Virgil and the Plan of Hell
On the ridgetop of a high embankment
Shaped in a circle by huge broken rockfalls,
We came above an even crueler fold:
And here, because of the overwhelming stench
5 Which that bottomless abyss throws up,
We recoiled — back behind the covering lid
Of a large tomb where I saw inscribed
These words: "I hold Pope Anastasius
Whom Photinus lured from the straight path."
10 "We must delay our downward journey here
So that our sense may gradually grow used
To the foul gas-fumes; then we will not mind it."
This my master said, and I replied,
"Offset it somehow, so we may not lose
15 Our time." And he: "That is my thought exactly."
"My son, within the boundary of these boulders,"
He then began, — "are three smaller circles,
From tier to tier, like those you leave behind.
"All are crammed full of ill-stricken spirits —
20 But, that sheer sight later may suffice you,
Listen to how and why they are held bound.
"The aim of all malicious acts that merit
Hatred in heaven is injustice: all such actions,
By violence or by fraud, harm someone else.
25 "Since fraud, however, is man’s peculiar vice,
It gives God more displeasure; the fraudulent, then,
Lie lower down and more pain harries them.
"The whole first circle is for the violent;
But, as force is turned against three persons,
30 This first is fashioned in three separate rings.
"On God, on self, and on one’s neighbor force
Can turn: I mean, on them and on their goods,
As you shall now hear logically set forth.
"By violence come death and painful wounds
35 To one’s neighbor; and to his possessions
Come hurtful wrecking, arson, and extortion.
"So murderers, robbers, plunderers,
And all who wrongly do bodily injury
The first ring tortures in assorted ranks.
40 "A man may lay violent hands on himself
And on his property: so in the second
Ring each one must fruitlessly repent
"Who wills to rob himself of your bright world,
Gambles away or wastes his own belongings,
45 And grieves up there where he should rejoice.
"Violence may be done against the Godhead
By denial in the heart and blasphemy
And by despising nature and her bounty.
"And so the smallest ring has set its seal
50 On both Sodom and Cahors and all those
Whose words betray their hearts’ contempt of God.
"Fraud, that chews away at every conscience,
A man may practice on one who trusts him
Or on one who has no confidence in him.
55 "For those who trust not, only the link of love
Which nature forges appears to be cut;
Therefore, in the second circle nest
"Hypocrites, flatterers, and sorcerers,
Falsifiers, thieves, and simoniacs,
60 Panders, graft-takers, and all that trash.
"For those who trust, both the love nature
Forges is forgotten and the love
Added to it that creates a special bond.
"So, in the smallest circle, at the center
65 Of the universe and the seat of Dis,
All traitors are eternally consumed."
And I: "Master, the logic of your words
Is crystal clear and well delineates
The chasm and the people it contains.
70 "But tell me, those mired in the slimy marsh,
Those the wind blasts and those the rain beats on
And those that clash with such savage tongues,
"Why aren’t they punished in the red-hot city
If God holds them as well in his great wrath?
75 And if he does not, why are they in torment?"
He said to me, "Why does your mind drift off
So distantly from its accustomed pathway?
Or do your thoughts now turn to other things?
80 "Do you not remember those passages
In which your Ethics treats in full detail
The three perversities opposed by heaven:
"Incontinence, maliciousness, and raving
Bestiality — and how incontinence,
Offending God the least, incurs least blame?
85 "If you will study this teaching carefully
And call to mind the people up above
Who outside the city endure penances,
"You’ll plainly see why they are set apart
From these felons and why divine vengeance
90 Hammers at them there with lesser anger."
"O sun that clears up every troubled vision,
You so content me when you solve my doubts
That doubting pleases me no less than knowing.
"Once more go back a little to the point,"
95 I said, "where you state usury offends
The divine goodness, and untie the knot."
"Philosophy, to one who understands,
Points out — and on more than one occasion —
How nature gathers her entire course
100 "From divine intellect and divine art.
And if you pore over your Physics closely,
You’ll find, not many pages from the start,
"That, when possible, your art follows nature
As a pupil does his master; in effect,
105 Your art is like the grandchild of our God.
"From art and nature, if you will recall
The opening of Genesis, man is meant
To earn his way and further humankind.
"But still the usurer takes another way:
110 He scorns nature and her follower, art,
Because he puts his hope in something else.
"But follow me now since I want to go:
For the Fish shimmer low on the horizon
And all the Wain stretches over Caurus,
115 "And there, beyond, the road runs off the cliff."
