Classic Poem

CANTO III.

Argument.

Inscription on the gate of Hell. — Punishment of the worthless, whose deeds were neither good nor evil — Charon's bark, and voyage of the souls.

" Through me ye pass the mournful city's door;
Through me ye go to never-ending woe;
Through me are with the lost for evermore:
By justice moved, my Maker willed it so,
When I was form'd by the Supremest Mind,
From whom all love, and power, and wisdom flow.
Before me, no created thing ye find,
If not eternal; ever I endure:
O ye who enter here leave hope behind. "
These words were written there, of hue obscure,
Above the entrance of a gateway wide.
" Master, " I said, " their sense to me is sore. "
And then once more replied my skilful guide:
" Here must thou leave each unbelieving mood,
Each coward fear must here be put aside.
Now we have come unto the dread abode,
Where I have said the doleful spirits lie,
Those who have lost all intellectual good. "
And then he placed his hand in mine, and I,
Who drew much comfort from his cheerful mien,
Enter'd with him the land of secrecy.
Here sighs, and groans, and mournful shrieks, I ween
Resounded through the thick and starless air:
I wept when first I entered that sad scene,
For many tongues, and accents of despair,
And tones of anguish, words of wildest wrath,
And voices shrill, and gnashing teeth were there.
And ever the eternal darkness hath
A sound of tumult, eddying round and round,
As turns the sand when in the whirlwind's path.
I said, who had my mind with error bound:
" What voices do I hear in sad amaze?
And who are they who in such grief are found? "
My guide replied to me: " This sorrow weighs
Upon the melancholy souls of those
Who lived without or infamy or praise;
And now they are commingled in the woes
Of those bad angels who did not rebel,
Nor faithful were to God and to his laws.
They lived for self; therefore they may not dwell
In Heaven, that would not have its radiance less,
Nor yet do they bring glory unto Hell. "
I said: " My Master, what on them doth press
So sore, that they lament with such a cry? "
And he: " Now briefly will I tell thee this;
They never more may have the hope to die;
Their life of darkness is so vile, that they
Look on all other fortune enviously.
On earth they left no record in their day;
Mercy and Justice hold them in disdain:
Speak not of them, but look and pass away. "
And now I saw, when that I look'd again,
A banner turning swiftly without rest;
And after it there came so long a train
Of those who, hast'ning, ever onward prest,
In truth, my thought could scarcely realise
So many had been slain at Death's behest.
And after, when I some did recognise,
I look'd, and saw the Shade of him appear,
Who his high office left through cowardice.
Immediately to me it was made clear;
Hated alike of God and those who strive
Against him, were those sinners punish'd here.
These wretched ones, who never were alive,
Were naked all, and sorely were they stung
By flies and wasps that here had made their hive.
The blood in furrows from each face had sprung,
And mixed with tears stream'd down unto their feet,
Where filthy serpents lick'd it with their tongue.
And when I further look'd, my glance did meet
A company, who by a river great
Stood waiting; then I said: " Master, permit
That I may know what souls they are who wait,
And wherefore they so willingly would go,
As I discern, though dark this gloomy gate. "
And he to me replied: " This shalt thou know,
As soon as in our journey we shall reach
The brink where Acheron's sad waters flow. "
Then fearing greatly lest to him my speech
Offended, with my eyes bent down in shame,
Silent I went unto the river-beach.
And now, behold, a boat towards us came,
With an old man, whose hair with age was hoar,
Crying, " Woe, woe, ye souls of guilty fame!
Now ye shall see the light of heaven no more;
I come to lead you to the further strand,
Into eternal clouds of heat and frore.
And thou, O living One, who mid the band
Of Death hast come, now turn thee back and flee. "
But when he saw that yet I there did stand,
He said: " By other ways thy path must be;
This bark for him who lives no entrance hath;
A lighter vessel is more fit for thee. "
My Master answer'd: " Charon, hush thy wrath;
Ask thou no more, for thus it hath been will'd,
Where Will and Power do hold one only path. "
Then at those words the quivering rage was still'd
Of him, the boatman of the livid marsh,
Whose eyes with circling flames of fire were fill'd.
Those weary souls, who evermore shall parch
In the hot air, now gnashed their teeth and paled,
When they had heard those cruel words and harsh.
Against their parents and their God they rail'd;
The human species, and the place and hour
And manner of their birth they there bewail'd.
Then all together, weeping loud and sore,
They drew anear the stream of dreadful name,
That waits for all who will not God adore.
Charon, the demon with the eyes of flame,
Collecting them with signs upon the brink,
Beat with his oar whoever slowly came.
As fall the leaves in autumn days, and sink,
Each following each, until at last the bough
Gives all to earth again; even so, I think,
It fared with Adam's evil children now;
For one by one they to the shore descend,
As birds that to the fowler's whistle go.
Thus o'er the gloomy wave their course they bend,
And e'er they come unto the further strand,
On this, new multitudes still hither wend.
" My son, " the courteous Master said, " that band
Are those who having died beneath the ire
Of God, are gathered here from every land;
And God's great justice doth their wills inspire
With such prompt eagerness to cross the flood,
That all their fear is turn'd into desire.
Here never cometh spirit of the good;
Therefore if Charon doth of thee complain,
Thou know'st the reason of his angry mood. "
When he had ceased to speak, the darksome plain
Shook with the shuddering of the earthquake's might;
I tremble even to think of it again.
And from the doleful earth came forth a light
That lighten'd with the crimson fire of Hell;
I lost all sense and feeling at that sight,
And, like to one oppress'd with deepest sleep, I fell.