The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision of Hell, Or The Inferno: Canto XXXI

The very tongue, whose keen reproof before     Had wounded me, that either cheek was stain'd,     Now minister'd my cure. So have I heard,     Achilles and his father's javelin caus'd     Pain first, and then the boon of health restor'd.     Turning our back upon the vale of woe,     W cross'd th' encircled mound in silence. There     Was twilight dim, that far long the gloom     Mine eye advanc'd not: but I heard a horn     Sounded aloud. The peal it blew had made     The thunder feeble. Following its course     The adverse way, my strained eyes were bent     On that one spot. So terrible a blast     Orlando blew not, when that dismal rout     O'erthrew the host of Charlemagne, and quench'd     His saintly warfare. Thitherward not long     My head was rais'd, when many lofty towers     Methought I spied. "Master," said I, "what land     Is this?" He answer'd straight: "Too long a space     Of intervening darkness has thine eye     To traverse: thou hast therefore widely err'd     In thy imagining. Thither arriv'd     Thou well shalt see, how distance can delude     The sense. A little therefore urge thee on."     Then tenderly he caught me by the hand;     "Yet know," said he, "ere farther we advance,     That it less strange may seem, these are not towers,     But giants. In the pit they stand immers'd,     Each from his navel downward, round the bank."     As when a fog disperseth gradually,     Our vision traces what the mist involves     Condens'd in air; so piercing through the gross     And gloomy atmosphere, as more and more     We near'd toward the brink, mine error fled,     And fear came o'er me. As with circling round     Of turrets, Montereggion crowns his walls,     E'en thus the shore, encompassing th' abyss,     Was turreted with giants, half their length     Uprearing, horrible, whom Jove from heav'n     Yet threatens, when his mutt'ring thunder rolls.     Of one already I descried the face,     Shoulders, and breast, and of the belly huge     Great part, and both arms down along his ribs.     All-teeming nature, when her plastic hand     Left framing of these monsters, did display     Past doubt her wisdom, taking from mad War     Such slaves to do his bidding; and if she     Repent her not of th' elephant and whale,     Who ponders well confesses her therein     Wiser and more discreet; for when brute force     And evil will are back'd with subtlety,     Resistance none avails. His visage seem'd     In length and bulk, as doth the pine, that tops     Saint Peter's Roman fane; and th' other bones     Of like proportion, so that from above     The bank, which girdled him below, such height     Arose his stature, that three Friezelanders     Had striv'n in vain to reach but to his hair.     Full thirty ample palms was he expos'd     Downward from whence a man his garments loops.     "Raphel bai ameth sabi almi,"     So shouted his fierce lips, which sweeter hymns     Became not; and my guide address'd him thus:     "O senseless spirit! let thy horn for thee     Interpret: therewith vent thy rage, if rage     Or other passion wring thee. Search thy neck,     There shalt thou find the belt that binds it on.     Wild spirit! lo, upon thy mighty breast     Where hangs the baldrick!" Then to me he spake:     "He doth accuse himself. Nimrod is this,     Through whose ill counsel in the world no more     One tongue prevails. But pass we on, nor waste     Our words; for so each language is to him,     As his to others, understood by none."     Then to the leftward turning sped we forth,     And at a sling's throw found another shade     Far fiercer and more huge. I cannot say     What master hand had girt him; but he held     Behind the right arm fetter'd, and before     The other with a chain, that fasten'd him     From the neck down, and five times round his form     Apparent met the wreathed links. "This proud one     Would of his strength against almighty Jove     Make trial," said my guide; "whence he is thus     Requited: Ephialtes him they call.     "Great was his prowess, when the giants brought     Fear on the gods: those arms, which then he piled,     Now moves he never." Forthwith I return'd:     "Fain would I, if 't were possible, mine eyes     Of Briareus immeasurable gain'd     Experience next." He answer'd: "Thou shalt see     Not far from hence Antaeus, who both speaks     And is unfetter'd, who shall place us there     Where guilt is at its depth. Far onward stands     Whom thou wouldst fain behold, in chains, and made     Like to this spirit, save that in his looks     More fell he seems." By violent earthquake rock'd     Ne'er shook a tow'r, so reeling to its base,     As Ephialtes. More than ever then     I dreaded death, nor than the terror more     Had needed, if I had not seen the cords     That held him fast. We, straightway journeying on,     Came to Antaeus, who five ells complete     Without the head, forth issued from the cave.     "O thou, who in the fortunate vale, that made     Great Scipio heir of glory, when his sword     Drove back the troop of Hannibal in flight,     Who thence of old didst carry for thy spoil     An hundred lions; and if thou hadst fought     In the high conflict on thy brethren's side,     Seems as men yet believ'd, that through thine arm     The sons of earth had conquer'd, now vouchsafe     To place us down beneath, where numbing cold     Locks up Cocytus. Force not that we crave     Or Tityus' help or Typhon's. Here is one     Can give what in this realm ye covet. Stoop     Therefore, nor scornfully distort thy lip.     He in the upper world can yet bestow     Renown on thee, for he doth live, and looks     For life yet longer, if before the time     Grace call him not unto herself." Thus spake     The teacher. He in haste forth stretch'd his hands,     And caught my guide. Alcides whilom felt     That grapple straighten'd score. Soon as my guide     Had felt it, he bespake me thus: "This way     That I may clasp thee;" then so caught me up,     That we were both one burden. As appears     The tower of Carisenda, from beneath     Where it doth lean, if chance a passing cloud     So sail across, that opposite it hangs,     Such then Antaeus seem'd, as at mine ease     I mark'd him stooping. I were fain at times     T' have pass'd another way. Yet in th' abyss,     That Lucifer with Judas low ingulfs,     Lightly he plac'd us; nor there leaning stay'd,     But rose as in a bark the stately mast.