But silence here were vain; and by these notes',
Which now I sing, reader, I swear to thee,
So may they favour find to latest times!

That through the gross and murky air I spied
A shape come swimming up, that might have quell'd
The stoutest heart with wonder; in such guise
As one returns, who hath been down to loose
An anchor grappled fast against some rock,
Or to aught else that in the salt wave lies,
Who, upward springing, close draws in his feet.

CANTO XVII.

ARGUMENT.

The monster Geryon is described; to whom while Virgil is speaking in order that he may carry them both down to the next circle, Dante, by permission, goes a little farther along the edge of the void, to descry the third species of sinners contained in this compartment, namely, those who have done violence to Art; and then returning to his master, they both descend, seated on the back of Geryon. "Lo! the fell monster2 with the deadly sting, Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced walls And firm embattled spears, and with his filth Taints all the world." Thus me my guide address'd, And beckon'd him, that he should come to shore, Near to the stony causeway's utmost edge.

Forthwith that image vile of Fraud appear'd,
His head and upper part exposed on land,
But laid not on the shore his bestial train.
His face the semblance of a just man's wore,
So kind and gracious was its outward cheer;
The rest was serpent all: two shaggy claws
Reach'd to the arm-pits; and the back and breast,
And either side, were painted o'er with nodes
And orbits. Colours variegated more

Nor Turks nor Tartars e'er on cloth of state
With interchangeable embroidery wove,

1 By these notes.] So Frezzi:

Per queste rime mie, lettor, ti giuro.

Il Quadrir. lib. iii. cap. 16.

In like manner, Pindar confirms his veracity by an oath : Ναὶ μὰ γὰρ Ὅρκον, ἐμὰν δόξαν.

Nem. xi. 30.

which is imitated, as usual, by Chiabrera :

Ed io lungo il Permesso

Sacro alle Muse obligherò mia fede.

2 The fell monster.] Fraud.

Canz. Erioche, xliii. 75.

Nor spread Arachne o'er her curious loom.
As oft-times a light skiff, moor'd to the shore,
Stands part in water, part upon the land;
Or, as where dwells the greedy German boor,
The beaver settles, watching for his prey;
So on the rim, that fenced the sand with rock,
Sat perch'd the fiend of evil. In the void
Glancing, his tail upturn'd its venomous fork,
With sting like scorpion's arm'd. Then thus my
guide:

66

Now need our way must turn few steps apart, Far as to that ill beast, who couches there.'

Thereat, toward the right our downward course
We shaped, and, better to escape the flame
And burning marle, ten paces on the verge
Proceeded. Soon as we to him arrive,
A little further on mine eye beholds

A tribe of spirits, seated on the sand
Near to the void. Forthwith my master spake :
"That to the full thy knowledge may extend
Of all this round contains, go now, and mark
The mien these wear: but hold not long discourse.
Till thou returnest, I with him meantime
Will parley, that to us he may vouchsafe
The aid of his strong shoulders." Thus alone,
Yet forward on the extremity I paced

Of that seventh circle, where the mournful tribe
Were seated. At the eyes forth gush'd their pangs.
Against the vapours and the torrid soil
Alternately their shifting hands they plied.
Thus use the dogs in summer still to ply
Their jaws and feet by turns, when bitten sore
By gnats, or flies, or gadflies swarming round.
Noting the visages of some, who lay

Beneath the pelting of that dolorous fire,
One of them all I knew not; but perceived,
That pendent from his neck each bore a pouch1
With colours and with emblems various mark'd,
On which it seem'd as if their eye did feed.

And when, amongst them, looking round I came, A yellow purse2 I saw with azure wrought,

A pouch.] A purse, whereon the armorial bearings of each were emblazoned. According to Landino, our poet implies that the usurer can pretend to no other honour than such as he derives from his purse and his family. The description of persons by their heraldic insignia is remarkable both on the present and several other occasions in this poem. 2 A yellow purse.] The arms of the Gianfigliazzi of Florence.

That wore a lion's countenance and port.
Then, still my sight pursuing its career,
Another I beheld, than blood more red,
A goose display of whiter wing than curd.
And one, who bore a fat and azure swine2
Pictured on his white scrip, address'd me thus:
"What dost thou in this deep? Go now and know,
Since yet thou livest, that my neighbour here
Vitaliano on my left shall sit.

A Paduan with these Florentines am I.
Oft-times they thunder in mine ears, exclaiming,
'Oh! haste that noble knight4, he who the pouch
'With the three goats will bring.' This said,

he writhed

The mouth, and loll'd the tongue out, like an ox
That licks his nostrils. I, lest longer stay
He ill might brook, who bade me stay not long,
Backward my steps from those sad spirits turn'd.
My guide already seated on the haunch
Of the fierce animal I found; and thus
He me encouraged. "Be thou stout: be bold.
Down such a steep flight must we now descend.
Mount thou before: for, that no power the tail
May have to harm thee, I will be i' th' midst."
As one, who hath an ague fit so near,
His nails already are turn'd blue, and he
Quivers all o'er, if he but eye the shade;
Such was my cheer at hearing of his words.

