Forget not to make mention of us there."

This said they broke the circle; and again
Their feet appear'd like wings to cut the air.
So quick they vanish'd, that with greater speed
None could have even utter'd an Amen :
The master then thought fitting to proceed :-
I follow'd him; and short was our career,

Before the sound of water so increased,

That one could scarcely make the other hear.
E'en as that stream, which drawing first its source
From Monte Veso, as it seeks the east,
On Apennines' left side holds separate course-
Call'd Acquacheta higher up, before

Its waves adown the humble valley flow,
(At Forli bearing the same name no more,)
Re-bellows o'er St. Benedict on high,

As from the Alps it headlong falls below;

Where thousands might have shelter and supply; Thus from the summit of a broken rock

103

Rush'd the dark stream with such tremendous din,

Our ears had soon been deafen'd by the shock. Around my waist I had a girdle tied,

With which indeed I once had thought to win

The nimble Panther of the spotted hide :

1

Forth from my loins this girdle I unbind,

Obedient to my courteous guide's command,
And gave it to him in a knot entwined.
Then to the right he turn'd himself around,
And cast it over from the lofty strand
Down to the bottom of the gulf profound.
"At this signal new,

I said within me:

Which thus my

master watches with his eye,

Some novelty most surely will ensue."

Alas how cautious mortals ought to be

Tow'rds those, who not the deed alone espy,

109

115

But by their skill the inmost thoughts can see! "Full soon shall upward come what hath delay'd 121 My steps," he said; "and that on which now dwell Thy dreaming thoughts, ere long shall be display'd." That truth which bears the semblance of a lie

Should never pass the lips, if possible :

Though crime be absent-still disgrace is nigh. But here I needs must speak; and by the rhymes, 127 Reader of this my Comedy, I swear,

(So may they live with fame to future times,) That swimming up to me, a form I saw

Ascending through that gross and murky air,

Such as would fill the stoutest heart with awe

Like one returning, that hath downward been

To loose an anchor, which fast grappling clings

To rocks, or aught beneath the waves unseen, Who gathers in his feet and upward springs.

133

NOTES.

Page 139. (Line 1.) The roar of Phlegethon falling into the eighth circle.

Page 140. (Line 18.) They were distinguished men-the same concerning whom Dante had inquired of Ciacco, canto vi. 79. (34.) The shade who speaks is between the other two, and his discourse refers to the one before him-Guidoguerragrandson of Gualdrada, a noble Florentine lady, distinguished for her virtue and beauty.

Page 141. (Line 39.) Hence Tasso. Jer. i. st. 1. "Molto egli oprò col senno e con la mano." (41.) Tegghiaio Aldobrandi degli Adimari was a noble Florentine of great military talent. In the parliament held by the Florentines in 1260, to deliberate whether they should attack Siena or not, he spoke against the measure, and was upbraided for cowardice. The result proved the correctness of his judgment. See account of the defeat of the Guelfs at Mont' Aperti, in notes to canto x. (44.) Jacopo Rusticucci was a rich Florentine of distinction,

L

who having an imperious wife, abandoned her, and followed wicked courses. (46.) The poet here speaks. He shews his respect towards these men for their patriotism, however sullied were their lives by great vices.

Page 142. (Line 61.) Bitter gall and sweet fruit, are Scriptural expressions to represent vice and virtue. The sweet fruit Dante beheld in the terrestrial Paradise. See Purg. xxvii. 115. (70.) Boccaccio terms Borsieri, another Florentine, a man of elegant manners and ready wit. (73.) Instead of giving a direct answer to the question of Rusticucci concerning Florence, he breaks out into an apostrophe to that city, as if she could hear his rebuke. "This is one of the many instances in which our poet mingles with stern justice of observation, a sentiment of plaintive tenderness for his own country."-Ugo Foscolo, No. 60, Edinb. Rev., Art. Dante. "Florence, and other small republics, after extirpating their nobles, were governed by merchants, who, having neither ancestors to imitate, nor generosity of sentiment, nor a military education, carried on their intestine feuds by calumny and confiscation." -Ibid. Parallel between Dante and Petrarch. (84.) Hence

Tasso. Jer. canto xv.

"Quando mi giovera narrare altrui

Le novita vedute, e dire, ío fui."

The anxiety of the spirits for the continuance of intercourse with the living, and the maintenance of their fame on earth pervades the poem. See vi. 89; xv. 119; xxix. 103.

Page 143. (Line 92.) The waters of Phlegethon. (94.) He compares the fall of Phlegethon to that of the Montone, a river in Romagna below the Apennines above the abbey of St. Benedict. "All the other streams that rise between the sources of the Po and the Montone, and fall from the left side

of the Apennine, join the Po, and accompany it to the sea." -Lombardi. (102.) This appears to be an allusion to some friars in a convent there, who were few in number and very rich. (106.) The girdle in the Scriptures is the symbol of fortitude. Some have supposed that Dante in early life entered the order of St. Francis, and assumed the girdle; and this, they say, Dante was directed to throw down into the gulf, as a bait, to allure Geryon or Fraud to them, by leading him to suppose that a hypocrite was waiting to be conveyed to punishment.

Page 144. (Line 118.) Dante was at a loss to understand Virgil's object, and by his manner betrayed his anxiety. This want of confidence in his master, he is aware, is perceived by him; and, expecting a rebuke, he exclaims, "Alas!" &c. (124.) "Abstain from all appearance of evil."-1 Thess. v. 22. (130.) The idea of swimming through the air is taken from Virgil: "Insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos."—Æn. vi. 16.