THE DIVINE COMEDY: Inferno, Purgatorio & Paradiso (3 Classic Translations in One Edition). Dante Alighieri
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       "Great was his prowess, when the giants brought

       Fear on the gods: those arms, which then he piled,

       Now moves he never." Forthwith I return'd:

       "Fain would I, if 't were possible, mine eyes

       Of Briareus immeasurable gain'd

       Experience next." He answer'd: "Thou shalt see

       Not far from hence Antaeus, who both speaks

       And is unfetter'd, who shall place us there

       Where guilt is at its depth. Far onward stands

       Whom thou wouldst fain behold, in chains, and made

       Like to this spirit, save that in his looks

       More fell he seems." By violent earthquake rock'd

       Ne'er shook a tow'r, so reeling to its base,

       As Ephialtes. More than ever then

       I dreaded death, nor than the terror more

       Had needed, if I had not seen the cords

       That held him fast. We, straightway journeying on,

       Came to Antaeus, who five ells complete

       Without the head, forth issued from the cave.

       "O thou, who in the fortunate vale, that made

       Great Scipio heir of glory, when his sword

       Drove back the troop of Hannibal in flight,

       Who thence of old didst carry for thy spoil

       An hundred lions; and if thou hadst fought

       In the high conflict on thy brethren's side,

       Seems as men yet believ'd, that through thine arm

       The sons of earth had conquer'd, now vouchsafe

       To place us down beneath, where numbing cold

       Locks up Cocytus. Force not that we crave

       Or Tityus' help or Typhon's. Here is one

       Can give what in this realm ye covet. Stoop

       Therefore, nor scornfully distort thy lip.

       He in the upper world can yet bestow

       Renown on thee, for he doth live, and looks

       For life yet longer, if before the time

       Grace call him not unto herself." Thus spake

       The teacher. He in haste forth stretch'd his hands,

       And caught my guide. Alcides whilom felt

       That grapple straighten'd score. Soon as my guide

       Had felt it, he bespake me thus: "This way

       That I may clasp thee;" then so caught me up,

       That we were both one burden. As appears

       The tower of Carisenda, from beneath

       Where it doth lean, if chance a passing cloud

       So sail across, that opposite it hangs,

       Such then Antaeus seem'd, as at mine ease

       I mark'd him stooping. I were fain at times

       T' have pass'd another way. Yet in th' abyss,

       That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs,

       lightly he plac'd us; nor there leaning stay'd,

       But rose as in a bark the stately mast.

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       COULD I command rough rhimes and hoarse, to suit

       That hole of sorrow, o'er which ev'ry rock

       His firm abutment rears, then might the vein

       Of fancy rise full springing: but not mine

       Such measures, and with falt'ring awe I touch

       The mighty theme; for to describe the depth

       Of all the universe, is no emprize

       To jest with, and demands a tongue not us'd

       To infant babbling. But let them assist

       My song, the tuneful maidens, by whose aid

       Amphion wall'd in Thebes, so with the truth

       My speech shall best accord. Oh ill-starr'd folk,

       Beyond all others wretched! who abide

       In such a mansion, as scarce thought finds words

       To speak of, better had ye here on earth

       Been flocks or mountain goats. As down we stood

       In the dark pit beneath the giants' feet,

       But lower far than they, and I did gaze

       Still on the lofty battlement, a voice

       Bespoke me thus: "Look how thou walkest. Take

       Good heed, thy soles do tread not on the heads

       Of thy poor brethren." Thereupon I turn'd,

       And saw before and underneath my feet

       A lake, whose frozen surface liker seem'd

       To glass than water. Not so thick a veil

       In winter e'er hath Austrian Danube spread

       O'er his still course, nor Tanais far remote

       Under the chilling sky. Roll'd o'er that mass

       Had Tabernich or Pietrapana fall'n,

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       Not e'en its rim had creak'd. As peeps the frog

       Croaking above the СКАЧАТЬ