Dante Alighieri

Ché perder tempo a chi più sa più spiace.

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

In quella parte del libro de la mia memoria, dinanzi a la quale poco si potrebbe leggere, si trova una rubrica, la quale dice: Incipit vita nova.

"Life is a " vale of tears" a period of trial and suffering, an unpleasant but necessary preparation for the afterlife where alone man could expect to enjoy happiness - Archibald T. MacAllister (The Inferno; Dante Alighieri translated by John Ciardi)"

Ste povinný si svoje plemň vážiť:
súdené nie je žiť Vám ako zveru,
lež za cnosťou a za poznaním bažiť!

Fui quem do coração de Frederico
As chaves tive e usei com tanto jeito,
60 Fechando e desfechando que era rico
“Da fé com que a mim só rendeu seu peito
No glorioso cargo fui constante,

Allegro mi sembrava Amor tenendo meo core in mano, e ne le braccia avea madonna involta in un drappo dormendo.

But already my desire and my will
were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed,
by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars

These have no hope that death will ever come. And so degraded is the life they lead all look with envy on all other fates. The world allows no glory to their name. Mercy and Justice alike despise them. Let us not speak of them. Look, then pass on.

Though every city shall he hunt her down,
Until he shall driven her back to Hell,
There from whence envy first did let her loose.

Now you know how much my love for you
burns deep in me
when I forget about our emptiness,
and deal with shadows as with solid things.

,,Ten vir-var neustály
prenasleduje biednych pozemšťanov,
čo žili hore bez hany i chvály.
Sú spolu s podlým zborom nebešťanov,
čo proti Bohu nešli do zápasu,
no ani s ním' lež sami stáli stranou'
Nebesá nechcú stratiť pri nich z jasu,
a pekla dno čuť nechce o bedači,
pri ktorej hriech by získal istú krásu.',

THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY, THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN, THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST. JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER; MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY, THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE. BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY. ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE.

Our powers, whether of mind or tongue, cannot embrace that measure of understanding

The Commedia , it must be remembered, is a vision of the progress of man’s soul toward perfection.