THE DIVINE COMEDY: Inferno, Purgatorio & Paradiso (3 Classic Translations in One Edition). Dante Alighieri
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СКАЧАТЬ Scipio and Pompey triumph'd; and that hill,

       Under whose summit thou didst see the light,

       Rued its stern bearing. After, near the hour,

       When heav'n was minded that o'er all the world

       His own deep calm should brood, to Caesar's hand

       Did Rome consign it; and what then it wrought

       From Var unto the Rhine, saw Isere's flood,

       Saw Loire and Seine, and every vale, that fills

       The torrent Rhone. What after that it wrought,

       When from Ravenna it came forth, and leap'd

       The Rubicon, was of so bold a flight,

       That tongue nor pen may follow it. Tow'rds Spain

       It wheel'd its bands, then tow'rd Dyrrachium smote,

       And on Pharsalia with so fierce a plunge,

       E'en the warm Nile was conscious to the pang;

       Its native shores Antandros, and the streams

       Of Simois revisited, and there

       Where Hector lies; then ill for Ptolemy

       His pennons shook again; lightning thence fell

       On Juba; and the next upon your west,

       At sound of the Pompeian trump, return'd.

       "What following and in its next bearer's gripe

       It wrought, is now by Cassius and Brutus

       Bark'd off in hell, and by Perugia's sons

       And Modena's was mourn'd. Hence weepeth still

       Sad Cleopatra, who, pursued by it,

       Took from the adder black and sudden death.

       With him it ran e'en to the Red Sea coast;

       With him compos'd the world to such a peace,

       That of his temple Janus barr'd the door.

       "But all the mighty standard yet had wrought,

       And was appointed to perform thereafter,

       Throughout the mortal kingdom which it sway'd,

       Falls in appearance dwindled and obscur'd,

       If one with steady eye and perfect thought

       On the third Caesar look; for to his hands,

       The living Justice, in whose breath I move,

       Committed glory, e'en into his hands,

       To execute the vengeance of its wrath.

       "Hear now and wonder at what next I tell.

       After with Titus it was sent to wreak

       Vengeance for vengeance of the ancient sin,

       And, when the Lombard tooth, with fangs impure,

       Did gore the bosom of the holy church,

       Under its wings victorious, Charlemagne

       Sped to her rescue. Judge then for thyself

       Of those, whom I erewhile accus'd to thee,

       What they are, and how grievous their offending,

       Who are the cause of all your ills. The one

       Against the universal ensign rears

       The yellow lilies, and with partial aim

       That to himself the other arrogates:

       So that 't is hard to see which more offends.

       Be yours, ye Ghibellines, to veil your arts

       Beneath another standard: ill is this

       Follow'd of him, who severs it and justice:

       And let not with his Guelphs the new-crown'd Charles

       Assail it, but those talons hold in dread,

       Which from a lion of more lofty port

       Have rent the easing. Many a time ere now

       The sons have for the sire's transgression wail'd;

       Nor let him trust the fond belief, that heav'n

       Will truck its armour for his lilied shield.

       "This little star is furnish'd with good spirits,

       Whose mortal lives were busied to that end,

       That honour and renown might wait on them:

       And, when desires thus err in their intention,

       True love must needs ascend with slacker beam.

       But it is part of our delight, to measure

       Our wages with the merit; and admire

       The close proportion. Hence doth heav'nly justice

       Temper so evenly affection in us,

       It ne'er can warp to any wrongfulness.

       Of diverse voices is sweet music made:

       So in our life the different degrees

       Render sweet harmony among these wheels.

       "Within the pearl, that now encloseth us,

       Shines Romeo's light, whose goodly deed and fair

       Met ill acceptance. But the Provencals,

       That were his foes, have little cause for mirth.

       Ill shapes that man his course, who makes his wrong

       Of other's worth. Four daughters were there born

       To Raymond Berenger, and every one

       Became a queen; and this for him did Romeo,

       Though of mean state and from a foreign land.

       Yet envious tongues incited him to ask

       A reckoning of that just one, who return'd

       Twelve fold to him for ten. Aged and poor

       He parted thence: and if the world did know

       The heart he had, begging his life by morsels,

       СКАЧАТЬ