Canto IV
CANTO IV
Wakened from his swoon by thunder, Dante finds himself upon the brink of a gloomy chasm, from which anguished wailings rise (1–12). Virgil pales at the prospect of descending, and Dante mistakes the pallor of compassion for a sign of fear (13–22). As they enter Limbo in the first ring of Hell, the Pilgrim perceives only the sighs of untormented sorrows, which cause the air to quake (23–30). Unasked, his Master seems eager to explain that its inhabitants did not sin but are lost only for a lack of Christian faith and therefore punished by no more than a longing without any hope of fulfillment (31–42). On hearing this, Dante is seized by great grief, realizing that many virtuous pagans would have accepted the Christian faith, had they had the opportunity to do so. To seek confirmation of that faith, he ventures the question whether anyone has escaped the confines of Limbo by his own merits or those of another (43–50). Virgil, grasping the implications of his question, replies that shortly after his own confinement a Mighty One—Christ, who must remain unnamed here—forced his way into Hell to rescue the great Old Testament saints (51–63). Proceeding onwards, they come to a spot illuminated by a fire symbolizing the light of reason and behold a group of worthy people set apart. Virgil, dubbed the “lord of songs of highest style,” is greeted by a band of five poets, who soon turn to Dante and invite him to join their ranks as sixth in line (64–102). Continuing towards the fire, the six of them reach a castle of philosophy surrounded by the seven walls of moral virtue. Crossing the stream of rhetoric and entering the walls by the portals of the liberal arts, they arrive at verdant meadows, where Dante exults at the scene. There he spies figures from the Aeneid, heroes of Roman history, and noble Roman women. Looking farther, he sees an assembly of natural and moral philosophers as well as great men of mathematics, science, and medicine (103–147). Finally, Virgil and the exhilarated Dante take leave of the other poets and exit into a realm of darkness (148–151).
1 When in my head the heavy thunder broke
So deep a sleep, I started with a bound,
Just like a person who by force awoke.
4 At once I moved my rested eyes around,
And, standing up erect again, I stared
To know the place where I had come to ground.
7 In truth, I stood upon a brink that flared
Above the woeful valley of the pit,
Which thundered, as the endless wailings blared.
10 Since it was deep and fogged and darkly lit,
I fixed my gaze upon its depths, although
I still could not discern a thing in it.
13 “Let us descend to blinded worlds below,”
Began the Poet, who was deathly pale,
“I shall be first, but second you must go.”
16 I asked, on having seen his color fail:
“How shall I come if you are frightened here,
Who always comfort me when doubts prevail?”
19 “The anguish of the people who appear
Down here below,” he said, “now paints my face
With that compassion you mistake for fear.
22 But let us go, the long way speeds our pace.”
He thus went on and had me enter there
The first ring belting that abysmal space,
25 Though nowhere here was there a tearful blare
That could be heard but just the sighs of those
Who sent eternal tremblings through the air.
28 From untormented sorrows these arose
Among the crowds that were both great and vast,
Which children, men, and women all compose.
31 “You ask not of the spirits here amassed,”
The kindly Master said, “whom you’ve perceived?
Then I would have you know before you’ve passed
34 They did not sin; the merits they achieved
Do not suffice without baptismal grace,
The portal to the faith that you’ve believed.
37 And if they lived before the Christian race,
God was not duly worshipped by that throng;
And with such ones as these I have my place.
40 For such defects, and for no other wrong,
We now are lost, though only thus distressed:
Not having any hope, we live and long.”
43 On hearing him, great sorrow seized my breast
Because I knew such worthy people were
Detained in Limbo in suspended rest.[51]
46 I started: “Tell me, Master, tell me, Sir,”
To be assured of what that faith has shown
Which vanquishes all errors that occur,
49 “Has any left, by merits of his own
Or those of others, for a blessèd fate?”
And he, to whom my covert speech was known,
52 Replied: “I had come newly to this state
When I beheld a Mighty One invade[52]
Us here, crowned with a victor’s sign of late.
