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Dante, Tr. by I.c. Wright, With Engr. After Flaxman
Dante Tr by Ic Wright With Engr After Flaxman Author:Dante Alighieri General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1845 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CANTO IV. ARGUMENT. The Poets ascend the mountain through a narrow opening. They find several indolent spirits reposing in the shade, behind a large stone. With one of these, Belacqua, Dante holds a conversation. When through excess of joy, or misery, Which any of our faculties enchains, The soul concentrates all its energy, It seems no other impulse to obey; -- And this dispels that error, which maintains More souls than one light up our mortal clay. And thus, when aught perchance is heard or seen, Which strongly to itself attracts the soul, Time flies, though man perceives not it hath heen For know, that hearing is a faculty Distinct from that which animates the whole; And this appears enchain'd, while that is free. The truth of this I fully ascertain'd 13 When, listening to that shade, I look'd around ; For now Full fifty steps the sun had gain'd, By me the while unnoticed, when we came Where -- " Here, the way ye ask for may be found," With voice unanimous the souls exclaim. A wider gap oft-times the village clown 19 Closes with so much thorn as he may bear Once on his fork, what time the grape grows brown, Than was the pathway, by whose course my guide, And I behind him, scaled the rugged stair, Soon as that troop had parted from our side. Down may one go to Noli, or the high 25 Bismantua climb -- San Leo's steep ascend, With feet alone ; but here one needs must fly -- With buoyant wing I mean, and with the plume Of strong desire, as I his steps attend Who gave me hope, and lit me through the gloom. Up through the broken rock we then proceeded, 31 Which...« less