. Love brought us to one death. ~ Dante Alighieri,

542:And of that second kingdom will I sing Wherein the human spirit doth purge itself, And to ascend to heaven becometh worthy.” -Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Canto I.004-006. ~ Sylvain Reynard,

543:Fame is not won on downy plumes nor under canopies; the man who consumes his days without obtaining it leaves such mark of himself on earth as smoke in air or foam on water. ~ Dante Alighieri,

544:Whoso laments, that we must doff this garb Of frail mortality, thenceforth to live Immortally above, he hath not seen The sweet refreshing, of that heav’nly shower. ~ Dante Alighieri,

545:And all the while one spirit uttered this, The other one did weep so, that, for pity, I swooned away as if I had been dying, And fell, even as a dead body falls. ~ Dante Alighieri,

546:I see that you believe these things because I tell you them; but you do not know the reason for them and therefore, in spite of being believed, their meaning is still hidden. ~ Dante Alighieri,

547:As little flowers, which the chill of night has bent and huddled, when the white sun strikes, grow straight and open fully on their stems, so did I, too, with my exhausted force. ~ Dante Alighieri,

548:I saw a point that shone with light so keen, the eye that sees it cannot bear its blazing; the star that is for us the smallest one would seem a moon if placed beside this point. ~ Dante Alighieri,

549:Master,” I said, “when the great clarion fades into the voice of thundering Omniscience, what of these agonies? Will they be the same, or more, or less, after the final sentence? ~ Dante Alighieri,

550:your soul has been assailed by cowardice, which often weighs so heavily on a man-- distracting him from honorable trials-- as phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. ~ Dante Alighieri,

551:You learn by trying, making mistakes, correcting and trying again and again until your reach the desired goal, which is rarely without effort, but is rather a reward for hard work. ~ Dante Alighieri,

552:Here powers failed my high imagination: But by now my desire and will were turned, Like a balanced wheel rotated evenly, By the Love that moves the sun and the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

553:Like the lark that soars in the air, first singing, then silent, content with the last sweetness that satiates it, such seemed to me that image, the imprint of the Eternal Pleasure. ~ Dante Alighieri,

554:So that the Universe felt love, by which, as somebelieve, the world has many times been turned to chaos. And at that moment this ancient rock, here and elsewhere, fell broken into pieces. ~ Dante Alighieri,

555:La Vita Nuova In that book which is My memory . . . On the first page That is the chapter when I first met you Appear the words . . . Here begins a new life ~ Dante Alighieri,

556:should it occur again, as we walk on, that we find ourselves where others of this crew fall into such petty wrangling and upbraiding. The wish to hear such baseness is degrading. ~ Dante Alighieri,

557:God's greatest gift to man In all the bounty He was moved to make Throughout creation-the one gift the most Close to his goodness and the one He calls Most precious-is free will. ~ Dante Alighieri,

558:In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost. —DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy: Canto I (Carlyle-Wicksteed Translation, 1932) ~ Erik Larson,

559:Salvation must grow out of understanding, total understanding can follow only from total experience, and experience must be won by the laborious discipline of shaping one’s absolute attention. ~ Dante Alighieri,

560:The man who lies asleep will never waken fame, and his desire and all his life drift past him like a dream, and the traces of his memory fade from time like smoke in air, or ripples on a stream. ~ Dante Alighieri,

561:If you, free as you are of every weight had stayed below, then that would be as strange as living flame on earth remaining still." And then she turned her gaze up toward the heavens. ~ Dante Alighieri,

562:Hypocrites - they wear gorgeous cloaks lined with lead; pretty outside, awful inside; heavy cloaks force them to behave sedately, although seething within; cloak true character in false appearance. ~ Dante Alighieri,

563:The purpose of the whole [the Comedy] and of this portion [the Paradiso] is to remove those who are living in this life from the state of wretchedness, and to lead them to the state of blessedness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

564:So that the Universe felt love, by which, as somebelieve, the world has many times been turned to chaos. And at that moment this ancient rock, here and elsewhere, fell broken into pieces. ~ Dante Alighieri,

565:106. A GREAT CITADEL The most likely allegory is that the Citadel represents philosophy (that is, human reason without the light of God) surrounded by seven walls which represent the seven liberal arts, ~ Dante Alighieri,

566:From one point of view it is an appeal to future ages from Florentine injustice and ingratitude; from another, it is a long and passionate plea with his native town to shake her in her stubborn cruelty. ~ Dante Alighieri,

567:Hijo ahora mira las almas de aquellos a quienes venció la ira: y quiero que por cierto creas, que bajo el agua hay gente que suspira, y borbotean esta agua que está arriba, como el ojo te dice, a donde gire. ~ Dante Alighieri,

568:    I saw there, on that threshold – framed – more than a thousand who had rained from Heaven. Spitting in wrath. ‘Who’s that,’ they hissed, ‘who, yet undead,  85         travels the kingdom of the truly dead? ~ Dante Alighieri,

569:El día se marchaba, el aire oscuro a los seres que habitan en la tierra quitaba sus fatigas; y yo sólo 3   me disponía a sostener la guerra, contra el camino y contra el sufrimiento que sin errar evocará mi mente. ~ Dante Alighieri,

570:Lying in a featherbed will bring you no fame, nor staying beneath the quilt, and he who uses up his life without achieving fame leaves no more vestige of himself on Earth than smoke in the air or foam upon the water. ~ Dante Alighieri,

571:They had their faces twisted toward their haunches and found it necessary to walk backward, because they could not see ahead of them. ...And since he wanted so to see ahead, he looks behind and walks a backward path. ~ Dante Alighieri,

572:Lying in a featherbed will not bring you fame, nor staying beneath the quilt, and he who uses up his life without achieving fame leaves no more vestige of himself on earth than smoke in the air or foam upon the water. ~ Dante Alighieri,

573:This the Master said; and he turned me around Himself, and not trusting my own hands, He covered my eyes with his own.   For those of you who are educated, understand the hidden meaning Of the strange words that follow! ~ Dante Alighieri,

574:Those things that have the power to hurt are to be feared: not those other things that are not fearful. I am made such, by God’s grace, that your suffering does not touch me, nor does the fire of this burning scorch me. ~ Dante Alighieri,

575:Here my powers rest from their high fantasy, but already I could feel my being turned- instinct and intellect balanced equally. as in a wheel whose motion nothing jars- by the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

576:Be like a solid tower whose brave height remains unmoved by all the winds that blow; the man who lets his thoughts be turned aside by one thing or another, will lose sight of his true goal, his mind sapped of its strength. ~ Dante Alighieri,

577:They have no hope of death, and their darkened life is so mean that they are envious of every other fate. Earth allows no mention of them to exist: mercy and justice reject them: let us not talk of them, but look and pass. ~ Dante Alighieri,

578:Be like a solid tower whose brave height remains unmoved by all the winds that blow; the man who lets his thoughts be turned aside by one thing or another, will lose sight of his true goal, his mind sapped of its strength. ~ Dante Alighieri,

579:Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their minds. ~ Dante Alighieri,

580:Unity in wills cannot be unless there is one will dominating and ruling all the rest to oneness... wills of mortals have need of a directive principle... therefore for the well-being of the world, there should be a monarchy. ~ Dante Alighieri,

581:Como al irse la niebla disipando, la vista reconoce poco a poco lo que esconde el vapor que arrastra el aire, 36   así horadando el aura espesa y negra, más y más acercándonos al borde, se iba el error y el miedo me crecía; 39 ~ Dante Alighieri,

582:Keď zhrnú kocky, keď už skončia zaru, porazený sám dumá o pohrome a skúma vrh, čo bol by viedol k zdaru ‒ no celý dav i ďalej s víťazom je: ten odzadu, ten spredu sa naň tíska a ten sa zboku dáva na vedomie. ~ Dante Alighieri,

583:Žiaľ, krv som mal tak vrelo závistlivú, že u blížneho radosť nepatrná zmenila mi tvár na sinú, až sivú. Takúto slamu z takého žnem zrna. Ó, ľudský rod, že upínaš sa k tomu, v čom spoločník sa s láskou nezahŕňa! ~ Dante Alighieri,

584:Lo maggior don che Dio per sua larghezza fesse creando, e a la sua bontate più conformato, e quel ch'e' più apprezza, fu de la volontà la libertate; di che le creature intelligenti, e tutte e sole, fuore e son dotate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

585:FIRST CIRCLE. Here they find the VIRTUOUS PAGANS. They were born without the light of Christ’s revelation, and, therefore, they cannot come into the light of God, but they are not tormented. Their only pain is that they have no hope. ~ Dante Alighieri,

586:In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost. Ah, how hard a thing it is to tell what a wild, and rough, and stubborn wood this was, which in my thought renews the fear! ~ Dante Alighieri,

587:Precum prin aer pe-aripi nemișcate, iau două turturele-alături sbor de-acelaș dor spre cuibul drag purtate, așa și ei, dintr-al Didonei cor veneau prin noaptea ce-o frământă vântul; atât cu ruga-nvinsei vrerea lor. ~ Dante Alighieri,

588:Al tornar de la mente, che si chiuse dinanzi a la pietà d'i due cognati, che di trestizia tutto mi confuse, novi tormenti e novi tormentati mi veggio intorno, come ch'io mi mova e ch'io mi volga, e come che io guati. ~ Dante Alighieri,

589:And following its path, we took no care To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-- so far, Through a round aperture I saw appear Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears, Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

590:S'i' credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria sanza più scosse; ma però che già mai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, sanza tema d'infamia ti rispondo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

591:Zákony sú, no kto sa ich chce chopiť? Nik, lebo pastier prežúva si vpredu, ale sám nemá rozštiepených kopýt. A ľudia, zrúc, že ten, kto vedie čriedu, mieri len k dobrám, po nich sami bažia ‒ sa k inej paši sami nepovedú! ~ Dante Alighieri,

592:As flowerlets drooped and puckered in the night turn up to the returning sun and spread their petals wide on his new warmth and light-just so my wilted spirits rose again and such a heat of zeal surged through my veins that I was born anew. ~ Dante Alighieri,

593:If i thought i was replying to someone who would every return to the world, this flame would cease it's flickering. But since no one has returned from these depths alive, if what I've heard is true, I will answer you without fear of infamy. ~ Dante Alighieri,

594:Poi s'appiccar, come di calda cera fossero stati, e mischiar lor colore, né l'un né l'altro già parea quel ch'era: come procede innanzi da l'ardore, per lo papiro suso, un color bruno che non è nero ancora e 'l bianco more. ~ Dante Alighieri,

595:I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightfoward pathway had been lost. Ah me! How hard a thing is to say, what was this forest savage, rough, and stern, which in the very thought renews the fear. So bitter is it, death is little more. ~ Dante Alighieri,

596:The ghost of the generous poet replied: ‘If I have understood your words correctly, your spirit is attacked by cowardly fear, that often weighs men down, so that it deflects them from honourable action, like a creature seeing phantoms in the dusk. ~ Dante Alighieri,

597:To course across more kindly waters now my talent's little vessel lifts her sails, leaving behind herself a sea so cruel; and what I sing will be that second kingdom, in which the human soul is cleansed of sin, becoming worthy of ascent to Heaven. ~ Dante Alighieri,

598:And just as he who unwills what he wills and shifts what he intends to seek new ends so that he’s drawn from what he had begun, so was I in the midst of that dark land, because, with all my thinking, I annulled the task I had so quickly undertaken. ~ Dante Alighieri,

599:Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro, che s’accoglieva nel sereno aspetto del mezzo, puro infino al primo giro, a li occhi miei ricominciò diletto, tosto ch’io usci’ fuor de l’aura morta che m’avea contristati li occhi e ‘l petto. ~ Dante Alighieri,

600:I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightfoward pathway had been lost. Ah me! How hard a thing is to say, what was this forest savage, rough, and stern, which in the very thought renews the fear. So bitter is it, death is little more... ~ Dante Alighieri,

601:Life is a " vale of tears" a period of trial and suffering, an unpleasant but necessary preparation for the afterlife where alone man could expect to enjoy happiness - Archibald T. MacAllister (The Inferno; Dante Alighieri translated by John Ciardi) ~ Dante Alighieri,

602:And my Guide to me: “He will not wake again until the angel trumpet sounds the day on which the host shall come to judge all men.   Then shall each soul before the seat of Mercy return to its sad grave and flesh and form to hear the edict of Eternity. ~ Dante Alighieri,

603:He whom you see-along the downward arc- was William, and the land that mourns his death, for living Charles and Frederick, now laments; now he has learned how Heaven loves the just ruler, and he would show this outwardly as well, so radiantly visible. ~ Dante Alighieri,

604:«Omai convien che tu così ti spoltre», disse ’l maestro; «ché, seggendo in piuma, in fama non si vien, né sotto coltre; sanza la qual chi sua vita consuma, cotal vestigio in terra di sé lascia, qual fummo in aere e in acqua la schiuma.» ~ Dante Alighieri,

605:Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? Why doth your mind take such exalted pose, Since ye, disabled, are as insects, mean As worm which never transformation knows? ~ Dante Alighieri,

606:The greatest gift that God in His bounty made in creation, and the most conformable to His goodness, and that which He prizes the most, was the freedom of will, with which the creatures with intelligence, they all and they alone, were and are endowed. ~ Dante Alighieri,

607:They lived before the Christian age began. They paid no reverence, as was due to God. And in this number I myself am one.  40         For such deficiencies, no other crime, we all are lost yet only suffer harm through living in desire, but hopelessly. ~ Dante Alighieri,

608:Well do I see how the Eternal Ray, which, once seen, kindles love forevermore, already shines on you. If on your way some other thing seduce your love, my brother, it can only be a trace, misunderstood, of this, which you see shining through the other. ~ Dante Alighieri,

609:And just as he who, with exhausted breath, having escaped from sea to shore, turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit, so did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man survive. ~ Dante Alighieri,

610:Madness it is to hope that human minds can ever understand the Infinite that comprehends Three Persons in One Being. Be satisfied with quia unexplained, O Human race! If you knew everything, no need for Mary to have borne a son. ~ Dante Alighieri,

611:While the everlasting pleasure, that did full On Beatrice shine, with second view From her fair countenance my gladden'd soul Contented; vanquishing me with a beam Of her soft smile, she spake: "Turn thee, and list. These eyes are not thy only Paradise. ~ Dante Alighieri,

612:Quanti si tegnon or là sù gran regi che qui staranno come porci in brago, di sé lasciando orribili dispregi! Combien se prennent là-haut pour de grands rois, qui seront ici comme porcs dans l'ordure, laissant de soi un horrible mépris. ~ Dante Alighieri,

613:...ma gia volgena il mio disio e'l velle si come rota ch'igualmente e mossa, l'amor che move: i sole e l'altre stelle ...as a wheel turns smoothtly, free from jars, my will and my desire were turned by love, The love that moves the sun and the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

614:And just as he who, with exhausted breath, having escaped from sea to shore, turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit, so did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man survive. ~ Dante Alighieri,

615:Insensato es el que espera que nuestra razón pueda recorrer las infinitas vías de que dispone el que es una Sustancia en tres Personas. Seres humanos, contentaos con el «quia»17, pues si os fuera dable verlo todo, no habría sido necesario que pariese María. ~ Dante Alighieri,

616:put back all sorrow from your mind; 145 and never forget that I am always by you should it occur again, as we walk on, that we find ourselves where others of this crew fall to such petty wrangling and upbraiding. The wish to hear such baseness is degrading. ~ Dante Alighieri,

617:As one who sees in dreams and wakes to find the emotional impression of his vision still powerful while its parts fade from his mind - Just such am I, having lost nearly all the vision itself, while in my heart I feel the sweetness of it yet distill and fall. ~ Dante Alighieri,

618:O power of fantasy that steals our minds from things outside, to leave us unaware, although a thousand trumpets may blow loud--what stirs you if the senses show you nothing? Light stirs you, formed in Heaven, by itself, or by His will Who sends it down to us. ~ Dante Alighieri,

619:Within her presence, I had once been used to feeling-trembling-wonder, dissolution; but that was long ago. Still, though my soul, now she was veiled, could not see her directly, by way of hidden force that she could move, I felt the mighty power of old love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

620:Noi siam venuti al loco ov'i' t'ho detto che tu vedrai le genti dolorose c'hanno perduto il ben de l'intelletto. We to the place have come, where I have told thee Thou shalt behold the people dolorous Who have foregone the good of intellect. ~ Dante Alighieri,

621:Those ancients who in poetry presented the golden age, who sang its happy state, perhaps, in their Parnassus, dreamt this place. Here, mankind's root was innocent; and here were every fruit and never-ending spring; these streams--the nectar of which poets sing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

622:Hence we may overthrow the error of those who think to form the moral character of others by speaking well and doing ill; forgetting that the hands of Jacob were more persuasive with his father than his words, though his hands deceived and his voice spake truth. ~ Dante Alighieri,

623:ma gia volgena il mio disio e'l velle si come rota ch'igualmente e mossa, l'amor che move: i sole e l'altre stelle ...as a wheel turns smoothtly, free from jars, my will and my desire were turned by love, The love that moves the sun and the other stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

624:This beast, at which thou criest out, Suffers not any one to pass her way But so doth harass him, that she destroys him; And has a nature so malign and ruthless That never doth she glut her greedy will, And after food is hungrier than before. ~ Dante Alighieri,

625:To course across more kindly waters now my talent's little vessel lifts her sails, leaving behind herself a sea so cruel; and what I sing will be that second kingdom, in which the human soul is cleansed of sin, becoming worthy of ascent to Heaven. ~ Dante Alighieri,

