Part 18

Mine eyes, that in beholding were intent To see new things, of which they curious are, In turning round towards him were not slow.

But still I wish not, Reader, thou shouldst swerve From thy good purposes, because thou hearest How God ordaineth that the debt be paid;

Attend not to the fashion of the torment, Think of what follows; think that at the worst It cannot reach beyond the mighty sentence.

“Master,” began I, “that which I behold Moving towards us seems to me not persons, And what I know not, so in sight I waver.”

And he to me: “The grievous quality Of this their torment bows them so to earth, That my own eyes at first contended with it;

But look there fixedly, and disentangle By sight what cometh underneath those stones; Already canst thou see how each is stricken.”

O ye proud Christians! wretched, weary ones! Who, in the vision of the mind infirm Confidence have in your backsliding steps,

Do ye not comprehend that we are worms, Born to bring forth the angelic butterfly That flieth unto judgment without screen?

Why floats aloft your spirit high in air? Like are ye unto insects undeveloped, Even as the worm in whom formation fails!

As to sustain a ceiling or a roof, In place of corbel, oftentimes a figure Is seen to join its knees unto its breast,

Which makes of the unreal real anguish Arise in him who sees it, fashioned thus Beheld I those, when I had ta’en good heed.

True is it, they were more or less bent down, According as they more or less were laden; And he who had most patience in his looks

Weeping did seem to say, “I can no more!”

Purgatorio: Canto XI

“Our Father, thou who dwellest in the heavens, Not circumscribed, but from the greater love Thou bearest to the first effects on high,

Praised be thy name and thine omnipotence By every creature, as befitting is To render thanks to thy sweet effluence.

Come unto us the peace of thy dominion, For unto it we cannot of ourselves, If it come not, with all our intellect.

Even as thine own Angels of their will Make sacrifice to thee, Hosanna singing, So may all men make sacrifice of theirs.

Give unto us this day our daily manna, Withouten which in this rough wilderness Backward goes he who toils most to advance.

And even as we the trespass we have suffered Pardon in one another, pardon thou Benignly, and regard not our desert.

Our virtue, which is easily o’ercome, Put not to proof with the old Adversary, But thou from him who spurs it so, deliver.

This last petition verily, dear Lord, Not for ourselves is made, who need it not, But for their sake who have remained behind us.”

Thus for themselves and us good furtherance Those shades imploring, went beneath a weight Like unto that of which we sometimes dream,

Unequally in anguish round and round And weary all, upon that foremost cornice, Purging away the smoke-stains of the world.

If there good words are always said for us, What may not here be said and done for them, By those who have a good root to their will?

Well may we help them wash away the marks That hence they carried, so that clean and light They may ascend unto the starry wheels!

“Ah! so may pity and justice you disburden Soon, that ye may have power to move the wing, That shall uplift you after your desire,

Show us on which hand tow’rd the stairs the way Is shortest, and if more than one the passes, Point us out that which least abruptly falls;