Classic Poem

CANTO XXXII.

Argument.

Ninth and last Circle; the traitors imprisoned in ice — Count Ugolino gnawing the head of the Archbishop Ruggieri.

I F I had rhymes as harsh and rough, I ween,
As might be fitting for this dismal vale,
Towards which every other rock doth lean,
The juice of my conceit I should not fail
To press more fully; but I have them not;
Therefore in fear I come to tell my tale.
It is not meet, in sooth, there should he brought,
To sing of the deep central universe,
A careless tongue with childish accents fraught.
But may those maidens come, to aid my verse,
Who gave Amphion help to raise the wall
Of Thebes; that thus my words be not diverse
From truth. O ye, most wretched above all,
Who in this region sharpest pains endure,
Better had ye been beasts within the stall!
When we were come within the deep obscure
Beneath the giant's feet, and yet more low,
While gazing on the walls that did immure
Us wholly, " Now beware how thou dost go, "
A voice began; " and see thou dost not tread
On us, thy brethren in this land of woe. "
Therefore I stood, and saw before me spread,
And 'neath my feet, a frozen lake that bore
Semblance of glass, not water. Ne'er was shed,
In Austria, on Danube's stream, such store
Of icy coverture, piled high and thick,
Nor on the Tanais, in winter frore,
As here was seen: in sooth, if Tabernicch
Had fallen, or e'en Pietrapana's mount,
Ye had not heard the ice or crack or creak.
As, from the water, oft the frogs are wont,
Croaking, to thrust their snouts, when harvest-dreams
The slumber of the peasant-maid do haunt;
Livid, to where shame sendeth forth its gleams,
Those wretched spirits, fix'd within the ice,
Tremble, with sound of chattering teeth that seems
Like the stork's note. And each bent down his face;
Cold from the mouth, and from the eyes sad pain
Here plainly show'd, in sooth, most doleful trace.
When I had somewhat gazed around, I then
Look'd down, and saw two Shades with mingling hair;
Such close embrace did them together strain.
I said: " Now tell me who, in life, ye were,
Who here are claspid thus. " And then their brows
They raise, and all the moisture that they bear
Within their eyelids, thence wells forth, and flows
Adown their cheeks; and the great cold congeal'd
The tears within those lids, and firmly froze.
Ne'er might ye wood with wood so closely weld:
Therefore, like goats they butted in fierce fight,
Each against each; such anger them impell'd.
And one, who both his ears from the sharp might
Of freezing cold had lost, with face bent down
Said: " Wherefore dost thou seek, 'mong us, aright
Thy face to mirror? If thou wouldst be shown
Who these may be, the vale from whence doth flow
Bisinzio, once was ruled by them alone,
And by their father Albert. If ye go
Throughout Caina, there no spirits rest,
More worthy of this frozen land of woe.
Not him, in sooth, whose shadow and whose breast
Were piercid, at one blow, in days of yore,
By Arthur's hand; Foccaccia's meed unblest,
Of bloodiest revenge; nor him who o'er
Me leaneth, Sassol Mascheroni named:
If thou be Tuscan, I need say no more
And that by me no longer speech be framed,
Know, Camicion de' Pazzi was I hight,
And wait Carlino that I less be blamed. "
A thousand faces in this dismal plight
Hideous with cold I saw; thus fear doth fill
My soul the while I shudder at the sight
Of frozen pools. And journeying onward still
Unto the point where all things gravitate,
I trembled in the everlasting chill.
And if 'twere Providence, or chance, or fate,
I know not; but of one I struck the head,
As I pass'd on, with all my footsteps' weight.
Weeping he cried: " Why thus on me dost tread?
If not to add unto the pain I bear
For Mont' Aperti, wherefore on me shed
More suffering? " " My Master, wait me here, "
I said, " for somewhat I of him would learn;
Then will I hasten, even as shall appear
Good in thy sight. " He stay'd; then did I turn
To him who still blasphemed, and thus I spake:
" Who mayst thou be, that with such ire dost burn? "
" Now who art thou, who thus thy way dost take
Through Antenora, and too strongly e'en
For living man, " he said, " dost smite my cheek? "
" In truth, I live; and thou from me mayst win
Fame, if unto such meed thou dost aspire, "
I said, " for I can store thy name within
My strain. " " The contrary is my desire, "
He answer'd; " get thee hence, and vex me not:
Ill thou dost flatter in this valley dire. "
Him by his locks full quickly then I caught,
And said: " Now needs thy name must thou declare,
Or hair upon thy head in vain be sought. "
Whence he to me: " Though thou my head mak'st bare,
I will not tell thee who I am, nor show
My face, if thousand strokes should be my share. "
Then, twisted 'mong his locks, my hand did draw
Forth from his head, in sooth, an ample store;
The while he howl'd, with eyes bent downward low.
Till one cried out aloud: " What evil sore
Hath ta'en thee, Bocca? art not satisfied
To chatter with thy teeth, but thou must roar.
Like a wild beast? what fiend is by thy side? "
" Thou wicked traitor, now no more I seek
That thou shouldst ope thy lips, " I then replied;
" For, to thy shame, the truth of thee I'll speak "
" Speak what thou wilt, " he said, " but get thee hence;
And yet of him with tongue so prompt to break
Its silence, see thou tell. The gold of France
Here to bewail for ever is he brought:
Relate that on Duera didst thou chance,
Mid sinners in ill plight. Still seek'st thou aught,
On Beccharia look, whose treacheries
Were such that Florence through his gorget saw'd.
I think that Gianni Soldanieri lies
Beyond, with Ganellon, and Tribaldel
Who oped Fainza when sleep seal'd all eyes. "
We had departed from those spirits fell,
When two, fast-frozen in one cleft, I saw;
One head bent o'er the other, so that well
Its covering it had been. And as ye gnaw
A crust for hunger, he who leant above,
There where the brain from out the neck doth grow,
Struck his sharp teeth. As erst did anger move
Tydeus, when in his fiercest rage he fed
On Menalippus' skull, this Shade did prove
The same. " O thou who show'st such wrath, " I said,
" Against this man, and still dost gnaw his brain,
Say why on him such brutal hate is shed:
For, if with cause thou dost of him complain,
In knowing who ye be, and what his crime,
I upon earth may pay it thee again;
If that with which I speak fail not before its time. "