626:O you proud Christians, wretched souls and small,/ Who by the dim lights of your twisted minds/ Believe you prosper even as you fall,/ Can you not see that we are worms, each one/ Born to become the angelic butterfly/ That flies defenseless to the Judgement Throne? ~ Dante Alighieri,

627:Farinata and Tegghiaio, men of good blood, Jacopo Rusticucci, Arrigo, Mosca, and the others who set their hearts on doing good—   where are they now whose high deeds might be-gem the crown of kings? I long to know their fate. Does Heaven soothe or Hell envenom them? ~ Dante Alighieri,

628:Fatto v'avete dio d'oro e d'argento ; e che altro è da voi a l'idolatre, se non ch'elli uno, e voi ne orate cento ? Vous vous êtes fait un dieu d'or et d'argent ; en quoi différez-vous de l'idolâtre, sinon qu'il en prie un, et vous en priez cent ? ~ Dante Alighieri,

629:Perceive ye not that we are worms, designed To form the angelic butterfly, that goes To judgment, leaving all defence behind? Why doth your mind take such exalted pose, Since ye, disabled, are as insects, mean As worm which never transformation knows? ~ Dante Alighieri,

630:all flee from virtue as if it were a snake, an enemy to all, whether some curse is on the place or evil habits goad them on, 'and those who live in that unhappy valley are so altered in their nature it is as though Circe were grazing them at pasture. ~ Dante Alighieri,

631:All Being within this order, by the laws of its own nature is impelled to find its proper station round its Primal Cause. Thus every nature moves across the tide of the great sea of being to its own port, each with its given instinct as its guide. ~ Dante Alighieri,

632:There he died; and as thou seest me, saw I the three fall one by one, between the fifth day and the sixth: whence I betook me, already blind, to groping over each, and for three days called them, after they were dead; then fasting had more power than grief. ~ Dante Alighieri,

633:Soft as the early morning breeze of May, which heralds dawn, rich with the grass and flowers, spreading in waves their breathing fragrances, I felt a breeze strike soft upon my brow: I felt a wing caress it, I am sure, I sensed the sweetness of ambrosia. ~ Dante Alighieri,

634:Within her presence, I had once been used to feeling—trembling—wonder, dissolution; but that was long ago. Still, though my soul, now she was veiled, could not see her directly, by way of hidden force that she could move, I felt the mighty power of old love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

635:He, in his love songs, and his tales in prose, was without peer--and if fools claim Limoges produced a better, there are always those who measure worth by popular acclaim, ignoring principles of art and reason to base their judgments on the author's name. ~ Dante Alighieri,

636:I menšia hanba, ako bola tvoja" učitel riekol:" väčšiu vinu zhladí, a preto zbav sa svojho nepokoja. No vedz, že duch môj na teba vždy hľadí, ak Fortúna ťa v také hryzoviská privedie zas, kde ľudia majú zvady: bo chcieť to čuť - je ozaj túžba nízka! ~ Dante Alighieri,

637:Those ancients who in poetry presented the golden age, who sang its happy state, perhaps, in their Parnassus, dreamt this place. Here, mankind's root was innocent; and here were every fruit and never-ending spring; these streams--the nectar of which poets sing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

638:Put off this sloth,' the master said, 'for shame! Sitting on feather-pillows, lying reclined Beneath the blanket is no way to fame - Fame, without which man's life wastes out of mind, Leaving on earth no more memorial Than foam in water or smoke upon the wind ~ Dante Alighieri,

639:The infernal storm, eternal in its rage, sweeps and drives the spirits with its blast; it whirls them, lashing them with punishment. When they are swept back past their place of judgment then come the shrieks, laments, and anguished cries; there they blaspheme God's almighty power. ~ Dante Alighieri,

640:Era ya la hora en que se enternece el corazón de los navegantes y renace su deseo de abrazar a los caros amigos de quienes el mismo día se han despedido y en que el viajero recién partido se compunge de amor si oye a lo lejos una campana que parezca plañir al moribundo día. ~ Dante Alighieri,

641:When any of our faculties retains a strong impression of delight or pain, the soul will wholly concentrate on that, neglecting any other power it has; and thus, when something seen or heard secures the soul in stringent grip, time moves and yet we do not notice it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

642:y vi detrás de nosotros un diablo negro venir corriendo por el puente. ¡Ay! ¡Cuán fiero era su aspecto! ¡Y qué ademanes traía acerbos, extendidas las alas y el pie ligero! Su hombro, puntiagudo y soberbio, cargaba un pecador a horcajadas, al que tenía por el pie agarrado del jarrete. ~ Dante Alighieri,

643:As in the autumn-time the leaves fall off, First one and then another, till the branch Surrenders all its spoils to the earth;   In similar fashion did these evil seeds of Adam throw Themselves from the group, one by one, into the boat At Charon's signal, as a bird is called to its lure. ~ Dante Alighieri,

644:As one who wills, and then unwills his will, Changing his mind with every changing whim, Till all his best intentions come to nil, So I stood havering in that moorland dim, While through fond rifts of fancy oozed away The first quick zest that filled me to the brim. ~ Dante Alighieri,

645:all flee from virtue as if it were a snake, an enemy to all, whether some curse is on the place or evil habits goad them on, 'and those who live in that unhappy valley are so altered in their nature it is as though Circe were grazing them at pasture." Canto XV, 67-75 ~ Dante Alighieri,

646:In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit Vita Nova. Under such rubric I find written many things; and among them the words which I purpose to copy into this little book; if not all of them, at the least their substance. ~ Dante Alighieri,

647:He woke her then, and trembling and obedient, she ate that burning heart out of his hand. Weeping, I saw him then depart from me. Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her? Find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight, and ache for him? ~ Dante Alighieri,

648:Tenho por irmãos os criadores da consciência do mundo - o dramaturgo atabalhoado W. Shakespeare, o mestre-escola J. Milton, o vadio Dante Alighieri, e, até, se a citação se permite, aquele Jesus Cristo que não foi nada no mundo... O que escrevo hoje é muito melhor do que o poderiam escrever os melhores. ~ Fernando Pessoa,

649:The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and being hindered by certain wild beasts from ascending a mountain, is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory; and that he shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He follows the Roman Poet. ~ Dante Alighieri,

650:Imagination, there on high— To high to breathe free, after such a climb— Had lost its power; but now, just like a wheel That spins so evenly it measures time By space, the deepest wish that I could feel And all my will, were turning with the love That moves the sun and all the stars above. ~ Dante Alighieri,

651:On the other side sit we — the errand boy from around the corner, the unruly playwright William Shakespeare, the barber who tells stories, the schoolmaster John Milton, the shop assistant, the vagabond Dante Alighieri, those whom death either forgets or consecrates and whom life forgot and never consecrated. ~ Fernando Pessoa,

652:Through me is the way into the doleful city; through me the way into the eternal pain; through me the way among the people lost. Justice moved my High Maker; Divine Power made me, Wisdom Supreme, and Primal Love. Before me were no things created, but eternal; and eternal I endure: leave all hope, ye that enter. ~ Dante Alighieri,

653:To get back up to the shining world from there My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel, And Following its path, we took no care To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-so far, through a round aperture I saw appear Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears, Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

654:The hope is that here, as in other respects, the reader is invited into a critical and collaborative venture, seeing what Dante sees and constructing along with him (as he himself asks his reader to do, for instance, in Paradiso 13: 1–18) the relationships that define us humans in our own participation in existence. ~ Dante Alighieri,

655:Dante cuts short his excursion and returns to find Virgil mounted on the back of Geryon. Dante joins his Master and they fly down from the great cliff. Their flight carries them from the Hell of the VIOLENT AND THE BESTIAL (The Sins of the Lion) into the Hell of the FRAUDULENT AND MALICIOUS (The Sins of the Leopard). ~ Dante Alighieri,

656:Dear Reader, Dante Alighieri said, in his Inferno:   "Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.” Dante lied.   Our fate must be worked for.  It must be paid for.  With tears.  With blood.  With everything we have.  And it is not until the end,  the very end,  that we will know if it was worth it. ~ Courtney Cole,

657:I say that when she appeared, in whatever place, by the hope embodied in that marvelous greeting, for me no enemy remained, in fact I shone with a flame of charity that made me grant pardon to whoever had offended me: and if anyone had then asked me anything my reply would only have been: ‘Love’, with an aspect full of humility. ~ Dante Alighieri,

658:​Per me si va ne la città dolente, Per me si va ne l'etterno dolore, Per me si va tra la perduta gente. Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore: Fecemi la divina potestate La somma sapienza e'l primo amore Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create se non etterne, e io etterno duro. Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'intrate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

659:,,Ten vir-var neustály prenasleduje biednych pozemšťanov, čo žili hore bez hany i chvály. Sú spolu s podlým zborom nebešťanov, čo proti Bohu nešli do zápasu, no ani s ním' lež sami stáli stranou' Nebesá nechcú stratiť pri nich z jasu, a pekla dno čuť nechce o bedači, pri ktorej hriech by získal istú krásu.', ~ Dante Alighieri,

660:There sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that at first it made me weep; strange tongues, horrible language, words of pain, tones of anger, voices loud and hoarse, and with these the sound of hands, made a tumult which is whirling through that air forever dark, and sand eddies in a whirlwind. ~ Dante Alighieri,

661:When he saw me weeping, he answered: ‘You must go another road, if you wish to escape this savage place. This creature, that distresses you, allows no man to cross her path, but obstructs him, to destroy him, and she has so vicious and perverse a nature, that she never sates her greedy appetite, and after food is hungrier than before. ~ Dante Alighieri,

662:O how far remov'd, Predestination! is thy foot from such As see not the First Cause entire: and ye, O mortal men! be wary how ye judge: For we, who see the Maker, know not yet The number of the chosen; and esteem Such scantiness of knowledge our delight: For all good is, in that primal good, Concentrate; and God's will and ours are one. ~ Dante Alighieri,

663:To get back up to the shining world from there My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel, And Following its path, we took no care To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-so far, through a round aperture I saw appear Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears, Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

664:Through me the way into the grieving city, Through me the way into eternal sorrow, Through me the way among the lost people. Justice moved my high maker; Divine power made me, Highest wisdom and primal love. Before me were no things created Except eternal ones, and I endure eternal. Abandon every hope, you who enter. ~ Dante Alighieri,

665:THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY, THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN, THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST. JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER; MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY, THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE. BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY. ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE. ~ Dante Alighieri,

666:Through me the way into the suffering city, Through me the way to the eternal pain, Through me the way that runs among the lost. Justice urged on my high artificer; My maker was divine authority, The highest wisdom, and the primal love. Before me nothing but eternal things were made, And I endure eternally. Abandon every hope, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

667:Lo giorno se n’andava, e l’aere bruno toglieva li animai che sono in terra da le fatiche loro; e io sol uno m’apparecchiava a sostener la guerra sì del cammino e sì de la pietate, che ritrarrà la mente che non erra. O muse, o alto ingegno, or m’aiutate; o mente che scrivesti ciò ch’io vidi, qui si parrà la tua nobilitate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

668:There are souls beneath that water. Fixed in slimethey speak their piece, end it, and start again:'Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun;in the glory of his shining our hearts poureda bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun;sullen we lie forever in this ditch.'This litany they gargle in their throatsas if they sand, but lacked the words and pitch. ~ Dante Alighieri,

669:Se mai continga che 'l poema sacro al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, sì che m'ha fatto per molti anni macro, vinca la crudeltà che fuor mi serra del bello ovile ov'io dormi' agnello, nimico ai lupi che li danno guerra; con altra voce omai, con altro vello ritornerò poeta, e in sul fonte del mio battesmo prenderò 'l cappello ~ Dante Alighieri,

670:Lenivosti sa teraz zbaviť treba," riekol môj vodca, "sotva dôjdu slávy, čo na perí sa mäkko uvelebia. A ten, kto bez nej márny život strávi, len takú stopu nechá v svete celom jak v dielke dym a pena v prúde riavy, A preto vstaň a slabost svoju prelom so silou duch, ktorý všetko zdolá, ak neklesne pod svojím ťažkým telom. ~ Dante Alighieri,

671:F. CARY, M.A. HELL OR THE INFERNO Part 3. LIST OF CANTOS Canto 5 Canto 6 CANTO V FROM the first circle I descended thus Down to the second, which, a lesser space Embracing, so much more of grief contains Provoking bitter moans.  There, Minos stands Grinning with ghastly feature: he, of all Who enter, strict examining the crimes, ~ Dante Alighieri,

672:She asked me why I never came, said she had heard all sorts of stories about me. This was only to gain time. Asked me, was I writing poems? About whom? I asked her. This confused her more and I felt sorry and mean. Turned off that valve at once and opened the spiritual-heroic refrigerating apparatus, invented and patented in all countries by Dante Alighieri... ~ James Joyce,

673:I am the way into the city of woe, I am the way into eternal pain, I am the way to go among the lost. Justice caused my high architect to move, Divine omnipotence created me, The highest wisdom, and the primal love. Before me there were no created things But those that last forever—as do I. Abandon all hope you who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

674:Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

675:Turn around, and keep your eyes closed shut, For if the Gorgon, Medusa, does appear, and you see her, You would never be able to return upward."   This the Master said; and he turned me around Himself, and not trusting my own hands, He covered my eyes with his own.   For those of you who are educated, understand the hidden meaning Of the strange words that follow! ~ Dante Alighieri,

676:Virgil, ești tu? Fântâna ești, al cării torent - îi zisei cu rușine-acum- bogat pornit-a fluviul cuvântării? tu marea faclă-n veci pe-al artei drum! deci fie-mi de-ajutor iubirea vie și studiul lung în dulcele-ți volum. Părinte-mi ești, maestru-mi ești tu mie, tu singur ești acel ce-a dat o viață frumosului meu stil ce-mi e mândrie. ~ Dante Alighieri,

677:Through me is the way to the city of woe. Through me is the way to sorrow eternal. Through me is the way to the lost below. Justice moved my architect supernal. I was constructed by divine power, supreme wisdom, and love primordial. Before me no created things were. Save those eternal, and eternal I abide. Abandon all hope, you who enter. ~ Dante Alighieri,

678:All those who perish in the wrath of God   Here meet together out of every land; And ready are they to pass o'er the river,   Because celestial Justice spurs them on,   So that their fear is turned into desire. This way there never passes a good soul;   And hence if Charon doth complain of thee,   Well mayst thou know now what his speech imports. ~ Dante Alighieri,

679:Ahora es preciso que desheches la pereza; que no se alcanza la fama reclinado en blanda pluma ni al abrigo de colchas; y el que consume su vida sin gloria, deja en pos de sí el mismo rastro que el humo en el aire o la espuima en el agua. Ea, pues, levántate; domina la fatiga con el alma, que vence todos los obstáculos mientras no se envilece con la pesadez del cuerpo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

680:Gonindu-ne-o prin cetăți închise din loc în loc, va-mpinge-o-n Iad de veci, de unde-ntâi invidia ne-o trimise. Spre-a ta scăpare cred și judec deci să-ți fiu conducător, și te voi scoate de-aici, făcând prin loc etern să treci, s-auzi cum urlă desperate gloate, să vezi și-antice duhuri osândite, ce-a doua moarte-a lor și-o strigă toate. ~ Dante Alighieri,

681:Through me you go to the grief wracked city; Through me you go to everlasting pain; Through me you go a pass among lost souls. Justice inspired my exalted Creator: I am a creature of the Holiest Power, of Wisdom in the Highest and of Primal Love. Nothing till I was made was made, only eternal beings. And I endure eternally. Surrender as you enter, every hope you have. ~ Dante Alighieri,

682:If anyone should want to know my name, I am called Leah. And I spend all my time weaving garlands of flowers with my fair hands, t o please me when I stand before the mirror; my sister Rachel sits all the day long before her own, and never moves away. She loves to contemplate her lovely eyes; I love to use my hands to adorn myself: her joy is in reflection, mine in act. ~ Dante Alighieri,

683:"The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul the way light rushes into a transparent object. The more love that it finds, the more it gives itself: so that, as we grow clear and open, the more complete the joy of heaven is. And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love, and, mirror like, each soul reflects the other. ~ Dante Alighieri,

684:My guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightless road to ascend into the shining world again. He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the Stars. ~ Dante Alighieri,

685:That infinite and indescribable good which is there above races as swiftly to love as a ray of light to a bright body.It gives of itself according to the ardor it finds, so that as charity spreads farther the eternal good increases upon it,and the more souls there are who love, up there, the more there are to love well, and the more love they reflect to each other, as in a mirror. ~ Dante Alighieri,

686:Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. ~ Dante Alighieri,

687:There are souls beneath that water. Fixed in slime they speak their piece, end it, and start again: 'Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun; in the glory of his shining our hearts poured a bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun; sullen we lie forever in this ditch.' This litany they gargle in their throats as if they sand, but lacked the words and pitch. ~ Dante Alighieri,

688:Todos están llenos de espíritus malditos: Pero para que después te baste la vista , entiende cómo y porqué están así circunscritos. De toda maldad que al odio el cielo excita la injuria es el fin, y todo tal propósito con fuerza o con fraude a otro contrista. Mas como defraudar es propio mal del hombre, más desplace a Dios: por eso más abajo están los fraudulentos, y mayor dolor los acosa. ~ Dante Alighieri,

689:Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. How hard it is to tell what it was like, this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn (the thought of it brings back all my old fears), a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer. But if I would show the good that came of it I must talk about things other than the good. ~ Dante Alighieri,

690:My guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightless road to ascend into the shining world again. He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest. And beauteous shining of the heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the stars. ~ Dante Alighieri, Inferno,

