The Divine Comedy by Dante: The Vision Of Purgatory: Canto XXII

Now we had left the angel, who had turn'd     To the sixth circle our ascending step,     One gash from off my forehead raz'd: while they,     Whose wishes tend to justice, shouted forth:     "Blessed!" and ended with, "I thirst:" and I,     More nimble than along the other straits,     So journey'd, that, without the sense of toil,     I follow'd upward the swift-footed shades;     When Virgil thus began: "Let its pure flame     From virtue flow, and love can never fail     To warm another's bosom' so the light     Shine manifestly forth. Hence from that hour,     When 'mongst us in the purlieus of the deep,     Came down the spirit of Aquinum's hard,     Who told of thine affection, my good will     Hath been for thee of quality as strong     As ever link'd itself to one not seen.     Therefore these stairs will now seem short to me.     But tell me: and if too secure I loose     The rein with a friend's license, as a friend     Forgive me, and speak now as with a friend:     How chanc'd it covetous desire could find     Place in that bosom, 'midst such ample store     Of wisdom, as thy zeal had treasur'd there?"     First somewhat mov'd to laughter by his words,     Statius replied: "Each syllable of thine     Is a dear pledge of love. Things oft appear     That minister false matters to our doubts,     When their true causes are remov'd from sight.     Thy question doth assure me, thou believ'st     I was on earth a covetous man, perhaps     Because thou found'st me in that circle plac'd.     Know then I was too wide of avarice:     And e'en for that excess, thousands of moons     Have wax'd and wan'd upon my sufferings.     And were it not that I with heedful care     Noted where thou exclaim'st as if in ire     With human nature, 'Why, thou cursed thirst     Of gold! dost not with juster measure guide     The appetite of mortals?' I had met     The fierce encounter of the voluble rock.     Then was I ware that with too ample wing     The hands may haste to lavishment, and turn'd,     As from my other evil, so from this     In penitence. How many from their grave     Shall with shorn locks arise, who living, aye     And at life's last extreme, of this offence,     Through ignorance, did not repent. And know,     The fault which lies direct from any sin     In level opposition, here With that     Wastes its green rankness on one common heap.     Therefore if I have been with those, who wail     Their avarice, to cleanse me, through reverse     Of their transgression, such hath been my lot."     To whom the sovran of the pastoral song:     "While thou didst sing that cruel warfare wag'd     By the twin sorrow of Jocasta's womb,     From thy discourse with Clio there, it seems     As faith had not been shine: without the which     Good deeds suffice not. And if so, what sun     Rose on thee, or what candle pierc'd the dark     That thou didst after see to hoist the sail,     And follow, where the fisherman had led?"     He answering thus: "By thee conducted first,     I enter'd the Parnassian grots, and quaff'd     Of the clear spring; illumin'd first by thee     Open'd mine eyes to God. Thou didst, as one,     Who, journeying through the darkness, hears a light     Behind, that profits not himself, but makes     His followers wise, when thou exclaimedst, 'Lo!     A renovated world! Justice return'd!     Times of primeval innocence restor'd!     And a new race descended from above!'     Poet and Christian both to thee I owed.     That thou mayst mark more clearly what I trace,     My hand shall stretch forth to inform the lines     With livelier colouring. Soon o'er all the world,     By messengers from heav'n, the true belief     Teem'd now prolific, and that word of thine     Accordant, to the new instructors chim'd.     Induc'd by which agreement, I was wont     Resort to them; and soon their sanctity     So won upon me, that, Domitian's rage     Pursuing them, I mix'd my tears with theirs,     And, while on earth I stay'd, still succour'd them;     And their most righteous customs made me scorn     All sects besides. Before I led the Greeks     In tuneful fiction, to the streams of Thebes,     I was baptiz'd; but secretly, through fear,     Remain'd a Christian, and conform'd long time     To Pagan rites. Five centuries and more,     T for that lukewarmness was fain to pace     Round the fourth circle. Thou then, who hast rais'd     The covering, which did hide such blessing from me,     Whilst much of this ascent is yet to climb,     Say, if thou know, where our old Terence bides,     Caecilius, Plautus, Varro: if condemn'd     They dwell, and in what province of the deep."     "These," said my guide, "with Persius and myself,     And others many more, are with that Greek,     Of mortals, the most cherish'd by the Nine,     In the first ward of darkness. There ofttimes     We of that mount hold converse, on whose top     For aye our nurses live. We have the bard     Of Pella, and the Teian, Agatho,     Simonides, and many a Grecian else     Ingarlanded with laurel. Of thy train     Antigone is there, Deiphile,     Argia, and as sorrowful as erst     Ismene, and who show'd Langia's wave:     Deidamia with her sisters there,     And blind Tiresias' daughter, and the bride     Sea-born of Peleus." Either poet now     Was silent, and no longer by th' ascent     Or the steep walls obstructed, round them cast     Inquiring eyes. Four handmaids of the day     Had finish'd now their office, and the fifth     Was at the chariot-beam, directing still     Its balmy point aloof, when thus my guide:     "Methinks, it well behooves us to the brink     Bend the right shoulder' circuiting the mount,     As we have ever us'd." So custom there     Was usher to the road, the which we chose     Less doubtful, as that worthy shade complied.     They on before me went; I sole pursued,     List'ning their speech, that to my thoughts convey'd     Mysterious lessons of sweet poesy.     But soon they ceas'd; for midway of the road     A tree we found, with goodly fruitage hung,     And pleasant to the smell: and as a fir     Upward from bough to bough less ample spreads,     So downward this less ample spread, that none.     Methinks, aloft may climb. Upon the side,     That clos'd our path, a liquid crystal fell     From the steep rock, and through the sprays above     Stream'd showering. With associate step the bards     Drew near the plant; and from amidst the leaves     A voice was heard: "Ye shall be chary of me;"     And after added: "Mary took more thought     For joy and honour of the nuptial feast,     Than for herself who answers now for you.     The women of old Rome were satisfied     With water for their beverage. Daniel fed     On pulse, and wisdom gain'd. The primal age     Was beautiful as gold; and hunger then     Made acorns tasteful, thirst each rivulet     Run nectar. Honey and locusts were the food,     Whereon the Baptist in the wilderness     Fed, and that eminence of glory reach'd     And greatness, which the' Evangelist records."