55 He came to capture our first parent’s shade,[53]
Snatch Abel, son, and Noah too, with such[54]
As Moses, legislator who obeyed;[55]
58 Fetch father Abram and King David; clutch[56]
Up Israel, with sire as well as seed,[57]
And Rachel, for whose sake he did so much;[58]
61 And many more, whom he made blest indeed.
Before these spirits, I would have you know,
No souls were saved of all the human breed.”
64 Although he spoke, we did not cease to go,
But passed through woods (I mean a wood of stark,
Thick crowds of souls). Our way was now not so
67 Remote from where I’d slept when I could mark
The presence of a fire upon a spot
That conquered there a hemisphere of dark.
70 We still were somewhat far from it, but not
So much that I could not discern in part
That honorable people held that plot.
73 “O you, who honor science and all art,
Who might these be who have such great acclaim
That from the others they are set apart?”
76 He said to me: “The honor of their name,
Which in your life above is heard to sound,
Gains heaven’s grace, advancing thus their fame.”
79 And meanwhile I had heard a voice resound:
“Bestow your honor on the bard most high:
His shadow, parted once, again comes round.”
82 It paused, and when the voice was quiet, I
Beheld these four great shades who came ahead
And, neither sad nor glad in looks, drew nigh.
85 The kindly Master started up and said:
“Behold the one who comes with sword in hand,
By whom as lord the other three are led.
88 That’s Homer, sovran poet of the band,[59]
Then Horace, satirist, approaches too,[60]
With Ovid third, while Lucan ends the strand.[61]
91 Because to each of these, with me, is due
The name you heard the single voice recite,
They do me honor, and it’s well they do.”
94 I thus beheld the goodly school unite
Around the lord of songs of highest style,
Who soars above the rest in eagle’s flight.
97 Soon after they had talked a little while,
They turned to me, saluting with a sign,
And as they did, my Master gave a smile;
100 They made an even greater honor mine
And let me join their number at that site,
So I among such minds was sixth in line.
103 We thus continued onwards towards the light,
While saying things that silence here should grace
As much as speaking there of them was right.
106 We journeyed to a noble castle’s base,
Which seven times a lofty wall surrounds,
While comely streams all round defend that place,
109 And this we passed as if on hardened grounds.
I entered seven portals with the wise,
And so we reached refreshing, verdant downs,
112 Where people gazed with slow and earnest eyes;
By great authority their traits were lined,
Though seldom did their gentle voices rise.
115 To one side of the meadow we inclined,
A high and open space of lustrous sheen,
So that we both could see all there confined.
118 And facing me, on the enameled green,
The mighty shades were shown who there abide;
I still exult within me from that scene.
121 Electra in large company was spied;[62]
Both Hector and Aeneas there I knew,[63]
And Caesar, who was armed and falcon-eyed.[64]
124 I saw Camille and Penthasilia too;[65]
And, opposite, saw King Latinus crowned,[66]
Who with his child, Lavinia, sat in view;[67]
127 Saw Brutus, who drove Tarquin out, and found[68]
Lucrece, Cornelia, Julia, Marcia, and[69]
Saw Saladin apart, with none around.[70]
130 I raised my eyes a little more and scanned
As well the master there of those who know,[71]
His seat among the philosophic band.
133 All look upon him, whom they honor so;
I saw both Plato there and Socrates,[72]
More near to him than all the rest below;
136 And Anaxag’ras, Thales, Diogenes,[73]
Democritus, who gives the world to chance,[74]
With Zeno, Heraclite, Empedocles,[75]
139 And Dioscorides, who gathered plants;[76]
Then Tully, Linus, Orpheus with these,[77]
And moral Seneca all met my glance;[78]
142 Next Galen, Avicenne, Hippocrates,[79]
With geometric Euclid, Ptolemy,[80]
Great Commentator too, Averroës.[81]
145 I cannot fully paint them all, you see:
My lengthy theme is urging me anew,
So words are often less than facts would be.
148 The company of six divides in two.
My knowing Guide leads me another way
From calm to trembling air, and, coming through,
151 I find a place on which there shines no ray.