after I entered this zone of Hell,”he said, “a Hero crowned with victory
40 passed through and down to pull out of the pit
Adam and Eve and all His ancestry –
Abel their first born son of righteous mind –
43 Noah the just whose ark preserved mankind –
Abraham patriarch of everyone –
Rachel whom Heaven put such cares upon
46 and wife of Jacob renamed Israel –
lawgiver Moses, psalmist David too –
and many more than I could tell or see
He raised to Heaven where I will never be.” 49
We passed as he was speaking through a crowd –
men, women, infants who forlornly stood
like rustling trees within a twilit wood, 52
but gradually between them there appeared
a light that grew much brighter as we neared,
until I saw it was a dome of light 55
with such fine folk inside I asked my guide,
“Why are these brightly lit and set apart?”
Said he, “Heaven ratifies the glory 58
given by art and story.” A great shout
rang out: “The prince of poetry is home,
returned to us from distant wandering!” 61
Four solemn figures came towards us then
with neither joy nor sorrow in their looks.
My guide explained, “Their leader with the sword 64
first sang of warfare – also was the first
to have his verse immortalised in books.
His name is Homer. Horace close behind 67
brought wit and satire into poetry;
next, Ovid, singer of love’s mysteries
and those transformed by angry deities; 70
and lastly Lucan, singer of civil strife
who knew that One in Heaven is lord of life.
These four are reigning kings of poetry 73
yet think (for it is true) I am the best.
I must confer with them, which is their due.”
76 The band of poets gathered round my guide.
He spoke with them and then at his request
made me the sixth in that small company
79 of eagle-winged strong souls whose poetry
outsoars the rest. My master smiled at this.
We walked together, these wise men and me,
82 slowly upon our way to better light,
talking of things profound and good to say,
six kindred souls within that gracious place
85 until a splendid city came in sight,
a stream of pure clear water flowing round.
We walked on it as though it were dry ground
88 then faced a gateway in a lofty wall
with seven towers. Passing between two,
I found a lovely space of smooth green lawn
91 where noble people, moving gracefully,
spoke to each other very quietly.
I asked my guide, “Master of every art,
94 what privileges these majestic folk, apart from obvious nobility?”
He said, “Their names still famously resound
97 on earth, and heavenly powers respect them too,
believing privileges are their due.”
We two then walked a little way apart
100 up a small hill. Good light allowed a view
of these great ghosts. Nothing so thrills my heart
as thinking of these spirits I have seen:
Electra, and the heroes she conceived; 103
Hector; Aeneas ancestor of Rome;
Caesar in armour with his hawk-like eye;
huntress Camilla; Amazon warrior 106
Penthesilea; first Latin king Latinus,
with daughter Lavinia; Brutus who
expelled Rome’s last king Tarquin; Julia – 109
Lucretia – Cornelia – Marcia –
standing apart, the mighty Saladin.
Raising my eyes I saw the kings of mind: 112
Aristotle master of those who know;
Socrates close behind; Plato also;
Democritus who said atoms and chance 115
made everything; cynic Diogenes;
Anaxagoras; the herbal healer
Dioscorides; Thales; Orpheus; 118
Tully; Livy; moralist Seneca;
geometer Euclid; geographical
astronomer Ptolemy; the doctors 121
Galen and Hippocrates; and the best
of Aristotle’s great expositors:
Avicenna and Averroes. O! 124
I cannot tell you all I saw because
too many times my words demean my thought.
My company was growing very small. 127
Our