But shame soon interposed her threat, who makes

1 Another.] Those of the Ubbriachi, another Florentine family of high distinction.

2 A fat and azure swine.] The arms of the Scrovigni, a noble family of Padua.

3 Vitaliano.] Vitaliano del Dente, a Paduan.

4 That noble knight.] Giovanni Bujamonti, a Florentine usurer, the most infamous of his time.

5 Goats.] Monti, in his Proposta, had introduced a facetious dialogue, on the supposed mistake made in the interpretation of this word "Becchi" by the compilers of the Della Crusca Dictionary, who translated it "goats," instead of "beaks." He afterwards saw his own error, and had the ingenuousness to confess it in the Appendix, p. 274. Having in the former editions of this work been betrayed into the same misunderstanding of my author, I cannot do less than follow so good an example, by acknowledging and correcting it.

6 As one.] Dante trembled with fear, like a man who, expecting the return of a quartan ague, shakes even at the sight of a place made cool by the shade.

7 But shame.] I have followed the reading in Vellutello's edition,

The servant bold in presence of his lord.

I settled me upon those shoulders huge, And would have said, but that the words to aid My purpose came not, "Look thou clasp me firm." But he whose succour then not first I proved, Soon as I mounted, in his arms aloft,

Embracing, held me up; and thus he spake : Geryon! now move thee: be thy wheeling gyres Of ample circuit, easy thy descent.

Think on the unusual burden thou sustain'st."

As a small vessel, backening out from land, Her station quits; so thence the monster loosed, And, when he felt himself at large, turn'd round There, where the breast had been, his forked tail. Thus, like an eel, outstretch'd at length he steer'd, Gathering the air up with retractile claws.

Not greater was the dread, when Phaeton

The reins let drop at random, whence high heaven, Whereof signs yet appear, was wrapt in flames; Nor when ill-fated Icarus perceived,

By liquefaction of the scalded wax,

The trusted pennons loosen'd from his loins,
His sire exclaiming loud, "Ill way thou keep'st,"
Than was my dread, when round me on each part
The air I view'd, and other object none

Save the fell beast. He, slowly sailing, wheels
His downward motion, unobserved of me,
But that the wind, arising to my face,
Breathes on me from below. Now on our right
I heard the cataract beneath us leap [plore,
With hideous crash; whence bending down to ex-
New terror I conceived at the steep plunge;
For flames I saw, and wailings smote mine ear:
So that, all trembling, close I crouch'd my limbs,
And then distinguish'd, unperceived before,
By the dread torments that on every side
Drew nearer, how our downward course we wound.
As falcon, that hath long been on the wing,
But lure nor bird hath seen, while in despair
The falconer cries, "Ah me! thou stoop'st to earth,"
Wearied descends, whence nimbly he arose
In many an airy wheel, and lighting sits

Ma vergogna mi fe le sue minacce ;

which appears preferable to the common one, Ma vergogna mi fer &c.

It is necessary that I should observe this, because it has been imputed to me as a mistake.

K

At distance from his lord in angry mood;
So Geryon lighting places us on foot

Low down at base of the deep-furrow'd rock,
And, of his burden there discharged, forthwith
Sprang forward, like an arrow from the string.

m

CANTO XVIII.

ARGUMENT.

The Poet describes the situation and form of the eighth circle, divided into ten gulfs, which contain as many different descriptions of fraudulent sinners; but in the present Canto he treats only of two sorts: the first is of those who, either for their own pleasure, or for that of another, have seduced any woman from her duty; and these are scourged of demons in the first gulf: the other sort is of flatterers, who in the second gulf are condemned to remain immersed in filth.

THERE is a place within the depths of hell
Call'd Malebolge, all of rock dark-stain'd
With hue ferruginous, e'en as the steep

That round it circling winds. Right in the midst
Of that abominable region yawns

A spacious gulf profound, whereof the frame
Due time shall tell. The circle, that remains,
Throughout its round, between the gulf and base
Of the high craggy banks, successive forms
Ten bastions, in its hollow bottom raised.

As where, to guard the walls, full many a foss
Begirds some stately castle, sure defence1
Affording to the space within; so here
Were model'd these: and as like fortresses,

1 Sure defence.] La parte dov' e' son rendon sicura. This is the common reading; besides which there are two others:

and,

La parte dove il sol rende figura;

La parte dov' ei son rende figura:

the former of which two, Lombardi says, is found in Daniello's edition, printed at Venice, 1568; in that printed in the same city with the commentaries of Landino and Vellutello,1572; and also in some MSS. The latter, which has very much the appearance of being genuine, was adopted by Lombardi himself, on the authority of a text supposed to be in the hand-writing of Filippo Villani, but so defaced by the alterations made in it by some less skilful hand, that the traces of the old ink were with difficulty recovered; and it has, since the publication of Lombardi's edition, been met with also in the Monte Casino MS.

Monti is decided in favour of Lombardi's reading, and Biagioli opposed to it.