THE DIVINE COMEDY: Inferno, Purgatorio & Paradiso (3 Classic Translations in One Edition). Dante Alighieri

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       "I was," it answer'd, "of Sienna: here

       I cleanse away with these the evil life,

       Soliciting with tears that He, who is,

       Vouchsafe him to us. Though Sapia nam'd

       In sapience I excell'd not, gladder far

       Of others' hurt, than of the good befell me.

       That thou mayst own I now deceive thee not,

       Hear, if my folly were not as I speak it.

       When now my years slop'd waning down the arch,

       It so bechanc'd, my fellow citizens

       Near Colle met their enemies in the field,

       And I pray'd God to grant what He had will'd.

       There were they vanquish'd, and betook themselves

       Unto the bitter passages of flight.

       I mark'd the hunt, and waxing out of bounds

       In gladness, lifted up my shameless brow,

       And like the merlin cheated by a gleam,

       Cried, "It is over. Heav'n! I fear thee not."

       Upon my verge of life I wish'd for peace

       With God; nor repentance had supplied

       What I did lack of duty, were it not

       The hermit Piero, touch'd with charity,

       In his devout orisons thought on me.

       "But who art thou that question'st of our state,

       Who go'st to my belief, with lids unclos'd,

       And breathest in thy talk?"--"Mine eyes," said I,

       "May yet be here ta'en from me; but not long;

       For they have not offended grievously

       With envious glances. But the woe beneath

       Urges my soul with more exceeding dread.

       That nether load already weighs me down."