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

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       He thus: "The water and tee plant we pass'd,

       Virtue possesses, by th' eternal will

       Infus'd, the which so pines me. Every spirit,

       Whose song bewails his gluttony indulg'd

       Too grossly, here in hunger and in thirst

       Is purified. The odour, which the fruit,

       And spray, that showers upon the verdure, breathe,

       Inflames us with desire to feed and drink.

       Nor once alone encompassing our route

       We come to add fresh fuel to the pain:

       Pain, said I? solace rather: for that will

       To the tree leads us, by which Christ was led

       To call Elias, joyful when he paid

       Our ransom from his vein." I answering thus:

       "Forese! from that day, in which the world

       For better life thou changedst, not five years

       Have circled. If the power of sinning more

       Were first concluded in thee, ere thou knew'st

       That kindly grief, which re-espouses us

       To God, how hither art thou come so soon?

       I thought to find thee lower, there, where time

       Is recompense for time." He straight replied:

       "To drink up the sweet wormwood of affliction

       I have been brought thus early by the tears

       Stream'd down my Nella's cheeks. Her prayers devout,

       Her sighs have drawn me from the coast, where oft

       Expectance lingers, and have set me free

       From th' other circles. In the sight of God

       So much the dearer is my widow priz'd,

       She whom I lov'd so fondly, as she ranks

       More singly eminent for virtuous deeds.

       The tract most barb'rous of Sardinia's isle,

       Hath dames more chaste and modester by far

       Than that wherein I left her. O sweet brother!

       What wouldst thou have me say? A time to come

       Stands full within my view, to which this hour

       Shall not be counted of an ancient date,

       When from the pulpit shall be loudly warn'd

       Th' unblushing dames of Florence, lest they bare

       Unkerchief'd bosoms to the common gaze.

       What savage women hath the world e'er seen,

       What Saracens, for whom there needed scourge

       Of spiritual or other discipline,

       To force them walk with cov'ring on their limbs!

       But did they see, the shameless ones, that Heav'n

       Wafts on swift wing toward them, while I speak,

       Their mouths were op'd for howling: they shall taste

       Of Borrow (unless foresight cheat me here)

       Or ere the cheek of him be cloth'd with down

       Who is now rock'd with lullaby asleep.

       Ah! now, my brother, hide thyself no more,

       Thou seest how not I alone but all

       Gaze, where thou veil'st the intercepted sun."