Ere I was form'd, no things created were, Whereat I cried: "O master! with deep awe The melancholy shades shalt thou survey, I cried: "O master, what is this I hear? And who are these so plunged in grief profound ?" He answered me: "The groans which thou hast heard Proceed from those, who, when on earth they were, Nor praise deserved, nor infamy incurr'd. Here with those caitiff angels they abide, From them no glory could the damn'd obtain." "O master, what infliction do they bear," I said, "which makes them raise such shrieks of woe?" He answered: "That I will in brief declare. No hope of death have this unhappy crew; And their degraded life is sunk so low, No record hath the world of this vile class, Alike by Justice and by Pity spurn'd: Speak we no more of them-but look-and pass." That seem'd incapable of rest, and turn'd, While shades were following in so long a train, That Death such myriads of mankind had slain. Behold! that abject one appear'd in view, The cruel swarm bedew'd their cheeks with blood, A mighty stream, with numbers standing near; As by the doubtful twilight I discern?" "These things," he answer'd me, "shall all be told, Soon as our feet upon the bank are placed Of Acheron, that mournful river old." Mine eyes cast down, my looks o'erwhelm'd with shame An old man comes-his locks all white with age:"Woe, woe to you, ye guilty souls!" he cried; "Hope not that heaven shall ever bless your sight: I come to bear you to the other shore,To ice, and fire, in realms of endless night: And thou-who breathest still the vital airBegone-nor stay with these who live no more," But when he saw that yet I linger'd there"By other port," he said, "by other way, And not by this, a passage must thou find; Fell instant his rough cheeks, while flashing ranged But they-soon as these threatenings met their ear- Beckoning the mournful troop, collects them there, The guilty race of Adam from that strand,- Are gather'd here from every region wide: Goaded by heavenly Justice in its ire, By virtuous soul this wave is never cross'd; 331.-THE DIVINA COMMEDIA OF DANTE.-II. Dante and his guide having passed over to the other shore, the poet found himself on the brink of an unfathomable abyss, dark and overspread with thick clouds. The Hell described by Dante is in the shape of a hollow inverted cone, whose aper is at the centre of the earth. The condemned are placed in nine parallel belts, or circles, round the cone, one below the other, like the ranges of seats in an amphitheatre. Descending into the first circle, the poet found himself in the Limbo-a place assigned by Roman Catholics to the souls of those who die without baptism, and are guiltless of actual sin, such as infants. Dante places also here many great men of antiquity; Homer and other poets; Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, and other philosophers; many Roman heroes and matrons; the first Brutus, "hawk-eyed Cæsar," Lucretia, Cornelia, &c.; and in one place "apart retired," the famous Saleheddin. This was the place assigned to Virgil himself. These spirits are subject to no pain, except sorrow at not being admitted into the presence of God in Paradise. Descending from thence into the second circle, Dante beheld at the entrance Minos, the judge of souls, who examines them all in turn, and consigns each to its respective place of punishment. Virgil having explained Dante's mission, the living poet is allowed to pass the judgment-seat unquestioned; after which Into a place I came Where light was silent all. Bellowing there groan'd A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn By roaring winds. The stormy blast of Hell With restless fury drives the spirits on, Whirl'd round and dash'd amain with sore annoy. When they arrive before the ruinous sweep, Spirits, who came loud wailing, hurried on 'Inferno,' Canto v. Here the poet saw, whirled round incessantly among the rest, Semiramis, Helen, Dido, Cleopatra, and other "dames and knights of ancient days" noted for being addicted to carna, lusts. if loth to part company. He also saw two souls flying together before the gust, as Hearkening to the call, they came—as doves, And firm, to their sweet nest returning home, One of the two then addresses Dante thus: "O gracious creature and benign! who go'st Love, that in gentle hearts is quickly learnt, The spirit which thus spoke was that of the beautiful and frail Francesca, daughter of Guido da Polento, lord of Ravenna, who was given by her father in marriage to Lanciotto Malatesta, son of the lord of Rimini, who was deformed in his person. Paolo, Lanciotto's brother, engaged the affections of his sister-in-law, and their guilt being discovered, they were both put to death by the husband. Dante, during his exile, was a guest of Guido da Polenta at Ravenna, when the recollection of the catastrophe was still recent. The poet represents himself as deeply affected by Francesca's narrative, and, after musing awhile, he thus addresses her :- 'Francesca, your sad fate Even to tears my grief and pity moves. All trembling kiss'd. The book and writer both Canto v. In the next, or third circle, the poet sees the gluttons, who are punished by lying in the mire, under a continual storm of hail, snow, and muddy water; whilst Cerberus, the three-headed mastiff, barks over them and tears their limbs. The fourth circle is occupied by the prodigal and the avaricious, and Plutus stands watching at the gate. The punishment of those who are confined in the fourth circle consists in rolling continually enormous stones one against the other, by pushing them with their breasts. The poet next proceeded to the fifth circle, in which he saw the wrathful and passionate, who lay plunged in the Stygian marsh, tearing each other to pieces with their nails and teeth. In the sixth circle is the city of Dis, with walls and minarets of iron, lighted by a fire within, which burns for ever. The arca of the city incloses a vast number of sepulchres, in which are buried heretics and infidels burning in the flames. In the seventh circle Dante first meets with those who have committed violence against their neighbours, and who are immersed in a river of blood, from which, as they strive to escape, they are shot at with arrows by centaurs posted along the banks. This place of punishment is awarded to fierce conquerors, tyrants, and devastators of countries, among whom the poet enumerates Pyrrhus, Dionysius the Elder, Attila, Eccelino da Romano, &c.; also murderers, pirates, and highway robbers. He notices Guy de Montfort, son of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who killed Prince Henry, son of Richard of Cornwall, and nephew of Henry III. of England, in a church at Viterbo, in Italy, while Henry was kneeling before the altar, hearing mass. Guy committed this act to revenge his own father's death. (Holinshed's Chronicle,' A D. 1272.) In another compartment of the seventh circle are the self-murderers, and also those who squander away their property, or other blessings, which they have received from God; whoever In reckless lavishment his talent wastes, And sorrows there where he should dwell in joy. Canto xi. In the third compartment of the seventh circle are those who have done violence or openly revolted against God. They are all in a vast sandy plain, some stretched on their backs, others sitting, and others perpetually walking about, while flakes of fire are falling thick upon the sand. Dante and Virgil then descend into the eighth circle, seated on the back of the monster Gorgon, who is the emblem of fraud : Lo! the fell monster with the deadly sting, Who passes mountains, breaks through fenced walls Taints all the world. Canto xvii. The eighth circle is divided into ten gulphs or compartments, each containing a particular class of sinners. The description of this circle occupies thirteen cantos (xviii. to xxx.), by which the poet intends to show the vast proportion of crimes committed through fraud, deceit, or treachery. In the ninth gulf of the eighth circle are the sowers of scandal, schism, and heresy, with their limbs mangled and divided. Among them the poet saw Mahommed and Ali, besides several of his own contemporaries and countrymen. In the tenth gulf are the alchemists, forgers, and coiners, who are tormented by various loathsome diseases. Ono of them Adamo da Brescia, who had counterfeited the coin of |