Limbo, the Good Pagans
A loud thunderclap shattered the deep
Sleep in my head, so that I started up
Like someone shaken forcibly awake.
Then, looking all around with rested eyes,
5 I stood straight up with a steady stare,
Attempting to discover where I was.
The truth is I found myself upon the edge
Of the chasm of the valley of salt tears
Which stores the clamor of unending crying.
10 Dark and deep and foggy was the valley:
So, when I strained my eyes to see the bottom,
I was not able to discern a thing.
"Now let us descend to the blind world
Below," the poet, pale as death, began:
15 "I will be first, and you shall follow me."
And I, observing the change in his color,
Asked, "How can I come if you are frightened,
You who strengthen me when I have doubts?"
And he told me, "The anguish of the people
20 Who are down here blanches my complexion
With the pity that you mistake for fear.
"Let us go on: the long road makes it urgent."
So he went down, and so he had me enter
The first circle ringing the abyss.
25 Here, as far as listening could tell,
The only lamentations were the sighs
That caused the everlasting air to tremble.
Suffering without torments drew these sighs
From crowds, multitudinous and vast,
30 Of babies and of women and of men.
My gracious teacher said, "Do you not question
Who these spirits are whom you observe?
Before you go on, I would have you know
"They did not sin: yet even their just merits
35 Were not enough, for they lacked baptism,
The gateway of the faith that you profess.
"And, if they lived before the Christian era,
They did not worship God in the right way:
And I myself am one of those poor souls.
40 "For this failure and for no other fault
Here we are lost, and our sole punishment
Is without hope to live on in desire."
Deep sorrow crushed my heart when I heard him,
Because both men and women of great worth
45 I knew to be suspended here in limbo.
"Tell me, my master, tell me, my good lord,"
I then began, wishing to be assured
Of that belief which conquers every error,
"Have any left here, either through their merits
50 Or someone else's, to be blessed later on?"
And he, grasping my unexpressed appeal,
Responded, "I was newly in this place
When I saw come down here a mighty One
Crowned with the symbol of his victory.
55 "He snatched away the shade of our first parent,
Of his son Abel, and the shade of Noah,
Of Moses, the obedient lawgiver,
"Of Abraham the patriarch, King David,
Israel with his father, with his children,
60 And with Rachel for whom he worked so hard,
"And many others, and he made them blessed.
But I would have you know, before these souls
No human being ever had been saved."
We did not keep from walking while he talked,
65 But all along we journeyed through the forest —
I mean the forest that was dense with spirits.
Our path had not yet led us far away
From where I'd slept, when I descried a fire
That overcame a hemisphere of shadows.
70 We were still a little distance from it
But close enough for me to dimly see
That honored people tenanted that place.
"O you, glory of the arts and sciences,
Who are these souls who here have the high honor
75 Of being kept distinct from all the rest?"
And he told me, "Their distinguished names
Which yet re-echo in your world above
Win for them heaven's grace which furthers them."
Meanwhile I could hear a voice that called,
80 "Honor to the most illustrious poet!
His shade that had departed now returns."
After the voice had ceased and all was still,
I saw four lofty shades approaching us,
In their appearance neither sad nor joyful.
85 My worthy teacher now began by saying,
"Notice there the one with sword in hand,
Coming before the three others like a lord:
"That is Homer, the majestic poet.
The next who comes is Horace, the satirist;
90 Ovid is third, and Lucan last of all.
"Since each one shares with me the name of poet,
The name you heard the single voice call out,
They honor me, and they do well to do so."
So I saw that brilliant schola meeting
95 Under the master of sublimest song
Who above all others soars like an eagle.
After conversing for some time together,
They turned to me with a cordial greeting:
With that, my master broke into a smile.
100 And then they showed me a still greater honor,
For they included me within their group,
So that I was the sixth among those minds.
This way we walked together toward the light,
Speaking of things as well unmentioned here
105 As there it was as well to speak of them.
We came up to the base of a royal castle,
Seven times encircled by high walls,
Moated all about by a beautiful stream.
This we crossed as if it were firm ground;
110 Through seven gates I entered with these sages
Until we reached a meadow of fresh grass.
People were here with slow and serious eyes,
Of great authority by their appearance.
They hardly spoke, with their gentle voices.
115 We moved along then over to one side,
Into an open clearing, bright and high up,
In order to view all the persons there.
Straight before me on the enameled green
Such eminent spirits were presented to me
120 That I exult in having witnessed them.
I saw Electra, with many companions,
Among whom I noted Hector and Aeneas,
And Caesar, in armor, with his falcon eyes.
I saw Camilla and Penthesilea,
125 And on the other side I saw King Latinus
Who sat with his daughter Lavinia.
I saw that Brutus who banished the Tarquin,
Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia,
And by himself, I noticed Saladin.
130 When I lifted up my eyes a little higher,
I saw Aristotle, the master-knower,
Seated with the family of philosophers.
All look up to him, all do him honor;
There also I saw Socrates and Plato,
Nearest to him, in front of all the rest;
135 Democritus, who ascribes the world to chance,
Diogenes, Thales, Anaxagoras,
Empedocles, Zeno, and Heraclitus.
I saw the worthy categorizer of herbs,
140 Dioscorides, I mean; and I saw Orpheus,
Tully, Linus, Seneca the moralist,
Euclid the geometer, Ptolemy,
Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna,
And Averroes, who wrote the Commentary.
145 I cannot here describe them all in full,
For my lengthy theme so presses me forward
That often words fall short of the occasion.
The company of six drops down to two.
My knowing guide leads me another way,
150 Out of the quiet, into the quavering air,
And I come to a scene where nothing shines.