691:O grace abounding and allowing me to dare to fix my gaze on the Eternal Light, so deep my vision was consumed in it! I saw how it contains within its depths all things bound in a single book by love of which creation is the scattered leaves: how substance, accident, and their relation were fused in such a way that what I now describe is but a glimmer of that Light. ~ Dante Alighieri,

692:What is it that had caught your interest so and makes you lag behind?' My master [Virgil] asked, 'What do you care of they are whispering? Keep up with mr and let those people talk! Be like a solid tower, whose brave height remains unmoved by the winds that blow: the man who lets his thoughts be turned aside by one thing or another will lose sight of his true goal, his mind sapped of it's strength. ~ Dante Alighieri,

693:The mind which is created quick to love, is responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon as by pleasure it is awakened into activity. Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression from a real object, and unfolds it within you, so that it makes the mind turn thereto. And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that inclination is love; that is nature, which through pleasure is bound anew within you. ~ Dante Alighieri,

694:I saw—no, I think the word is beheld—the most wondrous thing in the world. This church was indescribably complex and harmonious; it was like stepping into the mind of God. I was overcome by the desire to worship—a feeling I would not see as adequately articulated until many years later, when I would read Dante Alighieri’s description, in his first book, Vita nuova, of the first time he, as a child, saw Beatrice: ~ Rod Dreher,

695:Un hombre que se enamora es siempre un imbécil elevado al cubo. Cuando se tratra de un individuo genial, ese individuo escribe La Divina Comedia (caso Dante Alighieri) y le amarga la vida para siempre a la humanidad. Y, por el contrario, cuando se trata de un hombre vulgar, ese hombre hace oposiciones a Hacienda, se casa en la Parroquia (caso Juan Sánchez) y se amarga la vida para siempre a sí mismo. ~ Enrique Jardiel Poncela,

696:Now had the sun to that horizon reach'd, That covers, with the most exalted point Of its meridian circle, Salem's walls; And night, that opposite to him her orb Rounds, from the stream of Ganges issued forth, Holding the scales, that from her hands are dropt When she reigns highest: so that where I was, Aurora's white and vermeil - tinctured cheek To orange turn'd as she in age increased. ~ Dante Alighieri,

697:That infinite and indescribable good which is there above races as swiftly to love as a ray of light to a bright body. It gives of itself according to the ardor it finds, so that as charity spreads farther the eternal good increases upon it, and the more souls there are who love, up there, the more there are to love well, and the more love they reflect to each other, as in a mirror. ~ Dante Alighieri,

698:A heavy thunder shattered the deep sleep in my head, so that I came to myself, like someone woken by force, and standing up, I moved my eyes, now refreshed, and looked round, steadily, to find out what place I was in. I found myself, in truth, on the brink of the valley of the sad abyss that gathers the thunder of an infinite howling. It was so dark, and deep, and clouded, that I could see nothing by staring into its depths. ~ Dante Alighieri,

699:Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. How hard it is to tell what it was like, this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn (the thought of it brings back all my old fears), a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer. But if I would show the good that came of it I must talk about things other than the good. ~ Dante Alighieri,

700:Why have you let your mind get so entwined," my master said, "that you have slowed your walk? Why should you care about what's whispered here? Come, follow me, and let these people talk: stand like a sturdy tower that does not shake its summit though the winds may blast; always the man in whom thought thrusts ahead of thought allows the goal he's set to move far off- the force of one thought saps the other's force. ~ Dante Alighieri,

701:Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. How hard it is to tell what it was like, this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn (the thought of it brings back all my old fears), a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer. But if I would show the good that came of it I must talk about things other than the good.” ― Dante Alighieri ~ Dante Alighieri,

702:Here we find the moat of thieves. And just as a lizard, with a quick, slick slither, Flicks across the highway from hedge to hedge, Fleeter than a flash, in the battering dog-day weather, A fiery little monster, livid, in a rage, Black as any peppercorn, came and made a dart At the guts of the others, and leaping to engage One of the pair, it pierced him at the part Through which we first draw food; then loosed its grip And fell before him, outstretched and apart. ~ Dante Alighieri,

703:They find seven cornices on which penitent and redeemed sinners are cleansed by the grace of God. On the first cornice, that of Pride, the proud are learning humility: Our Father, dwelling in the Heavens, nowise As circumscribed, but as the things above, Thy first effects, are dearer in Thine eyes, Hallowed Thy name be and the Power thereof, By every creature, as right meet it is We praise the tender effluence of Thy love. Let come to us, let come Thy kingdom's peace. ~ Dante Alighieri,

704:Could I have everything for which I long, You would not still endure this banishment way from human nature,” I replied. “Your image - dear, fatherly, benevolent - Being fixed inside my memory, has imbued My heart: when in the fair world, hour by hour You taught me, patiently, it was you who showed The way man makes himself eternal; therefore, The gratitude I feel toward you makes fit That while I live, I should declare it here. And what you tell me of my future, I write ~ Dante Alighieri,

705:And when he had put his hand on mine with a cheerful look, wherefrom I took courage, he brought me within to the secret things. Here sighs, laments, and deep wailings were resounding through the starless air; wherefore at first I wept thereat. Strange tongues, horrible utterances, words of woe, accents of anger, voices high and faint, and sounds of hands with them, were making a tumult which whirls always in that air forever dark, like the sand when the whirlwind breathes. ~ Dante Alighieri,

706:I affirm that gain is precisely that which comes oftener to the bad man than to the good; for illegitimate gains never come to the good at all, because they reject them. And lawful gains rarely come to the good, because, since much anxious care is needful thereto, and the anxious care of the good man is directed to weightier matters, rarely does the good man give sufficient attention thereto. Wherefore it is clear that in every way the advent of these riches is iniquitous. ~ Dante Alighieri,

707:Și ca și-acel ce nu mai vrea ce-a vrut, schimbând prin noul gând pe cele-avute, așa că lasă totul ce-a-nceput, așa și eu sub poala coastei mute gândind îmi mistuii întreaga vrere ce-ntâi, spre-a-ncepe, atât mi-a fost de iute. -De-ți prind din vorbe bine-a ta durere- răspunse umbra cea mărinimoasă- ți-e sufletul curpins de-acea scădere, ce-abate-ades de ținta sa frumoasă pe om, astfel (oprind) ca năzărirea nălucii lui pe-o bestie fricoasă. ~ Dante Alighieri,

708:And he began, "What chance or destiny has brought you here before your final day? And who is he who leads your pilgrimage?" "Up there in life beneath the quiet stars I lost my way," I answered, "in a valley, before I'd reached the fullness of my age. I turned my shoulders on it yesterday: this soul appeared as I was falling back, and by the road through Hell he leads me home." "Follow your star and you will never fail to find your glorious port," he said to me ~ Dante Alighieri,

709:And here Dante describes an evidently spherical world... "The lamp of the world [the sun] rises to mortals through different passages; but through that which joins four circles with three crosses [the position of the rising sun at the vernal equinox] it issues with a better course and conjoined with better stars, and tempers and stamps the wax of the world more after its own fashion. Although such an outlet had made morning there and evening here, and all the hemisphere there was bright, and the other dark..." ~ Dante Alighieri,

710:O you, who in some pretty boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along Turn back to look again upon your own shores; Tempt not the deep, lest unawares, In losing me, you yourselves might be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. You other few who have neck uplifted Betimes to the bread of angels upon Which one lives and does not grow sated, Well may you launch your vessel Upon the deep sea. ~ Dante Alighieri,

711:The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul the way that light rushes into a transparent object. The more love that it finds, the more it gives itself; so that, as we grow clear and open, the more complete the joy of heaven is. And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love, and, mirror-like, each soul reflects the other. [1527.jpg] -- from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell ~ Dante Alighieri, The love of God, unutterable and perfect ,

712:Now you must cast aside your laziness," my master said, "for he who rests on down or under covers cannot come to fame; and he who spends his life without renown leaves such a vestige of himself on earth as smoke bequeaths to air or foam to water. Therefore, get up; defeat your breathlessness with spirit that can win all battles if the body's heaviness does not deter it. A longer ladder still is to be climbed; it's not enough to have left them behind; if you have understood, now profit from it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

713:Amor, ch'al cor gentile ratto s'apprende prese costui de la bella persona che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende. Amor, che a nullo amato amar perdona, Mi prese del costui piacer sì forte, Che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona..." "Love, which quickly arrests the gentle heart, Seized him with my beautiful form That was taken from me, in a manner which still grieves me. Love, which pardons no beloved from loving, took me so strongly with delight in him That, as you see, it still abandons me not... ~ Dante Alighieri,

714:O virgin mother, daughter of thy Son, humble beyond all creatures and more exalted; predestined turning point of God's intention; Thy merit so ennobled human nature that its divine Creator did not scorn to make Himself the creature of His creature. The Love that was rekindled in Thy womb sends for the warmth of the eternal peace within whose ray this flower has come to bloom. Here to us, thou art the noon and scope of Love revealed; and among mortal men, the living fountain of eternal hope. ~ Dante Alighieri,

715:-Maestro, si no nos ocultas a los dos prontamente, temo a los demonios que vienen detrás de nosotros; y tan así me lo imagino, que ya me parece que los oigo. A lo que él contestó: -Si yo fuera un espejo, no verías en mi tu imagen tan pronto como veo en tu interior. En este momento se cruzaban tus pensamientos con los míos bajo la misma faz y aspecto, de suerte que he deducido de ambos un solo consejo. Si es cierto que la cuesta que hay a nuestra derecha está tan inclinada, que nos permita bajar a la sexta fosa, huiremos de la caza que imaginamos. ~ Dante Alighieri,

716:A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core Nel cui cospetto ven lo dir presente, In ciò che mi rescrivan suo parvente, Salute in lor segnor, cioè Amore. Già eran quasi che atterzate l’ore Del tempo che onne stella n’è lucente, Quando m’apparve Amor subitamente, Cui essenza membrar mi dà orrore. Allegro mi sembrava Amor tenendo Meo core in mano, e ne le braccia avea Madonna involta in un drappo dormendo. Poi la svegliava, e d’esto core ardendo Lei paventosa umilmente pascea: Appresso gir lo ne vedea piangendo. ~ Dante Alighieri,

717:And I — my head oppressed by horror — said: "Master, what is it that I hear? Who are those people so defeated by their pain?"       And he to me: "This miserable way is taken by the sorry souls of those who lived without disgrace and without praise.       They now commingle with the coward angels, the company of those who were not rebels nor faithful to their God, but stood apart.       The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened, have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them — even the wicked cannot glory in them. ~ Dante Alighieri,

718:Let them cease, then, to insult the Roman empire, who pretend that they are the sons of the Church; when they see that Christ, the bridegroom of the Church, sanctioned the Roman empire at the beginning and at the end of His warfare on earth. And now I think that I have made it sufficiently clear that it was by right that the Romans acquired to themselves the empire of the world. Oh happy people, oh Ausonia, how glorious hadst thou been, if either he, that weakener of thine empire, had never been born, or if his own pious intention had never deceived him? ~ Dante Alighieri,

719:Often it is brought home to my mind the dark quality that Love gives me, and pity moves me, so that frequently I say: ‘Alas! is anyone so afflicted?’: since Amor assails me suddenly, so that life almost abandons me: only a single spirit stays with me, and that remains because it speaks of you. I renew my strength, because I wish for help, and pale like this, all my courage drained, come to you, believing it will save me: and if I lift my eyes to gaze at you my heart begins to tremble so, that from my pulse the soul departs. ~ Dante Alighieri,

720:The outcome of all maliciousness, that Heaven hates, is harm: and every such outcome, hurts others, either by force or deceit. But because deceit is a vice peculiar to human beings, it displeases God more, and therefore the fraudulent are placed below, and more pain grieves them. The whole of the seventh circle is for the violent, but, since violence can be done to three persons, it is constructed and divided in three rings. I say violence may be done to God, or to oneself, or one’s neighbour, and their person or possessions, as you will hear, in clear discourse. ~ Dante Alighieri,

721:O you, who in some pretty boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along Turn back to look again upon your own shores; Tempt not the deep, lest unawares, In losing me, you yourselves might be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. You other few who have neck uplifted Betimes to the bread of angels upon Which one lives and does not grow sated, Well may you launch your vessel Upon the deep sea. ~ Dante Alighieri,

722:Lo vostro fermo dir fino ed orrato approva ben ciò bon ch’om di voi parla, ed ancor più, ch’ogni uom fora gravato di vostra loda intera nominarla; che ’l vostro pregio in tal loco è poggiato, che propiamente om nol poria contarla: però qual vera loda al vostro stato crede parlando dar, dico disparla. Dite ch’amare e non essere amato ene lo dol che più d’Amore dole, e manti dicon che più v’ha dol maggio: onde umil prego non vi sia disgrato vostro saver che chiari ancor, se vole, se ’l vero, o no, di ciò mi mostra saggio. ~ Dante Alighieri,

723:Let A be the Church, B the Empire, and C the power or authority of the Empire. If, A being non-existent, C is in B, the cause of C’s relation to B cannot be A, since it is impossible that an effect should exist prior to its cause. Moreover, if, A being inoperative, C is in B, the cause of C’s relation to B cannot be A, since it is indispensable for the production of effect that the cause should be in operation previously, especially the efficient cause which we are considering here. CHAPTER XIII The Authority Of The Church Is Not The Source Of Imperial Authority. ~ Dante Alighieri,

724:My lady looks so gentle and so pure When yielding salutation by the way, That the tongue trembles and has nought to say, And the eyes, which fain would see, may not endure. And still, amid the praise she hears secure, She walks with humbleness for her array; Seeming a creature sent from Heaven to stay On earth, and show a miracle made sure. She is so pleasant in the eyes of men That through the sight the inmost heart doth gain A sweetness which needs proof to know it by: And from between her lips there seems to move A soothing essence that is full of love, Saying for ever to the spirit, “Sigh! ~ Dante Alighieri,

725:The law of Dante’s Hell is the law of symbolic retribution. As they sinned so are they punished. They took no sides, therefore they are given no place. As they pursued the ever-shifting illusion of their own advantage, changing their courses with every changing wind, so they pursue eternally an elusive, ever-shifting banner. As their sin was a darkness, so they move in darkness. As their own guilty conscience pursued them, so they are pursued by swarms of wasps and hornets. And as their actions were a moral filth, so they run eternally through the filth of worms and maggots which they themselves feed. ~ Dante Alighieri,

726:They are THE OPPORTUNISTS, those souls who in life were neither for good nor evil but only for themselves. Mixed with them are those outcasts who took no sides in the Rebellion of the Angels. They are neither in Hell nor out of it. Eternally unclassified, they race round and round pursuing a wavering banner that runs forever before them through the dirty air; and as they run they are pursued by swarms of wasps and hornets, who sting them and produce a constant flow of blood and putrid matter which trickles down the bodies of the sinners and is feasted upon by loathsome worms and maggots who coat the ground. ~ Dante Alighieri,

727:author class:Dante Alighieri The glory of Him who moves all things rays forth through all the universe, and is reflected from each thing in proportion to its worth. I have been in that Heaven of His most light, and what I saw, those who descend from there lack both the knowledge and the power to write. For as our intellect draws near its goal it opens to such depths of understanding as memory cannot plumb within the soul. [2327.jpg] -- from The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso, / Translated by John Ciardi ~ glory of Him who moves all things rays forth (from The Paradiso, Canto I) ,

728:Time and again the thought comes to my mind of the dark condition Love imparts to me; then the pity of it strikes me, and I ask: “Could ever anyone have felt the same?” For Love’s attack is so precipitous that life itself all but abandons me: nothing survives except one lonely spirit, allowed to live because it speaks of you. With hope of help to come I gather courage, and deathly languid, drained of all defenses, I come to you expecting to be healed; and if I raise my eyes to look at you, within my heart a tremor starts to spread, driving out life, stopping my pulses’ beat. ~ Dante Alighieri,

729:Jak kwiatki, nocnym powarzone szronem, Stulone gną się, aż gdy je odbieli Słońce, wraz czołem się wznoszą i łonem, Podobnie we mnie otucha wystrzeli, A serce taka umocni odwaga, Że wołam jako człek, co się ośmieli: "O, przelitośna ta, co mię wspomaga! I ty litośny, że długiej namowy Nie używała do cię jej powaga. Ty swoim przyjściem i swoimi słowy Takie w mym sercu wzbudziłeś pragnienie, Żem znowu silny, żem znowu gotowy. Pójdźmyż, niech dwojga jedno będzie chcenie; Ty Mistrzem moim, ty Wodzem, ty Panem". Zmilkłem, on ruszył; na jego skinienie Poszedłem krajem trudnym i nieznanem. ~ Dante Alighieri,

730:As soon as that majestic force, which had already pierced me once before I had outgrown my childhood, struck my eyes, I turned to my left with the confidence a child has running to his mamma when he is afraid or in distress to say to Virgil: 'Not a single drop of blood remains in me that does not tremble-- I know the signs of the ancient flame.' But Virgil had departed, leaving us bereft: Virgil, sweetest of fathers, Virgil, to whom I gave myself for my salvation. And not all our ancient mother lost could save my cheeks, washed in the dew, from being stained again with tears. ~ Dante Alighieri,

731:Sonnet: Beauty Of Her Face For certain he hath seen all perfectness Who among other ladies hath seen mine: They that go with her humbly should combine To thank their God for such peculiar grace. So perfect is the beauty of her face That is begets in no wise any sigh Of envy, but draws round her a clear line Of love, and blessed faith, and gentleness. Merely the sight of her makes all things bow: Not she herself alone is holier Than all; but hers, through her, are raised above. From all her acts such lovely graces flow That truly one may never think of her Without a passion of exceeding love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

