16 Quotes Tagged: divine-comedy

There are souls beneath that water. Fixed in slime
they speak their piece, end it, and start again:

'Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun;
in the glory of his shining our hearts poured
a bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun;
sullen we lie forever in this ditch.'
This litany they gargle in their throats
as if they sand, but lacked the words and pitch.

O Simon Magus! O wretched followers of his and robbers ye, who prostitute the things of God, that should be wedded unto righteousness, for gold and silver! now must the trump sound for you: for ye are in the third chasm.

"lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate"
آنکه پا از این در به درون میگذاری دست از هر امیدی بشوی

If you lead me astray, then my wanderings will bring me to my destination.

No greater grief than to remember days
Of joy, when misery is at hand. That kens
Thy learn’d instructor. Yet so eagerly 120
If thou art bent to know the primal root,
From whence our love gat being, I will do
As one, who weeps and tells his tale. One day,
For our delight we read of Lancelot, 4
How him love thrall’d. Alone we were, and no 125
Suspicion near us. Oft-times by that reading
Our eyes were drawn together, and the hue
Fled from our alter’d cheek. But at one point
Alone we fell. When of that smile we read,
The wished smile so raptorously kiss’d 130
By one so deep in love, then he, who ne’er
From me shall separate, at once my lips
All trembling kiss’d. The book and writer both
Were love’s purveyors. In its leaves that day
We read no more.

Come on, shake off the covers of this sloth, for sitting softly cushioned, or tucked in bed, is no way to win fame.

Midtveges fram i gonga gjennom livet, eg fann meg att i tjukke svarte skogen, i vilska fór eg langt frå rette vegen.

Non isperate mai veder lo cielo:
i’ vegno per menarvi a l’altra riva
ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e ’n gelo.

Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro,
che s’accoglieva nel sereno aspetto
del mezzo, puro infino al primo giro,

a li occhi miei ricominciò diletto,
tosto ch’io usci’ fuor de l’aura morta
che m’avea contristati li occhi e ‘l petto.

Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona,
mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,
che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona.

The writer, having lost his way in a gloomy forest, and being hindered by certain wild beasts from ascending a mountain, is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell, and afterwards of Purgatory; and that he shall then be conducted by Beatrice into Paradise. He follows the Roman Poet.

But when thou shalt be in the sweet world, I pray thee recall me to the memory of men; more I tell thee not, and more I answer not.

Thy soul is by vile fear assailed

A l'alta fantasia qui mancò possa;
ma già volgeva il mio disio e'l velle
sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa,
l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.

The devil is not as black as he is painted.” -Dante