Towards that sad vale which no forgiveness knows. Each step the steed bounds on more furiously,

Increasing ever, till at length its heels

Crush him, and leave the corpse torn woefully.
Not much time longer shall revolve those wheels"
(He raised his eyes to heaven) "ere known shall be
More than my present speech to thee reveals.
Now fare thee well, for in this monarchy

So precious is our time, that on my way
I lose too much thus keeping pace with thee."
As, at a gallop issuing, takes his way

The cavalier forth from a troop of horse,
To win bright honour in the earliest fray,
So he with quicker steps went on his course,
And on the pathway with those two I staid,
Who taught mankind with such sublime discourse.
And when before us he so far had sped

That him no more my straining eyes could see Than could my mind pursue what he had said, And as he vanish'd, there appear'd to me,

Its branches fresh and green with ripe fruit bow'd, Not far from us, another apple-tree.

With lifted hands beneath it, lo, a crowd,

90

100

Who towards the leaves cried out I know not what, As eager children vainly beg aloud,

When he whom they solicit answers not;

But to increase their longing holds in view

110

result was at length fatal to himself. Suspected of aiming at the sovereignty in Florence, he was attacked by the citizens: flying on horseback from their fury, he fell, was overtaken, and slain, A.D. 1308. He was a man of great talents, courage, and sagacity, but ambitious and intriguing. He had framed many conspiracies in Florence, in the hope of reigning. His character is forcibly drawn by contemporary historians.

What they desire, nor hides what he has got. Then they, as undeceived, their way pursue:

To the great tree we also now drew near,

Which with such prayers and tears in vain they woo. "Pass on beyond, and of this tree keep clear;

Still higher grows what bore that bite of Eve's,
And from it sprung the plant that groweth here.” 1
So spake, I know not who, among the leaves;
Hence Virgil, I, and Statius, thus repress'd,
Went by on that side where the mountain heaves. 120
The voice resumed; "Remember those unblest,
Form'd of the clouds, who after feasting well,
Would combat Theseus, each with double breast.2
And how those Hebrews lapp'd, and what befel,
Whom Gideon would not lead against the foe,
When from the hills on Midian's host he fell.”

Thus close to one side of the road we go,
Hearing proclaim'd the faults of gluttony,
Now follow'd by a recompense of woe.
Again at large o'er the lone causeway we
A thousand paces on, and more indeed,
In contemplation journey'd silently.
"Ye lonely three who thoughtfully proceed,"

A sudden voice cried, whence I shook with dread,

As doth a frighten'd and a dastard steed.

To see what this might be I raised my head,
And never saw I in the workman's fire

130

1 In consequence of our first parents' sin, the pleasures of sense are too apt to prove a snare, and to draw us into evil.

2 The Centaurs. See Inferno, xii. 57, 72, and notes. Also OVID. Melam. 210-535.

3 Judges vii. 4-8.

Metal or glass appear so bright and red,1 As one I saw, who said, "If you desire

To ascend above, here must you mount on high. 140 This way they go who after peace aspire."2

His face my vision dazzled so that I

Had backwards to my teachers quick withdrawn,
Like one led by his hearing, not his eye.

And as the annunciatress of the dawn,

The breeze of May, comes on with sweetest smell,
With herbs and flowers imbued, along the lawn,
Such air against my brow perceived I well,

And moving pinions heard, which onward press'd,
Ambrosial fragrance making sensible.3

150

And I heard cry aloud; "The men how blest
Whom so much grace hath fired, that no fond gust
With over-longing smokes within their breast,

Their hunger still controll'd by what is just.'

1 "And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace."-Rev. i. 15.

2 The perfect peace and bliss of Paradise.

3 Virgil thus concludes the interview between Venus and her son Eneas:

"She said, and turning away, her beautiful neck shone refulgent, And the ambrosial hair of her head breathed a Divine fragrance." Eneid. i. 402.

4 Matthew v. 6.

CANTO XXV.

THE ARGUMENT.

As the three poets ascend, Virgil in reply to Dante's inquiry, explains how the shades become so meagre, and refers him for further satisfaction to Statius. The latter expounds the genesis of the human body, the infusion of the soul, and how the disembodied spirit is reinvested with an aërial substance that answers the purpose of a body. They arrive in the seventh round, in which the licentious are punished in fire, where they sing Summæ Deus clementiæ, and cite examples of Chastity.

FOR our ascent the hour brook'd no delay,

Since now to Taurus noon-day's arch the Sun
Had left, and midnight unto Scorpio's ray.1
Hence, like a man who does not pause but run
Right on, whatever may to him appear,
If by the spur of need he's goaded on;
Thus on the narrow path we enter'd there,
The one before the other, for no twain
Could mount abreast, so strait the ascending stair.

And as the storkling when it would sustain

Itself by flight, yet dares not leave the nest, Raises its wings and lets them droop again; So kindled and was quench'd within my breast The wish to ask-even reaching to the act

10

The Sun being in Aries, and Taurus on the meridian, it was about 2 p.m.; and Scorpio being opposite to Taurus, it was 2 a.m. on the opposite meridian.

Of one prepared to utter his request.

Though swift our progress, my loved sire, in fact,
Refrain'd not; but said, "Now discharge thy bow
Of speech, which thou dost to the steel retract,"1
I open'd then my mouth, encouraged so,

Commencing, "How can they become so meagre, 20 Who no necessity for food can know ?"2 "If thou recall to mind how Meleager3

Consumed with the consumption of the brand, Thou❜lt comprehend," he said, "why they are eager. Or if thou think how in a mirror scann'd,

Each change of yours your image doth present,1

366 'They bend their tongues like a bow to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.”—Psalm lxiv. 3. Pindar says of the Æacidæ :"Truly my ready tongue hath many arrows

To celebrate their praise.”—Isthm. v. 60.

2 Thus Adam asks and Raphael explains how angels eat with men.-Paradise Lost, v. 405.

3 A celebrated hero of antiquity, son of Eneus king of Etolia by Althæa, daughter of Thestius. At his birth Atropos declared that he would live as long as the firebrand which then lay on the fire should remain unconsumed. Althæa, having snatched it from the fire, preserved it with the greatest care. When he had slain the monstrous boar of Calydon, and given the skin to Atalanta, who first wounded the animal, his uncles attempted to rob her of the trophy; and Meleager, in defending her, slew them. Althæa, on her way to the temple to give thanks for her son's victory, was met by the corpses of her brothers, just brought from the chase. On learning that Meleager had slain them, she threw the fatal brand on which his life depended, into the fire, and Meleager died as soon as it was consumed.-OVID. Metam. viii. 260, &c. As Meleager was wasted by the decree of the Fates, and not for want of nutriment, so the shades, who are not supported by food, may suffer by the Divine appointment.

4 As the reflexion in a mirror is changed with the object re