732:Sonnet: I Muse Over At whiles (yea oftentimes) I muse over The quality of anguish that is mine Through Love: then pity makes my voice to pine Saying, 'Is any else thus, anywhere?' Love smileth me, whose strength is ill to bear; So that of all my life is left no sigh Except one thought; and that, because 'tis thine, Leaves not the body but abideth there. And then if I, whom other aid forsook, Would aid myself, and innocent of art Would fain have sight of thee as a last hope, No sooner do I lift mine eyes to look Than the blood seems as shaken from my heart, And all my pulses beat at once and stop. ~ Dante Alighieri,

733:Sonnet: My Lady My lady carries love within her eyes; All that she looks on is made pleasanter; Upon her path men turn to gaze at her; He whom she greeteth feels his heart to rise, And droops is troubled visage, full of sighs, And of his evil heart is then aware: Hates loves, and pride becomes his worshipper. O women, help to praise her in somewise. Humbleness, and the hope that hopeth well, By speech of hers into the mind are brought, And who beholds is blessed oftenwhiles. The look she hath when she a little smiles Cannot be said, nor holden in the thought; 'Tis such a new and gracious miracle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

734:Love And The Gentle Heart Love and the gentle heart are one thing, just as the poet says in his verse, each from the other one as well divorced as reason from the mind’s reasoning. Nature craves love, and then creates love king, and makes the heart a palace where he’ll stay, perhaps a shorter or a longer day, breathing quietly, gently slumbering. Then beauty in a virtuous woman’s face makes the eyes yearn, and strikes the heart, so that the eyes’ desire’s reborn again, and often, rooting there with longing, stays, Till love, at last, out of its dreaming starts. Woman’s moved likewise by a virtuous man. ~ Dante Alighieri,

735:Of Beauty And Duty TWO ladies to the summit of my mind Have clomb, to hold an argument of love. The one has wisdom with her from above, For every noblest virtue well designed: The other, beauty's tempting power refined And the high charm of perfect grace approve: And I, as my sweet Master's will doth move, At feet of both their favors am reclined. Beauty and Duty in my soul keep strife, At question if the heart such course can take And 'twixt the two ladies hold its love complete. The fount of gentle speech yields answer meet, That Beauty may be loved for gladness sake, And Duty in the lofty ends of life ~ Dante Alighieri,

736:For certain he hath seen all perfectness For certain he hath seen all perfectness. Who among other ladies hath seen mine: They that go with her humbly should combine To thank their God for such peculiar grace. So perfect is the beauty of her face That it begets in no wise any sign Of envy, but draws round her a clear line Of love, and blessed faith, and gentleness. Merely the sight of her inakes all things bow: Not she herself alone is holier Than all: but hers, through her, are raised above. From all her acts such lovely graces flow That truly one may never think of her Without a passion of exceeding love. ~ Dante Alighieri,

737:There Is A Gentle Thought There is a gentle thought that often springs to life in me, because it speaks of you. Its reasoning about love’s so sweet and true, the heart is conquered, and accepts these things. ‘Who is this’ the mind enquires of the heart, ‘who comes here to seduce our intellect? Is his power so great we must reject every other intellectual art? The heart replies ‘O, meditative mind this is love’s messenger and newly sent to bring me all Love’s words and desires. His life, and all the strength that he can find, from her sweet eyes are mercifully lent, who feels compassion for our inner fires.’ ~ Dante Alighieri,

738:To Guido Cavalcanti Guido, I wish that Lapo, you, and I could board a vessel, by transporter beam, that sailed by will alone, wherever seemed desirable to go, beneath all skies. I'd have our vessel proof to chance and gale, and well supplied for pleasant times at sea: we'd grow into a merry company — good food and reveling would be the rule. And Guido, we'd try beaming up the dames! We'd take the ladies Vanna, Bess, and her whom I discreetly call the Mistress Trenta: love, of course, would be the main agenda; that would keep 'em happy I am sure, and well I know that we would be the same. © 1999, 2001 by ~ Dante Alighieri,

739:Sonnet: Spirit Of Love I felt a spirit of love begin to stir Within my heart, long time unfelt till then; And saw Love coming towards me fair and fain (That I scarce knew him for his joyful cheer), Saying, 'Be now indeed my worshipper!' And in his speech he laughed and laughed again. Then, while it was his pleasure to remain, I chanced to look the way he had drawn near, And saw the Ladies Joan and Beatrice Approach me, this the other following, One and a second marvel instantly. And even as now my memory speaketh this, Love spake it then: 'The first is christened Spring; The second Love, she is so like to me.' ~ Dante Alighieri,

740:Sonnet: Love And The Gentle Love and the gentle heart are one same thing, Even as the wise man in his ditty saith. Each, of itself, would be such life in death As rational soul bereft of reasoning. 'Tis Nature makes them when she loves: a king Love is, whose palace where he sojourneth Is call'd the Heart; there draws he quiet breath At first, with brief or longer slumbering. Then beauty seen in virtuous womankind Will make the eyes desire, and through the heart Send the desiring of the eyes again; Where often it abides so long enshrined That Love at length out of his sleep will start. And women feel the same for worthy men. ~ Dante Alighieri,

741:Sonnet: All My Thoughts All my thoughts always speak to me of love, Yet have between themselves such difference That while one bids me bow with mind and sense, A second saith, 'Go to: look thou above'; The third one, hoping, yields me joy enough; And with the last come tears, I scarce know whence: All of them craving pity in sore suspense, Trembling with fears that the heart knoweth of. And thus, being all unsure which path to take, Wishing to speak I know not what to say, And lose myself in amorous wanderings: Until (my peace with all of them to make), Unto mine enemy I needs must pray, My lady Pity, for the help she brings. ~ Dante Alighieri,

742:It must be understood then that there are certain things which, since they are not subject to our power, are matters of speculation, but not of action: such are Mathematics and Physics, and things divine. But there are some things which, since they are subject to our power, are matters of action as well as of speculation, and in them we do not act for the sake of speculation, but contrariwise: for in such things action is the end. Now, since the matter which we have in hand has to do with states, nay, with the very origin and principle of good forms of government, and since all that concerns states is subject to our power, it is manifest that our subject is not in the first place speculation, but action. ~ Dante Alighieri,

743:My son, you've seen the temporary fire and the eternal fire; you have reached the place past which my powers cannot see. I've brought you here through intellect and art; from now on, let your pleasure be your guide; you're past the steep and past the narrow paths. Look at the sun that shines upon your brow; look at the grasses, flowers, and the shrubs born here, spontaneously, of the earth. Among them, you can rest or walk until the coming of the glad and lovely eyes-- those eyes that weeping, sent me to your side. Await no further word or sign from me: your will is free, erect, and whole-- to act against that will would be to err: therefore I crown and miter you over yourself ~ Dante Alighieri,

744:DANTE ALIGHIERI TO GUIDO CAVALCANTI: Guido, I would that Lapo, thou, and I, Led by some strong enchantment, might ascend A magic ship, whose charmed sails should fly With winds at will whereer our thoughts might wend, So that no change, nor any evil chance Should mar our joyous voyage; but it might be, That even satiety should still enhance Between our hearts their strict community: And that the bounteous wizard then would place Vanna and Bice and my gentle love, Companions of our wandering, and would grace With passionate talk, wherever we might rove, Our time, and each were as content and free As I believe that thou and I should be. ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sonnet - From The Italian Of Dante ,

745:Inferno: Canto XIII Not yet had Nessus reached the other side, When we had put ourselves within a wood, That was not marked by any path whatever. Not foliage green, but of a dusky colour, Not branches smooth, but gnarled and intertangled, Not apple-trees were there, but thorns with poison. Such tangled thickets have not, nor so dense, Those savage wild beasts, that in hatred hold 'Twixt Cecina and Corneto the tilled places. There do the hideous Harpies make their nests, Who chased the Trojans from the Strophades, With sad announcement of impending doom; Broad wings have they, and necks and faces human, And feet with claws, and their great bellies fledged; They make laments upon the wondrous trees. ~ Dante Alighieri,

746:Only those elements time cannot wear: The Angels, the Empyrean, and the First Matter are the elements time cannot wear, for they will last to all time. Man, however, in his mortal state, is not eternal. The Gate of Hell, therefore, was created before man. The theological point is worth attention. The doctrine of Original Sin is, of course, one familiar to many creeds. Here, however, it would seem that the preparation for damnation predates Original Sin. True, in one interpretation. Hell was created for the punishment of the Rebellious Angels and not for man. Had man not sinned, he would never have known Hell. But on the other hand, Dante’s God was one who knew all, and knew therefore that man would indeed sin. The theological problem is an extremely delicate one. ~ Dante Alighieri,

747:The broken branch hissed loudly, and then that wind was converted into these words: "Briefly will you be answered. When the fierce soul departs from the body from which it has uprooted itself, Minos sends it to the seventh mouth. It falls into the wood, and no place is assigned to it, but where chance hurls it, there it sprouts like a grain of spelt. It grows into a shoot, then a woody plant; the Harpies, feeding on its leaves, give it pain and a window for the pain. Like the others, we will come for our remains, but not so that any may put them on again, for it is not just to have what one has taken from oneself. Here we will drag them, and through the sad wood our corpses will hang, each on the thornbrush of the soul that harmed it. ~ Dante Alighieri,

748:Si deseáramos estar más elevadas, nuestro anhelo estaría en desacuerdo con la voluntad de Aquel que nos reúne aquí, desacuerdo que no admiten las esferas celestes, como verás si consideras bien que aquí es condición necesaria estar unidas a Dios por medio de la caridad y que la naturaleza de la caridad es ella misma, es decir, conformarse a la voluntad del ser amado. También es necesario a nuestra existencia bienaventurada uniformar la propia voluntad a la de Dios, de modo que nuestras mismas voluntades se refundan en una. Así es que el estar como estamos distribuidas de grado en grado por este reino configura la naturaleza del mismo, porque place al Rey cuya voluntad es la nuestra. En su voluntad está nuestra paz; ella es el mar a donde va a parar todo lo que ha creado o lo que hace la Naturaleza. ~ Dante Alighieri,

749:No greater grief than to remember days Of joy, when misery is at hand. That kens Thy learn’d instructor. Yet so eagerly 120 If thou art bent to know the primal root, From whence our love gat being, I will do As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One day, For our delight we read of Lancelot, 4 How him love thrall’d. Alone we were, and no 125 Suspicion near us. Oft-times by that reading Our eyes were drawn together, and the hue Fled from our alter’d cheek. But at one point Alone we fell. When of that smile we read, The wished smile so raptorously kiss’d 130 By one so deep in love, then he, who ne’er From me shall separate, at once my lips All trembling kiss’d. The book and writer both Were love’s purveyors. In its leaves that day We read no more. ~ Dante Alighieri,

750:Speak," said my Master, "and be not afraid   Of speaking, but speak out, and say to him   What he demands with such solicitude." Whence I: "Thou peradventure marvellest,   O antique spirit, at the smile I gave;   But I will have more wonder seize upon thee. This one, who guides on high these eyes of mine,   Is that Virgilius, from whom thou didst learn   To sing aloud of men and of the Gods. If other cause thou to my smile imputedst,   Abandon it as false, and trust it was   Those words which thou hast spoken concerning him." Already he was stooping to embrace   My Teacher's feet; but he said to him: "Brother,   Do not; for shade thou art, and shade beholdest." And he uprising: "Now canst thou the sum   Of love which warms me to thee comprehend,   When this our vanity I disremember, Treating a shadow as substantial thing. ~ Dante Alighieri,

751:GUIDO CAVALCANTI TO DANTE ALIGHIERI: Returning from its daily quest, my Spirit Changed thoughts and vile in thee doth weep to find: It grieves me that thy mild and gentle mind Those ample virtues which it did inherit Has lost. Once thou didst loathe the multitude Of blind and madding men--I then loved thee-- I loved thy lofty songs and that sweet mood When thou wert faithful to thyself and me I dare not now through thy degraded state Own the delight thy strains inspire--in vain I seek what once thou wert--we cannot meet And we were wont. Again and yet again Ponder my words: so the false Spirit shall fly And leave to thee thy true integrity. [Published by Forman (who assigns it to 1815), Poetical Works of P. B. S., 1876.] ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sonnet - From The Italian Of Cavalcanti ,

752:Thus it was up to God, to Him alone in His own ways - by one or both, I say - to give man back his whole life and perfection. But since a deed done is more prized the more it manifests within itself the mark of the loving heart and goodness of the doer, the Everlasting Love, whose seal is plain on all the wax of the world was pleased to move in all His ways to raise you up again. There was not, nor will be, from the first day to the last night, an act so glorious and so magnificent, on either way. For God, in giving Himself that man might be able to raise himself, gave even more than if he had forgiven him in mercy. All other means would have been short, I say, of perfect justice, but that God's own Son humbled Himself to take on mortal clay. -Paradiso, Canto VII ~ Dante Alighieri,

753:All Being within this order, by the laws of its own nature is impelled to find its proper station round its Primal Cause. Thus every nature moves across the tide of the great sea of being to its own port, each with its given instinct as its guide. This instinct draws the fire about the Moon. It is the mover in the mortal heart. It draws the earth together and makes it one. Not only the brute creatures, but all those possessed of intellect and love, this instinct drives to their mark as a bow shoots forth its arrows. The Providence that makes all things hunger here satisfies forever with its light the heaven within which whirls the fastest sphere. [2327.jpg] -- from The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso, / Translated by John Ciardi ~ Dante Alighieri, All Being within this order, by the laws (from The Paradiso, Canto I) ,

754:O luce etterna che sola in te sidi, sola t’intendi, e da te intelletta e intendente te ami e arridi! Quella circulazion che sì concetta pareva in te come lume reflesso, da li occhi miei alquanto circunspetta, dentro da sé, del suo colore stesso, mi parve pinta de la nostra effige: per che ‘l mio viso in lei tutto era messo. Qual è ‘l geomètra che tutto s’affige per misurar lo cerchio, e non ritrova, pensando, quel principio ond’elli indige, tal era io a quella vista nova: veder voleva come si convenne l’imago al cerchio e come vi s’indova; ma non eran da ciò le proprie penne: se non che la mia mente fu percossa da un fulgore in che sua voglia venne. A l’alta fantasia qui mancò possa; ma già volgeva il mio disio e ‘l velle, sì come rota ch’igualmente è mossa, l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

755:Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood. How shall I say   what wood that was! I never saw so drear, so rank, so arduous a wilderness! Its very memory gives a shape to fear.   Death could scarce be more bitter than that place! But since it came to good, I will recount all that I found revealed there by God’s grace.   How I came to it I cannot rightly say, so drugged and loose with sleep had I become when I first wandered there from the True Way.   But at the far end of that valley of evil whose maze had sapped my very heart with fear! I found myself before a little hill (15)   and lifted up my eyes. Its shoulders glowed already with the sweet rays of that planet whose virtue leads men straight on every road,   and the shining strengthened me against the fright whose agony had wracked the lake of my heart through all the terrors of that piteous night. ~ Dante Alighieri,

756:O luce etterna che sola in te sidi, sola t’intendi, e da te intelletta e intendente te ami e arridi! 126 Quella circulazion che sì concetta pareva in te come lume reflesso, da li occhi miei alquanto circunspetta, 129 dentro da sé, del suo colore stesso, mi parve pinta de la nostra effige: per che ‘l mio viso in lei tutto era messo. 132 Qual è ‘l geomètra che tutto s’affige per misurar lo cerchio, e non ritrova, pensando, quel principio ond’elli indige, 135 tal era io a quella vista nova: veder voleva come si convenne l’imago al cerchio e come vi s’indova; 138 ma non eran da ciò le proprie penne: se non che la mia mente fu percossa da un fulgore in che sua voglia venne. 141 A l’alta fantasia qui mancò possa; ma già volgeva il mio disio e ‘l velle, sì come rota ch’igualmente è mossa, l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle. ~ Dante Alighieri,

757:Noi leggeveamo un giorno per diletto Di Lancialotto, come amor lo strinse; Soli eravamo e senza alcun sospetto Per più fiate gli occhi ci sospinse Quella lettura, e scolorocci il viso; Ma solo un punto fu quel che ci vinse. Quando leggemmo il disiato riso Esser baciato da cotanto amante, Questi, che mai da me non fia diviso, La bocca mi baciò tutto tremante. Galeotto fu il libro e chi lo scrisse: Quel giorno più non vi leggemmo avante." ""We were reading one day, to pass the time, of Lancelot, how love had seized him. We were alone, and without any suspicion And time and time again our eyes would meet over that literature, and our faces paled, and yet one point alone won us. When we had read how the desired smile was kissed by so true a lover, This one, who never shall be parted from me, kissed my mouth, all a-tremble. Gallehault was the book and he who wrote it That day we read no further. ~ Dante Alighieri,

758:those cries rose from among the twisted roots through which the spirits of the damned were slinking to hide from us. Therefore my Master said: 'If you break off a twig, what you will learn will drive what you are thinking from your head.' Puzzled, I raised my hand a bit and slowly broke off a branchlet from an enormous thorn: and the great trunk of it cried: 'Why do you break me?' And after blood had darkened all the bowl of the wound, it cried again: 'Why do you tear me? Is there no pity left in any soul? Men we were, and now we are changed to sticks; well might your hand have been more merciful were we no more than souls of lice and ticks.' As a green branch with one end all aflame will hiss and sputter sap out of the other as the air escapes- so from that trunk there came words and blood together, gout by gout. Startled, I dropped the branch that I was holding and stood transfixed by fear,... ~ Dante Alighieri,

