"So I saw more than a thousand souls of the ruined
Flee before one who strode across the Styx
Dry-shod as though on land. With his left hand
He cleared the polluted air before his face
And only in that annoyance did he seem tired
I knew assuredly he was sent to us
From Heaven, and I turned my head to regard
The Master - who signaled that I should be mute
And bow before him. Ah, to me he appeared
So full of high disdain! he went to the gate
And opened it by means of a little wand
And there was no resistance. "O race cast out
From Heaven, exiles despised there," he intoned
From that grim threshold, "Why this insolence?
Why do you kick against that Will whose end
Cannot be thwarted, and whose punishments
Many times over have increased your pain?
What use to butt at what the fates dispence?
Remember, Cerberus's throat and chin,
For just this reason, still are stripped of fur."
Then he turned back on the filthy path again
Not speaking a word to us, but with the air
Of one whom other matters must concern
Than those who stand before him. And so, secure
Afer those holy words, we in our turn
Stepped forward toward the city & through the gate,
Entering without dispute. Anxious to learn"
Florentine poet, writer, and philosopher (c. 1265–1321)
Dante Alighieri (c. 30 May 1265 – 13 September 1321), most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri, was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alternative Names:
Dante
•
Durante degli Alighieri
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Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri
From Wikidata (CC0)
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