759:Ulysses' Last Voyage I launched her with my small remaining band and, putting out to sea, we set the main on that lone ship and said farewell to land. Far to starboard rose the coast of Spain, astern was Sardi, Islas at our bow, and soon we saw Morocco port abeam. Though I and comrades now were old and slow, we hauled till nightfall for the narrow sound where Hercules had shown what not to do, by setting marks for men to stay behind. At dawn the starboard lookout made Seville, and at the straits stood Ceuta t'other hand. 'Brothers,' I shouted, 'who have had the will to come through danger, and have reached the west! our time awake is brief from now until the senses die, and so I say we test the sun's own motion and do not forego the worlds beyond, unknown and peopleless. Think of the roots from which you sprang, and show that you are human: not unconscious brutes but made to follow virtue and to know.' ~ Dante Alighieri,

760:«¡Oh Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos, aunque no circunscripto a ellos, sino por el mayor amor que arriba sientes hacia los primeros efectos! Alabados sean tu nombre y tu poder por todas las criaturas, así como se deben dar gracias a todas las emanaciones de tu bondad. Venga a nos la paz de tu reino, a la que no podemos llegar por nosotros mismos, a pesar de toda nuestra inteligencia, si ella no se dirige hacia nosotros. Así como los ángeles te sacrifican su voluntad entonando “¡Hosanna!”, deben sacrificarte la suya los hombres. Dadnos hoy el pan cotidiano, sin el cual retrocede por este áspero desierto aquel que más se afana por avanzar. Y así como nosotros perdonamos a cada cual el mal que nos ha hecho padecer, perdónanos tú, benigno, sin mirar a nuestros méritos. No pongas a prueba nuestra virtud, sino líbranos de quien la instiga de tantos modos. No hacemos, ¡oh Señor amado!, esta última súplica por nosotros, pues ya no tenemos necesidad de ella, sino por los que tras de nosotros quedan». ~ Dante Alighieri,

761:Wherefore it would appear that this number was thus allied unto her for the purpose of signifying that, at her birth, all these nine heavens were at perfect unity with each other as to their influence. This is one reason that may be brought: but more narrowly considering, and according to the infallible truth, this number was her own self: that is to say, by similitude. As thus. The number three is the root of the number nine; seeing that without the interposition of any other number, being multiplied merely by itself, it produceth nine, as we manifestly perceive that three times three are nine. Thus, three being of itself the efficient of nine, and the Great Efficient of Miracles being of Himself Three Persons (to wit: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), which, being Three, are also One:—this lady was accompanied by the number nine to the end that men might clearly perceive her to be a nine, that is, a miracle, whose only root is the Holy Trinity. It may be that a more subtile person would find for this thing a reason of greater subtilty: but such is the reason that I find, and that liketh me best. ~ Dante Alighieri,

762:But the worst came from the Mongol Tamerlane, a dedicated Muslim who conducted furious jihad campaigns against the Nestorians and devastated their cities and churches. It was full-blown war against the Assyrian Christians: Tamerlane offered them conversion to Islam, dhimmitude, or death. By 1400, the vast Nestorian domains were no more; Christianity had almost completely died out in Persia, Central Asia, and China.7 After this, virtually all Nestorians lived as dhimmis under Muslim rule. And like the Zoroastrians, their community dwindled down to a tiny remnant under the relentless weight of this institutionalized injustice. If the Christians in Europe had been subjected to the same fate, it is distinctly possible that the world might never have known the works of Dante Alighieri, or Michelangelo, or Leonardo da Vinci, or Mozart, or Bach. It is likely that there would never have been an El Greco, or a Giotto, or an Olivier Messaien. A community that must expend all its energy just to survive does not easily pursue art and music. The Crusades may have made the full flowering of European civilization possible. ~ Robert Spencer,

763:That sacred army, that Christ espoused with his blood, displayed itself in the form of a white rose, but the Angel other, that sees and sings the glory, of him who inspires it with love, as it flies, and sings the excellence that has made it as it is, descended continually into the great flower, lovely with so many petals, and climbed again to where its love lives ever, like a swarm of bees, that now plunges into the flowers, and now returns, to where their labour is turned to sweetness. Their faces were all of living flame, their wings of gold, and the rest of them so white that snow never reached that limit. When they dropped into the flower, they offered, to tier on tier, the peace and ardour that they acquired with beating wings: and the presence of such a vast flying swarm between the flower and what was beyond it, did not dilute the vision or the splendour: because the Divine Light so penetrates the Universe, to the measure of its Value, that nothing has the power to prevent it. This kingdom, safe and happy, crowded with ancient peoples and the new, had sight and Love all turned towards one point. ~ Dante Alighieri,

764:And as a ray descending from the sky gives rise to another, which climbs back again, as a pilgrim yearns for home; so through my eye her action, like a ray into my mind, gave rise to mine: I stared into the Sun so hard that here it would have left me blind; but much is granted to our senses there, in that garden made to be man's proper place, that is not granted us when we are here. I had to look away soon, and yet not so soon but what I saw him spark and blaze like new-tapped iron when it pours white-hot. And suddenly, as it appeared to me, day was added to day, as if He who can had added a new Sun to Heaven's glory. Beatrice stared at the eternal spheres entranced, unmoving; and I looked away from the Sun's height to fix my eyes on hers. And as I looked, I felt begin within me what Glaucus felt eating the herb that made him a god among the others in the sea. How speak trans-human change to human sense? Let the example speak until God's grace grants the pure spirit the experience. [2327.jpg] -- from The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso, / Translated by John Ciardi ~ Dante Alighieri, And as a ray descending from the sky (from The Paradiso, Canto I) ,

765:The Thorn Forest Then dark with dripping blood it gave a howl and cried again: 'Our damaged branches ache! Your pillage maims me! Can't you feel at all? We who were men are now this barren brake. You'd grant us your respect and stay your hand were we a thicket not of souls but snakes.' As wood still green starts burning at one end and from its unlit end the burning stick drips sap, and hisses with escaping wind, so from the broken stump there oozed a mix of words and blood: a frothy babbling gore. I dropped the branch. My fear had made me sick. 'Poor wounded soul, could he have grasped before,' my sage replied, 'what now he sees is true, and blindly trusted in poetic lore, then he need not have so insulted you. But as there was no other way to learn I urged him to a test that grieved me too. Tell us who you were, that he, in turn, can set your honor freshly back in style among those he will teach when he returns.' The trunk: 'Your speech, by raising hope that I'll regain repute, makes words arise in me. I mean to talk, if you will stay a while: I was the one entrusted with the keys to Federigo's mind, and it was sweet to share his thought and guard his strategy for noble ventures secret in my keep — so faithfully I filled this glorious post, I gladly sacrificed my health and sleep...' 413 ~ Dante Alighieri,

766:Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation echoed throughout the starless air of Hell; at first these sounds resounding made me weep: tongues confused, a language strained in anguish with cadences of anger, shrill outcries and raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, raising a whirling storm that turns itself forever through that air of endless black, like grains of sand swirling when a whirlwind blows. And I, in the midst of all this circling horror, began, "Teacher, what are these sounds I hear? What souls are these so overwhelmed by grief?" And he to me: "This wretched state of being is the fate of those sad souls who lived a life but lived it with no blame and with no praise. They are mixed with that repulsive choir of angels neither faithful nor unfaithful to their God, who undecided stood but for themselves. Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them, for fear the damned might glory over them." And I. "Master, what torments do they suffer that force them to lament so bitterly?" He answered: "I will tell you in few words: these wretches have no hope of truly dying, and this blind life they lead is so abject it makes them envy every other fate. The world will not record their having been there; Heaven's mercy and its justice turn from them. Let's not discuss them; look and pass them by... ~ Dante Alighieri,

767:Sestina I have come, alas, to the great circle of shadow, to the short day and to the whitening hills, when the colour is all lost from the grass, though my desire will not lose its green, so rooted is it in this hardest stone, that speaks and feels as though it were a woman. And likewise this heaven-born woman stays frozen, like the snow in shadow, and is unmoved, or moved like a stone, by the sweet season that warms all the hills, and makes them alter from pure white to green, so as to clothe them with the flowers and grass. When her head wears a crown of grass she draws the mind from any other woman, because she blends her gold hair with the green so well that Amor lingers in their shadow, he who fastens me in these low hills, more certainly than lime fastens stone. Her beauty has more virtue than rare stone. The wound she gives cannot be healed with grass, since I have travelled, through the plains and hills, to find my release from such a woman, yet from her light had never a shadow thrown on me, by hill, wall, or leaves’ green. I have seen her walk all dressed in green, so formed she would have sparked love in a stone, that love I bear for her very shadow, so that I wished her, in those fields of grass, as much in love as ever yet was woman, closed around by all the highest hills. The rivers will flow upwards to the hills before this wood, that is so soft and green, takes fire, as might ever lovely woman, for me, who would choose to sleep on stone, 405 all my life, and go eating grass, only to gaze at where her clothes cast shadow. Whenever the hills cast blackest shadow, with her sweet green, the lovely woman hides it, as a man hides stone in grass. ~ Dante Alighieri,

768:...Because the sacred fire that lights all nature liveliest of all in its own image glows. All these prerogatives the human creature possesses, and if one of them should fail, he must diminish from his noble stature. Sin only can disenfranchise him, and veil his likeness to the Highest Good; whereby the light in him is lessened and grows pale. Ne'er can he win back dignities so high till the void made by guilt be all filled in with just amends paid for by illicit joy. Now, when your nature as a whole did sin in its first root, it lost these great awards, and lost the Eden of its origin; nor might they be recovered afterwards by any means, as if thou search thou'lt see, except by crossing one of these two fords; either must God, of his sole courtesy, remit, or man must pay with all that's his, the debt of sin in its entirety. Within the Eternal Counsel's deep abyss rivet thine eye, and with a heed as good as thou canst give me, do thou follow this. Man from his finite assets never could make satisfaction; ne'er could he abase him so low, obey thereafter all he would, as he'd by disobedience sought to raise him; and for this cause man might not pay his due himself, nor from the debtor's roll erase him. Needs then must God, by his own ways, renew man's proper life, and reinstate him so; his ways I say - by one, or both of two. And since the doer's actions ever show more gracious as the style of them makes plain the goodness of the heart from which they flow, that most high Goodness which is God was fain - even God, whose impress Heaven and earth display - by all His ways to lift you up again; nor, between final night and primal day, was e'er proceeding so majestical and high, nor shall not be, by either way; for God's self-giving, which made possible that man should raise himself, showed more largesse than if by naked power He'd cancelled all; and every other means would have been less than justice, if it had not pleased God's Son to be humiliate in fleshliness. ~ Dante Alighieri,

769:Sunt un om viu. Nimic din ce-i omenesc nu mi-e străin. Abia am timp să mă mir că exist, dar mă bucur totdeauna că sunt. Nu mă realizez deplin niciodată, pentru că am o idee din ce în ce mai bună despre viaţă. Mă cutremură diferenţa dintre mine şi firul ierbii, dintre mine şi lei, dintre mine şi insulele de lumină ale stelelor. Dintre mine şi numere, bunăoară între mine şi 2, între mine şi 3. Am şi-un defect un păcat: iau în serios iarba, iau în serios leii, mişcările aproape perfecte ale cerului. Şi-o rană întâmplătoare la mână mă face să văd prin ea, ca printr-un ochean, durerile lumii, războaiele. Dintr-o astfel de întâmplare mi s-a tras marea înţelegere pe care-o am pentru Ulise - şi bărbatului cu chip ursuz, Dante Alighieri. Cu greu mi-aş putea imagina un pământ pustiu, rotindu-se în jurul soarelui... (Poate şi fiindcă există pe lume astfel de versuri.) Îmi olace să râd, deşi râd rar, având mereu câte o treabă, ori călătorind cu o plută, la nesfârşit, pe oceanul oval al fantaziei. E un spectacol de neuitat acela de-a şti, de-a descoperi harta universului în expansiune, în timp ce-ţi priveşti o fotografie din copilărie! E un trup al tău vechi, pe care l-ai rătăcit şi nici măcar un anunţ, dat cu litere groase, nu-ţi pferă vreo şansă să-l mai regăseşti. Îmi desfac papirusul vieţii plin de hieroglife, şi ceea ce pot comunica acum, aici, după o descifrare anevoioasă, dar nu lipăsită de satisfacţii, e un poem închinat păcii, ce are, pe scurt, următorul cuprins: Nu vreau, când îmi ridic tâmpla din perne, să se lungească-n urma mea pe paturi moartea, şi-n fiece cuvânt ţâşnind spre mine, peşti putrezi să-mi arunce, ca-ntr-un râu oprit. Nici după fiecare pas, în golul dinapoia mea rămas, nu vreau să urce moartea-n sus, asemeni unei coloane de mercur, bolţi de infern proptind deasupra-mi... Dar curcubeul negru-al ei, de alge, de-ar bate-n tinereţia mea s-ar sparge. E o fertilitate nemaipomenită în pământ şi-n pietre şi în schelării, magnetic, timpul, clipită cu clipită, gândurile mi le-nalţă ca pe nişte trupuri vii. E o fertilitate nemaipomenită în pământ şi-n pietre şi în schelării. Umbra de mi-aş ţine-o doar o clipă pironită, s-ar şi umple de ferigi, de bălării! Doar chipul tău prelung iubito, lasă-l aşa cum este, răzimat între două bătăi ale inimii mele, ca între Tigru şi Eufrat. ~ Nichita St nescu,

770:O Intelligence Moving The Third Heaven O Intelligences moving the third heaven, the reasons heed that from my heart come forth, so new, it seems, that no one else should know. The heaven set in motion by your worth, beings in gentleness created even, keeps my existence in its present woe, so that to speak of what I feel and know means to converse most worthily with you: I beg you, then, to listen to me well. Of something in me new I now will tell— how grief and sadness this my soul subdue, and how a contradiction from afar speaks through the rays descending from your star. A thought of loveliness seems now to be life to my ailing heart: it used to fly oft to the very presence of your Sire; and there a glorious Lady sitting high it also saw, who spoke so pleasingly, my soul would say “Up there dwells my desire.” Now one appears, which I in dread admire a mighty lord that makes it flee away, so mighty, terror from my heart outflows. To me he brings a lady very close, and “Who salvation seeks,” I hear him say, “let him but gaze into this lady’s eyes, if he can suffer agony of sighs.” Such is the contradiction, it can slay the humble thought that is still telling me of a fair angel up in heaven crowned. My soul bemoans its present misery, saying, “Unhappy me! How fast away went he, in whom I had some solace found!” And of my eyes it says, with mournful sound, “When was it such a lady pierced their sight? Why did they fail to see me in her guise? I said, ‘Oh, surely, in this lady’s eyes the one must dwell who kills my peers with fright.’ 274 To no avail I warned them (Oh, my dread!), but look at her they did, and I fell dead.” “Oh, no, not dead, you are bewildered much, O my poor soul, so pained and grieving so,” replies a loving spirit, kind and sweet, “For the fair woman, that you feel and know, has changed your life so quickly and so much, you now are trembling in your vile defeat. Look how humility and mercy meet in one so wise and gentle in her height: so call her Lady, as by now you must. And you will see, if steadfast is your trust, such lofty miracles, such full delight, you’ll say, ‘O Love, true lord, do as you please: here is your humble handmaid on her knees.’” My song, I do believe that those are few who can unravel your most hidden sense, so intricate and mighty is your wit. Therefore, if by some fate or circumstance you stray and venture among people who seem not completely to have fathomed it, oh, then, I pray, console yourself a bit, and say, O lovely latest song, to them, “Notice, at least, how beautiful I am!” ~ Dante Alighieri,

771:Hic. On the grey sand beside the shallow stream Under your old wind-beaten tower, where still A lamp burns on beside the open book That Michael Robartes left, you walk in the moon, And, though you have passed the best of life, still trace, Enthralled by the unconquerable delusion, Magical shapes. Ille. By the help of an image I call to my own opposite, summon all That I have handled least, least looked upon. Hic. And I would find myself and not an image. Ille. That is our modern hope, and by its light We have lit upon the gentle, sensitive mind And lost the old nonchalance of the hand; Whether we have chosen chisel, pen or brush, We are but critics, or but half create, Timid, entangled, empty and abashed, Lacking the countenance of our friends. Hic. And yet The chief imagination of Christendom, Dante Alighieri, so utterly found himself That he has made that hollow face of his More plain to the mind's eye than any face But that of Christ. Ille. And did he find himself Or was the hunger that had made it hollow A hunger for the apple on the bough Most out of reach? and is that spectral image The man that Lapo and that Guido knew? I think he fashioned from his opposite An image that might have been a stony face Staring upon a Bedouin's horse-hair roof From doored and windowed cliff, or half upturned Among the coarse grass and the camel-dung. He set his chisel to the hardest stone. Being mocked by Guido for his lecherous life, Derided and deriding, driven out To climb that stair and eat that bitter bread, He found the unpersuadable justice, he found The most exalted lady loved by a man. Hic. Yet surely there are men who have made their art Out of no tragic war, lovers of life, Impulsive men that look for happiness And sing when t"hey have found it. Ille. No, not sing, For those that love the world serve it in action, Grow rich, popular and full of influence, And should they paint or write, still it is action: The struggle of the fly in marmalade. The rhetorician would deceive his neighbours, The sentimentalist himself; while art Is but a vision of reality. What portion in the world can the artist have Who has awakened from the common dream But dissipation and despair? Hic. And yet No one denies to Keats love of the world; Remember his deliberate happiness. Ille. His art is happy, but who knows his mind? I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window, For certainly he sank into his grave His senses and his heart unsatisfied, And made being poor, ailing and ignorant, Shut out from all the luxury of the world, The coarse-bred son of a livery-stable keeper Luxuriant song. Hic. Why should you leave the lamp Burning alone beside an open book, And trace these characters upon the sands? A style is found by sedentary toil And by the imitation of great masters. Ille. Because I seek an image, n-not a book. Those men that in their writings are most wise, Own nothing but their blind, stupefied hearts. I call to the mysterious one who yet Shall walk the wet sands by the edge of the stream And look most like me, being indeed my double, And prove of all imaginable things The most unlike, being my anti-self, And, standing by these characters, disclose All that I seek; and whisper it as though He were afraid the birds, who cry aloud Their momentary cries before it is dawn, Would carry it away to blasphemous men. ~ William Butler Yeats, Ego Dominus Tuus ,

772:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer – Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus – Tragedies 4. Sophocles – Tragedies 5. Herodotus – Histories 6. Euripides – Tragedies 7. Thucydides – History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates – Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes – Comedies 10. Plato – Dialogues 11. Aristotle – Works 12. Epicurus – Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid – Elements 14. Archimedes – Works 15. Apollonius of Perga – Conic Sections 16. Cicero – Works 17. Lucretius – On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil – Works 19. Horace – Works 20. Livy – History of Rome 21. Ovid – Works 22. Plutarch – Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus – Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa – Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus – Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy – Almagest 27. Lucian – Works 28. Marcus Aurelius – Meditations 29. Galen – On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus – The Enneads 32. St. Augustine – On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njál 36. St. Thomas Aquinas – Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri – The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer – Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci – Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli – The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus – The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus – On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More – Utopia 44. Martin Luther – Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais – Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin – Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne – Essays 48. William Gilbert – On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser – Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon – Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare – Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei – Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler – Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey – On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan 57. René Descartes – Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton – Works 59. Molière – Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal – The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens – Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza – Ethics 63. John Locke – Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine – Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton – Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift – A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve – The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley – Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope – Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu – Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire – Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding – Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson – The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets ~ Mortimer J Adler,

773:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer - Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus - Tragedies 4. Sophocles - Tragedies 5. Herodotus - Histories 6. Euripides - Tragedies 7. Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates - Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes - Comedies 10. Plato - Dialogues 11. Aristotle - Works 12. Epicurus - Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid - Elements 14.Archimedes - Works 15. Apollonius of Perga - Conic Sections 16. Cicero - Works 17. Lucretius - On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil - Works 19. Horace - Works 20. Livy - History of Rome 21. Ovid - Works 22. Plutarch - Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus - Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa - Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus - Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy - Almagest 27. Lucian - Works 28. Marcus Aurelius - Meditations 29. Galen - On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus - The Enneads 32. St. Augustine - On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njal 36. St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer - Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus - The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus - On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More - Utopia 44. Martin Luther - Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne - Essays 48. William Gilbert - On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser - Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon - Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare - Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei - Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler - Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey - On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan 57. René Descartes - Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton - Works 59. Molière - Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens - Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza - Ethics 63. John Locke - Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine - Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67.Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve - The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley - Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope - Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu - Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire - Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding - Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson - The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets    ~ Mortimer J Adler,

774:Paradiso: Canto I The glory of Him who moveth everything Doth penetrate the universe, and shine In one part more and in another less. Within that heaven which most his light receives Was I, and things beheld which to repeat Nor knows, nor can, who from above descends; Because in drawing near to its desire Our intellect ingulphs itself so far, That after it the memory cannot go. Truly whatever of the holy realm I had the power to treasure in my mind Shall now become the subject of my song. O good Apollo, for this last emprise Make of me such a vessel of thy power As giving the beloved laurel asks! One summit of Parnassus hitherto Has been enough for me, but now with both I needs must enter the arena left. Enter into my bosom, thou, and breathe As at the time when Marsyas thou didst draw Out of the scabbard of those limbs of his. O power divine, lend'st thou thyself to me So that the shadow of the blessed realm Stamped in my brain I can make manifest, Thou'lt see me come unto thy darling tree, And crown myself thereafter with those leaves Of which the theme and thou shall make me worthy. So seldom, Father, do we gather them For triumph or of Caesar or of Poet, (The fault and shame of human inclinations,) 277 That the Peneian foliage should bring forth Joy to the joyous Delphic deity, When any one it makes to thirst for it. A little spark is followed by great flame; Perchance with better voices after me Shall prayer be made that Cyrrha may respond! To mortal men by passages diverse Uprises the world's lamp; but by that one Which circles four uniteth with three crosses, With better course and with a better star Conjoined it issues, and the mundane wax Tempers and stamps more after its own fashion. Almost that passage had made morning there And evening here, and there was wholly white That hemisphere, and black the other part, When Beatrice towards the left-hand side I saw turned round, and gazing at the sun; Never did eagle fasten so upon it! And even as a second ray is wont To issue from the first and reascend, Like to a pilgrim who would fain return, Thus of her action, through the eyes infused In my imagination, mine I made, And sunward fixed mine eyes beyond our wont. There much is lawful which is here unlawful Unto our powers, by virtue of the place Made for the human species as its own. Not long I bore it, nor so little while But I beheld it sparkle round about Like iron that comes molten from the fire; And suddenly it seemed that day to day 278 Was added, as if He who has the power Had with another sun the heaven adorned. With eyes upon the everlasting wheels Stood Beatrice all intent, and I, on her Fixing my vision from above removed, Such at her aspect inwardly became As Glaucus, tasting of the herb that made him Peer of the other gods beneath the sea. To represent transhumanise in words Impossible were; the example, then, suffice Him for whom Grace the experience reserves. If I was merely what of me thou newly Createdst, Love who governest the heaven, Thou knowest, who didst lift me with thy light! When now the wheel, which thou dost make eternal Desiring thee, made me attentive to it By harmony thou dost modulate and measure, Then seemed to me so much of heaven enkindled By the sun's flame, that neither rain nor river E'er made a lake so widely spread abroad. The newness of the sound and the great light Kindled in me a longing for their cause, Never before with such acuteness felt; Whence she, who saw me as I saw myself, To quiet in me my perturbed mind, Opened her mouth, ere I did mine to ask, And she began: 'Thou makest thyself so dull With false imagining, that thou seest not What thou wouldst see if thou hadst shaken it off. Thou art not upon earth, as thou believest; But lightning, fleeing its appropriate site, Ne'er ran as thou, who thitherward returnest.' 279 If of my former doubt I was divested By these brief little words more smiled than spoken, I in a new one was the more ensnared; And said: 'Already did I rest content From great amazement; but am now amazed In what way I transcend these bodies light.' Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh, Her eyes directed tow'rds me with that look A mother casts on a delirious child; And she began: 'All things whate'er they be Have order among themselves, and this is form, That makes the universe resemble God. Here do the higher creatures see the footprints Of the Eternal Power, which is the end Whereto is made the law already mentioned. In the order that I speak of are inclined All natures, by their destinies diverse, More or less near unto their origin; Hence they move onward unto ports diverse O'er the great sea of being; and each one With instinct given it which bears it on. This bears away the fire towards the moon; This is in mortal hearts the motive power This binds together and unites the earth. Nor only the created things that are Without intelligence this bow shoots forth, But those that have both intellect and love. The Providence that regulates all this Makes with its light the heaven forever quiet, Wherein that turns which has the greatest haste. And thither now, as to a site decreed, 280 Bears us away the virtue of that cord Which aims its arrows at a joyous mark. True is it, that as oftentimes the form Accords not with the intention of the art, Because in answering is matter deaf, So likewise from this course doth deviate Sometimes the creature, who the power possesses, Though thus impelled, to swerve some other way, (In the same wise as one may see the fire Fall from a cloud,) if the first impetus Earthward is wrested by some false delight. Thou shouldst not wonder more, if well I judge, At thine ascent, than at a rivulet From some high mount descending to the lowland. Marvel it would be in thee, if deprived Of hindrance, thou wert seated down below, As if on earth the living fire were quiet.' Thereat she heavenward turned again her face. ~ Dante Alighieri,

775:Paradiso: Canto Ii Paradiso Canto 2 O Ye, who in some pretty little boat, Eager to listen, have been following Behind my ship, that singing sails along, Turn back to look again upon your shores; Do not put out to sea, lest peradventure, In losing me, you might yourselves be lost. The sea I sail has never yet been passed; Minerva breathes, and pilots me Apollo, And Muses nine point out to me the Bears. Ye other few who have the neck uplifted Betimes to th' bread of Angels upon which One liveth here and grows not sated by it, Well may you launch upon the deep salt-sea Your vessel, keeping still my wake before you Upon the water that grows smooth again. Those glorious ones who unto Colchos passed Were not so wonder-struck as you shall be, When Jason they beheld a ploughman made! The con-created and perpetual thirst For the realm deiform did bear us on, As swift almost as ye the heavens behold. Upward gazed Beatrice, and I at her; And in such space perchance as strikes a bolt And flies, and from the notch unlocks itself, Arrived I saw me where a wondrous thing Drew to itself my sight; and therefore she From whom no care of mine could be concealed, Towards me turning, blithe as beautiful, 282 Said unto me: 'Fix gratefully thy mind On God, who unto the first star has brought us.' It seemed to me a cloud encompassed us, Luminous, dense, consolidate and bright As adamant on which the sun is striking. Into itself did the eternal pearl Receive us, even as water doth receive A ray of light, remaining still unbroken. If I was body, (and we here conceive not How one dimension tolerates another, Which needs must be if body enter body,) More the desire should be enkindled in us That essence to behold, wherein is seen How God and our own nature were united. There will be seen what we receive by faith, Not demonstrated, but self-evident In guise of the first truth that man believes. I made reply: 'Madonna, as devoutly As most I can do I give thanks to Him Who has removed me from the mortal world. But tell me what the dusky spots may be Upon this body, which below on earth Make people tell that fabulous tale of Cain?' Somewhat she smiled; and then, 'If the opinion Of mortals be erroneous,' she said, 'Where'er the key of sense doth not unlock, Certes, the shafts of wonder should not pierce thee Now, forasmuch as, following the senses, Thou seest that the reason has short wings. But tell me what thou think'st of it thyself.' And I: 'What seems to us up here diverse, Is caused, I think, by bodies rare and dense.' 283 And she: 'Right truly shalt thou see immersed In error thy belief, if well thou hearest The argument that I shall make against it. Lights many the eighth sphere displays to you Which in their quality and quantity May noted be of aspects different. If this were caused by rare and dense alone, One only virtue would there be in all Or more or less diffused, or equally. Virtues diverse must be perforce the fruits Of formal principles; and these, save one, Of course would by thy reasoning be destroyed. Besides, if rarity were of this dimness The cause thou askest, either through and through This planet thus attenuate were of matter, Or else, as in a body is apportioned The fat and lean, so in like manner this Would in its volume interchange the leaves. Were it the former, in the sun's eclipse It would be manifest by the shining through Of light, as through aught tenuous interfused. This is not so; hence we must scan the other, And if it chance the other I demolish, Then falsified will thy opinion be. But if this rarity go not through and through, There needs must be a limit, beyond which Its contrary prevents the further passing, And thence the foreign radiance is reflected, Even as a colour cometh back from glass, The which behind itself concealeth lead. Now thou wilt say the sunbeam shows itself 284 More dimly there than in the other parts, By being there reflected farther back. From this reply experiment will free thee If e'er thou try it, which is wont to be The fountain to the rivers of your arts. Three mirrors shalt thou take, and two remove Alike from thee, the other more remote Between the former two shall meet thine eyes. Turned towards these, cause that behind thy back Be placed a light, illuming the three mirrors And coming back to thee by all reflected. Though in its quantity be not so ample The image most remote, there shalt thou see How it perforce is equally resplendent. Now, as beneath the touches of warm rays Naked the subject of the snow remains Both of its former colour and its cold, Thee thus remaining in thy intellect, Will I inform with such a living light, That it shall tremble in its aspect to thee. Within the heaven of the divine repose Revolves a body, in whose virtue lies The being of whatever it contains. The following heaven, that has so many eyes, Divides this being by essences diverse, Distinguished from it, and by it contained. The other spheres, by various differences, All the distinctions which they have within them Dispose unto their ends and their effects. Thus do these organs of the world proceed, As thou perceivest now, from grade to grade; Since from above they take, and act beneath. 285 Observe me well, how through this place I come Unto the truth thou wishest, that hereafter Thou mayst alone know how to keep the ford The power and motion of the holy spheres, As from the artisan the hammer's craft, Forth from the blessed motors must proceed. The heaven, which lights so manifold make fair, From the Intelligence profound, which turns it, The image takes, and makes of it a seal. And even as the soul within your dust Through members different and accommodated To faculties diverse expands itself, So likewise this Intelligence diffuses Its virtue multiplied among the stars. Itself revolving on its unity. Virtue diverse doth a diverse alloyage Make with the precious body that it quickens, In which, as life in you, it is combined. From the glad nature whence it is derived, The mingled virtue through the body shines, Even as gladness through the living pupil. From this proceeds whate'er from light to light Appeareth different, not from dense and rare: This is the formal principle that produces, According to its goodness, dark and bright.' ~ Dante Alighieri,

776:Inferno Canto 01 Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita . When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray. Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura ! Ah, it is hard to speak of what it was, that savage forest, dense and difficult, which even in recall renews my fear: Tant'è amara che poco è più morte; ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai, dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte . so bitter-death is hardly more severe! But to retell the good discovered there, I'll also tell the other things I saw. Io non so ben ridir com'i' v'intrai, tant'era pien di sonno a quel punto che la verace via abbandonai . I cannot clearly say how I had entered the wood; I was so full of sleep just at the point where I abandoned the true path. Ma poi ch'i' fui al piè d'un colle giunto, là dove terminava quella valle che m'avea di paura il cor compunto , 241 But when I'd reached the bottom of a hillit rose along the boundary of the valley that had harassed my heart with so much fear- guardai in alto, e vidi le sue spalle vestite già de' raggi del pianeta che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle . I looked on high and saw its shoulders clothed already by the rays of that same planet which serves to lead men straight along all roads. Allor fu la paura un poco queta che nel lago del cor m'era durata la notte ch'i' passai con tanta pieta . At this my fear was somewhat quieted; for through the night of sorrow I had spent, the lake within my heart felt terror present. E come quei che con lena affannata uscito fuor del pelago a la riva si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata , And just as he who, with exhausted breath, having escaped from sea to shore, turns back to watch the dangerous waters he has quit, così l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva, si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo che non lasciò già mai persona viva . so did my spirit, still a fugitive, turn back to look intently at the pass that never has let any man survive. 242 Poi ch'èi posato un poco il corpo lasso, ripresi via per la piaggia diserta, sì che 'l piè fermo sempre era 'l più basso . I let my tired body rest awhile. Moving again, I tried the lonely slopemy firm foot always was the one below. Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta, una lonza leggera e presta molto, che di pel macolato era coverta ; And almost where the hillside starts to riselook there!-a leopard, very quick and lithe, a leopard covered with a spotted hide. e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto, anzi 'mpediva tanto il mio cammino, ch'i' fui per ritornar più volte vòlto . He did not disappear from sight, but stayed; indeed, he so impeded my ascent that I had often to turn back again. Temp'era dal principio del mattino, e 'l sol montava 'n sù con quelle stelle ch'eran con lui quando l'amor divino The time was the beginning of the morning; the sun was rising now in fellowship with the same stars that had escorted it mosse di prima quelle cose belle; sì ch'a bene sperar m'era cagione di quella fiera a la gaetta pelle when Divine Love first moved those things of beauty; so that the hour and the gentle season 243 gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeing l'ora del tempo e la dolce stagione; ma non sì che paura non mi desse la vista che m'apparve d'un leone . that beast before me with his speckled skin; but hope was hardly able to prevent the fear I felt when I beheld a lion. Questi parea che contra me venisse con la test'alta e con rabbiosa fame, sì che parea che l'aere ne tremesse . His head held high and ravenous with hungereven the air around him seemed to shudderthis lion seemed to make his way against me. Ed una lupa, che di tutte brame sembiava carca ne la sua magrezza, e molte genti fé già viver grame , And then a she-wolf showed herself; she seemed to carry every craving in her leanness; she had already brought despair to many. questa mi porse tanto di gravezza con la paura ch'uscia di sua vista, ch'io perdei la speranza de l'altezza . The very sight of her so weighted me with fearfulness that I abandoned hope of ever climbing up that mountain slope. E qual è quei che volontieri acquista, e giugne 'l tempo che perder lo face, che 'n tutt'i suoi pensier piange e s'attrista ; 244 Even as he who glories while he gains will, when the time has come to tally loss, lament with every thought and turn despondent, tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace, che, venendomi 'ncontro, a poco a poco mi ripigneva là dove 'l sol tace . so was I when I faced that restless beast which, even as she stalked me, step by step had thrust me back to where the sun is speechless. Mentre ch'i' rovinava in basso loco, dinanzi a li occhi mi si fu offerto chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco . While I retreated down to lower ground, before my eyes there suddenly appeared one who seemed faint because of the long silence. Quando vidi costui nel gran diserto, «Miserere di me», gridai a lui, «qual che tu sii, od ombra od omo certo !». When I saw him in that vast wilderness, "Have pity on me," were the words I cried, "whatever you may be-a shade, a man." Rispuosemi: «Non omo, omo già fui, e li parenti miei furon lombardi, mantoani per patria ambedui . He answered me: "Not man; I once was man. Both of my parents came from Lombardy, and both claimed Mantua as native city. 245 Nacqui sub Iulio, ancor che fosse tardi, e vissi a Roma sotto 'l buono Augusto nel tempo de li dèi falsi e bugiardi . And I was born, though late, sub Julio, and lived in Rome under the good Augustusthe season of the false and lying gods. Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto figliuol d'Anchise che venne di Troia, poi che 'l superbo Ilión fu combusto . I was a poet, and I sang the righteous son of Anchises who had come from Troy when flames destroyed the pride of Ilium. Ma tu perché ritorni a tanta noia? perché non sali il dilettoso monte ch'è principio e cagion di tutta gioia? ». But why do you return to wretchedness? Why not climb up the mountain of delight, the origin and cause of every joy?" «Or se' tu quel Virgilio e quella fonte che spandi di parlar sì largo fiume?», rispuos'io lui con vergognosa fronte . "And are you then that Virgil, you the fountain that freely pours so rich a stream of speech?" I answered him with shame upon my brow. «O de li altri poeti onore e lume vagliami 'l lungo studio e 'l grande amore che m'ha fatto cercar lo tuo volume . "O light and honor of all other poets, may my long study and the intense love 246 that made me search your volume serve me now. Tu se' lo mio maestro e 'l mio autore; tu se' solo colui da cu' io tolsi lo bello stilo che m'ha fatto onore . You are my master and my author, youthe only one from whom my writing drew the noble style for which I have been honored. Vedi la bestia per cu' io mi volsi: aiutami da lei, famoso saggio, ch'ella mi fa tremar le vene e i polsi ». You see the beast that made me turn aside; help me, o famous sage, to stand against her, for she has made my blood and pulses shudder," «A te convien tenere altro viaggio», rispuose poi che lagrimar mi vide, «se vuo' campar d'esto loco selvaggio : "It is another path that you must take," he answered when he saw my tearfulness, "if you would leave this savage wilderness; ché questa bestia, per la qual tu gride, non lascia altrui passar per la sua via, ma tanto lo 'mpedisce che l'uccide ; the beast that is the cause of your outcry allows no man to pass along her track, but blocks him even to the point of death; e ha natura sì malvagia e ria, che mai non empie la bramosa voglia, e dopo 'l pasto ha più fame che pria . 247 her nature is so squalid, so malicious that she can never sate her greedy will; when she has fed, she's hungrier than ever. Molti son li animali a cui s'ammoglia, e più saranno ancora, infin che 'l veltro verrà, che la farà morir con doglia . She mates with many living souls and shall yet mate with many more, until the Greyhound arrives, inflicting painful death on her. Questi non ciberà terra né peltro, ma sapienza, amore e virtute, e sua nazion sarà tra feltro e feltro . That Hound will never feed on land or pewter, but find his fare in wisdom, love, and virtue; his place of birth shall be between two felts. Di quella umile Italia fia salute per cui morì la vergine Cammilla, Eurialo e Turno e Niso di ferute . He will restore low-lying Italy for which the maid Camilla died of wounds, and Nisus, Turnus, and Euryalus. Questi la caccerà per ogne villa, fin che l'avrà rimessa ne lo 'nferno, là onde 'nvidia prima dipartilla . And he will hunt that beast through every city until he thrusts her back again to Hell, for which she was first sent above by envy. 248 Ond'io per lo tuo me' penso e discerno che tu mi segui, e io sarò tua guida, e trarrotti di qui per loco etterno , Therefore, I think and judge it best for you to follow me, and I shall guide you, taking you from this place through an eternal place, ove udirai le disperate strida, vedrai li antichi spiriti dolenti, ch'a la seconda morte ciascun grida ; where you shall hear the howls of desperation and see the ancient spirits in their pain, as each of them laments his second death; e vederai color che son contenti nel foco, perché speran di venire quando che sia a le beate genti . and you shall see those souls who are content within the fire, for they hope to reachwhenever that may be-the blessed people. A le quai poi se tu vorrai salire, anima fia a ciò più di me degna: con lei ti lascerò nel mio partire ; If you would then ascend as high as these, a soul more worthy than I am will guide you; I'll leave you in her care when I depart, ché quello imperador che là sù regna, perch'i' fu' ribellante a la sua legge, non vuol che 'n sua città per me si vegna . because that Emperor who reigns above, since I have been rebellious to His law, 249 will not allow me entry to His city. In tutte parti impera e quivi regge; quivi è la sua città e l'alto seggio: oh felice colui cu' ivi elegge! ». He governs everywhere, but rules from there; there is His city, His high capital: o happy those He chooses to be there!" E io a lui: «Poeta, io ti richeggio per quello Dio che tu non conoscesti, acciò ch'io fugga questo male e peggio , And I replied: "O poet-by that God whom you had never come to know-I beg you, that I may flee this evil and worse evils, che tu mi meni là dov'or dicesti, sì ch'io veggia la porta di san Pietro e color cui tu fai cotanto mesti ». to lead me to the place of which you spoke, that I may see the gateway of Saint Peter and those whom you describe as sorrowful." Allor si mosse, e io li tenni dietro. Then he set out, and I moved on behind him. ~ Dante Alighieri,

777:Inferno Canto03 Per me si va ne la città dolente, per me si va ne l'etterno dolore, per me si va tra la perduta gente . THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY, THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN, THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST. Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore: fecemi la divina podestate, la somma sapienza e 'l primo amore . JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER; MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY, THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE. Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create se non etterne, e io etterno duro. Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate ". BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY. ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE. Queste parole di colore oscuro vid'io scritte al sommo d'una porta; per ch'io: «Maestro, il senso lor m'è duro ». These words-their aspect was obscure-I read inscribed above a gateway, and I said: "Master, their meaning is difficult for me." Ed elli a me, come persona accorta: «Qui si convien lasciare ogne sospetto; ogne viltà convien che qui sia morta . 262 And he to me, as one who comprehends: "Here one must leave behind all hesitation; here every cowardice must meet its death. Noi siam venuti al loco ov'i' t'ho detto che tu vedrai le genti dolorose c'hanno perduto il ben de l'intelletto ». For we have reached the place of which I spoke, where you will see the miserable people, those who have lost the good of the intellect." E poi che la sua mano a la mia puose con lieto volto, ond'io mi confortai, mi mise dentro a le segrete cose . And when, with gladness in his face, he placed his hand upon my own, to comfort me, he drew me in among the hidden things. Quivi sospiri, pianti e alti guai risonavan per l'aere sanza stelle, per ch'io al cominciar ne lagrimai . Here sighs and lamentations and loud cries were echoing across the starless air, so that, as soon as I set out, I wept. Diverse lingue, orribili favelle, parole di dolore, accenti d'ira, voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements, accents of anger, words of suffering, and voices shrill and faint, and beating hands- 263 facevano un tumulto, il qual s'aggira sempre in quell'aura sanza tempo tinta, come la rena quando turbo spira . all went to make a tumult that will whirl forever through that turbid, timeless air, like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls. E io ch'avea d'error la testa cinta, dissi: «Maestro, che è quel ch'i' odo? e che gent'è che par nel duol sì vinta ?». And I-my head oppressed by horror-said: "Master, what is it that I hear? Who are those people so defeated by their pain?" Ed elli a me: «Questo misero modo tegnon l'anime triste di coloro che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo . And he to me: "This miserable way is taken by the sorry souls of those who lived without disgrace and without praise. Mischiate sono a quel cattivo coro de li angeli che non furon ribelli né fur fedeli a Dio, ma per sé fuoro . They now commingle with the coward angels, the company of those who were not rebels nor faithful to their God, but stood apart. Caccianli i ciel per non esser men belli, né lo profondo inferno li riceve, ch'alcuna gloria i rei avrebber d'elli ». The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened, have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them- 264 even the wicked cannot glory in them." E io: «Maestro, che è tanto greve a lor, che lamentar li fa sì forte?». Rispuose: «Dicerolti molto breve . And I: "What is it, master, that oppresses these souls, compelling them to wail so loud?" He answered: "I shall tell you in few words. Questi non hanno speranza di morte e la lor cieca vita è tanto bassa, che 'nvidiosi son d'ogne altra sorte . Those who are here can place no hope in death, and their blind life is so abject that they are envious of every other fate. Fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa; misericordia e giustizia li sdegna: non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa ». The world will let no fame of theirs endure; both justice and compassion must disdain them; let us not talk of them, but look and pass." E io, che riguardai, vidi una 'nsegna che girando correva tanto ratta, che d'ogne posa mi parea indegna ; And I, looking more closely, saw a banner that, as it wheeled about, raced on-so quick that any respite seemed unsuited to it. e dietro le venìa sì lunga tratta di gente, ch'i' non averei creduto che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta . 265 Behind that banner trailed so long a file of people-I should never have believed that death could have unmade so many souls. Poscia ch'io v'ebbi alcun riconosciuto, vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto . After I had identified a few, I saw and recognized the shade of him who made, through cowardice, the great refusal. Incontanente intesi e certo fui che questa era la setta d'i cattivi, a Dio spiacenti e a' nemici sui . At once I understood with certainty: this company contained the cowardly, hateful to God and to His enemies. Questi sciaurati, che mai non fur vivi, erano ignudi e stimolati molto da mosconi e da vespe ch'eran ivi . These wretched ones, who never were alive, went naked and were stung again, again by horseflies and by wasps that circled them. Elle rigavan lor di sangue il volto, che, mischiato di lagrime, a' lor piedi da fastidiosi vermi era ricolto . The insects streaked their faces with their blood, which, mingled with their tears, fell at their feet, where it was gathered up by sickening worms. 266 E poi ch'a riguardar oltre mi diedi, vidi genti a la riva d'un gran fiume; per ch'io dissi: «Maestro, or mi concedi And then, looking beyond them, I could see a crowd along the bank of a great river; at which I said: "Allow me now to know ch'i' sappia quali sono, e qual costume le fa di trapassar parer sì pronte, com'io discerno per lo fioco lume ». who are these people-master-and what law has made them seem so eager for the crossing, as I can see despite the feeble light." Ed elli a me: «Le cose ti fier conte quando noi fermerem li nostri passi su la trista riviera d'Acheronte ». And he to me: "When we have stopped along the melancholy shore of Acheron, then all these matters will be plain to you." Allor con li occhi vergognosi e bassi, temendo no 'l mio dir li fosse grave, infino al fiume del parlar mi trassi . At that, with eyes ashamed, downcast, and fearing that what I said had given him offense, I did not speak until we reached the river. Ed ecco verso noi venir per nave un vecchio, bianco per antico pelo, gridando: «Guai a voi, anime prave ! And here, advancing toward us, in a boat, an aged man-his hair was white with years- 267 was shouting: "Woe to you, corrupted souls! Non isperate mai veder lo cielo: i' vegno per menarvi a l'altra riva ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e 'n gelo . Forget your hope of ever seeing Heaven: I come to lead you to the other shore, to the eternal dark, to fire and frost. E tu che se' costì, anima viva, pàrtiti da cotesti che son morti». Ma poi che vide ch'io non mi partiva , And you approaching there, you living soul, keep well away from these-they are the dead." But when he saw I made no move to go, disse: «Per altra via, per altri porti verrai a piaggia, non qui, per passare: più lieve legno convien che ti porti ». he said: "Another way and other harborsnot here-will bring you passage to your shore: a lighter craft will have to carry you." E 'l duca lui: «Caron, non ti crucciare: vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare ». My guide then: "Charon, don't torment yourself: our passage has been willed above, where One can do what He has willed; and ask no more." Quinci fuor quete le lanose gote al nocchier de la livida palude, che 'ntorno a li occhi avea di fiamme rote . 268 Now silence fell upon the wooly cheeks of Charon, pilot of the livid marsh, whose eyes were ringed about with wheels of flame. Ma quell'anime, ch'eran lasse e nude, cangiar colore e dibattero i denti, ratto che 'nteser le parole crude . But all those spirits, naked and exhausted, had lost their color, and they gnashed their teeth as soon as they heard Charon's cruel words; Bestemmiavano Dio e lor parenti, l'umana spezie e 'l loco e 'l tempo e 'l seme di lor semenza e di lor nascimenti . they execrated God and their own parents and humankind, and then the place and time of their conception's seed and of their birth. Poi si ritrasser tutte quante insieme, forte piangendo, a la riva malvagia ch'attende ciascun uom che Dio non teme . Then they forgathered, huddled in one throng, weeping aloud along that wretched shore which waits for all who have no fear of God. Caron dimonio, con occhi di bragia, loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie; batte col remo qualunque s'adagia . The demon Charon, with his eyes like embers, by signaling to them, has all embark; his oar strikes anyone who stretches out. 269 Come d'autunno si levan le foglie l'una appresso de l'altra, fin che 'l ramo vede a la terra tutte le sue spoglie , As, in the autumn, leaves detach themselves, first one and then the other, till the bough sees all its fallen garments on the ground, Aen.VI. similemente il mal seme d'Adamo gittansi di quel lito ad una ad una, per cenni come augel per suo richiamo . similarly, the evil seed of Adam descended from the shoreline one by one, when signaled, as a falcon-called-will come. Così sen vanno su per l'onda bruna, e avanti che sien di là discese, anche di qua nuova schiera s'auna . So do they move across the darkened waters; even before they reach the farther shore, new ranks already gather on this bank. «Figliuol mio», disse 'l maestro cortese, «quelli che muoion ne l'ira di Dio tutti convegnon qui d'ogne paese : "My son," the gracious master said to me, "those who have died beneath the wrath of God, all these assemble here from every country; e pronti sono a trapassar lo rio, ché la divina giustizia li sprona, sì che la tema si volve in disio . 270 and they are eager for the river crossing because celestial justice spurs them on, so that their fear is turned into desire. Quinci non passa mai anima buona; e però, se Caron di te si lagna, ben puoi sapere omai che 'l suo dir suona ». No good soul ever takes its passage here; therefore, if Charon has complained of you, by now you can be sure what his words mean." Finito questo, la buia campagna tremò sì forte, che de lo spavento la mente di sudore ancor mi bagna . And after this was said, the darkened plain quaked so tremendously-the memory of terror then, bathes me in sweat again. La terra lagrimosa diede vento, che balenò una luce vermiglia la qual mi vinse ciascun sentimento ; A whirlwind burst out of the tear-drenched earth, a wind that crackled with a bloodred light, a light that overcame all of my senses; e caddi come l'uom cui sonno piglia. and like a man whom sleep has seized, I fell. ~ Dante Alighieri,

778:Inferno Canto02 Lo giorno se n'andava, e l'aere bruno toglieva li animai che sono in terra da le fatiche loro; e io sol uno The day was now departing; the dark air released the living beings of the earth from work and weariness; and I myself m'apparecchiava a sostener la guerra sì del cammino e sì de la pietate, che ritrarrà la mente che non erra . alone prepared to undergo the battle both of the journeying and of the pity, which memory, mistaking not, shall show. O muse, o alto ingegno, or m'aiutate; o mente che scrivesti ciò ch'io vidi, qui si parrà la tua nobilitate . O Muses, o high genius, help me now; o memory that set down what I saw, here shall your excellence reveal itself! Io cominciai: «Poeta che mi guidi, guarda la mia virtù s'ell'è possente, prima ch'a l'alto passo tu mi fidi . I started: "Poet, you who are my guide, see if the force in me is strong enough before you let me face that rugged pass. Tu dici che di Silvio il parente, corruttibile ancora, ad immortale secolo andò, e fu sensibilmente . 251 You say that he who fathered Sylvius, while he was still corruptible, had journeyed into the deathless world with his live body. Però, se l'avversario d'ogne male cortese i fu, pensando l'alto effetto ch'uscir dovea di lui e 'l chi e 'l quale , For, if the Enemy of every evil was courteous to him, considering all he would cause and who and what he was, non pare indegno ad omo d'intelletto; ch'e' fu de l'alma Roma e di suo impero ne l'empireo ciel per padre eletto : that does not seem incomprehensible, since in the empyrean heaven he was chosen to father honored Rome and her empire; la quale e 'l quale, a voler dir lo vero, fu stabilita per lo loco santo u' siede il successor del maggior Piero . and if the truth be told, Rome and her realm were destined to become the sacred place, the seat of the successor of great Peter. Per quest'andata onde li dai tu vanto, intese cose che furon cagione di sua vittoria e del papale ammanto . And through the journey you ascribe to him, he came to learn of things that were to bring his victory and, too, the papal mantle. 252 Andovvi poi lo Vas d'elezione, per recarne conforto a quella fede ch'è principio a la via di salvazione . Later the Chosen Vessel travelled there, to bring us back assurance of that faith with which the way to our salvation starts. Ma io perché venirvi? o chi 'l concede? Io non Enea, io non Paulo sono: me degno a ciò né io né altri 'l crede . But why should I go there? Who sanctions it? For I am not Aeneas, am not Paul; nor I nor others think myself so worthy. Per che, se del venire io m'abbandono, temo che la venuta non sia folle. Se' savio; intendi me' ch'i' non ragiono ». Therefore, if I consent to start this journey, I fear my venture may be wild and empty. You're wise; you know far more than what I say." E qual è quei che disvuol ciò che volle e per novi pensier cangia proposta, sì che dal cominciar tutto si tolle , And just as he who unwills what he wills and shifts what he intends to seek new ends so that he's drawn from what he had begun, tal mi fec'io 'n quella oscura costa, perché, pensando, consumai la 'mpresa che fu nel cominciar cotanto tosta. so was I in the midst of that dark land, because, with all my thinking, I annulled 253 the task I had so quickly undertaken. «S'i' ho ben la parola tua intesa», rispuose del magnanimo quell'ombra; «l'anima tua è da viltade offesa ; "If I have understood what you have said," replied the shade of that great-hearted one, "your soul has been assailed by cowardice, la qual molte fiate l'omo ingombra sì che d'onrata impresa lo rivolve, come falso veder bestia quand'ombra . which often weighs so heavily on a mandistracting him from honorable trialsas phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. Da questa tema acciò che tu ti solve, dirotti perch'io venni e quel ch'io 'ntesi nel primo punto che di te mi dolve . That you may be delivered from this fear, I'll tell you why I came and what I heard when I first felt compassion for your pain. Io era tra color che son sospesi, e donna mi chiamò beata e bella, tal che di comandare io la richiesi . I was among those souls who are suspended; a lady called to me, so blessed, so lovely that I implored to serve at her command. Lucevan li occhi suoi più che la stella; e cominciommi a dir soave e piana, con angelica voce, in sua favella : 254 Her eyes surpassed the splendor of the star's; and she began to speak to me-so gently and softly-with angelic voice. She said: "O anima cortese mantoana, di cui la fama ancor nel mondo dura, e durerà quanto 'l mondo lontana , 'O spirit of the courteous Mantuan, whose fame is still a presence in the world and shall endure as long as the world lasts, l'amico mio, e non de la ventura, ne la diserta piaggia è impedito sì nel cammin, che volt'è per paura ; my friend, who has not been the friend of fortune, is hindered in his path along that lonely hillside; he has been turned aside by terror. e temo che non sia già sì smarrito, ch'io mi sia tardi al soccorso levata, per quel ch'i' ho di lui nel cielo udito . From all that I have heard of him in Heaven, he is, I fear, already so astray that I have come to help him much too late. Or movi, e con la tua parola ornata e con ciò c'ha mestieri al suo campare l'aiuta, sì ch'i' ne sia consolata . Go now; with your persuasive word, with all that is required to see that he escapes, bring help to him, that I may be consoled. 255 I' son Beatrice che ti faccio andare; vegno del loco ove tornar disio; amor mi mosse, che mi fa parlare . For I am Beatrice who send you on; I come from where I most long to return; Love prompted me, that Love which makes me speak. Quando sarò dinanzi al segnor mio, di te mi loderò sovente a lui". Tacette allora, e poi comincia' io : When once again I stand before my Lord, then I shall often let Him hear your praises.' Now Beatrice was silent. I began: "O donna di virtù, sola per cui l'umana spezie eccede ogne contento di quel ciel c'ha minor li cerchi sui , 'O Lady of virtue, the sole reason why the human race surpasses all that lies beneath the heaven with the smallest spheres, tanto m'aggrada il tuo comandamento, che l'ubidir, se già fosse, m'è tardi; più non t'è uo' ch'aprirmi il tuo talento . so welcome is your wish, that even if it were already done, it would seem tardy; all you need do is let me know your will. Ma dimmi la cagion che non ti guardi de lo scender qua giuso in questo centro de l'ampio loco ove tornar tu ardi ". But tell me why you have not been more prudentdescending to this center, moving from 256 that spacious place where you long to return?' "Da che tu vuo' saver cotanto a dentro, dirotti brievemente", mi rispuose, "perch'io non temo di venir qua entro . 'Because you want to fathom things so deeply, I now shall tell you promptly,' she replied, 'why I am not afraid to enter here. Temer si dee di sole quelle cose c'hanno potenza di fare altrui male; de l'altre no, ché non son paurose . One ought to be afraid of nothing other than things possessed of power to do us harm, but things innocuous need not be feared. I' son fatta da Dio, sua mercé, tale, che la vostra miseria non mi tange, né fiamma d'esto incendio non m'assale . God, in His graciousness, has made me so that this, your misery, cannot touch me; I can withstand the fires flaming here. Donna è gentil nel ciel che si compiange di questo 'mpedimento ov'io ti mando, sì che duro giudicio là sù frange . In Heaven there's a gentle lady-one who weeps for the distress toward which I send you, so that stern judgment up above is shattered. Questa chiese Lucia in suo dimando e disse: - Or ha bisogno il tuo fedele di te, e io a te lo raccomando -. 257 And it was she who called upon Lucia, requesting of her: "Now your faithful one has need of you, and I commend him to you." Lucia, nimica di ciascun crudele, si mosse, e venne al loco dov'i' era, che mi sedea con l'antica Rachele . Lucia, enemy of every cruelty, arose and made her way to where I was, sitting beside the venerable Rachel. Disse: - Beatrice, loda di Dio vera, ché non soccorri quei che t'amò tanto, ch'uscì per te de la volgare schiera ? She said: "You, Beatrice, true praise of God, why have you not helped him who loves you so that-for your sake-he's left the vulgar crowd? non odi tu la pieta del suo pianto? non vedi tu la morte che 'l combatte su la fiumana ove 'l mar non ha vanto ? Do you not hear the anguish in his cry? Do you not see the death he wars against upon that river ruthless as the sea?" Al mondo non fur mai persone ratte a far lor pro o a fuggir lor danno, com'io, dopo cotai parole fatte, No one within this world has ever been so quick to seek his good or flee his harm as I-when she had finished speaking thusvenni qua giù del mio beato scanno, 258 fidandomi del tuo parlare onesto, ch'onora te e quei ch'udito l'hanno ". to come below, down from my blessed station; I trusted in your honest utterance, which honors you and those who've listened to you.' Poscia che m'ebbe ragionato questo, li occhi lucenti lagrimando volse; per che mi fece del venir più presto ; When she had finished with her words to me, she turned aside her gleaming, tearful eyes, which only made me hurry all the more. e venni a te così com'ella volse; d'inanzi a quella fiera ti levai che del bel monte il corto andar ti tolse . And, just as she had wished, I came to you: I snatched you from the path of the fierce beast that barred the shortest way up the fair mountain. Dunque: che è? perché, perché restai? perché tanta viltà nel core allette? perché ardire e franchezza non hai ? What is it then? Why, why do you resist? Why does your heart host so much cowardice? Where are your daring and your openness poscia che tai tre donne benedette curan di te ne la corte del cielo, e 'l mio parlar tanto ben ti promette? ». as long as there are three such blessed women concerned for you within the court of Heaven and my words promise you so great a good?" 259 Quali fioretti dal notturno gelo chinati e chiusi, poi che 'l sol li 'mbianca si drizzan tutti aperti in loro stelo , As little flowers, which the chill of night has bent and huddled, when the white sun strikes grow straight and open fully on their stems, tal mi fec'io di mia virtude stanca, e tanto buono ardire al cor mi corse, ch'i' cominciai come persona franca : so did I, too, with my exhausted force; and such warm daring rushed into my heart that I-as one who has been freed-began: «Oh pietosa colei che mi soccorse! e te cortese ch'ubidisti tosto a le vere parole che ti porse ! "O she, compassionate, who has helped me! And you who, courteous, obeyed so quickly the true words that she had addressed to you! Tu m'hai con disiderio il cor disposto sì al venir con le parole tue, ch'i' son tornato nel primo proposto . You, with your words, have so disposed my heart to longing for this journey-I return to what I was at first prepared to do. Or va, ch'un sol volere è d'ambedue: tu duca, tu segnore, e tu maestro». Così li dissi; e poi che mosso fue , 260 Now go; a single will fills both of us: you are my guide, my governor, my master." These were my words to him; when he advanced intrai per lo cammino alto e silvestro . I entered on the steep and savage path. ~ Dante Alighieri,

779:The Bounty [for Alix Walcott] Between the vision of the Tourist Board and the true Paradise lies the desert where Isaiah's elations force a rose from the sand. The thirty-third canto cores the dawn clouds with concentric radiance, the breadfruit opens its palms in praise of the bounty, bois-pain, tree of bread, slave food, the bliss of John Clare, torn, wandering Tom, stoat-stroker in his county of reeds and stalk-crickets, fiddling the dank air, lacing his boots with vines, steering glazed beetles with the tenderest prods, knight of the cockchafer, wrapped in the mists of shires, their snail-horned steeples palms opening to the cupped pool—but his soul safer than ours, though iron streams fetter his ankles. Frost whitening his stubble, he stands in the ford of a brook like the Baptist lifting his branches to bless cathedrals and snails, the breaking of this new day, and the shadows of the beach road near which my mother lies, with the traffic of insects going to work anyway. The lizard on the white wall fixed on the hieroglyph of its stone shadow, the palms' rustling archery, the souls and sails of circling gulls rhyme with: "In la sua volont è nostra pace," In His will is our peace. Peace in white harbours, in marinas whose masts agree, in crescent melons left all night in the fridge, in the Egyptian labours of ants moving boulders of sugar, words in this sentence, shadow and light, who live next door like neighbours, 57 and in sardines with pepper sauce. My mother lies near the white beach stones, John Clare near the sea-almonds, yet the bounty returns each daybreak, to my surprise, to my surprise and betrayal, yes, both at once. I am moved like you, mad Tom, by a line of ants; I behold their industry and they are giants. ii There on the beach, in the desert, lies the dark well where the rose of my life was lowered, near the shaken plants, near a pool of fresh tears, tolled by the golden bell of allamanda, thorns of the bougainvillea, and that is their bounty! They shine with defiance from weed and flower, even those that flourish elsewhere, vetch, ivy, clematis, on whom the sun now rises with all its power, not for the Tourist Board or for Dante Alighieri, but because there is no other path for its wheel to take except to make the ruts of the beach road an allegory of this poem's career, of yours, that she died for the sake of a crowning wreath of false laurel; so, John Clare, forgive me, for this morning's sake, forgive me, coffee, and pardon me, milk with two packets of artificial sugar, as I watch these lines grow and the art of poetry harden me into sorrow as measured as this, to draw the veiled figure of Mamma entering the standard elegiac. No, there is grief, there will always be, but it must not madden, like Clare, who wept for a beetle's loss, for the weight of the world in a bead of dew on clematis or vetch, and the fire in these tinder-dry lines of this poem I hate as much as I love her, poor rain-beaten wretch, redeemer of mice, earl of the doomed protectorate of cavalry under your cloak; come on now, enough! 58 iii Bounty! In the bells of tree-frogs with their steady clamour in the indigo dark before dawn, the fading morse of fireflies and crickets, then light on the beetle's armour, and the toad's too-late presages, nettles of remorse that shall spring from her grave from the spade's heartbreak. And yet not to have loved her enough is to love more, if I confess it, and I confess it. The trickle of underground springs, the babble of swollen gulches under drenched ferns, loosening the grip of their roots, till their hairy clods like unclenching fists swirl wherever the gulch turns them, and the shuddering aftermath bends the rods of wild cane. Bounty in the ant's waking fury, in the snail's chapel stirring under wild yams, praise in decay and process, awe in the ordinary in wind that reads the lines of the breadfruit's palms in the sun contained in a globe of the crystal dew, bounty in the ants' continuing a line of raw flour, mercy on the mongoose scuttling past my door, in the light's parallelogram laid on the kitchen floor, for Thine is the Kingdom, the Glory, and the Power, the bells of Saint Clement's in the marigolds on the altar, in the bougainvillea's thorns, in the imperial lilac and the feathery palms that nodded at the entry into Jerusalem, the weight of the world on the back of an ass; dismounting, He left His cross there for sentry and sneering centurion; then I believed in His Word, in a widow's immaculate husband, in pews of brown wood, when the cattle-bell of the chapel summoned our herd 59 into the varnished stalls, in whose rustling hymnals I heard the fresh Jacobean springs, the murmur Clare heard of bounty abiding, the clear language she taught us, "as the hart panteth," at this, her keen ears pronged while her three fawns nibbled the soul-freshening waters, "as the hart panteth for the water-brooks" that belonged to the language in which I mourn her now, or when I showed her my first elegy, her husband's, and then her own. iv But can she or can she not read this? Can you read this, Mamma, or hear it? If I took the pulpit, lay-preacher like tender Clare, like poor Tom, so that look, Miss! the ants come to you like children, their beloved teacher Alix, but unlike the silent recitation of the infants, the choir that Clare and Tom heard in their rainy county, we have no solace but utterance, hence this wild cry. Snails move into harbour, the breadfruit plants on the Bounty will be heaved aboard, and the white God is Captain Bligh. Across white feathery grave-grass the shadow of the soul passes, the canvas cracks open on the cross-trees of the Bounty, and the Trades lift the shrouds of the resurrected sail. All move in their passage to the same mother-country, the dirt-clawing weasel, the blank owl or sunning seal. Faith grows mutinous. The ribbed body with its cargo stalls in its doldrums, the God-captain is cast adrift by a mutinous Christian, in the wake of the turning Argo plants bob in the ocean's furrows, their shoots dip and lift, and the soul's Australia is like the New Testament after the Old World, the code of an eye for an eye; the horizon spins slowly and Authority's argument 60 diminishes in power, in the longboat with Captain Bligh. This was one of your earliest lessons, how the Christ-Son questions the Father, to settle on another island, haunted by Him, by the speck of a raging deity on the ruled horizon, diminishing in meaning and distance, growing more dim: all these predictable passages that we first disobey before we become what we challenged; but you never altered your voice, either sighing or sewing, you would pray to your husband aloud, pedalling the hymns we all heard in the varnished pew: "There Is a Green Hill Far Away," "Jerusalem the Golden." Your melody faltered but never your faith in the bounty which is His Word. All of these waves crepitate from the culture of Ovid, its sibilants and consonants; a universal metre piles up these signatures like inscriptions of seaweed that dry in the pungent sun, lines ruled by mitre and laurel, or spray swiftly garlanding the forehead of an outcrop (and I hope this settles the matter of presences). No soul was ever invented, yet every presence is transparent; if I met her (in her nightdress ankling barefoot, crooning to the shallows), should I call her shadow that of a pattern invented by Graeco-Roman design, columns of shadows cast by the Forum, Augustan perspectives— poplars, casuarina-colonnades, the in-and-out light of almonds made from original Latin, no leaf but the olive's? Questions of pitch. Faced with seraphic radiance (don't interrupt!), mortals rub their skeptical eyes that hell is a beach-fire at night where embers dance, with temporal fireflies like thoughts of Paradise; 61 but there are inexplicable instincts that keep recurring not from hope or fear only, that are real as stones, the faces of the dead we wait for as ants are transferring their cities, though we no longer believe in the shining ones. I half-expect to see you no longer, then more than half, almost never, or never then—there I have said it— but felt something less than final at the edge of your grave, some other something somewhere, equally dreaded, since the fear of the infinite is the same as death, unendurable brightness, the substantial dreading its own substance, dissolving to gases and vapours, like our dread of distance; we need a horizon, a dividing line that turns the stars into neighbours though infinity separates them, we can think of only one sun: all I am saying is that the dread of death is in the faces we love, the dread of our dying, or theirs; therefore we see in the glint of immeasurable spaces not stars or falling embers, not meteors, but tears. vi The mango trees serenely rust when they are in flower, nobody knows the name for that voluble cedar whose bell-flowers fall, the pomme-arac purples its floor. The blue hills in late afternoon always look sadder. The country night waiting to come in outside the door; the firefly keeps striking matches, and the hillside fumes with a bluish signal of charcoal, then the smoke burns into a larger question, one that forms and unforms, then loses itself in a cloud, till the question returns. Buckets clatter under pipes, villages begin at corners. A man and his trotting dog come back from their garden. 62 The sea blazes beyond the rust roofs, dark is on us before we know it. The earth smells of what's done, small yards brighten, day dies and its mourners begin, the first wreath of gnats; this was when we sat down on bright verandahs watching the hills die. Nothing is trite once the beloved have vanished; empty clothes in a row, but perhaps our sadness tires them who cherished delight; not only are they relieved of our customary sorrow, they are without hunger, without any appetite, but are part of earth's vegetal fury; their veins grow with the wild mammy-apple, the open-handed breadfruit, their heart in the open pomegranate, in the sliced avocado; ground-doves pick from their palms; ants carry the freight of their sweetness, their absence in all that we eat, their savour that sweetens all of our multiple juices, their faith that we break and chew in a wedge of cassava, and here at first is the astonishment: that earth rejoices in the middle of our agony, earth that will have her for good: wind shines white stones and the shallows' voices. vii In spring, after the bear's self-burial, the stuttering crocuses open and choir, glaciers shelve and thaw, frozen ponds crack into maps, green lances spring from the melting fields, flags of rooks rise and tatter the pierced light, the crumbling quiet avalanches of an unsteady sky; the vole uncoils and the otter worries his sleek head through the verge's branches; crannies, culverts, and creeks roar with wrist-numbing water. Deer vault invisible hurdles and sniff the sharp air, squirrels spring up like questions, berries easily redden, 63 edges delight in their own shapes (whoever their shaper). But here there is one season, our viridian Eden is that of the primal garden that engendered decay, from the seed of a beetle's shard or a dead hare white and forgotten as winter with spring on its way. There is no change now, no cycles of spring, autumn, winter, nor an island's perpetual summer; she took time with her; no climate, no calendar except for this bountiful day. As poor Tom fed his last crust to trembling birds, as by reeds and cold pools John Clare blest these thin musicians, let the ants teach me again with the long lines of words, my business and duty, the lesson you taught your sons, to write of the light's bounty on familiar things that stand on the verge of translating themselves into news: the crab, the frigate that floats on cruciform wings, and that nailed and thorn riddled tree that opens its pews to the blackbird that hasn't forgotten her because it sings. ~ Derek Walcott,

   1 Poetry
   1 Fiction

1.pbs - Sonnet - From The Italian Of Cavalcanti, #Shelley - Poems, #Percy Bysshe Shelley, #Fiction   GUIDO CAVALCANTI TO Dante Alighieri:   Returning from its daily quest, my Spirit